Star Trek: Season 9

[Jen]

Joint Post by Jen and Just X

How did she know his wife...better yet, how did she remember her? The shock on his face was obvious.  Still staring at the Vulcan, Aeric allowed his conversation with Ryla to completely falter. "I'm sorry doctor, I lost my train of thought for a moment ... take whatever time you need."

The Trill's brows rose slightly at his reaction to her patient, "I'll... just take this into my office."

Sevryll rolled to her side to alleviate the discomfort she felt and closed her eyes, "Yes, I remember her. She was quite persistent with her questions and, at first, rather annoying. But she was kind enough to help me to my quarters, and after further conversation Oona invited me to her world." The Vulcan opened her eyes to see that Aeric was now standing near her, "she is a kind woman. I don't know anyone as generous."

"She is a very kind woman, as are her people."

"Your wife is also an unhappy woman," she replied. "While kindness was a rarity in my universe, sadness was not."

Aeric sat on a stool next to Sevryll, "I'm quite sure that I'm responsible for her unhappiness, but I'm glad that you both met someone to talk to. I was planning on visiting to welcome you to the ship, but I did not wish to disturb your recovery. Half Vulcan pregnancies can be complicated even without the wound you suffered. I am surprised to see how far along you are. Is that a result of the Cooperative or something else?"

"The predominant theory is that the rift is the culprit." She fell silent a moment, concentrating on her breathing until the pain had passed. "I am only six weeks along, yet the doctor assures me my children are fully developed...." She paused to study his strange expression.

Unlike the rapid pregnancy of the woman before him, his daughter's gestation was longer than the Vulcan average. While their isolation was difficult, it  also had allowed he and Sevryll to explore and accept their relationship and the complications that it would cause if revealed to her family. Helping to deliver Aria was one of the greatest joys of his life...just as losing her was one of the worst. The timeline shifted and in the blink of an eye, all of that he had was gone and he was in a new life where he had been married for almost half a decade. With an effort Aeric broke himself from the past. "I'm sorry, seeing you like this brings back I lot of memories for me. Have you decided on names?"

Sevryll ignored his question, "I've seen your thoughts." He straightened at her words. "Do not concern yourself. I have no intention of sharing them with Oona. You will tell her yourself, because you are an honest man."

Aeric offered a sad smile, "How does one go about doing that given the situation? I don't want to hurt her and the truth, in this case, would do just that. I thought that time and distance would give us perspective, but it hasn't. She deserves better than what I am."

"What you are is a protector." She winced as a pang gripped her, "The truth will hurt her, yes, but your half-truth is like a sea devoid of a shoreline— a knot of pain that your presence cannot unbind. I know what a lie can do if left to fester... learning the truth allowed me to move on."


Aeric nodded slowly, "I think that you're right, but we should hold this conversation until you are feeling better. I'll take your advice and speak with her, but I'm not sure that the truth is a liberating as most people believe. She does need to know the truth. She deserves that much."

[Meds]

A gentle breeze drifted over his face as his ships transporter beamed him in the corner of the restaurant. Now visible to everyone he pulled out a chair and sat down and nodded to the waiter. Looking down a his wrist he concentrated on a small scanner and watched a red bleep gently glow bigger and bigger. The complimentary glass of water was placed in front of him and as the waiter moved away the old man has appeared. Lifting the glass to his lips the cold liquid gently swept down and his eyes stayed locked on the mysterious old man.

[Feathers]

Galdar stopped just inside the door of his Starbase quarters and looked around the darkened room. A little illumination was provided by the two small windows on the far side of the living space but the gentle wash of grey they offereddid nothing to aid visual recognition. The system's sun was on the other side of the station, so distant starlight was all that was available here.

The wash of colour from the doorway was more use, sweeping dramatically into the room and highlighting a trapezoid area of carpeted flooring, excepting the pair of Ferengi shaped shadows that stretched off to both left and right from his feet.

"Lights." he muttered.

As the internal illumination brightened, it revealed a sparse room, empty of anything that might identify an occupant. Very few personal effects were on display and if there was any clothing in the room, it was all stored away. To the uninitiated, it would probably appear that these quarters were unoccupied.

Galdar remained in the doorway for a moment, staring absently in the direction of the replicator and the doorway to the sanitary facilities. He'd occupied this space for four months but it had never been home.

Now it never would be.

He stepped forward and allowed the door to close. With a slightly guilty start he realised that for the first time in ages, he was looking forward to his future.

His conversation with Commander Radrek still echoed in his mind and he accepted that there was more than a grain of truth in what the older Vulcan had said. Looked at 'logically' he had no reason to suppose that starship service as an Ensign would be any more interesting than station service in terms of general duties. Outside of that, however, given a starship's mandate for general exploration and the record of this particular ship and crew, there was the potential for things to be a lot more interesting.

He hoped.

Moving to the bed, Galdar sat for a moment, loosening then removing his tunic. Standing abruptly, he smiled hugely as he slowly and deliberately dropped the garment onto the floor; an action he hadn't taken since leaving his homeworld.

As he crossed to the replicator, fighting the urge to pick up his uniform and put it away, his smile became more rueful. He only hoped he'd be assigned a bunk with an officer who appreciated his normal, tidy mannerisms...and one who was prepared to match them.

[Meds]

JOINT POST BY JEN & HAWKEYEMEDS

Joseph watched out of the corner of his eye as Susan Caine folded his
Uniform that was brought from Four Sixteen's Infirmary.

"This is becoming a habit, and I dont mean you folding my clothes,
while I'm tucked up in bed."

Susan spun around and smiled at him,"cheeky....very cheeky... how are you feeling?" she asked in a soft tone.

Joseph sat up and felt his sides.

"Not bad, a bit weak and I have a terrible taste in my mouth. Have you been cooking again?"

A triangular shaped pillow hit him straight in the face and a burst of laughter
came from the doorway. Lieutenant Dunn was standing in the ICU entry, leaning against the bulkhead.

"Boss, I'm starting to think you're jinxed."

Susan chucked. As she lft the two men she whispered to Dunn, "Not long... he's putting on a brave face but the poison has taken its toll."

The freshly minted Lieutenant nodded in understanding  and headed it Joseph's bedside.

"Sir, it appears you were poisoned, Dr Drett has given me her findings," he said as he pulled up a stool and sat down.

He passed a PADD to Joseph, "There have been some unusual activities reported on the station. I'm heading up the investigation and i need to ask you a couple of questions if you are up to it."

Joseph smiled but looked stern as he read the brief with serious concentration."Go ahead Chris."

Dunn examined a second PADD, "Do you remember anything unusual?"

Jospeh put his Display Device down and glanced up at the young Lieutenant.

"Well, I entered the station promenade and went to buy provisions for my shore leave... headed to the shuttle bay, handed Ensign Galdar his transfer orders, entered a shuttle and waited for the pilot. No one came.  I got bored and decided to get up and see what was taking him so long. I felt a surge of pain in my stomach and that's all I remember."

Dunn tapped the information into his PADD. "I know its hard sir, but can you think back and was there anything unusual you remember occurring earlier that day?"


D'Callan looked down and concentrated, suddenly his eyes lit up slightly.

"Wait!.......wait... When i first boarded the station I saw a strange blur out of the corner of my eye. It looked like a man... an old man. Then when I was on the floor in the shuttle bay, just as I was loosing consciousness, I saw another blur... but he was younger, I saw his eyes...... Christopher. I saw my brother."

Dunn stopped taking notes and looked at Joseph, "Your brother?  But..."

Joseph put his hand on Dunn's arm, "Chris, Theran works for Section 31. If he is back it means something is askew. He was on a mission with...., well it doesn't matter who but if he has come back here, you need to find him."

"Sir, if Section 31 is here... We could have a really big mess on our hands.  Who do you think they're after? "

D'Callan pulled himself up, "Who knows?  He's a miserable bugger, probably full of secrets and riddles as usual. Chris, let all personnel know that if he contacts the ship they have my permission to let him aboard. I'm going to have to tell our enthusiastic XO what's going on...If I can get out of this comfy bed. It may get rough soon."

[iceman]

Dr. Peterson and Myella arrived on Ogus II and headed to their cabin in the woods. Myella did not care for camping so they compromised and rented a cottage for a couple of weeks. The cottage had the look of what one might find back in the 1800s on earth with the exception that this one had all the modern conveniences that they did not have back on earth in the 1800s.

The temperature was comfortable being in the mid 70's with a cool breeze blowing and the cottage had a view of a lake which was breathtaking. Some exotic birds were singing and a few rodents that looked like squirrels scurried by paying no attention to Casey or Myella as they forraged for food.

Myella opened the cabin door and she and Casey entered the cottage to find a fireplace going and the table set with a meal waiting for them to consume.

On the table was a note telling Myella and Casey to enjoy their meal and that a guide would be around in the morning to take them on a tour of the facilities and orientate them to the wildlife preserve that their cottage was a part of.

Casey pulled the chair out for his wife, who took her seat, followed by Casey and they began to enjoy a nice lunch of some type of meat stew which reminded them of venison. The lunch was consumed in no time and they unpacked and relaxed and watched the sunset fall behind some trees before they had dinner beside the fireplace and snuggled until the wee hours of the morning.

[Feathers]

He'd briefly contemplated carrying the bag over to the ship, but his stature combined with the bag's size meant that the decision to take advantage of his commission hadn't been hard. He tapped his chest.

"Galdar to Arabella"

"Go ahead, Ensign", came the immediate response.

"One bag to beam aboard, please."

"Standby"

There was a pause, presumably while the transporter chief scanned his quarters.

"Acknowledged." came the voice again, followed by a rising, ringing hum as the transporter beam took his bag and broke it down into its component atoms before his eyes.

When it had completely faded out, he found himself exhaling with some force. He always held his breath during transport but hadn't realised he was doing so now.

Reaching behind him, he picked up the last item in the room that didn't belong on the station. The com-badge that had sat beside his bed since he'd 'rescued it' from Nicholas Andrews table. Tossing it from hand to hand he thought back to that meeting.

Nick had rushed out to fly the mission leaving Galdar alone in his quarters with the badge in his hand. He'd actually felt guilty in taking it, a most un-Ferengi sensation and one that he wasn't wholly comfortable with. It was with the ninth rule of acquisition echoing in his mind that he'd pocketed it, 'Opportunity plus instinct equals profit', though what profit this act would bring him was anyones guess.

[Meds]

Watching the old man walk through the crowds Theran D'Callan followed him. The figure flickered everynow and again, it was obvious that his cloaking unit was breaking down. Some of the station crew looked at him a and moved away. Theran quickened his pace but the man vanished. Checking his tracking bracelet the red dot bounced from area to area, it was manic, the dot flashed and then grew bigger near the shuttle bays.

[wraith1701]

With a sigh, K'Tan pushed himself away from his desk terminal. His monitor powered down, taking with it a brightly colored schematic of EPS conduits.  He stood and stretched, working out the stiffness of his six hour study session.  Lt. Commander James was right, he thought.  So many new protocols and procedures to adapt to.   He grabbed a brown bag from his personal refrigerator as he headed to the door, his head still abuzz with power relay equations and flow diagrams. 

Except for the ever present hum of the Arabella herself, the hallway outside his quarters was quiet .  The pristine grays and earth tones of the corridor were warmly lit, but the soft panel lights did little to dispel the sense of loneliness that haunted the ship.  With the bulk of the crew away on shore leave, the Arabella felt like an abandoned house.

K'Tan shrugged off his melancholy as his thoughts drifted back to his new department. I knew the Arabella was cutting edge, but I had no idea that she was a testbed for so much new technology!  He grinned to himself.  So much new material to learn; I almost feel like I'm back in the Academy.

As he neared the turbolift, K'Tan's fingers trailed along the cool gray wall of the corridor; he imagined that he could almost feel the hum of power coursing through the hidden conduits. Such a marvelous ship, he thought. I look forward to getting to know you better, girl.

The turbolift doors shushed open at his approach; he stepped in and stated his destination.  "Sickbay."  A warbling beep acknowledged his command, and the doors whispered closed.

K'Tan was glad that his friend D'Callan was on the mend, and looked forward to seeing him.  And he had to admit; the chance of running into Ryla again wasn't an unpleasant prospect either.  As the car buzzed towards deck 5, the lights on the wall strobed in sync with its movement. K'Tan shifted impatiently, and the gentle clink of glass bottles came from the brown sack in his hand. 

[X]

Calm settled over Aeric and he lay resting in his bed. The lights were dimmed to the point of non-existence with illumination provided by the stars and the stations outside the portholes. His mind had replayed several conversations that he had of late and each had drawn him into an unmistakable conclusion. He had been selfish to himself and those around him in attempting to pick up the life that he was cast into, and he could not continue to drag those he cared for down that path.

Oona, Aeric projected into the void. We need to talk. 

[Feathers]

JOINT POST BY FEATHERS AND HAWKEYEMEDS, JEN AND INSTITCHES

Ryla pulled the divider around Sevryll's bio bed—it would be nice have a room devoted to deliveries one day. She regarded the Vulcan who was now propped up in preparation. She looked flushed; her cheeks touched with olive. The doctor moved to her side and gave her the last hypo of pain reliever allowed. Too much would negatively effect the infants' health. Ryla anticipated a difficult delivery, but she was prepared. The Trill had invited Ensign Spring "Mackie" Farmer to Sickbay, and the Fertillian was standing by to relax and calm Sevryll should things become dire.  She could sense the infants' impatience for their imminent birth and sent out a welcoming scent of lilac.

"Are you ready?" Ryla asked the woman as she tied back the Vulcan's long raven locks. Sevryll slowly nodded in response.

-- o --

The control room of shuttle bay 4 was deserted when Galdar entered which surprised him. It wasn't unusual for control to be empty, but protocol demanded it be locked down for the duration of any absence. From the state of the master control panel, it was clear that this instruction had been neglected.

Looking out over the bay, Galdar could see no signs of occupation there either. That surprised him even more. From what he knew of the repair schedule, quite a lot should have been going on down there with at least three crews in attendance having been rotated back from work aboard the Arabella.

Starting to worry now, Galdar tapped his com badge "Computer, locate Lieutenant Nicholas Andrews"

The computer paused before responding "Lieutenant Andrews is in shuttle bay 4 control room".

Almost by reflex, Galdar started to look round as if Nick was going to appear from the bulkhead unannounced.

"Problem?" asked a laconic voice.

Galdar pivoted on the spot and took in the sight of a strange man standing in the doorway. The Ensign thought he looked similar to Lieutenant Commander Joseph D'Callan but then unfamiliar hew-mons always looked similar to his Ferengi eyes.

"I...don't know. Who are you?"

The stranger, walked forward and looked around the room.

"You are friends with my brother. You can call me Sir. You seem uneasy Ensign?

Galdar looked him up and down.

"The bay is deserted in the middle of a shift which is...unusual."

"Sir.", he added, slightly hesitant at the lack of any visible sign of rank.

As he looked around again, Galdar reached into his pocket and pulled out the com-badge receiver he'd acquired from Andrews' quarters and absently tossed it from hand to hand. It was a habit he'd picked up since he started carrying the badge and signified, to him at least, his efforts to solve the mystery it represented. D'Callan watched, amused.

His expression changed to one of interest when, in mid flight, the badge chirped and spoke.

"Andrews to Andrews. Execute"

The Ensign stepped back in surprise and the badge fell to the floor, where it exploded with a puff of smoke and a small bang. As it was, it was hamless. Had it been attached to, say, a small explosive device of some sort...

As if taking this as a cue, the lights dimmed, red panels illuminated around the room and the familiar wail of the red alert klaxon sounded throughout the Starfleet areas of the starbase.

-- o --

From within the Arabella's Sickbay, a shuttering howl accompanied the even tone of Ryla's encouragement, "you're doing well, Sevryll." A longer, fiercer cry followed as the Vulcan pushed again. 

From the other side of the divider Mackie's concerned voice could be heard over the shouts of pain, "You exaggerated, Ryla. Deliveries aren't all pony rides in May sunshine...are they?" 

"Sorry about that," said Ryla with a rueful smile as she checked the read out of her tricorder.

-- o --

Voices clamoured over Four Sixteen's com system, fighting with one-another to report a series of explosions taking place in all of the major station access points. "Explosion in shuttle bay 1...Explosion in shuttle bay 2...Explosion in..." No-one seemed injured and no hull breaches were reported but an awful lot of shuttle bays and landing pads had just been taken out of commission.

The stranger looked out at the bay then back at the Ferengi. Nothing had exploded in shuttle bay 4.

"This is Theran D'Callan to Arabella", he barked, striking a concealed com-badge. "Secure the shuttle bays and close down all access from the station. We appear to have an incident taking place over here"

"Aye, Sir", came the somewhat startled voice of the watch officer.

In an echo of his actions a few days earlier, Galdar grabbed a hand phaser from the weapons locker and shambled through the bay doors to the catwalk. If all the other shuttle bays were being attacked, which is what appeared to be going on, there was a good chance something was about to occur here.

D'Callan was close on his heels, weapon already drawn. He wasn't close enough. The pressure door from the bay hissed shut with a snap then locked and sealed itself. Cursing Theran spun and headed back to the other control room entrance. There was more than one way onto a hanger deck.

Galdar glanced back at the sound of the doors, but didn't halt his descent to the flight deck. Something was definitely wrong.

He'd got as far as the first line of shuttles when he was blown to the deck by an explosion. Concussive pressure was not pleasant for a Ferengi due to their overly sensitive ears. The inevitable result was unconsciousness as Galdar discovered just before his head hit the floor a second later.

-- o --

Sickbay echoed with Sevryll's cries of pain--her shrill voice ringing in the staff's ears. Doctor Drett was careful to keep her voice calm, "Mackie, that's your cue..." The Fertillian emitted the sweet fragrance of Gespar blossoms in full bloom, blended with the aroma of rain-swept air. Sevryll whined quietly in between measured breaths. "Good...it's working," said Ryla as she passed her tricorder over the woman, "you're doing fine Sevryll...Push." The Vulcan clinched her jaw and groaned in pain as she bore down again.

-- o --

A whining disturbed Galdar as he swam his way back up to consciousness. His bed was particularly uncomfortable this morning, it felt almost like...deck plating. His eyes opened suddenly and he found himself an inch away from the warp nacelle of a type 8 shuttle. He liked ships but this was stupid.

As he sat up, the whine increased in pitch and his addled brain finally registered the noise as an unfamiliar class of engine spooling up. He worked his way unsteadily to his knees and, peering round the front of the craft he'd collapsed beside, saw the open door of the Tellarite shuttle...with Nicholas Andrews crouching in the doorway.

From the station door he could hear voices which snapped into sudden clarity as three individuals rounded the corner, unknown weapons visible in the hands of at least two of them. Nick straightened and waved them toward him, shouting.

Galdar stooped to retrieve his dropped phaser. With no idea what was going on, his options were limited. Considering that someone had just blown their way into a Starfleet shuttlebay on a Federation station, however, he felt he had a certain freedom of action.

Taking a bead on the leading individual, Galdar pressed the stud on his weapon and fired. A beam of orange energy lanced out, striking the first of the civilians full in the chest and pushing him back against the nearest ship before he fell to the floor. Stunned.

The others stopped, dropping to the deck, trying to work out who was shooting and why. Crabbing sideways on all fours, they disappeared behind the Tellarite ship in the search for cover.

It was a surprise to everyone in the bay when another whine sounded and a beam from the doorway took a second man in the shoulder, dropping him to the deck. Theran D'Callan stepped into view, weapon raised and fired again, missing this time. Galdar raised his weapon to take a shot but a beam of energy splashing off the nose of the ship he sheltered behind quickly changed his mind. Startled he saw Nick in the shuttle doorway readying his weapon for another shot.

Galdar ducked.

-- o --

There were no descriptions that could accurately illustrate the agony associated with childbirth.  The screams that often attended such events conveyed this pain better than words and perhaps more precisely than even telepathy could express. Yet Mackie's influence soothed her misery and connected her mind to anther's gentle effect. The thoughts she could now perceive did not come from the women standing nearby, but from beyond the walls of sickbay. It was a voice she had heard only once, and only hours before. Aeric James was singing a prayer for her. A Golic hymn that only she could hear.  Sevryll fell back against the raised portion of the biobed with a wail, her chest heaving with toil, the first baby was close to crowning.

-- o --

With a sudden wail, the space door alarms sounded, startling both Galdar and D'Callan. The remaining fugitive, an older man, took the opportunity the distraction offered and dived for the shuttle door, hitting the mechanism and closing it behind him as he did so. Two phaser beams splashed off it as it glided along the side of the shuttle and setted into its recessed housing but if either officer hoped for a ricochet into the shuttle, they were disappointed. With a roar of thrusters the ship lifted from the deck.

Galdar had to admit that the Tellarites built shuttles with a certain majestic quality, to Ferengi eyes at least, and he took a moment to admire the vessel as it began to make somewhat slow and stately progress toward the space doors. It looked like Nick Andrews had never flown a ship like this before.

Theran, running up behind Galdar, shouted above the noise of the shuttle engines. "We need to get out...NOW! Standard Tellarite shields won't mesh with the door field. They'll need to take it down to get into space."

Galdar tapped his com badge "Computer, lock out remote access to space door force field, shuttle bay 4, authorisation Galdar Blue Omega Seven"

"Lock out in place"

"Close space door, shuttle bay 4"

"Unable to comply, remote lock out in place"

The shuttle continued to move towards the door, starting to accelerate.

Galdar's mouth gaped in incomprehension. The shuttle was unarmed, with its weaponry stored in the secure storage locker. The field was locked in place to anyone not in the control room. Andrews must know the way was barred.

His mouth snapped shut as he remembered the open storage locker from a few days before and Andrews' almost simultaneous arrival in the control room. He dived for the deck as a pair of energy beams lanced out from the nose of the shuttle, intercepting the shield generators to either side of the bay doors.

The field failed under the energy onslaught and a sudden breeze rapidly became a gale.

-- o --

Aboard Arabella, Ryla Drett smiled as the first child drew breath and the voices of Mother and child cried out in harmony. Mackie noted that his sister was already missing her womb-mate and sought to join him as soon as possible."Now," said Ryla. Sevryll roared as the next child began her way into the light.

-- o --

"Theran D'Callan to Arabella. Emergency transport, NOW!" he roared into the thinning atmosphere.

Galdar felt the transporter beam take him as the sound of the venting atmosphere faded in his ears and the oxygen thinned in his lungs. This was going to be close. From the corner of his eye, he saw the bodies of the stunned civilians, also enveloped in the glow of a transporter initiation.

As the shuttle bay faded out around him, Galdar's last thought was that for a disarmed shuttle, this one had done an awful lot of damage.

-- o --

"It's a girl," said Ryla as she placed the baby in Sevryll's arms.

[X]

"James to operations," Aeric shouted in between pulling on his tunic and racing down the sparsely occupied corridor of Deck 3. "What the hell is going on up there?"

The muffled sounds of the acting XO's boots striking the carpeted path managed to generate a soft echo during his race to the turbolift. His dark hair was still a mess from the brief nap that he had allowed himself and the velocity at which he threw himself down the hall did nothing to help him in dressing.

"Ops here sir," replied the voice of Ensign Tobas, the current watch officer. "We recieved a priority contact from a Theran D'Callan to lock down the shuttle bays and engage an emergency transport."

Aeric growled as he entered the turbolift, "There is no Theran D'Callan serving aboard this vessel ensign and none in command on the station. Send two security teams to meet our guest and on your off duty hours, please review the proper protocols regarding the command structure of this ship. James out."

"Bridge." Aeric commanded. Had he been in a better mood, he might have waited to hear the ensign's reply, but the breach was unacceptable. Someone not in the chain of command had managed to not only give orders to his crew, but to have them followed. This was more than a security breach. It could very well be a deadly mistake.

Once the lift stopped and opened on the lightly staffed bridge, Aeric immediately turned his attention to the Bajorian Ensign Tobas. Aeric couldn't help but notice the sweat on a brow as crinkled as his nose. The ensign's frustration was obvious on his face.

"Sir, security has been dispatched." Tobas said in an unsure voice.

Aeric nodded. "Thank you ensign. You are now relieved of duty until a performance evaluation can be conducted. Please report to your quarters."

Shock danced over the ensign's face for a brief moment before being schooled behind an officer's bearing. "Aye sir."

Aeric nodded once then moved over to the operations station that the crestfallen young ensign vacated it. Aeric's fingers rapidly moved over the console to open a communications channel to the station. "This is Lieutenant Commander James to station security. An incident has been reported on the station and we would like to be brought up to speed."

[Meds]

JOINT POST BY JUST X & HAWKEYEMEDS


Jospeh sat up in bed and glanced at his security monitor, he still felt weak but he knew he would have to tell Aeric what he had just been told.

"D'Callan to Commander James"

Aeric barked back, "Which one?"

Joseph looked up and shook his head, he'd heard the sounds and knew that this was bound to be something his brother had done.

"Joseph Sir. I've just received notification that my brother Theran is here."

"I know Lt Commander he's been barking orders about locking down shuttle bays and who knows whatever. I want an explanation." Aeric turned to see a slightly out of breath Lt Dunn exiting the turbolift.

"Ah Sir, Lt commander D'callan sent me down to let you know that his brother would be............"

Simultaniously both Aeric and Joseph spoke. "YOU'RE TOO LATE!"

Dunn looked slightly shocked he'd had to take a re-route as several turbo lifts were still not working due to repairs. Aeric concentrated back to the conversation with Joseph. His tone calmer.

"Whats going on Joseph?"

"Sir. When i passed out on the station the last person I saw was Theran, my brother. Unfortunatley he works for section 31."

"Continue ...", Aeric rubbed his face and groaned. He was more than tired of the pseudo secret organization and the threat they were to the Federation's ideals. They were nothing more than thugs with an artificial sense of power and none of that was granted by the Federation that he served. It was becoming a tie in his head as to which was the great threat to the Federation, Section 31 or the Borg.

"If he is here it means there is trouble. I gave him access to come aboard the Arabella and then this happened."

Aeric headed towards sick bay when the transporter chief contacted him.

"Sir, Theran D'callan and a Ferenghi starfleet officer Geldar are now in transporter room one."

Aeric didn't hesitate. "I'm on my way. Security should be arriving shortly. Please keep an eye on our guests until then. If anyone else requests an emergency transport, keep them in the pattern buffer until we can get this mess sorted. James out."

Aeric looked to Dunn before proceeding back to the lift. "You have ops until the replacement arrives."

[Meds]

Joint Post by Just X, Feathers and Hawkeyemeds.

As the transporter beam whispered around Theran and Galdar, Theran's eyes stayed locked on the fading shuttle until it was replaced with the grey transporter room of the Arabella. He jumped down from the dais as soon as he was released, to be confronted by a pair of security guards. The guards spoke first.

"Commander james has instructed us keep you here until he arrives, sir."

Theran slapped the officer on the back.

"Do you know my brother is head of security etc etc?"

The security guards glanced at each other and the taller went to speak but was interrupted by Theran.

"He's a good old stick that younger brother of mine. We need a fully working shuttle craft. I'm guessing your tractor beams are still down and I'm hoping no-one's blown your shuttle bay apart."

The taller officer nodded but interjected.

"Sir, there is a shuttle available in the main bay and that part of the ship is fully operational. But i must insist that......."

Galdar chirped in.

"Its OK Ensign, I know the way"

Having studied the plans of the Arabella, not to mention his earlier duty shift aboard, Galdar felt he knew this place like the back of his hand. Of course, he took the wrong turn as soon as he got to a cross corridor but quickly corrected himself.

As they rounded the corner on the approach to the bay, Galdar spoke up. "For what it's worth, sir, I believe the Arabella shuttle bay WAS targeted in the attack. The device that blew up in my hand was...acquired...from Lieutenant Andrews quarters after a shift aboard this ship. I guess he intended to leave it aboard."

He fell silent for a minute.

"The explosive must still be in Jeffries tube 77...", he said quietly.

They moved on in silence until they entered the shuttle bay and headed to their craft. Theran tapped his com-badge.

"Theran D'callan to Joseph D'Callan."

Joseph answered.

"How come whenever we meet I end up in bed?"

"On your own brother?"

"Yes, I'm in sick bay again. As well as you know. What are you doing now. Have you seen Commander James?"

"I don't have time for protocol. Do you have a monitor near by, I'll send you all my info."

Theran stopped at a wall terminal and held his wrist against the blank Plexiglas. Suddenly information and details copied to the subframe and Theran sent them to Joseph's personal records.

In sick bay Joseph keyed in his security code and the information from Theran came zooming in. The first thing he saw was the name. Karum.

Tapping his com-badge he simply said.

"You've found our Father"

As Theran and Galdar turned the corner standing in front of them with his arms folded and two further guards behind him stood Commander Aeric James.

"Greeting gentlemen," Aeric said and added a false smile. He eyes held the anger that he felt as he motioned to the guards to draw their weapons. "You have ten seconds to explain why these men shouldn't escort you to the brig and it better be good."

The sight of the men away from the transporter room irritated the acting XO to no end. Perhaps the universal translators were malfunctioning when he issued orders to the chief. Was detaining two people that hard to accomplish? This was not the day he imagined having and the inability to follow protocols had been amazingly poor for the crew. The presence of a rogue agent from an illegal organization only added to his ire.

[Feathers]

Galdar looked from Theran D'Callan to the guards on either side of the man he presumed to be Lieutenant Commander James. Then he straightened and looked at James directly.

"Ensign Galdar, reporting as ordered. Sir!"

Only the slight quaver on the final sylable revealed just how nervous and confused he really was.

[Meds]

JOINT POST BY JUST X & HAWKEYEMEDS

"Stay where you are gentlemen, this shouldn't take too long to sort out." Aeric said in a cool voice, but almost ignoring the ensign's greeting as he looked directly at Theran. "Mr. D'Callan, would you care to explain what is going on?"

D'Callan looked past Aeric through the viewport window and watched the shuttle craft carrying the fugitives stall.

"Mr Aeric James. Son of Alrissa and, Oooo now that would be telling. I'd love to stand here and massage your ego while you fill in the gaps of command but I have work to do. Out there in that juddering shuttle are two fugitives. The first an old man who personally owes me an apology, the other one is one of  your own Starfleet cretins who thought it ideal to blow up the bays and maybe even your ship."

Aeric started to speak but was cut short.

"In fact if it wasn't for this ensign here who found the trigger device this vessel would be sitting here having a new paint job for another twelve weeks, so if you don't mind I do have work to do."

Aerics face took on a completely neutral tone. It was obvious that the man had read his personnel file, but most of it was public knowledge. He glanced out of the window to see the shuttles power cells go back on online.

"Pretty speech, are you done now?" Aeric mused. His voice had been honed to a dagger-like edge as he continued. "There is no place on this ship for you or any other member of 31. If we need your help it's more than likely because of a problem that 31 created."

Theran D'Callan discretely tapped several buttons on his wrist and smiled at James.

"Mate, my brother loves this cretinous organization as much as you do and for that i pity him. I don't have time for this. "

The red dot on his wrist grew bigger and Theran's cloaking device began to activate, he paused it for a moment.

"Say hi to your wife, this cloaking technology has been an asset to our Section."

He winked at James and then he was gone. The two guards looked around and Aeric walked to the viewport window, the shuttle craft had disappeared.

Aeric's brow rose as the man vanished. Inwardly, he felt nothing but amusement. The man actually thought he could use stolen technology against a technopath. He also mentioned Aeric's wife. Something that the man wouldn't remember if he had ever met her. Obviously, he had not read as much as he could have or he had seriously overplayed his hand. It was a technology that he once had in his own possession until the Romulas mission. Aeric growled under his breath. If there was a chance that Theran spoke the truth, he would have to let him finish his task. Aeric was sure that the technology and mention of it's source could have only come through one channel. David Locke.

Turning to the young Ferengi James crossed his arms. Galdar looked up and offered a weak smile. "Permission to come aboard sir"

"Granted." Aeric nodded to the ensign then turned his attention to the security detail. "Escort Mr. Galdar to my office. He and I will need to have a little talk after I get the ship in order."