"The Business of Heroes"

8-ball Hunter

The next couple of days were a little bit of a blur for 8-ball.

During the attack on the ship, 8-ball had managed to stagger into Sickbay with Azra in her arms and Kaden walking slowly by her side. There was nothing anyone could do for Azra and she knew it, but she couldn't just leave her body in the hallway. There was something that was definitely wrong with that, although at the time 8-ball couldn't have said exactly what. Her head had felt light and strange, and she wasn't sure if it was more shock or concussion.

The doc treated her injuries, gave her a clean bill of health. Everything was fine.

The battle ended. The Galaxy came out on top, alive, with mostly everyone okay. There were, of course, some casualties, but that was almost to be expected in a fight. The sabetour was discovered too, and 8-ball didn't know what to think about him. Zeke Wikkins. She didn't really know him. Big guy. Big on God and happiness and peace. There was something cruely ironic about all of that, but for some reason 8-ball couldn't find herself appreciating as much as normal.

The authorities on Trill were understandably less than pleased about Azra's death. The Galaxy was expected to be safe haven for the children, a place to mentally and emotionally recoup, and instead one of them was dead. There were a few questions asked but nobody was blamed or really investigated. It was just considered another devestating tragedy for the people of Trill. At least, most people considered it to be that way. The counselor who had advised that the two children accompany 8-ball on the Galaxy had decided to take some time off. Her peers tried to console her that she wasn't responsible, but she felt that way. She told 8-ball this as well, that what happened wasn't 8-ball's fault, that it was her own. For some reason, this pissed 8-ball off. She was sick of people saying that she wasn't at fault. She was sick of people's condolences. 8-ball told the counselor that she was right; it was the counselor's fault. Later, when she was back on the Galaxy, 8-ball thought that might have been the most unforgivable thing she had ever done, but she didn't try to fix it because apologies were just like condolences, just like recriminations, just like declarations of love. Apologies were just words. They didn't really mean anything.

Kaden's uncle was finally found. 8-ball never saw him; she separated from Kaden as soon as possible. The little boy knew his mother and sister had been taken away from him but didn't understand why. He kept crying, "Where's Mother? Where's Azra?" It had been enough to make 8-ball want to get drunk as soon as humanly possible and pass out. She decided against it. Ultimately, booze was supposed to be about recreation, and she didn't want to twist it into something she needed. Becoming an alcoholic was not on her to-do list.

Somebody warned 8-ball that she might have nightmares. She didn't, at least, not so far. This didn't surprise her. 8-ball's nightmares rarely had to do with reality. Sleep was a comfort for her. It was a place she didn't have to think.

And besides, if 8-ball had nightmares, that might mean that 8-ball had lost someone close to her, someone that she loved. That wasn't true, and 8-ball wouldn't paint that picture, the heroine who had tragically lost somebody important to her. 8-ball and Azra hadn't been family; they hadn't even liked each other that much. It would be monstrous to pretend that they had. It would be even more unforgivable than blaming that counselor. 8-ball didn't deserve to grieve about what had happened. That would imply some kind of deep connection, and Azra must have known dying that there wasn't one. Azra must have known that she was going to die in the arms of someone who didn't care much about her at all.

The days passed, and 8-ball found herself thinking less about Azra than she had before. Azra was still there, very present in her thoughts, but after awhile almost faded to a comfortable, sad presence. 8-ball told herself that this was good. She was getting better from a depression she didn't deserve to have in the first place.

People made jokes and she laughed. She made jokes, inappropriate as ever, and some people laughed and other people glared. Life went on like it usually did.

But every now and then 8-ball remembered that if she hadn't tried playing the hero, if she hadn't brought Azra and Kaden into her lives, they'd probably both still be alive. She should have known better. She should have left the business of heroes to people better suited for it.

And mostly she was okay, but sometimes 8-ball remembered that it was her fault Azra was dead.

"This is what the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy says about food fights, Part One"

Principal Characters:

8-ball Hunter
Samantha Widdlestein

****

The booth was set up somewhere in the middle of deck ten.

Its occupant pondered over a rather large book with the words 'Don't Panic' inscribed on it as crewmembers passed by. So far no one had stopped yet but that didn't worry Samantha Widdlestein. Someone was bound to be in need of psychiatric help and she was charging a fair price for that aid.

Entirely oblivious to her surroundings, 8-ball walked through the deck, wondering what to do. She had just finished her shift working on an anthropology report and now was feeling particularly aimless and bored. She supposed she could go and do some heavy brooding about recent events, but that wasn't as fun as it sounded, and apparantly only broody men were hot. Broody women just looked like they were PMS-ing. So instead of doing this, 8-ball wandered around the ship, hoping to find something exciting to do. Had she been paying any attention at all, she would have immediately steered clear of the far too eager looking girl in the booth set up for psychiatric help, but unfortunately for her, 8-ball had let her mind and body drift far too close to where the girl sat, waiting to ensnare.

"Hey you there!" Samantha suddenly yelled. "You look down, friend. Wanna talk about it?"

8-ball looked up and finally noticed Samantha. Whether it was divine intervention or just plain good luck, 8-ball had never run into her before. "Not so much, no."  She glanced up and down the little booth with a raised eyebrow. "You're running a booth to give out loads of headshrinker advice? Sweet Jesus, whatever happened to lemonade?"

Samantha smiled sweetly. "It's for a good cause. A young girl, down on her luck, low on faith, sad of spirit... did I mention she only has one leg?"

"Well, if she's got a set of tits, she can milk it even better than you can," 8-ball said with a receiving sweet smile. "Now, you'll have to forgive me but I think I'll have to go pass on the shrink talk, thanks. I've been on the ship for a good while now and I've still managed to never land myself in detention with a counselor. I'd rather not break my record by getting love advice from teenage girls. So, you know, good luck and all. You might want to make your cause have, like, leprosy or something. Give it a little spice."

Samantha crossed her arms. "Look Lady, I want a good birthday present this year. Can't you at least spare something? Hey, don't walk away when someone is talking to you. That's SO RUDE!"

Sam jumped up, switched her sign over to closed and followed after the woman.

"SHE STOLE ALL MY LUNCH MONEY!" Samantha declared loudly. Several people looked at 8-ball with disgust.

"Oh, for God's sake," 8-ball said. "What would I possibly do with her lunch money? Stop being so gullible and believing every little brat in the world."

Calling the people gullible didn't seem to endear any of them to 8-ball's side, to which she rolled her eyes and ignored them.

"AND SHE HIT ME TOO!" Sam wailed and showed off her elbow, which did not appear bruised or bloodied in the slightest. "WHY? WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?"

8-ball had had enough. If this little demon child was going to play dirty, 8-ball could to.

"Well, I wasn't the one stealing from the ORPHANS!" 8-ball shrieked loudly, making herself start to cry to look just as pitiful as her short counterpart. "SHE said she was raising money to help out poor, indigent children all over the galaxy, and WHAT was she doing? She was saving the money to buy herself DRUGS! She was STEALING FROM THE POOR TO SUPPORT HER CRACK HABIT! CRACK ADDICT! CRACK ADDICT!"

Samantha had a rather comical moment of dropping her mouth open in astonishment before smiling to herself, rubbing her mental hands in anticipation of a mudslinging fight, and feigning a look of horror.

"OH STARFLEET HAS SNUCK TO NEW LEVELS OF DEPRAVITY." Samantha cried. "LOOK AT THIS OBVIOUS MENTAL CHARITY.. WHY, ACCUSING A CHILD OF DOING DRUGS. SEEMS THE PSYCH EVALS THAT THE ACADEMY HAS NEED TO BE RE-THOUGHT AGAIN. "

"A CHILD?" 8-ball yelled at the other people in the corridor, who were slowing down to watch the two. "This is no CHILD! Look at the little wench! She's obviously a teenager, and I think we all know what teenagers can be like. She PRETENDS to be a child, sweet and innocent, and the moment your back is turned, she'll STAB you like the little DEMONSPAWN she is!"

"At least I can fit into my uniform" Samantha shrieked, annoyed at being called on being older than she pretended. "Just a clue, Ma'am, super tight doesn't always mean sexy and not when your cellulite shows."

Oh.

That.

Was.

It.

"Yeah?" 8-ball shrieked, unable now to think of any really intelligent insults. "Well, your mother looks like a RAVENOUS BUGBLATTER BEAST OF TRAAL!"

"DONT CALL MY MOTHER FAT!" Sam screamed.

By now the verbal fight, and its growing crowd, had somehow managed to walk its way over to the mess hall. Samantha marveled for a moment as she took in her location and then took use of the tools around her and flung a scoop of blue goop at her opponent.

8-ball gasped as the blue goop flung in her hair. Then her eyes narrowed.

"You're going down," 8-ball said, and threw a large scoop of mashed potatoes and gravy (or what passed for that, anyway) at Sam's face.

And then it was over because both 8-Ball and Sam found the chocolate pudding at the same time.

And then everyone else, either for fun or because they had inadvertently been smacked in the face by flying food, joined in.

(tbc)

"This is what the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has to say about food fights, part two"

Captain Daren M'Kantu
Ensign 8-ball Hunter
Samantha Widdlestein

****

USS Galaxy
Deck One
Captain’s Ready Room

Samantha and 8-ball were sitting before the Captain, trying their best to look humble.

Which was really hard to do when you were covered from head to toe in food and you were sending covert glares in the direction of your enemy.

Daren eyed the besmeared pair for a moment longer before he sighed once. ”Jean-Luc Picard once told me that he thought children had no place on a starship,” he said with a frown. “At moments like this, I tend to agree with him.” He regarded the pair a moment longer. “In turn now, each of you is going to explain this – without interrupting the other. When you’re done, I’ll have a few things to say to both of you. Ms. Hunter, you begin.”

On the time that she had worked on the Galaxy, 8-ball had maybe been had to talk to M'Kantu twice. Now she got to explain how she ended up in a food fight with a teenage smurf in the Captain's quarters.

Yeah, her day was looking up.

"Um, well, sir," 8-ball began. "I was walking along the corridor, innocently, mind you, and I was chased down by this little. . ." It took all of 8-ball's learning, patience, and survival skills to not call Sam a psychotic, evil-eyed shrimp. ". . .this young woman who was freakishly angry that I wasn't interested in her 'psychiatric services'. Anyway, then she started lying to the other crewmembers around, trying to start a little riot, and I argued with her, and in the, ah, heat of the argument we ended up in the mess and she started assaulting me with food. Then everybody got into it, 'cause once someone starts a food fight, it kind of doesn't end until everyone in the room has been attacked by flying jello. Or chocolate pudding."

"I was annoyed that she so callously rejected all the time and effort I put into that booth, Captain." Sam said, as serene as a monk on Prozac. "I did follow her but I was going to let the matter drop, UNTIL she called my mother names."

8-ball glared at the little brat. There she went AGAIN. "I did not!"

"You soooo did." Sam said.

"I did not! I wouldn't bother insulting your mother, the poor woman. I feel nothing but sympathy and despair for such a person that had to deal with something like YOU as a child!" 8-ball gave up on any form of decorum in front of the Captain. It would never have been believable, anyway. "Dear God, you're annoying!"

"I know you are but what am I!" Sam countered

"Pure insanity," 8-ball said flatly. "Encapsulated in the form of a little teenage monster! Were you BORN with the intention to do evil, or did you have to patiently learn to be as irritating as possible?"

“That is enough.” Daren snapped, and then paused, suddenly struck that he hadn’t used that tone of voice since his daughter was ten. Maybe Picard was right. “Thank you Ms. Hunter.” He turned to Samantha. “Your turn Ms. Widdlestein.”

"I was just trying to make people happy." Sam said in a small voice which then suddenly got louder. "AND THEN SHE RUINED EVERYTHING! She's a hateful person, you shoulda heard some of the things she said, Captain, and she called my mother names!"

"I did not!" 8-ball said and then clenched her fists together and shut her mouth. Her teeth gritted against each other in what she considered to be a supreme effort to not interrupt the little evil turnip anymore. She wondered if prison was worth tossing the little demon off into space. Maybe the bridge officers could use her as target practice.

“How, exactly, were you trying to make people… happy… Ms. Widdlestein?” Daren wondered if he were being set up as part of some elaborate practical joke by one of his friends. Jii perhaps – this looked like the sort of thing he’d do. Strangely, he found himself hoping that was the case; that way he could preserve the delusion that his crew really didn’t act like this.

"By addressing their psychological needs."

"Isn't that what counselors are for?" 8-ball asked.

"No one trusts shrinks!" Sam scoffed. "Bunch of wack-jobs that can't even deal with their own problems. I'm trustworthy, Captain."

8-ball looked at her. "You know, you had me sold there for a minute, about the whole counselors are wack-jobs thing. I could get into that. Right up until the part where you claim to be trustworthy. That part of the sales pitch I think needs a little work."

"What is it you do again?" The girl sneered. "Couldn’t cut it in a real department, eh?"

“That’s enough,” Daren repeated with a frown. This was worse than watching a bunch of new admirals argue over who got to sit where at a conference table. “While I expect that Ms. Hunter understands exactly what can happen if I lose patience with the two of you, I think that I might need to remind her – and you, Ms. Widdlestein. If you become, in my opinion, a detriment to the smooth operation of the ship, I will have you transferred off. In Ms. Hunter’s case, I admit, not so traumatic an event, as there is just the one of her. In yours, however, Ms. Widdlestein, it becomes a bit more of an issue. If I transfer you off-ship, I will also be transferring your parents and interrupting their careers – something that your abilities with the ship’s computer will not be able to stop – and ensuring that your plans for appointment to the Academy are, at best, delayed.” He pressed his hands down on the desk. “Do you both understand me?”

8-ball had little interest in being transferred off the ship. She was just finally sort of liking it here, or at least some of the time. "Yes, sir," she said.

"Yes, Sir." Samantha said in a tiny voice that, for once, wasn't faked.

“Then perhaps you both will act like it.” Daren looked from one to the other. “I will not repeat myself again, so both of you need to listen closely: this issue is over. I do not care who started what or why – I am finishing it. If I hear of a repetition of the incident – for whatever reason – then there will be considerable bag-packing going on very soon thereafter. Do you both understood?”

“Yes, sir,” 8-ball repeated, looking downward. She dared not look anywhere else. If she looked up at the captain, she was in danger of crying, and if she looked at Samantha, she was in danger of throttling the little brat, which wouldn’t help matters. “I understand."

Samantha nodded, already scheming on ways to make it up to the Captain and get even with Hunter. A ‘Happy M'Kantu Day’ was already forming in her devious mind, as well as getting someone to put flesh-eating tribbles in 8-Ball's quarters. She might have to rethink the latter. Those were hard to come by.

“All right then.” Daren looked at the two for a moment as he thought. “Ms. Hunter, having raised a daughter of my own,” Daren was proud of the fact that he managed to say that without a break in his voice, “I understand that even the most beloved child can become a millstone of annoyance around the neck of those around it. As ordering you to become a parent is outside of my powers, I’m going to do the next best thing. You are assigned to sixty hours of work with the Primary Education Department for the dependents aboard. Successful completion of this assignment, with a good review from the teachers you work with, and this incident will not be entered into your permanent record. Do you understand?”

8-ball looked at him in horror. She kept herself from saying, ‘You’re fucking KIDDING me?’ but only barely. Instead, what she said was a meek, “Yes, sir,” and swallowed hard.

The Primary Education Department.

60 hours.

60 HOURS!!!!

This was a disaster. This was a nightmare. This was fucking Armageddon.

8-ball kept her gaze on the floor. Before she had been slightly worried about throttling Samantha. Now she was sure she’d do it if she looked up. 60 hours of torment with kids AND IT WAS ALL HER FAULT!!!

“Good.” He turned to Samantha. “Ms. Widdlestein. I am perfectly capable of looking up your biological age in the records, so your attempts to subtract a decade from it with that look are not going to succeed. You are intelligent, highly so, but you lack discipline, something that you will need at the Academy, and you appear to have far too much free time. Since you have expressed such an interest in the Counseling Department, I’m going to help you work on all three of those items. You are hereby assigned Lt. Branwen London, the Marine Counselor aboard the Galaxy, as your mentor. You will train with Lt. London, follow her orders, and complete such projects as she assigns you to familiarize yourself with the duties and responsibilities of the Counseling Department. You will *not* deploy with the Marines for any reason whatsoever. If I find you in anything resembling a combat zone - and I will be the judge of what that means - assuming that you survive, the next thing you see will be the inside of the shuttlecraft that transports you and you family off this ship. Am I understood?”

Samantha looked at the Captain in horror. Sure, she liked to spout off things that she had read in her advanced classes (she was at a higher level than most children onboard) but of all the departments he could have stuck her in, real counseling was probably one of her least favorites. Why couldn't he have placed her in a department that was more suitable to her intelligence?

Arel had always said her brains were going to get her into trouble.

She glared at the other woman but told the Captain that she understood, albeit in a grumpy voice.

“Excellent.” Daren doubted that was true in either of the two individuals before him’s case, but, as captain, he had the luxury of pretending otherwise. “Now that we have that settled, is there anything else we need to address?” Besides the necessity of cleaning his carpet that is.

8-ball felt herself swallowing again. How the HELL had this happened to her anyway? She desperately did not want to work with children. In normal circumstances, it would have been a serious pain in the ass because 8-ball didn't really like kids and kids didn't really like her. The only ones that sort of did apparently died or lost almost all of their living family members anyway, so 8-ball didn't mind so much if children didn't like her. But now, now with Azra dead and Trill not really that far behind them, 8-ball didn't think she was ready for thirty odd little monsters to terrorize her life. Godammit, she didn't want this!

But the only way that 8-ball could think of to get out of it was to admit that Azra's death was having more of an effect on 8-ball than she'd like. M'Kantu might not want to hand over 8-ball to the lions den of Primary Education then, but he sure as hell would hand her over to counseling, and everybody, sane or otherwise, did their best to avoid counseling. If she had to choose the lesser of two evils. . .

"No, Captain," 8-ball said.

"No, Captain." Sam said as well.

"Dismissed."

OOC:

And now, for your reading enjoyment, it's time to meet some of the members of the SFMC 188th's Furies Detachment, assigned to the USS Galaxy! -- MJ

"Rumor Mill"

2Lt. Branwen London
Chief Psychologist, Furies CO ad-temp

2Lt. Jebidiah Baile
Recon Specialist

MGSgt. Carl Johnson (APC, M. Miller)
Master Guns

Sgt. Doug Berry (APC, W. Pierce-MacBeth)
Sniper/Recon Specialist

TechSgt. Carol Rowley (NPC, W. Pierce-MacBeth)
Unit Transport Pilot

Cpl. Vosak (APC, M. Miller)
Combat Specialist/Scout

Pvt. Doungal O'Malley (APC, Jonas)
Unit Chaplain/Trooper

Pvt. Franklin D. Donut (NPC, W. Pierce-MacBeth)
Trooper/ARC (Advanced Recon Commando)

== 1225 Hours: Marine Mess Hall, USS Galaxy ==

Branwen was still shocked that Lieutenant Hayes had left. Actually without a word to anybody. She didn't understand it, they had gotten along fine, and now this. Nobody knew who the new CO would be, or when he or she would be arriving. Or, for that matter, who was in control now.

She entered the mess hall, straight away Branwen noticed the tense atmosphere amongst the soldiers. They didn't like not knowing what was going on, either.

Vosak, as usual was sitting alone by himself. Ever since he had transferred aboard to this new unit, he hadn't had much success in "falling-in" with the rest of the Furies. At first, he thought it was because he appeared to be a Vulcan. He was well aware of other species thoughts toward his species. Or maybe it was because he was half-Romulan. Either way, he just sat there, staring at his Plomeek soup.

Three members of the lower section of the Galaxy's Marine detachment entered the mess hall for the Marines aboard the Galaxy. Two of them, Rowley and Berry, were members of Blue Team while Donut was a member of Red Team. The three moved to the replicators and got their food before they went to sit down at their usual table in the mess.

Rowley ran a hand through her short hair as she looked at the Plomeek soup before her with a worried look. Donut caught the look as he took a bite of his cornbread, and chewed for a second before speaking.

"What's wrong, Carol? Your soup not looking the right shade of orange for you?" Donut asked with a slight smirk. Carol shook her head.

"No, I ordered curry, and I got this," she said, gesturing to the Plomeek soup in front of her, bringing a raised eyebrow from Donut. Berry simply handed her the pepper shaker, which brought on the raising of the other eyebrow from the oddly-named Marine.

"If you cut it with pepper, it gains flavor," Berry explained as he slid a padd out of his uniform and set it on the table.

"Well, from all looks and appearances, it seems that Salu is leaving us to join the regular Navy as an Intel Op, which means that someone is going to have to be the new medic for the unit. Plus, we lost Tempus during the whole shit with Thomas and his little fucktard rebellion," Berry explained as he went through the padd's contents while the three ate.

"But, we also lost a Mister Hayes who, aparrently, didn't feel that we should be blessed anymore and promptly quit the ship's detachment," Berry finished, reading the padd's contents.

"Yeah, but if you think about it for a minute guys, I did notice one thing, and that's we've aparrently gained a new CS trooper, and that newbie just happens to be sitting right over there," Donut said as he chewed some more on his cornbread, then gestured with said item at Vosak, who was sitting by himself, eating. "I think that the kid needs not to be sitting alone. Grace does that and she'll never make it to being a grandmother, you dig?" Donut asked as he got up and walked over to where Vosak was sitting, and coughed to get his attention.

Vosak could sense Donut's presence approaching him from behind, even before the Private announced his presence with the surreptitious cough. It wasn't due to any advanced Vulcan psychic powers, or anything. Merely, the man could be heard from several meters away, smacking his lips loudly while eating his cornbread.

When the Vulcan looked up, Donut simply said, "So, are you going to sit over here all by your lonesome, or are you going to eat with the others in your detachment, 'Nyen ching duh'?" Then, he took another bite of his cornbread.

Vosak tilted his head to one side, while raising his left eyebrow in the most-famous of perplexed Vulcan facial gestures. Eyeing the Marine's collar device, he couldn't believe that a Private had addressed him, a Corporal, in such an offhanded - and without protocol - manner.

"I prefer to eat alone, *Private*," Vosak said, his calm basso voice stressing the other man's inferior rank. "I also request that you speak to me in either Standard, Golic Vulcan, or Rihanna Narv'u, as those are the three languages I am familiar with."

Branwen quietly sat by herself, as well. She was an officer, and it was not forbidden for her to be here. Yet, in the mess the rank system worked just a little bit different. So, she quietly listened to the conversations.

Master Gunnery Sergeant Carl Johnson was having - what he lovingly referred to as - a "Fucktard Day from Hell". Yes, he was in a foul mood. The Non-Coms, being the highly trained pea-shooters that they were, could at least figure out that it was wisest to clear away from the Master Gun's path, unless they wanted to be cleaning the bunkhouse for the rest of the afternoon.

Quickly, he grabbed a tray, slapped it into the replicator, punched in the code for his lunch (rigatone with marinara today), and errantly rapped his fingers on the control housing while waiting for his meal to appear. Yanking the tray from the receptacle, Johnson marched toward a quite, empty table in the "No-Man's Land" that seemed to unofficially seperate the officer's and NCO's seating. It was fitting, really. As Master Guns, he did act as the go-between for the NCOs and command officers, anyways.

Setting down the tray with one hand, Carl pulled his chair out with the other. He sat down, rubbed his eyes, and pulled out the data padd that had caused his day to go to shit, in the first place. For whatever reasons, only the good Lord Jesus knowing, Lieutenant Hayes - recent CO of the Furies - decided that her sweet little ass (and, in Johnson's opinion, her's *was* a fine little ass) hadn't been good enough for the Furies. So, without telling anyone at all, she quietly had gone to Colonel Gessekensett, put in for immediate transfer, and hopped the next transport that had been able to dock with the Galaxy.

Now, not only were they without a CO, but HQ hadn't named a replacement, either. Johnson grimaced at that thought, as he tried to swallow down a bite of the rigatone. Instead, he half-coughed/choked it down.

~Goddammit, I've got to look into getting a real mess crew assigned to this boat,~ he thought. Every other Company in the Corps had a real cooking crew, except for here. The heartburn induced by replicated food was a constant reminder to Johnson of that fact.

Pushing the tray of food away, Sergeant Johnson tried, instead, to focus on what he did know. If Hayes was gone, that meant...

~Oh, sweet Lord Almighty, no.~

London was in charge.

Johnson dropped the padd, not caring that it clattered loudly onto the tabletop. ~Shit.~

He didn't hate Second Lieutenant Branwen London, as most of his Sergeants accused. It was merely hard for him, an eighteen year vetran NCO of the Starfleet Marine Corps to accept a twenty-three year old, just-out-of-academy, wet-behind-the-ears kid as the Commanding Officer, even ad-temp.

He had been down on Trill watching as Branwen whined to Lieutenant Baile about how they had to be so damned "careful" and touchy-feely with the people of Leran Manev, when a fucking Prometheus-class starship had crashed into the major part of the city!

Luckily, Lieutenant Baile had taken charge. Normally, Carl would frown on that; wresting command from the XO. But in truth - in a firefight - he knew he'd rather be depending on Baile to get his black ass out of a sling, than Branwen.

~Stop being such a horse's ass, Carl,~ he chided himself. ~Maybe she's got the stuff, afterall, but just needs a chance to show it,~ he reasoned, while rubbing at his eyes, again. ~Yeah, fucking right. Just like I need a photon grenade shoved up my ass.~

"Mind if I join you guys?" Branwen asked. "I guess everybody heard by now that Lieutenant Hayes has left."

"Of course not," a rumbling voice assured her. The voice belonged to a contradiction of a man, Chaplain O'Malley.

The man could be, at best, described as weary and thin, blessed with an endurance that put a Klingon to shame, but with a voice that seemed to fit better with a bear. Deep, rumbling, and most of the time, preaching. We'd be delighted if you'd join us, Lieutenant. Wouldn't we?" he asked while he sat down at the table.

He waved his hand over the food on the plate. "So with what kind of tempting delights does Starfleet plan to poison us today?" O'Malley smelled it and smiled, content. "Not bad. A man could die happy after this."

"Thank you, Rev." Branwen said smiling and sat down.

Back at Vosak's now table, Donut started one of his rants. "Eh, you ought to feel honored that I even made noise coming up behind you, kid. Normally I'm quieter than a Vulcan Sehlat when it's hunting. But, eh, you have to understand that us Marines are not your normal run-of-the-mill Fleeties. Instead, we are the badasses that does the shit that the 'Fleet can't. And for that, can I get an Amen?!"

Vosak merely raised his eyebrows again, deciding that this Private Donut was quite insane, and noisier than any Sehlat that roamed the Vulcan Forge.

Carol was laughing her ass off hard as Berry, normally very tactful and reflective said, "Amen. Now sit down, Donut before you get yourself hurt...AGAIN!" Berry said as he grabbed the younger Marine and shoved him back towards the table where Carol was trying to breathe, while laughing.

Berry turned to regard Vosak. "You have to forgive Donut, Corporal Vosak. Even though he's been through the entire Klingon and Dominion wars with us, he still acts like a rookie. But I guess we all deal with our war trauma in our own ways, true?" Berry said in a very calm, polite manner even though he outranked Vosak by at least a couple of grades.

~Ah,~Vosak reasoned in his mind. ~That would explain the Private's current mental state.~

"Quite true, Sergeant," Vosak simply agreed.

Carl had been watching the entire Donut/Vosak exchange with amused interest. Everyone in the Furies knew that Franklin Donut was - as Sergeant Stacker put it - "Fucking nuttier than a coked-up red squirrel." The Gunney would have felt alot better if it had been *Donut* that had mysteriously disappeared, instead of Hayes. But then again, as off-kilter as Donut was, he was the best Recon man they had.

Carl was impressed at Vosak's reserve and poise under Donut's barrage, however. For whatever reasons, Donut seemed to forget that Vosak (who, obviously had a Vulcan bloodline) was probably twice as strong as Donut, not to mention was three pay-grades above him, as well.

Johnson also was proud of Berry's handling of the situation. Out of the Master Gun's four squad Sergeants, Berry was - by far - the most level-headed and orderly. Stacker was good, too, but a lot more hot-headed.

After making sure that Donut got back to his seat and squared away, Berry walked over towards where Carl was sitting and he called from two tables away. "Gunney, permission to come over to No-Man's Land, Sir!"

<TBC>

Back post 2381, December

“Disassociation”

(This is set while the Galaxy is undergoing the refit, after “Enigma”)

Lieutenant (Jg) Dhanishta Eshe

Dhani watched herself stand up. It was almost like she was five seconds behind herself. Watching her own body get up off the floor, standing in the middle of the room. But then she was standing in the middle of the room too.

As her counterpart moved Dhani followed like a shadow,

“Who are you?” she questioned the figure before her.

“Me.” she replied plainly walking towards the door.

Confusion crossed Dhanis face, “Oh.” she replied. She glanced around the room; everything was dark, the small amount of light that there was illuminated the fog which seemed to encase the entire room. It wasn’t thick like smoke, but just enough to make everything seem fuzzy, like looking at the world through thick glass.

Her counterpart stood for a moment her fingers dancing over the door panel. Dhani watched her but she couldn’t see exactly what she was doing. All the while her counter part had her back to Dhani. ~Maybe I am a shadow~ Dhani thought. Shrugging her shoulders she watched her counter part as she opened the doors and cautiously checked the halls, scanning them for any sign of life. Dhani’s brow furrowed as she followed herself into the corridor.

“Where am I going?” she asked herself.

There was no reply. Dhani looked around the corridor; it was dark out here too. ~When did it turn into night? ~

“Look,” Dhani questioned again, “Where are we.. me… I, you going?” she asked again using every tense she could think of.

Again there was no reply. Her counterpart kept on walking down the dimly lit hall.

“Hey!” Dhani shouted; she had just about enough of this. What the hell was going on? Why was she sneaking around, why was it night and… just what the hell was going on!!?

She grabbed her counterparts arm to swing her round to face her, but as she did she felt someone grip her arm.

The sensation sent a hot flush over her body, whirling round she started at the empty space.

There was no one there.

Dhani turned slowly back to her counterpart. But she was already at the other end of the hall, she could just make her out in the distance turning the corner.

“HEY!” Dhani shouted after herself, “WAIT.” She tried to run down the hall, but her feet didn’t seem to move as quickly as normal. Had she been drugged? The momentum finally gathered and she began to run.

The hall seemed to go on forever. She was sure it wasn’t this long…..

The closed doors streamed past her in a blur.

Finally she reached the end, breathlessly she scanned both avenues.

There was no one there.

Bent over she rested her hands on her knees and panted. What was this?

And then she saw it; an access panel lay on the floor about five yards in front of her.

“That’s strange” Dhani said standing up, “who would have….” She answered her own question before even finishing it.

She hotfooted to the panel and looked down the tube, “Hey…..ME” she shouted not knowing what to call herself. Sitting on her haunches she strained to hear something, anything. She hesitated before calling out,

“Dhanishta…..?” it was weird for her to call out her own name, to hear it echo down the tube.

She waited a while contemplating following herself. Begrudgingly she crawled into the tube.

Slowly she crawled on her hands and knees along the tube; it wasn’t long until she could feel it closing in on her, like a noose tightening round her neck, suffocating her. But she kept going. Little beads of sweat began to appear along her forehead she could feel them collect and gather into one place before tumbling down her skin and off her nose, dropping on to the deck beneath her. The memory of the explosion still haunted her as the tube faded in and out of view, she could feel her nose running, but still she kept going.

She concentrated so hard on crawling and not flipping out as the tube became narrower and narrower that she hadn’t noticed how far she had come. Or how many twists and turns she had taken. As the tube opened up before her she began to crawl faster to reach it. Like an Oasis in the middle of the desert.

The tube opened up onto a shaft that ran vertical through the ship connecting several hundred intersections and levels; a long way to fall! But the freedom of movment it gave was wonderful when you’d been in the Jefferies tubes as long as she had.

~ Humm ~ Dhani thought ~How long have I been in here? ~

She sat in the intersection and let her legs dangle down the shaft. It was so pleasurable to be in a different position, she arched her back and stretched, a slight moan escaping from her lips as she did so. Pulling up her trouser leg she examined her knees; they were red and sore as were her hands. Sighing she slid her trouser leg back down, wincing a little as they snagged on her broken skin.

As she sat pondering her next move she felt a tremor, turning around she saw herself sitting cross legged a few meters away. Suddenly she was sitting behind her counterpart watching herself as the conduit blew up. Shrapnel showered down upon her and her counterpart but this time Dhani didn’t flinch….. it wasn’t her anymore.

And then she was lying there, she could smell the burning flesh, feel the ferocity of the fire that encased the conduit. Sitting up slowly she turned and examined the broken body beneath her. The uniform was black and charred, the skin mottled, red and burned. But the face, it wasn’t hers. As she stared into it trying desperately to distinguish it, it faded away.

The smoke filled the tube and now Dhani couldn’t see anything. Her eyes began to water and her chest tightened. She began to cough as the density of the smoke increased, she tugged desperately at her collar trying to steal a breath as her lungs filled with more and more smoke. Gradually the tubes faded out of view.

Back Post 2381 December

“Full circle”

(Set straight after Dissociation, whilst the Galaxy is undergoing the refit, after “Disassociation”)

“Dhanishta? Dhanishta can you hear me?”

Dhanis eye lids fluttered.

“I think she’s waking up.” Jiiles said leaning over her, “Dhani?” he questioned.

Dhani opened an eye and squinted,

“What’s going on?” she croaked out. Her throat felt dry and hoarse.

“Your in sick bay.” The doctor stated moving closer and taking Jiiles’ position by Dhanis bed. “Do you remember what happened?” he questioned as he scanned her for the millionth time with a tricorder.

Dhani shook her head. She rolled on to her side and tried to sit up.

“Hey easy there.” Another voice instructed her pushing down her shoulder.

Dhani waved them off and sat up on the bed swinging her legs round, she was thinking of hopping off the bed.

Like a mind reader Jiiles stood in front of her blocking her way,

“How do you feel?” he questioned with nothing but concern on his face.

Dhani looked up into his eyes, “I have a little headache but other than that I’m fine.” She replied. What was weirder was that she was telling the truth.

The doctor injected her with another hypo, “That should fix the headache.” He told her.

Dhani sighed, she was beginning to feel a little tired of waking up in sick bay. It was almost like a weekly event. But this time she didn’t actually know why she was here.

“What happened?” she asked looking at the doctor.

He looked over at Jiiles and then back at Dhani, “We’re not actually sure.” he said with a definite hint of irritation in his voice; he hated it when test after test was inconclusive.

Dhani looked up at Jiiles her expression questioning.

Jiiles smiled down at her, tucking a piece of stray hair behind her ear, “I found you in your quarters. You were having trouble breathing.” he explained.

“It was lucky the lieutenant found you when he did.” the doctor added turning back to the science station and sitting down,

“According to our scans you were suffering from smoke inhalation.” He said as he input the data into the computer, “But there was nothing burning in your quarters. Do you have any idea what happened?” he asked spinning back round on his stool.

Dhani looked at Jiiles and then at the doctor, “Not a clue.” she said shaking her head.

The doctor frowned and looked over the data once more. As he began his technical babble Dhani looked back at Jiiles, she gave him a warm smile, one of gratitude. As she looked at him she saw someone behind him. She turned her face to focus fully on the figure.

But it was almost as if the figure was standing out of focus. No matter how hard Dhani tried she could only make out the figures silhouette. It was clear that it was a woman, her blond hair glinted in the subtle lighting of sick bay but her face was blurred.

“Who’s that?” Dhani asked standing up. She turned back to face Jiiles and the doctor but they were gone. Frowning she turned back to the doorway where she had seen the woman, but she was gone also.

Turning full circle Dhani found herself standing in the doorway of sick bay. The scene unfolded before her. The woman she had seen was lying on a bio bed. Slowly and cautiously Dhani walked up to it. Still the woman looked out of place, her face was a blur. As Dhani looked harder she realised it wasn’t blurred, it was burnt!

She could see the doctor talking to another man, their lips moved but nothing came out, it was like watching a silent movie. Dhani began to shout but still nothing changed. As the man turned back to the woman on the bio bed Dhani recognised him. He was the captain. But not the captain she knew. The doors opened and she watched Suder as he stood motionless the colour draining from his face.

“Jiiles we need you back in engineering” Suder said as he approached.

Dhani blinked several times.

“Will you be alright?” Jiiles questioned.

Dhani looked at him, and then Suder and finally the doctor. Whipping her head round she peeked at the bio bed behind her. It lay empty.

“I’ll be fine.” She replied turning back to them.

Jiiles nodded to the doctor and Suder before leaving.

“How is she doc?” Suder asked.

“According to these reading she’s absolutely fine.” He replied.

Suder frowned, “The report said that…”

The doctor broke in, “I know what the report said, I wrote it. But I can’t explain it.” He looked back at Dhani, “She is fine, a picture of health. Half an hour ago she was asphyxiating on smoke. None existent smoke.” He shrugged and looked back at Suder.

Suder looked somewhat confused, as did Dhani. “So,” he said “can she return to work?”

The doctor shook his head, “I’d like to keep her here for a little while longer to run some more tests. I don’t like not having an answer. I want to get to the bottom of this.”

Dhani sighed and hopped back on to the bed, gonna be a long night!

“But I can talk to her right?” Suder asked.

Dhani was beginning to feel like she wasn’t even there.

“Sure.” The doctor replied.

Suder turned back to Dhani and waited till the doctor left, “So back in sick bay!” he said, it always seemed like he was making inappropriate humour!

“Yeah.” Dhani replied, “Do you think I could get my own room, paint it pink? The colours here are so dull.”

Suder smiled slightly. “So how’s your progress coming on the EEH?” he asked switching to work mode.

“Well all my research is back in my quarters. There is a problem, the EEH seems to be corrupted. We believe it has something to do with the Quick virus. I believe that we are taking the wrong approach to the virus. So I have sent some information to Tanson, he agrees with me and is taking a fresh approach from a scientist perspective.”

“Who’s Tanson?” Suder asked.

“My father.” Dhani replied, “He should be sending me his findings, might take a day or too, he’s on an exploration mission at the moment. I have also booked some time in the holo lab, we are going to make another EEH based on the first one.”

Suder nodded, “Well it sounds like you have it under control.”

“That means you’re gonna leave me here to be a lab rat doesn’t it?” she said pouting.

“Yup!” Suder said, “Have fun.” Turning he left. Dhani sighed and lay down on the bio bed and stared up at the ceiling. Joy of joys!

"Rumor Mill, Part II"

2Lt. Branwen London Chief Psychologist,
Furies CO ad-temp

2Lt. Jebidiah Baile
Recon Specialist

MGSgt. Carl Johnson (APC, M. Miller)
Master Guns

Sgt. Doug Berry (APC, W. Pierce-MacBeth)
Sniper/Recon Specialist

TechSgt. Carol Rowley (NPC, W. Pierce-MacBeth)
Unit Transport Pilot

Cpl. Vosak (APC, M. Miller)
Combat Specialist/Scout

Pvt. Doungal O'Malley (APC, Jonas)
Unit Chaplain/Trooper

Pvt. Franklin D. Donut (NPC, W. Pierce-MacBeth)
Trooper/ARC (Advanced Recon Commando)

== 1235 Hours: Marine Mess Hall, USS Galaxy ==

<Continued from "Rumor Mill, Part I">

After making sure that Donut got back to his seat and squared away, Berry walked over towards where Carl was sitting and he called from two tables away.

"Gunney, permission to come over to No-Man's Land, sir!"

Looking once to his uneaten tray of rigatoni, then to the padd that he no-longer wished to read, Carl decided to join the rest of the Marines, now seated at Vosak's table. Stuffing the data padd back under his uniform breast while leaving the food tray, Carl walked toward Berry.

"Permission denied, Sarge," Johnson said, mock-seriously. "I might as well help you babysit." He smiled as he and Berry returned to the table, sighing a little inside as he saw Lieutenant London sitting beside Rowley.

Sitting down opposite the Corporal, he leaned one elbow on the table, while eying Donut, who was sitting at the far end, near "Preacher" O'Malley. "So, what's the rumor mill grindin' at, today, apes?" Master Guns asked.

"Donut, I trust you said Grace before starting to stuff yourself?" Everyone knew he hadn't, but it never stopped the Chaplain from asking. It was sort of a daily ritual.

Everyone chuckled at Preacher's daily question for Donut. Even though it was the same, every day, it was always funny how the Chaplain tried his best (usually, to no avail) to set Private Donut on the Straight and Narrow way.

"Good day, Gunney, how fares it this day, then?" O'Malley was a good soldier, and had, more or less on his own accord, taken on the roll to keep morale up. He wasn't the most experienced in the detachment, but certainly one of the most educated. Yates, Shakespeare, Hammerling, Aristotle and Perimedes were all among the great writers and philosophers whom he admired.

"The food is shit, our CO is AWOL, and Stacker insists we all try out his new 'training seminar' on the holodeck," the Master Guns groused. "Sweet Mother of Jesus," he grumbled under his breath.

"Now, now temper," O'Malley replied with his typical Irish accent. "But, me does agree a wee bit...with food like this, who needs enemies?"

Carl sighed, in good-nature. "Well, if the Breen try anything, we can always ditch the BR55s and just throw this slop at them."

It hadn't taken long to notice people were pissed-off at Hayes' leaving. During the transport back, the debriefing, re-stocking the supplies and, up until now, it had been a constant companion and topic between some of the Marines.

Baile, on the other hand, couldn't care less. Shit happened. People jumped ship. Even cookie-cutter Marines. Grabbing a tray, he helped himself to dinner and frowned when he saw what was being served. Fuck, C-rations was a bloody feast in comparison.

Almost tossing the tray on an empty table he sat down - tattoos and muscles on display - and started eating in silence. A strange emptiness always filled him when a job was done, almost like being out of sync with the rest of the world for a while.

The Chaplain glanced at the newcomer as he wiped his mouth. "So, Lieutenant London, what did you think of our little field trip?"

"it was tough, I will not deny that. Yet I learned a lot." She looked around the table, and again was almost angry at Hayes for leaving. She did not have the experience to lead these guys. And it was not fair that it fell to her now.

"Let's cut bullshit, boys and girls. I know how you feel about me, 'wet behind the ears' and also shrink. Couldn't be worse. Totally unfit to be in command," she smiled.

This caught the Master Guns off-guard, though he did his best to conceal it. As much as he held reservations about Branwen, he had to admire her 'balls' - if you will - in broaching the subject of her temporary command.

"You know what, at this moment you guys are right. That's why I don't think HQ will hesitate to send a replacement for Lieutenant Hayes. And you are wrong about one thing about me, I am used hardship, and I am tough as nails. Also, I am willing to learn. In fact, I learned a great deal down on the planet. I learned to listen to those with experience. And in the future, I am willing to listen to those with experience, not to say I will always follow it."

She smiled again. "You guys know that is a lot more than most young officers do. So now you all have to make up your minds if you're going to give me a chance or not. It's up to you."

Quietly she resumed eating.

Although Vosak was the newest soldier in the Detachment, he felt moved to say something. "Lieutenant, I speak for myself - and others, I am sure - when I say, 'screw what the others think'. As the executive officer, you are in command, until Headquarters assigns a new commanding officer."

Carl was a little humbled by the Corporal's remarks. In the midst of his inner complaints about Lieutenant London, he had forgotten one of the four "Rules of Respect" that he always drilled into his Marines: Follow the orders of the Commanding Officer, and never talk bad about him behind his back. Vosak had duly reminded him, and the rest of the troopers seated here of that most-fundamental of operating principles.

"All I can say, Ma'am," Carl started, looking Branwen straight in the eye, "is that I'm sure HQ will get things squared away soon."

Of course, there was more that he wanted to say, like how he didn't trust a pshrink to be the XO, much less the CO. But, he also realize that he had to, at the very least, let her have enough 'rope', so to speak; either she would do well with it, or find a way to hang herself on it.

Back Post 2381, December

“Unintentional Violation, Part 1 of 2”

Lieutenant (Jg) Dhanishta Eshe – Engineer

&

NPC Lieutenant Jiiles - Engineer

Dhanishta rolled over and pulled the duvet tighter around her. Covered in sweat from head to toe she scanned the room from under the ripples of her duvet. What was infuriating were the nightmares; she couldn’t understand them. Broken images of bio beds and white coats, distorted pictures of memories she never knew existed, mixed with the fire in the EPS conduits. The deafening sound of the panel blowing up, the smell as the fire surrounded her and ate her skin. She shivered and tried to shake the memory off.

Jiiles stirred by her side, rolling over he tugged the duvet to cover himself. Dhani released her grip and let him have it. She hadn’t shared her bed with anyone in years. It was strange. Tossing the corner she now had aside she sat up and slowly and manoeuvred herself out of the bed, cautiously as so not to wake him.

Padding through her living room in bare feet she ordered a glass of water and sat on the couch staring into space. She sighed. For the past two years she had been plagued by insomnia. She had managed to survive by daily meditating and now here she was unable to. And the sleep that she so desperately wanted contained nightmares. The shear unfairness made her fume with anger, and cry like a child.

Placing the glass on to the coffee table she stroked her sleeping cat; who lay curled beside her.

“Nishta?”

Dhani looked up and scanned the room. She could feel her skin pricking as the name pummelled through her. No one called her that. Not since…

“Nishta.”

There it was again,

“Whose there?” she questioned. Gee Dhani how stupid can you be? She asked herself, if someone’s in your quarters it’s unlikely that there gonna tell you. She shook her head, must be hearing things, she told herself.

“NISHTA.”

Nope, defiantly someone there. A movement from the shadows made Dhani really sit up and take notice. Slowly she stood up, she was about to grab something, anything to use as a weapon but there was nothing to use!

“Computer, lights.” She whispered.

The lights in her quarters shimmered on, blinding her for a second. As her vision cleared she checked the room.

There was no one there.

Feeling a little silly Dhani sat back on the couch. She wasn’t afraid of the dark. She shook her head and went into her bathroom. Turning on her shower she undressed and stepped into it.

This was all a little weird. The EPS conduit, the woman in sick bay, Dhani hadn’t told the counsellor about that yet. She wondered if it had something to do with the empathic echo. But something made her keep her mouth shut, probably the fear of being found totally insane. As she stood in the shower the water cascading down all around her she felt something, it was an emotion induced by a memory. But she couldn’t remember what it was. The feeling of fear, pure unbridled fear. But it wasn’t directed at anyone but herself. Was she afraid of herself? Shrugging her shoulders she turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. Grabbing a towel she began to dry herself.

The condensation dribbled down the mirror. Leaning over the sink, Dhani wiped it with her towel, wrapping the towel round her body she tucked the ends in to keep it secure and turned back to the sink. She stopped and stared, there were two people in the mirror. Dhanis heart leapt into her mouth, she could hear her heart beat increase as she stood gawping into the mirror. It was her… the woman from sick bay…..

Dhani spun round.

But the room was empty.

“This is getting ridiculous!” she screamed out into the waning steam.

“Dhani, what’s wrong” Jiiles asked appearing in the door way, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

Dhani spun round, her whole body vibrating with fear and anger. Seeing Jiiles her lip began to waver, tears welling up in her eyes. They began to fall from her eyes down her pail face and on to the crisp white towel.

Jiiles frowned, “Hey, hey now.” He said pulling her close, “What’s wrong?”

Dhani felt even more stupid as she cried harder into Jiiles chest. She couldn’t stop and she couldn’t explain. She just didn’t know how.

“It’s okay.” He hushed her. “Let’s go back to bed, okay?” he asked.

Dhani nodded and followed him.

As they slipped under the covers, Jiiles pulled Dhani close. She lay there in his arms feeling his heart beat through her back. It was regular and comforting. She could hear him breath, feel it across her skin, soothing and soft. He began to run his hand through her hair, stroking it. She murmured slightly as she began to relax. For a moment her eyes darted open as she remembered how Chang used to do just that. Her body tensed at the memory. For a second she felt a twinge of guilt. But it was stupid to feel guilt; Chang had left her years ago. She hadn’t been with anyone since, almost as if she was holding out; saving herself for him. But she had to remind herself, yet again, that he had gone, and was never coming back for her. Slowly she began to relax and drift. Memories of Chang played out in her mind…..

~

The old rust covered iron gate opened with a squeak, Dhanishta looked down at it as she stepped through and closed it, she really should give it an oiling. Walking down the gravel stone path she paused at the front door and sieved through her bag for her keys.

It was nice to have a house off campus, but at times, like these; walking home alone in the dark… it made more sense to have a room on site. But then you had the annoying roommates!

Pulling out a set of jangling keys Dhani unlocked the door, kicking it open with the toe of her boot she set her bag on the floor by the door, closing it she leaned against it and sighed.

She felt as if her brain had been fried. She had just sat through a four hour lecture on the nature of temporal mechanics. She rubbed her head as she dropped her keys into the dish on the hall table. That lecture was preceded by two hours of combat training, a three hour competency exam in engineering and *then* an hour of command theory.

She was so glad to be home. She didn’t mind the work, it was what she had singed up for, what she thrived for, but the ten hour days took her away from Chang. His schedule was jam packed too, he was in training to be an intelligence officer, and they didn’t get to spend that much time together. Sometimes she wondered if they would ever get the time to get married!

Pulling off her boots she placed them neatly by the front door and walked into the kitchen. This old farm hose was her parents’ home. They had bought it when they had moved to Earth several years ago. Dhani sometimes wondered if they preferred it on Qo’noS. They had spent seven years on the Klingon home world, and they had appeared to enjoy their time there. Earth seemed pale in comparison. Qo’noS was always alive, there was always something happening. It was rich in culture and prided itself on honour and discipline. In a way it was strict and stifling, but Dhani loved the competition and the way the Klingons mind worked. She studied it in their movements and actions. Truth be told she missed the hectic environment, Earth was slow and soft in comparison. Incredibly laid back and pacifist. But she was no stranger to that. Vulcan was quiet, steeped in control, order and logic, never a bad word said or an emotion displayed. All about control. That was similar to the Klingons too in some ways; Klingons liked to have control. But the similarities ended there.

Dhani stood staring into the refrigerator, she had no idea what she wanted. Closing it up she walked back out into the hall and only then noticed the light from the study shining from under the door.

Dhani shared her house with her parents, but they were away on a mission till the end of the month. Her sister came and went, but lately she was staying in the Halls at the Academy; she liked the night life. Dhanishta smiled as she realised who it was.

Stepping up she rapped her knuckles on the door and opened it.

Chang looked up from behind the desk, the light from the computer he was working on lit up his face in shades of purple and blue.

“Nishta!” he exclaimed smiling from ear to ear.

“You’re working late.” Dhani remarked as she took off her jacket and laid it on the couch by the door.

Chang moaned in agreement and stretched in the padded leather chair, “Yeah.” He replied, “Got a paper due tomorrow, just doing a few modifications.” He looked back down at the computer with a less than happy look. Tapping a few buttons he frowned at it, “So how was your day?” he questioned still staring at the computer.

Dhani walked up to the desk and paused, “It was interesting.” She concluded.

“Is that it?” Chang asked closing the lid of the computer and staring at her.

“Temporal mechanics.” Dhani said looking down at him.

Chang made a face of pain as he reached out and took her hand. Pulling her around to his side of the desk he motioned for her to sit on it.

“That sounds like a day and a half!” he said chuckling.

Dhanishta hadn’t quite got used to all the human phrases, this one puzzled her, but the pun she understood. Although she was confused her face showed no sign of it. She sat on the desk and looked into her fiancés eyes.

Even though they had been together so long he was still amazed at her beauty and mannerisms, “Some day I will remove that Vulcan chip inside your brain and teach you to be illogical.” he said.

“Is that so?” Dhanishta questioned her face remaining neutral.

Chang grabbed her and pulled her on to his lap, kissing her passionately, “Yeah.” he said coming up for air. He took the computer and put it on the floor. Then he swept his had across the table brushing everything on to the floor, and lay Dhani on it.

Slowly he undid her trousers and slid them off her legs. Moving his hands up to her inner thigh he began to tease her…

At some point the two of them rolled off the desk and crashed on to the floor, but neither of them really noticed the change in scenery or positions as Dhani now straddled Chang. Their hands explored each other as their bodies moved...

As they lay, their breathing heavily, Chang absently stroked Dhanis hair as Dhani ran her fingers across his chest; their exhausted bodies intertwined with each others. Chang rolled over and leaned in to kiss Dhani once more. But then he pulled away sharply, Dhani opened her eyes and stared into his.

The colour ran from Dhanis face. She could feel her skin chilling. A knot formed in her stomach and her mouth dried out,

“Ethan?” she questioned her voice coming out as a whisper.

Back Post 2381, December

“Unintentional Violation, Part 2 of 2”

Lieutenant (Jg) Dhanishta Eshe – Engineer

Lieutenant Commander Ethan Suder- Chief Engineer

&

NPC Lieutenant Jiiles - Engineer

“Dhani.” Suder said. His voice had the same questioning tone.

Dhanishta stared at Ethan. She watched as he scanned the room, as if he was searching for someone. His uniform was strewn across the floor. He grabbed his trousers and yanked them on. He didn’t say anything. As he slipped on his duty jacked he looked down at her and covered his mouth with his hand.

Dhani didn’t move; she just lay there paralysed. It wasn’t until he left that she realised she was naked.

She looked around the room and grabbed the only piece of material that was on the floor and covered herself. It took a while of sitting on the cold mettle for her to realise where she was. Her eyes glazed over as she looked around the room at the scattered datapadds.

Skittering back into a corner she began to shake. She was having trouble comprehending why she was on the floor in Suders office. She was in bed with Jiiles, right?

Hearing a noise outside Dhani began to panic. She looked down at the cloth that barley covered her and tried to work out what it was. Realising that it was a night shirt she pulled it on and stood up; it barley covered her arse!

The door to the office opened and Dhanis heart leapt into her mouth. She ran behind the desk and crouched. ~ What the hell…? This isn’t gonna work, whoever is coming in here is going to use the desk and see me under it! ~

She scanned the room quickly and saw an air vent. Her mind quickly worked over the mental map in her head of the ships schematics. She could get to the jefferies tubes from the ventilation system and then to her quarters…. It was a log ass route but the only escape.

Quickly Dhani crawled over to the vent and began to prise it open. She kept checking the door way, but it seemed that whoever was coming in was having a full blown discussion about the warp core... something to do with its installation and the refit, and they weren’t happy about it, that much Dhani could tell.

Dhani scolded herself and turned her attention back to the vent. Finally she pulled it off, chipping a nail in the process. But that didn’t matter. As she crawled into it she spied her trousers under the desk.

Jolting forward she grabbed them and pulled them. They snagged on the corner of the desk and ripped. Dhani cursed but pulled them over anyway. Throwing them into the tube behind her she pulled the panel closed.

As the doors opened she heard footsteps. Her heart beat pounded in her ears and she tried in vein to conceal her heavy breathing. For a while she sat in the tube waiting for the person to leave so she could crawl away unnoticed.

The minutes ticked by. She had no idea how long she had sat there motionless, her joints were beginning to lock. She knew that she had to get out of there and back to her quarters pronto. Slowly and quietly she cultured herself and pulled on her trousers. Carefully she manoeuvred herself into a position to crawl down the tubes.

It seemed to take forever to get back to her quarters. But finally she was swinging down from the ceiling and landing in the middle of her living room. For a while she gazed up at the panel above her wondering how to close it.

As the door chimed, Dhani groaned. She had to close the panel first. Pulling the chair out from behind her desk she stood on it. Reaching up she closed the panel as the door chime rang again.

Sliding the chair across the room back towards her desk she turned and walked over to her door. Pressing the realise button it hissed open.

Dhani hadn’t had the time to fully realise what had happened, she had been too focused on getting back to her quarters without being noticed. But as Jiiles stood in the door way, holding a bunch of flowers, she began to remember.

Little bits n pieces flashed through her mind. The memory of Chang had been replaced, and ruined, with the sordid imagery of herself and Suder going at it on his desk. Dhani heaved.

Before Jiiles could say hello Dhani rushed into her bathroom.

He watched her run across the room with her frayed trouser leg flapping behind her. Shrugging his shoulders he walked in and put the flowers down on the table.

“I missed you this morning.” He called out as he bent down to stroke Salem. As there was no reply he walked over to the replicator and ordered a mug of coffee. Sitting down on the couch he kicked off his shoes and pulled out a datapadd and began to read.

Dhanishta rested her head on the toilet seat. How much more could she throw up? It felt like everything she had ever eaten was now in the toilet bowl. She sat for a moment and rested. She was beginning to feel light headed. She started to get up but her stomach had other ideas, turning sharply back to the toilet she threw up again, this was ridicules, her throat began to burn as all that was left was bile.

“Dhani,” Jiiles called out, “are you alright in there?”

“Yeah.” She croaked out in-between heaving, “I’ll be….out…..in a minuet!”

Jiiles put down the padd he was reading as the bathroom door opened. His face wrinkled in concern as he watched Dhani walk shakily across the room. She ordered a glass of water from the replication and began to sip it.

“Are you alright?” he asked, “You look dreadful!”

Dhani tried to smile but it was no use, even the muscles in her face were starting to hurt. She walked over to him and sat down,

“I’m not feeling too great.” She admitted, “I think I’ll just go back to bed.”

Jiiles touched her forehead, “You don’t appear to have a temperature. Though I’m not a doctor. But you do look awful.” He said with concern, “You should go down to sick bay.”

Dhani shook her head, “I’ll be fine in a couple of hours, I just need to rest.” She replied.

“I’ll let Suder know that your sick.” He said placing his hand on her knee.

Dhani nodded, but the touch sparked a flash back. Sitting on the desk she watched as Suder ran his had up her leg to her thigh…Dhani shot up spilling her drink across the floor. She smacked Jiiles’ hand away and backed off. She stood staring at him for a moment, as the memory gripped her.

“Dhani?” Jiiles questioned standing up, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I’m fine.” Dhani replied taking a step back. She wanted to tell him what happened, but she didn’t really know what happened. She couldn’t explain it to herself so how could she to him? She saw the look on his face; that hurt puppy dog look, she couldn’t bare it. A lump formed in her throat. She couldn’t tell him, she couldn’t hurt him like that.

“I’m gonna go now.” She said at last her voice vague and detached. Placing the glass on the table she walked into her bedroom, hoping that Jiiles wouldn’t follow her.

Curling up on her bed she waited to hear the door close before she let herself go. It was the sadness that came first, with the uncontrollable crying. The memories floated in-between. As she pieced it all together she became angry. How did Suder know what she was dreaming? Didn’t he know it was her? Why did he…? She couldn’t answer the questions and that infuriated her even more. As the flash backs increased Dhanishta found herself in the bathroom once again. And then the guilt came. How could she ever tell Jiiles? Was it her fault? It must have been her fault…

Back Post 2381, December

“All for Blood, Part 1 of 2"

(This is set whilst the Galaxy is undergoing the refit, after “Unintentional Violation Part 2 of 2”)

Lieutenant Commander Ethan Suder – Chief of engineering (written by Dru)

Lieutenant (Jg) Dhanishta Eshe –Engineer

Ensign Naranda Sol Roswell – Engineer

NPC – Thomas Jensen (written by Jeremy Reynolds)

Second lieutenant Greg A. Ward, Starfleet Marine corps (written by Marcus)

(NOTE: I, Dru, would like to take a moment to make a special thanks to all those who participated in writing this, and the ones that followed. It meant a lot to me and I won’t be able to thank you all enough, ever! Or truly explain the ‘why’! But again thank you all.)

LOCATION: Main Engineering

Nara yawned. Why she volunteered for the night shift, she'll never know. She really had to get a more social life on this ship so she wouldn't be tempted to volunteer like this. Besides, they were docked. Not much could happen while docked. In essence, Nara was bored out of her mind.

Thomas Jensen was up late working on the transporter buffer systems and diagnostics. This one was a big doozey too. He needed to diagnose and troubleshoot ALL transporters, something he could only do from Main Engineering to make the whole process not take a whole week. He didn't mind working late, Engineering was pretty subdued at this time on the clock.

Suder strode in, his face like thunder. He scanned engineering, spotting Nara he grabbed a data padd and made b line towards her, "Ensign are we keeping you up?" he asked his tone a little less than civil.

Jensen perked up, thinking that Suder was talking to him. He wasn't, so he continued on his work but kept an ear open as to what was going on.

Nara gave him an irritated look. Oh yea. She was seeing if working without this bitter, grumpy man around would be worth working this time of day. "No sir. I volunteered." She looked back down at her console hoping he would walk on by. "Aren't you only in charge of the day shift?"

You could've heard a pin drop in engineering. It was almost as if the entire section went quiet all at once, save for the gentle humming and pulsing of the warp core. Various Engineers, Jensen included, paused in their work to see what the hub-bub was about.

Ethan bit his tongue, the temptation to haul her up for insubordination was immense. Does being the Chief mean nothing these days? He scanned the padd in his hands pondering. Though his thoughts were consumed by Dhani; what they had done, it didn't even bare thinking about. Subconsciously his hand formed a fist and his grip tightened on the datapadd.

Nara winced. That didn't come out like she thought. It was just curiosity. "No offence sir. I was just curious."

The silence of engineering was yet again disturbed as Dhani entered. Her face was pale, her uniform hung on her like a coat rack. She searched engineering with her eyes, seeing Suder her face fell. Taking a deep breath she walked up to him. She wasn't concerned that she was interrupting him, though she knew Nara would be glad of it. Her hands shook at her sides as she walked over.

Nara watched Dhani enter and frowned, "Are you ok?"

She nodded to Nara as she approached and smiled slightly, "Suder," she said her tone flat, "we need to talk."

Suder didn't even turn to face her. Though his face showed signs of disgust he ignored her and looked back at Nara, "Ensign..." he started.

Dhani grabbed his arm, "Now." she said. Her tone was firm but there was a slight waver in her voice.

Nara raised an eyebrow looking at Suder. "I really am sorry sir. With all due respect..."

Pulling his arm away from her, he brushed his sleeve as if wiping her off him. His eyes glowed with fury, how dare she... slowly he turned from Nara, "My office." he hissed through clenched teeth, his eyes never making contact.

Dhani glanced at Nara as she turned to follow Suder. Her expression was unreadable; her eyes were dark, slightly red and puffy. Her skin was dry and haggard looking. As she smiled her skin tightened around her face, she looked thinner than she ever had before.

Nara watched Dhani worried, "Careful. He's in a REAL bad mood...and I indivertibly made it worse."

As the doors to Suders office hissed closed; silence enfolded around engineering. Slowly everyone returned to their work. Occasionally a raised voice could be heard from the chiefs' office before the hush enveloped them. But no one batted an eyelid.

The strip lighting on his ceiling blinded him as his body flew through the air. His back hit the window first, followed by his head. He heard the window crack and felt it shatter all around him as he crashed through it. Each cube-like shard surrounded him, cascaded down around him as he hit the deck. His body actually bounced off the ground as he landed, moaning loudly he tried to move. Everything felt stiff and slow, the pain didn't kick in, it never really had time to.

Hearing a sudden crash, Nara looked over. Her eyes grew wide seeing Suder's body being flung like a heavy rag through the glass. The glass that isn't normally easily broken. She walked over toward them to see if Suder was ok, but stopped as someone appeared at the craggy hole that was a window.

Dhani appeared in the broken window-pain. Like a rabid dog she jumped up into it, her top lip curled and a hearty growl erupted from her oesophagus. The serrated edges of the window-pain easily cut her gripping hands. Her blood slowly dripped down her wrists and stained the window frame. Lunging forwards she pounced on him. Her blood covered hands gripped his throat and began to squeeze.

Nara gasped, but kept her distance. "Dhani!" Nara would had just jumped in and pulled her away, but the woman had gone mad. She reached up and tapped her commbadge. "Security to Main Engineering!"

A figure ran around the corner towards the chief engineers office in the standard duty uniform of a marine who pulled Dhani off of Suder but when Suder tried to get to his feet and say something, the marine slammed his right elbow hard into Suder's forehead as he tried to keep Dhani from getting to Suder again. A couple of members from security appeared a few minutes later and one of the security officer said "Sergeant Ward, what's happening?"

"I don't know, I got the call at the same time that you did. Get Suder the Hell out of here!" Greg Ward said in a stern voice as he tried to keep Dhani from hurting herself or anyone else while the two security officers moved to get Suder out of the room.

Nara looked at the men confused. From her perspective, it was clear who was hurting who. "Sirs, I'm not sure Suder is the one you should be apprehending." She looked at Dhani worried and sorry that she couldn't say otherwise. "From the look of things, Eshe was the one attacking."

Frantically Suder fought off the security guard. Standing up he turned to face Dhani once more.

She could feel her blood boiling, there was no rhyme or reason to it. As Greg tried desperately to keep a hold on her bucking form her anger rose. Something switched in Dhani's brain, she could feel it yet she had no recognition of it happening. Her eyes focused upward and all that could be seen was the white of her eyes as the trance took over. Her body stopped bucking and she stood still in Greg's arms; a little unnerving. As her eyes centred, they appeared to darken. Throwing her head back she broke Greg's nose. Spinning round she grabbed his arm and tossed him aside.

She growled once more as she turned back to face Suder. As the security guards ran forwards to flatten the two once again, Dhani threw her hands up, subconsciously creating an invisible bubble around her and Suder. In mid-movement everyone stopped. Not one officer in engineering could move, or stop the Chief and the Lieutenant as they began to encircle each other.

Nara tried to move to do something. Before she could realize whether she was running for a phaser or jumping at Dhani, she realized she was frozen. Something creepy. Oh this is defiantly it. She'd rather work with the grumpy Suder than deal with the Twilight Zone of the Night Shift.

Like two tigers stalking each other their eyes locked, their heart beats vibrated through the metal floor and slowly they encircled one another preparing themselves.

The normal etiquette of battle went out of the window; this fight was for blood, for life.

Dhani moved to punch him. Anticipating her attack he blocked with his left fore-arm, and jabbed her in her ribs with his right. But she did not go down, it barely winded her, and still they circled.

It was a strange sensation, that only one thought consumed Suder's thoughts; end this. He wouldn't usually use such a move so soon in a fight, but he did not want this to last long. He began to jump from side to side increasing the flow of blood to his muscles. And then he stopped, slapping his heel down on the floor, sending tremors through the decking, he took two steps forward, raised his foot to hit her between her face and her neck.

But this wasn't the first time Dhani had fought Suder. She knew his moves.

Catching his foot she used it as leverage. Jumping up she kicked him in the head with both feet as she spun in the air over his raised leg.

Suder staggered backwards, he had clearly not expected that. Shaking his head, he regained his composure, as she landed gracefully on the floor.

Quickly Suder dropped to the deck and thrust his leg out, sweeping it across the floor.

Dhani didn't have time to jump, as his legs caught behind her knees she went down, smashing her head on the side of a consol. The broken skin on her forehead began to ooze small droplets of blood, standing up she shook it off, and turned to face Suder once more.

Nara sighed. Pretty much all she could do. Whatever had her stuck was really ticking her off. ~If I had wanted to watch wild animals fight, I would just gone to a Klingon Boar Arena.~

Ethan lunged at Dhani this time, seeing an opportunity to keep her down. As his fist met her cheek she felt it crack, blood flew from her mouth as her head whipped to one side from the impact.

As he moved to strike her again she blocked. Punching him hard in his chest, she felt his ribs crack around her hand. He doubled over. Grabbing hold of her arm, for her hand was lost somewhere in his stomach, he stared up at her, his eyes locking on to hers; his expression of shock etched in her mind. She didn't dwell on his pain for long though. Throwing her head back she head-butted him, their foreheads colliding with a loud thud. She watched as he fell backwards onto a consol with such momentum that the panel shattered as he hit it.

Sparks rained down around him as he pushed himself off the panel and fell in a heap on the floor.

Nara had enough of this. She remembered something. She couldn't speak, but she had her mind. Cernu just taught her how to use her telepathy and moments like this it seemed useful. She focused on Dhani and hoped she knew what she was doing. ~Dhani, what the FRELL are you doing?~

Nara heard her mind-voice echoing back to her as if she were in a tunnel. Dhani was mad. Her wrath soaked her being. Nara caught a glimpse of something. The thing that fed Dhani's anger. Nara closed her eyes and shut the link to Dhani. The memory repressed for so many years, and resurfaced not more than 2 or 3 months ago hit her fresh again. With it, the same reaction to Marks that she before couldn't explain, she felt the same reaction in Dhani to Suder. Except Dhani was well aware of what happened and was out for revenge. Nara held her eyes closed as she didn't think she'd stop Dhani if she could now. She didn't want to watch though. The sounds were enough.

Dhani knelt down next to him, "Are you done?" she questioned in a sultry tone.

Back Post 2381, December

“All for Blood, Part 2 of 2"

(This is set whilst the Galaxy is undergoing the refit, after “All For Blood, Part 1 of 2”)

Lieutenant Commander Ethan Suder – Chief of engineering (written by Dru)

Lieutenant (Jg) Dhanishta Eshe –Engineer

Ensign Naranda Sol Roswell – Engineer

NPC – Thomas Jensen (written by Jeremy Reynolds)

Second lieutenant Greg A. Ward, Starfleet Marine corps (written by Marcus)

Suder pushed himself up slightly and moved his head to face her. His face had already begun to swell slightly, small purple dots mottled his skin as the bruises started to form. He spat out a mouthful of phlegm, "No!" he croaked out.

Grabbing her around her throat he pulled her towards him. Using her as a counter-weight to role himself on to his back, he lifted his legs and planted his feet on her stomach and then catapulted her across the room.

Dhani twisted as she flew threw the air; hitting the wall upside-down, she slid down it and landed on her head. For a moment or two it seemed like her legs were going to stay in the vertical position. Kicking the wall Dhani returned to lie flat on her back. Her vision blurred for a moment or two as she pushed herself up on her elbows and rested her throbbing head against the wall that now harboured an imprint of her body. She could feel her nose dripping and her eyes welling up slightly from the collision. Tugging her sleeve she gathered the excess and wiped her nose with it. The blood flowed freely into the dark fibres.

As he came closer she spied the ladder to the second level. Scrabbling to her feet she sprinted towards it. Grabbing a rung she began to climb it, but he was already beneath her. She tried to kick him away, but he grabbed her foot. With one hand clasped around her ankle he tore her from the ladder and threw her across the room.

Dhani's body cracked as she hit the wall. In her mind she watched herself get up and like a spectator she saw herself charge across the room and exchange more blows with Suder. Block, hit, block, block, hit, hit, hit, block. And then she was back, feeling her jaw shatter as Suder's foot hit her face. She fell to the ground but the adrenalin flowed like Niagara Falls, and she was back on her feet.

As Suder lunged towards her, she held up her hands. He stopped almost as if turned to stone, held by some invisible force. Pushing her hands away from her, she sent Suder crashing into the wall at the other side of the room.

As she stood staring at what she had just done she felt herself rising. Looking down with a bird's eye view perspective she watched as they went for each other again.

Suder grabbed Dhani, one arm around her throat the other behind her head, slowly asphyxiating her. She watched herself as she manoeuvred her shattered jaw and take in a mouthful of Suder's flesh, biting hard. She saw his expression as her teeth punctured his skin. Releasing her, he back handed her across her face and then examined his bleeding arm.

Kick after kick, punch after punch, one broken consol after another broken consol, they kept going, neither one prepared to stop until the other was beaten.

As Dhanis round-house kick landed squarely on Suders temple she turned and sprinted to the ladder once more. Hauling herself up to the second level with Suder hot on her heels, she turned to punch him.

Once again she felt her self pulled from the battle. Watching herself on what looked like a huge oval view screen. Beneath her feet the sand pored into her shoes, she could see main engineering, with its shattered consoles and broken wall panels. Smoke poured from broken vents and blood smeared the decking. She scanned the faces of her fellow officers, all transfixed and motionless, their expressions of shock and horror. She followed their gaze and saw herself and Suder locked in combat on the upper level. They tumbled against the railings, and then over the railings.

Turning away Dhani followed the sand path to the dunes. Crawling into a hiding place she began to brick it up. She could still see herself scratching Suder in mid-air, but bit by bit the image became smaller as Dhani bricked up the entrance to her hovel

As the last brick slotted into place Dhani's broken body hit the floor, her eyes wide open, staring up at the ceiling.

Suder landed on yet another consol his eye lids flittered for a moment before closing.

Nara nearly fell forward as she rushed to Suder and felt his neck. She hit her commbadge again, "Medical to Engineering." She paused a moment and looked around. "And some janitors."

She looked over to Dhani. As the security guards moved, Nara made sure she got to Dhani first. She looked at her eyes in confusion. "Are you actually INSANE?" Nara shook her head. "You're a warrior. But what the heck is the war about?" Nara knew why Dhani felt the need to hurt Suder. But there seemed to be more. She tried to link to her again, but if it were to be seen, it was nothing but black. It was void of anything. It was as if the vacuum of space dwelled in her mind.

Nara was new to the whole mind-reading thing, but this didn't seem right. She wasn't sure what to do. She called out to Dhani in her mind, but no answer. She wanted Medical to hurry.

One of the security crewmen helped Greg to his feet which Greg accepted and the marine walked over to where Dhani and Suder was, not caring about his nose or the fact that it was bleeding. With a critical eye he looked over the two officers and shook his head sadly as he motioned for the two security officers to come to him.

"I want both of them under guard in sickbay. Also call the commanding officer of the ship and inform him of the situation between his officers." Greg said and he walked over to Nara and gently placed a hand on her left shoulder to get her attention.

"Miss, you need to step back, the medics are here." Greg said quietly as a medical team showed up to help Dhani and Suder.

Nara backed away. Definitely the last time she volunteers for the night shift.

The doors to engineering opened up once more as Jiiles walked in. Upon seeing Dhani he dropped his tool kit,

“Dhani!” he shouted running to her side.

Nara watched the man. She was plain irritated and rushed beside the man, "And who the heck are you?"

The bolian didn’t answer just stared on at Dhani.

Greg held a hand up to block Jiiles from going past him and with his free hand he tapped his own comm-badge.

"This is Second Lieutenant Greg Ward to Command, I am requesting a level two security alert on the USS Galaxy's engineering bay. We just had a conflict between two people with enhanced physical abilities fighting each other. As ranking security officer currently on ship, I am requesting that personnel from Starfleet Special Services arrive and evaluate the two personnel. The two people are apparently a lieutenant junior grade who was identified as a "Dhani" and a Lieutenant Commander Ethan Suder, both of the engineering department. Over?" Greg said into the channel. While he was waiting for a reply, he turned to face Nara and though his nose was bleeding still from Dhani's blow, Greg came to attention and said promptly.

"Second lieutenant Greg A. Ward, Starfleet Marine corps. Ma'am, I'm currently acting security head of the Galaxy's marines until Lieutenant A'Akledoria arrives." he said as one of the security officers helped to keep Jiiles back.

~How nice for you.~ Nara thought wondering why he felt the need to identify himself. "They're both out cold. What else is there to secure?"

Jiiles put up his hands to signal his compliance. The security man lessened his grip on him. Jiiles turned to the man who identified himself as Lieutenant Ward,

“Dhanishta.” He said his face contorted in emotional pain, “Her name is Dhanishta Eshe.”

He turned to Nara as a medical team lifted Dhani on to a stretcher,

“What happened?” he asked, tears welling in his eyes as he looked down at the woman he loved. Her face was covered in blood, swollen and bruised. His stomach turned and he felt violently sick as he realised her eyes were wide open.

His hands began to shake and he moved towards her, “Is she…..” he whispered, “dead?” he turned back to Nara and Ward,

“Is she dead?” he shouted his whole body vibrating with shock.

Nara shook her head, "No." She hoped she wasn't lying. "She's hanging on, but..." She wasn't sure how to phrase it.

"I don't think so, sir. Apparently there was some kind of conflict between the two of them." Greg said to Jiiles as he put a comforting hand on the shorter man's shoulder for a second before turning back to Nara.

“The two of them?” Jiiles repeated quietly. He frowned and scanned the room. Engineering was a mess, blood everywhere. They were lucky that they were undergoing a refit… he could have hit himself. How dare he think such thoughts when the woman he loved was lying there broken.

"The reason why they have to be secured is a standard and long standing security issue reaching back to starfleet's first incident with Doctor Airk Soong's augments and cold station twelve, ma'am. Anyone that's listed or shown using anything above what is considered to be the normal for their race which includes the klingons, vulcans, and andorians is to be viewed by special services as a possible augment." Greg said in a rather official tone but then he leaned in to Nara and said quietly out of ear shot of the security and medical teams as well as the other engineers.

"To tell the truth, having to act like I got a stick up my arse isn't the best way to meet new and interesting people, but them's the breaks, yes?" he said quietly before moving back into a full standing position and he turned to the medics. "I want those two to be treated not like their going to be sent directly to the brig but I'm sure that their captain will want to know what happened here." Greg sand in a official tone.

Nara arched at eyebrow at the odd man. "You outrank me. Do whatever you want. With all due respect." She looked back at Jiiles, "You going to be ok?"

Jiiles could feel his own temper rising as he watched the medics take Dhani away, “Who did this to my…” he stopped himself as his body shook, threatening to break down into a fit of tears.

He stared at the floor for a moment before daring to look back at Nara and Ward. And then he saw him, “Chief?” he whispered. Pushing past Nara and the lieutenant he crossed Engineering to where the medics were prising Suder out of a consol.

He stared down at him, his jaw resting on the blood stained deck beneath him.

Nara frowned. She asked no one in particular, "Is it always like this on the night shift or do demons normally come out to torture people, but I'm here on what happens to be their bowling night?"

Greg looked at Nara and smiled at her and nod. "I've seen worse, trust me on this one." Greg said and two marines entered main engineering. "Lieutenant Ward, Commodore Slayton requests your presence in his office to explain why the need for special services sir." the marine wearing the rank insignia of a captain said to which Greg could only nod then turned to face Nara.

"If you will excuse me, paper work calls to me in the form of flag officer." Greg said and then gently took Nara's hand in his, kissed the back of it for a brief second like a gentleman and then followed the two marines out of main engineering.

Jiiles turned back to look at Nara. A stream of tears flowed down his cheeks. It must have been the first time that he had cried in years. A lump caught in his throat as his chin wobbled slightly.

“Dhani was, is,” he corrected himself, “my girlfriend and Ethan is one of my oldest friends.” he informed her, “This isn’t no dammed bowling night.” He said through clenched teeth. He tried to keep his composure but the anger and pain caught him off guard. He finally was with the person that he loved and now the world felt like it had just ended. And he didn’t even have a friend to turn too.

Nara frowned, "I'm sorry. I'm just not sure what happened, and I tend to..." She sighed, "I'm sure she'll be fine. They both will."

Lieutenant Jason stepped out from the shadows. He grabbed the bolians shoulder and gave him a reassuring squeeze. Turning to Nara he patted her arm,

“He didn’t mean it.” He said his face as pail as Nara’s,

“He’s just in shock. Come on big guy,” he said turning back to Jiiles, “let’s get out of here. I’m sure the doctors will let you see her soon.”

Nara rolled her eyes. She wanted to rip the arm out. She didn't need reassuring.

He escorted Jiiles out of engineering and down the hall towards the turbo lift.

Nara sighed and walked back over to her console, wiping it off and looked at whatever damage the two caused. She cursed under her breath and did some of the work from the console. Cutting off power to exposed panels and so forth.

Back Post 2381, December

“Interrogation”

Lieutenant Commander Ethan Suder, Chief of Engineering,

Second Lieutenant Greg Ward, Starfleet Marine Corps

(Written by Dru and Will)

(Set bout three/four days after “All For Blood” whilst the Galaxy is undergoing the refit.)

Ethan sat at the table in the interrogation room. He sighed and rubbed his head.

Second Lieutenant Greg A. Ward, the current acting head of the marines on the Galaxy, entered the room with a PADD. He seemed to be entering something on it. Putting it down on the table in-front of him he then crossed his arms over his chest.

Suder leant back in the chair and studied the man before him.

“In case you are wondering, Mister Suder. My name is Greg Ward, Starfleet Marine Corps and currently the man in charge of security for your little...incident with Miss Eshe. Oh, and before you think about trying anything. There is a full squad of marines outside with phasers on heavy stun. If it seems like I'm becoming "buddy buddy" with you all of a sudden, they get to shoot you with said items. So, don't get any funny ideas.”

Suder took a deep breath, “Why would I want to try anything?” he asked his face devoid of anything but fatigue.

Greg smirked and crossed his arms over his chest. "You see, Mister Suder. I want to know why Miss Eshe attacked you four days ago now. No bullshit or else, I might have to be…persuasive." he commented.

Suder almost chuckled at the persuasive talk.

“And where’s the ‘good cop’?” he asked sarcastically.

Greg shook his head for a second and then looked at Suder again. "I'm both in this instance. You see, you attacked a woman who right now is laying in a coma and I can name five or six people standing right outside that want your head on a platter for that but I'm a fair person. So, I'm going to give you a choice-tell me what the frak happened or I'll do to you what I've done to a lot of the wrong kind of people in the past, and no...that's not a threat." Greg said in a tone devoid of any emotion.

Suder clenched his shoulder blades and then relaxed them. He took a moment or two to reflect on what he was saying. Shaking his head he frowned,

“I really don’t remember much of it.” He stated.

"Well, what would you say if I told you that I didn't believe you, Mister Suder. Let me say this, I don't like you. You are a bad choice of an engineering officer for this ship and Starfleet in general." Greg said looking at Suder dead in the eyes. "Now, I want you to think hard and try to remember or else, I'll be forced to bring in a member of the psionics department." Greg said as he sat down in the chair opposite of Suder.

“I don’t care what you believe.” Ethan replied with nothing but contempt. “Don’t you think this is a little bias?” he asked, “You don’t like me. So you’re obviously not going to believe anything I say. In your eyes I’m already guilty.”

"Actually Mister Suder, I don't care either way. The point is that I have two officers of the Galaxy's engineering department fighting each other, using psionic talents as far as special services can tell. Hence, I must treat you as the hostile party as Miss Eshe is currently in a coma."

“Well aren’t I the lucky one?” Suder commented.

"Yes you are, so mister Suder. I want you to start from the beginning and tell me everything." Greg said as he activated the PADD's recording feature.

Suder sighed, “I was telling the truth I don’t remember much just snippets of the fight. She came into engineering I was talking with Ensign Roswell and we went into my office. We were….. talking…. Then.” He broke off and shifted in his chair, “then she threw me through a window.” He concluded.

Greg leaned back in his chair and looked at Suder with a critical eye. "Sir, according to at least four eye witnesses as well as what I say myself, you seemed to be in full control of your facilities during that fight." Greg said as he worked on the PADD

“Oh and Eshe wasn’t I suppose? The fact that she has been trained by Vulcans and Kilngons escapes your attention does it?” His voice rose as he became more agitated. He hadn’t done anything wrong, it should have been him killing her after what she did.

“She tried to kill me! Do you have that written on that padd of yours?” he half shouted slamming his hands down on the table.

Greg raised an eyebrow as he pressed a button on the padd and set it down on the table. "Allow me to explain something, Mister Suder. Miss Eshe is currently in a coma, the fact that she was put there mostly as a mental reflex of having to defend herself mentally as well as the trauma that you caused to her head. The fact that she's been trained by the Klingons and the Vulcans doesn't matter, what matters is that we have one person in a coma as a direct cause of something that you apparently did. Things are not looking good in mudville for you, mister Suder." Greg said. Suddenly he slammed his hand hard down on the table, not as an attempt to make Suder jump or anything but to prove a point. "And I can also throw a temper tantrum. So I suggest that you conduct yourself better, *Mister* Suder" Greg said as he placed his hand on the table evenly.

Suder glared at him. His jaw set and he took on a serious expression, “*Miss Eshe*,” he started his tone flat, “entered engineering, the exact time I do not recall. She approached me whilst I was in conversation with Ensign Roswell. We proceeded to my office where we talked. She then attacked me. I defended myself. End of story.” He folded his arms and stared numbly at Ward.

"Oh, now you're glaring at me. I'm scared." Greg said in a slightly mocking tone as he entered a few things on the PADD. He then put it on the table in front of him. "Not the end of the story, I'm afraid. The JAG has decided that you've got one too many strikes on your tab, Mister Suder but to what end that brings, I honestly don't know. What I do want to know is that is that your first confrontation with Miss Eshe?" Greg asked while inputting a code into the PADD.

Suder looked down at the table, “No.” he confessed. He sighed and shifted in his chair again.

"You know, when people lie to me, it tends to make me a bit..not happy." Greg said in an honest tone. "So, I'm going to ask again. Have you had any other confrontations with Miss Eshe?"

“Yes.” Suder replied a little confused, didn’t he just say that they had had a confrontation before? “It was a long time ago.” he said, “And no, I didn’t report it.”

"Why didn't you report it, Mister Suder? Is it because you did something that would be considered by many as unlawful?" Greg said, standing up and walking around to behind Suder.

“No!” Suder replied surprised by the question. He followed Ward as he circled behind him. Turning around to face him he frowned, “Just what is it you think I’ve done?” he questioned.

"I don't know, that's why I'm asking. You know what they say don't you?" Greg said as he gave Suder a nasty smile. "Marines do the dying, fleet just does the flying." he said as he continued his circuit around the table and Suder.

Suder didn’t understand. This little man was beginning to irritate him beyond belief. “Look,” Suder started, “I don’t know what it is you think I have done. Charge me with something or let me go. Eshe attacked me. I defended myself. I have been in Sick bay unconscious for three days. It wasn’t pleasant. I’m sorry for Dhani I really am, she was a good engineer and a friend. But will you just stop with the insinuation and get to the point? I have better things to do than sit here trading jibes with you.”

"Alright then, Mister Suder. Enough games." Greg said, his tone changing from that of a respectable person to that of a full investigator. "Mister Suder, I'm charging that you've attempted unlawful actions against Miss Eshe. I don't know what they are or what you've done but after this, I doubt you'll be the chief engineer of this ship anymore. What I believe is that you are the lowest type of creature, lower than the gagh that Klingons eat for food and that's pretty damn low." Greg said in a hard voice. "But if you think that being in sick bay was unpleasant, just remember this. I'm going to be keeping an eye on you and if you so much as step out of line on my watch again...well, I won't be responsible for what happens. That, you can take to the bank." Greg said as he went over to the front of the PADD and picked it up.

“That bullshit!” Suder shouted standing up and squaring up to Ward, “I have done nothing wrong. You can’t charge me with a bias, bigoted, opinion just because *you* have a chip on your shoulder. If you think I have done something wrong *prove* it. Where is your evidence Mr Ward? Where is the ethic of INNOCENT until proven guilty? You wear the uniform but you don’t act like any Starfleet officer I’ve ever met.” Spittle flew from his mouth as he enunciated each word.

"Mister Suder, I'm going to say this once. Get out of my face or you might not like what the response is." Greg said calmly and quietly

Suder swelled slightly as he took a deep breath. He turned and sat down. Taking another deep breath he continued, “Now you can ask me any questions you like and I will answer them truthfully and honestly.” he said in a low voice, his eyes centring on the data padd in the middle of the table, “But don’t you dare accuse me of doing anything based on your perverted opinion.” He added looking Ward right in the eye.

"Mister Suder, I will touch on your thoughts about my wearing of this uniform in a minute. But for now I want you to explain your interactions with Miss Eshe and please, don't leave anything out." Greg said

“Very well.” Suder replied. “I met Eshe in combat. We were both competing in a batleth tournament on LanJep about two years ago.” He glanced up at Ward wondering if this was the sort of stuff he was looking for, but continued any way without approval. “Eshe won the tournament but declared a rematch. During the rematch she ran off, eliminating herself from the competition. I followed her to one of the cargo bays where her sisters ship crashed. I didn’t know who she was until she showed up on the ship several weeks later. She transferred from Earth. She was a little shocked to see me too.” He added. Sighing slightly he rubbed his head and pondered. Sitting forward in his chair he continued,

“I found her one evening in the bar, she was drunk. I escorted her back to her quarters on the way we had a little scuffle, she tried to punch me. Ended up hitting the wall and shattered her hand in the process. I took her back to my quarters and patched her up. She then left. I didn’t see any reason to report that incident. She was drunk and not in control. To be honest I think she has a mental problem. I told her sister so, and she came to visit several months later. Fat lot of good that did though.” He muttered more to himself than Ward.

“Dhani has been in and out of Sick bay since she joined this ship Mr Ward. She is not playing with a full deck. I tried to help her but she didn’t want my help. What else can I do?”

"First off, are you certified psychologist, or is your comment that she's "not playing with a full deck" your own opinion and do you know what brought on that attack in engineering?" Greg asked.

Suder tried not to show his irritation, “No, Sir,” he said, “I am not a psychologist. I am an engineer. I am also a betazoid.” He stated, “So I think my observations of the officers under my command carry a little truth to them.” He replied.

"umm..hmm." Greg said while typing on the padd. "Please answer the question about why Miss Eshe attacked you." Greg said.

Suder took a moment. He could see her in his mind; sitting on the desk before him. Her blond hair curled around her chin. As she smiled her nose wrinkled and the little ridges on her forehead raised. He smiled up at her. He went to speak and then remembered where he was, “No.” his voice came out a barley audible whisper.

Greg crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back. "I sense that's not entirely the truth, but I'm here as an investigator so I'll let it slide..this time. Are you sure, Mister Suder because according to the witnesses she came into engineering on a mission." Greg said.

Suder looked up at him, “A mission?” he questioned.

"Yes, according to the testimony she came into main engineering and went after you specifically. Now, I'm curious as to what you and she talked about that caused your head to go through the window." Greg said

“I don’t remember.” Suder replied. He paused knowing that that wouldn’t satisfy Ward. “She came in, I remember that. We went into my office, but I don’t remember anything much after that.” He replied dejectedly.

"You're just saying that to make me feel special, I don't know if I should feel honoured or insulted. Now let's try this again, what did the two of you talk about?" Greg said, his eyes locked onto Suder's

“I don’t remember dam it!” he shouted across the table.

Ethan could see the fields, the house, the sun setting, the red skies. He could feel the soft breeze still brushing over his skin gently.

“Kay,” he muttered under his breath, “I’m so sorry.” He hung his head as the tears welled. He didn’t want Ward to see him this way, he didn’t want anyone to see him this way. As the vision took over he felt his heart tear in his chest,

“I didn’t know……” he trailed off.

"Didn't know what, Mister Suder?” Greg said in a calm voice and no emotion crossing his face.

Suder didn’t reply, he didn’t even look up at him. In fact he had stopped caring who else was in the room.

He closed his eyes as his hand reached up to meet hers. Her skin was so soft. Feeling that was more relaxing than anything. She slid from the desk and into his arms. Their lips touching. He could feel himself floating in ecstasy as he embraced her. With one arm wrapped around her he lifted her up and on to the desk. Pulling away he looked deep into her eyes. Those eyes he had memorised, every curve of her face, every wrinkle on her nose, every ridge on her forehead, the way her golden hair flowed around her face, all of her. He stroked her face, such smooth skin.

There for one moment he had her. It was beautiful. Overwhelming. Amazing. He looked back up at Ward, a tear slipped silently down his cheek.

“I…” he tried to speak but the words failed him.

The image consumed him. Standing up he turned from Ward and faced the wall. The guilt ate him, it burned inside him threatening to overtake him.

"Mister Suder, is there anything that you wish to say?" Greg said calmly

“No.” Suder said shaking his head. He placed one hand against the wall and leaned heavily on it. He couldn’t escape the memory that overtook his mind.

Rolling from the desk they crashed to the floor locked in a passionate embrace. They moved with each other, like they had never done anything but that. His hands squeezed her rib cage as she moved above him. He shook his head frantically trying to remove the image.

"Perhaps you need a little bit of a reminder about what you've done to Miss Eshe?" Greg said as he used the PADD to activate a wall screen. It showed a list of the injuries that Dhani had.

"Let's see, two almost severed typhonic arteries in her wrists, three broken ribs and two cracked, her jaw broken in two places, a cracked sarcillpa, cracked left forearm, not to mention the fact that she may have minor to major brain damage from your choking her." Greg said, reading off the list. "And that's just the short form."

A smile wider than any Cheshire cat crossed Ethan’s face. He rolled to one side and stroked Kay’s cheek, brushing her hair away from her face. Leaning in to kiss her he stopped, the shock in his face was mirrored in hers.

“Ethan?” Dhani whispered.

The blood drained from Ethan’s face, “Dhani?” he croaked out. He looked around his office searching for Kay. His uniform was strewn across the floor, as was hers. He grabbed his trousers and yanked them on. He couldn’t say anything. Couldn’t even look at her. Grabbing his duty jacket he slipped it on. He turned back and looked at the floor in front of Dhani. He couldn’t understand it, he was with Kay, and…..no! His stomach turned at the thought, not Dhani, no way….. covering his mouth with his hand he left his office.

Suder turned and smashed his fist into the wall, “What I did to her?” he shouted across the room. He pulled his hand free from the hole he had made and shook off the debris,

“What about what *she* did to me?” He began to advance on Ward, his eyes aflame, “Does that matter? Do you even care? Or is it just because that she is a woman you think she is not capable of harming anyone? She violated me!” he screamed.

“There, I said it. Are you happy now?” his voice was shrill and full of rage. He had Ward’s back against the wall.

Greg steepled his fingers together and looked at Suder in a way that a cardassian "investigator" looks at his "subject". He did not look happy but what he did look like was not happy, not happy at all.

"No, I'm not "happy" as you say Mister Suder. I'm actually ashamed that I have to call you a fellow officer of the fleet. You see, I want to know why she attacked you but there are how many different theories running around right now the ship's rumour mill? You cheated on her, you tried to have her transferred off the Galaxy under false pretences and so forth. What I want is the truth, not your emotions, mister Suder." Greg said in a toneless and rather dead sounding voice

Suder was astounded, “Did you not hear what I said?” he questioned. He really didn’t want to have to say it again.

"No, I heard what you said, mister Suder. What I want you to do right now is sit down before I am forced to do you physical harm." Greg said calmly

“You want to beat me, is that it?” Suder screamed at him. “Go right ahead.” He was almost nose to nose with Ward now. “You think that will help? You think that Dhani is some innocent little girl who needs your protection? You think that because she is lying in a coma and I’m not that I’m the bad guy? Oh that’s rich,” he said gesturing emphatically, “She violates me, crawls into *my* mind and rapes *my* thoughts. *Then* she tries to kill me and I’m the bad guy?”

Greg suddenly was in movement before Suder could see him move and Suder was hitting the ground hard and Greg's left knee was across his chest with his right arm in a lock with intense pain on him.

"Please note Mister Suder, I did ask you nicely to sit down did I not?" Greg asked in the same toneless voice that he had been using the last few minutes

Ethan’s voice was muffled as the wind was knocked out of him. He groaned and nodded slightly.

"Now, I didn't want to hurt you but you started screaming at me and so forth. I don't like being violent but please note that in this military, hurting people is my speciality." Greg said calmly.

Greg applied just a little bit more pressure to Suder's arm to ensure that this point was made. "Now if I let you up, do you promise to behave?"

Ethan grinded his teeth and forced a smile, “Yes.” he replied through clenched teeth.

"If you don't feel like smiling, then don't do so, but I want your word that you'll behave, alright?" Greg said

"Yes. Sir!" Suder replied obviously irritated.

Greg released the hold and moved away from Suder. "There, see not all jarheads are uncooperative" Greg said

Suder flashed another false smile and sat down at the desk.

"Would you like me