Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile

Episode #47: Prometheus Quest Part Three

(Stardate 50601.3)

By

Jay P. Hailey

And

The Star Trek Players

"It's just hard to hear him whining all the time." Genevieve said.

Miriah looked at her coldly. "You want me to give an alien AI greater access to the Endeavor's main computer?"

"No, no. Just greater access to us." Genevieve said. "He's lonely, and being able to talk to people would help."

Miriah rolled her eyes. "What did you have in mind?"

Genevieve tapped on her PADD and a schematic appeared in air over the conference table. Miriah recognized a holodeck schematic, and the interface between ship and holodeck.

"I can reinforce the isolation of Holodeck two and give him that. He'd be able to model places and bodies for himself, and he'd be able to communicate with people more readily. I think a holodeck would solve the problem." Genevieve said.

"Can you offer me a guarantee that he couldn't take over the ship from that position?" Miriah asked.

"I can setup several extra security precautions and dead man switches. I think we can control him if he gets out of hand, but he won't! You should really go speak to him, Captain." Genevieve's eyes were misty with emotion for her new friend.

The fact of the matter was that Miriah had spoken to Prometheus briefly, but had avoided him ever since. The AI had let Miriah know that he was bored and lonely in such a way as to appeal to her emotions too. That made Miriah paranoid and so she avoided Prometheus ever since.

"What does Patton have to say?" Miriah asked.

Genevieve's face fell. "He recommends against it."

"On what grounds?" Miriah pressed

"He feels that the connection between Prometheus and the Holodeck would represent an added threat to security. He figures that Prometheus should just shut up and endure." Genevieve reported.

Miriah looked at Genevieve and gauged Patton's likely reaction. He'd have recommended against the project in any case on general principle. Patton had wanted to place explosive charges on the AI's main housing in case he ran amuck. Patton would have done the same thing to many of the Prometheus' non-Federation crew, too.

Miriah made her decision. She hoped she wasn't making a terrible mistake. "Set it up for him. But make sure I have over ride control of the holodeck and the connection."

Genevieve grinned happily "Yes, Ma'am!"

-*-

The location of the holodeck scene seemed familiar to Miriah but she couldn't place it.

A young human boy grinned and waved happily. "Hi Captain Katasai!"

"Hello Prometheus." Miriah said. She tried not to let his obvious joy influence her too much.

"This is soooo cool!" Prometheus gushed. "I have a body! I have a room! I can build things. I can touch people! People can touch me!" The holo-boy bounced over to Miriah and held out his arm. "See!"

Miriah touched the holo-boy experimentally. He felt as real as any hologram. "That's interesting. Why a boy?"

The image flowed into a human woman, then into an Andorian man, into a Horta, a Rhondan, a weird robot, a sort of gazelle with solid blue eyes and back into the boy. "I can look like anything." The boy explained seriously. "This image is just the one that feels right, for lack of a better term."

"Prometheus, How can I trust you not to be emotionally manipulating me with this image?" Miriah asked.

The image before her turned into a mirror of Miriah. "If I was trying to manipulate you," The holo-Miriah said seriously, "this image would work better," The image morphed into a Green Orion woman, Miriah recognized her mother. "Or this one."

The image flowed into another, and Miriah recognized her mate Kevas. A pang of loneliness shot through Miriah. "Or this one."

Then the image flowed into a small female figure with olive/greenish skin, forehead ridges, and big eyes. "I calculate that this particular image will press your buttons the most effectively." The small girl said seriously.

The boy was back grinning. "A combination of several features that you especially like. I bet she sort of looks like you as a child."

Miriah could feel her frown trying to turn into a smirk. "And this proves what?"

"Ummm. Sorry. I really can't imagine how to reassure you." Prometheus said thoughtfully. "All I can say is that you should trust your instincts and don't do anything regarding me without considering all sides of the issues away from me."

Miriah nodded. "I have come to a decision. I am going to remove you from this holodeck."

The boy's image looked stricken and heart broken, for a few brief moments and then was quickly overwritten with a more solemn but less manipulative image of the boy. "If that's what you feel you must do, Captain. I'd like to ask you to reconsider." He said in a very reasonable tone.

Miriah nodded. "Okay. I changed my mind. You can stay here."

The boy beamed happily and didn't try to hide it. "Thank you!"

Miriah had a fun afternoon exploring the potential of a holodeck powered by an AI's imagination.

-*-

The Endeavor was back from a point well away from the Federation. They had picked up a stranded Federation starship and were now heading home. Miriah found that in some ways, after 20 years in deep space the crew people of the Starship Prometheus were almost strangers to the Federation and to Starfleet. However, they were all adjusting. The Endeavor was a happy ship as she headed for home.

-*-

"What are we looking at?" Miriah asked, looking over Joe-The-Scan's shoulder.

"It is a ship shadowing us." Patton said pointing at bits of the display "This is its warp signature. This suggests its power output."

Miriah nodded. "Can you identify it?"

"It would seem to be a Kaa ship." Joe-the-Scan said. "It matches their signature, mostly."

"Mostly?" Miriah asked.

"It's also got some differences. It's going to take some work to narrow down just what exactly it is. But I figured you'd want to know." Joe-the-Scan said.

"Let's see if we can sneak a stealth probe close enough to it to see what we're looking at." Miriah said.

Patton nodded "Aye Aye." He went to the tactical panel and called up the probe controls. He selected for a stealth probe. When the proper device had been loaded, the Endeavor fired the probe.

Miriah returned to the Captain's chair to do her least favorite part of the job of Starship Captain. Waiting patiently for the situation to develop.

After what seemed like an eternity of waiting patiently and listening to the mundane dialog of a working starship bridge, Joe-The-Scan said "I'm gettin' somethin' from the probe."

"On screen." Miriah forced herself to issue the order calmly, as if this sort of thing happened every day.

The main view screen cleared to show a fuzzy and indistinct scan of the shadowing vessel. Too strong a scan would give away the probe, so it scanned lightly, lightly.

The ship was a spindle with two large pods hung off its sides. As the scan data replayed back, it became clear that the two pods were grossly oversized warp drives. Then more data came in. What Miriah had, at first taken to be a forwards weapons mount was in fact a sensor array of similarly over built sensors.

"Have they spotted the probe?" Miriah asked.

"No, but only because they don't seem to be looking for it. Those sensors are scanning the Endeavor." Patton reported.

Miriah's lips set in a grim expression. She discovered that she didn't like to be followed and watched discretely. She watched as the rest of the Probe's data came in. The rest of the ship, besides the engines and sensor mount, were about what could be expected from a seventy-five meter destroyer class starship.

As the Probe got closer and repeated its scans a life forms scan came through and began to form slowly on the screen.

High temperature, low humidity, atmosphere with somewhat more carbon dioxide than a human would find comfortable. A touch more gravity, say 1.15 times Earth's.

Reptilian life forms. "The Kaa?" Miriah asked.

Patton looked at his board and nodded. "That would be my guess right now."

Miriah nodded. The run in with the Kaa upon leaving the Fulcrum station had not been fun. Miriah was wondering what the Kaa would come up with for an encore.

"What's that ship and what's it doing?" Miriah wanted to confirm her own suspicions.

"It would appear to match the type Starfleet calls a `Fleet scout'." Patton said. "The large engines are massively under worked by the load they carry. That gives this scout a long operational range, and the ability to put on impressive bursts of speed for a short amount of time."

"The Kaa's engine technology was somewhat behind ours wasn't it?" Miriah asked.

"Yes, Captain. About the equal of my home empire or the Federation about 100 years ago." Patton answered.

Miriah activated the intercom. "Bridge to Engineering."

"Engineering here. Go ahead bridge." Genevieve Quest answered.

"Genevieve, how long would you need to set up for a long distance high speed run?" Miriah asked.

"How high a speed and how long a run?" Genevieve asked.

"Warp seven, for as long as possible." Miriah said. She didn't want to over work the Endeavor with such a long trip back home ahead of them.

"Wait a moment." Genevieve said. The sounds of a panel beeping as input was fed into it came across the intercom. "You're set now, bridge. Warp Seven for an open ended cruise."

"Very good, Genevieve." Miriah said. "Helm give me warp seven towards the Fulcrum." Miriah said.

The Endeavor accelerated, and the Kaa scout accelerated to match.

Miriah watched the scans of it as it left the stealth probe behind. "How long do you give them at that speed?"

Patton looked thoughtful for a moment "Two days, maybe. Worst case, a week."

"We'll see." Miriah said getting up. "We shall see."

Two and half days later the Kaa scout had to drop out of warp and let it's glowing engines cool. The Endeavor left it far behind.

-*-

"The way I see it, you don't have much of a choice." Admiral Turkhan said. He was seated in a conference room in the palace.

To Kevin Mitchell, the Royal Palace of Marquan was a relatively nice place. The Marquani had at one time been a thriving, technological planet. Then a disaster had happened. Some sort of war Mitchell guessed. The population was decimated, and the civilization crumbled.

The Marquani civilization had not disappeared entirely. And when a rag-tag band of pirates led by the infamous pirate Lee Wong had happened upon the planet, things had actually gotten better.

The Palace had old replicators here and there, running water and energy from an emergency reactor stripped from a dying pirate ship. The immediate vicinity of the Palace was the best place for the recovery, but the recovery was happening all over the planet.

"The Endeavor has already settled this issue." Liona, the Queen of Marquan growled. She didn't like Starfleet on general principle, since they were the people who sought to defeat her husband. Since actually meeting Starfleet, she understood why Wong had fought them. This one was worse than the last.

"Oh, I don't care what you do with Wong and his crew." Turkhan waved off the issue. "We're talking about a different issue."

"But, you're using the presence of the Pirates as leverage" Liona said.

"Well " Turkhan breathed "You're the ones who elected to become a haven for dangerous pirates. We can't have them at our backs, especially if we hope to maintain a trade route between ourselves and the Fulcrum."

Liona's face grew hard. She hadn't liked it when the Endeavor had held her planet, her people and her husband in a subservient position. The Endeavor had elected to strand the Pirates in the solar system and move on. Turkhan wanted to regularize the offensive relationship between Marquan and the Federation. And if Liona didn't agree, he destroy the spaceships and space station and other artifacts that Liona knew were leveraging her recovery efforts. She was being backed into a corner and resented it.

However, Liona had been brought up as a Princess and as a General. She tamped down her anger and thought carefully.

"I think that if you look at the advantages of this treaty for your planet, you'll feel better." Mitchell jumped in. "We're offering technical assistance and aid in rebuilding your world. Eventually, with enough work, Marquan could have all the modern technology and infrastructure that you'll see on any important world along a vital trade route."

Turkhan's face was still in slightly superior, yet friendly expression. Mitchell had known him long enough to see the angry flash in his eyes. Turkhan and Mitchell would be having words later.

Liona and Wong were staring at Mitchell, each for different reasons.

Liona felt her responsibilities keenly. Having Turkhan waltz in and stuff this space station treaty down her throat affronted her pride, but Mitchell had just opened up a new world of possibilities to her. Liona knew what the advanced technology of the starships the Pirates had brought with them had meant, especially in the area of her palace. Liona knew, too, that if she could dismantle every ship the Pirates had brought with them, and use every single ounce of material in them with perfect efficiency, that it would not spread far enough to help every one on her world. She went to bed with the cries of hungry, sick children in her ears every night.

However, with the Federation shipping material for a new station out to Marquan, and the idea that Mitchell was prepared for and even expected Liona to hold the Federation up for compensation, Liona felt her pride take an immediate back seat to a ruthless practicality. The idea of industrial replicators danced through her head. Liona almost felt her mouth watering at the prospect.

Wong's surprise was far more basic in nature. Mitchell had just severely undercut Turkhan's bargaining position, turning a political maneuver into commerce. Wong idly considered the sorts of demands he could make of Turkhan. This had turned from a humiliating surrender, to a humiliating surrender with great pay.

"So, Your Majesty, will you sign the agreement?" Turkhan grinned.

"I will have to consider it thoughtfully." Liona said, truthfully. "Will you return to us tomorrow?"

Turkhan knew the thing had gotten away from him at this point. "Certainly. The Federation is most interested in a peaceful relationship with your world."

"You are dismissed." Liona said formally.

Turkhan stood up quickly. Mitchell took a little longer. Turkhan's bow was deep and formal. He'd taken careful diplomatic training somewhere. All the proper forms were observed. Mitchell didn't bow as deeply. Liona knew that he had been injured somewhere, and didn't hold it against him.

They backed out, until free of the conference room, and then turned to walk towards the transporter receiver station. Actually a few old pattern enhancers set up in a formerly decorative alcove.

Liona and Wong looked at each other deeply, engaging in a bit of non-verbal communication before they put their heads together over just how much they could get from the Federation for allowing Turkhan to establish a deep space station in orbit.

-*-

"What was that about?" Turkhan asked mildly. They were in Mitchell's ready room. Mitchell was seated in his chair behind the desk while Turkhan was perched on the edge of the desk, looming over him.

Mitchell gathered himself "What do you mean, Sir?"

"You know very well what I mean!" Turkhan snapped. "I had those people over a barrel. They would have agreed to a Deep Space Station here just in exchange for us failing to blow up their old junk! And you sat there and gave away the damned store!"

"Isn't it fair that the Federation should pay concessions to a planet in exchange for a base in orbit over them?" Mitchell said reasonably.

"Fair is what the market will bear, Captain! Why do I have to explain this to you!? You grew up on a free trader! You know all about buy low and sell high." Turkhan's eyes blazed.

"I am a Federation Starship Captain, Sir. My concerns are a little more broad than buying low and selling high." Mitchell said with a touch of ice in his voice.

"Don't lecture me, Goddamit! This isn't some academy ethics test! Hell those people are pirates! Why do we have to bend over being fair to them?" Turkhan's anger was growing more visible and less controlled.

"I think I know what has you upset, Sir." Mitchell stared into Turkhan's eyes. "The Federation is basically stuck with whatever you negotiate out here. You didn't tell them that you were going to try and jam a deep space station down this planet's throat. So you thought that if you could get the Marquani to agree to it for next to nothing and present it to high command with a bow on top, then that would leverage your status when this thing is done. Now the Marquani will get a realistic return for the base. Starfleet will be stuck with supporting it, whether or not they think it's a good idea. You're afraid that the bill you just volunteered the Federation to pay will tarnish the rest of the mission, and your reputation."

"I know that you're new to Starfleet Command, Kevin, but let me open your eyes a little bit here." Turkhan got up and paced around the ready room "This is the way the game is played here in the big leagues. The Federation isn't about seeing that everyone gets a fair shake, It's about seeing that the Federation gets a fair shake. If we can help anyone else out as we go, then that's good. That's a bonus. However, we have to put the Federation first. What you did was you just cost the Federation a lot, in terms of resources and effort that it wouldn't have had to otherwise pay. You gave up our fair break to make things easier for Wong and his chippy space princess. I think that's a misplaced priority, Mitchell, I really do."

"You've got a planet down there attempting to recover from some sort of holocaust. People struggling against terrible conditions. Because we didn't get the best price for a space station's orbit, people down there will have a better time of it. That'll make them like us. That may lead to a better relation down the road. Because we didn't squeeze them like a pack of Ferengi, we may have just set up the Federation's newest member planet some day. Did you think of that, Admiral?" Mitchell said.

"I thought of it." Turkhan admitted. "That day will be decades in the future, if at all. The Starship Captain or diplomat they send out here to close off that deal will get the credit, not you or me. We'll be long retired or dead by then. I, frankly, don't see what this planet joining the Federation does for you or for me."

Mitchell rolled his eyes. "I can't believe I just heard you say that." Turkhan glared at him. "Sir."

"That's why I'm the Admiral and you're the Captain. I play this game better than you do. Don't undercut me like that again." Turkhan growled.

Mitchell shrugged.

"I mean it, dammit! That's an order. You do not speak in a diplomatic negotiation unless you check with me first, do you understand?" Turkhan said.

Mitchell shrugged again. "Yes, Sir."

The negotiation took a few more days. Marquan was assured of financial and material aide to rebuild itself, while conceding a long-term lease to the Federation for a new Deep Space Station, to replace their frightening lash-up already in orbit.

Mitchell stayed silent. Liona and Wong cut a hard bargain, shaved to the last inch by Admiral Turkhan.

When it was done, and the deal set, The Gemini left a lot of their stock of emergency aid material on Marquan as well as a subspace radio powerful enough to patch into the Federation Comm-net.

Then the Gemini pushed on towards the Fulcrum.

-*-

"Captain Katasai, May I see you, please?" Matae's voice came over the intercom.

"Certainly, Healer. What does this concern?" Miriah answered in Vulcan. Her Vulcan had a distinct Nissus accent, but Matae had never seen fit to point this out.

"The matter is a private one of some concern." Matae answered.

"I will be there shortly." Miriah said. She got up from her desk, leaving a stack of data work behind and went down to the Sickbay.

Matae was in her office with Dr. Post, the CMO of the late Prometheus. Miriah walked in, and noted that the Human doctor looked worn. Her eyes were red, and she had deep lines in her face.

"I have discovered something that needs to be brought to your attention, Captain." Matae said. Miriah noted that although Matae seemed perfectly calm, the tips of her ears were flushed just a shade more green. This indicated a certain amount of stress on her part, too.

"I just didn't know what to do!" Dr. Post said. "I did the best I could but" and sort of tailed off miserably.

"What is this about?" Miriah asked, shortly.

"I have been conducting physical examinations on the Prometheus crew, as per standard operating procedures. Doctor Post has been consulting with me on the medical state of species I have not encountered before." Matae said. "During the examinations I discovered some anomalies in certain members of the Prometheus crew."

"What is it?" Miriah asked quickly, "Does it threaten the Endeavor?"

"To be specific" Matae plugged on "The subjects are Captain Malone and Commander Westin."

"What?" Miriah was getting tired of the vagueness. It was unlike a Vulcan to beat around the bush.

"They are not specifically the Captain Malone and Commander Westin that the Prometheus started out with." Matae said uncomfortably.

Tears started to slide down Post's face.

"What do you mean, Matae?" Miriah asked quietly.

"This is the original genetic scan of Captain Katherine Julie Malone, taken shortly before the Prometheus' mission." Matae brought up a genetic scan on her desk view screen. "And this is one I have just recently completed." Another scan came up, sharing the screen.

The only difference that Miriah could detect was that the newer scan seemed smoother somehow. Not with the random irregularities of the older scan. "And what does this mean?"

"The Captain Malone that we have on board does not have the same genetic make up as the one who left the Federation with the Prometheus." Matae explained.

"They're replicants." Dr. Post said tearfully. "They're genetic recreations of the Captain and the XO."

Miriah stared at Matae. "Is this true?"

"I can not say exactly. Either they are replicants, or they have under gone extensive genetic alteration." Matae conceded.

"Who knows this?" Miriah asked.

Dr. Post shook her head and cried harder. "No one but me and Prometheus."

Miriah felt a snarl trying to crawl onto her face "You didn't find it necessary to tell anyone!?"

Dr. Post sniffed. "You have to understand, I was the last senior officer! All the others had been killed. We had new people, but they weren't Starfleet. Without Captain Malone and Commander Westin I would have been responsible for the Prometheus!"

Miriah stared at the human medical officer. Post continued "I observed them, but their behavior didn't seem noticeably altered. They acted and thought like the same people. They didn't even know, apparently. I figured as long as they were still effectively the same people that we had a chance to get home! If I took them off duty then we would never get there!"

Miriah sighed. "How long has this been going on?"

Post sigh "About seven years into the mission. Stardate 26300 or somewhere about then."

"How certain are you that these replicants duplicate Malone and Westin mentally?" Miriah asked.

Post sighed. "Every test that I can think of, every test I could devise showed that their mentality was exactly the same before and after. An even continuity of psychological trends, even the brain wave patterns were the same."

Miriah nodded "How the hell did this happen?"

Post shrugged. "We received a signal. We approached the signal made partial contact with a race that seemed to exist in a different layer of subspace. They were sending their signal through a rift in subspace. However, contact was difficult, we just couldn't understand each other all the way. The Captain and Commander decided to enter the rift and see if a more direct contact would work. They went in, almost immediately they came out. They said that they'd spent a week inside the rift, and the shuttlecraft records confirmed that. They reported that the communications difficulty got even worse inside the rift and that we'd made as much contact as we were going to."

"You examined them thoroughly when they returned." Matae said.

"Yes." Post said. "Our computers weren't as fast as yours. The DNA analysis took a couple of weeks."

Miriah rolled her eyes. "Now what the hell am I supposed to do? Are they Malone and Westin or aren't they?"

Post shrugged and squeezed tears from her eyes "They were good enough for me."

Matae said, "We are in an area that is difficult to define. How do we tell if we're looking at the same minds wearing new bodies, or if we're looking at alien being who are posing as humans. "

"We have one way." Miriah said. She waited for Matae to catch up with her.

Matae looked uncomfortable. "I could attempt a mind meld."

Miriah looked at Matae carefully. The Vulcan healer was trained in mental treatment techniques as well as the more usual physical ones. Because of the telepathic nature of the Vulcans, there was no difference between Vulcan mental health and physical health. Healers were supposed to be able to do it all.

However, the mind meld was the most intimate contact possible to a Vulcan. Miriah had heard whispers of the meld as a child. As teenager she'd had the experience described to her by a close friend. Not only was the mental contact very intimate, but most humanoids were untrained in the sorts mental disciplines that Vulcans took for granted. So wading into a normal humanoid mind was uncomfortable at best for most Vulcans.

Asking Matae to have sex with Malone and/or Westin would be less invasive and potentially less uncomfortable.

"If I do conduct a mind meld," Matae explained "I will be able to ascertain if there is any broad alien influences in their minds. However, since I did not know or meld with them before the experience in the rift, I will be unable to determine whether they have been altered within normal human parameters. This will not define whether Malone and Westin are the original people who have undergone modification, or if they are new people who look like the originals. That decision lies with you, Captain."

Jacqueline Post spoke up. "They have been nothing but trustworthy since the event."

Miriah sighed. "If you will, I can make a better decision."

Matae nodded. Miriah had grown up with Vulcans and could tell that Matae wasn't looking forward to the experience but was trying to handle it professionally.

Matae activated the Intercom. "Will Captain Malone please report to sick bay. Captain Malone, Report to Sickbay One please." Then she sat down straight at her desk and began to meditate. Miriah escorted Dr. Post into the main sickbay to give Matae as much privacy as possible.

"What did you tell them to explain all the tests you were doing on them?" Miriah asked.

Post sighed. "The both had healthy appendixes when they came out of the Rift. Westin had his removed before the mission. So I was able to cover the changes and the testing by telling them that the rift had a mysterious regenerative effect."

Miriah nodded. True enough if not accurate to the scale.

Malone walked into Sickbay. She was wearing civilian garb, and looked more relaxed than Post had seen her in years. Miriah found it hard to believe that Malone was in her late fifties.

"Hi." Malone said. "What's up?"

Miriah faced a crisis at this point. The woman standing in front of her had been carrying a pretty unnerving secret around for twenty some odd years, and now Miriah had decide to blow it open or pass it off, and let Matae or a counselor deal with it.

"You were Altered in a subspace rift some time ago." Miriah said.

"Yes, the first contact incident. Has Dr. Post been telling you about the regeneration effect?" Malone smiled. She expected that Starfleet would be very interesting in seeing if the effect could be harnessed.

"You were altered in the rift." Miriah said. "Some what more than Dr. Post told you at the time."

Malone blinked for a few moments. "How much more?"

"I am going to ask you to submit to a mind meld with my chief medical officer." Miriah explained. "To help us determine if you're actually the same person who entered the Rift."

"I feel like the same person." Malone said.

"Your genetic structure has been pretty severely altered." Miriah said. "Physically you only match our records on a superficial level."

Malone's face hardened. She turned to Post. "We were different the entire time?"

Post nodded miserably. "But you've acting the same ever since. I think that mentally, you're still the same."

Malone's face grew red. She was about to open her mouth to speak when Matae interrupted her.

"I am ready to begin the meld. Captain Malone, if you will control your emotions to the best of your ability, it will make the procedure much easier." Matae said.

Malone stopped. She faced a wall and began taking deep, rhythmic breaths. "Give me a few moments, healer and I'll be right with you."

Matae nodded. "Come into my office when you're ready."

Miriah watched Malone meditate and regain her emotional center with great effort. After a few moment of deep breathing, Malone turned and walked into the CMO's office.

-*-

Matae reappeared about half an hour later. She looked at Miriah with a wry grin. Miriah vaguely recognized Malone's expression on Matae's face. It was disturbing. Matae wiped it off her face. "I can now tell you in greater detail what happened." Matae said.

"Please." Miriah replied.

Matae explained "Malone and Westin were struck by an intense beam of energy the moment they penetrated the subspace rift. They were killed almost instantly. The sub-space aliens were only trying to communicate, but they severely miscalculated. They used their superior science to replace Malone and Westin to the best of their abilities. The aliens left a mental impression of their intentions in the transferred mental patterns. The experience itself was buried to allow Malone a continuity of operation. The subspace aliens were, evidently somewhat unclear if Westin and Malone represented the species that they were trying to contact, or organic components of the shuttlecraft. However they regretted the damage and wished to repair it."

Miriah nodded. "And what about the mental state of Malone?"

Matae shrugged, another hold over from Malone. "As far as I can determine the mental patterns of Katherine Malone are intact and functional. Mentally, she's the same."

"Does Malone know what happened?" Miriah asked.

Matae looked grim. "She does now."

Miriah touched her comm-badge. "Commander Westin, please come to Sickbay One."

Matae looked even grimmer. "Can we not assume that Westin's mental state is parallel to Malone's?"

Miriah shook her head. "I am sorry. They might have left Malone intact because she's the Captain, and then altered Westin. I need to know."

Malone just sat in Matae's office with her head in her hands for a while.

Michael Westin came into the Sickbay at a jaunty pace. He was wearing a wet suit and dripping water.

"Holodeck?" Miriah asked. If the situation had been less grim she would have been grinning.

Westin did smile. "Yup. That holodeck technology is something else let me tell you. I feel like I have really just been surfing the north shore of Hawaii."

Quickly Miriah filled Westin in on the details of the problem.

Westin sat down heavily. "Damn. Jacqueline, why the hell didn't you tell us?"

Post sighed miserably. "I couldn't face the idea of being in charge of getting us home."

"Do you really think I would have left you hanging like that?" Westin said. "Do you think Katherine would have?"

Miriah spoke up. "Commander. I am going to ask you to submit to a mind meld with my Chief Medical Officer. I need to know for certain if there is any alien influence on your mind."

Westin nodded. "Sure. You're also going to want to change your computer access codes and rewrite my file so that I no longer have access to it."

Miriah shrugged. "I am not certain that we need to go that far, yet."

Westin said "Better safe than sorry. Can you trust me around your ship?"

Miriah looked him in the eye. "The crew of the Prometheus could trust you. You've behaved well so far."

Matae escorted Malone out of her office. Then turned to Westin. "If you will come with me?"

Westin stood up and walked with the healer into her office.

"How are you, Kat?" Post asked Malone.

"I am I'm fine. A mind meld is a pretty intense experience." Malone said.

"I'm told that it gets better as time goes on." Miriah offered. She remembered the smell of enlo-berries from Betazed. She had never smelled them herself, but they were a favorite of her half Betazoid mate Kevas, while he was growing up on that world. Miriah could now tell the difference between his memories and hers. Nevertheless, some of them stuck pretty strongly.

"I can remember little bits about growing up on Vulcan." Malone said staring off into space. She drew herself back. "Do you know how old Matae is? Somewhere over ninety Earth years." Katherine smacked her lips experimentally. "And she really likes plomik soup."

Miriah nodded. "Uh huh."

-*-

Several weeks later the Endeavor was in the area of space generally thought to be the Fulcrum zone.

"Captain to the Bridge!"

Miriah woke up to the call. Without thinking she was moving and pulling on her uniform. "Captain to the Bridge, Report!"

"Contact with an unknown ship. It seems to be a Kaa vessel, Captain." Brekka Di reported.

"Take the Endeavor sublight. I'll be right there." Miriah replied, scrambling faster.

In a few minutes Miriah arrived on the bridge. Still frantically arranging her self. "Di, what's the word?"

The Bajoran Ops officer stood up from the command chair. "It's definitely a Kaa ship. Perhaps some sort of battleship or something?"

"What were they doing?" As Miriah refined her understanding of the situation, more of her command crew started arriving on the Bridge. The clock said 0439. Time enough to begin alpha shift anyway.

"They were on an intercept course. They have followed us sub-light and are continuing to close. Their weapons and shields are on stand by, but not raised.

"Sound yellow alert. Get our shields and weapons to stand by." Miriah said.

"Aye, Sir."

"When we're ready, hail them."

"Aye, Sir. Hailing."

The main view screen cleared to show a snake's head. It was shorter and broader than a usual snake's head. The eyes were rotated forward for binocular vision. The Starship Bridge behind him looked almost Klingon. There was a lot of gray metal and dim red lighting. To Miriah it looked delightfully warm. The only things that ruined it for her were all the huge sentient snakes aboard it.

"This is Ambassssador Bloodclaw to the Federation ssssstarship. I demand that you reply." The snake hissed.

"Ambassador." Miriah acknowledged. "This is Captain Katasai. I read you."

"I bring wordsss from my government." Bloodclaw said. "Will you lissssten?"

"Ambassador, the Federation desires peaceful co-existence with all races. We'll listen carefully." Miriah said.

"The Great Kaa Empire has decided that your United Federation of Planets shows some promise and may be worthy of a treaty with us." Bloodclaw intoned.

"Really." Miriah peered at Bloodclaw's face. He had some expression that she could interpret but not much. A lot of what he seemed to be portraying was haughty condescension. Miriah could not detect any of the rage and violent hatred the Kaa Ambassador showed to her the last time that they met. "The Federation welcomes peace with any culture."

"We would like to negotiate a treaty with your Federation, setting our borders, and specifying the exact nature of our peaceful relationship. In this way, your Federation may have experience with an advanced race for the next time you negotiate such a treaty." Bloodclaw said.

"I would certainly be glad to look any such proposals you might have." Miriah said. If the Kaa had said this to begin with, The Miriah would have eagerly worked with them to establish a peace treaty. This was two violent encounters too late for that to be a credible circumstance.

"Ah. You see, already you make mistakes." Bloodclaw said in a patronizing tone. "Since the Kaa are obviously the superior race, it is you who should submit a proposal to us. You are fortunate that the Imperial Court has taken such an interest in you as to coach you through these early difficulties."

"Ah. Thank you." Miriah said. She had to work hard to keep the sarcastic tone out of her voice. This was diplomacy, the hardest work Miriah had to do as a starship captain. "Allow me some time to put together an initial treaty proposal, and then I will submit it to you."

"That would be acceptable." Bloodclaw allowed. "May I suggest that in the future you keep a treaty handy which allows you to quickly acknowledge the rights and borders of superior beings. It will save you much time, and perhaps preemptory execution."

"Thank you, Mr. Ambassador." Miriah grated. "We'll get back to you as soon as possible. If we could have information about your current borders and territories, that would help us to formulate the treaty more quickly."

"You're welcome, Captain. I will forward to you the data you need to know." Bloodclaw signed off.

Miriah sat and thought for a while. What were the Kaa up to? "Di, set course for the Fulcrum at half impulse. Start working up shift rotations so we can stay at alert status for a while. I don't want to let my guard down near the Kaa."

"Aye, Sir." Brekka Di acknowledged.

"Then call for a senior officer's briefing in fifteen minutes. Forward the Kaa border data to my ready room when we have it."

"Aye, Sir."

Miriah went into her ready room to start hashing out a preliminary treaty. Usually she would have a staff member who was trained for this sort of work, but the Endeavor was running light on people to stretch her life support for her long mission.

-*-

"I apologize for the dumb questions," Malone said. "Who are the Kaa?"

Miriah explained. "The Kaa are one of the first races we met on our way into Fulcrum space. The Kaa are reptilian. Imagine a broad snake. They grow to about three and a half meters long and about one hundred kilograms. They move by slithering. They have arms and hands, but no legs. They apparently have an aggressive and territorial form of government, one that translates roughly to Empire."

"The first time we met the Kaa we ran into a Kaa scout ship who after a few minutes of mutual scanning attacked us." Stroud continued. "Evidently we scared them, and they didn't want us approaching their space or the Fulcrum."

Miriah nodded. "We were forced to disable their ship. We asked for and got coordinates to send for a Kaa rescue party. We towed their scout ship until then. When help arrived it was in the form of a Kaa battle cruiser. Their opinion of us was very nearly the same as the scout's. After a few shots were exchanged. We locked onto their bridge and were able to knock down enough of their shielding to get transporter beam through. We beamed off the crew of their bridge through an organics only filter. Apparently this dishonored Bloodclaw, who was the commander of the mission that came to greet us. He killed all of the subordinates who saw him without his decorations."

"So this Ambassador Bloodclaw" Malone prompted.

"Has every reason not to like us. He even swore undying revenge on us." Miriah answered. "We were able to get him back to his ship, with a new load of decorations, and a promise not to attack us any more. He left making really unhappy noises."

"Now he's here demanding a peace treaty with the Federation?" Malone asked.

"Exactly." Miriah said. "And I don't like it one bit."

"So what do we do?" Stroud asked.

"We do what our standing orders mandate. We negotiate a treaty. However," Miriah called up the data that Bloodclaw had down loaded "I think this tells at least part of the tale of what the Kaa are up to."

The display showed a Kaa territorial claim that sprawled all over the holographically displayed map.

"The red zone is the space that the Kaa have claimed." Miriah explained. "The pink zone around it is an area that the Kaa want to reserve for future expansion. They're saying that they want first claim on any world in the pink zone as well as the right to approve or disapprove any Federation claim in the area before it takes effect."

"That doesn't seem too out of line." Malone said. "After all, we're still well outside of the Federation's stomping grounds for the foreseeable future, aren't we?"

"True, but look at this." Miriah said. "Computer, over lay the Fulcrum maps."

A second set of blobs appeared over the pink and red blobs.

"Oh." Said Malone. "And who are they?"

"This side is the Fulcrum and nations associated with the Fulcrum. And here is the Fulcrum's best estimate of Kaa territory." Miriah pointed out.

"So not only were the Kaa really generous with themselves about how much territory they actually hold, but their expansion annex covers the Fulcrum Zone and about half the races participating in the Fulcrum Project." Malone said.

"Not only that, but this pseudo-pod over here is completely absent from the Fulcrum maps. That area in Kaa hands would cut off easy travel between the Federation and the Fulcrum." Miriah pointed out.

"Ah." Malone said. "Now I understand."

"Now we get to work on our counter proposal." Miriah said. "The Endeavor doesn't have a trained diplomatic staffer on board, so we're going to have to build our counter treaty out of the lego treaty."

The command crew of the Endeavor spent the next three hours assembling pieces of prefab treaty paragraphs, until they had one that would satisfy the Federation. It acceded to some of the Kaa territorial claims but not all of them. It held rigorously to the Fulcrum negotiated territorial claims in the area of the Fulcrum. It allowed for a Kaa pink expansion annex, but a smaller one. Miriah carefully avoided anything that would conflict with the treaty she'd already signed with the Fulcrum, and any subsequent obligations if the Federation became a full signatory to the Fulcrum project itself, Something that Miriah was sincerely hoping for.

-*-

Miriah was standing on the Bridge of the Endeavor, speaking again to Ambassador Bloodclaw.

"You obviously have much to learn about dealing with superior beings, Captain." Bloodclaw let a hint of menace into his voice. "I do not find your proposal acceptable at all."

"I do apologize, Mr. Ambassador. Perhaps you would like to arrange a counter proposal? I would entertain it in behalf of the Federation." Miriah said as reasonably as she could.

"Your treaty proposal is an insult and you ask much of me." Bloodclaw growled. "But in deference to your obviously naive frame of mind, I will present you with a counter proposal in a few hours."

"Thank you for your patience, Sir." Miriah lied.

"Bloodclaw out." The screen again showed the blocky and threatening shape of the Kaa battle cruiser.

"Now, it's time for me to take a nap." Miriah announced. "William can you handle the bridge while I hit the rack for a little bit?"

"Yes, Captain. I have the Bridge." Stroud said.

Miriah almost held her yawn until she got into her ready room.

-*-

The command staff of the Endeavor along with Malone and Westin were again viewing the Kaa's proposed treaty and borders.

"Well they did back off somewhat." Malone said. "Not enough, but some what."

"I am really pretty enthusiastic over this Fulcrum Project." Miriah said. "I want to support what those people are doing. And I think it would be a good thing for the Federation to support."

Stroud looked thoughtful. "I agree with you that the Fulcrum's a good thing, Captain, but I think you're being a bit optimistic about the Federation supporting something this far out in the boonies."

"Perhaps. But if we sign off on this sort of territory grab, especially something that cuts the Federation off from the Fulcrum, then we're essentially giving the Kaa permission to go ahead and wipe out the Fulcrum if they decide to. I don't want to say that, even if I can't promise that the Federation will support the Fulcrum if something bad happens." Miriah explained.

"So you can't promise the Fulcrum anything, but you don't want to tell the Kaa that." Malone said.

"Yes. Exactly." Miriah nodded.

With this in mind they got to work on their next version of the proposed treaty.

-*-

"Captain, this simply will not do." Bloodclaw said. He sounded exasperated as if with a small unruly child.

"I am afraid that this amounts to what I can reasonably promise, Ambassador." Miriah said.

"Then I am afraid your Federation has many painful lessons ahead it. In the spirit of peace I will not destroy you now for offending my superior dignity so. In fact I like you. I may listen to your cries for mercy some day. If they are piteous enough." Bloodclaw said in a magnanimous tone.

"Ambassador, last time we met, I accidentally offended you. You promised vengeance." Miriah began.

"So I did." Bloodclaw replied.

"I offer my sincerest apologies for the misunderstanding between us. However if that does not satisfy your honor, I offer you the chance to come to the Endeavor under a promise of free passage to meet me in honorable combat." Miriah said.

Behind her Miriah could almost hear a wintry blast from Patton. She might choose Patton as her champion for any such combat. However, Patton knew her better than that.

"Obviously, you still have so much to learn, Captain." Bloodclaw said. He cut the transmission.

"The Kaa ship is moving off," Brekka Di reported.

Miriah stood thoughtfully for a moment. "As soon as they're clear resume warp speed for the Fulcrum."

One look passed between Miriah and Stroud. He plainly did not approve of Miriah's offer. He was even more put out by the fact that she didn't discuss it with him first. Miriah nodded slightly and said "Commander, you have the Bridge."

"I have the Bridge, Captain." Stroud said.

-*-

Fulcrum Station hung on the main view screen of the Endeavor. It was a huge, flat triangle about twenty decks tall with docking globes at each point. Another, larger globe bulged in the center of the shape. It was candy sprinkled with windows and lights. There was motion and detail that were enchanting.

The Endeavor was approaching on impulse drive, escorted by fighters, cutters and escort vessels.

"We're cleared for docking port number three." Brekka Di reported. The view screen highlighted the specified port. The Endeavor was too big to fit easily into the docking globes and so they were going to dock the ship along one of the ling straight facings at the edge of the station. It was in the center of the line. Miriah noted that it was a large docking port, which large doors and what looked like large cargo stations next to it. Evidently the Endeavor was being docked at one of their huge support docks.

"Proceed." Miriah said. The Endeavor would not dock under the control of the Fulcrum's main computer. Although this was the way most large stations brought ships into dock, the Fasanni who ran the Fulcrum usually didn't like to be so pushy with visitors. Visiting ships came and went on their own.

The view changed as the Endeavor crept closer to the station. Ensign Maro was being careful with the approach. Miriah approved. This was no time for grandstanding.

Eventually the big Federation starship slipped up to the dock and matched speed with the Fulcrum. "Activating tractor beams." Di reported. The Endeavor reached out with a powerful yet precise grip and pulled on the Fulcrum. Since the Endeavor was by far the lighter of the two, she drifted gently into the docking adapter. Hatches connected, umbilical feeds reached out and found ports that would work. With a set of thunks and slight shudder the Endeavor was hard docked to the Fulcrum.

"Hard dock established." Di reported.

"Enter class two support mode." Miriah ordered. The Endeavor would keep her own systems running to provide basic services for the ship. Her other systems would be on warm stand-by ready to go at a moments notice if called for. The Endeavor would drink deeply from the supplies of fuel, air and consumables that the Fulcrum offered. It was a pretty standard program for rare occasions when Federation Starships docked at neutral space stations.

"Commander, please begin setting up your shore leave schedule." Miriah said. She could see some of the crew people on her bridge begin to grin. She knew Stroud would keep enough people on the Endeavor at any one time to get her moving if necessary.

"Incoming message, Captain." Brekka Di reported. "The base Commander would like to meet you."

"Please send my compliments to the base Commander. I'll be right there." Miriah said. "Commander Stroud, you're with me."

"Aye, Captain."

-*-

Miriah walked through the docking tunnel into the body of the Fulcrum. The Fulcrum was an open design internally. Could have been any major starbase, except for little touches. Triangles were a reoccurring theme. The colors of the walls were different. The lights were actually a touch brighter than Miriah liked, but the temperature was comfortable, being slightly warmer than the Earth normal set of the Endeavor. Miriah made a mental note to get her "sun glasses" from her quarters. The Fassani who built the station recommended the idea of colored lenses worn to moderate the glare of the lights. They were convenient but not necessary for Miriah to operate on the Fulcrum.

The docking bay itself was a huge empty space with a lot of equipment folded against the wall.

There was a small crowd in the bay apparently work on the Fulcrum never stopped.

Out in front of the mouth to the Docking tunnel three figures waited for Miriah and Commander Stroud.

"Commander Ken-Los-Phar." Miriah bowed to the base Commander. He was an An-Phar, humanoid but obviously not Human. He was wider in his body and his skull. He had two articulated ears that stuck off the top of his head to either side. He had short, spiny, spiky hair, and a broad flat turned up nose.

"Captain Katasai, good to have you back here." Lam-No-Dan Ken-Los-Phar said, happily.

"Good to be back Commander." Miriah said. "Hello Mister Wu."

The Human next to the Commander was golden skinned. Not like the Orions but in the honey golden color of humans, with delicately swept almond eyes. He smiled faintly. "Greetings, Captain." He seemed to be thinking of something. Miriah understood that. He was the chief executive officer of a huge space station, his work probably never stopped.

The third being looked for all the world like a large, upright, orange colored rat. This was a Fassan. "Captain Katasai."

"Mr. Heron," Miriah bowed to the diplomatic representative from the Fulcrum. The Fassani arranged the alliance that built the Fulcrum, to facilitate their desire to meet all the races they could and open friendly relations with them. Mr. Heron was the happiest of Fassani diplomats, the one who got to arrange the meetings with all the new races to the Fulcrum.

"Captain Katasai, I have several pleasures at this moment. Seeing you and your starship come back to us safely is one. And this message from your Federation Council is another." He handed Miriah the message.

Miriah keyed it and read. She had already downloaded the public access Federation packet to the Fulcrum earlier in the year, so their computers has access to English and the other commonly used Federation languages. Miriah read the message.

"The Federation is confirming a friendly relationship with the Fulcrum." Miriah said happily. Her judgment had been vindicated. The next message was an even bigger surprise. "I've been ordered to wait here until another Federation starship arrives carrying a diplomatic delegation."

"Yes. You are to be our guest for the next three or four of your months." Mr. Heron said. "We are happy to welcome you."

"Thank you." Miriah said. This meant a longer wait until she could return to the Federation, but it meant that she could take more time to get to know the people of the Fulcrum and even better, they could take the time to do some much needed repairs and maintenance on the Endeavor.

-*-

Miriah and Patton walked the decks of the Fulcrum station. Miriah noted that when she was in Patton's presence she tended to walk more "Klingon". Part of it was Patton's longer legs. He was just over two meters tall and his legs were correspondingly longer. The other part was that Patton lived and breathed the Klingon Warrior attitude. He strode through the station as if daring anyone to challenge him. His presence was a reminder to Miriah that she, too was Klingon and therefore quite superior.

He was actually even worse than her father in that regard. Miriah consciously slowed her step down a little and reclaimed her natural rhythm. She was a Miriah, and nothing less.

Patton slowed his step to match hers without really noticing.

Miriah was heading into the heart of the Fulcrum station on a particular errand today. Although wandering around the Fulcrum and looking at it at random was great entertainment, Miriah was heading for a specific location.

The central super structure of the Fulcrum was an atrium, an open area with decks and balconies circling it. This open atrium held the shops and offices of the Fulcrum. Not only was the Fulcrum Station a crossroads for diplomacy in the area, but it was also a crossroads for culture and trade. There was a huge population of civilians, merchants, trades people and mysterious individuals bent on their own tasks.

There were a large variety of different people to watch and try and learn about as they passed.

For Miriah it was the most fun she'd had in a while. The rest of the crew of the Endeavor was also having fun with it, exploring the station and the people on it.

The station itself was a little heavier than Miriah was used to. It ran about 1.1 standard gravities. It was a little brighter, both Miriah and Patton were wearing their "sunglasses". It was a little warmer, holding an average temperature of 76 degrees Fahrenheit.

The smells were interesting but confusing. Miriah found that she couldn't really pinpoint any given smell unless she was within close range of the source. The melange of smells squished together was very particular to the Fulcrum. Miriah knew that no place would ever smell the same to her.

Miriah and Patton moved through the atrium to the glass sided turbo-lifts. The glass sides were an interesting design choice but from a few decks up the side of the atrium, you could see the crowded floor of the atrium and the swell of sophonts shopping on the main deck.

They rose to level 23 and went out and around the balcony. Idly, Miriah wondered what happened if someone jumped off the balcony. There was an open space of 23 decks straight down. Quite fatal, unless there was some sort of safety mechanism. With any luck Miriah would never find out what was.

On the outboard side of the balcony there were open-faced shops. There was nearly everything, civilian cargo brokers, scout services, always hiring people with their own ships, a does different sort of specialty shops. The "Exotic Environments" sold equipment specifically for use in hostile or exotic environments. Miriah found herself looking at an acid resistant paper and pen set for use on worlds where armored vacc-suits were commonly used. It was a nice back up if your suit's comm-system failed.

Miriah was here after something specific.

Down the balcony, in one of the triangular corners of the atrium, the shops were a little dimmer, or a little more specialized. This far up and this far into the corners of the atrium was not prime real estate.

In the corner there was a specific shop, with a specific purpose. Miriah walked up to it directly. A sign displayed the seal and symbology of the Romulan Star Empire. This obscure storefront was what passed for the Romulan consulate at the Fulcrum.

Miriah and Patton walked through the door and up to a desk where a Pink Fassani sat reading a PADD.

"Hello." Miriah Announced herself.

"Greetings! Welcome to the Romulan Consulate! How may we help you?" The Fassani receptionist said.

Patton nearly choked.

Miriah smiled. "We'd like to speak to Suvmar, please."

"I'll see if he's available. Who may I say is calling?" The receptionist perked.

"Miriah Katasai and Patton." Miriah said.

"Thank you! Just a moment." The Fassani turned and spoke quietly into its communicator, a small ear plug with a wire curving around the front of the face.

"He'll be right here." The receptionist said.

The door behind her swished open to reveal Suvmar, the Romulan Officer.

Try as she might , Miriah could never avoid inspecting his ears. They'd been nearly destroyed during their brief stranding on the ice world Tairac. Matae the Healer had been able to reconstruct Suvmar's delicately swept ears almost perfectly.

Miriah always subconsciously considered his new ears delicate and liable to fall off his head at any stress.

Suvmar grinned "Miriah! Good to see you."

"And you, Suvmar. How are you doing?" Miriah answered.

"Fine, fine." Suvmar said. "We have finally heard back from the Romulan High Command."

"Really?" Miriah grew interested. The chief problem with a Federation ship rescuing Romulan space ship crews was that any Romulans who had been exposed to the Federation were considered "tainted" and liable to be disappeared. Miriah was concerned for the fate of Suvmar and his crew. They were friends, now and Miriah didn't want his contact with her to hurt him. "What did they say?"

Suvmar looked a little surprised. "They actually confirmed my status as representative to the Fulcrum. They reaffirmed our contact with the Fulcrum. They're even sending a Warbird with a real diplomatic officer aboard it.

Miriah nodded. "Excellent. There's a Federation starship on it's way here with a Diplomatic officer, too. What about you, personally?"

Suvmar nodded. "Good. Our diplomats can be appropriately cold and distant towards each other. As for myself, I hope that my crew and myself can become such experts on the Fulcrum area that we'll be indispensable to the new Romulan representative."

Miriah said "Good luck."

"Thank you. Are you busy?" Suvmar asked. "Do you have time for lunch? There are some wonderful restaurants here on the station."

Miriah thought about it. "I think I can do that. That would be nice."

"Fine," Suvmar turned back to the doorway which opened for him. "Silenni, can you handle the officer for a while? I have some diplomacy to conduct."

The other Romulan Officer peeked out the door and grew wintry at the sight of the Federation officers.

"Oh. Suit yourself. I will attempt to keep things sane around here." Silenni never really liked the Federation officers. He resented them for rescuing him and "tainting" him.

Rael, one of the Romulan scientists appeared. "Did I hear some one talking about lunch?"

Miriah grinned, "The more the merrier."

Rael grinned back "That's what you Starfleet people always say!"

-*-

"What is it?" Miriah asked.

Brekka Di answered. "The Kaa Battle Cruiser we met last month. It's coming in to dock at the station."

Miriah went from her ready room to the bridge. On the main view screen she could see a tactical representation of the Kaa battle cruiser approaching.

"What's the Fulcrum doing?" Miriah asked.

Brekka Di altered the view so that Miriah could see the small escort and attack craft that stood guard over the Fulcrum. They had moved to be in a position to counter attack the Kaa ship should it attack the Fulcrum. "The Fulcrum mentioned the Kaa ship about five minutes after we spotted it. They didn't say anything, they just casually mentioned over the ops channel where the Kaa ship was approaching from and what docking port it was heading for."

"What's the Fulcrum's alert status?" Miriah asked.

"They are in operations mode, no alerts in effect." The ops officer of the Endeavor said.

Miriah nodded. "Stay alert but take no other action at this time."

"Aye, Sir. The Kaa ship has scanned us and knows we're here." Di mentioned.

"Where else would we be?" Miriah shrugged. "I don't imagine the Kaa are going to try anything confrontational. They don't seem that straight forward."

Di nodded. "Watching our back mode. Aye Sir."

Miriah grinned. "Now you understand."

-*-

Waiting at the Fulcrum was not as boring as Miriah had feared it would be. The Endeavor crew was exposed to several new life forms and cultures while at the dock. Not only that but the Fassani and their allies had spent a lot of effort exploring the local cultures, and so the crew had their research to work from as well as the raw data they could gather.

Not only this but the Fulcrum tied into a complex subspace communications network in the Area. The endeavor could send messages to planets a full sector away and ask for data.

Two weeks later Miriah was in a meeting with the representative of the United Planets. He was a tall human with blue eyes, a cleft chin and distinguished gray streaks in his blond hair.

He was wearing what Miriah could only suspect was a civilian suit. It had padded shoulders and decorative touches that were completely useless in a space going environment. He had a hat with a wide brim, but he took it off when not in the public areas of the station.

On the wall of his office there were several citations, commendations, diplomas and awards. There was one picture of a group of people that reminded Miriah of a class picture. The people in the picture were mostly human and all male. They wore odd bluish-gray uniforms with padded epaulets on the shoulders and a stylized planet with a ring around it on a patch on their shoulders. They were posed in front of a small one seat tactical attack craft, with swooping lines and a rakish look.

A younger Jon Steele was in the center of the picture and appeared to be the unit commander or the team captain or something. Miriah didn't peer at the picture carefully enough to read the caption.

Miriah had read some of the public information from the United Planets. Some of her cultural anthropology staff had really picked through it with a fine tooth comb.

The United Planets were like the United Federation of Planets, but with odd differences. Miriah had thought the humans of Earth arrogant and full of themselves. They were not when compared to the Humans of the United Planets.

The forms of government were similar in theory but the notable figures in their history were human males by a large margins.

The public information packet on the United Planets spoke of their new, more tolerant and open attitude and their final victory over sexism in their society.

Miriah doubted that. She also doubted that Steele had read the entire federation packet any more than she had read the United Planets packet. She wondered idly what his staff's summary of the UFP said.

"We're very interested in your Federation." Steele said "Two great governments based on the principles of Democracy." Miriah could hear him capitalize the word.

"Well, Mister Ambassador, The Federation is an organization of peace and enjoys friendly relations with many nations." Miriah temporized. "Instead of entering into an alliance prematurely, why don't we discuss a mutual trade and cultural exchange agreement first?"

Steele nodded. "That makes sense. There are some questions I would like to ask you about, though."

"Go right ahead." Miriah said.

"Some of your restrictions on interstellar trade with Federation Planets are interesting. A little restrictive perhaps?" Steele had specifics in mind but he was trying to sound out Miriah's philosophy before he approached them more directly.

Miriah nodded "The Federation values the rights of our citizens very highly. Among these rights are rights to safety and to guard their own well being. Our regulations are in place to insure this."

Steele squinted at her carefully. "Your people have demanded safety as a civil right?"

"We value freedom of choice more highly. Some choices are not safe in nature. Being a Starfleet Officer, for instance is not as safe as living a civilian life on one of our core worlds. Knowing and accepting the risks I live my life as I see fit and I am amply rewarded for the risks I take." Miriah clarified.

"Ah." Steele nodded sagely "That brings up another point. Your Starfleet is not a military force?"

Miriah nodded. "We consider ourselves a semi-military organization. Starfleet's first mission is exploration and science."

"But the Federation has no dedicated military force?" Steele asked.

"Um, not as such. Starfleet is the Federation's primary military force. We defend the Federation as our secondary mission. All Starfleet ships are capable of defense. We have a few ships with a more militaristic specialization, but they are a minor component of Starfleet. The Federation can also, if necessary draw from local militaries for reinforcement and greater mission capability." Miriah explained.

"Doesn't having a split mission like that hamper your ability to fight?" Steele asked carefully. "Our Union has a dedicated military, our Space Force and then a dedicated Exploration service, the Scouts."

"Ah." Miriah nodded. In her mind's eye she saw the destroyers of the Phoenix Domain, exploding. "Our ability to fight is not as hampered as you might think."

"Oh. All right, let's get back to this trade agreement. We're concerned over this restriction you place on the development and sales of weapons." Steele said.

Miriah understood where he was going. The Federation was somewhat technologically advanced from the United Planets. They wanted to buy advanced weapons and shields from the Federation. "Since the Federation is an organization of peace, we're pretty leery of spreading high energy weapons systems around. We do offer a technical advice service for defensive systems. Planetary based defenses, civilian shelters, that sort of thing. We're fairly restricted on what we can do. We can advise you on how to best use what you have to leverage its effectiveness. Do you fear that you may come under attack soon?"

Steele smiled faintly. "We think we can handle it. We pasted the Snakes I beg your pardon, the Kaa fairly well in a recent disagreement. We are not interested in your Federation weapons so much," He lied, "We were actually wondering if we might have anything that would interest your people. As a peaceful nation ourselves we're more interested in trade and commerce than warfare."

"Ah. Well then if you're willing to let go of the idea of supplying weapons to the UFP, I think you'll find us a lucrative market for civilian products of all sorts. The Federation began life as a trade association, you know." Miriah explained.

"Ah." Jon Steele nodded sagely.

-*-

Miriah walked out of the Ambassador's office into the reception area for the United Planets consulate. Miriah noted wryly that it was in a better location of the Atrium than the Romulan one. But then the United Planets were paying their own rent.

The Warrior Patton was leaning over a desk having a very friendly conversation with the receptionist.

"Ahem." Miriah said.

Patton saw her, nodded and turned briefly back towards the woman. "Perhaps we can met later."

Miriah noted that the woman was wearing more of the odd United Planets clothing with padded shoulders. Her blonde hair was coifed very precisely and intricately. She looked Patton dead in the eye and said "Perhaps", Miriah thought that she meant "perhaps" to rhyme with "as soon as possible", Miriah almost missed the piece of paper the woman slipped to him.

Patton turned towards Miriah with a serious look on his face and dancing eyes.

"Until next time then Mr. Ambassador." Miriah said to Steele

"Yes, until then." Jon Steele shook Miriah's hand firmly.

The two Starfleet officers walked out into the Atrium. Miriah didn't say anything to Patton. She couldn't think of a single thing that would not sound like teasing or even disapproval. Miriah was still not entirely certain where Patton's sense of humor was. Some times being the Captain was a pain.

Idly, Miriah noticed a Gormelite passing by. The Gormelites were one of the more intimidating races of the Fulcrum area. This one stood a mere two and a quarter meters tall, but he was scarred from some previous encounter, or several previous encounters. His eyes were flat white, which Miriah took to mean sensitivity to the red end of the light spectrum even up to the infrared. He was humanoid, but had fur all over his body that was rough and matted due to his scars. He had no nose. His dentition was a rough, bony plate across the upper and lower ends of his palate. He was carrying a shiny metal battle-axe, and some sort of blaster slung on a holster. Miriah noted the gun belt the Gormelite was wearing held pouches. No doubt an excuse for pockets, since the Gormelite was not wearing any other clothing. He looked muscular and strong. A part of Miriah's mind that she continually tried to tame wondered if she could take a Gormelite in hand-to-hand combat.

Patton grunted.

"What?" Miriah asked.

"That being was carrying a battle axe." Patton pointed out.

"Yes."

"If this is the case, would it be appropriate for me to carry my Bat'leth?" Patton asked.

Miriah smirked "I'll talk with station security about it."

"Thank you." Patton replied gravely.

They reached a turbo-lift car. There was no line for it, something one could not take for granted on the Fulcrum Station. The got in and Miriah said "Endeavor" which told the computer where she was aiming. The computer would take her to the quickest, closet and most easily available destination to the Endeavor. This was not always the station near the Endeavor's docking tunnel, but sometimes in an interesting part of the station nearby.

The car started moving. "When you see a Gormelite," Miriah asked, "Do find yourself wondering what it would be like to fight it?"

Patton nodded, "Every time."

Miriah nodded "oh." Inside she was grinning. She wasn't alone. Patton didn't even have biology to blame. He was bloody-minded through enculturation.

After dropping several decks, the doors on the turbo-lift opened. The corridor was not one near the Endeavor.

Several people appeared to be waiting for the turbo lift car. Miriah's mind noticed very quickly that they all had clubs of some description. Their body language was odd.

Patton was already moving out into them. Part of Miriah's brain clicked. This was a fight. The security aboard the station was aggressive and demanded that no energy weapons be brought aboard. Their scanning techniques were very good indeed.

Miriah thanked the gods that none of these people seemed to have heard of gunpowder or compressed air.

Patton hit the lead human with a kick to the gut. The human grunted painfully and went down.

The two people standing next to the first one blinked and belatedly swung on Patton He was already ducking, but he guiding the attack of one into another. Then Patton twisted the arm of his attacker and the broke with a loud popping sound.

As the man screamed and Patton dropped him, Miriah's hand flew up to her comm-badge.

A Gormelite stepped into Turbolift car. He had a club also. He seemed to be grinning.

"Endeavor!" Miriah yelled. She had more to say but didn't get it out. The Gormelite backhanded her with his free hand. Miriah stumbled into the back of the turbo-lift car. The Gormelite was very strong. He stepped into Miriah and reached for her comm-badge. She could hear Stroud saying something, but not exactly what. The Gormelite had left himself open by trying to take Miriah's comm-badge, and she wasn't going to waste the opportunity. Miriah brought a kick up off the floor with her hip behind it. Her foot struck the Gormelite solidly. Miriah was sure she heard a rib break. The Gormelite covered up and stepped backwards. Miriah stepped to the side and attacked the hairy being with a combination of blows. Miriah's upper body strength wasn't as great as Patton's or her father's but she tried to make up for that with skill and nastiness.

Her hands dug into muscle where the kidneys should have been. The twisting grab designed to painfully dislodge internal organs came out grasping hair.

"Metz!" Miriah cursed. She grabbed two big hands full of hair an used them as leverage to drive her knee into the Gormelite. However, he saw her coming. He twisted to that the force of the knee was deflected. Then the Gormelite grabbed her and simply drove her into the wall of the turbo-lift.

Miriah was pretty charged up with adrenaline, but the pain fought through that. "Ugh." The air was driven out of her body.

Miriah reached out painfully and managed to dig a finger into one of the Gormelite's eyes. The shaggy warrior yelled and grabbed his eye, dropping his club. Miriah kneed him again, as hard as she could make herself do it. He took half a step back. Miriah straight kicked him, driving him back further. The she used the distance to kick him with all of her leverage. One kick, two kicks, three.

On the third one he blocked the kick, grabbed her foot and twisted. Miriah sat down hard and yelled herself. The ankle joint screamed. The Gormelite moved in on her, snarling. Blood dripped from his ruined eye. Miriah didn't want to do anything but sit and grab her ankle and yell. With great presence of mind and well-honed concentration, Miriah used her other foot to kick the Gormelite in the crotch. Miriah was surprised when he made a woofing noise and backed off. Gormelites didn't seem to have any obvious genitalia. Miriah knew she had to capitalize on the moment. She struggled to an all fours position. Then, balancing on her left knee, the one with the hurting ankle and using her hands for balance on the floor, she kicked the Gormelite in one of his knees with her good foot, at an upward ankle. Miriah couldn't tell how badly she hurt him. On a normal humanoid the patella would have been dislocated. The Gormelite screamed and fell down clutching his knee, consistent with a dislocated patella.

Movement caught Miriah's eye. A human stood in the doorway to the turbo lift with his club. Miriah snarled. Why, when you wanted something sneaky, treacherous, underhand and just plain mean done were there always humans willing to do it? The human's eye were wide. "Great Ghu, she took down Gronk!" Miriah scrambled for the Gormelite's dropped club.

"Hit her, Stupid!" Another human voice shouted "Gronk softened her up for ya!"

The Human stepped forward and raised his club. Miriah was hampered by the fact that disabled Gormelite was lying screaming, across his club. Miriah raised her arms to ward off the blow.

The human hit her. Her left arm took the blow and fed all the pain to Miriah's brain "Agh!" She yelled.

The human raised the club again. Miriah cast around for something, anything to do. There was only one option given her current state.

"Endeavor! Emer-" She yelled. The Human hit her again.

"Aiiiieeeee!" Miriah screamed. There was fear and pain in her scream. There was also anger and frustration. Another blow. "Endeav-" She tried again. Another blow. Things got confused. Miriah curled up into a fetal position trying to protect herself. "Endeavor.." She cried weakly.

The human reached down, and took her comm-badge off. "No!" Miriah grabbed at his arm. He hit her again and again and again. Things got unclear for a while.

-*-

Stroud was on the bridge of the Endeavor. He was not shouting or making any sort of scene. That was somehow worse. The crew got the feeling that he was somewhere past a hissy fit

The Endeavor was at red alert, and people were scrambling to get the ship battle ready. Starships didn't usually go to red alert while docked and so they had to fake some of it.

"Security, are you ready?" Stroud calmly asked.

Lieutenant j,g. Zweller was in civilian clothes but had some body armor and a hand phaser. "Yes, Sir! Beam us in there!"

Stroud turned to Joe-The-Scan. "Beam them."

"Sir, I'm sorry. The transporter scrambler is sill up." Joe-The-Scan said.

Stroud turned to Brekka Di. "Get that transporter scrambler down."

Brekka Di replied "I have the Station's Chief of Security on the line." She transferred him to the main view screen and got to work on her ordered task.

The screen cleared to show an intense raven-haired human woman. "I am Misal Forou, the station chief of Security." She said.

"I don't care who you are." Stroud said. "My captain and chief of security are under attack on your station. Drop your transporter scrambler so I can get them out of there."

"No." Forou said. "If you cannot beam in, then the assailants cannot beam out. I have two squads on the way and the rest of my force on alert."

"I don't care if you have God and his heavenly host on the way. Drop your transporter scrambler. Now." Stroud said.

"I can't do that, Commander. I am sorry." Forou said. "Now if you'll excuse me I expect my people to be in action within a few moments."

Stroud said "End communication." The screen blanked. He turned to Brekka Di and Joe-the-Scan "You have three minutes to drop the scrambler for them." He stomped off the bridge.

"Yes, Sir." Joe-The-Scan replied. "Would you like Mustard on dat?"

-*-

Within a few moments the Endeavor's scanners revealed the corridor filled with Fulcrum security troops.

"I can't make out the scans to well, Commander." Joe-the-Scan said "But I am not pickin' up the Captain."

Stroud said nothing. He didn't have to.

Brekka Di's panel beeped to alert her to an incoming message. "Commander, It's the Fulcrum's chief of security."

"Put her on." Stroud growled.

The main view screen cleared to show the woman standing in a corridor of the Fulcrum. Obviously she was speaking into a hand held communications device. "Commander, I placing the Fulcrum station on locked down status. We have your chief of security here. He's in bad shape but our healer should be able to save him."

"What about the Captain?" Stroud asked carefully.

Forou looked uncomfortable. "I need to ask you a question about her. What color is your captain's blood?"

"Green." Stroud said. "Bright green when it's exposed to air."

"Ah. Well then we have some of your Captain's blood but she's not here." Forou reported.

Stroud stood stock still for a moment. "Where is she?"

"We don't know. We're beginning a search now."

Stroud's next words almost hurt him to say "Would you like our security personnel to assist you?"

Forou looked thoughtful for a few moments. "Yes. Send them in. They'll be under my command, Commander Stroud, but yes, they'd be helpful."

Stroud closed the connection and turned to Zweller. "Can your people handle this assignment, Lieutenant?"

Zweller nodded. "Yes, Sir."

"Put one quad on Matae to escort her to the Fulcrum's sickbay, the rest of you, and I mean all of you, get over there and join the search for the captain." Stroud said.

"Don't you want any security at all left here, Commander?" Zweller asked. He didn't like leaving his bases uncovered.

"No. Get the Captain." Stroud said.

"Aye, Sir." Zweller and his quad left the bridge at a trot.

"Stand us down to yellow alert. Arm the crew." Stroud said to Brekka Di.

Di looked at him. "Even the Prometheus crew?"

Stroud looked at her and tried to sound out his instincts. They weren't very audible over the crisis. "Only the Starfleet officers, unless I tell you different."

"Yes, Sir." Di said she began to make the appropriate arrangements.

"You have the Bridge, Di. I'll be in the Captain's Ready room." Stroud said.

"Sir?" Brekka Di said meaningfully.

Stroud read the implication. "I have to brief our other Captain, Di."

The Bajoran woman's eyes widened. "That's right, isn't it?"

Stroud nodded. He turned and entered the captain's ready room. He sat down at the Miriah's desk and keyed the intercom. "Captain Malone, please report to the Captain's Ready room. Commander Westin, please report to the Captain's ready room." Then he closed the intercom and waited.

-*-

When a hint of consciousness passed Patton's way, he grabbed it greedily and tried to use it to fight with. A core awareness in him was that both his and his Captain's lives depended on his ability to kill, maim or disable all of their attackers.

Something was holding him. This was a bad thing. He tried to wriggle free. His body hurt vaguely. Patton knew he was in shock, but put the knowledge off until later. He started cataloging his advantages and tools. His chief advantage all the way through childhood and his early adult years was his intelligence He decided to try and use it.

"Warrior, can you hear me?" A voice called from a great distance.

Patton thought carefully. That was someone he recognized

"Warrior, can you hear me?"

It was Matae the healer. Patton opened his eyes. It took longer than he thought it should and was more difficult. His eyelids seemed to ten kilograms each. He was looking up at the overhead of a sickbay.

"Eerrrrggghhh." Patton said. His jaw didn't seem to want to work.

"You must relax somewhat." Matae said. "The first battle is over. Now your fight is to recover. Do you understand?"

Patton began to look around. Where was the Captain?

"Warrior." Matae said somewhat forcefully. "Do you understand me?"

Patton looked into her face. He knew then that the Captain was gone and that Matae was worried about him. He stopped thinking very coherently. All he knew was that he had to get better. He had to get vengeance. He had to live long enough to see who ever did this die.

Patton's mind went away for a while.

-*-

The Healer on the Fulcrum was a tall, lanky humanoid, with long features and long, delicate looking hands. Inro Ina Jaret was a Gerodan, a member of an old peaceful humanoid race devoted to healing and to supporting life.

"His will to live is very strong." Inro said to Matae.

"Yes." Matae agreed.

"I fear for his full recovery. His injuries are severe." Inro said sadly.

Matae quirked an eyebrow. "There is nothing wrong with him that I can not repair. His recovery will take time, but it should be complete."

Inro looked at Matae thoughtfully. "Your medical science must be advanced."

Matae understood his meaning. "Would you like to assist me in the treatment of this patient?" And not coincidentally get a primer on Federation medical techniques.

"I would like that." Inro said, pleased that Matae understood.

They prepared to move Patton back to the Endeavor.

-*-

Miriah woke up in a considerable amount of pain. "Uggghh." She said.

As she faded in, he noticed several things in sequence. She was restrained in an especially undignified spread eagle position. The air was delightfully warm, and carried several tangs that she could not quite identify. Lastly, she was nude.

Miriah opened her eyes. There was a bright light shining down on her. A figure was puttering around her. With a small start Miriah realized that it was a Kaa. She felt its hand on her, dry and smoothly scaly. As it did things, the amount of pain she experienced lessened.

"My lord, the subject is awake." The Kaa standing over her said.

"Raise her."

The steel table Miriah was strapped to tilted. Eventually Miriah could make out the room. The brightest light was shining on her. The rest of the room was done in soothing deep reds. On a raised dais sat Ambassador Bloodclaw. He was resplendent in layers of jewelry and brightly colored robes. In the dim red light hey didn't look a tacky as they really were. He sat on an ornate bench that could have come from any ancient Klingon Warlord's war barge.

Miriah grimaced. He face felt hot and stiff. She remembered being clubbed in the face. It didn't hurt as badly now. She carefully looked at the Kaa puttering at her. It was using a variety of medical devices on her.

"I am certain you are wondering what you're doing here." Bloodclaw said with happy menace.

"I think your intent is fairly clear, actually." Miriah said. Her jaw gave her a few very sharp stabs of pain before subsiding. Miriah sounded mushy to her self. A quick check with her tongue told her that yes, several over her teeth were missing.

"That's all right." Bloodclaw sighed. "You're very quick on the uptake. That will just heighten the anticipation you will feel later."

Miriah actually wanted to run home and hide under her bed. She desperately wanted to be anywhere but where ever she was at that moment. She carefully restrained her reactions. Her mind and her self-control were the only tools left to her. She clung tightly to them.

"Is this the part where I tell you that you'll never get away with this, or shall I wait until you reveal your master plan?" Miriah said.

Bloodclaw blinked slowly. "Reveal my master plan?" He thought about it. "That's kinky."

Miriah rolled her eyes.

"It has possibilities. If I do I suppose you'll still feel responsible for stopping me, even though you're helpless. Female humanoids in a position of power always feel responsible for everything. It's in you nature. Hmmm." Bloodclaw thought for a moment "Let me get back to you on that, shall we?"

The Kaa ambassador slithered own off his dais, and over to the steel table. "This Kaa is my Torturer. He is also a fully qualified healer of humanoids. All the better to keep you alive and suffering with. Those incompetent fools I hired to bring you were supposed to bring you in as intact as possible."

"Hard to find good help, I guess." Miriah said.

"It certainly is. This Kaa will heal you as much as possible and then in a little while we'll begin the ritual." Bloodclaw leaned forward. Miriah could smell his breath. It was dry and a little sweet. Then his forked tongue flicked out and licked her face with a feathery touch.

"Interesting. Your copper based blood gives you an interesting tang." Bloodclaw said. "I will have to speak to my chef."

Miriah found herself horrified by this statement. Her skin seemed to be trying to crawl off and hide on it's own. "You're kidding. You're going to eat me?"

"Not immediately, no." Bloodclaw said. "After the Torturer has used you up. Then I will eat you."

Miriah stared at him. Then without meaning to, she started giggling. "Seriously."

Bloodclaw looked at her with a quizzically cocked head. "Yes. Seriously."

Miriah's laughter became full throated at that point. She laughed until tears were streaming down her face.

"An interesting reaction." Bloodclaw said. "Are you sure she's functional?"

The Torturer Kaa thought about it for a few moments. "I will check her blood oxygen level. But I suspect that this reaction is psychological in nature."

"I have never eaten an insane one before." Bloodclaw said. "Will it affect the taste?"

Miriah laughed harder.

"After the first few days of my work there is always some mental damage. You have simply never noticed because they never get a chance to express it to you, My Lord." The Torturer informed him. "Would you like this one to be prolonged until you can experience her madness?"

Miriah could barely breathe. She was afraid of loosing control of her bladder.

Bloodclaw thought about it. Psychological pain was a very esoteric concept. He wanted to eat Miriah's eyeballs. "No. My vengeance will not wait. We will proceed as planned."

"Very good My Lord." The Torturer replied, bowing.

Miriah kept laughing.

Bloodclaw turned and exited through the triangular doorway.

-*-

Katherine Julie Malone sighed deeply. "So I'm the senior officer, now?"

Stroud looked unhappy about it and Malone didn't blame him. She was supposed to be a passenger, not the C/O.

"I am sorry, Commander. I'll do my best to work with you on this." Malone said. "As of now I assume command of the Endeavor, pending the return of Captain Katasai. Please note it in your log."

Stroud nodded and made an entry on the screen in front of him. "The log has been appended, Captain. You're in command. Please enter your passwords."

Malone entered her own set of passwords into the Endeavor's main computer. "Commander are Miriah's passwords still valid?"

"Yes, Ma'am. They are." Stroud replied.

Malone nodded. "We'll change them. I don't want whoever has Miriah to disable the Endeavor with her passwords."

Stroud didn't like the idea but couldn't argue with the logic. "Aye, Captain."

Malone turned to Westin her long time executive officer on the Prometheus and partner on several levels. "Michael gather together the Prometheus crew. We'll add to the Endeavor's search efforts in two ways. Our security crew and any appropriately skilled people who want to volunteer can join the Endeavor and Fulcrum security in the search. Put ZanKaye and people appropriately skilled on his end of things can begin a more quiet investigation. He has the street skills. Let's use them. Michael I'm putting you in charge of the search over all."

Malone turned back to Stroud "Commander Stroud, you're staying in operational command of the Endeavor. I want a full report on our readiness for space and for battle as soon as you can get it together."

Stroud said too quickly. "But, Captain, our orders are to wait here at the Fulcrum for the mission bearing the Federation Representative."

Malone's lips thinned. "Noted. If recovering Miriah takes putting to space or even going into battle I want to be ready on the bounce. I don't like being in the Endeavor's center seat any more than you like having me here, Commander."

Stroud nodded. "Yes. Captain. Sorry."

"One more thing. Get me a list of the people in Endeavor's crew who have experience at interfacing with, errr, civilian business interests." Malone said.

Stroud stood up. "Right away Captain."

"Dismissed." Malone said. "You too, Michael. Get out there and find Miriah for me."

The two Commanders left the Captain's ready room. Malone started to mentally compose her first log entry in command of the Endeavor.

-To be continued-

Disclaimer: Paramount owns all things Trek. I claim original characters and situations in this story for me.

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Jay P. Hailey

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