Incompetance Personified
WO1 Brenton James Fox- Chief Shuttle Pilot

Fox cursed under his breath, a group of grunts from the station was screwing up HIS shuttle bay. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he barked at a Starbase Engineer.

"I'm securing this shuttlecraft, Mister...."

"That's sir to you because you're in my house Ensign."

"That's against protocall."

"So's my taking off my boot, turning it sideways and sticking it straight up your----."

"Warrent Officer Fox, can you give me a hand here sir?"

"Yeah on my way, leave that shuttle alone Ensign." Fox looked around and saw someone trying to secure the emergency net with the wrong wrench.

"Jesus H Christ! How many times do I have to tell you morons, the right tool for the right job!"

---later, after the Galaxy departs---

Fox sat in Ten Foreward, finally getting his Shuttle Bay cleaned back up, he hated Starbase Personell, once in awhile you'd find someone who knew what they were doing but not often.

Negotiations
by LCDR Endris Gakor, Doctor

*** DS9, Primary Conference Room ***

The Bajoran provisional government offered quite a spread at the conference table. After the war, the Federation had made the first overture towards renewing Bajor's admission application. The hospitable Bajorans of course renewed negotiations, but were still unsure how to correctly proceed.

Endris and Julian watched in interest, and filled a couple of plates from the buffet set out for participants in the talks. Things seemed to favor admittance, but Vedic Lydo Tordiz did not look hopeful. The Vedics had not yet elected a Kai to sit as the head religious figure of Bajor. Nor did they totally understand the written records which recorded the Emissaries personal objection to the last round of negotiations. Most felt that with the Dominion war over, the objections were voided. Bajor's ability to sign a neutrality treaty during the war saved the planet from the 'locusts' they faced.

Finally, Federation diplomates agreed to let the Bajorans debate more within their political process. But in acknowledgement in their pivotal role with the war, the Federation granted them preferred nation status. Bajorans wanting to attend Star Fleet academy would not need to be sponsored as foreign nationals under this agreement. A few other concessions were made. Bajor agreed to extend the partnership agreement for managing DS9 for another 10 years, since the Federation had been a great help keeping the station working to specifications.

Also, word had spread about the Galaxy's problem with the destruction of Sick Bay. The peaceful nature of Bajorans had them secretly construct small, stealth Hospital runabouts. These were used to treat wounded Bajorans during the Cardassian occupation. The ships were hidden in caves, and came out when their commanders deemed it safe. These portable hospitals were responsible for preserving countless lives that would have otherwise died from Cardassian torture techniques.

Bajoran resistance cells had effectively concealed the fleet of 5 medical aide ships. Although a sixth one was captured by the Cardassians and self destructed before the aliens could plunder its secrets and find her sister ships.

The Bajoran called these miniature savors Kai class runabouts. And the people of Bajor was willing to give one of these ships to the Federation. The USS Opaka was made ready for the CMO of the Galaxy to return to her vessel.

Gakor was surprised at the graciousness of the offer, but accepted. It made sense that a peaceful spiritual people would concentrate their ship building efforts to make crafts that could heal.

Besides Vedic Tordiz, Gakor managed to recruit several Doctors, specialists, and even civilians to replace those killed in the destruction of Sick Bay.

There was Elo Doreese, a Bajoran Sergeant, who was a Field Medic. Other Bajorans joining her were Lenari Vestrad, rank Specialist, a Dentist. And Sarhi Olnara, a Major specializing in Xenopathology.

Loba, a big eared Ferengi civilian studying at the Divine Treasury Medical School on Fereginar, managed to learn techniques of Audiology and Optometry before fleeing to DS9 when he could not pay his tuition.

Two humans were in the crowd, one named Isaac Phoenix, a Lt (jg). Mr Phoenix is a Doctor. And then a Nurse, Bart Smith, rank: Specialist.

A lisping Saurian, Grazella, had requested a transfer from DS9 to star ship duty. Gakor noticed the Lieutenant specialized in Surgery.

Also, Chief Warrant Officer Sudrok, a nurse, expressed no emotion like most Vulcans.

Endris packed some medical supplies borrowed from Doctor Bashir. While the Tellarite knew Earth would supply them well, Julian had some unique unreplicatable balms brought from the Gamma Quadrant. Due to the Wormhole, Doctors from both the Alpha and Beta Quadrants stopped to stock up at DS9 for provisions they could not locate elsewhere.

It seemed too soon, but Gakor closed the door of the shuttle behind her. Rom, one of the most useful Ferengis Endris ever met, had clamped the little type 2 shuttle Endris arrived in to the hull of the Runabout. Now that Miles O'Brian had transferred to Earth, Rom had an even brighter picture in engineering! Due to his quick thinking, both ships would reach the Galaxy at the same time.

Vedic Lydo pulled Endris into the small side room to continue their lessons about feeling her pagh....

Science's Part2"
by: Lt/Cmd's Sullax and Shepherd
SO's USS Galaxy

Ryak made his way to his office with his three year old in hand. Ryak walked into his office and placed Sullar on the couch and put a blanket over his sleeping son. Ryak sat down at his desk and began to go over his idea for re-Starfleeting his staff.

Ryak had a few idea's that he needed to go over before he set anything in stone. Ryak went over the scenarios a few times before his office door opened.

"Sir, I know that this is a bit early but if you'd like we could do the meeting now." Shepherd asked as he looked into the office.

"That would be great." Ryak stated as he stood up and pointed to the empty chair.

Shepherd entered the room and sat down noticing the young Romulan asleep on the couch. "Are you sure this is ok?"

"It is fine." Ryak spun around his terminal and began. "As you are aware I will be doing the staff evaluations soon. As you and I do not get to work with all of them all of the time and as I have noticed that we have the most lax departments on the ship I have developed a program that we can us to test both area's and bring the department back to standard.

"I am not sure if I understand."

"I have noticed that the science department has been getting away with a whole lot of non-starfleet behaviours. As first contact officer I am sure that you would not want one of our officers on a mission with you that may require the utmost of starfleet reactions. So I have developed a program to help out department to become more in tune with what they have lost."

Ryak put in the codes for the program and a visual came onto the screen. "As I am aware we need to do something to spice up the lives of our science officers. I was thinking of doing some tactical sort of holodeck simulations. But they will have to be unknown to the staff. I was thinking about telling them that we are doing some sciences cross training and then have the program hit us with some sort of enemy attack. As Science officers we will will be un armed and unprepared and have to adapt. As you can see the planet is very rocky and is rather hot. This is a planet that no Starfleet person has been to as of yet. The trick to the planet is that it is a lost Klingon planet that has not been in touch with the Empire since before the peace treaty was signed. Our mission is to get as much information regarding the ecological, mineral, floral, biological and such aspects of the planet and as this is happening we will be attacked by a phantom race. The crew will not be able to detect life as the Klingons will be well adapted to hiding from Starfleet. This will also allow for you to assess whom in our department will be able to assist you at any time with first contact."

Alex watched as the Holo-prog ended. "Sir, I understand the need to keep the science department at above average levels, but I have always been against the cross-bastardization of departments. Your right, in the degree that I may not feel comfortable with some of our SO's I wouldn't want a Security meat truck relaying biosignatures for a site to site transport either. Although we may have the most lax department, we have been the most productive, as shown by our departments adaption of eth runabout you ordered.. If you feel the need to re-evaluate our personel, then I suggest you just put the standards on the table and let us develop our people to achieve them. The Galaxy's Science department is one of the best and the brightest in Starfleet. I don't think a simple holo-scenario will work at all. But you are the CsciO. It's your decision."

Alex waited as he saw his Romulan commander thinking over his words.

Ryak looked up at Alex and gave him an unimpressed look. "Then how do you suggest that we get the crew to Starfleet standards without jeoperdizing what we have? I do agree that we have a very well trained and productive staff. I only expect that if we are needed in a situation that my staff will perform to the utmost of Starfleet standards. I do believe that I can trust with my life but I do have to say that I do not trust them with protecting my honour." Ryak sat back in his chair with a concerned look on his face. "Listen, Alex. I have to say that I need to have this department running at its best and it is almost there. I do not want to lose something for something else. I want it all and I believe we can get it. Cross training the staff is not on my list of priorities right now and that is not my goal. Having a well run department that will not let me down even off duty is my goal."

Alex nodded slightly, "I agree, Sir. But lets give the section a series of well-defined goals, not just increased proficieny and higher scores. I believe a series of individual examinations, based on each member's strengths and weaknesses should suffice. Once you have those stats, then we can ascertain who needs more help then others…" Alex paused as he waited for a response.

Ryak looked at Sullar to ensure the boy was still sleeping. "You have ade your point well, please continue."

"As far as the "Non-starfleet" behavior, as you called it, If one of our officers has stepped out of line, then we need to slam home the fact that that kind of behavior will not be tolerated…period!"

Alex leaned back and took a drink from his cup. "Alex," Ryak was doing his best to talk in a way that would make his point without too much Romulan arogance as he is told it is called. "I have to say that you have a point. I am not the type of person that deals well with suprises. Right now the department is running very well. I believe that personal honour is very important and it helps to provide a ship with stability and effectiveness. StarFleet calls it duty and self-discipline. I will wait until the reports are done. I will be sending some people your way though. If I find anyone who has not become the officer I... we require they will be put on duties with yourself, Shtik and myself for a few months. This should allow for a result best suited a science officer." Ryak waited for a response when a message appeared on his screen. Ryak's mood began to change as he looked at the screen. Ryak had enough with seeing Ensign Kirk's name on a report.

"I have to deal with one of our bigest problems soon." Ryak said as he showed Alex the three reports he had recieved already. "Well, I must get Sullar to bed. I am going to do a quick check of the labs on my way and I will deal with Kirk in the morning. Is there anything else?"

"Yes Sir. I'll be awaiting your decision, then." Grinned Alex.

"Ryak stood up and shook Alex's hand as he was about to leave, "Alex, I will want to have you on the shuttle with myself and Shtik when it is completed. Jolan 'Tru Commander."

"Kirks Last Chance Part 1"
By: Lt/Cmd Sullax, Lt(jg) Olson and Ensign Kirk
SO's USS Galaxy

JJ Kirk was doing his job cleaning up after the superior officers. Unlike Jake Olson who didn't mind the job at all, Kirk resented the task. Jake not only didn't mind, he often found useful lives for cast off items in his other professional existance.

Kirk was, he felt, too good to sweep up after some smuck. He had listened with disgust to Jake Olson talking about toys and children to some parent who worked security. Apparently, a bouncy ball that turned colors was selling like hot cakes. Olson was doing a side study of toy psychology and entertainment in crises, or some such crap started when the ship was invaded and he played clown for a bunch of traumatized youngsters. Dr. Gakor's son was one of Jake's new devoted fans. The half tellerite boy loved the new insta-make cake Jake came up with when some Lieutenant left behind a sponge that was both edible and nutrient dense. Olson added additional flavoring, and the kids just add water, and pesto, the brats couldn't get enough.

Ryak had just finished with Lt/Cmd Shepherd. Ryak got up from his desk and picked up his sleeping son. Ryak thought that he'd drop by the labs to see how everyone was doing. Ryak knew that the labs would be quite with scientists working so there was no worry that Sullar would be able to sleep. Ryak made his way out of his office with his son in his arms and a few padds in his other hand. Ryak entered the first lab were Lt. Brooks was working away on bacteria culture.

"Lieutenant, how is your progress?" Ryak whispered.

"Very well sir, I am getting some unusual results but I believe I have it under control." Brooks replied. It took her a second before she noticed Sullar. "Oh he's so cute. I have never seen a Romulan baby before. He is Adorable! What is his name? That is if he a boy."

Ryak watched as the human female turned from a scientist to an emotional pile of goo over his son. "Sullar is a boy,Lieutenant."

"How old is he? Does he sleep this well all the time?"

"He is three years old and he is Romulan. He is always well behaved." Ryak said. "Who else is working?"

"I think that Olson and Kirk are in the next room." Brooks was still paying more attention to Sullar then anything else.

"Very well Lieutenant. I will allow you to get back to your experiment." Ryak turned and headed off to the next room. As Ryak got closer to the door he could here two voices arguing in the other room. Ryak walked up to the door and it open. As Ryak walked into the room He was ran into. At the same time a beaker smashed up against the wall. Ryak was knocked back and Sullar began to cry as he was awaken by the commotion. Ryak dropped his padds to keep Sullar from falling. As Ryak looked at his attacker he noticed it was Olson.

Olson had a look of fear in his eyes as he looked up at Ryak. As Ryak looked at the Beaker thrower he saw Kirk with a smug smile on his face. At this point Kirk had no idea who Jake had run into.

Olson pressed the two Romulans out of the way of the beaker. His reflexes were fast and they were being honed by him playing spy vs spy, which he had decided to bring T-Prea into sense his meld had given her his entire mind and she didn't think his efforts ridiculous. Both found it fun and romantic recreation. Because Olson saw a small child in Ryak's arms, he pushed the pair well away from the beaker mess. "It might hurt him breathing in here," Olson told the father quietly. "Let me clean the mess before you come in," It was still abundantly clear that Olson didn't know who he was talking to. The cotton haired Human had slipped into autopilot. All Jake Olson saw was a Vulcanoid child, and his mind was only on insuring safety. Kirk had fallen by Jake's mental side lines.

Olson returned into the room and pressed the auto recycle to get the fumes out of the air. The thin, frail looking Human moved with great speed. Just as soon as the possible toxins were out of the air, Jake grabbed a tricorder and scanned the child. He then scanned the room to make double sure that it was safe.

"One of your Brats come to play?" Kirk sneered.

"To make double sure, the little one might wanna have a quick check up in sickbay as I am a scientist and not an MD." Jake leaned against the counter panting. He was collecting his mental marbles. His energy had been spent, he did what was critical for the safe well being of the child, which was all he saw. Kirk saw Ryak Sullax enter the lab, and a look of sudden fear crossed the Human's face, as he thought the 'cat was away'. He couldn't see Sullax when he threw his last sneer, and heard Jake giving rapid fire instructions, it sounded like he was talking to someone who didn't know anything about science and precautions. Sullax knew 'autopilot' when he saw it and didn't correct it. Jake was in a controlled emergency panic.

The evidence that a 'mouse was at play' was all over the corner counter. There was an array of messy beakers that were ordered cleaned up some time ago, and Sullax clearly remembered Lt/Cmd Shepherd giving -Kirk- the order to clean it up, and the time frame that Lt/Cmd Shepherd had given Kirk was well up. A padd reading 'CREDIT REQUIRED' lay on Kirk's counter. The surgically neat middle counter had the guts of a microscope laying on it with a package of cleaning wipes. There was a small bowl next to the wipes, a few dirties were in it. There was also a rapidly grabbed tricorder sitting next to the microscope.

Ryak put Sullar onto the ground and in Romulan told the boy to go and see Lt. Brooks in the other room. Once he left Ryak walked over to Jake and said, "I believe you have some explaining to do Lieutenant." Ryak noticed that Kirk was slowly moving away. He was trying to make a break for it. "Mr. Kirk! You have not been dismissed. I expect you to move over to here next to the lieutenant as well." Ryak stood there in his typical Romulan stance with his hands behind his back. "After the Lieutenant is done explaining it will be your turn ENSIGN!" Ryak stood looking at the know standing at attention Lt. Olson.

"Kirk informed me that he wouldn't do as ordered because he claims that I am responsible for his current personal credit situation. He told me not to attend to this microscope until the problem was solved." Jake began, he didn't mince words. "I told him that I had to get this microscope ready for Lt. Brook because she had cultures that were nearly ready. I began to dismantle the microscope. I was cleaning the second lens when he threw a Beaker to get my attention. I saw it crash, and your son in the corner of my eye. Kirk didn't see either of you. I stopped thinking. The fumes can be noxious to a child. I wasn't paying attention to who was holding him, just wanted to get him out of the room until I was satisfied he'd be safe." Olson didn't otherwise justify pushing Sullax bodily.

Kirk was flushing red. "Your full of shit." He told Olson. "Your always managing to make things look good on your behalf!" In the angry heat of the moment, Kirk forgot that there was a superior Star Fleet Officer in the room. Olson didn't respond to Kirk's jabs. Kirk muttered something that ended in "Rommie", a racist crack. Kirk thought it wasn't heard. It was. Sullax had made the mistake of using Rihannsu a moment ago, which got all of Kirk's racist dogma in a bunch. Olson maintained attention, not minding anything other than the moment.

"What is your explanation, Ensign?" Sullax turned to Kirk.

"He threw the Beaker, not me." Kirk saw the frantic activity. Maybe he could pass the buck? Olson was running like a headless chicken.

Olson blinked, but otherwise didn't react to the open lie.

To be continued....

"Meeting with McKinley Staff"
by Lt Cmdr K'Eytyanna Samara,
Second Officer & Chief Engineer
-------------------------------------------------------

Getting up from the bed, Kay noticed that Security had been bumped up a lot after the previous incident.

A doctor came over and smiled to her,

"Your injuries have healed nicely, and you can even go back on duty if you want, Lt Commander."

She nodded and started towards the door. It opened up as she got closer and she saw Brightspot standing there, smiling like the cat who got the canary.

Kay gave a soft growl,

"Very funny, Lt. I was out of it, okay? I'm not going to belt up anyone."

Brightspot giggled before the pair of them headed off down the corridor, chatting about nothing in particular.

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

Changing into a new uniform, Kay put on her combadge and rank pins before heading out to the Engineering.

Stepping out of the turbolift minutes later, she noted that the engineering crews were working at the various systems, keeping them up until the ship reached McKinley Station. After a safe shutdown of the core and major systems had been performed once the docking systems could take over, Kay ordered for Level 1 diagnostics to be done of all systems. While this was a monumental task, it would be neccessary to determine what needed to be replaced and what still worked good enough. As teams went out, Engineering quietened down as only a small number of people remained.

Kay headed over to her office and flopped down in a chair. Looking through the list of dead engineers, she sent in a request for replacement engineers with a CC to Captain Price and Commander Casey. Hopefully, they wouldn't be dumped with too many annoying ones.

Reviewing the specs of some of the new systems that McKinley had sent along, Kay started working out how much supervision would need to be done of the McKinley staff for each system change. Last thing she wanted was a complete systems crash due to some careless oversight made about the ship by McKinley.

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

Half an hour later.....

Kay looked up when she heard the loud sound of people entering Engineering. Since her teams would be nowhere near finished, she assumed this was the Station McKinley engineers.

Her hearing quickly picked up the conversation.

"Lieutenant JG, where is Lt Cmdr Samara? All these system will have to be replaced and put back to original specs. I assume that you have all been tinkering round and making adjustments all over."

"Sir, the chief is in her office. She has a bad temper at times."

"Whatever. You did a good job keeping the ship running till now. Davies, now that we are here, the real work can start. Look at these settings - they are way above par and must just straddle the system tolerances."

"With all due respect Sir, the chief and Lt Cmdr T'Zaq found a way to redesign the flux capacitors of the injectors in a way that they currently produce 20 percent more power and 10 percent less pressure in the warp core. With that, we can increase the transfer rate by 20 percent and just break even with the baseline settings."

At that point, Kay decided that she had better step in quick before this veregan dagh (Ferengi dog) fucked up the ship.

Walking out of her office quickly with a determined look, she quickly spoke,

"Lt Jg Dana, I need you to take this copy of my list to the Bridge please."

The relieved Deltarian smiled and nodded before leaving with the PADD Kay handed to her.

Turning to the man, she spoke,

"Okay, who the hell are you and what are you doing here insulting my officers?"

"I am Commander Baker, commander of Earth Station McKinley, and you would do good to remeber that I am a superior officer."

"At the moment, I wouldn't care if you were the Federation President. Unless you want to take it up with Starfleet, as Chief Engineer of this ship, I have a major say in the way these changes are made. I received the list of specs that you sent."

"That may be true, but you would be advised to remeber that this job needs to be done quick."

"I do, and that is why I am planning on having supervision done to make sure that it is quality work. At the moment, I have teams examining the damage to work. You are welcome to send some people out to help. Now if you excuse me, I have more important matters to deal with. Cadet Marcos over there will be you liason."

Quickly before he could comment, Kay headed out of Engineering, leaving a Lt from her staff in charge.

-------------------------------------------------------
Lt Cmdr K'Eytyanna Samara USS Galaxy Engineering, 2nd Officer
D'Akana T'Mok (NPC) USS Galaxy Targ

This New Sickbay still has a Few Kinks to Fix
by Lt Commander Endris Gakor-Albrecht, CMO
with Binars 1111 1110 1110 1100 and 1111 0000 0000 1100,
Medical Computer Specialists on temporary assignment from McKinely Station
Reviewed by Captain Price

*** CMO Office ***

Endris walked in to the new CMO office. It was a bit larger than the old office, and a food replicator was a primary fixture of the work space, allowing for the Cuisine related traditions of the Tellarite CMO. "Snacks!", she teased. But no one was around to hear it. Glancing through the transparent aluminum windows, she could see the giant floor-to-ceiling fish tank that formed the central column. She could not see Spines, but she was sure the decorative Lion fish was swimming happily in his new home. There was a railing around the tank, which led to a slot to add food, adjust salinity levels, water temperature, and the like.

One of the new Bajoran Doctors, Lenari Vestrad, was speaking softly with Loba. The wide-eared Ferengi seemed to agree with the Dentist. Reclining chairs with restraints and overhead lighting were better at positioning patients for their specialties. Since the construction wasn't complete yet, they asked for a room with the alternate equipment. Soon the Galaxy would not need to pull into a major port world for dental, optical, or auditory exams. The new Doctors were trained in these areas.

Endris reached for the case that held the OptiChip Backups of the Medical data base and the EMH program. But the computer kept refusing to read and integrate the data off the storage media. Gakor was about ready to call engineering for help. Apparently, not all circuits of the medical computer were up and running.

Just then, she spotted two Binars in non-descript jumpsuits, heading towards the computer area with Motherboards. Curious if she could help, she trotted over to where the Binars stopped to open computer access panels.

"Hello. I am Lt Commander Endris Gakor, the Chief Medical Officer on the Galaxy. I haven't met you yet."

"True." Said one of the Binars. "I am 1111 1110 1110 1100". The other Binar alternated his turn in the conversation, identifying himself as "1111 0000 0000 1100". (Interestingly enough, these names spell 'FEED' and 'F00D' when converted to Hexadecimal notation).

"Well, Feed and Food! What a surprise... How soon do you think we can have this computer operational?" the Doctor inquired.

"We are" "still" "waiting" "for parts", "but we estimate" "2.5 hours" alternated the binary humanoids.

"Very well then, I am sure you can work faster without my input.", Endris said. "However, when you both finish, I would like you to join me in 10 Forward for Oinkus."

"We do" "not fully" "understand" "what this" "Oinkus" "is" "but we would" "be happy" "to join you.", the Binars enlightened.

"Don't worry, Oinkus is just a Tellarite form of Feasting! I am sure you two know how to eat.", the jovial woman explained.

"Is that" "a joke?" "humor" "is a difficult" "concept".

Endris left out a cackling laugh. "I'm sure it is", Gakes admitted, "but try telling that to a Vulcan...", she finished.

Then she returned to her office to organize data for the newly transferred staff on PADDS. She could upload the information once the Binars got the Computer systems roaring again.

Feed and Food paused for a moment or two while they digested the new data Gakor had given them. There was a lot for their on-and-off mentalities to assimilate. Finally, both Binars shrugged their shoulders at the same instant, and redoubled their efforts to get the last circuitry of the Medical Computer in place.

No one noticed some of the parts the Binars had acquired were from the Daystrom Institute. The M7 designs were quite provocative, and while a tactical computer system wouldn't be appropriate for Medical applications, the Binars had used some of the Scientist's ideas when designing the circuit pathways of the new unit. They hoped this would give 'Dr Grinch' as prior records described him a more flexible but robust personality. Although Isaac had been destroyed, Abraham Daystrom had been adamant about documenting his 'childs' designs. Feed and Food had merely consulted public repositories of knowledge before constructing the new computer.

"What should" "we name" "this machine?", the Binars wondered.

Loba, the big eared Ferengi overheard this. He could not help but hear conversations with the size of his lobes. Curious about alien customs, the Ferengi had downloaded a hu-mon novel selected at random. After all, the rules clearly stated studying the habits of other cultures leads to profits.

The Library computer had selected Melville's classic book, Moby Dick. Tilting the PADD towards the Binar specialists so they could see it, the first line spelled out one possible answer.

"Call me Ishmael".....

*** 3 hours Later, Sick Bay ***

The two Binars knocked on the door of the CMO's office. They had finished configuring the new medical computer. "We have" "finished" "restoring" "the EMH and data base", the pair informed.

"How is the system performing?", the head honcho asked.

"We have" "increased" "system performance" "by 300%" "using new" "circuit designs". "Everything" "functions" "in enhanced" "mode". "Unit Ishmael" "is very" "intelligent".

"Nourishment! I knew circuit technology had advanced while we were out on missions, but I didn't knew it grew that much. You even named the computer."

"We wish" "to investigate" "what you" "called Oinkus".

"Of course we may", Endris said, leading them to 10 Forward.

After a large meal, the Binars announced they must return to duty on McKinley station. Before departing, they discussed the techincal aspects of the new Medical computer with the resident pair of Binars from engineering, 69 and 96. Soon, both feed and food returned to the space dock facility and resumed the repair of other computer systems.

"No Vacation for Me"

Lt. Commander Karyn Dallas
Chief Counselor

with:

Cadet Alexa Casey
Counseling Intern
USS Galaxy

***Karyn's Quarters, USS Galaxy***

Karyn was going to enjoy some quiet R and R. With the Galaxy stationed at McKinley, she was pretty much on her own for a while. Knowing she was going to need to stay out from under foot while repairs were being made anyway, she decided this was the best time to relax and get Medical off her back. Her crewmates had a nice polite way of telling her she looked like hell, though they were still telling her none the less.

She had stopped by to check up on the re-modeling of sickbay, only to be shooed away. She told the doctor on duty to let her know when Endris got back from her Oinkus with the Binars, as she had not gotten the chance to visit her since her emergency surgery, having been taken off guard with the whole mirror universe Anna thing.

She was going to transport down to the surface and take a walkabout, as Lee seemed to be collecting his thoughts back home. She decided to make a quick stop at her office to drop him a note - just in case he needed or wanted to talk.

To: Captain Price, Commanding Officer
From: Lt. Commander Dallas, Chief Counselor

Lee,

I realize this is a difficult time for you and you may find it hard to talk about your feelings of grief right now, but I felt it important to reiterate that should you need to talk, I am here to listen. It wouldn't have to be in any official capacity as a Counselor and it can and will remain between you and I. More than anything, I'd like to think of you and I as friends. You were willing to take me on and support me when I came on board the Galaxy, and I am willing to return the favor.

Sincerely,

~Karyn

She hit the send button and was about to leave her quarters when her combadge and her com terminal beeped simultaneously. She couldn't help but laugh at the situation. "This is why I never get a vacation!" she said to no one in particular.

=/\= "Dallas here. What's up?" =/\=

=/\= "Ma'am, Lt. Pailaka here. I'd like to file an incident report on Ensign Kirk. It seems he's taken quite an interest in assaulting young women. I've already contacted Security and they're on their way. I'm in Ten-Forward." =/\=

Another guy who likes assaulting women! What the hell was going on here, how did all the creeps get on board the Galaxy!

=/\= "Thanks for the information, I'll send someone over." =/\=

She closed the channel and moved to her terminal to pick up the new message. It seems this Ensign Kirk had been busy. Apparently he had assaulted T-Prea and her boyfriend, Lt. (jg) Jake Olson, was concerned about her. She sent a note to Jake saying she would meet them in Sickbay right away.

Once again before leaving her office, Karyn's combadge beeped...this time she was greeted by a friendly voice.

=/\= "McDowell to Lt. Commander Dallas." =/\=

=/\= "Dallas here." =/\= Karyn smiled, perfect timing. She was convinced they had ESP.

=/\= "Michael? Why don't you answer? Is something wrong?" =/\= He seemed paused in thought, like he was hesitating about whether or not to mention something.

=/\= "Oh, sorry Karyn. No nothing is wrong." =/\=

=/\= "It's okay. You wanted to tell me something?" =/\=

=/\="Actually, I don't have anything to say. I just needed to hear your voice." =/\= Michael said.

=/\= "Oh, I didn't know my voice was that special." =/\= She loved being flirtacious with him.

Michael could hear Karyn was teasing him. "If you only knew how special it is to me. I'm almost addicted to it." =/\=

=/\= "Well...you could always make an appointment...then you can talk to me for hours." =/\= Somehow, she didn't think they'd get much talking done. Being together and sharing time didn't not necessarily meant you had to fill the time with words. =/\= "Addiction, huh? Yes, I definitely think that's cause for an appointment, professionally speaking of course." =/\=

=/\= "Hmm, that's a very tempting offer, Counselor, but I know you're too busy for that. In fact, I'll be quite busy myself now that we've docked at McKinley station." =/\= Michael answered in an all but serious manner.

*Damn,* thought Karyn, she wanted so much to spend some time with him. =/\= "Yes, I know. Looks like work never stops, huh?" =/\=

=/\= "Not at this time. But there will be other times, you can be sure of that. Look, I have to go now. I'll see you later." =/\=

=/\= "Okay." =/\= She answered, but she was only partly successful in keeping the disappointment out of her voice.

=/\= "Bye love. ...McDowell out." =/\=

Karyn closed the connection and was instantly reminded of JJ Kirk. She had to get to T-Prea. She also had an appointment with Tim and Brook that afternoon.

She was disgusted with the number of assaults that had been occuring on the ship lately. She decided to do something about it.

"Alexa, I think it's time for new psych evaluations for all of the crew. Too many personnell problems have popped up lately and I think it's time to re-examine our colleagues. Sickbay's getting a facelift, now is as good a time as any other to do 'spring cleaning.'

Alexa tried not to groan from her place in the main lobby. Psych evals, though necessary, were a pain to organize and complete. "I'll send a message to all department heads. Anything else?"

"Contact Lt. (jg) McGee, tell him to head to Ten-Forward to find out what trouble Kirk's gotten himself into now. It's time he learn how to evaluate an incident report. Gods know it won't be the last, might as well avoid the rush. After he's finished, he can report to me in Sickbay."

Alexa smiled, now used to Karyn's wry sense of humor. She nodded.

***

***Sickbay***

Karyn entered Sickbay to find Dr. T-Prea lying on her side on a bio-bed, her back toward Karyn. Jake Olson was staring at her, obviously trying to get her to open up. Karyn touched him on the shoulder, making him aware of her presence.

"Hi Jake, why don't you go get T-Prea something to drink while she and I talk for a minute. Ok?"

He seemed reluctant to leave at first, but then complied, stopping long enough to give her one last look. When he had gone, Karyn moved closer to T-Prea and asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"More Fighting and Turmoil For the Restless of Heart!"
By Ensign Bruce Maxwell
Helmsman
USS Galaxy

Bruce sat on bridge running diagnostics over the helm station. He watched as people scuttled about the bridge mostly station workers, tho. He quietly sat at the console pushing buttons and compensating for change and variables that might have been entered in. Bruce rubbed his forehead and smiled the checks were complete and everything checked out fine. He had the computer send the results to his Chief Lt.Jg. Pailak. He stood up and went to go look at star charts to see and study possible new courses.

Just then Bruce received a tramission [Mckinley Station to Ensign MaxWell]

Bruce stopped and moaned [MaxWell Here, Go Ahead]

[You have an incoming message from Lt.Commander Connor MaxWell]

Bruce rolled his eyes and wondered what next, Maybe fire from the walls. [Go Ahead]

[He wishes for you to meet him on the station and speak to you]

Bruce shrugged [Thank You, Bruce out]

***McKinley Station, Promanade***

Bruce walked up the walkway to the promanade area where he was too meet his father. He knew this would only end in turmoil, but maybe just maybe things would be different. He went around the corner and saw His Father and His Mother. He walked up to them and smiled.

"Hello Mom. Hello, Sir." Bruce stated

"We are not here on business, son. We want to talk to you about your decision. You still keep going with." His Father stated as they sat down at a Table.

"Bruce, Listen to your father and I, we both have been dealing with starfleet for awhile and think maybe you should join a science field and travel with us." His Mother stated.

Bruce sat down and quickly stated "Jesus Christ, Why cant we one normal family moment why does it always have to be about me joining the Science department and tagging along with you two and getting fat off of your two work. I like being a Helmsman onboard one of the finest ships in the Galaxy. Anyway you have no idea what the Hell I have been thru, Worst part about it is I cant even talk about it."

"Whatever, you were always so irrational and illogical a boy. You rushed into everything and never thought of the repercussions. Look at you know with that scar on your face. You keep looking like some ruffian for some girl you briefly knew and thought you loved....................." His father stated harshly!

Bruce quickly clenched his fist and stated haershly. "Father do you always have to act like a fucking computer Well I am about to show you something right now. Either you take back what you just said or i am going to show you what it is like to feel again!"

"Dont Talk to your Father like that Buce, he speaks the truth and you just never listen!' His Mother quickly stated.

"I will not take that back and dont talk to me that way I am your father and you will show me proper respect!" His father stated roughly.

Connor and Bruce stood up looking each other dead in the eyes. Bruce then stated "You have never been their to be my Parents my parent is dead Uncle Bonniger was my father!"

Bruce was interupted in mid sentence when his father smacked him. Bruce's eyes seem to glaze over and with that he qiuckly punched his father and began to walk away. He then turned back around and stated. "Well I guess you still can feel but i am sorry you arent all that smart to strike me, Father. If You two ever want to have a son and feel like treating him like one, Give me a call!"

His Fathert got up and told two security guards not to worry about what just happened. He watched his son walk off and the sad thing about it all is he doesnt even feel sad. "Come along darling we have a seminar to teach." Julia just looked at her husband and wondered if what Bruce said was true. Then a tear dropped from her eye in realization that Bruce was right but now it is too late.

***USS Galaxy, Ten-Forward***

Bruce sat at the bar and began to work on his second drink. He shook his head smiled in disbeleif he hit his father a Lt.Commander above all that. "It sure did feel good tho!" He mumbled. Her smiled and looked around the bar and saw many Beuatiful Women. But he was just too scared to do anything.........He then realized what he was afraid of finally.........moving on! He gulped down his drink and ordered another one.

= = = = = = =
Lt. jg T-prea
ACMO
USS Galaxy
= = = = = = =

T-prea layed there a moment and just looked away....finding it hard to talk....after all she had given her promise to Jake that she would be silent....But being silent to her was like saying the incident never really happened...to just forget about it....

It really did happen...and T-prea found it really hard to forget.... After all she was humiliated that day...had her dignity striped away... not once but twice....once by JJ Kirk and the other by Jake not wanting to acknowledge that it had happened....

But Jake being so niave....and knowing he really did love her.... But if he really loved her why is he wanting to protect JJ... and not her. She understood the way Jake liked to handle thing....knew he was not a violent person....and dealt with situations in his own way...but this.....this was different... T-prea had been violated....in one of the most horrendous ways a female could be....

Karyn could see the tears welling up in T-prea's eyes....the hurt that plagued them from deep inside.

She placed her hand on T-prea's hand....

"I know that you are feeling all kinds of emotions right now... some that are really confusing you...some that make you want to lash out....others that make you want to curl up in a ball and hide away in a dark corner... I want you to know I am here for you to talk to if you need me." She stated.

T-prea looked up at her....the tears now trickling down her cheeks.... "I feel like dirt...." T-prea said.... as Jake approached with something for all of them to drink.

"Patsy"
By Captain Robert Edward Lee Price

Captain's log, Stardate 50001.17

After several long weeks, the structural repairs have been completed on the USS Galaxy. The starship has proven herself over the course of testing and trial runs this last week and has been certified fit to return to active duty. In all, the Galaxy has been refitted with all new exterior bulkheads made of the latest ablative armor, several minor upgrades and modifications throughout the ship, and has received a total upgrade to the Sickbay deck, bringing the Galaxy up to the latest standards Starfleet has to offer. Chief Medical Officer, Doctor Endris Gakor, has returned from her medical leave to light duty, and is hosting an 'open house' in sickbay to show off the new deck and the technologies the Galaxy will now enjoy. It will be the last party the crew will enjoy before we break Earth orbit to leave for our next assignment across the Galaxy.

***

Captain Price entered the revamped sickbay ward and was quite surprised at the new look the medical deck had received in the upgrade. There were several crew members standing around, enjoying the mini tour the medical staff was giving them, as well as sampling the punch and sweets that had been provided for the occasion. Lee stepped over to a crowd of about twenty five people and listened in to what Doctor T-prea was saying.

"And as you have probably noticed, not only here in the refitted sickbay, but throughout the ship, these new style hologram emitters." The half Vulcan Doctor stated pointing to the modern projector element imbedded into the wall. "They each allow the new and improved Emergency Medical Hologram Doctor to move to any area of the ship as needed."

The crowd watched as Doctor T-prea activated the new EMH. He appeared before them as expected, only he was younger than the Zimmberman program they had grown used to.

"Please state the nature of the medical emergency. . . Oh, it's you Doctor T-prea. You are looking well. I take it from this gathered crowd that this is a social visit?"

Doctor T-prea gave a slight nod. "Yes Doctor. We are demonstrating your program for members of the crew. Why don't you tell them a little about your program matrix?"

"Why I'd be delighted to Doctor." The EMH2 stated with a warm, prideful smile. "I am the second generation Emergency Medical Hologram program. Properly, I am an extended replacement for the EMH1 prototype program. My matrix has an increased capacity to learn, as well as several social and bedside manner subroutines that my predecessor was sorely lacking. My true designation is the EMH2, or Extended Medical Hologram Two. I was designed to be much more versatile than simply to be used as an Emergency supplement like my predecessor the EMH1."

"Perhaps some of the crew have a few questions Doctor?. . ." T-prea suggested as a way for the crew members to get familiar with the new EMH2's social sub-routines. Most of them had taken to calling the last EMH 'Doctor Grinch' because of his brash mannerisms.

"An excellent idea Doctor." The EMH2 replied. "This gentleman appears to have a question. . ."

The Engineer shifted slightly, but still smiled at the same time. For a practical application hologram, this new Doctor certainly seemed to poses a lot of friendly charm. "Well, yes actually I do."

"Well what is it then?" the EMH2 asked placing a gentle hand on his shoulder and smiling kindly, "Don't be shy. . ."

"Do you have a name Doctor?"

The question left the holo-doctor unphased. "Why yes I do. I am the Extended Medical Hologram, series two."

The Engineer smiled along with the chuckling crowd. "No, I mean a name to be called. Like I'm Hank. This is Doctor T-prea. And you are?. . ."

The EMH2 glanced around at the crowd, unsure what more to say. "I am the Extended Medical Hologram. I guess I do not have a name. . ."

"Hum, we need to give you one. Makes it easier on us humans. . ." The engineer smiled. "Any suggestions Doctor T-prea?"

The half Vulcan Doctor pondered the problem for a moment. "Doctor Gakor named the EMH1 'Doctor Grinch' because of his sterile bedside manner. Perhaps a name that follows that logic would be most appropriate. How about,. . . Doctor Sunny?"

"Doctor Sunny? For my superior social sub-routines. A play on words. 'Sunny disposition' and all that. . . interesting choice." The EMH2 stated while thinking it over, "Doctor Sunny. . ."

Lee stepped forward. No one realized the Captain of the USS Galaxy was standing back there watching the demonstration. "Sunny is a bit of a confusing name I think 'mate. When I hear of someone named 'Sunny', I think of a lady. No offense Doc."

The EMH2 nodded, "Yes, it does seem a bit too feminine. What would you suggest Captain?"

"Well, I don't know. But given the stardate and all. . . how about we call you Doctor Martin?"

The EMH2 glanced at the Captain. "Martin? Why Martin?"

Doctor T-prea gave a knowing nod. "For Doctor Martin Luther King junior. A great man from Earth's early history."

The EMH2 quickly accessed the Galaxy's computer systems, scanning for the data on Mister King. Within a moment, the EMH2 nodded. "I would be honored to use such a name Captain. Thank you."

"Don't mention it 'mate. My pleasure really." Captain Price commented. He then turned to Doctor T-prea. "Doctor, Now that we have Doctor Martin here, what has become of the original EMH Zimmberman program? Has it been replaced?"

"No Captain. 'Doctor Grinch' is still available in the databanks. He will be used as an Emergency supplement to the regular medical staff and the EMH2 - 'Doctor Martin', as needed." T-prea informed.

"Thank you 'mate. I'm sure that those who grew to like the Zimmberman program will be glad to hear that. Though given what I've seen demonstrated of Doctor Martin here, I doubt it will be long before 'Doctor Grinch' becomes an extinct program around here."

"The original EMH program still has it's uses Captain. It's program matrix is much smaller than the EMH2's, at the sacrifice of the nicer interface and better AI sub-routines. But I have to agree, 'Doctor Martin' does seem to have the better interpersonal skills to serve as a valued member of the ship's medical staff and as a full Doctor." Doctor T-prea stated candidly.

"Well, it was bonzer meeting you, Doctor Martin." Lee offered his hand.

The EMH2 held it firmly. "The pleasure was all mine dear Captain. And thank you once again for such a noble name."

"G'Day 'mate. If you'll all excuse me. . ." The Captain parted.

Doctor T-prea continued to demonstrate the new EMH2's abilities. Lee walked over and poured himself another glass of punch before walking over to another section of the remodeled sickbay. Doctor Roman O'Neil was showing everyone the new bio-beds and latest in medical scanner technology when Commander Casey stepped over to the Captain.

"Hi Lee. Enjoying the open house?" the First Officer asked.

"Aye 'mate. Did you get a chance to see the new EMH? Doctor Martin is his name." Lee asked taking a sip of his punch.

"I saw him being demoed, but haven't had a chance to meet him yet sir. I'm told he has a much friendlier disposition than the old holo-doc did."

"Indeed he does. He's quite a charming character actually. I expect he will serve the crew of the Galaxy well." Captain Price commented.

"So are you ready to get back to active duty sir?" Commander Casey asked.

"Yes 'mate, I am. Seven weeks out of service can make you stir crazy. I joined Starfleet to explore the Galaxy, not be trapped at a space station in orbit of Earth."

"I know what you mean Lee. Though the break did give me a chance to be with my family. I'm grateful for that."

Lee paused for a moment. Talking about personal relationships and family was still awkward for him with the recent loss of his girl friend, Yeoman Jamie York. "How is everyone 'mate?"

"Fine. Lara has grown so much, I can hardly believe it! So have you heard anything about our next assignment?" Deiran asked, sensing the Captain's discomfort and skillfully changing the subject.

"Actually I have." Lee smiled while holding his glass. "We get to check out an uncharted system. One of the planets is supposed to contain an M-Class world and shows signs of pre-industrial life. It should be a pleasant change."

"Sounds interesting all right. I'm sure our science department will enjoy the opportunity to study a new system and possibly a new civilization." Deiran nodded.

While the Captain and Commander Casey were talking, a young Starfleet officer approached that neither of them recognized. He was wearing a Starfleet uniform, with a Red tunic, and a single pip on his collar, indicating his rank as Ensign.

"Excuse me sirs." The young officer said clearing his voice.

Deiran smiled. The young man was not very tall, and no doubt his towering height was making him nervous. Kindly the First Officer backed away a little to give the young Ensign some room to breathe.

"G'Day Ensign. I don't believe I recognize you 'mate. Are you new to the Galaxy Mister?. . ."

"Johnson Sir. Ensign Johnson. And, no, I'm not new to the Galaxy. That is, I'm not stationed on the Galaxy at all sir."

Lee glanced over at Deiran who returned the 'I don't know him' look.

"I'm not sure I understand. What Can I do for you Ensign?" Lee asked.

"I'm sorry Captain. Can we speak, privately sir?" the Ensign asked, giving Deiran a glance that wasn't unfriendly, but was obvious that the First Officer's towering presence was intimidating him none-the-less.

Lee gave a nod. "If you'll excuse us Commander?"

"No worries Captain. We can talk later. Nice meeting you Ensign." Deiran nodded, he then turned and walked away with a broad smile on his face. * God, was I ever that green? * He thought.

"Okay 'mate. What can I do for you today?"

"I'm sorry about that sir, but my instructions were quite specific." Ensign Johnson explained apologetically.

"No worries 'mate. So what is it?"

"I was sent to speak to you by Senator Hansen. He needs to have an important meeting with you right away, before the Galaxy leaves for her next assignment. He wants you to beam down to Earth and meet him at his office in the Senate building straight away."

"Did the Senator say what this was all about Ensign?" Lee asked.

The young man shook his head. "No sir. Only that it was of the utmost importance to the Federation that he meet with you in his office right away. I know the Senator felt it important enough to send me as a messenger to deliver the invitation personally. Whatever it is about, he said he can't trust it to sub-space communications. What shall I tell the Senator Captain?"

Lee thought a moment. He'd have to miss the rest of the open house party in sickbay, which was ashame. But this definitely sounded like a very important, pressing matter for Senator Hansen. The least Lee could do was go and hear out what he had to say.

"Tell Senator Hansen I will be along shortly. I have a few things to take care of here and then I'll beam down to Earth. The Senate building you said?"

"That is right Captain. Your transporter chief should have the lobby coordinates. Senator Hansen's office is on the second floor. He will be expecting you."

"Fair dinkum 'mate. I'll be along shortly then."

"Thank you Captain. Senator Hansen will be most pleased that you've agreed to see him on such short notice. I'll go let him know you are on your way." Ensign Johnson smiled.

"No worries 'mate." Lee stated as the young officer turned and exited the sickbay ward.

Turning, Lee could see that Commander Casey was watching the rest of Doctor T-prea's EMH2 demonstration. Putting down his cup of punch, Lee walked over and whispered in Deiran's ear.

"Hey 'mate. I need to beam down to Earth for a meeting with Senator Hansen. I should be back in an hour or so."

Deiran turned and looked at Captain Price. "Anything I should know about Lee?"

"To be honest 'mate, I have no idea what it is the Senator wants to meet with me about. When I know something I'll fill you in if I can."

"Well, the Galaxy will be here when you get back sir." Deiran smiled.

Lee patted his First Officer on the shoulder. "Of course she will 'mate. G'day."

With that Captain Price exited the revamped sickbay deck and headed for the nearest transporter to beam down to Earth for this unexpected meeting with Senator Hansen.

"The Happiest Place on Earth"
or
"You've just vanquished a horde of invaders from an alternate universe, what are you going to do now?"

Mr. Shtik &
K’Alin Aldrea Noras

"Ah…Good morning, Commander. Are you ready for our field trip, sir?" Ensign Noras asked as Lt. Commander Shtik entered the transporter room. Shtik simply took his place on the transporter pad in answer to her question, completely numb to emotion and staring like stone as he stood.

"Very well, I’ll consider that a ‘yes,’” she said enthusiastically, stepping onto the pad next to Shtik. “Energize!" K'Alin ordered the transporter chief. The familiar light came up around them, briefly transforming their existence into a void of nothing before allowing them to arrive at their destination.

After they’d fully materialized into front of the gate, K'Alin let out a small smile. In contrast his escort, Shtik over compensated in his attempt to avoid smiling by forcing his face into a small frown.

Thus it was this personification of the comedy and tragedy masks made their way down the main street of the stereotypical antiquated American small town road leading them to the looming castle that dominated the end of the avenue. K’Alin had previously insisted on an illogical movement plan through the theme park: one of complete randomness. Their first stop hadn’t been previously determined, but K’Alin knew that they would simply know when they came across it.

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

"I believe this would actually present an argument against the acceptance of human emotional involvement." Shtik grumbled as their small boat floated past the small, doll-like animatronic Andorians, Vulcans, Humans and even Klingons and Cardassians. Meanwhile, their song repeated yet again.

"It's a small universe after all. It's a small universe after all..."

K’Alin let out a small laugh; the high little voices of the somewhat clumsily constructed characters did not allow her to contain the mirth that they created. It was then that each individual character began repeating the refrain in the native language of the culture it represented.

The Vulcan figurine, sounding rather monotonous and stiff, stood militarily as it sang the song with no enthusiasm. It seemed to poke fun at Shtik and his insistence that logic was all that mattered. K’Alin simply turned an unimpressed smile at it, allowing Shtik to see that her facial expression applied to both the Vulcan that was singing and the one that was sitting next to her.

When the Klingon doll figure began singing in the harsh tongue of Klingonese with such a high pitched, strange sounding voice. It crowed through the refrain in the fashion of the Klingon opera, which made the little Ha’dIbaH seem all the more ridiculous. K’Alin got stitches in her side from laughing so hard, Shtik regarded her with a raised eybrow.

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

"This is an exceptionally poor representation of space flight."

Just then, the small rocket shaped roller coaster car took off into Space Mountain. For ten straight minutes, wind tore at the hair and eyelashes of the two Vulcans, filling their ears with what warp would probably sound like were it heard by humanoid ears. Screams of excitement filled the air as riders waved their arms through the wild breeze. Like stars passing by at light speed, multicolored lights flashed in every direction, almost simulating the feeling of the Borg’s transwarp technology. The ride seemed too brief as it came to a screeching stop. K’Alin stood up, pushed her hair behind her shoulders in a dignifying manner, and looked to Shtik with a breathless grin. Shtik simply stared forward, stunned frozen for several minutes.

“Wish I would’ve bet you replicator credits on that one!” K'Alin tried to brush down some of Shtiks windswept hair.

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

"I insist that the teacups make me sick!"

“Well, if Starfleet Zero-G exercises did, too, then you’ll just have to suffer it again.”

K’Alin wouldn’t take no for an answer, and she ended up having to put Shtik in a jujitsu wristlock to get him into the teacup. As the safety engineers activated the ride, K’Alin let go of Shtik’s wrist and began screaming along with the rest of the tourists. Unlike most people she’d met, it took quite a bit to get K’Alin dizzy. Well, the teacups were a perfect way to show exactly how much it took to do so. Within minutes, she stepped out, very disoriented but still able to stand. Shtik took a single step from the teacup before promptly falling flat on his face from the rush of blood to his brain. K’Alin burst out laughing, giggling insanely until the dizziness and mirth finally overtook her and pushed her to fall on the group behind Shtik. Even Shtik snorted out a small chortle before letting the briefest of smiles cross his lips. Finally, the two picked themselves up to continue their “pilgrimage of mirth.”

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

K'Alin knew that slapping a superior officer was against regulations, but she instinctively reacted when she saw the Lieutenant Commander produce a smuggled-in tricorder and attempt to scan the inhabitants of the Haunted Mansion.

Oh well, she though, we’re not on duty, so I’m technically allowed. Positioning her hand in a flat fashion, she lightly smacked Shtik upside his hide with the side of her palm.

“Ow! What was that for?!” Shtik said out loud in indignation.

“For bringing a tricorder on shore leave! Don’t you know that’s against regulations?”

Shtik raised his hand slightly, as if about to answer, but K’Alin quickly put her hand over his mouth. “Shut up…and don’t answer that. At least now, I know that I’ve had at least a little effect on you because you’re being illogical.”

“Likewise,” Shtik answered mischievously. Of course, K’Alin decked him again for that.

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

"Did you see the latest animated classic? 'Disney's Lady Chatterly’s Lover'?"

"Yes, but I disagree with how they insisted on changing the ending."

"Look, 'Pirates of the Orion Nebula!' I remember being quite fond of that as a youngster!" Shtik pulled on K'Alin's arm, steering her toward the attraction. Shaking her head, K’Alin smiled and giggled as she allowed Shtik, like a small child, to pull her anxiously toward what he so highly anticipated.

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

Shtik paused and watched the sight before him. A small lump formed in his throat as he watched a family of Tellerite triplets receiving hugs and autographs from the Big Bad Wolf.

“Penny for your thoughts?” K’Alin asked, a pleasant sound in her voice and concerned light in her eyes.

“Just … memories … and regrets.”

K’Alin nodded, understanding completely. “Come on,” she said encouragingly. “Let’s put a few of those to rest.”

The two Vulcans walked off toward the beginning sunset, in search of more memories to make.

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

Just outside of the new "Hall of Federation Presidents" was a collection of representations of historical events and figures. Shtik stood next to a painting of the crew of the original Enterprise and stared at it. Standing just to the side of Captain James Kirk in the picture was Spock of Vulcan. A plaque, with the quote “Logic is the beginning of knowledge, not the end,” rested below the image of Spock. Shtik stood there for a

moment, contemplating the Vulcan’s meaning.

“I think I’m beginning to see what Ambassador Spock meant,” Shtik told K’Alin.

“Good,” K’Alin replied, nodding. “Then you’ve begun to understand.”

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

The fireworks lit up the dark sky over the castle. As Jiminy Cricket sang his signature song, a small, barely noticeable tear slipped down Shtik's cheek as he sang along.

"When you wish upon a star..."

"Filing a complaint"
Lt Tim O'Connell
Lt Anna Gartner
Lt(jg) Mike Palika

Tim frowned as Mike signed off. What the hell was that about. Immediately he checked the on call roster and picked a name. He tapped his combadge, "O'Connell to Gartner."

A musing voice chimed back, replying. "Anna Gartner is out of her mind right now, but she'll be back in five minutes.... This is a recording."

Tim smiled, shaking his head. "Once you get back, care to meet me in 10 Forward."

"I could swing on by." Anna said. "Business or pleasure?"

"This is business Buff, we have to take a complaint."

"Anything serious?"

"Might be, Lt(jg) Palika said it involved harassment of a cadet." Harassment was one of Tim O'Connell's pet hatreds, being from a large family with tons of relatives and 80% involved in law enforcement he had picked it up from their stories. "So get your mind straight and let's see what's up."

"My mind is straight, it's my head that's on crooked." Anna giggled through Tim's combadge. "Gartner, out."

O'Connell stood in his quarters, smirking slightly. Her wondered how Neil puts up with Anna's antics. You either loved her or hate her, there was no real middle ground with her.

After kissing Brooke goodbye he walked out and over to the turbolift. He took it to one of the senior officer quarters and waited for Anna to emerge from the quarters she shared with Kalln.

A heartbeat later, the blond and petite security walked out and greeted him with a playful punch to his shoulder. "Hey, Timmy! Long time and no see! How's Brooke and the little one?"

"Brooke's fine, little one is making her sick as hell. Her exact words, " He grinned, "of course I informed her that you would be babysitting, she said ok..." The two officers headed in to the lift, "best I can understand it Palika contacted me said he wants to file a complaint, I guess he's pretty serious about this. He didn't give me much in the way of details so we'll just see what he says when we get there."

"A complaint!" Anna crowed. "I just *love* paper work!"

Tim nodded, "Have you met Mike yet?, can't miss him, helmsman who seems to resemble a small building."

"When you say small building, do you mean outhouse size?" Anna inquired.

"Close enough but I would avoid risking calling him an outhouse to his face." Tim warned, as he approached the turbolift. "His neck is thicker than your leg."

Tim entered the lift with a wide eyed Anna following him inside, saying.

"And why isn't he working in security if he's that freaking BIG?!"

***

Mike sat at his table in 10-Forward slowly sipping a tall glass of ice water. He would have preferred blood wine. He would have also preferred heading right back to the holodeck and summoning up a roomful of breakable objects to vent his emotions on. But giving in to either of those desires would have been a bad idea, just as tearing that scum bucket Kirk in half would have been a bad idea. For the most part, Mike was a pretty laid back guy. He tried to foster the no worries attitude whenever possible. But he drew the line when it came to harassment of women. It had taken every once of his control and professionalism to handle the situation the way he had. And now, he was obligated to see it through, regardless of what JJ Kirk or Cadet Susan Jones might have wanted.

Mike looked up as he caught a flash of gold from the doorway across the lounge. Tim sauntered in and surveyed the room in a manner only security officers could do. Always watchful, even when there wasn't a hint of danger to be found. Right on his heels was a second security officer, a petite blonde he'd yet to meet. Her face immediately made him take notice, and not just because of the prominent scar on one side, a rarity in an age of dermal regenerators, No, it was something else. There was a hardness beneath the attractive surface, something that spoke of a mind and a body that had logged more miles than her age would make one think. It was a look that was becoming far too common in the Federation, as the survivors of the Dominion War came to grips with their experiences.

Tim spotted Mike from across the room and motioned his partner to follow "Thanks for coming so quickly." Said Mike, once they were within earshot. "Pull up some chairs and take a load off. I've got a disturbing story to pass on to you."

Mike watched them take a seat next to him but he noticed the blond security officer was scrutinizing him, looking at him like he had something on his collar. She turned to Tim in an accusing voice. "His neck isn't thicker than my leg! His arms perhaps."

Tim froze for a second before clearing his voice. "Ahem... Mike Palika, this is Anna Gartner. Sarcasm is just one more service that she has to offer being in security."

Anna tossed Mike a bright and wryly smile. "Pleased to meet you and any rumors that you heard about me has a strong chance of being true."

"Rumors, on the Galaxy?" said Mike with a grin. "I don't pay too much attention to those. Besides, with over a thousand officers and crew, what are the odds I might have heard any about you, Anna?" His eyes twinkled as he spoke. In fact, he had overheard her name mentioned in 10-Forward once or twice, something about her sleeping with a giant lizard. Obviously, the lizard reference must have been some sort of inside joke, probably referring to some sleazy ex-boyfriend.

Tim cleared his throat. "Ok so what's this story?" He asked his hands drumming the table.

The grin on Mike's face was replaced with a more serious demeanor. He slid two padds across the table. "I prepared these after I called you. They go into the full details of the incident, but the long and the short of it is this... About an hour ago, I was returning to my quarters from the holodecks when I came across an officer, Ensign JJ Kirk, sexually harassing a fourth year cadet by the name of Susan Jones. The harassment included unwanted physical advances that continued in spite of Cadet Jones's unmistakable vocal protests. I was fortunate enough to arrive in time to intervene."

"Did anything else happen?" Anna asked in a serious tone, her playful demeanor now gone. She pulled out a small PADD from her belt and started recording notes into it. "Why are you filing a report and not Cadet Jones?"

"Nothing else happened that isn't covered in my report." Mike replied. Truth to tell, the whole sordid incident took about ten seconds from beginning to end. But from what I saw, a heck of a lot more might have happened had I not wandered by at the right time." He paused to take a sip of his ice water before continuing. The next matter was a bit more sensitive. "As for why I'm the one filing the report... The cadet, Susan Jones, was really rattled by this. And not just because of what Kirk did, but because of what she fears could happen to her professionally were this to go on her record. She's at no fault in this, but try convincing her of that. I did my best to reassure her afterwards, but I'm no counselor."

Tim nodded and listened silently his head swimming with offenses he committed and who to interview. He came back to the conversation a few seconds later.

"And even if she refuses to file." Said Mike. "You can make a case for conduct unbecoming an officer." Mike learned forward, placing his elbows on the table. "Look, if it sounds like I'm really zealous to nail this guy, it's because I am. It took everything I had in me not to put the Kolohe into traction. If he gets away with it this time, he's going to do it again. Of that I have no doubt!"

Tim nodded again, "Yea I know, this guy is going down. I go to Commander Casey with this, I guarantee he'll end up in the brig for sure. " HE started to think of how to get this guy, "First thing we need to do is get the young cadet on the record. "Anna, I'd like you to interview her. Take Astrid with you, I'll grab Mike Mulch and young Mr Lockhart and interview Mr Kirk. We'll go from there. He ain't getting away with this that's for sure."

"Good idea." Anna grumbled angrily. "I might feel the need to skin Mr. Kirk alive if I had to meet him face to face."

"Well, I'll leave it in your capable hands then." Said Mike, leaning back in his chair. The two security officers rose and made ready to depart.

"Don't worry Mike." Said Tim. "We'll take care of things. Count on it."

"I will, thanks." Mike replied. He watched as Tim and Anna exited the lounge. He downed the rest of his drink and thought dark thoughts about JJ Kirk. His kind of animal had no place on a Federation starship, and the sooner he was made to see the error of his ways, the better.

"R&R"
By Lieutenant-JG Mikala Pailaka

***Waimea Bay, North Shore, Oahu***

Mike folded his arms behind his head and luxuriated in the warm sun and salt spray from the ocean. The white sand clung to his well-muscled back as he soaked in the rays and concentrated on doing as little as possible. It had been a good two weeks, plenty of time to relax and enjoy life again, after the horrors of the Galaxy's last mission.

He'd just flown in from Treasure Cay in the Bahamas, where he'd spent a week as a volunteer diving on a recently discovered 16th century Spanish Galleon. Before that, he'd been free diving off of the Barrier Reef. He intended to spend the last few days of his vacation hitting the curls all across North Shore. There was Sunset, Ehukai, Haleiwa and if he had the time, a day at Mahaka to catch the famous winter surf. And if he was real lucky, he might even hook up with a few more of the local Wahines before he was through.

'Speaking of which..' Mike thought, as a shapely shadow fell over him. "Ho Brah!" he said, his face breaking into a broad smile. "Awe! You looking onolisicious!"

Mike heard the shadow break into delighted laughter. "Howzit Braddah? Can't da kine a Sistah?"

Mike shot to his feet in surprise. "Sis?" he said in astonishment, dropping out of 'pidgen' and back into normal speech. "Sis!" He folded the dark skinned beauty in front of him into his arms and lifted her off her feet. He twirled her around, laughing in delight before setting her back down gently. "Awe! What are you doing here Leilani?"

"Happy to see me?" she said, beaming radiantly.

"What, you kidding?" said Mike with a broad smile. "I'm thrilled! But how did you manage to track me down?"

"Not so hard." Said Lelani, tossing back her long chestnut brown hair. "Did ya think we wouldn't hear about the Galaxy getting into McKinley?"

"Yeah, I figured." Said Mike. "But last I heard, you were doing your cadet cruise on the USS Babbage."

"Sure was." Said Lelani with a grin. "Until the CSO recommended me for a position on the USS Pathfinder, complete with promotion to Ensign!"

"Field promotion?" said Mike, smiling proudly. "You always were a little go-getter, sis."

"Like you're not!" she replied with mocking humor. "Dis from a man flying around the USS Galaxy all over the place. How's that like? You got a good department chief?"

Mike grinned from ear to ear. "Sis, you're looking at the Galaxy's Helm Chief!"

Lenlani squealed and gave Mike a huge hug. "Already, Brah? Wow!" She slipped her arm around his waist and started leading him down the beach. "OK, time to geev'um and talk story before I need to give you da stink eye!"

The two siblings spent the next few hours strolling long the shoreline, catching up on old times. Mike was incredibly proud of his little sister. She was going to make one hell of a scientist! And one hell of a heart breaker as well. Lelani was a rare beauty, with the best physical traits of her Hawaiian father and Swedish mother. Fortunately, she also knew how to defend herself. Mike had seen to that when they were young.

"So, anyone special?" asked Lelani as the pair paused to watch the setting sun.

"Nah, nothing like that." Said Mike with a shrug.

Lelani grabbed his chin in her hand and turned his head around so that she could look directly into his eyes. "Yeah, sure." She said with a grin. "C'mon, what's her name?"

"Was her name.." replied Mike, removing his sister's grip on his chin.

"Oh." Said Lelani, turning her gaze back to the sunset. "You said there were some bad times last voyage."

"Oh yeah." Said Mike. "Plenty bad enough. She was one of the unlucky ones."

"Sorry to hear that." Said Lelani. "You real close?"

"Not really, but there was potential." He let out a heavy sigh. This was not his favorite topic, but he knew his Sis. She was not about to let go.

"Anyone else then? It's a big ship from what I hear."

"Yeah, and there's a lot of that going on." Said Mike. "You practically have to shove balls of wax in your ears to keep out the constant flow of gossip on who's doing what with whom."

"But not for you."

"Nope." Said Mike. "Way I see it, I'm there to fly, and to do whatever else I can in a pinch. Anything else happens along, I'll play it by ear."

Lelani's face broke into a wicked grin. "You just need to walk around the Galaxy with your shirt off more. You'd get plenty of action!" She elbowed Mike in the ribs playfully.

"Yeah, like I need that kind of grief!" said Mike, rolling his eyes.

"You work so hard to look that way, Braddah." Said Lelani. "Why not flaunt it?"

"Same reason you don't walk around on the Pathfinder in a bikini!" replied Mike, shooting her his annoyed brother look.

Lelani grinned from gear to ear, her eyes twinkling mischievously. "And who says that I don't?" She wiggled her hips suggestively for emphasis.

Mike fell to the sand laughing, tears in his eyes. Lelani covered her mouth with her hands and tried to hold back her own laughter, but to no avail. Two minutes later, after they had finally composed themselves, they got to their feet and started making their way back up the coast.

"Awe! It feels good to laugh like that again!" said Mike.

"You looked like you needed it, big bro." Said Lelani, tussling his hair. "Now all you need to do is carry that with you back to the Galaxy."

"You got it Sis." Said Mike with a smile. "Can't go refusing an order like that! Now let's get back to my bungalo. I'm buying dinner tonight!"

***One Week Later, 10-Forward***

Mike looked out of the observation window, past McKinley station and the glowing blue planet below. Earth wasn't home, but thanks to his little sister, for a few days it had been close enough.

Mike felt a well-manicured green hand on his shoulder. "Get you anything, Lieutenant?"

"Why Electra." Mike said with a smile. "That almost sounded friendly! Have I been released from your dog house?"

"We'll see." Said the Orion barkeep. "You keep behaving yourself and staying away from bad influences like Deiran Casey, and you might just be salvageable." She leaned over his shoulder and whispered in his ear. "Besides, word is you helped get security onto that prick Kirk's ass. That earns you a gold star in my book."

"I'll be sure to save it for a rainy day." Mike replied. "Meantime, how about a tall glass of Orange Juice?"

"You got it." Said Electra.

Mike sighed contentedly. It was good to be back.

*** ***

Lieutenant-JG Mikala Pailaka
Chief Helmsman, USS Galaxy
AKA
David Friedland
ICQ # 5805168

Lt.jg Jake Olson

*****Sickbay

Jake Olson handed out the drinks and sat down, a sober look on his face. "I didn't know this situation involved more than a fight. I guess I didn't figure that something like this could happen,"

He looked at T-Prea. "I know it's cold comfort, but I feel like an idiot." There was no smile on his face. "I stumbled on them, saw a tussle, and clocked JJ in the head with a tricorder. I didn't know enough to ask questions until just recently."

"You still," T-Prea said.

"No, I put everything into a pair of hands that knew what to do with it." Jake replied. "I've blundered enough. I've hurt you, I don't know if anyone else got hurt, I don't know!" Jake looked into T-Prea's eyes. "I am a scientist, but I am not able to understand the way the mind can crap up, and I didn't want anything else to go rotten!" The last was heated.

"What do you mean?" T-Prea asked.

"Frankly, my going and doing what I feel like doing may create more harm than good." Jake felt a small smile tug at his lips. "Heaven forbid some one else should get a hold of the choclated exlax I wanted to steal from med bay to give him, that would be far too problematic!"

T-Prea knew well what exlax could do, and felt a giggle burst forth. Now that was the reaction of a man who loved a woman. It was also typical Jake, a bit more violent, but Jake.

Karen smiled, she understood the guy's feelings. Jake didn't act on feeling though. He chose to contact her.

"I have not sense layed eyes on JJ Kirk long enough to say 'doo doo'. When I saw him at work, he did all the talking, then tried to brain me with a beaker. Then, there was a trio in the room. Well, a quartet, but Sullar was scooted out.

=====
SANDY
Sandy Rene = AIM
Craftycorner = ICQ #36247063

"End of a chapter"
Lt Tim O'COnnell
and
Ens JJ Kirk (NPC)

JJ Kirk was pacing the cell. His lie about the tossed Beaker wasn't bought by Sullax. But what did not make sense at all was why he was here, in a small room, waiting for security of all things.

Tim picked up his padd and watched Kirk through the one way mirror. This guy would have no clue what was about to hit him. He was going down. In a moment of self respect he almost felt pity for the young ensign. He had no clue what was about to hit him. But he brought it on himself.

The door opened. "Hello JJ." Tim said. "So you have no clue why you're here?" he asked, knowing he wouldn't have a clue, and that nugget of information would not come out untill he selected the time.

"No." Kirk vagely recognized this security grunt. "Jake been telling stories? He's chattering all over the ship, can't trust 'em." JJ decided to toss a problem Jake's way. He saw it as Jake's fault, the nerd didn't stand up for him in front of the 'Rommie'.

Tim sat down and set up a padd, "I am required to inform you under regulation 7-021-86a that you are under investigation, and this is an interview as to those investigatory details, as such I am required to inform you that you have the right to remain silent and not answer any questions. If you choose to answer questions anything you say can be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to request counsel if you desire but cannot afford counsel we will of course provide it free of charge."

Tim looked sincere as hell, it was an old trick, "but let's face it my friend, talking would be a good thing, because.....she did." He lowered his voice, "she told us everything, and right now my commanding officer is outside waiting to charge you. If you want to save your career I'd say something."

"A toddler taddled over my tossing a beaker?" JJ had a very short term memory.

Tim looked at him, "this is more serious then a beaker." He walked around the table and put his hand on the back of the chair, "you're going away JJ, the young reciepent of your macho advances told us everything and right now you are looking at some very serious charges, you'll end up in prison for sure. I don't want that. I know you didn't mean anything to happen."

"What are you talking about?" JJ looked up with genuine puzzlement. "What girl?"

Tim sighed and then decided to show some anger. He slammed his hand down on the table and yelled at him, "The one you assaulted you twit." He glared, "I hope you grow a brain, befoer you get in to prison. Because you are going to need it when a large inmate takes you as his wife." Tim then began a brutal description of prison life for the young ensign, purposfully increasing the depth, "And they're harder on rapists like you...." Tim spoke quietly, "because you know she's filing charges, the cadet. Sexual harassment, and misconduct, plus we're still looking in to your past, who knows what other skelatons are in your closet."

Susan squealed? Bullshit. "Jake's setting you up." JJ said. "Jake's been trying to disrupt my life. He's pissy. Your being set up." JJ couldn't imagine himself being anyone's 'wife', he lost it. He sent a right hook into Tim's face.

Tim couldn't believe how stupid this ensign was, the punch was so poorly telegraphed that tim expertly blocked it and slammed him across the table. After applying the binders he pulled him back, "oh I can't believe you did that." By this time 3 officers ran in and Tim waved them out. "you want to act like a punk I'll treat you like a punk. We got the information we know....Everything.... all your sleazy shenadigance, the women you harassed, considering you couldn't score in real life it's pretty pathetic." Tim rested his hand on the table, his wedding ring glinted in the light.

"Your one of Jake's pet..."

"What?"

"Your one of Jake's pets." JJ clarified with anger, his face was still pretty dispite the flush. "His gofer, I bet he's been with," The insinuation didn't get far. Jake had been treated by Brook Ames and had sold her several items, but that meant little, as Tim saw all of the objects. Jake sold things to every one.

Tim smirked and then chuckled, "Sounds like maybe you're either jealous of Jake or you've got a little crush on him." Then he laughed out loud, "that's it, you are actually attracted to him and youre jealous of T prea, you want him for yourself."

"I ain't no fucking queer!" Tim hit a very tender spot. To say JJ Kirk was homophobic was to say Klingons tend tward aggression. He lunged at this -prick- whom had the NERVE to question JJ's masculinity. He lunged a kick at the family jewels. "Jake would not survive!" JJ cackled, loosing all of his swave vaneer, he just wanted to pound this idiot into the ground.

Tim laughed, "Forget it JJ you ain't got the brains or balls to try a thing. Besides it all makes sense now, you're just overcompensating, you are so deep in the closet you're scared to come out. Well Prison will let you out. You'll go in struttin' and come out swishing."

He laughed loudly at his wit, "But let's face it you wouldn't know what to do with a woman if one bit you."

Kirk was still lashing, but damn, he couldn't get his hands on the fucker. "Liar! You ain't knowin' nothin'!" JJ's english went down the toilet. He'd been with girls, a lot of them back in his days on ship 'til his Dad cracked down, sense, it had been porno. At least this asshole didn't know about that.

Besides, prison had been cleaned up, that kind of bullshit didn't happen anymore.

Tim looked at JJ and stared deeply. He saw in to his life and saw it as a sad lonely existance where porn was his only lover, because no woman would have him. "Forget it JJ. You are so busted." He set down a padd, "so do you want to give a statement or would you rather just know you're going to prison."

JJ was exausted. What happened? Who was this fucker? At least he fucked Jake over first. "Least there ain't no fucking aliens there," JJ Kirk said. He was a closet Xenophobe, but like everything else, he was able to hide it for years.

Tim smirked, "There are, Naussicans, Klingons, Andorians, Vulcans, and other species, you'll be sharing a cell with a large Klingon, better learn the klingon word for wife, because you are about to become a wife." HE picked up a padd, "but I didn't think you'd ever have to harass some poor cadet."

"Bullshit! BULLSHIT! There ain't none! Prison's been cleaned up in Federation and there ain't nothing but Humans! No species mixing!" JJ shouted. He couldn't know about some Klingon fag! He couldn't, JJ thought desperately. "Get your fucking hands off of meeee!"

"You know I'd respect you more if you acted like a man and gave it up. Instead you act like some punk. Face it the Federation may be a great place but prison's prison, bad people do bad things, and you sure don't get to pick your cellmate pal. Species mixing is a way of life."

He walked out of the interview room and watched the sweating soon to be ex officer. "He's panicing." Tim smirked "perfect." Mike Mulch was silent and watching the look on JJ's face. "Now what?" he asked.

Tim read a padd which contained the conduct unbecoming an officer and the assault charges. "He's not giving me much to work with, he's too unstable to keep a train of thought. I may need to go full psyco mode. I won't lay a hand on him, but I need to rattle him. So just watch and learn."

He left. Relief. JJ felt relief, there was something odd about him.

The door opened and Tim stormed in, he could sense the tension in the room he just ratched it up. "So you gonna give a statement or are you too much of a coward to do that."

"I've done nothing wrong." JJ Kirk told Tim confidantly. And in his eyes, he had done nothing wrong.

"Let's see." Tim consulted a padd, "you harassed a cadet, assaulted a superior officer, we have several reports of insubordination, plus conduct unbecoming an officer. And that's just a start. I've got more just waiting, we're going over your miserable existance with a fine tooth comb, eventually we'll find things you don't want out." He leaned in and whispered dangerously, "and when we do I promise you I will be in your life 24/7 I will be your worst nightmare."

"A Rommie don't count. Sullax is a fucking Romulan! He is dangerus, don't you get it! He's a menice, there ain't no such thing as a good Rommie! Yea, disobeying a Rommie don't count!"

Kirk then sneered. "T-Prea don't have taste, let her know what a man's like, her fucking that worm Jake! Gotta teach her that some worm can't do nottin for her!"

Tim raised an eyebrow, "so you wanted to show her what a real man could do eh?" He kept a neutral expression. "But she said no, didn't she?"

Kirk just laughed. A nasty laugh. "Sure," Which was plenty for Tim. "Why do I need to listen to -her- for? Stupid bitch."

==30 minutes later==

Tim picked up the statement dictated in to a padd and walked out totally ignoring JJ Kirk. "Remove the prisoner. I have to talk to Commander Albircht. We got enough to hang this scumbag.

Two security officers walked the now ex starfleet officer out of the interrogation room. Then Tim walked in to the office of the Chief of Security. "CHief, things just got worse with this whole Kirk situation."

= = = = = = =
Lt. jg T-prea
ACMO
USS Galaxy
= = = = = = =

T-prea herself was completely in awe with the new sickbay. She had to try everything at least once. But her favorite was the new EMH2...

He was simply amazing...Not like the dead beat first prototype that would do his work as expected but had no.....no...pizazze to him.

Martin....He called himself now had a real flair for the dramatics. He seemed to make the men feel comfortable forgetting their masculinity coming in and as for the women....well he really knew just how to put on the charm....sweatening the candy even more.....

And talking about Candy....that is exactly what he was giving out to the children as he treated them...bringing smiles to their little faces and taking away the fear of sickbay let alone a hologram image.

To T-prea he seemed more then that...and she really liked him....

As the festivities began to wind down T-prea walked over to where Jake had been seated .....smiled...and leaned against the counter as they talked.

Ever since that day things just haven't been the same between them...Jake unsure of himself and what he did...or was doing... And t-prea becoming withdrawn even more....

They would get together but would find themselves so distant... They had not even been together intimately in many weeks now.

Mostly T-prea would shut herself up in her quarter's when she was done her shift.... Sometimes take any messages or answer her door...Jake was beginning to worry about her,

This was the first time he had seen her in almost a week. Since they had been in sickbay with the counselor....

Jake was thinking maybe it would be a good idea if they went to see her as she had told them the door was always open if either of them needed to talk. Jake wanted to convince T-prea to see her...if not with him then alone...

At least she would be talking to someone. He felt like such an idiot....not realizing what had happened to her and for dismissing it so easily with his own solution....Not even taking into consideration how T-prea had fewlt about it...

All he knew was that he loved her and he knew she loved him, but how do they get passed this....

"Visiting Sickbay and a Question"
by Dr. Brooke Ames O'Connell

Brooke had arrived late to see the new sickbay. She walked around for a while but got tired out. She sat in a corner, watching the EMH and getting a kick out of him. This one was completely different. She heard two nurses talking and found out through them that this EMH had a name. She had been saying that the EMH needed it's program changed to reflect the times. Finally, someone did something about it and she was pleased with the results. Now if they could make them look younger and gorgeous, she'd be satisfied. She looked over to see T'prea talking to Jake. Talking to herself, "I hope things work out for them." Her attention was then brought by a child who remembered her several months ago as the one who made her arm all better. The little girl gave her a hug and then ran off. Brooke was touched and she made her realized how much she liked her job.

Brooke got up and decided to familiarize herself again with Sickbay. As she walked around, some stopped her to congratulate her on her marriage and the pregnancy, most of whom she didn't even know. That wasn't saying much as she didn't know but a handful of people, most of which were Tim's friends.

She walked over to T'prea. There was something she wanted to ask her. "Hi Brooke" T'prea acknowledged her, "what do you think of our new Sickbay?"

"I like it. Um, can I talk to you?" T'prea stepped off to the side with her.

"Is there a problem with the baby?" T'prea asked with concern.

"No, I just don't feel comfortable with the one who has been doing my monthly check ups and I was wondering if you would take over them?" Brooke stood with anticipation, waiting for her answer.

= = = = = = =
Lt. jg T-prea
ACMO
USS Galaxy
= = = = = = =

"Do you want to have dinner together...?" Jake asked T-prea.

"I guess we could..." She answered.

"Then I will pick you up at your quarter's in a little bit...?" He asked again.

"I guess so..." She answered.

Jake wanted to do something special...something that would maybe help take T-prea's mind off of what had happened to her...between them.... He had his task cut out for him....

Just then Brooke walked over to speak to T-prea....

Jake gave T-prea a kiss and smiled at Brooke....

"Then you will excuse me ladies..." Jake told them.

"I just don't feel comfortable with the one who has been doing my monthly check-ups and I was wondering if you would take over them?" Brooke asked with an almost pleading look on her face.

"Of course I would....It would be a treat for me...I love kids... Hoped to have some of my own one day...but..." T-prea stated and then stopped herself....changing the subject real fast.

"So how is married life...? Does it feel any different then before...? I mean you know what they say about men...and after you marry them... T-prea inquired.

"So how is married life...? Does it feel any different then before...? I mean you know what they say about men...and after you marry them... T-prea inquired.

"Married life...it's great. I think by us being married, it's kind of kept Neil off my back. I don't think he thought that I'd ever go through with it but I showed him. It also seems when you marry your lover instead of just living with him, people tend to look at you different. So yeah, it does feel different...as for Tim, he's still the sweetest and most caring man as the day I met him. But he is already driving me crazy with his constant worrying about me and the baby."

T'prea looked at her, "And you're complaining?"

Brooke smiled, "No, I just wish that he would not worry as much, that's all. Look, I need to go. I'll set an appointment up with you later. Thanks."

"First Mission"

By Ensign Michael S. Cutts,
Operations Officer

It was Michael's first mission since he'd left the Exeter and he was thrilled. The Galaxy was completely repaired and was ready to get underway. It had been almost nine weeks since he had come aboard and he'd met many people and made many friends. He had spent his last few moments on Earth with his old Academy girlfriend, Christine Silverwood, but alas he was leaving her for a long time. The vessel she was assigned to was charting new space towards the Delta Quadrant and could possibly be destroyed by the Borg, however Michael didn't want to think of that.

He entered ten-forward looking for company, but there was none, hardly anyone was in the room. He turned around and thought about seeing one of superiors about something to do.

After seeing Lt. Uhura, Michael was told that some of the Shuttle Ops and Stores personnel needed some help in one of the cargo bays on deck 38, so he went down there.

He arrived on deck 38 and as he walked past Security, Kirk was being taken inside, it looked as though he'd finally got what he deserved. He arrived at the cargo bays moments later to find about ten people moving containers around ready for departure. There was no officer in the room so Michael was senior for a change. A petty officer walked up to him.

"Hello sir," he said. "Anything I can do for you?"

"No thanks PO, I just came down to help," Michael replied.

"We don't really need anyone sir," the PO replied.

He was right everyone was doing their job well and it was almost finished. "I'll see you later then," Michael said and left.

It seemed like no-one needed help anywhere on the ship, but there was no-one in ten-forward not doing anything. He made his may to the battle bridge on deck 8 to find out whether an Ops officer was needed to man the station while the ship was departing, it was something to do anyway. If this was what missions were like he'd have preferred to stay at the Academy.

Andy Heeley
aka. Ensign Michael S. Cutts
Operations Officer
andy@heeley98.freeserve.co.uk

Ensign Seth Zonhieb
Security Officer
USS Galaxy

The transporter pad light up as a signal was caught in the buffers. Atoms of light sparkled and shined as they assembled and filled the pad. "Must be something wrong the mass we're receiving is enough for 3 people." The transporter operator checked the buffer and held the transport slowly as a huge non human bone structure assembled. This was followed shortly with cords of thick muscles stacked on top of one another. The final touch was a layer of green scales.

“Welcome to the USS Galaxy” Capt. Price said holding out a hand offering a shake. “I would not recommend that.” The new comer held up a clawed hand. “Even without these my strength would crush your bones.” His face was all teeth, long sharp teeth, so it was difficult to tell if it was smiling or not.

"Ensign Seth Zonhieb reporting for duty." the gorn towered over everyone. "I'm Captain Price. This is your new boss Lieutenant Commander Matthew Albrecht."

“Remind me never to get into a fight with that guy around.” someone commented. “You could have warned me I was getting a Gorn.” Albrecht flashed a look at Price. "Follow me ensign I'll take you to your quarters." the chief of security said. As Seth left the room he ducked through the door.

Albrecht escorted Seth to his quarters on deck 33 section Sigma Epsilon, better known as 'the bottom of the barrel' to Ensigns. Located on the lowest deck of the Galaxy class ships at the very back tucked in behind the warp core a few dedicated Special Environment quarters.

Matt left the huge Gorn out side his quarters while he programmed the environmental controls with his knuckles; His sharp claws would scratch the delicate panel. With the room temp adjusted to 38 degrees Celsius, the humidity to 2%, the Luminosity to 200 Luxe.

When Seth entered, desert heat greeted him. He would have smiled if his teeth didn't always show. Now it was time for redecorating. Seth went into his bed room and picked up the queen size bed and tossed it out without realizing it was bolted down. He replicated a pile of rocks that would get warm in the heat. Next all the tables and chairs were removed. To sit on, more rocks. He blanketed the floor with sand and his room was done.

Barren as it should be. Warm like it should be. Dry like it should be.

Then the gorn moved to the replicator to reprogram it. He doubted anyone on board would like to see him eat raw meat. He also transfered all his hunting programs to the holodeck. When he finished the reprogramming he left the room and headed toward sickbay.

Mothers pulled their children close to them as they saw the monster take up most of the hall. If it wasn't for the star fleet uniform Seth was sure they would call an intruder alert. Other officers stopped their conversations and made way for the lizard as he walked.

The turbo lift stopped seven times as he ascended up the decks but no one got on. "I'll catch the next lift." He walked onto the sickbay 5 minutes before his scheduled appointment.

"Back Aboard"

By Ensign Eric G. Odin
Engineer

Eric was glad to be able to serve aboard this massive Galaxy class ship. From what he had heard the refitting had improved the ship quite a bit, especially the Sickbay. He would have to check that out after he got resettled into his quarters. He had watched many holo-novels while on Earth and had been involved in some virtual reality holo-novels that had involved accessing the emotions as well which was a very unique experience.Especially since it was a war based holo-novel.

He had finally been able to compete in the Tri-style fighting tournament that consisted of scored fights in anti-gravity rooms as well as regular gravity. The hardest of all and the one he had the most trouble with was double gravity fighting.He had barely done well in that,but still pulled off a decent score. He was surprised when he was awarded the silver medal,but he was very glad he had got it.

After Eric had found a spot for his medal he finished unpacking he took to the corridors. He just walked around for awhile looking for any obvious improvements and decided that if he wanted to see obvious he'd have to head to Sickbay. When he arrived he was very impressed with the massive change the Sickbay was completely new. For abvios reasons since the last one had been completely wiped out.He had heard the new EMH had been completely redone and was very friendly. He decided he would meet with the EMH more than he would probably want to, but he would have to wait.

Eric left Sickbay after one last look around and he started walking back towards his quarters and thought that maybe he should introduce himself to the Counselor.He reached his quarters and sent a message through his terminal to her.It read as follows:

**Begin Message**

From:Ensign Odin
To:Lt.Cmdr. Dallas

Good day to you counselor I was wondering if you needed to meet with the new crew as they come aboard if so I'm open except for my shift in Engineering.Even if it isn't manditory I would like to meet with you to get acquanted.Please let me know at your earliest convienence.

**End Message**

"Movement"
by, Lt. Comdr. Raesene Hermedhie,
Chief Tactical Officer
-------------------------------------

Raesene was in a state of slumber, when Dierdren arrived from her short walk during Beta Shift. She sighed. She had hoped to be able to talk to Raesene about certain matters as they pertained to their marriage. And to certain things that would soon be coming into the picture.

She dressed for bed, then climbed in beside Raesene, snuggling up close to him. For a few minutes she watched him sleep, then she spoke softly, "Rae?" When he did not answer, she gently pushed him, "Rae? Wake up. I need to tell you something."

Raesene stirred slightly, but did not wake up. But his hand brushed her slim stomach. And it came to rest there. Until a small movement within pushed it away. This woke Raesene up. Especially when the movement was repeated several times in quick succession.

Raesene was perplexed by this. But the realization soon dwaned upon him. And a sense of awe pervaded the room. Dierdren looked on with a smile. "I wished to tell you differently, but this will do. I'm pregnant."

Raesene nodded slowly. "I can tell," he said hoarsely. "How long have you known?"

"For about a couple weeks. I've been trying to find a way to tell you. But it was difficult."

"It should not have been. I would have listened to you. This is a great event."

"Yes... But it is a little soon. I mean we were only married three and a half months ago."

"Yes, but the Lord willed it, and now we will live by it. He has deemed it important to grant us children, and we will have to make sure we teach them well."

"That we will do." Then, she leaned over and kissed him softly. "I am glad that you are happy with it. Now, we must discuss how to change the room for the child. Or children."

"We will deal with that later. Now, I think we should talk more about this wonder, rather than the results of it." They would talk for a few more hours, then go to sleep, before their next shifts.

"Ames and a Gorn named Seth"
by Dr. Brooke Ames, MD

Dr. Ames was working her shift when this giant lizard walked in. All of the Doctors started to act like they were super busy. Brooke watched as this large lizard approached her. He handed her a padd and Brooke motioned over to a bio-bed. He did as she asked. Brooke was in shock at first for she had never encounterd a Gorn, oh yeah, she studied about them but never actually met one, much less do a physical on one. Brooke tried to be very professional and not piss off this one.

Once done, she gave him her findings. "Ensign Zonhieb, you seem to be very physically fit for duty but I would suggest for you to lay off the little furry animals for awhile." She gave him a smile but the Gorn just wouldn't smile back.

"Okay, I think we are done here so if you don't have any questions, you may go."

CORRIDOR

Jake Olson, as usual, was oblivious to his surroundings. Polite and courteous as always, Jake did his job, or jobs as it was joked that the guy had nine lives, with all the precision and detail as always. His mind was focused far away, on his private life, but as he had a multifaceted mind, it didn't detour from his professional performance.

Jake walked past the new Gorn officer with out even a second glance. "Hello, welcome to the Galaxy," Jake greeted him with a distant friendliness. The Gorn nodded, and the Human breezed past.

There wasn't even the same distance kept that the others had kept from the large reptile. Jake didn't bump into him, but didn't steer around him either. Being treated like just another figure in the corridor was a slightly different experience for Ensign Seth Zonhieb. It wasn't normally he who made the double take, as he did the at small, cotton haired officer who walked past.

10-4

Jake and T-Prea talked over dinner. He didn't pressure her, or push. There was a feeling given that he was there for her.

They discussed the new hologram, the doctor was enthused with 'him'. Jake was fascinated from a scientific point of view, but then, Jake's curiosity was very easily roused.

"JJ Kirk's been arrested." T-Prea wanted to know Jake's feelings.

"Yes, I know. His family has disowned him, I directed the Kirks to a lawyer that would assist in the disinheritance." Jake didn't really know what T-Prea wanted, he kept his tone grave but neutral, treading carefully on the delicate subject.

"Disowned their son?" T-Prea was slightly shocked.

"Yes, Kirk cannot inherit or receive further monies from either the estate or the Kirks themselves. He will have to have Legal Aid for defense upon the upcoming trial as would any person with out any resources charged." Jake dropped the bombshell. "When he inters the Prison facility in which he will be housed, he will be listed as derelict and treated accordingly."

T-Prea took a bite, considering what she just heard. "He's their son." she finally said.

"Yes. That's true," Jake answered grimly. "However, this situation brought his mother to a near breakdown, and his father cannot forgive that. I can't, out of respect to her, discuss why this hit so hard. The reasons are very personal. But I can say, JJ had crossed a line that isn't crossed in that family by anyone. JJ Kirk will pay a very high price for doing so, as he is no longer legally a Kirk."

"Such a severe slashing of the ties, it's just hard to imagine." T-Prea said for something to say.

"In many Human cultures that would be the attitude, but not all cultures feel that way. The Klingon Empire for example, values honor above nearly all else. The Klingon who commits dishonor upon his House is disowned with out a second thought nearly with out exception. There are Human cultures with the same value structure, or similar. One's actions reflect on the family to various degrees from culture to culture, and the Kirk family is thinking more Klingon in this matter than Human."

"Because of the family name?"

"No. Has nothing to do with Jim Kirk the relation. The more recent past actually. Jim Jr. all but crapped a tribble. But as I said, I can't go into that. Needless to say, there has been a lot of activity over these past weeks." Jake finished quietly.

It was the first really good talk Jake and T-Prea had. She finally had an insight into what made this whole mess tick. Jake had not been avoiding her. She realized that there were people she didn't know badly hurt by this, an entire family was in absolute chaos. Also, there was huge amounts of latinum involved, making it more complicated for the Kirk family. A restructuring of the entire corporation.

"Is JJ their only son?" T-Prea thought of Dr. Aims and the baby she carried.

"Yes. He is."

It was a somber mood that was with the pair when Jake walked T-Prea home. The difference was, however, that they had talked. T-Prea was given another view of the situation. There was several people in this, all known and close to Jake. Not just her. Jake held her hand in his, a soft touch. A caring touch.

=====
SANDY
Sandy Rene = AIM
Craftycorner = ICQ #36247063

"The Blond Squad"

By Lt. Anna Gartner with
Ensign Astrid Salt (NPC)

**Cadet Susan Jones Quarters**

Try as she might, Cadet Susan Jones couldn't stop her leg from trembling while she sat on the couch in her small quarters. She felt defeated and tried to recall how she got to this point and wondered if she could had done to avoid it.

She heard the chime to her door. Susan didn't even bothered to look up before saying. "Come in."

The doors parted to reveal as she half expected to be, two security officers, both female. Susan studied them as they strolled in, one had lieutenant pips on her collar, the other had just one, an ensign. However, her attention focused back on the lieutenant and the very noticeable scar on the one side of her face. Susan heard stories about a certain blond with such a scar, during her short stay on the Galaxy.

The two security officers smiled politely to the cadet, the blond lieutenant then asked. "Cadet Jones?"

Susan nodded.

"I'm, Lt. Gartner." The blond said then pointed to the slightly smaller woman next to her. "This is Ensign Salt, we're here to take your report about the confrontation between you and Ensign Kirk."

Susan shook her head. "No, I don't wish to cause any problems. I just like to go back to duty."

"I'm afraid it's a little too late for that." Ensign Salt said. "Lt. Palika has all ready filed a report and we have taken 'Mr. Kirk' in for questioning."

Susan buried her face into her hands and cried. "Oh God, no! This is my fault! He'll ruin me!"

Gartner watched the young cadet, she seemed so young and innocent. She couldn't help but to think for a moment. *Was I ever that young when I joined?*

Slowly, Gartner walked up to the cadet and sat down next to her. She gently placed a comforting hand on Susan's shoulders.

"Listen to me." Anna said softly. "First, this is *not* your fault. Mr. Palika reported that Kirk was one not taking no for an answer and second, if you're worried about him ruining your career, that won't happen. This is a good ship and a good crew, although people like Kirk is an unfortunate exception."

"Susan," Astrid said. "Just tell us what happened and if you're the victim here you have nothing to worry about."

"But if he…" Susan started.

"If he's the bad guy, he will be the one getting his sorry ass kicked right off this ship and his career will be over." Anna firmly said. "Not yours."

Susan looked at the two female security officers, Anna could see that the young cadet needed one more friendly push. "When I came here, nobody else wanted me. I was a mental wreck from the on going Dominion war, barely put back together by the several counselors I had. Nobody wanted to take a chance with me but this ship did. It wasn't all smooth sailing although, I had a few major stumbles but they still gave me a second chance. This is a good ship, I swear to you, you have nothing to fear. Just tell us the truth, that's all."

Slowly the cadet nodded. "Okay, this want happened…"

Anna smiled, and Astrid pulled out a data PADD to take the report from the young cadet.

"Reflections of a mother"
Lt. Elaine Stone

The Galaxy appeared to move at a snail's pace, nothing like the breakneck speed Stone was used to viewing the stars at. Through the observation window, the view of the station was dimming as the ship parted.

Elaine's reflection showed itself faintly in the observation window. She was attempting to look past her reflection and out to the stars. They always gave her comfort in a strange sort of way when she needed comfort, but wanted to be alone at the same time. Her reflection was blocking her view, teasing her to look at herself. She did, marveling at the frown that was reflected back at her. When was life going to cut her a break? If it wasn't Gillian, it was her job, or it was the people she worked with.

The past weeks at the station had been nerve wrecking to say the least. Her daughter had been diagnosed as deaf. She recalled the reason the medical personnel had given her and Franklin.

"Lt. Stone. We regret to inform you that Gillian is deaf due to lack of oxygen and cerebral hemorrhage which caused damage the nervous system. We weren't able to spot it right away due to the fact of our concentrating on keeping her alive. At this time, Elaine, there is nothing we can do for her."

The words rung out, stinging and numbing her at the same time. Frank had squeezed her hand a little too tightly as he heard. She winced in physical pain, but that was mild compared to the heartache that she was experiencing at that moment.

Her mind retched forth all the information she studied from the ship's database concerning her daughter's "condition." Frank had gotten somewhat mildly angry with her, the way she spent that first night pouring over all the information she could get her hands on. It was if she was on a personal mission to find something that could fix Gillian's hearing. Something the doctor's missed. Just one little thing that would make a difference. But, Elaine could find nothing. She recalled Frank's big arms around her as she felt herself lifted up and taken to bed. He was comforting, and she smiled softly as she heard him whisper, "I love you Elaine...." every night as she drifted off to sleep.

Forcing herself to look up, she wiped a stray tear away from her cheek and sniffed. Still staring out the window, her right hand started to play with her wedding band on her left hand. It was a simple band of gold. Elaine didn't want anything else. Just a simple statement to the world that she was committed to Franklin and their family. She would never take it off, it symbolized stability in her life. She needed all the stability she could get right now.

Glancing up, she continued to stare out the window. Her mind raced with how to tell Neil the diagnosis about Gillian's condition. How would he take it? He loved his daughter so much. Just the way his eyes lit up when he would walk into Elaine's quarters and see Gillian playing on the floor. Stone had to wonder how dim the light in Neil's eyes would get when he heard the news. She didn't look forward to telling him, but, she knew she had to at some point.

Sighing, she started to wearily head back to her quarters to leave Neil a message that would change him........

"Unexpected meetings, unthinkable tragedies"
by Captain Robert Edward Lee Price

Captain Price stepped onto the transporter pad of the USS Galaxy.

"I have the coordinates set for the Senate building sir." Chief Jensen stated.

"Fair dinkum 'mate. Energize." Captain Price replied.

Thomas slid his hand across the control pad to activate the transport cycle. The Captain dematerialized into a billion tiny particles of light before disappearing off the transporter pad of the Galaxy.

***

Lee materialized in the lobby of the crowded Senate building, on one of the transport receptacles there, across from the public communications stations. It was always a treat feeling the natural gravity of Earth, and breathing the fresh air of his home planet. After taking a deep breath, Lee carefully made his way through the crowd to the escalators and rode them to the expansive second floor. Senator Hansen's office was on that level, or so he was told.

When Lee reached the top of the escalator, he stepped off, and made his way to the marble directory to find the Senator's office. Within a short time, the Captain had found his way and entered the lobby of the Senator's suite.

"May I help you Captain?" a lovely receptionist asked from her desk. She had long red hair that was tied back in a sort of bun, and appeared to be quite interested in such an attractive Starfleet officer.

"G'Day Miss. I have an appointment to meet with Senator Hansen." Lee smiled with his boyish grin.

The redheaded receptionist returned the Captain's smile. "Let me check. . ."

Lee watched as the woman ran a finger down the appointment book. Her facial expression changed as she shook her head.

"That's odd, I don't seem to see an appointment listed, Captain. . ."

"Price. Captain Lee Price." The Captain stated. "I'm sure the Senator is expecting me, he sent a messenger on board the Galaxy to ask me to come to this meeting."

"Well, presently the Senator is in another meeting and can't be interrupted." The receptionist stated checking her chronometer. "He should be finished in a half hour. If you'd care to wait Captain?"

Lee gave a bit of a grim nod. Had he known of the delay, he could have spent more time at the open house in sickbay. "All right 'mate. If I have to wait for the Senator, then that's what I'll do."

The receptionist smiled warmly. "I'm sure the Senator was just in a hurry to make this other meeting Captain. Sometimes he forgets to tell me of his unexpected, last minute meetings."

"No worries." Lee replied. He understood it wasn't this woman's fault. The way she smiled reminded him of Jamie. It was painful and forced the Captain to look away and try to change the subject.

"What is going on down in the lobby? The place seemed overly crowded when I beamed down. . ." Lee asked.

The redhead roller her eyes upwards. "Tell me about it! It always gets this way whenever the President is scheduled to fly by in his hovercade. Reporters, citizens,. . . they all want to get a glimpse of President Kinnley and the First lady. Not that I can blame them, I think Jeffery Kinnley is quite a hunk myself. He is quite hansom."

Lee glanced out the window at the street below. He could see the Starfleet security officers lining the street, and keeping the large crowd of spectators back from the roadway where the United Federation of Planets Presidential hovercade would be flying through. "Well that explains the crowd then." Captain Price nodded.

"If you like Captain, there is a break room just down the hall. You can get something to drink or even eat from the replicators there. Unless you'd like to just hang out here and watch the President fly by. . ." The receptionist suggested with a flirtatious glint in her eye.

It was too soon for Lee. He was still hurting from the loss of his girl friend just a few weeks earlier. "I could use a spot to eat right about now. Thank you. I should be back shortly before the Senator finishes his meeting."

The redhead looked a little disappointed, but remained professional. "It's right down the hall. Out that door, and to the left. You can't miss it Captain." She pointed.

"Much obliged ma'am." Lee nodded before walking out of the Senator's lobby. He couldn't see the receptionist checking him out as he walked away, but somehow he felt her eyes on his back.

The directions to the break room were easy to follow. Captain Price entered the small room and noted the four round tables across the floor. Evidently this break room was shared by all of the offices on this floor. Captain Price walked to the back wall and accessed the replicators.

"Bajoran coffee and cream, double sweet. A turkey salad sandwich on wheat bread." Captain Price ordered.

His food and steaming drink appeared on a small tray which he carried to one of the break room tables. Sitting down, Lee took a sip of his coffee. He was completely alone in the break room, which normally would have stricken him as odd. But giving the Presidential hovercade that was expected to fly past, he supposed that everyone was either outside watching for President Kinnley and the First lady, or in their offices where they had a better view of the street.

Placing down his cup of coffee, Lee reached for his turkey salad sandwich and began to eat his lunch.

***

There must have been over twenty thousand people on the lawn and grounds near the Senate building where the President's hovercade was scheduled to pass. Several dozen Starfleet security officers had been placed every ten meters along the roadway to keep the people back and give the Presidential precession room to fly by as scheduled. The excitement built as the crowd sensed the hovercade approaching.

Finally, the first of the hover craft made the twisting turn around Fuji Lane and made it's way down McIntosh Way. The crowd began clapping and applauding the popular UFP President Jeffery Kinnley and the First lady who sat beside him in the open hovercraft. About midway down McIntosh Way, as the hovercade and the President's craft flew away from the Senate building, what sounded like gunshots were heard. The crowd was confused at first, unsure what had just happened. But when they saw the President's head tilt back and the screaming First Lady scramble to hold Kinnley's skull together with her palm, they realized that their beloved UFP President, Jeffery Kinnley, had just been shot.

The hovercade sped up, as Security officers and Starfleet Intelligence agents rushed to protect the Commander in Chief. Immediately the situation was declared a code red situation, as Security scrambled to detect where the assassin was located. It was soon apparent that someone had fired a weapon from the fourth floor of the Senate building. Security forces rushed to that location to try and catch the perpetrator before he could have a chance to escape.

A NEW DAY

LT. Mohammed Uhura
Asst. Ops Chief
USS Galaxy

"Would you like more eggs?"

Tashi Uhura held the platter of eggs out for her husband. Mohammed accepted the platter and scooped himself another helping. As he ate his breakfast the children sat around the breakfast table happily chatting and teasing each other. He looked around at his family. At the children he and Tashi had reared and loved beyond their own lives.

Their son, Michael, was growing into a fine young man and was becoming the spitting image of his father. Michael was tall and athletically lean and muscular. His grades in school were outstanding and he was achieving great in sports though it was writing that was becoming the young man's passion. He was also becoming quite a hunk in school as several young girls were often making themselves available to him.

Ayah Uhura, was growing into a fine young lady and much like here mother she was starting to show the elegance, grace and poise of royalty that her mother was a descendent from. Mohammed could see that she was destined to be a great lady just like her great, great, grandmother. Ayah was a talker and had a very inquisitive mind. This pleased Mohammed since he could see that his eldest daughter was probably going to become a scientist.

Then there was baby Nyota, named in honor of her great, great, grandmother. She was now 14 weeks old and a bright and happy child. Full of light and sunshine and sweetness. There was nothing more precious than his baby girl.

Mohammed beamed with pride as he looked at his children...at his family. The events of the past several weeks concerning the alternate universe Mohammed Uhura didn't seem to have effected the children too much. Tashi and Mohammed did make sure they had sessions with the ships counselors after the encounter with the man who's goal was to kill the entire Uhura family of this universe.

The thought of this madman almost succeeding chilled him to the bone. He swore that it would never happen again. He would always protect his family at any price at any cost.

But now, now things were getting back in order for the Uhura family and it was about time.

"Extra Pip"
LtCmd Raesene Hermedhie
Lt.(jg) Timothy Richeson
Tactical Officers, USS Galaxy

**Ten Forward, Deck Ten USS Galaxy**

Tim took another sip of his Scotch and set it down on the square table. Ensign Alexa Zardies sat across from him, staring at her companions drink. "How can you drink that stuff?" She asked in a disgusted voice. "It tastes....tastes..." She stuttered a bit, trying to think of a comparable word. "BAD!"

It took all the muscle in his body not to spit out the liquid in his mouth. Lt(jg) Richeson swallowed quickly and laughed. " 'BAD'? Harsh words for a drink don't you think?" He remarked with a smile on his face. At first, Tim really didn't care for Zardies. Too "green" for him. But now that he had taken the time to get to know her, he was glad he did.

{Lt. Richeson, report to my office} Commander Hermedhie's distinct voice interrupted.

Alexa smiled a little and spoke softly. "See you later?" she asked

"Oh yes..." he trailed off as he jumped to his feet and walked out of the room.

(5 minutes later, Commander Hermedhie's office)

When he arrived at the Chief Tactical Officer's office, he buzzed his prescience in, and Raesene responded with a loud, "Enter!"

Tim peeked his head through the door and opened his mouth, "You wanted to see me Commander?" he said as the rest of his body entered the room.

"Yes, I did." He stood up. "You must be commended upon your quick actions during the recent crisis. As such, it is my duty and honor to offer you this box." He handed him a small white velvet box.

Tim took the box squeamishly. Not knowing if there was a extra pip in there or a bad joke from his C'O. Either one would be expectable, he was in the mood for a laugh. He looked at the box and opened it quickly. Sitting in it was a new golden pip. Tim smiled and removed his (jg) rank and replaced it with his new one. "THANK YOU SIR!" he muscled out.

"Don't worry. You deserve it. Soon you may even surpass me. If the Lord wishes it."

Tim knew when to shut up. He wasn't gonna get into a god discussion with anybody right now. "Thank you Sir." he said joyfully and scooted out of the room.

Kirk's Last Chance Part 2"
By: Lt/Cmd Sullax, Lt(jg) Olson and Ensign Kirk
SO's USS Galaxy

Ryak listened to the both of them hearing every little bit of it. Ryak looked over to Olson and said, "Mr. Olson, you have not been cleared for duty by me. You still do not look very healthy.

That would mean that you have no business here as of yet." Ryak looked over to Kirk who was now smiling. "As for you Ensign. This is your last to prove that you can make it as a member of the science department. You will have exactly two months to prove to me that you actually want to be here. If you at any point have any behavioural abnormality that goes against Starfleet standards or against any standard set out by this ship you will be removed from active duty. I want you to see a counsellor to assist you in this as well as having them send me a report on your progress weekly. That is it. Dismissed."

"Yes Sir," Olson replied crisply. He left smartly, despite not wanting to leave work. Work was an escape from his real life problems.

Kirk stood, looking at the space Olson recently vacated. Sullax then ordered -him- to finish the work Olson had started.

Ryak turned and headed off to get his son.

Jake Olson wasn't even out the door, but Kirk couldn't resist. Again, Sullax was out of sight but not ear shot. Romulan and Vulcan ears could hear every thing going on in that lab. Kirk murmured, "So tell me, is Sullax as good in bed as your half breed Vulcan bitch T-Prea?"

"What?" Olson turned to Kirk.

JJ Kirk grinned a nasty smile. "You've a taste for green scum."

Jake Olson had absolutely no clue what Kirk was saying. "I don't understand, what does Commander Sullax have to do with Dr. T-Prea?" Jake was standing there, a frown of annoyance crossing his features. It shortly became anger. "If you don't steer clear of the doctor, you will be put on report. By me. Sullax is his own person. He can handle his own personal affairs. Am I understood, Mr. Kirk?" Jake's rage quivered. Kirk had been making comments that Jake didn't care for lately about T-Prea.

"She yours Jake?" JJ Kirk took a step forward. However, Jake stood his ground. Still, he was scared.

"Women are not owned JJ, they are people with their own minds. T-Prea chooses to spend time with me. That is her choice."

JJ stared at Jake. He took another step forward.

Ryak turned around and headed back into the room. Ryak walked over to Kirk and said, "Computer put all of Ensign Kirk's access codes on suspension until I authorize otherwise."

"Enter authorization code."

"Sullax-three-Alpha-Zulu."

"Codes suspended."

"As of this moment on you are suspended from duty. You are dismissed Ensign. When you are cleared by the counselling department come see me." Ryak turned and headed back to his son, yet again.

Sullar peeked out to see what was going on from Lt. Brook's door. He heard his father talking.

Olson was exiting main science and saw Sullar out of the corner of his eye. Jake smiled at the little guy. He couldn't help it, the child was darned cute. Sullar grinned back. Even though Jake and Sullar didn't speak the same language, (I assume) they liked each other. Jake liked kids. Kids knew it.

Kirk's reaction to the peeking child was much less amiable. "Another one of the Olson Fan Club I see," JJ Kirk turned to glance at Jake. "Training traitors?" Kirk couldn't contain his racism another minute.

Jake Olson had moved slightly to block the view Sullar and Kirk had of each other. The child was suddenly frightened, seeing Kirk's face.

Jake had no idea what that comment meant, but understood the tone extremely well. He turned his head to look at Sullax to see if he heard what was said.

To Jake, the world had begun moving in very slow motion.

Kirk was busy with his slurs and didn't see what happened next. Jake, who turned to look at the Romulan, barely saw the whiplash turn.

As soon as the traitor comment was uttered, Kirk crossed the line.

Sullax saw, in the corner of his eye, Jake's attempt to block Sullar's view of the very hateful Kirk. Jake had strong protective instincts toward children. Kirk was just stepping toward Jake, about to make another comment.

Jake's head turned toward his C.O., concern in the blue eyes.

Sensing trouble, Jake turned his head toward Kirk. That wasn't where trouble was coming from. Of course, Jake had no idea how fast an angry Romulan could move, and was more accustomed to violent behavior out of Kirk. Sullax had always seemed in control to Olson.

Ryak had no control. He knew he was Kirk's C.O. but he was not going to have let his son see behaviour like this go unpaid. Ryak grabbed Kirk's hand and had him spun around and pinned up against the counter. Kirk could not move. This did not stop his ranting. Kirk kept at it.

"Listen you Romulan piss ant! Let go of me! If you don't let go of me I am going to have to get forceful!"

Ryak tapped his comm badge and yelled over top of Kirk's rantings, "Security to Science Lab 2." Ryak had about enough of Kirk so he moved his left hand up to Kirk's neck and knocked him out cold.

Ryak watched as three security officers entered the Lab. Ryak told them to put Kirk in the brig and that when Kirk wants out to have a security officer see him for formal charges. Ryak turned and walked over to Sullar. Ryak pick his son up and said to Olson, "Jolan 'Tru Lieutenant."

Sullar looked over to Olson and smiled and placed his head on his fathers shoulder as they made their way home.

"It itches." Electra grumbled for what Gailyn estimated to be the thousandth time.

"It's called clothing Lexi. You should try it more often." he retorted as he lounged back in the park bench they both occupied. Electra shot him an ugly glare as she scratched as the hem line of her mini-skirt. Gailyn laughed and popped another kernel of popcorn in his mouth. It felt good to laugh again, and even the sulky Electra cracked a smile as her tall companion managed to completely miss his mouth. The handsome ElAurien dug through the collar of his loose tunic until he produced the offending snack and pitched it into the thick grass under their feet. Electra smiled as she completely forgot about her discomfort. It hadn't been too long ago that she thought she had lost her best friend in some hellacious battle with space pirates. It was so fresh in her mind that she had to remind herself that it was all over. Of course even thinking about those few hours of terror brought to mind faces she knew she would never see in ten-forward again. Sighing she turned to look at Gailyn again who was, in turn, looking at her with his bright blue eyes.

"Cast of thy knighted colors and seek not for thy noble father in the dust." Gailyn replied mysteriously, then turned back to watching the crowd. Electra blinked for a moment in confusion.

"And that's supposed to mean what?" she asked as she sneaked a handful of popcorn from Gailyn's bag.

"It's a paraphrase from Hamlet, a play written by a gentleman who was very much ahead of his time...for a human." Gailyn intoned studiously. Electra balled up her fist and punched him lightly in his shoulder.

"I know who Shakespeare is Mr. Professor." she grumbled peevishly. Gailyn laughed again.

"Then you have your answer." he declared through chuckles. Electra rolled her eyes heavenward in silent plea to some sort of god.

"Look, just get me one of those tube shaped sandwiches you like so much. And make sure the onions are fresh!" Electra glanced at the small display padd that sat on her lap "Hurry it up, the hovercade is almost here!" Gailyn nodded and lifted his hand to grab the attention of a passing hotdog vendor. After procuring lunch for both of them, the tall ElAurien once again relaxed. He scanned the crowd for interesting faces, but soon gave up as the number of people seemed to double almost instantaneously.

"Speaking of cute," Electra started, picking up on a conversation the two had been having earlier "I though I saw that nurse back on McKinley checking you out. You know...the bold one" Now it was Gailyn's turn to roll his eyes.

"Oh please. He was just checking to see if my eyes were dilated or not. It's normal procedure for concussion patients." Electra smirked lewdly as she saw her companion blush.

"He was looking at you the same way I look at Lieutenant Pailaka." she laughed coyly as she took a delicate bite out of her hotdog. Gailyn squirmed uncomfortably under Electra's daring glare.

"This is turning into a Will and Grace episode." he mumbled under his breath. Gailyn noticed the beginnings of a question forming on Electra's lips and cut her off.

"It was an old sitcom that played before and after the turn of the 21st century. I dig up a few holos when we get back to the Galaxy. You'll appreciate it, I guarantee. Where's the President's hovercade?" he replied as quickly as he could to change the subject. Electra looked down at the padd on her lap and sat her drink down.

"It's on Fuji Lane. OH MY GOD!!! IT'S ALMOST HERE!!!!!" she squealed excitedly. Gailyn helped her stand on the park bench as he joined her. It gave them an excellent vantage point as the Presidential hovercaid began its processional up McIntosh Way. Gailyn couldn't help but be caught up in the tide of feelings that washed over his senses. He lifted his arms in the air and started cheering like everyone else. Beside him, Electra was waving like crazy and managed to catch the attention of the handsome young president. The man who many hoped would bring about a new era of peace for the Federation grinned and waved back to the two figures who cheered just below the grassy knoll.

"OH MY GOD... WE WERE JUST WAVED AT!!!!" Electra practically screamed over the loud, cheering crowd. Gailyn smiled back at her, but suddenly whipped around when the loud crack of gun fire echoed through the crowd. Something whizzed between where he and Electra stood. When it struck the wooden bench, it shattered fragments of paint and oak over both of them.

"What the hell!?" Gailyen yelped "Bullets! Someone is using bullets!?" He looked over to where Electra stood and saw her dive for the ground. Following suit, Gailyn dove after her and covered his head for protection.

[Something's happening in the hovercaid ladies and gentlemen.] the news caster was saying from Electra's padd. Gailyn snatched it from the bench and watched in horror as President Kinnley's head jerked back. His wife was screaming; her white blouse now stain crimson with her husband's blood.

[The President has been shot,] the andorian news caster was wailing [Lor Vala! the President has been shot.] Gailyn looked over to Electra. She was in total shock, and the expression on her face said it all. Nothing was ever going to be the same again...

"It's Just A Pip"
Ltjg Roman O'Neil M.D.

"I'm very sure it's still there." Remarked Angie as she went by.

Roman looked in the mirror for what must have been the fifty-fifth time, thumbing his newly minted hollow pip. Feeling self conscious, he quickly remarked. "Just making sure they are properly aligned. Starfleet after all has military roots with all the protocol and decorum."

"Whatever. I am proud of you Lieutenant junior grade O'Neil." She gave him a tender kiss.

He beamed at the sound of his new rank, though it was the second time around, he felt like he was actually getting ahead and his wife found his mood a little more chipper.

"They're showing off the remodeled Sickbay, even a new EMH program, though I'll miss the old one."

"That's an odd thing to say. He had positively the most unpleasant manner I've ever seen. This Doctor Zimmerman was some really pissed hombre."

Roman smirked. "He reminded me of my father."

"Oh man, the Disrupters lost to Braxus Prime. That's the fourth game in a row. That starting pitcher really sucks." Complained Mikey as he made his way from his bedroom to the replicator. "How are they going to make it to the Galactic Series if they keep playing like losers anyhow." Continued their nine years-old son as he headed back with a replicated soda in his hand.

"Baseball. You brainwashed him, you know that." Roman said to Angie. "I got to get going."

As he was heading out the door, he stopped at the mirror one more time.

::Ahem::

He turned to see Angie holding something. "Perhaps you would like to take my compact with you so you can admire it all day."

Roman, turning a slight shade of red, left his quarters on Deck 14 and headed to the nearest turbolift. The ship looked great considering the recent war games crap that went bad. Admirals and their little toy ships.

"Hold it!" Exclaimed a female voice.

He held the turbolift doors as an ensign in teal stepped through. She was a dark-skinned human with deep brown eyes. "Thanks." She said.

"No problem. You're part of the Medical staff?"

"Yes, just a nurse. Solana Kabala."

"No one's just anything. Doctor Roman O'Neil." He said in way of introduction.

"Sorry Doctor, didn't mean that I thought nursing was . . . "

"Understood. You're new to the Galaxy aren't you?"

"Yes Sir. This isn't my first starship assignment, you understand. I was aboard the Cutlass."

The turbolift stopped at Deck 13 and fo

ur more officers boarded.

Roman found himself next to the nurse and her perfume did somersaults in his nostrils. He shook his head and the sudden movement caught her attention, as she looked up at him, he did his best to look at the panel beside the door.

"You just got promoted?"

Roman gave her a puzzled look. "Well, not long ago . . . How?"

"When a pip is as shiny as yours, it means a promotion." She smiled.

Roman, feeling uncomfortable again, mumbled out. "Must be the lighting in here."

The doors opened onto Deck 12. Finding Sickbay on this particular day was not hard. Several of the crew were already looking about.

Roman found himself showing off the new biobeds. He had already read up on the specs and was amazed how technology had changed just in the last few years. However, he frowned when Doctor 'Martin' was activated. There were cheers from both the crew and his fellow physicians but old 'Grinch' as he was known would sorely be missed by him.

He only caught a glimpse of the Captain but soon lost him in a sea of heads. Brooke was talking with T-prea and he was happy for Tim and Brooke.

He sat down at one of the work stations, coming across several record updates that were being readied for upload onto the permanent file. One of them was that of a deaf girl. She had already been diagnosed with this condition. He looked over at the doctor's signature and the girl's parents.

He tapped his combadge. "Computer send message to Lt. Elaine Stone. Message: Will you like to set up appointment concerning your daughter. I will like to take on this case if you will have me. Doctor Roman O'Neil. Computer send message."

[Message sent.]

He was probably stepping on somebody's toes but while he took his sabbatical on Cardassia Prime, he dealt with a lot of deaf cases as a result of explosions and bombings at the end of the War..If he could help, he was more than willing.

"Here, I thought you could use a coffee. With the pitch you were giving about those beds, I swear you could have sold them." Solana Kabala placed a mug of steaming coffee in front of him.

"Perhaps. I know this is sort of an 'open house' but could you look in the records for cases of deafness caused by these conditions." He passed over a PADD. "Cross reference it with the Vulcan and Bajoran database as well. The Vulcans have been researching loss of hearing, maybe there's something there."

Solana picked up the PADD. "Right away Doctor."

Roman remained sitting there, drinking his coffee as he watched Doctor 'Martin' give out candies to the youngsters and shook his head. *If they make them any better, doctors of the flesh and bone variety will become obsolete.* He continued sipping his java, his eyes wandering from time to time on the new Nurse.

"I'll Always Remember Where I Was"
USS GALAXY
Commander Deiran Casey, XO

Deiran was doing his best to endure this open house in Sickbay. He also avoided the doctors and nurses as if they had the plague. This wasn't where Casey wanted to be, in fact it was the last place he wanted to be. He'd be more at home in a cage full of rabid dogs then in Sickbay.

"How do you like our new facilities Commander?" the young nurse asked Casey.

"Just fine, very nice Specialist," Casey didn't know the woman's name but he expected her to have a hypospray in her hand and it would get him at the slightest move. She went to shake the Commander's hand and he ducked.

"Sir, what's wrong?" she asked, startled.

Casey straightened up to his 6'4 height, adjusted his uniform tunic and looked as macho as he possibly could, "Just joking around," Casey replied and gave a fake laugh. 'O God please get me out of this?' he prayed silently to himself.

["Commander, there's a feed on the UFP news channel, you may want to see this sir,"] 'Commander Hermedhie suggested.

"Aye Raesene, patch it through to the LCARS display on deck 12, right outside sickbay," he said and took this chance to leave the open house in sickbay, nodding and smiling to the nurse as she heard the comm.

Deiran walked out of sickbay and was breathing normally, he was just happy to get out of there without a check-up or a doctor poking and prodding him. He arrived at the display and punched in his access code.

"Oh my god!" he said as he saw the footage of the presidential assassination. He stood there, his face awestruck, his eyes full of melancholy. As he watched the footage and the chaos near the Senate building, rage began to grow within Casey. Pain and sorrow of his leader being killed in such a way was almost unthinkable to him.

The Dominion War was over, the Cardassians practically broken as a empire and barely surviving extinction. The Breen disappearing from galactic politics with their tails between their legs. 'Who the hell would do this?'

Deiran just stood in front of the LCARS display on deck 12. He put the palm of his hand against the corridor wall and hung his head. No tears were shed, he was too overcome with grief to cry, too shocked to feel. All he knew was the stunning sensation of a phaser pointed directly at his heart.

He composed himself and went back into Sickbay.

"Everyone please give me your attention for just a moment," Casey raised his voice above the low hum of voices in the room. He had everyone's attention soon after he spoke.

"This isn't good news. I just received word…" Deiran stopped for a moment. "Sorry, I just received word that President Kinnley has been assassinated, just ten minutes ago. No word on what has really happened yet but it doesn't look as if there's any chance to save the President," that's all Deiran could say.

He turned around and walked out of sickbay and headed for the Bridge. Since the Captain was down on the planet's surface he would be the one to announce the news to the entire ship.

*** Main Bridge ***

Casey stepped out of the lift and headed down the ramp of the tac arch.

"Any word from the Captain, Lucas?" Casey asked.

"No Commander," Lucas replied.

"Any word from Starfleet Command?" Casey asked. For all he knew this could have been a Romulan plot or who knows what and they could be sent to war within hours. He had no idea what would happen. No one did. Chaos and the unknown ruled the hour.

"How could anyone do this?" someone asked.

"I'll always remember where I was," Casey said. Then he changed direction in mid- sentence, "Lucas, send Mr. Sullax all the video footage from before the President was shot and all the footage afterward. Have him begin an investigation, send the footage to Mr. Albrecht as well. We'll add their findings to the official account for later use."

"Aye sir," Lucas replied.

No one was in the mood to smile, or even remember, not even forget. Every one just seemed numb.

"Ready the shipwide intercom, I need to announce this to the ship," he asked Raesene.

"Ready sir," the tactical chief replied.

"This is Commander Deiran Casey. It is my unfortunate responsibility to inform you of some very disturbing news. About twenty minutes ago someone, who is unknown at this time, assassinated President Jeffrey Kinnley. He has been pronounced DOA. At this time the Galaxy will observe a moment of silence for the President's family, friends and the entire United Federation Of Planets at this time of loss. We will take three minutes time of complete silence out of respect for the President. He was a great man, taken from us before his time. I am sure you would all agree, he will be sorely missed by all the citizens of the Federation. Casey out." Casey's voice was full of sorrow mixed with a bit of anger at the thought of someone doing something so barbaric. He wanted the perpetrator found, convicted and dealt with severely.

Casey then observed the silence as did the rest of the crew.

The last six months were like a nightmare for the members of the Galaxy, a nightmare that seemed to never end. It couldn't possibly get any worse, at least Deiran hoped it couldn't.

Based on STAR TREK created by Gene Roddenberry
Story by Lieutenant Suder - Assistant Chief Engineer

"Fun"

Suder watched the sun beginning to rise. The shadows seemed to evaporate off the mountains. The lakes below began shimmering with powerful reflective lights. The trees seemed to grow alive. In the mounds near the mountains, Lieutenant's Suder and Gillings strolled across the land making their way up to the mountains.

"Who am I again?" Suder asked.

"Indina." his friend Paul replied.

"And you are?"

"Markus."

"And at the top of this mountain we're supposed to find?"

"Caine." Gillings replied.

"Ah yes, the man that stole the ring from the histry museum. Now he's hiding in the mountains."

"We've got ot find him, find out why he's hiding and then turn him into the proper authorities." Paul replied.

"He's hiding because he's waiting for someone to show up. He'll sell the ring, make a huge prophet, then return back to another hiding place." Suder explained.

"How do you know that?"

"because that's what I'd do." Suder said.

"Ah, welcome to my pit!" a voice called out.

Both Suder and Gillings turned to see a man standing near some trees wearing posh, smart clothes, holding an old fashioned shotgun at them.

"Pit?" Paul asked.

"Yes, Marcus, something you fall into." the man replied. The man released a rope that was being held to a branch nearby and Suder and Paul looked down to see wood planks, covered in leaves, begin to fall. They both fell to the ground below.

When the dust settled, the two Engineers looked up at the man that stood over them, his shadow gleaming down on them.

"Now as you said Dr. Jones, I am going to make this deal, only you will not be a factor in it." the man said and giggled as he walked off."

"We have to get out of here. If he sell's the ring, we'll never catch him." Paul said.

Suder looked around at the surroundings. The dirt was quite hard and solid. "It may be possible to climb out, but surely he's thought of that." Suder replied.

They stood in the pit for a few minutes, trying to think of a way out, but the only solution seemed to be to climb out.

"Engineering to Holodeck Four." a voice called out.

"Computer freeze program." Paul ordered.

"Engineering, go ahead." Suder replied.

"Sir, we're still having trouble with the EPS conduits on deck seven. We fix them, then the main systems around that section fluctuate, the spikes continue." the woman from Engineering explained.

"We'll be there shortly." Suder said.

"Sorry to interrupt by the way."

"Not a problem, Ensign." Suder replied.

"Just as we were getting into things." Paul said.

"We shall continue this adventure later on, Marcus, perhaps we should get one, maybe two of our friends to join us." Suder said raising an eye brow. Paul smiled and snapped his fingers. "I'm sure Michael and Karyn would like this program."

"Michael would I'm sure, but Karyn, who knows?"

"Well, computer, save program... Exit!" Paul ordered.

The two Engineers left the Holodeck in search of fluctuations on deck seven.

"Going over the information and other topics"

Lt Tim O'Connell

Lt Anna Gartner
Ens Astrid Salt
(a/k/a the blonde squad)

==10 foreward==

Tim sat in 10 foreward reading over young Mr Kirk's confession he had basically confessed to a hell of a lot more then just harassing cadet Jones. It was something that made him angrier then he had been before. He set the padd down and saw his associates in his investigation arrive, "Anna, Astrid, have a seat." he said calmly. "Looks like things got worse then they have before."

Anna and Astrid gave each other a quick glance before they sat down at the table with Tim.

"I don't like the sound of this." Astrid murmured.

"It's about our investigation with Mr. Kirk."

"What happened?" Anna asked. "We have more victims?"

"Well in addition to harassment, he also confessed to gross insubordination against a department head. Plus this one." He slid the PADD with the full confession across the table.

Anna picked up the PADD and started to read the information, as she did her jaw muscles harden. "Bastard! How did this… 'person' got into Starfleet?"

"What?" Astrid asked before Anna pasted the PADD to her without saying a word.

Tim had a serious expression, "no one knows how, I guess every screening process has gaps, he slipped through a big one. "I'll need you to confirm this with Dr T Prea. Again I hate throwing legwork over to you but with something this sensitive I don't think I'm who'd she want to be sharing personal info about." Tim rubbed his chin, "at a risk of being blunt the good thing is she won't have to testify at any trial." Tim mused grimly. "But still I think I'm going to make a note that starfleet needs to step up recruit screening, even with the casualties there is no excuse for letting such a prick in to any department."

"No problem," Anna nodded. "We're all working towards the same goal."

"Yes," Astrid agreed. "Helping to take out the trash comes with the job."

"Tell me about it." Tim said, "Well luckily we caught this scumbag early enough. I really wish it was sooner, but we got him."

"I only wished that he tried a stunt like that with me." Anna murmured. "He'll be singing high notes all the way to sickbay."

"But if you did beaten him within and inch of his life, you'll be the one in trouble." Astrid added. "We got him and now let the system deal with him."

"Well, the good thing is his confession can make the system's job easier." He then realized enough was enough on this, "But on another note, did anyone else see the newest addition to our department?"

"You mean the big guy who is 2 meters plus tall and all Gorn." Anna smiled brightly. "Yes."

Astrid stared wide eyed at blond woman she was seated next to. "What's with you and humanoid lizards?"

Tim actually laughed, "I know makes us warm blooded types rather jealous." He was not serious about this, but he thought he could have some fun with the two women.

"Not to worry, I'm still with Kalln." Anna said. "Besides, a Gorn is the very rough type, more than I like to be with."

"Not your type eh Anna?" he said, "Well I'm sure he'll be crushed."

Anna grinned devilishly. "Better him than me."

Tim grinned back, "Well I'd agree with you on that point. Crushed officer, too much paperwork."

"Not to mention it'll hurt like hell."

Tim laughed. "Actually, Kalln said that you can be quite rough at times."

"Okay, okay." Astrid interrupted. "This conversation is becoming nauseating, not to mention about the scary mental image that is starting to form in my head."

Tim had to laugh, "Oh please Salt a mental image is one thing, think of it this way, poor Lex got the live show."

"What wrong with Kalln?" Anna threw up her arms. "Okay, so he is a big scaly reptile, 400 pounds of pure muscle," Then she started dreamily went on saying. "Four arms, long fingers, dexterous tail, and a tongue and dick the size of..."

"OKAY!" Astrid cried. "You love him and his assets, please change the subject."

"Yeah please." TIm was a little sorry he got her started. "Anything else please."

"No," Anna shook her head. "We have several things to tie up before our shift is over. Oh yes, speaking of Kalln, I had a chance to talk to him about your invitation to dinner over in your and Brooks quarters and he's all for it."

"Ok cool, I'll let Brooke know." He then picked up a padd, "let's get this dirtbag the hell off this ship." The team moved for the exit of 10 foreward A new purpose in their movements.

"Dealing with Bad News"

By Ensign Eric Odin

Eric heard the shipwide announcement and was stunned. He didn't have any great love for the man as he didn't know much,but he was aware of what he was trying to do as well as the fact that he was the president of the United Federation of Planets.He sat at his desk still baffled.

Eric's PADD beeped indicating an incoming message and he pushed it wondering who it could be.It was a text message from one of his good girl friends at Starfleet Academy,Yeoman Christen Harmony and It read:

**Begin Message**

Julius Ceasar
Act 3, Scene 1
Antony
O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth,
That I am meek and gentle with these butchers!
Thou art the ruins of the noblest man
That ever lived in the tide of times.
Woe to the hand that shed this costly blood!
Over thy wounds now do I prophesy,--
Which, like dumb mouths, do ope their ruby lips,
To beg the voice and utterance of my tongue--
A curse shall light upon the limbs of men;
Domestic fury and fierce civil strife

I thought that in a way this might be relevant to what just happened.

P.S.I hope that everything turns out alright for you aboard the Galaxy. Maybe we'll cross paths soon.

**End Message**

Jake Olson had taken T-Prea home after dinner. He had given her a singing crystal he had made that would help put some lid on those nightmares of her's. When you touched it, it gave a low melodious tone. She loved it, looking through it it gave a multifaceted view of the world.

"How did you make it?" T-Prea asked, staring transfixed into the object.

"I grew it actually. When Ninabacteria grow and reproduce they crystalize. The trick is to make sure they don't just clog up. It's something new from the science department. Relatively new." Jake answered, wondering slightly with amusement if she heard a word he said. She was lost in the crystal.

Jake dropped her off, and was sharing a turbolift with a pair of security officers when he heard of the President being shot. The slight scientist went suddenly white.

"It's a bad thing, I know." One security officer, a blonde female said.

"Yea," Jake tried to get out.

"Are you OK?"

"I will be. I knew him slightly. Met at a dinner when I was at the Academy, hosted by the Kirks. JJ Kirk's parents." Jake said absently.

"You knew the President of the United Federation of Planets?!"

Jake nodded absently. He knew a lot of people, never thought twice about it. "I have to go," Jake excused himself.

Jake wasn't rude, he was just absentminded with sadness. He didn't know the man well, but he was someone who crossed Jake's path. It always struck him as sad to know just how delicate life really was.

He headed to sickbay, his stomach was misbehaving again. He was given a hypo for the indigestion.

Jake then headed to bed, feeling the loss of another person in the scheme of the passing universe. He remembered the man's face as he laughed at something someone said. Sara Kirk.

Strange, JJ Kirk was never at a dinner with his parents. Up until now, Jake just accepted the other's absence as a given, Jake was the one who attended when he was able. Despite his youth, Jake was always on the same standing with the others, his strange looks kept questions of youth at bay. Whom ever heard of a 19 year old with snow white hair? Or one with a voice in a billion latinum business? It was something Jake hadn't considered.

No one as far as Jake could remember knew at the Academy about the double life he led. No one knew about JJ's either. It was just something that was. Jake's double life wasn't destructive, but distinctive. He bet no one knew that he knew the commandant of the academy either.

Of course, when he did let a person from one of his lives know, they nearly dropped teeth. Jake just shook his head.

Lt.jg Jake Olson

=====
SANDY
Sandy Rene = AIM
Craftycorner = ICQ #36247063

An Alien Prospective
by LCDR Endris Gakor, CMO

*** Sickbay ***

People were still admiring the new Sickbay and the EMH2, when Commander Casey made his ship wide announcement. Assassinations were hard to believe in this day and age. Especially on Earth, where conditions were more than ideal, there was no poverty, hunger, and the worst of all medical problems had been eradicated. It took a great deal of effort to contain the children's youthful exuberance. But soon, the deck was quiet for the moment of silence.

Endris decided to retreat to her office. Glancing outside, she saw a pair of Bajoran Peace fish swim by, reminding her to keep calm. "Snacks! Why is there always so much chaos?", she cried as if someone could easily explain away the deaths of the President and First Lady.

Just when she thought things were way too hectic, Gakor saw Dr Loba approaching the CMO office. The Ferengi knocked on the door, and was admitted.

"Hello, Doctor Loba. How are you adjusting to your new home?", Endris opened.

"This ship is very...Luxurious in some ways", the grinning Ferengi said. "But I wanted to speak about profits.", the money lover admitted.

"Go ahead. I find an alien prospective sometimes helps us see things differently."

Loba stroked his big ears before continuing with a question. "Who would profit from the President's assassination?", he said surprisingly.

"I don't know", Endris replied. "He was not currently opposing any violent sects that could have done this. It must have been and underground opposition unit."

"But No one gains anything", the Ferengi said. "If there is no profit to be made, the act of violence does not make sense."

"True", the CMO replied. "But I don't see your point yet, Doctor".

"Just this", the Ferengi began. "Such events can be staged to fool others. Since coming aboard, I have heard stories about how your counterpart from the Mirror Universe faked her death several times. Perhaps what we have seen is not real, merely misdirection. The President may have a top secret mission away from Earth, and not want people to know he is gone. A fake death could be one way of achieving this."

"I'm not sure you are correct, but if you are, the 'real' President will be in hiding now. I must think on this before raising the hopes of others. But your remarks about profit make sense.", she said complementing the Ferengi.

Loba turned to exit the office, and Gakes looked back at the fish tank. Spines swam past, with his scales extended. The Lion fish was one of her favorites, and had survived near destruction on more than one occasion. Surely, the Ferengi's hope was possible. But it wasn't very likely....

"Much Ado About Nothing, Again"
Lt. (jg) Brooke Ames O'Connell

Brooke walked into her empty quarters. She knew that Tim had a lot of things to take care of. She thought that she'd read up on a few things, mainly, on pregnancy. Sure, she knew about the medical side of it but that was where it ended. There was so much information now that it was hard to keep up with it all.

Her eyes were geting tired so she thought that she'd take a break and get herself a drink. She walked over to the replicator, "Iced tea, five ice cubes." She got a glass of ice without the tea. So she ordered it again, and it gave her iced tea and no ice. She slammed her fist against it and tried again but it only got worse, this time a tea bag in a glass of ice. "Great. Damn replicators."

"Dr. A....Dr. O'Connell to Engineering."

"Lt. Lewis here."

"Our replicator is not working, can you get someone up here to fix it?"

"It'll be a while but I promise we'll get to it whan we can."

Brooke knew that he meant that it wasn't an emergency so he'd get to it after he gets to the more important stuff. She sat back down and tried to get back to her reading but just couldn't keep focused on it.

She was really bored and her shift wasn't going to start until the next day, she had Beta shift. Just then, the announcement was made that President Kinnley was assassinated. She observed the shipwide moment of silence. After some time passed, Brooke was getting very antsy.

"Computer, locate Lt. Tim O'Connell"

"Lt Tim O'Connell is in 10-Foreward."

Brooke really wanted some iced tea so she figured that she would see if he was free and at the same time, get her drink.

"Vid Feeds Part 1"
By: Lt/Cmd Ryak Sullax
CSO USS Galaxy

Ryak made his way to his office after dropping Sullar off at school. As Ryak walked into the his office he heard the message from Commander Casey. Ryak sat at his desk and looked over his messages as if nothing had happened. Ryak was not all that into politics anyway. This was just another day in the Federation.

As Ryak looked over his messages he noticed that a message was coming in from the bridge. Ryak looked over it and noticed that it was for him. Ryak read it and noticed that this political mishap was going to have to be his issue. Ryak transferred all of the footage to holodeck 3 and made his way there.

Ryak arrived at holodeck three in five minutes. "Computer begin Vid feed."

"There is a program in use."

Ryak opened the door to the holodeck and noticed that there was a program in use. Ryak entered the holodeck and said, "Computer who is running this program?"

"Ensign Frances."

"End program."

The program ended leaving a young human male standing there in his birthday suit. Ryak looked to the mans left and noticed the yellow uniform sitting on the ground.

"Excuse me! Just so you know it is against regulations to interrupt a personal holodeck program! I am going to have you busted for this and placed in the brig! the man said as he quickly put his uniform on.

Ryak turned towards the control panel and began to configure it to work with the vid feed.

"Hello!!! Mister I am talking to you!!! Or should I just arrest you know and take you to the brig now!!"

Ryak turned towards the security officer and looked him in the eyes. "Ensign, I am so sorry. I didn't notice you there. Well since I am here I am going to let you know that I need this holodeck."

This seemed to really piss off the Ensign who had not yet noticed who Ryak was. "As of right now you are coming with me to! You are under arrest."

"Very well Ensign. You go get your security team and possibly a report from your C.O. to confirm this. After that go to the bridge and inform the Captain that his chief science officer will not be able to report for duty." Ryak turned to the control panel and finished configuring the Vid feed. Ryak's last comment pissed off the security officer so much he punched the wall and headed off to security. The security officer was going to do what Ryak had told him. Ryak smiled as he knew that the new security officer was in for his first lesson in the Chain of command and the politics of a star ship.

"Lt/Cmd Shtik, report to holodeck 3 to assist me with a project. Sullax out."

To be continued.....

Chris Gagne
ALSO KNOWN AS:
Lt/Commander Ryak Sullax, Chief Science Officer, USS Galaxy.
Email: i2qtnot2b@hotmail.com
ICQ: 25686024

=/\= "The Information Age" =/\=
by Lt Cmdr Matthew Albrecht

*** Security Chief's Office ***

Although data communication technology had advanced to a stage of near-instantaneous transfer of large quantities of information and storage of huge files in portable devices, department heads continued to accumulate large numbers of the ubiquitous PADDs in their workspaces. That was why Matthew had installed an attractive new glass shelf behind his desk where he could arrange the PADDs and keep them from cluttering his desktop as they had been doing for the past several months.

The PADD he held in his grip contained the combined reports on the recent investigation into the behavior and misbehaviors of Ensign JJ Kirk. Due to the persistence and talent of Tim O'Connell and Anna Gartner, there was sufficient evidence to take whatever action was necessary to safeguard the crew of the Galaxy from the malicious young man. Even Kirk's own CO was ready to wash his hands of the xenophobic sexual predator.

Matthew decided, he would not conduct a Court Martial on the USS Galaxy for this man. Even though he had ached for courtroom combat since joining the Galaxy as an Ensign, the thought of defending the foul officer made his stomach turn. And, he doubted any other qualified officer on the ship would relish such a duty. Since the Galaxy was in orbit of Earth, it seemed much more logical to turn over the large quantity of evidence to the authorities there and allow them to take whatever action they deem appropriate.

Soon, lieutenant O'Connell would arrive to give Albrecht his final report. They would make their final determination on the matter together, but the end result was already obvious. One way or another, JJ Kirk would no longer be Star Fleet's problem.

***

The announcement of President Kinnley's assassination had come over the ship's public address system only a moment before Matthew's comm. badge chirped for his attention. The lieutenant commander was too stunned to react immediately. Three seconds later, the badge chirped a second time.

He tapped it. "Albrecht here," he answered apprehensively.

It was the bridge. Lieutenant Brandis was relaying Commander Casey's orders that the Galaxy's science and security departments should examine all available information on the tragic event on the planet's surface. Lucas was forwarding the news channel's footage to Security as he spoke. Matthew acknowledged the new orders, and signed off to see about gathering the needed resources.

It seemed odd to him, and he wondered how many other independent teams were launching their own investigations of the incident. He made a mental note to assign someone to look into the idea. Who was showing an interest in the event, and who was not showing an interest? It might give a clue as to who was responsible, or who benefited most from the tragedy.

Matthew swung the desktop viewer to face him, and activated it. In moments, he was on the Fed Net information datarealm. First, he uploaded a complete copy of all tri-dee recordings of the President's journey through San Francisco. That set of files was semi-public, so there was severe congestion and the data came slowly. It took over a minute to get the six Terrabytes of visual records.

Next, he logged in using his StarFleet security-branch access. He achieved immediate access to security reports from the scene, security perimeter arrangements, and the logs of each officer assigned to duty near the Senate building. Those files were easily available, though his monitor illustrated a large number of hits for the information over the past few minutes.

Finally, he entered his highest level of access and began requesting satellite imagery, multi-spectrum sensor data, and current terrorist intelligence that would relate to political targets. He logged a priority request for additional information as it became available.

Matthew forwarded the information to the primary situation monitor station in Main Security. Soon, he was standing over the table, rearranging information, imagery, and three-dimensional data representations on the many varied view-panels around the table. He was attracting attention from his department's personnel. It was time to bring in additional minds to look at the gathered data.

He tapped his badge and got a chirp. "Albrecht to Chen, report to Security immediately." He waited a moment and added, "Albrecht to lieutenants Ral and Stone, report to Security in five minutes." The four minds of Security's shift commanders would be assembled in minutes.

Several 'affirmative, 'commander's came in reply to his orders, but he was preoccupied with the vast amount of data he was able to accumulate in nearly no time at all. Somewhere in all this data, he thought, was the identity of the killer of President Kinnley. Who could it be?

"Wild goose chase"
by Captain Robert Edward Lee Price

Lee finished eating his turkey salad sandwich in the break room within a few minutes. It was rather boring, sitting there by himself, so the Captain quickly washed down his lunch with what remained of his Bajoran coffee. He then rose up to return his used tray and cup to the replicator.

"Recycle." Lee ordered and watched the shimmering energy field reclaim the cup and tray.

Turning, the Captain started walking towards the exit of the break room. He wanted to get back to Senator Hansen's lobby before he finished his meeting, so he'd be ready to find out why he'd been ask to meet with the Senator today. When he neared the exit, Lee grabbed for the rim of his duty jacket to give it a straightening tug. He didn't want to look all sloppy when he saw the Senator, or his red headed receptionist. When he was in the process of straightening his lapel, three Starfleet security officers came rushing into the break room. The Captain immediately glanced up, startled by their sudden entry.

"YOU!" the lead Security guard pointed with his finger, while holding a phaser in his opposite hand, "Who are you and what is your business here?!"

Lee involuntarily opened his hands palm outward, as a sign of non-hostility. "I am Captain Price of the USS Galaxy 'mate. I was just finishing my lunch while I wait for a meeting with Senator Hansen at his invitation." The Captain explained calmly, but still with a hint of surprise. "What is this all about 'mate?"

The security officer was watching Captain Price closely. He'd been trained in the ways of detecting, through body language, facial expressions and eye movement, when a person was lying. The Captain's eyes were rock steady. His breathing was normal, and he didn't appear to be perspiring as if he'd exerted himself in any way recently, like worrying about assassinating the President, or running down a couple flights of stairs. His first impression was that this man was telling the truth.

"Someone has shot President Kinnley. We believe the shots were fired from this building." The security officer stated as he signaled to the other two officers to continue checking out the building as they worked their way up to the fourth floor where the shots were thought to have been fired from.

"Crickey!" Lee declared. "Who would want to do a terrible thing like that?"

"That's what everyone wants to know Captain. Sorry for the inconvenience. Some investigators may need to speak with you later about your whereabouts. Make sure you will be available." The security officer explained.

"I understand 'mate. I should be here for a while anyway speaking to the Senator. Good luck in catching the person responsible." Lee offered as his hands relaxed at his sides.

"I assure you,. . . there is no way whoever did this is going to get away unpunished. We will see to that." The security officer stated coldly, before turning to run after his compatriots that had already moved up to the next floor.

Lee watched the security officer as he left. He couldn't believe anyone would be so deranged as to murder a dignitary like the UFP President in this day and age. The Dominion war was over. Efforts were being made to rebuild relationships with the Federations neighbors, and strengthen those formed through the course of the war. The Federation had even gone above and beyond it's call for duty is rendering relief aid to the Cardassians. Lee knew, as the Galaxy took part in that effort. So who would want to assassinate the Federation President? It didn't make any sense to him.

Captain Price pondered over this as he walked down the hall to the Senator's office. Out the expansive windows that lined corridor on one side, Lee could see the street below and the thousands of stunned, scrambling people. With such pandemonium, it would be easy for the murderer to escape being captured, the Captain thought. The only hope Starfleet had of catching up with this assassin would likely have to rely on forensic evidence and close examination of the surveillance and private holo recordings made from the various points around the Senate building and McIntosh Way.

Lee entered the lobby of Senator Hansen's office. A couple of people were standing near the red headed receptionist's desk. She appeared to have been crying. The Captain got the impression that these were her coworkers that worked in the building here. They seemed to be trying to comfort the lass.

"I can't believe this has happened. Why? Why would anyone murder such a noble young President?" the receptionist wept.

"There, there, Madalynn. I'm sure whoever did this will be caught and made to pay for their crimes." The gentleman with the glasses and pocket protector stated while giving the woman a friendly hug and pat on the shoulder.

Lee felt awkward. He didn't know any of these people, but somehow he too felt the loss of the President. It was nothing to him like his personal the loss of Jamie, but it still stirred emotions of vulnerability and anger deep within his soul. Moving to the waiting area, the Captain was about to sit down and prepare to wait, when the Senator's double doors opened and he began to exit with a pair of other well dressed gentlemen.

"We can finish discussing the details some other time, in light of what just happened." Senator Hansen stated while reaching to shake their hands.

"Of course Senator. I'm sure if you consider our position on this, and how much it would mean to our lobby, you'll do the right thing."

"Why don't you call on Monday and we can set up another meeting? I would really like to hear more about your ideas and how they could benefit the Federation and the people on Earth." Senator Hansen smiled diplomatically.

"I will do that Senator. Thank you for taking the time to see us. Goodbye." The first suit said.

"Goodbye Senator Hansen. It was a pleasure meeting you." The second suit added.

"Gentlemen." Hansen nodded. He then watched as both of the Lobbyists left his office and headed to the escalators down the hall.

Senator Hansen didn't even notice Captain Price eavesdropping on his conversation, or waiting patiently in the waiting area. He glanced over and saw his receptionist crying, and immediately went over to offer his comfort at the tragic loss. Lee felt uncomfortable as a lump formed in his own throat. It wasn't long ago that he too would have found comfort in the arms of Jamie York. Seeing the Senator offer his condolences to his pretty receptionist let Lee know he was a good man, but it was painful to watch because of his own, personal loss. So the Captain looked away, reaching for an outdated magazine of "Fish & Game" to thumb through while he waited.

A few minutes later, Lee's ears picked out his name as the receptionist pointed him out.

"Captain Price has been waiting to meet with you Senator." Madalynn said with a sniffle as she pointed.

Lee looked across the waiting area at hearing this and began closing the magazine to stand up.

"Does he have an appointment Maddy?" Senator Hansen asked.

The receptionist wiped her nose with a tissue before speaking. "He said you sent a messenger asking him to meet with you today."

Lee walked over to where the Senator was standing. Hansen had a confused look on his face.

"I didn't send any messenger to arrange a meeting." Hansen stated.

"There must be some sort of mix up Senator." Captain Price interrupted. "A young man, about this tall. An Ensign, came on board the USS Galaxy on your behalf asking that I meet with you here in your office before the Galaxy leaves for our next assignment. I believe he said his name was Johnson. . ."

Senator Hansen looked at his receptionist and the two other co-workers. It was obvious from their reactions that no one had ever heard of anyone named Ensign Johnson.

"I'm afraid I don't know anyone by that name Captain. And I can assure you that I did not retain anyone to arrange a meeting today. My schedule is already very full for the week." Hansen explained with sincerity only a politician can muster.

Lee didn't know what to say. Was he the recipient of some weird practical joke? K'Eytyanna, Ronni, and Deiran were known to pull numerous pranks on the Galaxy, but this didn't seem to fit in with their style at all.

"Well, I appear to have been lead on a wild goose chase then Senator. I am sorry for the interruption and the huge waste of time." Captain Price apologized.

"That's quite okay Captain. I know that these things some times happen." The Senator said diplomatically while shaking Price's hand. He didn't believe it, and frankly neither did the Captain, but still, it was always wise to be politically correct. . . especially when you are a politician like the Senator.

"No worries 'mate. G'Day. G'Day ma'am, 'mates." Lee nodded before exiting the Senator's office.

"What was all that about?" the pocket protector'd man asked while pressing on his hornrims.

"I have no idea." Senator Hansen stated evenly. He then smiled and glanced over at the others, "Probably some scheduling screwup. You know Starfleet. . ."

***

The security officers covered the Senate building floor by floor. Having secured the perimeter, and stormed the building immediately after the alleged fatal shots were fired, they were confident that no stone had been left unturned. When they finally reached the fourth floor, they hit pay-dirt. The assassin was no where to be found, but his lair where the shots had been fired was located. It was in a section of the Senate building that was used as a library. Several boxes of books had been arranged in a sort of cubby-hole to mask what was going on near the outward, street facing window. There the security personnel discovered a pump action rail gun with a telescopic sight. Such a weapon was commonly used for sport shooting, like target practice or skeet. But it would also make an excellent weapon for an assassin, as the electromagnetic rail that projected the metal projectile to the target wouldn't be detectable by normal scans for energy based weapons. It's power signature would appear to be a harmless utility component, like a data-padd or dermal regenerator; anything but a deadly weapon. That was likely why the assassin had chosen the weapon. In the hands of an expert shootist, the rail gun could easily have picked off the President from his hovercade as he flew past and away from the Senate building.

The security officers taped off the area and called in Starfleet Intelligence to collect the evidence and scan for trace evidence that could be used to identify who the assassin was.

***

Lee was quiet as he walked to the escalator and then to the transport area in the Senate building lobby. Something was nagging him about this whole thing. His gut was telling him something more was going on here than simply some ill-conceived practical joke being played on him by one of his shipmates. The UFP President had been assassinated. That was certain to cause an uproar throughout the Federation. But why did it happen? Who would want to murder the President? What would be gained by doing so? These were just some of the questions that nagged the Captain as he got into position and activated his comm badge.

"Price to Galaxy. One to beam up."

["Galaxy standing by sir. Energizing. . ."]

Lee dematerialized off the Senate building transporter pad, and soon found himself back on board the USS Galaxy. He was filled with questions, and little in the way of answers. Something he intended to rectify. And the first of which was, who sent him on this wild goose chase to begin with?

"Explanations and Plots"
Story by Lieutenant Suder and Lieutenant (jg) Michael McDowell
Assistant Chief Engineer and his aid in crisis situations

Suder and McDowell strolled along an empty corridor on their way to Ten Forward. Apparently there were a couple of Engineers joining up there for a drink.

"...And I got the message some time ago, just before you arrived to pick up those padds. You know... the ones that would explain my sudden absence. Apparently we can't use the EEH anymore. Not unless it's a full emergency." Suder explained.

Michael nodded. "I got the same message. It was a real short one; it didn't even explain why we can't use it anymore. I couldn't make head or tails out of it."

"I didn't get a reason for it either, so I'll be dropping by the Chief's office for a chat. However, I'll still be working on the project until it's complete. Maybe we can't use it in Engineering, but I'm going to get it finished and send it to some friends of mine back at Engineering HQ. Until then, we'll just have to follow orders."

Michael shrugged. "I guess so. Mutiny is out of the question anyway." Suder smiled at the little joke.

"So, how are you getting along with the EEH?" Michael asked. "I know she still has a few bugs, but i think we've come a long way since we last worked on it."

"I have a few ideas that might fix a lot of the problems, but since we can't use the program in Engineering, we'll have to do it some place else." Suder explained.

"Do you really think the Chief will change her mind?" Michael asked.

Suder nodded slightly. After a moment, Michael looked at Suder. Suder noticed Michael waiting for an answer.

"Chief, what about her?" Suder asked obviously far away in thought.

"Will she change her mind?" McDowell asked again.

"About what?" Suder asked.

"Running the EEH in Engineering?"

"Oh, well, I don't think so." Suder replied.

The conversation died out a little bit as there was not much more to tell about the EEH. But there was something about Suder's behavior that gave Michael the impression something was really wrong.

"You know Ethan, you seem to be a bit 'of the world'." Michael said. "Normally I don't have to ask the same question twice, but lately I have to do that on a regular basis. It's been going on for weeks now."

Michael paused and looked at Suder. He gave him some time to absorb the unexpected comment.

"I'm just tired, there's been a lot of activity lately." Suder explained.

"I know something is keeping you busy and that that something is beginning to affect your life in a serious way." Michael continued. He didn't like to talk to his friend this way but Michael knew there was something going on. It was time to show Suder that he had a friend with which he could share his problems. "Isn't it time to talk about that?"

"Tomorrow, everything will be fine. I've already talked to Karyn, and I'm just trying to sort out a few things. But really, everything's fine. Besides you know what it's like round here, soon so many people will know everything about me, and what fun would that be?" Suder joked.

"Always the mystery man. I'm surprised Starfleet isn't keeping an eye on you." Michael replied with a little sarcasm.

"Ironically, that's not far from the truth... OK, you want to help me, then we should discuss the situation in a more private place." Suder said.

"At last." Michael replied.

***Suder Quarters***

"I think our drinking buddies in Ten Forward are going to be annoyed we didn't show up." Michael joked.

"They'll get over it." Suder replied as he read a report off a data padd.

"Why's it so dark in here?" Michael asked as he looked around the mysterious quarters.

"My eyes are sensitive to light, very sensitive. The dark green filters in the lights are more relaxing then normal light levels." Suder explained.

"It's really dark, how you can do anything in here is beyond me." Michael remarked.

"Here's the official reports of everything that has happened since I joined up with Starfleet." Suder said as he handed Michael the data padd.

Michael read the first few paragraphs. After that he only skimmed the rest as it was simply too much to read it in a few minutes. But he noticed every major event described. It looked like someone tried to sabotage things at Utopia Planetia years ago. There had been quite a few investigations after that which had resulted in a few suspects, all of them Starfleet Officers ...including Ethan. Michael was perplexed and he didn't try to hide it when he looked at Ethan.

"And here's the unofficial one, the one Starfleet wouldn't want anyone to see." Suder said handing Michael a different padd.

Again Michael scanned the most important info on the padd. A frown appeared on his face when he noted numerous differences. He took the padd Ethan first gave him and compared it with the second. According to the 'unofficial one' Ethan had nothing to do with any of the sabotage actions even though hard evidence pointed his way. In theory both reports could be true, but Michael couldn't believe that Ethan was a saboteur. Not after all they had been through together since he was on the Galaxy.

"Starfleet Command is almost convinced that you're the one behind it all. And they have a strong case; important evidence is pointing to you." Michael said and looked up. "But I know you, despite the short time I've been on board the Galaxy. You didn't do it. I'm convinced of that. Someone from Starfleet Command must have tried to make it look like you've done it, but why?."

Michael paused a moment. It all became clear now. "And what about the trip? It has something to do with it, right?"

"That trip I was going to take involves a some what cunning trap. I intend to find out who wanted me out of Starfleet HQ all those years ago and why."

"This doesn't sound good. Starfleet wouldn't do this." Michael said.

"But they did. Starfleet's not just the pure blood it presents itself to be. There are bad veins in every major organization. Unfortunately, I stumbled across something that made a reaction. I'm not asking you to help, I'm just asking that you keep it quiet." Suder asked.

"That I can do I guess." Michael said looking at the padds again.

"I don't plan on leaving just yet, but when you do, you'll be the first to know. Lieutenant Gillings will be going with me, since he has had the same problems as me. We should be meeting with the other "supsect" in a few days. Then we'll head off. Your welcome to join us, but I'm not sure I'd recomend it. Your young and have a long and happy life ahead of you. I don't want you to go down the way I did." Suder explained.

"While you think about what's going on, how about the four of us have dinner?"

"Four?"

"You, Karyn, me and Lieutenant Gillings. He's one of my oldest friends and is as funny as Admiral Jason." Suder said.

The two Engineers walked out of Suder's uarters and made their way to Ten Forward to discuss the days events and situations with their friends.

"The News"
Lt. Cmdr. James Chen
ACSO

***Personal Log***

Well, it looks like this thing still works. That's something, I guess. I always hated talking into this goddamned machine. But, it's either that or see a counselor. And since that's even more nerve-wracking, I've gone with this. It's been a few months since I got this extra pip. It's kind of weird. No matter when I think that's it, nobody's going to give me any more, another promotion comes my way. There was something else. The reason why I'm talking into thin air. I been trying to make sense of it since I found out. I heard from a friend when I took a week off to go to earth. It turns out Liz, my old fiancee, was on board Starbase 127. She didn't make it. She also had a little girl. Terence, her husband and an old...acquaintance of mine, was off the base at the time. Without Liz restraining him, I don't know what's going to happen. He's always made it clear he was coming for me sometime, for what I did to Admiral Nokuma. I always hoped he'd leave well enough alone. Liz must've kept him from trying. Now, though, who knows what he's capable of now that he has nobody left.

**End Log***

Chen sighed slightly, and punched up his comm panel, trying to find something on the Earth vid net that might take his mind off his thoughts. The first thing he saw was a news broadcast. They showed the Federation President's face. Chen frowned and sat back, listening to the reports. He watched another playback of the assassination, wincing as the bullet struck the president. He knew the way it looked, there would be no surviving, even with modern medical technology. Chen had been shot with a projectile weapon, once. His shoulder still ached every now and then.

Chen watched several more minutes of the display, scratching at his chin as he watched. Chen examined the way the president's head moved, scrutinizing the entire display. Chen frowned slightly. It was a good shot. He was semi-impressed. Either the assassin was a relatively skilled individual or an extremely lucky man. Chen was a man who was trained in an assassin's sensibilities, no matter how much he and his teacher had revolted against such practices. He was also a man who had worked a long time to hone his investigative skills. He rarely got the chance to flex his muscles while on the Galaxy, except in the Holodeck. This incident appealed to both sides of James Chen. He smiled, thinking of the amount of interesting time could be spent investigating the crime.

Chen took a deep breath, feeling a slight pang of guilt that he'd just had a thought like that. Another person was dead. A very important person, with a family. And Chen had been considering recreation. Albeit strange recreation by most people's standards. Chen sighed, pushing the thoughts away, wondering if he was finally getting completely callous, or if he was just on emotional overload, right now. So many things happening at once, the death of a president he hadn't even known or thought of much didn't seem as important as the death of a woman he'd loved, once. Or the possibility of a former friend going psycho and seeking out his blood.

Just then, Chen's comm badge chirped from where it was sitting on the table. *Albrecht to Chen, report to Security immediately.*

Chen snatched up the badge and tapped the front. "On my way, boss," he said. He picked up his duty jacket and shrugged into it, pinning on the badge as he trotted out the door. Maybe he'd get the chance to do a little detective work, after all.

"Shocked"
by Lieutenant Darian McGee
Counselors Apprentice - USS Galaxy

~~~Lieutenant McGee's Office~~~

Darian was alone in his office. Reading over a report, he looked up as Ensign Zrama knocked on the door. "Lieutenant, put it on the UFP News station." Then Zrama left.

Darian thought nothing of it as he turned on the news station Darian watched in horror as the President was shot. Darian leaned forward in his chair, not believing what he was seeing.

"Holy shit!" was all he managed to get out. He watched the newsreport that explained what had just happened.

Darian leaped from his chair, still in shock over what he had just seen. Almost as an afterthought, he flipped off the news broadcast, and went over in his mind what he had just seen.

"Computer, personal log, begin recording..."

The computer beeped.

"Personal log, Lieutenant Darian McGee - What I've just witnessed on the newsbroadcast sickens me. To see a life cut short in such a manner. As a Counseling student, as a Medical Doctor, and more importantly as a human, it sickens me to see that we still act out of violence, and that someone would assassinate such a good and honest man.

The person that has committed this sickening crime should be punished severely. I would say a life term in a penal colony, with no hope of parole, but it seems unlikely that the cold-blooded murderer will be found after hearing the newsreport. As they are reporting, Starfleet has no leads on who could have committed this atrocity. We will have to wait and see..."

"Log off."

The computer beeped, and filed his log entry away. Darian eased slowly into his chair, still shocked over what had just happened. It couldn't be true, could it? How could someone do something like that? To take a human life was to lose the part of your own soul that made you care for the life of others. Who knew what this killer was capable of. He was afraid to find out.