TREKS IN SCI-FI FORUM

=/\= Quinn here.. =/\= He could hear Sevryll monotone voice =/\= Captain we have arrived at Earth, we will be docking at Starbase 2 for repairs in two minutes. =/\= Thank you Commander.. Quinn out =/\=

Quinn stood from behind the desk and exited his ready room. As he entered the bridge Lt. Commander Sevryll stood from the Captain's chair and took the seat to the right as Quinn sat down.

Quinn turned to Sevryll " How long are repairs going to take Commander? " Sevryll looked down at her console " 2.3 weeks sir"  "Great " Quinn said, " it will give the crew some time to rest, before our next mission." Sevryll gave Quinn an inquisitive look, Quinn continued " I am giving the entire crew two weeks shore leave."

"Sir" Sevryll said quietly " I think I should remain to supervise repairs" Quinn waved his hand "nonsense Commander, we all need some time off " Quinn smiled " Don't force me make this an order Commander ", Sevryll gave Quinn a half smile and nodded.

Quinn pressed his comm badge =/\= To the crew of the USS Tiberius, this is your Acting Captain. We have arrived at Earth for some much-needed repairs. We will be down for two and a half weeks. I am here by giving the entire crew a two-week shore leave. But before you leave I would like all of us to meet at 1800 hours in Hall G at Starfleet headquarters from a special ceremony... Quinn out  =/\=

Quinn turned to the Sevryll, "We have some things to discuss Commander, please follow me to my office." They both got up and exited the bridge.

I would be stuck in the sick bay for a few more days and decided to update my personal log. Losing a crew member was something I as a doctor could never get used to.

Also Having to fight and kill in order to save fellow crew members was something I was having a hard time dealing with. I kept remembering my oath has a doctor... Above all else do no harm. ...I was having a hard time dealing with this as it conflicted with my oath as a starfleet officer.

I find myself questioning my ability as both a doctor and a starfleet officer and have asked the counsellor and captain to meet me here,in sick bay I am sure that my feelings are natural under the circumstances. I almost lost my life in shielding Lt  Peters from further harm and my shoulder injury was quite serious due to the loss of blood, it would be a few more days before my wound would be fully healed.

But some how I still feel the quilt for not being able to prevent Lt. Peters death. I know as a doctor I could do nothing for him, but emotionally it makes me feel as if I failed my captain and crew some how. In some ways I am glad to be taking some time off for shore leave. and have sent a personal email to Commander Sevryll asking if she would like to join me on shore leave. I don't really wish to be alone and have no family to share it with anyway.

I am awaiting the captain and counsellor as I ponder who will be getting promotions and citations as this first mission has certainly made me aware of skills and abilities I really never knew I had. I at least now know that I can hold my own in a firefight and even saved some people without proper medical equipment. I just hope the Captain Sees things and events the way I did and I still have a job as  CMO of the Tiberius.

Lieutenant Commander Sevryll gave Quinn a half smile and nodded. Well, it was more like a thinning of the lips as she apathetically accepted the fact that staying aboard was not an option. If they were orbiting Vulcan, shore leave would be more agreeable to Sevryll. But it wasn't Vulcan they orbited, it was Earth. Though Sevryll was bonded to a human, her husband did not live on Earth. He was an agent of Section 31 and his wife was the only person, outside the agency, who knew his dirty secret. Yet despite this fact, Sevryll knew nothing of his whereabouts...he could be anywhere.

The only other person Sevryll knew on Earth was her mother—a history professor at Starfleet Acadamey. Sevryll hoped that Sareth was on a prolonged sabbatical to some historically interesting site on another world...but she knew better. Her mother was excessively dedicated to academia and would not willingly accept an extended vacation. An interest in antiquities and an extreme devotion to work were the only traits Sevryll shared with her overbearing parent.

Sevryll's new duties as Acting First Officer, had made it difficult to spend time with her children. A trip to Earth would be enjoyable to them, and this truth was the only benefit she expected to derive from the unavoidable retreat.  Her toddlers would be turning three-years-old in a week, and though Vulcan children did not celebrate birthdays, Sevryll's children would. Sareth would not approve...but the twins were, after all, half human and Sevryll would not allow her mother to dictate how she would raise her own children.

"Cakes are served at birthday parties", she whispered to no one in particular. She would discuss this with Counselor Margon—he had recently mentioned that "chocolate cake" was his favorite dessert. Perhaps he had some experience organizing the celebration that commemorates one's birth.

Sevryll stood from her chair, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, straightened her jacket and followed Commander Quinn to his office.

Suder heard the announcement and jumped up from his seat in his quarters and nearly hit his head. He never did much, but he had friends on Earth and he wondered what this "special ceremony"wasâ€" he didn't care really. He ran to the door so fast that it almost didn't open for him. Then Suder ran to the exit and actually hit the next door, it was closed. When checked a terminal, the information on the screen let him know they were  docking in two Minutes. Suder sat down and waited.

"Well, this is what I get for doing nothing..." He sighed.

They finally docked and Suder left for the closest Earth restaurant. He bought a bottled Coca Cola. The label read "250 years and going strong".

Suder thought "I bet it tasted better back in the day."

He then went back aboard the ship to say good-bye to everyone.

Cedric Tain look over his new orders from Star Fleet command. He was to report to the Akira Class starship Tiberius when the ship docked, as a new Lt in the security section. Tain sighed and set the orders on the table beside the bed of the hotel room he had rented.

Tain quickly took off the new uniform he had been supplied with.

"Damn monkey suit.", Tain muttered. He wondered if he was ever going to get used to it.

He had just arrived in San Francisco. Tain had gone through enough  debriefings, hearings and ceremonies to last him a life time. He'd come through the entire process with exactly what he didn't want, a medal, and a commission. Tain had thought he could persuade the brass that he would be best doing what he had always done in Star Fleet. Working with new recruits, training them and teaching them how to stay alive. The brass had seen it a different way. They thought Tain needed a different prospective. He had demonstrated that he could lead and plan, and that's what they were going to have him learn. They even smiled as they told him that "If nothing else Lt. Tain, maybe this will teach you to be a little more understanding of the politics of command."

Tain grimaced as he thought of that word.. politics. He had always been very upfront in all his dealings with superiors, and subordinates. He prided himself as never pulling punches, he told it as saw it. Choosing his words carefully was going to be one of the biggest obstacles he had ever had to overcome.

Cedric has seriously entertained resigning after his commission had been made permanent. But then he thought back over his career, and what Star Fleet had meant to him. He decided that if the brass thought this would be good for him, well he would try his best to make it work. The Fleet was his life, at the cost of three marriages, and he was not about to throw that all away.

"Well", Cedric said aloud,"I sure hope this  ship isn't full of a bunch of stuck up little snot nosed academy grads. At least I have a few days before I have to report!!"

Cedric threw on some comfortable civvies. He looked at himself in the mirror and smiled slyly.

"Cedric my boy.....let's go have some fun!"

K'arath stood bathed in the warm blue glow of the warp core as the Captains message resounded through the nearly empty main engineering deck. He had allowed most of his engineers the opportunity to rest and recover following their last...complicated mission.
Shore leave, he mused. He was glad they had returned to Earth, he had always flet more of an affinity for the blue world than his home world Kronos. After the last mission, the last thing he really wanted to see were the brow ridges of another Klingon. He began a search for any climbing expeditions he could join to summit Mt. Everest...again.

Averik Newol stood at attention as she recited Article 99 for Admiral Watts, Judge Advocate General. "Misbehavior before the enemy—Performing other unspecified acts of cowardly conduct, while in combat. Cowardice can, by definition, only be charged during a time of... and in an area of armed conflict."

The Judge Advocate General eyed the young JAG officer as she fixed her gaze on the wall behind him. "And what is the penalty for such an offense lieutenant?" He inquired with an air of conceit.

Averik never flinched as she rattled off the penalty. "According to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the maximum punishment for cowardice is death."

He walked around lieutenant Averik before returning to his desk and sitting in his plush, over-sized chair. He crossed his legs and placed his hands upon his knee.

"Permission to speak freely sir," she requested with confidence.
There was a momentary pause before he replied,"permission granted."

Averik slowly lowered her eyes to meet Admiral Watts' hard gaze. "Sir, my placement aboard the Tiberius was unwarranted. Captain Bell was an admiral man, and I found his crew to be valiant and honorable." She swallowed hard before continuing. "I believe this investigation was a wild goose chase. Furthermore, it is my assessment that you had an axe to grind with Captain Gilbert Bell and you tried to use me to sharpen it."

The silence was deafening, but Averik shrugged it off and continued. "My report reflects this fact, and I will be delivering it to Admiral Talbot today. In fact, his office is my next stop."

A vain in Watts' neck grew as he slowly rose from his comfortable chair to tower over the petite Bajoran standing before him. "Go to hell!" He replied curtly.

Averik's eyes glinted with the laughter she would not audibly voice, "I've already been there Admiral...they mentioned something about the door not hitting me on the way out." And with that Lieutenant Averik Newol, Assistant Judge Advocate General, spun on her heal and left the JAG's Legal Center. "Hopefully Admiral Talbot needs an assistant with background in law," she muttered to herself as the door closed behind her.

I finished my report for the captain and the jag officer regarding the many legal violations of starfleet law by the Arcadi-ans especially regarding the use of illegal and banned weapons that resulted in the death of one fine officer Lt Peters as well as my close call with death. I also included the information I gathered from Chogan that made me believe that the Arcadian homeworld was also in violation of several starfleet laws in regards to the arcadians and my recommendation that their inclusion into the United Federation of Planets be Reviewed and possibly revoked.

Since I had not heard from Lieutenant Commander Sevryll  I resent my invitation to her to perhaps go on shore leave together as Having no family left alive She was the closest friend I had especially since we both shared some unique and personal experiences as a result of are contact with the Iconian device.

I also resent my emails to the counsellor and the captain as I felt it was important to discuss my experience with them as I still carried an overwhelmingly strong sense of responsibility for the loss of Lt. Peters and felt that perhaps they could if nothing else just reassure me that I did all I could and that I did not let the captain and the crew down. I also needed to talk to the captain and the Counsellor about me having to kill some arcadians and was having a hard time reconciling this with my role as a doctor and the Hippocratic oath.

I know my feelings were normal and I know I did what I had to do to survive but was hoping they could give me a differrent perspective o this, and secretly hoped that Lieutenant Commander Sevryll could give me some logical perspective on this that would help me reconcile these feelings I am having.

So now All I can do is wait for the captain , counsellor and Lieutenant Commander Sevryll  to show up and offer me their words of wisdom. I hoped to get this issue resolved before this upcoming ceremony.

Know all I could do was wait for the nurse to give me some pain medication and hope this skin regeneration unit would hurry up and heal my wound and wait for my final blood tranfusion to be complete so that I could finally leave sick bay.

Gaius sat at the dirty table in the seedy dockers bar somewhere I the bowls of space dock 2, in orbit around earth. He could just make out earth through the grime encrusted porthole next to his table, a spectacular view. Not that any of the bars patrons were interested in it, they lived and worked in orbit above the planet, the only porthole they were interested in was at the bottom of their empty glasses. It was a real rat hole but perfect for someone who wanted to be invisible, right now Gaius only wanted to be noticed by one person and he was late.

Gaius toyed with the message tablet in his hand, David had given it to him before he left Go-Shan 6, it was a message for his wife Lt Sevryll. David had learned that the USS Tiberius was due in space dock and had pleaded with Gaius to deliver it for him. At first he had said no, he was here on a job and wouldn't have time to sightsee, but David had persisted until Gaius gave in.

David puzzled Gaius, he didn't understand how a man could do what he did for Section 31 and then go home to his wife and kids with blood on his hands and play happy families. Admittedly he didn't have much blood on his hands because he was what Section 31 called a "Geek", a Section 31 nickname for an operative who specialised in data gathering. Geeks could get any data in any format from anywhere, they were fully trained for "wet work" but they specialised in intel gathering. Geeks usually had a minder with them to handle the wet work and that's where Gaius had come in, wet work was his speciality. He'd been doing it most of his adult life, he was classified Omega 6, only the best made it that far. His colleagues in section 31 had nicknamed him the "Ghost" because of his ability to slip in, dispose of a target and be long gone before the alarm was raised. It was during their second op together when David had made his first kill.

He and David had been on and surveillance job when it went bad. 3 Yridians had burst into their observation point intent on killing them. Gaius didn't have time to fire his weapon so he just launched himself at 2 of the attackers. 2 shots from a phaser fired one scorched his shoulder but he had no idea where the other one went and he didn't care. His hands grab the first Yridians' head and pressed his thumbs into the eye sockets, the Yridian bellowed in pain knocked Gaius to one side and collapsed on the floor clutching his face screaming. The 2nd Yridian had grabbed Gaius from behind, Gaius' drove his left foot backwards into the knee of the Yridian, there was a sickening crunch as it buckled backwards. His attacker howled in pain and released his grip, Gaius spun round driving his elbow into his attacker's windpipe, the blow crushed cartilage and bone as it shattered his airway. The Yridian gasped and gurgled for air, he tried to stagger away but his ruined knee gave out and he collapsed on the floor writhing as he fought for breath.

Gaius turned his attention to his blinded colleague who was now curled up whimpering on the floor, as he approached him the Yridian heard the footsteps and tried to struggle to his feet, Gaius kicked him onto his front then dropped to his knees, driving one into the base of the prone Yridians skull. There was a crack and he lay still, only then did Gaius turn to look what had happened to the 3rd Yridian. David was sat against the wall a phaser in his hand, his face was a mask of horror. The Yridian lay on his back with a blackened scorch mark on his chest, the phaser had been set to stun but at that range he may as well have it on full power. Gaius walked over to David, he appeared to be in shock, when he spoke to him David just stared at the weapon in his hand. They had to move so Gaius packed up, took the weapon and bullied and pushed David all the way to a safe house. It was 2 days until extraction and David just sat there in a living coma, Gaius was facing a decision, he had to get to the extraction point but in David condition they would never make it. Standing orders were clear the mission came first. Gaius decided to make one last effort for his colleague, he rummaged through his things, found the pict slate of his family and went to talk to him. He told him it was self defence, that he had no choice, he reminded him that his family were waiting for him and he owed it to them to come home alive, he told him in time the memory of the look on the Yridians face would fade and it would get easier in time. It had been a lie, the faces never faded they always lurked just behind your eyelids waiting for you to close your eyes, but it was what David wanted to hear. Slowly he pulled himself together and they left for the extraction.
After the debrief and psyche evaluation David was sent on 2 weeks leave, Gaius assumed he wouldn't see him again, he'd be re-assigned to a desk job. But he did come back and they'd worked together many times since, why David came back he never said and Gaius didn't ask..
A shadow fell across him and disturbed his musings as his mind came back to the grimy surroundings of the bar.

"You Mr Smith?" said a dirty dockhand in a high pitched voice. Gaius nodded. The dockhand sat down, the smell of an unwashed body mixed with dirt and cheap Romulan ale joined them at the table.
"Funny you don't look like a Smith" said the whiney voiced man. Gaius looked at him, he was a typical messenger, scrawny, lank greasy hair, nervous eyes and full of false bravado, a little fish swimming with sharks.

"Funny you don't look like a corpse, yet" replied Gaius, his voice was flat and even.

"Ere don't you threaten me, Mr Kahmir doesn't like threats" he whined.

"I wasn't threatening Mr Kahmir, now do you have the information?" Gaius' eyes never left the mans own.

"Yeah you got the payment?"

"yes, lets go somewhere private to exchange" Gaius stood without waiting for a response and headed off into the corridor, the weasel messenger darted up quickly to follow him. They headed down a few dark corridors into an abandoned part of the station, they passed through a bulkhead door and into some sort of duct way.

"Where are we?" questioned the messenger as his eyes darted around nervously.

"It's and old heat exchange duct which has 2 distinct advantages, one no surveillance cameras due to the extreme temperatures and 2 its heat shielded with only heat sensors for monitoring. The sensors are only activated at very high temperatures so they won't even notice us, we are out of sight and mind"
"nice" the messenger took out a data slate and handed it over "why do you want to know about an old Cardassian outpost?" he asked Gaius look hard at the man "you've read the data?"

"Yeah well only glanced at it, just out of curiosity like" the man looked nervous and wouldn't meet Gaius' gaze.

"Here take you payment then wit 5 mins and follow me out" Gaius handed over another data slate. The messenger started to view it, "it's all here yeah, all the codes and plans of the weapons lockers" he asked looking intently at the data tablet.

"its all there" said Gaius removing a long black cord from around his wrist, "oh can you give a message to Mr Kahmir for me?"

"Yeah sure" said the messenger not looking up from the slate, "what is it?"

Gaius slipped behind him looping the cord around his neck, he pulled it tight, the muscles on his arms straining against his shirt. The messenger struggled his hands scrabbling ineffectually at the cord round his throat, his heels drumming on the metal floor. Gaius kicked his legs out from under him and he sunk to the floor, his weight finished it as his necked snapped. Gaius released the cord from his left hand and the messenger slumped to the floor. Gaius knelt down and retrieved the data pad, tucking it away in a jacket pocket and pulling out a small black cylinder. He placed it by the slumped body of the messenger and started to walk away. As he reached the bulkhead doorway the device ignited, white hot molten fire immolated the body in seconds, turning the gantry into a molten slag pool .

Gaius shut the bulkhead door and made his way back up to the shuttle bay, he patted his pocket to check he still had David's message tablet, he just had time to deliver it to Sevryll and her ankle biters before he had to contact control and report in. As he walked back into the man shuttle bay he subconsciously wiped his hands on his jacket, like he was trying to wipe something off.

1730 Hours – Hall G – Starfleet Headquarters

Quinn entered the hall and looked around appraisingly, he wanted to make sure things were set up to his specifications. This was going to be a good night, compared to the last few months. Quinn had no idea what was in store for him when he took this assignment. He and Captain Bell barely had time to get to know their new crew when circumstances removed Captain Bell from the Tiberius leaving Quinn as acting Captain. There next mission didn't go as planned and they lost not only their Chief of Security but also a close friend of Quinn's.  He walked around the hall inspecting the tables, people were hurriedly running around putting the finishing touches on the place. Quinn walked up to the stage and main table where he, Lt. Commander Servyll and Admiral Talbot would be sitting and noticed the items that he requested were sitting there. He bent down and picked up one of the boxes and opened it. A smile came across his face as he closed the lid and placed it on top of the others.

"Sir", said an ensign just behind him. "Everything is ready to go, do you need anything else?" Quinn turned to look at her, "No... Thank you Ensign, everything looks great." She smiled and gave Quinn a nod then exited a door to her right. Quinn stood there on the stage taking one last look at the empty hall before it started to fill up with is crew. This was going to be a good night for all but bound to be a great night for few deserving people.

1745 Hours – Hall G – Starfleet Headquarters

The room began to fill. It was almost 1800 hours and Quinn was ready to start the ceremony.

Counselor Margon entered sickbay.

"Dr Peterson I presume!"  he laughed.

"Finally", the Dr. mused.  "Thanks for checking in, where's Quinn and Sevyrll?  I've sent two messages"

"Well" the counselor went on, "They are probably both at the ceremony, and I have come for you.  We have a lot to talk about Dr.  and the captain and first officer want me to work with you on it.  My thoughts are that we could attend the ceremony together and then perhaps find a quiet place to talk?"

The Dr looked annoyed. 

"No offense counselor, I would like to talk to you, but I really needed to talk to them"  he scowled.

"It's OK, we'll have plenty of time to talk.  Come on, I know I'm not a physician, but I do have a perscription that needs to be given to you my patient!  One dose of Starfleet morale in the form of a mysterious ceremony.  So, get up off the bio bed and let's get on our way or we'll be late."

The Dr. finally cracked a smile and gave into the counselors demands.  He quickly dressed and both he and Margon made their way to the transporter room. 

"You know Dr., "said Margon, "This would be a good time to hang out at Starfleet Medical.  I understand they have some fascinating studies in reconstructive nanite technology going on.  They say that with recent developments this Borg technology may be the key to full tissue regeneration."  The counselor was baiting the Dr.  He knew that Dr. Peterson would love to head up Starfleet Medical someday, and he never could resist new technology.  He was hoping that it would make this trip to the ceremony a little easier, since the Dr. was physically uncomfortable.  It was the counselor's way of getting Dr. Peterson's mind off of his troubles. 

Several people were waiting in line at the transporter room.  They were all beaming down to the ceremony.

"You don't say?" muttered the Dr. "That does fascinate me." 

They stepped to the transporter platform and beamed down to the conference room.

Suder looked at the time, it was almost ceremony time...He had to get to the transporter room to beam down. He ran, ran fast because he did not really want to wait in a long line. Of coarse he ended up waiting in a line anyway.

"If this thing ends up being an award ceremony, I will be asleep soon after it begins. "I could be bored on the ship and never have to actually go anywhere...or wait in this long line!" He thought to himself.

The diligent engineers of the USS Tiberius had worked around the clock, to ensure one transporter would be operational in time for the ceremony. The entire transport system had been disabled in the battle with the Acamarians and it would take at least two weeks to bring them all online. Because it was the only functioning transporter, a long line stretched out of transporter room three, into the corridor, around the corner and down the hallway that led to the turbolift.

Two small Vulcan children accompanied Sevryll to the turbolift on the deck that held their cabin...each holding one of their mother's hands; N'Vall sang his favorite song:"Row, Row, Row Your Boat" as M'Rynn stood quietly beside her mother.  Both toddlers wore traditional Vulcan attire. M'rynn's yellow, silk suit, bore flared sleeves trimmed in silver and gold thread. N'vall wore a gray, high collar ensemble edged in black satin trim. When the turbolift stopped, the three of them stepped out to discover the end of a very long line.

As Sevryll walked to the end, she found Ensign Suder leaning against the bulkhead with a remote look on his face. N'vall's singing roused him from his daydream and he straightened abruptly at the sight of Lt. Commander Sevryll. "Good evening Ma'am," he said as he tugged at the collar of his vest.

Each crewman wore a dress uniform, consisting of a white jacket, gray, quilted vest, and black duty trousers. The vests' mandarin collars were embellished with division colors and adorned with the appropriate rank insignias. Suder felt like a waiter...he hated wearing uniforms, especially his pretty white dress uniform.

"Hello Ensign Suder," Sevryll replied. The young secondary counselor knelt before the two children in order to display his slide of hand. With a wink he quickly produced a credit chip from behind N'Vall's ear. The little boy smiled and laughed which surprised Suder.

"Forgive me for asking commander, but do Vulcan children usually laugh?"

"M'rynn and N'Vall have not begun their formal training in emotional restraint."

"Oh, " he said with a smile and waved at M'rynn as the little girl bashfully hid behind her mother's leg.

Upon their first meeting Doctor Peterson had once pulled a coin from behind the N'Vall's ear, "did Doctor teach you that trick?" the boy asked Suder in a small voice.

"Who do you think taught Doc Peterson?" Suder chuckled...it was an exaggeration, but the toddler seemed satisfied with the answer.

After ten minuets of standing in the same place, Suder excused himself and disappeared around the corner. He came back five minutes later and informed Sevryll that she could move to the front of the line. The Vulcan politely refused but Suder took N'Vall by the hand and quickly ushered them all to the transporter room.

"Excuse us, pardon me...Commander Sevryll's running a little  behind." He nodded and smiled and winked at fellow crewmen as he pushed his way through the crowd.

"I never run behind, " remarked Sevryll as she struggled to reach N'Vall's hand. "This is not necessary Ensign ...Ensign, please..."

"Its OK commander, we all run late sometimes." They finally made it to the transporter where a jovial, Denobulan, transporter chief awaited them. He smiled and motioned Sevryll to the pad. She reluctantly ascended the steps and positioned her children near by. Ensign Suder nonchalantly took a spot next to her as the Denobulan shot him a questioning glance.  Suder met the gaze and said, "what? I'm with her...get on with it, she's in a hurry."

The transporter was activated as Lt. Commander Sevryll futilely informed the Denobulan, that Suder was not "with her". Her protest echoed within the shimmering particles as their patterns were transferred to a lobby in Starfleet headquarters.

Hall G, contained an undulating sea of dress uniforms formed by admirals, captains, ambassadors, cadets, and various other Starfleet personnel. The drones of a hundred voices floated on the air and resonated in the chamber as Sevryll and Suder fell in behind a group of Andorians. They entered the doorway of the grand hall, and a hostess greeted them while simultaneously flagging down an usher.

The usher escorted Sevryll and crew, to the front of the hall where a table had been set for the senior staff of the Tiberius. There, Doctor Peterson, Counselor Margon, Chief Engineer K'ararth, Lt. Li Sameria,and their guests...Ensigns Manrique, Morgen, and Starstriker sat sipping wine and trading jokes....Ensign Bandera had been invited, but declined to attend the event. They all rose when Commander Sevryll stopped at their table to drop off the freeloading Ensign Suder.

The tall Vulcan inclined her head towards her crewmates and said hello to Margon and Peterson. Immediately the children left their mother's side to hug the two men. It had been a few days since they last saw them and the toddlers were anxious to say hello. Doctor Peterson hugged them back and presented them with each with a blue sucker. He seemed to beam as he lifted N'Vall.

"We'll watch them Sevryll, you go on up to your seat on stage," offered the counselor. He sat down with the little girl on his knee, as she picked up his drink and took as sip. Luckily it was just water. N'Vall sat with Doctor Peterson, happily unwrapping his blue lolly pop.

Commander Sevryll thanked them and allowed the usher to escort her to her place near Commander Quinn and Admiral Talbot. Admiral Talbot rose and parted his fingers in a Vulcan salute.

"Live long and prosper, " said Sevryll as she returned the gesture. Quinn welcomed Sevryll and motioned for her to take the chair near him.

Ensign Bandana as pleased to be able to spend some time on Earth.   He planned on returning to the home of his parents.  He hadn't been to Earth since the funeral for his brother. 

After having lunch with his parents, he did some site seeing.  Surprisingly, he was born on Earth but had never been to the site of Doctor Cochrane's famous launch.   He spent the day there, took from holo-images, and thought, "Wow, nice statue." 

He then finally forced himself to go to his brothers grave.  It was difficult for Joseph, he never really had come to terms with his brothers death during the war with the Dominon.   

After spending several minutes at the grave, he returned to the ship.   He had remembered why he had left Earth to begin with.  He couldn't stand the bugs, and to many memories he didn't want to remember. 

He went to his quarters, and awaited his orders.

Admiral Talbot was never one for ceremony.  He had always preferred to let his actions and those of others around him to speak for themselves.  But as he took his seat in Hall G at Starfleet he also was very aware that sometimes certain events called for a different, more formal response.  What the crew of of the Tiberius had been through recently was certainly one such event. 

Talbot knew several of the main officers aboard the ship from chance meetings throughout the years.  He had never had much of a chance to get to know Captain Bell very well, which he regretted now.  He seems to of gained a great deal of trust and respect in his crew in a very short time.  Talbot even thought he noticed a small crack in the cool Vulcan veneer of Lt. Commander Sevryll after he made the traditional greeting when seeing her.  Only those very used to being around Vulcans would notice or pick up on it.  Something his mixed heritage aided him on.

As the ceremony was about to begin the Admiral tugged at his dress uniform collar.  Damn silly monkey suit, he thought to himself.  He knew he would be infinitely more comfortable on his back in a Jeffries tube even working on a simple impulse engine diagnostic procedure.  Now behave yourself, he could hear his wife Lydia telling him in his mind, even now.  She was one of the very few people in the universe who could get him to change his mind or help him through these types of events.  He missed having her at his side, especially on a day like today.

After hearing the announcement, Ensign Isaac felt a bit down.  He had no family, no friends, no-one on Earth.  In fact, he wasn't sure what he was going to do.  'What am I to do now....this ship is being repaired and doesn't need my help...' sighed Isaac.  He wasn't much for ceremony either so his indecision whether or not to join that special ceremony was getting to him. 

He wandered down to the Tiberus's version of the Enterprise's 10-Foward.  'How I miss the Enterprise, although the Tiberius is a good ship, the Enterprise sure has style.'  He sat down at the bar and ordered a Romulan Ale.  Romulan Ale had always been his favorite drink as he was somewhat immune to its potent effects so he could drink it without having serious issues like many ppl had afterwards.  Ever since the Enterprise-E incident with Picard's clone, Romulan Ale was becoming less and less illegal.  However, it was still frowned upon.  He took a sip of it and then sighed.  Then he heard someone walking up to him......

TBC :)

King Linksr

Tain knew where the trouble was going to come from long before it happened. There were five of them sitting at a corner table. Five sleezy looking thugs. They had been casting glances over at Tain for the last hour, while he played pool. Tain knew the type, had been one of them long ago. He only hoped they had some brains. As one of them got up and strolled Tains way, he knew they didn't.

"Hey big guy", the group spokesmen said, "You look like you can handle yourself pretty well. You wanna make some creds tonight?"

Tain looked down at the grubby little man. The cretin was twitching and sniffing, obvious tweeked out on something, and smelled of rot and decay. He knew it wouldn't work but tried anyway.

"Just shootin some pool mac. I ain't lookin for money.... or friends tonight."

Tain turned his back to the man, bent back down to the pool table and sighted up the nine ball.

"Ohh I see. Big shot are ya??" the little man sniffed. "Well me and my boys need some muscle, and you look like you'll do. I was just playin at being nice, it really wasn't an invitation ya see."

Tain sensed the movement behind him and slowly straightened up and turned around. The odorous fellow had something resembling a weapon pointed at him.

"Now why don't you and me head back over to my table." The mans eyes had a crazy glint to them now.

Tain knew he would need to time things perfectly. The weapon the man held looked hacked together, but that didn't mean it wouldn't be lethal if he got hit with it.

"Well now.", Tain rumbled, "Since you put it that way, maybe I could use the extra credits. Let me clear the table here."

As Tain bent down to sweep the balls from the table into the pockets he heard the sleez-bag start to say. "Hey..leave the balls alone...STa.."

That was the last sound the man made for a very long time, as Tain grabbed one of the pool balls and quickly threw it as hard as he could into the mans chest. It made a sickening crunch, and just kind of stuck there lodged in the rib cage. The thug dropped immediately.

Immediately the other members of the thugs group were on there feet running towards Tain. Tain looked them over quick. Two of them could cause some problems, so he focused on them first.

The patrol asked the bartender later what exactly he saw.

"I ain't never seen anything like it." the bartender recalled. "How can someone that big move that fast?. He dropped the two biggest of 'em in seconds. I don't know what he did to 'em, but they dropped like they was dead. The other two looked like they was gonna run, but 'e didn't let 'em. He broke both their arms and left 'em there squeelin like stuck pigs 'e did. After dat he kicked 'em in the ribs, came over 'ere and sat right there where he is now. He passed me over a cred chip, and told me to take out damages, and call you all. Nope, never seen anything like that".

The patrolman looked over at the big man. He sat there sipping his drink looking with those dead eyes back at him. The patrolman sighed and went over to talk to him.

"Well buddy. Even though these guys are the scum of the earth, we gotta take you in."

Tain looked back at the cop. He slowly reached in his pocket and slapped open his Star Fleet id, and laid his orders on the counter.

The patrolman looked over the id.

"Crap. This makes it more difficult." He looked over at his partner. "Billy, call over to Star Fleet. Tell 'em we got one of ther Lieutenants down here and he is in a bit of trouble."

He looked over at Tain and thought to himself that it didn't look like it's the first time he had been in trouble, nor the last.

He knew that most kids would laugh but a laughing Vulcan child seemed "odd" to him. He walked with Sevryll into the hall. It was almost as large as a stadium... a very big one. After he entered, he did the worst thing he could doâ€"he walked near the kitchen. The "chef", if you could call him that, had prepared his favorite recipe...but it didn't look that great. He walked away disappointed. This is going to be a real blast, he thought sarcastically to himself.

The Stadium was filling up fast now with only 5 minutes to go before the ceremony was about to begin.

Peterson could sense the electricity in the air as the dull hum of people laughing and talking loudly as they consumed various concoctions that would ultimately result in a line up in sick bay afterwards to ward off the impending  hang overs that were sure to follow. such a grand event.

Peterson, although unwilling to admit it publicly, welcomed the distraction of the ceremony with great anticipation as this past mission had affected him more then he was willing to admit, and had led him to question his abilities as a doctor and starfleet officer as he took the death of Lt. Peters very hard.

Peterson glanced at the children and watched with amusement as they watched and observed everything around them with great interest and were curious as to what all the excitement was about and what roll their mother would play in the events that would follow.

The doctor thought to himself how lucky he was not to be working tonight and found himself being drawn into the excitement of the events that were to commence shortly.

Ensign Isaac turned to see who it was, but no one was there.  It made him wonder if he had hallucinated, but he had only had one drink.  Sighing, he got up from his chair and walked out of the bar.  Walking slowly down the hallway, he looked around dispassionately examining the walls. 

'Will I ever make a difference?  Will I ever find that day when I come out?  Will I ever show them my true colors?'  He pondered these things as he continued to walk down the corridor.  The crew of the Tiberius had preformed admirably.  He had no reason to doubt that they couldn't survive the challenges that lay ahead.  But, something was disturbing him. 

Something in the future seemed dark, evil, but unknown.  He didn't know what, but he was worried, this....evil.....might be beyond them.  Yet he disregarded this, as it was probably something to do with him, more than the crew.  'I hope though, that if my feeling is true, that it doesn't happen for a long time...' 

But he knew he was kidding himself, the evil incident with the Enterprise D had been the same way, a dark presence on the horizon, and even though he disregarded it, it still happened to the crew of the Enterprise.  He had told himself it wasn't his fault.  Besides, he wasn't predicting her death in anyway, he knew no more about the future than Captain Picard did.  But this feeling...

He was interupted by his thoughts by an Ensign Orucc.  "Sir, do you wish to beam down to the ceremony?"  'Now, how did I get here?  Must have been lost in my thoughts....ah well, I'll go and see what the ceremony is all about.'  "Yes Ensing Orucc, I will be beaming down to the ceremony."  replied Isaac.  He stepped up to the transporter pad.  He had no problems with transporters, in fact, he rather liked the feeling.  Which Starfleet exams had found peculiar during his testing.  As the beam took him, he smiled.

He entered the stadium five minutes before the ceremony was about to begin.  It was really full, but he found room in the front row.  He had chosen a large glass of water for his drink.  The ceremony then began to start.......


TBC :starwars:


King Linksr

Commander Nathan Quinn turned to his right, and gave Servyll a smile as he stood and walked over to the podium. The crowd that filled the grand room fell silent as the Starfleet personnel detected his presence at center stage. Quinn waited until the room was quiet then he took a deep breath, and began to speak.

"I would like to thank the crew of the USS Tiberius for the outstanding job each and every member has done during these difficult months. Calling our missions "arduous" would an understatement, but each crewmember preformed his or her duties with distinction and I am proud of you all." With the last two words, he allowed a smile to invade the seriousness of his expression. "Captain Bell and I knew this crew was special when we put it together..." He looked about the room, finding the faces of Doctor Peterson, Counselor Margon, and Ensigns Morgen, Manrique, and Starstriker, at a table in the front row.

"We could never imagine the trials we would face yet despite the disappearance of Captain Bell, early our first mission, this young crew stepped up. You all demonstrated what it truly means to be Starfleet officers...and I sincerely thank you for your service."

The room surged with applause; after a minute or so, Quinn raised his hand to quiet the audience. The applause died down and  Quinn grinned as he looked down at his jacket and brushed his lapel, "Yet, I assure you the purpose of this event was not only an elaborate scheme designed to trick you into wearing this ridiculous dress uniform..." A collective chuckle arose as he continued, "I wanted to gather as a crew, before we each depart for our two weeks of shore leave...but this event is also meant to acknowledge a few members, for their exceptional deeds during our last two missions." Admiral Talbot cleared his throat to gain Quinn's attention. Nathan looked up, surprised by the interruption,  "but... before we continue, Admiral Talbot would like to say a few words."

Quinn nodded to Talbot as they passed on his way back to his chair. Everyone clapped as the distinguished looking Admiral strode to the podium. He smiled at the on-lookers as the applause slowly died away.

"Starfleet only accepts the best of the best, and the crew of the USS Tiberius is a true example of this. But a starship crew is only as good as it Commanding Officers."

Talbot turned to Quinn, "could you please stand Nathan?" Quinn exchanged looks with Servyll, and got to his feet.

Talbot continued, "Commander Quinn, you are truly the best of the best. Captain Bell chose wisely when he selected you as his First Officer. When you first joined Starfleet, you swore to uphold its regulations, as well as the laws of the United Federation of Planets. You took an oath to become an ambassador of peace and goodwill, to represent the highest ideals of peace and brotherhood, to protect and serve the Federation and its member worlds, to serve the interests of peace, to respect the Prime Directive, and to offer aid to any and all beings that request it. You have done all of those things and more. Commander Quinn, you have been acting Captain of the Tiberius for four months now. Starfleet and I feel it is time to make it official. I hear by grant you the full rank of Captain... Congratulations."

Quinn stood before Talbot, stunned, as the crowd roared its approval. The crew of the Tiberius had been the first to their feet...Quinn could see them cheering but he could hear nothing but his own heart beat pounding in his chest. Then, all at once, the sound of applause came rushing into his ears.  Talbot shook Quinn's right hand and with his left he presented him with a small, black box. Quinn accepted the box and opened it to discover a gold pip inside. A large smile spread across his face and he turned back to Admiral Talbot, "thank you Admiral, I will not disappoint you." He then returned to his chair staring down at the open box in his hands. Lt. Commander Servyll gently took the small box from him, and attached the pip to Quinn's collar. With the slightest hint of a smile glinting in her dark eyes she quietly said, "it looks good on you... Captain". Quinn beamed as Admiral Talbot continued speaking.

"Of course, what is a Captain without his number one? And from the reports I have read, Captain Quinn couldn't be more pleased with his acting first officer, Lt. Commander Servyll. Please join me at the podium Sevryll." Everyone in the room, except Sevryll knew was about to occur yet she showed no emotion as she met the Admiral at center stage.

"As you all know, a Captain relies on his first officer, not only to maintain command structure, but for moral support. Through out history, every great Starfleet Captain has had an equally great First Officer standing behind them. It is only right that with the promotion of Captain Quinn that you, Lt. Commander Servyll, should be promoted to the rank of full Commander and First Officer of the USS Tiberius... Congratulations."

Admiral Talbot gently grasped Servyll's hands in his,  then he turned back to the podium to lift another small box that contained a solid gold pip. He presented it to her and the room exploded in applause. Servyll took the box, nodded to the Admiral and turned to take her seat next to Captain Quinn. Nathan took the box from her hands, opened it, and removed the pip. He then removed the black pip from her collar and replaced it with the new one. "Congratulations... Commander," he said with a grin.

Admiral Talbot returned to his seat as Captain Quinn and Commander Servyll picked up several small boxes and walked over to the podium....

Quinn stood at the podium next to Servyll, as Admiral Talbot took the boxes containing various medals from them. The two officers had conspired to nominate several crewmembers  for commendations, and now those individuals were assembled in a line, near the platform, wearing looks of bewilderment. None of the recipients were aware that they would be honored for simply doing their duty, but each would soon be recognized for their valuable contributions to Starfeet.

Admiral Talbot took the boxes and cleared his throat, "tonight we honor those who have performed in the best traditions of Starfleet service by demonstrating, in the midst of peril, that they place duty before of self. The officers standing before you now, are being commended not only for their acts of bravery and personal risk, but also for their resourcefulness, initiative, diligence, professionalism and devotion."

He glanced over to Quinn and Sevryll as he continued, "the first commendation I am presenting, is  being given posthumously, for one of our fallen comrades. " Admiral Talbot motioned for Quinn to approach the podium, he said something to Nathan and passed him a black box. Quinn looked down at it as he attempted to draw the strength to speak.

The strength came slowly, and after what seemed like minutes he said, "Lt. Peters was not only our Chief of Security but he was my friend. He died saving my life, and no medal can ever repay that debt...Despite that fact, I know that he would have been proud to receive this honor. I will never forget my friend, or his sacrifice ." Quinn swallowed as he struggled to keep his composure.

"I would like to introduce you to his mother, Emily Peters." A very beautiful, silver haired woman rose from a chair, situated in a row of Admirals on stage. Quinn stooped to hug her as she approached, then presented her with an opened black velvet box. "The Federation Star is awarded to Lt. Peters, who distinguished himself through bravery and valor at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. His deed was one of heroism and self-sacrifice, and one that we will never forget." A tear rolled down Emily's face; Quinn kissed her cheek and whispered comforting words in her ear. The crowd stood respectfully, as Quinn escorted Mrs. Peters back to her chair.

After a moment, Commander Sevryll called for Ensigns Manrique, Starstriker and Morgen to step forward. The young officers straightened as they made their way up to the platform. The nervousness they felt at that point, was more pronounced than it had ever been during their dangerous mission but they managed to look uneffected. Starstriker and Morgen exchanged smiles as they climbed the steps to stand before Admiral Talbot, Captain Quinn and Commander Sevryll.

Admiral Talbot nodded to them and said, " these officers have distinguished themselves through gallantry and heroism in action, and we recognize their service by presenting them each with the Nebula Star." The audience applauded as Quinn motioned for Morgen to come forward. The young science officer stood proudly before them, as Commander Servyll removed the medal from the box and pinned it to his dress jacket. For a moment, Morgen thought he saw pride in the Chief Science Officer's eyes...he inclined his head to her in thanks, as Quinn gave the officer a broad smile and shook his hand, "congratulation Ensign." Ensign Morgen thanked them all once more, and returned to his place along side the other two Ensigns.

As Ensign Johnny Manrique was asked to step forward, he fought to stifle the grin that threatened to stretch across his face. The grin was persistent in its relentless pursuit to ruin his serious expression. It ultimately conquered his face as Servyll fasten the award to his jacket. "Congratulation Ensign," said Sevryll as Quinn shook the young man's hand. Ensign Manrique nodded to his superior officers and started to join Morgen and Starstriker, when Quinn held him back."Hold on Ensign... not only are you being honored with this medal, but you are being promoted as well." Manrique's face quickly lost the grin he fought so hard before to suppress.

"Lt. Peters regarded you as one of his best officers—its only right that you are offered his position aboard Tiberius, as Chief of Security. I hereby grant you the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade." Johnny shifted on his feet in astonishment as Captain Quinn pinned a new black pip to his collar. "Congratulations Lt." Quinn said with a smile. Manrique swallowed hard as he shook Quinn's hand, then turned to join Starstriker at who stood at his right. Isaac gave him a congratulatory salute, as Johnny rejoined them.

Ensign Isaac Starstriker stood before Admiral Talbot next. He would have never imagined that such an honor would ever be given to him—he was sincerely humbled by the gesture. Quinn carefully pinned the award to the ensign's dress jacket and patted him on the shoulder, before shaking Isaac's hand. He offered his captain his gratitude and nodded to Commander Sevryll.

"Counselor Margon, please step forward. " Margon left the line of officers, in front of the stage, and made his way to the podium. Quinn offered his friend a warm smile and a pat on the shoulder as Admiral Talbot spoke, " Counselor Margon, you have been invaluable not only to your Captain, but to the entire crew these past few months...tonight, we award you the Meritorious Service Medal. This commendation is given to Starfleet officers who distinguish themselves with outstanding achievement and meritorious non-combat service to the Federation. " The crowd applauded as Commander Servyll pinned the award to his white dress jacket. Margon beamed at Sevryll and shook Quinn's hand before joining the young ensigns who still stood on stage.

Next, Admiral Talbot called Doctor Peterson to the stage. Though he had healed from most of his physical injuries, he was still a bit sore.  Sevryll stepped down to offer her help, as he made his way up the steps to the platform. She braced her friend by the elbow as Talbot spoke, "Doctor Peterson ignored his own wounds as he worked to save a fallen comrade. The Starfleet Purple Heart is awarded to personnel who are seriously injured in the line of duty." Sevryll took the medal the admiral handed to her, and fixed it to the doctor's jacket. He never looked down at the commendation, but held the gaze of Lt. Peter's mother who was still seated on stage. When Sevryll had finished, he thanked her, and Counselor Margon came over to help him back to his chair at their table below the platform.

Quinn and Sevryll walked over to their officers to congratulate them as the audience clapped. Admiral Talbot interrupted the applause, "there are two more commendations that have yet to be presented. Without her knowledge, Captain Quinn nominated Commander Servyll for an decoration."  Quinn smiled at the Vulcan who arced an eyebrow at her new Captain. "What's mommy doing?" came a very loud  voice from the audience. The crowd chuckled as Sevryll's son, N'Vall, continued to ask Lt. Li Sameria questions in his "outside voice".

"Commander Sevryll,  I hear by award you the Combat Readiness Medal for demonstrating superior combat ability whilst in active operations against the enemy." A wry smile came to Talbot's lips as he muttered to Nathan,  "who would have guessed that an archaeologist could be good in a scrap?" Talbot handed Quinn the medal and the newly promoted Captain pinned the award to Servyll's jacket.

Admiral Talbot continued as Nathan congratulated his first officer, "And finally, the Starfleet Achievement Medal is awarded to Captain Nathan Quinn, for acts of heroism and meritorious service rendered specifically on behalf of the Federation." Quinn stepped forward to accept the commendation. Talbot shook Quinn's hand and the audience rose to its feet to applaud the officers, standing on the stage before them. Admiral Talbot then insisted that they all enjoy the rest of the evening. Soon after, a Jazz band began playing Jack Teagarden's rendition of "Dame Blanche" as they left the stage to rejoin their fellow crewmembers.

The dance floor soon swelled with dancers, swaying to the cheerful Dixieland music. Couples laughed as they danced in the dim light, amidst fellow crewmembers moving to melodious tunes. Though the crew of the Tiberius had been dismissed, free to begin their shore leave, most stayed to enjoy the party. Yet as the night wore into dawn, they one by one they left the festivities.

Dr. Peterson had left his fellow crew members at the ceremony for many hours He had stared at his purple heart for what seemed like hours and tore it off his uniform and threw it across the room with such force that when it struck his mirror, the impact caused it to shatter into a million pieces into a million pieces  and bounce across his floor.

At this moment he felt a sharp pain on where his suture had been and realized at that moment, that his fit of anger over his failure to save Lt Peters from death may have inadvertently hastened his own as he felt a gush of blood begin to rush out of his now open wound that was oozing blood.

He reached for his comm badge and managed to yell out for help in sick bay as he staggered out of his room and headed in that direction trying not to loose consciousness as quickly as he was loosing blood.

He some how managed to make it to the corridor leeding to sickbay before his feet gave out from underneath him, He barely managed to see a blurr of medical personnel running towards him before he co lapsed and darkness surrounded him and his unconscious form.

While unconscious, he dreamed, dreamed of a simpler time when both his parents were still alive, before the Borg, and before the battle of wolf 359  that would see him alone, in the world, alone with no family and no friends, before he had come aboard the Tiberius, Before he had friends and a new family...

Meanwhile The counsellor had decided to check in on the doctor before settling in for the night, he had turned the corner that led to the corridor that would lead to the Doctors Quarters, When his face went cold, he saw a trail of blood leading from the Doctors quarters.

He ran down the corridor and looked in the doctors quarters, he was horrified at what he saw. he saw a large pool of blood and a shattered mirror with broken glass on the floor, and in the corner against a part of the broken mirror  Dr. Petersons Purple heart.

Counsellor Morgan reached for his communicator and called the XO and the Captain in a Panic. Dr. Peterson is in trouble and needs are help, I think his sutures have Broken.

Morgan Yelled at the computer, Locate Dr. Peterson. The computer Responded.

"Dr. Peterson is outside of sick Bay."

With those words the counsellor ran as fast as he could. He needed to get to his friend. Morgan felt guilty and realized that from the scene in the Doctors room he was suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

The counsellor mentally began checking off the signs in his mind,

Changes in behavior: cracking jokes, were unusual for Doctor Peterson, Survivors guilt, for living when Lt. Peters had not. His lack of sleep and nightmares from being captive on the Arcadian Ship and having his life placed in danger and almost losing it on several occasions in the last mission.

Yes, Dr. Peterson had endured in one mission, what most starfleet officers would take a lifetime to experience. Counsellor Morgan marvelled at the Dr's Survival skills and made a mental note to add this to his Psychological profile.

He realized that his friends injuries were much more extensive then the physical ones, and that his mental scars from the last mission were just as extensive as the physical ones.

As he rounded the corner to sick bay he saw the XO and the captain running over to the crumpled and motionless body of his friend. The Xo's face was grim and he heard the captain barking out orders to get the Dr. onto an antigrave stretcher,.

The captain turned to counsellor Morgan.

"What Happened, I thought you and the Commander here were suppose to be keeping an eye on him, I cant afford to lose the best CMO we have in starfleet." He looked at them both with a concerned look and said

" Please keep me informed of his condition, Meet me in my ready room in 10 minutes."

With that the commander stared down at her friend and realized that she too had failed him by not checking on him sooner and for failing to return his messages asking to join her on  shoreleave. She made a mental note to be their for him during his recovery.

She remembered first meeting the doctor and instantly saw through his gruff exterior and new right away that they would be friends. She was jolted out of her daydream as the medical staff gently lifted the Dr. onto the Antigrav unit.

She took one last look at her friend before being told that although her friends condition was quite serious, he would survive this, but that his recovery would be much slower then first thought, and that he would be in surgery for at least 8 hrs to repair the wound and would be sedated for several days. She made a mental note to delay her shoreleave till she new her friend would be well enough to go to Earth to recuperate.

The XO stared at the counsellor and asked herself  how this could have happened  when she had not Even been on the job for one day yet. She quickly thought of what to tell the captain and was thankful that at least she could tell the captain that the doctor would survive his injury.

Isaac congratulated Morgen for his commendation.  "You deserve it.  You did a great job on that ship."  he said.  "Thank you Isaac, so did you." replied the smiling Morgen.  Isaac excused himself from Morgen and wandered through the crowd.  He then called to the ship to have himself beamed aboard.  He didn't like parties very much. 

After beaming aboard, Isaac wandered around the ship a little, then went to his quarters.  There he meditated, but his mind was distracted.  He tried to search his feelings, but all he found, was loneliness, and it hit him.  A wave of loneliness.  He admitted to himself, that he did indeed had no true friends.  Only acquaintances.  A single tear drop hit the floor and he went to sleep. 

In the morning, Isaac woke up feeling a little dazed.  Deciding that all he needed was breakfast, he walked to the mess hall where sometimes the cook would serve real dishes rather than replicated stuff.  Since they were above Earth, he reasoned that they would have brought something up. 

When he got there, he began feeling really dizzy.  He couldn't understand why.  Walking a little forward, he slipped on the wet floor and went flying across the floor behind him and landed on a table on his back.  His last thoughts were "What the......"

An ensign Rojack who was allowing himself to inhale the beautiful smell of three pancakes, a side of bacon, and two pieces of toast, noticed Ensign Startstriker come in looking a bit odd.  He was about to get up to ask him if anything was wrong when Isaac slipped and went flying onto a table becoming unconscious immediately.  Rojack was stunned, never having seen this sort of thing before on a starship.  He then slammed his chest, where his communicator was, yelling, "WE NEED MEDICAL ASSISTANCE IN THE MESS HALL IMMEDIATELY" all the while running to the fallen Ensign.  Upon reaching Isaac, he touched his neck for a pulse, it was still there.  'Thank the heavens' thought Rojack.  He was not even sure what to do but make sure that the ensign didn't move and no one got near.  The medical team came in what seemed like 15 minutes later, even though it had only been 1 minute.  They put him on the stretcher as gently, but quickly, as they could.  Though it was a glass table, there were no missing pieces from it to suggest that it got stuck in the back of Ensign Starstriker.  "Thank goodness" said one of the nurses. 

Upon reaching Sickbay and putting him on a bio-bed, the doctor looked at his vitals.  The one nurse, Nurse Chistrina, talked about what Ensign Rojack had seen and how the ensign was when they got there.  "His vital signs are too low, and yet there are still dropping, what is going on??!" asked the doctor.  "Nurse Galloway, began a deep scan of him and see if you can find anything internally wrong."  He shifted his attention to another nurse, "did you see if that table had any missing glass?  I know that Starfleet made it so that if they did break, they would break inward, but in this case its not comforting notion."  "No, the glass table was pretty much intact." replied Nurse Chistrina.  "Good to hear, OK, Nurse Regian, begin figuring out if his brain has been damaged in anyway, during that last mission or when he fell." stated the Doctor.  "DOCTOR, his vitals are stabilizing, but they are too low still.  Do you think...he could be in a coma?"  asked the nurse to the doctor's left.  "No, that's ridiculous.  At the very least, he isn't dying now.  OK, Nurse Chistrina and Galloway, I want you monitoring his condition and try to figure out what is going on."  ordered the doctor.  "Yes sir" they replied.

"Sickbay to Captain" said the doctor.  "Captain here."  "Captain, Ensign Isaac Starstriker's condition is stabilizing, but he isn't waking up.  I don't know what is wrong with him or why he is even this way. I'm having him being checked over, but so far, anything could be wrong with him."  stated the doctor.  "Thank you doctor, keep me informed of any changes.  Give me a full report in one hour.  Quinn out."

*In the Ready room*

"What is going on?  We're supposed to be on shoreleave, not in sickbay." said Quinn.  "As long as it isn't contagious." said the commander.  "Did you notice anything odd about Ensign Starstriker during his mission or after?" asked Quinn in Morgan's direction.  "Nothing odd, but then again, I haven't even really talked with him.  The only person who has had any real conversation is perhaps my son, but even then Morgen wouldn't be really useful because no one knows how Isaac acts 'normally.'"  "OK, I want you to keep an eye on the crew and make sure we don't have any more people in sickbay." ordered Quinn.  "Yes sir."


King Linksr

*The plot thickens*

A couple of hours after receiving a promotion and subsequent commendation, Commander Sevryll beamed aboard the Tiberius with her two very sleepy toddlers.  M'rynn and N'Vall had spent the past two,hours, dancing with Counselor Margon and Lt. Manrique. The children's Vulcan diet did not include sugar, and their over indulgence of the sweet substance caused them to transform from the well behaved children that they were, into crazed Le-matya cubs.

The two senior officers had kindly offered to bring the twins off of their sugar high, through rigorous activity. "Dancing always worked for my kids," shouted Margon over the music that filled the room.  He then waded through the dancers and made his way toward the band to request  "Lullaby of Broadway".  After a few numbers, the children's frenzied dancing had reduced their frantic sugar rush, to a more manageable state of hyperactivity.   

When the band began playing "Swing, Swing, Swing", Margon motioned to Sevryll, insisting that she join them on the dance floor. After much protesting, the slender Vulcan was escorted onto the floor by Captain Quinn, who quickly showed her the basics then passed her to the Bolian Counselor.   Margon tossed his dress jacket towards his chair, rolled up his sleeves and loosened the collar of his gray vest...this piece was fast and required maximum flexibility.   It wasn't the ideal song in which to introduce Sevryll to the art of dancing, but it was Margon's favorite—all his friend had to do was hang on while he twirled her around the floor.

The drums beat away as Sevryll looked down in a futile attempt to match Margon's steps. His black dress shoes were a blur as he shuffled and stomped them against the old wooden dance floor. Margon was an excellent dancer,  and though the Vulcan had no idea what she was doing,  her professional partner made her look as graceful as a ballerina.  At the end of the number  Margon dipped her suddenly.  She was not expecting the grand finale and wasn't quite sure what to do next, as she looked upside down at the clapping Quinn, Starstrker , Morgen and Manrique.

The counselor lifted her back to her feet with a quick motion and laughed as she arched an inquisitive eyebrow at his flamboyant ending.  She pushed long strands of raven hair out of her face and inclined her head at Margon, relieved that the ordeal was over. The table continued to clap, as the Counselor escorted his friend back to her chair. It was then that Sevryll noticed that the doctor was gone. He had taken his leave while she and Morgan danced.

Sevryll closed the door on her sleeping children's room and replicated a cup of Vulcan Spice Tea. As she lifted the cup to her lips, Margon's frantic voice sounded over her comm. alerting she and Quinn to his discovery of Doctor Peterson. She activated Dennis's hologram, alerted him to the situation, and rushed down the passage way towards Peterson's cabin.

Margon was holding his white dress jacket against the doctor's side, in an attempt to stop the bleeding, when Sevryll arrived on scene. "How could this happen?" Asked Quinn over the comm, "his wounds should have been completely cauterized after the surgery. "

"I don't know said Margon. I've never seen this type of injury reopen.  Captain, I found his Purple Heart the floor in his room. I think he threw it at the mirror. There's glass all over the place." He handed the Doctor's, recently awarded ,Purple Heart to Sevryll. "I think he's suffering from Post Traumatic  Stress Disorder. Sevryll and I noticed a few odd personality changes and have discussed the possibility that his captivity and the loss of Peters may have effected him deeper than he would admit to any of us.  I approached the doctor about starting counseling sessions, but he dismissed the concerns I expressed. "

"Could he have purposely wounded himself?" Sevryll asked as she knelt beside the doctor. By that time, the medical team arrived.  She stood and backed away to allow them room to work.

"Yes...that would be yet another indication of the disorder." He turned to Sevryll as the med team rushed the doctor to the sickbay.

"Meet me in my ready room in 10 minutes.  Well talk more about what's to be done, when you get here."

Relieved that the ceremony was fianlly at an end, K'arath quickly made his way to the Starfleet Command transporter station. The ceremony had delayed his departure and he didn't want to waste any more time. He appreciated the outstanding efforts for which his crew mates were being fetted, but he never could understand the human necessity for these kinds of celebrations. The rewards was in the doing of deeds, everything else was superflous, and he was headed now to do a deed he had never attempted.

With the advent of technology, there were very few places on Earth or his home world of Kronos not contaminated by creature comforts. Well, perhaps Kronos still clung to a more primitive, harsh from of existance as per our warrior traditions, but even that seemed to be diminishing. Earth had become almost alarmingly safe and cozy. Except here, the place where the transporter beam deposited him just now.

The wind immediately stung his face and exposed hands, the air was sharp with the cold and altitude. All around him, primitive tents swayed back and forth and colorful pendants snapped in the breeze overhead. The camp was a hive of activity, humans of variuous races packing gear in packs, herd animals heavy with the burden of gear, ands the curious chatter of the small Asian men who's responsibility was to guide their parties towards the summit which towered overhead.

Mount Everest was still a cruel mistress and if she so decides to deny K'arath his glory, then today will be a good day to die.

"Sickbay to Captain" said Doctor Lucas.  "Captain here."  "Captain, Ensign Isaac Starstriker's condition is stabilizing, but he isn't waking up.  I don't know what is wrong with him or why he is even this way. I'm having him being checked over, but so far, anything could be wrong with him."  stated the doctor.  "Thank you doctor, keep me informed of any changes.  Give me a full report in one hour.  Quinn out."

Just then the Captain's ready room doors slid open and Servyll and Morgan entered and took seats in front of the Captain's desk.

"How is Doctor Peterson doing?" Quinn asked with concern. "He's physically stable for now" Servyll said, Quinn looked at the counselor, "But...." Counselor Morgan took a breath, "But we are not sure if he is stable mentally. We think he is suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder." Quinn stood and walked to his window and looked out over the starry landscape. "I'm sorry Counselor but you are going to have to postpone your shore leave and take care of this matter" Morgan nodded.

Quinn sat back down behind his desk. " I just got a message from Doctor Lucas about Ensign Starstriker. What is going on?  We're supposed to be on shore leave, not in sickbay. Did you notice anything odd about Ensign Starstriker during his mission or after?" asked Quinn in Morgan's direction.  "Nothing odd, but then again, I haven't even really talked with him.  The only person who has had any real conversation is perhaps my son, but even then Morgen wouldn't be really useful because no one knows how Isaac acts 'normally.'"  "OK, I want you to keep an eye on the crew and make sure we don't have any more people in sickbay." ordered Quinn.  "Yes sir."

They stood and started to exit the Captain's ready room when Quinn spoke up. "Commander, I'm not sure what your plans are for your shore leave, but I would like to invite you and your children to come with me and visit my family. They have a large house and my mother has been bugging me to meet you. I hope you will accept."

Dr. Lucas looked over the comatose form of Dr. Peterson when a nurse handed him the bloodwork for the Doctor. He asked the nurse attending Dr. Peterson to redo the tests.

Dr. Lucas continued to mutter to himself about the unusual readings in the Dr.s blood " Well it seems that I have found part of the answer to the Dr.s strange behavior" he muttered to himself.

It appears as if he has picked up an alien organism that has slightly altered his blood chemistry resulting in him being overstimulated by his serotonin receptors. This in effect would result in him overreacting to normal situations and altering his perceptions of his surroundings. This organism essentially has the effect of LSD, an ancient earth drug that acts as a powerful hallucinogenic on the mind. It also acted as a blood thinner and slowed down the healing process of the Dr.s wound which resulted in his current heavy blood loss.

Dr. Lucas tapped his com badge and asked the XO to meet him in sick bay. He relayed the new found information on the Dr.s current Medical Status and his findings.

Dr. Lucas suggested that perhaps under the current situation, he would like to introduce some medical nanobots into the Dr.s blood stream in order to facilitate the healing of his wound. The XO concurred with Dr. Lucas's suggestion.  A powerful antibiotic was also administered in order to kill the alien organism and facilitate the Dr,s healing.

At this point, The XO entered the sick bay and greeted Dr. Lucas.

"Commander, I suggest that all members of the away team who have been off planet come in immediately to be screened for this organism as we do not know at the moment how the Dr. got this nasty bug to begin with and I think it would be best to to take preventive measures to prevent any further  outbreaks."

The Commander agreed and  glanced at the form of the Dr. and was still concerned for her friend. She was somewhat relieved that their was a possible answer for his strange behavior over the past few days, but was still concerned at how his purple heart got to be laying on the floor of his quarters. She still wanted Counsellor Margon to keep a close watch over her comrad until she was sure he did not have any psychological scars that needed to be dealt with from their last mission.

She relayed  Dr. Lucas's current findings on Dr. Petersons condition the Captain and then headed to Counsellor Margons office to relay the current medical findings to him.

Meanwhile:

Dr. Lucas watched as the medical nanobots began to regenerate layer upon layer of muscle tissue mm by mm of the Dr. Petersons wound and would be at least a day before the Dr. would be awake from this procedure.

Dr. Lucas remembered how happy he was to be posted on the Tiberius and working with Dr. Peterson. He requested this assignment to work close with the Dr. because of his expertise in alien xenobiology. He was very relieved that his friend and colleague would live through his medical ordeal and that he would have the opportunity to get to know him better.

Dr. Lucas continued to Monitor the Medical Nanobots progress on the Dr.s wound and marvelled at their efficiency. He slowly was lulled off to sleep by pure exhaustion and the low methodical hums of the medical equipment as it went about its mechanical operation that would result in the Dr's recovery.

Sevryll was about to accompany Margon out of the ready room, when Nathan requested that she remain behind.  She assumed Captain Quinn wanted to continue their discussion regarding the doctor. But instead, he asked her to join him on shore leave, at his mother's home.

"I am honored by your invitation, but the doctor's condition concerns me. Perhaps I should remain aboard to assist Counselor Margon." The half Betazoid Captain could sense that she was withholding the truth. Yet, it wasn't a lie she had told him—she was in fact concerned for the doctor, but there was more to the story than she willing to volunteer. He motioned towards the couch and Sevryll took a seat, as he positioned himself on the corner of his desk. Vulcans were nearly impossible to read, but the fact Sevryll was bonded to a human,  made her  thoughts,  detectible ...on occasion.

"I know Vulcans  prefer to keep to themselves, but I could sense your hesitation the moment I informed you of our shore leave on Earth. That announcement  was given days before the doctor 's episode... you have other reasons for bowing out don't you?"

In typical Vulcan fashion, Sevryll raised a single eyebrow at the keen observation.  Quinn offered a disarming smile,"I have come to regard you as a friend Sevryll, and I respect your privacy. If there is anything you wish to confide in me, know that it will go no further than these walls."

She stood, and slowly walked to the viewport, to stare at the glowing blue globe below. "I consider you a friend as well Captain. " The quiet rumble of the engines was the only sound in the room for a brief moment. Then she continued, "my mother is a professor at Starfleet Academy, and is undoubtedly aware of the Tiberius's arrival."

"Ah." Quinn said in a tone denoting sympathy.  He joined her at the viewport, "my mother can be overassertive too, but she means well." The Vulcan watched Cargo Shuttles and workpods  moving about the space dock before adding, "she is a difficult individual." Quinn nodded his head in understanding. "Mine is just a bit eccentric."  He could sense that Sevryll was willing to continue the discussion so inquired, "what makes your mother 'difficult'?"

"Vulcan children are schooled in the art of logic from a young age, as well as the mind discipline needed to retain that control. My children, as you are aware, are half human. Though I teach them the philosophy of my ancestors, I balance their education with thier father's beliefs as well. I have never shielded my children from the their heritage. Doing so would only hinder their ability to cope with inevitable difficulties. Regrettably, my mother disapproves of my approach."

"I'm sorry," replied Quinn compassionately. "Sevryll, please accept my invitation. My mother would love to meet M'rynn and N'Vall."

"But the doctor..." Quinn interrupted her, "you said that doctor Lucas has Peterson on the mend and the away teams have all received their inoculations. You and your children are in need fresh air Sevryll, pack your bags."

The Vulcan could bring to mind no other excuses, so she politely accepted.  Soon after, Quinn received a message from Starfleet Command. One of their new crewmembers, one Lt. Cedric Tain, had been arrested. "I hate to do it, but I'm going to have to delay Manrique's shore leave." Nathan walked over to the replicator and requested two cups of Vulcan Spice Tea. "First Peterson, then Starstriker now  'Lt Tain'. We haven't even completed the first day of our leave Sevryll...What else could possibly go wrong?" They still wore their dress uniforms from the night before as they sipped the warm beverages. It was four A.M., San Fransico time—Quinn yawned as Sevryll asked, "Do you know anything about birthday parties Captain? "

Tain looked around the cell at his fellow prisoners. As he met eyes with them, they quickly glanced away, nervously avoiding the eye contact. Tain was pleased, he'd done what he needed to quickly and he knew that he wouldn't have any more problems with this lot. He thought back to when they placed him in the cell.

````````````````````

The two officers escorted Lt. Tain to the cell. The elder of the two licked his lips and looked up at the Lt.

"Sorry buddy", said the lawman. "I wish we had some other place to keep you. You seem like a decent sort, but since your gonna be released to Star Fleet when they arrive, the only place we have to detain you is the general cell. Just stay to yourself and I am sure that someone will be here soon. Fleet said they had communicated with your ship, and someone would be here soon."

The man looked up and smiled at the Star Fleet Lt. in the hopes that what he just said would make an impact.

Tain looked down at the officer.

"I never go looking for trouble sir.", Tain grumbled. "The problem is it's drawn to me like a Ocascian Wrabbler hearing it's mating call. Just seems like there's no avoidin it. I'll try to not cause you any troubles here."

The lawman shook his head and powered down the force bars, opening the cell.

"See that you do Lt. Tain, I don't stand for any trouble in my jail."

Cedric walked into the cell, and immediately knew that once again he'd rolled snake-eyes. It was very clear who was in charge of dregs of this cell. The largest Andorian Cedric had ever seen stood in the corner with a sneering smile, staring at Tain as he entered the cell. The Andorian said something to human next to him and the human nervously walked over to Cedric.

"Sandos wants me ta talk ta ya, new meat.", sniveled the human. "Dis is his place and he wants dat I should tell ya his rules"

Cedric looked down at the wretched creature and sniffed in disgust. He remembered what he told the officer and smiled as he tried to avoid the inevitable.

"Tell your friend I don't want any trouble. I am just going to sit down over here and wait. I shouldn't be here long, and won't interfere with him."

Ced walked over to a vacant spot on the bench and sat down. He started desperately thinking of someway to avoid what he new was coming, but resigned himself the the knowledge that there was probably nothing he could do to avoid it.

The cringing human walked back over the large Andorian and talked to him softly. The Andorian laughed loudly and walked over to Cedric.

"I always knew that Orions were pathetic creatures, not worthy of cleaning an Andorians garbage bin.", proclaimed Sandos loudly. "But normally they have a bit of a backbone, and don't act like cringing Ferengi. You think your better then us and don't belong in here? Whatever you think, you spineless worm, you're here and your mine. Now stand up and let's see what use I can make of you."

At the first insult Tain felt his Half-Orion blood start to boil. Cedric had always had a bad temper, and while on duty never had a problem controlling it. But at times like this, when an insignificant creature such as Sandos goaded him, he could rarely keep control. He decided he would keep control this time, but in his own way. No need to let himself go this time, he just needed to end this quickly.

Cedric stood and looked the Andorian in the eye.

"Listen you blue skinned freak.", Tain rumbled. "I told you I don't want trouble with you or your friends."

Cedric looked passed the Andorian at the others in the cell. He then looked back at the Andorian.

"Since you don't listen I say we compromise."

The Andorian looked at Tain and sneered.

Tain continued, "And here is the compromise, I don't tear your friends limb from limb.... And you take a little nap."

As the Andorian started to laugh in surprise, Tain hit him with all he had. In a normal brawl Cedric had learned to hold back his strength, but this was different. He knew he wouldn't't permanently damage this huge creature, and he needed to end things before they started. The force of the blow on the Andorians jaw was staggering. It literally lifted the creature off his feet and he flew across the cell and crumpled to the floor.

Cedric looked at the others in the cell and nodded satisfied.

"Now, get away from me and leave me alone!", Cedric growled at them. Tain sat back down on the bench.

They nervously moved away from the big Orion.

```````````````````````````````````````````````

Cedric glance over to the door as he heard the bars power down. The old officer stepped into the cell.

"Tain", said the lawman. "Come with me. There is a Lt. Manrique here to collect you."

Cedric stood up to accompany the officer. As he left the cell he fervently hoped that trouble would leave him alone, at least for a little while.

The lawman looked up at Tain as the exited the cell.

"And by the way Lt.", the officer glanced over to the Andorian still crumpled in the corner. "I appreciate how you handled that. Sandos had it coming. Buy by St. Mary, that was a hell of a blow you put on him. Thanks for behavin. And if your ever looking for something outside of the Fleet. I think we could find a place here for you."

Tain looked at the officer and smiled.

"Thanks fellow, that's much appreciated. But the Fleets my life."

Tain heaved a heavy sigh.

"I'm ready, were's the Lt they send to fetch me?"

At 5 am, San Fransico time, Sevryll had yet to sleep. The awards ceremony was the night before and since then, the doctor had been found bleeding in the corridor, Lieutenant Tain had been arrested, Quinn invited her to accompany him on shore leave, and Ensign Starstriker lapsed into a comatose state. It had been a long night to say the least.

Sevryll donned her sleeping attire and lit a meditation lamp before lowering herself into a sitting position on the floor. The Vulcan folded her hands and held them at her upper abdomen, thumbs together and verticle, index fingers extended and pointed towards the wall in front of her. She focused on the lamp's flame and imagined the negative energy flowing through the fingers that she directed away from her body. Less than five minutes had passed, when she heard her com badge chirp.

"Sickbay to Commander Sevyrll." Her focus on the flame was interrpted by Doctor Lucas. She blinked once, and slowly rose from her place on the floor to find her badge.

"Sevryll here." She said in a quiet voice.

"Commander, I would like to speak to you regarding Starstriker," he stated.

"Continue doctor," She replied evenly.

" I'm reading unusual brain waves that bare no indication of any particular cause." He took a breath as if considering just how he was going to ask her to help. "I believe a mind meld may be the only way to help him now."

Not all Vulcans could mind-meld, and of the number who could few would actually admit it. Sevryll had only spoken of her ability, once, with Counselor Margon and she was sure the Bolian kept it to himself. Either Doctor Lucas was acting on presumption, or he had reviewed the counselor's patient logs. She would discuss this with Counselor Margon later.

Sevryll's form was softly highlighted by the lamp's flickering ambient, light, as she moved to put it out. She extinguished the flame between her thumb and index finger, then replied, "A mind meld is deeply personal, and not typically preformed on individuals who are not closely associated with the melder. Moreover, the ensign is incapable of giving his consent. It would not be appropriate to impose a meld with out it."

Doctor Lucas replied curtly,"I am quite aware of the intimacy of melding."

Sevryll could feel a twinge of annoyance at the doctor's response, but she skillfully prevented it from permeating her voice. "Are you also aware that melding carries risk? It can be physically debilitating to both parties. The pressure changes can potentially aggravate existing conditions, resulting in the loss of the subject's identity."

"Yes, but after effects can be treated with the drug Lexorin," he quickly replied.

"It is not a cure doctor," Responded the Vulcan.

"Yes Commander, but under dire circumstances, others have found it to be worth the risk. And Starstriker's situation is just that—dire."

Sevryll reluctantly agreed to perform the meld, but resigned herself to one-sided, psionic contact. The Vulcan would probe Starstriker's mind, while shielding her own from his detection. This would prevent him from discovering David's association with Section 31. The revelation would not only be dangerous Starstriker, but to her family as well. She informed the Captain and Margon of Doctor Lucas request on her way to the turbo-lift.

Sevryll entered sickbay. On one side of the room, resting on a bio bed, was doctor Peterson. On the other was Ensign Starstriker. She approached the doctor first. He was awake, but not completely lucid. Doctor Lucas greeted her, and proceeded to update her on Peterson's progress. Lucas administered a drug to Doctor Peterson and he lapsed into a deep sleep. The gangly Lucas then motioned Sevryll to Starstriker's bedside.

Johnny Manrique was tired after the long day.  He was tired but content.  He was not expecting to be promoted at the awards ceremony or even to receive the Nebula Star award. On top of everything, he was made chief of security. Manrique felt that perhaps he lacked some experience to be the security chief but he welcomed the challenge. He learned some invaluable skills and insights over the past few months on the Tiberius; the most important one was to never let your guard down especially around supposed bad-guys turned good-guys.

Dancing with some of the crew members and Cmdr. Sevryll's kids was a lot of fun though exhausting. The newly promoted Lieutenant Junior Grade needed  to have that type of exercise after the mission on the Tiberius. He loved the fact that the last song the band played was "When the Saints Go Marching In" a la Louis Armstrong—with the trumpet and the female vocalist. All that was missing was Armstrong's trademark raspy voice. The song was so good that the half human, half Vulcan children wanted it to be played again.

With the music over, Manrique beamed aboard the Tiberius to get some sleep. He planned to sleep on the Tiberius tonight and visit his family in Managua tomorrow.  He liked jungle with the exception of the heat.  Then he had plans to do other things on Earth. . .

He dozed to sleep but was awakened by Cmdr. Sevryll a couple of hours later.

"Manrique here Commander," said the Lt. Sleepily.

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience Lieutenant but I need for you to personally pick up one of our new crew members, Lt. Tain from jail," said the Vulcan officer.

"From jail?"

"Yes. You'll find all the details on the ship's computer. When he comes aboard I want to speak with him."

"I will do that Commander."

"Very well," said Cmdr. Sevryll ending the exchange with the lieutenant.

Having been newly promoted, Manrique didn't dare ask the commander if it was necessary to pick up Lt. Tain right away. Manrique was not happy that he had to get up very early in the morning especially to pick a Starfleet officer from jail. He was actually angry.  Why did he have to pick him up at this hour? The commander could have told him to pick him up later on in the morning. But he was in Starfleet and he had to do what he was ordered. Perhaps he might take out his anger on that Lt. Tain.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Johnny Manrique arrived at the jail more awake and without the anger that he had felt after he was told to pick up Lt. Tain.  Tain was in jail because he got into a fight in self-defense.  Manrique could understand that despite the older age of the officer. Before he arrived he read up a little about Lt. Tain.  He was older, bigger, half-Orion and had more Starfleet experience than Manrique.  There was a chance that he might serve in the security section with Manrique. That was just fine with the young officer as long as he didn't have to deal with an older officer's insubordination or attempts to undermine Manrique's authority.

"They're here for you," said the jailer to Lt. Tain. The lieutenant stood up, took one look at Manrique and exited the cell when the force field went down. He didn't say a word to Manrique but only stood there. Manrique kept his eyes on the older lieutenant trying to ascertain his present attitude.

"Lt. Tain, I'm lieutenant Manrique.  I'm here to take you to the Tiberius."

"I'm ready to go." Manrique nodded his head and he proceeded out the room with the older lieutenant behind him. Both men didn't exchange a word as they walked to the transporter room to be beamed up to the Tiberius.

Suder sat alone in his house in Hana, Maui. Because he lacked an actual wage, the house was not very big. It was in a great area, it was just not a great house to look at. He called the Tiberius home, and he was already feeling home sick.

Suder thought about the party he went to the night before. He loved trying to wear out Sevryll's children, and it was fun watching her dance with Margon. The food was great and he had his first drink. He did not really like the taste of Vodka so he ordered a "Virgin Bloody Mary".

         Brex sat down in a dark room behind a computer screen. Sweat rolled down his blue ridged face. An image of an older man with a phaser to a young bajoran woman's head was frozen in place.
-Chirp-
   "It's J'Dan, let me in boss!" Brex pushed a button and turned off the screen. He got up and walked to the center of the room.
   "Enter." J'Dan walked in with a bottle of Romulan Ale in his hand. "What's this for?"
"You know what it's for."
"Um... Pretty sure I don't."
"It's your birthday!"
"Oh..." Brex walked over to a chair in the corner. J'Dan got two wine glasses out of the replicator.
"What's your problem? You haven't been out in five forward for a long time."  J'Dan popped the bottle open and the smell filled the air. Brex smiled for a second. Then it faded to a frown.
   "It's a long story J'Dan, don't worry about it."  Brex took on of the glasses from J'Dan. J'Dan poured the blue liquid into the wine glass. Brex held it to his nose and smelled it. He took a sip.
   "People have been asking about you. I don't know what to tell them. I've been out here almost by my self for a long time now, and when you're out there you don't really talk to any one at all. I know your dad and you don't really get along, but really why does that..."  Brex cut off J'Dan.
   "Don't bring him up!" Brex quickly drank the whole glass. "Hit me."
   "Boss, I think you need to see a counselor." J'Dan poured him an other glass.
   "Ha, that would be like putting a Tarkalian Felder Beast in a cage with a Klingon Targ. I would be torn to pieces!" J'Dan started to pour him self a glass, then Brex drank his whole glass again.  J"Dan reached for his glass, but before he could pick it up Brex took it and drank it as well.
   "Boss!"
   "What!?" Brex said with a slur.
   "I'm getting you an appointment with Suder." J'Dan pulled the bottle away from Brex. J'Dan pushed his combadge
   "Do you really wanna know what's wrong?!"
   "Well... I wouldn't mind."
   "He contacted me three months ago."
   "Who are you talking about boss?"
   "The man who killed my wife. He's in the high ranks of the Orion Syndicate"
   "Your wife, the Orion Syndicate? What did he say?"
   "He said she's alive." Brex passed out. J'Dan tapped his combadge.
   "J'Dan to the bridge, get me in contact with Counselor Suder."

Sevryll thus put her right hand to Isaac's face.  She began the Vulcan Mind-Meld.
"My mind to your mind.  My thoughts to your thoughts." Isaac's mouth began saying the same thing.  Suprising the doctor but Sevryll was unaffected.  "We are connecting...."
In Sevryll mind, it seemed like she came out of a tunnel and landed in a sea of emotion.  It was so overpowering she was surprised she was in one piece emotionally.  "Destruction...Fear.....fear.........no...d...o...not.....NO LEAVE THEM BE.......please.....take me..........I'm responsIBLE!!!!!!  NOOO!!!!!"

The amount of emotion flowing through Sevryll surprised her.  She had made preparations to protect herself, but not against this.  She had some suspicion that Isaac was somehow protecting her...but how?

"Loneliness, loneliness, I'm so alone....for so long.........destruction.....persecution......fear.....loneliness.........why do I suffer?...why must I be alone??!!"

She found herself in a room with a man and a woman.  The room looked like it belonged to Starfleet vessel, perhaps a crewman's quarters. The man spoke, "He's been alone...for so long...wandering through the galaxy without a purpose, without a reason...."  The woman looked surprise "You can feel its emotions from this far away?!"  "I have been able to sense some things.........from Tinman......"

The room faded away and once again she found herself in a sea of emotion.  "Alone......I've been....so alone......death and destruction follow me.......help....I need help.....pleaSE HELP ME!!!!!!"

She found herself in a different place.  She was floating above a white and gold city.  But it seemed like it was in the middle of a siege.  Oddly, the weapons consisted of trebuchets, catapults, bow-and-arrows, and swords.  'Why am I here?' she wondered.  'What significance does this have to Isaac?'  The trebuchets seemed to be unleashing a wave of rocks and fire at the supposed enemy.  But they were becoming fewer and fewer as the enemy returned fire.  Then a huge white flash made the city fade away.

She was surrounded by bright white light.  "WHY ARE YOU HERE??" boomed a voice.  "WHY HAVE YOU INVADED MY MIND??"  She responded by saying "Isaac, I'm sorry to have invaded your mind but your in a comatose state and your causing concern for us all." "HA, what a lie, no-one cares for the young ensign who risks his life in combat.  No one cares for young Isaac Starstriker.  I'm all alone.....so...alone.........ALONE!"

Once again Sevryll found herself in a different place.  Still, she was surprised at how much of herself was still intact.  By this time, her self being should have been wiped out.  All due to Isaac...perhaps...  She looked around and found that she was in a meadow.  She looked around curiously and wondered, 'why here?'  There were some mountains off in the distance.  When she turned around, there was Isaac, kneeling on the ground crying.  "Why did you leave me?  Why??  What did I do wrong?  Why me!!!  he screamed into nothingness. Sevryll saw what was in front of him which was four bodies.  They looked similar to him, two girls and two boys.  She had to assume they were Isaac's siblings.  "You didn't need to sacrifice yourself......*sniff*...we would have won....why...WHY??!!!" he screamed.

She took a step towards Isaac and he whirled around immediately.  "Who are you and what do you want??" asked a now agitated Isaac.  "I'm Sevryll and I'm here to bring you back."  "Back where??  You will not take me back!!!" he yelled.  He drew a sword and shield.  He seemed to be an expert but Sevryll couldn't help but wonder if this was just his mind about to rid itself of the intruder, namely her.  She had no weapons, but a stroke of ingenuity made her realize that she had the weapon all-along.  So, like a magician of old, she put her hands in front of her and concentrated.  Thus began, the battle of minds.

The battle of minds caught the attention of the doctor who noticed that Sevryll and Isaac were now sweating and grimacing.  "SEVRYLL, DISENGAGE THE MIND MELD. NOW!!!"

But Sevryll and Isaac could not hear him for they were locked in an epic battle of wills.  Neither side seemed to be winning but as the minutes passed, Isaac began to falter, then his defenses failed him and all his mind was now laid bare before Sevryll.  Even though she had won, she couldn't concentrate enough to control the open mind meld.  Fear spread through her as she knew that she would be swallowed up by Isaac's emotions and memories and would be lost forever.  But once again, the shield that had protected her from the flood of emotions earlier still protected her now.  She looked around her and was amazed at what she saw.  It was a clear sky with a beautiful forest below her with colors everywhere.  She now felt at peace like never before.  Now a small, less overpowering voice began to talk.  "Sevryll....I....I'm so, so sorry.  You should never have gone through this madness."  "Its ok Isaac."  "No, its not...I have worried the crew and brought about my madness to my commanding officer.  I submit myself to your judgment and punishment."  This statement alone surprised her.  Never in his record had Isaac ever submitted himself to anything.  Not even the rules as he ever had toed them during the Academy.  "Then your punishment will be to tell me about this problem of yours and to quit worrying the crew" she replied. A bright flash of enveloping light surrounded her once again.

Sevryll's eyes opened and looked down at the young ensign.  She disconnected her hand from his face and Isaac woke up.  His eyes were filled with tears.  "Leave the room doctor." she ordered.  The doctor left the room and made sure that no one disturbed them as Isaac was rocking back and forth on the table crying.  She merely stood there as a comforting presense but something akin to sympathy flickered in the Vulcan's eyes.

Sometime later, after Isaac got some rest, Isaac began to talk with her.  "It was many years ago, that the outpost we lived on was attacked and destroyed by an enemy I do not know.  My family's only survivors were my two brothers, two sisters and I.  My parents had saved us by getting us into a shuttle and putting it on autopilot.  They sacrificed themselves to prevent the shuttle from being stopped.  I was very young...maybe three to four years old.  My siblings died some years later in an attempt to save me.  I don't know why they picked me even though I was the eldest.  Ever since then, I have been wandering the galaxy, looking for a purpose, a reason to live.  I went to the Starfleet Academy tests and preformed beyond my expectations and many of their high scorers.  And the rest of my life is stored in the records.  Its not surprising that none of those records before the academy aren't there as Starfleet was going through a very trying
time with a war."  "So why are you so depressed?..."  "I'm afraid that I've been storing up my emotions for all this time...and now...it exploded.  I'm, again, sorry for what I did to you.  No one should have had to experience that."  "Its alright Isaac, its the fact that you are now well that makes it all worthwhile." stated Sevryll.

"You are an extremely talented telepath, I think your witholding information from Starfleet." she stated.  "It is indeed true that I have the power to read minds.  I also have the power to control objects around me. But I rarely use it for obvious reasons." he replied, smiling wryly.  "Are you human?" asked Sevryll.  A simple question but it was a complicated answer.  Isaac knew he couldn't tell her...at least not yet.  'Its not time to fully reveal...'  'I think it is...but I will wait.'  "I am not human...but I have no name for what I am.  I guess my nearest guess would be a species like the Travelers."  "Even though you are obviously not them." she stated.  "I suppose..." he replied.  Sevryll felt that he wasn't telling the whole truth, but kept it to herself.

"I thank you Sevryll...with the mind meld I realized that I had friends who cared about me and were genuinely worried about me.  However, I almost worry that this mind meld will leave more damage than a simple drug can fix."  Isaac stated.  "Worry not about it...I'm positive that whatever protection you gave me was sufficient to protect me." Sevyrll replied.  He smiled weakly and allowed Sevyrll to give him the drug Lexorin.

After Isaac gave permission to tell the doctor and the captain all that had happened, she told them.  "So why did all this happen?  Why did he start this...whole....idk, depression?" asked Quinn.  "I believe it started now due to the stress of the previous mission and it seems to have built up over time...the stress of all that emotion would break anyone." replied the doctor.  "Indeed...well, what are your suggestions doctor?" asked Quinn.  "The fact that both you, Sevryll, and Isaac are still in one sane mind is astonishing.  I guess I could order you both to shore leave...but that would be pointless." he laughed.  "Ok, Isaac is to stay here overnight so I can watch him.  Oh, and Isaac cannot go on shore leave alone, at least for the entire time he cannot be alone.   Quinn nodded at the doctor.  "I leave this matter in your hands."  "Yes sir." he replied.

As they walked towards the transporters, Lt. Tain paused in stride and stopped. Manrique stopped, turned around and looked back at Tain.

"Is there a problem Lieutenant??", asked the young officer.

Tain looked at Manrique and gave him a guilty look.

"Well I don't want to cause any trouble, but in the case that I may not be gettin back down here for awhile, I do need to pick up a few things, and settle up on my hotel. I am sure it won't take long."

Johnny looked at the older man and grimaced.

"Commander Sevryll wanted to talk to you as soon as you arrived on ship."

The security chief thought for a moment.

"She didn't say anything about not allowing you to retrieve your things though. As long as we make it quick, I don't see a problem with it."

Tain looked at the young lieutenant and nodded in acknowledgment. He had hoped that the young man wouldn't be to gung-ho as to not allow him to close things out before going to the ship.

"Thanks lieutenant, I appreciate it. Oh, and as we haven't been formally introduced. I'm Cedric Tain"

Cedric put his hand out for a handshake.

Johnny took the hand in greeting.

"Nice to met you Cedric. My name is Johnny Manrique, Chief of Security on the starship Tiberius. Now that greetings are out of the way, lets get your stuff and get the ship. Trust me, we don't want to keep Commander Sevryll waiting."

Johnny started walking to the entrance of the station.

Cedric nodded again. He liked the way this young lieutenant reacted, and the matter of fact way he got back to the job at hand. He also like that fact that Manrique didn't make a big deal out of the fact that he would most likely be Tain's boss.

Cedric followed lieutenant Manrique out the station and they made their way to his Hotel.

`````````````````````````````````````````````````

Cedric closed his bag and looked back to Johnny Manrique.

"Well that's it, like I said... no trouble at all..."

As Cedric completed the sentence the front door caved in and four men made their way into the hotel room. Cedric and Johnny both crouched ready for anything.

Cedric recognized one of the men from the bar, and he made a face.

"Lieutenant.... sorry...maybe just a little trouble..."

He looked over at Lt. Manrique and shrugged his shoulders giving him a wry grin.

Margon changed into something more comfortable for his trip.  He got a felion supplment from the replicator and sat it down on the coffee table.  Mr. Mouse jumped up and began to eat the food. 

He had it all planned out.  Taking the data pad in his hand he check the itinerary and chuckled to himself.  "This should be quite a trip!"

Dr. Lucas had informed him that Dr. Peterson was now awake and feeling restless.  He suggested getting him off the ship for a few days, and since Margon didn't have any family on Earth to speak of, he was willing.  Of course there was Brex, but his son still wouldn't really talk to him.  He didn't really know what to do about that.

He tapped his com badge, "Counselor Margon to Dr. Peterson"

"yes Counselor?" the dr. replied.

"I have a surprise for you!"  the Bolian sounded excited.

"And that would be....." the Dr. was interupted

"That would be for you to get yourself ready.  We're going to Earth together.  I have an adventure for us!"

There was a slight pause and the Dr. replied, "uh, what do you mean and adventure?"

"Something I think you and I both need Dr.    Are you willing?  All you need are a few personal items, so get out of sickbay, get to your quarters and pack, oh and before you say anything, Dr. Lucas has signed off on this.  He thought it would be good for you." 

The Dr. really didn't have a lot of choice, and he needed someone like the Counselor to talk with.  This whole thing had been so hard on him.  He surrendered to the idea and responded, "Ok, Counselor, if you are willing to have me, then I guess I am willing to go with you." 

"Wonderful!" exlaimed Margon.  "There is one other person I want with us, I'll contact him and meet you in two hours!"

The Counselor  petted Mr. Mouse.  "You want to come with us?"  the cat purred and rubbed up against the Counselors face getting hair all over his blue face.  "Stop it lunkhead!"  He laughed and then picked the cat up and placed him on the couch.  "No, you can't go Mr. Mouse, you wouldn't like where we are going."  He chuckled.

Margon tapped his Com badge again, this time he asked for Counselor Suder. 

<chirp>  Counselor Suder is not on board the Tiberius <chirp>

"Then where is he?" the counselor asked the computer.

<chirp> Mr. Suder is at his home on Earth <chirp>

"Computer vid screen on, contact Counselor Suder"

the Starfleet Logo came up on the screen and the screen flickered ever so slightly.  The transmission ring seemed to go on forever when finally a sleepy looking Suder came on to the screen. 

"Yeah?  Margon?  What do you want at this hour?" the young counselor asked.

This hour?  It was already two in the afternoon. 

"Andrus, I thought you might want to accompany the Dr. and I on our R&R adventure on Earth."

"That depends on what you want to do.  I have a lot to do you know."

"you will love it, trust me" the Bolian smiled.

Andrus was secretly jumping at the chance to do something with friends.  But he didn't want to come off desperate.  He thought about the people he would like to hang with and thought that the Dr and the Counselor would be entertaining.  He came up with a good excuse to check his calendar, excused himself and after about 3 minutes the vidlink came to life again.

"Alright, when do we leave?  Where do I meet you, what do I bring?"  he gave away his excitment. 

Counselor Margon smiled and said, "Just bring yourself and a couple of days worth of clothes.  We'll meet at your place Mr. Suder, if that's ok. The Dr. and I will beam down in a couple of hours"

"Ok" said Andrus.  "I'll get my things together"

"Oh, one other thing" Margon said "Can you arrange transportation?" 

Andrus again tried to hide his excitement.  "Uh, sure, no problem, I'll see you in two hours"

The vidlink went off and Andrus shouted outloud  "SWEET!"  he had been waiting for an opportunity to try out the new landflyer pod transport.  This baby could circle the globe in less than an hour and it was a beauty to look at too.  He quickly got his things packed and set out for the federation transport depot just a few minutes from his place.  Since the counselor and dr would be joining him, he knew he would get his pick of one of the newest models. 

"I hope the Dr. is feeling good enough for this adventure" he mumbled.  He put his earphones in and crancked up an old Earth band called the Rolling Stones.  As he walked past his neighbor's house all people could hear was a lone singing man,

"I can't get no... no no no!"  Suder played the air guitar and walked quickly to the depot.

Quinn approached his childhood home on the outskirts of San Francisco, it had been several years since he last set foot there. As he walked up the front steps, a door burst open and gregarious woman came bounding out. "My special one!!! He has come home." She grabbed Quinn and pulled him into a tight bear hug.

Quinn's mother was a beautiful woman, dark hair and blue eyed. Though she was hundreds of years old you could not tell on her jolly face as she beamed at her youngest son. Quinn who could barely breath said "Hello Mother".

A tall handsome dark hair and grey eyed man stood in the doorway. "Anashta let go of the poor boy, he's turning blue". Anashta laughed and released Quinn, Quinn turned to the man in the doorway. "Hello Papa". Jerrad Quinn grabbed his son and embraced him. "It's good to see my boy". Anashta took her sons arm and walked him into the house. "It has been far to long special one." Quinn looked at his mother, "Mother you know I don't like when you call me that", "What", she said in surprise... "special one?, but you are, you are our special one." Quinn shook his head as his mother guided her son to the kitchen. "Are you hungry speci..I mean Nathan" Quinn smiled "No mother I am fine" Anashta pulled out some pots and pans, "of course you are hungry, eating all that replicated food all the time, you are nothing but skin and bones.. How about a nice roasted chicken with a side of.." Quinn laughed, "I do miss your home cooking mother but I am good, I hope it's okay that I'll be staying with you for the duration of my shore leave." Jerrad entered the kitchen, "Of course it's okay, and you are always welcomed here." Anashta looking disappointed put the pots and pans away, "Will your first officer and her children be joining us". "Yes she will be here soon, she is dealing with some last minute issues on board the Tiberius" Quinn said. Anashta smile broaden, "It will be good to have little ones in the house again, of course you could take care of this by having children of your own". Quinn laughed and said "Don't start that again mother, it will happen when it happens." Jerrad shook his head "Anashta, Captain's of Starships don't have Children". "Oh that is right", Anashta said, "I forgot that  you are now a Captain." Quinn smiled, "I still want children mother, I just haven't found the right person yet." Anashta smiled and touched her sons cheek, "I know special one, I just want you to be happy". Quinn hugged his mother, "I know mother.. it's good to be home."

Dr. Peterson was feeling much better then he had days before, the ceremony was a blurr to him and he was glad to be getting out of sick bay. He marvelled at the great job that the nanobots had done on his shoulder, but found himself to be still quite exhausted from his ordeal. He had been given some instructions from Dr. Lucas and some pain medications to be administered every 8 hrs.

He hit his comm badge and signalled the counsellor that he would be readied shortly. He must remember to ask the counsellor about the ceremony as he could not remember much about it but thought he had been awarded a purple heart but could not remember much.

For now the doctor welcomed the distraction and looked forward to his shoreleave and the distraction it would provide. He reached transporter room four and awaited the arrival of Counsellor Margon.

11:00 am Francisco time.

M'rynn watched in admiration, as her mother braided her hair before the mirror in their quarters. In their four months aboard Tiberius, Sevryll had permitted it to grow longer. Now her glossy raven locks, fell past her shoulders in waves.

The little girl inched closer, resting her chin on the table where Sevryll sat; she gazed up to watched Sevryll's nimble fingers at work. Uninterrupted by the small observer, Sevryll continued carefully gathering the locks that framed the delicate features of her face, then she pulled them back towards her ears and tied the ends together, in a loose knot, at the back of her head.  The secured tresses crowned the balance of her hair, which she allowed to cascade down her back. It was reminiscent of a style worn by Vulcan females in the time before Surak—A style that was represented on the surfaces of ancient stoneware, excavated on her archaeological expeditions.

Sevryll stood from her place before the mirror and straightened her clothing. Her civilian attire consisted of a fitted, taupe tunic and trousers . Over her suit she wore a silk, high collared robe, with flowing sleeves, the color of Vulcan's searing skies. She reached for the battered Purple Heart medal, resting on the table, and dropped it into her pocket. She would return it to the doctor if she saw him during their leave.

Sevryll stood there a moment, regarding her daughter in the reflection of the mirror, thinking about her early morning conversation with Quinn.  "I have never shielded my children from their heritage." she told him, "doing so would only hinder their ability to cope with inevitable difficulties."  Sevryll knew her position was logical, but her mother's protests invaded in her thoughts. Sareth never failed to remind Sevryll that social stigma always followed, when Vulcans turned away from Surak's teachings. She was right of course...It seemed that "inevitable difficulties" would find her young ones, regardless of which path they chose.

Sareth had sent a message early that morning, requesting that Sevryll come to her home in San Francisco. Krell, Sevryll's father, was away on a diplomatic assignment to Romulus. He was apart of the Reunification project that Ambassador Spock began. Her father would not be present to act as Sevryll and Sareth's mediator, which meant a visit with her mother would be most unpleasant. Sevryll did not respond to her mother's message. She would determine the proper course of action, at a later time.

The Vulcan's eyes focused once more, on her daughter. She stretched her hand out to M'rynn and the toddler smiled as she walked over to accept it. Sevryll turned from the mirror and called for N'Vall, who was playing by himself in the other room.

A few minutes later, a frenzy of tiny golden particles shaped their figures outside the Quinn family home. It was an ancient wooden structure, classified as a "Victorian". It was one of the Queen Anne Victorians dubbed the "painted ladies" of San Francisco. Sevryll found the dwelling fanciful and flamboyant...little did she know those terms would also describe Mrs. Quinn.

"Blue!" M'rynn's voice echoed as her form solidified. Blue was the color of the house they stood in front of. "That is correct," replied Sevryll, arching a single eyebrow as she peered down at the little girl.

Before she could stay his hand, N'Vall pressed the button set in the wall beside the door. It chimed melodically. He rang it in rapid succession four more times, marveling at sound the invisible bells made.  Sevryll gently pulled him away from the door bell before he could press it again. From inside, a voice arose and it grew louder as the individual approached the entrance. The old fashion door opened and an extraordinarily happy woman appeared. Her round checks rose, as a large beautiful smile formed on her lips. "Well hello!" she said, looking up at Sevryll then down at the two children at her side.  The woman's dark hair sparked in the sun as she stepped onto the porch to pull them all inside. N'Vall was instantly in love with the friendly woman, but M'rynn was reserved as usual.

Suder sat down in the sleek vehicle.  The transparent forcefield buzzed as it activated over the top of the landflyer transport pod.  This baby was amazing.  He quickly traced his fingers over the dash module and the whole craft came to life.  The seatbelts instantly crossed over his chest and calm cool voice said "please enter the destination Mr. Suder."  A hologram hovered over his right shoulder with a number dial and lattitude and longitude dial.  Andrus thought for a moment. 

"Computer, music on"

Another panel lit up and hovered in front of his face.

"Please select music choice Mr. Suder" the computer said.

"Uh, how about the ancient Earth band, The doors"

"There are 142 songs avaialable by that band's name"  the computer chided.

"Ok, how about "Light my fire"

The computer chirped once and the cockpit came alive in crystal clear sound.  The hammond B-3 churned out a few notes and Suder smiled. 

"Ok, computer take me to my house I need to meet the Dr and Counselor Margon"

The ship instantly rocked to the right, lifted and streaked off.

"Computer volume level higher" 

The music swelled to a mind numbing level as the ship jetted toward Suder's house. 

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

Counselor Margon grabbed the last item and placed it on the desk. 

"Computer, done packing, consolodate"

There was a whirring sound and all of his clothing and items seemed to compact together and the cover of his starfleet suitcase sealed shut with a hiss.

His com badge beeped.

"Dr. Peterson to Margon, where are you?"

"I'm coming Dr., have patience.  I just need to get the rest of my things.  I'll be there shortly."

"Ok, well, I'm getting tired of standing here."

The com went silent and the counselor sighed.  "Oh boy, this is going to be interesting"

Margon petted Mr. Mouse one last time and then spoke out "Computer, please attend my pet while I am away"  The computer chirped and he picked up his small musical device and slipped it into his pocket.    The doors hissed open and he made his way to the transporter room.

Upon entrance the Dr stood next to the transporter pad.  He was dressed appropriatley for an outing but what fascinated the Counselor was the bright orange Hawaiin shirt that the dr. sported. 

Margon chuckled "I'm gonna need sunglasses to look at you dr."

The dr. sneered and then smiled.  "Well you said we were going on an adventure, so I figured I'd make the best of it."

The men stepped onto the transporter pad-

"Go ahead transporter chief". said Margon.

The two men materialized in front of the Hawaiin home.  A palm tree fluttered in the breeze as a transport vehicle with loud booming bass screeched to a halt in front of them.  The wind from the vehicle blew the dr.'s hair every which way.  Counselor Margon smiled.

Andrus looked down at the two men and the music stopped. 

"Hey boys, what's up?"  He placed his index finger on the bridge of his sunglasses and cocked his head.  "Wanna ride?"

The four men stormed the hotel room sloppily, lacking the finesse of movement and communication of a starship's security personnel. That was what Lt. Johnny Manrique thought as he quickly cover behind the bathroom door. He noticed that Lt. Tain took cover behind the bed.  The older lieutenant looked at Johnny with a wry smile and shrugged shoulders.  Manrique then knew that these were probably the same men that Tain confronted at the bar.  Tain was obviously not armed and Manrique didn't bring a phaser as he didn't think it was necessary to bring one along just to get a Starfleet out of jail. However, he always carried a knife with him. It was the rare Starfleet officer who always carried a knife nowadays.  It was virtually not needed on a starship but did come in handy on away missions. Being a security officer, Lt. Manrique developed the habit of always carrying a knife.  It wasn't required, but Manrique wanted to be a bit more prepared in case of emergencies.

He was presently in an emergency. Two of the men had phasers, most probably set on kill.  One of them shot at Lt. Tain and missed.  The other one aimed at Manrique but missed badly hitting the wall.  Manrique took his somewhat small, 4 inch long blade knife out of its sheath and threw it at the man that fired at him. The knife penetrated the man's elbow and he immediately dropped the phaser to the ground. "Yeah, they're not pros," said Manrique. At the same moment the other man with the phaser was distracted and glanced at his friend.  This was the opportunity Tain had waited for; he threw his bag at the man with the phaser, who was the man he recognized from the bar. The man fired his weapon but missed Tain.  The lieutenant was on him immediately afterward. He got the man in a comealong armbar. The man didn't have the phaser pointed in Tain's direction anymore and the pain the man felt on his elbow was enough to make him drop his weapon. Then one of the other men punched Tain in the face. Tain didn't break the man's arm to take him out of the fight; instead he released him and proceeded to get ready to fight two men at the same time. . .

By then, Manrique had picked up the phaser that had been dropped by the man he'd injured. The man with the knife still stuck to the inside of his elbow backed up. Manrique fired a single shot at the floor. The other three men took notice that the Starfleet officer now had a phaser in his hand. Realizing that they were now at a disadvantage, the two men who came into the room without phasers ran out of the room.  Then the other two men followed suit.

"AHhahhahahh", laughed Tain crazily. "Look at the scum run."

He looked over at Manrique.

Manrique saw the crazy look disappear from Tains eyes as he visably regained control over his emotions.

"As I said Lt. Manrique.", Tain said. "It's not so much that trouble follows me around, it's more like it's a heat seeking missle  locked onto me! Always been that way, every since I was a youngin."

Tain looked out the door and down the corridor, then looked back into the room at lieutenant Manrique.

"From the looks of that lot, I don't think they will be botherin us again."

Tain walked over to the young lieutenant. He smacked him affably on the arm.

"And that was quite some throw there lieutenant!! It's good to see I will be in the company of someone that can handle themself well in a fight. I gotta admit, I was surprised to see you pull out a knife. Haven't you ever heard that your not supposed to bring a knife to a phaser fight??"

Manrique laughed at the joke, but look a little worried as he watched Tain loudly guffaw at his own joke. He though to himself that it looked like the old lieutenant probably did very few things in a small way.

Tain wiped a tear out his eye from laughing, and held out his hand to the Manrique. He looked directly into his fellow lieutenants eyes.

"Where I come from, and what I have been through have taught me one thing above all others Manrique. Anyone that  risks himself to help out a fellow soldier, has my respect and appreciation. I don't know how that would have ended if you hadn't thought fast on your feet like that, but you did, and I thank you for it."

Manrique shook Tains hand again and looked a little embarrassed.

"Lieutenant Tain,", said Manrique. "Where I come from we don't run from trouble, and certainly don't abandon crewmates. Nothing more need to be made of it."

Tain looked at the Lieutenant and smiled.

"As you say, sir.", Tain said.

Tain looked away from his fellow officer as he suddenly remembered something. He hurried over to his bag, picked it up and brought it to the table. From the bag he pulled out a glass bottle full of liquid the color of coal, and two cigars.

"Another thing I learned from years in the fleet. Always celebrate the small victories. Although that definitely couldn't be considered a battle, we're still here alive and breathin. Would you care for a snort, and a smoke before we head up the ship lieutenant?"

Tain  looked over at Manrique expectantly.

The Dr. took in the fresh air accompanied by the cool tropical breeze. It had been a long time since he had been on earth, so long in fact, that he had almost forgot what it was like to feel the kiss of the sun on his cheek.

He took a deep breath and inhaled it all in, for the first time, in what had seemed like ages, he actually felt at ease, it was as if a weight had been lifted from him.

The Dr. finally felt like he belonged, it was a feeling that was unfamiliar to him, but one that he welcomed. He began to talk to the counsellor about his past and the war that took his family away from him.

Counsellor Margon spoke," That is enough for now Dr. you are here to recover, there will be plenty of time to talk, for now let us enjoy are adventure".

The Dr nodded in compliance and asked The counsellor where they were going. The counsellor responded with a big grin. "You'll see.

"Computer, what is our ETA to Earth?" Aeric asked aloud as he rose from his bed aboard the Aurora, a protype warp shuttle and technologies testing platform.

Aeric ran his hand though his dark closely cropped hair. He could feel the ship around him as a telepath feels the minds of those around them. He had been heading to his new commission at warp 6.5 for the last 12 hours. He needed to test the systems of the Aurora aboard a starship and the Tiberious needed another Flight Conn officer. While this would be his first commission aboard a starship, it was an opportunity that he could not pass up.

"Destination will be reached in three-point-two hours at current velocity." replied the soft femine voice of the computer.

With his abilities, Aeric could have gathered the information mentally, but having spent the last two months working alone on the ship, it was nice to have another voice to talk to.

"Computer, initiate Ship Interface Hologram." Aeric said softly as he stretched.

"Please state the reason for activation.", a young dark haired woman said. She was dressed in a red accented Starfleet uniform.

"Conversation." Aeric replied as he moved forward towards the helm of the shuttle.

"How are we feeling today Aurora?"

"All systems are function within the specified variances. The new warpfield configuration has improved power efficiency by 15.36%. Bio-neural gel packs are functioning within all specifications. Nanotech repair systems are online and functional." Aurora said as she took a seat in the copilot's chair. "As for how I am feeling ... annoyed. Why have did you have me programmed with the ability to dream if activating me always interrupts the dreams?"

"I think I can fix that by adding a delay to your activation routines that will allow you to finish your dreams. What did you dream about last night?"

"Don't you think that question is a little personal Lieutenant?" Aurora asked as she raised one of her well manicured eyebrows.

"Humor me."

Aurora sighed. "I was moving my belonging from the Starfleet Dorms to my quarters aboard my first assignment. It was nothing really."

"Are you concerned with our being assigned to the Tiberious?"

"Should I be? Are you planning on abandoning me for some faster sleeker shuttle?" She asked sarcastically as she trimmed the heading a few degrees to save them a few minutes of travel time.

Aeric laughed. While it would have probably been better to have an EMH installed aboard the ship, he perfered someone that could actually help him fine tune the vessel. Aurora wasn't new technology but an adaption of already standard systems into a holomatrix platform. Aurora replaced the standard automated systems and were the standard automation systems. When she was active, she was could function as a full member of the crew and when she wasn't, she was the ghost in the machine, the voice that people often took for granted on other starships.

"When we get closer, I'll open a channel to the Tiberious and transmit my orders."

"Could I suggest a flyby on approach? I think that they should be given an idea on what they are getting with us."

"Suggestion noted and denied. We will let our work speak for itself. Initiate a level 10 security lockout on all classified systems, authorization Zed-Omega-Six-Six-Alpha-Two-Beta-Nine."

"Classified specifications now secured." She said. "I'm also going to switch off and run diagnostics on the hologrid, I've been experiencing slight fluctuations with emitters alpha-17 through alpha-23. I could bypass to beta emitters, but I would like us to arrive in a close to perfect condition as possible."

Aurora's holoform faded and Aeric found himself alone in the cockpit.

"Computer open personal log...." Aeric started. If the past was any clue of the future then he was going to enjoy his first full time assignment on a starship. Hopefully the Tiberious was as agile as the Akira was.

Sevryll and her children were ushered through the parlor and into a library where Nathan and Jerrad Quinn sat, sharing stories and sipping coffee. The room was hugged by bookshelves that stretched from the wooden floor to the vaulted ceiling. Every surface in the library was filled with heirlooms or photos. A pair of stain glass windows colored the world outside and added to the comfortable ambiance of the room they found themselves in.

It was a quaint and comfortable house, despite the chilly weather outside. Autumn in San Francisco was upon them, and the cool conditions warranted a small fire in the fireplace. This encouraged Sevryll, for San Francisco had always felt cold to the Vulcan native— even during the summer. The flames from the fire cast a soft, orange glow on the two men as they stood to welcome the new guests.

"Jerrad, this young lady is Nathan's First Officer: Commander Sevryll." The Vulcan arced an eyebrow at Mrs. Quinn's introduction. Sevryll was sixty years old—she was youthful by Vulcan standards, but not many outside her homeworld would have referred to her as "young".  Yet, Mrs. Quinn was El Aurian, it was possible she had seen many centuries come and go in her lifetime.

"Welcome Commander," said Mr. Quinn in a deep baritone. "And who might these youngsters be?" he asked with a wink.

N'Vall, as always, was quick to presented himself. When M'rynn failed to do the same, he volunteered his sister's name as well.

"I'm glad that you came to see us," replied Mr. Quinn with large grin.

A Boarder Collie slipped into the room unnoticed, and approached Sevryll. The Vulcan woman jumped as the dog pushed a cold wet nose into her hand.

Mrs. Quinn chortled, "that's just Jack, he won't bite. He's just introducing himself to you."

Nathan stifled a chuckle as Sevryll made an awkward attempt to pet the persistent dog, then discretely wiped her hand upon her robe. He motioned them all to the couch near the fire, as he lifted his coffee cup to take a sip of the freshly brewed Espresso.


Jack walked over to "introduced  himself" to the children as well. The twins turned to their mother for permission—she nodded her approval. Both children giggled as they stroked Jack's silky, black and white coat. He wagged his tail and licked their faces in excitement. He pushed N'vall to the floor, but the boy continued to giggle despite the slobber Jack left on his tiny pointed ear.

Nathan smiled as Sevryll sat down next to him. "Captain, we..." Quinn interrupted her, "Please, call me Nathan.  We are on shore leave." Sevryll was taken aback, yet skillfully hid her surprise. "Of course... Nathan. I want to express my appreciation to you and your parents for allowing us to stay at your home."

Anashta Quinn entered the room carrying a tray of what looked to be Betazaid Anellian cookies. "Don't be silly dear, it is no trouble at all. Jerrad and I are all alone, in this large house, since the children have left." Anashta laid the cookies on the table and quickly exited the room in a busy shuffle. Sevryll turned her gaze from Anashta to Nathan, "I do not wish to be an inconvenience."  She looked back at her toddlers who were chasing Jack around the room. Quinn laughed, "are you kidding?  My mother is so excited to have little ones in the house again."

Anashta  re-entered the room carrying another tray with glasses and a large picture of lemonade. She smiled at Sevryll "Oh by the way dear, I invited your mother over for dinner on Friday. We work together at the Academy... she was very surprised when I told her that you would be staying with us." Though Sevryll suppressed her emotions, for a split second Quinn could feel panic in his first officer.

The Vulcan was speechless but she managed a nod to Anashta, in a false gesture of gratitude. Nathan knew all to well the reason for the brief dose of raw emotion he felt Sevryll push away. Only a few days ago, they had discussed the relationship she had with her mother—it was part of the reason he had invited her to his parents' home. He had no idea Anashta had extended an invitation to Sareth and he was more than a bit embarrassed, to learn that she had done so.

Of course, his mother had only the best intentions and if she had been aware of the discord between the two, she would not have invited Sareth at all. But the deed had been done—all that Nathan could do now was act as damage control.  Anashta exited the room a third time, to bring out the Vulcan Spice tea that Nathan mentioned Sevryll enjoyed. Her son excused himself and followed his mother out of the room. He intended to inform her of the Vulcan hairball she created, which would soon be coughed up all over her nice wood floors.

Suder smiled and extended the walkway to the transport.  Both the Dr. and Counselor Margon stepped up and into the cabin.  As soon as they sat down in the tan seats the seat belts crossed their chests and snapped into place.  The Dr. looked at Margon, and then at Suder. 

"I assume you will take it easy on on us Andrus" he smiled ever so slightly.

"You got it boss", said Suder.  He put a finger up to his sunglasses and pulled them down, peering over the top of them. "Ok Blue guy, where to?"

The Counselor pulled out a data pad and said, "To these coordinates Mr. Suder" he clicked on the pad and the information transferred to the helm of the transport craft.  The engines whirred to life and the pod lifted from the ground quickly.  Dust pushed around the craft as it lifted above the palm trees. 

"I'm hungry said Suder" he winked at Margon, "I hope this little adventure includes lunch."  The counselor laughed out loud as he touched the pad once again and then the holographic panel in front of him. 

The replicator next to the counselor activated and three bowls of a steaming substance materialized.  The dr. stared at the bowls and made a funny looking face.  Sniffing the air, he said "What is that?"  it smells... like.....

"Cheese!" Andrus exclaimed.  "Why counselor, how did you know?"

He didn't respond to that comment considering the empty bowls he had cleaned up recently that Suder had left in his office.  The Bolian pulled the bowls of food out and handed them to each of his friends.  "It's called Macaroni and Cheese, and it's supposed to be comfort food." 

"You rock" said Suder, putting the spoon of yellow macaroni in his mouth. "Exfulent!"  he said chewing with his mouth open.

The Dr. looked at the food and slowly brought it to his lips.  Taking the first bite he bit down and instantly relaxed.  The next bit came quickly and soon before he even realized it, half of the bowl had been eaten.  "I don't think this is the best nutritionally, but wow, this is good" he chuckled.

"I did a little research on Suder's eating habits" said Margon, tonight we have dinner where the Dr. wants to eat.

"And where exactly is that?" asked the Dr.

The Counselor smiled and opened his mouth, "Computer, reveal destination"

There was a chirp and the computer said, "Destination Hollo World, New Florida, Western Hemisphere"

The Dr. raised an eyebrow, and Suder grinned.  "I've heard of that place- it's supposed to be the best of both worlds, holo and real, combined technology with the real world" 

"Yes my friends, and wait till you see what I cooked up for us, it's better than macaroni and cheese"  he rested back into his chair and Suder turned up the music. 

The Dr. looked a tad bit uncomfortable as he took his medicine.   The counselor couldn't decide if it was physical, or if the prospect of going on this adventure was turning his stomach.  He could tell that that Dr. didn't like the music so loud, but figured they all needed to live with each other.  Suder liked it.  So it would be o.k.  Besides, it would only take them twenty or thirty minutes to arrive.

K'arath stood on top of the highest point on earth and contemplated hi slife in the universe. Well, not really, Klingons were not pre-disposed to such inter-reflection. No , as he stood their triumphant with his chirpa guide, he was thinking of his ship, and the crew that would soon be heading back into the unknown. Quinn was an honorable man, though prone to useless human emotional hyperbole. Servyl, for a female AND a Vulcan was a complete mystery to him. The fact that her children were on board was a source of constant irritation for him. They have no place on a vessel like the Tiberius, he mused.

His engineering staff had proved adept dring their last mission and he hoped to see how much they had grown from the experience. As always, he expected more new additions to his division while on leave, his department being the most labor intensive. As the snow swirled around his face and stung his eye's, he gazed up towards the heavens, now 29,000 feet closer and wished to return to the place in orbit he now called home.

"Exiting warp," the soft female voice of the computer said as the Aurora exited warp. Due to the maneuverability of the vessel, she was able to exit warp far closer to Earth than available to standard ships. Early twenty-first century Earth music played throughout the craft as Aeric sat at the helm of his vessel.  " We have entered the Sol System. USS Tiberius is with sensor range."

Via Aeric's connection to the computers, he mentally entered in an impulse course for Earth. He was now well into hailing range to the USS Tiberius and now was as good a time as any to get introductions out of the way. With a few thoughts, hailing channels opened and then spoke softly.

"This is the Starfleet Warp Shuttle Aurora to the USS Tiberius." Aeric stated. "I am transmitting my transfer orders and request permission to dock in a secured shuttle bay. I am also requesting to meet with the captain or any available command staff regarding my assignment."

Aeric ended the message and waited. First the sensors would scan her then the questions on what she was would surely follow. It would have been much easier to just phase her into the main docking bay, but there would more than likely have been people there and shutting off the phase when they were still interacting was ... messy. It was also not the best way to make an impression.

He was here to help in flight con, but there was more to his mission. He needed a place that could continue to give opportunities to test the systems of the Aurora. He also needed a place to access the ship to make modifications and upgrades. A shuttle bay was needed for that.

Aeric had yet to review any of the available logs of the crew, but when he was given a list of ships, the Tiberius called to him. He was born on the day that a great man died and both he and the ship shared in the nature of being named after him. Both of them had heavy boots to fill. Perhaps together they could do such a thing.

He also knew that there were more issues involved than just reporting to his new captain. He was attached to the Aurora by command. He wasn't chosen for the ship by the captain. He would more than likely have to prove himself. He would also have to make sure that Aurora's technology wasn't shared with the Tiberius before it and her crew was ready. The last thing he need was to have to explain how his baby killed a starship because he rushed and missed something important.

  It was out of his hand now. Either he would function well with the crew, or he wouldn't. He would do his best to fit in and hope that was enough. Now he just needed someone to respond to his hail.

K'arath sat at the engineering consoul on the bridge of the Tiberius monitoring...well, not much as the ship slowly orbited earth, Having returned from his shore leave, he found the ship relatively empty as the crew enjoyed their extended stay. He was currently in command as the Captian and First Officer were planetside, but he loathed the pretense of sitting in the captains chair, he harbored no such vanities.

The communications officer turned towards him, "Sir, we are recieveing a hail from an inbound vessel," he said. K'ararth tunred to face the Ensign and had no idea what his name was as they were so deep into the back-up crew rotations.

"On speakers!" K'ararth commanded, somewhat rattling the young ensign.

"Aye sir," he responded and a clear voice issued forth.

"This is the Starfleet Warp Shuttle Aurora to the USS Tiberius. I am transmitting my transfer orders and request permission to dock in a secured shuttle bay. I am also requesting to meet with the captain or any available command staff regarding my assignment.”

K'arath's brow furrowed at this abrupt and unusual request. He wasn't aware of any new crew additions, but he had not had time to discuss any ship matter prior to Quinn's departure for earth. He was intrigued by the request for a secure shuttle bay. "On screen!" he bellowed. The navigator on duty nearly jumped out of his uniform. What he saw on the screen looked like no other shuttle craft he had ever seen before. Unwilling to give the pilot the satisfaction of his suprise he kept his head clear and offers a challenge.

"This is Lt. Commander K'ararth, we have recieved your transmission and I shall relay your reuest to the Captain who is not aboard ship. I am the Chief Engineer and currently in command Lt....," he scanned the tranfer orders on his screen looking for the name, "Aeric. Shuttle Bay 2 is currently available. When you are within range, we will engage automatic flight control to bring you aboard. As commanding officer, I shall meet you and discuss your assignment to this vessel. Tiberius out!"

His engineering senses tingled.....what was this new vessel and exactly who was this new crew memeber? He smilled as he anticipated the response....

Aeric laughed to himself. Aurora's systems were specifically designed to counter external attempts to take control of her. Her command codes weren't listed in any computer system, another precaution against the Borg. Sure, she had an autopilot, but the Tiberius wasn't going to access it ... yet.

"Aurora, reopen channel," Aeric said.

Aurora appeared in the copilot's chair and started typing commands into the panel. "Channel open and visuals are ready."

"Lt. James to Tiberius. Due to software incompatibilities and the fact that your computers don't know the drive system, I respectfully suggest that I bring my shuttle in manually. Most of the system aboard are classified and to allow external control would be a breach of Starfleet regulations."

Aurora smirked to herself as she sent the message. Aeric was almost as protective of their home as he was. She wasn't sure what regulation he was speaking of, but chances are that there was some obscure regulation or protocol that her partner has uncovered in his zealous pursuit of knowledge. "Aeric, are you trying to give the engineer a complex? You just told him that you have classified technology aboard and then implied that he didn't have the clearance to mess with it."

"That wasn't my intention."

"Intention or not, you have probably increased his curiosity by several factors. I suggest an eyes only data burst that lists the systems aboard, not the actual specs, but the names of the systems. Perhaps this will allow for the Lt. Commander to understand why secrecy is necessary."

"Send the --"

"Data burst sent." Aurora said, cutting him off. She knew he would approve the idea as soon as the information was made available to him. "Do you think that they will approve quarters near or in the shuttle bay so that we can keep an eye on you?"

"Probably not. I'll mention your concerns to the captain when we meet."

Although thuroughly displeased, K'ararth turned back to the Ensign at Ops.

"Clear them for Shuttle Bay 2, manual approach," he ordedered. "Notify the Captain we have a new crew memeber requesting a meeting.....at the CAPTAIN's convenience. I'll be in Shuttle Bay 2, you have the con!" he bellowed as he strode towards the turbo lift.

Aeric tapped at the control and guided the shuttle into Bay 2. Aurora monitored the various distances and ranges as he slowed and finally landed the craft.

"Aurora, you have the conn," Aeric said as he made his way to the shuttle hatch. As he opened the hatch, he adjusted the jacket of his uniform. Having had to fill many roles in the testing of the Aurora, Aeric had been replicating solid black uniforms and had yet to take the time to make new uniforms.

Once the hatch was opened, Aeric looked out over the bay. "Lt. James requesting permission to come aboard."

The statement wasn't exactly necessary, but some traditions still have their place.

The doctor inhhaled his macaroni and cheese and helped himself to a second helping courtesy of the replicator. He then motioned to his comrades that he had a delectable treat for them.

The doctor punched in a code on the replicator and 3 nice sized pieces of new orleans style pecan pie appeared before him. He handed a piece to heach of his friends, and said. " I dont recommend this for your waist line, but since we are on vacation lets enjoy it, as their will be plenty of opportunity get rid of these calories once we get to Holo world."

The Dr. Watched his comrades eat their pie when the councellor the counsellor  smiled and said to the doctor with a big grin,

"This is the most unusual pie I have ever tasted, as the thick maple flavoured filling dripped from his mouth." were did you find such an exotic tasting creation. The Dr. smiled and replied

"this recipe dates back to the early 18th century period of New Orlenes , on earth and belonged to one of my anchestor of that period.

The councellor laughed and said. "Dr. You are certainly full of surprises arnt you.

Meanwhile, the shuttle they were in was fast approaching their destination of Holo World and the three starfleet comrads were like little children staring out their snow frosted windows at xmas time waiting for santa to come.

You could feel the excitement build between the three members of the crew as they stepped off the shuttle and walked forward into a shoreleave full of unlimited possibilities that would be only hindered by the limits of their own imagination.

To ensure the desired potency, Anashta dipped the stainless steel ball, which contained the herbal tea leaves, into the cup a few more times. Mrs. Quinn then lifted the tray that held the cups of Vulcan Spice tea and smiled at Nathan as she started out the door again. Just as she passed him, her broad shouldered son took the tray from her and set it down on the kitchen counter.

"Did I forget something?" she asked, baffled by his action.

He stretched his lips thin and slowly nodded his head, "yes...you forgot to inform me of your plan to invite Sareth to dinner." Nathan hopped up on the counter and sighed heavily. "Sevryll and her mother haven't been getting along these days. Because of the contention,  Sevryll decided to avoid conflict and remain aboard Tiberius.  I couldn't just leave them there—despite what they might believe, Vulcans aren't immune to stress. I invited her here...to unwind.  I can't say more than that—I promised her I wouldn't," he remarked in a soft-spoken whisper.

"Oh.... No wonder Sareth was surprised that her daughter was staying with us. I've made a mess of things haven't I?"

Nathan smiled sympathetically, "I don't know that there's anything we can do now. Lets just hope that it will all blow over with no ill affects."

An hour later, the Quinns followed as the children chased Jack out the back door, and down a stone path, which led to their garden. It was fall and the Monarch Butterflies were migrating from the Rockies.  Hundreds of them drifted lazily on the air in search for autumn blooms amongst the flowerbeds. The songs of birds accompanied the harmonious laughter of M'rynn and N'Vall, as they explored the whimsical  garden in search of their new canine friend.

Sevryll received a communiqué from the Tiberius, which kept her in doors longer than the others. Ensign Took had forwarded an encrypted message to Sevryll...he also informed her that the Tiberius had a message for Captain Quinn as well. She downloaded the encrypted communiqué to her PADD and called to N'Vall from the back porch.  "Find Mr. Quinn—tell him there is a call awaiting him." The boy ran to located the Captain, leaving Sevryll alone on the back steps.

She watched him as he raced Jack through the garden, then she sat upon an old fashion porch swing and entered the code to access her communiqué. The commander frowned slightly as she read the peculiar text : "I have a message for you that I can only deliver in person. You will only be approach when it is convenient for me, and only when you are completely alone. Inform no one.—Mr. Smith" In the time it took to digest the information, the message inexplicably vanished from the PADD...

Quinn's parents house was located on the outskirts of a vast forest, As a child Quinn would play with his siblings for hours and hours in the wilderness. He can remember playing hide and seek with them but of course having his abilities he could always find them hiding. As childhood memories flowed through his mind he heard a young voice from behind him.

"Mr. Quinn, Mr. Quinn" a rosy cheeked boy came running up to him. Quinn turned to see N'Vall, "What's wrong?", He quickly asked. N'Vall took a deep breath and said "You have a call from the Tiberius, Mother asked me to come get you." Quinn tosseled the young boys hair and gave him a smile.  They both headed back to the house. As Quinn entered the kitchen his mother replied "I thought you were on shore leave". He laughed, shook his head and sat down at the console and pressed the blue button. An image of Ensign Took appeared on screen, Quinn face broke into a wide smile. "Hello Mr. Took, how can I help you." Took smiled back, "Sir there is a Lt. Aeric James requesting permission to come aboard. He says he's the new nanotechnology specialist and warp ship designer. We have granted him permission to dock but he is requesting a meeting with you sir" Quinn thought for a moment, He wasn't suppose to arrive for another week... " very well, let him know I will meet him at 1400 hours in my ready room." Took nodded and gave Quinn a big smile as the screen went black. Quinn turned to his mother. "I'm sorry mother but I have to meet with a new officer for a few hours. I'll be back by dinner time." He gave his mom a kiss on the cheek and headed out the front door.

Twenty minutes later Quinn was sitting behind his Captain's desk when the door chimed. "Come in"

   Peace, what is it good for?
                --  by Zoen Vearne, USS Tiberious

   The USS Tiberious, an Akira class Starfleet vessel. This ship is fast, sleek, and houses over 500 crew members. It glides through the starry reaches of space like a bright, white jewel against the silky black of night. Ostensibly, Starfleet and its glorious presence brings peace and prosperity to the Galaxy, waving the standard of understanding and community to those civilizations it deems unable or unwilling to promote the same on their own. Starfleet brings diplomacy to the less fortunate, those who have no voice in the galactic arena, and gives them that equal voice.

   Well, that's the theory anyway.

   The Tiberious really is a beautiful ship, smooth and fast. It has enough weaponry to hold it's own against a Romulan Bird of Prey. Of course, if the Federation were really dedicated to peace, would it have any weapons at all?

   Now, you might be saying, "But without the weaponry they would be at the mercy of all the hostile races out there." Would they? Could it possibly be that, if these ships were not so heavily armed, that many races would not feel threatened, and they would not be hostile to us at all? Would it not make sense to invest more in shield technology than developing new photon torpedoes or hand phasers? If the Federation is interested only in peace, why do hand phasers even have a "kill" setting? Oh, I know it's a "maximum" setting, but that's just semantics as the effect is the same.

   How many of these new member worlds would join if the Federation just sent a letter, or some other type of message? Instead, a huge warship orbits their planet with more killing power than they have even imagined, and asked if they would "like" to join this organization of hundred of civilizations with ships as big if not bigger than the one asking. What are they to think? Of course they say yes, with that sort of gunboat diplomacy who among us would say any different?

   The other night, I sat in the back of the room as the captain of the Tiberious, Nathan Quinn, handed out medals for "Bravery" and "Valor" as the crew and their families smiled and applauded. These medals were for acts of bravery and personal risk. Not generally the types of words you hear in connection with the word Peace. Other awards were given for heroism in action. Everyone really seemed pleased with themselves, after all, it's an accomplishment to come back after a long mission of this type of diplomacy.

   The only one to receive an award with the good sense to show any sort of humility was the ships doctor, Casey Peterson. He was given a Purple Heart, for wounds suffered during the unsuccessful attempt at saving the Security Officer's life, apparently during yet another "peaceful" fire-fight.

   Quinn gave a posthumous award to the mother of the security officer who was killed. The award was for heroism and self-sacrifice, and she was so pleased that she had to be helped back to her seat. She was probably thinking about how those medals won't ever get married and produce grandchildren, or take her out for a birthday brunch. Yes, I'm sure those medals will be a comfort to her in her old age, alone, in her care facility. And when the nurses ask why no one comes to see her, she can just point to the box, and know that if it wasn't for peace, her son would still be with her.

"Would you care for a snort, and a smoke before we head up the ship lieutenant?"

"I agree, we should celebrate this victory but not right now. Those goons may come back. Besides, we have to go back to the ship where the captain or the commander are waiting for us."

Lieutenant Manrique didn't feel like having a smoke for two reasons: the setting wasn't appropriate and he wanted to get some rest on this night.  Manrique would rather celebrate in a more festive, trouble-free place. He liked Lt. Tain including his humor though not as much Tain himself liked it.

"I'm done Lieutenant. We can go now." said Tain as he finished packing.

"Let's head out then.  So trouble follows you around like heat seeking missile huh?"

"That's right. Like a heat seeking missile."

"I haven't heard anyone mention heat seeking missiles before except at the Academy and holodeck programs of course."

"I know a little bit of Earth's war history. . .quite interesting."

"You know the first heat seeking missiles weren't very reliable right?"

"I'm not surprised--that's what usually happens with new weapons."

"Well, Lt. Tain, let's hope that those troubles that follow you around become unreliable like those first heat seeking missiles."

"Hahahaha.  Agreed lieutenant," said Tain as both Starfleet officers exited the hotel and continued ont their way to beam aboard the Tiberius.

      Admiral Talbot shut the door to his office at Starfleet Command HQ.  He moved with long strides across the room and sat down behind his large wooden desk.  Sirach rubbed the edges of the desk admiring the finished woodgrain and the way it felt under his fingers.  The desk had been a gift from his wife Lydia when he first became an Admiral.  She knew he had always enjoyed more natural type of furniture, even aboard the various Starships he had served and commanded on.  He felt it gave the rather mechanical and austere places some warmth and humanity.  He had picked up those traits from his father who had been a bit of an anachronism during his years as a diplomat to various worlds.
      Sirach let his mind wander over the past days.  The ceremony honoring the crew of the Tiberius had gone well he thought.  It was a good crew and a fine ship.  He had actually worked on some of the initial engineering design changes to the Akira class Starship and always had been fond of the ship's design.  Even though he had never had the chance to serve or command such a vessel.
      He opened the top drawer of his desk and noticed the small isolinear chip sitting next to a simple pad of paper.  He quickly recalled being passed that chip at the recent awards ceremony.  The gentlemen had simply asked him if he was in fact Admiral Talbot and when he confirmed that he passed him the chip.  With everything that had been going on lately he had forgotten he had dropped it in his desk after the ceremony.  Probably just another request to go to some damn conference and speak about his years in Starfleet.  Sirach had been getting quite a few of those requests lately and had been ignoring them.  He much preferred the actual doing of things rather than speaking about past accomplishments.  Even so, he pulled out the chip and slid it into the small computer terminal sitting on his wooden desk.
      "Working,.......Message for Admiral Sirach Dar Talbot.  Please verify identity."  The female computer voice spoke in a monotone voice to Sirach.
      "This is Admiral Sirach Dar Talbot, Starfleet Command.  Authorization code:  1A - 15 - 08 - Delta."  The Admiral said to the slightly humming machine.
      "Identity and voice print matched.  Standby to receive communication."  The computer quickly responded.  The screen on the terminal came to life and a familiar face appeared.
      "Hello old friend.  I hope this message finds you well."  Sirach's old Vulcan friend Krell spoke to him from the glowing screen.



 

Tain and Manrique made their way to the base without incident. They entered the transporter pads and beamed up to the Tiberius.

"Well Lieutenant," said Tain, "thanks for the pickup."

He smiled slyly to the young Lieutenant.

"I don't know how much longer I could of held out against those hardened criminals in that cell."

Manrique chuckled and shook his head.

"I think it was probably the best thing for them that I did show up, you did seem to be enjoying yourself a bit much."

Manrique walked to the door.

"Wait here Lieutenant Tain and I will have someone sent down to show you to your quarters."

He paused and looked back at Tain.

"Ummm.. It would probably be best if you stayed in your quarters until the Captain talks with you. I will speak with you after that."

He smiled evilly back at Tain.

"Good luck fella."

Tain watched the door close and found himself more then a little nervous. What the heck had Manrique meant by that last comment??

Manrique tapped his communicator.

"Captain Quinn, this is Lieutenant Manrique. I retrieved Lieutenant Tain from the facility and we have arrived back on the Tiberius. I informed the Lieutenant that he should wait in his quarters until you were ready to see him"

Manrique couldn't help himself as he grinned.

"I think you will find him in a ..'receptive' mood. I don't necessarily think there is any reason to rush"

As Quinn acknowledged the communication and closed the channel, Johnny was imagining Lieutenant Tain climbing the walls in his quarters waiting for the Captain. He thought that it would be interesting to be a fly on the wall for that meeting.

K'arath stood behind Aeric at the door to the Captains Ready Room. The starnge man had been virtually silent since he met him in Shuttle Bay 2. The shuttle he arrived in was of a configuration K'arath had never seen before and his engineering curiosity almost got the better of him. Instead of discussing the ship with the Lt., the Klingon ordered him to follow. He would have time enough to explore this new bit of technolgy later. Now he needed to deliver this odd man to the Captain who had just beamed back to the ship from earth.

As they strode through the corridors, they past Transporter Room One, where Chief of Security Manrique was just walking out of. He was looking at the bacjk of a figure receeding down the hallway. He presented himself as a mna with alot on his mind.

"Lieutenant." K'arath said by way of greeting.

"Sir." he repsonded

"A problem?," K'arath inquired, watching the crewmen disappear around a corner.

"Nothing I can't handel, sir," Manrique responded. K'arath grinned and moved on.

He and Lt. Aeric arrived on the bridge and made their way to the Captains door. K'arath pushed the chime...

Ensign Isaac Starstriker was staring up at the ceiling inside sick bay while laying on the bio-bed.  He was waiting for the doctor's verdict on what he was to do next.  As he waited, he began to lose himself in his thoughts.  He began thinking about all the recent events, the disappearance of the original captain of the Tiberius, the death of the lieutenant, and then what he had forced Sevryll to experience.  He felt terrible about the whole thing...wishing that his personal problems had never come to the cost of his commander's time or even the possibility of her sanity.  However, she didn't seem to mind the whole experience but as he was in no shape to read her mind he didn't know.  He hoped that his problems would never come to someone else's expense.

The doctor entered sickbay and said "Ensign Starstriker, I am ordering you to take shore leave.  However, you cannot take shore leave alone for I fear it will do more harm than good for you to be alone right now."  "Yes sir" replied Isaac.  Isaac got up and left the sickbay.

Once he got into his quarters, he looked over at what he called his news report computer.  A new posting by some reporter was now up on the screen and he told the computer to display the new article.  It was written by Zoen Vearne who happened to be a journalist aboard the Tiberius.  He read over the journal and as he got to the bottom of the article, he became disgusted.  'How could anyone write this trash??  It insults everything that the Tiberius' crew has done and what I have been striving to do.  Peace without weapons is impossible.  For there will always be a race out there, such as the Kligons, that will conquer everything that they can.  The difference between us and them is that we don't shoot first and ask questions later.  Disgusted, he changed his thoughts to his mission.  He wondered...what am I to do now?  Am I to move on?  Or should I stay put...  He opened his mind just to test himself and once again he felt that cloud on the horizon of time...it was a cloud of evil and darkness.  He knew that something dark was on the horizon for the crew of Tiberius...but whether it happen now or later was something he didn't know.

He got up from the computer and then he heard the beep of his communicator...

Counselor Margon smiled as he looked at the entrance of Holo World.  He glanced back at his friends as they made their way to the scanning booth. 

"Welcome to holo world" a pretty young lady said as she pointed the way toward the booth, "I hope you enjoy your stay with us, do you have reservations?"

"Yes, Lt. Commander Margon and a party of three" he said quietly.

"I have you right here, please proceed to the scanning booth, I will take your luggage" she handed them little badges that fit right next to their communicators.

Suder rolled his eyes and looked at the counselor "What?  I don't get it, why do we need more tracking devices on us?"  he said in a snotty tone.

"Relax "said the Dr.  "the mental scanning and history files will be downloaded onto this device, it will help make our adventure a more realistic experience.  This is newer technology and I think you will like it."

Margon raised and eyebrow, "Why Dr.  I didn't know you were aware of the new modifications"  he smiled.

"I like to keep up on these things" he responded trying to subdue his excitement.

The men walked into the scanning booth and multi colored lasers scanned the forms of all three of them.  The computer chirped and information from the cerebral cortex of each of their brains filled the screens around them.  It was an interesting experience to say the least.  Finally the sounds and lights stopped and the door on the back side of the booth slid open.

A pleasent voice said "You may now enter Holo World"

As the men walked toward the exit their clothing started to change. 

The Dr.'s Hawaiian shirt vanished as it was replaced with a tight fitting black and blue sports like outfit.  Each of them has similar attire. As soon as their bodies had crossed over into the next room three helmets appeared in front of them. 

"Please put the helmets on and proceed to trail on the right" a tall man in a blue uniform said. 

They put their helmets on and Suder looked at the Counselor.  "Alright, what the heck is all of this?"

"Patience Andrus, Patience"  Margon said with a chuckle. 

As they rounded the trail they heard strange whirring sounds.  The Dr. was first to see the track.  It was very large and seemed to stretch out forever. 

"HOVERCARTS!"

Andrus shouted out in excitement.

This sport had become a rather huge attraction for it's reckless endangerment yet romantic attraction to high speeds in a rather unprotected environments.  The Dr. looked at Margon.

"So we came all this way for a carnival attraction?"  he looked alarmed.

"No Dr.  you will see, the computer knows what each of us need for relaxation and maximum enjoyment."  he said reassuringly.  Besides, I have a hand in the programming.  I think you will find it most satisfying."

The Dr. shook his head and reconsidered this adventure.  He was supposed to be healing up from a very traumatic past few weeks. 

There were four hover carts in front of them.  Each was unique in it's appearance. 

Suder knew which one was his because of the thudding bass coming from the cockpit.  He jumped in and put the head set on.

Margon climbed into the purple sleek craft of his own. 

The Dr. looked at the two remaining carts and again shook his head. 

Just then, a voice from behind him shouted out, "Come on Dr.  Get your butt in gear, pick a cart and let's get on with this."

That voice seemed familiar to him.  A hand patted the Dr. on the shoulder and he turned to look directly into Lt. Rhys Peter's face!

Quinn sat behind his desk has his door chimed. “Enter,” he announced.

As Aeric enters the room, Quinn gets his first view of the strange man. Instead of the standard Starfleet uniform, Aeric wears one of a solid black color, with no hints of department. Also lacking from his uniform is a communicator, it has been replaced by a small metallic device that is almost hidden from view behind his left ear.

There is a slightly distant look on his face as he surveys the room with gunmetal grey eyes and processes the feel of the machines that comprises the Tiberius.

" Sir," Aeric says as he snaps to attention on seeing the captain. " Lt. Aeric James, commander of the Aurora. Reporting for duty as ordered by Starfleet Command and the Department of Temporal Investigations. Should you approve this transfer, it will be and honor to serve on the Tiberius. Attached to my files are a series of your-eyes-only protocols in reference to my potential role."

Quinn took the padd from Aeric and looked it over. "Welcome aboard, Lt." Quinn said has he raised his hand to shake Aerics.

Aeric moves to him to shake the man's hand. He didn't look as he expected, but perhaps that was because he had seen another version of this man in the myriad of timelines that he had traversed. "Thank you sir. I believe that Aurora and I will enjoy this assignment."

Quinn gestured to Aeric to sit as Quinn took his seat behind his desk.

Aeric nodded and took the seat as directed. "Thank you again, captain."

Quinn put down the padd, He looked at Aeric "I see that you don't like to conform to Starfleet uniform standards"

"It depends on who you ask sir. In my ... missions ... Starfleet uniforms tend to change rapidly. A neutral outfit that can be adapted to a ... situation ... seems to work best."

Quinn nodded "I understand that Lt. but now that you are going to be assigned to the Tiberius I would like to see you in a Standard Starfleet uniform. I don't want you to stand out from the other crew members"

"I fully intended to comply with all Starfleet regulations while a member of your crew. Having yet to be assigned to a division, I did not know what color to replicate my uniform." Aeric stated as he watched the captain.

Quinn smiled and looked down at his console. "Thank you Lt. the first officer and I have spoken and think it would be best to assign you to Engineering."

Aeric nodded " I will also inform Aurora to alter her uniform to current Starfleet standards."

Quinn continued to read the padd... "Lt. please explain to me why Starfleet feel that we need someone from the DTI aboard the Tiberius"

Aeric hesitated then continued, "The simple answer is that you, as partly El-Aurian might have some ability in noticing fluxuations to the time line. With the addition of
Aurora and myself, we become a tool to make things right in a worse cause situation."

Quinn picked up the padd... "Could you please explain this… temporal memory ability that you have?"

"I can try. Having being born outside of standard space/time, I don't have a counterpart in any other quantum reality. When timeline changes happen, I remember who I was and who I currently am." Aeric said as he attempted to find a better way to explain it.

"When a timeline changes, I gain memories of what I am supposed to be in that timeline as my presence expands from my point of entry into the timeline. After a recent change in my biology, I can sometimes see into those other timelines or quantum realities. Having outfitted my shuttle with a version of the same ability, we can with some accuracy track changes and corrections to the timeline."

Quinn sat there trying to understand what Aeric was saying. Aeric was right being half El Aurian has helped Quinn in understanding temporal shifts, but he wondered how Lt Aeric kept track of all the different timelines. Quinn has a hard enough time trying to keep the thousands of voices in his head straight. But before Quinn could ask Aeric answered his thoughts.

"It can be overwhelming at times, but I manage to maintain my core self even if reality is never repaired as it once was. As more realities overlap, I lose some of the altered memories in exchange for ones that apply to my current location. With the addition of my nanoprobes, I have gained a higher degree of access to my memories. My core self would best be explained as my operating system and these new memories are more programs or viruses."

Quinn was surprised oO So you are Telepathic? Oo

Aeric looked into Quinn’s eyes, oO Within this range, yes, but I have a greater range and ability when dealing with machines. Oo

"You can speak to computer telepathically?" Quinn asked as he laid down the padd.

"Computers and other technology...The more complex the machine, the greater the ease of interaction." Aeric said with a smile.

Quinn rubbed his chin "Interesting... could you please explain a bit about your ship Aurora, she is a prototype.... correct?"

Aeric nodded. "Yes. She's a prototype and a test bed. She serves a dual purpose. The first is to test and explore technologies that will assist in neutralizing the Borg threat. The second purpose she has is to monitor temporal incursions and provide the ability to address any that exceed a Class 3 threshold."

"Class three meaning a 30% change to the timeline. Events like those usually have someone there fixing them in no time, but if they didn't, we would attempt it."

"In designing the Aurora have better chances of surviving the Borg, she also developed new defense systems that have more than helped us to survive a hostile time shift."

With a directed thought, the PADD switched to display the classified specification of the Aurora Class prototype and suggested upgraded to the Tiberius.

Quinn looked down at the padd, " I see that there are plans here for the upgrades that need to be done on the Tiberius, I assume you will be working with your Chief Engineer on completing these tasks?"

"Yes sir. Some of the technologies will not work with the Akira class space frame, but the temporal shield, sensors, and shielded core are necessities to complete the mission should they ever need to occur. Those files also contain information, in the event of a temporal incursion, that will list all Starfleet known means of time travel."

"Very good Lt." Quinn stood up and as he did so Lt. Aeric did the same. Quinn walked over to the Lt. "Everything looks to be in order, of course I will approve your transfer. I welcome you to the Tiberius. I assume you will be staying aboard the Aurora?"

Aeric nodded and stood. "It would be a waste of resources to not use the space that I already have there."

"Thank you again for the opportunity to serve on this vessel. It was named after a very good man.

"Indeed" Quinn shook Aeric's hand and walked him to the door. It slid open.

Aeric headed through the door, but paused before exiting. "Sir I would be remiss if I didn't inform you that Aurora is also looking into a means of being able to better serve the Tiberius. She is compiling data and designing what she is calling a H.E.A.R.T Device.  Holographic Emission and Autonomous Regulation Terminal."

"Interesting..., please keep my updated. The crew is still on shore leave for another 9 days. I know Lt K'arath our chief  engineer has already returned from shore leave, please take the upgrades to him."

"Yes sir." Aeric said as he headed out to follow the orders.

Quinn noticed Ensign Took on the bridge, he smiled. “Ensign could I see you for a moment please?”

The doctor stopped dead in his tracks at the image of his dead comrade, but only for a second, he thought for a moment, then realized that this would be a better way of remembering his dead friend then the image he had currently replayed night after night since his death.

He grabbed his helmet and jumped into his metallic blue hovercar. It had been many years since he had been in one of these, but the feeling was exhilarating. For at least a little while the cares of the Tiberius were far away and he was like a little kid again, waiting for permission to open his Xmas presents from Santa.

At that moment, the lights on the track were getting ready to go off, he revved the engine of his hovercart then the signal was given, Red, Yellow then Green.... They were off racing around the course swerving in and out of obstacles going faster and faster passing each other as quickly as they were passed,.

The Adrenaline was pumping now, as they rounded one bend after another, this high was like no other, the doctor never wanted this feeling of exileration mixed with adrenaline to end, what a great start to their vacation, then suddenly......

"So, how did the meeting with the captain go?" Aurora asked as she turned in her chair to face Aeric.

"As well as could be expected. Meeting the captain reminded me why we usually work alone. It's always odd meeting someone for the first time that you have met in another timeline." Aeric said as he took a seat at the console beside her.

"I've looked at the crew manifest and there are a lot of familiar names here. Some of them we have fought against, some of them have been constant allies, and even a few names on the list were lovers of yours in those other timelines." Aurora stated. She had just as many memories as he did about other times and it was sometimes difficult to give a mortal enemy in one timeline the benefit of doubt in another. "While you were away I did maintenance on the power systems and did check on the armaments. Everything is running according to specifications."

"How is the work going to get you a more stable form?"

"I've managed to piece together to working HEART prototypes, but I really want to continue research on an organic body. Once I find suitable female DNA, I'll merge it with your sample and force grow a hybridized clone with the same nanotech modifications that you possess. If the projections are right I'll be able to download myself into the new body as easily as you've downloaded me into your nanite network."

"Does that break any regulations in this timeline?"

"None that I am officially aware of, but I don't think the rest of the Federation would like to know that a hologram is attempting to create an organic body for herself. I also don't have the necessary equipment to create the body. I would need access to a full medical lab for weeks."

"What about the stabilized photonic form?"

"It would take the same effort as an organic body and access to DNA from a species that is capable of transcending corporeal form. That or access to something that would allow me to interlace the energy wavelengths of an energy form into a photonic body. I don't believe that those efforts will pay off any time soon."

Aeric concentrated and allowed his mind to sync with the computers of the Aurora. He briefly glanced over Aurora's notes, but the majority of it was above him. She was programmed to serve as a doctor and he had yet to experience a life where he went into that field.

Commands from his mind flowed freely to the ship as systems blinked into activity and engines were brought online. Another thought sent a signal to the bridge of the Tiberius requesting departure clearance.

Minutes later, Aeric had the ship doing corkscrews as he tested the impulse engines. Sensor information was processed by the mental link as Aurora monitored the stresses on the ship. She was fast and agile. Maneuvering and vectoring thrusters gave the ship the agility of a fighter. It was also next to impossible to get the benefits of the additional thrusters without a neural link to the systems. The placement simply gave too many options and not enough time to fly the ship at her best manually.

Pushing the ship faster, he directed her towards Earth. Aurora on link had already prepared the ship for in atmosphere travel by the time they began their descent. The ship rumbled slightly then Aurora adjusted the configuration of the shield to make them more aerodynamic.

Bright blue oceans flowed below him as they descended closer to the surface. The ship slowed as Aurora and Aeric took in the sight. With the sensors of the ship running at full resolution they could see the world from every perspective of the ship. Schools of dolphins broke the surface to greet them as they brought the ship to a dead stop.

Aeric disconnected from the systems and smiled. "Computer transfer Aurora to my nanite network."

Without another word, Aurora faded from view and Aeric felt the tingle of her consciousness enter his mind.

What are we doing now? Aurora asked as she relished in the sensations of being among the living.

"I told you that I was going to teach you how to swim." Aeric said as he entered the open airlock and dove into the cold blue waters.

Growing up, Sevryll was a precocious child. She walked early, talked early and had a fondness for inquiry. On Vulcan—curiosity is a virtue— yet Sevryll often asked the wrong questions at the wrong time. Because she was young and bright, those subjected to her candid interviews, tended towards tolerance and dry Vulcan amusement.  Proper questions were answered and improper questions were simply ignored.

Sevryll learned Ancient Golic Vulcan before she could speak Federation Standard. As the daughter of a historian, she also learned to read and write the ancient language. She was five when it became evident that she had a gift for it.

The total embrace of logic was the only thing that came slowly to Sevryll. A peculiarity her mother insisted she inherited from her father's side. Krell's mother was T'Pol, the first Vulcan to serve onboard an Earth Starship. Many Vulcans allege that Krell's apathetic practice of Surak's teachings, and his work towards reunification, was due solely to his mother's extended emersion among the humans.

Though Sevryll was taught to control extreme expressions at a young age, she smiled often. Her father made no effort to encourage Vulcan stoicism and her mother never appreciated his clemency with regards to their daughter. Ever the disciplinarian, Sareth was often the one who reminded Sevryll to suppress her emotions.

The doorbell rang in a long, uninterrupted drone as the Vulcan woman depressed and held the chime. "Coming!" said Mrs. Quinn as she straightened her hair in the mirror hanging on the wall within the entry.  Not a strand was out of place— she turned to open the door and welcome the new guest. "Good evening Sareth! I'm so glad you could make it," said the El-Aurian with a compulsory smile. She was beginning to think the woman was intent on ringing that bell until it short-circuited.

"Won't you come inside?" she asked. The stolid Vulcan woman nodded once to her Academy colleague and was then escorted to the library where Mr. Quinn and Sevryll awaited them. Her daughter rose along with Mr. Quinn.

"Mother," said Sevryll as she inclined her head and averted her eyes.

"It is agreeable to see you my daughter," replied Sareth as she darted her own about the room in search of her grandchildren.

"Welcome," said Nathan's father. "I'm Jerrad Quinn." Sareth nodded in turn to the Betzoid. "Won't you have a seat?" He asked, as he motioned to a chair. Sareth sat as her eyes fell back upon her daughter who took a seat across from her.

"Where are the children?" asked Sareth flatly. Before Sevryll could reply they ran into the room giggling and laughing. Both raced up to their mother, excitedly talked over one another... telling her of their adventure in the garden with Jack.

Sevryll calmed them with a gentle word, indicating that their grandmother had arrived. The two half-human children instantly became pure Vulcan toddlers as they remembered their manners. N'Vall was the first to approach Sareth. He tried in vain to offer the elder a Vulcan salute. Sareth raised an eyebrow and rolled her gaze towards her daughter, then she helped the boy split his fingers and returned the gesture. "Peace and long life," said Sareth to the child who looked up at her with a curious expression. N'Vall smiled and repeated the words to his grandmother. If Sareth had allowed the disappointment she felt to escape her hard Vulcan exterior, a grimace would have been her response to his friendly smile. Instead, she inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly—skillfully expending the emotion proper Vulcans were taught to suppress.

She looked up at M'rynn—the girl remained at her mother's side, carefully studying the older woman sitting across from them. In a few days, the toddlers would be three-years-old. Sevryll's children had not seen their grandmother since they were one-and-a-half. And as young children often do, during long periods of separation, they had forgotten the stranger.

Sevryll whispered words of encouragement to her small daughter, and after a moment M'rynn approached Sareth. The thumb she kept in her mouth for comfort, kept her from attempting the Vulcan salute.

"Peace and long life," Sareth said to the child. M'rynn did not respond, but looked back at her mother unsure of what to do next.

Sareth drew a long breath and said, "I see you have begun teaching them our customs, daughter. They are the portrait of proper Vulcan etiquette. "

Jerrad Quinn cleared his throat and changed the subject—offering Sareth a cup of spice tea.

Family Ties Pt 1: Broken Threads Reforged.


Aurora hadn't lied, but she had bent the truth. She wasn't the only one. Everyone that she had met with aboard the Aurora thought she was simply some advanced hologram, but they were wrong. She was more than just a hologram. She was the sum of the memories and neural patterns of Aeric's daughter. A daughter that ceased to exist with the correction of a timeline.
Had it been a few months later, she could have been preserved in a stasis field until something could be done to save her. Had it be a few years later and she could have been injected with nanites that would have altered to quantum resonance and made her immune to the paradox of having a mother that never existed. The only thing that her father could do for her was to store her mind and build a hologram around it. That wasn't enough for her. She needed to breathe again and she couldn't get his help with it.
Aeric had done what he could to save her and she knew the guilt that he felt at all the lives that he helped to erase and reshape. She also knew that she wanted to be alive again. If this didn't work, she wouldn't need to worry about being forever stuck in a digital limbo. If it did, her father could have the child that she knew he mourned every time he linked with her. She wasn't just doing this for herself; she needed to give her father peace. She needed him to know and see his child again. They both needed this and she was the only one that could do it. She knew the laws better than her father. Holograms didn't have rights. Organics had rights. She couldn't be tried for a crime that a hologram committed and nor could her father. When she had a body again, her life would be her own and she could not be held responsible for her rebirth by a program that no longer existed.

With access to the medical bay aboard the ship, she would be more than able to restore her organic form. Using the talents programmed into her systems, pale imitations of the abilities she inherited from her father, she tapped into the computer systems of the Tiberius. Scanning through the genetic profiles of every female aboard the ship, she only found one adult that was a suitable replacement for her mother that no longer existed.

"Computer, do a deep scan of the Tiberius for any residual DNA from designated Beta-One. Run scan at a .00002% temporal variance so as to not trigger any sensors." Aurora said as she hovered over a medical tank in her sickbay.

"Working." Responded the computer in her voice. It was an older, more mature voice, but she knew that it was based on hers. After only a few moments of searching, the computer responded again. "Viable DNA found."

"Good. Now lock transporters on to the DNA and transport sample here."

As the sample materialized, Aurora went to work, using the gifts of medicine that her holoform had been programmed with. She worked hard as she spliced the Alpha and beta samples together into a modified new whole. She would share characteristics with both of her "parents", but she would also grow up to look almost as she did in her holoform. The only change in her new appearance would be the pointed ears, but she could get used to that. The ears were only one of the many changes she would inherit from her female donor. This project was more than simple cloning, the form she was creating was a new child, a new organism that combined the best of what her donors had to offer.

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

"Bioregenerative field ready." the voice of the computer said as Aurora inserted the newly combined DNA into the biogel filled tank.

"Seal medical bay on my authorization. Level 10 security." Aurora said as she watched the cells of her new form slowly divide on the monitors.

"Medical bay sealed."

"After my program is transferred to Subject-X, transfer all my security clearance and authorization codes to Subject-X."

"Orders confirmed."

"On my mark, shutdown Aurora hologram and bring bioregenerative field online at 100%. Initiate auto transfer of Aurora program to subject x in two hours."

"Affirmative."

"Computer, I need you to shut off bioregenerative field as soon as subject x reaches the early beginning of physical adulthood."

"Affirmative."

Aurora paced as she thought about what would happen next. Either this would work or she would truly cease to exist. In times like these, she knew what it was like to be her father. Of all of the hard decisions that he had to make for the good of the timestream. What he did to save them had condemned her to this state, but now she could make it better and give him back the child he was forced to loose. Now she would be able to live again and this time she had made sure to activate the genes that would protect her they protected her father. She would not lose him again. "Computer, estimate time to completion of Project Homecoming?"

"36 earth standard hours."

"On my mark, disable communications systems and enter phase mode for the next 36.1 hours and initiate Project Homecoming. In 1 hour send communication to subjects Alpha one and beta one and attach my personal logs on the reasons why I have done this." Aurora looked around the ship one last time and swore that she would see it again. She swore to herself that she would smell and breath again. It was a leap of faith that she needed to take. "Engage."

Aurora faded from view as the last word the hologram would ever speak was registered by the computer and activated her orders.

Took entered the Captain's ready room. Quinn gestured from him to sit down as he sat behind his desk, "How are you doing Ensign?" Quinn asked kindly. "I'm doing okay sir" Took said with a nervous smile. Quinn nodded "Aren't you suppose to be on shore leave?" Took looked around like he was trying to figure out the best way to say something. " Ummm yes sir, I was on shore leave and enjoying it but..."

Quinn raised his hand to stop him. "Mr. Took you know that I'm a telepath" Tooks eyes widened, Quinn quickly continued "But I do not invade privacy. I can however always feel peoples emotions." Took looked down at his knees. Quinn stood up and walked over to the second chair in front of his desk and sat down. He put a hand on Tooks shoulder. "Did you know I was a counselor when I first graduated Starfleet." Took looked up "of course Captain, I have studied your records". Quinn smiled "Well I am telling you this because if you feel like talking, I'm a good listener," They both laughed as El Aurian were known for being Good Listeners.

Took turned toward Quinn. "Well sir, I don't fit in here. As much as I try, I feel as thought everyone looks down on me. Like I'm not good enough to be wearing this uniform." Quinn's smile turned to concern. "What do you mean, they looked down on you. Why would anyone looked down on you Ensign."

Tooks eyes met Quinn's, "I was born on Telave VII, my childhood was.. to say the least...very rough. I don't know if you know the history of my planet, it's not part of the Federation. Two factions have been at war for thousands of years. Millions of people have died. Those of us who have gotten off world are seen as beggars, thieves or burdens to society. I escaped when I was fourteen, my parents managed to smuggle off world with a trader. He promised to bring me to Earth but instead sold me in to the Orion slave trade. It would be another six years before a Starfleet officer rescued me from my master and brought me to Earth. I enroll in Starfleet and knew this was where I was suppose to be. It was tough to fight the stigma of my race. I worked extra hard at the Academy and graduated in the top 10 percent of my class. But there were sacrifices along the way. I barely had any friends and was see very much as  loner. I was very happy when I was assigned to the Tiberius. I knew I would be able to start a new life for myself.  But it seems that the prejudice at the Academy has followed me to this ship."

Quinn squeezed Tooks shoulder, "I'm so sorry for all your hardship at such a young age and your struggle through the Academy, but that is all behind you. You are a Starfleet Ensign on the USS Tiberius. I can't imagine any fellow officer not respecting you because of your race. " Quinn stood up and Took did the same. "Sir I'm not saying anyone on board has said anything wrong or inappropriate. It's more of an internal thing for me. If you hear that you are the scum of the Universe all your life, you start to believe it." Quinn  walked to the door of his office. "Well Nicholas you need to start listening to different voices. Come join me on shore leave. I am staying with my family and I think it would do you some good to get off ship. Commander Servyll and her children are staying with us as well." "Sir I don't want to intrude" Took say nervously. "Nonsense" Quinn said, "The more the merrier". Quinn and Took walked toward the turbo lift.

Twenty minutes later Nathan Quinn and Nicholas Took entered the large kitchen where he saw his family along with what he assumed was Servyll's mother sitting around the dinner table. "Sorry mother about being late, I had  ship business to take care of. I would like to introduce you to Ensign Nicholas Took, he will be staying with us for the remainder of our shore leave. Quinn's mother Anashta came over and pulled Nic into a bone-crushing hug. As she did so Quinn turned to the elder Vulcan that was sitting next my his father and introduced himself, "Hello you must be Servyll's mother, Sareth. It's a pleasure to meet you"  Sareth looking coldly at Quinn's mother's affection for a complete stranger gave Quinn a nod. Quinn gave Servyll a smile and rubbed his hands together.. "so what's for supper??"

"Hello father," the young woman smiled as she climbed out of the tank, the clear goo clinging to her newly created body. Her wavy black hair fell to the middle of her back and slightly obscured delicately pointed ears. Without the ears, she could pass for a human girl that was but a few years away from two decades. "I hope I didn't worry you."

"What have you done?" Aeric demanded as he helped her out of the tank. He had received her message and understood her plan, but he could have lost her.

"I've restored myself. I could not replicate my mother's time lost DNA, so I adapted. I selected another mother and ... well ... here I am. Again." Aurora said as she pulled on a robe that waited on a chair near the tank. Her slender fingers pushed the goo matted hair behind her ears as she looked around with metallic grey eyes that she inherited from her father. "You arrived sooner than I expected. I thought I would have time to get cleaned up."

"This isn't a joke Auro-" Aeric started.

"Aria." The girl said, cutting off her father. "I'm alive again. Aurora is the name of your ship and your hologram, I am your daughter. I am as close to the person I was as I will ever be. We should be celebrating, not arguing."

    Aeric pulled the girl into his arms and held her tight, the bio-gel soaking into the black cloth of his uniform. "I could have lost you! Why did you do something so foolish?"

"I did it because I am your daughter and risk taking is just a part of the genetics." Aria said as she hugged him back and savored the sensations of both touch and smell. It had been so long since she felt those senses for her self and now she was whole again. She was several centimeters shorter than her father and could not have weighted more than forty-four kilograms, but he could feel the strength behind her hug.

    Aeric hesitantly released his child, part of him fearing that she would vanish if he let her go. The other part of him, the scientist, needed to know the extent of what she had done. Once he fully released her, he turned to the desk and grabbed the medical tricorder and slowly passed it over her form. Her neural patterns were fully integrated into her new body. He detected minor genetic changes to her genetic profile, a combination of his DNA and that of a female Vulcan. Her body was also saturated with the same nanites that filled his. He smiled to himself as he read the results. She was doing better than he imagined when she sent him her message. Of course, he would need to have her examined in a better equipped medical bay, but she seemed well.

"I am well father. I have my old memories and Aurora's training. I will make a good member of the project and I will even attempt to make a new version of Aurora for the ship."

"How is this possible?" Aeric asked as he just stared at her.

"It has always been possible; it was the ethics involved that hindered the realization. The Federation has had the technology for years, but never a desire to combine it to function as I have needed. The ability to create or in my case, recreate a life using manipulated DNA and imprinted neutral patterns opens a door to something dangerous. It isn't something that we can allow to be exploited. Since I've also inherited an active temporal immunity from you, what happened to be before can never happen again, but we can use that. To keep this project secret, I will tell the Federation that I am from a non-existent timeline. That is the truth."

"What about the DNA that you ... acquired?"

"I informed my donor of her contribution. It was the logical thing to do. It was also the right thing to do."

    As she spoke, Aria moved to the replicator and mentally fed it her commands. Within moments, a newly replicated outfit appeared. She grabbed the clothing and turned again to face her father. "I will need to get showered and changed. We can discuss this further after I remove the goo. If my mother comes while I am preparing, perhaps you can get her to wait for me to finish."

   Aeric nodded and watched his daughter leave. She looked like a combination between her old self and her holoform. The DNA from her mother's side had been replaced with Vulcan DNA. She had his bronzed skin tone, but the color of her hair and the shape of her ears were decidedly her mother, a mother that he did not even know in this timeline and only knew in a few others. He didn't want to imagine what the reaction that this unknown Vulcan would have to the situation.

    His daughter was back and he was happier than he could ever remember. He also needed a second opinion. Aurora, and now Aria, possessed all of the medical knowledge of an EMH, but she was still a child. He needed to be sure that she didn't make a mistake and the processes that she had to employ were well beyond his field of expertise or skill sets.

"Computer, plot a course to the Tiberius and engage at one quarter impulse."

"Affirmative, course plotted at engaged."

   Aeric paced as he gave the next command. "Computer seal all references to Aurora's project and all information of that project under my clearance. Delete any search references to material regarding materials. Project does not exist in any records or searches unless conducted by myself or Aria."

"Orders confirmed. Working." The computer replied.

"Also begin recompiling of Aurora hologram from stored backup files. Remove Aria engrams and restore default personality engrams."

"Working." The computer said. "Attempting recompiling of Aurora program."

    Aeric registered what the computer had said, but had already made his way from the medical bay to the helm. He had his daughter back and there was nothing that he was going to allow to change that. He had done his duty once before and lost his rank and his child because of it. He wasn't going to lose her again. He didn't care what she had done to return to the flesh. She deserved to live as much as anyone else. In all of the infinite timelines, his daughter as she existed now perhaps existed in another quantum reality. Due to his own unique quantum signature, he couldn't be tracked back to a single quantum reality. His initial scans of Aria suggested that she possessed that same quantum ambiguity as he. If he said that she was his daughter from another timeline, it was the truth. If he said that he and this Vulcan shared a child in one of the many quantum realities, it was the truth. They didn't need to bring up the genetic changes or the process of her rebirth to anyone else.

    Aeric closed his eyes and linked to his ship. They had survived so many temporal incursions together. It was one of the few things in all of creation that rode the changes in time as he did. She was both a home and a friend, but there were times where he was also lonely. There were times where he regretted doing what needed to be done. His daughter had been taken from him because he did the right thing. It was only through luck that he managed to retain her memory engrams. He wasn't giving her up again and no one would take her.

   Aeric felt the ship shake slightly as she exited the atmosphere of the blue-green orb. With his mind linked to the sensors, he could already pick up the Tiberius, but rather than hail them for landing clearance, he brought the ship into orb near her.

"I've decided that I need to redecorate my quarters," Aria said as she made her way into the helm and took her, no Aurora's normal place at the second conn.  She had replicated a black jumpsuit similar in appearance to his own black uniform, but hers lacked the place or need for ranking pips. "I think that we can also rebuild Aurora to be her own person and not just as shell for my consciousness."

"I've already started," Aeric replied to her with a smile. "How are you feeling?"

"I feel like I should see if I can test out of the Academy and become an officer."

"You're too young to go to the Academy. I'm also not letting you out of my sight so easily." He said.

"You don't need to. I'm not as crowded as I was. With the option to leave the ship, it feels better being here. It's like I have a real choice." Aria said as her fingers danced over the console. "Are we going to land?"

"No. I want to see what happens when your biological donor processes the information you sent her."

"She's not just some biological donor." Aria said. "She's my mother and if I chose correctly she will see it as that. She will see that this was the right choice."

"She's a commanding officer on my new posting, a married woman, and a Vulcan. Some day we're going to sit down and try to figure out how you define 'right choice'." Aeric replied.

"I could never remake my birth form, that wasn't an option. I did what I could to make the best of a bad situation. I'm alive again and I can help you with your work daddy. Not just the temporal issues, but with the borg. I owe them as much as you do. I didn't exist here because they assimilated my mother before you could ever meet her here."

"I know." Aeric said softly. "Let's not talk about it. This is a good day. My daughter is truly home and we need to be grateful for that."

"So why are we just sitting here?" Aria asked as she spun to face her father, her brow raised in curiosity. It wasn't something he had seen her do before, it was more like something a Vulcan would do.

"How do you feel?"

"I feel fine. I don't have a vulcan's training or desire to suppress my emotions. I hope that I can be forgiven for that, but I don't see a reason to live without truly enjoying what I have been given again."

"That's good to hear. I enjoy emotions." Aeric said as he smiled to her and looked out towards the Earth.

"Are we just going to sit here?"

"No," Aeric started. "I am waiting to see if your ... mother ... wants to meet with you before we return to the ship or if she reports you for what you have done."

"Since you put it like that, waiting seems like a great idea, but the sooner we get to the ship the sooner you can show me around our new home." Aria said as she rose from her console and moved to the back of the bridge. "I'm going to replicate me something to drink, would you like something?"

"No thank you." Aeric said as he closed his eyes and extended his senses through the sensors of the Aurora. Something told him that it was going to be a very long day. "I think you are right about getting back to the ship. We really need to get you checked out."

"I'm fine," she stated. "I didn't do this to get poked and prodded by someone I don't know. I'm still trained to serve as a doctor ... mostly."
"Mostly?"

"Well, I still have much of my knowledge, but I need to get used to myself. I wouldn't want to do surgery, but I have the clinical knowledge. It's just going to take time for me to learn to be a doctor again."

"Is that what you want?" Aeric asked as he plotted a course for the Tiberius and transmitted the request to dock. "What do you want to do?"

"Daddy, right now, I just want to live. I don't want to think about medicine or piloting for a few weeks. I just want to walk around and feel the wind and light on my skin. I want to smell the scent of a nice meal and enjoy the taste. I want to breath and run until I fall out of breath." She said as she twirled about the cabin. "I want to see new holodramas and end the program with fearing that I might vanishing with the characters."

"I'm sorry for what I did to you." Aeric said as he looked at his child. "If I had known..."

   Aria ran to her father and hugged him again. "It's not your fault. If you had not done what you did, I could not have done what I did. I wasn't trapped in some limbo. I did see wonders and I did learn new things. You couldn't have known that I would miss my other senses. Daddy, you saved me and I only finished what you started."

    Aeric nodded again and stroked her hair. "I'm glad you're back. We should see about getting your quarters to your liking and giving you that tour of the Tiberius."

    Aria beamed at the idea. She could go where she wanted to go now. She wasn't bound by the invisible leash of the presence or absence of hologram emitters. She was back to being flesh again. Aria smiled as she reached out to the computers with her own power. It was easier than she expected and vastly changed from her time as Aurora. The ship pulsed around like a living creature. She could feel the reactors pulsing like a heart. Relays and power conduits were veins and arteries. The billions of nanites were a fantastic immune system that helped to protect this near living wonder. She was no longer a part of the ship, she was one with it and she could feel her father's pride and her achievements.

"Would you like to bring her in?"

      Aria nodded wordlessly as she reached to the ship again. She could feel the thrusters and engines ready to dance at her command. As a hologram, it was just a series of commands that she sent to the engines. Now it was different. Now she could feel the ship as an extension of her. Sensors replaced her eyesight. The ship moved and turned as easily as she could lift as finger. In her mind's eye she saw her course and navigated them to the open shuttlebay. She stretched those same fingers and toes and the landing gear deployed. There was only the slightest of shutters to even reveal that they had touched down. "We're home."

Separation had guaranteed an uneasy peace between Sevryll and her mother. The strained relationship had lain dormant for over a year, yet the unexpected reintroduction caused the idle tension to become taut once more. Sevryll was thankful that Nathan had returned, and hoped he could break the frigid ice that had quickly formed after Sareth's arrival. The captain introduced himself to the elder Vulcan and received a polite nod in return.  He offered a sympathetic smile to Sevryll and turned to his own mother, to ask her what they were having for dinner.

"Vegetarian of course: Zucchini Herb Casserole with extra basil. And for desert," she turned to the children, "sugar free, chocolate cake, complete with three birthday candles." The children exchanged looks, neither had heard of birthday candles, but they were willing to trying just about anything once.

Though their mother briefly counseled them on smiling in the presence of their grandmother—they couldn't help but do so—Mrs. Quinn was adept at producing such responses. Nathan watched as Sevryll's mother studied their eager reactions with clinical interest.

Nathan sat down next to Sevryll and motioned to the chair across from him—Took, quietly took the chair. The Vulcan first officer welcomed the Ensign, as Mrs. Quinn ambled over to find out what he wanted to drink. "Water would be fine" he said quietly. Severyll determined that his reticent communication was indicative of shyness and not conceit. She wondered if Nathan had invited him, in an attempt to help him over the social obstacle. After all, the captain was once a ship's counselor.

Apart from Mrs. Quinn's bustling and humming, the room fell momentarily silent.  Nathan decided he would attempt to remove the chill from the air, by engaging Sareth and Sevryll in a conversation regarding Vulcan antiquity. He was certain discussion, involving a subject they were each knowledgeable in, would open the door to more affable dialogue between the two.


"So...Sareth..." He said as he took a sip of from the glass of ice tea his mother poured for him. "How do you feel about Thebat's new theories regarding Vulcan's prehistoric past?"

Sareth regarded him with a raised brow. "I do not feel anything Captain—Vulcans suppress their emotions," she glanced at Sevryll for effect before continuing. "However, my analysis of Thebat's hypothesis is that his data is unfounded, and thus should only be considered as speculation based on circumstantial substantiation."

Sevryll wanted to grimace. She had always considered verbal reminders of the "emotionless condition of the Vulcan people", to be condescending, ill-mannered and categorically deceptive—especially when the cue was issued to Federation citizens. They were, by now, well aware of Surakian philosophy. Sevryll felt it was superfluous to continually explain, the nature of emotional suppression.
Her approach, in such matters, was simply to answer the question.

Undeterred by Sareth's cool response, Nathan turned to Sevryll, "what are your thoughts on the matter?" Sevryll was surprised that the captain was conversant in current theories of Vulcan evolution. She was not aware that while he awaited his meeting with Lt. James, he had searched the ship's database and memorized the title, author and opening paragraph of the first file he found. In actuality, he knew absolutely nothing of Vulcan prehistory.

"Because of volcanism and severe geological upheavals, the fossil record on our planet is sparse. There is often only a single specimen of an extinct species. It is unlikely his evidence is authentic," replied Sevryll.

Success...they agreed on something, but it was still too early to establish whether that "door to more affable dialogue" had been opened. Sevryll met her mother's eyes—perhaps the door was cracked.

Sevryll's PADD beeped from the adjoining room, alerting her that she had received a new message. Dinner was not quite ready, so she excused herself to read the communiqué.

Perhaps the new message was a more detailed follow up, to the one she received only hours before, from Mr. Smith. She lifted the Personal Access Display Device, and keyed her code to retrieve the file.

"Hello Mother..." The words that scrolled across her PADD seared her mind like globs of lava, falling from Vulcan's sky. Sevryll's DNA had been collected and used, without her consent, to create a new life. Where had she heard this before? It was a familiar story. "Elizabeth..." The name came to her like a mirage in the distance. Her grandmother had a daughter named Elizabeth—this had happened to T'Pol. The individual who sent the message, combined her DNA with that of a new crewmember—one Lt. Aeric James. "I guess I should introduce myself..." read the next line— her name was "Aria".

Sevryll completed the document and saved the file. She had been violated...but the appeal for understanding echoed in her thoughts.

Nathan entered the room where she sat staring with unfocused eyes at the PADD in her hands. "Dinner's rea....." a wave of confusion struck him like a clinched fist.

Andrus Suder lost control of his hover cart.  He had been attempting to pass the Dr. with a grin on his face when all of the sudden the wash of the Dr.'s thrusters choked his engine.  Instead of stalling it had pushed the craft into the Dr.'s flight path which in turn caused Dr. Peterson to spiral out of control and smash into the holographic Lt. Peter's craft.  Counselor Margon was behind everyone and slowed his craft , but it was too late.  All of them piled up and smashed into the side of the cliff. 

Everything turned black.

The air was thick with smoke as phaser fire shot back and forth in the darkness.  Dr. Peterson saw Rhys jumping in the line of fire, but the Dr. lunged forward and the phaser fire struck him in the head.  He fell to the ground and reached up to his temple.  It was warm and felt wet, but strangely he didn't feel any pain, just sleepy.  He pulled his hand off of the side of his head and looked at it.  BLOOD! "Casey!  Casey Peterson! he heard from the darkness.  He recognized that voice, it was his mother's.  "Mom?"  what are you doing here?

Andrus said it again, "Casey, Casey Peterson!, are you alright?  Can you reach me?"

At holo world not everything was a hologram.  The Dr. knew that.  The resort was unique in the fact that it used real elements of life combined with photonic technology.  He surrmized that he men had happened to find one of the only places where the rock wall, was really a rock wall, and the cliff was really a cliff.  Andrus was in shock and holding on for dear life yelling at the top of his lungs at the Dr. who had blood pouring from a gash on his head.  Margon was dangling from his ship next to Suder and had a horrid look on his face.  Rhys was nowhere to be seen, the Dr. wondered what had happened to him, and was well aware that the safety protocols must have malfunctioned.  His head ached and his stomach felt strange.  He was able to pull himself out of his cart and over to the men hanging from the cliff.  It was instinct, pure instinct and before he knew it he had torn a piece of his coveralls off and tied it around his wounded head.  He had locked his booted foot between the rock surface and one of the crashed hover carts and proceeded to hang himself upside down while reaching to Suder.   

"Grab my hand Andrus!"  he yelled.  "Andrus, wake up, listen to me, grab my hand"

"I'm awake Dr.  very awake!" he yelled.

Andrus rolled his eyes and reached with one hand toward the Dr.  His hand grasped Casey's arm but it was slippery with blood.  The Dr. squeezed hard and said, "Let go of the craft with your other hand and grab my hand."  Andrus looked up and struggled.  He knew that if he let go there was a chance he would slip right out of the Dr.s grasp and fall 200 feet.  There was nothing he could do, so with a deep breath he let go and grabbed for the Dr.   

Dr. Peterson pulled with everything he could and the secondary counselor climbed up to safety. 

Before the Dr. could even think he reached down in the same manner and held out his hand for Margon.  The Counselor reached up and grasped the Dr.'s hand.  This time though, the hover cart shifted under Margon's added weight and began to slip from the cliff causing the Dr. lose his footing.  The Bolian screamed out "Dr. let go, let go!"  The Dr. wouldn't, and fell along with Margon down the cliff with the mangled hovercraft right behind them.  The two men fell for what seemed and eternity when in reality it was only second or two. 

Dr. Peterson's life flashed before him.  This was it.  Maybe he wasn't a coward after all.  He knew he wasn't but he couldn't stop blaming himself for Lt. Rhy's death.  Maybe he could help.  He had saved Andrus.  He knew that was dying saving his friend's life and in some odd way it made him feel better.   Strange things go through one's mind when they are about to die. 

The ground came hurling toward them, Dr. Peterson put his hands in front of his face to shield the impact and closed his eyes.  The wind rushed all around him  and he waited to hear the bone crushing "THUD" of his body impacting the hard canyon floor.

SILENCE.

The wind stopped, and the Dr. felt himself hovering weightless.  He opened his eyes to see a holo grid all around him.  Lt. Peter's stood in front of him as the Dr. was suspended over the floor floating.   

"Casey"  you did all you could.

The Dr. now landed softly on the floor.  he stood and looked at Rhys.  "But the Counselor where is the counselor?"

"He's fine Dr. he was never in any danger.  And neither were you."

"What? The Dr. asked, "What are you saying?"

"You've been struggling through something you have no control over Dr.  You couldn't have saved me.  It was out of your hands. I did what I had to do"

"But you shouldn't have died Rhys.  I mean, I saved Andrus, and I almost saved Margon!"  He said almost crying.  By now he reached up and his head wasn't bloody like it had been.  It must have been part of the simulation. 

"Yes, you did, because that's the kind of man you are Dr."  The hologram said.  "Men like you and I rise to the occasion when it's needed.  That takes risk.  You and I both knew that going into Starfleet."

"I suppose so," he said calming now.  "I just, I just, I just didn't want you to die Lt."

"I know, none of us wanted that, but it's how it worked out. Go on with life Dr.  Go on and save people, save people like I would, like we all would, it's why we are out here. Be someone's hero Dr."

With that Lt. Peters dematerialized and The Counselor and Suder appeared. 

They didn't say anything.  They just stood there looking at each other. 

The Dr. wiped tears from his eyes and reached out to Margon.  They quickly embraced and Casey whispered "Thank you Counselor"


Margon let the Dr. go


Andrus rolled his eyes again and looked at Margon.  "I can't believe you talked me into this."  He smiled.

The Bolian counselor called out "Computer, Coney Island"

The holo grid now changed to a carnival setting.   A ferris wheel was to their right and a roller coaster to their left.  A little booth right next to them was alive with activity as the Counselor smiled and said...

"Casey, let me introduce you and Andrus to something called Carmdill Corn."

Adrus looked at Margon.  "Carm - EL Corn you dufus."

"Dufus?" the Counselor inquired.

"Dufus!" the Dr. emphasized.

Ensign Bandana hit his combadge.

"Bandana to Starstriker"

"Startstriker here"

Bandana chuckled, "Hey Isaac, you ready to go down?  Meet me in transporter room 2 and we'll head down".

Ensign Starstriker and Ensign Bandana head down to Earth for shore leave.   Just for sightseeing purposes they went to see Dr. Cocrane's launch site.  Bandana had heard so much about it, but had never been there before.   With the huge statue of the great Dr. Cochrane standing over them Bandana suddenly had a thought.   "Where would be be without this man?"  He had always been facinated by the idea of the "What if?" senario, and just couldn't stop thinking about the Galaxy, if Earth had never developed warp technology. 

He asked Ensign Starstriker what he thought about it, and they both agreed this would be best discussed somewhere more active.    Bandana remembered a nice little place just outside of San Francisco that he used to go to during his Academy days.  He wondered if it would still be there, and if that waitess would still be there.  "What was her name?" he thought.  "Ah yes, Ro-Ana.   Couldn't forget Ro-Ana". 

   

The Dr. ran the simulation over in his mind. It had been so real, right down to the blood on his forehead, the metal, the smell of oxidized metal with the acrid smoke was their too.

The Dr. knew that he had to let go of the Lt, but it was hard. Harder for him then most, He guessed that is why he went into medicine. In part it was to make his deceased family proud, the way he was of them,  when they sacrificed themselves to protect the earth from the Borg at the battle of Wolf 359.

All he has of them now is his memories, a few photos and the medals that they received during their starfleet career.How he hated the Borg for they were responsible for taking his family away from him. This is why he supposed in part, that he took death of his crewmate so hard. Death is so final and it always leaves a hole or void that can never be completely filled or healed.

Starfleet in part is like death, for it often leaves a void in someones life, taking a loved one away from their families for years at a time only to become permanent at a future date. All of us who join must gamble with are future and our lives. We all know that we will face death many times and in many ways, sometimes we win, but quite often we loose.

The Doctors thoughts then focused, he replayed the last mission over in his head perhaps in his own small way he had made a difference, he saved a boys life; was in a large part responsible for ridding the galaxy of a truly mad man, removed some illegal weapons from the federation; and filled a void in a Klingon Mothers life by replacing her dead son with another boy who was also orphaned. All without breaking starfleet laws and regulations.

If he had not joined Starfleet none of this would have happened and many more people would have probably died. He Chuckled under his breath and thought. "Not bad for a Dr."

Perhaps the best thing he could do for Lt. Ryes was remember his friends sacrifice and try to uphold the ideals and values of starfleet to the best of his ability to make the galaxy a better place for everyone to live.

His thoughts drifted back to his academy days and these words "The needs of the many outway the needs of the one"...

The Doctors reason for joining starfleet had become more clearer and more focused, he was  here for one reason. TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE and as long as he had life and air in his lungs he would make that difference by simply being there.

    As Admiral Talbot paced his office, he kept going over the message from his Vulcan friend.  He had known Krell a long time and considered him a good and close friend.  Well as close a friend as you can be when a Vulcan was involved.  But Krell wasn't your average Vulcan.  Talbot remembered quite well the incident on Rigel V when the pair were much younger.  Sirach and Krell had managed to take some leave time together and were visiting a local bar that was well known in the quadrant for having a small stock of Romulan ale.  The Admiral had always wanted to try the illegal and quite intoxicating beverage.  His mixed heritage sometimes caused him to think more with his instincts and feelings than with the more logical side of his mind.  The memories were returning now years later but he recalled a small group of Orion slave traders coming into the bar.  The large green men had the nerve to bring in a female slave with them to the establishment.  Krell had picked up on their activites quickly and overheard them trying to sell the Orion female to someone at a back table.  Krell quickly got up and went over to the table with the Orions.  Sirach followed his friend of course and noticed quickly that there were four rather large Orion slavers that stood up quickly as Krell approached them.
    "I wish to purchase this female."  Krell had told them.  The Vulcan knew that stating that slave trading was illegal on Rigel would do little good with the Orions.
    "Sorry big ears.  This one is not for sale.  Now run along back to your own kind.  Maybe find a nice little Vulcan girl for yourself."  The biggest Orion said as they all laughed at Krell.
    "I can pay double the credits of whatever the current price is on her."  Krell said calming, but loudly to break through the laughter.  Sirach knew his friend well enough to know this was one of those times when Krell would not yield in what he wanted.  He had seen this determination in his friend at other times and recognized it.  The Orion female looked at Krell and had tears in her eyes.
     "I told you Vulcan, she is not for sale.  You and your boyfriend here need to move along now."  The Orion leader said more intensely.  The other three Orions started to move towards Krell and Sirach.
     "You are not being logical.  I have offered you twice the amount and still you will not sell me the female.  Now you are trying my patience Orion slaver.  You will now release the female to me and I will pay you nothing."  Krell said loudly, raising his voice.  Sirach was a bit shocked.  His friend rarely raised his voice and let his emotions show.  But it did happen.  Sirach also knew that Krell abhorred slavery.  This was not going to end easily he thought to himself.
     "You are a funny one for a Vulcan.  I think we will show you what we do to those that interfere with my business."  The slaver said as he nodded towards his companions.  Two of them tried to grab a hold of Krell, but he was expecting it.  The large Vulcan pivoted on his foot and managed to reach the neck of the closer Orion.  He dropped to the ground after a quick nerve pinch.  Sirach stomped on one of the Orion's large feet with his the heel of his boot that sent him to the ground, howling in pain.  Orion's feet were rather weak compared to the rest of their bodies.  This allowed Sirach to get the drop on him and he finished him off with a nerve pinch of his own.  While this happened Krell launched himself at the Orion leader knocking him against the back wall.  The two of them grappled as the Orion tried to keep Krell's hands away from his neck area.  Meanwhile, Sirach was wrestling with the last of the Orion's.  Both Sirach and Krell were fairly large men, but the Orions were huge.  Sirach managed to get a choke hold around the Orion's neck with one arm.  He quickly fell unconscious.  By this time Krell had green blood running down his cheek from a gash across his forehead.  Sirach noticed the Orion had pulled out a knife and was brandishing it at Krell.
     "It's over Orion.  Your men are down.  Leave while you can still walk out of here."  Krell told the Orion leader.
     "I have the knife Vulcan.  I think it is you who should leave."  The Orion said as he slashed the air with his knife.
     "I'd listen to my friend slaver.  He doesn't take to kindly to slavers.  Especially stupid ones."  Sirach told the large green skinned Orion as he grinned at him.  Just then, the Orion charged both of them.  Krell grabbed the Orion's knife arm and twisted the blade from his grasp just as Sirach gave the Orion a hard left hook across his jaw.  This staggered the Orion long enough for Krell to knock him off his feet with a sweeping kick of his leg.  The large slaver fell back and Krell was on top of him quickly, pinning him to the ground with his knees on his shoulders.  Sirach watched as Krell punched the Orion several times across his bloody face.  The strong Vulcan blows quickly broke the Orion's jaw and nose and he fell unconscious.  But Krell continued his assault.  Sirach had to pull his friend off the slaver and even had to slap him across the face to bring him back from his very uncharacteristic fit of rage.
    "I am sorry my friend.  Thank you for stopping me.  I could of killed that Orion.  I don't know what came over me."  Krell said, apologizing to his friend.
    "No need to thank me.  I felt like doing the same myself."  Sirach told his friend as he noticed the raw and scrapped knuckles that bleed green on Krell's hands.
    "Miss, you are free now.  If you need transport of Rigel my friend and I can arrange that.  These men will not bother you again."  Krell told the frightened Orion slave girl as he held out his hand to her.
    "I don't know what to say.  Nareena not remember what being free like."  The girl said as she took Krell's hand.
    "I'm sure you will once we get away from this place Nareena.  Krell, let's get out of here before the authorities show.  They may not be as understanding about your act of gallantry."  Sirach told his friend.
    "Indeed.  Most logical.  Sirach again, thank you for standing by me."  Krell said.
    "Glad to help.  You know I've always got your back my friend."  Sirach said.  A chirp from his desk communicator brought him back to the present day in his office.  He moved over to his chair, sat down and pressed the comm button.
    "Admiral, it seems Captain Quinn and most of the senior staff aboard the Tiberius are still away on shore leave.  Would you like me to patch you through to his communicator channel?"  Talbot's assistant told him.
    "No thanks.  I think I need to see him in person anyway.  Thanks for trying.  Talbot out."  The Admiral said as he leaned back in his chair.  Yes, he needed to talk to Quinn and Sevryll right away.  They both needed to hear the message he had received from his old friend.

"So you never saw the captain?" Manrique asked Lt. Tain incredulously.

"You mean the captain never saw me. I was in my quarters waiting for him to summon me. I waited for some time. . .I eventually fell asleep with my clothes as I was waiting."

"Well he's gone now.  Oh, well.  He must have a lot on his mind or maybe something family-related came up. It seemed to me that he really wanted to talk to you."

"Well, maybe something did come up. Hey! I don't mind one bit. So what what happens now?" asked Tain somewhat expectantly.

"I'm not going to bother Captain Quinn again. I'm sure you don't want to stay here for the remaining days while the rest of the crew is on leave."

"You sure can read my mind lieutenant. You must be half betazed or something like that."

Manrique smiled and said, "I know I wouldn't want to stay here.  I'll tell you what, I'll let you go on leave. You're under my command anyway.  I hope the captain doesn't object about it. . .I doubt he will."

"Whatever you say.  Just don't get into too much trouble."

"It won't be. So what will you do down there?"

"Oh I don't know. . .go to bars and get into more trouble," said Tain and laughed afterward.  Manrique chuckled. It seemed that Tain didn't have plans, for obvious reasons, thought Johnny. So the young lieutenant proposed a plan to the older officer. "Hey, why don't you come with me to the jungles of Nicaragua. I'm going down there to see my family and then go off on a little jungle adventure. Want to come along?"

"Jungle adventure. . .?" asked Tain.

"Yeah, you know, surviving in the jungle for a few days with almost no sophisticated technology--with only a few items in fact.  So what do you say?" Manrique asked Tain in a frienly, taunting manner.

Tain glanced over at Manrique.

"Lieutenant, I appreciate the gesture, but I am sure your family woul...."

Manrique interrupted.

"Lieutenant Tain, let me be the judge of how my family feels about a guest. If you think I am doing this because I am feeling sorry for you, forget it. If I allow you to go on leave, and you get yourself in trouble again, well now how do you think that will reflect on me???"

Manrique's stare bored into the Orions eyes.

"Of course if you don't think your up for the jungle survival..well then maybe you should relax here and watch some vids."

Tain felt the anger wash over him like a wave. How dare this young kid question his abilities.

"Manrique, I'll have you know I was survivn in rougher places then your little jungle before you...."

Tain stopped talking in mid sentence,  felt his anger start to subside as he noticed the edges of Manriques mouth twitch, and twitch again....almost as he was trying to surpress...that's it. Manrique was trying not to smile!

Manrique looked at Tains perplexed look and couldn't hold in his laugh anymore.

"Wow Tain...you're too easy!!", Manrique got out between his laughter. "So you ready to go?"

Tain tried to stay angry, but couldn't help himself. He smiled at the Lieutenant.

"Well, at least it will give us a chance for that drink and cigar!"

Tain walked over to a shelf and picked up the bottle of evil looking black liquid he had brought from the surface. He picked up a duffle kit and threw a change of clothes, the bottle and a handful of cigars into it.

"Well Lieutenant Manrique... I hope you know what your gettin yourself into!", roared Tain. He slipped the kit over his arms, and slapped the Lientenant  on the back.

"Let's go!!", Tain said as he exited his quarters.

If anyone would have been watching, they may have noticed that Lieutenant Manrique had a vaguely worried look on his face. He shook his head and headed out the door after Tain.

Andrus looked at Margon. 

"So this is Coney Island?"

"Yes siree!" the Counselor said with grin.  "And around us you can see some carnival rides."

"Yeah, I know what rides are Margon" Andrus said sarcastically.  "What about this "Hot Dog" you mentioned.

"with mustard" the counselor said popping another piece of carmel corn in his mouth.

The Dr. was quiet.  The whole day was kind of hard for him.  Maybe a nice meal and some time off of his feet would be nice.  He strolled over to the food booth with the other guys and ordered the recommendation of the Counselor's. 

"One dog, with the works"  he mumbled.  "I thought I was picking dinner tonight" 

"You were, but you just have to try this, it's really quite good"  said Margon.

The men got their food and sat at a small table and started to eat.
Andrus wolfed his hot dog down so quickly that the Dr. and Margon just kind of stared at him. 

Then Andrus spoke.  "Counselor, I have been meaning to talk to you about something important."

Margon responded, "What would that be?"

"Well, I thought that I should talk to you privately."  he kind of looked sideways at him.

"Oh, go ahead, if the Dr. doesn't mind, I'm not shy."  the Bolian smirked.

"Ok," said Sudder.  "J'dan, your son's friend and co worker contacted me.  He says you and your son need to get some things worked out.  That your son needs you."

Margon stopped eating and looked down for a moment.  "This is a little uncomfortable Mr. Sudder.  I haven't really talked about this for a long time, besides, I tried talking to Brex, but he won't give me the time of day.  Believe me, I want things to work out.  I think I've hit a dead end."

"Well, he's losing it Counselor" said Sudder, "He's drinking himself to death and your a big reason for it."

"What? don't pin that on me, I don't make him drink"  the Counselor said defensively.

"It's the memory enhancement Counselor.  He feels you have artificially forgotten his mothers. And you left him, he still feels like you have left him, even though you are on the same ship with him."

Margon took a drink of an old fashioned lemonaid and looked into Sudder's eyes.  He tried to understand.  But the surgery that he had undergone wouldn't allow him to feel anything when it came to his former life.  He mustered up a small smile and cleared his throat.  "I don't know what to do Andrus, I'm at a loss here.  I didn't think Brex and I would be in the same proximity.  This wasn't in the plan, and I had no idea he had taken all of this so hard."

Andrus put a hand on Margon's shoulder.  "Ah, the counselor needs a counselor.  Maybe with the help of our Captain we could explore some options, maybe even Sevryll could help with a mind meld or something" 

"Maybe" said Margon. "What do you think Dr?"

The Dr. was a million miles away.  He had hardly heard the conversation.  He was tired and now full.  He wanted to rest.  "I'm sorry, but gentlemen I'm running out of steam here."   

"Hey, before we go home, let's try one of the rides out." said Margon changing the subject, "I hear the roller coaster is great."

Andrus looked at Margon, "Alright, but I want to talk about this more next week Counselor." He smirked and threw a french fry at the Dr.

"Knock it off" the Dr. said dryly. 

"Whatever my friend, let's go get in line for the roller coaster"  Andrus said jumping to his feet.

"Do I have to?" said the Dr.

"You have to." said Margon.

A seagull flew down and grabbed the fry next to the Dr.  He jumped back and sighed.  "lead on Counselor, lead on."

"I told you this would be an adventure Dr."  the Bolian said with a grin.

The Dr. was mentally exhausted from his morning of Unorthodox therapy. It was what he needed but still felt at a loss he still did not understand why Lt. Rye's death hit him so hard. It was not like he had not lost patients before, He had.

He knew and had always known that there was nothing he cold have done to prevent the death of the Lt., but the loss had still stung.The Dr. new that over time this wound would heal , but new that the emotional scars from the last mission would be with him for the rest of his life.

He let out a heavy sigh and under his breath he said. "Goodbye Lt. rest in peace my friend."

At that moment he jumped on the Roller Coaster and waited for his stomach to jump out of chest as the chains that pulled this ancient contraption slowly inched  higher and high towards the top of the first hill...

He wondered who's bright idea this was and thought that this must be some form of ancient torture or the dream of someone twisted. In any case, he just held his breath and waited for this nightmare to be over...

Nathan entered the room where Servyll sat staring with unfocused eyes at the PADD in her hands. "Dinner's rea....." a wave of confusion struck him like a clinched fist. "What wrong?" he asked with concern in his voice. Servyll rose, "nothing". Quinn placed he hand on her shoulder, "Servyll". She smiled "Nathan, please". Quinn removed his hand and she continued toward the dining area. Quinn stood there for a moment and tried to probe her thoughts but she was well verse in closing her mind. He sighed and returned to the dining area, where Servyll wouldn't make eye contact with him. Quinn sat down next to Took and gave him a friendly smile. Anashta spoke up "Enjoy everyone". Everyone began to pass plates and dishes around.

The sun was starting to set in the jungle and the sounds of the nocturnal creatures were starting. Tain sat silently, nestled down in the branches of a tree. As he once again checked to make sure that he was completely hidden, he thought back on the last few days in Nicaragua.

Manriques family had been a pleasant surprise. Tain had very little reference on what a normal, functional family should be, but he figured that the Manrique family was probably as close to one as he would ever see. Everyone had been friendly, and they welcomed Tain as if he was family. Tain smiled to himself as he remembered the obvious pride they had in Johnny Manrique. Tain wondered how he would have turned out, if raised in that type of environment.

There was the vaguest whisper of a sound from down the path, and Tain tensed.

After a couple of days lounging around the Manrique household, Johnny and Cedric had started their jungle adventure. What started out as an adventure had turned into a competition. Of course Cedric thought it was Manriques way of trying to get some revenge on him for the Centarian whiskey and cigars. Tain almost laughed out loud as he remembered they way Johnny reacted to the combination of the whiskey and the cigars. Johnny seemed to handle the whiskey fairly well, although he looked a bit distressed, but the cigars...well Tain mentioned to him that they could be brothers, although Manrique was probably a darker shade of green then Tain was at the time. Manriques revenge was what they were presently involved in.

Johnny had suggested to Tain that they have a survival competition against each other. They would take turns being the hunter and the prey. At the beginning of the morning they would set an objective to where they would travel The hunter would take off, and then the prey would start off an hour later.

It had been and interesting few days. Tain had been impressed by the young Lieutenants survival skills. He had obviously learned from someone with a lot of knowledge, and had definitely practice his skills before. The person acting as prey had yet to make it to the end objective without being "caught". And of course after each capture, there was some good natured taunting and razzing.  Each of the Lieutenants had had two opprotunities to make it. Today was the last day of the competition. Tomorrow morning they would be heading back the house, and then the ship.

Tain had decided to try and different tactic today, it was risky but he had a feeling it would work.

"Ahhh ", Tain thought to himself. " There he is."

Manrique stealthily slid from tree to tree, quietly making his way toward the clearing. He had a rather smug look on his face, as he could see his objective ahead. Tain waited until the last moment and then made his move. As he swung off his perch, a twig broke as he prepared to jump.

Manriques eyes shot up toward the noise. He spied Tain preparing to jump, and laughed in victory. Manrique took off down the path racing towards the clearing.

"Woohoo!!", shouted Johnny Manrique. "One little mistake Tain, that's all it took. The prey is  about to win!!"

Cedric jumped down from the branch and raced after Manrique, his face locked in grim determination. As he watched Manrique about the enter the clearing, an evil smile came across his face.

As Manrique felt his foot hit the disguised rope, he knew he had been had. From all around him the net erupted, and trapped him neatly.
He hung in it dejectedly. He had been so close!! He watched upside down, Tain approached the net.

"You're right Lieutenant." Tain grinned as he taunted Johnny. "One mistake was all it took!"

Tain roared in laughter as he saw the look of consternation cross Manriques face. Manrique soon found himself joining Tain in laughter.

"Ok Cedric, you got me good."

Cedric looked at Manrique handing awkwardly in the net.

"Manrique, I gotta thank you again. These last few days have been some of the most enjoyable days I have had in a looooong time. It's too bad they have to end."

Cedric smiled evilly at the Lieutenant.

"Of course I do have one last victory to enjoy."

Johnny watched as Tains hand slowly creep into one of his pockets and slowly pulled out...

"Tain!!!! You keep that nasty cigar away from me!!! "

"Tain!!!!!"

"Tain" *cough* *cough.* "man..you are soooo gonna get it"  *cough* *cough*

The last mission had been emotionally draining, and shore leave was the prescribed remedy for the entire crew...or so it was intended to be. Sevryll had elected to remain aboard the Tiberius, arguing that she had no need to recover emotionally. In truth she was attempting to avoid the company of her estranged mother—Sevryll admitted as much to the captain, who insisted that she leave the solace of work to "relax" in the quiet comfort of his parents' home. Their hospitality was appreciated and her children certainly benefited from the stay. Yet, despite the Quinns' good nature, Sevryll found shore leave to be anything but cathartic.

The Vulcan had been away from the Tiberius for less than seven hours, and in that time she was snared by her mother and had received two disconcerting encrypted messages—one from a "Mr. Smith", and one from a self-purported, "self-made" clone, who had somehow acquired a sample of her DNA.

Nathan had found her reading the latter communiqué, in the sitting room adjacent to the kitchen. With great concern he asked if anything was wrong. She replied that she was fine, but the empathic abilities, inherited from his father, told him otherwise. Nathan pressed her for the truth. As she looked up at Nathan, drawn facial muscles trembled with years of neglect and her lips quavered slightly. Stress had permitted the slightest semblance of an uneasy smile, to fracture an otherwise impassive expression. "Nathan please," she said in a placid whisper. The growing turmoil emanating from Sevryll had been enough to gain his full attention, but the diminutive, pseudo smile, troubled him more. She looked away, ashamed by her emotional slip. Something was indeed very wrong with his first officer, and the gesture was the only proof he needed. Nathan wanted to discuss it further, but she insisted that the matter be saved for a more appropriate time—perhaps after they were aboard the Tiberius. Sevryll slowly rose from the sofa and the two rejoined the table of waiting guests and family members.

The dinner conversation, was a distant murmur as Sevryll dwelled upon the communiqué. Her mind had instantly memorized each word she viewed on her PADD, and etched it permanently within her memory. She had always considered the skill a gift, but now the "gift" acted as a nuisance—for it prevented her from concentrating on anything else.

Nathan passed the dish of Zucchini Herb Casserole to Sevryll, in an attempt to rouse her from her thoughts. She broke from her trance and took the dish. Spooning a small helping onto her plate, she avoided the captain's questioning gaze. Sevryll was well aware that the half-Betazoid could sense her distress, and could not bring herself to look at him for fear she would divulge the information, before she had the time to digest it fully herself. When she had successfully downed the small amount of food that had been served, she excused herself from the table to brave the chill autumn air. Captain Quinn watched from the bay window, near the table, as she disappeared in the shadows of his parents' large rose garden.  Sareth stood to follow her daughter, but Nathan suggested they leave her to her thoughts. "She mentioned, before dinner, that she wanted to meditate. The garden is the perfect place to do so," he said and then proceeded to change the subject.

The tall Vulcan woman pulled the hood of her robe over her head, in an effort to keep herself warm, and lowered herself upon the bench in the center of the garden. The sound of falling water and the rustling of autumn leaves filled the surrounding atmosphere. Sevryll folded her hands and began to meditate.  Drawing in the cool air she focused on confronting the emotion that had cracked the impression, of a stolid Vulcan composure. She took another breath and slowly let it out, focusing on the contrary emotion—the emotion opposite of anger. She began to force the invading feeling deep within her. She drew another breath and slowly released it in a rolling cloud of vapor, which was caught by the breeze and swept away in the night. She visualized her emotions being carried away with each breath, as she sank deep into calming meditation.

After an hour, she opened her eyes and took in the sounds of the garden—night birds sang and the bubbling waterfall soothed her. She sat for some time allowing the sonnets to replenish her. Before long a new sound filled her ears—the crunch of fallen leaves under foot. She awaited the individual's approach with a renewed calm, fragile though it was. The footsteps stopped just behind her and a deep voice that she did not recognize, warned her to remain seated and facing the pond. It seemed that "Mr. Smith" had found her alone.

Aeric sat quietly at his console as Aurora rested. Usually he tuned out the background hum of the ship’s machinery, but this time he found comfort in the lack of silence. He had spent years in space as he followed his research. In those years he had come to learn and almost fear true silence. In the depths of space, true silence was death. Even in the most advanced starships, there was the hum. That beautiful noise that told anyone willing to listen that life-support was still functional, that air was still present, and that the ship and her crew was still around.

He had spent so many years in space that the hum had become as constant to him as those on earth would find reassurance in the crickets and night creatures on a cool summer’s evening. From Aeric’s perspective, a starship was as alive as he was. His fingers danced lightly over the holographic interface of his command console as he reviewed data and information regarding precedence in what his daughter had done. He had the legal information of a dozen timelines stored in the Aurora. As Aria slept, Aeric worked hard to insure the survival of his child. She might have been rash in what she had done, but he could understand her motives. To suddenly go from living to being forced to exist in an unfeeling shell of forcefields and photons had been a trauma that he alone had forced upon her. He did what he thought would save her, but it was her own talents that brought her salvation.

Aeric adjusted his uniform as he stood while he used his mind to continue to manipulate the digital models that represented the data he was reviewing. It this timeline, the very timeline that cost him his child, there was no precedence that covered what she had done. There was nothing that he could find that began to cover what had been done. If it were illegal, there was yet to be a law written against it in this timeline. It was even hardly unethical from her perspective. She modified what she considered to be discarded DNA that was the closest match to her original mother that she had encountered. She then used existing technology to remake herself and transferred her katra to that new form. If anything she had only done in practice what Ambassador Spock had accidently done when he faced death so long ago. Was it not her right to self preservation?

Aeric didn’t know and a part of him didn’t care. He had his child back and he would deal with any threats to her existence as any loving parent would to protect their child. He could only do what was in his ability and she had already made sure that she had this time inherited her father’s temporal abilities. Had they noticed that she was not fully protected before the time change, this would have never become a problem.

He had also been quite impressed by the symmetry of her rebirth. He also had gone through the joy and burden of living once before he was born. He had lived a lifetime in the place of his birth and was returned to infancy when they were rescued from the Nexus. It took decades before his mind developed enough for him to actually remember those events, but as they became clearer, they helped to shape his course. Aria was now following in his footsteps, but she had the blessing of being restored to a form that allowed her to retain those memories. She wouldn’t have to deal with the sudden realization of memories from a earlier life. She had been reborn with them as a part of her and with her ability to contribute to their mission greatly enhanced.

He had already noticed how much she had changed. She was no longer bound by programmed rules of synthetic emotion. She was a flesh and blood young woman that suddenly had all of the emotional ranges that went with the title. Aria was not simply Aurora in organic form, she was the combination of the girl she was and the officer that Aurora had been programmed to be. Like her father, she possessed the same genetic abilities and nanite enhancements that her father had. Aurora also had the foresight to enhance the programming of Aria’s nanite and include protocols that would, under her orders, suppress the production and absorption of the various chemicals and hormones that controlled her emotions.

In her new incarnation, Aria was slightly more Vulcan that she was in her first form. Without the time and training of a Vulcan to control their strong emotions, she needed something that would not only replicate that training, but exceed it. It was a way to enjoy the emotions that she had been denied for so long and at the same time, she had the ability to suppress or completely shut off those emotions and enter a state of cool logic. She wanted to be able to respect the logical side of her heritage, but at the same time she also needed to respect the emotions that she had been blessed with again.

All that was left for him to do now was wait and perhaps a bit of suborbital skydiving. That was always a tension breaker.

"I have word from your husband...Mrs. Lock." The cynicism dripped from his last words like blood on a dagger's blade. The man remained in the shadows, just behind Sevryll, but he moved closer to hand her two small packages. She took them, without turning and asked, "Are you a friend of David's?" He grunted at the question and released a raspy chuckle, "We're colleagues." His laugh held a disconcerting edge, which reminded Sevryll of the aversion she held for her husband's dark occupation.

"You should expect a visit from him soon. He will be working undercover on an assignment that you will be a part of...an unofficial operation that involves your father's efforts on Romulus." She continued to keep her head facing the pond, but her eyes followed the obscure form as he moved towards the trees on her right.

"Though I do not deny that I long for the company of my husband, I have no wish to be a part of Section 31's sanctioned or unsanctioned operations'." The disturbing chuckle returned and he replied in a hoarse voice, "the task was not planned by our agency—it's Admiral Talbot's undertaking. We intercepted a message that he received from your father, and have decided to shadow his venture. He knows nothing about it, and you're going to keep it that way. Don't be surprised to find David waiting for you on the ship...blow his cover and I'll have to clean up the mess...which creates a mess in and of itself, if you know what I mean." The man wiped his hands upon his shirt as if he was attempting to clean them, then he backed into the trees. Sevryll heard him transport away, leaving her alone once more in the garden.

She looked down at the packages she held in her hands. They were each wrapped in paper and tied with a ribbon.  A tag was inserted under the ribbon on both packages; one bore the names of their children, the other held her own. She tucked the parcels in her robe, entered the home once again, and made her way up stairs to the room Mrs. Quinn had assigned them. In her luggage she found her tricorder—a  scan of the packages told her they were free of any harmful devices that may have been inserted by Mr. Smith. Yet, she opened the packages anyway, just to make sure they were safe.

Inside she found a tiny silver bracelet, with a heart on the top, engraved with M'rynn's name. Next to the bracelet she found a metallic object shaped like a star. She lifted the item and found the words "Sheriff" etched on the surface. When she turned the object over, she found it had a fastener incorporated on the back. Sevryll was unsure of the antique item's purpose, but was confident that it was harmless. At the bottom of the box, she found a hand written note—the first sentence read: "Happy Birthday". The remainder informed the children, that their father loved them and wished that he could always be with them. The children would enjoy unwrapping the package, so she folded the letter, placed the items back in the box, and meticulously reassembled the packaging.

She then opened the gift that was labeled "Sevryll". Inside she found a letter and a pair of elegant, gold earrings, adorned with cobalt blue beads. As an archaeologist, she was able to determine them to be to be ancient Roman. By inspecting the glass, she surmised they were circa 100 - 300 AD. David had often posed as an archaeologist in his undercover operations. In fact, when they were first introduced, he was posing as a member of her archaeological team. When Sevryll was the U.S.S. Anasazi's Archaeology and Anthropology Officer, he had infiltrated the dig in order to protect the artifacts they uncovered as well as the scientists who studied them. He often told her that he considered meeting her, to be an unexpected bonus.  The jewelry was indeed an extraordinary gift, and she did not wish to know how he attained them.

Sevryll hesitated to open the note, left in the box for her. What would he do if he learned that her DNA was obtained without her consent? The "father" of this cloned "child" would be severely punished, to say the least. Perhaps that truth was the basis of her anxiety. Though David was her husband, she did not know him completely...and she definitely did not know all that he was capable of.

She opened the letter and read the words of a remorseful husband aching for the presence of his beloved wife. Sevryll closed her eyes and drew a breath, she wished he would leave the agency and join her on the Tiberius—the children required a father, and she needed her spouse. A knock on the door gained her attention and she quickly hid the gifts in a near by dresser drawer. Sevryll opened the door to find her mother standing in the hallway.

"Mother...come in," she said. The elder Vulcan entered the room and closed the door behind them. "What are you hiding daughter?" She asked in an even tone. "Nothing mother." Sareth gaged her daughter's body language and determined she was withholding the truth. She let it go momentarily and informed her daughter that the children were waiting for her, "apparently they are celebrating a birthday. An insignificant observation humans keep."

Sevryll approached the door, but Sareth stopped her. "You have always held your emotions close to the surface Sevryll. Emotion is illogical, thus making you impure, and deterrent to truth. You were once referred to a Master for training—your children require the same discipline." Sevryll was willing to ignore the incessant harassment when it pertained to only to herself, but her mother was now criticizing her children—and she was never remiss where they were concerned.

"ENOUGH. You readily disregard the fact that M'rynn and N'vall are also human—they cannot deny the traits that were predetermined by their father's genetic contribution."

"It is not too late, they can yet be trained to still their emotions," replied Sareth.

"Your persistence in this matter denotes pretension, mother."

"I am unclear as to your implication."

"Truth would be better served, if you simply acknowledged the reality of your bigotry. Need I summarize the symptoms for you?" Stated Sevryll in a voice that trembled with irritation.

"No, in retrospect, I believe that I prefer ambiguity."

Ignoring her mother's last statement she continued, "allow me to extrapolate—your perception of my children is superficial...you criticize them for their lack of stoicism, though you know them not. Perhaps you should attempt to form a meaningful relationship with your grandchildren, rather than judge them for their humanity."

The air chilled with the truth of Sevryll's crisp statement, and for a moment, the elevated rate of her own heartbeat was the only sound she heard.

Her mother turned her face away from Sevryll, and clasped her hands behind her back. Sevryll could tell that her sharp words plunged deep, as she watched her mother's, ordinarily unaffected, facial expression, wince in pain. Sareth's eyelids flit rapidly as she fought to regain her composure. And the elder woman's chest heaved with each breath she drew, in an attempt to force the unwanted emotions, back into the depths of her, typically impassive, Vulcan heart.

Sevrylll was instantly regretful that she had caused her mother to momentarily lose her poise, and she reluctantly determined that her next statement was the best way to mend the rift between she and her mother. "I apologize for being blunt..." her mother cut her off "No, you are correct...I do not know them...and I wish too." There was a brief silence between the two before Sevryll spoke again, "The children....and I... would benefit greatly from having you in their lives. Would you consider, staying with us aboard the Tiberius?" Asked Sevryll. Several minutes passed before Sareth responded.
"I will give it thought,"she replied.

"Check the systems now," Aria said as she crawled out of the access conduit that lead to the EPS lines of the Aurora.  Her hair was slightly out of place, sweat beaded on her forehead, and she had the scent of someone that had just put in several hours of labor. They were simple reminders that she was alive. They were things that even the most advanced holograms had trouble replicating. "I realigned the plasma manifolds and the energy distribution flow according to your new calculations."

"Good job," Aerc replied as he mentally processes the new readings. The changes had increased the ship's efficiency by 1.6% and would possibly increase the output of the phaser cannons by a similar level. They would need to test the cannons to confirm if the increases were across the board. In truth, the work that they were doing wasn't about bettering the ship. It was about reestablishing their relationship. It was about rebuilding connections that had changed yet again as she regained her corporeal form. "The modifications are falling into the projected ranges. We need to run a level five diagnostic to confirm."

Before Aeric could issue the command, Aria used her own link to the systems to initate the diagnostic. Having lived a part of her life as a part of the system, she had no difficulties establishing a link to the computers. She was as much a part of the ship and crew now as she had been as a hologram.

"How is the recompiling of Aurora going?" Aeric asked. She had retained her knowledge of holograms and worked to rebuild her former shell, but it would never be the Aurora that she once was.

"It's ... going. Without my katra providing the basis for the personality subroutines, I have to create new subroutines from scratch. When I'm done, the new Aurora isn't going to be anything like the last one."

"Is that bad? I don't think I could deal with two of you running around."

Aria quirked a brow at her father. "I'll do my best to make her someone that can contribute to the systems. It will help if you can decide a role for her to start off with."

"Aurora Mark II should be an engineer. With your medical knowledge and ops knowledge, an extra engineer would help fill out our team."

Aria nodded. "That will cut my work from several months to several weeks. It will also give me time to find a new template for her look. I don't think I could or should use the original form. It would be an insult to all that was done to return me."

Aeric nodded. He agreed with his daughter's assessment. The first Aurora had given her existence to bringing Aria back. It only made sense to respect the sacrifice that she made. "How are your nanites functioning?"

"Emotion suppressers are functional and currently set at 80%. My interface tubes are fully integrated and all other systems appear to be working within listed specifications," Aria said softly. "I understand that our systems are counter Borg measures, but with our interlink abilities and the other possible adaptations, are we not in danger of becoming that which we are working to neutralize?"

Aeric pondered the question and then nodded softly. "Yes we are, but at the same time we are not. All of our adaptations are not to recreate the hive mind or the Borg quest for perfection. The work we are doing will enhance cooperation and the quality of life. I know the threat that the Borg represent, but we would be fools if we didn't learn from them and adapt to deal with them. Our nanites aren't the same as the Borg's. I designed ours to enhance the biology of their host, not to replace functioning organs with unnecessary machinery."

Aria took a seat at her station as she allowed her mind to link to the network that Aeric was already connected to. As part of the work to allow an individual to maintain their privacy, the network was designed only to share thoughts that the user projected. It was there in the network that they finished their conversation. In the time that it would have taken to exchange a few sentences, they had an entire conversation, compete with the sharing and modifications of schematics and other scientific data.

In that space between the moments, they gathered and processed research data stored with the computer systems. They had become one with the ship and directed the onboard nanotech through modifications that they brainstormed and simulated at levels that would overwhelm an unenhanced mind. As the machines complied with their new instructions, the two minds worked as one to review and design the modifications that would be necessary to integrate duplicates of their systems into the Tiberius.

As Aeric formulated the warp core, tactical, and defensive modifications, Aria worked in tandem to design a ship-wide hologrid and relay the power requirements back to her father so that they could be factored into his calculation on the size of the zero-point energy generator needed to completely power the modifications. They worked together to design perspective work schedules, resource allocations, and project completion projections. In the span of a few minutes, they had completed several days, if not weeks, of work.

Taking a deep breath, Aeric disconnected from the network and transmitted their work to the Tiberius and the appropriate crew members. Part of his assignment was to assist in the integration of some of the less classified systems of the Aurora into the Tiberius. If they followed his recommendations, the modifications would be completed before the Tiberius was scheduled to leave. Many of the more advanced systems were not going to be included in the first upgrade as he was not yet comfortable with the changes that would be needed for integration, but some of the changes, like the modified shields, would be as simple as modifying the emitters and uploading a new program.

It wasn't long before Aria disconnected herself from the interlink and looked at her father. "I apologize for questioning the logic in your path father. In time, I could see how this technology could vastly benefit all of the Federation."

Aeric smiled and rose from his chair. "You have the conn. I'm going to my quarter and take a nap, the effort we used has made me more tired than I thought it would."

"Perhaps we should look into uploading the software enhancements that you used for my nanites. I haven't experienced the draining effects as acutely as you have."

"I'm well over due for a software patch, but it will take days for the upgrades to fully integrate. We don't have the time for that."

"Your logic is flawed father. If you complete the upgrade, then you can make up the down time by the increase in productivity that the new enhancements will allow. By delaying the procedure, you are actually reducing your productivity by 48.6%."

"I don't want to argue your numbers. Initate the upgrade and I'll rest while the major modifications are processed," Aeric said as he headed from the helm. His head was throbbing and as soon as his nanites were realigned, that would be a problem of the past.

Aria reconnected to the computers and began transmitting the new updates to her father's nanites.

"Computer. Random music track. Earth Circa 1990's. Alternative category," Aria said as she deactivated her emotion supressors. Her father had long ago made it clear that to understand music, you needed to feel the song.

"Working," replied the computer as it accessed the temporal core and its collection of music. Within moments, a song called Everlong by a Terran band called the Foo Fighters began to filter into the cabin as Aria returned to work.

"Son, why don't you communicate with me more often when you're away in your starship?" asked Mary Stanton, Johnny Manrique's mother. Oh boy, here we go again—just when I thought she wasn't going to mention anything thought Manrique. At least she asked him when Lt. Tain wasn't in the room. He went out fishing for the evening; Johnny was actually looking forward to eating catfish from Lake Nicaragua . Tain would probably be back soon and Johnny didn't want him to hear the conversation with his mother.

"Mom, you already know why. I just don't like talking too much. You've known I've always been like that since I was a kid. How often do you want me to talk to you? Every week? Two weeks? You know that's not a lot of time. The reason I talk to you about every month or longer than that is because it's actually meaningful. I have things I can actually talk to you about."

"But son, don't you miss me and your sister?"

"Yes I do mom but it's different. . .I can't really explain it OK."

"It's just that I also worry about you."

"Most of the time nothing spectacular or dangerous happens aboard a starship. That's how I see it mom though a lot of people don't. I just don't want you to worry so much about me mom OK. That's why I don't communicate with you more often. Out-of-sight out-of-mind." Manrique regretted saying those last words. He didn't want his family to think that he wanted to love them any less or that he wanted them to love him any less. He just didn't want them to  be very concerned about his safety and he didn't want to worry about them being concerned. Johnny noticed that his mom's feelings had been hurt. He awkwardly reached out and hugged her.

"I'm sorry mom. I didn't mean that. . ."

"Why do you say such things. You have no idea how much I love you and your siblings. How can you expect me to simply not worry. I'm your mother--what kind of mother would I be if I didn't worry?"

"You're a great mom," Johnny told him his mom as he gave her a kiss on the forehead and then hugged her even tighter. The truth was that Johnny always communicated with his family when something dangerous had happened to him or the starship he was serving on. However, he didn't want to tell his mother about such fact—it'd make her feel worse. "Mom. Mom. How about I talk to you every two weeks? How does that sound?"

"It sounds wonderful Johnny," said his mother while smiling at him.

Mother and son then sat down on the sofa. "So dad and Jr. are having a good time doing their mining thing in Bajor," said Manrique referring to his father Carlos and his older brother, "what about that little sis of mine Clarissa? We haven't really talked much about her and I haven't really had a chance to talk to her.  Where is she anyway?"

"She's doing well in school," said Mary somewhat dodgingly.

"Good, that's always good to hear. So where is she?"

"She's out with her friends. Girls and boys."

"Let me guess, one of those boys is her boyfriend?" said Johnny a little upset.  He didn't think any boy was good enough for his sister. They were boys after all. She needed to get a higher education first. Then she could think about boys. Even then, 99 percent of the men wouldn't be worthy of Clarissa.

"Well yes Johnny. Don't get too upset. He's a good boy."

"How do you know? There's no such thing as a good boy, mom. Trust me."

"You mean you weren't a good boy?" asked his mom in a somewhat curious manner.

"Just trust me on this mom. You should know that too. I shouldn't have to be telling you this."

"I trust Clarissa."

"Oh C'mon! You can't fully trust her either. She's a good girl but. . ." Then Lt. Tain barged through the door with 5 catfish ranging between one and one and a half feet in length. One of them slipped out his hand and fell on the floor.

"Oh, I'm sorry m'am. I'll pick that up. Dinner's finally here. What do you think huh? Not bad eh?. Hey Manrique, I caught one of them with my bare hands! What a slippery boy he was."

"I think you deserve a cookie for that Tain," said Manrique somewhat jovially. Seeing his comrade with fresh dinner made him change his attitude quite quickly. Of course, Johnny was still thinking about how he was going to get back at Tain for that cigar incident in the jungle. . .

After a long night of partying at the Old Arcade, Isaac and Joseph got two rooms near by. They both said their goodnights and turned in for the night.  It had been a long, but enjoyable day for Isaac and he fell asleep very quickly.

Sleep came easy, but his dreams were not as pleasant as the day had been.  "Murderers, traitors...how could they??!!  How dare they?!" he muttered aloud in his sleep. 

Joseph awoke suddenly to the distressed voice of his friendâ€"his shouts could be heard clearly through the walls. He sat up, and again heard the cry, " they have broken through! Mom...Dad..no...don't leave.......help! help!"  Now wide awake Joseph listened intently and after a minute determined that his friend was dreaming.  Concerned, he decided to ask Isaac about the dream in the morning. “Dealing with inner demons can hamper one’s abilities as an officer” thought Joseph. The next day Isaac was moody and distant.

At breakfast, Joseph confronted his friend about his dream.  "What’s going on Isaac? Don't tell me 'everything is alright, because I know everything its not." 

Isaac sighed, "you heard me then?"  Joseph nodded. 

Isaac looked away embarrassed.  "I thought...I thought I had forgotten the whole experience...my memory of it now, must be due to the mind-meld.  Long ago, my family had lived in an outpost on the fringe of the Federation.  There was a traitor in our midst, who allowed invaders to come through our defenses.  Many people were slaughtered that day.  My parents were killed, but not before I was put into an emergency shuttlecraft'. They sent me deep into the Alpha Quadrant and out of reach of the enemy."

Joseph as unsure of what to say, yet he felt sympathy for Isaac. “Maybe you should speak to the counselor when we return,” he suggested.

Isaac ignored his proposition and continued to eat his breakfast.  They paid for their meal and prepared to leave, unsure of where they were headed next.

On the way out the door Isaac’s Extra Sensory Perception sensed an unusual presence nearby and a familiar emotion suddenly struck him.  'What the...I...can...recognize it.  But, I didn't think, how can I sense both of them??'


King Linksr

    Admiral Talbot approached the front door of the Quinn residence.  He hesitated before knocking on the door.  The hour was late and he had never liked uninvited guests himself, especially at such an hour.  Just then he heard scratching coming from inside the door.  Talbot's keen pointed ears detected footsteps approaching the front door from inside the house.  The door opened slightly and a small dog burst out.  Talbot instinctively bent down as the small animal jumped on his leg.  He petted the dog making sure to rub behind the ears.  The Admiral had a fondness for most small animals.  The small collie licked his hand appreciatively. 
   "Well, you are a cute little one.  I wish I had something more to offer you than the rough hand of an old Admiral."  Talbot said as he continued to stroke the dog.  Just then he heard someone clear their throat and he stood fully upright again.
   "Admiral Talbot?  Sir, what brings you to this neck of the woods and at this late hour?"  Captain Quinn said from the doorway.
   "I'm sorry to intrude on your shore leave Captain, but I have some information that I need to show you and your first officer.  I apologize, but it couldn't wait."  The Admiral said as he noticed the colorful off duty robe Nathan Quinn had wrapped around him to keep out the chill night air.
   "Certainly sir.  Please come in.  By the way, how did you know where to find us?"  Quinn said as the two men moved back inside, the small collie following the Admiral with a tail that wagged excitedly.
   "Captain, I didn't get to be a Starfleet Admiral without knowing my way around Starship protocols.  Regulations dictate that officers, even when on shore leave, have to let their ship and therefore the computers aboard her where they are at all times.  The two of you were not hard to find."  Talbot said as he and Quinn made their way to the kitchen.
   "Well, I heard the dog wanted out and couldn't sleep much anyway.  Could I offer you some coffee Admiral?"  Quinn said getting out some mugs and setting them on the counter.
   "That would be most welcome.  But first, go get Commander Sevryll.  The news I want to share concerns both of you."  The Admiral said as petted his new four-legged friend more.
   "Yes sir.  I will be right back."  Nathan Quinn said as he moved from the room.  Sirach Talbot surveyed the home he was in.  It was very cozy and warm.  Just the type of place to raise a family he thought.  His mind drifted to his own wife and child and how little he had been able to see them lately.  The demands of a life in Starfleet made having a family difficult he knew very well.  But he had always tried to find a balance between the two worlds.  Much like finding a balance in himself due to his mixed heritage.  Being half-Romulan and in Starfleet had certainly not been an easy life.  But it had been interesting and exciting at times.  He wondered if more new adventures were just around the corner due to recent events.  Talbot was not much of a psychic or telepath, but he did have very good instincts.  And right about now his instincts were running at yellow alert.
   "Admiral Talbot.  It is agreeable to see you again."  Quinn's First Officer Sevryll said as she entered the kitchen.
   "And you as well Commander.  I wish it were under different circumstances.  I'll get right to the point.  I'm sure you are aware that your father and I have been friends for many years.  Krell and I got in quite a few sticky situations in our time but always managed to pull out of things in one piece."  Talbot said as he sat down.  Quinn quickly replicated two cups of coffee and one of tea.  Handing the tea to Sevryll he sat down next to Talbot.
   "My father has mentioned you with fondness many times Admiral.  I know he has always valued your friendship."  Sevryll said as she sipped her tea lightly.
   "And I value his friendship just as much.  There are only a few people in this galaxy that I trust completely.  But I would trust Krell with my life and I have.  Are you aware of your father's current location and activites Commander Sevryll?"  Talbot said to the young Vulcan woman.  He hadn't been sure how much Sevryll knew about her father's current mission.
   "As far as I am aware, my father is on Romulus aiding Ambassador Spock in his Unification efforts there.  A most difficult assignment I am sure."  Sevryll said as she held the cup in her hands, enjoying the warmth it provided.
   "Admiral,  is there some type of problem involving Sevryll's father?"  Quinn said as he took another long sip of his coffee.
   "In a way.  I just recently received a coded message from Krell.  I want you both to see this.  I have to warn you Sevryll, this message may disturb you."  Talbot said as he pull a small PADD from his jacket pocket.  He set the device on the counter and tapped in an access code.  An image quickly appeared on the screen of an aged Vulcan.  His light green skin appeared pale and his eyes somewhat glassy.
   "Sirach, my old friend.  I hope this message will find it's way to you.  As you may know, I have been on Romulus for months now working on the Unification effort started by Spock.  We had made some significant progress in forming alliances with several key Romulan senators in order to get our message to the various factions on Romulus.  But after the whole Shinzon mess, things have just gone from bad to worse.  Trust is in very little supply here now my friend.  The military is attempting to take over control of the government and declare a form of martial law.  It has made it very difficult to accomplish anything or meet with the remaining leadership.  We also discovered a traitor among us.  But not before he killed two sympathetic Romulan Unification supporters.  I was slightly injured myself in the attack by a small knife, but the wound was small.  I'm not as quick as I was in our younger days Sirach.  Those were enjoyable times, old friend.  It is getting increasingly difficult to even move about safely here.  We are still trying to have small discrete meetings, but the Romulans are having a hard time trusting us.  I told them I would find someone they could trust in.  Sirach, that's you.  I'm sorry to ask this of you, but we need your help here.  Badly.  Spock and I both think that the remaining Romulans interested in Unification would listen to our words with you standing beside us.  Your mother is thought of very highly still here and her son as well.  Again, I know Lydia won't be happy with me pulling her husband off on such a dangerous mission but it's important Sirach.  And I know you feel that way as well.  We discussed Unification for many years, especially when it appeared that the Romulan government was failing.  I am tiring now and someone is coming.  I have a courier that I trust that is on his way to a nearby Starbase.  Please consider this seriously Sirach.  I need your support and guidance here more than I have ever needed them before.  Ahhh, oh my.  My head feels,......."  Krell said, grimacing in sudden pain and slumping over the recording device.  The message faded out after a few more seconds.
   "Father!"  Sevryll said, standing up quickly grabbing the PADD off the counter.
   "Admiral, when did you get this communication?  Have you reported it to Starfleet yet?"  Nathan Quinn said, looking a bit agitated.  He could sense the normally suppressed emotions of his first officer rising a little to the surface.  Sevryll quickly composed herself and sat back down with the PADD.  She replayed the last few sentences, watching carefully for anything that would reveal if her father's condition.
   "I just played the recording for the first time a short while ago myself Captain.  And for now, Starfleet doesn't need to know about this for what I'm going to propose."  Talbot said as he stood up as well.
   "And what are you proposing Admiral?"  Quinn asked quickly, trying to detect the Admiral's mood.  He found it difficult to get a lock on the Admiral's emotions.
   "I'm planning on helping my friend Captain.  I want you to get me to Romulus!"  Talbot said as he finished the now cold coffee in his cup.

Sirach Talbot was like a brother to Sevryll's father. He had been present at Sevryll's betrothal and at her Kas-Wan ceremony—privileges granted only to close relatives. He was, by all intensive purposes, her Thanai Ezyak or adopted uncle. Yet, because of his superior rank, he maintained a degree of professionalism...a facade he kept up for the Captain's benefit.  Sevryll respected the distance he kept and responded formally, "My father has mentioned you with fondness many times Admiral.  I know he has always valued your friendship."

He presented the PADD and warned that the message was disturbing—it was indeed. The sight of her father's disheveled appearance was disconcerting. Yet his mention of the knife attack caused the irrational emotions, that she fought so hard to force down, to break the surface of her fragile self-control yet again. It seemed losing control was becoming a habit.

Subconsciously, she shouted aloud and quickly stood to grab the PADD from the counter. She had to hear the words once more...perhaps there was some information she had missed, some hidden message meant only for her.

They were going to Romulus—Mr. Smith had informed her that this mission would come, though he failed to mention her father's situation.

Mr. Smith had also informed her that David would be waiting aboard the ship—his assignment—to shadow the venture. Failing to mention the existence of a husband was not a lie, it was an avoidance of topic. Yet now that he would be aboard the Tiberius, failure to mention that he was working for Section 31, and infiltrating the Tiberius crew, was an offense worthy of court martial...It was also a burden forced upon her by an organization she loathed. On Vulcan, it was taboo to lie, yet in this case telling the truth meant certain death... Despite this fact, Krell's plight dwarfed her legitimate concerns regarding the clone, Section 31, and all the lies she would have to perpetuate.

The doctor was feeling rather queasy as the roller coaster twisted and turned his body in unnatural positions at a high rate of speed. He felt like a rat in a cage who was being propelled at high speed out a torpedo tube.

What seemed like an eternity was soon follwed by a rapid deceleration and a sense of relief. He was glad this was over.

The Dr. motioned for the counsellor. The counsellor walked over to the Dr. with a big smile on his face. " Wasn't that Awesome... he exclaimed. Want to go Again." The Dr. replied " I think I will Pass Thanks...

The Dr. said to Counsellor Morgan "I don't quite remember all the events that happened with the Ceremony, but I think I was given sometype of medal, Is this true?

The counsellor briefly filled the Dr. in on the events that took place at the ceremony and pulled out a box and said to the Dr.  " I think you are finally ready to receive this" and handed  the box to his friend.  " Go ahead and open it. "The Captain, Senior staff and crew of the Tiberius are very proud of you Dr.

The Dr. Stared at the box for a moment then slowly opened it.....

Previously that night...

The dinner was winding down.  Everyone was moving to the library for some tea and coffee. The evening wasn't as bad as Quinn had anticipated. Servyll and her mother were very civil to each other and Nicholas Took was perfect company for Quinn.  The hours passed as the two talked about their academy days, favorite classes and their lives growing up. Nicholas's past was riddled with violent and abuse while Quinn's life in this house was loving and warm. They continued to talk for hours after everyone had turned in for the evening.. Quinn walked Took to the guestroom and gave him a big smile as he wished him a good night. A few minutes later Quinn was lying down in his childhood bedroom.  Only a few minutes passed when he heard someone knocking on the front door. He grabbed his robe and headed down stairs with Jack at his feet. He opened the door...


After the Admirals Visit...

Quinn advised the Admiral that we would be departing first thing in the morning as soon as his recalled his crew. The Admiral thanked him and headed out the front door. Quinn turned to Servyll, "Are you okay?" She looked as though her mind was elsewhere, she noticed that Quinn was looking at her strangely and replied "I am fine. I will send out the recall to all crewmembers at 800 hours. We will prepare to depart Earth at 1100 hours." Quinn was still concerned but knew he was not going to get anything out of her... at lease for tonight. He nodded and she headed back up the stairs. Quinn sat down in a chair and starred out the window at the stars twinkling in the night.

Sevryll's thoughts kept her mind active throughout the night, preventing sleep from finding her weary form. When morning came, she left the quiet of the Quinn's home, to meditate in their garden. As it had during the evening, her father's situation remained at the forefront of her mind. Was he still alive? She wondered.  As she meditated, Sevryll reflected upon her childhood. Her father was the only person she never questioned. He was her encourager when she doubted her own abilities, and her defender when her mother assailed her with judgment. Now, it would seem, he needed those things from her...

She rose from the bench, in the center of the garden, and returned to the Quinn's home. The house was quiet—dawn was still two hours away.  There was much to do before their departure and first on her agenda, was the crew. Sevryll composed a mass communiqué, recalling all crew members still on shore leave; they were to return to the ship the following day. When the message was forwarded to the Tiberius for distribution, she sat back in the chair within her room, which was positioned near the children's bed. Glancing down at the twins as they slept, she was reminded of the message that she received from Aria...the young woman who had called her mother. Sevryll was outraged by her lack of ethics, yet despite this fact, she was resigned to conduct herself as a professional. She was a first officer now, and she had an example to set for her crew. So the Vulcan commander compiled yet another message—though she did not looking forward to the encounter, she accepted Aria's invitation to meet aboard her father's prototype ship.

An excited Isaac looked at these very cuddly looking creatures.  "They are called Sugar Gliders*  They actually exist here on Earth." stated the store clerk.  "Really?  I have never heard of these." said Joseph.  "Oh yes, they are unusual pets.  They have the ability to glide for quite a distance.  They only eat insects and small vertebrae." replied the store clerk.  "But they aren't that rare.  Just not heard of much.  Besides, even you would admit that most people want dogs not squirrel like creatures."

Isaac looked at two smaller sugar gliders and fell in love with them.  They were smaller and they had a much more pale fur color with a black stripe down its back.  They seemed to have bonded to each other and were being very mischievous to the older Sugar Gliders.  "Ah, you noticed our twin Gliders.  Yes, they are very mischievous but are very close friends.  You should have seen it when we separated them for medical examination.  Some of us had pretty deep cuts from the flailing.  Trust me, we only sell them together.  The oddest thing about these guys is that their fur is pearl white instead of grey.  Its very recessive and rare." stated the store clerk. 

Isaac reached out with his mind and found a basic intelligence.  They must have detected his presence as they had jumped in their cages and stared right at him.  He immediately soothed them and they warmed up to him.  He asked the store clerk, "can I see those two?"  The store clerk raised an eye brow and then shook his head yes and unlocked the cage.  Isaac reached his hand into the cage and the two Sugar Gliders scurried up his arm and lay upon his shoulders.  "If they could purr, they would sing." commented Joseph.  "Wow, I've never seen Sugar Gliders do that to anyone else.  You must be someone special indeed." said the store clerk.  Isaac merely smiled and asked "can I get them?"

Fifteen minutes later, Isaac had walked out the shop door with two very boisterous Sugar Gliders in a small kennel.  He also carried some vitamin supplements so that the Gliders would stay healthy.  "I wonder what I should name them…" wondered Isaac aloud.  "How about troublesome and unruly?" joked Joseph.  Isaac punched Joseph in the arm then they decided it was time to return to the ship and get settled in for the next mission.

King Linksr


*See Isaac's page for picture of Sugar Glider and link.

The last few days of shore leave passed quickly for K'arath. He decided to spend his remianing time on board, working down in the relative solitude of Main Engineering. With only a skeleton crew on board, he had the luxury of .......peace and quiet in what is normally a hive of activity during normal ship operations. Everyhting was ready and tuned to his satisfaction....though he couldn't help but often wonder about that strange shuttle in the hanger bay and the equally odd new Lt. who recently came aboard.

"I don't know what to say", the dr. said looking at his medal. 

"Don't say anything then" said Sudder.

Margon looked at the dr and smiled.  "You did good dr., you did good.  It will take some truth, some grace and some time.  Hang in there friend."

Andrus broke the emotional moment by announcing the final ride for the day.  "Ok, guys, it wouldn't be complete without a ferris wheel ride."

"No thank you gentlemen, I have had enough of these barbaric carnival rides.  Give me a good ship with a gravity stabilizer anyday."  The dr. sat down on a bench and let Margon and Andrus get on the ride.

The attendant slid the bar over their laps and the ferris wheel began to climb upwards. They had gone in circles for a few times, looking at the sites and chatting.  It was relaxing and quite fun for them.  Both Andrus and Margon's communicators chirped.  They looked at the small screen to see the call to get back aboard the Tiberus. 

Sudder laughed- well, just as we were relaxing. "  The Counselor looked down, there was no sign of the Dr. anywhere!  He started to panic.  What if this whole experience had been too emotional for him?  What if they had pushed the dr. over the edge instead of roping him in?

As the counselor frantically searched the ground Andrus punched him the shoulder. Margon looked up to see the the Hover ship in the air in front of them.  The Dr. had a grin on his face gazing out of the cockpit.  The transporters were activated and both counselors materialized in their seats.

The ferris wheel came around and the attendant was surprised to see the car empty. 

"Huh?" he said.  "Where the heck did those guys go?"

In a flash the ship shot off leaving Holo-world for another time and another place.

Andrus squirmed in his seat.  "What are we listening to Dr.?"

"Mozart my rock n roll friend, Mozart." 

"Can't we change the music?" said Andrus.

"Nope, I'm driving!"  the Dr. smiled again.

Counselor Margon shook his head.   "Boys, let's not get upset, let's just get home."

The dr. turned to his friends.  "Thanks gentlemen.  Seriously.  Thanks.  I needed some friends and you have been very kind to me.  Let's make it a point to get together from time to time just to talk.  What say you?"

Andrus and Margon nodded.

Andrus grinned "on one condition, I pick the music."

The dr. turned and laughed out loud.  "Computer, turn Mozart up!"

The sound of the communications system woke Aeric from the rest that the realignment of his nanites required only a few minutes before he was actually expecting to wake. They were still a work in progress and updates to their function were to be expected. A quick glance at the communications station near his bed alerted him to the recall of the Tiberius’ crew.  That meant that he would need to finish with his projection of needed resources sooner than expected. If the ship was leaving, he needed to make sure that he had all of the necessary equipment to complete the upgrades that his assignment required.

After getting showered and dressed, Aeric left Aria in command of the ship and began his walk of the Tiberius and its Jeffries tubes. He would need space within the ship to install the more critical components of the upgrades and it was only through a visual inspection of the tubes that he would be able to find the best places to install the NRARS systems. He hesitated in his desire to even leave the access conduits. It was only a matter of time before he would once again be burdened with the task of meeting familiar faces and people he once called friends for the first time in this timeline. The return of his daughter has lessened the sting of that burden, but as always, Aeric felt as though he was only a tick of the clock away from the universe changing around him again. If his projections were correct, the Tiberius could become the shelter in the storm that had shaped his existence. In the crew of the ship, he found hope that he and Aria would no longer need to weather the storm alone.

After a quick inspection of the projected areas, Aeric made his way to engineering. With his dual posting on the ship, he needed to check in to see if he would be starting his duty shift in engineering or at the Conn of the Tiberius. As he moved through the conduits, the ship almost sang to him. Systems hummed around him in a complicated ballet of technological precision and organic intuition. Each ship was different. Each had its own unique heartbeat as the warp core pushed plasma through conduits much like a heart pumping blood through veins and arteries. Each had a unique mental presence, a combination of the computer core and the modifications usually performed by the crew of the vessel.

In Aeric’s mind, a ship was more than just a transport. It was a near living creature that functioned in symbiosis with her crew. If they took good care of the ship, more times than not, it would take good care of them. With his aid, the Tiberius might evolve as the Aurora had. The ship had potential to be the flag-bearer of its class. One look at the crew told him that this ship was destined for something special. It was destined to be greater than the sum of its parts. There was something about the crew and its composition that would only magnify the success of the new upgrades to be installed aboard. If any ship in the Federation qualified for the upgrades that he and Aurora offered, he had seen none save for the USS Tiberius.

Aeric had spent a good deal of his life studying history and witnessing the changes brought by the actions of others. Perhaps in this time and on this ship, it was time to move past observing history and making it. He had seen enough changes in time to realize that one being could quite literally change the universe. The Aurora was his ship and it was finally in the last stages of testing. His reports and schematics would probably bring about a new class of shuttle, but that was still some time away. Maybe it was time for Aurora to cease being unique. Maybe it was time that his other child had a sibling. Aeric smiled to himself as he entered engineering. Aurora could not want for a better sibling than one named after one of the two captain that taught him what it meant to wear the uniform. The Tiberius would be a fine sibling for Aurora and like the old Earth story of Dr. Frankenstein, it was time for the collection of parts that made up the Tiberius to be brought together in a new life.

Shore leave might have ended, but for the crew of the Aurora, the excitement was only now beginning.

Tain cast the fishing line into the slow moving river and watched the bobber carefully. He had been getting some big nibbles all morning, and was determined to catch the thieving fish. He settled down on the shoreline, and grinned to himself. He was having a wonderful time on this shore leave, in fact he couldn't remember a time when he was more at peace.

As he watched for the next bite, he heard a sound down the path. "AHA", he thought to himself, "Manrique is finally going to try and get his revenge. I think I will turn the table a bit."

Tain quickly jumped down the bank into the weeds and mud. He quickly and quietly camouflaged himself with the mud. He smiled to himself as he imagined Manriques frightened look as Tain lept out at him from his hidden spot.

Tain waited, and waited. The mud started itching horribly, and he felt one or two leeches attaching themselves to his leg, but he knew he couldn't move. He heard another noise down the path, and tensed. It wouldn't be long now.

There was another sound now...from the opposite direction on the path. It was louder and clearer now...laughter???

Tain looked down the other path and saw Manrique, laughing at him.

"Tain?", said Manrique, "What the heck are you doing in the mud man??? I thought you were fishing, looks more like you are applying a beauty mask!"

Chagrined Tain slowly rose from the mud and muck.

"Oh..uh.", stammered Tain. "I thought you were..well you know sneaking up on me and ..well I .. Oh forget it."

Tain started to climb the bank, then slipped on the slimy mud and fell back in river flat on his back. As he raised his head out the river sputtering, he looked over at Manrique. Tears were streaking down the Lieutenants face, he was laughing so hard at Tain.

"Well Tain," said Manrique between his laughter. "What I really came down here to tell you is that we have been recalled. Time to get back to the Tiberius."

Manrique looked at the soaked mud covered Orion looking at him grumpily from the river.

"You might want to clean up a bit though, I will see you back at the house."

Manrique headed down the path to the house. He smiled and whistled on the way back. As he headed down the path he emptied his pants pockets of the rocks he had gathered.

"Yep", he thought to himself. "That had been worth it." Watching Tain jump into the mud trying to hide had almost been too much for Manrique, he'd almost burst into laughter at the start, thus giving away his location. He thought to himself that it was almost enough to make up for the cigar incident. He smiled evilly...almost.

    Sirach Talbot moved about his office quickly.  He had a small Starfleet issue bag on top of his desk.  He had several items in the bag already and was looking about the room trying to decide what he might need with him.  In the days of replicators everyday items were no longer necessary to pack and carry with you everywhere.  Unless you happen to be going somewhere without the benefit of a finely tuned Starfleet replicator.  He had several Padd's of data in the pack along with a picture of his wife Lydia in an old frame that he always carried with him where ever he ended up going.  Sirach had sent a quick communication to his wife.  She was currently off planet and difficult to reach.  He had hoped to be on Earth when she returned but at this stage he was unsure that would work out.  He sat down for a moment in his desk chair and pondered at how quickly events had happened over the past couple of days.  The message from his old Vulcan friend Krell was unexpected.  He had been aware of Krell's activites since he had been away on Romulus of course.  But, hadn't expected the desperate message from his old friend.  The message along with Krell's daughter Sevryll on Earth at the same time was one of those amazing coincidence's the universe likes to hand out from time to time, Talbot thought to himself.  He stretched his long frame out in his chair and closed his eyes for a moment.  He was starting to wonder to himself if he was still prepared for what was maybe coming ahead.  Sirach still trained regularly and was in excellent shape.  But it was some of the mental strain that he had slowly felt getting to him over the years.  He had lived through and seen many wars and battles.  So many enemies over the years.  He thought of the Klingons, the Cardassians, the Borg and the Romulans.  All sometimes enemies and all sometimes allies - even the Borg.  Sirach had always felt any race or thinking being could be reasoned with.  It's what had made him very valuable to Starfleet and also had made him an excellent Starship Captain.  But there had been some losses and failures over the years.  And those weighed heavily on him now as he prepared for a new mission that he realized he had very little intelligence about.  But he was not about to fail his friend Krell.  Sirach tossed a few specialized engineering tools in a small pouch he always liked to have with him when on a mission with many unknown factors.  Then he opened a small key coded safe on the lower wall behind his chair.  He reached in for the old style, ancient phaser that belonged to his grandfather.  It was a small, black and silver device and completely outdated.  But Sirach had never gone on an away mission without it.  The old style hand phaser also had the advantage to avoid some modern weapon detection systems due to it's old style transtator circuitry.  He hoped he wouldn't need the weapon, but he learned long ago it was always good to be well prepared.  He stood up and tucked the small phaser inside his uniform tunic.  Then Admiral Talbot grabbed his bag, closed it and then tapped his comm badge.
   
    "Talbot to Tiberius, priority code alpha-one-tango.  One to beam up!"  The shimmering glow of the transporter beam enveloped Admiral Talbot as he took one last deep breath and braced himself for what trials lay ahead.

END OF SEASON THREE.
SEASON FOUR BEGINS FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 28.