"Just Being Together"
A long and mushy post by
Lt. Tim O'Connell, Security and
Lt. (jg) Brooke Ames O'Connell, MD

Brooke had slept really good since Tim was back. It was nice waking up with him among other things. Brooke was sitting up in bed, grinning from ear to ear. "So, stud, got anything planned for today?"

Tim rolled over and looked in to her eyes, "I don't know I thought we'd have breakfast, make love, have lunch, make love, have a snack, make love, then have dinner, then........"

She laughed, finishing his sentence, "Make love." She pushes Tim, "Come on Tim, be serious."

He kept a neutral expression, "I am serious. I intend to make up for all the sex you have missed while I was gone."

She falls backwards on the bed, "Oh. Okay. Looks like we'll be here for a while. You have a lot of time to make up."

Tim started to laugh, "and I thought last night was enough for you."

She teased, "Hey, you're the one who just said that you wanted to make up for all the sex I missed. I'm just keeping you accountable."

"I missed more then the sex." He put his hand on her belly, "but let's face it Junior might get in the way this time."

"Don't worry about it, I'm not." She covers his hand with hers, "Anyway, I haven't heard Junior complain yet."

Tim leaned up and kissed her lips. "Well, 3 more months my darling."

"And I can get back to normal." She sighed, "Three months seems like an eternity."

"Well, you have never been more beautiful to me." He said seriously.

She smiled, "You always say that but I'm glad you think so. Makes this whole pregnancy thing easier."

"When haven't you been the most important thing in my life."

She looked at him with a serious look, "Well if you're talking about since we got back together, I'd have to say never. You've always made me feel special and quite important."

Because you are Brooke." He smiled and took her hand in his, "if yo ever have a question, look at that ring on your finger."

"I won't need to. You've never given me any reason to doubt your love for me. Anyway, I have more than a ring, I get reminded everyday by this kid." She puts her hand on her belly this time.

Tim grinned, "Well I couldn't do it alone, not without breaking quite a few laws."

She smiled, "I guess not."

"But the natural way is a lot more fun." He hugged her tightly, "so for real this time, what do you want to do today?"

She thought for a moment until her stomach growled from lack of food, "Eat, the first order of the day. I'm so hungry right now."

"Should I dress for dinner or serve it to you nekkid?" He grinned teasing her.

She teased back, "I don't know. Depends if we are eating here or out." She grinned back at him, "Actually, I like the nude waiter idea."

"We'll go eat naked in 10 foreword."

She laughed that he would even suggest that, "I don't think it would bother the Betazoids on the ship or the Ferrengi seeing me naked but the rest? I don't think so. Clothes will definitely need to be worn outside these walls."

Tim smiled and got up. "I'll get breakfast get in to a robe. We'll eat here then take a shower."

"Just what I love, a take charge sort of guy." She followed him with her eyes and called out, "I love you."

"I love you too Brooke." Tim smiled and shrugged in to a robe.

Brooke got up after he exited the room and threw on her robe as well. She followed right after Tim, not wanting to let him out of her sight.

He had set up breakfast so when she came out she was greeted by a midsize meal with french toast, bacon, three kinds of juices, pancakes and waffles. "and if yo want it I can get some eggs."

"I know I said that I was starving but don't you think you went a little overboard? I'm eating for two, not twenty-two." She sat down, not knowing which to choose.

"Well, eat what you can we'll recycle the meal. Plus look at it this way you'll need your energy." HE gave her a wicked grin.

"That's what I love about you, you're always thinking."

Tim began to dish a large plate of food for her, "T'Prea said you lost some weight and hadn't been eating well while I was gone."

Brooke looking serious, "T'prea worries too much. I lost very little. So, I wasn't hungry sometimes, it happens. Besides, you're here now to fatten me up." She chuckled at what she said, "I guess you helped do that already."

"Well, It was a lucky shot." Tim protested

"I'd say." She grabbed a glass of OJ, french toast and bacon. "If I keep eating like this, I'll be fat."

"so, I'll still want you all the same."

"Good. I'm glad." She continued to eat, drenching her french toast in syrup.

Tim dug in with gusto, eating with speed and a hunger for the reason that one he was starving, and one he hadn't eaten well without Brooke.

Brooke watched this as Tim ate, "Looks like someone else hadn't been eating good either while they were gone."

"How can I eat when I'm not looking at my lovely wife." He smiled and reached for her hand.

She put out her hand, "That's exactly how it was for me. Have we become so accustomed to being together that we just can't function otherwise?"

"We're like a collective. A Tim/Brooke, collective, resistance is futile." He teased lightly.

She laughed, almost choking on her food. "You are so right."

"Well, don't complain Dr O'Connell. We may have to split up from time to time."

"Well, if you do have to leave again, I'll just tell them that you need your personal physician with you...me of course."

"Of course, we can be doctor, or play doctor." Tim went back to his meal, "I am starving."

Brooke smiled at him, "I see that." She continued to eat, "My compliment to the chef."

"I'll pass that along to engineering department." Tim said with a smile. "After breakfast we could grab a shower."

"That sounds good. So, whose shower should we grab?" She looked up at him, watching his reaction to her poor attempt of being funny, "Okay, bad joke ."

"Tsk tsk." Tim waved a finger in her direction. "You want to go first, or should I?"

"I tried." She continued, "It doesn't matter to me. If you want to."

I have a novel idea, let's conserve water...."

She teased, "Why Mr. O'Connell, are you suggesting that we take one together?"

"Why Mrs. O'Connell I would be suggesting that.

"Well, who am I to argue." She grinned at him, finished up her juice and took the dishes over to be recycled.

Tim picked up some dishes and then pinned Brooke to the wall near the replicator and kissed her deeply.

Brooke was caught by surprise and almost dropped the glass she was holding.

He continued to kiss her deeply pushing his body against hers. "I've missed you." he said while still close to her.

"I've missed you too...a lot." She reached over to where the replicator was and dropped the glass in it, not caring if she made it. She put her arms around him and continued the kiss.

He continued to kiss her, pulling her tightly in to a clinch, feeling the press of her pregnant belly in to his. "I love you beautiful."

"I love you too. Now didn't you say something about a shower?"

"Well, first I had to kiss you."

She smiled, "I think I like those spur of the moment kisses, they're great."

"At least I didn't pin you against a bulkhead in sickbay." Tim grinned, "but I did consider it."

"I wouldn't have minded. Everyone there on my shift are dull anyway. It might have made their day."

"Are you kidding I would have just taken you right there eon a biobed. Now that would give some interesting bioreadings."

"Don't give me any ideas. It would make an interesting study...effects of making love on a bio-bed."

"I would be interested to see the results of that." Tim gave her a wicked grin, and kissed her again. "how's 3 AM for you?"

She laughed, "I don't think so. They'd never go for it."

"Oh come on. One time." He grinned and kissed her again, "maybe we can wait on the shower...."

"You can't be serious. I was just kidding. Hello, but there are patients still in there." She was intrigued by the thought.

He looked at her then broke down laughing, "Might not be a good idea. We would get in so much trouble." "I think so." She was relieved that he was kidding, "It was an interesting idea."

"We'll save it for if we get a stolen moment and an empty biobed.

"Okay, if we ever get a stolen moment." She was teasing, knowing that it would never happen.

"Can we call a medical emergency on the other side of the ship?" He smiled, and began to plant small kisses along her neck.

"You are incorrigible. What am I going to do with you?"

"Love me forever and take me."

Smiling, "And where do you want me to take you?"

"How about on this table here. Doors locked."

She got a mischievous look on her face, "This table? Here?"

That one." Tim said returning her mischievous look.

She pushed Tim back to the table, practically making him lean back on it. "This table?"

Tim leaned back a little surprised by her aggressiveness, "this one right here." He said kissing her softly, "This table."

She leaned against him more, smiling and returning his soft kisses.

Tim continued to kiss her, "right here eh?" he grinned.

She returned the grin, "You asked. I'm just doing what you asked and be the good little wife I am." She started to kiss him with a little more forcefulness.

Tim continued to kiss her deeply as he let her take control of the situation, "I leave my body in your hands."

"In my hands? Okay, you asked for it." She put her hands inside his robe, kissing and caressing him. She then pushed his robe open and slightly off the shoulders, kissing his chest and making her way to his neck and then his lips.

Brooke had never been this aggressive romantically before and he liked it. Leaning back he just went with the rhythm of the moment. "I like this aggressive side of you." He said between kisses.

"That's what you said on our honeymoon too." She went back to kissing him, her hands exploring every aspect of his body, teasing him once in a while.

"Well, it's true." Tim grinned, "did we ever view those holoimages we took?"

She stopped...looking at him, "I'm trying to accomplish something here and you're asking me about holoimages?" She whispers in his ear, "Would an old pornographic movie work?" She was teasing him.

"I thought we made one of those on our honeymoon?" Tim said, "that was the images I was talking about."

"No, we have never watched them. Why?"

Tim grinned, "remember that night I found that imager and we took those........ images." His eyes showed the pictures he was talking about.

She smiled at the memory, looking slightly embarrassed. "Oh yeah." Her eyes lit up, "I almost forgot about that."

"I think I still have those, or did I accidentally send them to the entire ship I keep forgetting."

She hit Tim, "You better not have." She knew that he was teasing her now.

"Oh yea I sent that picture of you to your grandmother." Tim teased her back.

In your dreams." She laughed, "She'd probably put it on her wall."

"That picture of you in that lingerie outfit, what was that damned near see through." Tim kissed her gently, "now I believe we were in the middle of something and I defiantly liked it.

"Were we? Hmm, I can't remember what it was that we were doing. Want to give me a hint and remind me?"

Tim smiled and reached down for the tie on her robe. "We could take this to bed."

"It is a lot softer." She took his hand and walked him towards the bedroom.

Tim stepped in behind her, "and a lot more warning if someone were to come in. But you don't have to stop taking control."

"Who's stopped taking control?" It wasn't a question to be answered. She climbed on the bed, patting it for Tim to join her on it.

Which he did, he was nothing if not an obedient husband. He climbed on to the bed and touched her cheek.

She got a certain look in her eyes. She pushed him back, straddled him and began to kiss him like she had done in the other room. Her eyes caught his and she smiled at him, her eyes revealing how much she wanted him.

Tim let her push him back and returned her kisses with the same fire and passion that she showed for him.

She couldn't control her urges and desires that were burning inside her anymore and took him like he asked. She made wild love to him, staying in control to the end.

Afterwards Tim laid back and looked up at her, "Brooke...."

She looked at Tim and whispered, "Hmm?"

He just gazed at her with a smile on his face.

She asked again, smiling back at him, "What?

Nothing, I'm just wondering how I got such a wonderful woman in my life." He smiled and reached up and cupped her cheek with his hand.

She kissed him, "The same way I got a wonderful man in my life."

Tim rolled her over to her side and he kissed her again, "what do you say we take that shower now, unless you want more sex."

She sat up, "I think a shower sounds good."

"Let's go." He sat up and kissed her again. "then we'll go out."

"Okay." She got off the bed and walked over to the shower.

Tim followed her in to the bathroom and kissed her as they activated the shower. "I think I've missed this most of all."

"So, have I." She stepped in, "We haven't done this for a while."

Tim stepped in to the shower behind her and squirted some shampoo in his hand and began to rub the soap in to her hair. "I have been a negligent husband."

"Not negligent, just busy but it's okay, you're making up for it now."

He continued to wash her hair gently, "I've been both, but I still should have talked to you before I hauled ass to earth."

"Let's don't get into that. You did what you had to do. I should be used to it by now when it comes to Starfleet." She had forgotten what it felt like to get her hair washed by him.

Tim rinsed her hair then began to wash her body, "It won't happen again, I have to remember I'm not single any more."

"Okay, I believe you." She turned around and kissed him.

He kissed her back, "I promise, I will talk to you whenever anything involving us comes up again."

She hugged him, getting soap on him as well. "Forget about it, I have."

Tim laughed and then kissed her, "Hey you got me soapy."

"Oh, I'm sorry." She laughed, "I guess I'll have to get the rest of you soapy." Ok soap me up dear."

She grabbed the soap and started to wash him, slowly and sensually. By the expression on his face, she could tell she hadn't lost her touch.

And she hadn't Tim actually was getting excited by her touch. His eyes half closed and he got a little weak in the knees.

She finished and then gave him another kiss, putting a little soap on his nose. "All done."

Tim kissed her back and then took the soap off his nose and placed it on her breast. "looks better there."

She looked down, "You think so, huh?" She pulled him towards the running water.

The water ran over their bodies they rinsed off. Stepping out Tim wrapped Brooke in a thick fluffy towel and grabbed one for himself. "So what should we do today?"

"I'm not sure. As long as I'm with you, anywhere would be fine." She began to dry herself off. "Maybe take a walk somewhere?"

"Arboretum?" Tim asked her and quickly dried himself off.

"Yeah, boy, does that place brings back memories." She grabbed a pair of jeans and a shirt.

That's where we had that picnic."

She smiled, "I remember." She finished getting dressed and sat on the bed, watching Tim.

Tim quickly dressed and joined her in the living room, "let's go my dear." He took her hand.

"Catchup"
by Lt Cmdr K'Eytyanna Samara - Chief Engineer

Walking down the corridor to Engineering, Kay thought about what sort of rumors were going to be flying about why the Second Officer just went and resigned for no obvious reason.

Suddenly the red alert siren went on and she instantly sped up, sprinting into Engineering. A few seconds later, an intra-ship message informed them that the battle section was heading to DS9 at maximum warp while the saucer stayed behind.

The engineers snapped to attention as Kay spun off a long series of orders involving the two sections.

Two engineering teams got ready to with equipment to stay back with the saucer. The equipment was quickly beamed into one of the larger sections in the saucer while the crew rushed there.

Looking around, she quickly yelled to T'Zaq that she should get a full team ready to keep the warp drive at top knotch, since they would probably be pushing it to the limits.

Moving to one of the consoles, she used one of her security codes to 'temporarily' allow T'Zaq to knock a few of Starfleet's unnesseccary safety precautions out of the way, knowing that Captain Price wouldn't be too mad when he found out.

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

Tapping her combadge, she snapped,

"What is it??"

Deiran's voice came over the channel, [Kay, is that any way to speak to your commanding officer?]

"Sorry, sir. I've been busy down here."

[I'll let it slide this time. Put T'Zaq or Suder in charge and come to the battle bridge. Captain Price, Lt Cmdr Albrecht and I are leading a team to DS9, and I am leaving you in charge of taking the Galaxy into the Gamma Quadrant to make sure that no Dominion ships come through.]

"But I'm not second officer anymore."

[Doesn't matter. You are in charge.]

"Aye aye. I suppose I can find the time. Kay out."

Grumbling, she left Engineering to go to the bridge.

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

Walking onto the bridge, she headed to the center chair and waited until the transport had been completed. Samara gave the order to take the stardrive section through the Bajoran worm hole into the Gamma quadrant and out of sight of their objective, the shifty Mister C. Mel Loyd.

--------------------------------------------------------
Lt Cmdr K'Eytyanna Samara - Chief Engineer (USS Galaxy)
D'Akana T'Mok - NPC Targ (USS Galaxy)
Lt jg. Brightspot to-Srallansre - NPC Security (USS Galaxy)

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

"Duty Calls"

Suder was in a Cargo Bay. Having his break and montioring the crew's performance. He found himself thinking of the events since he had been onboard the Galaxy. He had only just realised that he had been on the Galaxy for quite some time. He smiled to himself, remembering the old days, back when Commander Samara was just a Lieutenant, before McDowell had even come aboard the ship. His smiled faded. He began thinking of a the few friends that he had made, the same friends that he had lost on the Galaxy's journeys.

On a console near him was a data padd. He picked the padd up and looked at the information. There was new information that he was going to download into the EMH program. He hd done a lot of work on that program. Spent a lot of time, monitoring, adjusting and calibrating the program. He made his way out of the Cargo Bay and was about to go to visit another Cargo Bay when he was recalled to Engineering.

When he arrived, he was greeted by most of the Engineers that noticed his presence. Lieutenant Commander T'Zaq seemed to have things running smoothly. The Chief of Engineering was no where to be seen. Suder assumed that she had gone to the Bridge.

He strolled over to a console and looked at the events that had happened so far. The ship had seperated, they were about to enter the Bajoran Worm Hole.

"Here we go again." he said to himself...

Title: Bitching
Thread: Crashed Shuttle Charley
Author: Sandy

Character: Jake Olson

NRPG: Jake is amnesiac, no memory of the Galaxy or Sullax. This is an idea hatched by Sullax and I, as it is part of a plan.

Jake Olson prepared a meal for the pair and they sat down to eat. Jake's cooking skills were not up there with scientific but no one would die, jg supposed.

Bored off his nuts, jg began to vent his spleen, unaware that there was a recording device that came on line unknown to the munching pair.

"I am -not- looking forward to seeing Sullax again. That arrogant Romulan son of a bitch really needs a tractor beam to pull the string out of his little green ass."

"Sullax?" Jake asked, not knowing whom jg was bitching about.

"Yea, he's our superior officer. Raised in the Federation, but you wouldn't know it. He's as Romulan as they come, an arrogant prick. Always demanding the 'best' and never satisfied."

"Romulan culture is quite a fair bit different than our own, and if he has followed that cultural path, I can see that he would be a perfectionist, as Romulans have zero tolerance for any behavior they see as slacking." Jake returned thoughtfully.

"Christ on a pinwheel, you aren't a counselor!" jg laughed bitterly. "I don't need a diagnoses, I just wish he'd... I hate the fucking Rommies, between you, me, and the shuttle." And ears they didn't know about.

"No, but I know as much about counseling as the average layman. Your feeling put out by this Sullax. I take it he follows Star Fleet procedures in handling discipline of the science section?"

"What?" jg asked, bewildered.

"Both the Romulan and Klingon style of command are startlingly different than the command of Star Fleet, and insubordination of any degree is met with violence." Jake drank some water. The blue eyes were sober. "What is considered insubordination is also rather startling, simply disagreeing with a superior can lead to drastic action. So, if we've a Romulan in command of a section, and even if he is following Star Fleet protocols, it is very easy to mistake his actions for simple arrogance. He may not realize that he is putting people off, he may just be doing a job."

"Hmm, well, I don't think a Rommie jack ass has any business on a star ship, running a department no less."

"I'm afraid neither you nor I have a great deal of say in this matter. It is for the Captain of the star ship in question and Star Fleet command to make a decision on whom does what where."

"You'll keep this between us, won't you?" jg asked suddenly.

"Certainly, there would be no benefit of spreading this subject about. Not for you, I, or the Romulan of whom you speak." Jake looked a bit tired. "Do you know if I've met this individual?"

"Yea, all of us scientists have."

"Yes, it would seem that this man is capable, to obtain command of a science section of a star ship, cultural quirks aside. I am not certain if racial background would be considered overmuch in command decisions, especially as we are terrifically short on personal after the Dominion War. I recommend that you be careful, and keep all opinions to your self, as even under star fleet mode, this man can come down hard on you for expressing sentiment like this." Jake warned.

"Side Trip: Part 6"

by Ensign Eric Odin and Lt. Anna Gartner
NPC Astrid Salt

Eric nodded and said, "With it's warp core gone it can't do much of anything that the Nelson can't handle ma'm. The way I see it the only place life should be is where we left the cardasssians and possibly the bridge. What do you suggest ma'm?"

"Maybe deactivate the slavers ECM devices that is jamming our sensors, so the Haven can perform a thorough scan and see what is actually on the rest of this ship." Anna suggested. "Then feed those Cardassian slaves, considering the Nelson is still a few hours out."

"Agreed," Eric said plainly. He took out his tricorder and scanned, saying almost rhetorically, "Where or where could those ECM devices be?" Meaning to ask Anna as well as scan for them himself. He picked up a possible signature of ECM devices in the main cargo hold. They had apparently only been to a smaller cargo hold. Eric reported to Anna," I'm picking up possible ECM devices in the main cargo bay. It appears to be one level down and a couple hundred meters to the left. If I can get within visual range I can shut them down with the tricorder."

"Make it so." Anna smiled.

After making their way to the lower cargo hold, it didn't take Eric long to locate the ECM device. The engineer gave it a quick inspection and discovered something.

"These devices are interlink to a separate power source."

"And you like me to guess what that suppose to mean?" Anna murmured ever so quietly. "Pretend that I don't understand."

"Hit with a big enough charge, it'll not only take this one out but short the rest out too." Eric informed her.

"Sounds good, what's the trick?"

Eric back away from the ECM device. "Shot it."

Anna smiled and leveled her newly acquired disruptor rifle at it. "Now you're speaking my language."

With a pull of the trigger, the ECM received a powerful jolt of disruptor fire and immediately reduced to a pile of molten metal. Anna looked over to Eric as he checked his tricorder again.

"What's the word?"

"The jamming has cleared right up." He grinned happily.

"Got anything of interest?"

Eric nodded and said, "Ma'm I was correct with where the rest would be. All remaining lifeforms other than the cardassians are in the bridge. However the bridge is not where you would suspect, it is more like a battle bridge. It is not too far from here ma'm. What do you suggest?"

Anna gave him a feline smile. "Lock and load! We're going hunting, Mr. Odin."

"Yes ma'm," Eric replied replied enthusiastically. He readied his phaser rifle as they headed for the battle bridge where the last remnants of the hostilities were lurking. They arrived pretty quickly and Eric scanned the room, six very frantic life signs were detected. Eric reported to Anna saying, "Well ma'm, we need a plan. We've got six in there what do you suggest we do?"

"We need a distraction." Anna said, then smiled as an idea took form in her mind. "Say, Eric! When you gave our Runabout a quick inspection before we left, you wouldn't had taken a look want we had in the ship's storage compartment."

Eric nodded. "Yes, the usual stuff. Survival gear, phasers, some scientific equipment. What do you have in mind?"

Anna tapped her comm badge. "Anna to Astrid. I want you to assemble some stuff and beam it to these coordinates."

***

The six slavers watched the door nervously. They knew the two Starfleet officers where just outside but they still haven't tried to force their way on the bridge. What do they got in mind...

They heard the air humming behind them. The slavers spun about to see a transporter beam and a figure materializing inside the bridge with them.

"They're beaming inside to take us by surprise!" One slaver shouted. "Kill him!!"

The six slavers opened fire with their disruptors, striking the figure just as the transporter released it. With a blinding flash of exploding disruptor energy, the unfortunate person collapsed to the deck, a flame.

"Drop you weapons!!" A female voice scream behind them a second later.

The slavers froze in surprise. No one was bothering to watch the door.

"You heard the lady. Drop your weapons or we will drop you!!" A male soon threaten when the slavers hesitated to obey.

On the deck, the remains of a melted sensor tripod, still covered by a burnt survival blanket that was beamed from the Runabout 'Haven'. It served its mission well to present itself as decoy to the slavers weapons.

Eric cracked a grin at how well it had worked out. He was almost disappointed that they didn't want to resist. They set down their weapons and Eric motioned them over to the wall where nothing could be used against Eric or Anna. Eric put restraints on them one by one to make sure they wouldn't be able to get far if they ran. Anna covered him while he was doing this. Eric walked over to Anna with his phaser still trained on the slavers he asked, "Ma'm should we wait for the Nelson to arrive to interrogate these slavers or do you suggest a different course of action?"

"I suggest we lock them in the very same cells they kept their slaves in." Anna suggested. "It'll be only fair."

Then she said aloud to be sure that the slavers could hear her. "If we're feeling nice, we'll put them in an emptied one with no groups of slaves in it."

Eric complied and threw them in a large slave cell. He secured it and reported to Anna,"Ma'm the Nelson will arrive within the hour if I remember the ETA right. Perhaps if we leave an info beacon for them we can get the hell out of here. If they need more info they can hail us, what do you think?"

Anna nodded. "Maybe so but lets wait until the Nelson gets here then we can hand the Cardassians off to them."

Eric nodded,"Yes ma'm." All they could do is wait now.

In that hour, they made the ship's replicator available to the Cardassians to feed them and provided some medical treatment to some of them. They took a head count and found there were 47 Cardassians.

"What's going to happen to us now?" One Cardassian male asked the two Starfleet officers.

"When the Nelson arrives shortly, they'll take you aboard and see to your needs." Anna assured him. "Then they'll make arrangements to return you to Cardassian space."

"They might have some questions about anything you'll know about the slavers. I think Starfleet won't be happy that there's a slave trade going on out here, even it's at the very edge of Federation space."

"I... We thankyou both for your help." The Cardassian smiled gratefully. "No telling of the horrors that might had been awaiting us."

Eric shook his head,"I'm about as mad as Starfleet probably will be. I'm just so mad that slavery still happens." He pulls out a small comm PADD and hands it to the cardassian and says, "Once you recover and if you ever want a job I can get you all one."

"Thank you, you are very kind to us," the cardassian replies.

Eric says,"Just being as humane as all should be." He then turns to Anna,"Well this certainly has been a long mission ma'm. I personally can't wait to head back to the Galaxy."

"Me too," Anna agreed. "I can't believe I'm actually feeling home sick from being so from that ship."

**To be continued??**

"Interviewing the Guilty Parties." pt. 1
by Lt. Commander Thomas
and Dr. Gakor

[Occurs after the Surveillance pt. 2 log. Soon after the Opaka had departed.]

Lt. Commander Thomas had been in the captain's room for sometime looking into what the captain had been checking upon. He also found himself covering several other parts of the ship. He was hungry and ready to get something to eat, he wanted to go home and eat with Anna. Unfortunately he had to speak with some more people and continue moving his investigation forward.

Chris wasn't sure who would be the first person he spoke with right now. He was hungry and decided 10-forward would be a good place to stop and grab a bite to eat before proceeding with his duty. He decided also to see if the computer knew the whereabouts of Dr. Gakor someone who he wanted to speak with, but probably didn't want to speak with him.

"Computer locate Dr. Gakor." Chris stated as he stepped into the turbolift.

"Dr. Gakor is current in 10-Forward." the computer said.

Talk about luck he thought to himself as he took the nearest turbolift to 10 forward.

** 10 Forward **

"Dr. Gakor." Lt. Commander Thomas said walking over to join the good doctor.

"Snacks Commander! I've been meaning to stop by in person and see that your physicals were done after you returned to our Galaxy family. But I found out you already took care of them once I got down to it. I hope you found the medical staff helpful."

"Thanks for asking Doctor, I knew that I would need to update my medical records for the Galaxy. Which is why I had my latest physical from Starfleet Command transferred here for reference." Chris said. "I did indeed find the medical staff to be helpful, they're a good bunch of people."

"That has been my observation also, several of the doctors have been recomended for promotions."

"You've done a good job with them." Chris added.

"Well, it's simple to excell with people of this potential level."

"I am glad I found you here, I wanted to speak with you about a couple of recent events that just occurred. There timing seems to be very questionable in my honest opinion." Thomas said, "May I sit down and join you?"

"Certainly", the doctor said.

"And if you don't mind I think I'll get something to eat. I haven't had anything to eat all day, except for breakfast." Chris said glancing to see what else was going on around the room.

"I would hardly keep anyone away from Oinkus, Sir!", the Tellarite joked rubbing her tummy.

Chris sat down to join the doctor, not even bothering to allow her the chance to respond to him. He was going to speak with her either way. Chris ordered a sandwich and some water to drink. He was hungry, but didn't want to eat to much, because he figured after this conversation he should go back to his quarters to check in on Anna and eat dinner if she'd made anything.

"I have come by to ask you some questions as I said earlier."

"Why did the Opaka, your ship, a Bajoran ship leave the Galaxy shortly after the captain returned to the ship?" Lt. Commander Thomas asked casually.

"The Opaka was transferred from Bajoran registry to Federation status as a medical ship. However, the Bajoran government discovered possible defective parts on the Kai class ships, and recalled all of them for repairs, including those given to foreign governments. They were concerned a part failure could reflect negatively on their application for Federation membership. For that reason, they wanted to fix their own mistakes rather than let us do it.

Chris noted her comment on a padd he'd started carrying with him.

"But, Nourishment, what is this about Captain Price being back on the ship? Everyone was looking for him on Earth. I haven't seen any evidence he was aboard recently."

"I've found evidence of him being physically on the ship just prior to the shuttles departure to Bajor. Forensic evidence of his presence on the ship, he appears to have never left his quarters until the appointed time." Thomas said.

"This is the first I've heard of that! The volume of data coming up from Mergotti is extensive, and preoccupied my time. My knowledge of Archeology came in handy when evaluating their American-Indian like building patterns and riturals. I had no reason to look for Forensic evidence, but if you need medical analysis of your data, feel free to send it down to the medical labs. They may confirm the data you located."

Commander Thomas took a bite of his sandwich, and looked uncomfortable. Of course! As far as he knew, no one but Price and himself had 100% knowledge that Price was aboard during his flight from captivity. Chris only knew this because he had pieced the evidence together. Deiran Casey probably knew, but there was not yet proof of that allegation. And now, Gakor found out, only because he asked her directly about it. A medical analysis would also be helpful, but he would be sure to copy the data before turning it over.

"And who just approved this request for maintenance doctor?" Chris asked as he took a drink from his glass. "I don't mean to accuse you of anything, but the timing is less then favorable."

"The orginal request was issued as a proclimation from the Bajoran Provisional Government. I verified the repair request by talking to Colonel Kira via subspace. Since I only left there a few weeks ago, it was easy to identify it was her. She recalled an experience only we two shared. Because the message was authentic, I forwarded a request for the Opaka to be sent to DS9 for repairs to Captain Casey with my recommendation for approval. There is an on going need to be diplomatic to foreign governments, after all. Since the Opaka departed shortly after that, I assumed Deiran granted the request."

"I will be in touch with Colonel Kira to confirm those orders and I will have to speak with Captain Casey about it, as I also have a few other questions to ask him." Lt. Commander Thomas said.

"Kira should be happy to confirm what I told you, however I believe Deiran is quite busy making plans to deal with the storm now brewing on the surface of the planet."

"I understand", Chris said. "Do you know who was scheduled to fly the Opaka?"

The fuzzy doctor shrugged her shoulders, "My original suggestion was to program the ship's computer to have the EMH1 program pilot the ship. In case parts did fail, this would endanger no lives. But Deiran may have over rode that suggestion if he felt it was unviable."

"Thank you for explaining this to me, Doctor", Chris said. *There must be more.*, the human thought. At last, he asked one final question before departing. "Did you follow up on the Opaka's status?"

"No, I did not. The Opaka left shortly before we got the first batch of biological and medical data from Mergotti. I was occupied studying it. After that, the storm system moved in, and we lost contact with the away teams. But wait...",

"Computer, this is Doctor Endris Gakor, voice authorization 908-Charlie-Echo-7. Report status of medical run about USS Opaka."

"Shuttle Opaka is currently docked at DS9. All structural repairs have been completed."

"Commander, I believe that answers your questions. The shuttle has been repaired. I'm sure the Bajorans will make arrangements for returning it to us in short order."

"Doctor, thank you for providing this information, I have further investigating to do, and may have additional questions later. But now I see the request for the Opaka's repairs originated from outside the USS Galaxy. This puts to rest my fears that someone aboard manufactured the trip to help Captain Price escape justice."

Chris turned to go, but couldn't decide on a destination. Finally, Chris decided to go back to his family's quarters. Talking with his wife might give him new insights, and help him decide how to proceed.

Meanwhile, Gailyn approached the paunchy food lover with a slice of cherry pie. Endris eagerly devowered the delicious desert, until she screamed "Snacks!" in dismay. She had broken a tooth on a cherry pit! She would be unable to eat until she saw the dentist....

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

Suder sat quite comfortable in the small comartment. He felt a bit cramp, but his concentration kept him occupied. His fingers flew across the console as he continued the diagnostics on all systems. He wanted this oepration to be smooth. He had a bad feeling though. Something didn't feel right. About the mission.

He figured that it was just last minute thoughts, "cold feet" as his human friends would say. Suder moved along t the next console and began programing the computer to accept orders without warning three times that it would breaking a safety procedure and then asking twice, for an authorization code. For all Suder knew, he might not have that sort of time so he needed the computer to respond quickly.

He moved to the next console and continued his work. His fingers had never moved so fast before. There was a lot of work to do in a matter of minutes. He moved back to the original console and checked up on the diagnostics, everything seemed to be fine so far.

Suder then moved over to the transporter control panel. He opened it and began pulling out several computer chips and placing them in different slots. He tapped in a command code into the main computer and then closed the panel.

To be continued...

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

"Comfort"

Time was running short. Suder cntineud to work as fast as he could. The diagnostics were nearly complete. He had adjusted a lot of the systems for the requirements needed.

"Sullax to Suder."

Suder tapped his communicator and continued his work. "Suder here." he replied.

"How are things proceding down there?" Ryak asked.

"We should be ready just about now." Suder answered.

"Good work Lieutenant, I supposed you Engineers are miracle workers, to do that many adjustments in such a short time." Ryak said.

"Thanks Commander, but I believe there is one more miracle to perform."

"We shall see." Ryak replied. "Sullax out."

With that, Suder noted that the diagnostics were complete. Everything was set.

To be continued...

"Some things never change."
By Ensign Peter Lockhart

Peter sat in Ten Forward, looking out at the planet. With the star drive section gone, and a lot of the crew with it, he felt more than able to engage in his favourite past times. Slacking off, and talking crap with his old drinking partner, Mark Mulich. The pair hadn't been together for a while, what with Peter's investigation into the captain and his twisted ankle, but now, fully healed and with the investigation over, it was time to catch up.

"Ahhhhh. Feels good to do nothing." Peter said, sipping his drink slowly. "And better yet, I don't have to worry about anyone reporting me. You know what all these other officers are like. As soon as the Captain shouted 'saucer separation' all the main officers sprinted off to the star drive section to engage in the fun."

"But little did they know!" Mark said with a smile.

"Little did they know indeed. And do you know what's even funnier?" Peter said, waiting for Mark's response. Mark looked at him quizzically. "What's even better is that Sanchez went too! Which means I'll be buggered if I'm going to training today."

He took a glance over at a chronometer and noticing it said, "Oh bugger, I've missed it. What a shame."

"Pete, that's not really the attitude and you know it!" Mark said.

"Well sod that!" Peter replied. "I've pulled double shifts all week searching for the captain, and now I want a break. Besides, I can report success to 'Commander Chen. I know where he is. He's buggered off to DS9 with half the ship. Not that I'm complaining mind. So my mission was a success."

"Fair enough Pete." Mark said, drinking slowly. "Just watch it when Albrecht gets back, you'll need to pull your socks back up then!"

"Yep yep." Peter said, and taking another sip of his drink, started rambling on about a new topic. "So what about Samara eh? No more second officer. Who do you think will get her place?"

"Dunno. Jamson maybe?" Mark replied.

"Yeah gotta be. He's held a commission longest." Peter said.

"But what about Albrecht. People like him, and he's the longest consecutively serving Lt. Commander on the ship. Well, aside from David Mercury, but I don't think he'll accept it, even if he's offered the post."

"Why Albrecht?" Peter said, trying to get Mark to elaborate.

"Well. As I say, he's the longest serving Lt. Cmdr here. He's good at his job. People like and respect him, and they'll follow his orders and he runs a good department.... I think." Mark said, now wondering if what he said was true. Peter's reply was swift and harsh.

"Albrecht couldn't order a lemming off a cliff, and as to a good department, just look at us. Fucking hell Mark, I mean, I'm in the department for starters, which should knock about a million points off him for starters."

"What do you mean?" Mark asked.

"Okay, look at us. There's Chen. Sure he's fine. Got no problems there. But who's next? O'Connell!! I mean, he's never bloody here. He's always off sha..... engaging Dr. Ames, or O'Connell or whatever. Anna Gartner! Another one! Where the bloody hell is she? Did she tell anyone she was robbing a runabout and heading off on some adventure to find cash and gold? I don't recall!!" Peter started, engaging full rant mode as time wore on.

"I'm sure she cleared it with someone." Mark said quietly.

"My arse!" Peter put it bluntly. "SANCHEZ! I mean, the worst, most up her arse cow this side of the neutral zone. Need I say more?" Mark shook his head slowly. "Brightspot! All she ever does is try and eat Astrid Salt's canary or something, and speaking off which, where the hell is Salt? I haven't seen her in ages!"

"You're in full swing now lad. Go get them." Mark replied sarcastically.

"Chris Aaron and Heidi Mason. Randier than two lesbian Betazoid in the 'hot zone'." Peter said, looking over to where the couple where the couple where kissing, oblivious to the rest of Ten Fore.

"You." Peter said, probably pushing the bounds of good taste now. "The Ensign who can't get promoted. You've been an ensign.... ohhhh...."

"Since Stardate.." Mark began.

"Five million years." Peter finished. "Now don't get me wrong Mark, nothing against you, but if Albrecht can't see that you deserve to be promoted, then he doesn't deserve the second officer job."

"Thanks." Mark said, glad that his friend had directed the attack at Albrecht rather than him.

"And finally, the crowning achievement! ME!" Peter said. "I'm the most lazy, bone idle security officer in the history of existence. I'm shit at my job, can't fight to save, well, anyone's life really. Can't hit the broadside of a barn from point blank and to cap it all, I'm never fuckin' there!"

Peter's tirade began to wind down. "I mean, we are the oddest bunch of security personnel ever, with Albrecht at the head. Maybe he'll get the job. That is, if Price has suffered a nasty blow to the head whilst in custody!"

Peter sat back, looking at Mark Mulich just grinning at him. "Yeah Peter. Finished now. Or is there more to come."

"No! I'm done!" Peter replied.

"So then. If you're so dysfunctional, what makes you think you have a chance with Ensign Neg'Puj?" Mark asked, finishing his drink.

"How do you know about that?" Peter asked.

Mark simply stood up. "I'll get this round in, and when I get back, you can tell me all about it." he said, with a sly grin on his face.

"My arse I will." Peter said defiantly.

"We'll see." Mark said, grabbing Peter's empty glass and heading over to the bar.

"Watch what you say"
Lt Tim O'Connell

with an excerpt from "Some things never change"

Tim had decided to look over status reports and information on the security substation, mainly his activites on Earth had put him criminally behind on his paperwork and James had made it known that after his reunion with his lovely wife he should get cracking on the reports.

Which he did. The crowd and the taste of replicated coffee, was something he missed. Through the crowd of voices was one he couldn't miss, Lockhart.

"Okay, look at us. There's Chen. Sure he's fine. Got no problems there. But who's next? O'Connell!! I mean, he's never bloody here. He's always off sha..... engaging Dr. Ames, or O'Connell or whatever......

Tim's eyebrows shot up in his head as he overheard the rest of the topic, this kid was insane. He had to be, I mean how did he know that someone wasn't listening to him, himself included, which he was. But then this was Lockhart, the young man who would be a lifer ensign, Tim rubbed his chin then got an idea. He tapped his combadge. He spoke quietly then finished filing his padds.

He then nodded and watched Mulch walk away. He walked over to Ensign Lockhart and rested a hand on his shoulder, "So Mr Lockhart, fancy a few goes at unarmed combat?"

Peter Lockhart jumped at hearing a familiar voice and looked up in to a friendly face, the same officer he had been talking about Lt O'Connell....

"To Chatch a Chameliod"
by Ensign Seth Zonheib, Security Officer
with Captain Robert Price
and Lt Cmdr Matthew Albrecht, Chief Sec.

The security team materialized on DS9 and split up into groups to search the Station. Albrecht and Zonheib accompanied the Captain. The Lt. Commmander figured he was most as risk since the Chameleon would harbour some resentment to being caught.

The gorn tongue flicked in and out on over time taking in all the smells of the promenade. The Ensign assured his boss he could track the chameleon by smell. Seth even joked that he had never tasted chameleon before, at least Matt hoped is was a joke.

Into the Soup
by LCDR Endris Gakor, CMO
reviewed by Captain Price

*** Shuttle Bay ***

Gakor knew at least one of the shuttles had crashed, so the Chief Medical Officer was conducting a visual inspection of the one Commander Sullax had managed to return in. Hopefully, her idea to open a window in the storm had proved helpful, as had the tractor beam she used to snag his ship.

There was scoring on the bottom of the shuttle, where ionic currents had buffeted the nacels, almost to the point of gnawing them through. Also, some discoloration was present, indicating the rains of Mergotti had an unexplained acidic content. (Mergotten technology had not developed metallurgy or exhaust systems to account for this, so it had to be a naturally occurring property.

Endris was just finishing putting notes in her tricorder, when a call came in from the bridge.

Ryak wanted her to go to the Transporter Room 2, for another away team.

"Is the hole we poked in the storm still there? Beaming through Ionic currents is dangerous", she groused. "Especially if we find some of our people are wounded, they might not stand the trip through depending on how bad they are traumatized."

The Romulan scientist thought a minute and then boasted "I found a way to increase the power of the first satellite you and Lt Suder created. It is now displacing more of the storm. If that fails to work, I will deploy a second satellite of improved design. The modified waves should disrupt the storm enough for us to have a transporter and sensor window to the planet."

"What are you planning to do with the wreckage? We can't leave it around for natives to find."

"Some of the shuttles may have had rough landings, but could be structurally in tact. The engineers will place hover padds on them until they can lift off the soil, and then tractor beams will pull them home. If any of them are too wrecked to lift off, the teams will surround the craft with transporter enhancers, then we will beam the wreckage up using the transport disintegration cycle, leaving no evidence behind."

"That sounds like a good plan. Deiran seemed quite adamant that we finish the rescue in the next three days. That doesn't give us a lot of time. I am in the shuttle bay, and can bring some extra pattern enhancers from here with me when I go to the transporter room."

"Very Well", Sullax said.

"This will interest the Scientist in you", she finished. "The data we collected suggests the people of Mergotti are especially ecologically conscious."

"I see. That means we can not leave the weather control satellites operating when we leave. I will have tactical destroy them, restoring the planet's normal weather patterns."

"Snacks! That certainly sounds like we've covered all the bases. We should have this rescue finished without a hitch.", Endris said emptying a storage locker from its contents of transporter enhancers.

*** Later ***

It took a while. Sensors were still not 100%. They had found all but shuttle Charlie, sending the rest of the shuttles back to the ship. Just before dusk, they found the crash site. It was deep inside a canyon full of raw mineral ores. Endris ran a tricorder over the rocks, verifying her conclusion. The types of ores found here shielded the wreckage from the ship's sensor probes.

The shuttle would not have been found here from orbit even without the storm.

Endris sent up the command to begin desegregating the wreckage, even as she and the rest of the crew began a fan-out search pattern for the missing crew. That they were ambulatory was a good sign, but they could still move even with severe wounds if they thought it necessary.

Luckily the sensors showed the nearest settlement was several days foot travel from here. The Galaxy crew would find and beam up their mates well before the deadline....

"Riding the Verteron Pipeline"
By Lieutenant JG Mikala Pailaka

***Denorios Belt, Bajoran System***

"All right Lieutenant Pailaka, take us in." Lt. Commander Samara ordered.

"Yes Ma'am!" Mike replied, perhaps with a bit too much enthusiasm. It was turning out to be a wild day for Mike, a day of firsts. There was his first time on the Galaxy's battle bridge, a cramped but serviceable station. There was his first saucer separation, which turned out to be very routine, but still a sight to behold. The fact that a ship so large could break in two and then recombine again was an amazing feat of engineering.

Then there was the exhilarating run from the Mergotti system to DS9. With the large saucer section removed, Mike had been able, with help from engineering, to adjust the shape of the ship's warp bubble to coincide with the change in the space frame architecture. Once they were underway, he constantly tweaked the power allocation to the structural integrity fields, little by little increasing the amount of stress the stardrive section could take in its unencumbered form, and thus increasing its top end speed. By the time they were halfway to their destination, they were literally burning a trail through subspace, shrieking along at over warp 9.83, a tremendous speed for a ship the size of the Galaxy to maintain for so many hours.

By the time they had arrived at DS9, Mike was buzzing from the adrenaline. The run had been a personal speed record for him and better yet, they had arrived with time to spare to get set up and intercept the Chameloid assassin that had caused Captain Price and the entire Federation so much grief. And the best was yet to come… The wormhole.

Going through the wormhole might have been routine for certain scientific vessels and the crew of DS9, but it was Mike's first time. He had joined Starfleet to see the stars and to travel to new places. Now he was headed to an entirely different quadrant! He did his best to suppress his giddy excitement. After all, their mission was a serious one and they were about to enter into what many still considered to be hostile space.

"Entering the point singularity." Mike said as he eased the Galaxy forward at one quarter impulse. Warp drive was a no-no inside the wormhole. Back in 2370, the use of warp drive in the wormhole had temporarily opened a breach to the mirror universe, whose citizens Mike had recently encountered for the first time and was looking forward to never meeting again.

There was a burst of light, and the swirling vortex opened up before them. "Piercing the membrane." Mike said out loud. "Entering the positive control region now!"

And then they were inside. The view on the main monitor struck awe and wonder in Mike's heart. They were deep inside the Celestial Temple of the Prophets. His navigational instruments were next to useless. Even the chronometer was out of joint, unable to judge something as simple as relative time. Around them, lightening flashed and pure spheres of verteron particles floated like bubbles in a champagne glass.

There was a bit of a jolt as the ship passed through the ring singularity at the halfway point of the phenomenon, and then into the negative control region "Hang on." Mike warned. "Entering the FTR pipeline in five seconds!"

The Galaxy shot forward as if propelled by a gigantic cosmic slingshot. The monitor showed a cascade light, shooting by far too rapidly for the human mind to make out details.

And then, as suddenly as it began, it was over. The USS Galaxy had returned to normal space. Mike checked all of his readings. The ship had held together just fine. No structural damage whatsoever. Mike looked at the stars before him and sucked in his breath. He was a better navigator than he was a pilot, once boasting to his academy friends that you could drop him anywhere in the Alpha Quadrant and he could find his way home by just looking at the stars. But now, he was over 70,000 light years from Federation space and everything looked new. To him, it was a glorious sight.

"We're through, Ma'am." Mike stated.

"I can see that, Lieutenant." Samara intoned sarcastically. "Any sign of Dominion ships?"

That brought Mike back to reality quickly. He checked his readings. "No evidence of any ships within sensor range."

"Very well. Maneuver us into position for the intercept and keep an eye on those sensors. I don’t want any surprises!"

"Aye!" Mike replied, turning the Galaxy around and putting her into position facing the mouth of the wormhole. If anything came through the wormhole now, it would be a simple matter for the Galaxy to slap a tractor beam on it before they could go to warp.

Now, it simply became a waiting game. With any luck, the assassin would be caught on the station and they could head back through without incident. But life was unpredictable, and the crew of the star drive section began preparing for as many contingencies as they could think of, including the arrival of any Jem'Hadar that might have revenge on their minds.

Mike relaxed back into his chair but kept an eye on the sensor scans. Once the mission was over, he had a saucer section to return to, and he intended to put the ship back together in the same condition in which it parted. Intact.

*** ***

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

"Evaluation"
by Lt. Commander Thomas
Starfleet Liaison Officer
USS Galaxy

Lt. Commander Thomas had finished his work and spoken with several officers. He needed to review the current information and then make a report to Starfleet Command. He knew that they wouldn't be happy to everything he had to say about his investigation, but they would learn to live with it for now. He was doing his job and that's what they wanted from him.

He needed to go home and eat, spend time with Anna. He also had more work to do with his investigation. He needed to file another report with Starfleet Command about his work. They were wanting to see report information about how he was doing with the assignment.

** Lt. Commander Thomas's Quarters **

"Hello Anna." Chris said entering their quarters.

"Hi dear, learn anything knew?" she asked him.

"Always, just not what one wants to know, but yes I did make some more progress today. While you're making dinner I should prepare and send out my report to Starfleet Command about my progress. I am sure they're dying to know all the knew details that I've learned since my first generalized report to them."

"I am sure they'll be happy with your report Chris, they've always been happy with your work since I've known you."

"I know, but this is different, because I am turning over information about my friends that would rather not to have anyone know. Of course my investigation and focus has been solely on Mr. Robert Price it's also found some other officers being caught up in the matter. I have to work over the report and my notes to make sure I include what's going to be important and relevant to them." Chris said.

"You go work on that report while I get dinner prepared for us, I assume you'll be eating with me and not at the desk?" she asked.

"Of course dear, I wouldn't miss that for the world and I always can use the break. I love sharing company with you."

"Thank you dear. Now you better get started, because it won't take extremely long for me to make dinner." she said as Chris moved off to the desk to work on his report.

He was typing away with speed make his report ready to send to Starfleet Command, but he could smell the food was done. He continued working despite the fact because he had to make sure he reached a certain point before going to eat.

"Dinner's ready dear," she said coming in to the room to see if he'd heard her.

"That was fast." Chris said.

"I told you that it wouldn't take me long to fix things with the help the ship's replicators." She said.

"Yes you did," he said, "Well then lets go eat. Just give me a second to secure my report information." He isolated the terminal and locked it out from the rest of the ship. He knew that his actions would get noticed, but he didn't care. He was doing what he could to accommodate everyone on the ship and trying to stay the course of his orders without getting side tracked and going on a full spree investigation. He'd spoken with one officer who made it clear that he wasn't very happy with his presence on the ship.

They headed off to eat dinner. He was hungry and he could now safely leave his work while he went to eat. He had to be careful to protect his work because of the nature of the work he was doing, he trusted the officers on the ship to be professionals about the situation, but he still had to make sure that he took precautions.

"Almost There"
By: Lt/Cmd Ryak Sullax
CSO USS Galaxy
with excerpts from Lt/Cmd Gakor and Lt Suder and a bit of modification.

Ryak sat in the command chair of the saucer section of the USS Galaxy. Ryak looked over the information handed to him and then back at the view screen. Ryak looked over to the Captain's Ready room and wondered if Sullar was still asleep.

"Sullax to Suder." Ryak said as he tapped his comm badge.

"Suder here." he replied.

"How are things proceeding down there?" Ryak asked.

"We should be ready just about now." Suder answered.

"Good work Lieutenant, I supposed you Engineers are miracle workers, to do that many adjustments in such a short time." Ryak said trying to make himself fit the command position he was in.

"Thanks Commander, but I believe there is one more miracle to perform."

"We shall see." Ryak replied. "Sullax out."

Ryak watched as Lt/Cmd Jamson and Lt Suder moved the Runabout out to between the Galaxy and the satellite.

"Alpha Runabout," Ryak said, "Is the doctor on board with you yet?"

"No sir." Jamson replied. "She had a bit more to accomplish before beaming aboard."

"Very well. How is the runabout?"

"Well sir." Suder said as he peeked his head up from under the terminal, "I am not having fun with the safeties on this shuttle and remind me to keep scientists from building and repairing their own equipment. It is like learning a whole new language. I will have it ready soon."

"Good. Galaxy out."

Ryak turned back to the science station. All it took was a look and the scientist snapped to the call. "Sir the second satellite is ready for deployment if needed and the energy transfer is ready on your mark."

Ryak tapped his comm badge and said, "Doctor Gakor we are running low on time. I need you in the transporter room now."

"Is the hole we poked in the storm still there? Beaming through Ionic currents is dangerous", she groused. "Especially if we find some of our people are wounded, they might not stand the trip through depending on how bad they are traumatized."

The Romulan scientist thought a minute and then boasted "I found a way to increase the power of the first satellite you and Lt Suder created. It is now displacing more of the storm. If that fails to work, I will deploy a second satellite of improved design. The modified waves should disrupt the storm enough for us to have a transporter and sensor window to the planet."

"What are you planning to do with the wreckage? We can't leave it around for natives to find."

"Some of the shuttles may have had rough landings, but could be structurally in tact. Lt Suder will place hover padds on them until they can lift off the soil, and then tractor beams will pull them home. If any of them are too wrecked to lift off, you will have to surround the craft with transporter enhancers, then we will beam the wreckage up using the transport disintegration cycle, leaving no evidence behind."

"That sounds like a good plan. Deiran seemed quite adamant that we finish the rescue in the next three days. That doesn't give us a lot of time. I am in the shuttle bay, and can bring some extra pattern enhancers from here with me when I go to the transporter room."

"Very Well", Sullax said.

"This will interest the Scientist in you", she finished. "The data we collected suggests the people of Mergotti are especially ecologically conscious."

"I see. That means we can not leave the weather control satellites operating when we leave. I will have tactical destroy them, restoring the planet's normal weather patterns."

"Snacks! That certainly sounds like we've covered all the bases. We should have this rescue finished without a hitch.", Endris said emptying a storage locker from its contents of transporter enhancers.

"Doctor, Remember that the tree of you will have to accomplish the mission yourselves. I am not going to put anyone else at risk. Bridge out."

Ryak stood up from his chair and walked over to the science station. A few minutes passed and they received the word that the Runabout was ready and that the doctor was on board. Ryak gave the word to proceed.

As Ryak sat in the command chair sciences called out, "I have increased the power to the satellite and the storm has dissipated. Sir I do not think it will be enough."

Ryak looked at the stats arriving to his screen. "Launch the second satellite."

"Sir message coming in from the Runabout."

"Keep the line open."

"Galaxy, this is Jamson. The storm is causing way to much interference for us to beam anything in to. We are going to have to land then beam back up through the storm."

"Mr. Jamson, you will not attempt to enter the planets atmosphere until the other satellite has been activated. Mr. Suder have those pattern enhancers altered to a reversed polarity."

"Sir that will make them ineffective. You will not be able to have them rematerialize anyone onto the Galaxy."

"Sorry about the added work Lieutenant. But I will have that ready when it is needed. It will just leave you with a lot of work to do when you get back. Stand-by Alpha."

Ryak tapped his comm badge and said, "Engineering I need transporter room 2's polarity changed to match that of the satellite and I need it done now."

"Sir," a voice from engineering said, "That is not something we are accustomed to doing. I am sure Lt/Cmd Samara will not approve this."

"I have no time to argue with you. Have it done now!" Ryak stood up from his seat. "That is an order. The Commander can come see me if she has a problem with it. You have very little time."

"Sir the satellite is ready."

"Status." Ryak said.

"The hole in the storm is now big enough for the runabout to safely go through."

"Runabout Alpha, proceed with caution."

To be continued....

Chris Gagne
ALSO KNOWN AS:
Lt/Commander Ryak Sullax, Chief Science Officer, USS Galaxy.
Email: i2qtnot2b@hotmail.com
ICQ: 25686024

"Blast anything over Sparrow Size"
by Lt Cmdr K'Eytyanna Samara - Chief Engineer

"All right Lieutenant Pailaka, take us in." Kay ordered.

Looking out at the empty darkness in front of them, she waited for the wormhole to open.

For the second time, Kay had been thrust unwillingly into command of a starship, and her Klingon side had shifted to the fore.

Lt Jg Pailaka looked like he had a grin that would make the Cheshire Cat envious as he took the ship in.

Once they arrived on the other side, the enthusiastic helmsman let her know that they were through, despite it being obvious.

"I can see that, Lieutenant." she intoned sarcastically, "Any sign of Dominion ships?"

"No evidence of any ships within sensor range."

"Very well. Maneuver us into position for the intercept and keep an eye on those sensors. I don't want any surprises!"

After a few moments, she decided to stuff Starfleet's regs and ordered,

"Tactical, if you see anything moving at all that is bigger then the size of a sparrow, I want you to blast it with whatever we have."

"A Captain's Prerogative"
USS GALAXY
Commander Deiran Casey, Acting CO

Deiran had never given up hope that somehow, some way they'd find a way to clear Lee of the charges against him. He had contributed the ballistic tests that helped in clearing Price. But, Lee was the one who cleared himself. Casey's loyalty had never led him astray.

Through it all though he wished he'd acted differently. He was just so angry at the whole situation, he had a difficult time restraining his temper. The entire crew could see his temper flaring for the past week since Starfleet Intel took Lee away in chains.

Plus when he needed Karyn most she bailed on him. They fought and neither Deiran nor Karyn spoke to each other for three days. He had to endure this entire thing all by himself. He didn't do a good job of it, but now that it was over and Lee was back aboard the Galaxy and cleared of all charges, Casey's stress level was now at minimum levels.

The Galaxy crew had acted perfectly on the Mergotti mission under Casey's command. They were a fine crew no matter who was CO.

In the back of his mind, the safety of the crewmembers on the Mergotti surface was constantly coming back to his remembrance and he was concerned for their safety and was praying they'd make it back to the saucer section safe and sound.

He was thinking of Miran and the children as well and how much he missed them. Dealing with all of this alone made it twice as difficult, and fighting with Karyn didn't make things easier. Then to top it all off his sister was engaged to his best friend Lucas. So many things on his mind, he failed to realize that he was one of the youngest Captain's in the history of Starfleet, at the age of twenty-six.

So many thoughts rambling through his head but he still had time to remind the Captain of one small detail.

"You realize sir, that I'm still technically in command of the Galaxy. Kay is more than capable of commanding the Galaxy in the Gamma quadrant. Fact is, I want a piece of this chameloid. I want to catch the thing, I'll be damned if I'm going to be stuck here on the Bridge. Since I am in command sir, I'll be accompanying you and the security officers to DS9," Deiran smiled like the cat who had just eaten the prized canary. He stood up to Lee and went against him for the first time since they'd known each other.

It was a strange feeling. But, Deiran had never once doubted Lee and he felt he had every right to be at his friend's side when they caught the assassin.

Deiran could see that Lee knew the best solution was for Casey to stay on the Battle Bridge. But, he'd served long enough with the Commander to know that Deiran always knew when and where he had to be. Like a premonition of every important aspect of his career. It wasn't really that, its just Casey was adept at being at the right place at the right time. It wasn't luck, it was destiny.

Some would say he was just wanting the spotlight. This time he just wanted revenge, the heck with the spotlight.

*** Transporter Room ***

Casey entered the transporter room with the big Gorn sec officer. Deiran's entire persona was all business. He looked at Lee as he stepped onto the transporter pad, "You ready sir?" he smiled from ear to ear.

"Aye mate, ready to settle the score!" Lee replied.

Deiran turned to Karyn, "Kar, be careful ok? You owe me a dinner!" he didn't smile or show any emotion. He wanted this woman to know she was still in his doghouse. But, he couldn't hide the fact he did want to have that dinner with her soon.

"I know Commander, I'll try not to get slimed," Karyn laughed, and as she did she realized Deiran wasn't laughing with her.

Deiran looked at her, a serious expression on his face and then turned his face forward as the transporter beam dematerialized their molecules.

When they rematerialized on the Promenade of DS9, Deiran began to remember the last time he was here. He and Miran took a vacation to Bajor and stopped here awaiting transport to the surface. Unfortunately, they were called back to duty and never got to spend that time together on his wife's home planet.

"Where should we start looking Captain? Did Bureel say where he was expecting this chameloid to show up at? What's the plan?" Casey smiled and waited for an answer. He was impatient to get started and hunt this murderer down. Casey, Price and Albrecht had the upper hand. The criminal's every escape route had been cut off. Just a matter of time now, Casey knew this to be true and he could smell it.

"Desperation"
by Captain Robert Edward Lee Price

The away team materialized on the promenade of space station Deep Space Nine. In all there were a dozen officers, mostly security personnel under Lieutenant Commander Albrecht's charge.

"Where should we start looking Captain? Did Bureel say where he was expecting this chameloid to show up at? What's the plan?" Commander Casey asked with the enthusiasm of a young child; and a smile to match.

Lee was about to respond, when Lieutenant Vadan approached with a couple of Bajoran security personnel at his side.

"Welcome to Deep Space Nine gentleman,. . ." Bureel stated, and then seeing Counselor Dallas seated in her hover chair added, "and ladies." The Chief of security then continued, "I believe we have things well in hand Captain Price. Your security forces shouldn't be needed."

Lee nodded, "You are probably right 'mate, but I'm glad to have them along just the same. So what is the plan Lieutenant?"

"We are expecting this Mister C. Mel Loyd to be arriving at the station in the next few minutes on board a local transport ship. It's expected that he will be posing as a little girl which is how he got on board the station the last time he was here." Lieutenant Vadan explained.

"Aren't you worried he might change his M.O. this time around?" Matthew asked.

Bureel shook his head, "I doubt it. He's still unaware that we know about him or his involvement in all of this. When he transferred the funds from the bank account on Ferenginar, Mister Loyd was in the form of the same little girl according to the surveillance recordings at the currency exchange terminal he used. We will keep an eye out just to be sure, but it's a safe assumption Mister Loyd will stick to the same persona."

"What do you want us to do 'mate?" Captain Price asked.

"I've set up a check point inspection station on the outer docking ring where the ship is expected to berth. We will have each of the disembarking passengers pass through the inspection station on the pretense of searching for contraband and explosive devices. It shouldn't be hard to sell that the station is on alert status because of possible Cardassians or Dominion retaliations after the war. This should allow us to separate Mister Loyd from the rest of the passengers as he passes through the inspection point. It should be a simple matter to take him into custody from that point."

"Sounds like a well thought out strategy. How can we help?" Captain Price asked.

"I would prefer to use my security personnel to make the arrest. They are known to the regulars that pass through this way, including this Mister C. Mel Loyd. If he were to see strange new faces it might startle him into suspecting something was up. You can have your men stand back beyond the check point, out in the main corridor leading through the airlock to the promenade. That way if anything does happen, and the Chameloid tries to make a run for it, your security forces can try to stop him before he makes it off the docking ring and into the station." Bureel explained.

"Fair dinkum. Let's hope everything goes as smoothly as you hope Lieutenant." Lee stated.

Lieutenant Commander Albrecht motioned to his men to move into position down the corridor. Captain Price, Commander Casey and Counselor Dallas also followed.

"I bet you will be happy once this slime ball is in custody Captain." Deiran commented.

"Aye. Anyone willing to murder another individual simply for a sum of latinum has no business being free in our society 'mate." Lee nodded.

Once the Galaxy crew was in position, they dug in and prepared for a short wait for the transport ship to arrive. It was only about forty minutes, but somehow it seemed much, much longer while they were waiting.

The airlock opened with a hiss of pressurized air. Slowly the weary travelers began to emerge from the docking portal and were directed by a Bajoran security officer to line up and pas through the check point one at a time.

"What is the meaning of this?" one woman asked.

"Sorry Ma'am." The Bajoran guard said, "We've been having terrorist threats on the station recently. This is only a precaution to make sure no contraband or explosives find their way onto DS9. It will only take a second, I assure you, and it will mean a safer stay while you are here on the station."

"Very well. . ." the woman agreed. She then, like the other passengers, agreed to walk single file through the checkpoint while Bajoran security forces scanned each person, as if checking their contents for dangerous goods. Lieutenant Vadan's plan appeared to be working without a hitch.

About half way through the passengers, a little girl past through the check point. One of the Bajoran guards made a signal to Lieutenant Vadan's men on the opposite side of the gauntlet-like passageway they had formed to screen out the passengers one by one. This little girl was likely the Chameloid.

Bureel and his men moved into position. "Excuse me miss, can I please have you step to the side and open your bag?" the Lieutenant asked in a professional manner, as if they had detected something out of the ordinary inside her luggage.

The little girl didn't react as you'd expect and obey the adult officer. She appeared to have a defiant look on her face as she grabbed the bag and belted Lieutenant Vadan up side his head with it. Something had tipped the Chameloid off that this wasn't a normal screening. Maybe it was being approached by the Chief of Security on the station rather than a plain old security officer? For whatever reason, the sweet little girl grew angry. After smacking Bureel with enough force to send him soaring into the bulkhead, the sweet little girl transformed into a large hulking creature, covered in hair. With apelike grace, he batted away the Bajoran security forces as if they were rag dolls to be played with. The beast-man then came running down the corridor carrying his suitcase in a vein attempt to escape.

"Stand ready men!" Albrecht ordered as his security forces prepared their phasers. "One, two. . . THREE!" Matthew shouted as the security personnel burst into the beast's path and fired their weapons.

The Chameloid reared back on it's massive hind legs under the phaser fire. It screamed out in great pain, but still didn't fall. In agony, he continued pressing forward. The Security forces of the Galaxy adjusted their phasers for a higher setting. The Chameloid got near enough to back hand one of Albrecht's men, sending him hurdling to the ground. Pressing through, the mammoth creature the Chameloid transformed into got too near for phasers as it desperately swatted the security officers with it's flailing arms. Commander Casey turned to take a shot at the beast after readjusting his phaser, but Karyn's hoverchair was in the way and he couldn't risk taking the shot. Captain Price Also tried bringing the creature down, but whatever form it had shifted into seemed amazingly resilient to phaser settings. Lee had barely managed to do more than annoy the creature with his phaser fire.

Ensign Zonheib, one of the newest additions to the Galaxy security team, was quick of thought for his husky, Gorn physiology. He could see that the phasers would be useless against this creature, and if something wasn't done to restrain or delay him, the Chameloid would get away. Discarding his phaser in favor of his family dagger, the Gorn officer stepped in the path of the charging Chameloid and braced for their confrontation. Seth was a rock that wouldn't move, and the Chameloid a charging locomotive of powerful beast-man. The two were sure to collide in a spectacular display of animal aggression. The Ensign knew that he was the last person standing between the Chameloid and the airlock leading to the promenade. If he were to fail to stop the shifting creature, once he reached the populated section of the station he had an excellent chance of getting away. Seth sunk in, bending his knees, readying for the charging Chameloid's attack. Through clenched, savage teeth, the green lizard-like Gorn hissed, "Ceasssse and desissssst or die!"

Ensign Seth Zonheib
Security Officer

Seth tossed aside his phaser noticing the weapon would do little good against the Chameloids current form. The assassin had to be stopped and there was little in its way. Until the Gorn Bent his knees and dug his toe claws into the deck to brace for the charge. Seth was a rock that wouldn't move, and the Chameloid a charging locomotive of powerful beast-man. The two were sure to collide in a spectacular display of animal aggression. Through clenched, savage teeth, the green lizard-like Gorn hissed, "Ceasssse and desissssst or die!"

The Chameloid form slammed into the stationary gorn and knocked the dagger out of its hands. Block after block. Parry and counterattack the two didn't connect for a full minute. Then Seth's' tail swept the Chameloid off his feet. His armor dented as Seth landed a few powerful blows.

Rolling away the Chameloid regrouped and got up. It spat out some blood and gathered his skills together. He charged the lizard with another flurry of punches. Then connected with a kick he had been saving as a surprise.

The wall behind him hit Seth on the back and dented as he was thrown back from the kick. He had been waiting for that. The lizard walked back into the combat area and grabbed an arm.

The Chameloid didn't even see the move the next thing it knew it was flying through the air. It tucked and rolled with the throw but the gorn was right on top of him. A claw ripped open it chest and another claw whacked the side of it head.

Seth clawed and punched the Chameloid while he was down but the alien's counter attack was faster this time. IT got a punch in the stomach, then several to the jaw. It backed up into a pillar and continued to be pummeled.

Punch after punch, head and body the Gorn was much tougher then a human but now he was pinned. Then that tail struck out again like a fifth appendage. The Chameloid was on his back again and the gorn on top.

Seth ripped more skin off the beasts chest as he clawed. The side of the Chameloid face now sagging badly. Seth didn't stop until he was kicked off.

The two fighters circled each other again. Each bruised and bleeding. They steadied fast breathing and calmed to plan the next attack. It was the Chameloid the struck first but the Gorn dodged. The Chameloid watched his punches hit empty air.

Seth saw the attack telegraphed and jumped. Cart wheeling over the attacker and set down at his back. Claws raked and drew blood. The large alien crashed into a nearby pillar.

Pinned and bleeding badly the Chameloid ducked and the gorn punched the pillar. It cracked and fell on him. Now the roles where reversed. The Chameloid turned and lunged.

The breath was knocked out of him as the pillar lay on top of him. Seth clawed at the steel and got a good grip just as the alien jump on top of him. The pillar twisted as the Chameloid landed and a reinforcement bar impaled its lower abdomen.

Pain was masked by bloodlust and adrenaline. The Chameloid pulled the bar out of its gut and used it as a club to beat the lizard. The make shift weapon was knocked out of his hands as the pillar on top of the gorn lifted off and crashed into the Chameloid.

The combatants circled the area again. Each was very tired, battered and bruised. Blood trickled down Seth's neck where the pillar scratched him hard enough to break his scales. He took his time to prepare to attack.

The Chameloid staggered as blood ran down it pierced side. This had to end soon so it charged before the Gorn was ready. Punches and kicks where blocked quickly It surprised the alien to find no counter attacks coming back at him.

Biding his time Seth concentrated on dodges and blocks. Wasting no energy on attacks at this time. The Chameloid was weakening with the lose of blood as it backed off to reconsider its plan of attack.

The damn Gorn was going to wait until it bleed to death. The Chameloid could feel blackness creeping in with desperation. The next attack was so furious there was no chance at blocking or dodging.

The enemy must have tapped a second wind as it attack quickly. Punch after kick connected with scales as Seth took the beating backing away again. His tail swished out the attackers legs again and Seth was on top with claws and punches.

Forgot about the tail again. A dangerous slip of the mind. This time the Chameloid found he couldn't roll away or escape. The Gorn would rip him apart in a matter of minutes.

A Cold sharp pain entered Seth's chest and his breath caught in his throat. He look down to see a dagger sticking out from where his heart would be if he was human. Energy drained from him as his lung filled with blood.

Both too weak and hurt to get up the Chameloid grabbed for the knife too late. The blade was ripped from the lizards chest and tossed into the nearby crowd. Claws ripped into its flesh and more blood covered its body.

Desperation and claws are effective weapons for finishing a battle. Seth clawed one last time and stuck his hand into his opponents chest. The two look each other in the eyes as the Gorn squeeze a vital organ.

Pain leaped into the Chameliods chest then blackness crept in. As the creature Collapse the gorn let go of the heart. Had this been a battle to the death he would be snacking on it now. As it was the Chameliod would live with a little doctoring.

"Reporting Back to Starfleet Command"
by Lt. Commander Thomas

After having finished his inspection of the old captain's quarters he reached some conclusions about what was happening on the ship. Commander Casey and company were right now one step ahead of him and that was the edge he'd asked for and wanted to help the captain. Chris had to continue his investigation and would be careful in his first report to Starfleet Command to avoid mentioning certain details, as he wasn't for sure they were important.

He would none the less do his job and if he did catch the commander being involved in illegal activity well there wasn't much he could do to help him.

He would report Starfleet Command what he'd learned so far and then go forward from there. He'd learned a few things about the people on this ship and it was unfortunate, but they weren't the same people he thought he once knew. Of course he also suspected that it was possible he'd changed a lot and they'd barely changed since he'd last been here.

Life was cruel in that aspect, as one could never tell whether it was he who'd changed or those around him. He also could understand people's reactions to him as he was here to dig up dirt on the captain and turn it over to Starfleet Command. They felt that the captain and this particular crew could not be trusted at the moment. While they were all officers and knew their responsibility and duties, it was possible that they devotion and loyalty to the captain.

Chris knew the feeling and he by no means wasn't loyal to Price at one time. Things had changed and people had grown up, causing conflicts that no one might have thought about before.

"Computer begin recording the following message to Starfleet Command" Lt. Commander Thomas said as he knew it was time to spend a little time and send in a report on his investigation so far. He

"Greetings Ladies and Gentlemen,

This will be an official report from Lt. Commander Thomas Starfleet Liaison Officer in regards to the investigation I have been conducting onboard the Galaxy.

Subject of investigation is the former captain Robert Edward Lee Price.

Previous rank prior to his arrest on charges of assassination captain. Mr. Price still currently does hold the same rank pending his court martial by Starfleet command.

This will be my first official report regarding the current subject and investigation. I will attempt to provide a clear concise report about the matter, providing detail and answering questions without overloading report.

I would first like to it to be known that I have tried conduct this investigation in a fair and timely manner. While my personal beliefs about the captain may differ from the report I have in no practical sense allowed this to interfere with my orders.

I have been talking with several of the officers and crewmembers onboard the ship to get their take on Mr. Price and the assassination of the president. I have found that most of them are reluctant to verbally speak about the matter. I have no proof as to why they're reluctant to say what's on their mind. I have of course had to make some of them answer, by direct orders. That has only proven effective two out ten times.

The questions and responses are attached to the report, along with my professional interruption of the answers.

I continue to look through the captain's logs and his personal belongings. It will include going through the Mr. price's quarters for any clues or additional information. I should have completed my reviews and evaluations of the captain's quarters, his personal logs and ship logs by the next time I send in a report.

Finally for this report I believe it should be noted that I have found some evidence to suggest a possible chance the captain may have made contact with the ship and the crew. I will continue my investigation and report back at the next scheduled time.

I would also on a person note like to go on record as saying that despite everything that's been presented or fabricated against Captain Price, I have found no evidence to suggest anything out of the ordinary. With everything or lack of that I have found I would argue that the captain didn't assassinate the president unless he was forced to do so by orders. I also would find that hard to believe that he would even follow such orders. I can only say that so far my research suggest the captain couldn't have committed this crime, but I suppose time will tell.

"Exonerated at last"
by Captain Robert Edward Lee Price

The Chameloid, Mister C. Mel Loyd, had nearly managed to escape. He'd shed his persona of a sweet little girl and had turned into a towering, beast-man, in order to try and escape capture. In all the shape shifter had managed to injure three of the local DS9 Bajoran security officers and nearly blasted through the Galaxy's security forces as well. Fortunately the Gorn officer, Seth Zonheib, had proved to be a more formidable foe than the assassin expected.

Lieutenant Vadan called in for reinforcements while the Gorn and the Chameloid were fighting. By the time Seth threw the final blow, there was a more than adequate security presence to take the beaten man into custody.

"Vadan to the infirmary." Bureel called out after activating his communication badge.

["Bashir here. What is it Chief?"] Julian responded over the open channel.

"I have a chameloid that will need your assistance Doctor. Prepare to have him transported along with two of my men as guards." Bureel ordered.

["Is that necessary Lieutenant?"] Julian asked.

"He assassinated President Kinnley and nearly managed to get away from my security team Doctor. . ." Lieutenant Vadan explained impatiently.

["Oh, I see. Well then, I'll do my best to patch him together so he can face trial I suppose. I'll prepare the ward for him. Bashir out."]

A moment later the assassin, bleeding prone on the floor, was transported away with two of the DS9 security personnel.

Lee helped Commander Casey up off the floor where he'd dropped to try and gain a shot around the Counselor's hover chair. They each went over towards the triumphant Ensign Zonheib.

"Good work Ensign." Lieutenant Commander Albrecht stated.

Seth gave a slight nod. He was still trying to suppress his animal instincts to finish the fight and kill his adversary.

"He's right 'mate. Bonzer job. I hate to think of what might have happened if that slippery assassin had managed to get by and onto the Station's promenade." Captain Price added.

Deiran tugged at the rim of his jacket and placed a caring hand on Counselor Dallas' shoulder. "I guess this means it's finally over, hey Captain?"

Lee glanced back at his First officer and the rest of the away team. Slowly he nodded. "I believe so 'mate. And not a moment too soon."

Smiles were exchanged before the Captain turned to face Lieutenant Vadan. "I'd like to thank you Lieutenant for all of your help in bringing this man to justice."

Bureel took the Captain's offered hand and shook it. "Just doing my job at upholding the law Captain Price." Lieutenant Vadan said modestly. Their eyes locked for a moment as Lee expressed his deeper appreciation for Bureel's earlier assistance and believing that he wasn't the actual murderer, though he was careful not to make mention of it less the new Chief of Security for DS9 get in trouble by Coronal Kira.

"Shall I contact the Galaxy Captain and have Kay bring the stardrive section back through the worm hole?" Deiran asked.

"A bonzer idea Commander. Let's get heading back to Mergotti and the rest of our 'mates. I for one could use the rest."

"I know what you mean sir, I know what you mean." Deiran smiled.

****

It didn't take any time for Lieutenant Commander Samara to respond to the signal and have the Stardrive section back at DS9. If one didn't know better, one would think K'Eytyanna couldn't wait to hand command back over to the Captain and get back to engineering where she was most happy.

Lieutenant' Pailaka was pleased that both

Commander Casey and Captain Price were anxious to return to Mergotti and check on the rescue mission underway there. It would give the Chief Helmsman another chance to push the envelope and run the Galaxy's stardrive section flat out and see how fast he could make her go.

Captain Price had retired into his ready room for most of the trip. He was using the time to relax and get caught up on what had happened on board the Galaxy while he was away. His attentions were drawn away when the late breaking FNN broadcast was transmitted to his monitor.

*** LATE BREAKING NEWS ***

The Federation News Network symbol flashed on the screen. The familiar sounds of computers coupled with the orchestrated urgent music that played as the FNN's theme caught everyone's attention.

"This is Amanda Summers for the FNN. There has been a new development in the Presidential assassination case where United Federation of Planets President Jeffery Kinnley was murdered several days ago while traveling down McIntosh Way in his hovercade outside the Senate building. Starfleet Captain Robert Edward Lee Price, who has been the prime suspect in this crime and the target of a massive manhunt the last two days, has been cleared of all charges. For more information, we go to Brian Whey at the law enforcement offices in San Francisco. Whey?"

"Thank you Amanda. I'm standing here with Chief Inspector Daniel Bronson of the SFPD. Inspector, can you explain for our viewers why Captain Price is no longer a suspect in the assassination of President Kinnley?"

Whey pointed his black microphone towards the Inspector, allowing him to speak. It seemed to be a sort of press conference, as several light sources were casting various shadows from every direction.

"Captain Price was a victim of a conspiracy and frame up designed to make him look like the guilty party, while the real criminals got away with murdering the President." Bronson stated.

"That is quite remarkable Inspector. In fact, some might say it's unbelievable in sight of all the gathered evidence including the Zapruder recording. Can you comment further?" Whey prompted.

"Captain Price was set up with planted evidence including the rail gun and trace fibers which were all distributed after the fact to be found by the authorities and to shift the blame upon him." Bronson explained.

"That doesn't explain the images we saw where Captain Price took the fatal shots that murdered the President. Care to explain that Inspector?" Whey probed.

"The actual trigger man on the forth floor of the Senate building library was actually a Chameloid, shifted into the shape resembling Captain Robert Edward Lee Price. I am informed that the man, a Mister Loyd, has been taken into custody at Space Station Deep Space Nine, while trying to catch a transport into the Gamma quadrant with half a million credits of gold pressed latinum." Bronson explained.

"Then this man has confessed to the murder of the President Inspector?" Whey asked.

"No. He's been taken into custody after he tried to resist arrest, injuring several Starfleet and civilian security officers on board the station." Bronson explained.

Turning towards the holo-recorders, Whey insinuated in reporter like fashion, "Then you don't really know for a fact that this man was the murderer, or that Captain Price is innocent of these charges?. . . do you Inspector?"

Bronson gave the reporting weasel a cross glance. "We have uncovered a surveillance recording that shows this Mister Loyd shape shifting into the form of Captain Price and taking the fatal shots that killed President Kinnley. He then shifted into the form of a little girl in order to escaper unnoticed." Bronson explained.

The revelation seemed to take the wind out of Whey's sails. "I see. Why wasn't this recording discovered earlier Inspector? How come it's only coming to light now? And why would anyone want to frame Captain Price of this crime? Can you elaborate?"

"We have also uncovered information of corruption within Starfleet Command. I am not at liberty to comment further on the subject until all of the known conspirators have been taken into custody; however I can say that it was these individuals that selected Captain Price as the patsy for this murder assassination to shift the blame away from their secret circle. It nearly worked too." Bronson explained.

"Well I hope that we will be able to learn more of this conspiracy you speak of and who actually did this horrible deed in murdering our President. Can you elaborate on the inconsistencies discovered in the President's autopsy Inspector? Some are saying that the injuries found could not have been caused by a single gunman as is being suggested by your office?" Whey probed still some more.

"I am unaware of any inconsistencies you are speaking of. We are still contending that the President was murdered by a lone gunman, and are confident that we have that person in custody at the moment. And it is not Captain Robert Edward Lee Price." Bronson explained.

"I'm talking about the Zapruder recording Inspector. It clearly shows Captain Price,. . . that is the Chameloid shifted into a form resembling Captain Price, taking two shots at the President before leaving the duck blind at the forth floor window facing the street. Yet the autopsy shows injuries consistent with at least three shots being fired, and witnesses have testified to hearing as many as four or five shots fired in total. How do you explain these inconsistencies Inspector?"

Bronson didn't really know how to respond to that. "Possibly echoes from the surrounding buildings? Most civilians don't realize what gun shots sound like these days. It would be easy for someone to be confused into believing they heard more shots fired then actually were."

"That might explain the conflicting reports on the number of perceived shots fired Inspector, but how can you explain the injuries that are inconstant with only two shots being fired from the forth floor of the Senate building? Another 'magic bullet' theory perhaps? Care to comment?" Whey stung.

Bronson shook his head, waving his hand towards the mike. "I have no comment at this time. If you'll excuse me, I need to get back to work."

Whey nodded and turned to face the holo-recorder as it took a close up shot. "Well, you heard it here on FNN. Captain Price has been cleared of the charges and the new suspect, this Mister Loyd, a Chameloid, has been taken into custody by the authorities. There are still many unanswered questions in this whole tragic ordeal which we at FNN will continue to investigate and report as further information becomes available. For now, this is Brian Whey of FNN reporting."

Lee deactivated his view screen and then leaned back into his chair. He was glad he had finally been exonerated of the charges against him. And the news broadcast would go a long way towards relieving some of the pressure off of him now that the people knew he wasn't a murderer, but a victim in all of this. It troubled him that there were still mysteries about the murder; questions that were still unanswered. Was there another gunman or men? If so, who were they and who where they working for? Admiral Braggits? The Orion Syndicate? Section 31? The Captain pinched the bridge of his nose and then leaned back in his chair with a sigh. He was tired of the whole thing and was just glad to know he was no longer a part of it. Taking a deep breath, Lee released it slowly smiling at his freedom.

"Almost There Cont'd"
By: Lt/Cmd Ryak Sullax
CSO USS Galaxy

Ryak watched as the runabout entered the planets atmosphere. Ryak looked down at the comm system to make sure it was still on.

"Alpha to base," Jamson said. "We are making our way down to Charlie shuttle crash site."

"Lt Suder I want you to record as much information on the sensors as possible and Doctor I want you to try and get some scans of the populous if it is possible. It is getting dark on the planets surface so be careful."

"Aye sir." Suder replied.

Ryak listened to the talk on the shuttle as they landed at the first crash site.

"We have the crash site Galaxy. I am not seeing the away team. They may be sleeping. Wait I have what looks like Lt. Olson moving towards the Runabout." Jamson said.

"Just open the damn door!" Gakor stated in an impatient voice. "Galaxy, I am only getting two life signs."

Ryak was getting anxious listening to the away team analyze the situation. Ryak was pleased to here that both of his science officers were ok but the pilot was dead. This cause Ryak to get more impatient. He had a whole other team to get out of there.

"Galaxy," Suder stated. "I have the hover pad on the shuttle and have sent it up to you. The area has been sterilized of federation interference and the doctor is ready to have the three of this away team beamed up. We have the enhancers in place."

"Very good Lieutenant." Ryak tapped his comm badge and said, "Medical emergency to transporter room 2. Engineering is the transporter ready?"

"Aye bridge," the engineer stated. "I still am not sure if this is going to work."

"Noted. Begin transport." Ryak waited a few minutes and then he got word.

"Bridge we have the away team."

"Doctor Gakor, we have the away team proceed to the next crash site."

The shuttle made its way towards the next crash site taking a bit longer than necessary due to the having to avoid settlements.

"Sir we are approaching the Bravo shuttle crash site. I am picking up three very faint life signs and two locals in the near vicinity." Gakor stated to Jamson.

Ryak stood up an moved closer to the view screen. This was not necessary but out of instinct.

"Galaxy we are beginning to land. I have found a place very close to the site. I have to warn that this area if very mountainous and the two life forms we are picking up are getting very close to the crash site. We are going to have to work fast."

Ryak listened to the runabout land and Gakor run out. "Galaxy the second we have the enhancers up I need to be beamed up with the away team. The pilot and the science officer are in stable condition but Lt/Cmd Shephard is in critical condition! If i don't get him up soon he will die."

"Sir!" Ryak heard from behind him, "We are getting a fluctuation in the power grid. If we keep this up for any longer we will fry the system out."

"How long."

"It looks like about 12 minutes sir."

"Away team did you hear that?" Ryak stated.

"Aye sir the shuttle is on its way up now. Commander Jamson and I are specializing the area." Suder stated.

"Galaxy, four to beam up." Gakor said in a out of breath voice.

Ryak heard the confirmation of beam up of the away team and heard the runabout respond that they are beginning there way up.

"How much longer?" Ryak said as he sat back in his seat.

"Sir I am beginning to lose power the grid is destabilizing."

"Alpha here Galaxy we copy that and are only 20 seconds from the outer atmosphere."

"Sir, I don't think we can hold it."

"Divert power from any non essential areas."

"Sir that'll buy us four seconds."

"Do it." Ryak could only think that this was going to be another bad command for him. Ryak watched as the beam that left the Galaxy to the satellite shut off and the power to the bridge go out.

"Status!" Ryak yelled.

It took a fraction of a second before the emergency power came on. "Alpha status."

"Sir we are right out in front of you." Jamson said.

"Beam aboard and help get this fixed up here." Ryak walked towards the ready room and said, "Mr. Suder the second you find out how long this is going to take to fix let me know."

Ryak opened the door to the ready room and his son in his blue Captain's uniform jumped into his fathers arms. Ryak took his son and sat him in the Captain's chair. It only took five minutes before Suder reported back.

"Bridge, Suder here. I will not be able to have this fixed before the star drive returns. I will get it started. We will probably be able to get most of it repaired but I do not have enough product to fix it now. I can't even get the replicators on line."

Ryak walked over to the XO's seat and sat down next to his son who was back asleep in the Captain's seat. "Very well, Lieutenant. Do your best." Ryak sent a message across the saucer section, "Galaxy this is Lt/Cmd Sullax. I request that all non- essential power be rerouted to the emergency generator. If we can have every one that is not needed to repair the ship moved to the center most decks. Bridge out.

Chris Gagne
ALSO KNOWN AS:
Lt/Commander Ryak Sullax, Chief Science Officer, USS Galaxy.
Email: i2qtnot2b@hotmail.com
ICQ: 25686024

"A Much Needed Break"
Ltjg Roman O'Neil M.D.

As the Saucer section orbited Mergotti and the welfare of the Away Team was most on everyone's mind, Roman had decided to take the few hours he had to him and took such much needed shut eye.

He awakened with a start. A nightmare really, seeing the Bolian Bav getting off the surgical table and accused him of murdering him. He had lost patients before, regardless what people would like, reality plays it's hand. Bav was too far gone but it still bothered him.

He pulled himself out of bed, ambling over to the replicator. "Coffee, Colombian" It materialized and it picked it up and headed to the work station. He brought up Bav's service record where his signature was evident on the attached death certificate.

Why was he taking this so personally? Once upon a time he had been a CMO of the Sutherland, responsible for the entire staff not just himself and he couldn't remember feeling this guilty. Now on the Galaxy, a junior physician as he was, he was acting like a first year intern.

He decided to log onto the 'gossip' column. It had all the tidbits about the crew, births, marriages etc . . . leaving the presidential assassination off. He glanced over it rather than digesting the goings on of his fellow officers. A name might catch his attention but otherwise it seemed mundane. Bav's death notice was there. Roman turned off his computer.

He rubbed his eyes, still feeling exhausted but not feeling like trying yet again to sleep.

He went over to the sofa, tapped on the wall monitor to the FSN frequency. The sportscaster updated the current stats of the various ball teams but he still wasn't really paying attention.

Angie entered, throwing her gym bag to the side. "What are you doing up? Thought you were going to try getting some sleep."

"So did I. Mikey still in school?" He asked stretching his arms and giving a ferocious yawn.

She checked her chronometer. "For another couple of hours. I'm taking a sonic shower." She headed to the bath.

After a few minutes, he strolled in. Watched as she stepped into shower unit. Her clothes scattered on the floor.

"You look beautiful."

Startled to see him standing there. She blurted. "Are you drunk?"

He laughed, folding his arms. "I could use a drink."

As the sonic vibrations rippled over her athletic form, she asked, "Whose the nurse Roman?"

His smile disappeared. "There is nothing going on between me and Solana."

"Solana, first name basis, eh Doctor." She stepped out of the shower and pulled on a robe.

"Really Angie, you're making this into something it isn't." He stopped her as she attempted to leave the washroom. "Don't worry Honey. I only have you in my heart . . . and Mikey." He smiled and she finally relaxed smiling herself. They exchanged a kiss which lead to more, finally ending up in the bedroom.

When Roman returned to work, he felt better about himself. His first patient was a five-year-old girl who was sobbing over a scrap. Seems a boy in her kindergarten had told her the doctors would cut off her leg because of the scrap. He used a dermal regenerator, healing it and bringing about the biggest smile possible on the girl. He then gave her a Bajoran candy. One her teachers thanked Roman, then escorted the little girl out of Sickbay.

NRPG : This post takes place after the rescue event at Mergotti.

"A cup of char"
By Lieutenant Commander Michael Jamson, Tactical Ops.

While waiting for the victorious captain and Stardrive section to return, the entire crew was busy repairing the fluctuations in the power grid and any other damage that was caused by Mergotti's atmosphere. Sullax did a great job, though he risked the Galaxy, but for a good cause. Lieutenant Suder was incharge on the repairs leaving him no time to celebrate the brave rescue operation which he, Jamson and Gakor have conducted on the planet's surface.

It was a glorious day for Jamson and some would say it was a good day to die. Suder, Gakor and Jamson stood against incredible odds but suffered no defeat, they won by bringing everyone back and not violating the prime directive. This shouldn't have happened in the first place. The Galaxy's observation team didn't perform well enough...and that almost cost peoples' lives and future contacts with the inhabitants of Mergotti. In conclusion, a job well done.

Although it was a job well done, Jamson felt like he lost a precious battle...he was almost alone in Ten Forward, as most of the officers were quite busy and none of the replicators were active. An officer playing 3D chess with himself and another Bolian merchant drinking at a far corner in the big hull were not exactly considered a crowd...not even the bartender was present.

"Computer...is there anything to drink?"

["All non essential subsystems are off line...."] The computer replied.

Without thinking too much, Jamson leaped behind the bar, glancing around to see no one was keeping an eye on him. The beautiful sight of Mergotti reminded Jamson of Earth as he searched for something to drink. Green and Blue coloured bottles were filling the lower shelves, but there was nothing strong enough, or even related to Jamson's flavors.

Soon enough, Jamson found himself surrounded by jars and bottles, some of them empty, and the rest half full. He wanted a good raktajino, beer, wine, even orange juice, but there was nothing suitable or 'tasty'. Then suddenly, behind some blue ancient cans of stored meat loaf which were probably out of date, a wooden jar caught Jamsons' eyes. Reaching and grabbing it, Jamson read it slowly, "Green Char...".

"Char?" Jamson said to himself puzzled and opened the jar. Holding it with one hand, he used the other to take out some strange greenish looking bags out of the canister "Computer, define the word Char...".

The computer beeped twice ["There are thousands of single words in the universal translator database libraries which contains 'Char', please..."].

"Computer...match 'char' with old Terran words in languages from Earth" Jamson stared at the small bags once more, but this time, he tried to smell them. He was surprised to find out they had a pretty good scent.

["Char. A synonym and slang for 'Tea' in the old British/English language, which was used commonly by the people of Great Britain and the United Kingdom in the 19-20th Century of Earth.....-"].

"Thank you computer...that would be enough..." Jamson continued to smell the tea, or 'char' as it was written on the wooden jar. "Some Tea? I'd like a good cup of char please..." Jamson said with a faked British accent and matched it to a vicious smile on his face. Cheers,

"Punch Bag."
By Lieutenant Tim O'Connell
And Ensign Peter Lockhart

Mark Mulich had just arrived back at the table in Ten Fore when his comm badge went.

"McElvogue to Mulich. You're needed in main security right away. O'Connell wants you."

"I'm on my way." Mark replied, putting the drinks down. "Looks like you get off lightly this time." he said, before headed out of Ten Forward.

"Don't worry Mark, I'll find a safe home for these beers." Peter said, grabbing the first one.

Suddenly, Peter felt a hand resting on his shoulder, "So Mr Lockhart, fancy a few goes at unarmed combat?"

Peter jumped at hearing a familiar voice and looked up in to a friendly face, the same officer he had been talking about Lt O'Connell. "Errr. You're alright there Lieutenant." Peter replied immediately, knowing it was pointless, but he might as well give it a shot. "Wouldn't want to take up any of your valuable time."

"Oh no trouble at all Ensign. I want to see you in the gym in ten minutes." O'Connell said, before walking away. He stopped a few meters later and turned to say, "And bring a batleth with you as well." he said, grinning.

Once the doors had shut, Peter just said quietly, "I'll bring a bloody phaser if it'll stop you butchering me!" He let out a long sigh and headed to find a batleth.

******* Gym, 11 minutes later *******

"O'Connell to Lockhart. You're not standing in front of me Ensign. You have thirty seconds to arrive, or else I'm coming to find you, and believe me you won't like that at all!" Tim said into the comm system, whilst still waiting for the young Ensign.

"I'm here sir." Peter said, jogging into the gym. He'd managed to find a batleth, god knows where, and held it well away from his body, like it was a poisonous snake.

"Excellent Ensign. Today we are going to practice some unarmed training and some moves with the batleth." Tim said.

"Correction," Peter muttered, "You are going to beat me black and blue."

"If you have something to say Ensign, I suggest you speak up, just like you did in Ten Forward." Tim said, hearing what was said.

"Errr. Yes sir. Errrrr. No sir. Nothing to say at all." Peter said quickly. He just looked a bit tired at all this. He knew what was coming next, and so did Tim.

"Excellent then. We'll start with unarmed. I presume that you know what to do by now. I'm sure that apart from today, you've never missed a training session." Tim said sarcastically.

"Of course not sir." Peter said smiling. He knew he was going to die here, but it didn't bother him too much just yet.

"Come over to the mats then Ensign. Let's begin shall we?" Tim said, taking a fighting stance. He knew straight away he could easily beat Ensign Lockhart by the sloppy stance the man took. So he decided to teach him a few early lessons.

****** Five minutes later *******

"Up and at 'em Ensign. No lying around." Tim said, dancing around the body of Peter.

"Of course sir. Don't know what happened. Must've slipped or something." Peter said for the seventh time. His body was starting to ache badly now, but he had to keep going. Besides, he was fully intending to go back to Ten Forward after this. If O'Connell thought he'd been ranting before, then just wait till he heard what he was going to say about him after this.

"Good Ensign. Now try and remember what I taught you about balance and posture. I'm sure Chen has already told you this already." Tim said.

"He has sir. In one ear and out the other." Peter replied truthfully.

Tim's smile wavered for a fraction of a second. "Ahhh but you've got me teaching you now Ensign, and I assure you that'll you'll remember this for a long time to come."

"I don't doubt it sir." Peter said and tried to stop the attack coming his way. He didn't and was knocked back, out of the ring again.

"I was thinking sir. This is a little unfair. I mean, you're much better than me. Why don't we even the odds a bit sir, by giving me a weapon?" Peter asked, hoping for some stalling time. Tim's response shocked Peter.

"Excellent idea Ensign. That way I can teach you how to defend yourself against an armed opponent. Grab your batleth." Tim said, pointing.

"I was thinking more of a machine gun." Peter said.

"Now that would tilt the balance a little too much in your favour I fear." Tim said, smiling.

"Maybe, but it'd certainly be interesting." Peter said laughing. "Sir, you do know I can't use a batleth?"

"What about the academy Ensign? You're taught a variety of weapons there aren't you? I do believe the batleth is a required teaching weapon." Tim looked puzzled. Almost all officers could use a wide variety of weapons.

"Yes sir. But that class. I was never very good at it, and it's been a long time." Peter said, making excuses.

"How many did you miss?" Tim asked bluntly.

"42% of them." Peter replied rapidly and equally as bluntly.

God, the Ensign was a no hoper. The man couldn't fight, talked rubbish, and worse yet was happy to admit to all and sundry how poor an officer he was. "Well now is the time to learn hey Ensign?" Tim said, realising this would be as testing a challenge for him as it would be for Lockhart.

Peter picked the batleth up, and grinning wickidly said, "Yes sir."

See the grin, Tim said, "And the first thing we're going to teach you is how to handle that weapon safely. At the moment, the way you're holding it, you're more likely to lose an arm that hurt me."

"Yes sir." Peter said, adopting a more serious posture. He knew O'Connell was no fool, and even with the batleth, Peter knew O'Connell could batter him better than a fish in a chip shop.

"Good, then let's begin shall we?" Tim said.

***20 minutes later***

Peter was in pain, and that was the mild statement. Tim 'trained' him quite hard, but he had not actually beaten him up. He'd taken quite a few strikes himself and Tim reached down his hand, "Come on, I'll buy a pint or two. We both could use it after this." He would forget this happened, but it would be an object lesson for the young man to learn how to control his mouth.

Peter grabbed Tim's hand and got up. "Thanks sir. Ten Forward it is. You know I hardly ever spend any time there lately." Peter said.

"Right you are Ensign." Tim replied, not really believing him.

***** Ten Forward, 5 minutes later ******

The two officers stolled in, a mere 40 minutes after they had left. Peter saw that there were still quite a few of the crewmembers still there from when he'd left. Several of them just looked over at him, and Peter beamed back at them from his fat lip. Tim headed over to the bar, and ordered two beers from Door. Once collected, they headed for a table.

"Well sir. I presume that this isn't just a social drink. I presume you wanted to chat about something else as well?" Peter said, as the two officers took a seat near the window.

Tim smiled and lifted his beer, "Just wanted to talk to you, socially, we never get that chance." He sipped his beverage. "I know dragging you to the gym kicking and screaming isn't working for training, maybe there is stuff you actually fancy doing, and we can work with that. Aside from pouring pint after pint down our throats."

"Now that would work for starters sir!" Peter said enthusiastically. "It's a shame it's only synthahol, but I've got some proper stuff in my quarters. I usually reserve that for drinking with Mark Mulich however. It's not so easy to come by."

"Can't say I quite approve Ensign, at least in an official capacity." Tim said.

"Don't bother me sir. As far as I know, it isn't illegal." Peter said, getting through his drink pretty quickly. "Mind you, the advantage of this stuff is that I don't get a beer gut." he finished, tapping his stomach.

"And that is what training is about!" Tim said, "To work off all that excess alcohol you drink."

"I'm not fussed." Peter said. He looked at Tim for a minute before saying, "Well, if there is something you want to do, how good are you at playing soccer?"

"Can't say I've ever played it." Tim said.

"Excellent. Then we could go to the holodeck, if you want?" Peter said, hoping to rope another conscript into the joys of badly played football.

"Well I don't know Ensign. I've got a sketchy grasp of the rules. Besides, its not that a popular game now is it?" Tim said.

"Well, not outside Earth much sir. And even there, only mainly in Europe. Come on sir. Think of the delights of playing for Peterborough United or Boston United!" Peter said smiling.

Tim chuckled, "what the hey, I'll give it a go....."

Title: Sweetness of Home
Thread: After rescue Shuttle Charley
Author: Sandy

Character: Jake Olson

"T-Prea?" Jake asked, groggy. "I can remember!"

"Jake, what happened?" The pair took each other in each other's arms, holding tightly.

"I lost my memory down on the planet. Doctor Gakor said it was because of something involving my brain and the storm. Some functions were shut down, but I can remember now."

"Jake needs to sleep," a nurse told the frantically happy T-Prea. "His synapses are still healing."

Jake was injected with a sedative to facilitate healing. He went out like a light, still holding T-Prea's hand gently in his.

"How did he manage with out memory?" T-Prea asked.

"He was a trained scientist before entering the Academy. Gave him the jump for the mission, even if he didn't realize it."

"Contact"
by, Lt. Comdr. Raesene Hermedhie,
Chief Tactical Officer

Raesene had finally decided to check the database of StarFleet officers, to find out if there were more than just he and Drago who had survived the transition form Aebrynnis to Federation space.

The first incidence he came upon was a rather high-profile case. Wilhem Redbedtehr sat aboard the Beta Two Babylon Shipyards as Chief Starship Construction Officer. He was a full Lieutenant and had submitted five new classes of starship. All five were said to be on the fast track to approval.

Deeming it important to make contact with the officer, and old friend, Raesene set out to compose a message to be sent to this far off post in the Beta Quadrant.

To: Lieutenant Wilhem Redbedtehr, CSCO, Beta Two
Babylon Shipyards
From: Lieutenant Commander Raesene Hermedhie, CTO,
U.S.S. Galaxy
Re: Old Friends

Greetings, old friend. It seems we have come a far cry from our homes on Aebrynnis. I would ask that we begin a correspondance, but you seem quite busy with your ships of war and stars.

We have much to discuss. you and I. It seems more than three of us msot likely ended up in this universe. I would try to meet, but our two areas are far separated at most times. So when we do arrive close at hand, I will let you know. Maybe one of us can get off duty for a short time.

You must meet the woman I found. She is another castaway form Aebrynnis, though 1524 years in the future. We are married, and she is expecting. It is amazing what a little time will leave behind.

Well, it is soon time for my shift. I will send this, and hope to talk to you later.

Signed,
Raesene Hermedhie,
Chief Tactical Officer,
U.S.S. Galaxy

Sending the message, he prepped himself for another exciting shift on the bridge of the Galaxy. There had to be something wierd out there to scan and prep in case it proved hostile.

"Thomas's Future"
by Lt. Commander Thomas, Starfleet Liaison Officer
&
Captain Robert Price, Commanding Officer - USS Galaxy

Lt. Commander Thomas and Anna had started to repack their things, as his assignment on the Galaxy would be over shortly. Chris had already received word from Starfleet Command that his duty assignment was over and he would be receiving his next posting shortly.

The captain had been cleared of any wrong doing and the crew had also been exonerated by Starfleet for any of their actions taken during this time. He'd provide them with an excellent report and had the captain been guilty of the charges the outcome would've been different. They'd congratulated him on a job well done under the difficult circumstances.

He was happy with the outcome, because either way his time onboard the Galaxy would've come to an end. Whether the captain was guilty or not, they'd have no need for him to remain onboard after the fact. He was grateful for the chance to see some of his old friends one more time. The best part was that the captain had been proven innocence and his report didn't mean a thing. Which meant he was leaving the ship on a good note with most of the crewmembers, but some he knew would be bitter for some time to come. He could do nothing about that now, but he hoped that with time they would get over the issues and return to a normal life.

Unfortunately the sad part was that now he and Anna had to re-packing everything and prepare to depart the ship. They would be leaving as soon as the ship re-docked with the saucer section and made a short stop to handle a rotation of officers. He wasn't sure what ship would be coming to pick them up yet, because Starfleet Command was being very tight lipped about it at the moment. He wondered if they even knew where they might send him next at the moment. It was also total possible they were trying to give him the chance to find his own position out there now.

He and Anna were just about packed and ready to go when the word came it was time for them to leave. They'd already discussed the fact they'd have to repack things once his assignment on the Galaxy was done. It would take them a day or two to meet up with their ship, but then it would be off to somewhere else.

There was one thing Chris wanted to do now that they were ready to leave when the time came and that was to meet once more with Commander Casey and speak with him, say goodbye. The one person he really did want to speak with before leaving the ship was captain Price. He felt an obligation to speak with the man before he left the ship one more time. The last time had been hard enough and there was some unresolved issues that neither of them had been willing to deal with at that time.

He wasn't to sure what he would say to the captain, given the reasons why he was onboard his ship. The meeting would probably go one of two likely ways, but he didn't fill like speculating the course, because things can always change.

The meeting could go very well, his meeting with Mr. Casey went better then he expected. Which goes to prove you can never say a meeting or otherwise will go a certain way, for there is the human factor that plays into the equation.

"Lt. Commander Thomas please report to the Captain's Ready at once." an officer from the bridge signaled him.

Chris turned to Anna, "I should be back shortly with news of our next assignment I suppose. I really didn't figure Starfleet Command to have transmitted that data to the captain and not us first. When I get back I'll have to look into the matter further and see what happened."

"Good luck dear, everything will work out for the best you know." she said to him as he turned to leave.

He turned back and kissed her on the lips.

** Bridge **

Lt. Commander Thomas stepped onto the bridge with anticipation of what was going to happen next. He'd managed to make a few of the bridge officers upset with his line of questioning and presence on the ship. Most had already let it go and that was good, because he was after all only doing his job, as they were doing theirs.

Chris walked over to the door after having crossed the distance and knowing all eyes were upon him at the moment. He pressed the captain's door chime to make his presence known.

** Captain's Ready Room **

"Enter." Chris heard the Captain call out from inside the office with a familiar Australian accent.

"Captain you wanted to see me?" Lt. Commander Thomas said entering the Captain's ready room.

"G'Day 'mate." Lee smiled while standing to greet Thomas. It had been several months since the Captain had seen the Lieutenant Commander. Offering his hand across the desk, the General added, "Good to have you back on board the Galaxy 'Commander."

Chris shook the Captain's hand with a firm grip. He was happy as well. Not because he would be leaving the ship; that made him sad as he felt the Galaxy was more of a home to him than anywhere else he'd been in recent years; but he was glad the Captain had been cleared of the assassination charges. "Thank you sir. I'm only sorry it could have been under more pleasant circumstances."

Lee nodded, "Aye. Have a seat 'mate." The Captain gestured while taking his own chair. "Fill me in on what you've been up to lately while you've been away."

Chris sat and told the Captain what he'd been doing for the last several months. About his stint as interim director for Starfleet Intelligence, about his full discharge from SI, about meeting Anna and getting remarried, and about his current position back on Earth. In return, the Captain filled Chris in on what had happened with the Galaxy in recent months, including his relationship with Yeoman York; and her tragic death.

"I'm sorry to hear that Captain. Miss York was well liked throughout the ship. I imagine that was quite hard on you." Chris commented.

Lee simply nodded as the conversation that had now run on to a full hour fell to silence. After a moment, the Captain looked at Chris directly. "So 'mate, what's next on your list of things to do?"

Chris shrugged his shoulders. "My work here is done now that you've been exonerated of the charges against you. Starfleet will likely pull me off the ship and assign me somewhere else in the fleet where my services are needed."

The Captain nodded. "Why don't you consider remaining here on the Galaxy 'mate? I'd like you to stay on board Chris, unless you'd rather move on to something else?"

Chris' eyes lit up slightly. "No sir. That is I don't have any plans at the moment and would like to remain on the Galaxy. But in what capacity did you have in mind? I wouldn't want to bump anyone out of their position."

"No worries 'mate. For now I can request that Starfleet keep you assigned as Liaison Officer as you presently are. Given my past record, even before this last incident, I doubt anyone at HQ would object to that." Lee grinned.

Chris had to nod as well. It was good that the Captain was found innocent of the charges, for his internal investigation had uncovered more than a few rules and regulations had been broken through all of this, and not only by Captain Price. "I think you have a valid point there Captain." Chris smiled.

"Then let me make the request. I'm sure it will be approved. In the mean time, why don't I let you go 'mate. I'm sure you have things to attend to, like unpacking." Lee stated, standing up.

Chris stood also, stretching his legs. He'd expected to only speak to the Captain briefly, but ended up chatting about this and that for well over an hour. "Yes sir. I need to let Anna know the news as well. She's probably finished packing by now, all by herself."

"I'll let you go then. But why don't you do me a favor 'mate?"

"What is that sir?" Chris asked.

"How about you and Anna meet with me this evening in ten forward for a drink. I'd like to meet this woman that swept you off of your feet 'Commander." Lee smiled.

"I'm sure Anna would like that sir. I'll let her know."

"Shall we say around twenty one hundred then?" Lee asked.

"That sounds perfect Captain. And thank you for keeping me on board sir." Chris returned.

"My pleasure 'Commander. See you later tonight. G'day 'mate,"

"Good day Captain." Chris responded before leaving the Captain's ready room. He couldn't help but smile as he exited to the bridge. He and Anna would be remaining on the USS Galaxy.

** Thomas's Quarters **

Chris had finished his discussion with the captain and returned to their quarters to let Anna in on the good news. While it wasn't a done deal it would be finished soon and the captain was right about Starfleet Command agreeing with his request. They would see it as a good opportunity to keep an eye on the ship, crew and other ships out there.

"Anna!" Chris said entering their quarters.

"In here dear, I am finishing picking things in the boxes again." she said.

Chris walked into the room and smiled at her, "You can stop packing dear. I have some good news." he said.

She stopped and looked at him, "Well?"

"You know I went to speak with the captain. The captain is going to speak with Starfleet Command and request that my assignment here onboard the Galaxy to be extended. Meaning that we're staying here." Chris said.

Anna grabbed him and hugged him tightly, "That's great news dear, I guess that means we'll have to unpack again."

"That it does, the captain also asked us to join him in 10-forward around twenty-one hundred for drinks and he wants to meet you." Chris said.

"Sounds good dear, then we should get to work and get resettled." she said, "This time you get to help me."

"Of course dear let's get started in the bedroom." Chris said heading off to the bedroom with her deciding to follow him there.

Christopher Patton
ICQ # 11497863

=/\= "Comfy Couch" =/\=
by Lt Cmdr Matthew Albrecht
CSec, USS Galaxy NCC-70637

*** Main Security, Deck 38 ***

"Heather," he said as he entered the operational center of Main Security. The shift commander looked up attentively at him. "I have got to catch some shut-eye. Please make sure I'm left alone, okay?"

Sanchez nodded. "Sure thing, chief. Have a good nap."

Matthew kept walking until he passed through the door to his office. His legs felt leaden, and his eyesight blurred every few moments until he noticed and concentrated long enough to resolve the double-images into one. "Thanks," he mumbled as the door slid shut behind him.

There was a narrow couch in the office that was rarely used. It would have to serve as his bed since the saucer section, and with it his family quarters, were hundreds of light-years away. Department heads could request quarters in both portions of the ship in order to be prepared for ship separations, but Matthew had never bothered to do so. He didn't mind the occasional nap in his office.

"Computer," he called. "Dim lights to ten percent." Immediately, the lighting in the room dropped to near-nothing. Turning his back to the sofa, he allowed himself to fall backward into it. In the dark, he squirmed around for a few moments until he was comfortable.

He could not fall asleep, despite the heavy fatigue.

The events of the previous few days kept replaying through his mind, as if there were a revolutionary secret within them, waiting to be discovered. He saw the cabbie who wanted Price's head on a platter. He saw the Starfleet Intelligence goons who had been following him around on Earth. He saw bright red blood splash across a bulkhead as Seth Zhonheib drove his clawed hand into the chest of Mel Lloyd on Deep Space Nine.

The fight, actually the battle, on the docking ring of the station was particularly significant to him, subconsciously. He considered the action a fiftieth time. The initial clash, when a huge beast had just transformed from a tiny girl. The Gorn that dove into a scrap with a being who was resistant to phaser fire. The look on Seth's face when mister Lloyd was transported away to the infirmary.

It struck him then. Once he formed the opinion, he couldn't abandon it from his forethoughts. It took only a minute to realize he would not sleep with his mind so preoccupied. Finally, he took the only action he could think of that would allow him to clear his mind and sleep.

"Computer," he started, "Begin personal log entry. Time stamp it with current Star Date." The computer signaled its readiness.

"Journal entry, lieutenant commander Matthew Albrecht. Today, we apprehended President Kinnley's assassin." He paused for effect before continuing. "Fortunately for us, we had amongst our number a terribly strong Gorn ensign. Seth Zhonheib leapt into battle with the murderer in order to keep him or her from escaping."

Matthew cleared his throat. "Ahem. After the fight, as DS9 security officers beamed away with our prisoner, ensign Zhonheib looked visibly torn. Seth's desire to complete the battle to a terminal end was evident."

He put one arm behind his head on the couch. "The captain and myself attempted to offer support to ensign Zhonheib after the fight, but he did not react to it. I believe that the ensign entered into the weaponless melee simply because he lusted after the bloody death of his rival, and not because the suspect was wanted for assassinating the president of the UFP."

"I shall have to enquire about setting up regular counseling sessions for Seth."

Having gotten his thoughts recorded, he felt free of the weight of unfinished business. It took only thirty seconds for him to fall asleep.

-----
Dr. Andree Dothan (ensign)
Medical Dept. USS Galaxy
-----

Returning to his quarters after a long, dull shift, other than a twisted ankle, Andree decided to add to his personal Log...

"Computer"

[Tweedle beep]

"archive current Log chapter and begin a new one"

[tweedle beep]

"Altogether this has been a very interesting day. after recieving the relatively dull assignment on restocking first aid kits, I saw Dr. Gakor go tearing into sickbay with a brken tooth, and had to deal with a twisted ankle.

On a more personal note, I am greatly relieved that Captain Price has been cleared of all charges. I hope to be able to meet him soon. Oinkus with my CO, the CMO was a great deal of fun, and maybe on my next day off we can do it again"

I am heading off to ten-forward to have some dinner and maybe I'll meet someone there to talk to...

To be continued ...

"On Call 24 Hours A Day."

Dr. Martin, Extended Medical Hologram - Version 2
Sickbay, USS Galaxy - Midnight Shift

**VOICE ACTIVATION SEQUENCE ENGAGED**

ENERGIZING HOLO-MATRIX

PERFORMING SYSTEM DIAGNOSTIC CHECK... SYSTEM PERIMETERS: NORMAL

UPLOADING PRIMARY SUBROUTINES…
SENSORSAT: ONLINE
DATSAT: ONLINE
MEDBASE: ONLINE
PATIENTPRO: ONLINE
EMERGENT: ONLINE
AUXPRO: ONLINE

INITIATING HOLO-EMITTERS…

An instant later, as someone flipped a light switch the EMH2 materialized in the center of sickbay. The beautiful holographic doctor glanced about briefly, searching for the person who activated her while she received a quick situation report from the Galaxy's computer.

ALERT STATUS: GREEN
SHIP STATUS: NORMAL

~That's a relief.~ Dr. Martin thought when she turned to find the person who called her. Sickbay sensors and computer voice recognition ID determined it nurse Opel him who activated her and to account for the people in her immediate area in sickbay.

ENSIGN KRISTEN OPEL, NURSE SPECALIST: NON-PATIENT#1
ENSIGN PAUL BENSON, ENGINEER: PATIENT#1

Nurse Opel was standing next to the young Ensign Benson, who was holding his left arm, wincing in pain as he sat on a bio bed.

Dr. Martin spoke smoothly as she picked up a medical tricorder from a nearby tray. "Hello again, Nurse Opel." She said, then smiled to the patient. "Who do we have here?"

"One broke arm." The nurse replied in a professional like manner.

Dr. Martin opened the tricorder and ready the small diagnostic wand. "And how did you accomplished that Mr. Benson?"

The crew man glanced at the EMH2 in surprise, as he continued to hold his obviously injured arm. "How do you know my name? We never met."

The holo-doctor smiled, pointing to the comm badge on the man's chest. "I can easily identify any person who steps into sickbay that is wearing a comm badge. Now, what happened?"

"Oh," Benson said feeling silly for not knowing more about the ship's EMH2. "I was helping to load some cargo bins on a raised storage deck when I took a bad step and fell off the bloody thing, two meters down."

Dr. Martin carefully ran the humming medical wand first over his head then to his shoulder and down his left arm until she reached his wrist before stopping. "Well, Mr. Benson you fractured your ulna bone. Are you injured any way else?"

He shook his head. "No ma'am. Just my forearm."

"Fortunately you broke the bone rather cleanly so I can have you fixed up in a couple of minutes." Dr. Martin said as she picked up a hypospray and gave him an injection to block the pain and to permit her to operate on it. "Now laid down. Nurse Opel, please ready a Metorpan kit."

The holo doctor looked about sickbay while she waited and couldn't help but noticed that it was nearly emptied. Even thought her internal clock told her it was the midnight shift, it was still unusal for sickbay to be this deserted. "Nurse Opel, where's the assigned medical officer and the rest of the support staff?"

"Most of the medical staff is in the delivery ward." The nurse smiled happily as she handed the EMH2 the Metorpan kit. "Mira Netter came in about 30 minutes ago. Her twins are on the way."

"I thought she was not due for another three weeks?" Dr. Martin said then displayed concerned. "Is everything okay?"

"If there were any complications they would had called you up long ago. The only problem is that she finally decided to have a natural delivery."

"Then I should feel sorry for the people in the delivery room." Dr. Martin grin slightly as she opened the kit and went work. "Andorians do have a short temper."

Nurse Opel assisted the holo doctor and she watched in fascination with the ease that Dr. Martin operated and the focus she displayed. Her hand movements was precisely calculated with no time wasting excess as she welded the medical instruments. All the awhile Dr. Martin engaged her patient and the nurse with idle chit-chat. Nurse Opel could see it helped Ensign Benson to relax, as he laid there fully awake.

In less than five minutes, Dr. Martin set the bone back in place before simulated it to grow and to mend itself.

"There you go Mr. Benson." The holo doctor said as the Ensign sat up and flexed his repaired arm. "It'll be a little stiff for a while but I can't see why you can report back to duty but please watch where you step next time."

"Thanks doc," The young male Ensign grinned as he hopped off the bio bed. He stopped and stared appreciatively at the EMH2, if noticing her for the first time without dealing with the pain of a broken arm. It looked he was about to say something else to her but he quickly lost his nerve and burbled out. "Errr… Thanks!"

Dr. Martin watched in puzzlement as the Ensign hurried out of sickbay. Nurse Opel concealed a smile behind one hand. The EMH2 turned to her and asked.

"Did I do anything to scared him or something I said?"

"Doctor, you don't seem to realize what you hold over some of the male members of this crew. Except I serious doubt you could have had received that same reaction just over a month ago before the change to your default settings."

"Promotion? Who wants promotion?"
By Ensign Peter Lockhart

Peter headed towards main security in a good mood. After playing a short game of football with Lieutenant O'Connell, Peter had been in a good mood since then. O'Connell had been good, but not properly knowing the rules, and the fact that Peter's side was rigged had meant a resounding victory for Coventry City over Swindon Town in 2233 match between the two sides.

Peter was also in a good mood because O'Connell had been a lot better with him that what he expected. He'd fully expected an hour of battering from the security officer, but it hadn't been. He even suspected O'Connell had been a little light on him. It didn't bother him though, and even the possibility of 'Commander Albrecht finding out about his recent slacking didn't put him off too much.

Peter stepped into main security and nodded towards the other officers there. He'd come during Alpha shift as this time he'd been informed of a chance in shifts for people, and wanted to check when he was supposed to be on duty, so that he could successfully avoid a double shift. He saw Mark Mulich reviewing the computer and went over to his friend.

"Okay Mark. What's the security roster like?" Peter said.

"I'm just reviewing it now." Mark said. "Grab us a coffee if you're getting one."

"YES SIR." Peter said saluting. He wandered over to the replicator, now back online after the stardrive section had come back to the main ship and ordered two coffees. He grabbed them both, considered whether to get some doughnuts and decided that would be a good idea. He had to keep up his reputation!

"So what's the verdict?" Peter said, placing a coffee and doughnut near Mark and taking a bite out of his doughnut.

"Well, you're wrong! Albrecht got made second officer in place of Samara." Mark said smiling. Peter knew that Mark liked the 'Commander and didn't mind the move around.

"Seems like the Captain was knocked on the head by Starfleet Intelligence afterall." Peter said and took a sip of coffee.

"And you've been promoted." Mark said.

The coffee came back out in spray, and narrowly missed Mark. Peter then started coughing on a piece of doughnut gone down the wrong way.

"You okay?" Mulich said, turning to Peter.

Peter coughing, managed a reply. "Yeah, I'll be okay. Give me a minute." Peter propped himself up against a wall and managed to control himself after a few minutes. Then he switched to rant mode, despite him being in main security.

"Have they gone mad!! Lieutenant JG? What the fu... blooming heck is going on? I can't believe it! They promote me over you? Or have you been promoted as well. Starfleet is going to the dogs." Peter started ranting, his voice going up as usual.

"Pete! SHUT UP for a minute. First, you haven't been made Lieutenant JG. You're still an Ensign, but you're just in Delta shift." Mark said.

"Thank god." Peter said, calming down. "I thought you meant something dangerous then.... like responsibility."

"Oh you've got that too. You're shift supervisor for Delta AND in charge of the armoury." Mark said smiling.

Peter started to rank before Mark cut him off.

"Pete. Shut up. You can't rant anymore. Keep you're voice down. Look what happened last time. If Albrecht hears you, the next career move you make will be out an airlock." Mark said calmly but firmly.

"Okay." Peter said quietly. "So what else have the powers that be done? Are you now an admiral? Is Electra C&C of Starfleet? Captain Price been made into a Petty Officer or something. Nothing else would surprise me now."

"Not much. I'm now on Beta shift. You're on Delta as the chief and armoury supervisor. So no more Ensign Neg'Puj." Mark said.

"That's true. But don't worry, the shifts overlap. And what about Gartner? She was the chief. What happened to her?" Peter said.

"Don't know. Rumour is she's transfering off to goto the Ajax, but nothing confirmed. So it's up to you now chief." Mark said.

Peter just sighed deeply and looked around. He spotted a lot of the other security officer watching him, waiting for his next outburst. He just grinned broadly and took a bite of doughnut.

"You know why they've done this?" Mark said.

"Albrecht ran into the door, hit his head and has forgot who I am?" Peter ventured. "No? They're short staffed. Everyone else has been killed or transfered off?" Mark shook his head. "No? Well... errr Captain Price has been taken over by aliens and wants to put useless officers in charge?" Peter tried again and again.

"No. They're testing you Pete. If you don't respond well to following orders, they're not going to give them to you. They're going to make you issue them instead." Mark said.

Peter mulled on that for a moment and took another sip of coffee. "I see. Do you think it'll work?" he looked Mark in the eye.

"Not a hope." Mark said quickly.

"Delta shift has just been flushed down the toilet." Peter finished.

"Side Trip: Part 7"

by Ensign Eric Odin and Lt. Anna Gartner
NPC Astrid Salt

After the USS Nelson arrived, they placed the Slavers under arrest and prepared to drop the Cardassians off the nearest Starbase where they'll be returned back to Cardassia Prime. The Captain of the Nelson had a thousand questions for Anna, Eric and Astrid, especially why three Federation officers were out in the middle of nowhere.

Finally, what seemed like eternity of being grilled, the three Starfleet officer were allowed to head on their way. They continued their original journey to the remote trading post to only find that their only lead in the attempt to clear Captain Price had lead to a dead end. With little to do, they sent a course back to the USS Galaxy.

"Well," Anna grumbled from the co-pilot seat. "This was mission impossible."

"Yah, too bad. Let's see if anything's happened while we were away," Eric tuned into the FNN broadcast station and recieved:

*** LATE BREAKING NEWS ***

The Federation News Network symbol flashed on the screen. The familiar sounds of computers coupled with the orchestrated urgent music that played as the FNN's theme caught everyone's attention.

"This is Amanda Summers for the FNN. There has been a new development in the Presidential assassination case where United Federation of Planets President Jeffery Kinnley was murdered several days ago while traveling down McIntosh Way in his hovercade outside the Senate building. Starfleet Captain Robert Edward Lee Price, who has been the prime suspect in this crime and the target of a massive manhunt the last two days, has been cleared of all charges. For more information, we go to Brian Whey at the law enforcement offices in San Francisco. Whey?"

"Thank you Amanda. I'm standing here with Chief Inspector Daniel Bronson of the SFPD. Inspector, can you explain for our viewers why Captain Price is no longer a suspect in the assassination of President Kinnley?"

Whey pointed his black microphone towards the Inspector, allowing him to speak. It seemed to be a sort of press conference, as several light sources were casting various shadows from every direction.

"Captain Price was a victim of a conspiracy and frame up designed to make him look like the guilty party, while the real criminals got away with murdering the President." Bronson stated.

"That is quite remarkable Inspector. In fact, some might say it's unbelievable in sight of all the gathered evidence including the Zapruder recording. Can you comment further?" Whey prompted.

"Captain Price was set up with planted evidence including the rail gun and trace fibers which were all distributed after the fact to be found by the authorities and to shift the blame upon him." Bronson explained.

"That doesn't explain the images we saw where Captain Price took the fatal shots that murdered the President. Care to explain that Inspector?" Whey probed.

"The actual trigger man on the forth floor of the Senate building library was actually a Chameloid, shifted into the shape resembling Captain Robert Edward Lee Price. I am informed that the man, a Mister Loyd, has been taken into custody at Space Station Deep Space Nine, while trying to catch a transport into the Gamma quadrant with half a million credits of gold pressed latinum." Bronson explained.

"Then this man has confessed to the murder of the President Inspector?" Whey asked.

"No. He's been taken into custody after he tried to resist arrest, injuring several Starfleet and civilian security officers on board the station." Bronson explained.

Turning towards the holo-recorders, Whey insinuated in reporter like fashion, "Then you don't really know for a fact that this man was the murderer, or that Captain Price is innocent of these charges?. . . do you Inspector?"

Bronson gave the reporting weasel a cross glance. "We have uncovered a surveillance recording that shows this Mister Loyd shape shifting into the form of Captain Price and taking the fatal shots that killed President Kinnley. He then shifted into the form of a little girl in order to escaper unnoticed." Bronson explained.

The revelation seemed to take the wind out of Whey's sails. "I see. Why wasn't this recording discovered earlier Inspector? How come it's only coming to light now? And why would anyone want to frame Captain Price of this crime? Can you elaborate?"

"We have also uncovered information of corruption within Starfleet Command. I am not at liberty to comment further on the subject until all of the known conspirators have been taken into custody; however I can say that it was these individuals that selected Captain Price as the patsy for this murder assassination to shift the blame away from their secret circle. It nearly worked too." Bronson explained.

"Well I hope that we will be able to learn more of this conspiracy you speak of and who actually did this horrible deed in murdering our President. Can you elaborate on the inconsistencies discovered in the President's autopsy Inspector? Some are saying that the injuries found could not have been caused by a single gunman as is being suggested by your office?" Whey probed still some more.

"I am unaware of any inconsistencies you are speaking of. We are still contending that the President was murdered by a lone gunman, and are confident that we have that person in custody at the moment. And it is not Captain Robert Edward Lee Price." Bronson explained.

"I'm talking about the Zapruder recording Inspector. It clearly shows Captain Price,. . . that is the Chameloid shifted into a form resembling Captain Price, taking two shots at the President before leaving the duck blind at the forth floor window facing the street. Yet the autopsy shows injuries consistent with at least three shots being fired, and witnesses have testified to hearing as many as four or five shots fired in total. How do you explain these inconsistencies Inspector?"

Bronson didn't really know how to respond to that. "Possibly echoes from the surrounding buildings? Most civilians don't realize what gun shots sound like these days. It would be easy for someone to be confused into believing they heard more shots fired then actually were."

"That might explain the conflicting reports on the number of perceived shots fired Inspector, but how can you explain the injuries that are inconstant with only two shots being fired from the forth floor of the Senate building? Another 'magic bullet' theory perhaps? Care to comment?" Whey stung.

Bronson shook his head, waving his hand towards the mike. "I have no comment at this time. If you'll excuse me, I need to get back to work."

Whey nodded and turned to face the holo-recorder as it took a close up shot. "Well, you heard it here on FNN. Captain Price has been cleared of the charges and the new suspect, this Mister Loyd, a Chameloid, has been taken into custody by the authorities. There are still many unanswered questions in this whole tragic ordeal which we at FNN will continue to investigate and report as further information becomes available. For now, this is Brian Whey of FNN reporting."

***

"Wow, I guess a lot has happened since we left. I can't believe it was all solved so quickly."

From her station behind them, Astrid shook her head. "I can't believe we travelled across ha

lf the Federation for nothing."

"Not for nothing." Anna said sternly. "There's a shipload of Cardassians who would say otherwise."

"Agreed, but I sure am glad we're getting back. It sure has been interesting working with you two, a great honor as well."

"Ya, it has been a blast working with you," Anna smiled. "No one died and our shuttlecraft didn't blew up."

"Hey!" Astrid cried. "We haven't gotten back to the Galaxy yet, so don't jinx us."

Eric laughed and said,"Well I think it'd take a major disaster to jinx this trip. Seriosly anytime you two feel like doing a holo-novel give me a buz, we make a good team."

"Ya, I have been wanting to do this one holo-adventure." Anna said with a mischief grin.

"What would that be?" Astrid inquire cautiously.

"The Poseidon Adventure."

"Sounds interesting, we'll have to od that when we get the time." He looked at his console and saw a good thing and reported it,"I believe the Galaxy is on our short range sensors."

"You'll be fine if you're not afraid of the water." Anna replied as she checked her own sensor display on her console to confirmed Eric's sensor readings.

"It is the Galaxy," Astrid said. "They're hailing us."

Eric tapped his console and put it on screen and spoke first,"Hello Galaxy this is Ensign Eric Odin along with Lt. Anna Gartner and Lt. Astrid Salt. Requesting permission to come back aboard."

A few seconds later,"Permission granted welcome back a to the Galaxy."

"Roger that," replied Eric as he tunred off the main viewer and layed in a landing course. He looked back to Anna and Astrid and said sarcastically,"Thank you for flying Starfleet airlines, please prepare for landing." He then turned back around to procede with the landing.

"And in case of water landing, you will be used as a floatation device." Anna added jokingly.

"Ha-ha. You're a laugh a minute, Anna." Astrid sarcastically fired from the back of the runabout.

Eric laughed at the joke and set the runabout down like an ace. He secured it and got up form his chair and said,"Final stop everyone." He exits the runabout and as they pile out onto the deck Eric turns to them and says,"We'll have to see about that holo-novel."

Anna and Astrid agreed and they all headed their own ways.

"A Change in Plans"
by Lt. Commander Thomas
Starfleet Liaison Officer
USS Galaxy

[Takes places prior to the Galaxy departure from the Mergotti system.]

Lt. Commander Thomas had been working hard on his investigation. Which now had taken an interesting twist in a very unexpected direction. He'd been contacted by Starfleet Command about this change in directions, but they'd also instructed him that because of the information he'd uncovered since his last report that they wanted him to continue his job for the time being. They wanted a full and final report from him about Mr. Price before he was transferred to a new posting.

They wanted a full report on the Galaxy and everything that had been happening onboard the ship. He was of course already working on that part of the report secondary to his primary report, because of his investigation into what was happening onboard the ship. He really wasn't there to specifically dig up dirt on any officers serving aboard the Galaxy. His investigation into the captain's actions over the past six months had generated some interesting side tracks that might be followed up someday, but right now his focus was the captain. Though they also wanted him to include in his final report an evaluation of the senior staff for referencing.

Chris was reluctant to follow that order to the letter, because this could become a witch hunt in the making. He would follow orders, but he would also limit his report by only the original scope of his mission. He would provide them with the information they wanted, but they would have to send someone else to follow up any investigation. He would not be party to a witch hunt now, the captain had been cleared of charges, though he was still waiting for official reports to be sent to everyone. There was a reluctancy among certain members of the group that didn't want to admit they'd been wrong.

He knew that he'd tried to keep a clear open mind about Mr. Price's involvement in the assassination of the president. He had to admit that he had been lead to conclusion about the captain's innocence in the assassination. He was however also probably more open minded to both positions, because he'd severed under captain Price for over two years before leaving and spent six months away from him.

He would have to make some major decisions about what information would appear in his final report to Starfleet Command and what would never make it off his computer here. He would eliminate irrelevant information from his report and before releasing it to them and it wouldn't be any question of misconduct. He was after all just following orders and reporting his findings about the captain's activities.

Chris relaxed his mind and let it go, he was tired of thinking about the report and needed to think about something else.

He closed his eyes and let his mind go.

** Several Minutes later **

"Computer display all current openings in Starfleet." Lt. Commander Thomas said. He would narrow the search once the computer pulled up the current list.

"Working, the request will take approximately twenty minutes to complete." the computer said.

That was a little longer then he had in mind so he would narrow the search now. "Computer revise search and list current openings that require a rank of Lt. Commander or above."

"Working, the request will take approximately ten minutes to complete." the computer said.

That was much better, he could live with ten minutes of doing nothing. He would pass the time by reviewing his notes. No actually he decided to go for a short walk and then come back to the computer and see what it'd come up with. He had to think about the future and if he could find a posting that would be to his taste, then he would try and get it before he was assigned to another investigation position.

Chris exited his and Anna's quarters to go for a short walk.

** 10 minutes later **

Chris returned to his quarters to see what the computer had produced.

He loved the Galaxy, but he knew that once his final report was turned in, that would be the end of his duty onboard the ship. He would either be sent to another assignment by them or he could look for his own assignment and try to get the posting before they came up with something else for him to do, somewhere else.

If he could stay on the Galaxy he would, but there wasn't anything open on the ship and he didn't want to bump someone just so he could remain on the ship. When he'd left the Galaxy the first time he knew coming back wasn't a likely option and even now he knew that wasn't going to happen. He would have to do his search before they found him another place to go, and move once more. He wanted to find a place that he and Anna could settle down in and call it home.

"Captain Price & 'Captain' Casey went where?"
by Lt. Commander Thomas
Starfleet Liaison Officer
USS Galaxy

[Takes places after to the Galaxy departure from the Mergotti system.]

'Commander Thomas had been working on his second report for Starfleet Command. Even with the captain having been released, there was still many questions and no report as to what happened on Earth officially. However from the Price's own comments and Chris's investigation he was able to determine that certain officials in Starfleet were still dragging their heals on the matter. Robert Price hadn't assassinated the president as he'd been accused off, but until Starfleet Command issued orders otherwise he still had a job to do here.

He smiled a little bit, thanking whoever was listening quitely that the matter would soon be coming to an end. He also knew that once this happened he would be out of a job and awaiting his next assignment in Starfleet. He had actually already begun to look for that next job, checking some resources looking for possible openings. He had the credentials to take a number of assignments that had nothing to do with Starfleet Intelligence. He could easily put his name in to be consider for any of the numerous executive officer openings currently or even a few captain's positions. While he certainly didn't have the rank of full commander or captain, he did hold enough clot that could put him in the running.

He glanced at the green uniform that he was wearing right now and wondered what would be the color of his next duty uniform. He'd worn the gold, for his time at operations here on the Galaxy, black for his time in SI, Red for his three month stint as the interim director of Starfleet intelligence and now he was in the green tunic uniform, used for certain positions. Though this still of uniform was only used for certain officers working directly with or for Starfleet Command. Chris was saddened by the final result of the end, he would have to pack things up again and head off to either a new assignment or one of his choosing.

Chris finished up his final report and sent it off to Starfleet Command. The next report would be the closing thoughts and any additional information that he had to report before leaving the ship.

** Battle Bridge **

Lt. Commander Thomas stepped onto the bridge, looking around for the captain and Mr. Price. He didn't see them however and wondered what might've happened to them. The ship had separated, leaving the saucer section in the Mergotti and heading for Deep Space 9 to help the captain out. He'd learned earlier that Mr. Price had been cleared of wrong doing, however Starfleet Command still wanted him to continue his investigation and observation of the crew until the formal charges were dropped against him.

He looked around the battle bridge, it'd been a long time since he'd seen and been on the bridge.

He was here to help out commander Casey, but he was also here to take notes and see what happened.