Stardate:2405.09.04
(USS Firebrande - Sickbay - ACMO Rain Anderson - 07.20)

Rain looked again at the results she had accumulated and scratched her head again. She had taken a large number of temporal resonance scans of anyone she came across, she'd even requested further scans from the Nimitz. What she had expected to find was that all of the crew members who had transferred from the other reality would have the same temporal resonance frequency and that this would be different from the scans taken from the crew native to this reality.

That was not what she had found. The crew native to this reality all had their molecules resonating at the same frequency, but the crew of the ships who'd experienced "notime" all resonated at different frequencies. The discrepancies were minute but present nonetheless.

The only conclusion that she could draw was that each person scanned had passed through different universes and their current state was an "average" of these different universes.

She scratched her head again, trying to come up with an alternate hypothesis. She'd discussed her ideas with a number of doctors and they also could not come up with an alternative.

With a sigh she began to write her report.

--------------------

Medical Report Re: Temporal Resonance Anomalies
To: All Senior Staff of USS Firebrande & USS Nimitz

Intensive studies have revealed the following:

* The three members of the USS Nimitz scanned all have identical resonance readings.
* The 32 members of the Firebrande crew scanned all show slight variances in resonant values between each other and from the Nimitz crew.

Tentative hypothesis: The crew members who experienced the end of their own universe and a period of "notime" have intersected with different realities and their temporal resonance variance is an "average" of the resonance derived from each universe.

Other avenues of investigation are still being pursued.

Report completed by ACMO Rain Anderson

---------------------

Rain sent the report to the relevant people. She stood up from the desk and stretched. The sickbay was largely deserted now. She wondered if the belongings she had stashed in a cupboard were still there after their universe-shift. A quick check revealed that they were. She grabbed her case and went off in search of her quarters and a good sleep.

(Reply any)
(Posted by Wendy Keen)
Stardate:2405.09.04
(USS Firebrande - Quarters - ACMO Rain Anderson - 16.10)

Rain stretched in her bed, surprised at how long she had slept for.

~Universe hopping sure must use up a lot of energy!~

She climbed from her bed and looked down at what she was wearing with a look of disdain. The clothing that she had arrived in this universe with looked more suitable for bedtime than for day wear anyway and she'd simply fallen into bed still wearing it. She moved to the replicator and ordered a new uniform and then a mug of coffee.

Leaving the coffee to cool, she headed for the sonic shower and stood for long minutes letting the vibrations ease her feelings of tension and exhaustion. The thoughts about what this change in universe would mean for her and the rest of the crew whirled around in her head. She had so many unanswered questions that she needed answers to and standing in the shower was not going to get them answered.

She quickly dressed and took her coffee to the desk. She activated the console and took a deep breath and then put in a call to her parents.

When her mother's face appeared on the screen, Rain steeled herself for what would happen next.

"Fancy dress?" her mother said acerbically. "You could have told us you were leaving rather than just disappearing!" 

"It's a little more complicated than that." Rain replied and then tried, in as simple a terms as possible, to tell her mother what had happened.

"So in this universe, I work with you on Risa.... but in the other universe I am a Starfleet doctor, educated on earth and assigned to Utopia Planetia.

"So when will you be coming home? We can't make do, with just your father and I."

This was what Rain had been dreading. She'd known her mother wouldn't be thinking about all her daughter had been through.... a whole life she had known was gone, obliterated.... but would only be concerned about herself. 

"I'm not coming home! I have two very clear sets of memories of both existences and my life in Starfleet is the one that gives me fulfilment, not my other life. You'll have to find someone else to play hostess."

The tirade began..."You ungrateful little.....after all we've given you...." and so it continued.

Rain listened half-heartedly, having heard it all before. She knew that the Rain from the other universe had achieved everything she had all by herself, in spite of her parents rather than because of them.

When her mother had run out of abuse, Rain said her goodbyes and closed the channel.

She finished getting dressed and left for the sickbay.

(Reply none)
(Posted by Wendy Keen)

Stardate:2406.01.09
(Earth - Starfleet, Advanced Technologies Section - Lee/Dervin - 1125)

Lee stalked down the corridors of Advanced Warp Technologies, a man with a mission who wouldn't be stopped even if hell itself barred the way. He passed several scientist types, a few who simply stepped aside at the look on his face. He ignored them, intent on finding Doctor Dervin and having one last throw down with the uppity woman. She was a civilian, fine... but she had repeatedly thrown the regulations that where written in the blood of less careful people right out the window. This had to stop, it had to stop soon, and it *would* stop soon or he would have her pips hanging on his wall as a souvenir of her brief stay on Utopia. 

One of the Civilian ensigns stepped aside for him, and discreetly tapped his badge when Lee had passed. =^=Kroniker to Dervin, you have a very thin-lipped commander heading your way.=^=

"Acknowledged" Tanya replied.  ~NOW WHAT?!?~  That bastard had made her life hell since the moment that she'd been onboard.  Everything she tried to do, everything 

that she did, and everything that she was going to do was consistently under scrutiny by HIM.  What right did he have?  And now no doubt he was coming down here to ream her out over some minor issue of protocol. Tanya shook her head.  ~I don't even know why I bother~  She thought with a really annoyed tone.

Lee found Tanya Dervin's office, and pressed the enunciator. "Doctor Dervin, I need to speak with you." he said in a controlled voice.

Tanya immediately felt a little rise of panic.  No this wouldn't happen. Quickly she put on the infra red lighting that had been installed in her office, and began to be in the midst of an experiment.  A small digital sign flashed on the door.  "Entry prohibited, light sensitive experiment in progress."

Lee read the words, and marveled at the timing of them. "Like hell." he muttered.

"Computer, override the locks on this door, authorization Lee Seven seven omega Zulu!" he growled. The door beeped, and slid open, revealing a somewhat surprised looking Doctor. He doubted that would last long, anger would break out soon enough. He took in the sight of her for just half a moment, and pushed the words of a friend of his out of his mind, one that said he *must* be in love with her if he took so much interest in chewing her out. He had cursed John then on the intercom, and he cursed him now as he admitted she *was* a fine looking woman and those words continued echoing through his mind. 

He stepped inside, "I will ignore that, but it will never happen again." he said quietly.

"You've RUINED my experiment!!" Tanya stated, her eyes narrowing.

"Interesting timing on that experiment, starting just after I had pressed the enunciator." he growled back.

"It had started before." She conjectured.  "But I'd forgotten to put the sign on."

"Not likely." he said, as he crossed his arms. "But in either case, it is over now. We must speak, and it will be now."

"I AM rather busy Commander." Tanya said as she stood from her desk and went to look out the window that was behind her desk, watching the structural engineers erect the structure that was to facilitate her next experiment.

"Tough." he said simply, "This wont take much time, depending on your reactions." He found a seat, and set himself down in it, kicked out his legs and crossed his fingers 

together as he leaned back into the chair. "And since this is going to be informal so I *don't* get temped to throw you in the brig, you might as well make yourself comfortable." He looked at her through hooded eyes, hoping that maybe.. just maybe, she would be calm if he made himself appear calm. 

Tanya looked back at him briefly and picked up a PADD, pretending to scroll through it and look busy.  "Speak."

Rich thinned his lips, but didn't immediately order her to drop the PADD, as he himself had just made this an informal meeting. ~Maybe I will throw her in the brig anyway~ 

came the unbidden thought. After a brief moment of internal visualization of seeing her behind another blue barrier like a caged animal, he decided he would try new tactics. 

"Foolish as our rules sound to you, Doctor, there is a purpose for them. They are written in the blood of thousands of less fortune people, why do you absolutely insist on ignoring them ? And don't tell me of your ignorance of them, you have enough grey matter in that head of yours that *isn't* being used for warp theory that you can learn them in an hour if you so desired."

"Lieutenant... er.  Ensign?  err.. Captain?  Admiral.. um.. Commander. Yes, that's it you're the one that's Commander.  I do not ignore the rules, I read them and do as they specify within certain boundaries, its is not my fault if there are not petit subsections that account for every possibility in existence."

Lee bit back yet another reply at her insult, "Then use common sense." he responded back, not quite as happily as he would have liked. 

"I AM using common sense."  She retorted as she turned her back on him and calculated the angle of the support structure being built.

Lee took a deep breath, he had never met a more arrogant woman in all his life. And he was certainly not used to having someone turn their back on him that wasn't ranked above Captain. Come to think of it, since the war, not even Admirals and Captains turned their back on him, he had proved far too good with weapons and tactics to be truly comfortable around. Yet this woman, this intoxicatingly beautiful yet maddening woman... !

"Then you were shortchanged at birth, and/or need training in its proper application." he said back. 

Tanya turned around and glared at him.  "Did you EVER consider that this Starfleet branch of common sense is UNNATURAL? And that it is IT that requires socializing?  

Perhaps you should view it from THAT point of view."

Lee cocked his head at her, and smiled in a detached manner. "Have you ever considered that our particular brand of common sense has kept the Federation from relative harm for three hundred years, and more recently kept us together through a war with the Dominion." His eyes turned hard, "The same Dominion, I might add, which considers us a target now and has practically destroyed the ship yards twice in one year."

He tapped his fingertips together for several moments. "I will grant you this, you are a civilian and not part of the fleet so you are not expected to observe *all* the regulations. However, you are expected to observe most of them." He placed his hands behind his head, and gave her a small smile. "Another part of being a temporary officer is that you have to qualify in a few basic area's such as emergency procedures and basic operations in the event of an emergency. As of yet, you have not qualified, you haven't even taken the instruction course." He smiled larger, with just a touch of twinkle in his eyes, "And as first officer, I have scheduled such lessons starting tomorrow. Considering your advanced position within Advanced Technologies Division, I will handle your training myself."

Tanya rolled her eyes.  "Why don't you just give me something to read, there really isn't time I've got deadlines."

"You will make time. We have given you plenty to read and you have failed to live up to the standards thus far. This training will ensure you know exactly what to do, when and where to do it." He actually chuckled this time, "You will never make a Starfleet officer, but at least you wont have to be thrown in the brig again for insubordination. ~I hope, though the fire in her eyes when she was locked up...~

He broke that thought away, "I too have a busy schedule, you are not the only one who will be making a sacrifice. You have a department to run, I have an entire instillation." He gave her a lopsided, somewhat mocking grin. "But its a needful sacrifice, that I can see."

"Fine!"  Tanya exclaimed with disgust.  "When shall I meet you..." she looked at the pips on the man's uniform... "Oh whatever."

~ Nine at my quarters.~

He frowned, not at her attitude which he had come to expect, but at his own unexpected thoughts. He stood, and looked down at her, "Well now, lets see... when does your busy schedule afford a moment. Or, shall I just impose a time ?"

"you might as well impose a time, I keep odd hours anyway." Tanya admitted.  "And if it just happens to be when I'm sleeping-"  She paused, these people after all had given her this wonderful lab and opportunity and just because the man in front of her was the biggest a$$ that she'd ever met in her entire life - ignorant, rude, and just not very polite, didn't mean that she should disrespect the nice elderly Vulcan man who'd so nicely sprung her from the brig.  He was truly an officer.

"I'll make the effort." She finished.

Rich didn't trust her sudden helpful nature, it was so against the grain from what he had seen so far. "Very well, meet me at Holodeck 1 at 0700 hours. And free three hours of your time from the day at that time, and for everyday thereafter for the next week."

"WEEK!? I have to get up early ALL WEEK!?"

~thought so.~  "Live with it." he advised tersely. "This will not be a joy for me either."

"Fine."  Tanya said as she turned her back on Lee again, gazing out the window.  ~Of all the people to teach me I get stuck with HIM!~

Lee ground his jaw for a moment, but decided to blaze on regardless of the woman's ire. "For tomorrow, wear some sort of workout outfit. I hope you are in shape..."

"What?! I thought that this was supposed to be the what's and whatnots of protocol.  There was NEVER any mention of physical exercise!!"

"Knowledge of protocol also means knowing just how to do it, and that doesn't always mean you will have the option of pushing a button." He pointed to the visible scar on his face, "I did not get this by sitting in a chair and reading a PADD, I assure you." He took a breath, "You have already been in one combat situation on this station, and you were on the Firebrande when things went to hell, you know well enough now that there are situations you need train for that you might not ever need to perform... but you *might* have to perform." he eyed her, "Don't tell me they don't teach you precautions while working with warp fields and plasma."

"They did.  But those... " she paused.  "Are a different matter entirely."

~Ah hah!~

"Bullsh*t." he said succinctly. "The fleet has safety procedures built in, for the good of all, just as scientists have protocols they must follow when working with dangerous elements. They are more intimately connected then you would imagine, having you half trained is more dangerous then not having you at all should we be in a tight situation."


He took a breath, "And you will learn them, or you will no longer have a place here. We are not asking for you to join Starfleet on a perminate basis, but while you are here you *will* learn basic protocol and emergency situation procedure!"

"But I DID follow them!" She protested.  "I DID.  It's not my fault that things keep going astray.  I WAS scanning for those blasted wormholes on all frequencies that were MANDATED by Starfleet, I DID READ That DAMNED manual.  I WAS following all protocols, it's not the lack of protocols that had my pie catch fire.  I have been VERY careful but stuff just has been happening to me and it makes it look as if I'm irresponsible.  I KNOW your stupid rules and regs and I'VE been following them to the best of my ability, and my department has been FULLY trained in all procedures, hell we even have DRILLS!  And you and all your people think I know nothing, but that's just because all you look at is the mess and the details.  You don't see the prep."

"I will," he promised, "Tomorrow. And if you are as knowledgeable as you say, then we will have to find alternate means to avoid the problems that have been caused. Right now, I'm chalking it off to lack of training." His lips thinned as he spoke, he should have been getting used to being ranted at by now, but he still wasn't. Cute as she was when she got mad, he was started to get irked again.

"Whatever." She stated again.  "Whatever."

(reply none)
(posted by Katherine Mazurok and Trout)

Stardate:2406.01.10
(Earth - Starfleet Training Center,  Holodeck 1 - Lee/Dervin - 0705)

Lee crossed his arms in the bare Holodeck as the doors opened. He almost should have expected it, that her making an effort would mean she would actually be on time... but that was almost to much to ask, it seemed. "You're late." he growled lightly.

Tanya walked in wearing a half top and some leggings.  She'd actually been almost onetime, as she'd dashed out of her quarters wearing those fuzzy yellow pj's and a pair of bunny slippers.  But then she'd remembered that she was supposed to be in some attire that she could exercise in.  That had caused a moment or two of deliberation ~be on time.. or... be dressed appropriately~ at length, she'd decided that appropriate attire would be the better choice of the two.

"Apologies." She stated simply.

Not that she wanted to be there, or anything, in fact quite to the contrary, she didn't want to be there at all, and wasn't the slightest bit sorry that she was late.

Lee cracked his neck, then arched his back slightly to crack his back. He was wearing a standard training setup, tank top and sweat pants, tailored to suit his size. His scars rippled on his right arm, the ones he had received from a Dominion weapon. A few other small ones were visible, from various consoles exploding and other fights he had been in during his tenure in the Dominion War. He was living proof that at least a few of the rules were worth the paper they were printed on, paper written on by the blood of others who had failed. The standard battery of tests he was going to be giving Dervin was a mixture of physical and technological. Basic weapons, procedure and departmental knowledge. He had given it several times before, but always to Starfleet Personnel fresh out of the Academy. He was starting fresh with her, so he was going to run her through everything. If it was a situation worth attention, she was going to know how to solve it. From emergency core disposal to surviving short term vacuum. 

~This is not going to be fun.~

Lee clasped his hands behind him, in a comfortable position, and decided to do away with the usual speech. She wouldn't be highly receptive of it. "Look." he said finally, "I doubt you like me now, but I'm sure you will hate me after this. I'm going to run you through the entire battery of basic courses, everything from basic fighting to emergency situation survival." He brought up a hand, to forestall anything she was going to say. "And don't argue, I know it seems extreme. If its any consolation, you will be in better 

shape and get to learn a whole bunch of new procedures that you can promptly forget after your tenure at Utopia is over. While you are here, however, you might have to use any number of things I'm about to show you. I don't expect it, but you might be thankful one day after a situation where you must use some of this information."

Tanya listened.  Or at least, emulated listening to whatever it was that the man was saying.  She did, however catch the part about hating him. ~Oh, yes.. that's apparent.~ 

Then she went back into her own little world while the Lee guy rambled on about something or other.  When he was finished she said "Yes, Sir."

Lee looked around for a few moments, then locked his eyes back on Tanya. He needed to catch her attention in a monumental way or none of this would be worth the time they were spending. He mentally considered all they could be doing, then chuckled without humor. He started walking, and moved slowly behind her. "But before we begin, we must know where we stand. Have you had any self defense courses?"

Tanya hadn't been listening and then she'd realized that he'd asked her a question.  Momentarily there was panic inside her head, as she'd been reconfiguring the latest trajectories for her next test.  She had no idea whatsoever about what the Lee guy was speaking.  ~Smile and nod~ She thought to herself as she did just that.

"Oh, you have." he said as he took position behind her, "Excellent, lets see how well you learned."

He reached out, grabbed her shoulder, and twisted, then bent over and grabbed her legs, and yanked.. hard.

Tanya found herself all of a sudden sitting on the floor, looking at the Lee man.  He towered above her.  "What did you do that for!!!" Tanya protested as she tried to stand up.

Lee nudged her back down with his boot, then took five steps back. "Listen, next time." he said in an even tone. "I had asked if you had received any prior self defense training, you simply smiled and nodded." His eyebrow went up, "So, are you ready to re-answer that question, and pay attention? Or are you going to walk out of here with fifty more bruises then you need?"

Tanya looked at Lee, her eyes blazing.  "I have more important things to attend to, than this... this.... 'training'. '  she spat out.

Lee knelt down, with one hand on his knee and the other balancing himself on the ground. "As of now, the most important thing you have to attend to *is* this training, or you will no longer have a lab here to attend." he said simply. "Take that as a threat, or as a goad to do well. I don't think you have it in you to even be a temporary officer, but I'm going to give it a try here. Try and prove me wrong." he said, in a low voice. Once again, he was struck by how cute she was when angry... it seemed she loved to be angry at him, and that was just fine. He admired fire, but only if it was properly directed. 

Tanya crossed her arms and looked to at the wall.  "Fine.  Ask me a question.  Ask me a protocol question." She said her eyes blazing, as she looked directly into his eyes.

Lee continued to hunch, then said "There is more to this then protocol, and that is what we are doing at this moment." He looked at her for several more moments, then stood. "On your feet, and answer my earlier question."

"Which was?"  Tanya asked in an annoyed tone.

"Have you had any self defense training." he replied. 

"I've never had any problems in that area."   She replied.

"You do now." he stated with a crooked smile. "For the next hour or so, I'm going to be teaching you basic weapons and self defense. You don't need to qualify in this, but it *is* required you run through at least one course." He took a step forward, "So, this is your chance to beat the stuffing out of me. But I warn you, think about what you do, every action has an opposite reaction. That is the most basic tenant of self defense. Anything that is done can be undone, or fought off."

Tanya looked at Lee.  "For Every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.. how.. quaint." She stated.  "In this case, I chose to do nothing."

He smiled wanly at her, "You don't have a choice." He shot forward and caught her in the stomach, and picked her up easily. "For a human, I'm unusually large and strong. 

However, I'm weak even compared to a Klingon, Romulan or Vulcan. A Tellarite could bend me in half, a Jem Hadar could break me into pieces, in terms of pure strength."

He ignored her shouts in his ear, "I'm going to put you down now, so shush and learn." He put her down and took a couple steps back. "What I lack in brute strength, you certainly lack. In which case, skill comes into play. You don't need to be a trained martial artist to counter brute strength, and that's what I will teach you. Once I'm done, I wont easily be able to do what I just did..." he grinned slightly, rather enjoying himself. 

"Why you..." Tanya started, but then silenced herself.  She would find a way to end this.  After all they were only in a Starfleet Holodeck, there had to be some more scientific way out of this.

Lee nodded, and motioned her to come closer. "Alright, time to learn just a few basic moves." He held out his arm, "Grasp my wrist."

Lightly Tanya laid her hand on Lee's wrist not amounting any strength into her grip.

Lee sighed, "If you actually try, this will end a lot sooner." He looked at her, "Like you mean it now, use some of that hate you have."

Instantly Tanya engaged her grip that was had quite amount of strength to it.  "Like this?" She asked innocently as she held Lee's arm up, her long nails digging into his flesh.

Lee took a breath, bent down and over slightly so he could see where she had drawn blood. "Much better." he said, lightly. 

He straitened back up, "And, behold." He reached down and grabbed Tanya's wrist as well. He found the nerve, and applied increasing pressure to it. If enough was given, she would feel excorticating pain. "One way, are pressure points. You don't need strength for them, or speed... you just have to have a very careful touch." He increased the pressure evenly, waiting to see when she would crack and let go.

Tanya could feel the pain in her body.  But she would not give in.  As she felt the pain by Lee's hand, she increased her own pressure drawing even more blood, her nails going further and further into Lee's skin. She eyed him evenly.

Rich closed his eyes, then looked at her. "And sometimes you get someone who, like yourself, is resistant to pressure points. In which case... "He twisted his arm suddenly, grabbed her wrist with his injured arm, pulled up and pushed on her opposite shoulder so she would twist around. She spun around, her arm behind her, and he pulled up ever so slightly. "you have to resort to more forceful means."

He let her go quickly, "Now, I will show you just what I did and how."

Tanya smiled smugly.  "Yes, why not."

He offered his other arm. "If you would, this time, try not to draw blood." he said flatly, "This is training, not war."

~That's what you think~  Tanya thought as she watched Lee stick his arm out in front of her as she placed her hand on his, grasping it firmly.

Lee nodded, and then very slowly twisted his arm. "This has to be done as a surprise, or it wont work unless you are absolutely superior in strength." he twisted his wrist and arm to the stopping point, though Tanya still had a firm grip on him. "At this point, you had lost your grip. I simply reached back over and grabbed your own wrist, then thumped you on the shoulder to spin you around. The end result, if you have a good grip, is the position you found yourself in, arm behind your back. One of the most potent grips you can have is someone's arm behind their back, just apply some upward pressure and most times you are in a good situation."

Tanya looked at Lee.  Then she made it seem that she was going to release it, but as she was in the process of letting go, she grabbed his wrist again, twisted it so that it was behind his back and forced his elbow upwards.  "You mean like that?" She asked with an air of innocence?

Lee leaned his head back with his eyes closed. "Very good, rule 2 is always catch them by surprise." He took a deep breath, a sigh, and let his shoulders slump in apparent defeat. "If you would, would you..." He broke off as he suddenly went limp and leaned forward. His bulk pulled Dervin down with him, and his forward motion prevented her from suddenly jerking his arm up to break it. He fell to the ground and rolled, then captured Dervin in his legs around the waist and squeezed. 

"Rule 2 again, surprise." he said bluntly. He let her go, and rolled away. "Excellent job, however." he said, vaguely impressed by her initiative. She could be formidable if she wished, he wondered if it was just her hate towards him that made her such an apt pupil.

"Noted." She stated succinctly.

Lee inwardly sighed, this was going to be as pleasant as pulling a mouthful of teeth. 

Stardate:2406.01.10
(Earth - Starfleet Training Center, Holodeck 1 - Lee/Dervin - 0900)

"One more hour, and we will be done for the day." Lee said, not out of breath and hardly breaking a sweat, unlike his sparring 'companion'.  In the last two hours he had 

learned well to admire her form, and her grace, but to be equally as wary of her anger. It was something that was going to need work, but he didn't know if he could ever break her shell. He handed her a small can of a rejuvenating drink, and took one himself. It contained a mild pain killer and enough stimulants to make sure pain wouldn't get in her way. He hadn't been hard on her, but as stubborn as she was he had to convince her sometimes along the way. Those, along with the usual bruises, were almost certain to guarantee that she would welcome sleep later tonight. 

He squatted down as he drank, and motioned down to the ground. "We will take a couple minutes, next is weapons training, not nearly so rigorous in a physical means."

Tanya rolled her eyes.  "I really fail to understand the need of combat for a scientist.  And I would like to point out that is precisely what you said the LAST three types of combat."

Lee actually chuckled, then sobered. "You fail to understand, because you have not been in a full combat situation where everyone must take a weapon and defend, for their very lives." He pointed to one of his scars half heartedly as he looked off, his eyes narrow in memory. "I didn't get that from training. Granted we are not at war, but most casualties in the line of duty don't happen in wartime, they come from situations that couldn't be foretold. On away missions, for example, where events can turn hostile for absolutely no known reason." He looked at her again, "Death is to be avoided by any means possible. Occasionally, being able to handle a phaser, or being able to break off an attack and giving yourself a couple extra seconds to run are more important then knowing the chemical properties of every element in the Periodic Table or the power threshold of warp plasma."

"I *CAN* fire a phaser." Tanya stated, "And I even know how to use one."

Lee chuckled, and reached down into the pack he had brought, and brought out two phasers. He tossed her one, "Then prove it." He looked up, "Computer, load phaser training program Lee Alpha."

The bare Holodeck with only a mat on the ground disappeared, and a small ring surrounded by unending darkness was put in its place. The ring was separated by a line, and a small rail surrounded them so they couldn't walk beyond a certain point. Lee stood up with a phaser in his own hand. "There are many levels to this training program, but they are all generally the same. Flashing lights will appear out there..." he waved to the black, "Some mobile, some not. The idea is to hit them. The computer will keep a tally, and will shut the program down when it has either completed the level or you have missed to much."

He looked at her with a veiled expression. "How well can you use a phaser ?"

"Wouldn't you like to know." Tanya said back, her voice on edge.

Rich raised an eyebrow, then looked down at his phaser and turned it on setting one. "On the contrary, I will know." he said evenly. "But until I do.." He turned to face the black, "Computer, level 1"

On both sides, a single dot appeared, stationary. Lee brought up his phaser in an instant and depressed the trigger, hitting the light and making it disappear. Another formed a few moments later, and he disposed of that as well. He looked over at Tanya, and waited.

Tanya, while yawning, proceeded to use her phaser to eliminate all the dots that came into existence within her perimeter.  "Please, can we actually try something that's challenging?"

He considered for several moments. She was a good shot on stationary objects, as a Temporary officer she only had to complete through level three, multiple stationary and a couple slow mobile. Level four was standard for crewmen and non-tactical officers. Level five, multiple moving targets at medium pace was required for Security personnel, level six for Command Security personnel. Anything level seven or above, multiple fast moving targets where misses allowed became proportionally smaller and the targets moved far and far faster, wasn't required for anyone, but was an excellent text of reflexes and hand-eye coordination. It was also something that most non-tactical trained people couldn't complete, it required some intense training. He could successfully complete level twelve of sixteen on any given day under normal circumstances He had once bested level 15 on an exceptional day, he had never managed to complete sixteen, which allowed absolutely no misses and was almost impossible for everyone. 

He considered for several moments, "Computer, level five."

He turned, and attacked two slow moving targets immediately, then killed a stationary and another slow moving one that appeared a second later. He then turned to watch Dervin.

Tanya took up the challenge, missing only twice as she eliminated both the stationary and moving targets in a quick succession of phaser bursts.  "Anything else?" She asked looking at Lee, her face the perfect model of boredom.

Lee chuckled, "Very good." he said quietly. "Computer, keep track of score in competition mode, level seven."

Multiple moving targets at fast pace, with several blinking stationary targets involved. There were 30 targets, and eight misses were allowed. She has passed this part of the test already, he had no need to watch her so he put his full concentration into the objective. This was a light test of his skills, he hit them all with only one miss. He had been doing this his whole career, after all. 

Tanya saw the array of lights before her.  She took a moment to compose herself, watching the patterns as they evolved.  Her phaser fired several times in succession making the targets disappear one by one. She had five misses the sounds were as a result of either slight miscalculation or a lack of ability for her body to cooperate with what her mind wanted.  But she'd passed it.  Looking at Lee, she shrugged her shoulders.  "Are we done yet?"

Lee crossed his arms and considered the Doctor for several moments. "I am a Master Phaser, what I just saw would probably qualify you for an Expert, if you passed a few other tests. I am impressed, where did you learn?" He wouldn't admit it, not here, but he was more then impressed. She could outshoot half the security force currently on Valhalla. 

Tanya shrugged her shoulders.  "I dabbled in it here and there. Everyone needs a hobby and it's all physics." 

He cocked his head to the side, "Physics, trigonometry and excellent reflexes." he said. "You passed on level five, you only needed to accomplish level three. You have successfully managed level seven, which is more then will ever be required of testing, you pass." He dropped the phaser to the bag, "So you make it out early today, congratulations on the first day. Nothing else will be this physical in nature, though I would continue to wear expendable clothing. Tomorrow, same time."

Tanya rolled her eyes.  "I'm supposed to be running some vital tests tomorrow..."

"Then push them back, for three hours a day for the next six days, not my rules..." Lee looked out at the black again, then back at the doctor. "Would you be free tonight, for dinner?" he asked out of the blue. He had gained a measure of respect for the doctor now, she wasn't quite as hopeless as he had imagined. "We have things to discuss, informally, I do believe we got off on the wrong foot." ~And that is an understatement.~

Tanya shook her head.  "Unfortunately I am not.  I have an extra three hours of work to attend to that somehow were preempted by something else this morning." She stated with a cutting edge.  "Good day Commander Lee."

Lee nodded his head, and watched her walk out the door. ~Fabulous creature.~ he thought, then shook his head angrily. "Level thirteen." he barked. And as multiple whizzing targets, blinking in and out, begin appearing, Lee reacted immediately. This level required fine control and concentration, leaving no room for thoughts of the nature he was having to successfully complete. 

He failed, dismally. 

(reply none)
(posted by Katherine Mazurok and Trout)

Stardate:2406.01.10
(Earth - Starfleet Headquarters, Outside Dervin's Quarters - Lee/Dervin
- 1955)

Rich smoothed out his civilian tunic and took a breath. In the past four months of debriefing and reeducation, he had not ever felt *quite* like he was now. Brass he could deal with, but beautiful women... After their past history, he hadn't seriously thought that she would accept his offer of dinner. But she had, so here he was... They had gotten along fairly well, working like they had been together. Him being relieved of command powers, and herself as well, had seemed to put them in the same boat. Neither was happy with the current situation really, even if it
*was* a learning experience. 

He pushed the enunciator on the door, and waited

Tanya had gotten ready before and was sitting in her chair reading a PADD, she was wearing a long red dress that had spaghetti straps and was slit provocatively up to her mid left thigh.  "Come in," She called absently as she brushed a ringlet of red hair away from her face.

Lee walked in, and held his breath... and slowly let it out. She was, simply put, magnificent. "Looking absolutely wonderful tonight, Doctor." He looked down at his hand and the bouquet he was holding onto, suddenly feeling foolish. Just what was he thinking, when he asked such a woman out for dinner ?

Tanya looked up from the PADD she was reading, "Thank you.. um... " She faltered, should she call you by rank?  name?  first? last?  Mr?  what? "Thank you." Tanya finished a little quieter then she gracefully put the PADD down on a table beside the chair.

Rich took a step forward and offered his free hand, to help her stand. "Rich..." he said, with a small smile. 

Tanya placed her hand in his.  "Rich..." She said mimicking his tone entirely.  Her skirt parted around her left leg as she stood up the iridescence of her red dress shimmering in the light.

Lee looked her up and down, and found himself grinning. He plucked one of the flowers from the bouquet and held it out to her. It was a mimic flower from Beta Goradex IV, and changed to whatever color was surrounding it. It immediately took on the flashing red of Tanya's dress, "...for a lovely lady." he said, in a near whisper.

"Why thank you." Tanya said with a smile.  "Would you mind?" She asked as leant into Rich to put it in her hair.

"I would be honored..." he said, as he looked for a moment and found the perfect spot just above and behind her head. He slid it gently into her hair, and took a step back. He smiled, and offered the rest of the bouquet. 

"They're lovely." Tanya said smiling as she delicately took them from Rich.  She then replicated a vase and set them on the table. "Absolutely lovely." She reiterated.

"Not half so lovely as you," he said after a moment. "But I'm glad you like them..." He walked over to her and offered his arm, "Shall we?"

Tanya smiled.  "Yes, lets."

Rich marveled at how gently she put her arm in his, and smiled as they walked out of the quarters. Being on Earth as they were, Rich had a lot of possibilities when it came to where they could go, all that was needed was a quick transport or transporter. In this case, he had arranged for a sub-orbit shuttle, which would have them where he wanted to go within minutes. It was waiting just outside, shinned to a high gleam. The door opened for them as they approached, and Rich stood to the side of it. "Ladies first." he said with a wink. 

Tanya smiled and carefully stepped over the threshold.  "And what is our destination?" She asked curiously.

"Someplace just over the rainbow," he said with a chuckle. "There is one place on this planet known for its quiet dinners, and it just so happens I have a reservation." he added cryptically. 

The door shut behind him, and the impulse engines fired. "The Scenic route, if you would... " he said to the driver. 

Tanya smiled.  "That sounds lovely." She intoned a she gazed outside the window.

~We shall certainly see~ was his unspoken thought as he found himself gazing at her silhouette, as the scenery whizzed by out the window. In the half light, she almost glowed, it was something he never thought he would find himself seeing. 

"I don't often travel like this." She admitted, "Usually if it's not warp it's transporter."

"Which is why I picked this, I don't often get to travel overland either." he said. "We both see more then enough transporters..." 

He broke off as they came into Europe, and began to slow down. He smiled as the shuttle slowly descended through the clouds. He could see the English channel from here, and the lights of every city in France was outlined beneath them. "And to answer your earlier question, I thought a trip to Paris might be nice. Dinner on the Rhine just seems to have a certain appeal, I hear"

Tanya smiled.  "Oooh, that sounds wonderful!"

The shuttle hovered for a few moments at a small restaurant on the Rhine, then settled down with a slight bump. "I certainly hope so." he said with a smile. The door opened, and Rich ducked his head out, then offered his hand to Tanya. 

Tanya placed her hand in his.  She looked at all the lights that were all around them.  It was nearing dark in that portion of the world and already the city was a glimmer, with its lights.  Tanya looked at Rich gently leading her towards the restaurant.  Having known their previous history with one another the last place that anyone would have expected to find them would be in Paris having dinner together.  But, here they were.  Tanya smiled knowingly, perhaps this would be a fantastic evening after all.

Rich opened the door for the stunning woman on his arm, and smiled as they entered the dimly lit restaurant. It was a warm night, the table he had reserved was actually out by the river. He placed a hand around her upper waist as they came to the Matre' Dees station. "And how might I serve you?" was the first question from his lips. 

Rich nodded his head, "I have a reservation for two on the river," he said quietly lest be break the atmosphere. "For Richard Lee."

Tanya smiled as they were lead to the table.  The orange glow of the candlelight all around her.  It created an ambiance that she'd never encountered before.  She let herself be lead by Rich and the Matire'Dee her face turning into a smile.

Rich took a breath of the air once they had been lead to the outer patio, and chuckled. He pulled out the chair for Tanya, and waited for her to seat herself. "Well, I could certainly think of worse places to eat, and with worse company. But I cant seem to think of any better..." 

Tanya smiled, "You're just saying that." She protested as she settled into her chair.

Rich took his place on the opposite side of the table, as a Wine Steward brought a bottle of simple red. "I assure you, my words have more then just hollow meaning." He looked at the label on the bottle and nodded, then gestured to Tanya. The Steward bowed his head, popped the cork and filled her wine glass to *just* the right level, followed quickly by his. 

Tanya smiled at the Steward, "Thank you." She said as he'd filled her glass.  Then she turned her head out towards the river and looked along it.  It danced with the reflection of sulfer lamps that still adorned the traditional streets giving it a mystically orange and silver glow. The ambiance created by it was simply breathtaking.

Lee found himself looking at her once again, and cocked his head to the side as he tore his eyes away and followed her gaze. "Lovely, isn't it ?"

Tanya couldn't find words, instead she just nodded her head, still hypnotized by the sight before her.

Rich remained silent for many moments, letting her enjoy the view without interruption. He picked up his glass and swirled the contents for a few moments, while he mused at how life could take such strange turns and paths previously unthought-of of. 

Tanya turned her face towards Rich, she watched as he was in the process of drinking his wine.  She smiled.  "Thank you for bringing me here." She whispered.

"Any time, " he said lightly. He brought up his glass, "To beautiful sights, and equally breathtaking company."

Tanya smiled and she could feel herself blush slightly at his compliment.  "To beautiful sights." She intoned as she raised her glass.

Rich very lightly tapped her crystal wine glass, and took a sip of the wine while keeping an eye on the woman before him. It warmed him slightly to see that he had picked a good location, there had been so many worries about this trip... he defiantly did not want anything to go wrong, he thought they had been at each others throats for far to long. His internal revelry was brought to a halt by the arrival of the matire dee, bearing a simple paper menu. 

"Thank you." Tanya stated as the Maitre'Dee set the paper menu before her.  She looked at it, "Um, French was never my specialty."

Lee chuckled slightly, "It comes in a few basic plates, all you have to do is pick Chicken, Beef, Lamb, Fish or Vegetarian."

"And what comes with it?"  She asked curiously.

"A myriad of things, from bread to fruit pastries." he said with a smile, "From what I've found, half the fun of French cooking is figuring out just what is in the recipe." he added in a scandalous tone. 

Tanya pursed her lips and tried not to laugh.  "OH, yes, that's half the fun."

Lee chuckled and made a point of not looking at the maitre dee, lest he break out into laughs. "So, what do you feel like eating tonight ?"

Tanya thought a moment.  "Je veux le poulet, s'il vous plait."  She said towards the maitre'dee.

Rich felt himself grinning ever so slightly, and nodded. "And for myself, je veux les legumes, s'il vous plait." 

"Marvelous choices." came the response, and off he went. 

Lee chuckled again, "I think we scandalized him with the broad definition of French dishes." 

"Ah!  C'est la vie!" Tanya said with a wave of her hand.

Rich raised his glass, "I think you know a bit more about French then you originally put on" he said with a wink. "Though it could be the atmosphere, one never knows." 

Tanya looked at him, her eyes gleaming, "Ah, not so much, I know a few things though."

Rich found himself getting lost in her eyes, cliché as that sounded, and made a monumental effort to look back down at his wine, which he was swirling by force of habit. "Are you always this full of surprises, Ms Dervin?" He looked back up at her, and small smile playing at his lips. 

"Surprises? Moi?"  Tanya asked sounding in shocked as if his question had revealed the scandal of all of France.

He gestured to her with his wine glass, "Aye... surprises, you" 

He chuckled as he took another sip of wine. 

"Never." She said coyly.

Rich licked his lips and bit back a chuckle, and shook his head slightly. "Rather, all the time, it seems." He placed his wine glass back on the table and clasped his hands together. "But so much the better, I'm rather glad you consented to come tonight."

"Well, I was so surprised by the invitation, how could I refuse?"  Tanya countered back.

Lee leaned back in his chair. "To my knowledge, surprise doesn't often phase you. I was rather expecting a slap as opposed to an affirmative. I must admit, I am very glad you are here, I cant think of a better way to pass a night then with an exceptional woman."

Tanya smiled coyly, "I never thought I'd live the day to hear you use the word exceptional in reference to me in the same sentence. Apparently I am not the only one full of surprises."

Rich bowed his head, "I do try," he said with a smile. "There are times I even succeed."

"To surprises." Tanya said as she raised her glass.

"May they always be pleasant." he added as he raised his own. 

(later)

The meal had been delicious as the Garçon came to clear the plates away. "That was wonderful." Tanya said as her plate was cleared.

Lee nodded, as from somewhere in the background a violin began to play a slow melody. "Indeed it was, though I believe the company put that special touch on the night." He smiled as the sounds of the violin grew louder. On inspiration, he suddenly offered his hand, "Would you care to dance ?"

Tanya smiled, "Um, sure.. I'm afraid I'm not very good at it though."

"All you need is the right partner, and I'm told my dancing more then makes up for my face." he said with a wink as he lightly took her hand and stood. "Besides, this isn't a jig, no need for fancy footwork." he added.

Tanya placed her hand in his, and stood at his lead, "Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you." 

Rich chuckled, "I stand forewarned."

He brought up her hand to place a light kiss on it, then moved in close and placed a hand around her waist, and lightly clasped her other hand with a smile.

Tanya moved as he guided her to the dance floor.  She smiled, dancing.. she'd not been out on an evening like this since... since... well she couldn't remember when she'd last been out on an evening like this, probably never.

Rich smiled back at her as he started leading her in a dance. "Nothing to it," he said with good humor. He once again found himself being lost in her eyes, luminous as they were. 

Tanya kept dancing feeling Rich hold her close to him as they moved together.  His hand occasionally passing over the skin of her back as a result of her low cut dress.  She leant to rest her head on his chest. 

Rich took a deep breath, taking in the sounds and smells of the area, but mostly the scent of the woman he was holding onto. He let go of her hand and wrapped both arms around her, careful to hold her very lightly.


Tanya closed her eyes and let both her arms twine around Rich's neck though they could barely reach.  She could feel his muscular body moving alongside hers as they shuffled to the beet of the violin.

Lee looked down at Tanya, mesmerized by how angelic her face looked in the flickering light. He brought his right hand back around and paused just before he reached her face. He waited a moment, his nerves getting the best of him, then very gently caressed her cheek. 

Tanya lifted her head, and looked at Lee, her eyes meeting his.  She wasn't entirely sure how to proceed, she wasn't entirely sure what was happening, they'd been dancing and now....

Rich felt his heart racing,  and feelings stirring deep within that he didn't even want to begin explaining to himself in a rational manner. His hand trailed to her chin, and without a second thought, he bent over to kiss her. 

Tanya could see what was happening, she panicked, and she did the only thing that she reflexively could.  As their lips touched and parted, she brought her hand up and smacked it hard across his face.

Rich backed off immediately, his face hurting and fireworks going off behind his eyes. He worked his jaw for a moment, and when satisfied that he was still functioning properly said "I apologize, I was out of line." He nodded to her, his face crestfallen. 

~Idiot.~ he thought to himself.

Tanya didn't speak another word.  She turned and left the restaurant, heading back to the nearest transporter pad, she commanded to be transported back to the complex at Starfleet Command.

Rich followed her, and hopped onto the PADD beside her as the civilian transporter chief looked bewildered. He said nothing until the chief shrugged and engaged the transporter. They dissolved in a flash of light, and reappeared in the secured Civilian section. Lee waved down the security guard right away, "Commander Lee, on detachment here."

He jogged ahead of the rapidly marching Tanya Dervin, and turned quickly. "Whoa, wait up a sec..."

Click, click, click, click,click,click,click.  Went Tanya's high heel shoes as she barled her way down the hallway, completely ignoring the person at her side.

~Dammit~

Lee took four LARGE steps to get ahead of her, then turned *into* her path. "Hold up for just a sec, and I will never bug you again."

Tanya stopped and crossed her arms.  "One one thousand. There." She said snippedly as she began to move again.

Rich spun on his heel and brought out an arm to block her. "Damn woman, wait 30 seconds then!"

Tanya pushed his hand out of the way and continued on her way; click,click,click,click,click,click,click.

Rich, on reflex, reached out and grabbed her arm... then spun her around on her own heel and caught her as she nearly lost her balance. 

Tanya not liking the fact that this man had presumed to catch her off balance in more than one manner, brought her arm out again and smacked it across his face.  As he let go, she continued down the hallway.

Rich brought a hand up to his face, and shook it again. "Migod, I'm seeing stars. I must be in love or something..." he worked his jaw for a few moments, then looked at the retreating Tanya Dervin. He considered briefly if he should follower, then shrugged.. "I gotta be crazy..."

He took off after again, and caught up to her just about the time she reached her quarters. He slipped past her and stood before the door before she could slip in. "If it means I can talk to you for a few seconds, feel free to slap me again." he said deadpan.

Tanya looked up at him blocking her path.  She put her hands on his chest and pushed him.  The doors, sensing an approaching humanoid parted and allowed them entry.  She forced him backwards until he landed on the sofa.  She brought her face scant centimeters to his and was about to utter something in rage when something else entirely consumed her. She'd liked every moment of that kiss.  She pressed her lips to his, her hand finding his face, in a more gentle manner this time and slipping into his hair.

Lee ignored the arm of the couch as Tanya leaned into him. He had prepared to cover his face from claws, when something most unexpected happened. After a couple shocked moments, he wrapped his arms around her and held her close for several moments. Her fierce manner became something far more gentle, and he caressed her face for the second time that night as she did the same to him. 

She had managed to surprise the hell out of him, yet again. He silently wondered just what else she would surprise him on as she pulled away and he got a look at her face. He reached out, tentatively, and used a single finger to trace a line down her cheek. 

Tanya looked at Rich, not entirely sure what was happening.

Lee noticed the confusion on Tanya's face, and gently cupped her face in both of his large hands. "I can leave, if you wish, to sort out your feelings." He smiled at her, and let his hands fall to his side as he gave her time to decide. 

"And why would you want to do a thing like that?" She whispered her eyes twinkling mischievously as she brought her lips to his again.

Rich wrapped his arms around her again, incapable of speech even if he had wanted to make a verbal reply. He brushed a lock of hair from her face (therefore his) as they kissed, and lost himself in her presence. 

"Um, thanks for a great evening." Tanya finally said when speech found her.

"Thank you for the much needed slaps," he said after a moment as he sat up on the couch. "And for your company..." he said as he took her hand from her and lightly kissed it. Without really meaning to, he found himself pulling her back to him, if only for one last kiss...

Tanya embraced him as they kissed again.  "You going, so soon?" She whispered as she remained close.

Lee chuckled, and held her close. "Oh, I wouldn't have a problem staying a while longer."

"Nothing more important to do?  No reports to write?" Tanya chided as she playfully poked his side.

Lee kissed her shoulder, and flicked a few strands of her hair. "No and nope, as you my duties are rather light here. I'm afraid it makes for lonely nights." 

Tanya smiled as she felt his lips grace her shoulder.  "Really?" She giggled slightly.

Rich looked at her with a twinkle in his eyes, "Oh yes... "  He sat up and moved behind her, and wrapped his arms around her stomach. He kissed the side of her neck, and moved slowly up to her ear. "And yourself, have any plans for this night ?"

Tanya smiled, "Well other than completely re-define the theory of warp
propulsion, I had nothing but an infinite amount of time."   She said as
her eyes closed and she relaxed back into Lee.

Lee looked at her for several moments, then found her hands and squeezed them lightly. "Well, in that case..." he said with a small smile. He brought one hand up and put a finger under her chin. He gently turned her head to face him, and smiled again. "I guess I'm staying the night then," he said, as he kissed her. 

"Oh, are you going to help?" She questioned innocently.

Lee gently moved the strap to her dress aside and once again kissed her shoulder. "Mmm, I might be able too." he said with a grin. 

Tanya turned back to face Lee, she placed her hands in his and stood, drawing him nearer, she reached up to him and pressed her lips to his. Tanya kept walking backwards and backwards slowly as they kissed. Then she turned and pulled her lips from his, as she gave him a playful push. He stepped backwards and the doors parted to let him through.

"Ah, but the universe awaits." She said as the doors swooshed shut after he had left.

Tanya just smiled.

Rich chuckled, and ran a hand through his hair. "A Drink, I need a drink."

With a whistle, he turned on his heel to find a pub near by. There was lots of time left in the universe, everything would happen in it's own time...

(reply none)
(posted by Trout and Kat Mazurok)

Stardate:2406.01.12
(Earth, Starfleet, Outside Training Facility, WTO Tanya Leigh Dervin/Cmdr Rich Lee , 07.03)

Tanya'd been standing outside the door for precisely eight minutes. She'd left so that she could arrive fashionably late, heaven forbid she wanted that Lee man to think he'd actually taught her something.  And she'd somehow arrived early, so instead she'd stood outside the door and waited until the time was right.

Lee cocked his head to the side, and then gave a sigh as he tapped his badge. =^=Lee to Dervin, your current whereabouts ?=^=

"My 'whereabouts' are 'here.'" Tanya stated succinctly.

Lee put his face in his hands and shook his head for a couple moments. This woman was going to give him a heart attack. =^=Well, you are supposed to be here, as in beside me at this moment. So proceed from your present 'here' and end up 'here and now'. =^=

The doors to the Holodeck opened and Tanya took the two paces inside. "Oh THIS here." She stated.

~No sh*t, Sherlock.~ He frowned at her, and crossed his arms. "You know, for outright insubordination I can simply have you removed from the roster and shipped back to whatever hole you were pulled from." he said, in a low voice.

Tanya looked at him, and shrugged her shoulders.  "At least I wouldn't have to train."

"You can leave training at any time." he said, "but you will have to face the consequences. You loose your lab, all the personnel and resources of Warp Technologies." He looked at her without any sympathy. "You can make this as hard as you like, but if I get absolutely fed up with you then it all ends anyway, because I will simply fail you. Hate me all you like, but let it get in the way of professionalism and the Starfleet way at your own peril." He looked at her hard, "I trust I make myself perfectly clear."

"Crystal."

"Good." he said shortly, not only peeved at her but at himself. He could command the weapons systems of a Starbase or starship, lead men into battle, have the ear of Admirals and Strategic Operations for tactical planning.. but one woman could trip his trigger faster then he had ever imagined. He took a breath as he considered her, "Today you learn Emergency Protocol in combat situations."

"YES SIR" Tanya chipped in.

"If you can do that without sarcasm, you will be on the right path." he said dryly. He barked, "Computer, Training program beta."

The blank Holodeck around them became a small operations center, anonymous to any number of Starbases or Starships. It had an aura of timelessness about it, the kind of setup you would see one hundred years in the future, still functional. He pointed to one of the consoles, indicating where Tanya was to sit.

Tanya moved over to the console and sat, hating the entire time that she was under direction of that Lee guy.  ~Oooh, sitting..how difficult.~

Lee leaned against the console next to her's, and asked "Have you read through the Procedures PADD yet?"

"Um.. yes.." Tanya said.  She'd skimmed it over coffee that morning.

"Good, then this wont phase you." He pushed a button on a PADD he was holding that controlled Scenarios that the program contained. The station rocked and the Red Alert klaxons started going off. <<Warp Core Breach in two minutes.>>

"Evacuate." Tanya shouted.  As people were running here and there.  She made her way off the ops deck and into the turbolifts.  Then she maneuvered down into a deck.  And her world went white.  "Wrong answer, I know."

Lee, pressed another button, and they were back in Ops. "Yes and no. We are assuming you are in command right now, and the CO is always the last off the bridge. Otherwise, yes.. the evacuate order was correct. But you also forgot to contact engineering and get a quick synopsis, it might have been possible to either dump the core, or prevent the breach."  He considered for a few moments, "In battle conditions, evacuation isn't always possible, or desirable."

"OH, so I'm the CO!  Well you neglected to mention that!  Not like I'd ever WANT to be a CO...."

"I didn't want you to know, and that wont always be the case for the next few hours." he said. He leaned back on the Console again and pointed to the chair. "In this case, you aren't. You are just a nameless officer." He pushed a button on the PADD, and the center was suddenly filled with smoke and dead bodies, on the screen before them was a warbird, frozen in the act of firing. 

"You are an officer that had to take the console because you were the only one left, ready ?"

Tanya shook her head.  "No."

Lee crossed his arms, "Good, that is exactly how you would feel if this were real." He pushed another button and the bridge suddenly burst with sparks. Lee was impervious to the simulation, since he had to be unfettered for the evaluation. But Tanya was feeling the blast of heat from the fires that had erupted, was feeling small but unimportant burns as sparks landed on her. The smoke was thick, though untoxic, and would make her eyes water and lungs hurt a bit. It was the closest to a real dire situation that the Holodeck would allow. The person in charge, a woman bleeding freely from the scalp, yelled "Power to weapons! Reroute emergency power to weapons and shields!"

Tanya's hands pressed the unfamiliar buttons trying to accomplish the task that she'd been requested to perform.  "Power rerouted."

The ship rocked, though Lee didn't move an inch. Someone screamed as a console burst in their face, and the ship's power dimmed for a moment as the Shields drew more power to stay online. He crossed his arms as another blast rocked the ship and the 'Captain' was blown right over Tanya's head. As operations, and the most senior officer present, she was now in charge. The ship was obviously doomed, outgunned and outgeneraled. 

If she was watching the screen, she would see that help was four minutes out. If she was *really* paying attention, she would see the ship had less then two minutes to survive.

Tanya looked around her.  "Ok.. guys.. we've got to last four minutes." She said looking at the console.. and.. and.. she smiled evilly.

She keyed in a number of commands, at first they were denied, but she persisted, re routed the console information, convinced it that it was the arch of the Holodeck and then removed the Romulan warbird.

"There, all safe."

Lee frowned greatly, then pushed two more buttons on his PADD and took back control. The ship rocked again, but the screen showed nothing. He narrowed his eyes, and grinned himself. He pushed a couple more buttons, and one of the officers yelled, "All sensors are off! Screen down, tactical sensors down!"

Tanya growled.  "What's the status of the Engines?  The Warp core is it stable?  Can we tie it into the shield grid.  Now we're fighting blind. Damn the bastard that caused THAT." She said, the crew thinking that she was referring to the Romulan Commander, Tanya knowing precisely who it was directed at.

Rich crossed his arms, as he heard an engineer say that the engines were down to 50 %

Tanya turned to see Lee's face.  "Really because I was totally pleased with that." She retorted back.  "I'm on it, I'm on it!" She shouted back.

Rich's eyebrow twitched, but he remained silent as Tanya started working furiously on the console. He looked at his PADD, then hit another variable. On queue, another officer elsewhere yelled, "Warp Nacelle has been blown off, complete loss of attitude control!"

Tanya turned back to Lee.  "Usually I would hate the enemy that did that, hmm, how convenient that is." She said as she glared daggers at him.  "I'll be in Engineering." She spat out with more disgust and disdain than she even thought possible.

Rich chuckled as he watched the officers around the bridge holding desperately onto controls to keep from flying all over the place as the ship twisted in space. He re-crossed his arms (since he was immune to the forces) as he watched Dr Dervin stand and try to keep her balance amidst the chaos. The officer at Operations yelled, "Internal communications down, but engineering reported the core down before they went!"


Tanya grimaced back at Lee.  "You know, in some way this might be amusing or even a great challenge, but here, now, it just serves to piss me off.  You just want to watch me jump through your little hoops.  I can tell." She spat at him before she crawled off the bridge.

Rich actually laughed as the turbolift door closed. "Oh no you don't..." he muttered as he pushed a couple more buttons. Five seconds later the door to the turbolift opened again, and out walked a very angry looking Doctor Dervin." Rich maintained a strait face as the Operations officer reported that all turbolifts were down, and that the secondary computer core had been knocked offline. 

"FINE! I'll take a Jeffries tube, but nothing's going to happen while I'm still here!" She screamed.  As she went towards the nearest access hatch.

Rich made a note on the PADD that Dervin would have to work on anger management during crisis situations, then looked back up. "Scenario halt." he said, clearly.

"Oh, what hoop did I miss?" Tanya sneered at him.

Rich didn't dignify that with an answer, he could tell already this was going to be a long day. 

Stardate:2406.01.12
(Earth, Starfleet, Outside Training Facility, Dervin/Lee , 1100)

Rich rubbed his eyes, and shook his head. "Do you never tire of being a pain in the ass?"

Tanya looked at him, her eyes flaming.  "Do you ever tire of deliberately pissing me off?"

Rich raised an eyebrow as he considered that for a time, "No, actually. Since that is my duty at this point in time, to throw you off balance by both attitude and by situation." he pointed to the practically destroyed bridge from their last go with a Romulan Warbird. "I don't think your idea of diplomacy did much, did you really think that telling a Romulan Captain to get an attitude check would make him see the error of his ways ?"

"Hey watch it.  You programmed him...."  She snapped back.

"Yes I did, and no I didn't program him to be a wonderful person. On the other hand, deliberately baiting an enemy can be the death of you." he shot off. 

Tanya just looked at him.  "Hey it wasn't my fault!  It's....." She looked at Lee, "I'm not explaining myself to you."

"Actually," he said a bit easier, "I'm exactly the person you have to explain yourself to, since I'm the one giving you a pass or fail grade."

"Next." She said simply, she wasn't going to explain herself to him that she'd been bated she wanted this day of torture to end as quickly as possible.

Rich frowned, then shook his head and rubbed his eyes. "Alright, this is midway through the training week, break time." He looked back up at her, wondering how it was she could be so .. so.. vibrant the night before, and then become a total pain in the ass the next morning. "I have a good place to unwind, if you are looking to do so." he said, as he moved aside and gestured to the door. "Something you might enjoy doing, and I promise no attempts to kiss you this time." he said with a half grin.

Tanya didn't say anything, waited a few moments.  "Lead on Macduff." She said evenly.

Rich walked outside the door, and chuckled. "Actually, its a tonight thing, much better scenery after sunset." he replied. 

Tanya sighed.  "Very well.  Next?"

"Next, I would recommend a shower and a nap, unless you have other pressing business." he said as he tucked the PADD into his tunic. "Class is dismissed."

Tanya looked back at him, and moved a red lock of curly hair out of her face.  She wasn't sure if he was joking or not.  It seemed like he wasn't joking in the slightest, but who knew.  Tanya reasoned.  "Um, Tonight then." She finally stated.

Rich nodded, and turned to walk in the opposite direction for his office.

(reply none)
(posted by Trout/Kat Mazurok)

Stardate:2406.01.12
(Shuttlecraft Valeria - Main Cargo bay - Lee/Dervin - 2105)

Rich looked out the portal to the Shuttlebay, and watched the horizon of Earths Atmosphere curve. They were in a suborbital path, hanging just above the atmosphere, just where he wanted them to be. 

He looked down at his silver bio-suit, and cracked his back under the slight weight of the backpack. He hadn't yet told Tanya what he had planned, but he was sure she would get the idea soon enough. On his back was a large parachute, the suit was thermal insulated and had enough air to keep him breathing for five hours once it was sealed up. The shuttlecraft slowed to a hover, and Rich grinned. 

They were in sub-orbit, just the right place for a sub-orbital skydive, which had been considered a great thrill for at least a hundred years. 

"Ready?" he asked innocently.

Tanya looked at Rich, at first she'd thought the odd attire was going to necessitate something.  Then, she'd thought it was nothing, and now, she realized what was going on.  "You think we are going to jump....."  She stated peering out the window.

He moved his head beside her, and looked out. "Not scared, are you?" he said in a perfectly innocent tone. He looked over at her, a small smile playing on the edge of his lips. "We could always go back down, safe in the shuttlecraft." he added.

"I never said I was scared." She protested as she playfully punched his shoulder.  ~Although I never said I wasn't scared either.~  She thought.

Rich chuckled as he pulled up the helmet. "we have transponders on us at all times, and on the event of malfunction there is a safety transporter on the shuttle."  He locked the large transparent aluminum helmet in place, and looked at the mic. He offered Tanya her's, and then offered to help her secure it. 

Tanya took it and placed it on her head.  "Um.. can you hear me?" She asked into it.

"Rather well, you sing?" he said. 

Rich hit the button of the door, and it slid open. Being as high as they were, there was very little air to blow into the craft, it was nice and still. He hung out for a moment, then pulled back in. He tapped the pack at his side, "I have some champagne for when we land, and..."

He paused for a moment. Then put both his hands on her helmet, and pulled her helmet up against his. He kissed the inside of his own briefly, since he couldn't exactly reach her lips, then let go. "...if you want to slap me for being forward, if only in the thought or audacity, you have to catch me first!"

He stepped backwards and out of the hatch before she could get her bearings after his quick move. 

Tanya looked down at Lee and before she knew it she had stepped off the threshold of the shuttle and was plummeting after Lee.  "I will get you for this Lee." She spat into her helmet as she was falling through space.  "Oh great." She said as she looked around and saw the stars around her.

Lee, who was facing strait up after stepping backwards through the hatch, waved to her briefly, then extended his arms and started steering himself. They were entering the atmosphere now, but at much slower speeds then orbital debris. They wouldn't become torches like most meteorites, and whatever heat did come of it was easily shrugged off by the suit and in suit cooler. He chuckled into the mic as he watched Tanya float about in the air, trying to get her bearings. 

"I look forward to it, Ms Dervin!" he said into the mic, feeling the Adrenaline flow.

Tanya smiled evilly out the front of her helmet.  "Oh you think so." She said as she curled into a ball and did several summersaults before straightening out and then twisting and turning, she made a v with her legs then dove through it, making her summersault again, then she assumed a more handstand like position.  "Hmm, interesting... I wonder...." Tanya said as she changed the revolutions to a sideways way, as she executed more tricks.  "So.. what do you think?" She asked.

"Very nice," he commented after a moment as he put his hands strait out to slow himself so she could catch up. HE directed himself in her direction, and after a few moments came close enough to reach her. In a quick motion he wrapped his legs around her, then moved his hands to angles to start a cork-screwing motion, spinning them both at faster and faster rates. He laughed, then let go over her mid-turn and was flung away by the inertia. He flipped onto his 'stomach', then put himself down into a dive. 

"LEE!" Tanya shouted as they were spinning again and again.

As he split from her, she shouted into her mic, "I'll get you..."  As she began to skim through the atmosphere.

"I dare you to try!" he challenged. He flipped over again so he could see her if he looked 'down', and did a couple more sharp maneuvers. 

Tanya looked down at him, her face already starting to flush.  She brought her arms and legs together so she looked like a bullet, and sped down after him.  "I'll get you!" She said as she splayed her arms and legs to slow down just as she reached his side  she used her hand to take his boot and push it towards his head, and then he began to spin. "HA!" She said as she watched Lee circle.

Rich quickly put out his arms to stabilize his spin, then looked around for Tanya, "Are you trying to tell me you want me head over heels?" he asked in a playful tune, just before he found her and straitened out to catch up. 

"Or ass over teakettle, depending on your preference." She retorted back as she darted about the skyline.

Lee chuckled as he dove at her, finally catching up after a minute of dodging and turning. He wrapped an arm around her waist and sent out his free arm to start spinning them a moment later. 

Tanya laughed, "Trying to turn my world, huh?" She asked coyly as she slipped out of his arm and skimmed around the atmosphere.

Rich chuckled, as he maneuver himself 'under' her, and turned to face her. "Its rather hard to rock your world up here in thin air, so its the best I can do." He put out his arms, "Care for a dance, here as close to the stars as we can come?"

Tanya laughed as she reluctantly placed her hands in his.  "Alright, Mr. Lee, let's dance." Tanya said with a smile.

Lee took her hands and pulled her close enough to him that they wouldn't seriously start spinning due to airflow patterns. "Why, Ms Dervin, I'm so grateful." he said with a smile as he turned his body just so, so that they would slowly rotate. At that moment, he was hard pressed to tell if his heart was beating so fast because they were rapidly falling to Earth, or because he was dancing 5 miles above the ground with such a woman. 

"Grateful?" Tanya snickered.  "That's a new one."

Rich smoothed the air with a tad bit of sarcasm, then sent them spinning a little bit faster. "That's right, I'm not... I only asked for my health." he said dryly as they 'danced' on high level clouds. He chuckled as they started spinning head over feet, adding a bit of variety to the air dance. 

Tanya laughed as she went to spin Rich away from her, or she away from him which caused the couple to sort of spin in a Newtonian atom model type fashion, this way and that.  "Two can lead." She said with a snicker.

Rich looked down, then lazily swam his way back to Tanya, "oh, really ?" he said. He reached her just in time to give her one last good spin, by pulling on her shoulder, then floating away. A small buzzer went off through the speakers in the suit, indicating 30 seconds until they had to deploy their chutes. He extended his arms to slow his fall somewhat, and watched Tanya for a moment. "You don't look quite so worried as you did before," he said with a very amused tone.

"Worried?  Me?  Never." She stated.

Rich snorted as the final buzzer went off. "My mistake, obviously..." he said with a chuckle as he reached for the pull cord. The chute slipped out, and snapped open. He looked up for a moment to see the transparent bit of polymer, then looked around for Tanya. 

Tanya reached for the pull cord, and...  it didn't work.  The cute didn't deploy.  "It's.. it's not working." She sputtered through the mic.

Rich watched her continue to plummet, and ground his jaw. He pushed the panic button on the suit just a couple of moments later, and...


(Earth - Transport Pad - Dervin/Lee - 2130)

...ended up standing next to Dervin. He looked at her for a moment, then reached up and put a hand on her helmet in concern, as if he was putting a hand on her cheek. "You alright?" he asked in a worried tone, about two seconds before his parachute ended up landing over both of them.

Tanya started to panic, she'd been pulling and pulling the cord of the chute, and nothing was happening.  Nothing happening at all.  She was about to scream when, she found herself standing, on the ground, in one piece.  Rich said something, but she couldn't process it, then, something dropped around them.  She was lost.

Rich pushed at the chute with his free hand, then ignored it and put both hands on her helmet and thumped it lightly against his own. "Tanya!" he practically bellowed. She looked like she was starting to freak out, he quickly determined he needed to get her a lifeline back out of panic. He grabbed both of her shoulders and gave her one good shake. "Tanya, you're back... look at me!"

Tanya looked out through her helmet, she felt her body being shaken but she wasn't exactly sure what was happening, her eyes started to glaze over, she heard a voice... "Rich?" She asked in confusion.

Lee pulled at his helmet and cracked the seal, then reached over and cracked hers. Both ended up on the floor as he reached up and clasped her face lightly in both his large hands. He put his forehead to hers, human contact usually helped in panic situations, and said, "I'm here, and so are you as a matter of a fact, in body at least... come back to me, you aren't falling anymore..."

"Falling?" Tanya whispered.

"No more," he whispered back. "were on the ground, safe..."

"Safe?"

He reached up and gave her a very light kiss on the forehead. "Yes, safe." he said as he bent his knees a bit and then looked into her eyes. He moved his hands from her face to her back and clasped her in a hug, "And so much the better, it would be hard to drink champagne or go to dinner with someone who wasn't."

Tanya wrapped her arms around Lee, her mind was starting to come back to her.  "What the hell happened?"

Rich considered his words for a moment, wondering if she would appreciate gallows humor. He decided against it, and said "you were two thousand feet and two minutes from being a hell of a lot thinner then you are now." he said after several moments. 

He closed his eyes and leaned his head against hers softly. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" She asked as she closed her eyes and leaned against him, thinking really of precisely what could have been.

Rich took a deep breath, trying to be rational. For a couple seconds there, he thought he was going to loose her. He squeezed his eyes together, and tried to collect his thoughts. "For putting you in a position like that," he finally said, and gave her a squeeze as she leaned into him. 

At that Tanya almost laughed.  "Ahh, would have made your life a hell of a lot easier, I'm sure most warp scientists know how to at least follow the rules."

Rich chuckled slightly, and pulled away so he could look her in the face. He put a gentle hand once again up to her cheek, and said very quietly, "So, you all here now?" He kept one arm around her waist, in case she should suddenly decide to sag, as was known to happen to many, though she was often made of sterner stuff then most, one thing he liked about her. 

He grinned wryly at her, "And do you want to go sit down, hopefully out from under this chute?" His eyes rolled up briefly to the chute that was hanging on his head. He was tall enough, and she was close enough to him, that hardly any of it was touching her at all. 

Tanya nodded.  "Sitting would be good.  Not under chute would be good, although.. .it is warm under here."

Rich chuckled and rubbed his hand up and down her back vigorously for a couple moments. "I'm sure we can get you warm," he said after a moment. He yanked at the chute to get them out from under it, and then lead her to a seat just off the PADD so she could sit down for a few moments. He sat down next to her, and pulled out the bottle of champagne he had been saving for the end. It was alcohol, it might help to settle her nerves just a little, as long as she didn't drink to much. He popped the cork on it, and offered it to her.

Tanya looked at the bottle that Lee had proffered to her.  "You want me to drink from the bottle?! Eww!"

"A woman of morals, impressive." he said with just a bit of amusement as he pulled out the two champagne glasses he had also placed in the padded pack. He took one and poured the proper amount of champagne in it, before offering the glass to her. "My most humble apologies for being such a barbarian." he said with a small smile. 

Tanya took the glass from him and laughed slightly.  She didn't really find the whole situation funny, and she wasn't entirely calmed.

Rich put an arm around her, just so she wouldn't slip into hysterics (he hoped), and clanked her glass. It was obvious she was still very shaken, that was perfectly fine. He just hoped she would take a few sips and let it worked on her frayed nerves without suddenly thinking he was trying to seduce her in a bad time. That was really the last thing on his mind after this, visions of her continuing to fall below him were running through his mind as well. It hadn't been all that close, but it had been far close enough for his taste. 

Tanya handed the glass back to Rich, still partially full, "I don't think I should drink anymore." She stated, "I'm feeling a little ill..."

Rich nodded, and put both glasses down. "Want to go home?" he asked quietly, his arm wrapped around her in worry. 

Tanya nodded her head, "I think maybe.  My brain keeps extrapolating things it shouldn't." She said.

Rich hugged her close for a moment, then nodded. "Probably a good idea," he said after a moment. He stood, and offered his hand to her.

Tanya placed her hand in his and gently rose to stand.  She kept her hand in his.  "Well, that was... a... very....... thrilling, and chilling, experience." She added.

Rich licked his lips, and managed a small smile just for appearances. "I aim to please." he said. 

"Ah, I see." Tanya said as she took a couple steps, still feeling a little shaky.

Rich offered his arm for Tanya to lean on if she desired, when instead what he wanted to do was carry her out, in part as apology, in part because he didn't want to see her go through troubles for an idea that was his own. 

Tanya just held his hand as she gradually got her step back. It should have been safe, it was safe nothing had happened, nothing could have happened, unless the transporter would have malfunctioned, but.. she didn't think about that.

They stepped on the transporter padd again, and Rich said to the operator, "Starfleet Command, if you would."

they disappeared in a flurry of light.

They rematerialized in Starfleet Command.  Tanya let out a deep breath that she hadn't realized she was holding in.

Rich looked around, and nodded. "And to the room we go." he breathed. 

Tanya nodded her head.  "Where's that again?" She whispered.

Rich lead her in the correct direction, taking the trip slow and keeping a close eye on her lest there be problems. they made it into the quarters section of the campus just fine, and finally made it to her room.

"Here?" Tanya asked as she pointed to the door.

Rich nodded, "Here." he said softly. "Want help inside, or do you have it from here?"

"Well...if you.. want.. would you like to come in and sit for a while?" Tanya asked.

Rich nodded, and gave a small smile. "Your wish is my command."

The doors parted for them, bringing them into her living room. He helped her to the couch, then sat down beside her, and put an arm around her. He lightly held her other hand, and said "You going to be all right ?"

Tanya nodded her head.  "I think so." She said as she leaned her head against the back of the sofa and closed her eyes. 

Rich leaned his own head back, and looked at the ceiling for a few moments. After several silent moments, he squeezed her hand a bit. "I suppose the night could have been worse."

Tanya opened her eyes and blinked.  "Oh, sure, I could be in sickbay right now." She said,  "I think that would be definitely worse."

"Hey, you could classify that as rest and relaxation... I think" he said lightly as he turned his head on the cushion to look at her. 

Tanya sort of smiled.  "I guess." She said as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

Rich's arm wrapped around her protectively as he watched her continue to fall in his mind, before he had pressed the emergency button. No, those were thoughts he did not want to contemplate. "Well, you aren't, so much the better." 

He placed a small kiss on her forehead, then leaned back ever so slightly to be comfortable. "It should make for some interesting dreams tonight, in either case."

Tanya shook her head while it rested on his shoulder.  "I don't think I want to go to sleep." She said, "I can still see the ground rushing up towards me."

Lee hugged her to him briefly, and nodded his head slightly. "I've got all night, if you want the company."

Tanya nodded.  "I'm going to go change into my yellow pajamas." She stated as she rose.  "I'll be right back."

Rich let her go, and watched her leave. He rubbed his face with his hands after she had left, and let out a deep breath. "That was great, Rich... nearly get her killed, real smooth." He shook his head, and opened his eyes to watch the ceiling again. 

Several moments later, Tanya emerged hair tied back and in her fluffy bright yellow pajamas.  She went over to the replicator.  "Want anything?" She called to Rich.

Lee looked at the fluffy pajamas for several moments, and almost chuckled. "No, no... I'm fine." he said after a couple moments consideration.

"Okay..." She asked as she replicated an acturian fizz and a plate of cheese and potato dumplings and two forks.  She went over and sat down but Rich putting her plate on the coffee table in front of her.  "Here, have some..." She said, as she indicated a fork to him.  "They're really good," She said enticingly. 

Rich sat forward, and considered the food for a moment. "What is it ?" he finally asked as he picked up a fork and looked at it for a few moments more. 

"it's made out of dough, and has cheese and potatoes in it.  Just eat it.  It's good!  You can dip it in that sour cream there if you want, it's really good, I promise."

Rich forked one of the potatoes, and looked at it for another moment before taking a taste. He chewed for a few more moments before nodding and swallowing. "Not bad," he finally said, as he forked another potato.


He looked over at Tanya, and chuckled. "An interesting counterpoint to terror and champagne," he said with a grin. 

"Hey, they go with everything." Tanya said as she took her drink and leaned into Rich's shoulder.  "Oh you should try it with this." Tanya said as she offered him a sip of her drink.

"It makes you feel bubbly and a little dizzy, but in a fun way." She said, now smiling.

Rich wrapped his arm around Tanya again, and took a sip of the drink. He licked his lips a couple times, and brought up an eyebrow. "Defiantly not bad," he said with a grin. "Interesting for sure... what is it ?"

"It's an acturian fizz... apparently it has, pleasure enhancing qualities..." her voice trailed off, "Whatever that means, it makes you dizzy and bubbly though." She stated.

~Pleasure enhancing abilities...~ Lee trailed off for a few moments, then chuckled. "Whatever that means?" he intoned, after taking another sip. "I take it you have never taken it for more then just its other 'dizzy' effects then. "

Tanya shook her head.  "No..." She said, as she retrieved her glass and took another sip.  "Why?" She asked in confusion.

Rich shook his head, "I would be slapped if I tried showing you, I think." he said with a wink. "And for no other reason in particular, just a curiosity." he said with a smile. 

"Okaaaay...." Tanya said, as she leant forward and put the glass on the table, taking another pyrogy on a fork and eating it.  "Hmm, what a great combination." She said as she curled up on the sofa.

Rich chuckled and sat back on the couch. "If I didn't know better, I would say you sounded confused or unconvinced."

Tanya laughed slightly, "I'd rather be confused at this moment than able to think straight."

Rich nodded, "There are worse states to be in I suppose, possibly some better ones but for sure some worse ones."

Tanya nodded.  "Did you have any other plans for the night?" She said as she yawned.

Rich shook his head, "None I was aware of, though it appears that your body betrays you and might very well go to sleep in either case."

He chuckled as he lifted her hand and gave it a kiss. 

Tanya smiled as she laid her head on Rich's shoulder and let her eyes close.

Rich leaned back and let his arm rest around her, content for the time to be a pillow. After all, there were far worse places he could be, and he couldn't think of one place he would rather be. 

(reply none)
(posted by Trout and Kat Mazurok)

Stardate:2406.01.13
(Earth - Starfleet training Center, Holodeck 1 -  WTO Dervin  and FO Lee, 0812)

<round ended>

the computer's voice ended.  Tanya put the phaser down.  "Ok,  so like can we do something challenging now?  This level seven  has been getting old every single day... it's starting to get  easy!" She said.

Lee raised an eyebrow, and considered the phaser before him  for a moment. "alright then Ms Dervin, lets see just what you  have." He pushed a couple buttons on his phaser, then said  "Level 14"

Instantly the sky was filled with a bunch of targets that were  all moving at a very high velocity.  Tanya moved her phaser  and began to fire, they were coming here and there and moving  all over, she could hardly keep up.  It was too fast she was  missing too slow.  She turned this way and that, trying to hit  the targets but she ended up missing more than she hit.

<level not cleared>

The computer chirped again.  Tanya looked over at Lee, her  eyes flaming.  "Ok I could work on it." She simply said.

Lee snorted, "That level is one I can only complete part of  the time, and I've far more training in this then you do. I  will take you to dinner on me for a month strait if you manage  to clear this course something in the next week."

Tanya smiled coyly.  "Oh so you won't take me to dinner for a  month anyway if I don't complete it." She said then before  giving Lee a chance to reply she instructed the computer to  reset the program and she assumed her position with her back  to Lee.

Lee shook his head, and checked his phaser once more. "Level  seven." he said again, hiding a chuckle as he imagined the  response that Tanya was going to give. "Start"

The level started and Tanya tried again, widely, she had  already begun to understand a small bit of the programming, she  moved one way then
another, balanced herself and then fired.   She managed to get twice as
many targets as she had the time  before, but still, she was not successful.

<level not cleared>

Rich chuckled as he noticed the results. "At this rate, you  should be able to accomplish the level in a month or so of  intensive training." He turned back to her, and holstered his  phaser. "But since you have already passed, above and beyond,  I don't suppose this is a challenge that you will have to  overcome."

Tanya laughed.  "Yes, but who am I to pass up a challenge?" 

Computer, reset program.  She said as she turned her back to  Lee again.

Rich shook his head with a chuckle. "Some challenges are  beyond you, woman." he said as he pulled his phaser again.  "Still, it could be worse." He took aim and said, again,  "Start Program."

The targets started again, causing Lee to pay full attention  to it. It was one of his better days, and he managed to pass  with few misses. 

Tanya tried again, focusing on the patterns that the targets  were
making before, she fired again, and again and again.   Then missed.
Fired again, then missed.  Again, the missed.  Missed.  Then hit some more and missed some more.

<level not cleared>  The computer chirped back.

"Damn" Tanya said.  Then she turned to Lee.  "Woman? now am I?   Woman?"
She said her tone offended at the choice of adjective  he'd used in defining her.

Rich sighed and raised an eyebrow, "A non-derogative  description of your sex used in reference to you, unless you  would rather be referred to as sexless or as a male?" 

He turned to her, his face serene. 

Tanya looked at him, placed one hand on her shoulder, and then  pushed him.  Then she turned and walked out.

Rich shook his head and sighed as she exited. "Smooth, Lee...  very smooth." 

He holstered the phaser and shot out the door himself, "Doctor  Dervin, hold up!"

Tanya kept walking.

Rich passed her, and came to a stop in front of her. "Alright, alright... I apologies."

"For what?" Tanya asked as she crossed her arms in front of her  and stopped.

Lee raised an eyebrow, "Alright, so rip it out of me then. For  what you obviously considered to be a derogative insult."

Tanya looked off at the wall indignantly, "I wasn't trying to  rip anything out of you." She said, "If you'll excuse me." She  said as she took a step to walk past Lee.

Rich stepped in front of her again, "The apology is sincere,  Doctor." he said with a slight air of exasperation. 

Tanya stopped at turned to face Lee.  She put her hands on his
shoulders, jumped up and planted a light kiss on his cheek.   "Apology
accepted" She said as she started to walk away again.

Rich turned with her and continued walking backwards. "Alright  then, so why are you running then ?"

"I'm not running" Tanya stated as she turned back towards Lee.  "I'm sorry did you have something else to say?"

Lee crossed his arms. "Lets see, I'm standing in front of you  and you keep trying to walk around me, I would classify that  as running." His eyebrow went up again as he considered her

"And what am I supposed to do then Lieutenant?"

Rich was unimpressed, "Learn rank, Engineering Systems  Crewman."

"Fine, Ensign, I hope you enjoy your post in the waste  recycling unit." Tanya retorted.

Lee shook his head, "You haven't the power, much as you might  like it. And you know better, I might very well assign you to  waste recycling for a few days if you continue to bait me."

Tanya looked at him, her face clearly unimpressed.  "Fine  then.  I'll report there in the morning." She said as she  turned and started to walk away.

~If that is how it is going to be.~

"Lieutenant Dervin, you will stand at attention until I am  done speaking to you, or you will stand time in the brig for  insubordination and conduct unbecoming!"

Tanya turned back and looked at Lee highly unimpressed and let  her face express that.  "Oh yes Sir." She accentuated.

Rich shook his head, "Why do you have to be such an utter pain  in the ass, Doctor Dervin?  Fighting me, and the system, will  get you absolutely nothing."

"Whose fighting?" She asked him.

"Don't be stupid." he said, "You are both more observant and  more intelligent then that."

"Oh am I now?"  Tanya retorted.  "yes, Sir, absolutely sir. I  think so sir."

Rich felt like repeatedly beating his skull into a bulkhead,  this woman was infuriating!

"Alright, lets try this again. My way."

He crossed his arms, "You have one more chance, and I'm sick to  death of your smartassed attitude. you have two more days of  training left, if you make it through and convince me that you  are halfway serious, then you will keep your cushy position.  If not, Ill personally load your bags onto the first transport  off this rock."

He looked at her for a few moments more, marveling that such  a face could hide such a royal pain in the behind. "I trust I  make myself clear?"

Tanya smiled, and pushed a strand of hair from her face.  "Oh,  very clear." She said in a coy voice with an interesting  smile.  "Very clear indeed."

Rich considered for a moment, and shook his head. He nearly  considered this woman schizophrenic. She was happy one  moment, a pain in the ass the next, then back again. He nearly  considered asking her to dinner, but mentally slapped himself  half a moment later. "Very well, Lieutenant."

"Is there anything else you would like sir?" Tanya asked with  a smile on her face.  While she found Lee completely  infuriating there was this rise she got out of making him  angry, not that she deliberately tried to, but it just somehow  happened.

~Wanna come to my quarters?~

He considered for a few moments, then shrugged his shoulders.  "Free for dinner tonight ?" He considered how that sounded for  a few moments, then decided it sounded WAY to personal, "We  can, of course, use it as a working dinner, part of your  training."

Tanya laughed "Since when has dinner been a part of training?"  She laughed.

~My tongue needs exorcize, I need to tell you everything at  least five times.~

Regardless, he found himself growing hot in the face. "Since  now."

"Pick me up at eight." Tanya stated.  "Am I dismissed sir?"

Rich did a double take, then reviewed his memory to make sure  he heard that right. "Uh, yes Doctor, you are dismissed."

With that , instead of turning away from Lee, Tanya moved in  towards Lee and stood on her toes, she placed her hand  alongside his face and kissed him full on the lips, then she  turned and walked away.  "see you at eight." She said.

Rich blinked as he returned the kiss, and put a hand gently  beside her face, before remembering he was still on duty.  "Indeed," he said in a low voice, "at eight."

Tanya turned abruptly and walked away without saying another  word.


(Earth - Dervin's Quarters - WTO Dervin and FO Lee, 2000)

Lee pulled at the collar of his tunic for a moment, once again  used to Starfleet uniforms after their stay at Starfleet  Command for retraining, and smoothed out the dress top. 

~Once more unto the breech...~

He pressed the enunciator on the door.

Tanya was dressed in a short blue skirt with a blue camisole  top that had white flowers embroidered on it.  "come in" she  called as she was pinning back her hair."

Rich walked in, single flower in hand, and smiled at the image  that was presented. "Lovely," he said, as he moved in behind  her to help her with her hair. 

Tanya smiled.  "Why thank you." She said as she handed him a  hairpin.

Rich took the pin, and held onto her hand for a couple extra  moments, before gently pulling back her hair and pinning it  into place. "Well, no skydiving tonight before dinner, and no  running wild among animals or beasts." He took a critical look  at the hair job, and nodded approvingly. "So, you look  absolutely stunning and the 'do should hold until the end of  the night."

Tanya smiled.  "If you're sure..." She said as she reached  over and placed a kiss on Rich's cheek.  "And so what am I  being trained in tonight?" She asked with a coy smile.

Rich smiled as he put his arms around her waist and pulled her  close. "Well, I could always teach you to Tango..." He  chuckled

Tanya smiled as she pressed her lips to his.  When their kiss  broke she smiled.  "You could..." She said.

Rich let a single finger run down her cheek after they had  broke off, as he tried to pull himself back together again,  this woman drove him batty in more ways then one! "Or, of  course, we could have dinner brought in and I could teach you  here ?" he said, only half joking.

Tanya laughed.  "Actually, I have an idea, come with me. " She  said with a laugh.

Rich grinned, "Alright..." he said, as he allowed himself to be  pulled off.

Tanya smiled as she took Rich's hand and led him out into the  corridor.

Lee looked around, "Alright, so where are we going ?"

Tanya said, "It's a surprise." As she continued to drag him  along the corridor.  They stopped in front of the Holodeck some  moments later. "I thought we'd just camp out right outside  these doors.  What do you think?" She asked.

Rich looked at them and chuckled, "Right here?" he said,  gesturing to the floor. "Excellent, we can sing bad songs and  get kicked around while we are trying to sleep."

Tanya laughed.  "Or..." She said as she tapped a few keys into  the control panel.  The doors were parting.  "Close your  eyes" She hissed at Lee.

Rich watched her for a moment, then closed his eyes. "As you  wish..." he said, lightly. 

Tanya put out her two hands and lead Rich into a blank  Holodeck then after the doors had closed, she said "Open your  eyes!"

"Isn't it magnificent?" She asked gesturing to the gridded  lines surrounding them.

Rich looked around, and whistled. "Oh yes, the epitome of  artistic design intermixed with sparsefunctionality, a true  mmarvel" He looked back at Tanya with a raised eyebrow, "Is  this one of those ffabledhHolodecks" he asked in mock wonder.

Tanya laughed, "Ok, ok, so I admit it isn't what I really had  planned." Tanya said as she keyed in a few commands on a  control panel on the
arch.  A blue box appeared behind Rich.   She climbed up on it, so that
it made her almost his height.   "Ok," she said as she placed her hands
lightly over his eyes.   "Computer, start program Dervin 12." she said.

Rich moved his head slowly back and forth a couple times,  "Ingenious way to cover my eyes darling." he said in an amused  tone. "Pray tell me when I can see the wonder you have  planned." he added with a chuckle. 

Tanya smiled, "I dunno, you want to see what I've programmed?   You
really want to see?  You sure, because we could just stand  here like this all night..."

Rich wiggled one of his arms behind him and wrapped it to the  best of his abilities around her, as he laid his head back on  her chest. "I could handle that too, I think." he said with a  small smile, "But it would be rather rude of me after placing  effort into a program, so whenever you are ready."

Tanya let a small smile pass across her lips as she let her  fingers take away from Rich's eyes.  It parted to reveal a  misty jungle setting with wild vines and bird sounds  everywhere, the humidity was raised and the sights  breathtaking.  In the midst of this apparently exclusive location was a blanket spread out and decorated with flowers  and a picnic basket there.

Lee said nothing for several moments as he looked around, then  closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He opened his eyes  again, and turned to face Tanya. "You have one hell of an  imagination on you, Ms Dervin, I'm quite impressed!" 

He looked at the box she was on for a moment, then back up,  face to face. With a smile He offered a hand, then bent  slightly to get an arm under her legs so he could lift her  off.

Tanya smiled, but then a look of shock crossed her face as he  picked her up.  "Commander!" She exclaimed in shock.

Rich smoothly put her back on her feet, on the moist ground.  "It takes civilian clothes and being helped down to get my  rank correct ? Most interesting..." he said with a wink. 

Tanya looked at Lee, feigning shock.  "Whatever are you  talking about?" She asked with the utmost innocence.

Lee chuckled as he offered his arm with a small bow, for the  short walk to the blanket. "Perhaps nothing, my mistake of  course." he said with a chuckle. 

"Of course." She echoed.

Once seated on the blanket, Rich looked at the basket and  licked his lips. "So, what else did your imagination conjure  up?" he asked with a small smile. 

Tanya smiled.  "well there was an episode with a killer python  but I don't suppose you'd be interested..." She said with a  smile as she held up a plate.  "Oskoid?"

"Killer pythons, bring em on..." he said with a mock war cry  as he held up a fork like a weapon. He looked at the plate and  nodded, then reached for a piece of the oskoid. He nibbled at  it, then took a bite. "Very nice," he said between bites. 

Tanya laughed.  "Sure you , a fork , killer pythons.. I'll  come back and collect your pieces in an hour or a half"

Rich licked his lips theatrically and made a snacking sound,  "I'm hungry, it doesn't stand a chance." he said with a wink. 

"Sure, that's what they all say." Tanya said as she went over  to a cooler and took out a bottle.  "Champaign?" she asked.

"Certainly," he said. "And what do we drink too, here in the  middle of the wildlife?" 

Tanya smiled.  "To hot surroundings and cool tempers."  She  said as she held out a filled glass to Rich.

Lee took the glass, and nodded his head. "Amen," he said,  nearly to himself. He looked at her for a moment, then clinked  his glass lightly against hers. 

Tanya smiled as she took a sip from her glass.  "Ok now, so  what were you going to teach me?" She asked in earnest.

Rich took a sip of his champagne, then chuckled. "Well, the surroundings are appropriate for the Tango anyway, I'm not  particularly in the mood to lecture you about respect and  Starfleet ranking."

"Oh, really.. Admiral." Tanya stated with an amused smile.

Rich snorted and lifted a finger in mock indignation, "One  day, one day..."

He laughed and took another sip of his drink. 

"Oh, right, I've gotten it wrong again, Crewman."  Tanya  smiled as she took a sip from her own glass.

Rich snorted, "No, that is what I could make you if you  stepped on my toes hard enough." he said with a wink as he  swirled the champagne in his glass. "Closer though."

"Oh, yes, I get them all so confused." Tanya admitted.

"You can remember all the states of warp field plasma, you  know warp field geometry well enough to predict its  unpredictable results and both refine and create new warp  engines, yet you have trouble remembering order of rank and  pips?" he said, unconvinced.

Tanya nodded her head, "What's that old saying? Something to  do with Rocket Science...." Tanya's voice trailed off.

Rich leaned back on the blanket, stretched out his legs and  supported his head on his free hand. "As I recall, that  applied to would-be geniuses, not bonafides." he said, a hint  of humor in his voice. 

Tanya chuckled, "You expect much of me Mr Lee.  I am  flattered."

"I expect nothing, that's just who you are, from what I've  seen." he said deadpan, just before he took another sip of his  drink. 

"I wouldn't use that particular word to describe me.  I am  good at what I do.  End of story."

Rich chuckled, "I doubt there can ever be an end to that  story, but as you wish..." His eyes spied the basket again,  and he looked back up at Tanya with another small smile,  "Anything else in that box of surprises?" he asked. 

Well as a matter of fact there is." Tanya started.  "there's  the entirety of the Galapagos islands all throughout that  picnic basket." Tanya said with a grin.  "Or... just a  strawberry cheesecake for dessert!"

"Ooh, the fabled bottomless basket, equally capable of  holding an island chain *and* a cheesecake for dessert, very  impressive." he said, as he took another sip. "How did you  know I liked strawberries?"

Tanya smiled.  "Service records are quite interesting things."  Tanya retorted.

Rich considered that for several moments, "My dietary habits  are in my service record?" he asked incredulous,  "Impressive.." He brought up his glass, "To learning new  things," he said, deadpan.

Tanya smiled.  "I dunno, maybe they are?  Or maybe it was a  lucky guess?" Her eyes twinkled mischievously.

Lee eyed Tanya for a few moments, then went "humph," he  swirled what was left of his champagne, "In this case I think  I wont pry for an answer. Cheesecake with strawberries,  champagne and good company are enough to make me forget..."  He chuckled as he reached over the blanket and picked a wild  flower. He handed it to her with mock ceremony.

Tanya smiled.  "Um, thank you... uh... uh... Petty Officer."   She
answered back.

"Anytime, recruit." he said with a chuckle. 

Rich licked his lips, and put his glass down on a flat part of  the blanket. He stood, and offered his hand, "Will you have  this dance, Ms Dervin?"

"A Dance? To what Mr. Lee?" Tanya asked as she didn't hear any  music.

Rich chuckled, "If the crickets and wildlife aren't enough, I'm  sure I could hum a tune..." he said with a wink and a chuckle. 

"OR!" Tanya exclaimed as she pressed a button on a console  that was hidden in a flower and soft classical music drifted  over the jungle.

Rich laughed, "Are you trying to tell me you don't want me to  sing?" he asked, as he clasped his hand in hers and hauled her  to her feet.

Tanya grinned as she made her way to her feet and found her  hand in Rich's.  "Well I didn't say that I didn't want you  to... but...." She paused with a wink.

Lee shook his head, "You didn't have to say a word, you are  rather expressive in your actions." he said as he pulled her  close into a typical dance posture. "But I must admit, seeing  you run in terror at the sound of my voice wouldn't make the  night nearly so enjoyable, so I would consider this a good  alternative."

Tanya smiled coyly, "Oh, and here I was wondering if you were Betazoid."

He grinned, "I do try." 

After their dance had finished, Tanya smiled at Richard  mischievously, "And I have one more adventure."

Rich pulled away, and cocked his head to the side. "Oh? I'm  always up for an adventure..."

~Famous last words...~

"Excellent, then here we go!" Tanya stated as she cleared a  path to where there was a giant temple that had a sign etched  in it.  'Temple of Doom'

Rich blinked, "Is this revenge for the sub orbital jump?" he  was forced to ask, "Or are you just trying to tell me  something..."

Tanya looked at Rich and placed a light kiss on his lips.   "Me?  Try to
tell you something?  Really now, if you haven't  realized that I don't skirt around issues by now... then there  is no hope!"

"Good point," he said as he followed her to the temple.  "Alright then, Ill bite... what is this ?"

"A Game" She said coyly.  "But maybe it's too much for you?"  Tanya whispered to Rich.

"Do you want carried in, or shall I simply walk in ahead of  you." he asked with a wink. "If it involves animal sacrifice,  mating with strange creatures or singing Klingon opera for 10  hours strait, THEN it would be to much. Otherwise..."

Tanya snickered.  "Oh, so you don't like mating with strange  creatures for ten hours whilst singing Klingon opera, oh you  will really despise this adventure."

Rich rubbed his forehead as they walked into the temple. He  looked around for a few moments, then nodded his head. "Add a  few lights and a bed and you have a nice party house, but I  wouldn't recommend it for the faint of heart." he said. He  looked over at her, "Alright, since you know the way, pray  lead on.." he chuckled. 

All of a sudden, the lights (What little ones were around)  flickered out.  And there was a large *Cha-chunk, cha-chunk*  sound coming from all around them.

"If you wanted to be alone in the dark with me my dear, all  you had to do was ask." he said quietly as he turned on his  heel to place the location of the sound. 

"Hardly" Tanya said snidely.

Just then, there was a *squack squack, squack*  *ahhh!*  *crack* *splat
* *Thud* *MWA MWA MWA MWA MWA MWA MWA!*

Tenaya smiled as a rotating blade flew just centimeters above  Rich's head and anchored itself into the wall.

Rich, on complete reflex, bent at the back backwards, nearly  falling back before he recovered himself. He went to his knee,  with both his hands on the ground and looked hard in the  direction that the blade had come from, the smile gone from  his face and his mood flicked into 'combat mode' in just under  a second flat. His eyes fell to the floor, and he spied a dead  branch from the outer forest, which he quickly grabbed as he  looked back up for a target. "I don't suppose you will tell me  what that was all about ?" he asked

"I didn't write the program, I just found it.  From an old TV  adventure program." She countered as she dropped to the  ground. "I don't even know what's in it!" She said with a  grin.

"Woooooooonderful..." he said as two men appeared down the  corridor. Both were wearing white outfits with red sashes and  black troubans, and both were carrying curving swords,  Kopseh's most likely. Rich's eyes narrowed as he stood. "Why  do I get the feeling that these people don't like us much?"

He didn't get to answer as one of the two suddenly screamed  something in a language he didn't understand and charged him. 

Tanya moved and tried to counter the people, she took two  steps back and then the ground gave out under her, she went  falling, and plummeted to the bottom of a very deep pit.  ~at  least I don't have to contend with them anymore.~  She  rationed.  That was before she heard the deep growling.

"TANYA!" Rich yelled. He growled deep in his throat, blocked a  sword thrust and slammed a ridge hand into the man's throat.  The man dropped after his Adams apple gave a very satisfying  'crack'. He ducked a slice by his companion, then reached out  and grabbed hold of the mans crotch with all his strength. At  the first squeak, Rich twisted his arm and brought the man to  his knees. Rich pulled his other arm back and slammed home a  fist into the man's nose with all his body and strength. He  grabbed one of the swords as he was struggling up and ran over  to the pit. "You ok ?" he yelled down. 

"Um, I was until, I heard the growls..." Tanya screamed up from  the 45 foot depths.

Rich looked around, then back down. "Move to your right," he  said as he held the blade out over the pit, then let it drop  blade down. "weapon incoming!" he said. He stood and ran back  over to the two downed men, and gave one a kick as he started  to wake up. Rich grabbed the second sword, then made his way  back to the pit. "I gotta be nuts," he whispered to himself as  he jumped over the side.

Tanya watched as first a weapon came and then Lee.  "Hello"   She said.
"I don't know why you would want to come down  here..."

*GRRRRR* a very hungry animalistic growl was heard.

"I don't suppose that's a housecat?"

"No, I don't suppose it was." Rich said as he hefted his blade.  He took a couple steps back, though he generally stayed in  front of Dervin. He took a glance at her, in her dress, then  looked back to where the sound was coming from. "For some  reason, I think neither of us dressed properly for this  occasion." he said, with very light humor.

Tanya laughed.  "uh uh uh!" she scolded, "Best be prepared for anything, because, after all, anything can happen at any  moment."

"Oh good," he said as *something* came out of the shadows. "In  that case, lets skip the animal entree and have a chat with  nine short fellows, or a floating mirror.. or something else  fantastic..."

He hunched slightly, ready to leap, as the beat came into what  little light there was. "Oh, you are one UGLY motha..." he  said to the beast.

"Mr. Lee." Tanya began in a haughty tone that was imitating  something Lee had previously stated to her.  "Perhaps you  require some anger management training." She sassed.

"I don't know about that," he said lunged once at the creature,  when it brought up an arm to swipe. "But I *do* think I need a  new animal skin rug.. what do you think, would this ugly thing  suffice?"
 
"But it's soo ugly, and it wouldn't got with my scheme."   Truth be
told, Tanya's 'scheme' was a bunch of things that  people had given to her, because her room was so ugly  decorated.

Rich chuckled, "I said for me, my dear.. so unless you think  *I* would fit into your scheme..."

He jabbed again, as the animal came to close.

"This is a very odd state of affairs.  Look at that bear!"  Tanya pointed as a bear came through on a giant rubber ball  juggling several smaller ones.

Lee shook his head, "Just what kind of nutty program is this  ?" he asked, when the bear (which was wearing a cone hat)  started tossing his previously juggled balls at the creature  which had been growling at them. 

"I dunno, I told you, I found it in the database"

With a stab at the ground, Rich managed to secure the sword  for easy grabbing as the animal retreated under an onslaught  of rubber balls and.. peanuts ?

He looked up to the top of the chasm where several clowns were  tossing peanuts and squeak toys down at the beast, and.. them. 

He looked back over at Tanya, "Most interesting," he said  after a moment. "I see why its the Temple of Doom now,  anything with clowns and dancing bears MUST be scary as hell!"

Tanya laughed.  "Well some people are frightened of clowns, I  hear..." She added.

He licked his lips, "So, um.. how do we get out of here?"

Tanya looked at him.  "What about down that slide?"  She  asked.

Rich looked over, and raised an eyebrow. "Oh.." he said after  a few moments. He snorted, and looked back at Tanya with a  devilish glint. "Ladies first," he said. 

"Ha, just great." Tanya said sarcastically as she got down the  slide. "But not without pulling you after me!" She shouted as  she grabbed onto Lee's belt.

Rich didn't even have a chance to say anything as he was  pulled, belt first, down the slide. He landed sideways behind  her as she laughed during the slide. For many moments Lee  almost rolled, but didn't manage to until he slammed face first  into her back. 

"mmph."

He turned his head, and uncrossed his eyes from the rough  impact. "..if you wanted my pants off, as well, all you had to  do was ask..." he said as he brought up a hand to his head. 

Tanya shot him a glare, "Had that been my attention,  Commander, I assure you I would have been slightly more  direct."  

Rich rubbed his neck, then glanced at her. "I don't believe it,  make a crack about sexuality and she finally gets my rank  right, unbelievable!" he said with mock sarcasm. 

Tanya didn't dignify a response, instead she just glared at  Lee.  "Now what?" she asked indicating the path before them

Rich rubbed his face, "Now, I go first.. this is what happens  when you go first!" He stood, and looked around the  passageway. "Maybe we should be playing some deep and  influential music, something that signifies a cliffhanger..."

Tanya looked back at him.  "Are you always NOT this comical?"  She hissed.

He chuckled, "I try, are you always this uptight while in  temples of doom?" He looked back at her and winked.

"I AM NOT UPTIGHT!" She said as she turned on him, her skin  starting to flush with anger.

"Obviously not." he said lightly as a bunny turned the corner,  hopping full speed at him. He looked at it for several moments  as it paused and looked at its watch. "Well, that gives me  ideas," he said quietly to himself. 

"ACK, I'm LATE!" it screamed, as it turned on it's tail and  jumped the other direction again. Rich looked back at Tanya,  "Truce, until we get out of this nuthouse?"

Tanya looked back at him glaringly, "For now." She said  crisply.


Tanya made her through a passageway and to a very small door  that seemed largely covered with moss, she reached forwards to  touch it and all of a sudden.
*chop* a blade made its way over where her head would have  been had she not been crouching and touching the vines at the  bottom.

"Rich..." She paused, "was that what I think it was?"

"A knife to me, a blade to you... I think this place has it in  for us." he said, uneasily. 

"Alright then, lead on..." he said with a chuckle.

"Are the safeties on?"  Tanya asked with sudden concern.

"I don't know, you were the programmer here..." he looked up, "Computer, Arch."

"No, I told you I found this bit in the database."  She  answered back, "I just integrated it"

Rich pointed to the arch that appeared before them, "Well, at  the very least we have access to the outside." he said.  "computer, status of Holodeck safeties?"

"Holodeck safeties have been disabled." The computer chirped  back.

"You know, for some reason, that doesn't sit well with me." he  said. He took her hand and stepped into the arch, just in  case... "Alright the, computer, can you reestablish Holodeck  safeties ?"

"Holodeck safeties cannot be reestablished until scenario is completed." The computer chirped back.

"My dear, I'm afraid this is going to have to come to an end.  Being headless is not my idea of a good time..."

Tanya looked at Rich.  "I swear, I didn't know, whose program  is this anyway?"

Rich reached out and closed down the temple, then looked at  the information for it. "Author Anon." he said with a frown.  "Ah well, was interesting while it lasted..." he turned to  face her, "It could have been worse, I think" 

A flaming arrow became firmly planted in the wall two feet  in front of
them, it was pinned to a burning note that said:   "No one leaves."

Rich looked at the arrow for a moment, then said "Computer,  emergency override authorization Lee Omega Seven Seven, shut  this program down and open the doors, NOW!"

Nothing occurred.

Lee looked out past the arch. "Lee to engineering, we have an  emergency situation in Holodeck 1"

Again nothing happened, there were no communications leaving  the Holodeck.  

"I guess we play it out?" Tenaya whispered.

"I would rather not," he said as he turned to the console and  began typing commands. Anything could be hacked, it was a  matter of knowing just what to do. "Computer, you will end  this program or I will march my happy ass to your central  processor and turn your chips into a toaster."

The program ended.

"What was that?" Tanya whispered.

"Nothing, yet." he said carefully as he looked at the readout.   "Now
open the doors, or I will think of even worse things to  turn you into." to said to the computer. 

The doors remained closed.

"Obviously I am not making myself clear, you @$# and @#$ son  of a #@$%$ who #@$$@# laid with @$@#$#@ for @#$#$# 'ing #%#$%  and @#$$#@ seven cookies!"

He pushed a few more buttons, "Open sesame."

The doors swished open

Rich grabbed Tanya before the computer could change its mind  and jumped outside. He shoved both of them quickly aside, and  only let out a breath of relief as the doors closed.  "Computer, erase that program immediately!"

He looked over at Tanya, "What say, want to do some safe  skydiving next time?"

He chuckled, and brought her hand up to kiss it. "If you  wanted me dead, by the way, all you had to do was tell me to  do so and I would go away." He winked at her.

Tanya pulled her hand from him and growled.  "If I had wanted  you dead...." Then she didn't finish.  "Good night.  Admiral,  good night." She said as she turned and walked away.

"Tanya," he called out. "Until we both about had our heads  taken off without knowing it, I had a good time."

Tanya turned off, "Oh, and I liked the vicious animals best."   She said
then turned and walked away.

(reply none)
(posted by Trout and Katherine Mazurok)

Stardate:2406.01.14
(Starfleet Command, Earth - Debriefing and Training Center, room 3 - Lee/Dervin - 0835)

Rich rubbed his eyes and leaned back in the chair he had appropriated for his size with a sigh of frustration. He was supposed to have met up with Tanya to work on a few science issues, advanced Technologies... but that was to have been half an hour ago

Lee finally grew impatient, regardless of what had happened last night. "Location of Doctor Dervin"

he asked the computer. 

(insert location)

<Dr. Dervin is in her quarters>

Rich stood, and headed for the door.
Stardate:2406.01.14
(Earth - Quarters - Lee - 0845)

Rich pushed the enunciator to Dervin's quarters and then crossed his arms as he waited for her to respond. 

Tanya had worked late into the night, there had been so many fascinating developments in Warp Technologies, that she'd just tried to pour through them all in such a short period of time. The result: she'd fallen asleep in her clothes in the middle of her room in the midst of an array of PADDs that were scattered all around her. The glass of milk that she'd been drinking had spilt on the floor as she'd moved in her sleep, the PADDS were all shuffled and lay not moving in the middle of her floor.

Rich pushed the button again after a few moments, then pounded bodily on the door (since it took a lot of effort to even get sound through the door). "come-on Tanya..." he breathed. 

Still Tanya didn't move.

Rich paused for a moment, then tapped on his badge. "Lee to Dervin, are you all right ?"

Emanating from Tanya's bathroom, from the little badge that was discarded on her counter was a muffled voice, speaking but since Tanya was in the midst of the common room of her living quarters, she heard nothing.

Rich asked twice more, but received no answer in either case. He tapped his badge again, far more agitated this time. "Medical emergency, medical team to Doctor Dervin's Quarters!"

He looked up at the door, "Security override, Commander Richard Ian Lee... authorization seven five omega tango!"

Tanya stirred, and rolled over onto her side, her hand straying towards her face.

Lee walked in and took a real quick glance around, his eyes fell on the body of Tanya and the apparent signs of fowl play around her.  He rushed to her side and fell to his knees beside her body and tapped his badge.

"Security Team to Dr. Dervin's quarters."

He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, "Tanya are you awake? Are you okay?"

Tanya stirred from where she was lying as she felt a hand placed on her shoulder.  She didn't know where it came from or what it was doing, but she didn't expect it at all, she sat up and reflexively brought her left hand up against towards her aggressor.  A giant *slap* was heard.

Lee blinked, and looked at her for a moment as she woke up, apparently unharmed.  He ignored the stinging sensation, and said "Are you alright?"

Tanya looked bleary eyed at who she had deemed for the aggressor and saw in its place, Lee.  "Well what does it look like?" she asked.

Lee frowned at her for a moment.  "Cancel all emergency calls to Dr. Dervin's quarters."  Then he looked at her hardly for several moments, and said "Well, you didn't answer your comm., you didn't answer the door enunciator, I figured there was a problem.  When I saw you sprawled on the floor, I thought there was a problem."  He licked his lips, "But I think the slap cured me of that."  He said dryly.

He stood up, and offered his hand to Tanya.

Tanya looked at him.  "And your point is?"  

Lee looked at his hand for a moment, then back at Tanya. "The point of my hand is to give you a helping hand to your feet, unless you would like to stay on the floor or rise under your own power."

"Ha ha." Tanya said as she gripped his hand, hard and stood.  "That wasn't the meaning of the question." She stated.

Richard raised and eyebrow as Tanya stood. "My apologies then, I don't know the question, because you couldn't be asking why I would call a doctor if I thought there was an emergency..."

Tanya glared at him.  "Never mind." She stated as she let go of his hand, and brushed herself off.  Then picked up the glass that had spilt milk all over the floor.

"No no, please.. continue." he said after a moment with a somewhat amused tone. 

"Do you have a point to this?" Tanya asked, "or did you just come over here to harass me for fun?"


"Oh yes," he responded dryly. "I'm such a glutton for punishment, I cant tell you how much I enjoy getting slapped... its rather the highlight of my day." 

He shook his head, "I came because you were late, in case you have forgotten."

"late?" Tanya asked as she looked at him in confusion.

"Late," he agreed. "As in, beyond the time of supposed meeting."

"We were supposed to meet?"

Lee crossed his arms, "I need to get you a day planner," he muttered. In a slightly louder voice, he said "We were supposed to work out technological and scientific differences in current day technology, forty five minutes ago." he said flatly.

"Oh!" Tanya said as her face dropped.  "I'm so... - so.... - sorry." she managed.

"That must have been hard," he said with a slightly amused tone. "Hence, that is why I came to harass you, or so it seems." 

He let his arms fall back to his side, "So are you up for it today or..." he looked around, "Do you rather have other things going on?"

Tanya looked at him, and her face softened, she had screwed up -- again. "No, it isn't what it looks like" She began, really not entirely sure what it did look like, clothing, PADDs and milk everywhere, in fact it could have looked, very odd.  "I was ranting over a particular new warp development..." She started, "And I guess I must have fallen asleep." She finished, looking around, knowing that it sounded lame, but also knowing that it was the truth.  "Really... Rich, I'm sorry." She said again, this time looking up into his eyes.

Rich cocked his head to the side, still looking somewhat amused. "Nothing wrong with falling asleep, but it might be a good idea to keep your communicator handy..." He winked. 

"No harm done, we can always pick up again at a later time. We don't exactly have a time limit to what we have to learn by." He smiled at her, "Its getting up there in time, lets grab a bite to eat since you just woke up and we can get to it then."

"Sure.." Tanya finished.  "Where is my communicator?" She asked as she started to root around on the floor to find the missing item.

Rich waited a moment, watching the woman moving on the floor, and just managed to keep from laughing. He tapped his own badge, and said "Lee to Doctor Dervin."

He waited a few moments, but the doctor was obviously to absorbed to hear the call. He shook his head, "As much as I love watching beautiful women in pointless pursuits..." He walked over and into the bathroom and recovered the communicator. He stuck his head back out, "I think its right here."

Tanya heard Lee call and then made her way to the bathroom.  "Oh here it is!" She said.  "Um.. Thanks." She said looking at Lee.

Lee made a little half bow, "My pleasure, I'm sure." 

He looked around for a moment, then said "shall we ?"

Tanya looked at Lee, then at the shower.  "Um, do you think you could wait like fifteen minutes?  So I could grab a shower?"

Lee glanced over, and bit back the first thought that came to his mind, something like 'sure, can I join ?'

He nodded to her, and crossed over the threshold of the bathroom. "I shall be waiting out here for you, unless you would rather I leave ?" He chuckled, "Wouldn't want you to think that a crazed man would just walk in on you" he added with a wink. 

Tanya laughed, "Very funny.  Um make yourself at home I'll be out in about ten." she said.

He nodded, and made the effort to turn away. "I shall await your return breathlessly," he said, only half joking. He went to find a seat, and tried hard to wait patiently.

Tanya climbed in the shower, and got all cleaned up.  She had a hydro setting in her bathroom as she loved the feel of hot water steaming down her back.  After she finished she stepped out, replicated some fresh clothes -- civilian ones, a red fabric with a white print decorating it for a skirt and tank top.  She combed her hair left the bathroom. "Alright, I'm ready.. this isn't a uniform event is it?" She asked Lee.

Lee looked up at her, and grinned. "Thankfully, no.." he gestured to his own uniform, "the Uniformed look just looks good on me" he said with a chuckle. 

Tanya looked at him, "Well yeah, I just.. um... well... no offence but I hate that uniform, I'd rather wear something like this." She said as she turned around, "Or my yellow pajamas."

Rich raised his right eyebrow, and bit his tongue for a moment, then replied. "Pajamas would work, I suppose... " he looked at her for a moment longer, then shrugged. "Whatever makes you comfortable I guess." he added. 

Tanya laughed.  "Alright, let's go.  Where are we going?"

~France comes to mind.~ he thought 

"Well, there is a nice Cajun place outside the main Administration building. Up for some spice and down-home music ?"

"Sure" Tanya said, "Sounds good."

(reply none)
(posted by Katherine Mazurok and Trout)

Stardate:2406.01.15
(Starfleet Command - Personal Quarters - Cmdr Richard Ian Lee - 0140)

Rich took a deep pull off the bottle of champagne, and found his eyes straying once again to the picture that had been taken of himself and Dervin at the French restaurant, sometime between the time they arrived and the arrival of the main course. Rich was holding a breadstick and pointing it at Tanya, who was covering her mouth as if trying to cover a smile. 

He leaned his head back on the couch head rest, and took another drink of the champagne, not letting a drop spill from his lips. After a few minutes he put a hand to his forehead and rubbed, slowly moving down to his eyes. The stuff he had replicated was potent, he had made sure of that. 

His eyes fell once more on the bottle he had bought earlier yesterday, he hadn't had the heart to crack it open and drink it, not since it had been intended for both of them. 

~I will save it until she *will* drink it with me!~ 

The thought showed itself through his drink induced stupor, then was quickly replaced with ~She will never want to be around me again, keep dreaming Lee ole boy~

He groaned and leaned forward to grab the PADD that had her test scores and personal assessment of her performance. He hadn't been able to put much in the comments, but the test results were ready, all he had to do was inform command that she had passed. 

Rich cleared his throat, and slapped himself once to clear his head enough to speak without blubbering. "Computer, send a message to Admiral Jopek,"

<<Ready>>

 "Lee to Jopek, Doctor Dervin has successfully passed her orientation courses, and is fully qualified for her position. We will be returning to Utopia Planitia for continuation of orientation on the morrow. Lee out."

(reply if desired)

Lee sat back against the couch again, and took another deep drink from the bottle. This was going to be a fun night.

(reply any)
(posted by Trout) 
Stardate:2406.01.15
(Earth, Starfleet Command - Training Building 1 - Lee/Dervin - 0806)

Rich leaned back in the chair he was sitting in, and let his eyes hover to the chronometer once more, just as the doors opened. "You are late, again." he said in a quiet tone as he crossed his arms. 

Tanya lowered her head slightly again and cast her eyes on the ground. "I thought you'd said 08.15, I was thinking I was early!"

Rich raised an eyebrow, "Oh Eight Hundred, and O Eight fifteen... yes, I can see where they sound so much alike." he said, with a cast of sarcasm. 

"Well not really when said like that..." Tanya shot back.  "But if you think of it as a fraction of an hour and 08.00 is sixty minutes from 09.00 whereas 08.15 is only forty-five, then if you look at it from the point of view that I remembered it was the earlier one, then 8.15 is the earlier one because it's lesser than the difference between 09.00."

"And 0800 is fifteen minutes earlier then 0815, and 0800 is when you were expected to be here." he said back, still fairly calm. "I bet if this were a warp symposium with some high key speaker, you would not have been an instant late."

"no, I would have been early, as I would have had I thought the correct time, as I supposed it was 08.15 then I would indeed be nine minutes late." Tanya retorted.

Rich shook his head, and then rubbed his temples. "Anyway," he said after a few moments, "Are you ready to begin ?"

Tanya nodded her head.  "Yes." She answered simply.

Rich settled back into his chair again, and smiled vaguely. "Good," he said after a moment. "This is your last day of training, and it will probably be the hardest."

Tanya resisted the massive urge to roll her eyes.

With a grunt, Lee stood and cracked his neck. "Alright then," he said with finality." He turned from her and headed for the Holodeck door, with the programs already installed. It wasn't as if he hadn't had the time to do so...

"And what have we today?" She asked.

"More then you want to deal with, no doubt." he said back as the doors opened. 

Tanya frowned, she hated it when he said that, because usually he was right, and that lead to her protesting, and not 'fulfilling potential' or another array of adjectives that he used to convey that same meaning. All in all, it took one non fun thing and managed to completely turn it around into something else, usually resulting in a spat and his threatening to have her disbarred or thrown out or whatever.  Although it never really happened though.

Rich looked back and chuckled, "But don't loose heart, this is your last day after all." 

The Holodeck was formed in the standard format of a Galaxy Class bridge, this one modified slightly to fit the format of the Firebrande, a ship she was used to seeing. 

"Thank the gods" She muttered under her breath.  She watched as the doors parted to reveal the galaxy class bridge.  ~Hmm nothing good can come of this.~  She reasoned.

With the utmost ease, Lee wound his way around the large bridge and perched himself in the First Officer's chair. "Alright, Operations Officer, take your place." He said, with a wicked smile. 

"Operations?!?!  No, no, I'm' non fleet." She talked back.

"Obviously," he said wryly, "Or you wouldn't have questioned my orders." He leaned back in the chair, and said out loud, "Run program Lee Training 3, on hold."

People filled the bridge, including a mock captain. Every department was covered except Operations

"On the other hand, you might have to take that position in an emergency some day, and its one you would most need to know. So, sit already,"

This time Tanya rolled her eyes.  "This isn't good.  I already know it's going to end in disaster, can we just say that I'm no good at it and call it good enough?"

Rich considered that for a moment, "Because it isn't good enough, you have to have and prove at least a few basic skills." He leaned forward, "I don't expect you to be an expert, you don't have to know everything, but you do have to know basic procedures in case of an emergency. The best place to train that is Operations."

Tanya groaned.  "Fine"  she grunted as she sat at the designated station.


Lee choked back a laugh, it only came out as a strangled grunt, so he considered the attempt successful. "Very well," he said after he got control of himself again, "Status report."

"Um, there are red blobs all over the ship and the second left hand panel is all dark the warp engines are offline and there's a plasma eruption in conduit 4392."

"Red blobs..." he said, "How very impressive, sounds like the plot to a cheap horror story."

He shook his head, "And what are these 'red blobs', if you would be so kind."

"I dunno, they're not supposed to be there and they move." She answered back.

"So find out." he said, in no uncertain terms. "You have operations, therefore control of most all resources on the ship, I'm sure you can figure out what a few blobs are." he said, the sarcasm thick.

"I dunno, intruders. They're intruders." She stated.

"Praise be," Rich whispered to himself, very under his breath. "Red Alert, Shields up... Security to..." he looked at Tanya, "What Sections to I send security too?"

"All over!"  She said.

"That helps, so you direct the security teams." he said back.

"What?  I dunno, they're everywhere, in fact there's sixteen right outside the bridge door!"

Rich grabbed a phaser, and ordered everyone on the bridge to do the same. "Start naming off locations, Ops." he said as he turned to the bridge door, "At least start a list."

"Deck 1, Deck 2, Deck 3, Deck 4, Deck 5, Deck 7, main Engineering, Deck 8, Decks 9-11, and Deck 22.  Oh and for some odd reason, the pond in the arboretum.  Also they're trying to break into several weapons lockers. "

Rich bit back a chuckle, he had something special planned for the pond at a later time. The doors to the bridge started glowing red from some sort of weapons fire, and Rich grinned. "All bridge crew, prepare to repel boarders!"

Tanya picked up her phaser and stood, ~at least I get out of ops duty.~ She thought triumphantly.

Rich bit back a smile as the doors fell, and in stepped... 6 foot pink bunnies armed with disruptors. They looked ridiculous, but no matter how fluffy they might be, it was Tanya's duty to defend the ship, this was a small test to see if she could do it, against any odds or appearances. Rich took aim at one of the buggers and held the button, knocking the bunny back through the door, hopefully dead before it hit the ground. 

Tanya looked over at the bunnies.  She rolled her eyes.  "surely you jest."

Rich pointed at one that was taking aim at Tanya, then pushed her aside as the beam ripped through where she would have been, "Still think I jest?" he said as he took aim and fired.

Tanya looked at him.  "Pink bunnies.  Really , you could have been more imaginative" She said as her own phaser fire picked off several different rabbits.

"Oooh," he said as he jumped aside a bolt, "Could I now..."

He shook his head as a couple bridge crew went down, "Any wise ideas?" he said casually as he ducked behind the Command Chair, for cover. This was her test after all, he wasn't going to produce all the commands.

"Yes." She said back snippily.  "Computer, scan entire ship and annihilate all things with pink fluff."

A few strange sounds emanated from the computer, <<Please restate request.>>

Lee snorted, "Sure, since when have we installed wall phasers and photon's as a standard package?" he asked in slight disdain.

"You could gas them." She retorted.  She made her way over to a control panel where she accessed the fundamental programming for the program and instructed it to remove everything that was pink.  Then, instead of pink rabbits firing at them, there was neon orange ones.

"Let me guess not going to happen either?"

Rich chuckled as the seat in front of him erupted into flame, "They are intelligent, telepathic and can understand everything you say, so if you announce your intentions, they will respond accordingly." 

"Really? Can they?"  Tanya said with a chuckle.  "I think that I am going to blow up the left half of the bridge." Tanya said as she sat down at the ops console.  Then as all the bunnies made their way to the right, she erected a forcefield around them.

Lee's eyes went Wide. "Excuse me?" he said in a bellow as the forcefield went up, "I think I like the gassing idea better, now that you have that part of the bridge off limits!"

"Well we could gas them in there?" Tanya suggested.

"Make it so!" he said, with barely restrained relief. 

With that Tanya released the gasses into the forcefield and the bunnies began to choke and eventually fell to the ground presumably dead.  "They still alive?" Tanya whispered.

"Hopefully not, I would hate to see what you would do if they *did* make the mistake of being alive." he said dryly. He looked back at her, "Situation on the rest of the ship ?"

"There are more red dots.  Can I gas the whole ship?"

"With a deadly gas ?" he said, "You would-be out of your mind, there is still *our* crew to deal with!"

"Yeah, so gas them all, then tell the computer to recreate the halo-crew." Tanya spat out.

Rich growled, "That isn't possible in life, and this is a test of what you would do in life!" he spat back, "Think of those holo crew as real people, possibly your friends!"

Tanya rolled her eyes.  "Well you said be creative!"  She retorted. "What about a genetic scan/mass transport and beam them all out to space?"

"I said creative, not homicidal," he said, not quite to himself. "Try it," he said louder.

She tried the genetic scan and it completely failed, leaving only ten bunnies floating around the ship in space.

"Hmm ok... plan B!" 

She announced.  All of a sudden, holographic carrots appeared all over the ship.  The bunnies were drawn to the carrots like well...rabbits, and with skill, Tanya had the carrots floating to a central location -- Cargo bay 2.

Lee groaned and put his head in his hands, creative it was.. but

"Sir!"

Lee looked over at Tactical, "Yes..." he said. 

"A couple of the...bunnies, have diverged from their path to cargo bay 2, and an unidentified ship has decloaked 500 yards off the port bow. Its configuration is unknown!"

"Reroute all power to shields and weapons," he said to Operations. 

Tanya looked over at him.  "UGH! Those rabbits have no attention span." She said as she rerouted power to the shields and weapons.  That caused all the holo emitters to go offline and the carrots disappeared. Quickly Tanya sealed the doors to Cargo bay 2.

She turned back to Lee as if she could sense his thoughts.  "Well at least it got a large bit of them in one spot! " She retorted.  "Give me bunnies..." she muttered under her breath.

"No attention span, sounds very failure to me." he muttered, "Open a channel to the unidentified ship."

Tanya did as she was told and the bridge filled with plush orange bunny carcasses beeped as the channel opened.

Lee tapped his fingers on the command chair, as the Captain was dead, and looked at the screen. He had programmed the Holodeck with a good portion of creativity in itself, so it could react to what Tanya did, but there were times it surprised even him, and this was one of them. 

I mean, come on.. how many times did someone see a bushy haired Matriarch of every damned bunny in the world on one's screen ? His eyes floated down to the corpses in front of him, of other bunnies, and he looked back up. 

~Ah hell~

"This is the USS Lollypop of the United Federation of Planets, who are you and why are you invading my ship ?"

Tanya turned back on Lee.  "Lollipop?" She mouthed.  Then started to giggle quietly.

Rich blinked his eyes in an attempt to keep a serious face, and it wasn't hard when the bunny suddenly growled the most menacing growl he had ever heard in his life. It waved a, hand... and the other ship opened fire. "Brace yourselves!" he said by reflex as the ship shook, "Evasive maneuvers, return fire and make sure those shields stay up!"

Tanya looked at the shields on the panel before her.  It didn't help the fact that the shields were in the shape of lollipops with green and white swirls.  "UM, the lollipops are green and white... what does that mean? " Tanya asked as she started humming the tune to the song 'the good ship lollipop'

The urge to slap his forehead was so strong, that Lee just had to do it, regardless of the situation. "I don't know, you tell me." he finally managed to say as a panel burst behind him.

"I'll take that as a weakening sign?! Well I dunno normal shield output displays look NORMAL, this looks like a blinking lollipop!"  She retorted

"Were dead," he said after a moments consideration, "Ever consider that such strange signs could be an attack, Lieutenant ?"

"Um... no?  They just look like lollipops.  Bunnies and ships and lollipops, oh my!" She said, deadpan as if she were a character from a Terran Classic.

Rich blinked, "Cease the chatter, status report!" he said as one more console blew out.

"This just in, consoles are blowing out all over the bridge." Tanya retorted, "And the lollipops are flying at us full force.  It's definitely not a jolly time.  The power has been rerouted the shields strengthened in a variety of manners in a bunch of ways.  But those lollypops are real suckers, they just keep bombarding us.  Those bunnies are just gnawing away at our shields." The bridge shook.  "Phasers are having no impact. " With that a wayward rabbit came onto the bridge, Tanya turned and fired.  "Oops another one bites the dust." She proclaimed as she turned back to her console.

"I am awaiting orders SIR!"

Lee frowned deeply, she was defiantly not taking this seriously. However, he had one last ditch plan for that, dangerous as it was. He had programmed the Holodeck to actually hurt them, on his command, though not so far as to kill them. It was something he had hoped he would not have to use, but it might just scare her into proper action. All he had to do was give the keyword, and act like everything was good to go. "Computer," he said, "Remove all mortality safe locks."


The program froze, <<Verify>>

"Lee omega seven, seven... and lockout all other user commands except for my own." he added

<<Done>>

~Great~

What she had heard was that everything was now up for grabs, even a holographic bullet could kill. What would happen in reality was that both could be injured, but the computer would stop short of a killing blow. It was meant as a scare tactic, hopefully it would put the fear back into her, and knock her back into seriousness. If the order itself didn't, seeing herself cut might very well do so.

"Resume program." he said, with a deadly tone.

"You removed the morality safeties? ARE YOU MAD?" Tanya screamed.  "This is illegal, according to Starfleet protocols, paragraph 22 subsection 8 you're NOT allowed to do this!"

"On the contrary, According to command protocols, paragraph 78, subsection 19, I have the authority." he said calmly. "Now," he said as he ducked when another console exploded, "Status report!"

"The Holodeck safeties are off.  And we're going to die."  She started, "Other than that, our shields are at 45 % and we're sustaining heavy fire.  Their shields are at 68% and their weapons are having more of an impact on us than ours are.  The bunnies are prevailing."

~better~

"All emergency power to shields, concentrate fire on their weapons batteries." he said

He turned his head back to her, all serious. "Prepare the emergency buoy to Starfleet." he said as he folded his hands together, "Launch the logs."

"Done." Tanya stated.

"Send a distress call." he added

"Sent."  She stated.

Rich sat back, "Alter course to 155 mark 10, prepare a full spread of quantum torpedoes." he said to Tactical. He ducked his head quickly, but not fast enough as one more console exploded and shrapnel cut into his forehead. He cursed loudly, "Give the bastards hell!" he bellowed.

"Hell and bunnies." She said.  "what a combination coming from the lollipop." She stated as she did as she'd been instructed.

Lee wiped some blood from his face and sat heavily in his chair, "Damage control teams to the bridge!"

"They are countering"  Tanya responded.

"Shields are down, they have ceased fire but are beaming aboard parties!" tactical shouted. Two forms beamed directly onto the bridge, one right behind Tanya and one over by Tactical. Lee pulled the phaser again and took a shot at the one beside Tactical, praying Dervin would respond fast enough that she wouldn't be injured.

"These boarding parties are multiplying like rabbits." Tanya screamed as she dove over her console and rolled to the ground as the orange rabbit party came on the scene.

"Must you pun, while we stew these bunnies?" Rick yelled back as he turned his point of fire, he realized he was going to be to late in firing as the bunny brought up a huge foot to stomp  on Dervin, and screamed in response.

"I dunno..." Tanya said, "I thought Rabbit Stew was appunning." She retorted as she blasted several other orange bunnies.  "Are we quite through?" She said, clearly unimpressed.

The ship shook once more, as if it was answering her question. Rich looked over and was about ready to bark an order when he noticed that the Tactical officer was down. He pointed to Tactical, while looking at Dervin. "Not yet," he said over the din of battle. 

"You want ME to take Tactical??!?!?!?!"

"No, I would rather have us both die." he said flatly as he sat in the command chair. He wiped away some more blood from his face, trying to prevent it from going into his eyes.

Tanya wasn't in any great shape herself, she'd been bruised and had cuts and gashes all over her.  Her hair was singed and she knew that if she lived through this then she would be spending some time in sickbay. "UGH, but you OWE ME ONE! BIG TIME!" Tanya retorted, for she had not (despite the spirit of the simulation) managed to overcome the fact that it was just a simulation.

Rich tapped his fingers for a moment as the other ship continued to hang in space before them. "Target all weapons on their engineering section." he said, "Everything in one burst, maybe we can catch them by surprise."


"Um... Targeting scanners are down.  In fact, this whole console is down." Tanya responded.

Rich turned the chair to her, "Backup controls..." he inquired

"All down.  IT seems that all primary systems are offline and that includes most auto interfaces, in fact in most situations, I don't think we have manual either...."  She spouted off.  "Today is a good day to be human stew"

Rich inclined his head and turned back to the CONN. "Get a message to engineering, get thrusters online... Ramming Speed."

He leaned back in his chair and waited for an argument.

"Shall I fox them?" She enquired "As communications are ALSO down."

"Then I guess we need a runner." he said, as he turned back to her, and gave her a very hard gaze.

"You want ME to run through the hallways and possibly get eaten by these HUGE rabbits to get a message to Engineering?  Why don't I just string a tin can telephone while I'm at it?" She snapped back at him.  Oddly enough, had any other superior officer asked her to do such a thing, or in fact asked her to do a great many things, she likely would have muttered 'yes, sir' with respect and gone about doing it.  But because it was this.. this... this ... MAN, she felt such contempt for every single thing that he said, he was just deliberately trying to make her look like a moron, he was trying to deliberately undermine her, show her up, and drive her off the wall, and Tanya thought that he was reveling in every single moment of it.  HAD this been a real situation HAD any of this had the possibility of being real, THEN, she would have behaved entirely different.

Rich wiped a bit more blood from the cut on his forehead, and flicked it to the deck. "NOW!" he snarled, finally starting to loose patience. 

Tanya rolled her eyes.  "I hope I get eaten by a BIG MEAN ORANGE BUNNY AND THEN YOU HAVE IT ON YOUR CONSCIENCE FOR THE REST OF YOUR NATURAL LIFE THAT YOU KILLED ME ON A BLINKING HOLODECK WHILE TRYING TO TEACH ME SOME COMPLETELY USELESS POINT." She spat out at him at the top of her lungs and then turned and stormed off the bridge, firing, amazingly accurately and with a torrent of anger, cutting through the bunnies as she made her way through a bridge panel.

Rich sat back in the chair again once she had vacated the bridge, and breathed a sigh of relief. "One on one mode, computer." he said

<<Proceed>>

"Assessment of Doctor Dervin's personal skills in relation to necessary standards of Temporary officers?"

<<Acceptable>>

He considered that for many moments. She loved to argue, though she had responded much better when the threat became far more real, he supposed she would act far more professionally if it was ever a real scenario. She could operate with some skill at least two departments, she had passed all the rest of the tests already. 

"Computer, End program." he called.

Tanya was in the progress of knocking off a series of rabbits that were in her way when they all vanished.  "AHA! You evil rabbits, DIE!" She shouted.  As she turned to see Lee standing in the Holodeck.  "Oh, I guess I failed?  Same time same place, tomorrow?" She asked.

Lee looked her up and down, and almost winced at the sight he beheld. "To bad you are hard headed enough that I had to resort to last ditch measures to get you serious." he said after a moment, "In either case, no.. there will be no need for you to report tomorrow."

He left her hanging for a moment, letting her imagine what she wanted. 

"Great! I'll pack my belongings, you know I really liked that time I spent on the Brig.  Except this time I was going to bring some finger paint, you know... liven the place up." She said the disdain flowing from her comments unbridled.

Rich clasped his arms behind him, and his eyebrow rose a fraction of an inch at her show. "I suppose the only thing I couldn't possibly teach you is respect," he said dryly. "But if you would like to pack your bags, you are more then welcome. I'm sure I could plan a small trip in which clothes could be of use."

He brought his right arm back around and pulled a PADD out of his tunic. "You pass, you have the necessary background knowledge and skills to be of *some* use during an emergency, you have fulfilled every requirement."

Rich tossed the PADD in her direction, then clasped his hands behind him again.

"I WHAT?!?" Tanya screeched.

Lee winced, and blinked. "You were going to pack your bags for some unknown reason," he responded back. "And you happened to pass Starfleet Training 101, congratulations." he said with a small smile. 

"You." Tanya seethed.  "You... you.... you...."  Then she stopped.  "If I said every single word to you that was running around in my head right now, all as completely adequate adjectives and completely in my right mind.  I'd have to pack and leave this station for good.  I don't even think the brig would be lawful considering all that's in my head at this
moment.   YOU......." She stopped again, picked up her PADD and walked
out the door.

Rich shook his head, and tapped his badge. "Lee to Dervin..." 

He began walking out to follow her, moving his long legs in long strides so he could catch up in short order. "You are welcome, now.. shall we go to sickbay or are you more intent on being in a rage at me?"

She didn't answer the combadge sign, she didn't want to.  She didn't care if she ever spoke to him again.  SURE there had been some moments when he'd actually been civil and even nice -- NO, that didn't count, not here, not now.  That wasn't it, he had been so incredibly unbearable.. so.. horrible, so... amazingly awful, that.... she didn't speak.

He'd caught up to her .  ~Damn how does he do that?~  She wondered briefly.  

"I can go by myself.. -- THANK YOU.!!" Tanya snipped back at him as she tried to make a left turn where there was only a right and she succeeded in slamming into a wall.

Rich managed to reach out and grab her before she fell flat on her butt, and shook his head. "In your anger, figure that you made absolutely nothing easy on me Doctor, I responded as I had too." he said as he let her go again, once she had her balance. "And ramming into walls wont help anything." he said deadpan. 

He took a step back from her, "If fault must be assigned, I will assume it. But figure you are no angel, as hard headed and full of ire as you are." he said quietly.

Tanya looked at him, and she was still seething.  "Fault isn't what it's about... it's about... it's about......... oh just leave me alone. Don't you think you've caused enough damage for one day?"

"Love you too," he said quietly to himself. "As you will, you needing see me but for official duties if you so desire." he said only slightly louder. His face was composed as he wiped some fresh blood from his forehead, then put his hands behind his back and turned. 

Tanya stomped again.  "Why so you can try and kill me again? " Tanya snipped back.  "First skydiving, then the Holodeck... whatever will you try next." She snapped back.

Rich stopped in his tracks, and closed his eyes. "Nothing without your permission, outside of official duty." He turned half back to her, and turned his head to actually look at her. "If I wanted you dead, you would be. If I had *wanted* to hurt you, I wouldn't have taken you to dinner, or wasted anything on you at all."

His lips compressed, "Goodbye Doctor, training is done and everything else was fun while it lasted." He turned again and began walking at a goodly pace away. 

Tanya watched him walk away.  In one sudden movement, her anger plummeted to the bottom of her being and she felt badly about everything that she had just said.  She really had enjoyed the company and, the skydiving had been fun and the dinner and the...

she reached her hand out towards the air, as if she were to say something, to try and call Lee back.  She needed to... apologies.  But instantly her mind took over and berated herself for such irrational thoughts.  Making her withdraw her hand from its outstretched position and put it to her side, lest anyone see that she'd made the gesture.

She could not speak, though she longed to cry out.  But she wouldn't allow herself, her pride demanded that she not.  In essence, she had become a complete illustration of the saying 'pride was my wilderness' for it was her pride that would not allow her to say anything, not to apologizes nothing.  And so, she was stranded.  Alone.  Again.

Rich continued walking, hands behind his back and face composed, but mind anything but. He couldn't see an honest way out of what he had done, he couldn't have prevented her reaction, but he regretted everything already anyway. He came to a halt unconsciously at a corridor junction, his mind not a bit on his path. 

Fool that he was, he had fallen fast and hard for a woman that would have nothing to do with him, and a woman under his command no less. He couldn't place his finger on just what was going through his heart and mind at the moment, but it came awfully close to remorse, or regret. 

Someone spoke to him, and he had to drag himself from his revels to listen. "Excuse me?"

A Lieutenant was standing close by, his face a mask. "Sir, what happened ? Shall I call for a medic?"

"No Lieutenant," he immediately responded, "No need."

"But Sir..."

Rich, who already had no patience, looked at him and bellowed in his battlefield voice, "STAND DOWN LIEUTENANT!"

He walked passed the flabbergasted Lieutenant, and immediately put the kid out of his mind as he made his way back to his quarters. As of this moment he was off duty, he had a bottle of champagne in his quarters that had been intended for a joint celebration, but now it looked like it would instead be the main course of a dinner for one.

(reply none)
(posted by Katherine Mazurok and Trout)

Stardate:2406.01.24
(Starbase Valhalla: Random Cafe - TAC/SC/2O Pierce Orde - 0700)

Pierce sat at the table, opposite a person he's only seen once before.

"Thanks for inviting me for coffee." she said.

"Gladly."

"You know, I still doubted that you were alive. Until now. What happened?"

Pierce smiled at Captain Janice Wuher. "Is that an order, Captain?"

"Of course, Ensign."

"Well, I'd need Lieutenant Bellephoron the Second here to give most of the technical details - I only understand parts of it - but I can tell you the general rundown."

He paused for a moment, sipping a glass of soda, wondering exactly how to put his tale into words.

"Continue, Ensign." Janice prompted somewhat teasingly.

"Well, there was an experiement onboard Firebrande. Something having to do with chronitrons or something like that. It got turned on, and some interaction with the phased polaron beams caused anti-chronotrons to collect on the shields. Time and antitime collided, and broke the barrier between my old universe and several others. We were depositied in a place that was very interesting. I found myself on the deck of a ship, commanding it in combat. Not the last flight of the Galadriel, though. Anyway, one thing led to another, and I found myself in the science lab of the Firebrande. Apparently, stasis field generators had kept that one place. After talking with Mr. Bellephoron and hearing some of the stories of the people who were there as well, I decided that there would be nothing better to do than to step outside and let fate decide. I found myself in this universe, although I do have some memories of commanding the Galadriel. Not many, though. So, here I am, in my original position, retraining to make up for those twenty-six years."

Pierce fell silent, while stroking his goatee thoughtfully.

"You know," Janice told him. "I can see the Pierce I knew in you. How he would always rub his goatee when he was thoughtful, his fondness for that Coke stuff... He was just... older. I remember how his eyes would calm frightened children while we were on a rescue mission..."

~Calm children? Me?~

"So look at us now. I'm an ensign, you're a captain. Never thought you'd ever outrank your former CO, did you?"

"It is a bit of a shock. But, you're not my former CO."

"I am, and I am not. All the qualities he had, I have as well. Well, except for the twenty-odd years of experience."

"You're right. I would have been honored to serve under you again."

"But since you have a command of your own, and I'm not going to be getting one for a long time, you're content to sit and talk with me." Pierce completed.

"You're right again."

"I try. So, you tell me how it feels to command a starship, and I'll tell you what running the security department on the biggest target in the Federation is like."

(Reply none)
(Posted by Lenox)

Stardate:2406.02.05
(USS Firebrande, Bridge - Richard 'Rick' Blaine - 0320)
 
The Captain looked up at Rick and considered his question. "Follow me Rick.", he said, heading for his Ready Room.
Stardate:2406.02.05
(USS Firebrande, CO's Ready Room - Richard 'Rick' Blaine - 0325)

Rick followed him inside "Have a seat.", said Ktell , sitting behind his desk.

"I've been familiarising myself with the biographies of the crew, and I noticed you have been in Starfleet before, at least, in one of the dimensions.

~ in the two dimensions Captain but one career has taken a different way ~ Rick tought in listening what the Captain was saying " If you want, I can arrange to add you to the ship's security detachment. Assuming the bar is still there when we get back to Valhalla; you can resume either that or continue your role in Security."

" Sure Captain, I'm interested, I'll be feeling more usefull in that position than behind a bar. And if I have the choice I prefer to continue a Security career." replied Rick to Ktell's proposal 

"Very well, report to Ensign Pierce Orde, the Security Chief. We'll talk more about it then. Dismissed.", The Captain said smiling at him.

" Thank you Captain, you won't regret it." and Rick turned back and leaved the Ready Room
Stardate:2406.02.05
(USS Firebrande, Bridge - Richard 'Rick' Blaine - 0340)
 
Rick couldn't yet realized what was happening, he couldn't imagine that one day he could carry on again with a career in Security ~ it's unexpected, I'll thank those Kalamorose when I'll see them. When Sharkey will know.. oh no Sharkey, is he still alive after all these years, he had thirty-five plus twenty-six, that will give him almost sixty-one years old ~ wonder Rick in thinking about his friend he had left on Valhalla ~ There is no way to know it until we gat back to the starbase ~.
 
It was now time to report to the TAC/SC " Computer locate Ensign Orde " he asked
 
< Ensign Orde is currently in Holodeck 2 > replied the soft metallic voice while Rick was entering in the turbolift 
Stardate:2406.02.05
(USS Firebrande, Corridor outside Holodeck 2 - Richard 'Rick' Blaine - 0350)
  
As he approached the Holodeck's doors, Rick heard battle's sounds which were coming from inside, he distinctively recognized blades combat and powder guns sounds ~ what kind of program is he playing in there ~ Rick tought in pressing the enunciator ~ I hope I'm not disturbing but I'm curious to see what's inside ~
 
He heard some kind of oath followed by a rought " Enter ". The doors slided open and Rick entered, he was on some soart of sailing ship deck full of dead people which were wearing, as Rick could recognized, pirates uniform. He looked around and found Ensign Orde and the CONN officer which were covered with dust and sweat both handing blade weapons.
 
" Oh, I'm sorry, I've interrupted you in a middle of a crisis as I can see but the Captain has asked me to report to you Ensign. " said Rick in smiling.
 
(Reply Orde, Ralth)
 
" Well regarding to my Security career in the other dimension and considering that I could be either a bartender or a Security officer, the Captain has decided to add me to the ship's security detachment and further in the station if I decide to stay." stated Rick to the TAC/SC
 
(Reply Orde, Ralth)
 
(Reply Orde, Ralth, any)
(Posted by Patrick Buidin)
Stardate:2406.02.05
(USS Firebrande: Holodeck 2: Deck of Pirate Ship - 'Captain' TAC/SC/2O Pierce Orde - 0351)
 
Amongst the clash of the blades, an unholy beep sounded.
 
"Not again.. Computer, freeze program and open door."
 
Rick Blaine stepped in, smiling.
 
" Oh, I'm sorry, I've interrupted you in a middle of a crisis as I can see but the Captain has asked me to report to you Ensign."
 
Pierce leaned on his staff, a smile on his face. "Okay, go on."
 
" Well regarding to my Security career in the other dimension and considering that I could be either a bartender or a Security officer, the Captain has decided to add me to the ship's security detachment and further in the station if I decide to stay." Rick finished.
 
"Glad to have you aboard, Rick. Call me Pierce. No need to get formal in here." Pierce said as he extended his hand.
 
(Reply Rick, Ralth)
(Posted by Lenox)
Stardate:2406.02.05
(USS Firebrande: Holodeck 2 - Pierce Orde - 0730)
 
Pierce stood in the holodeck, busily fieldtesting his new toy.
 
"Computer, begin program Target-Alpha, Level 12"
 
The standard target range program fluttered into existance. The colored lights shimmered as they flew.
 
"Level 2" he corrected himself.
 
~I'm field testing. Start slow.~
 
He hefted his modified phaser in his hand, and looked at it for but a few moments. Then he tapped his combadge and said a simple word: "Engage."
 
Suddenly his eyeglasses had an overlay upon them, displaying tactical data much as if he were at a station. A small crosshair displayed the final target of the phaser. He looked up at the colored lights.
 
~Here we go...~
 
Raising the phaser, he allowed the eyepiece HUD to lock-on to the first target. He fired, ending the sparkle the light gave.
 
~Cool.~
 
In silence, Pierce Orde eliminated the other targets without any misses.
 
~Now for the real test.~
 
"Level seven." he spoke.
 
His targets took random courses, some slow - others fast - and - aided by his eyepiece - he eliminated those with no misses.
 
~But I could do that already. Time for the BIG test.~
 
"Level sixteen."
 
Thirty targets flew in completely random courses, bobbing and weaving, daring him to try his luck at firing at them. He stood for a few moments, observing the chaos around him, feeling the pattern. Unfortunately, his eyepiece was not up to multiple target acquisition.
 
~Take care of 'em one at a time.~
 
He set his sights on a little blinking light. Painting it with the crosshairs, he followed it for what seemed like forever, then fired.
 
#zap#
 
One target down. He took his time shooting at all the other ones and was halfway done when the call came in.
 
=/\=Senior Officers, report to the Observation Lounge at 0900, have status reports as best as you can ready.=/\=
 
~Shazbot.~
 
"Computer, end program." he said, walked back to his office.
Stardate:2406.02.05
(USS Firebrande: Security Office - Ensign TAC/SC/2O Pierce Orde - 0855)
 
Pierce picked up his small status report, and dashed down to the Observation Lounge.
 
(USS Firebrande: Observation Lounge - TAC/SC/2O Ensign Pierce Orde -
0900)
 
~Just made it~ he thought with a small sense of satisfaction He nodded to Admiral Jopek as he took his place at the table.
 
(Posted by Lenox)
(Reply Any)
Stardate:2406.03.03
(USS Johannson: Captain's Ready Room - CO Captain Janice Wuher - 2100)

Janice Wuher sat in her ready room, going through ship's business. She and her crew were going for a brief bit of R&R on Earth.

~And we need it. Starfleet's had us hopping all over the quadrant.~

She was about to sign a last bit of requisition orders, when she recieved comm call via subspace.

~Who would call me?~ she wondered.

She tapped a control to open the connection, and saw a face she hadn't seen in a year. She gasped.

"My God, it can't be... you're dead!"

The person on the other side of the call tried to calm her down.

=/\=Please don't teminate the call.=/\=

"YOU'RE DEAD!" she yelled at the screen.

=/\=I'm not dead. Do I look dead to you?=/\=\

Tears threaten to choke her. "W-why? H-how?"

=/\=It's complicated.=/\=

"You're telling me. Why have you waited so long?"

=/\= Do you really want the whole story? =/\=

"Yes."

=/\= I AM dead... Or at least, the person you knew is dead.=/\=

"You're an imposter."

The person on the other side looked aghast. =/\= I can prove to you that I am not an imposter or clone. =/\=

"How?" Janice deadpanned.

=/\= If I know myself... I carried around a staff. A heavily modified staff.=/\=

"Anyone could have found that out. I don't believe you."

=/\= Enough. I'm not the person you knew. I'm from an alternate universe and from the past. I'm stuck here, and I'd like to know one thing.=/\=

"What's that?" Rand said, clearly not believing.

=/\=Tell me how I died. The captain you knew, that is. Is that too much to ask? You can verify with Starfleet later.=/\=

"We were in a battle. With some races that had a grudge. They had hit us with some odd weapon, one that took out random subsystems. Basically, we had some shields, and low impulse. Nothing else. Even the shuttlebay had been hit. Captain.. Orde gave the order to abandon ship.  We loaded everyone into lifepods and launched them. The autolaunch was offline as well, a victim of the weapon. After the whole crew was launched, it came down to him and me."

Tears began to roll down her face as she remembered the moment in time.

=/\= On Ambassador-class ships, the manual launch is on the outside...=/\=

"Yes. I tried to get him into the pod, but he just said something about captains and their ships.."

=/\= The captain goes down with his ship. =/\=

"Yes, that. I insisted. That was when he hit me and tossed me into the pod. When I came to, I saw him mouthing something through the window, and then I was... launched. I saw the ship ram the enemy ship and explode...."

More tears rolled down her cheeks. On the screen, Pierce's eyes were downcast.

=/\= Probably said goodbye, then went on his merry way.=/\=

"Also, I have what he hit me with. He also tossed his pistol and staff into the pod with me. The pistol.. we buried in his place on the family plot. The staff.. is hanging on my wall."

=/\= So that's where my pistol went... Thank you, Captain. Perhaps we can have coffee on Valhalla while your ship is in.=/\=

"Gladly. Oh, your parents would be overjoyed to hear that you're alive!"

=/\= My parents? =/\= Pierce looked puzzled. =/\= Perhaps they would Pierce out.=/\=

~Wow. Pierce is alive!~

The tears Janice now shed were tears of joy.

(Starbase Valhalla: Pierce's Quarters - TAC/SC/2O Pierce Orde - 2130)

Pierce leaned back in his chair.

~At least I know I died honorably. I wonder how much that woman would be shocked to find out that I'm an ensign.~

He mulled over the conversation for a few moments.

~My parents are alive.~

NRPG:
  There you have it. Pierce now knows that his parents are alive, and has solved the mystery of the missing pistol (when everything was merged back, his antique ended up in the grave.) He doesn't quite know how to go about contacting them, though.

RPG:

(Posted by Lenox)
(Reply none)

Stardate:2406.03.04
(Starbase Valhalla - Sickbay - ACMO Rain Anderson - 0600)

The list of medical files scrolled across the screen and Rain was very relieved that they were all now up-to-date. It had been an exhausting task to give each crewmember a complete medical and update their files.

There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the files. Every single one had had to be changed in some way, as the medical scans revealed previously unrecorded injuries. Each examination had been extremely thorough down to a micro-cellular level. An antibody analysis had been completed to check for disease exposures and immunisations. Bone scans had detected previous fractures and dermal scans had been performed to check for other injuries.

The medical team had worked 24 hours a day since the disaster to get all the work done, and each crew member had been apprised of any changes to their medical history.

Rain herself had been surprised to find a number of broken bones that hadn't been in her original files and delving back into her new memories had recalled the reasons. She'd also had a dose of Rigellian flu.

She prepared to summarise her results in preparation for the staff meeting. As usual she was finding it difficult to concentrate as her memories fought for dominance. She clearly had two sets of memories for her 18th birthday for example... in one she had spent it quietly in her room at the academy reviewing Cortez's theorem on the parallel evolution of Alpha Quadrant species and in another very clear memory she was at a huge party on Risa in her honour, mingling with less than respectable patrons of her parents establishment.

She'd resisted the urge to seek counselling help, hoping to sort things out for herself. She knew that a large number of crew had availed themselves of counselling though. She tried to push the thoughts from her mind and concentrate on her summary.

(Starbase Valhalla - Observation Lounge - ACMO Anderson - 0856)

Rain entered the large meeting room and took a seat next to the CMO. The room was already half-full and was steadily filling as the time drew nearer for the meeting.

(Reply any)
(Posted by Wendy Keen)

Stardate:2406.03.04
(Starbase Valhalla: Quarters of Pierce Orde - TAC/SC/2O Pierce Orde - 0600)
 
Pierce took a sip of Coke, not trusting himself with anything stronger.
~And anyway... this tastes good too.~
 
"Second Officer's Log: Stardate twenty-four-oh-six point oh-six point oh-four. What can I say? It's good to be back. After six months, I was beginning to get cabin fever. To put it shortly, we, as a crew, have been kicked some twenty-six years into the future, and into an alternate universe to boot."
 
Pierce paused, sipping his sugary caffineated soda slowly.
 
"After all the debriefing and reorientation, I can say that, as a group, we're good to go, except for the poor people who are currently on medical leave. Those people are having problems coping with their loss."
 
He paused again, wondering what to say.
 
"I've been pumped for more information that I care to give in the last six months. It's almost a good thing that I was new to UP when we got kicked - I had less info to give. Almost seemed like they were getting my experience to understand how war works. End of log."
 
~The problem with having two stations is that one needs to make two logs.~
 
"Security Chief's log. Stardate twenty-four-oh-six point oh-six point oh-four. Go read the corresponding Second Officer's log entry. From a Security standpoint, little has changed - one of the few things that makes my job easier. I've learned that the USS Firestorm - NX-30518 - is currently attached to Utopia as a last line of defense. After reading the specs on that ship, I can understand why. No major war has been fought here in the last twenty-six years, which means that there wasn't a major amount of weapons innovation. The department is ready. The Chief is as ready as he'll ever be. End log."
 
~Now for the personal log entry.~
 
"Personal log Stardate twenty-four-oh-six point oh-six point oh-four. Jeez, I'm really beginning to dislike this double log entry bit. Sheesh. Well, because Firestorm is attached to UP, I'm going to see if I can duplicate her unique weapons system and fit it onto a shuttle or maybe even Firebrande. Still can't figure out why more weren't built, other than the fact that there was little need. Getting kicked twenty-six years ahead and into an alternate universe has its own advantages. Mom and Dad are alive and well in this universe, although I'm dead -something that's made my reorientation a bit interesting. Also, I'll probably never see the end of my being dead. Oh, well. I'm still trying to figure out how to contact them without scaring them to death. I figure that I lost my parents; they, their son, and we can make some relationship work. On another note, I've almost got my enchanced eyeglasses perfected. Stupid bugs in the code. End log entry."
 
(Reply none)
(Posted by Lenox)

Stardate:2406.03.04
(Valhalla - Verano Medical Center - CMO Cambridge - 0745)

It had been a long ride.

Chief Medical Officer Maxwell Alexander Cambridge stood in the newly named Verano Medical Center in the middle of the starbase.  It was a wonderful place to be and it pleased the doctor to be in the middle of it.  Leading up to this had been hours of review, of practice, of simulation and or more review than anyone could have imagined.  New discoveries. new practices, new procedures, and about every new thing you could think of, plus a thousand more things to keep track of. 
Cambridge himself had made the transition well enough.  He had little friendships in the other universe that hadn't come with him.  Rain was still his Assitant Chief, thank fate.  Lee was still the First Officer and most of the command structure was intact.

He, however, had to get used to a new Doctor staff.  A few faces he did
recognize.   Rhea Lyoit had now become Rhea Edison, a 20 yeard old
single mother who was raising a daughter.  Jonathon Stone remained Jonathon Stone, a bit older in this universe and ever so cold.  But that was it.  That is where any real simlarties had ended.  The new world was a bigger one and a newer one.  Discovering all the new things in it was painful at times, but also brought a new spring in Cambridge's step.  It was a new day.

=^= Edison to Cambridge...=^=

Maxwell pulled himself quickly out of his bed and tapped his commbadge
on the table.   "Go ahead.."

=^= We've begun to slow down here Chief.  Stone was wondering when you were going to come down for your checks and reviews...=^=

Cambridge stretched as he yawned.  "I'll be down tommorow after this big meeting we have going on.  Pending any disasters, she's all yours Ms. Rhea..."

There was a affirmative from the other end.  Since finding the new changes, Rhea had become close to Mac, almost becoming the daughter he never had and in turn, him gaining a grandaughter that he never
expected.  For the moment, things were looking up.   Looking up from the
files he was working through he spotted Rain Anderson.  She looked a bit frazzled, but after what the medical teams had been through, it was for a good reason.  Cambridge himself was tired after all the time spent in the living hours, but he could count on things actually working this time around.

Hopefully.  Anderson walked out of the room as Mac quickly followed behind her.  In his hands were PADDs filled with whatever he had last been working on.  For the moment, work was done whenever it could be.  A moment later he arrived at the observation room.
Stardate:2406.03.04
(Valhalla - Shuttlecraft Parabola, Flight Ops - Commander Richard Ian Lee - 0745)

Rich frowned as he put the shuttle in hover far above the maximum Z-axis of Utopia Planitia, and pointed the nose down so he could look upon the massive facilities that made up the station. Directly below him was Starbase Valhalla, the nerve center of Utopia. In his universe, it had been brand new and not fully tested, especially after being battered by rouge Dominion forces. Here, it was not quite thirty years old, well broken in and fully functional. In fact, he had heard rumors that there were plans to replace her with something even bigger and more efficient.


He shook his head, so many things had changed. 

His glance flicked to his right, off to the shipyards themselves, the very reason for the existence of Utopia Planitia. Miles and Miles of scaffolding, drydocks and various other structures devoted to the construction of Starships and other such facilities. There were more shipyards here and now then he was used to, some 200 separate drydocks, each capable of building one ship from scratch while minimally repairing another. 

Movement caught his eye, and he looked over to see the Fleet Carrier Zhukov with her two fighter squadrons moving from her berth to an out-system placement, part of the Mars Defense Perimeter, still here after many years of faithful service. Another two fighter squadrons were based off Mars itself, with three more in constant rotation on one of the moons of Jupiter. 

He searched around a bit more and saw one of the many mobile weapons platforms that had been part of the MDP here in Sol for, once again, nearly thirty years. They had been untested and just released, when they had left their own universe. Now, in short, every system that he had looked forward to testing was already fully integrated and proven to work. 

He sighed, as he looked at Mars itself. The planetside base and facilities of Utopia Planitia had once covered a good 8th of the planets surface, facilities enough to house over a million people at once, not counting the personnel attached to the shipyards and drydocks, multiple ships in operation at one time or Starbase. It seemed in the last thirty that the base had expanded a great deal, the Administration quarter alone looked to be half the size of the entire ground facility from his memory. The Shuttlecraft and Runabout replication ground based facility had quadrippeled in size, and the Fighter Command construction center had doubled. 

Rich had seen the numbers, but as he looked at all the facilities Utopia Planitia now housed, he could easily believe that the base had some 1.5 million people commuting every day from Earth to Station and back again, plus another three quarters of a million on base at all times. In general, the facility had doubled in size from anything he had been used too, that was going to take a lot of getting used to. He had never thought he would be commanding nearly three million people. 

He folded his hands together as he considered the shipyards and the vessels that were near to completion. There was one advantage to being here, no major conquest attempts that had halted all construction and destroyed the rest. The facility was fully functioning, as it should be. There were no current major players that could invade the Federation, for at least the time being they were safe. There was, after all, something to be said for peace. 

Lee licked his lips, and decided his short diversion to see the station in its current state had gone on long enough. He had things to do, work was just about all he had. 

Stardate:2406.03.04
(Starbase Vahalla, Admiral Jopek, Office - 0805)

Admiral Jopek was talking to Admiral Robert LoDona about their new mission. Barely a few moments had passed since they had arrive on this station, and not even a chance to look around, the Vulcan was eager to be brought up to date on the past two decades. Ever since the Vulcan had access to the Federation Computer Network, he had been reviewing their databases. 

War seemed to be the common theme since they had been away, many new species had been contacted but some of them had been hostile including the ones found in the newly under exploration Beta Quadrant.

The 'Xenolathe' came to mind as Jopek reflected on what he had learnt. 

The Spectre was one piece of good news on it all this, her phase cloaking device was something that the Federation had few ships which it was mounted, the Spectre class was the only range of ships to be fitted with such a device.

Around the Vulcan lay the PADDs containing the statuses of the entire shipyards around Utopia Planitia; of course, many of the ships that had started construction when they left their alternative universe, never were started in this universe but some were and most of them were completed and long sent out into their fleets.

The viewscreen flickered and his call to Geneva and Admiral LoDona went through.

=^= Admiral Jopek =^=

Jopek nodded slightly and waited for the Squadron CO to start his briefing.

Robert waited a moment, then said, =^= I am going to assume that you have taken full command of Utopia Planitia, in which case I must say congratulations, the timing couldn't have been better. =^= 

He leaned forward again and grabbed hold of a PADD from one of the multiple piles on his desk. 

=^= I have looked over various parts of the current manifest for Utopia and her shipyards, I'm sending you a few housekeeping orders for the movement and reassignment of several crew. =^=

He pushed a couple buttons on the PADD, and uploaded the information to his monitor, therefore to Jopek. =^= And the 18th fighter squadron is to be relocated here to Starbase Geneva, once it is completed. This should be in approximately ten days. =^=

"Fighter group, very good Admiral - I'll get my head of Flight Control on preparing for their arrival - we don't have anything at Utopia Planitia that suits a Fighter Squadron so we'll be starting from Scratch."

Robert folded his hands together, =^= If you haven't heard already, this is a very unstable part of the universe. And we are rather short handed; I'm authorizing now the construction of four Keltoi's, five Defiant's, one Sovereign and one Galaxy class vessel for this location. Put them on high priority, we will need them as soon as you can pop them out. =^=

"Yes Sir, we're get the space frames from storage and begin gamma-welding them together."

Robert nodded slightly, =^= Now, we also have a problem with a race called the Kalmorose, you might remember them. =^= He paused to consider his words, =^= Right now, Utopia has the most extensive research program in the Federation. Get your scientists in on this, give them free access to all the information we recorded during our brief meeting with the Kalmorose, find a way to combat them, or at least defend against their rather awesome powers. I will expect weekly status reports on this, but the sooner we have some form of defence the better off we will be. We have enough problems already with the Romulans and Xenolathe; I shudder to think what this new race will do to our current balance of power. =^=

"Very well, I'll get the Technologies Unit onto it."

Robert leaned back in his chair again, =^= And there is one more thing Admiral, Cochrane Research Facility has discovered the existence of a Subspace river, something that connects us with Earth and an unknown number of other systems. It's existence will be generally announced at a later time, but it needs to be mapped out first. Utopia will have that duty, in any way you see fit to do it. Probes, manned day excursions or one long term exploratory vessel, I don't care. Find the exits, find out if there are any potential shipping hazards, and certainly find out if anyone else uses it. =^=

"Understood Admiral, as soon as the upgrades to the Firebrande and the Spectre are complete, Captain Remae will go out and investigate. If there's nothing else, thank you Admiral - Valhalla out.", he said, closing the channel to the Admiral.

"Admiral, time for our meeting.", said Remae, who had been sitting on the couch waiting for Jopek to complete his conversation with DoLona.

(Starbase Vahalla, Observation Lounge, Admiral Jopek - 0900)

Jopek and Remae walked in and the Bajoran took a spare seat with the other assembled officer as Jopek, standing, addressed the room. He had a PADD in front of him with the orders for each department, commendations and awards and promotions.

(Reply from ALL)
(Posted by Jeremy Trout and Anthony Keen)

Stardate:2406.03.04
(Starbase Valhalla - Observation Lounge - ACMO Anderson - 0856)

Taking a seat, he noticed Rain sat down next to him.  A sigh resonated through Maxwell as he sat down for the first time in a long while.  He turned to Rain and was almost shocked to see the look on her face. 
Something was wrong, he could see it.  Be it in the eyes, or mouth or even just her face, it was something.

"Good morning Assistant Chief...how are we today?"

<reply rain, any, all>
<posted bu Sulu>
Stardate:2406.03.04
(Starbase Valhalla - Observation Lounge - Cmdr Richard Ian Lee  - 0857)

Rich slumped into his chair, and took a brief look around the room at the officers which were assembling. He really wanted nothing more then to have a few more days off, to sit in his quarters and loose himself to the world. But that wasn't an option, Utopia was officially theirs and they had work to do. 

He leaned back in the chair with his elbow leaning on the arm of the chair and covered his eyes, while he waited for the meeting to start. 

(reply any)
(posted by Trout)
Stardate:2406.03.04
(Starbase Valhalla: Observation Lounge 1 - TAC/SC/2O Ensign Pierce Orde -
0900)

Pierce sat in the observation lounge - PADD in hand - reviewing the tactical makeup of the system he was charged to protect. He had some time to kill, after all, until the admiral formally started the meeting.

~Hmm... Firebrande's still our test ship, good. A few others are delegated to guard duty here. I'll have to speak to those people myself.~

A paticular note caught his eye.

~USS Firestorm? I know that ship. What is she doing here?~

At the thought of Firestorm, a few stray memories floated through his mind.

~I had learned to depend on those flux cannons. I'll have to check to see who the captain is. Maybe give him a few pointers. Firestorm..~

Pierce mused over the class for a few moments, then checked an appended note to the file. An eyebrow shot up in surprise.

~She's *still* listed as an experimental prototype? Jeez, I wonder if that means that she is uncrewed. Or perhaps, she~

"is being held as a nasty surprise for attackers." he finished aloud, mostly to himself. Chiding himself on old habits, he continued to read until the meeting started.

NRPG:
  Start the meeting already! ^_^
RPG:

(Reply any)
(Posted by Lenox)