Deep Space Guardian: Season III-Episode 43

[La Forge]

Deep Space Guardian, Shuttlebay

"Fine. Check the logs on the Columbia and see if you can find out anything. Check its flight path. Check what it had scanned. Check everything. Xavier out." was Commander Xavier's reply to Juliana's report.

The Frenchwoman could only let a deep sigh pass through her lips at his words. She considered speaking out, explaining to the man that the Columbia was all but destroyed and salvaging information from it would not be possible, but, she had the lurking feeling that he would simply tel her to find it, anyways. Juliana had the feeling that the commander had a personal stake in whatever was going on, not that it mattered to her.

Unlike some, Juliana was no rumor-mongerer. She cared not about the affairs of others, unless it affected her personally. Then, again, there was a part of her that wanted to know what had riled Xavier so much. Juliana quickly suppressed the feeling and pushed it out of her thoughts, moving on to focus on the task at hand, which happened to be a difficult and time consuming one. A daunting task, indeed.

Sometimes Juliana felt that she was simply handed all of the difficult and boring jobs for the rest of the command staff so they could go gallavanting off into the frontier and save the day. Not that she cared...

"Yes, sir. Right away sir." Juliana responded drearily, via her combadge, before she moved on to carry out her duties. She dragged her feet back towards the ruined husk of the U.S.S. Columbia, a Danube-class runabout, and pulled herself into the wreckage, maneuvering around the debris towards the only surviving computer console.

Inside of the Columbia, Juliana set to work trying to access the shuttle's records, searching for its flight path, scan history, anything, just as Xavier had ordered. While she was no engineer, Juliana was relatively skilled when it came to the use of technology, suprising as she was born and raised by a mother who belonged in the Twentieth Century.

Though it took her a good twenty minutes, Juliana was finally able to access what was left of the Columbia's computer system. Unfortunately, that was not much. She could only find a partial flight record. Sadly, that flight record was just that, partial and incomplete. It stated that the runabout's last known location had been 'ius VI' near the 'ian border'. Not exactly a gold mine of information, as the two given locations could have virtually been anywhere. If Juliana tried to run a search using those search terms, she would come up with hundreds and hundreds of results. It would take her years, literally, to sift through all of that information.

Anyways, she wasn't able to find the Columbia's scan history or any other kind of history for that matter. That section of the shuttle's memory had been completely erased. Whether it was on purpose or a result of the extensive damage to the runabout, it was impossible to determine. Lastly, she was able to dig up an excerpt from a flight log by the Bajoran helmsman, now deceased. That was the good news. The bad news? The entire log had been, for some reason, translated into Breen. It would take the computer some time to translate the Breen's mysterious electronic language.

After tasking the computer with translating the Bajoran's log, an assignment which the computer stated would take upwards of twenty minutes, Juliana prepared to contact Commander Xavier again to inform her of her 'progress', as if she had made any. So far, she hadn't found anything that would be helpful to anyone besides half of a log which was in Breen and a partial flight record which only stated the Columbia having been at some 'ius VI' at the "ian border'. Very helpful.

The young French scientist took a deep breath before she slowly raised a pale hand to her chest and tapped the shining piece of metal, her combadge, pinned to her chest. With a loud chirp, the comline was activated. It took her a second to open her mouth to speak and when it did, her voice came out sounding very tired and very agitated. She tried to conceal it, but, was unable to.

"Captain...er...Commander Xavier." Juliana began, incorrectly addressing the recently-demoted Ian Xavier as his former rank of captain by accident, though, she caught her mistake and quickly corrected it. "I've got nothing for you, again. The Columbia's computer systems were...shot to hell." Juliana paused, shocked by her frankness with Xavier. She never spoke that way around the senior staff. She took a breath and began anew, trying to keep her voice calm and collected, like normal. "I'm working on a few leads, but, it doesn't look good. I'm sorry." she continued, at length, speaking in her usual soft and dreary tone of voice. With that, she paused, waiting for the commander's response. She could only hope that he wouldn't be angry with her for failing to come up with results for a second time. Lately, Ian had seemed a bit...volatile. She wouldn't be suprised if the man snapped at her just to vent. He seemed to have done so earlier. She hoped not. He had done it once before and...it wasn't good.

Deep Space Guardian, Brig

General K'Vagh, the current ambassador of the Klingon Empire to the United Federation of Planets, stepped into the Ournal-II class space station's brig, his wrinkly brown-skinned head held high, his long and graying black hair splayed back over his shoulders, and dressed up in the traditional garb of a Klingon warrior.

The aging Klingon man briskly walked past the female security officer, Lieutenant Alicia Stone, as if she weren't even there, too unimportant for him to care about, and walked straight up towards Kopok's cell, Kopok being his attach�, the very same attach� who had been captured weeks ago for disrupting official Starfleet business in ups or something else of the sort. What they didn't know was that Kopok had been in OPS under K'Vagh's orders. At the time, there had been a Klingon Bird-of-Prey belonging to Ch'Tol's side in the Klingon Civil War, stationed at Deep Space Guardian, down for repairs. An outrage, in K'Vagh's eyes, so he had sent Kopok up to OPS to have the Bird-of-Prey removed and destroyed. Unfortunately, one thing led to another and now here they were.

"Ah, Kopok!" K'Vagh greeted his close Klingon friend heartily, with a toothy grin displayed on his old face. "I've been meaning to come down here for quite some time. Unfortunately, I was caught up in diplomatic affairs, you understand? The Talarian ambassador, Mullvari. You know, the one with the hair?" the Klingon general waved his hands in an outlandish manner, in an attempt to represent the Talarian ambassador's equally outlandish hair. "Well, Mullvari, you see...he talks and talks and talks. And drinks, too. Oh, does he drink. Mullvari and me, we broke out the bloodwine and...well, I think you get the point." K'Vagh let out a deep, guttural laugh which to human ears would sound more like a sickening cough. "Anyways, I've come to have you released, Kopok. Those Starfleet-types had no right locking you up like that." K'Vagh explained to his friend. Just then, he noticed the security officer standing behind him. The Klingon turned to face the woman, Stone. "You! I am General K'Vagh of the Klingon Empire, ambassador to the Federation. Release my attach� at once!" K'Vagh ordered, sternly. The Klingon general was certainly not expecting a 'no' for an answer.

[Founder]

-DSG, Ops-

The captain stepped out into Ops after a long trip on the turbolift. He looked around for lieuteant Jones and the cyborg was sitting at his usual spot in the massive room. Ian made his way to question the man on T'Sa and the Columbia...

-DSG, Brig-

Kopok gave a sharp toothed grin when he noticed K'Vagh entered the room and order his release. He was glad as he was about to go insane from the lack of blood wine...

-Bajor, Dakeen Monastery-

Vedek Luna smiled at Kiris and was pleased to see an alien humble towards a Bajoran. Most other aliens dismissed Bajorans as nothing more then third-world superstitious aliens. It was nice to see one seeking a direction in their lives through the Bajoran way of life.

"It is never too late," He said, "However, I can not change your path, nor give you a new one. Only the Prophets can do that."

[Josi Rockholt]

DSG,The Rusty Cup

Johnson was just about to approach Ziona when she got up saying something about going to Ops and she sounded worried. Johnson decided to go to Ops and try to be of some use there rather than just sitting here.

DSG,Turbolift

Johnson entered the turbolift and called for Ops not knowing what to expect. Within a few minutes the lift arrived and Johnson entered Ops.

DSG,Ops

Johnson entered Ops and went to her usual station and just awaited orders from the commanding officer,which was Ziona.

[Spellbinder Marik]

-Bajor, Dakeen Monastery-

Kiris didn�t know what would come of this but it couldn�t possibly be worse that what he�d already endured.
�I didn�t originally come here for myself but since I am here�� Kiris wasn�t sure if he believed in spirits or Prophets or not. Something had changed this from a trip made in a promise to something more.
�How does one speak with the Prophets?�

[Lord Borg]

DSG, Ops

Jones had taken it upon himself to further research into T'Sa's usage of the Runabout Columbia and for what reasons she had done so. Apparently, there was some sort of anomaly just beyond the sensor range of the Amargosa as it made it's way back to the station. T'Sa, wanting to study the unknown anomaly, decided to take a Runabout rather then waiting for the vessel's schedualed maintinence run to be finished. This was the last thing he had seen of her on the record, he wodnered if she had sent updates to the ship...

Jones turned and noticed Ian Xavier, Ziona Andreas, and...who was it? Right, the Chief Helms Officer of the U.S.S.....Jones sighed mentally at the thought of the downed Guardian.

May she rest in peace he thought.

"Sir" Jones said to Ian, "Do you need anything?"

DSG, Brig

Stone looked up to the General and frowned. Where the hell was Jack, the man who watched the door so to speak, of security, during this shift. General, or no General, the man shouldn't have been able to just barge in the prisoner area, and demand releases of people he happened to know. Alicia stood proud, and tall, and took a step towards the General.

"I'm sorry, General" she said in a fierce, but still respectful tone, "I'm afraid that your collegue has several pending charges he must answer for. I'm unable to release him with out the autherization of Commander Xaiver, or Lieutenant Commander Robitaille. If you would like, I can call the latter to Security, so the two of you may discuss the situation."

DSG, Sickbay

T'Sa wimpered as Burns applied a bandaged, something she had been forced to, in order to combat the bleeding. She was puzzled, she knew well enough about Vulcan physiology, and knew how to apply the medical equipment to help T'Sa, so why were they not working? Burns heard a mumer and looked to T'Sa and saw her lips moving, she leaned in closely, and heard words in Vulcan.

"(Rrrriffft....dannn...gerr...)"

Burns frowned and wondered what that meant, and stood up strait and pondered over the words, what had she meant?

T'Sa's eyes continued to stare up into the cieling, she had felt injection after injection be applied to her, she wimpered with each touch to her body, the pain had been seering.

T'Sa screamed, she felt the whip againts her skin, tearing though the flesh and ripping the muscel inside her. There was a grunt and a clatter of words spoken towards her, which she did not understand at first, only to hear a translation seconds later from the UT on her Combadge, it had to be somplace near, that was the only explanation. T'Sa looked around desparatly for a weapon, or something to conceal her body, they had removed everything hours ago, but to her it was an eternity. T'Sa screamed again as she felt something sharp puncher her right hip, her wails echoed though the chamber...

T'Sa screamed out, reliving the memory of horror, and feeling the pain in herside again as if it had just happened, several nurses jumped backwards as they had been working there trying to close the wound, or at least, stop the bleeding.

[Sam Kenobi]

-DSG, Brig-

Having watched the whole ordeal since his interruption in silence, Derek finally got more frustrated with the woman.

"Hey, how about my situation?" He said loudly and a bit cruder than he had meant. "I was here first. Go ahead and call up one of those people to get me out of here, I haven't done anything."

[Founder]

-DSG, Brig-

The Klingon growled as Alicia told K'Vagh that it would not be possible to simply release him. He shouted a string of curses at her and then quickly regained his composure.

"I have done nothing!" He shouted from within the holding cell, "By denying the ambassador his order, you risk an interstellar incident!"

The other prisoner, Derek, had spoken up about wanting to be noticed, but Kopok cared littled for him. However, he was intrigued to see a Starfleet officer behind a force field.

-DSG, Ops-

Ian stepped out into Ops from one turbolift at the same time that the chief helmsman, Johnson, had stepped out of one from the opposite side of the room. He had no clue that Ziona was also enroute to Ops as well.

"Lieutenant," Ian called out to Jones, "I need any information on the Columbia before she left the vessel. T'Sa was using a runabout from this station, so she must have had to check in on what she planned to do with it."

-Bajor, Dakeen Monastery-

"Through prayer of course," The vedek replied, "Although the answers come spiritually, rather then personally with...say...an orb experiance."

[Josi Rockholt]

DSG,OPS

Kathryn heard Ian give Jones his orders and wondered if she would get any. She approached him.

"Sir,I was wondering if there was anything you would like me to do or if we could talk with the Commander about earlier."

She was referring to the personal question that she had asked before they had been swallowed. She needed to get it off her mind because it could eventually effect her performance. She stood there and waited for his answer at attention.

[Ziona]

DSG, OPS

Ziona stepped out of the turbolift and into OPS, turning her eyes left and right, looking for Ian. She made her way over to him, concern creasing the corners of her eyes.

"Sir," she spoke quietly, looking at him for a few seconds. She didn't have to say anything else. Her concern and disapproval of him leaving was evident.

[Spellbinder Marik]

-G�Tarkin, Bridge-

2311

N�Tran heard the door open behind him. He didn�t have to look to see who it was. He could identify T�Rell by his footsteps. T�Rell approached N�Tran from the side.
�How will we know where to find your father?� N�Tran knew they wouldn�t have to find him.
�He will find us.� T�Rell was confused.
�How do you know?� N�Tran smiled slightly.
�I know my father.� N�Tran stood up and walked toward the door.
�You have the bridge.�

-Bajor, Dakeen Monastery-

Kiris turned his head at the mention of an orb experience. He wondered briefly if it had any similarity to the device that aided the Native tribes of Earth on their vision quests.
�Are non-Bajorans allowed to seek guidance from your gods?�

[La Forge]

Deep Space Guardian, Brig

The Klingon general was infuriated by Lieutenant Stone's response, however polite and gracious it was, to his request, which was more of an order. K'Vagh stomped a heavy booted foot on the steel floor, nearly causing the room to shake. His huge hands were clenched into a ball, his fist shaking violently. The older man wore a scowl of extreme distaste on his wrinkly, brown-skinned face. To put it bluntly, K'Vagh was not used to having someone refuse to comply with an order. It made his blood boil.

"How dare you!? I am General K'Vagh of the Klingon Empire! I was assigned to this station at the behest of Chancellor Martok himself! You dare to defy me, the chancellor's emissary? This is an outrage! I wish to speak to your superior officer, at once!" K'Vagh roared at the Novan woman, angrily, spraying saliva from his wide open mouth as he spoke, a nasty habit of a number of Klingons. "If you deny me my request, I will report this incident to the chancellor and I doubt that he will be pleased. Don't forget, I am a close friend to the chancellor. Insult me and you risk insulting the chancellor. Don't be foolish, girl. The Federation is in no condition to risk losing one of its only allies left in the galaxy." the aging Klingon general continued, threatening an 'interstellar incident' as Kopok had put it. What K'Vagh had neglected to say was that the Klingon Empire was in no better position than the Federation to lose an ally, especially with a civil war raging and Martok on the losing side.

[Lord Borg]

DSG, Ops

Jone's red eye grew larger and brighter, if it were a bilogical eye, or if it had an eyebrow, he'd have risen it. He wasn't exactly sure what this Ensign wanted, but figured she simply didn't know Ian had...other things on his mind. With a glace to Ziona, he gave her a tiny curt nod, then looked to Ian.

"I figured you may want this information, Sir, so I went ahead and looked it up."

Jones tapped at a few controls, then brought the information up on the large viewscreen, so that Ziona could see it was well.

"Her vessel, the Amargosa, detected some sort of Anomaly, however the ship had to return to the station. Not wanting to miss her chance to explore the anomaly, she took the Runabout Columbia to explore it, that's the last we know. Maybe she sent log updates to the ship, sir, they do have a copy of the cordinates."

Jones looked over to Ian to see if he needed any further information, to which he'd do his best to give. He worried for T'Sa, a fellow Starfleet officer was fighting for her life.

[Founder]

-DSG, Ops-

Ian looked at Kathryn and then at Ziona as both had entered Ops and addressed the captain. Apparently, the young officer, Kathryn, wanted to speak to Ian and Ziona about something. He wasn't sure what and at this point, that was at the back of his mind. What mattered to him was discovering what happened to T'Sa and to see if DSG was possibly in danger.

"Perhaps another time," He told Kathryn, "Commander Andreas and I shall talk to you on the matter when possible."

With that, he turned to Jones and listened to the report. Apparently, T'Sa's ship had discovered an anomaly at the edge of the system. Ian wondered why the station's sensors did not detect them. What was this anomaly and was it connected to what occured to T'Sa? There was really only one way to find out. He would have taken the Guardian if it was still around, but sadly it wasn't. No, he would take the captain's yacht, which was as equipped as a standard runabout. Without another word to Jones, he turned to look at Ziona.

"You have command of the station." He said.

He realized he needed a good helmsman and looked at Kathyrn. Ian was about to ask her to join him, but he realized that she was obviously thinking about something and it could affect her helm abilities. With Ian already clouded mind-wise, it wouldn't be good to add onto that. He turned and tapped his combadge.

"Xavier to Roberts," He said, "Report to the captain's yacht."

[La Forge]

Deep Space Guardian, Shuttlebay Three

Juliana had been sitting inside the wreckage of the Danube-class U.S.S. Columbia for some time now, awaiting for a response from Commander Xavier about her recent 'discoveries' if one could even call such a meager scrap of information a 'discovery'. In the time that it took the commander to reply, the young Frenchwoman had idly decided to go through the computer's database, or what was left of it, one more time, to make sure she had her facts straight. During her second investigation, she found that all of the Columbia's records had been corrupted, therefore, all of the information that she had found was nullified and thereby rendered useless. Frustration couldn't even begin to describe how she was feeling about her recent revelation. She had just spent the last hour or so combing over the ruined runabout, inside and out, looking for the slightest clue or detail that could point her and the others in the direction of an attacker, only to find all of her work for nought. If that didn't make someone the slightest bit angry, then nothing could.

"Merde!" Juliana cursed in her native tounge, as she rose to her feet and kicked the hard, metallic hull of the Columbia, injuring her booted foot in the process. The pain of slamming her delicate foot into the side of the thick, steel-plated outer hull of a Danube-class runabout was searing and it shot up her leg and coursed all throughout her body, nearly causing the young woman to topple over and fall on her behind due to the pain. Instead, she sat herself down on the floor and attempted to nurse her wounded foot back to health, by holding it close to her chest. As she did this, her combadge finally rang out, indicating she had an incoming transmission. That message was from Commander Xavier, just the man she had been waiting to hear from.

"Xavier to Roberts. Report to the captain's yacht." Ian had ordered, simply, without any explantion whatsoever, leaving Juliana without so much as a clue as to what was going on, other than to 'report to the captain's yacht'.

However, she had grown accustomed to being left out of the loop on the station. She was little more than a common grunt. She had quarters barely larger than a noncom, the size of her science team was laughable compared to those of other stations of the same size and caliber as DSG, the others never spoke to her unless they needed something from her, and she spent the majority of her time scanning random spatial anomalies which, nine times out of ten, turned out to be nothing but a grain of space dust. A complete and utter waste of her time. In a sense, her life was miserable, though, like everything else, she had grown accustomed to it. She had even managed to find a little solace in her weekly expeditions down to Elerra Prime with her top-notch science team, but, that's all.

"Right away, sir." Juliana responded, dryly, before she terminated the comline, packed up her tools, and headed out, making her way to Shuttlebay One, the home of the luxurious captain's yacht, as she had been ordered to.

Deep Space Guardian, Shuttlebay One

Roughly ten minutes later, due to the station's sheer size, Juliana arrived to Shuttlebay One, standing just outside of the captain's yacht, awaiting the commander's arrival. She had been a mess after all of that work involving the ruined Columbia back in Shuttlebay Three and she had barely little time to fix herself up before the commander arrived.

While she cared little of what the other senior staff thought of her, one thing that she didn't want them to think of her as was a slob. She had to keep herself presentable in front of the others, particularly Commander Xavier. She had hastily fixed her hair up into a ponytail and done her best to straighten her ruffled uniform. She had quickly crammed all of her tools into her bag and slung it over her shoulder, as she had hurried from Shuttlebay Three to her new destination, hoping to have everything that she would need for this mysterious mission of the captain's. Now, Juliana waited beside the captain's yacht, waiting for Commander Xavier to arrive so they could get underway with whatever mission the commander had in store for her. After all, the sooner she got this mission out of the way, the sooner she could return to examining the footage of the Protector and preparing for her next expedition down to the surface of Elerra Prime. That's all that she really cared about, nowadays, anyways.

[Josi Rockholt]

DSG,Ops

Kathryn looked at the Captain after he answered her that they would talk later. Then looked as if he was going to ask her something when he asked Roberts to report the captains yacht. Then she became upset. She was a science officer,not a helmsman. She wondered why the Captain didn't ask her to join him. Maybe he knew that her helm abilities could be affected by what she was thinking. She really needed to talk to him and the Commander,but she also had a job to do. She touched her combadge.

"Johnson to the Captain,if it's alright with you,I'd also like to join you. I am your chief helmsman anyway."

[Ziona]

DSG, Ops

Ziona turned, about to say something to Ian, but stopped herself and simply let him go. She sighed heavily and turned to look around OPS, crossing her arms on her chest.

"Keep an eye on them, Jones, for as long as you can manage," a frown creased her lips and she narrowed her eyes for a few moments. She was beginning to wonder where T'Sa was. Obviously, she was somewhere around the station.

Ziona began to pace next to Jones' station, biting her thumb as she let thoughts run wildly through her head.

"Where's Captain T'Sa?" She finally asked.

[Lord Borg]

DSG, Ops

Jones nodded as he entered several commands, setting up a sweeping sensor grid, to allow the station to keep an eye on the Captain's Yatch, that is if it would ever leave the station. He hoped Ian would come to his senses and try to think things out, first.

"Already on top of it ma'am, I've set up a grid to allow the sensors to track the Yatch for as long as possible."

Jones frowned then checked the database and looked over to Ziona.

"Captain T'Sa is in Main Sickbay, Ma'am, but I'm afraid I cannot find any status updates on her condition..."

DSG, Shuttlebay One

Archer, having use the stations computer to track Ian down, came to the shuttlebay to intercept his friend, to make sure he wasn't going to be...drastic. He could see from the open Captain's Yatch that Ian planned on leaving the station.

Damn, Ian he thought to himself, I'm supposed to be the crazy one.

[Ziona]

DSG, OPS

Ziona nodded to Jones before turning on her heel and heading towards sickbay.

"Inform me if anything happens to that yacht," she snapped over her shoulder. The turbolift doors slid open and she stepped in, turning to face OPS. "Thank you, Jones." With that, she disappeared behind the doors. "Sickbay." She called.

As the turbolift began to move, Ziona quickly hit her combadge and spoke quickly and sharply.

"Andreas to Xavier..." she paused, swallowing heavily. "Be safe and come back. Andreas out."

[Lord Borg]

DSG, Ops

Jones nodded as Ziona disapeared into the turbolift, with a sigh he turned back towards the large viewscreen that was mounted on the forward wall of the large Operations Center.

"Aye, commander"

Jones pondered over the sitation for a moment then looked down at his station and ordered some scans of the system and surrounding areas, to see if there were any signs of enemy vessels nearby.

DSG, Security

Stone stood in her place, she dared not show any fear to a Klingon, it would only make her appear weak.

"I will call my supperior, but I will not release anyone with out his aproval."

Stone tapped her combadge, and called for Blake to the security center.

"Now" she said to the Klingon before her, "If you'll wait a moment, He'll be here to answer any questions, or demands you have."

Stone looked over to Derek and gave another sigh to the man.

"As for you, please, I'm asking you, have some patience, I am looking into it."

[Founder]

(Josi, Ian wasn't talking to cadet Roberts, but her much older and much hotter sister, Juliana Roberts)

-Bajor, Dakeen Monastery-

The vedek nodded, "Of course."

He placed a hand on Kiris' shoulder and gently nudged him to follow as he walked through the monastary.

"Yes," He said, "Your own Starfleet captain, Benjamin Sisko, frequently used it. Non-Bajorans can use it...however orb experiances can be daunting..."

-DSG, Turbolift-

As the turbolift raced towards the shuttlebay, he recieved a message from Ziona through his combadge.

"Andreas to Xavier...be safe and come back. Andreas out." She said.

Ian shut his eyes and felt a pang of guilt towards his first officer and significant other. He wanted nothing more to run away with her and escape this chaotic life, however she resisted that. They had promised each other marriage in the event of the Nautolian War's end. With it over, the event loomed over both of them, but it never seemed like there was time for it. They barely even had time to sit and talk despite the fact that they lived in the same quarters! It was maddening and frustrating for both officers. Ian had the urge to just ask her for some time down on Elerra Prime. However, he knew if that happened some new alien foe would appear as they always do when the two tried to have any alone time.

"I'll do my best." He whispered to Ziona, although she didn't hear it as he didn't tap his combadge to reply.

It seemed his duty to Starfleet often clouded his personal life and Ian found that his entire life literally was Starfleet. He hadn't spent time with those that he cared about in a long time and he vowed to change that. What reason did he have not to? The war was over and things could finally wind down, despite the fact that DSG has become a bit more important in the eyes of Starfleet. Most of the responsibility falls on Kiris now, as he was to lead the efforts to build a few dry docks near Elerra Prime. Responsibility also fell on Juliana and T'Sa, as one was tasked with exploring the mysterious world of Elerra Prime and the other was tasked with exploring the Elerran system....if the latter survived her ordeal. Ian felt fury towards the people that attacked T'Sa. Despite the fact that she looked to be around his age, she was much older and a mother to him. She was family and had known three generations of Xaviers. It was almost...tradition for Xaviers to be around T'Sa. Whoever this...new foe was, they tried to rob Ian of an important figure in his life and they would pay. He regretted not having the USS Guardian around for this mission. It was destroyed during the climatic battle of the Nautolian War, which saw the end of Sit Fito, the original first officer of Deep Space Guardian. He didn't obsessively think of Fito anymore and remembered the last time he truly spoke about the Nautolian was when Icarus Nagasaki, the temporary chief medical officer of DSG had asked about him. As the turbolift doors opened, Ian's combadge chirped again and he heard the voice of Kathryn Johnson over it.

"Johnson to the Captain, if it's alright with you, I'd also like to join you. I am your chief helmsman anyway." She said.

Ian hesitated, unsure if Kathryn should even come along on the mission. However, it didn't seem like it would hurt anything and she was a much better helmsman then Ian or Juliana, despite Ian's past.

"Alright," He allowed, "Come to shuttlebay 1 fast or we'll leave you behind. Xavier out."

-DSG, Shuttlebay-

Ian entered the massive shuttlebay and approached the captain's yacht, where Juliana and Jon Archer stood. He stopped and looked at the man in surprise, not realizing that Archer was going to be there.

"Jon?" Ian asked in confusion, "What are you-"

He stopped suddely, realizing just why his friend was there. Archer knew Ian better then almost anybody and no doubt knew that Ian would be dumb enough to take matters into his own hand, as he had let this issue with T'Sa become personal.

"Don't do it, Jon," He urged, "Don't try and stop me. I'm doing this."

Ian walked past Archer and looked at Juliana, shooting her a look that order her to board the vessel.

[Spellbinder Marik]

-Elerra Prime, Laura�s Greenhouse-

Laura slid from under a computer. The system that managed temperature and humidity needed some minor adjustments. When she sat up she noticed Trip still standing nearby. �Do the Yautja have gardens or hydroponics technology?� Trip turned his head.
�We have the ability to create such technology but to a race such as ours it would serve no purpose.� Laura could tell anything she wanted to know about the Yautja she would have to ask about. Trip wasn�t very talkative.

Laura got up and washed the dirt from her hands.
�So what do your people do for entertainment?� Trip wondered about the sudden curiosity emanating from Laura.
�We do not have time for such things. The war wouldn�t allow it�� Laura knew all too well about war draining the fun out of everything. She enjoyed gardening but not as much as she once did.
�You must have had something? Athletics, Theater?� This talk about his home made Trip realize how much he wanted to go back.

�During the post-winter cycle if time and circumstance allow we have a contest. A large area on the northern continent is sealed off by a forcefield. Six contestants are chosen based on a genetic test. These warriors will trudge across a vast area overcoming obstacles and harsh weather conditions. Their goal is to reach the mountain, collect a series of banners and return to the start. This event used to be broadcast across my world before the civil war.�

Laura turned away. She could feel the pain of missing something close to oneself. She wondered what N�Tran was doing right now.

-G�Tarkin, Bridge-

2311

N�Tran entered the bridge. In one hours time they would be entering the Romulan star system.
�Sir,� T�Rell began, �I�ve been wondering. When we have what we need from your father will we proceed to the coordinates from this time or return to 2382 first?� N�Tran hadn�t decided yet.
�I guess I�ll have to decide that when the time comes.� T�Rell had his own opinions about such things but it was not his call to make.

-Bajor, Dakeen Monastery-

Kiris felt a little uncomfortable as he followed the Vedek through the monastery. The Bajoran then spoke of Captain Sisko. Kiris had never met the man but his name was a well known one. It was up there with Kirk, Picard and Janeway. Undeniably the most well known Commanding Officers in all of Starfleet.

�Daunting in what way?�

[Josi Rockholt]

DSG,Ops

Johnson got the meesage of the Captain allowing her to join them. She headed right for shuttle bay one,as instructed. She got there and they were still waiting.

"I got here as quickly as I could. You two ready?"

She looked at both the officers waiting for one of them to say something.

[Lord Borg]

DSG, Shuttlebay

Jon studied his friend for a moment, then shook his head, he started to pace slightly, ingoring the woman who just entered the shuttlbay and asked if Ian and Lieutenant Roberts were ready. Jon let out an exasperated sigh, then turned to face Ian.

"Damn, Ian, I can't imagine what's going through your mind, at this time. I know who that woman in sickbay is, and that she means more to you, then anyone will be able to understand, but..."

Jon shook his head then crossed his arms on his chest, and glanced over to the Captain's Yatch.

"Your not going in that damn thing, it's to dangerous, we don't know what she was looking at. Come on, Ian, let's go to the Oath" he said, using the popular abrivation for his ship, "Perhaps, maybe even her shiP? Does her crew even know what's going on?"

Jon knew that his words were probably useless at the moment, but he wanted to be sure that Ian was reasoning slightly at least, he had to have know that despite how nice the Yatch was, it was not meant for combat, or exploration missions.

DSG, Sickbay

T'Sa was still on the bio bed, doctor's and nurses still surrounded her, having to resort to applying bandages to try and stop her bleeding, her skin was a chalky pale from the lost of blood. As T'Sa struggled to breath, Burns had begun to try and use the dermal regenerator again, trying to close her wounds, one of the other many, many station doctors was attempting to make it easier for her to breath.

"What the hell happened to her" someone said.

Burns looked towards the voice, one of the nurses who was speaking to some of the Vulcan's that were entering sickbay as they were ordered to appear for request to donate their blood to T'Sa.

"I'd say she's been tourtured. The fact she's still alive says a lot about her."

Burns sighed and checked T'Sas vital's again, and looked over to the person she was just speaking to again.

"We've got any blood?"

The person nodded and pointed to a cart, where a nurse was preparing the neccesary equipment to allow T'Sa to recive the transfusion, otherwise, strong willed or not, T'Sa would die from the lack of a proper ammount of blood.

T'Sa wimpered quietly from the pain, her eyes strained to concentrait on what she was looking at, however, her mind went back...

T'Sa screamed as she felt someting metalic hit her back, her eyes went wide from the sheer force of the sudden sensation that shot though her body. She heard a voice someplace in the room, it was gruff, and directed toward her, her eyes narrowed as she tried to deciper what it was saying. She screamed again when she felt something lash againt's her skin, this time it was to her right side, she felt her face sting as something had scraped againts it. T'Sa wailed from fustration of being bounded in the position that she was, the bright light was blinding her, causing her inner eyelids to slam shut to protect her vision. T'Sa grunted as she tried to pull herself free, she heard the voice again, she wasn't sure, but she thought she heard the words 'Alpha Quadrant'

T'Sa 's fingers curled up, balling her hands into fists. She pursed her lips and tried to speak.

"(Cllllloos...rif..)"

Burns frowned, T'Sa had once again murmered something, and she didn't hear it, she was amazed the woman was even alive, let alone concious, and attempting to speak.

[Spellbinder Marik]

-G�Tarkin, Bridge-

2311

N�Tran looked up as a console began beeping. The helmsman spoke without turning around.
�Admiral Ditex, we have entered the Romulan Star System.� Part of N�Tran felt glad to be home even if this wasn�t a Romulus he remembered very well.
�On screen.� The viewer snapped on and showed Romulus. The planet looked the same to all but a trained eye. N�Tran recomposed himself.
�Are there any cloaked ships nearby?�

Lt. Salor answered from Ops.
�I�m detecting multiple tachyon emissions and residual antiproton signals in the area. Readings suggest cloaked ships but I cannot give an exact number.� T�Rell began running a scan from the science station.
�N�Tran, one of those ships is moving toward us.� N�Tran moved from his seat to the science console. He observed the blip moving toward them.
�Can they see us?� T�Rell shook his head.
�No sir.� N�Tran returned to his seat.
�Helm, take us to the edge of the system and hold position. We�ll return when most of those cloaking signatures are gone.� The G�Tarkin began to fly away pursued by that which they sought.

-IRW Varix, Bridge-

2311

Levek was standing at the sensor console with the officer that managed the system.
�It appears to be a plasma signature but the power utilization curve is unfamiliar.� Levek returned to his seat.
�Keep an eye on it.� Levek had no sooner given the order when the officer at sensors made an announcement.
�Sir, the signal is moving away at high impulse.� Levek wondered if the Tal Shiar was testing him. It wouldn�t be the first time they�ve attempted to trick him into making a mistake.

�Follow it.�

-G�Tarkin, Bridge-

2311

�It�s following us.� N�Tran was confused. There was no way the sensors of this time could track them through the cloak.
�Approaching the edge of the system.� N�Tran still wanted to know how they were being seen through a cloak 70 years more advanced than what the Romulans of 2311 had. An alarm suddenly sounded.
�They�re charging weapons!� The view screen centered aft as the ship that was tailing them fired.


There was no way they could dodge it or drop the cloak in time to raise shields. The entire ship shook as the disruptor blasts hit it. A photon torpedo hit them next forcing the cloak offline.
�The cloak has failed.� This wasn�t right. They shouldn�t have been detected.
�Divert emergency power to shields.� The tactical officer attempted to comply.
�Forward emitters are offline.� N�Tran needed to buy time for the engineering staff.
�Hail them.� T�Rell had acted as N�Tran�s rational half for a long time and at sometimes it worked to his advantage. Other times it was just annoying.
�Sir I recommend against that at this time. One wrong move and this mission will fail.�

N�Tran acknowledged that. However their mission would also fail if they were captured or destroyed.
�It may give us more time to get the shields back online. Visual!� As soon as the transmission was active he began speaking.
�This is Admiral N�Tran Ditex or the Romulan Empire. Stand down your weapons. We mean you no harm.� Several seconds passed. The weapons fire had stopped but as yet they hadn�t received a return hail. Just when N�Tran was about to speak again the 2-way viewer activated. What N�Tran saw sent a chill down his spine. His father was on the very ship just behind them.

The man on the screen began to speak.
�You are not my father in-law or my son. Unless you can give me a damned good reason why you claim to be who you are I will have your vessel destroyed.� N�Tran was both happy and disturbed to hear his father�s voice after so many years. His father had always been strait forward and to the point when it came to threats and battle.
�This may be difficult for you to accept but I am your son. Approximately 70 years from this date. If you care to come aboard a simple DNA test will confirm my story.�

N�Tran knew exactly what was going through the mind of his father and had already prepared for it.
�The test will be preformed but on my ship and you will come alone.� N�Tran nodded.
�Very well. Beam me over.� Levek nodded to someone off screen and a moment later the channel closed. A second later N�Tran dematerialized�

[Spellbinder Marik]

(Founder said it was ok to post again.)

-IRW Varix, Transporter Bay-

2311

N�Tran materialized in the transporter room of his father�s ship. He was immediately approached by 2 centurions.
�The General has ordered that you be searched.� N�Tran nodded.
�Be my guest.� One of the centurions scanned him with a tricorder. N�Tran didn�t recognize it at first. Romulan tricorders underwent a number of changes in 70 years. The centurion stopped scanning him and looked up.
�Your pocket, remove the devices inside.�

N�Tran slowly pulled 2 padds out of his pocket and handed them to the centurion. N�Tran looked up when the door hissed open. The centurion handed the padds to Levek.
�He was carrying only these General.� Levek took the padds.
�Leave us.� The centurions saluted and left the room.
�Tell me one thing first. Why would a Romulan use a Klingon Bird of Prey to travel by?� N�Tran had expected questions and was prepared to answer what he could.

�The Klingon Bird of Prey is better suited for time travel than one of our own ships.� Which was the truth. That and N�Tran didn�t want to risk having anybody from this time seeing a D�deridex Class Warbird. The designer for that class was only conceiving the design as of this time.
�Follow me to the medical bay.� N�Tran followed his father through the ship.

�How was mother when you last saw her?� Levek stopped in his tracks.
�Until the medical tests conclude or deny that you are my son we will not speak of this again. Is that clear?� N�Tran nodded.
�Crystal.�

-IRW Varix, Medical bay-

2311

N�Tran entered the medical bay with his father. N�Tran immediately noticed Doctor Y�Vel. Much younger than the one he know but unmistakably the same man.
�Doctor, this man claims to be my son from the future. I need a DNA test to prove his claim.� Y�Vel eyed N�Tran for a moment. He was as familiar with the Ditex family as Levek because he�d been their physician for some time. Y�Vel motioned to N�Tran.
�Sit on the examination table.� N�Tran complied.

Y�Vel pulled a tray closer to the table with many medical tools on it. He picked up what was the hypo for this time. He pressed it to N�Tran�s arm and withdrew some blood. N�Tran rubbed his arm. As much as a doctor claimed it wouldn�t be felt it always seemed like he felt it. Y�Vel fed the blood sample into the computer and began to run an analysis. N�Tran watched the computer screen. Several seconds later it stopped showing a picture of him at 5 years old and 2 genetic models. The computer checked the two models. N�Tran turned his head toward Levek when the screen read �Genetic Match.�.

�So it�s true.� Y�Vel nodded.
�Yes sir. He is your son. Approximately 75 years of age.� Mention of age irked a lot of races as they didn�t like to think about getting older. The only time he worried about age was when Laura didn�t feel well. He knew humans were longer lived than they were a hundred years ago but she still wouldn�t live as long as he would. Provided an outside force didn�t interfere.

Levek looked at the man, his son, on the table. He was physically older than Levek himself.
�Why have you come?� N�Tran slid off the table.
�Activate the first padd.� Levek brought the padd up level and activated it. He immediately recognized the message he�d set to activate in 70 years if he�d been unable to help Tayvor. When the message finished he looked up.
�The coordinates are corrupted.� N�Tran nodded.
�I came to get the coordinates because our technology was unable to recover the corrupted sectors.�

Levek motioned for N�Tran to follow.

-IRW Varix, Corridor-

2311

�If you�re here then it means I�m dead in your time.� N�Tran nodded.
�Unfortunately. A great deal of the Empire�s problems in my time would benefit from your knowledge and experience.� Levek stopped.
�How did I die?� N�Tran had expected questions like this to come too but he wasn�t prepared to answer them.
�I�m not sure I should discuss details about the future.� Levek wanted to know some things about the future.

A future version of his son would know a lot.
�At least tell me if I have any grandchildren.� N�Tran didn�t figure telling his father about Kiris could have any major impact on the future.
�I do have a son.� Not the answer Levek was looking for but he accepted it.
�What does he do? What is he called?� N�Tran could answer some questions without lying but not telling the full truth either.

�His name is Kiris and he�s the Chief Engineer of a space station bordering Romulan and Federation space.� Levek wondered if the coming battle yielded the Empire�s push into Federation space. Little did he know the coming battle, while costing thousands of lives and producing a new treaty really yielded no benefit to the Empire. At least in terms of claimed space.
��and what of his mother?� N�Tran didn�t think he should mention Laura. Romulans never really trusted Humans, even when they fought together in the Dominion War.

If he mentioned Laura his father might do something to make sure they never met. If they never met an entire different set of events would unfold from 2346 to 2382. N�Tran decided this was a time to use the useful Romulan skill of lying.
�My wife manages the intelligence flow in and out of my fleet.� N�Tran remembered only lying to his father a handful of times in his life. Some were for personal benefit. This time was necessary.

They kept walking.
�How did you detect my ship through its cloak?� Levek made a �humph� sound.
�We didn�t detect it through the cloak. We detected plasma exhaust from the Warp Engines. It wasn�t Romulan so we opened fire.� If his father had detected them that way it was probable that other could do the same.
�I need access to a communications device.� Levek led N�Tran to a com panel not far away. He pressed a button.
�Bridge, open communications to the Klingon ship.� The only acknowledgment they got was a brief static when the com changed frequencies.

�N�Tran to G�Tarkin.� He heard T�Rell�s voice respond.
�Go ahead sir.� N�Tran looked to his father for a moment and then began speaking.
�Tell engineering to put a cap on our plasma exhaust and restore the cloak.� Levek spoke into the com.
�You may want to move outside sensor range of Romulus. You could have already been detected.� There was a brief pause.
�Admiral, do you concur?� N�Tran did.
�Find a safe spot out of sensor range and wait for us. Signal us when we start coming your way.� N�Tran felt partially cut off. The G�Tarkin was his only link to the future and how to get back to where he belonged.

�We�ll have to go back to Romulus; I kept the coordinates in my study.� N�Tran followed his father through the ship. N�Tran was quiet. He wasn�t in command here. Merely being in his father�s presence again made him feel small and weak.

((This is also my 1000th post. It's not as much as many of you but it's a milestone for me.))