"Rough Ride"
by Lt. Thomas

Chris felt the ship rock back and forth as it was pounded by the dominion supership. The Galaxy wouldn't last much longer if they continued to battle this monstrosity. The problem and Chris knew it, was that Pressman would continue to expect the Galaxy to remain in combat with the ship until the bitter end, win or lose. This meant that in his mind there was no withdrawal order in his book, either because he was afraid to face the music for failure or his orders had been something to the effect of succeed or don't bother returning. Chris had before the battle started worked up some ideas on how to handle pressman, now it seems those efforts may go to waste if they don't come up with a way to destroy the enemy ship or get away.

Lt. Thomas entered the bridge, and joined the tactical officer at the weapons station. He figured that it wouldn't be helpful for him to disrupt the current situation and he was more than qualified to do something else then ops. In this case he decided that it would be most helpful if he took command of directing damage control efforts. The damage to the ship was growing with each hit the ship took, while this wasn't surprising the amount of collateral damage was beginning to take it's toll on the ship's systems. Chris helped to direct repair teams and mainly observed what was happening. He wondered just how much longer the battle could go on, before someone lost and the galaxy appeared to be on the losing end.

He had also learned of the Romulan's treachery. He wasn't to surprised about what Tomalak did as it was very much in character with what he expected from one such as him. Chris almost regents not taking the gambit and assassination the problem when he had the chance. He'd certainly assassinated a fair number of Romulan personnel when he was working in the romulan star emprie. He had to admit that it was an ingenous plan to gain some new technology for the Romulan people, they'd just managed to dupe the Federation, even while they were allies. The problem this spoke of is to the future, if the Galaxy made it home then they would have to decide what to do about the Romulans. Given the current war with the dominion and the need for the Romulans to be involved, the federation's stance would be that there's nothing they can or want to do about it. Either way the Romulans game an incredible piece of technology for little effort.

He also figured that the Federation might likely send additional operatives into the Romulan Empire's territory to gather more information, sabotage or other tactics might be used to repay them in kind for their treachery against the Federation and the Alpha quadrant. He wondered just what would happen if they made it safely back to the Federation to inform them of what happened. If he still had his clearance in Starfleet Intelligence or was a senior officers he'd be awful tempted to remove Admiral Pressman from command of the mission. Though doing so wouldn't be without dangers and of course he didn't have to worry about making such a decision he wasn't in command.

Chris looked around the bridge and thought about whatever must be thinking at the moment, as they realize the odds of success are continuing to drop with each passing moment spent fighting the dominion supership. Chris feared that they wouldn't make it back alive, and even if they did there was going to be numerous casualties. They were all in for a rough ride, no matter what happened.

Christopher Patton

"That Sinking Feeling"
by Ensign Scott Duquesne

The Galaxy was hit by the Dominion battleship. Duquesne was in his quarters on Deck 13. The ship was hit again, this time Scott was thrown across the room, "Ouch! My spine..." he cried when he landed on the floor. He managed to get up, but another hit from the Dominion ship rocked the Galaxy again and knocked him down. His head hit the edge of a table. He tried to get up again, but he felt dizzy. He felt like sleeping, his eyelid felt heavier as they started to close...

*** U.S.S. Aztec. Three months ago. ***

The Aztec was on a routine patrol along the Dominion/ Cardassian border. Suddenly, they received a distress signal from the I.K.S. Ro'kan, which was reported missing along the border several days ago. The Aztec went to investigate, they made the mistake of getting too close. A Cardassian Galor class warship supported by four Jem'Hadar attack ships jumped out of warp. There was no way out of this battle, the Aztec was surrounded, outnumbered and outgunned.

It was a fierce battle. Phasers, torpedoes, and phased polaron beams were exchanged. Two attack ships were destroyed, but not before they took out the Aztec's shields. The remaining ships covered the Aztec with a barrage of weapons fire. All that was left of the Aztec's saucer section was the small area containing the docking clamps which held it to the now two nacelled stardrive. Fortunately, the enemy ships were also heavily damaged and were recalled for repairs and preparations for another mission. The Aztec was left for dead at the border, drifting amongst the debris of it's own saucer section. Somehow, the few remaining crew members on the stardrive repaired the ship enough and the stardrive managed to limped back to the nearest starbase. The crew was reassigned, because to repair the Aztec would take almost as long as building a new one from scratch.

*** Now ***

Scott was awoken from his near fatal slumber by another ship quake, thanks to the Dominion ship. He tried to get up again, now he felt as if the floor was giving way and he was falling down to the next deck. However he soon realized that it was his legs giving way, he was now on his knees. He fought the urge to fall asleep again. He had to pay the Dominion back for all those lives lost on the Aztec and countless other vessels. A cold frightening thought suddenly came to him, what if the Galaxy ends up like the Aztec? He shook the idea from his head, the crew had things under control.

He made his way out of his quarters. He walked dizzily towards the turbolift and got in. Duquesne muttered the word, "Sickbay...", it was enough for the turbolift to bring him where he wanted to go. He stumbled out and on to the floor, moments later someone found him and brought him to a doctor. He was going to be all right.

"At Sickbay"
by Ensign Taleen Cyndanian
& Ensign Talen Valkyre

Taleen straightened up from working on an injured crewman. She placed her hands on the back of her hips and stretched. She was no longer taking care of minor injuries, all the Doctors were working just as fast as they could.

Med teams were ranging throughout the ship bringing a steady stream of people into the sickbay.

She looked around as the next Med team came into the room carrying someone, followed by a large white husky. She raised an eyebrow as she motioned the team to the next biobed.

They laid Ensign on the bed and left, going back to get more.

The dog tried to jump up on the bed, but there wasn't enough room. Taleen took her tricorder over to the bed. "Here fellow, LAY DOWN," she commanded the dog, and he did. She punched in the codes for an animal and ran the tricorder over the dog. "Nothing wrong with you that can't wait until I check out your master," she told the dog, letting him smell her hand.

She looked at the readings of the Biobed and then ran the tricorder over the Ensign. *"2nd and third degree burns, a large bruse on his back shoulder where he had hit something, smoke inhalation. Damage to the lungs was the major concern, along with the 3rd degree burns. Both could be life threatening,"* she thought as she signaled to a nurse to come help.

The nurse bustled up. Taleen turned to her, I need a thermal regenerator, and we will need to set up a bioregerative field to help with burns both outside and in his lungs. Set him up on an IV with corophizine to stop infection, and put him on 4l of O2 with a corophizine mist to help his lungs heal."

The Nurse handed her the thermal regenerator and she placed in on the side table. "It will be painful, but we need to cut the clothing away from the burns. It's a good thing he is unconscious." Working quickly they cut away the clothing around the worse of the burns. Taleen used the thermal regenerator around the 3rd degree burns to heal the worse of them, and by that time, the Nurse was had him on O2 with the mist installed, an IV set up and was ready to set up the bioregenerative field. Getting this set up, Taleen turned again to the Nurse. "Call me when he wakes up."

She then turned to the dog. "Well boy, Lets get you fixed up." She ran the thermal regenerator around the worst of the burns on the dog, and then using the tricorder, she checked him over again. Giving him a good petting, "I bet that you are a real hero, boy. Now you STAY here." She moved away.

She worked on several other people, keeping an eye on the dog, 1, to make sure he stayed where he was, and 2, the Dog would tell her when the Ensign was waking up. Sure enough, the dog got up and put his paws up on the bed, just before the Nurse called her over.

"Sickbay?" he coughs "He boy you did it."

Taleen went over to him. Looking him over and checking his vitals, she turned to him. "I see you are recovering nicely. We will get the mask off of you in a about an hour, and you should be completely healed by tomorrow. How are you feeling?"

"Like I was tossed into a bonfire"

"We will need to get some more treatment for your dog, I am a Vet also, but he will do for now," She told him

She talked with him for a few more minutes then she moved on to another patient.

James Lies on the floor when he sees a med team approach. They bring a Anti grave litter beside him. "Are you alright ensign."

James looks up at them."Hunky dowry. I can't stand or feel my legs. I move my head and it feels like it is going to fall off."

"well lets take a look." The med tech Neals down beside the ensign. Running his hands around the back of his head he finds blood.

Poking around"Does that hurt Ensign" James screams!!!!"That answers that." The med tech takes a pin light and shines it in James eyes. "Well seems your right eyes unequal and reactive." Can you move your feet. James moves his feet with some difficult. But no feeling.

"Ok lets get him to the Triage area." Ensign scott is loaded onto the anti grave unit and arrives shortly in the main triage area."

"Riding Out the Storm"
by Lt. Tebrianne Bancroft

***

Teb held on to the railing tightly as the ship rocked against the polaron blast. She was nearly thrown to the decks for the third time in as many minutes. She couldn't stand not being on the bridge, but with Pressman's rearranging of the schedules, she was stuck in the shuttle bay ready to pilot a shuttle should it be required. Her place as Chief Helmsman was on the bridge, but Pressman felt it more beneficial to upset the finely honed skills of the Galaxy's crew.

Tebrianne caught herself as the floor rushed up at her.

"Damn," she grumbled. "What the bloody hell is going on up there?"

"Playing with the dragon," said PO Gerard, the other pilot assigned to Bay 2. "We should be out of it soon. From the look of things, that beast doesn't have a lot of life left in her."

"Let's hope so," Teb snapped. "I'm really tired of picking myself up off the decks every thirty seconds."

"You could wear mag-boots," he said, indicating the heavy boots on his own feet.

Teb smiled. "Sorry love, but it would clash with the hair."

"Everything clashes with that hair," Gerard grinned back. "But it's you."

"Brown-noser," Teb said, slugging the crewman in the arm.

Gerard chuckled. "How else will I get to Chief Petty Officer?"

Teb smiled and grabbed ahold of the railing again as the ship rocked with another blast. She hoped AC was doing okay.

Teb checked the monitor next to Gerard and saw the battleship starting to list. "I think we may have them on the ropes," she said. "We may get out of this yet."

Teb watched the battleship on the monitor and her thoughts returned to the moments when she was in Ten Forward with Lucas and noticed Ensign T'Kal looking at her. It was the second time it had happened. He'd caught her eye, and she'd looked a little too deep--suddenly feeling like she was falling. She hadn't even talked to the bloke, but she felt an attraction. His eyes were--

"What you smiling about?"

"Oh, nothing," she said. "I guess I was thinking about things. Nothing important. We win yet?"

Lt. Tebrianne, USS Galaxy, Chief Helmsman
tebrianne@elsinore.net
UIN# 2172851

"Thoughts"
By Councelor Walker

As the battle raged around her , Councilor Walker sat in her office. She had felt it wiser, to be in a safe spot, and out of the way. And if people needed her they could call her. As she sat at her desk , Dallas pulled out a picture, it was of her and Zephrem Enore, her lover , her best friend, and her soulmate. She Still couldnt belive he was dead, it shook her to her very core. He had been full of life , love , happines, kindness , a sense of adventure , and a sense of humor. Shaking her head, she rememberd , one time he had taken her to the holodeck, and ran an interesting program...

In the past- The Monitor-

By the Prophets! Where are you taking me at this hour Zephrem Enore! Dallas said in mock madness.. Zeph just shook his head and grinned, and pulled her down the corridor to the holodeck...

Its a new holodeck program I made, and it involes driving twenty century earth cars. Zeph said with a smile , and a twinkle in his eye.

What an earth , I dont no how to drive cars.. BTW whats a car? Dallas asked.

You'll find out darlin..Zeph said with a grin ,and he pulled her into the holodeck..

Present time- the Galaxy

It had indeed been an adventure, he had said, the car had been from an acenint tv show called Nash Bridges, and the program was styled after that show to, and they had been chased by bad guyies and chased by more bad guyies , and crashed into a building chsing bad guyies..ect sighing , she had tryed a date once after his death , but it had failed misserably , the guy hadnt been Zeph..

Shaking her head from her thoughts and puting the picture away , Dallas pulled her screan closer and decided to call up the crew bios , she had read some , but still had alot more to go , she wanted to make sure she new everything about everyone, if she could. and she began to read..

USS Galaxy
Councelor Dallas Walker

"Out Of Chaos Comes Friendship"
by Councelor Walker
with some assistance from
Ensign M'Benga

Original Title: "Chaos"

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

As Gakor and Walker headed to sickbay ,they chatted abit..

Gakor: Do you like it here on the Galaxy?

Walker: *Smiling* Yes I do ,its a huge ship ,though alot biger than what I am used to serveing on.

Garkor: What other typ ships did you serve on?

Walker: I served on a Mirinda-class and a Nebula-class starship.*Smiling* but I'll eventually find everything.

Gakor: *Smiling* I am sure you will. *And at that they stepped into sickbay it was very chaotic at the moment, and Gakor immedatly went to work, Dallas felt kind of usless at the moment , but she saw a young woman standing besides a bio bed, and walked over to talk with her..*

"Hello," she said, placing a hand on the young woman's shoulder. She looked Klingon, with her dark skinn and ridged forehead; but she had the most beautiful bright-green eyes Dallas had ever seen. "I'm Counselor Walker. You look terribly distraught."

The Klingon woman turned her head to look over her shoulder at the compassionate face of the Galaxy's newest Counselor. "Be'Tran," she said, a tear rolling down her cheek, "Be'Tran M'Benga."

"What's wrong?" asked Dallas.

"It's my... my boyfriend, Jack." said M'Benga, choking back her tears,"He had some sort of accident in the holodeck. He was bleeding and..." Be'Tran couldn't continue. She began crynig again; her shoulders heaving with her sobs.

Dallas rubbed her shoulders and moved in closer, "It'll be alright. You'll see. He'll be alright." her voice was calm and soothing. Be'Tran's tears stopped flowing, at least momentarily...

"How do you know he'll be alright? Be'tran asked

Dallas smiled and said, "Well ,for one thing you saved him and he'll pull through because of the love that is so strong between you.

"Thank you." Be'tran said Putting an arm around her.

"Your welcome ,and please call me Dallas,as well as not wearing a uniform, I also be preferied to be called by my name." Dallas said with a warm smile ,Dallas thought a moment , then asked. "So how do you like your job being an Enginner?

Taken by surprise "How did you know that?" Be'tran asked ,

Smiling "I read your bio." Dallas Said

'Of course.', thought Be'Tran. "Oh, that." she said aloud. She was very comforted by this woman. Dallas had a personality and presence that was definately all her own. Betta hoped they could get to know each other better.

"Well," Dallas continued, "How do you like engineering?"

Be'Tran smiled, if this new counselor was trying to get her mind off Jack, it was working. "I love it." she replied. "I've only been on the Galaxy a few months now. Things have happened so fast."

Dallas smiled sweetly. "How did you and... Jack meet?" she asked.

Be'Tran chuckled a bit. She thought back to that one fatefull incident that had brought the two of them together. She told Dallas all aboutit.The battle with the renegade Klingons, and the Klingon Penetrator Torpedo lodged in the bulkhead in the science-lab.

"I was just playing... flirting I guess." she said, nearing the end of her story. "Jack crawled into the hole we made in the inner bulkhead and cut the outer bulkhead out so the torpedo would be sucked out into space. I had to hold onto him, and I was tethered to the lab-floor. I just sort of... well, grabbed him; and we just started flirting right there."

Dallas was happy to see Be'Tran snapping out of her panic. "Anyway," the Klingon continued, "Jack cut the torpedo out, and that was that. I went to Earth immediately thereafter, with Numa Taurean; and when I got back, well; Jack and I just kinda 'came together'." Dallas placed a comforting hand on Be'Tran's shoulder again, "It sounds like you've found something really wonderful in Jack."

"I have. That's why I'm so afraid of losing him." M'Benga replied.

"You wont." said Dallas, "I promise." Be'Tran smiled at her; knowing she had a new friend.

"It must a spectacular show up there on the bridge, but I am gald I am not up there." Dallas said

Smiling "It must be , Where are you from? Earth?" Be'tran asked

Shaking her head "Nope , I was born and raised on Vulcan ,my parents loved it there, and so do I, I miss it alot and dont go as often, its such a long travel to get there ,but the holodecks make up for that,kind of, I have a program , that a Vulcan friend of mine had made for me just some scenery and such, before I left Vulcan . I dont make it back there as often as I should." Dallas said

"Sounds , like you miss home." Be'tran asked, thinking more of Jack than Dallas at the moment, as he grew up on Vulcan as well.

"Yes I do." Dallas said a bit sadly

"Is Vulcan boring?" Be'tran asked

"No not in the least bit , its one of the most beautiful planets around, at least that is what I think." Dallas said with a chearful smile. "How about you where did you grow up?

"I grew up in Usumbura , United States of Africa." Be'tran said

"Please tell me more about it, the only time , I was ever on earth, was when I went to the Acadamy , and most of the time I always went home for shoreleave, it sounds like a fasinating place." Dallas said.

"Well, where to start?" Be'Tran asked herslef aloud. "Usumbura is a beautiful City. I'm sure it wasn't always like it is today, with parks;and miniature waterfalls; right by the jogging paths. My father's a doctor there; he runs a hospital." here Betta looked around, and wondered if Jack D'Auria was better of in her father's hospital, than in the sickbay of a ship about to go up against the most fearsome battleship in the known galaxy.

"How facinating." said Dallas. "I'ld really like to go there sometime."

Be'Tran looked at her with soft sad eyes. This sweet woman was taking her own time to comfort her, while Jack lay sick in the ward nearby. Of course, that's one of the things Counselors do; and Dallas Walker, in Be'Tran's opinion, was a damn good one!

"Maybe you'll get the chance." said Betta. "Next time I go home on leave, you could come with me."

"Really? You wouldnt mind? Dallas asked with a beaming smile

Smiling back "No I wouldn't , I think it would be really fun."Be'tran said

Talking with Be'tran , Dallas almost forgot ,that they were in Cardassine space. She really liked this Women , and she new , she had found a trusted friend.

"But beware , I might be like a litle girl , going under the Chirstmas tree, looking for that one gift." Dallas said smiling.. and Be'tran laughed at that.

Betta was feeling so much better than when she first brought Jack in. Talking with Dallas was making her remember her past, and look towards the future. She knew that she had found a friend she could count on. even in the chaos that was going on around them!

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

NRPG: Chronological Note; This takes place before the main battle starts. Immediately after the post from Ensign M'Benga where she found Jack in the holodeck, and before Dr. Gakor examined and released him. Also before "It's Not Easy Being a Dog on a Starship" by M'Benga and Valkyre. Sorry for the confusing Time-soup, this log just kinda got left behind. ~~ David & Rebekah (Be'Tran & Dallas)!

Lending a hand in sickbay
Chief Counselor Karyn Dallas

Karyn was in her office when the alert klaxons sounded. Leslie had just left to find Ensign Foxtrot. He had requested an appointment and then never showed up. The computer indicated he was in sickbay so Karyn had sent her in that direction. Not long after all hell broke loose. As the ship rocked and lurched, Karyn's comm beeped.

[Khan to Dallas.]

[Dallas here, go ahead Doctor.]

[Injuries are coming in from all over the ship. We could use a little help over here.]

[On my way. I'll bring some help with me.] Immediately she switched gears.

[Counselor Dallas to all Counselors, please report to sickbay immediately. Bring your medical tricorders, we've just been made nurses.]

All parties acknowledged and Karyn was on her way.

Not for the time in her life, Karyn asked herself why she chose Starfleet as her career. Such questions always seemed to spring to the forefront when she was dangerously close to serious injury. Not to mention serious embarrassment. Each hit threatened to knock her off balance. It would not look good if she was found in the corridor sprawled on the floor with her chair squarely on top of her.

I will not, I repeat WILL NOT end up on this corridor floor, thought Karyn with fierce determination. She would not give those pompous fools up at Starfleet HQ the satisfaction of seeing her fail. Many had objected to her entering Starfleet, arguing that her disability would make her a liability.

Even after she started working on the Enterprise-D as a teacher's aide, Adm. Jellico told her she would never make Senior Staff because Away Teams would be impossible. She made sure to send him a copy of her new orders with her promotion several months later. Surprisingly, she hadn't received a response.

Finally Karyn reached sickbay. She took a deep breath as the doors opened, ready for the worst. There was absolute chaos as nurses and doctors rushed to treat the worst cases. She quickly spotted Dr. Khan and rolled over to lend a hand.

"You rang?"

Taking the Tiger by the Tail
Ensign Benedict T'Kal
Tactical Officer
USS Galaxy

Benedict leaned heavily against the View Table as the Galaxy shook once again with the multiple impacts from the Cardassian Battleship. His fingers flew over the tactical display screens feeding data to the Bridge as fast as it was processed by the tactical database and the sensor interface.

The Cardassian ship was taking damage, but not nearly fast enough for Benedict's liking. The Torpedo room was sending urgent requests for torpedoes from the storage bays - and Benedict knew that crew members were working furiously to transport the weapons to where they could do the most good.

He scanned the screens yet again in an effort to glean as much information as he could on the changing situation. The ship shook again and he cursed Pressman for taking the best helmsman from the Bridge when she was most needed. He saw a new assessment coming in from the sensors that said that the Cardassian ship was losing lateral control and he fed the tactical data to the Bridge with annotations.

Damage reports were flooding in from all decks now. Benedict started directing the efforts of the Emergency Response Units working from the most important systems - weapons, shields, power, and life support. The teams would help in area evacuations and emergency damage assessment.

Crew were being treated in several triage areas already and medical personnel were stretched to the limit - for a brief moment his mind wandered to the beautiful eyes of Lt Tebrianne Bancroft and he wondered if she was okay.

The Galaxy began her pass and fired once again - rear launched torpedoes streaking away to impact in red blossoms of power along the Cardassian ships' superstructure. He made the lightning fast assessments and changed several key decision trees fed to him by the computer - his mind a blur of tactical calculations as he focused once again on the business at hand.

Benedict saw a slight advantage in the new data and fed the course corrections to Lt MacKenzie reducing the enemy firing arcs by a further 2% - it wasn't much but every little bit helped.

"Falling Apart at the Seams"
By Ensign William Foxtrot
Security

Following behind Lt.Albrecht the three kept trying to keep there balance on the way to the turbolift. The ship kept lurching and rocking from the pounding it has been taking. The three reached the turbolift doors and began to enter when they heard a voice.

"Hey wait, Help me get her to the sickbay,Please." The man pleaded.

Will turned around to see a civilian carrying his daughter. The man appeared to badly hurt himself. Will began to head for the man, when the shipped rocked violenty again. Will gained his balance to see one of the support girders falling in front of the door. Sanchez was right there at the doorway and unbalanced. Will pushed her into the turbolift with the Lt. and jumped out of the way.

"Oh god that was close!" Sanchez said shakenly. "Will stood up and looked at the girter " You Two go on I am going to help them, Sir!"

"Awright Ensign, You do that! Be careful!" Lt.Albrecht Ordered.

With that the turbolift doors closed. Will turned around and made his way to the man. Will took the child into his arms and began to make his way to the other turbo lift.

"Thank you, Thank you sir" The man kept pleading.

"Dont thank me until we get to sickbay!" Will said as he kept moving.

Will moved quickly but not to quickly as to leave the older man behind. Then it happened willbegan to cough. He knelt down to one knee. He then stood back up and shook his head clear. The older man looked at him in a worried look.

"Are you okay son?" The man asked.

"I will be fine." Will stubbornly said thru his teeth

They finally reached the other turbo lift. Will could only think through all this lurching and shaking how this ship aint falling apart. Inside the turbolift the older man took his daughter again. Will once again began to cough. He covered his mouth and when he started to bring his hand away from his mouth he noticed blood.

*Oh great maybee i should gotten checked out by the docs* He thought to himself.

"Sickbay!'Will commanded the turbolift. It began to move. He couldnt help but notice the worried look on the face of the other man. He felt sorry for him and wanted to help but Will knew he was no doctor.

"She'll be fine sir, we have the best ocs in starfleet,sir." Will stated trying to comfort the man.

The doors opened as they arrived to there destination deck. The ship began to shake again and Will steadied the man so he wouldnt fall. They began to head down the Hallway to sickbay trying to keep there balance. They reached the sickbay's doors.

"Thank you sir, Thank you" The old man kept repeating.

Will nodded and looked inside of sickbay and saw all the wounded. He shook his head at all the pain.

*They dont have time for my petty injuries* Will thought. He was to stubborn to admit he needed help.

He headed back for the turbolift so he could meet the Lt. Albrecht on the bridge to see what is going to happen. He reached the turbolift and entered it.

"Bri......" Will began coughing before he could get his destination out.

[Please restate your destination] The computer said without a care.

Will kinda chuckled wiped the blood from his mouth and restated"Main Bridge!"

He made sure he appeared alright and that his Phaser and rifle were still in working order. He set them at stun. Tje turbolift opened and He stepped out onto the bridge. He saw the massive hulk lurching as if playing dead. He then looked around the brigde. He took up a position at the turbolift doors awaiting whatever was to come. He coughed again, Quickly wiping away his mouth so no one saw the blood.

*I hope no on enoticed or saw me cough* He though.

Looking at the view screen then at Admiral Pressman Will could only think *God Help Us ALL!!*

***** Casey's Case *****
By Dr. Felicia Khatroweena,
Lieutenant (Assistant Chief Medical Officer),
USS Galaxy NCC-70637
And Lieutenant Commander Deiran Casey

***** Casey's' Quarters *****

Cat pressed the doorbell to Deiran's quarters. She heard Deiran call out to wait a couple of minutes and soon after "Come in," came through the door.

Cat walked in to see Deiran in a robe, with a towel over his head, drying his hair with vigorous motion. He was walking out from the bathroom and looked up to see Cat.

"Oh, ah, I'll come back in a few minutes, Deiran." Cat blurted out. "Give you time to dress."

"Don't worry about it. I'll only be a short minute. Have a seat." Deiran moved into his bedroom. Hidden by the wall, he dressed.

Cat sat down and looked around, waiting for Deiran to finish dressing.

"What brings you here Cat? You only came a little while ago to check me out. I was healthy then, so what's changed?" Deiran's voice floated out from the room.

"Couple of things, primarily the monitor showed a few readings that I have to check out." Cat lied.

"I feel ok. Nothing has happened. So what's wrong with me?" Asked Deiran, not really wanting to know.

"Slight drop in blood pressure. I'm worried about that it might mean that there is an internal slow bleeder from your accident that I missed or has opened up. Not large, I'm concerned is all."

"So what's the other?" Deiran asked from the doorway. He was dressed casually in a tight black tracksuit.

Cat stood up and ran the tricorder over Deiran, scanning him, watching the readings on the small screen.

"I just wanted to say about, me being a little cold earlier..."

"Not to worry Cat. I've had plenty of time to think about it. A little too much time, if you get my drift." Said with an upraised eyebrow and a mischievous smile. "I thought about what you said. I shouldn't have gone out with out checking, but I was bored out of my skull. I'm going crazy in here all by myself Cat!" Deiran watched Cat open her mouth and held up his hand to stop Cat's next argument. "Before you say anything more, it won't happen again. Being a good officer is to follow orders that you don't like. I expect that from my people, so I should expect it in myself. So am I healthy?" Casey was a bit unhappy at having to ask that.

Cat closed the tricorder. "Healthy! Must have been some problem with the diagnosis routines. No indication of any type of internal bleeding." Cat attached the tricorder back to her uniform. "Well that's it. I'll, ah, leave you to your, what ever you were doing."

"Sure! Am I still stuck here?" Deiran asked as he escorted Cat to his door.

"Should be soon, you should able to go back on duty within a few days." Cat turned as she got to the door. "Deiran?"

"Cat?" he asked sheepishly.

"We need to talk about something!" Cat moved back into his room, put her hand on his chest and pushed him back into the room.

Deiran looked a little suspicious, "What about?"

"Deiran, Your dislike of Sickbay is legendary. One of the first things I heard when I came on the Galaxy was how it's needed to hog tie you to come in to Sickbay."

Deiran shrugged, "I just don't like wasting your time there. I can look after myself. Besides Sickbay isn't the most inviting place, nor is it very homey."

Cat just grimaced and gave a small shake of her head. "Deiran... I... You were under observation all of the time you were in Med Bay 3. In all of that time, you were tense. Some thing was bothering you. One of the reasons why you are here and not in Sickbay was because it was getting to such a point that it would interfere with your recovery.

"Come on Cat! What do you think I was concerned about? The same thing I'm concerned about now. Miran! I don't want to lose her; I love her too much to let her disappear from my life. I am going to fix everything up and things will be all fine. So don't worry about me!" he replied stoically, with a hint of resolution. But he couldn't hide his reluctance of giving her the real reason.

Cat looked at Deiran, looking into his eyes. "Deiran, I don't think that was it. Something more is behind that worry, besides Miran. Why don't you like Sickbay?"

"I told you why! What person in their right mind would like a place of death and such morbidness? It's no better than a cemetery." Deiran replied. Realizing his guard was coming down.

"Deiran, you have a problem with Sickbay. I want to help, but if you don't let me, I can't!" exclaimed Cat. "Look, I won't mention it again, unless it interferes with your condition. But if you ever want to talk about it, you know where to contact me." Cat headed for the door.

Deiran stood and watched Cat walk to the door. 'You've been a coward about Sickbay since it happened. Get it out Deiran. Do you know any Captains who couldn't go to their own Sickbay?' Deiran hated when his own conscience beat him.

"Cat, wait..." he called to her.

"Yes Deiran?" Cat replied and turned to face him.

"It's something very painful. Something that traumatized me as a boy. Only a few people know the truth. The Iceman has to remain strong... No weakness Cat! But, I'm tired of being..." Deiran stopped himself. He couldn't even say that about himself. He wasn't a coward. When everyone is afraid, he's usually the only with the audacity to resist fear from paralyzing his emotions.

"What Deiran?" Cat asked, wanting him to open up.

"I'll tell you what happened. When I was 10 years old my father was in command of the USS Legacy. A great ship as I remember it. I have some fond memories of her. But, I am sorry to say I have more tormented memories than the I do the good ones..." Deiran paused. Looking into his eyes it was almost as if you could see him reliving a nightmare in his mind's eye.

"It's okay Deiran, take your time," Cat replied, seeing the pain in his eyes.

He did not cry. But he had the look of someone who had just seen a ghost. "My father was trying to establish diplomatic relations with the Cillarrians. During the mission a civil war broke out on the surface. One side had deceived my father, told him they were the ruling council. When in fact there was two councils that should have been invited. The side in contact with my father at first, neglected to inform him of a disease that had been infecting the people for a year prior to this event. It claimed millions. In an effort to establish diplomatic relations he had my mother, who was the CMO, see what she could do to find a cure. Little did we know how cruel and unforgiving the disease was. The Cillarrians called it the 'Kara Jat' or 'The Predator.' My mother realized soon after she arrived on the Cillarr surface how devastating 'The Predator' was. It didn't effect non-Cillarrians, but it was a horrible, merciless disease. It literally ate any infected Cillarrian alive. Bones, muscles, blood vessels even; nothing escaped the disease's appetite. My mother had 30 of the infected transported on the Legacy. We were attacked soon after by the other faction. While Sickbay was on fire and the ship was rocking from the attack..." Deiran paused again. He put his hands over his eyes. He wanted to scream from the tormenting memories; he was seeing in his head.

Cat moved over, putting her arms around Deiran. She could feel the pain Deiran was in and the Iceman was melting, what was left was a scared man, vulnerable. Deiran's boyish good looks only enhanced the illusion and Cat saw a terrified boy.

"My sister and I were scared and ran to our mother in Sickbay, not knowing what was happening. My mother didn't see us, as she was busy with a patient. We both hid underneath a bio-bed. I saw arms and legs falling off of people, I can still hear their maddening cries, the pain in them seemed unbearable. One woman's fingers fell off as she was being transferred to another bed. Her fingers were right in front of me, the muscles made them move. Blood was everywhere. The fire was raging. One male lost his limbs, then his skin began eroding off his bones, then his muscle and finally his head was eaten off by the disease. This all happened while I watched. Horrified, I covered my sister's eyes and hoped it would end. I watched every single patient die, each one from unspeakable pain. I don't know if you've ever seen someone literally rot alive, Cat, but it's not something I could wish on my worst enemy. I guess my subconscious mind has associated the nightmarish memory with Sickbay. To the point where I get paranoid and hysterical being near a hospital. It screwed me up, I know it... But, I've survived. I'd rather not be in Sickbay anyway..."

The wretchedness of the story Deiran told was unimaginable to anyone who was not there. He had the presence of mind to protect his sister. But at the risk of his own sanity. He was a strong person, his mind had built a wall making him even stronger. But the memory was overwhelming to him, difficult for even the Iceman to relive. He saw it all happen through the eyes of a 10-year-old boy, even now it still effected him the same as it did then.

He had only related the story to three people in his life, his mother, his father and Miran. Now Cat knew too. Deiran realised that Cat was holding him and slowly pushed her away

The story put Cat in shock. Now she knew why and completely understood. It would be harder to help Deiran than she thought. "Deiran, I didn't know."

"You couldn't Cat."

"I have to get back to Sickbay. Fates, I'm sorry... If you want to talk, just... You know where to find me." Cat just didn't know what to say or do. What could she do? 'Girl, you just opened up a Pandora's box! What are you going to do to fix it?' As she headed out for the door, Cat turned and again saw the terrified boy. The healer side of her tried to see it as a sickness and to find the cure. The carer saw the pain and anguish and her heart went out for the man. She felt so bad about leaving the man in the pain he was in. She had to get back to Sickbay, she had her obligations. She couldn't do this alone she needed to talk to someone.

Ensign Scott waits for order. The figure behind the desk tells him that his assignment is posted on the board. "Aye sir." The Ensign starts to introduce him self but from the the looks of the officer at the Duty desk he decides against it. He is best to take his post.

Walking over to the Duty roster. Scott sess that he is assigned roving patrol on deck 14. Scott Grabs his phasor and begins his watch.

Entering the turbo lift Deck 14.

Scott thinks to him self. *I wonder how long it takes to get a bridge assignment.* Well I better not get to excited that will go to the higher ranking Officer. Heck I Still have to prove my self to the Chief security officer let alone my shift Supervisor.*

The turbo lift stops on deck 14.

Beginning the patrol.

When the Red Alert Klaxon goes off. Scott quickly moves to the Security weapons lock and takes a phasor rifle.

Well hopefully it is something simple and I don't have to deal with Intruders.

Continuing to walking down the Deck. Scott sees an unsecured Jefferys tub. "Under red alert that should be secured." Quickly moving to secure it Scott Sticks his head into the Tub to see if any one is working. Seeing that no one is in the tub he shuts and secures the hatch.

As he turns to start back down the hall the ships is rocked violently and he and every one else is thrown against the bulk head. The lights flick has feels the crushing blow of a beam that breaks loose from the overhead. He slams down on the deck as the beam rushes forward. Fighting for consciousness Scott looks down the hall seeing several people lying on the deck. The Corridor is spinning and the ringing in his head is unbelievable.

James Lies on the deck unable to move. He gets a look back down the corridor and sees a crewmen lying under the beam that struck him the beam is laying straight across the crewmen's hips. James tries to get up but is unable to the only thing he can do is hold his head.

Taping his combadge. "Ensign James Scott....., to...., Bridge.

Bridgggge. Therree was..... an explostionnnnn on deck 14. I can I can see at least 15 injured in on deck 14 sector 32 section 10. I have one person traped under a structure beam. Request assistance.

James Crawls over to the crewmen. Seeing that it is a Ltcmder. He checks to see if he is still alive. Seeing that he is. Scott sighs. Sir you are going..... to.... be alright.

Seeing no obvious bleeding James moves to the next person. This is a medical technician and he is unconscious. Grabbing the Technicians med kit James Scans him to make sure he is ok. He sees several people starting to get up and check people. James Crawls to the next person.

This is a Cmder starting to sit up. "Sir are you ok." "Yes I believe so. Just a second you have some blood on your head. James Bandages it up. The Cmder looks at him. Don't you talk to me about blood let me take a look at your head. James turns his head the cmder feels around. Son you aren't moving any where till med teams get hear. The back of your head feels like mush." "But siir."

The Cmder takes the med kit. "I will continue check on people you stay put till a med team arrives. I will check back on you in a minute." In no condition to argue James waits for med teams.

Ensign Torricle taps on his com badge and say's, Ensign Torricle to Ensign Scott. please come in!". Ens. Torricle says. "Computer, locate Ens. Scott.", computer says, ens. scott is on deck 14."

Torricle rushes down to the JT to get to Ens. Scott

"The final confrontation"
by Commander Joerg Sterner
Acting Captain, USS Galaxy
additions by Captain Price

"Chance of success?" Joerg asked after hearing Lieutenant McKenzie's summary of his plan.

"62%, but the chances of us winning a prolonged battle are even less. I believe it's our best, if not our only chance, Captain." the Lieutenant replied solemnly.

Joerg looked stared at Mac as the weight of command settled firmly on his shoulders. He then glanced at Sunder and then at Pressman - the decision clawing its bitter way to his lips.

'... the chances of us winning a prolonged battle are even less.' were the words that rang through Joerg's mind. It seemed to him as if hours were passing and he heard those words over and over again. He knew that Lieutenant McKenzie was absolutely right about fighting on, since the Cardassian/Dominion alliance has most certainly sent out ships to investigate and destroy them by now. But the question remained, should they put everything into one big shot or try to find a weakness in the Battleship they hadn't yet discovered.

"Alright, I have decided to do as Lieutenant McKenzie had suggested. Note in the computer's log that as of Stardate 49809.14 I, Commander Joerg Sterner, as acting Captain of the USS Galaxy take full responsibility in the upcoming attack on the Battleship. It was my decision and mine alone to attack that vessel with all our remaining weapons in a full alpha strike on their command center." Joerg paused and turned to the tactical station.

"Lieutenant McKenzie, prepare the torpedo launchers and phaser banks and power them up to full efficacy." Joerg ordered and sat down again.

Mac pushed some buttons and checked with the status of the weapons, and then replied "All set and ready to go sir."

Admiral Pressman was closely following Joerg's orders and decisions and was very impressed with what he saw. At the start of his mission he wouldn't have guessed that the young Commander would be capable of doing and deciding such things. He now saw that Captain Price was very blessed with such a fine officer and such a superb crew in general.

While those thoughts traveled through the Admiral's mind, the real action was about to begin. After receiving word from the Chief Tactical Officer that everything was ready to go, Joerg simply stated three words "Do it 'mate!"

The Galaxy came around the huge Battleship, turned and flew towards the forward section of the enemy vessel. The moment they were on direct approach of the ship, Joerg ordered to put all available power to their forward shields. At that moment the only place where the Battleship could hit them was there. After that the last attack run on the Battleship began.

"Mr. McKenzie fire at will and may God help us all." Joerg announced, shortly followed by a "Aye Captain" from behind the Captain's chair.

The Galaxy began to fire a huge arsenal of torpedoes and uncountable phaser shots. On the display all one could see for a long time was only the explosions and the flickering of the enemy's shields. The Battleship in return fired both side arrays at the Federation ship as anticipated. Status reports from various decks came in, stating that many section of the Galaxy took damage during that particular fight. But the only thing at that moment was either the failure or the success over the enemy, details of minor damages no longer mattered.

"Sir, our shields are down to 34%!!"

"What about the damage on the Battleship?" Joerg replied.

"I can't say for sure, but I think we finally were able to inflict some damage to their forward section. Their forward shields are almost gone sir."

"Good, keep firing and try to increase the power levels on our forward shields." Joerg ordered and began to grab his chair even harder to make up for the jolts that hit the Galaxy again and again.

The Galaxy flew over the Battleship, turned and flew back for another attack. This time the shields of the Battleship flickered even less, indicating that their actions showed some reaction after all.

Then suddenly and without any warning the Battleship stopped firing. No one on the bridge could say why they did it, but no one really cared at that moment.

"Our shields are down to 21% sir."

"Keep firing!" Joerg ordered again.

"But sir, this could be a trap. They want to lure us in coming closer and than hit us even harder."

"I don't think so, their forward shields are gone and soon the ship itself will meet the same fate." Lieutenant McKenzie announced and kept firing torpedoes and phaser shots at the Battleship.

The front section of the Battleship began to take massive hits from the detonating weapons fired by the Galaxy. Everyone on the bridge could see that it was only a matter of time, or better of ammunition, now before their mission's objective was complete, and there was the main problem. The torpedo storage chambers were completely empty at that moment. Only the few crates with weapons that were just transported to the launcher bays were the last torpedoes that could be used to stop the Battleship. Most of the crewmen who moved the weapons out of the storage chambers hadn't seen the chamber empty before, so they were all very surprised to see that happen. Some of them even thought it might be the last thing they'll ever see, since without any means to defend themselves they certainly will be destroyed.

Back on the bridge the mood was much better. The constantly hits on the enemy's vessel was a great sight to see for all bridge personal.

"That was it!!" announced Lieutenant McKenzie and the Galaxy pulled quickly away from the huge lump of metal that was about to explode.

"Quick, transfer all power to the aft shields and brace for impact!" Joerg shouted moments before the huge ship finally exploded.

The Battleship shook and began to crack from the inside. Then finally the huge ship exploded in such a big fireball no one on the Galaxy has ever seen before. For some moments the whole display was illuminated with flames from the destroyed ship.

Cheers and celebrations began to spread throughout the whole ship. But there was another thing to check first.

"I want damage reports from all decks and I want them now!" Joerg ordered.

"Shields are down to 12%. We have currently nine photon torpedoes left and the energy for our phase arrays is nearly gone." Lieutenant McKenzie announced.

"Nine torpedoes? That's all that's left?" Admiral Pressman questioned. He seemed stunned that it took that many quantum and photon torpedoes for the Galaxy to destroy the Dominion Battleship. Even after hitting it with 8 phased torpedoes that exploded inside the mamouth warship, it took nearly the full 200 torpedoes the Galaxy carried to finish the job. Needless to say, that didn't leave the Admiral with a warm fussy feeling inside. Especially with the knowledge that this was not the only Battleship that existed. When Commander Sterner simply nodded confirming the count, Pressman added, "Sounds bad, but all we have to do now is getting back to Federation space. At least we still have the phase cloak. That should get up home safely."

"What about the warp drive and main power?" Joerg nervously asked.

"Both are still functional sir." came the relieving answer.

"That's great." Joerg said happily and was hoping for the best now.

Then suddenly there was another surprise for them.

"Sir, I'm detecting a wing of Dominion attack ships escorting a Gator class Cardassian battlecruiser. They are on their way to intercept us!"

Admiral Pressman spun around, finally shaking out of his stunned shell that Ambassador Tomalak's betrayal had left him in. "Have they detected us Lieutenant?"

McKenzie checked his sensors and rocked his head from side to side. "I don't think so Admiral. Probably a routine patrol or possibly they were sent to check out the Battleship after they lost communications with her a half hour ago. We are still jamming all frequencies sir."

Pressman had a worried look. Not so much for the safety of the USS Galaxy as much as for the safety of the mission. The order was to get in, destroy the Battleship with the new weapons, and then get out without letting the Cardassian-Dominion Alliance know who had attacked them or how. Now, that part of the mission was in jepardy and that worried Pressman. It wasn't like he already didn't have bad news to report to the President.

"How long before they are within weapon's range?" Joerg quickly asked, the happy mood gone again.

"They'll arrive in about five minutes sir."

"Damn, why is always something bad happening after something good has occurred?" Joerg asked, more like talking to himself.

"Sir, we can't stand a fight against those ships. Not with our shields nearly gone and with no means to defend ourselves." Mac offered his view of the things.

"I know we can't beat them. But that's not our job anymore. The only thing we have to do is to get back to Federation space." Joerg summarized.

"But how we are going to accomplish this?" he also added and looked around on the bridge.

"Activate the phase cloak Commander." Pressman insisted, "That will hide the Galaxy and protect us at the same time."

Joerg eyes caught the Admirals for a moment before he pressed his lips together and nodded. "You heard the Admiral. Have engineering bring the phase cloak back on-line and set a course for Federation space. Best possible speed."

"Aye sir. Best possible speed." Lieutenant' Sharp replied from the Helm laying in the course and preparing to take the ship to warp.

Taleen was no longer walking around the area where triage had been set up. She was crawling. The area was so full that she had not chance to triage, and no one was going anywhere else anymore. All sickbays were as full as this room was. All they could do was treat the life threatening injuries and hope for the best. Supplies were about gone, the other doctors were at the sickbays, she hoped. How much more could this ship take, she wondered.

The ship shuddered again, someone screamed, and Taleen waited until it was over and continued on. More patients were arriving every second, there was no way to double deck and the floor, and every other available surface was full.

The shuttering and lurches continued at an alarming rate. The ship was going to shake itself apart. The lights went out and Taleen stopped moving. In a loud voice she called, "The emergency lights will come on in a moment. Everyone hold your place and no panic, please." The emergency lights came on a few minutes later and just them the ship stopped shuttering and lurching. Silence wrapped the room.

She heard cheers outside the room and then someone stuck their head in and said, "We Won, the Battle ship is gone!"

Cheers erupted in the room from those able to do so. The main lights came back on which made everyone cheer again. Taleen got up off her very sore knees. At least the incoming patients should stop soon and then maybe they could all get caught up.

Someone else brought another person into the room, and Taleen moved to examine them.

Ensign Taleen Cyndanian, Medical Staff, USS Galaxy

"I Need Power"
By: Lt(jg) Ryak Sullax
S.O. USS Galaxy

Ryak was still trying to find out if there were any cloaked ships in the area. Nothing seemed to be working. Ryak knew that his experiment was not ready but he also knew that he was on the correct track. The Galaxy kept shaking as it was hit by the battleship. Ryak kept trying different approaches to get his experiment to work effectively.

The lab went dark and then light back up as the Galaxy was hit again. Ryak was concerned that the amount of power he needed to run his program would give out any time. His hands started to type faster and faster as he kept trying in new calculations into the computer. The lab flickered again. This time shutting down his program. Ryak started it back up and started to do more adjustments. Ryak noticed out of the corner of his eye that the battleship was taking on a lot of damage. Ryak could see a lit up box next to the battleship stating how many times it has been hit and with what. Under that there was the damage report for the battleship. Ryak was amazed at the wonderful job that went into such an impressive ship.

An explosion was heard from out in the hallway as the lab went black. Ryak opened the compartment at his feet and pulled out a phaser and placed it on his belt. He reached in again and pulled out a tricorder and turned it on. The lab was completely out of power. Ryak made his way over to the door. For some reason the door was jammed. Ryak tried to get the door opened. After a small struggle the door opened. The hall was filled with smoke and debris. Ryak looked down the corridor to see that it was completely blocked off. As Ryak looked the other way he could see that his could make it safely to the turbolift if nothing out of the ordinary was to occur. Ryak started to make his way. The ship shook as they were hit again. Ryak dived forward as a been almost flatted him. Ryak rolled onto the already opened turbolift door. As he looked up he say that a young female Ensign was standing there.

"Hello sir." she stated.

Ryak stood up and fixed his tunic. "Jolan'Tru Ensign." The doors to the turbolift closed and they were on there way. Ryak had no idea on where they were headed but in a couple of seconds the doors opened to reveal the bridge. The Ensign walked onto the bridge. Ryak saw that Lt. Erikson was at the science station. All of a sudden there was a cheer. Ryak stepped onto the bridge and saw that the battleship was destroyed. Ryak could see that the Admiral was also on the bridge. The bridge was full of commotion as everybody worked at getting things done. Ryak saw a spare station opened at the back of the bridge. Ryak made his way over and called up his program onto that terminal. Ryak wanted to see if he could get any more info.

Chris Gagne
A.K.A. Lieutenant(JG.) Ryak Sullax
Science Officer
USS Galaxy
Contact at: i2qtnot2b@hotmail.com

"Das boot"
by Captain Robert Edward Lee Price

*** Main Engineering, USS Galaxy ***

Activity was a fury on the engineering deck of the Galaxy. The main warp core reactor was glowing brightly supplying the massive amounts of power needed by the systems on the Galaxy for the battle. Phasers, shields, structural integrity fields, emergency force fields, all were being taxed to the limit.

Lieutenant Mercury was busy working near the master situation monitor in the main control room of Engineering. A while earlier during the battle he'd send Lieutenant Boudreau, Ensign Nog and a team of engineers to deck 21 to try and bypass the faulty power distribution grids.

"More damage reports Chief." Ensign Jensen said handing Lieutenant Mercury a padd.

David glanced at the report. "You'll need to take a team and reinforce these areas on decks 11, 15 and 32. Also, check deck 10, there are reports that the emergency bulk heads have all sealed themselves there. A lot of people are currently trapped in Ten Forward. Not that that is a bad place to be."

"Yes sir. I'll get right on that." Max replied taking the padd back from the Chief. "Any word on the power grid yet sir?"

"Not yet, I was just about to check in with Boudreau." Lieutenant Mercury replied tapping the buttons on the master situation display to bypass a damaged ODN junction.

"Well I'll let you get back to work sir." Max nodded then turned to go put together a team to repair the various decks and release the emergency bulkheads that had stranded dozens of officers in Ten Forward.

David tapped his communicator. "Boudreau, Mercury here. What's your status?"

*****

*** Jefferies tube 21 K14 ***

In the dimly lit and very cramped Jefferies tubes on Deck 21, a thin film of sweat glistened off the well defined arms of Lieutenant Mélissa Boudreau. Because of the heat radiating from the power distribution nodes on this entire deck, the engineer had discarded her regulation duty jacket and was wearing just a gray Starfleet tank top undershirt. Pulling with great force on a electrical spanner to open a sealed node for access when her comm badge hailed.

["Boudreau, Mercury here. What's your status?"]

Frustration filled Mélissa's face as the wrench slipped and she smashed her knuckles on the steel grating of the jefferies tube floor. With a disheartened sigh, she instinctively pulled her hand up and began sucking on the bleeding knuckles while tapping her comm badge.

"Still working on installing the bypass circuits Chief. Maybe another ten or fifteen minutes for this one. I'll have to check with the others to find out when they will be ready." The Lieutenant estimated.

["Ensign Nog called in. He's already finished bypassing his node and went to assist Specialist Sang with his. Do you want me to send someone to assist you Lieutenant?"] David asked over the channel.

"Negative David, I can handle it. It's just hard working in these tight spaces and in this heat. It's got to be a hundred degrees in here at least." Mélissa commented while wrapping her hand up in a clean white rag.

["Well do your best. We will need to bring the power grid back on-line as soon as you are finished. Mercury out."]

The channel closed and Lieutenant Boudreau returned to bypassing the power grid.

*****

"Use the dynamic phase coupler for that, it works better." Ensign Nog pointed out to Specialist Sang handing him the tool.

"Sir? I thought that was only for use in a polarized field?" Peter asked recalling his Starfleet technical training.

"Yes, that's is what they tell you, but if you do not activate the phase coupler and just use it as a regular wrench it works much better. I learned that on Deep Space Nine. We didn't always have the proper tool for the job there, so it forced us to come up with creative solutions. Here, give it a try." Nog explained.

Peter listened and then fit the dynamic phase coupler to the fitting. The Ferengi was right, it did give him a much easier grip on the cap fitting and the leverage to break it free. "Wow, that is a good trick." Peter smiled.

"Necessity is the mother of all invention." Nog commented.

"Is that one of those rules of Acquisition your people are always reciting?" the Specialist asked working to pull out the damaged power distribution circuit board.

"No. It is something Chief Miles O'Brian used to say on the space station. I just like using it because it is often times true." The Ferengi replied.

Peter pulled out the charred and burnt circuit board and put it to one side. He then reached out his hand to Nog who held the replacement circuits. "Thanks sir."

Nog nodded. Because of his short size, the Ferengi was able to squat down in the Jefferies tube while still standing on his feet in a sort of squatting position. It allowed him greater access to the tools and circuits than the taller humans like Sang that had to lay prone or crawl on their hands and knees to get around. It was the first time the Ferengi ever was thankful for his unique size.

"I think that does it. Let me close this up and we should be done." Peter explained.

"Be sure to run a diagnostic on the unit before battening it down. Otherwise we will just have to come out here again later on." Nog ordered before adding, "You did a good job."

Peter glanced over at the Ensign, "Thank you sir. You sound like you plan on leaving?"

The Ferengi nodded. "I am going to head back to Engineering. We by passed two of the power grids and Lieutenant Boudreau should be finished with the third by now. Chief Engineer Mercury might have something else that needs working on."

Specialist Sang nodded. "Well I can finish up here. Thanks for the tip about the dynamic phase coupler sir. I'll remember that one."

Nog reached out and patted Peter on the shoulder, "It was my pleasure. See you when this is all over."

Peter smiled and watched as the Ferengi Ensign turned and began a sort of 'duck walk' out the jefferies tube. Nog had an interesting gaunt when he was walking and trying to keep up with the long legged officers on normal decks, but seeing him waddle through the Jefferies tube like a duck was something else. Still, he was able to negotiate the tube ten times faster than any human he'd ever seen. Peter turned and finished testing the bypassed circuit before closing it up.

*****

*** Main Engineering ***

Nog came walking into the Engineering Department. Before where he was amazed at the vastness of the Galaxy Class starship, now he didn't even pay any notice to it. He was still concerned with the battleship and how the Galaxy was doing. The last dozen minutes he'd been crawling through jeffereies tubes doing his part to get the main power grid back on-line.

Nog made his way across the busy deck to the control room where Lieutenant Mercury was working. He couldn't help but look at the view monitor that was displaying the forward view from the Galaxy's main view screen. Nog stopped in his tracks. "Where is the Battleship chief? It didn't get away did it?"

David smiled. "We finally finished it off Nog. You just missed it."

"That was the explosion I felt? I was in the turbolift when the ship rocked, but I thought it was just another weapons attack." Nog said with smiling eyes.

"That was it. It took damned near everything we had to do it, nearly all 200 photon torpedoes to take out 1 ship, but she's gone. All that's left now is to get us home safe and in one piece." Mercury explained.

"What about the rest of the ship sir?" Nog asked.

"That will take some time to get in order. A lot of minor damage on all decks and a few hull breaches. I just sent Ensign Jensen to deck ten to check out some sealed bulkheads that has members of the crew trapped on that deck. You helped Specialist Sang with his power grid?"

"Yes sir. He was closing it up when I left. Probably finished by now." Nog explained.

Lieutenant Mercury was about to answer when a hail came through. It was Ensign Brandis on the Bridge.

["Bridge to Engineering. Commander Sterner wants the phase cloak activated straight away. There is a wing of Dominion attack ships and a Cardassian Gator Class battle cruiser heading our way."] Brandis explained over the channel.

"Damn." David declared, looking at the security screens that concealed the top secret cloaking device. He'd bypassed the Galaxy's power to use the special one the engineers had jury rigged to power the cloaking device to keep phasers and shields on-line. He knew that would mean disabling the phase cloak, but at the time it was his only option. "The phase cloak is off-line at the moment. How much time do we have to get it activated?"

["This is Sterner here Lieutenant."] Joerg broke in, ["The enemy ships will be within weapons range in less than five minutes. We are not sure if they have spotted us yet, but they will if we don't cloak within the next sixty seconds."]

David looked around the main engineering deck. "The repairs to the main power grid are not going to be completed in time sir. I can probably get the cloak activated but I will have to take weapons and shields off-line."

Within a moment Joerg replied, ["Do it Lieutenant. Sterner out."]

Pointing at the cables that laid on the main engineering floor Mercury began calling out. "Help me with these. We need to disconnect all of these bypasses and get the cloaking device activated in the next sixty seconds."

Several engineers, Nog included, moved to the make shift power grid the Galaxy engineers had assembled to help feed the power hungry phase cloaking device. One of the Engineers inquired, "Shouldn't we shut the grid down before disconnecting the leads sir?"

David glanced at him shaking his head, "There is not enough time for that specialist. Just be careful and don't make any mistakes."

Lieutenant Mercury waited until six engineers were in position on all of the lines. He then began a count, "Okay everybody, yank on three. One, two, THREE!"

A shower of sparks rained out in the engineering department as the high powered bypass cables were removed from the splices Lieutenant Mercury had wired earlier to keep the Galaxy's key systems up and running during the battle. When the sparks died down, and everyone's eyes adjusted to the normal lighting David called out, "Everyone okay?"

Nods and a few smiles circled the Engineering department floor. Nog turned and replied, "We are all fine Chief and ready to go home."

Lieutenant Mercury stepped over to the security screen. The Ferengi followed. Lieutenant Harbright was standing by waiting to activate the cloaking unit. "You should be all set Lieutenant. Fire that puppy up." David declared.

The black uniformed engineer smiled a goteed grin at both officers. He then keyed in the command sequence to activate the Phase cloaking device. Lights began to flicker on the unit and the surge generator began to hum. Then Harbright got a worried look. "I don't understand it, it's not working!"

*****

*** Bridge, USS Galaxy ***

"Enemy status Lieutenant?" Sterner called out.

Hunter checked his displays on the tactical arch, "They are still closing sir. We will be within their sensor range in less than thirty seconds."

"What is taking them so long to activate the phase cloak?" Pressman demanded to know.

Sterner tapped his comm badge, "David, what's going on? We will be detected by the enemy for certain in less than thirty seconds. What is the delay?"

*****

**** Engineering ****

Lieutenant Mercury tapped his badge while he quickly ran to the power cables lining the engineering room floor. Carefully he began visually inspecting the cabling while speaking. "We've disconnected the bypasses but something is not right Commander. The phase cloak has power but it is not activating. I need more time."

["You don't have time Lieutenant."] Admiral Pressman interrupted, ["If we are not cloaked in the next twenty seconds those ships will detect us and know that a Federation starship destroyed their battleship. Now get that phase cloak activated now."]

The Admiral's words didn't do anything to motivate David. He was working to troubleshoot the problem but not for Pressman, for the lives of the entire crew of the USS Galaxy. Lieutenant Mercury inspected the cables quickly, tracing them back to the main phase unit. He'd only taken a few seconds, but he could see nothing wrong with them.

"I don't understand this!" Harbright declared. "I've reset it twice. This should be working."

Nog was standing by and once again his mouth was a gap. The butterflies were returning. Just when he was convinced they would be getting out of this, trouble strikes again.

"The lines go into here. Maybe with all of the battle damage the Galaxy took, the unit became damaged from the violent rocking around." Mercury suggested.

"That's not possible. This is completely solid state. It's designed to handle much more that what the Galaxy just went through." Harbright defended like an Engineer.

["Mercury, we need that cloak activated right now..."] Sterner reminded over the open channel.

Tracing a finger across the sleek aluminum casing of the unit, David made a sort of gesture with his fingers like a cross or an 'x'. Then, taking a step back he took a deep breath and let loose a forceful forward snap kick leaving a rather impressive sole impression marring the surface.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Harbright screamed, but the black clad Starfleet Intelligence Engineer soon saw the phase cloak unit power to life. The phase cycle had began sending a glistening, tingling wave of energy over the entire USS Galaxy causing it to change to another phased state.

["You did it Lieutenant!"] came the pleased voice of Commander Sterner over the channel.

Ensign Nog looked back and forth at Lieutenant Mercury, Lieutenant Harbright and the now dented phased cloak unit. For a long moment his mouth was open before a delighted giggle started which soon turned into a full round of stress relieving laughter. Both Harbright and Mercury joined in with the Ferengi's professional assessment of the phase cloaking device. With one swift kick from Chief Engineer David Mercury's boot, the Galaxy had avoided another confrontation and was ready to head home.

"Portals"
by Lt. Ronni Morris
ACSO, USS Galaxy

The three Starfleet officers were very excited. K'Eytyanna, Endris, and Ronni watched as a small hole opened in mid-air and expanded to 2 meters in size. On the other side was a Cardassian female with a look of shock. Ronni pushed through the explosive into the Cardassian ship, and then closed the portal.

K'Eytyanna checked the viewer and saw the Cardassian battleship rock with the explosion. The three jumped for joy! As Ronni reset the coordinates to the Cardassian battleship, Endris prepared the next explosive. Suddenly the USS Galaxy rocked with the impact of several explosions. All three of them were knocked to the floor. K'Eytyanna stood up quickly and said, "We're no longer phased!"

The ship rocked again. Endris said, "I'm heading for sickbay!" And she left. K'Eytyanna said, "I'm going to Engineering!" And she too was gone. Ronni turned back to the Iconian machine. She didn't want the machine to get damaged, especially since they were so close to discovering the mystery. She shut down the system and fastened the configuration to the floor.

Suddenly, the shuttlebay doors were blown out. The shuttlecraft was swept out, along with every loose item around. Ronni fell behind the control panel, but the pull was horrible. The oxygen was all gone. Suddenly, the emergency shields kicked in and Ronni collapsed to the floor. Blood was trickling from her nose.

She got up and checked all of the equipment. Everything still functioned. It was almost eerie looking out into space with just a shield between her and the great vacuum. Ronni decided that she had better head for the Bridge. She covered the Iconian machine and headed for the door. It wouldn't open. Ronni tried the override. No luck. Removing the panel next to the door, she tried the manual release. No go.

Pushing some boxes over to the air vent, it was mostly locked too. A small amount of air was seeping in, but she couldn't get the damaged vent lock to open. She jumped down off the crate and opened the Jefferies tube entrance. The emergency locks were in place and the override was not responding.

Getting an idea, she went back over to the Iconian machine and turned it on. She set the coordinates to the bridge and activated it. A small hole opened near the Captain's ready room and Ronni jumped through the hole, as it closed behind her.

With a smile of satisfaction, she raced up the ramp and toward Greer and the Science center. "What can I do to help?" she said.

"Red"
Ensign J. "Lucas" Brandis

The damage reports were coming in at an alarming rate. Lucas wonder what the massive bulk of a Cardassian ship would send next. Shields were fluctuating, jumping for 60 to 50 to 55 percent, in between torpedo bursts and power rerouting.

Then the rage hit him. All he could see was red. He couldn't go fast enough, sending orders to the tactical, engineering, and medical departments, while relaying sensor out put to the tactical computers, and compiling a sensor sweep analysis for any cloaked vessels. Quelling the rage that enveloped him as he reflected for a second on the Romulan treachery.

Then, it hit him. Torpedo could be transported to the Torpedo Rooms from the cargo bays directly by taking impulse auxiliary power off line during each transport. It was risky and would leave the Galaxy vulnerable should primary impulse go off-line during transport. Lucas punched in the proper commands into the artificial intelligence operations station and held his finger over the button that would send out the order to transporter.

Then, he remembered, "Captain, request permission to take auxiliary impulse power off line for transporter."

"Transporter and not necessary at the moment, Ensign." Admiral Pressman added, as if Lucas were a mere peasant.

Turning in his chair to address the Acting Captain, while at the same time ignoring the Admiral as only Royalty can, Lucas proceeded, "Sir, the auxiliary power can be re-routed in seconds and the primary impulse engines are stable."

"What for?" Asked the Captain.

"Transporting torpedoes directly to the Torpedo Rooms, it would increase current performance by 50%." The Ensign replied, ready to comply.

"Make it so, but keep in contact with engineering while transporting, in case of Primary Impulse failure." He said from the Captain's command chair.

"Eye, Eye, sir." With that, Lucas released his trigger finger, processing and relaying to the proper channels.

=^=Ensign Brandis=^=

=/\= "Red Alert" =/\=
by Matthew Albrecht

Red alert had sounded, Commander Sterner having ordered everyone to their battle stations. Seconds later, when Matthew and Sanchez were still arranging redeployment of security teams to reinforce main engineering, Ensign Foxtrot stormed into security with a phaser burn evident on his tunic. He had expressed his concern for the ship, obviously anxious to do something about it. Now the three of them were heading for the bridge.

"Albrecht to lieutenant Bishop," he called after tapping his commbadge. After Xavier replied, Matthew continued, "I want you to leave Trabuco in charge of the detachment in Main Engineering. You I need in Security watching over things. I'll be back in a few minutes, okay?" Matthew was concerned; a Romulan Warbird was nearby, managed to transport a man and a half-dozen torpedoes off the Galaxy without triggering any alarms, and could very well have sent additional personell onto the ship just as clandestinely.

Bishop answered, "Yes, sir. I'm on my way to security now," in his typical all-business manner. His tone always reassured Matthew that things were under control wherever Xavier was posted.

Albrecht added, as he and Foxtrot and Sanchez arrived at the turbolift, "Bishop, I want you to run things as if there are intruders aboard. The internal sensors haven't reported anything, but I never trust the damned things." Sanchez and Foxtrot were following behind while he spoke to Bishop. "If Tomalak could get off the ship, anybody could have gotten on. Albrecht out," he said, and tapped his badge to terminate the call.

An injured man appeared, as if from nowhere, carrying a little girl. The ship was hit just then, and damage to the corridor threatened the two civilians. Ensign Foxtrot volunteered to see to the safety of the innocent bystanders, and escort them to Sickbay. Matthew appreciated his heroic enthusiasm, and the group split up there. Sanchez and Albrecht soon arrived at the bridge to see the Dominion Battleship on the screen, apparently much more agile than its size might suggest.

~~~~~~ Later, deck 12 ~~~~~~

...Bishop's voice broke through the sounds of exploding lighting panels. A rain of sparks came down around Matthew after the Galaxy suffered another heavy blow from the giant Dominion juggernaut. There was some smoke, and the red alert lighting colored the corridor brightly red after the primary lighting source was cut off. Xavier was saying, "...lieutenant, but we don't have a team in your area right now. There's a sensor failure in Jeffrie's tube 12-theta--that's near a possible hull breach..." The situation Xavier was describing was potentially disastrous, but he described it to Matthew with his usual cool-headed detachment.

The lieutenant replied, "S'alright, Bishop. I'll check it out. Guess you'll have to mind the shop a while longer, eh?" He looked about, getting his orientation in the corridor. The Galaxy's air recycling system was already clearing the smoke from the area, but the lighting was still predominately red. *Where the Hell is tube 12-theta?* he wondered. Albrecht slapped a panel, bringing it to life. The LCARS terminal appeared, and he quickly tapped in a query for the location of the Jeffrie's tube. A moment later he had made his way back to the tube, hoping the problem would be within his limited ability to repair, or patch up until an engineering crew could respond.

In he climbed, on all fours, recalling his Academy Military History instructor who claimed engineers' qualified for service based upon their ability to crawl around on all fours quickly. The thought put a smile on his face while he struggled to move quickly through the narrow, low-ceilinged passage. Eventually, he came to a junction. He checked the plate on the wall, and noted he had arrived at his destination. Somewhere along the next ten meters of tunnel, the sensors had failed due to battle damage. He proceeded on, only to be stopped by an invisible barrier--which flared to bright blue-white when he impacted it. Static and sparks danced across its surface as he pulled away.

Beyond the forcefield, the passage looked totally intact. There was no apparent hull rupture, there were no exposed power relays or conduits that he could see from where he kneeled. Matthew considered what he knew of the forcefield barriers in the Jeffrie's tubes. They were designed to operate when internal sensors detected dangerous environments, such as the vacuum of space or toxic gas that may have leaked from a supply line. They may also be activated automatically when the internal sensors have failed in the section, in case a hull fracture caused the failure of sensors. *So which is it?* he wondered. *Deadly vacuum, poisonous gasses, or simply a safety precaution protecting me from nothing?*

Nearby was a control panel, simple in design, with limited functionality. Of course, a talented engineer could probably fly the ship from the little panel- ette, but a lieutenant from security had little hope of configuring a warp drive with so few user-friendly features. Nevertheless, he attempted to bend the little control to his will. Matthew called up the local environmental controls by entering a series of commands, all the while thinking he was putting in the craziest series of logic to get there. *Okay, circulation, circulation...* Finding what he was looking for, or at least thinking he had, he re-activated the environmental support to the tube on the other side of the force field. The little panel provided minimal feedback, so instead he watched the passage for tell-tale signs of a hull breach. There were no contrails to indicate ultrafast-moving air, no loose debris skittering down the deck. But, was that conclusive evidence? The little control panel didn't alert him to any unusual situation, but then again, would it?

"Bishop," he called after tapping his commbadge, "Albrecht here." A jolt ran through the deck beneath him as the Galaxy was struck again, then yet again a split second later. His knee slipped beneath him, and bumped across the corrugated deck plating painfully.

The reply came quickly, "Go ahead, lieutenant." Still cool-headed.

Matthew put his hand to his kneecap, rubbing the pain away. "Look, I've restored life-support to twelve-theta. Check and see if the system is reporting normal function," he ordered, trying not to let the pain in his knee color his tone with hostility.

A moment passed, and Bishop announced, "System operating within expected parameters. Sensors still unresponsive, lieutenant." There was no way for the two security officers to verify the atmosphere on the other side of the barrier.

The Galaxy rocked hard under another blow, heeling over sharply as if the inertial dampeners were failing. The tube's lighting and power failed, plunging Matthew into total darkness. He quickly held his breath reflexively, then remembered from his zero-g class that for vacuum, you're supposed to hyperventilate yourself, then exhale fully, so no air remained in the lungs. He reached out toward the forcefield. It wasn't there. He ran his arm back and forth across the junction, but found only deck and bulkheads. The air was cool, but otherwise normal. He allowed himself to exhale, and opened his eyes. No fumes, no irritating vapors. The Jeffrie's tube was clear and safe. Then again, it was pitch black...

"Checking In"
by Ensign Be'Tran M'Benga
& Ensign Talen Valkyre

The fire on deck 14 was out. And M'Benga had so far managed to ride out the battle unscathed. She was on her way back to engineering. Still she didn't know if Jack D'Auria had been injured or not. She longed to tap her badge and call "M'Benga to D'Auria. I love you. Be careful.", but she knew better than to clutter the commchannels with her worrying for her lover.

One bit of curiosity could be satisfied, however. Lieutenant Boudreaux had ordered her to go to sick bay before returning to her station in engineering, and repair a replication power amplifier that had gone out during the battleship's last salvo.

Be'Tran arrived at the sickbay, and was overwhelmed. The wounded were piling up confetti at a parade. Be'Tran at that moment considered herself lucky to still be in one piece. She entered the sickbay, franticly looing for Jack, when she noticed Chief Counselor Dallas.

"M'Benga, good, over here." said the Counselor. She led M'Benga to the disfunctional replicator, which was normaly used for skingrafts and blood replication. The power had gone out, and the medtechs had not been able to get it restored.

Be'Tran knelt down and removed the toolkit from around her waist. Quickly she went to work repairing the damaged circuitry, as the Galaxy was rocked by annother Battleship onslaught.

Soon the power in the replicator flared again, and M'Benga's work there was done. She started checking the wounded, on her way out, for any sign of Jack.

Insiead she caught the familiar face of a big Husky dog, curled up at the base of a biobed, trying to stay out of the way of the hustle and bustle of the sickbay.

"Hey, King!" said Betta, overjoyed to see the dog again. King hopped up and barked a little bark. Be'Tran rubbed his head, and took a close look at the occupant of the biobed.

It was, of course, Talen Valkyre, King's master. Be'Tran had pulled him from the fire in his quarters, thanks to his valiant dog. She leaned closer to the bed, scratching King's head at the same time.

Talen looked up and smiled

"Hello Miss M'Benga" he said in a weak voice

King noting that his master was awake jumped up and tryed to get on the biobed to see his master but there was no room.

The dog ended up putting his forefeet on the bed, and leaning over to lick Talen's face.

Be'Tran looked at the man she had saved. "Hello, Mr. Valkyre." she said, "Feeling better?"

"I guess." he responded, "And, It's Talen, OK?"

"OK?" responded Be'Tran. Suddenly, the ship shook again, but not as if it had been struck, more as if it were responding to external explosions.

Someone shouted something from the back of sickbay, and a cheer wnet up. King barked a couple of deep barks in response, and Talen leaned over to pat his best friends head.

A med-tech rushed past Betta and Talen, and, seeing the surprise in the green eyes of M'Benga, clapped her on the shoulder and shouted "We won! The Battleship! It just blew!", he ran on to other duties.

"Well," said Valkyre, "Looks like we did it."

"Looks like." said Be'Tran, wandering sickbay with her eyes, and semcing the relief in the minds of the people there. She looked back at Talen. "I just wanted to see how you were."

"I'll make it. Thanks to you." he said.

Just then Be'Tran's comm beeped:^Mercury to all available engineering personel, get to engineering on the double!^

"Gotta go." Betta told Talen, and she patted him on the shoulder, kissed King on the head, and left sickbay at a run.

Galaxy "Doctors Working hard, Yeah Right"
Written By Lt. Kahn Nilani
Chief Medcial Officer

Sickbay was a buzz, all available doctors were treating wounded, we even had the EMH on. Which In my sickbay very rearly happened. I looked around and noticed we were still under maned, I tapped my commbadge

"Kahn to Dallas"

[Dallas here, go ahead Doctor.]

"Injuries are coming in from all over the ship. We could use a little help over here."

[On my way. I'll bring some help with me.]

"Acknowledge that Kahn out"

I moved over to another patient, and started working on him. The doors to sickbay opened and Counselor dallas entered, she moved over to me.

["You rang?"]

I looked and nodded

"Counselor, there are spare Medikits in the store room so go grab one and see Cat and Endris"

"When All Else Fails"
Lieutenant David Mercury
Chief of Engineering

Lieutenant Harbright stood over the now dented device and just pointed. The Lieutenant had been in many situations, he had worked with many engineers but until today he had never met one with the LUCK that the Galaxy's Chief Engineer just displayed. "You have to be one of the luckiest son of a bitches in Starfleet!" Harbright declared.

"Luck has nothing to do with it. Its all skill." David pointed to his foot as he showed the Lieutenant his kick again. "Its all in the motion, you bring the leg back and just swing. When all else fails just use your foot. Can't break what is already broken, right?" Nog just broke out laughing. Tears of joy starting running down his face. Possible even tears of pain from laughing so hard. Harbright joined in the laughter.

"Sterner to Mercury..." The only sound that the Commander could hear was laughter. "Is everything alright down there?" "Yes sir, fine sir.." David replied.

"Just in time David, nice work on the cloaking device."

"Thank you sir." David said while breaking out in laughter again.

"I don't know what is so funny but whatever it is I just gald it work! Sterner out."

David finally gained control and tugged on his uniform. Now it was time for repairs. Taking a glance at what laid in front of him David turned towards Nog and the Lieutenant and just started laughing again.

"Look.." David pointed to the pile of wires that they just ripped out and then motioned his hand towards the damage monitor. "Where are we supposed to begin. I couldn't put these wires back together if I tried. I can't even remember how I connected them. And the damage done to this ship makes what happened from the Jaw Breaker look like scratch. Nog you thing you can handle things for about an hour or at least until Lieutenant Boudreau gets back?"

"Yes.. Yes sir." even though Nog was just as tired as David a chance to be in charge of Engineering on the Galaxy was something that more important than sleep.

"Alright, I just going to go to my office. You know where to find me... O.K. she's all yours." David said and walked into his office and sat down in his chair and closed his eyes.

Dan Josephs

"Helping Out"
By Councelor Walker

While in sickbay Dallas had been ,helping the Doctor , mend broken bones, and just talk to patients , and to try and calm them down. Holding a tricorder, and a medical bag, Dallas went around checking on everybody, As she was walking around she saw a young mother , with her little girl on the bio bed..

Excuse , I couldn't help but notice you have a beutiful little girl , what is her name?

Smiling at the Councelor "Her name is Sarah". the women said.

Smiling back "Tell me more about her, it might help to talk some to. Dallas said with a smile

The women greatfully acepted the Councelors help , and told her about her little girl Sarah.

Slowly the amount of new patients trickled to a stop, and Taleen and the available med crew were able to start getting the less injured cleaned up and out, and the more seriously injured cared for. There were only a few that would need to stay in a sickbay for a while, and they were waiting transfer there.

At some point the sweat that had been running down Taleen's cheeks, had been joined by tears. She wasn't just sure when she had started crying, but some of the injuries, and especially to the children, were so senseless. It was always the children that got to her. She was really glad that no of the other Doctors were there, to see her now. Maybe she was just overtired.

She wiped her eyes, blew her nose and started around the room again, checking patients and offering what encouragement as she could.

Ensign Taleen Cyndanian, Medical Staff, USS Galaxy

Aftermath
Ensign Benedict T'Kal
Tactical Officer
USS Galaxy

The Galaxy's sensor arrays caught the explosions ripping the behemoth apart and Benedict watched as the debris cloud expanded. The pressure wave from the explosion was mapped automatically by the system and Benedict watched as ships power was re-routed to rear deflectors as the Galaxy made her escape run.

He braced for another impact and it came simultaneously with the expanding blue line of the monitor as it intersected the green blip of the Galaxy's position. The ship rocked. but Benedict was ready and the Tactical Office took no damage. The emergency assessments were still coming in from various decks, and power-outs, collapsed corridors and a seriously decompressed Shuttle Bay flashed on the displays demanding attention.

The Galaxy moved away from the wreckage of the Battleship and the sensors were flashing on the tactical warning screens, a squadron of Cardassian ships were headed their way, the primary vessel being another Capital ship. The Galaxy had only nine photon torpedoes out of her usual complement of 200 - she was battle damaged and weakened by her recent ordeal.

Benedict was relieved as saw the command decision trees selecting optimum escape courses in response to Bridge Command parameters - the Captain had just given the order to run. Benedict ran the intercept scenarios on a secondary system, should the Cardassians register their presence on their sensor grids. The Galaxy kicked in her warp engines and started the escape run.

Benedict could see the power demands being re-routed to Main Engineering as the Phase Cloak was being brought on-line. He gave a silent prayer to the Prophets that none of these systems were damaged to prevent their phasing.

The lighting in the Tactical Office dimmed as the secondary power was diverted. The tactical displays showed the Galaxy as she phased - sensor systems diminished in performance slightly, showing Benedict that the phase shift was successful.

They would make their escape with ease. The tactical system showed their course as headed for the Federation border - best possible speed. He wondered if the Away Mission to the Cardassian prison and mining complex would be able to be accomplished - with the ship moving at this speed under phase cloak, he doubted that they would be able to do it. It all depended on some technology that was so far as he knew, barely understood.

He prayed that they could still save the girl.

He began the duty of co-ordinating the ERC Units once again - and knew that all over this great ship, there would be injured and possibly dying crew members. His thoughts flashed to a pair of dark eyes and he prayed that she was alright.

In a soft voice he tapped his comm badge and asked, "Computer, what is the location of Lt Bancroft?"

[Lt Bancroft is currently in Shuttle Bay 2.]

He tapped his tactical screens and brought up the schematic of the ship showing damage reported during the conflict. Shuttle Bay 2 was intact. There was damage above and below the deck, but no reports of damage or injury in that section. He felt relieved, and then resumed his duties.

Galaxy "Addressing the Sick"
Written By Kahn Nilani
Uss Galaxy

I finished working on a Patient that had a piece of metal through his chest when I looked over towards the wall. I noticed someone on a stretcher, I moved slightly closer and realised who it was. I picked up the Med Tricorder and scanned.

"Oh Shit, NURSE. Prepare Medlab 1 for surgery!"

["Aye Ma'am"] I heard from somewhere

I pulled out a hypo and pressed it against his neck, I then scanned watching the drug goto work in relaxing the body.

"Lets get..... ::looks at tricorder:: Ensign Scott into Medlab 1"

Two People pick up Ensign Scott's stretcher and run it into Medlab 1 I move over to Nurse Anara and grab her by the arm.

"Come on, I need your assistance, get me the equipment tray from the storage room and hurry!"

["Yes Doctor."]

The Nurse ran off, I entered Medlab 1 and put on the Surgical Uniform. Nurse Anara entered and did the same, I loaded a hypospray and placed it against the ensign's neck. The drug knocked the Young Ensign out as we prepared him for surgery. I placed all Neuralogical and Skull Equipment around his head and started to work. There was so much pressure that the Neural Pathways were going to break down.

I continued working on the damaged vien in his brain, if I didn't shut it off them he would just keep sliping away from us. The computer monitor suddenly showed no pulse, I quickly sealed the burst Vein and stood up.

"Everyone Clear!"

The medical staff assisting me moved out of the way, I typed selected the heart on the computer display and pressed the button for the shock. Ensign Scott's Heart started beating again, within seconds his pulse was stable. I continued working on the pressure, eventually reducing it to safe levels. I looked over the results of the brain scan and worked out that Ensign Scott lost possibly 1% of his brain because of the pressure. I used the Bone regenerator to seal the cracked skull, I moved back from the Surgical Table.

"Nurse keep him here for observation."

I walked back into the Jungle and moved onto my next patient

"Stubborness"
By Ensign William Foxtrot
Security

As Will stood on the bridge he saw the others begin to show happiness at there victory. Will began to cough again and this time he winced badly. He thought to himself i think maybe i should go to sickbay.

*God Damn It! I hate sickbay!* Will thought to himself.

Will just entered the Turbolift and stated his destination sickbay. He never liked sickbay it just made him feel uncomfortable. He wasnt afraid of it, it was just a quirk about him. He began to cough again and again his hand was covered in blood. He looked down at the phaser burn on his tunic. He couldnt beleive he let it happen.

"Now Look at this mess you gotten yourself into Will! You are probably going to die cause you had to save a man and his child and you dont like sickbay!" Will said to the air of the TurboLift. He then Followed with "Good I saved some people so my death would be worth it!"

The Turbolift doors opened and Will began to lean against the wall. He began to think about his parents the only Family and friends he has. He knew iif he didnt make it his Mom would never be able to call him her Shy Dragon like she always did. The sparing matches with his Father. It was giving him the strenght to make it. He finally reached the sickbay doors and they opend. As he entered a couple of Doctors and a Nurse looked up at him.

"I am going to need a little help here Doc." Will stated slowly.

"We've got an emergency here, Hurry Up" One of the doctors yelled.

Will didnt realize it but during the time it took him to go down the hall to sickbay his mouth and chin were covered in his blood. As the Doctors rushed towards him He tried to say something.

"Oh Shit How I am going to explain to the Captain and the chief about leaving the bridge without permission!" Will said as he slid to the floor.

The pain overtook him and he Blacked out. The next thing he saw was his Parents. The goods times they had together and the bad. Then there was nothing but blackness. He saw his mom and dad standing in front of him.

"Its Not your Time my Shy Dragon. You still alot of life to live and many things to do."Wills mother said to him.

"Look at your Tatoos my son each dragon on you represents you and your families honor and attributes never fail the dragons. Shy Dragon We Love you and will be with you one day again." His father said.

"But...."Will said confused and then his parents began to fade away.

"Come on you tough son of a bitch, Dont you die on my shift!" Will heard as he realized he was laying on a med table. He began to look around and realized he was alive but did not understand why his parents said what they said.

Ensign Scott lies in sick bay as he watches every one work. As a med. tech Walks by he ask him. “Excuse me.” The tech looks over “lie still someone will be with you as quickly as they can.”

The ship rocks from another hit. James thinks to him self *I can’t believe I am going to die in sick bay. * Ensign Scott tries to sit up. Between the pain in the back of his head from the skull fracture and the restraints he realizes that he isn’t going anywhere.

Some one comes over to the stretcher that Scott was placed on. We need to move this guy to get room for more patients. 2 men grab the stretcher and move it back against the wall. And bring 3 more patients. A nurse comes buy and checks vitals. Takes a quick note that the blood pressure has drooped and cranial pressure has increased. She takes down her notes and then moves on to check the 3 that were just brought in.

Ensign Scott lies there he sees a figure approach he looks at her. “Mom, mom is that you?”

*Yes son it is.* (If anyone is paying attention Scott can be seen talking to someone that isn’t there.)

“What are you doing here? You are….”

*Don’t think about it you are coming with us know we will be together for ever know. We are a family again.*

“What about Cheryl has she come to you.”

*No my son, she has not come home yet.*.

“Then she is still alive!!!”

*Yes, but we will talk about that later come.*

"I can’t come with you mother, there is too much for me to do here. I have just graduated from starfleet; I am a security officer on a Starship. The biggest and the best starship in the Federation I may be able to find her. Bring her back to the Alpha quadrant."

*No My son your time here is done."

"No I won’t go I must stay it isn’t time.”

Sickbay.

The nurse monitoring patients in this section of sickbay Notices that his pressure in and around the brain has increased by ten folds. And the Blood pressure is rising. From his normal of 120/83 to 160/110.

Scott Continues to fight for his life as his body begins to shut down.

"In Sickbay"
By Councelor Walker

After having talked with the women for awhile, Dallas noticed the women was deep in thought , so she decided to leave her for awhile, and check on other patients again, but she would come back later to check on her.

Going around the room , Dallas noticed a young ensign lying on the floor, and barly hanging on and she walked over to him, he looked like he was talking to somebody,he seem then to stop a few minutes.. and closed his eyes, then she walked over to him..

Dallas sat down next to the young man then smiled and said "Hello , I wanted t ocome over here and help you if I could, my name is Councelor Dallas Wlaker ,what is your name?

The young Ensign looked up at her,and said "My name is Scott." and he closed his eyes again, and was silent.

Dallas sat there, knowing that just sitting there with Scot ,would help some..So she sat ahwhile and held his hand, and was just being a comftorble presence there..

"Headache"
by, Lt. (j.g.) Raesene Hermedhie

After being cleared by the Medical doctor, Raesene stumbled back to his quarters. This was interupted numerous times by the shaking of the ship being hit by some unknown force. Whatever it was, it appeared as if Raesene had missed much of the action. But something else strange was happening... For some reason, Raesene was becoming aware of strange voices echoing in his head. And he could find no way of stopping them. When he finally reached his quarters, he collapsed on the bed, in great pain of all the noise echoing through his head. Soon, he drifted off into a sort of sleep.

After having talked with the women for awhile, Dallas noticed the women was deep in thought , so she decided to leave her for awhile, and check on other patients again, but she would come back later to check on her. Going around the room, Dallas noticed a young ensign lying on the floor, and barely hanging on and she walked over to him, he looked like he was talking to somebody, he seem then to stop a few minutes, and closed his eyes, then she walked over to him.

Dallas sat down next to the young man then smiled and said "Hello, I wanted to come over here and help you if I could, my name is Councilor Dallas Walker, what is your name? The young Ensign looked up at her, and said "My name is Scott." and he closed his eyes again, and was silent. Dallas sat there, knowing that just sitting there with Scott would help some. So she sat a while and held his hand, and was just being a comfortable presence there.

Ensign Scott opened his Eyes again looking at the person holding his hands. Trying to talk he finds it difficult. He dose manage to get it out “Do I know you?” “No you don’t not yet but I have a feeling we will being talking real soon” “Am I going to die here?” Scott not hearing her words fades back into unconsciousness.

SCOTT IS TAKEN INTO SURGERY SEE CMO’S POST.

Scott opens his Eyes after surgery. Looking to his right he sees a person standing beside the bio bed wearing civilian clothing. “Do I know you? God My head hurts."

“what happened”?

“where am I?”

"R & R, with a little friendship on top"
By: Ensign Sithas Darcfyre & Ensign Talen Valkyrie

Sithas looks around the Ten-Forward lounge

"Barkeep, green tea please, thanks."

Sithas moves away from the bar and heads to a table for two next to an observation port and looks out at the stars. He picks up his cup then sips at the tea slowly, savoring the taste.

"Couldn't make a better pot myself..." he says to himself, then downs the rest of it. He looks up as someone using a cane enters the room with a large white husky at his side. "My, what and interesting couple they make." Laughs quietly at his own joke.

He notices that the Ensign is covered with bandgages on his arms and legs, then figures that they must cover burn marks. The Ensign moves over the bar and orders something, then turns around and notices Sithas sitting by himself. He gets his order, then slowly makes his way over to Sithas.

"Anybody sittin' here?"

Sithas looks at the empty chair, "It doesn't look like it. You may if you want to." He stands up and offers his hand, "Ensign Sithas Darcfyre of Engineering, and you are?"

The Ensign grasps Sithas's hand lightly, "Ensign Talen Valkyrie of Security, pleased to meet you." He brakes the grasp, then sits down, the white husky puts his head on Talen's lap and whimpers. "Oh yeah, this is my dog, King." The dog barks, then lays down.

Sithas laughs at the dog's antics, then looks up at Talen, " Y'know, you look like shit."

Talen erupts in laughter, " Yeah, well if you'd been in the center of a bonfire, you'd look like shit too."

Sithas grins, " What are you drinking there?" Points at the untouched drink sitting on the table.

Talen looks down at the drink, " Ice water."

Sithas's eyebrows lift, " Ice water? You're burnt to a crisp and you're drinking ice water? I'd be drinking synthehol, or sitting in my room downing a bottle of Vodka."

"I've lost a lot of fluid, so, doctor's orders, I need to start drinking water and staying away from the alcohol. Besides, I don't drink that much, only at parties." Smiles, then reaches a hand down and scratches King behind the ear.

"Oh, well, if it's doctor's orders. I've never seen you around before, what do you do when you're of duty?"

" Sit in Sickbay recovering from bonfire syndrome." He and Sithas laugh. " Well, normaly I like to play the Chinese Flute or the Electric Guitar when in I'm in my quarters, when I have them. Every now and then I'll go to a holodeck for a fencing match. If I'm not fencing, I'm probably working on my martial arts."

Sitha's eyes widen, " Wow, so your ass got beat by a bonfire, and you knew martial arts the whole time?" Laughs softly. " I'm into Mind Games and Socratic Philosophy. What style of martial arts do you practice?"

Talen grins, " All of them, I can't pick a favorite." Looks down at the chronometer on his wrist, " Hey, I've got to get back to sickbay, shifts are changing and the Doc that's on my case would flip if she know I wasn't there on my Biobed." Stands up, King jumps to his feet in response, Talen takes a step towards the door, then turns around and looks back at Sithas, " Hey, catch you around sometime huh?"

Sithas smiles, " Sure, I'll come visit you in sickbay. Yeah, my shift is coming up, here, I'll walk with you to the turbolift, then I gotta go back to engineering."

Sithas and Talen, with King, leave the lounge and head for the turbolift, the beginnings of a friendship formed.

Dinner for Three?
Ensign Benedict T'Kal
Tactical Officer
USS Galaxy

Benedict walked into the Battle Bridge at the start of his first Alpha shift since the battle with the Cardassian warship. The ship was under-way, back to Federation space, and the Rescue Team was waiting for their opportunity to make the attempt to free Nilani Khans' sister. The crew was already working to make repairs on the Galaxy. This was the start of a double shift for Benedict - he'd been on Gamma all night. He walked quickly to his station at the tactical console, and nodded to his counter-part.

"Ensign T'Kal to Ensign M'Benga." He said, tapping his comm badge as he sat in his chair and commenced the systems checks and log-on procedures. The Beta Shift Tactical Officer - Ensign Kamin stood to the side and leaned against the wall. He crossed his arms and smiled down at Benedict, waiting to speak to him.

"Betta here, Benedict." Came the reply. He could tell she was smiling - it was in her voice.

"How would you and Jack like to come to my place for dinner tomorrow tonight?" He leaned back in his chair and glanced up at Kamin. "I'd like to meet him, and I'd like the company."

"I'll have to check with Jack - but I'd love to." She replied.

"Great - I'll be cooking. Make sure you bring some of that 'secret stash' of yours." He laughed, "It'll be dinner for three then. Call me if it's okay. I'll see you and Jack at around 1900hrs."

"Okay. I'll call you." She said, "Betta out."

Benedict turned to Kamin and raised his eyebrow in question. Kamin smirked just a little and nodded to empty air - indicating Benedicts' comm conversation. "I heard about your little date in Ten Forward." He said, "There's several ladies crying over it already." He quipped.

"Well, " Benedict replied, "There's no need - Betta's just a friend - and only a friend!" He shook his head, "I'm not seeing anyone at the moment." He said rather bitterly, " I'm not interested."

Kamin smiled, "You gotta be kidding man - what about that blonde in Life Sciences? I thought she was in for a chance."

"Cathy's a friend too - well, she was." He sighed, "I don't know about that now. We had a small argument over that fact recently." Benedict looked up at Kamins' over sympathetic face. "Do me a favour will you?" he asked.

"What?" Kamin asked.

"Don't participate in any gossip." Benedict finished the systems diagnostic and acknowledged his shift commencement - thereby officially relieving Ensign Kamin of Battle Bridge Tactical Duty. "When you're on shift tomorrow can you look over some tactical scenarios I've been playing with? I need another opinion on a few points - play tactical opponent and see what you come up with. I'll leave them on file before I get off shift." Benedicts' mind was already turning to his duty.

"I thought for a minute you were going to ask me to take Cathy off your hands?" Kamin smirked - "I'd do that for you - as the General is fond of saying - No worries mate!"

"I'll introduce you if you really want." He looked at Kamin's enthusiastic grin, "But you'd have to behave - I won't set her up - but I don't think you're her type!"

Kamin laughed - "I'll hold you to that," He said as he walked to the turbo lift, "She obviously needs a shoulder to cry on at the moment." He smirked. The smile died on his face when he caught the withering look in Benedicts' eyes. "Only kidding mate!" he said as he backed into the lift, "Only kidding!"

The doors closed and he was gone. Benedict returned his attention to the tactical console and began to tackle the list of routines that Lt Hunter had logged for his attention. Most of it was boring - he could do it in his sleep, and so no matter how hard he tried to concentrate upon these tasks, his mind wandered. They wandered to a pair of dark eyes, raven hair and Vulcan features. He told himself that this was only a temporary infatuation - it would go away.

He thought about the dishes he would prepare tomorrow night for dinner - he'd decided to cook Japanese style, and serve real sake to his guests. He hoped like hell that Jack D'Auria would accept his invitation - it was one more problem Benedict certainly could do without! Jack was going on the Rescue mission - the last thing Benedict wanted was ill feeling in such a dangerous situation - it could jeopardise the lives of the whole team.

He hadn't gotten around to tackling the Suder issue yet. He'd have to do that soon too. He thought seriously for the first time about going to see a counsellor - but a stubborn part of him denied that it wouldn't do any good at all. He had the answers within himself - he only had to find them! Without tearing him-self apart in the process.

He shook his head and wondered again at his attraction to a woman he so far hadn't even talked to - that fact alone was strange for Benedict to come to terms with. It was as if he was drawn irresistibly toward her, to her dark beautiful eyes, and the strange mix of vulnerability and strength he saw in them. She was so different from the image of the usual women he was attracted to.

He thought of Betta M'Benga - and her offer to be with him if he asked - he smiled and knew that if he hadn't been so captivated with Tebrianne - and if Betta hadn't been in love with Jack D'Auria - he would have been sorely tempted.

He knew that Tebrianne was Romulan and Vulcan from her bio that he had examined on the LCARS - and yet her whole attitude of dress and style countered the obvious stereotypes that were assumed with that bloodline. She was an individual. Her hair certainly set her apart as a cultural rebel - and this coincided with Benedict's own sense of individuality. He loved the way she dressed when off duty - he'd seen her a few times in Ten Forward.

Her accent was different too. It was musical and had a strange lilting tone, he found that while on the Bridge he'd been listening for the sound of it all the time. He told himself again that this was just temporary - he'd come to his senses soon, and this remarkable attraction would either go away or…

Damn. The alternative was like a bitter pill - unpalatable. He wondered what the hell he was going to do about it. He thought once again about approaching her - but under what context? What would he say? She was a superior officer - and to Benedict that made her unapproachable on a personal level. She couldn't be interested in him anyway - he'd seen her look away when he had caught her eye - it had happened twice so far.

The fleeting look in her eyes had imparted a sense of detachment - as if she had forced herself to look away - and Benedict didn't quite know how to interpret it. He felt like he was caught between a rock and a hard place - his natural instinct was to at least talk to her - perhaps invite her to dinner - to do something! But he was aware of the recent trouble surrounding her liaison with Dieran Casey, and he had to be sensitive to that - they had obviously had something between them, and to step into that situation would be premature. Especially since he knew nothing of the Lt Commanders' position regarding the whole thing.

Benedict knew that it was usually a fatal career mistake to interfere in the concerns of high ranking officers -he'd felt that whip at Starbase 74!

His father had told him many times that patience had its own rewards - he would be patient and wait for the issues to clarify themselves. He had to sort out his own problems first - and yet he thought that perhaps she was intricately linked to the whole mess of emotions swirling about his mind. Alayessa was there still, and he coveted her memory. He was rapidly realising that he needed to move on with his life - and now perhaps he had the means.

It was a difficult task, this breaking with her spirit, but he knew deeply within him that it was finally the time to do so. These thoughts inevitably led Benedict into the circle once again - Tebrianne.

He pulled his tortured thoughts to another issue - the away mission to rescue Illiyana Khan. The girl was waiting for freedom, and Benedict would make sure she received it. They were going as a Marqui raiding party - specifically the Night Tigers. There was only one way to draw attention away from the search for the Galaxy in Cardassian space, accomplish the mission and camouflage their presence - become Marqui.

There was only one real way of making sure the Cardassians believed it. Benedict was going to make sure they knew who walked the shadows in their own territory. He would make sure they knew that Tikaru was with the group. When they saw the Golden Tiger in their midst it would start a search that just might tie up Cardassian resources for quite a while.

They would be looking in all the wrong places.

He worked through the routines for the rest of the shift - and as the day wore on he grew increasingly tired - the double shift duty making his mind foggy by the end of the day. At the end of Alpha shift he returned to his quarters, grabbed a light meal and sank into the welcome oblivion of sleep.

"Flashback"
by Lieutenant (jg) James Chen
Security Officer
w/additions by Lieutenant (jg) Lexana Ral

LtJg's Chen and Ral sat in one of the counseling offices. Lex wasn't exactly a good counselor, hey- she wasn't denying it. Sometimes her Romulan part instigated her insensitive side. She preffered gossip to work and half the time she was hanging out with the security dept and drinking coffee rather than being the sympathetic person her job entailed. She watched her friend as he shifted uneasily in his chair, whatever it was he had to tell her, it was big, and clearly difficult for him she felt guilty she'd been so selfish before and had been mad at him rather than trying to find out what it was that was making him act that way. She'd stared at her "counselor's " chair on the other side of the desk, and remembered asking him ealier if he was talking to her as friend or counselor and he'd pretty much said neither...or both. The chair looked so far away from her friend. She opted to sit on the desk and rest her feet on part of his chair, her chin on her knees.

James had sat silently for a long while... Lex watched him closely.. a few weeks ago there'd been hardly a quiet moment between them, either talking or sharing jokes or bruises. Then ever since the awards ceremony it was as though some kind of wall had built up between them. He'd been edgy.. and she'd gotten mad then someone sympathetic to her gripes had come along.. and it just happened to have been one John Brady.. Lex knew she wasn't in love with him, she knew he most certainly hadn't been in love with her. They had gone out a few times and Lex had had fun, she wasn't sure about John as he always seemed to smile and be jovial. Nothing really had been serious untill she'd questioned him about what happened on the Honorable. Then he'd gotten short with her for the first time in their casual relationship.

And that had made her question him, and question her own judgment. She'd gotten mad at her best friend, and left him to deal with his pain by himself simply because he'd made her mad. Lex paused her thoughts for a moment, and decided she really wasn't a very nice person at all. She felt awful.. Looking back at James, she reached over and put a hand on his shoulder, he looked up for a moment.

"Go on" She said..

***Somewhere***

Captain Jean-Luc Picard groaned as they attached the headgear to his face. The pain of being assimilated, the feeling of being completely helpless. Numerous times, he had tried to fight it, but it wouldn't stop. A wire was attached to his brain, and the voices of the collective swarmed at him. He looked around. There were three other Borg attached to their own places, eyes glazed of any conscious thought. The voices came. [Locutus. Teach us.] And then, his anger came. The helplessness and wish to strike out overpowered him, and before he knew it, he had done as they had asked. He had taught them all the things he had wished to do to them. He silently prayed for whom they would use it on.

***Personal Log, Stardate 49809.16***

Well, my shift's over. Luke, John and me are getting together in John's quarters for a game of poker. The last couple of days, things have been pretty tense. We've been ordered to Wolf 359 to help stop the Borg. Apparently, the Borg's captured a Starfleet officer, so we're fighting one of our own here. It's times like this I hate. I can't do anything but sit on my hands while the command crew does their job. But, estimations say that we'll probably hit Wolf 359 in the middle of the fight. Hopefully, the others will have done most of the damage and we won't see much of a fight. Right. And maybe I can swim to Bajor my next shore leave. After the game, I'm supposed to meet Liz for dinner. Things have been going pretty good between the two of us. Maybe she's the one. I know I've never felt like this before. Ah, I'm getting ahead of myself. I hate talking into this damn thing. Worse than talking to Master Kwan.

***End Log***

Chen stood up and adjusted the tunic of his uniform. The thing just kept moving around. He thought it was too stiff for a uniform. He'd heard they were bringing in more of a relaxed uniform. He hoped so. Chen shook his head and walked out the door.

***Brady's Quarters***

Chen walked in and saw complete chaos. John was dancing with Lucas and Gutierrez was sitting at the table, shaking his head. Chen chuckled, then yelled out, "What the hell is going on here?!"

All eyes snapped to the door, then John just rolled his eyes. "Oh. It's just you. We thought it was someone important."

Chen laughed and took a seat as John and Lucas followed suit. "What were you guys doing?"

Lucas hooked a thumb at John. "I bet this jerk he couldn't dance the Tango. Next thing I know, he's on his feet dancing with me."

John nodded. "And I danced the Tango."

Lucas shook his head. "Like hell you did. That was some...mutated form of movement that would only qualify for dancing on Klingon. They dance about as good."

Chen smiled. "And how would you know that? Danced with a Klingon recently?"

Lucas opened his mouth to reply, then closed it again. "Take your time," John said. "I know how witty our James is compared to your limited intelligence."

Lucas gave him the finger, then turned to Chen and repeated the gesture. Chen shook his head and started shuffling the cards. "You're going to pay for that."

Lucas laughed. "Yeah? How?"

Chen smiled and started dealing. "With every cent you own. Ante up, boys. You're about to lose your dough."

After about five hands, Chen was down 9 slips of Gold Pressed Latinum, while everybody else broke even. He pushed away from the table in disgust as John swept the latest pot over to his side of the table, a huge grin on his face. Chen shook his head and stood up. "I haven't played a decent hand of poker since I graduated the academy."

Lucas turned and winked at him. "But you've become so damned handsome."

Chen nodded. "Boy, if I weren't seeing somebody...I still wouldn't have anything to do with you."

Chen walked over to the replicator and got a glass of water. Just as he was taking a sip, the floor rocked from under his feet. He dropped the water and slapped a hand against the wall to steady himself. The explosion had been loud. Loud enough to have taken place just outside. He walked to the door. It slid aside and he poked his head out. Just as he did, a large blast of green energy flew past his head. Chen jumped back, nearly hitting the others. The doors slid shut. He spun and looked at John, who was already moving to his cabinet. "You keep any phasers here?"

John nodded as he tossed one to Chen. "Does the pope shit in the woods?" Chen looked quizzically at John. John shook his head. "Never mind. These are all I have." He turned to Lucas and Jorge. "We're going to have to get out there and see if we can't find you guys a phaser. In the meantime, stick in here." He turned back to Chen. "Ready, Aramis?"

They walked to the door and John prepared to open it. Chen held up a hand. "Why am I always Aramis? He wanted to be a priest."

John shrugged. "Compare the sex lives. Compared to your sorry ass, a priest looks pretty good. Cover me." He tapped the manual open button on the door. Chen stepped forward and ducked back inside as another energy bolt sailed past. He made a face, then leaned put, firing in the general direction of the chaos. A fire had started and Chen couldn't see through the smoke. "Go!" He called and Brady raced out, opening the doors to the adjacent quarters. From inside the doorway, he covered Chen, who ran into the quarters. John ducked inside and the doors closed. He turned to Chen. "Find any phasers. I'll watch the door."

"How do you know there are any phasers here?"

"Because the guy that lives here is a psycho. Now get going. And watch out. I hear he booby traps the place."

Chen shook his head as he started searching. "Wonderful." After several moments and painful shocks, Chen finally tracked down two phasers. He slipped one in his holster, then handed the other to John. They repeated their maneuver to get back into John's quarters. When they were all armed and sufficiently dangerous, they started to come up with a plan. Jorge, who was the newest member of Starfleet, seemed more nervous than the rest, though nobody could blame him. "Okay," John said. "We need to take stock. What do we know about this situation at present?"

"Well," said Lucas. "We know that we've got possible multiple bad guys out there. We've heard some phaser fire and what sounds like a fight. Which means somebody surprised the intruders."

Chen nodded. "And unless those were stray shots, these guys are unaffected by smoke."

John took this in, the sighed. "Okay, we've got to assume that our guys are fighting a losing battle and the invaders will be here soon. We don't know exactly what we're dealing with, so we run. Is this agreed, or does anybody want to make like the Alamo?"

They all shook their heads. "No," Jorge said. "Let's get the hell out of here."

John nodded. "Okay." He was the oldest and, as such, he took control. "Let's make like a tree and leaf."

They lined up at the door. Lucas listened. He shook his head. "Whatever was going on out there is over."

John swallowed. "Shit. Okay, Chen, Gutierrez, line up and move. Take a position at the bend of the corridor and cover us."

They did as they were told, Lucas and John laying down suppressing fire as they took position. Then, they turned and fired as John and Lucas charged down the hall. When they were all together, they huddled against the wall, breathing heavily more from fear than exertion. When nothing happened, John looked at Chen. "Check it out." Chen nodded and leaned out. He looked around. Nothing happened. He waved his hand. "Hellooo? Anybody out there?" Suddenly, a red dot appeared on his hand. Jorge jumped forward and pulled Chen back just as another blast of green energy hit the wall. "Shit!" Chen said.

He glanced back out and saw a Borg come striding out of the smoke. Then two more followed. He fired at the first, only to have the bolt stopped by the Borg's shield. He looked at the others. "Move. Fast!" In an instant, they were all on their feet, charging down the corridor. They rounded a corner and headed down the next hall. "I think the turbolift's around the next bend," Lucas called as they ran. They pushed harder, then rounded the corner...To be face with a dead end. Where the turbolift was cut off by a huge pile of debris. John cursed as he looked at the pile blocking their path. "Can't we destroy this stuff with our phasers?"

John shook his head. "Not solid enough. We'd destroy the turbolift in the process." Lucas looked around the corner, but saw nothing coming. "I don't think we have very long, guys. It's only a matter of time before they get here."

Jorge, nodded to his left. "What about here?"

Chen walked over and kneeled down. He squinted into the darkness. "I think it's an access panel. If we can push in real close, we should be able to go around the blockage." He faced John. "It's your call, O noble hero. You're the senior officer here."

John nodded. "Give it a shot. We'll see if this'll work or if we make a stand here."

Chen put his phaser in it's holster and climbed in. He crawled on his hands and knees in the darkness, trying to make out where to put his hand next. He pushed himself against the wall and pulled against the metal hands of the wreckage that clawed at his body. After what seemed like an eternity, he pulled himself free from the access panel, sneering at the light. He stood up and looked at the others through the debris. "Keep to the left and keep moving."

John nodded and sent Jorge through. When he was about halfway through, Lucas crawled in after him. When Jorge was out, John climbed in and started through. Just then, Chen saw the shadow of the Borg. "They're coming," he shouted. He brought up his phaser. "Go make sure the turbolift is working." The first Borg rounded the corner and Chen shot. The Borg moved faster than any man. He rolled out of the way and fired at Chen. Chen ducked down and came back up, shooting at the Borg, who was now joined by one of his companions. The second Borg fired twice, then ducked behind the corner. Chen had to dive out of the way to avoid the blasts. By now, Lucas was out and exchanging fire with Chen. Finally, John pushed through. "Go," Lucas said to John. "Get in, me and Chen will cover." John nodded and crouched low as he ran into the turbolift. "Your turn," Lucas said to Chen.

Chen shook his head. "Uh-uh. You first."

Lucas sent out a suppressing fire and grabbed Chen by the collar. He pushed him roughly at the turbolift. "Go!" He fired at the Borg as Chen took cover. He started shooting through all the holes in the debris as Lucas ran in after him. The doors closed just as another ball of energy was shooting at them. "Deck 12," John said. As the turbolift started, he leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. Sweat was dripping off his face, as were the other three's. "Time to get to security and find out just what's going on."

Chen looked at the power indicator on his phaser. "I'm out."

Lucas frowned. "We'll be able to get new phasers once we get to Security."

***Security Station***

They walked into a seen of complete chaos. Assistant Chief Cain was shouting orders at his officers, many of whom were scrambling in and out of the room. He glanced at the new four officers. "Well, if it isn't the Three Musketeers. Where the hell have you guys been?"

John shook his head. "We were at my place playing poker. When this shit hit the fan, we weren't even armed. What's happening, sir?"

Cain shook his head. "As far as we can tell, we encountered a Borg cube. This cube swept past us without a second thought. You probably didn't notice it since we were on general red alert anyway. Five minutes later, the entire bridge goes dead. We can't contact them, we can't get up there, but internal sensors indicated they were still alive. At least, until internal sensors got shut down. Last transmission from the bridge said that they read three transporter signals on the ship. Someone came aboard. Last known location was outside of Auxiliary Control. The chief led a team up there. The chief and team are dead now. Since then, we've been conducting a deck-by-deck search. We haven't turned anything up, yet. We think the Borg have been going deck-by-deck. You're deck is right above where they came in. We think they've been moving by Jeffries Tubes."

Chen spoke up. "We encountered some debris in front of the turbolift. We had to try and crawl through to get to the lift. The Borg don't have the kind of weapons for that."

Cain shrugged. "Some reports indicated that one of the Borg is using explosives of some nature. That may be what happened."

"Explosives," Lucas said. "I didn't think the Borg used those type of tactics."

"Well, they picked them up someplace."

"Well," John said. "They were on my deck just four minutes ago. We just finished a nice little skirmish down there."

Cain nodded and tapped his badge. "Wilson, get down to Deck 14. The intruders might be there."

[Aye, sir.]

"Sir," John said. "One more thing."

"Yes, lieutenant?"

"These guys aren't fighting like the Borg. I mean, from what we've learned, the Borg just...Walk around. Like idiots. These guys move like a well-oiled team. They ducked, hid, tried basic stealth maneuvers. If I didn't know better, I'd say these guys were trained by a Starfleet officer."

"They were, lieutenant. By a starship captain himself. I think these three are tied into Captain Picard himself. He's apparently outfitted these Borg with skills that nobody else has." Cain rubbed his eyes. He was obviously upset about the deaths of his people. "I need you four to sweep decks 15 through 20. Get some fresh phasers and move out. We've been fighting a running battle here. Not many people survive seeing the Borg. Be careful."

Everything was happening so fast that they couldn't do anything other than follow orders. It was like they were moving on autopilot. All of them had shocked, vaguely scared faces. But, they were Starfleet officers. They were trained for this. And by God, they were going to stop the Borg. They armed themselves with fresh phasers and got some rifles, along with several power packs. They moved out, training and instinct kicking in.

The first three decks were uneventful, then the call came through. [This is Sickbay. We are under attack by the Borg! They're slaughtering everybody! Get here fas--] The message stopped, the sounds of screaming and battle filled the air, then the message stopped. They all were heading for the turbolift before it was over. Sickbay was on Deck 19. They were the closest officers to respond.

***Sickbay***

The smell of death and ozone hung in the air. On the wall were several burn marks, on the floor, bodies were strewn about like so many cords of wood. Jorge saw the bloody scene in front of them and vomited. Chen put his hand on his shoulder. He liked Ensign Jorge Gutierrez. Not only because he had saved Chen's life, but because he reminded Chen of himself when he was younger. When he stopped heaving, he wiped his mouth and stood, the businesslike expression returning to his pale face. He smiled at Chen and they joined John and Lucas, who were examining the bodies. Lucas shook his head as he looked up from where he was perched over the head doctor. "He wasn't killed by an energy weapon. Somebody used their bare hands. Broke his neck. Looks like a finger also punctured his jugular. No human could have done this."

"Guys," John called from where he was standing near a bed. "Take a look at this." They all walked over and looked at the body in the bed. It was Commander Conners. "Looks like he was still recovering from his broken leg. He's in uniform, so he was getting ready to leave."

"My god," Chen said. "Half his head's gone."

John nodded as Lucas put a blanket over the XO's body. "These bastards need to be stopped."

They heard a cough behind them, and Chen was beside the person in an instant. It was a nurse. She had been pretty before death began to take hold. "It's okay," Chen said. "You'll be just fine. Somebody get her something!"

She shook her head and motioned for Chen to come closer. "There," she whispered. "There were two of them. They killed everyone. Then, they just left. They killed Commander Conners slowly. He screamed..." Tears started down her face.

Chen stroked her face. "Sh, don't talk. You're going to be okay." He glanced up at Lucas, who shook his head.

She sobbed a few more seconds, then the tears slowed. Her eyes began to glaze. "No," Chen said, though he knew it was a losing battle. "No, no. Wake up. Come on. Just hang in there. Come on." Her eyes closed and Chen felt the life leave her body. He swallowed and looked at her. "Hey. Hey, wake up." He felt a hand on his shoulder, and he saw John standing there. "She's gone."

Chen let the woman down gently. He picked up his rifle and stood up. He looked at her again and was suddenly aware that he didn't know her name. He felt the anger well up. She was just a kid. He knew he was only about a year older, but something about seeing this much death, this much suffering, had changed him. He had never been directly faced with death before. Not like this. "Kill them," he said. "Kill every last one of them."

John nodded. "She said there were two. Where's the other one?"

Jorge looked thoughtful and sick at the same time. In any other circumstance, it may have been funny. "Where would you go to get the most damage out of the ship? The very center of her."

Lucas nodded. "Engineering. The other two are running interference. We keep after them in a wild goose chase while the other one carries out their mission."

Jorge was unsure of their motives. "What would that be?"

"Assimilation," Chen said. "They only have the knowledge of one Starfleet captain. He couldn't possibly know everything about every Starfleet vessel and their tactics. They get complete access to a ship and her computer, they get everything. All tactics, all capabilities. Unlimited knowledge of Starfleet."

"We've got to stop them," John said.

Lucas smiled. "And I might have an idea how."

***Science Lab***

The Science Lab was completely deserted. The entire area was dark and abandoned of any life. Outside, in the corridor, there were several bodies piled up. "Science team must've headed to safer areas," Jorge said.

Lucas saw what he was looking for and strode to a table.

Ten minutes later, Lucas smiled as he attached the small device to his hand phaser. He held it up. "This is what we call the 'Big Daddy'. This little baby has enough charge in her to blow this entire room to Kingdom Come. It would take too long to explain exactly what it is, but it's a very complex bomb that I learned how to make at the Academy when I studied Physics and Advanced Spatial Chemistry. It takes the basic principles of an explosive device and turns it inward. It's like destroying something from the inside out and utilizes it's latent energy and transfers it to kinetic. Big boom. Attached to something anywhere near the Warp Core and we take out all of Main Engineering. And with it, our uninvited guests. I've hooked it to this," he held up a tricorder. "Press the scan button, and this baby goes off. We'll lose warp power and other systems, but auxiliary power will cover for all the vitals. We can stay alive for forty-eight hours on auxiliary. Then things get close. But, the Borg won't assimilate this ship and her knowledge."

From the door, Jorge and Chen were watching Lucas. "How can he make something like that?"

Chen smiled. "Lucas here has an IQ of 223. He's a genius. The boy graduated high school at age 13. He earned his bachelor's in engineering and a master's in sciences. He came into security because he didn't like the pressure of engineering and science was too boring to him." He smiled at Jorge. "We're going to make it, kid. Don't worry."

Jorge smiled. "I was just thinking about my mother. She lives in a little hut in Mexico. She can make the best food you ever tasted. Anything. It's like you're taking a taste of heaven. She always called me her little man, no matter how old I got."

Chen smiled. "Sounds nice. I'd like to meet her sometime."

Jorge nodded. "She'd like to meet you, too. What about your mom? What's she like?"

Chen frowned. "I've heard she was nice. I never got to meet her. All I've got is a picture of her and my dad from when he opened up his shop. She had this smile. It was...radiant, you know. She was beautiful. When we get out of this, I'll show the picture to you."

Jorge smiled. "I'd like that."

When John was done examining the device, he said, "Jesus. Is there anything you can't do, Carter?"

Lucas shrugged. "I don't Tango too well."

"Neither do I." John smiled. These periods of joking were useful to relieve stress and tension. "Okay, Lucas and I will attach this thing in Engineering. Jimmy, Jorge, it's your job to get the other Borg there. Then get to high ground. We'll blow it when you guys are clear." He took a deep breath. "Okay, guys. It's now or nothing."

"What about the rest of security?"

John shook his head. "I haven't been able to raise anyone. I think the Borg may have erected a dampening field somehow. That one in Engineering is really doing damage." Suddenly, they heard a loud noise from the back. It was like someone was in the wall. Lucas pointed to the small area, and they could just make out the edges of a loose panel. John nodded and the two slowly approached the area while Chen and Gutierrez provided cover from behind. They gripped the edges of the panel and pulled. Behind the panel were a couple of science officers and about ten children, all huddled together in the cramped space. The woman in front fired a hand phaser and John had to jump back to avoid the blast. "Jesus!" The woman squinted into the light from the flashlight mounted on the rifles. "You Starfleet?" She still wielded the phaser.

"No," Chen called. "We're your Guardian Angels."

She came out of the hole, along with the others. "James? That you?"

Chen smiled and embraced the woman. "Jesus, Liz. It's good to see you're okay."

As she was hugging Chen, the tears started to come. "We thought the Borg had taken over. We heard the firing and the teacher brought the school kids from next door in here because he knew we had a storage panel. We heard the screams and--and--"

Chen stroked her hair. "Shh. It's okay. We're here, everything's fine."

"Then the Borg are gone."

Chen gently pushed her away. He explained the whole thing to her, to them all. What they thought the Borg were up to, what they knew so far, and what they had to do. When he was finished, she was back to the strong Starfleet officer he knew since he'd met her. "So you're going back out there to try and destroy Engineering?"

Chen nodded. "We have to. They're shutting down systems. Once they get rid of us slowly, they'll be free to assimilate the whole ship. Carter figures this contraption he's created will do it. Unless someone here has a better idea."

She shook her head. "None of the senior officers are here. Carter's guess is probably as good as ours. I'll go with you."

Chen smiled. "Like hell. If the Borg come back this way, these kids will need someone to protect them. Stay here, keep your head down and that phaser ready. I'll be back this way soon enough."

"Well, how are you going to get the other Borg to engineering?"

"By attacking the one that's already there," Carter said. "We attack him, he should call his buddies. They'll come running, we blow the area."

"Wouldn't an explosion of the warp core destroy the ship?"

Lucas shook his head. "It's a complete implosion. It'll destroy the warp core, but in an outward motion. We'll also erect a shield around engineering so when it blows, the rest of the ship will only take minor damage."

John rubbed his hand through a little boy's hair and smiled. "Okay, Musketeers. Let's go. We've got a ship to save."

Chen smiled at Liz. "Duty calls. Keep an eye out and keep these kids safe." He kissed her on the cheek and started to leave.

"I love you."

Chen turned and looked at Liz. "What's that?"

"I said, I love you."

Chen smiled. "I love you, too." It was the first time he'd ever said those words. Something about them made him want to press on. He was going to live. He smiled even wider and walked after the others. When they were out in the hall he said, "I'm in love."

Carter looked at him and smiled. "I'm happy for you, James. Really gives a man a reason to live."

John nodded. "Yeah, yeah. We're all real happy for Jimmy. Let's keep moving, huh?"

Chen smiled. "Don't worry, I still love you, John. You two can share me."

"I'll share you with the business end of this phaser if you don't shut your trap."

***Engineering***

John and Lucas hurriedly went through the doors to the observation deck that looked out over Engineering. The bodies outside had been piled up like wood, most of them security officers. They had even found Cain lying among the bodies. That was a terrible shock when not an hour ago, he had been alive and shouting orders. It also cemented their resolution to destroy the Borg. John kneeled behind a display panel and looked through the plastic down into engineering. "Oh, shit. We've got officers alive down there."

Carter peered through the glass. He counted about thirty, thirty-five people. Some were security, others were engineers. The single Borg was at a station, an uplink in his left arm hooked into the panel. "Why aren't they going anywhere?"

John looked at the several dead bodies scattered about. "Looks like the Borg can do two things at once. Those guys have burns on their clothes from energy weapons."

"Why would they keep hostages?"

"These guys are thinking like perverse Starfleet officers. We know hostages can be valuable, and it looks like that carried over. Besides, a few engineers might be useful."

"Well, we have to wait for James and Jorge to get started before we can move."

Down below, Chen and Jorge went into engineering, crouched low, they hurried in. They ducked behind a large panel and looked at the others. They were lined against a wall while the Borg was working. Chen looked at Jorge. "Wait here."

He put down his phaser rifle and slid out into the open. He slowly slid across to where a female officer was sitting, her knees brought up to her chest. When she felt him beside him, her head snapped around. Chen put a finger to his lips. She nodded. He whispered, "Chen, security. We're here to get you out. What's the status?"

"We were working when these three Borg came in. They shot those who resisted and corralled the rest of us. We've been stuck here ever since. The doors can't be opened and he shoots whoever moves."

"The doors can't be opened?" She shook her head. Chen silently cursed and turned to Jorge. He motioned at him to open a door. Jorge nodded and disappeared. After a tense thirty seconds, he reappeared and shook his head. Chen frowned and looked up to the observation deck. He signed to John what was going on. John watched, then looked at Lucas. "The doors can't be opened from inside. They're stuck in there."

"How are we going to get them out?"

"They'll have to try and get past the Borg when they come in."

"But the others can't escape."

John swallowed. "Casualties." He leaned up and motioned for Chen that they had a plan, and to leave when the other Borg came in. Chen nodded and looked at Jorge. He nodded and Jorge slid his rifle over, then came charging from his cover, firing at the Borg. Chen leaped from his position and started firing, too, as he ran for cover. The Borg's shields took the first few blasts, then he rolled away and returned fire. They both ducked behind a bulkhead. Meanwhile, Carter destroyed the glass with his phaser and leaned out. He tossed the explosive down near the core and stepped back. "Get out of there, guys!" He called as he watched the battle, suddenly, the Borg spun and fired at them. John was surprised and he accidentally dropped the detonator.

Right out the window.

Jorge saw it and was moving in a flash, Chen distracting the Borg. Jorge snatched it up and they both ran for the door as John and Lucas kept the Borg busy. The doors slid open and Chen and Jorge hid as the other Borg came in. They both were moving in a flash. They jumped through the doors just as they shut. The doors blew open a second later. One Borg stepped in and backhanded Jorge, who was knocked against the wall. Chen aimed his rifle, but the Borg was on him in an instant, kicking him in the hip. Chen spun around, dropping the rifle. Jorge fired his hand phaser, but the Borg's shields blocked it. He grabbed Jorge by the throat and slammed him against the wall. Chen screamed and kicked the Borg as hard as he could in the head. The Borg stumbled and dropped Jorge. Jorge scrambled for the detonator as he saw the shields flash in the open doorway. The Borg turned and shot a small, metallic disk at the wall behind Gutierrez. He glanced at it, then it went off. He was knocked forward, the explosion ringing in Chen's ears. The detonator slid in front of Chen, who snatched it up and pressed the scan button as the Borg was turning. Everything after that was loud. Loud and bright. When Chen recovered, he saw the Borg lying in front of him, eliminated through the deaths of those in his group.

He heard coughing and he remembered the blast and Jorge. He crawled over and saw Jorge lying there, a terrible burn scarring his face and shrapnel stuck in his side. He was breathing heavily and his face was marred with pain. He was muttering incoherently in Spanish when Chen noticed the small, still smoking piece of shrapnel stuck in his skull. Jorge's eyes were empty as he muttered. He was a vegetable and he was still in great pain. Chen felt the lump swell in his throat as he stood up and unholstered his phaser. He aimed the weapon at Jorge's chest. "Forgive me," he said as he pushed the button.

***Three Weeks Later***

Chen wiped the sweat from his brow as he walked up to the small hut in the middle of the desert. He had been told by John and Lucas that they had blown up the engineers, along with the Borg. Also, Lucas had been shot by one of the Borg, resulting in his spine getting severely, and irreparably, damaged. The doctors said he had a twenty percent chance of ever walking again. They had all lied, out of fear for their careers, about the circumstances of the deaths of the engineers. Lucas had seemed especially sickened by the whole thing. He had refused to see either Chen or John since the incident. They had been awarded the Starfleet Citation for Conspicuous Gallantry. Jorge was given his posthumously. Chen had also lied about killing Jorge. An autopsy was never performed. Nobody knew that he pulled the trigger. Chen shook the thoughts from his head.

He knocked on the door of the simple little hut. Inside, a small woman of about fifty opened the door. She wore simple clothes, clothes that Chen didn't know even existed. "Can I help you?" She spoke with a thick Spanish accent.

Chen nodded. "My name is James Chen. I served with your son. I was there when he died. I came to give you this," He held up the small case containing the final remnants of his personal things. "I thought you'd want to have them."

She took the case. Her eyes were glistening. "Thank you. Would you like to come in? I've just made dinner."

Chen smiled as he remembered Jorge's words. Those thoughts were replaced by the look in his eyes when he died. Chen shook his head. "No. Thanks. I just thought you should know...Your son was a hero. He saved my life. He was a great man." He could feel his own tears coming. He swallowed and turned away, walking to the small shuttle he had hired to bring him here. The memories of that incident never went away.

***Now***

Lex leaned back, finally taking her hand off his shoulder to pull a lock of hair away from his eyes.

"So you killed them? All of them?" she asked, her voice rather hoarse.

Chen nodded. "Yeah. After that, John seemed so full of himself about the citation, it sickened me. That's the source of our friction. I know this is a lot to accept. But, it's a part of me. It's something I've lived with. Something that's haunted me for years. I came to you because you're my closest friend. Maybe something more. I'm going to command when this is over, like I said. No more lies."

He took the medal from his pocket and stared at it, saw it gleaming up at him. He felt the tears well up and he threw it across the room and heard it break against the wall. "No more lies." He put his head into his hands and cried, all the old memories coming back.

Lex watched the medal break, and watched her friend break down before her eyes. Her eyes ached. She watched when they'd given him that award, and had been so proud.. and wondered why he'd been so resentful of it, and why he couldn't acknowledge how much he'd accomplished. And now she saw what that medal really meant to him, that it was a reminder of those deaths.. that he felt were blood on his hands. And she saw how her dating Brady had hurt him, merely Brady himself being around brought back so many memories and so much guilt.

She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him tightly, burying a tear-stained face in his hair. "Forgive me" she whispered "I wish I'd understood before. I'm sorry. Take this to Command I'll be right there.." Lex paused, then raised an eyebrow. "Even if it is just to testify your sanity." She added with an impish grin.

Chen grinned back, as he swallowed. "Thanks. I'd like that."

"Counceling"
By Councelor Dallas Walker

In a soft soothing voice "Your in sickbay, Ensign, you just had surgry and got out, that is probably why you have the headake." Dallas said

looking at Dallas "Who are you? I have never seen you before". Scott asked

Smling "I am Councelor Dallas Walker, I am new here , but just call me Dallas ,Who where you talking to erlier? Walker asked.

Scott looked at her " You wont laugh if I tell you, would you?

Looking a bit surprised "Of course I wouldnt." Walker said

"I was talking with my mother." Scott said and waited for something to hapen..

Smiling at him " I do the same thing Ensign." Walker said.

"You do?" Scott said.

"Yes I do". Walker said

"Ohh my head hurts" Scott said and put one of his hands on his head.

" Close your eyes awhile, and try and sleep, I'll still be here." Walker said with reasurence , and the Ensgin did so, and Dallas sat there and hummed a song, her mother sang to her when she had been so sick that one time..

Galaxy "Observation"
Written By Lt. Kahn Nilani
Chief Medcial Officer

The tide of patients was slowing down, there were still many cases but the nurses had them covered. I Entered Meblab 1 and heard a soft singing, I made my way very quietly over to the Observation Office and checked on Suder. He was stable but still critical, and he would be for at least the next 2 days. I stood up and listened to the Counsellor singing. I picked up the Med Tricorder and moved into the Ward and over to Suder's bed. Upon arriving I checked over him and looked at the Counsellor, I then turned and left them.

I entered Sickbay and looked over to Endris who was just sitting there, I waved my arm for him to enter my office. Endris looked and started heading over to me. I entered my office and turned on my New terminal finding the Biography I was looking for. Endris finally entered my office.

["What's the matter?"]

I looked at Endris and smilled.

"Endris for the first time nothing is wrong, take a look!"

I swiveled my terminal around for Endris to see. She looked at the screen and started reading it.

["Be'Tran M'Benga, graduated top of class in Transporter Technology...."]

Endris realised the Importance of this, she looked up at me and smilled. I looked right at her and we both knew what each other was thinking.

"I think it's time to speak to a Ensign Be'tran M'Benga!"

["Agreed"]

I tapped on my comm badge

"M'Benga, this is the Chief Medical Officer. I need to speak to you, it's of great importance. Kahn out!"

I looked back upto Endris.

"And your staying here!"

Endris took a seat oposite me. and we waited

By: Ensign Elaithin Jii
Operations Dept.

Ensign Elaithin Jii sat up abruptly as the computer informed him of the time. He wasn't on duty untill Beta Shift---it was going to be his first Bridge shift on a Galaxy Class vessel. He'd spent the last week working in the Operations Office, but hadn't really met his coworkers yet either.

However, that didn't stop him from waking up at 0700 every morning. The ship WAS at yellow alert. He could always find something to do. He thought of the few people he'd met since coming aboard at Starbase...Lt jg Albrecht had been the one to show him to his quarters. There had been a few others, but he really didn't know any of them yet.

One of the other Ensigns.....what was his name? Duquesne?..... had been telling him about a Counselour that spent all her time with Security...she sounded interesting. He really wasn't sure how to feel about this ship. He was always a little shy at a new home, or assignment. It'd been that way at the Academy, and on the Kongo. No matter. He'd make friends soon enough.

After a nice sonic shower, he moved across his small quarters the the desk that served a dual function as a dinner table. He ordered a raktajino and something a human friend at the Academy had shown him, grits. Jii had found them to be much like gruel, but that they had more taste. Especially with lots of butter and brown sugar. As he ate his breakfast, he keyed on his terminal, and began his personal log for the day.

"Personal log, Ens. Elaithin Jii. As usual, I have woken up early though my shift is not until later. Also as usual (this a bit wistfully) I woke up alone. My thoughts keep turning to Ensign Turner on the Kongo..we were together for four months, and I truly regret that it ended on a bad note. Well...on to more positive things. I think I'm going to work more on my design a bit, and perhaps hit the slopes. I haven't tried out this ship's holodecks yet, and my snowboard needs a workout. Im certain someone will see me inthe corridor and wonder "What the hell is a Bajoran doing with a snowboard?". Oh well. They can follow me and watch, if they want to know. I think I'll socialize a bit too. I need to get to know some of the people around here."

Elaithin reached foward and switched the recorder off, and then scrolled through the latest updates from the Federation News Service. He saw another article from Jake Sisko...that boy was becoming one of the more prolific reporters in the FNS. He had talent too. Elaithin thought of the PADD tucked away in his gear with his own attempt at a novel, and then turned his thoughts towards other things. He needed some snow. To feel himself sliding at reckless speeds across the powder, with hairpin turns and adrenaline boosted jumps.

Well, that decided his first order of business. Quickly he geared up, and then thought of something else.

"Computer, are any of the holodecks available?" he asked hopefully.

[Holodeck Four is Available untill 1000 hours.]

Great!, he thought.

"Computer, reserve it for me for until then" He stated.

{Time slot Reserved.]

Well now, Elaithin decided. Time to get going.

"A Promise is a Promise."
by Lieutenant Greer Erikson and Lieutenant Rr'lonni Morris

It always seemed to come in one hit when he least expected it. Sitting on his desk were several PADDs which contained duty reports from several officers in the Science Department, an authorization for an experiment on some plasma samples they collected prior to the current mission, and two analyses he had requested earlier that morning. Scratching the back of his head, Lieutenant Erikson turned around and looked out of the observation windows before he noticed where Jasey had been hiding. "There you are." he said as the door chime to his quarters sounded. "Come in."

The doors opened to reveal the Caitian medical officer standing there. "I'm here to pick her up as requested." Khatroweena said as she took a couple of steps into his quarters.

"Thanks once again Cat." Greer said as he tried to pick up his small feline friend. "Jasey and Ronni . . . well, let's just say they are two very headstrong females."

"You realize you're going to need to work out something if you intend to keep seeing Ronni." Cat pointed out as she moved closer to receive the Terran animal trying to wriggle her way out of Erikson's clutches. "Hello Jasey cat."

"Actually, I've been seriously considered sending her home next time we get near Earth."

"Ronni?" Cat joked as she began to scratch Jasey behind the ear. The small animal began to settle down in response to the attention.

"Well that's the other possibility, but for tonight she is all yours."

"Alright, you and Ronni have a good night evening . . . and you," Cat said as she held Jasey up to her face, "you are spending the night in my quarters. Now I only have two rules you need to follow . . ."

The doors closed behind them as Greer watched them leave. Looking around he tried to determine where he should start first. "Computer, send a message to Lieutenant Morris." he said as he moved over to his computer console.

*******

Lieutenant Morris walked slowly along the corridor on Deck Eight towards Room 2133. She had received the communiqué from Greer which simply stated that he needed to show her something. Her thoughts were still focused on the Iconian Portal Device. She wondered how they were going to use it effectively. Standing in front of his quarters she depressed the button which sounded the door chime. After a minute passed without an answer, she pressed it again, but to no avail. "Computer, located Lieutenant Erikson." as soon as she finished requesting the information, the doors swung open.

["Lieutenant Erikson is in his quarters."] the computer replied as the door to his quarters seemed to open to itself.

"Thanks, I gathered that." Ronni muttered as walked into the room to find it barely lit. Turning her head she could only make out the vague impression of shapes from Greer's bedroom and there didn't appear to be any activity coming from any other place in his quarters. "Greer?" she said as her attention was caught by the table setting.

Emerging from one of the chairs near the far side of the room was Greer, clad in his white dress uniform, trimmed with gold lining, and now standing near a the dinner table set with cutlery and glasses. "As promised." he said as he extended his hand to one of the chairs set near the table. Ronni walked over and he grabbed her hand, lifting to his mouth to kiss it. "As you may, or may not recall, you said I owed you dinner, and after our last attempt of some peace and quiet I though that we should try again."

Sitting down on the chair, the Delphinian glanced at the Human's dress uniform and then at her duty uniform. "Looks like I'm a little under dressed" she joked.

Erikson smiled as he took a dark blue bottle from the middle of the table and began to pour out some of the contents in to a glass. "Delphi crystal water from the private collection of one Lieutenant Alan Clarence Hewson."

"I haven't had an authentic glass of this stuff since . . . I think it was the last time I was home for the Festival of the Star." Ronni said as she took a sip of the faintly blue liquid. Closing her eyes for a few moments she remembered the last time she was home with her parents and siblings "But nothing beats the real thing."

"Don't tell me you're one of those people that claims to be able to tell whether something is replicated or not?" Greer inquired as he stood in front of the replicator unit. "Two orders of pasta al fiorella with a dash of basil and some crushed almonds." The replicator quickly materialized the order which he placed on the table with the rest of the replicated dishes.

"Well there are just some things that the replicator cannot reproduce properly." the Delphinian said as she sniffed the plate of food in front of her. "Delphi crystal water just isn't one of them."

Greer chuckled to himself as he leaned against the wall. "That's probably because it doesn't have the same intoxicating effect as the real thing. I still think it is a bit of a myth . . . perhaps the person who entered the program into the replicator systems just didn't do the chemical analysis properly. I would think that's why it tasted or smelt differently. It wouldn't be the first time."

"Ah," Ronni said as she poked her food with a fork, "but there's something to appreciate about something that is carefully made and not simply replicated. After all, the entire concept of replication is the reproduction of a real thing. A music instrument for example."

"But," Greer responded to her example, "the replication of a musical instrument or piece of equipment is far superior to that of a handcrafted device. Pianos, for example," he said using his instrument of choice, "or even a violin can be perfectly tuned at the time of its replication to a level of precision that is just not possible by manual tuning. There's always the level of consistency too so that a group of instruments are perfectly tuned to a particular pitch."

"Well then I might just have to order a replicated Greer." Ronni joked as she pulled one of her faces.

Rolling his eyes he turned back to the replicator unit beside him and ordered a Vulcan salad as a side dish. "Eat your food Morris." Ronni took her fork and played with the plate of pasta for a few moments before she looked over at Greer who was now sitting across from her.

"Greer, why don't we take some leave. I mean neither of us have taken a break for more than a year."

Finishing his bite of food he looked into Ronni's eyes. "Well I had been thinking about getting back to Earth."

"Well I was thinking perhaps we could make it back to this year's Festival of the Star." she said before softly biting the corner of her bottom lip.

Greer looked a little disappointed. He really wanted to get back to Earth just for a few days at least, but it seemed that Ronni had different plans. "Well, so much for spending some time together."

"Not really. I didn't say we had to limit our options to Earth or Delphi. Why not choose somewhere different?" Morris proposed as she placed her fork down and took another sip from her glass. "Risa for example." She gave him a little smile.

"I've never been to Risa." Greer said as he toyed with the idea. "I'll put a request in for some time after this mission is over."

Ronni smiled as she thought about what they could get up to on the resort planet. "I think you'll like it."

"Nap Time"
By: Lt(jg) Ryak Sullax
S.O. USS Galaxy

Ryak worked hard at getting his program running from the bridge terminal. Nothing seemed to be going his way. Ryak glanced over to the corner of the bridge as he heard a part of the wall open up. Lt Morris came out of the tube and headed over to Lt Erikson. Ryak quickly turned off the terminal and entered the turbo lift.

"Engineering." Ryak stated as he entered the lift. After a few minutes the doors opened to reveal Engineering. Ryak walked into the area and headed over to the place that they kept the portable repair kits. Ryak picked it up and made his way back to the lift. Before he got to the lift a young female engineer came up to Ryak.

"Sir do you need any help?" The ensign asked.

"No Ensign I am well off." Ryak replied but he cut himself short and continued, "Actually yes there is something I could use."

"What would that be sir." she answered. She seemed to be staring at Ryak as if she had never seen a full Romulan up close like this.

Ryak looked into her eyes to get her attention and continued, "I have to get my son then I have bridge duty at zero hundred hours. I would appreciate your help repairing my...the Astrometrics/Stellar Cartography lab that I had just had completed joining before it was fried by our battle." Ryak started to get mad by the idea that he may have to start from scratch at repairing the lab.

"I will do my best at having somebody down there to help you sir." She replied.

Ryak nodded and entered the lift. Ryak arrived at the Day Care five minutes later. Sullar noticed him approaching and ran crying over to Ryak. Ryak picked Sullar up into his arms and gave him a big hug. Sullar was so up set he could barely speak. Ryak looked into his sons eyes and told him that everything would be alright. Ryak took his son back to their quarters.

Upon arrival to the quarters Ryak got Sullar changed into his Pj's and they both laid down in Ryak's bed. Ryak pulled out one of the Romulan story books from his end table and began to read to Sullar. The young boy listened attentively and slowly began to calm down. Sullar got really close to Ryak and placed his arm over his chest. Ryak looked down at his son who was now sleeping. His small arm on Ryak's chest and all of his fear lifted the boy had found peace. Ryak could help but feel that he himself was at ease. Ryak watched his son sleep and drifted off himself.

Ryak awoke to the sound of music in his living room. Ryak opened his eyes to notice that Sullar was no longer there. Ryak made hi way into the living room to notice That Sullar was playing some of the sound cards that he was given from the Romulan Commander. Ryak was very impressed with his sons ability to figure things out especially the computer. Ryak looked at Sullar and asked him if he was ready to go back to the Day Care. Sullar looked up at his father and stated that he was not ready to go.

Sullar started to tell his father why he didn't want to go. (Romulan Language) "Father, the humans are bad. They pick on me and the older human says I must play nice. I do nothing to them."

Ryak sat down on the floor with his son and said, (Romulan Language) "Sullar, you have to understand that I have to go to work. You must become friends with the humans even if they are inferior. They have some things that are good about them. Learn from them. You will notice that they are weak when confronted by a superior race as we are. You will be ok. I will be able to spend more time with you know."

Sullar looked up at his father and in a reluctant way agreed with him and began to get ready to leave. Ryak was in awe on how much his son knew for a three year old. Humans take much longer to pick up on concepts like this and being brought up with humans Ryak had taken his abilities for granted. Now he knew why he had developed quicker. Ryak got himself ready for his bridge shift and took Ryak to Day Care. The nap that Ryak had refreshed him and he was ready to get to work. Ryak dropped Sullar off and headed to the bridge.....

Chris Gagne
A.K.A. Lieutenant(JG.) Ryak Sullax
Science Officer
USS Galaxy
Contact at: i2qtnot2b@hotmail.com

By Ensign Suder Engineering
"On The Bridge"

"Taking heavy damage." Suder said from the engineering station on the bridge. It was strange being on the bridge. It was his first time on the bridge. It was very different from what he was used to and he didn't like it. The ship shook again and he checked the sensor readings and damage reports on the ship. Deck fourteen had taken a major blow. A turned on his char and waved for another ensign to take his place at the station. He left via the turbolift and was headed down towards deck fourteen. The turbolift stopped for several seconds and then continued on it's journey. Finally, it stopped at deck fourteen. The doors half opened and Suder stepped through them. Some of the bulkheads had collapsed, several conduits had exploded and the ceiling supports had fallen and were hanging loosely. Suder saw some injured crew down the corridor and a couple of medical teams. He ripped open a damaged conduit that was preventing power from running efficiency. He grabbed several tools and began fiddling with the conduit controls and circuitry. The ship shook again and a conduit down the corridor exploded. Suder slammed shut the conduit and grabbed his engineering kit. Power should have been running better now, in theory. One of the doors he passed opened and he stopped and looked in the dark room. He couldn't see anyone and knew he didn't cause it. He heard something inside, like a distant voice. The ship shook again and another ceiling support came lose at one end and swung down. It slammed into Suder knocking him to the floor in the room. The doors closed and Suder felt himself falling into unconsciousness."See y'all later"

"What happened?"
By Ensign Jack D'Auria

Jack and Gakor had attended the meeting together. He had listened intently to all the ideas being presented there. The rescue mission, like all such missions, promised to very dangerous. Jack had looked around the assembled crewmembers, seeing several new faces. He took each one in, assessing their capabilities dispassionately. Noting everything about them, the way they walked, the way they watched the area and the people around them. Both Lt. Albrecht and the Bajoran Tactical officer had a quiet, watchful gaze, seeming to be able to take everything in, in one glance. Lt. Samara had a fiery gleam in her eyes and a smile on her face, showing her Klingon heritage. They, together with him, would form a single strike team, whose mission was to take out the power generation plant. In of itself, a near impossible task, but if the impressions he got from his compatriots were any indication, they would have no problems whatsoever with subduing the Cardassian troops.

The four of them walked towards the turbolift, talking amongst themselves.

"So Jack, ready to get up close and personal with the Cardies", asked Samara, a wide grin on her face. At the mention of Jack's name, the muscular Bajoran turned around, watching Jack intently. Just then, the doors opened, and the foursome stepped inside.

"It is not a question of being ready, K'Eytyanna. One can prepare oneself for combat to the best of their abilities but should always try to avoid it." "Come now, ensign", the beautiful engineer said, "A glorious battle to rescue prisoners from a cruel enemy. So, you're just going to stand there when they come at you with weapons blazing?" "No, I've seen my share of combat and I do not shirk my responsibilities. But in this case, stealth is important. The longer we can remain unseen, the better the odds are. As it stands now, we have approximately… 20 percent change of success." "Come on, ensign", said Lt. Albrecht, "you're not serious. We've got surprise on our side, we have got the means to do what needs to be done and we have a good plan. All we need to do is to train, walk through the scenario and we have about half of it done. I think we have a fifty-fifty chance of success." "That's true, Jack, those Cardassians will never know what hit them", grinned Samara.

D'Auria looked thoughtful for a moment, the doors opening, then stepped out and turned back towards the others.

"As you point out, lieutenant, the training, the plan and the equipment play a very large part in the operation. However, since we do not have accurate descriptions of the layout of the compound, the time estimates can be quite rather optimistic. Also, we will not be having Command support, further complicating matters. In fact, what we are about to do, is completely unsanctioned."

Jack stepped out of the doorway, allowing it to close, but before it did so, he said one last thing to the other occupants, an uncharacteristic smile on his face; "Quite a challenge, no?" Samara, Albrecht and T'Kal looked at each other, surprise on their faces, then began to laugh.

Jack proceeded to his quarters, planning to finally get some much needed sleep and food. He resisted the urge to call Be'tran, figuring that she needed her rest also. He would check on her later; as it was, Dr. Gakor had restricted him to light duty for the time being and although he did not find the prospect of filing his days away rather appealing, knew it was for the best. Once in his quarters, Jack removed his uniform and underwear, standing before the full length mirror. His body, though still hard without a trace of fat, was not in as great a shape as he had been a few months earlier. He hadn't had a decent workout in a while, what with the Klingon battle, the repairs at Starbase 74 and this mission. If it meant that he could get himself back into shape, then he would gladly suffer the hours of doing complex quantum computer programming in his head as he filed reports.

Jack looked long and hard at the cortical monitor, it's small red lights circling around as it lowered the pressure in his cerebral cortex. Looking at it, he started to wonder about how his life had changed so quickly in the last few months. A few months ago, he was an ensign, whose first starship had limped into McKinley Station, with 90 percent casualties, almost non-repairable, on his way to a fighter squadron. If death had called him then, he would not have objected, such was the way of life. One is bound to die, once born. But through a fluke at Personnel, his orders had been revoked and he was placed on the Galaxy. If that had not happened, his logical look on life and death would still be with him today. If that had not happened, he would have never met the one person who could turn his life upside down with just one thought, one smile. Wearing nothing but a smile he stepped under the shower, letting the hot water wash over him. His thoughts turned to later today, when Betta would be off duty; it was 'moving day' today. Today, he would be moving in with her. Most of his stuff was already packed, they had only to be carried over. After leaving the shower, he walked into the main room, stopping in front of the small cupboard. The only thing remaining on it was the gift she had brought him back from Earth. The Elanin singing stone she had gotten from her father. Jack touched it with his left hand, the feel of his flesh on it making the stone sing softly, the melodious tones filling the almost empty quarters. As the sounds ran through him, a grim determination set in. He would fight for her, no matter what the other junior science officers had been saying when they thought they were alone. If she had been with someone else, fine, Betta had told him upfront that she wasn't a monogamous person, but it was only sexual, not love. If however, it was more then that, he had promised her he would not give her up without a fight. Jack D'Auria intended to keep that promise.

***Some time later***

D'Auria was awakened by the blaring of the Red Alert. Jumping out of bed, he quickly put on a clean uniform, intent on making his way to his battle station in the science labs. As if someone on the bridge would need a particularly nasty starchart to kill the enemy with, he chuckled. Then he suddenly stopped in his tracks, eyes wide open.

"Be'tran, what are you doing to me? A joke?"

A particularly stupid joke at that too. Quickly finishing his dressing, his artificial arm's slowed responses slowing him down, Jack swiftly made his way to the turbolift. Suddenly, without warning, the ship rocked violently in rapid succession, as if an angry god had hit it repeatedly with a large hammer. Jack managed to hold his footing, until the second barrage hit. The first thought that ran through his mind was Betta's safety, before he was thrown to the ground. That made him wonder how come the Galaxy was being hit, if she was under phase cloak and using the modified torpedoes. The thought that something had gone horribly wrong ran through his mind. Suddenly, the lights in the turbolift sparked and went death, replaced by the red emergency lighting, the lift itself suddenly dropping down the shaft at an incredible speed. This lifted him off his feet, pinning him to the roof. Then the emergency brakes caught, abruptly stopping the descent and slamming Jack into the floor hard. Shaking off the effects of the fall and the crash into the floor, Jack opened up the emergency panel. The lift was stuck and would not be moving very soon; thinking that being caught in a small enclosure that could crash at any moment was not the place to be, he climbed up against the wall, using the small protrusions to pull himself up towards the upper access hatch. A few moments later, he was inside the shaft, grabbing hold of the bars of the ladder there.

After what seemed like an eternity, Jack reached a Jefferys tube; crawling through it, he found himself inside a corridor. Or what appeared to be a corridor. Smoke, sparks and debris lay everywhere as he tried to make his way through it. Suddenly, over the noise and the pounding of weapons against the shields, he heard what sounded like cries for help. Jack focused his thoughts as he looked around, orienting himself on hi surroundings. Then his heart grew cold.

"The school."

The thought ran unbidden through his head as he saw the entrance to the classroom. The duranium had been twisted out of shape by a heavy impact, becoming impossible to open. Not even with the manual override. The ship shook again as the Cardassian weapons impacted on its shields, causing more damage. Jack ran to the other side of the corridor, almost ripping off the panel of the locking mechanism of the door, then proceeded to bypass the opening sequence. In seconds, he managed to open the doors to the crew quarters there. Not even bothering to announce his presence, since everyone was supposedly at their battlestations, he made a beeline for the replicator, manually inputting chemical formulas. A moment later a putty-like substance shimmered into existence, together with a small electronic device. Grabbing the items, he ran back to the school's entrance, pounding a hand hard on the door. A startled voice, an adult voice answered back.

"Get to the far end of the room and seek protection behind something solid, like a table."

"What? Why", came the panicked reply.

"Just do it!"

As this conversation was going on, D'Auria placed the puttylike substance around the doorframe, ending it with placing the electronic device in one end. He then pulled up the sleeves of his uniform and opened the small panel on his arm, quickly punching in commands.

"Everyone find a safe spot at the far end yet?"

[Yes], came the frightened reply.

"Cover your ears and brace yourself. Fire in the hole!"

With those words, he pushed on a button on the miniature LCARS terminal, sending an electronic signal to the device, detonating the explosives. The twisted metal crumpled in hundreds of pieces by the blast, none landing more then two meters from the dooropening inside the room. Quickly stepping inside, Jack spotted about a dozen small kids and two adults, most likely teachers, huddled behind upturned tables and chairs. Most of the children were crying; one of the teachers walked towards him, a small boy in her arms. Again, the thought that Command should not allow people to bring their families onboard starships ran through his mind. It was just too dangerous. Quickly, he lifted two of the small children in his arms, motioning for the others to follow him out to safety.

"Let's get out of here, shall we, Miss?"

"Aftermath"
by Captain Robert Edward Lee Price

The Galaxy was presently safe under the protection of the phase cloak unit installed by Starfleet Intelligence. Her course set to return to Federation space at a leisurely warp factor two. Admiral Pressman had ordered the Galaxy's sensors to continue tracking the Dominion attack ships that escorted a Gator class Cardassian battle cruiser. He was partially relieved when it appeared they had not detected the Galaxy's presence and continued on their general search, most likely trying to locate the missing Dominion Battleship the Galaxy had destroyed only a few minutes earlier.

"Well Commander, that was a job well done." Pressman said while rising out of his chair.

Joerg turned and likewise rose to stand before Pressman. "Thank you Admiral. I know it wasn't as smooth as you had hoped, but at least we carried out the President's mission."

Pressman nodded. "You should be proud Commander," then glancing around the bridge at the rest of the command crew he added, "you all should be." Pressman's eyes again found Joerg's, "The Romulans may have stolen a key piece of technology from the Federation, but the weapons work. We proved that phased technology can be used as an advantage and as a weapon. The President will be pleased."

"And Tomalak sir?" Joerg asked.

Pressman's eyes narrowed a bit, "Tomalak's deception will not go unpunished Commander. Starfleet Intelligence will see to that. I assure you, while they have this technology now, they won't be keeping it for very long. Once we clear Cardassian space I will send a coded transmission to Starfleet to let them know of our success,... and of Tomalak's actions. We will handle Tomalak's new Tal'Shar in short order Commander. Mark my words, Starfleet Intelligence doesn't sit by for treachery of this nature."

Commander Sterner nodded at the Admiral. He was implying that another covert mission would be arranged to deal with the technology the Romulans had taken. For a moment Joerg was worried that Pressman would use the Galaxy to penetrate Romulan space as they had just done to the Cardassians.

Reading his expression Pressman shook his head, "Don't worry Commander. We are through with the Galaxy for the time being. All that remains now is to return home and remove the cloaking device once we are safely back at Starbase 74. In the mean time, I'll be returning to my quarters. I want to fill out the mission report while everything is still fresh in my mind."

Joerg nodded, "I understand Admiral."

Pressman glanced around the bridge once more before turning to exit the bridge.

Commander Sterner waited until the turbolift doors swooshed shut before asking, "Lieutenant, how long until we reach Federation Space at present course and speed?"

Aaron checked the console of the Helm, "We should be approaching Cardassia Prime in three hours sir. Then another two days before we clear Cardassian space at Warp Factor Two. Though Engineering may have more available power by then, maybe enough to increase speed to warp three."

Tapping his comm badge, Joerg contacted Engineering, "Sterner to Mercury."

A moment later a happy sounding Chief Engineer's voice came over the channel. It sounded like there was a celebration going on in the back ground with people laughing and carrying on. ["Mercury here Commander. What can I do for you sir?"]

"David, I know the Galaxy is a mess at the moment, but if you can concentrate on getting us more power for the warp engines it will shorten the length of time we are behind enemy lines by as much as a full day." Sterner explained.

["I understand Commander. I'll have my crew do their best. Mercury out."]

Joerg took in a deep breath and then let it out slowly in a relaxing sigh. The immediate danger was over, but he wouldn't feel completely safe until the Galaxy was back in friendly territories once again. Staring at the main view screen, Commander Sterner watched as the stars flew past at a calm warp two. Cardassia Prime was just a few hours away.

"Moving In"
by Ensign Be'Tran M'Benga
with Ensign Jack D'Auria

Betta was alone in her quarters. She was wearing a long black gown, decorated with blue and silver lace tracings. The gown had two long slits in it, almost to her waist; at either leg, and was held tight around her waist with a thin belt, silver and metallic, and covered with leaf-like designs.In short she looked radiant. Her hair was hanging long on her back, still frizzy like she liked it, and the air was filed with the scent of her perfume.

She straightened a painting on her wall, and stepped back to look at it. It was something she had picked up on Betazed, on her last visit there, before she came aboard the Galaxy. It depicted Betazed's Lake Elnara; near the home of Lwaxana Troi. She thought the colors were extraordinarily lifelike.

"Computer, music." the computer chirped. "Classical, Earth; 19th Century,Antonin Dvorak. 'New World Symphony', Largo."

The computer complied, and soon the air in the quarters was filled with the soft, romantic sounds of Dvorak's largo, as well as Betta's perfume. Her door-chime rang, and she suddenly began scurrying about. She was trying to hurriedly put away the packings she had stored the painting in. She shoved them not too gently under her bed.

"Come In!" she called. The chime rang again. 'Can't be Jack, then.' she thought. She went to the door, and opened it manually. It was Jack. He just didn't have a hand free. He was carrying two bags, both emblazoned with the starfleet logo, and had another hung over his back, on a long strap.

"Oh, honey," said Betta, "I'm sorry..." she giggled, "Packed light, huh?" she stepped aside, letting Jack make his way in; and taking one of his bags to help him do so.

D'Auria set his luggage down, and looked around him. He smelled the perfume, heard the music. "Betta," he said questioningly, "I thought this was 'moving day'? It looks more as if you have prepared for a dinner-setting." "No, it's still moving day." she replied, letting the door slide to behind her, shutting out the rest of the universe, if only for a short time. "I just want everything to be special when we're together."

She raced across the room towards him, her gown flying open at the slits as she did so. She threw her arms around him, and kissed him, passionately. Through the bond they had, he could tell there was more on her mind than just being in love with him; a feeling of doom penetrated his being, not wanting to think about what he had heard in the science lab. He pushed her back gently. He felt beneath her gown, that she was naked; but he also felt her trembling.

"Betta, Imzadi; what is wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Then why are you trembling?"

Be'Tran pulled away from him gently, and motioned for him to sit down on her bed. He couldn't help but feel that there was something wrong; yet she showed so much happiness in her eyes.

"Something happened to me, the other day, Jack; after you left me in the Science Lab, and rushed off to work on your ideas." she began. Now D'Auria was begining to worry. He let her continue.

"I came back here, and tried to sleep." she said. "I managed to get some rest, but I just couldn't relax."

Jack stood up, "Betta, something is wrong. Please, tell me. Whatever it is we can work it out."

"No, that's just it", she said. "Nothing is wrong. Nothing could be more right. I'm changing, Jack, inside..." and here she put her hands to her chest, "I'm not the same woman I was when I came aboard this ship."

Jack didn't quite understand what she was saying, however, inside him, it was as if a fist had formed around his heart, slowly clenching it together.

"How do you mean you're changing?"

Somewhere deep inside him, a desperate fear awoke. A fear that this was going to be goodbye. That Be'Tran was changing away from him. He almost couldn't bear to hear the rest; if his fears came true, then she would ask him to leave. And his life, or at least the most important part of it, would be gone. He thought of his promise to fight for her; how could he do that if she didn't want him anymore?

"Sit down", she said, softly, but pleadingly. Jack plopped onto the bed again, not knowing what else to do. Be'Tran began pacing around, her lovely legs revealing themselves with each step she took.

"When I couldn't sleep, the other day I was telling you about, I went to the gym. I met a man there."

Jack's heart sank.

"We talked, we became friendly. He invited me to 10-forward, and we had dinner." she seemed excited, but not, Jack thought, as if she were confessing something; more like she had just something important to say and this was all building up to it.

"Be'Tran, you know we have an understanding." said Jack, "You told me when we entered into this relationship, that you could not be monogamous. Are you trying to tell me that... that you have..." Jack couldn't get his words out. It wasn't jealousy that was stopping him. It was a fear that whatever happened between Be'Tran and this man, it was more than sex.

"No, Jack." she said, "That's just it. I found this man incredibly attractive, physically; I would almost say he was a beautiful man." "Who was it?" asked Jack, softly, and with the outward lack of emotion of his Vulcan nature.

"Benedict T'Kal. He's an Ensign in tactical. He had a Klingon wife, and she died. I guess he kinda got attracted to me too, because I reminded him of his wife... but..."

Jack hid his shock well. Benedict T'Kal, the same Tactical Officer that would be accompanying him on the rescue mission. He could see what she meant when she had said that he was a beautiful man. Jack tried to get up from the bed, but Betta was too soon at his side, and holding his hands in hers. "I couldn't, Jack." she said, "I just couldn't. I mean, yes, I was very sexually aroused. You know what sex means to me, Love. But no matter what my body was saying, I couldn't."

His mind went blank at her confession. 'She couldn't? She couldn't do anything with him?'

A smile crossed Jack D'Auria's lips, and he kissed her forehead ridges, feeling as if a gigantic boulder had been lifted from his soul. He put his arms around her, and held her tight.

"That's what I've been trying to say." she began again, tears forming in her green eyes. "I don't want to be with anyone else. Just you. Just you!" she was sobbing into his shirt now.

Jack lifted her face from his shoulder, and dried her tears. "You are changing." he said, feeling happier then he had ever felt in his life. Not, necessarily that she didn't have sex with T'Kal. But Jack knew Be'Tran. He knew her mind, her heart, her body and now, he finally knew her soul.

For a fleeting flash of time, he feared that he had lost her. He was simply overwhelmingly relieved.

"I never thought I'd feel this way", she said, after what seemed like a long silence. "I never thought I would. Maybe this is what love really is. I don't ever want to be with anyone else. Jack, just tell me you love me."

He took her face in his hands, and kissed her lips with all the passion in his heart. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed back. He could, as he was locked in her arms, hear her voice in his head... echoing. "I will never leave you..."

"I love you with all my heart, Be'Tran M'Benga, never forget that", he echoed inside her mind.

The music continued, as Jack and Betta lay there kissing and holding each other. After several minutes, she stood, and undid the belt of her gown. She reached up to her shoulders, and dropped her gown to the floor.

"Do you like it?" she asked, her voice deep and husky, "It is yours, Jack D'Auria; yours, and yours alone." soon she was in his arms again.

**********

They fell asleep together, in her bed. Jack awoke, to the sound of Be'Tran's alarm. She always set it early, so she wouldn't be late for duty. He crawled from the bed, and then looked back at the woman he left laying there. The light glinted on her forehead ridges. Her dusky skin shone in the reflected light of the stars outside her window.

He loved her. And now, more than ever; he knew their love was mutual.

When he retuned after duty; it would be to a home. Not just a place where they would meet, make love, and sleep until duty called them apart again.

A home. A home like he had never had before.

He dressed, and left THEIR quarters, without waking her.

Chance Meeting
Ti Miran

"Ba ba ba." Miran looked up to see Lara trying to get Bobbie's tail. Bobbie wasn't letting the toddler grab her tail though. She chattered at Lara, showing her annoyance.

"Okay you two, enough." Miran swooped down and gathered her daughter into her embrace. Lara looked disappointedly at the ferret.

Everything had finally calmed down enough. Miran had been terrified with everything going on. She wished she could go back to the helm, it wasn't as scarey when you knew what was happening, but now with Lara, she would have her mind set on Lara's welfare not the condition on the ship.

This was one of the times Miran wished she could stand the taste of alcohol. Getting drunk would mute the pain. Miran would have given almost anything to be in Deiran's embrace, to hear his calming words of love in her ear.

Miran told herself that she should buck up, swallow her pride and go back to Deiran. It was when she was with them though, all the feelings of betrayal, pain and anger came back. The emotions were a sea of turmoil for her.

"Come on sweetie, why not we go to Ten-Forward to give the Trenton's come privacy?" Lara cooed, still interested in Bobbie.

Miran was still comforted by the stars that shown through the large Ten-Forward lounge. She remembered all the times that she had spent her. So much time alone.

Miran sipped her drink wondering what Deiran was doing.

"A break"
By Councelor Walker

Still sitting with the Ensgin a Doctor came up to her and tapped her on the shoulder,

"Excuse me Councelor?" The Doctor Nilani asked

Tunring around and smiling up at the Doctor "Yes what is it?"

"Well , Ensign Scott needs to rest," The Doctor Nilani said.

"Well ok , I guess I'll come back later tonight then, he has been waking up and then falling asleep again." Dallas said looking at the Ensign ."Would you tell him , that I'll come back later ,if he wakes up?

Smiling "Yes I will ,plus you look like you need rest too." Nilani said.

"Me ? Na , I never need rest." Dallas said grinning.

"Well , at least go and get something to eat." Nilani

"I'll try" Dallas said and quietly got up and left sickbay.

Dallas headed twords her quarters.Once she reached her place , she stepped in , maybe i'll go and excersie, she thought havent done that in awhile..So she headed over to her closet and pulled out a balck exercise outfit, which was nice and tight,and also put on some hotpink exercise shoes. Then she pulled out a set of headphones and a a holder with some tiny disks, her friend Starssa an excellent Engineer ,made it for her on and had given it to her on one of her birthdays. The disk contained all of her favorite songs, alot of them going back tothe Twenty-century earth. After getting that ready , she went to the mirrorr , and ran a brush through her long thick hair, and pulled it back into a ponytail. Turning around , she still had the Panther Tatto , she had gotten while going to the Acadamy days ,which she had waken up to one morning from paryting,with friends, cause of a very hard test she had passed, and of course they had wanted to celebrate. She shruged, she didnt care if people saw it. Actually it showed a different side to her. Putting the specially made headphones on, she pushed play and the music started out with "heart and soul" she turned up the volume and headed out of her quarters to the gymnastics area.

Ten minuets later..

Dallas Walker stepped into the exercise place, and saw they had a lot of stuff, but thought she would start out with a jog, she normally joged about 20 miles , and then did other exercies.looking around saw there were only two other people inside , so she turned and went jogging down the running track. listening to her music...

It seemed like hours had passed before the last person left the triage area headed for sickbay and surgery. Taleen followed the stretcher, leaving the rest of the triage crew to finish cleaning up.

Entering Main Sick Bay she looked around. Finding the first Doctor she recognized, she reported for duty. "What else needs to be done and what do you want me to do." Her civilian clothes were rather wrinkled, her face was streaked, she looked rather bedraggled.

Ensign Taleen Cyndanian, Medical Staff, USS Galaxy

"Matchmaker"
by Ensign Be'Tran M'Benga
& Lt. Tebrianne Bancroft

Benedict closed the comm-line, and Be'Tran stood staring out her window, and thinking. The danger to the Galaxy was over. Oh, yes, there was a great deal of repairing and healing to do. But she was unscathed, and Jack was too.

She felt like it was time for a party, if she could cram it into her crowded schedule. Thanks to the bombardment by the Battleship, the engineering staff was being kept busy, and on double shifts until the Galaxy was assuredly safe from danger, and could slow down their return journey home to affect repairs.

Be'Tran knew Jack would accept Benedict's invitation. And now the three of them were going to be involved in Dr. Kahn's rescue mission together. Jack and Ben (as she was fond of calling him) had to get to know one another.

Benedict was absolutely delicious in Betta's eyes; a beautiful man, as she had told him to his face. Jack was Imzadi to her. Her beloved. She would like nothing more than to be wined and dined by both of them, with a steaming bubble bath for desert.

But Benedict had something more meaningful on his mind than just Be'Tran and her physical attributes. He wanted more, and Betta knew it. And, what's more, she knew from whom he wanted it.

Tapping the control of the communit in her quarters (rather than her badge), she instigated the link. "M'Benga to Lt. Bancroft." she said calmly.

Soon the British accent of Tebrianne Bancroft filled the air. "Bancroft here. What can I do for you, matey?" she asked.

Be'Tran could tell from Teb's voice, just in speaking, how lovely her singing voice must be; she knew Teb liked to sing, but had never heard her.

"Well, Lieutenant," Be'Tran began," I know we don't know each other too well..."

"We've said 'hi' a couple of times, but that's about it," said Tebrianne, "What can I do for you?"

"Well, I was just wondering. I'd like to get to know everybody on the Galaxy better," responded Betta, "and, well there's going to be this dinner party... Jack D'Auria and I are going, and...I dunno, your name just popped into my head. Wanna come?"

Perhaps a lame attempt. But matchmaking was a tricky business, or so Betta thought as she awaited Teb's response.

The offer took Teb by surprise. A dinner party? She didn't know M'Benga or D'Auria very well, but a dinner party sounded like fun. And, it would give her the chance to get to know both of them. "Sure," Teb said with a grin."Sounds like a great idea. What time?"

"Tomorrow night. 1900hrs." replied Betta. "It's...." she hesitated, not wanting to mention T'Kal's name. She didn't know if Teb knew how he felt about her, but surprise always seemed to work best. "It's at a friend of Jack's. You could meet me here and we walk over together."

"Sounds cool!" came the soft voice of Tebrianne.

'I hope Benedict pulls out his guitar, and she starts to sing.'She responded to the comm, "Then I'll expect you early. Casual dress." Be'Tran was almost giggling.

"You got it, M'Benga." said Teb, "I'll be there. See you then, mate!" and the channel closed.

'Well,' thought Betta as she looked around her quarters, now decorated with many of Jack D'Auria's interesting weapons; 'Here you go sticking your nose in.'

"But it's so much fun!" she giggled to herself.

Facing the truth
By: LtJg Lexana Ral
Junior Counselor//Security Wannabe
USS Galaxy

Listening to James had finally made Lex realize how totally insensitive she could be at times. She really wasn't a good counselor when her own best friend had a problem and she was too blind to see it. She was hopping mad at Jon too and she hoped for his sake he didn't come near her for a while. She flipped through her messages and noticed one from sickbay asking if she could come down to sickbay whenever she was

done with her appointments as there were several traumatized patients. Deciding to skip eating for a bit, she felt sick anyways, Lex headed off to sickbay. Her mind was a blur, maybe actually doing some work would give her a chance to take her mind off things. She felt on edge, as though she was walking on ice.

"Wonderful" she said to herself "Maybe I should see a counselor" She quickened her pace a little, lost in thought she rounded a corner and walked into a young Bajoran ensign, accidentally elbowing him in the ribs rather painfully.

"Sorry!" she said "Are you all right?" The ensign rubbed his ribs and grimaced "Yea.. fine"

"I'm really sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going, I .. had someone.. Something on my mind."

"Sokay.." He said "Ensign Eliathin Jii"

Lex smiled and shook his hand "Lexana Ral, pleased to meet you. And I do usually look where I'm going "

"I'm glad to hear that Lt."

"You're from Bajor?"

"Yes,"

"Ahh.." Lex smiled "You sure you're alright?"

"Yea.." he stretched and patted his ribs

"Well.. I have to be off, I'm needed in sickbay. " She grinned

"Ah.. you're a nurse?"

"No.. Counselor although not a very good one. Sometimes I think I'd be better of in another department. Well, nice meeting you Ensign. See you around" she turned and stalked off to sickbay

Ensign Eliathin looked rather relieved she'd gone without inflicting further injury on him and headed for the holodeck. On the way there, he realised that the person he'd accosted by was the Counselor Duquesne had told him about, the one that hardly ever actually spent time in the counseling departments. Duquesne had neglected to inform him that she was also an accident waiting to happen.

Sickbay was busy, LtJg Ral noticed Counselor Walker helping a small child. Dallas was good with children, Lex noted, she wished she had the same kind of abilities.

"Lex?"

"Hey Seeta.. what can I do to help?"

"I have two patients in shock." Nurse Seeta Neral clipped " One is catatonic, she's not responding to anything, however I'm not reading any cerebral damage, physically she's fine" they both walked over to a a Xenexian engineering officer who was sitting against a wall. Her black hair flat against her skull and her purple eyes staring at the ceiling.

"She was like this when you found her?"

"Yes, we've cleaned her up since then. She was covered in blood, we thought she'd been injured."

"What did you find on her?"

"Plasma.. pieces of skull and brain tissue.."

"All right.. I'll see what I can do." Lex hunkered down and stared into her glazed eyes.

Searching through the depths of her mind, she found that it was shutting out recent events, such as that which had sprayed her with someone else's matter. Lex figured a console had probably blown up and the girl had been standing right nest to the person operating it. She tried to reach through the layers of mental blocks to find the person inside. The person she found was scared and alone, filled with the pain of loss. Lex's voice reached into the girl's mind

"Hey..." it said and a gentle pair of arms reached out. *** A bit later ***

Lt John Brady had finally managed to track Lex down to sickbay. He walked in looking around..He noticed Lexana working with the young engineer and waited till she'd finished before going over there. Lex had been talking to Nurse Neral about something, a faint smile on her face, which was replaced with a scowl as soon as she saw Brady.

"Lexana. may I have a word?' Brady asked softly

"Sure.." she said slowly "Excuse us a sec.." Seeta smiled and nodded as Ral and Brady stepped outside into the corridor

"You've been avoiding me"

"Yes"

"Any particular reason?"

"How can you stand there, as if you don't know. what you think I wasn't going to find out? You said NOTHING to me.. NOTHING and let me think James was being an asshole, when all the time it was YOU"

"I don't know what you're.." John began as he had a sense of sick realization

"Cut the crap John! I know what happened.. James told me everything."

"It's not what you .."

"Then WHAT is it? How can you go on with your life as if nothing happened? As if it was some kind of act of heroism?"

"You have no idea how hard it's been Lex.." He said

"Well you seemed to have been dealing with it pretty well!" she snapped

"Look.." he put his hand up to her face

"Don't touchme!" she glared at him "Don't even speak to me. "

"Let me explain..."

"I already heard what happened, soon enough everyone's going to know." Lexana started backing away from him.

"What?"

"James is taking it to command, he's going to tell them everything" But you already knew that didn't you

"He won't go through with it"

"Yes he will. You'd better start up your respnses to cross-examination Lt" She said darkly.

Brady stared at the floor for a moment, then he moved off, ignoring LtJg Ral's icy stare. Her reaction was confusion, she'd thought she'd get a different response entirely, some retaliation, screaming at least. Then her Betazoid half picked up his intentions and she raced around in front of him.

"Oh no you're not." She said

"Lex, move out of my way."

"He's going to tell them"

"No he's not.He can't.. " John's voice got quiet "He can't..."

"And WHY not? Because the image of Mr Perfect will be ruined.?" She snapped

"Why are you turning on ME all of a sudden? You seemed pretty happy with me before James decided to fess up. But then YOU would take his side of the story, it's painfully obvious how you feel about him. Well let me tell you now you're just a kid to him, a kid he can fool with.."

The sound of the slap echoed down the corridor. John never finished the sentence, he glared at her and took a step towards her, placing his hand on her arm.

"Don't TOUCH me" She pulled away roughly, her eyes blazing with anger.

John, who's cheek was almost the same shade as her hair had a swirl of emotions running through his head. Anger yes, definately, guilt, pain and, fear. he was afraid of what was going to happen when James told command what had really happened.

Nurse Neral took that moment to stick her head out of sickbay. "Hey, Lex?" She said softly, "That engineer, I think she's having a relapse."

"I'll be right there." LtJg Ral said, biting back tears. She looked back at John, who'd seemed to lose his former self confidence completely, and silently shook her head before retreating back into the menagerie of sickbay.

Lt Brady was left alone with his thoughts. He leaned back against a wall and closed his eyes.

Ivoni Preparations
by Lt Endris Gakor
reviewed by Captain Price

*** Cargo Bay 1 ***

Lt. Samara and Ensign M'Benga were the engineers assigned to repair the damage in Cargo Bay 1. Although priority was given to improving the speed of the warp engines, medical supplies were still important since there were numerous casualties from the battle which destroyed the Dominion's battleship.

It didn't hurt that both engineers were on the 'inside' track about the Iconian Transporter interface that Gakor had found and others had got to function. The technology was stored in the Cargo Bay. It was a good thing Ronni locked it down to the deck, or it might have been sucked outside when the hull had been breeched.

Gakor entered, pushing a now empty supply cart. "Starvation! Look at this mess", she uttered surveying the damage left by the battle. "It might take hours to get this place tidy."

=Gakor to Medical=

=Nilani here, what do you need Doctor?= the CMO asked.

=I'm in Cargo Bay 1. The medical supplies here are in disorder due to battle damage. Could you send some of our volenteer nurses down here to help me put things back into a semblance of order?= The Tellarite said. If any of the SI agents monitored the comm lines, all they would hear was a legitimate request.

Dr Kahn frowned, but knew this was a cover to send the off-duty members of the rescue team down to the cargo bay to help assemble the communication devices. To save time, those who weren't on duty would form an assembly line to make the gear. Ronni and the engineering team had cobbled together an armband incorporating the functions they needed, so the design work was complete. But because the components were very delicate, they couldn't mass produce them with replicators.

=I'll send some of our 'nurses' down right away. Also, your friend Albrecht mentioned he would post a couple of security people at the door to keep unwanted visitors out. We can't have civilians wandering into an area that was compromised by the recent hostilities.=

Gakor smiled, and emitted a Tellarite snort of satisfaction, knowing the gold-shirts real purpose was to ensure no SI personnel snooped around the Iconian device, the knowledge of which was still confined to Galaxy crewmates. The Immunologist scrounged, and found a single replicator that wasn't blown apart by shrapnel and decompression. Endris prepared refreshments for the rescue team, that began to stragle in in small groups or by themselves. Soon, the preparations to get to Ivoni would be complete!

By: Ensign Elaithin Jii
Operations Officer
USS Galaxy

The first thing on the deck was the board, and it was immediately followed by the boots, goggles, and snow-covered winter gear. Funny thing about holodecks. You were still wet even if you got dunked in water...or snow. Of course, the whole premise of a holodeck was a combination of mattter replicaton technology and the magnetic manipulation of holographic fields, but that was getting far too detailed.

Elaithin Jii stepped out of his shower for the second time that day, and threw on his duty uniform. his encounter with the young Counselor Ral was on his mind, she was quite a striking individual. Ah well, he mused. Time for such thoughts later.

He decided that with the Galaxy's current state, he might as well go on duty eraly. On his way to the Operations office, he ran into (not literally) Lieutenant Albrecht.

"Lieutenant! It's good to see a familiar face!" the Ensign said , a bit eagerly.

"Ah, Ensign Elaithin. I was just on my way to the Operations Office to meet iwth Lieutenant Commander Casey. Care to walk with me?" Albrecht replied in an even tone.

"Certainly sir. I'm just glad to see someone I've already met. This ship's much larger than the Kongo..she was only an Oberth."

"Who else have you run across?"

"Well, I vaguely know the Operations department, and I ran across Counselor Ral earlier today. At the moment, that's pretty much it."He admitted.

"You'll get to know others, I'm sure." reassured the older officer.

"Hey, you grew up on Tellar didn't you?" inquired the younger of the pair.

"Certainly did. Where'd you here that?"

"Oh, I read a lot. I've read most of the officer's files on this ship."

Albrecht's eyebrows shot up. That was a surprise. He hadn't expected the personable young man to be a bit of a bookworm.

"Interesting. Well, here we are."

"So we are. If you'll excuse me, sir, I actually have to work around here."

With that, Ensign Elaithin moved over to the main Operations board in the office, while Albrecht headed for Casey's office.

By Dr. Felicia Khatroweena, Lieutenant (Assistant Chief Medical Officer),
USS Galaxy NCC-70637 And Dr. Taleen Cyndanian, Ensign

***** Sickbay *****

Cat started preparing all the used instruments into piles, depending what needed to be done. Either to be re-used or re-cycled. Cat just shook her head, trying to dislodge all the cobwebs that seemed to have built up in her head. Pushing some of the instruments into a container, she giggled to herself. She wondered if the warranty on the Galaxy was still good. After two major battles that left the Galaxy 'stumbling' back home, no manufacturer would ever honor the warranty on the Galaxy ever again.

She had amused herself and couldn't stop giggling. Her combadge brought her back to reality. She had been up for too long over the last few days and it had gotten to her. She just felt so tired, the idea of her going to bed seemed such a good idea. She was surprised when her badge beeped again and she realized that someone wanted to talk to her. Tapping her badge, "Khatroweena here, go ahead!"

Greer's voice came over the comm, [Cat, could I ask a favor of you?]

"Sure Greer, no problem! What is it?" Cat replied.

[I'm having dinner with Ronni tonight and well...]

"And you want me to make sure you're safe with her." Cat interrupted with a smile on her face and in her voice.

[Oh ha, ha, ha. I would like you to look after Jasey for the night, if you could.]

"Jasey? Of course, I'd love to look after Jasey." Cat was honestly glad for the chance. Both of feline ancestry, they got on well with each other.

[Well, if you could come, sometime before 1800?]

"Sure, I'll see you then Greer." [Thanks Cat, Greer out]

Cat went back to help cleaning up Sickbay. Her tired thoughts went to the details of how she was going to 'mask' the DNA of the crewmembers heading to rescue Ilyannia, Nilani's sister. Theory was to make the sensors that they would have to deal with think they were Cardassians. Ok the theory is easy! Now what about the implementation, that was the problem. Her circular thoughts kept on going back to gene tagging.

Potentially the most effective, but it could be the most dangerous. While known about in the twentieth century, but little understood were the electromagnetic fields that came from all over the body. When all those fields were studied and finally understood, it catapulted the accuracy and speed that could be made in diagnosis of patient's conditions. It also allowed great leaps forward into enhancing security. A security system could read the bio-electromagnetic field of a person and then decide to let them in or not. No need for ID cards, PINs, retina scans or other security devices. Except for one problem, you can't keep your bio-electromagnetic field a secret. A tricorder, fifteen seconds and bang - you too, can walk through that locked door, the system thinking you were somebody else. So the old technologies came back to 'back up' this 'great' new idea. As a first line of defense in a security system, it was a good choice.

Cat had it a lot easier than making the rescue team appear to the sensors as anybody in particular, but only to make them appear as Cardassians. She needed to dampen the natural frequencies of each of the team and then create artificial ones that made them appear like Cardassians. Cat needed to know how sensitive the Cardassian sensors were going to be. The more sensitive the sensors, the more changes that were needed. Problem with gene tagging was that the gene were affected by the changes in the bio-field and that could disrupt the normal RNA-DNA interactions, effect CANCER. Cat did not want that. Cat had to balance a lot of different things. She needed to talk to Matthew on any information that he might have on the Cardassian sensor sensitivity.

Cat tired as she was, left her with not much of a concentration span, her thoughts turned to Ursa. It had been a while since she had talked to him. A small smile appeared on her face as she thought about the Terran / Orion Chief of Security. She wished she had more guts in pursuing him. Sometimes, when she was alone, she would think of what if it would be like to have been that little more aggressive.

Cat sensed movement close to her and she turned to see the newest member to Sickbay, Taleen. "What else needs to be done and what do you want me to do."

"Taleen, you look like, we

ll... I'll say no more." Cat rubbed the back of her neck and twisted it side to side, trying to get the kinks out.

"Ma'am, Is there anything else that needs to be done?" Cat knew what Taleen was thinking. Duty above all, that was going through her mind, Cat was sure of it. Cat was inflicted with the same problem.

Cat smirked, Taleen looked at her a little confused. Cat frowned and seriously added, "Taleen, I could use your help in something. Got a patient that won't stop, keeps on going until they drop, won't relax. Know what I mean?"

"I know what you mean."

Cat called over one of the nurses that had already rested for a couple of hours and asked them to continue the cleaning up. She indicated Taleen to follow her. As they headed out of Sickbay, Taleen asked "Where are we going?"

"Ten-Forward! I'm proscribing a decent drink and a rest to that patient. I thought I'd accompany her to make sure she had both." Tiredness had dulled Taleen only a small amount, it took a few seconds to work who Cat meant. "Doctor, I am fine. I'll rest when I can."

"Taleen, please call me Cat. I know you will. Right now I am ordering you to take a rest. I can see it your eyes. It took a while for me to learn how to rest as well. Come on."

"Cat, I'm ok!" protested Taleen.

They arrived at the turbolift, "Ten-Forward!" Cat called out.

"Unable to comply. Structural damage makes access to Ten-Forward not possible at this time." returned the computer.

"Oh great. Let's head to my quarters. You had Caitian Silver Milk? I think you'll like it. Anyway, I had alternate reasons. Gives us a chance to talk."

"You're not going to let me get away are you?" Taleen gave a small smile.

Cat gave a small shake of her head. "Nope, so you might as well give in."

***** Cat's Quarters *****

Both of them headed off to Cat's quarters, as they entered her quarters, Cat indicated a seat. Taleen sat down as Cat moved over and poured out a couple of drinks. Cat flopped into a seat and just sighed. "So Taleen, like your first few weeks on the Galaxy?"

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

Taleen takes a sip of the drink. "This is quite good, up intill the last 24 hours, it was good, however the thing that got to me in this mess, were the kids. Why were there kids aboard if we were going to get stomped on like this."

Taking another sip, "I suppose that no one knew we were going to get stomped, but it seems so senseless."

Taleen yawned, "It would seem that you were right, and I am more tired than I thought, and it shouldn't be this yet," indicating the drink. "It looks like I am going to have to drink and run, or I will be asleep right here.

Finishing her drink, "We will have to continue this later, or I will be spending the night. Thank you for slowing me down." Taleen got up and headed for her quarters.

Fixing Holes
By Ensign Anthony Mendenhall

Mendenhall sighed as the looked at the gaping hole. *At least the Galaxy held up better than the Light Brigade.* A forcefield temporarily held in the atmosphere as they traveled through space. If they could repair it, they needed to fast.

He turned over towards the cadet helping him and shook his head. There wasn't sufficiet supplies right now on board the Galaxy to fix a hull breach that big. It wasn't incredably big, but large enough to pose a threat of depressurization of that section.

"There's no wat we can fix this now Cadet." He had forgotten the Bolian cadet's name, and felt it would be stupid to ask him his name since he intriduced himself a few minutes ago.

"Looks like it." nodded the blue headed alien as they both overlooked the damage.

"Everyone evacuated off this deck?"

"Yes."

Just then the field startted to sputter violently. The small cracking noises didnt sound too good as the ship traveled through the warp velocities.

=/\= Mendenhall to Cmdr. Mercury. Looks like were going to have to seal off part of section five on deck fourteen. No major systems here, so I don't think we'll have any problems. =/\= Anthony waited for a reply.

=/\= Alright Mendenhall. Seal it off. I'll add it to the list of holes we've got. Mercury out. =/\=

The field started cracking again as the two walked away. They reached a seal off door just as the field started to really sputter.

Anthony bunched in a few codes and two large heavy doors sealed off the the area around the hull breach. The field slowly let out the atmosphere, and then resealed itself to protect the area from space debris.

"That should do it. Let's go Cadet. Only two more to go."

Preparations
Ensign Benedict T'Kal
Tactical Officer
USS Galaxy

Benedict smiled. His dinner preparations were made. The small stove and charcoal burner stood ready to receive the fresh ingredients he'd replicated earlier. He reviewed the menu - Sushi, Chicken Teriyaki, Boiled Rice, Tempura, King Prawns, Black Crab Spiders, and plenty of real Sake. Japanese Green Tea and a selection of fresh fruits for dessert. It was to be cooked at the table. He placed a small piece of aromatic wood on the charcoal burner and watched as it released a scented smoke.

He cast his eye across his cabin - the low table sat in the centre of his living area with the small futon cushions to kneel upon placed at the settings. The black lacquered table was polished to a mirror shine and the small flower arrangement with a single white Ocalla flower floated in the centre of a wooden sculpted bowl full of scented water.

A Japanese silk kimono hung on the wall; the flying blue cranes on white and silver threads were enhanced by the royal blue under kimono. His swords hung on the opposite wall beneath his fathers' watercolour rendition of a Terran tiger with bold brush strokes and delicate hiragana script.

His prized 12-string guitar stood in its case in the corner - the instrument had been hand made by a Spanish craftsman almost two centuries ago. It had been a gift from his father when he had graduated the Academy of Arts on Terra Nova Australis.

A Bajoran tapestry lay across the sofa set beneath the windows looking out into the shifting stars and blackness of space. The tapestry was a copy of one his mother used to own - Benedict had always loved it and he'd copied it shortly after joining the crew of the Galaxy.

He was expecting Betta and Jack in about twenty minutes - and so he hurriedly took a shower and dressed. He hoped that Betta had told him about their dinner in Ten Forward - Benedict was slightly nervous about meeting Jack for the first time in a social setting. He figured dinner for the three of them would break the ice and allow them all to be friends. Both Betta and Jack were taking part in the rescue mission and Benedict planned to discuss his ideas with both of them.

He looked at his reflection in the mirror. He wore his jet-black hair loose about his shoulders. His left ear adorned with several earrings in Bajoran style. He wore a black house jacket with a Chinese collar and silver buttons sculpted with tiger heads. The golden high collared shirt with embossed Japanese designs gleamed beneath the jacket. He looked okay. Satisfied he told the computer to play a selection of his classical flamenco collection at low volume.

He dipped his finger in to the scented water in the small bowl on the table and sprinkled several drops of water across the Ocalla blossoms' five triangular petals.

He waited for the couple to arrive.

"Working out"
By Councelor Walker

Stopping a few minutes , and Dallas took a drink of water and looked around, she now had the place to herself , at least for awhile. Her foot was slightly tapping , to the old sixties dance music, from the old earth movie 54.

Dallas then put the water down and continued on with her jog, she had severale hours ,before she had to work, which was the late shift. She didnt really mind , she could never sleep anyway, esp when the dreams came.And she picked up her speed around the track..listening to the song "Heart Of Glass" by Blondie...

"Leaving Sickbay"
by Ensign Talen Valkyre

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

Talen sat up, his back muscles stretches and his joints popped. He swung his feet off the bio bed as he sat up and looked at the doctor who had just finished examining him.

"Well your good to go" the doctor said "But come check in tommorow just in case" she added.

"Ok" Talen said as he was anxious to leave sickbay "Thanks Doc" She smiled at him as he stood up. King jumped and barked as he master was now all better. " Hey King, how does some Beef sound?"

The dog barked in acknoledgement and ran circles around him. Talen laughed and headed out of sickbay, glancing back once at the people that had helped him. Taleen Cyndanian and most importantly the one who saved him Be'Tran M'Benga. Talen considered paging one of them over his com badge, but then figured they were busy after the battle. Talen retreated to his new quarters and layed on his bed. There he thought of many things. Things that troubled him mainly, and slowly Talen fell asleep, King at the side of the bed.

=/\= "Good For The Gander"=/\=
by Lt. Matthew Albrecht

Ensign Francis O’Hara accompanied the lieutenant to Main Engineering. She suspected he was up to something; He had spent the majority of his shift planted at his terminal, frantically stabbing at the user interface. Several times his comm badge had gone off, each time followed by the office door swishing shut. She very nearly asked him what all the secrecy was about, but changed her mind. After all, she was new on the Galaxy; A freshly promoted ensign, three weeks out of the Academy. When lieutenant Albrecht had finally emerged from his office, a look of intense purpose on his dark face, she brushed her red hair from her eyes and stood at attention like a cadet.

He had turned his regard directly upon her then, and the corner of his mouth turned up in a half-grin. She remembered thinking, *That smile… that’s not a friendly smile.* She knew then that he wanted something from her. A woman can sense these things. She wondered momentarily if she should flee, just make an excuse and run for her quarters. His expression wasn’t malevolent, or leering, but it held a tinge of danger, nonetheless. But she didn’t run and she didn’t hide. She stood her ground and awaited her superior’s words.

The lieutenant, his name was Matthew, she thought, came within a few feet of her and stopped. He looked at her, sizing her up, while he opened and reached into a locker. He removed a belt, with a phaser in the holster, from the locker, and held it out toward her. His half-grin split into a full, toothy grin. He spoke in his young man’s voice, "Ensign O’Hara. How would you like to do me a little favor?"

She looked from his scheming face to the phaser belt, and a memory came flooding back to her:

*She was thirteen standard years old. The prairie around her was lit with the faerie-light of pre-dawn, brilliantly red-tinged around the horizon in all directions. Still visible in the morning sky were the two largest satellites of her homeworld, known to the third-generation colonists as ‘Mutt’ and ‘Jeff.’ The scene held no beauty for the little girl in its center, for she had just watched her father die. They were running, they were fleeing their pursuers on foot, but the damned outworlders had mounts - - her father’s horses! She didn’t know where her Da was taking her, only that with him she felt safe. He held her hand as they ran, and she fell to the ground when he did. She never heard the shot that cut him down. Time had stopped for her that morning. The red horizon softened into a faded pink before she looked up from his body to see the three men on horseback surrounding her. Naussicans. When she looked into the horrible face of the nearest of the rogues, his eyes narrowed. The other bandits were silently watching the teen-aged girl and their leader glare at each other. The chief rogue pulled a bandoleer from his saddlebag, and offered it to her; She noticed a disruptor pistol hanging from it. It was not a fine weapon, like the one he so proudly wore in a finely tooled leather belt, all polished to shine. This weapon he proffered was dirty, scarred, not anyone’s prized possession. She realized she was being tested, but not why…*

The doors to the Galaxy’s heart parted for the pair of security officers, breaking her mind’s wandering. Francis wore a phaser strapped around her waist, and walked confidently ahead of lieutenant Albrecht. She headed for the temporary barrier, as she had been instructed. The barrier had one opening, bracketed by two black-suited Starfleet Intelligence officers. On the right was a man with a wan, pale complexion. He was muscular and had large, deadly-looking hands. On the left was a woman, under five foot four, not athletic, with long blond hair and happy blue eyes. In her breast pocket were several engineer’s tools. She was making a good show of guarding the enclosure, but was not particularly intimidating. Francis stopped directly across from the male officer, her hands clasped behind her back.

Lieutenant Albrecht stepped up just behind her left shoulder, placing his hand upon her in a (fatherly?) supportive way. He deepened his voice when he spoke this time. "Lieutenant Landau, I have assigned ensign O’Hara to support you for the rest of the shift." He probably smiled a convincing smile behind her, but she couldn’t see it to be sure. He sounded like he was smiling when he continued, "I was hoping lieutenant Baker would accompany me to ten-forward for oinkus…?" The blond SI officer raised her eyebrows in confusion. "Um, that’s Tellarite for a celebratory meal," he clarified, with a tone that sounded at once apologetic and familiar.

The pale-looking brute on the left screwed his face up into an expression of protest at the Galaxy security officer’s presumptiveness. Right on cue, as Albrecht had advised her to, ensign O’Hara piped up with her line; "What are ye, lieutenant Landau? A science officer then?" His expression broke from anger to indignation. She could read in his eyes that she had wounded his pride. Her boss had been right on about this guy; He must have done his homework. She then recited her last line, after which she would be on her own to ad-lib. "Well, lieutenant Albrecht, ‘tis a good thing ye decided to place me here. This lad‘ll need all the help he can get!" She then tossed her red hair to the right, lifting her chin and winking at the SI lieutenant.

The black-suited man was so taken aback by her insinuations about his abilities, that he forgot all about the security lieutenant’s blatant rescheduling of his shift. The pretty lieutenant Baker happily made a quick escape from her boring guard duty to join Albrecht on the way to ten-forward. Francis noted that his suspicions about the blond woman’s dedication to guard duty appeared to be right on as well. She tried to eavesdrop on the two as they departed, but couldn’t hear them over Landau’s voice. He was preparing to exaggerate some adventure or other to impress her, which is exactly what her lieutenant had warned her he would do.

**** Ten-Forward ****

Astrid and her lunch partner leaned over their table to get their heads closer together. They whispered together like conspirators. "Him and Doctor Gakor have been palling around for months! Oh, sure, neither one says anything publicly, but it’s obvious he’s… you know…"

Her compatriot feigned shock, "You mean, he’s jumping into her sty?!?!?"

Astrid’s face paled momentarily. "That was a little harsh, Bev! For goodness’ sake, ‘her sty’!" Though ensign Salt was an unrepentant gossip, she didn’t condone racial slurs. But she forgave quickly. "Anyway, there’s no question he’s visiting her all-you-can-eat bar!"

They observed Matthew flirting with the blond Intelligence officer. Astrid was offended at his behavior, especially since he was with one of those damned SI people! The couple laughed and smiled for quite some time; Astrid was about sick of stretching her lunch out and drinking gallons of iced tea in order to be around until Matthew and his little date left the lounge. "Wait’ll Dr. Gakor hears about this little incident!" she vowed.

Beverly interjected, "I can’t wait to tell Lex about this. She’ll just die! You know how squeaky clean she thinks lieutenant Albrecht is!"

Astrid smiled a few minutes later. She tapped Bev on the shoulder and announced, "We’ll soon see. Here comes Counselor Ral now…"

**** Gary Trabuco ****

"…those tomato and protein shakes!" commented Door. Gary shook his head, realizing he had only caught the end of the Cardassian barkeep’s statement.

Embarrassed, Gary asked, "I’m sorry, Door. I was distracted. What did you say?" He slid the tricorder a quarter meter to the side, so as not to be distracted.

Door replied, "I was just saying that you’ve had four drinks already. I can’t imagine that in one day you would need five of those tomato and protein shakes. Are you okay, Gary?" He took his bar towel from his back pocket and wiped his hands, purposefully, without hurrying. Then he put the cloth back in his pocket and reached for a chair.

Gary put up a hand, "No, no Door. Everything is fine with me. I’m just distracted by my work right now. Be-LIEVE me," he stressed, "you’re the first one I come to when I need to talk." Gary’s emphatic reply succeeded in sending the man away, but Gary felt bad for deceiving the guy. Door was actually a fine guy to have around, and Gary did enjoy spilling his guts to him.

The security ensign reached out and dragged the tricorder back in front of himself again. The indicators on its little face indicated that the device was operating perfectly. Gary reached up and toggled the volume of his ear piece to a higher setting. The conversation was continuing, and Gary was capturing every detail. He knew Matthew would be pleased.

"…Well, Matthew, the problem with your friend’s plan was that the Cardassian military upgraded sensitive facility security systems soon after joining with the Dominion. You don’t have to have top secret clearance to put two and two together. Those Cardies have spent their last two centuries strapped for resources; They wouldn’t let that equipment go to waste!" Baker’s voice was replaced by Matthew’s, "And Smith assumed that the old mining facility’s security system would be hopelessly obsolete! Damn, that must be why they put such intelligent engineers in SI, eh? So, tell me more about yourself…"

Gary was soon impressed with the level of detail Matthew was getting. He soon had an unofficial Starfleet Intelligence review of the expected defensive measures in place at Ivonii. He wondered how Albrecht would end the conversation; Jeni Baker seemed convinced by his ‘interested courtier’ act. *Well,* Gary thought, *if he doesn’t want her, I’ll take her!*

Lt Matthew Albrecht
Security Officer
USS Galaxy NCC-70637

"Joining the Team"
Written By Lt. Kahn Nilani, Lt. Endris Gakor and Ensign Be'Tran M'Benga

Be'Tran M'Benga was in engineering when the call from sickbay came through. Sickbay. 'Jack!' she thought. Her mind raced, it was all she could do to keep from bolting up from her place by an open panel of power conduits and sprint to the Galaxy's busy medical bay.

She glanced around quickly for a superior officer that could grant her permission to go. Her green-eyed gaze caught the eyes of Chief Engineer Mercury.

Mercury had obviously overheard the comm transmission. He nodded to M'Benga in response to her wordless question; and she bolted from the engine room, acknowledging Mercury with a quick "Thank you Sir!"

"Where's she going?" asked Melissa Boudreau.

"Sickbay." said David.

"Is she ill?"

"Not that I know of. Dr. Kahn just called her up there." Mercury couldn't help but look worried.

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

Be'Tran hurried as fast as her long legs would carry her. She leaped into the nearest turbolift, and barked "Sickbay!" at the controls in a husky voice.

As the lift whirred to sickbay, she couldn't get the image of D'Auria, bleeding on the holodeck floor out of her mind.

When she reached sickbay she burst past a pair of civilians making their way over to Khatroweena for treatment. "Where's Doctor Kahn?" she asked Med Tech Jolitan, a chubby Zakdorn.

He gestured towards the CMO's office, and Be'Tran was off in that direction with a thank you nod at the tech.

'It has to be bad news.' Betta thought, as she entered the office. Both Kahn and Gakor were there. But the Tellarite had a grin on her face, not the usual look for a physician about to tell you your lover was dead.

"Snacks!" said Gakor. "You got here on the double all right!"

"Where is he?" asked Be'Tran, "Is he alright?"

"Who?" asked Nilani

"Jack D'Auria?"

"On light duty where I put him I suppose." said Endris.

Be'Tran looked a bit embarrassed, but she didn't let it show in her voice. "Then you must need some repairs, or something. What's broken?" Betta was too excited over Jack to bother with ma'ams and other courtesies of rank.

"Come in M'Benga." said Kahn, "And relax, this doesn't have to do with Jack D'Auria."

"Well," said Gakor, "It does, in a way."

"What?" said the Klingon.

"M'Benga," said Nilani, taking her seat behind her desk, and calling something up on her desktop. "What do you know about transporters?"

"Most everything ma'am." replied the ensign, getting her composure back now, "I don't mean to brag, but I was top rated on transporter repairs and operations at the Academy, my second, and graduating years."

"Good," said Kahn, "I just wanted to be sure. Even Starfleet's database isn't absolutely glitch-free. I wanted to double check your transporter credentials."

"Begging the doctors pardon, but why?" asked Betta.

"If you're as good with a transporter as your record says," put in Gakor, "then we might ask you to volunteer for a mission."

"Mission?"

"What do you know about Iconia?" asked Nilani.

"Not much really." said Betta, "I heard that the Enterprise-D found Iconia, nearly 10 years ago, but that Picard destroyed it, or what was left of it; to keep their technology out of the hands of the Rhomulans."

" 'Not much', snacks, that's enough." said Gakor.

"Scuttlebutt gets around." replied the engineer.

"Well, Ensign, I'll get to the point." said Nilani, "Do you think you could operate Iconian technology?"

"I'd need to see schematics, instructions. I could give it a whirl. Why?"

"Because, you may have heard that Gakes, and myself, and some others are planning a mission, of our own..."

"Yes, Jack told me something about it. He's involved in it, isn't he?" now Be'Tran understood how Jack was involved in this conversation.

"Yes," said Gakor, "and Ensign T'Kal, another friend of yours, I believe."

"Yeah, but that mission has something to do with a rescue. Jack didn't tell me much." said Betta. "How does Iconia fit in?"

Nilani sat on the edge of the desk. Be'Tran took a long look at the Galaxy's CMO. She was tall and lovely. The perfect picture of Bajoran beauty. She crossed her arms over her chest, and spoke again. "To the point, we've managed to procure an Iconian transporter. We have instructions for it's use. Samara, Morris, and I have already tested it. It works and we know how to use it. Interested?"

"Yes!?" Be'Tran's eyes widened. This was the stuff she got into starfleet for in the first place. Challenges.

"Your ratings on transporter are tops," said Gakes, "You already know T'Kal, and of course D'Auria. You're a good officer, and we need your help. You in?"

"Your rescue mission?" asked Betta, Nilani nodded, "Yes!"

"Good." said the Bajoran.

"Just let me know what you need, and I'll do my damndest."

"Speak to your fellow friends and welcome to the team!"

"Going to Work"
By Councelor Walker

After finishing her jog , Dallas left the exercise area and headed back to her quarters, Once she got there she turned on the lights for the room, and went and took a long hot shower, after that she headed to her closet and went through trying to find something to wear..As she was huming a soft tune , Dallas finnally pulled out an outfit , it was a dress that went to her ankles , it was with gray trim , and had vining florals in taupe against ivory, and it had a machting meadum length light wieght jackt. And put on a pair of knee high boots . Then she went to the mirror ,and ran a brush through her thick black hair , and she keept it down, then she put in some silver hoopes and a couple of silver braclets.And she also sprayed on some lavender perfume , that she had found on Vulcan.

Sighing , she missed Vulcan , or was it becuase she missed Silak? deep down in her heart , she had always loved the Vulcan...But new they could never be together..Because of his parents , which belived in the old traditions of Vulcan... but his parents didnt know that they where slightly bonded..She had been in a comma ,and he had bonded with her, to try and save her life..Sometimes, she swore she could feel his presence aound her right now..as if he were on the ship , but it was a comfortable presence...

Walking out of her quarters and deep in thought, Dallas headed to her office... sighing...she always chose the men , that she could never have, or would die on her like Zeph did, she should talk with someone, but didnt really care to share her feelings with others, its that Vulcan logic she grew up with..

As Dallas stepped into her office, she looked around, she had furnished it with some beautiful paintings one of Vulcan, and some from other places she has been , and some statues one of Dolphines and one of a unicorn and some earth horses, and then she had draped a colorful blanket her mother had made over the couch.. Dallas then went and ordered some coffee and sat down in her chair.. looking at the picture of Vulcans riasing moons...she was a bit early for work, looking at the clock , maybe she should head back to sickbay and check on Ensign Scott.. yes that is what she would do , so she headed back out of her office twords sickbay...

"Awakenings"
by Ensign Willaim Foxtrot
Security

Will awoke I a biobed in sickbay. He looked around and sat up in the bed, he felt tender in his ribs. He then looked up to see a nurse walking towards him with a smile.

"Welcome back to the living Ensign." The nurse said.

"Thank you, What happened?" Will asked.

"You came here with internal bleeding in your lungs. You blacked out at the door." The nurse explained.

"Oh man, Tomalaks phaser blast must have done it! That son of a....." Will stopped what he was saying because he was in front of a Lady.

"Well you have rested and seem awright to leave, but take it easy and return later for a final check up." The nurse instrusted as she scanned him.

"Thank you i will." Will answered as he stood up and headed for the door.

He walked down the hall heading to his quarters. He entered the turbolift and entered the command.

***His Quarters****

William cleaned up and went over a kneeled in front of his mom and dads picture and began to meditate. He kneeled there calming and going over things in his mind. He couldnt quit seeing the whole Tomalak thing. He turned around and saw the smirk on Tomalaks face as he fired at Will. Then the thought of his parents telling him that it wasnt his time and never fail the dragons. It started to worry him, he couldnt stop hearing the words We will one day be together again our Shy Dragon. Wills eyes opened and he stood up.

"I think I will go to ten-forward and get a drink" Will said as he shook his head of all the thoughts.

Will left his quarters and headed to ten forward.

******Ten-Forward******

Will entered Ten-forward and wenrt straight to a table near a window so he could look into space. He kept rubbing his side for it was still tender.

"What Can I get for you?" The waitress asked.

"A scotch please." Will answered.

The waitress left to go get his drink. Will kept staring out the window as he thought of the beauty of space. The stars the planets the blackness all poetry to him.

"Here Ya go, enjoy Ensign." The waitress said as she set his drink down.

"Thank You." Will said Gratiously.

His thoughts went to the trips he and his parents took to orient and Scotland. Two of the most gorgous places. He sipped at his scotch anmd started to look around Ten-Forward.

Ensign WIlliam Foxtrot, Security, U.S.S. Galaxy

By Ensign Suder
Engineer

"Premonition"

After the weird dream in sickbay and after he left and went to engineering, he was puzzled as to why he was having so may weird dreams lately.  Every since he had left the Lakota, he was unable to relax.  He arrived at engineering and had logged on at his station when he saw that he was due on the bridge.  He made his way to the bridge, and along the way, realized the battle had begun.  The ship shook several times, but he managed to reach the turbolift and get to the bridge.

He took the empty engineering station and logged on.  The ship shook again.  Behind him, Pressman and the other senior officers were busy giving orders.  The ship shook again and things went quiet.  
"Minor damage to starboard shields." Suder called out not known if anyone was listening.  The ship shook again and this time, Suder had to grab the console for balance.  For several minutes, the Starfleet vessel and the Dominion Battleship exchanged fire.  The Dominion vessel came about and fired again.  The blast ripped into the shields in the middle of the ship.  The lights at Suder's station flickered and then came back online.  A lot of power systems had just been knocked off-line.  He ran a quick diagnostic.  Deck fourteen had been shattered.  Not completely, but it had been wacked several times.  He gestured towards another engineer and the ensign took his place while Suder grabbed his engineering kit and jumped into the turbolift.

The lights flickered and flashed along the entire deck.  Conduits along the walls had exploded via power overloads.  Parts of the ceiling had fallen and were hanging loosely.  Suder arrived at deck fourteen and ducked and weaved through the lose wires, ceiling supports and other bits of circuitry.  He located the main power junction on that deck and ripped open the panel.  He grabbed his tricorder and began scanning the conduit.  It was stable, and power could be rerouted through it.  Down the corridor, he heard people moan and groan.  He glanced down the what he thought was empty corridor and saw several nurses checking over some officers that had been injured when deck fourteen was hit.  He turned back to the conduit and pulled out a few isoliner chips and replaced them in different slots and pressed some buttons on the panel.  Most of the lights on the deck came back on line and seven of the nine power nodes were functioning.  He was about to realign the last two when he heard something.  He glanced down the corridor and saw a door open.  It was dark inside the room and he heard someone call him again.  It was a distant whisper.  The ship shook again and Suder balanced himself.  He strolled to the open door and the ship shook again.  He looked to his right quickly and saw a piece of the ceiling support swinging down.  He ducked and it missed his head and hung lose.  Suder heard the voice again and ignored it this time.  He got back to the conduit and brought the other two power nodes online.  He wrestled the panel back in place and walked back to the open door.  He scanned the dark room with his tricorder and was about to enter when his communicator beeped.
"Ensign Suder, report to engineering." ordered someone he hadn't heard before.  He tapped his communicator, grabbed his engineering kit and ran to the turbolift.  He was on his way to deck fourteen when the ship shook again and the turbolift stopped.  Suder looked around at first, hoping it would start again, but it didn't.  He pressed some buttons on the wall panel next to the doors, but again, nothing happened.  His first course of action:  Panic!  He was claustrophobic and began worrying.  He tried opening the access hatch but it wouldn't budge.  The ship continued to shake and Suder couldn't help but feel annoyed that he wasn't helping out.  He tapped his communicator.
"Suder to anyone near turbolift eleven.  It's stuck and I need assistance." he said.  There was no response.  He tried again but was replied with the same answer.  Nothing.  He dropped to the floor and sat against the wall.  Trapped in an isolated room was not where he wanted to be today.  But fate just happened to chuck it his way.  The first thing he thought of was the premonition he had just had.  He had a very similar dream in sickbay.  But this was real, how was that possible?  He pondered his thoughts and continued his work on his project to try and distract his attention from the small turbolift...

(NRPG: I will be in the turbolift for some time, and so please don't write heroic tales of how you managed to pry open the doors and rescue me... Thanks!!!  I will get out soon thanks to one of the engineering staff, thanks!!)

Joey

"An Early Start to the Day."
by Lieutenant Greer Erikson

Walking directly passed the desk in his quarters, Lieutenant Erikson picked up his cup of coffee and a PADD and walked quickly out of the door. Passing two engineers repairing an ODN junction further down the corridor he stood waiting at the turbolift in the anticipation of getting the day started.

With the faint sound of the arriving turbolift carriage arriving, the turbolift doors opened up to reveal an empty carriage. "Main Engineering." the Lieutenant said as he the computer responded with a beep as the scientist took another sip of his coffee.

The doors opened to one of the corridors on Deck Thirty-six. Every several meters he walked, Erikson seemed to pass an engineering officer rushing off to some other part of this ship, repairing replicator systems, or faulty ODN junction like on Deck Eight, or a broken piece of equipment like Ensign Takahashi reported with the spectral scanner. Reaching Main Engineering, Greer stopped for a moment as he took time to look for Lieutenant Hewson.

"Can I help you sir?" a young Asiatic officer asked the out of place science officer.

"I'm hoping to find Lieutenant Hewson. Do you know where he is?" he replied.

"He's right over there." she said as she turned to point to the dark haired engineer talking to two other people.

As he walked closer to AC, Greer could tell that his engineering colleague was engrossed in his work. Standing near on of the engineering consoled he placed his coffee down and stood there watching his explain something, his hands assisting his explanation of some engineering problem. Noticing his friend leaning against the console, Hewson gave him a sign to come over.

Picking up his cup, the science officer moved closer. ". . . if you do it that way, there shouldn't be anymore problems." The two engineers agreed and moved off, talking most likely about their repairing details. "And what brings Mr. Erikson down to our humble abode?"

"Not a great deal actually. I thought I'd wake up a little early and see how many more ways I could harass you."

"What are you up to now . . . ," AC pretended to actually think about it, "fifty-three ways." he smiled as he playfully smacked Greer in the arm.

"Watch yourself Hewson. You've already done enough damage to me for the week." he joked, referring to the broken nose AC had given him in Ten Forward a week earlier. Looking around the heart of the Galaxy-class starship, Greer shook his head. "You guys look like you're going to be busy for a while."

Turning to the engineering console behind him, Lieutenant Hewson pointed to the areas which suffered the most damage from the attack from the Battleship. "Fortunately most of these decks were cleared of non-essential personnel due to the power reallocations for the sensors and the phase cloaking device."

"Indeed." Erikson nodded in agreement. "I was just dropping by to see if you were interested in lunch in Ten Forward."

Looking over the engineering schedule on his red PADD, AC looked back up at Greer. "I don't see why not."

"We'll talk then . . . I should probably go now anyway. I still have to find someone to complete an analysis on some samples before I report to the Bridge."

"OK. I'll catch you later buddy." Hewson replied.

*******

The corridors near the exobiology laboratories on Deck Five were virtually abandoned on the order of power restriction to that deck for the modified sensor arrays. Walking into one of the exobiology laboratory he notice Ensign Whitlock running a tricorder of several organic samples.

Hearing the doors open he turned to look at Erikson. "I was worried about this experiment I was running sir." the Ensign said as he looked back at the tricorder readout. "I've been conducting some tests on the resistance of plant tissue to heavy metals."

"Yes, I remember reading your research proposal." Erikson said as he drew closer to the workspace to see the samples. "If you can get your work going, perhaps it might be possible for use on terraforming missions."

"That was the intention," Whitlock stated, "but for some reason the power restriction to the laboratory seems to have altered the conditions of the experiment and I cannot rely on these results."

The Lieutenant picked up one of the spherical containers to look at the botanical sample. "It really doesn't look all that well, does it." he said rhetorically. "Why didn't you place them in stasis when the power restrictions were ordered, or move them to another lab?"

"This laboratory has been modified to run most of the experiments I need and I didn't really want to put them in stasis because of possible power fluctuations." the exobiologist explained as Greer watched him continue his scans. "Was there something you wanted sir?"

"Actually, I was hoping you could run an analysis on some samples we picked up from the starbase two weeks ago, but it looks like you're already busy."

"That's all right," David said, "just let me know where they are and I'll look at them once we've got main power to this deck." he said eagerly.

"Thank you." Lieutenant Erikson said as he nodded. "Perhaps you might want to consider talking to Lieutenant' Taurean about your samples. She's got extensive experience in botany. Perhaps she could help you with your research."

"Yes sir. Thank you." Ensign Whitlock said as he returned to completing his analysis on his botanical samples.

*******

Stepping out of the turbolift Lieutenant Erikson noticed Lieutenant' Sullax seated at the main science station. Walking passed the tactical and engineering stations, the Chief Science Officer quietly leaned against the auxiliary science console. "Don't worry Lieutenant', I'm just early."

Lieutenant' Sullax nodded as he continued to concentrate on the sensor data still coming through from the modified sensor array. "Have you had a good morning sir?"

"It is still a little early in the day, but for the most part I would have to say yes, it has been a good day." Greer thought seriously about it for a moment and realized that he had never spent much time to really talk to the Romulan scientist at an informal level. "I stopped by Stellar Cartography yesterday evening. When do you think the modifications will be completed?" he asked as he looked around the Bridge at the other Gamma shift officers.

"I believe I have almost completed the last of the data and sensor transfers between the two laboratories. It should be possible to receive updated data immediately from the astrometrics laboratory straight into stellar cartography."

"That would certainly have been well tested during this mission." Erikson said as he referred to the astrometric scans they were performing during their time in Cardassian space. The Romulan simple nodded as he pressed a few buttons on the console in front of him.

“Firsts”
By Ensign Jonathan "Lucas" Brandis & Casey Ti Miran
USS Galaxy

First on his mind was the inevitable, Betazed. Could this new weapon be used to lauch a counter offesive and re-take Betazed from The Dominion? Lucas still had a few friends in the Federation Counsel, and maybe he could contact the President and...

It had been a long battle, or so it seemed. Lucas’ first. He somehow went into an automatic mood, not afraid, not happy, not sad, just enraged by the enemy. He never knew he had it in him. Later came the moral complications and the doubt. He’d taken a sensor reading just before the gargantuan vessel had blown apart - 5601 life signs, all still alive after the shields went down. And it was the number one, in the reading of 5601 life signs flickering in the back of his mind. Who was that person? What did he or she like? Why where they onboard? The answers came: a Cardassian, who cares what IT liked, and they were onboard to destroy.

He had to relax, maybe divert his attention. Ten Forward seemed the logical choice. There amongst the stars, maybe he could find some since of solace.

He didn’t know how he’d gotten there, but walking into the lounge, it didn’t seem right to take his usual triumphant seat in the forward most part of the ship. No, Lucas took a seat in the corner, where he thought he’d be alone. He wasn’t. There at the table was a woman, holding a little girl who’d fallen asleep from exhaustion. Stoping Lucas could somehow sense that her thoughts were preoccupied with someone; someone she loved, and lost.

“Yes.” The woman stated rudely, but Lucas understood why. He too was missing those he loved back home.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I just wanted someplace quiet. I’ll just....I’ll leave you, alone.” Lucas said.

“No, stay please? I am sorry. I was just...” She trailed off.

Lucas could see a tear well up in her eyes. He saw them, beautiful, seemingly held back by the ridges of her Bajoran nose. Taking a seat opposite her, he could sense she didn’t want to be alone. They sat quietly, gazing at the stars streaking towards them like the slings and arrows of times and troubles past and present.

"What is your name?" Miran asked after a short time, happy that someone was there and that, for at least a fleeting moment in this darkness, someone didn't leave her alone.

Loose tongues...
By: LtJg Lexana Ral
Counselor

((Beverly interjected, "I can’t wait to tell Lex about this. She’ll just die! You know how squeaky clean she thinks lieutenant Albrecht is!"

Astrid smiled a few minutes later. She tapped Bev on the shoulder and announced, "We’ll soon see. Here comes Counselor Ral now…"))

Lex noticed the pair at the table. Astrid had gone through several glasses of iced tea and Ms Ral's Betazoid half picked up the fact that the pretty blond needed to pee rather bad. "Cool." Lex thought "Something interesting must be going on... " She homed in on the table and took a chair

"Alright ladies.. Spill" She purred

Astrid was almost bursting (literally) to tell her "Lt Albrecht... " She hissed

"What about him.." LtJg Ral leaned her head on her arms "He's over there chatting up someone from SI.. " She sighed "Thought he had better taste.. Ah well"

"His tastes run.. rather differently from what I've heard.. " Bev giggled

"He's not after T'Kal too is he?" Lex groaned

Astrid laughed out loud "No.. DUH.. Actually I'm surprised YOU didn't hear of this ealier.. you're always into the scuttlebutt... "

"Darn straight... Alright.. now, what's the juice on my good friend over there?"

"He's been gettin some on the quiet... " Beverly whispered

"Lucky bastard" Lex pouted "Alright.. who with?"

"Guess." Astrid leaned back in her seat and toyed with the straw in her drink

"Um.... You"

"No ..."

Beverly simply giggled at this..

Temporarily distracted by a waitor, Lexana ordered herself some ice water and then got back to the good stuff... "Umm.. gimme a clue."

"Doh... you're no fun.. alright.. She's in Medical.."

"Medical.. not Cat.. OH!" she stifled a giggle.. "Endris ?.. And he didn't tell me? The RAT.. I can't believe you guys got this one before I did... "

"Well if you hadn't been spending so much time making out with Lt Brady, who I might add is extremely hot.."

"Yea well he's all yours if you want him.." Lex scowled at the table

"Really?"

"Oh yea.. bev I forgot to tell you.. Lex slapped him one in the corridoor" Astrid said, crunching an ice-cube

"And you didn't tell me.." Bev looked hurt

"Sorry.. The Gossip about Albrecht was more interesting.." she sniffed

"Oh great.. not only does he not tell me about stuff, but he's also upstaging me on the gossip ratings.. "

Astrid winked at her "Poor Lexana.. Have to do something really big to get back up there"

"Ahh bite me.. Damnit.. I gotta go.. I'm late.. Catch y'all later?" *** Counselor Ral's Office.. ***

She arrived two minutes late for her appointment.. Apologizing profusely, she opened the door and guided the distraught crewman to a seat..

"I'm sorry.. What can I do for you Kate?"

The young blonde curled up in her chair. She'd been crying, a lot, and her face looked tired and drawn. "I really dont think I should take up your time." Kate suddenly said after a long silence "I'll be fine Lt.."

"Hey.. it's ok.. You're not taking up my time. Tell me what's on your mind.."

"I .. You're not going to believe me.. I don't think I should tell you.. It's a mistake me being here" She got up to leave

"I'm not here to pass judgement Kate... What is it?" Ral motioned her back down..

"If he finds out I told you.. He'll"

"Kate.. nothing you say goes past these walls.. Trust me" Lex's musical voice seemed to soothe the troubled crewman slightly. She took a deep breath and began to talk. It was obvious this was hard for her. Lexana reached over and took her hand. "Trust me.." She said again softly..

=/\=LtJg Ral=/\=

"Talking to no one."
By Ensign Sithas Darcfyre

Sithas looked over the ship's status reading one more time, then moved away from the monitor. "Well, everything seems to be in place and in good working order. Well, except for the holes in the hull of course, but those will be taken care of soon. Ahh, I've got to stop talking to myself." Sithas moves over to a replicator, "Chinese herbal tea, hot." The replicator beeped, then the server was filled with a medium sized cup of steaming tea.

Sithas picks up the cup, then takes a slow sip, draining about half of the fluid. "Not to bad. Shit!! I'm doing it again already. Oh what the hell, I'll just keep it." A slow smile spreads across Sithas's face. "

Computer, " it beeps, "is there an empty holodeck on this deck?'

[There is Ensign Darcfyre]

"Thanks. Dammit, computers don't know about manners." He looks at his cronometer, then looks up at the empty engineering room. "Well, it's to the holo's for me."

Sithas walks slowly down the hallway torwards the holodecks. "Maybe there will be something arriving about the same time I am."

Ensign Scott woke up for the first time really conscious of his surroundings and what But not sure of what had happend.

James tried to turn his head and realized that he couldn't as the restraint field was still active. Trying to talk and get some ones attention his voice as a small whisper and raspy." some one is any one hear." After a couple of minutes a nurse noticed he was a wake and came over. "How are you feeling to day." Again with low and raspy voice. Like someone ran me over with a Cardassian Battle cruiser.

Wait just a minute the doctor will be hear in a few minutes to talk to you let you know how the surgery went.

"It doesn't look like I am going any where for a while."

The Nurse hurry's off to get the Chief Medical Officer. To let her know that Ensign Scott was awake. And coherent.