>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Mission: You Can't Go Home Again Day: 9 Stardate: 2444.06.09 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< (Mars Facilities - Personal Office - aACMO Ens(jg) Ailynn Bracken and COUNS Ens(jg) Erin Cortez- 1405) (Mars Facilities - Counselling office - Ensign jg Erin Cortez - 1513) (Mars Facility -1st fighter wing-M03 Hangar– aACEO – Ensign JG Keira Merek & Pilot Ensign jg Ravok Shara – 1749) (Warbird One- cockpit- Ensigns Merek and Ravok-1800 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< (Mars Facilities - Personal Office - aACMO Ens(jg) Ailynn Bracken and COUNS Ens(jg) Erin Cortez- 1405) Ailynn swallowed her nerves as she reached Cortez’ door. She wasn’t fond of these things, She was always in two minds where Psych evaluations where concerned. ~Answer the way that you know that they want to hear, or be honest.~ All things considered, she owed Erin honesty. What she took from there was up to her. She hit the doorchime, and upon hearing a call from inside, entered the room. "Come on in. Good to see you Doctor." “Thank you, and good to see you too.” She poured herself a glass of water, and settled into the chair. “So, we about to find out how grossly ill-suited I am for my job?” She quipped amiably. Raising an eyebrow, Erin looked at her, "Is that what you think of yourself?" “There are those in both my field, and yours, who would immediately put me on suspension at the merest sniff of my past. You know that as well as I do.” She sipped. “Now...do I think it of myself; of course not.” "What does the past matter? You know my past. Does it make me any less of a counsellor? No. In fact it probably makes me a lot better. Having said that, I would be lying to you if I said I didn't have concerns. So, first question and, please do not take this the wrong way, are you clean?" “Yes.” She answered honestly, glad that the girl had the balls to get to the point. She hated the ‘beating around the bush’ types, life was too short for that. “Do I have times where that spectre doesn’t press down on me? Of course. It will be a battle that I will probably now face until my dying breath, I’m clean, sure. But that’s the difference between your past and mine. Respectfully, you can gain strength from yours, mine is a weakness from a stupid 18 year old kid.” Watching her, Erin took a slight breath. "Respectfully, mine isn't all that different to yours. Yes, I draw strength from it but it still rears its ugly head… in here." She tapped her forehead. "Tell me, how do you cope when you reach that point where you think… if only I could just…" “Just have one last hit? You can say it.” Smiling softly, Erin nodded, "That's what I meant." “I look at myself, and what I have now, and I picture my family, and what I put them through. I’m not trying to sound...suicidal, but genuinely I would rather die than even think of putting my family and my closest friends through what I did before. Besides, I’m not that person anymore.” "What person are you now?" Erin asked, watching her closely. “Calm, but passionate, professional but playful...I may not yet be the best surgeon in the Fleet, but I have worked far far too hard to let mum think I’m not nipping at her heels.” Smiling, Erin nodded. "And that's important to you, success? " “On it’s own volition no. I was reminded by Trip, that it didn’t matter what we did. I could have sat in my bedroom at home, and painted butterflies, and she would have been no less proud of me...However…” "However?" “My family...especially the females, has a drive, almost preternatural, we have to wander, to explore, expand ourselves. Success? That’s almost a byproduct of the ability to expand into your own true abilities.” "And what about in your personal life, do you have that same drive there? Or is it more of a secondary thing to your career?" “I feel I need to qualify first...My career is...secondary. If I get promoted, great. If not, one of those things. I’m a Doctor, a surgeon first. Any promotion, to CMO, or Command, that’s way off. Mum was CO on the Hades, and hated it. Just not her bag.” "So, promotion is not your driving force. What is? To become her equal? Her better? Or just to be your own person?" “The thing I rebelled against the most, was being in her shadow, and Dale’s shadow, her mum. We don’t use the word ‘gran’ with her, it’s complex. I never knew my father, but he was a High flyer too. His mother was Fleet First Officer, Admiral Green, so I was used to promotion. I just want to help people, like the 6 year old, who’s spine Kasion and I operated on the other day. He’s going to have a normal life, thanks to us. If I get promoted as a result of such things? Fine, but it’s not my goal. On the flip side though, I’ve been a driving force in getting this entire hospital to the point that it is.” She became aware that she was ‘going on’. “Sorry” Waving a hand, Erin smiled, "it's fine. These evaluations go a lot quicker when you do all the talking. I want to ask only a few more questions, then we can stop. You mentioned that promotion was not your goal. What is your goal?" “As we stand now? Honestly to continue to build what we have here. We’re both surrounded by the biggest opportunity to make the biggest change ever in this sector, already we’ve expanded into the local town, as we begin to update our tech, and invent our own, the skies the limit. I can’t say more than that. Next week? New orders, who knows.” "And our current mission? How do you see yourself fitting in with it?" Ailynn smiled. “It’s an odd one isn’t it.” She paused for thought. “Logically, I’m a back-room girl, you know, patching up, tending wounds that kind of thing. Any ACMO or CMO that did that I would accuse of a lack of vision. Potentially, and I need to stress, potentially, the CMO and COUNS jobs are amongst the most influential. I don’t profess to know it all.” She laughed. “Far from it. But there’s always something to offer right?” "I agree, even if it's a band aid or a kind word. So, last question then we can stick a pin in this evaluation. Are you happy?" “I am. As it stands now, I’m doing a job that I adore, with people who I know I can trust with...not just my life, but everything. I’ve opened up emotionally to yourself and others more than I ever have before.” As the sentence drew to a close, she wondered if she should just stop talking, She’d opened up enough already, but in the spirit of the moment, she carried on. “However...I’m in a new relationship and it scares me.” "Scares you how?" She asked, potentially realising she knew the answer to the question. “Patient Doctor privilege?” "Of course." “Sienna is my first true partner. My first girlfriend, my first kiss. I’ve had a couple of dates, with others, both dreadful. A lad who only talked about sports, though that may have been my fault as I shut him out, and a girl from chess club, who was a really bad loser.” She paused. Sipped her water, and gathered her thoughts. “My family and Sienna’s and Trips are neighbours, both big Fleet families as you know. They and I grew up together. Trip’s like a brother. Sienna it was always different, there was always...something.” Once more, she knew she could stop talking right now. “Sienna was always who I was with when we were partying.” Another sip of water. “Am I displacing?” "No, but I think we have verged dangerously close to a counselling session rather than an evaluation…" Erin smiled and continued, "Why don't we pause here.. continue another time. There's a lot more we could talk about but, for now, I think we have covered the major points." Closing down her padd, Erin looked over at her, "Off the record… you aren't the only one exploring something new." She winked. Ailynn smiled suddenly, and switched seats, sitting next to Erin. “Ooh you little minx,” She winked at her. “Doctor patient privilege, I won’t tell.” (Reply none) (Posted by Jackie and Mark) "About the mission itself? I don't think so," he said after a moment's contemplation. "I'm sure the fact that we're being accompanied by a senior Trill diplomat bodes well for us." "How long has it been since you have both been home?" (Reply Jaton Alyl) "And you have no concerns with being back, given the nature of our mission?" (Reply Jaton Alyl) Nodding, Erin looked down at her Padd, "One last question and then you are free to go. Is there anything else you have concerns with, anything you want to talk about? I just want to make sure that you are aware that myself and the other counsellors are here, ready and more than willing to help and support you." (reply Jaton Alyl) (Mars Facility -1st fighter wing-M03 Hangar– aACEO – Ensign JG Keira Merek & Pilot Ensign jg Ravok Shara – 1749) Ravok waited for Ensign Merek in the M03 hangar. He had notified her earlier that day that he needed her assistance. Little did she know he had a surprise for her. He was wearing his flight suit. His squadron was making final preparations for take off. He had taken the stuffed Romulan bear Trip had given him and placed it in the seat Keira would shortly be occupying inside the Peregrine attack fighter. In his hand was a gold flight suit for her to put on before take off. The rumble of the engines of the fighters filled the hangar. Air whooshed all around from the force of the engines. His flight suit was strapped up and his harness was fully attached. Pinned to his flight suit were his pilot wings he earned for combat. He saw Keira making her way towards him. Warbirds 2,4,5 and 7 started throttling their engines as she approached. Ravok started laughing as he raised his hand for them to stop. Keira walked into the whooshing gusts of air. She had pulled a similar prank to some of the other pilots when she was in flight school. It was a common prank, letting them know you were one of them. ~What’s next, fetching one kilometer of flight line?~ She mused. " Hello Ensign Merek, I need to have some in-flight diagnostics performed. This is Warbird Ones first flight since the repair. I need to finalize calibrations. " he yelled at her so she could hear him over the engines of the attack fighters. " Go put this on " he said as he handed the flight suit to her and pointed to a room she could go change in. “I get it with the display you don’t need me to go manually start the propeller with this antique.” She quipped. “ What are you playing at?” she asked cautiously. " Better hurry we take off 1800 " he replied with a smile. She snatched the uniform out of his hands and pushed him up into the cockpit. ~Time to raise the stakes.~ she thought with an evil grin. “Watch the door, I’m changing in here. Computer, opaque the windows.” She unzipped her uniform top. “Turn around mister. We take off at 1800.” She said teasing him about what he had said just a moment prior. “Turn around before I’m ready, and you’ll regret it.” She half warned and half teased. " I don't think I'll regret that" he said jokingly. Once he turned around, she got down to her underwear, and put on the flight suit. Slowly at first, keeping her eyes fixed on his backside. ~What’s with flight suits and perfectly formed rear-ends?~ She thought then turned most of her attention to getting ready. She was pleasantly surprised when it fit like a glove. With the last boot she exaggerated the action by driving her heel into the boot with a thud. “Computer: resume normal window transparency.” He turned around and looked at her ~ Damn, She's so hot~ he thought to himself as he looked at her " I'm glad it fits Ensign Merek " he said to her . She placed her usual uniform in a compartment in the back, securing it for the flight. (Warbird One- cockpit- Ensigns Merek and Ravok-1800) Ravok made his way to his seat on the left side of the cockpit. He waved his hand over the console in front of him. The display lit up . The holographic readouts appeared in front of him. He pressed some commands into the helm terminal in front of him. As more lights within the fighter lit up. “You’ve upgraded the input controls.” She said, genuinely impressed. “What’s this?” " I didn't ,Ensign R'Vek Kental did before his transfer and that little guy is our plus one for the evening." Ravok said, referring to the Romulan teddy bear that was waiting for her in her seat. Keira looked it over, picking up the stuffed animal. She remembered one of the girls she grew up with back in Carraya had a similar stuffed creature. She remembered wanting to play with it, but her father thought it was a waste of her time. The toy had a name, she couldn’t remember it. “I remember a girl back home had one of these. It was much more used than this one. Where did you get it?” she asked. ~That’s very thoughtful of him.~ " Ensign Williams...Trip not Ire, suggested I bring you something on our date the other night. Since the little guy is cuter than I am I didnt want him to steal my spotlight" he said laughing . “I’d better secure our passenger.” She secured the bear in one of the passenger seats lining the wall, buckling him into the five-point restraints. Ravok looked back at her and smiled " Safety first " " I have heard rumors that Warbird One is going on the mystique. We need to make sure guidance and targeting systems are well within acceptable tolerances… My tolerances" he grinned. “Good move. It’s what any prudent pilot would do.” she said matter of factly and sat into the right side seat in the cockpit. " Watch yourself " he said as he activated the magnetic seat restraints that attached themselves to their flight suit harnesses, pulling them back firmly into their chairs. The built in shoulder restraints locked down on their shoulders. Ravok moved his right hand over the terminal in front of him and placed his five finger tips on its surface making a quick clockwise rotation. The engines of his fighter came to life. The fighter rumbled with his left hand he opened a comm channel " M03 Gamma squadron confirm status." =/\= Warbird 2 Ready=/\= =/\= Warbird 3 Ready=/\= =/\= Warbird 4 Ready=/\= =/\= Warbird 5 Ready=/\= =/\= Warbird 6 Ready=/\= =/\= Warbird 7 Ready=/\= =/\= Warbird 8 Ready=/\= =/\= Warbird 9 Ready=/\= " Warbird 1 to ground control are we clear? " =/\= White skulls have landed. The skies are yours Warbird one=/\= " Copy that." She was going through all the checks in her head that he was going through in real time. It brought back a nestalgia she wasn’t quite prepared for. She steeled herself and kept going. " Warbirds we are clear," he said over the comm . As all the attack fighters lifted off the ground and turned towards the hangar exit. Ravok slid his hand forward on the terminal in front of him and the fighter flew off. Both of them being sucked into their seats from the sudden burst of speed. The other fighters followed suit. They began their climb to high orbit. " Warbirds 2,3,4, and 5 run battle simulations delta 3 and 4. Warbird 6 you have my 3 o'clock Warbirds 7,8,and 9 you have patrol" he said once more over the comm. She looked over the controls, she noticed the artificial gravity was at standard. “I noticed your gravity is at standard.” she said. He side eyed her " Yeah I know " remembering Baker complained about the same thing while sitting in that same seat. “A little trick I learned if you adjust your grav-plating down to around two thirds, the inertial dampers down one tenth and shunt the excess power to the structural integrity field, it will easier to keep your ship together, in the event of damage and it makes it easier to feel the fighter in the turns. You get used to it and you don’t have to glance at your instruments as often. I’ve found it helps in a pinch when your eyes are on a target.” she offered. " Sounds like a good idea. That was obviously gonna be my the next thing I was gonna do" he said with a chuckle She reached up to the controls to adjust the mentioned systems and apparently he was thinking the same thing, her left hand touched his as they both reached for the adjustment control. He gently grabbed her hand " Pilot" he said pointing to himself. " flight officer " he said and pointed to her. He let her hand go and laughed. =/\= Warbird 6 to Warbird one . We have reached the desired altitude =/\= the pilot of warbird 6 said . In the background the song flashdance what a feeling could be heard over the comm channel. " Very well " Ravok replied and coyly smirked at Keira knowing she heard the song in the background. “What’s that all about?” she shot a glance at him. " I don't have any Idea what you are talking about Sir" he said with a grin. " How do I look?... I mean on my guidance systems." She glanced over the readouts, “Engines are at .93 effeciency, we are moving at 0.0625c, weapons are green, sensors are ready...looks good.” " Good, I'm glad those look good. Warbird 6 is going to be our target. While we run diagnostics on the targeting systems " he said to her. “Moving target, good.” she said. It was nice to be in the cockpit again, even if she wasn’t flying. " Warbird 6 we are ready to engage. Sweep maneuvers let's get some good weapon locks" =/\= Great ,now I'm dancing for my life=/\= warbird 6 responded quoting some of the song. ~He’s lucky I’m not at the controls.~ she thought. “Did he just?” Ravok looked at her and took a deep breath " Ok yeah. You heard right" he said, admitting to the song being played . “I knew it.” she said. A little too triumphantly for such a minor victory. Warbird 6 moved into position " Targeting systems online " Ravok said as warbird 6 began sweeping back and forth to allow proper recalibration of the warbird ones targeting systems. The targeting systems were completely fine. Ravok had already made sure of that. Keira waiting for the exercise to begin. He opened a channel to Warbird 6 " Standby" =/\= waiting sir=/\= " For some reason my helm controls aren't responding the way I want them to" He typed a few commands and helm controls became shared with Keira. " Maybe there is something wrong with my terminal. You have a look " he said with a smile as she had full access to helm functions but he still had control. She saw her input controls change from side seat to pilot. “What’s this?” " Go ahead. " he said in a tone trying to convince her to access the controls. She made some adjustments to the inputs, putting them to her specifications, she adjusted the inertial dampers and grav-plating down, a little bit more than she had told him to. She nodded indicating she was ready. " Warbird 6 we are go " Ravok said over the comm as warbird 6 blasted away from their position. She boosted the throttle to full giving chase. She saw “6” was nearly red-lining his evasive maneuvers, she would have to coax a little more out of the engines to catch up. She transferred half power from the port phaser to the engines. The burst of speed she got was like hitting the afterburners on the old Terran fighter jets and pushed them back into their seats. ~Diverting phaser power to the engines. Brilliant ~ he thought as he got pulled tight into his seat. Watching her fly the fighter and seeing how naturally she handled everything. Had him surprised to say the least. It wasn’t long before they were back into weapons range, she rebalanced the power allocation and matched his speed. Warbird 6 made a quick descent spiraling down to shake them off. Crewman Trevi was a skilled pilot especially in evading an enemy. His move made him at a lower altitude but facing 180° to Keira’s direction, no doubt trying to circle around to attain his own lock. She pulled hard back onto the controls starting a loop but ending it at one quarter, finished it off with a flat turn at the top pointing her nose toward the red planet, using Mars’s gravity to gain speed. She evened it out back parallel to the ground putting her behind 6 once again, but at a high angle. 6 seeing Keira was behind him yet again, executed a hard bank to the left intending to side loop himself behind her. Ravok braved himself as she quickly readjusted her flight path. " He's done for. He's getting desperate. " He said. ~Got you now.~ She thought. She pulled back on the controls and adjusted the aileron thrusters to start a slow roll she pulled back on the controls executing a tight angled loop bringing her behind 6 finishing her lag roll as he was finishing his pitchback. Her thumb was actuating the locking sensors toward the end of her maneuver just before 6 snapped into her field of view. =^= Where’d you go?=^= A steady but alarming tone could be heard coming through the comms as the computer on Ravok’s craft announced. [Manual Target lock achieved.] She turned to Ravok grinning ear to pointed ear., “Hey next time you see “Six” ask him how it feels to get his ass kicked by an Engineer?” He started laughing. "He is going to be so mad. He is the best in the squadron at evasive maneuvering, probably the best in the entire first fighter wing. That was very impressive " ~ seeing your smile makes every bit of this worth it~ he thought . “And thank you. You don’t know how much I needed this.” she said. “He was quite good. Had I not gotten behind him he would have got me.” He smiled and looked at how happy she was for a moment. " Don't mention it" he said. "Also , I mean really don't mention it. This is probably best if left off the record." He said grinning " Sinclair was right about you." He said as he removed her access to the helm controls . “What do you mean? What’s brought him up?” she asked, genuinely curious. He sighed a bit " Well I talked to Sinclair earlier today and he told me that had you stayed in the program, I wouldn't of had a chance. We can head back now while the rest of squadron patrols." “I see.” she said, and left the subject tabled. Ravok flew the fighter back to the hangar landing area. Bringing the fighter gently inside the M03 hangar bay. He had ordered his squadron to continue their patrols and practice battle simulations as scheduled. As he landed the Peregrine attack fighter he released their seat restraints and powered down the engines. " Hey Keira. Look about the other day...I'm sorry. You were absolutely correct. I should've came to you about going to the Admiral first. It was stupid of me" he said as turned his chair to face her. " Whatever this is or whatever this could become. We have to do it together" “So I take it this “non event” is your way of showing me that?” She asked, her expression softened. " It was an attempt yes, to show you " He answered her “This means alot to me, you don’t know how much now, but after a time we will learn how each other thinks.” she said. She walked over to where her uniform was kept. “And I too would like to apologize. I shouldn’t have blown up on you. You were just doing what your heart thought was the right thing.” She reached into the storage compartment, pulled something out and quickly hid it behind her back. He looked at her and raised an eyebrow. " What's that ?" He asked as he stood up. She approached him as she answered his question. “It’s my apology.” She said, handing him a small blade in its sheath. The northern continent on Romulus it was called a “Kaleh-bhath” He reached out and took the blade and removed it from its sheath. Examining it he was speechless. Taking the blade from its cover revealed a curved blade shaped much like a raptor’s talon. The handle fit Ravok’s hand perfectly, the blade was just as long as his hand was wide. The handle was wrapped in leather similar to the wrappings of a bat'leth, where the pommel would be there was an exaggerated ring. “The last time you were in combat, reports say you got stabbed. I thought with this you would deter that from happening again.” she said. He closed his eyes briefly trying to find the words worthy of such a gift. "Hann'yy hwiiy" Thank you in romulan he said to her. “It’s baakonite. I muscled a poor excuse of a Klinon bat'leth from that pet’aQ Ferengi trader Rook for a song and two slips of latinum. It was rife with impurities. So I smelted it down and folded it over and over again with a fluxing agent, to work out the impurities. Took me my free time for two days with a pneumatic hammer and a hand hammering that thing into shape. Baakonite is tough stuff.” she said with a grin. He looked at her and smiled as he examined the blade once more before sheathing it. Along its spine written in Southern dialect Romulan is a altered version of the motto of what once was the Romulan star empire. It read " For he who flies with the wings of Raptors " " There is nothing I can give you to return to you the meaning that this gift has to me. Its craftsmanship shows true talent and skill. It reflects its maker...Its perfections are beyond measure...I know more languages than you could count on one hand. Yet I can't find the words in any of them to describe the true appreciation I have for this gift…" he said and looked her in the eye " Or for you…" he said to her. She blushed a bright shade of emerald at the sincere compliment. “Maybe sometime I’ll show you how to use it.” " I would like that very much," he said smiling. He then titled his head to the side " Wait, you can fly, you can forge weapons and you can fight ?...Who are you ?" He said chuckling . “I learned how to work with metal living on Carraya IV. I was told it used to be a Romulan prison colony, but that was before I was born. They couldn’t maintain that level of technology without help. That help came in the form of a Federation frontier colony. They wanted a simpler life away from what the Federation had become. They used less than modern techniques to survive. I learned tinkering around for years as a tween and early teen at the village forge. I can fight because my father made sure I did. He said: “No daughter of mine will ever be a victim.” The flying was Sinclair. His instruction taught me to fly.” she explained. " Sinclair couldn't teach the way you fly. That's natural. " Ravok said to her. “You’re sweet.” she said and kissed him on the cheek. “ but I’ve got to go. The Mystique isn’t going to fix itself.” He smirked as she kissed his cheek " See you tomorrow " he said. She grabbed her uniform from the alcove, and the bear from the seat. ”I’m keeping the flight suit, and the bear. See you around fly-boy.” "See ya later . " he said as he waved to her as she left the fighter. ( reply none ) ( posted by Todd & Rob D.) >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Mission: You Can't Go Home Again Day: 10 Stardate: 2444.06.10 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< (Mars Facilities - Counsellor's Office – Medical Officer – Ensign JG Dural Methor DrPH – 1045) (Mars Facilities - Counsellor's Office – Medical Officer – Ensign JG Erin Cortez - 1047) (Mars Facilities - Counsellor's Office – Medical Officer – Ensign JG Dural Methor DrPH -1048) (Mars Facilities - Counsellor's Office -COUNS Alaya Ravenstone/ Pilot Ensign jg Ravok – 1425) (Mars Facilities- Flight Squadron Executive Officer’s Office - aFSXO Trip Williams– 1502) (Mars Facilities- Flight Squadron Executive Officer’s Office – Pilot – Ensign (JG) - Ire Williams– 1505) (Mars Facilities- Flight Squadron Executive Officer’s Office – aFSXO– Ensign (JG) - Trip Williams– 1507) (Mars Facilities- Flight Squadron Executive Officer’s Office –Pilot – Ensign (JG) - Ire Williams– 1510) >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< (Mars Facilities - Counsellor's Office – Medical Officer – Ensign JG Dural Methor DrPH – 1045) He liked that she found his joke humorous. It was good to lighten the mood of such a drab subject. ~The smile looks pleasant on her.~ He thought while she struggled to maintain composure. “That’s a sense of humour you have there. I think we are nearly done here. Just remember that the counselling team are here if you need us. We don’t tend to have traditional office hours. We help when the need arises, although I should warn you that I don’t often look my best at 4am when called out of my comfy bed.” She offered. Sensing the session was nearing a close, Dural sat up on the couch. “I’m certain you look fine at what ever hour. As much as I would love to continue talking to you, I fear I won’t need your services.” (Reply Cortez) He tapped on his temple, “You see, the keen disciplined Cardassian mind is always trained to be self-sufficient at a very early age. Though I would be happy to speak to you at anytime and will of course answer any questions you have, always cooperating with what ever your opinion as a medical professional indicates I need, I don’t believe I will need your services.” (Reply Cortez) “Is there nothing else you wish to ask me?” He asked one final time. (Reply Cortez, room for more) (Posted by Todd) (Mars Facilities - Counsellor's Office – Medical Officer – Ensign JG Erin Cortez - 1047) Dural sat up on the couch. “I’m certain you look fine at what ever hour. As much as I would love to continue talking to you, I fear I won’t need your services.” Smiling, Erin cocked her head slightly, “And why is that?” He tapped on his temple, “You see, the keen disciplined Cardassian mind is always trained to be self-sufficient at a very early age. Though I would be happy to speak to you at anytime and will of course answer any questions you have, always cooperating with whatever your opinion as a medical professional indicates I need, I don’t believe I will need your services.” Nodding, Erin closed down her PADD and looked at the cardassian, trying to figure out in her own mind if what he was saying was true or if that was what he believed. ~Everyone needs help at some point but i won’t push it.~ “Is there nothing else you wish to ask me?” He asked again, “There was one thing, more of a personal request then anything.” (Reply Dural) Leaning forward, Erin looked at the man infront of her and smiled, “I only know of your people from what i have been taught and what i have read at the academy. If you would be agreeable, i would like to talk to you again but on mre of a social setting. I don’t have that many friends from other worlds and, as a counsellor, i would like to get to know you, your people and your people’s history.” (Reply Dural) Nodding, “You are free to go, thankyou for your time.” (Reply Dural) (Reply Dural, any) (Posted by Jackie) (Mars Facilities - Counsellor's Office – Medical Officer – Ensign JG Dural Methor DrPH -1048) “There was one thing, more of a personal request then anything.” The Counsellor lead. Dural nodded for her to continue. She leaned forward and smiled, “I only know of your people from what I have been taught and what I have read at the academy. If you would be agreeable, I would like to talk to you again but on more of a social setting.” She explained, “I don’t have that many friends from other worlds and, as a counsellor, I would like to get to know you, your people and your people’s history.” The Cardassian was pleased, almost visibly excited. This was the exact thing that he wanted more friends, the ability to socialize. “I would be foolish to decline such an offer. Nothing would bring me more joy than an exchanging of cultures. I will keep you in mind the next time I have unscheduled free time.” She nodded, “You are free to go, thank-you for your time.” “And thank you for a friendly ear and a lovely though one sided conversation. Next time I will get to know you a little more.” He said closing his eyes with a slight bow of his head as a sign of trust. He then opened his eyes and left the office smiling. (Reply Cortez, if you wish, none required) (Posted by Todd) (Mars Facilities - Counsellor's Office -COUNS Alaya Ravenstone/ Pilot Ensign jg Ravok – 1425) Alaya had been given the tough cases, where there were conflicts, and she had agreed to take the counselors. She had an emergency case come in, and she had spent the last hour literally talking the young enlisted officer into staying in the fleet and getting the counseling that he needed, rather than run back to earth because of exhaustion. It seemed like everybody was exhausted, and the camp out she had tried to plan had been a complete bust. But, she had gotten several of the females out of the base for about 24 hours. It honestly seemed to her like nothing that she had hoped for on this posting was going to come true. With a soft sigh that spoke of weariness and her own tinge of depression, Alaya hit the button on her terminal rather than her comm badge, “Ensign Ravok, when you get a chance, would you be so kind as to come by Counselor Ravenstone’s office? I warn you in advance it is the inevitable crew evaluation that the Admiral is requiring of all his senior officers before we set foot on the Mystique.” She had heard that the new Counselor, Cortes was handling the evaluations in a rather brusque manner. Alaya’s office was a gentle hue of light blue, the soft couch was expected. There were few personal touches yet. It was an inviting place that smelled lightly of a betazoid incense. It was designed to relax not intimidate or coerce. Ravok made his way to counselor Ravenstone’s office after receiving her message. When he arrived the door opened. He looked around the blue room as the door closed behind him. He noticed the blue haired councilor sitting there. "Hello, I'm Ensign Ravok" he said as he took a seat. “I’m Alaya Ravenstone. Feel free to call me Alaya if you prefer. Would you like some tea or other refreshment? I can’t offer you alcohol while we are on duty, but I find that something to sip helps.” She smiled at him as she turned towards the working replicator (and who had she bribed to get that happening was an excellent question). " No thank you." He stated . " Nice to meet you though, by the way before we start your office is neat it goes well with...your ...hair. please don't take offense , blue is my favorite color" he said with a smile. He felt instantly relaxed ~ it smells amazing in here , no music playing in the background don't get me wrong I love music but my sessions don't need a soundtrack ~ he thought to himself. He felt more comfortable here than in Ensign Trei's office. ~ Hopefully she doesn't leap to any conclusions right away like Trei did upon our first visit. Trip sends me to see if I am alright and before I get 5 words out of my mouth she's agreeing with his assessment of my emotional state. For all that I could of just scheduled an appointment with Counselor Trip..haha that's funny~ He thought quickly to himself. Alaya did not seem to notice his pause, or if she did, she was not going to comment on it. “I guess we should be frank with each other.” She sat back down across from him with her tea. He nodded his head " Yes I like when people are direct " “There are a few things we need to talk about.” She sighed and looked slightly uncomfortable. “You’ve had a lot of change in a very short amount of time.” She started gently, “And you are under the care of Counselor Trei.” She had an idea that he wasn’t comfortable with her, and Trei was not with Ravok due to the notes that had been made in the database. “But due to that, you can not be evaluated by her for fitness of duty. So the first thing I have to tell you is that I am a full Betazoid, I am a telepath and I will never invade your privacy without permission. The second thing is that I can not become your Counselor until your evaluation is complete, noted in the database, accepted by ACSO Bracken and the Admiral. So you are stuck with Trei for a few more days of the mandatory counseling that your Commander Williams has advised. And lastly, I counsel Acting Flight Commander Williams, and that might be considered a conflict of interest if you do decide to change Counselors. There, all the cards on the table.” Alaya picked up her tea and sipped. " I understand, I give you permission to read my mind if you wish. Use all your skills if you wish." He replied. “Some of these questions are mandatory, and I personally believe that some of them were mandated by a being who never explored outside an office." " Ask away counselor, listen in if you want too as well" he said as he tapped his finger on the side of his head . ~314~ he thought of random number. Just testing her She laughed, “Pi?” She teased, “All right. Let’s go. Get this unpleasantness done. So first, Like I said, lots of change. I’m a little unsure how your Mother? Ended up on base here with you and the sequence it happened in with the loss of your father. Can you fill me in?” " Pi ..that's amazing " he smirked. "Well my fathers freighter received heavy damage so right now it is in space port near Vulcan so my step mother came to earth to seek employment by the federation. Over the years she made a few good friends, they pulled some strings and she got a job assisting with Starfleet here on Mars. She isn't the type of woman to sit around and do nothing and she isnt the type to mourn." He answered "Do you feel constrained by having her here? Most young ensigns want to be as far from their family as possible, to become their 'own person'. I can't imagine having your stepmother here is helping you to accomplish that." " No , she understands duty and for most part she goes about her own way. We bump into each other here and there but she is busy. She tends to stay out of everyone's way." He replied with a chuckle. "This one is one of those annoying, mandated ones. How do you feel you are adjusting to the world outside of being a cadet? Your actions and decisions have consequences, especially in your current role." He rubbed his chin. " I find it more...interesting than I thought I would. If that makes any sense . Everything isn't as by the book like it is in the academy. The good thing about being a fighter pilot is that in the academy you get trusted with the lives of others right away. Flying within meters of each other at mach speeds sometimes even less than a meter of each other" Ravok responded "Next annoying one, How do you feel about interacting with the other members of your department? How is the morale for instance." " Hey let me be the first to tell you we have a real brotherhood after our mission to the Kuiper belt. Ensign Trip Williams is our guy. There isn't a single one of us who wouldn't fight through for him. He leads well and fair " Ravok said with a smile. "What are your career goals? What do you think you need to do to accomplish this?" " I have two goals . I would like to command my own fighter wing one day or be Chief Tactical officer. I have no aspirations to be a Captain or anything like that but I want to do what I can to serve my crewmates in the best capacity that I can. To accomplish this i need to demonstrate my willingness to grow and adapt to change whenever it comes my way" he answered. "At this point, most of your friends are the same rank as you. How do you think you will feel about commanding your friends? I can tell you that not everyone will advance at the same rate. You may need to reprimand or discipline someone you count as a friend or even send them to their death. Have you thought about this eventuality at all?" " I majored in Command and control at the academy. They tell you of all the things to be prepared for. Things like sending a friend or fellow officer to die. I could sit here right now and say sure no problem. But I can't say that to you honestly. Truthfully is anyone ever truly prepared to do that? I don't think they are, but I can only hope that if and when that time comes I am able to make the right decision that saves the lives of my fellow officers. As far as commanding them. It will be an adjustment but it's something we all know going into this. " "Next annoying one, tell me your positive and negative traits. Tell me how you plan to improve those negatives." She wrinkled her nose, "Form says 3 of each." She hated the standardized questions with a passion. He leaned forward and held up his hand and quickly spoke " Negatives, too friendly, confused by humans and their complexities, and I'm very selfless at a great cost to myself I might add" he said with a smile. " Positives Im confident in my abilities as a pilot, I'm always up for making new friends, and I care for others more than myself" "Almost done, evaluate yourself on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being the best and tell me why." " Umm in a professional sense I'm a solid 4 I don't think I will ever consider myself a 5 because there is always something to be learned. Also at the moment I lack experience Personally I consider myself a 3 because I doubt myself way too much. The surprising thing is people always assume I'm arrogant or cocky. If I come off that way I promise it isn't my intent to do so. No one is perfect and there is always room for improvement. " he said to her with confidence in his answer. Alaya nodded, "That seems very fair. Thank you for being willing to talk to me. Do you feel like there is anything you want to add or feel like I should know?" " No problem Counciler. Thank you for making this probably the easiest evaluation ever. Maybe I'll see you around sometime. Bring the the blue hair with you. It really is unique." He said to her kindly. Alaya smiled, "I look forward to hanging out with you off duty. I need some friends. " her smile lit up the room. "Go on and get back to work." " Yes ma'am" he said as he stood up and playfully saluted her. (Reply none ) (Posted by Mel and Davis) (Mars Facilities- Flight Squadron Executive Officer’s Office - aFSXO Trip Williams– 1502) As Ire entered without knocking, Trip looked up from his paperwork and sighed. ~Does Ire know how to knock?~ “Hallo Trip do you have a moment or is this a bad time?” "I have a moment, what do you need?" Trip said with a smile. He placed the three PADDs that he had brought with him on to the Trips desk. “Here are the results from medical, science and engineering that you wanted about the drones. I have been cleared by all three to fly the drones.” ~The stupid drones again. Alright, let's have a looksie.~ Trip took the PADDs and began perusing them. "So you met with all three? Alright." “All I need is your acceptance and I can begin.” "Which officers did you speak with?" “I spoke to Ensign Solace from medical about the long-term health issues about being connected. I spoke to Ensign Verin from Science about the safety protocol and devises like the jack and the isolation unit and I spoke to Ensign Merek from Engineering about the flight performance and operational ability.” "Well you did a thorough job Ire, but my approval is going to have to wait." (reply Ire) "We are days away from going to Trill, that needs to be our focus. Getting things prepped. The drones aren't coming so they need to be put on the backburner." (reply Ire) "I know you are looking forward to playing with them, and when we get back you'll have my approval, but right now we need to put our energy in getting things ready for Trill. We need to make sure the three fighters are prepped and loaded. Figure out Duty rosters for both Mars and the Mystique. Figure out a fair way for who gets to go and stay. We also need to make sure that the Mystique's shuttles are working. Not to mention you still need to fly patrols until we leave. So that comes first, fiddling with the drones can wait." (reply Ire) "I know you want to play with your new toys, trust me, I get it. I'd love nothing more than to mess around with the fighters that Foxglove acquired. But right now they've been turned over to R&D for study and to work on producing more. So it is what is is. But when we get back, you can play with the drones. Does that sound fair to you buddy?" (reply Ire) (reply Ire) (posted by Will) (Mars Facilities- Flight Squadron Executive Officer’s Office – Pilot – Ensign (JG) - Ire Williams– 1505) "Well you did a thorough job Ire, but my approval is going to have to wait." Ire nodded. He had been expecting another hurdle from Trip. Trip just did not see the potential of the drones that he did. The ability to be a force multiplier was one of many was they could improve the fighter wings effectiveness. “May I know why.” He was worried he would have to do more tests. "We are days away from going to Trill, that needs to be our focus. Getting things prepped. The drones aren't coming so they need to be put on the backburner." “I understand.” ~If we took the drones it would give the fighters, we are taking more protection~ "I know you are looking forward to playing with them, and when we get back you'll have my approval, but right now we need to put our energy in getting things ready for Trill. We need to make sure the three fighters are prepped and loaded. Figure out Duty rosters for both Mars and the Mystique. Figure out a fair way for who gets to go and stay. We also need to make sure that the Mystique's shuttles are working. Not to mention you still need to fly patrols until we leave. So that comes first, fiddling with the drones can wait." He nodded taking in what Trip was saying “I understand. They won’t be going anywhere until we get back from Trill anyway.” "I know you want to play with your new toys, trust me, I get it. I'd love nothing more than to mess around with the fighters that Foxglove acquired. But right now they've been turned over to R&D for study and to work on producing more. So it is what is is. But when we get back, you can play with the drones. Does that sound fair to you buddy?" “New fighter. So we are finally going to get rid of the old Peregrine’s then?” (Reply Trip) “Do you what the new fighters are because it will be good to get something more up to date. We were lucky on our mission that the enemy were not packing or advanced craft or it would have a lot worse than it was.” (Reply Trip) (Reply Trip) (Posted by Robbie) (Mars Facilities- Flight Squadron Executive Officer’s Office – aFSXO– Ensign (JG) - Trip Williams– 1507) “New fighter. So we are finally going to get rid of the old Peregrine’s then?” "That is the plan, need to get something more modern for us, if we are going to do a good job of protecting sector 001 we need some more teeth." “Do you what the new fighters are because it will be good to get something more up to date. We were lucky on our mission that the enemy were not packing or advanced craft or it would have a lot worse than it was.” "Yes we got lucky. So by looking at the specs, hopefully in six months to a year we can get enough to replace the fighters we have and the peregrines can go from being the key part of our force to just there for back up and support. But to do that we need time, resources, and study." (reply Ire) "Listen, get back to work alright. I'll look at the drone reports and then make an official log when I get back giving you permission to use them. But until then they stay grounded, is that understood." (reply Ire) "Alright, now get back to work, and stay out of trouble alright." (reply Ire) (reply Ire) (posted by Will Banowsky) (Mars Facilities- Flight Squadron Executive Officer’s Office –Pilot – Ensign (JG) - Ire Williams– 1510) "Yes we got lucky. So by looking at the specs, hopefully in six months to a year we can get enough to replace the fighters we have and the peregrines can go from being the key part of our force to just there for back up and support. But to do that we need time, resources, and study." Ire nodded. “It’s a pity they can’t be ready sooner.” "Listen, get back to work alright. I'll look at the drone reports and then make an official log when I get back giving you permission to use them. But until then they stay grounded, is that understood." “I understand.” "Alright, now get back to work, and stay out of trouble alright." Ire gave him a pained look. “I always stay out of trouble, but it seams to find me wherever I go.” With that he nodded to Trip and left the office. (Reply Trip, any) (Posted by Robbie) >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Mission: You Can't Go Home Again Day: 16 Stardate: 2444.06.16 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< (USS Mystique – Trips quarters – CONN Ensign Trip Williams and CONN Ensign Ire Williams - 1300) (USS Mystique - 10-Forward - aFSXO Ensign JG Trip Williams - 1327) >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< (USS Mystique – Trips quarters – CONN Ensign Trip Williams and CONN Ensign Ire Williams - 1300) Trip would rather have spent his lunch hour with his sister. He missed having her nearby and would have loved nothing more than having a catch up lunch with her. Instead he felt that he needed to talk to Ire. Ire was a good officer, worked hard, maybe too hard, and Trip was worried about him. He didn't know what to do or how to handle it, and the Admiral was right had there been an FO, he would have been able to go to them, but instead he was going to take the Admiral's advice of asking Ire to see a counselor. It was just a matter of getting there. He didn't know whether to be his boss or his friend. He also knew that he had antagonized the poor guy because of those drones he wanted, and may or may not have accidentally gotten then squadron to call him Crash Bandicoot when he jokingly mentioned that to Ensign Kurosawa in the flight break room. Still, he knew that he needed to talk to Ire and had set up a meeting with him. He debated bringing Ravok into this, but he knew Ire might respond better if it was just them. Trip and eaten a quick sandwich, and as Ire arrived he motioned to the sitting area and asked him to sit opposite him, he gave Ire the comfy chair. “Ire thanks for meeting with me,” Trip said with a smile. “Of course not a problem.” He smiled back. He had been up for an hour and had finished a session in the gym and then got changed before arriving at them meeting. “Listen, I’m not gonna beat about the bush. We need to talk about yesterday.” Ire gave a mental sigh. He knew this was going to happen but the way Trip and Ravok had both reacted be he kept a neutral expression on his face. “Yes I assume we do.” “First I talked with Ravok, he was out of line for singling you out like that and I made him aware of it.” Ire nodded. “Okay.” “Second, why do you think we both got onto you yesterday?” He felt his irritation rise but he stamped it down hard. ~Ire he is asking not demanding. ~ He took a breath, released it and nodded. “That would be because I came to give you relief during my downtime and without a request from you. Also me being on duty rather than resting could cause me to be not at my best when I started my shift.” “Yes, that is the reason, but do you understand why? In your words tell me why you think we reacted the way we did.” Trip then put his commbadge on the table. "Off the record so be brutally honest here." ~Okay then~ He paused for a moment. “I know that you are both reacted from a place of worry. From a pure practical point of view if I had not had enough rest then I would be compromised and a compromised pilot is a hazard in charge of any vessel including this one. Which you are right and on reflection I would not do again. You are also worried about my flight….. problems and associated fall out from that as well as the new call signs. I also feel that you feel that I am working too hard and that I am pushing myself too hard. I can deal with the name calling behind my back, I have had worse. The fact that I have had more accidents than anyone on mars in the last 16 days and that my flight officers are finding ways not to fly with me. I can deal with that too because flying is all I am, it's my whole being and without that I am ….. ” He paused took a breath ~Hell your rambling~ “I can fly. If I do say so myself, I am an incredible flyer. I’m not good at stellar cartography, I will never be a tactical officer or even surgeon like my parents. But you get me into a fighter or any small craft you can name and I can make her dance across the sky.” He realised that he was sounding a little bit big headed. “It was not easy. I had to work hard, On the Road Runner, then on the Free Booster, then pre academy to get accepted for flight school. Basic flight, Advanced flight, Tactical Flight, Display Flight, Zero-G Search and Rescue, Orbital Survival, Orbital Ejection Jumps, Nova Squadron acceptance, then Nova Squadron and finally lead flight in Nova Squadron. It’s not been easy and I have sacrificed a lot to get here but I worked hard to get where I am.” “What I am trying to say is that doing six on then on stand by and the twelve on twelve off wyis nothing. I was doing that in my first year and it only got harder from there. By the time I graduated we were doing rotations way past the regs because we were the best. We were trained to work long hard hours, sleep and go back out again and do it all over again and again.” ~You really are rambling~ “This rate of work that you both think is me pushing hard is my normal working rate. These last 16 days have been the most relaxing I have had in years. Apart from the squadron admin I still hate that.” He gave a slight smile before he carried on. “As you told me on the God of War you want me to keep everyone alive. This is how I do that. I push myself harder because that is how I keep my promise, be the best, get that bit faster, quicker because if I slack or drop the ball people will die my friends will die.” Ire took a deep breath as he realized that his emotions were creeping in. Trip nodded then looked at him, “Are you finished.” Ire stopped at the sharpness of Trip’s reply. He had opened up more to Trip in the last few minutes than any one for a long time and he had been shut down. Ire felt his defences come crashing back into place sealing off his shocked feelings and his hands dropped back into his lap. ~Did he not understand anything I just said~ “Yes.” he said simply. Trip sighed, this was all new to him. Everything he learned about being a leader he learned from either listening to his parents, grandfather, aunts, and uncles or from playing sports, or from coaching little league baseball during the summers when he was in high school and the academy. He didn’t think getting 12 year olds to calm down would have applied to dealing with fellow officers, but apparently he might have been wrong on that front. “Now I could address that hubris of yours, but I feel like it would get us nowhere, you say you get it, but it’s obvious to me Ire, that you don’t get it.” ~Did you not just listened to what I just said~ “If that is what you think.” “Ire this is Starfleet, this is the real world. This isn’t Nova Squadron, this isn’t the free booster, this isn’t training. This is your job. Whatever your training schedule was back then, it is irrelevant, forget it, throw it. How many lives were you responsible for when you were in the Academy?” ~Oh really you think I have not realised that. You think that some it has just slipped my mind~ “Eight pilots.” “Now compare that to all the lives you are responsible for here on the Mystique, or on Mars. This isn’t a game man, this isn’t Nova Squadron.” ~What the hell are you talking about! Of course I know this is not a game. What do you think since we got to mar. Playing fighter pilot~ “No it's not.” ~It’s that typical Nova Squadron hubris, just because they are on the Elite flying team, they think they are the only ones that work hard. I busted my butt off to do well in school, so did Ravok, so did Sy, so did Lynn.~ “There is a saying that has been passed down in my family for a long time. By that I mean it was first spread by an ancestor from the later 20th century and early 21st century. He flew in the United States Navy. He used to say all the time, ‘The rules are the rules because before they were the rules people died.’ Ire you can’t just do whatever you want.” ~Keep it together. Smacking his face in will do no one any good~ Ire bit back an angry retorte and uncurled his fingers which had become two crushing fists. He placed the hands palm down on his lap hoping that he had not drawn blood and spoke calmly but was a little curious about what Trip meant. “What do you mean by that! Apart from relieving you on the bridge for lunch what else have I for you to think that I can do whatever I want.” “Well shall we start at the beginning. First off, I get it rules suck, I’ve broken them and I was punished for them. But Ire, one of our first nights on Mars you flew up late at night, when you should have been resting, solo, no wingman and you almost died because of it. I know we already addressed this. But it is the little things Ire.” Ire felt himself calming down as he took in what Trip was saying. ~Fare point you would have had words with some one doing that under your command~ “I can understand that.” “I had a coach who always used to say, if you do the little things right, you can accomplish big things. It’s true in sports, where you position yourself, how you think, how you act, the little things add up. It’ts the same thing here Ire. The little things add up good or bad. You need to take time for yourself. You aren’t a machine, you aren’t just a worker drone. You need to have a life outside of the uniform. So since you missed the mark, are you ready to hear the why I have issues with you coming in to relieve me when you are supposed to be off duty?” ~Listen to him you moron and get your head out of you back side and learn some humility~ He nodded, taking a breath to release his pent up anger. “Yes I am.” “Look everything I say in charity. Ire, first, when you came on to relieve me it signals to the other members of our department that you don’t care about the rules. That the rules don’t apply to you. That you can just come on the bridge whenever you want. Then it also signals to the relief officer that you think you are more important than them, that only you can relieve me, not them, that they aren’t allowed to do their job. It makes it seem like you don’t trust them to fly while I eat a sandwich. But also it signals to me that you either don’t know or don’t care on why the rule of not going on duty without an emergency is there in the first place. You need to have a personal life, you need to take time for yourself. You need to know who you are without the uniform. You need to be able to relax, recharge and be ready. But most of all you need to not burn yourself out. I allowed it, because I didn’t want to make a scene and single you out. But Ire, the rules, all the rules, even the tiniest ones, apply to you and I expect them to be followed. In one fell swoop what you did signals to the other officers in our department that you don’t think the rules apply to you, you think you are better than other officers, you don’t take care of your personal life, and you don’t respect my authority. Now I know that 3 out of those 4 are false. So I only care about one of those. Do you know which one?” Ire nodded. “I do think that the rules apply to me, I do not think that I am better than my fellow officers, I do respect your authority but I don’t have what people would call a personal life but from my behaviour on the bridge I can understand how it would look like that I don’t ” “And that is the thing that concerns me most Ire.” Trip ran his hands through his hair. “I had a teammate in high school. Good guy, but he spent all his time outside of school and baseball practice working out and practicing. He never went to any of the dances, we had to drag him to go hang out, never went on any dates, just spent his whole time focused on baseball and school. Eventually the coach benched him just to get it through his thick skull that there were more important things in life than baseball. You follow?” “I follow.” “It’s the same here, we need you not burned out, we need you at your best, but my job is not just to make sure you are a good officer, but that you are a fulfilled person. So yes you can’t come in and relieve me when you are off duty, it’s not your job you need to be well rested and its unprofessional. Are we good on that front?” “Crystal.” “Good, now the more important question, Ire, who besides Ravok and myself are your friends? Who do you hang out with? What do you do on your time off?” “Well I class Greta as a friend. I don’t really hang out with people mainly due to the fact I don’t seem to have time. What do I do? Too much Admin for a start, exercise, sail when I can, spend a lot of my time working on squadron stuff. Checking lucky thirteen to make sure she’s flight ready.” “Well first off, here on the Mystique you have no admin, and if admin is too much on Mars you should have told me or delegated it to your number two. Second, it's not your job to make sure your fighter is flight ready, that's why we have mechanics. Sailing is good. You need to have hobbies.” “You say that but I am on my third fighter since arriving on Mars and I don’t want to be on my fourth. Hobbies are something I will also have to work on.” “Ire you work too hard and I don’t want you to miss out on life because of it. Not to mention that if you get burned out at the helm or in a fighter it is bad news bears. Look I can’t order you to hang out with people. That is an easy way to get in trouble. But I do want you, when you are not on duty, to be off duty. You need to rest, you need to know who Ire is when he is not wearing the uniform.” “I understand.” “With that being said, I am not ordering this, but I highly recommend seeing a counselor to talk about your attitude and how to best handle your being a workaholic. You can pick the counserlor you feel most comfortable with.” “I had my evaluation with Ensign Cortex yesterday and I feel that she would be someone I could talk to.” “It’s only a suggestion not an order. However the last bit, you may not like.” “Okay” “I’m worried about your mental health and working yourself to death and knowing that you have a tendency to be all in on something, until I feel comfortable that you aren’t going to go overboard with this, no drones. Not until I am sure that you won't spend every waking moment obsessing with them.” “But..” He paused and then nodded. “I understand.” “Ire, can you at this point right now honestly tell me that if I let you have the drones, you wouldn’t spend all your free time tinkering with and working on them?” “There is not much more to be done really. The drones can fly, I can control them. All I would have to do would be to integrate the hardwear into my fighter which should only take a shift or two and I would be ready to go.” “Ire you didn’t answer the question.” “No I would not spend all my free time tinkering with them because there is nothing to tinker with. They are all ready to go apart from the installation and integration of the hardware and at that point they would fall into the normal maintenance cycle like the rest of the squadron’s fighters at which point I could not tinker even if I wanted to without Senior Chief Tyrol going nuts about me messing with his fighters.” “But would you be out there practicing with them ad nauseum, instead of say going to the Sands with guys for drinks. Would you ignore others to play with your toys “No I wouldn't. I understand my role and responsibilities to my squadron and what the drones mean as part of that but as you pointed out. If I can’t go out and enjoy myself and decompress then what’s the point in me having the drones to protect the squadrons if I can’t fly them with my squadron due to me being unfit to fly.” “Look we worry about you, alright. This is coming from a place of concern. You know that right?” “I understand that. I really do even if it doesn't seem that way at the time.” “When you meet with the counselor, get a baseline personality profile too. I want to chart over time if the drones cause a change in your behavior. I really don’t feel comfortable with them and I want to have enough monitoring systems in place to keep you safe.” “Will do that and I will have them do random sessions in between the normal scheduled ones if that helps.” “It does. Look Ire, you are a good officer. But that's kind of the problem. I think so much of your life, your training, the academy, I think I you absorbed too much how to be an officer and not enough how to be a well rounded person.” “Okay.” “Now get out of here, you aren’t due on the bridge until 1800, go do something fun, read a book, take a nap. Anything but work. That’s an order.” “Roger that.” “Dismissed.” Ire nodded “See you at 1800.” And headed for the door. (reply none) (posted by Will and Robbie) (USS Mystique - 10-Forward - aFSXO Ensign JG Trip Williams - 1327) "it's quieter than Mars, I like that." Trip said with a smile. (reply Remae iyw) "When I wanted to get into flying, I wasn't intending to be a fighter pilot sir. I wasn't part of Nova Squadron, I didn't do any fighter intensive courses. I trained sir, and got classed in all manner of vehicles, but I never expected myself to be a fighter pilot, until I got to Mars. I kind of expected that we'd be ferrying people around on Shuttles not fighting Space Pirates." Trip sighed, his first week on Mars was a rather hectic one. He never wanted to be a fighter pilot, he definitely didn't want to be leading a squadron less than a month after graduation. (reply Remae) "I wanted to be an explorer, you know. I was hoping that Starfleet would have figured out its mission again. There are still some ships, though rare, out there doing science stuff, I was hoping to be on one of them. I studied Stellar Cartography, I got into Flight OPS because I wanted to soar the galaxy. But instead they sent me to Mars. Which was fine. I got to stay with my sister, and I'm happy for that blessing, family is important to me. But here, I get to do that. I get to be at the helm of a Starship, my childhood dream. It's quiet here, not a lot of bustle, no random death traps. It's quiet here." (reply Remae) "But you know what they say, sometimes when you get what you want, you find that it isn't as fulfilling as you thought it would be. It's weird." (reply Remae) (reply Remae) (posted by Will) >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Mission: You Can't Go Home Again Day: 19 Stardate: 2444.06.19 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< (USS Mystique - Mess hall –Pilot – Ensign (JG) – Ire Williams– 0100) (USS Mystique - Mess hall – Intelligence – Ensign (JG) – Jaelle Foxglove – 0103) (USS Mystique - Mess hall – Pilot – Ensign (JG) –Ire Williams– 0105) >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< (USS Mystique - Mess hall –Pilot – Ensign (JG) – Ire Williams– 0100) Ire put his plate lamb curry with rice and garlic naan onto the table along with a steaming cup of tea. He sat down placed the PADD onto the table that was tucked under his arm. He took a deep breath and arched his back against the chair trying to loosen some of his tired muscles from where he had been sitting at the helm station for the twelve hours. He glanced around almost deserted mess hall with its reduced to night time cycle lighting and smiled to himself. He had been taking his meals in the mess hall more often since he had his conversation with Trip and had been slowly getting to know people who frequented the mass hall at the same, he did. “Right then lunch time.” He grinned to himself at the eccentricity of his statement but for his shift rotation it was lunch time just as 0630 would be dinner and 1700 would be breakfast. He spun the PADD around so that he could read it as he began to eat his curry. “So, let’s see if Commando Alicia DeVries, Tisiphone and Megaira can get out of this problem.” (reply any who are up at this very early hour) (Reply any) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Mystique - Mess hall – Intelligence – Ensign (JG) – Jaelle Foxglove – 0103) It was an insane time to be up and about but Jaelle's life was anything but normal, and do to her need of having to straddle several shifts to keep track of what the intelligence personnel were up to, it was needed that she kept odd hours. It also made if easier to in places like the Mess hall. Jaelle was often miss understood. She stood in an odd place among her fellow ensign's. It was better at times to keep a little distance. She made her way to the cook who smiled to her. "What's the special?" She asked cheerfully, an oddity at these early hours. She also figured keeping odd hours would be a good way to avoid the circus of psyc evals. "Beef Stew" was the reply from the cook. Jaelle nodded, before accepting the offered bowl. She turned and looked over the room it was mostly empty. But some conversation might be in order. Getting to know her peers would also help build inroads for the budding intelligence program. It was about this time the smells of fresh curry, and naan filled her noise. She followed the pleasant sent to its source, making her way though the mess hall. "Excuse me," She looked at Ire tilting her head slightly, causing the petals on the Lily shenwore to flutter slightly. “So, let’s see if Commando Alicia DeVries, Tisiphone and Megaira can get out of this problem.” "Excuse me, I was wondering if you would may e like some company." (Reply Ire) (Posted by Matthew Locke) (USS Mystique - Mess hall – Pilot – Ensign (JG) –Ire Williams– 0105) "Excuse me, I was wondering if you would may e like some company." Ire looked up from the PADD and saw a petite ensign with silver hair and red eyes standing beside him with a bowl of soup. “Ow sorry yes of course.” He said as he turned off the PADD and placed it out of the way. “Please take a seat. He offered to Foxglove. (reply Foxglove) “I am Ensign Ire Williams from flight ops.” (Reply Foxglove) (Reply Foxglove, any) (Posted by Robbie) >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Mission: You Can't Go Home Again Day: 22 Stardate: 2444.06.22 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< (USS Mystique - Counselling Offices - Ensign JG Erin Cortez & Admiral Remae Ktell - 1205) (USS Mystique - Mess hall - Ensign JG Erin Cortez - 1304) (USS Mystique - Mess hall – aACMO(Ens(jg) Ailynn Bracken – 1306) (USS Mystique - Mess hall – Ensign JG Erin Cortez – 1308) (USS Mystique - Counselors' Office - EO Ensign Boone Foster - 1430) (USS Mystique - Counselling Office - Ensign Jg Erin Cortez & Ensign Jg Ire Williams - 1530) (USS Mystique - Personal quarters- Ensign Jg Erin Cortez & Ensign Jg Ravok- 2000) (Trill homeworld - Docks - Avery Jann - 2142) >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< (USS Mystique - Counselling Offices - Ensign JG Erin Cortez & Admiral Remae Ktell - 1205) Remae walked into the Counsellors area, he knew, once the evaluations were ordered, he’d be on the list too. It wasn’t the first time he’d been through these events but as time went by, Admirals in offices drew less attention than active members of Starfleet. Now he was in space again, it made only logical sense that he be included. Then again, the PADD found by Ensign Trip Williams was also on his mind, his past was catching up once more. As he sat down, he began to recall his last encounter with his personal Orb. The Orb of Regret, at least, that is what he had called it. This Orb was a gift from the Religious Caste of Bajor, after a long series of events, involving Q, the Prophets, Time-Travel, The WormHole and many other things he had decided to forget about. The PADD that Trip had found contained unlocked files as well as locked ones, including a report on him by Doctor Riven Mias, one persistent Counsellor assigned to the Mystique circa 2406: ‘Senior Counsellor's report on Captain Remae Ktell by Senior Counsellor Riven Mias, USS Mystique; I am convinced that Captain Ktell has undergone a traumatic experience during his disappearance and subsequent re-emergence after the time frame in question, whatever he underwent while in Cardassian custody has been tightly locked up behind an effective memory block placed there. When attempting to telepathically probe his mind in an effort to uncover those past events I came up against one of the nastiest blocks I have ever dealt with, in attempting to alleviate it I nearly lost the patient to a psychotic event or coma, I am not sure which as attempts to pull him out were successful.' That report had been made public to Doctors and Counsellors but he was still uneasy about his personal problems being made public, easily found by anyone who went looking. Remae brought himself back to present and sat down with the Counsellor. “Doctor Cortez, thanks for seeing me and helping in conducting these evaluations.”, said Remae as he sat down on the nearby couch. ~ Ah yes, Gul Dulon ~ Remae had nearly forgotten the experience he had on Cardassia Prime, when he had been tortured and nearly killed; perhaps he just wanted to forget. The locked data file was familiar to him, the PADD that was found contained the same wording as a previous PADD that was handed to him… he continued to remember the past... "The file shows that supporters inside the highest levels of the 52nd command are convening a hearing, finally, it has come after all these years. Up to this point, I had protection from another Vulcan, Kriller, but now he's disappeared and I can't get a hold of him. It's like he's been taken out just so these people can get to me now. Well, I am not giving them the satisfaction." "Anytime, Sir." She replied and regarded him for a moment. Trying to decide where to start, whether the softly softly approach would be best or hard and fast. "Admiral, I will freely admit that this is probably not going to be easy for both of us. I mean, I'm barely out of the academy and here I am, trying to determine whether you, a seasoned officer, are fit for duty." “Understandable, Ensign - but these are unusual times. I can’t think of anything like a ship full of Ensigns going out, in deep space without a proper hiercial command nor can I think of base of tens-of-thousands being under the command of a small percentage of junior officers.”, he said reflecting on the position she was in, “Nevertheless, you are qualified and I trust you.”, he nodded at her to indicate he was ready. "That said, perhaps we should get started. As you are probably aware, I have read your file. Especially the report from your previous evaluation. " ~ No doubt ~ “Several sessions over the years would have been made public, some for good reasons, some for not-so-good reasons.”, he said, a little carefully. Parts of his report were not made public, even to other Counsellors. "I want to start easy, nothing difficult. Tell me how you are feeling, right now." He smiled, “A hard question, to be honest Counsellor. Right now, I am trying to focus on the mission and what happens when we get to Trill, while at the same time a group of inexperienced officers try to run a ship controlled by an entity we don’t fully understand.”, he said and caught himself. “Sorry, that is more of a status report isn’t it? Let’s see. Another trick to a Counsellor is forcing me to relive parts of my past that I thought were simply not a part of my life anymore. So I am apprehensive about that. Trip recently found a PADD with the full file of my situation, encrypted of course, but that timely discovery and this session have made me realise that my past isn’t as over and forgotterned as I would have liked to believe.”, he said pausing for a moment. “So, right now, I am concerned about this mission, putting the ship into harm's way, plus, I am dealing with old emotions that are causing me to be a little distracted.”, he said taking a sip of water. The Counsellor could go in any direction at this point but Remae was waiting for it, the inevitable question… Remae drifted back to another Counselling Session where, in another universe, his Captain Jana Bell was lost to him. Even though there was another Jana Bell in this universe along with probably 2-3 other Remae Ktells out there, he thought back to what he had said to Counsellor Lronen. "In another universe, she was someone I served with on the USS Spectre when her former Captain Ro Kaelyn was in Command, before long, we'd become close but in those days and this was several years ago, Counsellor, Starfleet was busy making a presence for itself at the Bajoran Sector, a number of Spectre class ships were launched and she became CO of the USS Wraith and we lost contact for the most part.” "She is in the other dimension now, and I can't get back to her to resume where we left on and I have to live with that.” His thoughts were interrupted. He had married this universes Jana Bell, it was confusing, even to him. Watching him, it was clear to her he had gone somewhere… where was another question. ~this man, more than any of us, has been through things we can only begin to try and understand and things we can't ~ she thought to herself. "Admiral?" “Mmm?”, was all Remae could muster in response to the Counsellor snapping him back to the present. "Where did you go then, in your mind?" “Another previous Counselling session.”, he said and although he couldn’t remember when it was; the sessions were merging into one and the memories were hitting him almost as fast as they were being processed. As she listened, it was clear that this was turning into something other than an evaluation. So, she moved from her desk and sat on the chair next to the sofa and continued to listen. "Sir, before we continue, I feel something needs to be said. This only works if there is trust between us. That said, I have reservations as do Starfleet. However, I will not give in to whatever pressure or feeling they may have. This is my decision, mine alone. I can understand to some extent, your reluctance to revisit some areas of your past. It can be painful, especially when confronted with it unexpectedly. I know that more than some." She said as her mind flew back to that face on the screen during her interview, his words and her reaction to them. "So, with that said. Tell me about Jana." Confusion hit the Bajoran for a moment, didn’t he just tell the Counsellor about Jana? Maybe he did, maybe he imagined it from another session, did he tell her? He was going to assume that he hadn’t and proceed to ‘repeat’ to her what he had just remembered. ~ Where to start? ~ Remae began to explain about how, in a different universe, the Spectre and her crew, including Jana Bell were under the command of one Captain Ro Kaelyn, the original CO of the Spectre but due to the meddlings of Q, the Bajoran Wormhole and the fact she as assigned to command the USS Wraith and he, the Spectre, they lost touch prior to his departure from that dimension and through yet another to arrive here. "On top of that, I've been pushed through not one, but two universes.Different dimensions where the rules are different, I've been in touch with the Prophets, Q has messed with my life, friends long dead and then resurrected in different dimensions. listening to him speak, Erin felt her mind whirring. Where to go, what to do, both in that moment and, for the future. "Sir, that's a lot for anyone to process. Never mind someone like yourself. This is something that, command has expressed concern about." “You are right to be aware of Starfleet Command. After the loss of the Spectre, Admiral LoDona had accessed and sent me a data file, explaining why I was removed from active command and placed under Captain Winter’s command on the Mystique.”, he said and then added, “It’s the same data file that Trip had found recently.” “I managed to partially access the file; it showed that supporters inside the highest levels of the 52nd command convened a hearing. Up to this point, I had protection from another Vulcan, Admiral Kriller, but he disappeared before I could learn more.”, he said and then thought for a moment, “Conspiring Starfleet Officers, a data file indicating something more happened to me that anyone is prepared to admit, a powerful block in my memory stopping anyone getting to the truth and finally, given what could be found isn’t going to be good… would it be something that I would want to know?” asked the Admiral, rhetorically. Remae was telling the story out of order again. “Cardassia Prime and the Memory Block… right.”, he said down. "Cardassia Prime and Gul Dulon,” said Remae before adding the story of the original USS Spectre’s loss when the Engineering Section of the Spectre was exploded with force from the Saucer Section. And the First Officer, Susan Rivers took command of the Saucer not before Remae went on his own, to confront the mad Cardassian Gul Dulon before he could get his ships to the Saucer Section. Luckily, Susan and the Saucer were rescued by the USS Nimitz but not before Dulon captured, tortured and then, Remae was rescued by the Prometheus Class USS Athene and Admiral Kriller, which became his new command. Admiral Kriller believed in ‘sticking it’ to Starfleet, emotional for a Vulcan! “Before I was rescued, a memory block was applied. The block in my memory can’t be forced open, not even by the strongest telepaths, the trust has been lost over the years that even I can’t remember what happened anymore save beyond the Spectre being lost, being captured and tortured by Dulon and every increasing insanity of my actions, culminating in abandoning my Chief Science Officer in a medical facility that I too was at, and whatever they did to me there.”, he added exhausting everything he knew about the incident. “For over a decade, since the loss of that Spectre at Cardassia Prime, Starfleet has been determined to make me pay for what happened, court martial after court marshal was scheduled and then put off, and then my command was taken and then restored.", he said shaking his head at the craziness of how the the fleet command had operated back then. “The data file contains the facts of what happened on that day and I can’t open it so, I simply put it aside and got on with my life. Finding it again was unexpected at the least but I did manage to move on and have a life after I became an Admiral and managed to find peace.”, he said coming to the end of this part of his story. Sitting back, Erin allowed herself a moment to think about what he had said. This was a huge amount of information to process for anyone. "If I may be so bold, Sir, is the fact that you can't open the file playing into your reluctance to not find out what happened to you?" ~ Good question, Counsellor ~ “It’s a moot point; I have no other avenues of investigation. This all happened in a different era of Starfleet, when the 52nd was a force, before the contraction of demilitarisation of Starfleet. Anyone who knows is dead or have disappeared. If Admiral LoDona is alive, I can’t find him, Kriller and Jopek are dead.”, he said before adding, “If there was a way, I would have persuaded it years ago but, there wasn’t. I took the option that was best for me and I accepted the promotion to Admiral and left behind the life of a Captain of Starfleet.”, he said. “I was out of the picture and the moment I was, no one bothered me and I didn’t bother them. I made the best life I could make… until I was snapped back in by President Atremi, you know the rest and here we are.”, he said bringing them up to date. “Whether or not SFHQ are happy with me being out there, here I am. The head of Starfleet seems like he hates my guts so that tells me, even now, nothing is forgiven. Aside from warping over to Earth and demanding answers from the CINC, all my friends are all gone.” "Well, they are not here. I am. You have at least one friend now. Even though I am here to evaluate you, your fitness. My primary concern is for you. I am not someone who will do things because I am ordered to, pressured to. I do it because I care. So, rest assured, whatever decision I reach, it will hold your best interest at heart. But, perhaps this is something that we can't tackle in one sitting. We should schedule further appointments. Perhaps for after this mission? The last thing you need right now is someone going through things in your mind that you can't access or may impede you in doing what you came here to do." “For myself, I am glad we had this time to talk; it’s now clear to me that I do need to finish this part of my life and final some closure, at whatever the cost to myself personally, but it’ll have to wait till the time is right.” "Something to think about, this memory block. You said the strongest telepathy have tried to break it?" “That’s right, usually, I come across some telepaths in similar sessions but its been a while since I approached any, I had no reason to pursue it until recently. I could ask some of the new telepaths or I could go to Betazed; they are still in the Federation as of last I heard.”, he said but he didn’t want to mention that HQ was concerned about more worlds departing and the outcome of this mission was being watched carefully. "Perhaps it will be best left alone for now. The fact that the file has resurfaced after so many years means that someone is watching you, wants you to either remember or has a more insidious reason for sending it to you " “You may be right, Counsellor but I can tell you this, when Starfleet starts to get enigmatic, they are usually throwing down a test or challenge for us to complete. This could be one of those times.”, he said and then stood up. Watching him leave, Erin simply sat back in her chair. Not knowing what to think about what they had just talked about, it played on her mind. A lot. She knew, not really understanding how, but she knew that starfleet would be wanting to read her report. Walking back to her desk, she got a cup of strong coffee from the replicator and sat down, looking at her Padd on which she had been making notes. ~Where to begin with this? Is he fit for duty? Part of me knows the answer to that question and the other part is saying wait, hold off on a judgement until you know more, find out more.~ She thought to herself. Taking a sip of her coffee and placing the mug back down on her desk and tapped a few buttons on the console infront of her. “Computer begin recording. Initial report: Crew evaluation for Admiral Remae Ktell. The Admiral is clearly trying to keep himself together. At what cost, that is yet to be seen. He is leaving behind a piece of his past that may have an effect on him as yet to be seen. The fact that his past is coming back now, with our current mission, is no coincidence and is, clearly, weighing on his mind. As to the question of his fitness to fulfil his role, that i cannot answer. Not yet. More needs to be discussed to gain a fuller understanding of how what transpired years ago is affecting him now. There are aspects of this incident that need to be addressed both by him and myself. There are avenues to pursue and, in the fullness of time, i will be able to provide a full recommendation as to his fitness. Not now. For now, what i can say is that he is the best person to lead this mission. As to his continuing fitness to lead the mission on Mars, i will not be drawn into making that decision yet.” Pausing, Erin sat back, closed her eyes for a brief second and then opened them, “Computer, send that to Starfleet.” (Reply No-one) (Posted by Tony and Jackie) (USS Mystique - Mess hall - Ensign JG Erin Cortez - 1304) Sitting at a table by herself, Erin pushed her plate away from her and picked up her mug. The Admiral's evaluation was weighing on her mind. More than any of the others. It had brought her thoughts back to what had happened during the interview with the reporters and had caused her to think back on a lot of things herself. Sighing, she sipped at her coffee and allowed her mind to wander. (Reply Any) (Posted by Jackie) (USS Mystique - Mess hall – aACMO(Ens(jg) Ailynn Bracken – 1306) Ailynn strode into the mess hall, her hair tied back in a terrible attempt at a tidy, out of the way pony-tail. She was wearing the ivory-coloured surgical scrubs that she loved, for no other reason for the sheer comfort, and ease of movement. Barely registering what she’d ordered, a simple chicken salad, and her usual coffee, she saw Erin across the hall. Half smiling, she strode across, and slipped into the chair opposite Erin. “This one taken?” (Reply Cortez) Ailynn took a few bites of her salad, and then sat back in her chair, picking up her coffee. “Sooo. Penny for them?” She smiled gently, “Quid Pro Quo Erin…Our game hasn’t finished yet.” She winked, impishly. (Reply Cortez) (Posted by Mark) (USS Mystique - Mess hall – Ensign JG Erin Cortez – 1308) “This one taken?” Looking up, Erin sighed, shook her head and replied, "No." “Sooo. Penny for them?” She smiled gently, “Quid Pro Quo Erin…Our game hasn’t finished yet.” She winked, impishly. "It's complicated. I have a decision to make and I don't know what to do." (Reply Bracken) Smiling, "No, not Billy. Billy is....." She paused, smiled widely and then, realising she was smiling, blushed hard and bit her lip. (Reply Bracken) "It's progressing although I had a moment a couple of nights ago." (Reply Bracken) "We had a date the day after that interview. We were.... well, let's just say fooling around and I..... flipped." (Reply Bracken) "I saw him... not Billy and I lost it. Tried to punch him." (Reply Bracken) "He was so good. He didn't ask and just let me calm down. " (reply Bracken) "Ugh, I need to get out of this ship for a bit. See the sky, feel warm and just forget." (Reply Bracken) (Reply Bracken, any) (Posted by Jackie) (USS Mystique - Counselors' Office - EO Ensign Boone Foster - 1430) The word was circulating around that counselors were contacting officers and doing their psychological evaluations. Boone hand't heard from a counselor even though others around him were talking about their experiences. Most people were complaining about the evaluations. The idea of the evaluation didn't bother Boone too much, but he wasn't excited for it either. It wasn't until two days ago did a counselor contact him. Boone wanted to get it over with, so he asked for the earliest appointment. They had given him a date and time far from today, but a cancellation occurred and they gave him a call for today at this time if he was available. He jumped to the opportunity. Boone sat somewhat comfortably and very anxious in a chair opposite a counselor is small but inviting office. There were no overhead lights on, but a few lamps that created a peaceful environment. Before sitting here Boone had to fill out a few pages of psychological questions. Now was the time for the interview portion of the evaluation. The woman who sat across from him smiled. Boone smiled back. "Are you ready to get started?" she asked. "Yes ma'am," Boone replied with a nod of his head. "What do you think of your posting to Mars?" she began. Boone didn't answer right away. Instead, he shrugged his shoulders. "Unexpected, but everything's good." "What does your family think of your posting?" "It's a little different for me. I was destined to work with technology on my home planet as others don't. So, it was expected for my life to be different already. Me being off world is the most unique thing about all this." Boone shifted in the chair. "Would you say you are happy with who you are, and the role your society has put on you." "Don't think about it really. You askin' questions makes me wonder, but I don't regularly. It's my life. I look forward to what comes my way." "How have you been sleeping since getting on the Mystique?" Boone thought about this. He doesn't track his sleep, so he had to consider it for a moment. "I can't say I've noticed a difference. Been tir'd, so maybe a little more than normal." "Interesting." Boone cocked his head to the side at the counselor's response. "What are your goals as a Starfleet officer?" "With the risk of being overconfident of my career here, it is to make a difference, to make my mark." He paused momentarily. "For myself, for the UFP, and for my home planet Echo Earth." Boone felt uncomfortable saying his answer out loud. It was the truth, but he tried to be humble. "And how do you see yourself doing that?" Boone laughed. "That's what I got to figure out." The counselor didn't ask another question. The two officers stared at each other for a few seconds. She smiled again. Boone smiled back. "Well, that completes this interview. That wasn't too bad was it?" "No ma'am," Boone said as he stood and extended his hand. The counselor stood and shook the man's hand. "You have a good one." (reply none) (posted by Calvin Capps) (USS Mystique - Counselling Office - Ensign Jg Erin Cortez & Ensign Jg Ire Williams - 1530) After reading through his file, Erin began to wonder how it had taken this man so long to come in for counselling. ~he's been through a lot. I bet those damn pilots never let him forget it either~ she thought to herself as she waited for him to arrive. Ire pressed the chime on the door and entered when the door opened. He stepped through and nodded to Cortez. “Hello Ensign Cortez.” Smiling, "take a seat, ensign." “Thank you for putting some time apart from me.” "It's no bother at all. What we are here for. Would you like a drink at all?" “Yes please. Can I have some Lady Gray please.” Nodding, Erin walked over to the replicated, ordered two mugs of lady Grey tea and handed one to him, sitting back down on her chair by the sofa in her office. "Good choice. One of my favourites too." “Yes it was one of my mum's favourite although I do prefer it rather then Earl Grey” Taking a sip of her tea, she placed it down on the table infront of her and sat back, "So, apart from being ordered to be here, what brought you in today?" “I am here because I am ordered to be here….. He gave a slight smile. “..... I am here to have a baseline personality profile due to the fact that I am controlling drones with my data port and Trip is worrying that it may affect me somehow. So I am here for my baseline and then have random periodic evaluations set by you in between my normal evaluation to make sure I am not any more crazy then normal.” "Okay… " she responded with A slight smile, ".... so how is your role right now… do you feel good within the current structure?" “Well since the last time we had my evaluation seven days ago. Things have not changed much. I am still the the back up pilot doing the 1800 to 0600 shift rotation and my Alert duty station is Void Haunter One the alert fighter the main shuttle bay.” "And what about when you are off duty? What do you do then? Any hobbies you use to relax?" “You sound like Trip. While on board I spend time in the Gym, I have a lightsail holodeck program which I relax to. I do Tai Chi and Zero-G martial arts.” "And What About friends? Girlfriend? I ask because I note here in your record it states you were brought up by an AI?" “I am speaking to a few people during meal times in the mess hall but I am on the graveyard shift and most people are asleep while I am awake and awake when I am asleep.” “Yes I was brought up by my Aunt who is an AI until I went to the Academy.” "Do you ever feel that, the lack of interpersonal relationships growing up has …. What's the word… led you to lead a more secluded lifestyle?" “....Yes in a way. It was not easy. She had to look after a child so she did the best she could. She searched the data files from many different species about child upbringing and tried to merge them into something that would not make me into a psychopath. It's true that I was the only flesh and blood person on the ship but my Aunty decided to keep a crew on board. It was a holographic crew run by shards or personas of herself all acting independently differently from each other but she had overall autonomy. She also did the same with my tuters while I was growing up.” "But that isn't the same as having real friends, real relationships. I suppose what I am getting at is do you think, on some level, having the upbringing you did has caused any detriment? For example, have you had an honest, real girl or boyfriend?" “In a way the personas were all individual from each other and there was a kind of friendship with them. But if you are asking about a real person relationship then no. It was not until I reached the Academy when I spent more than a few days with living breathing people that we would meet on stations or ground side.” "So, is it time for you to shall we say cut the cord so to speak and not rely on aunty so much?" “I have been away from her for the last four years while I have been at the academy. I have seen her at some of the holidays but I have not been away from her for some time.” Smiling softly, Erin leant forward slightly, "But she is law there if you need her, right? Always there in the back of your mind. Look, I get that she has been a driving force in your life up until now but I will admit to having concern about your relationship with her. What would happen, say, if you were to meet someone? Someone who meant a lot to you that she didn't like?" “She has been in my life because she made a promise to my parents that if something happened to them she would look after me and she did it to the best of her ability. Look she is an advanced Artificial Intelligence who is sentient and was classified as an individual by Starfleet and the Federation.” “I hope that she would be happy for me if I met someone else. Meeting someone else might be more difficult.” "Difficult how?" “I can have a chat like we are now and I am making friends like Trip Ravok and Greta but we are work colleagues so I know them already. It's meeting new people outside of work in a social situation which is more difficult. I can talk and socialize, its more about the dating romancing where I totally fail at. I had a couple of short relationships at the academy but they did not last due to their crazy amount of studies as well as my own.” "Tell me, Ire. Where are you happiest?" “I am happiest when I am flying whether it's in gravity or zero-g. I have a lightship called the Endeavour which I take out when I need to escape from everything. It's nice to go slow sometimes rather than speeding around that I do when I fly the fighters.” "So, maybe we call it a day here and schedule another appointment for when we get back to mars? I would like to see how different you are when you are flying…. If that's okay with you?" “Of course that sounds like a good idea. I would be happy to go flying with you. There are some spectacular places on Mar that we can see.” "Then it's a date, so to speak. I don't think Billy would like me calling it that though." She replied with a smile. “Okay as long as you are sure. I would not want to cause problems between the both of you.” "Not at all. I'm my own woman. Let's say a couple of days after we get back. " she made notes on her PADD and smiled. "I will tell Trip we have talked and that we have more to discuss, when we get home." (Reply None) (Posted by Jackie and Robbie) (USS Mystique - Personal quarters- Ensign Jg Erin Cortez & Ensign Jg Ravok- 2000) After spending so much time sorting crew evaluations and working in general, Erin knew she needed something. A catch up with an old friend. Waiting for Ravok to arrive, she had replicated some romulan delicacies and, standing back to take in the table she had laid out, smiled widely Ravok chimed the door pad. "Come in!" He entered Erin's quarters and looked around. " Wow, your quarters are really nice. Must be nice down here on Deck 4" he said smiling at her. His quarters were up on Deck A near the TIC. The Tactical heart of the Mystique. "Nothing special but thank you" " It's good to see you Erin" he said grinning at his friend. His eyes became fixated on the table in front of him. "Romulan Mollusks, Osol twist, Hot Tarka my favorite non alcoholic beverage ,hlai'vna ,and a platter of..Kreydov….hmm. Thank you. "He said very appreciative with a chuckle. Smiling, Erin looked at him, "what's so funny?" " Oh it's nothing... Well ok Kreydov is usually served when someone is announcing they are...pregnant and hlai'vna is served for Eitreih'hveinn, it's a Romulan holiday. Basically translates to Farmers Festival .Its a day where Romulans honored domestic produce. So are you pregnant? " He asked jokingly. He was honored by her attempt to shower him with treats nonetheless. ~ This is why you are my Friend ~ he thought. Eyes widening, she shook her head, "oh god… no…. Not at all." " It's fine. You have osol twist. I love these." He said as he grabbed one and sat down on her couch. " So how are you Erin ?" Taking a sip of her drink, she sat down at the table and smiled, "oh…. I'm actually pretty good." ~more than good. ~ she thought to herself, blushing slightly. He noticed her looking awfully happy. the other day she was torn to pieces after her interview with Elsie now she seemed to be glowing. He leaned forward on the couch and looked at her intensely. " Who is he ?" He asked. Blushing harder, Erin turned her gaze away and took a breath, centred herself and looked back, "I have no idea what you mean." He raised an eyebrow. " You have known me for years. You know I observe people very closely. I observe potential enemies and my friends and you ma'am are being wooed by someone. I can see it in your body language. I know you too well." He laughed "You won't let this go will you, you stubborn man?" " No I won't " he replied Sighing, "fine. You want a name, I'll tell you but only on one condition. " " Anything" he replied smiling . "You have to tell me how it went with that Ensign you were lusting after." He started turning green and smiled " Well it went great. It's going great. We have both been super busy over the past two weeks. We are keeping it professional while on duty. Ensign Merek and I even have the admirals blessing to pursue a relationship. You would really like her , She's tough" He said as he motioned his hand up toward Erin. " But she is truly a great person. She's helping me get in touch with parts of myself and my heritage I have never known about. It's almost like ...nah you will make fun of me." He said to her too embarrassed to tell her. " It's almost like. I was half a person before I met her. For the first time I feel complete. Like I feel things I have never felt before. Not just forwards her but life itself. Food tastes better . I sleep better. It's not because I'm back in space either. She just means alot to me." Smiling, Erin grinned widely, "Someone's got it Bad. Lathuel, I hate to say this to you but you, My Friend, are in Love!" " It's way too soon for that ...isnt it ?" He asked her. "When you know you have that person in your life that just makes you better, makes you feel stronger, sees you for who you really are and not your past, that's love. You hold onto that tightly, my friend. Because real love, the kind that has you in knots, that can burn pathways through the stars, that's rare and you need to cherish that with everything you have." " She does mean a great deal to me " he said as he thought about Keira " Enough about me Erin . Who has caught your attention?" "Who…. Damn you and your reading people skills. Fine… I'll Be honest. You remember Trip?" " No never heard of the guy. Who is he the new science officer?" He asked sarcasm and laughed " Of course I remember Trip he's my boss on Mars. Wait...you aren't … " Erin's laughter cut him off. Laughing, Erin hit him playfully, "No, it's not your boss. His cousin, Billy." " The Admiral's desk jockey?" Ravok smirked. "Hey, he's…. He's a good man. He knows some …. He doesn't know exactly what happened to me but he knows something did. After that interview, you saw me. Saw how it tore me up inside. We had a date the next night and… well… were fooling around and I lost it. Full bodied hallucination, I was right back there and nearly punched the guy out. He just… didn't say a word, didn't ask what or why, just let me be. He's infuriating, forthright, honest and….: she sighed happily, gazing off for a moment . " I met Billy when you girls went camping. Trip had some of us guys over to watch baseball. He's a good man. I like him." Ravok stated about Billy. "I'm glad he didn't pressure you or push you. I am sorry Elsie made you relive that nightmare. Elsie asked me to tell you something. I didn't want to tell you that day. I have been purposefully holding it from you. But you need to see the end of the footage. " Ravok stated to her. " Christian gets knocked to the ground by a woman. " Closing Her eyes, erin bit her lip and sighed, "There's something I haven't told you. Haven't told billy or anyone. Something that… woman said during the interview. " " What did she tell you ? " he asked very concerned. Opening her eyes, she looked at her closest friend and said, simply, "He's out, parole." Ravok leaned back on the couch and covered his face with his hands and breathed deeply. The air from his breath passing through his fingers making a loud noise of frustration. He removed his hands from his face and looked at her straight in the eye. " Are you serious?" He asked with anger. She nodded, taking a breath, "I checked…. It's true." Ravok just shook his head. "How can I tell him that the man who… did what he did is out… all billy knows was he was a dick. He doesn't know the extent of it. I… just don't want to spoil things with him. He's… he's always said that we run at my pace. I'm afraid to even tell him he's out let alone what he did…" she looked down at the floor. " Erin there is no reason to be afraid to tell Billy anything. There is no reason to be afraid of Christian. He can't touch you anymore." "I know. In my mind I know that. But my heart… my heart is shaking. I.. really think that this could be something good for me, with Billy. I look forward to seeing him. But there's another voice in my head. Creeps in from time to time. But, when I'm with him, it goes away. My mind, my mind is quiet. I feel calm, I feel safe…" " Then hold onto that feeling. It's your feeling, your emotion. Don't let it go" He smiled at her. Smiling softly, she looked at her friend, "we are both utterly screwed here aren't we?" " I'm not screwed as you put it and neither are you. You have someone good. Someone pure. If that isn't beating Christian then I don't know what is " He said "Both of us have fallen for someone and are in way too deep now to get out." She winked. " I don't want to get out. Take me deeper" he said smiling. " Erin you are a strong woman. You always have been. I am so happy you have found Billy and maybe ,just maybe he realizes how lucky he is to have found you. Do not let Christian take anymore happiness from your life. He's out, but what can he do? You are a Starfleet officer. Do you really think he's going to come to mars and have the courage to lay a finger on you.? It would be the last thing he ever does." "He…. I'm being silly. I know" " Erin, there is something I wanted to talk to you about. You have been a friend for years now. You have been there for me many times and I have been there for you as much as I could. " he said as he stood up and walked over to her. He pulled a small box out of his pocket. " You are family to me " he said "Aw Lathuel, you getting soppy in your old age?" " Old? I'm 24 " he laughed. " By Romulan standards I'm still a kid until the age of 30. " he quipped. Inside the box was a necklace with a stone that gave off a greenish and orange glow when exposed to direct light . The stone was from Jeweled Forest of Ath'reshaar located on the Umrika continent on Romulus. " A long time ago when my real mother met my father they dreamed about having a family. Having a boy and a girl. Unfortunately my mother died on the day of my birth. So that dream never happened." He said as he handed the small box to Erin. She took the box, not opening it, "What is this?" " My mother planned on giving it to her daughter. It was passed down from mother to daughter on my mother's side going back to when Romulans first colonized Romulus. Since my mother died before she could have a daughter. My father kept it. When he died it became mine" he said with a smile. "But truthfully it never belonged to me. It always belonged to my sister….that's you Erin. You are more than my friend, you are my sister. " A tear ran down her cheek, taking a deep breath, she went to hand it him back, "I…. Can't take this. This…. Belongs In your family. I….. " She paused, looking at him, "You know, I don't have any siblings. It was never meant to be for my parents. I always wanted a brother or sister, someone I could talk to." He raised his hand and backed up a step. " I have no blood relatives left. They are all gone. You humans say blood is thicker than water, but I disagree. Family is much more than our genetics. Family shapes us, family cares for us, family is who loves us. Erin you are not my blood relative, but you are my family. The necklace is yours. You don't have to wear it. Just keep it and maybe one day give it to your daughter and tell her that it's from a place long gone , a place so beautiful billions of people would come there and marvel in its wonder. Tell her it's from family" He said to Erin. "No, I won't tell her that."she replied, taking his hand, "I'll tell her that I got it from my brother. You were right. Family is what you make it. Family doesn't end in blood, but it doesn't start there either. Family cares about you, not what you can do for them. Family's there through the good, bad, all of it. They have your back even when it hurts. We may not choose our biological family. We do chose our hearts family." She smiled softly. " I never knew my mother but somehow I know she would be proud of not only me but you as well. " "Just promise me two things." Ravok nodded his head " Yes…" "One, that you never lose your sense of family." " I promise " "And two, if, and I stress if, things go well with….Billy " She blushed, "Don't go doing the over protective brother thing." " I won't . I promise" Ravok declared. "Good, because there is one thing you have forgotten. " she said with a wicked grin on her face. He titled his head " Oh no . What tricks do you have up your sleeve?" "Ensign Merek has yet to face the ultimate test. The test that, as yet has felled all comers and those that wish to win the fair heart of Ravok." He raised his eyebrow. "Me. Gotta do the best friend test." She replied laughing heartily. Ravok started laughing. " She will do fine. Just remember she's half Human and half romulan but what raised around a lot of klingons. So she may seem ...difficult to you, but that's only because she is culturally diverse." Raising an eyebrow, Erin replied, "more culturally diverse than someone with Celtic and latina heritage? Really…. This could be fun… especially when I tell her who it was that streaked around the campus at midnight that time… " she said with a grin on her face. " Wait until you meet her. She randomly speaks klingon from time to time." He replied. " That was a flight school ritual, you wouldn't understand…" He said laughing. "Well that's fine. I don't need to understand flight school rituals, just that I still have photographic evidence of your running around the quad… butt naked." She winked " That's rather odd that you still have the visual evidence that happened almost 3 years ago " he laughed "So… you tell Ensign Merek that she is welcome to see that anytime. Actually wait… maybe I should show her right now.." Erin replied, standing up and heading towards the door, laughing. " No!" He yelled . " Don't do that, besides have you ever seen me in a flight suit? Doesn't leave much to the imagination" he said to her. Stopping, she turned back and smiled, "think I could get a flight suit for Billy then?" She said with a wicked grin. " I'm not going there with you" he laughed. Sitting back down next to him, she laughed then sighed, "Lathuel, promise me something. " " As always of course " "If anything ever happens to me…. Look after billy." He looked at her like she was crazy " Look after Billy. He's a grown man and besides nothing is going to happen to you" he responded "I know… I worry about him sometimes. " " If anything happens I will make sure he is alright. " he said as he sighed " Look I don't want to talk about something happening to you. My mind definitely isn't in the right place for that right now." He said to her. Thinking about his mother . "I'm sorry. Truly. I just… with finding out that he's out… I just get scared." Looking at her friend, her brow furrowed, "What's wrong?" Knowing she has her own issues to worry about. Ravok didn't want to bring up his own. Christian had broken Erin at one point in time, but she pulled the pieces back bit by bit to become who she is today. Ravok was at an impasse. He didn't lie , It wasn't part of who he was. Yet he felt compelled in the moment to hide his pain. " Nothing, just tired Erin." He said feeling horrible. He lied to his best friend the closest thing he had to family. " Let's not worry about the past . We have so much to look forward too" he said smiling" Let's eat some of this food and watch a program on the view screen. I've been meaning to catch up on this series about a Vulcan raised on earth and he opens his own bar in a place called Florida on the north american continent. It's a revolving door of crazy characters who come into his bar ,it's supposed to be funny Crewman Baker told me about it " "Sounds a lot like cheers. That was one of my dad's favourite shows to watch as a kid." " Great" Ravok said as he sat on the couch next to Erin. " Try the Romulan mollusks " he said with a smile . Leaning forward, she grabbed one and ate it. "Not as good as I have had but pretty darn tasty." The two friends started watching the program on the view screen. Just focusing on the here and no now neither one knowing how many more times they'd be able to enjoy little moments like this. (Reply No-one) (Posted by Jackie & Rob Davis) (Trill homeworld - Docks - Avery Jann - 2142) Avery Jann coughed, cursing the dockhands. They'd clearly been purposely delaying him while his shipment was checked that he had been forced to waste time either in the Town itself, of just here in the dock quarter where most of the other human pilots tended to congregate. His shoulders and neck ached. The stupid half Bajoran co-pilot seemed fine. ~probably his fault then~ It had only been a short hop, a matter of hours, but even then, it had necessitated the use of a fake medical pass. It cost him time and money, but in the long run it was worth it. Fooled them every time, and bypassed a lot of questions. So here he was late in the evening, walking the main stretch of the docks quarter, going into a couple of different bars, and other, less salubrious places. As the night wore on, he found himself feeling worse, and worse, coughing, sneezing. A feeling of unease befell him. Not normally one to worry about health matters, he knew something wasn't right. ~this isn't good. I feel weird.~ he thought to himself as he walked through the town. Not notice that people were beginning to look at him, he trudged forward. Soon, finding himself weary, he sat down on a bench and rested his head in his hands. ~oh woah.~ he thought to himself as a blackness filled his mind and he fell forward onto the floor. After a moment, Avery awoke, lying face first on the ground and still feeling rubbish. Picking himself up, he stumbled towards the hospital, hoping for answers. (Reply no-one) (Posted by mark and Jackie)