USS-Daystrom Alpha mission

[Mikey]

Mikey headed for his quarters, intending to collect and pack some things for the upcoming away mission - civilian clothes, his flabbjellah, maybe a couple bottles of ale. His mind cleared at once, all thoughts gone as base instinct took over - he could feel the faint static charge of a recent transport and the vibration of a tense humanoid's breath... where was it? Concentrate! he told himself... behind me?

Mikey dropped prone just as he felt the charge of the camouflage field dissipate, and he heard the Jem'Hadar kar'takin whistle over him. The momentum of the attack carried the now-visible Jem'Hadar into Mikey's field of vision as the Andorian jumped up to a catlike crouch. "Very impressive, blueskin," growled the pebble-skinned Jem'Hadar, "but you only postpone the inevitable. You may be physically superior to the humans, but I am still far stronger, faster, and deadlier than you."

"Don't forget uglier," retorted Mikey, as his adrenaline coursed and millenia of evolution took over. The Jem'Hadar was right though, reflected Mikey, as he studied the Jem'Hadar's relaxed, slightly forward-leaning stance. He exhibited no tension at all - the hallmark of a true killer. What advantage do I have, thought Mikey... these are MY quarters... and I can feel each move he commits himself to...

The Jem'Hadar suddenly grunted with the effort of putting all his strength into a leg sweep with the great blade. Even having sensed the direction from which it was coming, Mikey was hard-pressed to dodge the blow. "Aren't your people warriors, like the Klingons?" asked the Jem'hadar. "Maybe today is a good day for you to die."

"We're not so brutal," replied Mikey. "I'd rather think of today as a good day to kill YOU and then go on with my life." Mikey feinted with a jab towards the Jem'Hadar's exposed chin; as the monster dodged, Mikey followed with a knee to the Jem'Hadar's now-exposed belly. As the Jem'Hadar doubled slightly, Mikey followed by slamming his still-free right hand into the crux of his assailant's head and neck. At least Mikey could hurt him slightly. Enraged, the Jem'Hadar turned and swung the tip of the kar'takin at Mikey's midsection; Mikey rolled away from the blow to his right, just into the waiting follow-up from the butt end of the polearm. His sudden shortness of breath and radiating pain told him that more than superficial damage had been done. Exaggerating, Mikey spun backwards into the shelf along his wall, right below the bracket where his ushaan-tor hung.

At least I can torque him off, thought Mikey. Without turning back around, he dropped under the thrust of the blade he felt coming and planted the heel of his boot firmly on the Jem'Hadar's forward knee. That should make him mad enough, thought Mikey, as his attacker recovered and charged wildly at Mikey. At once spinning and grabbing his ushaan-tor, Mikey dragged the serrated blade clear across the Jem'Hadar's massive chest. Now insane with pain and anger, the Jem'Hadar raised his weapon for a downstroke which would surely cut the Andorian cleanly in two. Slipping to one side as a precaution, Mikey brought one of the pointed ends of his weapon up into mandible of the Jem'Hadar. As the giant humanoid fell, Mikey removed the blade and - taking no chances - casually sliced the monster's neck halfway through.

After insuring that the Jem'Hadar was truly dead, Mikey suddenly felt the incredible pain shooting through the right side of his torso. Staggering over to lean against the wall, he touched his comm badge. "Mr. Harrison? *cough* Please join in my quarters, *cough* I believe I have something you'd like to see. Then, perhaps, you can help me to sick bay while I notify security and the captain."

[Granitehewer]

"I am Kudak and I am dead. As of this moment, we are all dead. We go into battle to reclaim our lives. This, we do gladly, for we are Jem'Hadar. Remember - victory is life....ironic really, considering his present deceased state and mission failure'' Growled Cardinal in a sardonic, leery way, that might have almost been camp, were it not so callous.
''The ultimate ignomity..........to eviscerate a Jem'Hadar Alpha with a........mining tool.....'' Cardinal said, delicately and curiously, twisting the ushaan-tor in his steely hands, ''although kudak, was born in a hatchery, like all Jem'Hadar, he certainly makes a fine figure of an omelette here in your quarters''
Cardinal knelt before the form of W'Trisk, and cradled him, in his arms; ''ours is not to reason why........'', with that Alexis, the diplomat, began to wail and moan, crying aloud, almost howling like a timber wolf enamoured with the plump moon, until a passing ensign, was ushered in and although initially bolted backward as reflexes hammered home, jarring his spine in shock, shock his head awkwardly, and summoned the doctor via his comm-badge, to assess W'Trisks' status.

[Monroe]

Meanwhile security had arrived in the Holodeck. "We've searched every corner of the ship, no sign of him." The crewman told Ensign Munro.

"Time to deactivate the program, get ready." Everyone tensed as Boush ordered the computer to deactivate everything, including his holographic weapon. The room sat empty. "He may still be in here." Boush nodded towards the door, "Seal the room, we'll have to get some scanners in here to know for sure if he's still in here or not." Boush pointed at Metalhead still laying dead on the ground, "And get someone to clean up that mess."

[shran]

"Danube mission leader, come in. This is Beta 3."

"Beta 3, Danube leader here. Report."

"One sensor blip present at approximately 12000 M on my right."

"Does it match the profiles of the missing vessel?"

"Nope."

"Then what is it?"

"21.4 metres in length, no propulsion systems present, non-natural phenomenon. It appears to be composed of 3 major sections with some panels sticking out."

"No match with the missing vessels."

"Should we continue to investigate?"

"No. our mission profile dictates we should report and continue our sweeps."

"Very well then, initiating full scan of the object, labeled 1-3-4-Alpha."

"Affirmitave, initiating datalink with your vessel."

"Danube mission leader, the object is active. Internal temperatures 3 Kelvin."

"Cold enough to conserve just about anything."

"Power source is present on object 1-3-4-Alpha. Nuclear in origin."

"obsolete technology, no warp-capable society still uses that."

"Confirmed. Yet it is here, in interstellar space, 0.6 lightyears from the nearest system. Speed indicates it should have been underway for at least 900 years. Yet, radio-active decay shows it is only 373 years old."

"Any propulsion system present?"

"Negative."

"Sending report to the Daystrom. Continue with the mission as soon as scan is complete."

[Mikey]

Mikey sat bolt upright in the biobed, and immediately regretted it. He winced as Dr. Taal came over and said, "Easy, tough guy. I just had to knit two ribs of yours."

Grinning through the pain, Mikey said, "But I want to make sure I get my trophy. That Jem'Hadar left a kar'takin which rightfully belongs to me. I'm the one he tried to kill with it, and who killed HIM while he was using it."

"We'll have someone take care of it," replied the Trill facetiously. "Now lay down - I also had to repair a pretty badly damaged kidney."

"I appreciate it, Dr. Taal, but it's not like I don't have four others. Can I at least have a PADD to record my incident report?"

"Here," said the doctor impatiently. "I just can't figure why that blow didn't injure you even more seriously."

"Same reason that you obviously couldn't give me a hypospray for pain meds," replied Mikey pointedly. "This semi-chitinous skin. Tougher than yours, and helps disperse the force of an impact." The Andorian turned his attention to his PADD as his comm badge began to relay Grr'lek's voice.

"Commander? We have a contact report coming in from Danube recon Beta-3."

"Route it to Commander Teaos for analysis," said Mikey. "I'll get to the bridge when I can." Mikey then spent a few minutes compiling his incident report for Commander Rochey, including a block of Tholian text which read: "It was clearly here for Harrison. I have given Grr'lek some countermeasures to use against the following ship, but will more come to retire the diplomat?"

Handing the PADD to a young crewmen, with instructions to both deliver the report to Rochey and retrieve Mikey's trophy, W'trisk turned his attention again to the doctor. "Dr. Taal," he began, "it appears I am once again in a position to ask for your assistance." As Taal arched an ironic eyebrow at him, he continued, "for official, not personal, business, I assure you. There is more to this Mr. Minnsky that we picked up - I believe you have his friend in your care - than his record indicates. I would appreciate it if you could find anything from the medical databases or your own scans; where has he been recently, and what has he been doing...."

"In the interests of this ship, you say?" asked the doctor.

"We are going to be in a position to rely on him, Dr. Taal. I need to know that such a trust will not be misplaced."

"I will see what I can do," replied the doctor, briefly dropping the irony from his voice. "Now YOU must relax for a bit."

"Very well, doctor. Since your sick bay has been such a sanctuary, I will see if I can spare half an hour."

[Minnsky]

The hypo hissed and Metler sighed, it had been a long time since he had used it. He placed it back in its case and set it in the upper drawer. "Computer run command alpha" wells interior changed again. He moved to the hatch and checked to make sure it was locked. Too many people were becoming interested in him. After Peabody files his report there will be even more. Turning to the MSD Minnsky entered a command on his PADD the image changed to the unknown ship. That Ops officer, asking questions, "I should have just told him." Minnsky cursed him self. It was one of his issues; he would hide the smallest things. They were things that he did not need to hide, things that would not directly give up his mission but had relation. "Why am I here? This is why." With a flourish he hit a button on his PADD. The interior changed again, the floors changed to black, walls a light blue. Behind him on the right wall sat a massive display of the galaxy on a panel in the center of the room was a two-way display of time lines. There at lest ten all of them at some point melding and splitting off. On either side sat work stations, on the left tactical on the right engineering. On the left wall dead center was the entrance a set of large doors. On either side more workstations sciences on the left communications on the right. "This is why I'm here." He said as a father surveying his children, "but you cant see this ops man, not now." He lingered a bit more and then entered a command on the PADD. The room returned to its previous state of the lab. He continued working on integrating his changes from lunch. "In time you will, " He said talking to him self, "but not now. So what do I tell you." He fell silent for a while, diligently adding the new deck. He became adsorbed in the work until his mind reminded him he needed food. "Computer save and end." The program disappeared and he went over to the replicator. Today was a day of celebration, he had his paint, he was safe and was almost done. The only sore spot was Mich. "Replicator, " A beep gave signal, "black tea strong cold and Viinerine that is all." There was a hum and the food soon appeared. No sooner then he had sat at the helm and taken a bite there was a nock at his hatch. Mumbling he set the plate down and sipping his drink opened the hatch. Ensign Peabody stood looking at him, "Your presence is requested in the conference room."
"Right." He gulped his drink and set the cup in the replicator along with the unfinished Viinerine. He scooped up his PADD and checked to make sure he had his small saucer still he stepped out and locked the door behind him.

[shran]

"Daystrom, this is Danube leader Beta."

"We got you, Danube Beta.'

"I have something interesting for you, Daystrom. Sending now."

"Well well, an artificial object, metallic in nature, 21.4 Metres in length, with panels sticking out?"

"Confirmed."

"Not exactly like one of the profiles of the missing vessels, is it? Let's see if we can find a match with other phenomena, originating from Tholian space. Well, looking at the results it is not crystalline in nature, so not likely to be Tholian in nature. Let's see if we can find something in Tholian public databases... Negative. How about those sectors we were given access too for the mission. Nope, nothing either. Now, Federation databases. We have a match, Danube leader. Sending data now, please compare the data to your scans."

"Hmm, there are some minor differences, you have send me the schematics of a fully functional cryosattelite from late 20th, early 21st Century, but this one is 373 years old. However, radioactive decay from the nuclear core shows the same curve and is exactly on spot wit the readings, so I think we're having the same type. Yep, this one was made for several subjects to be frozen."

"You scanned for lifesigns. you have found one, in cryostasis."

"Positive. Permission to continue investigation and to board the sattelite?"

"Permission granted Danube leader. You may investigate this phenomenon and retrieve the crysattelite and all of its contents."

"Very well, then, Danube Beta 3 is going to investigate the crysattelite. Formation fo the accompanying vessels remains intact, but will adjust sensors to cover the blind spot. Danube out."

----

"This is Danube leader to all accompanying units. We are to remain in formation, yet adjust sensor range to cover our reach as well. Danube Beta will leave this formation for a short while. All accompanying craft confirm this please."

"confirmed."

"confirmed."

"confirmed."

"confirmed."

"confirmed. Danube leader leaving formation now."

----

After a few hours a Danube dropped out of warp and decellerated until it was on par with speed with a strange object. 21.4 Metres in length, made up from a metallic hull, the sole energy sourcebeing a nuclear reactor which should cool the entire object at a temperature to 3 kelvin. And it succeeded in doing so its entire active life. However, one unforeseen event took place. In 2032, a graviton elipse passed through the Sol system. Two objects were sucked in. one being the Ares IV, the other one being a crysattelite, orbiting Earth, but got pulled out of orbit by the Graviton elipse. It resided there for 358 years, until the graviton elipse reappeared in Tholian space, spewing out the crysattelite at a relatively low speed, before disappearing into subspace again. 3 weeks later, it was picked up by a sensor sweep from one of the embarked craft of the USS Daystrom. Now, another craft from that same ship has come to do a closer investigation.

----

"voice log active. Begin."

"In 2008, there was quite a turbulent situation omn Earth, after the eugenics wars. Howerver, on some parts of the world, like the Northern America and the European part of the Eastern alliance, were spared from it, forming small enclaves of rest, pretending to have a happy life in their own small world. However, unwanted dissidents and 'strange' people were just thrown out. The same thing happened with Kasper Nijhoff, only son of rich parents who lived mainly on leisure drugs. Kasper was authistic, variant asperger, and was therefore unwanted. In other parts of the world they were exterminated. However, the enclaves pretended not to be barbaric and therefore used more 'humane' means to solve these problems, usually putting them to sleep forever, or freeze them and leave them to the future to be taken care of. We traced the use of the cryosattelites and in 2008, one of the last ones were being put into active service, was launched containing 'unwanted elements from various countries.' We believe we have found this sattelite here."

"Alright then, adjusting gravity plating on transporter pad to simulate gravitational circumstances of the sattelite, erecting containment field around transporter pad, bringing down temperature to 3 Kelvin, and beaming in container and surrounding atmosohere."

*sound of beaming in something*

"Done. Let's get this thing to the Daystrom."

[DarkOmen]

"Hello, welcome to sickbay." Said a female andorian in starfleet medical blues. Mikey stopped, stared, and his mouth dropped open a noticable amount.

"But... I... thought i was the only Andorian on board..."

"You are." Said the female and smile...

Mikey caught on quickly.. "Oh, i see... the hologram"

"What do you think?" Said doctor Taal coming over from the back of sickbay. "I put some bio sensors just outside of sickbay to detect species and gender of incoming patients and visitors. Since we have such a diverse crew, i figured some would prefer a familiar face in sickbay, other than me of course." said the doctor.

"Interesting Idea, she is very attractive; lovely shade of skin."

"Im having problems figuring out what Tholians find physically attractive... all of the matrixes i've made look equally... crystalline." Said the doctor with a grin.

"I have faith in your ability to find out, much to our Commanders approval i would imagine.... What've you got on that other thing i asked you research?" Asked Mikey. The EMH, now back to human was attending to a patient laying on a biobed.


The doctor motioned to his office and they went in.

"Well, Ill let you withdraw conclusions on whether or not it is useful" said Taal "Minnsky does have a very interesting medical history, and quite frankly he is one of the luckiest people I have ever heard of. His body has suffered several significant traumas with out the normal results. Suffice it to say, he is a very resilient individual."

The Doctor walked over to the main display in the medical ward, and pulled up a schematic of pysiological profile. "As for what little I did find; It appears as if he has underwent significant reconstructive surgery at some point. Some of the mesodermal layers have been scarred. After reviewing his mental profile, I did discover something interesting; he shows some traits of Schizotypatheia, a rare developed neurogenic disease. It only occurs in people who have a rare sequece of codons. But in people who do have the gene, they can develop the disorder from a number of things... being exposed to telepathy for an exetended period, nueral interfaces, mental stimulants... It would be impossible for me to tell.

Most troubling and disturbing, several of his Tri-nucleotides have been resequenced, as if someone were trying to cover up the mental disease. Whoever did it, didn't do a very good job. I'm not sure what any of this means, but it's definitley something worth looking into. I tried talking to his friend but to not much avail. I'm a doctor, not an interrigator."

"Why wasn't this in the medical record?"

"No one had a reason to look before..." the doctor said sardonically.

"hmm.. ok... Thank you doctor. If you have some more free time, look into that codon resequencing some more."

"You got it... I feel like a real life forensics investigator. Its rather thrilling."

Mikey grinned a wide blue grin " dont have too much fun" and left sickbay.

[Blackstar the Chakat]

"Computer turn off the safety protocols."

"That procedure is not recommended."

"Overide the safety protocols authorization...(edited out for security reasons)...and increase speed to warp 9.2, and don't you say 'not recommended' again." The computer stayed quiet, as the shuttle craft accelerated.

The computer spoke again, "enemy tholian vessels are accelerating and surrounding us."

The chakat at the craft's helm began a high speed turn to port when the top of the shuttle was hit by an isokinetic cannon. Shi was sent flying as the shuttle's floor fell away from hir. Blackstar winced as shi stood up, hir front-right leg having been broken in the attack. "Computer, pause program, add to Blackstar's shuttle notes, 'install a fricken seat belt!'"

Before Blackstar could reingage the program a pair of young ensigns walked in. The male cleared his throght, "excuse me sir, but we have the holodeck reserved for the next two hours, and you should have that looked at," he said, indicating hir leg.

"Sorry, I lost track of time," said Blackstar. Shi could sense that the two ensigns had a long and fun evening planned with each other. Since shi had to have hir leg treated Blackstar decided to forego, hir usual teasing about threesomes. Plus shi sensed the two might actually say yes. Blackstar limped out saying, "have fun you two."

Blackstar forgot about hir limp for a moment when shi walked into sickbay and saw another, very attractive and busty, Chakat standing there. Shi tried to walk up to the chakat to give hir a greeting hug, when shi was painfully reminded about hir leg. The other chakat helped support Blackstar as they walked to the nearest biobed. Blackstar took a moment to probe the chakat but found that shi didn't exist. "Who are you?"

"I'm the emergency medical hologram. I assure I'm programmed to help heal any injuries. I assume you're Blackstar, since you're the only Chakat in the universe."

"Nice to meet you. My friends call me Blacky," said Blackstar.

"I'm fully functional in all respects," said the EMH as shi began to use a dermal regenerater on Blackstar's leg.

"An empathic, medical hologram. What will they think of next?" said Blackstar.

"I'm afraid that I'm not that advanced. Just a complex prediction subroutine I'm afraid."

"So, it's just programing?" asked a slightly dissapointed Blackstar.

The EMH shook hir head, "not that simple. My programing is adaptive, not too unlike the biological brain. I start out with a base set of perameters, but after that I can change just like a biological."

"So would you be open to dating?" asked Blackstar.

"Well, normally it'd be against my programming but I could get past that by saying it is for your psychological health," said the EMH, "if that's alright with you."

"I have no problem with that. Tommorrow night good for you?" asked Blackstar.

"I'm not doing anything else," said the EMH, "I've reserved holodeck 3 for 1900 hours. I know a lovely little bar in Paris, ironically written by a Mr. Paris."

"I'll see you then," said Blackstar. As shi walked out of the Sickbay Blackstar almost ran in Taal walking in. "You have a lovely EMH. Make sure shi has off tommorrow night."

Taal stared after Blackstar as shi walked away, then he turned and saw that the EMH was a Chakat. "What happened?"

The EMH shrugged, "I have a date with Blackstar tommorrow night." As an after thought shi added, "for psychological reasons."

"Um...okay," said Taal. "Shouldn't you be a Trill now?"

"Well, I like being a Chakat, and you're not a patient," said the EMH.

"Uh...fair enough," said Taal. He decided to run a diagnostic in the morning, to see if the EMH was functioning alright with his new modifications.

Meanwhile Blackstar was arguing with Sally. "What's the problem with dating a hologram? You aren't jealous are you?"

"No. It's just, weird," said Sally.

"Says the talking 'quadcorder'" countered Blackstar. "Besides, nothing's happening with any of the other crewman, and shi's a one stop shop. Whereas I'd have to find two mates of different genders who were into threesomes. Now, I have someone to help with my heats and I don't have to worry about getting pregnant, and shi knows my full medical history and physical layout, unlike inexperienced field medics who may have to help me."

"I'll see if engineering can instal some holoprojectors in your quarters," said Sally.

"Thanks Sal."

[Monroe]

Boush had finally declared that the holodeck was safe to use just in time for Blackstar to injure itself. Careless liquid filled creatures.

He decided to see what he could find out from the doctor about the Jem'Hadar. He suspected it was the same one that killed his previous boss. While Boush was the next logical step for the job now left vacant this would be his first real promotion. The thought made him currious if they wouldn't just transfer someone from another ship to take the spot.

Passing the fur creature that took an annoying amount of room in the hall he arrived at sick bay, "Please state the nature of the medical emergency." A Breen said as he entered. Dressed in the traditional armor the EMH made a mockery of the Breen's privacy and beliefs.

"Take that off." Boush ordered the hologram which quickly changed into a Chakat.

"My apologies if I offended. The doctor wanted patients to be more relaxed when they visit." It said.

"I'll be more relaxed when I don't have some hologram taking the image of a Breen!" Boush's anger rose.

"There a problem?" Taal asked as he rounded the corner.

"Sir, I'm here to have the results of the autopsy if you're finished." Boush replied turning to the EMH, "Leave us."

[Mikey]

Heading back toward sickbay, Mikey passed Blackstar. The Chakat looked like the cat who had just swallowed the canary. "Listen, Blackstar, I'm sorry I haven't been available much for any design sessions - I guess you heard some of what happened."

"I sure did," shi replied. "Are you alright?"

"Alright?" Mikey grinned an unpleasant feral grin that made Blackstar indefinably uncomfortable. "I've never killed a Jem"hadar Alpha hand-to-hand before! Anyway, you look like you've had some good news too."

"Sure have," shi replied. "I have a date tomorrow!"

"Oh... really... er, that's wonderful, Blackstar. I, uh, have to be going now."

Mikey hurried on to sickbay without looking back. "Dr. Taal, I-" Mikey stopped short when he saw the Breen standing in fron of the doctor.

"I am an officer on this ship, warmblood. You may speak in front of me," said the obviously piqued Breen.

That was too much for Mikey's overworked adrenal cortices. "You are an ENSIGN aboard this ship, Mr. Munro. You will NOT tell me when I may or may not speak. And you will address me as 'lieutenant commander' or as 'sir.' Is that understood?"

"Sir, yes sir," slurred the Breen, with an obvious air of sarcasm. "The Breen understands."

"You think this is because you're a Breen, Ensign? You had better stop using your species as an excuse, mister. I have spent most of my career being the only Andorian in the GP. You have it worse. But nobody forced you to join Starfleet. If you didn't expect a couple of stares and some talk, you're an idiot - if you can't handle it, you don't belong here. I came down on you because I wouldn't tolerate that behavior from ANYONE - Andorian, Human, or Breen. If you want to be treated as an officer of this crew, you had better start acting like it, and stop wallowing in your own self-pity. Do I make myself clear?"

Standing at stiff attention now, Munro loudly replied, "Sir! Yes, sir!"

"Now, Dr. Taal," said Mikey, all anger gone from his voice, "I was wondering if you could download that report we had discussed. I don't want to lose anything in the translation from doctor-speak to normal-person-language."

"Excuse me, Ensign," said the doctor, walking into his office. In half a minute he returned with a PADD which he handed to Mikey. "You might be interested to know," he added as he handed the autopsy report on a similar PADD to Munro, "that your buddy was indeed an Alpha as you suspected, and was most definitely an Elder."

"Excellent," said Mikey. "I almost wish regulations would allow me to keep his head and send it home."

Munro looked around at the Andorian. "First time you've killed someone?"

Mikey looked into the unreadable indicators where Munro's eyes should have been. "First time I've killed an Alpha Elder without using a sidearm," corrected Mikey. "I've killed enough Jem'Hadar and Breen before."

Once more, Mikey refused to look back as he left sickbay, followed by the Breen's stare. Now to deliver the medical workup on Minnsky to the Quartz Commander - nothing like a shroud of mystery and mental illness around the person you were going to ask the Commander to include on your sensitive and dangerous away mission...

[Blackstar the Chakat]

Blackstar walked onto the holodeck and was shown to hir table by a Sandrine, whom shi assumed was the proprietor of the establishment. There shi meet the EMH, who was wearing an emerald dress rather then the standard uniform. Blackstar wore a smart vest that Blackstar always wore under hir uniform. It was actually capable of withstanding a level 6 phaser blast, and weaken higher level blasts, but it was still stylish and functional.

The EMH smiled and said, "I'm glad you could make it. I was wondering if you would actually show."

"I would never skip a date with such a beautiful person such as yourself," replied Blackstar. "What's your name by the way?"

The EMH's surprise was evident. It had never occurred to hir that shi would need a name. "I don't have one..."

Blackstar looked over the EMH's Chakat form looking for something distinctive. The EMH had a solid dusty-colored fur pattern, with nothing unusual. While Dusty would be a decent name Blackstar didn't think it suited the hologram. Then Blackstar noticed that the EMH's tail was completely silver. "What happened with the tail?"

"Oh, my program wasn't originally designed for taur-form projection. Due to some limitations the tail wasn't colored properly. I think I can fix it though."

Blackstar shook hir head, "it's fine as is. Silvertail, how is that for a name?"

The EMH thought about it for a moment. "I like it. I think I'll use it, for now."

"Then later when you develop more of a personality you can change it to something else," said Blackstar.

"Why? You never did. Why are you named Blackstar anyway?"

Blackstar raised an eyebrow. "You should know, you know my medical records, and where my black star is."

Silvertail grinned, "True, but nothing is better then seeing the real thing. And I don't want to wait until the 5th date. Assuming there is a 5th date."

"Why wouldn't there be?" Blackstar turned hir upperbody's back towards the holographic doctor and took hir top off, revealing hir black star on hir back. It also attracted the attention of every patron in the bar. Blackstar rolled hir eyes and sighed, "humans. So easily distracted." Blackstar put hir top back on, much to the crowd's disappointment. "What did you think?"

"I liked it," said Silvertail. A rather romantic song started playing and the EMH looked over the dancefloor with envy.

Blackstar picked up on this and asked, "would you like to dance?"

"I don't know how."

"I'll teach you," Blackstar took Silvertail's hand and led hir to the dancefloor.
---

The next morning...

The EMH in Chakat form was humming as shi ran the daily diagnostic on the bio-beds. Dr Taal was surprised as shi was still in Chakat form and was humming, something shi wasn't programmed for. "How did your date go?"

"A lot better then I expected. We even came up with a name for me. I am now Silvertail," shi said, waiving hir tail to emphasis it.

On the bridge Blackstar was humming the same tune as shi logged into the helm console. Mikey was picking up the nightly report from the night shift ops officer when he overheard hir. "Sounds like someone had a good night."

"hmmm? Oh, my date did go very well," said Blackstar, "We danced, we talked into the wee hours of the morning. I never thought the history of a young hologram could be so interesting."

"You're dating the EMH?" asked Mikey. "That's... that should provide some interesting challenges."

With a wide grin Blackstar replied, "I look forward to it."

"I'm going to go and work now," said Mikey, "Just ask if you need anything."

"Oh, could you get some holoprojectors installed in my quarters?" asked Blackstar. Sensing his uneasiness Blackstar said, "You can take down a Jem'Hadar with your bare hands but you have trouble with the idea of me dating a hologram? Besides you owe me for not helping with the shuttle."

[Sionnach Glic]

"And, despite you yourself calling it 'a shroud of mystery', you think he should also acompany us?" The Commander asked in slight confusion, turning to look at Mikey. The Andorian shrugged.

"He's been floating around this place for a while, he might know something about it we don't. And he seems to haev some knowledge of how to get around without being seen."

"Perhaps." Rochey conceeded. He had already had the away team planned out, and this sudden late addition was merely an anoyance. But the Andorian was right; Minnsky might know something they didn't.

"Very well, I'll bring him as well." He'd probably have to watch the human so he didn't try to escape, though. Exactly what he'd been doing before the ship had found him was still a bit unknown, and Rochey had been meaning to talk to him for some time.

"If that is all, Lieutenant?" He said, handing Mikey back the PADD, intending to leave quickly. He had plenty of work to do. He was still trying to figure out how that Jem'hadar had gotten onto the ship undetected, and the death of yet another security chief was hardly helping. Some of the more superstitous crewmembers were spreading rumours that the position was cursed, or some similar nonsense, and Rochey had taken to making sure he kept his pulse gun with him at all times. The effectiveness of this ship's security crew was hardly inspiring.

"Pretty much, Sir. Who else are you planning on taking with us?"

"You and I. Then there's the Chakat, Blackstar. Then there's Minnsky, Harrison, and several security personel. And the Breen." He added as an afterthought. He was hardly thrilled over the fact that the Breen was now head of security on the ship, nor about the idea of it coming along on the mission. But his inclusion had made sense.

"That's it?"

"Yes. Now, I must leave. I have quite a lot to do." He said briskly, already heading for the door. As he reached it he paused for a moment and looked back.

"By the way. Excelent work on dispatching that intruder earlier on. It's nice to know there will be at least one person coming that knows how to fight."

[shran]

'Voice log active, dr. Sarin Taal recording, taking a diagnostic of the only remaining occupant of object 1-3-4-Alpha. Subject was found in a cryosattelite, Terran model, from early 21st century. Although ths sattelite was equipped with a nuclear power source no radiation wounds or any damage by radiation can be measured. It was not standard on the sattelites to shield the reactor more than usual. In fact, the sattelite was shielded even on the outside with Plumbum to protect it from cosmic radiation. Thoughtful parents, I'd say. This boy has been in cryostasis since 2008, I'd say july. Since he has been retrieved with his capsule from the sattelite, his body has been kept under the same conditions as the sattelite. Little cellular damage has occurred during freezing and none has occurred while being frozen. All limbs are still in place, however a drug plug is present at the back of his neck. It is not a standad model, it has been altered to sent stimuli to the brain that keep the subject in an artificial coma. Organs are in decent condition, considering what they have been through. We have a little miracle here, the brain cells are even intact. Either these European cryostasis experts were a whole lot better than they wanted to admit, or extra resources have been put into this particular capsule. The brain of this subject sems to be wired slightly different fomr the normal terran, so it seems. Checking databases... The wiring actually seems to show parallels to Vulcan nerve systems. However, no Vulcan DNA is present in his system. Perhaps ths subject has autism, or a variant on the condition. End preliminary medical analysis."

[Mikey]

"Thank you, sir," said Mikey to the departing Commander Rochey. "And as you have my report on the doctor's research of Minnsky, I will just sum up, before you hold a more... public briefing."

"Quickly, please."

"Well, obviously I am going to try and avert any further attempts on Harrison's life. Dr. Taal's research was helpful, but Minnsky is still an unknown - we don't know what he was doing, why he has a Starfleet shuttle, or what's been done to it - he wouldn't accept any help in conducting repairs - or in fact anything at all since his discharge from Starfleet. And the snowman, well, I just had an... exchange of ideas with him," - Rochey looked inquisitively at Mikey - "regarding his attitude and acceptance of his role here, and I think being in charge of a department and his responsibility on the away mission will actually help improve his morale and his performance."

"Thank you, lieutenant commander," said the Tholian. "Is that all?"

"One last thing, sir. What about weapons? I know Munro will conduct the actual load-out, but except for you none of us will be able to carry a visible sidearm. My flabbjellah is ostensibly a musical instrument yet it contains an efficient fighting dagger, but I don't even know if we have a complement of Type-I phasers. I myself will see about more discreet comm/tracking units, and make sure the Danube's systems are ready for less-than-conducive environments."

"Thank you, W'trisk," replied Rochey. "I will attempt to answer your questions before departure." The Tholian pivoted crab-like and left the Andorian's quarters.

Mikey sighed. "Computer - return temperature and humidity to previous settings!" Mikey looked around. His now-clean ushaan-tor hung on his wall once again, next to a new set of brackets holding the Jem'Hadar kar'takin which had nearly slaughtered him. On the counter of his shelving unit rested the Jem'Hadar's empty pistol rig; Mikey had pinched it in order to lay atop MetalHead's casket, to reassure the departed that he had been avenged.

Mikey pressed his comm badge. "Carson," he said, "get Friedman and Taylor. Go over Danube-1; in addition to normal checks, I want you to upgrade the transporters and comm system to function in hostile EM and weather environments - tighten the ACB, ramp up the gains, the works. See if you can get McKenzie free from Engineering if you need the help. And check in with Lt. Hewer - I'd like to leave with a full complement of torps on board."

"Aye, sir. Four and a half hours. Carson out."

One down, three to go. "Grr'lek?"

The subtle throaty voice of the Caitian came back at Mikey. "Sir?"

"Those new emergency-use comm protocols I showed you? I want you to brief Beta, Gamma, and Delta shifts on their use within the next three hours. And stress that they are for use ONLY if hostile intention is displayed. Am I clear?"

"Crystal, sir."

"Computer," said Mikey after the Caitian terminated contact, "send a read-later message to Lt. Blackstar's quarters as follows: 'No time to spend on holo-emitters while preparing for away mission. Perhaps upon completion, IF you get command-level clearance, something can be arranged.'"

One more call to make. "Seafort? Mikey here. If you have some time available, I could use your help. I need to fashion some covert commlinks for the upcoming mission, and I was hoping I could count on your assistance - you know, I'd like to have them done right."

While watiing for a response from the engineer, Mikey finally began to collect and pack the items he wanted for the mission - his flabbjellah, a couple of bottles of ale, his battle shorts and civilian clothes - and then began to lay out his dress uniform in preparation for yet another funeral.