S3-M10: Unfinished Business

[Kyan Mackenzie]

:: Docking Bay 1 | Katra Station ::

Having been near the end of their meeting, Kyan turned it over to Chief Carter when Zex called and asked for him and several others to meet her in the docking bay. Carter could be trusted to get Balan up to speed on his duties as the Security Department's new Yeoman and Kyan was tired of sitting in that office anyway. To him, it was the absolute worst part of the job.  And as nothing of note had happened over the past several weeks, he didn't bother grabbing anyone else to come with him. Of course he had stopped in the armory and picked up a phaser, but that wasn't because he expected trouble per se. it was simply something that one didn't leave the house without... like pants... most of the time.

When the bay doors parted in front of him, Kyan first noticed the gaggle of people standing around a shuttle that had seen better days, but probably wouldn't be seeing many more. Most of them he recognized. Drake was there, as was Zex. Conspicuous by their absences however, were Kirok and Briggs. Ferris was also not there.

Xiiv and Jyur were there however. Kyan immediately smelled a setup and almost took a step back. He hadn't had any run ins with the Trill doctor since he'd absconded from her sickbay, and the counselor had gone and gotten him put in IRT for a month... although that had turned out pretty good if he was being honest. Still though... calling Doctor Phil was a very Romulan thing to do. Very shady. Kyan had to give him his due though as far as that went. He hadn't seen it coming. Zero might have a future in Intel if he ever got tired of poking around people's brains.

After a brief pause on the threshold, Kyan stepped through and made his way over. When he got there, he could see that the new arrival was an Admiral, and a fairly shot out looking one at that. Those guys usually had a fresh haircut and ALL the starch in their uniforms. This one didn't. He was rumpled and looked like he'd been on his own for a while. Once he was up close, Kyan gave him another once over. Aside from being frumpy looking, which came almost standard with most grups, this Admiral looked only mildly suspicious. No aides, a broken down shuttle, and a well worn uniform were only ringing the small alarms.

Zex and Xiiv were fussing over him with medical scans and the like. Rather than empathy though Kyan was just felt happy that it wasn't him. But of course the scans were a neccesity. After all, if this frumpy Admiral was a Salt Vampire or the like, Kyan could only deal with it after he knew it. And he didn't have a tricorder on him, just a phaser. But since neither Zex or Xiiv were showing any concern with their readings, he figured things were ok.

"Merry Met Admiral." the ancient boy piped up finally, looking at at the Admiral. "Kyan Mackenzie's me name. I'm in charge of Security." and then, deciding on the straightest path to get where he wanted to go...

"Sure and you look like the horse what got rode hard and put up wet sir, and no mistake. Yer shuttle looks worser still. So what's goin on?"

[Kirok]

[Lieutenant JG Gideon Drake | Cockpit | Scoutship Squall | Katra Station Patrol Zone]

Gideon heard the transmission, but it was constantly in static. Blimey, the poor bloke must have a bad shuttle to be in this condition. Ad...Carter? Of the what Thena? Then he heard it again and he realized...Rear Admiral Carter, former commanding officer of the USS Athena.

Crikey. This was the second admiral within a month or so to drop by after Admiral Relleck. But for Carter to show up in shuttle about to fall apart, he realized the poor superior was somewhat in trouble.

"Blimey!" he said. "Aye, sir, you'll have a dock immediately. I'll escort you in."

He then hurriedly opened comms with Flight Control. "Drake to Flight Control!" he called. "Priority docking required! VIP coming! Rear Admiral Carter! I repeat, VIP Rear Admiral Carter needs priority docking!"

[Shuttle Bay - Katra Station - Zex]

The Diplomatic officer nodded to each person arrived.   The petit lady felt a bit safer.  Now that the ration of Katra crew to possible imposter had grown.

"I'm Zex by the way.  Diplomatic officer.  I'm just going to do an initial scan.  Then I will let Dr. Viiv take over" she replied.

She held out the devise and ran a scan to match his dna to the dna they had on file.  "Our records show that you have been missing in action for quite some time.  In fact, you are currently listed as deceased, Sir.

Can you tell us where you were when you last had contact with Star Fleet.  The approximate date that occurred.  And what has transpired since then?" she ask curiously as the instrument started to run it's analysis.

[CO Quarters - Kirok]

"We should likely go investigate" Kirok suggested to Kyle.   They had been at the start of a serious conversation, but duty came first.  "We can continue this after we greet the Admiral" the CO promised.

[Xasik]

[Katra Station | Simulation Lab]

Emerald

Feeling the warmth and love of The Soft One, as well as the gentle rocking of their bubble, Emerald calmed down and was content to listen to The Soft One squeaking at her spot. They wanted to continue squeaking and chirping at The Soft One but they did not want to misbehave after being hushed by her. They did not want to risk her disapproval, so they stayed quiet and reached for her fingers from inside the ECS.

They enjoyed the gentle rocking and chirped quietly to themself as they waited for The Soft One to turn her attention back to them. Every now and then they heard a deep rumble coming from The Sharp One. It was a reassuring, soothing sound that relaxed them. It was the sound The Sharp One made when it was time to rest and even when Emerald couldn't see him in the darkness of the den, they could hear him and knew he was always close by. Emerald gave The Sharp One a responding squeak that seemed to soothe him and quieten down his rumbles.

Reassured that even though they couldn't see him but he was still near, Emerald settled again to enjoy the gentle rocking of the ECS until they decided to try and hum at The Soft One. They were getting better at it, but still could only feel things hummed at them, not understand them completely. To The Soft One they hummed their love of her and how happy they were to be with her and The Sharp One.

[Balan]

Carter raised an eyebrow, glancing for a moment over at Kyan. "Umm.. Crewman Balan I'm not a Yeoman. I'm in security just as you are. My rank is Chief Petty Officer." Having never met Balan, she wasn't aware that he was this new to Starfleet's rank structure... or that he wasn't the Human that he appeared to be. "In any event. I'm not going anywhere. My job is to oversee the enlisted Security crew and advise the Department Chief here."

Kyan nodded, quickly losing interest in the lesson on rank and position structure. "Yeah, and she's new too the now, the which is why you never saw her before." Kyan grabbed a pad off the corner of the desk. "And since you're after accepting the job, here's yer first test!" he said, offering Balan the padd. "We gotta do a review of the Hunters thing last month tae be seeing what went good and what went bad. All the team leaders need to come. And you gotta invite Briggs, and someone from Science, operations, and medical too sure, but they probably won't come. Or they will send someone who don't know anything about it so they will, the creatures! Oh well."

Carter nodded along, then spoke up at the end. "And if you need anything, just let me know. Being the yeoman for the department is a big job, but it can be a good job too.'

[Katra station - security before Admiral Carter came on]

Balan took the datapad from the Chief Carter. He took a quick look over the data pad. It was real. He really had not read it because he was far from being a fast reader.

Balan had nodded his head to the Chief. "œUhm. Am I suppose to schedule time and place too?" he had to ask because he was very new to this position. He had also hoped he would not mess up either.

[Kyan Mackenzie]

Balan had nodded his head to the Chief. "œUhm. Am I suppose to schedule time and place too?" he had to ask because he was very new to this position. He had also hoped he would not mess up either.

Before Kyan could answer he was called to the Docking bay. In his typical fashion he had bolted from the office like a jackrabbit sprung from it's cage. That left just Chief Carter and Balan in the office. The Chief merely raised an eyebrow.

"And then it was just us enlisted folks." she said before switching gears. "So Mister Balan, firstly to answer your question, yes. You need to schedule the time and place. And now a question of my own, as you've been here longer than I have." she paused for a moment, thinking on how to word things. "Lieutenant Mackenzie doesn't like hanging out in the office like most officers does he?"

[Kirok]

[Ops - September 16, 2399 - 1530 - EQ]

Having completed the clean up in the Arboretum, EQ made his way to Ops.  It wasn't as busy as normal, but busy enough.  He offered greeting to everyone, then got down to work.

He logged into his station.  There was an order to get the Lirpa ready for a mission.   So that is what he started working on.

[Reisen]

( Npc Character Reisen )

Stifling a slight yawn as he rose from his bed and check the clock located on the night sand.  As a earth song from the distant past plays upon his stirring.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhiUacGzIg8&list=RDMM&index=13

At 32 years of age the Young adult male Vulcan had a distinct Asian humaniod appearance, Sharing that youthful appearance with the humans. At 6'2 and about 216 he had a slight build to him. Years of Mixed martials arts and some body building as well as being a longsword user had given him powerful shoulders but not very muscular forearms or biceps. A powerful core and well define legs, all hinted at him being a competent physical fighter.   A pair chocolate brown eyes with a bright gleam in them dart around his stark and spartan quarters.

He had to report to his new department head a rather fearsome in name Sirol.  He had a faint sense about that name alone and the picture she was not a push over.  Getting up and dressing in his uniform , he would have a glass of sweet tea, a pair of over easy eggs and bacon with caramelized maple syrup on it, a slice of rye toast with a dab of butter.

As he looked to the wall at the Norman style long sword adorning it. It was altogether a plain looking human made blade. A circular disk pommel and a thick blade that maintain its thickness almost to the point.  Taking inspiration from what it took to hand forge the sword in front of him. Gave him the insight of the value of hardships in ones life.

https://th.bing.com/th/id/R.0d01e2922dacbc0281d1f6fba57cdc6f?rik=ykrBmYQ%2fgBkNvA&riu=http%3a%2f%2fwww.darksword-armory.com%2fwp-content%2fuploads%2f2016%2f05%2ftwo-handed-norman-sword-with-scabbard-1336.jpg&ehk=q1MiczNXIeneZr4e4bl86lwW%2fLOVbfIui8DpcHOD4%2bQ%3d&risl=&pid=ImgRaw&r=0

A aged steel from somewhere in the 21st century a 5160 carbon steel blade that required alot of attention for up keep. The care of this ancient weapon also taught him the lesson of attention to detail and patience.  That and along with him being raised by a human family he had taken a liking to the ruggedness of medieval Europe. The sheer brutality and simplistic nature of it, despite irs harshness there was something it had that he found lacking in the modern era.

In gothic English running down from the cross guard. " He is not a tame lion ". A quote from a favorite author of his. A man of certain faith which he had adopted along with the medievalism of that man. That faith and the mans intellectual works had helped give the young Romulan male a compass and morality invested in something higher then himself. But one would not know of Reisen's faith as he was very quiet man. Listening more to everyone before he spoke on issues.  He often found himself at odds with the new ageism of the world around him, feeling out of place in it, and a sort of discontentment at the sterility of the modernity world.  And how little there was actually things of impact in this age, not much held weight as it had in the past.  Where did all of the mighty dragons to be slain of old go, where did a enemy go who was worth fighting. Who you could respect and even come to a sort of odd friendship while fighting.

Sighing softly he runs his index finger down the leather wrapped wood core handle. Before the ringing sound of his computer tells him its time to head out to meet his new commander and department head.  And so he would turn to leave his room and tap his comm badge.  " Hello Commander Sirol It is a pleasure to meet you soon. "

[Sirol]

< Katra Station / Simulation Lab >

With her fingers hushing over her terminal and pressing some buttons, she kept the comm channel open, leaving Eli Ferris the opportunity to get back to her whenever he found the time.
In the meantime she decided to quickly finish reading her updates so she could close that part already before she would have a look at potential extracurricular activity to get her hands onto some actual work.
Suddenly though, a new voice in the open comm channel pulled her out of her thoughts and made her sit up.

Sighing softly he runs his index finger down the leather wrapped wood core handle. Before the ringing sound of his computer tells him its time to head out to meet his new commander and department head.  And so he would turn to leave his room and tap his comm badge.  " Hello Commander Sirol It is a pleasure to meet you soon.

It took Sirol a moment to draw the conclusions of who was the most likely candidate to address her here, so what followed was a second of surprised silence before she then tapped her comm badge in acknowledgement.
"œI assume you are our new addition to the science staff, correct? Reisen?" She spoke in a friendly tone while gently stroking Emerald's ECS.
Reisen. Noun. Earth language. German. Meaning: Travelling.
A fascinating choice, although she was unsure whether that was even the actual meaning, or mere coincidence.
"œ...I am looking forward to it as well. I am in the Simulation Lab at the moment, would you like me to send you the location or have you already had the time to familiarise yourself with the layout of Katra station?"

She smiled a little.
Well, she was not Commander. Yet. And had no urgent career plans. However, she was not about to bring it up. He might as well have been misinformed, and she did not want to make him feel uncomfortable on his first day.
It was ironic. Two months ago she would not have cared about another's feelings, yet ever since she had been linked with the Lattice, Sirol had gained an entirely new perspective on things and other persons. She had become more sympathetic and caring for those connected and around her...

All of a sudden though, an unexpected, yet blissful sensation tingled in her mind.

Reassured that even though they couldn't see him but he was still near, Emerald settled again to enjoy the gentle rocking of the ECS until they decided to try and hum at The Soft One. They were getting better at it, but still could only feel things hummed at them, not understand them completely. To The Soft One they hummed their love of her and how happy they were to be with her and The Sharp One.

At first she had assumed to just relive her own memories, yet suddenly it dawned on Sirol that her perception was live. She could sense Emerald reaching out for her utilising the Lattice.
She instantly stopped, almost even froze in place, just staring at the child.
Her face was unable to properly reflect the great joy she felt, yet her thoughts did"¦
Lifting the ECS a little she eventually managed to catch her breath, a wide smile showing on her face as she gently placed her forehead onto the bubble, closed her eyes and returned the thoughts and feelings of love and happiness to the little one.
It was one little perfect moment.
A moment filled with love and belonging.

Her eyes wandered over to Xasik, and her thoughts to Eydis, with Sirol being eager to wake up her co-scientist and contact the Captain.
Yet at least for the first, Sirol then hesitated; restrained herself - for now - to leave him to enjoy a few more minutes of sleep he needed so desperately before Reisen would arrive.
She would tell Xasik once he felt a little better.

With both of her hands tightly holding the ECS and her forehead still resting on it so Emerald could reach out and have the closest possible substitute for physical contact while she still smiled at them, synching her emotions with the child, she then reached out towards Eydis via the Lattice.

Full of love and what was essentially parental pride, she could not help but had to share this moment with hir; share Emerald's first attempts at communication with the same joy and adoration any biological parent would have had for their child's first words"¦
"˜Can you sense it too?! Emerald is with us!'
Sirol eagerly asked, sharing the same enthusiasm and bliss with Eydis, slowly but surely realising that she had found herself right in the middle of an important family moment.
With her family.
Even if one of them was asleep and the other one at the other end of the Station right now...

[Eli Ferris]

< Katra Station / Simulation Lab >

As it was all too often, there could be two hours without anything happening at all, only to be interrupted by several things happening at once; condensed into less than twenty seconds.
This was one of those situations:

The scientist just stared at Xasik, automatically nodded and accepted both, the coffee and the ECS with Emerald inside. Then her eyes followed him offering Aeryn a little treat as well before he headed over to his own work station, followed by an overly curious Aeryn, only for him to"¦ Take a nap?!
She blinked, at first unable to answer his question in the face of her bewilderment.
Starfleet's lack of discipline obviously seemed to have a bad influence on her co-worker. But at least he brought her coffee and was on time"¦
Considering that Xasik actually was a hard working, reliable and professional scientist, as well as a full-time-parent she decided to just not comment on it.
Even if she would have attempted to, she doubted that she would have found the words"¦

Eventually though, the chirping of her communicator pulled her out of her own confused mind and back into reality.

Hearing Commander Ferris' voice was a surprise, but certainly a pleasant one.
She had not had the chance to speak to him during the gathering in the arboretum, so their essential last time spent together had been during Emerald's hatching.
He had been promoted in the meantime and she had meant to relay him her congratulations.
With an audible smile Sirol took the call and leaned a little forward on her gym ball.
"œGood morning, Commander. How"¦"

Sirol looked at Emerald inside their bubble and gently placed one hand on top of it.
"˜Just one more minute, dearie... I promise...'
She tried to relay to them via the Lattice, hoping that - even if the child would not understand her words yet - they would understand their meaning and not feel left out.

"œMy apologies..."
She politely spoke towards Ferris who must have undoubtedly heard the cheerful little Tholian's chirping.
"œ...How may I be of assistance, Commander?"

I hope I am not interrupting anything. I am looking in to upgrading the communications system so we can avoid further blackouts in the future. I believe that the Tholians were of significant assistance in the last crisis. Is it possible we can replicate their communication means in some way? 

Eli busied himself with various work orders, and one gave him pause. The Lirpa being requested for a mission. By the captain himself?  Sirol, I'll need to follow up with you in a moment. I would like to meet together to discuss further communication options, especially in an emergency. 

Eli took his PADD and headed towards OPS. "EQ, what's the status of the Lirpa?"

[James Carter]

:: Docking Bay 1 | Katra Station ::

"Merry Met Admiral." the ancient boy piped up finally, looking at at the Admiral. "Kyan Mackenzie's me name. I'm in charge of Security." and then, deciding on the straightest path to get where he wanted to go...

"Sure and you look like the horse what got rode hard and put up wet sir, and no mistake. Yer shuttle looks worser still. So what's goin on?"

[Docking Ring 1]

"And there's the cavalry." James thought to himself as the security officer entered. He noted the phaser on the man's hip and in Carter's mind, he quickly logged the exact position the officer was standing. "Quite the long story there. Merry...met?" He asked somewhat off-handed before turning his attention back to Zex.

[Shuttle Bay - Katra Station - Zex]

The Diplomatic officer nodded to each person arrived.   The petit lady felt a bit safer.  Now that the ration of Katra crew to possible imposter had grown.

"I'm Zex by the way.  Diplomatic officer.  I'm just going to do an initial scan.  Then I will let Dr. Viiv take over" she replied.

She held out the devise and ran a scan to match his dna to the dna they had on file.  "Our records show that you have been missing in action for quite some time.  In fact, you are currently listed as deceased, Sir.

Can you tell us where you were when you last had contact with Star Fleet.  The approximate date that occurred.  And what has transpired since then?" she ask curiously as the instrument started to run it's analysis.

Carter swallowed hard when Zex mentioned he'd been marked as deceased. While up to this point he'd been fairly neutral his expression turned grimmer now. "It certainly wouldn't be the first time Starfleet's assumed I was dead." He attempted to open with a joke in hopes it'd lighten his own mood before he continued. "Most of what you've asked is going to be above everyone in this room's clearance to know. What I can tell you is that about 7 months ago I entered a spacial anomaly. I was spat out in deep space to what was essentially a ship graveyard. I had to scavenge from those ships to repair my shuttle to the point it could make the journey. Add in a fair few stops along the way to gather food and supplies from planets you have the last 7 months I spent alone in a nutshell." The Admiral paused a moment as he thought back on the last 7 months. The isolation had eaten at him little by little until all that was left was the man that now stood before the crowd. James wanted to simply be his old self, but that man was either gone for good or buried beneath the drive to return home.

After a moment the long-lost officer smiled at the crowd somewhat awkwardly and spoke again. "Quite the welcome wagon. I assume you thought I wasn't the real James Carter huh? Well, as you can now see I am. For better or worse. Also, no more calling me Admiral. Rank's only important for things locked behind red tape. James, Mr. Carter, Carter, whatever you feel most comfortable with. I'm a normal person just like the rest of you, I just have some different responsibilities."

[Balan]

Before Kyan could answer he was called to the Docking bay. In his typical fashion he had bolted from the office like a jackrabbit sprung from it's cage. That left just Chief Carter and Balan in the office. The Chief merely raised an eyebrow.

"And then it was just us enlisted folks." she said before switching gears. "So Mister Balan, firstly to answer your question, yes. You need to schedule the time and place. And now a question of my own, as you've been here longer than I have." she paused for a moment, thinking on how to word things. "Lieutenant Mackenzie doesn't like hanging out in the office like most officers does he?"

[Katra station - Security office]

Balan was thinking he had to figure best time and place. He reckon he would try find time early. He figure they would had eaten and be awake and more aware. Before lunch they be thinking about food and after lunch they would be full. During lunch would be hard cause they are going want to eat. This what he gathered observing humans.

"œAh for Lieutenant Kyan he is like a tiny feather in the wind. He will never want to stay still. But he controls where he wants to go but not let the wind take him into a direction. Do you find staying behind a desk tiresome?" he asked Carter.

[Gideon Drake]

[Docking Ring 1]

"And there's the cavalry." James thought to himself as the security officer entered. He noted the phaser on the man's hip and in Carter's mind, he quickly logged the exact position the officer was standing. "Quite the long story there. Merry...met?" He asked somewhat off-handed before turning his attention back to Zex.

Carter swallowed hard when Zex mentioned he'd been marked as deceased. While up to this point he'd been fairly neutral his expression turned grimmer now. "It certainly wouldn't be the first time Starfleet's assumed I was dead." He attempted to open with a joke in hopes it'd lighten his own mood before he continued. "Most of what you've asked is going to be above everyone in this room's clearance to know. What I can tell you is that about 7 months ago I entered a spacial anomaly. I was spat out in deep space to what was essentially a ship graveyard. I had to scavenge from those ships to repair my shuttle to the point it could make the journey. Add in a fair few stops along the way to gather food and supplies from planets you have the last 7 months I spent alone in a nutshell." The Admiral paused a moment as he thought back on the last 7 months. The isolation had eaten at him little by little until all that was left was the man that now stood before the crowd. James wanted to simply be his old self, but that man was either gone for good or buried beneath the drive to return home.

After a moment the long-lost officer smiled at the crowd somewhat awkwardly and spoke again. "Quite the welcome wagon. I assume you thought I wasn't the real James Carter huh? Well, as you can now see I am. For better or worse. Also, no more calling me Admiral. Rank's only important for things locked behind red tape. James, Mr. Carter, Carter, whatever you feel most comfortable with. I'm a normal person just like the rest of you, I just have some different responsibilities."

[Lieutenant JG Gideon Drake | Scoutship Squall | Shuttle Bay | Docking Saucer | Katra Station]

Gideon nodded in understanding. "I see," he said. "I think I have an uncle who's an admiral, he mentioned your father's also an admiral, sir. Did you ever have offices next to each other, out of curiosity?"

Still, declared dead for six months? Then again, he could understand, given how often starships disappaered and then reappeared decades or a century or two later.

"Anyway, can I help you with anything, sir?" he asked. "I got a butler - well, he often works for me as a butler from my family, but he also works as a shipping representative and often likes to provide assistance and comfort, and he'd be glad to assist you."

[Amarande Xiiv]

[Docking Ring 1]

"And there's the cavalry." James thought to himself as the security officer entered. He noted the phaser on the man's hip and in Carter's mind, he quickly logged the exact position the officer was standing. "Quite the long story there. Merry...met?" He asked somewhat off-handed before turning his attention back to Zex.

Carter swallowed hard when Zex mentioned he'd been marked as deceased. While up to this point he'd been fairly neutral his expression turned grimmer now. "It certainly wouldn't be the first time Starfleet's assumed I was dead." He attempted to open with a joke in hopes it'd lighten his own mood before he continued. "Most of what you've asked is going to be above everyone in this room's clearance to know. What I can tell you is that about 7 months ago I entered a spacial anomaly. I was spat out in deep space to what was essentially a ship graveyard. I had to scavenge from those ships to repair my shuttle to the point it could make the journey. Add in a fair few stops along the way to gather food and supplies from planets you have the last 7 months I spent alone in a nutshell." The Admiral paused a moment as he thought back on the last 7 months. The isolation had eaten at him little by little until all that was left was the man that now stood before the crowd. James wanted to simply be his old self, but that man was either gone for good or buried beneath the drive to return home.

After a moment the long-lost officer smiled at the crowd somewhat awkwardly and spoke again. "Quite the welcome wagon. I assume you thought I wasn't the real James Carter huh? Well, as you can now see I am. For better or worse. Also, no more calling me Admiral. Rank's only important for things locked behind red tape. James, Mr. Carter, Carter, whatever you feel most comfortable with. I'm a normal person just like the rest of you, I just have some different responsibilities."

Xiiv nodded to the Deltan. Anyone who had that sort of seven months needed a full workup and with Katra's recent troubles a double-check of DNA was definitely in order. There was nothing quite like a homecoming like this. There was going to be a Starfleetwide sigh of relief at his arrival, once they were informed.

"Welcome home then, sir," Xiiv murmured. "I'm Dr Amarande Xiiv, Acting Chief Medical Officer here on Katra. We should get you a full workup and make sure you get some rest before the mountain of questions I'm sure we all have, not to mention Starfleet. It's good to have you back where you belong."

[James Carter]

[Lieutenant JG Gideon Drake | Scoutship Squall | Shuttle Bay | Docking Saucer | Katra Station]

Gideon nodded in understanding. "I see," he said. "I think I have an uncle who's an admiral, he mentioned your father's also an admiral, sir. Did you ever have offices next to each other, out of curiosity?"

Still, declared dead for six months? Then again, he could understand, given how often starships disappaered and then reappeared decades or a century or two later.

"Anyway, can I help you with anything, sir?" he asked. "I got a butler - well, he often works for me as a butler from my family, but he also works as a shipping representative and often likes to provide assistance and comfort, and he'd be glad to assist you."

[Docking Ring 1]

James shook his head slightly as he listened to Drake speak. "Dear old dad and I haven't been on the same page for most of my life. Not even the same book. He left Starfleet weeks after I out ranked him the petty old..." Carter cut himself off before he could speak any farther. Part of being an Admiral was being diplomatic...admittedly that was the weakest point for him. "As for comfort, just a bed will do thank you."

Xiiv nodded to the Deltan. Anyone who had that sort of seven months needed a full workup and with Katra's recent troubles a double-check of DNA was definitely in order. There was nothing quite like a homecoming like this. There was going to be a Starfleetwide sigh of relief at his arrival, once they were informed.

"Welcome home then, sir," Xiiv murmured. "I'm Dr Amarande Xiiv, Acting Chief Medical Officer here on Katra. We should get you a full workup and make sure you get some rest before the mountain of questions I'm sure we all have, not to mention Starfleet. It's good to have you back where you belong."

James' eyes turned to the doctor a moment as she spoke. She was right of course. He should rest and have a full medical check. But yet... "I can rest when death finally sticks for once." He replied softly. "Until then..." Carter froze a moment as his mind flashed to the moment passing through the wormhole only for his shuttle to be hit by the shock wave of some kind of explosion behind him.  He remembered his head smashing into the console as his shuttle was shaken from it's flight path. He remembered regaining consciousness as the wormhole closed behind him to see his own blood spilling onto the console. To this day he'd never known what that explosion was. He always feared the worst though. His flashbacks had become a semi-regular occurrence since his isolation. While to most people the pause would have seemed like a few seconds, to James it felt like an eternity. "Uh..." He began as his mind returned to reality. "Sorry. I mean until then, we should assemble a meeting."

Carter turned back to the shuttle and moved to re-enter it. The officer paused a moment as he opened a storage compartment and grabbed a small ornate blue and gold spherical trinket from the shuttle. It was no bigger than a baseball but had vast inscriptions on it from a language that was largely unknown to the Federation. He returned to the crowd holding it in his right palm. "We need scientific and engineering minds primarily. But we should also rope in security. Doc, think you can do your full medical work up from outside of the med bay?" He asked softly. He knew that without a medical workup he simply couldn't be returned to duty. That didn't stop him from wanting to do said check up while already working however.

[Kyan Mackenzie]

[Docking Ring 1]

After a moment the long-lost officer smiled at the crowd somewhat awkwardly and spoke again. "Quite the welcome wagon. I assume you thought I wasn't the real James Carter huh? Well, as you can now see I am. For better or worse. Also, no more calling me Admiral. Rank's only important for things locked behind red tape. James, Mr. Carter, Carter, whatever you feel most comfortable with. I'm a normal person just like the rest of you, I just have some different responsibilities."

Kyan, his looks and general demeanor notwithstanding, could tell when he was being sized up. Carter's eyes had flitted from his phaser to his feet and back up again. To someone who wasn't trained for it, sizing up threats was often not top of mind when confronted with one. This person was trained for it. He made a note to go and check James Carter's background.

Kyan also listened as the "Admiral" deflected any present and future queries about his activities over the past several months. His "above your pay grade" statement was probably true for everyone here, himself included, but there were ways around that. His SFI access was still valid, and he'd stayed in contact with Admiral Fatbody too. So he'd be checking the "other" background file also.

Finally, "James" informed them all that he was apparently a "normal" person, whatever that was, and that everyone could call him by his first name if they wanted to. "And what a kind and friendly gesture that is sure." Kyan thought as he listened to the conversation.... and sized up "James" should he prove to be something other than what he claimed. If he was carrying anything like a phaser, it was well hidden. Which meant he couldn't get to it in the time that it would take to drop him.

Kyan looked around at his crewmates as one by one, they indicated that they took "James" at his word. But that was to be expected. After all they were science types and doctors. And if he was being honest... people did disappear and find their way back fairly regularly. He still wasn't convinced though, and the informality was a big red flag. In his experience, there wasn't an Admiral alive who's butt cheeks wouldn't clench tight enough to fart diamond dust if you called them by their first name. But then some grups were weird like that too.

Without more than his skepticism, Kyan couldn't outright accuse the man of lying to them. And since they needed for information, he decided not to. Instead, he'd post a guard on the "Admiral's door when he got his quarters. And he'd have the grease monkeys in engineering check out the shuttle. If there was something there, they could be counted on to find it.

When Xiiv was finished, he was about to speak up but then Carter beat him to it. After he retrieved the thing from the shuttle, Kyan's hands found their way behind his back in order to draw his phaser more quickly, a trick he'd learned from watching Cowboy movies. James' comment about not wanting to go into sickbay elicited a nod, as he didn't want to go in there either.

"Erhm.. so yer after bringing a thing on the station and ye dinnae know what it is?" he asked, looking from the object back up to Carter. "And it's us yer telling of it.. and not the Captain or First Officer?"