S2 M7 - The Two Wolves

[Rayek trLhoell]

Ensign Rayek tr'Lhoell
[Katra Station - Dec 7 - Internal Docking Bay Level C - Day 3 - 10 am]

NPC Cadet Benjin Moreno (Flight)
[Katra Station - Dec 7 - Internal Docking Bay Level C - Day 3 - 10 am]

As if on cue, just as Rayek turned to leave, Benjin had spotted his brother-in-law and was heading towards him with a smile. Since Benjin was on the station for over half a year already, he knew about Rayek's habit to tour the departments and areas of the station, however, that had not really occurred since the man's demotion. So he was a little surprised but not less delighted to see Rayek. The uncertainty on Benjin's side towards his formerly high ranking brother-in-law had vanished. That had nothing to do with Rayek's loss of rank, it had been the case before that already.

"Hey", Benjin said with a smile as he reached Rayek, "what are you doing here?", he asked, carrying a case that looked like a toolbox. "Is the meeting over yet?", he kept on asking even before Rayek could answer. "Lt. Ferris told me to check the system operation of the flight controls of the shuttles and I'm not even half-way through."

Rayek had almost made it out of the Shuttlebay when Benjin's cheery voice greeted him as the cadet approached.  "Oh hello Benjin.  Um... " Rayek paused wondering if he asked Benjin not to say anything to Tess, if that was the same as asking him to lie. "Just touring about.  Tess has me working Gamma shift tonight so I have the morning free." he answered repeating the same explanation he used with Ensign Elliot.

He nodded when Benjin asked about the meeting end then gave sharp look towards the cadet when commented on his assigned work.  "The meeting has most likely ended. The Captain tends to run very orderly meetings and they rarely run late." Rayek explained from experience.

"I take it you are running behind on this scheduled maintenance?" He looked to Benjin pensively a moment before leaning forward a bit "Would you accept my assistance?" he asked.

Ensign Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Healy - Bridge - Day 3 - Noon]

[USS Healy - Day 3 (noon)] (~1/2 LY away)]

Returning to more serious matters, Hrafn looked at her sensors over and over mulling ideas around in her brain.

"I've got an idea, it's a bit mad, but you're used to that from me and besides mad, scientist... comes with the job!" Hrafn said with a small grin.

"OK you're going in blind, you two aren't Scientists but you'll have done enough Science either in Academy or officer training, I presume to know that everything that exists has a Quantum Signature.  You, me, that console there... everything.  Somewhere in our databanks will be a marker that tells us what the Quantum Signature for Katra Station is, we use a subspace differential pulse to locate that, then jam our sensors to transmit a pulse to only that location, it will probably only show up in the OCC as a continuous beeping, but their sensors and scans should be working as such if they follow the direction of the pulse, and scan they will get our signature and figure that it's the Healy, they might be able to get a message to us as we can't directly get a message to them?"  Hrafn finished hoping that made at least some type of mad sense in a round about way.

"At least it is more scientifically practical than me trying to get Tidu to go dance a jig naked in the Promenade to get some attention and not have them lock him up when he says it was to get attention and Mammy sends a message!" she joked.

Lt. Cmdr. Tess t'Lhoell (6 months pregnant)
[USS Healy - Bridge - Day 3 - Noon]

"I don't think that sounds mad at all", Tess said as she looked back to Hrafn with a smile. "Let's try it and hope that Katra is not affected by the distortion like we are. At the same time I want sensors and communications check continuously, maybe we'll have luck and get through at some point." Tess bit her lip, her gaze sunk down to a spot on the floor as she thought. She hoped she was doing this right and didn't overlook anything important. She had already ordered the science team to check the sensor logs from before they encountered the tesseract and while they were stuck in there to see if they could learn anything from it. And she hoped that the station was okay and this had not been some kind of trick.

"Ensign Stewart", Tess addressed the flight officer, "what's our ETA?"

"3 hours, 58 minutes, Ma'am. Warp 7 is running smoothly."

Tess sighed. Glancing down, her finger hovered over the comm button at the arm rest of her command chair to call Engineering and ask to push the engines a bit more. But they should better not risk their luck, should they? Pulling her finger back Tess smiled at the flight officer who had turned her head to look at her, apparently in anticipation of a new order.

"Thank you, Ensign. Maintain."

Jessica nodded and turned her head back around. "Maintaining, Captain."

Hrafn's suggested plan to communicate with Katra using a subspace distortion pulse transmitting to Katra specific quantum signature... seemed rather far-fetched.  Which probably meant it would work.

He glanced over to Tess to see what she would make of the plan.  When she ordered the plan to be put into action, Rayek gave a nod of acknowledge.  "I'll locate the quantum signature that Lieutenant Falleg will need."

Rayek, being quite familiar with the various types of scans which the Healy and Katra ran daily, knew exactly where it might be possible to find such a specific piece of information.
Within mere moment Rayek had the required had the needed intelligence and had passed off to Hrafn.

[John Saxon]

[Katra Station - Briefing Room]

When he was elevated to the rank of Ensign at the age of 97 - after 80 years of being part of the normal rank and file - ripped from the pinnacle of Master Chief Petty Officer to the lowest of the Commissioned Officer class, Saxon was embarrassed, even ashamed, to have been 'rewarded' in this way.

While he was used to junior officers giving him orders, orders that they expected him to follow, there was at least a semblance of respect and acknowledgement of his deep experience that allowed him some latitude in how those orders were executed. As time went on, even those in the highest echelons of StarFleet modified their unambigious instructions to be a variation of, "We need this done. Get it done by whatever means you can." But since he was made Ensign, the chain of command was a very much different beast - rank meant more, carried greater weight as time went on; indeed, even though his time in Starfleet was longer than virtually everyone else in the Service, his seniority was reset by the virtue of being newly Commissioned.

Thus, when compared like-for-like, John was truly had no more authority than the most green of Ensigns and, of course, the issue continued regardless of rank. His only saving grace from being completely humiliated was the position he had been assigned on Station Katra, a Department Head which afforded him some measure of authority. A position that was have meant to be for a quiet retirement rather than being on the forefront of undreamed shores.

As time went on, John began to accept his new reality, and in many ways began to embrace it, and subsequent advances in rank. A second chance. In effect, a new career. A new lease of life. And one he took seriously.

And part of taking it seriously was to be aware of how Security fitted into the practical mechanisms of Starfleet; a historical amalgamation of pre-Federation Earth Starfleet Armoury Officers and the now long-defunct Military Assault Command Operations, themselves a legacy of the ancient naval tradition of Marines aboard ships of sail. Those Marines answered only to the Captain, loyal to the last, partly to enforce authority and counter any attempts of crew mutiny. Their duties evolved over the centuries, rendered obsolete, but yet never truly repealed. Modern StarFleet Security, therefore, had been built upon a foundation that had been laid for over 700 years.

In essence, in matters of Security, when all was said and done, the Captain's orders superseded any other rank, position or consideration. Especially if those orders referred to potential issues with other senior staff.

So when faced by Tess, her expression that he took to be a blend of bafflement and indignation, John merely kept his face stony and unflinching. Tess would have known this, once reaching the position of First Officer, but he supposed it was such a rarely-used prerogative of the Commanding Officer that he wouldn't be surprised it was not the first thing that came to her. In fact, he wouldn't have been shocked in the slightest if she wasn't in the least bit annoyed that her medical authority had also been circumvented in this manner. He knew that, in the near future, apologies would need to be made. On both sides. But not a flicker of apology would radiate from him quite yet. Not until it was all resolved.

As they began to file out, Solluk taking the lead, John looked at the Captain as he thanked him for taking his action. He nodded lightly, acknowledging the comment but this was not a time to be appreciated - he had a distasteful job to do, and until the Captain rescinded the instructions, which would serve to light up Saxon's suspicions like a supernova, he would see it through without fear or favour.

That glare was then turned full-beam towards the only other Human on the station that even remotely approached his own age - Acting Leftentant Goodspeed - when her dry, even sarcastic, humour couldn't be contained any longer. Mind probe? he wondered; he knew she was a sharp observer - a useful trait in Engineering (and perhaps he could make use of her talents elsewhere in the future) - but that was remarkably perceptive. Not for the first time, he wondered how many officers could have been compromised in the manner Solluk had raised. He'd know soon enough. "Leftenant" he gestured towards the door, politely ushering her towards the awaiting Security squad, without reply.

[Kirok]

[Katra Station - Turbo]

While they rode in silence, Zex sent a copy of notes of the meeting to the appropriate people.  Before she send the notes she reviewed them for spelling or typing errors.  Luckily she was a good typist, so there were very few mistakes to clean up.

Once that was done, she stowed her padd.  "Apologies.  I just wanted to get that out of the way.  How do you think the meeting went from your perspective?" she asked curiously.

[Solluk]

Katra Station - Briefing Room -> Medbay

Solluk looked into Tess' eyes, feeling momentarily foolish.  Then he remembered the briefing upon her return, where she'd omitted something.  The discovery that the Healy's recent refit had been reversed by some modifications to the ship.  The insistence that the Healy remain on alert.  The refusal to let any senior Engineering personnel board her.

"Not at all, Commander.  Something must have developed during the briefing."

That was not a lie.  Something definitely had.

Katra Station - Opeprational Control Center

     Captain's Personal Log

It has been hours since the scans demonstrated conclusively that no one has used telepathic interference on the Senior Staff.  This should have brought me a sense of relief, but it has only doubled my unease.  Not only is there now no explanation for niggling incidents of odd behavior, but I may have damaged my relationship with my XO.  I am sure she believes I have been keeping things from her, and with good reason.  But I do not feel comfortable telling her than her decision-making has been so unusual lately that I suspected her of being mind-controlled.

Still, that is a conversation that must happen.  We won't be able to work together until honesty and understanding is restored.  I plan to meet with her informally after her shift today.  She is due to relieve me soon.  I dread the awkwardness to come.

End Log

Solluk finished typing his log entry into his PADD, saving it.

Then Ensign Ricci swiveled in her chair.

"Sir, we're picking up a strange signal.  I'd like Science to have a look at it."

Solluk, nodded, and looked towards the Science station.

"Ensign Shotar, Solluk said, "see if you can make anything of it."

The half-Bajoran Science officer nodded and pulled up the information on his console, "Aye, sir... it looks like some kind of powerful sensor signal coming from beyond the Oort cloud.  The subspace distortions out that way are weaker than before, but still present.  I'll try to clean it up and get more information..."

Solluk frowned.  Another oddity.  Everything seemed connected.  First, a false distress call.  Then, a subspace trap.  Next, a subspace storm.  Now, a weird sensor scan.

All in the same general vicinity.

"All right.  We're coming up on shift change.  If you're making good progress, I'd like you to stay late and keep working from an auxiliary station rather than handing it off.  Let me know as soon as anything useful is discovered about the signal."

If the man was dismayed, he didn't show it.  "Aye, Sir."

[Eydis]

[Katra Station - Turbo]

While they rode in silence, Zex sent a copy of notes of the meeting to the appropriate people.  Before she send the notes she reviewed them for spelling or typing errors.  Luckily she was a good typist, so there were very few mistakes to clean up.

Once that was done, she stowed her padd.  "Apologies.  I just wanted to get that out of the way.  How do you think the meeting went from your perspective?" she asked curiously.

I believe your commander solluk is rather efficient being, but like most Vulcans seems to think every other species needs to listen to them. Vulcans can be infuriating because they are often right more then not. And that does little to temper their lofty self image. And they do like elves from old terra films  Eydis chuckles softly and looks to zex.

A joint mission I could not of guessed that would be the way to saving a crystalline entity. They have existed amongst the stars  far longer then most species on the planets have had the ability to reach into the cosmos. If we succeed all those involved will find their names in the song of my homeworld. Perhaps even set foot on tholia, That would a pivotal day in the future of my people

[Tess tLhoell]

NPC Cadet Benjin Moreno (Flight)
[Katra Station - Deck 7 - Internal Docking Bay Level C - Day 3 - about 10 am]

Ensign Rayek tr'Lhoell
[Katra Station - Dec 7 - Internal Docking Bay Level C - Day 3 - 10 am]

Rayek had almost made it out of the Shuttlebay when Benjin's cheery voice greeted him as the cadet approached.  "Oh hello Benjin.  Um... " Rayek paused wondering if he asked Benjin not to say anything to Tess, if that was the same as asking him to lie. "Just touring about.  Tess has me working Gamma shift tonight so I have the morning free." he answered repeating the same explanation he used with Ensign Elliot.

He nodded when Benjin asked about the meeting end then gave sharp look towards the cadet when commented on his assigned work.  "The meeting has most likely ended. The Captain tends to run very orderly meetings and they rarely run late." Rayek explained from experience.

"I take it you are running behind on this scheduled maintenance?" He looked to Benjin pensively a moment before leaning forward a bit "Would you accept my assistance?" he asked.

Benjin seemed to be satisfied with the explanation Rayek was giving him about why he was here. Not that he had doubted any other explanation. Rayek likely would be able to make pretty much anything sound reasonable.

The young man wasn't exactly sure what the sharp look was for the Romulan gave him, but the offer of help was very tempting, because he was indeed running late with the tasks given to him. Thought admittedly, he looked a little surprised at first. "Uh, ... sure. Have you done this before?", he asked, looking up to Rayek.

Lt. Cmdr. Tess t'Lhoell (6 months pregnant)
[Katra Station - Deck 22 - Sickbay - Day 3 - about 10 am]

The Captain's reply to her that something must have occurred during their meeting did nothing to help Tess' unawareness, becase even after the scan was done, neither Solluk nor Saxon approached her to bring her into the loop. She still hoped there was a reason for this, but she was disappointed.

It took a while until all of them were scanned and the results would take another while. Once Beja and Tess had been done Tess excused herself with the Klingon counselor so they could have the talk Beja had asked for.

Tess led Beja into her CMO office and gestured to the sofa in the corner. "Have a seat", she invited her with a small smile but it wasn't as bright as it usually would be. While she made her way over to the couch she tapped her commbadge. "t'Lhoell to Ensign tr'Lhoell. Rayek, there was an unexpected order for the senior staff to get checked over in sickbay with brain scans, so I have done mine already. You can come in earlier now so I can see to yours." She lowered her voice. "I-jol au."

She then sat down with a heavy sigh and then looked over to Beja. "Oh, I don't mean to be rude. Please, help yourself to a drink or something to eat." She gestured to the replicator. "What was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

Lt. Cmdr. Tess t'Lhoell (6 months pregnant)
[Katra Station - Operations Control Center - Day 3 - around noon]

Katra Station - Opeprational Control Center

     Captain's Personal Log

It has been hours since the scans demonstrated conclusively that no one has used telepathic interference on the Senior Staff.  This should have brought me a sense of relief, but it has only doubled my unease.  Not only is there now no explanation for niggling incidents of odd behavior, but I may have damaged my relationship with my XO.  I am sure she believes I have been keeping things from her, and with good reason.  But I do not feel comfortable telling her than her decision-making has been so unusual lately that I suspected her of being mind-controlled.

Still, that is a conversation that must happen.  We won't be able to work together until honesty and understanding is restored.  I plan to meet with her informally after her shift today.  She is due to relieve me soon.  I dread the awkwardness to come.

End Log

Solluk finished typing his log entry into his PADD, saving it.

Then Ensign Ricci swiveled in her chair.

"Sir, we're picking up a strange signal.  I'd like Science to have a look at it."

Solluk, nodded, and looked towards the Science station.

"Ensign Shotar, Solluk said, "see if you can make anything of it."

The half-Bajoran Science officer nodded and pulled up the information on his console, "Aye, sir... it looks like some kind of powerful sensor signal coming from beyond the Oort cloud.  The subspace distortions out that way are weaker than before, but still present.  I'll try to clean it up and get more information..."

Solluk frowned.  Another oddity.  Everything seemed connected.  First, a false distress call.  Then, a subspace trap.  Next, a subspace storm.  Now, a weird sensor scan.

All in the same general vicinity.

"All right.  We're coming up on shift change.  If you're making good progress, I'd like you to stay late and keep working from an auxiliary station rather than handing it off.  Let me know as soon as anything useful is discovered about the signal."

If the man was dismayed, he didn't show it.  "Aye, Sir."

Tess entered the OCC. Still nobody had approache her with any kind of information. She had been busy up to this point, if there was a quiet moment on her shift up here, she'd look into protocols and reports if she'd find anything about what was going on. If she found nothing, she was a little afraid of what that would mean ...

Just as Solluk had made his last order Tess stopped near him. No matter how much she tried to mask her feelings behind professionalism, her feelings and moods would always show through. "Sir", she addressed Solluk without the usual smile that would go along with it.

Once she had taken over for Solluk at the OCC Tess made sure to read through his latest oders and found out about the powerful signal beyond the Oort Cloud and Sholar working on clearing up the signal.

THREE HOURS LATER

NPC Ensign Javed Kumar
[Katra Station - Deck 22 - Sickbay - Day 3 - around 3 pm]

Javed had spent hours now with the brain circuitry patterns of the station's senior staff. Initially he just had worked on to assess the brain scans, that took a while to do that for over a half dozen people but he reported the scans clean at that time. However, when he was filing the scans he had a habit of checking every medical file manually to see if the newest scan/report/protocol was really in there. It was a quirk of his. So, when he called up Tess' file with the brain scans already conducted in the past filed there, he noticed something odd. Apparently, only a medically trained eye could see the subtle differences, but it was enough for Javed to look further into it. The next three hours he would spend to re-analyze the latest scan and compare them to the ones taken in the past. He had to go back almost a full year until he found was he had been looking for.

Touching his combadge, his eyes still glued to the computer screen, Javed called John since he had been the one to order the latest scan.  "Kumar to Lt. Saxon. Sir? About the scan results I gave you ..." the young man sounded hesitant. "I have to amend, I'm afraid. There is no telepathic interference, but when I looked through the medical files, I noticed something odd." He paused, hoping he wouldn't sound crazy to the security chief. "The brain scans of Commander t'Lhoell and Lieutenant Falleg ... they look different from the most recent scans. I started to investigate and it turned out, the scans we took of them today resemble the scans we conducted nearly 12 months ago! From what it looks like, they both must have huge loss of memory, sir."

[At the same time ...]

Lt. Cmdr. Tess t'Lhoell (6 months pregnant)
[Katra Station - Operations Control Center - Day 3 - about 3 pm]

The past three hours had been uneventful. Science was still working on making sense of the signal they had been detecting. Tess was just about to get herself another ginger tea, when Ensign Shotar spoke up.

"Ma'am! I was able to identify the signal!" The young Bajoran worked his console to tell his Commander the ship that was identified along with it. "It's the- ..." He paused, staring at his console in disbelief.

Tess had turned her head around to look at him, the man's hesitancy making her frown in concern. "Ensign? What is it?"

"The ship identifies as the ... the USS Healy."

[Beja]

Katra Station - Deck 22 - Sick Bay

Beja waited until Tess had finished her conversation with her husband on the combadge. She did her best to �ignore� the conversation, and instead checked her PADD to see if there were any new messages that needed her immediate attention. When Tess addressed Beja and offered her a drink or something to eat. Beja was quick to politely decline. She knew that Tess was busy, and it appeared that the commander and her husband had a meet up as well.

�Thank you Commander, but I�m fine. And thank you again for finding time to speak with me, I really do appreciate it. I know that you are busy,� Beja knew that there had to be a lot of pressure for Tess to be under in her new role, and yet despite all that, the commander still found time to talk with her, as if Tess was still just the Chief Medical Officer.

�As you know the Meridian�s are having some kind of illness that we are trying to deal with. The Meridian President is having some health issues, and refuses to allow this to be public knowledge of course, and because of that, he is only willing to speak with those that had first helped him. Roberto was the one that had done his initial scans and I know that Roberto has been reassigned. I was hoping that you would allow him to remain here on Katra for just a couple more days, until President Tarin has had a better medical review and a treatment plan can be done, due to the delicate nature of his public image. The doctor and patient confidentiality is very important in this matter, and I am afraid if Roberto is not the one who can do the more thorough examination, Tarin will not get the treatment he needs.�

Beja really needed Roberto�s help with finding out the cause of this Meridian illness, she knew that if the two of them continued to work together they would be able to successfully find the issue. If they didn�t Beja feared just how many more Meridians would get sick, and perhaps non Meridians as well. She knew that Roberto was key in solving this mystery.

[L'mar Camili Rhade]

[ Provisional Junior Lieutenant L'mar Rhade ] | [ Deck 6 - Transporter Room | Katra Station ] - [ AFTERNOON. DAY 3 ]

After the scan in Medical this morning Rhade could not wait any longer, he�d not allow anyone to die because of the Executive Officer�s --well he wasn�t sure what to call what was happening but she should know better and especially follow protocols.

Because she wasn�t, and that smell of oddness like not quite right, left Rhade with no choice. He had to board the Healy and find out what was going on. What was Commander t�Lhoell hiding? Why would she not let anyone onboard? Would she let anyone onboard the moment the ship was to be deployed or go just with whoever was on board before?

All valid questions Rhade thought as he stepped off the turbolift and made his way to the transporter room. He couldn�t risk using the umbilical as the Executive Officer may have guards there. So he entered the transporter room and explained that he had maintenance scheduled for the room, with that the operator didn�t have to be there anymore. So happy to be excused the operator didn�t look back as they left.

Rhade smirked, so far so good. He programmed the platform to beam him to the Engineer�s Office on the Healy. He grabbed a phaser and tricorder as he had no idea what to expect but considering Commander t�Lhoell�s hostility about it all he�d best be prepared for anything.

Once set he crossed to the platform, onto one of the circle sections and tapped his combadge twice which triggered the site-to-site sequence. In moments he was in the Engineer�s Office on the Healy. Let�s see what is going on. He thought as he slowly walked to the door with phaser up and pointing, his tricorder open in his other hand but Rhade held it next to the phaser so he could see the display without keeping his vision in front of him seeking danger.

OOC: Tess can you tell me what would be different about the fake Healy compared to the real one?

[Rayek trLhoell]

Ensign Rayek tr'Lhoell
[Katra Station - Deck 7 - Internal Docking Bay Level C - Day 3 - about 10 am]

NPC Cadet Benjin Moreno (Flight)
[Katra Station - Deck 7 - Internal Docking Bay Level C - Day 3 - about 10 am]

Benjin seemed to be satisfied with the explanation Rayek was giving him about why he was here. Not that he had doubted any other explanation. Rayek likely would be able to make pretty much anything sound reasonable.

The young man wasn't exactly sure what the sharp look was for the Romulan gave him, but the offer of help was very tempting, because he was indeed running late with the tasks given to him. Thought admittedly, he looked a little surprised at first. "Uh, ... sure. Have you done this before?", he asked, looking up to Rayek.

Rayek looked to the flight cadet at the boy's question and rolled his eyes.   "During my time as Commander, I made it a point to know enough of each department to be able to fill in any non-specialist role.   So I am familiar with what to do." Then in an almost challenge he added, "If you doubt me, you are welcome to watch and ensure I am doing it correctly.  But then you wouldn't be gaining anything by having me assist and would be just as far-behind your workload as you are now."

Without waiting for the cadet to answer, Rayek started back towards the many awaiting craft.  "I'm going to start work on the Cargo Shuttles - since I know those are the craft usually checked last according to procedure.  I'll work backwards through the list and when we meet in the middle, it'll be your choice to trust that I know what I'm doing or you staying late to double-check my work."

He stopped at the shuttlebay's replicator and requisitioned the necessary tools from memory.

As with most things that Rayek set himself to, the Romulan worked effectively and efficiently.  He was done the first shuttle craft within 20 minutes.  He was just about to start in on the 2nd cargo shuttle when a call came in from Tess.

Lt. Cmdr. Tess t'Lhoell (6 months pregnant)
[Katra Station - Deck 22 - Sickbay - Day 3 - about 10 am]

Tess led Beja into her CMO office and gestured to the sofa in the corner. "Have a seat", she invited her with a small smile but it wasn't as bright as it usually would be. While she made her way over to the couch she tapped her commbadge. "t'Lhoell to Ensign tr'Lhoell. Rayek, there was an unexpected order for the senior staff to get checked over in sickbay with brain scans, so I have done mine already. You can come in earlier now so I can see to yours." She lowered her voice. "I-jol au." [/color]

It seemed like that was his cue to go.  "Acknowledged, Doctor. I'll be there shortly."

Benjin had moved on checking a shuttle of his own, so Rayek pulled out his PADD and messaged the cadet that he had to head out but would return afterwards if other commitments allowed.

Ensign Rayek tr'Lhoell
[Katra Station - Deck 22 - Sickbay - Day 3 11:30 am]

The long process of having a synaptic scan of his brain was undertaken once more and Rayek for all his recent memory lapses, could recall the previous time rather vividly.

Thinking back on the memory, it was clear to see that he had been infatuated with Tess back then as well.

And like the results from back then this scan's results were equally troubling.  The Pa'nar was back.

Lt. Cmdr. Tess t'Lhoell (6 months pregnant)
[Katra Station - Operations Control Center - Day 3 - about 3 pm]

The past three hours had been uneventful. Science was still working on making sense of the signal they had been detecting. Tess was just about to get herself another ginger tea, when Ensign Shotar spoke up.

"Ma'am! I was able to identify the signal!" The young Bajoran worked his console to tell his Commander the ship that was identified along with it. "It's the- ..." He paused, staring at his console in disbelief.

Tess had turned her head around to look at him, the man's hesitancy making her frown in concern. "Ensign? What is it?"

"The ship identifies as the ... the USS Healy."

Ensign Rayek tr'Lhoell
[Katra Station - Deck 7 - Internal Docking Bay Level C and Shuttle Maintenance and Repair bay - Day 3 - about noon >>> 3 pm]

Following the discovery that he did have pa'nar once more .. or was it still?...  Rayek had tried to convince Tess to undergo the lengthy process herself, but she explained that she was due up in Ops for noon and so would do the synaptic scan on herself later.  The Romulan wasn't happy with that but he didn't have much choice but to accept it.

When Tess had left for the OCC, Rayek had returned to home their quarters briefly,  where he let out Thrafv.  He was pleased to note the ferret was a fair bit less distrustful of him this time around.  After quickly grabbing a bit to eat, since the planned lunch with Tess had - as expected - been canceled, Rayek decide he wanted to keep busy rather than contemplate alone the meaning of the failed corrective Vulcan meld that was supposed to have cleared up his disease.

So that is why Benjin found Rayek volunteering to assist with the cadet's other tasks.  Together they worked at finishing with the shuttle system checks.  After finishing up, rather than inform Benjin, Rayek slipped away into the adjacent Maintenance and Repair bay - he needed a moment alone.

The repair bay held a few work bee maintenance pods that were due for servicing, and Rayek on a whim tried his hand at tinkering with one.  His timing for completing the tinker could not have been better planned.   He had just returned to the Level C Internal Docking Bay unseen when an awareness of his purpose suddenly became clear.

He frowned.  Something was wrong, he shouldn't have been activated so soon.  He didn't know what activated him early, but his orders were clear as to what to do in such a situation.  Rayek pulled out his PADD and opened a remote detonator program.  A five-minute timer should be sufficient.  He then calmly exited the Internal Docking Bay without a word to anyone in passing.

Once out in the hallway, he triple tapped his commbadge turning on the 'silent' mode so that the comm went to each of their earbuds instead of their badges. Ensign tr'Lhoell to Commander t'Lhoell and Lt. Falleg.   Confirming activation.  Firechain distruption was a success.  The weapons alteration is at only at 30% so be careful.  Shuttlebay detonation is a go in four and a half minutes.   I am three minutes from the Healy. I'll see you both there.  tr'Lhoell out." 

[John Saxon]

[Saxon's Office - Deck 2]

Sitting at his desk, typing his resignation on his PADD, John went over the events of a few hours ago. On the instructions of his Captain, Saxon had marshalled - no, marched - the Senior Staff to the medical bay to be scanned for any evidence of psionic tampering or manipulation. The aim, it was hoped, was to reveal that Tess's decisions were an example of psychic coercion or otherwise external influences to account for her - and Solluk's - odd behaviour. Coming from the tail end of the Captain supporting Tess's questionable reticence to permit Rhade or Goodspeed aboard the Healy.

But...it seemed to be a dead-end. Or was that a red herring? From John's perspective, it seemed as if Solluk had edged him into a position to make him look ineffective. Paranoid. Losing his marbles. Certainly there had been some...debate...as to the need for the medical scan that he had insisted upon, but they had all submitted themselves it without resistance, as if they were just humouring the daft old fool. He could have explained it was on the instructions of his Commanding Officer, but at the end of the day they had just seen the Chief of Security take a hard line for something ultimately pointless. Perhaps one or two may have determined that a negative result of whatever he was looking for was a good thing, but he couldn't shake the notion he had been set up to fail in some way.

Perhaps Solluk was more like a Romulan than he had realised.

Or perhaps he really had come to the of the line. Would the 'Century' Saxon of a decade ago - even half that time ago - have made that same mistake? Would he have thought of another way to achieve the aim of establishing complicity or duress without being ensnared like a Tribble in a grain hold?

He hovering over the transmission key, which would send the final communique to Captain Solluk, copying in the no-doubt-to-be-mortified Sullivan, John contemplated the future. There had been some interesting offers in the past; some may even be still available.

"Kumar to Lt. Saxon. Sir? About the scan results I gave you ...I have to amend, I'm afraid. There is no telepathic interference, but when I looked through the medical files, I noticed something odd. The brain scans of Commander t'Lhoell and Lieutenant Falleg ... they look different from the most recent scans. I started to investigate and it turned out, the scans we took of them today resemble the scans we conducted nearly 12 months ago! From what it looks like, they both must have huge loss of memory, sir."

Time froze. As did his thumb. Slowly, as if not to disturb some skittish prey, Saxon depressed his combadge in reply, his voice low, gravelled, and just on the edge of dangerous. "You said they were all clear..."

He only half-listened to the follow-up from Ensign Kumar, as his mind began to reorganise some of the facts that had manifested itself over the last few days. Loss of memory? On a scale that resulted in around a year's worth? That had to be something impossible for Tess and Hrfan to have not noticed; so why had they not mentioned it? The apparent 'false alarm' about the Wanderer's attack? The reluctance for anyone to board the Healy after its 'chance' encounter with the subspace trap? The omission in the after action report of the reversal to the ship's reliability refit? There were a number of reasonable explanations for any one of them. And even for all of them. But none that also justified risking the station or Healy. No, the more unreasonable explanations were, by far, in the lead. And although he had not been part of the scan, Saxon would bet the hidden fortune he had stored for his eventual retirement that Rayek would also demonstrate the same malady...indeed, possibly every member of the Healy that had returned to the station.

He inhaled through his nose, and thanked Kumar, closing the channel down with a stern word to keep this development to himself alone. Well, he thought, if I'm going to go, I may as well do so in style; although it was a huge risk doing so, the prevailing theory was that Captain Solluk was not compromised. He stood, knees aching with either age or tension but supported by a steel will, reaching for his small Type-I phaser that he always had about him, but often removed to prevent its digging into the small of his back when he sat for comfort.

" Lt Saxon to Captain Solluk, on discreet. Sir, I believe we have a serious problem... "

[Tess tLhoell]

Lt. Cmdr. Tess t'Lhoell (6 months pregnant)
[Katra Station - Deck 22 - CMO's Office - Day 3 - about 11 am]

Katra Station - Deck 22 - Sick Bay

Beja waited until Tess had finished her conversation with her husband on the combadge. She did her best to "ignore" the conversation, and instead checked her PADD to see if there were any new messages that needed her immediate attention. When Tess addressed Beja and offered her a drink or something to eat. Beja was quick to politely decline. She knew that Tess was busy, and it appeared that the commander and her husband had a meet up as well.

"Thank you Commander, but I'm fine. And thank you again for finding time to speak with me, I really do appreciate it. I know that you are busy," Beja knew that there had to be a lot of pressure for Tess to be under in her new role, and yet despite all that, the commander still found time to talk with her, as if Tess was still just the Chief Medical Officer.

"As you know the Meridian's are having some kind of illness that we are trying to deal with. The Meridian President is having some health issues, and refuses to allow this to be public knowledge of course, and because of that, he is only willing to speak with those that had first helped him. Roberto was the one that had done his initial scans and I know that Roberto has been reassigned. I was hoping that you would allow him to remain here on Katra for just a couple more days, until President Tarin has had a better medical review and a treatment plan can be done, due to the delicate nature of his public image. The doctor and patient confidentiality is very important in this matter, and I am afraid if Roberto is not the one who can do the more thorough examination, Tarin will not get the treatment he needs."

Beja really needed Roberto's help with finding out the cause of this Meridian illness, she knew that if the two of them continued to work together they would be able to successfully find the issue. If they didn't Beja feared just how many more Meridians would get sick, and perhaps non Meridians as well. She knew that Roberto was key in solving this mystery.

Tess sat down and smiled at Beja. "Of course, I'll always try to make time." She leaned back against the back of the couch and crossed her legs- ... or she would have if the baby belly wouldn't have been in the way. She put her PADD next to her for the same reason.

When Beja addressed the recent cases of seizures of two of the Meridian people, Tess nodded her head slowly. She recalled the details of Djol quite well, but for some reason not the details of President Tarin. Picking up her PADD she continued to listen to Beja as she made the indicted proposal for Roberto to work up here at the station instead of down on Meridian while she quickly called up the reports of Tarin's treatment. The Meridian President had been unwilling to stay in sickbay for long so there had not been made any additional tests and examinations - other than with Djol. The man's biology and neural scans had been perfectly normal. However, the bioscans had trouble getting consistently good readings of him. They seemed to fluctuate - a good scan would be followed by a distorted one. That had been yesterday. She read a note that the scanning emitters should be re-calibrated, but it was not clear if that had been done or not. It seemed, Djol had been submitted to the hospital for observation for so long. So right now, he was in the hospital section of the sickbay.

Tess lifted her head, realizing that she had been reading longer than she had intended to. "Sorry", she said quietly to Beja with a small smile. "The details weren't present on my mind, I had to re-read the reports." She put the PADD aside again.

She paused, thinking for a moment. She didn't want to take back Roberto's assignment - maybe she could find a middleway. "Ensign Padrini can use two hours of his shift each day to work on that matter", Tess said.

NPC Cadet Benjin Moreno (Flight)
[Katra Station - Deck 7 - Internal Docking Bay Level C - Day 2 - about 10 am >>> noon >>> 3 pm]

Ensign Rayek tr'Lhoell
[Katra Station - Deck 7 - Internal Docking Bay Level C - Day 3 - about 10 am]

Rayek looked to the flight cadet at the boy's question and rolled his eyes.   "During my time as Commander, I made it a point to know enough of each department to be able to fill in any non-specialist role.   So I am familiar with what to do." Then in an almost challenge he added, "If you doubt me, you are welcome to watch and ensure I am doing it correctly.  But then you wouldn't be gaining anything by having me assist and would be just as far-behind your workload as you are now."

Without waiting for the cadet to answer, Rayek started back towards the many awaiting craft.  "I'm going to start work on the Cargo Shuttles - since I know those are the craft usually checked last according to procedure.  I'll work backwards through the list and when we meet in the middle, it'll be your choice to trust that I know what I'm doing or you staying late to double-check my work."

He stopped at the shuttlebay's replicator and requisitioned the necessary tools from memory.

As with most things that Rayek set himself to, the Romulan worked effectively and efficiently.  He was done the first shuttle craft within 20 minutes.  He was just about to start in on the 2nd cargo shuttle when a call came in from Tess.

It seemed like that was his cue to go.  "Acknowledged, Doctor. I'll be there shortly."

Benjin had moved on checking a shuttle of his own, so Rayek pulled out his PADD and messaged the cadet that he had to head out but would return afterwards if other commitments allowed.

[...]

Ensign Rayek tr'Lhoell
[Katra Station - Deck 7 - Internal Docking Bay Level C and Shuttle Maintenance and Repair bay - Day 3 - about noon >>> 3 pm]

Following the discovery that he did have pa'nar once more .. or was it still?...  Rayek had tried to convince Tess to undergo the lengthy process herself, but she explained that she was due up in Ops for noon and so would do the synaptic scan on herself later.  The Romulan wasn't happy with that but he didn't have much choice but to accept it.

When Tess had left for the OCC, Rayek had returned to home their quarters briefly,  where he let out Thrafv.  He was pleased to note the ferret was a fair bit less distrustful of him this time around.  After quickly grabbing a bit to eat, since the planned lunch with Tess had - as expected - been canceled, Rayek decide he wanted to keep busy rather than contemplate alone the meaning of the failed corrective Vulcan meld that was supposed to have cleared up his disease.

So that is why Benjin found Rayek volunteering to assist with the cadet's other tasks.  Together they worked at finishing with the shuttle system checks.  After finishing up, rather than inform Benjin, Rayek slipped away into the adjacent Maintenance and Repair bay - he needed a moment alone.

The repair bay held a few work bee maintenance pods that were due for servicing, and Rayek on a whim tried his hand at tinkering with one.  His timing for completing the tinker could not have been better planned.   He had just returned to the Level C Internal Docking Bay unseen when an awareness of his purpose suddenly became clear.

He frowned.  Something was wrong, he shouldn't have been activated so soon.  He didn't know what activated him early, but his orders were clear as to what to do in such a situation.  Rayek pulled out his PADD and opened a remote detonator program.  A five-minute timer should be sufficient.  He then calmly exited the Internal Docking Bay without a word to anyone in passing.

[...]

When Rayek stated that he was capable of doing the basic tasks no matter in what departement, Benjin wanted to make a joking comment about his medical skills but refrained from it. He was distracted by the challenging tone of his brother-in-law. He took him on and worked as quick as he could, but he was too anxious to make a careless mistake, so he took his time rather than hurrying too much. So when Rayek was done 20 mins later, Benjin was far from it.

Getting the notification that Rayek had to leave but would return later was aknowledged by Benjin while he continued to work on the shuttles.

Later that afternoon he only saw him once apparently leaving the shuttlebay. He'd have to thank him for his help later, though he did wonder why he didn't say he left at least. Shrugging, Benjin turned to the next shuttle he'd be working on.

Lt. Cmdr. Tess t'Lhoell (6 months pregnant)
[Katra Station - OCC >>> USS Healy - Day 3 - 3 pm]

The announcement that the Healy had been identified as the ship approaching the station had triggered something in Tess. It felt as if a re-written program had been activated and fulfilling the tasks set up there was her only concern right now.

Picking up her PADD, Tess activated a couple of signals to alarm her 'accomplices' and also to activate the sabotaging she'd been set up in sickbay. As of now, all the hyposprays Tess had been able to sabotage would deliver an overdose with their next use. Tess didn't exactly know who had set up these programs, or why she knew where she would find them hidden in her PADD, but she did. She also activated that incoming calls would be transferred in writing to her PADD instead of being audible for everyone around her to hear.

Ensign tr'Lhoell to Commander t'Lhoell and Lt. Falleg.   Confirming activation.  Firechain distruption was a success.  The weapons alteration is at only at 30% so be careful.  Shuttlebay detonation is a go in four and a half minutes.   I am three minutes from the Healy. I'll see you both there.  tr'Lhoell out." 

Promptly, Rayek's message came through. She rose from her seat and found all eyes on her - the Ops crew was baffled how there could be two Healys. "Please check once more if there wasn't a malfunction in the sensor readings, Ensign", she addresed Shotar while she started to head to the exit. "Continue your duty", she ordered everyone else and then glanced to Ricci. "You have the bridge til I'm back, Ensign." Without waiting for confirmation Tess left the OCC.

Once in the turbolift, she tapped her commbadge.  "t'Lhoell to tr'Lhoell and Falleg. On my way as well. Will reach Healy in about three minutes. Sabotage activated."

[Catherine Goodspeed]

Katra Station - Promenade Deck 14

Catherine Goodspeed leaned against the fake Greek column of the 'Alpha & Omega' Greek restaurant and chewed on the edge of a nail on her left hand and let her mind wander about a bit.

Today had started oddly and half way through was just getting odder by the hour.

The dizziness from waking was now a thing of the past and luckily the scan that everyone in the briefing room underwent didn't involve anything long, metal and cold but just a simple brain scan.

Cat was slightly worried now that Saxon would be coming round the corner any moment now due to her comment earlier about mind probes. She hoped he recognised she had been joking and hadn't become infected with mind reading brain slugs.

She moved on to chew on another nail without even realising.

Maybe she should wander over soon with a peace offering of some baklava and honey biscuits. Yes... she'll do that just to say sorry.  She really should reign in her dry humour that always swam to the surface when she was stressed.

And being moved to a new shift was another annoyance.  She'd tried to sleep but couldn't so had decided to take the voles for a walk to burn off some energy and stop at her favourite restaurant to pick up a main meal, treats and a mug of fresh mint tea.

She looked down at the voles who were resting and lying on the floor in a pile next to a small portable water bowl after numerous circuits of all the decks of the promenade. She'd worn them out.  A polite cough bought her mind back to the room and Cat grinned at the waiter standing before her with her takeaway.

"Thank you!! Oh!  Could I get one of your gift sweet selections??  Need a little present for someone"

Moments later Cat was waiting outside a Turbolift to take her to the Chief of Security's Office with one hand clutching the bag handles of her take out and the other dragging the voles behind her.

[Hrafn Falleg]

[Briefing Room - Katra Station]

Cat smiled broadly at Hrafn as she noticed her slide over to stand next to her.

"Grotty? Oh no... I'm feeling better thanks to the wonders of modern medicine".

Cat listened as Harfn talked about cloaking devices.

Something in the back of Cats mind started to rattle its cage at her as the other woman talked. Cat crossed her arms in front of her chest in an almost unconscious attempt of her body putting up a barrier at being asked such a question, surely everyone in Starfleet knew about cloaking devices?

"Fitting a cloaking device?"  Cat blinked a few times, the warning in her brain rattled it's cage again.   "Well you could fit almost anything you wanted to a ship provided you worked out the power ratios and fitted the correct links and safety protocols to ensure compatibility and minimise any power disruption or feedback. Not to mention ensuring the graviton lensing doesn't mismatch with the hull geometry causing it to twist and buckle more than a Ferengi during a financial audit. ".

"Its not the fact that it could be done but that it can't be done"  Cat smiled very slowly at the Science Officer.  "Surely you remember The Treaty of Algernon prohibits The Federation from ever using a cloaking device?   We couldn't use one if we wanted to unless the Treaty was amended with full agreement from the Romulan High Command"

"Even if the Captain told me to fit one onto Ambassador Eydis's cruiser and had me upside down in an air lock ready to press the shiny red release button and threatening to put a phaser bolt through my voles heads I'd still refuse to do it."

Cat shrugged "Hell I wouldn't even fit one unless the Admiral, Empress and Praetor were there; in person; clutching one and begging me to fit it onto that ship".

The older woman shook her head slowly.  "Unless you want to wake up with the Tal Shiar removing your fingernails whilst they nail the heads of our loved ones onto spikes... Don't even think about cloaking devices..."

[Conference Room - Station Katra - Earlier]

Hrafn let out a half laugh and held up her hands, fingers facing Cat "They could finish the job I do myself by biting... nervous habit but no, and it wasn't so much fitting to a Federation ship, what if they weren't taken out of a Klingon ship?  Those ones we were working on.. did they still have them and... would your life be on the line if they weren't removed?  That way we wouldn't be adding any tech, but it would allow Ambassador Eydis's cruiser to at least have back up... I'm thinking of hir safety here.  If it can't be done it can't be done.  I'm not trying to get anyone in trouble and while I couldn't have quoted chapter and verse, I knew about the treaty... or least I should do!"

Hrafn wandered towards the door then said over her shoulder.  "I'm glad you're feeling better tho!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lt. Cmdr. Tess t'Lhoell (6 months pregnant)
[Katra Station - OCC >>> USS Healy - Day 3 - 3 pm]

The announcement that the Healy had been identified as the ship approaching the station had triggered something in Tess. It felt as if a re-written program had been activated and fulfilling the tasks set up there was her only concern right now.

Picking up her PADD, Tess activated a couple of signals to alarm her 'accomplices' and also to activate the sabotaging she'd been set up in sickbay. As of now, all the hyposprays Tess had been able to sabotage would deliver an overdose with their next use. Tess didn't exactly know who had set up these programs, or why she knew where she would find them hidden in her PADD, but she did. She also activated that incoming calls would be transferred in writing to her PADD instead of being audible for everyone around her to hear.

Promptly, Rayek's message came through. She rose from her seat and found all eyes on her - the Ops crew was baffled how there could be two Healys. "Please check once more if there wasn't a malfunction in the sensor readings, Ensign", she addresed Shotar while she started to head to the exit. "Continue your duty", she ordered everyone else and then glanced to Ricci. "You have the bridge til I'm back, Ensign." Without waiting for confirmation Tess left the OCC.

Once in the turbolift, she tapped her commbadge.  "t'Lhoell to tr'Lhoell and Falleg. On my way as well. Will reach Healy in about three minutes. Sabotage activated."

[Corridors > Turbolift > Bridge of Healy]Day 3 - 3 pm][/b][/color]

Hrafn got the message and tapped her commbadge  Be there about that time myself, all the best people get this gig! Falleg out

Upon reaching the Healy she got onto the Bridge and slipped into the Science Officer's position and then sat and waited.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[USS Healy - en route to Katra][USS Healy - Bridge - Day 3 - Noon+20]

"Well I'm glad that I didn't sound mad, or least more mad than normal!" Hrafn said with a chuckle.  She popped in the information that Rayek got her and waited.

"And now... we wait...  We make a good team because we're adaptable I think, and possibly a level of craziness and a 'can do' attitude.  We're not defeatists."  she offered a smile.

"Besides, I don't fancy playing midwife so got to get you back!  I'm not good with blood, that's why I did Science not Medical.  Though I will tell you one thing, doctor or not... when it's your kids that are hurt, you don't care about the fact that if you give yourself a paper cut... old thing but tiny but painful...and bleed you're practically fainting... your child can be spurting blood and you have it all over you, you don't care about that just getting someone to superglue that arm back onto your child...or stitching it back on yourself!  Any amount of blood, poop and other bodily fluids you don't care, you get on with it if you're Mom, Dad and it's one of your kids, any other time... pass the barf bag!"

[Kirok]

I believe your commander solluk is rather efficient being, but like most Vulcans seems to think every other species needs to listen to them. Vulcans can be infuriating because they are often right more then not. And that does little to temper their lofty self image. And they do like elves from old terra films  Eydis chuckles softly and looks to zex.

A joint mission I could not of guessed that would be the way to saving a crystalline entity. They have existed amongst the stars  far longer then most species on the planets have had the ability to reach into the cosmos. If we succeed all those involved will find their names in the song of my homeworld. Perhaps even set foot on tholia, That would a pivotal day in the future of my people

[Katra Station - Turbo]

Zex did not nod or giggle when Eydis was talking about Vulcan's.  She showed no indication of agreeing or disagreeing with the Tholian.  But she commented on the next topic.

"I was surprised as well, but if cloaking technology is needed then including the Klingon's is a must.  Who knows, maybe you will even make friends among them.  Wouldn't that be great?" she replied.

"What is Tholia like?  So little is know about it.  But I would be honored to be among the first to walk on your planet" the Deltan said honestly.

[John Saxon]

[Katra - Deck 2]

"Thank you!! Oh!  Could I get one of your gift sweet selections??  Need a little present for someone"

Moments later Cat was waiting outside a Turbolift to take her to the Chief of Security's Office with one hand clutching the bag handles of her take out and the other dragging the voles behind her.

Closing the com, first to Solluk, then actioning the instructions the Captain had just given him, and - rare for the current times - also agreeing with them, John was taken aback when the turbolift he had called revealed Catherine Goodspeed, complete with her gaggle of leashed voles (a small voice in his head wondered what was the correct collective noun for voles?) in tow and clutching what looked like something gift-wrapped. Precious picoseconds ticked past as Saxon and Goodspeed looked at each other in entangled bewilderment. Then Saxon raised his hand silently to suggest she stay put as he joined her in the car. Whatever plans she, and her entourage, had it could wait. But first, he needed more resources. "OCC". Then "Computer: locate Lt Rhade."

" Lt L'mar Camili Rhade is aboard USS Healy.  "

That stopped him dead. Tess had been adamant that no-one boarded the ship, for reasons that were now becoming only too apparent. If Rhade was aboard then he had to be complicit somehow; for surely if he had designs to contradict the orders of the Captain, he'd have wisely raised concerns with the Chief of Security first, especially if Saxon himself had supported the original suggestion to have one of the two senior engineers aboard. So while his actions didn't fit the pattern of Tess, Hrafn and undoubtably Rayek's, presumed compromised behaviour, there may well have been some ad hoc methodology to further recruit numbers; the Leyton debacle was certainly one such example of such artificial means, and whilstg that whole sorry saga was now definitively put to sleep, he couldn't rule out that a derivative of the technology wasn't at play here.

He looked at Goodspeed, who seemed have kept staring, a scowl on her face now approaching his own. In many ways, it was fortunate that it wasn't she that had been co-opted; her expertise of the New Orleans-class ship might have been all the more dangerous a boon for this undefined enemy. That was not to say she was completely in the clear - too many twists, turns and tangents had developed over the last few days to say with any certainty - but John took a gamble that too much 'recruiting' would have increased odds of detection. "I need you in the OCC with me." he said without preamble. From what he knew of Goodspeed, being to-the-point was a verbal shorthand that she was all-to familiar and comfortable with from her days as a civilian contractor.

He then tried not to think of the merry, energetic voles that would also accompany her to the professional and serious nerve centre of the station. But there was no time to arrange for a sitter.