Feathers and Turtle Shellsby LCDR Jeral Maas
Feathers and Turtle Shells
by LCDR Jeral Maas
*** CMO’s Office ***
Something was bothering Jeral about the trip to the Ursid system. Things didn’t feel right. These peaceful, gentle people didn’t usually ask for help. These were a proud people, rich with trade and culture; closer to their planet than many other races. Of all people aboard the Galaxy, Maas should know. (Or technically, his first host Joquelle knew long ago.) The reason was simple: part of him remembered visiting this world.
At this moment, Jeral was contemplating Joquelle’s painting, which was framed behind his desk. Some had commented on the masterpiece, satisfied with the explanation that a previous host had created it. But when this mission popped up the staff had learned the nature of the painting, his office turned into a miniature art gallery, as the work had been inspired by Ursid’s natives.
Twisted with techniques of surrealism, two feathers bound skyward from a petrified rock bluff. The feathers were mostly gray-white in tone, but they dwarfed the other objects in the composition, branching in several directions and framing it. A strong rope of shiny black hair descended the cliff, and a distorted but recognizable face composed of Picassoesque cubes looked down on an assembly of his tribesmen with eyes of compassion and mercy. It was also interesting how the bright colors and hues balanced with the bland white feathers.
This unusual style was what finally had declared Joquelle a master, her bold use of irony when creating a piece, while still picking out objects important to her subject(s). In this case, a portrait of a young Ursid warrior, boy Two Feathers. Listening to the reports at the staff meeting, he learned Two Feathers grew up to be an important sub-Chief of the tribal council. The Trill reflected on how destiny can sometimes touch on beings from far distant worlds, forging a connection that lasts beyond boundaries of space (and sometimes even time).
What the Captain and the others said at the staff meeting was fully true. The Federation had no formal diplomatic contact with this planet. But before Trill joined Star Fleets league of worlds, Trill had met them and become trade partners with them. Maas had prepared a report summarizing the details of this, but the meteor shower took priority. The Captain seemed pleased than Doctor Maas could swiftly shift into their modes of thought because of the previous association. The few biological records Jeral managed to retrieve from the Trill Science Ministry from that exploratory era would be interesting to compare with current conditions.
He did think to mention that the warrior race had some peculiar Indian customs, and they seemed to live on average well into a second century of life, but not as long as Vulcans.
Incense and music was relaxing him, as he communed with Joquelle’s long departed spirit. In time, he recalled the design of the traditional medicine bundle, worn as a symbol of healing by their practicing tribal shamans. Burning the details fresh into his mind, he soon prepared a similar bundle with objects appropriate for a Trill. He replicated a shell from a colorful box tortoise, remembering animals were important in the Ursid’s lore. Turtles were seen as slow and healthy creatures with longevity, and were the adopted by the healers as their ‘Earth’ totem.
Jeral wrapped the other objects in cloth, then placed them inside the shell, which he tied to locks of his own hair, then crossed over his shoulder so the turtle pattern was clearly visible on his chest.
He started to head towards the main transporter room, then thought better of it. Commander Thomas might decide to use one of the Cargo transporters instead, so everyone could transport down at once. The group of people invited to the feast was fairly extensive, and would take at least two beamings to send with a smaller transporter.
=/\=Doctor Maas to Commander Thomas=/\= the comm circuit was promptly connected, then the Doctor placed his request.
=/\=I am ready to beam down to the planet. Which transporter room do you want me to use?=/\=
While he waited for a response, Jeral made a quick trip to Cargo Bay 1 to fetch a few medical supplies. Stress levels were bound to be high with a planetary scale threat to fight. Maas wanted to be able to help their healers prepare without insulting them, and selected supplies along those lines.
The XO responded a while later, directing Jeral to the transporter room of his choice. The Doctor merely proceeded there and waited for the others to arrive.
"It looks red...."
By Ensign Peter Lockhart
Peter once again scanned the PADD that Lieutenant Richeson had recently given him. Once again he looked down at his uniform.
"It looks red...." Peter said to no one. "But I'm not so sure. My first assignment in the tactical department.... and I'm being put back in Security to help the away teams."
Peter wasn't too unhappy however. He knew from his first ever shift on tactical that things got very boring very fast. It wasn't all shoot things and action from his station on the bridge now. However, he wasn't complaining. It gave him time to listen in on what went on around him, and also to just relax. Gamma shift was still the deadest shift around and standing in the darkened bridge was something he enjoyed.
"At least Lieutenant Sanchez won't be able to rib me as much anymore." Peter said, looking back at his orders again.
Peter then grabbed the PADD, grabbed his phaser from his weapons cabinet and holstered it. He then departed from his quarters and set off towards deck 38 and his old stomping ground.
***** Shortly *****
Peter walked into main security and was immediately set upon by Chris Aaron. "Oi, oi! Looks like Ensign Lockhart's changed his mind already." he said.
"Too right!" Peter said, handing him the PADD.
Chris scanned it for a minute, and then remarked, "Looks like they need all the idiots they can get then?"
Peter chuckled whilst he answered, "And I notice you're on the list as well."
That shut Chris up for only a second before he asked, "So how's tactical?"
"Quiet. Nice and quiet. I spend most of the time just scanning the area for anything heading our way. I've already set up the console the way I want it, and spend the rest of the time daydreaming." Peter said.
"And does Captain Price know he's got a tactical officer who spends his time asleep on duty?" Chris joked.
"He does. He's already had the Gamma shift bridge officers complain about the snoring, but he doesn't mind as long as I don't bother him during Alpha!" Peter replied smoothly.
"No doubt they're glad to be rid of you then!" Chris said, getting the last word in. "Welcome aboard... again!" he finished, holding out his hand.
Peter shook it, before asking, "So who am I under?"
"Dunno yet. The away teams haven't been posted yet, but I expect them to be shortly. I'll suggest you get Lieutenant Sanchez if you want?" Chris said.
"I'll give it a miss...." Peter replied before saying, "Let us know when I'm needed." and strolled out.
The chronometer buzzed three times before a hand flew out from a tangled mass that once might have been neat and orderly covers, slapping the chrono to the floor. Groaning Ensign Deschian slowly untangled himself from his bed and blearily headed to his shower, barely functional. After taking a nice long soak, he looked almost human. Wrapping a towel around his waist he went back to his bed and picked up the chrono to see how much time he had.
"Mm. Oh-832 hours.. Great.. I can get some breakfast before my workout."
Stretching and smiling as he heard all the little snaps and pops he quickly changed into what was once known as a muscle shirt and a pair of shorts. Grabbing a fresh towel and a weight belt he walked over to the replicator.
"All right.. Let's see what the miracle machine can make for me today. All right you bucket of bolts.. Can you make me some Ktarian Kal'Ca eggs, scrambled, with cheddar cheese and onions? With a side of Targ bacon and orange juice?"
Smirking in admiration and small humor he watched as the plates and glass materialized in the slot. Picking up his breakfast he headed over to his personal desk to update his personal logs and check his "mail" while he ate.
"Personal log, Ensign Stephen Deschian, Stardate: 50101. It's been 3 days since I boarded this ship and I'm still amazed by how big it is. Even the suite my friends and me rented for our graduation.. Well my first graduation wasn't as big.. And it sure as hell didn't have all these perks."
Stopping he picked a fork and tried the eggs.
"..Even if they can't make Scrambled eggs to save a person's life. Anyway, I'm supposed to meet with Commander Savat today to get my assignment at 1300 hours. Plenty of time for my to try that Kendo-Jitsu program Captain Bateman gave me as a 'going away present..' "
Stopping for a second Stephen lets his mind wander back, to a different time.. A different ship..
"Red Alert! All hands to battle stations!"
"Sir! Klingon D7 cruiser decloaking straight ahead.. Registry marks it as.. The Kor'Vor'Cha! Orders, sir?" A younger Deschian, wearing a maroon service jacket and black pants asked Captain Morgan Bateman, a square jawed man, slightly balding man.
Almost to himself Bateman says "Hm.. The Kor'Vor'Cha.. Sounds like Kornga's ship. Probably just wanting to make us jump. Well.. We'll show him, won't we, Ensign?" He said, aiming the last part of that to Deshcian with a charismatic grin, the kind you just have to answer with one of your own..
"All right ensign, raise shields. Lieutenant Bjornson, open hailing frequencies.
"Aye sir. Hailing frequencies open."
"Aye captain." His fingers flying across his board, ensign Deschian quickly complies as a glowering ridge browed figure filled the screen.
"Bateman." The word came out more like a growling curse then a proper name. "I see that the Federation is running low on talented warriors if they send such as you back out to patrol the borders of your weak empire."
"Ahh, good to see you too, Korn on the cob." Bateman responded, his voice dry. "What do we owe the.. Pleasure, of your visit? The last time I checked no Klingon ships were supposed to be anywhere near this sector."
"Dishonorable raiders have been striking Klingon colonies, and then retreat back here." As the Klingon commander was explaining this the screen spilt into two displays, One with the Klingons face and the other with sensor date and ship style of the raider.
" We have been sent here to hunt them down. Stay out of our way, or we will show you why the Klingons are the most feared race in the galaxy!"
"Probably because of their body odor." Stephen said sotto voce to the Bjornson, who chuckled and nodded.
"Alright Kornga, just remember to stay on your side of the border.. I'd hate to have a war start over some low life."
"Do not worry, human. One day the Klingon Empire and the Federation will lock in glorious battle, settling our differences once and for all. Kor'Vor'Cha out."
With that the screen blacked out as the Klingons abruptly cut off the connection.
"Well, that turned out to be interesting" Bateman remarked as he picked up a small coffee mug and took a big gulp.
"Stand down from red alert, but keep your eyes peeled. That raider sounds similar to reports we've been getting from Starbase 79 about raids being done on OUR colonies. If we can catch him we'll not only have one upped the Klingons again but it'll be something I can hold over ol' Creamed Korn the next time we meet."
Suddenly Deschian's console beeped. Checking the sensors he reported "Sir! Ship matching the description of the raiders is right outside the system, cruising along at low warp. I think it's trying to slip around us and the Klingons while we're sitting here sir." Grinning Bateman started barking out orders.
"All right, Bjornson, send a communiqua to Starbase 79 reporting our position and that we might have found the raider. Deschian, give me a probably firing solution and tactical readout on that ship before we get to them! Roger, plot an intercept course, we'll try and cut them off here." He said, pointing his finger at a Nebula 2 system away.
"If we can keep them from noticing us they'll fall right into our trap."
"Sir," the science officer broke in," Starfleet has buoy markers in that system, Seems that there are some weird gravimetric and possible temporal disturbances in the nebula."
"Well we'll risk it. Those sons of fishes have been attacking federation citizens, and it looks like we might have found their hiding place. Roger, Warp 7, and remember, try and stay out of their scopes."
"Aye Sir. We should intercept the raider in.. 1 hour, 24 minutes at both our present speeds."
"Good! It's time to go hunting."
----1 hour later..----
"Captain, sensor's show the raider entering the system." Deschian reported. "I have a firing solution ready. Whenever you give the signal."
"Good job Ensign. Raise shields and go to Yellow alert. Bjornson! Open a channel to our little friends, and tell them to stop and prepare to be boarded."
"Aye S-"
"Captain!" Deschian interrupts, "Incoming, looks like.. merculite torpedoes, sir!"
"Roger! Evasive maneuvers, something flashy! Ensign Deschian, take out their shields and weapons array!"
"Aye sir. Torpedoes away!"
The crew watched the red streaks fire out from under the saucer. A second later Deschian said, worry in his voice, "Sir the nebula is interfering with the targeting systems on the torpedoes sir.. It looks like they're flying.."
BOOM!
Suddenly the crew is thrown from their seats as a photon torpedo and merculite torpedo collide! After the blast cleared the screen suddenly filled with a large white ship.. Bigger then anything any of them had seen flying out in space before.. A split second before the collision alarms went off.
Snapping out of his reverie Stephen realized his breakfast had gone cold.. Finishing his log he put the dishes back in the slot as he picked up a pair of gloves and a towel as he headed off towards the holodeck.
To be continued.
"Getting Around"
by Commander Thomas
First Officer
&
PO2 Johnathan "Jazz" Russel,
Engineering crewmember
Commander Thomas had finished speaking with Lt. Savat who was taking over the duties of head of security on the ship. With recent changes through out the ship, two departments would have to get used to having new department heads and the ship had to adjust to a new first officer.
There was a lot of things happening on the ship, and limiting his time to get around to speaking with everyone on the ship. He was trying to make the rounds and speak with others, but that wasn't an easy task. He was trying to meet with most of the crew who'd stood out in some report somewhere. This was of course going to be a long term project and challenge.
Thomas entered engineering, he was actually coming here to speak with Petty Officer Russel about helping him with the changes to the first officers ready room. He didn't want to take away from engineering, by using an officer and so he'd selected someone else to help him.
Now he just had to find the man among the rest of the engineers.
One of the engineers on duty, petty officer Michels, noticed the new first officer looking around uncomfortably.
"Yes I am looking for Petty Officer Russel." Chris said as he took note of the person in front of him, but he was still scanning the room. Not really thinking about who he was looking for really.
"Russel?" The man rasied an eyebrow in surprise, then a hint of recognition flared up in his eyes. "You mean 'Jazz'! Sorry sir, petty officer Russel managed to transfer his nickname from his previous assignment to the Galaxy in record time. He happens to be on this deck, subsection 29. Just follow the loud music, and you'll know where he got the name."
Commander Thomas headed off to the appropriate subsection, abandoned corridors surrounding the heavy equipment. He wasn't really expecting to hear someone playing music outside of their quarters, but then again this area was rather empty of life. Most people didn't travel this section of the ship, only people you'd find here was engineers. The music, that was being played wasn't something he really recongized right off hand. It was tranquil in nature and reminded him of something one might play from Earth's classic period of the Mozart or Bach era.
Over the music, a curse was audible, and moments later the music was turned down considerably. From another corridor stepped a man in an engineering uniform, who looked at the commander with a rather startled expression. "Commander Thomas, I'm right over here."
Chris moved off in the direction of the voice that was calling him. The volume which was had been or seemed to be loud wasn't that way as he got closer to the source. He came to the possible realization that the sound of the music was being echoed off the surrounding walls, equipment and other sources to make it seem louder.
As Commander Thomas had walked over, Jazz spoke: "Petty officer Russel, at your service, sir. You were looking for me?"
"Yes I was looking for you." Chris said trying to speak over the music.
"I wanted to speak with you about helping me out with a little project." Chris said as he came to stand a few comfortable feet away from the man.
"Certainly sir," Jazz replied, "I'll be glad to help out, as far as I'm able."
"I need some help remodeling the first officers, office. That is to say remodeling my office." Commander Thomas cleared. "While I am sure Commander Casey found his layout and arrangement to be best suited for him, I do not."
Jazz nodded. "If you're going to spend a lot of time somewhere, you need to be comfortable there. You're right about that, sir."
"I know you're on duty, but I am sure that I could arrange to get out off duty." Chris said, waiting for his reply.
"Well, that just depends on how fast you want it done." Jazz replied. He got a padd from his toolkit, and took a glance at his schedule. "You see, remodeling your office is as much work for me as all this is. So I can either drop what I'm doing, and go up with you now, or I can finish up here, and meet you at your office in say, twenty minutes. I'll just rearrange my schedule to fit it all in, sir." Jazz explained.
"No big rush Jazz," Chris said. "I just wanted to make the arrangements and get the ball rolling so to speak. We can meet in thirty minutes if that would be better for you. I don't want you to rush what your doing and forget something."
"We wouldn't want that," Jazz replied, remaining cordial. For some reason, he always disliked having his nickname used by people who hardly knew him, and officers in particular. It was his guess he preferred a little distance between him and the brass. Still, the XO was probably just trying to get along.
"Alright then I'll see you in thirty." Commander Thomas said.
With that settled Commander Thomas worked his way back to the main engineer room so he could be on his way.
-- XO's office, about thirty minutes later --
Outside Commander Thomas' office, Jazz hesitated for a slight moment before pressing the chime button. It was the first time he was sent up to the XO's office, since his distinct manner of working had probably 'earned' him a semi-permanent position away from the senior staff. But yet, there he was, ready to redecorate the new commander's office.
The door opened, and Jazz walked in. He took a glance around the office, and noticed a few things he would change if this were his office. First of all, there was no private bar. Second, there was no massage table, and third, there did not appear to be a music installation. Luckily, Jazz had brought his portable. Now, if only the commander would step outside while Jazz would do the work....
"Commander Thomas," Jazz began, "I am completely at your service. Tell me what you want changed in here, and I'll get it done."
"Ahh thank you for coming mister Russel" Commander Thomas said. "I have here what needs to be changed, I originally thought about moving this wall," Chris said, "But after further studies, I've learned it can't be moved because of some wiring running through it now."
"My guess is that isn't just some wiring. It's probably the power conduits for the structural integrity field." Jazz said, knowing his guess was an educated one.
Chris handed him the padd, showing the changes that he did want. Increasing the lighting in the room with better control. He also wanted to move the desk from it's current location to the corner and add a window so that he could see who was at his door all the time. The plans also called for making some minor security changes and removing a couple of pieces that Derian had left in the room. "What do you think?"
"Well, I was wondering first why you asked me for this job. I figured you'd need an interior decorator instead of an engineer. But it looks to me like you did a good job on the decoration design, sir." Jazz replied.
"I know it's going to take some time to complete, but is it doable?" Chris asked.
"Well, since you're not going to restructure the room, it shouldn't be too hard. Its all superfacial work, well within my ability, or any engineer for that matter." Jazz replied, as he looked over the padd once more. "I'd say I could have this done in a day or two. I can put it on top of my list, since there wasn't anything urgent on it anyway. But you'll understand that I drop this project as soon as something urgent comes my way. With the ship currently in the Badlands, that's not entirely impossible, I guess."
"Of course" Chris said. "I know that anything critical to the operation of the ship will have to come ahead of this work here in my office." "Alright then let me know what you need to get started and I'll make the arrangements." Chris said.
"Just be out of here when I get to work." Jazz smiled, "I'll be starting first thing tomorrow morning, so may want to schedule some out of office work for that time."
"That will do fine, mister Russel." Chris answered. "That will be all."
Jazz saluted, and left the office.
"Time To Meet The New
Kids On The Block"
By Lt. Bruce Maxwell
Chief Helmsman
Bruce sat in his office after the meeting. He read over the information that had been given to him about the Ursid people. He also was trying to swallow the fact he felt his department was useless.If needed have your people help the others. Bruce loved his Helm crew and justwanted them them to be respected more. He knew the Captain meant nothing by it.
"Lets see here, They are a slightly primitive in ways and advamced in others. How interesting." Bruce mumbled.
He looked over the information, somewhat like the Native Americans from the History of earth. A welcoming Feast, then dancing. Bruce sat and contemplated all this. He sat the Padd down then decided to send the letter out to his people to inform them on what could possibley be needed from them.
Helm Dept.,
Members of the Helm Department, on the current mission to the Ursid system their will be an evacuation protocols going on down on the planet. Have been informed we will not be needed much in our normal role as helmsman. I authorizing and sending the request of the Captain, to offer your skills and abilities to the security to help evacuate the 7 cities in danger. If you go on any of the away teams I want you all to be careful and do your duty to 110% like you guys do for me. Any questions and/or problems contact me. I am goignt o go and try to get on the away team witn the Commander to meet with the leaders of the Ursids.
Godspeed,
Lt.Maxwell
"Computer send message." Bruce stated.
"Message sent." The female drole voice stated.
Bruce stood up and looked in the mirror to make sure he looked s.o.p. perfect. He then headed out the his office, he stopped and looked at Ensign Taggart.
"Ensign, send my wife a message telling her i am going to try and get on the away team with Commander Thomas." Bruce said with a smile.
"Aye, Chief will do. Send the rose's also." Ensign Taggart smiled.
"Of course, must keep my angel happy." Bruce said walking out the door reading the padd.
Bruce walked for a little while heading to where the Commander was. He read over and over the padd of info on the Ursids. "Fascinating, I must talk to their Helmsman to see how they do it." Bruce stated.
Bruce then stood in front of the Commanders quarters. He looked and chimed the door.
*******************************
Andy Smith
NRPG: This JP is outdated. It belongs to the previous mission some day or so before "Choices" (by Captain Robert Edward Lee Price). It describes the first real encounter between Khan Nilani and Michael so we didn't want to trow it away.
Lt. Junior Kahn Nilani
Lieutenant Michael McDowell
Excerpt from "Mind numbing boredom"
*** USS Galaxy, Main Shuttle bay ***
The large doors to the spacious Main Shuttle bay opened fluently as Michael walked in. He saw the activity around the various shuttles; men and women from the Operations, Science, and Engineering Departments all working to get the shuttles prepared for flight into the Badlands.
As Michael stood there watching several Engineers walked up to him and handed over PADDS that contained the current status of the shuttle they were working on. They had to report to him anyway and doing it now saved them the trip down to Main Engineering
"Replaced two Power Converters and upgraded the Shield Generators." Michael said as he saw it on the PADD. He looked up at the Lieutenant (jg) standing before him. "Were they that bad?"
"No sir. In fact, they were good enough for operation in normal conditions but the enhanced shield configuration is rather demanding when it comes to power supply and that asks a lot of the hardware components." The Lieutenant' replied. "We noticed that the Power Converters and Shield Generators had been in use for quite some time and we didn't want to risk anything. ...Besides, the Shuttle was up for maintenance in a few weeks time anyway."
Michael nodded. At first he'd found it a bit strange to replace two components and upgrade a third one. But he had to admit, the reason behind it made sense. "Good thinking. Safety is everything, eh?" he said and smiled. "Carry on."
"Yes sir." The Engineer answered and grinned. He was about to return to his work when al of a sudden a loud expression of pure frustration echoed through the Shuttle bay.
"BLOODY HELL!"
This automatically made Michael snap his head into the direction from which the cry came, suprised that someone would utter their anger in such a way. "Who was that?" he asked, turning again to the Engineer he just helped.
"Uhm,...I think that was Ensign Nilani sir. She's in a bad mood all day."
"Yeah, and it seems she want to make sure everyone knows it." Michael stated plainly. "Excuse me, but I think I'm needed elsewhere.
Walking towards the location where the foul langauge had came from Michael could distinguish a figure of a woman. He didn't say a thing until he stood right behind her. Apparently she had not noticed him since she continued working. Michael cleared his throat before adressing her. "Having a bad day?"
Nilani wasn't surprised that someone was standing behind her, she shrugged "It was going well" she commented back making a couple of adjustments to the sensors. She continued typing, seemingly paying no attention to the person standing behind her.
*She's definitely in a bad mood.* Michael thought, *But that doesn't justify this 'I'm-ignoring-you' pose.*
"Was,...yes, I already thought that was the case. In fact, everyone does. Your colorful language did the trick." he commented. Michael paused a split second, letting the other feel that something else was bothering him, and then continued on a slightly harsch (though subtle) note. "And Ensign, ignoring people isn't very appropriate, don't you agree?"
Nilani gave a quick laugh "If I ignore people long enough, they leave me alone. Which is just the way I life it - and Lt. you might want to keep your distance..." she shook her head when no response came through
"Oh you havn't heard yet... I'm surprised... Well let me give you the info. My former rank was Intendent and I'm responsible for thousands of deaths."
She continued working on the computer.
Nilani's behavior gave Michael the idea there was something else bothering her. His first thought was about those 'thousands of deaths'. It was strange to hear her talking about it in a way that made it seem like it was completely normal. But he dismissed it after giving it a few seconds thought. It was more likely it was the other way around. If it was true what she said, and Michael had no reason to not believe her, then she could have major psychological problems. The nonchalance manner whith with she spoke about her having killed so many people was a sign of that. Now Michael was faced with a problem of non-technical nature, one of which a Counselor would know how to deal with but he didn't.
"Ensign, I know nothing of your past or problems...but I know that ignoring people won't solve anything." Michael said in a more understanding way. "It can even bring you into trouble since it can be seen as a sign of disrespect, especially towards superiors."
Nilani looked to the Lt. the first time. "Oh... Disrespect for me is being polite and pleasant. What you see is what you get, that is respect, respect is strength in what you do. Hence I do my job and I do a good job, you respect my work and were happy with each other."
Nilani turned back and finished the final touches on the computer, she tapped the computer button. "Computer, what is the output on tactical sensors in comparison to standard procedures?"
=/\=Tactical sensors are tunning at 140% over operating procedures =/\=
"Computer, is there any projected and degraded loss in sensor lifespan?" Nilani asked in curiosity.
=/\=Negative=/\=
She turned to the Lt. and stood up, picking up her toolkit. She moved into the man and smiled an odd smile. "I don't like Humans, Klingons, Bajorans, Cardassians and practically every other race you can think of, I do on the other hand like Romulans. There are 3 people on this ship that I like at the moment. Our Chief, The Chief Science Officer and Karyn Dallas. I respect 1 other and that is the Captain!" she turned down and started to walk out of the Runabout.
Michael said nothing as he watched her exit the Runabout. This whole conversation was going the wrong way. Why was she acting this way? He had tried to show a bit compassion, but all he got was a confusing and scorching reply. It felt like a slap in the face. Whatever the reason for her behavior Michael couldn't just walk away and leave it at that. So he left the Runabout and looked around to see where Ensign Nilani was. Once located he walked over to her, still searching for words on how to tell her what he thought about it all.
"So you don't like being around Humans, Cardassians, or almost any other race. Alright, that's your choice." Michael began without getting her attention first. Some anger could be heard when he continued. "But I expect you to watch your attitude towards fellow officers when on duty and that includes not ignoring them. And off the record, I think your definition of respect is flawed. I suggest you re-evaluate your POV."
With that said Michael walked on towards the exit of the Shuttlebay. He didn't know for sure if he handled the situation correctly, but he knew he was right to not let it go by unnoticed.
"Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah" nilani commented as she stuck her head back under the console.
"I Dream in Neon"
A string of silver beads extended outward into the universe like stepping stones. A little girl in a flowing blue gown skipped from one bead to the other, humming happily to herself. As she traveled, the beads began to move, forming a loose coil around the girl. The coil tightened until it completely encased her, but the girl seemed not to mind. She stretched her arms upward, pulling the coils apart. The vast void of space had disappeared, replaced by a bright teal sky accented with bigger-than-life fluffy pink clouds. The girl stood on a cliff, a turgid emerald sea far below. Suddenly the face of the cliff began to crumble, taking the girl with it. She tumbled down, sharp rocks rising up from the surf to embrace her tiny body...
... T'Zaq startled upward and looked around, disoriented for a moment. Realizing she was indeed in her own quarters, she sighed and relaxed back into the covers. Just another dream. T'Zaq felt vaguely dissatisfied that despite years of training to hone her psionic skills, she had never mastered the art of controlling dreams.
She lingered in the warm haze of half-waking for only a moment before tumbling out of bed and heading for the shower. Her duty schedule did not allow for lazing around all morning.
The dream was still on T'Zaq's mind as she walked into Engineering and logged in at her station. Thankfully, the internal communications infrastructure was remaining bug-free as it had for a few weeks now, leaving her time to organize a schematic for communications between the seven cities to be protected. If the firestorm was indeed as bad as the Ursid data seemed to be, traditional line-of-sight relays would never work, and even localized subspace transmitters could be severely garbled from the interaction of the massive electromagnetic fields required to protect the cities.
T'Zaq got to work, toying with a model of a photon shunt-packet system. She remained so absorbed in the computer that the passing of several hours went completely unnoticed. Finally affected by a pang of hunger, she decided to break for lunch. Standing from her terminal with a yawn and stretch, she headed for Ten-Forward.
The 'real' trick to cross-stitching of course, was seeing each thread as part of the whole tapestry. In and of themselves the brightly colored fibers had no identity other than 'blue' or 'yellow' or 'turquoise'.
Together however they made and ensemble, a masterpiece, a work of art. Like the varied instruments in an acclaimed orchestra, the threads wove together , literally, a statement that could not be made individually.
What blue can describe the soft grasses below? What Amber could ever portray the still waters, and what red ever shaded a simple daisy? Only together these brilliant threads wove together the tapestry of a masterpiece...
Well in reality, Rebecca von Ernst was busily cross-stitching a cartoon-like teddy bear, but art is where you find it.
The young Ensign was a wee slip of a girl with elfin thinness and a pixie-like stature of barely five feet. Her curves were quite modest, and one of her many regrets was her rather flat chest.
Shoulder length Auburn hair curled under at the shoulders while her bangs hung low over great watery brown eyes. Her pert little nose and pale cheeks were liberally dusted with freckles and she frequently chewed on her thin lips in nervousness.
Totally engrossed in the repetitive hooking and looping technique of the project before her, Rebecca slowly let the concerns of the day slip off her thin frail shoulders. Alone in her cabin, the young officer had only come off what seemed to be one long series of disastrous shifts that stretched all the way back to Starfleet Academy.
Her experiences there had been traumatic to say the least. Shy to the point of paranoia, and terrified of social situations, the pixie-like cadet had made almost zero friends at the school, and was quickly relegated to wallflower status by her peers. Cruel hazing by the older girls had scarred Rebecca's already fragile psyche, and her obsessive modesty, and fear of exposing her petite form made her the butt of many pranks.
"Cadet Cloaking Device" they had labeled her once when she refused to shower in the gym with the other girls, instead staying wrapped in her towel until all the others had gone, leaving her alone.
"Honestly Cloak," one girl had said, "I don't see why you bother. You don't have anything to look at anyways."
That comment hurt.
Now, years later, and finally with her own private cabin, a very hot.....very long soak in the tub along with ample bubble-bath, had succeeded in washing the days cares away.
Now, dressed in a fluffy blue bathrobe, an red hair still dripping at tips, the 24 year-old girl was ready to settle down for a serious evening of needle-work.
~Let the good times roll~ she had thought to herself, not at all sarcastically.
The patters that formed under the direction of her thin but skilled fingers reminded the girl of her one true talent in this world... that of mathematics applied to the patterns of life around her.
Time and time again, her instructors at the Academy had found her a true paradox of abilities. Truly gifted in the area of theory and mathematics, the young Minnesota at the same time repeatedly failed any sort of practical application of her knowledge.
Recruiters for command school drooled over her phenomenal results in starship combat simulations, but slapped their heads when she would turn around and ram the Starbase during docking maneuvers.
When asked about the paradox Rebecca could only shrug and explain that Combat was nearly 100% Math in the forms of visualization of speed, 3-dimensional vectors, and probabilities.....piece-of-cake.... Docking on the other hand........now that was hard......That took skill. The Command school recruiters could only shake their heads and pass her over reluctantly.
In the two years since her graduation, young Rebecca had been bounced from post to post, and nudged and cajoled into developing her tactical talents. Given her love of Mathematics, these efforts on Starfleet's behalf were a never-ending source of frustration and fear to her.
Her Most recent assignment aboard a Defiant Class vessel, was a desperate effort to thrust her into the heart of a pure combat machine and hope that she snapped out of her timid nature.
Rebecca scrunched her nose again, and a faint blush rose in her freckled cheeks. Unfortunately in her first real combat encounter Rebecca had froze at the controls and had to be removed from the bridge. She was further humiliated when at her court-marshal she became so nervous as to throw up all over the Review board's desk.
That incident pretty much landed her here on the USS Galaxy.
To her dismay, Rebecca had found herself once again assigned to the Tactical department instead of her hoped-for Science post, but at least here on this huge ship, she had not even set foot on the bridge in the entire three weeks she had been on board.
Lt. Richeson...her Department head wasn't quite sure to make of his new recruit yet, but upon discovering her Minor at The Academy had been Administration, she had been quickly set to work organizing and cataloging the immense volume of Tactical Data stored within the Computer Mainframe.
Looping another thread into her creation, Rebecca cast a glance across the cabin to her desk piled high with various PADDs. The work was repetitive and slow, but given her organizational skills, it was quite easy, and kept her out of everybody's hair. Most of the work could be done from her cabin, which allowed her to be sequestered off from the rest of the crew of strangers.
Rebecca didn't know what to make of the other officers in the personnel Department, having only met them in passing. In truth the all-male personnel scared the noodles out of her, and she barely squeaked out a whispery "Nice to meet you" before literally fleeing back to the safety of her cabin.
That Caitan, Ensign Bosco especially spooked her with his alien eyes and sharp fangs. Brrrrrrr.
The cross-stitch Teddy-bear slowly came to life in a blurred pattern of random threads. Rebecca scrunched her freckled nose, as the patterns brought t "Well noodles to them". Rebecca whispered and gave Mr. Bear a rather dapper looking red bow-tie, "I know how to relax and kick back."
With that said there was suddenly a chime at the door. Rebecca's great brown eyes opened wide and her jaw dropped as she stared at the door. In all here years at Academy the rang her door-chime was when they were coming by to take one of her more-popular, and better-looking roommates on a date. Nobody ever came to see her. Nobody ever asked her on a date.
Now being in a single cabin Rebecca was so shocked she had to wait until the chime rang a second time before she rushed over and put her ear to the door. "Who is it?" she asked nervously in a squeaky voice.
When there was no reply, she pulled the neck of her Blue robe tighter about herself, and cracked the door a bit.
Whoa! At he door stood the dreamiest, most mouth-watering handsome man Rebecca had ever laid eyes on. A strong chiseled jaw, rippling taut muscles and eyes like the ocean. He stood there bearing a huge bouquet of crimson red roses tied neatly with a white ribbon.
"W.w..wha." Rebecca said intelligently a hideous blush rising in her freckled cheeks.
"Oh." the dreamboat said looking up and down the curved passageway."Im sorry, I think I got the wrong cabin." And with that pivoted and walked back down the hall.
~Typical~
****Security Office, Deck 38***
Savat like many Vulcans, had answered a number of callings over the course of his long life. Decades prior to his service as a security officer, he had worn the blue of the science department, serving as the "A&A" officer on both the Enterprise B and the Stargazer. It was not often that he found a reason to make use of his skills as an anthropologist, but the Ursid people were presenting a unique and challenging opportunity.
He had already accessed the records of the original Federation observation team, as well as copies of archived works from the Ursid people from their main library in the northern city of Hotohke, one of the seven cities being evacuated. Savat felt it was important to get to know the culture and ideals of any people that his teams would be working with closely. To that end, he was preparing a briefing for the members of the Security, Tactical and Helm departments.
The Ursid culture was a fascinating blend of ancient tradition and modern progress, a balance they had managed to maintain without most of the environmental and military pitfalls of many Federation cultures. While they had an advanced computer and satellite network, they relied on a strong and complex oral tradition for most of their history and mythology. The Ursid people felt that a textbook or computer record showed only the biased opinion of a single historian. On the other hand, a tale handed down over generations to hundreds of storytellers might have a few variations from voice to voice, but on the whole, would create an oral melange more truthful than the written word.
Savat had thus immersed himself is recordings of "talk story" sessions made by the Federation anthropology team, listing to tales of gods, monsters and heroes that formed an allegorical infrastructure for modern Ursid life.
Savat found many comparisons between the Ursid Notaxe warrior tales and the stories of pre-Surak Vulcan and pre-Lor'Vella Andoria. Like these two races, the Ursid had managed to overcome centuries of tribal bloodshed to form a world government while still maintaining a proud warrior tradition. It was this pride that most concerned Savat as he did his research. It had been 1500 years since the last Rain of Fire devastated the Northern Hemisphere. It was the stuff of ancient legend, and that would make it difficult for many of the citizens to grasp the impact of what was about to occur. There would be those with too much pride to leave their cities for the safety of the south and they would have to be handled with care during the evacuation.
Savat completed his notes and sent copies to the department heads. He then turned his attention to the task of forming seven teams of security personnel to aid in the evacuation. To that end, he sent a simple message to the heads of Tactical and Flight Control, Tim Richeson and Bruce Maxwell.
[Gentleman, please let me know which members of your departments will be made available for security duty during the evacuation and which shall be remaining on the ship. In addition, please let me know about your own availability for this task, and the availability of your assistant chiefs, as I would like to place senior officers in overseer roles in as many of the seven tasks forces as possible]
Savat copied the message to his XO, Commander Thomas and requested further instructions. He wished there was time for training exercises on the holodecks, especially with the number of non-security personnel that would be involved, but with a seventy two hour window for the evacuation, coupled with the delay brought on by the initial diplomatic gathering, it was simply not a possibility. Training would have to occur on the job.
Savat leaned back in his chair and folded his hands under his chin in contemplation. Shortly, he would need to join his fellow senior officers for the gathering on the surface, where he hoped to gain further insight that would aid his department in the task ahead.
"Arrival"
The day seemed quite average so far. Morning briefing with the Senior staff, work in Engineering, and now beaming away on to some everyday mission. Or so it appeared. Ethan had read a little about the culture on this strange planet that he was heading to. The culture here seemed a little primitive and yet advanced in it's own way.
The usual tingling sensation crawled over Ethan has he materialized on the surface of Usrid along with teh rest of the senior staff. He observed the situation as it unfolded. Like int he book, the First Officer made his way to make 'First Contact' again - if that seemed possible. This time it was in person so it seemed different. Some of the other senior members seemed to be distracted by the surroundings while others just watched the Commander move towards what Ethan guessed to be their representitive.
He took this moment to observe the area. He turned away from the main delegates of Usrid and glanced around. He even grabbe dhis tricorder and opened it. Without looking at it, he knew what he was doing. He tapped a few buttons and let the tricorder do the scanning.
Ethan suddenly had the feeling he was being watched. And turning to his left he saw that two of the natives were stood nearby, just looking at him. Ethan closed his tricorder and gave a nod. In return, the natives nodded and moved towards him.
"You... Are the Fixer." the younger lad spoke.
Ethan half smiled in the young boys attempt to label him. "That's right." Ethan replied. "Chief Engineer Ethan Suder." he introduced himself.
"Suder," the older man repeated as if he had heard it before. "You know the heritage that your name carries?" he continued.
Ethan gave a puzzling look as he tilted his head. He had been fasinated by the old mans question. Although he was from another planet, another part of the Universe, he seemed to know a lot about Ethan. His name had obviously been heard before.
"Always looking for something to do. Something to keep yourself occupied." the older man said as he took another step closer to Ethan, hands crossed infront of his stomach as he approached the Chief Engineer.
"How do you..." Ethan trailed off. He was mesmorised by the man's knowledge. His insight into a man just by looking at him. But Suder didn't remember reading anything about them being telepath's, maybe they weren't.
"A man in the dark, alone." the man continued.
Ethan just nodded. Not wanting to argue or ask how he knew, nothing that might disrespect this native here infront of him.
"You have an advanced system here." Ethan said as he pointed to the sky with an index finger.
"The technology, is only a reflection of our minds. An expression." the man explained.
"I know what you mean." Ethan said as he looked at the young boy. "Are you a fixer?" he asked.
The boy looked at the old man, presumebly his father, then he looked back at Ethan.
"I have a lot to learn about myself before taking on a challenge as big as that." the boy explained.
"And you," Ethan said looking at the old man. "You help run the main system here on this planet. You have a partner, this is your son, one of two that is. Your oldest." Ethan said.
The old man's expression changed. His face seemed to drop to the floor. As if he were amazed at Ethan's gift of reading people.
"Your youngest is ill, your wife caring for him as we speak. You have a lot fo pride and love for your children. Signs of a good father, a good person." Ethan said.
"Your spirit has been enlightened before. People come here closed minded. Not knowing how to see things in people just by looking at them. But you are different." the boy spoke.
"That's right, I'm different." Ethan repeated.
"Come." the old man said rsting an arm on Ethan's shoulder as if they had been old friends. "We have a feast."
Ethan smiled and walked along with the man and child. The feast was going to be interesting. Ethan felt as if he had a lot to talk about with this man. A man he didn't even know his name to at first, but he would in time.
**Lt. Richeson's Quarters, Deck 3**
Tim almost tripped over his own feet as he ran into his cabin. He was due in the transporter room in 5 minutes to beam down. He quickly changed into a clean uniform jacket and gave Ashes his long anticipated dinner. The light colored cat gobbled down its dinner as his master noticed his interface terminal flashing. "Computer, Play message."
[Gentleman, please let me know which members of your departments will be made available for security duty during the evacuation and which shall be remaining on the ship. In addition, please let me know about your own availability for this task, and the availability of your assistant chiefs, as I would like to place senior officers in overseer roles in as many of the seven tasks forces as possible]
Richeson nodded his head and tapped off the terminal. "Yeah, yeah I'll tell you in a few minutes in person."
*Half Hour Later, Ursid Surface*
"So all of the satellites are linked to a hive?" Tim Richeson asked his conversation partner, one Watching Hawk. Richeson had noticed a couple dozen satellites in orbit before they had left the Galaxy. After running several scans, he was still clueless to what their job was.
"That is correct Mr. Richeson." Watching Hawk started. "All of them are linked to one larger satellite at the north pole of the planet."
'Aright... so they are hived together. What the hell are they supposed to do?' Tim thought to himself. He pondered about it for several more seconds and finally spoke. "So... What are these satellites doing? They look like they are just staring into empty space."
"That is correct Lieutenant. The purpose of them is to watch for the fire storm of rain."
Tim recalled that "Fire Storm of Rain was what the Ursid people called the meteor storms that plagued their planet. The names these people had come up with impressed Tim. It seemed the names they had were so simple, but yet held a almost honorable tone to them.
"If you will excuse me Lieutenant, I have several matters to attend to." Watching Hawk stated
"Thanks for the information. Nice talking to you." Tim replied.
Hawk bowed slightly, turned and left. Maestro looked around the room at the various decorations. It looked much like traditional Terran American Indian. Animal skin was used as a table cloth, while hand molded candles burned over it. Richeson glanced over at Lucas and saw he was in a deep conversation with one of the elders.
"Lieutenant Richeson..."
Tim turned to see LtCmd. Savat walking towards him. "Hey Savat. How's the life of the party?" he said grinning ear to ear. He was acutely relieved to be talking to another Starfleet officer. Although he was interested in the language the Ursid people used, good old Star Fleet standard was much easier to understand.
"Have you received my message pertaining to the personal transfers?" the Chief Security officer asked with a emotionless face.
"Yup sure have. I'm at your disposal and all of the Tac department is available. Ensign Bosco is the only exception. I've got him in charge back on the Galaxy. Other then that you get the pick of the litter."
"Understood Lieutenant. Thank you." Savat quickly turned away and disappeared into the crowd of people.
Again Tim looked around and moved to the dinning table to pick up some snacks, hoping to find somebody else to have a conversation with.
Lt. J. Lucas Brandis, Zea Toa
-------- Chief Operations Office --------
The Captain had assigned a huge task to the Operations crew. 270 million people in the boom of a warp industrial age inhabited the planet Ursid. The Northern Hemisphere's seven major cities were Twin Spirits, Trun Riverland, Shanbaani, Hoowan, Cire, Niatpac, and Yxalag.
Lt Cmdr Brandis had been running through the numbers since the meeting had ending. "Computer, bring up the population logs of each city as transferred by the Ursid government to this terminal." Lucas commanded.
-------------------------------
"This is just great." Lucas envisioned the chaos of the situation. Almost 11 million people needed to be evacuated. Granted that they had already began to relocate some of the people. But it was a daunting task. He had to call a meeting of the department and start getting organized.
* * * * Operations Department Meeting * * * *
"Coordinate that through with Engineering." Lucas ordered Yeoman Citra. Jonathan handed the enlisted officer a PADD with instructions. He then turned his attention to the Operations department branch chiefs who all sat assembled before him.
"Here is what I understand. There are roughly ten million people on the Northern Hemisphere of the planet Ursid. Not all of them will need to be moved, we hope. As long as the Science department and the planet's Tribe of Celestial Sciences is accurate in its projections. We have to assume they are not. This means round the clock mass beam outs of upwards of 100 people at a time from all the ships transporters. I have researched the technology and transporter capabilities of the Ursids. They do not have mass transport capabilities, but are having their centers work round the clock. I believe Lt. Cmdr Surok has the numbers." Jonathan cued the 'Commander.
"2,500 personal transporters working at full capacity could conceivably accommodate 2.5 million Ursidians. I have spoken with Engineering on development of a massive bandwidth transporter beacon. This would boost the signal integrity and reduce the likelihood of any transporter malfunction." The Vulcan communicated with the confidence only that race has.
"Excellent, see to that. With 2.5 million beaming in and out, we want to improve safety where we can. 'Commander Jamson, I'll need you to beam down to the planet and help to coordinate with tactical and helm. I don't want a single person to be missed. So, take along your tricorders, you'll need them. In fact, I want a tricorder set to scan for Ursidians in the hand of everyone who beams down to the planet from this ship. See to that, Yeomen Klinger."
"Aye sir," Replied the Yeoman with the extremely oversized nose. It seemed to be the only feature that distinguished him from anyone else.
"Okay, then that leaves Ensign Chen, I'll need you to work closely with local officials. They have an advanced network to get all of these people out of harms way, and we would be best served if we worked with them. Relocation centers, police patrols, and any domestic issues we need to know. Security needs to be up to a top pitch. I know that with end of the world scenarios people can start to go crazy so you'll probably want to see the Counselors and see that they are strategically placed. That's about it for now. I'll be completely available should anything come up. Any questions?"
Jonathan waited a minute to make sure. He needed to get the ball rolling and there wasn't much time. "Okay, dismissed."
With that, Lt Cmdr Brandis headed to his quarters to change and be ready for the Tribal Bonding that waited him. He could have done without it, but he knew the demands of diplomacy better than most.
The senior staff from the USS Galaxy transported down to the planet Ursid, lead by the First Officer, Commander Thomas. The away team materialized at the designated coordinates, a large open court yard located in a sprawling, modern campus of buildings. On the ground were decorative stones laid out in a mosaic pattern that looked very ancient, yet modern at the same time.
Shortly after materializing, several members of the Ursid people approached and greeted the Federation guests. The Ursid people seemed very pleasant, down to earth people. After a period of around twenty minutes, Commander Thomas noticed three elderly gentlemen approaching. Chris knew they must be important, as they were not wearing the modern clothing that most of the people they met thus far were wearing. These gray hared individuals were wearing tanned skins that were decorated in colorful plumage of feathers and furs. About their arms and chests were decorated bands and chest plates, delicately beaded and exquisitely detailed. As the three elderly men approached, the rest of the Ursid people grew quiet and politely made way to allow them to approach their distinguished guests.
Chris could recognize one of the men as the sub-chieftain Two-feathers whom spoke to the Captain over the comm on the Galaxy. Another man walked besides him. Chris supposed he was also a sub-chieftain, like Two-feathers. The third gentleman looked a bit older. His back was more arched from age, and his face was worn and leathery. Of interest was the man's nose, which bent slightly to the right, as if it had been broken a long time ago.
Commander Thomas and the rest of the Galaxy's senior officers stood at attention as the three old men walked up and stopped just a meter or two away.
"Welcome to our humble planet. I am Chief Crooked-nose, and these are tribal sub-chieftains Two-feathers and Swift-of-foot." The eldest Chief stated in a very gentle, yet deep voice.
Chris nodded. "Chieftain Two-feathers answered Captain Price' hail on the Galaxy. It is good to meet you face to face." The Commander smiled.
Two-feathers placed an arm across his chest and bowed slightly, not saying a word while acknowledging the First Officer's greeting.
Chris turned and began introducing the members of the Galaxy's senior staff to Chief Crooked-nose and the sub-chieftains. After a couple of minutes of introductions, Commander Thomas wondered if the Ursidians found their Federation names as unique as they found theirs.
Finally when the introductions were done, Chief Crooked-nose spoke. "Come. A feast has been arranged in your honor. I am to escort you to the sacred feasting grounds where the celebration is to take place. "
With those words, the elderly Chief turned and began walking towards one of the buildings in the distance. The two sub-chieftains, Two-feathers and Swift-of-foot waved to the Federation guests to follow. Again, without speaking a word in the Chief's presence.
Chris looked at the Senior Staff from the Galaxy and then motioned for them to all follow. Everyone quickly formed a double column and followed their hosts towards the inner sanctum of the campus they were on. After walking a couple hundred yards and up a slight grade, the Chiefs approached a narrow gateway which they opened before entering.
The Starfleet officers followed and were surprised at what they saw on the other side of the gated entrance. It was a large open field. Very expansive. But it was far from empty. As far as the eye could see, there were colorfully dressed warriors, wearing ancient, traditional wardrobe and body paint. The deception was enhanced by the lack of any sound until the celebration guests entered, when the thousands of warriors began to scream and howl in honor of their returning companions. The sight and sudden celebration war cries, along with the rapid movement of the warriors and dancers that began spinning in circles and thrusting their spears into the air, caught the Starfleet officers off guard. It was quite an impressive and somewhat scary sight to see that many people suddenly burst to life. One could barely hear themselves over the sound of the warrior's chanting.
Looking over to Lieutenant Commander Brandis, Lieutenant Richeson shielded his mouth with a strategically placed hand and semi-whispered, semi-shouted "If they have an empty giant black caldron out there somewhere, I'm so out of here!"
Lucas just smiled at Tim's joke as they took in the sight and sounds of thousands of Ursidians screaming and chanting and carrying on in their honor. It felt like they had just entered a giant arena and were being cheered on by the crowd.
Then as suddenly as it started, the warriors and dancers were silenced when Chief Crooked-nose raised his hand. The warriors parted way, like a giant sea zipping open before them. Chief Crooked-nose began to walk down the pathway that was formed with the warriors parting ways. Sub-chieftain Swift-of-foot turned and waved with his hand. "Come, it's okay."
Two-feathers added, "We will take you to your seats near the tribal council. It is where all honored guests sit during the celebration."
Commander Thomas nodded. "We will be honored to join you." He then began following the chieftains as they began walking through the many colorful warriors and dancers that occupied the sacred feasting grounds.
Following the Chiefs and Commander Thomas, Savat and Suder, followed by Doctor Maas and Counselor Dallas, then Sullax and Maxwell, following up in the rear with Richeson and Brandis. As they walked through the grounds, Tim commented again, "Still no giant roasting pot. This is a good sign..."
The sensitive ears of Ryak caught wind of the Lieutenant's comment, and with a cross stare that only a Romulan can muster he expressed his disapproval of Richeson's comments. Tim caught the 'Commander's gaze and knew that he should quit while he was still ahead.
Finally they arrived at a large, round area. The ground was set in decorative stones that made a geometric pattern in earth colors. The area was clear of the dancers and painted warriors that stood around it. And though he couldn't say it, Tim was glad to see there was no boiling pot sitting in the center waiting to make Federation stew out of the away team.
Instead there were several animal skins laid on the ground and many old Urdisians, no doubt Chieftains like Crooked-nose, sitting about the circle. When the Federation party arrived, the Chiefs all stood up and beckoned their guests to join them by taking seats about the celebration circle. When the last of the Galaxy senior staff members took their seat, sitting on the animal skins with their legs crossed, Crooked-nose clapped his hands and called out. "Let the celebration begin for our honored guests."
Several beautiful dancers entered the circle and began dancing about, twirling in circles and wielding large feather plumage fans that looked like the wings of mighty birds and they spun around. While the dancers entertained, several servers, likewise dressed in traditional clothing of the Ursid people, began bringing out finely prepared food of their native culture. There were fresh vegetables, fruit, baked bread and both fish and shelled sea foods to select from. While the food was being served, and the dancers occupied the circle, the warriors, all standing around the outer perimeter, chanted, beat their spears and stomped their feet on the ground, keeping tempo of the dance. It was really quite a sight to behold.
"Babysitting"
Jake Olson smiled, he had enjoyed the feast, it was a rare chance for he and T'Prea to go on a 'date' as Bud was becoming more and more of a handful.
"Hi!" Bud yelled importantly at Rose MacAllen as the apple of his eye came by.
Rose walks in wearing a white dress with her long brown hair down, "Hey Bud how my little man doing tonight?"
The little boy ran over and flung his arms around Roses' legs.
The father and son had just emerged from preschool, the boy was doing very well when he could tone done the agression that was his one character flaw.
"Hey Olson what's up?" Rose said as she picked up Bud.
"Finally had some time with T'Prea, this guy's a handful as I can tell you figured out," Olson grinned at the small woman holding the substancial child.
"I can take care of him, would you like me to stay Bud." Rose asked him as she gave him alittle locket with a picture of her in it.
"With a single promise, don't spoil him," Jake laughed.
Rose got the joke when Bud turned and good naturedly stuck a tongue out at his father.
Rose puts the locket on him and smiles at him, "So you will never forget me little one."
"Thank you Rose," Bud smiled at her, "Very pretty Rose, very pretty locket,"
"New Missions"
Commander Thomas had been trying to keep track of the progress in reaching their destination, but wasn't having much luck.
Commander Thomas sat on the bridge as the Galaxy approached the planet Ursid.
"Captain Permission to assemble the away team." Commander Thomas asked now that the ship had arrived at their destination.
"Granted Commander." Captain Price said.
"Any recommendation on the away team captain?" Thomas asked.
"Yes 'mate, you'll probably want to take along the senior staff, any any other officers you see fit to make first contact on the Galaxy's behalf. Captain Price offered to his new first officer.
Commander Thomas gave the captain a quick nod as his mind went to work. Commander Thomas quickly drew a list of officers he would want or need on this particular trip.
Commander Thomas tapped his combadge so he could signal who he wanted on this trip. "'Commander Savat, 'Commander Suder, 'Commander Genestra and Ensign Chen. Report to transporter room 2." Chris now just needed to round out this little group.
"Counselor Dallas. You're also with me." Thomas said as that brought the group to a nice acceptable size. He didn't want to go down there with too many people, but he did want to make sure he had enough people to get started. Communication and understanding would be important in this first meeting.
"'Commander Sullax report to the bridge." Commander Thomas said as he and the chief counselor headed for the turbolift.
He felt that a well rounded group was needed, which included science, engineering, security, operations and of course a counselor to help out.
*** Bridge, USS Galaxy ***
Surok stood at the auxiliary Ops station in a rear corner of the Galaxy's Bridge. 'Commander Jamson was at the primary Ops station, minding the current status of the ship and it's primary system resources. Around the bridge, assistant department heads manned each station while their superiors set about preparing plans for the monumental project the Galaxy was to complete.
Surok was practicing a non-meditative cognition technique that allowed for the simultaneous processing of multiple threads of thought and physical activity. Taught to all Vulcan schoolchildren in its most basic form, k'Vanda Ri becomes, for many, a lifelong pursuit.
Surok was busy with several matters. He was studying Ops logs and systems resource allocation grids for the prior six months. In another cognitive thread, he weighed the options available to him in configuring a custom LCARS interface to improve his efficiency and productivity. A third 'c.t.' compared lieutenant Walsh's modern arrangement of the 1812 Overture with the generally accepted 2237 interpretation by Hans Schlemmer. As a stress point for his meditative practice, he chose to form a fourth 'c.t.' to review the cultural database's information on the general populace of the planet Ursid IV.
His last commanding officer referred to k'Vanda Ri as "Brain-Juggling". Surok thought the term was deceptive in that the two activities were not analogous. In fact, it had once occurred to Surok, he could easily juggle while processing several other cognitive threads.
While further information scrolled down the LCARS terminal, a crewperson stepped up behind Surok. He noted the approach, and asked, "What do you require, petty officer Goodyear?"
The engineering NCO answered, "'Commander, the computer time we need to conduct our targeting tests isn't there. Ensign O'Connor sent me to check on it personally." It was apparent from the petty's tone that he didn't appreciate the assignment. Sam Goodyear was an eight year veteran of Star Fleet and was frequently commanded by ensigns fresh from the academy.
Surok suspended his consideration of the Ops records and tabled his evaluation of the 1812 Overture to allow more focus for the enlisted man's problem. "Mister Goodyear, you must be referring to the resource request 'ENG50101a.' The engineer who logged that request rated the priority as 'low'. There are several projects rated with a higher priority at this time, therefore your project is in 'hold' status."
Sam tilted his head to the side and exasperatedly said, "That's what I'm trying to tell you." When Surok did not volunteer a solution to the problem, the Petty Officer came up with a suggestion of his own. "Well, can we re-prioritize it?"
Surok nodded. "This project is necessary to ensure we are capable of tracking the generous number of satellites that will endanger the Galaxy at Ursid four. I concur that the priority of this project is under-reported. I will re-prioritize it. Your tests may begin on the hour, petty officer Goodyear."
"Thank you sir. Y'know, most officers just call me 'petty officer.' Or Goodyear."
The Vulcan paused. "Most officers are incorrect to do so. It is disrespectful to simply call a person in your position by surname only. However, I will call you 'petty officer' if you prefer it to 'petty officer Paquette."
Confused, the NCO nodded. "Okay, 'commander. That would be fine."
The NCO left the bridge and Surok resumed his temporarily suspended cognitive tasks. He considered his choice to suspend review of logs to devote attention to the human engineer. Perhaps he had been too quick to sacrifice processing effort...
Ve'ryn entered the Holodeck as the doors slid shut behind her. She wore the traditional Andorian battle armor as the program came to life. A landscape of ivory filled the senses as the snow appeared hard enough to step upon. Making her way across it, it was deep enough to slow her trek down slightly as she made her way into the dark forest up ahead.
A few minutes passed when she picked up the tracks of what she was looking for. In her soft blue hands her Chakas came to life almost as if they were an extension of her being. Tracking the creature, the snow around her began to fall once again as her vision was slightly hampered. However, to an Andorian warrior tracking its prey, snow didn't really bother the progress. As the cold arctic air made its way in as Vee could see her steamy breath escape her soft violet lips, still she remained alert.
Suddenly her senses detected movement as a large form rushed her from its hiding place under the large pine tree. Her guard already in motion, the Andorian dodged left fully avoiding the bear like paws filled with large talon like nails as sharp as swords. Quickly Vee moved to a better position as the large creature was clipping behind her heels.
Reaching the top of the knoll, she turned about to face her opponent head on. Her soft violet eyes held the predatory glow as they stared hard against her incoming foe. Standing upon its hind legs, the creature stood almost 3 feet taller than she did as it made a menacing roar at her. Standing its ground as Vee did hers, they locked into a stare down. The G'nar had an ivory coat, large shark like mouth and three sets of eyes. The white fur was a Rite of Passage to the Champions of the Clan. If one could hunt the hunter, one could easily challenge any Champion that a Clan House might hold. So far, the G'nar had done nothing but try to intimidate Vee as she held her ground against it.
An animal cry escaped her lips as she had enough of the creatures taunts. Moving from defensive to offensive she quickly moved into attack range as she lashed out with her Chaka's. It moved almost as quickly as she did, as one of her three-bladed dagger bit deeply into its abdomen. Bright purple blood oozed from the deep laceration as the creature pulled back from its attack roaring in protest against her. What Vee failed to noticed was the creature's side swipe from its large tail as it knocked her completely off the ground as she landed a good 5 meters away face first upon the crusty snow.
Roaring again in pain and mix anger it quickly made its way to its Andorian prey. Rising to her feet, Vee drew her Hrisal that was strapped to the back of her belt and leap upon the incoming G'nar. Her dagger plunged deeply into the creatures ivory coat staining it a deep purple as Vee rode upon its back as it trashed about. Her strong legs wrapped about its body as she did her best not to be thrown off from the angered creature. It roared each time Vee's Hrisal struck through its protective coat and into its skin, however the fight was far from over when the G'nar finally had its way throwing her off its back.
Landing far enough away from him, Vee wondered if it wasn't for the safeties of the Holodeck would she win the battle she was facing. Looking up at her incoming prey, she had one final surprise for the G'nar as she reached into the folds of her ivory curls and pulled out her hidden hair pins. With accurate percision, her hand lashed out as the creature was almost upon her, hitting their target as it pierced the creatures eyes and punctured into its brain. Almost directly on top of her, it slump dead at her feet. Taking a few steps backwards within the snow, Vee stood. Anger filled her eyes as she pulled her needles from the creatures head.
'That was too sloppy.' Vee thought to herself as she looked around the landscape. With the mix of wintery weather, a G'nar was within its own element as it utilized the storm as an offensive tactic. One of the most feared predators on Andoria, it was also one of the most respected as its ability to bounce back from blows caused upon it. If this was the Wilds of Andoria, she would probably be dead within the snow as the creature ate at her carcass.
"Computer end program." Replied Vee disgusted with the whole mock encounter. Grabbing her weapons as the Arch appeared in front of her, the doors parted ways to reveal the reality of the situation. Vee simply shook her head as the doors slid shut behind her. Despite all her time in training, she still wasn't ready.
Commander Thomas and the rest of the away team were waiting patiently for the arrival of Lt. Commander Devinoni 'Evin' Genestra for the mission. When a call came in from the chief science officer noting that Mr. Genestra would be unable to join the away team at the present time and that was all. This of course left the commander with some questions about why, but he needed to get the away team down the planet on time to meet with the delegation from the planet.
Now he was faced with the challenging of selecting someone else for this part of the mission and he couldn't call upon the chief science office to join the away team, because of various reasons. So now he needed to scramble and find a replacement for the mission.
"Alright let's finishing ready to beam down." Thomas said.
"Aye sir." was the response.
"Commander." Counselor Dallas said joining at empty panel. "Can I be of any assistance?" she inquired.
"Any suggestions on a replacement for the science officer?" Chris asked.
"Who did you have in mind?" she asked first.
"I have two possibilities in mind, Lt. Commander Jake Olson and Lt. Rose MacAllen." Chris said.
"Both are good choices, but giving the situation each has their own traits that need to be considered." she said cryptically to him.
"I know that's why I am reviewing the bios right now, before making a final selection." Chris said. "Jake has experience, but he's also been in trouble a number of times. While Lt. MacAllen hasn't been in trouble or just hasn't had the chance, but she's also young."
"Yes and as I said both are good arguments."
"Maybe we should bring both of them since this is going to require a good amount of coordination and science study." Chris said.
"You call commander." she said.
"Thank you counselor for your insight fullness." Chris said.
"Lt. Commander Jake Olson please report to transporter room 2 for away mission duty." Commander Thomas said tapping his badge.
"Acknowledged Commander." came the response.
"Alright everyone, we're should be ready to depart in a few minutes." Thomas said. "I doubt it'll take Jake very long to get here."
Everyone nodded and took their place.
Moments later Jake arrived almost on que as if someone knew he was coming, before he'd arrived.
The next thing they knew they were on the planet and being greeted by the natives.
*** Ursid Surface, Feast grounds ***
Jeral took a seat after helping Karyn Dallas to a seated position. Even with her new electronic ‘legs’, she didn’t have enough mobility to sit cross legged like the others. The reasons for this were explained as politely as possible, and the natives made an allowance for Karyn’s disability.
The colorful geometric pattern of stones reminded Maas of a few of Joquelle’s early paintings. Tables of vegetables, roots, and meats formed a large Oinkus. The Doctor merged into the queue to wait for the food. As a gestured of politeness, the Ursidians allowed the Galaxy’s visiting crew to go first.
Smelling the fragrant aromas rising from the tables, Jeral filled his large plate with selections the natives had prepared. There was fireroot stew, named after the plant that was its main ingredient. It also contained small diced cubes of Challa, a local mammal hunted for its trophy horn. The beast was quite large and ferocious, similar to a Magato with its white skin and aggressive predatory behavior. Slaying the beast proved to be the challenge for the hunt-of-passage ritual as young men reached their 20th sun-cycle, marking their coming of age.
Other delicacies included Pokidva, a mixture of several rice and malts, rich in fiber. The Ursidian prawns in icy sauce were also delicious, as were the peppered darkfish. Something nagged Jeral, then he remembered one of Joquelle’s favorites was Ajule berry pie. One hundred plus years ago, the first Maas host remembered it being one of the native’s favorite deserts. Could the delicate plants have perished since Maas last visited this system?
It was not worth complaining about. Jeral saw a group of mixed-age shamans over to one side, boasting breast plates made of native tortoise shell plates. These turtles had been exported from the southern continent, and grew to approximately 4 times the size of an Earth Galapagos tortoise. Thus, a single shell was big enough to clothe even the largest of Ursid’s doctors.
A polite discussion ensued. The natives decided to call Jeral “Chief Turtle-who-swims-with-Stars”, since the turtle was their symbol of healing professions. Of course, the part concerning the stars was added since the Trill traveled a lot being on the Galaxy’s crew. The honorific ‘Chief’ was added since they learned he was the head of the ship’s medical department to accommodate local customs.
Five villages on the North continent have lost thirty tepees or less to a mysterious illness, which started 4 moon-cycles ago. Jeral looked up to see Ursid’s large natural satellite hovering in the day sky. He wondered how much the single moon (a quarter size of Mars) had complicated the network of artificial satellites the natives had built. Jeral acknowledged Ardon’s mathematical curiosity but pushed it aside with a minimum of mental effort. Learning more about the illness afflicting the Ursidians and saving lives was far more important.
The Doctor collected quite a list of symptoms. The first sign was a high fever that traditional medicines didn’t cure. Ice packs to reduce the sick one’s temperature helped some, but did not elevate the problem totally. Jeral was especially discouraged when he learned they had already accessed the public healing achieves of Memory Gamma (the Federation library world closest too them). Medical knowledge was freely shared with all inquirers in the interest of saving lives, even requests from non-Federation worlds were honored.
The next symptom was the appearance of ½ to 3 inch scarlet spots staggered all over the victim’s body. Abdominal tenderness followed, with vomiting and death induced by the failure of the digestive system. A third of the patients fell into commas before their digestive systems were consumed. The commas extended their lives, since the digestive destruction was arrested in the people who lapsed into them when their mind’s stopped producing normal nerve pulses. The doctors did not detect any airborne contaminates in the victims, and the disease cut accosted all social classes and professions. There didn’t seem to be a diagnostic correlation between those who fell ill and those who stayed healthy in the same village.
“Perhaps you should try inducing commas in the sick who are still awake. It wouldn’t cure them, but it would keep your people alive long enough for us to find a cure.” Maas suggested. He saw the healers were immediately uncomfortable with the idea.
“We did not think of that, Star-healer. We were slow to ask for help, but evacuations were slow because of the illness. I see our elders made wise counsel, evidenced by your quick recommendation while few facts are known”, Flame Turtle spoke. They then withdrew a bit to discuss the proposed treatment among themselves.
This caused a dispute. Like many cultures derived from Indian themes, part of their customs revolved around vision quests and lucid dreaming. Deliberately knocking people unconscious was seen as an abomination, except in extreme circumstances. With people dying in mass, the senior shaman declared they would test this life preserving method.
Curiously, 127 years of age had not changed the color of Flame-Turtle’s head. The rest of those born in the same year as Flame-Turtle had heads of grey or white hair, as did some younger than the main planetary healer. This marked him as a curiosity among his peers. The long orange locks (arranged somewhat comically in a Mohawk) looked like a portable blaze as he moved among the sick. His wife Fawn-who-Speaks-as-Rivers often accompanied or assisted his medicinal arts.
Jeral wished Doctor Gakor was still aboard. A digestive mystery would have attracted the Tellarite’s attention for sure. But the former CMO was elsewhere, doing who-knows-what by now.
The Ursid shaman explained the cultural taboo that had refrained them from creating a comma-based preservative. Jeral removed a medical tricorder from a small bag at his side, studying readings from these healthy subjects. “I have enough data to create a preliminary treatment. I must return to the Galaxy and use our computers. In the mean time, you shaman have not fallen sick even with contact with the ill. Try and see if something in common is protecting you.”
“We will discuss it,” Flame-Turtle agreed this was reasonable. “However your belief that no healers have died is false. Twisted Eagle fell ill before I became the senior shaman. He was the eldest of our tribes, and had displayed common problems of ageing all elders share before he died of the mystery illness.”
Jeral added this to his notes, then excused himself to beam back to the ship. It was time to whip out a miracle cure. After signaling beam up, he sent a comm badge down to the site he beamed from, so he would be able to contact Flame Turtle once research on a cure was complete.
*** Ready Room ***
Because he left the feast before its completion, Jeral headed for the ready room to give a personal account to the Captain. He was in the ready room soon enough.
“Captain, I have some distressing news to report. Part of the reason the Ursidians asked for help was because they are also facing an illness that is killing some of them. I am already working on a cure, and their shaman healers are using some of my ideas to extend the lives of those who have fallen ill.”
“That is bad news ‘Mate”.
“Because of the stress of the meteor showers, I suggest we ask a counselor on each evacuation team. And I suggest we give all away teams broad band immunization shots as a precaution. We can also immunize the healthy natives if they agree to cooperate. This may be enough to stop the epidemic from spreading.”
“Those are wise precautions ‘Mate. I will consider this and let you know my decision shortly.” Doctor Maas pivoted and returned to the Medical Lab to work on a cure, leaving the General to his deliberations.
Lieutenant Michael McDowell
Ian McDowell, NPC
Judith McDowell, NPC
-- Takes place earlier, at Christmas time. --
*** McDowell residence, Earth, Christmas day ***
"Ian, honey, dinner is ready. Time to put your beloved scribbles aside." Judith called out as she walked past the study room.
"Yes dear, I'll join you soon. Just have to finish reading this paragraph..." Ian replied while he continued reading. Every now and then he wrote something down in a A4-sized notebook. Old-fashioned some folks would say but sometimes Ian preferred to use pen and paper instead of the usual PADD. It gave him the feeling like he was more 'connected' with the Mathematics he used to decipher, explain, or prove something.
Right now Ian was busy reading about a particular interesting theory. It had been around for some time, and it looked promising, but there were still a few major questions that needed to be answered before the theory could be tested in real life. In all those years no one had come up with satisfactory answers, until a few days ago just before Christmas. A colleague of Ian had notified him and send him all relevant information. Of course, the first thing Ian did was start reading it the moment he got it. Now he was about halfway the new material and found it to be difficult to stop.
Slowly Ian got up, but instead of putting things aside for a while he grabbed his PADD. Although he knew that Judith wouldn't like it, the idea was to read in-between dinner. Naturally, this had to be done in such a way that his wife wouldn't notice it. And if she did then he could always try to explain what made it so important to him to keep on reading.
On his way to the living room Ian had to go trough the library which was adjacent to the study room. It was not excessively big, it had approximately the same size as the study room, but nevertheless it contained a huge amount of information on all sorts of subjects. All four walls were covered by books from floor to ceiling where possible. The rest was reserved for two small but long windows, measuring about 0.5 by 2 meters and separated by 1 meter, and the entrance to the living room.
Before he walked on Ian glanced through one of the windows. It had snowed for days now, it still did, and the normally lush garden was covered under a thick white blanket. It was the kind of weather Ian had hoped for. In a strange way it gave him a unique feeling, like snow added some magical quality to Christmas. Ian smiled when he thought about it. A Professor believing in magic, how weird can it get? Maybe. But the feeling was a leftover from his childhood and a welcome one too.
"Ian...? Ah, there you are." Judith called once again upon entering the library. She made her way to Ian until she stood beside him. "What are you looking at?"
The sudden appearance of his wife got Ian out of his thoughts. "Hmm? Oh, I was just looking outside...thinking how snow can influence someone's perspective of Christmas."
"Yes, odd isn't it?" Judith replied. "But does it really matter? I know it makes home feel so much cozier, knowing you are warm and safe here when outside there's snow and the temperature is freezing."
Ian nodded slowly. "I know what you mean and I feel the same way. It doesn't really matter,...as long as we don't loose sight of the real reason of Christmas and know that snow is only a nice addition."
"That is something I agree with. But you knew that already." Judith said with a smile.
"Of course, I just thought I should mention it anyway." Ian answered and gave Judith a short but tender kiss.
Judith enjoyed the moment, then said with a smile, "Hungry yet?"
"Oh yes, I'm famished!" Ian replied in a way he hadn't eaten for days. "Lets hurry before dinner gets cold." He put an arm around his wife and took a step forward...and came to a halt when he noticed Judith kept standing still.
Judith shook her head and chuckled. "Well then, if you're so hungry, why be late every time dinner is served?"
Ian smiled sheepishly, all according to his act of playing the comedian. "I have no idea. But you have a point. Mind if I get back to that sometime later?"
*** Later that evening ***
After having dinner, which according to Ian was delicious and confirmed once again he married a great women, both seniors sat in the living room. As always they talked about all sorts of things, it didn't matter what. That lasted for several hours after which Ian got caught up in a book he initially had taken out of the library to show Judith something. Judith herself had turned to her hobby, which was geology, classifying some newly acquired minerals.
Everything in the room was still when the computer console, that was build into the wall, came to life. Both Ian and Judith looked up, curious from who the call was. Seeing the Startfleet Logo Ian smiled and said, "That must be Michael." He stood up, walked over to the console, and tapped in a short sequence of commands. The console only stated there was a message pending. and not a subspace call. However, Ian was right that it was from Michael.
"Is it from Michael?" Judith asked when she also came over to the console.
"Yes, but it's only a message." Ian answered and displayed the message. "I expected a subspace call like he always does."
Both began reading the communiqué. It was relativily short for Michael's doing and straight forward.
---
Dear father and mother,
First of all I want you to wish a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. It's not the only reason for sending this message but the most important one.
I'm sorry I couldn't be home at this time. I know how much you both looked forward to that. The last mission simply lasted longer than expected. It should've been an easy one, but there were some problems we had to solve. Nothing life threatening, not for me anyway, but serious enough to make it much more difficult to complete the mission.
The Galaxy is currently docked at DS9. I'm certain Christmas and New Year will be celebrated there too so I intent to join the festivities there. I think a large part of the crew will be doing the same...they all need to unwind, including me.
Oh yeah, you probably wondering why I send a message instead of calling you directly. Well, at this very moment I'm getting ready for a nice shower. After that I have to rush to the station. I heard there is a homecoming party for the POW's at Quarks bar and that's in 15 mininutes.
One thing before I go. Since a few weeks I've been promoted to Assistant Chief Engineer. Quite something isn't it? Only disadvantage is the amount of paperwork. That must've increased by 100% at least.
Gotta go now. Call you as soon as I can.
Your son,
Ian was the first to speak as both he and Judith were done reading. "Maybe a message is not as good as a subspace call, but at least we know he doing alright. And that promotion, it's great! My son...an Assitant Chief Engineer, only one step below Chief Engineer. I never thought he would have that position by now!" Ian pratically glowed as he spoke about Michael's promotion.
Judith smiled. She too was proud of her son. "Yes, who would've thought that? And that while he had to apply twice to before he was admitted to the Academy."
"This is going to be a great Christmas." Ian said. "And that's a fact."
"And I think your right." A broad smile appeared on Judith's face as she hugged her husband. Then she looked him in the eyes. "How about a nice cup of tea?"
Ian looked at the old clock hanging at the wal on the other side of the room. "This time is as good as any. That and the offer sounds too good to refuse."
"Well, just make yourself comfortable and I'll see to it." And with that Judith turned and walked out of the room with a easy but steady pace.
Lt Seth Zonhieb, Gorn Security Officer
Seth had been assigned to the smallest city to help in the evacuation. Trun Riverland was on a delta and only had two bridge out. That also keep the city relatively small at just over half a million people.
The transporter stopped whining and Seth looked around the busy square. Two seconds later a woman screamed and several people started running. Some of the men crouched into a defensive position but looked like they would bolt soon.
One elderly woman walked up the lizard and gave him they evil eye. "I am Lt Seth Zonhieb from the USS Galaxy. Please start your evacuation."
"It is him!" The woman shrieked. "Hiss of the Hotsun!" Then the men all fell to their knees and planted their faces in the ground.
Confused, Seth looked at the woman. She curtsied low, then said. "Welcome bringer of summer and fire. We do your bidding."
"Gather everyone and leave the city in an orderly fashion." Seth ordered tentatively. The woman backed away and the men keep their heads bowed in respect as they all started walking.
Ensign Torricle blinked then said. "Remind me to go on these away missions more often."
-- Takes place about two weeks ago --
After she received notice that Eric had rested, Shinta went over to his quarters again.
"Good afternoon, Eric. How do you feel now?" She said with a smile.
He smiled and said,"Oh, I feel pretty good thanks."
Shinta looked at him, he did look a bit better. "Did anything happened? Or was a just the rest and maybe the massage?" She inquired.
"I didn't get the massage yet actually. You never got back to me on that yet. Something happened though."
"What happened?" Shinta asked, while she got ready to give him a massage herself. "undress please."
he looked at her shocked and asked,"Undressed?"
Shinta gave him a look. "I can give you a massage when you are fully clothed. That would be a mess. So please undress, keep your shorts on and lay on the bed belly down. And what you are doing that, tell me what happened."
He did as he was told and as he laid down he said,"It's kind of personal, but then again you are my counselor aren't you?"
Shinta began her massage, feeling the tension in his body. "That is right, but only tell me if you feel comfortable with it. We have not known each other that long, trust has to be built."
He hesitated and then told her,"I slept with Michaal the other night. In doing so I cheated on my girlfriend." he waited for her response.
Shinta stopped working for a minute and exhaled. "You have a girlfriend? Then you did that? That was not a smart move, Eric. "But it was not her duty to judge." do you realize that you have hurt probably two persons very badly?" She asked not on friendly.
"Yes, I know I have. My friendship with michala has taken a dive, but I think it can still be as good as it was. my girlfriend ate my heart out when I told her, but I deserved that. She and I are just friends at the moment,'he said.
"So now you are in danger of losing them both, because you could not make a decision. Do you see now how important it is not to hurt others? To be careful with feelings? do you want your girlfriend back?"
"Yes to all of the above. I'm pretty sure I want her back, but I don't know if she'd take me back."
"it looks to me like you will have to regain her Trust, because she is completely in the right ". Any ideas how you're going to do that?"
"One day at a time,"he said not knwoing much else.
"Very wise words" Shinta said and began to masage him again. "Are you starting to relax a little bit? That is important before we begin the first exercise."
"I am beginning to relax. You weren't joking when you said you were good at this,"he said honestly.
Shinta blushed a little." Thank you, I have not done it for long while, though. I want you to start taking deep breaths, and relax even more. Until every muscle in your body is deeply relaxed." Her voice was now soft and melodious.
He did as he was told and found he was becoming mroe relaxed. he said,"Your welcome and I can't tell that you haven't been doing this."
She smiled. "Don't try to win me over by giving compliments, Eric. Next I want you to one by one, first tense certain muscles, and then let all tension drain from them. Begin with your legs."
He began to do just as she had instraucted. he had a lto of muscles to tense and then relax. he hoepd he was doign alright, but continued to fucus on tensing and then releasing the tension.
"you're dealing great, Eric! "Shinta encouraged him. "Now I will teach you another exercise, this one is to regulate your breathing." She showed him how to take deep breath, to bring down his heart rate and blood pressure.. "I want you to do both exerciss three times a day for half an hour for the coming two weeks. After that we will go on, during these weeks we will have some scheduled talks, All rights and?"
He smiled and said,"Thank you Shinta. Those really help. I'll see you when i see you." He had had trouble with women so he itnended to wait until she left before turning over and getting dressed again.
By: Lieutenant Commander Jake T. Olson
=^=Lt. Commander Jake Olson please report to transporter room 2 for away mission duty.=^=
"Aye Sir, on my way," Jake Olson said crisply. He tidied up with speed and gave Ensign Taylor some quick but complete instructions.
Jake grabbed his away team gear, which he always kept on the ready as he knew that he could be called at any time.
Jake tapped his badge while walking to the transporter room. "Jake to T-Prea,"
=^=T-Prea here,=^=
"There's been a last minute change, I've been called to away team duty, I just found out two minutes ago."
=^=OK, be careful.=^=
"Will do," Jake promised. He hefted his gear and entered the transporter room.
Karen Dallas greeted him with faint surprise. "your fast,"
"I keep an away kit on the ready so I don't get caught by surprise and have to scramble." Jake smiled, as he took his place on the transporter pad.
"Planet Time"
"The Ursid people are similar to the Earth's ancient American Indian culture. This society is knowledgeable of technologies like warp propulsion and transporters / replicators etc. They do speak using phrases that are more along the speech of the American Indian's. These people are very wise and have kept from external contact to keep true to their values and customs. This society has only recently come in contact with the ability of Warp drive."
"Computer end." Ryak stated as he sat in his office going over all that they had on the planet and its people. Ryak looked over all he could. As he did he became much more intrigued and wanted to know more. Being a Stellar Cartographer the chance to learn more about this asteroid shower was very exciting.
Ryak made his way to the transporter room where everyone was waiting and stood on the Transporter pad with a scientific survey kit on his shoulder.
The blue hugh of the beam dissipated leaving the group on the surface. Ryak just hoped that this civilization had not come in contact with the Romulans as of yet.
Ryak watched as all of the people surrounded them and watched. These people seemed rather calm considering all that was happening. Ryak opened up his case and pulled out a tricorder and began to do some scans.
Shortly, three gray haired individuals were wearing tanned skins that were decorated in colorful plumage of feathers and furs. About their arms and chests were decorated bands and chest plates, delicately beaded and exquisitely detailed. As the three elderly men approached, the rest of the Ursid people grew quiet and politely made way to allow them to approach their distinguished guests.
Ryak put the tricorder to his side as they drew closer and took his usual stance.
"Welcome to our humble planet. I am Chief Crooked-nose, and these are tribal sub-chieftains Two-feathers and Swift-of-foot." The eldest Chief stated in a very gentle, yet deep voice.
Chris nodded. "Chieftain Two-feathers answered Captain Price' hail on the Galaxy. It is good to meet you face to face." The Commander smiled.
Two-feathers placed an arm across his chest and bowed slightly, not saying a word while acknowledging the First Officer's greeting.
Ryak watched the display noticing that this greeting was indeed very Romulan in nature.
Chris turned and began introducing the members of the Galaxy's senior staff to Chief Crooked-nose and the sub-chieftains.
Ryak gave just a nod of his head as he was introduced. Ryak was getting anxious to get on with finding out what was going to happen to the planet.
Ryak was not amused that they were on their way to a feast. This was not good. As they made their way Ryak kept his tricorder scanning for anything that could be of any use.
The welcoming feast was very full of people in a large open field. Ryak followed reluctantly into this area of festive bliss. As they made their way into the area all went silent. Ryak found this very interesting. Either the people held very high respect for these elders or they feared them. Both ideas made Ryak more interested.
Following the Chiefs and Commander Thomas, Savat and Suder, followed by Doctor Maas and Counselor Dallas, then Sullax and Maxwell, following up in the rear with Richeson and Brandis. As they walked through the grounds, Tim commented again, "Still no giant roasting pot. This is a good sign..."
The sensitive ears of Ryak caught wind of the Lieutenant's comment, and with a cross stare that only a Romulan can muster he expressed his disapproval of Richeson's comments. Tim caught the 'Commander's gaze and knew that he should quit while he was still ahead.
Finally they arrived at a large, round area. The ground was set in decorative stones that made a geometric pattern in earth colors. The area was clear of the dancers and painted warriors that stood around it.
The Chiefs all stood up and beckoned their guests to join them by taking seats about the celebration circle. When the last of the Galaxy senior staff members took their seat, sitting on the animal skins with their legs crossed, Crooked-nose clapped his hands and called out. "Let the celebration begin for our honored guests."
Ryak was very interested in the stones. Very carefully and with Romulan cunning, Ryak opened his tricorder and scanned the rocks for later analysis.
Several beautiful dancers entered the circle and began dancing about. Ryak ignored the people and instead kept looking at the sky as well as the stones. Ryak wanted to try and figure all of this out. It took only a few seconds before there was food infront of him. There were fresh vegetables, fruit, baked bread and both fish and shelled sea foods to select from. Ryak made his move and took a bit of all of the foods and placed them in his case. These could help later when he has time to do an analysis.
Ryak needed to find out more about this planet and this meal was just wasting his time. Ryak slowly opened his case and turned on his link to the Galaxy. Ryak needed to know exactly what was going on from space.
The celebration ended late. Ryak stood up as one of the Elders stated to a few of the warriors to escort their guests to a place of rest. Ryak followed them out of the field and into a very colorful hotel. The building was old yet very well built. The walls were painted with pictures of great landscapes. Ryak was shown to his room. He was to share a room with Thomas. As he sat on the bed Ryak opened his case on the bed to reveal the small scientific computer and equipment. Ryak pulled out a small dish and aimed it out the window.
"Commander, can't you do that tomorrow. It is late." Chris stated as he lay down in the plush bed.
"I do not think that would be effective." Ryak stated, "We need as much information as possible. This race is too proud to be using our assistance. I am sure they will not give us all the information we require. The will only give us what they want. I am going to find out all I can."
"It is up to you." Chris said as he closed his eyes.
Ryak tied his link into the Galaxy's computer and began to scan the space around the planet. Ryak noticed that the Ursid people have a network of sophisticated satellites orbiting the planet. Ryak began his focus on them.
Two hours passed when Ryak finally found out that they where sophisticated scientific tracking satellites that track and calculate the asteroids that orbit their sun. Using this network of satellites, it would seem that they are able to calculate with a high degree of accuracy where and when the meteors are likely to impact. Ryak needed to get the data from these satellites. Ryak slowly made his way to the door with his tricorder and headed out into the night to find out where there tracking station was.
*** Planet Ursid ***
"And so the fire that burns in the sky for only half the time, while his brother, the dark one, rules for the other half." Chief Rolling-tongue finished his tell.
Around the circular ceremony wheel, the other chieftains nodded their approval. The dancers had since finished and left, along with most of the decorated warrior dancers that stabbed at the ground with their spears, which were learned to be for spear fishing rather than hunting. A few warriors remained outside the circle, but the thousands of people that were initially there when the Starfleet away team arrived had finished their ceremonial dancing and had left a good hour ago.
Chief Crooked-nose motioned to one of the sub-chieftains to bring out a sort of peace pipe that looked more like a long flute then a tool for smoking tobacco. After taking a drag from the pipe, the Chief passed it along and each member began taking a puff before passing it to the next.
While the pipe made it's way around, Crooked-nose spoke. "Now is the time we talk of the things yet to be done."
Commander Thomas nodded. "There is much work to be completed and little time." Chris stated. Earlier he over heard Chief Flame Turtle explain to Doctor Maas about an illness that saw spreading through the Ursidian people. Chris was sad to hear this news, but somehow relieved at the same time. He always liked it better when he understood the motives of those around him. It hadn't made much sense that the Ursidians knew of this approaching meteor storm for 1500 years, and had been preparing for it for the last ten years, and only now, three days before the storm, they asked for Federation help. Learning of this illness to their people, in Commander Thomas' mind, gave these people a real reason for needing Federation assistance. Especially if as many people had fallen ill as Flame Turtle had described to Doctor Maas.
"Knowing that your people are ill will certainly make evacuations more difficult." Chris added.
Chief Crooked-nose nodded. "In many ways beyond the diseases incapacitating ways."
Sub-chieftain Two-feathers elaborated, "Our people are fearful of this illness. Our best medicine men have been unable to treat the disease or determine how it spreads through our people. Many do not wish to be housed in survival shelters with those that are ill for fear of becoming ill themselves."
Chris understood. Looking over at Doctor Maas, he commented, "Now that we know of this problem, I'm sure Doctor Maas and his staff of Doctors on the Galaxy will do everything they can to find the cause and cure to this illness."
Flame Turtle nodded. "Our prayers go with Chief Turtle-who-swims-with-Stars."
Crooked-nose returned the focus back to the firestorm of rain. "Our scientists have calculated the expected course and trajectory of most of the meteorites expected to hit Tabbajo continent. We will make their calculations available to your people to know which buildings need to be protected in your blankets of energy."
Lieutenant Commander Ryak Sullax answered the Chief, "I will give you the frequency to transmit the data. I would also be interested in examining the actual raw telemetry from your satellites from which these mathematical predictions were made. Using the Galaxy's computer systems, I may be able to validate their findings, or even increase their accuracy."
"You are welcome to examine that which has been gathered Chief Sharp-ears." Crooked-nose stated. "Chief Smart-like-fox will assist you with whatever information you need."
Ryak nodded, looking at the thin, elderly Uridian that answers to Chief Sharp-like-fox. Sullax figured he must be in charge of the orbiting satellites. A scientist like himself.
For the next hour, the various Chiefs and sub-chieftains spoke to the Starfleet officers and named the seven cities that needed to be protected with shield generators and given assistance in evacuating the Ursidians before the meteorite storm struck. Since the ill citizens posed the greatest problem and biggest unknown, it was agreed that the Medical Staff of the Galaxy would work on determining the cause of the illness, to try to determine what was causing it, how it spread, and hopefully, how to treat and cure it. In the meantime, Security and Engineering teams would begin evacuating the healthy people, and erecting force field generators about selected buildings the Ursidians wanted protected because of their sacred value to their people. Meanwhile Lieutenant Commander Sullax would have the science department work to validate the Ursidians predictions and calculations on where the meteorites would strike. By the end of the evening both parties, the Galaxy away team and the Ursidian people, felt they had gotten to understand the other and made progress with their plans.
After thanking the Chieftains for an excellent welcoming feast and celebration, Commander Thomas excused the away team to beam back to the USS Galaxy and prepare the many people, equipment and supplies needed for all the away teams. Chris knew he had a lot to report to the Captain, and had plenty of work ahead for everyone on the ship if they were going to meet the 72 hour deadline before the meteorite storm hit.
Lieutenant Michael McDowell
*** Main Engineering ***
The last time two interesting projects came by. One was already completed, the other was a brand new one. The first had been Michael's favorite and was the development of Karyn's 'robotic legs' of polyduranium. It had all been done in secret by five people, including himself, from different Departments who were (almost) all good friends of Karyn. Nothing could beat the feeling of really being able to help her.
But the project Michael, and several others from Engineering, was working on proved to be just as great. It was a design for a massive bandwidth Transporter beacon. The request to develop such a device had come from the Operations Department and was obviously meant to aid in the massive evacuation of the Ursidians on the northern hemisphere. Someone at Operations had Done some nice thinking. Its function was to boost the integrity of many Transporter signals at the same time and so decrease the chance (statistically seen) Transporter accidents. You could roughly compare it with the optic amplifiers used centuries ago which sole purpose it was to restore a degraded optical signal to its original form. It was the same principle, except that the Transporter beacon would restore quantum-resolution pattern images instead of optical signals.
The basic design of the beacon was already finished and ready for use, thanks to the hard work of Lt. (jg)'s 69 and 96, Ensign Sun, and Chief Petty Officer Jensen. Lt. Odin was also helpful with supplying ingenious solutions to several design problems when he heard of it. The details had yet to be filled in and required making some, though relatively simple, calculations. Michael had taken upon himself to complete that task and had been busy tackling it for some 15 minutes now dreaming up possible solutions. All of those solutions needed to be checked to see if it could be realized. 5 Minutes later Michael believed he got it right and made up a report that described the final solution and would be send to all people that needed to be notified.
The final report contained a simple calculation and a suggestion on how to use the beacons and where they should be located to be effective. Attached to it was the basic design along with the more complex calculations on performance and the used algorithms.
From: Lt. Michael McDowell
Subject: Project Massive Bandwidth Transporter Beacon
Captain, Gentlemen,
This report describes the expected load from the personal Transporters, based on Ursid's Northern hemisphere, used in the evacuation process.
The first analysis is a simple one and gives a rough estimation on what load the beacon must be able to handle. It immediately shows the specifications that must be achieved. I therefor included it in this message. For a more in depth explanation of the beacon, and all other relevant data, I kindly refer you to the attached design documents.
Further an idea is proposed on how to deploy the beacons to be effective.
--
Amount of Personal Transporters: 2,500
Transport flow (in persons/hour): 2.5 x 10^6/65 = 38461,5 -> 39 x 10^3
Distributed over available Transporters: 39 x 10^3/2,500 = 15.6 persons -> 16 persons
Capacity [Number of signals** to be simultaneously processed]: 60% of 2,500 Personal Transporters active at a random chosen moment(estimation) = 1500 Transporter signals
16 persons per Transporters, that makes a total of: 1500 x 2,500 = 24 x 10^3 Transporter signals**
To keep the demands within acceptable limits a load of 6000 signals** per beacon is assumed. As a result 4 beacons are necessary.
To achieve optimum efficiency I advice to place the beacons in a geo-stationary orbit at the equator. There is a disadvantage to this solution in that there are several cities located at the Northern hemisphere that would not be able to use the beacons directly. A solution to that problem would be to relay the quantum-resolution pattern images via the ship to the Massive Bandwidth Transporter beacons.
To make this work Engineering has to adjust the available Cargo Transporters so that they can process quantum-resolutions Patterns (and the sheer amount of them) since those imaging scanners only scans down to a molecular level. I hereby request permission to begin making the modifications.
** Signals are here seen in the context of only quantum-resolution pattern images. The matter stream can be routed directly and independently to the transport site.
Michael gave the report another scrutinizing look and nodded. Satisfied with the result he instructed the computer to send the message.
BLORK!!!
The sudden unorthodox noise coming from the food replicator caused the young Rebecca von Ernst to jump with sudden alarm.
Moments earlier the newest member of the Galaxy's Tactical Department had laid aside the last of her Administrative PADDs and had idly programmed in a recipe for a nice cup of tomato soup.
She had been absentmindedly twirling a stray lock of her shoulder length Auburn hair, when the aforementioned 'BLORK!' occurred.
Gathering her wits, Rebecca squinted her brown eyes in the low light of her modest quarters and peered at the evil looking monstrosity the Replicator had delivered.
"Ewwwww.." She breathed scrunching her nose in disgust.
Whatever 'it' was, it was most definitely NOT Tomato soup. At least the Tomato soup Rebecca was familiar with did not come in a brown and fuzzy variety.
Quickly clearing the Replicator console, the pixie-like redhead pressed CANCEL, and re set for a new bowel of soup.
BLORK!!!
"Oh that's gross.."
No longer fuzzy, this new culinary disaster was neon orange and scaly. Not remotely Tomato-ey or soupy in the slightest.
Resetting again, Rebecca dialed for a Grilled cheese sandwich with a side glass of milk.
BLORK!!! BLORK!!!
"Well Noodles!"
The slimy blue result looked and smelled of old paint chips.
Sighing in frustration, Rebecca glanced about her small room, and resigned herself to the fact that she was going to have to eat in the mess hall tonight, while things got sorted out with her replicator. It was not a pleasant prospect as the crowded and often noisy gathering area, grated on the young Ensigns nerves easily. "Double Noodles" she fumed. ......
Ten minutes later a nervous and shy Ensign von Ernst set down her tray of Tomato soup and crackers at the most empty table she could find. It was mid shift, so the spacious mess hall was mostly full, groups of crewmen gathered here and there in multiple conversation groups.
For her part, Rebecca kept her gaze averted to the floor and hunched her thin shoulders about her like a cloak, moving swiftly to her seat in skittish worry. Once there she cast some nervous quick glances about before sipping the rich salty soup slowly and carefully, taking care not to slurp it too loudly lest it draw anyone's attention.
Not that there was a danger of that. The small framed mousy little Ensign seemed to fade back into the background as the swirling conversations in the Mess hall mixed and mingled in a menageries of sight and sound. Engrossed as she was in her eating, Rebecca nearly jumped out of her skin when a heavily ladden food tray slapped down in front of her own.
"Scuse me darlin'.." a tall Security Ensign announced as he ploped his heavy Muscular self into the seat across from her. "Sorry to intrude on your grub, but this here plots the only open table."
Rebecca froze in fright, under the cheerful smile of the handsome Officer, a deep blush rising quickly to her freckled cheeks.
"I.I..its okay." She whispered in a barely audible voice."
"Outstanding!" the Security Man grinned, and quickly turned to wave over some friends. "Over here you louts, I got us a table!"
With the crashing and clattering of several sets of forks, spoons, and dishes, an entire platoon of The Galaxy's Security wing descended upon poor Rebecca. Her tiny frame was suddenly wedged between several hundred Kilos of Muscle and Attitude as she was flanked on one side by an angry looking Half-Klingon Fusion, and on the other by a stout Human who looked like he ate Little Ensigns like Rebecca for lunch.
Indeed her own paltry plate of soup and crackers paled before the veritable feasts her 'guests' had assembled.
The Human's tray was an ensemble of various meats, vegetables and sauces all swirled together in a mess, and coated with a thick brown gravy. On the other side the Klingon was eating...
"Ackk!" Rebecca choked back a disgusted squeak.
"No, no." Corrected the Klingon."Its pronounced..Gagh!"
Whatever it was, the squirming mass of maggots on his plate threatened to make Rebecca loose her cookies.
"Hey there." Came a greeting from directly across the table, "You must be new here, I don't think I've seen you before."
Blushing under the intense stares of a dozen mountains of Muscle and testosterone, Rebecca fidgeted and stared at her half-eaten soup before her.
"Y..ye..I Guess so." She stuttered.
"Cool...we're all from Security." The Smiling Officer indicated his hulking Eating buddies. " What department you in?"
Rebecca shrugged slightly and whispered. "Tactical."
At this the gathered Security personnel burst out with many chuckles and guffaws. When Rebecca winced at the attention, the large Human next to her reassured. "Sorry about that little lady. Just seems like sort of an oddity, a tiny thing like yourself in charge of the entire Ships Weapon systems."
Rebecca could have pointed out that up until now she had not been allowed near the Galaxy's Weapons, and had only been doing Administrative work on behalf of the Tactical Department, but instead she only shrugged again.
"L.l..look, I gotta..g.go" she blurted out scooped up her tray in a rush.
Only when the Turbolift doors shut safely behind her moments later did the tears begin to flow freely from her eyes. 'Stupidstupidstupid..." she berated herself over and over.
***
Eric sent a message to Anika simply saying, "I need to talk to you about our next shoot. Tell me when you'll stop by so I can be there. Thanks." He then waited for a response knowing she should be in her quarters.
***
Anika slid the bow across the strings of her fiddle, the instrument responded by emitting the tones she was hoping it would. Of course it sounded right. She'd only been practicing and playing for the last ten and a half years. Now if she could only make the flute make the right sounds. Not that it sounded completely bad when she played it. It came out close to what she was trying to play. In a few weeks, she was certain she would be passable.
As she finished up the song, Anika noticed the message light blinking on her desk. She set the fiddle back on her bed and crossed the room to her desk. She listened to the message twice and smiled. It would be nice to let go for awhile. Just clear her mind and let Eric take holo-images. It sounded like a good plan.
She opened a new message. "Hi Eric," she began. "Give me about ten minutes and I'll be over at your quarters. See you soon."
Before leaving, she changed into some clean clothes. It was a habit she'd gotten into at a young age. Whenever she practiced, she changed afterwards. She chose something sexy, mainly to torture Eric. After recent events, he could use a little torture. Hopefully, he wouldn't take it the wrong way. She pulled on a pair of black leather pants that came to mid-calf and a black leather tank top that left her shoulders and navel bare. She slipped on a pair of sandals and checked herself in the mirror. Good enough, she thought.
She headed out into the corridor and off toward Eric's quarters.
***
The chime rang inside Eric's quarters, indicating that Anika was at the door.
Eric stood and opened the door and looked her over. He said,"You look incredible. Come in please."
Anika gave him a smile and stepped past Eric into the cabin. She gave him a glance back over her shoulder and put a little extra sway into her hips as she moved further inside. She smiled inwardly at the thought of making him really pay for what he'd done. She would never wish for Eric to physically hurt himself, but she wasn't above making him feel extreme guilt. Or perhaps getting him so aroused he'd explode. Of course, the plan could backfire if she worked herself up too much either. She was doing good so far, though.
He saw her sway her hips like that and his body reacted without his conscious thought. He quickly sat down to try and hide the effect she had on him. He thought to himself, "This is killing me."
He then said, "I'm glad you could come. You know getting you in that outfit might be a good shot as well or maybe some other leather. You look incredible in it. Any ideas yourself?"
Anika looked down at her clothing and back to Eric with a smile on her face. "You think this would be a good one," she asked. "Leather is always nice. And,--" she gave him another smile "--thank you." Anika glanced around the room, turning to take in all of it--and giving Eric a chance to take in all of her--and then turned back to face him. "Whatever you think I'd look good in. I don't really have a sense for that yet."
He could barely contain himself when she did that. He then said struggling to hide exactly how much this was effecting him, "Definitely look good in leather. Do you mind a few leather shots?"
Anika thought it over for a moment, though she really didn't need to. She gave Eric a smile and said, "Sure, leather's fine."
He smiled back and said, "Alright then. Since I'm off of restriction we can go to the holodeck. If you don't mind, that is."
"I don't mind at all," she said. "The holodeck sounds great."
He got up and said,"great. I'll just grab my camera and we can be off." He grabbed his camera and stood in the room and said, "After you."
Anika gave him a grin and headed toward the door.
***
The trip to the holodeck was quick, and fortunately, there was one free. Anika and Eric stepped inside. The program hadn't been set yet, and the room was just in its default configuration. Anika moved into the center and turned to face Eric. She smiled.
"I'm ready when you are," she said.
He smiled and said, "Computer activate program Odin342." The room instantly shifted into a oasis type environment. He then said, "The heat from the desert around it gives the leather a better look on you."
"I will have to take your word on it," Anika said as she started moving through a series of poses. She tried to make them look more natural and real looking that some models did. Someday she would have to find the guts to look at the photos of herself and see if she was succeeding. "I like this setting, Eric. It's really nice. Does it look good over there?"
He smiled to her as he continued to take pictures and said, "I don't know how you could not look good somewhere. I'm glad you like it."
After another series of poses around the small oasis, using the trees and lagoon to contrast against the stark white of the sun's light. From where she was, it all seemed to look very beautiful. After doing a pose, leaning back against the tree in what Eric had termed "the Thinker" pose, she turned to him. "What next?"
He smiled and said, "Well maybe you can get your hair wet and we can get some pictures of you with just your hair wet. While still in that incredible leather."
Anika laughed. "I get the impression you like the leather," she said as she moved near the lagoon. She squatted near the edge of the water and braced herself. After taking a deep breath, she plunged her head under the water. She brought her head back out, shaking the extra water away. She could feel tendrils of water dripping down her back. She squirmed slightly as she moved back towards where Eric was setting up to take more pictures. She ran her fingers through her hair, trying to get away from the wet dog look. "Set," she said. "Shoot me, baby." Anika giggled as she struck a pose.
He smiled and continued to shoot while he said, "That's it. You're looking beautiful as always."
"Thanks," she said. Ani was thankful for being able to dunk her head under the water. The holodeck not only managed to replicate the desert scenery, but the heat as well. The heat and the black leather she was wearing wasn't the most appropriate combination. But, according to Eric, it looked good, and that's what counted.
Ani continued through another series of poses as the holographic images whirred away in Eric's hands. She gave the camera a sultry pose, hoping she was getting it right. Of course, the pose may not be the best thing for Eric in their current situation.
He was struggling to control the arousal he was getting out of this. If she looked in the right place she would see he was failing. He continued to snap away and then stopped and asked, "Would you be willing to try on some leather lingerie?"
Anika thought about it for a moment. She'd never really even thought there was such a thing as leather lingerie. It sounded interesting. "Sure," she said. "I haven't ever worn leather lingerie before. Now that I think about it though, I've never worn lingerie before either. It sounds fun. Let's do that."
He smiled and said, "Ask the computer for any color you want and I'll just start shooting when you come out. I do suggest laying on some rocks. Those would be good shots." He knew that he wouldn't be able to hide his arousal at all once she came out wearing that.
"Okay," Anika said. She slipped behind one of the large rocks, out of Eric's view. She brought up a control screen for the holodeck and sent the specifications to the computer. It complied and gave her a black corset and thong, a long leather coat, and a set of garter belts and stockings. She slid on a pair of shoes that gave brought her height to nearly 1.9 meters.
Once dressed, Anika stepped out from behind the rock where Eric was waiting with his camera. She walked closer and gave him a twirl. "What do you think," she asked. Her eyes were drawn to his crotch where it seemed fairly clear what he was thinking. "Oh." She looked away, her face going red. "I didn't mean to--" Anika nearly burst out into a fit of giggles. She turned back, and eyed the bulge in Eric's pants. "I take it this outfit meets with your approval."
He nodded and said, "Yes it does. It definitely meets my approval." He turned red aware that she was aware of the bulge in his pants.
Anika looked around the area and then back at Eric. "So, where do you want me?"
He pointed to the rocks just to the side of the waterfall. "How about on that rock?"
Anika glanced over there and nodded. "Okay," she said. She moved to where he pointed and climbed up onto the rock. She struck a few poses on her way up, and then once at the top, started going through a few others. Halfway up, she had to remove the shoes she'd been wearing. They weren't really right for climbing rocks. Then again, the entire outfit wasn't very good for climbing around on rocks.
By the time she'd reached the top, she knew she'd put holes into the bottom of at least one of her stockings. Oh well, she thought. They're only replicated.
She could tell that Eric was enjoying his job. She laughed to herself at his condition. Poor dear, she thought to herself. All worked up and no way to let off the steam.
"How's this?" she asked. I don't think these clothes are right for climbing, but I hope they look good. What now?"
"They look great. Give me one of your stunning looks laying down on your stomach please and then give me one on your back and we can be done with rock shots."
Anika moved quickly to give Eric the shots he'd asked for. She knew that the shots of her on her on her stomach were going to give him a lot of cleavage, but it wasn't anything he hadn't seen before. And all the other people that would see them? Hopefully they'll like the pictures, she thought.
Anika shifted to give Eric the shots of her on her back that he'd asked for. On her back wasn't so bad, especially since her breasts were completely covered like that, and her backside was on the rock. She'd never worn a thong before, and wondered at just how little the flimsy piece of fabric left to the imagination. Her backside was nearly completely bare, but the front covered enough--just enough. But the ensemble really seemed to be having an effect on Eric. Ani smiled to herself. It did feel good to torture him.
Once he'd finished the pictures, she started down the rocks. "So, what now," she asked.
He thought and said, "We could do some more shots of you in that. We would have to add a bed in here for the effect though. That alright with you?"
"Sure," she said, moving out away from the rocks. "That sounds fine." Wearing what little clothing she was, Ani was glad for the hot weather. She wasn't used to the type of clothing she wore, but was quickly becoming so.
She waited patiently as Eric ordered in a bed from the computer. Once it was set, and Eric was ready with his camera, she moved to the bed and climbed atop. She started moving into various poses, enjoying the effect she could tell she was having on Eric. She smiled at him. She hoped he was enjoying this, despite the discomfort. "How are these," she asked.
"They're great, just keep them coming,"He had to admit she was doing great but it wasn't really lowering the budge in his pants.
"Okay," Anika said, as moved through another set of poses. The sound of the camera's shutter was almost hypnotic. The strange part was when it started to take on a beat of its own. She could feel herself moving to the music of the camera. Of course, some of her own music helped it out. A fiddle and a bodhran playing together in her mind. Anika smiled. It was nice music. Perhaps she'd have to put it down sometime. "I think this is our best shoot yet," she said after another series of shots.
He nodded and lowered the camera. he then said, "Those were wonderful as were you, Anika."
Anika could feel herself blushing. "Thank you," she said. She slid to the edge of the bed, watching Eric. "So, what now?"
He thought and said,"Not much left to shoot really. What do you want to do?"
Anika shrugged. "Not sure," she said. Anika smiled and glanced at his crotch. "Should I let you go back to your quarters for a little relief?"
He laughed and said, "No, no. I'd like some help with that, but I don't suppose I'll get that." He was joking, but wouldn't object if she took it seriously.
Anika smiled. "I don't know," she said. "I don't know if you've earned it. Do you think you've earned it?" Anika took a few steps closer to Eric, watching his reaction. "Do you think that you've earned some relief from me?"
He thought and said, "I believe that's up to you. I would love it, but that is up to you."
That wasn't the answer she was hoping for. Anika looked into Eric's eyes and frowned. She moved up close, to where their bodies were nearly touching. She brushed her hand across his bulge and smiled at him. "I'm sorry," she said.
Anika took a couple steps away, her eyes still on Eric. "I should probably get changed back into my clothes," she said.
Anika quickly disappeared behind the rocks she'd used for changing earlier, and started changing back into the clothes she'd worn into the holodeck.
Eric stood there for a moment, then rushed after Anika. He called out, "Hey wait."
Anika turned as he rounded the rock. She'd already managed to get out of her shoes, one stocking and her corset. She met Eric's eyes, but made no move to cover her exposed chest. She noticed he was carrying it at his side, but for the moment was too caught up by her near nakedness.
She could feel the embarrassment starting to rise, but got herself under control. Just be natural, she told herself. Act like being naked like this is no big deal. It's not like he hasn't seen you naked before.
She gave herself an extra moment to find her voice. "What ya need?"
"You. I need you," he said as he approached her further and kissed her hoping she would not pull away.
Anika didn't pull away. In fact, she leaned into Eric, pressing her body against his. She returned the kiss passionately and forcefully. As the kiss broke, they both were gasping for breath. Between gasps, Anika looked into Eric's eyes and smiled. "Take me."
He smiled back and didn't reply in words but in actions as he lowered them both to the sand kissing her passionately.
The sand was warm against Anika's back. She raised her hips off the ground so Eric could remove the remainder of her clothing. Their lips never parted as she helped him to remove his clothes.
A part of Anika's mind screamed that she shouldn't be doing this, not after what Eric had done to her. She shouldn't be giving herself to him so willingly so soon after he had been with another woman. Anika wasn't listening to that voice, not with the fires burning inside of her. She would sort out the voices in her head after this was over. She'd take care of it then. Now, she would let Eric love her. Now she would work out the built-up lust from all of her teasing.
He was like a gentle giant at first, but began to build up the intensity. He had his hands grasping her upper chest massaging it while doing this.
It felt like tiny explosions were going off all over her body as Eric made love to her. As Eric got more caught up in what they were doing, some of his gentleness faded. He was getting a little rougher, but in an odd sort of way, Anika liked what he was doing. At least he knew what he was doing. She wrapped her arms and legs tight around his body as he continued their lovemaking.
He increased his intensity, but still being gentle enough for her. He continued to massage her upper chest and kiss her deeply.
Anika threw her head back, crying out as waves of pleasure washed over her body. Liquid fire exploded inside her as Eric continued between her thighs. Her vision dimmed and blood pounded in her ears. She heard a screaming seemingly far off in the distance, and soon realized it was the sound of her own screams of pleasure.
Finally it all began to subside. Her senses returned to normal, her breathing slowed. Her body was covered in sand, but she didn't care. Her desire was sated, and that was the important thing. She turned her head to look at Eric, and gave him a smile.
He smiled back and held her close and said, "I love you."
Ani laughed and glanced down at her naked body. "I can tell," she said. She gave him a smile and a quick kiss.
He smiled and returned the kiss. He then said, "That was wonderful."
"Yes," she said. "It was wonderful. And, I don't think I've felt this good in quite awhile."
"I plan on making sure you feel this good as often as possible."
Anika laughed. "I like the sound of that," she said.
"I love you and I hope you know I mean that." He hoped she did, because he was being truthful.
Anika looked into his eyes and smiled. "I know," she said.
He smiled back and said, "Good. I'm glad you do and I'm also glad that we're back together again."
Anika sat up, propping herself on her elbow. "And, who says we're back together?"
He looked to her said, "I would think that since we made love again that we would be back together." He hoped she was kidding around.
Anika smiled at Eric. "A roll in the hay does not a relationship make," she said with a knowing nod. After a moment, she continued. "You've earned your second chance, Eric. We're not back where we were yet, but we're on our way. I figured we've had sex before already, so even if we weren't together it would be okay. It's not like either of us are seeing each anyone else."
He nodded and said,"I didn't say this made a relationship, but I did hope it would be the start to one."
Anika gave him a smile, kissed him, and said, "We'll see."
He smiled back and said, "Alright then. What would you like to do now then beautiful?"
Anika shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "Do you have anything in mind?"
He thought and said,"We could go for a swim in that oasis's water. What do you think?"
She smiled. "A swim sounds nice."A
Lt. Commander Karyn Dallas RN
***Celebration Feast, Ursid***
Karyn felt like a green ensign as she and the other members of the the team beamed down. Admittedly, this was only her third time on an AT mission, and really the first time couldn't be considered voluntary because Q had taken herself and others to a place against their will! Karyn smirked, as she realized that then, like now, she had been walking on her own two legs. The only difference this time around was that her "legs" were a permanent reality rather than a wistful temporary one.
The electronic devices were truly a technological marvel, though she was at first a little reluctant to give them their first true test run on one of her few stints on an Away Team in a very long time. As a matter of fact, were her skills not considered paramount to the success of the mission, Karyn might not have agreed to come at all. Usually, pressing crew problems always kept her from bouts of shoreleave or of scientific exploration. These indulgences were things Karyn couldn't afford on a regular basis, and so she never really pined for them. For her, AT duty was a nice surprise, but never a necessity for her to gain satisfaction in her career.
She wondered how Nilani was doing. Nilani had been the primary reason Karyn had not initially volunteered to go. Her behavior was so erratic these days and her trust of others so non-existent, that she found it hard to feel comfortable leaving her alone with another counselor. Nilani's trust and respect for Karyn was that fragile, and she couldn't afford to do anything to jeopardize it. She felt torn between her duties to the Ursid people and to her crew, and she knew if necessary she would have delegate responsibility on future ATs to others of her staff. But for now, she would enjoy this opportunity to meet a people whose intelligence and sophistication had not caused them to lose sight of the ultimate simplicity of life. She found the change in pace refreshing and in the space of a couple of hours, found the tension of the preceeding weeks melting away.
She had read what was available on the Ursid people in Federation databanks, but found the generalized articles too one dimensional for her tastes. She preferred to go in with no pre-conceived notions about them, just as she hoped they had no pre-conceived notions about her or her colleagues. She had been curious, and perhaps a bit apprehensive, about how they would react to her disability, but she soon discovered that apprehension to be unfounded. Naturally, Karyn's "legs" upon her arrival, and then the request that her chair be beamed in as well (for her muscles still fatigued more easily, especially on the unfamiliar terrain), had put her unintentionally in the spotlight. The three chieftains respectfully didn't ask what was wrong with her, nor did they treat her as an inferior in the subtle ways that the supposed "more enlightened" members of the Federation had done to her several times, as if given permission to do so simply because they had been born with fully functioning motor skills. Still, Karyn found herself volunteering the circumstances regarding her birth, instinctually not feeling the usual twinge of ineptness that always came with such recounting.
When asked what her duties were, Karyn had explained her responsibilities just as she would to any other, not wishing to patronize the Ursids and knowing instantly their intellectual capability was much greater than they first appeared. She had then been designated as "Chief Soul Healer" and when she remarked she didn't move as gracefully as the symbol of the healer in their culture, the turtle, and had called for her chair, Chief Two-feathers had designated her "Chief Soul Healer Who Rides in Chariot" with more than a touch of mirth and a glimmer in his eyes.
The feast was wonderful, and by the time she was asked to sit cross-legged on the ground, Karyn no longer harbored feelings of embarrassment and took the help in stride. News of the illness on top of the impending Firestorm of Rain awakened a sense of urgency in Karyn that once again caused her mind to fill with possibilities. She and the other counselors would have to coordinate with medical as much as possible to get the details. Anything that could give them insight into the physical and emotional state of the sick could be a big help later on.
She would have to make some choices about who of her staff would go on the evacuation teams. She had already spoken to Mike O'Grady and she would speak to Adrian An'quinsos as well. She was loathe to send too many junior counselors in a delicate situation like this, but the Counseling Department was still the smallest one aboard ship because of the high burnout rate of those in her field. Shinta was pregnant and Karyn couldn't risk the potential damage to the baby, should she be injured during the meteor shower. Besides the fact that if Karyn was going to spend any more time at all on the planet, she would need Shinta to stabilize any potential problems aboard ship...
Surprisingly, Karyn found that taking a drag from the pipe that was passed around, helped her to clear her head and relax, quite the opposite of what she expected. By the time the evening had ended and she had said her thanks, she was much more focused and at peace than she had been in months. Perhaps the AT was the best thing for her after all. Karyn had personally committed herself to helping these people and she was determined to benefit these people as much as they had already benefited her.
Once aboard the Galaxy, Karyn went to sickbay to get information on the illness from Jeral and then to her office to prepare a last minute instruction briefing for those she had assigned to evacuation duty.
Lt.Shinta MaxWell
with appearance by:
Michala finished her scans and tests and brought the results back to the anxious couple. "I think everything is fine. The baby's heartbeat is strong and picking up speed as you warm. Shinta, this was not your brightest endeavor." Michala said firmly.
"Good!" Bruce said thru a sigh. He walked over to an archway and placed his hand on it. He didnt know or want to think wha could of happened. He didnt need this."So everyone is fine, Good!"
"I now realize that it was not smart." Shinta said with her eyes down cast. "I will try to win this battle and other way, I talking to Karyn,... And Bruce. Mike, can you please have Gavin tonight?"
"I would be delighted to pick him up after my shift." Michala smiled at the couple. "You have to promise me, no self-treatments without consultations."
"I will be Good now." Shinta said very seriously. "Bruce, Can we go home now?"
"We can head home, now. You need to rest. Lets, head. Thank you Michala for everything." Bruce said standing in the door way.
"Yes thank you, Mike." Shinta said, then carefully got up from the bed. She was still a little bit cold, but she wanted to be home with Bruce.
******Maxwell Quarters********
Bruce walked into the quarters and headed to his bottle of scotch. He poured a glass and gulped it down. He looked over to Shinta. "You had me worried, Lass! I love you and I cant lose ya!" Bruce stated thru softening eyes.
"I am so sorry, Bruce. I keep forgetting how different our backgrounds have been. My training was harsh, I had to be the best, and I teach us they beat me if I wasn't. But you see if I was not the best, I could be dead the next day so they have to be. And then when I met Jake and he was the same way, I thought it was normal. I thought because you did not beat me, you could not really love me. But you do don't you?"
"My Love, My Angel, physical abuse does not denote love. I love you, with all my heart. You need to open up to me and ask me to help. I know the life of perfection, For before this if I slipped up i was dead also an so was my team. In fact I did slip and some are dead. I know the tired role of that of being the best." Bruce said walking towards her.
"yes you do, and I was your counselor to help you with that, silly isn't it? I can tell others what to to, but I can not accepted for myself." She started to cry, wanting to feel him close, to com fort her. "Please help me."
"Lass, I will cross lakes of fire and ice, to help you. I am here just tell me what we need to do first. All the help in the world is here for us just stand beside me and face it." Bruce said taking Shinta's hand.
"the first thing I need is your unconditional love, make love to me tonight." She held him close. "Just show me how much you love me, and get me to talk about my past, but I can do that with Karyn as well if you prefer."
Bruce walked up to her and ran his hand thruogh Shinta's hair. He leaned down and kissed her. His other hand reached around to the small of her back. He began to kiss her neck. "Whatever it takes my Love!" Bruce saidf getting into the moment.
Shinta smiled and let herself go. This moment she was truly happy, Bruce loved her and she loved him, that was all she needed.
"Back To Work As Usual"
The evening had gone rather well, for the most part. I nice meal had been prepared and eaten by the crew who seemed to have enjoyed it very much. The smoking of curse, which gave Ethan a rather nice buzz, not something he'd had in a very long time.
He'd talked to quite a few of the natives there and had spent several hours walking around, looking at what was there to offer. Just beauty. The sunset was rather unique. Ethan couldn't remember when the last time he saw a sunset like that was. A very long time ago.
But there were problems that they had discovered and it was time to get back to work. And so Ethan had returned to Engineering to begin working on ways to help these people that needed the Federations help.
Ethan's best friend, Michael had already come up with a project involving the transporters. He didn't seemt o be around so he assumed that Michael was on a break or something. Maybe even off duty. It was really early in the morning and only a handful of Engineers were working in Main Engineering.
Ethan sat at the main central computer in Engineering and looked at the work Michael had been working on. It was impressive. He'd have to be careful, he could lose his job to his young apprentice.
And back from a short leave was Lieutenant Commander T'Zaq. It was good to have back. Another good mind back on the team. Ethan hadn't asked her where she had been or why she was on leave, he assumed it was of a personal nature. Not knowing what kind of personal nature a Vulcan could have to deal with.
Looking around, he noticed she wasn't working either. She was no doubt sleeping still, or down on the planet getting another perspective on the current situation.
Ethan had a few ideas of his own that could help the Ursid people. But he'd have to know a little more about their own technology. A lot of information was stored in the database, but he wanted to talk with someone that had first hand expereience. He knew that one of the natives he had met earlier knew about the technology. He still did not know the old mans name, yet knew so much about him, and he was the one to talk to.
And so Ethan made his way to the transporter room to go down tot he planet and have a chat with one of his new friends...
Bruce MaxWell
Valraxean@juno.com
Engineer
Asst. Chief Engineer
by Ensign Khan Nilani
by the invisible Lt. Commander T'Zaq (USS GALAXY, Junior Officers Quarters) "Cultural Immersion"
By Lieutenant Commander Savat Lieutenant Commander Ethan Suder - Chief Engineer "A Road to Ursid"
Lt. Timothy 'Maestro' Richeson
Chief Tactical Officer, USS Galaxy
w/ a couple lines with the Cmd Savat "Tribal Bonding"
Chief Operations Officer
USS Galaxy
Starfleet Information Systems
File Number 01-04-2001 Ursid
Twin Spirits - 702,001
Trun Riverland - 503,321
Shanbani - 1,313,000
Hoowan - 2,500,231
Cire - 2,343,001
Niatpac - 2,534,320
Yxalag - 753,321
---------------------
10,649,195
------------------------------ "Celebration feast"
by Captain Robert Edward Lee Price
By: Lieutenant Commander Jake T. Olson & Rose MacAllen
by Commander Thomas
USS Galaxy "Surok, Log 4"
by Lt Cmdr Surok
Ops officer, USS Galaxy 'Snow Fury'
By Ensign Ve'ryn Tival "Last Minute Change"
by Commander Thomas Chief Turtle-who-swims-with-Stars
by Turtle-who-swims-with-Stars, Chief Medical Officer "Christmas Communiqué"
Assistant Chief Engineer
USS Galaxy
Professor in Applied Mathematics
From: Lt. Michael McDowell
Origin: USS Galaxy, NCC-70637
To: Earth[sector001].Delft.McDowell residence
Subject: Best wishes
Michael
---
By: Lt/Cmd Ryak Sullax
Chief Science Officer
USS Galaxy
with exerts from Captain Price. "Wrapping up the feast"
by Captain Robert Edward Lee Price "From Idea To Reality"
Ast. Chief Engineer
USS Galaxy
To: Lt. J. Lucas Brandis; Lt. Commander Surok
Cc: Lt. Commander Ethan Suder; Lt. Commander T'Zaq; Captain Robert Edward Lee Price
Priority: High
Persons to transport (Maximum): 2.5 million
Estimated available time for transport: 65 hours
--
(USS GALAXY) "Making Amends"
by Lt. jg Anika Crowe, Helmsman
and Lt. Eric Odin, Engineer
USS Galaxy "To Save A Planet"
Chief Counselor/Nurse
USS Galaxy "All We Need Is Love."
By Lt.Bruce MaxWell
Chief Helmsman
Counselor
Lt.Jg. Michala Lynn
Medical Lieutenant Commander Ethan Suder - Chief Engineer