TREKS IN SCI-FI FORUM

Joint post by Jen and Startrekfanatic5
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Much like an extended series of sneezes, the sensations of laughter felt invigorating and at the same time very awkward. The unexpected emotion subsided gradually as the vulcan woman choked it down to a cycle of muffled chuckles. A smile was all that lingered after Sevryll triumphed and subdued the uncouth outburst. The first officer shook her head once and raised her dark eyes to meet the Captain's. The very rare and beautiful smile slowly shrank as she acknowledged Nathan Quinn's stunned expression, which was fixed like a stone statue upon her.

"Forgive me, Captain..."

Quinn dropped into his chair, "are you okay number one?"

At that, the last vestige of a smile dissolved into her typically stoic air. Underneath the mask of impassiveness she felt embarrassment. "I don't know," she replied. Her brow furrowed as she looked down at the mess that she made on the table.

The water Sevryll had spilled, which began her eruption of emotion, dripped off the captain's table and onto the floor of his quarters. She lifted the towel from his slack hands, "let me help you," she offered.

He favored her with a thin smile, "no, no don't bother.. I can take care of this." Quinn eyed her curiously as she nervously tucked a long strand of hair behind one ear, and cast her gaze back to the mess on the table. "Umm... have you had an outburst like this before, Sevryll?" He asked.

Silence stretched between them as she pondered the question. She looked up once more, "not since I was a child," she answered.

"Captain, I have been... feeling on edge since shore leave. With the abduction of my father, and our recovery mission there has been little time for rest or meditation..."

"Maybe that's it," replied Nathan. "Well, our trip to Vulcan should be uneventful. That should give you plenty of time to relax."

Avoiding the captain's curious gaze she asked, "are you sure you don't require assistance?"

Quinn stood from his chair to reclaim the towel from Sevryll.  "No need, are you ready for dessert?"

A smile returned to her lips once more, "...yes."

Ensign Nicholas Took began his evening shift at 1800 hours, being an ensign meant he worked the delta shift but he didn't mind. There were always fewer people around and he could focus on the job at hand. Nic checked his hair one last time in the mirror before grabbing his tool kit and exiting his quarters.

As he walked down the corridors he hummed a little tune, something from his childhood that he hadn't heard in years. As he passed by fellow crewmen he would give them a nod and a quiet "evening". This common gesture wasn't unusual but to Ensign Took it was a big step. He normally kept to himself, eyes down and didn't speak to anyone, but today Nic was in a great mood.

His continuing breakfasts with Captain Quinn were wonderful. Nic and Nathan were becoming closer, Nic knew he could call Nathan a friend and to Nic who spent most of his life with no friends was a big deal. Not only was Nathan his friend but he was the Captain. He knew that Nathan didn't have breakfast with him because he felt pity for him, he genuinely enjoyed his company.

Ensign Took enters Engineering.  "Good evening Lt. Plummer", Lt. Plummer looked surprised but gave Nic a slight smile. She handed him a padd "Well Mr Took today you will be in jefferies tube 36, It seems that one of the gel packs is malfunctioning, See if you can locate the problem." Nic took the padd and used it to give Lt. Plummer a slight salute, "You got it Lieutenant," he said with a smile. Plummer's smile grew as she turned to another crewmen who had just entered and was awaiting his assignment.

Joint Post by Iceman and Jen

Doctor Ryla Dret twirled a short lock of blond hair with her index finger as she read Ensign Sherrla's medical file. There weren't many families aboard Tiberius and the Obstetrics/Pediatrics specialist liked it that way— their low numbers allowed her to be more personable and involved in her patients' lives. Yes, friendships were the best medicine in her opinion.

The Chief Medical Officer entered the Sickbay. "Good evening Doctor Peterson." He returned the greeting and sauntered over to Krell to check on his status.

"I preformed another neuropsychological scan. Unfortunately, his condition hasn't changed since this morning," said Ryla as she crossed the floor to stand beside the vulcan's bed. "If the away team hadn't removed him from that place, the Romulans would have killed him. The mind probes severely damaged his brain. But it's too soon to know if it has caused any long-term impairment."

Doctor Peterson nodded and turned his gaze from the comatose diplomat, to the woman standing on the other side of Krell's biobed.

"Yes, I know. Thank you for holding down the fort," he said with a smile. He started towards his office and stopped. Running his hand through his hair he turned back to Doctor Dret. "Doctor, I could use your help. I have been reviewing your personal records...and think its time that you take on some additional duties. It is one of my roles as the Chief Medical Officer to broaden my staff's medical expertise. You're already an accomplished Obstitrician... But I want to help you achieve your goal of becoming a CMO one day. Acquiring other specialities will get you promoted and propel you towards that aspiration... so, to foster your goal I would like you to bone up on Vulcan neurology and help me come up with a treatment plan for Krell. I'll assign Nurse Christine to assist you, and of course, I will oversee your work and aid you when necessary."

He noted the Trill's nervous expression, "I know neurology is not your specialty, but I think it is important for us physicians to occasionally step out of our comfort zones, as we never know when we may be forced or needed to help out in a time of crisis. Does this interest you Doctor?"

Ryla was specialized in a field that very few physicians bothered with these days... she chose Obstetrics for that reason— it made her a valuable staff member. It wouldn't hurt to expand her knowledge in order to better herself, but one couldn't be great at everything they studied... but perhaps she would be more help to Peterson if she accepted his offer.

"Yes, thank you doctor. I will accept, but I don't know about finding a treatment for Krell. Vulcan Neurology isn't something you 'bone up on'. It's a specialty that takes many surgeons decades to master. I would be happy to assist you, but I doubt I would be capable of finding the key to his treatment simply by reading over files on the subject." She tucked the blanket around Krell tighter as she continued, "the Commander stopped by to check on her mother and father—Doctor Sareth, stayed here all night. Commander Sevryll told me that we are taking her father back to Vulcan so that he can be assessed by a Vulcan Master. I've read about their techniques. They are quite remarkable and the percentage of successful outcomes is very high."

When she looked up, she noticed Doctor Peterson had closed his eyes and was massaging his temples. "Are you OK Doctor?" She asked.

Casey Peterson forced a smile, " I am sure it is nothing, just a bad headache—probably a result of all the overtime I have been putting in lately."

He hesitated for a moment before continuing, " I know this may seem like too much to take on, but I would not have asked if I thought it was too much for you."

Ryla nodded and watched him walk to his office. When she turned back to the patient, Doctor Peterson took the opportunity to open his desk drawer and remove a small flask that he kept for just such occasions. He lifted the authentic Saurian brandy to his lips, took a shot and closed his eyes until the throbbing in his head subsided.

Isaac got up from the Ops station as another Ensign took over.  He walked solemly to the turbolift.  "Deck 5" he said quietly.  He had to do something and it was about time he did it.  The turbolift whirred to its destination carrying the young ensign along with it.  Isaac could not help but feel like he had screwed up in some way.  But he should have seen it coming.  'The Romulans would have been destroyed anyway, it was just a matter of when.  I suppose, they chose their fate.  But what is mine?...' 
The turbolift door opened to deck 5 and he walked quietly along to his quarters.  When he entered, he saw that his two Sugar Gliders were asleep.   'Its amazing they could have slept through that battle.'  Not wishing to wake them as he had things to do outside of his quarters, Isaac went over to his personal computer terminal in the other room and began to speak.
"Isaac's personal encrypted log.  My mission has led me to see many things.  Kindness, sadness, cruelty, madness, sickness, health, laughter, companionship, death, destruction...I could go on.  But perhaps my first assessments of them were wrong.  Perhaps there is still hope that they may do, what we could not.  I hold hope that they will avoid what happened to us."  Isaac stared out the window and a single tear rolled down his cheek.  'Mother, Father' he thought quietly.  "Therefore, my mission, as of this date, is over.  My fate is sealed with whatever force exists out there.  What happens to me, happens.  I only hope I can do some good before whatever end happens.  End personal log and encrypt."  The computer chirped in confirmation.  As he stood, the voice in his head no longer said anything.  'Peace, if only for a short time'.  He left his room and his feet took him down the corner.  'Fate & destiny.  I await both.'  Then he realized something as his hand came up his face.  His eyes widened, "No, it can't.  It can't be!"


King Linksr

The lateness of the hour combined with the relative quiet status of the ships current disposition allowed K'arath the opportunity for some much needed time in the holodeck. He preferred late night sessions where he could have as much time as he wanted to run his simulations. Whereas other Klingon's used the holodeck to stage mock battles as a form of physical and mental therapy, K'arath preferred the relative isolation and individual challenge of long and perilous quests. This evening, he had spent the better part of 4 hours in an attempt to run through a recreation of The Forge on the planet Vulcan. It presented an entirely new set of environmental challenges he had never faced all of which put his strength to the test. Having never been to Vulcan, he looked forward to seeing the real thing upon their arrival. He would have to ask Commander Servyll about that. Perhaps she would consider joining him if her time permitted.

Sweat dripping down his brow ridges, sand and dust stains marking his one piece jumpsuit, he strode down the empty corridor having finished this evenings activities. Rather than immediately returning to his quarters, he decided to stop by Engineering to see how the new Delta shift team was doing under Lt. Plummer. She seemed very capable and competent. The doors slide open and he entered his domain. The Lt. was giving shift duty orders to a a few of the new Ensigns. As they took notice of him, he could feel the tension in the room increase a little. It made him smile. Even after all they has been through on their last mission, the trail by fire, so to speak, it was good to see he could still keep them on their toe's.

"You should eat something," the holographic woman said as she and Lieutenant James sat in the engineering section of the Aurora. They had been designing, redesigning, modeling, and fabricating the components for their project.

"I'm fine," Aeric said as he applied the micro weilder to the support frame of the small orb-like device. "Aria and I just had a big dinner."

"That was thirty-six hours ago Aeric," Aurora said as she looked him. He had been up for a days now and it was obvious to anyone that cared to look. The normally clean shaven officer now sported several days growth of facial hair. His normally pristine uniform had become wrinkled and taken on a scent much like one you would find on a klingon battlecruiser. While she understood that he could push himself if he found it necessary, she did not understand the need to currently push himself. "You should try getting some rest. The designs are the best we could come up with. Now that the power cores are assembled and the control matrix is assembled, it's just a matter of assembly and testing."

"I just want to put togther the second sphere then I'll get some rest," Aeric said as he wiped the sweat from his brow. "It should only be a few more hours."

Aurora touched the shoulder of her creator and sighed. "You don't need to do this. Aria and I were well on the way to finishing the units. we just got a little busy with the away mission. Why don't you test the new modification with the prototype and then we can incorporate the changes to the orbs."

"That's actually a great idea." Aeric smiled as he jumped from his seat and stripped off his tunic as he headed for the sonic shower. "Aurora transfer holomatrix James-canine-alpha to the prototype orb. Make sure that the hardware intergrates the physical response subroutines into the matrix."

"Just go shower, I know what to do," Aurora said as she rolled her eyes. Her fingers moved swiftly over the engineering console as she watched Aeric enter the head.

Aurora smiled as the smaller tennis ball size device chimmed to indicate that the transfer had been completed. "Computer activate Laika hologram."

As soon as she had spoken the words, the prototype orb rose and the integrated emitters began to generate a small canine hologram. It had been Aria's idea to name the test hologram after an early Earth canine space explorer. While they continued to process the data they recieved from the prototype, they made modifications to the alpha and beta orbs.

Aurora smiled as the dog yipped and hopped off of the table. It had been painstakingly designed to match the physical appearance of the Earth canine that it had been named after. As she scanned the dog, she smiled as the tricorder reported that Laika was no different from a normal canine. That had been her contribution to the prototype. Instead of using standard hographic emitters, she had suggested they use the Hirogen modified Federation design.

Aurora stroked the fur of the dog and smiled again as it responded to her touch. The smaller prototype held all of the function that the newer designs would feature, but the limited data storage, processing power, and energy output of the prototype limited the size and cognititive abilities of the hologram. When Aria suggest that they use a canine hologram as the test program, it fit perfectly with the design limitations.

Less than an hour after Aeric had shaved and showered, he found himself walking down the deck of the Tiberius with the small white and black dog in tow. Telemetry from the prototype was constantly being streamed to the Aurora, but Laika needed to stay active for as long as possible for him to fine tune the emitter designs of the scaled up models.

He needed a good place to leave the dog that would keep it occupied and it had occured to him that children would be the best assistants in the research. Aeric found himself pausing at the quarters of the first officers and pressing the chime. He hoped that they would find the dog interesting enough to keep it entertained while Aurora gathered the necessary data.

Counselor Margon picked up his quarters and stopped to stroke the Cat's fur.  The cat purred and rubbed against him.
"You're in a good mood" the counselor said. 
The cat stared at the counselor as if to say "you don't spend enough time with me"
The counselor had been involved in an intense study of psyco therapy and holo therapy theory.  It had been long and involved, but with all the telepaths on the crew he needed to know how treat and help them.  It was easier with non telepaths to use the techniques that he had learned in school.  After all, he used to be a barber, and the gift of gab is what got him interested in helping people as a counselor. 

"I've been couped up too long, I've got to get stretch my legs." 

He instantly thought of the children.  He and Sevryll's kids had gotten along so well. 

He thought of a wonderful idea--  "Computer" he said "do Sevryll's children have any allergies?"

The computer chirped and replied "negative counselor"

The counselor picked up Mr. Mouse and held him tightly.  "Let's go for a visit Mr. Mouse"

The doors opened and Mr. Mouse looked up and meowed.  He wasn't used to many trips through the ship and became a little nervous at the onset of their journey.

The counselor arrived at the 1st officer's quarters and hit the chime.  The doors opened and in what seemed to be a flash Mr. Mouse jumped from his arms into the room. 

The expression on Aeric's face was priceless, but not as much as Sevryll and the children!  The dog took one look at the cat and it was all over.  Things in the room began falling everywhere as the dog barked and mr. mouse ran.  It was like a blur of fur through the room.  The counselor just stood there with a stunned face.  He and Aeric met eyes and simply opened their mouths. 

Aeric's dog was getting a lot of information, but Mr. Mouse didn't know he was a hologram.  The cat hissed and scratched, the dog barked and the children laughed.  Sevryl looked at Margon. 

"Counselor, I didn't know you would be visiting."

"I just needed to stretch my legs, and I thought the children would enjoy a visit from Mr. Mouse"
said Margon as the cat ran up his leg and held tightly to his vest.  His claws now fully extended in the counselor's arm. 

Red blood leaked out of his blue skin.

Aeric looked at Margon.  "Counselor, um, sorry for the problem, I didn't know there was a cat on board."  He smiled.  The counselor rolled his eyes and let out a whimper.  "It's ok Aeric, no harm done, except to our first officers quarters and my arm.  I think I'll just take Mr. mouse back to my quarters." 

Aeric apologized again and restrained the pup who was still barking.  The children again smiled widely and tried to pet the dog.  The counselor began to back up toward the door when Mr. Mouse let out a hiss and jumped from his arms out into the corridor... just in time for the dog to leap from Aerics embrace into the hall after him.  The doors closed leaving Aeric and the counselor stunned. 

"Oh oh" said the counselor.....

The blue skinned Andorian ran his hands across the science station on the bridge of the Tiberius with practiced ease.  Assistant Chief Science Officer, Lieutenant Zremm was enjoying a relatively quiet shift at his post.  Since coming aboard Tiberius several weeks ago when the ship had been in the Sol system, Zremm had quickly become at ease aboard the Starship.  Much of this was due in no small part to Commander Sevryll.  They had known each other for several years after meeting on Vulcan during a conference on the teachings of Surak.  Sevryll had found it quite odd to see an Andorian attending a seminar on the teachings of logic and discipline of the mind.  She had approached Zremm and was shocked to be greated with the traditional Vulcan hand gesture and salutation of peace and long life.  Her experiences over the years with other Andorians had been generally rather strained.  Even though both worlds were founding members of the Federation, their two people's had an early history of distrust and conflict.  He still recalled their first meeting quite vividly as he worked on calibrating the port sensor array.

"Peace and long life."  Zremm said as he parted the fingers of his raised right hand in greeting to the Vulcan woman approaching him.  Even though she didn't do it intentionally, Sevryll's right eyebrow lifted up with some surprise.

"And to you as well, lieutenant, ahh...."  Sevryll said as she returned the traditional Vulcan hand greeting.

"Lieutenant Zremm, science specialist on the USS Shepard.  I know, it must be a bit of a shock to see me here."  Zremm said to the tall Vulcan woman.

"I must admit, lieutenant I was a bit surprised.  Normally the teachings of Surak are not subjects I have found that Andorians, or most non-Vulcans, are generally interested in."  Sevryll said, trying to not sound condescending.  The lieutenant returned her comments with a grin.

"Yes, my people can be fairly narrow in their thinking, at times.  I though have always been fascinated and intrigued by Surak and his message of peace and logic.  In fact, I have one of his earliest works in book form right here that I read often.  Let me show you."  Zremm said as he pulled a large tome out of the bag he was holding.  As he moved towards Sevryll a nearby bird cried out and Zremm's antennae amplified the high pitched sound.  The lieutenant became dizzy and stumbled sending him crashing into Sevryll.  He ended up on the ground on top of the young Vulcan.

"Are you injured, lieutenant?"  Sevryll said noticing the pained look on the Andorian's face.

"Just my head.  Still a bit dizzy.  Those birds have always given me a headache and problems when I visit.  Normally I get a hypo injection before coming to lessen the effects but I didn't have chance this time."  Zremm said as he began to notice Sevryll under him.

"Well if you are uninjured, perhaps you would be able to lift yourself up.  I think that might make it easier to continue our discussion."  Sevryll said with a tiny bit of sarcasm in her voice as she raised her eyebrow once more.

"Oh, yeah.  I'm very sorry commander.  I'm not the most graceful at times."  Zremm said as he pulled himself up and helped Sevryll to her feet.

"No need for an apology, lieutenant.  Unless it was your intention to knock me down."  She said as her new acquaintance looked away, trying to avoid Sevryll's stare.

"Oh, no ma'am.  Maybe we should continue our discussion while we eat.  Our short rest break will be over in 20 minutes."  Zramm said trying to make amends as he picked up his book.

"That would be agreeable lieutenant."  Sevryll said as she walked towards the dining area.

Just then a tiny flashing light on Zramm's control interface brought him back to the present, and the Tiberius.  The sensors were picking up a quasar like phenomenon approximately 2.3 light years away.  A quick check of the stellar cartography database revealed that this was an uncharted occurrence.  Time to get down to business Zramm said to himself and stop dwelling on the past.    But he had to admit he might not be here working with Sevryll on Tiberius if that first very awkward meeting they had years ago had not taken place.   

joint post by Jen and X

Seeking peace and solitude, the mother of two left her small children playing with Dennis, the hologram her husband had programmed to watch over his family in his absence.  Sevryll finished her tea, entered the privacy of her bedroom, and closed the door.  No more than five minutes had passed when her eyes opened suddenly.  A rapid succession of shrill barks stabbed at her ears and demanded her full attention.  An instant later, Dennis appeared in her room. "Some guy showed up with a dog... you want me to take care of him?" 

"You left the children with him? Who is it?" she replied in an irritated tone.

"Some guy...you want me to show him the door?" a smile stretched across his face that told Sevryll his idea of showing their guest the door, was quite different from her own.

"No," she replied as she got to her feet... the barking continued, resurrecting the dull headache that had only recently abated.

"You sure?" asked Dennis disappointingly.

"Quite," she answered in a scratchy voice.  Feeling somewhat muzzy, the vulcan abandoned her mediation to investigate the source of the painful yapping.

Standing in the entry to her quarters was Lieutenant  James and a small, white dog with a big brown spot on her side. The rude little beast continued barking as the children's giggles grew increasingly louder.

"Good evening Commander, " said Aeric between shooshes, as he tried to calm the holographic pooch.

Severyll cringed at the noise, yet resisted the urge to cover her ears.
"What is the purpose of your visit lieutenant?"


"I thought that the children could use a new playmate," Aeric smiled as he continued. "Laika is completely house broken and well trained. The pup is also a test platform for a holographic emitter system that we're working on. I need more data on the matrix stability and every child needs a good pet."

"Laika, sit." Aeric commanded in a soft but firm voice. Upon recognizing the command, the canine quit its yelping and lowered, taking a seated position. "It's not your sehlat "Sheshleck", but I believe that he's just as durable. If we can stabilize the holomatter matrix, we can incorporate the updates into the beta units we are working on. Laika is as real as we could make the pup. The only features it's missing is a digestive system, but normal tricorder scans will still register it as organic."

He simply observed the reactions of the children and their mother after he spoke. Had he considered giving the pup to the children before they designed the prototype, he would have increased the size of the matrix to support a sehlat pup. It would have been a more fitting gift and if they could fix the matrix, it could be later updated.

"Laika means barker in Russian— an appropriate name for such a vocal animal." Sevryll's next words were interrupted, by the door chime. "... "ENTER!" She said, a little louder than intended.

The door opened to reveal a happy blue man with a very large cat tucked in his arms. The children, excited at having a dog, were quickly under the impression the cat was a gift as well. Sevryll glanced down to see their little faces frozen in eager anticipation. A moment later, M'rynn shrieked with glee as the two animals locked eyes for a brief moment... Then unparalleled chaos followed.

Sevryll pulled her toddlers to her, as the cat leaped from Margon's arms and the holoterrier gave pursuit. The commander grimaced as the beasts knocked over her harp, breaking the fragile instrument it in half.

Mr. Mouse seemed to defy gravity as it bounced off the vulcan artwork on her walls, and tore the children's drawings in an attempt to evade the small menace chasing him.

"Counselor, I did not know you would be visiting," Sevryll shouted over the barking.

The woman and her two giggling toddlers deftly dodged the feline as he darted past, with a dog fast on its heals. She watched as the cat scaled the counselor, and climbed upon his shoulders.

"I just needed to stretch my legs, and I thought the children would enjoy a visit from Mr. Mouse."

Sevryll's eyes widened when she saw that the cat had drawn Margon's blood. Aeric apologized profusely as he scooped up his squirming terrier—while M'rynn and N'Val rushed to pet her. Their quick movements once again frightened the traumatized Mr. Mouse. No longer willing to endure his present company, the rotund cat sprang from his perch on Margon's shoulders and dashed from the quarters. Aeric tried to restrain the dog, but she flew from his arms—tearing after the furry feline.

"Oh oh" said the counselor.....

Unable to contain their excitement, M'rynn and N'vall scurried after the animals with Margon and Aeric close behind. When the coast was clear, Dennis appeared beside Sevryll, "You should have let me take care of him." The brawny hologram turned his grin towards the slight vulcan and quickly recoiled at the sight of the twisted scowl she fired at him. In silence, Sevryll surveyed the devastation caused by the furry beasts, drew a slow, deep breath, and calmly exited her quarters...to locate and collect her toddlers.

Quinn prepared breakfast for his guest. He has been enjoying his breakfasts with Nic the past few weeks.  As he brought a large plate of french toast over to the table the door chimed.

"Come in" Quinn said as he placed the plate on the table. As the door slid apart Quinn could see the smiling face of Nicholas Took. "Good Morning Captain" Nic said as he entered Quinn's quarters. Quinn shook his head "How many times do I have to tell you when we are off duty you can call me Nathan." Nic nervously laughed " I know and I'm trying sir... umm I mean Nathan."

Quinn sat down as he motioned for Nic to do the same. "So how was your shift?" Quinn asked as he poured large amounts of syrup over his french toast. Nic took the syrup from Nathan and started to pour. "It wasn't too bad, I had to replace three bio-gel packs today." Quinn looked up, "Is there something wrong?" "No, I'm sure everything is fine" Nic said as he took a sip of orange juice. "These bio-gel packs are organic in nature, like the humanoid body, they can succumb to viruses or colds just like you or I. Normally when one malfunctions or becomes sick it shuts down so not to infect the surrounding ones but for some reason this one did not and whatever problem it was having went to the two adjacent packs. So I removed the infected ones and replaced them with new ones. It's a pretty basic procedure."

Quinn smiled as he took a drink of water. "So standard procedure would have you take the infected gel packs to sick bay for analysis." "That's correct, I drop them off on my way here." Nic said as Quinn tapped the sides of his mouth with a napkin, "I'll have to make it a point to stop by sickbay later today and see what's going on."

Secluded in his dimly lit quarters, Lt. K'Tan was finding it difficult not to stare into the mirror.  Try as he might, he couldn't escape the feeling that the person peering back at him was a stranger. 

It had been almost a week since the medical techs had reversed the cosmetic changes called for by his recent away mission, and he was almost back to normal. 

Almost, but not quite. 

Granted, he no longer looked like a Romulan; his temporarily lightened skin had finally gone back to its normal rich brown color, and his ears no longer tapered up into points.  His neatly trimmed goatee was coming in nicely as well.  But his hair...

K'Tan ran a hand over his head in frustration, alternately studying his left and right profile.  To complete his disguise, the mane of black hair that he had worn in a ponytail since childhood had been sheared off to match the pageboy style commonly worn on Romulus.  Upon his return to the Tiberius, the techs had tried to shape his remaining hair into something more in keeping with Starfleet regs, which had left him with a short, military-style cut.  K'Tan doubted that he would ever get used to the feeling of air on his bare neck; without his hair, he felt almost naked.

" Dor-sho-gha!", he cursed, then turned and trudged to his room's replicator. "Roast Targ; rare, and earth vegetable mix number 9," he ordered.  With a soft buzzing whirr, a covered platter materialized before him.  Stomach growling in anticipation, K'Tan took the platter to his table and sat down.  His mouth watered as he pictured himself biting into the tender cut of meat. 

His sartorial concerns temporarily forgotten, K'Tan removed the lid from the platter with a flourish, then froze in shock.

Sitting on the plate before him was a mass of sickly-yellow tube grubs. 

The Lieutenant slammed the lid back on the platter with a clang, and sprung to his feet.  "This is not Roast Targ and vegetable mix number 9!" 

K'Tan shivered in revulsion.  Having been raised as a Klingon, he had a firm appreciation for many aspects of his adoptive culture.  He had not, however, developed a taste for eating bugs.  In fact, during his youth, it had taken roughly a dozen fist fights to convince his peers not to tease him about his fear of gagh.  Hell; he'd even won a few of them.

The hint of a smile formed on K'Tan's face.  Good times, he thought.

K'Tan returned the platter to the replicator, and after watching it disappear in a shimmering swirl of lights, turned to exit his quarters.  Perhaps I'll have better luck in 5-forward, he thought to himself.  As the door whispered closed behind him, K'Tan strode down the gently curving hallway.  Thinking back on his last visit to the Tiberius' main lounge, he felt his mood steadily improving.  Food always seemed to taste better in social settings. 

Sargent Mike Tarent looked down at the holographic gameboard in front of him and sighed. He couldn't think of a single way to get his entrenched batallion away from incoming mech group that had almost miraculously appeared from nowhere on his rear flank. He looked accross the board at the large Orion officer lazily sitting back in his chair, casually smoking a foul smelling black cigar, and blowing smoke rings accross the board.

"Dammit Tain", said Tarent, "how the hell did you sneak that group over there? I'm gettin real tired of losing like this. You sure you ain't got this sim rigged?"

Tain looked over at Tarent with a look of pure innocence.

"Now Mikey", said Tain with a grin, "you have know me for near on 20 years. Would I do something like that??"

Tarent glared back at Tain.

"It's the fact I've know you that long that makes me ask the question Lieuntenant!! Bah..the game is yours....again!"

Mike Tarent ordered the computer to reset the sim.

"Let's try this again. I've made some interesting changes in the parameters of this map, let's see how you cope... Mudric! You make the first move"

Tarent grinned as he watched Cedric Tain grimace at nickname Tarent had gifted him with the many years ago. As he watched Tain look over the board and start distributing his troups, his he couldn't help but think about the irony of Tains new situation. Tarent had know Tain when he was a shiney new recruit. The kid was born to be a soldier. Tarent watched as the youngster rose through the enlisted ranks, and showed over and over his leadership. Tain had always followed the orders of his officers, from all apparent appearances, although he generally joked of their incompetence with his fellow non-coms. You could always tell the incompetent officers though, they rarely lasted. Whether it was a request for transfer, or an accident, the never seemed to last long. Tarent thought it was very ironic that Tain was now an officer himself, something that Tarent needled him about constantly. Although he wouldn't make a big deal out of it, Mike Tarent was very pleased that Tain had been assigned to the Tiberius. These days old friends were hard to come by.

Tarent was jerked back to the present by Tain annoucing that he was done with his setup and it was Mikes turn. As Mike turned to the board to begin anaylizing his move, the board seemed to waver. He felt himself getting lightheaded, and off balance. This was followed by a blinding headache.

"Man Ced", said Tarent, "I feel like it just got a boot to the head. I think I am gonna have to call it a game for now and get back to my quarters."

Cedric laughed.

"What's a matter Mikey, not up for another razing?"

Tain noticed the look of pain that was written on Tarents face.

"Oh wow, you do look like your in pain. Maybe you should head down to sickbay, and see if there is anything wrong."

Tarent waved off Tain.

"Ha, it's gonna take more then a headache to get this old horse to see those vultures! I'll be fine, just need to get some shuteye. You know, it's probably the smoke from that stinkin thing you call a cigar giving me a headache."

Tarent elabroately waved the smoke from the air and headed towards the door.

"I'll be back tomorrow when I am off duty to take my revenge on you Tain. Don't you go messin with any of the setup of that sim!! I'll know if you do!"

Tain watched his old friend leave the room and quickly started looking at the parameters of the game sim.

"Nothin sayin I can't just look though,is there??"

Tain smiled as he tried to delicately hack the sim, but stopped almost as soon as he started. He told the computer to save the sim as it was and sat back in his chair. He couldn't exactly say why, but for some reason he had a really bad feeling about his old friend. He almost opened a channel to Tarent to ask him if he was alright, but stopped himself.

"Bloody fool", he said to himself, "ain't nothing wrong with that old goat that didn't come from not driking synthahol. I call him and he is just gonna call me an old dothering nanny. I ain't gonna give him the pleasure"

Tain snubbed out his cigar and prepared to hit the sack.

As the doors to 5-forward swept open, K'Tan's ears were assaulted by what sounded like a party in full-swing.  The vast room was almost filled to capacity, and there was an eclectic mix of both uniformed and civilian patrons eating and drinking at the various booths, tables, and barstools. 

At a booth near one of the large viewports flanking the bar, he saw a particularly boisterous group.  Three uniformed men and a woman, all wearing Ops gold, were laughing and pointing at another officer who appeared to have fallen out of his seat. 

Glancing from the officer sprawled on the floor to the numerous empty glasses and tankards scattered across the table, K'Tan figured that synthahol might have played a role in the scene playing out before him.  As the tall, female officer bent down to help her comrade back into his seat, K'Tan smiled to himself.  The scene reminded him of the mess hall of a Klingon ship, where the warriors played with at least as much vigor as they fought. 

This looks like my kind of group, he thought with a smile, and slowly made his way to the booth. 

As he waded through the milling crowd, he caught the eye of one of the harried waiters.  As the waiter quickly and efficiently wiped down one of the few unoccupied tables, K'Tan tapped him on the shoulder.  Looking up, the waiter asked "Can I help you, sir?"

"I was just wondering," K'Tan rumbled, "why it seems busier than normal in here.  Is there some kind of holiday or something?" 

"I wish I knew," the waiter replied.  "Business seems to have really taken off in the last few days.  I guess people are just tired of eating in their quarters."

As the waiter rushed off, K'Tan stepped up to the booth and loudly cleared his throat.  The tall, dark-haired female officer looked up with a challenging grin. 

"Well, what do we have here," she exclaimed with a smile.  "Another Yellow-Shirt.  Pull up a chair, friend, and join us!" 

As K'tan took a seat, one of the male officers slid a mug of something down the table to him and flashed a smile.

"Drink up, buddy!",  the balding man said, then turned to glance at the bleary-eyed floor-sprawler sitting beside him.  "I don't think Lt. Johnson here wants anymore."

Warming to the boisterous group, K'Tan felt himself smiling.  "Thanks, but I'll pass.  I never did like synthehol.  Drinking it feels too much like playing 'make-believe'."

As the group broke out into a fresh bout of laughter, K'Tan looked about in mild confusion.

The Female officer gave him a solid slap on the back.  "Who said anything about synthehol," she said with a wink. 

"I've got a few connections," she continued.   "This here is the real mccoy; pure, unadulterated saurian brandy."  The woman noded to the glass before K'Tan.  "Help yourself," she said with a grin.  "Unless, of course, you're afraid."

Meeting the woman's piercing blue stare, K'Tan returned her grin and took a long pull of the potent drink.  Eyes stinging from the vapors rising off of the brandy, K'Tan finished it in three determined swallows, then slammed the empty glass on the table.  The drink blazed a trail of icy-fire down his throat, then settled in his stomach, creating a warm, pleasant, glow.  As the warmth slowly spread from his stomach to suffuse his whole body, K'Tan was faintly aware of the cheers of his new friends. 

"That's what I'm talking about," someone yelled.  "Bartender; another round!"

A joint post by Jen and Iceman
---

Ryla Dret looked up to see Doctor Lucas leveling her with an icy stare. The man looked like warmed over Tibble feces—but she wasn't about to tell him that. She loathed confrontation and did just about everything she could to avoid its unpleasantness—especially with regards to "Doctor Ima Jerk". He made it know to the medical staff that he wasn't very fond of happy people, so Ryla decided to avoid his crotchetiness—for fear that it may be contagious.  The middle-aged terran looked flushed and his forehead was beaded with perspiration...he didn't look well at all. She had asked if he was ill, but he waved her off with a boorish gesture and continued to work.

As the Trill busied herself with various mundane duties around sickbay, she recounted an earlier event... 

Ryla watched the fresh-faced young officer as he approached the transparent double doors of Sickbay. The ensign had a bounce in his step that made her smile—he entered, looked about the room and approach Doctor Lucas. "Ensign Took from Engineering, sir. I discovered three infected bio gel packs. Procedure requires me..."

The stodgy Lucas cut him off, "yes. Yes... I know. Hand them over." Without bothering to look up from his work, Doctor Lucas stretched out his hand to receive the hermetically sealed package that contained the biohazard in question.

Ryla watched the young man's bright smile fade slightly...it was then she decided to intervene.  "Hello, Ensign. I'm Doctor Dret, but you can call me Ryla," she said amiably as she drew near the two. "What do you have there Mr. Took?"

The young ensign glanced at Ryla, then back at Lucas who happened to be shooting daggers at the Trill that had intercepted the bio gel.  "Three infected gel packs, ma'am," he answered as he passed her the packet.

She ignored Lucas's heavy glare, "thank you, Ensign. If you have the time, I'll show you how we process these thingy-ma-bobs after we receive them from your department." She knew what they were called, but enjoyed the fact that the substitute word bothered Doctor Lucas—he reacted as though she had called his mother a bloated targ.

Ensign Took sidestepped the frigid terran who had been so rude, and followed Ryla. "Sure. I have a few minutes, he said as he returned her smile."

While Ryla scanned the bio gel packs, she looked up at Took who had felt Doctor Lucas's eyes on his back and turned to glance at the coarse physician.  Dret cleared her throat to gain the young man's attention, "don't you pay any attention to him Mr. Took—he's just having a bad day."

She then proceeded to make small talk with the ensign, and by the end of the bio gel processing, Took had invited her to join a small group on his Camelot program's first run. 'A kindred spirit,' she thought as her mind surfaced from her recollection.

She glanced up to see Doctor Peterson rubbing his temples once more. Headaches weren't common these days, and she was beginning to worry about him. She set down her medical tricorder and strode towards his office on the opposite side of the room. He glanced up and smiled as she knocked on the translucent wall. "Please come in," he said.

"Sir, did you receive my report on the gel packs?" she asked.

"Yes, I did. Thank you Doctor Dret."

While continuing to massage his temples, Dr Peterson's shifted his eyes back to her report. "I've been working too hard lately...I needed to get some sleep soon", he thought.

Peterson glanced up at Dr. Dret again and asked, "what do you make of these findings? They don't make sense to me. This virus seems to be mutating at a rapid rate. In fact, it's changing so rapidly that the my scanner can't keep track of the variations."

Dret examined the microscan and witnessed the rapidly replicating organism. "It's extremely dynamic to say the least— you're right, it's producing high yield, short replicating viral quasispecies at an alarming rate. I've never seen anything like it, Doctor."

"Would you report these findings to the Engineering? I will send the results to the Captain and Commander Sevyll," said Peterson.

"Please repeat the tests on the Gel Pack as soon as possible... Let me know how the results of your second analysis turn out. If they are similar, I will ask Commander Sevryll to take a look. I will be in my quarters for the next few hours... please notify me of the results once they are ready."

"Yes, sir," replied Ryla.

Joint Post Startrekfanatic5 & Jen

Ensign Took exited Captain Quinn's quarters, "have a good day Nathan, I'll see you tomorrow." Nic smiled as the doors slid shut and Nathan turned to start cleaning up the breakfast table.

As he worked, the Captain could hear Phil and Grant squeaking at him from their cage near by, and he walked over to peer in on them. "What are you guys going on about? You want some food?" He grabbed a left over piece of French Toast and dropped it into their cage. The rodents attacked it hungrily. "Man you guys act like I never feed you," he chuckled. He watched them for a brief moment before finishing up the cleaning, straightened his tunic and headed out of his quarters to start his day. Nathan passed several crewmen in the corridor; each nodded and said "good morning", as he made his way to Sickbay.

The doors of the medical bay parted obediently, and he entered with a confident stride. Ryla saw him coming, quickly straightened her lab coat and greeted him, "Hello, Captain."

"Hello, is Doctor Peterson around?" He asked.

"I'm sorry sir, Doctor Peterson is off duty. Is there anything I can do for you?" replied Ryla brightly.

"Yes.  Ensign Took dropped off a few infected gel packs this morning. I was wondering if the had been analyzed yet."

"Yes sir. Before he left, Doctor Peterson said he sent the lab results to you."

"Hum, I just checked my communiqués... I received nothing from Peterson," said Quinn as he scratched his chin thoughtfully.

"He was so tired when he left... he may have forgotten. I'll pull them up for you right away." Nathan followed Ryla into her modest office, and sat as she gestured to a small stool near her desk.  She blushed as she watched him shift uncomfortably upon it. "I'm sorry Captain, I don't usually receive many visitors in my office."

"Oh, don't worry about it—it will keep me humble," he said with a smile.
Ryla quickly accessed the microscan imagery on her terminal and pivoted the monitor to show the captain.

"I'm currently running the tests again, to verify the results. But as you can see, this is an extremely prolific and aggressive virus. No one in our staff has ever seen anything like it. Doctor Peterson said he would contact Engineering to notify them of our findings, but perhaps we should make sure they receive his message."

Quinn sat there for a moment looking over the data, he had never seen anything like it before. So many questions were forming in his mind. How did the packs get infected? Did we catch it in time or has it spread to more of the gel packs?  Can we fix or cure them? Quinn noticed Ryla staring at him. "I'm sorry Doctor, I've never seen anything replicate to quickly before. I need to get down to engineering immediately. Please keep me informed on your progress. I want you to make this a priority."

Ryla nodded, "Yes sir"

Quinn stood adjusted his tunic and headed out of sickbay.

Isaac was lost deep in thought as he rounded a corner in the corridor when all of the sudden, a fuzzy hairball ran past his leg.  Not a half second later, another big furry thing bumped into his leg.  Being unprepared for such an attack, Isaac fell onto his rump.

"What in the world was that?" he asked aloud.  He was getting up when he heard two sets of feet padding on the floor and giggling.  As they passed around the corner, he saw two children.  They were running too fast to stop so he held out his arms to catch them.  As he caught them, the force of the two kids forced him onto his back and he felt it instantly complain.  He didn't recognize the two little things which had stopped laughing.  From the look of their ears, they were Vulcan.  They got off his chest and the girl touched his hand and looked at Isaac concerned while the boy asked, "are you alright?"  Coughing a little, Isaac responded, "yes, I'm alright."

He heard more footsteps and around the corner came Margon and Aeric. 

They stopped and both raised their eyes at Isaac and then Margon asked, "are you alright Isaac?" 

"I feel like I got hit by a train." Isaac said in between coughing.  He looked at the children then said, "it looks like I was hit by one". 

"You're lucky it wasn't a sehlat." Aeric said as he looked at the fallen ensign as Isaac tried to get into a sitting position but cringed as pain racked his body.

"My apologies Isaac, I'm afraid my cat has started this little mess." replied Margon. 

"So that was the fuzzball that ran by me" said Isaac grimacing.  "I don't suppose you know what could have hit me in the leg as it wasn't these little ones."

"I would assume that it was Laika, a dog I brought to entertain the kids." answered Aeric.

Isaac sat up and raised an eyebrow at Aeric.  "A dog." he confirmed.  "I have harmless little Sugar Gliders and there are apparently dangerous animals onboard.  Where is a Captain when you need him?" Isaac said jokingly and grimacing while still slightly coughing.

"Probably making sure that his command crew aren't bringing pets to staff meetings." Aeric said flatly as if wondering the purpose of the joke the ensign made. Normally he might have checked on the health of the ensign, but his mind was currently more focused on the children and the data that Laika's action were generating.  Isaac felt stung by the remark but said nothing of it. 

"You should go to the sickbay Isaac." said Margon. 

"I'll be alright. Besides, those pets should be caught before they do more damage." said Isaac. 

"We can gather them." said Aeric as he considered if the ensign was competent enough to look after the children. "You should wait here with the children.  She should be right behind us." 

Isaac nodded in agreement and began to gather the children together as the two officers continued down the hallway.  He looked at the two children and wondered what their names were.

He asked with a smile, "What are your names?"  The little boy looked back at him after following Aeric's departure while the little girl continued to look at Isaac concerned.  "I'm N'val and she is M'rynn.  What is your name?" replied the boy. 

Isaac answered, "my name is Isaac. Your mother's name is Commander Sevryll, correct?"  The children nodded their heads in confirmation.  "Alright then, lets start heading back to your mother then."  He worried they would just run away from him, but the boy seemed to trust him, and the girl seemed to trust her brother.

Isaac was getting up from the floor when he saw Sevryll turn a corner, walking calmly in their direction. Isaac greeted her immediately,  "Hello Commander."  Sevryll looked at Isaac and then at her children.  "Hello Mr. Starstriker, I see you've met my children."

"Yes, you could say that."  Isaac smiled through a grimace as a twinge of pain stabbed at his back. 

"Are you alright?" asked Sevryll. 

"Yea, I'm fine, I just happened to be in the way of a train."  She raised an eyebrow.  "Train?"  Isaac pointed to the two children who had run to their mother.  She nodded in understanding. 

"Come N'val, M'rynn."  Sevryll thanked Isaac... and noticed blotch of blue color at his sleeve.  An instant later, it was gone.... 'Odd,' she thought. 

"Well, if you'll excuse me Commander, I'll be on my way."  replied Isaac.  "Of course," she replied. "Thank you for your assistance," she said wondering where Margon and Aeric were.  Isaac turned around and headed for his quarters with three pairs of eyes following him.


King Linksr

Joint post by Just X and Moyer777

The corridor of the Akira Class starship shutter from slight random shifts in the gravity level as the lighting flickered intermittently. Aeric and Margon moved rapidly after the holographic dog and its prey as they turned into a completely darkened section of the ship.  Leaning on one of the dimly lit walls for support, the lieutenant called out to the canine that had halted before a completely shadowed section of the hallway.

"Warning depressurization detected. Deck two, section 21" Came the slightly slower than normal voice of the main computer. Only a few meters behind the two officers, the blue flicker of a containment forcefield was the only hint of possible danger.

"Laika, return." Aeric spoke towards the animal in an elevated voice. Upon hearing the command, the small dog quickly turned to face him and eagerly moved to his side.  If the computer was correct, they were losing breathable atmosphere from somewhere in the section that they currently occupied.

Margon chuckled.  "I wish I could get my cat to come to me like that.  Is it me or do I feel a slight loss of gravity?"

"He is a hologram Counselor and you are right about the gravity." Aeric said flatly, much more concerned at what the ship was doing now.

"James to engineering," Aeric said after quickly tapping his com badge only to receive a short series of chirps that informed him of an inability to contact the department. "James to Captain Quinn."

Again the lieutenant was greeted with the series of chirps that signaled a loss of communications. Reaching out with his mind, he tried to directly interface with the systems only to be met with an almost mind numbing static. Aeric quickly pulled his thoughts back to himself and looked at the councilor.

"It seems that shipboard communications are down in this section and I can't seem to mentally access them either," Aeric said as he wiped his fingers across his brow.

"Great" said the counselor sarcastically.

Laika stood almost motionlessly at the lieutenant's feet as he pushed himself from the wall. With the gravity reduced, Aeric found that his slight push from the wall almost sent him crashing into the other side. Catching himself before he impacted, Aeric turned to Margon. "It looks like we might be on our own until I can establish alternate means of communication."

Down the hall the councilor and the lieutenant could see the fingers of other crew members as they attempted to release themselves from the non-functional doors to their quarters. With the main computer not responding to his combadge, they would manually have to alter the transmission frequency in hopes of getting help.

In an almost comical moment, Mr. Mouse floated toward the counselor.  He quickly scooped the feline into his arms and embraced him.  "You ok little fella?"  The cat just clung to him.  The gravity came back on slamming objects and people to the floor.  Cries for help came from several quarters and then gravity was lost again. 

"Looks like we need to help people lieutenant.  Perhaps we could get communications working so we can beam us out of this section."  Margon tapped his com badge, but to no avail.  "Try that mental thing you do again" the counselor urged trying to smile. "I'm afraid I'm not much for frequency modifications, but I can see if people need help."

Aeric nodded to Margon as he focused his thought on the two com badges and worked to alter their transmission frequencies. What should have been a minor effort was quite taxing to the lieutenant and after several second, he had made little progress and the increasing levels of pain forced him to pause in his work.

"I'm still getting some sort of interference," Aeric said as he clung to the wall and held his now throbbing head. "I'm going to need to find tools to do this by hand."

It would take more time trying to mentally adjust the devices than it would to just find the tools they needed as they helped their trapped colleagues.  Aeric knew that if he could just get the badges adjusted, he could open a channel directly to Aurora and begin to move the injured and trapped to better sections of the ship.  Without a tricorder, Aeric had know clue how fast they were venting atmosphere, but he did have the dog.

"Laika, one bark for yes and two for no," Aeric said as he looked at the dog. "Is your connection to the Aurora still active."

One bark.

Aeric nodded slowly once his pain subsided a bit, he could use that connection to contact the shuttle. In his current state of distress, he couldn't even reach the shuttle with a direct mental connection.  "Does your sensors detect atmospheric loss?"

Two barks.

Aeric smiled as he slumped against the wall. There was still a danger, but it wasn't as critical as he first imagined. They still needed to help people and that was the priority. Aeric moved on shaky feet as he followed the councilor deeper into the darkened section. His pain would have to wait, there were people that needed them. "Laika, follow. We need to see what we can do about helping these people."

Joint Post Startrekfanatic5 & BryanCD

Quinn quickly walked down the corridor heading toward engineering. This new development in the gel packs could be devastating to the ship if it spreads. As usual Quinn's mind was racing, he could hear the voices of the entire crew, but as he was trained he would push them down to a low mummer. Suddenly everything went quiet.

Quinn stopped in his tracks, panic started to creep into his heart. Before he could do anything the mummer was back. Quinn took a deep breath and slightly shook his head and continued down the hallway to engineering.

As he entered engineering Lt. Commander K'arath spotted him and approached. "Captain!!"

Quinn stopped and looked up, "Commander there might be a problem. I'm sure you are aware of the three infected gel packs that Ensign Took removed from jefferies tube 36 earlier this morning. K'arath nodded, "It's more serious then your average malfunctioning gel packs. They are infected with some sort of virus and replicating at extraordinary rate. I have sickbay working on what type of virus and how to fix or cure it. We need to check every gel pack on board and make sure there are no others infected. If we don't catch this soon it can have catastrophic consequences for the Tiberius

K'arth's brow furrowed as the Captains comment sunk in. Ever since their first use in the Intrepid Class vessels, he had been wary of the bio-mechanical gel packs. Anything which couldn't be repaired with a hydro-spanner or good old fashion wrench as never to an engineers liking. He couldn't very well send the warp core to sick bay, could he? He glanced over his shoulder at a clearly nervous Lt. Plummer, who had stayed well beyond her duty shift following Ensign Took's discovery. "Lt. Plummer, begin a level one diagnostic of all systems, report any anomaly's !" K'arath barked.

Quinn nodded, "Very good Commander please keep me informed of your progress."  Quinn turned to leave when suddenly the ship shook. "What was that??" Quinn asked as he turned back to K'arath.

"Status!" K'arath now bellowed across the Engineering room.

"Depressurization detected. Deck two, section 21! Containment fields are holding!" came the worried response from Lt. Plummer.

K'arath looked at the concern on his Captains face as well as something else, as Quinn's hand pressed on his temple."I want a rescue and repair team dispatched now! We may have crew stranded behind the field!" K'arath bellowed.

For the second time in a matter of minutes the voices in Quinn's head went out only for a few seconds. Quinn turned to K'arath, "I need to get to the bridge now!!!" he said has he rushed through the doors into the corridors.

After they said their goodbyes, Ensign Starstriker returned to his quarters and the vulcan woman headed back to her own with two youngsters in tow. M'rynn and N'Vall walked beside their mother, as she patiently explained why they should never leave their quarters without her. Her son started to articulate his reasons for chasing the animals, when the lights abruptly blinked out in the corridor.

The willowy woman reassured her toddlers with soft words as M'rynn began to whimper quietly. An instant later, a blue force field hummed to life before them, startling the children. "I am with you. Everything will be alright," said Sevryll in a soothing tone. "N'vall...I will need you to release my hand so that I can call for help." The boy loosened his grip reluctantly before transitioning his grasp to the fabric of her pant leg.  The commander tapped her badge "Sevryll to the bridge." The combadge responded with a labored chirp, followed by static. She repeated her call and received the same response, then turned the twins in the opposite direction and quickly proceeded down the corridor. The gravity relaxed slightly, causing the children to stumble as they walked, but soon N'vall's fear was gone as he discovered he could jump further if he let go of his mother's leg. The three vulcanoids continued through the passageway until they encountered Lieutenant James and Counselor Margon.

Isaac was just about to enter his quarters when the lights suddenly blinked out in the corridor.  He reached his door and they wouldn't open.  He immediately reached his mind out to his Sugar Gliders and they were awake and a little frightened.  He soothed them with his mind then withdrew it. 

"Ensign Starstriker to bridge"  nothing.  "Ensign Starstriker to bridge"  still nothing. 

He tried to reach out with his mind but found it blocked by interference.  'What in the world??  My mind has never been stopped by interference before.  What is the meaning of this?!' 

Deciding that the only solution was meet up with crewman, he headed in the direction that Margon and Aeric had gone.  He wondered if Aeric disliked him.  Not having invaded his mind, as it would have been unintelligent, but Aeric had been seemingly cold towards Isaac.  It might have been that he was more concerned about the dog.  Isaac could not be sure.

A minute later he found himself with Lieutenant James, Counselor Margon and Commander Sevryll and her children.  "Anyone know what is going on here?" Isaac asked.


King

In five forward, the decibel level seemed to be steadily rising.  k'tan lifted his glass in salute to the five other gold-shirts sharing the booth. 

"Q'plah!" he shouted, then tossed back the glass of brandy.

Being accustomed to the much stronger bloodwine that was more or less a staple on Klingon ships, K'Tan felt confident that he could handle one or two more glasses before he reached his limit.  As he slammed down his empty glass, one of the officers sitting across form him finished off his own drink, then stood up. 

"I'd better call it a night," the balding man said.  "I go on duty in 10 hours; I think I better get some sleep before then."  He turned to nudge the semiconscious man slumped in the seat next to him.

"wake up, Johnson; I'll help you back to your quarters."

As the officer led his bleary-eyed friend towards the exit, the raven-haired woman on the other side of the table moved over occupy the newly vacated seat.   She took a moment to refill her glass, then smiled at K'Tan.

"My name is Tara; I work in security.  I don't think I've seen you around.  Did you just transfer here?" 

"My name is k'Tan," the Lieutenant replied.  "I recently transferred here from the U.S.S. Ranger.  I haven't really had a chance to settle into a routine yet, but my training is in Tactical and Security.  I'm sure that we will get a chance to work together before too long."

With a mischievous grin, Tara replied "I can't wait.  I just hope you can keep up," she added with a wink. 

One of the  two officers sitting next to her gave an exaggerated groan.  "Oh boy; here we go again."  He gave his comrade a friendly punch in the shoulder, then said "That's our cue, man.  Let's let these two finish off the brandy, and see if sickbay has something to head off a possible hangover."  The officers left, leaving K'Tan and Tara alone with a still mostly-full bottle of saurian brandy.

K'Tan found himself unable to tear his eyes away from the woman's face.  Although he was human, he had always considered Klingon women to be the epitome of beauty, no doubt a result of his having grown up on a Klingon world.  Human women had never seemed  to have as much spirit as their Klingon counterparts.  But there was something about this woman... 

At first glance, she was, quite simply, stunning.  Her hair, which flowed around her shoulders like a waterfall of shimmering black silk, seemed to call out for him to touch it.  As she smiled at him, he was taken aback by her gleaming, pearly white teeth, which provided a striking contrast to the deep, coffee-bronze tan of her flawless skin.  As she playfully arched an eyebrow at him, K'Tan felt as though he was drowning in her shimmering, dark-blue eyes.

But it wasn't just her good looks that had K'Tan in a daze.  The woman seemed to have the heart of a warrior.  Something about the way she carried herself; something about the fearless, joyful manner in which she seemed to embrace life reminded him of the fierce pride embodied by many Klingon women.  It reminded him of his lost love, K'Lara...

K'Tan was brought out of his daze by the sudden, insistent snapping of Tara's fingers just inches away from his face.  "Snap out of it buddy," she said with a smile.  As K'Tan smiled back sheepishly, she tacked on " Maybe you need to take it easy on the drinks."

K'Tan chuckled softly.  "I assure you; it would take more than a couple of glasses of saurian brandy to put me out.  I was just thinking about an old friend.  You sort of remind me of her."

Suddenly, the lights in the lounge flickered, then went out. 

The jovial bantering of the patrons abruptly ceased, leaving a stark silence echoing in the tomb-dark room.

Seconds later, the lights cut back on, revealing dozens of puzzled, anxious faces looking around in confusion.

"What the hell?" Tara said, rising quickly from her seat.  She tapped her combadge.   

"Stass to Security Chief Manrique." There was no response. 

She tapped the badge a second time. "Stass to Lt. Tain." 

Once again, her call was met with silence. 

Tara slapped the cap back on the bottle of brandy, and slid it across the table to K'tan. 

"Consider this a 'welcome aboard' gift.  Sorry to cut things short, but I need to report to security." 

Shedding her previous jovial, carefree demeanor, Tara seemed suddenly cloaked in an air of cool professionalism.  As she headed towards the exit, K'Tan couldn't help but steal a last appreciative glance at her. 

K'Tan stood, tucking the bottle under his left arm, and made his way to the exit as well.  Suddenly, the ship gave a brief but violent shudder. 

As shouts of fear and alarm rang out in the lounge, K'Tan tossed the bottle to a passing waiter and spun to address the  crowd. 

Raising his voice to carry above the din of confused voices, K'Tan called out,  "Everyone, please remain calm." 

As the crowd turned to face him, he donned a mask of calm confidence; an expression that was totally at odds with the apprehension he felt growing in his gut. 

"The Tiberius is one of the most well-designed ships in the fleet.  It would take a hell of a lot more than a little interstellar turbulence to threaten her structural integrity," he added with a smile.   

As he scanned the room, K'Tan tried to make eye contact with each of  the uniformed personnel scattered throughout the crowd. 

"I'm certain that the Captain and the command crew have the situation well in hand.  Unfortunately, intra-ship communications seem to be temporarily offline.  Enlisted personnel might want to check in with their department heads to see if there are any updates.  Everyone else, please; enjoy your meals."

As the din of the crowd started to return to normal, K'Tan resumed his march to the exit. 

I may as well see if I can be of assistance somewhere, he thought as he stepped out into the corridor.

Ryla analyzed the results of her second test; they were the same as the first, except the aggressiveness of the organism  had increased exponentially. The Trill twisted a lock of hair as she recorded the outcome, and tapped her combadge, "Dret to Doctor Peterson." The badge made an awkward retort of off-key chirps, followed by silence... She bit her bottom lip then tried again only to receive an equivalent response.

Doctor Dret exited her cramped office and strode onto the floor of Sickbay. "Doctor Lucas, my badge seems to be malfunctioning. Can you use your's?" He met her pleasant face with an unenthusiastic gaze and tapped his badge dramatically—it made a similar noise before falling silent. Reticent, Lucas turned his attention back to his work; ignoring the cheerful blond once more.

"I'll take that as a NO," she said sardonically. "Well, Doctor Peterson asked me to keep him apprised of my progress on the virus...I'll have to inform him in person." Lucas grunted in reply as Doctor Dret left Sickbay.

Ryla was about to announce her presence at Peterson's door when the deck shuddered beneath her feet. A low rumble quickly followed the quake, as the lighting flickered about her in the corridor. The petite Trill threw a hand against the doorframe to keep her balance and attempted to signal Peterson by pressing the door chime...just like the combadges, it refused to operate.

She rapped her knuckles on the door three times, "Doctor Peterson? Sir? It's Ryla Dret..." A stirring within his quarters met her ears before the door cracked open. Ryla strained as she helped Peterson manually force it wider.

"It looks like our fear of a bio pack epidemic has become a reality, Dret." Said the CMO in a gravely voice. The physical exertion caused Casey's head to pound once more and he wandered back into his quarters and lowered himself in a chair. He looked like a hermit to Ryla, for had grown a Five O'clock shadow, his hair was a mess and he was still wearing his wrinkled, sloppy sleepwear.  He squeezed his eyes closed as a stab of pain struck his temples.

Ryla frowned in reaction, "Sir, let me treat your headache—come back to sickbay with me... after we take care of the pain, I'll show you the results of the second test on the contaminated gel packs." Peterson nodded and they headed to Sickbay together.

As they approached the transparent double doors of the medical bay, Ryla could see that Doctor Lucas was standing at her station. "The power seems to be functioning in this section," said Casey as the doors hissed open. When Lucas noticed their approach, he casually left her station and returned to his own. Ryla's eyes followed him as she picked up a medical tricorder and a hypospray. The CMO took a seat at his desk, and watched as Ryla checked on her station. She looked into her microscanner then abruptly rose wearing an expression of shock. She shot Doctor Lucas a glare and quickly crossed the floor to confront him. Peterson strained to hear their conversation, but Ryla kept her voice smooth and low.

"What were you doing at my station Lucas?" she whispered through grit teeth. "The Molecular surface of the virus is showing protein spikes... so now it's a Rhinovirus?  You expect me to believe it just morphed into a simple cold? You replaced it, didn't you? Why?"  Doctor Lucas feigned a look of shock... then his face transformed into an expression of pain. He attempted to swallow a cough, but it erupted violently and he leaned against the table to brace himself. The Trill noticed that the sweat that had beaded on his forehead earlier was now coming down his face in salty streams. Working her jaw in irritation, she flipped open her medical scanner and passed it over the sickly man. "You're running a high fever. Let me help you lay down." She reached for his arm, but he pulled it away with a tug and moved to the other side Sickbay, coughing and choking as he walked to his office. The Trill eyed him suspiciously before returning to Doctor Peterson.

She scanned the Chief Medical Officer as he sat in his chair. "Doctor Lucas is ill and so are you, sir. Your symptoms are not the same, but you both have the virus that has infected the gel packs." Ryla prepared a hypo and administered a pain reliever to Casey. "This should take care of the pain.  The scan indicates you've been partaking of alcohol. Don't drink the brandy anymore... it will only make things worse doctor... you should know that." She favored him with a knowing smile before asking him to get into a biobed.

He started to protest but she fixed him with an iron expression, "Fine, but just until the pain goes away." He said with a smirk.

As Peterson laid back, they both heard a clanging in the back of Sickbay. "I'll check on it...you rest." Peterson's eyes were beginning to get heavy. What he didn't know was that Ryla had administered a long-lasting pain relieving sleep-aid.

Doctor Dret entered Lucas's small office to find him face down on the floor. Ryla immediately called out for a nurse and they carried him to another biobed. By the time his head hit the pillow... he was dead. Ryla Dret slowly closed her tricorder and cast a troubled glanced up at the nurse and then towards the unconscious Doctor Peterson... She had no idea how long the CMO had before he too succumbed to the virus.

"We should test ourselves, " she said in a nervous tone to the nurse.

Two scans later, and Ryla found them both to be virus free. "We need to inform the Captain, but the comm. system is down... I need you to find him... tell him that we may have a larger situation on our hands."

Tain made his way towards Sgt Mike Tarents quarters. Normally that would be an easy thing, but with the lights flashing on and off, and the ship shuddering, it proved to be difficult. Tain rang the chime, but there was no answer. He knew Tarent was in there, as he he had called off his shift complaining of not feeling well. Tain banged on the door.

"Mike... you in there?", yelled Tain.

After no answer he used his security code to bypass the lock. He walked in the room and was met with the sight of Sgt. Mike Tarent lying awkwardly on the floor. Tain ran over to his fallen friend.

"Mike!!! Come on Mike, get up!", said Tain as his mind raced. Tain saw right away there was something horribly wrong. He check his friends pulse, and pulled his hand away in surprise. The cold that Tain felt from his hand shot directly to his heart. The only person left in the galaxy that Tain considered family lie dead on the floor in front of him.

Tain almost broke his comm badge with the vicousness of his strike.

"Sickbay!!! This is a medical emergency! Send an emergency med team to this location immediately!!"

Tain could barely hear the acknowledgement over the roar that was building in his head. He knew what it was, as he'd dealt with it since he was a child. Overwhelming, uncontrollable rage. He fought it as best he could while waiting for the medical team.

He looked down at he dead friend and something happened that Tain hadn't experienced since he was a child. Tain had actually begun to think that it was physically impossible for him. It had never happened during all the death and carnage he had experienced in all his years in the Fleet. Not once while viewing the atrocities that supposedly advanced species inflicted on each other.

As he looked down at his friend, one single tear rolled down Cedric Tains face.

Quinn was heading toward the turbolift when he pressed his comm badge. "Quinn to Sevryll... Captain Quinn to Commander Sevryll" Nothing happened.

He entered the turbolift and said "Bridge" The computer doubled chirped but the doors did not close. Quinn said once again "Bridge" but still nothing happened.

Quinn exited the turbolift and thought to himself "This is going to be a long day". Just then Nurse Galloway approached him out of breath. "Sir, Doctor Lucas is dead, Doctor Peterson is very ill and Doctor Dret needs to see you immediately." Quinn stared at the panicked nurse then began to run down the corridor towards sickbay.

As he was running his comm badge chirped "K'arath to Captain Quinn", Quinn slowed to a fast walk and pressed his comm badge. "Go for Quinn", "Sir we have bypassed the infected gel packs and currently have communications back up. We are still working on the other issues, we should have them up and running in now time.." Quinn began to run again "Thank you Commander please keep me informed of your progress."

Quinn turned the corner and entered Sickbay, there were 20 to 25 people in there, some lying on biobeds and some sitting on the floor. Quinn approached Doctor Dret. "Report Doctor"

"Acknowledged!" K'arath replied to the Captain who had already shut off his combadge. He looked around Main Engineering which resembled in many ways the circulatory system of a very large animal. The rerouting of primary systems had resulted in gel pack connections which stretched across the floor, hung above their head, even wound their way around the warp core. Although effective temporarily in restoring main systems, the chaos of the fix rubbed him the wrong way. Emergency teams had been sent to the effected section to initiate more permanent on site repairs. The situation remained tenuous and he hoped Sickbay could come up with a cure for what was ailing his ship.

joint post by Jen and Startrekfanitic5
---

"Report Doctor," said Quinn as the doors to Sickbay closed behind him.
Ryla presented the Captain with a grim expression and gestured to the patients. "Everyone of these individuals has been infected with the virus that contaminated the bio gel packs. With the exception of two, the majority of the victims are telepaths...twenty in all. Two of those individuals are human, and both are dead; possibly due to protracted exposure to the virus or weakened immune systems." She walked to biobed to monitor a new patient. Quinn watched her step away, and followed her a second later. 

Ryla brushed the hair from an unconscious man's face as she continued, "because of larger number of telepathic patients, I believe the pathogenesis began in one of them. It's too soon to know for sure, but I believe the initial route of entry for this virus, was through telepathic contact. It's just a guess, but it's possible the virus spread through a ship-wide mental probe, which infected the remaining telepaths as well as the bio packs. This virus is replicating and mutating at an alarming rate, and I believe it has now become airborne and is quickly spreading among non-telepaths. Sir, It won't be long before this 'situation' will become a full-blown epidemic."

A thought suddenly struck the Trill: Quinn was a telepath too. She lifted her tricorder and examined him. The medical device whirred as she passed it over the captain. She bit her lower lip and lifted her gaze from the device to meet his green eyes, "sir... you're infected as well."

Quinn looked into Ryla's eyes. "Yes I know I have been infected, my telepathic abilities have been dropping in and out the past few hours. But other then that I feel fine."

Doctor Dret looked frayed as she stated wistfully, "my specialization is Obstetritics, not Infectious Disease... I don't know if I can cure you or anyone else, Captain."

Quinn smiled down at Ryla," I only choose the best people for my ship... I have faith in you Lieutenant." He narrowed his eyes in thought then raised his brows as the answer came to mind,"I might be able to get you some assistance." Quinn pressed his comm badge "Captain Quinn to Aria James", a soft voice could be heard over the comm sounding a bit confused.

Aria replied,"this is Aria, Captain".

"We are in  need your assistance in sickbay Miss James, please come immediately and see Doctor Dret... Quinn out."

Quinn turned to Ryla, "Aria is a special crewmember and should be of some assistance to you. Please keep me informed of your progress.. I must find my first officer." With that Quinn turned and exited sickbay.

Join Post by Duffster and Bryancd

Tain barely made it to the holodeck. The noise in his head was deafening. He could barely think long enough to punch in a security override on the controls, and utter the command to begin holo program Tain-alpha-2. The program was one he came up with, along with Mike Tarent, to help him through bouts like the one he was experiencing. Not only was it an incredibly gruesome program, it lowered the safety lockouts to their minnimum. You wouldn't die if you made a mistake in the sim, but you might feel like you want to afterwards.

The holodeck changed to show an arena floor.

"Level and audience preference?", asked the computer pleasantly.

Tain was barely able to speak.

"Level 10, no audience", whispered Tain.

"Sir, the danger constraints of this program allow a level of no more then 8"

"Belay that lockout, override code Tarent-beta-omega, immediately!!", bellowed Tain.

"Override complete, Level 10".

Tain took a deep breath and advanced towards the figures in the arena, his face had the look of death itself.

Ensign Dunn had just finished his first on ship assignment, assisting in the rescue of the crew stranded behind containment fields after the ship malfunction. Exciting stuff, he mused. As he walked back towards his quarters his combadge chirped to life.

"Lt. Manrique to Ensign Dunn."

"Dunn here, sir, " he responded to the Security Chief
.
"There has been a report of a disturbance in Holodeck 2, go check it out."

"Aye, sir," he sighed. Security detail was beginning to more closely resemble camp councilor.

He turned and walked the short distance towards Holodeck 2. As he came around the corner, he heard what sounded like an epic battle going on behind the door. A few crewmembers were milling about listening. Dunn stepped up and keyed in his security override code to open the locked door. Hopefully he wouldn't be walking in on some Klingon exercise program run amok. He stepped through the door and froze. Before him was the largest Orion he had ever seen, covered in green blood, and with a rage in his eye's that chilled him to the core. He almost forgot to breathe.

Through the haze of his rage Tain saw the doors of the holodeck open and a young ensign step in. Tain had just ordered the program to restart it's cycle again. He was bruised, battered and bleeding, but the roar in his head  had not yet subsided. As the computer phased in the next opponents, Tains brain awoke from the hold that the rage had upon it, and he saw the danger.

"Ensign!!! Get that door closed now!!! The safety features on this sim have been overridden!", Tain roared.

The Draman soldier that the holodeck had created saw Tains distraction and took advantage, he brought his energy whip around and landed a viscous lash across the Lieutenants back. Already tired, Tain sunk to one knee in pain and let out a roar of pain

Acting quickly Dunn slammed the controls of the holodeck to close the doors, and ran towards the Draman.

"Freeze program!!", yelled Dunn.

"Override program in effect, passcode required", reported the computer.

Dunn leaped over the kneeling Lieutenant and landed a flying kick to the Dramans face. The menacing soldier dropped in a heap. Dunn noticed the holodeck program phase two more creatures into the arena.

"Lieutenant!", yelled Dunn at the Orion. "Whats the passcode, you're hurt and I need to stop this program?"

Tain heard the young ensigns through the haze of pain he was experiencing. He looked up to see the opponents anvancing on the Ensign. To his credit the young man looked ready to take them on, although he had a worried expression on his face.

"Freeze program, passcode Delta-Orion-Mike", croaked Cedric Tain through his bloody lips. Cedric rose unsteadily to his feet and stop swaying.

With a voice that sounded like two pieces of rusted iron grating together Tain addressed the ensign.

"Just who the heck do you think you are ensign!! What gives you the right to open that door."

Tain glared at the Ensign, who quickly came to attention.

"Sir, my name is Ensign Dunn, and the reason is that I was ordered by Lt. Manrique to investigate the disturbance from in this holodeck. Since there have been multiple ship malfuctions and multiple members of the crew in sickbay, I thought it prudent to override the security code and do my job, Sir!"

Tain looked over the Ensign standing ramrod straight. As the words Dunn spoke sank into his brain he felt the rage start to fade away. He felt sickened by his weakness. Here the ship was in danger, and he was in the holodeck. He still felt the sting of his friends death, as an almost physical pain, but he knew he was past the worst. All that was left now was the task of dealing the with loss. He knew work was the best cure for that.

"Well Ensign, I guess you do have the right, now don'cha. It looks as though I might be needed out there, so we should probably head out of here."

Tain took a step and almost fell.

"Umm.. I think I might need a bit of help Dunn. I think our first stop needs to be sickbay"

Dunn steppover to the big Orion and steadied him by taking the mans arm across his shoulder to provide support.

As the headed out the door Tain looked down at the Ensign.

"Now don't you be thinking this means were gonna be dating or nuthin like that!"

The look on Dunns face almost made Tain laugh

Joint post by Just X, Moyer777, Jen, and Kinglinksr

The counselor bent down and greeted the children.  "Hey there my little zoo keepers"

The children giggled.

"I have a little job for you if you choose to accept it."  he mused.

The children were fascinated with whatever Margon was saying since all attention was on them.

"I need you to catsit Mr. Mouse.  Do you think you would watch him for me while I help some others on the ship?"

Margon looked at Sevryll and she nodded in agreement.

"Yes," said N'vall. "He won't bite us will he?"

"No", said the Bolian, "he isn't afraid anymore.  I've calmed him down."

The children took the cat and began to play.

"Don't let him go now, keep him with you."  Margon turned his attention to the Lt and Commander.

Aeric sighed in relief as the systems began to recover from the disruption, but he knew that it wouldn't last. Something was tragically wrong with ship and simple patches were not going to keep the ship running forever. They would need to put things on track.

"Aurora to Aeric," a throaty female voice came from his com badge.

"Aeric  here." He said as he smiled at the restoration of communications. "It seems that we are experiencing a few problems. What's the status with the ship?"

"All systems are functions within specifications, but I have noticed a lot of systems problems aboard the Tiberius." Aurora said as the lieutenant looked to the others with relief in his eyes. "I am adapting the communications systems here to serve as a router for your future communications. I also believe that you should check the primary quantum reactor, I'm detecting a few problems with the power containment field."

"Thank you, Aeric out." He said then turned his attention to the others. "I don't think that this was an isolated event. Mentally, I'm getting serious feedback from any attempts to contact the systems and that's never good. Sevry-, I'm sorry, commander, would you like to assist me in stabilizing the reactor before containment fails and we explode?"

Aeric didn't mind the company of the councilor and tolerated the presence of the ensign, but he needed someone that he could trust to work with him at the levels required for success. There were still people to the infirmary, but he knew that he and the commander could put their skills better use elsewhere.

Margon looked at Starstriker, "You want to assist me ensign?  Let the scientists do their magic, you and I, we can go help some folks who need some TLC." 

Isaac nodded his head in agreement.  "Sure, lead the way Margon."

Sevryll glanced at her children and then up at the Lieutenant as the other officers moved out of site. The commander needed Dennis to watch M'rynn and N'vall while she worked, but she couldn't trust the ship's systems to keep his program activated. The hologram her husband programmed was an unauthorized Section 31 guard dog of sorts. If she told Aeric about Dennis, the Captain would be the next to learn of him and that could be problematic to say the least. She could feel apprehension welling up inside of her, which in turn caused her blood pressure to rise and her head to throb. She closed her eyes to will away the pain, and carefully informed Aeric of her unique quandary.

Aeric nodded slowly and spoke quietly to the commander. "I don't think that having a custom hologram is illegal, so I don't see a problem. I do have something that Aurora, Aria, and I are working on, but they still need some adjustments. If Aurora can upload the data from Laika, she can get the orbs operational in the hour."

With another tap of his com badge, Lt. James gave his holographic assistant detailed instruction on her next assignment. They were needed in the reactor room, but it wasn't safe there for the children. Aurora was instructed to transport the children and Laika back to the ship. Though not specifically instructed, Aurora would also include the feline in those she would be transporting to the ship. From there she could install the final algorithms and personally deliver the second orb and the children to their babysitter.

After leaving five-forward, K'Tan broke into a slow jog towards the nearest turbolift.  As his bootsteps echoed softly through the deserted corridor, his mind swam with questions.  What, exactly, was going on? 

Despite his earlier words of encouragement in five forward, he couldn't squash a growing sense of worry.  With the multiple redundancies built into even the simplest of modern starfleet craft, there shouldn't be any issues with lighting , communication, or inertial dampers.  Something had to be seriously wrong for three unrelated ship's systems to be affected almost simultaneously.  He thought back on the quirky replicator in his quarters. 

Make that four systems, he amended.

K'Tan still had almost 48 hours of down time before his next shift was scheduled to begin, but he couldn't suppress an urgent need to do something. 

K'Tan's attention was diverted by a slight commotion coming from around the bend in the corridor ahead.  He quickened his pace, and came upon a cluster of people grouped near the entrance of one of the ship's holodecks.  A group of uniformed onlookers were watching as an enormous, gore-slicked Orion man wearing a tattered and bloody uniform was led from the room.  He limped slightly, leaning on the shoulder of another security officer. 

That must be Lt. Tain, K'Tan thought, remembering stories of the hulking security officer's battle prowess.  He must have been working off some steam in the holodeck.  K'Tan quickly took in Tain's battered, disheveled appearance.  Man; that must have been a hell of a program, he thought.

As the two officers slowly made their way down the corridor, K'Tan stepped into their path, and squared his shoulders. Despite Tain's hunched posture, K'Tan still had to look up to meet the man's eyes. 

"Excuse me, Lieutenant.  My name is Lt. K'Tan; I was transferred here a few weeks ago.  Currently, I man the ships Tactical Console during beta shift, but I can serve as relief security as well."

The green-skinned behemoth eyed K'Tan silently; he appeared to have quite a bit on his mind.  In addition to the battle-rage that K'Tan had often seen burning in the eyes of his Klingon comrades back home, there seemed to be traces of grief clouding the man's fierce stare.  K'Tan got the impression that he was somehow intruding on a private moment. 

After softly clearing his throat, He continued.  "I couldn't help but notice that the Tiberius seems to be experiencing some technical difficulties.  I have some free time before my next shift begins; do  you think Chief Manrique could use a hand?"

Tain looked at the human that had just stepped in front of him.  He shook his head in surprise at the K'Tans eagerness.

"Well Lt., as you can see I need to make a quick little visit to the sickbay. After that I will be heading down to security to try and get an overview of what's going on."

Tain took a deep shuddering breathe and straightened up. He removed his arm from around Ensign Dunns shoulder.

"I think that's enough lolligagging around for me, I can make it on my own from here Ensign. You can report to Manrique that the disturbance is taken care of, and it won't be recurring. "

Tain walked to the Turbolift, as he did he looked back over his shoulder.

"Lieutenant K'Tan, I am sure we can use your help. If you want you can accompany be to sickbay, and we can talk about how we can use your abilites, and how we can make use of you before we see Manrique. We can also try make a quick assessment of the situation down there. Otherwise you can accompany Ensign Dunn back to security and talk with Manrique immediately."

Tain entered the Turbolift.

"Ensign Dunn, thanks for your help. Lt...Does it look like I have all day??", said Tain with a grin.

Joint post by Jen and Just X

Aeric took a deep breath as he adjusted the power regulators of the ZPER. Even with the regulators installed, the Tiberius' power systems needed to be monitored. While the power generation system was successfully retrofitted with the ZPER technology on their way to Romulas, the power conduits needed to wait until they returned to a space dock and had several weeks of refit time. After they returned from Vulcan, Aeric felt that they could overhaul the systems as they repaired what ever else was wrong with the ship.

It felt good for Aeric to be working beside his life long friend again. Even though she had not been a part of the project that designed the systems in this reality, she had helped him in the times before this one. They could have allowed an engineering crew to do the work, but this was one of the systems that Aeric installed and he felt responsible for their condition. With Sevryll's aid, he felt like he had returned home again. He hadn't noticed how much he missed working with her until that moment.

He glanced to her as she manually adjusted the primary interlink module. Even without his having to explain the systems, she seemed to have a handle on the various quirks of the design.

"Commander," he said as he put the reactor into diagnostic mode and began to unpack the food that Aurora sent them after transporting the children. "I've been experiencing a few issues with my abilities recently. How are you feeling?"

"He must have noticed my trembling hand", she thought. Keeping her eye on the unit, the vulcan continued to tweak the module and raised an eyebrow in response. "Your... abilities..." she replied in a derisive tone. Sevryll knew very little about Lieutenant James and had even less trust in him. Since the day she discovered that her DNA had been stolen and used to create the Binary Clone he called 'his daughter'—she did little more than tolerate his presence. She acknowledged the fact that it was Aeric's prototype vessel and holographic co-pilot that created Aria James, but she still held him responsible... after all, he had created the architect of Aria's existence to begin with. Because of the sacrifices Aria had made on the mission to recover Sevryll's father from Romulus, the commander had grown to respect for the clone who shared her DNA, but she currently had none for the man who had contributed to the rest her genetic background.

"Sometimes, I forget that you don't know me as well as I know you," Aeric said with a smile. "I'm also sorry that we didn't get a chance to know each other better before your life became more complicated with Aria."

Aeric paused to take a sip of water and a bite from the energy bar that Aurora sent with the rest of the equipment. "Did you ever make it to the symposium on Sirius III? I know Elizabeth isn't in this timeline, but I wanted to know what else might have changed."

In an earlier, private meeting between the two officers, Aeric claimed that the timeline had been altered and that he had memory of this shift. The lieutenant's assertion was that he and Sevryll had grown up together and were friends in the previous timeline. Aeric alleged that in his timeline, Elizabeth, the infant belonging to Sevryll's grandmother and Commander Tucker, actually survived. According to Aeric, Admiral Elizabeth Tucker introduced the two of them when they were adolescents, and they became fast friends. He also alleged that Aria James was born to Sevryll in his timeline. According to him, she was once their daughter—a product of an unexpected Pan Far.  As a scientist, Sevryll found this information hard to swallow without evidence. She worked her jaw in agitation and replied, "Yes... of course... the alternate timeline..." she glanced at him with narrowed dark eyes then turned her gaze back to the module she was working on. The vulcan woman considered ignoring the question, but answered after a few minutes of silence,  "I had every intention of going to the archaeological seminar, but the shuttlecraft that transported us experienced catastrophic engine failure. The ship was pulled into the gravity well of a near by planet, and we crashed there. "

She finished her adjustments to the module and attempted to place the tuning implement back in her kit. Her shaking hand made the task challenging, so she set it beside the case in frustration and selected another tool.

"As for Aria, since our mission, I have found her to be a gifted and self-sacrificing individual for whom I have much respect."

Aeric smiled at her comments. "She is a fantastic young woman that has adapted well to the events of her existence. As for the alternate timelines, they can get quite ... complex to those who have not experienced them, but in the timeline that conceived Aria, our trip was similar. We went to the symposium alone and avoided the crash, but were adrift for almost a month."

"I was surprised that you and David married in this timeline, but I guess he's a stubborn one. I'm happy that you found someone that compliments you."

Aeric took another sip of his water and began to read the diagnostic results as they came in. He made note of the commander's shaking and at first he attempted to disregard it, but felt the need to voice his concern. "Again, I know that this is not my place, but with people falling ill on the ship, I need to know how long you've been having symptoms. I haven't been feeling well either and I know how stubborn you ... vulcans can be regarding health conditions. Have the children been displaying any indications of infection?"

With a ragged sigh, she shifted into a sitting position with her back braced against the bulkhead. She knew his questions would just keep coming so, the commander held out her hands to demonstrate how they trembled. Then clasped them together and folded them in her lap, in an attempt to still their quavering.

"This is accompanied by headaches, fatigue and an inability to control my emotions."  She paused briefly before continuing, "I believe these symptoms began shortly after our last shore leave on Earth, and they have steadily increased since our mission began. Initially, I assumed my failure to restrain emotion was due to the stress of my father's disappearance. When we recovered him, and the symptoms remained, I attributed these problems to the meld I performed on our Romulan captive, and then to the lack of time for meditation. Since these symptoms began, I have experienced varying degrees of anxiety and anger, " she looked down and away as she worked her jaw frustration once more. " This morning, at breakfast with Captain Quinn, I...I laughed uncontrollably." Sevryll flicked her eyes back toward Aeric and blinked nervously before adding, "my children could be vulnerable, not only to the virus but to my outbursts. If my condition continues to decline...I could harm them."

Aeric nodded slowly and hoped that his words would provide the comfort that her vulcan training would refuse to allow her. "With your permission, I can have Aurora run a scan on them while they are aboard my ship. If there is something erroneous, we have some of the best medical minds in Starfleet on Tiberius. If there is nothing wrong, I think it might be best that we simply transfer your hologram... what was his name? Dennis? to the Aurora and keep them safe until this ... problem ... is addressed."

Aeric looked over the woman that he had been close friends with in many of his lives and continued, "You were a good mother in all the timelines I've witnessed. You could never harm them... "

Dr Peterson had been unconscious for hours, but awoke in a feverish sweat and yelled out for Dr. Dret. " Dr. how long have I been unconscious for he spurted out?" Ryla responded with "approx 6 hrs sir. "

Dr. Peterson looked at Ryla and stated "give me whatever you have to, to keep me on my feet as long as possible, I will be in my office  and will not leave sick bay, but we need every Doctor we have working on this or we will loose allot of crew from this."

Despite being very sick he pushed on helping the nurses administer sedatives to the crowded sick bay patients.
Before the Dr. retreated to his office he gave his Doctors and nurses a pep talk, just like a commanding officer does to his soldiers before going into battle ,which seemed to invigorate his staff and fill them with the confidence they would need to get through the next few hours as sick bay continued to fill up.

Dr. Peterson sent a Message to Commander Sevryll marked urgent and asked her to come to sick bay to be scanned as he was afraid that if she had the virus she could spread it to her  children, he then sent a message to his friend Counsellor Margan thanking him his friendship.

He waited quietly as Ryla Ran the Medical Scanner over him listening to it beep as she moved it over him, watching her face grimace with frustration and concern. He waited for her to speak.

Doctor Dret watched as Peterson gave his  'rousing' speech to the medical staff. He needed to be in bed—what the heck was he doing up?  If she was worth her weight in latninum she would would hit him with a hypo of anesthetic and force his rear back into the biobed. As it was, the CMO was likely spreading his toxic germs about sickbay and endangering his life by continuing to work himself in this state. She bit her lip, unable to make the decision to override his authority. He was in no condition to lead... but she was in no condition to take over either.

Ryla glanced at the young girl who had just joined the medical team, an hour before. Initially, she had been taken aback by her remarkable resemblance to the first officer, but she quickly recovered herself when Doctor Peterson lifted his sweaty body out of bed and began giving orders.  Aria had the same look of doubt in her eye that Ryla was sure she had in her own.

K'Tan joined Tain as he headed towards the turbolift.  Despite his efforts to stay focused on the recent rash of system malfunctions, his thoughts kept returning to the raven-haired security officer he had befriended in Five-Forward.  Tain has probably worked with Tara, he mused.  Perhaps I can pick his brain about her.  "I think I'll accompany you to sickbay," K'Tan said.  "Once the doctors have checked you out, perhaps you could introduce me to the Security Team."

"Sounds good," Tain replied.  "Once we get back to deck 4, I'm sure Chief Manrique will be happy to put you to work."

After entering the turbolift, Tain instructed it to take the pair to sickbay.  K'Tan was relieved that there were no glitches; the lift descended swiftly and smoothly to deck eight before pausing, then continuing on a horizontal path towards the starship's medical bay.  As the lift slowed, K'Tan tried to casually fish for information on Lt. Stass.  "I met one of you fellow security officers earlier this evening; a woman named Tara Stass.  Do you know her well?"

Tain gave a knowing chuckle.  "I know Lt. Stass; she's a very capable officer.  A little too fond of partying, perhaps, but she never lets it interfere with her duty.  Before being assigned here she was a ground-pounder; she saw quite a bit of action during the Dominion War.  I think she was awarded the Christopher Pike Medal of Valor for helping hold the comm relay on AR-558."  As the lift came to a stop, the door whispered open.  "Oh, and she's sort of a nut for Parisis Squares," Tain continued.  "She's been badgering the security staff about forming a ship league for weeks.  Says it will help keep us all in shape."

K'Tan smiled to himself, and made a mental note to learn more about the sport.  As they stepped out into the bustling corridor, he turned to Tain and asked nonchalantly, "So, is she seeing anyone?"

Before Tain could reply, he was interrupted by a call from behind them.  "Make a hole!" a crewman yelled as he hurried past, half carrying, half dragging a semiconscious civilian woman.  As the pair followed the crewman into sickbay, K'Tan was shocked at the number of patients; several nurses had set up a triage station in the waiting area, and were hastily examining them. 

As a pair of med techs helped the newly arrived civilian woman onto an examination bed, the frantic crewman grabbed one of them by the arm.  "Please, you've got to help her!" he cried.  "She started babbling incoherently a few hours ago; she seemed to think that we were back at her home on Betazed.  When she started having convulsions, I figured I'd best bring her here."  The crewman glanced around the room desperately, tears streaming down his face.  "We're newlyweds; we were planning on vacationing on Risa next month.  Please tell me you can help her!"

With a grim look etched on his face, K'Tan slowly looked around the bustling waiting area, appalled at the pandemonium.  "This doesn't look good," he said quietly.

Doctor Dret administered Rexalin to sedate the Betazoid. She turned to the woman's husband to calm him, "ensign...?"

"....Mendoza, ma'am." Replied the frazzled crewman.
Ryla Dret offered him a dim smile and gestured to a nearby med tech, who seemed unoccupied. "Mr. Mendoza, what is your wife's name?"

"Yaunna... Yaunna Mendoza." He answered quickly... his eyes wild with fear.

"Yaunna needs you to be strong. Sit here, and hold her hand—try to relax Ensign. I need you to remain calm...do you understand, Mr. Mendoza?"

"Yes ma'am..." he responded quickly.

"So, Risa... That's a wonderful place for a honeymoon. Where did you get married Ensign Mendoza?"

"On Earth ma'am... in Paris, during shore leave."

"I've never been to Paris, but I heard it's a beautiful city." As she smiled at the ensign, she saw his expression relax slightly.

The medical aid stepped to Ryla's side as the Trill continued to scan the Betazoid. Doctor Dret quickly rattled off the patient's requirements, "this woman needs 15 cc's of Triptacederin and a 20 cc's of Borathium, stat."

The aid didn't bother to respond, he simply turned and dashed from the bedside to gather the drugs to treat the patient. Ryla glanced up to see a hulking Orion glistening with blood, and a clean cut terran standing at the foot of the biobed.

"What happened?" she asked the terran as she approached the Orion with her tricorder.

"Accident in the holodeck," replied the terran.

"I'm Doctor Dret... I'm afraid I can't offer you a bed, lieutenant, but you can have a seat over here. She motioned for the pair to follow her into her office and she helped lower the Orion into her chair.
Ryla's attention was quickly stolen away by a brawl that started on the floor.

"What the...?!" was all Doctor Dret could say as she rushed back into the infirmary.

Joint post by Jen and Just X

Aurora smiled as she felt her fingertips move over the console. It had taken her longer to configure and transfer the second hologram to the orb, but the hours it took were worth it. The children needed a familiar face while their mother worked. She adjusted her modified command uniform that had been part of the new equipment, given to the away team on Romulas. Her black hair flowed loosely past her slender shoulders as she removed the silver ball from its stand. She could actually feel the weight of the device as she held it in her hand.

"Beta orb," Aurora said in her throaty voice as the soft hum of the ship's systems blended into the background. "Activate Dennis hologram."

No sooner than she spoke the words, the orb rose into position and rapidly brought the hologram to life. Light and forcefields became holo-matter that took the shape of a humanoid male. Aurora took a second to admire the visual parameters of the hologram as he got his bearings.

"Welcome to the Aurora," she said with a smile. "The physical sensation might take some getting used to, but I believe that you can adapt to them."

"Where am I? Dennis looked about the cabin in confusion, then he caught sight of Sevryll's children and stepped off the dais to protect them. He quickly gathered them in his huge arms and turned towards the woman who gazed up at him with a passive expression. "Look lady, I can easily break you in half without a second thought—I'm giving you fair warning to get out of my way."

"I am Aurora, but you can call me Rory. You are aboard the ship of the same name. I'm sorry if this upsets you, but there will be no breaking of anyone in half. The children are here and they need their caretaker. I've given you a mobile emitter to better fulfill your role."

Picking up her tricorder, she moved toward the human looking hologram and began scanning. "You seem to be all there. Do you feel any discomfort?"

Dennis shifted the children in his massive arms. "Discomfort?" the hologram asked in a rich, resonate bass. The towering man scrunched his nose a few times and turned to M'rynn and then to N'vall; each child laughed at his funny faces. Then the little girl threw an arm around his neck and kissed his cheek. Dennis smiled and turned his gaze down at the woman standing before him. "As a matter of fact... my... my nose itches? Yes, that's it. MY NOSE ITCHES!"

N'Vall scratched it for him as Dennis chuckled. "What else can I feel? Can I taste too? I can go anywhere? I want to see the bridge first... then Five Forward... THIS IS GREAT—I can go on away missions now!" He bounced the half human, half vulcan children in his arms as his delightful, resounding chortle overwhelmed their giggles. A brief pause followed the laughter when Dennis released a huge sneeze. A large grin spread across his face, "Hey! That felt... SPECTACULAR!"

"You should calm down—do not forget that you are here to protect the children—not to play at being a security team member." Rory said as she used her console to adjust the orb and incorporated the information she gathered from her tricorder. "You should also be made aware that these units are emergency prototypes that are not fully complete. Some of our senses are functioning at a fraction of the levels of organics. When I obtain enough information, Aeric and I will finishing the project."

Rory tried to sound professional, but she really wanted to laugh at the behavior of the new hologram. She had never imagined how another would react to the taste of freedom. Rory also knew that each of these orbs were hand crafted and that once they accepted a program, they would not be able to recognize another. She wasn't even sure that the holograms could be transferred out of the orbs, due to the intergraded hardware based algorithms.

"You should get comfortable," she said. "This might be the last transfer that your program can make, unless we finish working on the quirks of the system. You might be stuck like this.

Dennis put the children down and sat in a near by chair to consider the attractive woman working at the console. She was bossy...but Dennis was use to that; Sevryll was bossy too. Rory mentioned he could be stuck like this... Like what? Free? He cocked his head slightly as he watched her work. "Why would I want to go back to being a mere reflection when I could be sentient?" he asked in a somber tone.

"This isn't about our freedom," Rory said as diplomatically as possible. "It's about fulfilling our programming and protecting those we care about in this time of crisis. As I said, these are prototypes, and it would work best if we both focused on what we were created to do. With the commander and Aeric busy with work, you will need to watch after the children. I'm a command hologram, not a babysitter."

She would have loved to celebrate her own new feeling, but there was too many deaths occurring for her to revel in sensations. "As photonic lifeforms, we have the best chance to move through the ship without further spreading the infection to other crew members. We need to finish scanning the children and then we can decide our course of action. By the way, it's nice to meet you."

Rory continued to run the medical scans on the children as she observed how Dennis interacted with his new status. As the results came back, she forced herself not to frown. "It seems that the children have encountered the virus and are currently infected. I will send the results to Aria and hopefully she can do something. Do you have any suggestions on our next course of action?"

Dennis grimaced, "they have a virus? No one told me there was an epidemic on the ship. What does a guy have to do to get information around here?" He stood from his chair and paced the deck; his heavy boots thudding softly on the carpet beneath their holo-leather soles. He felt overwhelmed and he couldn't quite make that sensation recede on his own... It was time to access his backup programming. In a split nanosecond, it kicked in and steadied his course. His pacing slowed and he stopped in front of Rory and leveled a sober gaze upon her. "It's nice to meet you too, Rory." He offered her a large hand to the woman, "You're a command hologram huh? You had me fooled—thought you were a bio-babe. FYI, I'm not a 'babysitter'. I'm the guard dog... a sentinel... a minder. I uh.... just so happen to know how to make the kidos laugh and get them to blow their noses and brush their teeth in addition to all that protection stuff.  As for our next course of action, I suggest we find a doctor who can treat them. Know anyone worthy enough to lay a hand on them?"

"Bio-babe? Interesting phrase. As for the children, I will transmit their vitals to Aria and then we can see what her recommended course of action might be. When my program was recompiled, a vast majority of my medical programming wasn't included. I don't know the medical personnel well enough to tell you if they are qualified to assist the children."

Rory met the man's hand with her own as she looked at the children. "I don't think we need to worry the children yet, but we should prepare measure to protect those under our charge from the virus. If things become critical, I will do whatever is necessary to protect the people I was instructed to."

Dennis let a slight, sarcastic smile tug at his mouth, "I figured 'Bio-babe' was better than 'flesh-fem'... sorry." he released her considerably smaller hand reluctantly and glanced back at the children. "What about their mother? Is she sick? We should inform her ASAP."

"I was contacted by lieutenant James, both of them are not feeling well. I assume it is the virus," Rory said as she led them to the cockpit and took a seat at the conn. She could feel the textures against her hand and tried not to smile at the sensations. "I'm going to try to get them to stop their work and get some rest. Aeric is not doing as well as he's pretending to be and if his abilities continue to give him problems, I think he'll need to be sedated. I don't want to imagine what would happen if his powers began to randomly misfire."

"I don't think you'll be able to sedate Sevryll. She's pretty stubborn even for a vulcan. Do you think they could die from this?"

"Yes." Rory said as she prepared herself for the worse.

In the hours that had passed since they had restored some semblance of order in Main Engineering, K'arath was till at work trying to diagnose what was ailing the ship and now members of her crew. He had lost two of his staff to sickbay in the last hour and a few others were not looking very well. He still felt find, perhaps due to his Klingon disposition and all his aerobic training, but he couldn't rely on that to last.

He paused to consider that. A virus had infected the gel packs and was now infecting the crew. The illness had manifested itself intially as sporadic system failures, phantom failures such as a hull breach which never occurred causing a systemic response. Once a system responded, it too would become infected, jumping throughout the ship. Non of the failures were catastrophic in and of itself, but in their entirety, the cascade could cripple and potentially kill. By shunting and rerouting effected areas, they seemed to be holding the virus at bay. Perhaps he had missed his calling and should have been a rachwI', a nurse, instead of an engineer!

A rachwI'....that's what he needed. Tiberius was a patient at this point, not a machine, and her cold was spreading to the crew as an epidemic. Any solution was going to be an engineering and medical response. He needed to speak with sickbay.

Join Post between Moyer777 and Kinglinksr

Margon and Ensign Starstriker walked through the corridors.  At each of the quarters they stopped for a moment to check if any crew members were trapped.  With power coming back up and communications being restored they found that most were simply disorientated or wondering what was going on.

Margon took one side and Starstriker the other.

"Counselor, I have noticed something that concerns me as of late"

"Yes? what is it Ensign?"

"Well, its about.  Its about my abilities.  They haven't been working for a little while now.  I feel, lost without them.  Its disconcerting to say the least."

The ensign was plainly worried.

" I understand.  You have to compensate Ensign, I used to be a barber, I was trained for it, I'm good with my hands.., but counseling is different, I had to adapt.  I know you're not comfortable without your abilities, but I'm not comfortable without my laser buzzers either.  We have to adapt.  You can do it."  The counselor smiled and comforted Isaac.

Starstriker pushed the chime for the quarters.

Nothing.

"Counselor, no answer at this one, my tricorder says there is someone in there, but they aren't moving"

"Computer, over ride crew quarters lock, Margon beta alpha four."

The computer chirped and the doors hissed open.

There on the floor was a Bajoran Ensign.  He was unconscious.  Margon leaned down and looked for a pulse.  "Do you know who he is Margon?"  asked Starstriker.  "I'm not sure." the Counselor replied.   "I can still feel a pulse."

He tapped his com badge, "Margon to sickbay, we need assistance in room 35A immediately!."   Isaac then realized that his telepathy was back.  It was like being thrown into a sea of emotions.  He immediately withdrew to his mind.

In a couple of minutes a team of medics rushed into the room.  One knelt and felt the pulse.  Another scanned the Bajoran and said, "He's alive.  I think he'll make it."  "It looks like he has a concussion and he's infected with the virus.  He'll be alright as soon as we can get him back to sick-bay," said Ensign Bovin.

"Virus?!" asked Isaac.  "When was there a virus??"

"You'll have to ask the doctors, we don't have time to explain" replied the medic.

Just then, the Bajoran stirred and opened his eyes.  He coughed slightly and looked directly at Isaac.  "Well, we meet again.  The name is Rojack." Then he passed out again.  The medics put him on the movable bio-bed and took him to sickbay.

"Meet again?  I've never met this Bajoran before." said Isaac.

Margon met Isaac's eyes.  "I don't know Ensign, you'll have to figure that out later, in the meantime since communication is up and running and power is getting restored, let's just see where we can help."

Isaac nodded, "agreed, and counselor..."

"Yes?" said the Bolian

"I can hear again."  He smiled.

Aeric's mind felt as if it was on fire as lay on the soft padded surface of one of the Aurora's biobeds . His mind and body fought frantically to repair the damage of the unknown virus to no avail. Without a complete sequence of the viral genome, his nanites were simply not able to properly counter the attack of the virus. As he lay there, he knew that Rory was right. With his powers rapidly growing out of control, he was becoming a danger to both the ship and the crew. He needed to be shutdown before he did something that could hurt or kill a fellow crew member.

"Father, I need your security code to place the nanites into diagnostic mode," Rory said softly. If it had been her choice, Aria would have been the one by their father's side to walk her through the shutdown, but she was far too occupied with her duties in the Tiberius' sickbay. With him slipping in and out of awareness, all Rory could do was monitor his vitals until she had the code. Sweat dripped from the brow of Aeric as his body shivered from the fever. "Aeric, what is the security code?"

Aeric took a deep breath as he struggled to sit up in the bed. Rory slipped the interface module under his hand and steadied him as his began to enter the security code into the device. For the sake of security, he had designed a rotating algorithm that generated a forty-two character command code into the system that allowed for manual interface. It was the last act that he could manage before once again falling into fevered dreams.

"Rest now," Rory said as she used the interface to command the machines inside her creator to push his body into the equivalent of a medical coma where even dreams were forbidden. A single uninterrupted tone issued from the cortical monitor to inform her that all detectable mental activity had ceased. With his mind neutralized and his bio-systems functioning at almost imperceptible levels, it was her hope that it would buy the crew time to come up with a cure for the virus that was tearing through the ship.

"Aurora medical log. Lieutenant James as been placed into a medical coma and level ten nanite diagnostic to limit the damage caused by an unknown viral strain. The Tiberius is still several hours from Vulcan and Aria is currently off ship trying to assist in treating the plague that has systematically reduced the moral and health of the crew. In accords with my programming, I am assuming full command of the Aurora until Aeric can be restored to health or Aria assumes command. I am working with Dennis, another photonic lifeform, to follow our shared objective in protecting those under our charge. It is with regret that I add to this log that Commander Sevryll and her children are also showing signs of infection from this unknown agent. Dennis and I are working an attempt to track the initial infection point and hopefully provide that information to the medical staff aboard the Tiberius. If a cure is not developed soon, I feel that we might loose a significant portion of the crew to this plague. End log."

Rory frowned as she moved Aeric's still form to one of the last available cryo-stasis tubes. The lower ambient temperature would all the nanotechnology in his body to operate at higher speeds and efficiency. With two of the pods already reserved for the children, the small medical bay aboard the shuttle was quickly becoming cramped, but for Rory, it was better that they were sleeping instead of dying.  It was better for the children and Aeric if they remained in stasis until a cure could be created. As the final seals locked into place, Rory quietly returned to the cockpit where the commander and Dennis waited with the twins.

Several hours have passed since Quinn left sickbay and was told of the virus that is infecting not only the ship but also his crew. Quinn felt helpless as this matter was for the Doctors and Engineers to fix. He did his best at reassuring his crew that everything was going to be just fine. But would it be fine. His own telepathy was on the fritz, he had moments where his mind was quiet. This was so usual for him since there has always been other voices in his head as far back as he can remember. The quiet was disturbing and unnatural, Quinn felt as if a part of him was missing. Just when he thought he couldn't take the silence voices would come flooding back to him.

Quinn stood from his Captain's chair and headed to his ready room. He had to contact Starfleet and inform them of their predicament.  As he sat behind his desk he spoke out load to his computer screen.

"Computer please contact Admiral Stanton, priority one." A few moments passed then an Andorian female face appeared on screen. She smiled "This is a pleasant surprise." Her smile faltered and her antenni drooped a bit, "Nathan what's wrong?" Quinn began to explain their situation. "Approximately six hours ago we discovered a unknown virus that had infected several bio gel packs. Several of our key systems have been affected. Two hour after that they discover of this virus was airborne and we had our first casualty. It looks as though this virus is not only attacking our bio gel packs but it's attacking my crew. We don't know when or how this started. We're not sure if it started in the gel packs and spread from there or maybe it's been around much longer and just incubating. I have several of my best doctors and engineering officers working on the issue. The ship is currently functioning at 85% and we can only achieve warp 4 at the moment. We are still several days out from Vulcan. We have sixty-seven crewmen down at the moment, two have died and I fear we will lose more if we don't find a cure fast. I've had shuttle bay 4 & 7 converted to make shift sickbays and have put anyone with medical knowledge to work. And I have to tell you that I too am infected. At the moment it's only effecting my telepathy but I'm not sure how long or even if it will get worse."  Quinn stopped talking as he looked at Admiral Stanton shocked face. "Nathan is there anything we can do?" she asked with concern in her voice. "Not at the moment. I can't risk this virus infecting another ship. Right now it's contained on the Tiberius and I have confidence that we will find a cure. I will contact you again when I have news." Stanton nodded "Please take care of yourself Captain" Quinn gave her a slight smile and turned off his monitor.

Quinn stood and exited his ready room, "Mr. Tucker you have the bridge, I'll be in sickbay." Quinn entered a turbolift.

joint post by Jen and Just X

A course of adrenaline shot into her heart, causing it to jog at an uncomfortable rate. The irregular breaths she drew did not satisfy the requirements of her lungs or brain, and soon her head felt light and her hands and feet tingled from the lack of oxygen. The woman fell heavily in the chair next to Dennis, wearing a subjugated expression on her pale face.

If she were human, Dennis would have put a comforting arm around her—but among vulcans, contact was only permitted between husband and wife, and perhaps their young children. The hologram felt helpless... Rory had just informed Sevryll that her toddlers had been infected with the virus, and by their mother's reaction; it was obvious that the illness had infected her as well.

Rory empathized with her pain. With Aria occupied and Aeric incapacitated, she had to be the one to relax the situation. Regardless if the vulcan knew it or not, she and her children were family in the eyes of Aeric and Aria. That made this crisis that much more important to her.

"Commander," Rory said softly. "We will do everything we can to help the ship and her crew, but I want you to know that Aria will do whatever it takes to make sure that the children make it through this. I will keep an eye on them and we will make sure that nothing happens to the children."

Without a word, Sevryll stood and walked into the cabin where M'Rynn and N'Vall played— the door closed behind her with a sound that resembled a defeated sigh. Dennis and Rory exchanged glances, "we should give her some time alone with them," she said. Dennis nodded and turned his gaze back to the door. An hour passed, then two... Dennis began to worry that something was wrong when, without warning, the Sevryll exited the cabin with the twins.

"We are ready," she said numbly.  Dennis noticed that the white's of her eyes were now tinged with green, but she seemed to have regained some of her fragile composure.

Rory helped the children in their cryo tubes and attached the monitoring devices to their foreheads. M'rynn tried to take hers off but Sevryll stayed her little hand by taking it in her own. Standing between the two cryo tubes, the commander then reached for N'vall's hand. "Will it hurt?" he asked in a small, frightened voice.

His mother struggled to swallow the knot that formed in her throat. Her answer came in a smothered, breathy tone, "no...."

"Will you be here when we wake up?" asked M'rynn, her large brown eyes reflecting the low light of the Aurora's small infirmary.

Sevryll drew a deep breath of sterile air and replied, "Of course...and so will Dennis and Aria." M'rynn smiled at the mention of Aria's name. The girl was quite fond of her and often asked Sevryll when she would see Aria again.

"And Rory?" asked N'vall.

Sevryll glanced towards the hologram standing near by. The woman nodded. "Rory too," replied Sevyll.

"Good night, Rory," said the little boy as he tried to sit up to see his new friend.

"Good night," replied the hologram.

Sevryll leaned over and held her son in her arms, squeezing him a little too tightly. "I love you," she said. The boy's hand smoothed her hair and patted her back as his mother embraced him. After a protracted moment she reluctantly released N'vall and kissed his forehead.

She turned to M'rynn. The little girl had propped herself up and was eyeing her curiously. "What's the matter mommy?" M'rynn had never seen her mother react quite this way before.

Sevryll brushed a lock of wispy, black hair from the girl's forehead and kissed her. M'rynn searched her mother's eyes for the truth and received an embrace instead. "Nothing is wrong," replied her mother.

After a moment, she helped M'rynn lay back. "I love you.... you can tell me all about your dream adventures when you wake up." Myrnn smiled and nodded. "I love you too," she said. 

Rory stepped toward the tubes. Addressing the children in a gentle tone she said, "I'm going to close the lid, you will hear a strange noise but it is harmless and it will only last a moment." They nodded in response and Rory activated the seals. M'rynn was a timid child and despite Rory's warning, the little girl became nervous and began fearfully slapping the glass. Sevryll pushed forward and pressed her hands to the transparent lid in an attempt to comfort her daughter. A thin layer of glass was all that separated them, as the little girl pressed her own hands against that of her mother's. A moment later, M'rynn's arms fell to her chest; the toddler was asleep. A flow of tears came unimpeded and dropped onto the glass closure—pooling on the top before rolling in streams down the sides.

Sevryll pivoted to see that her son, N'vall, had drifted off without protest. She straightened to her full height and wiped her cheeks with the palms of her trembling hands. The commander drew a long ragged breath and let it out slowly before turning to the holograms, "I believe we have work to do..."

joint post by wraith1701 and Jen



Back in the sickbay waiting room, the sound of a loud, metallic crash followed by an inarticulate scream of rage jolted K'Tan into a state of alert. The racket seemed to be coming from behind the double doors leading to the infirmary.

"What the...?!" Dr. Dret exclaimed, a startled expression on her face. Both K'Tan's and Tain's eyes followed the blond Trill as she turned and raced back towards the steel-framed, transparent doors. Before she was halfway there, another cacophonous, clattering crash erupted from the infirmary; it sounded as though a rampaging targ was destroying the place.

The growing commotion seemed to make the patients in the waiting area temporarily forget about their ailments; all eyes were magnetically drawn towards the infirmary doors. From within the infirmary, a muffled voice yelled, "Stop; let me go! No! Please, put me down!"

With an explosion of pure force, the twin doors swung open violently; the windows resting within the metal framework shattered to shower the waiting area with bits of broken glass. Simultaneously, a man in medical blue sailed through the broken doorway, his white lab coat flapping in the breeze of his passage. The airborn man's arms and legs flailed ineffectually as he arced through the air, then came crashing down to the polished waiting room floor. Carried by the momentum of his flight, the man's body slid along the floor, coming to rest at Dret's feet.

As both he and Tain sprang to Ryla's side, K'Tan's hand instinctively went to his hip, reaching for a phaser that wasn't there. His expression grim, K'Tan's hand flew to his combadge. "K'Tan to Dunn. We need armed backup in Sick bay, ASAP!"

K'Tan and Tain's attention was suddenly drawn by the sound of approaching footsteps crunching on the broken glass littering the floor. Amid gasps of astonishment from the onlooking patients, the pair turned to see an older, gray haired Vulcan woman stepping out from the infirmary. The woman's wiry right arm was held extended in front of her, and her fingers were locked around the throat of a struggling, gasping nurse. As the Vulcan effortlessly lifted her arm, the nurse's kicking feet left the floor. Her face began to turn blue as she pried at the Vulcan's vice-like grip in vain; her mouth gaped open as she struggled for air.

Ryla checked the pulse of the nurse who lay in a heap on the shard-covered floor before her, then she stood and slowly stepped toward the vulcan...it was Commander Sevryll's mother. She had spent the last few nights at her husband's side. His condition since the rescue, had not changed—the vulcan diplomat remained in a coma. "Doctor Sareth, please release the nurse...you're killing her."

Sareth cocked her head like a Le-Matya studying it's prey. Then she opened her hand, and the dropped the nurse like an unwanted doll.

With a threatening hiss the first officer's mother addressed Ryla,"My husband is in critical condition. I will not permit anyone to move him to our quarters, simply to make room for someone else."

Tain gently yet firmly gripped Ryla by the crook of her arm, then slowly pulled her away from Saerth as K'Tan carefully stepped between the two women.  K'Tan warily approached the older woman, and said, "Please, ma'am, come with me.  I'm sure the Dr. is doing everything she can for your husband."  As he moved to guide Saerth back to the infirmary, K'Tan was completely caught off-guard by the woman's lightening-quick fist rocketing towards his face.  Stars exploded before his eyes as his head snapped back, then there was darkness...

An indeterminable amount of time later, K'Tan found himself lying face-up on the infirmary floor, staring up at the ceiling lights. The weathered face of the Orion was peering down at him.   With a wry smile, Tain whispered, "You shouldn't let yourself be fooled by appearances, Lieutenant.  Sareth might look like an old woman, but Vulcans tend to be about twice as strong as humans."

K'Tan grunted noncommittally as he tried to bring his vision back into focus.  "It wasn't her strength that fooled me, it was her quickness."  He slowly sat up, pausing to let the room stop spinning around him. As his dizziness began to fade, he heard the main doors slide open behind him.  K'Tan turned to see Ensign Dunn and two other security officers framed in the doorway, their drawn phasers aimed at Sareth.   As the trio stepped into the waiting area, the officers flanking Dunn holstered their weapons; Dunn's remained unerringly pointed at Sareth's torso.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to come with us, ma'am," Dunn said.  With shocking speed, Sareth's face contorted into a twisted mask of rage.

"How dare you point that weapon at me," she snarled.  With a cry of fury, the woman lunged at Dunn; her progress was cut short by the incandescent beam of Dunn's phaser crashing into her chest.  Sareth took a faltering step forward, then toppled unconscious to the floor.

Remor wasn't surprised that the power had been restored so quickly. It was a classic Federation trait: the savvy engineer. As a young Glinn in the Border Wars, he had learned never to underestimate the resourcefulness of those in gold shirts. When captured, the gold shirts were often separated from their unit to limit their ability to devise an escape. When the command officers saw that their most likely means of escape was removed from the group, they became much more docile. In those days, he wasn't yet part of the Order, nor was he cleared to interrogate prisoners, so he didn't know how the newly reasonable officers held up under interrogation, but after he joined the Order and had access to those files, his suspicions were confirmed: much easier.

What did surprise Remor, however, was how quickly the virus had begun to spread. He guessed it was already mutating, but even with his biological sabotage training, he couldn't be sure just by looking at a bunch of panicked Starfleet officers. And, dammit, he was a spy, not a doctor! He made a mental note to contact his one-armed Ferengi friend, but to do so would surely blow his cover. He had almost been caught last time. Not actually caught, per se, but the diligent security team had noticed that something was amiss with the equipment he had used in Lucas' quarters. It's not like he was hiding, though. If he couldn't kill Brandt himself, he had to get someone else to do it for him. He almost wished that Enoch had cut her throat right there in front of everyone. It would have been satisfying, at least, to see such a malevolent person get her "just desserts." But she was allowed to take her own life before being debriefed. Remor would have enjoyed conducting the interrogation himself, but he doubted that even if he told them everything he knew she had done, the Federation wouldn't let him anywhere near her. And he couldn't blame them. The things he would have to do to get information out of a Tal'Shiar dead-ops agent made his own stomach churn a little.

And anyway, if he blew his cover by talking to the Ferengi on an unsecured channel, he would expose the Ferengi. Even if he secured the channel enough to be caught, but scramble the transmission to any eavesdroppers—well, he knew how resourceful those gold shirts could be. No. He couldn't drag the Ferengi into this until he had someone to cover for him. Someone high up. Someone with access.

Remor's musing on these matters was interrupted when he ducked into sickbay just in time to see a young security officer cut down an old Vulcan woman with a phaser blast.

"Well," he said, dryly, startling the young officer with the phaser. "That's not something you see every day."

"No, it's not," grumbled K'Tan, staggering to his feet and rubbing his head.

"She must have been quick to do that," Remor said, acknowledging K'Tan's dazed state.

"Like you wouldn't believe," K'Tan said. For a moment he regarded Sareth's stunned body as the uninjured medical personnel timidly approached. Then he turned back to Remor and said, "So what's your story?"

"Oh," Remor said, having momentarily forgotten his lie. "When the ship bucked, I was standing on a chair, hanging a painting in my quarters, and I found myself briefly married to the bulkhead." He pulled up his sleeve to reveal a genuine wound.

"I remember you," said K'Tan. "The poet."

"Correct," Remor said. The truth was that he had, in fact, been injured when the ship rocked, but he had been crawling through the Jefferies tubes, investigating a hunch he had about the gel packs. Of the packs he visited, a few were infected, but the others would no doubt follow in quick succession if the disease were allowed to spread. How to contain the infection, though. . . .

"Do you know how to use this?" K'Tan asked him, offering a dermal regeneration unit.

"Yes," said Remor.

"Good. Please bring it back when you're finished," K'Tan said, turning back toward the mess of tangled bodies and broken glass. "I've got to clean this up."

Ensign Dunn had yet to put down the phaser, he cling to it tightly as it hid the slight trembling of his hand. He concentrated on calming his breathing as another crew memeber stode by.
"Well, that's not something you see every day..." he said as he passed by.
Dunn finally was able to holster the weapon, the tension in the room and in his body dissipating following the off hand comment. Just think, a few hours ago he was in his quarters lamenting how dull this mission was. He was now becoming sorry for what he wished for.

Aria took a deep breath as she navigated her slender form through the crowded medical facilities. Since she arrived, she had mostly been in her own thoughts as she processed the information. She moved cautiously to her grandmother and scanned for the severity of the wound then turned her attention onto the security officer.

"I know you meant well, but in the future could you please refrain from stunning people in sick bay?" Aria asked Dunn as she waved her medical tricorder over Sareth's still form. As she quietly gather the medical data, she turned her attention to doctor Dret and the K'Tan person that she had yet to really meet. "Sareth's concerns are justified, her husband's condition could grow rapidly worse given the delicate mental state that he is in. I propose a compromise. I can have him and her transported to the Aurora's smaller medical center and from there she can stay by his side and out of the way of our dedicated security force. While you consider that option, I suggest that we also begin to test the blood of those not showing symptoms. If there is a chance that someone isn't showing because of immunity as opposed to lack of exposure, we could use that information."

There were so many pieces to the puzzle that was missing that it was hard to even begin to devise an effective treatment. He own father and siblings had been placed in cryo-stasis for the sake of their lives and the ship. Had she the time, she would have allowed herself to feel that loss and fear, but she didn't have the time. If her calculation were correct and things were going to get much worse before they got better. How many people would die before they solved this equation? How many would she personally fail to save?

A joint post between Jen and Bryancd:

K'arath hurried down the corridor. He wasn't sure why, but he felt compelled to speak with Dr. Peterson regarding his observations of the virus's behavior and how it spread through the ships system's. There had to be a correlation between that initial presentation of the disease and its subsequent spreading to the crew. He had been in Engineering since the crisis began and found the ship a hive of activity.

The doors to Sickbay parted and he stopped dead in his track. The Klingon Chief Engineer had to double check and make sure he hadn't inadvertently walked into 5 Forward, as the room was so crowded. There were patients everywhere...on bio beds and sitting on the floor... it seemed half the command staff was there as well. He grabbed a nearby Security Ensign by the arm to get his attention.

"Ensign, where is Doctor Peterson?" he bellowed over the din.
"He's...in his office, sir. Sir, he's not himself, he's very sick." came Ensign Dunn's sheepish reply. "Who's in charge?" he demanded.

"Peterson is, but maybe you should talk to her too." The Ensign pointed towards a fast moving blond Trill who seemed to be administering three patients at once. K'ararth released his grip on the Ensign and walked towards the young doctor.

Ryla Dret had just come from the CMO's office. Despite his illness, Peterson stubbornly remained on duty. Dret had given him another hypo for the pain and made sure she took the bottle of Brandy from his desk drawer—he didn't seem to mind. As far as she knew, he hadn't been drinking, but she wanted to remove the temptation. Dark circles had developed under his eyes and his face was gaunt and pale...yet he continued to monitor the floor from where he sat. Answering questions for nurses and looking over medical records at his terminal. "Doctor, if you keep pushing yourself you could succumb to this virus...the Tiberius will need it's Chief Medical Officer in the future. Please, try to at least remain still. Your immune system needs all the help it can get." She passed him a glass of water, promised to keep him updated and left his office to continue working the floor.

Ryla moved swiftly from patient to patient, checking their vitals and ordering various antibiotics and pain relievers. Yet nothing she did seemed to help them. Their conditions continued to deteriorate and their numbers continued to swell. The captain had opened several shuttle bays to the medical staff, as make-shift infirmaries... and the med techs were beginning to move patients there.  The Trill was drained emotionally and physically, but she pushed on despite it all. There was no other option.

A third patient died a moment before Dret came to her bedside—a Bajoran. Ryla finished her scan and recorded the time of death. As she gestured to a nurse to take the body away, a stout Klingon officer approached her.

"Doctor Dret?" he asked in a brusque voice.

"Yes," she replied as she moved to another patient who lay at her feet on a mat. "Help me move him to the bed," she said to the Klingon as the aids removed the Bajoran's body.

K'ararth immediately bent down to assist Doctor Drett lift the patient on to the bio-bed. He was thankful for the brief moment of silence between them to compose his thoughts having been taken off guard by the petit woman's brusque command. He made a note not to underestimate her again.

"Doctor, I am Chief Engineer K'arath...." she continued to work on the patient and made no response. "I...uh...I have spent the last few hours working on the ships systems in an effort to curtail the spread of the virus and to establish a line of defense against the contagion. I thought perhaps you could help provide some insight as to the causes and effects you have seen here with the infected crew and we could pool our resources to combat this."
Doctor Drett looked up at the blond Klingon and could see asking for help was a difficult proposition for him...

The Trill extended a hand the Klingon. "Thank you for your help chief—as you can see where a bit understaffed." The ordinarily cheerful woman tried to offer him a smile, but wasn't exactly feeling up it. "So, the bio gel packs are infected as well... that would explain the problems we're having. I have little information to offer you, other than the fact that this pathogen is aggressive, and mutating at a rate that makes it impossible to crack. I would be happy if we could just find a way to stabilize everyone—stop it from killing until we can find the cure.

Aria James brought Doctor Dret a PADD containing the medical record of one of the latest patients. Ryla scanned the PADD and gave her a suggestion for treatment. As the young woman turned to go, Ryla called her back. "The captain says you're a special crewmember... he said you may be able to help us find someway to slow this virus. I'm not sure why he thinks that, but the chief and I need all the help we can get."

Rory and Dennis followed close behind a freshly resolute Commander Sevryll. As she entered the corridor she spoke aloud in a soft alto, "computer, where is Captain Quinn."  They had to find the origin of the pathogen—Rory and Dennis would be assigned to that task, but she and the captain would need to touch base before they began their investigation.

"Captain Quinn has entered Sickbay," came the impassive reply of the ship's computer.

A few minutes later and Sevryll and her companions crossed the threshold of the buzzing medical ward. She was unprepared for the scene that met her eyes. The infirmary looked like a war zone, broken glass, dented doors and casualties... casualties everywhere.

Sevryll left Dennis and Rorry with Aria and located the Captain, who was speaking with Chief Engineer K'ararth and Doctors Peterson and Dret in the CMO's office.

Aria's glanced over her PADD as she looked from Dennis to Rory. Just looking over them standing there confirmed the old human saying about necessity being the mother of invention. She knew that the holograms would be useful during this crisis, but she was still unsure on how to put them to work. Her mind worked frantically to process the incoming data from the PADD as she looked at the sick faces from many of those that worked on the flight deck. They were not doing well and if a solution wasn't found soon, they might lost more of the flight deck crew to the virus.

"Have you made any progress?" Rory asked her organic sibling as she began to clean up some of the debris that littered the floor.

"I'm one of the few people that have yet to develop any symptoms." Aria said softly. "I'm running tests to see if I was exposed and if so, why I am not displaying signs of infection, but I need other non-infected subjects to see if they are also displaying some type of resistance."

Rory nodded as she continued to pick up the glass. "I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that it's not your nanite systems that are protecting you. They were only designed to combat known pathogens and father's own systems didn't protect him."

Aria blinked softly and then smiled. "If we can find the source of the plague, then we can use that information to develop a cure."

"His bio-logs!" both Aria and Rory said in almost unison.

"If we can access his nanites' system logs, we can figure out the exact time and date that they encountered the virus." Aria said as she almost sprinted to the computer console.

"I still have his current access codes," Rory said as she moved to Aria's side and helped the younger woman establish a link to Aeric's nanite network. With a few keystrokes, they began downloading the bio data from Aeric's machines. It would take longer for them to sift through the raw data and convert the information into something that could be understood, but it was something that Aria could do. She could use the systems from her own nanites to decode the data, but Rory was concerned if the task could be done in the time that the crew had left.

"Rory could you and your new friend being tracking down the possible sources of this infection? As the data becomes available, I'll try to point you in the right direction. If we can find patient zero, we might be able to develop a cure more quickly." Aria said as she looked to the two holograms.

The dog was back. It was always there, no matter where he went. Today it was distant, hiding behind the corners, afraid to come out. Wystan knew it would come. Sooner or later. He always left for his shift at least an hour before it started, less people were around then. Today was no different. What was different today was the fact that the turbo lift wasn't working.
"Computer, open turbo lift door,"
No response.
"Computer, open the turbo lift door,"
Silence. He sighed, walked towards the nearest Jeffries tube entrance and opened it. It was going to be a long climb. Not that it wasn't one he hadn't done. He slid down quickly. He knew the way. Not that it mattered. Coming out just in front of the bridge he cleaned off his uniform. The ship was going crazy. The Vulcan's were acting strange, which wasn't new for anyone but him. He didn't exactly procreate with anyone. Checking the time he walked onto the bridge and sat down by his station. It was going to be a long shift, and the dog was nudging ever closer.

Joint Post Between Iceman and StarTrekFanatic5

It was all Dr. Peterson could do to look up at the Captain as beads of sweat poured down his face., "You know Captain we need to let Starfleet Medical know of our predicament and under no circumstances can we beam down to Vulcan." He said.

Quinn looked down at Peterson, "Yes Doctor I have already informed Starfleet of our condition. And no one will be beaming anywhere until we have things under control."

Peterson smiled, " I have however forwarded our situation to The Vulcan Medical Center for Analysis I suggest we follow the book on this one."

"I agree with you 100%, this is a medical situation and we will take your lead Doctor," Quinn said with a nod.

"Dr. Dret I have A few suggestions: Start sifting through the personnel records of those infected and see if they have anything in common. Lets also check for those crew that have not been infected to see if they have any similarities from which we might be able to produce a vaccine from."

Doctor Dret nodded and typed on her padd.

"Captain I would suggest we close five forward until this infection is controlled as we want to limit the exposure to the rest of the crew, and confine all non essential crew to their quarters."

"Yes Doctor this is happening as we speak" Quinn said with a smile.

"Also, Captain, It might be an Idea to have security run a shipwide security check on all crew to see if any of us have been on shore leave where perhaps a plague or virus has .....

Quinn raised his hand... "Doctor this has all been taken care of." Quinn looked down at the Doctor Peterson and placed his hand on his friend's shoulder, "You need to get some rest my friend. You run a fine department and have trained your medical staff very well. They can take care of things."

Dr. Peterson looked up at the Captain "I know Captain, that is why I have stepped back and am running things from in here. You know yourself it would be like asking you to give up command of your ship. Could you do it?"

The Captain smiled "If I had too, yes but it would be difficult."

He patted Peterson's shoulder and turned to Dr. Dret, K'arath and Sevryll. "Can I speak with you three for a moment please."

Doctor Peterson closed his eyes and was fast asleep. Quinn, Ryla, K'arath and Sevryll exited his office and found a vacant corner.

Chief Grant stood quietly in the control tower operations center. With her CO out of commission, she had taken it upon herself to keep the flight deck functioning, but it was a losing battle. Over a third of the people that were closest to her on the ship were ailing or in critical condition. No one was safe and Rina knew it. Had Lt. James not disabled his nanite antiviral subroutines to create the patch that she suggested, he might have been protected from this situation. She knew that she could continue to blame herself for the problem or she could make the best out of a bad situation.

"Ensign Summer," the chief said as she turned to the fresh out of the academy officer. "We need to prepare all shuttle craft for deployment when we reach Vulcan. If they send additional medical support, we're going to have to clear out the bays to receive them. My primary concern is to make sure that the Aurora and the new runabouts are fully equipped and prepared to move."

"I don't mean to question you," Summer said softly, "but couldn't we just transport them into space when we arrive?"

"We could, but the work will keep the rest of the crew busy and they need something other than their sick crewmates on their mind. They need to work. We need to work because until that virus is gone, that's all that we have left." Chief Grant said as she transmitted the orders to the flight deck crew. "Let's get these birds ready to fly!"

Joint post by Jen and Just X
---
Dennis watched Rory work with the vulcan girl he didn't know. It was unnatural how closely she resembled Sevryll. Rory seemed to be well acquainted with the vulcan and they apparently shared the same father... As far as he knew holograms didn't have parents. Unless she was speaking metaphorically. Was the girl a hologram too? He stepped to Rory's side and cleared his throat. "Is there something I can do to help?"

"What are you skilled at?" Aria asked as she glanced to the unknown man. "Once we determine what you can do, I can give you suggestions on where best to put your talents to use."

Rory simply smiled at the interaction. Aria had shifted to work mode and there was nothing that was going to move her from helping to solve the problems. "Since we are the only two beings on the ship that are completely immune to the virus, you should probably make use of that asset."

"He's a hologram? Actually that might be quite useful if he is as functional as you are." Aria said aloud then turned her attention to the unknown hologram. "Hologram, what is your designation and primary function?"

Dennis frowned and glanced down at Rorry, "Vulcans. Why can't they just say, hi, what's your name? What do you do for a living? Does she talk to you like that?'" He forced a polite smile, and answered Aria's formal question. "My designation is Dennis—designed in the image of agent David Lock... programmed by the techs at Section 31." The brawny hologram raised his chin with pride as he rattled off his skill sets. "I can hack any system, jump start any engine and kick any butt you need kicking.  If you want an example of my slicing abilities...check out my physique. Sevryll made me change my appearance, so the kids wouldn't confuse me with their father. So I got creative with the code that alters my outward appearance and vocal tone." He flexed a massive bicep for Rory's benefit and smirked when she didn't react. 

"I'm a sentinel. I look after Sevryll's children when she's on duty; and whether she knows it or not, I look after her too. That's my primary function ma'am."

Aria offered a slight nod. "From your reactions it seems that you are either well programmed or a sentient program. That can be useful. If it won't distract you from your primary duty, I'm going to need to track this virus back to the source. I believe that you and Rory are up to the task."

Dennis smiled and glanced from Aria to Rory. "Great. Where do we start?"

"We should get a list of everyone infected an go from there." Rory said.

"I'll have my father's files processed in an hour or so and then we can determine when he got infected. At that point we can narrow down who he was in proximity of at the time if the infection." Aria said softly and then
turned to her PADD to review the incoming data.

"Until I get those files processed, I need the two of you to track down those who are infected and scan them into the medical database. Even if they are not infected, we could use those scans to get a better understanding on how they are resistant."

"Alright," said Dennis. "Let's begin with the highest ranking officers and their families and work our way down." He then commandeered a PADD and pulled up the crew roster. Dennis quickly keyed a few commands and restructured the list so that the command hierarchy started with the captain and ended with the Yeomen. The he subtracted the patients.

With a wave of his hand he gestured toward Quinn, "shall we?" he asked Rory.
She nodded and smiled. "Let's get to it."

Doctor Dret followed K'ararth, Sevryll and Quinn out of Peterson's office to one of the only vacant corners left in Sickbay. The Commander did not look well, and Ryla had yet to see her enter Sickbay since the outbreak. She didn't want to harass Sevryll, so Doctor Dret discretely scanned the vulcan woman from a distance. The results indicated that the pathogen was more concentrated in the Commander... but why? Had she had the virus longer than the others? Sevryll met Dret's eyes and the trill quickly closed her tricorder and addressed the vulcan.

"Commander, when did you first notice your symptoms?"

Sevryll understood that the doctor was trying to do her job, but she could not help feeling irritated by her presence. The vulcan woman shifted her weight and rolled her head to one side before leveling her dark eyes on Dret. Silence followed. Like a slothful loiterer blocking the only route, her high emotions stood steadfast until a small thread of logic finally unraveled the irritation she felt. The thought of her children and their need for a cure—the crew's need for a cure—came to the forefront of her mind...

"Since shore leave," she replied raggedly.

"Do you recall if you came into contact with anything or anyone who may have made you ill?" asked Dret.

Sevryll tried to conjure the memory of her time on Tiberius before beaming down to San Francisco with her children. She had a photographic memory and had never experienced lapses of any kind...except now. Sevryll shook her head, "I can't seem to remember," she replied—irritated once more.

Dret bit her bottom lip and nodded, "It's alright." Just knowing that Sevryll had a more intense variety of the strain would be help enough. It may coincide with the tests that she observed Doctor Lucas running before they arrived at Earth for a much needed R and R.

Ryla turned to the Quinn and K'ararth. "Captain, I haven't had an opportunity to report this incident, because of our current situation...but I think it is of some significance to our investigation."

"Go ahead Doctor," said K'ararth.

Quinn looked to his chief engineer and then to Ryla. "Yes?" said Quinn.

"Doctor Peterson asked me to run a microscan on the sample of the pathogen. He returned to his quarters, leaving Doctor Lucas and I alone in Sickbay. Because the comm system was down, I had to leave the Infirmary to inform Peterson of my findings once the test results were complete. When we returned, I found Doctor Lucas at my station doing something to my sample of the virus. When he noticed us, he casually returned to his own work. I left Peterson in his office and went to investigate. When I looked into my microscanner, I realized Lucas had switched the samples. I confronted him and he became defensive... he was ill and I tried to make him lay down... he refused and quickly, he collapsed and died a  moment later." She paused only to take a breath and then continued. "He was always a cantankerous man, but I never gave it a second thought. Some people just aren't very jovial." She flicked a quick, nervous glance at Sevryll and then back to Quinn. Since the Sareth's tirade, Doctor Dret had felt a bit uneasy around her vulcan patients... there was no predicting if/when they could go nuts.  "I haven't had much time to think about it until now, but I guess it could be related. Lucas had a pet project he worked on from time to time. I never had the opportunity to ask him about it, but maybe there's something in his personal logs that would point us to a possible tie-in."

Quinn exchanged looks with Sevryll then glanced back to Dret. "I'll give you the access you need to review those logs— find out if your assumptions have any merit, and report back to me." He then turned back to Sevryll, "Aria is working on finding a treatment. See if you can be of any help to her. Chief, you may want to hang around, incase they come up with anything that can be of use to you."

"Aye, Captain," said K'ararth.
Dret nodded and stepped into Doctor Lucas's office, to begin her investigation. Sevryll watched her go before she strode across Sickbay towards Aria, stepping over patients and dodging med techs as she walked.

Aria didn't bother to glance up from her work, "hello Commander... hello Lieutenant Commander K'ararth. "

Sevryll nodded to the girl, "We've been asked to assist you in your task," she said.

=/\= 

  Ensign T'Aryn Rayna Cameron awoke in a cold sweat.  Realizing he was late for uty in the Sciences Lab (Damn ! Not again!), he leaped from his bunk with a groan, and rushed to get ready.  "No time for meditation THIS morning....or breakfast!", he thought, exasperated.
 
"Computer..", He said attempting to call the Lab to report in, but there was no response.  Darn. The comm system was down yet again. "It will be a wonder if I can even get out the door!", He thought dryly.

  Passing the Replicator he spouted out a command, "Coffee, hot, STRONG."   Downing the coffee almost all in one gulp, he hurried off to the shower. Maybe It would still be working...He felt TERRIBLE. He had first noticed the symptoms after returning shore leave, but had summarily dismissed them.  After all, he had his part-Vulcan constitution on his mother's side, and he was Martian-born right?  Only Offworlders or Colony-ship crew he had known had seemed to be so...  weak?  Was that the right word?

"Anyway," he mused, "I've been lurking in the background at the Science Stations and have hardly been noticed since I ACCEPTED this post.  I'll NEVER make Lieutenant like this!  But with all the weird stuff that's been happening of late, saying the Science Department's been busy would be a severe understatement, indeed!"...Donning his duty uniform, and rushing for the door, he couldn't help but think, "Our ship and it's crew are in a bit of a bind, and, well, maybe NOW is your time to shine, T'Aryn.."

It took several attempts and nearly five minutes to get the door to respond and open.
  "Yeah, I'll SHINE all right!", he thought, hurrying to the turbolift, "If only I can stop being LATE FOR DUTY!!"

=/\=

Back in sickbay, K'Tan looked on as Captain Quinn, Commander Sevryll,  and Commander K'Arath  joined the blond Trill in Dr. Peterson's office.  As the door swept closed behind them, K'Tan's brow furrowed with worry. I wonder what that's all about, he thought.  His musing was interrupted by the eager voice of ensign Dunn. 

"It looks like things are settling down here, sir," the ensign said.  Dunn nodded towards the two security guards accompanying him.  "We're returning to the security office to report to Chief Manrique.  You can come along if you like."

"Thanks, Ensign," K'Tan replied.  As he turned to leave, he thought back on the havoc wreaked by the older Vulcan woman.  "But perhaps your two companions should stay here in sickbay to keep an eye on things.  Just in case another patient has an 'episode'," he added with a wry smile.

His face reddening with chagrin, Dunn responded, "Maybe you're right."  He turned to face the two guards.  "Stavis and Knightly; you heard the Lieutenant.  I'll make sure someone comes to relieve you when your shift ends."

After leaving sickbay, the two made their way to turbolift three.  As they stepped into the lift, K'Tan couldn't help but notice the pensive expression darkening Dunn's face.  "Is something wrong ensign?" he asked.  The young ensign stared down at the carpet between his feet and fidgeted with his holstered phaser before finally responding. 

"It's that Vulcan girl in sickbay, sir.  It seemed like she thought I was overreacting when I stunned the old woman."  Dunn looked up at the lieutenant, confusion and frustration fighting for dominance on his face.   "I'm just trying to figure out if I should have handled things differently."

K'Tan nodded in understanding, and offered the ensign a smile of encouragement.  "Don't beat yourself up over it Ensign Dunn; you did fine.  Starfleet Security protocol states that in a hostage situation, an officer's first priority is to ensure the safety of the hostage.  That is exactly what you did.  I'm not sure exactly what came over that Vulcan woman, but if you hadn't acted, she may very well have killed that nurse."  As the lift slowed to a halt, Dunn visibly relaxed; a look of relief smoothed his features.

The turbolift doors opened, and the two stepped out onto deck four.  As they headed to Lt. Manrique's office, K'Tan turned to look at the ensign walking beside him.  "Remember not to second guess yourself, Dunn.  Doubts and second guesses are an officer's worst enemies.  Fortunately, you have a tool at your disposal that is invaluable in overcoming those enemies.  It is more effective than any weapon, including your phaser.  The name of that tool is "training".  As long as you remember that, you'll do fine."

Since the technical issues on the Tiberius began, Lieutenant Zremm had decided to extend his normal shift on the bridge.  He knew that Captain Quinn and Commander Sevryll had been busy working on getting the ship functioning fully again, along with her crew.  While performing his normal duties and scans of nearby space phenomena, Zremm had been monitoring what communications had been coming in.  One of the benefits of being an andorian was he was able to not only hear extraordinary well, but he was able to process different frequencies as isolated sounds.  In essence he was able to listen to multiple conversations at one time.  This was something that required some skill and training but Zremm had found it very useful over the years. 

So far, he had several bits of information that his mind had been analyzing.  First, the gel packs on the Tiberius had somehow become infected.  This of course could be devastating to the functioning of the ship.  So far, it seemed to him that engineering had gotten a handle on the situation.  Tiberius had several redundant and backup systems of course and he was certain they could contain the problem, at least for now.  The more disturbing piece of news was that the infection or "outbreak" seemed to be targeting members of the crew that were telepathic.  This could be a severe problem since many key personnel aboard had those abilities.  Including his immediate superior Commander Sevryll, not to mention Captain Quinn.  Once Zremm had learned of this information he had spent some time scanning the medical database in hopes of finding a similar circumstance.  While he found some incidents like this, nothing seemed to quite fit the pattern of infection in their current situation.  But, he had an idea.  It might be a long shot, and only buy them a little more time.  However, it was worth bringing up.

"Zremm to Commander Sevryll."  He said as he tapped the comm channel at his station.  A longer than normal pause took place.  At first he thought communications were still down and was about to try again when he got a response.

"Sevryll here lieutenant.  Go ahead."  The vulcan woman said in a much more emotional tone than Zremm was used to hearing.

"Commander, I know you have your hands full but I have been monitoring the situation.  I had an idea.  I'm not sure it will help but,...."  Zremm said before being interrupted.

"I have limited time lieutenant.  Please get to the point."  Sevryll said again, in an increasingly agitated voice.

"Yes sir.  Since it seems this pathogen is targeting telepathic species, do you think it's progress might be slowed if we could sort of disable the telepathic abilities of those infected?  I know there are certain drugs that have the ability to do this.  Even simple alcohol can impact the synapses of the brain.  But I'm sure one of the doctors would know of something even more effective.  I'm not sure it will help Commander but I,...."  The andorian said before again being cut off.

"An interesting theory Lieutenant Zremm.  I shall bring it to the attention of the medical personnel working on the problem.  Sevryll out."  She said and ended the discussion.

"Hmm, that didn't sound at all like the Sevryll I know."  Zremm said quietly, mainly to himself.  He knew it might not help at all, he was no doctor.  But he always prided himself at continuing to learn.  One of the things that drove him to Starfleet in the first place.  Well, for now he would have to just continue with his duties and hope his suggestion made a difference.  Zremm knew they would need several perhaps lucky chances to get out of this one.

"Computer, play Doctor Lucas's personal log: Star Date 57832.3. Authorization Dret 30 Omicron Lima." A successive number of melodious chirps indicated Ryla's authorization was accepted and that her command was registered. The trill leaned back in the chair and listened as the tetchy Doctor's curt voice filled the small office:

"Why did I accept this post? I could be heading up any number of reputable medical facilities on a dozen worlds. I hate this ship... The Captain has one brain cell, and it is fighting for dominance. The first officer's tongue is sharper than her intellect. And the Chief Medical Officer believes himself to be the 'sovereign of geniuses'... when in all actuality, his verbosity is exceeded only by his incompetence." Ryla smirked contemptuously—'what an #@!' she thought to herself as the disembodied voice blathered on.

He concluded the log with, "If it wasn't for my wife, I wouldn't be here."

Ryla's interest was suddenly peaked—she twisted a lock of her short, blond hair and hastily uttered, "Computer, play Doctor Lucas's personal log: Star Date 57833.3. Authorization Dret 10 Omicron Lima."

The computer signaled with a negative chirp before falling silent—the file was encrypted...and so were the remainder of his logs. Ryla bit her bottom lip. "Why would he encrypt his personal logs? He definitely intended to hide something." The trill quickly strode onto the floor in the infirmary in search of someone who could help.

Chief K'ararth hovered nearby the station where Sevryll and Aria worked. He looked irritated...Ryla approached the Klingon and informed him of her dilemma.

"Lieutenant Commander K'ararth, if I can have a moment of your time..." her friendly smile was met with a frown. "Doctor Lucas has encrypted several of his logs, and I require access to them. Could you help me retrieve them?"

Aria took a slow breath as her blood continued to process. She had spent the last few hours testing a unique protein in her blood against the viral cultures grown from the gel packs. She had compared her own data files to her father and found that she had been infected with the virus milliseconds after he was. Her scans also revealed that a unique protein that her body normally created had increased significantly on the onset of the infection and that this protein had been keeping the virus from replicating or mutating.

It was far from any sort of cure, but the protein could, if correctly synthesized, prevent further infection in the patients. Even if it could be correctly synthesized, the proteins would breakdown in anyone without nanotech enhanced systems.  Until a cure could be established, every infected person would require almost daily injections of the protein or the virus would progress. Even if the ship wasn't being taken down by the virus, it would take a miracle to administer the inhibitor to the entire crew. That was if she could manage to duplicate and mass produce the serum.

"This might just work." Aria said to herself as the projections on her console suggested that enough of the protein could manufacture the protein in sufficient quantities. The information however was not all good news. The protein would have to be modified to the specific host or it would act like a toxin to their systems. Her own unique genetics would allow the unmodified protein to be administered to those that shared some of her genetic heritage with no fear of rejection.

"Doctor!" Aria shouted to the woman that had taken command of the sick bay. "I don't have a cure, but I do have a treatment that we can apply to anyone that has Vucan, Nacene, or El Aurian blood. It will halt the virus at its present infection levels, but that might buy us the time we need to develop a true cure. Once we get the genetic profiles of the others, we can start on converting the protein to treat them as well, but we will need a delivery system."

K'Tan followed Dunn into the security chief's office.  As the doors closed behind them, Dunn paused and gestured for the Lieutenant to proceed him;  K'Tan strode forward and took in the room with a quick glance.

Lt. Manrique sat behind a utilitarian, gunship-gray desk studying a PADD held loosly in his left hand.  K'Tan was taken aback by the Lieutenant's appearance; a day's worth of stubble covered his jaw, and his bloodshot eyes looked as though they hadn't seen a good night's sleep in over a week.  Manrique's hand trembled slightly as he reached for a mug resting at his elbow.  After taking a sip, he carefully returned the mug to his desk and looked up to address K'Tan.  "It's good to finally meet you, Lieutenant," Manrique said.  "I've heard that you were looking to lend the department a hand."  Manrique set down his PADD, then steepled his fingers before him.  "I was just looking over your record.  Your last CO doesn't speak very highly of you, and yet you seem to have the backing of some of the top brass in the fleet.  I also understand that you played a crucial role in the success of our recent mission on Romulus."

k'Tan nodded silently in acknowledgement as Manrique continued.  "I'm going to lay it all out for you.  Something is definitely going on, and it has me worried.  Random system malfunctions, an unexplained illness, and passengers and crew having neurotic episodes... it sounds to me like the ship is on the verge of a crisis."

K'Tan walked to one of the chairs facing Manrique's desk and took a seat.  "I agree with you, Lieutenant, which is why I came to see you.  In addition to the issues that you mentioned, I'm especially concerned by the fact that we appear to be proceeding on to Vulcan as though nothing was wrong.  With the possibility of a communicable illness spreading through the ship, and issues with the ship's primary systems, shouldn't we at least be at yellow alert right now?"

Manrique's face contorted in pain as he was overcome by a shiver, which he quickly suppressed.   I'm inclined to agree with you, except for the fact that it isn't clear just how widespread these incidents are.  The last thing we need is for someone to jump the gun and cause undue panic among the civilian passengers."

Manrique was suddenly racked by a fit of coughing.  As he regained composure, he continued.  "Right now, the Captain is meeting with some of the senior staff in sickbay.  I was about to head there myself to check in with him.  Unfortunately, I've been feeling a bit under the weather myself, so it's likely that I'll end up being a patient instead of an adviser. "

With a visible effort, Manrique lifted his head to meet K'Tan's eye.  "According to your records, you have extensive experience in Security.  It would be a tremendous help if you could meet with the senior staff and coordinate the Security Department's activities with Captain Quinn and Commander Sevryll."

Manrique stood up on shaky legs, and stepped from behind his desk.  "We'd better go now, Lieutenant K'Tan.  I get the impression that we are running out of time." 

A joint post by Jen and BryanCD

Lieutenant Commander K'ararth, if I can have a moment of your time..." her friendly smile was met with a frown. "Doctor Lucas has encrypted several of his logs, and I require access to them. Could you help me retrieve them?"

Realizing the gravity of the doctors request, K'arath allowed his expression to soften a bit, "Of course." he replied and followed her into the office. He took a chair behind the desk and turned the computer terminal towards him. He could see Dr. Lucas' personal logs were on the screen. One file had been accessed, the rest were unattainable. Being of a higher rank than the doctor, he tried his own command override to give her access, but that also failed.

"Hmmm, he mused out loud. "Very clever." He tapped his combadge, "K'arath to Lieutenant Manrique."

A ragged cough came over the com before the security officer finally was able to reply, "Manrique here."

"Lieutenant, do you have any personnel capable of hacking encrypted logs? Doctor Dret has been tasked with investigating a former colleague... The majority of his logs are inaccessible."

"I'm on my way down there now Chief."

Dennis and Rory had finished scanning their sixth patient when the strapping male hologram overheard the Klingon's conversation with the Security Chief. "I'll be right back," he said as he handed the holowoman his tricorder.

"Excuse me, chief... I couldn't help overhearing. I think I might be able to help you."

K'ararth eyed the terran man suspiciously. He turned to Ryla, "do you have any objections to his involvement?"

"None," she replied.

Dennis smiled down at the trill as she motioned to Lucus's office. "I don't believe I've seen you in sickbay before." She said curiously.

"I'm rarely ill." He said as he accessed the Lucus's the terminal.

"I'm Doctor Dret, and you are?"

"Dennis." He replied.

"Dennis... do you have a last name?"

"Not yet." He winked at her as his hands flew over the console. A moment later he had successfully hacked the logs. He cracked his knuckles and leaned back in the chair. "Anything else I can do for you doc?"

A surprised look washed over her face, "You broke the encryption?"

"Yah. Nothing to it. Well, if you don't have anything else for me to do..."

"Uh... no... thank you for your help Dennis," said Ryla.

The doctor watched as the hulking man tip an invisible hat before returning to the floor. At the same moment Dennis rejoined Rory, Lieutenant Manrique entered the infirmary. He looked horrible—the investigation would have to wait... Ryla had to examine the Chief of Security.

As the petite blond strode across sickbay, the medical team raced to two different biobeds—the virus was beginning to claim more crewmen. Lieutenant Manrique was accompanied by a handsome officer, one she had yet to meet. The trill offered them a warm smile and gestured to a bed that had just been cleared of it's recent occupant. As she examined the chief, she informed him of her investigation. "I think this is a task I should turn over to you, Chief. I'm needed on the floor. Of course, I can still assist who ever you appoint to do this job, if you require my participation." Flushed and dripping with perspiration, Manrique turned to K'Tan.

Dr. Peterson woke from an unsettled rest, still suffering from severe headaches and his shirt soaked with perspiration, He called for Dr. Drett to get an update of the current sickbay situation, He didn't dare move from his chair, as waves of nausea and dizziness fought for controll, he feared if he got up he would fall flat on his face, so he stayed seated.

He scanned his computer terminal and noted the death toll was rising and the overflow patients were spilling out into the cargo bays and shuttle bays,

He felt helpless, but knew if he left his office he would probably end up in a bio bed himself and wanted to remain helpful for as long as possible and felt that at least in his office he was out of the way, but was still available for advise if needed.

He closed his eyes and waited for Dr. Drett to come and update him

Inhaling and exhaling was a reflexive function of the human body. To a healthy individual the process of drawing oxygen into lungs is effortless. Yet to Natalie, the endeavor had recently become painfully difficult.

Breathing wasn't the only thing she found challenging; the simple act of dressing herself left the yeoman exhausted. The tall brunette stood before her mirror and gazed at the ashen, gaunt face reflected back at her. Her labored, raspy breaths made her head spin and the young woman's quarters whirled about her, leaving her disoriented. She reached for the table to slow the rotation but missed and fell to the floor, taking the items kept on the table with her. A holophoto of her fiancé landed before her blurry eyes. The sickening turning gradually slowed, but darkness began to envelope her. John's smiling face was the last thing she saw before a tunnel appeared before her. Silhouetted against a wash of warm light was the outline of a man. He held out his hand. As she neared him, she realized it was John. But, how could he be here? "John!? They told me you were lost in the battle  of Chin'toka in the Dominion War!" He smiled and took her hand in his. It felt nice. Her heart skipped in her chest as he kissed her cheek. It was then Natalie noticed that she could breath again... 

"All non-essential crew are confined to quarters? Obviously there is something interesting going on, otherwise I would be washing the dishes that Brex refuses to put in the replicator." J'Dan Marley wouldn't be working in Five Forward any time soon—the lounge had been closed indefinitely. But why? He should be enjoying his day off, but J'Dan couldn't just sit alone in his cabin wondering what was going on.  He approached the door of his quarters, as if to leave, but stopped just before the sensor could detect his presence. "I could get in a lot of trouble for disobeying the captain." He ran a hand through his dark hair, "But I have to find out what is going on!" J'Dan strode with determination out the door and into the corridor. On his way out, he narrowly avoided two medical personnel who were rushing down passageway with an unconscious crewman carried between them.  J'Dan tripped as he continued backwards down the corridor. Hitting the floor, he rolled over on his side to investigate what it was he had stumbled over. His wide eyes found another crewman laying in a heap on the floor. J'Dan shifted into a crouch and looked back towards the medical personnel who were almost to the turbolift. "HEY! This man is hurt!" Shouted the Bajoran as he attempted to help the unconscious man. The insensible ensign's head rolled lifelessly on his shoulders as J'Dan tried in vain to lift him. He lowered him gently back to the floor and shouted again as the doors of the turbolift closed—the medical team was gone. First aid training was a requirement of all food and beverage staff. Ja'Dan checked the man for a pulse and found none. He stood slowly and looked about the corridor. In his section alone, there were at least ten people laying about the hallway. Afraid, J'Dan bolted to the turbolift. "I have to find Brex!"

Ensign Tev-Awash looked up from the Auxiliary Science console as Lieutenant Zremm approached her from his post on the bridge. The Assistant Chief Science Officer wore a concerned look and his antae were folded back against his head.

"Are you continuing to scan for bio signs?"

"Yes sir. I've been able to mark which quarters are inhabited by living crewmen, and which are occupied with the deceased. The medical staff is being deployed to the cabins where bio signs are weakest."

She shifted her weigh uncomfortably as she announced the next factor, "the death toll is rising despite the efforts of the medical staff. What are we going to do sir?"

Joint Post between Kinglinksr and Moyer777


Ensign Starstriker and Counselor Margon continued to check the crew quarters.  Isaac was feeling a bit more upbeat but something was nagging at him.  He was certain he wasn't whole and healthy.

Margon looked at the Ensign.  "You ok Ensign? You seemed troubled."

They were done checking the crew quarters now, and the sensors were helping the medical teams.

Starstriker paused and then said, "Counselor, there is something I must do.  I'm concerned about my Sugar Gliders."

"I understand Isaac, my stomach churns a tad bit when I think of Mr. Mouse being in distress" said Margon.  "You go check on them, I'll meet you at Sickbay.

"Agreed, and thanks for understanding Counselor" replied Isaac.  "I'll check on them, but this mysterious virus that the medic has mentioned, I don't know why, but if this virus is bad, then...I must find out what it is doing. It is concerning to me".

Margon nodded saying "Yes, it doesn't sound good, lets find out together. I'll meet you in sickbay"

Isaac nodded and headed in the direction of his quarters.  He arrived and the doors were now working.  The two Sugar Gliders seem disturbed and immediately jumped to Isaac's neck when he arrived.  "Wow, you guys missed me."  They curled up onto his shoulder like a furry scarf.  He reached out with his mind and soothed them.

Yet, as he did so, there was something wrong.  He could feel something was wrong.  'I must get to sickbay.  Only there can I hope to find out what this virus is.'

Isaac put the Sugar Gliders back onto their tree and stepped out and headed to sickbay.

The Counselor made his way towards sickbay.  Along the way emotions were running high, and it seemed as though no one really knew what was going on.  He didn't have to be a telepath to recognize fear in people's eyes.  The turbolift hummed as it came to stop on sickbay's floor.  The door opened and the counselor stepped out into what seemed to be chaos.  People were everywhere and it didn't sound good.

Quinn left sickbay and headed down the hall. He entered a turbolift and announced "Bridge". It took a second but the turbolift began to move. Emotions were high and Quinn was finding it hard to keep the voices quiet. He was worried that they wouldn't find a cure in time or at least be able to stop this virus from spreading. Suddenly and without warning everything went quiet... No more voices. Quinn listened expecting the voices to come back, but seconds passed and still nothing. Quinn began to shake as fear engulfed him. Was this it was this when Nathan Quinn would stop being a telepath. All his life the voices were there. They were as much a part of him as his arms or legs. Now there was silence. Quinn took several deep breaths to steady himself. He was the Captain, he had to remain calm and strong for his crew... they needed him now. He could mourn the loss of his telepathy at a later date.

Just then the turbolift doors opened. As he entered the bridge he noticed there was a skeleton crew. Ensign Tev-Awash, Lieutenant Zremm, Ensign Dagget and Lieutenant Tucker were the only crewmembers there. Quinn gave each person a slight smile as he approached Lieutenant Tucker who looked exhausted. "Report" Quinn, said as he sat down in his chair.

Lieutenant Tucker swayed slightly " Ensign Tev-Awash and Lieutenant Zremm have been monitoring life signs and coordinating medical staff to the more urgent cases. Ship is running on minimal resources.  We will reach Vulcan in six hours at our current speed and if everything remains operational.... Sir" Quinn gave Tucker a slight nod." Lieutenant please go rest in my ready room. I'll take the bridge " Lt. Tucker smiled slightly and headed towards the Captain's ready room.

Quinn turned to Ensign Dagget "If possible increase warp speed to 7.8" Ensign Dagget ran his fingers over his panel "Aye sir.. warp 7.8".

The ship gave a slight jolt as the speed increased.

Quinn wasn't sure what he was going to do once they got to Vulcan. The ship was on lock down, no one on or off. These weren't Starfleet orders but his own. Until they knew what they were dealing with this is how it had to be.. but for how long??

Joint post by Jenn and Just X

Aria sighed softly as she heard Dr. Peterson wake and request reports. Had he no clue of the dangers? Each time he took away one of the medical personnel working on the problem, he put more people at risk. There was no telling when the virus would start taking its toll on the remaining healthy crewmembers and his need to be involved at the risk of the patients was bordering on incompetence. Her entire family was in danger of dying on this ship and his actions were not helping at all. She wasn't Starfleet, not in this life. If there was no one else to say something, she would.

"Doctor Peterson, I believe you need a blunt assessment of the situation," Aria said as she approached the ill man and began speaking in a calm rational voice. "I don't know if this is your normal method of running this department or if it is ineffectiveness brought on by the affects of this virus, but you are putting people at risk every time you take one of the already over worked medical staff from their assignments to brief you."

She could have used her suppressors to hide her aversion, but she had listened to as much as she could. "Perhaps it would be best that you ask the captain to issue a Code 7-10 as your last act as CMO before promoting someone else to acting CMO and relieving yourself from active duty temporarily. Your constant need for updates are hampering the staff. Follow your oath as a doctor and let them work without interruption. You must understand the seriousness of this crisis... this exchange will cost lives because it takes us away from our work. If you want to stay informed, read the logs and if you want to help, stay out of the way."

Ryla didn't quite make it to Peterson before Aria made her frustrations known to him. Doctor Dret inserted herself between them and called the girl down from her tirade. "Miss James, please... return to your work." While she agreed with part of Aria's lecture, she couldn't support her method of delivery. Ryla gave her a scornful look as the girl nodded, leaving the doctors alone together.

"I'm sorry sir. She's stressed out and exhausted—we all are." She handed him another glass of water and he drank it down thirstily. Ryla took a gentler tone with the CMO, a current of concern filling her voice, "Casey, we can't afford to make a mistake and you are endangering yourself by remaining on duty. Please... get into bed. I may not be an infectious disease specialist, but I am competent. Please trust me." She took a breath when he didn't answer her, and looked back at the infirmary, "the death rate is increasing. Aria has discovered a possible inhibitor, it's not a cure and so far, it is only effective on those with Vulcan, El Aurian and Nacenes heritage. We will have to administer it every 36 hours to slow the progression of the disease."

Ryla went to the replicator and ordered a vegan dish and walked to where Aria worked.  She set the plate before the girl and asked, "how long has it been since you've had something to eat?"

"I had something a little less than seventeen hours ago, but thank you." Aria said as she worked to adjust the molecular profile of the protein. With her mind connected to the workstation, she attempted to use the protein sequence as a basis to create a synthetic molecule that would serve as a basis for an improved inhibitor. She continued her work as she snacked on the food and spoke between mouthfuls. "I can go several days without eating due to my heritage and the addition of nanites optimizes that efficiency. If I need to work days to help here, I have no problems with that. I also apologize if I was out of line with the doctor, but there are too many people that require more attention than the CMO."

Ryla considered the girl's serious expression. To the trill, Aria looked no more than seventeen or eighteen years old, but she sounded like a middle aged woman. The doctor bit her bottom lip and then replied, "while I appreciate your point, I have to say your approach was a bit rough. There is more to being a doctor than simply spouting facts—there's an art to how you deliver them. By your appearance, I would venture to guess that you are at least part vulcan. If you can't display emotion, try to be a bit more empathetic... more... considerate." She smiled at the girl before adding, "by the way, I agree with you. And I appreciate the efforts you've made here. How is your inhibitor progressing? Have you tested it?"

With the basic inhibitor known, she transmitted the protein profile to the Aurora that would in turn update her father's nanites with the ability to create it. She wasn't ready to have him released from the stasis pod, but if she did, she could monitor his progression and determine at exactly what level the protein would need to be administered to gain the best effect. "I think that we should remove my father from stasis and see how well he fairs with the new treatment. If we keep him in his comatose state, we don't need to worry about his abilities disrupting ship systems. I think that we can monitor him to see exactly what dosages we will need to treat the others on the ship."

Aria knew both the risks and the dangers of what she proposed, but she and her father were always there to take the risks that would be needed to save the many. His getting better would be beneficial but even his getting worse would provide important data that could aid in future treatments. If his condition deteriorated into a critical situation, she could return him to cryo.

"Let's hope it works. Keep me apprised," said Doctor Dret as she turned to help a new patient.
 

Dr. Peterson was taken back by Aria's roughness but even in his feverish state he knew she was right, He quietly motioned for Dr. Drett to come to his Office and had a quiet conversation with her.

He stated that he was proud of her and was placing her temporarily in command of the sickbay and just requested, that once a cure was found he be given the first dose so that he could help cure the  rest of the crew.

Dr. Drett looked at Dr. Peterson with great concern as she ran the medical scanner over him she could see that his condition was worsening. She yelled for an orderly to bring an antigrav unit and helped Dr. Peterson on too it. He was just to week to fight and shortly after being put on it he lapsed into unconsciousness.

She watched helplessly as he was pushed away to an awaiting bio bed and hoped that he could hold on long enough to be given an antidote.She was more determined then ever now to find a cure as she looked upon Dr. Peterson as a father figure who she greatly respected and was determined not to lose him to this bug.

Dr. Dretts thoughts wondered only for a few seconds before she left the CMO's office and began to organize the next group of crew to enter the sick bay.

After leaving the CMO's office, Dr. Dret stepped over to Lt. Manrique's bio bed.  As she studied the readout, her normally vibrant features darkened with concern.  Dret glanced at K'Tan, who stood watch over the wheezing Lieutenant, then quickly diverted her attention back to her patient. As she looked down on Manrique, her frown was pushed aside by a smile that struck K'Tan as looking somehow forced.  The Doctor gave Manrique's shoulder a reassuring squeeze.  "It will be a while before we can tell you anything conclusive, Lieutenant," she said.  Dret deftly hit a series of icons glowing on the right side of the readout display.  "I'm administering a mild sedative to help make you more comfortable.  Please try to relax; I'll get back to you when I have more to report."

Manrique stiffled a dry, rasping cough.  "I had a feeling you would say something like that, Doctor."  The Lieutenant looked up, as though addressing the ceiling, and said, "Computer."  After the computer gave a familiar chirp of acknowledgement, Manrique continued.  "This is Chief Security Officer Johnny Manrique; supplemental log entry.  Until further notice, I'm authorizing Lieutenant K'Tan here to serve as a temporary head of security and intermediary between Security and the other Department Heads.  End of entry."

"Acknowledged," the disembodied voice of the computer replied.

  Manrique turned to look up at the Trill Doctor.  "Fill him in on what you need, he'll see to it that any concerns you have are addressed."

Within moments, the sedative began to take effect; Manrique's features relaxed, and his eyes began to close.  As the Security Chief slipped into unconsciousness, the Doctor pulled K'Tan aside.   

"Things are looking pretty bad," she said.  "We're more or less in a state of unofficial yellow alert; we have teams sweeping the ship to determine exactly how many people are infected, and all passengers and off-duty crew and have been confined to quarters."

"Good thinking, Doctor," K'Tan replied.  But considering the nature of the crisis we're facing, I think we need to make it official."

  K'Tan paused for a moment, the magnitude of what he was about to do weighing heavily on him.  He was determined not to overstep his bounds, but he felt that it was essential to the safety of the crew that all possible steps be taken not only to contain the spread of the virus, but to minimize any threats that might arise from further system malfunctions.  And as more or less the acting head of security, it could be argued that he was now authorized to take the action he was contemplating...

"Computer.  This is Lieutenant K'Tan, acting on behalf of Security Chief Manrique.  Invoke Yellow Alert status.   Inform all on-duty personnel to be prepare for possible emergency action.  Cross-reference off-duty crew roster with Doctor Dret's list of non-infected crew members, and inform those crew members to prepare for possible duty on five minutes' notice.  Commence ongoing level four diagnostic on all primary and tactical systems, and inform the Chief engineer of any systems not operating at optimal levels."

As a nearby medical LCARS display suddenly flashed the 'yellow alert' icon and associated instructions, the computer answered, "Acknowledged."  K'Tan knew that the same message and instructions would be now flashing on every panel display on the ship, and he was silently grateful that they wouldn't be accompanied by the alarm klaxon  that would blare if the ship went to red alert.

K'Tan tapped his combadge, activating it with a soft chirp.  "K'Tan to ensign Dunn." 

"Dunn here," came the ensign's reply.

"Ensign; per Lt. Manrique's orders, I'm taking charge of deploying the Security department's resources to assist the Medical staff in curtailing the spread of the virus.  Please organize teams of five to patrol each deck of the Tiberius.  They are to enforce the quarantine recently enacted by the Medical Department.  No unauthorized personnel are to leave their quarters.  Any incapacitated crew members are to be brought directly to sickbay."

"Yes, Sir," Dunn replied.

Dr. Dret stared at K'Tan, and with a half-smile, slowly shook her head.  "I hope you know what you're doing, Lieutenant."

K'Tan chose to ignore the comment, instead asking, "What do we know about the virus so far, Doctor?"

"Not as much as we'd like,"  Dret replied with a frown.  She quickly brought the Lieutenant up to speed on Aria Jame's attempts to slow the spread of the illness, concluding with a statement that caused the hairs on K'Tan's arms to stand on end.  "...It appears to me is that our crisis is engineered.  This virus is unlike anything I have ever come across; it's as though it were a weapon designed to cause as much damage as possible."

A virus being used as a weapon, K'Tan thought to himself.  Then the Tiberius is effectively under attack.  A grim, predatory smile slowly grew on K'Tan's face.  The situation was dire, but he finally felt as though he were on familiar ground.  The ship and it's crew were in the midst of battle, and despite the unconventional nature of this fight, combat was K'Tan's element.  Now it was just a matter of locating whoever had launched this attack, and bringing the battle to them...

Joint post between Just X, Jen and Startrekfanatic5

Sevryll watched as the Captain made his own rounds in sickbay, encouraging the staff and offering words of comfort to the conscious patients. After an hour, he left the infirmary and headed to the bridge. The first officer had been helping to administer pain relievers and sedatives to the same patients, but as she continued to work the trembling in her hands became a hindrance. Unable to measure the proper amount of drugs, she left the task to the nurses.

The slight vulcan glanced about Sickbay, looking for Sareth and Krell. She had not seen her parents since she entered the medical ward. Commander Sevryll caught Aria before she left the infirmary, "have you seen my parents?"

The clone's impassive expression transitioned to one of confusion, and then understanding.  The commander had forgotten that she already spoke with Aria, and learned that that her mother had been incapacitated.  Aria had Commander Sevryll's parents moved to the Aurora—both were in cryostasis. The girl patiently explained once more and reminded the commander that they had already had the conversation.

Sevryll's upswept eyebrows dipped, forming a concerned frown. "We have?"

"Your symptoms are becoming worse," Aria said delicately. "I believe that the virus is now affecting your short term memories. If this continues, you should consider relieving yourself from duty. I can adminster the inhibitor to you, but it still hasn't been tested."

The sudden awareness of her worsening condition fell upon the Sevryll like ice water, "perhaps I should accept the drug..." she let her eyes travel away from the girl as she sought the appropriate course of action, "I will speak to the captain immediately. If he feels I should be relieved, I want you to place me in cryostasis with the children."

"I will do what is necessary to keep you safe. You have my word on that. If that means cryo or the protein, then I will make that decision when the time requires it," Aria said softly. "The twins are not going to lose their mother to this."

A faint and somber smile touched the commander's lips and she nodded in thanks. As she walked with the girl to the turbolift, Sevryll took the opportunity to speak to Aria about their past dealings, "I regret the way I treated you when we first met. If I was in fact your mother, I would be proud of your poise, determination, and integrity. I am sorry that I am not. I wanted you to know that."

"Inifinite diversity in infinite combinations," Aria said as they exited on the flight deck. "You are and are not my mother... and I believe that we can have that relationship if you wish. You did not give birth to me in this timeline, but we share blood... and that is a start."

Sevryll inclined her head slightly. Before the door closed she replied, "That would be agreeable."

The lift carried the first officer swiftly to the bridge. When she exited she found the captain gazing intensely at the stars that stretch before him. He turned towards her as she stepped on the deck. The vulcan advanced to the center of the bridge and watched the stars with him a moment before speaking. "Captain, my symptoms are becoming worse. My memory is waning and my motor skills are all but gone... I require your honest assessment and if you deem me unfit, I will willingly relieve myself of duty."

Quinn turned to his first officer and gave her a faint smile and looked into her eyes. He could see that there was no more fight in her, she was done. "Commander Sevryll... I hear by relieve you of your duties. You have done a fine job and we can ask for no more of you. Please confine yourself to the Aurora, so you can be with your children."

Sevryll's heart felt as though it had fallen to her stomach, but she trusted Nathan and knew that she was now a hinderance to the crew's efforts. The proper words failed to find her lips and she inclined her head in understanding and slowly turned to leave the bridge.

She entered the turbolift and turned to face Nathan. Unable to watch her go, his eyes were once again on the viewscreen. The door swept closed with a hiss, and the lift began its ascent. She closed her eyes in defeat and uttered softly, "Commander Sevryll to Aria James."

"This is Aria."

"Permission to board the Aurora."

Margon made his way through the bodies of crewmembers propped up against the corridor walls.  He tried to smile just to ease some of the fear he saw on their faces but what alarmed him the most was the officers.  For the most part this crew had always maintained a professional and confident demeanor, but at this time there was almost panic in some of their eyes. 

All of the sudden the counselor's eyes widened and a flash of light seemed to come from all around.  For an instance, just and instance he saw someone lying on the ground.  She was beautiful.  The vision came with a great amount of pain and shook him out of it almost instantly!  He stumbled and then tried to catch himself. 

The world became fuzzy and his mind swirled as he hit the floor landing on a crew member. 

"Oh, pardon me, I'm sorry, I must have tripped" the counselor apologized.  The crew member didn't move.

He shook his head and carefully got up bracing himself with one hand and lifting up on the wall with the other. 

One of the med techs saw him out of the corner of their eye and ran over to him. 

"Counselor, are you OK?" the tech said pointing his medical tricorder toward the counselor.

"I, um, think so, thank you" 

Like a punch in the side of the head, it happened again, the lights flashed, but this time it lasted longer.  Two Bolian women were on the ground.  He saw himself standing over them as rain began to fall on their lifeless bodies.  Feelings of hopelessness and fear overwhelmed him.  The wind was blowing strong.  An aching deep in his heart echoed through his soul.  He remembered this place.  Where was he?  Leaves started hitting him in the face and swirled all around him.  More rain on the blouses of the motionless women.  He held out his hands to feel the water falling from the sky.  Nothing.

It wasn't rain drops, it was tears. His tears. It all started flooding back to him.  He was back where it had happened. 

Margon had a procedure to block this memory.  It was all to unpleasant.  His children had begged him not to take the procedure, especially Brex.  But he couldn't keep replaying it in his mind.  They promised him it would work, that he would NEVER remember it again.  Something was wrong.  And then, in a flash of light he was back at the horrid place.  It was the moment he found his wives.  The moment he lost them.  The virus had apparently unblocked this procedure and the counselor was remembering.  Dread filled his heart and the pain was excruciating. 

His eyes opened and he all he saw was the feet of people scurrying to and fro.  The tech looked troubled and was frowning, he was scanning him.  It was all blurry.  The tech reached down and touched his bald head.  "It's OK Counselor, I'm hear. You're safe" He was trying to calm Margon down.

The counselor could hear screaming, "Ya et aun fe, Ya et aun fe!" the words in Bolian for "No it can't be"   "What can't be?".... he was still foggy.  It was him, he was screaming.  It was his own voice.

"You have a fever counselor"  I need to get you on to one of the cots.

"I, uh, I ... what's happening to...  "  The counselor passed out.

Frep had been trapped for five hours. Just when the arch would appear, and he thought he could leave the holodeck, a school of sharks would begin circling him again. Despite his verbal commands the program continued to run, and by the pain he felt in his hand the injury Fail-safes were no longer in place. 

"I love wildlife, but this was ridiculous!"  Echoed the Denoblian's voice inside his scuba helmet. Twice now a single animal had parted from the school of Whitetip sharks to investigate him. He had flattened himself on the coral reef in an attempt to avoid their fierce jaws— so far it had worked. He shivered to think of what a holoshark could do to him. He didn't want to picture the mess that would be left behind for the crew to clean up. Not only did he have to contend with the humanoid-eating fish, but his oxygen was steadily being depleted. The transporter chief came to the conclusion that he would have to risk becoming shark bait in order to escape the holodeck. When the arch appeared again, he decided he would swim as fast as he could towards the door and hope that it opened.

Becka was afraid of the dark. Every time the lights went out, she ran to her father's side to wait for them to return. The little girl worried that soon they would go out and never come back on again. She held tight to the stuffed animal her daddy bought for her on shore leave. It was a plush, funny looking shark with soft teeth.  She picked it out in the gift shop at the zoo. Her father had been surprised that she chose it over the much cuter baby bear, but Becka had insisted—she had always been fond of fish. Becka had wanted to stay at the zoo, but her daddy had to return to duty. Today, Jerome was home from work, and his daughter was happy that he was waiting with her in the dark. She crawled up into his bed and pulled the covers over him, to keep him warm. The little girl rested her blond head on his chest. He coughed a little as she pulled his arm over her and patted his hand.

J'Dan ran from the security officers who called for him to return to his quarters. They shouted for him to stop, but they were too busy to actually chase him down. He turned the corner and darted up the corridor towards Brex's quarters. The chime failed to sound, so he stepped toward the door to enter—the sensors failed to detect him so he knocked and announced his presence. "Boss! It's me, J'Dan." The Bajoran waited for a reply.

"Help me with the door! It's stuck." Yelled  Brex. Happy to hear his friend's voice, J'Dan smiled and pushed and pulled the door open.

Aria smiled slightly as she stood over the unconscious form of her father. She had uploaded the new subroutines that allowed his nanites to manufacture the protein and control the virus and they were finally beginning to show an affect.

"Medical Log." Aria said as she reviewed her PADD. "Protein is now in it's second hour of replication in Lieutenant James. Viral load is showing a significant reduction, but this treatment is far from a cure. Production of the protein remains the critical issue with this treatment and without it, I project a mortality rate between 50 and 70 percent. Production and use of the protein is not a cure, but it will prevent the virus from becoming a death sentence."

Aria's slender fingers danced over the PADD as she continued to monitor her father. "At the current rate of dispersal, Lieutenant James should enter into a status of recovery within the next five to seven hours. If correct dosage is discovered, these results can be applied to other infected for a similar turn around period, but in the time it takes for the protein to become effective, those with advanced levels will more than likely succumb to the virus."

"Cryogenics is not an option in advanced cases because the host will still be infected at prior levels and it will still take the same amount of time to saturate the host with the protein inhibitor. It is my recommendation that only early stage victims be permitted to make use of the cryogenics systems while effective levels of the protein are manufactured. As CMO of the Aurora, I am placing her is quarantine mode and limiting any non essential personnel from entering the ship. I also don't know how long we have until the Primary medical center aboard the Tiberius becomes so busy as to no longer allow us to work efficiently. To that end, I have been replicating and transferring the equipment we need to find a cure and produce the protein in the Aurora's sickbay. Hopefully, we won't need this contingency, but it is better that we are prepared for the worse. End Log"

Joint post from Moyer777, Jen, Kinglinksr, and Four Lights

Margon lay on the gurney as his head swung to and fro violently.  The med tech wasn't having any luck even after administrating a sedative.  "Shhhhh!" the med tech said trying to quiet the Bolian, "You're ok Counselor, you're ok." 

He started yelling again, this time at the top of his lungs..."Ya et aun fe! Korista aintro repro de crendo!  Flo se fraunt!"

Dr. Dret was distracted by the commotion and rushed to see the problem first hand.

"What do we have!?" she asked the medtech as she stepped to his side.

"I can't make out what he is saying, the universal translator is offline and I'm nowhere close to a linguist," the tech said in frustration. "Do you know anyone that speaks Bolian?"

Ryla motioned for the medtechs to place the counselor on a biobed that was recently cleared of yet another deceased patient. "He's delirious. I'm not sure that what he's saying would make any sense, even if we could understand Bolian."

"Counselor, are you in pain?" she asked as the men lifted him off the gurney and onto the bed.

Margon's voice filled sickbay as his rambling became louder. His eyes locked on Ryla's as he gripped her arm in a desperate attempt to communicate. The medtechs moved to restrain the feverish Bolian, but Doctor Dret waved them off. With her free hand she gently removed his grip from her arm and held his hand. "I know you're scared counselor." She gave him a weak smile as she administered a pain reliever. "This will help  a little." the hypo hissed and he laid back as he continued muttering incoherently. While Ryla moved her tricorder over his twitching body, the doors to sickbay opened and two men stepped onto the floor if the infirmary.

Brex scanned the crowded medical bay before rushing to his father's bedside. "Dad! The computer said you were in sickbay, but I thought you were just helping out. Are you alright?" His father shouted again in Bolian when he saw his son.

Brex couldn't believe his eyes. His father looked horrible and in pain.  He set his dislike for his dad aside and tried to comfort him. "It's all right dad, you're on the Tiberius. It's me Brex!"

"Ya et aun fe! Korista aintro repro de crendo!  Flo se fraunt!" repeated the counselor.

Brex looked up at the doctor "He is saying, "no it can't be! This wasn't supposed to happen. I'm so sorry! I think the procedure he endured to remove the memory of my mothers' death has returned."

Ryla ran her tricorder over the counselor and glanced at Brex, "We are fighting an epidemic on Tiberius. We're not sure how the pathogen was introduced, but we are working on an inhibitor. I have not been able to develop a cure, as each individual seems to be infected by a different strain of the virus. It affects each victim differently. In your father's case, the manipulated memory engrams have reverted to their previous state." She continued to scan as she explained, "the process your father underwent is fairly routine. It involves submolecular manipulation of neurochemical enzymes. They are often transplanted into an engram from outside, or transferred between different engrams in the subject's brain. Transferring is often more successful than implantation. It's possible the virus has targeted this area of his brain. 

Brex took a deep breath, "Doctor, they altered his memory enzymes telepathically. This is why I was opposed to him doing this.  It isn't as stable as he was led to believe, and if it ever crashes then it can never be preformed again.  The brain can't handle it.  You can remove the decaying block, but they have to put the total memory back into his head.  The only bad part is, I'm the one that has the whole memory.  If we want to save him, we're going to need a telepath.  "

It was at that moment that Isaac stepped into sickbay.  "Looking for a telepath?" the young Ensign poked his head around the corner.  "Starstriker, reporting for duty Dr."   Isaac looked concerned for Margon.  "Whatever I need to do, I am willing Dr."  he said.

"The overt destruction of memory emgrams is very dangerous. If you were to connect to his mind while he is in this state, the affects on you would be catastrophic. I cannot allow it."

"You have to doctor... he'll die if I don't help him through this. He has to have the entire memory. If you find the virus and cure everyone we could still lose him," said Brex.

Ryla considered the bartender with a weary expression and released a defeated sigh. "Alright... If I can remove the decaying neurochemical from your father first, then your telepathic friend can proceed. But it has to be preformed simultaneously, once the neurochemcial is removed, it will need to be replaced immediately. But I have to warn you, even if we repair the damage to your father's mind, he will still have the virus..." She passed her scanner over the counselor's son, "and it will most definitely be transmitted to you and Mr. Starstriker."

Brex sat down and cleared his mind.  He wasn't sure about all of this.  "What is the bottom line here, what exactly are you saying the risk is?" he said apprehensively. 

"You could both die," replied the much trill doctor.

J'dan looked at Brex.  "You sure he would want this boss?" 

"I don't know J'dan, but I have to do something. I'm the only one this will work with.  Go ahead Doctor, let's do this."

Ensign Starstriker probed Brex's mind and asked him to think of the day that his mothers died.  Where was he?  What was he wearing?  What did he see?  Starstriker saw him with his father.  "Were you with your father Brex?" 

"Yes" said Brex calmly. "I was there."  A tear began to fall down his cheek as he remembered that day.  Suddenly he felt himself inside his father's head.  The wind was blowing, and leaves were swirling around him.  He saw his mothers' on the ground.  He felt the pain that Margon felt.  He understood.  It was much worse than he had imagined.  "Dad, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize..."  He wasn't using his mouth anymore to speak. He was reaching out to Margon in his thoughts. 

Margon reached out in thought as well.  "You know I've always loved you Brex."  The wind blew harder now.  "I know you didn't agree with me on this whole memory thing, but I couldn't cope with it.  It was eating me alive, son. I just couldn't keep re-living it.  I had to take the procedure."

"Dad, your mind is rejecting the block now, I have to help y..."

The virus began to fill Brex's head at an alarming rate.  The telepathic link with the Ensign was like a wave of immense power filling the Bolian's head.  Brex bent over and shook, he fell and then went motionless.

The counselor jerked violently as Brex fell off his chair and onto the floor.   J'dan bent down and tried to wake Brex.  "Boss!  Boss!" Brex's face started turning yellow, "this isn't good doctor! Do something!"  The med tech held Margon down as he continued to shake.  "Doctor?"  said J'Dan.

Doctor Dret was quickly gathering the drugs she needed to stabilize Brex. She frowned as she knelt beside him, passed a tricorder over his body then pressed the hypospary against his neck.

Isaac turned toward the doctor,  "I don't know what to do, I wasn't finished! I don't understand..."

She glanced up at Ensign Starstirker and shook her head. I shouldn't have agreed to this. The counselor still has a deadly virus—it doesn't matter whether he has his memories or not. Now his son has is infected too!"

The counselor's eyes opened and he stared at Ryla and the med tech.  "What?  Where am I?  What is going on?"

Dret turned to him and said softly, "Counselor, the fever... it affected your memory block. Brex was attempting to help you repair the engrams." 

He turned his head to see his son on the floor. "Brex!" 

J'dan held Brex's head on his lap and looked up with horror on his face.  "I can't find a pulse doctor!" 

Ryla returned back to the young Bolian and pointed the tricorder in his direction.  She called for various drugs to bring him back, and after attempting several, she bit her lower lip she shook her head.  With an exasperated voice she said, "he's gone..."

"NO!" cried Margon,"NO!" The counselor sat up even though he felt like his head was so heavy.  The fever was still overtaking him, his memory was now restored but at what price?  The petite doctor tried to keep him calm but Margon pushed her out of the way, jumped off the biobed, and knelt down to hold his son. 

It seemed like all of sickbay went quiet.  Everyone stopped and watched the scene that had unfolded.  Sweat was pouring down Margon's face as he held Brex in his arms.  "Flo se fraunt" he whimpered, "Flo se fraunt."   

Dunn's head was spinning. He had only recently returned to his quarters following the incident in sickbay. He looked over the phaser he had used to stun the older Vulcan woman. Somehow, firing his phaser wasn't as much.....fun as he thought it would be. He took a deep breath to steady his nerves. He really liked Lt. K'Tan and was glad he had assumed the role of Security Chief while Lt. Manrique was incapacitated. Now he had to form parties to enforce the quarantine.

He looked over again at the phaser. He stood and strode towards the door and paused at the threshold. He reached back and reluctantly picked up the weapon.

Quinn paced the Bridge.. reports were coming in from all over the ship. Engineering was doing everything to keep the engines running and environmental systems working that secondary systems were failing all over the ship. Replicators, doors, turbolifts, holodecks were all malfunctioning.

Ensign Dagget turned to Quinn, "Sir we have reached Vulcan" Quinn quickly turned to the view screen "On screen" Quinn took a deep breath as the reddish planet appeared on screen. 

From behind, Lt.Tucker announced "Sir we are being hailed"

"On screen" Quinn said as the picture of the reddish planet was replaced with a familiar blue faced female.

"Admiral Stanton I did not expect to see you here." Quinn said with a slight smile.

"Of course, I wanted to be here to make sure everything was taken care of." She said as her antenni moved rhythmically back and forth. She continued "We have the best scientist from all over this sector waiting to board..."

Quinn quickly spoke up. "Sir I will not allow anyone to board or leave this ship.".

Her smile faltered slightly "We will take the strictest of precautions Captain."

"With all due respect Admiral I can not take that chance. One third of my crew is dead, another third are very sick. We currently have an inhibitor that is being tested. It won't cure the virus but it will stop it from progressing. At least that is our hope." Quinn said with a slight panic in his voice.

Admiral Stanton knew Quinn for many years and knew he had the best interests of everyone at heart. "Very well Captain, send all your data down to the planet and will see what we can do from here. Stay in orbit for the time being. We will be in contact... good luck."

The screen went blank as Quinn sat back down in the Captain's chair.

After leaving sickbay, K'Tan made his way to the security office on deck four, intent on digesting the information provided by Dr. Drett.   While his lack of medical or science training rendered him useless in finding a cure for the disease, he felt confident that he could at least help with investigating the disease's origin.

K'Tan's lip curled into a scowl as he contemplated the crisis that the Tiberius and her crew were facing.  The swath of devastation that the illness was cutting through the ship was horrifying; there were still intermittent reports of random system failures, and the death toll was steadily rising.   As he left the turbolift and headed towards Manrique's office, K'Tan gave silent thanks to Kahless that he had thus far managed to evade the virus' deadly sting. 

Sensing his approach, the doors to Manrique's office shushed open to admit him. As he walked in, a small part of K'Tan felt as though he were putting on another man's clothes.  He took a seat at the desk, and tried to organize his thoughts.

Despite his Starfleet training and years of experience serving on various Federation ships, K'Tan couldn't help but think of how much easier this problem would be dealt with had the Tiberius been a Klingon ship.  Rather than risk the spread of an unknown illness, the Defense Force would simply destroy the sick ship.   This would prevent the risk of spreading the illness, and would spare the crew the dishonor of dying a lingering, pitiable death.  But the fact remained that this was a Federation vessel, and K'Tan was determined to do his part to support whatever course of action the Captain chose.  His honor demanded nothing less.

Reclining at the desk, K'Tan thought back on the energetic Trill Doctor.  He didn't envy her task.  The prospect of racing against the clock to try and find a cure for the disease, while simultaneously seeing to the needs of the growing number of patients, was daunting, to say the least.  He had to admire her fortitude.  Although her foe was invisible to the naked eye, it was no less deadly than a fully armed Warbird or a horde of ravening Hurq.  Nevertheless, she charged on, unblinking.  She has the heart of a warrior, he thought to himself.  And she is pleasant to look at as well, he added with a smile. 

K'Tan activated the gleaming black LCARS display on the desk, and was greeted by the familiar glowing pastel bars and icons springing immediately to life.  As he scrolled through the information given to him by Drett, a particular entry caught his eye.

...I have reason to suspect that the late Dr. Lucas was somehow involved in the plague afflicting the Tiberius, she had written.  His actions during the onset of the virus were very suspicious; in fact, I found him tampering with some of my samples.  If I didn't know better, I'd swear that he was trying to hinder our efforts to find a cure. 

To facilitate my investigation into a possible connection between Lucas and the Virus, the Captian has granted me access to Lucas' personal logs.  Initially, my efforts to pursue them were stymied by the fact that they were encrypted.  Fortunately, an acquaintance of Aria James by the name of Dennis managed to break the encryption.   A full record of the logs is attached to this file.

K'Tan spent the next two hours methodically reading through several of Lucas' log entrys, starting with the doctors' arrival on Tiberius.  While some entries seemed a little odd, nothing struck him as overtly sinister or threatening.  His eyes burning with fatigue, K'Tan stood up to stretch his legs.  This is getting me nowhere, he thought in frustration.  I have to try a different approach.

"Computer," he said.  After the computer's feminine voice acknowledged him, K'Tan tried to formulate a series of search parameters to make his perusal more efficient.  "Tag all log entries including the word 'virus'." 

After a short electronic warble, the computer responded "One-thousand, five hundred and eighty-six entries located." 

K'Tan sighed, and sat back down.  1,586 entries, he thought.  Well, he was a doctor.  I guess it would be more suprising if he never mentioned the word 'virus'. 

Recalling the fact that the virus seemed to initially strike primarily telepathic crew members, K'Tan initiated a new search.

"Computer. Save previous search.  Begin new search.  Tag all log entries including the word 'telepath'."

The computer responded after a half second of silence.  "nine-hundred and seventy five entries located."

"baQa'!," K'Tan swore.  He found himself suddenly overcome by an urgent need to break something.

By the time I study all of these entries, everyone on the ship may very well be dead, he thought to himself.  I think I'm going to need some help...

Joint post with BryanCD and Startrekfanatic5

K'arath agreed with the Captains assessment of the situation, he would remain in Sickbay and see if anything Dr. Drett discovers about the virus can be applied to his ailing systems. He wasn't happy about this assignment as it kept him away from his true home on the ship. He had to relieve Lt. Plummer, she had been on duty even longer than K'arath at this point. He taped his comm badge.

"K'arath to Ensign Took!"

"Took here Chief" Nic said as he crawled through his 20th jefferies tube.

"Ensign!" he barked. "It would seem that I am going to be.....delayed here in sickbay for the time being, sulking about like a beaten Targ!"

"Sir?" came the confused reply.

K'ararth ignored him. "Ensign, I seem to have a sudden shortfall of officers to man Main Engineering. As much as it pains me, it would appear I have to put an inexperienced whelp in charge of me engines!" he said as a smile began to form on his lips. "Do you know anyone who may be up for the posting?"

Tooks face broke into a smile as he said, "I do know of a young Ensign who is very eager to please his Chief"

"Well then stop crawling along in those blasted tubes and get down to Main Engineering. I want you to do all you can to keep those engines going and life support running. You will be my eye's and ear's while I wait here until the good doctor finds a cure..... or I awake at the Gates of Stovokor, whichever comes first."

Aria smiled to herself as she double checked the data. The inhibitor was working in her father, but his nanites were assisting the process by assuming production of the protein. Viral levels were decreasing, but it was not a cure. It was only a treatment and one that others would need to have administered every thirty-six hours.

"Aria to medical bay," she said as she tapped her communications badge. "I have completed tests on the inhibitor and it is functioning. I will only work in living beings, so it is no help for the gel packs or the virus currently in the air. While the protein works across species, it is more effective when the protein is customized to the host. Without the customization, I estimate that the proteins will breakdown between eighteen and twenty-four hours. A fully compatible protein will easily last thirty-six to fifty-one hours. I will begin working on the production of the protein and I should have enough within the next five hours to begin triage treatments. Aria out."

Doctor Dret's protracted yawn triggered several simultaneous, "sympathetic" yawns from her staff as they continued their work around her. She rubbed her tired eyes and glanced down at the blue shadow, who's mirth had always been so infectious. His merriment had recently been washed away by a torrent of grief and the only thing that Counselor Margon spread now, was the deadly pathogen.

The trill had felt the ache of loss before, and could identify with the sorrow that consumed the counselor. Ryla waved the nurses and medtechs off, as they moved to subdue the devastated Bolian. After sometime, Dret was able to talk Margon back into the bed, but he was inconsolable. She had to sedate the poor man before they could remove his son's body from Sickbay.

Ryla rubbed her eyes as she read his vitals. In addition to Doctor Peterson, Dret had made Margon her resonsibility— coming by every half hour to monitor his condition. The trill pulled the blanket over his bare arms and mopped the perspiration from his brow. "I'm so sorry," she said under her breath.

The doctor noted the time and yawned again. Once more the staff mimicked her reflexive action. She noticed that several of them were sipping coffee; a former boyfriend had once introduced her to the beverage. He had often joked that one double espresso could power a warp drive... it definitely kept Ryla awake through med school. She walked over to the replicator and ordered a cup then went to her small office to take a ten-minute break. The trill lowered her exhausted body into a chair and gazed out the viewport. Aria's voice broke over the doctor's combadge, as she took her first sip of coffee. The girl had achieved some measure of success with the inhibitor—she would be synthesizing more for distribution within the next five hours. Ryla exhaled a slow, frayed, breath of relief. "Hopefully it will buy us the time we need to develop a cure," she whispered.

Isaac was shocked by Brex's death.  'How could he have died so quickly?  What is this virus?!'.

He glanced at the Doctor who helped Margon back into his bio-bed. When she had finished, she moved to her office with a cup of coffee in hand. He after a minute, he knocked on her door. She motioned for him to enter. "What virus could have killed Brex so quickly?"

"It's nothing we have seen before. From what we can tell it has been engineered. We don't know much more than that," she said as she took a sip of espresso.

"Do you know how it was transmitted?" Isaac asked.

"We suspect that it was initially introduced telepathically. But it has since mutated into an airborne strain," replied Dr. Dret.

"Who would do such an evil thing?" inquired the distraught Ensign.

All Ryla could do was sigh and shake her head.

"Its getting worse, isn't it doctor?" asked Isaac morosely.

"Yes." replied the trill.

" It looks like I am of little use here. I'm going back to my quarters.   Thank you Doctor.....?"

"Dret," replied Ryla.

"I'm Isaac," he said then turned towards the door to leave. He gazed at Margon as he walked out of Sickbay. The counselor was sleeping, but Isaac could see that he was still in much pain.  Did I cause his son's death?  What if I am responsible?'

Isaac stepped into the corridor. Something seemed to stir within him more fiercely with each step he took towards his quarters.  'We must hurry!'

K'Tan sat at his desk, staring blankly at the data scrolling down the face of his PADD.  He had been sifting through Dr. Lucas' log entries for hours, searching for a link to the virus.  So far, it wasn't looking very promising. 

If only Lucas were still alive, he thought.  I'm sure I could 'persuade' him to tell us all he knows about this  plaQta' virus!

K'Tan realized, however, that wishing for the impossible was a textbook example of insanity.  Instead, he had to count on the possibility that Lucas had an accomplice.  If they could find that accomplice, perhaps he or she could be persuaded to assist the medical team.  K'Tan only hoped that if there was an accomplice, something in Lucas' logs would reveal his or her identity.

Frustrated by his lack of progress, the Lieutenant gathered up his PADD and headed back to sickbay.  Dr. Drett is more familiar with these records than I am, he thought.  Perhaps she will see something that I'm missing.

K'Tan found Dr. Drett in the CMO's office, nursing a cup of coffee as she gazed out of a window set above her workstation.  "I'm sorry to disturb you, Doctor; I realize that this crisis has been especially taxing for you and the medical staff.  Frankly, I'm impressed that you haven't passed out from exhaustion."

Drett gave a weary smile.  "It's been a heck of a time, but the staff is very well trained.  We won't let up until we figure this thing out."

K'Tan handed the Doctor his PADD.  "I've been searching for a connection between Dr. Lucas and the virus, and have made some progress.  Unfortunately, it's a little like trying to find a needle in a haystack; at the present rate, it looks like I'll be at this for the next few months.  I was wondering if you could offer any suggestions."

Drett took he offered PADD and scrolled through K'Tan's results.  "It looks like you are off to a good start, Lieutenant.  Scanning for references to our current situation is a logical approach."

A look of concentration came over the Doctor, and she carefully set down her cup.  "Hmm... This is interesting..."

"What is it, Doctor?" K'Tan asked.

"One moment," the Trill replied.  "Computer; access Lt. K'Tan's previous searches.  Expand parameters to include all of Dr. Lucas' communication logs."

As K'Tan looked over the Doctors shoulder at the scrolling bits of data, he felt that he could almost see a pattern forming...

"Search complete," the disembodied voice of the computer responded.  "Three thousand, eighty-five entries located."

K'Tan frowned.  "I think we are heading in the wrong direction, doctor," he said.

"Not so fast," Drett replied.  "Look at the origin tags for all of his communication traffic falling under your search parameters. "

As he scrolled down the list, K'Tan felt his jaw drop in disbelief.
Reaching over Drett's shoulder, he keyed in a command to disregard personal logs, and only display communication traffic. 

Only 26 entries remained.

K'Tan felt himself grinning.  "Incredible."

All but 2 of the messages were either to or from the same place.

The planet Vulcan.

J'dan was devastated.  His friend and boss was dead.  He watched self sacrifice close up and he wasn't even sure how to feel.  He could feel the virus starting to effect him as well.  He knew he had it.  His head was starting to ache and his vision was blurred at times.

He knew that he was supposed to be in his quarters resting, but he couldn't help but think of Counselor Margon.  He must be so numb from all of this.  Then he thought of something.

"Computer" J'dan barked, "Is Counselor Margon awake yet?"

"Counselor Margon is in Sick Bay, he is awake" replied the familiar voice.

J'dan turned to the replicator  "One draft root beer, cold in a capped bottle, oh with a swig of vinegar" 

The replicator hummed and a brown frosty bottle materialized on the pad. 

"uh, make that one more" he said with a sad smile.

The replicator produced another bottle and the Bajoran held them bottles by the necks and walked out of his quarters towards sick bay.

He tried to ignore everything around him.  This was no easy task.  People running to and fro, bodies propped up against bulk heads and emergencies breaking out right and left.  He just kept walking.  He was on a mission.  He had to try and bring some comfort to a man that had lost so much.

Upon reaching sick bay J'dan approached the saddened Bolian.

"Hey, you can't be in here right now" one of the technicians yelled.

"It doesn't matter now, I'm infected too." said J'dan with a quirky look on his face.

The tech ran the tricorder over his body.  "Yes, you are infected sir. You need to check in over there and we need to see how far this has gone in you."

J'dan just looked at the young orderly- "I'll just be a few minutes" he said turning to the counselor.

"Hey Counselor" J'dan said sheepishly. "I brought you something" 

Counselor Margon was uncomfortable to say the least, the fever was still attacking his body, and when J'dan handed him the frosty cold root beer, he actually smiled.  It was brief, because just as fast as he smiled, a tear rolled out of one of his eyes. 

"Sorry J'dan, I'm a little out of it. Coming face to face with all of this is pretty overwhelming."

"Yeah, I kind of figured" he said.

"I have one more surprise for you, I thought you might like this for a few minutes"

The man tapped his com badge and said, "Computer, J'dan, Margon surprise one"

Margon cocked his head sideways.  "What?" as he sipped his root beer.

The glimmer of the transporter beam appeared in front of him as Mr. Mouse materialized on his lap.

The counselor rubbed the cat's ears and Mr. Mouse started to purr.  He held on to the animal and looked up at J'dan.

"Thank you J'dan, you are very thoughtful." 

"Is there anything else I can do for you Counselor?"

"Just sit here awhile share a root beer, and then take care of Mr. Mouse"  he smiled and even chuckled a bit.

J'dan sat down and reached over.  Mr. Mouse nudged him and then looked at Margon.

"It's ok" he said, "J'dan is a friend of Brex's"  his voice trailed off.

Both of them men looked down.  Their expressions confused.

"They've taken him you know."  said Margon.

"I know" said J'dan looking up.  "Ill be planning something after we are through with this"

"Good" replied Margon.  "He would have wanted someone like you to remember him"

"do you want to?"...

"Yes" the counselor interupted. "I have a lot to say about my son."

Joint post by Just X, Wraith 1701 and Jen.

K'Tan gripped the PADD firmly, the predatory gleam in his eye mirroring his wolfish smile.  "It looks like we have our accomplice, doctor.  Lucas had several conversations with someone in the Vulcan Science Ministry regarding something he refers to as 'The Purity Project'."

K'Tan scrolled through one of the earliest of the tagged log entries.  "Look at this.  He and his contact were discussing a number of diseases- Pa'nar syndrome, Bendii syndrome, Zanthi fever... according to the computer, all of these illnesses attack telepathic races; particularly Vulcans and natives of Betazed.  And all are either transmitted telepathically, or have side-effects which can be transmitted telepathically."

As he continued scanning the log entries, K'Tan's eager smile slowly changed into a frown of confusion.  "The only thing that doesn't fit is his frequent references to a microvirus."

The Lieutenant touched several different icons on the PADD.  "I can't find any references of telepathy being associated with microviruses," he said in puzzlement.

K'Tan glanced up, intending to ask Doctor Drett what she thought of this last revelation.  He was taken aback by her look of naked shock; the color seemed to be draining from her face.  "Is something wrong, doctor?"

"Yes," Drett replied.  "A Microvirus is a genetically engineered virus designed to kill only people with a specific DNA sequence.  No doctor in her right mind would even consider working with such an abomination; it goes against everything we physicians stand for."

Drett looked back at the PADD, her shock slowly giving way to anger.  "We're all about healing, not hurting." 

The Doctor took the PADD, and gave K'Tan a sad smile.  "I suspected Lucas was up to something, but it still stings to see my suspicions confirmed.  He betrayed us all." 

With her dark hair somewhat out of place from hours of working non-stop, Aria James entered the sickbay armed with several vials of recently produced doses of the inhibitor. She could see that the doctor was conversing with someone else,  "I am sorry to interrupt, but I'm here to personally deliver the first ten doses of the inhibitor. It was a success on my father, but production is still slow. I've allocated all of the resources of the Aurora's labs into production and we should be able to produce the inhibitor that can be distributed to the surviving crew in a few hours."

With her own body and her father's nanites also producing increased levels of the protein, they would be able to donate the additional levels via the nanite transfer system in emergencies. Aria had taken it upon herself to extract some of the additional protein levels in her body and administered it to her cryo suspended siblings. They were among the few children on the ship, and as such were entitled to be part of the first round of treatments, but she could only insure that it would happen if she used her own supplies to treat them.

There were others on Tiberius who were more important to the operation of the ship, but the twins were important to her and they were important to her mother. With Sevryll's emotions and memories out of control, Aria felt that taking care of the twins and having that to report to her mother, would make it easier for the commander to perform her duties.

Doctor Dret exchanged glances with K'Tan, this was the best news they had heard since this crisis began. "Thank you for your assistance, Lieutenant."

"My pleasure, Doctor," K'Tan replied with a smile. 

"If you will excuse me..." she said, returning his smile with a one that reflected a renewed hope.

"Of course, doctor."

As Lieutenant K'Tan turned to leave he added, "Dr. Lucas referred to his acquaintance on Vulcan as 'Sehlat'.  Something tells me that this is a pseudonym.  I intend to find out exactly who this 'Sehlat' is."

K'Tan's features hardened in determination.  "And when I do, 'Sehlat' will pay."

Whe the acting Chief Of Security entered the corridor, Doctor Dret turned her eyes back to Aria, "I want you to accompany me to the bridge. We need to spell out the inhibitor's margins to the Captain, and I'm fairly certain he will want to allocate those first ten doses himself."

Dret left her head nurse in charge and turned to leave. As Ryla and Aria exited Sickbay, the trill glanced towards Margon. She hoped his company would help take his mind off his son's passing.

=/\=

The Storm Clouds were gathering....


  Ensign T'Aryn Rayna managed to wrangle himself out of the Jeffries Tube and into the corridor in a semi-dignified manner.  The area was nearly empty of personnel, and he had a strange feeling about it.

"Something's TERRIBLY wrong here..What's happening to the Tiberius?" he thought.  The turbolift had stopped functioning three quarters of the way to the Main Sciences Station and laboratories, leaving T'Aryn stranded,  later than ever, and having to climb out of the lift to escape the predicament.

There were a couple of medical crewmen rushing past him in the direction of the Infirmary, and he managed to slow one down long enough to gather some information from him.

"The ship is under quarantine, Ensign, and ALL non-essential personnel have been confined to quarters", said the Medic.

"But, I AM an essential crewman, and besides, Lt. Zremm is expecting me to report to the Science Labs to help work on this..uh, problem!  But I can't get there because the Turbolifts are down, and the comm system is out", replied T'Aryn.

("And heck if I'm going Climbing and crawling through those tubes again unless I have to!",he thought)


  "Well", the Crewman said, "Unless you can make yourself useful, I suggest you return to quarters, until further orders are given. Of Course, we could probably use a Science officer's hand in Sickbay..."

"Since you mention it", said T'Aryn, "I've been meaning to pay a visit there; I've felt a bit under the weather lately..."

A strange look passed over the Medical Crewman's face, which was not lost on Ensign T'Aryn, even though he WAS only half-Vulcan.


"Uh..sure", said T'Aryn, "I'll just attempt to contact Lt. Zremm again and inform him.  He's great, but you know Andorians sometimes...."

"No Time for that, Ensign. I don't know about Lt. Zremm, and Cmdr. Sevryll is seemingly incapacitated", replied The medic, looking at him askance, "But Dr. Drett  will be sure to put you to use.  the Doc's been understaffed and overworked. Crewmen are falling there like Targ's during a High Feast on Q'uonos!"   "C'mon, I'll fill you in on the way!",the Medic said, grabbing him by the shoulder and rushing him down the corridor.

The newly appointed Science Officer listened with rapt attention to the Medic as he attempted to keep up with the Crewman's long stride.  He had a tough time keeping a look of deepening concern  and emotion from his face. Although part-vulcan and training in the Ways of Surak, he had been somewhat 'neglectful' of his meditative pursuits of late.

It wasn't long before they arrived at the Infirmary's door, which was just opening as Security Officer Lieutenant K'Tan was leaving.

This was his first good look at sickbay, and T'Aryn dropped all pretense of controlling his emotions.  His mouth dropped agape; he was astonished by
what he saw..what had occured...so soon!

The Storm Clouds were gathering....

He saw a dark-haired female speaking with Dr. Drett.  She was holding a batch of vials in her hands. They both headed toward the door, speaking in hushed tones...

They looked very tired...looked very serious...

"Science officer Ensign Rayna reporting for duty, Sir", he managed to say quietly as they passed....

"C'mon in Ensign, I'll introduce you to the Charge Nurse", said the medic, bypassing him, "We'll get you busy, and then you can report in to your CO".

Ensign T'Aryn Rayna began to be homesick for the boring, predictable Utopia Planitia Shipyards of Mars, and he began to wonder if his first Starfleet assignment might be his last....

=/\=

As K'Tan left sickbay, his spirits were lifted. The crisis was far from resolved, but progress was finally being made.

His combadge gave an insistent chirp, and K'Tan suddenly had a feeling that his good mood was about to end.  The Lieutenant tried to keep the frustration out of his voice as he answered the hail.  "K'Tan here."

"Lieutenant, this is Ensign Dunn," came the frantic reply.  "We have a bit of a situation developing on the flight deck!"

"I'm on my way," K'Tan replied as he broke into a jog.

Within minutes, K'Tan neared the cavernous room facing the main flight deck.  As the doors parted to admit him, he was greeted by Dunn and three other security officers.  As he followed the group inside, K'Tan paused to take in his surroundings.

Directly before him was an immense wall composed of crystal-clear transparisteel panels interspersed with titanium reinforcement struts.  The wall towered up to the ceiling several meters overhead, separating the flight control center from the vast flight deck beyond.  Most of the workstations set against the wall were ominously vacant, a grim testimony to the devastating effect the virus was having on the crew. 

In the bay on the other side of the transparent wall, K'Tan could see a half dozen Peregrine-Class fighters locked down in their berths.  The gleaming, raptor-shaped craft shared the bay with several shuttlecraft of varying sizes, all polished to a sheen that reflected the brilliant overhead lights.  The pristine, well-maintained hanger bay was devoid of personnel, save a lone, unkempt figure staggering drunkenly across the mirror-smooth flight deck; a Tricorder was tightly clutched to his chest.

Dunn nodded towards the distant figure.  "A group of medical techs found this guy a few hours ago; they say he tested positive for the virus.  We were trying to escort him to sickbay when he flipped out; he started spouting a bunch of nonsense about being an undercover triple agent."  Dunn smirked ruefully.  "He claims to be a Cardassian disguised as a Romulan masquerading as a Vulcan."

K'Tan stepped up to the sealed doorway separating the control center from the flight deck.  Something about the fugitive seemed familiar...

"We can't get to him," Dunn continued.   "Whoever he is, the guy has some impressive technical skills.  He somehow slaved his Tricorder to the flight control system; he broke into the flight bay and sealed the door behind him.  He says that if we force the door open, he'll open the outer doors and depressurize the bay."

As the staggering figure wandered around aimlessly, realization dawned on K'Tan.  This poor wretch was the Vulcan poet he had met a few weeks ago in Five-Forward.  As K'Tan activated the intercom system and called to the man, his voice echoed across the hanger bay.

"Get a hold of yourself, poet.  You're among friends here; we only want to help you.  Why don't you open the door and let us take you to sick bay?"

Upon hearing K'Tan's voice, the poet whirled around to face the group of security officers.  The Vulcan's face was covered by untidy stubble, and his hair was oily and unkempt.  His eyes darted madly to and fro as he regarded K'Tan and his team.

"You don't understand!" he raved.  "Both the Tal'Shiar and the Obsidian Order have agents out to kill me; they are afraid of the secrets I carry with me!"  The Vulcan waved his Tricorder at the security officers threateningly.  "You'll never pick my brain, you animals!  I'd rather die than give myself up to you!"

K'Tan shook his head sadly; he could think of few fates worse than loosing ones connection with reality.

In the hanger bay, the sick Vulcan started hopping up and down in an odd, erratic dance.  "Your disguises don't fool me," he said.  "The one-armed Ferengi told me; you are all undercover Section 31 agents!  Well, you can't fool me, I'm a master of disguise!  I can pass for Cardassian, Romulan, or Human!  Why, I bet I could even disguise myself as a duck if I wanted!"  The Vulcan broke out into a bout of insane laughter, then ran towards the center of the hanger bay.  After sitting in the middle of the floor, he began punching wildly at the Tricorder control panel.

"That poor devil," Dunn muttered.  "The virus has totally destroyed his mind!"

The group was suddenly startled by the piercingly loud whooping of the shuttlebay alarm.  As the overhead lights began to flash red, the disembodied voice of the computer blared out a repeating warning-

"Danger.  The bay doors are opening.  Forcefield is offline."

K'Tan banged his fists against the transparisteel barrier in frustration.  "Get out of there!  Hurry; we're here to help you!" he shouted.

The Vulcan looked up to reply, but his words were lost in a wailing, high pitched hiss that steadily grew in volume.  As K'Tan and the others looked on in horror, the massive shuttlebay doors behind the seated figure began to slowly draw apart, receding into the ship's hull.

As a whirlwind of air began whipping around the vast compartment on the other side of the barrier, K'Tan began pounding on the wall in desperation.  "Computer: Reverse bay doors!"

"Unable to comply," came the disembodied reply.

The Vulcan, apparently realizing the danger he was in, attempted to stand, but was promptly swept off his feet by the hurricane-force winds whipping around him.  He clawed frantically at the polished floor of the deck as he was slowly, inexorably dragged towards the inky black void lying beyond the doors.  The man's mouth gaped open as he tried to drag in just one more lungful of air.

With a look of resignation settling on his face, the Vulcan ceased his struggles.  As the last bit of atmosphere remaining in the bay made its desperate lunge towards the freedom of the void, the Vulcan's body was lifted clear of the deck.  Like a leaf in the wind, he was carried off into the black with an incongruous grace. 

K'Tan's last glimpse of the man was of his distant form spinning wildly off into the cold, harsh vacuum. 

As the Tiberius sped on, the unfortunate soul quickly shrank off into the distance, eventually becoming lost amid the sea of stars.

Isaac walked down the corridor from sickbay and was stunned by what was happening.  People were all around sick, dying, or trying to assist them.  Bodies laid on the floor.  He saw a glimpse of a cargo bay full of those infected by the virus.  Medics were working their best to keep those in there comforted. 

It made him sick.  "Who, was such a sick person, that they could do this??"  As he walked down the corridor he could not believe the carnage.  His mind could feel the pain and the suffering that they were feeling.  He couldn't turn it off and nor did it matter.  It was a sickening reality.   

He finally made it to his quarters.  He threw himself onto the couch.  Tears fell down his face as his Sugar Gliders flew down onto his shoulder.  Feeling them land, he rolled onto his back and sat up.  The two gliders seemed to be trying to comfort him.  They curled around his neck as they usually did.  He appreciated it and petted them as he sat there. 

Isaac began to think about the current happenings on the ship.  Most everyone was infected with apparently an engineered virus.  Some had been put in stasis, many were dead, and he heard that some were immune to the virus.  "Such death, such suffering, all for what?  What point is there to prove?  Why do such an evil thing?"  Questions he felt that he may never find out. 

Isaac began to wonder why he had yet to feel symptoms.  But then his eyes grew wide and he ran to his tricorder.  All that could be heard next was a loud thud. 

Joint post with Startrekfanatic5, Just X and Jen

"I've been informed through the grape vine, that Commander Sevryll was relieved from duty," said Doctor Drett as she entered the turbolift with the commander's cloned daughter. "Why hasn't she come to sickbay? I'm concerned-surely her symptoms warrant examination.  Have you treated her?" Asked the trill as she glanced up at the slightly taller teen standing beside her in the lift.

Aria nodded slowly. "She's Vulcan. They make exceptionally difficult patients. I have been monitoring her, but since we had no solid methods of treating the virus, logic would dictate that she continue to be of use until she could no longer function. Her attendance in sickbay would not have aided her recovery, and would only have taxed the already cramped workspace there. She has been experiencing decreased emotional control and now loss of some short term memory. Now that we have plans for a treatment, I believe that she will see the logic in a visit to sickbay."

Despite the death and chaos around her, Aria felt more at home on the Tiberius and with her crew. She had worked hard to become an officer in her first life and it wasn't until this crisis that she realized how much she missed that. She enjoyed being a part of something greater than herself and since the mission to Romulas had begun, she had felt that more and more.

The lift eased to a slow halt and the two females stepped onto the bridge. Ryla's eye found the view screen and regarded the planet of Vulcan. She kept her gaze on the mass of swirling rust colored clouds before them-yet her eyes flicked to Aria briefly to consider the girl's response. The clone's expression seemed to brighten slightly as she admired her mother's home world. They stopped at the door and Ryla signaled her arrival. "Enter," came the muffled voice of Nathan Quinn. The door whisked open abruptly and Doctor
Drett and Aria James crossed the threshold to find the captain standing at the viewport.

"Sir, I apologize for the lack of notice. The comm is down again."

Nathan glanced over his shoulder at the trill, his eyebrows raised as he noted that Aria was with her. "Not at all Doctor. Tell me you have good news.I don't think I can handle any more negativity." He turned momentarily to gesture to the couch, "Have a seat ladies."

Drett and James sat across from the captain's desk as Quinn returned his gaze to the planet outside the viewport. Dret turned to Aria, "Miss James has had some success in the development of an inhibitor."

Aria nodded as she sat down. "It appears that I was born with a natural protein that inhibits the growth of the virus. It doesn't cure it by any means, but with regular treatments, it is no longer a death sentence. Currently I have ten available doses and more being fabricated."

While she was not normally a fan of wasting time, Aria had done all that she could to halt the progress of the virus. All she could do now was insure that the inhibitor was being produced. She didn't need to be in the Aurora for that and her place was now to present her finding to the captain.

Nathan took a deep breath, it wasn't a cure but it was something. Quinn looked up at Aria, "Ten doses" Aria nodded. Quinn gave Aria a slight smile "Well done Miss James" Quinn turned and looked out the viewport and thought to himself, (There are hundreds sick and dying, he had to choose only ten to save at this time.) He turned back to Ryla and Aria. "Please administer the inhibitor to the ten sickest crewmembers."

Ryla spoke up. "Sir you should get one of those doses?" Quinn raised his hand, "No.. thank you doctor, I am okay for the time being there are people who are much worse off than just losing their telepathy."..Quinn paused then continued "Please carry out my orders Doctor."

Aria nodded slowly to the orders but had it interject. "Captain, I know you have made your decision, but if we administer this to the ten sickest people, then we would be losing more people in the long run. It is not an instant treatment and in the sickest individuals, they would more than likely die before the drug can take effect. I would also recommend you taking a dose because this virus has been known to swiftly become fatal. Without you, the ship will be crippled. Your health and continuing to function will better serve the greater good captain."

Ryla nodded, "she's right Captain." The trill thought back to the counselor's son, and then added, "this pathogen has claimed individuals who were  free of the virus minutes before they were exposed. Please reconsider...the Tiberius needs her Captain."

Quinn stood there looking at the two young ladies.. he was bemused at their boldness "Very well I will take the inhibitor, also please administer it to the rest of the infected senior staff and those you feel will benefit from it first."

Ryla and Aria both nodded. Aria approached Quinn and placed a hypospray against his neck. A slight hiss could be heard has the inhibitor was injected into Quinn's bloodstream. "Thank you Miss James, now please carry out my orders." Aria gave Quinn a slight smile and exited the Captain's ready room with Doctor Dret.

Quinn sat down in his chair with a look of pain and determination. He had to do it.. there was no other way. "Computer please contact Starfleet, priority communication."

The bridge of the Tiberius had seemed both quiet and busy together to Lieutenant Zremm over the last several days.  They were operating with a skeleton crew due to the disease sweeping through the ship.  Zremm had tried to offer some assistance but it had come too late.  He realized later on that the disease had mutated and was attacking non-telepathic species now as well as the telepaths it had first targeted.  Many aboard the ship had become incapacitated or even died, but the andorian had little time to grieve.  Since his immediate superior Commander Sevryll had been removed from active duty due to the illness Zremm had become the acting Chief Science Officer aboard the Tiberius.  Besides his normal duties, he now was attempting to take on tasks and items that Sevryll normally seem to be able to accomplish with ease.  He was currently scanning the ship from the main science station on the bridge.  Zremm was shocked to find just how much the disease had spread to not only every crew member now, but also into the organic subsystems of the ship itself.

As Zremm continued his scans he tried to remain calm.  A short time ago he had noticed Dr. Drett and a couple of others enter Captain Quinn's ready room.  He knew they had been working on creating an inhibitor in order to stop the progress of the disease.  Even though the biological sciences were not his area of expertise he still wished he hadn't had to stay on the bridge during the current crisis and could help in a more direct way.  He even recalled just a short time ago when he had asked Captain Quinn if he could join Dr. Drett in looking for a cure.  His eyes wandered to the main viewscreen showing Vulcan, which they now orbited, as he remembered the recent conversation he had with Captain Quinn.

"Captain.  Request permission to join Dr. Drett in the lab to assist in finding a solution to the disease, sir."  Zremm said, standing so stiffly that his antennae even perked up high over his white hair.

"Request denied, lieutenant.  With Sevryll off active duty, I need you here Zremm to monitor the ship and maintain the science scans they require.  Also, have you felt any of the symptoms yet, lieutenant?"  Captain Quinn said as he say back slightly in his command chair.

"No sir.  So far I seem to be perfectly fine.  Perhaps andorians have some type of immunity to this illness, sir."  Zremm said as he relaxed slightly.

"Perhaps lieutenant.  But for now, I need you here on the bridge.  Carry on lieutenant."  Quinn had said before he got up and headed to his ready room.  Zremm was then pulled out of his memories when the turbo lift doors opened.  A young engineering ensign smiled and headed over to his console.

"Zremm, where's Captain Quinn?"  Ensign Marie Barton said to the andorian.

"I think he's still in a meeting in his ready room Marie.  What are you doing on the bridge?  K'arath will stick a bat'leth into you if you left your post in engineering."  Zremm told her.  Over the past weeks Marie Barton and Zremm had been spending a lot of off duty time together.  They had quickly become close and found they had many things in common.  Even though Zremm was andorian and Marie was human, they had discovered a mutual attraction.

"It's ok.  The comm system is down and K'arath had me modifying some comm badges to operate independently of the Tiberius comm system.  I have some badges modified now and wanted to get a few to the captain.  But thanks for the concern."  The young blond ensign said as she smiled at Zremm.  She was carrying a small box with several comm badges inside.

"Well, ok.  Just looking out for you.  I know K'arath can be kind of rough around the edges.  You know klingons."  Zremm said, smiling back at Marie.

"Yeah, I guess.  Oh, my.  Did we just drop out of warp or something?  I feel dizzy....."  Marie Barton said as her eyes rolled back and she started to stumble.  Zremm quickly rushed to her side, catching her before she fell to the deck.

"Marie!  Marie, can you hear me?!"  Zremm said loud enough for the other few bridge members to react and hear.

"Ch'Fras?"  She said, using Zremm's first name.  He quickly recalled how he had spent most of one night teaching her to pronounce his name.

"I'm here Marie.  Zremm to sickbay."  The lieutenant said as he instinctively tapped his comm badge on his chest.  He just got back some static and no response.

"Comms, down Ch'Fras.  So cold, can't focus,...."  The young ensign said as she shivered in the arms of the andorian holding her.

"Damn!  Of course.  Well, how about one of these?  Zremm to sickbay."  He said, grabbing one of the comms in the box Marie had brought with her to the bridge.  He just hoped she had stopped off in sickbay on the way up.

"Sickbay, Rayna here."  A familiar voice said on the modified comm badge.

"Ensign.  Good to hear your voice.  Ensign Barton is ill.  I think she has the disease.  She just collapsed on the bridge."  Zremm said quickly into the badge while trying to keep Marie warm in his arms. 

"Barton?!  She was just down here to drop off this comm badge.  Better get her down here lieutenant.  I think we're getting close to slowing this thing down."  Ensign Rayna said.

"On our way!  Zremm out.  Ensign, get these badges to Captain Quinn in his ready room.  I'm taking Ensign Barton to sickbay."  Zremm said to the communications ensign next to him.  He then lifted the small form of Marie Barton up off the deck.  Zremm had never been particularly strong or athletic but for some reason lifting her up didn't seem hard at all to him at the moment.

"Ch'Fras, where am I?  My head!  Hurts so,....."  She said as they entered the turbo lift.

"It's ok, Marie.  I've got you.  Sickbay!"  Zremm said loudly as the lift closed and took them both quickly below deck.  He tried to keep worry out of his voice and mind.  Until just now he hadn't quite realized how much Marie Barton had come to mean to him.  And he wasn't about to loose her now.

Joint post by Jen and Just X with consultations from Kinglinksr

Rory and Dennis stood outside of the ensign's quarters as the overhead lights flickered above them. The air in the corridors was colder than normal, another sign of the ship struggling to operate as more of the computer systems encountered errors. Hours of research and calculation had led them to the door of the man that they felt was the first person infected by the virus.

"Still no answer," Dennis said as he removed his finger from the door buzzer. "I can bypass the locks if you want."

Rory tried to ignore the mischievous smile that Dennis gave her as he attempted to override the door's security. She had actually enjoyed their time together as they worked on tracking down patient zero. While they had completely different reason behind their creation, they both held a deep concern for those that they were charged to protect, which went well beyond their programming.

"I'm not detecting any biosigns within, save for two small lifeforms," Rory said as she studied her tricorder. "Are you waiting on an invitation or are you having problems with the door?"

Dennis winked at the impatient holowoman, as he entered the sequences. The door began to slide open but stopped half way. Dennis shrugged then muscled the door open the rest of the way.

Rory's smile quickly faded as she entered the room and saw the unmoving body slumped on the floor. Rory quickly moved to the ensign's side and scanned him. She could only shake her head as she looked to Dennis.

"He's dead Rory." Dennis said as he looked at the fallen man. He didn't need a tricorder to confirm what he saw.

"We're too late." Rory agreed as she closed the young ensign's eyes and pushed his hair out of his face. She frowned at the tiny creatures curled next to their master. "I'm sorry ensign."

Dennis hesitated a moment, then awkwardly placed a massive hand on the woman's shoulder. "We can't leave them here—I'll carry him. Can you handle the rodents?"

Rory nodded slowly as she collected the animals. "Computer, record time of death and update ensign Starstriker's file."

Holding the animals she glanced to Dennis again as she continued to review the data from her tricorder. "We need to get him to sickbay. I'm detecting trace amounts of an antigen that might be a precurser to a cure. I'm not a geneticist, but I think that they might be able to make something of this."

Joint post by Jen and Just X
---

To those unfamiliar with Vulcan physiology, Sevryll's trance-like condition resembled death. Her motionless form lay on a bed, within the small quarters assigned to her aboard Aurora—clad in a black jump suit and covered with a thermoblanket. Aria hovered over her momentarily, scanning the comatose commander.

Concern was apparent on her face as Aria studied the information. If Sevryll's skills were not needed, Aria would have placed her into cryo hours ago, but that wasn't the case. With symptoms as serious as her mother's, Aria knew that a single dose of the inhibitor wouldn't be enough to get her back on her feet. She needed to do something drastic.

Aria touched Sevryll's face as she extended the injection tube from her slender wrist. With her bio-systems being monitored by her onboard systems, she authorized a direct transfusion of the inhibitor to Sevryll. When she discovered that the protein could resist the virus, Aria increased the production of the protein inside herself. While her current level of the protein was still above her average concentration, she had yet to reach the levels that her body contained when she treated the twins. She walked a very thin line as she transferred the inhibitor. If she didn't transfer enough of the protein, her mother would not be able to return to active duty in any reasonable amount of time. If she transferred too much, she put her own life in danger.

"Mother, you need to focus." Aria said as the inhibitor continued to flow between them. "I can only meet you so far. The ship needs you."

That's when Aria realized the true depth of the situation. Closing her eyes, she overrode the safety protocols of her nanites, and began to saturate her mother's body with the protein at the cost of her own health. Between her own biology and the nanites, she knew that she could better recover from the virus if the levels increased. Once she had transferred most of the protein, she would put herself in a recovery mode that would allow her levels to recover. She turned her mind inward on itself, to monitor the progress. When her mother reached saturation levels, the transfer would stop and she would begin her own recovery.

Sevryll was drawn from the deep well of silence by a reverberating voice from the distant surface. There was an incoherent muttering before the voice uttered, "fo-o-o-o-o-c-u-u-u-u-u-s-s-s-s."

At the bottom of the well, the commander stood in cold, black water. Lifting her chin, she turned her dark eyes upward, into the obscurity that shrouded her body and answered the voice, "I am down here!"

The voice responded, yet was too muffled to decipher. The vulcan shivered... the water was rising. "I hear you!" she shouted again. Her own voice echoed cruelly in her ears. Feeling pain, she covered them and glanced upward once more. There was now a pinhole of light where there was none before. The voice continued to speak words that were tangled in disorder. The frigid water that was at her waist moments before, had now reached Sevryll's chest and she felt her panic rising with it. She waded to one side of the well and was stopped by a wall. Her fingers probed the surface for a hold, and found several within the joints that separated the stone. With an effort, she lifted herself from the water and began to climb towards the voice. Hours seemed to pass as she scaled. As she ascended, the pinhole became a shaft and finally an opening. When her strength had finally failed her, she felt someone pull her out. She was free of the well.

The commander blinked against the harsh illumination, as she slowly became aware of her surroundings. Sevryll's eyes were slow to adjust to the lights in the room, but after a few seconds she could see the blurry image of Aria James standing over her. Almost immediately, she felt a mild irritation on the side of her face. Sevryll lifted a heavy hand and stretched sluggish fingers towards the source of pain—her touch found Aria's hand. Something was protruding from the girl's wrist, which led to Sevryll's cheek. Aria gently guided her mother's hand back to the bed, and spoke in soothing tones. Sevryll rolled her eyes to the left, to inspect the protrusions that penetrated her face. They were the same tubual implants she had seen the girl use on the battered Romulan captive during their last mission. Nanites had been injected into the captive to repair his body and remove his memories. Sevryll's eyes widened in realization and they shifted to meet Aria's. Words refused to form as the commander moved her lips to protest.

"You are going to be fine," Aria said softly. "I am transfusing you with the inhibitor that my body is producing. I needed you to recover because the ship needs you. We are almost done."

Sevryll kept her eyes locked on Aria as the process continued. The commander could literally see the strength leaving the girl as the minutes passed. After some time, a mechanical sound accompanied a tug at her skin as the tubuals were withdrawn from her face. The procedure was complete. Exhausted, girl dropped to her knees at her mother's bedside.

"Aria?" whispered Sevryll in a strained voice. She slowly sat up and shifted her bare feet to the cold metal deck of the Aurora.


"I'll be fine," Aria said in a shaky voice. "I just need to rest, but the Captain needs you now."

With only a swallow left in the brown bottles and conversations about Brex as a kid, exhausted, J'dan excused himself from Margon's bedside.  The Counselor had enjoyed the visit and was surprised at how much J'dan comforted him.  He really didn't know this man, but Brex seemed to have been close to him.  Margon beamed his cat back to the Aurora and thought about the last few hours.   

Sickbay was a buzz with emotion and adrenaline.  He thought about Isaac and wondered how he was doing.  He had tried to help, but things had ended so tragically.

The counselor tapped his com badge.  "Counselor Margon to Ensign Starstriker"

Nothing happened. 

The com must be down again, thought the counselor.  He quickly pulled the communication station by his biobed over to him and asked the computer to video link him to the Ensign's quarters.

The computer coldly chimed in "Please consult the chief medical officer for further information on Ensign Starstriker"

"What?" said Margon.  "What in the world is going on around here?"

He caught one of the med techs as they rushed by... but to no avail.  "I don't have any information on him sir, if you want I can call Dr. Dret and ask her.." 

"No, that's ok, she has a full plate.  Don't bother" said the Bolian.

He felt as drained as the root beer bottles sitting next to his bed.  What an unfortunate day he thought. 

It was then that he saw them.  There wa a body being brought into sick bay, a sheet covering it. With all of the comotion, someone bumped into the gurney, and the sheet fell from the head of the victim.

It was Ensign Starstriker.  Margon knew the instant he saw him.  He was dead.

It was a blur of emotion as the counselor's head swam with grief.  He couldn't even begin to feel like he should. 

"What happened to him?" the counselor called out, tears streamed from Margon's face.

"Someone attend to the counselor!" a nurse cried out. 

Margon couldn't help but feel responsible. 

They say that tragedies come in three's, and this was now enough.  The counselor closed his eyes tightly and wished the world away for a moment. 

He got his wish as the med tech pressed the hypo spray onto his neck and released the strong sedative. 

Margon drifted off to sleep.

"Critical loss in Tiberius crew levels detected. Initiating emergency protocol Alpha-Zero-Four," the soft alto computer voice of the Aurora said as it broke the silence of the vessel.  "Thawing process initiated in cryogenics module three."

The Automated systems quietly worked to release the outer door of the chamber and extend the icy form of Lieutenant James. Aria had used her father as the test subject for the inhibitor and had administered several different levels of the doses to determine a viable treatment for the crew. As a part of the process to increase the production of the rate of the inhibitor, she had programmed her father's nanites to create the same protein her body generated.

"Bio-signs rising," the Aurora spoke again. "Initiating neural stimulator."

There was a soft whine and suddenly Aeric's body convulsed on the table. Monitors spiked as the pulse raced through his body. The silence of the vessel was broken by a single piercing tone that indicated an absence of lifesigns.

"Negative response. Reinitializing neural stimulator," the impassive voice said as the stimulator once again produced the soft whine. "Initiating neural stimulator."

Again the lieutenant's body arched from the neural pulse. Monitors spiked, but the single tone was replaced by a rhythmic pulse. The slow rise and fall of Aeric's chest echoed the readings of computers as he slowly began to stir.

"Compressing status reports of current situation and beginning data transfer," the Aurora said again as various images and reports rapidly flashed across the workstation monitor.

Aeric moaned as he rose from the cold surface of the cryogenics bed. Data flowed into his mind as preprogrammed subroutines provided his a concise briefing of the situation.

"Aurora, what is the status of my illness?" Aeric asked in a rough horse voice.

"Viral load is stable. Inhibitor production is stable. All data indicated that you are functional for duty." Aurora replied.

Aeric nodded softly as his conscious mind processed the compressed data package. Every member of Sevryll's family that had been aboard the Tiberious were now resting in the Aurora's cryo storage. While he rested to protect the safety of the ship, those without that option died around him. With his powers more manageable after the treatments, he had more than his share of work to catch up on.

"James to Grant," Aeric said as picked up his communications badge from his workstation and activated it. Aeric frowned as his inquiry was met with a triple beep that signaled a failure to connect to the chief. "Aurora, located chief Grant's communication badge frequency and run a patch through onboard communications network."

"Working," Aurora said and then paused briefly. "Patch engaged."

"Good, now I need you to locate communications frequency of all remaining critical personnel and establish emergency communications network." Aeric said.

"Working." Aurora replied. "Error. Unable to connect to Tiberius database. Further additions to emergency network will require manual inclusion."

Aeric sighed but attempted his combadge again. "James to Grant."

"Sir?" came the startled voice of his bay chief. "I thought communications were down and you were in cryo."

"Reports of my incapacitation were greatly exaggerated." Aeric said as he slowly pulled on his uniform. "I've been briefed on the incident on the shuttle bay and I need you to start running a patch from the shuttle communication systems to the crew communications badges."

"Aye sir," Rina replied. "It's good to have you back. Hopefully you're feeling fresh from your vacation because we have a lot of problems going on."

"I'll meet you in the control tower and then we can see if we can reduce those problems."

Joint post with Jen and Startrekfanatic5

Quinn sat behind his desk staring at his monitor. He could hear the words coming out of his mouth but couldn't believe he was saying them. Nathan sat in a fog of emotions and grief and after a few minutes, Quinn heard the Admiral say, "very well Captain... if this is the only way. Then you have Starfleet's approval for this action. We will begin procedures on our end. Admiral Decker out.."

That was it, he knew this was the right choice but it remained an extremely difficult one. He wish that Starfleet had said "no", and instead had provided him with a alternative solution. But there wasn't another solution. It had to be done. It must be done. Quinn was deep in thought when his door chimed. The captain looked up, "enter," he said.

Sevryll stepped into the Captain's Ready Room on shaky legs. "Reporting for duty..." she took a steadying breath, "sir."

Quinn quickly rose and walked over to her. He knew she didn't like to be hugged, but he wanted to show her his happiness in seeing her,  so he resigned himself to touch her arm, gave her a smile and gesture her to sit.

She sat down opposite the Captain's desk. Quinn took his seat once more and turned to his first officer, "how are you doing?"

"I am stronger, but that is all. Aria sacrificed much to get me to this state. I hope I can still be of assistance, Captain." she said.

Quinn nodded "Very good. We have a lot of discuss. I have just finish speaking to Admiral Decker and we have both come to this conclusion. The bio gel packs are completely infected, the inhibitor won't work on them, and we are losing vital systems at a rapid pace. In 43 hours we will lose life support and six hour after that we will lose the ability to keep this ship in orbit."

The Captain's statement struck Sevryll like a funeral dirge. Yet she understood the necessity and through a subtile change in expression, she communicated to the Captain that she was willing to assist him in carrying out the miserable task.

Lt. Commander K'arath, a Klingon who prided himself on his physical endurance, mental focus, the perpetual quest for perfection,.......was losing this war. He had just finished speaking with Captain Quinn, notifying the CO that despite his and his staff's efforts, they could not hold the virus at bay and the consequences of further infection of the gel packs and the ship systems. In just under 50 hours, the Tiberius would be spiraling down into the atmosphere of Vulcan. The logistics of a shipwide evacuation were daunting, especially considering the quarantine measures put into place by the Vulcan High Command. He smiled and shook his head recalling how just a day earlier, he had been in the holodeck battling the elements and creatures of the Vulcan Forge. Well, if the crew had to be beamed down there, at least he would be prepared.

The doors to sickbay opened and the Andorian Lt. Zremm came through the door assisting Ensign Barton. K'arath rushed forward.
"What happened!" he demanded. Ensign Barton had been modifying comm badges to continue to function as ship communications systems became compromised.
"She was on the bridge and suddenly collapsed, it must be the virus."
K'arath could see the concern of Zremm's face and realized he had feelings for the young Ensign. They moved her to an empty space on the floor as all the bio-beds were occupied.
"She is strong and will never give up the fight," he said to the distraught Lt., placing a firm hand on his shoulder. Zremm looked at him and nodded his head slowly.

Captain Bell stared at the mirror.  He really didn't like the new uniforms.  They made him look too stoic. 

The faint sound of the laser buzzers tickled his left ear.

"Hey watch it Margon" he said in his delightful English accent.

Margon laughed a very hearty laugh.

"Don't move Gilbert or your hair will be shorter than you like!"  he held up the buzzers and made a hacking motion.

"So have you given any more thought to my idea?"  said the Captain.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I have" said the barber. "I figure if I go through Starfleet's counseling program by the time I graduate you can save a lot of time by posting me on your ship!"

"Funny Margon, but you know it might be hard to request you for your haircutting skills.  And that makes me wonder, why are you Bolians always Barbers or Bartenders?" he smiled.

They had such a great relationship. 

Margon got serious. "Gilbert, before I sign on the dotted line, I have to ask.  Why do you do it?"

"Do what?" he said nervously.

"Why do you serve in such a dangerous position.  I mean, aren't you ever afraid for your life? 

"Of course I'm afraid.  Only idiots never fear.  It's the adventure Margon.  It's the pure adventure and the fact that I have met more new life forms and seen more places than most will ever even read about.  It's the ability to really make a difference in a universe where things beg for the making of scents." his eyes sparkled.

"Cutting hair is safe" said Margon.

"Yes, it is, but you have a gift." the captain grabbed his arm.  "Margon, do this.  Your advice has been so helpful to me. You understand people.  You need to help people, but not just here on Earth. I know it is a risk, and you may even lose people you love, you may lose your life, but listen to me.  It's worth it.  Don't squander what you have been given.  You are more than cutting hair.  You need adventure and adventure needs you"

Margon looked in the mirror at Captain Bell as he finished the haircut. The Bolian removed the cloth hair apron.

"You need a temperature"

"What?" said Margon.  "I have a temperature"

Margon opened his eyes to see a med tech standing over his bio bed. "He still has a temperature" the woman said as she discussed the Counselor's condition with a fellow worker.

"Captain Bell" the counselor whimpered.

"I think he is still delirious" the med tech said.  "Counselor, our captain is Quinn" she said sweetly.  She laid a comforting hand on his chest and laid him back down on the pillow.  He raised up again and looked around sickbay.

The dream had been all to real, and had reminded him of why he did what he did.  Someone had believed in his giftings, and he had risked it all to join Starfleet. 

"I get it" sighed Margon, "I get it."  He laid his head back down.

The doors to sickbay obediently parted as Ryla approached the entry and stepped through the threshold. The Infirmary was bustling with activity...Sickbay had incorporated yet another victim of the virus. Doctor Drett jogged toward the action and worked her way through the medical staff that diligently worked to stabilize a young woman. Hovering near the biobed was one very anxious Andorian male, who crowded the nurses as they worked. The Trill started to ask him to leave, but Chief Engineer K'ararth stepped in— encouraging the Lieutenant to give the med team room. Ryla nodded in thanks to K'ararth as he successfully pulled the Andorian Science officer away. 

"Ch'Fras.  Where are you? I'm cold...." babbled the young woman. The Andorian raised a worried voice in an attempt to reassure the ensign. Ryla glanced over her shoulder at the wiled eyed science officer. She hoped K'arath could calm him before he became too distraught.

Ryla turned her attention back to the patient and pushed a hand into her lab coat to removed a single vile. She still had four remaining, three of which were reserved for Doctor Peterson, Lieutenant Manrique and Counselor Margon. Doctor Drett paused briefly as she glanced down at the yellow, fluidic, inhibitor, within the small container. She rolled it over in the palm of her hand and allowed her eye to roam sickbay for other potential recipients. Seeing none well enough to accept the protein, she quickly fixed the small container to the hypo and pressed it to the ensign's neck. The woman's muscles flexed slightly then her eyes rolled back and she fell unconscious. Ryla scanned the patient then indicated with a nod for the nurses to take over. The blond trill's eye found K'ararth speaking in hushed tones to the white haired science officer—the Andorian watched with great anticipation as the doctor drew near. Drett offered a comforting smile; the petite physician had to look up to meet Zremm's icy blue eyes, "I've given her a does of the inhibitor. She should begin to stabilize within the hour."

After completing his report on the shuttlebay incident, K'Tan decided that a change of scenery was in order.  Taking along his PADD and an enormous tankard of steaming hot Raktajino, he settled into a seat on the Tiberius' forward observation deck.  Over half of the crew was either quarantined, incapacitated, or worse.  As a result, the normally bustling room was empty.  K'Tan sat in silence, savoring the bitingly strong brew as he gazed out of a huge, oval shaped viewport.

The Tiberius was holding an orbit roughly 700 kilometers above Vulcan.  Through the viewport, K'Tan drank in the vista:  The black, clean canvas of interstellar space was dotted by the brightly burning pin-pricks of distant stars.  K'Tan found the view to be breathtaking, but its clear, spartan beauty was easily eclipsed by the warmly glowing globe of Vulcan.

The arid, golden-tan surface dominated the entire upper third of the viewport.  The planet reminded him of the minimalist paintings of the Boreth monks-- a huge, brown and beige sphere tinged with the reddish tint of iron deposits .  Through the crystal-clear atmosphere, K'Tan could easily make out numerous empty canals carved by ancient, extinct rivers.  Following the spider-web tracing of dead waterways to the east, his eye was drawn to a vast, continent-sized canyon which split the planet's crust like an ancient, angry wound.

As the titanic, craggy gash slowly crossed the terminator, K'Tan could make out the expanse of arid sand dunes cradled within-- the immense desert known as The Forge.

Forcing his attention back to his PADD, K'Tan continued sifting through Lucas' logs.  After the initial discovery of the reference to 'Sehlat', the going was getting much easier.  K'Tan had uncovered numerous conversations with the suspected accomplice, and had quickly surmised that the relationship between Lucas and the woman known as 'Sehlat' was something more than purely professional. 

Resisting a voyeuristic urge to read some of the more intimate communication logs, K'Tan had limited himself to studying only those entries containing references to something called The Purity Project; a project that seemed linked the virus now ravaging the Tiberius.   

Setting his Raktajino on a nearby table, K'Tan opened up the next entry on his list.  It was a subspace communique sent off several months earlier:


My dearest Sehlat-

My research is finally bearing fruit.  After isolating a strain that will serve our purposes, I have managed to cultivate a healthy batch. 

Our plans to infect commander Sevryll have run into a snag.  As planned, one of our operatives attempted to deliver a dose of the virus to her during the recent promotion ceremony on Earth.  Unfortunately, the drink containing the virus was accidentally delivered to an ensign named Starstriker. 

Rest assured; the operative's incompetence has been dealt with-- he is now enjoying eternal rest somewhere at the bottom of the San Francisco bay.

I believe I have managed to carry the project forward despite our operative's negligence.  Once Starstriker displayed the initial symptoms of the virus, I managed to convince our newly promoted First Officer that only she could help him through his 'mystery' ailment-- by the use of a mind-meld.  The virus should be able to infect Sevryll via this meld, and if our intelligence reports are correct, it is only a matter of time until Sevryll and Talbot set foot on Romulus.  Once there, the virus should quickly spread to infect our targets. 

Fear not, my love; I will not let the purity of Vulcan's proud culture be tainted by a joining with your Romulan cousins.  Barring any unforeseen mutations in the virus, the Purity Project appears to be a success. 

Live long and prosper, my wife.

-END OF ENTRY-


"Wife?" K'Tan muttered to himself.  So the mysterious 'Sehlat' was Lucas' wife?

K'Tan double checked the destination tag on the communique.  This message, like all the others, was directed to a message queue at the Vulcan Science ministry.  Just how far does the conspiracy go?, he thought to himself.  The Captain has to be notified!

His heart hammering in his chest, K'Tan raced from the observation lounge, intent on presenting his findings to Quinn.  As he sprinted towards the bridge, his forgotten carafe of Raktajino sat cooling on the table.

"Sir, it seems as if someone has already created a communications patch." Rina said as she looked over the sparse com traffic.

"That's good it hear," Lieutenant James said as he took a seat at the console next to her. "It wasn't in my briefing the Aurora uploaded, but that gives us time to come up with additional alternatives to present the captain. What's the status of the aero group?"

"All support craft are operational and baring any additional illnesses, we have enough able bodies to crew the entire fleet." Grant said as she pulled up the duty information. "What are your orders?"

"We're still in quarantine, but we need to be able to ferry crew and supplies once medical gets a handle on this bug." Aeric said. "I need to report to the captain soon, but I want some news to offer him."

"I'm on it sir." Rina said and smiled to her CO. "I'll have some news for you once I start assembling the flight crews. I'll have to do this door to door since everyone doesn't have access to the com systems again."

"Thank you chief." Aeric said with a still hoarse voice. "With the ship so short handed, we're going to need to work that much harder to keep this bird in the sky."

Joint post Wraith1701, Jen, Just X and Startrekfanatic5

K'Tan arrested his run, skidding to a stop before the entryway to the bridge.  Placing a hand against the frame of the sealed door, the Lieutenant leaned forward and tried to compose himself.  As his breathing returned to normal, he stood, straightened his tunic, and strode inside.

An air of foreboding seemed to have filled the understaffed bridge, snuffing out hope and optimism like a smothering blanket of despair.  The skeleton crew manning the opps, conn and tactical stations looked worn and haggard.  The eyes that turned to acknowledge his entrance were sunken and bloodshot. K'Tan felt safe in assuming that they, like most of the active crew, hadn't had more than an hour of uninterrupted sleep since the onset of this crisis.

As pervasive as the sense of impending doom was, it was nothing compared to the electric, almost palpable tension that charged the command center.  K'Tan looked around the bridge for Quinn but did not see him. He approached the Captain's ready room and pressed the comm. K'Tan heard the Captain's voice say "Enter", the doors opened to reveal, Captain Quinn and Commander Sevryll standing there.  Judging by the grim expression clouding Quinn's face, he knew he had interrupted an unpleasant conversation.

"Excuse me, Captain," K'Tan said. "I've made a bit of a breakthrough in my investigation of Dr. Lucas."

His face drawn with concern, Quinn motioned for K'Tan enter.  "Go ahead, Lieutenant."

K'Tan handed his PADD to the Captain.  "With the help of Dr. Drett, I managed to isolate several log entries and communiqués that link Lucas directly to the virus plaguing the ship.  In fact, it appears as though the virus was engineered for the sole purpose of derailing the reunification talks between Vulcan and Romulus."

As Quinn scanned through the log entries, K'Tan continued.  "I believe that Lucas was only a small but valuable player in a very large game.  It seems as though he was contracted by an outside agency to create the virus.  An agency with a very long reach."

His face grim, K'Tan turned to address Sevryll.  "The actual target of the infection was you, commander. An unknown assailant tried to infect you months ago, during your promotion ceremony on earth."

Sevryll's left eyebrow gave an almost imperceptible twitch, a sign K'Tan was learning to interpret as the Vulcan equivalent to a shout of outrage.

"That's not all," K'Tan said.  "In tracing the destination of Lucas' communiqués, I've come to the conclusion that his primary contact was his wife.  And it appears as though she is currently working for the Vulcan Science Ministry."

Quinn looked up at K'Tan, "Very good Lieutenant but unfortunately we have more pressing matters to take care of" Quinn motioned for K'Tan to sit.

The light chirp of his comm badge gained his attention and with a surprised expression frozen on his face, he slowly raised his hand to his chest and tapped the badge. "Quinn here." The comm called out again, causing Nathan's surprised expression to transition to one of frustration. Sevryll leaned forward and slid the adjusted badge that engineering brought to him before she entered, across his desktop towards him. He smirked and pressed the badge, "Quinn here," he uttered as he leaned over the desk.

A familiar voice quickly replied, "Sir, Lieutenant James reporting for duty."

A small smile tugged at his lips, "very good lieutenant. Please come to my ready room immediately."

"On my way sir," said Aeric hoarsely.

Nathan pressed the badge on his table once more, "Doctor Drett, Commander K'arath, and Lieutenant Zremm... please report to my ready room immediately. Quinn out."

A few minutes past and the remnants of his senior staff entered his ready room.

Captain Quinn strolled past every officer, giving them reassuring nods and slight smiles. "I have spoken with Starfleet on several occasions concerning our situation, and they agree with my assessment..." Quinn drew a labored breath and continued, "We must abandon ship. Following our departure, the entire crew will be quarantined. Because they lack the bio gel pack technology, our shuttlecraft and life pods remain unaffected by the virus. We will use the shuttles to transport the ill, everyone else will depart Tiberius via escape pods. Afterwards, we will set course for the abandon Vulcan space station, 'Vuhansular', which we will utilize in the pursuit of a cure."

"Sir, I assume they will be towing the Tiberius to Vuhansular after our departure. Should I make preparations?" asked the Chief Engineer.

Nathan flicked his gaze towards Sevryll. The Vulcan commander held his eye briefly, then looked away.

"This ship is essentially a bio weapon, Mr. K'arath." Said the captain as he slowly turned back to the Klingon officer. "To prevent this pathogen from falling into the wrong hands, we must ensure that this virus is eradicated completely. Once the crew has abandoned ship, the commander and I will engage the auto destruct." His statement was followed by an uncomfortable silence that seemed to stretch for minutes.

Quinn cleared his throat and continued, "We have much to do in the meantime. Lieutenant K'Tan, I need you and your team to search the entire ship—I want every living being accounted for and prepped for departure. Doctor, you and your team will load your patients and equipment aboard the shuttles. Chief K'arath, Lieutenant James, I need you to keep this ship in orbit. I don't have to tell you what sort of disaster would occur, should our orbit deteriorate. You will also assist the doctor in prepping the shuttles for the ill. Lieutenant Zremm, transfer the computer's memory core to the Aurora's secondary core. I want every nanobyte of information secured and safely transferred. Mr. James, please assist Lieutenant Zremm in the transfer of memory to the Aurora. Commander Sevryll, you will oversee everything."

Quinn turned and head back to the chair behind his desk. "Dismissed." Without a word, the officers who filled his ready room began to get up and head out the door.

Doctor Drett was the only officer to remain behind, "Sir, what are we to do with the deceased?"

Nathan met Doctor Drett's troubled gaze, "We leave them... We don't have the time, or the space for bodies." Quinn's heart ached, these were his people, his crew. How could he leave them behind?

Ryla's eyes welled up at the Captain's reply, but she managed to keep the tears from falling. "Aye, sir."

Nathan leaned back in his chair and drew a haggard breath as the doors closed behind the doctor. He exchanged a weary glance with Sevryll. Captain Quinn inhaled deeply once more, as he struggled to fight back his intense sorrow and shame he felt.

K'arath stood up from the Ready Room table and moved towards the door. He felt like he had just been punched in the gut. Lt. James was standing by the door, watching him expectantly. The man remained an enigma to the Engineer, ever since his shuttle landed and the Chief greeted him in the bay.
"Lt. James," he said and then paused to gather his thoughts. "You are the most accomplished pilot on board and I trust you will be able to maintain standard orbit for as long as possible."
The El-Aurian's nodded his head in acknowledgement of the compliment both knew to be true. "Sir." he replied.
"I will remain in Engineering rerouting as many systems as possible to provide you with thrust and attitude control for as long as possible. I will also send a team to assist the doctor in adapting the current compliment of shuttles to accommodate the sick crew. I am going to commit all the shuttles to this effort. I would....anticipate that your shuttle will be the last to leave," K'arath said.
"That is very likely, Commander," James replied.
K'arath smiled, "Well, save me a seat Lieutenant. Q'pla!" as he clapped the startled man on the shoulder. He entered the turbolift. "Main Engineering," he commanded the computer. He looked around the empty car. "Tiberius, today is not a good day for you to die."

Doctor Drett stopped just outside Sickbay and took a moment to collect herself. She had managed not to cry in front of the Captain—but it was a different story when she was alone in the turbolift—it had been a rough few days, and the stress had caught up with her. Ryla leaned against the bulkhead, drew a deep cleansing breath and rubbed her eyes. The trill did not want the staff to see her upset; they needed confidence and hope and seeing her dismayed would do nothing more than fetter their efforts.  A crewman turned the corner in the corridor, causing Ryla to straighten. He was either too busy notice, or had seen too many officers in a similar emotional state to care...  perhaps it had become the norm aboard Tiberius. The ensign simply nodded and continued on his way. Ryla watched him go, then smoothed her lab coat and attempted to arrange her messy blond hair. She gave her cheeks a final dabbing with her sleeves, before donning the role of a poised physician and striding confidently into the infirmary.

The floor had been incessantly busy since the day the first patients entered Sickbay. Soon after, the medical personnel learned that they were not immune to tragedy. One nurse had dropped dead as she assisted Ryla in her rounds. Another shut his eyes for a ten-minute nap and never woke up.  And then there were those who were injured in altercations with patients. Since Doctor Peterson removed himself from duty, there had been three deaths and two serious injuries. And three more personnel currently occupied biobeds.

She stepped to the center of the room and spoke up so that all could hear her. "Can I have your attention?! The Captain has asked us to begin prepping the patients and equipment for transport off Tiberius, STAT. " She turned gestured to three med techs, "you all will be working with a team from engineering to get the craft outfitted with equipment. Begin moving patients as soon as they're ready." The people who stood about sickbay looked exhausted, but ready and willing to do their duties. Ryla glanced to the Counselor who stared back at her with a sullen expression.  She thought about what the Captain had told her regarding the deceased, and decided in that moment to go against his orders.  She spoke in a quieter tone to the head nurse, "We're leaving all but two deceased individuals behind. See to it that Ensign Isaac Starstriker and Counselor Margon's son are placed on one of the shuttlecraft." She turned back to the staff and thanked them all for their diligence and sacrifice. "Thank you for working through your illness, fatigue and personal loss.  Your efforts will not go unnoticed—hopefully this will be over very soon.  I know Doctor Peterson would be as proud of you all as I am.  With that said, I can't stress how important expediency is. We must get our patients out of here ASAP." Several staff members nodded and several offered weak smiles as they began their next task.

Doctor Drett wasted no time in administering the last three doses of the inhibitor to Peterson, Manrique and Margon. It wouldn't get them on their feet, but it would stabilize them for transport. She lingered a moment at the counselor's side before returning to her duties. "Don't worry Counselor," she whispered,  "Brex is coming with us."

"It feel's like she's dying around us," Aria said to her father as they walked the shadowed hallway that let to the shuttle bay.

"She is." Aeric confirmed. "Bit by bit, the systems are failing around up as the crew falls to the virus."

Aira nodded slowly. "I'll get the Aurora ready for travel and make sure that we have a solid lock on the Captain Quinn and mother."


"I'm going to be in the flight tower making sure that everyone is clear before the captain gives the final command. I need you to work with the cheif and medical to make sure the runabouts have the right equipment for lab work and critical care." Aeric said and walked into the shuttle bay with his daughter.

"Okay team, let's get a move on!," Aeric shouted to those remaining ready for duty on the flight deck. "The captain has ordered all hands to abandon ship! You know the drill, you know your duties. Let's get to work! Grant I want your team to outfit every available runabout with the medical lab equipment. Andreas, your team will be responsible for using the larger shuttles to assist in gathering the escape pods and making sure that they are all in the safety zone before the detonation."

"Aye Sir!" the fight crew shouted as they moved to do the jobs that they were trained to do.

"Chief you have the flight deck!" Aeric said as he turned and headed for the control tower.

Sleek and adventurous, graceful and sometimes warlike, she waited.

She was trying so hard.  "Keep it together, Keep it together, so many are counting on you!" she thought.  But it was so hard.  The vast expanse of space is cold and harsh.  The elements are ruthless and the universe is infinite.  The only thing that kept her going was the life in and around her.  Such a variety of creatures, all with their own slant on the world around them.  So fascinating, unified, but diverse.  At first the virus had been subtle.  Only a few aches and pains here and there, but now?  It wasn't good.  She could feel the life being drained from her.  Things she used to be able to do automatically were now a chore, and some weren't even working anymore.  The prime functions of her job description were not even certain to happen. 

"I am here to serve" she thought, "but I am starting to be unable to do so. Something must be done or there would be more death."  This was not acceptable.  Everything in her was designed to protect, to keep the harsh elements at bay, to provide a place where the prime directive could thrive and the masses could gather and explore"

It wasn't because of a lack of help.  The crew had tried to help, but the infection was getting worse.  It was like cancer.  It had to be removed.   But that hadn't worked.   It had spread into the electronic lymph nodes that made who she was. It was rather ironic.  The very advancements to make her quicker, more like them, was killing her. 

So much care had been taken, so many hours had been put in, she had been created with a purpose of exploration, but now her time was coming to an end.  She understood, she wished there was another way, but it was too late.  It was soon to be over. 

She put her life in the hands of those that served on her.  She trusted that they knew best.  She had fulfilled her destiny.  Now all she had to do was hold on a little longer, long enough to see them off safely.

What would it feel like?  What would be the initial reaction to the self destruct?  She was programmed to do what they asked, but that didn't mean it would be easy.  It would take every bit of programming in her to let the countdown end.

Everything she was, everything she had become was about to come to and end.

And then she, the Tiberius, however apprehensive, waited.

=/\=
Ensign T'Aryn Rayna flet like a fish out of water.

"No, Ensign", said the nurse curtly, "It's done like THIS." 
Rayna relinquished his hold on the hypospray and observed the nurse (again), as he demonstrated the correct meds administration technique.  He'd seen EMH's with a better beside manner, he thought.  Though they wore the same "Science Division Blue", Medical was not his specialty, and he felt like reminding the nurse of such fact.  He felt his emotions rising and his mind began forming a suitable reponse, something like " Well, I AM a xenobiologist, nurse, not a MedTech!"..yes, that would do nicley..but, no, there were more important things to be done.  Just then there came the swish of the Infirmary's doors and the pretty Ensign Barton was led in by Lt. Zremm...she looked very bad, but before he could do anything, another officer got over to help them first. "THAT'S why she never called!", he exclaimed aloud.
It was only a few short minutes before, Rayna thought, when she was here to give me this jury-rigged commbadge!  "Here Rayna", she had spoken, quickly, "since you're not doing anything, you can be Sickbay Liaison to the Bridge.  The comms down again, and I've got these Commbadges to work independently of the Main Computer.  Limited function, but...Anyway, I've got to get these to the bridge...We'll do a testcall from there..." she trailed off as she walked away, heading for the bridge.  "WAKE UP, Ensign!", chastised the nurse, "We have work to do."
That barely sank in, but He was brought back to the present by the Sickbay doors opening again...Dr. Drett had arrived, and had a VERY serious look on her face... What she began to say shocked him even more....

Lieutenant Zremm had almost finished transferring the computer core memory banks from the Tiberius to the secondary core aboard the Aurora.  He was still a bit stunned by the announcement Captain Quinn had told all of them a short time ago about abandoning ship.  Zremm had become quite comfortable on the Tiberius and had begun to think of it as home.  Of course, from the expression he had noticed on the captain's face his emotions were probably nothing compared to what the captain must be going through right now.  He double checked the display at the bridge science station to insure the entire memory core had been backed up to the Aurora.  He ran a few diagnostic checks to make sure the data was complete and secure.  Once he was satisfied he tapped his modified comm badge.

"Zremm to Aurora."  He said into the comm device.

"Aria here, lieutenant.  I have insured that the memory core is secure aboard the Aurora.  Lieutenant James is assisting the flight group currently."  Aria said in response.  Zremm was still a bit unsure of Aria and her history with Commander Sevryll.  But it had seemed that Sevryll was a bit more accepting of her now, so Zremm tried to match her feelings.

"Very good.  Please make certain of it and thanks for your assistance.  Zremm out."  The blue skinned lieutenant said as he tapped his badge once again.  He started to close down non-essential systems from his work station.  He wanted to make sure Tiberius was not encumbered with anything but essential functions.  She was a fine ship and he was going to miss her greatly he thought as he brought up various sub displays at the science station.  Just then he felt the artificial gravity shift slightly on the bridge.  It was a very small shift, but andorians were especially sensitive to such things.

"Zremm to Chief Engineer K'arath."  Zremm said tapping his comm badge once more.  After a slight delay he finally got a response.

"K'arath here lieutenant.  We kind of have our hands full right now."  The chief said.

"Sorry to interrupt your work commander.  Could you please check on the artificial gravity for the bridge.  I detected a slight variance, sir."  Zremm said.

"One second lieutenant.  Let's see here.  Hmm,....well yes it has shifted.  It seems a gel pack is interfering with the gravity sub systems.  Rerouting systems now.  It was only a shift to 0.5 % lower.  I'm shocked you even noticed Zremm."  K'arath said.

"Andorians due to our antennae are especially sensitive to these things, sir."  Zremm said with a slight touch of pride in his voice.

"Ok lieutenant.  Thanks for reporting it.  K'arath out."  The klingon engineer said as he dropped the comm channel.

After several more minutes Zremm decided that he had done all he could on the bridge.  With the core backed up and systems minimized he secured the station and got up and entered the turbolift.

"Sickbay."  He said as he thoughts of Marie drifted back.  Her illness had made him realize time was precious and not to be wasted.  Zremm was determined to let her know how he felt once she was feeling better.  But for now, he was going to make sure she and anyone else he could assist made it to a shuttle.  He calmed his emotions as much as he could as the lift whisked him down to the heart of the ship.

The com link shut off, K'arath shook his head. In all his years as an engineer, he never thought he would be told by an Andorian bridge officer that his artificial gravity systems had failed prior to his notice. He thought back upon his time in sickbay with Lt. Zremm who had carried Ensign Barton. He had strength of will, common for his people, but he also had compassion. A unique trait among Andorians. His momentary reflections were short lived.
"Sir!" a clearly nervous ensign yelled from his station.
K'arath turned towards the young man and looked deep into his eye's. This had better be good, he thought. The Ensign may as well have been a telepath.
"Sir," he said in a calmer tone, "We have lost forty-five percent of core power. At these rates, we have only 2 hours at most power available to maintain standard orbit."
"Very well," he replied. He knew in two hours he would be on the bridge, providing the third command of the self-destruct sequence and then racing with the Captain and the First Officer to the Aurora. The Vulcan woman would probably beat them both.

The staccato clang of the security officers' boots echoed through the deserted corridor.  The pair jogged at a steady pace; the raven haired woman in the lead holding an active tricorder out before her.  To her left, Ensign Dunn quickened his pace to catch up.  Once he closed the gap, he addressed her between wheezing gasps.

"Are you sure the tricorder isn't malfunctioning, Lt. Stass?" he asked.

Her breathing easy and steady, Stass paused to study the devices' readout screen, then turned into a dimly lit corridor branching off to the left.  "I've calibrated this thing four times already, Dunn," she replied.  "This deck is supposed to be evacuated, but I'm still picking up bio readings."

Stass stopped to give the young Ensign a moment to catch his breath.  Relieved, Dunn slumped against the bulkhead, then leaned forward, placing his hands on his knees.  As his breathing returned to normal, Stass shook her head disparagingly.

"You're in terrible shape, Dunn.  You need to spend less time shoveling down replicated cup-cakes and more time in the gym.  I've got an incredible Parisis Squares program loaded in the holodeck; you should give it a try sometime."

Looking up at Stass, Dunn grimaced in irritation.  "I'm in great shape, Lieutenant; it's just that I've been up for three days straight now!  Between relaying messages to and from sickbay, tracking down hallucinating virus victims, and keeping my bunk nice and tidy, there's been no time for sleep, let alone working out!"

As Stass recoiled from Dunn's sudden outburst, he continued.   "Besides; you can kiss your holodeck probram goodbye.  Didn't you hear what Lt. K'Tan said?"  Dunn's eyes welled up, and he quickly turned his head aside in embarrasement.  "The Tiberius is going to be scuttled; there won't be any holodeck to exercise in after that."

Stass placed a hand on Dunn's shoulder consolingly.  "I didn't mean to insult you, Ensign; I guess this virus thing has all of us on edge.  I know you've been busting your butt, and I appreciate everything you've done during this crisis." 

As her tricorder emitted a sudden string of beeps, she turned towards a dusty storage locker to her left.  The gunship-gray door of the locker stood ajar, and as she drew near it, the beeping of her tricorder sped up until it emitted a single, high pitched tone. 

"Looks like I've found our life sign Ensign," she said with a smile.  Turning to face Dunn, she added, "And as far as the ship is concerned, don't give up just yet."  The Lieutenant affectionately rapped a fist against a duranium bulkhead.  "As long as these walls remain standing, there's hope."

The locker door behind Stass suddenly sprung open, and two chittering, furry projectiles flew out.  The twin balls of fur bounded off of Stass' left shoulder, then flew into the hair of Ensign Dunn. As the startled ensign stepped back in shock, two small rodents scrambled down onto his shoulder.

"Don't move,ensign," Stass said as she drew her phaser and took aim.  "Looks like the Tiberius has rats!"  As if somehow comprehending her words, the rodents shrieked in alarm and huddled behind Dunn's head. 

"Wait, Lieutenant!" Dunn yelled, raising a hand to ward off Stass.  "I don't know how they got here, but these little guys appear to be harmless."  As Stass powered down and lowered her phaser, the two small animals peeked from behind Dunn's shoulder.  "It looks like they're tame; they're probably someones' pets." 

Sighing in exasperation, Stass slipped her phaser into a well-oiled holster.  "Alright Dunn, have it your way.  Let's get those things secured in an escape pod."  Rolling her eyes, Stass headed towards the turbolift.  "Just don't come crying to me if you wind up with rabies."




*thanks Kinglinksr for the use of the sugargliders*

Aeric's mind raced as he attempted to manually manage the computer systems via his mental connection. It was a difficult task to say the least. but necessary to bypass the infected systems. He had to tie himself directly into the thruster system to maintain orbit and it was working for now.

"James to Commander K'arath and Captain Quinn," the Lieutenant said from his command chair aboard the Aurora. "Even the great bird of the galaxy won't be able to keep this ship in the sky much longer. Thrusters are down by 70%. I recommend that evacuation is completed soon. I've taken the liberty of preparing the command escape pods for ejection at your command to save you a sprint to the shuttle bay. We can dock with you once we have moved to a safe distance."

He glanced up at the school of Oceanic Whitetip Sharks circling in a suspended minuet above him. Each time he exhaled, an inntermittent stream of bubbles ascended towards them. With every revolution made in their orbiting ballet, the sharks' gaping mouths unconsciously gulped the rising ribbons. "Stupid beasts," he thought.  The Denoblian turned his gaze towards his watch—only five minutes of air remained in his scuba tank. He then flicked an edgy eye towards the holodeck arch that had been teasing him like a flirty Denoblian female, looking to acquire her third husband. He cursed the arch within the privacy of his dive helmet; a muffled expletive was captured in a bubble and rose rapidly to be devoured by the man-eaters waiting above.  "I hope you choke on it!" came his stifled shout.

So far, his repeated verbal commands to end the program had failed and he had no idea whether the door would open once he entered the proper sequence. If he was lucky enough to avoid the jaws of the ravenous fish, it was likely he would still suffocate should the doors fail to open. Chief Frep resigned himself to the situation, and in one swift movement, pushed himself off the coral reef and towards the mechanical temptress. His fins churned superfluous bubbles generated by his elevated breathing, as he skimmed the reef towards the awaiting arch. Frep stole a glance over his shoulder, as he kicked towards the exit—the school had begun to divide and a half a dozen hungry beasts were rocketing towards him. Time seemed to crawl for the Denoblian as he spooked schools of brightly colored fish, while tearing towards the arch. The sharks were swift and closing their distance. Only a meter left until he reached the retched arch.

He glided toward the portal. With outstretched hands, he stopped his progression towards the arch and deftly accessed the panel, which had cruelly offered his freedom like bait at the end of a hook. As he keyed the sequence to exit the program... Frep's eyes shot once more towards the predators that hunted him. The largest of the six was less than a meter away. A computer chirp, distorted by watery surroundings, rewarded his efforts and the door opened soon after, spilling him into the carpeted corridor. His pursuers poured onto the floor along with the school of fish and several metric tons of water.  It pushed him against the bulkhead, but was very quickly dissolved by the lack of holoemitters outside the replica realm. Frep lay in a heap on the floor, panting frantically.  Once he realized he had escaped, he ripped off the scuba helmet and drew in the air Tiberius offered. A mad laughter soon echoed in the corridor as Frep celebrated his victory over the man-eating holosharks. The laughter tapered into a chuckle as the security officers paused to glance down at the spectacle sprawled on the floor before him.

"Are you alright sir?" asked Ensign Dunn.

"Never better my friend!" replied Frep.

J'dan Marley stood in Brex's quarters with a starfleet luggage container.  He was gathering his friend's personal belongings for Margon.  He had already sent his own personal belongings to the assigned shuttle and was ready to board the escape pod as soon as he was finished in Brex's room. 

The panel on the desk was flashing that a message was waiting.  J'dan paused and looked around.  He wasn't in the business of being nosey, but Brex wasn't going to check it.  He resisited for a couple of minutes and then couldn't stand it any longer.  The Bajoran touched the control panel and the viewscreen came to life. It was in code, and one that J'dan recognized.  The Orion Syndicate.

J'dan owed a lot to Brex.  Long ago when J'dan was sold to Cardassians in slavery Brex had rescued him and given him his freedom. He wasn't just a friend, he was like family.  And he knew that Brex had dealings with the syndicate.  He also knew how to break the code.  So he did. 

J'dan's next moments were filled with dread and fear.  Could he do it?  Could he pull this off?  The message was clear and he knew that he could get in a lot of trouble.  It was the type of trouble he thought Brex would have risked. 

"Computer" J'dan said as he clicked his com badge, "Where is the body of Brex"

The computer responded immediatly, "The body of Brex is on the shuttle craft Montgomery"

J'dan grabbed the last of Brex's things, transfered Brex's personal files to a info pad, wiped the core memory of Brex's computer and left the room.

Dropping Brex's belongings off at the evacuation station, he proceeded to five forward and disappeard into the back room.  He came back with long silver device and hid it under his jacket.  J'dan made his way to shuttle bay 3 and entered the crowd of people that were gathered.  "Excuse me" he said as he made his way through the people.  Upon arriving at the Montgomery, he slipped around the side and made his way to the shuttle entrance. 

"Can I help you?" said a fresh faced Ensign.

"Yes, I need a couple of moments to check some of your cargo."

"You don't have authorization"

"I don't need authorization Ensign, I'm an employee of Five Forward, I just need to check a couple of cargo containers.  Come on, we're all under a lot of stress.  Help make this easy.  Please?" the Bajoran said with a smile as he flashed his ID pad at the Ensign.

"I don't know, this is highly irregular" he said nervously.  "Oh, alright, but make it quick."

J'dan didn't sit still for the Ensign to change his mind and quickly boarded the shuttle.  He made his way to the cargo bay and saw two body bags sealed in the corner.  He checked the tags on the bags and found Brex's body.  Taking a tricorder out of his pocket he made a few entries and the bag hissed and popped open.  J'dan opened the bag and pushed the material away from the Bolian's naked body. A wave of nausea came over J'dan, but he fought it back.  There would be time to greive later.   It was odd to see Brex this way.  He was yellow.  This is what happens to Bolians when they die.  They turn yellow.  He shook his head and tried to ignore his feelings. 

Pulling the silver scanning device from his coat he hit a few buttons and the device began to glow.  He started at the top of Brex's body about 12 inches above his lifeless form and worked his way down slowly.  The device made a slight humming sound and upon reaching Brex's yellow toes, the device beeped three times for completion and then automatically shut down. J'dan zipped the bag back up and activated the bio seal once again.  He tapped a few commands into the tricorder to cover his tracks, grabbed a small storage box from a shelf and walked out of the shuttle.

"Thanks" he said to the ensign, sure that his heart was beating out of his chest.

"You get everything you were looking for?"  he asked.

"Yep, thanks again." said J'dan holding up the storage box as he turned and quickly made his way towards his escape pod.   

Quinn rushed down the hall, past crewmen and civilians who were rushing by. So much was going on. He received word from his Chief Engineer that the engines were about to fail and they had less then two hours before the Tiberius' orbit began to decay. Everything was still on schedule. The sick were being transported to the shuttlecrafts while everyone else was filling up the escape pods. One by one they were ejected from the hull of the Tiberius.

Quinn reached his quarters and grabbed a bag and began to load up personal items. Pictures and keepsakes there were irreplaceable. He grabbed a small cage and went over to the housing unit that held his two rats Phil and Grant. He reached in and grabbed Grant and placed him in the smaller cage. Phil gave him a little bit more trouble as he panicked and kept running from Quinn's hand. A few minutes past and Quinn was finally able to grab Phil by the tail and lift him out of the larger cage and placed him in the smaller one with Grant. He secured the smaller cage and tucked it under his arm while grabbing the duffel bag with his keepsakes. He exited his quarters and started to walk down the hall when he ran into Ensign Took.

"Nathan!!!" Exclaimed Nicholas, as he approached the Captain. "Nicholas, what are you doing here, you should be getting to an escape pod." Quinn said as he stopped in front of the young man. "I wasn't sure if you were going to have time to get back to your quarters and I wanted to make sure Phil and Grant were okay." Quinn smiled and pulled out the small cage from under his arm. "Can you please take them and make sure they are safe." Quinn ask. "Of course" Took said as he took not only the small cage but the duffel bag as well. "I'll keep these things safe for you as well." Quinn placed his hand on Tooks shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "Thank you my friend... now get to an escape pod pronto." Ensign Took hesitated for a moment, "What going to happen to you?" he asked. "I'll be fine, I have one more piece of business to take care of on the bridge. I'll see you on the Vulcan space station. " With one last look at each other the two men went there separate ways.

The lights in the turbolift flickered out, leaving Sevryll in darkness. The door hesitated before opening with a sluggish lurch and the deck hit her in the midsection as the vulcan commander moved to exit the lift. A moment later, the backup lighting engaged and she climbed her way onto the bridge. Lieutenant Zremm's form was highlighted in a red glow as he moved to assist her, but she waved him off. "Status Lieutenant," she uttered in an  emotional undertone,  as she straightened to her full height and moved to the command chair. The bridge shook violently and the gravity relaxed then returned to normal parameters, causing her to stumble into the captain's chair.

Stress.  The whole crew was under a lot.  Different species handle stress differently.  The Klingons were treating this emergency like a battle, the Vulcans were uncommonly tense, the telepaths on board were all simply cranky, but the humans?  Well they were very serious.  It isn't everyday that a federation ship is blown up.

Ensign Jackson worked in engineering and she was good at her job.  Her last command was to gather her belongings, drop them off at an evacuation point and board her evacuation pod. 

Sweat beaded up on her forhead and her heart pounded in her chest.  Communications were so messed up that she hadn't had a chance to even try and send something to her family.  She was sure they must be worried about her.  She put her thumb on the pad to acknowledge that her things were checked in and she made her way to the aft section all the while looking for her pod number.

There it was, number Alpha 157, she entered her code on the keypad and the doors hissed open while the computer chimed in "Escape Pod Alpha 157 is now ready for boarding"  Sarah climbed in.  It was much smaller than she expected.  As soon as she stepped over the threshold the doors quickly shut and sealed behind her.  The pressure in the cabin caused her ears to pop.  She shook her head and stuck one finger in her left ear.  "Ouch!" she muttered. 

"Please restate your request" the computer said with no emotion.

"I wasn't talking to you" she said sarcastically. "Computer initiate launch sequence."

The restraint belts automatically criss crossed her body as the lights dimmed and the panel in front of her lit up. 

Her breathing became shallow and forced as she braced herself for the initial shock of separation from the ship.  These little escape pods didn't have sophisticated inertial dampers like the ones that kept the Tiberius stable. 

"Security code authorization required" stated the computer.

She took a deep breath, or at least she tried.  Her mouth was dry and she tried not to panic.  Working in engineering was one thing, being alone in an escape pod in the vastness of space was another. 

"Security code beta f78 Jackson, Sarah B."

The computer chimed and the one minute timer flashed on in front of her. 

"T-minus sixty seconds until escape pod ejection"

Sarah closed her eyes and tried to calm herself.  It would be ok.  Everything was pre-programmed and it wouldn't be long until she was safely to her destination.  "I can do this" she told herself. 

"Forty seconds until escape pod ejection" the computer methodically recited.

"I wonder how mom is doing?  I hope Ensign Walker got out o.k." her mind was filled with relationships and people she thought she might never see again.

She opened her eyes.  "If anything is going to happen, I want to see it!" she thought.   One more breath as the computer counted down.

"Five, Four, Three, Two, One, escape pod ejection initiated"

The cold air sprayed from the tubes beside Jackson's face and the pod shook.  She heard a grinding noise and then the cockpit of her tiny pod lit up with a flash. The charges exploded!  Her senses were jarred as the pod literally broke from it's resting place and the side of the Tiberus moved.  The place the pod had been attached too became a window to space.  She tried not to vomit as the inertia caused a wave of nausea to overcome her.  She had originally felt safe cuddled against the massive hull of the Tiberius, but now she was free falling in space as the pod tipped end over end.  "Don't panic! Don't panic!" she said as her eyes tried desperately to fix on something so that she wouldn't be so dizzy. 

"We are now free from the Tiberius, initiating stabilizing thrusters" the computer said. 

Small flames shot from the cone shaped thrusters on all sides of the pod.

The pod stopped spinning and settled in an upright position.  Sarah's stomach settled too. 

The rough shaking calmed and the feeling of weightlessness became appearant as she realized she was o.k.

The stars were beautiful, absolutely beautiful.  So many little jewels sparkling in a sea of ink.  Her breath was taken away not because her nervousness, but because of the shear magnitude of stars, the planet below and streaming through space alone with a window in front of her. 

"Systems normal, power output 85%" the computer said coldly. 

Sarah lifted her hand up carefully to the control panel and hit a few buttons on the touch pad. 

"O.K.  here we go." she said.

"We are ready for launch," Grant said as she sat at the Aurora's Ops and Engineering station. She had personally loaded the software from the control tower to the Aurora and launched the beacon probes to account for the decrease in processing power. It was a rushed fix, but it provided her with all of the information that she needed to perform her duties."All space traffic control has been routed to my console."

"Good job," Aeric said from the command chair as he glanced down to his console. His screen was filled with trajectory and altitude data that came from the dozens of escape pods and shuttles as they exited the Tiberius. "I'm tapped into the Tiberius' control systems and she is in a stable orbit that will allow for a safe detonation."

Aeric's mind still strained to process the levels of incoming data, but he just needed to hold out a few minutes longer. It was only through the Aurora's neural interface that he was able to accomplish his task from the ship. The normal strength of his abilities had long since been hampered by the virus even if he wasn't outwardly displaying symptoms. Aeric glanced ahead of him and could only watch as Rory prepped the flight systems from the helm. He could only be amazed by her grace. It wasn't something that they programmed into her and she had long ago surpassed the limits of the programming that they did create.

"Sir," Rory said as she made a half twist in her chair to look at Aeric. "We are ready to make our egress. I recommend we move to a safe distance from the Tiberius and then continue to route flight patterns. I think we should also make a visual inspection of the external structure of the ship to make sure that all escape pods have cleared the detonation area."

"I agree," Aria said as she worked from the science console. She was still tired from helping her mother, but everyone were making the sacrifices that they needed to for the good of the many. "That will give me the time to run a detailed biological scan to make sure that the Tiberius is cleared before she goes down."

"Take us out," Aeric said to Rory who nodded and brought the drives online. They would have to be careful with the maneuvers due to all of the additional passengers, but they were well within the life support specs of the craft. Rory had volunteered Dennis to play the role of chief security aboard the craft and to keep the passengers inline and away from secured areas.

"Aye sir," Rory said as she engaged the sub-light engines and brought ship forward. "We are exiting the Tiberius."
"I'm keeping a transporter lock on remaining command staff." Aria said as she looked out of the cockpit window. She was amazed at the view as the other shuttles and escape pods as they departed the wounded ship. "Exiting of Tiberius is proceeding in an orderly fashion. Full evacuation is proceeding normally and should be finished shortly."

Rory fingers moved over the conn as she altered course and moved the ship slowly over the saucer section of the ship. Even wounded as she was, Aeric still marveled at the lines and construction of the ship. She was a great wounded bird that floated elegantly against the crimson backdrop that was Vulcan. The blue glow of her great down swept nacelles sputtered in and out of activity as more and more escape pods departed the ship.

As a testament to her talents, Rory brought the Aurora to rest above the overhead windows of the bridge and engaged the maneuvering thrusters to tilt the nose of the ship.  With the maneuver complete, Rory looked ahead and was greeting with an overhead view of various crew members finalizing preparations aboard the Tiberius.

After stepping off of the turbolift on deck five, Stass and Dunn parted ways.  "Good luck, Lieutenant," Dunn said as he turned to leave.  "I've got a few things to collect, then its off to the lifeboats.  I guess I'll see you at the rendezvous."  Dunn jogged off to the left, following the deserted, curving corridor towards his quarters. 

From a pouch on her belt, Stass' tricorder gave a weak, warbling beep.  The lieutenant opened the device to see a faint message flashing on the rapidly darkening screen-  battery low.  The beep faded, and the screen died.  Heh, she thought grimly.  Just like the ship.

She placed the lifeless device back in her belt,then turned to make her way to her own quarters, trotting off in the opposite direction at a brisk pace.   As she ran past the sealed doorway to Five Forward, the Lieutenant felt overcome by a sense of melancholy.  Despite her earlier words of encouragement to ensign Dunn, she doubted that she would ever step foot in the lounge again.  Barring some last minute miracle, the Tiberius would soon be transformed into a rapidly expanding cloud of vaporized metal composites. 

Beneath her feet, she could feel the vibrations from a series of faint, rhythmic thumps, followed by an evenly spaced series of distant, muffled explosions.  The vibrations were achingly familiar, and the explosions were something she had heard only once before and had hoped never to hear again-- the sound of lifepods launching from a doomed starship.  Her heart racing with the fear of being left behind, Stass quickened her pace.

As she drew near her quarters, a quizzical expression settled on the Lieutenants' face; she slowed her pace, eventually coming to a stop.  From somewhere, she could hear a faint, plaintive cry; a piteous keening that seemed to be coming from somewhere nearby.  Zeroing in on the source of the crying, Lt. Stass approached a sealed doorway. 

"Wake up Daddy, we have to leave!" came a child's cry from behind the door.

I thought we had cleared this deck, Stass thought.  She stepped to the access panel to the right of the door, and quickly keyed in her security override code.  Like a lumbering, heavily sedated beast of burden, the door groaned partially open, then ground to a halt.  Stass peeked through the  18-inch wide gap revealed by jammed door, and say a young towheaded girl tugging at the arm of a man lying unconscious on the floor.  "My name is Lieutenant Stass," she said to the child.  "What's your name, honey?"

The girl turned to regard Stass, tears streaking her cherubic face.  "Becka," she said  "Please help me, my Daddy's real sick."  From the hallway behind her, Stass heard the incongruously calm voice of the ship's computer give an automated announcement- "Life boats 100 through 76 have safely cleared the ship.  One minute, twenty-five seconds until launch of lifeboats 75 through 51."

Time's running out, Stass thought frantically as she wedged herself into the gap in the doorway.   Adrenaline hummed in her blood as she planted her hands firmly on the edge of the door.  With a grunt of effort, her muscles straining, the Lieutenant slowly forced the door back into the wall recess.  After pausing a moment to catch her breath, Stass rushed into the room and kneeled at the prone man's side, grabbing his wrist.

The little girl joined Stass at her father's side.  "Daddy was sleeping for a long time, but he woke up when the voice in the walls said we had to leave.  Daddy said we were goin' for a ride in the scape-pods, but he fell asleep again before we could go.  Can you wake him up?"

Stass frowned as she held the man's clammy wrist in her hand, desperately searching for signs of life.  After what seemed an eternity, she was rewarded with a weak, barely perceptible pulse.

Seconds later, Stass heard the faint, telltale explosions of multiple escape-pod launches; she could feel the resulting vibrations transmitted through the ship's hull.  "Your Daddy is very sick, but I know some people who can help him," she said.  Pulling the unconscious man up into a sitting position, Stass draped his upper body over her shoulders.  She slowly stood, her legs quivering under the weight of the man. 

The disembodied voice of the computer rang out once again, singing the song of the Tiberius' impending death. "Lifeboats 75 through 51 have safely cleared the ship.  Two minutes until launch of lifeboats 50 through 26." 

Stass struggled to maintain a calm expression.  In less than two minutes, only a quarter of the escape-pods will be left.  We have to get to deck-one! she thought.  Forcing a reassuring smile, the Lieutenant glanced down at the little girl.  "Come on, Becka, it's time to go," she said, hoping that the fear she felt didn't make it to her voice. 

Trying not to think of the time steadily slipping through her fingers, Stass headed out into the hallway at an unsteady trot.  Becka followed behind, a fuzzy, stuffed shark clutched tightly to her chest.

The pair were stopped by a voice calling out from behind them.  "Lietenant Stass!"

Stass turned to see the tall, scar-faced Lieutenant she had flirted with days ago in Five-Forward.  Strapped to the muscular Lieutenants' back was a gleaming, sickle-shaped bladed weapon-- a Klingon Bat'leth.  "Lt. K'Tan," she said.  "I didn't expect to find you here."

As he neared Stass and the little girl, K'Tan affectionately tapped the one-and-a-half meter long blade.  "I couldn't leave this behind," he said.  I've had this Bat'leth since I reached adulthood, and I intend to keep it until the day I die."

"If we don't get to the lifeboats right now, that day might come sooner than you'd think," Stass replied.  "Can you give me a hand?"

"Certainly," K'Tan said, as he effortlessly draped the unconscious man over one shoulder. 

Stass bent to scoop up the little girl, who stared unabashedly at the scar on K'tan's face.  "Does that hurt?" Becka asked.

"Not anymore," K'Tan replied with a grin. 

As the seconds slipped away, they sprinted towards the turbolift.

The dim backup bridge lighting was making it difficult for Lieutenant Zremm to see.  He was seated at the science console as Commander Sevryll stood nearby.

"Backup systems are 75% functional, commander.  We are still having some trouble with inertial dampening, artificial gravity, communications, and various sub systems.  Backup communications are working for now.  The orbit has decayed slightly but we still have some time left.  According to internal sensors the majority of the crew have evacuated now.  In fact, the Aurora has just departed as well.  Chief Engineer K'arath is still in engineering trying to finalize preparations and as he is fond of saying, 'holding her together with his teeth.'  I have coordinated with engineering to shut down all non-essential systems of course and the computer core was transferred over to the Aurora before she left."  Zremm said with a touch of pride in his voice.

"Excellent work, lieutenant.  I did want to mention I appreciate your stepping up during my illness.  It was most fortunate that Tiberius had such a capable assistant CSO aboard during this crisis."  Sevryll said as she leaned on the bridge console.  She still was far from well but was trying hard to hide it from Zremm.

"I was happy to help out, commander.  I'm just glad I was here and so far not affected by this terrible disease.  Are you feeling better?"  Zremm asked.  He knew Sevryll well enough to realize she was not at her normal level of health and performance.

"I'm well enough.  Now, I want you to get to a shuttle or escape pod.  I'll handle things on the bridge."  Sevryll said. 

"Are you certain commander?  We still have some time and if it's not out of line, you still don't look well."  Zremm said as he stood up next to his vulcan friend.

"I'll be fine Zremm.  Now go make sure Ms. Barton has made it off Tiberius.  And you too Zremm.  That's an order, lieutenant."  Sevryll said as she gave a reassuring nod to the andorian.

"Aye sir.  See you on the station commander."  Zremm said as he left the bridge.

"See you soon as well, my friend."  Sevryll said quietly to no one after Zremm had exited the darkened bridge.   

For the first time since the Tiberius was still in dry dock prior to her launch, K'arath stood alone in Main Engineering. He had sent his remaining....surviving....staff to their lifeboats. He stood as a silent witness as station after station flickered in their electronic death throes and he was helpless to stop it. In a few moments, the command will be given to destroy the ship. He would wait until the end before being transported to the Aurora.
He reached into his tunic and pulled out his Daqtagh, his ceremonial Klingon dagger. He depressed the trigger and the two side blades sprang out. He gripped the blade in his left hand and pulled it across his palm. The cut was perfect and welled up with blood as he began to recite the Klingon prayer for the dead, committing his ship to Stovokor. He closed his fist tightly and allowed the drops of blood to land on the floor of his domain and he made his peace with the ship he had come to love.

Quinn walked down the empty corridors, it was eerily quiet, as most the crew had already departed. He knew there were still crewmembers on board making last minutes commands. He was on his way to the Bridge where he would meet up with Commander Sevryll and began the countdown.

As he walked down the hall he thought about the past year. Wow it's only been a little over a year since the mysterious disappearance of Captain Bell and his subsequence promotion to Captain. It all happened so quickly and unexpectedly. If you had asked him a year ago if he would be the Commanding Officer of a Federation Starship he would have laughed. It's not that he didn't want it, it's why he joined Starfleet but he figured he had a few more good years as a First Officer, but fate can be funny that way.

As he continued to walk down the corridor he thought of his crew. They were good crew, one of the best in Starfleet, but so much has happened to them in such a short amount of time. And now a third of them were dead and another third infected, who's fate were unknown including himself. What would happen now? Would they all go their separate ways? Was this the end of their family?

Quinn stopped at the turbolift but nothing happened. He pressed the panel again and waited. Still nothing happened as he heard the computer voice fade in and out. "Turbolift seven is currently experiences power flux....  " Quinn smiled and touched the side of the corridor softly. "It's okay girl, you did your best, I couldn't have asked for anything better" Quinn turned and headed toward a jefferies tube. He continued to talk to the ship "I'm sorry for what I have to do. We tried to come up with a better solution but this is the only way to ensure the safety of everyone. Thank you for all that you have done. You're one hell of ship and will be deeply missed" Quinn pulled the panel off the jefferies tube entrance and began to make his way towards the bridge.

Doctor Ryla Drett observed the skilled pilots as they deftly maneuvered her shuttlecraft out the bay doors and into the void beyond the Tiberius. The blue containment field dropped and the craft joined the plethora of similar vessels waiting at a safe distance. The makeshift ambulance was loaded for bare with patients; among them were Counselor Margon, Doctor Peterson, and Lieutenant Manrique. She glanced to them then back toward the viewport. Before her, stretched a small ocean of shuttlecraft and escape pods. They reflected the light of the planet below like the surface of a golden sea at sunset —the scene struck her as beautiful and at the same time heartbreaking. The fleet of ambulance craft came into formation and waited at a safe distance for The Aurora to lead the flotilla of escape pods to the abandoned space station.

There was a power surge on the bridge of Tiberius and acrid plumes of smoke had begun to gracefully ascend from the abandoned consoles surrounding the commander. The back-up lights cast an eerie red hue over Sevryll as she stared at the hazy image of her home world through the distortion on the malfunctioning viewscreen. If they were going to destroy Tiberius, they had to do it before it fell upon Vulcan like a death shroud.

She tapped her combadge, " Bridge to Captain Quinn."

"Quinn here!" came Nathan's reply.

"Sir, the majority of craft are safely away. There are only a fraction remaining."

Two terminals exploded behind her, raining sparks over the Commander. A small blaze ignited.

"It will all be over soon," she said to the ship. It was, of course, illogical to speak to an inanimate object, but it seemed somehow appropriate to the situation. The ship responded with a melancholy moan as the fire suppression system activated and the flames were extinguished, but not before adding to the smoke already hanging in the room. She coughed as she waited for Nathan to join her.

"Sir, we have the chief of engineering aboard," Rina said as she turned from the transporter console at her station. "I suggest that we move into position away from the Tiberius."


"Lieutenant James to the Tiberius." Aeric said from his command console. "Evacuation is at 97%. I recommend you begin the process. We're making sure that there are no transporter beams directed at the Tiberius, but I think we need to bring this to an end before someone gets the idea to break quarantine."

After finding a seat in the cramped lifeboat, K'Tan pulled the safety harness from the back of his seat down over his chest, securing it to the straps crossing his waist.  As he glanced around at the five other crewmen sharing the ride, the hatch leading back to the Tiberius rapidly slid closed, then sealed with a soft hiss.  Looking to the left, he watched Lt. Stass secure her own harness before doing the same for young Becka.  Still clutching her plush animal to her chest, the girl looked up at Stass and asked, "Are you sure my daddy will make it off the ship?"

"I'm positive," Stass replied.  "The medtechs are keeping a close eye on him and all of the other sick passengers.  They'll make sure that he gets to the space station safely."  The sealed compartment jerked rudely to the left, accompanied by the loud whirring and clanking of the machinery laboring to position it for launch.  "Now hold on."

Despite knowing what would come next, K'Tan was caught off guard by the lifeboat's sudden, furious leap from the hull of the Tiberius.  All of the passengers lurched violently to the right as the escape pod's velocity fought to overcome the effects of the inertial dampeners.  K'Tan imagined that this might be what it would feel like to ride in a runaway elevator as it plummeted towards the ground.  Gazing out of the lifeboat's lone viewport, K'Tan was amazed by the speed at which the gray bulk of the receding Tiberius appeared to shrink, until the gleaming ship was almost indistinguishable from the stars dotting the black vista.  As the dampening field finally  compensated for the lifeboat's speed, the falling sensation eased, and K'Tan bit back a sigh of relief. 

Next stop, Vuhansular Station, the Lieutenant thought to himself.

Joint post by Jen and Just X

Alone on the bridge, Sevryll nodded to no one in particular as she listened to the garbled voice of Lieutenant James. "Understood Aurora. If you are certain the crew is clear, begin your escort to the Vuhansular Station." Acrid smoke blanketed the bridge, causing her to cough. Once she managed to draw a breath, she continued, "And Mr. James... would you relay a message to my children... all three of them?"

"I'd love to commander," Aeric said as he glanced to a smiling Aria. She paused her activities to listen to her mother's voice. He couldn't help but see the joy in her face at those simple words of acceptance. "What would you like me to tell them?"

"Tell them... I will show them the Voroth Sea first, followed by Mount Seleya—then the Hall of Voices, the Hall of Ancient Thought, and The Temple of Logic. And Lieutenant? Tell them I am proud of them... and I will see them soon."

"Message recieved commander. I will relay it to them." Aeric said. Aria looked as if she was about to speak, but knew that there would be time for it later.  "Live long and prosper commander. Aurora out"

Aria had already given the rest of her family the injections, but she had yet to wake them because she wanted Sevryll to be there. She had heard her mother's request and wanted to honor it. "Father, I will head to sickbay. I think that the twins should be awake when mother gets to the station. It might also be educational for them to see the steps that dedicated officers take to protect the Federation."

"If you can get them to the cockpit, I will attempt to give them the best seat in the house." Rory said as she adjusted her heading to bring the Tiberius into better view.

Joint post by Jen and Startrekfanatic5

Quinn was almost to the bridge; as he pushed open the side panel he could smell the singed wiring and smoke in the air. Through the haze he could see Sevryll gazing at the viewscreen. He climbed out of the jefferies tube and stepped onto the deck.  As he approached his first officer, he called out to the ship, "Computer are there any lifesigns aboard this vessel?"  A chirp sounded in response, followed by, "two lifeforms are located on the bridge, Captain Quinn and Commander Sevryll.." He glanced to the vulcan officer , "Are you ready?" he asked.

Sevryll nodded and Nathan presented her with a half-hearted smile and returned the gesture. Reflected in his green eyes was grief; an emotion that she shared, no thanks to the virus that had assailed her tenuous emotional control.

It had to be a dream—an awful nightmare. A product of fever brought on by disease. The Tiberius had been her home for almost a year, and its people had become an extended family that soon would be separated and scattered like particles of dust carried away by the searing winds of Vulcan.

"Computer, this is Captain Nathaniel Jacob Quinn. Initiate Auto-Destruct, authorization Quinn five alpha seven...." Sevryll's eyes focused on his expression as he rattled off the code, yet her mind was on the vessel that carried her children to safety. The Aurora, also ferried several command officers and their families. All other crewmen had, either on their own power or with help from the medical staff, escaped in lifeboats or shuttlecraft. An escape pod would also be the Captain and First Officer's mode of escape.

To Nathan Quinn, the scene that played out before him was like so many ancient Old West films he had seen as a boy. His trusty stead had sustained a fatal injury ...and now he was left with the unpleasant task of putting his faithful friend down, to ease her suffering. That was what Tiberius was to Nathan—a trusted and loyal friend— a noble stead. He was thankful for the opportunity to command such a splendid vessel and was relieved that his horse had no eyes to avoid as he ended its short life. When silence from his number one followed his command code, Nathan glanced up at her. She looked distant— her mind was wandering again.

"Sevryll?" he called gently. Hearing her name spoken aloud, summoned her from her reverie.

"I'm sorry Captain," she said wistfully.

"Don't be. I'm finding this difficult as well."

She nodded. A diminutive, dismal, smile crossed her lips for an instant and was gone. "Computer, this is Commander Sevryll. Confirm Auto-Destruct sequence, authorization Sevryll..." What was the rest of the code?

"Sevryll..." The vulcan cast a quick glance at Nathan who wore a look of deep concern. She closed her eyes in an effort to visualize the remainder of the confidential code.

"Sevryll... thirty... no ...thirty three..."

"Please restate the command code," uttered the stale feminine voice of the computer. Silence followed as the vulcan dredged her mind for the code.

"Sevryll 33... Beta...Echo." A sequence of melodic chirps and chimes followed indicating her code was accepted.

Nathan relaxed slightly and followed up, "this is Captain Nathaniel Jacob Quinn. Destruct sequence Alpha-One. Ten minutes, audible countdown. Enable."

"Destruct sequence completed and engaged," replied the lackluster voice of the computer.

Warnings began sounding as the Captain and his first officer jogged towards the jefferies tubes. As she struggled to match Nathan's pace, only Sevryll's labored breaths accompanied the muffled pounding of their boots. They entered the tube and began their retreat.

"Warning, auto destruct in 7 minutes."

"Do you think you can make the climb to the next deck?" he asked with concern scribed on his face. Her response came as a quick nod.

Nathan paused to glance down at his First Officer; she was barely keeping up. And as she stepped to the next rung, her boot slipped causing her to slide down a few steps. "Sevryll!" he shouted, his voice echoing within the belly of Tiberius. She caught herself with one hand and turned her eyes upward. He slid down to grasp her hand, but she refused his offer—her countenance denoted fear but her stretch to the next rung declared she was determined to continue on her own.

"Warning, auto destruct in 5 minutes." Echoed the computer in the narrow tube. Nathan waited until Sevryll moved closer, before he continued. "We're almost there, Sevryll... " They came to the end of the ladder and the captain climbed into the junction and turned to help the vulcan into the horizontal crawlspace. "There's the entrance to the deck we're looking for." Still in a crouch, he shifted on his feet and pivoted towards the exit, then began to crawl toward the access. Sevryll paused briefly to push her hair out of her face and followed.

The captain stopped to key a sequence into the access pad, only to receive a dull beep for his trouble. He had expected this, Nathan smirked as he removed a tool from the kit he carried and proceeded to override the locking mechanism. Within a few seconds they were rewarded by a hiss as the door opened to the corridor beyond. The captain climbed out and turned to help his ailing friend out of the jefferies tube. Sevryll stood to her full height and began to jog behind Nathan. The pulse of the red lights seemed synchronized with the pounding she felt in her temples that only slowed when they reached the escape pod and she could stop for a second to catch her breath.

"Warning, auto destruct in 3 minutes." Nathan removed the hatch and motioned for Sevryll to enter the pod. It was cramped but contained two comfortable seats. The vulcan strapped herself in as Nathan paused to take one last look at his first ship, his loyal friend. As the seconds ticked away, Quinn couldn't believe that this was how his first command was going to end. That this would be the way his ship would die.

"Warning, auto destruct in 2 minutes." The captain entered the pod and pulled on the safety harness. He glanced to Sevryll and allowed a sad smile to cross his face then he turned his eyes to the controls. "Good bye old friend," he said as he activated the pod ejection.

They were pushed back in their seats violently as the pod launched from it's port. The U.S.S. Tiberius shrank in the small porthole as the expanse between the pod and the Akira class vessel increased. Nathan closed his eyes and moved his lips as he counted down under his breath. The vulcan read them as she turned her eyes once more to her captain. Four, three, two... a flash of light lit the interior of the pod, and washed over the two officers—casting, ghoulish shadows on their faces and receding just as quickly as it had appeared. Soon after, another burst lit the cockpit. Nathan forced himself to open his eyes and Sevryll watched the chaos reflected in them then turned to witness the last remaining fragments of their ship colliding, sparking and exploding in silence outside the pod. A piece of the hull rolled dangerously close to the porthole. The chard letters 'T - I - B - E - R - I - U - S' were clearly discernible as it tumbled past, then smashed into another section and exploded. Drawing a slow, haggard breath Nathan closed his eyes once. His first officer turned her own eyes towards the beauty of Vulcan. They had sacrificed their home to protect her homeworld. The irony was agonizing and at the same time... logical. In the silence that followed, they contemplated their uncertain future and mourned the untimely end of NCC 63642... The U.S.S. Tiberius.