Mission 15 - Be Wary Of Your Friends (JM with Starbase 386)

[Kersare]

OFF: This post was written by various COs in HF regarding the Battle of Altorus, involving the Elyshans and Federation. I wanted to post this to give everyone some background on what's been happening.

The Malinche arrived on Station Day 1 and it is because of the increasing hostilities from the Elyshans that the Taevon Summit was called.

ON:
<Briefing Room, Starbase 386, Station Day 2, 0800 Hours>

Two days had passed since the Battle of Altorus, and in that time, each of the involved Starfleet ships succeeded in limping back to Starbase 386 for repairs and an emergency debriefing.

From the moment the involved Commanding Officers entered the station's Briefing Room, it became clear that this was not going to be an ordinary meeting. Not only was there a great deal of tension amongst the gathered officers, there was also a great deal of talk that both of Horizon Fleet's well-reputed but rarely seen leaders would be overseeing things. If the rumors were true, then this would be the first time since the fleet was founded that the two were in the same place at the same time... a sign that the current events were far more serious than any that had come before.

"Why have they called *us* here?" Raemet asked Ocal. "You said this was going to be a meeting of the Fleet's commanding officers only."

Ocal looked around at the other COs in the room as she replied, "Commodore Iluvar seemed quite insistent that I bring Commander Vickers, Lieutenant Warrington, Lieutenant Skii, and yourself to the discussion, though he would not explain why. If I had to venture a guess, though, then it stands to reason that, perhaps, you are each in a great deal of trouble. Why else would you have been called to the proverbial principal's office with the rest of us?"

Raemet was speechless. He had never been a fan of getting disciplined, and was even less fond of getting reprimanded in front of the entire fleet.

A moment later, Lieutenant David Skii and Commander Joe Boston entered at the same time, having both been on the Tigris and were talking as they walked.

"Captain, I never did thank you for saving my life out there." David said. "Thank you." He said as he held out his hand.

"You're Welcome Cap.. I mean Lieutenant." Joe said with a smile shaking the man’s hand and then saw that they were not alone. "I thought we were going to be early."

"Sir...?" David did not finish his sentence, he looked at the faces and saw his crew, not containing his excitement he walked briskly to them. "Captain!" He exclaimed as he shook her hand quickly and then slapped Raemet on the shoulder. "Raemet, you're not dead yet!!"

Raemet winced at the rough welcome. "How observant. I suppose I should thank you both. Were it not for your assistance, and that of the others, those of us on the shuttle would most likely be dead."

Commodore Iluvar was standing near one of the viewports, gazing out at the Tethys. While not nearly as heavily damaged as some of the other vessels, she had taken her fair share of the beating as well. Despite his visual attention being on his own ship, he was simultaneously in a whispered conversation with a young lieutenant in services gold.

Lieutenant Warrington had arrived at the briefing room under escort from Commodore Iluvar, the man who had led the mission to retrieve the ambassador's shuttle. It was the first time that he and the commodore had met face-to-face. Jake had expected the man to be upset with him at the least, but it was the commodore who had suggested the two of them walk to the meeting together, without armed escort. This had initially surprised him, but as Jake stood talking with the man as others entered, it became more and more clear that Iluvar wasn't your run-of-the-mill flag officer.

Commander Cathcart sat quietly with his hand over his mouth as he ran through the damage report on the PADD he had been given before transporting over. <I>"Jesus,"</I> he thought, <I>"Lewis is going to have a tough couple of weeks."</I> His battered little vessel was not visible from the viewing port and the over-bearing Cardassian architecture was doing nothing for his nerves. He spied the Flag officers entering the room and looked around at the other officers, unsure whether he should be snapping to attention or not.

Commander Vickers entered the room. She noticed several Starfleet Flag Officers present. Likely the Admirals would reprimand her for not turning the Frontier back to Earth when she managed to rendezvous with the ship. She was not responsible for stealing a Federation Starship, but one of them could claim she was an accomplice. The truth was she would've taken the Frontier after the Ambassador if she had the opportunity. Likely it was these same people that sent the Ambassador on a botched mission of peace that could be easily undermined by Denestra Shival and her supporters. Likely there were people, even in the Federation, that felt that peace was impossible with the Elyshan Empire. Nonetheless, Sara recognized a Starfleet Admiralty lynch mob when she saw one. The only thing that concerned her was who they were going to hang for this.

A moment later, the nearby doors swished open, and an immediate hush fell over the crowd. The rumors were true... Admiral Olivia Tavez and Admiral Antoine Meyer, the highest ranking officers in Horizon Fleet, had come to preside over the debriefing. The question now was, what would they have to say?

Iluvar turned when the fleet admiralty entered the room. He said something briefly to Lt. Warrington and the two of them moved to take their seats. Once seated, Iluvar gazed around the room at the weary faces seated at the table. It had been a long haul and they weren't through it yet.

After walking in with the Admirals, Isabel, along with James who she hadn't seen since the Joint Mission the Malinche had had with the Sentinel, moved off to the side of the room. Technically they were here mostly as observers as they were not directly involved with the situation at hand. Of course, now that James had command of 386 he was much more involved in the consequences of what had happened. As two of the more experienced Commanding Officers in Horizon Fleet, they were also there to provide any input they had about what course to take. Isabel glanced around the room, noting the various Commanding Officers - she had heard about all of them but hadn't met any in person until now. The others in the room, who she assumed to be crew from the various ships, she didn't recognize.

Lange followed Captain Kersare into the briefing room that he’d so far had little occasion to use. Most station business in his so-far short tenure as commander of the base had been conducted in his office or at the situation table in Ops. The one thing this room did afford that his office didn’t was a clear view of Upper Pylon 1, where his ship was docked. Lange couldn’t help but steal a look at the Peacekeeper out the window he and Kersare had ended up in front of. Then he took a quick look around the room. A good number of the 8th Fleet’s best Captains were here, and from what he’d heard so far, this meeting wasn’t to tell them all they’d done a good job. Lange’s official interest in the meeting was, of course, strictly limited to how the events to be discussed would affect his new command, but he was undeniably curious about just what had happened while he’d been hunting Cardassian mercenaries.

Meanwhile, Jake sat still in his seat, waiting to hear why he had been summoned. The nervousness that he had pushed aside before finally began to bubble up. He had been so certain of his actions and his decision to surrender...but what would happen to him now?

Commander Celezar knew he was late before he even set foot in the conference room. Still, he hadn't been able to pull himself away from the repairs on the Tizona. After being so mutilated in the battle, she was almost space worthy again thanks to K'Palla's over-time efforts on the two day retreat from the Altorus system. Now, he just had to get through this meeting...which would be an accomplishment in and of itself, he realized as he walked in and saw all the Admiralty gathered around. He took a brief pause as he stepped through the door, and took in the situation. His prognosis: not good. He did, however, manage to keep that opinion to himself, and sat down next to Commander Boston. At this point, he couldn't see any outcome from this meeting that would be positive.

Olivia (PNPC) let her eyes move about the room, pausing at each person in attendance. Noting Bathar's late entrance, she frowned slightly more than she already had been. It was she who had called the meeting. Decisions had to be made. It hadn't initially been in her nature to take a hard stance with fellow Officers, especially when things...mostly...turned out alright, but over the years she'd learned that it was necessary at times. She decided to skip unnecessary pleasantries - no need to thank them for coming, it had not been a request. "For those who have not yet met me, I am Admiral Olivia Tavez. Admiral Meyer and I have already been briefed on the events that have taken place, so we won't waste our time on that. We have more pressing items to deal with."

"As it stands, some of you are lucky you haven't already been demoted," Meyer said with a scowl. While usually an easy-going man, the Admiral was angrier than he'd been in years. It wasn't specifically the officers in the room he was mad at, but the situation they now found themselves facing.

Turning to face Jacob, Olivia said, "Lieutenant JG Warrington, it is my understanding that you took it upon yourself to...remove...the Frontier from Utopia Planitia while it was being refitted. And, after that, Commander Vickers decided to take command." She looked over at Sara.

"Yes, ma'am," Jake replied solemnly, "I did." He was not defensive of his actions. Knowing what he had done, he had also made the decision to accept the consequences. Still, it was never fun to have an angry flag officer glaring at you, let alone two.

"If I may interject, Admiral," the elderly El-Aurian beckoned from her seat. "Before you reprimand Miss Vickers and Master Warrington for their actions, or even Master Raemet, I want to make sure it is perfectly understood that they were all acting under direct orders from me. I had a suspicion the Elyshans would attempt something during my mission, so I wanted to make absolutely certain that my people were in a position to respond if they did." She paused and took a moment to stare confidently at both Admirals and the other members of the fleet. "I accept full responsibility for their actions, and willingly accept whatever consequences may accompany them."

Olivia held up her hand, "I have not gotten to Mr. Raemet yet, Captain. That is a whole other matter. As far as Commander Vickers and Lieutenant JG Warrington, we have already come to a decision. The incident will be noted in their service records, but there will be no other reprimand. While we feel there were better options they could have pursued, especially since the Frontier was in the midst of a refit, we do recognize that they were able to bring you back safely."

Jake looked up in surprise. A simple note in their records was not what he had been expecting as consequence for his actions. At best, he was thinking reduction in rank...discharge...or worse. The fact that the ambassador was taking the fall did not surprise him, but it did make him feel guilty. He noticed Commodore Iluvar glance in his direction momentarily before focusing on the admiral again.

Meanwhile, Mordred continued to stare confidently ahead at the two admirals. She was pleased about their first decision, but judging by their tone, there was undoubtedly some bad news coming in one form or another.

Staring at his hands on the table in front of him, Celezar could also feel bad news coming. So far, he had been able to fly under the radar for his refusal to move into the Altorus system, but if he knew Starfleet, he knew that they tended not to forget those things. Still, the admiralty couldn't get too upset with him. After all, he had joined the fleet when he had been given a direct order. Still, it bothered him that they had responded to Ocal's distress call (in spite of the fact that she was sitting at the table with him now) and it bothered him more that these ships weren't on their way back out to patrol the border. Why were they wasting time at this meeting?

With a slightly alarmed expression on his face, Martin placed the PADD he had been flicking through on the table. He honestly felt like he had no place at such a table of esteemed commanders and flag officers when all his ship had done was hold back a couple of smaller craft (not very successfully, going by the damage report). His eyes wandered around the room, never meeting another soul's; they were all too caught up in their own parts in this little scenario to be thinking about making eye contact with anyone. He stopped when he reached Admiral Tavez. Martin had never been one for hunches but something about this officer oozed bad 'juju'.

“I have to admit, I’d have done the same thing if it had been me,” Meyer said, trying not to feel like the hangman at an execution. He paused for a moment and realized that he didn’t want it to appear that he was condoning the actions taken. “But that is beside the point. And if anyone outside this room learns I admitted it, I’ll find every single one of you the worst assignment you could possibly imagine, clear?”

Lange fought to kill the smile that was threatening to spread across his face. So the Admiral was still a Starship Captain at heart, after all… He’d have to keep that in mind for his future dealings with the man, of which there would be many, since he lived on the base and rarely left it for anything short of a Federation-wide emergency. Of course, it shouldn’t be a shock that the Admiral would admit to following his heart before the regulations, since his first command had been during the Dominion War, when regulations were bent, broken, or pushed aside entirely if that’s what it took to secure a victory (or at least less of a defeat) with your crew still alive.

“Good. Now, if we’re all on the same page,” Meyer continued, as if he hadn’t just threatened the entire room with nightmare assignments. “About the matter of Mister Raemet…”

Raemet immediately tensed up. Staring down at the table, he felt as though the eyes of every person in the room where upon him. Looking up, he was less than surprised to find out that they really were... all, except for Ambassador Ocal's, which were still trained upon the Admiralty at the end of the table.

In truth, Raemet was not surprised by everyone else's discomfort around him. He used to be Borg. He bared a striking resemblance to the Jem'Hadar, although Doctor Russell had always sworn that there were no substantial genetic similarities between them. Unfortunately, the facts rarely mattered to those around him, especially not at this table. Regardless of what they knew, they would always see in Raemet two of their greatest enemies, and no number of accomplishments or hopeless rescue operations could ever change that.

Iluvar felt the palpable tension in the room. Indeed, he was not happy with the former drone's actions...particularly his methods for breaking the Ambassador out of Elyshan prison. Even though Raemet's actions resulted in the Ambassador's safe return, Iluvar could tell that they had made a lasting impact on the elderly El-Aurian. It had taken him a lot of persuasion and even some threatening before he had learned the truth of what had occurred to the Ambassador and why the Frontier had initially not allowed him to speak with her. Still, he felt sympathy toward the Ambassador's shipmates. He knew what it was like to lose the people close to you...that you worked with every day. In reality, he probably would have taken many of the same actions. It was one of the reasons he had chosen to speak to Lt. JG Warrington in private before the meeting. He felt the young man needed a few good words of advice before this whole thing went down.

Celezar began to rap his fingers against the table rudely. It wasn't that he didn't feel that the disciplinary actions against these officers wasn't necessary, it was that he didn't understand why he and the other commanding officers were here to witness it. It was as if the admirals were looking for a crowd to increase the humility brought on to these officers. He stole a glance at the one called Raemet. He looked tense and uncomfortable in this situation, and Bathar couldn't blame him. He stole a moment to sympathize for the man, and then returned to brooding about having to sit through a disciplinary meeting.

“We’ve had to balance actions against results. Then there’s the fact that mister Raemet is not technically an officer in Starfleet, which makes the matter even more complicated.” Meyer cleared his throat. “Some members of the Admiralty have called for his head on a platter, but there are obviously some mitigating circumstances in these events. As such, by order of Admiral Tavez and myself, Mister Raemet is officially removed from Active Duty for a period not to exceed three months. After that time, you will be free to report back to Captain Ocal for duty.”

Raemet's head tilted curiously to the side. All things considered, he was almost certain he would be arrested and banned from ever serving on a Starfleet vessel. He couldn't believe the Admiralty in Horizon Fleet were being so reasonable with him, and at the same time, he couldn't help but wonder if something more was going on...

Then, a moment later, the door to the conference room hissed open and an officer with dark hair wearing a grey uniform tunic slipped in quietly. He quickly walked to where Meyer and Tavez were sitting and handed each a small PADD. Whispering, he commented, “You wanted to know the results of the Council debate, sir, ma’am. Everything’s right there.”

Lange noticed the Intelligence Officer enter and saw him hand what looked like a PADD to each of the admirals. He couldn’t hear their discussion, but he presumed the officer was Lt Commander McNeil. The man had often been an agent for Meyer throughout his career, and since the Tethys was in dock, it would make sense that he would at least check in with his former and possibly current handler. As the Intel officer stood straight and turned to leave he gave Lange a nod. It was indeed McNeil. McNeil also nodded in what seemed to be Iluvar’s direction, then left as quickly as he’d entered.

Clearing his throat again, Meyer set his PADD down on the table. “We’ve managed to dodge a bullet, for now. The Federation Council has decided not to issue a declaration of war against the Elyshan Empire without the Empire declaring it first. However, there has been a large increase in military traffic in and near the Empire, so Starfleet Command has been ordered to increase defensive patrols in the border sectors… immediately. All of your ships are included in this order, Captains, which means for the time being this matter is being formally swept under the rug.”

“Those ships that need extensive repairs will be given immediate priority at the shipyard. Those needing only minor repairs will be given the supplies needed to make them and will have to make the repairs en route to their assigned patrols.” Meyer looked at the PADD briefly before continuing. “Captain Ocal, since your ship is still in the middle of a refit, you will be temporarily assigned to help with tactical planning. I’m sure your extensive knowledge of the Elyshan Empire will be a great asset there. We are also, for defensive purposes, assigning a second garrison vessel here at Starbase 386. Captain Lange, the USS Ticonderoga will arrive within the next 24 hours. She’s fresh off a refit and was going to go back to active duty, but she’s yours now. Any questions?”

It had gone very well, Iluvar thought. So far, the hammer blows had been light. The problem was that next time...and there would be a next time... they might not be so lucky. He glanced toward Commander Celezar briefly before looking down the table at the admiralty. Next to him, he could sense Lt. Warrington shift slightly in his chair. The young man had gotten off lucky this time. Hopefully, he would be taking Iluvar's words to heart for the future.

“If there’s nothing else,” Meyer began and looked around the table before looking to Tavez. She shook her head, so he continued, “You are all dismissed. If you have any urgent matters within the next few hours you can bring them to Admiral Tavez or myself.” With that, he and Tavez stood and headed out the door and turned to the left, disappearing out of sight of those still in the conference room.

As the room was clearing out only a few officers remained. Joe Boston gathered around in the circle of officers that were standing around. "Well that went well." He said to the group.

"I agree sir." David Skii replied with a sigh. "They didn’t even say anything about me loosing the Midnight."

Lange watched the two admirals leave and most of the other officers file out. A few huddled near the door to discuss what had happened, and a couple more stayed in their seats. Lange himself stayed where he was at the window.

"There is two reasons only we got off light." Joe said looking as more people walked out of the room.

"Why is that sir?" David asked.

"Well for one trouble has been brewing between the Federation and the Elyshan Empire for some time now something like this was bound to happen. Plus they had an advantage with those shields, we figured out a way to get around their defenses. Second they also know that the Elyshans will not do anything to retaliate right now." Joe explained.

"How do you know that Captain?" David asked wondering how he got his information.

"It's simple Lieutenant, while they gave us a bloody nose we gave them a huge black eye." Joe said looking at each of them. "Would you attack someone who can now disable your shields with two torpedoes? Don't be surprised if your ship gets double the amount of tri-cobalt devices. I would bet good money that right now the Elyshans are working on how to defend against tri-cobalt devices."

"I would not discount anything, Master Boston," a soft voice beckoned from the nearby table. Ambassador Ocal was still at her seat, deep in thought. "Were I in charge of the Elyshan Guard, I would not take the defeat in the Altorus system so lightly. They know we are a peace-loving people... they know we will not strike first... and they know that we have discovered a weakness in their defenses. For the time being, our ability to exploit that weakness is limited to Starfleet's rather unimpressive stockpile of tri-cobalt devices... and they probably know that as well."

She turned slowly to face the gathered officers for the first time since the meeting started. "Given that more time will only increase our stockpile of weapons, I think it is quite safe to assume that they will not wait to retaliate. In spite of the losses, I have a very distinct feeling they will strike hard and they will strike fast... maybe not as a fleet, but at the very least, in a manner which will impede our ability to penetrate their defenses."

Mordred suddenly seemed to have an alarming epiphany. "We need to contact Starfleet Command and warn them... for all we know, the Elyshans may already have an operation underway..."

“If I may interject, Captain, I would suggest you talk to Admiral Tavez,” Lange said. “She’s going to be on the station for a bit longer and she’s got an office in Crossover Bridge 1. I, in the mean time, am going to scramble my fighters and runabouts for some extra patrols. Whatever the Elyshans may have planned, to pull it off they’re going to have to come right past this base. They may even stage an attack here to distract us from their true objective...”

Mordred sighed and looked out the viewport toward the stars. "Whatever that may be..."

OFF: This was a massive joint post with:
In character ranks listed. Out of character ranks in parentheses (Where applicable).
Those in bold are played by members of the Malinche and their Mali position is noted in parentheses.

Captain (RADM) Mordred Ocal
Commanding Officer
USS Frontier

and

Lt Commander (CDR) Sara Vickers
Executive Officer
USS Frontier

and

Lieutenant, JG (LT) Jacob Warrington
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Frontier
(played by Lieutenant Schulz of Malinche)

and

Lieutenant, JG David Skii
Chief Operations Officer
USS Frontier

and

Civilian Raemet
Astrometrics Officer
USS Frontier

and

Commodore (RADM) Iluvar
Commanding Officer
USS Tethys
(played by Lieutenant Schulz of Malinche)

and

Lt Commander Chris McNeil
Mission Advisor
USS Tethys
(played by Lieutenant Commander Peters of Malinche)

and

Captain James Lange
Commanding Officer
Starbase 386
(played by Lieutenant Commander Peters of Malinche)

and

Commander (CPT) Joseph Boston
Commanding Officer
USS Tigris

and

Commander (CPT) Martin Cathcart
Commanding Officer
USS Carthage

and

Commander (N/A) Bathar Celezar
Commanding Officer
USS Tizona

and

Admiral Olivia Tavez (PNPC)
8th Fleet Chief of Staff
(played by Captain Kersare of Malinche)

and

Admiral Antoine Meyer (PNPC)
8th Fleet Deputy Chief of Staff
(played by Lieutenant Commander Peters of Malinche)

and

[Masterson]

ON: [[Promenade, Starbase 386, Station Day 01, 1304]]

Aaron made his way through the hustle and bustle of the afternoon crowd on the Promenade of Starbase 386. Although he tried not to bump anyone with his travel bag as he slipped past, he wasn’t always successful. “Excuse me,” he said to a woman as he passed, having accidentally brushed against her back with the edge of his bag. The woman ignored him and didn’t even seem to notice that he had run into her. Then again, she was probably too busy trying to find her own way around the Promenade and was too busy to notice.

It had only been a day since Aaron had arrived at Starbase 386 aboard the Armstrong, his previous assignment. When he had first found out about his transfer orders, he wasn’t quite sure if he wanted to leave the Armstrong so soon. He knew the crew, knew the ship, and was just starting to get comfortable. Although the Malinche sounded like a promising assignment, his orders had not been specific when it came to the position he would be taking once he came aboard. Aaron assumed, naturally, that it would have to be something in the Security/Tactical department and he figured that it was probably an assistant position of some type, given his experience aboard the Armstrong.

The orders Aaron had received also hadn’t been very specific about timing, other than that he was to report immediately to Captain Kersare once the Malinche had docked. Considering this was his first assignment that had not been to the Armstrong, Aaron wondered if all transfers were this vague. One could always request a transfer to a specific ship, not that those were always granted, but one could also simply be transferred, either by Starfleet Command or by the request of a commanding officer.

Finally, Aaron cleared the crowd to find that he was standing right in front of the corridor that would take him to the docking ring. It was time to find out what the Malinche had in store for him. He stepped confidently off the Promenade and toward his new assignment.

[[Main Bridge, USS Malinche]]

The lift began to slow and Aaron knew that he must be reaching the bridge. The Malinche was definitely bigger than the Armstrong, that was for sure. It would take some getting used to, but Aaron was confident that he would become accustomed to it after a few days. So far, everyone he had passed in the corridors had smiled at him or said hello, giving the sense that he’d be serving with friendly people. As the lift came to a halt and the door hissed open, Aaron got his first look at the Malinche’s bridge.

Aaron emerged from the lift and stepped to one side to allow an officer not much older than he into the lift he had just vacated. From the looks of things, the crew was wrapping up the last of the standard, post-docking procedures. He surveyed the room and, seeing no signs of the captain, he started across the bridge toward the ready room doors.

[[Ready Room]]

Isabel had just finished going through the transfer orders. She was pleased to see that they would be getting a Chief Medical Officer and a Chief Security/Tactical Officer. After their last mission, she had put in a request with StarFleet command to have the positions filled and it appeared the admiralty had granted the requests. Both officers would likely be arriving soon.

Outside the door, Aaron pressed the doorchime and waited. He was very much looking forward to meeting his new commanding officer and finding out the details about his transfer orders. Captain Kersare, it seemed, held the key to his assignment aboard the Malinche and he was very interested in what that assignment was.

Hearing the doorchime, Isabel looked up, "Enter."

The doors parted, allowing Aaron to enter the captain's ready room. He stepped across the threshold and stood in front of the captain's desk. "Ensign Aaron Masterson, reporting as ordered, ma'am," he said.

"Ah, Ensign Masterson, I was expecting you. Please, have a seat," Isabel smiled. He seemed rather young, but from what she'd read of his service record, he was also quite good.

"Thank you, ma'am," Aaron said, taking a seat in the indicated chair. He placed his travel bag across his lap and rested his arms on top of it. In one hand, he still held the PADD with the simple, mystifying transfer orders that he hoped would soon be clarified.

"Have you been waiting for us long?" Though she'd seen the transfer orders, they hadn't specified when Aaron had left his previous assignment to rendezvous with the Malinche.

"No, ma'am," Aaron replied, "The Armstrong dropped me off yesterday, so I had plenty of time. I guess that's better than having to jump from one ship to the next."

Isabel nodded, "I suppose so. How specific was StarFleet in their orders for you?" Leaning forward a bit she said, "I've found that half the time they're awfully cryptic...whether the orders are addressed to crewmembers or commanding officers."

"To be honest, ma'am...they didn't say much," Aaron admitted, "All they told me was that I was to report to you as soon as the Malinche docked so...here I am."

"I'm a bit surprised they told you so little. I would've expected them to say more, but no matter. You have been assigned to the Malinche as Chief Security/Tactical Officer, Mr. Masterson," Isabel informed him, waiting to see his response.

Aaron blinked. Perhaps he hadn't heard the captain correctly, but he could have sworn that she had just said "Chief Security/Tactical Officer". Admittedly, he had done well aboard the Armstrong, but department head seemed like a bit of a jump for only his second year out of the Academy. "I'm sorry, ma'am," Aaron said awkwardly, "Did you say Chief Security/Tactical Officer?"

Chuckling a little, Isabel replied, "Yes, Chief Security/Tactical Officer. I've had a request in for one since a couple missions ago - since then we've just had Acting Chiefs. Your service record is rather impressive, especially considering you've not been out of Academy very long."

"Thank you, ma'am," Aaron said, slightly flustered at the compliment, "To be honest though, I just had a good team. I guess I just wasn't expecting to get my own department so soon..." He trailed off, part of him wondering if Starfleet had made some sort of mistake in the transfer.

"Behind a good team is a good leader, generally speaking," she responded as she settled back into her chair. "StarFleet wouldn't have made the transfer if they didn't feel you were ready...and I imagine your former CO and Department Head spoke on your behalf as well. You should do fine."

"Thank you, ma'am," Aaron repeated, "I appreciate your confidence in me." The idea of having his own department was going to take a while to get used to, both for himself and for those who would be under him. At least he had the captain's support, which was a good start. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that being Chief Security/Tactical Officer wouldn't be a whole lot different than being assistant and it would provide an interesting challenge, something that Aaron was always game for.

Isabel smiled, "You're quite welcome. Do you have any questions or concerns I could address for you?"

Aaron thought for a moment. Apart from what he had been able to read of the Malinche and her crew during his time on the station, he didn't know all that much about his new assignment. However, he was usually pretty good at picking things up on the fly and it would probably be a good idea for him to meet with the current personnel in his department to find out how things had been running up to that point. Until he had a better picture of how things were, there wasn't really anything else he needed from his new commanding officer.

"I think I've got enough to start with, ma'am," Aaron replied, "If I may ask, who was the most recent Acting Chief?"

"Lieutenant JG Anthony Stone (NPC) has been the Acting Chief thus far. I'm afraid we don't have an Assistant Chief, either, so I might suggest moving him to that position at least for the time being," she said. Really Isabel had no problem leaving it up to him, but thought it wouldn't hurt to give a suggestion.

Lieutenant Stone, it seemed, was the person to start with. He would know the procedures and general feel of the department the best. Considering that the captain had felt him a good candidate for acting chief, Aaron figured it wouldn't be a bad idea to consider him to be his assistant. Of course, he would have to get to know Lt. Stone as well as the other possible candidates first. Less than an hour aboard and already a laundry list of things to keep himself busy with. Still, from what he could tell so far, his assignment to the Malinche was shaping up to be quite the opportunity for adventure.

"I guess I'll be speaking to him next, then," Aaron said with a smile. Now that the pieces were beginning to fall into place, he was feeling more and more confident about this assignment, much more so than he had that morning, when all he had to go on was the one line from Starfleet Command.

Isabel nodded. "Good idea. I don't want to hold you up from getting settled in," she continued, noting his bag, "but you are missing one other important item, I do believe...."

"Oh," was all Aaron could say. He thought they had covered all the bases. His assigned quarters had been given to him, the captain had clarified the transfer orders and given him a good starting place to get filled in. What else could there be?

Opening the left hand drawer, Isabel pulled out a small box, opening it briefly to ensure what was inside, and then snapped it shut before setting it on her desk near Aaron. "This."

Just when Aaron thought nothing else could surprise him in his first meeting with the captain, it did. Thankfully, all the surprises so far had been good ones, but that didn't keep Aaron's face from showing the surprise he felt. Somebody must have been speaking on his behalf to Starfleet in order for him to have gotten both the Chief Security/Tactical position and a promotion all in the same day. Slowly, Aaron leaned across his travel bag and reached for the small box. He lifted it off the desk and pulled it back toward himself until he was looking down at it. Inside, he found a single, hollow pip which made him a Lieutenant Junior Grade.

"I don't know what to say, ma'am," he breathed, closing the lid of the box and looking over at Kersare.

Simply smiling, Isabel replied, "Congratulations, Lieutenant. And good luck."

OFF

A JP by

Captain Isabel Kersare
Commanding Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A

and

[Starbase 386 Crew]

<<Shipyard Office Complex, Day 2, 1830>>

Stepping out of her office, Mikaela (PNPC) headed toward the Transporter area. Nobody was currently manning it, but she could set it on a delay and transport herself, or get one of the Transporter operators from 386 to do it. Mikaela accessed the Transporter controls and started inputting the proper information.

"Excuse me," a voice said from behind her, "Are you Lieutenant Breland?"

Mikaela, a bit surprised as she hadn't heard anyone else with her, turned towards the voice, "Yes, and you are?"

A crewman in services gold stood in the doorway, sizing up the situation. He seemed rather comfortable there and was smiling somewhat in greeting. "Crewman Jacobs (NPC), ma'am," the man replied, "Lieutenant Commander Halloway (NPC) was hoping to meet you himself, but we just got a load of starships in for repair. Most of it looks like battle damage, pretty heavy in some places."

"So I noticed....I have seven ships on the list for repairs," she replied. "Are you one of the Shipyard engineers, Crewman?"

"No, ma'am," Jacobs answered, "Operations here on the complex, ma'am."

Mikaela nodded, "What can I do for you?"

"Actually, I'm just the messenger, ma'am," Jacobs replied, "Lieutenant Commander Halloway asked me to tell you that he'd like to speak to you at your earliest convenience."

"Alright, any ideas where I can find him?" Technically she could just ask the computer, but since the Crewman was there and had been asked to find her, Mikaela felt it better to ask him.

"The Tethys, ma'am," Jacobs answered, already moving to the transporter controls, "Would you like me to beam you directly there?"

"Please do." Mikaela moved over to the Transporter pad, "Go ahead, Crewman."

"Energizing," Jacobs announced as he manipulated the transport sliders. He stood and watched the woman dematerialize from the pad, whisked away to the USS Tethys.

<USS Tethys, Main Engineering>

As she re-materialized aboard the Tethys, Mikaela glanced around, looking for the Lieutenant Commander. It appeared the ship was going through a refit, based on what she was seeing. No wonder he was busy.

"Looks good," a voice said from somewhere above on the second level of the bay, "Just make sure that you don't interfere with the MVAM command system. I know it isn't popular, but there is a time and place for everything."

Hearing the voice, Mikaela ascertained that it must be the person in charge. She moved to the upper level of Engineering, towards the voice. Seeing a small group of Engineers, Mikaela approached, but stayed out of the way, "Lieutenant Commander Halloway?"

"Keep at it," Rick told the crewman before looking up at the new arrival with a smile, "Ahh...Lieutenant Breland, I presume? I would have met you in person but, as you can see, we suddenly got real busy around here."

Mikaela nodded, "So the Crewman told me before transporting me over. It does seem you have your hands full here..."

Rick shrugged as he looked around the engine room. "She's not in as bad shape as some of the other ones we've received today," he said, "With all the extra work on such a short time schedule, they asked me to bring my team over to help out. When I saw how many modifications Rear Admiral Iluvar and his crew have made to this ship, I figured it best if I start here." He gave Breland a sideways glance, knowing that she had just arrived at the station with the rest of the Peacekeeper crew, and wondering how she was settling in.

"Probably for the best," she replied. "How long does it have, and what still needs done? Or would it be quicker to ask what doesn't need done?" If Mikaela had realized she'd be meeting - well, she didn't know his first name - Halloway she would've reviewed the repair and refits more closely.

"Well, there's quite a list, but we've been making pretty good progress here," Rick replied, "but the admiralty wants all these ships back out on the border ASAP. I guess, now that you're here, that makes you the lead on this project." Rick offered the PADD to her that he had been holding in his hand.

Mikaela nodded, "So I've been told." Taking the PADD from him, her eyes scanned the information. "I have a lot of catching up to do."

"Well, if you need anything, just let me know," Rick said with a smile, "We're pretty slow right now in our department, so I don't mind filling in wherever you need help."

"Thank you, Commander, I appreciate it," Mikaela said. Hesitating slightly, she added, "I hope I'm not overstepping, but if you have some time, perhaps you could brief me on what you've been working on? It seems I have a lot of catching up to do, and though I'll have to go through all the information, it would be helpful to have an overview now..."

"Certainly," Rick replied, "and call me Rick. I'm sure we'll be working together quite often and I don't want rank to get in the way all the time."

Smiling, but still feeling a little nervous and overwhelmed, Mikaela replied, "Great, thanks Rick. Feel free to call me Mikaela."

"Good, now that we have that settled...when did you want to go over the current schedule," Rick asked, looking to Mikaela for her reaction.

Her eyes glanced around briefly before moving back to Rick, "If you have time for a break now, we could perhaps get a late dinner on the Promenade and discuss it."

"Sure," Rick replied with a smile, "It's about time I get a break anyway. These folks can handle things for now. I don't suppose you have a place picked out?"

"Not specifically. The only true restaurant I've eaten in is Flanagan's, which seems quite good. I haven't tried any other places yet, so if you have another suggestion, we can try that instead," Mikaela replied.

"If you're alright with Flanagan's, I'm game for that," Rick said, trying to recall what establishments he knew of on the Promenade, "I heard that there is a place that just opened up a little while ago, though I haven't tried it yet. Someone told me that it was owned by a Cardassian. It might be a little on the adventurous side."

Mikaela nodded thoughtfully, "Let's save the new place for another time... I'm not really in an adventurous food mindset tonight. Shall we?"

"After you," Rick said politely, motioning for Mikaela to go first. He quickly fell into step next to her as the two of them departed Engineering in search of the nearest transporter room. He'd have to see what all she had in mind for the repair schedule once he'd filled her in. As always, he was happy to help out, but this was her show now, so he would gladly defer to her authority on the matter. Right now, however, dinner and a nice conversation were on the docket for the evening; a welcome change from the day's routine.

OFF:
JP brought to you by:

Lieutenant Commander Rick Halloway (PNPC)
R&D Engineering Team Leader
Starbase 386
played by: Commander Richardson
Executive Officer
Starbase 386

and

Lieutenant Mikaela Breland (PNPC)
Shipyard Foreman/Damage Control Officer
Starbase 386
played by:
Warrant Officer First Class Kilana Nira
Chief Engineering Officer
Starbase 386

[Barrett]

<<USS Malinche>>
<Holodeck 1, 2045, Day 1>

Adam took a deep breath, forcing himself to remain calm. The air around him was humid and alive with the sounds of various insects. Opening his eyes he took in the site before him. He was standing in a courtyard; a large temple stood jutting out in front of him, it looked like it might have been Klingon in origin but Adam wasn't sure.

He was dressed in his loose fitting cargo pants and sleeve less tee-shirt; he carried a bat'leth loosely in his hands, waiting to see what it was that the program had in store for him.

"Computer, give me some music...21st century rock."

"Specify composer or artist."

"Something upbeat."

Instantly music piped through the holodeck; Adam smiled, dropping back into a defensive stance. Seconds later, two large Klingons came crashing through the underbrush that surrounded the courtyard. Adam began slowly twirling his weapon around, taking stock of the way that they approached their target. Kang always said that you could tell a lot about a warrior in the way that he stood, the way that he carried himself.

"You are no warrior," the first Klingon growled.

"If you say so," Adam shrugged. His muscles tensed; he shifted his weight ever so slightly.

And then the attack came, both Klingon's charging in at once. Adam blocked an attack and then ducked low, sweeping his bat'leth around to knock down one of the attack Klingons. He fainted left and then went right, the Klingon knocked the attack away with ease.

The second Klingon was back on his feet by now, unleashing a blow that as met to remove Adam's head from his shoulders. Adam's own bat'leth blocked the incoming blow but left his left side exposed. He managed to twist away at the last minute but he wasn't fast enough. The second Klingon's bat'leth scraped along his side, opening up a superficial gash. Adam cursed himself, blocking another set of blows before striking one of the Klingon's with the back of his weapon.

Adam spun around to engage the second one, unleashing a furious set of blows that had the Klingon swinging wildly to keep up. Kang had taught him that the art of bat'leth combat was being unpredictable, something that was easier said then done.

Then again, Adam had years of other combat training to fall back on. He blocked several attempts by the second Klingon before spinning around and slamming his bat'leth into the first Klingon's ribs. He let out a strangled grunt as Adam's shin connected with his face knocking him back to the ground. Adam wheeled around, his blade knocking away another attack.

"You aren't as easy as we thought...though you will do Federation dog!"

"I am so having Jason rewrite your vocal subrouintes."

Adam moved quickly, pressing the attack and causing the Klingon to go on the offensive; locked in combat they moved across the courtyard, sweat pouring off both of them. Adam knocked his blade skyward, his bat'leth striking hard and true. The Klingon fell to the ground, his body went one way while his head went bouncing off into the forest.

Adam was hit hard from behind, causing him to go tumbling forward. He went with the impact, springing back up and turning around to catch the back end of a bat'leth to the face. He staggered, able to bring his weapon up to block another attack.

"Die coward!"

Adam grunted, shoving aside another powerful swing before trapping the Klingon's blade with his own. Adam head-butted the Klingon, dazing him for a moment. Adam's bat'leth struck the Klingon in the stomach with full force, several ribs fractured. Next he struck under the Klingon's chin, lifting him off the ground and causing him to smash back down. Adam's weapon whistled through the air a third time, cleaving head from body.

Adam turned around, wiping sweat from his face and smiling all the while. Two more Klingon's ventured out from the forest, leaving him facing three at once. Adam smiled as they charged.

45 minutes later, Adam stood lone in the clearing. He was soaked with sweat, his nose was bleeding and he had various cuts and scrapes covering his arms, shoulders, and part of his shirt was ripped away. The bodies of 6 dead Klingons were littered throughout the courtyard.

"Wow, for a medical officer you really do know how to release carnage."

Adam whirled around as Joey (NPC) entered, looking at the scene around him.

"I was just working off some stress," Adam smiled, jabbing his bat'leth into the ground. "Besides, Jason is the one that designed the program, I just burrowed it."

"He still hasn't give you an answer, has he?" Joey asked, sitting down on a large rock. He tossed Adam a bottle of water.

"Not yet."

Adam wasn't sure how to take Jason's reluctance to talk about adopting a child. He wasn't sure if it was just the stress that he was under with the current mission or if it was something deeper then that. Every time that Adam tried to discuss it with him he seemed to find a reason to get out of the converstaion.

"Dude, just talk to him about."

"Its not that simple, he's the XO now. Seems like he is always busy doing something."

"He'll make time for you," Joey responded, crossing his arms. "Now come on, you owe me dinner."

"I do?"

"Yes, you do."

OFF:

Lt. JG Adam Townsen
Medical Officer
USS Malinche

Played By:

[Starbase 386 Crew]

ON: <USS Ticonderoga, Bridge, Station Day 3, Time TBD>

Lieutenant Commander Thomas Manley (PNPC) stepped onto the bridge of the Ticonderoga and tried to suppress the feeling of awe that swept over him. After all, this wasn't his ship to command permanently, all he was doing was delivering her to 386 for her new CO to take over, and then from there he'd be re-assigned to a Station posting as the Dockmaster. The job description was horrifyingly boring, at least in his opinion.

Still, after more than 20 years in Starfleet, he was finally in command of a ship, even if it was only temporary. And, he thought to himself, even if he only had the bare minimum crew to get the ship to 386 safely. As he walked to the center chair to take his seat, he called out, "Status reports, please."

CONN Officer James May (NPC) turned slightly in his chair. "All systems nominal sir. ETA at SB386 is 26 hours present speed, unless you'd like to 'open her up', he said with a smile.

Bringing up the current systems information, Alina Tek (NPC) replied, "All systems are operating within normal parameters, sir." So far the journey had been fairly routine, which she was glad about; she had enough to adjust to as it was.

"Everything looks clear here," Greg Sanders (NPC) reported from where he sat at the tactical station, "Not much use for our armaments if we're just delivering the ship, sir."

The console on which Greg was resting his arm chirped and he glanced down at it. Probably just a fluctuation or something, he thought to himself as he surveyed the display. His smile slowly began to fade and his hands danced across the console, pulling up more detailed information.

"This can't be right," he said aloud to no one in particular.

Alina turned to look at Greg, wondering what he had found. Whatever it was, it didn't sound very promising.

Manley stood and walked over to the Tactical station. "What can't be right, Mister Sanders?"

"If I'm correct, and I sincerely hope I am mistaken," Greg began, still staring at his readouts, "I'm detecting a number of Elyshan warp signatures on course for Starbase 386."

"Yellow alert," Manley said instantly. "Get me a count, I need to know how many we're dealing with. Helm, alter course to bring us within range of short range sensors. Ops, try and raise 386."

Greg's hands danced across his console, but the readings were sporadic and indeterminable. Even narrowing the scan did not seem to help cut through the interference. "I can't tell you exactly how many they have, sir," Greg replied, "but it doesn't look like a friendly neighbor-type visit. There's just too much interference to get an accurate reading."

At Thomas' request, Alina brought up the Communications interface on her console and tried to patch in to Starbase 386. When it didn't go through, she tried increasing the signal strength, "I can't raise them, sir. It appears our communications are being jammed."

Manley frowned and began pacing. They couldn't reach the nearest starbase, which also happened to be the target of what Manley could only assume was an attack by a large Elyshan fleet. They couldn't get to the base in time to head off an attack, if his quick mental calculations were correct, and since he had spent the last 10 years as a Flight Control officer, he knew they were. And, to top it all off, they were flying with a skeleton crew.

"Mister May," Manley said, "What's the nearest starbase to us, other than 386?"

He checked his instruments for a moment. "That would be Starbase 117 in the Gormely system sir, about three days out from 386," he said.

"Thank you. Miss Tek," Manley continued, mind racing with possible strategies to slow that fleet down and coming up with nothing viable, "I want you to program a communications buoy with a message to Starbase 117 about this fleet. Launch it as soon as it's ready at the highest speed it can manage... and have it start shouting at the top of its lungs as soon as it's out of the fleet's sensor range. Directional transmitting only. We don't want them figuring out we've picked them up."

"Aye sir," Alina replied. Her eyes slid from Manley back to her console. Quickly she brought up the programming interface for the communications buoys and entered the relevant situational information. Alina's fingers moved familiarly over the controls as she calculated and entered in the proper coordinates, adjusting the settings so that the buoy would only transmit directionally. She looked at the Fleet's current position, taking into account the range of the signal jammers and their sensors, as well as their current speed to determine how much of a delay to give. When it was ready, the Trill typed in the final command sequence. "Buoy launched, Commander."

Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, Manley sat down in the command chair again. "May, plot a course that brings us in behind them, preferably just outside their sensor range. Engage when ready. Mister Sanders, Miss Tek... I need you two to work on a way to keep us hidden from their sensors, just in case they have better range than we think they do."

OFF: This has been a Joint Post with:

Ensign James May (NPC)
Acting Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Ticonderoga
As Played by: CPO Raven'nik

&

Ensign Greg Sanders (NPC)
Acting Chief Tactical Officer
USS Ticonderoga
As Played by: CDR Richardson

&

Ensign Alina Tek (NPC)
Acting Chief Operations Officer
USS Ticonderoga
As Played by: WO1C Nira

&

Lt Commander Thomas Manley (PNPC)
Officer-in-Charge, USS Ticonderoga
Dockmaster, Starbase 386
As Played by: Capt Lange

[N'rass]

<Immediately following arrival at Starbase 386, Day 1>

<USS Malinche, Shuttle maintenance bay>

"One more turn..." The caitian engineer said as she bent in through a relay panel. "Almost..." She commented to herself. The Type 9 project had been a pet of hers for a while now, and this was the test of a couple hard days of engineering.

"Hoo. There we go." L'randil slid out and walked to the controls. She hit the power button and winced a little, hoping it would work right.

The shuttle began to hum and beep. About the time the engineer began to smile and sigh a sigh of relief, the warnings began to sound. She quickly hit the deactivate buttons but the damage had been done. Smoke came flowing out of the access panel followed by the terrible smell of burnt electronics.

She growled in a uniquely caitian manner. "Darn replicated material. I'm gonna have to go to the station for it." She remarked as she stuck her head into the area to look and quickly taking it out and coughing.

She took her PaDD with the blueprints in one arm and her root beer in the other hand and proceeded to the airlock. On the way out, she comm badged Cmdr Peters to inform him and went out.

Once in the station, she looked around for indication of where to go, eventually finding a terminal and inquiring where engineering was. Information in hand, she wandered her way through the large installation to where she needed to be.

Kilana was working from one of the Engineering workstations near the reactors in the lower core of the station. Technically her office was nearby, but she wasn't ready to move in there just yet. She glanced over briefly as a Caitian in services gold walked into the area.

When she finally came to engineering, she walked in and asked the nearest ranking officer for assistance. "Excuse me?" She greeted. "I am Ens. L'randil of the USS Malinche."

"Good afternoon, Ensign," Kilana replied, leaving the diagnostics to run. She'd heard that the Malinche had arrived recently and wondered how the crew was doing since the last time she'd seen them. "I'm Warrant Officer First Class Kilana Nira, what can I do for you?"

"I need a tri-silicate carbon ceramic alloy produced for a relay. Can you help me?"

Smiling, the half-Bajoran nodded, "Sure, I believe there's a storage area around here somewhere... You'll have to excuse my uncertainty - I and many of the others just arrived and were given positions here so we're still getting acclimated."

L'Randil smirked. "I know how that goes. I might have to do some synthesizing to get it right. Is there a lab around here?"

"Yes, I remember passing at least one on my way here," Kilana replied. Come to think of it, she did vaguely remember seeing something that could have been a storage area. "I have an idea, let's try this way."

"Very Well." She replied and followed the bajoran.

Kilana slowed as she approached the door. Next to it, on the wall, was a sign reading 'Storage 122'. Inputting her new access code, she waited for the door to slide open before stepping inside. "This looks promising...now we just need to find what you need specifically."

They rooted through a few containers until they found one with the base material she would need for synthesis. "Silicate polymers...Yeah that's it. Now to the lab." L'Randil stated energetically.

Smiling at the young Caitian, Kilana nodded, "This way, ensign." She headed out the door, pausing to wait for L'randil, and started down the corridor, eventually making a left. "Here we are, go ahead."

"Good stuff." The young engineer remarked when she saw the station sized lab. Being used to a portion of a shuttle bay or a hangar it was a bit of an eye opener. "This station should do." She pointed and set her container of material and PaDD on the table.

Then she sat down and dialed the terminal to initialize which would take a moment or two to warm up. Turning to the station engineer, she leaned an elbow on the table and asked, "You say you haven't been on board very long? What did you do before this?".

"I was Chief Engineer and Chief of the Boat," Kilana replied as she watched L'randil work. Then she added, "On the Peacekeeper, that is. That ship is now a garrison vessel here."

L'Randil nodded with a surprised smile, then stood up. "I did not realize you were that accomplished, Ma'am. Perhaps you could double check my schematic?" She suggested, handing the PaDD to the bajoran.

Kilana replied, "Well, I actually went to a university and got a degree in Engineering before going to the Academy." Taking the offered PADD, she looked over the work L'randil had done, "This looks quite good, actually. I believe it will work."

"Thank you, Ma'am." She said, almost interrupted by the apparatus beeping. "Now to set the sample on and go..." She pushed the button and the chunk of gray material disappeared. They watched and waited for it to return.

"Have you been aboard the Malinche long?" Kilana didn't particularly remember the Caitian Engineer from the Sentinel's mission with the Malinche, but then again she certainly hadn't met the entire crew.

"I have served in a few capacities but only on the Malinche a short while. I was flight deck on an Akira before this." The caitian responded, then the terminal beeped a notice.

Kilana nodded, "I'm sure it will be an interesting assignment."

"Oh good, next stage already. These station units work so much better than the little ship ones." The young engineer remarked.

Laughing a little, the half-Bajoran replied, "They try to keep us up-to-date with newer technology...plus it's easier to get it to us, we stay in the same place."

"And you don't have power drain limits as tight as we do." L'Randil commented. "A couple X-Y coordinates to go.." She entered in the console. "...and one more sequence." A button pushed, the material once again disappeared. She turned in her seat again to face the bajoran.

"You said you had prior experience to the Fleet? Where at?" The caitian asked.

"Well, I started on the USS Phantom, and after that I was transferred to the USS Sentinel. The Sentinel was destroyed and our crew was moved to the USS Peacekeeper...we found out very recently that we were to be re-assigned to Starbase 386," Kilana explained.

"I'm sorry." L'randil responded. "I hurt whenever one of my support craft or fighters go down, I can't imagine what that must have felt like. A lot of crew lost with it?"

"The majority that weren't assimilated got off the ship before it was blown up," the half-Bajoran said. "The hardest hit department was Engineering, followed by Security/Tactical."

"Oh, Borg." L'Randil sighed and looked down. "A lot of good people were lost to them. My cousins were on a ship that was assimiliated." She paused and clenched a fur covered paw together in a fist. "I read that the ship blew up from engineering before they were assimiliated completely. That is a mixed consolation at least." She said with a reserved emphasis.

Kilana nodded, "Indeed."

"I guess it's all part of the job." She tried to sound upbeat. "I have already had my near death experience before the fleet. Humans have a saying about cats having nine lives. Perhaps I am on number eight?" She half joked.

Offering a half smile, Kilana replied, "That may be so. Just try to not lose that last one and land on your feet."

"So true." L'Randil smirked in time for the machine to beep and form the relay plates, ready to assemble. "I need some nano-welding tools. Where would those be?"

At the question, Kilana glanced around the lab. Seeing a set of shelves nearby, she looked for the requested tools. She found a small set and brought them over to L'randil, "Will these do?"

The caitian smiled and picked them up. "Yes, this should do just fine." She said as she put them on the bench where she had sat the formed plates. "You get all the cool tools here, don't you?" She joked.

"The ones I've found thus far seem to fit that description. Then again, you generally also end up with some rather odd or useless ones," Kilana smiled.

"True" L'randil laughed and rolled her eyes. "The fleet does give a lot of those too." She placed some parts together and began to weld them. "Still, I never had that many things to work with at the shuttle company but I still had to invent stuff. Sometimes I had to make the tools too."

Nodding Kilana said, "Sometimes that's the best way to ensure a tool is useful...and a good way for new tools to be invented - out of need."

"Very true." L'Randil responded. The device was quickly taking shape. "Almost done already. It took me a couple days to get this far with the shipboard lab."

Then she made the last weld, and took it over to the holo-imager. "Hmm, Let's see..." She commented as she dialed the test parameters for it to simulate. "There we go." She hit the start button and stepped back to watch with her arms crossed. Her tail flicked subconsciously as she waited for the results, accidentally tapping Kilana a few times.

A bit confused as she felt a tap on her leg a few times, Kilana looked down and realized it was the Caitian's tail. She stepped back to allow L'randil a bit more room.

"Sorry, I forget it's there sometimes." The caitian apologized.

"No need to apologize," Kilana said with a smile, "Only natural, after all and certainly not harmful." A tail wouldn't really injure her and truthfully, she'd suffered far worse simply working in Engineering over the years. "Looks like the results are ready..."

"Good. That was fast." The caitian smiled as she read the display data. "All parameters check out." She picked up the part and her data PaDD and turned to the other engineer. "Looks like that should do it. I hate to cut and run, but they are planning on moving all my shuttles around later on today." L'Randil pushed the PaDD back under her arm and reached out her hand. "Thank you, Kilana. I have enjoyed our visit. I may see you again til this assignment is over."

Kilana nodded and shook the Caitian's hand, "You're quite welcome; let me know if you need anything else. Pleasure meeting you."

L'randil nodded and smiled before turning and walking out of the room to find her way back to her post.


OFF: JP brought to you by:

Warrant Officer 1st Class Kilana Nira
Chief Engineering Officer
Starbase 386

And

[N'rass]

<<USS Malinche, Shuttle Bay, Day 2, 0700>>

The Caitian shuttle engineer walked into the shuttle bay like normal, but today was not normal. The ship was now docked at the starbase and the shuttlecraft were getting traded. For the most part this was an upbeat note for her.

The Argo class unit and Avro were useless in her mind, so to trade them was a plus. The addition of the Type 11 shuttles was quite welcome as they had improved many aspects of the Type 9 that she had been wrestling with for a while. There were two new designs coming on board that she hadn't seen before. The Delta Flyer class and Hunley classes. The Hunley was a different beast. Aquatic submersible shuttlecraft.

"That's gonna have a lot of issues." She remarked when she read the data Padd. "Water and space technology. Blah." She walked through the bay to see the new units. Cmdr Peters was overseeing the movements when she arrived, so she walked over to him to talk, holding her Padd behind her.

"Morning, Sir." She greeted. "How many of these will we be getting?"

Peters nearly jumped three feet in the air as L'Randil startled him. He'd have to get used to her cat-like quietness. "Good morning, Ensign. One each of a Hunley, a Delta Flyer, and a Type 11. We get to keep those Type 9s you just fixed for us."

"Good to hear. That Delta thing is big enough. May as well have a runabout stuffed in here." She remarked, smirking at his reaction. "Nice to see the 11s finally make it here. Where are we going to stick it anyway?"

Peters shrugged. "Well, I don't know how often we'll be using each craft, but the Type Nines are the easiest to shove out of the way along the outer bulkheads of the bay... so if we put the two larger craft on either side of the maintenance bay, then depending on the needs of the moment we can put either the Eleven or a pair of the nines between them. The Maintenance Bay door is wide enough that we should still be able to get any of them out with a little bit of care."

The Caitian muttered. "Alright. I guess that will work." She was not very pleased about having to use the maintenance bay door for that but knew it wasn't worth the battle. Changing the subject, she looked over at the Hunley unit.

"What are your thoughts on this one?" She asked.

Peters looked at the Hunley class shuttle and thought for a moment. "Well, I'd like to say that I was sure all the bugs were worked out of it," he started, "but that would go against everything I know about the ASDB."

The Ensign rolled her eyes and laughed. "We agree on that, Sir. Job security I suppose." She joked. "Should I begin any diagnostics on them?"

"I'll leave that to your discretion," Peters answered, smiling at the joke. "I expect you'll need to run some before we test the thing out, but you ARE allowed a bit of shore leave while we're here. Whichever order you want to do things in is your prerogative."

She nodded and smiled. "I suppose I should take leave sometime. Of course I wouldn't know what to do if I'm not tweaking something rather. Guess I'll have to look around, then." She paused. I'll see about looking the 11 over before I go."

Peters smiled. "Try not to have too much fun, lest you forget to actually take your shore leave time."

The engineer laughed. "I'll try sir. No tweaking, I promise." She joked as she walked away.

JP by

Lieutenant Commander Todd Peters
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A

and

[Kersare]

OFF: This is a backpost

ON: [[Security/Tactical Office, USS Malinche, Station Day 02, 0700]]

Personal Log, Aaron Masterson:

Today's the day...the official first day on the job. I had a chance to tour the ship yesterday and I must say that I was impressed. There's certainly a lot more to keep an eye on aboard the Malinche than there was on the Armstrong. What's more, the Prometheus-class is a deep space tactical vessel, meaning I've got a number of ship's systems to keep an eye on as well. No doubt it will take some getting used to...so will the paperwork.

At least I've got Lieutenant Stone (NPC) to help me get settled. He seems like a good guy and the captain did recommend him for the open assistant position. So far, things seem to be working out.

End Log

The computer chirped to signify that the log had been recorded and saved. Aaron smiled at the thought that he had just completed his first personal log as both a Lieutenant JG and as the Malinche's Chief Security/Tactical Officer. It was one of those moments that was kinda neat to think about, even if it didn't mean the news service had to hold the presses for an announcement.

Already, Aaron noticed a short stack of PADDs waiting for him on his desk. Leaning forward, he tapped the access panel to activate his desktop terminal. As the terminal emerged from the desk, he reached for the first PADD and began to skim its contents.

Standing outside the door, Isabel paused. She had a lot on her mind with the meeting coming up in an hour, but she wanted to stop in and see her new Chief Security/Tactical Officer. Isabel rang the chime.

"Enter," Aaron called in reply to the sound of the doorchime. As the doors hissed open, he glanced up from skimming the PADD in his hand. Upon seeing that it was the captain, he immediately rose to his feet, saying, "Good morning, captain."

"Good morning, Lieutenant," Isabel replied with a smile. "Sorry to bother you so early, but I wanted to stop in before the meeting I have on 386. Are you getting settled in alright?"

"I would think so, though this paperwork will take some time to get used to," Aaron said, motioning toward an open chair, "Please...have a seat. Is there anything I can get you?" He glanced toward the wall-mounted replicator nearby, then back to the captain to see if she wanted anything.

"Ah yes, paperwork. The bane of many people's existence..." Isabel smiled and took the seat Aaron had offered her, then said, "Perhaps a mocha?"

Aaron took a few steps over to the replicator, stood facing it, and said, "One mocha and one hot chocolate." The computer chirped an acknowledgment as two steaming mugs materialized into existence in the replicator slot. Carefully, Aaron lifted the mugs from the replicator and turned back toward the captain, offering her the mocha.

Taking the warm mug from Aaron, Isabel took a sip. She hadn't had anything for breakfast just yet, so the mocha was a good start, in her opinion. "Have you had a chance to catch up with Lieutenant Stone?"

Nodding, Aaron set his mug on his desk, replying, "We spoke yesterday. He showed me around and we're supposed to meet again today to go over the procedures that the department has been following so I know how people are used to doing things here."

"Very good," Isabel smiled. Hesitating slightly, she took a sip of her mocha. The next subject was a bit more difficult, but she knew she had to bring it up. "Lieutenant...do you think you'd be able to take on someone else in your department, at least part time?"

The request did not surprise Aaron at all. Aboard the Armstrong, there had been people from other departments who worked part time with the Security/Tactical personnel from time to time. Usually it was to help them brush up on their combat skills or if they were considering a transfer into the department. "I don't see why not," he replied, "Who did you have in mind?"

Isabel didn't want to hold back on Aaron, but she tried to decide how to explain the situation... "Derek Greyman. But before you agree, I should explain a few things... Derek and I served together on the Cheyenne and were...are...married. He was Chief Security/Tactical Officer there. In 2379, he was sent on an away team which he didn't come back from - presumed dead. Long story short, a few missions ago we found him among some Borg....we brought him here and un-assimilated him. Since then he's had regular visits with the Counselor, has regained most of his memories from before being assimilated, and has made good progress. He'd like to help out in Security/Tactical as he thinks it will help him remember even more and, to be honest, he's probably a little stir crazy with nothing to do..."

Taking a deep breath, Isabel looked away for a moment before turning her eyes back to Aaron, "I'm sorry to drop this on you and if you'd rather he didn't help out, I'll understand." With that, she became silent, wondering what Aaron would think.

A former Borg drone was definitely not what Aaron had thought the captain meant by her initial question. It was certainly a unique situation, one that made him pause. He could tell that the captain was waiting to hear his thoughts on the matter, so he didn't waste any time in composing his reply. "Well, I'd be lying if I said this wasn't unusual or that it wouldn't be difficult, especially at first," Aaron said, "I'm not sure how the others in the department will take it, but I see no reason why not, if he's got the previous experience and he's been cleared by both medical and the counselor."

Isabel nodded, "I realize that and I apologize for putting you in the situation. But I appreciate you giving him the chance."

"Naturally, he'd be given limited access to security protocols, at least at first," Aaron continued, "but I don't see why he couldn't do it. It must get pretty boring for him with nothing to do all day."

"Of course, I'm sure he would expect that," Isabel noted. "From what he tells me, it does...he's being doing some Security/Tactical drills in the holodeck to fill some of his time and of course he's been trying to unbury more of his memories. But since he was with the Borg for a smaller fraction of his life, overall, he seems to be doing fairly well." Silently she reprimanded herself for rambling - it just wasn't every day that a situation like this arose.

"Dealing with assimilation is a tricky business," Aaron told her, "I've not had any personal experience with the Borg, but one does hear the stories and, of course, it is part of our Academy training. I guess I'd like to meet with him to discuss what he expects from a position and maybe we can figure out where he'd do the best."

Isabel nodded, "I appreciate it, thank you. I'll be sure he stops in to speak with you - I imagine he'll do so today or tomorrow. Our Chief Counselor and Second Officer, Lieutenant Zeral, said that she'd be willing to speak with you about it if you have any additional concerns as well."

"Thank you, captain," Aaron said with a smile, "I don't think we'll have anything to worry about here."

Returning the smile, Isabel replied, "Good. I don't want to keep you...if you need anything, just find me."

"Of course, captain," Aaron said. He appreciated that the captain was willing to be open with him; it made him feel like a member of the "family". Taking on this little favor for her didn't seem like too difficult a task and besides, it would be a challenge. Aaron was always up for a good challenge.

OFF: JP brought to you by:

Lieutenant JG Aaron Masterson
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A

and

[Barrett]

<<USS Malinche>>
<Barrett’s Quarters, 2345, Day 1>

Jason rubbed his temples, wishing for the tenth time that day he had not promised to help put together a lecture for one of his former academy teachers. He tossed the PADD back onto the desk and reached for his rather cold cup of coffee, his dinner with Captain Kersare had helped his mood somewhat, opening up to her had been a good deal easier then he thought.

Compounding his frustration was their current mission; which was about as clear as mud. He had no idea what was going on and by the conversations that he had with Captain Kersare, she wasn’t all that in the know either. The summit was supposed to be a good thing, then why was Jason on edge all the time. Of course there were plenty of other things that could be keeping Jason on edge as well.

Leaning back in his chair he looked out the window; Starbase 386 was a glittering bronze jewel beneath the form of the Malinche. He hadn’t had time to take Adam (NPC) down and show him all the shops, restaurants, and establishments but he vowed that he would before they set out again. He deserved a lot more then what Jason was able to give him at the moment. He winced at that thought, remembering how Adam had never left his beside when he was recovering from his operation on Maran.

Jason was feeling increasingly guilty about not spending enough time with Adam, after all they had been together for 4 years now and it seemed like he was always putting his career first; not that Adam minded. In fact most of the time he encouraged such behavior and generally speaking was more excited about it then Jason was. That still didn’t change the fact that he felt guilty. Next shore-leave they would get away, maybe even to Risa for some much needed R and R.

The doors opened and Adam walked in, his uniform jacket already unbuttoned, he looked almost as run down as Jason, although not entirely. Then again it was rare that Adam ever really looked all that run down; he seemed to have the almost supernatural ability to appear wide awake no matter the amount of sleep he got. It must have been something that was natural to medical types, he recalled Darkhelm looking the same way, the same went for Zeral.

“Burning the midnight oil again?” he asked. “As a medical professional I am obliged to point out that’s not entirely healthy.”

Jason merely shrugged. “Long day in sickbay?”

“Sort of, we had some cadets from the Starfleet Medical that were touring the Starbase that wanted to look around; I spent the majority of my afternoon with them. Then I felt the urge to beat something…”

“You didn’t beat up on Joey again, did you?” Jason asked. “The first time it was just funny now I think he really dislikes it when you do that.”

“I didn’t beat up Joey,” Adam huffed. “I went to the holodeck instead, what are you working on?”

“You remember Professor Damjem?”

“That Andorian that thought the world of you at the academy, I sort of remember him. Why?”

“He sent me a message last week; he wants me to help him with a lecture about scanning through subspace gradients in relation to gravimetric and subspace sheer.”

Adam looked at him like he had lobsters crawling out of his ears.

“Right, forget that I asked.”

“Besides, Joey is down in sickbay right now. I doubt that our new CMO would allow me to beat anyone under his watch,” Adam stated.

“Sickbay?” Jason asked, arching an eyebrow. “Do I even want to now what happened to land him in there?”

“Nothing major,” Adam shrugged. “He showed up with a broken wrist…something about insulting the wrong Bajoran on the promenade.”

“She broke his wrist?” Jason asked, arching an eyebrow.

“Well, technically yes…but I don’t think that Joey did it any favors by spending the next several hours in a holosuite boxing.”

“On second thought, we may not need to adopt a kid; after all we do have Joey.”

Jason smiled at that thought; although there was some truth to what Adam had said. Jason was convinced that Joey wouldn’t have survived as long as he had without Adam looking out for him; there were plenty of times on the Hale that was certainly the case. He pushed himself away from his desk and headed over to the couch were Adam had taken a seat.

Adam snuggled up next to Jason, resting his head on Jason’s shoulder. Jason had forgotten how well built Adam had become over the past few years; his hair was shaggier, although still within regulation. His shoulders had grown boarder, his muscles larger and more defined. He seemed to care himself with a whole new level of confidence; the physical transformation appeared to have brought about an emotional and mental one as well.

Jason began to idly fiddle with Adam’s hair; twirling it around in his fingers. Adam sighed contently; this always made him relax. He could already feel the tensions of the day starting to slip away.

“Have you given any more thought to what I said?”

Jason sighed, trying his best not to sound annoyed. He wasn’t really all that annoyed but he hadn’t really had time to think much more about it. After his talk with Captain Kersare he had wandered the corridors of both Starbase 386 and the Malinche trying to figure out what to say.

He was about to respond when he noticed that Adam was fast asleep. Jason’s own eyes felt heavy as well. He laid his head back on the couch and was fast asleep within moments.

OFF:

[Hansen]

ON:

[[Docking Hatch, USS Malinche, Day 1, 1405]]

The large, brown, cog-like door rolled out of the way, making way for a view of a much more starfleet looking corridor. Sean, in his duty uniform, sighed as he stepped across the border onto the Prometheus class USS Malinche. A large bag swung over his shoulder and a large duffel bag in his left hand, all of his possessions were in those two bags and he had no intention of letting them out of his sight until they were in his room.

Stopping a younger looking ensign outside the head, Sean asked, "Ensign, what deck are the senior officer quarters located on?"

The ensign, who had been in a bit of a hurry to get to his destination, stopped to think about where they where. "Uh... Deck two, I believe. The best way to get there is the third turbolift on the left."

Sean nodded, "Thank you, Ensign. As you were." he responded as he took a step back to allow the man to get to his destination.

A few minutes later, Sean entered what was labeled as the Chief of Operations officers quarters, his quarters. *They are a bit larger than my old ones.* he thought to himself as he set the bags down on the queen sized bed in the corner of the room. "Let's see..." he thought out loud, "I'll want to move the bed over there and the desk... oh the desk... where should I put you?"

Shrugging his furniture plans out of his mind, he walked over to the computer terminal and tapped the crew locator command. "Computer, locate Captain Kersare."

=^=Captain Kersare is in the Ready Room.=^= the computer responded in its stereotypical dull voice.

"Figures." Sean said. "Probably one of those workaholic captains that expect everyone to put in twenty hour work days." Thinking for a moment, he decided that one way or another he should get meeting her over with sooner rather than later.

[[Bridge/Ready Room]]

Having met with the new Chief Security/Tactical Officer an hour ago, Isabel had tried to go back to her work, but was a bit distracted by the thought of the Summit. Perhaps in a little while she'd go visit the Starbase to clear her mind.

Sean came out of the turbolift and looked around. He was pleasantly surprised that the bride module for the Malinche was very similar to the one that they had on the Archer, which made finding the ready room much easier than if it had been a completely different design. Walking up to the ready room door, Sean tapped the door chime and awaited the captain's answer.

Isabel heard the doorchime and looked up, "Come in."

The doors slid open and Sean quickly walked through the opening and made his way towards where the captain was sitting. "Lieutenant Sean Hansen, reporting for duty, Ma'am. Your new Chief Operations Officer."

Raising an eyebrow slightly, Isabel stood and extended her hand, "Welcome aboard Lieutenant. As I assume you know, I'm Captain Isabel Kersare."

"I was certainly hoping you were." Sean said, a slight smile showing on his face.

"Well then, I'm glad I haven't let you down," she replied. "Please, have a seat."

Sean nodded, pulled out one of the chairs across from the captain, and took a seat. *Here we go.* he thought as he did so.

"I don't recall seeing your transfer orders before...did you just get them?" Her eyes quickly glanced at the list of transfers, still not seeing his name.

Sean lowered his head slightly and peered at the captain for a moment before answering, "Yes, Ma'am. The Archer was supposed to drop me off in the 40 Eridani system, but apparently command wanted an experienced officer out here by the Elyshans."

Nodding, Isabel said, "How long were you aboard the Archer? And have you dealt with the Elyshans before, Lieutenant?"

Sean thought back to when he first came aboard the Archer. The then Commander Dentry had just been promoted and the entire crew was still on edge from the fallout from Shinzon's coup of the Romulan Empire. "I was on board... a little under five years, Ma'am. Unfortunately I haven't had too much experience with the Elyshans though. The Archer was mostly tasked with patrolling the Romulan border."

"I'm sure we'll all be learning quite a bit about the Elyshans in the near future. Especially with the Taevon Summit coming up in a couple days," Isabel replied. At the meeting earlier in the day she'd already learned a fair amount about the Elyshans, but certainly there was a lot more to know. Of course, the Malinche had yet to deal with the Elyshans, but if the problems escalated, that could change. "You haven't been waiting for us long, have you?"

Sean shook his head. "No, Ma'am. The Archer wasn't going to be coming this way so I got passage on a rather slow transport." Sean said, cringing slightly at the thought of the rather smelly, unkept bolian vessel he had come on. "I just arrived this morning."

Isabel nodded, "We'll be here at least a few days - through the beginning of the Taevon Summit at least. So, you should have a chance to get acclimated, at least to an extent."

Sean nodded, gratefully. "I will certainly take advantage of that time. Speaking of which, Captain, I would like to start as soon as possible."

"Of course," Isabel replied. "If you need anything, just let myself, Lieutenant Commander Barrett, or Lieutenant Zeral know. Pleasure meeting you Lieutenant." Isabel smiled and stood, "Good luck."

Standing, Sean smiled and responded, "Thank you, Captain. I look forward to working with you and your crew." Turning, Sean walked towards the door, thinking to himself about how he would fit into this new crew and new assignment.

OFF:

A JP by:

Captain Isabel Kersare
Commanding Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A

and

[Starbase 386 Crew]

ON: [[Flannigan’s Pub, Starbase 386, Station Day 03, 2120]]

There was a sharp crack as Charlie Young (NPC) shot the cue ball straight into the triangle set-up. Pool balls scattered in all directions, spreading out on the table. Thomas (NPC) watched as the last few balls rolled to a stop, then moved around to one side of the table. He had never been very good at pool, but Charlie had convinced him to try it. “Besides,” Charlie had argued, “It’ll take your mind off that conference.”

Thomas lined up the cue and took aim for the solid ball nearest the corner pocket. He hit the cue ball and watched it roll toward the solid, only to glance off one side, sending the solid bouncing out of the corner and back toward the middle of the table.

“Not bad,” Charlie said. Thomas gave him a face and he added, “Okay, so it could use some work. You’ve got to pretend there’s a straight line from your cue, through the ball, and toward your target. If you hit it to one side or the other, it’ll skew. Here, watch.”

Charlie lined up for his shot, a red striped ball near the side pocket, took aim, then fired. The cue ball went in a straight line, knocked the stripe in and bounced at an angle to tap another stripe into the far corner. “See,” Charlie said, “Stripes.”

Thomas continued to watch as Charlie lined up for his next shot. When Charlie had invited him to play pool, he’d been excited. It wasn’t the game that interested, but the time with Charlie. The only problem was, he hadn’t gotten up the courage to actually ask him about what was on his mind. As he watched, his attention drifted from the game, to Charlie, then back to the game. At least the noise from the surrounding patrons was preventing awkward silence.

Charlie’s shot missed a little and he grimaced as the white cue ball came dangerously close to falling into a pocket. At the last moment, it rolled to a stop. He looked at Thomas, who suddenly realized it was his turn. The betazoid moved around the table and started to line up the cue again. He didn’t see Charlie set aside his own cue and come up behind him.

“Here,” Charlie’s voice said in his ear, “Put this hand here…and then line it up on your other hand like this.” As he was giving instruction, Charlie positioned Thomas’ hands gently where he had indicated. “Now all you have to do is draw back the cue,” he continued, “and strike.” Together, they pulled back the stick and let it hit the cue ball, which rolled swiftly across the table, struck the two solids near the corner pocket and knocked them both in.

Charlie let go of Thomas’ hands and took a step back toward his own cue as the young betazoid turned around. “Thanks,” he said softly, looking into Charlie’s eyes. Charlie looked away and started focusing on his next shot, which left Thomas moving out of the way to watch.

As it turned out, Charlie had been holding out on Thomas. It didn’t take the young science officer long to clean up the table, sinking the final eight ball into the corner pocket. Thomas was amazed. If only he could play like that.

“Let’s go for a walk,” Charlie suggested, looking around at the growing number of patrons, “It’s kinda crowded in here.”

“Sure,” Thomas agreed, setting his cue aside. Maybe he would find the opportunity to bring up his thoughts to Charlie along the way. Already, his nerves were starting to tingle. Deep down, he hoped that he would find the courage.

The two young officers made their way out of the pub and started down the Promenade. It was late and most of the regular shops had already met their closing time. A few, which made up the night life aboard the station, were thriving with business. Charlie walked past these establishments in silence, Thomas close behind.

For awhile, they didn’t talk at all. It wasn’t until they reached one of the arboretums that Charlie asked, “Mind if we go in?” Thomas nodded his approval and the two of them stepped into the botanical sanctuary. It was true, the caretaker put a lot of effort into these gardens and the room was quite peaceful, despite its size. At this time of the evening, Thomas could not see anyone else around, though he thought he sensed a few people on the far side of the room.

The sound of their feet crunching on the gravel path seemed loud in the peaceful silence. Nearby, Thomas could make out the faint gurgle of running water and knew they were getting close to the small brook that ran through the middle of the arboretum. Charlie finally paused near the small waterfall that fell pristinely into a sparkling pool. They were surrounded by beautiful flower beds and there were a few empty stone benches nearby.

Thomas watched the waterfall as it cascaded across the rocks, sending little clouds of water vapor into the air. He couldn’t tell whether the anxiety he was feeling was his own or whether he was sensing it from Charlie. In the end, it probably didn’t matter because Thomas still could not bring himself to ask the one question that was on his mind. There wasn’t any logical or reasonable cause for him to be anxious, but he was.

“Are you okay,” Charlie asked, glancing over at Thomas. The young scientist had evidently picked up on Thomas’ nervous state or he wouldn’t have been asking. Thomas knew that it was his chance to say something, but he let it slip by.

“I’m fine,” he replied a little too quickly. Charlie raised an eyebrow as if he didn’t quite believe Thomas, but he let it slide. Casually, he leaned against a nearby tree and crossed his arms. The atmosphere of the arboretum was comforting in a way that was completely different from Flannigan’s, but he still liked it. It was a pity that he hadn’t found it sooner.

“So how come you don’t spend more time on the Promenade,” Charlie asked, trying to spark some casual conversation. He didn’t quite believe that Thomas was telling the truth, mostly because of how quiet the Betazoid had been since leaving the pub.

Thomas shrugged. “I try to stay on top of my work,” he answered simply, “Being a station XO’s yeoman comes with a lot of responsibility.”

“Surely you must have some free time,” Charlie said, surveying the young man standing opposite him, “Even we scientists manage to break away from our experiments and study long enough for some social recreation.”

“I don’t like crowds,” Thomas replied. It was a partially true statement, though not the whole truth. Even with all the practice he’d had, Thomas still hadn’t completely mastered keeping his mind clear. Spending too much time amongst large crowds, such as on the Promenade, usually resulted in a dull headache.

“So what do you do with your free time then,” Charlie asked, genuinely interested in hearing the young man’s answer.

“A little of this, a little of that,” Thomas said, taking a step closer to the clear water of the pool and peering into it. Whatever he had hoped to find there, all he saw were a few water lilies and a small school of fish swimming freely. He found the conversation with Charlie to be comforting and realized that he didn’t feel quite as anxious as before, though the anxiety was still there, just diminished.

Charlie pushed himself off the tree and slowly approached where Thomas was standing. He followed the Betazoid’s gaze toward the water and smiled when he saw the little fish swimming about. Clearly, there was something else on Thomas’ mind and Charlie had a pretty good idea what it was. Charlie had always been a good judge of character and personality, which is what made it so easy for him to walk into the middle of a room and feel at ease. There was something about Thomas that had surprised him, though. It was harder for Charlie to “read” Thomas because of the latter’s reserved behavior, meaning that the Betazoid was more of a mystery to him. The young scientist found this fact quite intriguing; one of the things that appealed to him about Thomas. He had been hoping that Thomas would eventually take the initiative and say something, but it was starting to look like Charlie was going to have to be the one to stop beating around the bush.

If Thomas had noticed that Charlie had moved from the tree, he didn’t show any signs of it. Instead, the young Betazoid continued to stare in silence into the shallow pool at the base of the waterfall. “Thomas,” Charlie said softly, causing Thomas to look up at him from the pool, “I can tell there’s something bothering you. What is it?”

Taking a deep breath, Thomas looked at Charlie. There was no getting around it anymore; if he didn’t say something, he’d be kicking himself for it later. Besides, Charlie could already tell that there was something on his mind. Evidentially that meant he wasn’t doing a good job of hiding it. Unfortunately, he still didn’t know how to begin. He could see Charlie watching him…waiting for an answer that Thomas wasn’t sure he was ready or able to give.

“Are you going to make me guess,” Charlie asked after a long pause.

“I don’t know,” Thomas replied dejectedly, breaking eye contact and turning his gaze back toward the water.

“It’s alright, Thomas,” Charlie said a moment later, “You don’t have to tell me because I think I’ve already figured it out.” Thomas turned toward Charlie in surprise, wondering how the young man could have possibly figured out what he was thinking. Charlie took no notice, but he smiled and continued, “I didn’t notice it at first, but it wasn’t long before I started to pick up a few signs here and there. The more time we spent together, the clearer it became. Finally, I guess I realized that sooner or later, one of us was going to have to say it first.”

Surprise gave way to a sense of calm realization. Thomas could not believe that he had been so nervous about telling Charlie how he felt. Not only did Charlie know, but he felt the same way about Thomas. In a way, it was as if a great weight had been lifted from Thomas’ shoulders. There was an unspoken, mutual understanding between the two young men and that was enough for either of them. Slowly, a smile spread across Thomas’ face and was soon mirrored by Charlie.

“Come on,” Charlie said, putting his arm around Thomas’ shoulder, “We should probably get going…before someone thinks we’re up to something.”


OFF

Ensign Charlie Young (NPC)
Cultural Specialist/Research Assistant
Starbase 386

And

Ensign Thomas Gates (NPC)
Executive Officer’s Yeoman
Starbase 386

Played by:

Commander Arthur Richardson, PhD
Executive Officer
Starbase 386

[Masterson]

<<USS Malinche, Holodeck 1, Day 3, 0745>>

Though he had been cleared to visit Starbase 386, provided someone was with him, Derek (PNPC) instead chose to visit the holodeck. Isabel had told him the day before that the new Chief Security/Tactical Officer was willing to give him a chance, which was good news. Still, he was a bit nervous about going to speak with the man. To help get rid of his nerves, Derek had decided to run through a few more Security/Tactical drills in the holodeck before going to see him.

Having spent the previous day in the office, Aaron decided to start the morning out by making a few rounds of the Malinche. It would help him to become better familiar with both ship layout and the crew. So far, he'd had a chance to meet with a few of the other members of his department, but he was still learning to put names to faces. "Good morning," he said brightly to a pair of engineers headed the opposite direction. They both paused in their conversation to smile at him before continuing on down the corridor.

Aaron was just passing Holodeck 1 when he noticed that the room was in use. He wondered who might be using the ship's facilities when the station offered holosuites and recreational facilities for their use. Pausing, he approached the terminal and tapped a few controls to access the description of the active program. According to the computer, there was currently a training program in progress and only one individual inside. Although Aaron did not recognize the program, he could tell from the description that it was for security training purposes.

Captain Kersare had said something about Derek spending a lot of his time training on the holodeck. It would also make sense that he'd be using the ship's systems rather than spending time on the station. Figuring that it couldn't hurt to take a peek inside, Aaron approached the doorway and entered the holodeck.

Crouched down, Derek stole a glance around the side of the console he was concealed behind to see how many opponents were left. He'd gotten two already, but there were still two left, somewhere. It seemed they were on the other side of the room, so, after one more glance to make sure they weren't looking in his direction, Derek moved quietly to a closer cover spot.

Noticing a stray PADD nearby, he picked it up and flung it near, but to the side of, the Romulan opponents. At that point, he quickly rose and fired at them, hitting one in the head, the other in the shoulder. Derek wasted no time concealing himself, instead continuing to fire at the last Romulan until he fell.

As he watched the scene play out, Aaron couldn't help but be impressed. Whatever the Borg had taken from him during assimilation, Derek was clearly doing an impressive job recovering his skills at least. Sure, there were a few things that could use some improvement, but the man's dedication and perseverance was something to be admired.

Derek was about to ask the computer to restart the program when he noticed someone near the entrance. "Can I help you?"

"That was quite impressive," Aaron commented, "How long have you been practicing?"

"A couple weeks now," Derek replied. He put the phaser he'd been firing on a nearby table, then walked over to the man in Services gold.

"You must be Derek Greyman," Aaron observed, offering his hand in an automatic gesture of introduction, "Lieutenant Masterson, the new Chief Security/Tactical Officer."

Derek nodded, looking at the man's hand a moment before realizing what was intended and shaking his hand. "It is a pleasure to meet you. Isabel...Captain Kersare told me I should stop by and speak to you. I was actually going to do so in a little while, but it appears you have found me."

"Well, I happened to be passing by and noticed that the holodeck was in use," Aaron replied, "I'm glad I did, though. Have you given any thought to what you'd like to be doing?"

Pausing, Derek replied slowly, "As I suppose the Captain has mentioned, I have experience in Security and Tactical...but my original concentration was in Security. I do not specifically have a preference - I'm willing to help out wherever you need me or would prefer to put me, sir." He still remembered the previous official Security/Tactical Chief's hesitance about having him aboard at all, so if this man was willing to have him, Derek didn't overly care what he was doing.

"Well, let's start by playing to your strengths," Aaron suggested, "I see that you're doing well at security, so we'll work from there. Now I'm going to be perfectly frank...I know there are people who will probably have concerns about your presence in the department. I don't have any problem having you as a part of the team; it's good for you and it's good for me. However, you'll understand that I am going to have to restrict some of your access to security protocols, at least at first. Is that okay with you?"

"That would be fine, sir. To be honest, I expected that my access would be restricted," Derek said. "I would rather have people be at ease than to have more convenience for myself. And I know some will not like having me in a position...some do not like the idea of me on this ship to begin with..."

"Well, they're just going to have to learn to live with it," Aaron interjected, "because I think you're going to make a fine addition to the team. I won't take up any more of your time right now, but we can meet later to discuss specific duties."

Derek nodded silently. It was nice to know that someone would stand up for him - at least that was the impression he got from the Lieutenant. "I will stop by later, sir."

"See you then," Aaron said, nodding to Derek, "Carry on." Turning he headed back out into the corridor and disappeared around the bend, leaving Derek alone in the holodeck again.

OFF

A JP by:

Derek Greyman (PNPC)
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A
Played by: Captain Kersare

and

[Barrett]

<<Starbase 386>>
<Black Hole Cafe, 1845, Day 1>

Jason had tried getting a hold of Adam (NPC) but he wasn't answering any calls. It didn't really bother Jason, he assumed that he was no doubt busy with something...either that or he had his combadge turned off, which was another rather common occurrence. He found the Black Hole Cafe on the promenade, a small out of the way place, it seemed to boost an impressive menu and didn't look to terribly busy.

He thought about stopping in and then was surprised to find Captain Kersare come around the corner. "Care to join me for dinner?"

Isabel paused as she saw her Executive Officer, "Sure, dinner sounds good, thank you."

"I think this place is relatively safe...I haven't seen anyone go running out of here looking like they are about to lose their lunch."

Isabel smiled as they made their way inside; the waiter found them a seat next to a viewport that let them gaze out onto the station. If they looked up they could even see the gleaming form of the Malinche, Jason ordered a bud classic off the menu to start things off with, while Isabel ordered her own drink. "Enjoying your time so far captain?"

"So far, but there's a meeting in the morning and then the Summit starts a couple days later...I'm trying to get as prepared as possible," she replied. "You?"

"There are days when I long for the simplicity of operations," Jason smiled, taking his drink as the waiter returned. "But I suppose I am as ready as I will ever be."

Isabel nodded, "One can only prepare so much anyway."

"That's true," Jason nodded, taking a drink. "But part of me thinks this is so surreal, that they Romulans have to be up to something. Its probably just me being paranoid but I was going to have security run some extra battle drills."

"You could always speak to our new Chief Security/Tactical Officer about that...have you met him yet?" Isabel inquired as she took a sip of her drink.

"Not yet, it's on my to do list."

Isabel replied, "He seems a little young, to be honest, but comes highly recommended with a rather impressive service record despite his short time out of Academy. Plus, he served on the same ship he was assigned to after Academy twice while he was in Academy... So it's been added to your list, hmm?"

"One of many things on my to do list...if Adam were here he would say that I am avoiding a conversation that I don't want to have. Its probably the same thing that Zeral would say as well," Jason sighed, taking another drink.

"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow at her Executive Officer.

Jason shrugged; he wasn't sure if he should be sharing this with Isabel, after all they had only been on two missions together and really didn't know each that well. He tended to think that starships operated better as families, everyone looking out for each other. After all, one had only to look at Kirk and Spock, Picard and Riker to see that there was some merit to that statement. "I'm sort of avoiding talking to Adam."

"You are? Why is that?" Isabel noticed the waiter coming around but waved him off - this was more important, not to mention they hadn't really looked at the menu.

"He wants to adopt a kid...one the orphans from the Veridian colony."

Isabel nodded slowly, "When did he suggest that? Do you not want to?" Part of her was glad he had decided to open up to her, but she also wanted to avoid influencing his thoughts on it too much - whatever his decision, Jason should be the one to come up with it.

"I honestly don't know," Jason sighed. He could at least talk to her about it, he knew that Adam was already confiding a lot in Joey and didn't want to put Summers in an awkward position that had him having to listen to both him and Adam. "I mean it's not that I don't love him...I mean I do...I picture myself spending the rest of my life with him. And it's not that I don't want kids, I mean I do...its just...well more complicated then that."

"What's more complicated?" Isabel watched him carefully, taking another sip of her drink.

"I mean the Malinche, while I don't consider her a ship of war she isn't exactly the best place to raise a family...and that's assuming I even knew what I was doing or that they would even let us adopt."

Nodding Isabel said, "That's true, though many parents have raised children on ships that were in danger at times. I grew up on a ship. As far as knowing what to do, I'm sure the Counselor or Doctor could assist; besides, most parents aren't ready - especially for their first child. The key is to work with your partner and just do your best."

“And how do we know that my best will be good enough?” Jason asked. He realized that parenting, at least not that he was talking about, was sounding more and more like a daunting task. A task that he wasn’t sure that he was at all suited for; it brought that feeling of doubt creeping back into his brain again.

"I don't believe any person knows if their best will be good enough until they try it out," Isabel replied. "Did you know for sure you'd be a good StarFleet officer until you had a chance to try?"

“I guess you’re right,” Jason sighed. “Although I suppose parenting isn’t really all that unlike commanding a starship.”

Isabel considered Jason's statement, then replied, "I would suppose not. There's a lot to it, you don't know how well you'll do until you do it, you're bound to make mistakes but try to make the best choices you can..."

"I just hope that I make the right choices - we have done a pretty good job of keeping Joey in line," Jason smiled. "What about you Captain, I hate to pry and ask but how are things with Derek?"

"Things are going alright....he's remembering a good bit more, but still has a ways to go. He's actually hoping to help out in the Security/Tactical department," Isabel replied.

Jason nodded, he didn't want to pry too much. Talking about the Borg was never easy; even more so when they had taken so much from someone that you loved. All you could do was sit back and watch as that person tried to make themselves whole again. He couldn't imagine what it must feel like to Isabel. "That's good," Jason nodded. "They say that the sooner they can get back to a normal life the better...maybe this will help to jog his memory even more."

Isabel slowly nodded, "That's certainly what Derek is hoping...plus, he's getting rather bored with nothing to do."

Jason noticed the waiter hovering nearby and forgot that he hadn't really even looked at he menu; he also didn't realize how hungry he actually was. He picked up his menu and scanned down it, selecting an old earth favorite. "We better order, I think the waiter is getting upset and I haven't eaten since lunch."

"Good idea," Isabel agreed, picking up her menu as well. Scanning it for a few moments, she found something and pointed it out to the waiter.

"There is just one thing that bothers me," Jason stated, as the waiter walked away with their orders. "Don't get me wrong but the fact that no one has tried anything has got me on edge. I don't want action but it feels to me like something is out of place...then again maybe I am just being paranoid."

Isabel shook her head, "I think everyone has that same thought, and there's still plenty of time for something to occur. For now though, we should be grateful nothing has happened."

"Indeed," Jason smiled, rising his glass. "A toast, captain, to old friends regaining themselves and for making new ones."

Raising her glass, Isabel said, "Cheers."

OFF:

JP by:

Captain Isabel Kersare
Commanding Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A

&

[Starbase 386 Crew]

<<Starbase 386>>
<Operations Office, 1015, Day 2>

Quinn left his meeting with Lange with mixed feelings; he clearly wasn't going to tolerate as much as Darkhelm had but there was evidence to suggest that for some reason he wanted Quinn on his station. That was the part that he couldn't really figure out. For as long as he had been in Starfleet people were always practically begging him to leave.

That was part of the reason that he applied for this transfer, he hoped that they would take one look at him and move on. When that happened he might have had a better chance of getting out of Starfleet; there were certainly days when he completely forgot why he had joined. He sighed heavily, stepping into his office for the first time.

He didn't bring anything really personal in. He wasn't all that sure that they would be keeping him around and he didn't really want to do any un-necessary packing. He headed over to the desk, taking a seat and calling up the specs for the station. Sadly enough, he had fallen asleep twice on the ride in trying to look over the specs for the station.

There was bound to be a learning curve for sure but he more that Quinn took a look at the systems the more he realized that curve was going to be rather steep. There were whole systems that he didn't have to worry about on the Athena.

"Crap, way more complicated then I thought," Quinn uttered. He swore a few choices words in Klingon before getting up and heading over to his replicator.

"Coffee, black."

The replicator made a noise that sounded like a burp and then stopped working. Quinn swore, more loudly this time as he went and retrieved his tool kit. Pulling the front off the replicator he went to work; hoping that this wasn't a sign of things to come.

OFF:

Lt. JG Quinn Scott
Chief of Station Operations
Starbase 386
Horizon Fleet

[Starbase 386 Crew]

<<Starbase 386>>
<Corridor, 1200, Day 2>

Quinn was not happy about having to spend the majority of his flight from the Athena next to a very chatty ensign that didn't seem capable of shutting up. In fact he had taken serious consideration into grabbing the nearest phaser and stunning himself to sleep. She didn't even take the hint when he closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep. It was even more annoying when he realized that she was assigned to Starbase 386 as well. When they arrived he looked for the nearest airlock to shove her out of...or jump out of himself.

Luckily he managed to lose her on the promenade. Quinn caught a glimpse of himself in a nearby display. He had brown eyes and brown hair and a powerful build that filled out his uniform well. He found the nearest turbolift and took it to operations, he figured that he should at least check in with the commanding officer.

<Operations>

Entering the Operations Center, he was directed to the commander's office.

"Lt. Quinn Scott reporting for duty as ordered."

Lange looked up at the young officer standing in front of him and quirked an eyebrow. "Well, Lieutenant, you certainly know how to get yourself noticed."

"I suppose that Captain Darkhelm had some choice words to say about me sir?"

"That is an understatement," Lange replied grimly. Point of fact, Darkhelm had advised him to send the Lieutenant packing back to a ground assignment as quickly as possible. Lange hadn't decided whether or not to take that advice yet. "However, you seem to have a bit of a flair for getting yourself into trouble."

"In my defense, I did help engineering put the ship back together again...and if you are referring to that incident with the security officer, well he should have paid better attention to what he was doing sir."

"Maybe so," Lange said. "However, I will not tolerate any shenanigans of that nature aboard my station. Is that clear?"

Quinn arched an eyebrow at that comment, apparently Captain Darkhelm had managed to get around the dummy message system that he set up and actually get a message to his new CO. It wasn't really all that surprising; she was pretty resourceful. Must have been the ex-Marine and Chief Medical Officer in her.

"You'll have to define shenanigans, its a pretty broad term sir."

Lange quirked an eyebrow at the other man. He could already tell he would have as much trouble with this one as he'd had with Behasun. That thought reminded him that he hadn't heard from their young heir-in-exile in well over a year. He'd need to follow that up with Starfleet when he had some time to think. "I define shenanigans, Mister Scott," Lange said slowly, "as any behavior that cannot be considered appropriate for a Starfleet Officer. I am a tolerant man, but I expect my officers to respect each other and work together like professionals."

Quinn stifled a smile at that comment, he sounded a lot like Darkhelm...which was good to a certain extent. Darkhelm had let him get away with somethings but always drew the line; it was a line that Quinn wasn't too keen on crossing alot. He had a funny feeling that this CO would be close to the same.

"I shall do my best sir...as for working together, that's usually not a problem."

"I'd advise you to make sure that it isn't, Lieutenant," Lange replied. "At any rate, you'll want to give your recommendations for your department's duty rotation to Commander Richardson as soon as you have a chance to get a feel for your people's skills."

"Right, about that. For some reason that is completely beyond me, some people find me..."

"Infuriating? Aggravating?" Lange didn't believe for a minute that Scott didn't know how he came across.

"I recall Blackwood using the phrase abrasive, tactless, and some Klingon word I won't dare pronounce in your company."

Lange actually grinned. "Oh, I'm sure I've heard it. After spending more than 25 years on freighters, I've heard pretty much every vulgarity in every major language in the quadrant. Your point, Lieutenant?"

"Maybe you could teach me some new ones, my point is that every other CO I have had has never wanted me. Why you haven't booted me out the nearest airlock yet is something that I can't fathom, surely Darkhelm must have given you a full report. I'm afraid that I'm not your typical model officer."

"In my experience," Lange said with a stern expression, "the perfect model officer is incapable of thinking on his feet in a crisis. It's no coincidence, in my opinion, that all of the most famous officers in Starfleet were ones who were willing to bend the rules when they needed to in order to get the job done or do what was right. I don't like slackers or officers that only want to goof around. I do like officers willing to think for themselves. And if that officer happens to rub a few people the wrong way on their way to my command, I can deal with that... as long as you understand, Mister Scott, that any time you bend the rules you'd better be willing to explain your reasoning to me in detail, because I'll have to explain it to the admiral."

Quinn thought about this for a moment; this wasn't at all like the talks he usually got from his commanders. Usually they were all about displaying thier authority over him and going on and on about how they would kick him out the nearest airlock the soonest that he screwed up. It was...well unexpected to find a commander that was willing to at least hear him out on some of his rule bending.

"I'll try my best sir," Quinn responded, trying hard not to let the confusion show in his voice. He wondered what angle Lange was working.

"If there is nothing else sir, I'd like to head down to my office. See about getting things in order and whatnot."

Lange nodded. "Dismissed, Lieutenant."

Quinn nodded and headed out of the office; things around Starbase 386 were certainly going to be interesting.

OFF:

A JP by:

Captain James Lange
Commanding Officer
Starbase 386 - TF22
Horizon Fleet

&

Lt. JG Quinn Scott
Chief of Station Operations
Starbase 386
Horizon Fleet