"Waking Up The Guests"
By Lt Rose Isis MacAllen, Science Officer
Dr. Martin, EMH2

**Science Lab**

Rose was sitting at her duty post when she got the need of checking on the Sanguinarin hibernation chambers that was locted in Cargo Bay 1 but she was going to wait until she was needed. As she was checking on some reports Rose just couldn't stand it anymore.

"Cremman, if Commander Peterson asked me where I went to when tell him I went to check on the Sanguinarin hibernation chambers and be good you kids." Rose said with an grin as she walked out on the Science Lab.

**Cargo Bay 1**

Rose walked in and say the froze hibernation chambers her, "Computer actvate EMH 2." she order as Rose got her tricord out.

Then an lovely black woman in an medical uniform, "Greetings Lt MacAllen, how can I help you?"

Rose smiles at the doctor, "I have an feeling that our guests will be waking up soon, I think there the only way on stoping Vlad and the others that are trying to take control of this ship, and I need you help to monitor while the "coffins" are been defrosted."

Dr Martin shakes her head and smiles, "I would love to ma'am."

Then Rose and Dr Martin started to defrost the "coffins" that been holding the Sanguinarin since then been on the ship.

"Dr Martin try to monitor their life signs while they started to defrosted." Rose said was she walked over to an station monitoring the chambers.

"Aye ma'am" Martin said as she started to montior with her medical tricord, then she had an look on her face, Rose looked up from the station.

"What wrong Dr. Martin?"

"I don't know ma'am but our instruments is not reading their life signs."

"What the hell?" Rose said walking towards the Dr. Martin.

As they where talking one of the chambers started to open up and an black haired woman sat up in the chamber, "Where is Lord Vlad? What have you done with him?!"

Rose walked over to the woman, "I'm LT. Rose Isis MacAllen of the USS Galaxy, I'm head of Archology."

The young Sanguinarin woman looked up at Rose and Dr. Martin and asked again,"Where is Lord Vlad? What have you done with him?!"

Rose sighs, she needed to tell the truth about what going on "Lord Vlad is running free around our ship, we found him along with Lady Lilith on an very old ship. One of the officers on there opened the hibernation chambers letting out both Vlad and Lilith and after that all hell broke loose."

The young Sanguinarin woman looked at the young Betazoid with an shocked look, "You fools! do not realize what you have done?!"

Rose looked at the young woman in the eyes, "And what is your name ma'am?"

"My name is Lady Danestia, me and my four friends here are hunters from our planet to bring Vlad back. We been pursuing Vlad for an thousand years, we did caught him and were returning to meet up with one of our ships, when Lilith double crossed them and sided with Vlad, allowing usto escape and trap them in suspension." the young woman said as MacAllen helped her out of the chamber.

Then Dr. Martin walked over, "Lt MacAllen, the others are awake should I open up the chambers?"

"Do it Doctor!"

Then three more Sanguinarin all male, sat up in the chambers as Lady Danestia looked at Rose, "This is Lord Haun, Lord Odak, and Lord Baum."

Rose try to smile and nods to then, "I'm Lt Rose Isis MacAllen and this is Dr. Martin."

Then Lady Danestia looked at Rose, "Is he still here Lt?"

"If you mean Vlad, yes he still here along with Lady Lilith." Rose told they she wasn't going to lie.

Then Lord Haun spoke up as he help Lord Odak and Lord Baum out of the chambers and walked up to both Lady Danestia, Haun looked alittle younger than Rose "We need to meet with him and bring him back to our planet."

Lady Danestia looked at Rose once more, "I agree with Lord Haun."

Rose and Dr. Martin looked at each other, then MacAllen hit her conbadge, "MacAllen to Price"

~Boy this have been an long day for me!~ she though to herself as she waits for the Captain.

"Resolution pt 1"
by Lt Commanders Elaithin and O'Grady

'Commander Elaithin rushed pellmell down the corridors, followed close behind by Ensigns Phauder and Korpse. ["Price to Elaithin'] came the sudden intturruption on his commbadge. Not stopping, the Chief of Security slapped the badge. Dammit, why couldn't the turbolifts have gotten them closer?

["Elaithin here Captain. Go ahead sir."]

"'Commander Peterson and Doctor Dothan have found a way to locate the Sanguinarians. They've pin pointed their location to the children's center in one of the classrooms." The Captain reported to the Chief of Security.

["Understood Captain. We have a report of an attack down there. I'm dispatching a team as we speak."] Elaithin explained.

"Bonzer. I've instructed 'Commander Peterson to keep security apprised of the Sanguinarian's position as they move about the ship. Now that we have a way of detecting their location they should be easier to deal with." ["We believe we have a plan to lure them to the holodeck Captain. I'll see that it gets put into action. If you can contact engineering and verify they are ready and standing by with the transporter, that would be great. We will only get one shot at this..."] Elathin reminded.

Lee gave a nod. "I agree 'mate. I'll contact Lieutenant Commander T'Zaq directly. Price out."

Elaithin swore softly. How dare those bastards attack children? What sort of lowly bastards.....that train of thought ended abruptly as he collided with a rushing blue-clad officer.

Mike did manage to pause his friend, "I got the ops system fixed up, where you off to in such a hurry, we're supposed to head to our holodeck now right?" "The hell with that. The Sanguinarians are in the Children's Center. Sensor scans picked up three life signs terminated." the Bajoran responded hurredly.

Mike looked at him, "Let's go." He checked his phaser as they were moving rather rapidly through the hallway. "How do we get those bastards out of it." "We're going to have to lure them out. The vents in the Children's Center aren't big enough to do it. As long as we can get them into the corridor, and get them to turn into thier gaseous "flying creature" state, we can get them in the vents and to the holodeck. Elaithin paused. "We'll have to be the bait." he added grimly.

"I think we did this before with the Borg." Mike grinned, "I think we can bait em well." He then got serious. "You go low I'll go high." Jii just snorted. The two Ensigns were hanging back, awaiting whatever orders would be given.

Elaithin sincerely hoped that the two young men would not die.

Mike looked back over at them and pointed to the door, "Fauder go left Korpse go right, stay away from those two, get em out of the way." The lights were not on as they approached. That didn't surprise Elaithin much - the Sanguinarians seemed to prefer it dark.

"Mike." Jii whispered.

"Yeah?" Mike whispered back.

"Do you hear anything?"

Mike listened careflly, the sobbing of small children could be heard, he knew Nikki was at home and safe, "Nothing. It's quiet. Hit the lights and move slowly." Slowly, the foursome entered the rom. The bodies of the children's two techer could be seen...along with another , much smaller body in the middle of the room.

Then they attacked.

Like bats borne on dragonwings, they sped down, dispatching Ensigns Phader and Korpse with almost sickening ease. They hit the young men sideways, their bodies literally flying into the bulkheads and compacting with a sickening crunch.

The Sanguinarians weren't feeding now.

The look on Vlad and Lilith's faces told them that they were doing this for fun. And that was infinitely, horrifyingly....worse.

To be Continued......

"Retribution"
by James Mitchell
Assistant Chief of Science

James glared at Shinta's back as she left, clenching his fists as they rested at his side. He ground his teeth together in sheer ire as the guard outside took up his defensive posture while the counsellor left, ensuring the science officer could not escape while the forcefield was down.

Since Dr. Sansky's escape and subsequent recapture earlier this week, security had become more stringent. While his visitor was being released from his cell, a second security officer took up position inside to prevent any surprises. The Tellarite officer growled as the Bajoran made eye contact with him, and his nose curled up in a twitching manner, hoping for a scrap.

When Shinta left, the Tellarite backed out of the cell hesitatingly, as if daring the prisoner to make a move. Its finger twitched on the phaser, but James made no move. He was saving his energy for the moment he would take his vengeance on the creature that caused the latest disaster in his life. The purple lights of the forcefield energized the screen that held him. He was alone again.

He stripped off his shirt and pants down to his boxers and threw himself to the floor to begin his daily regimen of exercise, which began with a series of pushups and abdominal exercises. His body beaded with sweat as he emptied the energies of his anger into strengthening his body, and slowly the fires cooled to a smoulder.

As he cooled down between workouts, the none-too-familiar sound of the forcefield coming down greeted him. He turned, half-expecting to see the Counsellor again. He wasn't in to talking about his past today, as the only focus he had was to find the focus of his anger and deal with it. Talking about it didn't solve the problem, as his past showed. Actions meant more than words.

Yet, when he faced his visitor, he wasn't prepared for what was to greet him.

The Tellarite security officer had returned, and James thought he was going to go through the grind again as he had previously when he first came to the brig. They stared each other down for several agonizingly long seconds, each waiting to make the first move. They squinted each other down, the Tellarite breathing heavily, with his whiskers bristling. His nose twisted as he snorted derisively. James never moved, his fist clenched at his side as he lay half-crouched on the floor, at a strategic loss as the Tellarite had the advantage of height.

Yet, his phaser wasn't drawn. He'd brought his paws across each other and crossed his stumpy arms.

"It's your lucky day, Lieutenant." He growled out the words as he tossed a hairy thumb - if you could call it a thumb - towards the exit.

James carefully pulled himself to a standing position, always keeping one eye on the belligerent alien, the other on the phaser hanging at it's belt, and got dressed.

"Let me guess. Cleaning day again? Target practice for all the man-hating feminists on board?" He pondered a bit, hoping to get the creature riled up. "Body cavity search? If the last time that happened was any indication, maybe you should sharpen the point of the batleth so you can scrape my prostrate a little harder next time." The Tellarite was huffing heavily now, snarling with more fierceness this time. It was taking unusually long to get this one going. Very well-trained. "Oh! Do I get to be locked up with a naked Wesley Crusher and program Windows modules? Can we get some Barry Manilow albums too?"

He clapped and rubbed his hands together greedily. "It must be my lucky day indeed!" He dripped sarcasm.

"Commander Jii called." You could tell the creature was using all its self-control to retain its anger. Very admirable indeed. Its body was tensed, its face taut and reddened with anger. "He wants to meet with you in his security office. Follow me."

Several minutes later, Mitchell was in Jii's security office. He stood awaiting the Chief, and to pass the time, he perused the few Bajoran articles in the room.

"Thank you for coming, Mr. Mitchell." James stopped looking at a curious statue to pay attention to the Chief of Security. James didn't really care too much what Elaithin had to say; he had an opportunity to avenge the sins against him, and he was going to take it. He'd had enough of the bad karma against him, and this Lilith crossed the line.

"Have a seat." Elaithin gestured to a chair near his desk, as he circled his own and spun a console around to key in personal commands. James remained standing, and Elaithin didn't seem to notice.

"Commander Dallas asked to have you released, Mr. Mitchell, as she seems to think you are innocent of your charges, but that has not been proven yet." He tapped a few keys on his console.

"Until that has been proven, you have been re-assigned to me in our efforts to capture and detain the Sanguinarians. After this crisis has been resolved, you will then be confined to quarters."

Jii wouldn't look James in the eye, but he couldn't blame him. Disappointment in a fellow Bajoran who supposedly values life above all else had a way of doing that.

Before James had a chance to respond, other crew began to filter in to the office. Doctor Jamieson, his fellow science officer Lieutenant Quevvenson, Doctor Murphy, Commander Dallas and his counsellor Shinta Navarre-Maxwell, who was just as shocked to see him there, the huge Gorn Seth Zonheib, Lt. Cdr O'Grady, and a woman he'd never seen before.

Through the blathering on by Commander Jii about the upcoming mission, James remained in the background half-listening and planning his revenge until his assignment came up.

"....Mitchell, Murphy, I want you on transporter room three. It's right by Transporter Room two, so have the technician on duty there standing by for our transport order...."

James perked up at the thought of being paired up with Murphy. The hottie from Gemworld was enticing enough to be distracting to him, but he also knew she was a man-hater, too, if he had heard correctly. He hoped he was wrong. If not, this was someone's idea of performing a sick joke on him, or a test.

At any rate, he approached her with trepidation and waited for her to notice him, as she was deeply in conversation with some of the others.

"Retribution"
by James Mitchell
Assistant Chief of Science

"Resolution, part Two"
By Lt. Commanders Elaithin and O'Grady

"Shit." Mike said, "they're enjoying this." Jii merely nodded. The sight of the dead child had horrified him beyond measure. And he had not missed the bodies of Raven Darkstar and what looked like Leo Streely laying nearby. He preyed they were alive....even Leo.

As Vlad began to blend into the shadows, Lilith stared down the Chief of Security. "Come here, my Darling..." Lilith intoned to the Chief of Security in sultry tones. Slowly, he backed up towards the door. "We were inturrupted the last time, Jii, and we can have sooooo much fun." The more she spoke, the more Elaithin wanted to listen. She had such a pleasant voice....and a body that men would kill for..... Slowly, moving like one of the great felines found on Earth's African Plains, she reminded the Bajoran for all the world of exatly that - a cat hunting it's prey.

It never occured to his partially hypnotized mind that he was the prey. "You can join us, you know. We need allies, Jii, and we won't betray you. We won't send you to die. We won't make you send others to die for you....you won't loose any more friends. You won't even care. Wouldn't you like to be free of that, Jii, to be free of the responsibility? To not see anymore friends die?" It was tempting. So very tempting.

"I....." Jii began, hezitating for the first time. She really was a VERY beautiful woman.....

Without warning, O'Grady fired a shot that came within a millimeter of Lillith's neck. "Excuse me," he said sarcastically, "Did I break your concentration?" That snapped Elaithin out of it. His anger replaced all doubts now. He snapped his phaser rifle up.

Prophets be with us, he prayed. We need you now more than ever. "Come get some, you sick twisted bitch." he sneered, and motioned for O'Grady to follow him into the corridor.

Mike moved back watching her, soon they were in the hallway. He didn't say a word just watched the vampires. Before following the pair, Vlad melted from the wall. "Should we follow?" he asked Lilith. She was not the Dominant one, but he was allowing her to play her hand.

"Of course!" she replied with a laugh. "All the sport is in the chase!" NerfHerderX10: Out in the corridor, O'Grady tapped a wall panel. All lights in the corridor faded, except for the emergency red alert lights on the sheer black wall panels.

"Good idea." Elaithin said with a nod.

The pair were standing directly near one of the rigged vents. If they could just get them out the door.... He nodded, "I think I know a way to keep them distracted on the holodeck. Now let's get em out here." Elaithin nodded. As a precaution, he'd tucked a small molecular knife into his boot. Quietly, he pushed up the sleeve on his left arm, and created a three-inch gash on the forearm. Blood began to immediately seep out. He then handed the knife to O'Grady.

Mike took it and repeated the process. Then he handed the knife over to his friend. At his feet was an active tricorder which was set to pick up the 'scent' of the Sagnorians like Seth could.

Tucking the knife back into his boot, Elaithin looked at the tricorder O'Grady was holding. The Sanguinarians were moving closer.

And then, faster than they though possible, the Sanguinarians were on them.

They had apparently decided for a more physical approche this time,as the aliens tackled the pair of starfleet officers, forcing them backwards into the bulkhead.

They also succeded in knocking the phasers from thier hands.

Mike didn't even hesitate, and his foot connected with Lord Vlad, and he could swear he heard the bastard let loose a squeak as he thumped to the ground.

Quickly, Elaithin slipped a small type-I phaser fom his right sleeve.

Seeing his weapon, Lilith let out a hiss. There was more of the beast in these creatures than thier oh-so-civilized veneer implied.

Steeling his eyes, Jii stared directly at lilth, and pointed the phaser under chin.

"You don't deserve to live." he informed her, his voice colder than the deepest reaches of space. Then he fired.

In reponse Lilith shifted into her "escape form" a gaseous state resbleming thousands of small, flying mamls. Getting up from the deck (Apparently, they COULD be hurt) Vlad did the same.

Lieutenant Commander O'Grady wasted no time. "O'Grady to OPS! TURN ON THOSE DAMN VENTS, NOW!!"

To be Concluded......

"Resolution, Pt III"
by Lt Commanders' Elaithin and O'Grady
With Unauthorized use of Lieutenant Mitchell and Murphy

"What's the closest Holodeck?" Elaithin asked as O'Grady helped him up.

"Holodeck 2, Mitchell and Murphy are standing by in the transporter room." Mike said, then he checked his friend over, "you ok man?"

"Three hours ago I lost a pint of blood. Ten minutes ago, I saw two kids fresh from the Academy get killed in and area I ordered them into. Five minutes ago I almost fell under Lilith's spell, and two minutes ago I cut a three inch gash that's bleeding like hell into my forearm."

"So, no." the Bajoran finished.

Mike looked at his friend, "The cut will heal, right now we gotta make sure these two are GONE.'

Jii nodded. He then tapped his commbadge. "Elaithin to Mitchell. The Sanguinarians are being routed your way. They;'ll be there momentarily."

["'Commander T'Zaq is standing by in the Transporter Room." We're ready, 'Commander. The Holodecks programmed with a bloody slaughterhouse full of bleeding corpses."]

"Good man. Stay out of their way. We'll be right there. Elaithin out."

Getting woozy, Elaithin looked to O'Grady. "I'm going to need your help" Mike supported his friend, "if this wasn't so serious I'd remark we've gone home from many a bar like this. One of us supporting the other."

Elaithin let out a small grin, a tapped his commbadge again. "Elaithin to Transporter Room Two. Site to Site transport to Holodeck 2 for two."

Near-instantly, the two beamed in next to Lieutenant's Mitchell and Murphy. Mike took a deep breath - He had been breathing a bit heavier then normal, the twins had taken a lot out of him.

Almost immediately the vents could be heard. Mitchell and Murphy pulled the other two officers out of the way as Lilith and Vlad coalesced in the corridor in front of them. James pressed a panel nearby, and the lights when out as the Security grids came up.

As Vlad and Lilith got their bearings, their noses began to twitch.: They'd picked up the scent - or as the Starfleet personnel thought of it - the bait.

"The blood..." Vlad began.

"There's so much of it...."Lilith began.

It was their turned to be entranced.

Holodecks were very, very good at replicating smells, as the two Sanguinarians discovered. Slowly, they walked in. Elaithin looked to Mitchell, who was ready to close the holodeck doors at a moment's noticed.

Then they entered.

And the trap was sprung.

Or rather, it was supposed to be. On cue from Jii, Mitchell pressed the button.

Nothing happened.

"Dammit! The controls are shorted!" the science officer exclaimed. His voice drew the attention of the Sanguinarians, as Murphy, reacting quickly, dropped the forcefields.

Simultaneously, she and O'Grady rushed for the Holodeck controls.

Mike got there first.

Mike decided to give them a little surprise when suddenly the lake of blood parted and a figure appeared in front of them holding a pistol and he pointed it at both Vlad and Lillith.

"I don't believe you folks belong here..." the mystery hologram said.

Mike turned, "Get those controls fixed, this can't hold em for long." Lilith and Vlad turned to face this new threat - the one inside their cage, as Elaithin tapped his commbadge. "Elaithin to Transporter Room One! ENERGIZE, DAMMIT!" On cue, O'Grady pressed the button canceling the holodeck program. On the Monitor, Vlad an Lilith turned to face the now-visible holdeck door ......

As the entire contents of Holodeck Two- including atmosphere - were scattered on a molecular level from here to the Gamma Quadrant.

Mike exhaled, "Good riddance." He said as the atmosphere began to be replaced in the holodeck.

Elaithin breathed a sigh of relief, as all four sagged against the bulkhead. O'Grady's tricorder confirmed it - there wasn't a trace of the Sanguinarians left on the ship.

Jii grinned weakly at O'Grady, extending a hand. "Good job, Counselor." Taking it he smiled, "we had a little help. Care to meet the mystery gunman?" Standing - albeit very slowly, blood loss was a hell of a disorienting thing - Elaithin nodded.

O'Grady called up the program as Mitchell and Murphy came in behind him to get a look.

Checking the program quckly he brought up the program he ran on instinct. "Lieutenant Murphy, Lt Mitchell, Commander Elaithin may I present Field Marshall Erwin Rommell, Afrika Korps."

Elaithin just shook his head and chuckled....honestly, for the first time in a very long time.

"The end of the vigil"

By
Ensign Alia Drakely
Lieutenant Commander Maxwell-Navarre Shinta

Shinta and Alia entered the holo deck. Shinta sprinted to the controls, "I have some programs involving cardassians, it will not be hard to replicate some blood." She set to work.

Alia frowned a little,

"It all seems so...morbid. Don't get me wrong, I want to dispose of them as much as anyone else, and am prepared to do whatever it takes, but..." she shrugged, "Oh well, it could be worse, it could be real people being used for bait instead."

Now all they had to do was wait, so Shinta finally sat down, and tried to calm herself down. Maybe talking would help, so she turned to the security officer next her. "Let's talk, anything to keep my mind off Gavin. Where are you from? How did you end up in Security?"she asked.

Alia allowed an easy smile to fall in place; it could be hard to talk about her past, but she didn't mind trying if it would form a distraction for Shinta,

"I'm from Earth - England. I belonged to a very nice family, they were nothing but loving. We were one of the ancient Houses, see?" she said as she showed Shinta the tattoo on her hand of the Drakely House Crest, "Our family emblem."

"that looks lovely." Shinta said. "My husband is from Scotland, I would love to visit your home country one day."

"It's beautiful. However, when I turned 18, I..." she paused to take a steadying breath, she only hoped that it seemed like she was merely considering the phrasing of her next comment, "...managed to mess up. In the process I offended and upset one or two important people. It was decided that it would be better if I left."

Shinta listened. she didn't know what to say now, and decided to wait until the young woman went on with her story.

"I decided to 'travel the stars' for a bit, got myself odd bits of work." Alia chuckled, "And trouble alike. But then I realised that it would be better if I could actually do something with my life, so I was persuaded to join the academy. My education was mainly only comprised of literature, history and music, which aren't too helpful at the academy. I'd been trained well in various combat skills, so security seemed the obvious choice."

Alia finally stopped. Damn it, was that prickling she felt at her eyes. Alia could just about tolerate many things, but she would be damned if she was going to allow herself to cry over the recounting of the past - especially in front of a new acquaintance. She shook her head a little and ran a hand through her hair.

"And are you happy in Security?" Shinta asked.

"Very, It beats life before starfleet anyway."

"Do you have any contact with your family now?" She paused for a moment. "Just kick me if I am asking too many questions, it is kind of a professional bad habit I am afraid."

"Don't worry. Ask away, I will always answer any question honestly." Even if a only the short highlights, Alia added to herself. "But no. No I don't have any contact with my family now, and it's perhaps better that way. Anyway, enough about my boring life, tell me about yourself. How does a security officer end up becoming a counsellor? Of course, that is if you don't mind telling me about it, I won't be offended if you'd rather not."

"Hell, you have told me so much, that I should tell you something too." Shinta was another person that did not talk about her past easily. "I grew up on Bajor duing the occupation. My parents died when I was very young. I worked for the resistance since I was a teenager." It was the truth, but not the whole truth. "As fighting was the only thing I was good at, and I wanted to get away from Bajor, I joined star fleet. I joined up as a sailor, but soon they found out that I was a good fighter, so I became a security guard. And as I was pretty intelligent as well, soon a petty officer."

"I would bet that they were congratulating themselves on such a find." Alia said with a smile.

"I got into trouble when I had an affair with a commander." Shinta really did not want to talk about him. "Any ways, I was pregnant, unmarried, and in big trouble for hitting an officer. I had to receive counseling. And to my big surprise, I liked it. I like these people that helped others, and did so without using violence. They helped me get in to the Academy, and become a counselor. The last couple of years everything went very fast, I went from petty officer to lieutenant commander. And there are days that I still find that hard to believe." She smiled.

"I can imagine. Well, I can truely say that I admire you for sticking to what you wanted to do. It couldn't have been easy when other people had seen that you were an adept fighter." Alia said, standing up to stretch.

"it was not easy at first. But here on the ship, nobody knew me from before, and that helped." Shinta was beginning to relax a little, the two women were interrupted by a message.

[You can stand now, the thread is over, the vampires are gone]

Shinta was on her feet in a second. "Can you clean up here? I have to go see my son."

"Go"Alia said, understanding completely.

"Ufo: Enemy Unknown"
by
Dr. Lt. JG Vladimir Malgin
written after playing this ye olde great game

Vladimir entered holodeck. After long and tiring shift with continuous thoughts of 'this f**king sanguinarians' he wanted to have a little training. "Computer. Load program 'XCOM1-Enemy Unknown'. Tactical combat."

Computer replied 'Working... Complete' and grid of holodeck was replaced with 'Skyranger'.

Soldier, named Nick Zavadski, touched Vladimir and said 'We'll show him, what is the hell! I swear by the name of the nail on which the portrait of my grandma in the townhall of Townsville was."

It was approximately hour of flight to Barcelona. Perhaps even less. Vladsimir was ready. Strange fear disappeared without a trace - it changed with some kind of rage. "Well, where are these aliens? Now we'll place a bomb into their ass - they won't forget it..."

Their chief stood up. "Sectoids landed, as usually, in the suburbs of the city. In the district of rich cottages. They do not land in the downtowns, where it is a lot of skyscrapers and rapid transit. They attempt to find quiet place, where it is a little population and lot of opened spaces. Terror group consists, as usually - 15-17 sectoids and at least cyberdiscs. It is a lot of trees there, so there may be a lot of ambushes and psionic attacks from close range. So, don't hurry - clear every meter of ground. Move hovertank on the front line - do you hear, Steve?"

Steve McMannaman, the pilot of tank nodded. It is easy to understand, that tank cannot be mind controlled by sectoids. If sectoids haven't made any surprises, than the fight could be equal

"... Then" continued chief "... our scientists tell that mental attacks may be only made if enemy sees the victim. So just stay out of their eyes. Resistance to mental attack varies within each human. Vladimir, be extremely cautious - it seems that you have the smallest resistance ability.

Suddenly pilot, Valery Smolyaninov, interrupted their briefing "We're landing, buddies! 10-minutes ready!". Skyranger dived to the ground. Vladimir picked up his heavy plasma rifle. Hot Spanish sun rushed into the illuminators. Skyranger landed on the gree parking. Doors opened.

Zavadsky shouted "Let's go!", jumped on the armor of the tank and ran to the exit. Adam Dorigo followed him. Then tank, Vladimir, Voronin, Geisler, Yazerski. What followed next, may remind the fire nightmare. Sectoid was hiding after dark-violet 'Ferrari'. He stood up and aimed the hole of his big sphere and shot. Shocker explosion was in the Skyranger. Chukarin, Samusenko, Peev, Dorigo, Shadrin and McMannaman were immideately out of game. Without control tank felt on the ground. Six plasma blasts touched the tank and it bloomed with explosion, like big mushroom.

Sectoid with shoker was immideately taken dowm by Zavadski - his plasma rifle shot and alien felt down on the ground. Vladimir took his grenade and rushed to the fence from which the cyberdisk appeared.

"Skirmish, buddies" ordered Zavadski. No one of the five survivors panicked. No! The wave of hate and rage gone into them. Anyone, who might lok in their eyes today, can understand, that there will be no mercy today. However as always.

Vladimir stepped closer to high fence. "Where is that damned cyberdisk?". It was quiet, very quiet for city suburb. Only few shots from plasma rifle was heared and woman's sout was heared.

Vladimir initiated grenade. Disk rised in the air and shooted in the Geisler, who was running on the parking. Armour stopped the shot, but Geisler felt on the ground. In the same moment Vladimir thrown his grenade

BOOM! Raising his head from the ground, Vladimir had a look. There was a big hole in the fence. In the garden there was a big black space and few rubble. "I've made some trash from that cyberdisk.

Zavadski layed on the ground to the right of Skyranger. In front of the ranger there were two cyberdisks, that were throwing deadly plasma blasts in it. Nick catched the moment and shooted, however he had to hid himself again, because disks changed their aim on him.

Yazersky readied his rocket launcher and with "Take it, bastard!" shot a missile in the disks. The missile gone just in the center on disk - it exploded. Blast wave made the second one fall on the old 'Fiat-frontera'. Almost without pause, Fiat exploded. "Three!" - Voronin declared the counter of destroyed disks.

Suddenly something was thrown from the distant corner of the street. Voronin, Geisler and Yazerski disappeared in the next moment in storm of alien grenade.

Chief sweared "Laindannae! We must evacuate. We must save Skyranger! Zavadski, Malgin, I order to return to the skyranger. Mission failed...". In the same moment suburbs of city were changed with black-yellow grid of holodeck.

Voice of computer sliced the silence "Program terminated. Victory conditions were not archieved."

"Stoicism"
by Steve Lambert
a.k.a. Korval T'Chal

The room was dimly lit, which was the way the soul occupant preferred his environment as he packed what little he owned into the standard Starfleet-issued carry bag. Korval neatly and precisely finished up, closing the bag and standing perfectly straight, contemplating his recent graduation from Starfleet academy and his current assignment transfer aboard the USS Galaxy.

Starfleet informed him via communique that the Galaxy had a key position in Sciences open, then listed several other options regarding assignments. Upon approval of Captain "General" Price of his possible request to be assigned to the Galaxy, he would be transferred en route to the ship itself via the USS Galant. Korval raised a typical Vulcan eyebrow at the colloquial referent nickname, "The General".

*How odd*, he mused to himself, *that humans tend to delegate nicknames for rather boisterous claims on their prowess and/or abilities*. He seriously considered being assigned to a remote outpost on the borders of Federation space. That assignment would delegate a five-year study of local spatial phenomena and the relevant nearby planetary cluster of type-K bodies.

Dismissing the thought, he rationalized that duty aboard a Galaxy-class ship, THE Galaxy flagship, would be more prominent for his speciality fields, specifically planetary biology. What better opportunity to make numerous field studies than on a ship? It was the most logical choice, of course, and logic dictates function. He posted his request to Starfleet, then with one last look around, Korval left his Academy training quarters, headed for the temporary living arrangements that Starfleet set up for graduates in-transfer.

Ensign Korval T'Chal

"Geez, Doesn't that just Sux Majorly?"
by Lt Kira Murphy
General Medicine & Paediatrician

with bits from "Resolution, Pt. III" and Unauthorized use of everyone else in the small area
--------------------------------------------------------

A few seconds ago, Lt Commanders' Elaithin and O'Grady beamed into the area nearby.

Reacting when she heard the vents start, Kira grabbed Elaithin and yanked him out of the way, hoping she would remeber to say sorry later.

Moving over to the console she had been assigned to, she had her finger above the forcefield deactivation button.

When Mitchell exclaimed about the controls shorting, Kira punched her button and jumped towards the holodeck controls.

Sliding down the wall, Kira didn't mind when the transporters activated.

Getting up with some help from Mitchell, Kira headed into the holodeck after the others.

"Lieutenant Murphy, Lt Mitchell, Commander Elaithin may I present Field Marshall Erwin Rommell, Afrika Korps."

Kira laughed, "That was great. Geez, doesn't that just sux majorly? All we were able to do was scatter them across space."

Heading over to Rommel, she wrapped her arm around his and murmured, "Ever played Risk before?"

"3..2..1..Boom!"

With Lt. Raven Darkstar (Security, Brig Supervisor - Alpha shift) and Leo Streely (NPC Journalist turned Bartender/Vampire Hunter!) plus Vlad, Lilith and the children of the USS Galaxy

Time: Just after "The Children" by Price, and moments before "Resolution pt. 1" by Pat. (Sorry everyone about the back post here!)

Location: Brig, USS Galaxy

"Are you sure you are alright?" Leo asked for what seemed to Raven to be the thousandth time.

Since returning from a near fatal encounter with thier Sanguinarian guests, the little man had showed overwhelming almost irritating concern for the Indian security officer. In all fairness, Leo was pretty perceptive.

Darkstar's own mental self diagnosis found at least two cracked and possibly broken ribs in addition to a couple of loose teeth and a chest that still felt funny after having Vlad solidify his intangible hands around the man's heart.

~ I've had worse. ~ he thought to himself, his mind drifting briefly back to his youth. With these apparently unstoppable forces on the ship, there was no time to sit and lick ones wounds. If they couldn't stop them, they would all be dead anyway.

"Again, Leo. I am fine." he said gritting his teeth more from pain than anything else.

Leo wasn't buying. "Look here, OK. Anybody that says they're fine, never is! It's the oldest cop out in the book! Theres nothing wrong with saying your hurting, OK? Im not going to think less of you as a man. Unless you tell me your hurting because your garter belts are chaffing. Then I might think again but.."

Thankfully, the intercom on Raven's desk crackled to life, stopping the little man before he could drive him completely stark raving mad.

["Security emergency in the children's center! One of the visitors is attacking the children..." ]

Raven tensed as adrenaline surged through his frame. The transmission was followed by a sickening thud and screams of terrified children that carried over the still open channel.

The large man sprang up and opened the phaser cabnet.

In all the time he had been aboard, Leo had never seen Raven carry a phaser until now. That coupled with the look in the Indian's eye actually scared Leo more than the vampires themself had.

"I'm going with you!" he said.

"Leo I dont have time to.." Raven started.

"They're kids." Leo replied, cutting him off. A split second later, he was suprised to see a phaser placed in his own hands.

Without even cracking a joke, Leo stood next to Darkstar, phaser pointed at the floor, as the larger man hit his commbadge.

"Darkstar to transporter room. Emergency beam over to the childrens center! Now!"

In the blink of an eye, the duo found themselves outside the shattered doorway to the children's ward. Screams filled the hallway.

The bruised body of a little girl came sailing through the air and into the bulkhead.

"Oh my god.." Leo said, his face pale.

Raven rushed to her side and rolled her onto her back. Blood was trickling from her ear and mouth, one side of her face darkening.

"I...I..didn't want..him..t..to ..hurt..m.my brother." she said, bubbles of fluid forming on her lips as she struggled to speak.

"D..Don't worry honey. You'll both be fine! Uncle Leo is here, OK! And look! I got Raven too!! See? Everything is fine." Leo said kneeling next to her, tears forming in his eyes.

"m..My..brother.." she said.

"Oh, he'll be fine, honey. Don't you worry. Raven is gonna go get him. You know Raven. He's meaner than anyone! He'll save the day. Everyone will be just fine." Leo nodded to the big man who turned wordlessly and raced into the maelstorm of terror behind him.

The little girl started to cough again then fell limp.

"Oh GOD! CMON, KIDDO! WAKE UP! WAKE UP! OH CHRIST!' he said tapping his combadge with his left hand while squeezing the little girls hand with his right.

"BEAM ME UP..I MEAN I NEED SICKBAY..DAMMIT! BEAM US TO SICKBAY RIGHT NOW!!!" he cried out before disappearing in a shimmer.

*** Inside the ward ***

Vlad screamed, his deep voice booming throughout the room filled with terrified children.

"WHO ELSE?! WHO ELSE DARES TO RAISE THIER HAND AGAINST ME?!" he bellowed holding a small Bajoran boy by the throat high off the ground. He spun around and glared at the scurrying toddlers.

"YOU WILL ALL DIE SCREAMING AS THE FLESH IS RENDERED FROM YOUR BODY!" he screamed as Lilith crouched on a desk top beside him, her long fingernails tracing the tears on Vlad's tiny captiave's cheek.

The Sanguinarian moved his mouth closer to the child's exposed throat, opened his mouth baring long, razor sharp fangs and..

...screamed in suprise as his face errupted into a blast of energy from a hand held phaser that Raven Darkstar had wedged firmly against the back of the vampire's skull.

Vlad staggered backwards. The child fell from his grip to the floor as Lilith leaped to the safty of the far wall where she stood, defying every known law of gravirty.

The Indian quickly scooped the child in his arms and moved towards the open door, attempting to heard the children outside. Lilith hissed from her perch watching Vlad's head reform as if he had never been shot.

She smiled at the creature who just darkened.

"Dont just stand there! Kill him!"he said moving with lightning speed. Lilith sprung from the wall, sailing across the room and bringing her heel into the Indian's chest driving him into a shattered table leg.

He fell to the ground as the jagged wood sliced through the meat of his thigh.

Lilith brought her knees down across his chest, pinning him to the floor.

'I will enjoy this, Dark One!" she said leaning down to kiss him only to have her lips meet with the lips of Leo Streely.

"Hey bitch! Did the earth move for you too?" he asked as he shoved a clove of garlic into the womans open mouth. "Oh by the way, we're not 'connected' anymore, so kiss my rosey red URK!!!"

Lilith rolled to her side gagging and choking while Vlad grabbed Leo by his neck and lifted him effortlessly into the air while placing his foot across Raven's chest. He used his free hand to grab another crying child by the hair and held her up as well.

"TELL ME DARK ONE. DO YOU LIKE GAMES? HERE IS A FUN ONE. YOU PICK WHO DIES. THE CHILD OR THE MAN." he said waving his captives like rag dolls.

The child screamed in terror. Leo's eyes bulged under the strain. He reached behind his back and detached a small cylindrical object.

A stun grenade. ~ Raven noticed. Where the hell did he get that? He thought then glanced around the room to see most of the children hiding behind the cover of overturned furniture.

"Let the child go." he gasped.

"AS YOU WISH." he said dropping the toddler to the floor. The little girl ran for cover where the rest of the children were huddled. Raven looked at Leo and nodded.

Vlad began to close his grip on Leo's throat as the little man thumbed the activator on the grenade.

3...

"Children..get down!" Raven yelled.

2...

Leo began to black out from the pain in his throat.

1...

Raven never took his eyes off the Sanguinarian as white light and concussive force bathed the room instantly. His last thought was to hope that his gamble paid off and the children wouldn't be harmed too seriously.

BOOM!!

“Prayer For The Dead”
By Lieutenant jg. James Lionel Corgan
Delta Shift Operations Officer, USS Galaxy

Location: Sickbay (Last post in sickbay, I hope)

“Medical Emergency!” One of the doctors yelled out, “Incoming wounded from the Children’s classroom! Get moving!”

James was in the middle of finishing his last french fry before the general call of incoming wounded came out. For the last while, no new wounded came to sickbay… until the vampires decided to prey on the Galaxy’s most innocent victims.

~“Classroom?”~ James asked himself, ~“What would Lilith and Vlad want to do with a bunch of kids?”~

“C’mon! Move it!” The doctor repeated, snapping James out of his temporary trance.

Corgan tossed away his empty plate and scrambled toward the entrance of the sickbay. With the red alert still in effect, all available sickbay staff scrambled towards the patients. There, he saw the latest batch of wounded come transporting in at an alarming pace. A half dozen wounded came in on the first mass transport. He immediately recognized Lt. Darkstar, his hulking form unconscious as a large gaping leg wound bled profusely. Besides Darkstar, only a couple of the wounded were adults. The rest were children of various ages.

“Oh my god…” James gasped.

~”Hey everyone! Take a look! This is so cool!”~ The Archangel of Death cheered.

~”Really? What is it?”~ Sprite asked.

~”It’s about as funny as a dead baby joke.”~ Conscience snorted.

The children lay there, motionless, in a crumpled heap. Their innocent eyes stared blankly at the ceiling, as if the images of their tormenters were burned into their eyes and projecting onto the roof. James could see and imagine the horror brought on to these little youngsters, and the thought of what Lilith and Vlad did to the children made him sick. He felt his anger rising again, turning from seething rage to borderline bezerker psychopathy. He willed himself to keep in control, for the wounded needed his help. He gathered a shaking little girl, as pale white as the moon on a clear night, in his arms and carried her to a biobed.

“C’mon little girl. Wake up, you’re safe now.” James pleaded.

~”She’s not waking up. Everyone around you dies.”~ Death reminded.

~“Shut your pie hole!”~

~”Geez, after all this time, I thought you would come up with something better than ‘shut up.’”~ Sprite laughed.

He gathered up another child in his arms as fast as he could. This time, it was a boy of twelve years. Like the girl, his skin was almost cold to the touch and turned to a hue of sickly white. The boy didn’t move or make a sound, which had James extremely worried. He didn’t need a doctor to tell that this boy didn’t have much longer to live.

“C’mon kid, don’t die on me. Wake up!” He helplessly begged, “Wake up, please!”

~”You’re such a f**kup.”~ Conscience mocked, ~”That kid’s a goner. I’m sad to think that you’re the last sight he’ll ever see.”~

~”It’s not everyday that one gets to see his Grim Reaper.”~ Death chortled.

The anger welled up inside. James was starting to feel his breaking point. He could barely handle the thought of attacking children, much less the sight of their unconscious bodies on the floor. As he scooped a five year old girl into his arms, he kept hearing the voices in his head goad him on. He recalled such low atrocities in his time, such as the Dominion’s occupation of Betazed. The stories of the prisoner camp, the mass executions, the child slaves made to work in the shipyards until they died from exhaustion reminded Corgan of how sick these vampires really were. How could they stoop to such lows? Weren’t there enough atrocities in the universe?

James placed the third child onto the biobed, where she was attended to by the real heroes of the sickbay quarantine. He saw one last child, another girl whom looked in worse condition than the other children. There was blood trickling from a wound in her neck, showing the haste and sloppiness of Vlad and Lilith’s latest attack. The little girl was shivering, her lips quivered and her eyes stared blankly. James was in a panic. He had to reach the girl as quickly as he could. Meanwhile, her shakes started to slow down.

“Oh sh*t! Medic! MEDIC!” James screamed. First Aid 101 taught him one thing, and that was the little girl didn’t have long to live. A doctor ran over with a hypospray in hand, as Corgan picked up the little girl.

For a brief moment, James could look at the girl’s dull grey eyes, so very familiar to his own. In that moment, the girl looked at Corgan, changing her stare from dull and focus-less to intensely concentrated. James could feel her eyes reading his own, looking into the reflection of his soul. Her own was once innocent and carefree, turned around by Vlad and Lilith to be a frightened little sheep. If she could shed tears, the little girl could have flowed freely her sorrow, but instead, she had to reflect it through her eyes, the windows of her soul.

In that brief moment, the child managed to smile, happy to be somewhere safe. Those were her last thought after she gave out a final spasm. The light of life was extinguished, the gleam in her eyes died out. Before the doctor could reach her, she died.

“No… come on… wake up! Wake up!” He yelled.

The doctor arrived seconds later. His first action was to check the girl’s pulse, to make sure of her status. Feeling nothing, the doctor checked again. Still, nothing. Her pulse vanished with her life. The doctor scanned the child while James put her down on an empty cot. He heard the ringing sound of a heart monitor going flatline.

“I am sorry, sir. This girl is dead. There is nothing more I can do for her.” The doctor sympathetically said, “I have to attend to the other patients, sir.”

“Go…” James sobbed, holding back tears he spent months trying to bury, “Just go, please.” The doctor ran off to the boy James carried before.

Feeling sorry for the dead child, James placed two fingers on her eyelids and closed her eyes for her final rest. In the distance, he heard another flatlined heart monitor. Upon turning around to find the source of the noise, he saw the same doctor attending the young boy close the child’s eyes and lay a clean white sheet over his body.

At this moment, James made it to his easily accessible breaking point.

~”Oh, he’s gonna snap! Gather around!”~ Conscience announced.

~”I bet twenty quatloos he’s gonna go permanently loco. Hmmm, I wonder if Rebecca will ever accept an apology from a psycho?”~ Sprite asked.

~”You digress, little woman. Can’t you see this is a perfect example of how unlucky James is to others? I mean, little kids can’t survive being near him! Oh, such fragile little people. They didn’t have a chance against James’ hex.”~ Death chortled.

~”C’mon, Broken Head! What are you going to do about all this?”~ Conscience mocked.

The breaking point of what was to be James’ threshold for anger spun like a pressure gauge waiting to explode. He was sick of all the death, and like the Borg incident before, the dying while he remained helpless caught up to him.

~”Your anger has killed others before,”~ The borg voice nagged, ~”Revenge is irrelevant. You must wallow in your own self pity and suffer the rest of your life knowing that you were part of their deaths.”~

~”Wait, we forgot something… what about T’lan?”~ Death asked.

~”T’lan, Vulcan, Species 3259. She will perish, thanks to you. The blood fever will grip her. You will watch her die…”~

(Note: Species 3259 is cannon information)

~”Stop it at once!”~ James demanded.

~”Or else what? What are YOU going to do about it!”~

James’ mind snapped like the proverbial twig that held it together, “Oh, you want to see what I’ll do about it?”

With a determined purpose, James rose up and walked towards the entrance of sickbay. Two burly security officers, Ensigns Kil’Hovan and Jaeger, guarded the door, their type three rifles pointing upwards as they stood in their stoic stance. James didn’t head for the door right away, he was more concerned about the nearby weapons locker that was kept during boarding emergencies.

As soon as he arrived at the grey plastic box that was fastened to the wall, James punched in his security code. The small coding machine chirped objectively, saying “Stop touching me, access is denied stupid!”.

“Excuse me,” James asked Ensign Jaeger, “Is Lt. Reece in the vicinity?”

“I don’t see her. She’s probably on the other side of sickbay. Why?”

“Good, I don’t want her to see this… Nyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!”

James foot followed the momentum of a backwards spin kick, slamming into the unfortunate grey box. The hard plastic cracked and gave way. The cover opened slowly Corgan came back to his regular stance. It slowly creaked open, revealing four type two phaser pistols. James procured one for his own, making sure the setting was on kill before holstering onto his side belt.

“Hey! What the hell are you doing!?!?!” Ensign Kil’Hovan the Tellarite objected.

“Leaving. Get out of my way.” James’ voice dripped with seething venom.

“You can’t leave. Quarantine is still in effect.” Ensign Jaeger said.

“I’m leaving, and you can bet a horny Vulcan’s balls that I’m coming back. Get out of my way.” James insisted.

“You can’t leave, sir.”

“You’d think that if I wasn’t pissed off now wouldn’t you?”

Lieutenant Corgan defiantly trod forward, intent on passing the two security officers. The guards stepped in the way, their phaser rifles ready to fire. Corgan knew how to pass them. The phasers were too close, giving him the opportunity to pass their firing arc before they could hit the triggers.

”I’m warning you guys, let me out. I’ve been violated by Lilith, my friend has been attacked by our so called ‘guests’ and here is me, cooped up in this glorified crypt for days, ferrying dying people to their deathbeds as if I was the boatman for the river Styx! When things couldn’t get worse, I see that they attacked children! I’ve had enough! I have to take them out!” James hollered.

“We can’t allow that, sir. Security is taking care of it. We’ll update you on the situation as it comes, ok?” Ensign Kil’Hovan said, her voice as calm as an unruffled tree.

“Fine…” James muttered.

The intense standoff began. He knew the two security officers. Officer Jaeger couldn’t shoot the broadside of a Dominion Dreadnought if he tried, Officer Kil’Hovan was slow on the trigger and he was in a position to surprise them before he was caught in their firing arcs, so he wasn’t worried about getting shot. Muscling through the two would prove to be a different challenge. Kil’Hovan knew Tellarite wrestling, and Jaeger was as strong as an Bajoran Pack Ox. James couldn’t beat either of their upper body strength. He weighted his options while staring them down.

“You want to do this the hard way…”

~”It gets better and better, doesn’t it?”~ Conscience quipped.

~”Shut up.”~ James thought.

~”Ohhhh… that hurt Broken Head.”~

“Be my guest. One last time, move, now…”

The red alert signals faded out. Mysteriously, the warble of the sirens went along with it. Almost everyone in the vicinity looked around for a siren or light that was still flashing in sickbay. Some of the doctors took notice.

From Ensign Kil’Hovan’s comm-badge, a voice crackled, “Lt. Carst to Ensign Kil’Hovan. Red alert has been lifted. Lilith and Vlad have been killed in an apprehension attempt. We are now standing down from Red Alert.”

“Alright!” Ensign Kil’Hovan whooped, “That’s great news, sir. Ensign Kil’Hovan, out!”

James couldn’t believe his ears. The pound of flesh to be taken from Vlad and Lilith felt like it was for him and him alone. He felt disappointed and empty without his objective. In a way, he was robbed of his right to take revenge on the vampires for Lexa, T’lan and the children’s sake.

“F**K!” James swore, smashing his fist into the wrecked weapons container. He was frustrated, with no vent for his anger, so he took it out on the defenseless miniature armory. He felt robbed, angry and helpless to do anything about it. “Motherf**ker!”

“What’s wrong? They got the Sanguinarians. Wasn’t that what you wanted?” Ensign Jaeger asked James Corgan.

He took a moment to think, feeling his angry mood subside over a feeling of soreness in his fist. He did feel ashamed to be so angry, but at the time it was overpowering. Not much mattered when he say children dead by their hands and people already dying, such as Lieutenant T’lan, without a hope of her being able to live. The feeling of guilt for his own outbursts was muted before, much like the Borg incident a few months back, until he saw the end of it, and looked at his own dirty self in shame.

“Just leave me alone for a bit, ok? I’m sorry about all this…” James sighed. For the anger he felt, he was truly sorry. Such behavior was unbecoming of him. Even though he was still pissed off, he could fight it off and walk away with some self control.

That night, he put a prayer out for the dead, to whomever was listening. It was all he could do, being denied his share of revenge against the vampires.

"To Sleep, Perchance to Dream."

By PO Tyrola Lomax
Engineering

CPO Joseph Reynolds
Security NPC

Joseph Reynolds had come in to find Tyrola propped against the wall fo their shared quarters, looking paler than a Borg and more drained than a 5 million year old dilithium crystal. She had been barely conscious and the sounds and words she did manage to utter only portrayed her confusion and horror. He had helped her to the couch where she fell into unconsciousness.

A couple of hours and a trip to sickbay later saw Joseph sat on the side of Ty's bed, shocked at the story she had told the nurse who had attended her in sickbay and also at the tale she had only moments ago told him of a science officer's forceful advances. However, his concern for her overwrote any horror from his features. Ty's hand was gently placed in his and she lay in bed, a lot less pale but looking no less drained.

The doctors had told them that Ty's case was nowhere near the worst they had seen. In fact she had been very lucky. They had released her about half an hour ago but advised she took a few days off to rest. She intended to and she also intended to pay Karyn Dallas another visit in the meantime.

Ty's eyes were only half opened, she was clearly tired. She had every right to be. This sure hadn't been her day. "Joe...I..." She yawned. "I think...we will put off our game of tennis until...a week or so?"

Joe couldn't help but smile. Ty...or Lomax...whichever, never let things get the better of them for too long. "No problems honey, you need your rest."

"I do..." She sighed and turned a little. "Joe...I... love you." Her voice was quiet and dreamy and her hand's grip on Joe's became even more light.

"I love you too, Ty." Joseph gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Sweet dreams." He rested her hand on the sheets gently and stood up. She needed her rest, and he was going to leave her in peace to have it.

As Joe left the room he heard Ty sigh, and when he turned back she was lying almost on her front, pillow clutched next to her in a tight embrace. He smirked. "Lomax, you may be centuries old but you're just a little girl at heart." He chuckled a bit to himself as he traversed the room to the couch. This time he had gotten himself one of the best roomies out there. And this time he was actually going to look after her.

Sitting on the couch Joe picked up a PADD Ty had obviously been looking at. It was the files on taking the officer's entrance exam. Well, he might as well do some further research for her - after all she was going to be out of action for some time. Patting the phaser he now had at his hip, Joe pulled the console across the coffee table towards him. "Now who would be a possibility to sponsor her?" Joe mumbled to himself.

And so began Joseph Reynolds' closer-than-close relationship with Ty Lomax.

"I know not 'seems'."
by Ensign Alia Drakely - security officer.

'Thou know'st tis common: all that lives must die, Passing through nature to eternity.'

'Ay, madam, it is common.'

The words continuously echoed through her mind as she gazed vacantly at her naked reflection that was staring right back at her from the mirror.

Alia had managed to get back to her room without any difficulty. Her first action was to stand in the middle of the bathroom and strip. She had remained stationary there for the past five minutes. The necessity of having to fight down a slight shiver brought her back to reality. Raising the damp cloth, she continued to clean up the various wounds she had gathered over the course of the day. She had three cuts and five bruises that she could see on her face, and God knew how many scattered over the rest of her body.

Her hand dropped to her side as she let out an exasperated sigh and closed her eyes. It was no use. No matter how tight she squeezed her eyelids shut, it didn't stop her from hearing the words, or seeing the images. She grabbed some clothes and threw them on before leaving her room.

She practically ran through the corridor, not stopping to apologise to any startled people on the way - an act of impoliteness that she would never usually condone. She ran into the holodeck that she had left not long ago, only now it was the regular grid that greeted her rather than the smell of cardassian blood that had been used in their trap.

After working the controls in the arch for a moment, she suddenly found herself standing in the middle of an old gothic style English church. She didn't even notice the door disappear as she walked further in. She moved slowly down the centre of the church, the staccato tapping of her heels echoing mournfully around the majestic architecture as she passed the pews. When she reached the statue at the front of the church she dropped to her knees, crossing herself as she bowed her head.

She remained in the position for a few moments as she silently sent a prayer to her Lord. When she rose, she did so slowly and gracefully, respecting the moment. She finally moved over to the grand organ and took her seat. Alia drew in a long and calming breath before commencing.

She played quietly at first, reflectively, letting her hands follow the flow of the music they played. But as she started to think over the recent events, she wasn't even aware of the way her hands responded to the thoughts, quickening and applying more pressure and volume.

She refused to think of the feelings that were dislodged when she had recounted her past earlier. She absolutely refused to. She thought of the Doctor, Autumn, splayed across a harsh floor. She thought of a worried mother, Shinta, dashing off to check that her son was safe. She thought of the God damned Lord Vlad and Lady Lilith, and the horrifying scene that must have played out when they had preyed upon the children.

The music had reached a deafening crescendo - a crescendo that was not natural to the music. It was produced instead by the anger that flowed from her hands as she played. The thunderous music was interrupted by a loud discordant clash of notes as she slammed her fists down on to the keys. Then again. And again and again until her hands recoiled from the organ with a trail of blood slipping down her hand from another unnoticed wound, throwing the room into an abrasive silence.

The only sound now in the eerie atmosphere of the chilled church was her harsh breathing. She closed her eyes and gripped the side of the organ as she breathed heavily, trying to quell the rage that taunted her.

It took awhile, but she finally managed to reclaim a close to normal breathing pattern. She opened her eyes and put her hands back on to the organ, her fingers passing swiftly and with practised ease over the keys, however, the intensity and sound level resumed that of which she had broken off at. Although this time, Alia stared expressionlessly ahea

d, not even flinching at the almost painful volume of her music, as a tear slipped over a cut below her eye and down the rest of her face. The console to his left beeped.

Once each day, the console to Chuck Copperpot's left - the one beside which he faithfully sat in the brig day in and day out for eight or ten hours - would beep. Once each day, Chuck would turn to it, push a button, and resume his reading until his replacement arrived. His replacement's tardiness was no long quite so annoying, considering that Chuck perfectly expected him to be late every day.

Could devoted, consistent tardiness become backhanded punctuality due to lowered expectations? It was on this question that Chuck paused briefly, looking up from his reading and applying the eyedrops which he constantly kept with him. It was hard on the eyes, that much reading.

The end of his shift was not so much a significant denotation ot change for Chuck Copperpot anymore. Unlike other indicators of time - his morning alarm, his afternoon hunger, and his midnight sleepiness - the end of his shift required very little action or adjustment. He would go from sitting on his ass in the brig, reading books, to sitting on his ass in Ten Forward reading books and then even perhaps sitting on his ass in his quarters reading books. All the end of his shift indicated anymore was that he was no longer required to read his books in any particular room.

While annoying when looked at directly, the lighting in the brig was ideal for reading. It illuminated each page with a soft yellow hue which livened the print and did not offend the eye. It took Chuck nine assignments to figure out where the really good lighting on a starship is. Now that he'd found it, he was not prepared to give it up.

When his replacement finally did arrive, Chuck greeted him and exchanged the usual trivial pleasantries before heading to 10 Forward to eat and read. He would get a sandwich of some kind, as he always did, since you don't have to draw your eyes from the page to eat a sandwich, so long as your hand-eye coordination is reasonable. His beverage would have a bendable straw for that same reason, and he would stand, quietly and eerily motionless, leering curiously at whomever was sitting at the corner table until they grew uncomfortable and left. It was prime reading territory, and Chuck was not to be denied.

And there he would sit with "Meditations" in hand and a sandwich and beverage nearby, stars and planets blasting by him at speeds to baffle the mind and soul.

When people asked, as they often seemed to, why Chuck Copperpot - with all his discontent and malaise for his job - ever joined Starfleet to begin with, he invited them to join him in Ten Forward with a good sandwich and a good book. Somehow, sadly, they never seemed to understand.

-Justin

"Settling In"
by Ensign Korval T'Chal
Stellar Physics dept.

Despite having studied all relevant databases about Galaxy-class cruisers, Korval found this one, 'different' from the basic guides. He raised his eyebrow in puzzlement as he managed to get turned around on his way to the crews quarters, and after asking several crewman directions, ended up finding his assigned room.

The door slid open, revealing a spacious living area. *Adequate*, Korval thought, then began settling in with his few posessions. The only thing on his computer was a welcoming message from the quartermaster, and the message to meet with the department head of the sciences division as soon as possible.

Korval quickly looked through the crew manifest, finding the Chief Science officer's name. Korval posted a message to Lieutenant Commander Peterson, requesting at his earliest convinience to meet with him and get his required duty assignments. That finished, Korval began deep meditations for the next quarter of an hour.

Centered within his very essence, Korval imagined a pure, white-hot point of light that was his consciousness. He drifted toward it through the blackness, following it to the very substance that Vulcan's called, "The Katra." Within this point of light dwelled who Korval was, his very being, and all the experiences and memories that made him who he was.

The suppressed emotions were here as well, all bundled up and tightly controlled with his iron-hard will. He made sure they were in place; that the restrictions he placed upon his raw emotions were still under his tight subservience. Satisfied, Korval explored other aspects of his being for the time he set aside, then slowly, through diligence and calm, brought himself back to the conscious world.

He stood, noting the time, and with stoiscm that brooked no argument he was one of the Vulcan race, he waited for his superior officer's meeting.

-Korval T'Chal

"Confrontation"
by Lieutenant Commanders Elaithin and Peterson

There used to be a condition on Earth, known as a bipolar disorder, or being a manic depressive. These people were esentially cursed with mood swings. They'd go from high to low, and back again. Certain traumas - the loss of a family member, or bodily mutilation, were known to cause similar effects. It was also not uncommon for the sufferer of such a disorder to pick an individual, however rightly or wrongly deserved, and essentially pin the blame on them.

In these people's defense, thier blame of another is not any sort of character flaw, but merely the inability of one's consciousness to cope at a certain point. So, naturally, a scapegoat is sought. Such was the case between Lieutenant Commanders Elaithin Jii and Kent Peterson, Chief of Security and Chief Science Officer of the USS Galaxy, respectively. It should also be noted that a confrontation between two such individuals, is not necessarily a good thing.

Lieutenant Commander Elaithin waited patiently for the turbolift. He was all the way down on Deck 38, waiting outside of Security. In his hands he had the casualty report from the recent encounter with the Sanguinarians.

As he read through the list of names - Starfleet officers and civilians - he looked up from the gray-colored PADD in time to see the turbolift doors open. "Bridge," Elaithin said as he walked in.

The computer responded by closing the doors - detecting no other personnel ready to enter the carriage - and began on its journey. The turbolift carriage hummed as the computer moved it through the secondary turbolift shaft, moving Elaithin from Security to the Bridge. As he read on the humm grew softer as the computer prepared to make another stop.

The chief of security looked up. He had travelled the distance between the Security Office and the primary command center of the Galaxy-class vessel a number of times - there was no way he could have been there yet. And he was correct. The turbolift doors parted and in walked Ensign Sonja Graves.

"Sir," the attractive operations officers said, nodding politely as the Bajoran security officer gave her some room.

"Ensign," Jii remarked, "Are you heading to the Bridge?" he asked

"No 'Commander," Sonja replied, "Deck Fifteen."

The doors closed behind her and the turbolift carriage was once again on its way to the Bridge, making an unanticipated stop on Deck Fifteen. Elaithin returned to reading the report he had brought from his officer while Ensign Graves tried to avoid glancing his way too often. It was not long before the computer stopped the carriage again - as the carriage moved from the secondary to the primary turboshafts - and the doors opened on Deck Fifteen.

Sonja smiled, "Sir," she said, passing by the Bajoran. "Sir," she said again, passing by Lieutenant Commander Peterson.

Elaithin thought Graves was talking to him, having said 'sir' twice. Considering that she may have though he was ignoring her, the security chief looked up to wish her well. As he did so, he caught the back of the young woman as she passed by Kent Peterson.

Dammit. That was the singular thought running through Elaithin's mind as Peterson joined his fellow senior officer in the lift. This was accompanied by a rather unhealthy dose of rage.

Kent, for his part, didn't have clue one that Jii blamed him for the death of his Academy friend, or for the loss of the Bajoran's left hand. And how could he have? The Human officer went through enough of his own trauma during that rather contraversial decision made by Captain Price.

Subconsciously, Jii moved his left hand to the side, out of view, as it began to twitch a bit in Peterson's presence.

Kent's brow furrowed slightly. While he and Elaithin had never said more words to one another that was necessary, he had noticed the Bajoran avoiding him. At first it was subtle things. Whenever Peterson walked in to the same room as Elaithin, the security chief stopped talking. As time went on it gradually became more noticeable.

The only time it did not happen was when some interaction was inevitable - like being at a senior staff meeting - but there was no indication from Jii whether or not it was something the chief scientist did or not. It was nothing forward or open, but more subtler things. While Peterson was not prone to paranoia, he start to wonder he had insulted some Bajoran religious obversance, or possibly that his view on religious beliefs in general was responsible.

Letting out a sigh, "Computer, stop."

Elaithin looked towards Kent with a confused look on his face. What was the man up to?

The Human Starfleet officer finally turned to his fellow senior officer. "Can I ask you something?" he said calmly.

"What?" Jii responded, surprised that Kent had said something to him without the initiation of any common topic of discussion.

"Have I done something to piss you off?" he said directly. Peterson was not one for beating around the bush, and this had already been going on for weeks. He wanted it out in the open and was not willing to keep the turbolift carriage moving until he got an answer.

Security Officers, Bajorans, and Starfleet personell in general are not known for avoiding a problem. When an individual is all three of those things, it is almost a given that, when confronted, they will be completely, totally, and sometimes ... even brutally honest.

Jii snorted. "No, Lieutenant Commander. Other than put the lives of myself, the executive officer of this ship, and two other officers at risk completely and totally unnecessarily. Other than that, I'd say not."

Kent's face looked pained. "I have no idea what the hell you are talking about man."

"I don't beleive you. You know what I'm talking about." Elaithin retorted to the stunned Human.

The implication that Kent had done something willfully and placing his fellow officer's life in jedardy did not sit well with the chief scientist. The muscles in his neck and shoulder tensed, the expression on his face growing serious. "Well let's just assume that I'm a liar then, Elaithin. Remind me what I seemed to have done to do this 'thing' you've got it in your head I did."

"I'm talking about the mission to the Borg ship, Peterson."

Peterson's body felt the 'impact' of the insuination as his mind connected the dots together. Lieutenant Commander Elaithin blamed him for everything that happened with the Borg eight weeks earlier. Somehow he seemed to think that Kent Peterson - someone who has tried to avoid the Borg ever since Wolf 359 - was responsible for what happened to the Starship Galaxy and her crew.

"How dare you," Kent said venomously back to the Bajoran, as he tried to repress the anger in his voice. "I had nothing to do with that. Commander Thomas and Captain Price selected the mission. In fact, I was ordered not to go on that particular away mission."

"Bullshit. You sent us over there so you could have your little drone to experiment on." Jii said in response. As he did, his prosthetic hand squeezed, shattering the PADD in his hands, but he ignored it as the pieces fell to the ground. "How dare I? How DARE YOU?! Do not, ever again, risk the lives of my men for on of your little 'experiments'. "

Kent tried to find some way to respond to the security chief's ascertion that he was in league with the Collective somehow, that is was him that was ultimately responsible for what happened on the Borg cube and the USS Galaxy at the time. He wrestle with his anger over the implication while also trying to deal with it - he was completely speechless.

Elaithin didn't respond to Peterson's silence. Instead,after staring Peterson down with a glare that would have melted duranium, he addressed the lift. "Computer, open lift doors."

Being the obedient machine that it was, the computer complied. 'Commander Elaithin marched out, leaving 'Commander Peterson standing without uttering a word. The doors closed behind him and Kent backed against the wall of the turbolift carriage.

"I don't believe this," he muttered to himself, trying to restrain a combination of anger and tears.

["Please restate destination,"] the computer stoically responded.

(Note: This occurs after "Animal Farm" but before "Bringing it all Together")

Pig Poop
by Ensign Ozwald Thatcher, Tactical
revised by Captain Price

*** Bridge ***

A few minutes after the Captain's summons, Ozzy appeared on deck with a pail-o-suds and a scrub brush, disinfectant and an array of rags. His other arm sported a Tundra-pig sized cage. He knew the General was severally rattled by something, because he had called Ozzy by the wrong rank, a Lieutenant. And despite his pet's mishap, the Ensign didn't know of any promotion he'd earned since he arrived! Worse still, his department chief was on the bridge to observe Snowy's 'bowel of fire accident' first hand.

By now, Snowy was calm due to his owner's presence. Nuzzling Ozwald gently with his snout, it was impossible not to forgive him somewhat.

"Snowy, you have been very bad, leaving home without an escort! No apples for a whole month. And you have to stay home from now on unless I make an exception." Snowy moved his forehooves over his face. It looked like he was actually pouting, although no one on the bridge thought a swine capable of such a complex emotion. But then, he did love apples and would miss them in his food trough. The comical antics made those who endured the greased pig chase relax a bit, save one Vulcan who found the entire incident 'Intriguing'.

Thatcher paused over a spot on the command chair that received a thicker layer of droppings, and brushed it clean. He went over the center chair twice with both the brush and disinfectant. Then he looked over the entire bridge. There wasn't a pig dropping left in sight.

"Captain, I regret Snowy's actions. As you can see, I have brought a portable pen for him."

The Captain still didn't seem very pleased with the disruption in ship's operations. understandable in any case, but especially while a ship wide security alert is going on and there are aliens on board attacking the crew. "I'm sure you can imagine how much mess a loose pet can create."

"I do now, Sir." Ozwald answered humbly.

"Well I appreciate you taking care of the mess that was caused 'mate. Just be damned sure your pet doesn't escape again." The Captain stated. "Understood Ensign?"

"Understood Captain." Ozwald agreed. He then gathered up his cleaning supplies, and his pet pig Snowy, and exited the bridge.

"Rather be safe then sorry "
by Captain Robert Edward Lee Price

"Lieutenant Murphy, Lt Mitchell, Commander Elaithin may I present Field Marshall Erwin Rommell, Afrika Korps."

Kira laughed, "That was great. Geez, doesn't that just sux majorly? All we were able to do was scatter them across space."

Heading over to Rommel, she wrapped her arm around his and murmured, "Ever played Risk before?"

The hologram fidgeted slightly. Its ridged program was not programmed to handle improv very well. "Ahem, well technically their energy patterns are still contained in the transporter buffer..."

****

*** Bridge ***

Captain Price was settled into the command chair, which now had a strange, lemon scented aroma after Ensign Thatcher had disinfected the Captain's chair.

["Lieutenant Commander Elathin to Captain Price."] the incoming hail sounded with Jii's voice.

Lee thumbed the intercom control on the arm of the command chair. "Price here. Go ahead 'Commander."

["Good news Captain. Our plan was successful. We have the Sanguinarians trapped in the transporter buffers."] Elathin reported in a deservedly pleased tone.

The Captain sank back in his seat and let out a relaxed sigh. "That's the best news I've heard in a long time 'mate!" Lee smiled.

["Everyone did their part to pull it off sir. Now the only question is, what to do with their patterns now that we have them suspended in the transport buffer?"] Elathin pointed out.

The General nodded. "Aye. That will take some consideration. It doesn't seem right to just purge their patterns across the galaxy. But we can't just rematerialize them in the brig either." The Captain agreed. "At least we have them contained for the moment. That gives us time to consider all of the options and proceed with the best possible solution without exposing our crew to further danger."

["Well, it sounds like a decision for the bureaucrats sir. If it's up to us security dogs O war, we'd just assume you flush the buffers after what happened to the children."] Elathin wasn't shy to express his opinion.

"Understandable 'mate. Please pass on to the rest of your staff my congratulations on handling this rather difficult situation 'Commander. Bridge out." The Captain closed.

****

*** Cargo bay ***

Lieutenant Rose Isis MacAllen finally made her way down to the Cargo bays to check in on the four alien hibernation chambers that had been loaded on board from the Tamarian vessel. Poor Rose had no idea what was going on until she entered the steam filled room.

Looking at her feet, there was a low, fog-like mist hovering from the melting ice of the coffin units. It was hot and humid in the cargo bay. Looking up she could see the energized force field and the EMH2, Doctor Martin, looking rather franticly at the chambers.

"Doctor, what is going on here?" Rose asked.

Doctor Martin turned and looked at the scientist. "Thank goodness someone has arrived. I was transferred down here by Doctor Harper to monitor these units. They've started an accelerated thaw cycle."

"How accelerated?" Rose asked, still not fully comprehending what was going on.

The Doctor was about to answer when the hatch on one of the units began to automatically open with a hiss as a stream of white gas shot out into the air.

"Very accelerated." The EMH reported as she glanced back. "It's okay, this bio-force field should protect you and the rest of the crew from any contaminants these creatures may have."

Rose stepped over until she was standing right before the shimmering green field to gain a better view of what was happening. "I hope you are correct about that." She said, resting her free hand onto the butt of her phaser at her side.

Doctor Martin leaned over the coffin shaped chamber and peered in. From Rose' vantage point, all she saw was what looked like four strange coffins, one of which was partially opened. When Doctor Martin leaned over the opened one to look inside, Rose jumped when a female hand lashed out and grabbed the EMH by the throat. "Doctor!" Rose screamed, nearly dropping her tricorder.

Doctor Martin, being a hologram, was not injured in any way by the gesture. Though her advanced, second generation holo-matrix did allow her to express her sudden surprise at the startling move.

"You are not real." The female voice in the coffin stated.

Twisting slightly, Doctor Martin struggled to reply, "Our instruments would appear to indicate that you are not real either. I am an emergency medical hologram." Doctor Martin stated. "And what is your excuse?"

Not answering, the woman sat up in her chamber, glancing around. From Rose' vantage point, she could see that the woman was quite beautiful, but seemed to be somehow driven as she glanced at her surroundings, the force field, at Rose, and then back at the Doctor. "Where are we?" she asked while releasing her death grip from the hologram's throat.

Pleased to be free again, the Doctor straightened and gave a warm smile; Part of the second generation EMH program for social etiquette. "You are on board the United Federation of Planets starship USS Galaxy. We found you and your companions on board an ancient Tamarian sleeper ship."

The woman only seemed vaguely interested in the Doctor's explanation. She seemed to be spending more time evaluating the technology about her with the holo-personality, the force field, the medical instruments, Rose...

"Where is Vlad?" the woman demanded to know.

The Doctor didn't know what she was talking about. Prior to being sent down to the cargo bay, Doctor Martin was attending to triage in the sickbay. Prior to that the EMH2 was offline. "Vlad? Who is this Vlad you speak of?"

Rose decided to be of help. "She's asking about Lord Vlad Doctor."

The woman's eyes bull's-eyed onto Lieutenant MacAllen's. It was a piercing, no-nonsense stare.

"Yes, Lord Vlad. Where is he?" the Sanguinarian woman asked.

Rose paused as the other hibernation containers also began opening up.

"Lord Vlad and Lady Lilith are on the ship." Rose stated.

"You let them out?! Fools!, you don't know what you have done." The woman stated as she began crawling out of the hibernation chamber.

"I think we have a pretty good idea." Rose replied. "Security has rounded them up and trapped them in our transporter." The Lieutenant stated pointing at the newly revived Sanguinarian guests. "And we can do the same thing to you so I suggest you behave."

The woman seemed more surprised then impressed or intimidated by the Lieutenant's warning. "I'm surprised you were able to contain him. My crew and I have been tracking Vlad for nearly a thousand years."

The woman looked away from Rose and the EMH and into the chambers at her reviving comrades. "Baum my wise friend. Our journey is nearly complete."

Rose could hear a deep voice answer back, "I feel like I have been sleeping with the dead."

"Very near to it. According to my chronometer, we have been in suspension for nearly three hundred years." The woman replied.

When the man sat up, Rose could see he was an older gentleman, who, despite his age, still appeared to be quite dashing. "Where is Lord Vlad?"

"He is being held in energy suspension by our kind hosts. Some people from a Federation of Planets." She explained.

Baum looked around and then at the holodoc and finally at Rose. "If they have an ounce of wisdom in them at all, they will simply dissipate his pattern. They were lucky to have captured Vlad at all." Baum looked around and then asked, "How are the others? Haun, Odak and Lilith?"

The woman looked a bit troubled at this question. The Elder Sanguinarian picked up on it right away. "What is it Lady Danestia? What has happened?"

Danestia looked at Baum. "Lady Lilith has betrayed us my friend. She let Vlad seduce her and sided with the dark one."

"What?!" the younger Haun bellowed. "Lilith switched sides?"

"Switch sides? I don't believe I follow..." Doctor Martin stated.

Lady Danestia turned to the Doctor. "My crew here and Lady Lilith were sent to track down Lord Vlad. He's a dangerous criminal from our home world that has been eluding capture for several millenniums now. We were sent to track him down, and bring him back so he can face justice for his horrible actions in our galaxy and your own."

"You are from another galaxy?" Rose asked, fascinated at hearing this.

Lady Danestia looked in Rose direction and nodded. "Yes. My people have a rule about not making contact with lesser races in the universe that don't poses the same level of technology that we do. But Vlad disregarded this rule. He went off on a maddening rampage of terror and frenzied blood feeding on many worlds in our galaxy. When the authorities tried to stop him, he fled to your galaxy. My people have been pursuing him ever since."

"Yes, we too have a non-interference directive in Starfleet." Rose stated. "So I understand how important that is for developing cultures on different worlds." Rose still wasn't thrilled with these Sanguinarian visitors, but at least this Lady Danestia didn't give her the creeps like Lilith and Vlad had. She seemed almost normal.

"Where are we?" Odak asked as he sat up.

"On board a Federation Starship." Haun stated. "Most likely a few hundred light years from where we boarded that Tamarian vessel."

"Nearly three hundred years ago." Baum added in a semi-bitter, old-man tone.

"And Vlad?" Oday asked.

"He's being held by our hosts." Lady Danestia stated.

"Well we should go and get him then. Vlad is our responsibility." Odak stated.

"He and Lilith are being held in energy suspension." Haun pointed out.

"Lady Lilith? Why is she being held?" Odak asked.

"Don't ask. I'll explain it to you later." Lady Danestia said while waving a hand, not caring to repeat herself.

"We'd be better off just deenergizing the monster and being done with it." Lord Baum stated bitterly. It was quite obvious from the elderly mans tone that he had no love for Vlad, or anyone that assisted him.

"Easy there Baum. I know how much you want to see justice done for what Vlad did to your family, but we do not sanction outright murder. Not even for someone as twisted and manipulative as Lord Vlad." The young Haun persuaded.

Baum didn't seem pleased to be receiving a lecture in ethics from the young gun runt of the retrieval crew sent to capture Vlad. After what Vlad had done in slaughtering his family (Wife, two daughters and a son) nearly a millennium ago, Baum more then anyone else on the team wanted to see Vlad pay for his actions. And he wasn't too particular if they returned with Vlad dead or alive.

"If our people did support capitol punishment, I'm sure Vlad would never have escaped from our own galaxy to come and terrorize this one." Baum retorted.

"Enough arguing gentlemen." Lady Danestia stated raising her hands. "It's enough to know that we are all okay, and that Vlad and his accomplice, Lilith are being held at the moment."

The Lady paused long enough for her friends to exit their hibernation units and stretch a bit. She then walked over to stand just before Lieutenant MacAllen. Running a hand along the green force field, she asked. "May I ask why are we separated by this energy field?"

Rose nodded. "For our protection. It's a bio-containment field. We were told that you were all carriers of a deadly, viral disease."

"That is not true. Who told you this?" Danestia asked.

"Lord Vlad did." Rose had to admit.

Baum glanced over at the young, cocky Haun. "A gullible lot these Federationers, are they not?"

The young gun agreed. "Maybe Odak is right, we should check to see that Vlad and Lilith are truly contained."

Lasy Danestia looked at Rose. "I can assure you that myself and my associates pose no biological threat to your kind miss?..."

"Lieutenant MacAllen." Rose offered to fill in the blank.

"Pleased to meet you Lieutenant. I am Lady Danestia. And these are my associates, Lords Baum, Odak and Haun." The Sanguinarian introduced pointing out each of the handsome men with her hand. "Lieutenant, since we pose no threat as Lord Vlad mislead you into believing, I would ask that we be allowed to leave this area in order to check on the containment of the two prisoners presently in your custody."

~~Sure. Let me just lower the force field and let you all have free reign of the ship... NOT!~~ Rose thought to herself. Sure these people seemed pleasant enough, but then so did Vlad and Lilith when they first came on board.

"I'm afraid I can't allow that. I haven't the authority to make that decision. But if you like, I can summon the Captain of this vessel. I'm sure he would be interested in hearing you make your case given our recent experiences with your kind." Rose explained.

Lady Danestia glanced at the others, sort of staring them all down and into submission. It was sort of obvious by now that the Lady was the top dog of this bounty hunting team. Danestia spent a particularly long time glancing at the oldest one, Baum, as if she expected trouble to come from him before any of the others. She knew that the technology these Federationers possessed could not hold them here. If they so desired, they could simply walk through this shimmering green force field as if it were not even there. But if they were to do that, they would not be harboring trust with their hosts. And it would be more likely that they wouldn't release Vlad and Lilith into their custody for the trip back to their home galaxy.

"That would be acceptable Lieutenant. Please notify your Captain that we wish to speak to him about the handling of the fugitives." Danestia nodded.

Rose reached across her chest and tapped her comm badge.

****

Captain Price was rather relieved that the plan science, medical, engineering and security devised had worked. The General wasn't sure what else they could do to regain control or protect themselves from the Sanguinarians if it hadn't.

["Lieutenant MacAllen to Captain Price."] Rose' voice was heard.

Lee again thumbed the comm system on the arm of the lemon scented command chair.

"Price here. G'Day Lieutenant." Lee smiled.

["Sir, I'm down in the cargo bay where the four other Sanguinarian suspension chambers are located. The guests have all revived and..."] Rose began.

Lee jumped out of his seat. "CRI-KEY! Hold on Lieutenant! I'll send a security team on the double!"

["No Captain.... they are not hostile. In fact Lady Danestia has agreed to remain down here until you have a chance to speak to them about Lord Vlad and Lady Lilith. Evidently they are wanted criminals from these people's home galaxy. They have been sent to bring them back to face justice."] Rose explained, summarizing what she had just learned.

Calming down somewhat, the Captain glanced around the bridge at the command crew present. "They are from another galaxy? Well in that case, inform our guests that I will be down there directly Lieutenant."

["Thank you Captain. I'm sure they will look forward to your visit."] Rose replied with a partial smile.

"No worries Lieutenant. Bridge out." Lee stated, closing the channel. He then turned and started towards the turbolift, pausing near the tactical arch long enough to have second thoughts. Turning, Lee faced the security officer on bridge duty at the moment.

"Ensign. Have a full security detail sent to the cargo bay as a precaution. According to Lieutenant MacAllen these visitors are not hostile at the moment, but if that were to change,... I just would rather be safe then sorry." The Captain ordered.

Ensign Arel Smith gave a nod. "Yes Captain. I'll see to it sir." She responded in stiff, by-the-book Starfleet Academy fashion.

The General gave a nod, and then glanced over to Lieutenant Commander Gustavson, the senior ranking officer on the bridge at the time. "The bridge is yours 'Commander." Lee stated while stepping into the turbolift.

Ragnald turned from the Helm and nodded, "Aye sir."

The Captain then exited the bridge to head to the cargo bay and meet these newly revived guests. He only hoped that MacAllen was correct, and that these Sanguinarians were nicer then the last ones he'd met.

"The Inquisition, what a show, The Inquisition...here we GO!"
featuring...

(NPC) Fleet Admiral T'rel, Vice Commander in Chief, Starfleet

(NPC) Admiral Jurgen Hoth,Division Chief,StarFleet Tactical Services and Commandant, WOLF 359 Adv. Tactical School (Used with permission of Toothpick)

(NPC) Federation Proconsul Claude Guignon, Chair of the Federation Military Committee

(NPC) Commander Pavel Irihinova, Starfleet Intelligence, Department and function unknown

** Starfleet Command-Stardock Prime Terran orbital Facility Briefing Room Seven **

The briefing room was dimly lit, as were all the smaller briefing rooms at Starfleet Command. For some reason, the brass hats enjoyed the dramatic interplay of light and shadow. While appropiate for the tactical and strategic meetings that set the military course for Starfleet and directly affected the lives of billions of sentinents...it was true that more time was spent deciding the allotment of plasma widgets in them and didn't really need the drama.

This meeting was slightly more important.

Three individuals sat facing the fourth, theirn table facing his, and elevated higher, the light spilling down on them and leaving Admiral Jurgen Hoth half in the dark. Cheap psychological ploys. Three individuals, each representing one arm of the 'unholy' trimuverate that was setting Fleet policy these days. The Federation Body politic, The Fleet 'brass' and the spooks.

The Brass was represented by no less than the #2 man in the fleet, the Vice Commander. T'rel was a Vulcan of the old school, logical to the point of illogic. The politician was negligible, controlling only the pursestrings of the Fleet. The spook was the odd man out. He'd been silent the entire time, merely listening to the idle questions of the other two and staring at Hoth.

T'rel was questioning Hoth now... "I need to order these facts into a logical fashion, Admiral. Fact- The Wolf 359 school was set up by yourself as an additional "Advanced Tactical School" Fact-No one seems to know exactly when you began recruiting Tactical Officer candidates to this training program. Fact- the Commandant of Starfleet Academy is unaware of your imprimituer to open and run the school. Are these facts correct?"

Before Hoth could answer, however, the civilian, Proconsul Guignon leaned forward.

"Now T'rel...chew know...zees leetle program..she was approved long ago. Maybe it whuss not done zee way you had wish-ed, but it was done, no? Fleet Admiral Hiroshita, he approve Jurgen ev'ry step, no? So zees...tone of yours, it shall not continue?"

Hoth continued, as if his Commanding Officer hadn't interupted him with the asnine 'questions.'

"As I was saying, gentlemen. The Wolf 359 School is oficially designated the Advanced Tactical School for the Fleet now. I think we all in this room know the project in mind behind my charter, the name PROMETHEUS need not be mentioned. Our mission is to train those candidates identified both during their Academy years, and during Fleet duty for command duty of that project. In a departure from the previous Command School protocols, we're screening only junior officers, and fast tracking them for Command positions. No one over the rank of Lt. Cmdr. has been issued invitation for our premier class. We currently have identified five viable candidates from the Fleet, with five more being considered 'marginal...'"

"This designation of 'marginal' reflects ...what Admiral?"

Hoth blinked. Was the Vulcan really that literal?

"Usually an inability to 'think outside the box' in tactical or strategic applictions. Perhaps a psychological problem, or a disciplinary case. It varies..."

The spook removed the hand that had been supporting his chin and spoke for the first time.

"And who is it making this decision, Admiral? Who decides which candidate is 'optimal' and which is 'marginal' using the criteria...I assume you designed? No?"

"I decide, Commander. I run the program, I decide." Hoth's gaze was unblinking, the little Prussian sitting ramrod straight. Damned if these slugs see him as anyting but military.

"Excellent." was the only response from the spook.

"Logic dictates that we examine these candidates right now. Let us commence with Lieutenant Commander Sials S'Por, the Andorian aboard the USS..."

"No, Admiral. Let us jump to the odd man..or men...out. First, Lieutenant David Radz, on the Kualha'ohni. Is it me, or...he's a psychopath. Why him?"

Hoth bit back the cutting reply he favoured, and decided to play the trump card of "Fleet's problem' early. "I admit that firing a spread of photon torpedoes into a prisoner of war camp just to kill some Jed'Hadar seems...psychopathic. But Fleet Psych officers have him in a course of therapy and..."

"How about the GALAXY people. Lt. Von Ernst and Lt.j.g. VanderPuls- Hawksley. Tell us,please Admiral, why one is 'optimal' and the other 'marginal' using your critera?"

"The VanderPuls-Hawksley kid is a head case. Good Tactical sense, lousy strategic planning, no discipline. He's even been courtmartialed for that mouth of his, it's buried in Personnel since we can't admit that Captain Nils on the Saint Louie went insane but he's seen his share of hot water. That's what makes him marginal, he's unreliable and immature. Rebecca is different. I feel she's the best tactical and strategic planner we've seen in a long time. But with her, we need to strike a _very_ delicate balance."

The spook gestured for Hoth to continue.

"We need to keep her isolated from Price and his officers enough that she remains creative- otherwise she'll adopt Price's style, and we'll lose her and gain another Picard. At the same time, we need to increase her self confidence and social skills, so she'll have an ability to lead..."

"Picard, what ees zee problem with Captain Picard?" Asked the Proconsul.

"All pardon, sir. Picard and Price are...diplomats. Not battle commanders. They'd rather talk than fight. With the loss of trained officers and ships of the line at Wolf 359 and during the Dominion War...we don't need diplomats. We need fighters. We need battle commanders. We need ballkickers, down in the dirt streetfighters."

"Many of zee officers in zee fleet would argue witch chew..."

"Begging the Proconsul's pardon, but not the...millions... of dead ones. We've doubled Academy and Fleet recruitments, hell, we're even raping the Merchant Marine Fleet of skilled people to fill the duty rosters. We're still MILLIONS of people in the hole, and the Fleet is still thousands of hulls short."

The Fleet Admiral interjected here. "Logic says that if you give this Lieutenant the rank, the crews will follow her."

"Begging your pardon, but Logic has no place in a fight. It's not that simple. A Kirk, a K'Trang, even a Sulu could lead one ship or flotilla to victory. But by the time our NEXT war happens, there'll be too much, even for a genuis, to handle. Too many little ships, too many feints, too much carnage. Our next fleet commander will have to work smoothly with subordinates..."

The spook was back into the arguement. "But, if we put all our apples into one basket, who's to say that basket isn't rotten? Perhaps if we propped this girl up with an XO made of steel? The Andorian candidate? Even Price or Picard as her XO?"

Hoth's smile could only be described as 'ugly' Like it's originator, it was small, forced, and deadly seeming.

"If Rebecca performs the way I think she will, I'd like to use Hawksley as her XO. I'm going to include the pair of them in the Wolf class, and send them back to Price together too, like a matched pair of duelling pistols. He'll be like a lever on her, if she folds or cracks, gets uppity, Hawksley is the backup. I'm matching each 'prime' candidate with a 'marginal' one, and Lysander VanderPuls-Hawksley is going to be like an old Terran 'circuit breaker' on Lieutenant Von Ernst. If necessary, he can even..."

The Proconsul was the only one who looked shocked at the plan. "Zometimes...I teenk you...enjoy breaking your leetle genuises, no, Admiral?"

Hoth's posture was still ramrod straight.

"No sir. There is an art to ..breaking them. And I am very, very good at that. But I enjoy putting them back together much more. This isn't anything that any Command Officer doesn't go through during their career, just accelerated because of our need..."

The spook came back into the arguement."Would it upset you, if I called you a monster Admiral?"

Hoth's eyes never waivered.

"No. If Project Archangel saves the Federation and the Fleet, you can call me anything. If it doesn't...the next invasion from whomever won't leave anyone to call us wrong, or monsters, or anything. Do I get a raise for being a monster?"

The spook smiled for the first time. Hoth got the impression that he didnt do it a lot. "No. Just a medal. The Proconsul is cutting back Fleet expenditures to offset the new building program at the shipyards..."

And outside the secure room...the stars continued in their eternal dance, the shifting light having travelled for eons to shine on the transparent ports of Starfleet Command.

"The First Finding Part II"
by Lieutenant Commander Ethan Suder, Chief Engineer

Ethan woke up again, with yet another pain staking headache. He looked over to his right and saw a nurse standing at a display monitor. He looked over to his right and saw several other crew members that were in there for the same reason he was.

"What's going on?" Ethan asked, quite straight forwardly.

The nurse turned around and was some what startled by Ethan's abrupt voice. "I'm not sure, I believe the senior officers are having a meeting now about the situation."

"The ship?" Ethan asked.

"I don't know, we've been too busy here with wounded to know what's going on." the nurse said looking back at the display monitor.

Ethan wanted to get to that meeting. He was feeling up for it but knew the nurse would stop him until she was ready. "What's my condition?" he asked.

"Severe blood loss mainly." the nurse replied.

"Mainly?" Ethan asked sitting up, focusing on the display screen the nurse was looking at.

"For a period of time, I'm sorry to say that-"

"I was dead." Ethan interrupted.

"You knew?" she asked glancing at him again.

Ethan just gave a very slight nod and continued looking at the information on the screen.

"Interesting. Most people don't realise."

Ethan saw a scan of his head in a small corner of the display unit. Then he realised that was what the nurse was looking at. She in turn noticed his glance. She felt concerned. She wanted to tell him straight out what the problem was, but she didn't have a clue. Ethan however knew. Or at least, he had an idea.

"We found this in one of the scans we were conducting during the whole situation. I'm sorry to say again, we're not certain what it is, there doesn't seem to be a match in our records."

"You'll not find it either." Ethan said quietly.

"You know what it is?" she asked grabbing a medical tricorder.

Ethan grabbed the tricorder off the nurse and placed it on the side. "You've ran your scans and you know you won't find anything new. This is something very few Betazoid's go through." he explained.

"Fatal?" the nurse asked.

"About ninety eight per cent of the time." Ethan paused and took a deep breath. "It's a sort of, brain infection. This," Ethan said pointing at a black dot on the scan of his head, "presses against certain nerves in the brain. This is the part of the brain that makes us empathic. Without knowing it, we make really close, personal connections with people. And when we lose those people, it can have a very negative result."

"This." the nurse said and looked down at the floor when she saw Ethan nod again. "I think just about everyone know's what you've lost."

Ethan almost glared at the nurse. "Well, we can't have everything. It's how we get through life." Ethan said turning back to look around the room.

"We few, we lucky few." she said walking to another console.

Ethan smirked. "We band of buggers." he added.

"So what do we do?" the nurse asked.

"I talk to people on Betazed. That's all we can do for now." Ethan replied, again, still quiet.

"Your taking this very well. It's almost as if death doesn't scare you."

Ethan chuckled and just looked at the floor. "Funny that." he said before sitting down on a stool near by. "There's medication I can take. It'll help, at least until I can find someone who can help me."

"I'm no Doctor, but what about surgery?" the nurse asked, knowing that Ethan knew more than she did about whatever this thing in his head was.

"Too delicate to perform." Ethan replied looking up at the nurse. I should contact Betazed as soon as possible.

At that, silence filled the room. The nurse continued researching the computer database while Ethan remained seating, silent, thinking through things in his head. All of this was cased from connections he had with people. And now those people were gone. Donna, Rachel, Baxa, Adrianna, Samara, Captain Sanders, his whole family. It tore him up inside, but he didn't know it would do this to him. It did explaint he headaches and problems he had been having for the past few months. There was now so much to do. The question was if Ethan was going to or not. He thought he was quite ready for death. The only problem with death, is that it would effect other people. He didn't want that...

To be continued...

"Demons"

by Lieutenant James Mitchell"
Assistant Chief Science Officer

by Lieutenant Commander Shinta Navarre-Maxwell
Assistant Chief Counsellor

After the Sanguinarians had been vanquished, James did what he was told without incident and returned to his quarters as per Commander Jii's orders. The last thing he needed was a black mark on his file for subordination.

James owed the Security Chief a very large favour now. He'd been given the opportunity to exorcise his demons by being given direct responsibility in ridding the ship of the creatures that had caused so much pain and misery to so many on the Galaxy, and he'd enjoyed it immensely. Seeing the look on Lilith's face as she and the other alien knew their habitation on the starship was at an end was priceless, and had lifted a great burned from him. Now, all that was left for him to do was prove to Tyrola that what he feels for her is honest, and he promised himself he would take his time doing so. No pressure.

Now, he was waiting patiently for his first session with Shinta since the mission end. He knew this would come eventually, but duties had kept him from visiting her. Or maybe he was simply putting it off. At any rate, he had no choice now.

Shinta went over to James quarters. He had performed very well during the capture of the vampires. yet he was still confined to quarters. Part of this was that he needed to be psychologically evaluated again, so Shinta wasted no time. She was still pretty keyed up herself. Gavin was OK physically, but mentally he was not. He had seen children murdered brutally before his eyes. And he was having nightmares, and trouble being alone. This infuriated her, she had wanted a different childhood for her children. Of one free from fear, and unlike her own. Now this was all falling apart.

James was relaxing in bed, eyes half-closed, drifting in the lilts of Celtic melodies mixed with the soft underscore of thunder and rain. He'd lit incense composed of musk and lilac as well as candles placed in strategic position around his quarters. The lights were dimmed to almost non-existent. He wanted to create an atmosphere of serenity and peace.

His door chimed and he reched over to press the key to open his door. He didn't want to lose the level of meditation he'd attained.

She entered James room.

"Hello, I hope you don't mind seeing me, you and I still have some talking to do with for you go back on duty." She hoped that she looked calm now.

He lifted his hand slightly and gestured her to a chair he'd set up beside his bed where he lay on top of the sheets dressed in a hooded sweater which he'd drawn up around his head, gapped slightly at the ears, and casual leggings. His feet were bare.

"Ask me whatever you wish, Counsellor." He was in a state of being, and so as not to lose it, his voice was at a whisper.

Shinta was taken a little bit aback. He seemed so calm. How could somebody in his situation be so calm, after all that had happened she was far from it. somehow it just rubbed her the wrong way today.

"Would you at least look as if you were paying attention. Like what I am saying has any meaning." It came out very hostile, and she regretted it the moment the words left her mouth. Shinta took a deep breath. "Never mind, I did not say that, just do what ever the hell makes you happy." She sat in a chair and willed herself to relax a little.

"So..." she continued. "How are you coping, you certainly do not look like you are going stir crazy."

He raised his hands palms up and slowly brought them together to lay one on top of the other in a cross pattern, barely touching each other. Then slowly, while exhaling, rotated them down and away from each other, following the curvature of his body as he gently rose himself to a seated position on the end of his bed. The music flowed softly in the background beyond them.

"This is an exercise I learned while on Bajor during the occupation." He whispered softly while his hands cut through the air around him in an elegant dance. "I knew a Vedek once, long ago, who took me aside when I was a teenager in 2361 - just before I enrolled in the Academy - and taught me the ways of the Pak Tal." He raised himself on one foot, and balanced on his foot to pivot towards the Counsellor. He pushed out with a single hand, palm out, and brought the other one back to rest on his chest, over his heart.

"I do not believe in religion." Shinta said. "On Bajor I prayed to the gods and the prophets, and they never did anything for me. I have come to rely on myself." She continued to listen.

"It brought order to the chaos that ruled my mind, and focussed my thoughts on what I wanted to achieve. If it weren't for him, I would have gone crazy like the others." He held the position for several seconds, then switched feet with some elegance and crouched in mid-air, hands out like claws. It was like a slow, subtle dance. "It certainly helped when my closest friend had been killed beside me when we tried to kill a Cardassian Gul who'd been torturing a group of Bajorans for the simple reason that he could. They caught on to what a bunch of us were doing and they wanted to make an example out of us."

He stopped and looked at Shinta curiously, without emotion.

The counselor was beginning to feel uncomfortable, this was not what she wanted to hear right now. She had enough on her mind, with out being reminded off the horrors of Bajor.

"They killed him slowly. Gutted his throat like a fish, keeping him alive by not cutting any major arteries. It took him 20 minutes to die, and they made me watch. Stuck toothpicks in my eyelids to keep them open, and bound me so that I could not move. Any struggle forced the knot around my neck to tighten." He made a sweeping motion with his arms, up and out, the folds of his sweater floating under. His eyes followed his hands as they dipped and sliced through the air.

"His screams echo in my mind every so often. I watched as they drank his blood in front of him, then saw through his neck to finally take his head off. The sounds of grinding bone still make me nauseous to this day. They put his head on a spike and mounted it in front of me until I passed out from exhaustion hours later. The Cardassians would leave it for all to see at walkway to our prison cells, so that every day, when we left to our work groups, we'd see it, and remember. These exercises helped keep my thoughts in order where others weren't so lucky, and lost their lives for it."

Shinta now felt very uncomfortable, her own horrors that had been so carefully kept back in a compartment of her mind, were starting to emerge. So she took a couple of deep breaths. "So you were in the resistance. How old were you when you became involved? What did you do?" She had no idea that she sat as a tense hudled ball in the chair, breathing very shallowly.

"TACTICAL: End of mission Wrap-UP"

A joint post by

Ozwald
Jessie
Lysander
Rebecca

The small Tactical Planning Office on Deck 11 was nearly bursting at the gills this evening, as the entire Department of Red-Shirts gathered to discuss the previous mission. On the whole Tactical had been rather uninvolved, but the short Department Chief was still going to be thourough in her post game analysis, even though she hated public speaking.

Plus there were other issues that had to be addressed:

"Uh....and so if the Torpedo crews could....uh....kindly remember that personalhygiene is an issue that affects us all.....um.....we'll be getting less nasty letters from the civilians aboard."

Grumbling from the back of the crowd revealed that this whole 'cleanliness' thing was rather unpopular with some of the Department's 'earthier' types.

Ignoring the murmuring as she always tended to do in order to avoid confrontation, Rebecca continued with her meeting.

"So, to summarize for our Mission-End Tactical Evaluation: we have zero opponents engaged.....zero shots fired....zero external threats identified..and zero impacts on shields. On the converse side we have two incidents of Pigs intruding where they should not be, one of which involving a confirmed 'poop' incident......"

Chuckling, Ensign Thatcher decided to interrupt and comment about that. Snowy was his pet after all. "After returning Snowy to our home, I contacted engineering about a restraint collar. My pig is now constrained to stay in our quarters, unless a humanoid escort is present. Also, I decided to keep the portable cage in case he needs to visit the vet."

He paused only a moment before contributing something positive. "On a brighter note, I completed an inventory of the forward torpedo room. There was only one major problem, which I fixed immediately. Someone left a bag of flamable rags near the weapons magazine, despite the warning sign. With your premission, Leutenant, I would like to expand the inventory to the aft torpedo bays."

Rebecca blinked at the extraneaous information. Didn' t people understand she was tryin to zip though this meeting as fast as she could without interruption so she could run back to her room and hide.

"Uh...Great work.....Flamable rags....yes....thats bad." she blathered stupidly. "Anyways though....Mission end reports continue....we had two failed inspections in the Phaser maintenance crawl-spaces.... forty two instances of Department members falling out on the Morning PT Runs, and six complaints from the recreation director about Hairballs in the shower drains of the Ship's Gymnasium.... (ahem)..Ensign Bosco."

Rebecca sought out the Caitan member of the Tactical Officer Corps, his long silky fur standing out in the crowd. "It seems we've had several clogs this week alone."

"Rrrrright Lieutenant." The Feline alien Purred, "I'll trrrry to keep it underrr contrrrrol."

"Fine." Rebecca replied adding, "The fact that these showers were slated for the use of FEMALE members of the crew was also raised as an issue at the Senior Staff Meeting, but I told them that was an honest mistake on your part Ensign."

"Completely honest mistake." Bosco agreed readily.

"Right," Rebecca nodded, "A mistake repeated six times in recent months."

"I was wonderrring why therrre seemed to be an overrrrabundance of prrrrretty women in my showerrrr facilities." The notoriously randy Caitan commented.

"It seems rather there was an overabundance of misdirected Tom Cats in THEIR shower facilities." Rebecca said dryly.

The group chuckled softly. Bosco's exploits were famous aboard the Galaxy.

Lysander leaned over to Bosco, and in an overly exaggerated stage whisper said...

" Nice one, Fuzzy. I have to remember that routine ... 'Oh ... this is for FEMALES?'"

Sighing to herself, Rebecca waved the laughter down. "Okay, settle down, we have a few ship's announcements as well......Ummmmm, tonight's showing of the 33rd Remake of Bram Stoker's DRACULA has been canceled for obvious reasons, and instead we're having a film short by someone named Leo Streely entitled 'Young Ensigns in Love' It says here its some sort of "Art-Film" whatever that means."

Ensign Bosco nudged the crewman next to him and winked. The cat didn't know 'Art' but he knew and admired the amatuer camera-work of the famed Mr. Streely and his nubile actresses.

Lysander looked at his usual 'partner in smut crimes' and smirked back. He'd only been aboard a while, but he'd learnt quickly that ANYTHING involving the name 'Leo Streely' usually involved something near and dear to Lysander's heart. Women. He mouthed back at Bosco "Art film...???"

Ignoring that Rebecca consulted her notes, reading : "Next, Commander Savat will be delivering a 12-part lecture in the Blue Room entitled 'The Prime Directive and You.' All crewmembers are encouraged to attend. Light refreshment and ritualistic Meditation to follow."

Rebecca paused, wondering what the Vulcan equivalent of Cookies and milk were for 'light-refreshments'

"Ummmm anyway....let's see.. a couple of wedding announcements.....Dr. Autumn Jamison to wed Lt. Wilhem Quever..uh Queven....Querty.......uh.... However you say his name, all crew are invited. Next we have another wedding.....um.....Dr. Todd Sansky to Nathan....hmmm must be a typo.......Maybe they mean 'Natalie' Carrington. Anyways....ceremony to be performed by Admiral Carrington. Please RSVP to Dr. Sansky c/o the Brig."

Rebecca scratched her head at the wedding announcement again. Funny how they made a mistake and made it seemed like two GUYS were getting married. She had to suppress a small snort of laughter.

"Okay..last thing, Remember.....Alien Culture Sensitivity Training at 1800 in LoungeDelta....Tonight's topic......Klingons and Tribbles....Cant we all just get along."

"Okay ya'll, anyways, good job on this mission. Next time out, Cptain Price promises something for us to shoot at, so lets stay focussed on that......ummm I'm out of town on business for the next few weeks while Galaxy re-supplies, so I'll be leaving Jessie in charge. Good news is that Lieutenant Sanchez is also going on shore leave so PT is canceled for that time period...yay!"

"Okay...... any questions?" Rebecca quickly scanned the crowd praying there would be none, so she could finish this icky meeting and go hide in her room until it was time to leave the ship.

Unfortunately that was no to be....

Jessie stood and looked at Rebecca. "Um Becca.. I have been granted a transfere off the ship.. I am going to the USS Repulse under James Kincaid as a tac officer. Sorry but it just came through and I am very sorry to be leaving..." she looked around. Her eyes met Bosco's and Brian's the two officers who she had the most to do with. "I will miss you all. Bosco you will have to find someone else to let you into the Female showers." she handed her Phaser to Brian. "Brian just make sure to miss people like I do ok?" she smiled and handed the PADD to Rebecca. "And that Name was NATHAN Rebecca... no typo." She shot out a hand to steady Rebecca in case she fainted.

Now maybe Rebecca's big brain was able to absorb and process really mundane things like the Grand Unification Theory, or Twelvth Dimensional Virtual Calculus, but big shockers like what Jessie just delivered were impossible to wrap one's mind around.

"Huh....what....Leaving?...Kincaid?.....Nathan?... ....Two boys!!???!!!!" Rebecca contemplated the implications. "Ewwwwwww gross." she groaned scrunching her freckled nose in disgust. "Thats nasty."

Again the ensemble giggled at their Department Chief's discomfort.

Vainly she tried to salvage the situation by quickly asking again if there were any more questions. ~~~Please Noodles, Let there be none.....~~~

Lysander couldn't resist, it was just so EASY sometimes. He raised his hand, and his left eyebrow at the same time. He knew the expression was one that Rebecca loathed, so he spent about three hours a week practicing it.

Rebecca sighed. Old Lysander had been a pain in her tiny little butt since their days back at the Academy. He was always bugging her in Math class trying to see what grade she got on the exams. He was so obsessed with the competition. Now he just bugged the noodles out of her.

"Yes Lysander...." she droned slowly, "What is it?"

Lysander stood and tugged his duty tunic down. With the deadpan espression that usually indicated that some halfwitted and halfassed scheme was underway, he intoned...

"I see that the new duty roster indicates that I've been re- assigned to Gamma shift's Main Bridge duties. I would like to request that Ensign Bosco be reassigned from the Main Bridge duties on Delta Shift and assigned as the Backup Duty Officer for Gamma Shift. Oh...and who's the new ACTO, since Jessie's made it official."

Rebecca blinked again at the interruptions that were keeping her stuck out in front of the crowd. ACTO? DELTA SHIFT? GAMMA? Huh?

"Uh...sure fine...."Rebecca evaded with a wave, "You guys work out the details, and I'll get back to you. Any more questions..NO? Good Meeting dismissed, The End goodbye!"

She finished up quickly to avoid any more entaglements with old Lysander.

He looked at his old nemesis from the Academy. Rebecca von Ernst was the one candidate who not only left him in the dust in Mathematics classes, but she also had the balls to be the one cadet who'd shown up Lysander in the Tactical simulators. Whent he orders had been cut for them both to be turned loose from Sciences and re-assigned to the Tactical School of the Academy, everyone but Lysander had been surprised that 'Cadet Cloaking Device' ahd been his wingmate. Sheesh, 'Becca couldn't even handle a 2-gee pull without tossing her cookies. Lookit her here, she looked like she wanted nothing more than to lock herself in her quarters...and he had a round of drinks on the outcome of Jessie's rumoured departure.

"Thinking about Vampires"
by Commander Thomas
USS Galaxy

Commander Thomas had left the bridge and was enroute to find the Binars. He was hopeful that they would be able to provide him with additional support and their talent to overcome the current program in control of the ship.

They needed to regain control of the ship or else they were going to leave the galaxy and never be heard from again. Of course if they got to a point they would have to dump the core and then call for help, unfortunately that might mean they'd have a very long ride home.

With everyone else focusing on the capture of their guest, who were now enemies of the ship. No one he knew of was working on trying to find a way to over come the current program in control of the ship.

Chris paced around the trubolift as he waited for it to bring him to his destination, which was first the last known location of the Binars. The captain had suggested they might be able to help over come the current problem.

Of course he'd only looked at the program briefly so he didn't know what help might be needed to correct the problem, but the captain's recommendation was sound and if he hand extra help it would be all the better. Plus if he was called away they could continue to work on resolving the problem with or without his presence.

After the turbolift ride and a walk to the last location, he found they were not there. The Binars were in fact no where around him or his location, which meant they'd either moved on or the computer might be having more problems then just flight control issues.

If this was the case then they could be in real trouble.

"Computer re-scan the internal section of the ship for the Binars." Chris said as he found no signs of the Binars where the computer had reported their position earlier.

"Working" the computer said.

Chris wondered if by chance the internal sensors weren't malfunctioning due to the presence of the hostiles now running lose on the ship. It might even be possible the sensors were so focused on finding the threat's lose on the ship, they weren't able to cope with a simple location scan for crewmembers.

"The Binar's are in Main Engineering." the computer finally said.

Great. Chris thought to himself, well that would make his trip more dangerous. Now he had to cover a lot more ground with the vampires still out there on the lose.

"Working on a Computer Solution"
by Commander Thomas
USS Galaxy

Commander Thomas found the Binars unconscious in Main Engineering. This was going to be a problem as the additional help would have been nice to have. Unfortunately it appeared the Binars were only capable of making a very odd buzzing sound. Something he was surprised none of the engineers hadn't noticed before. He would however grant that they could've easily been overlooked with everything that was happening on the ship.

The Binars being unconscious was a setback. Chris retrieved a medical tricorder and started scanning them for some sort of answer. His medical skills were efficient, but limited to certain areas.

From the initial scans he could only tell they were unconscious, but he couldn't say for how long. In fact he could tell what the problem was, but then if it wasn't medical problem he might need to adjust the tricorders readings to look for and pick up other potential problems.

"This is odd." Chris said to himself as he adjusted the tricoder and began to run additional scans on the Binars looking for a new answer. Running additions scan revealed the Binar's cpu's, their brains weren't functioning at the moment. Well now he was going to find a way to try and restart them and then see if he could also find out what happened to them in the first place. Otherwise a restart might end up just having them right back to this state.

****

Commander Thomas watched and waited to see if after restoring their cpu connections and inserting a new command directive it would restore them to functioning status.

If this was going to be effective, it would or could take a little time or a lot of time. Either way, all he could do for at least a few minutes was wait and see what happened. If it took longer then fifteen minutes, he would turn his attention to the program and hand the Binars medical care over to someone else.

****

With the Binars now active, Thomas turned his attention to over coming the current computer program, virus that was in control of the ship's flight systems. Having also updated the Binars about this they would soon begin working on the problem from another angle.

In effect Chris and the Binars would be approaching the problem from two different angles in an effort to increase efficiency and resolve the problem as quickly as possible. Borg like.

Unfortunately the Binars would not be helping him right away. They needed time to recover from whatever aliment they were suffering from. It was unfortunate, but it was life aboard a starship.

Chris turned his full attention now on trying to overcome the computer program in control of their ship, his captain's ship. Everything would eventually depend on him succeeding or else they'd be leaving the Galaxy on a one way trip.

Sitting down in chair, at a console in engineering, but out of the way he set to work on the program. His first approach was to see what the program was and just how much it was in control of the ship or if it was limited to the engines only.

This initial information would dictate his approach on the entire project. Which he was willing and honest to admit it could take hours or longer, just get past the first stage in this approach.

Academy Dayze, II
2374 Starfleet Academy, San Francisco, Earth
A joint "prequel" post by...
First Year Cadet Miette Michelle Remmington and
Fourth Year Cadet Lysander VanderPuls-Hawksley

Remy walked down the corridor to the holodeck, smiling lightly to herself. She was going to be on the Red Squadron, something that she had been waiting for for such a long time now, she had met a cute guy and threatened to kick his ass, and now she was going to go fence and eat a brownie. Ah, life was good.

"This 'Cadet Charming's' sort of interesting," she murmured to herself. "Cute but probably hella egotistical. The "I'm the best pilot on the ship" sort. Guess I could ask him out or something but naaaah. We'd probably end up hating each other."

--- --- ---

Lysander was p-i-s-s-e-d. Cappie had chewed him out but good, and the loss of his Commandery in Red Squadron was rankling him, more than it had the two previous times. Something big and weird was going on with the Senior Staff at the Academy, espicially those in the Tactical School. Feeling put upon, he stalked into his quarters and grabbed his case of memory wafers, before heading to the Academy Holodecks. Since he couldn't take a trainer out and do some six-gee Ehlermann rolls anymore, fencing would have to suffice to blow off steam.

A quick query of available holosuites, however, showed that he really should have reserved time. Unless he wanted to join the three Marine Cadets in their simulation of the assault on Thierenke Seven...or that dippy Tressian sentinent tree, enjoying the breezes in a simulated..wait...what the hell? It was right there in front of his face...

**^** Holosuite 6, Reserved:Cadet1 M.Remmington 15:00-18:00 hours Program: 2005 FIE World Cup Epee Finals vs. Trillinni / Thiebault / Santiago V.Nazalimov referreeing, Fencing Program 27465462843-j-9238378Remmington, MM**^** imprinted on the LCARS in glowing blue. With a smirk,Lysander activated his commbadge.

==^=="Cadet Vanderpuls-Hawksley to Cadet Remmington. Keep practicing frosh, you'll need it. Want to cross blades with a living person, since you have the only fencing simulator all tied up today?"==^==

------

Remy stopped in her tracks, startled by the sudden communique by Cadet Charming. "Well, he sounds like he's in a particularly black mood. Maybe I can cheer him up a bit." Then, with a slightly impish smile, she tapped her comm badge and said, "I'd be glad to, ole' chum. I'll be there in five. Are you sure you'll be ready? Over and out!" When she arrived at the holodeck, Lysander was outside, waiting for her. "I didn't know you fenced, but I'm glad. I like working out with another real person. They're so much more fun. It's harder to irritate computers. Irritation is key to fencing. At any rate, I'm ready when you are." She held out her arm, as though Lysander were escorting her into a formal ball. "By the way, what in the blue hell does 'frosh' mean?'

Lysander hooked his arm through hers with a fluid ease that showed he'd done that particular action before a time or two. He allowed her to key in her program code to the holosuite computer before accompanying her through the archway.

"Hiyas blondie. Just wanted to say 'sorry' about the simulator...I'd have LOVED to see the look on your face though, when that bird flew right into the side of your carrier. I also prefer to work out with real opponents... it's more fun, since once you figure out the personality parameters of the computer simms...well. nevermind. Oh...'frosh?' twentienth century Terran slang for first year middies... used to designate a whippersnapper, someone who talks pure vented plasma without really knowing anything..."

The smirk on Lysander's face was fairly insufferable. But he liked this cadet, she was feisty. They were half way through his last year, and already he'd been very amused by her nipping at his heels on Flight Ops scores, and her bragging about her fencing abilities. He was looking forwards to this.

"Foils, epees, or sabres m'lady fair?" he asked her with an exaggerated leer at her form fitting Academy jumpsuit.

Remy put a hand to her forehead as though faint with the harshness of choice. "Oh, I don't know, m'lord. Choosing weapons to kick another person's highly egotistical arse is such a weighty decision. Mon dieu, but I am struck with indecision. If it pleases your lordship, I choose sabres." She stepped closer to him and looked down her body which was very well flattered by the tight fitting jumpsuit and back up at him. "See anything you like, Lysander? You're never going to get it." She spun away from him with the graceness of a ballet dancer and bent her knees, forming an exaggerated fancy position.

Lysander's smirk was incredibly overt. He may have been fourth year and the former cadet commander, but he wasn't that far ahead of her in piloting skills, not by any means.

He was better than her at flying and he knew it. But that would change. He also thought he was better at fencing. Constantly around the Academy, Remy had heard of Cadet Charming, with his excellent piloting, womanizing exploits, and, of course, his extraordinary fencing abilities. But this was one girl he wasn't going to beat, not in flying, not in bed, and very most certainly, not in fencing.

"En garde," Remy said and smiled.

Lysander didn't let her choice of sabres faze him one bit. True, he preferred foils over the other disciplines, but sabre was still fun. He'd been enjoying this mock rivalry between himself and the blonde cadet, but now...he had nothing to lose. If he couldn't fly...

"Computer, sabre bout...full safety protocols, replicate full kits for myself and Cadet Remmington." The barely audible hum took place as the fencing strip appeared before them, the regulation ten metres by one metre outlined in non-skid yellow on the impeccible white floor. One complete wall was taken up behind it, with the scoreboard and the diagram of two fencers, which would illuminate exactly where touches were scored.

Next to the replicator port, by the archway there appeared a long duffle bag, labelled "L.VanderPuls-Hawksley Star Fleet Academy Varsity Fencing Team" no doubt containing the jacket, glove, mask, and sabres needed for the bout by Lysander. It was amazing how fast the Academy Transporter cadets scrambled to get the appropiate people and items around the school.

The chirp of the computer took both cadets by surprise...

++ Please Specify which Cadet Remmington...Miette Michelle, Class of 2377 or James Remmington, Class of 2349?, two other referents surnamed "Remmington" also in Academy Holosuite Database, but without fencing parameters ++ Remy's jaw dropped a little, making one of those comical O's that little cartoons make. She was shocked. She shouldn't be shocked. Her father was a pilot. Her father loved to fence. Her father was the one who taught her how to fence, though she had never been able to beat him, at least not before he had been locked away. She shouldn't have been shocked.

But she was.

Remy took a breath and blinked. Her eyes refocused on Lysander, who was staring at her. "Look, I know when I drop my jaw to the floor and I pale like a ghost, I'm irresistable, but you don't have to stare at me like that," she quipped, slightly breathlessly. She must not look intimidated. . .or weak. You can take a father from a girl, but you can't take her sense of humor. "Cadet Miette Michelle," she told the computer and her bag emerged. She went over to it and then looked at Lysander, who was still staring at her. "Damn computers. Stupid things. I mean, i don't REALLY look that much like my dad, do I? Shorter, whiter, considerably less hairy. Those kind of remarks can really hurt a girl's self esteem."

Lysander shook his head. He'd never, in the last few months made the connection. Remmington? Right after the Invasion of Terra Sector by the Borg...that 'accident' involving crew deaths...could she be the daughter of THAT Remmington? And here he'd thought she was outcast by most other Cadets because of her smart assed mouth...

"Ummm... yeah...right....it's probally because you ARE less hairier...that you're so irrestiable...though me.. I like my lassies with a bit of fluff on them...you know...almost like a Tribble...only bigger...and not hermophedretic..." Lysander was concentrating on zipping his jacket and settling the leather glove on his right hand. His mind was awhirl, wondering if he should ask her about the computer query, or mind his own smegging business.

"You have something to say, Lysander?" she asked, and she could hear the defensiveness rising in her voice. She was probably going from pale to flushed, and while this surely wasn't good for her complexion, she couldn't seem to keep her equilibrium. She had a clear head with just about everything. . .except the infamous James Remmington. "Say it."

Lysander pulled a sabre from his bag and was examining the blade with exagerated interest. Obviously she had a chip on her shoulder...and the comments "Cappie" had made this morning when Lysander had lost his squadron and flight priviledges now made sense. Humour...if he made a big deal out of this, she'd probally start crying or something.

"Okay...but you have to PROMISE not to try and kick my ass...anyone ever tell you that you look cute when you blush like that? Seriously...I wasn't there, but I think that what happend to your Dad was a raw deal. Though you're kinda lucky...at least your Dad is alive to talk to..." Remy took out her fencing gear from her bag and quickly slipped it over her head. Then she took out her sabre and stared at it. It felt good in her hands. Relaxation. Be one with the sword. See the light. Be the ball. Breathe in, breathe out. Wax on, wax off.

Ignore Dad, ignore Mom, ignore all of them. Concentrate on the opponent. The fencing. The fun. Lysander's ass. That made her smile. She could slowly ease back to her normal, irritatingly cheery self. "Yeah, it coulda come out worse. It coulda worked out better to. Your old man gone?" Lysander slipped the mask over his face to cover his emotions. He walked down to the far side "garde" line and lunged out to loosen up his legs. He didn't think about his parents a lot, and the blue smeggin blazes knew he didn't talk about them a lot.

"Yeah. He and my Ma died in a hovertrain accident. You wanna go five or fifteen touches? Let's go five, since you're a slightly less hairy girlie girl and all...I'd hate to see you cry when you lose..."

Remy figured he was trying to change the subject, but that as okay. If she didn't have to talk about her own dad, why hould he have to? Counseling and "talking about your emotions" is for wimps. "Hey, I may not have the hair," she said as she approached him closely, "but I've got much better and bigger equipment up here." She tapped her head and then rabbed his crotch. "Then you've got down there." She released, backed up a few pieces, and smiled. "Now, are you ready to go?"

Lysander gaped inside his mask. Then his natural sense of humour took over.

"Well...if you're comparing THAT to THAT...you're gonna be severely dissapointed. Don't you know that the biggest erongnous zone on Terrans is between their ears? What does the winner get, by the way? Perhaps a kiss from the loser fair...?"

"Dream on, Lyssie," Remy said with a smile. "I'm not kissing you. . .or doing anything ELSE with you. . .anytime. But if I win, you can treat me to dinner and dessert sometime. And flowers. I would be the envy of every girl. I got flowers from Cadet Charming." She laughed lightly. "And what would you like. . .on the off chance (meaning no chance at all) that you win?"

Lysander's smirk cuold only be described as 'evil.' "Ohhhhh...I dunno. The dinner/desert and flowers thing sunds kind of nice. BUT You have to wear a dress. Deal?" He came to the middle line, left hand outstretched.

Remy walked over to the middle line and smiled. "If I win, then on our dinner thing, YOU have to wear a dress." She held her hand out a little above his. "Deal?"

Lysander shook her hand and re-assumed the 'En Garde" position. This would be eaaaaasssssssssyyyyyyy.....

*** *** ***

An hour later, the contest had turned to a 'best two out of three'...Lysander had won the first bout 5-2...Miette had wonthe second 5-0...and the score was tied at 4-4 in this decisionmaker.

Drenched with sweat, Lysander glared at his new mortal enemy. Equally short of breath and sweaty, Remmy glared back at him, their weapons hanging almost forgotten at their sides.

Lysander whipped his mask up and came to the middle ground.

"Look, this is ridiculous. Just give me a kiss, and I'll _let_ you win. I beat you fair and square the first time, you know it...I know it..."

He never saw the foot coming. It impacted him right...errr... directly...umm... in a _very_ sensitive area. AS he collapsed to the floor wheezing, Remy tapped his back with her sabre. The scoring panel indicated a touche for Remy in a blaze of scarlet light.

"Touche. Oh dear...please DO let me know what sort of dress you'll be wearing, Lyssie dearie, I'd hate for us to match..."

Cackling evilly, the first year cadet left for her quarters and a well deserved shower...and possibly a brownie.

And on the floor, Lysander had to smirk. She'd won, but only by a cheap shot. AND he now had a date with a very pretty, very interesting young lady. Life was good. Painful, but good. But damned if he wouldn't ask for a re-match...

"Wonderful Night for a Moondance?"

Joint Post With:

Lt j.g. Lysander VanderPuls-Hawksley,Tac-Weenie Extrodinaire
and
(NPC) Holli von Ernst, Civilian and Mother (used with Toothpick's permission and assistance)

(OOC: Set during the Red Alert when the undead were still mucking about)

Lysander approached the woman standing alone in the lounge on Deck 10. He noticed and more than appreciated the play of the lights over her hair and body. He fingered the locking collar of the Emergency Suit he wore, as part of Damage Control Party 42 and de-activated the face plate control.

The faint 'puff' of escaped air didn't alert her to his presence, but his voice did, causing Holli von Ernst to jump as he said...

"Ma'am? Excuse me, but I have to escort you to your quarters. The ship is in a Red Alert and you can't be here." ~"what the smeg is that growling noise?"~ he wondered to himself

Caught up in her own little personal Universe of color and swirling light, the sudden appearance of a Space-suited Goon breathing down her neck caused Holli to do far more than merely 'jump'.

Point of fact but a more accurate description would be to say that she barely bit off a scream while simultaneously attempting to leap and twist away from the hooded assailant.

Unfortunately for the surprised woman, her twisting only served to entangle herself in her flowing robe of scarlet hair, and what had once been a silky smooth symbol of her femininity quickly became a sticky tangle of clinging red ropes.

Holli's attempt to flee likewise proved unwise seeing as she was already standing quite close to the expansive bay window, she only succeeded in smacking her freckled little nose into its cold hard surface.

"OW!! Frazzing crap!" she cried clutching her hands to her nose in pain. "You scared the cow turds out of me you Space- suited goon!"

Despite her protests, the good natured Holli was more surprised than angry, and the pretty blush that rose in her cheeks were more due to the embarrassment of being caught dancing in the starlight , rather than the relatively minor blow to the nose.

Lysander was still trying to determine where the puzzling soud was originating from. It closely resembled ripping paper. Holli's jump and subsequent tirade startled him even more. Unfortunately, a off-balance Lysander was a sarcastic Lysander.

"Sorry there. We Space Suited Goons are kinda distracted, what with this smeggin Red Alert, all the whooping sirens and flashing lights and all. Perhaps you'd better gather up your ..umm..what was the phrase? "...Cow Turds?" and come with me to your quarters. Now."

Seeing her discomfort, Lysander's basic human compassion was aroused. Not to mention other, more self-interested parts of his anatomy. His voice softened, and he extended his gloved hand, to take her elbow.

"Really, Ma'm. Sorry about the fright, but I need to take you back to your quarters. What deck and compartment are you assigned to?" "~and what the smeggin novas IS that noise?~" he wondered.

The 'noise' referred to was as a matter of fact, the bone- chilling growl of a rabid dachshund in all its unholy terror...which in real terms amounted to little more than a subtle rumbling.

Suffice it to say however, that if Lysander spoke 'Weenie- dog' he would have been suitably intimidated.

Miss Wiggles, the von Ernst family Dog sat up on the end of the Lounge Sofa and glared at the intruding male with worried little eyes. Her first doggy-instinct was to protect her Mistress, but if push came to shove and the Space-suited intruder made any menacing moves, it would be every-dog-for- himself. Sorry Holli, but that's just the law of the jungle.

Recovering from her embarrassing little gaff, Holli sized up the Starfleet officer, tall and intimidating in his bulky Environmental Suit. Little spinning dials and flashing lights glowed here and there on his outfit giving it a satisfying 'hi-tech' appeal.

His trim Fleet PT physique didn't hurt matters either. "You need to take me to my room huh?" The long haired woman asked with a small smirk on her face. "Well I dunno about that Admiral Smeg. Usually a guy buys me a drink first before getting down to brass tacks."

Lysander blinked, as his hand made contact with her elbow. A "post sarcastic after being thrown mentally off-balance Lysander" was a very literal Lysander as well.

"I'm a Lieutenant Junior Grade, not an Admiral, and I can't buy you a drink while I'm on duty." Lysander let is gaze roam down from her eyes to her trim form, with his patented 'endearing grin # 4756' forming on his face. "More's the pity. Your nose all right, there? Should I call Sickbay and...what the smeggin Novas is THAT?" Lysander had just tracked the noise to the fearless Miss Wiggles, eyeing his forearm with a fervor that said if it wasn't such a burden to leap off the sofa and gnaw on it a while, she would do so.

"Oh piffle on my nose." Holli dismissed the minor bump with a wave of her hand, "and don't worry about Wiggles there, she's just not used to having guys around. "

Nonchalantly hooking her arm around Lysander's elbow, Holli flashed a winning smile at the tall Officer. "So, Captain, I believe you were in the midst of saving my life or something..?"

Lysander suddenly had a realization that, as they started towards the turbolifts, with an alarmed looking Miss Wiggles padding behind them, he wasn't sure who was flirting with whom here.

"Ummm...okay...I guess so. Hey...listen...there's these two weddings of some of my crewmates...and umm.. I kinda need a date...you doing anything in a couple of days? I mean...you know...I guess if you don't have anything better......"

And they were off.

Redheads. Definatly Lysander's favourite flavour.

“Wedding and Family: Part one”
By Leslina and Ross Jamieson
And Charles Montgomery

**** The Jamieson estate on Betazed****

Ross sat in his study reading over the quarterly report that he was about to send to Autumn for reading. Profits were up and he had a lead on the property she had asked him about. He smiled.. so like Benton it wasn’t funny.. always concerned with others, Autumn really wanted the perfect gift for Wilhem. He knew the property was perfect for them and all he needed was Autumn’s go ahead to buy it.

He had just finished encrypting it when a knock on his door alerted him to Leslina’s presence. “Come” he said and the door slid open to reveal his wife looking determined, it didn’t bode well for his peace of mind. Leslina stepped into the room and stepped up to her husband and smiled at him.

“Darling I have a favour to ask…”

“Really Leslina… what is it?” he asked wearily as he sent the message to Autumn and looked up at his wife.

“Well I have Autumn’s wedding dress already and packed.. all I need now is a wedding gift.. She is hard to buy for…” “Lesli you have to buy for both of them you know…. I mean Wilhem will be part of this family soon.” “Oh I know… I have already chosen his gift.. I managed to find a nice sword for him… but Autumn is hard.. I mean.. she really doesn’t need another statue… so I was thinking of getting her a ….” “A what Lesli?”

“Pet.. well not a normal pet.. an unusual pet…” Ross groaned and shook his head. “What pet do you have in mind Lesli?”

“A Panther Cub Ross.” She said softly.

“A WHAT!?!?!”

“A Panther Cub.. you know a baby panther.. cute black and cuddly…” Ross stood up and looked at his wife. “And how Mrs Jamieson are we going to get one of those?” Leslina smiled “Oh I already have that solved.. a private zoo on earth have been breeding panthers for years and one of their Females has just had a litter.. all we need to do is sign the forms… transfer the money and send it to Galaxy for Autumn.” Ross stared at his wife and shook his head. “Oh so you had it all worked out… when does the cub arrive here wife of mine?” “This afternoon it arrived… its outside…” Ross walked past his wife and out into the main hall. Charles was standing there with the main door opened and looking at a small cage that was sitting on the steps. Ross groaned and looked at Leslina.

“I hope you are paying for this?”

She nodded and said. “And I will sign the forms.. I just thought you could arrange for its transfer to the Galaxy.” Ross nodded bemused and partially ruefully. “Yeah right I will.. Look Leslina… why a cat.. I mean I can understand a kitten but a wild cat of prey.. Autumn will have a fit.. not to mention what the Galaxy’s command staff would say…” “She’ll love it I promise.” Leslina reassured him.

Ross just shook his head wondering what other surprises would happen before Autumn finally got married to Wilhem.

Vulcan meets Human."
By Lt. Commander Kent Peterson & Ensign Korval T'Chal Science Department

Kent leaned back in to his chair and placed his feet on the shiny surface of his desk. Armed with a mug of coffee in one hand and a data PADD in another he read through the latest series of reports from the officers in his department. He was especially interested in reading Lieutenant MacAllen's report on the Sanguinarian incident - not just her research - but also her experiences and revival of those responsible for tracking this Lord Vlad fellow.

As he reached the end of the report, the serious statement on his face disappeared and was replaced by one of emptiness. He had felt troubled - not because of the decision he and Connie had reached on their long distance relationship - but by the accusation from Lieutenant Commander Elaithin.

Over the last decade or so that Peterson had been in the service of Starfleet, he had lost officers under his command on away missions and as a departmental commander. Sometimes those people had died as a result of a decision he had made, or an order he had given, but never had he willing caused someone else anguish in the way that the Bajoran security chief claimed he had done. It was troubling and it showed on the science chief's face as he seemed to stare at the opposing wall.

The door chime to his officer sounded twice. The first time shook him out of a dream-like analysis of whether or not Elaithin could have been correct. The second made him respond with full realization someone wanted to speak with him.

He looked over to the door. "Enter," he said, putting both the mug of coffee and the data PADD down on the desk.

The doors parted and Ensign Korval T'Chal the office. The Vulcan walked almost as stoically as the rest of his logically-minded race - there was never even the glimmer of rythm to his step.

"What can I do for you Ensign T'Chal?"

The twenty-four year old Vulcan raised an eyebrow. "It was you that wished to see me, sir," he remarked matter-of-factly.

Peterson gathered his senses. Looking down at the surface of his desk he tried hard to remember why he asked the young Vulcan to see him. T'Chal had arrived during the last crew rotation at Starbase 114, but what was so special as that he needed to see him. Kent's face lit up slightly as soon as he remember. "So I did," he remarked. "I was hoping to discuss this new position as Head of Stellar Physics with you."

"Indeed," Korval responded.

"You may or may not be aware," Kent began, extending his hand across the desk, to the empty chair opposite him, "but we lost our Chief Stellar Cartographer some days ago, around the same time we discovered the derelict Tamarian vessel."

Ensign T'Chal sat down as indicated. "I had not aware that Lieutenant Wej's was leaving," he said, looking at the Human.

"Unfortunately, there was little choice in the matter. The Shuttle Cydonia was declared lost and those on board, including Lieutenant' Samthia Wej, have been declared missing. As a result, after careful discussion with Lieutenant Mitchell, we'll need your department, at least for the moment, to pick up the slack from Stellar Cartography."

"I understand."

"Excellent," Kent responded, hoping the Vulcan would add more to the two-word statement. When realizing that was not going to happen, he added, "So ... have you settled in all right? No problems of any sort?"

Korval raised another Vulcan-like eyebrow. He mused over his difficulty finding his quarters when he stepped on board, but dismissed the matter as trivial. No need troubling his superior officer with minute details.

"No sir, no problems to speak of. My quarters are ... adequate. The particular location of my quarters also reduces transit time to the turbolifts by 4.3 seconds."

Peterson could not help appreciate the Vulcan's attention to detail. A Human - like Kent - would have simply described the trip from their quarters to where they were assigned as either 'long' or 'short'. Only a Vulcan - and perhaps a Borg - would describe it as a numerical value.

The science chief could only respond with a smile. "Then there will be no excuse for being late to work Mister T'Chal."

Korval's facial statement was stoic. Coming from a Vulcan - even one as young as he was - there was no surprise in that.

"I've gone through your records," the lieutenant commander added, bringing up the notes he had made after going through the Vulcan's record, "I must say, this 'Tolpos', you were studying astronomical phenomena. I'd be interested in hearing more about this."

Still sitting ramrod straight, the only allowance Korval allowed himself was to fold his hands into his lap before he went into some detailed explanation of his findings aboard the Tolpos.

"Sir, the detailed analysis I conducted while on the Tolpos was quite extensive. It would take approximately 4.501 standard months to, how do you humans say, 'catch you up to speed', however I can, with your allowance, condense the matierial into a satisfactory format. Many of the phenomenon the Tolpos, and myself in particular, have studied involve stellar quantum mechanics. Quite fascinating, I must say myself, when compared to current thoughts on the theories of many well-known Federation scientists. Suffice it to say, sir, that there will have to be several texts at Starfleet Academy re-written on the subjects of gravity-flux verses stellar bodies and other planetary physics. For example, known objects in space were thought to affect other bodies by their particular mass. However, the Tolpos has discovered that not only to planetary bodies react to one-another by mass, but also by their known positions relative to other positions in the known universe ...."

Korval cleared his throat, noting the slight look of impatience growing on the Commander's face. Humans were reknowned for their inability to take in large quantities of information, or appreciate the level of description that the Vulcan mind retained. The ensign paused.

"Another time, perhaps, Commander. It is a lengthy explanation and it would take considerable time, even condensed as I have done so, to conclude our findings. However, my datalogs are available for any personnel requesting more information the Tolpos has catalogued. I shall foreward you a copy of the 54,567 pages, single-spaced, of course, to your personal database upon our conclusion of this meeting. I believe you'll be as fascinated as I was initially."

Peterson had only tried to be polite. While he was interested in the scientific aspects of the mission, he had hoped that T'Chal would have summarized the 54,567-page document in to a few concise statements. "I'm sure that will make for some interesting bed-time reading," he remarked.

A momentary pause fell between the two as the Human scientist waited for his new colleague to possibly offer more information. It was Kent's way of getting the science officer by themselves and trying to find out a little more about them. No matter how detailed the psychological evaluation, Lieutenant Commander Peterson always found that such meetings were a good indication of how well he would be able to interact with other officers - a test drive of the dynamic between them if you will. The incident with Commander Thomas was a good example - he thought the man was an asshole then and that had not changed in all his time on the Galaxy.

"We've got a meeting scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. I realize it is a little short notice, but I'd like a status report on Stellar Physics and Stellar Cartography. In light of the recent Sanguinarian problems, we've fallen far enough behind on some of the more regular activities in the department."

"Sanguinarian?", Korval asked, not quite sure what his commander was referring to. He didn't have time as of yet to get a complete missions briefing from anyone regarding prior activities aboard the Galaxy.

"You really must have been busy!" Kent said, surprised the young man had not heard of the Sanguinarian threat that arrived after he had joined the crew. "The Sanguinarians ... the humanoid survivors we collected from the Tamarian vessel."

Korval absorbed that information, then dismissed it from his mind. Although fascinated with the thought of mythical creatures that drink blood, he would have to study it further when time permitted.

"I shall read the logs later, sir. As to this meeting, I shall have the reports you've asked for ready before the department meeting tomorrow." Korval began organizing how he would go about preparing his reports, then take current sensor sweeps down in Stellar Cartography for any currently useful data.

"May I ask what deck Stellar Cartography is located on? I have gone over some of the deck plans and station locations, but several of them aren't ... how shall I put this ... where they normally would be on a Galaxy-class vessel."

Peterson leaned forward. "Stellar Cartography is located on Decks 8 and 9. Unless you need to make mechanical alterations to the facility, you would be entering Stellar Cartography on Deck 8. As for the differences ... that would no doubt be from modifications made to the ship. I'd suggest you consult the ship's computer to find out any particular details you have."

Korval nodded once, absorbing that information and storing it for further use. He stood from his chair.

"Is there anything further, sir? If not, I have to get started on that data you've requested."

"I think we've covered everything, Mister T'Chal," Kent said, standing up and straighteneing his uniform. Reaching across the table he went to shake the Vulcan scientist's hand, "Welcome to the USS Galaxy. If you have any questions, or concerns, don't hesitate to mention them to either Lieutenant James Mitchell, the assistant science chief, or myself."

Stellar Cartography, Meet Ensign T'Chal by Ensign Korval T'Chal
Stellar Cartography (Science division)

Korval gingerly took Mr. Peterson's hand, afraid his Vulcan strength could crush the bones with ease. He normally didn't touch humans, but in this instance protocol allowed this one-time contact. After being excused, Korval left and with the deck location of Stellar Cartography firmly in his mind, he arrived shortly thereafter.

He noticed a strange absence of personnel within his department, but once again dismissed it as irrelevant data. In fact, the lights were dim, which pleased him. Being from a desert world such as Vulcan, where the suns burned twice as bright as Earth's own sun, made the darkness a comfort to one's eyes. The computer, sensing an individual, began to brighten the room lights to a more human level.

"Computer," Korval intoned, "bring the lights back to 25% illumination."

"Voice identity confirmed," the computer replied, Ensign Korval T'Chal, currently serving aboard the USS Galaxy, Stellar Cartography department."

The lights dimmed again, and Korval nodded to himself in satisfaction. He moved himself over to a main workstation facing a series of holographic projectors. This device would allow him to see things in the third dimension, which was important for some of the work he needed to do. Nodding again to himself, he began organizing the data Commander Peterson requested.

The computer responded with an efficiency that Korval approved of, and at the speed he entered the data, the computer matched it with his own rhythm. His hands flew over the console, keying in sequences almost too fast for the eye to follow. His mind now was linked to the task, and his hands became but an extension of that thought. Words scrolled up a small screen to his left as he compiled information to a more "human" tolerance.

Such a waste, he thought to himself, perceptibly shaking his head. Humans take bits and pieces of such information, missing quite a bit of detailed analysis. He wondered sometimes how Humans even reached space-faring capability with all the items they must have missed during their initial stretch past their own home solar system.

Finishing up with the old data, Korval began using the spectral imagers and secondary sensors to "catch up" as Mr. Peterson had said. Korval projected an image of a type-F star onto the holographic imaging device that was approximately 4.5 light years from the Galaxy's current position.

The star, a white dwarf of half the size of Earth's sun, regally appeared hovering before him, illuminating Stellar Cartography with it's light. Unfortunately, there were no planets orbiting this dying sun, not even burnt cinders or traces that a planet had ever been in orbit around it. Sighing with displeasure, he continued compiling current data as fast as the computer could extract it from the sensor arrays.

After 8 solid hours and several complaints about his usage of power, Korval reluctantly finished up, then downloaded the data to a PADD for the meeting tomorrow. Noting the time, Korval left Stellar Cartography and headed for his quarters, albeit somewhat hesitantly. He could comfortably work another standard double shift without sleep, but he could do no more.

Even though he'd used nonessential secondary power, it seemed that no one was used to the projectors being up for such a length of time. Before being reprimanded by his superior officer, he apologized to those he'd spoken with over the comm and powered down the array. He'd gotten so caught up in stargazing that he'd lost track of efficient energy usage aboard a ship of this size. There were, he almost frowned is disdain, children and families aboard that needed power for "other things."

Reaching his quarters, Korval removed his Starfleet clothing and donned his ceremonial robes, then settled in on a traditional cushion and began his sleep cycle. He set his internal alarm clock for 0500 hours, then drifted off for the night, hoping with an almost human-like quality that his report would be satisfactory to Commander Peterson.....

-Ensign Korval T'Chal
Stellar Cartography

"Academy Dayze: FOUR!"
2374- Star Fleet Academy, San Francisco Bay, Earth

Starring:
Cadet Fourth Class and general screwup/Academy scapegoat Lysander VanderPuls-Hawksley, SF School of Tactics
(NPC)Fleet Capt. Tomeken Rapshuer, Chief of Academy Flight Ops

Featuring the totally unapproved mention and use of...
Cadet Fourth Kira Murphy, SF College of Medicine (Paediatrics) Cadet First Miette M. "Remy" Remmington SF Flight School Cadet Fourth Rebecca vonErnst SF School of Tactics

--- --- ---

The bay area was beautiful in the spring. Several centuries ago, calling early March 'Spring" may have been pushing it, but with less than five months until the Class of 2374 took their final exams and headed off for their Cadet Cruises, any temperature considered 'balmy' on a sunny day WAS 'Spring.'

FCAPT Rapshuer smoothed down the dress whites over his torso. While it wasn't as lean as when he'd led his squadrons into the teeth of Klingon and Romulan firefights years ago, he couldn't be described as 'fat.' At least, not within hearing range. His eyes flicked out from the reviewing stand again, over the incoming cadets filing in for the special assembly.

~damn, there's a lot of these kiddies!~ he thought to himself. ~I wonder if Jimmy Remmington, Jean Luc Picard and I looked as green when we were First Year middies? Probally.~ He suppressed a chuckle at the memories that were flooding back. ~I remember thinking that Commodore Rashid was nuts, when she told us that the Academy was 'the best years of our lives.' and I bet these kids think the same when they hear it from an old fossil like me.~

~But it's true.~

With a sigh, he settled back to suffer through the Commandant's address welcoming the esteemed visitors from the Hydran Hegemony. He wondered if the methane-breathing slug- like tri-sexual creatures would have a place in the fleet? Probally...with the Dominion War eating up crews like a targ eats targ-chow, the Fleet needed every sentinent being it could get.

The ability to sleep with your eyes open is essential to upper-rank officers, but isn't taught in Command College. pity that.

The Fleet Captain didn't re-orient himself until the Vice Commandant leaned over and said...

"Here's your babies now...Blue Squadron's doing a fly-by, followed by Red's trick display."

Rapshuer coughed before responding. "Thanks Commodore. I only instruct them, I have no idea what they'll do in formation."

Luckily, the roar of the F-946 Starfighters drowned out his sarcastic reply. Timing IS something they teach in Command School. Blue squadron zoomed overhead in the classic "diamond" formation, wingtips almost touching. The drone of the speaker was almost inaudible over...the hell?

Someone had screwed up big.

Cadet Fourth Class Rebecca von Ernst had pulled disciplinary duty for flubbing her mandatory presentation during the 'communications' portion of her 'effective leadership' class. In keeping with the tradition of 'let the punishment fit the crime' some Cochrane in the Communications department had assigned her as the commentator for today's Special Assembly. It was a tossup who the 'punishment' was more painful to, Rebecca who was scared literally witless, or the cadets forced to stand at attention and listen on the Reviewing Field.

"...umm.. that's Blue Squadron, the ...umm..Academy Squadron led by Cadet Third Janice Treit... there's some kind of special note they're...it's on this PADD...Don't read this part aloud.......oh noodles! Sorry...Cadet First Miette Remmington of Blue Squad...sorry..SQUADRON (Whhhhhhhheeeeeee of feedback here) sorry...umm...She's just been promoted to Red Squadron...well...after today of course...this is her last flight...umm.. with Blue... before she's Red...squadron that is...big hand of applause for the Cadet...first first Cadet...wait..is that right? OH!...sorry.. first FIRST (Wheeeeeeeee) sorry...first first year cadet to ever be selected for Red....Squadron. Cadet Miette Remmington. Big hand for...ummm...her..."

Rapshuer rolled his eyes at the smattering of desultory applause from the reviewing stands. This kid was in deep, if she was lucky, she might get out alive.

"Okay...umm... next on flyby is Red Squadron...umm...everyone knows they're the best...it's...it is an honor to be selected for the team, specializing in acrobatic manuevers and display formations...the Squadron is led by...sorry...what? Why are you waving at me? Another PADD? umm... sorry folks... the Red Squadron is now led by Cadet Fourth T'Ren of Vulcan. What happened to...oh... ummm...nevermind...sorry you all...thanks...

They will be flying in the classic 'Missing Wingman" formation...who died? oh... no one died..well...why can't he be here?.....REALLY??(Wheeeeeeeeeeeskrooink)Cappie did?... sorry folks...they will be flying in this formation to honor...I can't read this! Really! Who writes these noodling things? Okay...no I don't want more disciplinary duty Ma'm. Thank you Ma'm.

Theyareflyhinginthisformationto(gasp) honortheirformerleaderCadetFourthLysander(gasp) Vanderpuls-Hawksleywhoisgoingtodiewhentheysee...

That's just as it says here,Ma'm I was trying to read fast before...yes Ma'm. No Ma'm. Here you go Ma'm. But she GAVE it to me like that Ma'm! Oh... Noodley NOODLES on that Lysander!"

[Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee skrooooiiiinnk POP!] went the feedback as they pulled Rebecca's microphone.

Red Squadron zoomed overhead a scant ten metres over the crowd in direct violation of at least three flight orders of the Academy, four planes forming the diamond, and pulling back to reveal the hole where the fifth should be. Lumbering behind them was... was...

A Mark VII garbage lifter. Spewing some vile looking (and smelling) miasma as it wallowed behind the sleek starfighters. It waggled the stubby surfaces barely able to be named 'wings' as it carreened overhead.

Rapshuer was on his feet the moment the short cadet had started jibbering. He smelled disaster looming, and unfortunatly, he'd been right.Ignoring the evil looks being shot at him by the Commandant and Vice Commandant, he strode manfully to the front of the Reviewing Stands. Knowing that the Betazed Commandant could(and probally would) pick this out of his head, he thought...

^^_You're_ so smart Commodore, _YOU_ control the little tribble-brain!^^

Before he snapped to attention and started to bark out the traditional mode of address to the massed student body. True to Starfleet tradition, they hadn't looked around or even reacted to the lifter. He was proud oif the cadets...

"Atten-SHEN! Cadet Commanders, Fall out by..."

Somewhere amongst the massed Fourth Year Medical School cadets, a blue glow shimmered and faded. The entire reviewing stand exploded like a tangler grenade as Cadet Fourth Kira Murphy kept her ramrod straight 'Attention' as her uniform vanished. Unfortunatly, not a single male near her was able to keep his eyes 'front and center' as protocol demanded.One first year middie even passed out. It _WAS_ quite a view, however.

Rapshuer had had enough. Maybe the Hydrans would just shoot him with one of their hellbores, if he asked nicely.

"Forget it. Dis-MISSED! Oh, someone go chase down Cadet Charming and send him to my office. _NOW_" *** *** *** Lysander sat in the outer office, and tried to ignore Remy, who was sprawled in the chair across from him. He was also ignoring the yelling of Cappie from his inner sanctum sanctorum. Rebecca vonErnst was getting it but goood...though whatever she got would be nothing compared to...

"You wrote that stuff on the PADDS, what Rebecca read during the flyovers, didn't you?" he demanded of Remy, who was twirling a strand of hair idly. She nodded with a smirk.

"Had to get you back for the simulator thingy. Nice kilt, by the way. What's the occasion? Your dismissal Pretty-boy?" she taunted back.

Lysander smirked and smoothed down the folds of the authentic Black Watch regimental kilt he'd had replicated.

"No. Dinner date right after this lil tete-a-tete with cappie. the lady in question is cute but wants me to wear a skirt."

Remy's retort was cut short by a red eyed Rebecca who came out followed by Cappie, who inexplicably had his arm across her shoulder. "...and of course this won't go in your record, Cadet vonErnst. Your history here is _very_ good. Unlike some others I could mention...Lysander you're up. Cadet Remmington...oh hell... you and Von Ernst didn't do anything...the two of you get out of here,, out of my sight. Nice dress, cadet, we change dress regs and no one told me?"

"It's a kilt...sir."

"GET IN THAT OFFICE NOW, MISTER! DO YOU KNOW HOW FRAGGIN RIDICULOUS YOU ARE? PULLING THAT STUNT *OUT* OF UNIFORM...IN A CIVVIE FLITTER? YOU WANNA KNOW HOW DUMB *THAT* WAS? WELL LEMME TELL YOU! YOU'RE SUCH AN EMBARESSMENT..."

Remy looked at the still shaken Rebecca and rolled her eyes, as the durasteel door cut off Cappie.

"Men! know-what-I-mean? They'll do anything to get our attention." she asked with a wink.

Rebecca merely responded with a muttered 'Noodles' as she fled for the safety of her quarters.

"Good riddance"
by Captain Robert Edward Lee Price

Lee entered the cargo bay feeling a bit apprehensive. On the one hand he was pleased that the crew had found a way to neutralize Vlad and Lilith, the two Sanguinarian visitors that had run amuck feeding off the blood of the crew. On the other hand, the Captain was more then a little concerned that these other four Sanguinarians might be just as bad. He wasn't in a mood to find out.

Lieutenant MacAllen glanced over when the Captain entered. Several security officers that were dispatched by Ensign Smith already accompanied her. Still, Rose seemed relieved to see the General walking her way.

"Hello Captain." Rose greeted turning towards the force field. "As you can see, our guests have awakened."

The Captain nodded. "G'Day Lieutenant. I can see that they have."

Rose made the introductions. "Captain Price, this is Lady Danestia. I believe she is the leader of these Sanguinarians."

Lady Danestia nodded slightly while looking at the Captain. "That is correct Captain Price. My retrieval team consisted of five members. Myself," she stated turning to point to the others as she named them, "Lord Baum, Lord Odak, and Lord Haun."

Lee followed the Lady's introductions, making eye contact and nodding at each of the gentlemen as she introduced them by name. His eyes then returned to Lady Danestia. "You said five members?"

"That is correct Captain Price. Regrettably, Lady Lilith was also part of my team. We were sent to apprehend the criminal Lord Vlad, who fled our galaxy to escape incarceration over a millennium ago. Unfortunately Lady Lilith was seduced by the dark one, and made to do his bidding. It is what allowed them to escape and entrap us in these suspension chambers on board the Tamarian vessel."

The Captain rubbed the end of his bearded chin as he evaluated the Lady's story. It seemed believable enough the way she told it. And somehow he trusted her a bit more then he trusted Lord Vlad after their first meeting. Call it a sixth sense.

"I see. Well you should be happy to know that we have both Lord Vlad and Lady Lilith's energy patterns safely stored in the transporter buffers of this vessel. We were just discussing the wisest thing to do with them at this point."

Speaking out of turn, Lord Baum chirped in. "Purge their patterns into the vastness of space Captain. It's the safest way."

It was obvious Lady Danestia was not pleased at the insubordination her colleague was displaying by the way she whipped around to scold him. "That's enough Baum! You know our people do not believe in capitol punishment. We must bring Vlad and Lilith home to face proper justice for what they have done."

Turning Lady Danestia apologized for the interruption. "I'm sorry for the disruption Captain. We are grateful that you and your crew have managed to contain these evil people. If you will permit it, they are Sanguinarian, they should be allowed to be returned to their home galaxy to face the charges for what they have done. We would prefer that you turn them over to our custody rather then try to hold them yourselves. We do not believe in murdering our criminals Captain. This is not necessarily a compassionate thing. We feel it is far greater punishment to remain incarcerated rather then to be released from this plain of existence by being put to death. I'm not certain how you treat your prisoners I am afraid..."

The Captain nodded. "Like you, we refrain from using deadly force or murdering our prisoners unless completely necessary. We feel that rehabilitation is always possible, even in the worse of cases."

"There you go Captain. Then in a way, we can offer you a solution to this problem you now have. Lord Vlad and Lady Lilith are far too dangerous to remain here in this galaxy. Our technology is far beyond anything you can possibly imagine. Even if you were to fashion some sort of cell you thought would contain them, the chances of these two escaping is almost certain given your technology level and comprehension of our kind." Danestia explained.

"I will agree that I am reluctant to simply murder Vlad and Lilith. But given their offenses just on board this vessel, and the potential danger they represent if allowed to go free, I must admit the command to just banish their patterns to oblivion is a very tempting one to make." The Captain confided. Then looking at Lady Danestia, he asked, "If I were to agree to release Vlad and Lilith to your custody, what would you do to assure our safety? You said they betrayed you and escaped once before on the Tamarian vessel..."

"Believe me Captain, I'm not one to make the same mistake twice. And while we are on the subject, special citations should be made for the crew of the Tamarian vessel. Evidently they were able to disable the ship, or Vlad and Lilith would have managed to get away." Danestia explained before returning to the topic at hand. "I think the safest thing to do would be to reset two of these suspension chambers and activate them. Then you can rematerialize Vlad and Lilith directly into the chambers. That way they will never have an opportunity to cause trouble."

"Sounds reasonable." Lee nodded. "And how do you plan to return them to your own galaxy?"

"If you will permit it, we can reconfigure your communications systems to send a signal to have a ship meet us. Then we can all transfer over with the prisoners and be on our way back to our home galaxy. You will finally be safe from Lord Vlad and Lady Lilith as they return to our home to face the charges for all they have done in your galaxy on so many worlds." Danestia explained.

"Sounds reasonable." The Captain admitted. "That's better then simply murdering them, assuming you can contain them in those things. Of course, there is also the problem of your infection."

Danestia shook her head. "Your Lieutenant was speaking of this. I assure you Captain none of us is infected with any sort of disease that could affect your kind. Lord Vlad was lying to you to keep your from reviving us and learning the truth."

"I felt that they were not being truthful about that. Some of my crew is empathic, and they indicated that Vlad was lying. Like Lieutenant MacAllen here."

Rose nodded. "I told you Vlad was no good the moment I first saw him." The scientist agreed.

Lady Danestia glanced at Rose and asked, "You are a telepath?"

Rose nodded. "I'm a full Betazoid. So I am both telepathic and empathic."

"Then what does your ability tell you of what I am telling your Captain?" She asked.

Rose regarded Danestia a moment and then looked at the Captain. "I believe her Captain. I feel she's telling the truth."

Lee nodded. "I too tend to believe your story. For now I'll ask that you remain here. You can work on these stasis chambers to prepare them while you wait. Once we regain control of the ship, I'll have my Chief Engineer prepare to transport Vlad and Lilith's patterns into these chambers to see if that will work. Once we know they are secure, we can make arrangements to contact your vessel."

Danestia nodded. "That would be acceptable Captain. You have lost control of your ship? Maybe we can help you."

Lee raised a hand. "No worries. Just a little sabotage Lord Vlad performed to take us off course and towards the end of the galaxy. My First officer is working on it now. I'm sure he will have it resolved shortly."

"Our technology is far more advanced then your own Captain. A simple program placed by Vlad could be quite a challenge for your people to disable. It might be faster if we had a look." Danestia offered.

"We will see how my crew handles it first. You may find that we surprise you 'mate. They surprise me all the time with their ingenuity." Lee smiled.

"Very well Captain. If you should need help, we would be more then glad to provide any assistance that is needed. All we want is to get Vlad and Lilith and return to our home galaxy to bring them to justice." Danestia said.

"Fair dinkum. We will get things started straight away." The Captain nodded.

***

*** Much later ***

Captain's log: Stardate 50111.28

Today we witnessed a rather spectacular sight. After allowing the Sanguinarian visitors to send a signal out to their galaxy summoning a ship, we got to witness a man made worm hole open up and a Sanguinarian vessel emerge to take on our passengers. There is no doubt in my mind that the Sanguinarians are indeed light years ahead of the Federation technology wise in order for them to generate their own artificial worm holes to use as transport conduits to distant galaxy's. With all of our might, we have explored but a fraction of the MilkyWay, yet these people are spanning entire galaxies. It's quite a sobering thought to think about. I find myself looking at the distant stars with even more wonder then I had before.

Now that we have regained control of the ship thanks to Commander Thomas' efforts, and have rid ourselves of the Sanguinarians, I've ordered the Galaxy back to the Tamarian vessel where we will place a marker beacon on it so that a Tamarian archeology team can return to collect the ancient ship.

After that, the Galaxy is heading to Starbase 415 to service some transfer requests before heading out to our next assignment. I believe we will be heading to the Mako-Relli system to complete a scientific survey of the Mako Nebula.

Overall I found this last ordeal to be draining, in more ways then one. I will be glad to be returning to a more routine assignment after our stop over at Starbase 415.

"A Sense of Closure."
By Lt. Commander Kent Peterson
Chief Science Officer

"... going better than they did when I first met them on the starbase," Kent said as he leaned back in the chair behind his desk, "but not by much. I've so far managed to avoid calling Captain Price by "The General" moniker, but a few other complications have raised their ugly head. Let's just say that they that haven't gone in my favor."

["You hinted at that in your letters. But you never really went in to them too much,"] the dark-haired Hispanic woman remarked. Connie put down the mug of coffee she was drinking and looked at the console, imagining that she was looking directly at the Galaxy's chief scientist. ["It hasn't been that bad has it?"]

Peterson let out a deep breath. "Where to begin. There was the incident with the first officer, Commander Thomas," he began, "which happened not long after I arrived. The guy has to be the biggest asshole ... thinks a lot of himself."

The latino looked bemused - she obviously thought something to herself that she was not quite prepared to say out loud. Having known the man for some time she knew that Kent would not have been completely innocent. No doubt he had not helped the situation. ["Really?"] she asked, coming across like a mother asking a child to be more honest with her and admit some responsibility.

Little did she know that Chris was as happy to keep Kent at an arm's length and maintain the status quo. Kent too preferred it that way - there was absolutely no friendship lost between them.

Kent shook his head. "Well how do you react to a man that began accusing you of lacking experience before he even had the chance to know you. He did not even consider me for a promotion ... probably for some bullshit reason. Anyway ... he just loves playing the 'spy' by being all quiet."

"Nothing like you at all," she scoffed.

"You know how those intell guys are, Connie. To make things worse, he's a guy that looks like he's barely out of the Academy. And then he has the audacity to tell me that I don't have enough experience!"

Connie cleared her throat.

"Well ... you get the idea," the scientist said matter-of-factly. She would have gathered from his reaction that the two men would take a long time before they were either willing to apologize nad accept responsibility for the situation - assuming the man she was talking with was not embelishing anything. "But there's been other stuff too. I've already managed to come to loggerheads with the Captain over that Borg thing. Fortunately he accepted that it was 'gross personal strain' and left it at that."

Kent's face grew more disturbed. "And now I have the security chief blaming me for what happened."

A long pause happened. Not because Lieutenant Commander Peterson mentioned the Borg or Elaithin - causing some deep personal reflection - but because they had both been avoiding the issue that was on the tip of their toungues.

They had been apart the entire time Kent had assumed the position of chief science officer on the Starship Galaxy, except the week they spent in Colorado together. That was more than a month ago now. It was difficult to keep relationships together with so many millions of miles between them - they both knew this - but it was now they had finally accepted the facts.

"It's not going to work is it?" Kent finally admitted, the first of either them to say it out loud to the other.

Connie looked as though his words confirmed exactly what she had been thinking for the last few months. She nodded. ["I think it might be that time in the relationship."]

"Well ..." Kent said calmly. The man was good at being honest with other people but not with himself. The last year they had been together, nearly half of it had been spent apart. Still, his mind wandered and instead of accepting it, as they both knew they should, he figured it was worth one more try. Just to make sure they were not throwing it all away. "I guess we could always met up during our next shore leave and discuss it then," he suggested. "Give it a little more time. See if it is really what we want."

Connie leaned back in the chair and closed her eyes for a moment. Opening them again she wiped her eyes as they collected a few tears. ["I thought about that,"] she remarked, ["but really ... unless one of us is prepared to leave their post to join the other, it would only be a short-term solution to a long-term problem. Surely you know that Ken."]

"I know," the scienitst said as he too leaned back in his chair. "It's always amazing when you have married couples keeping it together eventhough they're apart."

["Don't even think about proposing!"] the latino said, reminding him with that sentence that she had never had any intention of marrying anyone while she was still in the Fleet.

Kent smiled. That was his Connie.

A few moments passed as both Kent and Connie tried to work out where to go from there. It was an awkward moment, but both of them hesitated to say what they both wanted to ask the other.

"Are ..." they both said at the same time. They smiled - it seemed as though they still had a lot in common - making it equally awkward.

"You first," Peterson said, sitting up straight, waiting eagerly to hear what Marquez had to say.

The smile disappeared as she prepared herself to ask him something serious. ["Would you be prepared to give up your position as chief science officer on the Galaxy?"]

Kent leaned back in the chair once more. That was something it did not take him long to find an answer to. "You can't ask me that, Connie," he responded.

Connie nodded. ["I know. Just like you can't ask me to give up my position here at Starfleet Headquarters."]

That was it. They both now had removed the doubts from each other's minds over whether or not this was the best choice. Even if one of them had been prepared to leave their position - not that it was not tempting in the least - but they knew it would only end in resentment. Kent had worked hard and so had Connie. This conversation simply reinforced what they had not shared out lout.

"Then that's it then? There's nothing left to say?"

["It looks that way. At least we can still be friends."]

It was difficult to find an appropriate way to respond. His instinct was to walk over and hug her - to bring closure to it all - but that was difficult since he was gallivanting around the Alpha Quadrant on a starship and she was planet-bound on Earth. He smiled to reassure her that a friendship, not a romance, would be something he was still interested in.

["I still do love you. That hasn't changed."]

"I know."

Connie and Kent simply watched one another thought their respective ends of the subspace communication. A few moments passed until they both heard that familiar, intermittent beep - their subspace channel was going to be lost as the Starship Galaxy moved out of range. ["Make sure you don't make a stranger out of yourself the next time you're on Earth."]

Kent smiled. "Will do."

The subspace transmission closed abruptly. Even if Connie had terminated the connection to avoid crying, he could not have blamed her. They had said pretty much everything that needed to be said.

While Kent probably should have felt saddened over what had happened, he did not. Like Connie he acknowledge that it was inevitable. It was the risk they took when they accepted their various positions in the Fleet.

["Mitchell to Peterson,"] the Bajoran scientist said from Science Lab Three.

Kent took a moment to respond as he thought of his conversation with Connie Marquez, wondering if he should feel guilty for not being more upset by how their conversation went. She certainly had - at least it looked that way to him. The scientist reached across his chest he tapped the communicator on his duty uniform. "Peterson here," he responded.

["Do you have a moment 'Commander? I've got some data you might be interested in."]

"Sounds great James. I've got something I need to do, so I'll be there shortly."

["Acknowledged,"] the assistant chief science officer replied. ["Mitchell out."]

Lieutenant Commander Peterson stood up and straightened his uniform as the communications channel closed. Walking over to the bookshelf in his quarters he took the photograph of him and Connie at Risa - taken eight months ago - and placed it in the top draw of his desk. Thinking about it for a moment he closed the draw and left his quarters to meet with Lieutenant Mitchell in Science Lab Three.

Personal Log no.8
Starring Lt.j/g Lysander VanderPuls-Hawksley USS Galaxy Tac-Weenie

--- --- --- --- --- --- ---

"Ummm....stardate...what is it again today? Umm.. 5011...smegg it.. who cares?

Wow...eight entries in this? I'll have to replay them all back after this one..to hear them...I guess.

I guess that if anyone ever listens to this, you'll know that the GALAXY survived the Suggierty...Samkipp..Saunguilidd... errrrr... smeggeing vampire thingies...

Good one that...I wonder if the species was perhaps the reason for the bloodsucker legends being all over the galaxy??...err.. the big galaxy...the real galaxy......not the USS GALAXY....though apparently the vampire thingies were all over that galaxy...err.. the ship...not the big one...smegg....you know what I mean.

Got a holo from Uncle Pieter again. In between ranting about how the Fleet never sends hard data back about the Multiphasic arrays being retrofitted to some classes, he extended the usual offer....quit the Fleet...come back to Van der Puls Aerospace and Armaments, Ltd....all is forgiven...blah de blah de blah...I didn't even acknowledge receipt this time....maybe he'll get the hint?

Right on it's heels was orders from Star Fleet Command....here...here's the whole thing...computer..append that Fleet Memo to this personal Log...

*** *** ***

StarFleet Command, Bureau of Personnel
RECIPIENT EYES ONLY, SCRAMBELED OMEGA-FOXTROT IN EFFECT LEVEL 2 SECURITY CLEARANCE OR HIGHER
Stardate:CLASSIFIED
To: Lt. j/g Lysander V.H.M. VanderPuls-Hawksley 055013198620
Tactical Department, USS GALAXY NCC-75036

Effective immediatly, you are hereby seperated from Ship's Company, USS GALAXY and placed on detached duty posting to: Starfleet Advanced Tactical School, Wolf 359 system.

You are hereby authorized Level BETA-2 Security Clearance and Level 1 priority in use of Fleet assets to reach said duty station by quickest means available.

You are hereby ordered to report to Director, ADVTAC School for special training. No personal effects are authorized for transfer at this time. Upon completion of curriculem, you will return to USS GALAXY. You are hereby notified that these orders make you party to the OFFICIAL SECRETS ACT of 2232, and the penalty for breaking said act can range from life imprisonment to discharge from Federation service. Your commanding officer has been notified of your scheduled transfer, discuss this transfer with NO-ONE.

*** *** ***

"Weird, huh? I mean...I've never seen transfer orders that comme in 'Classified' with a security clearance...what the hell is going on? Work is really weird right now too...Jessie Perry is transferred to the REPULSE...she's been riding my ass like it's a Guklien Bull in a rodeo since I came aboard. Glad to see her hind end....hurm... that wasn't how I meant it...well...maybe it was...she DOES have a nice hind end...and red hair....

(3.4 standard second pause here)

Anyways...right before she left...she'd assigned Bosco and I to help with the Phaser Arrays...and the Chief down there doesn't seem to like us...okay..ME ..very much. He pretty much threatened to take a armor spanner to our heads if we did it again...I guess he's from the Merchant Marine Fleet...and they're a pretty rough and tumble crowd...anyways...Jessie did that on purpose...I'm sure...

OH! And THEN the wench juggles the schedules up...splits Bosco and I up and assigns me to the Main Bridge on GAMMA shift...and The Princess looks all flustered and dazed when I ask her why! She's so out of it lately...I bet she's still upset that the ONE time she got chewed out in Academy...I was there. And it was all Remmie's fault anyways!...must be nice to be perfect and all...

Anyways...the upshot of it is that I'm stuck with McCune on GAMMA shift now...oh well...at least I won't get in trouble for talking to that Andorian Ensign on the Science station during duty...and Remmie's got the Helm on Gamma...almost as dead as DELTA shift...maybe I can finnaegle some Helm hours out of her...

Oh yeah...I met some civilian the other day....very pretty...VERY pretty...her name's Holly...I think she said she'd be my date for Autum's wedding...I dunno if I wanna go to Todd Sansky's wedding...I mean...jeez...the guy was in my Academy Class...and he's marrying another guy? I thought the Princess was gonna spew when she finally figured out that it wasn't another typo...anywyas...since Rebecca probally won't even go...and Amy from Counseling is probally on-call...I think I'll ask this Holly if she'll come with me...should be a hoot...

I wonder what Rebecca's doing off the ship that day, though...usually she holes up in her quarters and mopes...weird that she's 'got something to do' that doesn't involve reading or studying or anything else classifiable as 'no-fun'...oh well... I'll be at this special school the whole time...I wonder if she's got a date for the wedding...

(Log illegible here due to uncontrollable laughter)

Sorry... I kill myself...I could just picture her looking all confused during the toasts and then puking when the bride and groom had thier first dance...that isn't nice....really...okay...between you and me...you being the nameless listner years from now who probally exists only in my imagination....between us...I could picture Rebecca wearing this really old-fashioned lace dress...being married in a old-fashioned way on Earth somewhere...

Why am I such a bastard where she's concerned? I dunno...it's like I'm sick...like I go out of my WAY to find ways to annoy her...anyways...enough of that....I'll end up having to go to the Counselor if I keep thinking about her...

Okay...think about the civilian....yeaaahhh....oh...sorry there...umm... Holly....dunno her last name or why she's aboard...found her dancing...DANCING! in a lounge during Red Alert on deck 10...took her back to her quarters...we chatted on the way...nothing heavy...whadda bod though...trim... you know? Myabe I should start working out with Sanchez and the rest of the drones whenever she gets out of Sickbay...anyways...she's Terran...I guess I wasn't doijng a lot of listening...pretty eyes though...

Oh...SMEGG! i just realized...these smegging orders...I think I smeggin' have to leave before the smegging wedding!... ain't THAT a kick in the pants?

End Entry"

It was getting hard to walk and stand on the holodeck without stepping on a corpse. The simulated battle field was a sea of gory red. Seth stood in the middle and dropped the last combatant. The lizards scales no longer looked green with the coat of thich red liquid.

"Jii to all security." Seth's communication badge beeped. "We have captured the vampires. Please proceed to the cargo bay for escort of our other guests."

The gorn let out a long breath as if to calm himslef. It was disappointing to have the trap sprung somewhere else. Maybe the lizard would have the change to rumble with the guests yet.

Stepping toward the door the blood covered security guard passed the threshold. As he did the blood fizzled out of existance. With out the projectors keeping the particles together they faded back into regular light.

Almost looking refreshed Seth entered the cargo bay and took up a position toward the rear. A good pouncing place to tackle the Sanguinarian's should they try an escape.

When the captain entered the lizard coiled with tension. He had to be ready to defend the commanding officer at any moment. Rose made the introductions and the captain talked with them.

For the most part Seth did not listen. Politics was for the captain and executive officer not for the gold shirts.

Speaking out of turn, Lord Baum chirped in. "Purge their patterns into the vastness of space Captain. It's the safest way."

Saftey was always on the mind of the security officers. Along eith duty and honour. When all that failed it was necassary to use force.

It was obvious Lady Danestia was not pleased at the insubordination her colleague was displaying by the way she whipped around to scold him. "That's enough Baum! You know our people do not believe in capitol punishment. We must bring Vlad and Lilith home to face proper justice for what they have done."

~I have some justice for them.~ the gorn cracked a huge green knuckle as he thought.

Turning Lady Danestia apologized for the interruption. "...We do not believe in murdering our criminals Captain. This is not necessarily a compassionate thing. We feel it is far greater punishment to remain incarcerated rather then to be released from this plain of existence by being put to death. I'm not certain how you treat your prisoners I am afraid..."

The Captain nodded. "Like you, we refrain from using deadly force or murdering our prisoners unless completely necessary. We feel that rehabilitation is always possible, even in the worse of cases."

~That's why i'm here.~ Seth thought ~Deadly force when necessary. That will rehabilitate anyone.~

"I will agree that I am reluctant to simply murder Vlad and Lilith." the captain admitted.

~Too bad.~ The lizard thought.

"But given their offenses just on board this vessel, and the potential danger they represent if allowed to go free, I must admit the command to just banish their patterns to oblivion is a very tempting one to make." The Captain confided.

~That's too good for them.~ Seth didn't feel hungry but adreneline still beat throught his huge heart.

Then looking at Lady Danestia, the captain asked, "If I were to agree to release Vlad and Lilith to your custody, what would you do to assure our safety? You said they betrayed you and escaped once before on the Tamarian vessel..."

The rest of the meeting was more politics again. All talk and peace. Sometimes its better just to bash some heads together.

When the captain left Seth stayed. Mostly because he wasn't ordered to leave but also just incase one of the Sanguinarian's twitched the wrong way.

"Log"
by Ensign Arel Smith

"....vampires have been dealt with." Arel stated to the computer with satisfaction. She had never really been one to keep up on her personal log but had decided that their continued survival was worth at least one entry. "I believe that many cultures have documented cases of vampires and while it is fascinating to have gotten the chance to study them "in action", I was not sorry to see them go.

Arel fidgeted with the picture of her mom and dad on her desk. " Ensign Remmington and I have yet to schedule our match. As I understand it, the game is something like us standing on ground with narrow footing and trying to push each other off with blunted sticks. It seems simple enough. I am confident I will win."

Arel sighed. "On a more...personal... note, I received a communication from my Aunt Leah today. She's invited me home for the holidays. Of course its not possible because I'm on Galaxy but I thought it was worth noting because its the first time she's invited me...home...in years, since I was about fourteen I think. I'm not sure how I want to respond. I think a part of me is still angry at her for shutting me out after my uncle's death. I also wonder if she's only inviting me now because I am in Starfleet and have become...civilized."

She laughed. "Well...as much is possible anyway. She never did come to my fathers funeral. I don't think I've forgiven her for that since I came to my uncle's. But then again that was when the problems started. Still, it might be nice...um, decent....uh adequate *Arel spat out a few Klingon expletives* NICE to be with family again. Its been so long."

Arel paused before adding "And I really miss having her pumpkin pie. End log."

"Review"
by Lt. Commander Elaithin Jii, Chief of Security And Lieutenant Raven Darkstar, Brig Supervisor

After putting another report down on the Sanguinarians, Elaithin looked at the final padd on his desk. It was the incident report on Doctor Sanky's arrest, and subsequent confinement to the brig. The decision was still being made as to whether the to perform a general court-martial on the Doctor, or whether a non-judicial punishment as outlined in the UCSJ* would be sought. Either way, the man's assault on Commander Phil Terrington was an issue that would have do me addressed.

(*Universal Code of Starfleet Justice)

Jii rubbed the ridges on his nose, and then tapped his commbadge. "Elaithin to Darkstar. Report to my office, Lieutenant."

*** Brig ***

Raven was just wrapping up his inspection of the Brig when the call came in from Commander Elithian. All eyes watched as the Indian nodded his approval and begin to walk towards the doors untill a tiny crunch was heard under his boot.

The security staff on duty felt thier stomachs drop as Darkstar glared down at his boot. He bent down and retrieved a crushed jellybean.

~How many of these damn things did she throw?~ he asked himself. His assistant, Ensign Alecia Witt stood behind him with a large glass jar. He dropped the candy corpse into the jar, half full of others just like it.

"I think we have them all, sir!" she said with a smile. "I'll have these returned to Lt. Von Ernst right away!"

The Indian just grunted then quickly left the room.

*** Commander Elaithin's office ***

"Yes, Lieutenant. Thank you for getting here so quickly. I've called you hear today for two reasons. One - I want your opinion on this incident with Doctor Sanksy. I'm still deciding what to put in my official report. Also, I want your opinion of our current Brig procedures, and any suggestions you may have." the 'Commander said, motioning for Darkstar to take the seat opposite him. His artificial hand was twitching a bit - a tic, Raven noticed, that his CO had developed when annoyed.

Plopping down, the large man sat rigidly in the small chair. "With regards to Dr. Sandsky, and concidering that it is his first offense, I would suggest the amputation of his arms. It would be difficult to assault officers when one posesses no working limbs. Failing that, I would allow his victim to assault him in return." he said stoicly.

Elaithin snorted in amusement. "Fair enough, Lieutenant. But I think that would fall under the heading of cruel and unusual, don't you?"

"Not if it gets the job done."

Growing serious, Jii turned toward the Brig Supervisor. "Seriously, Lieutenant. Effective immediately I want everything in the Brig by-the-book.

Your officers can sit and read or whatever during thier shifts, thats fine - but that Brig had best be in perfect condition when they do. I don't want to see another escaped prisoner for the rest of my tenure as this vessel's Chief of Security. It's an unnecessary risk, and I don't like those. Are we clear on that?"

"Yes, sir." Darkstar replied. "Is there anything else, 'Commander?"

"No, Lieutenant, that will be all. You're dismissed."

"Darkness and Light"
by Ensign Korval T'Chal
Stellar Cartography dept. (Science Division) USS Galaxy

Inside T'Chal's quarters:

Within the semidarkness illuminated by only a single light from a nearby console, T'Chal sat on his knees with his eyelids closed and his breathing shallow. He sat perfectly still, in what Vulcan's call 'sleep.' Within the corridors of his mind, however, he was quite active, pursuing logical objectives as if he was still awake. The Vulcan mind is always busy, it would seem, but within the pursuit of logic and order there was chaos brewing.......

Korval didn't sense it at first, being so wrapped up within the concepts of infinite diversity in infinite combinations (the one called IDIC by members of his race), but something tickled the edge of his conscious thought, like an itch that was barely perceptive at first but growing.

His eyes popped open, and a cold sweat began to form on his brow. Suddenly, his breathing became labored and difficult.

"C..computer," he said, shakily, "li...lights. Full ill...illumination."

The computer responded, revealing a sweat-soaked Vulcan visibly trembling at the same time.

"Oh no," Korval said out loud, "the Pon Far...."

He stood, shakily at first, then moved over to the washroom to splash cold water onto his face. He gazed at his appearance, noting that his composure had slipped through the cracks, and raw emotion....fear....showed on his face.

"This is.....not possible," he murmured to himself. "I am in....control of my emotions."

As these words slipped from his straining lips, Korval knew that this was not so. Rapidly, like a spinning top of a child's play toy, his emotions built up to a crescendo while his logic fell through the cracks of his being.....

He tapped his comm badge, missed it at first, then got it on the second try.

"M...medical....emergency..."

Then he knew no more.

Ensign Korval T'Chal
Stellar Cartography dept. (Science Division) USS Galaxy
"The Higher, the Fewer"

"Back to (ab)Normal"
LCDR Mike O'Grady
Counselor

Mike was getting back to the routine of paperwork after his little adventure with the vampires.

Sipping a cup of coffee he looked over the small amouth of paper his cases developed, psudeo failed marraige, or as he referred to it, immature ensigns marry. Only good thing, no kids involved. If there were it would be worse.

The twins were still not sleeping through the night, so he had to help out as best he can.

But still something was different after this mission, he felt better about his job on this ship.

Ironic eh, all he wanted to do was counsel and do his job, but lately the process of doing his job had been frustrating the hell out of him, and tiring as hell.

But he still got up and did his job, no matter how nice it would have been to take some time off.

Maybe that's what he needed, take Rayna, drop the babies off with their parents and take a couple of weeks to recharge.

Once the twins were stronger that is..

Not a bad idea.

Sitting down he decided he needed some music to work, "Computer, access musical files, Wagner, Richard, find the London Symphony's recording of Flieger De Hollandar. 2005 rendition and begin playing from first act."

It took a split second and the stirring anthems of the Flying Dutchman began to play and he worked on the reports and paperwork that he needed to get done...

"Family Farewell"

Starring
Rebecca von Ernst
Holli von Ernst

(In orbit above Starbase 415)

The Main Shuttle bay of the USS Galaxy was most likely the single largest 'mobile' room in all the Milky Way. Taking up the vast majority of the Saucer-Section interior of Starfleet's largest vessel, the bay was virtually a miniature airport of sorts.

While for the majority of time while on assignment the Main shuttle bay was rarely used, it was during times such as this, namely the brief shore leave at Starbase 415 that the facility truly came into its own.

Shuttles, flyers, and Runabouts of every make and model lay strewn across the vast circular deck while the sure steady guidance from the central command tower guided each along a predetermined path.

The area was loud with the rumbling of dozens of engines, and confused with the shuffling of the hard-working deck crews who nursed along ground support equipment, lugging fuel lines, and diagnostics carts.

Literally hundreds of officers and crew milled about on the sidelines behind yellow and black striped safety gates await boarding calls for their particular transport to their choice of destinations.

[[ SHUTTLE 3-7 FOR VULCAN NOW BOARDING GATE 6. GATE 6 FOR VULCAN PLEASE.]]

A small stoic knot of dark haired Vulcans removed themselves from the waiting-area crowd and strode gracefully towards their designated transport.

[[RUNABOUT HASSLEHOFF FOR THE RISA COLONY NOW BOARDING GATE 2. GATE 2 FOR RISA.]]

Giggling and squealing in contrast to the sullen Vulcans, the beach-towel clad vacationers bound for The Federation's premier Vacation World scurried quickly towards their awaiting Runabout. Fun in the Sun and Steamy Nights awaited them on Risa.

[[PASSENGERS OF SHUTTLE BILL GATES, PLEASE NOTE WE ARE HAVING TECHNICAL PROBLEMS AND WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO REBOOT THE GUIDANCE COMPUTER. EXPECT DELAYS.]]

Another small knot of people in the waiting area groaned in despair. That was the third time this week that shuttle had broken.

[[ RUNABOUT XANADU BOUND FOR SECTOR 001 AND EARTH NOW BOARDING GATE 1. GATE 1 FOR EARTH.]]

For two small forms in the midst of the confusion, that call was the ending of a too-short reunion.

Rebecca von Ernst broke into tears for the sixth time today, and reached to hug her mother tightly. "D.d..don't go M.m.momma. Y.you can stay here."

In tears herself, Holli smiled and clutched her only child close. "Oooo my little 'funny-face' You want me to tag along uselessly on all you adventures? Who'd run the farm? Who'd keep up the house? Also, Miss Wiggles HATES it here."

As if to punctuate that remark, a small "Whuf." Emerged from the sturdy pet-carrier at Holli's feet.

Taking Rebecca's freckle cheeks in her tiny hand, Holli planted a kiss on her forehead. "Besides, you don't want to be the only officer in Starfleet who brings her MOTHER along on away missions?"

Too distraught to reply, Rebecca only shrugged. ~~~Noodles with what everyone else thinks! I want my Momma!~~~

Wiping away her daughters tears with a single gentle finger, Holli studied the woman that Rebecca had become. Maybe still girlish and undeveloped on the outside, but there was 'something' different about her on the inside.

Holli bit her bottom lip to keep it from trembling. Only time would tell if these changes would be good or bad for her little girl.

[[ FINAL BOARDING FOR SHUTTLE XANADU BOUND FOR EARTH. PLEASE BOARD NOW.]]

"Oops honey, that's me, I gotta go." Holli stooped quickly to heft her small bag, and Miss Wiggles carrier. "I'll write as so you know I made it allright, oh yeah and be nice to that Lysander fellow in your Department. He's cute." Holli winked at her mischievously

Rebecca sniffled and nodded glumly, her eyes red from too many tears. Her mother was beautiful standing there. Skin all aglow, and radiant red hair billowing about her like some great security blanket. Why did she have to go.

"Momma.."

"I know honey." Holli smiled sadly, "I love you too. Now go save the universe or something."

And with that she turned and strode off, long hair streaming behind her.

"Air Without Disinfectant"
By Lieutenant jg Electra Reece
Assistant Chief of Operations

Lexa walked down the corridor away from sickbay, finally released from the quarantine imposed because of the blood loss. She shook her head, unable to believe she was free of the sharp, disinfected air of the medical area. She felt like she had been there forever, even though it had only been a week. And she had realized near the end of her tenure that the quarantine that had kept her there had not applied to all of the victims. Many had been released and it angered Lexa that she had been stuck around the doctors and nurses as a guinea pig.

She entered the turbolift and shook off the anger that filled her. ~ Well, one good thing came from my stay in that blasted place. James in the next bed. And I guess we straightened out our problems. We'll be going out on a DATE soon. I just hope I'm not reading things into his behavior that aren't there. I need to see Karyn Dallas and talk about this. About how I feel for James and how I feel about Vlad and sickbay and P -- what happened on the last mission. And I need to get back to work. I'm sure the paperwork has backed up and is probably piled high on my desk. ~

Lexa's long-legged stride quickly took her from the lift to her quarters. She entered and locked the door behind her. "Computer, illumination to half and play the instrumental score from Webber's "Phantom of the Opera", my collection, Earth performance, Boston, 2372, at mid volume." The computer acknowledged her request and the lights dimmed and music began pouring through the cabin.

She smiled as she walked to the bathing alcove where a new feature, a bathtub had been installed at the last stop-over. She ran the water to a warm temperature and slipped out of her uniform and into the tub. She laid her head back on the lip and soaked, allowing her tension to drain into the water, as it lapped at her body. She reached up and dropped some bathing oil in the water and drank in the smell, delicate, flowery, light. So different from the harsh chemical smells of sickbay. She lay back and let the warm water perform its ancient magic as the music reached a crescendo.

++++++++

Lexa awoke to a silent cabin in the cooling water and sighed. She rose and slipped from the tub, wrapping a silken robe around her body. She walked to her terminal and sat down. "Computer, access my personal files and download Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" to this PADD. She took the play and curled up on her bed, devouring the rhythmic language of the ancient romantic tragedy, to prepare for the upcoming auditions which she was steeling herself to attend.

“Talk about Wild life”
By Riana Parstran
Ensign Charles Kalwalski the third
Shuttle Chief Cade Kyler
Lt (jg) Carrie Danseke

****Cargo Bay One, USS Galaxy****

Riana checked her data PADD. All the new cargo was being brought on board, that inculded new food supplies, Engineering spare parts, New secruity Weaponry.. and personal mail. Mail gee what a lovely thing that is… security was checking everything out because off all the large boxes.. you never knew Who or What could be smuggled aboard. Last thing Ria wanted was to find that she and her watch had missed something… after the huge blow up about security in the Brig Ria wasn’t taking any chances. Nothing illegal or dangerous was getting through on her watch.

“Kalwalski what the hell are you doing?” She called out to the tall dark haired man who had been checking a crate and was now moving away with a wrinked nose.

“Its an out going crate Ma’am.. smells like ewwww… You don’t want to know.” He backed away further and Riana stepped up to his side. She examined the crate.

“It is one of those Medical waste crates. Leave it be for the shifters” she said. “IT will be gone soon.” She turned her attention to another load that was being moved from a cargo shuttle.

“Lets get over there Kalwalski and see what just came in.” He nodded and followed her to the shuttle.

“Hey chief” she said to the cargo master. “Whatcha got?”

“I got a real doozy this time Lieutenant.. if you guys thought that pig was bad.. well that tactical lad has just lost.. to a medical officer.”

Riana smiled and said. “OK name rank and what type of wild life or animal life have you got this time?”

”Name: Dr Jamieson, Rank: hell it says here ACMO.” Ria nodded wondering what Autumn was having shipped to her this time, hopefully something nice and cute and cuddly.

“And its WILD LIFE Lieutenant.. and believe you me.. that if that porker though he was only going to have trouble with the Gorn on board… well a Wild cat will take the cake… sent to her by family.. from betazed… “ he lifted the cover that was hiding the animal’s cage and said. “It is a Panther Cub.” Ria in-volentarily took a step back and then she peered into the cage.

“Well at least it will be better toilet trained then the pig” remarked Kalwalski casually.

“Yeah but I can still see this causing trouble.. I mean if it doesn’t poop on the Captain’s Chair.. it will use him for a pin cushion… not something I want to see happen.. I mean Autumn’s got enough problems…. Oh well… Ok chief bring it out. I’ll notify its new owner soon. Until then it can sit in here and wait.” She motioned to a spare corner of the bay. The chief nodded and took the animal over to it. It was only a baby and its black fur gleamed in the light.

***A short time later***

Lt (jg) Carrie Danseke was checking off a list of power converters and isoliner chips when a YOWL from behind her alerted her to the fact that the Cub might just be hungry.

“Hey Lieutenant.. I think our new crew member is hungry!” she called out to Riana who turning asked the question. “So anyone know if we can feed it meat or just milk?”

Carrie shurgged as did Charles. Riana sighed and handed her PADD to Charles and walked over to a replicator. “Computer one bowl of warm milk.” It appeared and Riana carried it over to the cub’s cage. She pause and looked at Carrie. “I am going to need some help here” she said and Carrie scruried over to take the bowl whil Riana opened the cage and held the cub back. “Quickly Carrie!” Carrie placed the bowl down in the cage and Riana shut the door, locking the cub in with its meal. Smiling to themsleves the sceurity officers went back to their duties. Wild life on the galaxy was becoming a habit… not one that they wanted to become popular. Riana and her group finishedf their shift and Riana picked up the cage. “I’ll deliver this to Dr Jamieson and I shall see you guys later.” She smiled and walked out of the Cargo bay and into a turbolift. “Deck 3” Life on the Galaxy was never dull that was for sure.

"Going to the USS Galaxy"
By Lt. Rose Isis MacAllen

Guest Staring
Captain Lily Carson, (Rose's Cousin, Captain of the USS Morningstar)

Victoria and Elizabeth Wilson, (Rose's Betaziod goddaugthers)

Sarah Macfarland, (Rose's Human goddaughter)

Captain Victor MacAllen, (Rose's long lost father, Captain of the USS China-A)

Lady Michelle MacAllen, (Rose's mother, royal Countess of Betazed)

**USS Morningstar, Captain Ready Room**

"Captain Personal log, we are on our way to meet up with the USS Galaxy to drop off my cousin's long lost father, Victor MacAllen who is an very brave man to escaped along with what is left of the of the crew of the USS China from an POW camp. Along with Victor, some of Rose's goddaughter will go visit and stay on the ship while our ship go on an deep space mission that will last for six months."

After reconding her personal log, Captain Lily Carson layed her head on her desk table trying to relax for alittle bit. She and the crew of the new Sovereign Class USS Morningstar was going to head into personal and dangerous mission in deep space, something that she hates doing.

Then she signed and rubed an hand though her short brown her and looked up on her computer screen, then the door bell rung.

"Come!" She yelled hoping it wasn't another report about her crew getting into another bar fight in ten-foward.

There stand her first Officer Commander Harm Scott who walked in, "The USS Galaxy is heading toward an Starbase the helmman already set the course we well be there in 12 hours.

Lily stood up and walks towards the area where the couch is, Harm who is an very handsome human was very worried about her..damn he was even in love with her but that was an personal feelings of her but of course of Lily been Betaziod she knew.

"She everything already Captain?" Harm asked with an sad look as he puts the PADD on the Captain's desk.

"Yes everythings find Commander, lets get to the bridge." Lily said while onto the bridge, with Harm right behind her. Harm was always use to that fact Lily always changes the subject when she trying to hide something.

**Macfarland's Quarters**

An young blond hair, blue eye 13 year old girl was packing up with her other friends who are also Rose MacAllen goddaughter, the Betaziod, redheaded twins Victoria and Elizabeth Wilson who was already packed and ready, there also 13 years old.

"I can't wait to see Rose, can't you Sarah?" Victoria said as she put one of Sarah dresses.

"Yes but I'm worried about our parents and this mission coming up." Sarah said in her strong Welsh voice. Her parents got married at an very young age after an young 12 years old Rose played match maker while on vaction in Wales with her father and the China's crew.

Elizabeth, who was the strong willed twin looked at Sarah and Victoria "Of course were worried but right now we going to have some fun my the USS Galaxy, it an Galaxy class starship and I can't wait to see it."

All three of the girls vow to join starfleet like their parents and godmother, Sarah: An Helm Officer Elizabeth: Science Officer, Geology major and Victoria: Science Officer, Archology major.

"I just heared from the Captain, we going to be at the Starbase in 12 hours. " Sarah said after overhearing some officers talking outside the quarters.

All they can do now is wait...

**VIP Quarters, Captain Victor MacAllen**

Victor got the message from Captain Carson about the Galaxy been at an Starbase..he was happy and very scared to see his only child again.

As he was packing he come by one gift that he got for Rose while he was on Earth, an little teddy bear like the one Rose use to have but lost when she was very young on the China.

He smiled and packed it up with he other things, all is there to do now is wait until the get to the starbase.

The black hair, blue eyed Betazoid Captain looked around the room making use before going to take an nap.

**Meanwhile on Betazed**

Lady Michelle MacAllen is standing in an royal bedroom where Rose's 100 years old great-grandmother was dieing, she vow to the old woman to tell Rose what been going on and that Michelle needs to forgive Rose for been raped...since it wasn't even her fault.

"Kelly, go pack my things and get me the neatest Starfleet starship that going to where the Galaxy is going to be station until the next mission." Michelle order her 40 years old royal maid.

As Kelly runs off, she was thinking...her ex-husband will be on the ship as well maybe this is the will of the gods.

Michelle was 18 when she married the 28 years old Victor MacAllen, the loved each other for an time and both love Rose deeply but Michelle was young and free spirited..they couldn't take the fights anymore they divorce for the sake of Rose.

"Oh Gods help me!" Michelle yelled as she walked into her royal office waiting for the ship that will take her to her daughters ship...the proud ship of the USS Galaxy.

** Betaziod Supply Ship**

Michelle looked around the small ship that was part of the Betazoid 3rd house.

"Take us to the USS Galaxy the high warp you got!" Michelle order as the ship warped toward the USS Galaxy."

**USS Galaxy, Science Lab**

Rose got the message about her father, she knew the time as come to ask her friends to be there when he greets her.

TO: All of my friends, you know who you are :)

From: Lt Rose Isis MacAllen

RE: My father and three of my goddaughters

I got word my father and goddaughters are coming, be in the tranporter room 1 as we dock at the Starbase.

Rose

"Computer send the message." Rose said not knowing that her mother was also is on her way here as well.

'359'

Starring
Lt Rebecca von Ernst
Lt (j/g) Lysander Van derPuls-Hawksley (unauthorized of course)
Admiral Jergan Hoth (NPC)

And Special Mystery Guest Star...The Man in the Third Row (Ooooooo)

(after the Vampire adventure)

In the midst of the interstellar darkness, the soft blue-tinged glow of the Warp-Sled's Engine nacelles were almost insignificantly dim.

Despite the immense energies tapped by the Quad-Warp propulsion units, and the shared ability to fling the tiny craft across the void at speeds beyond that of this universe, the sled was nevertheless, a remote mote of metal, alone in the dark.

Like a swift and silent burglar, the High-Speed sled dropped out of the 'other-existence' of Warp Space and returned to the realm of Newton and Einstein. Designed for high-priority Courier Missions by the top-minds in Starfleet, the sleek craft was capable of speeds beyond those of most conventional Starships. The Warp Sled was one of few such craft, assigned to the various top echelons of Starfleet Bureaucracy to better serve the always 'pressed-for-time' lifestyles of the Admirals and their staffs.

Today however the Sled, which had an optimal capacity to transport nearly twenty officers and their accompanying luggage was for the most part empty. A cabin crew of four clustered in the forward-most compartment aligning the small vessel for its final approach, while the now vacuous main cabin was solely occupied by a small fragile figure who did not even take the full seat allotted to her.

Truth be told, she really wasn't the ONLY passenger on this particular trip, but her co-traveller, and personal pain-in-the-neck Lt (j/g) Van derPuls-Hawksley was busy in the far rear of the Sled, suffering the effects of a rather poorly cooked Bolian Delicacy.

Even from her seat, Rebecca could make out the frequent flushing sounds from the aft lavatory, but she ignored it.

The sterile loneliness of the cabin did not bother Rebecca, nor did the row upon row of plush empty seats intimidate her with the incongruity of the situation.

In actuality it was the events OUTSIDE the speedy little sled that currently held the interest of the young redheaded officer, for Warp Sled 2-7 had dropped into sublight in the midst of one of the most foreboding locales in all of The Vast Federation..

The Wolf 359 Graveyard.

If the zippy little Warp sled could be characterized as lively and quick, then the great rotting hulks around which she maneuvered could by default be classified as lumbering and quite dead. Here in the frigid backyard of an insignificant little red dwarf system, the Once High and Mighty Starfleet of the Federation had unceremoniously been handed their asses on a platter by one of their own.

It was here that Locutus of Borg, better known as Captain Jean Luc Picard of the Enterprise had used Starfleet's own tactics against them, and single-handedly led his cybernetic legions to victory over the ineffectual attempts to stop his advances on Earth.

It was here that 11,000 officers and crew of Starfleets finest lost their young lives, and still tumbled in the frigid darkness, trapped in the creaking and shattered hulls of their once mighty vessels doomed to orbit in silence for all eternity. So swift was their defeat, that the expressions of horror had not even registered upon their now frozen faces.

It was also here that a new jewel hung in the night, and proudly wore the motto "Never Again" emblazoned across the Arch above its primary docking Ring. Starfleets newest attempt to rise from the ashes of near defeat...The 359 school. Brutal testing grounds for a new breed of officer.

"Approach control this is Sled 2-7 USS Somersby out from Starbase 415, requesting clearance to make harddock."

The calm practiced twang of the Warp Sled's pilot in the forward cabin drifted back into the passenger compartment, and drew Rebecca's attention from the graveyard of vessels outside. The pilot seemed almost bored in his routine, and one could imagine he would even react to a Warp Core Overload in the same ho-hum southern drawl.

[[2-7 THIS IS APPROACH CONTROL, WE HAVE YOU ON OUR SCOPES NOW. STEER TO 150, CLEAR TO DOCK 2-2 RIGHT.]]

"Copy that Control, Steering 150 to approach secondary ring." The pilot stifled a yawn.

With infinite grace and ease, the zippy little sled rounded the far side of the 359 School, and pulled up along side something that was rather rare in the Wolf system...A pair of functional starships docked side by side at the secondary Docking Ring.

"Would you look at that." The co-pilot breathed in awe as his eyes swept over the gleaming hulls, "I never figured to see 'those' particular ships here. Must be here for the Admiral's lecture today."

"Copy that." The pilot droned in his clipped bored manner.

The two glowing starships flanking his own tiny Sled may be the two most advanced in the entire fleet, but the speedy little sled could still outrun them both on the straightaway.

Curious, Rebecca glanced outside the starboard window to see who else was here, and was taken aback by the sleek aerodynamic hull of the newest and most deadly starship in the fleet. USS PROMETHEUS !

Even a relative social recluse like Rebecca had heard rumors about the new Quad-Nacelled design that could supposedly run rings around anything else out there.

About this time a rather disheveled looking Lysander Van derPuls-Hawksley emerged from the sanctuary of the tiny water closet. His face was a bit paler than usual, but it was apparent that he had rid himself of whatever particular bug was troubling him, was eager to return to the land of healthy digestive systems.

Noting his tiny chief's gaze, he followed it out the window, and managed a low whistle of appreciation. "Promethues! Well now that's what I'm talking about! Zero to Warp 9.99 in under a minute, Ablative shielding, Multi-Vector Attack Capabilities, and Mark XII Phaser Emiters..Awesome!"

"Y.y.yes it is pretty." Rebecca agreed nervously.

Glancing over to port, she started to look to see what ship was was on the other side when she was interrupted by a voice from the front cabin.

"Lieutenant von Ernst." the pilot drawled, "Docking will complete in 2.7 minutes. 359 Ops requests you and your aide immediately join the Admiral in the Primary Lecture Hall immediately upon arrival."

Lysander frowned at being referred to as an 'aide' but didn' t say anything.

Acknowledging the orders, Rebecca wondered how long this pilot had been playing personal errand boy for the Admiralty Staff at 359. ~~~Probably he's some hotshot pilot, hand picked to fly this speed-demon shuttle, just in case the brass runs into any trouble.~~~ she presumed, ~~~Probably jumped at the chance to take a crack at such a hot ship.~~~

Which of course begged the question : Why was such a rare and high-tech vessel sent all the way to Starbase 415 just for the benefit of scooping up her and Lysander? Why waste some Top-gun Pilot to play chauffeur to a ditzy little girl from Minnesota, and a stuck-up snob From Alpha Centauri?

Unfortunately even Rebecca's normally skatter-brained attention span could figure that one out. Only one person at 359 would...or even 'could' pulls strings like that :

HOTH!

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

"WAR!" the single word echoed off the newly painted columns of the expansive 359 School's primary lecture hall. "War and Morality are two diametrically opposing concepts, and one has no place interfering with the other."

Admiral Jergan Hoth, head of Starfleet's Tactical arm, and primary backing force behind the newly founded orbital college paused to let his words sink in for the packed crowd before him. Nearly 100 Officers ranging from newly gradated Ensigns all the way up to Decorated Fleet Captains with decades of experience, hung on every word that issued forth from the grizzled old Admiral's mouth.

"To fight a war based on Moral rules, and expect the aims of war..which are Immoral by nature to be accomplished is folly. The goal of morality is to bring peace, love, harmony and warm fuzzies to the universe..Fine and good, but the aim of war, to paraphrase and old saying , is to break things and kill people."

Hoth scanned the crowd with his piercing blue eyes. "When you undertake to fight a war, do not let the trappings of morality and civilization to so prejudice your actions that the war effort becomes hopelessly entangled in a quagmire of philosophical baggage."

There was a quiet buzz throughout the vast hall, but as of yet none present openly challenged Hoth's assertions. So far all his theories were just that.. theoretical. The old Admiral grinned tightly. Time to give the unbelievers an example of what he was talking about!

"Lights please." He commanded, and like some great deity of old, darkness fell across the hall. "Computer, begin holographic simulation 359 Option-One, play when ready."

A soft series of chirps from his podium mounted LCARS display, and then, magically the air above the crowd shimmered into focus revealing a vast empty starfield. Those present in the crowd leaned back in their plush classroom seats to gaze upwards as if thew image above were some great holographic planetarium.

"Does anyone here recognize this particular location?" Hoth asked offhandedly, knowing full well that half a dozen would immediately place the unique arrangements of stars thus displayed.

"Wolf 359..." A stern solitary voice ventured out of the darkness.

Hoth smiled at the stoic individual

in the third row, recognizing the voice at once. ~~~HE would know.~~~. "Yes quite correct" Hoth said aloud., "You see above you Wolf system 359 as it was 10 years ago, when it was a mere insignificant Red Dwarf system. Before the Borg. Before Locutus."

The holographic starfield shifted slightly, the view panning to reveal the sudden arrival of dozens of Starships appearing out of the night in a flash of boiling warp energy. This was the marshalling of the doomed fleet, the desperate gathering of The Federation's last line of defense against the oncoming menace.

Many in the crowd sucked in their breath in awe. They KNEW those starships whirling above them, now so much twisted junk, but seeing them again in their elegant prime, even if merely holographicly was a bit of an emotional shock.

"Behold," Hoth narrated dramatically, "The marshalling of Admiral Hanson's doomed fleet."

The gathering of white-hulled sisters did not have long to wait. From the depths of the interstellar void appeared the geometric monstrosity that was the Borg Cube. Arriving at almost unbelievable speed, the massive Alien ship came to a grinding halt, and seemed to slowly regard the assembled fleet with casual disdain.

"The Borg cube," Hoth said, "Commanded by Locutus of Borg..an assimilated Starfleet officer with intimate knowledge of Starfleet strategies.and more importantly.Starfleet morality."

The contemplation did not last long, and as the computer quickly ran through the familiar events, Hoth's captive audience was treated to a first hand view of the truly horrific slaughter that claimed the lives of 11,000 starfleet crew, and 40 starships. The story was familiar to all, but there were not a few present who was forced to look away in pain as one pristine hull after another was cracked open like a mere eggshell, and ravaged with hellfire from the Borg's merciless weapons.

In moments the holographic horror-show was over, and the air above the lecture hall was littered with drifting ghosts of shattered dreams. Wolf 359. Starfleet's Greatest Disaster.

Allowing the crowd to stew in the silence for a moment, Hoth eventually broke the spell with a simple question. "Tell me...does anybody here recall the strategy employed by Admiral Hanson during his Command of the 359 Defense? Anyone?"

Again the soft rumbling of whispers amongst the crowd before the same stern voice from the third row spoke out. "He employed the Yamaguchi Delayed Withdrawal Plan modified for engaging a single Hostile. Variation 7."

Hoth had to grip the podium tightly to prevent himself from rubbing his hands together fiendishly. If anyone knew.HE knew!

"Quite right, Quite right. The Yamuguchi variation was a brilliant stroke of work. Admiral Hanson truly outdid himself setting up the interlocking fields of fire, and the re-deployable fire support vessels. Brilliant and totally by-the-book."

The grey haired Admiral sighed, "We fought intelligently.we fought bravely..we fought selflessly. " he glared at the hushed crowd. "And we still lost because Locutus knew exactly how smary, how brave, and how selfless we were going to be

Hoth paused and scanned the crowd. "For the last ten years, the best minds in Starfleet have fought, and re-fought 359 using every conceivable variation on fleet strategies and tactics. Thousands upon thousands of simulator hours have been logged at the Academy trying to figure out 'what went wrong' and 'what should we have done.' My friends, I am here tonight to tell you we were doomed from the start, not just because of the limits of our technology, but because of WHO WE WERE."

Hoth continued. " We're Human. We're Moral. We believe in bravery and self-sacrifice, and doing the noble deed. We believe in maintaining the moral high-ground even when nobody else is. And that's why we failed!"

"You there," Hoth pointed out the shadowy figure in the third row. "Do you think the men and women in Admiral Hanson's fleet would have still gone to fight knowing what we know now concerning the outcome?"

The figure paused for a moment before replying clearly, "I must believe the best of the Officers and Crew of Starfleet. I must say that each of us must be ready to lay down our lives for the greater good, no matter what the odds."

"What if I said that I thought that the starships would act cowardly, and run and hide, or use one another for cover in an attempt to protect themselves?"

The figure quickly and sternly said, "Never! I could never conceive of a member of Starfleet condoning or undertaking such atrocities."

"YESSSSS!" Hoth hissed, "And that s exactly why they would work!!! Computer play 359 Option TWO."

Quickly resetting itself, the Holographic computers retraced the actions of the battle once again, except with a few very glaring differences..

One ship, the Nebula Class, USS Heremes took a total departure from expected performance, and sulked and slinked in the background of the action, always allowing the other vessels to take the big hits, and never showing and daring or honor. It seemed almost cowardly, and yet..When ever there was an opening in the field of fire, the Hermes always seemed to be in the right spot to make the big time hits.

It behaved like some overpaid Star Athelete, that seemed satisfied to let his suffering teamated soak up all the grunt work, and yet still pull it out to save the big game... It maneuvered like no Starfleet vessel would maneuver..seemingly randomly..without clear strategy, and yet the Borg seemed unable to predict its paths, because the Starfleet programmed brain of Locutus was unable to conceive of a vessel acting in such a cowardly manner.

The ultimate blow came when the USS Hermes darted out of hiding, soared through a dangerous radiation cloud, (most likely irradiating and killing a number of its own crew) and snagged the wounded USS Melbourne in its Tractor Beams. However, much to the horror of the gathered onlookers, instead of pulling the crippled flagship to safety as any honorable Starship Captain would do, the Hermes flipped about , and with a quick twist, flung its injured sister deep into the heart of the Borg Vessel like a human suicide Torpedo.

The strategy was too much for the Cube. While Locutus fully expected gallant Captains to perhaps sacrifice their OWN ships in a last effort at defiance, it never occurred to him that a Captain would intentionally MURDER over 1000 crew from a different ship just to save his own hide.

Even as the holographic Locutus pondered his errors, the sudden hellfire of an uncontrolled Matter/AntiMatter reaction from the Melbourne's Warp Core exploded deep in the heart of the Borg Cube shattering it to a thousand pieces.

As the picture faded above the lecture hall, Hoth could clearly make out some rather angry faces in the crowd, and a chorus of outraged voices rose in one accord.

"What the bloody hell?"

"What damn fool Captain planned that?"

"Utter Murder!! Murder I tell you!!!"

The man from the third row was equally shocked, but expressed his anger in a more refined manner. "Your point is well taken Admiral," he said, "Perhaps a touch of the dishonorable, and a regression to our darker natures may have thrown off Locutus's expectations during the battle. But I would pray for the soul of any captain that would so coldly sacrifice his own humanity to win such a pyrric victory. 'Tis better to lose and retain our identities, than to sink to the level of murderers and the Borg." The man shook his head, "I weep for the man who even put this simulation together."

Hoth nearly fell over himself gloating, "Funny you should say that sir," and turned to wave an arm towards a nearby entranceway where a small diminutive form had just appeared. "It seems the author of this strategy has just arrived off my personal shuttle..Ladies and gentlemen may I present to you, Lieutenant Rebecca von Ernst and her aide Lt (j/g) Van derPuls-Hawksley of the USS Galaxy. Ms. Von Ernst was the the 'captain' of the simulated USS Hermes during that demonstration."

Still lugging her tote-bag, and having obviously walked in on the middle of this conversation, Rebecca took a nervous step backwards, and wondered why everyone in the room was glaring at her with such hatred.

~~~Noodles, I just got off the shuttle..What did I do?~~~

Hoth continued the introduction by waving towards the stern-faced man in the third row with whom he had been arguing the whole time. "Rebecca, Lysander , may I introduce to you..Captain Jean Luc Picard, of the ENTERPRISE."

“Wedding and Family: Part Two”
The Jamieson, Hillcrest and Bridger families With others involved with the family.

2 special looking shuttles sat on the landing pad at the Spaceport on Betazed. The SW-21 long-range warp shuttles with the company design emblazoned on the side had their loading hatches open and a number of people milled around them. Craig, Carrie, Susan, Mathew, Michael, Chris, Jane, Maria, Leslina and Ross were watching the 4 men that crewed the shuttles load the luggage into the storage space. Ross stood quietly watching Susan and Craig argue over seating…

“Susan I am going in this shuttle with Mother, Carrie, Aunt Maria and Father.. you and your family are going in the other shuttle!”

“Oh and who placed you in charge of the shuttle seating arrangements Craig Jamieson?”

“I did.” Said Leslina breaking up the fight. “If you both don’t stop this all you kids will be staying at home…. Autumn will not be happy if you keep this fighting up.”

Susan glared at her. “I really don’t see how some guy wants to marry Autumn.. I mean what is she doing.. drugging the poor guy? Cause that’s the only way she could get a guy.. other then dancing nude in front of a marine band.” She smirked as if that was funny. Leslina didn’t hate anyone in the family but where Susan was concerned it came close. Leslina longed for a convenient airlock to shove her out of… but she knew that Autumn would do so if given half the chance.. and Lesli couldn’t blame her at all. Susan could annoy a saint.

Suddenly a smooth voice rang out. “Ah Ross there you all are” Leslina groaned as she turned hoping that she was hearing things. Nope no such luck. Xavier Crawford strolled across the platform and up to Ross’s side. Xavier shot a dazzling smile across to Susan who blushed and looked at the ground. ‘Great’ thought Leslina ‘first Autumn and now the next cousin in line.. just brilliant Xavier walked over to Ross and quiet spoke to him after a small pause Ross reluctantly nodded. “Yes Xavier you may hitch a ride. Just behave ok?” Xavier smiled and nodded.

(OOC: I borrowed some NPC's from the AES sim Prometheus seeing as it figures prominently in this post. For those of you that also play on that sim, I apologize for any misrepresentation of the crew. Bear with me.)

"Prometheus"

Starring:

Lt. Rebecca von Ernst

Guest Starring:

Admiral Jergan Hoth

Captain Jean Luc Picard

Captain Kybo Torquill

======================================================

(Wolf 359 System)

The Pearl-White Main Bridge of the United Starship PROMETHEUS was unlike anything else in the galaxy. Gone was the usual clutter of duty stations and chairs, and in its place was a smooth simple arrangement of molded control surfaces and displays that allowed three officers to operate the ship with relative ease.

The secret came from rapid advances in starship automation, which reduced the usual clunky bridge staff to its bare minimum requirements. The two Helm/Tac/Ops officers seated at the sunken Forward Control station could, with the help of multiple computer backups, perform the task normally allotted to staff of ten.

Watching from the pristine Captain's chair behind them, the Commanding Officer could run his ship more along the lines of a Fighter-jet rather than a clunky old battleship.

The ship was a dream to fly, and was easily the fastest and most deadly ship in Starfleet's arsenal. Only the Much larger Sovereign Class ships came close to it in combat capabilities.

It was here, between the pure white walls of this bridge that Admiral Jergan Hoth was beginning to see his dream realized, for at this moment, seated in the exact center of the room atop the oversized command chair was the pixie-like form of Lt. Rebecca von Ernst.

"H..helm...divert to uh..course 275.2 mark 6, increase to Full impulse, stand by on Quantum Torpedoes." The tiny redhead stuttered nervously, her too-short legs once again failing to reach the floor from the plush chair.

"Acknowledged Ma'am." One of the Forward Officers responded, "But, if I may remind the Lieutenant that the new Prometheus design channels Primary Tactical systems through the Captain 's Chair Displays. All weapon options are available there."

"Oops..oh..Noodles." Rebecca flushed red as she looked to her armrest, and -lo and behold! There they were.

Chuckling from his position standing behind her, Admiral Hoth clapped a firm, but reassuring hand on her tiny shoulder. "Not to worry Rebecca," he soothed, "The new systems capabilities take a bit to get used to. The whole reason I had you transferred out her was to give you a chance to familiarize yourself with the possibilities, and meet our two distinguished Captain's here."

Hoth nodded to his right where two tall figures stood frowning openly. The first was Captain Kybo Torquill, the ACTUAL Captain of the Prometheus who had agreed very reluctantly to allow Admiral Hoth's new 'wonder-kid' to take his shiny new starship for a spin around the Wolf 359 system. Even though the small human seemed quite intuitive regarding abstract tactical concepts and maneuvering, the lobster-like Alien didn't relish the thought of the skittish girl running the Prometheus into a chunk of floating debris.

The second guest was the stern faced Captain Jean Luc Picard, whose own USS Enterprise was currently docked back at the 359 School. He too disapproved of Hoth's manipulating of the situation, and was secretly relieved that he hadn't asked to let Rebecca pilot the Enterprise for a spell.

Picard wondered what Riker would have said about THAT.

"Ok now Rebecca," Hoth was still pointing out details to his young protegee, "On your left are weapons and defensive relays, while your right armrest houses most of the ships systems overrides, and information call-ups."

Rebecca nodded nervously, running her fingers gentle over the smooth control surfaces, while Hoth continued to explain. "Your biggest problem on the Galaxy Class Simulations was that you had to actually call out your orders to an officer, who would then interpret your desires, and feed them into the computer. This is inefficient at best as every decision made down the chain of command alters your original intention minutely."

Again Rebecca nodded. It did make sense. One of her biggest frustration with the Standard Bridge layout, was that while she could "see" the solution to a given problem easily, it was another matter entirely to communicate that information to another officer who maybe did not understand the mathematical concepts involved.

"In essence," Hoth was saying. "The Prometheus design allows YOU to cut out the middleman and control much of what the ship does. The two officers up front are there to assist you, but ultimately, you are in command of the situation."

Behind them, Picard cleared his throat politely, and spoke clearly. "Far be it from me to dispute the Admiral, but do not be too eager to discard the input from the men and women around you Lieutenant."

Rebecca turned in her chair slightly to listen to the distinguished bald-headed Captain. "While a good Captian is ultimately in command," Picard was saying, "I have often found that the various specialties, and input from my officers go a long way towards formulating my own decisions. More often than not, some 'wild-guess' from a Junior Officer has saved the Enterprise from certain destruction."

"Agreed." The Lobster-ish Captain Torquil added. "My Prometheus may be fully automated, but I would be foolish indeed to discount the valued input from those around me."

Hoth sighed and dismissed the two Captain's comments. "Intriguing theories gentlemen, really. But what I'm concerned about here is tapping the raw talent this young lady possesses and channeling it directly into the Ship's behavior. Rebecca here has a highly technical way of looking at things, and I don't want some two-bit Ensign flubbing up her orders because he pushes the wrong button." Hoth gestured at the nearly empty bridge. " That's what Prometheus was built for gentlemen."

Picard frowned, but allowed Hoth to continue his demonstration. Like it or not, the young girl DID seem to display an adequate tactical intuition, and the way she had been zooming the Prometheus in and out of the Wolf 359 Asteroid belt at breakneck speeds indicated she really could perform the vector calculations the Admiral claimed she could.

The thing that bothered Picard however was the way the Lieutenant literally squirmed in the Command chair like some caged animal. She was like some Circus animal who performed tricks to please the crowd, but lived a life of misery and fear. He found himself wishing her had brought Deanna Troi along to get her input on the child. Perhaps later when they got back to the 359 School...

"..Now here I've programmed in a set of simulated enemies for you here. " the Admiral was saying, "I'd like for you to destroy the nearer one, but only disable the other. Try to use your console relays as much as possible to do it too."

Biting her lower lip in nervousness, the first thing that Rebecca switch the main viewscreen over to her preferred format. The raw sensor data scrawled across the screen in the form of overlapping Mathematical equations and machine code. (Ever see the Matrix?)

Form this raw display she could easily 'see' what the simulated opponents were doing, and by working out their vector probabilities in her head predict their moves before they made them.

The Prometheus took several 'hits' unfortuantely while she fumbled with the unfamiliar Control Relays, and The forward Officers called out 'simulated' damage reports.

"Port shields down 45%, Secondary manuvering thrusters offline, Life support steady..."

~~~Noodles on a stick!~~~ Rebecca fretted, stabbing ineffectually at the controls. ~~~I cant make this silly ship do what I want!~~~

Captains Picard and Torquil exchanged glances behind the struggling Lieutenant. The Prometheus was taking a pounding, but the tow experienced Officers could see the potential in what the Lieutenant was trying to do. Not bad for not knowing where all the buttons were.

Hoth merely watched with a smile, confident in his student.

It was confidence well placed...for suddenly the control inputs just 'clicked' in Rebecca's brain, and her fingers figured out what her brain was trying to do.

The Prometheus snapped itself into an unexpected corkscrewing maneuver, that would have snapped the keel on a lesser Starship. The simulated 'enemies' overshot their run, and suddenly found themselves impaled by the white-hot needles of phaser fire erupting from the new MARK XII emitters.

Armor and hull metal boiled off into space as the powerful weapons quickly burrowed their way under the shields, and with a sudden flare of incandesant light the primary target vanished in a hellfire explosion.

Clucking her tongue into the roof of her mouth, Rebecca stabbed again at the controls, and Prometheus tied itself in knots trying to reposition itself on the tail of the remaining 'enemy'

If not for his decades of service aboard Starships, Picard would have found the violent maneuvers slightly nauseating. As it was, he thought the scribbled equations crawling across the Main Viewer to be slightly disconcerting. ~~~I wonder if this is how Mr. Data views things?~~~ he mused. ~~~A collection of Mathematical Inputs?~~~

While he pondered these things, Rebecca pulled out of her hair-raising turns, and settled on the 'tail' of the final opponent.

The Prometheus rattled again from simulated 'hits' before phaser-spears stabbed out and neatly severed the opponents warp Nacelles from its fragile mounting. Spinning suddenly out of control and spitting fiery radiation from the shattered intermix conduits, the helpless prey was quickly brought under control as an azure tractor beam reached out to steady its plummeting

Fidgeting slightly in her seat, and unsure of what to do next, Rebecca reported, "Ummm.enemy captur...uh.I got him..uh .sir."

Hoth glanced quickly at Captain's Picard and Torquil with a bemused expression on his face before answering. "Fine, fine, Rebecca. Good job. Computer, discontinue simulation."

The computer bleeped in reply, and the Status board of lights suddenly shifted from red to green, as the so-called 'damage' was erased by the ship's computer.

[[SIMULATION ENDED. ALL SHIP'S SYSTEMS AT 100%..CAPTAIN KYBO TORQUIL IN COMMAND OF USS PROMETHEUS]]

Rebecca leaned back for a second in relaxation before realizing where exactly she had been sitting.

"Oh!" she cried and flew from the Command chair as if it had stung her. "MY apologies C.c.captain." She addressed the strange alien commander. "The ship of course is yours."

The Brish's expression was unreadable as he settled his lobster like body into the seat. "It always was." He replied cryptically before addressing his Helmsman. "Take us about Ensign, bring us back to the 359 school and dock us along the Enterprise."

Nodding to Picard he said. "It was an honor to have you aboard Jean Luc, we'll have you home in fifteen minutes."

Picard smiled his thanks. " A most impressive display of your ship's abilities Kybo..and yours as well Lieutenant," he nodded to Rebecca, " I wonder if perhaps you'd care to join us aboard the Enterprise this evening for dinner."

Rebecca gaped. ~~~The ENTERPRISE!!??!! The FLAGSHIP!!??!!~~~ "Y.y..yes sir.I mean.. A.aye sir.I'd love to come."

(To be continued)

"The gauntlet"
by Captain Robert Edward Lee Price

Starbase 415 glistened in the distance. She stood out from other Starbases in the Federation because of her sheer size and elegant design. Serving as the district hub for this sector of space, Starbase 415 was the base of operations for over a hundred thousand Starfleet Officers and civilians.

"We've been cleared to assume orbit sir." Lieutenant' Grant-Wellington declared from the Flight control station.

Captain Price gave a nod. "Fair dinkum Lieutenant'. Take us in slow and steady."

"Aye sir." Heather responded as her hands glided over the required controls to make it so.

The Captain wasn't able to enjoy the beauty of this massive, modern space station. For he knew there were difficult decisions and responsibilities that had to be dealt with now that the Galaxy had returned to a port of call. Sure the normal things would take place, like brief shore leave for the crew, and a number of personnel transfers to and from the ship. That wasn't what bothered the General at this moment. What bothered him was deciding what to do with one Lieutenant junior grade Doctor Todd Sansky. It was something Lee had been dwelling on for days, but now that the ship had arrived back to civilization, it was time to make a decision that very well could affect Todd for the rest of his life.

With a sigh, the Captain decided to get on with it. "Counselor O'Grady, the bridge is yours."

Lieutenant Commander O'Grady glanced over to the Captain. "I think I can handle it sir." Mike said with a grin. Which was of course true, since all that the Galaxy would be doing for the next few days is orbiting the colossal Starbase 415.

The General gave a nod and then headed to the turbolift deep in his thoughts. When he exited on deck 38, Lee tried to think of the best thing to say to Doctor Sansky when he saw him. The trip was far too short, and soon the Captain found himself in the outer brig area. Lieutenant' Copperpot was there at the duty station reading a rather large paperbound book, and seemed to be quite into it.

Glancing up the Lieutenant' quickly saw it was the Captain, so he placed a bookmark into his volume at about the midway point and closed it to address the CO. "Captain Price. What can I do for you today sir?" Chuck asked.

Lee gave a slight smile as a greeting to the newly promoted Security officer. "G'day 'mate. I'm here to see Doctor Sansky."

Chuck rolled his eyes slightly at hearing the Doctor's name. Over the course of the last several days, mister Copperpot had had the 'pleasure' of being on brig duty while the off color Doctor Sansky remained in incarceration for his recent actions in attacking a superior officer, a Security officer at that, and breaking out of the brig. Chuck knew that now that the ship had returned to a port of call, it would be time for Sansky to atone for his deeds. "Lovely. I'll buzz you in sir."

The Captain gave a serious nod. He still wasn't sure how the Doctor was going to handle the options he'd come up with to deal with his recent actions. When Lieutenant' Copperpot deactivated the force field that sealed of the entrance to the brig cells, the Captain started through.

"Brig cell 5a sir." Chuck called out while waiting for the general to pass through the gauntlet as most of security referred to the brig corridor entrance. When he saw that Price was clear, he reactivated the force field and then settled back in his chair to resume reading his book.

It was just a short walk to where the Doctor was being held. Since most of the cells were empty, they'd placed Sansky in one that was close to the gauntlet. Which was why Copperpot had to put up with overhearing the Doctor's antics with his boyfriend the last several days.

Lee stepped over and stood in front of Sansky's cell. He was lying on the bunk, staring at the ceiling when the Captain walked over. In British fashion, the Doctor rose to his feet and stood proudly as if he were in the presence of his homeland King. The Brits were rather proper in that regard.

"Captain." Todd stated in greeting. His eyes were forward, is arms at his sides, feet together in the proper 'Leftenant' attention stance.

"G'day Lieutenant'." The Captain acknowledged. He deliberately avoided addressing Sansky as 'doctor' since this visit was definitely disciplinary in nature. Somehow Lee didn't feel right using an address of respect to someone he was about to rip a new one upon. "I've been pondering what to do about your recent actions on board this vessel since we started heading back towards Starbase 415. Now that we have arrived, I am afraid it's time to make a decision. One that can very well affect your career in Starfleet and possibly out of Starfleet as well."

"I understand sir." Sansky stated professionally without wavering in tone or stance.

"After having given this situation a lot of thought, and consulting with Lieutenant Commander Elaithin and the officer you attacked, I've come up with a number of options on how we can proceed to handle this incident Lieutenant'." The Captain stated evenly. He didn't want to let Sansky know how *that* meeting went. Jii was practically screaming about the attack to a fellow security officer. Security takes a dim view of people that attack their own kind. And Jii made a point to let the Captain know that he reprimanded and demoted that officer for allowing a prisoner to be placed in a cell while still in possession of a hypo-spray. Elaithin also had him transferred to Starbase 415, since anyone that could be so incompetent doesn't deserve a prestigious assignment with the responsibilities of being on a ship of the line. This entire incident had made the security department look bad, which was not something the career minded Lieutenant Commander was going to tolerate under his leadership.

Sansky stood there, at attention, silently waiting for the Captain to continue.

"Option number one. You agree that what you did was wrong. In that case a formal reprimand will be placed on your Starfleet record. You will be demoted in rank from Lieutenant junior grade to Ensign. You will be placed on probation and sentenced to serve 1500 hours of community service in the pediatrics ward working with children. And you will be transferred off of the USS Galaxy to another assignment." The Captain explained. Then added, "I will also release Nathan if he should put in a request for a transfer if he should choose to make one."

Sansky barely nodded, waiting to hear the other options.

"Option number two. Without admitting guilt or speaking to the charges, you receive a dishonorable discharge from Starfleet and are free to pursue other career options in the civilian sector." Captain Price stated evenly. He knew this was a more serious decision then it sounded. Having a dishonorable discharge on his record would follow Sansky around always. It definitely would limit his options and choices in vocations for the rest of his life.

Again Sansky just nodded slightly while holding his British, 'at attention' stance while the Captain continued.

"Option number three. You plead innocent and face a General Court Marshal on the charges of assaulting a superior officer and breaking out of the Brig. Should you win your case, you will be fully exonerated of all charges. Should you loose your case, you'll be sentenced to a term in a Federation penal facility for a length of time to be determined by the Judge Advocate General on board Starbase 415." The Captain explained. "I've thought this long and hard Lieutenant' and these are the only Options as I see them. Seeing as we have arrived at Starbase 415, I need for you to decide which option you will choose, so we can proceed accordingly."

Now it was the Captain that was standing there waiting for a response from Sansky.

"There is really nothing to think about Captain." Todd finally answered, "I will opt for option number one. At least that way, I can remain in Starfleet and Nathan and I can still be together."

The General gave a nod. "So noted Lieutenant'. I will prepare the documents and get the transfer request started. If Nathan will wish to put in for a transfer as well, please have him fill out the appropriate departmental requests. I will see to it that it gets approved." Captain Price stated as he deactivated the force field keeping Todd inside his cell. "You are free to go 'mate. I imagine you'll want to pack up your things. I'll have the paper work complete in a few hours."

"I understand sir." Sansky replied. Somehow he couldn't bring himself to say thank you. Todd was still very sore over the entire incident, though deep down inside, he knew that busting out of the brig and drugging a security officer to do so was something he wished he hadn't done.

Turning, the Captain escorted Sansky down the corridor and to the gauntlet where they waited while Lieutenant' Copperpot stopped his reading long enough to lower the force field and allow the two men to exit the brig.

Looking up from his book, Chuck watched as the Captain and Doctor Sansky exited to the main corridor of the ship; The Captain turning right, and the Doctor turning left as they exited the security section of the ship. Neither man was talking now, though Chuck had been able to eavesdrop most of their conversation. Licking his fingers, the Lieutenant' turned the page as his attention returned to his book. "Good riddance I say..." he mumbled before finally getting to devote his full attention to the volume at hand.

***

NRPG:
Thanks for playing Phil. I hope you enjoy your continuing adventures on board the Atlantis.

"New friends"
by
Alia Drakely
Navarre-Maxwell Shinta

She momentarily bit her lip whilst she waited for someone to open the door to her. After she had managed to completely calm herself down in the holodeck, Alia's first instinct was to visit Shinta to check that both her and her son were okay. She had hurried to Shinta's quarters, straight from the holodeck, but now that she was there, she wasn't sure that it was right - perhaps she should give Shinta and Gavin some time alone together.

But the decision was made for her when the door slid open revealing Shinta, waiting to greet her visitor. Alia could read nothing from her expression so she asked, perhaps with a slightly rushed manner,

"Hi, I know my just turning up probably seems strange to you, and that you probably would prefer not to be intruded upon, but I..well...I wanted to come and check that everything was okay. With Gavin I mean. And you."

Shinta smiled. "Come in, it's very sweet of you." She led the other woman into their living room. "He is in bed, it took me over an hour to get him to sleep, and I doubt that he sleeps through. He... He is severely traumatized, and it's going to take a lot of love and attention to set that right." Shinta tried to get that out of mind for now.

She turned to her visitor, and noticed the state of Alia's clothing and the bruises on her face. "But what happened to you?"

Alia looked down at herself and realised what a mess she must look - completely random clothing thrown on from where she was rushing to get to the holodeck,

"The cuts and bruises are mainly just catching up from earlier, my exchange with Lord Vlad. And my bizarre choice in clothes is due to my being in a rush earlier, I guess I wasn't thinking straight."

Shinta opened her mouth, then closed it again. But she couldn't keep silent. "You know, I like you, and I would really like for us to be friends. But if something is bothering you, please feel free to talk about it." Being a counselor could kill a budding friendship pretty fast she had noticed, and she did not want that now.

When Alia looked up to see the genuine warmth and concern in Shinta's eyes, the instinctive wariness that she would usually display at such an offer was completely lacking, instead, she felt appreciative and even more drawn to the friendly woman.

"Thank you. Thank you very much. That really does mean a hell of a lot to me. It's just...I find it hard to express my feelings, you know? I was always taught that it is more suitable if one keeps their feelings to themselves. But maybe one day."

"I can understand that, I was raised the same way." Shinta was actually relieved that this have done so well, that her new friend had not gotten angry.

Alia paused and drew in a breath before changing the subject and continuing,

"I'm glad that Gavin's okay, I know it will take some time, but he's safe at least. But how about you, how are you doing?"

"Honestly? Lousy. It brings back memories. I am angry and frustrated, I vowed that my son would not have to go through the same horrors I saw as a child. And I cannot keep that promise. And I don't really know what to do about it yet."

Alia stopped to think for a moment before answering in what she hoped was a reassuring tone - certain that she was as bad as talking about others feelings as her own, she felt a little nervous about trying to give out some kind of advice,

"Like I've already said, I'm no mother, so feel free to shut me up whenever you like. I have no idea what the horrors you witnessed as a child were, but you're here, it may very well have been hell on the way, but you've pulled through - just as Gavin will. There is no way in hell that you could have prevented any of this. There are some things that cannot be changed, and there are some things that cannot be prevented, but surely as long as you do as much as possible to protect your son from what you can change, prevent or evade, then no one can fault you, and you can't fault yourself."

Shinta smiled. "I must say you are doing a pretty good job talking about emotions. But as I have found, it is always easier to give advice, then to take it. I know deep down that it is not my fault, yet it does not make it any easier to see his pain and anguish. I need to distract him fore the next couple of weeks." She looked at Alia. "both my husband and I are very busy, so we will not be able to do that constantly. Would you mind meeting my son and see if you like him, and he likes you? Not now, he is sleeping. But maybe tomorrow?"

Alia blinked a little in surprise, she was honoured that Shinta was taking her into her trust so soon,

"I'd love to." Alia smiled, "And if he does like me, then I more than welcome his company in my spare time, when you and your husband are busy and would like someone to be with him. Does he like music?"

"great, that lifts a weight of my shoulders. And yes he likes music, he likes that earth stuff, I do not know much about earth music. To tell you the truth, much of it is noise to my ears.But I am not being a very good host, can I get your anything?" She felt a lot lighter and it showed.

"I'm fine, thank you." Alia replied with a smile. "Well, you've come to the right person if Gavin likes that 'earth stuff'. If there's no objection, I could show him a couple of my music programmes, get my guitar out and see what he thinks."

Shinta rolled her eyes. "Take him to your quarters if you're going to do that please." She said with a smile. "what time will suit you tomorrow?"

"10:30 okay?"

"that should work." Shinta said. "He doesn't have school tomorrow."

"I'll look forward to it." Alia looked down at herself, "I'd better get going, I should put something a little less...noticeable on if I don't want to be sent back to you under orders."

Her new friend laughed. "We are not that bad. Besides, everybody is a little bit shaken about what happened. And you are obviously in dealing with your anger, and that is very healthy."

"I'm glad you're both okay, see you tomorrow." Alia said with a smile as she left Shinta's quarters, feeling a lot happier than she had entered.

Shinta watched her go, her heart a little bit lighter now.

"Empty musings rolling in an empty head..." from
Lt.j/g Lysander Van der Puls-Hawksley

The stars were streaking past the small viewport on the Warp Sled. Lysander was curled up in one of the oversized seats, watching them. He was, by no accident, in the one seat that was the furthest possible from that occupied by Lt. R. Von Ernst. That is, the one seat possible to occupy, while remaining in the cabin and not sucking vacuam.

He idly breathed on the port, and discovered that tranparent aluminum misted just like real silicone glass. He traced a stick figure, before rubbing it out.

~~Twenty four years old and drawing like a sprout. Nice one, Lysander you git. Maybe you'd like the Princess to rub your tummy and feed you animal crackers, sing some lullibies?~~

He turned his somewhat bloodshot gaze to the small figure lost in the acceleration couch at the front of the compartment. Her toussled red hair framing a freckled face that was innocent in repose. The ships chronometer was set to replicate 'ships' time' and the hour was late within the DELTA shift...but Lysander, as a frequent member of the 'Shift of Fuckups' was used to standing duty at this hour, and his circadian rythym was used to either working this 'late' or partying this 'early'

Rebecca had no such rythym. She was curled up asleep. Lysander wondered if anyone had ever told her that she snored gently in the deepest stages of her sleep, after the mumbling and thrashing that marked the earlyier stages. With a smile that felt odd, Lysander remembered the sendoff in the shuttlebay.

*** *** ***

"I'm telling you, Fuzzface, there has never been a shuttle that left on time in the entire history of Starfleet. Besides...there's a notation here that I can take the 'next available' transport. That's pretty open.. usually they give you all sorts of orders about "transer here, bunk in the TOQ there...see the Bollian third from the left about...'"

"Lysanderrrrr... the morrrre you talk, the laterrrrr you will be. Hurrrrryyy up and pack!" Grated out Ensign Bosco, his ears flat against his head as he watched Lysander putter around his quarters.

"Gee, your concern is underwhelming Bosco. You sure you're happy with the Main Bridge assignemnt? I mean, you know, you could transfer to GAMMA shift and sit all alone in that Battle Bridge..."

"You everrrr seen that Ensign Soltarrrrii? the Andorrrrrian Science Officerrrr on Delta's Bridge station? Besides.. I get to run the TAC station by myself now.. no morrrrre Lysanderrrr sending those doggrrrrel Terrrrran rrrrrrhymes over the interrrrcomms..."

"You love those limericks. Don't lie."

"Yes...but the punishment, I can live without." Hurrrrrrry UP!" The two Tactical officers beat feet down the Deck Six corridors, to the turbolifts.

--- --- ---

The main shuttlebay was B-U-S-Y! Lysander stopped a moment to enjoy the sigfht of the shuttles taking crew and travellers to and from the Starbase. Deck crews hurried to and fro, and the overhead announcement kept the Flight Ops crews busy.

"Hey...therrrrres yourrr date...the civilian!" Bosco drew Lysander's attention to the slender form topped with a nimbus of flowing red hair. The two TAC officers pushed their way through the crowds to the spot where Holli Von Ernst stood, surrounded by her luggage.

"Holli? Hi...remember me? Lysander? The Space suited goon? This is Ensign Bosco, he was just leaving, wasn't he?" Lysander gave his Caitian friend a push towards the Turbolift doors. "See you Bosco, I'll write. STAY OUT OF THE SHOWERS UNTIL THAT RASH CLEARS UP! Nice guy. So how are you? I see you're fleeing the ship to escape my attentions."

Holli von Ernst smiled to herself. While she wasn't really looking for someone to replace her life partner John, she was not immune to a good looking young Starfleet Officer throwing himself so transparently at her. Even if the man in question was still only a boy, and could be her son easily. Still, something about Lt. Lysander made her smile.

"Do I get to speak now, Captain? Thank you. I'm fine. Leaving for my transport to Earth. You seem to be enroute somewhere also, unless you're in the habit of carrying bags for guests...?"

"Umm.. heheh.. no Holli. I have to go.. well.. I can't say where. Very secret, you know. Starfleet Intelligence stuff, I could be.. well.. But it's not Earth. More's the pity. Do you mind if I wait with you?"

"No, not at all. Wiggles and I would like the company, wouldn't we, girl?"

A small 'whuff' from the metal carrier indicated that Miss Wiggles didn't share her Mistresses ideas regarding company, but as long as she got Wiggles off this weird tree-less smell- less NO POTTY place, life would be good!

"Besides, I'm waiting for my daughter. She wanted to see me off too."

"daughter?" That was the first Lysander had heard those words from Holli. Of course, having discovered her dancing during a Red Alert and their subsequent conversations, Lysander hadn't thought to ask WHY Holli was on the ship in the first place, or even what her last name was. Our boy Lysander isn't too observant sometimes, espicially when the blood isn't pooled in his brain (if you know what we mean!)

"Yes...daughter.. there she is now! OVER HERE LAMBKINS!" Holli was waving to a slight figure trudging under a duffle slung over one shoulder, and two chipcases, one in each hand almost dragging the ground...a small figure topped with red hair cut shorter than Holli's and several shades lighter...a small figure clad in Starfleet Reds...

A small figure that Lysander knew very well...

A small figure named Rebecca Von Ernst, Lieutenant.

Lysander's mouth snapped shut and his gaze turned back to Holli. He studied her face and trim form a moment, and the conclusion popped into his head like a load of reactor shielding.

The connection between the two redheaded women was followed by an image of what Rebecca had the potential to blossom into. Lysander studied her..MOTHER??... with renewed respect.

Rebecca had reached them, and was fumbling with the strap to her dufflebag. Lysander took it from her without even thinking. Typical to Rebecca, she was flushed with embaressment about something and mumbling... all he could make out was..

"Mrumph...noodling turbolifts..Momma(mumble)..all packed.. YOU?"

The "YOU??" was directed at Lysander, who decided that the Reverse Yamagitchi defence against a single attacker was in order here.

"Hiyas Ell-Tee....err.. should I call you 'lambkins?' Anyways... just saw your mother here..alone...you shouldn't leave beautiful women alone on the deck this way, you never know who'll pop up around them. COuld have been Leo Streely who saw her first... Have a good trip.. err.. Holli! Write me sometime, sorry we didn't get a chance to go to those weddings! Seeyas. Have a good trip Ell-Tee, see you when I get back...HEY! Is that Bosco behind you?"

And Lysander ran when Rebecca turned to look, barely grabbing his bags and depositing a kiss on the cheek of the bemused Holli before eeling his way through the crowds.

He came up short when he barrelled into the form of Master Chief Petty Officer Elizabeth Westwell, the ship's Boatswain about twenty metres away.

"Lieutenant Junior GRade VanderPuls-HAwksley, isn't it?"

"Oh.. yes.. um.. hi Chief. How you doing? Everything looks in order here...carry on...hey Chief.. you know where this special transport is? Only I got orders and I can't.."

"Mister VanderPuls. My job on the ship is what? No..don't bother answering...your ship is that worksled pulling in right now. I suggest you get yourself abaord her on the double. She's all the way out from..your destination.. special for you. And the other passenger."

Lysander eyed the rare Fkeet workhorse. Usually the sleds were the personal pinnaces for FLag Rang Officers, when their tails weren't beng carted around in the few remaining Excelsior Class vessles and others of her age...this should be fun...

"Hey Chief...I don't regognise those markings on her...that should be a Command College/Academy designator, but it's out of sequence..."

"Mister VanderPuls-Hawksley, are you asking me to confirm that there's a top secret school new to the Fleet? Because if I were to confirm or deny that, your orders clearly state...and I mean the orders you were specifically told NOT to show me just now.. those orders say that.."

"Smeggit...yeah..always nice chattin with you Chief. Gotta go, there's my transport. Keep 'em dry, Chief!"

Lysander scurried for the worksled. After a brief arguement with the four crewmembers, he settled into the empty passenger compartment behind the flight cabin. The thirty or so combination sleeping and sitting couches stretched out inthe empty cabin, his gear stored in the miniscule cargo bay, Lysander eyed the two bath facilities and hummed to himself. This would be sweeeeet....

wait....

"Other Passenger?"

When the lock cycled open, he knew beyond any certainity of doubt the exact identity of that 'other passenger' currently stepping through the hatch...

Forget 'sweet'... this trip would be Loooooong.....

"Who Counsels the Counselors?"

Lt. j/g Brian Elessidil
Counselor
USS Galaxy

"Unauthorized" appearance:
Commander Karyn Dallas RN
Chief Counselor/Nurse
USS Galaxy

*** Counselor Elessidil's Quarters -- a couple hours after "Terribly Real" ***

Like the aftermath of a supernova, all that remained of what seemed a few intense moments of excitement and terror was fog and darkness.

Brian wasn't sure how long it had been since he was surprised by the Sanguinarian. The one who somehow appeared in his quarters out of nowhere. The one who transformed from a stunning woman into an irresistible man. The one who telepathically seduced him. The one who physically attacked him. He knew absolutely nothing about this creature and at the same time he knew far too much.

In his mind, Brian couldn't even be sure the whole encounter had occurred at all, but his body -- radiating pain from his neck through every cell and devastated by a frigid weakness that drained all but the spark of life itself -- mercilessly reminded him it had. Time didn't register; identity was meaningless; his only awareness was that he was alive but seemingly not for long.

With what felt like an effort sufficient to reverse a photon torpedo, the half-bloodless man somehow found his com badge with his numb fingertips and managed to whisper "medical . . . emergency . . . ." as the dim light of consciousness faded to black . . . .

*** Sickbay - several hours later ***

Brian's eyes flickered open and for the briefest moment he thought he had entered the afterlife. But as a host of different sensations began to manifest themselves -- the firm support of physical matter, the antiseptic brightness of artificial light, the muddled sound and energy of life all around -- he wasn't sure whether to be comforted or disappointed at the recognition that he was on the Galaxy, still on this side of death. Nor was he sure how he even got here. Had he been physically carried? Moved by site-to-site transport? However it happened, he knew it wasn't under his own power.

A haze still seemed to surround everything as his mind ploddingly arranged sensory data into something comprehensible, but he at least knew that his increasing awareness was real and not imaginary. And there was still the weakness throughout his body, sucking away both warmth and strength like some physiological black hole, reminding him that the present and the recent past were equally real.

And slowly, another sensation began to emerge, one more distant, more vague, yet larger in scope than everything so far. Its origin was not from anywhere within his body but left its impact solely on his mind. It was heavy, dark, despondent -- an empathic manifestation of tragedy. Something very terrible had happened -- something more terrible than what had happened to him -- and it involved many people. Or at least, many people were reacting strongly to it.

As he started relying more on his physical senses, Brian began picking up bits of conversation from some of the medical staff that periodically passed by.

" . . . they're vile bloodsuckers . . . " one said.

". . . it was just a few hours ago . . ." he learned from another.

An audibly shaken voice a few moments later added, " . . . children and counselors . . ."

The first pulse of something resembling energy faintly jolted Brian's mind, "Children? Counselors?? " The images flashed alarmingly in his brain. He was flooded again with fear but unlike during his encounter with the Sanguinarian, he felt the need to be helpful rather than helpless.

He knew however, that he was in no condition to do much at all. Yet he couldn't just lie here. Somehow, he would have to pull together enough mental clarity and physical fortitude to find a way out of this powerlessness . . . .

Awhile later, an opportunity presented itself. Some kind of medical emergency involving one of the crewmembers caused several of the medical staff to rush over to the other side of sickbay - further away from the door than where Brian was lying. In spite of his still light-headed and terribly weak condition, he knew this would be his only chance to get out of sickbay; it could be hours or even days before a doctor would allow him to go and that was unacceptable at the moment.

Using all the strength he could muster, he slowly managed to turn himself and more or less slide off the bio bed. Fortunately, he was still in uniform; having to dress would have been far too difficult a task to accomplish before anyone caught him out of bed. Leaving his com badge on the bed to slow the med staff's efforts to find him, he shakingly put his full weight on his feet. Not looking to see if anyone had seen him or not, Brian staggered toward the door, leaning on each bed, desk or cart he passed for support. With a "swish" the door opened and he moved into the corridor, never letting go of the wall.

As he unsteadily entered the nearest turbolift, Brian fell against the wall opposite the closing door. "Computer, locate Counselor Dallas . . . ."

After what seemed an eternity of trying to get through the corridors without appearing like some kind of renegade officer smashed out of his mind on cheap Romulan ale, Brian found himself at Karyn's office. His first instinct, given what little he could surmise of the current situation, was to respect her privacy and ring the door chime but he knew he had to sit down soon or he would pass out, so he just entered.

Sitting at the other side of the room staring aimlessly at the starry vastness passing outside the ship, Karyn didn't even react to the sound of her office door opening. He didn't know if she hadn't heard or was just ignoring it, but Brian could tell she was greatly troubled.

He needed to try to help her in some way, he needed to find out what had happened over the last few hours, but most urgently, he needed get to any solid object that would support his terribly weakened body. A few feet from where she was sitting, he dropped into a chair like a marionette whose strings had just been cut. Before he could catch enough breathe to say anything, Karyn turned and caught sight of her newest counselor, frighteningly pale and visibly expending what little energy he had just to breathe and remain conscious.

"My God, not you too!" she said quietly but with great concern. She wheeled toward him, adding, "I hadn't even heard that anything happened to you, if I had known . . . ."

But Brian weakly held up his hand and stopped her in mid-sentence. "Don't worry about me right now, Commander, " trying not to be too abrupt with his superior, even though he was beginning to consider her a friend as well, "there was nothing you could do . . . especially in your state."

Karyn's professional pride wanted to deny his allegation but he was right. She had dealt admirably with what being Chief Counselor required of her but she was personally suffering more than a less strong individual could have endured. Sometimes it was a relief to deal with a Betazoid and not have to try to explain her emotions, she admitted to herself.

"So you've heard what happened?" She presented it more as a statement than a question.

"No, I haven't," he replied. "I woke up in sickbay and heard bits of what some people were saying - about something happening involving children and counselors - but more than anything, I could sense waves of reaction from people all over the ship. Please . . . tell me." Brian did his best to focus his eyes on Karyn's to show her she had his full attention, concern, and support.

Karyn told him all about what had transpired over the past several hours: about the shocked crew, the terrified children, the panicked parents, . . . and about a little girl and two of her staff, dead. She didn't have to tell him about her own reactions or feelings - they were all the more clear to him without the words. Besides, the tears that were beginning to stream down her face sufficiently illustrated the terrible mix of rage, grief, helplessness and emotional fatigue that was overwhelming her at the moment.

"And Shinta? Commander O'Grady?" Brian added with some concern for his colleagues.

"When I last saw Shinta, she was racing to the schoolroom to see Gavin," Karyn replied. "I know she would prefer that others didn't see it but she was obviously very scared for him." Karyn's "motherly" instincts were almost always correct, especially where her counselors were concerned. She continued, "As for Mike, he was one of several officers involved in trapping those . . ." Karyn almost choked on the words, " . . . those creatures." Somewhere underneath all the difficult emotions she was feeling, there was a glimmer of pride that one of her staff had been instrumental in ridding the ship of those horrible beings.

"So they're gone?" Brian quietly asked.

"At least physically from the ship," she answered. "But who knows how long they'll be with us in our memories . . .."

Brian leaned forward and for a few moments just held her hand in the only gesture of comfort and friendship he could provide at the moment. They just looked at each other in mutual support, Karyn noticing that Brian's hand was as cold as ice.

["Sickbay to Counselor Dallas,"] the com system suddenly interrupted.

"Dallas here," she answered, quietly sniffling away her tears.

["Commander, we discovered Counselor Elessidil left here without authorization awhile ago. Internal sensors say he's in your office - is he there?"]

Karyn continued looking at Brian, not sure whether to laugh or reprimand him. "Yes, he's here."

["We're going to send down a couple medics to escort him back to sickbay if it's alright with you. He really shouldn't be out of bed or walking on his own yet."]

"Understood, Dallas out."

"Are you sure you want to be alone?" Brian said as he weakly flopped to the back of the chair.

"It'll be good for me right now. Besides, I want you to return to sickbay - and that's an order," she said with a little smile. "We'll have plenty of time to talk more when the need arises."

Bon Voyage Part 1

by Ensign Todd Sansky
with Nathan Carrington

Todd stretched as he exited the turbolift on deck 2, he'd missed his quarters, his bed and most of all his fiance. He entered where Nathan was standing with a bottle of champagne.

'How did your meeting with Price go?'

'I'm free and demoted and we are leaving this barge.' Nathan looked grim, as he poured the champagne.

'I think you should explain.'

'I am now an Ensign again,' Todd moved into the bedroom and opened his closet, opening his bags he started to pack, ' Price has also put in my transfer, as there isn't a ship available yet I am going to take my accumulated leave and take a vacation until a more palatable posting comes along.' Moving back into the main room he gathered his belongings and filled his baggage.

'I'm glad I didn't have too much stuff to take with me. An old friend of mine is on Starbase 415, we can stay with him for a few days.' He stopped and moved over to hug Nathan.

'You will come with me wont you.'

'Wherever you go I will follow, there is plenty of plant life to study in this universe, I'm just thankful I'm not a member of Price's crew, civilians do have more fun.' They laughed as Nathan moved to the door.

'Babe I'm going to go pack while you write your letters to Price and Dothan.' With that he took his leave. Todd finished off his clothes packing before he started gathering his nik naks from around the room, his Voyager model was the first to be packed into a box. As he rolled up his piano sheet and boxed that he thought that he hadn't really accumulated much since he left the academy. Sighing he sat at his computer station

Letter to Captain Price and Dr Dothan

After accepting your 'terms' Captain I have decided to be put in for a transfer. As I am aware this process can take weeks, as a result I wish to take my accumulated leave on the Starbase until I can transfer. I assume this is an amicable arrangement for all, if nothing else it will give me time to reflect on my prior actions before I assume a new post on another ship.

Captain, thank you for your sound judgment in my punishment.

Dr Dothan I'm sorry I let your department down; by nature Doctors do no harm, I broke that rule.

Ensign Todd Sansky

'Computer post to reciprocates.' The computer worked as Todd finished off the rest of his packing.

Bon Voyage, Part 2
by Ensign Todd Sansky NCO
with NPC Nathan Carrington

'Are you ready to darlin?' Todd asked as he entered Nathan's room.

'I've had my belongings beamed to the shuttle I'm ready when you are.'

'Same here, permission came through from Price and Dothan, its time we got going.' Holding hands they took one last look at the room before the doors closed. As they moved along the corridor they heard the voice of a woman.

'Wait Todd, I'm glad I caught you, I wanted to say goodbye.'

'Thanks Rose, I hope to see you soon.' Kneeling down Todd faced her stomach.

'And you too little princess, don't forget your god father.' Chuckling he hugged Rose as she continued on her way. Smiling at each other the too lovers entered the turbolift.

'Shuttle bay one.' The lift descended but they didn't speak, despite being the start of new challenges it was still a somber moment for them. For Todd it had been his first post, and a memorable at that.

In the shuttlebay the craft awaited them, their luggage was stored in the aft section and the hatch open.

'Lets get pre-launch over with and get out of here, I detest long good byes.'

'Especially with Starships.' Nathan laughed as he moved into the shuttle. Sitting in the co pilot's chair he tapped the console to ready the ship for take off.

'Ok babe we're ready to go.'

'Lets do it, take her out.' Todd sat down next to Nathan as he complied. With a chuckle Nathan glided the shuttle out of the bay and elegantly slipped her between the warp nacelles.

'Nicely done.'

'Todd didn't you know I used to test pilot shuttles, watch.' The shuttle stopped in space, Nathan commanded a complete 360 horizontal.

'Take a good look babe.'

'She's a beauty alright, goodbye Galaxy.' With that Nathan shot forward looped the craft under the warp nacelle and headed for Starbase 415.

OOC

Right that's the end, I hope you liked it, its been fun playing on the Galaxy. Maybe I will get the chance to work with some of you again

Phil

xxx