USS Malinche NCC-38997-A

ON

<Main Engineering, 0035, Day 19>

Two was not happy about being called from her quarters to Engineering in the middle of the night. Oh, well. She had left, heading to Engineering as requested. She arrived at 0040. When she walked in, she saw another exborg waiting on her.

"Harrison, so glad you could finally make it. Now, I want you to take a look at this." *pointing to the data displayed on the control panel* "These are some battle maneuvers that I have worked up along with attack patterns. Take a look at the specifications that will be required to run them. I want you to make sure that this ship will be running at top efficiency and will be able to perform these manuevers at the drop of a dime. We won't have any time for 'screw ups' by the looks of what's been going on and the information we've received. I'll be in holodeck 2 working on some plans for the Captain. Let me know when you've finished."

"This ship is always running at top efficiency or will be by the start of alpha shift tomorrow." That was a promise. Two could already see the difference in the department since she left for the day about two hours before being called back.

She was lost in thought as the woman left Engineering. She studied the maneuvers closely as she sent them into her office. She left the main section of engineering and went into her office, where she could study in peace. Noise and confusion followed her as the last of her earlier orders were carried out.

Two sat behind her computer, studying the maneuvers. She didn't like some of them. Some of them would require lots of output from the engines. That one, she thought, would work better if it was done differently, just a little bit differently.

It took her about 15 minutes to redo that one maneuver, sending it to Cheetara Thundera to look at the changes which would use the engines to their maximum potential. When she saw that it had been successfully sent, she turned her attention back to the matter/antimatter ratios and the warp engines. The torpedo bays were ready. The phasers were charged.

The Mali was ready, Two thought. She watched as the writing on the PADD she had been studying blur into six words. She blinked four times and the words broke back into their normal spellings. She needed to stay busy or she would have to be getting back to her quarters and her chamber.

She wanted to run several of these maneuvers in the holodeck so she could see them in action from the POV of the sky. She had some problems with a couple of them, but there, she could have the Mali respond as she was effectively running at the moment. Then she could compare the maneuvers when they were effectively running at their optimum output.

It was going to be a long night...a night without sleep. She was going to have to spend time in the regen chamber before too long or she would not be worth anything to anyone.

OFF

<<USS Malinche>>
<Walker's Quarters, 0025, Day 19>

Brad was heading back to his quarters after getting things wrapped up in sickbay. Truth be told, he was tired...and hoped that he could actually manage to get some sleep without worrying about the ship that had been following them for so long.

He sat down at his desk, logging on to check his messages when Barrett buzzed him.

"Walker here."

"Sorry to disturb you sir, but I have an incoming message from fleet command, they say its urgent."

"Put them through."

A moment later an admiral's face appeared on the screen.

"What can I do for you sir?"

"Apparently you're good job working thus far has paid off...Lt. Commander Anderson Summers has requested you as his XO aboard the Roanoke."

"Pardon me?" Brad asked. Brad was shocked to say the least; he had no idea that he was even in the pool for a XO position. He didn't have any other idea that this Anderson was even looking into him as a possible canidate.

"You don't have to accept of course but you do have the qualifications and you are making a good name for yourself among your old CO's and you current one. Both West and Kersare have spoken highly of you."

"I don't know what to say sir...I'd have to think about it of course."

"I suespected as much...hard to get you doctors out of your sickbays and into command even when you deserve the position and then some," the admiral chuckled. "You'll have 24 hours to make your decision, contact me when you know."

"Aye sir."

With that screen shut off...and Brad was left with a lot of thinking to do.

OFF:
_________________
Lieutenant Commander Brad Walker
Chief Medical Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-B

Bridge. Day 19 0040.

Ensign Kai walked awkradly onto the bridge after changing her uniform from her embarrassing coffee spill. She detested the uniform she was currently wearing, it was about two sizes too big for her and she had to discretely pull it around her form using her hands at her sides as she walked.

Approaching her console she made a pathetic effort of a wave at Ensign Tamlin, her assistany. "Hey, what you got for me?"

"Nothing else so far Ensign, I've still not been able to clear up any more of that transmission and so far nothing else has come through" Ryan Tamlin tiredly reported.

Kai pulled out one of the hidden chairs and sat down on it, she took the earpiece off of Tamlin and put in her ear. "You try to figure out any more of that transmission and I'll listen for anything else, ok?" she said.

"So you get the easy job then?" He joked.

"With Seniority comes privileges" she joked back, smiling her best 'I've been awake more than 30 hours, don't mess with me' smile.

Taking the subtle hint, Tamlin hurridly turned back and the pair both began their individual tasks.

OFF:
_________________

Ensign Sharon Kai
Chief Communications Officer
USS Malinche
NCC-38897-B

<<Isabel's quarters, 0917, Day 19>>

Finally Isabel had gotten some rest. With all the stressful events that kept occuring, it was surprising she'd been able to sleep at all. Now that she had, though, it was time to get back to work.

Sleepily, Isabel got out of bed and headed over to the replicator. Normally she'd probably go for some chai tea, but for some reason, hot chocolate sounded rather good to her. "Computer, hot chocolate in a medium-size mug."

"Unable to comply."

"Unable to - Computer, hot chai tea in a medium-size mug," Isabel requested.

"Unable to comply."

Isabel sighed, "Computer, run self-diagnostic and check for any problems."

A few moments later, the computer beeped, "Self-diagnostic complete. Analysis shows no problems."

"Then why can't I get a drink?" Isabel was starting to get exasperated.

"Drinks are not supported by replicator database, please choose another selection."

"I sure hope this isn't any indication as to how the rest of the day will be...," Isabel commented. She tapped her comm badge, "Kersare to Harrison."

"Harrison here, what can I do for you Captain?"

"It seems that beverages are no longer in the replicator database.... Could you have someone take a look at that and get them back in the database, please? I think the crew might be somewhat unhappy if they can't get anything at all to drink," Isabel told her.

"I'll get someone on that as soon as possible and let you know when it's repaired," Rebekah said.

"Thank you, Kersare out." Since it seemed that there was nothing to drink, there was no sense in trying to find something to eat either. Isabel put on a clean uniform, then headed for the bridge.

<<Bridge, 0948>>

Ryan(NPC) and Sharon were over at the Communications console, looking fairly busy. The USS Chiron would probably be rendezvousing with them soon to transfer Ensign Xio over the Malinche, so they could have left a message... The captain walked over to them and waited for Sharon to look up.

Sharon smiled, "Good morning captain. We're still not having much luck with that transmission yet, but Ensign Tamlin is working on it. I've not received any more messages from the Celtronians."

"That's more or less what I figured, but keep trying. Also, have you gotten any messages from the USS Chiron about our new crewmember?"

"Actually one just came in about two minutes ago. I was going to let Commander Hunt know, then I saw you walk on the bridge. The USS Chiron will be meeting up with us at 1025 hours, and the transfer can take place anytime after that," Sharon reported.

Isabel smiled, "Thank you ensign, carry on."

Seeing Mason heading towards her, Isabel closed the distance to him. "Good morning Commander, did you get any sleep?"

"Yes, I did get some, although it's hard to sleep when I keep thinking about the Klingons watching us and what is ahead of us on Celtron V," he admitted.

"Understood. You know, the replicators are missing some things now. I tried to get a hot chocolate this morning only to find that all beverages are no longer in the replicator database; Engineering is working on it," Isabel shook her head.

Mason smiled reassuringly, "Don't worry, they'll get it fixed."

Isabel nodded, "I've no doubt about that, it's just that if we can't even get beverages from the replicators....well, I wonder what else could be wrong. Is Lieutenant Barrett....Ahh, I see him. Excuse me one moment."

Seeing Jason at the Operations console, Isabel headed over to him. "Lieutenant, could you run some additional in-depth diagnostic and allocations scans for me? I want to make sure everything is in top condition for when we get to Celtron V."

"No problem. I'm still monitoring some things around Celtron V with the long range scanners, but I can get Lieutenant Tolara(NPC) and Ensign Silman(NPC) to start it, then look over it later," Jason said.

"Thank you Lieutenant," Isabel smiled, heading back over to Mason. "I have the Operations department running some extra scans, just to be safe."

He nodded, "Good idea. So we have the new Chief Flight Control Officer coming aboard this morning, right?"

"Yes, she'll be beaming over sometime after 1025 when we rendezvous with the USS Chiron." Isabel paused, thinking. Their main objective on this mission was to prevent the So'Kra and To'Ma from going to war. They already knew a little about the Celtronians, thanks to T'serra and Mark, but they still didn't know much about Celtron V itself, or the actual reason for their disagreement - the wormhole. Hopefully the Science Department would get some information for them before they arrived. She hadn't heard anything from them yet, but it might be that they were getting some rest. "If you get any reports from the departments, let me know."

After seeing her Executive Officer nod, Isabel turned and wandered around the bridge, a little anxious about what the day would bring.

OFF: Tag Hunt, Barrett, Kai, Harrison, Mavose, etc. Smile

Feel free to backpost if you want/need to; I just wanted to move some things ahead for us.

ON: <<USS Malinche>>
<Holodeck 2, Day 19, 0230>

Cheetara had the crew hard at work going over the tactical simulations.

"All sections, begin attack patter Omega Tac 4" ordered Cheetara

Instantly the 3 sections of the began moving to hit the Klingon Battlecruiser from all sides. Section Alpha came from the port side, Beta came from the starboard side, and Omega came from underneath with volleys of phasers and photon torpedoes.

"Attack pattern Alpha Tac 9" she bellowed to the sections.

Section Alpha went from the port side of the Klingon Battlecruiser around to the back unloading a series of photon torpedoes while sections Beta and Omega continued a crossfire patter from side to side as a diversion. It worked, the battlecruiser was now disabled and ready to be destroyed if need be.

"Computer, end Simulation Thundera Tactical 6." Cheetara bellowed

With that, the holodeck went back to the same dark room with green lines forming black colored squares.

"Very good everyone. The past two hours have been very productive. Now proceed back to whatever it was that you were doing. I want all of you back here at 1000 for another simulation training. Dismissed!"

Everyone proud of themselves left holodeck 2 and back to what they were doing. Cheetara decided that she would head over to holodeck 1 to see how things were going over there.

<Holodeck 1, 0245>

Cheetara walked into holodeck 1 looking around.

"Computer, end program." Cheetara said rather alarmingly.

The holodeck went back to the same dark room with green lines forming black colored squares.

"P'ayanna, what is this? This is NOT the simulations that I had programmed into the holodeck.?" Cheetara belted across the room rather annoyed and waited for an answer.

OFF: <tag P'ayanna>

OLD:

"P'ayanna, what is this? This is NOT the simulation that I had programmed into the holodeck?" Cheetara belted across the room rather annoyed and waited for an answer.

NEW:

<Day 19, 0230, before entrance by LT Thundera>

"This is not the damned scenario," Ensign Anthony Stone muttered to himself. He could have said it much louder, however, as the rain of polaron disruptor beams that was keeping him pinned behind a corner was drowning out any and all sounds from his mouth. Curse that Klingon wench!

Of the original six persons in the assault and rescue team, only two remained. The reason was simple: a wandering Jem'Hadar patrol had all but walked into them. While that was to be expected in real missions, the wandering patrol was not a part of Lieutenant Thundera's scenario. He knew this because his partner-in-crime, Ensign Samantha Weaver (NPC), had downloaded the scenarios a week ago and they'd used them to plan their assault to a highly-choreographed T. Sure to succeed and look brilliant, Stone and Weaver led their team on a milk run assignment, or so they thought.

Things unraveled from the start, however. Upon beaming over, ENS Samantha Weaver tripped a security sensor, effectively locking all doors and slowing their progress to a mere crawl. That sensor was also missing in the original program, Anthony noted with a grimace. The same could be said of the field that was making their tricorders nearly useless.

"What do we do, now?" Samantha Weaver had to shout at the top of her lungs to be heard. She was pinned behind the opposite corner, also unable to return effective fire at their advancing attackers, who were eerily accurate with their weapons. They'd gunned down two-thirds of the party in seconds, barely giving Tony and her time to find cover.

"I don't #$%^ know!" He reached around the corner and sent some feeble phaser blasts down the passageway, all of which struck the ceiling and bulkhead, doing nothing more than telling the Jem'Hadar squad that their enemies were still alive. One way or another, that Klingon bitch is going down for this.

P'ayanna's pitiless eyes watched these incompetent petaQpu' waddle through the scenario like gagny puqpu'. The scenario was different than that given by Lieutenant Thundera, but ranked the same when the difficulty metrics were compared. Instead of the easy win from the first scenario, an unedited one, they were being taken to task. It meant that her ensigns were treating this training like a game and not the combat preparation that it was meant to be.

Out of the blue came the order to end the program. P'ayanna's head snapped toward Lieutenant Thundera as she growled, "nuqjatlh?"

The answer to her question came immediately after. The order had come from Lieutenant Thundera, who then shouted, "P'ayanna, what is this? This is NOT the simulation that I had programmed into the holodeck?"

OFF: To Be Continued (rubs hands together)
_________________
Cadet P'ayanna
Assistant Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Malinche
NCC-38897-B

ON:<<USS Malinche>>
<Holodeck 1, Day 19, 0300>

{old}
"P'ayanna, what is this? This is NOT the simulations that I had programmed into the holodeck.?" Cheetara belted across the room rather annoyed and waited for an answer.

{new}
Ensign Stone gave an indignant snort and folded his arms as he waited for the boss to really nail Her Royal Klingonness to the wall! She'd been caught editing the program and Miss Thundera was, thankfully, calling her on it.

P'ayanna walked toward Lieutenant Thundera so that she could speak more directly. Shouting matches were unwise, as there was no telling when she'd lose her temper and injure a crewmate. "I have modified the program," she stated.

"And why have you modified my programs? I do not remember telling you to do such a thing!" Cheetara retorted

"I do not expect to have to ask permission to perform my duties," P'ayanna snarled back. She had no intention of being treated like a baby by this woman or any other.

Ensigns Stone and Weaver exchanged knowing glances. In their minds, the exchange was going perfectly and the Klingon was about to get busted in a serious and professional manner.

"Your duties are as I tell them to you. Not what you feel like doing. Now I'm still waiting for an answer worthy of a reason!" Cheetara fired back. "So WHY have you changed my programming?"

Cheetara saw the smiles on Stone and Weavers face. She decided to let them be for a minute. She had a surprise in store for them as well as she smirked in their direction.

"I will not have my hand held like some DIvI' petaQ," she replied. Intentionally failing to dismiss Weaver and Stone, she continued. "To answer your question, your scenarios were compromised."

The smiles on Stone and Weaver dissipated in the blink of an eye. How had P'ayanna found out?

P'ayanna handed the results of the first run to Lieutenant Thundera. "They used their knowledge to perfectly execute your first scenario. I decided to truly test them so that they would learn to take your orders to train more seriously. If this angers you..." She left the sentence incomplete, as she didn't want to tell her how disgusted she would be if her boss were to be angered by such an act.

Cheetara calmed her voice down and clapped a little as she spoke to P'ayanna. "Very good Cadet. Now I've got a little secret for you." She got a little quieter to almost a whisper."I knew those two had compromised my routines. Hell, look at the minor protocal I put on them. This was a double test for both you, and them."(speaking louder now) "I wanted to see if you would catch on and do something about it. I'm VERY impressed with your work."

"I am pleased that you find this acceptable. However, we must train hard to ensure we are ready when we arrive at Celtron V.

Stone's face blanched white and he cast a glance at Samantha. They'd been set up and now they, not the Klingon, were going to take a fall.

Cheetara shot Stone and Weaver a horrifying look of anger and disgust. She watched them as she spoke to P'ayanna to make sure they would hear this."Fourth Year Cadet P'ayanna, I am impressed with all you have done. As a reward, Ensign's Stone and Weaver are now at your mercy. Make sure that they train until they get everything right, or until they can no longer BREATHE"

Cheetara watched as Stone and Weavers jaws dropped, looking as if they were going to pass out. She couldn't help but laugh at the sight of their weak selves.

"lu'," P'ayanna replied, agreeing to obey this command in her native tongue. They would train hard to be as ready as they could; the ship depended on nothing less.

"Y'all have fun with your new drill Sergeant." Cheetara said with a chuckle as she turned to walk out. "Good day to you P'ayanna" she said just before the doors had closed behind her.

OFF: This has been a JP done by

Fourth Year Cadet P'ayanna
Assistant Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Malinche (NCC-38997-B)

and

:: USS Chiron ::
<<Ensign Xio?s quarters, USS Malinche Day 19, 03:15>>

Jada had fallen asleep in the chair facing the star-field out the window. She half way sat up and crooked her neck slightly to each side, allowing it to pop in several places. Her cat seemed to have disappeared around her quarters somewhere. Jada leaned forward and raised her arms slightly in front of her and bent forward letting her back also pop. Standing up she shook her self off and went to the replicator and ordered some cat food and a bowl of water for kit and sat it down on the floor beside her bed. ? I suppose I should eat as well, huh, baby.? Kit was the only thing she ever showed her true feelings around. She petted Kit a couple of times before standing up and getting herself a pack of standard star fleet rations. No sense in wasting resources on her self she reasoned. Learning long ago that the only luxury in life? was life it?s self.

Eating the protein bar and drinking from the re-hydrated liquid. She sort of sat back in the chair with one leg propped up against her chest. Her eyes on her cat as she thought to her self. ~Things sure have changed for you Jada. Already been on two ships.. Seems like you bring bad luck where ever you follow.~ She shook her head and took another bit of the bland protein bar. Chewing, forcing her self to swallow almost like she willed her self to swallow her pride, knowing fully well she didn?t cause any of the things to happy with the circumstances involving her transfer. Just seemed like the wrong time.

She sighed exasperatedly at her self. ~What is this... Self pity? You need to knock that off right now you hear me mister? You?re Star Fleet. People get transferred? Reassigned all the time..~ She nodded as she took another bite of the bar. ~Yea but the meeting new people and forging new friendships, is what the clincher is. ~ She shrugged to her self..

She heard the Captains voice over the comm at that moment breaking her from her self-degrading resolve. ? Ensign Xio. Care to take the con the rest of your stay with us? We should be rendezvousing with the Malinche in 8 hours or so.? Xio stood up and nodded to the invisible voice ? Affirmative sir. I would be delighted to. Xio out. ? She was finishing off the bar and put the wrapper and her drink container into the refuse and had the recycler reintegrate it back into the ship systems before she picked up kit and kissed her on the nose. ? this is what I need. Something to do, so I won?t be feeling self pity. I will be back later I promise ? She put Kit down quickly washed her face and dried it, put on her tunic and straightened it up combed her hair, pulled it tightly back into a federation issue hair barrette, put on her boots and zipped them up and made sure her badge was on straight before leavening out her door, and heading down the corridor to the nearest turbolift.

:: about 5 minutes or so later ::

The swooshing of the turbolift doors open " Ensign Xio Reporting for duty sir. " The captain nodded towards the con and so she steps out and walks over to the con station and sits down relieving the Lt. Jesan. She logged into her duty shift and her security codes into the consol and verified the ships course. Directly for the Malinche.
_________________
Ensign Naeli Jada Xio
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Malinche
NCC-38997-B

OLD:

"Y'all have fun with your new drill Sergeant." Cheetara said with a chuckle as she turned to walk out. "Good day to you P'ayanna" she said just before the doors had closed behind her.

NEW:

<Day 19, 0320>

Ensign Weaver's shoulders slumped even as P'ayanna's eyes lit with delight. She thought she'd covered her tracks and that they'd look like the best security squad in the fleet for Lieutenant Thundera. Instead, she'd lost (at least, for now) the Security Chief's trust and received the special attention of the Assistant. By his body language, she could see that Anthony Stone felt much the same.

"Prepare your squad," P'ayanna told them. "As before, Captain Kersare is held by enemy forces. You will locate and recover her. Qapla'." She decided to go easy on them, again, and leave the enemy forces unalerted.

"Some pre-brief," Stone grumbled. Would it have hurt to give them at least a little of an idea of the ship layout? As far as he was concerned, P'ayanna was out to make them look bad so that she'd look better to the boss. He would never have thought a Klingon would kiss butt like that; it was disgusting.

"Begin program," P'ayanna stated. She then folded her arms and observed.

Ensign Weaver scanned the passageway, fore and aft. Much to her chagrin, they were, again, on a Dominion vessel. That meant that they should avoid combat at all costs. Jem'Hadar soldiers were as good as any elite squads and would make short work of the team if they were discovered.

Remembering the basic layout, Stone figured that they were on the port side of the ship and would need to work toward the center. Drawing his phaser, he began to lead the team aft. "Expect the unexpected," he said to himself, knowing that this wasn't likely to be easy.

"Sir," one of the additional team members stated. "Maintenance junction."

"Open it," Stone told him. Getting out of the main passage would be a smart move at this point, or so he figured. As soon as he said it, heavy footsteps came from farther along the passage.

"Quickly," Stone murmured, shoving Samantha Weaver to the access. As soon as she scrambled in, the other four members did the same. Already sweating in anticipation, he hurried in and pulled the access cover to, mere seconds before voices were heard in the passage.

"Report," a deep voice demanded.

"The Vorta has commanded extra patrols," another voice replied.

"She expects a rescue attempt," the first explained. "To victory!"

"Victory is life," came the answer.

His ear to the access, Stone tried to determine how many were outside. It sounded like two pairs of two, but there was no way to be certain. A tricorder scan would probably set off an alarm and then they'd get to start over.

While Stone listened to footfalls, Weaver hooked a padd into a maintenance tap. Looking for sensitive information would likely trigger all sorts of defensive protocols, but there were some things that could be seen without such complications. Maintenance schematics were one such thing. With those, she would know where they were and what obstacles were in the way. "I'm in," she muttered.

Pulling his ear from the access, Stone said, "shh!"

Samantha shook her head and disengaged the padd from the computer system. "We're on a Dominion Attack Ship. This tube will take us to the port nacelle, but is a dead end."

"Ma'am," one of the petty officers said. "Their brig is centerline, just below the bridge."

"And guarded," Stone grumbled. "How do we go down?"

"There's a ladder, aft," Samantha told him.

"Here goes nothing," Stone said, releasing the lock on the maintenance hatch and stepping into the passage. Since he hadn't gotten shot, he figured that luck was with them.

One by one, the other five team members clambered into the passageway. With quiet footsteps, they made their way aft, hoping that the patrols were somewhere else. Still, following behind a patrol was the recommended tactic. While they were sure that other patrols were going around in the opposite direction, they knew that both had met here a short time ago. That meant that it was likely they'd reach the latter without incident.

Ensign Stone's hand smacked into something hard and unyielding a mere split-second before his face ploughed into it. The trooper behind him added insult to injury, smashing him against the invisible security field. "Damn," he grumbled, pulling a hand away from his nose. It was bleeding. "Somebody take this blasted field down!"

"I can't get to the emitters," Samantha protested. "It means that I can't short them out."

"Cover me," Stone said, deciding to throw stealth to the wind. Drawing his phaser, he set it to high and shot toward the decking in the hopes of making a hole through which they could drop. It was a risky move, but one that could succeed if he was quick enough.

Alarms sounded all around. Seconds later, the circular hole was about a quarter around but it wasn't nearly fast enough. Polaron bursts from down the passage dropped Weaver and another to the deck. The rest of the team was disabled soon after.

"Computer, end program," P'ayanna stated. "What caused you to fail?"

Stone glared at her, furious and embarrassed.

"Him," Weaver grumbled. "That phaser shot set the whole ship on alert."

"It could have worked," he said, a defensive tone in his voice.

"If it were quicker," P'ayanna told them, "it would have brought troops to this deck and you would be below. Diversions are effective tactics, especially against aggressive opponents."

"So?" Stone didn't like her tone and didn't see where she was going with this.

"Perhaps utilizing more than one phaser would have been wise," she told him. "But enough of these. It is time to hone your marksmanship skills. We will perform six runs for score," she told them. It would take nearly three hours to do, but would be time well spent.

OFF: <sorry for length...>
_________________
Cadet P'ayanna
Assistant Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Malinche
NCC-38897-B

<<USS Malinche>>
<<Mess Hall, 1000, day 19>>

Mark drank his coffee and ate his breakfest slowly. The day was going a long one, he was sure of it. So he wanted to be very well fed and rested. For what he had learned from the reports about the Celtronians, Mark that the problem there was the fear of changing their way of life. One faction at least was afraid of progress.

Progress could be a blessing or could be curse, depending on how things were made. Fear was a constant in the Universe, more constant than hydrogen or vacuum. The wormhole obviously was terrifying for most of the celtronians. "Fear of the unknown, what a clich?", thought Mark, cynically, sipping his coffee as he watched part of the crew eating their breakfest.

He was alone, like always. Mike Derrin (NPC) was off duty, meaning, the guy was sleeping like a rock. That left Lyria (NPC), the Maran intel officer. Mark didn't know her well and she didn't want to be known anyway. She was good intel officer, no chance to be friend.

"No one trusts a good Intelligence officer", said Mark's instructor, back in his academy days."A good intel officer observes everything, knows a lot about everyone and doesn't give away anything about himself".

That lesson Mark had learned well. He watched crew there in Mess Hall, looking for the saboteur. Any odd behavior, and Mark would check the person out. It was a paranoid way to live, but it was a living.

OFF: tag crew.

<<USS Malinche>>
<<Mess Hall, 1000, day 19>>

Mark drank his coffee and ate his breakfest slowly. The day was going a long one, he was sure of it. So he wanted to be very well fed and rested. For what he had learned from the reports about the Celtronians, Mark that the problem there was the fear of changing their way of life. One faction at least was afraid of progress.

Progress could be a blessing or could be curse, depending on how things were made. Fear was a constant in the Universe, more constant than hydrogen or vacuum. The wormhole obviously was terrifying for most of the celtronians. "Fear of the unknown, what a clich?", thought Mark, cynically, sipping his coffee as he watched part of the crew eating their breakfest.

He was alone, like always. Mike Derrin (NPC) was off duty, meaning, the guy was sleeping like a rock. That left Lyria (NPC), the Maran intel officer. Mark didn't know her well and she didn't want to be known anyway. She was good intel officer, no chance to be friend.

"No one trusts a good Intelligence officer", said Mark's instructor, back in his academy days."A good intel officer observes everything, knows a lot about everyone and doesn't give away anything about himself".

That lesson Mark had learned well. He watched crew there in Mess Hall, looking for the saboteur. Any odd behavior, and Mark would check the person out. It was a paranoid way to live, but it was a living.

OFF: tag crew.

ON

<USS Chiron, day 19, 0700>

Jada's last and final duty shift ended about 20 minutes ago and she was still walking slowly around the ship. She just got off the turbolift and now was walking, mind you, very slowly towards the messhall.. Nearing the doors she streightened her back and pulled down her tunic and walked though the doors.

Tara was tired. She was sick and tired of being bossed around. "Do this, PO3." "Do that, PO3." She was getting POed. She was greasy from cleaning up an oil spill that someone had spilled not realizing that it had been accidently opened when he turned around the corner and striking a machine. Why had she gotten stuck with the job? She was a PO3, that's why. She wasn't in the mood to clean up anything other than her face and hands. Mostly her hands. She headed for the messhall to get a quick meal before getting out of these nasty clothes.

Jada went and sat down after she ordered something to eat.. seeing Tara walk in.. she thought she looked like what she felt like.. " care to sit with me " She tilted her head slightly to the side picking up her gray standard Issue napkin and placeing it on her lap. She was looking at Tara.

"Sure, let me get something to eat." For the first time in four hours, Tara smiled. Maybe this was going to be a better time than she thought, as she went to get some food. Four minutes later, she had her food and drink. She went back over to where Jada was sitting and put her tray down before sitting down.

"Thanks, I needed that," she told Jada.

she smiled at the woman and nodded. "anytime..." She didnt really know the woman.. Had seen her around a few times but never got to know her really. Pity she felt now that she didnt. "That looks good... what you got there" she picked up her fork and swirled it around into the noodles on her plate and took a bite before she looked back up. She swallowed softly and smiled again "you haveing a good time aboard the ship?" she asked a moment later. Wondering what her future plans were in starfleet.

Tara looked down at the hasperat that she had gotten. She was in a mood for some Bajoran food. "Hasperat. It's hot. Some say it's an acquired taste. I wouldn't say that I'm having a wonderful time here. I've put in for a transfer to another ship last week. No new orders have come through so sometime today I'm going to put in for a different training. I was thinking about becoming a yeoman instead of an engineer. It can't be any dirtier," she confessed.

She took another bite of her noodles and followed it with her drink. Nodding to the young woman. " yea... cant say I would of liked engineering much. Im not really much of a on hands type of person. I'd probably break something and I would get kicked out of starfleet" she chuckled at her self.. fully knowing it was true.. She shook her head and said " well I would assume being a yeoman wouldnt be much different... you dont get dirty tho.. I can imagine that would be a great plus." , " you ever thought about becomeing an officer ms... ..... "

Tara grinned. "Well, I think that being a yeoman would be totally different. Probably more routine...each day resembling the rest. Engineering is wild at times. Like today. I got stuck cleaning up an ensign's mess because 'he didn't do it.' I was ready to kill him when I got through. I was nasty enough so I got to leave a whopping five minutes early. That was early enough to get the oil off my hands and face," Tara told her new friend.

Jada was taking a bite of her noodles as she was listening to Tara.. and almost spit them out as she laughed.. she raised the napkin to her mouth as she tried to finish chewing. Finally swallowing she said " yea.. some times that happens tho... I guess we really dont think sometimes when we have to do something and get it done quickly " she shook her head and sighed almost wonderingly " Being Reutine gets boring tho... I dont know what i'd do if i had to do the same thing over and over and over again... course... its always good to have something specific to do each day... " She pushed her bowl of noodles back and took a sip of her drink before leaning back a bit in the drab gray chair.

"Yeah, it is boring to be able to predict what you are going to be doing from day to day. In an odd sort of way, it's really nice to be able to predict each day too. But it is really enough to give up unpredictibility for?" Tara questioned Jada.

Jada tilted her head as she thought about it for a moment.. " my self... ? I dont think so.. My job.. And I really like it... I got a set time i go in.. I basically do the same thing.. But.... there are so manythings that is different.. Kinda hard to explain...different headings... new people.. different places.. If there wasnt some sort of varity .. i'd be bored to tears... " She reached up and rubbed the side of her nose kind of scratching it... " but its all personal preference I guess " smiling to Tara

"Yes, but you don't get as nasty as I do. Every time I turn around, I'm cleaning up someone else's mess. That gets to be frustrating from time to time. I guess if I had been smart, I would have become an officer," she confessed.

nodding as she took another sip "well your still young.. never know.. there are always oppertunities all over the place... heck.. maybe starfleet might not even be for you... why did you join.. if you dont mind me asking? " genuine concern etched across her features...

"I was following a cute guy. It didn't last. He was in OCS. I hadn't applied to OCS. He told me he was not going to become an officer. Well, it was good for a change because I was finished the NCO academy and out on a ship. Never regret joining once I got over our breakup."

Jada didnt show any emotion other then the sad look in her eyes as she listened to the young woman recount about her last relationship. "Im sorry" she said barely audiable... "Guy's can be ..." she tilted her head as she looked down battling her own sordid past.. ".. flighty at times.. But you gotta do what makes you happy.. not what others are doing because that.. wont make you happy.. " There she was.. Sitting there .. talking to this young woman.. feeling like such a hypocrit.. Was she happy ... No... She didnt get to know hardly anyone on this posting.. Seemed like ever turn she got ... she ended up being placed upon another posting.. How is that going to make her happy.. She spoke up.. sort of more or less speaking to her self.. "there... is always a place... with hope.. I guess... you never know till you try to do what you want to do"

"Yes, hope springs eternal. Then again, the person who said that never had a good relationship. I've had worse, and I need to thank him for giving me a direction in my life. That was a problem of mine. I had no idea what I wanted to do or where I wanted to go. Thanks to him, I have some training and a good job," Tara told her.

she tilted her head wondering if she was refering to some great philosopher.. or her ex' either way this woman had a great attitude.. she chuckled and nodded " yea.. " she finished the last of her drink and sat her cup down.. and looked around the messhall with an expression devoid of emotion. " hope springs eternal.. " She smiled to her self and looked back to the young petty officer before saying " I wish you luck in your career... " With that she grabbed her stuff and said " My name is Jada Xio.. Im being transfered to the USS Malinche.. Feel free to send me a subspace call any time.. I would to know what your up to... " the young woman had no idea how much she helped her out... even just by talking to her... she appriciated that...

"Ok. See you around the galaxy sometime," Tara told Jada. Tara picked up her dishes and put them in the recycler. She was a lot happier than when she walked in there.

OFF

JP by

Esign Jada Xio
Chief Flight Control Officer

and

PO 3 Tara (with no name)
Engineer as written by:

<Engineering, Day 19, 0930>

Two was not having a good day. She had barely gotten a few hours in her regeneration chamber before one of the Roomies was pounding on it, alerting her to the emergency calls she had gotten.

Two replicators in strategic places had exploded. She got out and got dressed. The replicator on the bridge had been a miswiring job. She had to inspect the damage before the job could be done so that a report could be sitting on the captain's desk when she got up that morning. The other one had been a hot dog that had been put into the replicator. The five year old boy who did that had set it on five minutes to heat it up. Two quickly calculated that 30 seconds would have been more than enough. It had destroyed the replicator because the glass had exploded and went in all directions. Again, the entire machine had to be replaced and a report written for the captain on her desk before she sat down. The messhall was out of commission for some time. That was going to make the captain so happy...

Two had returned back to Engineering, deciding that whatever time she had put in was going to have to be enough. In by 0230 and up at 0430 was not going to make Two a glowing girl. She needed eight to ten hours a day so she was going to have to go to "bed" earlier, like 1900 or so.

Then the captain called. Two herself went to take care of the problem. It was 0930ish and the reports were waiting on the captain's desk. Today was not going to be Two's day. Maybe today was a good day to leave early. She was not sure. She knew that not getting the required amount of "sleep" slowed down her thinking. Her reaction time was horrible.

No drinks in the database? She wondered about the hotdog explosion. That would not have been enough to wipe out the database in the captain's quarters. She sat down behind her desk and called up the database, which seemed to be missing.

Nope, she thought as she dug out the appropriate backup system, it was not going to be her day. She could feel the headache starting already. Once the database was being repaired, she would take a short trip to SIckbay to see if the headache was stress or sleep deprivation.

Getting the database into the system again took Two about four times the normal time it normally would have taken. She started a diagnostic on the entire database, checking and rechecking for anything that remotely looked like it was missing. Once it was running, she left her office and Engineering. Time for a discussion with the doc.

OFF

Tag, Doc.

<<USS Malinche>>
<Sickbay, 1015, Day 19>

Amanda smiled at Brad. She was happy for him moving up in the world; although she could still tell that he was a little in shock about it all. She knew that Brad never really pictured himself as the XO type...but he had all the qualities of one. He was quick to think and act...although he would get a crash course in some areas.

At the moment, PADDs of varying sizes were spread out on his desk. Brad was engaged in looking over a wide variety of information...everything from command journals to engineering reports.

"I don't know how I am going to make sense of this," Brad sighed.

"I'm sure you'll do fine..after all you are a doctor. Poeple trust you with their lives every day."

Before Brad could respond, the doors to sickbay opened, admitting Harrison. Amanda got up to greet her.

"Something that I can help you with?"

"I appear to have developed a rather large headache...I was wondering if you could let me in on what its from?"

"I's be happy to look," Amanda responded, gesturing to the nearest biobed. Adam (NPC) appeared a moment later, tricorder in hand. He started taking vitals right away.

"So, did this headache come on all of a sudden?" Amanda asked, taking her chart from the PADD that Brad had just handed her.

"More or less."

"Blood sugar is a little low," Adam responded, showing Amanda the reading. "Even lower then normal for her."

"Alright, let's get some D50, 3cc should do it."

Adam nodded and then headed off to get the medication.

"Have you been sleeping ok?"

"Not really...I didn't get much sleep last night and have pretty much worked non-stop all this morning."

"That will do it then," Amanda said. "With your Borg metabolism you walk a very fine line of chemical balance. You're feeling the headache and run down because your blood sugar is low. I'll run some more tests; but the D50 Adam will give you should make you feel better in a few seconds."

OFF: Tag Harrison!

<<USS Malinche>>
<Bridge, 1030, Day 19>

Jason had looked over the latest reinstallment of the databases; so far things were going well. Well enough that he thought he could relax a little. Of course that was before he realized that thier mission had barely even started. Now, things would get really interesting.

He checked his long range sensors, happy to see that the ships appeared to be keeping a long enough distance from each other. Weapons were still powered up; but no one was shooting at each other...yet. Jason thought yet because eventually it was bound to happen. He just hoped the show of force of the Malinche would be enough to deter the shooting from escalating into a full blown war.

"Message from the Chiron sir," Jason reported, turning around to face Commander Hunt. "Looks like they are all ready to go."

"Good, have our new crew memeber beam over...I'm on my way to transporter room 1 to meet her."

"Understood, transport in progress."

Mason nodded and headed for the turbolift, Jason going back ot his sensors. Something made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up...something was not right about the planet down there. He couldn't put his finger on it...but there was something wrong.

Without warning his long range sensors lit up as a massive amount of energy was detected. He checked his scopes, cursing a Maran saying he slapped his combagde.

"Barrett to Captain Kersare, report to the bridge. You may want to see this."

Moments later Kersare appeared, heading down toward Jason's station. He put the image he recorded up on the monitor, showing one of the moons. Part of it was engulfed in rolling flame.

"What happened?"

"Best guess; testing a new weapon. We registered a massive anit-matter explosion just a few moments ago."

OFF: Tag All!