Blood and Iron

[Grayson]

[[Maran Surface, 1035, Day 2]]

The small team shimmered into existence among a forest with large trees, tress that could have hundred of years. In the instant Mark felt the ground under his feet, he moved to lean on a tree, watching one flank.

He looked to the others, especially the maran soldiers. With hand signals he ordered that a perimeter was formed. He needed to make sure they were secure enough to start analyzing the place.

After fifteen seconds, his communicator beeped three times. Each Maran soldier was positioned and the area was clear. Mark moved to meet Jason and Adam (NPC).

"Alright", started him. "Our first objective it'll be a sweep to the east and then we turn north, moving to a small farming land. Our first objective is to meet Severance Tann, a man that has information about the debris. Darkhelm objective was to find him when she disappeared. With any luck, we can find a trail that lead to her too."

Jason nodded, although he wasn't all that happy about being in the Maran wilderness. He had spent enough time with Jackson to know that there were some things out here that could rip a man in shreds. Although he hoped that they wouldn't find out exactly what those things were. He took a deep steadying breath, forcing calm through his system.

And then that familiar form of danger sense was tickling at the back of his neck.

"Get down!" Jason yelled, an instant before white disruptor fire exploded into the area around them. One commando took a hit and went spinning to the ground, while everyone else dove for cover. Jason ended up behind fallen tree, Mark and Adam next to him.

"Great little welcoming party," Mark grunted.

"They're Reman," Adam said, looking up from his tricorder. Adam fired off round or two with his own polaron rifle, sending a series of bright blue bolts in the general direction of the rattackers.

"Great, what they hell are they doing here?"

Jason didn't answer Mark's question, instead he popped up and guided by his own instinct fired away, the spears of blue energy explodind through the the underbrush and taking out one of thier attackers.

Mark didn't expect an answer. In his mind some things started to make sense. Some pieces fell in place, but, others question arised. It was a dangerous thing to have so many unanswered questions. No matter. The only issue at that point was survival.

The spook, rolled to his right until he had a better view of the situation. The Maran soldiers had succefully pinned some of the Remans. But there were at least three more Remans firing at them.

"Barrett! I need supressing fire. On three... One, two, three!!!"

Barrett opened up a barrage over the Remans and Mark rushed to a nearer tree. He could hear the Remans talking to each other. Mark took a long breath and then wade in, firing. One Reman got a shot square on the face and fell dead. The others two returned fire, as Mark expected. Remans were tough fighters.

With some effort, Mark found a rock to hide behind it. He looked at Barrett and using hands movements, indicated to the man to take the right flank. They would pressure the enemy at the same time.

Jason nodded, he felt bad for leaving Adam behind...at least until the young nurses weapon caused another Reman to drop with a smoking hole in his chest. Jason knew that he had been practicing on the holodeck...he just didn't think that he had been practicing that much.

Feeling that Adam would be safe for the time being, Jason rushed to a nearby tree, dodging and weaving as the Remans tried to lock on him. As if guided by some un-natural force, Jason never seemed to be where the beams of energy hit the ground, instead always just one step ahead. Slamming into the tree, he turned around and nodded to Mark, who nodded back.

The two of them popped out from cover, unleashing a deadly barrage that exploded into the large tree the Remans were using for cover. Smoke curled up all around the log as both Mark and Jason fired again, effectively making the Remans stay out of the way...least they be missing a head.

Mark brought a granade and threw it right over the log where the Remans were. "Fire in the hole!", he yelled, getting some cover.

There was an explosion and the sounds of phaser shots started to slowly stop. The Maran soldiers started to move forward, meaning they had took out their targets and they were going to check.

He moved to the log to check for survivers. There were no none. "Clear!", he yelled.

The Maran soldiers called clear too and for the moment, they have been victorious.

"Anyone wounded?", Mark questioned, searching one of the dead Remans.

"Just my wits," Adam responded. Jason noticed that he still hadn't holstered his weapon, probably a good idea given their surroundings.

"Nothing else on the tricorders," one of the Marans stated.

Jason looked down at the bodies of the Remans, they weren't wearing thier typical Reman armor but instead an odd looking varient.

"Romulan stealth suits," Mark grumbled. "Probably how they managed to get so close to us."

"Then we better keep moving," Jason responded.

Mark nodded in agreement. They still have a lot of terrain to cover.

OFF: To be continued...

A JP brought to you by

Lieutenant Jason Barrett
Chief Operations Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38897-B

&

[Hawkins]

<<Station security office, 2240, Day 1>>

?You want to do what???? The stations head of security said with a shocked look on his face.

?I want to be arrested,? fresh from a trip sickbay Jack stood opposite the slightly overweight man behind the desk, his hair an unkempt mess and sporting various bruises and lacerations to his face and hands and his uniform was undone and certainly not within regulation.

The security chief looked down at the message that Lieutenant Benson had sent him, the message outlining Jacks plan to get arrested in an effort to gain Intel on Jaran and keep a watchful eye on him until trial, he placed the PaDD back down, ?So what is it exactly you need me to do??

Jack went on to explain that he needed the chief to tell his deputies that Jack was arrested for destroying a civilian transport while working for Starfleet intelligence, causing the death of innocent men, women and children for the sake of stopping 2 terrorists, and that the Chief wanted him thrown next to Jaran so the traitors to the Federation were together.

The security officer nodded occasionally throughout the speech and when it was finished he pressed the comm panel on his desk and called security in, the security officers Jack had borrowed from the Malinche were still stationed besides the door so as not to give the game away.

While waiting for the new guards to arrive the Chief reached under his desk, opened a draw and produced a type one phaser, he slid it across the table, ?Just in case?. And remember the guards won?t know a thing about this plan, once you?re in there you wont be coming out without my giving the order?

?I understand,? Jack said sliding the phaser up his sleeve and removing and pocketing his combadge, just as he did so the door open to reveal two burly security officers?


<<Detention Block, 2253>>

Jaran sat with his back against the side wall of the cell, he was deep in thought about what Lowe was going to do, what he was here for and how he would achieve it. He was facing towards the entry end of the facility and looked up when a man was bundled in by Security, he didn?t seem to be putting up too much of a struggle really, but was clearly pissed about the situation.

Jaran eyed him like a hawk. He looked to his shoes, a tell-tale sign that most people neglected when they planted a mole in the cells. He scrutinised the shoes as the owner was hurried past and into the next cell along, there was nothing to suggest a mole.

He sighed and looked up, exhaling deeply. There was a degree of nervousness eating at his stomach. It hadn?t been there before, and it only intensified when Jaran thought about his old CO sitting in the cell only metres away from him.

?Get in there you son of a bitch!? The security guard shoved the back of Jacks shoulder in the direction of the opening, Jack quickly raised his elbow, and spun round hitting the guard square in the jaw, he?d no doubt feel a bit guilty about this later, the guard had no idea they were on the same side.

As the guard crumbled to the floor the other quickly grabbed the elbow and twisted Jacks arm behind his back, thrusting him hard into the bulkhead between cell openings in the process, the guard leaned in close and spoke, ?Bad move?.? Before Jack could do anything the guard spun him round and planted a punch squarely in his stomach causing him to double over, he then grabbed the scruff of Jacks uniform and threw him, coughing, onto the floor of the cell, then raised the force field.

Jaran jumped up as the officer thumped the guard. He moved down the line of the cell to get a clearer view as the other guard sent his new fellow prisoner doubling over. "Yeah that?s it!" Jaran yelled angrily at the guard. "Just like normal!" he continued to yell.

The guard wheeled to face him, "Sit down or I'm gonna beat shit outta you you miserable piece of Andtedian entrails..." he snarled.

Jaran laughed at him, "Be my guest you Bastard!". The guard growled and skulked away, taking his injured comrade and leaving again only the watch officer to supervise three prisoners.

Jack had managed to drag himself to his feet, knowing after that punch he?d most likely piss blood for a week, and managed to regain some composure, ?Hey! Come back any time ladies!? Jack called down the corridor after the guards as they left.

He stood, still in pain, and assessed his surroundings, he was unable to see Jaran in the next cell, but had caught a glimpse of the Bajoran carefully watching him as he entered. In the cell opposite Jaran there seemed to be a disheveled man who appeared to be rather intoxicated, he was looking towards Jack every now and then while laying on his bed, Jack kicked the force field forcefully with the toe of his shoe, ?There something I can help you with?! If not then by all means fuck off and stop staring at me?

Lowe glared at him and was reminded that all Fleeties were total tossers. He stood up, slowly and leaned against the wall making a show of his intoxication. "Go to sleep you arrogant shit!" he called in a slurred voice. "I'm a fucking Colonel!" he laughed and sat down mumbling.

Jaran looked right at Lowe when he said that, he felt some sense of apprehension - most likely because what he said was true. Jaran didn't know what to do with the feelings he was having. He stayed silent.

?A Colonel?! HA! Since when has looking like a tramp and smelling of piss been standard military uniform, stop drinking and try coming back to real world old man!? Jack said kicking the force field once again, ?let me guess, it?s the standard sob story about the horrors of the war right?! Well spare me, I?ve heard it a thousand times?

Lowe laughed him off and went back to the bench, he desperately needed to get the frequency right.

Jaran looked at Lowe, then moved to the dividing wall. "So what did you do then?" he demanded.

?Pissed off the wrong people, then I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and they found me ?? Jack said this while walking to his bed, he checked to see if the ?Colonel? was looking and then quickly and subtly placed the combadge under his pillow, leaving the phaser on him.

Jaran grunted. "So what exactly you do?" he asked again irritated. "Don't give me a handful of vagueness boy, what did you DO?"

?I didn?t do what I was ordered to, protected the federation from its enemies at any cost?? Jack didn?t want to be too open with Jaran, not wanted it to appear like this was why he was here?

The words of that sentence certainly touched a nerve with Jaran; he sat down against the wall and closed his eyes, seeing the green glow on the controls of the Arrowhawk as he sped away from Inferno Planet. "At all costs..." he repeated, barely above a mumble. He felt the anger burn up inside him again, "then you're weak... and spineless, and you deserve to rot in here like scum..."

He stood quickly, steadying himself for the approaching dizziness and then lunged at the far wall striking it with a fist, he wheeled around and kicked the bed hard before striking the aft wall with his other fist. He panted heavily and leaned forward, supporting himself with his head against the wall, hot tears burning his face.

?Weak? Spineless? For doing what I thought was right?? Jack yelled as the crashing stopped, he was well outside the script now, trying hard to defend the decision he made to himself. He had intended to come in here as an ally to Jaran, but after talking to the doctor his mind had changed, he maybe didn?t have anything to in common with this man, he had to remain true to himself.

"You're PATHETIC!" Jaran yelled, the guard stood up and placed a hand on his phaser. "You put some selfish shit in the way of the Federation you excuse for an officer!" Jaran screamed and ran to the force field, bounding off. He looked at the guard -"Let me OUT!"" he screamed, punching the electric wall. "I'll kill him! Let me OUT -NOW!" Jaran yelled, he felt his nose start to bleed.

?Well let me ask you something, which one of us has trouble sleeping?? Cos I know it isn?t me, not over this!? Jack said forcefully.

Jaran clenched both fists. "I'm not surprised, worm." He said angrily. "People like you... go through life making career choices, you don't see the big picture. You're a sniveling career monkey and if I ever get less than a wall between us I'll rip out your eyes and watch you eat them... it's possible, trust me." He said in a voice that he had practiced to tinge with danger.

?It wasn?t about my career it was about my soul, about saving the lives of innocent men, women and children, it was about what?s right!? Jack said, walking toward the corner of the force field near Jaran and changed the tone of his voice, making it less forceful and more genuine, ?How is your soul??

The words bore into him, into his soul itself, seemingly shaking it by its shoulders and asking the question. He had long ago given up with morality; "You risked the lives of the Federation for something far less, whatever that was - how many more innocent lives did you risk? How will you not drown in the blood on your hands?" He had no idea what the man did or didn't do, but he risked Federation lives for it, and for that he deserved to die. Abubukar Jaran may have killed a planet of unknowns, but it potentially saved countless billions across the Federation. That was his justification, that was his way of dealing with it. If Jaran had left Inferno Planet, billions could have died already. Or he could have stayed in a cell on Malinche, waiting for the Borg to attack... just 'conforming'...

?As soon as I killed someone in cold blood in their names, the innocent citizens I protected that you care so much about loss some of that innocence, that bloods on everyone?s hands. The Federation is more than just planets and starships, it?s a way of living, a common bond we all share, a moral code. If anyone seems drowning in guilt and the blood on their hands its you, don?t you see that??

Jack didn?t know why he was trying to connect with this man, why he was trying to awaken some small candle of humanity that might dwell within him, maybe it was that if he had gone down this path, he?d want someone to do the same for him?

"The men, women, and the children that you betrayed will I'm sure love to hear you potentially signed their death warrants to save their 'innocence'." He shook his head and walked. "You're an animal, a traitor, you don't even deserve to be held in a facility bearing the name of the Federation, much less wear her colours, and display her gold on your neck..."

?Well here?s the punch-line, the men I was told to kill, were arrested the next day when we tracked them to a space station, without so much as a disruptor fired. There are different ways to save the Federation, without betraying it, without sacrificing my soul, without soaking the Federation flag in the blood of all the people I killed trying to protect it??

Jarans eyes slowly raised, "Lucky" was all he said. He was trying, hard, to contain the emotions swirling in his gut. He couldn't put a word to them. They were just part of him now. He didn't know what to do with them, but he knew when he got them he reacted, against what he didn't know, but he just 'reacted'. Like stealing Arrowhawk, like escaping Malinche, like selling out to Tak...

Jack remained silent, allowing Jaran to hopefully consider his words. It was hard for Jack to know if he was making any progress without seeing his neighbour, but he did notice throughout his speech that the tramp across the hall wasn?t paying the argument much attention, he would have thought that he would have been?.

Lowe fiddled with the communicator until it made a quiet succession of chirps. "Guard!" he yelled. "I...am a Colonel of the Federation and I demand to be released at once!" he demanded, standing up. The guard looked at him sarcastically. Lowe brought round the small, palm-sized weapon. "No, really, I am" he said in a calm voice, he activated the communicator and all the force fields dropped.

He quickly raised the weapon and the beam crunched into the guards chest, sending him hurtling to the floor, a black thin smoke trail tracing his fall. Lowe stepped forward. "Lieutenant" he said, addressing Jaran.

Jaran stepped out of the cell, in slight shock at the suddenness of it all. He turned to look at the man in the next cell. "Boy" he said, insultingly. He knelt down to the corpse and picked the phaser up, he set it to maximum. Jaran turned again and looked to his 'fellow' prisoner. "Colonel?" he asked Lowe, needing to know what to do with the man. In these situations, you trusted the one who set you free, they were the one that had it worked out. If Lowe had planned to take the worm prisoner, Jaran didn't want to kill him.

Jack stood in disbelief at what was happening in front him, it seemed to happen so fast, and he knew he had to act quickly or this ?Colonel? would most likely shoot him without a second thought, he took his chance and lunged towards Jaran sending them both flying into a bulkhead.

Lowe looked down as the pair crumpled against the console, Jaran felt a twinge of pain shoot up his rib cage. He threw a swipe into the man?s jaw, then as a return punch came he grabbed the wrist and deflected the blow. Jaran Arc'd the mans wrist up over his head, placed a foot at the back of one knee, hard, and twisted whilst he sharply pulled - hearing a satisfying crunch he spun the man by his dislocated shoulder away from him so he rolled back towards the cell. Jaran touched his own lips, somewhere the man had got his own jab in and split his lip. He was too hyped up to feel it, he didn't even notice when it had happened. "Don't!" he shouted to Lowe as the Colonel raised the weapon.

Jack knew from experience that his shoulder was dislocated; he had to use all his strength to stop from blacking out as he lay on the floor looking up at Lowe raising his weapon. Jaran yelled towards Lowe causing him to turn, this provided Jack with just enough time to use his good arm to remove the small phaser from his pocket and point it up at Lowe, when he turned he seemed surprised to see the emitter pointed at him.

Lowe looked uneasily between Jaran and the other officer. "Lieutenant, kill him that's an order." he said, not taking his eyes off of his target. "Kill him now Jaran!"

Jaran looked between Lowe and the officer, his weapon changing targets as his hand swept across the room between the two of them. "I...I..." he stuttered. His eyes, and weapon, locked onto the prisoner. "Traitor..." he whispered through bitter anger.

Jack spoke without taking his eyes off Lowe, ?So what then Jaran? You escape, take down the guards outside? Shoot the fighters that will follow you?? Jack swallowed, trying to send the pain away with it.

?You said I was selfish for putting my own desires above the good of the Federation, you walk out that door and you?re no better, you did your duty, and part of that, the part they never tell guys like us, is that the final part of our mission is paying for it?.?

Jaran looked at the man...His words sunk in for just a moment. "What's your name kid?" Jaran asked him. He could feel his eyes showing sympathy to what was being said, and knew they were welling up. He knew Colonel Lowe well enough to know he would not take his eyes off of the guy on the floor.

?Jack, Jack Hawkins. Abubukar, the Federation needs you to stand trial, it needs it to absolve its own, it?s a fucked up deal I know, but you can?t ask the billions of innocent people in the Federation to have that blood on their hands, you need to take that hit?

Lowes eyes narrowed. He was well damn aware of intelligence operations in this sector. "You're a mole. Don't listen to him Jaran, he's a mole. He's posted under Kersare's command!"

Jaran looked to Lowe, then back to Hawkins. "Kersare?" he asked 'Hawkins'. "You work for Captain Kersare?" he asked. When Hawkins paused, Jaran fired at the ground between Hawkins thighs. "DO YOU WORK FOR CAPTAIN KERSARE?!" he barked.

Jack was trying hard to stop the room from spinning as he swallowed and answered, ?Yes, but I?m not here on her orders?

Jaran nodded. "So you really are a worm?" He asked rhetorically. "You work for Captain Kersare..." he seemed to juggle the information over in his head. He stood upright. "Kersare." he said flatly. He pressed the firing stud on the phaser and the orange beam lanced for its target.

Colonel Lowe dropped to the floor like a lead weight, a small gasp of pain that he didn't manage to stifle escaped into the room. Jaran looked at Hawkins and threw his phaser on the ground. "You owe the Captain your life" he said, and walked back into his cell, stepping over Lowe's corpse.

Jack managed to haul himself up to sitting position against the bulkhead and watched as Jaran walked back into his cell.

He slowly used his good arm to hoist himself up and round the control panel and punched the Comm button, ?Lieutenant Hawkins to Chief Jenson?we need security and med team to the Detention area, now?.? Before the Chief could reply Jack collapsed to the floor, the last thing he heard was the Chief yelling something over the comm as he finally succumbed to the pain. The room darkened and then there was nothing but black?.

Jaran sat down on the hard bed gazing into the room, deliberately not looking at Colonel Lowe. It seemed like days, but it must have been seconds; Security officers barged in and took up defensive fire-positions on either side of the doors armed with phaser rifles. Jaran slowly stood and walked to the mouth of the cell. He was greeted by an officer charging him, the butt of the rifle raised and heading straight for Jarans head. He closed his eyes and turned back to face straight ahead, waiting for the blow?

A very long JP by

Lieutenant Abubakar Jaran
Prisoner.
Flying Monk-eh
U.S.S Malinche

and

[Benson]

ON:
<<USS Malinche, Deck 7, Day 2, 1130 hrs>>

James walked through the corridors after he and Debora had parted ways and made his way over to Holodeck 2. Figuring that the primary holodeck would be in use, it was a good bet that holodecks 2 or 3 would be free for him to use. Benson rounded the corner and looked at the interface control panel for Holodeck 2

Peters heard someone approach the holodeck controls and sat up. Or at least, he tried to. One hard bump and a muffled curse later, he slid out from the access panel rubbing his head lightly.

James heard the rather dull thud and the curse and moved away as a rather annoyed looking yellow uniformed services officer crawled out of an access panel nearby.

"Can I help you?" James asked, concerned for the man's health.

"Only if your good at repairing holo-emitters and the holo-matrix imaging system." Peters sighed and leaned against the bulkhead. "If you're planning to use this holodeck, you might want to reconsider. It'll be at least another few minutes before I get it running again."

"Ugh... What about the other holodecks? Are they open?" James asked with a sigh.

Peters grinned and tossed the other man a spanner. "They are if you want to fix them for me. Only one operating perfectly is Holodeck 1... and I understand it's got a line halfway to Transporter Room 2."

"And I don't suppose Captain Kersare could afford the morale drop for me using the holodecks on real business..." James grumbled and sighed, letting his hands fall to his sides.

"To be fair, mister...."

"Lieutenant James Benson, Chief Security and Tactical Officer." James said, introducing himself.

"Ah. Lieutenant Peters, Chief Engineer. Anyway... TO put it plainly, I have no idea why so many people are still aboard the ship with dozens of things to do on the starbase... Mostly they're getting in the way of my repair teams."

"Well if there IS anything that I can do, let me know... otherwise I'll see if I can't scrounge together a few strips of latinum to borrow a holosuite on the starbase." James said with a slightly forlorn look.

"Know anything about holo-imaging systems?" Peters asked hopefully.

"Can't say I do." James said with a shrug.

"How long have you worked here on the Malinche?" James asked, frowning a bit as he looked at the Lieutenant.

"Since just before we headed on our last mission. So, not long. How about running software diagnostics?"

"Not so much... What do you know about Abubakar Jaran's attempt to take over the Malinche? Specifically about his accomplices?" James asked.

"I know a couple of the midguided little twerps were from my department. Other than that," Peters took a breath to calm himself, "I know that I want to personally toss Abubakar out an airlock... and that's about it."

"Well that helps me... I wouldn't want to throw out my back throwing him out by myself." James joked with a smirk.

"So how do they foil Starfleet Security and get him out of the brig?" He asked, trying to really get stuff together now for the trial.

Peters shook his head. "As I'm sure you know, Mister Benson, there are several ways to jam sensors... and it's very easy to take down a forcefield from the control panel. There's also a few ways to do it from within the cell, with the proper equipment. I haven't been to the brig yet to check for damage, so I don't know what exact methods were used. I would theorize a low-power sensor jamming device, or maybe a bit of sabotage by the engineers in the group, and a few phasers set on stun."

James slowly nodded.

"You think Jaran organized it? or someone on the outside?" James asked him.

"Could have been either. He and a mister Stone were rather chummy, as I recall. And Stone was involved."

"Stone... First name?" James asked, getting ready to take a note of that on his PADD.

"Don't know. As I said, I've only been aboard for one mission. A few days."

"What department? Engineering?" James asked, at least trying to narrow it down a little bit.

"Security, actually."

"Hmmm I'll look him up..." James said with a nod.

"Is there anything else you can think of that might be of any value?" James asked the Chief Engineer.

"There was some kind of craft in the Shuttle bay. It was destroyed just before Abubakar was apprehended. We've been working on repairing the damage, but full tricorder scans are logged in the engineering files."

"Thanks... you've helped me sort this out a bit Lieutenant. Anything I can do for you? Besides fix a holodeck?" James asked.

"Yes," Peters said quietly, "Make sure Abubakar gets what's coming to him."

"With what I have... hopefully he'll be put away for good." James nodded.

"Good. Now, if you'll excuse me... I need to finish cleaning up his mess. Nice meeting you, Lieutenant." Peters looked into his tool kit for the right spanner.

"Nice to meet you too," James said with a nod as he walked away, thinking of how much it would cost to rent a holodeck.

Peters nodded back, then stuck his head and arm back into the access panel.

OFF:

A JP by:

Lieutenant Todd Peters
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38897-B

&

[Kersare]

<<Yrel's Quarters, USS Malinche, 0901 hours, Day Two>>

Yrel had been so set on spending as much of the day as possible in the holodeck by herself, that she had been severly disappointed to find a message left by the Captain asking to see her as soon as conveinent. After discarding her skimpy holdovers, she got dressed in a formal uniform and headed out to the bridge.

The reason for her summoning wasn't all that forthcoming to Yrel as she walked the corridors of the ship, nor did she really care. If anything it was just a couple leftover questions about the events concerning Jaran's escape. Nothing she wasn't ready to be of help with.

When the doors of the turbolift opened, Yrel stopped short of seeing Captain Kersare there.

"Uh, hi Captain," Yrel greeting, stepping in. "You called for me?"

"Yes, good morning Lieutenant," Isabel smiled. "Why don't we step into my Ready Room?"

The turbolift doors closed the lift rose up to the bridge. When they stepped out, Yrel took notice of the lack of personnel on duty, taking it as note of how many had indeed taken shoreleave on the starbase.

Isabel walked into her Ready Room, pausing only slightly for the doors to open. Before taking her seat, she asked, "Have you had breakfast, Yrel? Or would you like something to eat or drink?"

"Well, I just got back to the ship when I got your message. I'll probably head to the mess hall after and get something," she replied. "But I'll have something to drink now. Hot Chocolate to get the morning started?"

"Absolutely," Isabel smiled and walked over to the replicator, getting a mug of hot chocolate for Yrel and setting it in front of her. After getting a glass of apple cider for herself, Isabel sat down behind her desk. She hadn't had cider in a while and for whatever reason it sounded rather good. "Let me ask you, what do you think of the Malinche thus far?"

"A fine ship, with a...uh..." Yrel tried to come up with a good response, "...colourful crew from what I've noticed, myself included. There's no question of the commitment to the ship, and all that it serves as in the Federation..." Yrel thought breifly of Jaran when saying 'commitment'. "...although there's a lack of 'family' dynamics that others ships seem to possess, at least between the senior officers...intel most of all..."

She nodded, "I'd like to change that. As Acting CO during the...Jaran mess, what is your take on it?"

Yrel took a big sigh, "That's a large topic to tackle, ma'am. I mean, I could first and foremost say that if not for my lack of command ability, Jaran might not have escaped, and with him a series of lives that have been left relatively unretributed for. On another hand, for what did happen, the crew acted within a great deal of skill and ability that I doubt others could have been equalled up to." She took a sip of her drink. "I've thought of during the trip here, and I don't know why it came to that. Where it had gone so wrong..."

"No need to beat yourself up over it, Yrel. Jaran's experienced at those sorts of things, and no matter how many preparations you've made, there's no way to be truly ready for something like what he did. You did very well in a tough situation," Isabel replied.

"Thank you, ma'am," Yrel replied with a bit of a unbelieving tone.

Isabel looked at Yrel, "The reason I asked you to come here is because I wanted to ask you something. I feel you did well when temporarily in command of the Malinche, and I'd like you to be my Second Officer. I've already discussed it with Mason, and he agrees... All that's left is for you to agree..."

Silence consumed the ready room, Yrel sitting motionless in her chair. "Second...Officer? Uh...um..." She shook her head in a vein attempt to collect her wits and the shocking news. Second Officer. Just when she thought she had been cleared of command, in all failure, she was now being thrown into it again.

"Are you sure that's really a good idea?" When she saw the serious look on Kersare's face, she paused again. "Well...okay. I'm...honoured to be given that position, ma'am. I won't let you down." Not a damn did she believe herself, of course, but she couldn't refuse this kind of promotion. Everyone she's ever served with had always told that no matter the promotion, never refuse. Always go up. Not exactly the smartest things to say, given all sorts of exceptions...especially for those in medical and science.

Isabel broke into a grin, "Excellent. I'm sure you'll do wonderfully. You're a good officer, Yrel, and I know you won't let me down. Now that that's settled...Have you been enjoying Shoreleave?"

"Probably more than I should be," Yrel let out a sly grin. "I, uh, spent the night over on the starbase...with one of the senior officers. A dashing kind of guy...if you get by the fact he's a dirtbag..."

"Well, I believe that would qualify as enjoying Shoreleave," Isabel replied, chuckling a little.

"After we're done here, I was planning on relaxing in the holodeck," Yrel decided to be curtious. "You haven't been stuck in this room since we left the Direidi, have you? You should join me."

Hesitating a moment, Isabel replied, "No, I made it to my quarters, Mason's office, the Detention Center on Starbase 259, and a few shops on the Promenade... I still need to speak with Captain Lansky about the Sirion and what exactly happened, find out about Jaran, and receive details about our next mission. I appreciate your offer, but could I perhaps take a rain check for now?" Isabel wouldn't have minded joining Yrel in the holodeck, but with all that she still had to do, she just couldn't see how she'd justify it.

Hiding her dissappointment, Yrel nodded. "That's really unfortunate, but I understand. What is the situation with Jaran now anyways?"

"Even considering what he's done, I wasn't very impressed with how he's being treated. I did manage to get the officers in charge of the detention facility to give him a few of his items back that had religious signifcance for him," Isabel replied. "Our new Chief Security/Tactical Officer seems to feel that he should be put to death."

"He's kidding, right?" Yrel suddenly wasn't too fond of their new cheif of security, and his ideals on the justice system. Not the first she'd encountered with those beliefs, of course, and certainly not the last, but still...

Isabel sighed, "He feels that Jaran is a danger to others and that he should pay for what he's done. I agree there should be some form of punishment, but I don't think killing him is the answer."

"I agree. I suppose the question is then, what exactly?" Yrel asked, no immediate answer coming to her. Although prison was the cliche answer, Yrel still thought that a bit much for Jaran. He still was a good officer...when he wasn't being a rebellious child...

"I'm not sure. It'll be decided by whoever presides over the court martial. Jaran wanted me to speak in his defense.... I didn't feel I could given the circumstances, and told him so, though I will be attending the court martial. Part of his fate depends on who's in charge of the court martial," Isabel replied.

"When is the court martial? I should probably attend," Yrel said, adding, "if for no other reason than I was the commanding officer of the ship during the...tragedy."

Isabel nodded, "That would make sense. I believe it will probably begin early tomorrow, though I've not received official confirmation yet; I expect to see that today. I can let you know when I find out for sure, if you'd like.."

"Much appreciated Captain," Yrel smiled. "Well, I'd better be off...R and R and all... If I'm needed, I'll be mostly in the holodecks."

"Alright, thank you Yrel," Isabel smiled. She was glad Yrel had agreed to be the Second Officer. One less thing for her to worry about. She did, however, still need to meet with Michael (NPC) and find out about the court martial..

OFF: JP brought to you by:

Lieutenant Yrel Sovereign
Chief Science Officer & Second Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38897-B

and

[Fairbairn]

<<Starbase Medical Bay, Diagnosis 1, 0940Hrs, MD02>>

"Stabalize her immediately!"

"Her heart rate's falling fast...it's moving below 130."

"Give her one hundred pets of Etazine and increase the flow of adrenaline in her blood system."

"One hundred pets...Etazine increased."

"Is she stabalizing!?"

"Heart rate's still dropping."

"We're losing her..."

Cameron Fairbairn swept over from his spectating position at the foot of Sarah Treala's bio-bed and dropped his medical coat to the floor. He would normally never breach another Doctor's procedure but the situation had fast become an emergency. Overnight the patient's skin had changed to that sickly yellow colour and now an occular implant had painfully and messily burst through the skin at her right temple. She was becoming a borg without the process of assimilation. Dr. Morientes had tried to reverse the symptoms by withdrawing the nano-probes but as she began the procedure, Sarah had gone into shock and her vitals were dropping.

Instantly Cameron began entering systematic codes into the pannel over the bed, if he kept it up he could keep her vital signs stable and monitor her biological activity. It was a difficult process but one he had taken charge of many times and was used to it.

"Increase the adrenaline again and keep her heart pumping for as long as you can." Dr. Morientes ordered the nurse who was attending with her. She then moved to the console and took over from Cameron, taking up his job.

Cameron stepped round to the patients neural display and began trying to wake the control centres of her brain, that was the reason for her gradual arrest - the activity in her brain was failing and preventing her body's systems from working. The last thing either of the Doctors wanted was to put her on support. A life support system would relax her body and allow the 'assimilation' process to increase. But with her rate falling as fast as it was, they both knew they wouldn't have a choice.

The realisation hit in minutes as Cameron considered how Ms Treala's condition in sickbay had been over recent days. Her brain was asleep and now her body was joining her mind as it could no longer fight the impending transformation.

"Wake her." He said flatly.

"What?" Asked Morientes, looking up. "You realise how much pain she'll be in? Do you realise how much this situation is going to affect her physically."

"If you don't wake her we lose her." Cameron argued back, his voice still calm. "And I can't afford to have that. Five minutes of suffering will make up for five years of being a mechanic vegetable before we find a bloody cure!"

A brief silence fell over the bed, the only real noise being the soft alarm of the monitoring strip as it sounded its warning of Sarah's condition. And of course the noise the administering tube made as the nurse levelled the adrenaline. Morientes continued to stabilise the vital systems with the console she had. Eventually all three medical staff realised they had to act and Morientes turned to the nurse at the foot of the bed.

"Prepare to administer a vial of Nerafin. We'll give her neural system a boost. She's going to need pain killers. Immediately." Morientes ordered

"I'll administer the pain killers, we'll numb her temples. She's going to be paralysed when she wakes up, her brain and her body aren't connected so be prepared." Cameron sighed. "Let's do this now. We can begin the procedure while she's awake and then slip her under again. We'll need to do this bit by bit."

[Grayson]

[[Maran Surface, 1100, Day 1]]

After their encounter with the Remans, the small group was more alert to new attack than ever. But, oddly enough, no attack came. If there were more enemies in the Forest, they weren't around or didn't want to attack. Any of that options annoyed Mark. To not know what was the enemy next move was dangerous.

Regardless, they started to approach Darkhelm's last known position, which meant they're about to arrive at Severance Tann's place.

Mark looked around and signaled to the Maran's soldiers to spread out and form a perimeter. He turned to Barrett. "Fifty meters ahead there's a farm. We should find Severence Tann and look for any trail that leads to Darkhelm".

Jason nodded. His tricorder indicated that there was indeed a dwelling ahead with one biosign present. From the readings it looked like that biosign was human, not that it surprised Jason. Many humans had settled on the lush farm lands of Maran to try and get back to a simplier time.

"Just one person," Jason reported.

"Then let's go."

Slowly, Jason, Adam (NPC), and Mark made thier way forward, emerging from the tree line and into a field of what looked like wheat that went all the way up to thier wasists.

They began to walk toward the structure and Jason began to get the odd feeling that something was wrong. In fact he would have to say that something was very wrong...

And then his danger sense flared into action once, again, slamming both Adam and Mark down on the ground as a hissing stream of phaser fire cut through the air right were they had been standing. Mark looked at Jason with a bit of an annoyed/shocked expression.

"What?"

Jason didn't answer. He pointed towards the structure.

"Ambush?" asked Mark.

Jason shrugged. Adam checked his tricorder. "There's only one biosign..."

"That doesn't mean anything", cut Mark. "More Remans with personal stealth units could very well hide here."

He brought the communicator and send an coded message to the rest of the team. It was time to bring the reinforcements and force the enemy to show their faces.

"Lieutenant", whispered Mark, "Our objective is unchanged, we need to find that man. I'm going to run towards the tree line and draw their fire, you locate them and neutralize. Understood?"

"Sure," Jason grunted. "Just don't get killed...this danger sense thingie still isn't an exact science by any means."

Mark nodded before taking a deep breath and standing up. The answering fire as instant but Mark was a fast moving target now, the blasts zipping through the air mere millimeters from where Mark had been a few moments before. Adam and Jason were on thier feet in a few moments, Jason's weapon tracking toward the source of fire.

And then the man fell from the tree, hit by at least a dozen or so very low powered blasts. He landed with a grunt and before he could move another muslce; Jason, Mark, and Adam all had thier weapons pointing right at him.

"Mr. Tann?" Mark asked.

The man groaned.

"I'll take that as a yes," Mark continued. "If i were you I'd cooperate now, you're surrounded by three Starfleet officers with very itchy trigger fingers."

"I should have figured the Remans wouldn't have been enough," Tann grunted. "But I assure you that you cant' get anything out of me...I've got nueral blockers in place."

Jason arched an eyebrow at that comment and looked over to see Adam digging around in his medkit.

"What are you doing?" Jason asked.

Adam produced a hypospray, a smiled on his face.

"Sodium pentathol with a few nuero inhibitors mixed in," Adam smiled. "Just something that I mixed up before we left the Malinche, thought that it might come in handy."

"What is that?" Tann asked.

Mark was now smiling as well.

"Oh its very simple," Mark smiled. "Its a truth serum, one that is based on your own biological make up. Sounds like Adam here as even added some new twists to it."

"Its about 25% more effective then general use sodium pentathol; oh and if you are hoping that I might run out, I have lots."

"You going to talk?" Jason asked.

Tann shook his head.

"I thought not, alright Adam go ahead and dope him up."

OFF: To be Continued

A JP brought to you by

Lieutenant Jason Barrett
Chief Operations Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38897-B

&

[Peters]

ON: <USS Malinche Main Engineering, 2130-ish hours, Day 1>

The Security officer scowled at Akios and tilted his head. "At this time of the night? I'd like to think he's in his quarters getting some sleep. Computer, locate Lt. Peters."

Peters walked through the door at that moment. "Computer, countermand. I'm Lieutenant Peters. You would be?"

The tall blue Aurelian jumped and turned at the voice. "Uh, I'm Ensign Akios, sir, Turuas'ta Akios. I was reassigned from USS Antares." From the looks of Lt. Peters' uniform the man had had a long and busy day.

Peters cocked his head to the side. He'd never worked with a giant bird before. Giant cats, yes... Giant birds, no. "Welcome aboard, Ensign. I wasn't expecting you, but then, I haven't been in my office to look at paperwork yet today. Care to join me for a moment?"

"Of course, sir. Thank you." Well, that excluded one possibility--his reassignment hadn't been requested here.

Peters led the way into his office and laid his tool kit down beside the desk. Looking at the pile of padds strewn randomly across the desk, Peters shook his head. "Maybe instead of killing Abubakar, I should ask that he be my secretary for the next few months... get all this straightened out... Sorry, Ensign, would you care for anything to drink?"

Akios filed away the name 'Abubakar' for future reference, and said, "No thank you, sir. I noticed on the way here through the docking bay windows that there's a lot of work being done on the ship. I'm ready to get started, but to be honest, sir, I don't have any direct experience with this class of vessel; just what was covered in Academy courses. For the past eighteen months I've been aboard Galaxy class ships. I've been reviewing the technical bulletins though, and I'll do my best."

"Well, Ensign, there you're in good company," Peters said as he sat down and accessed his terminal. "I've only been aboard ship a couple of weeks myself and my last few assignments were Starbases and older ship classes. Closest I've come to this ship is a Sovereign class... and I was a science officer on that one. Aha, here's the transfer file."

Akios didn't have an answer for that. More personnel reassignments? This time, he was going to look into it. He'd avoided his grandmother's political cronies like Regulan bloodworms since leaving Aurelia, but there were a few old friends he could speak with who might be able to find some things out for him, as much as he hated to ask for those kinds of favors. He'd done as much as possible to leave that life behind him when he left Aurelia.

If Peters knew anything about Aurelians, he'd notice that Akios looked rather flustered, despite his efforts to hide it. Hopefully if he did notice, the man would only think it was ordinary nerves.

Peters looked over the file quietly. The man, or bird, or whatever you called an Aurelian, was well-recommended, but not experienced. Still, every engineer had to start somewhere. "Hrm... 18th in your class. I would think any CO would be glad to have you on their ship. I certainly don't see any reason for 2 transfers in such a short time, but you are certainly welcome on the Malinche, Mister Akios."

"Thank you, sir," Akios said. "I guess it will be a learning experience for both of us. Do you have anything in mind for my work assignment? I could get some reading done tonight if you do."

Peters thought for a moment. "Well, it may not be the most glorious task ever, but... We had a lot of damage done to the shuttlebay earlier today. The Damage Control teams are just beginning to clean up the mess. I want you to report to Ensign C'eltor there tomorrow. She's supervising the repairs in that section and needs plenty of help."

"Yes, sir!" Akios said, standing at attention. "Will there be anything else, sir?"

"Calm down, Ensign. Don't sprain anything. That will be all for now." Peters smiled.

Akios nodded, and started to leave, but then stopped. "Uh, sir? I stowed my things and came here as soon as I was aboard--I don't have a quarters assignment yet..." The Aurelian shrugged in a very human gesture.

"Well, that could be a slight issue. Give me one moment." Peters turned to his console again and tapped in a command. After a couple of moments he tapped in another series of commands, and then turned back to Akios. "Deck 4A, Section 3, compartment 12. I've sent a note to the Quartermaster about it, so your name should be on the door in a couple of days."

"Thank you, sir. If there's nothing else, then, uh, good night?"

Peters nodded. "Good Night, Ensign. I'm sure I'll see you again at some point tomorrow or the next day. If you need anything else, let Ensign C'eltor or myself know."

Akios nodded and left Peters' office. First he needed to collect his things from wherever they'd been stored, and then find his quarters. Fortunately, the deck plans he'd gotten should show that clearly enough.

Peters leaned back in his chair and picked up the closest PADD to him. Reports, reports, and more reports. He hadn't even started on the department report the Captain wanted... there was too much stuff to mention. Still, if he could get the Holodecks working tomorrow, and make sure the Shuttlebay was off to a good start, he might just be able to leave the rest in the hands of the Starbase engineers and take a day or two off. But first, he had reports to sign.

OFF:

A JP with

Ensign Turuas'ta Akios
Engineering Officer
USS Malinche

[Barrett]

[[Maran Surface, 1130, Day 1]]

Jason had to admit that Tann was doing a remarkable job of resisting the drugs. After administering the drugs they had brought Tann inside. A quick sweep of the house revealed that there was no one lying in wait for them. At the moment Tann was sitting on a plain chair, staring off into nothinginess.

"He's got remarkably good will power," Adam (NPC) commented.

"He'll crack," Mark responded. "They always do."

Adam merely shrugged and went back to checking on Tann's vital signs.

"So, what if he doesn't talk?" Jason asked. "I'm assuming you have a plan B?"

"Torture", replied Mark bluntly.

Adam gaped and closed his face. "You can't be serious! We are Starfleet Officers! We don't do this kind of thing!"

"Listen, Townsen, you may live in a universe where the Federation is great, a beacon of light in the midst of darkness." seethed Mark. " In this line of work, we don't have the luxury of seeing the universe this way. We live in shadows and what we do its what keeps the 'beacon' shining over this quadrant. So, if you don't have the stomach for it, get out."

Adam was about to reply, when Jason interrupted. "This hardly the time for discussion, Adam. We'll talk about this later."

"No, Barrett, we won't", said Mark. "We have a mission and I intend to fullfill it." He approached Tann. "Listen, Tann, If I need to, I'll bring a telepath and he'll destroy your mind to give what I want!"

Tann, already drugged, was more suscitable to intimidation. Still, the man shook his head. "I - I have nothing to tell... you."

"Really?", said Mark, coldly. "So you have no utility to me". He brought a phaser and shot the man. Smoke risen for the man's chest.

Jason grabbed Mark's arm too late to stop. "You murderer!" cried Adam.

Mark offered a blank look to Jason, who understood. "Calm down, Adam. Tann isn't dead. Just stunned", said him, letting Mark's arm go.

"You never heard of misdirection? When he awakes up he'll be more cooperative now that he thinks we can kill him in cold blood".

Adam didn't appear to be happy.

The spook didn't offer Adam a second look, as he spoke. "Ok, since we got zero cooperation here, I want you", he pointed to a Maran soldier and best tracker among them, "to find any trail leading in and out of here. Search especially for tracks of Lt. Commander Darkhelm."

"Barrett, you'll stay here and interrogate Tann. We'll come around in a couple of minutes. I'll be outside, looking for any message Darkhelm must left behind."

Jason watched Mark go, an odd mixture of emotions beginning to take ship in him. He understood Mark's point of view but was convinced that killing Tann would get them what they wanted. Looking over at Adam, who was kneeling besides Tanns unmoving but still breathing body, he sighed heavily.

"He's a psycho," Adam stated bluntly.

"He's a spook, thats they way they are."

"Not an excuse," Adam shot back. "He would have killed Tann...in fact he'll probably still suggest that as a course of action."

"And Tann could have killed Amanda," Jason shot back, allowing his frusration at not being able to locate his friend to finally bubble over and come to the surface.

"You don't need to remind me of that," Adam stated coldly. "She was my friend to you know."

Jason wanted to say something to comfort him but didn't have anything to say. A few moments later, Tann came around, looking confused at what had just happened. Adam took a step back, crossing his arms and allowing Jason to step in and take up most of the man's vision.

"Alright, so you know that Mr. Grayson can kill you and that even with Adam's great medical help we might not be able to bring you back. Start talking."

"321 mark 156," Tann mumbled.

"What does that mean?"

"Cordinates...drop off zone...western hills....Remans...."

And with that said, Tann sank back to sleep.

"Wow, a guess a little phaser blast in the chest does go a long way," Jason said. He tapped his combadge, openning a channel to Mark. "Tann has give us cordintes in the western hills, I think thats where he sent Amanda...and he mentioned something about Remans."

"Pack up your gear and meet me outside, have Adam give Tann another dose of sedative I want him out of it for awhile."

"His blood pressure is already low.."

"Just do it," Jason snapped, before Adam could protest any further. He was already pretty sure that Mark would have suggeste the same course o faction reguardless of Tann's blood pressure.

Adam looked like he was about to object; in fact Jason could see the objection deep in his eyes but did as he was told. Jason knew that after tihs mission things were going to get interesting in thier relationship.

They packed up thier gear and headed back outside; hopefully this would be the last time that Adam looked at him like that...if not...well things were going to get interesting indeed.

OFF: To Be Continued....

a JP by

Lieutenant Mark Grayson II
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38897-B
&

[Abubakar]

ON: Detention Facility Starbase 259. 10:02. Day Two

Jaran wearily opened his eyes, his eyeballs rolled as he did so, the edges of his vision were darkened but he was aware that he was lying on his bed in the cell, not in a sickbay. He remembered calmly allowing the guard with the rifle to strike him down. He sat up and groaned as he did so, immediately touching a hand to his head. It was warm and damp, he didn't need to check his fingers to know it was from blood. Clearly he'd been tossed back inside and left.

Jaran coughed, feeling a roughness in his chest, he grabbed the edge of the bed as it became more violent. He placed a hand to his mouth as he felt something coming up, he grimaced to see his own blood being coughed over his hand in a light spray. His head throbbed and didn't want to risk standing.

Ensign Tara Hill nodded to her fellow officer as he left the room. She sighed heavily and logged in to the console, beginning her 9 hour shift stuck in the oppresive room. It didn't help much knowing she couldn't even sneak off for a break as there were now 2 marines permenantly station outside the facility, and two extra guards on the inside. She looked over to the sole prisoner and wondered 'why' for a second. From what she knew, he was a promising officer, experienced, competent, he should have made an LC by now she mused.

She frowned as she noticed something, he wasn't right, not in the least. She hurried over to the cell and locked eyes with him, for the first time seeing the blood-matted hair and more blood on his hands. She tapped her comm. badge - "Ensign Hill to sickbay, medical emergency in the facility."

The call came through the sickbay comm system and interrupted both Dr. Fairbairn and Morientes as they worked on removing the nano-biotic technology from their patient. So far the procedure was going well with no real problems but it was a long process and it would be a while before it would be complete. Cameron placed a hand on the doctors shoulder and smiled. "I'll get it, Elsha, it'll let you finish with your patient. I'll return to the Malinche but let me know if her condition improves." She smiled and nodded then returned to work as he tapped his comm badge. "Dr. Fairbairn to Ensign Hill - I'm on my way." Then with a swift movement he slid his medical coat back on, grabbed his prepared aid kit and was on his way towards the detention area. He knew, without fail, whom it concerned.

Baring that in mind, Cameron's arrival at the detention area was far from dramatic. He was immediately waved aside by the concerned looking young Brunette that would be Ensign Hill who gestured into Jaran's cell and blatantly stated: "He's been injured...for all I know he's been like that all night but I'm not quite sure how it happened."

The Doctor nodded and unslung his pack as he wandered to the forcefield. He'd diagnose the Bajoran himself, and of course decide on his own prognosis. "Okay I understand. Can you lower the forcefield for me?" He asked as he moved forward. The Ensign obliged willingly - unlike the last guard - and Cameron muttered a brief thanks as he entered, pack opened and medical tricorder at the ready. "Abubakar - nice to see you again." He said with a brief smile.

To Jaran, the room was rolling around. He felt positively pissed as a newt, along with the hangover that came afterwards at the same time. He tried to look up but he couldn?t focus his eyes on Fairbairn. ?Doctor?? he weakly managed to breath. He raised a shaking hand to his throat to indicate the pain.

Cameron knelt down and moved himself and the pack closer. The sarcastic moment was over. The healing moment and little personified epiphany had begun. He lifted a litte vial into a hypospray to dull the pain firstly and injected it very lightly into his patients neck. Then with that removed and another vial in place, he injected an enhancement drug that would tone the nerve damage and clear the bruising on the throat. "That'll take a moment, okay?" He said softly. "Let the pain fade and the relaxant will sink in, then you should be able to talk."
During the silence, the Doctor placed the vial back into it's casing and into his pack and began scanning with his tricorder.

Abubakar felt slightly better as the drugs took effect, but only slightly. ?Thanks? he coughed. He touched his head and again pulled back a bloodied hand from his blood-matted hair after a sharp pain. He winced and dropped his head, sighing heavily.

The display of injuries appeared on the body map on the tricorder. His blood pressure was also high, the left side of his cranium fractured. The Doctor sighed as he took the information in and looked up, closing the tricorder over. "What in Gods name happened to you?" He asked quietly. "You didn't try to break out of here did you?"

Jaran smiled weakly. ?You know, I?d usually be too proud to tell you, but truth said - I just don?t give a shit anymore Doctor.? He looked up, pleased that the room was no longer trying to jump around everywhere. ?They tried to kill me, by pouring the wax from my prayer candle into my nose? a tear rolled down his cheek, and he couldn?t articulate the feeling that had caused it. ?It didn?t work, obviously, and later on my old CO infiltrated the area and tried to break me out.? He looked away and to his hands, the left of which was shaking.

?I killed him.? Jaran said bluntly. ?But they didn?t see that, and they cracked me with a rifle and chucked me back in here.? A word kept running through his mind, sort of taunting him like a playground episode; ?broken?.

Cameron sighed heavily. His mind was filling with a blank fug and the tiredness that seemed to follow him around crept up. Patients were out of the ordinary, he knew from experience that you would never ever just have an illness or an injury to treat - there was always a little more. Slowly he sat back onto the floor - resting his behind and lifting his knees casually. "Listen to me...Abubakar? listen carefully. Clear your head - tell me what happened." His voice was soft and comforting as he spoke. "I need to know for YOUR safety. I WANT to know."

Jaran looked at Cameron deeply. There was a large part of him that just couldn't care less anymore, the part that would have been too proud to let anything out was dead. All that was left in that moment was the shell, he just didn't care. He shrugged. "Captain let me have some items back, they used them to try it..." He leaned back and rested his aching head against the metal wall. "Then the response team to the weps alarm...well they didn't see that I saved Hawkins life... they just saw me and no forcefield, a target."

"You met Hawkins?" The doctor asked.

Jaran sighed. He closed his eyes, it was easier to breathe, less painful. "He went undercover, that boy's got some issues." He grunted some kind of laugh, "like I can talk..." he trailed off. He met Camerons eyes. "Don't waste time on trying to get to me, I'm a dead man, sooner or later - someone or somebody else. That kid needs some help, there's something that he's fighting. I looked into his eyes Doctor, I looked and saw an echo of myself staring back. Get him before it's too late, please."

"He came to compare himself to you. That's why he wanted in...personal endeavour." Cameron laughed, feeling despondant. "Christ knows what he expected to find wi' you. We are all different - us beings in the Universe. Not one of us follows the same path - they may look similar but they all differ in the details. YOU are a troubled soul my friend. 'Oor pal Lieutenant Hawkins is a troubled mind. Yet he worries me."

There was a thick silence as the setting of words sunk into the atmosphere. Cameron hadn't entirely lost his professional mindset. He just wanted to be friends with his new found patient before taking anything further. After the silence became penetrable he gave his quick diagnosis. "Your skull is fractured on your left temple. I can't repair that here so I'm going to have you moved to sickbay."

He spoke without laying eyes on Jaran. His sight focused on the wall behind the prisoner as he considered the prospect of everything that was about to occur.

Jaran silently absorbed his words, as best as he could with his sporadic concentration. He sighed heavily. "I'd prefer to stay..." said quietly. Looking past Cameron and into the room. "Is it life threatening?"

The reply came with a brief nod. "It is, yes. You'll notice your concentration dipping in and out and your head will be groggy as if filled with a liquid. That's the effect of the blood being pumped into that area of your skull." Still despondant and distant.

He nodded, damned slowly, and bit the inside of his bottom lip. "Then I want to stay" he repeated quietly.

Another cold silence. The Doctor didn't quite know how to respond to this, he turned and settled his blue eyes into his patients. "You want to stay?"

Jaran looked back. "I'm already dead... I told you. I'd rather it happen now, than have to look Captain Kersare in eyes across that court-room"

"You're talkin' shite..." Cameron murmured. "I'd put it down to the plasmatic liquid forming a slow soup into the side of your cranium but to be honest I think you've just been beaten up a wee bit too much in life. I'll never claim you were a good man, Abubakar, but I'm aware of how innocent you can be."

Another pause - not as long as the previous silences then a stray thought popped into the Doctors head. "What if I had you transferred to the Malinche sickbay?"

Something inside of him lifted, an optimistic feeling - then it deflated again as he envisaged the looks of everyone he'd meet en-route. Still... "Malinche? It's safe there" he said flatly, as usual. He didn't know what it was, but the idea of going to Malinche didn't make him want to just wait here to die anymore, there was something 'safe' about that place that made it not matter.

Cam knew that offer would hit a stray nerve. He sensed Abubakar's connection to the Malinche and understood his dedication to Captain Kersare. "I can have the procedure to repair your skull ordered to the Malinche. Would that at least be agreeable?"

Jaran vaguely nodded and began to stand, faltering as he did so, he supported himself on the bench with a flailing right hand. Pain shot up his wrist as he made contact with the bench, clearly he had sprained it or something when he fell. He winced as eased himself into a standing position. "Why do you care?" he asked, making eye contact with the Doctor.

Cameron didn't think about what he was going to say but he stared back for a long time. He knew he'd never figure out what the man was thinking though, ever. After a long sigh he gave his reasoning. "Because I think there's more to you than the burden of what happened. And I don't want to see that slammed up in a Starfleet prison."

The pair stepped over the threshold. "I doubt I'll live that long, but I appreciate the sentiment." Jaran replied. He couldn't tell if his head was swimming with its usual background vocalizations and sounds, or if it was the injury.

Cameron extended an arm and supported Jaran as they moved out. "Procedure shouldn't take long but it gets you out of the detention cell - I'll file the paper work when we've got you fixed up." He sighed, wondering just how happy Isabel would be with this. OR James Benson. Both were friends of the Doctor's and he didn't want to disappoint them but he felt an attatchment to Jaran's plight.

"Ensign Hill - our prisoner needs to be transferred to the medical facility aboard the USS Malinche. I'm using my medical authorisation for now but I assure there will be a security report filed within the next ten minutes."

The young woman eyeballed both men and then gazed down at an orders PaDD. "Well, Sir, I do need you to sign off on this with your authorisation."

"Certainly." Cameron said suavely, taking the PaDD with his spare hand he entered in his security clearance code for a medical emergency and handed it back. "If you'd be so kind as to transport both of us, Ensign."

Jaran looked between the Cameron and Hill, and noticed the two Security staff at the door shifting uncomfortably. Jaran kept his head down, he was aware that his body was hunched as he stood next to Cameron, allowing the man to take some of his weight and aid his balance. He stood still, his left hand still shaking and the room beginning to move around again as the beam took hold.

As the blue beam softly dematerialised, Cam felt his form re-appear and shuffle and blinked around to see his own sickbay. His own terms. A young nurse he hadn't met moved to aid the weakened Jaran and they managed to shift him onto a biobed. Then the Doctor unslung his aid pack and reached for a vial of Dozathanol to insert into his hypospray. One quick injection and his patient was under.

Jaran shuffled over to the biobed, the nurse seemed apprehensive, not afraid but certainly cautious. He caught her eyes darting around, as if looking for the security team that wasn?t there. His heart slumped at the situation, not two days ago in that frame of mind he?d have paid no mind to dropping Cameron and the nurse and making his escape. ?I just don?t c?.? he started as the drug took hold and slumped into unconsciousness tormented by his own self.

A JP by:

Dr. (Lt.) Cameron Fairbairn
Chief Medical Officer
USS Malinche

and

[Kersare]

<<Kersare's Quarters, 1022, Day 2>>

After meeting with Yrel, Isabel had decided to return to her quarters. The main report she was still waiting on was from Engineering and considering the amount of damage they'd sustained, Isabel had a feeling Todd wouldn't be able to get the report to her right away. Perhaps later she'd stop down and see how things were coming. Already a rumor had gotten her way that there was a line for the holodecks.

So far, her plan for the day involved speaking with Michael (NPC) about his crew and the Sirion, and to see how he was doing overall, and finding out when Jaran's court martial was. Isabel found it curious that she still hadn't received word, but perhaps they were busy.

For the time being though, she'd decided to find a place for the painting and music box she'd gotten on the Starbase with Mason. The music box she gently placed on the small table next to the couch. Frowning slightly, Isabel finally settled on a spot in the main room for the painting. Just as she was about to hang it, she heard her doorchime. Putting the painting down, Isabel sighed and said, "Come in."

Slowly a timid looking Britny (NPC) entered Isabel's quarters. "Excuse me, ma'am, I don't mean to interrupt you..."

"Not at all," Isabel grinned. "How are you adjusting, Britny?"

Smiling now and feeling more relaxed, Britny replied, "It's all very exciting..and there's so much to learn! I've been trying to catch up with it all but it's difficult."

"I'm sure you'll get used to it," Isabel assured her. "Not that you aren't welcome to stop by, but did you have a specific reason for coming by?" She nodded towards the PADD in Britny's hand.

"Oh, yes, this came for you," Britny replied, handing the PADD to Isabel. "It seemed rather important, Captain, so I thought I should bring it to you right away."

Isabel nodded, "Yes, this is about the court martial. And don't worry about calling me 'Captain' unless we're on duty." Scanning through the information on the PADD, Isabel found what she was looking for - the court martial was set for 0800 hours the next day.

"Alright, I'll try to remember that. Is there anything you need me to do?"

"Actually yes, there are a few things," Isabel said as she sat down at her desk, motioning to a nearby chair for Britny. Quickly she tapped at a PADD, then handed it and one other one to her Yeoman. "The first one I handed you has a message that should be sent to the entire crew - it's announcing that Lieutenant Sovereign will be our Second Officer. The second one contains a message that should be sent to Ms. Sovereign."

Britny paid close attention, then repeated her instructions, "First one to the entire crew, second one to Sovereign, got it."

Isabel smiled, "Exactly. Now, do you know where Captain Lansky and the Sirion survey team are?"

"They have quarters on Deck 4A. I haven't noticed them leaving the ship, but then again that's not really my main job here," Britny informed her.

"Very good. I need to go speak with Mr. Lansky. Have you been in a holodeck before?" Isabel quirked an eyebrow at the young woman.

Britny shook her head, "No, can't say that I have. All I know is that they must be popular...the line was really long a little while ago."

"Hmm, well, once you've sent those messages out, meet me outside Lansky's quarters and we'll see what's going on wtih the holodecks. I need to get the report from Engineering anyway," Isabel mused.

"Of all the messages and reports I've seen, that's the one report I haven't seen come through for you," Britny laughed.

Isabel nodded, "Indeed. I imagine Engineering's fairly busy. I'll see you in about twenty or thirty minutes then?"

"Absolutely, I'll get started right away," Britny said, nodding to Isabel and heading out the door.

Perhaps the day wouldn't be a total waste, Isabel thought. At least Britny seemed to be working out well. And maybe she'd learn some more about the Sirion after speaking with Michael. Only one way to find out...

OFF: Tag Sovereign, Engineering, Court-Martial-ly type people

[Sovereign]

<<Holodeck 2, 1030, Day 2>>

It was absolutely astonishing how effective throwing her weight around as the new Second Officer got Yrel. Yesterday, according to chatter in the hallways, the holodeck (1 was the only one operational) had a line up that consumed a deck, with the entire crew twice over reserved for more time after that. Apparently, the only way to have kept smooth pace for the crew as the other holodecks were in repair, was to have everyones reseveration only for thirty minutes each...allthough even then not everyone got access by the time the day ended.

It was also chatted that the sight around holodeck 1 was hilarious. Numerous crewmembers standing impatiently in the hallways wearing all kinds of exotic attire for the whatever program they intended to run. One couple had dressed as a crude Viking couple, the woman wearing almost nothing, while a pair of women came dressed as officers a hundred years ago for some Kirk simulation. Something about wanting to be swooned over?

Yrel had already made a reservation back while on route to the starbase, along with others, and when she was told moments ago that her reservation might be pushed back due to volume, that's when Yrel asserted her new augmented position on the Malinche.

Now she sat comfortably in a place that had a striking resemblance to home. A quiet, completely isolated beach, with the only sounds to be heard were soft and nature related, as well as the beautiful waterfall that thundered before her. The temperature was balming, allowing one to only wearing a swimsuit for any more clothing would surely lead to heat exhaustion or stroke if they didn't make constant visits to the cool and refreshing waters that pooled at the foot of the waterfall. Next to her was a basket filled with a replicated assortment of foods she knew as a former doctor to the BaKu people were good for expecting mothers...as well as a small assortment of chocolate.

'Relaxation at its best,' she thought smiling, laying out on the silky blanket she had set out. A rare breeze swept through, causing a few strands on her red hair to dance up and fall in her eyes. When she returned the strands to their place, she bagan to hear movement through the forestry brush that surrounded her little paradise. A moment later, a feminine yelp and the sound of something crashing to the ground got Yrel to her feet. She moved over towards the sounds, pushing a bit through the brush and found a woman in uniform nursing her leg, with a PADD having skittered ahead of her.

"Are you okay?" Yrel asked as the woman looked up. "Leg injured?"

"No ma'am, just sore," she replied, working steadily to her feet, collecting the PADD while she did so. "Are you Lieutenant Sovereign?"

"Yes," Yrel replied, helping the woman along and into the more open area.

"This is really beautiful," the woman said, looking about. "I can't believe there's something like this in the ship."

"The wonders of the holodeck," Yrel gestured to the blanket. "What'd you go fighting through forest brush to see me about?"

At first the woman seemed a bit puzzled, then snapped back and handed the PADD over. "It's from the captain."

Yrel took it and read it over. 0800 hours for the courtmartial of Jaran.

"Thank you," Yrel nodded, seeing the woman, whos name was coming to mind as Brinty, the captain's yeowoman, watching the waterfall in admiration. "I modelled it after my home."

"Beautiful home," Britny said.

"In moderation..." Yrel added a bit dissappointingly. "It's nice to be here once and awhile, but living her for a century is a bit much." When Britny turned and gave Yrel a cocked eyebrow, Yrel elaborated. "I'm 153."

"You're doing well for the age."

Yrel laughed. "I'd like to think so too."

Britny laughed too. "It's a pleasure meeting you, but I must be off. I'm due to meet the captain again. Uh...is there an easier way out? Somewhere where I don't have to hurt my other leg?"

"Absolutely," Yrel gestured behind her. "Computer exit."

The exit appeared completely out of nowhere and Britny headed for it after a short pause. When she was gone, Yrel went back to her R&R.

[Hawkins]

<<Sickbay, 1015, Day 2>>

Jack had been treated on the Starbase the night before, his shoulder reset and Dr Fairbairn?s alterations to his face undone, but his shoulder was now in agony again and he had decided before doing anything else he would go and get something to take the edge off. This also had the advantage of keeping his mind from thinking too much about what had happened the night before, he knew he would soon need to think about the events of 12 hours ago, but for now he had decided that ignorance was bliss. To that end he had just had the pain treated by a young nurse and given a checkup, he was hoping to see Cameron but the nurse had mentioned he was on the Starbase, so he had promptly finished up, thanked the nurse and began the trek to his office.

Jack walked out the door and began heading down the corridor, his shoulder was still sore, but when he thought about how last night could have gone it could be much worse. He rounded the corner to enter the turbolift that would take him back to his office just as the doors started to shut, ?Hold the lift!? he yelled to the crewman standing inside.

Debora pressed the console and the doors Closed "Oh I am so sorry..." she said at first then grinned, as the doors opened, "Just joking," She held the lift got him.

Jack stepped into the lift after jogging a few steps, ?Thank you?, he offered the crewman a smile before speaking to the computer, ?Deck 5?. It was at this point he realized who he was standing with, the Malinche only had two diplomatic officers and one was a man, ?How are you Lieutenant Angelini??

"I am fine." Debora grinned. "How are you... Lt Hawkins is it?" She asked.

He replied staring straight forward, he knew from glancing through the senior staffs personnel files that Lt Angelini used to be in Intelligence, and he did enjoy keeping Intel officers slightly off guard, ?Aside from the shoulder?and bit of a headache?and the fact my offices is being used as a storage cupboard?I?m fine?.

Debora arched her brow, "What you don't like making eye contact when talking to someone?"

?Oh, I have confidence issues?? Jack said, dead pan.

Debora grinned and looked at him, and then extended her arm and gave him a one armed Hug. "Awww don't we all." She smiles, "But we get through it together huh?"

Jack turned, dropped the fa?ade and smiled, ?You know I?m feeling better already?, he winked at the Lieutenant, he had to admit he was surprised, Angelini certainly didn?t seem like most of the Intelligence officers he?d met, former or otherwise.

"About time you dropped that confidence act?" She let him go a grinned... "I may not be an Intelligence officer anymore, that doesn't mean I don't know how to read body expressions." She grinned.

Well I guess it is a skill useful in both our chosen professions?, he said just as the turbolift reached its destination, ?Interest you in a coffee?? he motioned towards the now open doors.

"Free coffee? Sure... and probably teach you a thing or two anyway..." She chuckled walking out onto the main deck.

?Oh you think so do you?? He said smiling as he followed her out the door.

"Yes..." She said confidently walking beside him.

?And what knowledge do you think you have to impart? cos ya know, I know quite a bit?.? He said as they concluded the short walk to the ACIO office, the door hissing open.

"Anyone can remember bunch of facts, or manipulate their way in obtaining knowledge." Sarah chuckled... "So the question is... what you want to know?"

Jack walked around the piles of equipment that the engineering teams had dumped in his office, clearing the guest?s seat as he went and walked to the replicator, ?Well we could start with what coffee you might like??

"Cream two sugars." She smiled

?Computer, one Coffee, cream and two sugars, and one black?, the two mugs materialized and Jack took them both to the desk, he handed the correct one to Lieutenant Angelini and pulled the seat away from the desk, signaling for the Lt to sit down. He then walked around the other side and swept his arm across the desk sending equipment clattering to the floor, ?sorry about the mess?.? He said sitting in his chair.

Debora chuckled... "You are such a treat" She grinned taking a sip of her coffee.

Jack sat back in the chair, put his feet up on the now clear desk and spoke with a quizzical look on his face, ?A treat? How do you figure that?? He took a sip of his own coffee, burning his mouth in the progress and trying not to show it.

Debora noticed it and took and another sip. "Mmmm I swear these coffee get hotter and hotter every time...sometimes they plainly burn..." She said trying to make him feel better. "As for the treat... just saying you are making me laugh...it is a good trait." She grinned.

?Not many in your former line of work would agree with that, sense of humor isn?t usually high on the job description for an Intelligence officer. I guess that makes you a treat as well?? He held up his mug as a toast.

She raised her mug with his "Well I believe I am no longer in the Intelligence field so not really a treat, besides it never hurts to show some emotion... I mean... your superior officer certainly did after I slapped him."

Jack nearly spat coffee all over the desk, ?You?You slapped him?!?

"Yeah... he is so Paranoid, the only meeting with him. I slapped him and told him to snap out of it" Debora said with a nod. "Don't worry, then I left him speechless when I kissed his cheek."

?Wish I had been there to see it, I just told him to go to the doctors to remove the metal rod from his ass, doesn't seem enough now?? Jack said smiling at the story he had just been told.

"Tell me about it... he thinks he knows everything please... he is extremely paranoid, I feel like slapping him again" She chuckled.

?Well I wont hold you back? Jack said chuckling back, ?Though I think its par for the course when you wear grey for too long, what made you decide to switch to purple??

"Oh there is a simple reason... I look good in Purple" She grinned.

?And the more complex reason?? Jack asked, determined not to get deflected from the question.

Debora opened her mouth then closed it... "I felt like it."

?Now you sound like an Intel officer??

"Did you actually expect me to show you all my cards?"

?Did you really expect me not to ask??

"Did you really expect me to answer?" She asked with a grin.

?Did you?? Jack paused while trying to think of another question then shook his head slightly, ??.nope, I?ve got nothing?? He smiled briefly then spoke again, more seriously ?I guess whether or not you answer depends on how much Intel officer you have left in you.?

"Why Mr. Hawkins, are you recruiting me?"

?Just curious Ms. Angelini, just curious?? He said, leaving a silence hanging in the air.

"Please call me Debora." She grinned leaning back in the chair.

He would let her off the hook for now, but his curiosity was peaked now, eventually he?d work out why she was now sat across from him wearing purple instead of grey, he liked a good mystery, and this diplomat was certainly a mystery. ?And by all means, call me Jack? He smiled back and took another sip of coffee.

"I am glad you think so..." Debora winked.

?Glad I think what?? Jack asked, somewhat confused.

She looked at him and smiled "That I am a mystery..."

?Telepathic now are we Lt??

"Nope I am a mere human." She smiled.

?Well you seemed to have a pretty good idea of what I was thinking?? Jack said, casting his mind to thinking about a turkey sandwich.

Debora shrugged. "Well I was looking into your eyes that time."

?And the mystery deepens?? Jack said, a wry smile on his face as he finished the last of his coffee, placing the mug down on the desk, noting that it should probably be polished but was currently scuffed and dusty, it really had been a while since this room had been used.

Debora grinned, "What? I know how to read people by looking in their eyes, I was trained that way from my Uncle."

Jack had a lot of experience reading people and had become quite adept at it over the years, he had to do so when he was detective, but even he had to admit he was impressed, ?Its quite a skill, you must have had some uncle??

"Well it is a Family thing, My sister Sarah, she does it better then I can. And my Cousin Gabriela...her's is unmatched."

?Well remind me never to play poker with you, and certainly never with your family?? Jack said with a wink.

Debora grinned. "I like you."

Jack nodded his head slightly, ?Well I?ve a very likable fellow??, he left the mock arrogant comment hanging in the air a while before continuing, ?oh and you?re not so bad.? He said winking once again.


"So tell me, why am I such a mystery?"

Jack leant forward as if to reveal some truth to the Lieutenant, ??.It?s a secret?

Debora laughed... "Well I can make sure you tell me sooner or later."

Jack remained leant forward, ?You?re welcome to try?? He sat back in the chair once again just as the door chime sounded; he called out for the person on the far side of the door to come in and in entered 3 engineers to clean out the office. ?Maybe we should get out of their way?? he asked Debora, ?Fancy a bite to eat, I?ve yet to explore the Promenade??

Debora rose up, "Sure why not." She smiled.

Jack matched her and rose from his seat, stepped over boxes and smiling at the shocked engineer who just saw the mess on the floor Jack had made with their equipment. He made it door and motioned for Debora to leave before him, ?Lets go then shall we?? he said smiling, following her out the door?

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

Off:

Jp by

Lieutenant JG Debora Angelini
Chief Diplomatic Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38897-B

And

[Barrett]

[[Maran Surface, 1220, Day 2 ]]

The small group approached the coordinates Tann had given them. Mark signaled to the team to spread out and find attack positions. If they were going to charge the area, it would be nice to have snipers covering them.

Mark, Jason and Adam (NPC), stopped by a huge rock. Mark looked at his tricorder. "Looks like the Remans are either cloaked or not there at all. There's something else there too. Some kind of force blocking the tricorder."

He put the tricorder on the ground. "That's it. What are we looking for must be there. Darkhelm is mostly like to be there too as a prisoner." He grabbed his rifle and checked the charge. "I don't think we'll get there peacefully. I suggest you stay behind, Townsen. You're not cut out for a full fledged battle."

A Maran Soldier (NPC) crawled towards them. "Sir, I contacted the Verona as you ordered. It's converging to our location."

Mark nodded. "Good. Inform the others the attack tactic is Maran alpha two."

"Yes, sir!" said the Maran walking away again.

Mark turned to the two others Starfleet Officers. "Barrett, when we attack, you task is to locate Amanda. You have to move fast because we don't know how many Remans are there. I'll try to gather as much intelligence about their involvement here. Anything you want to add?"

Something about the situation didn't seen right to Jason. Things were going almost to easy; and when things were going easy he knew that was a bad sign. He took out his tricorder and flipped it open, running through a variety of scans.

"Our weapons won't work," Jason said, showing the tricorder to Mark. "That force is a subspace field/proton dampening field."

"Great," Mark muttered. "I take it that means that thier weapons won't work either?"

"No, at least not with my understanding of this technology."

"What do we do now?" Adam asked, looking back and forth between Jason and Mark.

As it to answer his quesion, one of the Maran soilders tossed Jason something. It looked like a sword hilt, smooth and metallic in nature but without a blade. Jason recognized it as firesaber, the preferred melee weapon of the Maran people. He knew that not everyone was given one, which lead him to believe that some of the commandos were the highly trained Maran Knights. Looking to his left, he saw that Mark had acquired one as well.

Jason pressed a button on the hilt, the crystal blade taking shape and then a second later the energy spike activated, turning the crystal blade into a glowing blue blade.

"Alright," Mark nodded. His firesaber was yellow in color

"Adam, you stay here," Jason warned.

"Let's move out," Mark responded.

OFF: A JP by:

Lieutenant Mark Grayson II
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38897-B
&

[Benson]

ON:
<<Day 2, 1145, Recreation Lounge, USS Malinche>>

James had heard and gotten the official request from doctor Fairbairn about seeing Jaran and he had approved it, trusting the good doctor's judgement and actions and now he wanted to learn to trust his judgement even more. He walked into the lounge and looked around.

Cameron sat in one of the large black couches, his legs crossed as he tried to relax before he gathered some breakfast. He looked stressed and deep in thought as he studied a PaDD carefully. Suffice to say his mind was boggled over his own actions regarding Jaran.

Benson walked over to the doctor and gave a small smile as he stood before the Chief Medical Officer.

"So... mind if I have a seat?" He asked with a friendly tone, trying to see if everything was all right. The doctor's brow was written in a furrow of concentration.

The Doctor glanced up in surprise, he smiled as his eyes settled on the chief of security and he gestured to the couch across the coffee table. "Certainly - I'd be happy for the company, Lieutenant, I have to be honest." As the man sat down Cameron placed his PaDD noisely on the table and sighed. "I'm having some day, two major medical procedures in one morning isn't the best way to kick things off." Another pause and the man smiled again. "So what's eating you, James?"

"Eating me? Nothing... I'm wondering what was eating you... but I suppose that 2 major procedures in one morning is enough to swallow anyone whole." James said with a smirk as he sat beside the doctor.

Cam grinned, able to appreciate the extended metaphor. "Well that's life, eh?" He said. "Has it been a busy morning for you at all?"

"Well it's been a frustrating morning. I don't have the credits to rent out a station holodeck for forensic recreation of the Abubakar incident, and all the ship holodecks are down except Holodeck 1." James said with a sigh and a slight shrug.

"So you met with Jaran... what do you think of him?" He finally asked.

Cameron paused yet again. It created a brief void but he filled it quickly. "Professionally or personally?"

"Both..." James said.

"Medically speaking he's falling apart. His mental state is constantly failing his physical systems and any physical strain is causing stress on his body. I don't know how to take the psychotic trauma out - hopefully a successful counselor or even a neurologist will be able to get into that problem." The Doctor sighed deeply. "Personally I think there's something buried in there. I don't think that he's a bad guy, nor do I think he's a real traitor. But something happened, something he's done that's tearing into him."

"Well the fact remains doctor, he did commit multiple murders on this ship and committed a mutiny. It's one of the few offenses in Starfeet that still carries the Death Penalty." He said, sitting back and cocking an eyebrow, wondering what Fairbairn's reaction to that statement would be.

"If that's what's to happen then that's what will happen. I can't say that he's innocent, I'm not sure who can prove that. But what I can say is that he is internally confused, his mental state is in recession." Cameron sat forward in his seat, leaning on his elbows to talk. "Do you really think prosecution will rule on execution?"

"I doubt it. Not in this day and age. One thing is for certain. If he's found guilty, we'll be needing a new helm officer and he'll never see the light of day again." James nodded.

Cam cocked his head. "Thing is - his mental state is an issue now over what's happened. But I'm almost certain he was in perfect health during the incident."

"But no one can prove it.... And the Defense will bring that issue up. The burden of proof is on the state to show that Jaran was knowingly and willfully committing the crimes he's accused of while in a properly sane state of mind. If there's any reasonable doubt in the judges' minds, then Jaran will walk free." James said seriously.

"It all depends on his personality, Jim." Cameron had no idea why he called his new colleague that, he just did. "I mean how will he come across sitting on trial? Will he be the good guy misguided, the bad guy with the sharp tongue. Or the messed up psychopath?"

"The Prosecution I'm betting is going to paint him as a mixture of the bad guy psychopath with a sharp tongue and enough brain function to know right from wrong. The defense is going to champion the psychopath and call him misunderstood so he can get therapy and resume his career." James said.

"It's just such a tough one, y'know?" Cam groaned audibly and slumped back into the seat. "Nobody has the real evidence to back up what exactly happened. Nobody quite understands the man either. And he doesn't do himself any favours."

"The one thing the prosecution has... is that the real witnesses are all dead. Left that way by Jaran." James said.

"And that is enough - even I would agree with that. I think that's what concerns me most about this case."

"The fact that all the evidence points against him and yet he still might get off?" He said.

"No - the fact that a big part of me thinks he should burn for what he did." Cameron stated, glancing at the floor. "That's not me, not part of my personality at all."

"It's justice... It's not a bad thing. The fact that he brutally murdered crew members of this ship and then would get to talk to some hippy counselor for a few months maybe a year isn't justice. There are people dead because of what he did. Families broken. When those families get together for a holiday Doc, there's always going to be one less table setting from now on. Because their son... or father... or brother... is gone. All because of Jaran." James said, looking straight at the doctor as he spoke.

"It's not wrong for you to want real justice... to want Jaran to pay for his crimes." James reiterated.

"Ach...I dunno. I just feel like it isn't me. I've always been able to see the lighter side of the worst people in the world." Cameron trailed. "But you're right in what you say. That would be a pretty sensible reason for me reacting."

"It's the way I react when I see things like that happen. When someone who is guilty is given a slap on the wrist." James said.

"You intrigue me, Jim." Cam smiled. "I see two things in you - two things that are easily discernable. You're a man of morals with a sense of justice. Yet you're a hard case, you're a pride-filled security man with a devotion to Starfleet but at the same time, you're a fighter. How do you mix the morals and the impulses?"

"I fight... I fight to win... and when I've won, I use my morals to decide how to use my victory. Attaining victory is one thing. Using it is another." James said with a smile.

Cameron sat back, still curious about his new found friend. "A victory could be useful, yep. But really what I want to know is why Starfleet? And why security? Is it the same old story as everybody else?"

"Well for a lack of pointed ears, forehead ridges, and a scaly neck... It wasn't exactly a tough choice of where I wanted to go, Starfleet was my only real option. My pappy taught me to shoot and defend the farm when we fought the Cardassian Wars. So I decided when I was old enough, that I'd use those skills to protect other people. And here I am." He said, extending his hands.

"Aaah." The Doctor said, nodding to show he understood. "I didn't want to join, hate the formalities and all that stuff. I'm a doctor and that's it. My job is to heal people. That's all. I signed up during the Dominion War period and figured I could help, turned out I spent more time performing routine surgery than fixing up the wounded - but somehow I stayed. And here I am myself." Cameron smiled

"We both have our reasons and our talents... and they serve us both in equal measure." James said with a slow nod.

"Ah but YOU are a man of moral judgement and obligation. I'm a man who acts on impulse rather than what's right, it gets me into trouble a lot."

"A lot of time when seconds matter and lives are in the balance doctor, you don't have time for deliberation. It's either life or death. You choose life every time and what brings life, even if it may not be the morally correct choice." James said.

Cameron nodded and smiled again. "I tell you, mate, when you put it that way I can certainly see the bright side of this job." Then he sighed getting back to the point. "So things are settled with Jaran's transfer? I filed the paperwork this morning."

"I don't know how settled they'll stay. Hopefully soon we'll be getting a new Flight Officer and have to transfer him to a penal colony." The Chief Tactical and Security Officer said with a slight grumble.

Cam shook his head. "I don't think it'll last long. They'll be demanding a trial very soon and he'll be taken back to the starbase. It looks like he may be tried before the Malinche leaves her docking station, which is for the best seen as how most of the crew would like to see it take place." The doctor leaned in a little closer again. "Have you posted a security team at sickbay? I've a lot of innocent medical staff working in there, we both know that it's an easy chance for an escape in his eyes."

"I've doubled the watch on Sickbay." James nodded.

"Good - I might have taken a little pitty on the guy but I still don't trust him." Cameron sighed then stood up. "I better get back to sickbay, Jim, though I have to say it was nice talking to you."

"It was a good conversation Doc... make sure you let me know if you need help with Jaran. I'll be there in two shakes." He said.

"I'll keep my eye on him." The Doctor said with one final turn he lifted his PaDD and left with his hands in his medical coat pockets. As was his fashion, of course.

OFF:

A JP by:

Doctor (Lt.) Cameron Fairbairn
Chief Medical Officer
USS Malinche
NCC-38897-B

&

[Barrett]

[[Maran Surface, 1230, Day 2 ]]

The team move as one. Mark ran in the middle, along with Jason. Both flanks were covered by the Maran Commandos. He was annoyed with the fact such dampening field was in place; the Remans wouldn't trade their advantage just to fight hand to hand. Something else was up.

Mark pushed that thought away as they advanced over the area. There were some crude tents ( Remans were not as advanced in other areas as they were in weapon and military areas). A Reman was leaving the tent when he saw Mark and Jason.

Still running, Mark slashed his firesaber in the Reman throat, who fell without even let a small sound out. It wasn't possible to cry without his vocal cords. Jason didn't react to Mark's action. Mark suspected that right now, Jason was in his "Maran" full mode.

But their invasion became a secret for more one minute before the alarm made the Reman soldiers pour along the camp. The were using long swords and even some kind of pitchforks.

With surprise and better ability on their side, the Marans commandos started to hack their way towards the center of the camp. Mark and Jason advanced too, until the got separated by a group of Remans.

As he fought, Mark yelled to Jason. "Barrett, get moving towards the center! I'll meett you there!"

"Not a problem," Jason yelled.

Remans were coming at them from what seemed like all diretions, slashing and stabbing toward him. But Jason was always one step ahead of them, using his firesaber to parry and redirect attacks as well as hack through his own victims. The bluring blue blade make short work of the Remans and thier weapons.

Mark didn't have the time to watch Jason prowess in battle. He knew the art of the Firesaber enough, but he was hardly a master. Still, his effort to open a way to the center was sucessuful. The Remans weren't expecting an attack from the best Maran could offer. They were slaughtered.

After slaying the last Reman near him, Mark looked around and spotted what looked like a Command Center. He advanced, avoid the fight, which was, at that point, one sided and entered the room. It was empty and didn't look they had even erased the files from their computers.

"Sweet", muttered Mark as he started to download the information to his PADD.

His communicator beeped. "Grayson here."

"Verona on final approach, Mark", said Nassar (NPC)

"Great, just in time. I have a command center brimming with information. The situation still not safe, I repeat situation still not safe. Grayson out."

With that, Mark ran outside and saw the battle was over. He walked towards the center of the camp. Jason was already there, clothes dirty with reman blood and eyes fixed on a object.

Mark followed Jason's look.

Jason's blood ran cold. He dropped his still active firesaber to the ground as his gaze became transfixed on the craft in front of him. It was about the size of a runabout, although looked nothing like one. It looked more like a large metallic insect.

"Mr. Barrett?" Grayson asked.

"I've seen this before," Jason said, his throat going dry.

"Where?" Grayson asked.

"In my vision...this is a scout ship," Jason turned to look at Mark, swallowing hard. "Its a sign."

"A sign of what?"

"The invasion, its already started."

"I knew it", whispered Grayson. "The moment I read the reports about this... object, I knew it had relation to your visions."

A Maran soldier approched them and tapped Mark on the shoulder. "Sir?"

"Yes, soldier?"

"We found something you want to see, sir."

Mark nodded. "Come on, Barrett. The game still on."

Both men followed the soldier until what looked like a holding pen. It was crude and it was made of some kind of metal. It was completely sealed, with no doors, only with some small holes near the top, to let the air enter.

Mark signaled to the Maran soldier holding a phaser rifle. "Cut through. Be gentle, because I know who's inside."

"Amanda?", asked Barrett, eyes widening.

Grayson nodded. "Why do you think the Remans created prison without doors?" asked him, amused.

The Maran soldier cut a big chunk of metal, of the size of a door. The metal fell inside. There was only darkness and smoke for a moment and then a voice came from inside. "What the hell you guys took so long?"

"Hello to you too, Amanda", said Mark softly.

Jason was surprised to see that Amanda was in such good shape; he expected to find her worse off. She was dirty and full of grime but looked to be relatively intact. She wiped sweat from her face before looking around the slaughtered encampment.

"Thanks for bringing the calvary," Amanda said. "Did you leave anyone live?"

"Wasn't part of thier mission," Nassar responded. Jason hadn't heard him beam down in the last few seconds. "We're going to bring this think back up to the ship, I trust that I can plan on hearing about your story there?"

Amanda nodded.

"I'm just glad you are ok," Jason breathed. "I thought you had been killed."

"Takes more then that to kill me, come on."

OFF: A JP brought to you by...

Lieutenant Mark Grayson II
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38897-B
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