USS Galaxy: "The Meeting has Finished"
Written By Lt Commander Kahn Nilani
Chief Medical Officer, USS Galaxy

I took the podium again, a young officer stepped into the lecture room.

"Ensign... May I help you?"

["Ahhh yes I am looking for the CMO ma'am!"]

"That is me for the moment ::taking his orders:: Ensign Tarawn Seires, welcome to the Medical team. Were just about finished and yu have arrived just in time. ::turning to cat:: Cat I want you to add him to the roster, and as there is no further business this meeting is finished!"

I looked over at the time and looked at Cat.

"Sort this Ensign out, I don't want to be disturbed for the next Hour and a bit. I'll answer all question's you want to ask later!"

"I need Coffee"
By Lt. (jg) John Crane
Chief Intel Officer
USS St. Louis

John stumbled into his quarters after spending the last two hours in his office getting drunk. He was to be on duty in about an hour. He swaggered over tto the replicator and in his slurred speech asked for coffee. He grabbed the cup and moved over to his bed, he sat down took a sip of coffee and awoke two hours later to the sound the door chime.

"Enter" Crane whispered his head was a massive swirling ball of pain. The door opened to reveal his Yeoman. She was a tall slender super model type.

"Sir Ensign Iva sent me to check on you...." she paused considering what to say next, after all it was clear he was drunk " are you...ok?"

"Yes Iam Yeoman I pulled an all nighter I just need a few more hours of rest. So you leave now and come back in oh a few hours and wake me up ok?"

"Yes Sir" Yeoman Crawford turned around and left the room. And a few minutes later Crane was back asleep.

CMO Meeting
By Dana Jergensen MD
CMO USS Caduceus

Dana sat at her desk and looked over the assembled team. She wondered if she was qualified for this post but decided now wasn't the time to question herself. " I have forwarded all the info we have on the Ocero Virus, we will be working very closely with Science on this. Until we can determine HOW it's transmitted there will be no physical contact with anyone from the St. Lou or the Ocero. E suits will be worn at all time. We will use tranporters to move from station to station. I will contact Engineering and Ops about that. the Protocol will be simple. You will don an Esuit, complete your task and then be beamed to a "Clean" area minus the suit. we will replicate E suits as needed. if your suit is compromised you will NOT enter the QU or the Caddy. " I will be meeting with some members of the c St. Lius' crew in a while and I'll chaeck in with you periodically, any suggestions? Questions?"

"Great Time On Beta"
by Ensign Tim Richeson
Tactical Officer USS Galaxy

***Tim's quarters a few minutes before Beta shift begins***

Since Tim had came aboard the Galaxy, he was only needed a handful of times thus far. But still everyday he woke up "Jus' in case" But the one day he thought it was safe to take a nap.......

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP =/\=All Beta shift back ups report to stations=/\=

Tim sat up in bed, he immediately he recognized the voice of Ensign Brandis.....

"Ensign Richeson to Brandis, ALL backups?" Tim asked

=/\=Thats right, why is there a probleam?=/\=

Tim was pretty PO'ed "Lemme guess..... This is Casey's doing right?"

=/\=Yupe=/\=

"Thanx Brandis, Richeson out." Tim stood up and got his uniform on..... "Of all the days.... that little SOB had to pick today." Tim said looking at his cat Ashes.

Ashes turned his head, and gave a simple "Meow...."

Tim gave his cat a pat on the head "Thanx Ash, knew you'd see it my way."

***5 min. later Bridge USS Galaxy***

Tim walked off the TL to see that most of the other backup officers had arrived. Lieutenant Hermedhie was still at his post. With a small chuckle "What? We get you out of bed?"

Tim pointed a finger at him in a jokeing way "That's exactly what happened. I thought I might acutely get to sleep in for once, but Casey had other plains. So why are all the back ups being called upon?"

"Oh Commander Casey planned a party for Sterges, all officers are invited." Hermedhie smiled, "Backups can go if they want, WHEN I get back..." replied the Lieutenant

Tim gave him a sarcastic look "That be any time soon?"

Hermedhie started for the TL, shaking his head while walking.

"Start of a great day." Tim walked over to the tactical station and waited until a much anticipated relief officer came...........

"INE"
By Lieutenant (jg) Suder

As Suder spoke to Adrianna, he felt something near by. A presense. It was cold. As several people entered or left the room, Suder heard winds howl through them. Nobody else seemed to notice them. It was strange, must have been his imagination.

For a moment, Suder became very dizzy. "Suder." a voice whispered. He looked around but saw no one except Adrianna. But it didn't sound like her. "Their coming..." the voice said. He cleared hsi throat and looked back at Adrianna who simply smiled at him. "They have attacked the INE headquaters, need help!" the female voice said. "Their hunting us all. Your name is on the list! They discovered the INE secret project!"

Everything went quite. The wind stopped and the voice seemed to have stopped talking to him. He thought for a few seconds, the INE was a secret organisation. It used to be at least. But if someone found out about it, then everyone that was ever involved in it would be in trouble. But as quickly as the thoughts entered his mind they left and Adrianna became the center of his interest.

"Messages"
Ensign Jeard Hilton
St. Louis
Engineer

***crew quarters***

"Computer new messages." jeard said. The computer swiftly prompted back "you have 2 new messages, 0 read messages, and 6 saved messages." Jeard thinks to him self boy oh boy Its been a while, "computer start with message one". "JEARD, Where are you This is your father" <-Stop-> "I don't want to hear what he as to say right now" jeard said "computer save message, remind me to respond next week" *beep* "second message, Jeard, Jerry boy I am really sorry about" <-Stop-> "cancel previous reminder dictate message for sending" *bleep* "Father I am sorry too. But I joined starfleet to get away from you! I wanted to show you that I could actually amount to some thing. So I will try to keep in touch. But now it is time for my duty shift. SEE YA!" <-End and send-> *bleep*

***Engineering***

Lokk ing at the instrament panel he thinks to himself "I'm lucky that I have a father like mine. I relly should be a bit more nice to him truthfuly. whew Its hot in here"

"Birds of a Feather - Part I"
by Lt. Cmdr. Ronni Morris
Asst. Chief Science Officer, USS Galaxy

Ronni walked down to the Security Department and went in. The area was quiet except for the Security Officer on duty. She said, "Hello Ensign! I'm here to visit with Dai Mon Toog."

"I'll need authorization, Sir." he said sitting up a little more straight.

"Of course." she said as she handed the PADD from the Captain. Looking over the information he said, "Go ahead Lieutenant Commander Morris."

Entering into the Brig area, she saw two cells with prisoners, one a human female, the other her target. Standing in front of the cell with her feet space shoulder width apart, she clasped her hands behind her and said, "Hello Dai Mon Toog. I apologize for the treatment you have received. My name is Rr'lonni Morris of Delphi. I am the second Daughter of the Third Seat of the Ruling Council."

"You aren't Delphinian! They are aquatic, you obviously aren't." he said with a sneer.

"I am half Delphinian. My father is human. I have a business proposition for you that I think you may find interesting." she said.

"Bah. What would you know? Females and business don't mix." he spat. "Besides, I don't do business while in a cell."

Ronni laughed. "Then you are one of the few Ferengi who wouldn't." Walking up to the cell controls, she lowered the force field. Leading the way out of the cell with her hand, she said, "You're probably hungry. I can get you better food and drink in Ten-Forward."

With an incredulous look, he half walked, half hopped out of the cell.

As Ronni and Toog walked toward the exit, the Ensign on guard jumped up and said, "You can't take him out of here."

"I can and I will. If you wish to have someone accompany us, that's fine. We are just going to Ten-Forward for dinner." she said. With a secret smile to the Ferengi, she ran a feather light touch down the lobe nearest her. Toog shivered down to his toes.

Ronni then started walked out the door with Toog. With a smile just for him, she said, "So, as I was saying, I think we can help each other out here. I scratch your . . . . back, and you scratch mine." To emphasize the point, she ran her finger down the Dai Mon's lobe again.

With a smile of pure pleasure, he said, "I'm all ears . . . . . "

"Continue Conversation?"
Starring:
Counselor Moses
Hali Munroe

Quest Starring:
Acting Ensign Viara Rhys.

Reviewed by:
Captain Lee Price.

"OHHH a Counselor,huh? Could you help me with a problem I have? You see I always have these dreams with little men in it and I was wondering..." Started Hali as she blopped down next to the Counselor.

Viara just looked at Dr. Moe and grinned from ear to ear.

Moses dropped his head. It was just this sort of drivel that was making him insane over the past 3 weeks as counselor. People weren't concerned with making right choices, they were looking for feel good solutions, problems with their cat, spats with their wives, repressed anger with their parents...and now, dreams. At first he thought about giving her an ear full. About lecturing her with a story about the old days when there were no counselors aboard ship. How men and women worked through their own difficulties without having someone to "unload" on.

Then he looked back across the table. He could see that Hali was a good friend to Viara who by this time was having a hard time holding back her laugh. "Little men?" Moses replied.

"Yeah, little men! Ever since I've put up this plaque, all I dream about is little men!!" Said Hali as she stood up. "C'mon, let me show the plaque!!" Said Hali grabbing the Counselor by the arm and leading the him to her quarters.

As Hali lead Dr. Mo out of Ten Forward Viara chuckled to herslef.

* I wonder how long it'll take for the Doc. to escape Hali's clutches.* Thought Viara to herself as she grinned of thought.

Suddenly HE walked up to the now empty table, namely Ensign Quince.

"Ok, Viara. If your through acting the child perhaps we should talk." Said the Ensign, somewhat scared of her response.

***Hallway outside ten-forward***

Moses was really feeling awkward about being practically dragged out of ten-forward by Hali who was quickly accelerating toward her quarters oblivious to the fact that Moses was having a hard time keeping up. He was really looking forward to some stimulating conversation with Viara, but now found himself being consumed with the yip-yap of exhausting chatter. Hali didn't stop talking since she first grabbed his arm at the table. Her non-stop, no breath, fluidity in which she went from one senseless thought to another began to irritate Moses who by this time, had begun to come to a halt.

He wasn't sure just why he went along with her this far. Maybe it was her positive personality, or maybe she reminded him of someone he... ~Diana!~.

"Miss Monroe...I must ask you to stop..." he commanded.

"...you know what it's like to----" Hali continued, up until this time she was unaware of the counselors actions and thoughts, but she stopped short when he demanded her attention. She stopped talking for a moment, to turn around and look at the counselor.

"Stop what?"

"Your hand...please...I need to ask you to let go of me." Moses replied.

"Pardon, Counselor?" Said Hali with one raised brow. "Whats wrong? I mean its not like I meant to dishonor you or anything...are you alright?" Asked Hali in a perplexed tone.

Moses looked at her. He had seen that look before. That disappointed look--that "What did I do now?" look. He saw it often on the face of his late wife, Diana.

Moses, if left to his own, would often come across as a mildly grumpy old man--critical, opinionated, stubborn...It was only Diana that could reach him. She had this way about her. Everything Moses was, Diana wasn't. Moses was quiet. Diana was at the forefront of everything. While Moses was meeting behind closed doors with the Bajorans and Cardassians, Diana was out "politiking" with the commoners. They worked so well together. Moses had forgotton how much he missed her.

"Counselor?...Are you alright?" Hali, interjected.

Moses caught his breath. He didn't realize how out of shape he was. Maybe the Academy was right. Maybe he was...~old~. Moses could hardly even say the word. He looked back at Hali, and smiled. "Fine..." She was bright, slender...and beautiful. How could he tell her, ~you remind me of my wife 40 years ago~ He shook his head, trying to erase her memory for a moment.

"Hali is it?"

She nodded.

"Great Hali," said Moses regaining his composure. "now...why don't we go see that plaque of yours."

"Sure!" Said Hali leading Moses into a turbolift.

*****Hali's Quarters*****

Hali lead Moses upto an ancient African Plaque with small African Children on it. On the opposite wall hung a Bajoran Textile of the Dahara Era.

"So tell me what you think of this. Do you think this could be the problem?" Asked Hali pointing to the African Plague.

"Problem?" Moses' eyes grew wide. For a moment he lost his manners and reached up to grab the plaque off the wall. His eyes stared intently at the picture as he muttered, "Where...where did you get this?"

Hali was obviously taken aback as she reached for the plaque in Moses' hands. He knew she must have thought he was crazy. His head was spinning, as he let the plaque be gently pryed from his hands.

"Is something wrong, Counselor?" Questioned Hali.

Hali had just completed her sentence as the computer interrupted...

[Beta shift please report to holodeck 1, all back-ups report to your duty stations.]

Hali placed the plaque back on the wall, "That's my call, I need to get down to sickbay...I'm sorry I'll have to ask you to leave."

Moses' head was still spinning. "When can I see you again?" He almost choked on the words. He sounded like a desperate teen at the end of a 1980's summer camp movie. "...I mean...should we--could we set up an appointment."

Moses stood silent as Hali headed for the door. She turned and stopped looking back at the Counselor....

"Hello? Counselor you alright?" Asked Hali again

" Getting Ready "
By Ensign Slan Quince
Operations, USS Galaxy

Quince had been fighting with sleep for over an hour now. After the run in with the little trolls, he was wound tighter than a warp core. He also knew that their was a party to be had soon. * Cant be late* he thought as he rolled out of bed and headed straight for the replicator. Though he hadn't really met the former exec of the Galaxy, he really could pass up a great party.

" Computer, coffee hot, Colombian blend " he barked.

He hated morning's good thing that coffee was still a hit, even in the 24th century. As far as Quince was concerned in was the nectar of the 'gods' as it were. He reached in and grabbed his coffee and sipped in slowly as he headed towards his work station. As he sat he couldn't help but gaze at his Katana that rested on it's stand to the right of the desk, and his prized baseball on the other side.

After reading through his messages Slan stood an headed to his shower to get ready.

** Few Minutes later **

Slan stepped out of the sonic shower and headed to he closet to pull out his dress uniform. Quince was happy that they had changed the dress uniform it was allot more comfortable then the old ones. They were the ones that made you look like you were wearing a dress. He slipped it on, attaching his comm. badge and his single gold pip.

He stood looking at himself in the mirror * Damn...not bad*. Out of habit he tugged at the bottom of his uniform jacket to make sure it was in place. * Hate to be late for the party*.

Slan started to make his way out of his room. Stopping in the hallway he made his way back to his quarters. * Damn..almost forgot*. Heading to his work station he reached under it to retrieve a bottle. The bottle was clear showing it's _green_ con tense, with a red wax seal on the front. This was something that he had been saving since graduation, and might as well use it as a going away present for the commander.

Putting the bottle in a velvet-res bag, he drew the draw sting's up. Taking a glance around the room, he wanted to make sure that he had everything he needed.

" Thank the star's" he said to no one "I have a back up working for me I have the feeling that this was going to be a long night"

And with that he headed once again towards Holo-Deck 1.

***Outside Holo-Deck one***

Slan stood out side the holo-deck, he could hear the tell-tale sounds of one hell of a party going on inside. Keying the door he made his way inside to a crowded party.

Timm Higgins
aka - Ensign Slan Quince Ops - USS Galaxy

Rememberance of Childhood
Ensign Philip Grasso
Ops Officer , USS Galaxy

Quarters-

Philip had just finished taking his Sonic shower and was in the proccess of getting ready for the Party. When he was growing up on the Gateway he never heard of a ship holding a party . Altough there was probably a few Birthday parties and Christmass parties, at least until his father gained a command postion. His father had ruled that ship with an Iron fist.

He was finished getting ready now and couldnt wait to get to the Party. Rushing out of his quarters he heads for the Turbolift. "Computer, Holodeck 1". The room is filled with humming as the lift starts heading twoards the Holodeck. A few minuets later the humming stops and the door opens. Philip walks out of the Lift and stops at the door to the holodeck for a few minuets. * Im as ready as Im going to be*. Philips straitens his uniform and enters the Party which was already underway.

"I don't like when it happens to me "
by Ensign Mike Marc
Tactical Officer
USS Galaxy

************ Holosute 4 before beta shift *************

Mike was on beach he played volleyball with two young women. Blow small wind and sky was blew , was perfect weather. Mike liked this program because he can relax here on the beach with perfect weather and perfect life. When he went to sweep with his whole-friends on the minutes he was relax his heart. "You just received message . Do you want to here it here on in your quarter? " - asked computer voice. " Why it's always happens to me ? " - asked Mike yourself and went out from the water. " Computer record message to my quarters terminal . " - ordered Mike to computer and get on his close. " Computer shut down program Marc Alfa 4 " - said Mike and immediately he again appears in holosuite 4 with it black walls.He came out and went to his quarter.

**************** Later in Mikes quarter ****************

" Computer play message that I received in holosuite 4 " - said Mike and sat in his chair.

^Ben T'Kal to Mike Marc: Hi Mike..we've got a tactical training session on tomorrow Beta shift. Winston will be running it. I'll catch you there.^

" Oh great " - thought Mike and watch on his table clock. After it Mike went to shower because he want to go to a party for Commander Joerg Sterner. Actually Mike didn't knew Stener well but it is good opportunity for Mike meet new friends on party espeshialy females.

***a very short post***
Ensign Binge Kombre
St. Louis

Binge woke up, put on a clean uniform, and decided to check on the refugees.

"Heading to the Party"
by, Lt. (j.g.) Raesene Hermedhie
Tactical Officer, U.S.S. Galaxy
---------------------------------------------

After being relieved of his bridge duty, Lt. Hermedhie made his way to the going-away party for Comdr. Sterner. This was going to be an interesting experience. Raesene was not too comfortable in large gatherings, as he was from a rather backwoods culture. Equivalent to 9th-Century Earth in many ways, save armor, which they were about 15th-Century in... Hey, Haelyn was in full plate armor at the Battle of Deismaar.

But being thrown into such a high-technology civilization such as the Federation was very difficult. He still could not shake the feeling that he was out of place in this world. Especially because of a small little part of his religion. Cuiraecen's faith was of battle and storms. As such, Raesene revelled in fighting. In this aspect, he was almost completely Klingon.

And Klingons were not appreciated in the Federation as great diplomats. Good friends, yes... But then who wished to be an enemy of them. But outside of battle, they soon found themselves passed over. At least Raesene was gaining some use from this down time via the training sessions with Lt. T'Kal on the use of his recently discovered samurai swords. Hopefully, soon there would be something more interesting happening while he was on duty or something.

Finally, Raesene reached Holodeck 1. He entered and stood back to view the proceedings for a short time, before moving further into the room. He was still tentatve about what to do during such an event.

"The Purpose of a Party?"
By Ensign Kelt,
Flight Control Officer,
USS Galaxy

-- Holodeck one, Sterner's party, USS Galaxy --

Kelt was, as always, exactly on time for the party to start. Curiously enough, he was one of the first himself to arrive. It allowed him to quickly congratulate the commander, a first officer under who Kelt had server for only a very short time. But Kelt considered it strange that people would choose to arrive later than the designated starting time of a party.

The way he had seen other officers anticipate the party, made Kelt believe this was an occasion of importance. And unlike the parties on the Kyoto Kelt chose to attend this one to see what made it so very interesting. No doubt the humans and other emotional species would choose to indulge in 'fun' and 'chatter', and ignore the excellent opportunity to indulge in discussions on an informal level.

But since it was suggested from many direction, least of all his mate, Kelt decided to give the party a try anyway. He was off duty, after all, and there was little else to do. Kelt got himself a drink, and stood close to the group of senior officers, and watched.

"So Much Time...And Nothing To Do"
by Ensign James Riddley
Engineer, USS Galaxy

***USS Galaxy - Quarters Of Ensign James Riddley***

James sat in one of the two chairs of his quarters. He was down and depressed, he wanted to be out of his quarters, and out doing something. But because of his injury he couldn't do a damn thing. All he could do was sit there. So much time, he thought, and I have nothing to do.

Well it could be worse, he thought. At least I get to go back to work in a few days. The only thing is all of this waiting, he thought. What could he do to pass the time. He could sleep, but that didn't work very well, he would drift off and wake up twenty minutes later if he had turned his leg wrong, or if the leg started to hurt.

He had tried to play the guitar, but it was like his mind was blank, he couldn't move his hands across the fret board, so that idea had died. He had played music for a little while, but that had quickly given him a headache. After getting himself a drink, he had tried to think of something else to do, but couldn't.

The model ships, he thought. "That will be perfect," he said aloud. He pulled himself up with the crutches, and hobbled over to where he kept the model ship parts.

Removing a package, he set it down on the table, and sat down. Opening up the package, he quickly spread out all of the pieces.

***

James hadn't gotten very far on the shipbuilding, about ten minutes later, he had laid his head down on the table, and fallen asleep.

"Relief"
By Ensign Yazron Beq, Tactical Officer, USS Galaxy

Also starring:
Ensign Tim Richeson

Reviewed By:
Captain Lee Price

***Bridge, USS Galaxy***

Yaz walked out of the turbolift. He had just been at Commander Sterner's going away party. He had had a blast. Lt. Hermedhie had approached him and asked if he would mind relieving Ensign Richeson from tactical so that he could get in on some of the fun. Yaz had replied with 'sure', he needed all the experience he could get at the station.

He walked over to the tactical arch.

"Ensign?" Tim asked looking perplexed, "can I help you?"

"Lt. Hermedhie sent me to relieve you," he said, then added smiling, "go and have some fun."

Tim looked happy, "Thanx" he said before heading into the turbolift.

Yaz looked down at the arch. Nothing unusual, he thought so he began standard scans. These turned up nothing either so he decided to run ship-wide diagnostics. This showed up a slight fluctuation in the power-grid on deck 10.

"Computer, transmit data to Duty Engineer's Console," he said, he thought he might as well inform engineering, just in case.

["Task complete"] the feminine voice said.

That done he began to think over the plans for his wedding. He still needed a caterer, Gakor had not had time and she had suggested others who had been to over-worked to help.

Ensign Yazron Beq, Tactical Officer, USS Galaxy

"Farewell Party"
by Lt Cmdr K'Eytyanna Samara,
Engineering - USS Galaxy
reviewed by Cmdr Casey
-----------------------------------------------------

Walking into the Holodeck 1 holding Hunter's arm, K'Ey looked around the decorated main hall. Some people had arrived, but more would be coming shortly.

After talking for a few minutes, the pair agreed to split up for awhile and 'mingle'. Noticing that Deiran and Gakor were talking, she decided to go talk to them after she got something to eat, since she hadn't had time for meals for quite a few hours.

Picking up some slices of animal flesh, she stopped and took a sniff at it. It sure was strong smelling, so she decided to try a tiny bit first.

After chewing for a few minutes, she realised it wasn't too bad compared to some stuff she had tried, in fact, it was pretty nice. Moving back to the meat, she got a pile more.

Continuing down the table, she filled her plate before heading over to Gakor and Deiran.

Deiran was smiling, and she could tell he was trying not to laugh for some reason. K'Eytyanna took another bite of the meat and took a sip of some bloodwine before speaking,

"Gakor, you have done an excellent job here."

The Tellarite grinned, "Thanks. How are you enjoying the meat, K'Ey?"

"It did smell pretty strong, but it really tastes good compared to some Klingon dishes."

At that point, Commander Casey broke up laughing. Turning to him, she said,

"What's so funny, Commander?"

After a few moments of laughter, he replied,

"You'll find out later, K'Ey."

K'Eytyanna shrugged,

"Whatever it is, I still like this stuff."

Deiran shook his head in disgust as she walked away, before turning to Gakor,

"Only a Klingon would like that."

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

After the fanfare by the court attendees to signal Captain Price and Joerg entering, K'Ey waited until Joerg was standing alone at the buffet table before heading over to him.

"Excuse me, sir. I have a present for you from me and D'Akana."

He turned to her and smiled,

"Hello, Lt Commander."

She handed over a stylized badge, which he accepted, as she spoke,

"While I've been aboard, I've built up a lot of respect for you. This badge is my gift to you. If you ever need any favours or help from my house, all you need to do is show this to someone from Tuk T'Mok, and my house's full resourses will be at your disposal, for whatever reason it is and with no limits."

Death of a Security officer
Alexander Oleksandreko
Dr Whitesong to-Ennine

His eyesight was mostly gone, Alex could only see mostly shadows of people pass from within his now limited sight. The pain was intense. His mind was clearer now than before, he didn't know if that the fever was better or what.

He knew Brad sat next to him. He didn't want her to see him like this, it wasn't fair to her. He also knew that no one on the ship could get her to leave.

"Doctor?" He waited a moment before feeling her presence. "Please let me die, please give me something, I don't want to go on." The pain was intense, he bit on his cheeks trying to bare the pain, but it was too strong and he moaned.

WhiteSong checked his temp, it was now up to 105 degrees. His skin was ashen and grey. WhiteSong took Alex's hand in her paw, "Alex, you can not consider ending your life. The Caduceus is here to help" WhiteSong knew the virus was in it's final stage and there was nothing that could be done, but make him comfortable. But she couldn't tell him that, not yet. She was still hoping for a miracle. "I know it hurts, I will increase you pain medicine. "Please don't ask me to end your life"

"Get Brad out of here, I don't want her to see this." He didn't want to die as the man had in his arms. "Please, Doctor, I don't want to go like the Ocero that died in my arms, please!"

WhiteSong ran the medical tricorder over Alex's body. His fever was up to 106, and his organs were all grossly enlarged. "Alex please" WhiteSong put her paws on his shoulders. "Alex you need to calm down and let the pain medicine work. It will never work as long as your like this" She activated the alpha-wave inducer, and Alex drifted off to sleep.

WhiteSong put her paw on Bradly's arm, "I am so very sorry Bradly, if you want to stay I think you should. Alex is frightened, and I believe he needs you. He just doesn't want to hurt you. But it will hurt you more if your not here" WhiteSong said as she left the two alone. By her calculations Alex only had 3 hours left.

Once in her office she closed the door, leaned against it, and her knees buckled. She slid down the door. *Am I being selfish, caring more about myself than my patient's suffering? Do I have the right to make the decision to end his life or not* she thought. "Yes, dammit. I do have that right. And right now I wish Daniel were here" She said out loud. She stood up and went back to Alex

***

The Pain was intense. Deep down, he felt resentment for not getting a peaceful death, an honorable death. What was left of his conscious thought was of Bradly. He would always remember her beautiful face. Perhaps, if everything was true about the faith in which he was raised, he could be with her again, as a spirit in this life, and together as one in the next.

"I love you Brad." Just like that there was no more pain.

ENSIGN VINCE RANDAL
------------------------------------------------
CABIN FEVER

Vince and Nix sat in Vince's quarters, both getting bored. The little one was finding nothing of any entertainment value in the room and Vince wasn't too far behind. He'd already played numerous games with the child, snakes and ladders, WAR, checkers, blah, blah,blah. Now even Nix grew bored with the juvenile entertainment. Vince sat in his comfy chair drumming his fingers on the arm, while Nix sat across the room on the couch doing the same. The boy rose and strolled over to Vince's holo-viewer and pointed shyly,"What's this?"

Vince glanced over and a smile crossed his face,"That is a movie player,"He jumped up and walked over beside the little one. He reached down and scrolled through the list of films which he had stored there. His eyes skipped over everything from,Amazon Women from Mars, to the classic, Space Huntress 4. He shook his head, none of these would be suitable for a little kid. Then his eyes fell upon it. It was perfect. He didn't know how it had gotten in there but hot damn it was the answer he was looking for! He pulled up the vid and activated the screen. Within moments there was a little bear with a raspy voice begging his freind the rabbit for some honey. Nix looked instantly hooked. All was well....

3 hours later and working on the third replay....

Vince's hand rested over his forehead in utter dispair. The first time through the movie was funny, it a cutesy little kid kind of way. The second time he was understanding, the kid had never seen a cartoon after all. This was the end of the third and Nix was already reaching for the activate switch again. (Dear God make it stop, make him take a nap, I'll puke if I here that damn Tigger song again.) And as if the all mighty himself had heard the screen broke into that little ditty,"The wonderful thing about Tiggers are Tiggers are wonderful things their bodies are made out of rubber, "and on and on and on. Nix clapped his hands and watched in awe as the striped idiot bounced all about the poor bear's house making a mess. He even went as far as to bounce around Vince's room a few times. That stopped when Vince looked at him and said,"Hey." not loudly but sternly, like his father used too. It must be a universal thing, for the lad stopped his bouncidy nonesence and sat back in front of the screen. Vince smiled at that for a split second then shivered at how much he had sounded like his old man. He rose from his chair and, as the fourth time the Pooh bear quoted the many wonders of honey while he had his butt stuck in the rabbits front door, walked to the desk he had in the corner of his room. He cleared the mess that lurked there with one well placed arm, sending PADD's and other small incidentals to the floor. He turned his desk top monitor towards him and panned through the address section. Then he selected his channel. It took a moment for the link to take place and Vince felt his nerves go on edge. Then a young woman in her earlt twenties with jet black hair and blue eyes appeared. Her face was set in a look of surprise and agitation.

"Vincent Randal, you friggin' mook!" She said with just a hint of Italy coming through,"Do you know how long it's been since you got in touch?" She sounded legitamately outraged.

"I know, I know,"Vince declared, admitting defeat and smiling,"What can I say I'm a busy man." He chuckled,"So how are ya Jen, still in school and all that stuff?" He hoped so, she was the smart one in the family.

"I finished school last week,"She flipped her hair over her shoulder and rolled her eys,"So where the hell were you?" She was wearing a smile but he could see she was irritated with his absence.

"Hey look,"He said lifting his hands in mock outrage,"I'm light years away. Remember I'm in starfleet. Beside you wouldn't have wanted me there any way me and pop would have tried to kill each other again." Vince frowned at that. He and his old man were not on the best of terms to say the least.

"I doubt it. Hell pop doesn't even talk to me anymore really. He's still ticked cause I went to scoll on Luna insted of where he did. Ma's still her old self though." Jen looked at her older brother critically.,"You look like hell and what's all that racket in the background?" She tried to look out over his shoulder.

"Nothin'" Vince replied turning the viewer a little to the left to make sure she didn't see,"Just a friend watching some movies is all." He wasn't ready to tell her anything about what had been happening yet,"And I think I look pretty damn good all things considered thankyou very much!" He yelled good naturedly.

"Well your friends are wierd! Aren't they a little old for Winnie the Pooh?" She smiled at that one knowing that she had just snared her brother. "Come on sill it, you always were a bad liar Vin." She rested her chin on her fist.

"It's nuthin',"He lied,"Just felt like geting in touch." He leaned back in his chair and tried to look relaxed.

"Vince,"She said laughing,"The only time you get in touch with me is when you got problems, just like the only time I get in touch with you is when I break up with a boy and am falling to pieces. Now don't play dumb, what?!"

(Yep she's the smart one) "Well it's like this,"Vince sighed heavily and looked his sister square in the face," I met someone.."

"Wait wait wait,"She held up her hand,"This isn't another one of those no rain bimboes you brought back with you the few, and I do mean few, times you came for a visit is it?" She was rolling her eys again.

He bristled,"No it's..she's not,"He shook his head to clear the irritation out," She's a scientist,(I think ,he muttered) and she's got brains. And she's poregnant." He stopped and waited.

Jen gaped. She simply gaped. No other word could describe the way a person's mouth just hangs open with shock and amazement."Wha.what? What did you just say?" She stammered looking more nd more shocked.

"I said she's pregnant, damn it, did I stutter:" Vince 's irritation was getting the better of him,"I just had to tell you is all. I figured you would understand or at least be sympathetic." He frowned.

"Ok ok,"She ran her hand over her face,'I'm just surprised is all. I'm going to be an aunt!!" She laughed,"You guys better get married or ma' will just die. You know how she can be about that stuff. Oh and don't let her know untill your married or else she'll have you excommunicated." She was smiling.

"You know I could care less about the whole church thing." It was his trun to roll his eyes.,"Ma will cope. It's the 24th century for chrissakes."

"We'll see." Jen flipped her hair over her shoulder again," So what's her name?"

Vince smiled,"Zahara Kai." He beamed.

"Is she oriental?" She asked raising an eyebrow.

"Nope. She one of those Trill people with the critter livin' in her guts." Vince shrugged.

"That's disgusting,"Jen shriveled her nose,"Can you see it? Does it talk or anything. Huh, imagine my older brather is dating a martian."

(This is going to be long day)

"Watching the Viewscreen Chat"
by Ensign William McDonald
Chief Tactical Officer, USS Saint Louis

McDonald saw the viewscreen come on with Captain Manion appear on it. Captain Manion and Captain Zeri are trying to save the Ocero. McDonald could tell by the tone of Captain Zeri's voice that it is going to be a long day.

=/\= "Farewell to the Chief"=/\=
by Lt Matthew Albrecht
Asst Chief of Security, USS Galaxy

** Holodeck 1, USS Galaxy **

He walked through the holodeck doors, past a pair of heralds in fancy medieval garb. To Matthew, they resembled the 'beefeaters' of old earth, almost. The entry gave way to the great hall of an Austrian castle. *Whoooo* whistled Matthew softly. He was impressed. Although lieutenant Albrecht was of German descent, he had only been to Europe a half-dozen times, and he had never studied the period represented by the amazing scene on the holodeck. He decided that Commander Casey had invested a lot of study into the program, and he vowed to have a really good look around at the setting.

There were people everywhere, many of whom Matthew didn't recognize right off the bat. Perhaps these were spouses of the officers, or perhaps Casey had added a few holographic guests to entertain the live ones, he thought. Many officers, like Albrecht himself, were clothed in their dress whites. Matthew liked his new uniform; white with gold trim, this was his first opportunity to wear it in public. Endris had never seen him in it, and he hoped to impress her since he believed the outfit was rather attractive on him. It had not escaped him that she, too, would be dressed up, and he looked forward to seeing her in her own uniform. He anticipated the little thrill that would go through him when he caught sight of his intended mate.

There were quite a few people occupying the area around the first buffet table. A mental picture of the spread of delicacies caused Matthew's mouth to water; Gakes had hinted to him about the various selections she was creating, and he wished he could sample them all. *Problem with this woman,* he thought to himself, *is that I'm bound to put on some weight with all the dining and cooking we engage in together!*

Even though their wedding was likely to occur months in the future, after all the elaborate preparations were completed, he caught himself wondering about what the event would be like. Perhaps, if the ceremony were to take place on the Galaxy instead of on Tellar, he would get in touch with Commander Casey about programming an appropriate site. Although he had not heard back from his parents yet, he was sure his mother would insist on an elaborate state event with all sorts of important personages present.

Albrecht reached the buffet and squeezed in between several hungry guests. One was exclaiming the delicious flavor of some meat dish to her friends. "Hello, ladies," he said as he slipped an arm past one to get a small plate for crudités. The various meat and cheese dishes were aromatically exciting, but he chose instead to go for a light course of green and red vegetables. Spotting some jicama on a platter beside an assortment of leeks and garnishes, he placed several pieces beside the radishes and celery. To top it off, he gave in to temptation and swiped a half-dozen small cubes of Targ's milk cheese (an acquired taste).

Once he had made his escape from the table, he spotted Kalln across the room. The Gnal was chatting up a trio of women who made a show of admiring his enormous size and dangerous-looking tail. He decided not to interrupt the conversation and looked around to try and spot somebody who appeared to need company. He noted the presence of Ensign Elaiithin Jii, who was chatting with Lex. *Well, that's the gang for me!* he decided, and made his way toward them.

Just then, a sudden outburst of trumpets announced the arrival of the guest of honor. In through the giant double doors of the castle stepped the captain, and Joerg Sterner. Matthew set his plate down on the nearest surface and joined in the applause that erupted around him. Many of the officers in holodeck 1 had worked with Commander Sterner for years. Matthew came aboard the Galaxy when Joerg was chief of security, and remembered the man's command style as fair and effective. They had interacted many times since then, but rarely in any official capacity. He was happy for the newly promoted captain, who would be commanding a brand-new ship on his first tour - obviously a testament to the esteem with which the Admiralty held officers promoted from the USS Galaxy. The entire crew could take pride in Sterner's accomplishments.

Once the fanfare of Joerg's entrance died down, a mass of people moved toward the entrance to congratulate the man of the evening. Figuring he would get an opportunity later, Matthew picked up his plate and, in a jovial mood, joined his friends against the wall beneath a gigantic family crest of some kind.

=/\= "Surprises", A Nausicaan Perspective =/\=
By: Ensing Rotan Heratta
Security Officer, USS Galaxy

Ensign Heratta had turned the corridor in time to see Lieutenant Albrecht entering the doors of Holodeck One. He had felt more at ease since his meeting with the Captain, a man he could surely trust. Nevertheless, he had felt the need to keep an eye on Lieutenant Albrecht, for his own protection. Whatever the "surprise" was that the other security officer's had in store, he was going to make sure it was nothing that would cause his superior officer any harm.

He had heard about the party for Joerg Sterner, to celebrate his posting to a new command. Parties were not exactly what Rotan viewed as entertaining, however they were a great place to spring "surprises." For this reason, he decided to follow after Albrecht.

"Greetings and welcome." Came the voice of the holographic herald as Rotan entered through the doors. The heralds flanked the doors, and offered each guest an immediate taste of what was to come.

"Get away from me." Rotan snarled as he looked around the entry way that led into the main hall of the great castle. Moving quickly, he kept Albrecht in his sight. The lieutenant had seemed impressed by the layout of the Castle, though Rotan couldn't understand why. The architecture was rather simple compared to the stone super-fortress's of his homeworld.

*At least the Lieutenant is easy enough to spot in that white Uniform* Rotan thought to himself as he watched the officer approach the first buffet table. The rich aroma of many varieties of meat filled his Nausicaan senses.

Rotan chose an area near a recessed alcove at the back of the chamber as the best place to watch the Lieutenant. In the Alcove, a suit of Germanic knights armor was displayed. The shadows surrounding it were sufficient to provide Rotan with the desired cover. *How could they have called this armor? It weighs less than 200lbs, and isn't even tri-layered.* Rotan thought as he took his place just within the Alcove.

As Rotan scanned the room, he saw the reptilian form of a fellow officer. He was a Gnalish Elt by the name of Gordall Kalln. Rotan had seen him a few times during his security sweeps of the ship. According to what Rotan knew of his race, the lizards could be deceptively fast. In a battle, this was perhaps one of the few crewman aboard that could challenge Rotan. *At least, briefly.* Rotan's fangs moved in cycles as he studied the proximity of Godall to Albrecht.

Suddenly, the room erupted with the sound of trumpets announcing the entrance of the guest of honor, along with the Captain. The two men were impressive and the crowd responded to there presence with explosive applause. Soon, people everywhere were moving to greet and congratulate this Sterner. Rotan had not had the chance to meet him in person, but even from a distance he could tell that he was a man to be respected.

*No bodyguards* Rotan thought as he watched the movements of the Captain and the guest of honor. How lax some of the policies of the Federation seemed to his Nausicaan perspectives. As Rotan watched,..Lieutenant Albrecht was on the move. Not wanting to loose him in the crowd, Rotan left his position and followed. Now, he could risk moving close enough to be able to protect him, just in case of any "Surprises".....

“Making The Rounds”
USS GALAXY
For Captain Robert Edward Lee Price
By Commander Deiran Casey, First Officer

Lee was hungry. He walked over to the buffet table, picked up a warm plate and began choosing the gourmet selections laid out before him. He didn’t know who suggested it, but the barbecue dishes looked delectable. Incidentally, most of what Lee had on his plate was BBQ.

Lee took his plate, a pile of napkins and headed for the nearest table which happened to be next to the Casey’s.

“G'day ‘mates! Bonzer party Commander,” Lee said as he sat next to his first officer. Lee’s accent was especially thick this evening since he was enjoying himself. But barbecue always made Lee smile. Just the taste reminded him of Australia.

“Thank you sir. Good to see you enjoying yourself Captain,” Deiran replied.

“Aye ‘mate, the food is great, the music is bonzer and the company is good too,” Lee smiled. He rarely joked with his new first officer. But tonight he wanted to enjoy the party. “How’s the little one in the pouch Miran?” Lee asked, she was quiet and reserved. The Captain had a gift for putting people at ease.

“The baby is fine Captain, thank you for asking sir,” Miran replied demurely.

“Where’s Joerg sir?” Casey asked, raising his voice a bit, as the orchestra began playing again.

The orchestra behind the table was playing a waltz. The dance floor was filled. People all over the Great Hall were dressed in everything from their dress whites to period costumes. It was a cornucopia of style. Amazing how graceful some of the Galaxy crew were on the dance floor.

“He’s in the garden admiring his family crest ‘mate. He really liked that touch. When I took leave of him, he was speaking with Mr. Albrecht and Mr. Sunder. He seems to be enjoying the party ‘mate,” Lee finished the sentence and took another bite of the BBQ ribs, “he said he’d be over shortly. It’s taking him awhile to travel the room as someone seems to stop him every minute.”

“Understandable since he’s the guest of honor. We’re all going to miss him,” Casey replied.

“Aye Deiran, we all will,” Lee replied.

“Sir, I wanted to talk to you about having my sister serve her cadet cruise on the Galaxy. Can that be arranged sir?” Casey asked hopefully.

“Aye ‘mate. I think we can arrange that. Just send me the required paper work and I’ll send it to Starfleet Command. How is your sister ‘mate?” Lee asked, wiping some sauce from the sides of his mouth after he asked the question. Lee remembered meeting the young Alexa at the Casey wedding, which Lee performed a few years back.

“She’s fine sir. I haven’t broken the news to her that I’m trying to get her here. I plan to do that tonight after the party. She is quite popular at the academy. I need to keep her around me so I can protect her,” Casey replied.

“The last time I saw her she seemed like she could handle herself ‘mate,” Lee replied.

“She can sir. But, I’m her big brother. I’ve been hearing stories of how guys have been hounding her lately. She’s still not over her break up with her fiancée awhile back. I figure some new surroundings will help her heal. She needs to get off Earth. Besides, I’ve always protected her. I always had to protect her from the wolves, ever since she was 12,” Casey smiled.

“She is a beauty ‘mate. I can understand your concern,” Lee smiled.

“Thank you sir. She’s definitely a Casey,” Deiran replied, showing his diamond smile. He was proud of his sister.

Lee did not respond to that, it was usual Casey banter that he’d grown accustomed to over the years. He had to admit the young first officer was growing on him though. At that moment, Lee finished eating and stood to his feet.

“Miran you look lovely tonight. Excuse me would you? I need to make the rounds,” Lee nodded to Deiran, showing him a slight smile and turned away to greet his crew. Lee was always the refined gentleman in any situation.

As he was looking around the room, Dr. Gakor came up to him.

“How’s the food Captain?” she asked.

“Delicious Doctor, you’ve done a bonzer job with the food. The whole party is well planned and everyone seems to be having a good time. It is an appropriate send off for Mr. Sterner, I must say,” Lee was looking around the Great Hall as he spoke.

“If you’ll excuse me Captain? A chef’s job is never done,” Gakes replied and excused herself quietly from the Captain’s presence.

“Fair dinkum Doctor, enjoy the party,” Lee replied, taking a sip of punch afterward. He turned to see the Betazoid prince standing next to him. He hadn’t had a chance to greet the young officer since he joined the crew.

“G'day Lieutenant Brandis, nice to see you here ‘mate. Enjoying the party?” Lee asked the Ops officer after Dr. Gakor left.

“Yes Captain, I am having a wonderful time. Deiran sure can plan a party. You should have experienced his parties at the Academy sir. They’re legendary,” Lucas didn’t really know what to say to the Captain. He seemed surprised that the Captain even knew who he was as the two men had never formally met.

“Yes the Admiralty at the Academy has an extensive file of Mr. Casey’s parties,” Lee replied, a smile on his face. Few cadets made it through the Academy without some kind of relaxation. Lee himself remembered a few rousers.

“Excuse me sir, I need to get a refill of punch. Can I get you another glass Captain?” Lucas asked.

“No thanks ‘mate, still have a full glass. It’s my third,” the Captain smiled. Lee always seemed to loosen up around his crew at parties.

Lee then began to tour the Great Hall. Admiring the handiwork of the tapestries and the Gothic architecture of the castle. It was difficult deciphering this as a holodeck simulation. As he admired the holo-program many of the crew came up to him and greeted him. Lee enjoyed these times where he could see his ‘mates in an informal setting.

"Interesting Decor..."
by Ensign Elaiithin Jii, OPS, USS Galaxy
Guest-starring
Lieutenant Matthew Albrecht
Ensign Lexana Ral
Ensign Rotan Herratta

Ensigns Elaiithin Jii and Lexana Ral sat in Dress uniforms (Ral quite striking in hers, the Bajoran couldn't help notice...not that he'd let that on) under a some sort of odd familial crest positioned on one of the walls of the holodeck. The young Bajoran found himself somewhat confused.

The pair had been discussing the design Casey had used for the party. To say that Ensign Elaiithin found it ...unusual was an understatement.

"All I'm saying, Lex, is that I simply don't understand the allure of a midevil setting. After all, at this point in Earth's history - plague, warfare, a caste system, slavery, no sanitiation, starvation, horrendous living conditions basically the lowest point of any civilization....and it is somehow appropriate for a celebration?" asked Jii.

"You're asking me?" the half romulan, half betazoid security officer responded. "Humans are as much a mystery to me as they are to you."

At this time, Elaiithin noted a figure moving towards them through the crowd. He took a sip of his drink - a light Bajoran ale - and motioned with his head towards the lieutenant headed thier way.

"Here comes Matthew" he said, referring to the Galaxy's Assisstant Security Chief, Lieutenant Matthew Albrecht. "He's human. Maybe he can explain it."

"Doubtful, "said Lex with a frown. "He grew up on Tellar, remember."

"Oh, like they're a pacifist race." Elaiithin said. "Speaking of non-pacifist races, it appears as though the good Lieutenant has a rather large shadow."

Ral startled suddenly...it had to be Herratta...yep. She was right. The large Nausiccan had just entered was following Albrecht over to where he was just now joining Ral and Elaiithin. Herratta was convinced that Albrecht was the target of an insidious plot by the Security staff.

"Lex, Jii, how's it going?" Albrecht asked.

"Oh, we were just pondering some of the finer points of human taste. Particularly, I was wondering why they seem to regard their self proclaimed "Dark Ages" as noble."stated Jii "Any thoughts, Matthew?"

"Why don't we wait for Mr. Herratta's opinion?" he asked with a smile.

"Oh, " said Lex. "You noticed him? He's only the size of a shuttlecraft...."

"It's been a bit hard not to. I think he's been following me around the ship. I've seen him everywhere. It's starting to be a bit disturbing. I may have to call security." he stated wryly.

Then Elaithin did something that was a bit of a surprise. He called over to the Naussican officer, and summoned him to thier group.

"You know, Ensign Herratta, if you're going to be the good Lieutenant's bodyguard, you might as well be over here while you do it."

"Your proposal is acceptable, Ensign...?"

"Elaiithin,uh, Elaiithin Jii, actually. Delta shift Operations manager. Also your new roomate." he casually informed him.

He couldn't help but think that the large security officer was certainly....intimidating.

"I was under the impression I would be recieving solo quarters." Heratta said with a quizzical (Elaiithin thought) look.

"Well, as you know, OPS is assigned the duty of assign crew quarters. In the past, certain crew members (Jii swore he thought he heard Lex cough something like "Brandis" or maybe, it was just a cough) have abused this privelege to ensure solo quarters as junior officers. As for myself, I simply hadn't been assigned one yet."

"And when I came aboard, no one exactly volunteered to be my roommate, did they?"queried Rotan.

"Well, no, not exactly. So I figured--what's the human expression , oh yea - "What the hell, why not?"

"I confess, I am surprised. Most species are intimidated by my race."

"Yea, well, no individual is the sterotype of his species. You made it into Starfleet, Ensign, obviously you've channelled your more...agressive instincts." said Elaiithin.

"You have no idea."

Ral decided to insert herself into the conversation at this point.

"So what do you think of the Human's fascination with morbid points inthier history, Ensign?"

Bon Voyage, Jeorg
USS Galaxy
by Lt Endris Gakor, Acting ACMO
with Lt Matthew Albrecht, ACSO

*** Holodeck 1 ***

Endris was having the time of her life. The crew was truly impressed with the 'Jeorg Surprise' she had cooked up, and devoured it with gusto. Captain Price liked it so much, he came back for seconds! The Sheliak cake, which she managed to finally bake after several attempts, gleamed with a phosphorescent glow. Unfortunately, Gakor's hypothesis about the taste was proven correct. Unless the Sheliak corporate showed up, no one would be eating the decoration anytime soon.

People came in waves, all congratulating Jeorg on his new assignment. Endris had a chance to talk to the new Captain herself when she dished up his meal.

*** An hour later ***

Matthew Albrecht walked into the party. About half of the food had been consumed by the ravenous guests. Gakor considered what Deiran had said about revealing the surprise after the guests ate and watching their reactions. There were still plenty of people drifting in and out of the party, as the schedule was rotated so that all could attend. The Tellarite decided to wait until all had feasted before announcing her shocking recipes.

Just when the entertainment program was getting interesting, the baby delivered a sever kick. Gakor had moved with the crowd towards the desert table and had been slicing a Devenian Chocolate Mouse. Unfortunately, the jab was so painful that the doctor fainted into the gooey confection!

A very anxious Albrecht noticed his fiance's plight, and requested emergency medical beam out for his sick spouse-to-be.

*** Sickbay ***

Endris was on a bio bed. It seemed all the doctors had left sickbay for the party, leaving the EMH run things in their absence. The complicated program, Dr Grinch (as the staff had popularly dubbed him due to his caustic temperament), was quickly on the case. He ran a tricorder over his supine patient, connected diagnostic machines, and interfaced to the central computer for medical records simultaneously.

Meanwhile, Gakor dreamed of what she had learned last night. The baby had been kicking, and in a flight of insomnia, the Tellarite had decided to trot down to see Ensign Gardner in the brig. Since both women seemed to be in various forms of distress, it couldn't hurt to chat.

Before Gakor could get to the cell, she recognized voices of several security officers coming from another part of the brig. Albrecht's wasn't among them. She had wondered at the time what the clandestine meeting was about, but she slipped away before her presence was detected.

She could barely think after passing out however. A slight pressure was applied to her forehead, and she felt an injection go in one arm. A couple of minutes later, before the on call live physician could arrive, Gakor was conscious, but strapped to the bed for her safety.

Endris thought of her friends at the party and how now she would never learn the reaction to the Skunk dish. But recovering was what she had to concentrate on now.

The EMH leaned over to explain something to Gakor, and Albrecht ran into sickbay, showing a noticeable layer of sweat from his excursion. *Muffin must have ran all the way from the lounge*, she surmised. He peered down at the biobed, and smiled when he noticed Gakor was awake.

The EMH had his back to the human, and thus the program launched into an explanation that might, in other contexts, been a breach of confidentiality. (But, as Gakor and Albrecht were engaged and having a child together, Endris wanted Matthew to know the truth).

"The Teresi virus, along with your pregnancy, has stimulated your neural transmitter levels. I have reduced the problem temporarily with medication, and have installed cranial monitors to alert the medical staff if this recurs. I took the liberty of programming the monitors to beam you to sickbay should they register you are incapacitated." The hologram actually managed to look smug, as if he were proud of his accomplishment. After his speech, the program simulated a turn, noticing for the first time that the human had entered. A frown creased Grinch's brow as he realised Albrecht had most likely heard his pronouncement.

Albrecht chimed in before being chastised by the program. "How long until she can go back to work?", the security officer asked. Consulting internal records for a second time, Grinch discovered that this man facing him was the father of the child Endris was carrying, and that proper releases were on file for him to be given medical information on his fiance.

"I would like to monitor her here for the rest of the day. If all goes well, she should be free for light duty tomorrow. As the acting ACMO, she can file reports and do research, things that are not to strenuous."

Albrecht was glad, both for his sweetheart, and the rest of the medical staff. Since Endris could process reports rather quickly, they wouldn't be swamped without notice.

"Oh, man. Busted again??"
By Ensign Gordall Kalln and Ensign Anna Gartner, USS Galaxy

***USS Galaxy, the Brig***

'I've got one hand in my pocket, one scratching at itch, one carrying a cat, and the last waving hello,' said a deep voice that she recognised.

Anna looked up from the floor, to find herself confronted with Kalln, who stood before the cell. Between them, the air was clear, but for the occasional tiny blue flashes as larger motes of dust struck the field.

'Hello Anna. This is a fine pickle you've gotten yourself into, isn't it?'

"Oh, this is nothing," Gartner smiled. "I'm still in the frying pan, I haven't even jumped into the fire yet."

'Well, y'know, we're on your side. I'll be pleading insanity on your behalf.'

"In that case we got it made. Just put me on the stand and I'll do the rest. Can I cross examine myself too?"

'I'm only kidding! I hear you floored a whole bunch of the spikey guys?'

"Ya, I just slayed them. I actually forgotten the enjoyment in knifing those bastards." Gartner paused for a moment studying Kalln. "I heard that you are a genetic created species?"

'This is true. We're still not sure why, though we have a fair idea how.'

"Anyway, I think you are a lot cuter than the Jem'Hadar," said Gartner with a smile.

There was a pregnant pause, as Kalln looked for any sign of sarcasm in Anna's face. Her face was so... he continued.

'Well look, I can see we're not going to get anywhere with this damned barrier, and somehow, I don't think it'll be as easy to get you out of here as it would out of sickbay. I'll be back later. You hang in there, okay?'

"Sure, maybe we can do something creative when I get out." Gartner gave him a feline smile.

'Well, goodbye.'

Thorougly confused, Kalln left sickbay.

"Only the lonely"
by Ensign's Anna Gartner and Neil Bolitho -Security
USS Galaxy

Bolitho smiled a grateful smile to Ensign Chris Aaron as the force field to brig D13 was lowered. Neil quietly entered the small confinement area and stared down at the sleeping form lying on its solitary bunk.

It was hard to believe that Anna Garner deserved the reputation bestowed on her as a trouble maker as Neil gazed down at the tranquil sleeping face. Anna stirred in her sleep and her rolled to the side exposing the livid scar on her cheek.

The two sides to Anna Gartner thought Neil. Yeah the one side to Gartner was the tough, unblinking stick it in your face security officer who just happened to have a small psychological problem.

'Small!' smiled Neil to himself.

The other side well Neil had only caught glimpse's off, the caring, loyal friend that Anna could be; given the chance. Well that chance may be over. The rumour monger was doing the rounds stating that Gartner now that Commander Casey was involved had almost zero chance of staying on the ship.

Neil honestly hoped that wasn't true. He had the opportunity to have a brief chat with Dr Luck this morning, when he had visited for a brief checkup. Dr Luck had said her condition was definitely treatable via implants, or there was the conventional anti depressants and counselling treatment.

Neil moved silently to the side of Anna's bunk and sat down on the side of the bed gently so as not to disturb Anna. However she must have somehow sensed someone's prescence in the room as her eye's snapped open!

Gartner looked at him for a few long seconds before finally saying. "Am I starting to see things now?"

"No, I'm the real deal." Neil smiled. "Have they been treating..."

He was startled when Gartner bolted from her bunk, straight across the cell and threw her arms about him. She buried her face against his neck and shoulder. Neil could feel her tears as they ran down her face and against his neck.

"Hey." Neil said softly, as he returned the hug and patted her on the back. "Everything is okay. I swear."

Gartner pulled away to arms length, quickly wiping the tears away. "Are you sure you okay? No permanent injuries? Anything yet to be healed over still? You're 100 percent?"

"Yes. I'm good as new."

Gartner suddenly gave him a quick jab into his gut. It didn't hurt, it was more of a shock than anything as the blow forced the air from his lungs. "You bastard, do you realize how much you scared me!?" she growled.

"Ya..." Neil breathed deeply, trying to suck some air back into his lungs. "You display of concern is touching, in more ways than one." He rubbed his stomach slightly from where Gartner punched it.

Slowly Gartner sat down next to him. "Did I get you into much trouble, being responsible for me and all?"

"Nothing I can't handle." Neil said. "However you should be the focus of our concern now, in getting you out of this brig and back on duty."

"Do you think it'll be that easy?"

"It'll probably depend a lot on what you do in the next few days. How you deal with Commander Casey and other things."

"Other things?" Gartner turned to face him. "What-other-things?"

Neil decided it might be better if it came from him. "There is talk of possibly using anti depressants or medical implants to control you more... volatile behavior."

"No fuck'n WAY!" Gartner sat up hissing. "They suggested using drugs on me before I came here to this ship and I didn't agreed to them before and I won't now"

"It might go a long way in smoothing things over." Neil pleaded to her. "It's not like they're going to pump you full of drugs, just a mild dose to take the edge off..."

"OFF WHAT!?!" Gartner erupted.

Something just snapped inside Neil, he stood up grabbing her by the shoulders and shook her. "Will you just listen to me for one goddamn moment! If you act like this in front of Casey he'll drop kick your ass off this ship pointed in the direction of the nearest starbase! Damn it Gartner, don't you realize that you're your own worse enemy!"

The two of them just stared at each other very intensely but Neil didn't backed down even though he thought that Gartner was going to rip into him any moment. To his surprise Gartner blinked first and she looked down to the floor. She murmured softly. "Everyone on board seems to truly concerned about me, whether I will stay or not."

Neil kept one hand on her shoulder while reaching down with the other lifting her chin up. He smiled. "Because we 'are' concerned about you." Then laughed. "Except maybe for Cat."

Gartner smiled evilly. "Well, I think I have given her enough reasons to detest me."

Neil smiled shaking his head, letting his hand's fall to his side. "Yeah Tim mentioned to me that you two had a bit of an altercation."

"Altercation! Is that what you would call two females having a fight?" quizzed Anna.

"No more fighting!" said Neil sternly "Well... not until we've soughted everything out and your back on duty."

Anna nodded her acceptance, but added "Only if you agree to stay away from knife wielding Jem'Hadar!"

"Deal" smiled Neil holding out his hand. Anna looked down at Neil's extended hand and quickly grasped his hand with her own. Neil's other hand came down to cover her hand. Neil glanced down at her hand nestled between his before looking up and continuing.

"Anna, I think you may have realised that you have a lot of friends on the ship particuliar in Security with Lex and Tim" said Neil sincerly. "I can't speak for Tim or Lex, and I'm no counsellor and I don't want to take the place of Counsellor Dallas, but if you ever feel the need to talk or work out some fraustration....... in the holodeck!" squeezed in Neil spotting Anna's raised eyebrow.

" Well I guess I'm your guy!"

Tears welled in Anna's eyes as she sniffed and nodded her understanding.

Neil was begining to feel a little uncomfortable as the emotions began to run a little too high for his liking. Letting go of Anna's hand, he stood up and quickly changed the subject

" Is there anything you want, need?"

Anna looked up at Neil before wiping her eyes and nodding

"Neil kneeled down beside her and placed his hand over his heart and asked imitating a medievil knight

"What is it you desire Fair Lady? If it is within my means to obtain it for you consider it done!"

"Chocalate and lots of it!" came back the reply.

"The Kid & the Koo-Koo"
Lt. Jg. Jonathan Lucas Brandis, Zea Toa
USS Galaxy-Operations Officer

Ensign Anna Gartner USS Galaxy - Security Officer

Brandis was on his was to the Brig. Somehow, he new he had to face his fears. Or at least see if she'd gone bonkers and he'd won the bet with Casey. They had both set a little wager to the whole event with Ensign Gartner; Brandis had sided with logic and said that there was no possible way to rehabilitate someone who was that far gone. But, the bet was one. Brandis working of the statistical evidence which showed that shell shock or even the varying forms of it, where extremely difficult to recover full from. Full recover being the only stipulation to the bet.

But, he wanted to see what she was like. They hadn't met. Lt. Brandis was rarely around Security Officers. He wondered how she'd react to him, or how her thoughts would come cross telepathically. Curiosity led him to Deck 38, the strong hold of the Security Department.

Walking into the brig, Lucas motioned to the Ensign on watch, who quickly dropped the first deflector. The Ensign was laying down on her cell floor staring up at something in the corner of the cell, blankly. 'Great, she's really koo koo.' Lt. Brandis couldn't help thinking.

"How old are you little boy?" Gartner said, finally showing signs of life turning to focus her eyes on him. "I'll bet you don't even shave yet."

"You would be surprised at just how old I am. I'm Lt. Brandis by the way, pleased to meet you."

"Well," Gartner slowly stood up and strode towards the forcefield separating them "I'm Ensign Gartner, I would shake your hand but it's impossible at the moment."

Brandis was amazed at the thoughts he was registering from her telepathically. Gartner was working over time, running even the most trivia things over and over again in her mind. She was trying to figure out why he was here and how she would to response to it... When will Commander Casey come and what he will do... How she would react to when Counsellor Dallas shows up... She was still concerned about Neil and when she'll get to see him again... And still savoring the taste of eating that chocolate cupcake she received from Ensign O'Connel awhile ago... Worried sick about her fern plant and if Lexanna is looking after it... And wondering if Ensign Kalln is seeing anyone.....

Brandis shook his head at that last one.

"Come to think of it, isn't it past your bedtime?" Gartner's voice snapped him out of it. He was nearly overwhelmed by her thoughts.

Snapping back to the present, Lt. Brandis wanted to put down the force field and see just how well the Ensign could fare in a fight. But, he was in control, for the most part any way, she was after all, behind 'bars'. Moving forward, Brandis stated, "Ensign, I was out saving the Federation when your great grand father was still in diapers. Although,

I can see that you weren't privy to that so I'll let it slide. I'm El Aurian, part El Aurian at least."

"And the other part?" The curious ensign inquired.

"Betazoid." He said waiting for her response.

Slowly Gartner's mouth turned up into a sneer. "Oh really. I had 7 counselors so far, not including Dallas and all but 2 were Betazoids. So you better not be probing my mind or 'feeling' my emotions!"

"What do you got against Betazoids?" Brandis didn't really need to probe her mind. She was broadcasting her thoughts loud enough to receive them.

"They all have an air of superiority about themselves that makes me what to puke!"

Brandis looked confused. "But your roommate is part Betazoid?"

"'But' she's a cool roommate and we came to an understanding that she won't play counselor on me."

"What about me?"

"Don't know yet." Gartner answered, then asked. "Why are you here any way? Looking for date?"

"Don't flatter yourself. A...You mind me of one flew over the koo koo's nest...B...Your too short...and C...Well, I don't really have a C, but I was on a roll and figured why not run with it." Lucas paused and moved closer to the brig cell, knowing it was on, "To tell you the truth I don't know why I'm here...why don't you tell me why you're here and I'll see if I can find a reason for being...here at least."

"Are you sure you shouldn't be in a padded cell, Lt." She smarted off.

Lucas took his time in surmising the situation, her thoughts were a bit difficult to put together, holding very little logic and no dicernable 'train of thought'. He wondered how those other counsellors had faired.

"I think I pretty sane actually." Lucas said, backing away from the force field.

"Sanity is a virtue of the crazed." Garter stated point blank.

"Really, I thought the crazed were a virtue of the sane? Hum, interesting...." Lt. Brandis replied, trying to side with her and maybe connect.

"Don't go there, Lt." Gartner glared, "Don't even start to analyze me or I promise you, you'll regret it."

That was all the warning Lucas needed. He stopped reading a decided to listen, he was El Aurian after all. "I wont. I just dropped by to see if you wanted some company, but I'll go if you don't want any."

Gartner laughed aloud but it wasn't a normal form of laughter that he was expecting. It actually put him on edge, her laughter was eerie. "You wouldn't believe the number of people dropping by to see me." She said. "Even more than when I was in my quarters. If you wish to stay kid, then stay."

Brandis eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "I'm not a kid!"

Gartner heard the annoyance in his voice, she smiled innocently as she sat back down on her bunk bed. "If you say so."

"You enjoy pushing people's buttons, don't you?"

"It's a hobby that I do from time to time." Gartner answered. "So kid, how old are you?"

Brandis realize that she was trying to push him but he was determined not to let her get to him. "I'm 74 earth years old."

"Hmmmm..." Gartner thought profoundly. "What's your life expectancy?"

"My people are known to live over a 1000 years."

"So, you're going to be an 'old' kid." Gartner grinned.

"Are you like this to everyone you meet?" Brandis demanded.

Gartner shrugged. "Just the ones I like."

A compliment, or at least it seemed like one. Lucas wondered if she was serious, but was reassured empathically. "Oh, and if you're wondering why everyone's interested in you, well....It's because here on the Galaxy, we have fermilarity with each other. Sort of an extended family. Speaking of which, I see Commander Casey has taken up your situation personally. I can assure you, you're in good hands. He's a good friend of mine."

"Really, well, he doesn't seem to fond of me. In fact these cells seem like they might be warmer and more personable." She sarcastically stated.

Brandis held back a chuckle, rather unsucessfully. "I see. So, can I call you koo koo?"

"Only if I can call you Kid....." Gartner stated, in a somewhat friendly tone.

Lt. Brandis had to think for a moment. He didn't like being called that by measly little young Ensigns fresh out of, well, in Gartner's case, Hell. He couldn't image the pain and loathing she must have had from her expierences before. But, Lucas had to put up something of a fight.

"I'll arm wrestle you for it!" Lucas replied.

"That's a little difficult at the moment." Anna said with a side glance at the force field generation beams.

"That's not a problem, we'll just wait until you get out of there." Lt. Brandis turned on his heals after giving the prisoner a quick, king to peasant look that made her laugh slightly at the notion of a kid putting up his nose at her. He exited the room and made his way up to the XO's office.

"Beta Shift" by:
Acting Ensign Viara Rhys
Junior Science Officer
U.S.S. Galaxy

Viara sat in Ten Forward alone; Hali dragging the good Dr. Mo out toward their quarters. Viara's badge beeped.

=/\= "Ensign Rhys, could you relieve me on the bridge?"=/\= Came the Officer's voice.

"I'm on my way." Said Viara as she closed the Communication channel by hitting her Comm. Badge.

Viara stood and walked out of Ten Forward.

*******A Short Time Later*******

Viara walks out of the Turbo Lift and onto the Bridge.

"Hello Lieutenant. You asked me to relieve you?" Said Viara to Lieutenant Statham.

"Yes. I'd like to say good bye to Commander Sterner." Replied the Lieutenant as she headed for the Turbo Lift.

"Understood, Lieutenant. Anything I should know about?" Asked Viara following the Lieutenant over to the Turbo Lift doors.

"Not hardly. It's quiet as normal." Replied the Lieutenant as the door closed.

"Yeah, quiet." Said Viara to herself as she took the Science Station.

"Birds of a Feather - Part II"
by Assistant Chief Science Officer
Lieutenant Commander Ronni Morris
USS Galaxy

As Ronni and Toog headed for Ten-Forward. Her plan was working flawlessly so far. She was hoping that Toog would see her as an friend. Now, she just had to work on hs greed and she would get the information the Captain needed and she would be done with him.

As they approached Ten-Forward, she said, "Just stay close to me. Many races don't like the Ferengi much, but our conversation is none of their business."

"They like us well enough when we have what they want." Toog hurmphed.

"You don't need to explain it to me. As you know, the Delphinians have always been closely allied with the Ferengi. Hey, you took us from a backwater tribal culture to a spacefaring race. I figure, I owe you." she said with a straight face. She had a hard time not laughing from all of the baloney that she was dishing out.

Toog just grunted in agreement. As they entered Ten-Forward, many of the conversations stopped as the blue skinned Science Officer took a seat near the window with the sharp toothed Ferengi. They made small talk until ther server arrived and took their order. Ronni ordered lobster and steak with a side of carrots and a baked potato. When Toog tried to order grub worms, he was informed that they had none fresh as there was a big demand for them. He ordered a huge Ferengi meal though and dove right in when it arrived.

While they were eating, Ronni said, "Toog. As I explained eariler, I am the second daughter of one of the ruling council members. When I found out about your situation, I immediately contacted my mother." Ronni picked up her PADD and handed it to the Ferengi. "As you can see, in exchange for information, I have arrainged for a very lucrative contract for you to export Delphinian crystals and crystal carvings. This deal will guarantee you a MINIMUM profit of three bars of gold pressed latnium. That will more than compensate you for your 'missed shipment'."

Toog scrolled through the contract. With half a snarl, he said, "I accept." He put his thumb print on the PADD to seal the bargin. He didn't know that that signaled the ship's computer to start recording their conversation. "What is it you wish to know Delphinian?"

"I need to know what you were shipping and who you were shipping to. I need names." she said conspiritorily.

Toog's expression soured. "I will not give names Delphinian. It is bad for business."

"All things have a price Toog. You know that." Ronni countered.

"Not this time. Profit is always best when you are still alive to spend it." Toog returned sarcastically.

"Why would you sell to people who are willing to kill you?" she said incredulacly.

"War is good for profit. You know that." he said with a smug grin, around a large bite of some sort of worm.

"Peace is good for war too. Working with the enemy is a good way to get burned. Especially the Dominion. " she said.

Rolling his eyes, Toog nodded while swallowing the last bit of his worm. He had thought to ask the Delphinian to chew it for him, but decided against it, since most off worlders found that repulsive and the DaiMon was still hoping for OOmax. "The riskier the challenge, the greater the profit. However I never said anything about the Dominion. You did." the Ferengi's eyes narrowed suspiciously, "You talk an awful lot for a Delphinian female." he said. He followed that with a large gulp of Romulan ale. The blue liquid trickled down his chin until he wiped it away with his sleeve.

They continued talking for a while. When they were done, Ronni escorted him back to the brig. She then went straight to the Captain's ready room.

"Did you get the full recording 'mate?" Lee asked.

"Unfortunately not. The Ferengi is clever Captain. He was careful not to incriminate himself. I'm afraid the trick didn't work." Ronni explained.

Captain Price stood up nodding. He hadn't expected the slimy Ferengi smuggler to be tricked that easily. "Well you gave it a go 'mate. Are you going down to Commander Sterner's farewell party?"

"Well, I am kind of full, but I wouldn't miss saying goodbye to him for anything!" she said.

***** First Contact *****
By Dr. Felicia Khatroweena, Lieutenant (Acting Chief Medical Officer), USS Galaxy NCC-70637
w/ Dr. Tarawn Seires, Ensign

***** Sickbay *****

Cat had seen some movement in the corner of her eyes, she turned her head to see a young Trill walk in. 'Young huh?' Cat smiled to herself on that thought. You can never tell.

Nilani had moved to the podium to finish the meeting and had noticed him as well. Cat had really thought that the 'greeting' she had given was abrupt. Over the last few days, Nilani wasn't being Nilani.

'Well, I am the CMO now. What away to get it though!' Cat shook her head at the thought.

"Sort this Ensign out, I don't want to be disturbed for the next hour and a bit. I'll answer all question's you want to ask later!" Cat looked a little puzzled at Nilani. She nodded and turned to greet Tarawn.

She smiled, "Hi. I'm Dr Felicia Khatroweena. Chief Medical Officer."

"Dr Tarawn Seires. I thought Dr Khan Nilani was the cee em oh." He watched Nilani head off in surprise.

Cat gave a quick nod with a grimace. "Things have been a little chaotic. Nilani is on restricted duty for a while." Cat sighed.

D'tarna walked by. Cat put an hand on the Vulcan doctor's shoulder. "D'tarna. Just a few seconds." She looked at Tarawn, "Tarawn, this is Dr D'tarna Bellen. D'tarna, this is Tarawn."

D'tarna bowed her head in greeting, "Greetings Tarawn."

"Hello Doctor Bellen. If I may ask, I thought Vulcans only had a single name?" Tarawn asked.

D'tarna gave a slight nod. "That is true. I am host to the symbiont Bellen. I must return to my quarters. If you would?"

Cat nodded, "Course D'tarna. Sorry to disturb your meditations. Oh the whole reason for this. D'tarna, Tarawn will be assisting you on Gamma." D'tarna nodded and headed out.

"D'tarna is a good person, Tarawn. We just moved over to a four shift roster. You have Gamma with D'tarna. Twenty one hundred to oh three hundred. But get here at twenty thirty. I'll make a decision on changing your shift when things get back to normal." Cat led him to her office. "We've not having a good time her in Medical. We just lost a doctor in a Jem'Hadar attack. Another is pregnant and Nilani is having some troubles. Well, besides all that, things are going smoothly." Cat smiled. "So anything you would like to talk about? Anything you want to ask.

"Captain's Log"
by Captain Mercedes Manion, USS Caduceus

Captain's Ready Room

**Near the end of Beta Shift**

Captain's log, stardate 49902.8

We've had the USS St. Louis under quarrantine for just over thirty hours now. They have just lost a crew member to the alien disease. I fear he is only the first of what could be many, if the research teams cannot make some progress. I've been in almost hourly contact with Captain Thiana, and we have been attempting to optimize the exchange of information between our medical departments.

The Quarrantine unit is fully operational, and staff has begun to rotate on duty shifts there. Dr. Jergensen came up with a plan wherein doctors and other staff of the Caduceus are beamed out of the biosuits to return to this ship.

I just hope we are able to find something...anything...soon. The incubation of the disease is simply too fast. It is frightening with its lethal speed. I fear for the St. Louis crew, as well as for the Ocero.

I know, as a Starfleet vessel, that they have the discipline to hold the quarrantine, but I wonder just what will happen on that ship, if the disease becomes widespread aboard. From what Captain Thiana tells me, they have over five hundred refugees aboard. That's a lot of potential panic. I hope the St. Louis' security forces are taking precautions for such an event. I have instructed Lt. Vetra to prepare contingencies, just in case the Ocero or anyone else on the St. Louis panics and attempts to break quarrantine. The shuttlebays are on continuous sensor surveillance, as are their transporters. I know that I have the smaller ship tractored, and the QU is a great reminder of the restrictions of the quarrantine, but my experience has shown many times that frightened people are capable of a great many surprises. I am aware, however, that if a hostile force gained control of the St. Louis, the Caducuceus would be of little consequence. She outguns us, and can outrun us, and while our shields are superior, this vessel also has greater mass. I hope the security teams on the St. Louis can quash any potential problems before they get quite that far.

I will be reviewing reports from Drs. Jergensen and Lou, attempting to assess the situation so far, and we will delve into possible permutations of this emergency. I know we have teams working around the clock attempting to discover what we can about this disease...but it somehow feels as though we are missing something...

End log entry.

Mercedes turned her chair and looked out the viewport. From this position, she could not see the smaller Starfleet vessel, but in her mind's eye, she could. It distressed her far more than she stated in the reports to have to take actions against a sister ship, but the sickness aboard the St. Louis was far too virulent to allow that ship to risk infecting other ships, or worlds by allowing her crew and her passengers to make contact with others. And so, the quarrantine. She was empowered to impose quarrantine when necessary by Starfleet Medical, but it was a duty she disliked greatly. It motivated her to find answers all the more quickly.

She had instructed Lt. Vanx to make certain that quarrantine beacons were configured, and set at standard intervals at all points heading away from this location. That way, ships would be warned off from the area and the risk of spreading the infection was lessened by that much.

She had also ordered Counselor O'Keefe to work on some stress relieving activities for the crew, and recommendations for the crew of the St. Louis, as well. Both crews were going to begin to feel the stress of the quarrantine, and the Caduceus was just as restricted as the St. Louis, for she was here for the long haul, regardless of the length of time involved.

A grim thought flashed through her mind. The disease incubated and killed just inside of twenty seven hours. From that time period, they could extrapolate just how long it would be before...

No. She was not going to go there. The doctor and scientist within her knew she would have to face the fact that the disease so far was 100% fatal, but she was not going to calculate the deaths of all of those people.

It brought her to a decision that she was certain she would have a fight over. She intended to take a shift as one of the doctors on the Quarrantine unit. She was the oldest doctor aboard the ship, and it might make a difference. She had been considering the options for quite some time now, and had made up her mind. Lt. Commander Kozlov would protest, but she knew it was something she had to do. She had, after all, taken the Hippocratic Oath. She was sworn to give aid when needed. Yes, the oath could apply to the captaincy of the Caduceus, but she could assist more directly.

"Computer, record message to Dr. Jergensen."

[Recording.]

Doctor Jergensen,

I am offering myself as a doctor for one of the shifts aboard the quarrantine unit. I would be under your command for the away mission, of course. I am simply another set of medically trained eyes, ears and hands. Please advise of scheduling, and I will report as ordered. I am confident your plans for precautionary measures are quite sufficient, so I am prepared to begin working on the problem and the patients as soon as you can arrange it.

Manion out.

"Computer, send a second copy of that message to Lt. Commander Kozlov as well."

[Aknowledged. Messages sent.]

She rose from her chair and walked across to the replicator. "Apricot-Ginseng Ceylon, hot."

The small pot of tea appeared, and the aroma was very soothing. She needed that.

She knew the CMO had the right to tell her that she was not needed on the QU. And if Viktor had any say in the matter, would do so.

But it was something she had to do. She had learned long ago that much of being a Starfleet officer was duty, some was doing what was right, and all of it was overshadowed by listening to your conscience.

At the moment her conscience was telling her that she had to do something more.

It was times like this that made her wonder if she should not have become a captain of an exploratory ship, or perhaps just stayed a CMO. However, the Caduceus was commissioned to fulfil a certain need, and she was honored to have her command. It was a great responsiblity.

And yet, she still had to do what she knew was right.

However, she also knew quarrantine situations were known to turn 'right' into 'wrong' rather quickly.

Captain Mercedes Manion
USS Caduceus NCC-9462
An Allied Electronic Simulations Affiliated Sim
capt.manion@Caduceus.zzn.com

Senior Staff Meeting
Captain Thiana
USS St Louis

Thiana sighed, looking at the faces around the table. Everyone was somber, the mood black. Dr Whitesong was not in attendence, but in sickbay. With the death of Ensign Oleksandreko, restrictions had to be put into place.

"After this meeting, I will be sending condolences to Ensign Oleksandreko's family. Also, I would like you to remember Miss McCree and stop by. I'm sure she will be needing someone to talk to about now." Thiana sighed. It wasn't easy losing an officer, especially when you had no control over the matter.

"Due to the situation, I am putting into affect the following restrants. You should pass these along to the members of your departments. There will be no departing the ship. Anyone caught leaving will have court martial charges brought up on them." She was serious, deadly serious.

"I am putting this ship onto yellow alert. All personal should be keep to their quarters unless on duty. Where ever possible, I want to go to a skeleton crew. This will limit contact with other members of the crew."

One could only hope that the disease wouldn't spread through out the rest of the crew. Only problem is, most of security or several other departments already had contact with the Ocero- she herself included. Hopefully, it could be figured out how the disease passed from being to being.

"As par request from Captain Manion, the only contact with Caddy medical teams should be via the quarrantine unit. There people will be tested and treated, as possible. Of course, at this time, there is no treatment. They hope to have something for us soon, but only time can tell." Thiana sighed again. It was rough in a situation like this.

"Is there any questions?"

" Revelations Part II"
By Ensign Deryn Valendras
Head Nurse
USS St. Louis

The Betazoid nearly stumbled away from the cellular analyzer as he noticed what was happening. He had injected an ion stimulant into the system to perhaps move the virii away from the infected blood cells, but instead, they clenched even harder to the cell samples and the incubation period nearly went down to nill. As frightening as that revelation was, that didn't nearly scare him as much as the idea that the virii tended to go straight for the cell so quickly. Almost like a knee jerk reaction.

It seemed like years passing as Deryn watched the samples incubate. When they finally began to slowly make the cells undulate violently, the Betazoid sat up and recorded his observations.

" The virii, which I have taken to calling J'orra, which means 'The Bad Blood' in the Ocero language, seems to have some sort of innate ability to find the most choice host cell. I'd almost call it instinct. When I added any sort of stimulant to the system, it seemed to dig even harder into the host cells almost to quicken the process of imbibing them with its genetic code. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear these things were sentient.

" As of right now, the cells are about to release the newly created virii into the sample environment. One of the cells seems to be nearly about to burst..." He could almost hear the pop as the sample nearly exploded all over the desk top." I believe this disease to be 100% fatal. If we're going to stop this, we're going to have to try innoculation with a weakened version. Since I have no idea what will happen, I'll probably have to test it upon myself. For the good of science perhaps."

To Be Continued...

Ensign Deryn Valendras - USS St. Louis,
ICQ# 14667644

Department Losses
by Lt. Adam Harris, Chief of Security

Adam left the mess hall feeling a lot better after having that chat. He decided to get back to the security office.

*** Security Office ***

Adam walked in and sat down at his desk. He noticed a couple of reports and started to go through them. He opened one that was backed dated to about 4 hours ago.

It contained information regarding Ensign Oleksandreko, one of his officers. Apparently he had fallen sick with the Ocero's disease and was currently in sickbay.

*Oh god, I hope he is ok* Adam thought to himself

Adam continued to read through the reports. He decided that he would pay Alex a visit when he finished.

Adam got to the last report and started to read it. It concerned Ensign Oleksandreko.

The report was dated to only about 30 minutes ago. It said that Ensign Oleksandreko had died of the disease.

"Oh god, poor Bradley" Adam said looking up from the report in horror

It was only a few hours ago that Ensign Oleksandreko reported for his duty patrol and now he was dead.

Suddenly a message came through that a Senior Staff Meeting was being requested by the Captain.

Adam left his office and made his way to the meeting.

From Adam Harris
Aka Lt. Adam Harris, Chief of Security of the USS St Louis

USS Galaxy "Arriving at the Party"
Written By Lt. Commander Kahn Nilani
Chief Medical Officer, USS Galaxy

I walked into the Holodeck and entered the party, there were a number of people there. Endris had done a good job with the food again and everything seemed to be running smooth.

I walked over to a wall and looked around for the new Captain, I found him..... Our eyes locked and I smiled, he then turned away to talk to an officer that just appeared.

I sat down on a chair a little exhausted from all the recent happenings.

Ensign Vince Randal
--------------------------------

CABIN FEVER TOO!

Jen listened to Vince prattle on for sveral long moments and finally sighed to herself,"Sounds like she's a keeper." She tossed her hair out of her face again, a habit which annoyed many and captivated some."So are you gonna pop the question or what?" She had a nasty habit of getting right to the point in most cases.

Vince frowned."Well I really haven't thought about it much you know,"He shrugged,"I mean I only found out a few days ago." He looked over to Nix who was still captivated by the cartoon, which was on it's 6th showing and not losing any steam."Besides I kinda got myself into another situation." He turned his head back to his sister.

She looked at him critically,"That your wearing is wierd,"She tapped the side of her nose,"I can't place it but you like kinda like dad when he used to watch us playing in the yard." She smirked at his reaction.

(Why does she always have to bring that up???)"Put a sock in it allready!"He grumbled,"I'm just in a good mood. Besides the kid likes it." He turned back around and watched as the child started singing along to the bouncidy song.

"Does he have the disease or whatever?"She asked looking grim,"Are you safe?"

"If alien invaders can dose me with nerve gas,"He said puffing up,"Then sure as hell no little disease is gonna nail me. I think he's fine, no fever and the tricorder says he's clean." He smiled a moment,"Just don't tell ma abot any of this, capish?"

She hesitated,"Capish." She said quietly,"Just take care of yourself, Vin can you at least do that? And next time your around bring the alien broad with ya and I'll see if she's worth your time." She laughed.

Vince smiled,"I will, you take care Jen and don't break any more hearts my knuckles can't take it." They both smiled at that and then the line went dead. He leaned back in his chair and scrubbed a hand through his hair. What was it about talking to his sister that made sense? He sighed and resumed his vigil over the poor honey impoverished bear, and the little boy who loved him.

Attention to detail
By Dana Jergensen MD
CMO USS Caduceus

Dana was going over the latest reports from the St. Luis. She had been on almost continous duty from the start. She was only vaguely aware of the message from the Captain. It wasn't flashing as a priority so she decided to wait until she showered and changed before looking at it.

In her quarters she undressed and stood in the stall alowing the hot water to melt away the tension in her neck. She got out and toweled herself off. Doning a robe and wrapping her hair in the towel she accessed her messages. Doctor Jergensen,

I am offering myself as a doctor for one of the shifts aboard the quarrantine unit. I would be under your command for the away mission, of course. I am simply another set of medically trained eyes, ears and hands. Please advise of scheduling, and I will report as ordered. I am confident your plans for precautionary measures are quite sufficient, so I am prepared to begin working on the problem and the patients as soon as you can arrange it.

Manion out.

Wonderful. The Captain of all people. Normally she would do the Starfleet thing and protest and also report it to the XO. Instead she thanked the Captain sent her a copy of the duty log and told her to put herself in wherever she liked.

Dana sat back and began to review some more of the Logs from the St. Luis. All reports were sent through her and to other relevent departments information had to be free flowing in order for a cure to be found. Her eye caught something in a progress report from an Ens. Valendras.

" The virii, which I have taken to calling J'orra, which means 'The Bad Blood' in the Ocero language, seems to have some sort of innate ability to find the most choice host cell. I'd almost call it instinct. When I added any sort of stimulant to the system, it seemed to dig even harder into the host cells almost to quicken the process of imbibing them with its genetic code. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear these things were sentient.

" As of right now, the cells are about to release the newly created virii into the sample environment. One of the cells seems to be nearly about to burst..." He could almost hear the pop as the sample nearly exploded all over the desk top." I believe this disease to be 100% fatal. If we're going to stop this, we're going to have to try innoculation with a weakened version. Since I have no idea what will happen, I'll probably have to test it upon myself. For the good of science perhaps."

Dana almost fell from her chair. She grabbed the nearest clothes to her, a t-shirt and sweat pants and ran to sick bay.

" Computer Priority message to St. Luis to Ensign Valendras, and to Ships CMO and Captain.

This Dana Jergensen of the Cadduceus, Ens Valendras Do NOT I repeat do NOT experiment on your self in any way. Reprt to the Quarantine unit immediately."

She then grabbed a Bio Suit and Beamed to the QU.

“Reminisce”
By: Tyler Jackson; Chief Science Officer, USS St Louis

Tyler was trying to relax in his quarters having just completed another round of feeble attempts at diagnosing the virus that was plaguing the St Louis. His science teams were running themselves ragged, and they had nothing to show for their efforts. They had run every simulation that the computer had on file, and even tried making a few up on their own. Every effort met with the same response, nothing. Tyler sat back on the couch in his room and started drifting off to sleep. As his vision was fading to black, the last thing that he saw was a picture of his parents on Earth.

Tyler awoke with a startle, his arm spasmed and knocked the picture to the floor with a crash. Looking down at the picture, Tyler bent over and started to pick it back up when something strange caught his eye. He stared at the picture for a while before he finally realized what it was that caught his attention. The picture showed his parents on a camping trip in the mountains of eastern North America. It was on that particular camping trip that his parent had shown him various cures that could be remedied by using natural roots from the ground. Some of these medicines could not be replicated, and only the natural herbs could produce the right result. ‘Oh please let this be right.’ He thought as he dropped the picture and headed for his computer terminal. “Computer, access main botanical database and select all of the plants that can be used for medical purposes where the properties cannot be duplicated by a replicator.”

=^= Working … Complete. There are 1076 plants on file that match those criteria.

“Alright, cross reference with the medical database containing the Ocero database. Extrapolate to find any possible matches for a possible cure and or treatment. Send the results of the query to science lab one, I’ll be on route.”

Even thought Tyler hadn’t really gotten any sleep, the mere thought of finding a possible cure invigorated him enough to practically run to the lab. When he got there, he walked over to a free terminal and pulled up his query. There were three matches. “Computer, display the results of the query and cross reference and display them on this terminal.” Pictures of the three different plants appeared along with text describing their medicinal purposes, and possible connections with the Ocero virus. He scanned the information on the first plant, but deleted the option, as the plant was now extinct. The second plant offered a possible cure, and was located on a highly populated planet within a day’s travel from their current location. The third plant offered hope of slowing the disease, but it was located on the far end of the galaxy. By the time the St Louis made it there, all of the Ocero would be dead, and possibly many of the crew. Glancing up at the isolation lab, Tyler knocked on the glass trying to get Lt.(jg) Kai’s attention. She turned around at the noise and Tyler motioned for her to exit the laboratory.

Leaving her biosuit on, she quickly exited the sterile room and went into the main lab where everyone was working. Tyler was waiting for her by the door when she exited. “Zahara, I need you to come and look at this.” She nodded and they walked over to the terminal displaying the two plants. Tyler removed the reference to the plant on the far end of the galaxy, then looked at Zahara. “What do you think?”

Zahara scanned the information on the screen then looked back at Tyler. “I think it’s worth a shot. Nothing else seems to be working.” Tyler nodded and tapped his comm badge. “Jackson to Commander Strauss.”

=^= Strauss here, go ahead.

Tyler thought about what he was going to say before proceeding. The commander and he had their difference in the pas about protocol, and Tyler wanted to make sure that he was doing the right thing.

“Commander, we may have a possible cure down here in science lab one. I’m on my way to the bridge right now. Would you call a meeting of the senior staff so that I can explain everything to them?”

=^= Understood, Strauss out.

Could this job get ANY more stressful
Ltjg WhiteSong to-Ennine MD
CMO USS ST.Louis

WhiteSong headed back to her office, and left the nursing staff take care of Ensign Alex Oleksandreko's remains. Her neck and and back were killing her. She was a ball of nerves, not to mention she hadn't eaten at all today. Sivaoans were hearty eaters, they required almost half of their weight in food daily. So for WhiteSong to skip even one meal was nothing less than torture. She decided to replicate some sauted mouse stuffed with tuna, and eat while she worked on reports.

WhiteSong replicated her food,it smelled so good her mouth was watering. Humans would call it drooling, but on Sivao it was considered a compliment to drool over someone's cooking. She sat down at her desk and stuffed a mouse into her mouth, a red flashing light caught her attention. It was her console, telling her there were messages for her. "Play messages" WhiteSong said with a full mouth. She almost swallowed the mouse whole she was so hungry, and stuffed another mouse into her mouth. [This Dana Jergensen of the Cadduceus, Ens Valendras Do NOT I repeat do NOT experiment on your self in any way. Report to the Quarantine unit immediately."] WhiteSong's mouth fell open, the mouse tumbled out and on to her desk. "What the hell!" WhiteSong said in a confused voice. She had practically no idea what was going on, all her attention had been on Alex. "Damit!" WhiteSong slammed her paw on the desk so hard one of her nails broke. "RREEAAARRRR" WhiteSong screamed in a high pitched voice from the pain of her broken nail.

WhiteSong tapped her combadge "WhiteSong to Cmdr Rosenblith" [Rosenblith here] "Daniel, can you accompany Ens Valendras to the QU? I am up to my paws in work here" WhiteSong threw down her food in a fit of anger and stormed off to the science department to check on Zahara's progress. *Could this job get ANY more stressful*

"Watching your every move"
by Captain Robert Edward Lee Price
Captain - USS Galaxy

*** USS Galaxy ***

Captain's Personal Log: Stardate 49902.10

"Last night's going away party for Commander Sterner was quite well received. The crew appeared to enjoy themselves at the party Commander Casey had arranged. I'm glad that we all had this opportunity to say good bye to one of the Galaxy's most dedicated crew members. I wish Joerg well on his new assignment and in whatever the future should bring him."

Captain Price paused for a long moment before continuing his recording.

"It was hard watching Joerg depart the ship this morning. I had made it a point to get up early enough to see my former First Officer off at shuttle bay two. A number of officers did in fact. It was quite touching to see that everyone was thinking along the same lines as I was.

Joerg is a excellent, dedicated Starfleet officer. But over these years he has become much more than that to this crew. He's a friend, a family member to many of the men and women serving on this vessel. We will all miss him greatly. When his shuttle craft finally departed after all of the good byes and tearful hugs, there seemed to be a very empty feeling in all of us standing by on the flight deck and watching his shuttle jump to warp. Even now I find I miss Joerg."

"The Ferengi, on the other hand, are still outraged. They didn't get to attend the party of course. Lieutenant Commander Sunder continued to hold them in the brig while the investigation into the activities of the "Latinum Prince" continue. I'm told the wounded Ferengi crew members have been treated and have recovered nicely under the care of our medical department. Unfortunately our investigation has not turned up any concrete evidence upon which we can hold DaiMon Toog and his crew. We strongly suspect the Ferengi merchant of smuggling some form of supplies to the Dominion, but we only have circumstantial evidence to support that theory to which the Ferengi adamantly deny. Even Lieutenant Commander Morris' attempt to deceive Toog into admitting involvement or at least giving an indication of their illegal cargo has proven futile. There are only a few hours remaining before I will be forced to turn the Ferengi free because of a lack of evidence. Needless to say, that doesn't sit well. I know in my gut Toog is up to no good. Not being able to prove it is most disheartening."

As if an idea light bulb had gone off in the Captain's head, his demeanor brightened. "Computer, end log." Lee waited for the acknowledgment tones and then activated his comm badge. "Price to Sunder. Come in 'Commander."

["Sunder here Captain. Go ahead."] Ursa, the Galaxy's Chief of Security replied over the channel.

"'Commander, our time is almost up with the Ferengi. If no evidence of a serious crime is found in the next twelve hours, we will have to let the crew of the Latinum Prince go." Captain Price explained.

["I know sir. I've had my men literally scour the entire freighter from stem to stern. Nothing there sir. Except that the Latinum Prince is more ship than she appears to be. But that isn't against any regulations and she is well within Federation codes for a ship of this type. I'm sorry Captain. "] Ursa elaborated.

Lee shook his head in a jovial manner. It was not good news, but he seemed to have something else on his mind. "Fair dinkum 'mate. We can only find what there is there to find. Not your fault 'Commander. Are all of the Ferengi currently aboard the Galaxy?"

["Yes sir. I have two details of security officers on board the freighter searching for hidden cargo holds and secret compartments just in case, but we've been over the ship several times. Other than DaiMon Toog's private stash of fine liquors, we've found nothing worth reporting."] Ursa informed in a discouraged tone. It was obvious that the 'Commander wanted to bring the two-timing smuggler to justice as well. Trading with the enemy was not something anyone looked fondly of during wartime.

"I understand 'Commander." Lee said with a surprising hint of encouragement that seemed odd given the situation. After a pause, the Captain asked, "'Commander, would it be possible to put some sort of a covert tracking device on board the Latinum Prince? Something that the Ferengi wouldn't be able to detect, but that we could use to mark the ship and track her movements from here on out?"

The Captain could almost sense Lieutenant Commander Sunder smiling over the comm channel. ["Certainly Captain. It shouldn't take more than a few hours to set up and test."] Ursa said happily.

"Bonzer 'mate. We might have to turn Toog and the Latinum Prince loose, but at least we can keep track of the freighter's movements from this point forward. That might be all we need to catch him in the act some other time." Lee paused, "Do it 'mate. Inform me when the tracking device has been installed and is working. Price out."

The Captain closed the channel and turned to look out his ready room observation portal. A big smile formed on his face while he looked at the Ferengi freighter the Galaxy was towing in a tractor beam. "We might 'ave to cut you loose Toog, but that doesn't mean we won't be watching your every move 'mate. You can count on that." he mused.

"Nothing here... except a lot of bad mood"
by: Ensign Chirstopher I. Campbell

"Nothing here either, Lt." Christopher said looking up from a pile of crates.

"Alright, Ensign. Keep looking over there he said pointing to a door."

Chris sighed. They had been looking through the Latinum Prince for hours, ever since Commander Sterner's going-away party had ended, for something that might prove that the Ferengi captain had smuggled something. He knew, everybody knew, they weren't going to find anything. But he had his orders.

*Why am I following orders? I don't even want to be in Starfleet* He thought.

"Lt. Cerxes, I don't think were going to find anything. Maybe we should call it a night?" Chris asked hopefully.

"We have our orders, Ensign."

"Oh, C'mon! We're not going to find anything here anyway. You know that. Everybody except our stupid Captain knows that!" (NRPG: no hard feelings Mark;)

Lt. Cerxes was probably tired of the pointless search himself and took his bad mood out on Chris. "We quit when I say we quit! IS THAT UNDERSTOD, ENSIGN?" He yelled his face red with anger.

Chris turned away heading for the door the Lieutenant had pointed to.

"DON'T YOU TURN YOUR BACK ON ME, ENSIGN!" Lt. Cerxes bellowed after him.

Christopher spun around. He clenched his fists as his reflexes kicked in. On smuggler-captain Stixx' ship you had to be tough to make it. Chris had adapted well.

"YEAH? WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?" Chris yelled back, losing his temper as well.

The two securtiy officers moved closer to each other. They stared intensly at each other.

"Care to find out?" Lt. Cerxes no longer shouted, his question had been asked with a very quiet voice.

"You can teach me nothing I don't already know" the lower-ranking officer replied, his voice just as deadly-quiet.

Their eyes locked in a furious glare. Chris looked away first, realizing he was way out of line.

"Go look in there, Ensign!" The Lt. ordered once again pointing at the door.

Once again Chris turned his back on the lieutenant and made his way over to the door. "Damn smuggler" Lt. Cerxes muttered just loud enough for Chris to hear.

He had made an enemy today.

" Okay, Gartner - you're free as a bird. " Sunder declared, restraining his relief. It didn't suit well with him to keep one of his own officers in his brig.

" You're on restricted duty though, which means no more away parties, no access to the holodeck security simulations, and no more fights in sickbay, or Ten-Forward, or anything. " Sunder finished lamely.

Gartner's brow furrowed. " I didn't start a fight in Ten-Forward. "

" Yet. " Sunder grunted. " Just keep yourself out of trouble. I hate arresting my own officers and make sure you cooperate with Commander Casey. "

" Spacey-Casey. " She sung melodically. " Kissed the girls and made them cry. Well, one anyway, from what I hear about the ship. "

Sunder concealed his worried glance. Was she really as crazy as she made herself out to be? He wondered.

" Don't worry, Chief. " She said, phasing back into reality again. Her hand flew up to her forehead in a mock-salute. " I won't let you down. "

" Be sure that you don't, Ensign. I've invested some of my reputation into you. Next time, I won't be as easy on you. Head back to your quarters and get some downtime into you. Dismissed. "

He watched her go with a sigh. He'd seen someone like her back on the THOMAS PAINE. Extreme post-combat stress syndrome wasn't an easy hill to climb, but the person had to want to make the climb first. He could only help her out so much.

Turning his attention to the other occupants in the brig, he walked down the hall to deal with Toog. He hadn't made it comfortable for Toog, but the little bastard still persisted in holding to his story. Now he was going to have to let him go.

The captain had suggested a homing beacon carefully planted on 'The Latinum Prince'. This worked for Sunder. He didn't like the idea of letting the q-ship out of his sight. Who knows where else it may turn up? It also gave him a perfect opportunity to occupy his ASCO, diverting his attentions away from other ... vital preparations.

He thumbed his communicator. " Mr. Albrecht? "

" Chief? " Came the reply.

" Sorry to disturb you, but a matter has risen that requires your particular brand of expertise. "

" What's that Sir? "

Sunder thought for a minute - just to make it seem like he'd been giving it more than a minute's thought.

" We're going to install a tracking device on the ferengi merchantman. But I need to verify Federation legislation on that. Would you be able to verify legal precedent that establishes our right to do that when the ship is a suspected smuggler? "

He could almost see Matthew's eyes boggle out of their sockets. Ursa usually did his own follow-up work, but this was Albrecht's specialty and it would keep him busy for a little while. Considering that the Federation was at war, he knew that they had all the legal justification they needed. But he knew Matthew would want to be as detailed as possible and would provide him with a through report.

" I think we already have the right, Chief. I remember something back from my JAG days about the Corrolians during the Romulan War, but I'd have to look it up to be sure. When do you need it by? "

Ursa considered. He only needed an hour to make the final preparations and to release Toog. But the longer he could delay Matthew, the better.

" Give it to me in an hour or so, Matthew. We've got to install the device anyway before Toog gets out of his pen. "

" So you want it after the fact? " Albrecht asked incredulously.

" Yes. I think you're right about the wartime stipulation, but I still want some paper-chase just in case. " Ursa said, smiling to himself. He knew Albrecht would regard this as a trifle wasteful, but he couldn't refuse the legwork.

" Okay, Chief. " Came Albrecht's slightly disheartened reply. Ursa wasn't one for games, but in this case it was necessary.

He strode down the hall to the cells where the ferengi were being held. He saw Toog sitting in the corner of the cell, as far away from his counterparts as he possibly could. Ursa had insulted the DaiMon by billeting his underlings in the same cell as him. In order to stow his rage somewhat, his crew had moved over to the far side of the cell, allowing the trader captain half of the cell space. It was difficult not to smile at the sight of six ferengi fighting for the space of half a 6' X 10' cell.

Toog saw his approach and walked boldly up to the cell force-field. The other ferengi scurried to get out of his way, switching his spatial dominion to the front of the cell.

" Sunder! When is this over? I cannot answer any more of your questions - or the blue-skinned female - or anyone else you can contrive to send to trick me into a confession! Give me my ship and let us go! "

Sunder simply stared at the ferengi captain, displaying no hint of emotion. He waited for him to calm down, and for the rest of his sequestered crew to cease their bleating.

" Toog, if you've quite finished, I've come to inform you that we've finished searching your ship, and seeing as you haven't provided us with a confession, we're setting you free. Your crew has been treated for their injuries the Dominion forces on your ship caused and will be released. "

Toog's expression changed as a sly look crept over his face.

" Ahhh... so you have seen your own folly then. Very well, since you have been so generous to my wounded crew, I shall file no charges with the Federation against your unlawful detainment. "

" Very kind of you. " Sunder droned with no real sense of gratitude in his voice. " But as your ship is a disguised ship of war, carrying remnants of contraband cargo, you really don't have a legal leg to stand on. The Federation Adjudication Committee would barely even hear your request. " He took out a PADD and registered the release orders for Toog and his men in two hours. Then he looked up. " We did have a good chance to examine your ship, you know. We detected the hidden photon sling-launchers, the auxilliary shield generators, and the ion displacement cannons fairly easily. "

Actually, it wasn't all that easy. Sunder had his men and engineering virtually tear up the ship looking for signs of ketracell whyte and had gradually come across the weapons one by one. They were disguised as bulkheads, sensor housings, and even hull-mounted cargo nodules. It was a pretty piece of engineering.

Toog started sputtering. " My ship! What have you done to it? "

" Well, for one thing, all the illegal weapons have been confiscated. The concealed ship-ordnance has been deactivated and disassembled. Seeing as it isn't illegal to possess it - just illegal to hide it - it's been neatly stored in your hold. You can replace it after you leave Federation space. "

Sunder was enjoying this. The disassembly of the weapons had been an extra bit of fun, but it also gave him the perfect cover to hide the tracking device. Toog would be so enraged about the mutilation of the Prince that he would force his crew to replace it all, concealing the device further and prevent them from making a search for anything like a tracking device. Of course, he'd be so angry that the thought wouldn't even occur to him.

" You'll pay for this Sunder. One day, I swear to you. You'll regret making an enemy out of me. I have friends... "

Sunder interrupted him. " Oh no, THAT I find hard to believe, Toog. "

The ferengi continued to sputter wild curses at the security chief.

" I have powerful friends, Sunder. If it takes the last of my latinum, I will find you and make you pay for the indignities you have forced upon me! "

" Careful Toog: there is no profit in revenge. " Sunder taunted, continuing to egg him on. " You'll be released in two hours. For now, I advise you to calm down and just wait it out. We're at war, Sir. You just got yourself mixed up in it and got lucky enough to get out with your ship intact. " He leaned forwards to look at the ferengi directly.

" And a warning - don't make idle threats you can't keep, Toog. I've tangled with worse than you and I'm still here to tell the tale. "

" This is no threat, hyoo-mon. " He showed his yellowed, pointed teeth.

" It's a promise made on gold-filled latinum. "

The two continued to stare at each other for a while, until finally, Sunder walked away, aware of the nature of the threat the ferengi had just made. He had just staked his fortune on his revenge. Come hook or by crook, the ferengi was going to see his threat through.

Sunder had just made an enemy.

=/\= Security Sweep =/\=
By: Ensign Rotan Heratta
Security Officer, USS Galaxy

Rotan moved down another row of storage containers, adjusting the setting on his Security tricorder as he conducted the sweep. For over two hours he had been searching the "Latnium Prince" for any sign of a clue that would confirm the Ferengi involvement in illegal smuggling.

Tapping his comm badge to open a channel, He spoke. "Rotan to Lieutenant Cerxes." The Nausicaan waited for a few seconds before the Lieutenant replied.

"Cerxes here, what have you got Ensign."

"My re-inspection of the Cargo Bay has yielded nothing Sir." The Nausicaan moved his facial fangs in obvious frustration.

"Very well, why don't you move your inspection to the personal living quarter's and then report to me in engineering." To Rotan, Cerxes seemed mildly agitated about something as he gave the order.

"Understood Sir, Rotan out." Taping the badge again, he closed the channel.

Leaving the Cargo Bay, he made his way to the turbo elevator and entered it.

"Main living quarters." He spoke in a deep baritone to the lifts computer.

Earlier they had made a small discovery in the quarter's of Daimon Toog. Two members of team Alpha had discovered the Ferengi's private stash of quality alcohol. The reports had mentioned a bottle of Romulan Ale that was over four hundred years old. Since then, the searches of the living area's had revealed nothing.

Rotan decided to try the private quarters of the Daimon a final time. As a Nausicaan, he knew that the innate arrogance of the Ferengi in general meant that there was a high likelihood that The Daimon was hiding something. It was probably in a place he believed that no one could ever find it. The Merchant struck Rotan as being very creative, and devious to an extreme that even rivaled most Ferengi.

Moving into the richly layed out quarters, Rotan growled in open disgust. The Ferengi were a species obsessed with material gain and Toog's quarters showed it. The bright orange decor was disgusting to the Nausicaan, not to mention painful to look at. The materials of one of the couches in particular seemed to reflect the infrared portion of his visual perception in a way that created a brilliant glare.

*Hmm, I have avoided this couch because of its painful appearance but perhaps that was the intention all along. Make something ugly enough and...* Rotan thought to himself as he made a series of adjustments to his Security Tricorder.

Waving the device over the couch, one of its indicator lights began to blink and an audible alarm sounded in a low repeating tone.

"Interesting." The Nausicaan said out loud as he deactivated the Tricorder.

Taping his comm badge again, the Nausicaan spoke. "Rotan to Cerxes"

This time the reply was immediate. "Go ahead Ensign."

"I believe I may have found something Sir. I was conducting a scan of one of the couches in the Daimon's quarters. The couch had been shielded by whatever rare and special fabric it was covered in. Upon making a few adjustments to my Tricorder I was able to discover something...new."

"Go on Ensign, I'm all ears." Cerxes replied.

"Sir,..I don't understand the term, all ears. Are you allright?" Rotan offered.

"Just a figure of speech Ensign, go on with your report."

"Yes, well..it would appear that there is a metallic container of medium size concealed within the couch. It is resistant to further scan. I request permission to have it beamed to cargo bay one where it can be further examined." Rotan waited for the Lieutenant's reply.

"Sounds like a good Idea. I'll arrange to have a science and security team assembled in Cargo bay one. Stand by, I'm in route to your location."

"Understood." Rotan tapped his Comm badge again to close the channel.

*It would appear Daimon Toog..that we have you this time.* Rotan thought to himself as he waited for the arrival of the Lieutenant....

"What Is A Romulan To Do?"
By: Lt Ryak Sullax
S.O. USS Galaxy
With a Special Appearance By Doctor Khatroweena

Ryak walked into sickbay to notice Cat sitting in her office. Sullar was quick and had already seen her and was sitting on her lap. Ryak entered the room and sat down.

"So you finally get down here for another check up."

"I am fine Doctor. How is the technician?" Ryak asked in a very uninterested voice.

"He will be just fine." Cat was not impressed. "I did find out that this sort of thing had happened before on numerous times for him and it is not an isolated incidence."

Ryak just looked at Cat with no emotion at all. "I have some thing to discuss with you doctor."

"Ok, Ryak what is it?"

Ryak looked at Sullar and nodded towards him. Sullar got down off of Cat's lap and walked over to his father. "Sullar, you go ask one of the doctors if you can help them."

Sullar got excited and ran off. Ryak looked at Cat and continued. "Doctor, I have a request to ask you?"

"What is it Ryak?"

"I am wondering if you would do Sullar the honour of watching him for a shift a day."

Cat's face just fell with a sigh and a forced smile came to her face. "If you had asked me a week ago, I would have jumped at the chance. I would have loved to look after Sullarrr." Cat just shook her head, "Right now, I just can't. Things are a little chaotic in Sickbay. I'm pulling doubles until we can get some normality. He'd be stuck in Sickbay for most of..." Cat stopped. Cat did like the Romulan child and for Ryak even to ask would certainly go against the rules that he had to follow, those inflexible guidelines from the Empire that must be obeyed. Ryak was making a big concession, Cat was sure of it. She didn't want to close that door for him.

She looked at Ryak, "Give me a few days to see how things are going. If things were normal, I'd say Yes straight away. Once I've got things worked out, I'll be honoured to look after him. Just give me a few days to sort things out."

Ryak looked at Cat in a somewhat unsure face. Ryak cleared his throat and thought it was time to come absolutely clean. "Tank you for considering it Cat. I tank you very much." Ryak said in his actual accented English. It had been so long that he had ever said anything with his natural French accent. Ryak looked at Cat and said in his usual Romulan accented speech and said, "Jolan' Tru Doctor." Ryak left the office and motioned to Sullar to follow. Sullar ran over to his father and got picked up into Ryak's arms. Ryak and Sullar made their way home.

A few hours passed and Ryak was happy to see his son sleeping so well. Ryak left his quarters and made his way to see Lt/Cmd Erikson to get his meeting done and over with.

"Enter." Ryak heard from the other side of the door as Ryak opened it. "Take a seat Ensign."

Ryak was confused by what was said and annoyed. He was a Lieutenant and not an Ensign. "That's Lieutenant sir. Don't you . . ."

Erikson's face changed to reflect his displeasure. "Well if it were up to me you would be shot back down to Ensign, Lieutenant Sullax. Fortunately that decision is not up to me."

Ryak was not entirely sure whether or not he should sit down, but finally opted to. "This is about what happened in Stellar Cartography isn't it 'Commander?" Ryak watched as Lieutenant Commander Erikson picked up the the PADD which contained the security report which had been made not long after the science officer had been admitted to Sickbay.

"Lieutenant Sullax, and I quote," Erikson said as he looked at Sullax, "the technician needed to be disciplined and chose the way he'd best learn. I taught him that he chose the wrong method." Placing the PADD down on his desk, the Chief Science Officer gripped the bridge of his nose and rested his head momentarily as he thought about how he should handle this situation. "Mister Sullax, as an officer of the rank of Lieutenant and a member of this ship you have disgraced yourself. Until this incident I would have described your performance as exemplary. That is, until now."

"I do regret the incident sir. Things did get a little out of hand . .." Ryak was beginning to get very upset with this conversation.

"Out of hand," the Lieutenant Commander said, interrupting the other officer, "the man in question needed to go to Sickbay. The proper course of action, if needed, is to report that officer to his superior officer or to me. Then his superior officer or I take the matter up with that officer or with the Executive Officer."

"I understand 'Commander. It shall not happen again." Ryak said. Ryak was beginning to regret that he didn't allow the human to beat him to a pulp.

Erikson's face became a little more relaxed. "Look Ryak, there are some things in life that are simply better to let you go by and then there are some things in which you should do something about. You have a son Mister Sullax. Is this the kind of message you want to be sending him? Now, I cannot promise anything will happen since I am not sure how far this will go. However, I do not think that doing nothing is appropriate either, so, you will be required to attended a weekly counselling session. I have already discussed it with Counselor Dallas so starting from next week you will have been expected to have arranged an appointment."

Ryak was pissed. He could feel his hate growing inside of him. "Aye sir."

"Then Lieutenant, you are dismissed."

Ryak got up from the seat and left the office without a word or any real emotion.

As Ryak entered his quarters he saw that his son was still asleep. Ryak sat down in his chair and hoped that the Empire will help his son become less apt to racism.

Ryak tapped his comm badge and said, "Sullax to Counselor Dallas."

Over to comm system came a woman's voice, "What can I do for you Lieutenant."

Ryak knew she knew why he was calling. "I would like to make an appointment with you as soon as possible."

Chris Gagne
ALSO KNOWN AS:
Lieutenant Ryak Sullax,Science Officer,USS Galaxy. Contact at: i2qtnot2b@hotmail.com
ICQ: 25686024

"Suggestions"
Lt. Luke Claymore, Chief Engineer, U.S.S. Caduceus
Lt. j.g. Ordell Kincade, Assistant Chief Engineer, U.S.S. Caduceus

Ordell was just about to enter the transporter room to go over to the St. Louis when Ensign Belod called out to him. "Yes, Ensign?" Ordell asked. "Sir, we have a burnt out part in the sensor interface. Lt. Claymore tried to contact you, but apparently some sort of interference prevented him from doing so, so he sent me to find you. He wants you and me to calibrate the main sensor array because it's going to drift out of alignment while it is offline. He sent you instructions on this padd," Belod said, handing a padd to Ordell.

Ordell and Belod went to work on Lt. Claymore's orders. After a few minutes, Lt. Claymore's voice came over the comm badges. "Lt. j.g. Ordell and Ensign Belod, this is Chief Claymore. There has been a change of plan. I have repaired the sensors from the panel in the computer core. Meet me in the Quarantine unit in 5 minutes. We need to check it out throughly, since this is the first time it has been deployed except in testing."

Ordell tapped his comm badge. "Acknowledged, Sir. We're on our way."

*** 15 Minutes Later, Quarantine Unit ***

"All the diagnostics check out Chief", Belod informed. The visual inspection continued, and all the parts were in perfect working order.

Lt. Claymore ordered Ensign Belod to collect and stow the tricorders he had left in the Jefferies Tube. Ordell thought that Belod did not look pleased at being assigned such a mundane task, but then Belod smiled and hurried out the door as fast as his short leg could carry him.

"Mr. Ordell", the engineer addressed. "Things check out fine here. What would you suggest we do next?" Ordell swallowed, thinking. He wasn't accustomed to his superiors asking him for input. Granted, there had been the one time in the Turalan system, when Captain Manion had asked for his input on some artificial satellites while Lt. Claymore was on an away mission to the surface of Turalan II, but Ordell had thought that was a one-time affair, not likely to be repeated any time soon.

"Well, Sir, I recommend that we analyze the sensor interface part that failed. It may be that only the one piece was faulty, but I think we should check it and see if we need to run a diagnostic on the sensor systems themselves. Just to be on the safe side." Ordell quickly added the last sentence as an explanation.

"That is an excellent idea," Luke replied. Then he paused for a moment, as if pondering how to bring up a different subject. "Mr. Kincade, I know you aren't joined, but you undoubtably know more Trills who are. I was wondering, as a long lived species, you must have a unique perspective. What are your feelings and insights to the plight of the St. Louis?"

Ever the learner, Luke waited to here Ordell's response as they journeyed back to investigate the sensor pod.

Ordell thought for a moment before replying. "Well, it IS unfortunate that the Ocero and St. Louis crewmembers are suffering from whatever this virus is. I don't care much for the idea of many people dying if we can't figure out how to stop it." Ordell paused for a moment, then continued. "Personally, I feel rather useless since I don't have any extensive medical or scientific training that I can use to help with. I keep reminding myself that as an engineer my assistance is just as valuable in ensuring that the scinetific and medical equipment is running at peak efficiency, but it still isn't easy to shake that feeling."

They walked along in silence for a few moments, then Lt. Claymore spoke up. "I see. Personally, I also think all life is precious. I'd also hate to think that a large number of people could be wiped out by a virus."

After Ordell made sure to send a message to Counselor O'Keefe's terminal that he would be delayed for a time from going over to talk to the Ocero, the conversation then turned back to engineering topics, as they discussed their plan of attack to insure the integrity of the sensor grid....

A joint post by:
Ensign Ral
Ensign O'Connell

*** The Holodeck, during the Klingon Party***

The room was filled with the sounds and smells of a klingon party. Lex noted Anna being sociable with some female Klingons, Neil was singing and getting into the party as was Ensign O'Connell. Kalln stood reflectivelly off to one side for a while, before stepping into the foray. Someone belched in Lex's ear, she turned to see a rather drunk Klingon trying hard to stay vertical.

"May I help you?" She asked stiffly

The Klingon stared at her for a moment, before slowly keeling over and collapsing.

"Charmed I'm sure" she said she sighed quietly and walked off to a slightly quieter part of the room. One of the tables was unnocupied except for an unconscious warrior and a tankard of bloodwine. The plate of Gakh didn't really count, most of it was trying to escape and had wriggled off the plate and down the table leg.

She shuddered and helped the Klingon on his journey to the floor, before shoving the plate and tankard off to the far side of the table.

Cupping her chin in her hand, she watched the group of friends reflectively. They seemed so happy, laughing and talking. She had no idea why she'd suddenly sunk into a miz. Given time, she could psychoanalize herself and find out why she was so damned miserable. However, right now she didn't want to, she grabbed the untouched tankard of bloodwine and downed a hefty gulp.

A lone "thread?" of gakh was making it's escape along the table. She reached out a tapered hand and picked it up, before flinging it into someone else's drink on a neighbouring table.

"That wasn't very sociable" came a familiar voice

Lex looked up into the smiling face of Ensign O'Connell "May I take a eat or were you saving it for the Gakh"

She grinned "Sure..... watch out for the Klingon on the floor tho.. I ope he's not conscious enough to bite.."

Tim eyed the dozing Klingon on the floor, a thin trail of drool dripped from the corner of the klingon's mouth to a small puddle on the floor. The ensign pulled up a chair "I'll risk it" he said "So.. you don't look like you're having too much fun.."

She screwed up her face slightly "I was just.. thinking" She said "So.. how are you enjoying your new shift? And would you like something to drink?"

O'Connell smiled and replied, "a scotch I can ony drink so much bloodwine. As for my shift I think it's cool My parther's a Vulcan, 'every action has to be logical" he replied imitating his partner's clipped speach patterns.

"Rumor has it you used to be a counselor, why'd ya change professions?"

That remark obviously hit a sore spot, the young ex-counselor balked slightly and covered up by grabbing a Klingon hostess by the arm. The Klingon Woman resisted, and tried to pull her arm away, but she didn't pull quite hard enough to break the 1/2 Romulan's grip.

"A Scotch.. NOW" she said, turning to O'Connell she asked "Ice?"

"No thanks" He replied

"K.." She turned back to the Hostess, who'd wrenched her arm away, half seething, and half impressed that she wasn't taking an order from a wuss (well, she seemed half impressed, after all , she was only a hologram) "No Ice"

The hostess grunted something unintelligable and moved off.

"Why'd I change ..." She leaned back in her chair, reflecting for a moment

"A brief moment of misconduct" she said

"Misconduct?"

"I hit someone.. he wasn't particularly nice and he did nasty things.. and I just lost it one day"

"So you moved to Security?".. O'Connell jumped as the waitress slapped a tankard of whisky on the table, spilling a large dollop of it as she did so

"Yes.. it was Lt Albrecht's idea." Lex took a sip of bloodwine, the klingon flagon looking outsized in her hand "Well, what's your story?"

He smiled and said, "I was a Chicago Police officer when a friend of mine wanted to take the starfleet test I was along for the ride so I took the test. I scored pretty good so I started thinking about it seriously as a career. After the physical and the oral review I was placed 5th. the first 4 decided to either pursue other things or just had medical injuries I went. "

"So why'd you join starfleet."

"Ah... my adoptive family.. They'd had someone in Starfleet for as long as the Federation's been the Federation.. It was expected of me I guess.."

"Haven't you ever thought of doing anything else.."

"Maybe..." Lex said.. "I always wanted to be.. A Lumberjack..."

"Hunh?"

Just then, the Klingon whose drink Lex had dropped the lone Gakh strand in, decided to choke on it. I blamed his neighbour, who hit him one. He hit back.. With a chair

"Time to move.. " Lex observed.. "I'd better get going anyways, got reports to write..Nice talking to you."

And she slipped away just as a Klingon landed where she'd been sitting.

Names and Decisions
USS Galaxy
by Lt Endris Gakor, Immunologist and ACMO

*** Sickbay ***

After the EMH attached the cortical monitors to Endris' skull, he administered a minor sedative so that the Tellarite could rest. Seeing he was no longer needed, Albrecht moved off, not yet certain of what he planned to do next.

The EMH continued to diligently check Gakor's condition every few minutes. She peacefully dozed through most of the day, waking sometime in the dead of night. For once, she did not dream. The sedative must have also effected the baby, whose relentless gymnastics ceased.

"Snacks!", Endris exclaimed loudly. Now her friends knew she was awake. Someone would shortly be in to check on her health. Nurse Crystal brought in a food tray. There was a piping hot bowl of soup and a small oriental chicken salad with fanciful mandarin oranges.

Gakor ate quickly and efficiently, and her neural peptide levels were holding stable. But the EMH had wisely inforced a minimum observation requirement per fleet regulations. For the near future, Endris was in command of a state of the art Bio Bed!

"Computer, Download Terran and Tellarite names on to a PADD", Endris requested. She was going to narrow down potential names for Dumpling during her confinement.

"Arlaris", she thought. A sharp but daring name that was derived from the spice jungles from Tellar. "Aurthur", she read. There was a famous Earth king by that name once. "Babu", an Hindu title of respect. On it on it went, and she had not even got to the 3rd letter of the alphabet. "Banquo", a Shakespearian character. "Bernard". "Bukurn", a Tellarite malt that made a stout drink.

This was going to take time. "Computer, please inform Lt Matthew Albrecht that I am awake and visiting hours are open", Endris huffed. She needed a human perspective on things.

"Chago", an imported fruit with a very robust, distinguished flavor. "Ciaad", "Cjod", "David", "Delbri", "Douglas", "Edward", "Efaqo", "Fredrique", "Gregor",

Endris was trying to fight off boredom. Now that there was a pending marriage, she had altered her request for family sized accommodations. Pulling up the manifest, she noticed that the Zodeca family had recently left on a new assignment. There quarters had been a tad small for a family, but this was understandable considering they arrived from a world bordering the First Federation and stood about 1 meter tall. Whenever Gakor got a taste for Tyrania, she only had to visit the Zodecas for a fresh supply.

Normally, the Tellarite would have chosen larger rooms. But there was one amenity to the apartment that compensated for its size. It was on Deck 8, not more than a short trot from the mess hall! And as the quarters were larger than her present one, three could fit in with effort. She added a note on a Padd of things to talk to Matthew about it.

While she was waiting for Muffin to arrive, Endris thought about all the setbacks she had finding a cure for the Teresi virus. It had been years, and although some progress had been made to slow the progress of the non-communicable disease the Tellarite carried in her blood stream, no cure was forthcoming.

"Nutrients!", she exclaimed, so excited that she couldn't contain a verbal outburst.

A plan was developing. All this time, people were working on finding a cure. But what if they were looking for the wrong thing? Something about Teresi was engineered, the Tellarite Medical board had known that for years.

*Why don't I try to cook up a similar virus from scratch?*, she thought. If Endris was successful in manufacturing a target virus that had similar infectious properties of Teresi, she would also be able to cure the original. Of course, she would make sure she worked in an enviornment that would not expose the cure to the toxins that would be needed in her experiement.

There were many factors involved. The immunologist would soon be working on viral samples sent from the Caduceus. So far, only mathematical models had arrived with a message profiling the Ocero, but live samples were slated to arrive by sterile courier in the near future. It would be awhile before Endris could launch her new plan of attack to cure Teresi. Gakor just hoped her renewed health would last long enough for her to find a cure, hopefully for both conditions.

Normally, Matthew would have arrived by now to see Gakes. But Endris had forgotten he was on duty now because of the recent schedule changes. Before he could get in, the Doctor drifted back to sleep...

"A Dream Within a Dream"
By Bradly McCree

*Sickbay*

"I love you Brad."

As Bradly watched her life slip away in the form of a dying man she remembered a poem her mother made her read. Only bits and pieces came to her as she saw - with unseeing eyes - the medical desperately try to save Alex, although she and probably they knew it was futile.

'Take this kiss upon the brow!'
'And, in parting from you now,'
'Thus must let me avow -...'

She then promised to Alex to love him always, as she placed a final kiss upon his still warm lips. More of the sad, confused words of the long ago poet came to her.

'Yet if Hope has flown away'
'In a night, or in a day,'
'Is it therefore the less gone?'

The tears that slowly welled in her eyes as she watched Alex slip away, finally fell. They were hot running down her face and they blinded her. She swiped at them with her sleeve, only to find out that the biosuit was blocking her attempts. The people, the suit, and the feeling in her heart began to close in on her. Brad knew she had to get out of there... now.

She ran blindly from the room. After tearing out of the biosuit she burst into the corridor. She ran, not seeing where she was going but knowing exactly where to turn and which doors to go in.

Nobody said a word to her. the look on her face clearly showed the crew of the St Louis what had just happened. She was glad they remained silent. She couldn't have answered them if she wanted to.

She got to the bar after what seemed like hours of running. Her lungs burned, her legs felt numb and her heart felt nonexistent. As she grabbed an armful of bottles from behind the bar she thought, 'Maybe it is nonexistent. Maybe it shriveled up and just disappeared, like her life.'

She opened the first bottle and took a swig. 'Oh Alex, I'm so sorry. You were sick and you needed me and I couldn't do a damn thing about it.' She took another drink and slowly sank to the floor. Alex's beautiful face and more of that poem fought for space in her over crowded yet much too empty mind.

'I stand amid the roar'
'Of a surf-tormented shore,'
'And I hold within my hand'
'Grains of the golden sand -'
'How few! yet how they creep'
'Through my fingers to the deep,'
'While I weep - while I weep!'

A sob broke through the emotions built up in her throat. She took a drink, not to stop it as she had many times in the past, but to encourage it.

'Oh God! can I not grasp'
'Them with a tighter grasp?'
'Oh God! can I not save'
'One from the pitless wave?'
'Is all that we see or seem'
'But a dream within a dream?'

That's what this whole thing seemed like, is one horrific nightmare enclosed in one more that's bound to be even worst than the first.

As Brad cried and drank, the pain slowly fled. Replaced by a numbness unlike any she had ever felt. The end of yet another poem by the same author slipped in and out of her brain almost to fast to catch - almost. This one made her shudder and take a few more drinks.

'And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor' 'Shall be lifted - nevermore.'

^^^^^^^
exerts taken from 'A Dream Within a Dream' and 'The Raven', both by Edgar Allen Poe

“Mr. Sterners' Farewell Bash.”
Lt. (jg) Benedict T’Kal
Tactical Officer

Lt. Cmdr. Tebrianne Bancroft
Chief Helm Officer
USS Galaxy

***

Benedict stood back from the mirror and smiled. His usual uniform was replaced by a very different one. The computer had displayed several styles relevant to the historical and cultural period of Austria circa 1900 AD ­ it would do to go in-costume for Jeorg Sterner’s party.

Benedict didn’t know if anyone else was dressing up like this ­ but ‘what the hell!’ if there was one thing he’d learned from Teb ­ it was a flair for the unusual ­ and the unexpected! He grinned at his reflection. He wore a Prussian Military uniform ­ navy blue half jacket with gold brocade and shoulder ropes, with a white puff sleeved and ruffled shirt ­ short cape of blue and gold with his T’Kal House insignia emblazoned upon its’ back. The skin-tight trousers of white were striped on the outside of the leg with a golden bar, tucked into knee high polished black boots.

He wore his Bajoran House earring ­ a simple one with only a single chain and loop ­ denoting his family’s Artistic Caste in gold.

The Bajoran symbol was a golden medal pinned to the breast of the jacket, and a Starfleet medallion pinned the shirt at his throat. At his side hung a period rapier ­ a light weapon by Benedict’s usual standards ­ but he was as skilled in its’ use as he was with his beloved Katana that hung on his wall. His raven dark hair was bound in a ponytail ­ he was delighted to find out that it had been fashionable at that time to wear long hair in this way. The only marked difference was the splash of silver that began at the forelock and extended into the ponytail.

His violet Bajoran eyes took in the overall impression and were well satisfied! He’d sent Tebrianne a holo of the costume earlier in his shift ­ so she wouldn’t be surprised at his choice of attire. The only thing she didn’t know was the change in hair color ­ he wondered if she’d like the broad silver streak ­ it was almost luminescent in his midnight black hair. A small silver curl draped over his brow and highlighted his dark Asiatic features.

He nodded to himself and picked up the gift that he had replicated for Sterner. Benedict hadn’t had much contact with the Galaxy’s First Officer. He was a serious man ­ and worthy of respect, a good officer who helped Captain Price run a great ship. For a moment of reflection, Benedict realized that his respect for the position of XO had diminished since Deiran Casey took up the post. He was a different man ­ Benedict knew that ­ but he was a dishonorable one. It would take much to gain Benedict’s respect after Casey’s encounter with Tebrianne. He still shook his head occasionally over that. Casey Ti Miran was a lovely woman. She was beautiful, intelligent ­ a Bajoran woman with a strong spiritual existence. She was deserved of a better man that Deiran!

He’d had an affair with Tebrianne ­ Benedict’s lover ­ before Benedict and Teb had really met ­ but that had been possibly the worst thing that Benedict could imagine happening in a marriage. Deiran Casey had a child for Prophets’ sake! The fact that it was known that the Casey’s were expecting their second was a Grace, which Benedict didn’t think, Deiran deserved. However ­ Miran was obviously as much in love with Deiran as Benedict was with Tebrianne. He couldn’t fault the woman. Benedict admired her courage and her strength! She had great ‘face’ with Benedict.

The fact that Deiran Casey still felt that he needed Tebrianne at his beck and call ­ as a friend he’d said ­ was galling! How could the man expect his wife to appreciate that he needed to be friends with his ex-mistress? He just kept hurting Tebrianne every time they met. Benedict had finally had enough of the whole thing. He couldn’t bear seeing Teb cry over anything ­ and to see her cry because of Casey filled him with anger.

Casey was a Lt. Commander ­ now a Full Commander and XO of the Galaxy. He was unapproachable as far as Benedict was concerned ­ on a matter of honor. He couldn’t call him out no matter how much he wanted to prove the man’s inferiority in a match of honor. Benedict couldn’t strike a superior officer ­ and Casey certainly not. Benedict knew the mans honor for what it really was. A sham. A ‘face’ he wore before others ­ which he readily removed if it suited his purposes.

Benedict had had to settle for confronting him in the Officers Lounge and asking politely to allow Tebrianne and himself the time to build a relationship without his interference. Benedict had gotten him to comply ­ but he knew the man wouldn’t give up. It just wasn’t in his nature. He would circumvent the spirit of the agreement if he felt a need ­ but for now he was sticking to it. But it had only been a few weeks. Time would tell. Perhaps if he proved himself in this way ­ and in a continued loyalty to his wife and family - Benedict might see past his transgressions. But that was in the future. He’d have to see how the man operated as the Galaxy’s XO.

There were already grumblings from some of the lower ranked officers. It seemed that Casey was already adopting that stance of superiority that seemed to run true in his family’s blood. He could smell his destiny and it was showing in the way that he tended to treat the lower ranks as if they were servants to do his bidding. At least that was what Benedict had heard.

Benedict knew better. Casey had tried so hard to make everyone like him as the Operations Manager ­ just to keep a smooth running department that now he was the XO that had to change. It was necessary! Casey had to be a First Officer ­ a man that everyone obeyed without question ­ not just because he’d asked nicely! It was all part of command at the highest level. It was just that the junior officers felt slighted. They’d get over it! Benedict had to admit that Casey would make a good Captain ­ he couldn’t question the mans sense of duty ­ or his ability to command. It was only his personal sense of honor that Benedict questioned. But then ­ to Benedict ­ that was an indication of the true man.

Benedict walked out of his quarters with a slight scowl marking his handsome features. He realized that every time he thought about Casey he got worked up ­ he really couldn’t like the man the way things stood. He focussed on the party ­ and upon Tebrianne. He thought about her beautiful dark eyes and smiled. He was on his way to ‘pick her up’ ­ at her place.

As Benedict stepped into the turbo lift for the senior officers deck he was greeted with a few stares and raised eyebrows at his costume. He smiled in return and caught a female petty officer checking him out ­ she blushed furiously when he winked at her.

***

Tebrianne tugged at one of the maroon sleeves of her doublet as she stared at herself in the mirror. She thought the gold brocade and shoulder things were a nice touch. Tebrianne grinned at herself in the mirror - her costume a near spitting image of Benedict T'Kal. Ben told her that his costume would be navy, so Teb thought that she would go with a deep maroon.

She turned away from the mirror to grab the maroon cape that lay draped across the corner chair. She smiled at the stylized crest stitched in gold brocade across the fabric -half of the symbol of the Romulan Star Empire and half of the Vulcan IDIC, melded with an artistic twist that captured the spirit of the woman that would wear it. ‘And, they said I was daft for taking those night classes at art college’, Teb thought as she fastened the cape in place.

She felt awkward in the skintight trousers--and slightly embarrassed. The bleached fabric did well to show every curve ­ ‘and probably that extra biscuit after lunch yesterday’, Teb added. Another look in the mirror. She hadn't put on a pound since she was a second year cadet. Her metabolism burned off everything she ate. Gylene Rel, a Betazoid security cadet at the Academy had always given her a hard time about her weight. “I tell you”, she always said at meal times, “I don't think I have ever seen a fat Vulcan.” Teb always had another helping just to rub it in. They both never passed up chocolate...ever.

One last look in the mirror, and then the boots. From the edge of the bed, she pulled at the boots until they snuggled firmly into place. She stood and stamped her feet a couple times to settle her feet into them. She was ready.

Now where was, Ben? She knew he wouldn't be late for the party. He was never late for anything--and he kept reminding her that she could use a few extra chronometers around her quarters. He’d joked about putting in a requisition for a yeoman who could follow her around the ship to make sure she always knew the time. She’d slugged him playfully in the arm and things quickly escalated into a tickle fight that took a very passionate turn. She was supposed to have been working on propulsion reports that night - a long time that lasted! She’d had to wake up three hours early for her shift to finish them, getting them in just under the wire. The memories brought a smile to her face. They always did.

She couldn't remember a time in her life when she was this happy. Ever!

She grabbed the present for Sterner and belted her sword into place. It was a rapier, very similar to the one Ben would be wearing. She never really got to know the commander - soon to be captain. He always seemed like a nice enough chap. Quiet and kept to himself, but he was good at what he did. It would be strange to see him go.

It wasn't strange to see Deiran as the Executive Officer. He'd made the change effortlessly - almost too much so. He was a good commander.

Riker. She couldn't put her finger on why she thought of the Enterprise's first officer or what connection he had to Deiran Casey. With a shrug, Teb dismissed it and turned her thoughts back to the party she'd be attending in short order.

Deiran was ambitious. It was obvious he wanted a command, he was just working his way up the ladder and jumping through all the hoops. When he sat in the big chair, it was clear that he felt very comfortable there.

William Riker had been the executive officer of the Enterprise for nearly eleven years. According to the rumors that had circulated through Starfleet, he had been offered commissions on more than one occasion - always turning them down to stay on the Enterprise.

The door chime sounded, snapping Teb back to reality.

"I wonder how long it'll be before Deiran's offered a command?" she asked aloud.

***

Benedict leaned against the door-frame as the door slid aside ­ one hand was perched nonchalantly on the hilt of his rapier, the other gripped the door frame. He was already grinning as Tebrianne appeared on the other side. They stopped and stared at each other for a few seconds. Benedicts grin slowly dropped as he looked at her ­ from the long raven locks of her suddenly re-grown lustrous hair bound in a loose ponytail to match his own, to her beautiful eyes and matching uniform that hugged her figure.

She looked stunning. He had to swallow past the sudden lump in his throat. He stood up straight and met her eyes again. He smiled. “Wow.” He breathed. He paused as his grin spread across his face… “You’re on time!” He reached out and pulled her into his arms and kissed her. “You also look absolutely gorgeous! Even with the extra hair…”

"I hope the hair is okay," she said self-consciously. "I debated the change for about half of Alpha shift. Finally, I decided to go for it. I mean, if I don't like it, I can bloody well cut it again, right?" Teb reached up and ran her finger over the silver running through Ben's hair. "I like," she said with a sly smile. "I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but I didn't know you had a wild streak in you."

"I seemed to have developed one..recently." He grinned back at her.."It must be the bad influence of a certain senior officer I'm dating."

Teb slid her arm into Ben's as they started down the corridor. "I feel like everyone's going to be staring at my bum the entire evening. It shows up like a Risian moonrise in these white pants you know."

"Well I know I am.." He patted her backside affectionately.."There's something quite romantic about a Risan moonrise.." She giggled as they walked to a turbo lift.

***

The holodeck doors opened to reveal the entry hall to the massive Austrian castle. The whole crew seemed to be there ­ dressed in a wide variety of clothing, from medieval costume to Starfleet Dress Whites.

Benedict and Tebrianne walked in arm-in-arm. They were offered a drink of Champagne in long fluted glasses by a couple of liveried servants that were obviously a part of the scenario. Benedict took a taste and smiled at the dry yet effervescent drink. As they walked through the crowd and took in the sights he noticed a fair few officers were gathered in tight little groups.. usual shift mates ­ department groups.. friends and families.

Teb took a sip of the champagne and smiled. It had been awhile since she'd had any. It brought back memories of the first time she'd met Ben - which brought back memories of the first time she'd had sake...which brought back memories that brought a flush to her cheeks.

"Good champagne," she said. "I don't know anything about wines, but I bloody like this stuff. It's different than the last bottle we had, but I can't place it."

He turned to Tebrianne as he also saw several ensigns staring at her. “You’re making quite an impression darling ­ I’m getting jealous.” He laughed slightly as he slid a possessive arm around her waist. “By the way.” He whispered into her cutely pointed ear, “T’amar’s pulling my shift tonight.” He smiled mischievously.

She couldn't hide the smile that worked its way to the surface. "Really," she said in a low voice. "I guess that means I don't have to talk to Mac after all. And, that's a good thing because these split shifts are starting to drive me mad." She nipped playfully at the chain that dangled from his ear. "Hey," Teb said, excitement in her voice. "Did I tell you? My brother sent me a new holoprogram. It's a variation on the old Three Musketeers holo. It's supposed to be brilliant."

Benedict chuckled as he drew back from her - he wanted to spend every minute wrapped in her arms - but this wasn't the place. He looked down at her maroon colored uniform and said, "Well D'Artanion..in these outfits we've just got to have some fun!"

He cast a glance around the smiling faces..and caught sight of Cathy Page staring at him - for a moment she had a blank look on her face - but it suddenly changed to a bright smile as she saw him look up at her. She waved slyly and turned back into the crowd. Obviously not wanting to disturb Ben and Teb's conversation.

He looked back at Tebrianne and smiled. "It's a bit intimidating having a Starfleet Admiral keeping tabs on you 'cause you're dating his sister!" He said playfully. He brushed a strand of hair away from her face - she had re-grown it to a lusterous raven dark length that reached her lower back. It reminded him of the length of his mothers' hair. When he was very young his father used to sit behind his mother and brush it for her every night. It was a time of meditation for the both of them. Benedicts' face softened at the memory - his violet eyes seemingly far away. "I really love the hair..until you get sick of it - I'd like to brush it for you."

"Brush my hair for me?" Teb looked at him slyly over the top of her champagne flute. "I think I'd like that."

"Hey you too!" Jack D'Auria punched Benedict's arm as he joined them. "Enough all ready - you're open displays of affection are disturbing my Vulcan honed sensitivities!" He grinned and leaned forward to peck Teb on the cheek with a quick hello kiss. "Hey that's a very cute ass you have there - I saw it all the way across the room." He said laughingly.

"So - what do you think of Casey's Castle? Bit ostentatious don't you think?" Jack grinned - he didn't like Casey almost as much as Benedict.

Benedict looked around.."It does remind me of Casey.." He looked Jack square in the eyes.."It looks impressive, well constructed, finely detailed..but an illusion never the less." He took a sip of the drink. Jacks face split into a grin at Benedict's impression of Vulcan delivery.

Jack drank too, and turned back to Teb. "Talking of the new XO - has he been bothering you lately?" Jack caught a change in Benedict's expression.

Benedict added, "No - Commander Casey and I have an understanding." He said it directly to Jack - Benedict's tone conveyed his seriousness.

Teb had started to respond to Jack's question, but Ben's answer left her at a loss for the words. "You have a wha'?" She cocked her head to the side and fixed Ben with a look of confusion. This was the first she'd heard anything about any understandings.

Benedict turned to her as Jack drew in a breath and had that 'oh no..' look on his face. he smiled a careful smile to try to head off her temper - which by the look in her eyes was going to be almost impossible to do. Oh well - he had wanted to tell her but never found the right opportunity. "Commander Casey and I had a little chat. " He started out - he saw her pupils dilate and her body tense. "After a bit of persuasion he agreed to leave you alone - I reminded him of where his duty lay. He didn't like it - but he'll have to live with it." Benedicts' voice had taken on a stern quality. This was something on which he would not budge. Before Tebrianne could say anything he said, "It's a matter of honor." As if that explained everything.

"Crikey, Benedict," Teb snapped, Romulan/Vulcan temper flaring. Didn't he trust her? Was he checking up? Afraid that she might go back to Deiran? How could he even think that she'd want Deiran Casey after everything that had happened. He knew she loved him. Every day, she made sure that Benedict T'Kal knew that he was the most important person in her life. And he didn't trust her to handle Deiran Casey! "You had no right to interfere. Any problems that exist between myself and Deiran Casey are my business." Her voice was louder than she'd wanted, but the naturally volatile emotions of her heritage had taken over. "I don't need to be bloody coddled. I'm a big girl. I don't need you jumping in to save the day every time something bad happens, or every time my bloody ex-lover tries to muscle his way back into my life. I'd gone mad with all the bloody other rubbish in my life and Deiran bleeding Casey gave me what I thought I needed. I was stupid. It was wrong, but it's over. It's all over now. If he needs help remembering that he belongs with his wife and family and not his bloody ex-mistress, let me tell him."

As Benedict drew himself up to his full height and faced Tebrianne, Jack looked around with a helpless expression. This was the first time he'd seen Tebrianne's infamous temper light up. Benedict's face had gone instantly impassive - and Jack knew 'that' face..he tried to take a nonchalant sip of his drink only to meet the wide eyes of Miran Casey - she'd been standing with her back to the small group talking to a clutch of women interested in her pregnancy. She was staring at the exchange between Ben and Teb now. This was the first time that she'd heard anything about who her husband had been involved with.

"I have every right." Benedict said in a controlled voice. "Not only do I have the right - but it is my duty. Don't think for one second that I'm going to stand aside and allow Casey to get between us! It IS my business. Yes you are a big girl - but you didn't seem to handle it too well when he pulled that stunt at the Christmas party." He moved closer to her and stared into her eyes. "I love you - and I'll bloody well jump in to save the day any bloody time I feel like it!" He locked his violet eyes on hers - everyone surrounding them had vanished as far as he was concerned. The two of them were wrapped in their own world. Benedict had faced her temper before - but not on something this important.

Tebrianne had shown him that she couldn't handle Casey - where he was concerned she seemed to have a mental blind spot. She just couldn't see the man's manipulative, scheming strategies for what they were. A simple lust for winning that consumed everything in its' path. Tebrianne was just a pawn in Casey's chess game. To Benedict that game was still being played out. So he'd removed the pawn from the game. Casey could play by himself!

"Casey needed reminding. He still wants you Tebrianne - he just doesn't admit it! He wouldn't leave you alone - I had to do something! I couldn't bear to see you crying over that son-of-a-bitch any more!" Benedict's voice had lowered considerably at the last. He was conscious of eyes staring at them now and he tried to tone down the level of the 'discussion'.

Her lips moved but there were no sounds. The anger still boiled, but she couldn't think of a thing to say. Her body was tense, she became aware of her hand gripping the rapier at her side. Caught in his eyes she couldn't think. She felt like she was falling. It was a familiar feeling - one that she usually enjoyed. One that she didn't want to let herself enjoy now.

She looked away for a moment. Hand quickly came away from the blade - held away from her body. Her eyes caught Mirans for the briefest of moments. Panic. She was making a scene in the middle of the party. And Ben was his usual stubborn, honorable self.

"Then I'm done crying," she said, her voice harsh and controlled. She didn't know how she was doing it, but somehow she'd managed. "I made the mess with Casey, and I have to clean it up. You don't have to fight my battles for me. I don't want you to fight my battles." A momentary slip as she glanced into his eyes. Wrong move. They pulled with more force than any tractor beam she'd ever encountered. "Casey may not know its over, but I do. It was over the moment he pulled out of me and ran back to his wife. How the bloody hell do you think that makes a woman feel? I felt like a rotten whore for weeks. Deiran Casey's bloody whore. Like bloody fucking hell I want that. It's over, and I'll make sure that Commander Casey knows it."

Benedict stepped back slightly as the words hit him. She was furious - and this argument was drawing attention - he couldn't look away from her. Couldn't she see that what he'd done was the better way to solve this? Quietly - between the two men - no big fuss - no crying - just an honorable agreement?

Her graphic description of how she'd felt made his blood boil. She'd shared a lot with him - and the mind meld had given him an insight into most of what she'd said - but that part of it had been witheld from him. Maybe her own subconscious had shielded him from it - but hearing it from her lips like this was too much!

Jack saw the change in his friends face - in his eyes. They went from a light shade of violet to a darkened clouded violence..his face was a dead-pan mask. His hand was resting lightly upon the rapier at his side - gripping the hilt guard of the sheath - automatically placing the hilt in a position to draw. It was all subconscious - but the signals were unmistakable - the aura that surrounded the man was deadly. Jack knew without even having to think about it that it wasn't directed at the fiery Chief Helm Officer that stood glaring at him. Jack looked wildly around the room - seeing faces and eyes riveted upon them. He saw Gordall Kalln - the Gnarlish Elt was studying the posturing of the two lovers. He saw Miran leaving the holodeck in one big hurry. he was looking for Deiran Casey - and so far he was nowhere to be seen.

That was the real target of Benedict's rage. Jack had to get Benedict out of here before he showed up. If he didn't Jack knew exactly what was going to happen. Benedict had just lost face. In the middle of a crowd of people Tebrianne had just let loose with an accusation that went right to Benedict's sense of Family honor. He could see Benedict lose interest in Tebrianne like a light had just been switched off. He was begining to scan the room looking for a face. It hadn't registered on Tebrianne yet - she was really angry. Those bloody costumes! Jack just knew that the sword hanging at Benedicts' side was a real one - if he knew one thing about his friend it was that he was a perfectionist!

He stepped forward - right in front of Benedict. His hand shot out and closed over the hilt of the rapier. "Don't." He said. "Let's get out of here. He's not worth the effort." Jacks tone was sharp. It reached Benedict and he looked his friend in the eyes. Jack's eyes were ice blue - calm.

Tebrianne was momentarily taken-aback by the swift exchange between the two - and the suddeness of Benedicts' change. He wasn't looking at her anymore!

Tebrianne put her hand on Jack's shoulder. "It's okay, Jack," she said. "It's like you said, he's not worth the effort. And, he's not worth buggering up a party over either. We're here to enjoy ourselves and wish Captain Sterner the best in his new command. Let's forget about Casey and enjoy ourselves." She tried to look past Jack to Ben. "Please?"

Benedict's eyes met those of the woman he loved. They were no longer angry - and the way she said that simple word..it cut through his simmering rage. He swallowed past the vile taste of his pride and took a calming breath. Dammit! She was right. He remembered the bloody fiasco at the Christmas party and what that had led to. He remembered being alone and thinking that he'd lost her. He remembered how much she meant to him - and she had reminded him that he had a duty here tonight.

This was supposed to be Mr Sterners Farewell Bash..Benedict had a duty to make sure the transition of his former XO was not destroyed by Benedict's own futile rage. For that was what it was. Entirely futile. His face softened as he stared into Tebrianne's eyes. His violet eyes were clear again. "I'm sorry Teb, but I did what I had to do. It still isn't over. But as you say - you're a big girl. Sort it out before I do."

Tebrianne let herself go under his gaze. The feeling of just floating away returned. She could forget about the universe and everything would be alright - because nothing else mattered.

"In my mind and heart," she said, resting her hand on his chest, "it is." Teb's voice softened to the point that she could barely be heard. Her soft singing was only meant for Ben's ears, for Ben's heart. "Out of the dark ethereal haze, dancing across stars like some cosmic drifter. I can feel the light that feeds my soul, lifting me from a darker storm. It's different now than it was before. Different now than what used to be. The fires inside that you've set ablaze, they burned away the apathy. They've burned away what used to be. My song is different, reborn through you. Giving me the hope that's eluded me. I know I'm here, I know I'm alive. I know that life's done passing me by. I know it, I can see it in your eyes."

Benedict couldn't see anything but her eyes, or hear anything but her softly singing voice. He was mesmerised - silenced - and his anger fled as if it had never existed. He couldn't say anything if he wanted to. He just stood there like a big dumb oaf - his eyes wide with wonder at the way she could control his emotions so effortlessly.

Teb quickly wiped the tears away, and tried to regain her composure. She wasn't succeeding. She shifted her eyes until they met his, and let herself slip away momentarily. The falling. She was in his arms again, she could feel it. Not a feeling she would ever forget - or get tired of.

"Let's do our rounds," she said. "Give Joerg his gifts. And go somewhere to be together." She reached up and touched a silver lock of Ben's hair. She gave Ben a sidelong glance and smiled. "And, I want to brush your hair."

***** Farewell to a Friend *****
By Dr. Felicia Khatroweena, Lieutenant (Chief Medical Officer), USS Galaxy NCC-70637
w/ Ursa Sunder, Lieutenant Commander (Chief Security Officer)

***** Cat's Quarters *****

Ursa approached Cat's quarters, he adjusted his dress whites before he pressed the doorbell.

"Who is it?" came from the other side of the door.

"Ursa!"

"Just a moment." A few moments later, the door slid open, showing Cat almost ready. She was missing her jacket. "Hello Honey," Cat greeted Ursa with a kiss on his cheek. "I'll just be a moment." She smiled and headed back to her bedroom.

As she was moving off, Ursa realised that Cat's hair was different. "Your hair!?"

Cat picked up her jacket from her bed and was putting it on. "Like it? I decided to take a trick from Teb's book. I wanted to try being a blonde." She moved close to Ursa, "They say blondes have morrre fun!" She purred as she lightly traced her finger down his chest. "Well, we don't want to be late."

As the two headed off to Joerg's Farewell Party, Cat couldn't but help notice Ursa's silence. "What's wrong, Ursa?"

Ursa still wasn't comfortable in having their relationship in the open. But it seemed that everybody knew about it, no matter how hard he and Cat tried to keep it a secret. He watched Cat, she was a lot happier when he reluctantly agreed to stop hiding it. Ursa opened his mouth to say something, but decided just to shake his head.

Cat's face showed some concern. "Sure?"

"Of course I am. I'm fine."

Cat looked at him, she linked arms with him as they walked down the corridor. " Buck up Honey. This is a party for Joerg. He's getting his own command."

"There's nothing wrong, Cat." Ursa insisted stiffly.

"Ok!" The two of them stopped in the corridor as Cat gave him a hug. Cat could feel the tension still in his body. She knew that he was still uncomfortable with having their relationship public. It disappointed her that he couldn't relax, but she knew he was trying. "Honey, everybody knows about it. We were the last to know it wasn't a secret."

Ursa smiled, "Me being the Chief Security Officer and I didn't know it wasn't a secret." He was going to try and relax, he put his arm around Cat's waist as the two headed off to the holodeck.

***** Holodeck One *****

Both of them paused at the archway as they looked at the throng at the party. Ursa saw a few smiles and noticed a few conversations start up as they entered. There was no going back now. It was now official. Before it was an open secret, something that could be denied, but now...

Cat glowed with pleasure and pride. Everybody would know now that she was with Ursa. She held on to his arm, moving closer to him.

AC came up, glass in hand. He was enjoying himself. "Cat, Ursa. Good to finally see you two no longer trying to keep it a secret. You two look good together."

Ursa nodded his head and coughed politely. Cat smiled. "Thank you AC. Looks like you're having fun."

"Sure am. Well I'll see you two later."

Cat and Ursa moved off into the crowd, searching for the Man of the moment. Moving past the buffet table, Cat bumped into the Captain. "Uff, Captain? Sorry, I didn't see you."

"No problem, mate. Well, Doctor, Commander. Good to see both of you here. Enjoying yourselves?"

"We just arrived. Look like things are going well. I like the castle. Commander Casey certainly has done a lot of work." Cat replied.

"Certainly done a bonzer job. So has Doctor Gakor, the food is beaut! So you two had a chance to talk with the newest Captain in StarFleet?" the Captain asked.

Ursa shook his head, "Not yet Captain. Haven't had a chance yet to talk with Joerg yet."

The Captain nodded, "Let me suggest the prawns. Dr Gakor has done wonders. Next time I have a barbie, she will be the one doing the cooking. Well, don't let me keep you." The Captain smiled as headed off into the crowd.

"You see Joerg around?" Cat asked Ursa.

"This way!" Cat followed Ursa across the room.

It was an odd experience. Sunder had just gotten used to seeing Joerg around every day. It was just like the academy days when they would run into each other, grab lunch, and talk about what was going on in their lives. Now he was moving on to bigger and better things, as they say.

Sterner was standing by the table with a variety of spiced meats and pastries. Fortunately, he was by himself, taking a break from all the attention. Ursa strode up to him, his long strides forcing Cat to hurry behind him in his wake.

" Wait, Ursa! I stalk my prey, for God's sake! Not charrge into it! " Cat exclaimed, trying to keep her new coif in place.

" Sorry. " Sunder mumbled almost imperceptibly. Joerg couldn't help but smile at the scene the two presented.

" You're just like an old married couple now! " Sterner proclaimed, as he grasped Sunder's hand firmly. Sunder had to wince. He wasn't used to attention himself, especially in the matters of the heart.

Sterner knew about his old friend's almost crippling shyness. He leaned over to whisper in his ear.

" For the record, the two of you look right together. Relax, old son. "

Sunder shot him a grateful glance.

" So, CAPTAIN, too good for the rest of us, eh? Finally moving on. " Sunder japed.

" Well, the ship wasn't big enough for the two of us, Ursa. Besides, Cat was eventually going to go my way. I thought I'd be the gentleman and bow out before and ugly scene happened. " The smile in his eyes displayed a familiar, comfortable style of humour that was reserved for only special occasions. This, obviously, was one of them.

" I BEG yourr parrdon? " Cat piped in, her arms akimbo. " Someone has an inflated opinion of himself now that he's got a new pip. " She teased, putting her arm around Joerg's waist.

" Well, it was the sad look in his eyes that forced my hand. I mean, look at him. " He said, waving a small meat pie in Ursa's general direction. " Such a pathetic figure of humanity, don't you think? Keeps to himself, always looking so grim and determined to get his man. Someone has to provide him with the varieties of the spices of life. "

" I know what you mean. " Cat said, sotto voce. " It was his eyes that got me. So deep-set and sad. Like a little lost puppy, really. "

Ursa stood there, unable to respond. " I... really? Now, wait a minute... I don't think this is appropriate... "

The two of them started to laugh.

" Seriously though, Cat. Take care of him. He's a good man. A little stiff, but decent enough. " Joerg finally concluded, taking the pressure off Sunder.

" I know. " She said. " He's well taken care of. "

" Well, refreshing to know that you both have my interests in mind. I assume the abuse is complimentary? "

" Indeed. "

" Undoubtedly. "

Finally, Ursa let out a chuckle.

" See? " Joerg pointed. " You're already having a good effect on him. Look, he's laughing. "

" Alright already. " Sunder thundered. " When does Starfleet ship you out? He asked, changing the subject.

" Fairly soon. " Joerg replied. " I can't go into specifics. Loose lips and all that. But it's an experimental ship and it'll see action against the Dominion very quickly. " Sterner's eyes flashed as it was obvious he relished the prospect of front-line combat.

" I'll be leaving in a few days for de-briefing though. " He added. There was an awkward silence for a while.

" Best of luck, Joerg. You'll be missed. " Cat finally broke in. sensing the two men's discomfort.

" Yes, Captain Sterner. Keep in touch - you have our address even if we don't have yours yet. "

The two clasped hands in firm grip of friendship.

" Thanks for bringing on board the GALAXY. " Sunder added.

" Thanks for seeing me off her. " Joerg countered. He gave Cat a firm hug and started to regale her with horrific tales of Ursa's hardship days at the academy.

"Unknown Risk"
by CPO Scott Knight
SEAL 2ic
USS St Louis

After dumping his gear in his quarters, Scott headed to Sickbay to see about getting the new model subdermal communicator implanted as soon as possible. He left his light armor on from the scrape on the Marathon... enjoying the odd looks he got as he walked on his way.

Noticing a blue-uniformed young woman ahead of him who was supporting herself heavily against the wall, he slowed his very purposeful pace. Coming up beside her, he asked, "Excuse me, are you all right?"

She turned a very flushed face framed by dark curly hair and set with large green eyes toward him, shaking her head no. She looked very much afraid and in pain, and let herself slowly sink to the floor. He felt himself filling with concern and pity.

"Can you walk to Sickbay if I help you?" But she didn't even try to get up, just sat back against the wall and closed her eyes.

"Well you got lucky; I'm going there anyway, so you can hitch a ride..." He checked her rank, "Ensign. Come on." Crouching beside her, he slid his arms under her back and knees and stood, picking her up carefully. She was pretty limp, her uniform felt slightly damp all over, and much too warm for a Terran's normal body temperature. "She's burning up," he thought, and started again for Sickbay as quickly as possible.

Sitting On A Lonely, Lonely Bridge
by: Rob Howald (Cmdr. Strauss)
CO, SEAL Team 23, USS ST. Louis

**********

The ship was eerily quiet. With a skeleton crew on the bridge, Zeri off doing captainly things and Doc Rosenblith helping his former department, that just left Strauss to watch the bridge. Strauss and a couple of officers sat around not doing much. Helm was busy with station keeping, Ops with keeping the flow of information running and security with keeping things sealed off... All the action was taken.

The obligatory reports were brought to him, but he didn't know most of what the medical mumbo-jumbo meant. Most of Rob's time was taken up looking over an old book he had downloaded onto a PADD, forwarding reports to the Captain and Lt. Cmdr. Rosenblith's inboxes... and generally trying to look like he was deep in thought, and had things well under control.

One report had caught his eye however. Apparently Randal had befriended one of the young refugees and was now quarantined in his cabin with him. A small smile crossed over Strauss' face as he thought about how much easier things would work out with Randal out of the way. But while Rob wouldn't admit to himself, he was happy that Randal was doing well, and had stayed out of trouble for the past few days... In the back of his mind he knew it was true. Also in the back of his mind, was the fuzzy recollection of Vince helping him back to his quarters after getting sloshed in some Jeffries tube.

A communication came in, the voice sounded urgent. [Jackson to Commander Strauss.]

Boredom had set in, and he tried to keep it out of his voice. A lot of messages had been called in with urgent sounding voices recently... but nothing that really needed attention... Someone escorting someone to sickbay here, another dead refugee there. While Rob had been taught a valuable lesson recently (that he too could feel loss over people dying) the death of the refugees didn't hit him as hard as it might have, had he known some of them. There was only one, that he really cared lived through it, and that was the little one with Randal. The ensign would become a bloody lunatic if something happened to the young charge under his care. Strauss knew him well enough to know that was true. "Strauss here, go ahead".

[Commander, we may have a possible cure down here in science lab one. I’m on my way to the bridge right now. Would you call a meeting of the senior staff so that I can explain everything to them?]

Strauss stood up... *Finally, something to do* he thought to himself. "Understood, Strauss out". Closing the channel with just a thought, he activated another with his sub-dermal implant... this time over the ships general announce system. "Attention all senior staff, please report to conference room 1 for an emergency meeting in five minutes. That is all".

The channel closed and the officers left on the bridge all looked around. "We may have a cure for this bloody disease" he said to them as he stalked off the bridge and into the conference room.

Within four and a half minutes, all the senior staff was assembled in the conference room... He had timed them. Strauss sitting at the captain's left hand (he let Daniel sit at her right... he was after all the true XO) started speaking once everyone had been seated. "Sorry to call you all here in such a hurry, Lt. Jackson has something that might be able to help us out... Lt. Jackson"?

Commander Robert Strauss
CO, SEAL Team 23
Assigned USS St. Louis

The Few, the Proud, the Frustrated
Lt. JG. Aamin Darhe’el
Security Officer, USS St. Louis

Aamin relaxed in the chair, the lights were dimmed, and Grack’s Symphony IV was playing in the background. One thing that had given him some trouble had been finding Cardassian music inside the Federation. Most of it had to be smuggled out and then some of that was completely artificial. Luckily enough, during his "visit" to Cardassia which had been sponsored by the SI he had been able to pick up a few wanted and rare goods on this side of the border.

He hummed slightly as he listened to the music, his mind trying to stay off the topic of the death of his fellow officer. He had only been able to work the human a few times during his command of the Faltos situation, but during that time the human had proved himself to be a reliable and loyal officer, something anyone could be proud of.

He abruptly got up and began to pace the room, Grack’s Symphony IV now picking up pace and becoming darker to match his worsening mood. His hands clenched at his sides as he began to count the distance from bulkhead to bulkhead in Starfleet Standard. It wasn’t the fact that he had nothing to do, but rather he had nothing to do to help the current situation.

With a disease spreading through the guest and now that fact it was jumping species he felt like he needed to do something, but what? This was a medical matter and he had no knowledge on the situation, his skills could not aid anyone. That was what was most frustrating…he could help no one.

The music reached its crescendo as Aamin returned to his chair deciding to review the current Security plans that were supposed to be followed in the event of wide spread panic. As the music began to slow down and Aamin skimmed through the data he opted to notify his Commander suggesting that the Security Department review its current plans in case an event occurred.

After sending the message he relaxed back in his chair and ordered for the volume to be increased and lights dimmed, the USS Caduceus was just now coming into view from his viewport. Even though Starfleet involved too much red tape, paperwork, rules, and orders…they still could build some of the best looking ships this side of the Alpha Quadrant…

Jordan
AKA
Mind_Warper-IRC
Lt. JG. Aamin Darhe'el-USS St. Louis
ICQ-18057949

"Senior Staff Meeting"
by: Lt Tyler Jackson
Chief Science Officer; USS St Louis

Tyler made it into the conference room only a minute after talking to the commander, but he already found him inside waiting. Nodding to the commander, Tyler took his seat and waited. The next few minutes seemed like hours while they waited for the others to arrive. While waiting, Tyler worked on finding the astronomical information on the planet where the healing plant was located. Once everyone was in the room, Commander Strauss spoke.

"Sorry to call you all here in such a hurry, Lt. Jackson has something that might be able to help us out... Lt. Jackson"?

Tyler stood and walked over to the monitor in the room. He recalled the image of the plant that would be their savior. "This is the carvi carum, it only grows on Kenda II. It's berries can be crushed to produce a juice which has many medicinal purposes. The natives on the planet used it to fight off a highly infectious and fatal disease, and it proved successful. At the moment, this plant is our only hope. The medicinal juice cannot be replicated and produce the same results. It is my recommendation that the St Louis go to Kenda II and retrieve the berries as a cure."

Punching up a few more buttons, Tyler brought up a star map. "As you can see, the St Louis and the Caucadeus are the only ships in this system. With the St Louis being the faster ship, we should leave at once and get to the planet as soon as possible. The voyage should take approximately 8 hours at top speed."

Tyler stopped and took a breath. "Any questions?"

"The Results of a Plague"
by, Lt. (j.g.) Maltos Saria
Counselor, U.S.S. Saint Louis

The darkness of his dream began to fade from his mind. But soon more darkness would be about... Of that Lt. Saria was sure. And he was not incorrect. For there was a piece of darkness lurking on board the ship... A plague of darkness.

As for the people seen in his dream, the only way he could deal with them at the moment would be to contact that red-haired lady. But why he would do so was something he did not know how to do... He was not a man who did well with the fairer sex. He might be a man with good tales, songs, and the like, but when he saw someone he was attracted to, all bets were off. And he was indeed attracted to this Lt. (j.g.) Ekila el-Deyír.

Suddenly, the computer consol in his quarters beeped. When he accessed the screen, he noticed a message from the Chief Medical Officer. It read as follows:

Due to the sudden death of Ensign Oleksandreko due to a disease of unknown origin, I am refering Bradly McCree to your services. As she and Ensign Oleksandreko were... close, she is in need of them.

Signed,
Lt.(j.g.) WhiteSong to-Ennine
Chief Medical Officer

Quickly getting to work, Maltos sent a electronic missive to the Mess Hall Chief, asking her for a time she wished to meet for a small, little, off-the-record talk.

“Hopeful Eternities”
USS GALAXY
Commander Deiran Casey, First Officer
Casey Ti Miran, On Maternity Leave
w/ excerpts by Lt. Commander Tebriane Bancroft

The party was coming along nicely. People seemed to be having a good time. Joerg loved the Castle and his family crests throughout the program. Joerg knew what it all meant even if others did not. It was a way of honoring a warrior going off to battle. A way of honoring a brother and a friend.

Casey made sure that he spent time with his wife throughout the night. He only made small talk with others and stayed close to her the entire night. She looked more than stunning in her blue slacks and blue blouse. Her hair was down and floating above her shoulders. Her eyes glimmered in the lights. Deiran could see into her very soul. He could see the two lives standing beside him inside her. Her smile sent Deiran into a nervous frenzy. Each movement, each thought, everything that happened between them was kinetic and charged with passion.

After they finished eating and chatting with the Captain, Deiran asked Miran to dance.

“Madam, may I have the honor of dancing with the most beautiful woman in this room?” he asked her.

Miran blushed, put her hand in his and followed him out onto the dance floor. Deiran arranged for “The Glory Of Love” to be played by the orchestra. It was their song. He remembered the first time they danced to it.

The song began and Deiran held Miran a bit apart from him, as was customary of the day when nobles and knights and their ladies danced in great castles. The two eternal lovers were losing sight of where they were, who was around. All they could see, feel, hear and taste was the other’s fire and soul. Deiran gazed at his wife, held by her spell. She resembled a porcelain doll, delicate, pure and beautiful. His light touch against her hand and back made him want to bring her closer to him, he fought off the urge. She was the most beautiful, luminous woman in the entire room. The most radiant woman he had ever known. She didn’t need costumes or a beautiful dress. Miran had a beauty that nothing could touch. She was a woman of total, rapturous, ravenous artistry in the truest sense of the word. A living, walking Venus among mortality.

They danced slow, both were quiet. Both entranced by the love they felt for one another. The song ended and Deiran had them start again just so he could stay close to her a bit longer. Deiran loved Miran more than his own life. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for her, nothing he wouldn’t risk to keep her. His life was worthless without her.

The song ended for the second time. “Sweetie, I am thirsty can you get me some punch?” Miran asked. Giving her husband a coy smile, knowing he would do anything for her and knowing that he loved it when she flirted with him like that.

“I would be honored,” he gave her a loving kiss and walked over to the punch bowl.

The music had stopped for awhile so the dancers could take a break. During this time some ladies came to talk to Miran about the baby. As they were chatting Miran overheard a conversation.

"Crikey, Benedict. You had no right to interfere. Any problems that exist between myself and Deiran Casey are my business. I don't need to be bloody coddled. I'm a big girl. I don't need you jumping in to save the day every time something bad happens, or every time my bloody ex-lover tries to muscle his way back into my life. I'd gone mad with all the bloody other rubbish in my life and Deiran bleeding Casey gave me what I thought I needed. I was stupid. It was wrong, but it's over. It's all over now. If he needs help remembering that he belongs with his wife and family and not his bloody ex-mistress, let me tell him."

Miran turned, feeling the blood drain out of her face. Many thoughts went through her mind, but the strongest was the feeling of hurt. She had assumed that Deiran had cut off relations with the affair he told her about. She felt sick.

During this Deiran was scooping up punch and filling his wife’s crystal glass. He didn’t hear anything and had no idea what was going on behind him.

It seemed to Miran that she couldn't move. She didn't know where Deiran was and frankly didn't care. She fought back the hot tears that threatened to overwhelm her. She was furious at Deiran, furious at herself, furious at everyone that could have known and not told her.

"Casey may not know its over, but I do. It was over the moment he pulled out of me and ran back to his wife. How the bloody hell do you think that makes a woman feel? I felt like a rotten whore for weeks. Deiran Casey's bloody whore. Like bloody fucking hell I want that. It's over, and I'll make sure that Commander Casey knows it," Tebrianne Bancroft and her accent didn’t exactly know how to tone the decibel level down. Miran heard that entire tirade.

Miran flew out of the holodeck. Like clockwork Deiran followed her, wondering what had happened and why she was leaving in such a hurry. For a pregnant lady she ran fast. He did catch up to her.

He could see the torment in her eyes. Deiran’s heart turned to powder as he saw her sorrow. He held on to her arm gently. He let his eyes tell her what he was thinking. ‘Please don’t leave, I don’t want to be without you for a moment.’

Miran saw the pain in his eyes. Miran’s woe was tangible to Deiran’s senses.

"Why did you not tell me? You made me think that you no longer had contact with her. How can I trust you around her?" Miran couldn't even bring herself to say Teb's name. She was shaking with the fury she felt for him.

“What are you talking about sweetie?” Deiran asked, totally bewildered.

“I know that you slept with Tebrianne Bancroft. She replaced me at helm, did you want her to replace me in your life too?”

The words cut at Deiran like the sharpest blade. He had no idea what was going on or how Miran found out. Deiran was enraged with pure fury, whoever told her would feel Casey’s wrath. They probably just ruined his marriage. “Darling, please… I only love you. You know that. I haven’t looked at anyone, I don’t care for anyone else. Teb was an accident, it was one time. It was weakness nothing more. I have admitted my mistake, I’m not proud of what happened. I hate myself for what I did. You are my life, you are my eternity,” he said to her. His face and eyes were becoming red as the emotions were coming to the surface.

“Miran please…” was all he could get out before she ripped her arm out of his grasp.

"Just leave me alone, I do not want to talk to you. Go back to the party, Deiran, they need you." She turned and walked off.

Deiran Casey’s world in that one moment went all to hell. He could even feel the flames. “Miran…” Deiran could only get her name to come from his lips, he didn’t know what else to say. He watched her walk down the corridor and then she disappeared from view.

Deiran walked a few paces forward, overcome with grief. He felt a hand touch his shoulder. He whipped around, a beast-like fire in his eyes, and his hand balled in a fist which was ready to strike whomever it was that touched him. He was shocked to see that it was Ronni. He held his fist back and gave Ronni a hug.

“Ronni, I think I’ve lost Miran for good.”

All of Deiran’s hopeful eternities for himself and Miran, his family, all of it was shattered. He pulled away from Ronni. “Help me find out who told her Ronni!” Deiran growled. No one had ever seen Deiran Casey more infuriated than this. Not even the Klingon he killed on Kal-Dixas. Casey would find out who the culprit was and ruin their lives as long as his heart beat and blood flowed through his veins. Someone would pay dearly for wrecking his family.

"The QU"
by Yeoman Mary Garrett
Nurse, USS Caduceus

Mary had read the reports and had seen the images of the plague victims. Now, her mind raced as she considered the gruesome death of a Starfleet officer who had been the latest victim of this illness. She moved from treatment room to treatment room, her biosuit making little whispering noises as the material brushed against itself. She looked in on her group of patients for the day, making certain that they were comfortable.

The medical and med/research teams were working 'round the clock trying to come up with answers. A third of the teams were working on a cure, another third were working on finding methods to prolong the life of the patient beyond the 28 hours or so that was the gestation once infection occurs. The final third was working on defining the actual transmission and symptoms of the disease.

There were a total of forty Ocero patients now in the QU submitting to tests and examinations of various sorts. Time was the one thing they couldn't control, and by the time the research teams were able to define anything with a particular patient, that patient was dead.

Mary had to face the fact that this illness was terrifying. It seemed unstoppable, and was completely untreatable to date. It seemed to be a virus, but she had heard there was evidence that it reacted oddly for a virus. It was a prospect that was horrific. She could not imagine being an officer on the St. Louis...facing the possiblity of unstoppable, unpreventable death. It was one thing to be a Starfleet officer and face death every day of your service. That was something which you learned to live with. This was a totally different scenario. There was no way to fight this yet.

She was confident that the researchers and doctors in the QU and on the Caduceus would find some answers, however. This ship had the best medical equipment that Starfleet Medical could commission. It was the most sophisticated medical facility every constructed, and she had to have confidence that they would find the answers.

She had to be confident in that. Otherwise, she feared what would happen if they did not. No group of beings should have to face their ultimate extinction without some control over it. All beings should have some dignity, no matter how small an amount, when facing their demise.

This disease took all of that away.

Mary could only work each shift in her suit, and try to make each person she faced a little more comfortable, help them find a little dignity.

That was her gift to each of them.

That was her gift.

Dignity before death.

A final gift, no matter how small.

"A Friendly Chat."
by Lieutenant Commander Greer Erikson and Lieutenant Alan C. Hewson - USS Galaxy

Holodeck Three was abuzz with the sounds of several thousand fans as two teams skated around the ice in a friendly game. The puck skid over three quarters of the rink before one of Hewson's men caught the puck at the other end. As he did so the sound of a whistled roared over the top of the spectators. The referee called a face off and the two teams arranged themseles near Team Blue's net.

"That's an icing call against Team Blue." the commentator announced.

Hewson looked at Erikson. Erikson looked at Hewson. The engineer used a serious expression to try and get the message across to Greer that he was going to score this goal even if it killed him.

The referee dropped the puck and the two center men went for as soon as it hit the ice. As Erikson's stick hit the puck, Hewson stole it away and shot it to his left wingman who shot it towards the net. Greer's goalie deflected the puck away and fell right against AC's stick. Hewson took the shot and it slid between te goalie's legs, hitting the back of the net and a goal for the engineer's team.

"Team Red takes the goal," the announcer said as the crowd let out an amazing roar,"as Hewson scores, assisted by Labeck."

AC's holographic team members, caught up in the thrill of the moment, cheered before returning to the center of the rink to continue the play for the remaining thirty seconds. Greer looked up and noticed it and smiled to his opponent.

The referee dropped the puck again and the two center ment scrambled for it. Greer managed to steal it away this time and passed it to his right wingman, Svensson. Moving right of Hewson, Svensson passed it back over to greer as he sped passed. Just as the science officer was preparing take a shot at the goals, the buzzer sounded, indicating the end of the game.

"That was the kind of game you'd paid to see here at the Madison Square Gardens folks. After a tought battle between the two teams tonight, Team Blue finally defeated Team Red, three to one."

Lieutenant Hewson walked over to 'Commander Erikson. "Computer, end holographic characters."

Within a matter of nanoseconds the crowd, the announcers, the referee, and the other players disappeared. Greer skiied over to his friend and shook his hand in gratitude for the good game. "You're certainly getting better." he remarked as he swiped the perspiration from his brow. "If I don't watch out you're going to start beating me."

AC simply shook his head. "You've got the upper hand in that you've playing longer than I have Greer."

"You're a quick learner though." the scientist said as he massaged his shoulder.

"Rolfssen didn't hit you too hard did he."

"For a holographic defenceman he felt real enough. I guess it is a good thing that the holodeck safeties are in place otherwise we could of have some serious injuries."

"Yeah." AC raised his hand and placed it on the same ribs he had broken a week earlier in a hockey game with Erikson. "It feels strange having to explain to someone that you got injured in a game that hasn't been played for nearly two centuries."

*** Erikson's Quarters: Room 2133, Deck 08 ***

AC leaned back in to the chair and looked at his friend. "So," he said non-chaulantly, "are you going to tell me what is up or do I have to force it out of you?"

Erikson scowled. This was the second time in the last few weeks that someone commented on a certain level of predictability in his behaviour. It made Greer feel a little uncomfortbale in one way but reassured in another way, particularly now. "I don't know AC. I just think that I have been fooling myself for a while now. You know the way I accepted Ronni's proposal a few days ago. Well I am not sure that was the wise thing to do."

AC did not seem at all concerned. He had once been married and to him, at least from the way Greer was reacting, it seemed to be the proverbial 'cold feet'. "That'll pass buddy." he tried to reassure the scientist.

Erikson frowned as he tried to accept that statement. Deep down he attempted to reconcile that explanation but he knew there was much more involved. "No," he simply said, "it's not that AC. I am sure of it. i just don't know if I really ever loved Ronni."

The statement seemed harsh by any standard and it caught Hewson by suprise. "You don't mean that Greer."

Greer raised his hand and scratched his head. "I cannot be sure. Remember how everything seemed to click so well after that away mission to the vortex?"

The engineer remembered the vortex as well as either Erikson or Morris . . . the swirling mass of fluidic space, the shuttlecraft destroyed, and the three of them strandard in environmental suits. "I don't think the three of us could forget." he remarked before drinking some of his beverage.

"Well when you look at our relationship . . . it . . . well . . . seems to revolve around disaster or mishap. First the vortex . . . and then the explosion in Ronni's laboratory. One incident and we get in to a relationship. Another incident and we're engaged. I just can't help but think that we confused the kind of intimacy that is created through an incident like this and our true feelings for each other. I don't want to, but when I look at it all, I can't help thinking about it."

It was not the easiest position that Greer had placed Alan in, especially since it always seemed that Erikson was getting his ass out of trouble. On the mission to Kal-Dixas, the mission investigating Vortex 1302, and a few other situations. "I really don't know what to say to help you Greer. Did you consider that you may have overanalysed the 'problem'?"

The two of them sat there for a few moments before 'Commander Erikson decided that he was not going to ruin the evening with his problems. He knew that he had to tell Ronni that the engagement was off, for now, until he could sort out what was going on. Perhaps his engineering friend was right and he was overanalysing the situation, but he did not feel comfortable.

"How about that hockey game." Greer remarked as he changed the topic.

AC drank some more of his drink as he looked at Greer. "So when did you want to hit the ice again?"

"I have the feeling it will be pretty soon."

.......some time later.......

The break up with Ronni had not gone to well. The Delphinian was obviously upset and shocked at the sudden end to their relationship. Greer hung his head in his hands as he felt more nauseous than he did regret. He had tried to distract himself with work but it was not working.

"Erikson to Hewson." Greer said as he reached over and tapping his communicator. "You know that game I was telling you about . . . well I think now is the perfect time."

["Sure. I'll see you in fifteen minuted. Hewson out."]

"Hail To The General" by:
Acting Ensign Viara Rhys
Junior Science Officer
U.S.S. Galaxy

Guest Starring:
Captain Lee Price
Commanding Officer
U.S.S. Galaxy

Lt.Commander Greer Erikson
Chief Science Officer
U.S.S. Galaxy

Viara worked the Auxillary Science Station as always. This time however she had one task and only one task- find something on the "Latinum Prince".

*Hmmm, can't find anything...not a DAMN thing!!* Thought Viara to herself. Greer leaned into Viara from the Primary Science Station.

"Everything going well Ensign? You look flustered." Said Erikson.

"Yeah fine, but I still can't find anything out of place on the Latinum Prince." Replied Viara.

"Don't worry about it. The Ferengi are going to be released soon anyhow." Retorted Eriskon.

"I know...thats why I was hoping to find something...anything!" Said Viara scanning the ship again.

"Don't sweat it. I'm going to Science Lab 1. Just do your best...we're not expecting any miracles." Said Erikson as he headed toward the Turbo Lift.

*****A Short Time Later*****

Viara continued her scans. The Ferengi soon to be released and still she picked up nothing.

"Hmmmm" Said Viara out loud as she thought *Maybe a multiphased scan would work.*

Viara ran the scan only to find nothing, yet again. "Damn it!!" Said Viara out of frustration.

Viara went back to the scans...bimolecular, transducent, and any other scan she could think of.

Captain Price walked onto the Bridge. Curious to see how the progress was into the search of the Latinum Prince he approached Viara at the Auxillary Science Station.

"G'day mate, anything new on your end?" Asked Captain Price.

"No General. So far none of our scans have detected anything. In fact I've tried every scan possible and still nothing...of course that doesn't mean it's not there...afterall we didn't even pick up the illegal weapons on the Latinum Prince." Said Viara as she looked around the Bridge as she finished her report.

All of the Bridge Crew gazed at the Captain and the Ensign. Everyone present wondering if the Ensign understood exactly what she had just done. Feeling somewhat self conscious about all the attention, Viara looked at the Captain who had a quizzical expression on his face.

The Captain just looked at the Ensign and asked, "How about any tracking devices? I wanted Sunder to install one...picking up anything like that from the Latinum Prince?" Asked Captain Price with a smirk.

"No, but it hasn't yet been activated." Replied Viara.

"Understood. Inform me when it does Ensign." Said Captain Price as he walked down into the Command well.

"Aye, General." Replied Viara as she continued to concentrate on her work. Again Viara could feel the Bridge Crew stare at her and the Captain raise an eye brow.

*What's going on? Do I have something stuck in my teeth? It's like whenever I'm talking to the General....uhhhh....OH MY GOD!!* Thought Viara as she realized what she had done and stood erect.

Viara's cheeks became flushed and she promptly worked her station faster than she had ever before, praying that the Gene...the Captain would not approach her again for awhile.

"Two men and no babies. At all. Seriously."
by the dynamic duo:

Lt. Jg. Jonathan "Lucas" Brandis, Operations Officer
Ensign Gordall Kalln, Science Officer
USS Galaxy

***USS Galaxy, Joerg Sterner's party***

Kalln waved goodbye to the three Engineering department lovelies that had seemed to be expressing so much interest in him. As soon as they were gone, he exhaled, and sank down to a far lower height. Playboy was definitely _not_ his scene. It was a real shame most of these guys wouldn't be around in 2478 to really see him in action. That was the date... time to mate. Still, now was now, as they said in, well, just about anywhere. The mortality of his friends still on his mind, he noticed the dashing and oh-so-smarmy figure of Jonathon Lucas Brandis, some form of royalty or another, standing around looking less than regal.

'Lucas! My friend!' said the reduced but still gigantic (in width at least) Ensign approaching the Operations Lieutenant, 'We haven't spoken since that chance meeting in the corridors. How is the second eldest officer on the ship doing?'

"I'm getting along, Kalln. Can't seem to get over the new CO's uptightness, but other than that I'm keeping busy. Not all of us can just lounge around all day!" Lucas said, looking down at the comfortably crouching Gnalish.

'Well it's all very well for you to say that, but it's just your haircut talking.'

Lucas wondered if the Elt was feeling well, then sensed the blatant attempt to confuse a youngling like Lucas. "Well, I have been keeping it to regulations, working out quite nicely too I might add. But, from what I known, Royalty and Good Looks coincide! Well, you obviously know the problems that come with good looks."

Lucas laughed, playfully slapping the old Elt on the back. (Not that he'd feel much of an impact if Lucas had tried to tackle him!)

'Ha, yes, you're right,' replied Kalln with a grin, 'So what do you think of Anna Gartner, then? You met her yet?'

Gartner had been on Kalln's mind for the last few days.

"Yes, I spoke to her this afternoon in the brig. She's quite the... how should I put this delicately... She's insane in the membrane and a hell of a lotta fun to be around. Tough cookie too." Lucas stated in a contemplative tone.

'True, true, very true.'

"She's holding onto a lot of baggage. I have my doubts, but I honestly hope that she can put the past behind her. You would like her a lot, Kalln. She's got this...way. I have met few in my lifetime that I can say have this...this _way_. Anna Gartner could probably take on the whole of the Dominion and not flinch, which can either mean she's very brave or very stupid. I'm leaning towards the middle of that region. Somewhere around just plain crazy."

Lucas finished his small speech, looking at Kalln, who seemed to be hanging on every word. He sensed some kind of emotion through the noisy fog that was the Gnalish' thoughts, and took a best guess: "You like her, don't you."

Kalln looked contemplative for a moment.

'I think so,' he finally said, 'I find her... fascinating. I mean, as I seem to keep saying recently, I won't be in season for a century or so - remind me to catch up with you then and we can chat about old times - so I can't be after children. Maybe it's the scientist thing, you know, about discoveries and new things. Frankly though, I think that's just a big pile of Terran crap that they use as an excuse for their more conquistadorial tendencies. Maybe it's because she's so...'

"Buff?" suggested Lucas with a grin. No pun stayed secret on THIS ship.

'For want of a better term, I suppose,' said Kalln ruefully, 'At least we have matching scars.'

Lucas' eyes were instinctively drawn to the dark mark running down the right side (from the Gnalish's perspective) of Kalln's head. It was a remnant of the 'accident', thanks to the Cardassians, that had rendered him shipless and crewmateless at the age of around thirty. It said so in his non-Starfleet service record. Maybe these two, this mad girl and this aged lizard had more in common than was immediately apparent.

"I can see that. She's right up your alley, I'd say. She's also extremely Physically Combustible," Lucas said with a sly grin, "Anyway, the only person she's going to be seeing on a perminant basis for now is D... Commander Casey. I was wondering by the way, if you'd had a chance to review the new Positronic Relays for lithum computers? They seem like they're the best way to subvert the overload in Photons through the network pathways."

'No, they're a useless pile of junk,' said Kalln, 'They tried a similar thing about sixty years ago with Mesotronics and it didn't work then. Positronic technology just doesn't have the damage capcity. It's too fragile. What we need is some more of this biotechnology.'

"Yes, well, I agree. Still in the testing phase though."

'Anyway, enough talking shop. Joerg's leaving. Are there any more parties coming up?'

"Well, actually, there's a wedding Ensign Beq is having. I'm the best man, and was wondering if you'd come to the Bachelor's Party that I'm organizing? It'll be a hell of a bash. Casey will be there and I'm expecting the entire Ops department to make it if they can, too," the Lt. invited.

'I suppose I might be able to spare you the time from my busy work schedule. Doubtless I can keep you entertained with tales of swashbuckling, heroism and derring do.

"Great, great, plus you can regail us with one of your stories from the merchant ships you've served on, I'm sure you've got one." Lucas recollected the conversation he'd had a few weeks ago with the Science Officer.

'Merchant ships? Which merchant ships?' asked Kalln, 'I served on a colonial vessel once, the Carlton. Maybe that's what you're talking about. There was this one time, coming back from the colony, we stopped off on Baker III. There was a Nausicaan, looked a lot like Ensign Heratta, who started picking on my crewmates. I just up and went over, and stared him out. No proper fight, he just went off.'

Lucas was surprised that nothing eventful happened. The Gnalish Elt weren't known to have too light a temperament. They were also known for being none too happy; they had the highest suicide rate of any sentient species - except the Jem'Hadar, of course, "Is that a fact? Wow, I'd have thought you'd beaten the tar out of him!" Lucas exclamed.

'There is little point in violence where no violence is necessary. Dilpomacy and intimidation are far more effective - and cleaner - tools. And of course discretion is the better part of valour. And most other virtues, I've noticed.'

"Well, that's what being Royalty entails most of the time...Diplomacy is the art of putting your tail between you're legs and moving on...although I think you'd be more effective at that than me." Lucas joshed.

'Ha ha bloody ha ha,' said Kalln, and for a moment Lucas thought he had offended the creature in some way.

The half-Betazoid decided to try a bit of direct thought-reading to get things straight. He focused himself on the Gnalish's psychic profile, and he started to get something...

*What*swing*okay*are*swing*he*you*swish*hasn't*doing?*left*noticed*Balance!* rightabit*yet*Balance!*up*easy...*Stop*up*that!*What's*up*left!*swing*left!*that*right!* right!*expression?*

'You're trying to read my mind, aren't you?' asked Kalln, putting his head on one side, 'Good luck.'

He pulled his tail away from where he had been about to tap Lucas on the shoulder with it.

'It's the three brains, you see. One up here,' he pointed to his cranium, 'One in here,' he motioned around his back, 'And the last one down here, at the base of the tail. The other two, that's these guys,' he pointed to chest and tail, 'Aren't really sentient, they just keep things ticking over. And they confuse the hell out of telepaths.'

Lucas tried to sort himself out. He wouldn't be trying that one out again in a hurry. 'Ouch.' His Betazoid frontal lobe felt like it was throbbing. "You could have warned me, Kalln! Shit, do you know how long it'll take for this throbbing to die down?"

'Hell,' replied Kalln, 'You didn't ask, did you? Serves you right for trying to quick-think me. You won't even notice in a couple of hours.'

"Well, I can't wait that long. When ever I get a headache, everyone around me does and that can be a bad situation. I'm heading to sickbay, but I'll see you later, okay." Lucas held onto his head as if I would fall off any second. Proceeding down the hall, he hit a wall, misjudging where the Turbo Lift would be. "Doh!"

Kalln turned back to the party.

Tim Fletcher for:
Ensign Gordall Kalln, Science Officer, USS Galaxy

"So long, fare well, au vedersein, good night!"
By Lieutenant Aaron Sharp
Assistant Chief Helmsman
USS Galaxy

*** Bridge, Beta Shift. ***

Aaron sat at the controls of the mighty USS Galaxy, the original galaxy class starship. It was about five minutes into the shift and all was quiet. Commander Casey was seated in the captains chair, and quite unexpectedly made an announcement.

“Ensign Brandis, please announce to all members of Beta shift that they are cordially invited to Commander Sterner’s going away party at 1700 hours. As of now, all back-up personnel are required to report to duty stations. All Galaxy personnel are invited to the party. The back-ups can be relieved for an hour or so to attend the party at their leisure. Let every department head know the details and send this to everyone but Mr. Sterner, he’s not aware of the party yet, make sure it stays that way please."

Aaron paused, not quite sure if he'd heard Casey correctly. then a broad grin crossed his face as he stood with the rest of Beta shift and began to make his way to the turbo lift. He flashed his smile at the Commander to let him know his appreciation, then slipped into the lift. He exited near his quarters and made his way into his room to change. If he was going to Commander, err, make that *Captain* Sterner's farewell party, he was going to go in his best dress uniform. He slipped into the white and gold jacket, then checked his profile in the mirror. Not bad, he thought, not bad at all. Turning, he headed out the door and back into the turbo lift.

"Holodeck one." He announced to the computer, and the lift instantly sped away to its destination.

The double doors of the Holodeck arch whooshed open to reveal the inside of an Austrian castle, with guests mingling already. Aaron strained his neck, looking around, but it didn't appear that Captain Sterner had arrived yet. Spying the food table, Aaron made a quick bee line for it, brushing past the guests in the way.

"Scuse me, pardon me, coming through." he said and finally reached his destination. Behind the table stood Doctor Gakor.

"Hey, Doc. What's up?" Sharp grinned at the Tellarite.

"Well, the roof for one." Gakor smiled back. "Can I offer you something to eat, Lieutenant?"

"Sure can. What do you recommend?" Although the doctors expression never changed, Aaron got the distinct feeling that her smile was for some completely new reason.

"I'm glad you asked. How about this dish for starters. I call it 'Joergs Surprise'. Its got quite a... unique... taste."She pointed at a hot meat dish. Aaron put some on his plate.

"Try it," Gakor insisted, "you'll like it." she smiled again. For no reason, the hairs on the back of Aarons neck stood up. He stabbed a piece of meat with his fork, and placed it gingerly in his mouth. He began chewing slowly. The taste *was* unique, yet somehow... satisfying. He chewed a bit faster, swallowing what he had in his mouth.

"Y'know, Doc, this is not too bad." The smile on Endris' face wilted a little.

"You like it? " she queried.

"Yeah, yeah I do. May I have some more?" Without waiting for a reply, Aaron slapped several more pieces of the meat onto his plate, then, with a goodbye nod to Dr Gakor, headed back off into the crowd to find someone to talk to. Gakor stared after the helmsman, then started laughing.

By Lieutenant Aaron Sharp
Assistant Chief Helmsman
USS Galaxy

"Mikey Dreams."
Mikey Dorffen, Chief Helmsman, USS St Louis

Mikey jumped onto his bed like some home from-school-teen. It had been a hard few days with these Ocero people on board. It was kind of scary too: you didn't know who was going to go next, and people were on edge. He needed some music. He needed to relax. He thought of Annie.

"Computer, play music, 'Abba'?"

Faintly boppy music reverberated around the walls of Mikey's quarters as he tried to relax and sort himself out. He wasn't sure of he liked this era of music, but it was Annie's favorite.

Things were a little too much for him these days. It was hard enough keeping one thought and objective in his head, let alone all these others things that were fighting for room.

There was this mission and the strange guy down in sickbay. He wasn't true, but the more Mikey thought about it, the more he told himself that the voice had been calling out to him, and him alone.

Mikey knew that this kind of thinking was dangerous: before he knew it, he'd be telling himself that Blondie was his long lost brother or something.

In fact, his career in general was bothering him. Was he even cut out for this kind of job? Not in helm precisely, but in Starfleet?

He'd originally been pressured into the Academy by his father, and it was only after his exploits at the battle of Kal-Dixas had he decided that, yes, Starfleet was the place for him. But with missions like this, and with that Damned Captain Thiana on his back ... he wasn't sure.

And Annie. Annie annie annie. Annaitalsie. Abba. He had to unlock her and Daniel's minds: he had to get her to stay.

Preparations ran through Mikey's head, but anything to do with Annie usually ran quite freely through Mikey's head, and usually ran into fantasies and ...

Ahem.

He needed to get his head straight. Pulling the uniform jacket off, he lay down on the bed and tried to get some rest before his next shift.

** Guess... **

Annie sat there, waving her tail fin around in the air, and at Mikey's guess trying to keep it out of the chlorine in the swimming pool. Her hair was bound with shells and seaweed, the bridge of her nose as Bajoran as it had ever looked, ridged with silvery green scales. She pulled the microphone to her deadened blue lips and whispered huskily into it.

"Kiss me honey-honey, Kiss me..."

Mikey, Ariel-price-promise white sailor suit and all, moved closer to the side on the indoor swimming pool, and looked over at the huge clam shell containing the Mer-Annie. He wiggled his naked toe in the water to test the temperature. It was freezing and caused him to jump backwards. Into Daniel.

Rosenblith was dressed into everyday clothes of the now-red starfleet uniform, except he had a dog's collar around his neck. He looked really unhappy too. The chain attached to the collar (Which previously had gone unnoticed by Mikey) was yanked, and Rosenblith fell forward, over Mikey and into the pool.

Annie was doing the yanking. Mikey forced himself not to dwell to long on that thought. Hehehe.

She continued to pull on the chain from her cal shell in the pool; one hand around the chain and the other holding an empty bottle of Jack Daniels.

"Kish muh hunnee-hunnee, Kish muh..."

And Daniel was at the top most point of the diving board: in a pair of blue trunkies and poised and ready to leap off to his Annie, to Mikey's Annie.

And Mikey was at the top most point of the diving board: in a pair of blue trunkies and poised and ready to leap off to his Annie, to his Annie.

He jumped. Mikey didn't actually fall, nor did he glide through the air. He just jumped and them found himself somewhere else. But it was like he had jumped: he was wet, wearing his swim outfit and smelling of chlorine. He didn't have Annie, and now he was cold.

There was darkness here, and a familiar fluttery thing going on with Mikey's vision. He never had this kind of thing before, but he'd seen it somewhere recently. It struck him, but he didn't know how to approach it. For one thing, he had no idea how to address the alien down in sickbay.

"B-Blondie?" he asked, called the only name he could think of.

"It's you, isn't it?" a voice said. It was in his ear, and yet it came from beyond his sight in the shadows. "You're the male one?"

Mikey shivered. "Yeah? I mean. Yeah. Doc Sorin is the female if that's what yo-"

They were in sickbay. It was eerily quiet seeing as in the last few days it hadn't seen a time when it was any less than full. Mikey could see the man now, and he could see him clearly. He didn't just mean that he wasn't surrounded by shadows, he saw him.

He saw his eyes.

They seemed to be an essence, something that changed the man entirely. They were an azure colour, sparkling as if there was fire behind them.

It was the fire that was so missing form the body down in sickbay, but so made this spiritual self come alive.

He was also comfortable, so comfortable that it kind of made Mikey feel uneasy. The first thing he did when they had 'arrived' in sickbay was to go and get Mikey a towel, as if he knew exactly the way around this alien medical facility, despite never before being here; never before in a conscience state anyway.

He wrapped the towel around the drowned Mikey and rubs the other man's arms in a very paternal way. "You must be freezing." he repeated, "You must be freezing."

"Wha-what is this?" Mikey asked at last.

"This is me." he looked around and sighed. A cloud of warm air came from his mouth when he did so. It danced and froze and melted and Mieky thought maybe it was the prettiest thing he'd seen in his life. "You want to share?"

"Yes." answered Mikey as he took the alien's hand.

Mikey was led away, and was shown the beautiful things, and the most horrendous pain. He was shown secrets the Blondie knew, and he was shown things that he'd never shown anyone before. He could even have shown Mikey the cure for the virus, or the answer to galactic peace: it was all for nothing.

When Mikey woke up, he remembered it all ... but taking the Ocero man's hand.

Lieutenant JG Mikey Dorffen
Chief Helmsman, USS St Louis

"What a great castle"
by Commander Joerg Sterner
Executive Officer, USS Galaxy

************* USS Galaxy, Holodeck 1 *************

The moment Joerg entered the holodeck together with Captain Price he was stunned by the realism and great atmosphere that he was looking at. The castle, the interior, the guests, everything looked so real and yet it was merely holographic projection.

Joerg had to admit that it was the best one he had ever seen and made a quick mental note to ask his friend and so-to-be XO of the Galaxy Deiran Casey for the program before his departure, so that he could enjoy it on his new ship as well.

Captain Price beside him was as impressed as Joerg by the holodeck program, but he knew that this wasn't the best part of the evening so he motioned to his leaving XO to keep going on and they both entered the throne room.

Inside the large hall most of his crew mates gave the Commander a warm welcome. While Captain Price moved on to meet with Commander Casey, Joerg began to talk to each of his crew mates and thanked them all for the great party.

While most of the guests who congratulated him only saw the smiling face of the leaving so-to-be Captain, Joerg's true feelings were unknown to them. Of course he loved to be the Captain of his own vessel, but at what price? He had to leave behind his trusted friends and colleagues, his secret lover the sweet Doctor Kahn Nilani, a job which he was good at, at least that what everyone else was telling him. In addition to that nobody, except Captain Price himself, seemed to notice the new responsibility that was attached to his new job, especially in times like this with the Federation at war with the Dominion/Cardassian alliance. It wasn't an easy decision for him to accept the Admiral's offer, but deep inside of him he was sure to do the right thing.

All those problems and thoughts were well hidden behind his smiling face while he accepted the good wishes and congratulations from the crew. He kept going through the castle and was still amazed by the complex and yet prefect illusion Deiran had created for him. Although he wasn't able to examine much of the castle since every now and then another officer approached him and wished him good luck on his journey. He would probably have to wait until he was all alone on his new ship to study every inch of "his" castle.

On the other hand that wouldn't be a very easy task itself, since it was his responsibility to oversee the tests on the latest addition to Starfleet, he wouldn't spent much time on the holodeck once he was back home, but he guessed that some day he might be able to investigate the whole castle. As he knew Deiran, there were certainly some secret places and hidden extras somewhere in the castle, so he certainly would have a great time to explore the holoprogram later.

While the party was still quite young, Joerg couldn't wait to see the main attraction of the party. There surely was to be something planned for him, although he wasn't sure what it was. So he decided to just wait and see what was about to happen.

Bas Veerman
Ensign Kelt
USS Galaxy

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

"The Storyteller", pt. 1

By Homelios,
Science Elder, Ocero

Dr Daniel Rosenblith
Executive officer, USS St.Louis

-- Cargo bay, USS StLouis --

Homelios wiped the forehead of a fellow Ocero, a woman of mid-age. She was not ill with the mysterious infection yet, but she was suffering from exhaustion. She had been taking care of a lot of the Ocero from the start now, and now Revelios had to take care of her.

He didn't know her name, and only vaguely remembered seeing her once before the Ocero left Epsilon Mon. But there was no question about helping her, of course. Homelios didn't know if she had family, or anyone else to look after her, he was just the closest to her when she collapsed.

"I'll be right back, dear," He whispered to her, "I'll just go and get you some water.

Homelios got up, and slowly moved away from the woman. His old bones slowly carried him toward the device the Federation hosts had called the 'replicator'. A magnificent device, creating food and water out of what seemed thin air. Of course, Homelios wasn't that naive. On the Ocero ship he was the Science Elder, and he had been a witness of many strange things. Someone had tried to explain the mechanics of this 'replicator', and to Homelios it seemed that the name was poorly chosen. If he had figured it our correctly, all it did was re-shape some crude matter into something useful, or even consumable. Re-shaper, or converter would have been a more appropriate name.

Homelios reached a replicator. Several other Ocero were gathered around it, standing and talking to each other. Homelios noticed that all of these Ocero did not look like themselves. He knew one of the men, and knew his mate was one of those fallen ill. The helpful Starfleet people were doing what they could to help the Ocero, but the disease was creeping into the Ocero's souls as well as their bodies.

After replicating another canister of water, Homelios moved back to the lines of makeshift beds. He noticed a lot of Ocero looking at him. He returned some of their glances, and noticed some of them had lost their inherent gracious look; they were losing their spirit.

Some of the Ocero looked as if they wanted to speak to Homelios, but were hesitating for some moment. Homelios was about to approach one of them, when a small child ran up to him. The child, a little girl, looked scared yet happy to see Homelios. She tugged on his robe, and asked in a high-pirched voice: "Elder Homelios, will you tell us a story?!"

The child's parent picked up the child from behind, and apologized to Homelios. To the child, she whispered: "We're not home anymore, my child. Homelios cannot tell his stories here." Before Homelios could answer they were away. Revelius moved on, as he had promised the nameless woman to bring her the water.

As he moved on trough the lines of beds, he considered the girls request. On the Ocero ship, Homelios was the Science Elder, but back home, on Epsilon Mon, he was a storyteller. It would be impossible to tell his stories here on the traditional manner, of course. No story had left his lips since they fled the citadel on their homeworld.

Homelios reached the woman, and gave her some water. She had regained consciousness, and another woman was now looking after her. She thanked Homelios for his help. Homelios stood up again, and looked around. Everywhere he looked he saw the same thing: desperation. Perhaps it would be good to tell a story again, if only to remind his people of who they were.

Homelios looked up one of the Starfleet people. The Starfleet people had been very kind and helpful, and many had come to visit. Until, of course, the disease that was killing his people killed one of them as well.

Homelios approached one of the people in protective suits: "Excuse me, I wonder if you could help me." He asked, in a friendly tone.

The man in the environmental suit moved forward in order to get a better view of him. He could also see the Human's face better - he was a Human allright, a member of one of Starfleet's governing races as far as Homelios could understand. The glimmer in the man's eyes, however, was universal and unmistakable - it was the healer's compassion.

"I can do my best.", the Human said slowly, trying to allow the universal translator enough time to translate him to the Ocero's native language. "But I no longer function as a medical officer... I mean.. I'm not a doctor.. I can't make you feel better.", he concluded, a little confused. Nevertheless he knelt next to the middle age woman, patting her head with his glove. "I can do my best.", he said once again.

"It's not like that." Homelios replied, smiling. "My name is Homelius. On our world, I was known as a storyteller. I was hoping you could provide me with some sort of fire."

The Human raised his eyebrow - a facial expression the Ocero had already identified at some of the humanoids on the ship. "Pardon me, but why would you need fire for? I mean.. there's an artificial light..", he gestured at the walls of the large hole in a wide motion, "And the temperature is especially kept in the range which your species consider optimal.". The Human hesitated for a moment, then started again, somewhat more suspicious. "If you think of some sort of suicide, please don't.. I know Whitesong, the main.. healer, and if she and her aides can't help you at least they're the best shot you got at staying alive."

Homelios smiled. The human made a clumsy response, but he could see the man meant well. "I've been asked by a young child to tell a story. I cannot refuse her I'm afraid, but to tell the story in the traditional way, I need a fire, and my people gathered around it."

"I see.", the Human nodded, and moved clumsily toward the replicator. "Computer, generate a gas lamp, random design within safety parameters and class E heat power.. no, make that class D. Authorization code Rosenblith Delta seven.". The air on the replicator flickered until it was filled with sparkles, and slowly the lamp appeared on it until it became fully solid and the last sparkles faded. Rosenblith - that was the Human's name, Homelios assumed - picked up the lamp and handed it over to the Ocero gently. He turned a small metallic button on it, and a flame appeared from a hole on the top of the small blue lamp.

"Here you go.", He said. "If you need anything, please ask one of my comrades to call for Daniel Rosenblith, and I'll.. I'll do my best.". One of the other Humans approached him, but he already started to pace away. Homelios managed to catch a glimpse of the man's words before he was out of listening range.

'... have seen enough..'

"Quiet before the storm"
by Captain Robert Edward Lee Price
Captain - USS Galaxy

Captain Price was signing off a duty roster while sitting in the command chair of the USS Galaxy's bridge. With the tap of a few code keys, Lee smiled warmly at the attractive Yeoman Jaime York as he handed the padd to her.

"Thank you Captain. I'll be sure the new assignments get posted in the computer banks." She smiled back with her perfect white teeth.

Lee watched as the Yeoman walked away. Miss York seemed to always have a little extra sway to her stride that seldom went unnoticed. The Captain's thoughts were interrupted when a hail came through.

["Lieutenant Cerxes to Captain Price."]

Thumbing the communications button on the arm of the command chair, the General responded, "Price here. What can I do for you 'mate?"

["Sir. Ensign Heratta has discovered a small metallic container hidden in the couch folds of DaiMon Toog's sofa. Our tricorders are unable to scan the contents."]

Lee's eyebrow shot upwards. "'ave you beamed it on board Lieutenant?"

["No sir. I'm looking at it now aboard the Latinum Prince. It's about twice the size of a folded tricorder sir. It appears to be made out of a shinny metal alloy. So far we haven't been able to open it."] Cerxes reported.

"I'll have the transporter room beam you, the container and Ensign Heratta back to the Galaxy. Bring it to the Brig. I'll meet you there. Price out." The Captain closed the channel and quickly made his way to the turbolift. Yeoman York, who had 'lingered' on the bridge as she often does, held the turbolift doors open for the Captain.

"'Commander Thomas, the bridge is yours 'mate. I'll be on deck 38."

"Aye Captain." Chris acknowledged tapping the controls and pivoting the Operations console out of his way as he moved to take the command chair at the center of the bridge. Ensign Grasso quickly moved to occupy the vacated Operations station, being the designated back-up ops officer for Alpha shift.

Lee gave an appreciative nod to the Yeoman as he stood on the turbolift and commanded, "Deck 38." The doors promptly swished shut.

After a moment of listening to the murmur of the traveling lift, Yeoman York rocked on her toes slightly while holding the data padd across her chest with arms crossed. "So Captain, have anything interesting planned for Valentines day?"

Giving the flirtatious Yeoman a whimsical glance, Lee shook his head. "Can't say that I 'ave Yeoman."

"Oh come now Captain. Are you saying you haven't received any Valentines cards at all?" Jaime asked in a flirtatious tone.

"Not a one Yeoman." The Captain replied, then looking into the Yeoman's eyes, "How about yourself 'mate?"

Smiling widely, the blonde beauty replied, "Lots of invitations. Just not from anyone I really would like them from."

Captain Price believed that. Yeoman York was one of the most beautiful women on board the Galaxy. Though in a way, that did seem to make her unattainable in the eyes of many of the suitors on board the starship. Lee watched as Jaime appeared to blush and look away at the doors of the turbolift, just as it arrived at deck 38.

"This is your floor Captain." She finally stated.

Lee glanced and could see the Yeoman was correct. He found it odd that Miss York had ridden the entire trip from deck one down to deck 38 with him. "So it is. It was nice talking to you Yeoman. G'Day."

Captain Price exited the turbolift and started heading for the Brig. After taking a few steps he couldn't help but feel as if he was being watched. Out of an irresistible urge, or perhaps instinct, Lee glanced back at the turbolift. There he saw a smiling Yeoman watching him walk away before she released the door override and allowed the turbolift to resume. Miss York rocked upwards on her toes in a whimsical fashion, still blushing as the turbolift doors swished shut.

Lee shook his head and continued towards the Brig.

Entering, he could see Lieutenant Cerxes and Ensign Heratta, the towering Nausicaan security officer, standing by waiting with the strange metallic container. "G'Day 'mates. Is that the container?" the Captain asked.

"Yes sir. Ensign Heratta came across it in DaiMon Toog's quarters on the Latinum Prince." The Lieutenant explained pointing at the Nausicaan who was busy trying to 'man handle' the case to get it to open.

"May I see it Ensign?" Lee asked of the seven foot plus Nausicaan.

Rotan's facial claws contracted as he let out a frustrated sigh and handed the shinny box to the Captain. "Be my guest." He stated in a tone that reflected his frustrations.

While the Captain examined it, Lieutenant Cerxes commented, "Tricorder readings can't read anything through this alloy. Whatever it is, it must have shielding properties that won't allow our sensors to read past the outer shell."

Lee turned the box over in his hand and noticed a series of tiny holes carefully concealed in the delicate designs that were etched into the metal. "These holes might have something to do with the trigger mechanism. See here, and here?" the Captain pointed out.

Both Cerxes and Heratta examined the minute openings. Rotan rubbed a hand across his chin. "They are arranged in a pattern consistent with the fingers of a single hand."

Lee looked up at Ensign Heratta. "Bonzer observation Ensign. Let's see what happens if I cover all of the holes at the same time."

The Captain wrapped his hand around the decorated container, positioning his fingers to completely cover each of the holes, but nothing happened.

"It didn't work." Heratta stated flatly.

"Apparently not." Lee agreed, "But then again, maybe it's not my hand that is needed to open this."

"A biogenetic signature key Captain?" Lieutenant Cerxes noted.

"Aye. And since it was found in DaiMon Toog's quarters, I would think he would be the most likely person it is keyed for." the Captain explained.

"We could probably take it to Engineering. I'm sure they would be able to open it sir." Heratta suggested.

"Probably, but seeing as we are here we may as well see if Toog is in a cooperative mood first. Let's find out what he has to say about it. Come with me gentleman. And bring that tricorder." Lee ordered.

The three officers walked over to the entrance to the brig cell block. At the master control station, Ensign McQueen nodded when the Captain glanced his way indicating that the blue force field sealing off the detention wing should be lowered to allow the officers into that section of the starship. A moment later the force field dropped long enough for the three officers to enter the detention corridor before the force field was reinstated.

Walking past the several brig cells, the Captain stopped in front of the one that was holding DaiMon Toog and six other Ferengi crew members from the Latinum Prince. Toog had 'taken over' half of the cell room, while the others were huddled in the other half. Each one pushing and prodding the others to gain more room. In a way it was almost humorous.

DaiMon Toog immediately perked up at seeing Captain Price. "Ah. It is about time!" the Ferengi DaiMon declared loudly. "You have finally come to undo this gross injustice you have levied against myself and the crew of the Latinum Prince by letting us all go on our way."

Lee stopped and stood in front of the large, force field opening to the cell. Heratta and Cerxes stood directly behind the Captain with their arms crossed. "Not just yet DaiMon Toog. Soon perhaps." Lee smiled, then glanced at the container in his hands, "One of my men discovered this container concealed between the cushions of the sofa in your quarters aboard the Latinum Prince. I find it most curious that we are unable to scan it to find out what it contains."

The Ferengi took the Captain's words in stride, only curling his upper lip slightly to expose his sharp pointed teeth for a moment. "There is nothing remarkable about it at all Captain. It is a beetle snuff box. It was given to me as a token of appreciation for a deal I closed many years ago. I had been looking for it thinking it was lost. Thank you for bringing it to me."

The Captain's eyes narrowed a bit listening to the smooth talking Ferengi speak. His tongue was as silver lined as the case Lee was holding in his hands. "I notice there seems to be a rather complex locking mechanism on the container. It appears to be chemically encoded to only allow the owner to open it."

Toog smiled, showing his full set of tiny teeth. "It was a very appreciative client Captain. If you wish, I can open it for you... If that will satisfy your curiosity about it's contents?"

"It would DaiMon Toog." Lee stated. "Computer, lower force field on cell number six."

A moment later the force field dropped to the Ferengi's cell. Toog held out his hand beckoning for the snuff box. The Captain handed it to him.

Wrapping his hands around the decorated metal container, Toog activated the mechanism. It played a delicate melody as the container opened in a clamshell like fashion. With a "I told you so" smirk on his face that radiated his smugness, DaiMon Toog handed the open beetle snuff container back to the Captain.

Lee glanced at the contents. It certainly looked and smelt like beetle snuff. Handing it back over his shoulder while keeping a stern eye on the Ferengi, Lee simply said, "Scan it."

Lieutenant Cerxes flipped open his tricorder and ran a quick scan. "Ferengi Beetle snuff sir. No signs of anything more."

Ensign Heratta, still not convinced, took his pinky finger and dipped it into the snuff, then brought it to his mouth and tasted it. With a displeased look on his face, the Nausicaan spat onto the floor before handing the container back to the Captain. "Sorry sir. I thought it was something more than this."

"Quite all right Ensign." Lee consoled. Glancing at the Lieutenant and then back to Rotan, the Captain added, "Dismissed 'mates."

The two officers turned and started to exit the detention area. Turning his gaze back to the cell, Lee saw Toog grinning like the Cheshire cat.

"If that concludes your investigation CAPTAIN, I would appreciate it if you turned my crew and I loose now. This entire.... INCIDENT has now made us late for our scheduled delivery to Ferengar."

Lee's eyes narrowed. He didn't like the Ferengi's arrogant attitude at all. Unfortunately he wasn't in a very good position, since they were unable to prove any of their theories about Toog's smuggling activities with the Dominion. The Captain did know that he couldn't let Toog go just yet. At least not until Lieutenant Commander Sunder had finished installing the tracking device on board the Latinum Prince. "Soon Toog. My men are just finishing up the removal of their equipment on board your vessel. When they are done, I'll have you released."

"More delays?! This is an outrage Captain! You delay us without cause. I demand you release us this instant do you hear? THIS INSTANT!"

"Computer, raise force field in cell number six." Lee stated evenly.

DaiMon Toog sucked in a breath out of disbelief, even as the shimmering blue of the force field began to hum in front of him.

Without saying another word, Lee turned on his heal and began walking out of the detention area.

"Price! Price you can't just walk away like that! I am a DaiMon and a latinum paying member of the Consortium! Your Federation will hear of this Price! DO YOU HEAR ME! YOU CAN NOT TREAT ME LIKE THIS! COME BACK HERE! COME BACK HERE I SAY! PRICE!!!!"

As the Captain walked out of hearing range of the screaming DaiMon Toog, a satisfied, if not a somewhat evil, smirk formed on Lee's mouth.

Exiting the detention area and then security, Captain Price headed for the turbolift to return to the Bridge. Occupied with the recent happening on board the Galaxy class starship, Lee had no idea that in a few short hours, he'd be facing some of the toughest decisions of his Starfleet Career.

Let's Get Out of Here
Captain Thiana
USS St Louis

"As you can see, the St Louis and the Caucadeus are the only ships in this system. With the St Louis being the faster ship, we should leave at once and get to the planet as soon as possible. The voyage should take approximately 8 hours at top speed."

"Any questions?" Hearing none, Jackson nodded at Captain Thiana.

"Ensign Tuvek, get to engineering and prepare to give me the max warp you can get out of the St Louis with the QUnit on back of her. Lt Dorffen, set course for this system, max warp that engineering can give you."

"Captain, is this a good idea? Are you even going to tell the Caduceus?" Lt Harris asked.

"If you don't think it is, you may log for a formal protest with Starfleet, after its over. Either we be dead then from the sickness or I will be courtmartialed. The lives of the Ocero and of this crew are more important to me. If Starfleet wants my head, they can have it. Its a Damned if I do damned if I don't sitation. You have you orders, Dismissed."

The officers filed out of the briefing room. Commander Strauss paused for a moment, smiled, and put a hand on her shoulder before walking out and leaving her alone. She sighed. She didn't care any more about her career, how could she? How could anyone that had been with the Ocero even briefly deny that this was a race that should flourish?

Thiana just watched the stars collecting her thoughts for a moment before leaving for the bridge.

"Re - Assigned - Again!"
by Ensign James Riddley
Engineer, USS Galaxy

*** Ensign Riddley's Quarters - USS Galaxy ***

Ensign James Riddley had been working up the nerve to return to work. He knew that he was more than ready for it, the leg had stopped bothering him, and he had the strength, the only question was if he should defy the doctors orders. He decided that he would, no harm in it. The doctor had recommended taking off a few days, but James could handle the pain, and if it started up again, he would ask to be relieved.

Standing up, he walked over to his closet. He only had a slight limp in his leg, and it wasn't very noticebale. Pulling out a clean uniform, he quickly pulled it on. Picking up his single pip, he pinned it on his collar. Looking at himself in the mirror, he brushed his hair back. Then, picking up his commbadge, he attatched it.

Just as he was about to leave, seeing as how Alpha shift started in a few minutes, his computer terminal let off it's annoying beep. Sighing, James walked over to it, and tapped the 'recieve' button, lightly.

A duty roster scrolled by. James saw that he had been re-assigned, again! This was getting out of hand, this would be the third out of four shifts that he would have served on. Dismayed, James sat back down on his bed, not knowing what to do. Wait another six hours he supposed, but what could he do until then. His uniform felt itchy all of a sudden, and he released that he was depressed, he was really looking forward to returing back to work. Now he would have to wait, though six hours wasn't that long, it felt like an eternity to Ensign James Riddley.

"The Blackest of Rainbows"
by Lt. Cmdr. Ronni Morris
Asst. Chief Science Officer

Ronni hugged Joerg goodbye and gave him a small crystal carving that her sister had sent her of an Earth Dolphin. She whispered in his ear, "If you ever miss us or miss your home, please just hold this, and you will know that you are loved."

She then spent the next half hour wandering the holodeck castle scene looking for Greer. She was in a melancholy mood and she really just wanted to be with him. He was always so comforting. He made her feel whole.

"Computer - Locate Lieutenant Commander Erikson" she said

No longer feeling in a mood to be around people, she returned to her quarters. There was a message from her parents. Her father was excited about this new position as Chief of Operations for the Station on Delphi. The screen changed to her mother. Her mother then spent the next 25 minutes telling her that she was too young to get married and that she would never approve of a marriage until she had met the man in person. She also told her that she was foolish for having asked him, he should have asked her.

Sticking her tongue out at the screen, she said, "You can marry a human, but your daughter can't. Is that it mother?" For the first time in her life she wished she were fully human. Human mothers are always more understanding.

When the message was over, Ronni went over to the replicator and got a hot fudge sundae with chocolate ice cream, chocolate chips, and whipped cream. She ate the whole thing while sitting on her desk and kicking her feet like a little child.

After she returned the licked clean bowl to the replicator, she headed off to the Arboretum. She sat next to the little stream that ran through room. The water trickled over stones and the leaves rustled lightly as they carried a scent like fresh basil. She heard a sound behind her, and there stood Greer. She started to smile as looked up into his sweet face, but then saw the look on his face. Cold fear gripped her stomach.

While holding her hand, Greer told her that he would like to break off their engagement. He didn't have a reason, but he hoped she would understand. Ronni turned and stared down into the stream, tears quietly running down her face. She didn't know how long she had been staring, but when she turned back, he was gone.

In a foggy haze, Ronni returned toward her quarters. Her path led her past Deiran and Miran's door. On impulse, she turned and signaled their door. When the door slid open, Miran and Deiran were sitting next to each other on the couch, holding a squirming Lara between them. Miran stood up and said, "Ronni, what's wrong?"

The Delphinian ran toward her Bajoran friend, and wrapped her arms around her. Ronni sobbed on Miran's shoulder even as Deiran came over an softly rubbed her arm. It was Lara's concern that finally got Ronni to stop. The Caseys moved her over to the couch and had her sit down. Deiran came over with a large glass of ice cold water. Ronni took a large drink, and then told her friends that she and Greer were through, and she didn't know why. Her eyes never left the floor.

Late to the Party?
Ens. Amenhotep, Counselor
Lt. Karyn Dallas, Chief Counselor
USS Galaxy

Counselor Moses Amenhotep left Nurse Monroe's quarters and headed down to the counseling offices on Deck 14. Moses kept shaking his head, muttering to himself as he walked along. At times he would pass familiar faces in the hallways and he would look up...smile...and nod. Then he would continue the pattern. There were even times that he would stop...rehearse a thought in his head...and then continue walking. As the doors opened to Deck 14, Moses took a deep breath.

***Counseling Offices***

Moses walked in and grabbed a padd off of his desk, he perused it for a moment and walked towards his senior officers doorway. "Miss Dallas?" forgetting himself for a moment..."I mean Lieutenent..." Moses smiled.

"Hello, Ensign" said Karyn, clearly enjoying teasing her former professor. She had to admit it had felt a little wierd the first couple of days thinking of him as a junior officer, but you wouldn't know it by listening to them. They each shared a kind of mutual respect for each other. Dr. "Mo" was one of the few professors that welcomed Karyn and other students like her to the Academy. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm wondering, are we available for Mr. Sterner's party...or do we have some work to do?" From the look of things, Karyn appeared to be dressed for the party. She wore a long, midnight blue dress that came off the shoulder, with her auburn hair styled in a bun. Unruly strands of hair hung down on both sides. Piles of PADDS were strewn all over her desk, an empty cup of coffee beside her computer terminal. Karyn seemed to be busy scanning something on the terminal. Had there been some kind of personnel emergency that he didn't know about? It was typical Dallas behavior. She was always determined to do things on her own, never could accept help from anyone.

"What? Oh my god... the party!! Karyn patted herself, realizing with relief that she had already changed into her formal dress. "I swear I was only going to look at my messages for a second! Yes, I was planning to go. Well, I guess there's no harm in being fashionably late."

"Well then," smiled Moses, bowing before her in her presence. "I'm wondering if I might escort you to the grand ball?" Moses mocked a thick European accent that didn't quite work with his African dialectual tone.

"I'd be honored." Karyn mimicked a curtsy with her arms and bowed her head. She turned off her terminal, determined to forget everyone else's problems for a little while. Dr. Mo waited while Karyn quickly freshened her war paint-AKA: makeup. When Karyn was satisfied and ready to leave, Dr. Mo offered her his arm and the two set off for the party.

***Hallway outside counseling center***

Moses was mostly quiet as they made their way to the turbolift. He was seemingly distracted by many things going on in his mind. It wasn't long before he broke the silence. "Lieutenent? I was looking at our department manifest and guidelines the other day...It hasn't been updated in a while has it." The counselor asked the question but you could see that his mind was hardly interested in the answer.

"Well I guess that's true. I haven't really had time with the influx of patients lately. Thanks though, you've just given me something to do between midnight and four when I can't sleep." said Karyn jokingly, as she noticed for the first time just how preoccupied he seemed. Karyn reasoned it was just nerves. After all, this was his first party with the crew.

"Oh...I see..." Moses continued to face forward, hardly listening to her response. "Lieutenent?...." Moses stopped walking for a moment and turned to face Karyn. "...What do you know about Nurse Hali Monroe?"

The question caught Karyn completely by surprise. "Nurse Monroe?" He nodded. "I really don't know her very well. I see her sometimes when I'm in sickbay. She seems very nice, lots of energy, a bit too cheerful for me but an excellent nurse. Why?" Karyn suspected Moses was excited about something but he also seemed reluctant to express his feelings aloud.

She waited paitently for his answer.

"Oh....Nothing....never mind." Moses mused.

"Dr. Mo....don't you think you're a little old for her?" Karyn smiled

"Sir?" Moses looked confused...he stopped walking as Karyn continued down the corridor.

Karyn stopped for a moment and turned to face him. "Man...you've got it bad...don't you?"

Moses face flushed. "No Lt....its nothing like that...no....nothing.....nothing like that at all." Moses seemed to be stumbling over his words. Lt. Dallas chuckled to herself.

Moses regained his composure. "Actually, it has to do with a certain picture in her quarters.

Lt. Dallas continued to laugh to herself. She couldn't resist the opening. "Her quarters Dr.? I thought it was you who always made a big deal out of "counseling" someone of the opposite sex in their quarters."

Moses breathed a sigh..."I knew better than to talk to you about something serious..."

Lt. Dallas grabbed ahold of his arm, "That's why I'm the Chief counselor, Doctor." Karyn replied...still humored by the way she had seem to fluster her former professor. "What do you say we forget about all that and join the party?"

"After you, ma'dam.." Moses bowed and motioned her forward with his hand.

Lady in Waiting, but until then...
Lt. Karyn Dallas, Chief Counselor
USS Galaxy

Karyn entered Holodeck 1 filled with excitement and apprehension. She was anxious to see what Com. Casey and Lt. Gakor had come up with, but lately she'd had a hard time getting in the spirit of things. Usually, she loved a good party. They gave her a chance to meet new people and to let her hair down but as of late, she was faced with responsibilities she sometimes wished she never had. Each new problem she took on, only stressed how important it was for her to keep her objectivity and do the responsible thing. This job had changed her in more ways than she cared to think about. There seemed to be a constant battle going on inside her, between what was expected of her and who she really was. There were times she felt like everyone else belonged here more than she did. Karyn hadn't chosen Starfleet because it was the life she'd dreamed of since birth, she had worked so hard just to get away from life on Betazed. Now it seemed the majority of her time was spent explaining Johnny's anger problems or wiping away someone's tears. It was a little too much to bear sometimes.

Other officers had outlets for their emotions. Everyone else could hit consoles, swear at the warp core etc, without worrying about hurting someone's feelings or having to be a source of strength all the time. She was tired of making excuses for people who knew better using her counselor talk. If only she could fill out the reports the way she wanted.

typical report:"Lt. Michaels was detained early yesterday because he injured several members of the crew while off duty in Ten-Forward. Sickbay reported he was severely intoxicated when the brawl occured. Apparently, Michaels' girlfriend had just broken up with him earlier that day. He is understandably upset and is undergoing counseling. He will be back on duty in three days, pending no further incidents. He understands what he did was wrong and realizes the consequences will be more sever, should this happen again. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me."

Karyn Dallas

Report Karyn style: "Lt. Michaels was locked up yesterday because he decked several members of the crew while slumming it in Ten Fore. Sickbay reported he was drunk off his ass when the free for all occured. Apparently, Michaels' old lady finally got a clue and kicked him to the curb. He is understandably groveling and is undergoing interrogation. He will be back on the prowl in three days, assuming he doesn't piss me off again. He understands what an idiot he was and realizes I will personally kick his ass if the little punk does it again. If you have any criticisms or want to give lectures on how much crew morale sucks, please feel free to blame me(like you always do.)"

The Queen of Feelings
AKA: Chief of "What is it you do here again?"

*Hmmm... if I didn't know myself better, I'd say I was bitter. Good thing I know myself better, thought Karyn wryly.

Karyn had already given her regards to Com. Sterner and was about to leave when she heard...hoofbeat? in the distance. Upon closer inspection, she saw an open field with some kind of stands in the middle. In front of the stands there were 2 men, each on horses on opposite sides of the field. They were garbed in some type of armor. Each man carried a...a jousting stick in one hand and a shield with some type of crest on the front. Karyn made her way to the "stands" and realized there was no way to get her chair where the other spectators were located.

Ah, well that's ok. thought Karyn. Everything during this time didn't necessarily have to be wheelchair friendly. She parked herself in front of the stands where she'd be closer to the action. The air seemed electrically charged as holographic lords and ladies waited for the competition to begin. Goblets of "grog" were passed down regularly the lower class citizens sitting in the higher seats, while goblets of wine were shared with the upper class people. Karyn snatched a goblet of grog from an insistent spectator. Not wanting to be impolite, Karyn took a sip. It tasted like sock sweat. With great effort, Karyn swallowed the burning liquid.

Fortunately for her, the trumpet sounded, announcing the beginning of the competition. She noticed some of the senior staff had made there way over to watch the match.

The herald announced, "Hear ye, Hear ye. Lord Beowulf has challenged Lord Fagan to a jousting competition. Lord Fagan has accepted this challenge. The winner will be awarded a kiss from any lady he chooses. "The man of few words then stepped back quickly, as if afraid he was going to get trampled. Karyn watched as the two men mounted their horses and prepared to strike. For the first time, Karyn noticed one man had a black feather in his helmet, while the other had a white feather.

Tensions increased as in mere seconds the knights were charging at each other, intent on knocking each other off balance with their jousting sticks. The black knight was clearly larger but the white knight clearly had the advantage. One quick jab was all it took to knock the black knight off balance, as he was too busy making quick bold jabs with his weapon, completely unaware he had made himself vulnerable.

There were cheers as the black fell, almost getting trampled by his opponent's horse. Karyn watched in amusement as she briefly considered using this as a part of the crew's aggression therapy. *I'm going to give them pointed sticks and then say 'Have at it', yeah, right.

Her train of thought was broken as the winner was brought in front of the people to choose his prize. *Isn't that...Lt. Fagan, the new security transfer?, thought Karyn. She was surprised that he would have volunteered for something like this. They had met only briefly. He appeared extremely shy but there was a quiet confidence about him that was...attractive. On more than one occasion she fantisized about "counseling" Lt. Fagan.

The spectators waited impatiently as he picked his prize. Karyn was only vaguely paying attention.

"I choose Lady Dallas as my prize, he said pointing at her. Karyn was sure her eyes had bugged out of her head. Had she heard correctly? Time seemed to stop as he came to stand in front of her. He knelt down on one knee and asked so quietly she had to strain to hear. "May I mi'lady?" She didn't remember nodding but the next thing she knew, his lips were inches away from hers. He touched her cheek as his lips brushed lightly against her own. His touch was so sweet and tender that for a moment it was like she was kissing Alan...except when she opened her eyes it wasn't him. All eyes were on her as they parted. Then suddenly cheers arose, celebrating the victor.

Fagan smiled and Karyn returned the gesture but all she wanted to do was run and hide. She just couldn't go through it again. She hadn't kissed anyone since Alan and she was left with a feeling of discomfort. At the first opportunity, she left the field and returned to the party, trying very hard to avoid people's burning gaze. She prepared a plate for Anna and left the holodeck as quickly as she could.

She was unaware of Thomas' gaze watching her as she left.

***The Brig***

Karyn nodded at the young ensign outside Anna's cell to lower the forcefield. He complied.

"I thought you could use some munchies." Karyn stated.

Anna looked up, happy to see a familiar face.

"Home Sweet Home"
By Ensign Anna Gartner, Security Officer
USS Galaxy

Gartner slowly walked into her quarters. After stepping inside she called out. "Honey, I'm home!"

No answer, Lexanna wasn't here. Oh well, she preferred to be alone now, which was strange considering she had just gotten out of the Brig. She had a lot to think about.

In the few months Gartner served on the Galaxy, she came to appreciate the ship and its colourful crew. Maybe there is a place for her on this vessel after all, if she doesn't destroy her career first.

Looking about her quarters Gartner noticed something familiar. She moved to the table in the center of the room, and inspected her fern plant.

"Hello there little guy, I see that you have grown since I've been away." She spoke softly to it like a beloved pet. "I see that Lex took good care of ya."

It was a miracle that she had that plant for long as she did. It survived the journey in her backpack when she made her trip to the Galaxy. Figured that her roommate would do a better job looking after her plant than she would.

She entered the bedroom and found some of her clothing laying about just as she left them. The two women had an written agreement, that they'd look after their own belongings and not touch the others.

However Gartner didn't feel like cleaning up, she went and laid down on her bed and stared up towards the ceiling. Her situation was a mess now, although she's still on the job, Gartner is now assigned to light duty. In other words, she's on probation until Commander Casey determines her fate.

She can't help but feel that she's being given a chance that she's not too deserving of receiving. And despite herself, Gartner made a lot of friends, even more than enemies. Now if she doesn't go off make anymore enemies she might survive this mess of her own making.