"Of White Shirts and Blue Skin..."

by
Lieutenant Corran "Spots" Rex
(Vanguard Leader)

Flight Officer Jasmine "Jazz" Heloi
(Vanguard Five)

Flight Officer T'Shani "Forgehammer" A'Akledorian
(Vanguard Three)

(Timeline note: Takes place immediately before Rex/Henderson: "Lateral Pass")

----------

Jasmine slid a finger between the new white tunic and her neck and pulled slightly. It never failed - get a new uniform tunic and it was inevitably too tight around the neck line. She generally preferred a loose collar, but that was a remnant of her civilian days. The Betazoid sighed slightly and picked up her new rank insignia and pinned it to her collar. Using the mirror to double check it's positioning, Jasmine grimaced at her reflection. White - she really wasn't that fond of that color.

The newly promoted, not to mention washed out looking, Vanguard XO sighed. Now that she looked the part, she had to break the news to the rest of the squadron. She had no worries about her wingman, Tyten was a good person though she suspected he'd be taking her out for a celebratory drink once he found out. The others of the squadron would probably follow along the same lines - everyone, that was, except for T'Shani.

The Andorian pilot was Marine through and through. Now, she had to tell her that not only was she no longer a Marine, she also had to report to Jasmine as the new XO. The Betazoid firmly reinforced her mental shields in preparing for that particular encounter. She would be meeting T'Shani in a matter of minutes in one of the pilot briefing rooms. The rooms were generally unoccupied and Jasmine figured that the surroundings were neutral enough as she broke the news. It made sense to her to first speak to T'Shani before she spoke to the rest of the squadron - simply because she expected the most resistance from her. With another grimace at her expression, Jasmine turned and left her quarters. As the new XO, she had been given better quarter s that were closer to the flight deck than before. That was a perk since it met she made it to the room a few minutes before she had asked for T'Shani's arrival. Now, if she could only loosen the damn collar.

***

T'Shani A'Akledorian was not in the greatest of moods--as it were; having just been told by Eliza Stuart that she was not allowed to carry out General Houghton's mission-orders.

[Heloi to A'Akledorian]

Tish arched her antennas in curiosity and stopped in the corridor as she tapped her commbadge to reply. "A'Akledorian here, Ensign," was all that she said in reply; wondering what Jasmine might need from her. There was a brief pause, as if the Betazoid woman was trying to think of how to say something...

[I need to speak with you, First Lieutenant. It's regarding the squadron. Can you meet me in Pilot's Briefing Room A?]

~This is interesting....~ "Very well, I will be there in two minutes. A'Akledorian out," she tapped her commbadge off and entered a turbolift...

** Two Minutes Later **

Jasmine tugged again at the corner of her collar and grimaced as it seemed to get even tighter. Now, not only was her collar too tight, she was wearing white, and was about to have a conversation she wasn't quite looking forward to. She hadn't corrected T'Shani when she had addressed her as Ensign, why should she? The Andorian didn't know she had been promoted. Heloi shook her head at her thoughts and turned towards the doorway when she heard it's unmistakable hiss of opening. Of course, the sound preceded the arrival of T'Shani and Jasmine settled on a smile of welcome in the hopes that this would not go too badly.

~Interesting...~ Tish noted the white tunic that Heloi was wearing as she walked into the briefing room, and stood at the far end of the table. "You wanted to see me Ens..." T'Shani paused as she looked closer at Heloi's collar. ~What the...is that a First Lieutenant's Bar she's wearing...but why the white tunic?~

Clearing her throat, "I was not aware that you had transferred your posting...'Lieutenant."

"Actually, it's Flight Officer now," Jasmine replied, thankful that the first question was the easiest to answer. "The Marine and Starfleet Fighter Corps have been combined." She held out a PADD with the pertinent information on it for the Andorian's perusal, "We're now under the auspices of the Starfleet Starfighter Corps. The new ranks essentially follow that of the Marine Corps, save for the titles. Pilot is the equivalent of Ensign or Second Lieutenant, Flight Officer of Lt. JG or First Lieutenant, Lieutenant to Lieutenant or Marine Captain, Major to Lt. Cmdr., and Commander to Lt. Colonel. And it goes on from there. The PADD I just handed you details the new ranks. All Starfighter Corps personnel will now be designated by white tunics." She gestured at her collar and shrugged, "Can't say much for the color but beggars can't be choosers."

~WHAT...THE...FUCK...~ Tish could feel her blue blood begin to boil, as she read over the PADD that Heloi handed her. ~There is no *FUCKING* way they're taking me from the Marines!~.......

Now came the hard part. There was no easy way of putting this particular information, so Jasmine decided directness was the better part of valor, "There is one other thing, T'Shani," she went for the first name both because it was more personal and because she still wasn't used to the new rankings, "Lieutenant Rex has appointed me as his XO." The Betazoid watched the other woman carefully for her reaction, knowing that that would tell her all she needed to know about how T'Shani would regard her from that point onwards.

~T'shani!......T'SHANI!!!!!??...Like she's trying to be some sort of.....*friend*!!!!!~ Tish resisted the urge to throw the PADD across the room...

Jasmine had to fight back from wincing at the strength of the Andorian's emotions. She very dearly hoped that the famed Andorian tendency towards violence when aggravated was ... well, exaggerated to say the least.

Truthfully Tish could care less if Heloi was the new XO. Umarin-knows the woman was a kiss-ass to Rex, probably his little "Yes-Sir" woman....and if she wanted to be the Exec, well-then, fine. But this..this...*reassignment*??!!!...

T'shani gripped the PADD tightly in her strong Andorian hands as the rage built within her; her antennae flattening against her skull and her eyes becoming steely and cold.

~Crap~ was all the betazoid pilot thought as she observed the reaction. "T'Shani, are you... allright?"

**CRRRRAACK!!**

Tish was about to yell, but instead, she looked down to the pieces of broken PADD in her hands...then threw them to the ground. Taking two *HUGE* steps, she came face-to-face with Heloi...

Heloi leaned back a bit, as the strength of the other woman's emotions was actually starting to give her a headache. "Control yourself, Flight Officer." she stated, it taking a massive amount of effort to display no facial reaction.

~I'll show you control!~ She thought as the anger and hurt rose within her. This was like a--no, it was *more* than--a slap to the face! After all her service, all her time, *this* is how Starfleet repaid her: by taking away her honor and pride....and making her where *white* on top of it! The outrage! The indecency! The-the-the...........

Neither woman seemed to hear the door to the briefing room swish open, as Corran strode in. He had a PADD in hand, and was actually about to summon some of the other pilots to inform them of the new changes.

"I seem to be interrupting something." The CO of Vanguard stated. "Flight Officer A'akledorian, would you mind explaining exactly why you look as through your about to rip Flight Officer Heloi's arms from her sockets?"

Tish paused for a second--her left antenna swiveling to *look* at Corran. Quickly, she realized that her right hand was hovering above Heloi's throat. ~Ooops...old habit~ she quickly lowered her hand, took two *HUGE* steps back, and stood at full-attention.

"Sir! The *Exec*," she said that last word with some distaste, "was informing me of the divisional changes that have taken place, Sir!" was all she said, locking her eyes--and antennas--with Corran.

Rex sighed, and rolled his eyes. He'd hoped that a trained officer could have controlled her temper a little more ore than she apparently was. Apparently, he was wrong. "I think I'm aware of that, Flight Officer, as I'm the one who told her to do it. Jasmine, you can go."

"Aye sir." the Betazoid replied with a sense of relief, and departed the small lounge.

Tish kept her eyes locked with Corran's as her antennas followed Heloi's departure. ~Great, a fucking kiss-ass for an XO, and a schizophrenic, lazy-ass bigot of a CO! Umarin! If only I had been able to get on with Rogue Squadron...or just stay in damned Red Division...is he saying something?~ Her antennae swiveled back towards Rex as he began to rant...

"This, right here is your problem, T'Shani." Rex noted. "This attitude of yours, that the universe owes you some giant fucking favor? Get over it already."

"Not the *entire* universe, Sir," she quipped. ~Just the fucking Romulan's~

"No one said this was off the record, and you definitely did not get permission to speak freely, A'Akledorian." the Trill snapped back, interrupting her. "So shut up and listen."

~Fuck you, too, Sir.~ was all she thought. She had very little patience *or* respect for the man. And if he--and the others of Vanguard--didn't care to know *her*, one bit, but rather judge... well, then, she didn't feel that *he* should earn any of *her* respect.

No, only a *very* select few had T'Shani Ardorannan A'Akledorian's full respect: her murdered clan-mates, her family in Ri'noor, the marine that had saved her on Seltax VII--Korman Blackar (now dead), Colonel Markay'din at Marine OTS, General Houghton of Red Division, and--of course--her best friend from childhood, Tron. But, that was *it*. And it didn't look as if she'd be adding anyone from the Galaxy to her *good* list anytime soon. ~Well, maaaabye Henderson....~

Hell, Rex may have truly been over four-hundred years old--as he claimed--but he still didn't know *shit* for how to treat a Marine. ~Some species just live *too* long...~ she thought as a mental smile formed in her mind. ~Is he *still* ranting?!~ she tried to pay attention to his tantrum...

"You are a pilot in my squadron. You are not a Marine anymore, and I'm not 'Fleet. We're both members of the Starfleet Starfighter Corps, we're both wearing the same color shirt, and we are both on the same damn side. I want you to stop treating every other member of this squadron like they're your enemies, because we're not. But let me make one thing abundantly clear." Rex ranted flatly, an authoritative tone coming to his voice that the Andorian couldn't recall hearing before - a coldness that had never been in any of the many training scenarios the squad had run together.

T'Shani only cocked her left antenna back--the Andorian version of a Vulcan's raised-eyebrow. "Yes, *'Lieutenant*," she almost spat out at him.

"You are under my command. That makes me responsible for you, so by everything I hold holy, you are not going to fuck up and cost the lives of any of the members of this squadron, especially yourself. You're a good pilot, but you need a severe trim on the ego. If that doesn't happen, if you can't learn to play nice, I'll do my damndest to make sure you get grounded permanently. Understood?"

The warrior in T'Shani had finally had enough. This man obviously *didn't* give a fuck for her; only his little *friends*: Kettch, Heloi, and whatever other buddies he and that cavalcade of fuck-ups in his head called associates....she wanted to break something again; that always made her feel better. Instead...

She stood there, at full attention, her eyes still locked with Corran's. There was no way she was going to back down to this fuckup-excuse of a commanding-officer. But, there was *still* protocol...

"Permission to speak, Sir!?" she said crisply. Frankly, she didn't give a Teegh's-ass if he *didn't* give her permission; she was still going to talk.

"Why the hell not?" Rex muttered under his breath. "Go ahead."

T'Shani snapped from her at-attention stance and leaned her tall frame against the briefing-room table, across from Rex; her hands flat and spread on its surface. Staring menacingly at Corran--her antennae arched forward and pointing directly at him--her yellowish-gold pupils squinting coldly at him, she began...

"Holy?! HOLY??!! From what I have seen, you don't hold anything *holy*, Corran Rex." her deep voice booming in the room.

The Trill raised an eyebrow as the younger officer seemed to verge on an apoplectic fit. He chose not to say anything as the ranting continued.

"You--or should I say--*Vorrin*," she spat-out in disgust, "go gallivanting around this ship, as if you own it! As if your great life-experiences have made you so much *better* than the rest of us poor shits who don't have the *luxury* of your seemingly-limitless life-knowledge." She watched Rex's face turn a little more ashen at the mention of the old smuggler, inside him...

"Not better, Flight Officer. Simply more experienced." Corran offered rationally. "And you know absolutely nothing about me, my past hosts, or why I am the way I am. So you can stop commenting on that right here and now. If you have something to say relevant to why you just treated Heloi the way you did, relevant to the way you treat everyone else on this ship - or even, in fact, relevant to why you're currently behaving like a human teenager, I would dearly love to hear it." He was still giving her that same even stare, his arms folded in front of his chest as he leaned against the wall in the same position he'd been in since he'd entered the small briefing lounge.

Corran was about to say something more, but T'Shani cut him off with the wave of her right antenna. She wasn't giving up the floor that easy.

"Furthermore...*Sir*, your Umar-damned right: a part of the galaxy *does* owe me. Let's suppose, for one fucking moment, that you can get off your 'holier-than-thou' trip and comprehend where us plebeian's come from, okay?" she didn't pause for his confirmation. "*You* didn't have your homeworld stripped from you in under three hours," she hissed. "*You* didn't feel the panic and terror and utter horror as bombers emblazoned with the Star Empire's bird-of-prey dropped a gigaton isonuteric bomb on your city..."

Finally, they seemed to be getting to the crux of the issue. The Trill unfolded his arms, paying a great deal of attention now. hopefully, this would be something to finally crack that steel faced of the young Andorian's - something that he dearly needed to happen here, on the ship, and not out there, in the black.

"...*You*..." her voice quivered for a moment, the warrior facade shimmering briefly, like a transporter releasing it's confinement beam. Her voice grew a little softer, huskier as she forced the memories and accompanying tears away. Her eyes softened--just a bit--as her defenses dropped a little.. "You...weren't forced to watch as the Romulan bastards bound women and children, torturing them..." her voice inadvertently choked up.

Her eyelids briefly shut as she forced-back the horrible nightmare of memories: how the soldiers had cruelly murdered the men and had pulled appendages and antennae from the women's bodies and cut into their most sacred parts; how they had taken that which was most precious from the young girls...the screams...the horrible, horrible screams of beings in pure, undefiled agony... Quickly, she again banished the memories to the darkened-corners of her mind. Composing herself, she continued. "And you...you...they didn't...." she couldn't bring herself to say the word...the awful word that described what the Romulan troopers had done to her body, at such a young age. An age when she should have been playing keemprho'k with her friends, getting into petty trouble at school, having her first *crush*; normal things that had been denied her...

~Dammit!~ she cursed her weak flesh as she felt a hot tear roll out of her right eye. Quickly, she brushed it away with her hand, hoping that Rex hadn't noticed...

~ Gods. The poor child.~ came the voice of Baledra, another of Rex's past hosts.

~ I couldn't agree more.~ came Corran's own thoughts. This was the real T'Shani... something he'd suspected for some time. A hurt little girl... determined to let the entire universe hurt with her. Until someone managed to change that. "T'shani.." he began softly, hoping she'd now listen.

~Fuck this...~ The warrior--the shield that kept the real, vulnerable T'Shani hidden and safe from the rest of the galaxy--quickly sprung up around her, again. Wiping the rest of the tears from her cheek, she looked back up to Rex, the deadly coolness returning to her eyes. "And now, the Great Federation wants to call this *disease* our 'Allies'. Very well, Sir. But you can guarantee that I'll be fighting that notion for the rest of my life--*ALWAYS* remembering what their kind are capable of. A fact the Grand Council has obviously forgotten..."

Tish straightened her frame and smoothed her tunic. Snatching the white tunic from the table, she took one last look to Corran. "Oh, and don't worry, Sir. I won't be around much longer to fuck up your little happy-family squadron: As soon as this mission is complete, I will be transferring back to the Marine Corps'--the only real *family* I have left." and with that--without even asking for permission--Tish angrily stalked past a stunned-looking Rex and out of the briefing room...

Lieutenant Rex watched as the blue-skinned pilot stalked out. He knew one thing for sure. T'Shani A'Akledorian was a part of his squadron, and that meant she was now his problem to deal with - for better or for worse. If she did request a transfer after this mission, he'd deny it. He wasn't going to let a talented pilot leave simply because of some personal problems. And if she ended up not being worthy of trust after all... if she cracked out there in the black, well... either she'd be dead, or spending a long time with Starfleet Psychiatric.

One of the three. Time would tell which won out.

“Inside the Mug”

*Back Post Takes place while the Galaxy is docked at Wolf 359*

Lieutenant Commander Ethan Suder
Chief Engineer of the Galaxy

& NPC Lieutenant (Jg) Chandrakala Lakshmi Eshe
Engineer from the Klingon Bird of Pray - T’kengra.

Ethan frowned. He didn’t feel right. There was something wrong with him, but it felt right. He could feel the skin on his cheek burn where she had hit him. There were thoughts and images crossing through his head. They didn’t make sense at first, but then it all fit into place. He pushed her shoulders hard. Watching as she fell back on to the soft ground below, he took a step forward. “I don’t think I’m superior to anyone! If anything, I think everyone is above me. What’s my situation compared to some of theirs?” he asked raising his eyebrows, his pitch black eyes still locked on hers. “They’re all fine…” he paused for a moment as a pain sliced through his skull. But he didn’t show it, he just squinted very slightly. “And what are you doing? Looking for a fight? Trying to scare me? You work with Klingons? That’s not going to well is it? And you’re what, dealing? You hurt, just like anyone else, and instead of just having one lousy chat with Dhani over subspace, you just push your feelings and problems aside! So I guess we have something in common after all, accept, if I were in you position, I would have talked to my friends and family. And one day, you’ll wish you had. How long are you going to go on with this? I’m not the only one with the cloak and dagger. Are going to talk to Dhani, or are you just going to wait until K’vol kills you. How will that effect Dhani, how 0will it effect your parents? What happens when it becomes a political issue between the Federation and the Klingon Empire, you’d risk so much, and all for what, your freakin pride?!” he snapped again.

Getting to her feet she pushed him back, although he didn’t budge! “Where do you get off?” she shouted at him, “You think you know everything don’t you? You think you know what’s going on with me and K’vol? Well? Go on tell me.” She demanded.

“He slept with Rohana. You were what, hurt?” he asked, his voice lowering slightly. “Fair enough, you can’t choose who you fall in love with, even if it is a Klingon. But don’t get me wrong, I’m not judging you. But you had to fight back. You couldn’t finish it, you couldn’t deal with it, you couldn’t move on, you had to fight back. Revenge. The lies, the deceit, you were no better than him. Lying to him, to the point that he beat you around. And you let him. And you’ll continue letting him because he now has power over you. And at your next confrontation, even if you stand up to him, it won’t make that much difference, because he still has a piece of you that can never be taken away, that can never be changed, he violated you, beat you up…. And you Let him!”

“I deserved it!” she screamed back at him, punching his chest weekly, “You have no idea what I’ve done. I deserved to have a little respect knocked into me!” Closing her eyes tightly to stifle the tears that were welling up, tears of anger, pain and sorrow, she whispered, “I deserved it.”

“I think you’ve been spending too much time with Klingons. You deserved it?” he repeated. “What could you have possible have done to deserve it?” he asked.

She turned away from him, her hands clenched into fists. She sighed a wavering sigh as she pulled her courage together. “I, I…” she stammered. Not able to put her deceit into words, she looked back up at him, “I’m not a nice person.” She said simply.

“You are what you make yourself. So come on, what did you do that was so bad that you deserved it!?” he asked, his tone quieter.

She gave him a sideways glance as she began to walk through to the edge of the trees. This was a nice program, for an instant she forgot that she was on the Galaxy. The warm sun scented breeze rippled through her hair making the loose strands dance around her face. She stared out across the fields, watching the shadows change as the sun faded in and out from the passing clouds. She didn’t look at Suder as she began, it made it easier to tell, at least she couldn’t see him judge her. But still she would be able to feel his disappointment.

“I told him that I slept with So’han.” She began but she wasn’t sure if she could continue, telling him was difficult because at the same time she was admitting it to her self and that was a big step. So far she had been able to push it aside, almost forgetting about it, or at least trying to. But to actually say it, tell someone, in a way made it real. And she wasn’t sure if she was ready for that.

“Whether you did or not is in material, he slept with someone else, thus, if he’s allowed to do it, why can’t you? But I’m still not getting why you deserved it?”

“Because I lied to him!” she said turning to look at him, “I didn’t sleep with So’han.”

“So why did you tell him that?” he asked plainly.

“Because the truth would have hurt him more. So’han is incapacitated and K’vol wouldn’t touch him in that state, it wouldn’t be honourable.”

“So what’s the truth?” he asked.

“I, Oh geese.” She sighed, “I have been sleeping with someone else. There I said it!” She turned and looked at Suder, “K’vol isn’t just my lover, he is, was, my friend. All throughout our training he was there for me. And even when I went to the Academy, during all my failed romances he was my shoulder to cry on. When I joined the T’kengra and we began working together, we just made sense. I do love him, but lately. I just…” she paused, “I cant justify it, I cant even say that I fell in love with someone else, I didn’t. So you see Ethan I’m not a nice person, I lied about So’han so that K’vol wouldn’t find out who it really was. I’m protecting someone I don’t even love and I’m setting up a good friend for a hard fall. I deserve a hell of a lot more than I got.”

Ethan almost chuckled and shook his head. For a moment, he wasn’t sure what to say. “Well,” he started. “You’re not a bad person. You can sleep with someone without having to love them. Sometimes when people do that, they do love them, just don’t realise. Maybe you were looking for a good time, maybe you were just giving into lust, which isn’t always bad, not that I can talk from experience or anything… K’vol slept with someone else, do you think he’s burning inside with the same feelings as you? The same guilt? The same regret?”

“I don’t know that.” She replied, “But my deceit goes a lot deeper than his. I’m not talking about a one night stand with the latest bit of stuff. I’ve been cheating on K’vol for months.” She was surprised at how easy that was to say. Maybe getting the bulk out made it easier to add in the rest. Although she felt a little better at finally telling someone she was beginning to feel dirty, and not in a good way. How could she have got herself into such a mess? And how on earth had she managed to pull one of the oldest and longest friends into it? She truly was a bad person, and not just that she was a bad friend, and a bad sister to boot. Here she was supposed to be helping her Dhani out and she was griping about her own problems, and to top it off she had made the mess in the first place! The only question in her mind at the moment was ‘how’?

“Computer, end program.” Ethan finally ordered not wanting Kala to realise what it was all about.

“Unabl – Unabl – Unabl -...”

After a few seconds of stuttering, the program finally closed.

“Kala. If you’ve been doing it for months, there’s obviously a reason. And the foundation of it is about you and K’vol. If it was love, if it was real, neither of you would have gone to anyone else. You wouldn’t be able to. There was obviously a problem there, even if you couldn’t see it. Perhaps it was your way of getting out of the relationship, who knows. All I know is, you got it out of your system, you had to get it out, vent the steam. You needed it. And that’s what I do.” He explained walking off, looking back at Kala to see if she would follow. He gestured with his arm, trying to get her to come with him. What they both really needed was a drink.

“Over a Bottle of Beer”

*Back Post Takes place while the Galaxy is docked at Wolf 359*

Lieutenant Commander Ethan Suder
Chief Engineer of the Galaxy

& NPC Lieutenant (Jg) Chandrakala Lakshmi Eshe
Engineer from the Klingon Bird of Pray - T’kengra.

Her arms were crossed as she stared puzzled at the floor. For the last few minutes, an hour maybe, she had been screaming at him. She had been thinking and telling him what a prick his was and then some, she had wanted to punch his lights out, physically hurt him and somewhere during that exchange she was sure that she had the erg to jump his bones too, but she wasn’t going to dwell on that one. And now here they stood, talking as if nothing had happened. He had managed to drag out of her what was bothering her and she didn’t even like him nor trust him. And now what? They were about to get a drink! How the hell did he do that? She looked at him frowning and huffing, she wasn’t sure how to feel about that one, angry, sad?

Her frown melted away and she began to laugh, walking up past him she belted his arm hard. It was all that was left of her anger. It was her turn to look back at him now as she stood in the corridor, an amused expression danced across her lips. She was still puzzled and confused but it didn’t seem to matter anymore. She waited for him to catch up.

He caught up with her and remained silent. Walking with her, he thought about the explosions and rapid backfires that they had thrown at each other over the last, what twenty minutes, hour…. He wasn’t sure how long they had been talking, but oh did he need a drink, just to fill the empty spot in his stomach.

She wasn’t sure what to make of Ethan, at first, not counting the jerk encounter, she had thought that he was a nice bloke. And then within a space of twenty four hours she had wanted to smack him around till every bone in his body was broken, she had found him arrogant, rude, condescending and she was quite willing to have never spoken to him again. But between her need to always have the last word and her problem of never walking away they had ended up still… civil? Wow, and how and what the hell? She let the silence between them drift, neither feeling uncomfortable with it or awkward. She was, she supposed, still in a state of shock. As Ethans feet lead them in the direction of Ten Forward and the bar, Kalas mouth began to water. She didn’t care if they didn’t speak for the next twenty minutes as long as she got a drink. She needed it!

Ethan leaned over the bar and frowned at the bartender. “Get me a beer, and a Balane.” He demanded in a nice way of course. He was given a beer promptly and Kala was given a glass of Ethan’s best drink. The thick, dark blue liquid. He sipped his beer and looked at Kala. “So, how do you feel? About the situation I mean, you, K’vol, your friend.” He asked between sips.

Kala scanned the room for a dark corner to sit in. She nodded towards the table and lead Ethan to it. She didn’t even contemplate speaking until she had sat down. Combing her hair with her fingers she leaned on her hand, her elbow propped up on the table. After taking a long sip of her drink she sighed, “I really don’t know.” she told him.

“So what are you going to do? You either leave K’vol, leave the other person, leave them both, or carry on with what you’ve been doing and risk getting killed or something.” Ethan was surprised with his own bluntness. “Either way, don’t put yourself down and don’t let anyone kick you down. You haven’t done anything wrong.”

“Ethan please don’t try and make me feel good about what I have done, or try to paint it any other colour than what it is. It was wrong, I deserve more than a bruised face and a couple of bruised ribs. And either way I lose my friends. Shit Ethan when did I become so stupid?” she asked him, not really expecting an answer, after all they didn’t know each other. But then maybe he could tell her, he had managed to get her right so far.

“You just don’t get it, Kala.” He replied shaking his head slowly, drinking some more beer. “Where’s the line between right and wrong. As I said earlier on, if the love between you and K’vol is real, strong, alive like the fires of hell, then neither of you would have slept with other people, you couldn’t, you wouldn’t be able to, no force in this universe could make you. You love him, yes, as a friend, as a confidant, hell, maybe as a soul mate, but do you ‘Love’ him?” He paused for a moment and continued. “No, because of the previously mentioned reasons. You can’t think that you’re the only one to blame. Why is it all your fault? All right, you slept with someone else, but why, what made you do it, why weren’t you happy enough with K’vol that you had to sleep with someone else?”

She took a moment to look back and take a review, was it a sudden change? She sat there, the cogs turning in her head, “A few months ago I started having these dreams,” she began, “I don’t remember everything that happened in those dreams, but the feelings. They were so strong. I remember K’vol was in them and there was no passion between us, just this cold hatred. And there was this other guy, he was so intense, his eyes were so dark, but when he looked at me, I felt his love for me. I saw it in every expression he gave. It was so amazing. And I realised that that was the kind of love I wanted, and somehow I knew that K’vol would never love me like that, he couldn’t. I don’t ever want to feel the hatred towards him that I felt in my dreams. And I know they were only dreams, but it was, it felt so real. Does it make any sense?” she asked him.

“It does. Perhaps your minds way of telling you that you don’t love him the way that maybe you used to or wanted to. It doesn’t mean it’s wrong.” He explained hoping Kala would continue.

“Yeah, but look at the logical side, I just screwed up three friendships over a dream. And the bloke in it, the love I felt, could be just be in my dreams.” She felt sad now, how could she have let things get so out of hand?

“As I said, maybe it was just the minds way of getting you out of the relationship. Explain this to them. They might understand. If not, well, it’s hard, but there’s millions more people to make friends with. No one likes losing friends, but you’re at a crossroads. It could work out.”

“You really expect me to explain a dream to a bunch of Klingons and hope they what, understand? I really don’t think that that word is in their vocabulary.” She gave him a small smile; it was all she could manage, “I really don’t get how you did this Ethan.” She stated rubbing her temples.

“True, their Klingons, they might not understand. But you’re not Klingon. You’re a Trill, you have dreams, act on them, it’s part of you. They might not get it, but you do, that’s what matters. Some gulf’s can’t be bridged between species.” He drank some more of his beer. “And with regards to your last statement, well, it’s a trade secret.”

“Well Ethan, if you’ve managed to crack me open like a nut and make me spill my insides out, why the hell can’t you do that with Dhani?” She wasn’t sure if bringing up her sisters name was a good thing to do, baring in mind the way he had snapped before, but hopefully he was past that.

Ethan frowned slightly. It was a good question. She had been harsh, snappy and rude earlier, but so had he. For a reason. Did she have a reason? He looked from his glass, slowly upwards until his eyes met Kalas. “Some people are easy, some take a bit of work. Others, like Dhani, need a lot of work. I’m still in the process of “cracking” her.” he explained. “If you think me talking to her, offering her a mental way of dealing and locking her in her quarters is my resources used up, then you really do have a lot to learn about me. She’ll just take a little more time. Time we may not have. That’s why I called you here. She’s died once already, who knows what could happen next?”

“Why don’t you trust her to make it on her own?” she asked, “I really don’t think that she is eager for an encore. And at any rate she is sensible. I know she slipped and it was a big one but she is logical, and you can blame Sark for that,” she gave him a small smile, “and in the end that will win out. She can’t help but revert to logic. It’s a big part of who she is.”

“I fear there’s something more to it.” I know dying is a big thing for some people, but if logic would play as big a part as you say, then why can’t she sleep, why is she behaving erratically? How much time does she have? If it were up to me, I’d give her as much time off as she needs. But she’s a Starfleet officer, people higher up don’t get it, they want people working, if there’s a problem, they want sickbay and freakin Counsellors to sort it out and get that person back up on their feet. She doesn’t want to play that game, I understand that. But something needs to be done…. Argh, I don’t know, I’m just rambling now.” He admitted sipping some more beer.

“Ethan,” Kala asked the pitch of her voice raised slightly as did her eyebrows, “have you actually asked Dhani why she can’t sleep? No, because you didn’t even know that she couldn’t. Have you asked her what she is doing to try and combat the problem? No. She has been working with you for how long now?” she didn’t wait for his reply just carried on with the questioning, “And none of you have noticed that she hasn’t been sleeping, her work hasn’t suffered. So give her some credit would you? From what I can see she has done everything in her power to cure it. By herself at first and then when that didn’t work she went to sick bay about it, and yes that was before she died. Have you asked her what drove her to killing herself? You said it was self inflicted, but you didn’t give me the specifics.” she paused to take a swig of her drink, “Have you actually taken the time out to find out what she thinks about all this? No! Have you asked her why she is behaving erratic! ally? No! Have you asked the counsellors why they aren’t making any headway with her? No! Have you asked the doctors about her medical condition? No, or else you would have known about the insomnia for one. Do you not think that she is frustrated because she isn’t working? Do you think that this incredibly active, self reliant, emotionally stable person is happy being cooped up all day with nothing to do, having everyone around her probing her and prodding her, testing her for everything under the suns, and actually feeling things that she didn’t even know existed? Dhani was brought up with logic, I wasn’t. I understand pain, and how it feels when someone criticises you, verbally abuses you, walks off and sleeps with your man and dumps you. She doesn’t. She hasn’t felt emotion in over ten years Ethan. When you first met her what did you think? Vulcan? Everyone does.” She stopped talking and finally took a breath.

She went up to the bar, leaving Ethan to digest all that she had just said, returning with two bottles of beer in her hand she sat down.

Ethan waited until she was comfortably seated before replying to her barrage of questions. He scratched his nose a little and took a swig from the new bottle of beer. “When first questioned about the problem, she explained how she died. What it was like, better than that, she showed me. Not that I didn’t already know, it was just something that happened. As a result, she trashed my quarters. Part of her Betazoid abilities… unusual for someone only half Betazoid. Clearly, emotions were running high. She refused to reverse the process and just left. That’s how my quarters got trashed. After that I knew there was more to it than just a simple case of dying. After her showing me, I felt a little of something as well. Something I couldn’t describe, yet it was something somewhat, familiar.” He paused and took another swig. “As time went on it became clear that something was distracting her, effecting her, and it wasn’t just the close call with death, it was that some! thing I couldn’t describe. That’s what I wanted to help her with, to help her understand, to help her feel, but was rejected right away. I don’t know if this makes any sense. But surely logic would dictate that when all of her options have failed, perhaps she should seek help from someone who might be able to, someone willing. The Doctors don’t know, the Counsellors can only listen and quote from a book, but perhaps one of the Vulcans or other Betazoids onboard might be able 20to help her?”

Kala looked at him, something in her demeanour changed, “You linked with her?” she asked trying not to sound too demanding or concerned.

“Not by choice.” He replied quickly.

“What, you’re telling me that she just did it? How?”

“Who knows?” he replied. He then thought about it. It was some time ago now. “She was describing what happened, she then stood up and just seemed to be in a trance of some kind. I approached her to find out what was going on and she touched me, pulling me into whatever world she was in. A reconstruction of what happened when she died. That’s how it happened.”

Kala leaned back in her chair, “Interesting.” She murmured, ~ She usually connects with guys on a physical bases, sex or kissing and the like ~ She thought to herself. Her momentary bought of caution and worry dissipated. She wasn’t quite sure why every time she heard about her sister linking on a telepathic level with another that she got overly worried. Although she did have this vague memory of being thrown across a room… she shook her head to shake the memory off.

“Dhani only links minds with people that she’s close to, and I don’t mean sister close.” She gave Ethan a slightly long look to emphasise her words, hoping that he would hear the things she didn’t say as well as what she did, “And she has had a lot of mental training which might explain why she can do things that the average Betazoid can’t” she added.

“That much I figured out on my own.” Ethan replied suddenly feeling defensive. “But before you go all wondering and thoughtful, we’re not close. Never have been!” he almost snapped, angry at himself. “We’ve never done anything but be professional, in the work place! I’m not close to her, I have no feelings for her, I don’t want any!”

“Hey, hey, hey!” Kala said, her hands raised in the air; a retreat gesture, “I didn’t mean anything by it, just telling you how it is with her. And you should feel lucky, she doesn’t just open up like that to everyone. She only had one boyfriend at the Academy.” She looked at him for a few seconds, “And all this time you’ve been telling me that she doesn’t trust you. She must have to do that. You’re one step closer than I am.”

“Or perhaps it was a mistake.” Ethan said, frowning. “Maybe she didn’t mean to do it, it just happened.” He picked up the bottle of beer and took a long, slow swig from it and then just as slowly, placed it back on the table.

Kala watched him for a moment. He was really defensive about Dhani, maybe there was something between them. She let the thought mull over in her head for a few seconds. And then returned to the topic at hand, “You should take some time out to get to know her, it’s the only way that you can even begin to understand her. And all the questions you have been asking. You’re asking the wrong Eshe. You need to ask her. You need to tell her all the things you’ve told me.”

“Perhaps.” He said plainly. He continued looking at the table. What she was proposing was suicide. He would never get close with anyone other than the good friends he already had. He didn’t want to. And there was a god reason for it.

“But before you do Ethan. I strongly suggest you ask your self why you feel so strongly about this. And we both know it goes deeper than ‘she’s just part of you team’.” She stood up slowly and without another word she walked to the door where K’vol lingered. Looking up at him she smiled and slipped her arm around his waist, “K’vol, we need to talk……..” was the last thing Ethan heard her say as she walked out of Ten Forward.

He turned back to his drink and half smiled. “Don’t need to ask myself…” he replied in a whisper as if she were still there, “I already know the answer.” He finished his drink and removed himself from the table. He tugged down on his duty jacket before leaving Ten Forward.

“Letters to my psyche, Part One”

Lieutenant (Jg) Dhanishta Eshe
Engineer.

*** Location; Deck 4 Crew Quarters***

Dhani sat on her couch looking out into the vastness of space, a blue hue surrounding her. She had found the colour to be calming, and so had changed the filters in her quarters. The day had been a long one. She had nothing to do. Most of her first month of inactive duty had been spent in the holodeck, subsequently she had run out of holo credits. Her stomps around the ship had become unnecessary, she had finally pieced the flash backs together, and so further exploration of the ship was no longer required. So here she sat, alone.

She had thought about trashing her quarters just so that she had something to fix, but the whim had come and gone in a second or two. Mainly because if anyone had found her she would spend the next three months undergoing physic evaluation, though it did feel like the counsellor was already doing that, but she could at any time just walk out of her office, which she already had done on several occasions.

She paused from her staring to look around her quarters. The blue hue reflected off the cargo crates that still sat unpacked in the corner of the room. Shifting Salem off her lap she wondered across the room. Kneeling down she opened the crate and looked inside. Several different items of clothing lay on top of a large wooden box. Brushing them aside she pulled the box out. Walking over to the table she set it down, and began rummaging around in her desk for the key to the box. After a few minutes she had the key. Taking the box to the middle of her living space she sat down on the floor and opened it.

A beautifully bounded leather book was the first thing she removed. Affectionately her hands traced over the cover, she let out a saddened sigh as she held the book to her chest. She had never read what was written in the book, she couldn’t. It was Chang’s diary and even though he had, left, in a manner of speaking, still she couldn’t read the things he had written.

A beam of light crossed her vision; something twinkled from within the box. She delved her hand inside and picked out the offending object. Opening her hand she looked down at the ring that now sparkled in the blue light. It was made with white gold the gem in its centre emanated every colour in the spectrum. It was a beautiful engagement ring. A tear slipped down her cheek.

Hugging the book and the ring close to her chest she rocked slightly back and forth on the floor, one tear after the other rolled down her cheeks.

Since she was a child she had listened to the words of her mentor. She had aspired to be everything that he wanted her to be; a Vulcan. She had controlled her emotions with ease. She had never showed anger or pain. But now, here, something had changed. She felt pain and anger and everything else that went with it. Since the incident at Qunitn she had felt more conflicting emotions than ever before. And now for some reason old wounds that she thought had healed returned to kick her when she was at her lowest.

The pain of losing Chang, watching him die. Her lover, the one she was to spend the rest of her life with. The only man that had asked her to ………., the only man she had ever been with. She thought the worst was over when he left her that morning years ago. But to see him die too. That was a blow she was not prepared for. And that kiss, the last kiss. As the walls around them crumbled she showed him emotion one last time. But what followed was the biggest blow. The information that passed between them in that moment of passion. She learned more about him in those few minutes than she ever had during the last four years. His decisions did not sit well with her, but they were no longer together, she had no say. He had made sure of that.

But those events had happened years ago. She had shed no tear then, she had kept to her Vulcan training. Showed no emotion, hell she didn’t even attend his funeral, although she had watched from a distance, seen his latest conquest wail by his grave side. So why now did she feel the pain of losing him, the pain from the betrayal that had transpired during that last kiss. The pain of being abandoned by Starfleet, of living alone for years and living a lie for twenty odd years with Turan.

Such pain. How could she recover, how could she return to her work? How could she survive?

She began to cry harder, at some point she knew this emotion would turn and she would be angry with him, and sitting here fuming would not help, she would lash out. Like a Klingon in a fury she would find a target and not stop until she destroyed it. But still she cried, like a whimpering child, oh how she despised her self. What scorn her mentor would look upon her with. Although he would show it, but still she knew that he would feel it, he would judge her, she was week.

~This can’t go on.~ she told her self, ~I have to find a way out of this, I need help.~

~There is no one to help you ~ a voice from within her told her, ~haven’t you learnt that by now? You are alone, always alone. The only person you can turn to is yourself.~

~I cant do this alone.~ she shouted back, ~I need help. I don’t know how to do this alone. I’ve tried everything that I know. Who can I turn to?~

~Exactly, Dhani. Who can you turn to? Is there anyone you can think of? Is there anyone that you haven’t already gone to? Suder, the Chief who wants to be your friend. All he wants to do is get inside your head. Jiiles, what does he know? What can he do to help you? Ella Grey, well she’s more screwed than you are. Michael, he doesn’t understand you. The Captain thinks your nuts, the counsellor is trying bless her. Curran, well he knows that you are week. I could go on with everyone on the ship but …. I think you get my point. In the end Dhanishta there is only one person that you can turn to… and that person is yourself. Only you can pick your self up. So what are you going to do Dhanishta Eshe? Lie there and cry for the rest of your life? Dhanishta you do not deserve that mark branded into your shoulder. You do not deserve the respect of your Klingon Houses. You do not deserve the training and the years that Sark gave to you.~ her inner voice began to sho! ut, ~You are week Dhanishta Eshe. Pick your self up off the floor and be the woman that you were, the woman that is still inside you; the worrier that the Klingons accepted into their House, the student that surpassed her Vulcan teacher, the Trill that was accepted to become a host, the outstanding engineer that graduated Starfleet, the officer that was promoted to a Lieutenant. You managed to do and to and be all that, you will find a way but first you have to GET UP!~

Slowly she rose to her feet, dropping the book and the ring to the floor. She went to her desk and sat down. She had to find a way. Opening the draw she pulled out a piece of paper and a pen. She had to say good bye to her demons, once and for all.

January 30th 2381. *This One is for Chang*

I’m sitting here alone in my quarters; I forget how long it was since I last saw you, since I last held you, since our lips last touched.

Five years, seven months, four days thirteen hours, fifteen minutes and ten seconds.

That time of year is here again, and no I’m not talking about festivals, the New Year etc. I’m twenty eight years old today. You know not even Kerenza or Tanson sent me a message. Kala and I exchanged the usual Birthday moan when she came to visit a few weeks ago. But still I sit here alone. I remember how you would surprise me in the morning with red roses, until you found out by some mysterious dickey bird that my favourite flowers were orchids. You would unlock the doors to my room and sneak your way inside, I would awake to find you watching over me orchids tickling my face. Incurable romantic!

Do you remember the times we sat and talked about the future, where we would be in five years time? I do.

I remember the day you left me too, the day I let you walk away. I remember the last things you said to me. How I aspired to be something that I wasn’t, you wanted me to embrace who and what I was. You couldn’t stand the fact that I expressed my self through love, and you wanted me to be able to express my self all the time. You left me because I wasn’t emotional enough, I was icy. You couldn’t handle that could you? You had to be the strong one, physically, mentally and emotionally. And you weren’t on all three accounts.

I still remember your betrayal. And no, not to me. Your betrayal to Starfleet. You know I suppose that I should have told someone, told them about your decision to betray your oath to Starfleet. But I didn’t. Who would believe that you had joined a rogue organisation, bent on preserving the Federation and what it stands for, at all costs? Yeah, Chang, I know. But they all saw you die, didn’t they.

Except me. I know the truth, yet I can’t share it with anyone. I can’t take the risk of letting anyone in for fear that they will find out your, our, little secret. I reject help because of a miss guided loyalty to you. So here I am alone, I don’t need to wonder why any more. I am alone and always will be.

Well you know what Chang? I tried the emotional way, and killed myself in the process! I’m not an emotional person Chang. I am what I am. I didn’t get here by crying over spilt milk. I didn’t get here by taking insult to every criticism. I got here by being the woman you rejected.

You know I thought for a long time that that was the reason you left me. The real reason was something else wasn’t it. You left me for them for the organisation that recruited you. You didn’t really love me did you? All you cared about was you career, one that would keep you in the shadows. No one will ever know about your heroism. That’s what you wanted, and that’s just what you got. You’re dead to your family and friends. But not to me.

I didn’t realise just how much your rejection hurt me until now. Suder told me one day that I reminded him of a Vulcan. It cut deep. I gave in to the emotion. It pained me to hear that sentence, seeing as it was the reason you left me. But it wasn’t and I understand that now. Just to set the record straight, I did love you Chang. And part of me always will, forever.

I still think of you from time to time. I found the engagement ring you gave me today, it is beautiful. I still don’t understand why you left. Could a cause be so important that you would leave me for it? Was I such an awful person? Was our love not strong enough?

I can’t continue with this pain in my heart, I have to move on. But knowing that you are still alive somewhere, out there. It is difficult to forget you.

Today you die, in my mind and in my heart. You must, for I can not again.

The pen fell from her fingers as she stared at the piece of paper. Sighing she returned to the couch. Looking out to the stars, those same stars that she had found such comfort in not so long ago. Those stars had surrounded her made her feel safe and secure. She had felt such peace there, so at home. But now she felt nothing from them, no comfort, no love, nothing. She pawed at the window.

“I don’t know how to let you go Chang.” She whispered to the galaxy beyond the window, “I don’t even know where to start. When I close my eyes I can still see your face, your beautiful eyes looking down into the depths of my soul.” Her voice wavered as she choked back her tears, “I loved you more than words can say.” She whispered. “If you were dead, buried and truly gone, maybe I could move on. But I know that your not. I need to say good bye to you but how can I when you’re not gone? Why couldn’t you have died? Why did I have to kiss you one last time? Why did….?”

She looked at her reflection, her own face staring back at her. She could see her own eyes, cold and dead.

“I have to find a way, I must.” She told her self.

As Salem climbed into her lap she leaned back into the chair and began to tickle his head. As he nuzzled her hand she leaned down and kissed him.

“I still have you hey, Salem.”

"Born to Fly"

by
Lt. Corran "Spots" Rex
Vanguard CO, Vanguard One

& Flight Officer Jasmine "Jazz" Heloi
Vanguard XO, Vanguard Five

------

Location: USS Galaxy Fighter Bay Observation Room

Corran was still standing with his arms folded as he overlooked the fighter bay from the Observation Room. The techs seemed to be down to the last fighter, now - it wouldn't be long before they were ready to launch. He'd sent Jazz off to get all the pilots ready - here she came now. "Everyone ready to fly?" he asked his new exec.

Jasmine nodded as she once again shoved a finger between her neck and the collar and tugged slightly, "Yeah. I had to hunt down Kettch, but everyone else is ready and willing to fly." The former vid star had spent the past fifteen minutes hunting down the rest of the squadron, only Kettch had proved difficult to find. Everyone else had been hovering around or near the fighter bay. They had heard about the possibility of launch already - after all, the only thing faster than warp on a starship was news.

"Where'd the little fuzzball run off to this time?" the Trill asked, eyebrow raised. For a being that looked insomuch like a small, fuzzy human teddy bear, the good Lieutenant always did manage to get into something.. interesting.

"He found himself a nice little hidey-hole in one of the trees in the arboretum. If I hadn't heard from Ensign Fitzpatrick that he had seen Kettch go in but never come out, I'd never of found him. He wasn't carrying his comm badge - he said it was because he wanted to commune with nature or something like that," Jasmine replied with a small smirk. If she thought about it, it was rather funny.

"I exhibit no surprise." Corran replied. "T'Shani give you any shit when you told her to prep for flight time?"

"Not vocally," Heloi replied with a wince. She still had a bit of a headache from the pounding of emotions from the Andoriian. She would have to start taking pain inhibitors if this type of thing kept up.

"Good." Rex replied. He'd still not told the red-headed betazoid about what happened in the room after she'd left him and the Andoriian there. He wasn't sure yet that he would. Best to leave those troubles only on his own shoulders for now.

"Lieutenant." came the voice of the sergeant from the bay below over the comm. "Last fighters ready. You're all good to go."

"Thank you, Sergeant." he said, and closed the comm. Picking up his helmet from the shelf in front of him, Rex pulled on the gloves for his flight suit with the helmet tucked under his arm. "Ready to fly, Jazz?"

She grabbed her own helmet - having already pulled on the gloves - and grinned, "I was born ready to fly, Spots."

"Heh. Join the club." The pair of them stepped over to the open-air lift that went down to the flight deck, and Rex noted the rest of the Vanguard pilots already standing in a group near the fighters. Speaking loud enough to be heard over the noise of the bay, Corran addressed them all.

"Alright everybody, listen up. This is a search run through an asteroid belt, so I want you to have your deflectors set to maximum. Target's one of ours, the U.S.S. Pallas Athena. She's an Excelsior-II class ship, so she ought to be big enough even for you blind youngsters. When we get out there, you'll break by flights first. Flight Leaders have the search routs already programmed into navigation. When you get to your search zones, break by wings. You clear one part of the grid, move on to the next."

Corran looked around as he finished talking. "Everybody clear?" Once they'd all nodded or given some kind of affirmation, he spoke again. "Well, what the hell are you all still doing here? Let's get out there and fly already." he said with a wide grin.

Jasmine shot Corran an echoing grin before she headed towards her fighter with Tyten in tow. "I'll see you out there, Blue." She winked at her wingmate as she climbed into her newly modified fighter. This was, like she had told Corran, what she had been born to do.

"Devotion to Duty" - Part Two

By Legate Kylar Curran,
Chief Liaison Officer

Sub-Commander Savar ir-Aihai tr'Khellian
Acting Chief Tactical Officer

Appearances by:

Lieutenant Commander James Lionel Corgan
Chief Security Officer

Saladin Bolivar,
Chief Intelligence Officer

Ahdjiia D'Tinya,
Security Officer

*****

Deck 8
Stardrive Section
Intelligence Offices
USS Galaxy

******

The initial shock Savar felt, like being stabbed in the stomach with a lance of ice, was immense, and his head rocked backwards as though it had been physically struck. This ship was intercepting and decoding Rihannsu transmissions that must, absolutely must, be encrypted. Not only were they able to trace the signal, but extract every word! Only the greatest self-control could restrict his face flushing the colour of olives, as the sudden trepidation seized him that his communications home could also have been monitored. He had taken the shuttle far out into space each time - but how had they acquired this? A communication between two of the ruling elite of ch'Rihan and the Stellar Empire!

He was suddenly aware of Curran watching him with hawkish eyes, ringed red as though from exhaustion, and so bent his head once more to the console. His mind hurried to recover as he forced himself to read on. Omar was arrogant to the point of crass stupidity - he must have made some error, some mistake, forgotten to encrypt the transmission properly. Something. It could not be true that the Federation were able to intercept all Rihannsu communications.

He made himself read onwards. Whilst clearly a disgrace, the very existence of the transcript was also a terrible danger to Ambassador Omar, and this cheered the Sub-Commander significantly. He smirked at the mistranslation of 'Daise'Sael'Riov' to 'Colonel', and was gratified by the words of Riov Omar which confirmed what he had heard about political instability on ch'Rihan. Savar's face began to fall as Omar spat out dire insults about him, and to darken like grapes of wrath as the gloating Tal Shiar officer, who had bought his commission as he had bought his seat on the Senate floor, gloated about the murder of Senators sympathetic to his own views.

"Fvah?" tr'Khellian raged, his eyes flashing with anger, his fists involuntarily clenched. Could it be true? Had the Tal Shiar 'brutally disposed of' Senators simply for desiring peaceful consolidation instead of more conquest and bloodshed? Vellen had warned that the Tal Shiar was strengthening - but to the extent of murdering Senators? No - this could never be. Tal Shiar could make ordinary citizens quake and tremble, and plead for their lives, but the lives of the Tal Shiar themselves were made, and broken, on the floor of the Senate and by the hand of the Praetor. Vellen would have mentioned the death of any Senator. Surely. This had to be a lie - but why make it?

'Tr'Khellian must be dealt with though. A diplomatic attaché has been dispatched to you. She shall be your bodyguard too. This woman has very recently graduated from the military academy. This rather young woman is very beautiful. While she shall be assigned to be protecting you then her primary mission shall be to be carefully surveying the treacherous veruul...'

Savar's jaw dropped at this absolute outrage, this slur against him, this 'plot' to kill him! "Ryak'na!" he barked, slamming the glass-topped table with the flat of his hand. He sprang to his feet, spearing the Kelvan officer with a glare from his fiery eyes. "Where did you acquire this?" he demanded.

"We intercepted this transmission between Senator Omar and his father. Unfortunately we were only able to obtain a textual transcript," he explained.

"Ryak'na," tr'Khellian snapped, contemptuously, again repeating the highly offensive Rihannsu word for waste material. "You expect me to believe this? It could only have been drafted by a man who knows nothing of the Rihana." He shook his head, his upper lip curling. "Really, Legate, if you wanted my assistance, you could have asked for it without this foolish pretence!"

The Kelvan surveyed the scene intently. Keeping silent, he hoped something would slip through Savar's resolute exterior to shed more light on the situation.

Ahdjiia kept silent, watching both door and screen. The fact that Savar was outraged just furthered her opinion that Omar was as the humans called it, a dumbass. "Sub-Commander," she said softly, "Considering what we have on record of the Ambassador's actions, is it not so far fetched that there is an assassin coming on board who will be at his beck and call so to speak?"

Saladin nodded, "And we know this now, we know his plans, both his plans and the agent's gender. It will not be hard to narrow down female Romulans coming on to the Galaxy..." His mind continued to whirl, "Though why does the ambassador want you handled..."

"This is absurd," Savar snapped dismissively. "No matter how powerful the Tal Shiar have become, they cannot simply 'brutally dispose' of Senators." He gestured angrily towards the screen with Curran's transcript still displayed on it. "These are just words on a screen. You cannot expect me to believe these lies. I will not submit to this trickery." What was the purpose of all this? Greedy and arrogant as the Omar clan undoubtedly was, they were not wholly stupid, and if Daise'Sael'Riov Omar's communique could be intercepted thus, his position with the Tal Shiar would come to an abrupt and painful end. None of this made any sense, unless they were trying to set him against Ambassador Omar, on the absurd idea that the Tal Shiar were sending someone aboard to assassinate him. His furious eyes fixed on Major Bolivar and his last words seemed to echo in the Rihana's mind. Why *would* Omar want him dead? Did these Starfleet men think he was so vulgar that, his ego flattered by his own political dangerousness, he would believe himself a likely target for assassination? If they did, they were wrong. His contact with fellow Rihannsu was minimal, and he was certainly not ringleading some sort of inner rebellion, no matter what anyone thought.

And yet, there was something he knew about Omar, which no one else knew he knew, which was very dangerous indeed. The Ambassador was a Vulcanophile, possibly even a reunificationist. Was Daise'Sael'Riov Omar also a sympathiser with Spock's cause? Was this motive enough to have him killed? A seed of doubt began to germinate in tr'Khellian's whirring mind.

The Liaison Officer saw the rings of fire lick at Savar's irises. Deep behind them, there was an inert knowledge of something beyond a simple flurry of words on the screen. The Rihannsu lived with subterfuge every moment of their lives, and Savar more so than others. He'd been banished from his homeworld for reasons of his own. Why would the Rihannsu government risk open war with the Federation again over this one Romulan? Surely the Exchange Officer and Ambassador were not important enough to destroy the treaty, were they?

Pilot Tyten
Vanguard 5

"Anticipation"

As Jasmine winked at him, Tyten felt a small twinge of excitement in his stomach. He had to admit that the woman was very good looking and, to be quite honest, it wasn't everyday that that good looking of a woman winked at him. Though the gesture was nothing more than a friendly wink, it put a smile on his face. He already had a good feeling about this sortie.

Climbing in his fighter, he began strapping himself in. He liked the new uniforms. The white went perfectly with his beautiful blue skin, well, much better than the red had before. If he had one complaint about the decision handed down from on high it was his rank title. Mentally shrugging the thought off for the moment, he had decided earlier that he would just have to try that much harder to make that next promotion.

He quickly glanced over his instrumentation and cycled through his preflight. The engineers on the Galaxy knew their stuff when it came to the fighters. That, in it of itself, was reassuring to any pilot.

His panels read green across the board. "Jazz, this is Blue. I'm running hot and ready when you are."

"Devotion to Duty" - Part Three

By Legate Kylar Curran,
Chief Liaison Officer

Sub-Commander Savar ir-Aihai tr'Khellian
Acting Chief Tactical Officer

Lieutenant Commander James Lionel Corgan
Chief Security Officer

Appearances by:

Saladin Bolivar,
Chief Intelligence Officer

Ahdjiia D'Tinya,
Security Officer

*****
Deck 8,
Stardrive Section
Intelligence Offices
USS Galaxy
******

"Sub-Commander, we are not here to deceive you. If that were true, do you not think we would stoop to more complicated levels of deception? You are our Chief Tactical Officer now, Sub-Commander; you hold the fate of this ship in your hands if you are at the station. To insult you would only plant doubt in all of us. Don't think you or Omar are either important enough for us to risk lives over at any given time." Kylar paused, and took a moment to compose his words to deliver a careful melody tasteful to the Romulan's interests.

Savar watched the Kelvan from beneath his darkened brow. The mention of his temporary promotion did nothing to flatter the Rihana's ego, if that had been what the Legate intended. He was not about to reveal knowledge of Henderson's failsafes, and Curran would not know of them. But he remained to be persuaded.

"I elected to bring you into this meeting for assistance, Sub-Commander. As much as the politics of the Rihannsu Senate disinterests me if it has no bearing on the Federation, I *am* responsible for shipboard law on this vessel. You fall under my jurisdiction while on this ship, and the diplomacy your and Omar's presence on this ship entails is as much my responsibility. You can either choose to believe it or not, but in either event, this is a problem that needs to be resolved. With or without you, if need be."

"Look." James found the opportunity to add his two cents, with a note of true concern, "If you want, I can have my department keep a watch on you twenty-four seven. We can have stakeout units near your quarters, keep a watch on this assassin, do anything we need to make sure this new arrival doesn't go through with her mission. I already told Bolivar that we have a team keeping tabs on the current representative and his retinue due to incident involving Omar and his staff versus our crew, including my security staff. Just give me the word, and I'll have you well protected."

Tr'Khellian eyed the Security Chief, who had been so withdrawn throughout, as if nursing his own deep melancholy. Savar had had few dealings with Corgan, who was a workmanlike and taciturn officer who seemed to simply get the job done. He was well-respected, and apparently genuine in his desire to protect everyone onboard. Savar felt himself being swayed: he had nothing to lose from believing this story, however fantastic it was, but perhaps something to lose if he did not. He owed Omar nothing. And this offer of protection would make no difference to his dealings with them all, from his perspective.

"What exactly do you propose, Lieutenant Commander?" tr'Khellian asked Corgan.

"Well, as much as I want to be covert about it, the Tal'Shiar has us outmatched in that respect. I already warned Intelligence about this. If she wants to avoid us, she can. However, we will do our best, and we may even surprise her with a few tricks of our own."

"This is acceptable to me, to a degree." The Legate wasted no time on any expressions the Security Officer may deliver at the underhanded insult. Commander Corgan's Security forces may be adequate for sentry duties, but I hardly believe they could handle a Tal Shi'ar agent intent on removing Savar from this plane of existence."

"My question to you Savar, is this. Why is Ambassador Omar's father intent on removing you? And why risk the Treaty of Galvanis over it? What is the status of the Tal Shiar at present? Do they have the capabilities again since their defeat at Cardassia?"

Tr'Khellian shifted in his seat and eyed the Legate warily. If the point of all this was to extract detailed information about domestic Romulan conditions, he would be disappointed. "I do not know the reason for all this. It seems absurd. This is why I reacted with.. incredulity," Savar explained. He paused. "It can be no secret that the Reman Rebellion and the destruction of much of the Senate by Shinzon shook the Stellar Empire to its core. The reaction has been similar to what I understand to have occurred when parasites took control of senior officials in your government, or when Changelings were discovered to have replaced senior military and civilian leaders prior to the Dominion Wars." He gestured subtly, including all present: the Legate who represented central authority and power, and the age-old suspicion of the autonomy of ships' captains; the security chief; the ever-watchful eyes of the genetically-enhanced Chief Intelligence Officer. "Central control has increased."

"To the extent suggested in this communication?" Bolivar prompted.

"No," Savar stated, firmly. "Again, a reason for my suspicion." His eyes snapped back to the Legate's, and he noticed again how weary the Kelvan looked. "I do not have access to a great deal of information about internal Rihannsu affairs, but I am almost certain that the implied murder of Senators is false. The Tal Shiar are not that powerful. I pray to the Elements that they never are," he remarked, in a grave tone.

"Are you involved in a pacifist movement, Sub-Commander?" Curran demanded, icily.

"I am not," Savar snapped, scowling, "and I have never been." He sat back in his chair, and sighed, then shook his head. They might as well know. "The reason I am here," he said, looking around at the assembled officers, "is that I called for an end to the relentless expansion of the Rihannsu Stellar Empire. I argued that our lust for new territory was blinding us to the very real problems in our existing realms, and that they should be our proper focus." He glanced down at his hands, which lay, interlaced, in his lap. "Such sentiments were politically unacceptable when spoken openly in the Senate."

"I have a suggestion." Corgan added, "Perhaps I ought to put the pressure on Omar. Check and see if he has followed our 'requests' about his guard's Disruptors or that force-field on his quarters. A shouting match with him rattled him before, maybe he needs it again. At least, it could distract him."

"He does seem quite.. excitable.. from the security tapes that I have seen," Ahdjiia said. "That could work quite well to our advantage."

"Or shut him down completely." Curran turned to Savar. "Are you willing to assist now, Sub-Commander? What would a Rihannsu officer do in this situation? Killing and heavy-handed interrogation methods aside, of course."

"Geez, go ahead and alarm the Ambassador, why don't we?" Corgan noted.

Tr'Khellian turned his head slowly to regard the Kelvan with the contempt such a statement deserved. "You reveal again that despite your residence on ch'Rihan you know little of how the Rihana operate, Legate," he chided Curran. That said, he turned back to Corgan, who was rapidly emerging from this discussion as the most amenable and capable officer present.

"There is no way to prevent this woman from arriving onboard the Galaxy," Savar said. "She will come equipped with diplomatic papers and you cannot legally refuse her boarding permission. If you attempt to destroy her shuttle before she arrives, a major diplomatic incident will occur. So, she is aboard." He leaned forwards, his hands clasped together on the table top. "You cannot arrest her, because of diplomatic immunity. You cannot even search her baggage for weapons or other equipment. So, she may well be armed." He cocked his head and glanced around. "The only way to stop matters getting to that stage is to remove Ambassador Omar from the Galaxy. I doubt, Legate, that you can do that," he said, glancing at the Kelvan. "So, what you face, Lieutenant Commander, is a fully-armed Tal Shiar trained assassin arriving onboard in less than five days."

"I'm quite aware of that." James nervously fingered his comm.-badge, "We Starfleet aren't known for using bullyboy tactics to solve our problems, and I don't want to start by booting her ass off no matter how safe it will make us feel. It'll just cause more trouble."

Savar eyed Corgan and let this pragmatic assessment sink in. "The serpent is going to strike. What we must do is suck the poison out."

"A trap, you mean?" Corgan switched his demeanor to intrigued.

Tr'Khellian nodded once. "We must draw her out. Allow her to strike and reveal her true colours. But," he paused, and let his eyes bore into Corgan, "I hope for my sake, and for the sake of the Treaty of Galvanis, that your people will be waiting."

Content Advisory: It's not graphic, but there is some adult content here folks, be warned.

"No Game for Knights"

Principal Characters:

Lt (JG) Victor Krieghoff

Flight Officer Angelienia

****

USS Galaxy
Deck 7
Victor Krieghoff's Quarters

Victor knew as soon as the door closed behind him.

His sense of smell wasn't superior to the rest of the human race; despite what he'd heard whispered in the past, he'd had no canine genes spliced into his genetic code as a child. In a way, that would have been easier - at least he'd know why he was different then. No, the difference between his sense of smell and the rest of humanity's was simpler: he used it.

Most people walked through life with their senses shrouded, having never bothered to develop them beyond the limited range needed to get them through the day. But Victor was a hunter in the oldest sense of the word. Since he had been a child, he'd followed game into jungles, swamps, and forests on a hundred worlds with nothing but his own senses to alert him to the presence of danger. That had forced him to push at the boundaries of his senses, to strive to bring in every scrap of information they could gather, until they were as finely-honed as a human's could be - and inhumanly acute compared to the nearly sense-dead sheep he had chosen to stand guard over.

Acute enough to smell the scent the intruder in his rooms had left on the air when they entered. Acute enough to identify it and the individual it belonged to. Acute enough, even, to detect the slight hint of fear that rode the scent like a passenger and know it for what it was.

Idly, Victor wondered who had surrendered the code to his door, and whether they thought this was supposed to be a joke. It wasn't of course, he'd been hunted by things as often as he'd hunted them in return, and he knew what it felt like. This was real, serious, and had been since he'd first felt the hunter on his trail months ago.

He crossed the cabin in the dark, feet unerring in their silent tread. There was no need to search, no surprises. There was only one place the hunter would be waiting.

The bedroom door slid open, eagerly.

"Flight Officer." Victor's voice was flat and even despite the simmer of anger that was building inside him. This was his place, and she had no business here. No one did, except him.

"Victor." Her voice was a purr, throaty and inviting, from his bed. Her thick blonde hair spilled out on his pillows like a mane and her green cat's eyes reflected the light from the ship's running lights that illuminated the room and showed that she was completely under the covers except for her head.

"Out."

"Oh, yes" she smiled. "But I think *in* is ever so much more fun... don't you?"

Victor blinked once. "Out," he repeated again.

"In," she nodded, her smile a promise. "That's how it works; in, out, in, out..." Her voice dipped, now huskier, almost a purr, "Care to put the theory into practice?"

Victor frowned, the simmer inside him warming a bit. "How did you get in?"

Angelienia laughed, smiling. "Guess."

The words left his mouth easily. "Applied theory."

Her laugh this time was genuine, throaty. The smile that followed it was also genuine, down the slightly pointed teeth that it exposed. "Why aren't you like this all the time?"

"Like what?"

"Like you are now." A slim hand with pointed nails that Victor knew, somehow, had been sharpened especially for the evening to leave her mark, slipped out from under the covers to point at him. "Funny."

"No one wants to see me smile," Victor observed dispassionately.

"I do."

"No, you don't." He glanced to the side of the bed, by the dresser, where a small bag was laid, a spill of lacy undergarments and other clothing artfully arranged to look like they had accidentally fallen out when it was opened. Her uniform was laid on the dresser casually, dropped in such a way as to make it plain that she wore none of it now.

"Why not?" Angelienia's eyes flashed as her voice dipped again, "Would I be... scared?"

"If you were smart."

She shivered. "Do you have any idea what that little growl in your voice does to me? Any at all?"

Victor didn't reply; there didn't seem to be a point to it.

"You have to know," she continued after a second. "You have to - you've been doing it to me ever since we met. The little thrill it sends through me, the shiver of fear when you're near me..." Her smile was sure. "You know."

Victor started to move towards the bed, but stopped as his foot brushed something on the floor, something soft. A glance down merely confirmed what he'd known the moment he'd entered the cabin and smelled her scent and the story it'd told him - that she was naked.

"What's wrong, Victor?" she looked at him with half-lidded eyes.

"You know what's wrong."

"But it's so much netter to hear you say it - especially with that little growl you have...."

"You shouldn't be here."

She shivered under the covers. "Why not, hmmm? There's no one else you're waiting for, lover. The Gunny is gone, transferred off with Brhode, you've had a falling out with the girl from Engineering, and if there's anyone else, I haven't been able to find them, which means they don't exist. There are no clothes but yours here, not things but yours - aside from that Marine-issue coffee cup I found in the other room, that is."

The simmer grew warmer at the thought of Angelienia's hands on his clothes and possessions, the thought of her touching the cup that was all he had left of his talks with Gunny Goldstein. "You shouldn't have done that."

"Done what?" Angelienia shivered again. "Touched your things? But it's so sexy to do that, to run your fingers over the most private things someone possesses and feel them warm to your touch..." She shifted positions, drawing her knees up slightly, the covers tenting as her hand crept back under the covers and down.

"Would you like to do that to me, lover? Would you?" Her breathing started to change pace slowly. "Would you like to run your fingers across my private things, explore all my secret spaces? Would you like that? Would you?"

"Not as much as you would, apparently."

She laughed breathlessly, the sound ending on a slight gasp. "I can't help it, lover. It's your voice, the way it makes me feel, the way you make those little jokes...." She bit her lip and shifted position again, the covers slipping down a bit. "The feel of your things under my hands, your clothes against my skin...."

Victor blinked slowly. "My clothes?"

"Your clothes," she nodded, eyes bright and fixed on him as the covers trembled.

"You... wore... my clothes?" Victor said slowly, the idea stalled in his mind.

Angelienia smiled, her sharp teeth bared a moment longer than necessary as her back arched for an instant. "Yes..." she panted. "It was... to feel them against my skin, know that they'd been against yours..." She shivered and the covers slipped more, one tan shoulder now visible. "The smell of you, surrounding me..." She shivered again and gasped softly. "I want you to touch me when I'm wearing them, to take me that way, to feel you all around me like that while I'm..."

"While you're wearing my clothes?" he repeated, as the heat in the back of his mind rose and the sound of his pulse began to fill his ears.

"Yes," she half-gasped. "You understand, I knew you would. I knew it would be like this with you, that I couldn't..." her voice choked off in another gasp "...that you'd be... that... that you could do this to me without even touching me...."

"You don't want me to touch you right now." Victor's voice was flat, but the undertones of a growl moved beneath the words.

"No, I..." She shook her head, unable to get the words out for a second, her emerald eyes never leaving him. "You understand; you really do..." she panted. "I never thought that you'd... I need this, need it like this, just looking at you, talking to you... I need to feel your eyes on me when I..." She gasped and trembled for a second, fighting to keep her moment at bay. "I didn't know it would be like this, though, that it would be so..."

She bit her lip again and made a soft, wordless sound that was equal parts longing and determination to deny herself the inevitable. "Did you play games with them too, lover?" she said after a moment, her voice strained and peaking in odd places as she spoke. "With the Gunny and the Mouse?"

"Don't say their names," Victor growled, and took a step forward, the heat in the back of his mind starting to make its way into his voice. "Not now."

Angelienia's smile was pure surprise for a split second before it fell over into a knowing, hungry grin that showed her teeth. She started to speak, lost the words in an intake of breath, and had to gulp a breath of air to say, "I understand, lover. There's no one but me now, they aren't here any more. We don't need their ghosts between us..." She took a short, sharp breath. "We don't need anything between us."

The cover slipped again as her shoulders worked, the curve of one breast now visible. "What... other... games... will we play?' she asked throatily, soft liquid sounds rising from under the covers as she paused. "I know you have... time... saw the roster... two days in-ship... leave. That's why I took... mine now...."

"Games?" Victor's voice rumbled, low and even, like a distant thunderstorm. "You want to play more... games... like this?" One of his hands made a fist in the darkness, and trembled with the rising heat that began to fill him.

"Oh yes!" Her reply rose at the end along with her knees under the covers. She didn't speak for a moment, just made a series of sounds in the back of her throat as she fought off her moment once more - but by a much closer margin this time. "Yes, more games... all of the games... We'll play them all, lover, as much as you want...."

"Get..."

She sucked in a breath and continued, not aware that she'd cut his response off. "I want... ahhh... I want you to... I want the rescue game... though... I want you to... save me... like a knight in shining armor... like you did for her...." Her head started to move from side to side, as if in denial of what was about to happen despite what she'd been doing to bring it about. "But it'll be better... I ahhh... promise... much better... you'll never... ahnn..."

The heat in the back of his mind spilled out, and Victor's lips pulled back in the killing smile that meant Death had entered the room. His sense of presence, until now reined in, exploded out as he growled and took a step forward, hands reaching out for the woman writhing there.

As his presence shoved out and washed over her Angelienia's eyes went wide and she opened her mouth to scream - and then her moment arrived. Her eyes rolled up and her head slammed back into the pillows as she arched like a bow and shook with the fury of it, pent-up wanting and need mixed with the wave of terror that Victor's presence had sent through her to make her convulse again and again, the result so powerful that it was almost as much seizure as release.

The covers were thrown aside, her muscles bunching and releasing with such force that they stood out in relief in one instant and relaxed in the next, only to snap taught again in the following. Victor stopped as her lungs sucked in enough air to finally let her give voice to what she felt, and her scream of completion rose up and went on and on until there was no more air left for her to scream with and she merely stared at the ceiling with sightless eyes and open mouth as the explosion inside her went on for what seemed like an eternity. When it stopped she dropped back to the bed, spent and sweating, lungs dragging in air in great gulps as she shook with the fading echoes.

Victor stood and watched silently, his smile never moving as he waited.

A minute passed, then another, and then her head rolled to the side and her eyes focused on him again. "I... you..." she gasped weakly. "That was..."

"Out." Victor's voice was flat, but the menace that edged it was unmistakable, even in Angelienia's condition.

"W-what? Lover, I..."

His hands caught her under her arms and dragged her up like a doll. "Out," he repeated as her feet slid from the bed and hit the floor with soft thuds.

"Lover?" she whispered as genuine fear flickered to life in her eyes when she saw into his from this range.

"Get. Out." The clipped words were like the clangs of the locks on the gates to Hell being released. "Now."

"But I... you... I can't lover, not yet - not after...that. I need a few... minutes... Then we can... play... a game....""

"This. Is. No. Game," he said, as he half carried, half dragged her across the room to her clothes. He thrust her onto the dresser and leaned in close, eyes holding hers captive. "Even if it was... I'm. No. Knight."

"Lover?" she whispered, shaking.

"Three minutes," Victor snapped out. "Then you land in the corridor, clothes or not."

"No, you can't, not after that, I have to..."

"Two minutes, forty seconds." Victor let go and turned to the door. As he passed through, he added. "You don't want me to have to come back for you."

When the door slid closed behind him he growled angrily and started to pace the room like a caged animal. He passed his desk once, twice, and then stopped and looked at the picture of his parents there and tipped it over, face down. ~ I don't want you to see this, ~ he thought silently. A single step took him to the one of his aunts and a heartbeat later it was likewise on its face.

That done, he started to pace again, as the red-hot anger in his head started to build again as he replayed the image of Angelienia over and over in his thoughts. He would kill her, he would tear her throat out with his teeth, he would...

The door to the bedroom opened.

Victor rounded with a growl and took a single step towards the door, but stopped as Angelienia appeared, mostly dressed, her boots in one hand and her bag dragging on the floor behind her. She wove forward, unsteady, eyes wide and fixed on him, as if seeing him for the first time.

His hands worked once, half reached for her, and then drew back as he stepped aside.

"I..." she whispered, something that might be pleading in her voice. "Please I... I can't..."

"I don't care," Victor said, cold death on the edges of the words. "You can do what you want once you leave." The knowledge that he was leaving, that M'kantu was going to send him away pushed at him, the words that followed driven by that knowledge. "Tell anyone what you want - I won't deny it. Just get out."

She stopped at the door, eyes on him as emotions that Victor didn't understand moved through them. "You... I..."

"Out!" The word left his mouth with more force than he'd meant it to, the impact of it enough to make her flinch and recoil. She nodded once, jerkily, keyed the door, and was gone.

Victor stood and stared at the door for a long time, then moved to the bedroom and looked down at the bed there, the scent of her and what she'd done filling the room and corrupting it as thoroughly as the imprint of her body on the mattress and pillows corrupted them.

With a snarl that was pure rage tinted with just enough regret and longing to make him sick with the knowledge that it was there, he opened the floodgates within him to let the beast there out and retreated inside himself as it smashed and tore the bed to splintered ruins and scattered it around the room.

"The Wind Has No Memory" Part 1 of 2

(Occurs ten days after the events of 'No Game for Knights')

Principal Characters:

Lt. Ella Grey
Lt. (JG) Victor Krieghoff

****

USS Galaxy
Deck 07
Victor Krieghoff's Quarters

Victor wasn't certain what he'd expected from Angelienia after he'd thrown her out of his cabin the week before. Granted he'd told her that she could say whatever she wanted to, do whatever she wanted to, and that he would neither care or contradict her - but the story she'd chosen was not what he'd expected.

In retrospect, perhaps taking two of the days of accumulated vacation leave he'd accrued over the years to simply sit in his cabin and work on remote learning courses might not have been the best idea after that statement.

He'd heard it first from So'ka, who'd been asking Hanley about it when Victor walked up. As he'd reconstructed it, after he'd evicted her from his rooms Angelienia, it seemed, had retreated to a cabin somewhere on the ship besides her own (he doubted that there were any complaints from whomever the current occupant had been) and waited for Victor to finish his 48-hour in-ship leave before reappearing - and claiming that she'd been with Victor for the previous two days, and that their lovemaking had been so powerful that it's shattered his bed.

Victor hadn't commented on it to either Hanley or So'ka, and hadn't made comment when he'd overheard the five or six obviously staged conversations that he'd walked up on in the ensuing days. He had come to a grudging admiration for the way Angelienia had handled the inevitable detractors: she'd used the accidental abandonment of her combadge in his rooms and the replacement of the bed as the linchpins of her evidence, producing copies of the maintenance logs documenting the bed's replacement and the combadge tracking logs that recorded the badge's presence there over the purported 'love fest' to document her story.

At that point, he'd decided that it was just easier to do nothing. The captain was going to transfer him any day now, so there seemed little point in trying to set the record straight. Defending a reputation that he cared nothing about was the height of folly under those circumstances.

What he did care about, though, was making good on his last unkept promise to Grey. He had a fight left to show her, one she'd earned, and she was making it difficult to arrange. He'd tried messaging her PADD, but the messages were never answered, and tried contacting her directly only to discover that she'd locked her combadge out from receiving signals from him. That left talking to her in person - and she was making that difficult too.

He understood why, he'd managed to make her mad enough to end their friendship after all. But she didn't have to be his friend to see this. She just had to stand there and watch it happen. If he explained that clearly enough, surely she'd understand it. A promise was a promise, after all.

****

USS Galaxy
Deck 10
Ella Grey's Quarters

Ella frowned as she struggled to get a piece of landing gear attached to her model of the USS Voyager.

She supposed her heart wasn't in it. What she wanted to do was give the Voyager her maiden voyage (ie, tossing it across the room to crash land into the bathroom) and pretend that it was Victor's head.

But she didn't want to give him the satisfaction.

It was hard enough that he was leaving, harder still that she cared and he didn't seem to. They had kissed, KISSED!, and he thought it was the result of some god-damned pheromone.

Cared my ass, Ella scolded herself. You're in love with the big oaf. Must be a short circuit in your brain.

She hadn't answered his messages because she thought it would hurt too much.

But it annoyed her to no end that he had decided to give in to Angelina. It wouldn't mean anything to mess around with Ella but Angelina was okay?!? It also infuriated her that everyone had to keep telling it to her, happy in their own little part to play in the rumor mill.

She hadn't answered his messages because she thought she would hurt him too much.

If she heard about it one more time....

Ella shrugged and threw the ship across the room.

****

USS Galaxy
Deck 10
Outside Ella Grey's Quarters

Ella attempted to resurface from her quarters for fresh air. Of course, Victor was there waiting. She really needed to invest in one of those security monitoring devices. She looked at him coldly.

~~Victor.~~ Ella said.

"Grey." She was still mad, he could tell from the way she moved, the inflection in her voice. "I wanted to talk to you for a moment."

~~I'd really love to but I'm meeting Indy.~~ Ella lied smoothly. ~~Perhaps another time.~~

There would be no other time; he could see that in her eyes. "I thought you were stronger than that, Grey," he said quietly.

~~Oh?~~

"I thought you were strong enough now that you didn't need to lie." He looked into her eyes for a moment, as if seeing something deep within them. "Maybe I was wrong."

She gave him what Laura called her society face. ~~Honesty, Victor? You should know by now that I find such things trivial. But if you must know, no, I'm not seeing Indy at the moment. But I don't want nor feel the inclination to waste the time on you. Now, can I do anything else for you?~~

Grey's change in expression didn't fool him. This face was as false as the smile and her earlier words had been. "Talk to me for a minute, Grey, that's all. It doesn't seem too much to ask."

Ella lifted her chin. ~~You push me away only to spend your remaining time with the Wicked Bitch of the West. What does that say about our friendship, Tiger?~~

Victor looked at her for a moment, working through that one. She really thought he'd done that? That he'd spent those two days in bed with Angelienia? She believed what the Flight Officer had said? He hadn't expected that. "It might say something if it were true, Grey." And if they were still friends.

Something like hope flashed across her eyes. ~~Are you saying it's not?~~

"What I told you at the reception in Ten Forward is still true, Grey." If she didn't believe him, then he couldn't change that.

She wanted to believe him so she gave him the benefit of the doubt, even though the thought still made her blood boil. ~~Well then I apologize for accusing you. But it doesn't change the fact that talking will just delay the inevitable. I finally see your point of view, Tiger. Its just too painful to draw it out. ~~ Ella turned to walk away.

"I still owe you something," he told her. "I need to keep that promise."

She turned. ~~You don't owe me anything, Victor.~~

"I owe you a fight, Grey. The one I lost."

~~I don't want to see it.~~

"You don't have to do anything, Grey. Just stand and watch it. You don't even have to speak if you don't want to. But I promised it to you."

She shrugged. ~~People break their promises everyday.~~

Victor's voice was flat and emotionless, the same tones he'd used when she'd first met him. "I don't."

She shrugged again because although she thought about running for the safety of her quarters, she didn't think she'd get away with it. Plus he always seemed to know her codes. ~~Whatever will get you out of my hair.~~

"I have a holosuite reserved now if you have the time, Grey," he asked, and started for the turbolifts when she nodded, keeping in step with her.

If this one broke down, she was going to search Dr. Quick out and hit him repeatedly with her computer PADD.

They were quiet as the turbolift move to its destination. Ella struggled to keep her ultra icy exterior and not ask him how he was doing. It had been too long, she guessed, since she had had to play the society princess. The silence in the turbolift unnerved her, probably because she couldn't control it. ~~How long is this thing?~~

"Not long - shorter than the first one. There's only one opponent, and we're in a relatively confined space."

~~You let yourself get speared in the head or something this time?~~ Ella asked, not having to fake the irritation over his last martyrdom.

He shook his head. "No. I didn't die in this fight."

~~Well, that's something at any rate.~~ Ella replied and started heading for the holosuite once the turbolift had stopped.

Victor keyed the door open and waited until she was inside before he moved to the control panel and slotted in an isolinear chip. He typed in a few commands, the chip lit up as it was accessed, and he turned back to her, walking to the center of the room. "We should be off to the side, here," he said quietly, pointing to a spot on the right wall. The fight doesn't move into that area."

~~All right Tiger, dazzle and impress me.~~

For a moment he just looked at her. "I'm not trying to impress you, Grey."

~~The last time you were supposed to have won and yet you ended up as the human equivalent of a speared fish.~~ She said caustically, using quick gestures. ~~ I'd hate to think this little show is not as entertaining.~~

"I'm not trying to entertain you, either, Grey. That's not the point to this."

She raised an eyebrow. ~~What's easier for you, Victor? That I be nice or a bitch? Does it really matter to you? Either way you're going to show me this and then run away again.~~

Well, he reflected, that was true. This was his last promise to her, after it was fulfilled, there wasn't anything else to keep them together. He could just accept the transfer and move on, the way he always did. "I always leave, Grey," he said quietly, his voice almost machine-like in it's detachment. "It doesn't matter what I want. I'm always left behind."

~~You want some cheese with your whine?~~ Ella asked and then shook her head at his blank expression. ~~Just run the damned program, Tiger.~~

"Computer, run program Krieghoff Vector Gamma Kappa Three."

=/\= Acknowledged. Running program. =/\=

The holosuite blinked out, to be replaced with the darkened confines of a room Ella recognized after a second: the Pulse Phase Cannon Relay Chamber.

"The fight happened earlier this year," Victor explained quietly. "Before the Galaxy's encounter with the Defiant. I'm over there," he pointed to a darkened corner, "waiting."

She tilted her head.

"The killer, Grey. I'm waiting for General Kragg." Victor held up a hand. "Here he comes."

The room went silent again except for the muted hum of the plasma conduits as they held the charge Bhrode had ordered loaded up earlier when facing off against the Thought Admiral's Vor'cha and left suspended to prevent any delay in bringing the cannon up if there was an outbreak of hostilities. A series of clicks and the sound of the heavy duty airlock cycling open preceded the sound of careful footsteps moving up the short ramp and into the main portion of relay control chamber, the dim light shining in for a moment as the airlock was open casting bizarre, threatening shadows. A bulky shape occluded the light, plunging the room back into darkness, as the lock cycled closed behind it again.

Modulating his breathing to lessen any sound, Holo-Victor pressed himself further into the shadows, knowing the sound of the conduits up would conceal any remaining sounds his breathing made. As he did so, the ship's internal sensors, hastily programmed to ignore Victor's presence, picked up a new arrival and started bringing up the console lights and the red emergency lighting used when the cannon was charged.

The shape moved into the main part of the room, pausing for a moment to orient itself since Dr. Quick's redesign of the interior was anything but standard for a Starfleet operations center. After a second, the footsteps continued and the soft sound of an LCARS interface warming up echoed through the room.

Backlit against the panel, the General grunted, his hand moving over the controls, panel after panel starting to spring to dim, glowing life.

"I'm waiting for the radiation shields to go up so no one can beam in to stop him," Victor observed. "I didn't want anyone to interrupt us."

Ella nodded mutely, her eyes fixed to the scene.

The clanks of security latches engaging sounded like hammer blows as Kragg sealed the room an instant later.

Kragg grunted again, another panel winked to muted life, and the hum of the containment field generators starting up sounded from beneath the deck. Holo-Victor inhaled slowly, his mouth open to let the air escape silently. At the controls, Kragg cursed once, pounded his fist into the console, and tried something else when what he was doing appeared to fail. The second try took, and Ella imagined the scene on the Bridge as alarms and klaxons started to sound when the cold-start startup sequence for the PPC's intermix chamber registered.

Like a puppet that didn't know he was being worked by strings, Kragg clicked on the shields at the lowest level needed to block incoming transports, not needing a hig