Starbase Geneva

Posting list in chronological order:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mission: Inalienable Rights, Day Nine
Stardate: 2405.08.27
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Starbase Geneva - Corridor - NPC Lesia Vetaniauk - 11.15)
(Starbase Geneva - Conference Room - 2O/OPS Lt (Jg) Dirk Pitt - Day 9, 1448)
(Starbase Geneva - Conference Room - CO - Captain Aragorn - 15:26)
(Starbase Geneva - Conference Room - 2O/OPS Lt (Jg) Dirk Pitt - 1527)
(Starbase Geneva - Conference Room - 2O/OPS Lt (Jg) Dirk Pitt - 1530)
(Starbase Geneva - Conference Room - SPC TAC/ASC Tianna Lantsa - 15.35) 
(Changed operations officer to security )
(Starbase Geneva - Shuttle Bay one - John's Office - Ensign Wilson, 15:40)
(Starbase Geneva - Ready Room - CO - Captain Aragorn - 16.10)
(Starbase Geneva - CO's Ready Room - CO - Captain Aragorn - 16:39)
(Starbase Geneva - CO's Ready Room - SFI Commander Actun - 16:40)
(Starbase Geneva - Ready Room - CO - Captain Aragorn - 16.57)
(Starbase Geneva - TAC/SC's Office - Walker Isengard - 1710)
(Starbase Geneva - Counsellor's Office - SPC Vicki Sevant - 17.28)
(Starbase Geneva - Shuttle Bay one - CO - Captain Aragorn - 17:30)
(Starbase Geneva - Shuttle Bay one / John's Office - Ensign Wilson - 17:35)
(Starbase Geneva - McNish Quarters - Gregor McNish - 18:45)
(Starbase Geneva - Park Deck - CO - Captain Aragorn - 21.40)
(Starbase Geneva - Ready Room - CO - Captain Aragorn - 23.00)
(Starbase Geneva - Ready Room - CO - Captain Aragorn - 23.45)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mission: Inalienable Rights, Day Ten
Stardate: 2405.08.28
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Starbase Geneva - Sickbay - SPC Louise Palmer - 06.01)
(Starbase Geneva - Ready Room - CO - Captain Aragorn - 06.12)
(Starbase Geneva - Sickbay - CO - Captain Aragorn and SPC Louise Palmer - 
06.13)
(Starbase Geneva - Ready Room - CO - Captain Aragorn - 08.00)
(Starbase Geneva - Ready Room - CO - Captain Aragorn - 08.30)
(USS Nimitz, Bridge, Nimitz CO Commander Susan Rivers, 22:45)
(USS Nimitz, Bridge, Nimitz CO Commander Susan Rivers, 23:45)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mission: Inalienable Rights, Day 11
Mission: Coming Home, Day 1
Stardate: 2405.08.29
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Starbase Geneva - Disembarkation, Nimitz CO Commander Susan Rivers, 0110)
(Starbase Geneva - Admiral's module, Nimitz CO Commander Susan Rivers, 0120)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mission: Inalienable Rights, Day Nine
Stardate: 2405.08.27
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Starbase Geneva - Park Deck - CO - Captain Aragorn - 21.40)

Aragorn looked at the crewman. As he had come closer, he saw the man, if it 
was a man, was a Lohgren, a caninoid. ~I hope he goes away,~ he thought 
sourly, not really in the mood for company.

"Want a sugar cube?" the crewman said.

Aragorn eyed the Lohgren suspiciously.

"A sugar cube?" he asked but then saw thew transparent box with sugar cubes 
in the man's hand.

"No, thanks," Aragorn said gruffly.

"Are you okay?" the Lohgren asked.

Aragorn almost snapped at the man for not leaving him alone but the genuine 
look of compassion in the creature's eyes stopped him.

"Not really," Aragorn answered. " But then can't you tell? How often do you 
see officers sitting under a tree when they should be with their family. 
What is it with women? I mean, she loved me! She even sent me a note to set 
up a date with her in this park. At six it was all honky-dory and at seven 
she suddenly hates me!"

"Ohhhhh..." the Lohgren suddenly said, as Aragorn felt something landing on 
his uniform.

"Boris!  Doris!  That wasn't nice!" he scolded.  "I'm sorry, Mister.  Here 
let me get those stains out."

Placing the sugar cubes down on the ground, he opened his bag and began 
rummaging for that bottle of cleaner.  "Need a rag." he said to himself, as 
he scrounged about in his bag, pulling out various items.  From a ball of 
twine to some shiny paper.  "Here it is.  And here is that cleaner." he 
said triumphantly, as he popped the bottle open. The smell that was 
released made Aragorn sit up.

"Here hold this," he said, as he handed Aragorn the bottle.  "Now hold 
still and I'll get the stain out.  I'm really sorry about this."

Aragorn held the bottle and looked at the label. Not that he really needed 
too. the smell that had left the bottle was enough for Aragorn to recognise 
it as Old Vegan Black, the very strong brewed beer from his homeplanet.

Aragorn sniffed at the top of the bottle.

~And a good year as well,~ he thought to himself in wonder. Then, suddenly 
realising what the Lohgren was about to do, he shot up.

"Hang on! That's good beer! You can't be using that as cleaner liquid!"

(Reply Montro)

"It took my people ten years to brew a beer like this!"

Then suddenly Aragorn fell silent as he remembered how on his homeplanet 
Verjical Fishsoup, an extremely spicy en envigourating local fishsoup, 
sometimes was used as paint stripper or as powerful degreaser, in fact it 
was quite useful in those applications. But Old Vegan Black as cleaner? 
Aragorn involuntarily shuddered.

And still the Lohgren seemed extremely keen to clean Aragorn's uniform with 
the rag and Old Vegan Black.

Aragorn looked at the sleeves of his uniform and saw two rather large white 
spots. With a wistful look, Aragorn put the bottle against the tree and got 
up. He turned round and looked up in the tree and saw two birds sitting there.

"I see," he sighed then took off his shirt. Examining it from all sides, he 
sighed.

"I guess it does need a wash," he said sourly.

"Here, there you go, little man," Aragorn said as he turned and handed the 
shirt over to the Lohgren. The Lohgren did not grab the shirt though as he 
stared at Aragorn's chest, a soft whimpering sound coming from his mouth.

Aragorn absentmindedly scratched the plate that was now his chest. "Oh 
that," he said. " A little welcoming present from my previous command. It's 
not too bad, I guess," he said, " it's a metallic plastic. Gives about the 
flexibility as a bone and skin chest. Well, in fact, it is a LOT better 
than my own bone and flesh, seeing that that was completely crushed."

Aragorn fell silent as suddenly he remembered the look of horror on 
Louise's face when she had first seen it. The empathy, the hurt in her 
eyes. The look had been quite painful for Aragorn and had been one of the 
reasons why he had done his best in rehab, just to show Louise how little 
the replacement had affected him. Yet, there were still nights where Louise 
had touched his chest and feeling metallic plastic rather than skin had 
made her jerk and sit up.

~Well, that's not likely going to happen anymore,~ Aragorn thought with a 
sigh. He sat down again, picking up the bottle.

"Mind if I have a taster?" Aragorn asked the crewman.

(Reply Montro)

(Starbase Geneva - Ready Room - CO - Captain Aragorn - 23.00)

Aragorn sat behind his desk, his shirt softly smelling of Vega. Not knowing 
whether or not Louise had returned to their quarters and not wanting to 
meet her, Aragorn had decided to spend the night in his Ready Room. So he 
had sat there, looking at his screen with unseeing eyes, with a scroll, a 
little note and a small bag of Tikar sticks laying in front of him.

Time and time again would his eyes avert from the screen to the small 
collection on his desk. He had found them before and the promise had made 
him smile. But now the look of them made him weary and sad.

Again Aragorn had picked up the scroll, reading it over and over again.

'There's more than meets the eye,
To have your queries quelled
come to where the answer lies.
The journey's path will be held
upon a tree within the green
go with haste, do not be seen.
Begin your chase at 21.00
you shall not be disappointed.'
Love, L.

Aragorn sighed. He had never known that Louise had been into those silly 
little rhymes. To be honest, Louise had always been quite straightforward 
in her wishes. So she really must have thought that it would please him. 
Aragorn shook his head.  ~It must have been very difficult for her to keep 
this a secret.~

It was so unlike Louise. But then again, the look that she had given him in 
the Admiral's quarters had been so un-Louise like too.

For the past few hours, Aragorn had tried to come to terms with this new 
situation. Yet, he found himself to be able to make any sense of it. For 
Aragorn, who had always found ways to sort something out, this was a new 
and unchartered territory. And he felt completely at a loss.

Sniffing his arm he let the familiar fragrance carry him home and in his 
mind Aragorn saw the valleys and forests of that remote planet in the 
middle of nowhere.

A thought crept into his mind and at first Aragorn dismissed it. It would 
be admitting failure and Aragorn was not ready to do that. But the idea 
returned after every dismissal even stronger in force, until Aragorn could 
not think of anything else.

Finally, after a deep sigh, Aragorn switched on his screen.

"Computer! Open up a link to planet Vega 13, Sol City."

<< Connecting.>>

Then after half a minute of intense waiting.

<< Connection failed. Vega 13, Sol City does not answer. >>

Aragorn sighed.

"Computer! Try again, and keep trying until you can establish a link!"

(Starbase Geneva - Ready Room - CO - Captain Aragorn - 23.45)

=^= What is it?! =^= A snappy female voice suddenly erupted from the comm link.

" It's Aragorn. I want to talk to you."

=^= Aragorn? ARAGORN? You have the nerve to call us up and have them DRAG 
me in front of this infernal machine, only because you WANT to talk to ME? =^=

"Yes, most referent one," Aragorn tried to placate her.

=^= Keep your filthy lies to yourself! Is this the way we raised you? Lying 
and deceiving poor old defenceless women?! You've got a nerve, you ... you 
....you ....OUTLANDER! =^=

"I NEED your help!"

=^= OHHHH, you need my help, do you! You forget us and cast us aside like 
rotten old Tikar sticks and then suddenly you need us? You have one weird 
imagination, boy! =^=

"It's LOUISE!"

Suddenly the voice on the other side changed.

=^= Louise?=^= it sounded weary, =^= Louise? What's wrong with her? HAVE 
YOU BEEN BAD TO HER? =^=

"No, I haven't! I have never treated her bad in all my life!"

=^= Well, that's at least something, I guess. That's the only decent thing 
that you have ever done, you know? Marrying that girl. But what IS wrong 
with her, then? She........She's not hurt, is she?=^=

Aragorn grimaced. Somehow he got a feeling that it wasn't going the way 
that he hoped it would go.

"Uhhhhh, not Physically."

=^= NOT PhysicalLY??! WHAT AN OUTLANDER'S WAY OF SAYING THAT YOU DID HURT 
HER! Aragorn! Shame on you! She's the most dearest and kindest thing in 
this universe! And you HURT her?=^=

"I didn't mean to! In fact I don't even KNOW how I hurt her!"

=^= You DON'T know?? Do you think I'm potty? YES! That's it, isn't it. You 
think I lost all my marbles so you can dish up this kind of rubbish! Well, 
let me tell you this, you ... you .... Outlander! That won't wash with me! 
So you tell me right this minute what you did to this poor girl, or by 
golly, you WILL regret it! =^=

"I didn't do anything!" Aragorn protested. "It was those other women!"

=^= What other women! Will you for once in your life keep those two brain 
cells of yours together and give me a straight answer? =^=

"Well, there are these two women and they seemed to have fallen in love 
with me and now Louise is upset, because she thinks that I have a 
relationship with them."

=^= She's bl**dy well right! How could you, Aragorn! Are you bereft of all 
sense? How could you leave that lovely little girl for two of those ... 
those ... OOOOH, I can't even say the word, so angry am I! You've brought 
shame on us all, with that degenerate behaviour of yours! How could you! =^=

"But I haven't! And I didn't! I never even contemplated having someone else 
than Louise."

=^= Then why did you start fooling around, eh? =^=

"BUT I TOLD YOU I DIDN'T!" Aragorn bellowed, gripped with anger.

=^= Don't you speak to me in that tone of voice! Is this the way we raised 
you? Being disrespectful to poor old defenceless women?! =^=

Aragorn sighed.

"I wasn't disrespectful," he said slowly. "What I am is mistaken. I thought 
that I would be able to get help in my darkest hour. But I am mistaken. I 
am sorry that I have taken so much of your valuable time. Computer, 
discon....."

=^= WAIT! You've got a nerve, you know? Drag me out of my house in the 
middle of the night to talk into this...this...thing! And THEN you complain 
that I am a little GRUMPY? You've changed, Aragorn, you really have. But, 
ok, if it upsets you so, I will be nice to you. Now tell me what is wrong 
between you and Louise. =^=

Aragorn described exactly what had happened that day, the kissing of the 
Admiral, the kiss on his neck and cheek from his FO and the ten minutes he 
spent in a room with a largely undressed Admiral and his FO.

He would have been able to tell his story sooner if not for the constant 
barrage of questions that he had to answer, like the colour of the lipstick 
both women were wearing, how see-through the nighty was and what the colour 
of the sofa in Aragorn's Ready Room was.

But finally he finished the story and was rewarded by a long silence on the 
other end of the line.

After a few minutes, he heard: =^= You've really done it this time, 
Aragorn. Louise worshipped the ground that you walked on, she would have 
done anything that you would desire. How can you screw up such a good 
relation?  Did you know that she spent the six worst months of her life 
when you were recovering her on Vega? Those six months nearly broke her 
spirit and her back, but did she ever complain? DID she? =^=

Aragorn's face grew pale as he remembered that time one Vega when they had 
to work the land to earn a living and how the work on that harsh planet had 
been eating away at her. Aragorn had seen it and had worried, but whenever 
he would start about it, she would quickly change the subject, stating that 
it was her heart's desire to be close to him.

"She never did," he affirmed tonelessly.

=^= And know you tell me that she doesn't trust you anymore? That's bad, 
that is. That is very bad! =^=

"And I don't know why she did it."

=^= You DON'T?? Really, Aragorn, I thought you had more sense that that. 
Isn't it obvious? =^=

"Obvious?"

=^= Yes, obvious! The poor girl is scared stiff! All she ever wanted was to 
be with you. To build that happy little family that she always yearned for. 
Then, after you have recovered from that horrendous accident, which must 
have scared her out of her wits, and she starts to think that despite the 
worries of the recent past her dream future can still come true, this 
happens! Of course she is scared that her dreamworld will fall in shatters 
around her! And she will fight ANYTHING to make sure that the dream 
survives. And she hates you for allowing this danger to your relationship 
to be there.=^=

"But she has nothing to worry about! I would never have betrayed her!"

The woman on the other side snorted.

=^= I guess Louise doesn't see it that way. Have you ever been unfaithful 
or deceitful to her? =^=

"NEVER!......Well, there were a few occasions where I couldn't tell her the 
whole truth. I mean, it would have worried and hurt her!"

A shocked silence developed on the other side. Then after a minute the 
woman's voice sounded distraught.

=^= You FOOL! No wonder she can't trust you anymore! Have you lost all of 
your senses?! You have really done it now! Ohhhh, the poor girl! =^=

"But what can I do?!" Aragorn cried out.

=^= DO? What can you do?? I think you have done enough! Really Aragorn, the 
first rule on Vega has ALWAYS been: Be truthful! No, there is nothing you 
can do. You've screwed up so badly, there is only one thing you can do. =^=

"And that is?" Aragorn asked hopeful.

=^= Hope that she comes to her senses again. Don't think that there is 
anything that you could say or do that would take away the distrust in her. 
Time might. You never will! =^=

"I cannot accept that! I WILL not accept that. There must be something I 
could do!"

=^= Perhaps, perhaps you know her better than I do and there is something 
that you could do. Just don't crowd her. At this time she probably doesn't 
know what to do either. I expect that on the one hand she WANTS to believe 
you but on the other hand something holds her back. Find out what that 
something is, get it out of the way and you might stand a chance. But 
crowding her will only further her resolve. Give her space. Give her space 
and hope for the best. =^=

"That doesn't give me much to go on. But I guess it will have to do. Thank 
you for your assistance."

=^= Ohhh, don't thank me. You know better than that. Help is something that 
is to be shared not sold for gratitude. =^=

"Yes, mother."

(Reply by Montro, any)
(Posted by Adrie Geuken)

****
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mission: Inalienable Rights, Day Ten
Stardate: 2405.08.28
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Starbase Geneva - Sickbay - SPC Louise Palmer - 06.01)

Louise's chin nodded onto her chest and she woke up with a jolt.

It was the fifth time that had happened but she was determined to stay 
awake and with her son. She had refused all offers of a bed, and had fought 
against the emotional exhaustion which threatened to overwhelm her.

Quickly she glanced over at Meh'Nor, who still lay abnormally still.

Sighing, she got up and wandered over to the replicator to get a drink. 
With another sigh, this time  for happier days back on the Spectre when she 
had first met Aragorn, she ordered a cup of green tea. Sipping the fragrant 
drink, she was reminded of Aragorn's Vegan friend, T'Brant. *Her* friend too.

~He would have had something to say about all this~ she thought sadly. 
~He'd probably have knocked our heads together!~

Another sip.

~Or better, thrown those two hussies out of the airlock!~

She sat down again, and resumed her lonely watch.

Suddenly, a movement caught her eye. Meh'Nor's eyelids seemed to flutter. 
She looked closer, then jumped out of her chair, almost spilling the 
remains of her drink.

Running over to the door she flung it open.

"Nurse! Doctor! Somebody! I - I think he's waking up!"

A nurse bustled in, and checked the biosigns, then felt Meh'Nor's pulse. 
She looked at Louise and smiled.

"Yes, he does seem to be coming out of it," she said. Then she looked 
serious again. "Of course, there's still no way of telling whether or not 
he's sustained any permanent damage, not until he's properly awake."

Louise nodded, and swallowed a sudden lump in her throat. She reached 
automatically for her commbadge, which of course she had forgotten wasn't 
there. On encountering just the cloth of her dress, her face and her hand fell.

"Please - you *must* tell Arag - Captain Aragorn IMMEDIATELY!"

The nurse nodded and tapped her commbadge.

"Sickbay to Captain Aragorn! Your son is waking up and your wife wanted you 
to know."


(Starbase Geneva - Ready Room - CO - Captain Aragorn - 06.12)

Red-eyed, Aragorn picked up another PADD. Not that he was able to read them 
but just sitting there had not been helpful. Basically he was still at a 
loss. What should he do? Nothing? Something? Not crowding her, as his 
mother said. But when do you start crowding somebody? Would Louise regard 
him calling her by her name as crowding? Or would she, if he wouldn't, see 
that as him being detached from her?

Aragorn sighed, as he put the PADD away unread and picked up another one.

~What can I do?~ he thought to himself. ~To make her feel like she did 
before? What would make her feel wanted?~

What would show her that there still might be a future for them together?

~And what about Meh'Nor and Jenny? What if she hates me so that she cannot 
bear the thought of me being together with them?~

How could he bear a life without the two stars in his sky?

~Questions, questions, questions.....and no bl**dy answer!~

Aragorn almost jolted when his commbadge beeped. His mental state had lost 
its edge, due to lack of sleep and too much worrying.

=^=Sickbay to Captain Aragorn! Your son is waking up and your wife wanted 
you to know.=^=

Aragorn jumped up and threw the PADD away as he ran for the door. Then as a 
result of a jolt of reasoning, he tapped his commbadge.

"Emergency transport, one to Sickbay!"

(Starbase Geneva - Sickbay - CO - Captain Aragorn and SPC Louise Palmer - 
06.13)

Louise jumped as she heard a familiar voice shout "OUT OF MY WAY!!"

She glanced towards the door, and saw Aragorn burst in.

"SHHHHHH!" the nurse scolded.

Aragorn halted for a second, then after a quick look at the nurse, he 
approached the bed on the opposite side of Louise.

"He's not awake yet," Louise said softly, as if afraid a louder voice would 
somehow damage Meh'Nor. "But the nurse says he ought to be soon."

She looked closely at Aragorn. His jumper was rumpled and smelled vaguely 
of something familiar, something homely, she thought, but she couldn't 
place it for now and somehow it wasn't important. His face was ashen, his 
eyes red and with bags under them that told of a night of wakefulness and 
worry.

~He DOES care~ she thought suddenly, with a flash of hope. ~He DOES care, 
at least about Meh'Nor if not about me!~

And if he cared about Meh'Nor, surely... surely he wouldn't  - he couldn't 
- abandon him?

Aragorn looked up at the bioscreen.

"His pulse is up!" he whispered. "Hey! you! Is that good or bad?" he hissed 
at the nurse.

Two pairs of eyes from opposite sides of the bed turned as one to the 
nurse, both reflecting the same anxiety.

"In this particular case, it just means that he's waking up," the nurse 
replied. "But it's not a bad sign."

Two faces had the same expression of relief as they turned once more to the 
figure on the bed.

Aragorn flicked a glance at Louise's face.

Was he supposed to say something  now? Should he say something now?

Aragorn sighed.

Louise heard the sigh and glanced swiftly at Aragorn before lowering her 
eyes again.

~Should I apologise for saying he didn't care about Meh'Nor?~ she wondered. 
~If only he would say something to me!~

She sighed softly.

Aragorn glanced at Louise.

~Did she sigh? Should I say something to comfort her? I wish there was a 
manual for women!~

He cleared his throat, but somehow the words that he had intended to say 
remained unsaid.

The sound caught Louise's attention and she shot him a look.

~What did he mean by that? I wish there was a manual for men!~

She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it, unable to decide 
what to say.

Seeing the movement of her mouth, Aragorn suddenly got a brainwave. 
~Perhaps something that connects us, yet does not connect us?~

"The Nimitz is returning," he said softly. "She's pretty badly shot up."

Louise stared at him for a moment. ~Why is he........? Common but neutral 
ground?~

"Are Remae and Zephrine OK?" she asked gently, wanting to maintain the 
contact, however tenuous it might be.

"I don't know," Aragorn replied softly, realising that he failed her again. 
He looked up at the screen.

"Now his pulse is down!" he hissed.

He immediately gazed at the nurse, as did Louise.

The nurse, who was beginning to feel like she was in the middle of someone 
else's very confusing dream, gave them both a comforting smile.

"Still not a bad sign. Look, why don't I leave you two alone with him, till 
he wakes up?"

"And leave him while he might need you most? I don't think so!" Aragorn 
exclaimed gruffly.

The nurse put on the face she always used with over-anxious parents.

"If we thought there was anything to worry about," she said firmly, "There 
would be a doctor in here too, and I would not have made the suggestion," 
she added with a slight tinge of indignation that he - a mere layman - 
would question her professionalism.

"Don't give me that! I know you're seriously understaffed. Your boss told me!"

"Aragorn -" interjected Louise gently. "It's OK, however short-staffed they 
are, both doctors and nurses have been looking in to check on Meh'Nor all 
night. Even Dr du Pounte looked in just aft- earlier on," she finished lamely.

"He's my son," he hissed. "I do not want to take ANY chance."

Meh'Nor mumbled something and stirred on the bed. Then he opened his eyes.

"Mummy...." he said.

Aragorn felt a pinch of jealousy.

"...where's Daddy?"

"He's right here, sweetheart, on the other side of the bed. Where else 
would he be?" Louise asked gently.

Meh'Nor smiled weakly as he turned to face Aragorn.

"I feel sick, and my head hurts."

"That will pass, son. You - you fell and hit your head. But the nice people 
in Sickbay fixed you up. I'm glad to see you're better, son. Do what your 
mother and the nice doctor tell you to do, OK? I'll look in to you a bit 
later on."

Aragorn shot Louise a glance, sighed, and straightened his back.

"I'll be back later, kiddo, I promise. A Vegan promise."

Again Aragorn shot Louise a glance as he turned and walked out.

(Reply Louise, Meh'Nor)

(Starbase Geneva - Ready Room - CO - Captain Aragorn - 08.00)

Aragorn, having had an hour of sleep was gulping down a bowl of Verjical 
fishsoup as his doorchime rang. He let the door open and a female 
crewmember walked in.

"Good morning, Captain." the woman said.

"My name is Chrystine Nicklaus and I am the CO's yeoman, which I understand 
is you." she said, as she smiled at him and handed him a PADD.

"You're my what?" Aragorn asked. "Yeoman? I never had a yeoman before? And 
what's this?" He held up the PADD.

"My schedule for today??" he read out with a hint of disgust. "How do you 
know what I want to do today?"

"It's a schedule of what has been planned, Sir."

"Oh, is it? No, can't do that. Nor that. And CERTAINLY not that. CHAIR  a 
meeting for the Geneva Housepersons Society???? Are they NUTS? Hmmm, I 
guess I could do lunch. But THAT's out of the question. And that. AND that!"

"Is there anything I can do for you?" she asked.

Aragorn tossed the PADD back to her.

"Yeah, clear my schedule for the day. I am busy with other things today. 
Oh, yeah, do we have an up to date crew roster?"

The woman supplied him with another PADD.

Aragorn browsed through it, then nodded. "Just as I thought. Thank you."

Aragorn went back to his soup but noticed that the woman hadn't left yet.

"Thank you!" he said with more emphasis. But still she wouldn't move.

"Dismissed?" he tried another tactic.

(reply Chrystine, Any)

(Starbase Geneva - Ready Room - CO - Captain Aragorn - 08.30)

Finally having gotten rid of the woman, Aragorn had sunk back in his chair, 
closing his eyes to think. He knew that his thoughts should be on how he 
should handle his wife but having conversed with her earlier in the day, he 
decided that too much conversation was definitely going to be regarded as 
'crowding' her. So he wanted something else to do.

He suddenly sat up and slapped his commbadge.

"CO to Mr. Pitt, Mr. Isengard, Mr. Rofellian, Mr. Roft and Mr. Wilson to my 
Ready Room, please."

When after 5 minutes all the officers had assembled, Aragorn spoke to them 
from behind his desk.

"Ok, men, I have done some thinking and I think we need to change some 
things around here. Mr. Pitt, I would like you to give up your position as 
OPS and become CEO, at least until we have repaired the Nimitz. I feel that 
we need an experienced man at the helm in Engineering."

Aragorn didn't mention that it was partly to have some counterweight 
against that upstart Commander Lee.

(Reply Dirk)

"You, Mr. Wilson, will have to take over OPS and combine it with your CONN 
duties. I am sure that you are more than able to do so. Of course that 
would also mean that you get a promotion to Ensign senior grade. I take it 
you don't mind that?"

(Reply John)

"As for you, Mr. Roft, I feel we can't wait for a new chief counselor. So 
you will take over as head of the department. Your rank will be increased 
to Ensign senior grade as well."

(Reply Tap)

"And you, Mr. Isengard and Mr. Rofellian, let me first state that I have 
been made aware of all the good work that you have been doing on this base. 
To represent my thanks, I will give you both a field promotion. You, Mr. 
Isengard will be promoted to Lieutenant senior grade, whereas you, Mr. 
Rofellian will be promoted to Lieutenant junior grade. I know that would be 
a double step for you, but with the oncoming problems we are going to face, 
I feel we need as strong a Tactical presence as possible."

(Reply Walker, Vladek)

Aragorn placed four boxes with pips on the desk, one for each of the 
promoted officers.

"Well done, gentlemen. keep up the good work."

(Reply by all of the above and anyone else)
(posted by Adrie and Liz)

****

(USS Nimitz, Bridge, Nimitz CO, Commander Susan Rivers, 2245)

"Open a secure channel to Geneva, Mr Patterson!"

"Channel open, Sir!"

"USS Nimitz to Starbase Geneva. We are one hour away from you. Please 
inform your CO and Admiral Greeley of our estimated arrival time."

=^=Welcome home, Nimitz. Your arrival has been eagerly awaited.=^=

Susan snorted. "Not nearly so eagerly as we've been awaiting it, I can 
assure you.  But thank you, Geneva. Please make arrangements for emergency 
accommodation for as many of the officers and crew as you can. We also have 
a number of crew who will need to be transferred to your Sickbay and rehab 
modules. We will send a full list after this communication."

=^=We'll do our best to help, Commander Rivers. Geneva out.=^=

Susan nodded to Sovak. "Send them the full list. Oh, and you'd better let 
them know about those Romulan corpses and prisoners we have in stasis."

(reply Sovak)

As Sovak set to work, Susan opened a ship-wide hail.

"Now hear this! Now hear this! This is the captain speaking. We will be 
arriving at Geneva in a little less than one hour. Please check with your 
departmental heads for the order of disembarkation. Geneva is a relatively 
small station and we don't want to swamp them."

She paused for a moment before continuing.

"What you have all achieved, both in preventing the Romulans from capturing 
or destroying this vessel, and in bringing her home safely over such a long 
time and against all the odds, is nothing short of miraculous. It has been 
an honour to serve as captain to you all - a crew who have performed far 
beyond the call of duty in so many ways."

In her heart, Susan was certain that Admiral Greeley would certainly want 
to replace her as CO. And even if Greeley hadn't thought of it, Susan was 
pretty sure that Fleet Admiral Rushton would insist on it after the way she 
had spoken to him.

~I guess calling him "an overweight pen-pusher with the brains of a 
rocking-horse" probably wouldn't have gone down that well.~

So if this was to be her last chance to speak to her crew, then she wanted 
them to know that if Starfleet and the Federation chose, for diplomatic 
reasons, to play down the "incident", she personally recognised the 
sacrifices and effort they had all made.

"Thank you, for all you have done for the Nimitz. You have given meaning to 
the sacrifice of our friends and colleagues who gave their lives. Rivers out."

(USS Nimitz, Bridge, Nimitz CO Commander Susan Rivers, 23:45)

As they drew closer to the Starbase, Susan thought wryly that this was 
probably the first time she had looked at a starbase and thought how 
beautiful it was. Certainly it had not been her reaction the last time she 
had seen Geneva, which was only briefly, on her way to rendezvous with the 
Nimitz, a whole other lifetime away. She hadn't even disembarked, she 
remembered now. They had not docked, only paused to allow some transfers.

~odd how adversity colours your perception~ she thought.

"Open a channel to Geneva, Mr Patterson."

A moment later, "Channel open, Sir," he said.

"USS Nimitz to Starbase Geneva. Request docking instructions."

=^=Welcome, Nimitz. Please proceed to Docking Station 2. Commander Rivers, 
you and your First Officer are to report to Admiral Greeley immediately on 
disembarkation. Geneva out.=^=

Susan nodded to the 2O. "Make it so, Mr Patterson."

As Patterson manouevred the Nimitz to her destination, Susan looked at Sovak.

"Once we have seen to the disembarkation procedures, we will go ashore, 
Number One."

(reply Sovak)

Susan smiled mirthlessly. "I can wait an extra hour or so to be sacked," 
she said, in a low tone, only for him to hear. "You will probably have a 
new CO shortly; I rely on you to make him or her welcome, and to smooth 
their transition with the crew."

(reply Sovak)

Susan shrugged. "Let's just call it intuition," she said.

~Sounds better than insubordination~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mission: Inalienable Rights, Day 11
Mission: Coming Home, Day 1
Stardate: 2405.08.29
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Starbase Geneva, Disembarkation, Nimitz CO Commander Susan Rivers, 0110)

"Commander Rivers?"

The Security officer, a lieutenant, approached Susan and Sovak immediately.

"You and Lt Sovak are to report to Admiral Greeley immediately. She's 
waiting for your report."

~Here we go. It was a good career, if a short one~

Susan nodded to the Security officer, feeling almost light-headed now they 
were safely back at Geneva. She could feel her mental shields weaken, but 
for once, she let them. She didn't need them now. She'd done what she set 
out to do. But there was still the Admiral. She held herself straight out 
of habit, and kept a tight grip on her self-control.

"Lead on, Macduff." ~And damned be him that first cries, Hold, enough!~

The Security officer stared at her. Susan looked at him. His eyes had that 
same look that she had shied away from in her own reflection. She felt a 
cold shiver go up her spine, wondering what had put that look there.

(reply Walker)

(Starbase Geneva, Admiral's module, Nimitz CO Commander Susan Rivers, 0120)

"Go right in," the aide said, looking (Susan thought) remarkably chipper 
for the time of night. "Admiral Greeley is expecting you."

Susan and Sovak walked into the Admiral's room, which was very nicely 
furnished. Susan eyed the plush couch with envy. The Nimitz had not been 
the most comfortable of places for the last months.

The Admiral was a much younger-looking woman than she'd expected. Both 
Sovak and Susan came to attention.

"Commander Susan Rivers and Lt Sovak reporting, Sir!"

Susan handed over the PADD containing her report, and waited for the axe to 
fall.

(Reply by Patterson, Sovak, Walker, Greeley, Any Geneva people who want to 
see us arrive, Any)
(Posted by Liz Geuken)

****


****

To be able to learn from mistakes,
One first has to make them.

And boy, can I learn!

Captain Aragorn, CO Geneva Station

AKA
Adrie Geuken

(adrie@geuken.freeserve.co.uk)