The End of the Beginning

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Ens. Ael Tr'Radiak 's Duty Post

ACMO, USS Explorer, Excelsior class 

Captain Caillean NicRath, CO

Commander Kyshu Nakomata, XO

Lt. Commander Shavek, CMO

Lt. Devak, CSO

Lt. Niema Triath, CEO

Ens. Kahlan, medical personnel

Stardate 2367.09.1435 

^Sickbay^

Ael Tr'Radiak was reflecting in a quiet corner of her mind, a corner where she wasn't dealing with trying to stop Bolian Lieutenant Devak from bleeding to death, which nothing in the Academy had prepared her for. The Explorer had been called to Wolf 359, to aid Admiral Hansen's ships, answering the urgent calls. And had found them in something none of them had ever experienced before.

^Bridge^

Captain Caillean NicRath stumbled to the helm, trying to take over for her dead helmsman, as there was almost no one else to do it. The ship bucked like a bronco with a cougar on its back and Caillean felt herself falling. Her hands clawed at the metal she had been thrown onto, wondering why someone didn't stop that woman from screaming, before the realization that the screams were her own. She felt hands reaching for her and slipped into darkness...

Commander Kyshu Nakomata didn't spare the limp body of his commanding officer another glance. She was in the hands of chance now. He had a ship to save. The Chief Engineer's voice spoke from his comm "Triath to Nakomato" "Nakomato here. Go ahead" "The warp core is very unstable Commander" said Triath in a worried voice....

^Sickbay^

Ael managed to stop the worst of the bleeding and was attempting to repair a hole in an artery when the ship gave another shudder. She, the Bolian and her Klingon tech Kahlan were thrown against the far wall. She scrambled to her feet but was only in time to watch Devrak die. "Arrinye!" she snarled, her usual Vulcan calm loosing to her turbulent Romulan side in this stress. She started towards the next victim, which she recognized with shock as the Captain Caillean NicRath. The human woman's face was untouched by the wounds she had suffered. Idan heard Kahlan trying to find out how this had happened while she began trying to save the woman's life. Suddenly, an alarm pierced the noise of the sickbay, the cries of the wounded.

Ael's hands kept up their work even as she recognized the cool voice of Lt. Commander Shavek, the CMO, at her side. She hadn't heard what he said, and she looked at him as he reached for her hands. "It is over" he repeated. She tried to wrench her hands away. Captain NicRath was bleeding to death! "It is a waste of your last moments Ael. " said the half-Vulcan, half-Romulan CMO. "Didn't you recognize that? A warp core breach is." And Ael's universe narrowed to blinding pain and the screams of those around her..... Ael had no time to mourn for all the lost chances, for what would never be, the children she wouldn't see or have, the crew who would have been her family. The Explorer's warp core went and it took with it not only its ship but also its sister ship, the Navarre.

USS Mystic

Stardate 50309.09.2345

^Sickbay^

Ael opened her eyes, wondering why the afterlife looked a lot like a starship's sickbay. She tried to speak but her mouth felt like the sands of Vulcan. Shavek, Caillean, Kahlan. She thought. But she hurt too badly to stay conscious. She heard the hiss of a hypo and found herself once more falling into the blackness of chemical-induced sleep.

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Captain Sharek Tekon's Duty Post
CO, USS Mystic, Ambassador Class

Stardate:50309.16.2145
Ship's Location: Phase-Cloaked near the battle of Wolf 359

Captain Sharek Tekon had the Mystic stop it's time jump just in time as one of the science officers in charge of identifying possible crewmates yelled out.

Science Officer," Sir, I have identified another possible crew addition, the USS Explorer's warp core is about to explode. Later when Starfleet scans the wreckage they will identify the molecular residue of all but one of the Crew and Ensign Ael Tr'Radiak the Assistant Medical Officer on the ship."

Tekon, "All stop. Hold time jump. All crew prepare to receive another recruit. If anyone needs me I will be in sickbay. This is the 12th crewman from this time so it should be routine by now people." With this the sole senior officer aboard the USS Mystic headed to sickbay to coordinate the new arrivals' recovery. There he watched as she was beamed onto the table and he immediately touched a hypospray of sedative to her neck to stave off shock and slow her heart to reduce any stress to her heart.

3 hours later they had successfully saved her from death and the medical bay was now emptying out of Temporary personel except for Tekon. Sharek Tekon looked at the unconscious female on the table, he thought it strange to see a 1/2 Vulcan, 1/2 Romulan from the 24th century since in this time they still hated each other any half breeds were rare. Finally he decided it was time to welcome her and he touched the hypospray to her neck. Her first sight was that of his tall slender figure standing over her. Being a 1/2 Vulcan, 1/2 Romulan himself, his appearance was similar to her own, his hair was black to his shoulders and was pulled back in a pony tail while his green eyes tried to soothe her worried looks.

"I am Captain Sharek Tekon of the 25th century Ambassador Class Timeship USS Mystic NX-T. You are in my sickbay. Welcome back to the land of the living. You were saved from death because Starfleet in this time period never was able to find any molecular trace of you in the wreckage. For this reason I am giving you a second chance at life, here is a padd that details what this ship has been through please read it. Afterwards a nurse will be along to give you a new uniform and show you to your new quarters. If you do not wish to stay as a member of the crew I can always put you back where we found you, the choice is yours. If you join us you will become my Chief Medical Officer, but you will be allowed whatever time you need to say goodbye to your old life before you have to work." Tekon almost didn't add the threat of death but he had to, possible recruits need the shock to their pyschy.  Tekon left sickbay and found a nurse returning with a fresh medical uniform that had no rank insignia on it. He nodded as he watched her enter sickbay where he left Ael. As he walked away he couldn't help but have his spirits lifted at the thought of having someone of a similar breed as himself serving on the ship. At least now he wasn't alone as a senior officer.

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Ael Tr'Radiak
Chief Medical Officer

and

Captain Sharek Tekon
Captain

Stardate: 50309.17.1500

Sickbay

Ael tried to process all that she had been told. Why me? was first on her mind. Why had she been given another chance, when to her mind, there were others far more deserving... like Captain NicRath and ..she stopped herself. She was having a hard time dealing with the whole time travel thing as well. She sat up in the bed, tugging her braid over her shoulder, blue eyes wide as she filtered through the information, gleaning the bright lights. Right now, it was all a bit much to deal with. She took the uniform she had been offered, and soon had herself back to something more presentable. She decided to go in search of the commander of this ship, who, unless she was mistaken was half-Vulcan and Romulan like herself. She wondered if his parents had been killed as hers had, or if he was as unwelcome by most Vulcans on Vulcan as she herself had felt. As if she would taint the purebloods.

Meanwhile on the bridge....

Ensign, "Sir, we have located another recruit in the Late-22nd century aboard the USS Dakota, an android whose temoral signature is out of place. Should I set a course and engage the time drive?"

Tekon, "Yes, please do so. If anyone needs me I will be in my ready room."

As Tekon walked into his ready room he spotted Ael walking in behind him. Inside the ready room he acted as if he didn't see her and went to the replicator.

Tekon, "One pot of Columbian Supreme Coffee, late-20^th century, hot, and two coffee cups."

Ael shifted a bit, about to ask him if he was ignoring her or what, when he spoke. "Yes I knew you were there the whole time, I am just tired and wanted to get some coffee first before I acknowledged your presence. So what did you need?"

Ael reflected a moment before speaking, sorting through all the questions she had, finally settling on "Well, for one thing, aren't you... like me?" She stumbled over the question slightly. In her time, a mixed blood child was an outcast everywhere.

Tekon said, "Ahh, yes, my heritage. My Romulan father died before I was born and my Vulcan mother died when I was 4 on an away mission. Starfleet raised me and trained me to be the captain of a Timeship since then."

Ael asked bitterly, "Do they still hate us and view us as inferior?"
 
Tekon replied, "No, there are few Vulcans left in my time that hate Romulans and even fewer pure blood Romulans in general. You see at the beginning of the 25^th century a plague started to kill both Romulans and Vulcans alike. It was only through introducing the virus into a mixed child like we are that they found a cure. This caused the Romulan/Vulcan Reunification to begin. It started 1 year to the date that Ambassador
Spock passed away. Some say he already knew it was going to happen and he died peacefully."

Ael said, "It is good to know that this is no longer something to hide as if in shame."

"That is why no matter what time a recruit comes from, I allow no hostilities aboard my ship."

Ael lifted her head, her blue eyes sparkling, perhaps from tears, though her voice was steady. "I have made my decision."

Tekon was on his 4th cup of coffee as he sat behind his desk finally and looked at her while he spoke, "Really? You are the first out of all the recruits we saved at Wolf-359 that does not look like they are signing their death warrant."

"There is nothing for me in the past, I will stay here. Perhaps I shall have a future if so I would like it to be here"

Tekon smiled as he spoke, "That is good, I was hoping to have someone like myself to talk to from time to time."

She smiled, a fleeting one, but one that transformed her face for a moment, banishing all else in a flash of pure hope. "I would like to think there is a purpose to events. Above all, I wish to serve. And I would be proud to serve as the CMO of this ship."

Tekon replied, "On a ship like the Mystic, we are never short of events to give us purpose."

She looked away for a moment. "I have not given up on the idea of children. I would like to have a family someday, and I want my children, no matter their blood, to be accepted on their own. "

Tekon looked down at his lap after finishing a 5th cup of coffee, "I wanted children once; then Starfleet transferred the one I loved across the Galaxy and when I tried to get her to transfer to my ship she sent me a two word reply ....'Never again.' So when they announced they wanted us to do tests on the time engine, I did not think twice about it."

"I think we all have our reasons for what we do. That is mine. To learn about all cultures, and heal those in need, no matter what they are."

Tekon wanted to smile but he couldn't see past the anger of the betrayal he felt; then he looked up at Ael and for a brief moment looking at her took everything away and made him smile. Finally he spoke, "Report to Holodeck 1 in two hours, I will administer the Command Fitness Test to you personally, afterwards you will be given your official rank aboard this ship."

Ael smiled again. He had such a nice smile, it was impossible not to. "I will see you then, sir." and went to make her preparations.

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Captain Sharek Tekon
CO, USS Mystic

Lt. Commander Ael Tr'Radiak

CMO, USS Mystic

Stardate: 50309.20.2321

Location: outside Holodeck one

Tekon looked at Tr'Radiak and began reading off the scenario she was to be entering. "You will be entering sickbay at the beginning of a medical emergency, a three person away team has been beamed up. They consist of myself, who has head trauma (bleeding in the brain); the acting Chief Engineer who took a phaser blast to the abdomen and has internal bleeding; and poor Ensign Bullseye from security, he pushed the captain to the ground taking a phaser blast meant for myself; he has a sucking chest wound, (hole in chest) most of his Aorta, heart, and left lung are burnt, he has spinal trauma (two of his vertebrae are fused causing spinal damage that would paralyze him from the chest down)." They enter the scenario and the three officers are beamed to biobeds. There the Captain is the only one conscious.

Holo-Tekon, "Save Ensign Bullseye first, even if it means my death.... That’s an order." and with that he passed out.

Ael wasted absolutely no time. She had none to waste. She stabilized all three, with help from the one holographic assistant she was allowed, the EMH.

She had the EMH to begin on the Captain, alleviating the pressure and swelling by the use of a shunt and other, more current, equipment. All were designed to lessen the chances of brain damage. Then the EMH was to begin stabilization on the Chief Engineer's phaser wound.

She turned her attention to the Ensign, who was the most serious wounds. She decided not to deal with the vertebrae at the moment. She removed the damaged organs and replaced them with donor organs, as they were too bad to be healed. She immediately started on the meds that would keep his body from rejecting the organs, as she began closing the wound in his chest. She laid the last piece of synthflesh over the wound and checked the meds one last time.

She turned to the Chief Engineer. The EMH had taken care of the basics. It was up to her to do the fancy work. Her hands flew as she repaired the wound. She soon had him on the meds he needed.

Afterwards she turned to her CO, made her diagnosis and went through the motions required then said, "End program. What time, Computer?" The computer's voice said, "8 minutes, 29 seconds" She turned to Tekon, "That is it."

Tekon surveyed the test and finally spoke, "I regret to inform you that poor Ensign Bullseye was to far gone despite the transplants and died while you were working on the Chief Engineer. Also, by wasting time on Bullseye you endangered the life of other patients. You should have ignored the Captain's wishes and followed standard emergency protocol."

Ael bent her head. Even if it was only a simulation, she was kicking herself. She said softly, "I thought I could do it all. My first judgment was that the Ensign was too badly wounded to survive, but with the help of the EMH I believed I could spare the moments needed. I was wrong."

Tekon responded, "Don't worry about it, it is a worst case scenario ever doctor faces at one point or another. I, Captain Sharek Tekon, am happy to announce that you are herby given the Rank of Lt. Commander."

Ael looked up in surprise, but all she said was, "Thank you, sir."

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Captain Sharek Tekon
Captain, USS Mystic

and

Lt. Commander Ael Tr'Radiak
Chief Medical Officer, USS Mystic

Stardate: 50309.27.

Ael looked at her chrono. It was late. She went to the Captain's ready room and waited for him to notice she was there.

Sharek was finishing off his second pot of coffee as he wrapped up new crew schedules. Finally he looked up and saw Ael standing there. "Sorry didn't hear you come in. What can I do for you?" Tekon said calmly despite the two empty coffee pots on the desk.

Ael said, "Well, it is really time for us both to at least break for some food," then smiled.

"Food... sounds good I haven't had anything since... well, it's been awhile. Why don't we go to my quarters? I have some elegant meals programmed into the replicator," Tekon said softly as he stood and walked around the desk.

Ael thought it curious that he was suddenly using contractions but simply smiled, "Well I think that sounds wonderful"

Tekon exited the ready room with Ael beside him. As they entered the turbolift Tekon said," Deck 2." After a few seconds the doors opened and they exited, the Captain's quarters were right near the turbolift. Once inside with soft light displaying the room, they stood before an elegant living room set that had a 250 year old bottle of Romulan Ale as the center piece of the table as they moved to the right, around the corner was a crystal dinning table and oak chairs. On the table was a silver candelabrum with 3 candles in it. Tekon took a small object from his pocket and lit the candles. "There. Candle light is pleasant to dine by."

Ael smiled. "Well this is certainly more civilized than I am used to." She was surprised. She couldn't remember when, if ever, she'd gotten to eat in such a setting. It was extremely nice. And even more so to have such a pleasant, and nice-looking person to share it with.

Tekon pulled out her chair and seated her before walking over to the replicator. "How do you feel about Earth dishes?"

Ael smiled again. "I like almost all kinds of food, except ga'gh."

Tekon laughed for the first time since before the Borg attack as he said, "I tried it once and that was so I didn't offend the Klingon Ambassador I was dinning with. He insisted that anyone he dealt with know what ga'gh tastes like."

Ael grimaced, "I am sorry to hear that. So what do you prefer?"

"The first Earth dish I tried was fettuccini alfredo topped with duck. It was served with bread sticks and a salad. Since then I have tried, a wide variety of other Earth foods," Tekon said in a manor that gave the impression that he was remembering the dish.

"Whatever you wish will be fine with me. I, too, like fettuccini alfredo, though I believe mine had
shrimp." Ael smiled, thinking he certainly had nice eyes... again.

Tekon punched some keys on the replicator and two bowls of salad and a basket of bread sticks with alfredo dipping sauce appeared. Tekon placed them on the table and retrieved silverware for them to use. "Here, let's start with this then we will have the main course," Tekon commented as he stared into her wonderful eyes.

Ael smiled. "This is perfect. Thank you," while nibbling on the salad. Even though she knew most Vulcans refused to eat meat, she couldn't find much interesting about raw veggies.

After they finished the salads and bread sticks Tekon cleared the table and retrieved the main courses. For Ael it was fettuccini alfredo with shrimp, and for Tekon was his fettuccini alfredo with duck. "Dinner is served. If we are still hungry for food after this, I'll come up with, something for dessert."

Ael grinned, "I doubt I will be. This is quite the feast."

"Yes, the last time I had a meal this big was..... right before the Borg attack. I was in the conference room having a grand meal with my senior staff when the alarms sounded," Tekon said as his mind drifted off into a dark void.

Ael could tell the conversation just went south. "Not an easy road we walk is it?"

"I just wish I could get the image out of my mind of my First Officer and best friend grabbing the suicide drone and pulling it down the turbolift shaft with him... and all to save me...." Tekon spoke very softly as if he was trying to cut off his emotions. Finally, he looked up into Ael's eyes and smiled. "But that is over now, and I have to make the best out of what I have now."

Ael brushed a gentle hand across his face. "He would have wanted that. As Khalan would have wanted me to."

Tekon slid his chair next to her and held her hand as he stared longingly into her eyes; he wanted this moment to be burned into his memory forever.

Ael looked deep into his eyes, he didn't think she was a freak, far from it. If the universe had ended then and there, Ael would never have noticed.

Tekon was happy, something he hadn't been in years, he wanted this moment to last so bad before he realized what he was doing his face moved close to hers. As he looked into her eyes he kissed her deeply and pulled her close.

Ael found herself wrapping her arms around him and pressing her lips to his. This had to be a dream. Things like this didn't happen to her.

As Sharek moved his face away from Ael he whispered, "I love you, stay here with me."

Ael whispered back, reaching up to touch his face, "I love you too, I will."

Tekon picked her up off the chair and carried her in his arms to the bedroom where he gently laid her on the bed before laying beside her.

Ael reached for him, kissing him again.

Sharek shared a romantic embrace with Ael as the rest of the universe became lost to them.

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Colonel Ariss Zorran

Retired, Section 31

Location: 22nd century 

Ariss stretched her leg with a wince.  The pain was worse and she had yet to find anyone who sold painkillers strong enough to stop it.  But she'd lived with pain before.  She looked down at her leg and quickly looked away.  She hated looking at the twisted wreckage of her leg.  It had never healed properly after the last mission she was on and had only gotten worse since.  3 years she'd lived with it, and she'd lost count of how many times she'd tried to chop the bloody thing off.  She sat up and hauled her weary bones out of her bed.  She was only 25, but she felt years older.  She stood in front of the mirror and traced her finger along every scar. She was surprised to see that she was still well muscled.  She limped to the closet and got some clothes out.  Ariss slipped into her usual blue coverall and limped out of her tiny cabin and into the even smaller mess.  The shuttle she'd bought when she'd been tossed back to the 22nd century was ridiculously small.  She got a bowl of grayish slime that served as breakfast and leaned against the wall as she ate it.  Her mind, as it did most days, wandered back to the day she'd tried to leave Section 31.

~~ She limped into her quarters to collect the duffel bag that held all her belongings after handing in her resignation. She wasn’t of any use to Section 31 anymore, her leg had made sure of that. She picked up her duffel and looked around the room one last time, then walked towards the door.  Just as she was about to open it the chime sounded. She opened it, swore and stepped back rapidly.  Her leg prevented her from dropping into a fighting stance, but she wasn’t about to go down without a fight. Two figures in black, their faces covered, looking a bit like ninjas, stepped into the room.  She knew who they were, the higher-ups had sent them to take care of business. "I ain’t going down quietly boys," she said.

"So we were informed," they said in unison and one pulled out a black devise. Ariss backed up more as 'he' pressed a button and threw it towards her. It hit the floor in front of her and pain exploded throughout her body as electricity leapt from the black box into her. She fought to stay conscious, to fight these people who were going to kill her, but it was too much for her body to handle. She dropped, senseless and twitching, to the ground.

When she'd woken up from the shock, she'd found herself in a metal coffin.  She'd kicked and thrashed until finally the lid had popped open and she found herself in the cargo hold of some ship.~~

Ariss shook her head and tossed the empty bowl onto the bench. "And the rest, they say, is history," she murmured. "Time to start the day again," she said and limped into the 'bridge' and sat in the only seat.  She called up reports on the systems and read them as she tried to wake up. The engines were about to die again, just like the ones on her shuttle when she wasn’t back here in the 22nd century. She pushed the thought from her mind, thinking about her 'past' wasn’t a good way to start the day. Something registered on scans and she bought it up on the viewscreen. It appeared to be an unknown fold in space and it was opening right in front if her. If she didn’t get out of the way quickly, she'd collide with what ever was appearing.  She made calculations in her head and decided that the only way out of the situation was to go through the edge of the appearing fold and hope that she didn’t get sucked into it.

"Okay, engines do your thing, just last a little while longer," she said and powered them up to full. The shuttle shuddered but she was moving fast, maybe even fast enough to make it through the edge of the thing. The shuddering got worse and alarms started sounding. "Dammit!" she yelled but kept going. "Just a bit longer, you piece of junk!"

Finally, she was through. She spun the shuttle around to what was appearing. She didn’t, however, because her engines overloaded and exploded at that precise moment.

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Captain Sharek Tekon
Captain, USS Mystic

Lt Commander Ael Tr'Radiak
Chief Medical Officer, USS Mystic

Ariss Zorran
USS Mystic

Stardate: 50309.28 - 50309.30.2142

Tekon awoke to the sound of the red alert alarm. He looked at the chronometer on his nightstand and swore in Romulan. He had been asleep for 3 hours. The ship was passing through the time barrier as... and then he remembered the red alert alarm. "Honey, wake up we have to get to work."

Ael sat up "Is it morning already, love?" and then she too heard the alarm. She fought her way out of the sheets in a scramble for her uniform "What in all Arrinye is that about?"

"Tekon, to bridge report," he yelled after tapping the comm badge on his uniform with his foot since it was still on the floor.

"Sir, sensors detected a 22nd century shuttlecraft's warp core exploding as we came through."

"So what’s special about that?" Tekon replied.

"For one, it exploded trying to avoid us. And for two, the life sign on board read as 24th century by temporal sensors. We transported the female betazed/human and locked the pattern in the buffer 'til we could talk to you."

"Give me 10 minutes to get to sickbay then rematerialize her on a bio bed. Tekon out. Honey, we better get down there."

Ael pulled on her other boot. "Ok, dear." She looked up at him, "Not that I don't love the view, but you really should get dressed, dear," as she twisted her hair back out of her face.

Tekon started getting dressed, "You get down there and do your job. I'll be right behind you to greet our new arrival after you have stabilize her. The nurses have handled this thing before so use them whenever necessary."

"See you there then," said Ael, already half-running out the door. She raced to sickbay
 

In sickbay a few minutes later:

Ael watched as the woman was beamed onto a biobed. She quickly began assessing her injuries and snapping out orders for meds and for treatments. In a corner of her mind she was pleased at the responses of the nurses and techs, but her focus was on the patient.

Tekon walked into sickbay to the sight of nurses and techs hustling. He spotted Ael hard at work on the patient so he rolled up his sleeves and prepared himself so he could help as an extra hand if needed.

Ael heard the door open but she didn't spare a glance. After a few moments she stood back. The woman was breathing with help. The worst of the burns had been treated with synthflesh, though more would be needed. She was stable, but critical. It was going to be a 9-gallon-pot-of-coffee day

Tekon walked over to the bio bed and looked at the work. As he looked at the patient he noticed the leg. "Ael, have a nurse rebreak and then heal this leg, it looks like a primitive doctor tried to heal it. We can't get it at 100% but we can at least make it straight, the worst she will have is a small limp. The device the nurse will be using is from my timeline, it does all the work, if you were wondering."

Ael said, "I was wondering how I could treat that without further damage." She shook her head, "I must become more aware of the tools you have available." She turned to the nurse and relayed what he had said. She turned back, "She must be in constant pain."

"Well she will be in pain for at least 2 days after the device fixes what damage it can. Look in the computer, use her med scans to run a search on what pain killer to give her. We stocked up in the 26^th century, right before we lost the doctor... so we have medicines the nurses are unsure of."

"Alright," said Ael. This was a form of nightmare... meds no one was sure of. Ugh.

Tekon went over to a chair near the exit and sat down. It was going to be at least an hour before they could wake her. As he sat there with Ael in her office Tekon fell asleep. He didn't want to sleep, because if anyone ran a medscan they would find out he hadn't slept more than 8 hours a week since the Borg attack over 3 months ago. That... and he had nearly a 1% concentration of dormant temporal Borg nanites inside him, they were neutralized by the old doctor who was polite enough to erase all record from the computers.

Ael knew that he was far more tired than he let on. She carefully picked him up and carried him to one of the biobeds that wasn't being used. She was much stronger than she looked. She laid him on it, careful not to wake him.

Tekon was jolted from sleep as he was placed on the biobed and looked up with weary eyes at Ael... then he realized he was on a biobed and quickly jumped off. "You didn't scan me did you?"

Ael said, "Easy! You just looked uncomfortable in that chair." And she raised a brow, "Should I?"

Tekon straightened himself then removed emotion from his face and replied calmly, "No, there's no reason, I was just being... jumpy. You caught me off guard."

"Right," said Ael skeptically. She didn't press the issue, but she would remember it

Tekon sat back down and tried to remain awake, but the more he tried to force his eyes open, the more they closed. Within minutes he was asleep again.

Ael shook her head. Stubborn, stubborn man. If he wouldn't sleep on a biobed, whatever the reason, she had a cot in her office. So she picked  him up and carried him in there.

Ael pulled out a hypo of a mild tranquilizer and pressed it to his neck. He was sleeping if she had to hold him there.

Ael wondered how long it had been since he truly slept, so she pulled out a tricorder....

A few hours later....

When he woke up, Ael was there. "Why didn’t you tell me?"

Tekon looked at her, and then tried to act innocent by saying, "Tell you what?"

"You know bloody well what I am talking about." as she tossed the tricorder at him.

Tekon lowered his head to the tricorder, then without looking up replied , "Which part of this scan are you mad about?"

"Oh, bloody near all of it," she said. "Why couldn’t you tell me?"

Tekon didn't want to get mad but his voice rose regardless as he spoke, "Look. I have been the only officer for three months now. Every time I try to sleep the damn red alert alarm goes off so I stopped sleeping as much. Then I cut back more and more and more. As for the nanites, I didn't want to alarm the crew. They already lost almost 60% of the ship's crew and the doctor deactivated the nanites anyway. We couldn't remove them completely because as we neared removing the last one it would activate and start replicating. Leaving the ones inside me to kept them from reactivating."

Ael blinked, "Ok fine. I... see."

Tekon embraced Ael as he softly said, "Look, I'm sorry for yelling. I have been on edge, strung out since the Borg attack. Thank you for making me sleep. This was why I started finding new senior officers, so I could have someone else to help me."

Ael slipped her arms around him. "You have me to help you, always, my love. And I am sorry for my anger."

Tekon laughed, "You know for being 1/2 Vulcan we have to be two of the most emotional people on the ship right now."

She laughed, "Yes well we are half Romulan, too." She kissed him. "Let them talk."

Tekon returned the kiss then asked, "Is it safe to wake our new arrival yet?"

Ael checked her chrono, "Yes."

Tekon replied, "Good. Let's go wake her," and with that they walked over to the sleeping patient. "You wake her as I bring up any information the computer has on her."

Ael reached for another hypo in case it was needed. Soon the woman began to wake.

First there was pain, like she was being ripped apart, then there was nothing.  Blessed nothing, no pain, no feeling.  She let herself fall deeper into the nothingness....

Awareness returned, and with it, the pain.  She opened her eyes and it was painfully bright.  She closed them again.  There were people right beside her, she could sense them.  She sent out a light querying probe and found not one, but two Vulcan/Romulan minds.  She turned her head towards the female presence and opened her eyes a bit.  She fought to focus her eyes but couldn’t.  She took in the clothing, what she could of it, and came to the conclusion that this was a doctor.

Tekon looked down at the woman and spoke slowly as she viewed her surroundings, "I am Captain Sharek Tekon of the USS Mystic NX-T a 25th century Ambassador class timeship.... And you Miss Zorran, are reported as dead at age 20, yet our scan shows you are older than that."

Ariss snapped her head towards the voice and squinted at the owner. The name and voice was familiar, but without being able to see the face clearly, she couldn’t be sure.  "The reports of my death are overstated and clearly wrong.  I wasn’t 20 when I 'died,' I was 22, and I ain’t 'much older' than that.  I'm 25 now.  And if you're the person I think you are, what the hell are you doing in the 22nd century running me over with your anomaly?" she replied, taking the risk that this was the person she thought it was.  She forced her eyes open further and she focused on Tekon. Her oddly colored eyes began to water in pain, but she kept them open. She had no idea who the female Vulcan/Romulan was and she wasn’t about to show any weakness in front of the stranger.

Tekon watched the woman on the table who seemed to be in pain, he was unsure why she acted like she knew him but he wanted to find out more.

Tekon responded, "I never met you before and as for my ‘anomoly' it was a temporal shift we create with our temporal engines. Now since you say you are 25 and we can show you your birth certificate for age 20, I think we have a problem. You see the injury for your leg must have happened after your death which was obviously faked. So unless you want me to treat you as a prisoner instead of a guest I suggest you answer my next few questions truthfully and quickly."

Ariss felt something go thunk in her stomach. "What?  But we served on a ship together.  We overtook a hostile ship along with another crewmember.  I rebroke my leg taking over the bridge.  We even signed my cast.  We were friends."  What was going on?  This person sounded and looked like Sharek, but he refused to admit that he knew her.  She decided to play along, in case this was some Section 31 trick.  She couldn’t be sure if this was really the 22nd century now.  "I was a member of an organization that worked below Starfleet's radar.  We dealt with the stuff that Starfleet didn’t want to deal with.  I was in intelligence when I was transferred to something more active, which is where I met the Sharek that I know. But to be a  member, the outside world had to believe that you were dead."

Tekon, "Thank you, now my first question. What organization covered up your death."

Tekon, "That’s okay an estimate is fine, you will have time to put details of everything you know onto a padd once you have recovered. Last question before I get to the punch line: why do you think you know me?"

Ariss ground her teeth. "I already told you.  We worked together in Section 31, we were friends.  You taught me a meditative technique to reduce the pain in my leg shortly after we met.  I was able to operate more efficiently as a result.  When I left you were an admiral.  We were in contact every week up until I chose to leave."

Tekon, "Interesting, I'll have to look into this. Since we can not let you stay in this time period due to your future knowledge and our temporal sensors tell us that you no longer belong in your original time period you have an option. You can be placed on a world where you can live your life out without any sentient being ever finding you, or you can join the crew of the USS Mystic. You don't need to decide now. Our ship's doctor, Lt. Commander Ael Tr'Radiak, will be giving you a pain killer that will take away the pain you are in, and you will have to keep on the pain medication for at least 2 days until the repair work we did on your leg heals. In the mean time you can walk on it lightly, just don't put a lot of pressure on it. Once you have written a report containing all information you know that you can not find in our computer system, we will meet again in my ready room to discuss your decision. Until then dismissed."

As Tekon walked away Tr'Radiak pressed a hypospay to Zorran's neck administering the pain killer. As Sharek exited sickbay Ael followed him.

Ariss watched Tekon walk away.  For a moment she thought that being saved was not so bad, but now that this character claimed not to know her, she was having second thoughts.  She sighed and asked a nurse for a padd.

=/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\=

Lieutenant Jessica Renee Daniels
Terran Defense Force

Location: 28th century, inner Solar system

Renee slammed her hands into the controls cursing. This was supposed to have been a simple survey mission, not a combat engagement. Still, the Tak'rit fighters were moving in at high speed. Her hands danced out across the control board, willing some extra speed out of her ship as she opened a comm channel.

"TDF Base, this is Lieutenant Daniels. I've come under enemy attack. Please respond."

She was rewarded by the hiss of static, and resumed her cursing. The Tik'rit already had jamming in place. She shifted the controls slightly, veering off of her present course by millimeters, but in the long run taking her kilometers closer to the sun.

She hoped to use the sun's intense radiation to hide a brief warp jump. But she didn't count on that shaking the pursuing fighters. Finally, she resigned herself to a fate worse then death, and just prayed that accepting an honorable surrender was part of their mission parameters.

"Tik'rit fighters, this is scouting pod 731. I am on an unarmed survey assignment. Please, do not fire on me and I will power down my ship,"

Her comm hissed, then beeped.

"Scouting Pod 731, my mission parameters are simple. Your vessel, and yourself, are to be destroyed," The Tak'rit fighter replied.

The voice was crisp, with an English accent, not at all the harsh guttural tones of the Tik'rit. It took her a moment to recognize her attacker, and even less time to realize they had gained another handful of meters on her.

That voice belonged to her fathers advisor, Relvas. She cringed, realizing the mission had been a lie, meant to separate her from her father, making him an easy target for a Tik'rit assassin, and now she would die too.

She threw all of her ships energy into speed, powering down everything, including life support. Slowly her jump point came into view, and she began to plot the course. It was going to be tight, a few meters to the right and she'd be pulled quickly into the sun, a few meters to the left, and these bastards would have her head.

She throttled down slightly, her hand reaching up for the warp controls. Behind her the first of the fighters began to fire, even as her ship leapt forward into warp.

Everything suddenly seemed out of proportion to her. The warp field was still stable, but something was off. Behind her three explosions registered on her limited sensors, the Tik'rit fighters had been too far right. She tried to adjust her controls, but she seemed frozen, pushed back into her seat by the inertia of the ship.

She fought against it and finally was able to reach the cutoff. The ship snapped back out of warp, Earth's blue sphere in the distance.

Blue... That fact struck Renee as odd. The Earth, in her lifetime at least, had never been blue from space. It had always been a sickly yellow-gray color, the signs of the far too recent war.

Slowly she reached up and adjusted her sensors. Nothing... none of the defense satellites... one of the orbital weapons platforms. She shifted in her seat, suddenly afraid, more afraid then when Relvas's voice had come across the comm.

A sudden beeping brought her attention to her ship's controls. Her air was running out, and a ship was approaching, rather slowly, from Earth's orbit.

She cursed, wondering how much oxygen she had used during her jump, then realized the life support system was powered down. She mumbled to herself about dieing in an unknown time as she adjusted the controls. Then, with air flowing back into the cabin, she refocused her attention on the approaching vessel.

Already she could make out its graceful lines, but it was nothing she'd ever seen before.

"Unidentified vessel, this is Scouting Pod 731 of the Terran Defense Force. Identify yourself as friend or foe, or I will be forced to fire." Renee lied into the open comm channel. It was a bluff, her ship had no weapons, but maybe, jut maybe....

"Scouting Pod 731, this is the USS Mystic, we register no onboard weaponry, nor do we recognize any Terran Defense Force," the voice replied, softly.

Renee shook her head, then realized there was red creeping across her vision. She reached up and felt the blood flowing from the open gash. She must have hit her head during the frantic warp jump, and no matter who these people were, they were better then the Tik'rit.

"USS Mystic, I'm injured, requesting asylum, repeat...."

She never had a chance to finish her comment, everything faded out into blackness. And as she leaned forward in her safety harness a tractor beam began to pull her drifting vessel towards one of its hangers....

=/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\=

Captain Sharek Tekon
Captain, USS Mystic

and

Lt. Commander Ael Tr'Radiak
Chief Medical Officer, USS Mystic

Stardate: 50309.30.2230

 

Tekon leaned against the wall next to the sickbay doors , "She said she met Sharek Tekon a half-Romulan half-Vulcan in Section 31. How is this possible? There is no record of it for one, and for two how can there be two of me in the timestream and our temporal sensor not pick it up?"

Ael said, "Could she be from an alternate timeline?"

We checked when we transported her, anyone from an alternate timeline would be sent back to that timeline. I'm afraid she is from our timeline... unless he wasn't."

Ael reached up and rubbed her forehead. "And there is no way we can tell is there?" Migraines...ugh.

"Not unless we travel to her time which was identified as 2377 and scan him." Tekon said as he felt this conversation was going in circles.

"She could be mistaken. She is on some strong medications," said Ael.

"No, I saw the look in her eyes. It was one of familiarity, like she had known me for years." Tekon said with some depression in his voice.

Ael slipped an arm around his shoulder. "I will ask if she will consider a mind meld. I am not the strongest ever, but not the weakest, either. Perhaps there are details that she knows that would help."

"No. Let's wait and read her report, until then...."Tekon was interrupted by the comm system.  
     
"Sir, This is Lt. Reynolds on the bridge. We have identified another time traveler and arrieved at the destination per your standing procedure orders. She is from the 28th century by the looks of things. Her Scout ship is in the shuttle bay and she is being beamed to sickbay. She has a severe laceration on her head and her body was under stress from a slingshot around the sun. She arrived the hard way."

"No rest for the wicked, hmm darlin'?" said Ael as she turned back towards sickbay.

=/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\=

Jessica Renee Daniels
Formerly of the TDF

"Computer, begin personal log recording," Renee said, as she leaned against the wall of her 'new' quarters.

The computer beeped, the only indication that her request had been accepted.

"I've been here less then two days and already I am adjusting to the routine."

She pushed herself away from the wall and started over towards her desk and the datapad which laid on its surface.

"The Captain has asked me to file a full report on my background, and what I know of the time period in which I came from. It still seems slightly odd, the prospect of being from a different time period then this vessel, but the Captain assures me that I will not be missed."

She sat down, rubbing a finger along the edge of the datapad as she thought.

"And while not all of the information is still clear to me, what bits and pieces I do know are beginning to fit into place. I guess I should begin by going back, or in this case forwards. I was born on Earth, sometime in the later half of the year 2717. I was raised by my father, my mother having been killed in an attack on Earth. I was raised with the knowledge that the Federation was a useless governing body that should be destroyed. I was trained by my father in the art of combat, and later sent to a specialized school to learn the art of intelligence. I was my father’s personal aid, secretary, and bodyguard, at his side always, unless my other missions dictated I must leave it."

She paused, glancing at her worn TDF flight suit, one of her few remaining possessions.

"The Terran Defense Force was dedicated to the protection of Earth from the invaders, and other Terran Clans. Of course we were ultimately fighting a losing battle, my father betrayed by his trusted friend and advisor. I was out on a scouting mission, patrolling the inner planets when the Tik'rit fighters came into view. Since the scouting vessel was unarmed I choose to flee, finding out en route of my father's death at the hands of Relvas. I made a hasty jump to warp, and the fighters followed, but those three ships were destroyed, slamming into the sun. I arrived out of my jump, facing Earth, but in another time. Instead of the war-torn planet I had left, I arrived to find a peaceful, vibrant planet. My engines shot I drifted away from the sun, and towards the USS Mystic."

Her hand reached up, brushing the remains of the scar on her forward.

"Having suffered a severe wound while in flight, I remained unconscious after contacting the vessel. I later learned that I was brought on board, scanned, and treated for my injuries. When I awoke I was summoned to the Captain's office. There I learned the purpose of this ship, of what had happened to me, and was asked to join the ship's crew. Since returning to my time was all but impossible, and futile in my vessel, I have chosen to stay."

She reached out and picked up the datapad.

"While I have met very few of my fellow crewmembers, I have the impression that I will not be alone. Those few that I have met are nice, personable people. Nothing like the soldiers I was used to being with at home. Perhaps I can make a new life here... start over.... That would be good."

She paused again, trying to think of anything else to add to her log. Finally she sat down the datapad and stood.

"Computer, end recording and save." The computer beeped as she turned, glancing at the chronometer. It was almost time for her to report back to the Captain, but first she wanted a shower. She smiled as she walked into the refresher, realizing that today was another day, just one more than she should have had....

=/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\=

Captain Sharek Tekon
Captain, USS Mystic

and

Lt. Commander Ael Tr'Radiak
Chief Medical Officer, USS Mystic
 

Stardate: 50309.30.2230
 

Sharek Tekon's Quarters:

"Well, both new recruits are tucked away in their quarters, spilling their brains and writing it on padds. I don't have to meet either of them for several hours." Sharek said as he sat on the couch kissing Ael.

Ael kissed him, "Isn't it nice to know the kids are all tucked in?" She laughed.

"Yes it is, besides, from the way they held themselves under such unusual circumstances and the fact that nothing surprised them I think we have two more officers on our hands." Sharek said as he embraced her.

She laid her head on his shoulder. "It's funny but I think we have more of a family than just a crew, even now."

"If you had said that three weeks ago I would have disagreed, but now... let's just say I suspect that I may have a number of weddings to do soon. The new recruits seem to be starting relationships with the original crew fairly easily... like we were all meant to be here."

She laughed, "Well I bet you didn't expect me either," touching his face gently.

Tekon replied by scooping her off her feet and going into the bedroom, on the bed he knelt and looked at her seriously. "I have a serious question to ask you."

Ael looked deep into those green eyes and smiled. "Yes, darling?"

Tekon pulled a small black velvet box from his pocket and opened it. Inside held by the red velvet lining was a diamond ring the band was silver and gold. "Will you marry me?"

Ael threw her arms around him. "Yes! Yes I will my love.” She kissed him. If this was a dream, it was a good dream, and she didn't want to wake up.

 
The two embraced in a long kiss, a kiss that had their minds intertwining as they became one.

=/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\=

Captain Sharek Tekon
Captain, USS Mystic

Jessica Renee Daniels
New Recruit, USS Mystic

Stardate: 50310.02.2240

Tekon was sitting in his Ready room waiting for Daniels to arrive and submit the padd with her report. He had just arrived 5 minutes ago after some relaxation with his fiancée, Lt. Commander Ael Tr'Radiak.

Renee stepped off of the turbolift, something she'd never seen before a few days ago, and onto the bridge. She had been to the Captain's ready room before, and didn't wait to be acknowledged by the bridge crew before proceeding that way. Taking a deep breath she stopped outside and reached up to tap call button.

Without looking up Tekon replied," Come in."

Renee stepped through the door, allowing it to close behind her. Taking a few steps forward she stopped in front of his desk and threw a salute. "Jessica Renee Daniels reporting as ordered, sir."

Tekon looked up finally, "You may be seated, and next time you don't need to salute if you don't want to."

Renee quirked an eyebrow and nodded, sitting, "I have finished my report, as requested."

Tekon took the padd and skimmed over some of the information, "This is interesting, it explains a lot about your character and demeanor." 

Renee was unsure what he meant, but nodded anyway. "Thank you, sir."

Tekon saw the unease and replied, "It's okay, you see the way a person recalls events, explains technology, and refers to places and dates can tell you what type of person they are. I learned it in Advanced Psych courses at the Academy."

"Academy?" Renee didn't remember any Academy, but she reminded herself that these were different times.

"Sorry I keep forgetting about the condition your time period was in when you left. The test I had you take when you first came aboard was what we call the Starfleet Entrance Exam. According to the results I have here you passed with a 95%. So I already know what areas you lack and excel in. If at any time you wish training in areas you are unfamiliar in, go to a holodeck and tell the computer what subject you need taught in. It can make a holographic environment for you to learn in. Otherwise I already know what position I plan on giving you." Tekon accounted.

"And what position would that be, sir?" She asked curious how well she had done.

Tekon stood up and looked Daniels in the eyes," Jessica Renee Daniels, I, Sharek Tekon, Captain of the USS Mystic, do hereby appoint you to the position of Assistant Security and Tactical Officer. At your earliest convenience I will personally give you your Command Fitness Test so you may be appointed your rank."

Renee had always been good at hiding her feelings, but still, she couldn't quite hide her surprise. She was aware that being placed in this position was a great honor, and meant that the Captain was placing quite a lot of trust in her. "I.... I'm pleased sir that you... think so highly of me."

"We are short of qualified officers at this point in time. While you have proven your ability to be a good officer, I must let your CFT prove how qualified you are." Tekon said in a mellow tone.

"Then I am prepared to take the test whenever you have time to administer it," she stood and half-bowed.

"Good then we shall proceed to the holodeck where you will take you test right away, with no chance to prepare." Tekon said as he started leaving the Ready room.

Renee was surprised, but she'd had more then one chance exam thrust upon her. She turned, falling in step behind him, her back iron ridged.
 

Location: Holodeck one
 

Tekon started speaking, "You have just reached the bridge, only to watch myself receive a phaser blast rendering me unconscious, maybe dead. There are two gunmen on the bridge and the entire bridge crew has been taken out. The ship had just arrived at a distress call and there is currently no ship on the screen. The alarms are not going off and intruder protocols are not working." Sharek disappeared into the holographic setting as everything came to life.

Renee reached for her phaser, her other hand coming up to tap her comm badge, "Security alert. Security Team One to the bridge." Pulling the phaser she aimed and fired at the closest target.

Security Team One, "Sir, we are held down in Engineering by 3 gunmen. One in the upper loft, one behind the engine cores, and one in the Chief Engineer's Office. They got door controls offline as well as transporters before the Captain locked the computer down."

Renee cursed to herself, and fired at the second gunman on the bridge. She ran over to the controls and began to look at them, sure enough everything had been locked down. Again, she reached up and tapped her comm badge. "Security Team Two, what’s your status?" By now she was already moving back to the turbolift.

Security Team Two didn't respond, the Captain was now bleeding out his mouth, and both gunmen on the Bridge were dead.

Renee stopped at the turbolift and cursed, running back and hopping over the railing and next to the Captain. She knelt and reached out, feeling for a pulse. She again reached up to tap her comm badge. "Medical emergency, team to the bridge."

Sickbay, "We are locked in sickbay, you'll have to get the transporters online and bring him here."

"Dammit," She stood and looked around, "Computer, where were the transports disabled?" She was already moving over to a console and attempting to access transporter controls.

Computer, "Transporter controls were taken offline in engineering. Override code needed to unlock controls."

"Override, Renee-Alpha-Three-Three," She didn't know if it would work, and would probably have to go to engineering, but she had to try.

Computer, "There are intruders aboard. Do you wish to restrict command functions?"

"Yes, restrict to voice access only, seal with my voice," maybe this would work... maybe.

Computer, "Restriction in place. Computer system unlocked."

"Computer, emergency transport the Captain to sickbay. Then transport all intruders to cargo bay three." She started for the turbolift.

As the Captain dematerialized the computer chirped, "Unable to transport intruders, inhibiters in place. Sensors detect two ships of unknown classification approaching on intercept course."

"Damn." She spun and ran back to the tactical controls. "Computer, encase the intruders in force fields." She started the power up sequence for the shields and weapons... and hoped none of the circuits blew out.

Computer, "Inhibiters in place unable to comply."

Man, "This is one of the intruders aboard your vessel. We have hostages and are prepared to execute them, starting with the Chief Medical Officer if you don't surrender."

They were in sickbay, she considered all her tactical options as she tapped her comm badge. "This is Assitant Security Officer Renee Daniels, I'd like to resolve this situation without violence," she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "What can I do to ensure that?"

Man, "We don't care about your false Starfleet promises, for this delay someone must now die." With that the sound of a phaser could be heard followed by the Chief Medical Officer screaming, "They killed poor Ensign Ken Bullseye."

Negotiating would ultimately fail. Lives were at stake here. "If you cannot trust me, then how can we resolve this situation. You have me outgunned, you have hostages, what can I say to make you believe me?" Her hands danced over the controls. If this didn't work, she had one other option to save lives, but shutting off the life support systems to that deck would doom others, including the Captain.

Suddenly a transporter image began shimmering beside her. There standing was a Marine holding a phaser rifle, "Lt. Flynn at your service, sir. How can the Marines assist?"

Thank god, "You can begin by sending a team to Engineering and Sickbay. And you don't happen to have any pilots, we're without a helms officer at the moment."

Flynn, “I’m a pilot"

Renee smiled, "Thank god, where did you come from, those two ships?"

Flynn spoke as he was walking over to the Helm, “Engineering is already clear. What ships?"

"Sensors detected two ships of unknown classifications inbound," Renee replied, "Unless they're yours then we're going to be getting out of here hot and in a hurry."

Flynn, "Use the tactical station's sensors and hail them."

Renee nodded, allowing her hands to glide over the controls, finally she reached for the comm button. "Unidentified vessels, this is the USS Mystic. Please identify yourselves."

Over comm, "Surrender and prepare to be boarded."

"Unidentified vessels, stand down or we will be forced to fire on you." Her voice had hardened, but she wasn't sure if that carried over the comm system.

Intruder in sickbay, "Our ships are approaching. If you fire we will execute another hostage. End your hostilities and surrender."

She shook her head, "Raising shields." Her hands danced up, and across. "Phaser banks charged, quantum torpedoes are ready." Her hands danced back across the board. "I'm going to cut internal communications, any problem with that?" She looked at the Marine.

Flynn, "Sir, I'll need confirmation from my team and the ability to relay them orders. Why haven't we opened fire?"

"I'm trying to save lives here, if I fire they execute another hostage. If you've got a way to get around that last factoid, I'd like to hear it. If not, then we wait, until either one of your teams secures sickbay, or these damned intruders tell me what they want so I can negotiate the safe return of our fellow crew."

Flynn was about to speak when over the comm they heard, "Lt. Flynn, Beta Squad in position outside sickbay awaiting orders."

Flynn, "Take 'em."

Renee closed her eyes, praying quickly that everyone in there got out alive, especially the Captain. "Getting a target lock, preparing a firing solution." The computer beeped, the sign of a clear lock. "Firing!" Her finger stabbed the fire button, sending two quantum torpedoes screaming away.

Beta Team leader, "Area secure sir. One dead hostage, four dead intruders, and the Captain is stable."

Renee took a deep breath, never having noticed that she'd been holding it. Her eyes then focused on the sensors, and the two ships, and two torpedoes, as they prepared to meet.

As the ships exploded the simulation ended and she was standing next to Captain Tekon again.

Renee debriefed the Captain, "There was no tactically sound solution. If I abandoned the bridge to deal with the intruders and the hostages, the ship would have been destroyed. I could not negotiate, and I could not let the crew die." She shook her head.

Tekon, "You overlooked several vital things, site to site transport, forgetting about what types of crew you have, and lack of familiarity with the ship and it's weapons. Leads also had to be given to you at times."

"At several times I attempted to use site to site, only to be blocked by inhibitors. My security teams were either pinned down, or not responding. Equally my lack of familiarity stems from my lack of knowledge, and while ignorance is not an excuse I take this failure as a chance to learn." Renee bowed slightly to Tekon.

Tekon replied,"I agree, Jessica Renee Daniels, I, Captain Sharek Tekon of the USS Mystic NX-T, do hereby promote you to Lieutenant Junior Grade effective immediately."

Renee found herself once again caught off guard, "But sir, I failed the simulation...." she paused, bowing again. "I'm sorry, sir, I was out of line to question your judgment. I accept the promotion, and hope that I can prove my worth to you."

Tekon replied, "I don't doubt it. Just review the ship information as soon as possible. I need my officers to be familiar with everything. Dismissed."

Renee snapped to attention and saluted, then turned and walked out of the holodeck.

=/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\=

Captain Sharek Tekon
Captain, USS Mystic

Lt Commander Ael Tr'Radiak
Chief Medical Officer, USS Mystic

Stardate: 50310.03.1701
 

Ael looked up as Sharek walked in. She set the plate on the table and smiled. "Hope you're hungry, love."

"Yes, I am. I just finished giving Jessica Daniels her Command Fitness Test." Sharek said as he sat down.

Ael grinned, "And how did she do? Oh and what do you want to drink?"

"She did okay, a few mistakes but nothing some experience couldn't teach. She made Lt. JG. So at least we have someone running Security/Tactical now." Tekon said, and almost forgetting she asked him about a drink he quickly said, "Red Wine."

Ael handed him a glass of wine and sat down with her own. "Well that's not bad."

"I have some time until I have to meet with Zorran. She wanted some rest so I rescheduled our meeting." Tekon said softly as he ate his food.

Ael smiled again, "Good. I am happy we can spend some time together," as she started eating again.

"Yeah, me too. It seems we are having difficulty locating the Android we have been jumping around this time trying to find so we are taking another 6 days to rest so the Temporal Engines recharge. The crew needs it. We have been on the run from one thing or another for months now. Thank go we got the Phase-cloak working again this morning, I think the bridge crew is tired of using every trick they can think of to hide us." Tekon said as he continued eating.

Ael nodded as she ate some more. She took another sip of the wine and smiled again "Well I can't help but think I at least am the happiest Vulcan ever.... Or at least one who will admit it."

"Sounds more like the Romulan side talking," Tekon said jokingly while laughing. Finally he took another sip of wine and continued with the meal which was almost done.

She grinned. "I think so." She finished her food.

Sharek finished his food then cleared the table before Ael could stand up. "That was good, so what's for dessert?" Sharek was giving a wicked grin.

Ael grinned "Well...."She stood up and kissed him.

Tekon kissed her back while picking her up; as he started to the bedroom he tripped and they landed on the couch with Ael on top of Sharek.

Ael laughed and ran her hand along his face. "I love you, you know."

"I love you, too. Once we get a few more senior officers, we'll set a wedding date." Sharek said in a
mellow tone ending in a long kiss with Ael.

Ael smiled at him. "I will be so happy. That day and every day. Any time I am with you, love."

=/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\=

Captain Sharek Tekon's Duty Post
Captain, USS Mystic

Lt. Commander Ael Tr'Radiak's Duty Post
Chief Medical Officer, USS Mystic

Stardate: 50310.13.2300

Time period: Starts in late 22nd century, ends in the year 2310
Location: Captain's Quarters
 

Tekon awoke to the blasted red alarm again, this time he picked up his comm badge without getting up and responded, "This better be good. I had just fallen asleep."
 
Lt. Charles, "Sir, Temporal sensors have located an accidental time jump that will end up in the year 2310. It originated in the year 2378. The cause was an experimental warp core. Shall we activate temporal engines and proceed?"

Tekon answered, "Yes, Lt. Cmdr. Tr'Radiak and myself will proceed to the bridge soon." With that the line closed, Sharek leaned over and kissed Ael whispering, "Wake up, we have work to do."

Ael kissed him softly, "They don't want us to sleep, love.” She’d rather have stayed with him.

Sharek smirked, "Welcome to my world. Now you see why I hadn't slept more than 8 hours a week."

Ael laughed softly, "As long as this world also includes you, my love."

Sharek responded, "Always, my love. You know, it occurs to me that they shouldn't have activated the red alarm for this type of incident unless there was something special about the traveler."

"Do you have the feeling we are about to find out just what that is?" asked Ael.

Sharek, "I think we better get dressed and get to the bridge."

Ael agreed, in principle anyways, as she reluctantly got up and searched around for her uniform.

Sharek got up and found both of their uniforms on his side of the bed, "Here, I think you lost something last night." As he handed her uniform to her.

Ael took it with a grin "I don't remember missing it." She smiled as she tugged it on.

Sharek wished they didn't have to leave the quarters, but duty called. Reluctantly they left and headed to the turbolift. Inside Tekon broke the silence as they headed to the bridge, "I can't wait until Zorran finishes recovering so we can finally get some rest. Shes still having some lingering issues with me not being her Sharek. and her entire ordeal in general."

"Rest?" Ael couldn't stop the mischievous grin from curving her lips. "Oh yeah, that too."

Sharek decided to use some tasteless dry humor as he replied, "Could be worse. You could be pregnant, I mean it has been a week since we started all of this.... 'fun.'"

"And wouldn't you be surprised?" Ael laughed. "I, however, expect as long as those shots hold out, we won't be worrying about that just yet."

As the doors opened Sharek replied, "That reminds me. We will have to resupply soon, otherwise several members of the crew will be expecting parents." With that he stepped off the bridge.

She smiled and followed. That was an interesting thought.

Once Sharek sat down Lt. Charles at Ops spoke up, "Captain, the vessel is a Runabout with one person.... they read as Human, former Borg."

Ael raised a brow.

Tekon commanded, "Explain this before they complete their trip to this time period."

Lt. Charles, "Computer reads the man as Anthony Damien Tobias a Starfleet Intelligence Officer and Marine. He was reported missing while performing a test of an experimental warp core design. Temporal Sensors do not show him showing up anywhere else in the timestream. According to your standing directives, sir, he is a candidate for crew assignment."

Sharek gave the order, "Fine, disengage Phase Cloak. What is the ETA on his runabout?"

Lt. Charles, "Five minutes, sir. I made sure we got here well before he would arrive."

Ael nodded, "Very good of you." She tapped her badge and informed Evans to stand by.

Sharek asked, "Will the Runabout be repairable when he exits the rift?"

Lt. Charles replied, "Yes, but we will have to do a complete overhaul on the engines so they will function properly."

"How long will that take?" asked Ael.

Lt. Charles answered, "The engine overhaul will take 5 days. The computer reads a 98% chance he will exit without any damage to himself or the ship. This is mainly because of the Borg implants enhancing his senses, reflexes, and mental knowledge."

Ael nodded as she considered the implications of that.

Sharek queried, "Has the computer determined whether Borg technology is main stream or temporal yet?"

Lt. Charles glances at his console readout, "Yes. The Borg technology registers as main stream. ETA 4 minutes 45 seconds."

Sharek turns to Ael, "Well, hon, you better start reading our files on Borg medical care. We will have to get engineering to put together an alcove for him to regenerate in as well."

Ael nodded again. "I have never dealt with Borg before. Except at Wolf 359." Which of course he knew.

Sharek replied, "Don't worry former Borg may have some Borg memories and knowledge, but they revert back to their former free-willed state."

"I cannot imagine what that is like," Ael said softly.

Sharek, "From the cases Starfleet has studied, the amount of time it takes them to readjust to a normal life depends on how much time they spent as a Borg. If Starfleet trusted him enough to have him be an experimental pilot then he has adjusted, and the implants and knowledge are just a bonus now."

"It must be terribly hard on him... the questions that are probably the first thing in everyone's eyes." Ael continued "They must wonder first, if they can truly trust him. More of a reflexive action than one they think about."

Sharek retorted, "When Borg first started being freed, most thought that way. In my time some still do. But once anyone gets to know the person, they get used to it in much the same way you would be used to other races you work with passing you everyday. Starfleet was secretly freeing and assigning former borg long before the first official cases on file."

Ael said softly, "That is a good thing. He will not see distrust in me. I will not be that false to my own beliefs."

Sharek," Good. Remember my primary rule, no discrimination of any kind. It has worked for this crew so far."

"Most of us have been rejected at some point or another by those who should have known better. As should we all. "Ael said.

Sharek replied, "I guess half-breeds like us know better than anyone about not judging a book by its cover."

"We should," Ael said, giving her head a toss at the thought of all the times she'd been made to feel as if there was something wrong with her, simply because she was different.

Lt. Charles said, "Sir, ETA is 1 minute. I suggest we move our position by 10 kilometers and let him come to us. This way he can gain his bearings."

Sharek took his advice, "Done. Helm adjust position as per Ops' calculations."

Ael clenched her hands on the rail, wishing she could do something for him. It would be disorienting enough.

Finally the Runabout came out of the rift and slowed down. Quicker than expected they received a hail.

=/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\=

Anthony Tobias Duty Post
(Formerly) Lieutenant Commander of the USS Washington-A   Sovereign Class

Stardate 50310.15.0130

Time Period: Starts in the year 2378 and ends in year 2310

Location: Starbase near Lexon 5

After arriving early that day at the Starbase, Anton was immediately sent to be briefed on his mission.  He was sitting at a small table in the head scientist's office when a tall, lanky man stood  up in front of him.

The scientist spoke, "Hello, my name is Dr. Christopher Brown, and I will be briefing you on your mission today.  Your mission consists of piloting a small Class 2 Runabout that has been fitted with a new, compact form of an experimental warp engine.  Now the job you have to do is rather simple, but we don't know how the core will act so you are best qualified for this."

Dr. Brown placed a diagram of the Runabout on the large display behind him.

As he pointed out different things on the display, he informed Anton, "This is what the core looks like. This is a picture of the modified warp control panel. When you reach cruising speed all you have to do is hit this button here on the panel and then wait. It is programmed just to power up and make the core work long enough to test what kinds of effects there are when it goes into and out of warp.  You should be safe.  Once it disengages, hail the control bridge and we will send a tow to bring you back. That is all.  Do you have any questions?"

"No, Sir. I will be ready for the first run in ten minutes," he replied.

Anton went to the mission prep room and the science team put him in a special suit that would monitor vitals and outside conditions on the body.  After being suited up he reported to the launch site.   

"Are you ready to go, sir?" asked a scientist.

He replied, "A little uncomfortable, but I’m ready for go."

"Okay, go into the ship and prepare to pilot this thing out of here," said the scientist.

Anton got into the Runabout and warmed up the engines. They gave him permission to proceed with the mission so he piloted it out and started to reach cruising speed.

He reported in, "Have reached cruising speed engaging warp core now."

Anton pressed the core engage button and all he saw was bright white light from all around him.  He got dizzy and passed out due to some force that had to do with this light.  He woke up to find himself in the middle of space with no sign of the Starbase anywhere or any other identifiable objects. Just then he looked at the sensors to see a large unidentifiable ship moving his direction.  He hailed them in hopes they could help him.

=/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\=

Captain Sharek Tekon
Captain, USS Mystic

Lt. Commander Ael Tr'Radiak
Chief Medical Officer, USS Mystic

Anthony Damien Tobias
New Recruit, USS Mystic

Stardate: 50310.16.0100 - 50310.17.2245

As Sharek stood on the bridge the comm system beeped. "Put the incoming message on the screen."

"This is Lt. Commander Anthony Tobias of the USS Washington.  I was part of an experimental program and something happened. I'm not sure what. Will you please let me board so I can find and report back to my ship?" Anton said excitedly.

Ael was standing a little to the side, quietly watching.

"This is Captain Sharek Tekon of the.... USS Mystic. You are cleared to dock. My Chief Medical Officer and myself will meet you in the shuttlebay. Please wait for us there," Tekon said as he kept his emotions in check.

"Thank you, sir. Tobias out" he said.  Anton piloted his somewhat damaged Runabout into the Mystic's shuttlebay, powered down, and exited the small ship. He walked around the ship looking for visible damage.

Sharek and Ael moved to the turbolift and entered as it moved to the shuttle bay's deck. Tekon spoke, "Right before we enter there will be a locker to the right. It contains a med kit. Security and Engineering were already on stand-by, so they will meet us there."

Ael replied, "Good." She was trying to think of all she might need, hoping that nothing would happen. There was a limit to how many crises even she could deal with. "Sharek, I hope this is simple," she said softly, half whispering, almost a prayer.

Sharek hugged her as he said, "Don't worry I know you were just fighting Borg almost 2 weeks ago, but he isn't one anymore. He just has implants enhancing his body and mind." As he stopped hugging her the turbolift doors opened. They were 30 meters from the door to shuttlebay.

Ael smiled up at him, stuffing all her irrational fears aside, reminding herself that she had no more to fear from this than any other crewmember. She got the med kit out of the locker, making herself calm. One couldn't tell to look at her, that there was even a hint.

Sharek and Ael entered the shuttlebay and saw Anthony Tobias standing at attention. The human former Borg stood like a true Marine as they approached. To each side of the doorway were three security officers. Near the Runabout were three teams of engineers ready to do an overhaul on the Runabout once they got permission.

"Sir, Lt. Commander Anthony Tobias of the USS Washington-A reporting." Anton said this with the greatest of discipline in his voice.

Sharek stood at attention saluted the man then spoke crisply and with some attentiveness to his voice, "At ease. Now that you are aboard I will formerly greet you. I am Captain Sharek Tekon of the Timeship USS Mystic NX-T, an Ambassador X Class timeship from the 25th century. You have been sent to the year 2310, where we are now. I am afraid that I can't let you return home... ever."

"Timeship? 2310? How did I get here and why can't I go home?" Anton said with concern.

Sharek spoke softer now, "Son, the engine on the Runabout malfunctioned and threw you into the past. In your own time it looked like the ship vaporized. They have already declared you dead. I on the other hand am in need of new officers for my ship. If you are willing, I will give you some information to read so you know our situation. You can then choose to stay and become a Starfleet officer aboard my ship, or willingly have yourself executed. I know this sounds cruel but it is necessary for the safety of the ship and crew."

Ael had been standing there quiet. The small half-Romulan spoke up "Please, understand you have time to make your decision."

Anton ponders for a moment. "Work for you or die? Woo, that's a hard choice to make. I mean really, death just has so much to offer," he said sarcastically. "If it comes to that I guess I really have no option. I'll work on your ship. What would I have to do?"

Ael said a little sharply, "As far as anyone outside this ship knows, we are all dead."

Sharek, handed him a padd with the ship's story so far before he spoke," I need a new Chief of Shadow Operations and bartender. You would be both."

"Yes sir. I just have one request." Anton answered.

"Yes, what is it?" Tekon replied.

Anton quickly said, "I would need full access to all of the ship's computers. Would that be a problem?"

Sharek answered, "No it wouldn't. I would need you to get familiar with the computer and learn whatever you can. I mean our technology is two centuries beyond you."

Ael had been scanning with the tricorder. "You are remarkably healthy," she remarked.

"Unless computers turned into living things in the past 2 centuries I should be fine." He said. He looked at Ael and replied, "I guess so."

Sharek informed Anton, "Actually, we use to have an Advanced AI, but it was damaged in our battle with the Borg. As you can read on that padd, half the code to make her run properly was lost, presumably erased. You are free to tinker with what’s left of her programming if you like. She is currently disconnected from the ship and in the Shadow Ops Lab. She was the most advanced and experimental one they had and we were not even suppose to have her on this ship but I had a friend in the covert ops branch of Starfleet."

"Good I should be able to work with the AI.  Now what all do I have to do in order to be set up?" Anton asked.

Ael wasn't meaning to be unfriendly, but she had been busy, and she well remembered the flood of information and all that she'd had to deal with. So she spoke up, "Why don't you take a few hours, and just give yourself some time to process this all?"

Anton replied, “Don’t need to. I am trained to deal with any situation and don't need to process odd ordeals like this."

Sharek, "You have already been assigned quarters, and an alcove has been installed so you can regenerate. The replicator can get you whatever you need including new uniforms and any possessions you require. Once you are settled in check our computers, if you think of anything we don't have put it on a padd and submit it to me."

Anton, "Do you want me to repair the AI, sir?"

"Consider that a personal project; there is no rush we are still tryig to retrieve computer information from damaged sections of the core." Tekon said as he motioned for the Engineering teams to begin work on the Runabout.

Ael spoke up again, mischief lurking in her blue eyes, "Just because you're healthy, doesn't mean you get out of the dreaded physical."

Anton, "It doesn't matter. It's protocol."

Ael raised a brow, "That's what you say now, wait until you hear the horror stories." She was teasing of course, Ael quirked a brow again "Would you like us to get you to your first stop, wherever you'd like that to be?"

Anton replied, "Why don't you give me a tour of the ship. I need to be acquainted with my surroundings to function properly."

Ael grinned, "Well, this way to the turbolift," and led them. It was a pretty quiet ride, and then they got out on the floor with the lounge and holodecks on it.

Anton looked around as if making a movie in his mind about everything he was seeing.

Sharek walked over to the holodeck controls and spoke, "Our holodecks are slightly different than either of you would know. We now have a helmet interface for creating programs which allows the computer to accurately portray what you want and make less mistakes that could endanger yourself or the crew."

"I knew they'd take the fun out of it" Ael teased.

Anton asked, "Are these computers hooked up to the rest of the ship?"

Sharek replied, "Yes and no. They are tied into the whole computer network. But in the event of something happening that could infect the whole ship, endanger the crew or ship, or try to use the holodeck to kill someone, the system is automatically severed from the main system and shut down."

Anton responded, "I was just thinking of making some modifications to the system."

Sharek reitterated, "Just submit changes to me first so I can be aware of what is going on for safety reasons. Sending a message in the computer or a padd sent to my ready room are still the best ways."

Ael let them finish talking toys and led them on to the next point of interest, the crew lounge. Anton looked around the lounge for a minute. "I need to get a decorator in here quick cause, damn....  Well, I can work with it."

Ael said, "Well before those wheels start turning and you start redecorating, let's move on. Sickbay's next on the list," with a mischievous smile.

Anton, "Yes, sir let's move on."

All three exited the lounge and headed for the turbolift, there they headed for the next deck on the tour. As the lift opened Sharek cheerfully said," Next floor, Sickbay, labs, and emergency wards."

Ael laughed and walked out. "This is my domain." She laughed again, leading them into her sickbay which was sparkling as always.

Anton, "Sir, when will I have my physical and other tests?"

Ael picked up a PADD. "I'm pretty free, barring emergencies. Whenever is good for you."

Anton replied, "Sooner is good, I want to get to work."

Ael said "Well I see no reason why you can't work now. My initial scan showed nothing too troubling. So why not tomorrow at 7?"

Anton, "Okay."

While they were talking Sharek was busy juggling a hypospray and two cartridges that both contained 1 dose of stimulant. So both himself and Ael could stay awake since they hadn't slept much lately. As he was juggling he realized they were staring at him.

Ael raised a brow "Taking over my job now, love?"

Sharek, "Figured I'd beat you to it."

With a look of confusion, "What are you doing captain?" Anton asked. "I didn't know you had knowledge in the medical field.  Usually captains are out of military service."

Sharek, "Oh, this is stimulant for Lt. Commander Ael and myself. Since there are not many officers to look after the ship yet, we haven't been getting much sleep. As for my knowledge, I have knowledge in every field of Starfleet and hold ranks in both the Naval and Marine branches."

Ael smiled up at Sharek. "Ah he is full of surprises, my Sharek," proud as she could be.

Anton, "I am skilled in combat, tactics, and computers most of all."

Sharek said," Good, because we are not at full strength yet for Marines or Security, so you may be asked to fill in more than usual until we get more crew."

Anton, "Yes sir. When you call, I will answer."

Ael tilted her head. "Give me my hypo, love, and then I'll give you yours." She moved her hair out of the way so he could reach her neck with it. "And then we'll get on to Engineering"

Sharek loaded the hypo and pressed it to Ael's neck then handed it to her saying, "Then we'll go to Engineering next."

Ael stood on the tips of her toes so she could reach his neck with the hypo. After administering it, she laid the hypo down. "Well then by all means, dear. Do you want to lead this time?"

Sharek lead the way to a different turbolift than the one they had been using. Once inside they were on their way to engineering. Finally the doors opened and they stepped out. Captain Tekon began the tour, "Welcome to engineering. As you can see, the core behind me is a lot bigger than normal cores. You can use any computer terminal to read up on our engines and setup. What I want to show you is in the Chief Engineer's office."

As they were walking into the office, it became evident that  the main terminal was not a Starfleet terminal but was in fact a Temporal Borg Terminal complete with its own personality.

Borg terminal, "Hello, ahh someone I can interface with. Thank you, Captain."

Anton, "Great I’m never going to sleep now. Captain, how did this happen? I mean, look, there is a Borg terminal on the ship. Shouldn't you have vaporized it?"

Sharek," We did, 15 times. It grew back before our eyes every time."

Anton, "And you couldn't kill it? Why didn't you freeze it then get it off the ship? Too bad I wasn't here I could have helped."

Terminal, "Yes it wasn't until the good Captain decided to vaporize 20 meters of the ship just to get rid of me that I decided it was better to work for this ship and crew instead. I have the same adaptability as any temporal drone, but with one addition, I work 10 times faster."

Anton replied to the Terminal, "Great, then please don't invade my mind and I won't have to make you sick."

Terminal, "I don't invade minds, but if you need to learn about the ships technology faster just link up with me and I'll transfer the files to you and show you how they work. Besides that I am just glad I have someone to talk to that won't try and shoot me if I speak."

Anton said, "Maybe later, not now."

Terminal, "Thank you 3 of 7, ... I mean Anton."

Anton, "Don't call me by that Borg name. Can we move on now please?"

Ael barely managed to hide a flinch. It was as if a ghost had flitted by. "I am sorry," she murmured.

"Sorry for what?" Sharek asked as they again moved to the turbolift.

Anton asked, "What's wrong, Ael, I mean, sir?"

"It is nothing, only... a memory." she said softly.

Sharek, "Sorry Anton, I should have mentioned. She was almost killed at the Battle of Wolf 359 by the Borg. This timeship saved her, and I gave her a chance to move on."

Anton asked, "Do I bother you Ael, being a former part of the collective and all?"

Ael shook her head "No, and neither will Terminal, once I get used to it all." She said softly, "You are not responsible for my memories."

As they entered the turbolift Sharek looked around, "Bridge then?"

Anton stated, "It's up to you sir. Remember, I don't know where anything is on this ship."

Once on the bridge Sharek spoke again, "Here is the bridge, the set up is the same as most. My ready room is on the left and the conference room is on the right. All terminals are set up for the Early 26th century but we can alter them for specific crew. In the corner there is the Shadow Ops station. In the past it was always an extra station, but Starfleet deemed that a Shadow Ops Officer should have a secure station on the bridge in cases of need."

Anton stated, "Not bad. I've been on better, but not bad.  So that over there is my station? Really... Well what else do you need to show me before I can start reporting for duty?"

Sharek answered, "Unless you want to visit the Science floor we'll go to the Security floor where most of your job functions will take place. The computer can give you schematics of the ship to study for anything else you need to find."

Anton said, "Let's head to security so I can get to work and prepare my quarters."

Ael smiled, "Well c'mon then. It's not far." She led them in that direction.

Once they took the turbolift to the security deck Sharek spoke up, "As you can see upon exiting there are two doors right away. The left one is for main security offices, and the Chief of Security / Tactical Officer. To the right is the entrance to Shadow Ops, right now only Shadow Ops personnel, myself, and now you are authorized to enter. There is a force field in place over the doorway that will only let authorized people enter. The brig, weapons lockers, interrogation rooms, and training facilities are on this floor and the computer can let you know where. Is there anything else?"

Anton simply said, "No, Sir."

Sharek spoke in a stern voice, "Computer transfer all codes and registries for Head of Shadow Operations to Anthony Damien Tobias. In addition, transfer listing for bartender and operator of the lounge to him as well."

Anton, "Thank you, sir. When do I have to report for duty?"

Sharek, "Whenever you wish there is no rush right now. The crew is on down time."

Ael just noted all this. But she was still a little.... out of it. Anton looks over at Ael and knows something is not right with her. He asks, "Are you okay Ael? You look a little out of it. Is there anything I can do for you?"

Ael shook her head, "I think it is just the being tired." She tried to smile.

Anton, "You sure that's all?"

Ael gave a nod, "I am fine, really."

Sharek, "Unless anyone else can think of something; I believe this concludes our tour."

Anton, "I don't think so. When do you want me to report for duty, sir?"

Sharek looked at Anton, "Go get settled into your quarters and regenerate first. Report for work in 12 hours, at the earliest."

Anton, "I will report to my quarters. See you at 700 hours Ael."  Leans over close to the Captain, "You might want to check her out. She doesn't look so good," he said with a tone of concern in his voice.

Sharek, "Thank you, Anton, I will. When I get a chance to prepare your Command Fitness Test we will schedule a time."

Anton, "Good evening, Sir, Ael."

=/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\=

Lt. Commander Ael Tr'Radiak

Chief Medical Officer, USS Mystic

and

Anthony Damien Tobias

New recruit, USS Mystic

Stardate 50310.18.2334

Ael tapped her comm. badge "Tr'Radiak to Tobias."

Anton looked up from his computer and responded, "Tobias here. What do you need?"

Ael grinned, though she knew he couldn't see it. "Time for your physical."

 Anton, "Yes, sir. ETA two minutes. Tobias out."

Ael laid out her tricorder, a padd and other equipment she would need. Anton arrived exactly two minutes from the communication.  He went and stood at attention in front of Ael.  Anton said, "Ready, what is my first test? I just want to get it over with."

 Ael smiled. "Alls you gotta do is hop up here," she patted the biobed. "Technology is a wonderful thing."

 Anton acknowledged her with, "Okay." Anton got up on the biobed and laid down. "Okay, well, do your tests."

 Ael started on the first scan, every now and then making an entry into the padd. "Anything unusual lately?"

Anton answered, "Well, I don't know. I get this voice in my head that calls himself  'Terminal' and to my memory, I can't remember anything like that happening until a little over 12 hours ago. Is that unusual? And what's worse it can't call me Anton or anything besides 3 of 7 for that matter."

 Ael looked up sharply, "Did you mention anything about this to Sharek?"

 Anton responded, "No, not really. Why, do you think it matters?"

 "Yes, I do," Ael said. "He is more familiar with Terminal than I am. As well as having a deeper understanding of this technology than I."

 Anton, "Ohh, so you don't understand Borg technology that well? I'll let you study and examine me anytime. Well, look I have this cool lookin' thing around my left eye. I remember something fitting over it but I don't remember what."

 Ael shook her head. "That's ok. I'd rather not do any hands-on experiments on my crew," she softened that with a smile

 Anton assured her, "It wouldn't bother me any.  I still vaguely remember them putting all these implants in me. They are actually useful though."

 Ael said "It's good they are useful, since you seem to be stuck with them."

 Anton, "Yeah I guess. I hate the sleeping arrangements though. So how long are these tests gonna take?"

 "I'm sorry," Ael said sincerely. ” I like mine," with a mischievous smile

 Anton asked, "Why what are yours?"

"With my fiancé," smiled Ael.

  Anton dug deeper, "And that would be?...."

 She raised a brow, "You haven't heard yet?" She laid the padd aside as she said, "Sharek."

 Anton showing signs of shock, "The Captain! Oh god, you're screwing the Captain? You must get your perks huh?" trying to imply something.

"Excuse me?" Ael blinked.

Anton much calmer said, "Nevermind. I didn't say a word. Well what tests do I have to do now?"

"I could do a lot more," Ael said, "but that’s ok."

 Anton asked, "Well why not do everything you have to now just so we have it done?"

 "That's all that's needed," Ael explained. "I was just gonna mess with ya a bit."

 Anton, "Would it have been bad or good?"

 "Probably good; I'm not usually mean," Ael grinned.
 

Anton, "Too bad then. I might have enjoyed it."

"Maybe," Ael laughed.

Anton, "Okay well is there anything you want to ask me while I’m here?"

Ael said, "No, I believe that will do. But you really should talk to Sharek about Terminal."

 Anton, "Okay but I had a question for you as long as I’m not out of line."

 "Sure," said Ael.

 Anton, "Why do you have such a big problem with the Borg? And is this gonna affect us working together?"

 "I was at Wolf 359," Ael explained. "It was my first battle." She was quiet for a moment, lost in those memories. "But it will not affect my dealings with you. You have my word on that."

 Anton, "Okay. You should know that I was part of the collective for three years and I assimilated a lot of people.  I came 'back 'cause I had friends that cared, and I want you to know that if anyone in this crew was in danger, I would do anything in my power to help them."

 "I know that. It's more of a reflex... one that I am getting better at hiding," said Ael. "And as I get to know you, it will get easier. I am sorry you noticed."

Anton, "Okay. Well, I'm going to head back to my quarters. I'm working on recovering lost segments of that AI. Right now I'm having Terminal teach and 'download' everything on how the computers have changed and work in this time. They are two centuries better than what I’m used to, but at least the basics don't change." 

Ael smiled, "Alright Tobias. Thanks, and don’t forget to talk to Sharek."

 
 Anton, "Hey, call me Anton, and I will talk to him. Good bye, sir."

 "My name is Ael," she called as he left.

"I know," he yelled back. Anton disappeared out the doors and headed back to his quarters

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Lt Commander Ael Tr'Radiak

Chief Medical Officer, USS Mystic

Stardate 50311.07.1950

Ael frowned at the tricorder. Kaelin O'Connor shouldn't be this sick. Nothing was showing up on the scans. She looked back at Kaelin and the young woman stared back at her, green eyes glistening with tears. Kaelin had been in pain for two weeks now and she hadn't said a word. She'd gotten to where she couldn't even walk and could barely breathe.

She was annoyed that the kid hadn't told her in the beginning. But she let none of that show as she smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry Kaelin. The painkiller should be kicking in soon." Kaelin barely nodded. The medication kicked in and the ragged breaths evened some as Kaelin fell into a drug-induced sleep. Ael had decided on it, because Kaelin hadn't slept properly in over a week. Now she could do the deep-tissue scan. And she prayed that something would show.

^Some hours later^

Ael slammed the padd down on the desk in frustration. She felt like an idiot. Kaelin's symptoms were abating but they hadn't completely gone away. And the only physical symptoms were the ones caused by the pain itself.

Or were they? She took another look at the symptoms. Wait... those muscle tremors could have been caused by the Lyrethis virus... not the stress of the pain....

^A few more hours later^

Ael asked Kaelin, "So how are you feeling now, Kaelin?"

Kaelin smiled. It wasn't a big smile but it was a real one. "Some better now" Kaelin replied.

"Who would have thought such a small thing could have caused so much pain? Amazing isn't it?" Ael smiled. "Well I'll leave you to your rest."

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Captain Sharek Tekon
Captain, USS Mystic

Ariss Zorran
New Recruit (XO)

Stardate: 50311.09.0200

Sharek Tekon was sitting in his ready room waiting for Ariss Zorran to arrive and drinking coffee. The pot of Columbian Supreme was still half full since it was his 2nd pot.

Ariss limped towards the ready room. Her leg was still occasionally getting sore when she over did it, but at least she wasn’t enduring the almost incapacitating pain like she had been since she'd rebroken it.  Padd in hand she chimed at the ready room door.

Sharek, "Come in and have a seat."

She entered the room and gratefully sank into a chair. "I have the report finished, Captain. I would have brought it to you earlier but the doctor wouldn’t let me leave sickbay," she said and smiled slightly.

Sharek, "I know. I told her not to. I didn't want you leaving before your leg was almost finished healing you shouldn't be over exercising or stressing it yet."

"It would have been easier to cut the damn thing off, Captain," she said, her humor was gradually making a come back.

Sharek, "Yes but then I wouldn't be able to offer you the position of 1st officer."

Ariss remained as composed as one could under the circumstances.  "Captain, are you sure?  You don’t know if I'm command material or not.  You don’t even know me." That had been something she hadn't expected.  She wouldn’t turn it down, she'd never turn down a chance to work with Sharek again, even if it wasn’t the same man as the one she knew.

Sharek, "I know all I need to. You see, after you told me about the Sharek Tekon from your time I accessed the declassified mission reports for Section 31. In my time they are no longer a secret, because without war all the covert ops groups were forced to merge into one Starfleet agency."

Ariss' fists clenched, the thought of S-31 becoming declassified made her feel sick. "How can that be?  To declassify S-31 would put all agents in grave danger."

Sharek explained, "In the year 2427 the Romulan Neutral Zone and the Demilitarized Zone were eliminated, Bajor had joined the Federation, and the Romulans and Cardassians had signed a peace treaty and opened their computers to Starfleet. The Covert Ops information was declassified down to the level of Admirals and Timeship Captains. In the year 2459 The Cardassians applied for Federation membership followed by the Ferengi. When we left in the year 2492 there was no one willing to fight the Federation or its allies so we finally achieved peace."

At the mention of the Cardassians, Ariss went cold. She fought to keep control of the rage that welled up. Images from the day she'd found her mother lying in a pool of blood after being killed by a Cardassian overlaid that of the ready room. "Cardassians are Federation members?" she asked as calmly as she could.

Sharek replied, "Yes. Their government was failing and they agreed to let the Federation take control. Their armies were sent to Starfleet and their ships were sent to shipyards to be deconstructed or repurposed as freighters. The Bajorans actually were the ones who sponsored the Cardassians. But this is all in my time, and I was recently informed that the Federation had split into small organizations by the 28th century."

Ariss asked, "Do any Cardassians inhabit this ship?"

Sharek amswered, " I believe the closest we have is a half-Cardassian half-Bajoran in Engineering."

Her eyes flashed. "Interesting," she said, but chose not to elaborate.  "Is it permissible to tell me more about your time?"

Sharek said, "All in good time. Now that you are a member of this ship you will have access to our history banks. Now if you'll follow me to Holodeck 1, we will perform your Command Fitness Test."

"Of course Captain," she said and smiled again.  It had been a while since she'd been challenged properly and she was looking forward to it. "Lead on."

Sharek left his Ready room and took them to the holodeck via the turbolift. There, Sharek opened the doors and they entered with no program running.

Sharek explained, "In this scenario the USS Mystic dropped out of the timestream randomly early due to a malfunction, a freighter in the area changed course to avoid the 'anomaly' as they called it. The cloak and all engines except impulse and standard warp are offline. The ship took up orbit around a class-M planet that we detected a crashed ship on. An away team lead by myself went to the surface to salvage parts to get the ship moving again. Seconds ago an unknown ship dropped out of warp and began firing on the Mystic taking out its transporters and sealing the doors to the shuttlebay after a direct hit. This is where you will be starting."

Ariss looked around as the program began to run, then dived in.  She tapped her comm badge, "All stations report! Ops, get Captain Tekon on the comms."

Officer at Tactical," Shields are at 90% and holding, but they took out our phaser banks. We have torpedo launchers only."

Officer at Ops," I got the Captain on the line."

Sharek, "Go ahead Zorran."

"Tactical, find their weakest spots." She walked to the tactical station and watched as the Tac officer worked quickly. "Captain, we have a bit of a situation here."

Sharek, "So do we. We have 200 signatures registering on our tricorders. All 200 are surrounding us and closing in. Do you know if they are hostile?"

Officer at Tac, "We have their shields down but they have taken out our warp engines, we have impulse only."

"I'd say it's a safe bet that they are, Captain.  We're being fired upon up here, transporters are down and shuttlebay doors are locked. We're working on a way to get transporters up and running again."  She looked at the Tac console and nodded. "See if you can lock onto their engines. Ops, do you still have a lock on the away team? Work on getting the transporters back online. That's priority."

Engineering, "This is Terminal-X, the CEO's Station. Everyone down here is unconscious due to some gas. I have notified sickbay, though."
 

Officer at Tac, "Ma'am their engines are overloading. They are going to explode."

"Engineering, get everyone to sickbay who can walk. Wait for the medics to treat the seriously injured then start getting back the engines."  She looked at the Tac console once more and nodded. "So they are. Helm, get us out of range, even if it means burning the engines out doing it. I want us as far away from those ships as possible."

Officer at Ops, "As the ship exploded 150 life signs were detected beaming down to the planet."

Sharek, "What's going on up there? The life signs nearly doubled and they are only 100 meters away now."

"Shit. Captain, I advise that you find cover.  The attacking ship just exploded and 150 people just beamed down."  She bit her lip, but remained calm, she's been in worse situations than this. "Ops, how go the transporters?"

Officer at Ops, "Transporters would be 3 hours to fix. Warp could be back up in 25 minutes. The hostiles will have eliminated the away team in 30 minutes. We are getting a hail as well, the freighter we diverted is under attack by two ships identical to the one we just fought they are 4 hours away at warp. If we don't save them it will alter the timeline and violate the Temporal Prime Directive. I am afraid the Captain is on his own."

Engineering, "The gas is gone and we need orders what should we start on. If we are going to the freighter we can have phasers by the time we get there."

"Engineering, stand by for a moment." Ariss leaned against the Tac console, thinking. "Saving the freighter may also mean altering the time line. Ops, put the freighter through.  Captain, take cover for now. I'll get back to you."  She rubbed her forehead quickly. "Engineering, I want 3/4 of your staff working on engines and the other 1/4 working on repairing other systems, don’t worry about phasers for now. I want that warp drive functional ASAP."

Officer at Ops, "We have them ma'am."

"Onscreen," Ariss stepped away from the Tac console and moved to stand in front of the CO's and XO's chairs. "Freighter, this is Ariss Zorran of the USS Mystic."

Freighter Captain," This is Captain Jack Richards, we need help immediately. We are transporting Starfleet officers who survived the destruction of the USS Stargazer. Please help us, we can try to outrun them but not for long."

Officer at Ops," Sir, if they head toward us we can reach then in 1 hour 45 minutes, but we won't have phasers."

"Acknowledged, Ops, thank you.  Captain Richards, we have our own problems, but I believe we can still help.  If you change your course towards us, we can be of help to you in 1 hour and 45 minutes."  An idea was starting to form in her mind, the odds were against them, but she was sure that everyone would make it out alive.

Engineering, "Sir, we are trying to find a way to get the shuttlebay doors open, we could try using the Marine's Flyer to blast them open, but it may cause more harm than good."

"How much damage would be caused, Engineering?"  If they could get the SB doors open, the Flyer would be able to get the away team to safety.  But if what she was thinking worked, the shuttlebay doors could wait.

Engineering, "It would cause major damage to the Runabout and disable half the Flyer's systems."

"Don’t go to that extreme just yet, I have an idea. Keep me informed on your progress." She looked at the view screen. "Captain Richards, do you have transport capabilities?"

Richards, "Yes, but you are out of our range and will be for at least an hour."

Engineering, "Engines are up and running."

Officer at Ops, "The Captain reports that they will be overwhelmed in 5 minutes."

"What speed can we get?" Ariss nodded at Ops. To choose between the lives of her captain and crew or the timeline was hard. She closed her eyes briefly, then opened them and sighed. "Captain, I have a situation that I need your input on. I must chose between you and the lives of those on the freighter."

Sharek quickly responded, "The timeline must come first so if there are no transporters anywhere working then save the freighter."

Ariss sighed once again. "I understand, Captain.  Hold on for as long as you can, we'll come back for you, no matter what. Helm, full power to engines, take us to that freighter. Captain Richards, we are on route to your location now. Engineering, how are the Shuttlebay doors coming?"

As the ship went to warp the simulation ended and Sharek stood there looking disappointingly at Ariss while tapping his foot. She looked back at the Captain devoid of all expression, saying nothing.

Sharek, "You saved the freighter and restored the timeline. Back at the planet the first 200 life signs turned out to be the survivors of the crashed ship and helped fight off the 150 hostiles that beamed down. Unfortunately poor Ens. Bullseye died during the fight. Had you used the transporters in the Flyer or Runabout you could have beamed up the away team right away. No one ever said those ones were not functioning."

"Captain, I apologize. There is no excuse for my actions, had this simulation been real I would gladly change places with Ens. Bullseye"

"No matter your primary objective was restoring the timeline. I, Captain Sharek Tekon, of the USS Mystic NX-T, do hereby promote you to the rank of Commander and transfer all 1st officer codes to you. Authorization 5872-Beta-56."

Ariss coughed back a gasp. Even after that fiasco, he'd still made her the XO. "Thank you, Captain.  I won't let you down this time," she said and chose to salute him.

"Now your first duty as XO is to make sure the crew leaves myself and my fiancée, the CMO, alone long enough to actually get a full night's sleep."

A smirk appeared on Ariss' face.  "Aye, sir.  I'll keep 'em busy."

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Crewman Anthony Tobias

C. Shadow Ops and Bartender

Stardate: 50311.09.

For the past three weeks new recruit Anthony Tobias has been preparing many things for the long adventure ahead.  He has had to adapt to his new living quarters without much to decorate it with, introduce himself to his new fellow crewmen, and become ready and able to perform his two new job assignments; Head of Shadow Ops and the ship's bartender. Anton hated having to do this but knew he must. "Terminal, are you there?"

Terminal, "Of course 3 of 7, how are you today?"

Anton, "I'm good. I need you to do me a favor."

Terminal, "What is this favor?"

Anton, "I need you to download how to operate all of the ships computers with supreme excellence."

Terminal, "Are you joking? These computers are child's play.  Are you really that pathetic that you don't know how to use them properly?"

Anton, "I know it's sad to admit, but I don't. These computers are far more advanced then the ones I was using. Will you do this for me please?"

Terminal, "Alright, I will make you far more familiar with these computers than most nearly everyone around you. You just have to quit talking about getting rid of me and be nice to me."

Anton, "Alright, I will quit talking about getting rid of you and be civil with you."

With that Anton fell to the floor and stood back up a little fatigued.

Terminal, "There you go 3 of 7. Is that all you need?"

Anton holding his forehead, "Yes, that is all. Thank you, Terminal. I need to get to work now."

With that, Terminal had downloaded all the information Anton needed to be quite proficient with all the ship's computers. It drained Anton a bit receiving all that information, but now he could get to work.

During his first week on the ship after getting the "grand" tour, he decided that redecorating his quarters was one of his priorities.  He decorated his room in a style all his own.  He put up tapestries, paintings, murals, all of the 20th century. He was very into the culture of the flower child scene of the late 1960s, the punk scene of the late 1970s to mid 1980s, and new age techno scene of the 1990s. His room had it's own unique feel to it. Multi-colored lights were everywhere along with black lights shining on displays of small objects and on posters and murals on the walls. It was in itself an odd looking style for the time period he was from.  He had a section of his quarters devoted entirely to his computers and his work on the AI systems.  It took him nearly a week to get all that he needed together and set up.  Making the computer create items from history books wasn't easy.

The next thing he did was set up the bar and Shadow Ops to what he wanted.  He arranged the bar in a way for maximum usefulness yet maintain a taste of class.  Shadow Ops was another story.  He had to run checks on all equipment and inform all his men of their new duties. They cleaned up what was just a place for the Shadow Ops personnel to sit around play cards into a high-tech command center for all of their future missions and duties.  He had the Shadow Ops computers linked to the ones in his quarters to be able to work at any time.  He would be ready for what ever happened. 

For the next two weeks he worked on creating the updated version of his AI program known as "Dawn." He had created Dawn to help him with his work on his previous ship and with the information that Terminal had given him he could create a somewhat better version. He worked with engineering to make a small AI core that would be attached to his and the Shadow Ops computers. Dawn was programmed to be a young woman in her mid-twenties. He was able to program into her some human emotions such as love. He programmed her to believe that she loved him to make her more willing to listen to his commands and not question his motives. All she was physically was an image of a woman on the computer screens. After two weeks she was up and operational for use by him and the Shadow Ops force.

The next task he was looking forward to completing was repairing the ship's AI unit known as Mysty. He was settling in well with the crew and his new work. He was ready for what adventures that were ahead.

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Lieutenant JG Jessica Daniels Personal Post
Assistant Security and Tactical, USS Mystic
 

Stardate 50311.10.1224

Jessica Daniels had finished shifting her few personal belongings around yet again. It wasn't much, a small picture she'd kept folded in her pocket, and a few trinkets she kept stored in her pack which had been shoved under the seat of the small scout vessel.

That was everything. Everything from a life that had yet to happen. It had been her life, but it had been destroyed. To say she wasn't just a little angry with herself, or the circumstances would have been a lie. She hated the fact that she had been helpless to stop her father’s death. She hadn't even had a hand in the destruction of her father's killer. Everything had been orchestrated and conducted without her knowledge, while she had been away on a mission.

"A mission," she reminded herself softly, "that had been engineered for the purpose of getting me away from my father."  She stalked around the room, looking at the empty walls, devoid of memories. Beyond the military she'd had no memories. Everything had been so cut and dry for her. Her friends, her enemies, who she could and couldn't trust. But now it was different, all these people were different. She didn't know anything about the time, or the politics. Most of all she didn't know who she could trust.

With an inward sigh she glanced at the chrono. Only thirty minutes until her shift started. Taking one last look around at the emptiness, she walked back into her bedroom and grabbed a uniform. Within minutes she was walking up the corridor, alone on a ship full of  people.

She would never let the past repeat itself. Never again. She would die before she allowed herself to get close to someone. And never  again would she allow herself to fail.

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Captain Sharek Tekon

Captain, USS Mystic

Crewman Anthony Tobias

C. Shadow Ops and Bartender

Stardate: 50311.13

Anton saluted the Captain and said, “Thank you, sir, for judging me to the best of your abilities. I will be going now to lock up this weapon in my quarters and get returned to my normal self.” With that, Lt. JG Tobias left the shuttlebay and went to do as he stated.

[END DATA FILE]

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