ࡱ>    o@ >bjbj p p "oo6  , P        8P:P:P:P:P:P:P$QRT^P     ^P  sP      8P  8P ( 44  P9f 48PP0P4T T4t4;TP        ^P^P  October 2004, Return to Camelot: Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique -inside a runabout on the Flight Deck -Ensign Cynthia Darson -1749) (USS Mystique -Bridge - CO Captain Vanyssa Winters -1750) (USS Mystique - Bridge - Ensign Angeni O. Windsong Trommashere - 1751) (USS Mystique - Dreamland - Richard Ian Lee - 1752) (USS Mystique - Bridge - Ensign Jason Dema - 1753) (USS Mystique - Marine Staging Area - Ensign Jason Dema - 1755) (USS Mystique - Bridge -Ensign (jg) Mason Garrett - 1800) (USS Mystique - outside Engineering - 2nd Lt. Larry Kirkland- 1817) (USS Mystique - Deck 16, Upper Engineering - 1st Lieutenant McKendrick -1820) (USS Mystique -Main Computer Core -CEO, Lt(sg) Sarouk -1827) (USS Mystique -Bridge -CO Captain Vanyssa Winters -1828) (USS Gunnel -CSO Ketal - 2215) (USS Gunnel -CSO Ketal - 2216) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Begin Compile Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique -inside a runabout on the Flight Deck -Ensign Cynthia Darson -1749) Miraculously Garrett was not dead. Darson tapped her combadge a second time as she stood up and limped toward the runabout's small sickbay. "Bridge! Please respond." Her movements were slowed by her own injury. She'd been in Engineering when the troopers started boarding the Mystique and one of them shot her in the hip. She'd awakened inside a Jeffries tube with Ensign Garrett kneeling over her. "Bridge here, who is calling ?" Captain Winters voice answered. Finally, Darson thought to herself. "This is Ensign Cynthia Darson. I'm with Ensign Garrett on a runabout in the Flight Deck. He's been hurt and he's unconcious. I don't know how serious it is yet." "There should be a medical kit towards the back of the runabout," the Captain's voice came back. "Herk do you know better where it is ?" Darson limped to the back and opened the smallcabinet and fumbled through the contents until she came across a medical scanner then returned to Garrett's side. She passed the scanner over his uncouncious form as she answered the captain. "His breathing appears regular." She completed the scan and looked at the readout. "A lot of minor capillaries are ruptured. His whole left side is going to be one big bruise tomorrow if someone doesn't get him fixed up." She wasn't even sure the Captain had heard the last part. There was some background noise on the bridge. "Ensign, he'll be fine for right now. I need you to do a couple of things for me. Hang on a moment." "He needs a medic!" she said, then remembered who she was talking to. Then realized Winters was already issuing orders to her bridge officers. Darson stood up and hobbled toward the main control panel at the front of the runabout retrieving Garrett's weapon and snatching up the Klingon's phaser rifle in passing. The Marine was most definitely dead and she didn't expect the lifeless hulk to suddenly animate and attack when her back was turned. However, leaving the weapon so close to the cadaver somehow made her feel uncomfortable. She'd been able to shoot the trooper due largely to Garrett's daredevil stunts. She wasn't entirely sure what had transpired before she was beamed aboard the runabout, though looking through the front plate she could see the small craft was hovering with it's rear imbedded in the port-side wall of the Flight Deck. When Darson had materialized on the transporter pad, her new-found friend Mason was apparently going hand to hand with a Marine. She had judged him to be a risk-taker but one that had more sense than to press blindly against overwhelming odds. Close combat with a BDU-clad Klingon was hardly an even fight. She shook her head in wonder. Most men were an enigma anyway. She laid the two rifles onto a nearby seat and deposited herself behind the main panel. Leaning back her eyes closed she focused on letting her weariness drain from nerves tested raw. A part of her wanted to cry out in rage at the attackers, at her injury, then at the whole damn universe. She opened her eyes again. "Might as well make myself useful." Carefully she guided the shuttle from the torn wall. Fortunately the runabout didn't go beyond the adjacent corridor. The last thing anyone needed in the middle of all this craziness was a breach in the ship's hull. The small craft slowly wrenched itself from the embrace of torn wall plates. Hopefully the Captain wouldn't be too upset with Garrett about a buckled wall. And a scaffolding torn from its supports, she thought as the mesh of tangled metal slid from the upper hull down the front of the craft. And whatever cargo it landed on. From her view five meters above, she saw pieces of -- something -- skitter across the floor. Not far away, four Marines edged nervously away from the craft apparently not entirely sure what was going on. Too bad they weren't underneath the falling debris was her next thought before the Captain signalled in again. Winter's voice spoke over her combadge. "Ok, Cynthia, beam Mason here, and beam Herk and Hhril to the runabout." "Yes, captain," Darson said. "Energizing." She didn't look around as the two men materialized inside the runabout. She immediately reset the transporter and let the machine whisk Garrett to the bridge in a buzz of shimmering molecules. She then slowed the runabouts forward movement to a halt. Looking up at the towering form of Lt. Hril she stood up as rapidly as her injured hip would allow. "It's all yours sirs," she said, as coolly as she could. "I pulled the ship out of the wall for you. Don't worry about the Klingon." She waved a casual hand at the dead Marine. She was too tired, too stressed and too angry to mask her sarcasm at that moment. "He won't bite. You might turn the inertial dampeners back on too. Oh yes, and there's at least four more troopers out there." She nodded in a random direction to indicate the Flight Deck. "I recommend full phasers on each one of the plasma-brained dirt bags," she murmured painfully while moving the two phaser weapons to the floor then sat down. She closed her eyes, wanting to shut the universe out for awhile. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique -Bridge -CO Captain Vanyssa Winters -1750) =^=Bridge! Please respond.=^= Vanyssa heard as Hhril was leaning over her, telling her things would be ok. Vanyssa wasn't quite sure that she believed him. But the panic in whoever's voice.... that hit Vanyssa's Counsellor instinct. "Bridge here, who is calling ?" =^=This is Ensign Cynthia Darson. I'm with Ensign Garrett on a runabout in the Flight Deck. He's been hurt and he's unconcious. I don't know how serious it is yet.=^= "There should be a medical kit towards the back of the runabout. Herkdo you know better where it is ?" (reply Herk, Darson) =^=His breathing appears regular.=^= Vanyssa listened to the panic attack that the young Engineer was having. "Ensign, he'll be fine for right now. I need you to do a couple of things for me. Hang on a moment." She looked at Hhril. "Hhril, I want you to beam into the computer core and break Sarouk's encryption routine. Jason!" Vanyssa said, turning around and seeing Dema. "Jason, I want you to beam to the marine staging area and take control of the repelling forces. She looked around the Bridge. "Herk, I need you to go and take control of that runabout and coordinate the defenses until Hhril breaks the encryption." ::Jennah where are you??:: Vanyssa pierced through her daughter's shield and saw her and the new ACMO at one of the junctions. " THen I want you to beam that minx of my daughter here, as well as the ACMO with her. You'll also need to find where Ensign Tourana has stashed the Major and get him here as well as that young Ensign." ::Jennah, stay where you are. That's an order.:: Vanyssa sent not taking no for an answer. "We'll keep an open comm system, and I'll make whatever orders I can from here. I'm sure that my bodyguard won't let anything happen to me." She looked around the room at her various officers. She walked over to Jason. "Ensign Dema, I'm counting on you. Marine Yolanda will be your liason." (replies) Vanyssa took a deep breath. "Ok,Cynthia, beam Mason here, and beam Herk and Hhril to the runabout." Vanyssa watched them shimmer away, then when Mason arrived, she fell to her knees beside him, the medical tricorder already out and scanning him. This she knew something about. She felt useful again. She looked over as Major Lee appeared on the Bridge. Vanyssa abandonedMason and hurried over to where Richard Lee was laying on the floor, still bleeding. "Rich, oh my god." She whispered, running her tricorder over him, then injecting him with a local anesthetic while she applied a dermal patch to the worst of the wounds. That would stop the bleeding...but he'd lost so much. Angeni and Jennah appeared a few moments later, and Vanyssa turned to the ACMO. "Doctor, he needs your expertise. He's been quite injured, and has a lot of internal bleeding. I don't know what we can do about it from here, but there has to be something. He can not die." And then Vanyssa noticed something strange about the ACMO's eyes...which weren't focusing on anything. "Her eyes are broken, Mommy." Jennah nearly wailed, now acting her almost thirteen years of age. "She lost the little things that fixed them." Vanyssa nodded, taking a deep break. "Herk, are you there? Do you have access to the medical files of Doctor Trommas? Replicate whatever her eye correction is and get it here." Vanyssa ordered. She would have to give them both commendations. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique - Bridge - Ensign Angeni O. Windsong Trommashere - 1751) Angeni felt her surroundings change pretty much the second they did.She didnt feel as confined as she had originally, and she looked around, trying to use her other senses to pick up what was going on around her. She could smell the pungent odor of blood, but it didnt take anyone with heightened senses to smell it. It just smelled like such a large quantity of it, she couldnt help but let an _expression of sadness wash over her face, before replacing it with a steel _expression. Angeni tried to focus on the Captain, trying to pin her down with her minds eye and make it seem as if she could focus on her, as she nodded. Right away, MaamI promise you, I wont let him die She took her med kit that she had grabbed as she left sick bay, and she cautiously stepped forward, looking at the large, colorless, lumpy blurs on the floor. Her ears perked up at the slight, but gentle squish as she stepped into a puddle of blood, and she knelt down, hoping her patient was nearby. She heard Jennah tell the Captain, her motherwaitthe captain was Jennahs mother?! Angeni looked back in the direction of Jennah and the Captain, then it became apparently obvious. Jennah had the same energy it seemed that radiated from her mum when Angeni had met Vanyssa, and since Jennah knew her way around the spaces in the walls, she had to have intricate knowledge of the ships workingsothe Captains daughter would be it. Angeni turned back to her patient, focusing her mind on her patient. It would take her to use her other senses to do what she needed to do, and she needed to concentrate, and hard. Tonights meditation would have to be much longer than usual. She reached out a hand, and felt the soft flesh of her patient, and she felt to find a hand, and she gave her paitents hand a gentle squeeze. Youll be okayI promise She reached into the med kit, and pulled out a hypospray. She felt around in the kit, remembering the location of the saline vial, and she pulled it out, loading the hypospray. She set it down next to her, and she took out the tricorder, running it over her patients body. She fumbled around for a bit; she couldnt see the readout, so shed have to go with what the Captain had told her a few moments ago. Angeni hit the record button on the tricorder, and set it next to her. She reached in, and grabbed a coagulant and she pondered for a moment. Now was probably not the time to be trying new, just thought of, radical procedures, but she didnt have much time. Sick Bay was probably still swarming with Marines, and it would be a while before she could get the person to the bay. Feeling the persons body, she felt the derma patch, and she took a deep breath. She had an ideait wouldnt help the internal injuries, but, she could pretty much staunch the flow of blood. She reached into her med kit again, and pulled out a dermal regenerator. Setting it down next to her right knee, she devised a system in her mind to help her with her task. ~Quickly nowremove part of the patch, coagulate blood, regenerateremove a bit morefollow the system. Quickly now~ She peeled a piece of the patch back, and she felt blood rise around her fingers. She reached in, and she sprayed the hypospray so that it created a mist around the wound. Almost immediately, the blood stopped from that area, and she regenerated the dermal layers of skin. She bent over her work as if to get a closer view, her long black tresses falling in front of her face. She kept tossing her head every few moments, until she got all of her hair over her shoulders, and she resumed her work. She repeated the process over and over, fixing the wound, only using her sense of touch. She finally finished her process, and she felt the skin. Sure, shed have to take her patient to a bio bed to fix their internal injuries, but, they werent bleeding as much as before, so she was happy.She sat back on her heels, looking in the direction that she last heard the Captains voice. Maammind pointing me in the direction of the next patient? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique - Dreamland - Richard Ian Lee - 1752) Rich looked down at himself and snorted. He was dressed in a giant 7 and a half foot bunny outfit, a big pink rig that had mangy hair, bent ears and a largish ear-ring pierced to through the left ear. This was Hobo-Bunny, he had dressed in it the first day he had shown up on Nimitz during a costume-party. Still, giant hobo-bunnies, with or without the essential brown-bag of booze,had no place in a combat situation. Then again, he didn't appear to be -in- a combat situation. He looked down again; there was no blood-stain at his side either. "I'm either dead, dreaming, or on some hella good drugs." He muttered to himself. He had never seen the afterlife, even after his artificial heart had been installed, so he rather doubted he would be attending the gate of Saint Peter dressed as a drunk Energizer bunny. Still, stranger things had happened. ... Although, at the moment, he couldn't think of any. The suit head was bothering him, so he took it off and put it under his arm. And not half a moment later he was knocked down by a large blast of bright light. He grunted and instinctively rolled, the bunny hat found its way back on. Miraculously, this time, it wasn't out of the suit eyes he was looking out of, but a BDU HUD. There was even a small mic right where his should be. =/=Suit Integrity failure imminent=\= something whispered in his ear, in a sickeningly sweet voice. ~You have GOT to be kidding me.~ Rich thought. A small chuckle issued from his lips anyway as he came back up on his knees. He couldn't see the attacker, but that didn't matter much, he didn't have any weapons. He growled and, out of spite, threw the brown bag of liquor in the general direction of whomever (or whatever) had fired at him. Several seconds later there was a loud flash, a tremendous -BANG-, and the Hobo-bunny found himself flipped end-over-end, only to land like a sack of potatoes a long distance away. "If this is a drug induced dream, I'm going to kick myself when I wake up, then I'm going to kick the bloody nurse that gave me the drugs." He muttered. Things were just to strange for him, he was analyzing a dream... it had to be a dream, didn't it? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique - Bridge - Ensign Jason Dema - 1753) Jason looked at Lee who was beamed to the Bridge, he had a serious wound, even bigger then Jason's, so he decided to sit at his post and wait for his next order. ~They'll take care of me when they're dons with him~ He thought. Then Vanyssa came to him. ~Finally, my turn~ "Ensign Dema, I'm counting on you. Marine Yolanda will be your liason." Jason knew enough, he had to replace Lee, since his was more injured, Jason could still stand, Lee couldn't. Jason stood up and looked at Vanyssa with a little scare in his eyes, after all, this would be his first battle he had to take control of. "Yes Ma'am." (reply Vanyssa if needed) "Ensign Dema to Ensign Darson, beam me to the marine staging area." (reply Darson if needed) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique - Marine Staging Area - Ensign Jason Dema - 1755) Jason materialized in the staging area, giving orders from the moment he got there, while walking for the exit. "Ensign Dema To all security-forces, I'm in command now, let's silence this threat. if you're outnumbered, stall and call for backup." Jason was just finished talking. "Jason." a girl yelled. Jason knew that voice. HE turned around and saw Cassandra and Sarah sitting in a corner. Jason saw them and tapped his combadge. "Ensign Dame to the Captain, requesting to beam Cassandra and Sarah to the bridge, they're in the staging area." (reply Vanyssa) Jason took a first-aid kit and patched his wound and inserted a painkiller, and took a few with him, just in case. He then moved out, acompanied by 3 of his officers. =/\= Ensign Dema to anyone, how's the status in engineering? =/\= (reply any) =/\= We're on our way. =/\= =/\= I need two teams, meet outside engineering ASAP. =/\= immediatly there were 2 responses, saying they would be there. Jason and co. moved on, walking over corpses and pools of blood, the ship has been through havoc since the boarding, but it still wasn't over, and it proved it cause at the end of the hall a group af marines passed by. "TAKE COVER." Jason yelled. All 4 immediatly took cover behind a door, panel or anything that could give cover. "weapons to max, there's to many of em......... Ready? FIRE AT WILL." Abeam of phaserfire lit up the hallway, as marines got struck by powerfull blows, one after the other they fell, their BDU's didn't gave much chance for cover. But an officer was to late to doge, his arm got struck and dropped his phaser. "Fall back." Another officer picked the wounded one up and they moved away from the marines. jason stood ground and kept firing, one left, but to close to be able to stop him. Suddenly, 2 beams came from after him, damaging the BDU. Jason quickly fired also, wich made the BDU fall out of power, leaving the marine trapped in it. He ran to the downed officer, and injected a painkiller. The officer was able to hold a rifle again, so they started back on their way to engineering. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique - Bridge -Ensign (jg) Mason Garrett - 1800) Ensign Garrett felt a familiar tingling sensation then heard futher conversation. The voices were different and there were more of them. Opening his eyes, he tried to orient himself. He was on the bridge. He had been on the runabout. He remembered being hurtled into a wall by a Marine who'd apparently been inside the runabout when he slipped inside and locked the door.The left side of his body was still numbed. For a moment he was afraid he might be paralyzed. Then he moved his arm and the pain shooting through him convinced him he was not. The left side of his head felt like someone had shot him with a phaser point blank. He breathed deeply, calming himself, focusing his mind the way Pata had taught him. Restoring the feeling in his arms would be no problem, a simple matter of allowing the blood to flow normally, but he decided against it. Rather he concentrated on dulling the pain. Better to let his body heal naturally he thought. He knew a great deal about how the Vulcans used their skill of self-healing and had even tried it successfully in the past on small abrasions and cuts but he did not possess the deep intimate connection between mind and body that the Vulcans had mastered millenia ago. He knew a lot about it. He knew enough to hurt himself if he tried and screwed up. Looking around he saw a Marine lying nearby and a dark-haired woman tending his very serious wounds. The captain moved to another wounded man, whom Garrett remembered seeing on the bridge. Dema was the name, he thought. Then he remembered Ensign Darson and the report of a phaser rifle. He remembered hearing that more than once before he blacked out. He rose a sitting position, ignoring the throbbing protests from his cranium, and leaned against something smooth and hard -- a control panel perhaps. Something. At that moment it did not matter. He looked around and did not see Darson. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique - outside Engineering - 2nd Lt. Larry Kirkland- 1817) Larry Kirkland, newly promoted to head of his own squad, stood with acouple of other marines in the office they had fortified as their base of operations while taking over the Mystique. =^=Sickbay is secure.=^= One reported. He looked down at his list and nodded. "Main Engineering has had a fire fight, half of our forces there are down. Including 3 of the 5 CEs." Larry nodded again. Again Expected. =^=We can't hack through this computer lockout, boss. Blow up the core, yes, but not hack through this. Whoever wrote this computer knew what they were doing.=^= =^=We lost forces on Deck 7. Heavy casualties.=^= Another stated. "How heavy, Squad Leader?" =^= Heavy. There are two of us still alive. =^= "Retreat towards Engineering. Stop at the computer core and pick up the CE's..." =^= We're under attack! =^= The female CE's voice shrieked as they heard it change to a gurgle. =^= I surrender. =^= The other one said quickly. The first rule was to stay alive. Larry looked up at the Operation Leader. "We've lost all the CEs to enemy forces Platoons 1 and 3 are completely destroyed. Platoon 2 has half forces. 4 is working their way to the bridge." The Operation Leader did the quick math. "Have we found our Operative this side?" "No Sir." Larry replied. None of them knew who the Operative was supposed to be, other than he would make himself known. "Do we know where the Dian Chang is ?" "No Sir." Larry replied again, seeing this mission as a doomed failure. =^= We have intelligence from the Operative that the Head of the Mystique's marine forces is dead. They've sustained heavy casualties. =^= "How heavy." The Operation Leader demanded. The Mystique was reported to only have a demi-company. But they were on home turf and they had taken down over half of the marines and they were still standing. =^= We estimate 30% loss in either death of sustained injuries. With sickbay secure they can't retreat and be fixed. =^= =^= Reading transporter activity... Looks like they took down most of the forces on the flight deck, Major. =^= Another voice said. Larry looked down at his figures, then back up at the Major. "What are you orders Sir? With the Chang not anywhere around..." Larry sounded uncertain. A talent for numbers and administration didn't exactly make a good marine. "Set a locator for the Chang to find us. Then we'll take engineering. Our orders are to destroy this ship if we can't take control. This is officially a destroy mission, gentleman. Start making damage. I repeat, the Mystique is not recoverable. This is a destroy mission." Larry shivered and began to shift through the profiles for someone with explosives training. They would take heavy casualties retaking Engineering, but it only took 1 man to destroy the ship. Well, and another to watch his back. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique - Deck 16, Upper Engineering - 1st Lieutenant McKendrick -1820) The Lieutenant barred his teeth as he slid away from the panel and leapfrogged down the corridor with another Marine covering him. He was down four CE's of his fifteen, and it was likely more were going to die. That was the nature of the game, there were no rules, and it was played to win. He gestured forward and took aim down the corridor with his marine type-3, the scatter-gun was useless in these tight confines while leapfrogging, he would hit his own men. =/=Be advised, be advised, movement in front of me!=\= McKendrick, universally known simply as 'The Lieutenant', brought up his hand, and then pointed forward again. "Move it!" He was about to leap forward himself when several solid beams filled the corridor. He jumped back into the hatch-way he had been using for cover, but two others weren't nearly fast enough, and fell with half a dozen holes burned through their armor. The Lieutenant heaved himself up, and found himself face-to-face with his Squad XO; one of the beams had neatly cut through the helmet into the right side of his face, at a slightly downward angle since the Marine had been leaning forward. He had died before he had known what had hit him. He snarled as the fire stopped and sounds of rapid movement filled his ears. "Follow them!" =/=I'm down.=\= one of the newest CE's, Havalin, said. The Lieutenant looked back and saw two neat holes blazed through the bulkhead, and the marine laying as best he could with his leg smoking and two neat holes burned through. McKendrick noted that, at least the boy was alive, he would learn from the experience. The Marines leaped to the last position of the enemy CE's, there was an open hatch to the Jefferies tubes. The Lieutenant wasted no time; he dropped his rifles and pulled his Marine side-arm. "CCE is going tunnel-rat!" he announced before jumping in. He landed hard on the passageway, not that it mattered through his armor, and was crawling full speed a second later. He heard sounds behind him; at least one person was following him. Others would be winding their way around in other directions, trying to head off the CE's. The Lieutenant paused as he came to a junction and looked around. The Marine behind him slid up beside and looked around. The CCE used the time to look around and scan, and discovered the fading traces of the Marines below him. "Cover me," he said quietly. =/=Careful Sir, these bucks know what they're about.=\= "They are pups. I'm a mean mother f*cker, I was born that way." McKendrick replied. He took a deep breath and popped his head down; his pistol was stuck out a moment later. He quickly cleared the room, then grabbed a rung and pulled himself down an out. He was back on a main-engineering deck again; he pulled his second side-arm and spread his arms wide, giving full coverage as his partner jumped down beside him. =/=It looks like their doubling back to one of the fusion reactors, Sir.=\= The CE said in line-of-site communication. McKendrick looked around, "Too obvious," he finally said. "They know they're being chased by their own." He looked down both corridors, then started heading off in the opposite direction of the nearest fusion reactor. Their purpose was to either control, or destroy, the ship. They wanted to live long enough to do either, they must know by this point they couldn't take the ship with highly motivated killers on their tail... that left destroying the ship. It was more round-about, but there was another place fairly close they could reach that would just as effectively destroy the ship as snipping the coolant lines to a reactor. He slid one of his sidearms back into its holster as both Marines rushed forward along the sides of the corridor. They no longer had the full squad at their back, leapfrogging was inefficient. Besides, they were exceptionally short on time. =/=Sir, antimatter control?=\= The CCE nodded, and then turned a corner. He ducked on impulse, and good thing too, a solid phaser-beam burned the duranium where his head had been. It was a point of pride to him that he got off two shots as he fell to the deck, they both missed, but his third struck the Marine in the shoulder the same time as his squad-mates took him in the chest. "They are buying time, move!" he bellowed as he took to his feet again. They both bulldozed forth, weapons ready. The Lieutenant popped his head around a corner; right down the corridor was anti-matter control. As per security regulations, the room was sealed tight. A CE could get around it, but not quickly, that was one of the reasons it was mid-to-low on the list of places to target when destroying a ship. Their approach was noted, the enemy CE threw him/her-self to the side and spun. McKendrick just managed to get a shot off before he had to pull back. "We don't have time for this," he muttered as he yanked a grenade from his armor. He looked at his partner, got his attention, then tapped the grenade. He wasn't about to warn anyone listening that he was going to throw a grenade by bellowing 'fire in the hole' He thumbed the power-control so it wouldn't blow a hole into the control room, that wouldn't do since he was trying to save the ship rather then destroy it or give easy-access if the enemy somehow survived. His grenades had 5 second counters. He pulled the pin, then let go of the trigger. "1... 2... 3..." With the quickness trained into him over long years he spun and tossed it around the corner, then tossed himself back from the junction. Seconds later there was a powerful -BOOM- The CCE took a moment, then pulled both of his weapons and popped his head around the corner. The entire area was scorched, and there was a hole in the floor. The enemy CE looked like s/he had been tossed into the corner like a rag doll and left there. He took aim and shot just above the Marine's head. No movement, not even a hint. As the smoke cleared, he got a good look at the last surviving CE and grunted. The armor was slashed, even if its owner wasn't dead, the armor itself wouldn't be moving anytime soon. He walked up under cover, then grabbed hold of the man's armor and yanked him into the middle of the corridor. Now that he was laying out (and it was a he), The Lieutenant could see he was even worse-off then first glance had told him. He knelt down and undid the helmet, and pulled it off. The CE was alive, barely. McKendrick stood up again and looked down, feeling nothing for this wreck of a man. He and his buddies had wanted this ship destroyed, had personally killed several of his comrades. This one wouldn't live to even see a doc, the injuries were to horrible for that, even if one assumed that McKendrick would hurry and give first aid. The man's lips moved, McKendrick's sound enhancement could just make out the words. "...go to hell, traitor bastard." "If you don't like the rules, don't play the f*cking game." The Lieutenant said tonelessly a moment before taking aim with his sidearm and pulling the trigger. He turned away and listened to the reverberations of the enemies BDU hitting the bulkhead, "Enemy CE's neutralized, hunt the rest of these b*stards down, I want their balls double-time." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique - Main Computer Core -CEO, Lt(sg) Sarouk -1827) It had taken a considerable amount of effort, but Sarouk had managed to not only reach but enter the Mystiques main computer core.A squad of Mystique marines were currently outside the core guarding the core against the enemy marines who were still in the area trying to gain access to the core. Sarouk had sealed himself inside, and was currently working at the one direct computer interface on the ship. Only from here was he able to access the ships computer with out having to release the lock out he had implemented. He had been working for 43.567 minuets, accessing various ships systems and entering commands, writing a new program directly into the ships sensors and transporter systems. His keen vulcan hearing could make out the sounds of phaser fire outside in the corridor, indicating that the invading forces were making another attempt at the core. Typing in the last few lines of code, Sarouk activated the program, and watched the ships sensor read out as the program went to work. All the Mystiques transporters went on line, tied in to the ships internal sensors, locked onto a group of invading marines and beamed them to Cargo Bay 3 minus all weapons and armor. Sarouk had already sealed the Cargo Bay so that the enemy forces would be unable to leave once they had been transported. They were trapped and completely unarmed. It took only a matter of minuets for the transporter systems to complete their work in corralling the invading forces into Cargo Bay 3. Once all the invading forces had been transported a force field was erected around the cargo bay further locking them inside. Once Sarouk had confirmed the transports were complete, he accessed the ship wide comm system. "This is Lt. Sarouk. All invading forces have been transported to Cargo Bay 3 and sealed inside. Their weapons and armor neutralized. Security and Marine forces are advised to converge on Cargo Bay 3 and take invading forces into custody. Computer lock out will be lifted in approximately 16.435 seconds. All engineering teams report to main engineering for damage control duty." Closing the channel, Sarouk lifted the computer lock out while looking at a system status report already beginning to assess the battle damage. There were several plasma fires that needed immediate attention. Sarouk rose and started toward Main Engineering. He still had a lot of work to do. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique -Bridge -CO Captain Vanyssa Winters -1828) Vanyssa had gone back to pacing her Bridge after the beaming of Sarah and Cassandra to the Bridge happened. Sarah was put into her Ready Room with Jennah and Cassie and encouraged to keep them there. Angeni was still working on the Major, but he seemed much better, and was apparently going to live. Garrett was doing much better also and was coordinating things with Hhril, who apparently couldn't get to the computer core due to a forcefield around it. Vanyssa, close to breaking, was pacing the floor. She knew that interrupting her crew members was probably the worst thing she could do, unless she had a helpful suggestion. ~What would Devan do? What would Caladryll do ? Hell what would Susan Rivers do?~ Vanyssa wondered to herself. None of the three would take to sitting stuck on the Bridge any better than she was. ~Maybe it's good that none of them are in this situation. Rivers would have blown a gasket.~ But the three of them wouldn't be in this situation. They all had useful knowledge on how a starship worked. Especially Sash and Rivers. Hell, Rivers would just plow through the forcefield and keep going. All three would and had fought to regain a ship. Vanyssa wasn't bad with a phaser after a lot of coaching from both Devan and David, but she just wasn't capable of leading the marines in defense of her ship. That was why she had taken Richard with her here. Richard getting hurt just wasn't in the plans. Vanyssa spared an evil glance at Richard Lee for getting hurt on her shift. She needed him, dammit. It wasn't fair! "This is Lt. Sarouk. All invading forces have been transported toCargo Bay 3 and sealed inside. Their weapons and armor neutralized.Security and Marine forces are advised to converge on Cargo Bay 3 and takeinvading forces into custody. Computer lock out will be lifted inapproximately 16.435 seconds. All engineering teams report to main engineering for damage control duty." Vanyssa collapsed into her command chair, with relief. "Captain WInters to Hhril, meet me in my Ready Room soon. Herk, get up here and work on CONN with Tourana. " (reply Herk and Hhril) Vanyssa hit her comm badge a few seconds later. "Captain Winters to Dema. Jason have your security teams make a sweep through of the ship and make sure they are all rounded up. Station double teams outside the cargo bay and any that are injured, well, we'll send the EMH in to help them." Vanyssa had heard about what these marines had done to her doctors. (reply Dema) "Angeni, we're going to beam you guys to sickbay. After you get Major Lee stabilized, I need you to..." And Vanyssa was very surprised to hear a groan from the Major and see him wake up. Vanyssa did the very unprofessional, but Counsellorish thing of going over to Lee and taking his hand, and looking into his eyes. "Rich, I thought I'd lost you too." She said softly. She was surprised by how intense the feelings were for him. She cared for him a great deal. He was David's best man and best friend as well as partner. Seeing Richard like this was almost like losing David all over again. Vanyssa couldn't quite handle that thought. "Doctor, after you get the Major stabilized and on his way to being healed, I would like you to send the EMH to the CargoBay to look after the marines. I would also like you to wake up the rest of your staff." (reply Doctor Trommas) Vanyssa turned to Sarah Nevada and Mason Garrett. She hit her comm badge again. "Computer, locate Leona Rilley." =^= Leona Rilley is not on board the Mystique. =^= "Well where is she?" Vanyssa demanded, having had it with pretty much everything. =^= Leona Rilley died at 1749 hours. =^= That floored Vanyssa and did cause tears to start. Jennah and Cassie didn't look too happy. Vanyssa turned to her bodyguard. "Find me a marine bodyguard that doesn't look like they are about to collapse and get them here to take my daughter and Miss Dema to their quarters. Arrange to have a round the clock bodyguard kept on them." Vanyssa turned away, going back to deal with the rest of the problems that she had to sort out. (reply) "Ensign Nevada and Ensign Garrett, please stop by sickbay and get patched up then head on down to Engineering and help Sarouk in any way you can. Ensign Garrett, I want you to make sure that everyone down there has been patched up if needed, and that those too injured to work take it easy. There are things that can be done that don't require crawling through ducts. Arrange a duty roster with Lt. Hhril making sure that you take into account time to eat and sleep for the teams. In short, Ensign, you just got a promotion to Administrator. Good luck." And Vanyssa turned away, dismissing them from her mind. They were both extremely capable people. (reply Nevada and Garrett) Vanyssa turned as Hhril and Herk walked onto the Bridge. She walked ahead of Hhril into her Ready Room, and waited a few seconds for the door to slide shut. "You've more than earned the promotion to second Officer, Lt, and right now you are the closest thing that I have to a First Officer on this ship. I'm going to be depending on you a lot in the next day or so. The first thing that I need you to do is to get in contact with Commander Bellinia and Lt. Mias's teams on the planet. I don't think we have enough power to do that, but make that the priority. Tell them to launch and send them our coordinates. If the Dian Chang is still there, tell them to hide on the planet. If not, tell them to get here as soon as they can." Vanyssa paused to think for a moment. " The Dian Chang will be along soon enough and I have a feeling that when they arrive it isn't going to be good. Have Herk find a way to move us further into the nebula, hopefully to hide while the repairs are happening." Vanyssa looked down at the list that wasn't in her hand and sighed. "Pull anyone with any kind of engineering knowledge to help Sarouk. Parts of this ship, according to the computer, are going to have to be gutted and redone. " She rubbed her head like she had a headache. "Work with that assistant of yours to coordinate the duty shifts. Again, so that everyone gets a chance to eat and sleep. Get me lists of injured and dead on both sides, please. As well as time for the injured to return to duty. And warm up the temperature in the cargo bay where the prisoners are being held. Transport in food and basic supplies, please. They will be treated with all the respect that they are due. Make sure that the security and marine staffs know that. Anyone that hurts them will answer to me." She looked away, out at the still stars. The stars were supposed to be flowing by, not still. "We will follow the law, because we are not like them." Then her voice became more businesslike and brisk. "Also arrange a funeral for those fallen... a day after the repairs are completed and we are away from this area of space. When Dr. Mias and Mr. Raynar come back aboard, there is going to be a lot of work for them to do. But for now, work on getting back CONN, Shields and weapons, in that order. I want to be able to run and shield myself. Some of the more damaged decks will need to be evacuated also, shut down life support on those decks and coordinate that." She sighed again. "Any questions?" She said, finishing her long list of orders to her newly promoted second officer but who was really acting like a first. It really was rather a mark of a good starfleet officer to step up and do the work required of them when needed. The good ones always surprised you with what they could do. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Gunnel -CSO Ketal - 2215) Ketal was monitoring the readings but failing miserably to pick up the transponders of Jansen and Keswick. Whatever was shielding them from the sensors of the shuttle was extremely efficient. After a fruitless half hour of retuning and changing configurations he felt someone approaching and looked up to see Dr. Mias had joined him. "Mr. Ketal, perhaps we should fall back to the original plan since the sensors are inadequate for the task." "You mean posing as natives and attempting to infiltrate the group believed responsible for their disappearance Doctor?" Ketal asked "Yes, absolutely!" Ketal considered it for a moment, "It is too dangerous Doctor for you and Ms. Trenor alone as has already been clearly demonstrated before, perhaps however if we did join our forces it would be more appropriate. Mr. Peters and Ms Jones would of course remain with the shuttle. I will ask Counselor Raynar if he will be able to accompany us momentarily." Riven nodded and returned to the OPS console while Ketal spoke to Commander Belinia, afterward he slipped through the aft door to speak to Counselor Raynar as the Commander was returning them to the original landing point. Counselor Raynar looked up as he entered, he had finished treating the nurse and was watching her closely. Ketal got his attention and took him aside. "Counselor, the group will be going into Falais to find Keswick and Jansen, do you need to remain here or will you be available for the mission?" --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Gunnel -CSO Ketal - 2216) After speaking with Counselor Raynar, Ketal returned to the cockpit. "Counselor Raynar will be remaining with the two injured crewmembers to continue the treatment of nurse Jones. Dr. Mias and Ms. Trenor, you will be accompanying myself and Commander Belinia to Falais to search for Keswick and Jansen." (Reply: Alesia Trenor) "We will be leaving momentarily Ms. Trenor. Do you have any suggestions before we go?" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique, Bridge, OPS, Lt (jg)HHril, 1751) (Unknown Runabout, OPS, Lt (jg) HHril, 1757) (U.S.S. Mystique, Engine Room; Ensign (jg) Mason Garrett; 1822) (USS Mystique - Maintenance locker - Ensign Dale Grey - 1823) (USS Mystique- runabout- Conn- Lt. Herkimer 78-1824) (USS Mystique - Main Engineering - Ensign Dale Grey - 1825) (USS Mystique, Bridge, OPS, Lt (jg) HHril, 1828) (USS Mystique- Bridge- Conn- Lt. Herkimer 78-1829) (USS Mystique -Deck 5 - Ensign Dale Grey - 1838) (USS Mystique, Ready Room, CO Captain Vanyssa Winters & Ensign Jason Dema, 1910) (USS Mystique, CargoBay 3, CO Captain Vanyssa Winters & Ensign Jason Dema, Master Sergeant Oo'lish and the enemy MCO - 1915) (USS Mystique, Security Center, CO Captain Vanyssa Winters & Ensign Jason Dema, Master Sergeant Oo'lish and the enemy MCO - 1930) (Planet Raelleus VI, somewhere under the streets of Falais City, Kel-jinn, leader of Beguilers Lair; 2055) (Planet: Raelleus VI - Dungeon of the High lord - Lord High Seneschal Melek Tailar - 21:05) (Planet Raelleus VI, Meeting Hall, somewhere in Falais City; Kel-jinn, leader of Beguilers Lair; 2140 ) (Planet Realleus VI - Meeting Hall -somewhere in Falais City -Killman Melek Tailar- 2141) (Planet Realleus VI - Meeting Hall -somewhere in Falais City -Kel-jinn, leader of Beguiler's Lair- 2142) (Planet Realleus VI - Meeting Hall -somewhere in Falais City -Ensign Travis Keswick- 2143) (USS Gunnel Ships Counselor Telan Raynar 22:19) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Begin compile Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique, Bridge, OPS, Lt (jg)HHril, 1751) "Then we contact someone and send them to fetch her and make certain that she makes it there." stated the OPS man. "Do we know where she is now?" Before the CO could speak, the comm chirped to life and a female voice came through clearly. =/\=Bridge.=/\= it said. The urgency evident in the tone. =/\=Please respond.=/\= It was evidently that urgency that brought Captain Winters out of her state and back to the reality that they were living. "Bridge here," responded a newly composed CO. "Who is calling?" =/\=This is Ensign Cynthia Darson.=/\= came the voice once more, no longer unknown in name at least. =/\=I'm with Ensign Garrett on a runabout in the Flight Deck. He's been hurt and he's unconscious. I don't know how serious it is yet.=/\= "There should be a medical kit towards the back of the runabout." replied the CO. "Herk do you know better where it is ?" "There should be a med-kit in a panel under the pilots seat, Ensign Darson." answered the CONN officer. "Ensign, he'll be fine for right now.I need you to do a couple of things for me. Hang on a moment."The CO turned to address the ch'Rihan."Hhril, I want you to beam into the computer core and break Sarouk's encryption routine." She spun on her heels to face Ensign Demawho had taken up his post atTactical with a rather impressive woundshowing. "Jason!"She said. "Jason, I want you to beam to the marine staging area and take control of the repelling forces.She looked around the Bridge."Herk, I need you to go and take control of that runabout and coordinate the defenses until Hhril breaks the encryption." "We'll keep an open comm system, and I'll make whatever orders I can from here. I'm sure that my bodyguard won't let anything happen to me." She looked around the room at her various officers.She walked over to Jason. "Ensign Dema, I'm counting on you.Marine Yolanda will be your liaison." HHril simply nodded his acknowledgment to the CO. He was certain that under the circumstances that would suffice. Not to mention the fact that her empathic abilities were no doubt working overtime. "Ok, Cynthia, beamMason here, and beam Herk and HHril to the runabout." said the CO. The time to re-take the Mystique was now. HHril stood from his seat and approached the Hermat. A shimmer of light engulfed their bodies and the bridge disappeared from view... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stardate: 2406.10.23 (Unknown Runabout, OPS, Lt (jg) HHril, 1757) Only to be replaced by the interior of the Runabout. "It's all yours sirs," she said. "I pulled the ship out of the wall for you. Don't worry about the Klingon.He won't bite.You might turn the inertial dampeners back on too. Oh yes, and there's at least four more troopers out there.I recommend full phasers on each one of the plasma-brained dirt bags." HHril smiled at the comment from the Ensign and then smiled slightly more due to the snort from Herk. S/he certainly found it to have been amusing... and HHril had to agree. HHril took a seat at the OPS station of the runabout and began to run scans of the Mystique inside and out. What he found was intriguing on some fronts and dreary on others. The Mystique had taken up position inside a nebula that would have completely masked even a none-cloaked vessels power signature. They were well hidden to say the least, but he was not certain where they were exactly. The nebula was masking his scans. The Mystique would have to emerge from the nebula to get a fix on where they were. His display suddenly beeped as his diagnostics had completed. This was the grim news. There had been substantial damage to the ship in a variety of areas. Whole decks would need to be rebuilt. The good news there, however, was that there was no main structural damage, nor were any areas of the ship open to space. They had, so far, made it through relatively unscathed, as far as Marine boarding parties go. ~Must remember to thank Major Lee for all his preparations.~ he thought to himself as he finished up what he could from the Runabout. "Lt. HHril." broke in Herk who had taken hir seat. "Prepare to beam to the computer core." HHril stood up and expected to see the shimmering light he had seen only just before, but nothing happened. "Damn." said the Hermat as s/he pounded her display. "Sorry Lt. there's some kind of lock out, preventing me from transporting you directly to the core.I could transport you to just outside the core, but there's a lot of weapons fire going on there.I wouldn't advise dropping you in there." "Damn." replied HHril, echoing the sentiment of his CONN counterpart. "We'll just have to try to crack it from here." he said and sat back in his seat, ready to contact the CO to report the situation. =/\=Herk, are you there?=/\= came the voice of the CO. =/\=Do you have access to the medical files of Doctor Trommas?Replicate whatever her eye correction is and get it here.=/\= "You want me to replicate a pair of spectacles?" s/he replied. HHril couldn't help but smile. "Your wish is my command Captain," Herk replied."This may take a few with the limited resources on the Runabout." "Captain." said HHril before the channel was closed. "There is some kind of field in place shielding the computer core that we cannot penetrate with a transporter beam. I am unfortunately not able to get to the core, and will attempt to do all that I can from here. HHril out." For the next 20 minutes, HHril attempted to hack into his own ships computer core. The lockout that had been put in place by Sarouk was as difficult to crack as any HHril had encountered during his Tal Shiar training. He was certain that with enough time he would be able to get through, but time was one thing that they were lacking sorely at present. He sat back in his seat and rubbed his eyes as he realized that he was no closer to cracking the code then he had been 20 minutes earlier. ~This would be exceptionally easier from the computer core.~ he thought to himself as he looked out the window of the Runabout at thetroopers below and was surprised to see them disappear from within their BDU armour. Suddenly the Comm channel blipped and a familiar voice came through. =/\=This is Lt. Sarouk.All invading forces have been transported to Cargo Bay 3 and sealed inside.Their weapons and armor neutralized. Security and Marine forces are advised to converge on Cargo Bay 3 and take invading forces into custody.Computer lock out will be lifted in approximately 16.435 seconds.All engineering teams report to main engineering for damage control duty.=/\= HHril sighed a sigh of relief and sat back in his seat. He spun in his chair to face Herk. "Take us down." =/\=Captain Winters to Hhril, meet me in my Ready Room soon. Herk, get up here and work on CONN with Tourana.=/\= "On my way, Captain." replied the two officers in unison and headed out of the Runabout. HHril still carried the phaser from his earlier mission, and was still weary as they made their way through the Mystique to turbolift that would take them to the bridge. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (U.S.S. Mystique, Engine Room; Ensign (jg) Mason Garrett; 1822) "Ensign Nevada and Ensign Garrett, please stop by sickbay and get patched up then head on down to Engineering and help Sarouk in any way you can.Ensign Garrett, I want you to make sure that everyone down there has been patched up if needed, and that those too injured to work take it easy. There are things that can be done that don't require crawling through ducts. Arrange a duty roster with Lt. Hhril making sure that you take into account time to eat and sleep for the teams. In short, Ensign, you just got a promotion to Administrator. Good luck." "Thank-you, Captain," Garrett said, focusing his mind away from his throbbing head. He turned and moved to the turbo-lift, still feeling a little woozy. Being promoted to "Administrator," he found out, meant essentially more PADD-time rearranging everybody's schedule so that at least a skeleton crew would be up and working on any one shift. Early in the task of surveying the personell who were still able to work, Ensign Garrett had a mixture of emotions. He discovered there were fewer fatalities than he'd expected, having witnessed first-hand the sudden and fierce attack on the Engine Room only a short time before. On the other side of that coin, a few of his shipmates had been killed. His own injuries had been "potentially serious if left untreated" according to the nurse who efficiently mended the hairline fracture in his skull and released him fit for work. He handed the completed schedule over to Lt. Sarouk when the Chief Engineer returned to the Engine Room. "We'll have adequate staffing while the injured personell are convolescing over the next day or two," Garrett told him. (reply Sarouk) "A few people will be doing a shift-and-a-half or doubling up but according to sickbay they'll have the bulk of the crew back to work soon." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique - Maintenance locker - Ensign Dale Grey - 1823) Dale and his crew had holed up in a maintenance locker on the engineering deck when they heard the fighting start, fortunately the enemy hadn't had time to complete their sweep of the deck before they were taken down. When the all clear sounded Dale and his crew leaped up and he shouted. "All right guys let's hoof it, I know I heard several explosions at least, we might have one helluva mess to clean up." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique- runabout- Conn- Lt. Herkimer 78-1824) They had been working to investigate the damage to the ship and to the shuttle.The ship didn't look too bad, but the shuttle was going to need a bit of work. =^=Captain Winters to Hhril, meet me in my Ready Room soon. Herk, get up here and work on CONN with Tourana.=^= "On my way Captain," Herk replied. S/he immediately dropped what s/he was doing and headed for the door, gratefull that apparently they had gotten control of the ship again. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique - Main Engineering - Ensign Dale Grey - 1825) They weren't far from main engineering and it didn't take long before the maintenance engineers were outside the doors to main engineering, as they slid to a stop Ensign Grey stepped forward and the doors opened, what he saw made him say, "Oh my gawd!" Men were lying everywhere about the deck it seemed, some in uniforms and others in BDU, those in BDU were full of holes burned in their suitsand unmoving. Many of the engineering crew he saw however were in little better shape, he saw blood and burn marks on them, luckily though most were beginning to stir from their stun induced stupors. He turned on the guys still looking in from the doorway and shouted to get them moving. "Don't just stand there gawking, grab the equipment while I check on the ship's condition!" While the other three ran down the corridor to gather the needed equipment he managed to tear his gaze from the scene and went to the main board then accessed the ship's status. ~I knew it was too good to be true.~ He thought as the telltales from the plasma fire on deck 5 came up. Dale tapped in the command for the dispersal of fire suppressant foam in the area but there was no response from those units. ~ Bloody Hell!~ He tapped his combadge, "Grab the fire suppressors, body suits and breathing gear while you're at it. we've got a hot one and the fire suppression system in the area is off line." =^= Aw hell! I mean aye, aye =^= Said Jacobs from the other end. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique, Bridge, OPS, Lt (jg) HHril, 1828) HHril and Herk stepped off of the turbolift and onto the bridge. The scene had not changed much since they had left, except for the blood stains in the middle of the bridge floor in front of the command chair. Who the blood had belonged to was unknown to them as they had left the bridge before anyone had been beamed to it. Now that the ship was once again under their control, the person was no doubt in sickbay being seen to. HHril and Herk approached the front of the bridge where the Captain was standing. As soon as she saw them motioned for HHril to follow her and she made a B-line for the Ready Room. HHril followed, phaser now holstered and hands behind his back. The door slid shut behind them as they entered and the CO turned to face her OPS officer. "You've more than earned the promotion to second Officer, Lt, and right now you are the closest thing that I have to a First Officer on this ship.I'm going to be depending on you a lot in the nextday or so."An exhausted HHril smiled at the CO not wanting to interrupt her, butshowing his appreciation and thanks for her vote of confidence. "The first thing that I need you to do is to get in contact with Commander Belinia and Lt. Mias's teams on the planet.I don't think we have enough power to do that, but make that the priority.Tell them to launch and send them our coordinates. If the Dian Chang is still there, tell them to hide on the planet. If not, tell them to get here as soon as they can."Vanyssa paused to think for a moment." The Dian Chang will be along soon enough and I have a feeling that when they arrive it isn't going to be good.Have Herk find a way to move us further into the nebula, hopefully to hide while the repairs are happening."Vanyssa looked down at the list that wasn't in her hand and sighed."Pull anyone with any kind of engineering knowledge to help Sarouk.Parts of this ship, according to the computer, are going to have to be gutted and redone. "She rubbed her head like she had a headache."Work with that assistant of yours to coordinate the duty shifts. Again, so that everyone gets a chance to eat and sleep.Get me lists of injured and dead on both sides, please. As well as time for the injured to return to duty. And warm up the temperature in the cargo bay where the prisoners are being held.Transport in food and basic supplies, please.They will be treated with all the respect that they are due. Make sure that the security and marine staffs know that. Anyone that hurts them will answer to me." She turned away from him and looked out the little window her officethrough the murky cloud of the nebula to the stars. "We will follow the law, because we are not like them." There was a change in her voice as she continued."Also arrange a funeral for those fallen... a day after the repairs are completed and we are away from this area of space. When Dr. Mias and Mr. Raynar come back aboard, there is going to be a lot of work for them to do.But for now, work on getting back CONN, Shields and weapons, in that order.I want to be able to run and shield myself. Some of the more damaged decks will need to be evacuated also, shut down life support on those decks and coordinate that." An audible sigh escaped her lips as she paused again. "Any questions?" "No, Sir." replied the proud young officer. "Thank you, Sir. You can count on me." HHril turned and stepped out of the ready room after having been dismissed. His first task was to take a PADD and make a list of all the things the CO had just assigned to him. It was very extensive but very manageable. ~Second officer.~ he thought to himself as he began taking care of the tasks at hand.~Second officer.~ and he smiled to himself as he set to work. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique- Bridge- Conn- Lt. Herkimer 78-1829) Herk followed Hrill onto the birdge. S/he nodded to the captain before heading for the Conn. The cpatain got up and made her way to the the door of her ready room. She and Hrill went in and the door shut. He came up behind Tourna. "What have you got Ensign?" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique -Deck 5 - Ensign Dale Grey - 1838) The four men moved down the corridor slowly, the acrid smoke from the burning superheated gasses were filtered out by their environmental suits and breathing gear but it was still uncomfortably warm inside. they spread out and began closing in on the source of the smoke with agonizing slowness, the smoke was so thick dale could barely see his hand held before his face as he forged ahead. After a while he could barely see what was left of a BDU clad marine near a breached bulkhead from which flames were pouring, the metal of the suit was mostly burned away and little was left of the man or woman inside. They began spraying the foam on the fire and as it died the ship's ventilation system began filtering out the smoke. Dale signaled to one of the men. "Shut down the dispersal valve," he said pointing farther down the corridor to an access hatch. The Erdian nodded and sprinted to it. After a few minutes he called over the com link,=^= Plasma shut off is damaged, I've engaged the manual control. =^= As the shut off engagedthe flames burned down quickly and he pressed toward the bulkhead to make a damage assessment. "What a mess!"He said.He tapped his com link. "This is damage control team five to Chief Engineer Sarouk or OPS Chief HHrill. Plasma fire on deck five has been extinguished but I have some bad news. Decks five through seven are on emergency backup power, main power has been interrupted on deck five. We also have a lot of fused control cables. Iestimate 18 hours at best for full repairs to be completed." (Reply: Sarouk or HHril) "Affirmative. The EPS conduit as well as the plasma conduit for this section is going to have to bereplaced. We'll also have to requisition a lot of control circuitry from storage andwe need it as fast as we can get it sir." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique, Ready Room, CO Captain Vanyssa Winters & Ensign Jason Dema, 1910) Vanyssa was reviewing the reports coming in when she heard a "ding" on her door, then a knock. Looking up, she said, enter. She was somewhat surprised to see Dema there, but not so surprised since she had ordered him to come as soon as his patrol was finished. "Ensign, how went the sweep of the ship?" "All decks have been searched Ma'am, all enemy marines are either dead or in Cargobay 3, we did found some survivors, those in worst condition get priority." "Survivors of our people or the enemy marines?" She asked quietly. "Do you have tallies on the number of dead and still alive? On both sides?" Jason paused for a second. "Not yet, but both sides have heavy casualties, in my opinion, this incident ended just in time." Vanyssa nodded, her eyes wide in sorrow. "They intended to recapture the ship or blow us up. I want to speak with them at some point, soon. We are going to have a little interrogation." And her eyes darkened with the knowledge of the evil Kestra and Vanyssa that she had spent so much time recovering. Her alter-egos certainly knew a lot about many different kinds of torture, and had taught her a lot. She intended to find the answer to some quesitons that had been bothering her for a while. One of which was why now. Jason noticed the look of Vanyssa, he didn't know why, but he felt that something could go wrong if Vanyssa would go in alone with their leader. "Then allow me to acompany you Ma'am, after all, this is a matter of security, though I'm still assistant, with Lee down that makes me highest ranked, available security officer on board, able to conduct an interrogation." Jason tried this following the book, hoping he could keep an eye on Vanyssa during the interrogation. Vanyssa turned an evil eye onto Dema. "Of course I intend to take you. And my bodyguard. Lee would have my head on a platter if I did not. What can you tell me about them, Ensign?" "About the marines? they're prepared to give their life. After the interrogation in the observation lounge, I realised they wouldn't stop untill the Mystique is either destroyed, in their hands, or them dead. we'll have to drag the information out of them if we want it." Vanyssa nodded. "Dragging that out of them will not be a problem, Ensign." She rose and gestured ahead of her. "After you, Mr. Dema." "Don't be to hard on them Captain, remember, we have to show them respect as much as we can, even though they attacked us, they're just pawns in the game of their admiral." "Some of them are." She said softly, getting up. Vanyssa followed him two steps behind. She stopped and looked at her bodyguard. "Master Sergeant, we are going in to speak with some of the prisoners. Would you be so kind as to come with us?" Vanyssa asked, smiling, not waiting for an answer. She was in a definite mood, and it wasn't a pretty one. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique, CargoBay 3, CO Captain Vanyssa Winters & Ensign Jason Dema, Master Sergeant Oo'lish and the enemy MCO - 1915) Vanyssa stood outside the cargoBay with Dema on one side, Oo'lish on the other and a security team at her back. She took a deep breath and motioned for the door to be unlocked. She looked around the CargoBay at the people inside it, most of them freezing, then realized that the place was still very cold. She frowned. "Captain Winters to Ops. Please increase the temperature of CargoBay 3 to normal levels." The Ops officer nodded and the place lost it's chill. The doors clanged shut behind her team. "My name is Captain Vanyssa Winters, I am the CO of the Mystique and I want to know why you decided to attack my ship. Who is your leader?" She asked, her authoritative voice ringing around the cargo bay. Jason stood by, waiting for a response, ready, just in case. There were many sounds, but silence was among them. The Marine CO from. The enemy group looked out, eyes narrowed. He didn't move to step forward, neither did his men single him out. Let the wench come to him, if she could find him, he had no intention of stepping forward. There was going to be hell to pay as it was. Vanyssa frowned. She then turned to her bodyguard. "Master Sergeant, I need to find which of these men is the leader. I could just read them and be done with it. But I am trying to play by the rules I agreed to when I joined Starfleet. Can you help me find their leader?" And with that Vanyssa did smile. Blue eyed and red headed Betazoids were a rarity these days. And Vanyssa knew that she looked nothing like any of the stereotypes that most Betazoids fit. Master Sergeant Oo'lish looked out impassively upon the crowd. They were well covered, but going into the middle of a group of enemy Marine's was not usually a good idea. Then again, she wasn't the average Marine either. She stroked one of the tattoos on her face and nodded. "As you will, Captain." She said quietly. She put one of her arms behind her back as she walked forward, and fingered the handle of her combat-knife. She stepped up to one Marine, then turned away and looked at another. She was looking for a very specific type of man, or woman, one that she could apply the appropriate amount of pressure on. She had plenty of motivation; half of her squad had been wiped out by another CE unit. Of course, that unit no longer existed, Blackops still did. Such as it was with Combat Engineers. The MCO quirked an eyebrow as a heavily tattooed woman stepped into the throng of their ranks. She was either confident, stupid or both. Even courage didn't apply. She kept pausing to look at people before moving on. He recognized the attitude, she was dangerous. Oo'lish finally paused before one woman, her face was dirty and she looked somewhat haggard. She had obvious lines on her face, she wasn't fresh, nor was she old. She was obviously exhausted. "Tell me," Oo'lish said quietly. "Where's your Marine CO?" The woman quirked an eyebrow, then spit on Oo'lish's face. The CE wiped the spittle away with one hand, never closing her eyes, then asked again in the same deceptively quiet tones "Where's your Marine CO?" The woman said nothing, and without any warning at all Oo'lish pulled her knife and grabbed the woman by the hair. She shrieked, but before her (or anyone else) could react, Oo'lish was behind her with one hand still on her hair yanking back hard, and the combat knife against her throat. "Alright," the CE said in a growly tone. "I'm sick to death of this. I'm not in a charitable mood, not after having comrades murdered by men and women I THOUGHT were my brothers! I have no patience for you, or your f*cukups any longer. You are going to tell me who your MCO is, and if that b*stard is still alive... you are going to walk em forward so we can have a little chat. Otherwise, this blonde is going to be short several pints of blood, and Ill start working over another of you!" Lots of growls came from the Marines around her; she snapped her head to the side. "And if you take one more step bucko," she said to one of the Marines moving up behind her, "Ill have your eyeballs for a necklace." The Marine CO sighed, it was a ploy, but he couldn't take the rest. He pushed a couple of his men aside and stepped up next to the woman. He didn't say a word, her gaze rested on him a few moments later. She quirked an eyebrow, "You would be the Commanding Officer, then?" Her smile seemed to say she had been waiting for him. "Good, follow me then." He nodded acquiescence as she started stepping backwards, and the whole time the knife remained steady over Sergeant Jolin's neck. The MCO had studied the Marine units on the Mystique before the invasion; there was only one painted-up woman on the whole ship... a woman in Blackops named Oo'lish. Once they reached the edge of the crowd, he decided to put his memory to the test. "Let her go now, Sergeant Oo'lish." The CE gestured to the back, "Step past me, Sir, and Ill do just that." She had said 'sir', but she had meant 'cur'. The MCO sighed and walked up too this Captain Winters. He paused briefly to make sure the CE let go of his crewman, then turned back when he was sure she had. Again, he said nothing. "Thank you, Master Sergeant. " Vanyssa said, looking the man over standing in front of her. In some ways he was a lot like David, and Rich, in others.... Vanyssa closed her eyes briefly at the thought of David. She missed him so very very much. "Are any of your men hurt?" She asked courteously. Still he said nothing. She sighed. "I would return you to your Captain if I thought it would do any good. But it won't. You will be given over to Admiral LoDona and he will ransom you back to your people. But there are some things I need to know, Sir. I ask you again, is there anything that your men need? Do they need a physician or supplies? I will treat you in accordance with the Regulations concerning Prisoners in Wartime." The officer quirked an eyebrow ever-so-slightly. "Janson, Ricard, H. Lieutenant Colonel, Starfleet Marines." The smile that cracked his lips was somewhat mocking. She was going to have to try far harder then this. She sighed softly. Ask one question, get a totally different answer. And he was rude. She was still a superior officer, even if she was a traitor. She resisted to urge to backhand him for his rudeness. She nodded to Dema and Oo'lish. "Escort him to the security center, please." "Yes Ma'am" Jason turned to the MCO. Before he could be escorted off, he turned on his heel. "Men, if the opportunity presents itself, Resist!!!" He went -OOF- as Oo'lish punched him fully in the gut and grabbed his throat. He grabbed her wrist as she squeezed and pushed him towards the door, not giving him a chance to catch his breath or get his feet under him. All around, security and Marines slapped their phasers up as the enemy Marines began bellowing and moving forward. "That was very naughty," Oo'lish said as she pushed him away, once they had exited the cargo bay. "Very, VERY naughty." Ricardo, known as "Rico", looked daggers as the CE as he rubbed his throat. He had set that scene up, anything to inflame the men under his command to rebel later. Every time he was mishandled, the more they would get angry. He coughed once, "You will never catch me like that again,Sergeant." Oo'lish quirked an eyebrow, "I wouldn't bet on that... Sir. Now, get a move-on." She nodded to the Security Chief. Vanyssa winced as the scene got worse. She was thankful for Oo'lish, but still.... These marines were highly dangerous. Part of Vanyssa knew that, but part of her did not. As soon as her security detail and marines were out of the cargobay, she hit her comm badge. "Transporter Room, transport 6 directly to the security center. The humm of the transporter took them and she opened her eyes in the security center to Janson attempting to beat up her bodyguard. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique, Security Center, CO Captain Vanyssa Winters & Ensign Jason Dema, Master Sergeant Oo'lish and the enemy MCO - 1930) "Enough." Vanyssa said as Oo'lish had the MCO on the ground at her feet. The red headed Betazoid moved back two steps. Her instincts were to get close to him, and help him up. That would only lead to him using her as bait. She and Rich had discussed that once. "Secure him." She said, her voice oddly cold, watching almost detached from the whole procedure. Jason stepped forward, taking over from Oo'lish and cuffing the marine, making sure he wouldn't try anything like that again. He picked him up and sat him in a chair. "He's all yours Ma'am." Vanyssa nodded to Dema. "There is some information that I need to know." She said quietly, dropping her shields. "I can do this one of two ways. I can rip the information out of your mind, or you can answer my questions." Vanyssa prayed that the first was only going to be a bluff.While she knew how to do it from her time spent co-habitating with the evil Kestra Troi, she also didn't quite think that she could do it. It was an act unlike the gentle Vanyssa. ~Easy Captain, only use it as a last resort~ Jason thought, telling her out loud would be a disgrace, and the MCO would laugh at her for being commanded by a mere Ensign For many long moments he ignored the question, systematically testing the bonds. When he was sure he wasn't going to break loose, Rico looked up with a look of disdain on his face and spit again, this time on the Captain. "Janson, Ricardo, H. Lieutenant Colonel, Starfleet Marines." Vanyssa backed off a few paces, and reached up to wipe the spit off her face. "I don't think that I deserved that, Mr. Janson." She said, blinking. Vanyssa then leaned in towards the MCO and gripped his chin, forcing him to look up into her blue eyes. "I need to know why the Mystique was singled out for the search and destroy mission." She said, projecting the words into his head. It was a mild bending of the telepathic moral laws, and hopefully the first step to showing this man that she was mostdefinitely not joking. The MCO ground his teeth together, though the only indication of it was a slight flexing of his jaw. He knew the Captain was a telepath, there were few ways around that though. He had to put her off as long as he could, utterly as long as he could. There were ways to stall a powerful telepath, although nothing was fool-proof, and if they didn't much care, they could crush your mind on the spot. Although, the data-gathering from a crushed mind was limited at best. "Janson, Ricardo, H. Lieutenant Colonel, Starfleet Marines." he said out-loud once, though he thought ~You deserve worse then that, traitor.~ He didn't follow up on that thought however, instead, he began singing to himself as *loud* mentally as he could. He concentrated on his song, he sang it for all he was worth. ~THIS IS THE SONG THAT NEVER ENDS, IT GOES ON AND ON MY FRIENDS, SOME PEOPLE STARTED SINGING IT NOT KNOWING WHAT IT WAS, THEY'LL CONTINUE SINGING IT FOREVER JUST BECAUSE IT IS THE SONG THAT NEVER ENDS...~ Jason had noticed the look on Vanyssa's face, he knew he read his thoughts by that, and he was glad, cause that means she'd knew he was watching her. The interrogation continued, but the marine kept saying the same thing, Name and rank. ~If he says that one more time, I'm going to pull the words out of his mouth~. A grin showed on Jason's face, cause he had a plan that would maybe work. But he let Vanyssa continued first. Vanyssa recoiled at the venomous thought.She slammed up her shields against the song he was singing mentally very very loudly. He must be a latent telepath or empath to have that much volume behind it. She turned to Oo'lish. "Suggestions?" She said, the one word poisonously sweet. She then turned back to Janson and pierced through his song. ::That will be enough of that.:: She said, stopping it. Rico recoiled as his temples exploded in pain, and for several long seconds he remained prone, his eyes crossed behind closed eyelids. Then, slowly... as if it was his last dying wish, he started to mentally sing again. Nothing strong, and the voice was strained and broken, but it was still singing. He didn't spare a thought for anything, though the pain threatened his concentration. He just... kept... singing. The CE, on the other hand, was looking at him thoughtfully. "There are some nasty ways to get information, but they are very dangerous and this one looks like he could be milked for a while. Leave him with me in a locked room for a while; I think I could get him to talk." She smiled sweetly herself; the tattoos on her face curved and made her looks monstrous. "Besides, we need to have a chat, about some of the Marines I knew that he and his killed." Vanyssa nodded. She looked back down at Rico. "I thought I told you to stop that" She said and then proceeded to stop it again. She leaned down close to him. ::You don't want me to leave you alone with my Master Sergeant, do you ? She's scary to me. I would hate to be at her mercy. You see, I'm basically a good person, Rico. But there are things that I need to know, and one of them is why you've singled out my ship. It hurts me to have to do this to another person wearing the same uniform I did, and who swore the same oaths I've sworn.:: She then finished out loud. "So, what isyour choice, Rico? Will you talk to me or will you talk to Oo'lish?" Rico was doing all he could to hold onto consciousness, fighting the blackness tooth-and-nail. "Janson... Ricardo, H...............Lieutenant Colonel," he broke off, unable to continue speaking for the moment. He couldn't concentrate on a song either, his mind was too muddled. Instead, he began counting slowly. ~1...2....3...4........5...6...7.............8~ Jason knew at this point Vanyssa wasn't following the book anymore. He saw the marine sitting there, the pain could be read from his face, but that sentence did it. "Captain, " He said, "allow me." Vanyssa glared at Dema. "By all means, Ensign." She said, taking a step back and leaning against the wall. Vanyssa eased up on the hold on Rico's mind, before he fell unconscious. "You were telling me, Master Sergeant about the various techniques you could use to elicit the required information ?" Vanyssa asked with a smile. Jason stepped forward with a big sarcastic smile on his face. "So, hard talker are we, well unlike many other officers," His face turned very serious. "I'm not a nice one. I'm your last chance, before the Captain will search your brain. But instead of working on you, I'll work on your colleagues." Jason tapped his badge. =/\= Ensign Dema to Ops. start lowering the temperature in cargobay 3 with 1 degree every minute, and put life-support on a minimum until me, or any higher officer says otherwise =/\=. "It's up to you, you're already missing in action... don't make it killed in action." Vanyssa shivered, feeling that it was wrong to do this to a large group of prisoners. It was very very wrong.The other part of Vanyssa, the part that was growing larger and harder felt that the ends justifiedthe means.... And they needed this information. It was then that Vanyssa picked up a hint of a name...Kat.... and her eyes narrowed. Vanyssa's youngest daughter was named Kat, and Vanyssa had left them on Betazed. "Who is Kat?" Vanyssa asked softly. "Is she your sweetie? What will she think when she hears that you are missing?" Rico said nothing, he couldn't count very well, his head felt like it was going to pop off. He had paid very little attention anyway to what was being said, the outside world simply didn't matter to him at the moment. He prioritized himself, as best he could, running through what he could and couldn't say if he had to talk at all. Kat, Plans, Ship, Corps... those four things were simply not to be mentioned, the Captain would surely kill everyone out of spite if he let loose what he knew. With a shudder he went back to counting, doing his best to ignore all outside influences. ~1, 2, 3, 4... ~ Vanyssa frowned listening to the pain in the MCO's head. "Dema, he can't listen to you. His head hurts too much. I pushed him too far." She sighed and turned to Oo'lish. "You mentioned techniques to make him talk." And she kept one part of her mind tuned in to make sure that Rico wasn't listening. "How long would it take for him to tell us everything he knows?" Vanyssa spun around catching an image of her daughter briefly from the marine. Part of her head began to throb, this MCO knew something about her daughter. She wanted to go and beat it out of him. She wanted to shred his brain for the information. Instead she took a deep breath and turned to Oo'lish. "Your turn." She said cooly. "And find out what he knows about my daughter. I just caught a..flash... of her in his mind." "Captain Winters to Ops. Stop drop in temperature of Cargo Bay 3, but leave it where it is." Vanyssa was not inclined to be charitable any longer. Ops replied in the affirmative. Oo'lish smiled gently, "Give me some time with him Captain, we'll see."She tapped her badge, "Sergeant Oo'lish to anyone in Blackops, bring me my -Special- black bag, if you would." Her earpiece buzzed. Jason decided to let Oo'lish go her way, and would try to get Vanyssa out for a while. He stepped towards her and laid his hand on her shoulder. "Captain, care to take a walk, so Oo'lish can go her way for a while. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (Planet Raelleus VI, somewhere under the streets of Falais City, Kel-jinn, leader of Beguilers Lair; 2055) Kel-jinn awoke and sat up in his bed, answering the mental call sent to him by his First Killman,Tailar. The room was dark and cool because the embers glowing on great hearth that dominated the center of his "bedroom" had waned. He reached out with his mind and moved some old parchment, small sticks then a fresh log onto the grid, displaced portions of air to one side to create a breeze. Within moments, the burning paper was kindling the fire anew. He moved to the large oval shaped mirror set against one wall. Of all the opulent furnishings and decor of his room he loved this one the most. Two gold lizardine figures decorated either side, the six taloned hands of each seeming to grasp the rim of the glass. A bird-like animal cooed from its perch beside the mirror -- a beguiler, the fowl which inspired the name of Kel-jinn's lair. Kel-jinn was leader of Beguilers Lair, the largest of the thirteen lairs in the winding tunnels and corridors under the city proper. Centuries before the labrythian complex had housed the cities denizens, during a time when it was safest to live underground -- a time when Falais' kingdom extended for many days journey in all directions, before the first Federation aliens came and brought the mysterious destroyers with them. "Come in," he called to Tailar, who was approaching his chamber door by that time. The tall man entered. "I sense good news," said Kel-jinn, turning to observe the barbed dagger in the belt of his best raider. Both were spattered with the blood of their enemies. Tailar nodded with a grim smile. "The leader of Gelslith Fang Lair is dead." "And the bodies of the city guards." "Placed so they will be found as instructed. And I placed one in a somewhat more secretive place a place they will be found," he added the last quickly seeing his master's visage darken a shade. "They?" "Yes Master Kel-jinn. I took the liberty of using a young Gelslith woman, the leaders daughter I believe, and arranged the bodies so it appeared they killed each other while the guard was trying to rape her." Kel-jinn's brows rose in surprise and approval."Well done, old friend." "The intent is to enrage all the lairmen against the city guards is it not." "And you and your raiders have done an excellent job. Once the remaining Lairs unite under me we will be the power not only under the city but throughout as well. " "Too bad we don't have a body of a Federation alien," Tailar said. "The prince would not be unhappy if we turned the lairmen against the outworlders." "We may have that opportunity. The prince wants us to interrogate his two prisoners." Kel-jinn knew his killman would believe the lie. These Federation men could be helpful to their cause. Tailar furrowed his brow and growled softly. "It's not enough that we captured them for him. No doubt he wants us to torture and kill them as well. But to what end." "To glean knowledge from them before they die. They know many things we do not. Knowledge is the map that shows the way to power." "And that pompous fool, Prince Hanaldine, thinks himself secure in his surface stronghold," Tailar sneered in derision, inclining his eyes to gaze at the stone ceiling. "He is not so much a fool," Kel-jinn thought. Tailar was an excellent Killman and a crafty warrior but he did not have the subtlety of mind that his master had nor the Prince -- and the Killman's master knew it. "He simply is not aware of the extent of my influence down here. His mind is strong but I have spent year's persuading him the lairmen are very divisive renegades and the Lair Leaders are self-serving." "Not too far removed from truth." Kel-jinn ignored the implication which seemed lost on his rather oafish second man. "A half-truth is sometimes the most effective lie, my friend. Take a few of your raiders and retrieve the aliens from their dungeon cell and take them to my Meeting Hall." Tailar nodded. "I'll return with them master." He turned and left. Kel-jinn turned back to his mirror. His beguiler chortled from its perch. Kel-jinn extended a hand to his pet and rubbed the soft tuft of fur under its mandible. "Are you hungry pet?" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (Planet: Raelleus VI - Dungeon of the High lord - Lord High Seneschal Melek Tailar - 21:05) After speaking with the heathen beings Melek motioned for the accompanying guard to lead them out which they did efficiently. Two more guards fell into step behind the group as they exited the cell and began moving down the corridor that was lit by oil lamps burning upon the walls. The guatds were armed with crossbows already loaded and cocked as well as carring swords and daggers and Melek moved to walk behind the two infidels; confident that his life was properly guarded. Also he himself was not unarmed. The group passed many more cells in this dank hall in which was the smell of unwashed bodies and foulness, this was not a place Melek enjoyed visiting and he wondered why his lord was so solicitous of these aliens. His robes swirled about him as they turned a corner and came to the foot of a flight of stone steps. "Do not try any foolishness as we leave the dungeons," he warned the two. "There are many more guards stationed along the way and even if you escaped this group you would be hunted down and destroyed." (Reply: Jansen, Keswick) "My lord wishes to make an exchange, have no fear you will be properly taken care of. I can say no more of the matter." (Reply: Any) They started up the steps and as they ascended the air grew fresher until they came to a small anteroom where two more guards with cocked crossbows awaited who were attentively watching the stairs. Telek motioned for them to lead the way and one opened the doorthen they stepped through and awaited them outside. "Hurry, our lord is not patient." Telek said as his charges paused uncertainly before stepping into the corridor outside. "He is expecting our arrival, do not keep him waiting." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Planet Raelleus VI, Meeting Hall, somewhere in Falais City; Kel-jinn, leader of Beguilers Lair; 2140 ) Kel-jinn, seated in his meeting hall, gazed at the two men standing to either side of his large throne. The chamber's decor was Spartan at best. A fire burned bright in the large fireplace set into the back wall facing the main entrance. Certain very ugly interrogation devices were placed around the room to encourage cooperation during meetings such as was about to take place. The lair leader "reached" beyond the thick wooden door with his mind absorbing as much information as he could about the Federation aliens as they drew closer. He was surprised by the raw power he sensed. Could they be so powerful. No. Only one of them. There was great hostility in the other. He didn't probe deeper, fearing his efforts might be perceived. He felt uneasy at this "one's" strength of mind, unsure how it would compare to his own. He would have to be cautious. The door opened and Tailar stepped inside with his two prisoners. Physically, they were small. Kel-jinn eyed them a moment as Tailar bowed to him then acknowledged his killman's obeisance. Turning his attention back to the aliens, Kel-jinn spoke with an even and ominous tone. "You do not belong here among our people. That much is obvious. Why are you here?" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (Planet Realleus VI - Meeting Hall -somewhere in Falais City -Killman Melek Tailar- 2141) Melek stopped inside the door of the macabre chamber and bowed to Kel-jinn as the two out worlders stepped forward. After his leader noddedhis acceptance of his obescience he stood straight once again and gave the two a slight push to move them forward toward the seat where his lord was perched. The fire gave off sufficient light in the chamber but threw off garish shadows from the torture devices arranged strategically throughout the room. An iron maiden wasopen and showing the wicked spikes set thickly in its interior on the opposite wall just inside the line of sight as one looked at thethrone upon which Kel-jinn was sitting; it appeared as though dried blood still stained the apparatus because of the flickering firelight. "You do not belong here among our people. That much is obvious. Why are you here?" (Reply: Jansen and Keswick) The Killman watched the reaction of the aliens from two paces behind them, his hand was on the long, curved dagger in the sheath beneath his robe; prepared for action if necessary. The smaller one who called himself 'Pilot?' was nervously eying the torture implements as he considered his response butMelek could sense hostility from the larger one, he appeared tense and ready to do battle. Melek grinned at the thought of the large one causing trouble, he would be cut down quickly by the crossbowmen and Melek's own dagger. Melek sent out a mental call to the other guards to watch this one closely. The other however could perhaps be pushed subtly. "Perhaps my Lord" he crooned, "they need to be persuaded to be cooperative." The blade made a chilling sound as it slid slowly from the sheath. he pulled it completely from beneath his robe and smiled at the pilot who was wide-eyed at itsruby encrusted hilt and jagged twelve inch length. Every three inches on the blade was a concave edge that give it a horrifying ability to cause gaping wounds. (Reply: Kel-jinn) "Yes my lord," he said. The Killman smiled thinly at his lord's words, the delay meant little in the grand scheme of life, he planned before the cycle of his had come full circle to take out his lust for blood and torment upon these two. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (Planet Realleus VI - Meeting Hall -somewhere in Falais City -Kel-jinn, leader of Beguiler's Lair- 2142) Melek stopped inside the door of the macabre chamber and bowed to Kel-jinn as the two out worlders stepped forward. After his leader noddedhis acceptance of his obescience he stood straight once again and gave the two a slight push to move them forward toward the seat where his lord was perched. The fire gave off sufficient light in the chamber but threw off garish shadows from the torture devices arranged strategically throughout the room. An iron maiden wasopen and showing the wicked spikes set thickly in its interior on the opposite wall just inside the line of sight as one looked at thethrone upon which Kel-jinn was sitting; it appeared as though dried blood still stained the apparatus because of the flickering firelight. "You do not belong here among our people. That much is obvious. Why are you here?" (Reply: Jansen and Keswick) The Killman watched the reaction of the aliens from two paces behind them, his hand was on the long, curved dagger in the sheath beneath his robe; prepared for action if necessary. The smaller one who called himself 'Pilot?' was nervously eying the torture implements as he considered his response butMelek could sense hostility from the larger one, he appeared tense and ready to do battle. Melek grinned at the thought of the large one causing trouble, he would be cut down quickly by the crossbowmen and Melek's own dagger. Melek sent out a mental call to the other guards to watch this one closely. The other however could perhaps be pushed subtly. "Perhaps my Lord" he crooned, "they need to be persuaded to be cooperative." The blade made a chilling sound as it slid slowly from the sheath. he pulled it completely from beneath his robe and smiled at the pilot who was wide-eyed at itsruby encrusted hilt and jagged twelve inch length. Every three inches on the blade was a concave edge that give it a horrifying ability to cause gaping wounds. Kel-jinn lifted a hand. "Hold, my friend," he said smoothly. "Give them time to reconsider. They are acting with appropriate caution." "Yes my lord," he said. The Killman smiled thinly at his lord's words, the delay meant little in the grand scheme of life, he planned before the cycle of his had come full circle to take out his lust for blood and torment upon these two. Kel-jinn leaned forward in his broad chair and spoke solemnly to the Keswick and Jansen. "We may have a common enemy in Prince Hanaldine and a common lineage inasmuch that one of my ancestors was of your Federation -- one of the original visitors who came to our world so many, many years ago." He paused a moment. "The lairmen who dwell beneath the city know more about you than you realize. Some of the lairmen are of the "pure breed.'" He spat the last words, visciously. "Many of us are hybrids of your people and native Raelleans -- the progeny of violence for the most part, I have no doubt. But all of us who dwell down below have rejected the powers above. So we are outcasts. Some of us know how to gain favor with the Prince and use it to advantage. I can use it to your advantage as well as ours, if your mighty Federation is willing to aid a lowly race born from its own people." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Planet Realleus VI - Meeting Hall -somewhere in Falais City -Ensign Travis Keswick- 2143) "You do not belong here among our people. That much is obvious. Why are you here?" Sead Kel-jinn "We are her to learn about your culture and how you live and interact witheach other that is all. Travis sead looking around to find a means of escape. Travis glanced at all the guards and all of the devise spread out throw out the room. the smell of blood and flesh filled the air. Kel-jinn leaned forward in his broad chair and spoke solemnly to the Keswick and Jansen. "We may have a common enemy in Prince Hanaldine and a common lineage inasmuch that one of my ancestors was of your Federation -- one of the original visitors who came to our world so many, many years ago." He paused a moment. "The lairmen who dwell beneath the city know more about you than you realize. Some of the lairmen are of the "pure breed.'" He spat the last words, visciously. "Many of us are hybrids of your people and native Raelleans -- the progeny of violence for the most part, I have no doubt. But all of us who dwell down below have rejected the powers above. So we are outcasts. Some of us know how to gain favor with the Prince and use it to advantage. I can use it to your advantage as well as ours, if your mighty Federation is willing to aid a lowly race born from its own people." "Travis Looked into Kel-jinns eyes "The Federation will not get involved in the internal politics of you planet. We are here to learn about your people and about the flying box bythe founding fathers that is in a decaying orbit around your planet. The rest is up to yo to solve on your own. Travis noticed Kel-jenn get vary nerves when he sead the flying box by the founding fathers. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Gunnel Ships Counselor Telan Raynar 22:19) After touching down Peter looked around then moved into the back where Dr. Raynar was watching the sleeping MO closely. "Mr. Raynar please let me know if there is any change in her condition." Telan was standing and stretching the muscles in his back where they had grown tense from the mind healing he had been doing and then the physical care he had rendered to the nurse. Ill let you know if there are any changes but things could go either way with her. Peters on the other hand since he was only physically harmed will be somewhat easier to care for and should make a full recovery. I will have to remain close incase the nurse comes out of her sleep. I would rather not complicate things with drugs at this point as she will heal more completely without a sedative Telan then headed towards the front of the shuttle and sat down for a few minutes rest. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate 2104.10.24 (USS Gunnel -FO Peter Belinia - 0200) (USS Gunnel -FO Peter Belinia - 0228) (USS Gunnel -Ships Counselor-Telan Raynar- 0230) (USS Gunnel -Dr. Riven Mias - 0231) (USS Gunnel - MO Alesia Trenor - 0232) (Planet Raelleus - City of Falais - Riven Mias-0233) (Planet Raelleus - City of Falais - Riven Mias- 0238) (Planet of Raelleus - City of Falais - MO Alkesia Trenor -0240) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Begin Compile Stardate: 2406.10.24 (USS Gunnel -FO Peter Belinia - 0200) After touching down Peter looked around then moved into the back where Dr. Raynar was watching the sleeping MO closely. "Mr. Raynar please let me know if there is any change in her condition." (Reply: Counselor Raynar) After speaking with the Counselor he walked forward with a resigned look on his face, this mission had gone very badly almost from the beginning, there was no telling what hot water they could still get themselves into before it was all over. He heard Mr. Ketal speaking as he entered the cockpit. "We will be leaving momentarily Ms. Trenor. Do you have any suggestions before we go?" Listening to the two make plans he decided on a more intermediate course of action than what he and Ketal had decided earlier. He got everyone's attention and let them know his decision. " Dr. Mias and Ms. Trenor you will be going in as originallyplanned, I want you to be very careful and take every precaution once you are inside." (Reply: Mias and Trenor) "Mr. Ketal I need you to rig up some kind of signal booster that can punch through this interference we are receiving for our sensors and communications. Do you think you can do this?" Ketal considered it for an instant. "I do have all the available materials in the shuttle Commander, perhaps I can modify a transporter beacon to do so." "Very good Mr. Ketal, make it so." He then turned to Dr. Mias. "I will stay here with the shuttle to beam everyone out andMr. Ketal will remain with the Raelleans to make sure you are beamed out. Ketal I want one booster with you and one for Ms. Trenor." He took a deep breath, "She will be beamed out after everyone else is left, say about one half hour later to make sure the Raelleans don't try a double cross. Everyone has their orders now. Mr Ketal let me know when they are ready." (Reply: Any) Ketal nodded, "Yes Commander." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.24 (USS Gunnel -FO Peter Belinia - 0228) Peter was drumming his fingers on the panel when Ketal came forward. "Commander I have modified two beacons to transmit on a multifrequency broadcast at high power for a limited interval when activated, this should be powerful enough to get through the interference however the power cell will only last for approximately three minutes once activated." Peter nodded, "Very good Ketal that should be enough, let's everyone get into position now, I want this over and done quickly so we can get out of here." He watched as the three made their way to the transporter pad. "And Godspeed to all of you." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stardate: 2406.10.24 (USS Gunnel -Ships Counselor-Telan Raynar- 0230) Please wait just a moment. Telan called from the front of the shuttle as he hurried back to the departing away team. I would like to do for you what I did with the Nurse and Peters. What I did was set a sort of mental hook in their minds. It doesnt do much in the way of communication. I can however tell where you are anywhere on this side of the planet. It will not take but a moment to set and you will notice nothing more than a slight pressure behind your eyes and that only for a second or so. With your permission Telan walked forward and started with Riven, I can do this from a distance but it works better with physical contact. Telan placed his first three fingers of each hand to Rivens temples for a moment, then did the same for Mr. Trenor. He noticed only a slight widening of the eyes from DR.Riven but saw Ms. Trenor blinked one or twice. Sorry, he said. I dont normally go as deep but I wanted to be sure this lasted long enough, Riven and I should be able to link if needed but I wasnt sure you and I could. He turned and gripped the DRs hand in farewell then turned and headed back to the small area where the two patients were to check on Peters and the unconscious nurse. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.24 (USS Gunnel -Dr. Riven Mias - 0231) Riven was listening to some last minute instructions from Commander Belinia. "Ketal will remain with the Raellean's Doctor and be your contact. He will hold one of the transport beacons and await your return, as soon as you have Keswick and Jansen there I want the beacon activated and will beam you back." "What about Alesia Commander?" Riven looked at the MO, he did not like the idea of leaving her behind; especially after what had happened to nurse Jones. "She will wait for a suitable interval, say one half hour to make sure the Prince doesn't try to deceive us and to make sure you are away safe then she is to activate her beacon and we will beam her back. Ms. Trenor." (Reply: MO Trenor) "Ifthe Prince refuses to release Keswick and Jansen I want you to move to them, activate the beacon and grab them soI can beam you all over immediately, if everyone leaves and during that half hour you are accosted or threatened I want you to activate your beacon. Is that understood?" (Reply: MO Trenor) "Don't take any chances with your safety" With that he stepped back and activated the controls and the shimmer of the transport overtook Riven before he could voice his disapproval of the plan. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.24 (USS Gunnel - MO Alesia Trenor - 0232) "She will wait for a suitable interval, say one half hour to make sure the Prince doesn't try to deceive us and to make sure you are away safe then she is to activate her beacon and we will beam her back. Ms. Trenor." Alesia blinked at this plan. She was scared. This Prince was 100% bad news. It was unlike her to be so scared. "Ifthe Prince refuses to release Keswick and Jansen I want you to move to them, activate the beacon and grab them soI can beam you all over immediately, if everyone leaves and during that half hour you are accosted or threatened I want you to activate your beacon. Is that understood?" "Don't take any chances with your safety" "I'm supposed to ask him to release them!?!?!" She asked, eyes wide as the Commander ignored her and transported them. She shivered in the cold night air. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.24 (Planet Raelleus - City of Falais - Riven Mias-0233) Riven led thethreesomequickly to the plaza which was nearly empty with his mind searching ahead of them. His tactic was risky as it could alert hostiles of their nearness but it would also give him warning of any hostile intent. They made it to the first pyramid and hugged the shadows around it as they skirted it, Ketal was watching intentlytheir backtrail to make sure no one took themfrom behind. Riven had made sure everyone was armed with concealed phaser 1 units in case of trouble which he hoped to avoid but if trouble did find them he was determined to maintain the safety of the group, their secrets weregone here anyway. Riven noticed the dome was dimly lit as they approached and relaxed, there was no visible or mental signs of hostiles as they approached the door and he turned to Alesia. "You have the transporter beacon Ketal gave you well concealed don't you Alesia? I don't want them to find it and take it away from you. That would be disasterous." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.24 (Planet Raelleus - City of Falais - Riven Mias- 0238) Alesia followed Riven through the night, and they stopped short of the compound. "You have the transporter beacon Ketal gave you well concealed don't you Alesia? I don't want them to find it and take it away from you. That would be disasterous." Alesia's eyes widened. "Don't talk to me like I'm a child, Dr. Mias. I know my part in the plan." The spicey marine in her blurted out. Then she frowned and moved up behind him. "I'm scared Riven. I saw what happened to Peters and Jones. I don't want to end up like her." She said, voicing her last concern. She looked over at Ketal as they approached the gate. "Wait here." Riven said, approaching and speaking with the guards. Alesia shivered inside the fine cloak she had been given. She saw the way that others looked at her and held her head high. Soon they were ushered inside and in front of the Prince. "Gracious Prince," Alesia said, sinking into a deep courtsey. "We are honored by your presence." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.24 (Planet of Raelleus - City of Falais - MO Alkesia Trenor -0240) Alesia's eyes widened. "Don't talk to me like I'm a child, Dr. Mias. I know my part in the plan."She thenmoved up behind him. "I'm scared Riven. I saw what happened to Peters and Jones. I don't want to end up like her." Riven sighed, "I'm acting my age aren't I? I'm just worried Alesia. Wait here." He said as they neared the gate and he went ahead and spoke to the two guards. After a moment he motioned to the others and waited till they reached him then followed the guards into the edifice. The hall they entered led them to a large chamber highly resplendent with rich tapestries and golden candleabras. A deep red carpet ran from the door to a gaudily decorated chair set upon a pedestal upon which sat Prince Hanaldine surrounded by several courtiers with many armed guards both near the doors and close to him. The group neared him and Ms. Trenor stepped before him. "Gracious Prince," Alesia said, sinking into a deep courtsey. "We arehonored by your presence." Riven looked about and saw Jansen and Keswick sitting at a table in the back corner trying to be nonchalant but he could read excitement emenating from them. :: Be patient.:: He sent to them and turned his attention to the guards who were watching he and Ms. Trenor, they had made no hostile moves; yet. ~ Let's get through with this fast.~ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique, Bridge Ensign Angeni O. Windsong-Trommashere -1815) (USS Mystique, Sickbay Ensign Angeni O. Windsong-Trommashere- 1828) (USS Mystique, Main Engineering, CEO, Lt(sg) Sarouk, 1835) (USS Mystique - Main Engineering - Ensign Sarah Nevada - 1837) (USS Mystique - Deck 5 - Ensign Sarah Nevada - 1839) (USS Mystique - Deck 5 - Ensign Dale Grey- 1840) (USS Mystique - Deck 5 - Sarah Nevada - 1845) (U.S.S. Mystique, Engine Room; Ensign (jg) Mason Garrett; 1855) (USS Mystique, Sickbay - Jennah Winters-Dark - 2130) (Planet Raelleus VI - Meeting Hall -somewhere in Falais City -Kel-jinn- 2142) (Planet Raelleus VI - Meeting Hall -somewhere in Falais City -Ensign Travis Keswick- 2143) (Planet Raelleus VIMeeting Hall - somewhere in Falais City - Ensign Bill Jansen- 2144) (USS Mystique, Sickbay - Jennah Winters-Dark - 2155) (USS Mystique, Bridge - CO Captain Vanyssa Winters - 2210) (USS Mystique, Ready Room - CO Captain Vanyssa Winters - 2224) (USS Mystique, Ready Room - Ensign Angeni O. Windsong-Trommashere -2227) (USS Mystique, Ready Room - Ensign Angeni Windsong-Trommashere - 2238) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Begin compile Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique, Bridge Ensign Angeni O. Windsong-Trommashere -1815) Angeni stood in the middle of the bridge, listening closely to Vanyssa.She rubbed her eyes in a futile attempt to clear away the blur, but she didnt even know why she tried. This was just a test of strength and intuition, and she wasnt going to let it get away. Right away Maam, after I am through with helping everyone back in sick bayDr. Weir and whomever else is down there, I will come right back up. Her mind went back to the moment when she saw the marine who hit Dr. Weir, and she shut her eyes against the mental image. It hurt deep in her soul to watch it and not have been able to do anything about it. Suddenly, strong feelings of remorse and sadness and anger washed over her. She was just standing in the middle of Sick Bay, the Marines swarming about, and she did nothing to stop it. Everyone else was trying to either resist, or help those the marines knocked down first, and all she did was stand in the center of the room, watching everything go on around her until the Marine took her away. She suddenly gritted her teeth togethershe couldnt have done a single thing to stop it. All she had were her hands and feet, they had very large and powerful weapons. Now, she had to make up for it by taking the best of care of her patients. It was now or never: she was set to prove her worth on this ship. She felt around the floor, and she grabbed a hold of the handles of the med kit, and she straightened out her uniform. Bowing her head to Vanyssa, she took very slow, methodical steps forward, then she remembered. Reaching around behind her, she grabbed her folded white cane, and unfolded it. Her cheeks were blazing red; it was probably one of the worst things to do in this situation, butshe had to do what she had to do. Sweeping the cane in small arcs in front of her feet, she worked her way off the bridge, and she somehow worked her way back to Sick Bay. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique, Sickbay Ensign Angeni O. Windsong-Trommashere- 1828) Angeni had made it safely back to sick bay, and she went into the little office she was stuck in, and she rummaged through her bags, and found her contacts. She hurridly put them in, and the whole room became clear to her, and the injuries even clearer. She immediately set to work, the Major first. She felt like she was the only doctor in charge, when, in a sense, she was. She looked over the Major, and she prepared the Major for his surgery. She fitted the clamshell on the bio bed with minimum troubles, and after a few moments, had everything up and running. She slipped on a new pair of gloves, and put up the medical force field, and she got right to work. Opening the dermal patch, she furrowed her brow as she saw the internal injuries. She worked quickly to tie off the major artery stemming from his stomach. She watched the aorta pump with life, and she just smiled as she regenerated and suitured everything into proper place. She frowned forlornly, upset at the fact she had to remove a very small portion of his large and small intestine. Setting the mangled pieces into a stainless steel dish, she continued her work. Angenis skilled eyes looked over the wound, and she leaned her head back from her work, sweat on her brow. Her eyes caught the chronometer on the far wall, and she sighed softly, looking at the time. ~Over three hourswowit felt like time had stoppedI never woulda guessed Ive been working that longand I havent even cleared the minor vessels and his other wounds yet~ She lowered her head, looking through the glass type window in the top of the surgical clamshell. She squinted for a moment, then she spoke softly, almost hesitantly, not sure if it would work or not. Computer, raise magnification of the clamshell to 100x. A little beep was heard, and she looked through the window again, and was shocked to see that it had worked. She worked faster now, able to see the little vessels and veins and either regenerate them, or cauterize them completely. Her hands practically flew over his body, and within the next few hours, she was completely finished. She removed the surgical clamshell and she put on the Monitoring Clamshell. Tapping a few buttons, she had the data from the clamshell coming directly into a PADD she slipped into her pocket. She hooked him up to the various devices, and she stood back for a second. This was her very first case she ever covered in Star Fleet, and it actually seemed like it was going well. Walking from the off-set room, she washed up a bit and went to check on Dr. Weir, who was also encased in a clamshell. She looked over the monitors, sighing softly. She wished she could wring the neck of the marine that hit her. Angeni would have given her right arm and left leg to take her placeSuddenly, she heard a small beep on the PADD, and she looked at it. The Majors heart rate changed, but nothing even remotely dangerous, but she still wandered over to the enclosed area. Along the way, she spotted Jennah looking through the window, and she just smiled. She put the PADD back in her pocket and walked over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. When the girl greeted her, Angeni knelt down a bit, and hugged Jennah close to her, smiling brightly. Hallo Jennah. Thank you so very much for your help. Without you, I wouldve been entirely lost. Angeni made sure to keep her voice from sounding condescending. She herself couldnt stand it when she was about Jennahs age, so she wouldnt subject the girl to it. Besides, any child that was able to keep a level head like she did when she was there to rescue Angeni deserved to be spoken to eye to eye without a hint of sarcasm or a condescending tone. Is everything okay? I need to leave Sick Bay for a momentI need to go to the bridge and see Captain Winters for a moment. Could you stay here and keep an eye on the Major please? The EMH is in the main part of sick bay if anything happens. I dont mean to rush off like this, butCaptains orders as they say. Ill be right back, Jennah. With that, she gave the girl a hug and a genuinely bright smile before she left the bay, looking over the PADD, seeing that everything was stable, and probably wasnt going to go anywhere. Angeni stepped onto the bridge, and she walked up to the ready room door, and she pressed the chime button as she tried to clean herself up a bit, trying to look somewhat presentable, but after her day, that would seem kind of hard, but she couldnt even fathom what it would be like to be the Captain and have all this go on around her. Angeni stood patiently, putting on a bright smile, and a cheery look to try to cheer up her Captain. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique, Main Engineering, CEO, Lt(sg) Sarouk, 1835) Sarouk walked into Main Engineering tool-kit in hand. He quickly surveyed the damage to the main engine room.There were still several marines in the area, some were scanning for explosive devices left by the enemy forces. Sarouk left them alone to do their work. It would serve no purpose to distract them or to allow their presence to distract him.He had a job to do, just like they did. He moved toward the MSD console and opened his tool-kit.The console had taken phaser hits during the battle and required maintenance, but it was still functional. Sarouk began typing in commands and quickly took the warp drive and cloak off line. The ships lighting change as the ship de cloaked. Slowly, engineering teams began to enter engineering.Sarouk wasted no time in putting them to work. "Sir," Crewman Martin said, as he and two other engineering crewman walked into main engineering. Sarouk looked up from the MSD briefly. "Yes, Crewman?" He said returning to his work. "We found a sub-space locator beacon in engineering lab 3. We shut it down, but our location may be known," Martin said, obviously a little nervous. Sarouk simply nodded. "Good work, Crewman. I will notify the bridge. Right now, I need you to take a team and begin work repairing the annular plasmonic particle conduit on decks 16 and 17." Sarouk turned from Crewman Martin to the another engineering teams assembling. He directed the teams to various point around the ship repair the Mystiques damaged systems. One team remained with him in Main engineering working on the damaged systems there. After a few more moments of working on various ships system when a young Ensign walked up to him. "Ensign Nevada reporting, the Captain told me you could need some help." Sarouk simply nodded. "Work with damage control teams on decks 5 and 6. Once the plasma fires on those decks are taken care of, the EPS conduits will need to be completely replaced." (Reply Nevada IYW) After the Ensign had left Sarouk, slapped his com-badge as he went back to work on the MSD. "Lt. Sarouk to the Bridge." (Reply Bridge) "A sub-space beacon was located in Engineering Lab 3. It has been de-activated, but our location may be known. Suggest moving deeper into the nebula." (Reply bridge IYW) Sarouk pulled out a few destroyed circuit boards and got replacements out of storage. Though the ships main computer core was undamaged from the attack, several of the computer relays had taken weapons and explosive damage.They would need to be repaired before the Mystique's warp drive or cloak could be brought back on line. "S'Tark, take a team and get to work on the annular plasma convertor on deck 16. Motok, you work on the subspace plasmonicgraviton polarizer. Torrin, you work on the plasmonic warp injector." Sarouk said, directing the team still in engineering. He opened the MSD console and got to work repairing the damage sustained to it during the battle to retake Main Engineering. A short while latter, another young Ensign entered engineering and head his way and handed him a PADD. "We'll have adequate staffing while the injured personnel are convalescing over the next day or two," Garrett told him. Sarouk raised his brow slightly looking at the PADD briefly. They had plasma fires on multiple decks. The ships power distribution system had taken heavy damage as had many EPS relays. The ships warp core was even showing signs of misalignment,and growing instability, and here was a young Ensign bothering him about crew schedules. Sarouk handed the PADD back to the Ensign after only a slight glance. "A few people will be doing a shift-and-a-half or doubling up but according to sickbay they'll have the bulk of the crew back to work soon." The Ensign continued, un-abated in his enthusiasm. Sarouk turned a critical gaze on the Ensign. "That is good to hear Ensign," Sarouk said, evenly, "But until the Mystique is no longer in danger of being destroyed due to the damage sustained in the attack, all engineering personnel able will be working to repair the damage. Your schedule will be implemented once that is accomplished." Sarouk turned back to the now open MSD console and pulled out a few burnt-out isoliniar chips and replaced them with new ones. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique - Main Engineering - Ensign Sarah Nevada - 1837) Sarah reported to Sarouk for duty. "Work with damage control teams on decks 5 and 6. Once the plasma fires on those decks are taken care of, the EPS conduits will need to be completely replaced." "Yes Sir." She said, and walked to the turbolift. "Deck 5" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique - Deck 5 - Ensign Sarah Nevada - 1839) Sarah arrived, seeing the officers trying to extinguish the fires where they were. Sarah just walked over to the panel against the wall, checking whichconduits caused the fire and turned of the supply route to deck 5 and 6, and iniating the fire control systems. Seeing those were still offline, she went to help the crew, still trying to extinguish the fires, wich were already fading out, cause the plasma has been shut off. Afew moments later, the fires were out. "Next time, turn off the supply for the fire before you try to extinguish it, otherwise it's only a waste of time, and if you do succeed to put them out, we'll have plasma floating around here, not healthy either." The crew was looking at her in a strange way, asking themselves who the hell she was. "Come on guys, let's get those conduits installed, sjeesh." The team snapped to their senses and started working on the conduits, Sarah grabbed some spares too and started on replacing. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique - Deck 5 - Ensign Dale Grey- 1840) Dale breathed a sigh of relief after the plasma fire was under control and he had reported in, now though they had extensive repairs to look forward to. Deck 5 was toast and would take a lot of work. He heard a saucy remark and turned to find out who had made it. "Next time, turn off the supply for the fire before you try to extinguish it, otherwise it's only a waste of time, and if you do succeed to put them out, we'll have plasma floating around here, not healthy either." Dale and the other three, including Jacobs stood there for an instant looking at the snippy young woman before Dale could formulate a reply of his own but when it came he was proud of it. "Excuse me lady but it's necessary to get AROUND the fire as well as have some visibility before things like that are possible. Or would you want us to wade straight through a raging inferno? "Come on guys, let's get those conduits installed, sheesh." She said and looked at him with her hands on her hips and nose in the air. ~Typical woman. ~ Thought Dale. ~Can't win the argument so she changes the subject.~ "So did you happen to bring along the parts we need or are we supposed to conjure them out of the thin air lass?" He snapped. It was about that time that a handler with an antigrav unit with parts turned the corner and pulled up before them. "Here you go guys, spare conduit and control circuits just like you ordered. Chief Sarouk is on the ball I tell you, I think he would have dragged me in after them himself if I hadn't run to get them." Dale looked at Jenkins, "Yeah, thanks Carl. Go back and get a plasma torch as well twenty thermal couplings and a magnetic router. We're going to need to tear off some of this bulhead too so leave this antigrav unit here and get another one. Oh and have dinner sent up, we're going to be at this a while." "You're not going to work on it all night are you?" "Hell no but we need to get a good start. In the meantime get going." "I'm off." said Carl Jenkins and he was true to his word. Dale then turned to see his men and the young woman hard at work on replacing the damaged circuitry, he shook his head. "While you're working Ms. perhaps you'd like to give me your name so we can be friendly." He said as he began estimating the amount of conduit they'd need to replace. (Reply: Sarah Nevada) ."Well isn't that nice. You sure have a pointed tongue for someone who wants to help." He shook his head again as she turned back to the bulkhead. ~Sheesh! Women!~ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique - Deck 5 - Sarah Nevada - 1845) Sarah allready began work when Dale came working next to her "While you're working Ms. perhaps you'd like to give me your name so we can be friendly." He said as he began estimating the amount of conduit they'd need to replace. "Sarah Nevada, but now you know my name, don't get saucy." "Well isn't that nice. You sure have a pointed tongue for someone who wants to help." "What do you mean by that? Where working in an emergency here, we have to work hard now, business is fater hours." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (U.S.S. Mystique, Engine Room; Ensign (jg) Mason Garrett; 1855) "Ensign Nevada and Ensign Garrett, please stop by sickbay and get patched up then head on down to Engineering and help Sarouk in any way you can," said the captain. "Ensign Garrett, I want you to make sure that everyone down there has been patched up if needed, and that those too injured to work take it easy. There are things that can be done that don't require crawling through ducts. Arrange a duty roster with Lt. Hhril making sure that you take into account time to eat and sleep for the teams. In short, Ensign, you just got a promotion to Administrator. Good luck." "Thank-you, Captain," Garrett said, focusing his mind away from his throbbing head. He turned and moved to the turbo-lift, still feeling a little woozy. Being promoted to "Administrator," he found out, meant essentially more PADD-time rearranging everybody's schedule so that at least a skeleton crew would be up and working on any one shift. Early in the task of surveying the personell who were still able to work, Ensign Garrett had a mixture of emotions. He discovered there were fewer fatalities than he'd expected, having witnessed first-hand the sudden and fierce attack on the Engine Room only a short time before. On the other side of that coin, a few of his shipmates had been killed. His own injuries had been "potentially serious if left untreated" according to the nurse who efficiently mended the hairline fracture in his skull and released him fit for work. He handed the completed schedule over to Lt. Sarouk when the Chief Engineer returned to the Engine Room. "We'll have adequate staffing while the injured personell are convolescing over the next day or two," Garrett told him. Sarouk raised his brow slightly looking at the PADD briefly. Sarouk handed the PADD back to the Ensign after only a slight glance. "A few people will be doing a shift-and-a-half or doubling up but according to sickbay they'll have the bulk of the crew back to work soon." Sarouk turned a critical gaze on him. "That is good to hear Ensign," Sarouk said, evenly, "But until the Mystique is no longer in danger of being destroyed due to the damage sustained in the attack, all engineering personnel able will be working to repair the damage. Your schedule will be implemented once that is accomplished."He turned back to the now open MSD console and pulled out a few burnt-out isoliniar chips and replaced them with new ones. Garrett had the sense that he'd just been chastised and dismissed. Obviously the Chief Engineer was very busy. 'Bad timing, ensign,' Garrett thought to himself as he moved away from the Chief Engineer. The computer helped Garrett find Lt. Hhril, who appeared to be neck deep in his own work. "Sir," Garrett said approaching his superior officer. "Here's an assessment of the injured personnel and revised work schedules. Captain Winters wanted me to run them through you." He handed the PADD over to Hhril (Reply: Hhril) "I'll log them into the computer immediately, sir," Garrett said, taking back his PADD. "With your permission sir, once I've finished, I would like to help with repairs in Engineering. They've got a helluva mess. " (Reply: Hhril) "Yes sir." Garrett moved to a computer station and began downloading from his PADD. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique, Sickbay - Jennah Winters-Dark - 2130) Jennah knew that her Mummy was upset about something. She also knew that her Mum would be even angrier if she knew that Jennah had left her Quarters. Marine Guards nonewithstanding, Jennah had slipped out into the jeffries tubes. She didn't care about the Guards, though she knew that her beloved Major would hurt the ones supposed to be watching her for letting her escape. Luckily none of the guards were Suicide Kings, they knew her tricks rather well. ~Though with all the take-charge roll models in my life, You'd think that they would get used to it. At least I'm acting like an adult. Unlike Cassie. And she's supposed to be older than me.~ Gee gods, Cassie was being a brat! Jennah had to wait for the sedative to take effect before sneaking out. Jennah knew better than to take any sedatives. David's third rule, Never be incapacitated. Deck 4 was a mess, and Jennah knew from an experienced eye that the damage was pretty severe. ~You'd think that by now Starfleet would have figured out how to build a ship that didn't break under enemy fire.~ She mumbled to herself, holding her little less than five foot frame tall. She snuck through the door into sickbay and over to the isolation area. The place was a mad house, but something caught Jennah's attention. Miss Kelly was laying on a bio bed, with a scanner over her. Jennah's mouth made an "ooo" cuz Miss Kelly was going to have a baby. Jennah concentrated, but could still feel the life in MIss Kelly. It was faint, but still there. She nodded at the Doctors working on Miss Kelly, then headed over to the glassed in wall. Major Lee was laying with a bunch of machines around him. Jennah stood up on tip toes and peeked in. She knew she couldn't go in there, cuz it was sterile. A hand landed on her shoulder, and Jennah turned around, with an "eee" sound she muffled. "Uh, hi, Miss Angeni...uh...." Jennah said, blushing. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (Planet Raelleus VI - Meeting Hall -somewhere in Falais City -Kel-jinn- 2142) "You do not belong here among our people. That much is obvious. Why are you here?" Kel-jinn said. "We are her to learn about your culture and how you live and interact with each other that is all," one of the men answered, surveying the room as he spoke. Kel-jinn leaned forward in his broad chair and spoke solemnly to the Keswick and Jansen. "We may have a common enemy in Prince Hanaldine and a common lineage inasmuch that one of my ancestors was of your Federation -- one of the original visitors who came to our world so many, many years ago." He paused a moment. "The lairmen who dwell beneath the city know more about you than you realize. Some of the lairmen are of the "pure breed.'" He spat the last words, visciously. "Many of us are hybrids of your people and native Raelleans -- the progeny of violence for the most part, I have no doubt. But all of us who dwell down below have rejected the powers above. So we are outcasts. Some of us know how to gain favor with the Prince and use it to advantage. I can use it to your advantage as well as ours, if your mighty Federation is willing to aid a lowly race born from its own people." The speaker looked into Kel-jinns eyes "The Federation will not get involved in the internal politics of your planet. We are here to learn about your people and about the flying box by the founding fathers that is in a decaying orbit around your planet. The rest is up to you to solve on your own." Kel-jinn met the man's glare with his own own. The lair leader tried subtly to reach deeper into the man's mind. He percieved the name Keswick. What was the 'flying box?' He ran into a mental barrier possibly a reflex action. This one seemed to lack a certain degree of mental training. Kel-jinn didn't want to turn the interrogation into a combat of minds. Partly because he wasn't sure what the outcome would be against Keswick's unnamed companion. "Perhaps, Master Keswick, its the habit of your Federation to drop its people onto a world then accept no further responsiblity for the outcome." At the mention of Keswick's name, Kel-jinn sensed a momentary wavering in the man's mental posturing. He took advantage of the weakness and looked deeper. A flurry of images, thoughts and questions flooded from his mind, and the shock of it rippled Kel-jinn's own control for an instant. Apparently, Keswick didn't have the degree of mental strength his companion possessed but there was some untapped power there. (Reply: Travis, Keswick, Tailar) Kel-jinn drew a deep breath to calm himself and recover from his disorientation. Keswick or the other had had ample time look into Kel-jinn's mind. Theaging Raellean wondered if he had. Hopefully not. He didn't want to reveal too much to these Federation men until he gave some indication that he was willing to ally himself, or at least cooperate. Kel-jinn spoke in smooth and even tones. "I feel I must tell you that the prince wants me to deal with your interrogation in a most uncomfortable manner and finally see to your execution. Such duties I generally give to my large friend, First Killman Tailar. A grisly task that he performs with great efficiency. The instruments you see in this room is only a part of his job, but he seldom bothers with them except on a weaker subject who would require less persuasion." (Reply: Jansen, Keswick, Tailar) "I do not inted to threaten you with these words. I'm only introducing you the grim realities of this world. I have spent many years gleaning some favor with Prince Hanaldine. I will not sacrifice those efforts. He expects me to bring him satisfactory information then kill you. "You and your friend are not personally responsible for the sufferings of our people and we are as much your people as the Raelleans'." He emphasized the last. "But if keeping my earned postion requires the torturing and killing of a few offworlders whose ancestors have only brought pain and suffering to many generations of its own people, so be it." The other man was seething with hostility and an underlying sense of confusion. Confused by his own mental prowess, as a young adolescent raider who is beginning to discover he is strong and capable but doesn't fully understand his limits. The link with Janson was too short. Kel-jinn didn't clearly understand everything he was sensing from the two men or even know if his assessments so far were correct. He would have to meditate on these things at a later time. Analyze and define them as best he could. (Reply: Jansen, Keswick, Tailar) "I will give you a time to consider everything I've said and allow you time to decide your fate," Kel-jinn said, rising to his feet. "I will, also, go to the Prince and tell him that you should be kept alive for the moment. He will believe me. Tailar take them back to their prison." (Reply: Jansen, Keswick, Tailar) Kel-jinn gestured for Tailar to take the prisoners out and watched them turn leave. He peered around distractedly, trying to sort out everything he'd learned and deciding how much of it he should Hanaldine. This was going to be a dangerous game, playing off one side against the other. But if he was careful, all the lairmen would win whatever the outcome. One thing was clear however Jansen was a definite danger to everything he had built. He wanted more than ever to turn that threat upon Hanaldine. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (Planet Raelleus VI - Meeting Hall -somewhere in Falais City -Ensign Travis Keswick- 2143) As Travis looked into Kel-jinn eyes Travis felt a presents probing his mind trying to get information from his mined. Kel-jenn continued "Perhaps, Master Keswick, its the habit of your Federation todrop its people onto a world then accept no further responsibility for the outcome." "First of all Kel-jinn we take full responsibility in every thing we do.The federation has never left its people behind and the Federation has never visiting this world." Travis sead starting to rase his voice standing toe to toe with his captor."If this is some kind of trick to get information out of us it will not work. now I demand you release us at once. travis sead as he got in the face of one of the guards that steeped between him and kel-jenn. Kel-jinn spoke in smooth and even tones. "I feel Imust tell you that the prince wants me to deal withyour interrogation in a most uncomfortable manner and finally see to your execution. Such duties I generally give to my large friend, First Killman Tailar. A grisly task that he performs with great efficiency. The instruments you see in this room is only a part of his job, but he seldom bothers with them except on a weaker subject who would require less persuasion." "Look I don't take threats vary well Kel-jinn." Travis sead as he realized that Tailar was the Guard he was standing toe to toe with. "I do not inted to threaten you with these words. I'm only introducing you the grim realities of this world. I have spent many years gleaning some favor with Prince Hanaldine. I will not sacrifice those efforts. He expects me to bring him satisfactory information then kill you. "You and your friend are not personally responsible for the sufferings of our people and we are as much your people as the Raelleans'." He emphasized the last. "But if keeping my earned postion requires the torturing and killing of a few offworlders whose ancestors have only brought pain and suffering to many generations of its own people, so be it." Kel-jinn then gestured to Tailar and Tailar Jabbed keswick in the side with some kind of stick that gave keswick a painful shock as TRavis turned around he saw a smile on Tailar's face at the site of Travis rive in pain. Travis and Jansen walked back down the poorly lit hallway as they approached a corner Travis steeped infront of Jansen and was the first one to turn the sharp corner. As he did he quickly pressed his back to the cold stone wall. Then he sow Jansen turn the corner just then Travis grabbed Jansen throwing him forward and before Jansen hit the floor Travis punched Tailar as hard as he could in the throat.Travis sow the look of shock on Tailars face as his face turned red and he hit the floor face first. Travis Turned to help Jansen get up as he did Jansen just looked at him with a look of shock on his face. (Reply Jansen) "Look Jansen this is just an old fashion Jail brake Know follow me I think we overstayed our welcome." Travis sead as he checked on Tailar He will be ok but we need to move him grab his outer are we will put him in the cell. (Reply Jansen) Travis and Jansen puled Tailars into the cell."Jansen fined something to tie him up with" Travis sead as he looked throw Tailars pockets.Travis tuned to Jansen as he finished up with Tailar. "I found the keys know lets get out of here." Travis lead Jansen down a hall way leading away from the meeting hall. Travis stopped suddenly. "I here something it sounds like the plaza I here it but it is coming from above us. Just as he sead that he sow a dim light coming from the celling. "Look a was back to the street" Travis sead to Jansen as he head towards a sewer grate. When They got to the grate Travis turned to Jansen " You first"Travis helped Jansen up to the grate and back out to the street. Travis was right behind him "know we need to find a place and hind intill The outer Away team can find us now lets move"Travis sead as the two ran back into the plaza. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (Planet Raelleus VIMeeting Hall - somewhere in Falais City - Ensign Bill Jansen- 2144) Jansen was pushed and cadjoled along the corridor. As they walked he felt a strange tingling snesation in his mind. This one was different from before,more focused. As if someone were trying to have a peek into what he was thinking.In a panic he threw up the mental image of a duranium wall, and the sensation went away. Finally they came to a rather large, wooden, heavylooking door. A guard opened the door and they were unceremoniously ushered through. Looking around Jansen caught a glimpse of some of the devices in the room and felt his knees get a little weak. He could only imagine what some of them were for, and he really didn't like using that part of his imagination. For certain, they were not meant for pleasure. At least not the pleasure those they were used on. They were stopped in front of a large chair, on which was seated a person of, what Jansen could only think, was of some great importance. Perhaps a leader. Someone they could reason with? He looked around again at their surroundings and wondered if reason was even an option here. The man's voice caught his attention and he looked rround at him. "You do not belong here among our people. That much is obvious. Why are you here?" ~How did he know? How much did he know?~ Obviously Keswick had no intention of even pretending to be shocked at the accusation. "We are her to learn about your culture and how you live and interact with each other. That is all." The man leaned forward and Jansen caught the whisp of a thought. A name. Kel-jinn? Was that his name? He was all through with being oddly surprised. "We may have a common enemy in Prince Hanaldine and a common lineageinasmuch that one of my ancestors was of your Federation -- one of the original visitors who came to our world so many, many years ago." He paused a moment. "The lairmen who dwell beneath the city know more about you than you realize. Some of the lairmen are of the "pure breed.'" He spat the last words, visciously. "Many of us are hybrids of your people and native Raelleans -- the progeny of violence for the most part, I have no doubt. But all of us who dwell down below have rejected the powers above. So we are outcasts. Some of us know how to gain favor with the Prince and use it to advantage. I can use it to your advantage as well as ours, if your mighty Federation is willing to aid a lowly race born from its own people." Keswick answered without even looking at Jansen. "The Federation will not get involved in the internal politics of your planet. We are here to learn about your people and about the flying box by the founding fathers that is in a decaying orbit around your planet. The rest is up to you to solve on your own." Jansen could "sense" Kel-Jinn's surprise and frustration. Then he could feel that tingling in his mind again, like tiny tendrils a living vine, trying to invade his thoughts. "Perhaps, Master Keswick, its the habit of your Federation to drop its people onto a world then accept no further responsiblity for the outcome." "First of all Kel-jinn we take full responsibility in every thing we do. The federation has never left its people behind and the Federation has never visited this world. If this is some kind of trick to get information out of us it will not work. Now, I demand you release us at once." The next time Kel-jinn spoke it was in an effort to use smooth and even tones. "I feel I must tell you that the prince wants me to deal with your interrogation in a most uncomfortable manner and finally see to your execution. Such duties I generally give to my large friend, First Killman Tailar. A grisly task that he performs with great efficiency. The instruments you see in this room is only a part of his job, but he seldom bothers with them except on a weaker subject who would require less persuasion." "Look I don't take threats vary well Kel-jinn," Keswick said defiantly. Jansen, however, was feeling more than a little intimidate. Kel-jinn saw that he may have struck a nerve and so said slowly, "I do not intend to threaten you with these words. I'm only introducing you the grim realities of this world. I have spent many years gleaning some favor with Prince Hanaldine. I will not sacrifice those efforts. He expects me to bring him satisfactory information then kill you." He continued, trying to be reasuring. "You and your friend are not personally responsible for the sufferings of our people - and we are as much your people as the Raelleans'. But if keeping my earned postionrequires the torturing and killing of a few offworlders whose ancestors have only brought pain and suffering to many generations of its own people, so be it." The build up of fear in Jansen was giving him a headache again. He could feel the pressure build up, like the last time, when that thing happened. He had to stay calm and relaxed. he could feel those tendrils again and this time he mentally reached into his mind and threw them out. Then they were gone. Again, Kel-jinn continued. "I have the power to set you and your friend free. You have the power to help the orphans of the Federation. I will give you a time to consider everything I've said and allow you time to decide your fate." Kel-jinn stood up, dismissing them. "I will, also, go to the Prince and tell him that you should be kept alive for the moment. He will believe me. Tailar take them back to their prison." Kel-jinn then gestured to Tailar and Tailar jabbed Keswick in the side with some kind of stick that gave Keswick a painful shock. "Hey!" Jansen called out, and took a step towards Keswick. He backed up when the stick was pointed at himself. Keswick had managed to keep his feet anyway, and they were escorted down the hallway. Travis and Jansen walked back down the poorly lit hallway as they approached a corner Travis stepped in front of Jansen and was the first one to turn the sharp corner. As he did he quickly pressed his back to the cold stone wall. Then he sow Jansen turn the corner. Just then Travis grabbed Jansen throwing him forward and before Jansen hit the floor Travis punched Tailar as hard as he could in the throat. Travis sow the look of shock on Tailars face as his face turned red and he hit the floor face first. Travis Turned to help Jansen get up as he did Jansen just looked at him with a look of shock on his face. "I'm not so sure that was the wisest thing to do," Jansen said, worry coming through loud and clear. "Look Jansen," Keswick said, "this is just an old fashion jail brake now. Follow me I think we overstayed our welcome." As they turned the rest of the gaurd entourage had rounded the corner. They went to run the other direction and a group of guards turned up there. They were trapped, with really no chance to escape. The guards rushed forward and grabbed hold of the two men. Two of them helped Tailar to his feet. He was rubing his throat, coughing. The look on his face was one of pure rage. He shook the hands off him and staggered a little. Then he straightened himself up and went over to Keswick. "You'll pay for that," he croaked, fighting back another fit of coughing. He lifted his pain stick and made an adjustment. Keswick and Jansen faught against the hands that held them, to no avail. Tailar smiled an evil smile and held the pain stickto Keswicks temple. As hard as he tried to hold it in, Keswick finally let out a blood curdling scream, that seemed to last for an hour. "You're going to kill him!" Jansen yelled. "That's the idea," Tailar replied through gritted teeth. Then he stopped. Keswick slumped to the ground, sweat pourng from his forhead, his eyes rolling to the back of his head. Tailar looked as surprised as anyone else. As hard as he tried he could not make his hand move forward. He looked over at Jansen who had an intense look of concentration on his face. Suddenly the Raillian was flung back against the wall. He turned his anger and agression onto Jansen. "Why you little freak," he approached Jansen. Suddenly he couldn't get any closer. it was as if his legs smiply would not move him forward any longer. He turned to the other guards. "Get them the hell out of my sight." The guards managed to manhandle Keswick back to his feet and quickly escorted the two back to their cell. Once inside Keswick crumpled to the floor. Jansen sunk to his knees aswell, his head throbbing. ~Did he do that? How?~ He looked at Keswick and his sense of worry for his new found partner returned. He crawled over to the floor, and put a nhand on the ASC's shoulder. "Travis, are you alright?" he asked. Keswick moaned and opened his eyes. "I'll live," he tried to move unsuccessfully, "I think." Jansen pushed him back down. "Rest easy there buddy. I think we have a little time before they come looking for us again." Keswick lay back and closed his eyes. Jansen sat there and watched him for a while, then he began to pace the cell. First out of boredom, then he began to measure the cell in his paces. Jansen sensed Keswicks alertness even before the man spoke. "How did you do that?" Jansen kneeled down. "Do what?" "What you did with Tailar?" Keswick added. "It was the same thing that happened to me in that alley." Jansen shook his head. "I don't know. I just wanted him to stop and thought about it really hard, and he did. It was like I could push him away from you with my mind." Keswick forced himself to sit up. "That's very interesting. Have you ever had any experience with paranormal abilities before this?" "No," he admitted. "Actually, to tell the truth, I actually have a fear of telepaths. I hate the idea that they know what's going on inside my head, even before I do." "Well, you better get over that," Keswick stated bluntly, "'cause it appears you've joined their ranks." He managed to get to his feet and staggered to the wall. "Hmmmm... there must be something in the Raellian atmosphere that promotes telepathic abilities. But then again, I'm no scientist, so I couldn't tell you what it was, or even if I was right." "I don't know either," Jansen agreed, "I just wish it would stop." "Actually," Keswick said, "I don't think we want that. If we can get your abilities to work on command, they might come in handy." "You know about this stuff?" Jansen sounded incredulous. "No," Keswick admitted, "but what can it hurt." They spent their time with Keswick coming up with ideas and ways to test Jansen's new found abilities. They had no idea how much time had passed when the door to the dongeon opened. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique, Sickbay - Jennah Winters-Dark - 2155) "Is everything okay? I need to leave Sick Bay for a moment I need to go to the bridge and see Captain Winters for a moment. Could you stay here and keep an eye on the Major please? The EMH is in the main part of sick bay if anything happens. I dont mean to rush off like this, but Captains orders as they say. Ill be right back, Jennah. Jennah nodded, surprised that Miss Angeni would leave her with such animportant task. "Is it ok to go in there?" She asked, and Miss Angeni nodded, the surgery was over. Jennah snuck in stood staring down at her Major. This was her Daddy's best friend, and her very good friend. Not to mention that he was way cute and really funny and hadn't been seeing anyone as long as Jennah had known him. ~Though the rumors said that he and Miss Collette were partnering...~ And then Jennah shook her head. The rumors also said that he and Miss Dierdre were partnering too, but then Miss Collette had been hurt and Miss Dierdre was transferred away with those klingon kids of hers.... Jennah missed the terrible trio, as David had called them. They had been fun. And taught her a lot about starships and making mischief that she hadn't known. They'd been the inspiration for so much that... Jennah looked down at her Major and frowned. He was having bad dreams. Katie said that those kinds of things were really trauma, and Mum said that trauma was bad. Jennah didn't know what to do about it, so she slid her hand under the Majors and concentrated on sending him waves of good thoughts, hoping they would counteract the bad ones that he was having. After a few minutes, she felt him begin to wake up. "Uh, Rich?" She said, her eyes widening and blushing. "Are you ok? Do I need to go get the EMH? Miss Angeni had to goto the Bridge. She's spent a long time working on you." Jennah felt the pain almost as if it were her own and doubled over. She snatched her hand away and held her side. "How can you bear that much pain?" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique, Bridge - CO Captain Vanyssa Winters - 2210) After dealing with the interrogation, and the call for help, Vanyssa ended back up on the Bridge reviewing damage reports. She'd been giving some thoughts to what to do with the marines and the damaged decks. "I want you to close down these decks" Vanyssa said, making the necessary changes on the diagram, "Rerouting power to the other decks. The damage is too extensive." She finished. "How's the damage to the computer?" She was surprised to hear the first good news of the day. "Excellent." She said, with a real smile. "You've done a good job, Ensign." She turned away back to looking at the readouts. When the Ops Ensign went away to go tell Ensign Garrett and Lt. Sarouk her orders, she leaned her head back against the padded seat. She realized how long it'd been since she'd had any sleep. She turned around and saw Herk and Tourana still working on fixing the integration of the navigational computer and the engines. One of the explosions caused by the marines intent on destruction had blown up the main relay. "How's it going guys?" She asked, getting up and squatting down next to them. (reply Herk and Tourana) "Estimation of repair?" She said, beginning to get worried. (reply Herk) Vanyssa nodded, turning away and surveying her wreck of a Bridge. She didn't know of there was anything she could do to help things along. She did know that the only thing which she could do and her job was to delegate. SHe mad e a promise to herself that at the end of this mess, she was going to take some Engineering courses. Something so that she wouldn't be so useless. She only needed to hold the ship together for two more days. Then the Admiral's special forces would come and make things much easier. "Doctor Trommas, when you get a free moment, please report to my Ready Room." Vanyssa said, pausing momentarily for the answer. (Reply Angeni) "Understood, Doctor, Take your time." Vanyssa was especially worried about Dr. Weir, who was not recovering as well as she should. Vanyssa personally wanted to rip apart the marine that had the audacity to hit a pregnant Doctor, a non-combatant. Vanyssa promised herself that she would make it down to sickbay to check on the patients personally as soon as she could. She knew better than to interrupt Hhril, he was busy with Garrett and Sarouk in Engineering. "I'm going for a walk." She said, getting up and heading towards the turbolift. "Any news on propul... scratch that. If you have some good news on propulsion feel free to contact me. You have the Bridge, Herk." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique, Ready Room - CO Captain Vanyssa Winters - 2224) Vanyssa, as she was heading off the Bridge, was called back by an Engineering report, which she had taken into her Ready Room. It wasn't that bad, actually, the fish were still alive. Vanyssa smiled at them, then sat down on the couch, looking over the report as she did so. Then her ready room chimed, and Vanyssa nearly jumped..the sound was very off. "come in!" She said, seeing Dr. Trommas there. "Doctor Trommas! Welcome. How are the patients doing?" She said, meaning Major Lee, but Captains couldn't play favorites. (Reply) "And Major Lee's surgery went ok?" (reply) "And Dr. Weir?" She said concerned for the baby. (reply) "The main reason I called you here was to discuss various methods of... rendering the marines in the cargo bay incapacitated for several days. They are marines, held in a hostile area. They will try to escape. I need to make sure they do not for two to three days..until reinforcements arrive. Recommendations, Doctor?" She asked, knowing that there really wouldn't be any. They could flood the bay with anethizine, but these people needed to eat and drink... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique, Ready Room - Ensign Angeni O. Windsong-Trommashere -2227) Angeni walked in slowly, her head bowed slightly in observation of the distance in rank. She nodded her head deeply, a genuine smile on her face.She looked around the ready room, and she spotted the fish, and she smiled softly, heaving a soft sigh before speaking. Her voice held a soft, serene tone as she spoke. "Hello Captain..." Angeni paused for a moment, rolling over the words that came from her mouth. She shrugged slightly, smiling softly. Patients. Something she knew how to take care of with her contacts in... "Uhm...I don't mean to sound rude...ma'am...but...it's Trommashere...anywho...the patients are doing very well under the circumstances...Major Lee is doing well..." Angeni pulled out the PADD from her pocket, and started to run down the list of everything she had written. It may have been excessive, but she wanted to put a good foot forward and keep up the front of her being an excellent doctor. It was just her nature to do that...maybe it was a bad thing, but, she was nervous about her performance on the bridge with the blind fixing and the cane...maybe she didn't care...she couldn't sense any malice towards her, but, she would just continue without focusing on it. She looked down at the PADD, pressing a few buttons, and she got the latest update on his condition. "Major Lee...at the moment...his blood pressure is 140/100, which is an effect of the sedation...heart rate is right now at 90...once again, effects of the sedation. His injuries included a torn small and large intestine...the aorta extening to the stomach had a very very slight nick in it, but it wasn't too bad. I had to remove a bit of his small and large intestine...just the pieces that were too destroyed to be repaired.His other injuries were pretty minor...nothing the dermal regenerator and a laser scalpul couldn't fix. He has a slight concussion, but that'll heal up soon. There was no bleeding in the brain...no major injuries except for the abdominal injury. I want to leave him under light sedation for at least the next seventy-two hours. I don't want him to go back to heavy work for at least a week..." Angeni grinned, the disertation of the Major's condition making her rather proud. It was amazing. The report on the Doctor's condition troubled her slightly though. "Dr. Weir is doing not as good as I had wished. She has a frontal lobe injury consistant with a grade three concussion. She was concious for a bit, but I sedated her to help her brain heal up from the injury. Her nose is also broken, but that can be fixed through surgery. I don't want to do surgery on her just yet...I want to make sure everything will be okay with the baby. The baby is doing very well...fetal heart rate is down slightly...but that is solely due to the sedation of its mum. I think I'm going to stay in Sick Bay tonight to monitor them...I don't want to leave my patients unattended..." Angeni smiled and sighed softly. Her adrenalin rush from the intense surgery was slowly fading, leaving her with an almost tired look. ~I'll have to ask Jennah how to use the replicators...a Bay Tea would be great right about now...~ When she heard the question, she paused for a moment, thinking hard. ~Another challenge...~ She pondered, tapping her chin, then her eyes widened, and she grinned. "Aha! I know how...we may be reverting to very Earthen tactics...but...I may have an idea. I have this herb, called Red Shepen...it's a sleeping agent used by my former tribe. It will safely sedate the marines. The exact effects are a very low heart rate, blood pressure, and complete paralysis. Once we do that. I can medically replicate nutrient IV kits...the ones they use on Earth for patients that can no longer ingest food through their stomach. It has more nutrients and vitamins than any food they can be given on a Star ship...and at home...if...you would want me to do it...I can. I can also keep track of them along with my other patients...it's alright...it's not like I have any other obligations rather than to serve the ship any way I can. As long as you give me permission to do it, I'll begin prepairing the Shepen right away..." Angeni stood there, a bright smile on her face. She hoped the Captain would accept her ideas... ~Maybe it was a really good idea to come here...~ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique, Ready Room - CO Captain Winters - 2237) "Aha! I know how...we may be reverting to very Earthen tactics...but...I may have an idea. I have this herb, called Red Shepen...it's a sleeping agent used by my former tribe. It will safely sedate the marines. The exact effects are a very low heart rate, blood pressure, and complete paralysis. Once we do that. I can medically replicate nutrient IV kits...the ones they use on Earth for patients that can no longer ingest food through their stomach. It has more nutrients and vitamins than any food they can be given on a Star ship...and at home...if...you would want me to do it...I can. I can also keep track of them along with my other patients...it's alright...it's not like I have any other obligations rather than to serve the ship any way I can. As long as you give me permission to do it, I'll begin prepairing the Shepen right away..." Vanyssa listened to Angeni ramble on. "I'm sorry about getting your name wrong, we can blame it on the computer." Vanyssa said, showing the young lady the mistake on her roster. "The problem will be administering it. I can guarantee that none of themarines will take it willingly and many would try to kill you or use you as a hostage to gain their freedom. As for IV kits once they are sedated, the EMH can do that, we'll send him in. I don't want anyone going into that cargo bay until our help arrives." Vanyssa frowned at her computer. "There was a young scientist that came on board a few days ago, her name is Dr. Markstein. Work with her on formulating a way to get your herb ventilated into the cargo bay." Vanyssa finished. "I'm going to need her to help with some of the damaged decks, too, decks 9-13 are completely shut down, and deck 9-10 are leaking in whatever gas is out in the nebula we are hiding in. She's very new, just out of the Academy." Vanyssa finished. "She'll probably need your help with altering the environmental controls properly. That should keep the two of you busy for a while... I don't want that gas to start leaking over the rest of the ship...and the computer isn't doing it's best at the moment with regards to environmental control." Vanyssa felt mildly pleased with herself for remembering the young Ensign and putting the two together. Maybe they'd become friends. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique, Ready Room - Ensign Angeni Windsong-Trommashere - 2238) Angeni smiled brightly as she nodded. ~Wonderful! Someone new I can talk to...I don't feel so...new anymore...~ "That would be great. I just need to know where to find her, or you can just point her to where I'm at. I will be in Sick Bay preparing the herb.The only other thing I can think of off the top of my head is...how are you doing? Were you hurt in any way? Can I get you some tea or some somthing to calm your nerves?" It was a habit of hers to be concerned for everyone. She was trying to make sure that everyone was okay no matter what. "But yes, I will start working on it immediately. Should I go to Science, or should I wait for her to emerge into sick bay?" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique, Corridor, Deck 15, Lt (jg) HHril, 1850) (USS Mystique, Main Engineering, Lt (jg) HHril, 1852) (USS Mystique - Deck 5 - Sarah Nevada - 1946) (USS Mystique - Deck 6 - Sarah Nevada - 1948) (USS Mystique, Holodeck, CO Captain Vanyssa Winters & Ensign Jason Dema, 2015) (USS Mystique,Security Center, CO Captain Vanyssa Winters & Ensign Jason Dema & CCE Oo'lish & Enemy MCO, 2033) (USS Mystique, Empty Office, CO Captain Vanyssa Winters, 2048) (Planet Raelleus IVMeeting Hall - somewhere in Falais City - Killman Tailar - 2145) (USS Mystique, Sickbay - Major Richard Ian Lee - 2146) (USS Mystique, Sickbay - Jennah Winters-Dark - 2149) (USS Mystique - Sickbay - Ensign Jason Dema - 2208) (Raelleus IV - Kel-jinn's rooms - Killman Melek Tailar - 2210) (USS Mystique- Bridge - Conn- Lt Herkimer 78- 2215) (Raelleus IV - Dungeons - Killman Melek Tailar - 2220) (USS Mystique, Sick Bay - Dr. Terry Markstein - 2245) Stardate: 2406.10.24 (USS Mystique, Sick Bay Ensign Angeni Windsong-Trommashere - 2247) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.24 (USS Mystique-Sickbay- Cnn- Lt. Herkimer 78- 0325) (USS Mystique, Sickbay - Major Richard Ian Lee - 0326) (USS Mystique-Sickbay- Conn- Lt. Herkimer 78- 0327) (USS Mystique-Sickbay- CO - Captain Winters- 0328) (USS Mystique - Sickbay - Major Richard Ian Lee - 0329) (USS Mystique, Sickbay, CEO, Lt(sg) Sarouk, 0425) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Begin Compile Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique, Corridor, Deck 15, Lt (jg) HHril, 1850) Stepping off of the turbolift on deck 15, HHril immediately perceived the carnage and the damage the boarding and attempted capture of the Mystique had produced. HHril walked down the corridor taking in the all that he saw. Phaser scars were everywhere. Some places worse than others. The smell of death hung in the air. This had not been the most successful of boardings for either side. And regardless of the outcome, HHril felt that more could be done to prevent this from happening again. He continued on his way down the corridor to Main Engineering passing repair teams as they made their waydown the corridorhe had taken. Turning one last corner, he could see down the corridor into main engineering. The sight only worsened as hecontinued towards his target. Engineering looked like the interior of a shooting range. Their were burns and scars everywhere. Pieces of bulkhead had been cut through, showing the devastating force that had been used in the battle. Anyone not in BDU that would have gotten caught in the crossfire would have a large hole bore through them. Not that anyone in BDU would have faired much better after a sustained blast. And through it all, he had been stuck on the bridge, unable to do anything. He knew how the CO was feeling. He was feeling the same way. But then he remembered his words to young Ensign Dema... thatsometimes, ones position is not with a rifle in ones hand. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique, Main Engineering, Lt (jg) HHril, 1852) HHril stepped out of the corridor and into the heart of Main Engineering. It was a charred mess. Some stations were still operational, which was obviously a good sign, but their were others that would need to be completely replaced. HHril instinctively took notes on his PADD as he passed through. He had been looking for Lt. Sarouk, but he seemed pre-disposed at the moment and thought it better to make a full run through before going over to speak to him... this would also, hopefully, afford the Vulcan the opportunity to dispatch all those that needed dispatching. He stepped past the groups of people huddled around the chief Engineer and made his way toa station that had made it through unscathed, whether by pure luck or bylucky placement. He brought the display online and began running diagnostics on the power and communication systems. The sight that greeted him as the answers he had asked for came in was bad... about what he expected from the look of the deck, but still very, very bad. The power distribution systems were in bad shape. They were going to require a lot of work. And the subspace communications system were offline. An unfortunate casualty of the battle for the Mystique. Repairing the damage to the communications system would be the easy part. Getting enough power to send a message to the away team through the murk of the Nebula was going to be another problem. Based on his initial findings, it was going to take quite a power boost to get the message through the interference caused by the radiation. Launching a simple relay probe out of the nebula could, of course, help, but that could give away their position, and with the ship in the stat it was in, HHril was certain that keeping the ship in one piecehad to befirst priority. He immediately set to work to bring the communication systems online. He was more than capable as an Engineer, and thoughtit best to let Sarouk worry about the power and such for the moment, whilst he took care of COMM's. "Sir."came the voice he had heard for the first time over the communications channel earlier. He turned to finally put a face to the voice and name. "Here's an assessment of the injured personnel and revised work schedules," he said, handing the PADD over to HHril. "Captain Winters wanted me to run them through you." HHril took the pro-offered PADD and read the information as quickly as his ch'Rihan eyes would allow. The good news was there were substantially more injured than dead which is always a good thing. The bad news, besides the number of dead and severely injured, was that they would be short-staffed for the next few days. And given the state the Mystique found herself in, that did not bode well. "Good work. Thank you Ensign." said HHril as he finished reading the last of the information on the PADD. "Get this information logged so that department heads will have access to it. Keep me appraised of any changes to these numbers. We will no doubt have others who will work until they collapse, and others who will be ready to come back to work before we expect them to. I need a running total, as up to date as can be allowed for. Hour intervals would be best, but I will understand if it goes past that." "I'll log them into the computer immediately, Sir,"replied the aOPS. "With your permission Sir, once I've finished, I would like to help with repairs in Engineering. They've got a helluva mess." "Permission granted." replied HHril as he turned from the Ensign. "Once you have logged the data, report back to me. I will require your assistance myself." "Yes Sir." replied the aOPS and moved off to another available station to complete his task. HHril could see that Garrett was already a very competant officer. That was good news for the Mystique. She would need all the competant officers she could get. They were in a bad place now. It would be imperative that each and every member of the crew step up and do their part. HHril was certain that his assistant would not have a problem with that. HHril accessed the main communications system and ran a thurough diagnostic on the systems. It was as he had thought. A few key strokes later... "Computer, re-initialize subspace communication systems." The computer bleeped in acknowledgment, and HHril saw the systems come back to life on his display. ~One down, who knows how many to go.~ he thought to himself. He spun around and headed in the direction of Lt. Sarouk, who had seemingly finished dispatching his repair teams for the time being. "Lieutenant." said HHril as he approached the Vulcan Chief of Engineering. "Might I have a moment of your time?" (reply Sarouk) "We desperately need to get a message to the away team. As it stand right now, we do not have the power neccessary to do that from within the nebula. I would like you to work with Ensign Garrett to rectify that situation. Top priority." (reply Sarouk, more can go here if you want) "Thank you, Mr. Sarouk."he replied and offered up a smile. "Should you need me, I will be on the bridge." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique - Deck 5 - Sarah Nevada - 1946) Most of the conduits were installed, just a few more finishing touches and Deck 5 would be operational within acceptable parameters. "Anyone else who needs help, otherwise I'll continue to head to deck 6, see if they need some help." Everyone seemed to be okay, so she went for the turbolift. (reply any, dale perhaps) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique - Deck 6 - Sarah Nevada - 1948) upon entering deck 6, she saw 2 young engineerstrying to place a conduit in the right position. one didn't knew better then to punch it hard, before Sarah could stop them, the coupling broke and caused a small explosion, yet powerfull enough to throw the young engineers against the wall and toknockSarah down. =/\= Ensign Sarah to sickbay, there has been an explosion on deck 6, at least 2 casualties. =/\= (reply sickbay if needed) as quick as she could she ordered another engineer to cut of the plasma flow, while Sarah would start to extinguish the fire. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique, Holodeck, CO Captain Vanyssa Winters & Ensign Jason Dema, 2015) "Captain, care to take a walk, so Oo'lish can go her way for a while." Dema asked, motioning her out of the security center Vanyssa frowned at Dema who dragged her out of there. Jason let Vanyssa go first and they walked down the corridor, where damage could still be seen from phaser-fire and small blasts. Seeing Vanyssa so tense, he decided to take activate the holodeck for a more relaxing environment. "Computer, initiate program 'Dema's gift', but delete leisure facilities and structures." THey stepped inside and were walking on a satin-white beach, attacked by waves of a clear blue sea, in the distance, waves were splashing up against tall rocks, with a beautiful viewing-spot on top of the cliffs. Jason started to walk towards that high point, along small dirt-roads, just wide enough for 2 people to walk next to each other, while he started talking against Vanyssa. "Captain, are you all right, cause you seem kind of tense." Vanyssa gave Dema a strange look, pissed that he dragged her onto the holodeck when her ship needed every ounce of power it could get. "I suppose I am. I haven't been happy since the away team left. It's been a stressful couple of days. I miss Ketal. I miss David. I want to know if Rich Lee is going to survive. I hate having a bodyguard follow me everywhere. And I hate that this man knows something about my daughter. I need to know what." Back in the Security Center, Oo'lish was working. The Private that dropped off her bag looked at the officer tied to the chair with a snarl, Oo'lish gave his shoulder a pat. "Lay off, report outside." She put the bag down and opened three very specific containers in it. She tapped her badge briefly; "Ensign Dema, if you would be so kind, please disabled the security cameras and all warning devices in this room." Dema's reply was in the affirmative. Oo'lish had taken out three vials, one was a stimulant, of which she drew 50cc's into a hypospray and pushed against the MCO's neck. If the man wasn't aware, then she would have to change tracks. After several long moments, Colonel Rico's eyes focused on her face. She smiled, deceptively gentle. "Time for your mantra, Chief. Are you going to talk?" The Marine's face crumpled, then he said: "Janson, Ricardo, H. Lie..." Oo'lish interrupted him, "Right, you're here enough to work on then." She then went silent and pulled out two old-fashioned syringes. This technique was very quiet, very dark, and only used in the most dire of circumstances. Without saying a word she drew 50cc's of the first liquid into the syringe, then walked over to the enemy Marine and ejected it into his neck. The Marine didn't have much strength, but he tried to pull away. Oo'lish didn't much care, if the needle broke off; it was his pain and not hers. Then, without saying another word, she pulled more liquid from another, and repeated the process. "Alright then," she said as she picked her bag up. She pulled out one more vial and syringe, this time with a bright-blue liquid. She slowly proceeded to draw every ounce of fluid from the vial. And then, with a perfectly straight face, she drug a chair in front of the MCO and sat down. "I'm not sure how much you know about Combat Engineers, Colonel." she said with levity, "But we are not nice people when angered." She folded her hands together with the syringe and bright-blue fluid held between them. "If you know anything about them, you will know the drill. But just for kicks, how about I explain it, mmm?" She smiled. "The two drugs I injected you with are very powerful. One is a truth-agent, one that you might have a chance to resist, though I doubt it. The other is a neurotoxin. The truth-agent works with the neurotoxin to form an even more powerful truth agent. Good for us, bad for you however. If that chemical mix has a chance to take effect, it will already be far to late for you my friend." Oo'lish sat back and quirked her head, then held up the syringe she was holding. "This is the anti-dote. For every time you fail to answer me, or every wrong answer you give, I will squirt out a portion. If, at the end of an hour, there isn't at least 20 CC's left here, then you will be a dead man inside the next two hours. There are no other vials of this antidote on the ship, and it can't be replicated." She smiled again, "So one way or the other, I will have my answers. Either you will be a willing participant, or it will be forced from you and you will be dead 3 hours from now. Your choice." She stood up and squirted 10 of the 100cc's in the vial on his face. "So, let's begin, shall we?" "Go to hell," he spat, weakly. "Probably, but Ill have you for company, so it should be fun." She paused, and squirted another five CC's onto the man's face, leaving 85, another 654cc's to play with before the Chief was a dead-man. "Now, behave." She tapped her badge again, "Sergeant Oo'lish to Captain Winters and Ensign Dema, please join me with the prisoner." She sighed and heard Oo'lish summoning them back. "We'll be right there, Oo'lish." She said, exiting the holodeck and heading back towards security. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique,Security Center, CO Captain Vanyssa Winters & Ensign Jason Dema & CCE Oo'lish & Enemy MCO, 2033) Once they had walked in, she said "Feel free to ask your questions, Sirs,Ill be watching his behavior." Vanyssa nodded and knelt down next to the MCO. "I need to know why you've singled out the Mystique as your target. What is so special about her?" It wasn't the question that she wanted to ask, but it needed answering. Rico, who knew very well what was happening within his body right now,looked back up again. He tried to spit, but his mouth was incredibly dry. He was in poor shape, and he knew it. The truth serum would be kicking in within a few more minutes, he would have to make a concentrated effort to fight it. He took a breath, "Her waste reclamation system," He finally said with a false grin, "We wanna know how it keeps a crew of such s*it as yours clean." The Combat Engineer squirted just a bit of the fluid onto his chest, Rico watched it with something approximating sadness. His life was going to end soon, Everything for the Corps. Vanyssa looked back up at Oo'lish, her eyes widening. She had a good idea what Oo'lish was doing, she'd been briefed by Lee on the various techniques that might be used against her should she be captured. She'd also heard about Falthgood doing something similar on the Nimitz. Sash hadn't given her any of the details, but she knew that she would have all the answers she needed soon enough. "Let's try that again. Why are you singling out the Mystique?" Rico snorted in disdain and turned his head. This wench thought she was clever, that was fine. Vanyssa looked at Oo'lish. "You know that we will find out eventually. I would rather not have you die. Please talk to me." Vanyssa pleaded. She did not want to be responsible for his death. She had enough of those on her hands. "Would you rather die needlessly?" Rico continued to count, being silent for long moments as he tossed numbers through his head. His concentration was stronger; whatever that Marine had used was fairly potent, he could feel his heart pounding in his ears... or was that because of the other drugs? No doubt creeped into his mind as he looked at her though, his words were perfectly clear and exceptionally loud as he bellowed: "Annihilation to traitors!" Jason heard the answers from the CMO and thought of something. "Excuse me for a moment Captain." Vanyssa nodded, backing up a bit. Jason stepped out and walked towards a technician that maintained the weapons. "could you provide me a rifle, that does heavy stun on the highest setting, meaning that lvl 14 is heavy stun." "That can be arranged." The technician said "Good, deliver it to me when ready." He ignored the CE as she squirted more of his life away; rather he closed his eyes and continued counting to himself. Vanyssa sighed, looking over at the CE. "How much is left?" She asked, sounding desperate to herself. She caught another glimpse of a farmhouse burning. "Whose farmhouse is that?" Her eyes narrowed as she saw herself staring at the fire, smelling the smoke, the acrid fumes burning her eyes and nose. She tried to breathe...found she couldn't. Oo'lish's touch on her arm caused her to jerk back to the scene playing out in front of her. "How much do you have to have for him to live?" She said, her eyes narrowing again. If this man was going to die, Vanyssa was going to be the bringer of it. The Master Sergeant looked at her for a moment, then down at the vial. "I need 20cc's Captain, 22 to be safe. I have... 50 left." She looked back over, the Captain obviously had something on her mind. The Captain, for her part, was still looking at the renegade MCO. Not for the first time, the American Indian was grateful that she wasn't telepathic. For his part, the Colonel was saying nothing, not since his pronouncement of death to traitors. The door chimed, Jason opened, to see the technician with the adjusted rifle. "Thanks for the fast order." Jason said. He turned around, holding the rifle in his hands Vanyssa nodded, sighing. He wasn't going to talk. At least, not willingly. She took a deep breath and plunged deeper into the memory of the burning farmhouse, rewinding it, and seeing her grandmother's face, begging to live. The MCO's gun hit her grandmother in the face, causing her to collapse. Vanyssa's eyes widened as she watched him place the explosives around the perimeter of the room. She easily recognized her daughter, almost eight months older and beginning to walk, being carried by a female in a BDU. Again, Oo'lish's hand on her arm threw her out of the memory. "WHERE IS SHE." Vanyssa screamed, grabbing the MCO by the front of his clothing and pulling him up towards her. "Where is my daughter." She said, loosing the last vestige of calm that she had. Jason saw the reaction from Vanyssa, he was surprised by it, and shocked. He was in doubt, either tell Vanyssa to calm down, or make this a security issue, in that case, he could command Vanyssa to leave the room, as she is an involved party. He decided to wait and see what would happen. The MCO bubbled up from the little dream-world he was constructing at the Captain's obvious distress, and smiled nastily. It was the smile of an executioner, the smile of someone who was enjoying torment, even if that enjoyment would cost him his life. And then, as a deliberate insult, he closed his eyes again. Vanyssa slapped the MCO hard twice, then dropped him and stalked out of the room. She turned to Oo'lish. "FInd out everything that he knows about my daughter. Find out everything he knows about why and how my ship is under attack. I have a call to make." Her eyes were hard as she left Dema and Oo'lish standing there. She walked down the hallway, crew moving out of her way, and into one of the other offices on the Deck. She walked over to the Desk, and sat down at it, heaving a small sigh. She hated what this war was doing to her, turning her into. She was becoming one of the people she hated. "Winters to Bridge. I need a secure line to Admiral LoDona's ship. Captain's Priority." She said, taking a seat and sighing, waiting for the connection to be made. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique, Empty Office, CO Captain Vanyssa Winters, 2048) Once the connection was made, she saw Robert LoDona's face appear on the screen. "Admiral, I have some disturbing news." She said, taking a deep breath. "And I apologize for bothering you." She then recounted everything that had happened, the Dian Chang, the invasion, the deaths, the numbers in custody and finally the MCO. "My Combat Engineer BodyGuard, Master Sargeant Oo'lish and my Chief of Security are interrogating him now." She said carefully, leaving out the middle part about the drug, knowing LoDona, as a former Combat Engineer, would be available to fill in the blanks. "My family house on Betazed has been burned to the ground, my only relative, my grandmother, has been murdered at the hands of this man, and they have my daughter, Admiral" She said, finally, the tears streaming out of her eyes. "My ship can't take another fight with the Dian Chang, and I have crew still on the planet. I believe all the Combat Engineers are dead, but these marines are dangerous, and the Mystique is not a prison vessel. I need assistance, Admiral, from someone who knows how to contain marines. Many of mine are dead, and Major Lee is not going to be on duty for a while." She waited for words of wisdom to fall from the mouth of her personal hero. LoDona sat back, his face a mask. "A moment, Captain." He said as he tapped a button on his desk and a secondary monitor arose from his desk. He tapped a few buttons on it, bringing up the current strategic map. After a few seconds of study he nodded, then turned back. "You will have help within two days, a ship far better suited to holding a group of hostile Marines." He paused, "He will also be able to help you with... your other problem." Vanyssa nodded. "Who should I be expecting, Admiral?" She wiped the tears away absentmindedly a bit angry with herself for allowing them. She had things to concentrate on. "And do you have any further orders?" She said, anxious to get back to the interrogation. She was also somewhat surprised that she hadn't thought to ask for help before. "The Night's Watch, Captain." Robert said, "Look for Captain Lee." Hesaid. He folded his hands together and looked at her hard for long moments, appraising her. Finally, he said "is there anything else, Captain Winters?" Vanyssa gave him an appraising look for a second. "No, Sir. Just advice from a friend who cares about you. Please take it easy. I'm sure that you get enough nagging from your doctors and counsellors on that subject though." She looked down and then back up with serious eyes. "I'm sorry for failing you, Sir." "You haven't failed, Captain." Robert said in a solid tone. "The ship is in your hands, you did well by your crew, you did what matters." He folded his hands together, "Report to Lee once he arrives, LoDona out." Vanyssa nodded, getting up and heading back into the interrogation. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (Planet Raelleus IVMeeting Hall - somewhere in Falais City - Killman Tailar - 2145) His threat with the knife did not loosen up the small ones tongue but the large one called Keswick spoke up rather quickly and defiantly "We are her to learn about your culture and how you live and interact with each other. That is all." "We may have a common enemy in Prince Hanaldine and a common lineage inasmuch that one of my ancestors was of your Federation -- one of the original visitors who came to our world so many, many years ago." He paused a moment. "The lairmen who dwell beneath the city know more about you than you realize. Some of the lairmen are of the "pure breed.'" He spat the last words, visciously. "Many of us are hybrids of your people and native Raelleans -- the progeny of violence for the most part, have no doubt. But all of us who dwell down below have rejected the powers above. So we are outcasts. Some of us know how to gain favor with the Prince and use it to advantage. I can use it to your advantage as well as ours, if your mighty Federation is willing to aid a lowly race born from its own people." "The Federation will not get involved in the internal politics of your planet. We are here to learn about your people and about the flying box by the founding fathers that is in a decaying orbit around your planet. The rest is up to you to solve on your own." Melek waited impatiently as the questioning continued, it appeared already they would glean little from these two andKeswick was growing more defiant with each answer. "Perhaps, Master Keswick, its the habit of your Federation to drop its people onto a world then accept no further responsiblity for the outcome." "First of all Kel-jinn we take full responsibility in every thing we do.The federation has never left its people behind and the Federation has never visited this world. If this is some kind of trick to get information out of us it will not work. Now, I demand you release us at once." ~That does it!~ Melek began moving around Keswick to take up a position between him and his lord while loosening theshock stick on his belt. "I feel I must tell you that the prince wants me to deal with your interrogation in a most uncomfortable manner and finally see to your execution. Such duties I generally give to my large friend, First Killman Tailar. A grisly task that he performs with great efficiency. The instruments you see in this room is only a part of his job, but he seldom bothers with them except on a weaker subject who would require less persuasion." "Look I don't take threats vary well Kel-jinn," Keswick said defiantly. "I do not intend to threaten you with these words. I'm only introducing you the grim realities of this world. I have spent many years gleaning some favor with Prince Hanaldine. I will not sacrifice those efforts. He expects me to bring him satisfactory information then kill you." He continued, trying to be reasuring. "You and your friend are not personally responsible for the sufferings of our people - and we are as much your people as the Raelleans'. But if keeping my earned postion requires the torturing and killing of a few offworlders whose ancestors have only brought pain and suffering to many generations of its own people, so be it." Again, Kel-jinn continued. "I have the power to set you and your friend free. You have the power to help the orphans of the Federation. I will give you a time to consider everything I've said and allow you time to decide your fate." Kel-jinn stood up, dismissing them. "I will, also, go to the Prince and tell him that you should be kept alive for the moment. He will believe me. Tailar take them back to their prison." "Yes lord," Melek said and looked at the one called Keswick levelly, he had no illusions the big one would go easily, he took the shock stick out and pressed it to Keswick's side and pushed the control button as he spoke. "Move outworlder, your time here is finished." "Hey!"The small one shouted and stepped toward him, Melek turned toward him with the shock stick ready and a ferocious look on his face. ~Try it little one,~ he thought but a look of fear swept over the one called Jansen and he stepped back, Melek was disappointed.He turned his attention back to Keswick and said in a growl."Now move!" Melek should have seen it coming, the guards were lax and instead of taking up proper positions both before and after they fell in behind the group thinking the two were cowed and Melek was too busy watching Keswick to take proper notice, when the two ducked around the corner he leaped around it and right into a punch in the throat. Tailar hit the floor on his face gasping for breath as the guards ran up and took possession of the prisoners, his rage at both the guard's stupidity and the alien's boldness began to boil up from the depths of his being. He heard themspeaking as he was struggling to get to his feet. "I'm not so sure that was the wisest thing to do." "Look Jansen this is just an old fashion jail break now.Follow me I think we overstayed our welcome." After the two were taken into custody one of the guards helped Melek up, his face was red with the depths of his rage. He shook the hands off him and staggered a little. Then he straightened himself up and went over to Keswick with his shock stick in hand. He lifted the instrument and made an adjustment. Keswick and Jansen fought against the hands that held them, to no avail. Tailar smiled an evil smile and held the pain stick to Keswicks temple. As hard as he tried to hold it in, Keswick finally let out a blood curdling scream, that seemed to last for an hour. Melek reveled in the sound. "You're going to kill him!" Jansen yelled. "That's the idea," Tailar replied through gritted teeth. Then he stopped. ~What is this?~ He tried to move the shock stick back to Keswick but it was like he was trying to push over a building. Keswick slumped to the ground, sweat pouring from his forhead, his eyes rolling to the back of his head.Melek looked over at Jansen who had an intense look of concentration on his face. Suddenly theKillman found himself flung hard against the wall and after the initial shockhis rage rekindled at the attack. "Why you little freak," he approached Jansen. Suddenly he couldn't get any closer. it was as if his legs smiply would not move him forward any longer. He turned to the other guards. "Get them the hell out of my sight." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique, Sickbay - Major Richard Ian Lee - 2146) "Uh, Rich?" She said, her eyes widening and blushing. "Are you ok? Do I need to go get the EMH? Miss Angeni had to go to the Bridge. She's spent a long time working on you." Rich blinked his eyes a couple times, but didn't do much when the girl jerked her hand away. "How can you bear that much pain?" The major ground his jaw a bit, "I don't..." he finally said. "Computer, get the bucket of bolts going... the EMH." A second passed, and then a bald man in medical blue shimmered before their eyes. "Please state the nature of the medical emergency." "Drugs, lots of em." Rich managed to say, without much of a growl. The Holo-doc walked over to the opposite side of Jenna and looked at his stats, "As you wish." A quick hypo-spray later and Lee was feeling as good as rain... like he had just had a hole drilled in his side. He sighed lightly and looked over at Jenna. "Well, you are not the first person I expected to be at my bedside, but you are certainly a far more attractive proposition then what I did expect. I take it we won?" (reply: Jenna) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique, Sickbay - Jennah Winters-Dark - 2149) "Drugs, lots of em." Rich managed to say, without much of a growl. Jennah managed not to giggle as the drugs were injected. "They feel funny." She said, then succumbing to the giggles. "Like someone is tickling the insides of me." The EMH gave her a long look before turning back to the Major. "Well, you are not the first person I expected to be at my bedside, but you are certainly a far more attractive proposition then what I did expect. I take it we won?" Jennah flushed at being called attractive. "Thanks, uh, I think." Shesaid, turning a crimson red. "And yeah, we won. We almost didn't though. That scary Sarouk did something and put all the bad marines in the cargo bay in their undies." And then she did giggle. "Mum was in the security office a lot this evening with her bodyguard. She's really depressed. Mum that is. And Mum said a Captain Lee is coming from the great Admiral to help us." Jennah finished. "Is he a relative of yours? " She asked, curiously. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique, Sickbay - Major Richard Ian Lee - 2152) "Thanks, uh, I think." She said, turning a crimson red. "And yeah, we won.We almost didn't though. That scary Sarouk did something and put all the bad marines in the cargo bay in their undies." And then she did giggle. "Mum wasin the security office a lot this evening with her bodyguard. She's really depressed. Mum that is. And Mum said a Captain Lee is coming from the great Admiral to help us." Jennah finished. "Is he a relative of yours? " Richard closed his eyes for a few moments and sighed. "Yes, and no. Ill explain it to you when I have my head clear, the details of it are...foggy." (reply: if desired) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique - Sickbay - Ensign Jason Dema - 2208) Jason was glad the interrogation was over, for the MCO's sake, his, but most of all for Vanyssa's sake, as she seemed to suffer from what she came to know. He was thinking to do something for her, to cheer her up, but knowing what was eating her, nothing would cheer her up. Still he was allready planning something, in case he found a good moment to do it. First of all he went to sickbay, to see if they would have time to check his wound. He entered sickbay and walked over to the docter. "I'm Ensign Dema, I was wondering if you had the time to check my wound." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (Raelleus IV - Kel-jinn's rooms - Killman Melek Tailar - 2210) After the guards had forced the two into the cell Melek swept back down the hallway toward Kel-jinn's suite, he had news that would be of interest to his lord. The two guards standing before the door nodded and let him pass, he flung open the door and strode into the room; surprising Kel-jinn, at his look of anger Melek dropped his gaze and spoke. "My apologies my lord I have news of great import that you will find of interest." (Reply: Kel-jinn) Melek bowed deeply, "The one called Jansen appears to be growing in the power to move objects telekinetically master, he could be very valuable as he appears to be gaining a formidable strength at it. I would also caution this may make it hard to keep them incarcerated. Do you wish for me to slay them?" (Reply: Kel-jinn) Melek's eyes widened. "An alliance? Master you have already offered them so much earlier and they refused. Why do you think their minds could be changed?' (Reply: Kel-jinn) Melek smiled in understanding. "I see master, yes Jansen is weak minded though powerful; if he were separated from his companion.... I will fetch him for you immediately." (Reply: Kel-jinn) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique- Bridge - Conn- Lt Herkimer 78- 2215) Herk and Tourana had been working non-stop on the navigational computers. It had been one, big, ugly mess. Every bypass that Herk knew had been blown by the destruction of the mains. This meant that s/he had to come up with something completely new. Now this was a problem that Herk liked to work out. Tourana hadn't proven to be nearly so patient. She wanted it fixed now but Herk knew that wasn't going to happen. So plan became to start from scratch. Herk litterally emptied the isolinear chips in the back of the nav com and set to creating a whole new pathway to the engine controls. They took to playing games with the chips. "What's this chip for?" became Herk's favorite. Pretty soon the work was going faster and the two of them were chattering and laughing. "I don't want to say what this chips original puprose is for," Herk said, "but I allof the uniforms will be coming out in a nice see through satiny material for the next few hours." Tourana burst into a peel of laughter, showing that she was truely getting tired. Herk put hir hand on the thigh of hir partner. They both stopped and looked at each other for a moment. Well, after all, it had been a long day. A little fun would never hurt. "How's it going guys?" The voice of the captain suddenly interrupted them. Herk removed hir hand quickly and sat up, holding a stack of chips. "Believe it or not,"s/he said, "it's going pretty well. At this rate we chould be done in , oh..." "Three days," Tourana shot in and began to giggle again. Herk held back hir own laughter, "Sorry Captain, we're getting a little punchy." Hir tummy gurggled and hir mind turned to food. "And hungry." "Estimation of repair?" Captain Winter's looked a little worried. "Ask us again in about two hours," Herk tried to be reassuring. "Meanwhile, you'll be happy to know that the replicator in your ready room is now functioning. Don't ask me how, but it used to be routed through this panel." The captain turned and walked away. S/he returned hir focus to the puzzle of putting the nav com back together. A corner of hir mind though, tracked the captain. Herk was a little worried about hir CO. She was taking this all a little too personally. "I'm going for a walk." Winters suddenly reported. "Any news on propul... scratch that. If you have some good news on propulsion feel free to contact me. You have the Bridge, Herk." "Aye Captain," Herk replied without moving. Hir tummy growled again.This was rediculous. "First order of business, Ensign, is food. We're not going to get done any faster by starving to death. Why don't you go rustle us up some food, and I'll keep at this. Tourana agreed and got up. Herk place two chips into their bays and got a hopeful hum from the conn computer. The next one though set off an alarm that only by taking out the last three would it stop. Herk rubbed her forhead in frustration. "Okay my dear one more time," s/he said to hirself. She picked up a stack of chips and started to go through them, laying them out, once agian, in an order that seemed logical, and should work, just as the last five attempts should have. By the time Tourana had returned with some sandwiches Herk had managed to replace no less than five chips, and lights were flickering on and off on the conn control panel. Tourana looked at hir in amazement. "She's showing signs of life. We might get this done after all." They worked while they ate, encouraged by Herk's minor successes.By the time they had finished their food, four more chips had managed to to find homes, and now there wsas a steady humm of power going to the conn.Herk smiled at Tourana. "It's alive, it's alive!!" Tourana laughed and threw her arms around herk. herk returned the embrace, enjoying the sensation of touching another person. S/he was after all,Hermat. Herk looked around the bridge and saw the others watching their display. S/he smiled at them and stepped back from Tourana. They can really celebrate if they can get a connection to the central computer. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (Raelleus IV - Dungeons - Killman Melek Tailar - 2220) Melek stayed alert as the guard opened the door and making sure the two prisoners were well away from the door he stepped up to it. He pointed at the one called Jansen. "You, come with me." (Reply: Jansen) Melek motioned to the crossbowmen. "You have no choice outworlder, you have been summoned." Melek stepped back and waited for Jansen to emerge, ready for an attack, he did not relax as Jansen stepped into the hall and the door was relocked; this one could prove to be dangerous. "My Lord has an offer for you,if I were you I would accept it." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique, Sick Bay - Dr. Terry Markstein - 2245) Terry strode into the sickbay, noticing a woman working on a mixture at a lab station in the corner. "Ensign Windsong-Trommashere?" (reply - Angeni) Terry stepped forward, nodding in greeting. "I'm Dr. Markstein. I'm sorry it took me so long to make my way here. I hope you're expecting me." (reply- Angeni) Terry walked over to where the doctor had been working. "I understand you have a plan for sedating the marines. How can I help?" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique, Sick Bay Ensign Angeni Windsong-Trommashere - 2247) Angeni had rushed back down to sickbay after getting her orders to use her Red Shepen to sedate the marines. She hurried back into Sick Bay, giving Jennah a quick nod before going into the more lab portion of Sick Bay. Before reaching it, she went into the office she was hiding in, and she opened her large, doeskin satchel and she pulled out a small, leather pouch, and she opened it, looking inside, but keeping her nose averted to keep from smelling the herb directly. Too much of a whiff could cause her to go to sleep even before she took care of the marines! She closed it back, and grabbed the doeskin satchel and set to work. She pulled a mortar and pestle from her bag, and had just dropped some of the herb in when she heard someone call her name. She turned around to spot a woman, who she figured to be the doctor that the Captain had told her about. Angeni sat the pestle down and wiped her hands on a cloth before smiling genuinely, holding her hand out to the woman. Greetings and Salutations, Dr. Markstein. You can call me Angeni if you wishno reason to stumble over my last name. Angeni giggles and smiles as she hears her response. The Marines, yeswellbasically the Captain has given me the go aheadwellusthe go ahead to use an herb called Red Shepen to sedate the marines. Basically, Ill prepare the herb, and as Im doing soI believe you can start figuring a way to get it into the cargo bay where they are located. It should be introduced via the ventilation systembut we need to make sure that the ventilation system is closed off to all the other parts of the ship. Basically, Red Shepen will put anyone whos breathing enough of it, into a very sedated sleepand were not trying to sedate anyone but whos in the cargo hold. Sothink youre ready? Angeni smiled brightly and set back to work. She wanted to make sure that everything went off smoothly for the both of them. If you need any helpfeel free to ask ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.24 (USS Mystique-Sickbay- Cnn- Lt. Herkimer 78- 0325) Herk silently made hir way out of Tourana's quarters. Gamma team had taken over the bridge and by 0100 they had the navagational computer back together. There were still a few bugs to work out, but overall they pulled off the miraculous. They had made a spectacle of themselves on the bridge, whooping and huggin each other. A celebration was called for and they called it a night.By the time the turbolift had reached deck 10 they already had a portion of their uniforms removed, and it was thought best to head straight to Tourana's quarters. They were closest. Two hours later, Tourana lay in her bed, fast a sleep from the exhaustion of the days work and the sex. Herk, however, was still energized. S/he had decided to go for a walk. S/he had asked the location of the captain and was surprized to discover that she was still up and going, and in sickay. So Herk headed down there. When s/he entered sickbay, an activity that always left hir a little frayed, she noticed captain Winters talking to a nurse. She looked concerned, and very tired. Herk looked in the window to see that it was Major Lee that they were talking about. He stepped over as the nurse left. "So how is he?" Herk asked. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.24 (USS Mystique, Sickbay - Major Richard Ian Lee - 0326) "Any change on Major Lee or Dr. Weir?" A hollow voice said, "There is plenty of change, Major Lee wishes the phaser had hit something more vital rather then simply putting him in the sickbay... death would be preferable." He opened his eyes slowly. The pain was manageable at this moment, over his better judgment he had gotten more pain medication, and his head was swimming like none other. He had carefully looked around his side, he was mostly healed, but apparently there was some damage that would either be fully patched up later, or would have to heal naturally. Rich hoped it was only residual pain and something that could be patched up later; he didn't want to sit in this bed for a month. (reply: Any) Someone else walked in, the CONN officer, while the Captain was conferring with the nurse, and promptly said. "So how is he?" "He is feeling like a slab of meat, thanks for asking." Rich said with a light growl. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.24 (USS Mystique-Sickbay- Conn- Lt. Herkimer 78- 0327) "He is feeling like a slab of meat, thanks for asking." came the voice from the bed. Herk turned to look at the MCO. He had definitely looked better. "You're welcome," Herk shot back sarcastically. "How would you like to be prepared? After all, I would hate to think you were slacking." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.24 (USS Mystique-Sickbay- CO - Captain Winters- 0328) "Any change on Major Lee or Dr. Weir?" A hollow voice said, "There is plenty of change, Major Lee wishes the phaser had hit something more vital rather then simply putting him in the sickbay... death would be preferable." "Hah." Vanyssa said, moving closer to his bedside. "You might feellike that now, Rich, but you are under orders to not die. Understand?"She said, looking into his eyes, the worry plainly sketched onto her face. She jumped when Herk came in. "So how is he?" "He is feeling like a slab of meat, thanks for asking." came the voice from the bed. Herk turned to look at the MCO. He had definitely looked better. "You're welcome," Herk shot back sarcastically. "How would youlike to be prepared? After all, I would hate to think you were slacking." Herk replied. Vanyssa smiled gratefully to her CONN Officer. Sarcasm meant things were going along well. Just then the EMH came up and began to cluck at Vanyssa. "Elevated levels of ..." And then a bunch of goobley gook, which Vanyssa just glossed over. "And low blood sugar levels. In short, Captain, you need food and sleep." "I had a half hour nap, Doctor, I'm fine." She protested. The EMH however, disagreed and began to argue. Vanyssa held up a hand. "The only way you are going to get me to sleep is to sedate me. I don't have time for sleep. Now attend to the Major, who does need your help. That is an order." Vanyssa said, invoking her steely Captain voice. She yawned, not being able to help herself. She leaned down and whispered, "So who left you the teddy bear?" She asked with mischief in her eyes. (reply Lee) "Well, I have a serious question for you. The Admiral is sending along someone named Captain Lee of the Night's Watch. I know you've spent a lot of time with the Admiral, have you ever heard of him ?" She asked curiously. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.24 (USS Mystique - Sickbay - Major Richard Ian Lee - 0329) "You're welcome," Herk shot back sarcastically. "How would you like to be prepared? After all, I would hate to think you were slacking." Rich turned one eye to glare at the officer. "Ill have you know, Im the pessimistic officer aboard this ship, the position's taken.. find another." He closed his eyes again and muttered, "Start-alec officers, my mother warned me to settle down and find a nice brick-laying job. But nooo... I had to have excitement." He opened his eyes again as someone started slobbering. At least, it sounded like slobbering... it turned out to be the EMH going off on a tangent.~Figures~ "I had a half hour nap, Doctor, I'm fine." She protested. The EMH however, disagreed and began to argue. Vanyssa held up a hand. "The only way you are going to get me to sleep is to sedate me. I don't have time for sleep. Now attend to the Major, who does need your help. That is an order." Vanyssa said, invoking her steely Captain voice. The Captain yawned, then leaned over. "So who left you the teddy bear Rich quirked an eyebrow, "I can't even remember my own middle name, and you are asking if I was conscious while someone left me a bear?" (reply: if desired) "Well, I have a serious question for you. The Admiral is sending along someone named Captain Lee of the Night's Watch. I know you've spent a lot of time with the Admiral, have you ever heard of him ?" Rich groaned, "Not again..." He grabbed hold of the biobed and pulled himself slightly up. "You better prepare yourself for meeting Captain Lee." He said, ignoring the EMH as he began saying that movement wasn't recommended. He waved the doctor shut and hooded his eyes. "The guy is in command of Stratops around here, his full name is..." He couldn't help himself; he opened his eyes fully and smiled enigmatically. "Richard Ian Lee." The MCO folded his hands together over his chest, being carefully to avoid his side, no matter how half-healed it was. "I don't know all the details, suffice to say he is a mirror-universe type... the exact double of me, except he is a Captain and trained in slightly different things then I am." Rich quirked an eyebrow, "A few different scars and a lot of different experiences. From what I caught, his universe had recently been torn apart by a large-scale war where billions died. Uh, the Dominion Wars... with the Cardassians. From what I heard, it was nasty enough, and Starfleet had been on the defensive for two years during it, so this Lee is well versed in tactics we are now finding necessary." The MCO gestured around him, meaning the ship. "I met him once on the Talons. He was..." Rich paused, he didn't know how to describe meeting himself. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.24 (USS Mystique, Sickbay, CEO, Lt(sg) Sarouk, 0425) With the ship out of immediate danger and the repairs well under way, Sarouk had found time to take a small meal break before returning to work. Instead of eating, he decided to check in on his wife and see how she was recovering. He looked around sickbay with his typical calm, and quickly located his wife sleeping on a bio-bed. Moving over toward her, he nodded at the nurse on duty, who nodded back. He moved up beside his wife and her eyes fluttered open as if sensing his presence. He looked down at her, his hands clasped lightly behind his back. His brow rose only slightly as her eyes seemed unfocused at first staring at the ceiling, then moving and focusing on his face.He felt his wife's initial wave of fear and panic as she suddenly remembered what had happened. ::Be still my wife. You are safe,:: Sarouk sent to her telepathically, ::The ship is safe. The invaders have been neutralized.:: (Reply Weir) Sarouk watched as his wife's hand moved down toward her still swollen abdomen knowing what was on her mind. ::Our child is also safe. Worry not.:: Sarouk answered her before she could ask. ::You must rest. Recover your strength. The ship was badly damaged in the invasion. I will be busy for some time overseeing the repairs.:: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique,Bridge, OPS, Lt (jg) HHril, 1338) (USS Mystique, Turbolift 1, OPS, Lt (jg) HHril, 1343) (U.S.S. Mystique, Engine Room; Ensign (jg) Mason Garrett; 1915) (USS Mystique, Engineering, OPS, Lt (jg) HHril, 1920) (USS Mystique, Engineering,Bartok, 1925) (USS Mystique - Deck 5 - ME Dale Grey - 1948) (Raelleus IV - Kel-jinn's Meditation chamber - Kel-jinn- 2210) (Raelleus IV - Kel-jinn's Meditation chamber - Killman Melek Tailar - 2212) (Raelleus IV - Kel-jinn's Dining room - Killman Melek Tailar - 2315) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.24 (Raelleus IV, Falais, Palace - Prince Hanaldine - 0118) (Raelleus IV, Falais,outside Kel-jinn's lair- Prince Hanaldine - 0143) (Raelleus IV, Falais, Palace - Prince Hanaldine - 0148) (Raelleus IV, Falais, Beguilers Lair - Kel-jinn - 0150) (Raelleus IV - Kel-jinn's Dining room - Ensign Bill Jansen- 0152) (Raelleus IV - Kel-jinn's Dining room - Prince Hanaldine - 0158) (Raelleus IV - Kel-jinn's Dining room - Keswick and Jansen- 0159) (Raelleus IV - The Palace - Prince Hanaldine - 0220) (Raelleus IV - The Palace - Prince Hanaldine - 0221) (USS Mystique -Cabin - ME Dale Grey - 0600) (USS Mystique -Deck 5- ME Dale Grey - 0700) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Begin Compile Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique,Bridge, OPS, Lt (jg) HHril, 1338) HHril exited the ready room and headed straight over to the CONN where Herk and Tourana were already busy with the repairs. HHril knew that he did not need to explain to either officer the importance of getting full navigation back up and running. Without it, they were sitting ducks for the Dian Chang. "How goes the battle?" he asked as he approached the two. (reply Herk) "Captain Winters wants to move us as deep as possible into the nebula as quickly as possible. Weapons, cloak,and defensive systems are all offline. Our only real cover right now is the nebula, and we need to use it, as much as possible, to our advantage." (reply Herk) "Keep me appraised of your progress." he said finally with a smile and headed off in the direction of the turbolift. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique, Turbolift 1, OPS, Lt (jg) HHril, 1343) =/\=This is damage control team five to Chief Engineer Sarouk or OPS Chief HHril.=/\= came avoice over the comm's. =/\=Plasma fire on deck five has been extinguished but I have some bad news. Decks five through seven are on emergency backup power, main power has been interrupted on deck five. We also have a lot of fused control cables. Iestimate 18 hours at best for full repairs to be completed.=/\= ~Wonderful!~ HHril thought to himself as he shot his hand to his comm badge. "Acknowledged." he replied. "Based on your preliminary assessment, will we need to replace any of the EPS conduits?" =/\=Affirmative.=/\= came the reply. =/\=The EPS conduit as well as the plasma conduit for this section is going to have to bereplaced. We'll also have to requisition a lot of control circuitry from storage andwe need it as fast as we can get it sir.=/\= HHril rubbed his temples at the thought of all the damage that had been done to the ship. "Acknowledged," he replied again. "Use whatever resources you require. We need full power up and running as soon as possible. Keep me informed. HHril out." he said as he tapped his comm badge closed. This was certainly not the way that he had hoped this mission would have gone. Everything started with the discovery of an old Earth Colony Ship. This was a mission of discovery... of science. And it had turned into yet another battle. It was clear that Doenitz would not stop chasing the Mystique until heeither captured or destroyed her. HHril let out an audible sigh as the turbolift arrived on deck 15. He looked up and headed out the door and into the mess. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (U.S.S. Mystique, Engine Room; Ensign (jg) Mason Garrett; 1915) Garrett approached Hril. "Sir. Here's an assessment of the injured personnel and revised work schedules," he said, handing the PADD over to HHril. "Captain Winters wanted me to run them through you." HHril took the pro-offered PADD and read the information as quickly as his ch'Rihan eyes would allow. "Good work. Thank you Ensign." said HHril as he finished reading the last of the information on the PADD. "Get this information logged so that department heads will have access to it. Keep me appraised of any changes to these numbers. We will no doubt have others who will work until they collapse, and others who will be ready to come back to work before we expect them to. I need a running total, as up to date as can be allowed for. Hour intervals would be best, but I will understand if it goes past that." "I'll log them into the computer immediately, Sir,"Garrett replied. "With your permission Sir, once I've finished, I would like to help with repairs in Engineering. They've got a helluva mess." "Permission granted." replied HHril as he turned from the Ensign. "Once you have logged the data, report back to me. I will require your assistance myself." "Yes Sir." Garrett said and moved off to a nearby computer staion. The download took only about a minute. Actually, the download took less than a second. Punching in all the right security codes and waiting for the computer to respond and interface with his PADD took up the balance of the wait. With the data entered into the right files he instructed the computer to back up the files then cleared his PADD's memory. He moved back to where Hhril was working. "Sir the download is complete. If you have nothing else I'll go find something to repair." Looking around he added. "That won't be a long search." (Reply: Hhril) "Yes on both counts sir. I've met Lt. Sarouk and I worked with subspace communication systems on Vulcan." (Reply:Hhril) "Yessir. I'll find him," Garret said and turned to leave. He walked across the Engine Room to find Sarouk. Crew men and women busily repaired battle damage or crawled into and around various stations checking for the inobvious. As he moved around, he saw an Andorian - possibly the one he'd met earlier and two Vulcans meticulously combing through the systems around the highly delicate warp core. "Hey, John!" a familiar voice called out from one side. Ensign Darson laid tools aside she'd been using underneath the main tactical monitoring station a few meters from him. In one fluid motion she moved from a lying position to sitting to standing and moved toward him smiling. "I thought we settled your name fixaton, earlier," Garrett said with feigned disappointment. "You look more like a John than a Mason," she jibed back at him, her smile now almost dazzling. "We'll have to work that out," he said. "Are you just now developing a sense of humor or were you just being shy before?" "You said I should work on my snappy repoire." "Not bad," she replied, eyes narrowing critically. "Needs work, though." "You keep saying that." They both laughed. "I guess your hip is healed up," Garrett said. "Good enough for a country bicycle ride, later," she told him, rubbing a hand across the smooth curve of her thigh. "The miracle of medicine." "I'll see you after the mess is cleaned up," Garrett said, by way of excusing himself. "I have to find Lt. Sarouk." Darson nodded. "I better get back to my work, too. My super might be watching at this very moment. See you later." He watched her walk away. "Yes mam, you'll see me later," the young ensign murmured to himself, then realized he'd said it too loud when she turned a beaming smile on him again. "I'll take that as a promise, ensign junior grade." "Yes mam," he replied moving away. Sarouk was in the same place Garrett had left him before. Replacing burned out isolinear chips wasn't difficult but it was a long tedious routine of sorting through each one and finding the dead ones. "Lt. Sarouk," Mason said approaching. "Lt. Hhril said I was to work with you on the repairs." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique, Engineering, OPS, Lt (jg) HHril, 1920) "Thank you, Mr. Sarouk. Should you need me, I will be on the bridge." said the OPS officer as he turned back towards the station he had been working at to gather up the last of his things. "Sir," came the voice of the aOPS. "The download is complete. If you have nothing else I'll go find something to repair. That won't be a long search." "Ensign," began the ch'Rihan. "I assume that as an OPS officer, you have a working knowledge of communication systems. And I believe you have already met Chief Engineer Sarouk." "Yes on both counts sir." replied Garrett. "I've met Lt. Sarouk and I worked with subspace communication systems on Vulcan." "Excellent." said HHril as he handed over a PADD containing the information on what he had done so far. "It is imperative that we contact the away team on Raelleus VI. We currently do not have the power to contact them from within the nebula, and sending a communications relay out of the nebula will only give away our position. I have managed to get stabilize subspace communications,but that still leaves us with the problem of how to send it from within the nebula." HHril turned and began to walk towards the turbolift, indicating the Ensign should follow. "The Captain has also ordered us to move as deep into the nebula as possible as all defensive systems are still offline. I need you to work with Lt. Sarouk to get communications online as quickly as possible. That may entail working on the power relays or directly on the communication systems. I need you to find him and coordinate this aspect of the repairs." "Yes Sir. I'll find him,"replied the young Ensign and turned back towards Engineering. "Thank you, Ensign." said HHril after him. "Keep me posted on your progress." HHril stayed and watched the Ensign as he strode quickly back into the heart of the mess. He knew that he had in Ensign Garrett a competent assistant, and that he could concentrate on the rest of the tasks he had. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique, Engineering,Bartok, 1925) Bartok finished running the inventory he had been assigned by Sarouk. By his estimations there should be enough parts on hand to affect most of the major repairs, the rest would have to be replicated as time was available. Bartok slapped his com badge and growled into the air about him. =/\=Bartok to Sarouk=/\= (Reply Sarouk) =/\= I have completed the inventory and it is as I had thought, we can complete the essential repairs but will have to replicate the needed parts for anything minor, Do you have a priority list for repairs?=/\= --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (USS Mystique - Deck 5 - ME Dale Grey - 1948) Everyone worked feverishly for over an hour to sort through the mess that was on deck 5 after the fire had been controlled, they were close to the finish line when the young ladySarah Nevadastraightened up and exclaimed. "Anyone else who needs help, otherwise I'll continue to head to deck 6, see if they need some help." "Go right ahead lass" Dale said and watched her leave. "Okay boys I want to have these conduits completely installed by 21:00, we can test the integrity of them in the morning." Everyone nodded and set back to work, they would be exhausted by the morning but refused to stop short until the repairs had been completed. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stardate: 2406.10.23 (Raelleus IV - Kel-jinn's Meditation chamber - Kel-jinn- 2210) Kel-jinn watched Tailar prod the off-worlders out of the Meeting Hall. The result of his first meeting with the Federation aliens went about as well as one could expect. He gave them his challenge coupled with "veiled" threats to denote their imminent danger. This was of course proceeded by their useless posturing. However, Kel-jinn had perceived enough from the minds of the two aliens. The lair leader moved out of his seat still deep in thought and moved through the door with his two bodyguards in tow. His walk down the rocky corridor was slow as he pondered the "interrogation" and its implications. Kel-jinn's own instincts told him the one called Keswick would not be easily persuaded to the lairmen's cause. Janson might be no easier a subject, but any efforts to win his cooperation, if successful, would be well worth it. He had somewhat taken aback by Keswick's comment that the Federation had never come to this world and Kel-jinn could sense no deceptive intentions in the alien's mind when he said it. It seemed Keswick truly believed it. But it did not matter. Offworlders had come to this world many years ago and caused much pain. So much pain. They would not be welcomed by the lairmen now. These aliens had great knowledge and power, that much was certain. They could be very useful for a time, necessary evils of a kind. And at least one of the aliens would be a magnificient weapon that could help the lairmen and advance Kel-jinn's own ambitous cause. He was still concentrating on Janson when he came to the door of his Meditation Chamber, just a short distance from his bedroom. "Remain outside," he ordered the two massive guards then slipped into the doorway and closed the thick wooden door with a resounding thud. The small room was sparsely furnished with a table and chair in the center. A large syrc-candle sat in the middle of the table. The broad width at the base of the candle and the angular upswept curves denoted its purpose as a mediation candle. The graceful elements of its shape merged out of the base in six concave spiralling stems around the border, each tapering into a tip with wicks. A larger central cone projected higher than the stems and stopped abruptly into a small flat top also with a thicker protruding cord. Kel-jinn lit the wicks, sat in the chair and stared into the flame. The heady sensation caused by the vapors from the flame began to flow through him. Derived from the syrupy gum of a syrc plant, the Realleans had over centuries learned to treat the body and/or wicks of the candle in a myriad of ways to give it spiritual and medicinal uses. The lair leader felt the effects of the meditation candle relax him. He desired to speak to his Within-Voice, a voice that frequently spoke through him - to him - encouraging him. It was essentially an extension of himself but sometimes it was almost like a tangible presence lurking in the shadows beyond the low ambience of the candle. As if a piece of his soul projected into life and spoke to him. "I seek guidance," said the lair leader. "I will guide. I am your friend." Kel-jinn's lips moved slowly as the voice spoke through him. "You have encountered a being of great power whom you wish to use in your right and just cause." "Yes." "The Prince has caused you and your lairmen such pain," the voice urged sympathetically. "He must be destroyed," Kel-jinn said spitefully. "A dangerous thought that must be kept hidden from him," said the voice. "But this is your destiny, to take his place." "Of course I've kept it hidden," Kel-jinn retorted sharply. "I'm not a fool." But he was happy to hear the voice reaffirm what he'd always known. Kel-jinn belonged in Prince Hanaldine's place. Kel-jinn should be the power in the city. One day he would be. "The off-worlders are not to be trusted either," the voice said cooed smoothly through Kel-jinn's lips. "They created a despised breed that is not recognized as true Raellean. This much you do know. And you are wise to use them." "But these newcomers may be different," Kel-jinn said doubtfully. "They are not like our forebears. They said they only came to study our culture." "What does it matter," the voice chastised him, sharply. "They are not of this world. They are like the old aliens who came and whelped a bastard race and left it powerless, defenseless. So they too will..." A presence broke his concentration, like a mental hail, brusque in its anxiety, coming from the adjoining corridor. The Within-Voice quieted, and Kel-jinn sensed the familiar mind of Tailar approaching. The door swung inward slamming against the stonework in Tailar's perturbation. Kel-jinn perceived a convoluted torrent of thoughts flooding through his Killman's anxious mind. "My apologies my lord I have news of great import that you will find of interest," the large Killman said quickly, his eyes dropping respectfully to the floor. Kel-jinn relaxed his own irritation. His large second man, not at all lacking in his own personal spirituality, would not intrude upon his master's meditation lacking good warrant. "Come in my friend," Kel-jinn said smoothly. "What is the matter?" It had something to do with the prisoners. Images of a confrontation poured from Tailar's mind, and Kel-jinn sensed little else but fear in his mental babbling.Fear! From his battle-hardened First Killman, the master of his lairmen raiders. Melek bowed deeply, "The one called Jansen appears to be growing in the power to move objects telekinetically master, he could be very valuable as he appears to be gaining a formidable strength at it. I would also caution this may make it hard to keep them incarcerated. Do you wish for me to slay them?" "No, do not kill them," Kel-jinn said abruptly. He, then, smoothed his tone. "I sensed his power earlier as I spoke with the him and his companion. We can find better use for them -- for HIM -- if he allies with us." Melek's eyes widened. "An alliance? Master you have already offered them so much earlier and they refused. Why do you think their minds could be changed?' "The alien named Keswick will not, of that I am certain. But he does not interest me as much as the one called Jansen." Kel-jinn's right hand stroked the smoothness of his face thoughtfully for a moment before he noticed his Killman's dumbfounded _expression. "Jansen is only now discovering the rudiments of his talents. He is as undisciplined as a young strong warrior in his first raid. I will see him again and talk to him." Melek smiled in understanding. "I see master, yes Jansen is weak-minded though powerful; if he were separated from his companion.... I will fetch him for you immediately." "Hold! Give me an hour before bringing him," Kel-jinn said. "Bring him to my chamber. He will dine with me. If he attacks you stun him if you must." (Reply: Tailar) "For the moment, be careful to treat the prisoners as civilly as possible. Do not harm Jansen, especially, and we will have to accomodate his friend for the moment. I do not expect his cooperation but he is not as great a threat. We must first gain their trust. Then if Keswick is slain in a raid at a later time, so be it. If they ask why they cannot be removed from their dungeon cell, permanently, tell them I will arrange for that at a later time. Have someone arrange accomodations for them. A single comfortable room. As far from the surface as possible and easily guarded. We will move them in the morning." (Reply: Tailar) "No my friend we can't tell Hanaldine we killed them. I have great confidence in you and your men to guard them. But we don't know how clever they are. In the unlikely event they do escape, we can't have them suddenly appearing before the Prince telling all they know. We will make it appear as if they escaped on their own." (Reply: Tailar) "One last thing before you leave, Killman," said the leader. "In four hours, send a liaison to Gelslith Lair telling them that I have received word of the unfortunate demise of their Leader. Tell them your leader is concerned because he heard their leader was killed by city guards in his own Lair." (Reply: Tailar) "Very good," Kel-jinn said dismissively. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (Raelleus IV - Kel-jinn's Meditation chamber - Killman Melek Tailar - 2212) Melek listened carefully to his lord's instructions as he told them how they would deal with the outworlders. After offering to fetch the one called Jansen for him Kel-jinn held up his hand. "Hold! Give me an hour before bringing him," Kel-jinn said. "Bring him to my chamber. He will dine with me. If he attacks you stun him if you must." The Killman nodded quickly at the instructions, he would rather have been done with both of them but Kel-jinn's orders would have to be followed. "For the moment, be careful to treat the prisoners as civilly as possible. Do not harm Jansen, especially, and we will have to accomodate his friend for the moment. I do not expect his cooperation but he is not as great a threat. We must first gain their trust. Then if Keswick is slain in a raid at a later time, so be it. If they ask why they cannot be removed from their dungeon cell, permanently, tell them I will arrange for that at a later time. Have someone arrange accomodations for them. A single comfortable room. As far from the surface as possible and easily guarded. We will move them in the morning." Tailar said. "Very well my Lord, I know the perfect room for them, it is easily guarded and remote, they would have to circumnavigate most of the lair to escape if they were to overpower their guards. However consider this, Prince Hanaldine would not be soorowful if we were to tell him we had killed them. Was that not his instructions?" "No my friend we can't tell Hanaldine we killed them. I have great confidence in you and your men to guard them. But we don't know how clever they are. In the unlikely event they do escape, we can't have them suddenly appearing before the Prince telling all they know. We will make it appear as if they escaped on their own." "Very well my lord." Tailar said, he didn't like this idea and hoped it would not lead to ruin. "One last thing before you leave, Killman," said the leader. "In four hours, send a liaison to Gelslith Lair telling them that I have received word of the unfortunate demise of their Leader. Tell them your leader is concerned because he heard their leader was killed by city guards in his own Lair." Tailar grinned wolfishly and nodded. "Excellent thinking my lord,I will do so immediately." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.23 (Raelleus IV - Kel-jinn's Dining room - Killman Melek Tailar - 2315) Melek motioned Jansen through the door and followed him inside. "My lord I have brought you the one called Jansen." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.24 (Raelleus IV, Falais, Palace - Prince Hanaldine - 0118) Hanaldine was sleeping soundly beside his courtesanwhen he sensed the presence of another approach his rooms, he had trained himself to use the latent power of his mind for warning even during periods of unconciousness during his youth and it seldom failed him; he was nearing wakefulness when the rap on his door began. He sat up in the sumptuous bed in the lavishly furnished bedchamber and considered the identity of the interloper, it was his seneschal Jabril and his mind was radiating great excitement. :: Come in Jabril.:: He sent as he covered himself and rose from the bed. The seneschal came through the door with a lit, threepronged candlestick which dimly brightened the room, massive wall hangings and a portrait of the Prince adorned the walls, the furniture was of dark woods, rich and deep as well as heavily padded and comfortable. Thereddish furredcourtesan stirred and pulled the heavy green bedclothes over her lovely, nude form and snuggled deeper into the bed as the Prince steered the otherRaellean into a sitting chamber which adjoined the room. The furniture there was as rich and as heavy, there was a cabinet in which the Prince's stock of wines and liquors was kept, several small endtables and deeply padded chairs. The wall hangingsin the sitting chambershowed the time of the Great Darkness several hundred years past when the war between the Realleans and their mixed descendants took place, a war the Prince would like to see come about again to the complete destruction of the powerful natives. ::What is it Jabril?:: The white furred and wingedHanaldine asked as he poured both of themsherry into crystal goblets. "My Prince we have received word that another of the Lair leaders has been slain, Gelsith Lair has lost it's headman only hours ago and the evidence has been made to appear as though he were slain by city guards while in a compromising position, it is however suspicious that the guardsman was also slain and therefore may not testify to what he saw." Hanaldine considered the news for a moment, in the past months more and more of the lair leaders had fallen and the strength of the lairs was moving toward Kel-jinn as the survivors allied with him, there were few lairsleft beneath the city now that were not beholden to him. The Prince was reconsidering his earlier orders for Kel-jinn to hold and question the outworlders in the light of this new revelation. "It is certainly propitious is it not for Kel-jinn; all these "accidents" and incidents that are tightening his stranglehold on the underworld?" Jabril sank into the deep cushion of the luxurious chair and nodded at his Lord. "Indeedmy Prince, as it stands he has only three rival lairs remaining and who knows how long that will last." Jabril neglected to mention he had brought these fears up to Hanaldine on an earlier occassion and been laughed off. Hanaldine sat down and put his wine on a beautiful and delicate endtable next to his chair and sat thoughtfully for a moment. "Since the messenger arriven from Kel-jinn begging for me to keep the outworlders alive a while longer I have been considering what he might be up to. A ship with high technology and many people on board would go far to further any plans he might make would they not? I have decided then... we shall pay a visit to Kel-jinn and his "guests" tonight. Have one dozen guardsmen ready to leave in 20 minutes, you will accompany me to his lair." "Only twelve your Highness, is that wise?" "It is enough for my purpose, to mark a visit of importance and an implied threat, I will brook no disobedience or bluster during my visit." "Very well Highness it will be done." Jabril finished his wine and stood up as if to leave. "And one other thing Jabril, take note of everything you see and hear, I will consult with you afterward and we will consider what actions to take in regards to Kel-jinn." Jabril nodded and left briskly and the Prince left his wine untouched as he reentered his bedchamber. Once there he took the chain of the Courtesan and locked it to the collar at her throat thus securing her for later, she didn't dare move until his preparations were completed. "I will be back," he said with warning in his voice. "Be prepared for my return." "Yes Lord," she said weakly and suppressed a shiver as he dressed. It would not be good for her to be disobedient therefore she decided she would remain awake whiletaking no chances. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.24 (Raelleus IV, Falais,outside Kel-jinn's lair- Prince Hanaldine - 0143) Hanaldine strode up to the two guards who kept the way to Kel-jinn's lair. "Tell your master I am here and be quick about it, I have no patience to stand in the night waiting for him. I want to see him and his two outworder prisoners... immediately!" Behind and to the side of him his guardsmen glared at the suddenly fearful lair guards. "I said now!" One of the two took off quickly at his shout and the other recoiled in terror as he felt the weight of Hanaldine's mind come to bear on his. "You had best hope he answers quickly." Hanaldine sneered as the Raellean let out a pained cry. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Star date: 2406.10.24 (Raelleus IV, Falais, Palace - Prince Hanaldine - 0148) Hanaldine looked up as the guard returned with the news he was waiting for.Having received his answer the Prince released the unfortunate guard he had been holding in mental torment and the fellow dropped to the ground sobbing. Following along with the others behindthe second guard who was radiating dread they came after a moment to the reception hall where Kel-jinn received his important visitors which was nothing like the hall he had used earlier for his two "guests", this hall was richly furnished and formal; designed to make a favorable first impression for powerful guests. Kel-jinn was perched worriedly on the high seat with Killman Tailar standing close at his right hand watching the Prince's party narrowly. Hanaldine could see three guards in the room now and knew more waited outside the doors, he could feel them and would have expected their presence anyway. The Prince stepped forward and took the initiative instantly. "Where are the out worlders you are so solicitous of Kel-jinn? My message stated implicitly I wanted to see them also." (Reply: Kel-jinn) The prince saw Tailar stiffen in anger at his tone and gave him a toothy smile, Tailar would not have a chance to draw his weapon before he would be writhing in agony on the floor and Hanaldine knew that he knew it as well. Kel-jinn's voice quavered slightly as he answered. (Reply: Kel-jinn) "Very well then make it quick, I don't have much patience for waiting tonight." Hanaldine thenwaited while Kel-jinn answered, never taking his eyes off of Tailar. It was several minutes before the out worlders were ushered into the chamber, theylooked surprised at the late summons and somewhat confused. After verifying they were the ones he sought Hanaldine turned once more to Kel-jinn. "I will be taking these two with me." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Star date: 2406.10.24 (Raelleus IV, Falais, Beguilers Lair - Kel-jinn - 0150) Kel-jinn was surprised and concerned by the sudden unexpected summons of Prince Hanaldine. He'd settled into his room once again to rest when an agitated guard approached to inform Kel-jinn of what their visitor. "Escort him to the meeting hall," he ordered sharply, suddenly feeling trapped. He began dressing when the guard left and he had time to collect his wits. What had prompted Hanaldine to descend into the city's underbelly to confront a lair leader? Obviously, the prince wanted to intimidate Kel-jinn with his presence. Probably it had something to do with the aliens. Could he suspect the lair leaders true intentions? Anything was possible at this point. He'd carefully crafted a false persona to the Prince over years using actors tricks of bodily expressions and projecting false emotions and thoughts to create the desired impressions. The Prince's own arrogance, his sense of superiority, had thus far aided Kel-jinn's deception. If that had changed, this visit could mean the start of real trouble. Tailar arrived as Kel-jinn was leaving his bed chamber, obviously concerned for his master. (Reply: Tailar) "Be calm my friend," Kel-jinn said. "I doubt the Prince has come for my head, rather to frighten the lowly lairmen and remind them who the power of the city truly is." (Reply: Tailar) Kel-jinn perceived from Tailar's mind that his Killmen would have raiders standing by to defend the leader of Beguilers Lair. The hall where Kel-jinn received his important vistors which was nothing like the hall he had used earlier for his two "guests", this hall was richly furnished and formal; designed to make a favorable first impression for powerful guests. Kel-jinn sat himself on his high seat with Killman Tailar standing close at his right hand watching the Prince's party narrowly. Hanaldine could see three guards in the room now and knew more waited outside the doors, he could feel them and would have expected their presence anyway. The Prince stepped forward and took the initiative instantly. "Where are the out worlders you are so solicitous of Kel-jinn? My message stated implicitly I wanted to see them also." "I wanted to warn my Lord Prince about these two before he confronted them," Kel-jinn with a smile and bowing low to Hanaldine. "Very well then make it quick, I don't have much patience for waiting tonight." Hanaldine thenwaited while Kel-jinn answered, never taking his eyes off of Tailar. "I must warn my Prince that these outworlders are most unusual," Kel-jinn cooed smoothly preparing his carefully crafted mix of lies and truth. He carefully added a nervous twinge to his voice. The more subservient - cowed - he seemed the better. "The one named Jansen has shown considerable power and both of them tenaciously refuse to talk. Before you came I was going to have them killed as you previously instructed and be done with them. I fear them. Fear the damagethey can inflict to our world as my ancestors did. "There minds are complex and strong. What little I was able to glean from their memories is frightening to say the least. I did get the sense that they represent a power that we cannot possibly hope to fight -- at least that is what they believe, and I do not doubt it. They have the knowledge to come to us from another world. That alone has terrible implications. "They said they came to 'observe' our culture. To what end I am not sure but a wise enemy may come forth extending a false hand of friendship, while carrying a dagger behind their backs. "Observing' could be another word for spying. Seeking out weaknesses. I don't trust them, my Prince. If they go free they would have the opportunity to spread lies and dissension among our people." Kel-jinn carefully blocked his true thoughts from the Prince, using what powers of his own mind he possessed to project a false front of lies. It was several minutes before the out worlders were ushered into the chamber, theylooked surprised at the late summons After verifying they were the ones he sought Hanaldine turned once more to Kel-jinn. "I will be taking these two with me," Hanaldine declared. "Your servant, Great Hanaldine, regrets he could not be of greater use to you," Kel-jinn groveled humbly. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.24 (Raelleus IV - Kel-jinn's Dining room - Ensign Bill Jansen- 0152) Once again Jansen and Keswick were shuffled from their new restingplace and dragged down a series of corridors. Each time they seemed to be getting treated better and better. Which worried Jansen to no end. Also, after the last time that htey had been seperated, Keswick had been most unusually quiet. Keswick tended to have an opinion about everythig,and was willing to share all the time. But since his last meeting with Kel-jinn Keswick had said little. In fact, he hadn't even asked about what had happened. Now they were being drug, in the middle of the night, to yet another meeting. All Jansen really knew was that his feeling of unease was continuing to grow, and that everyone appeared to be very wary of him.Even more so than Keswick, who could have been more likely to cause them serious physical harm. They came upon yet another big wooden door. The door was opened and they were ushered into the room. This room was a little smaller thant he dining room that he had talked with Kel-jinn, but bigger than Kel-jinn's personal room. The furniture was more ornate, and looked comfortable. There was a man sitting in an opulant seat, obviously the center of attention. Jansen's mind picked out the name Hanaldine, and he seemed to remember the name went with a title. Prince... Prince Hanaldine. "I will be taking these two with me," Hanaldine declared. Jansen looked shocked. He had no idea what was going on, but he didn't like it. At least while they were with Kel-jinn he knew that they weren't in mortal danger. But what he sensed from Hanaldine was definitely not nice. "Your servant, Great Hanaldine," Kel-jinn bowed, "regrets he could not be of greater use to you." Suddenly Keswick spoke up. "I'm not going anywhere, or with anyone until I know what the hell is going on." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stardate: 2406.10.24 (Raelleus IV - Kel-jinn's Dining room - Prince Hanaldine - 0158) "Your servant, Great Hanaldine," Kel-jinn bowed, "regrets he could not be of greater use to you." The Prince gazed from the dark garbed Raellean to his Killman in deep red and could not help but consider the incongruity of the situation. Kel-jinn as always was obsequious and evenfawning and the thoughts Hanaldine skimmed from the surface of his mind went along completely with his words but at the same time his Killman was a cauldron of anger and spite. The Prince considered probing deeper to find out the truth and as the most powerful telepath in the city he could have ripped the thoughts from Kel-jinn's mind but decided this was not the time or the place. He relaxed slightly at the out worlders arrival but only slightly, the large one began to bluster at what he had heard. "I'm not going anywhere, or with anyone until I know what the hell is going on." The eyes of the Prince narrowed at the presumption on the part of the one called Keswick and with a touch of his mind he gave him a taste of fear, the eyes of Keswick got wide and he began to tremble at the horrible images and feelings that saturated his mind, putting his hands on his head trying to block out the images he sank to his knees and sobbed. The Prince saw the one called Jansen stiffen and felt a flow of power begin to build in his mind, Hanaldine looked him fully in the eyes and he said flatly , "If you loose a mental attack upon me you will quickly die!" (Reply: Jansen) While the Prince and Jansen pondered one another Keswick was able to recover his wits, after speaking with Jansen the Prince turned back to him. "What is going on out worlder is that I who am the ruler of this city am taking you into my custody. The two of you present a peculiar problem to me on several fronts and I am going to question you myself in more private surroundings. For now though I have aquestion for Kel-jinn." (Reply: Jansen or Keswick if desired) The Prince then turned once more to Kel-jinn who dropped his gaze quickly. "I have heard Kel-jinn that yet another rival of yours has fallen prey to circumstances, perhaps you have some information about this which may be of use to me." Hanaldine monitored the thoughts of Kel-jinn closely as he answered, there was a wavering there as he answered as though he were attempting to be deceptive which was no surprise to the Prince, he was sure that the lair leader had had a hand in many other such circumstances. (Reply: Kel-jinn) "I see," The Prince said and smiled as he shielded his own thoughts. "I am happy you are above such things Kel-jinn and may be trusted. You will have to come to the palace soon to visit with me. There are many other items of interest I wish to speak with you about but for now I must go. I have an important "engagement" myself awaiting me at the palace." Hanaldine was remembering the reddish furred Courtesan as he spoke, she was not nearly so resplendent or beautiful as the onehe had tried unsuccessfully toacquire earlier in the day but was fulfilling in her own small way. Anger grew in his mind as he remembered the native Raellean's interrupting him as he tried to take her from her "owner"; he would be delirious with joy when the ones called Cecillia and Lilla were dead! (Reply: Kel-jinn) "I must go now." The Prince turned his back on them and walked away though with his mind he monitored their actions and he motioned for the guards toescort the two out worlders and as he walked out the door he smiled. Now he would find out what Kel-jinn's game was. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stardate: 2406.10.23 (Raelleus IV - Kel-jinn's Dining room - Keswick and Jansen- 0159) "I'm not going anywhere" Keswick said, "or with anyone until I know what the hell is going on." Suddenly Keswick had an intense feeling of fear come over him. It was just being afraid, he was terrified. He knew that he had no reason to have such a fear, but there it was nonetheless. Horrifying thought went through his mind. Pictures that were some gruesome, and so real, that he found himself feeling faint. Slowly he sank to his knees, covering his eyes with his shaking hands. Jansen had no idea what he was doing but he had to stop what was going on. He began to gather himself, mentally and he could feel the build up of energy inside of him. Suddenly Hanaldine caught his eye. "If you loose a mental attack upon me you will quickly die!" he warned. There was an empty ring to his voice. Jansen couldn't tell what it was, but for some reason he knew Halnaldine's threat was built on intimidation, not real power. "You need to stop, " Jansen said calmly, "or I will be forced to stop you." The images disapated from Keswicks mind and he managed to push the fear back. he was pretty sure he wouldn't be going into any dark rooms anytime some. "What is going on here?" "What is going on out worlder is that I who am the ruler of this city am taking you into my custody. The two of you present a peculiar problem to me on several fronts and I am going to question you myself in more private surroundings. For now though I have a question for Kel-jinn." Keswick wanted to shout out another protest but his grip on his fear prevented him. Hanaldine and Kel-jinn talked about another, but Jansen had no idea what they were talking about. Suddenly the conversation was over and the Prince was heading for the door. He motioned for the guards to escort the two out worlders to follow. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.24 (USS Gunnel -Telan Raynar-ships counselor-0200) Pain, escape, run, hide. Telan awoke with a start the random wild emotions flashing into and out of his mind at such speeds were causing a tremendous headache. ~I see our patient has woken up~ he mumbled to himself. Telan rose from the seat he had used to take a quick nap in and returned to the rear of the shuttle. Peters was awake as well and from the look he had on his face he had been awake for sometime. You should have called me Telan told him. If you can move to the front of the shuttle you might want to. What I am going to do will not harm you but it is a personal level, unless that doesnt bother you, Peters shook his head and lay back down. Telan once again began releasing calming pheromones into the small room. The effect on Peters was almost instant from the peaceful look that formed on his face. That of Nurse Jones took a bit longer so he added a gentle calming emotional flow to wash over her as well. He needed to return to her mind but that would have to wait a while longer. They both needed rest before he could undertake that particular path of healing again. With that thought in mind Telan administered a mild sedative to the nurse and went back to his seat. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.24 (Raelleus IV - The Palace - Prince Hanaldine - 0220) They walked past the two gate guards,through the outer court of the palace andthen passed throughan ornate door into a large meeting hall where the Prince took a seat on a throne like chair, he motioned for the guards to release the prisoners and indicated a table where they could sit. The room was opulent and comfortable to a nearly ridiculous degree, everything was almost garishly beautiful and the cushions were deeply stuffed. The hall was also well lit as all but two of the guards and the Seneschal Jabril left after lighting more of the lamps with cleanly burning oil. "Now," Hanaldine said. "Tell me the real reason you have come to Realleus and how many are with you." As the one called Jansen answered he monitored his thoughts closely. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stardate: 2406.10.24 (Raelleus IV - The Palace - Prince Hanaldine - 0221) When they harrived at the princes palace the guards were quiteunceremonious in their escort. They held Keswick tightly with his arms held tightlly behind his back. They seemed to treat Jansen with a little more care. Instead of holdinghim though, they simply shoved and pushed him the way they wanted him to go. Even still, Jansen could sense their fear and trepidation every time they touched him. It was as if they were relieved that they hadn't gotten bitten each time. He was beginning to realize that whatever was happening to him, was outside of what they were used to. He was different, even for Raelleans. Hanaldine sat in a throne at the head of a table and motioned for keswick and Jansen to sit aswell. Keswick looked as though he were about to tell Hanaldine where to put his chair. but Jansen sat down and Keswick followed suit. "Now," Hanaldine said, after the guards had left them alone, "tell me the real reason you have come to Realleus and how many are with you." Jansen thought carefully before speaking. He could feel somethingin his mind, as if someone were watching him. "Prince Hanaldine, the truth is, that we have come to your world in search of answers. There have been other offworlders here, and we are trying to discover what happened to them.I cannot tellyou how many are with us.As I understand it, almost everyone has returned to our ship."He could sense Hanaldine probing his mind again, as if checking on the vercity of his stroy. Jansen had had enough of that. With a little push he surrounded Hanaldine's presence with his own mind and pushed him out. He could feel the frustrated prince try to regain entry unsuccessfully. Jansen looked up to see the prine's reaction. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.24 (USS Mystique -Cabin - ME Dale Grey - 0600) Dale opened his eyes with difficulty and forced himself out of bed then walked over to the replicator. "Hot coffee, Columbian blend." The replicator whined for an instant then the door slid open and he took out the steaming cup of the strong brew. After sipping of the coffee he went to the lavaratory to start his morning shower as well as other necessities then returned quickly to his brew. After completing the repairs to the bulkhead on deck5 an hour behind schedule his crew had dispersed to their quarters to get some rest; the first order of business this morning would be to test the newly installed circuits and the integrity of the conduits under pressure. After dressing he picked up his combadge. "Jacobs, Sikes and Devereau report in." After they had acknowledged he continued, "Meet me on deck 5 at 0700." =^= Acknowledged. =^= They said one after another. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2406.10.24 (USS Mystique -Deck 5- ME Dale Grey - 0700) After everyone had arrived Dale sighed and said "Okay Jacobs turn on the main power at the junction and let's see what we've got."The man left to do as ordered. After a moment the newly installed circuits began to hum and Dale ran a diagnostic tool over the array and saw some adjustments would have to be made. "Sikes, hand me the depolarizer. This won't take long." Darren Sikes did as he was told and watched the man work. ~Today is going to be a long day!~ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- End Compile `gsssyyy@}݂JLVYRg"'(')'*'Y'Z'r's',,>>ʼ hc0JhcB*OJQJ^Jphhc0JB*phhcB*phhc#hcB*CJOJQJ^JaJphhcCJOJQJ^JaJ !v # D F \5 ..????^H`HHH)I+I;J=JJJ!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:+!v:+!v:!v:!v:H!v:!v:?!v:!v:!v:!v:)!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:gdc>JKKKKKKKK LLLLLLLLRMTMMMMNNN OOO OO!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:gdcOO P PPP7P9PtPvPQQQQRRLRNR>S@SMSOS#U%UUU\]]]i!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:B!v:gdciiYԆֆ ,߯/1%':<(*ac!v:w!v:!v:!v:*!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:gdccѸ@~ Sg]km!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v:!v: 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