Star Trek: The New Frontiers (IC)

Captain Miguel Torres- Captain's Mess

Mack wasn't much of a salad man, however Chef had away of making it seem more palitable to him, at least that way the doctor would never be able to say that the Captain didn't get enough of his required nutrients. They had served together for many years already, and even though he'd never admit it, his Vulcan cook took it as a source of pride that his Captain not only was served a good tasting meal, but a nutrious one as well.

"Well tomorrow will be a good chance for you to test that skill Lieutenant." Miguel said with a smile as he recognized the helmsmens joke. "In fact tomorrow will be a day of firsts for us. We'll be using the new slipstream drive far longer then we have before and in doing so we'll be traveling a distance of 3000 light-years inside of 5 days. Thus breaking every previously established speed record the fleet had ever set." Miguel was very proud of his ship. It was the first of two prototypes constructed, but the Chimera was the first to be completed. The Medusa was still three months from completion.

It was the first time that Starfleet had given two ship's of the same class the NX designation. But with the advances that this new ship dared to usher in, it was only logical. One ship would be allowed to go out and test the systems to it's highest degress, while the other ship would stay closer to the Federation and run its trials closer to home. It would also serve as a emergency measure should the first ship require an emergency rescue. Miguel was happy that he had won the coin toss with Captain Hunt. After being stuck around the Sol system as they ran trial tests, Miguel wanted to get out and stretch the Chimera's legs. What better way then a quick sprint.

"The area of space we'll be arriving at is what used to belong to the T'Kon Empire nearly 600,000 years ago. There are only a hand full of ships that have been there, and Command decided we would start our mission there. They also want to make sure we aren't to far away should we require assistance. After exploring for a few weeks we'll be proceeding to the Orion arm of our Galaxy and begin exploring that wilderness." he said with a huge smile on face.

Commander A'Lex T'Pol T'Ker - XO - Captain's Mess

A'lex said nothing, not bothering to respond in anyway. She'd been on ship and aware of the current mission orders for longer than most of the crew. Hopefully the major mission peramaters would be completed on schedule. If so her request to travel to Vulcan for a week would be approved. If things went badly, well.. She'd deal with that event if it occured.

Eating in silence A'Lex sipped her water. She'd have to speak with the doctor about more nasal numbing agent. She could smell the Andorian from here, and the human..........

WHY CAN'T YOU SHOWER, LIKE CIVILIZED BEINGS? She mentally screamed at them all. IN THE NAME OF ALL THE GODS OF VULCAN YOU STINK!!!!

Setting her fork down she stretched her fingers. Slowly, listening to the tendons, and cartiladge pop as she centered herself and regained her calm. Taking another sip of water she managed to not crush the glass in her hand before returning it to the table.

Noticing her bent salad fork she placed her napkin over it and picked up the Entree fork, to finish her meal.

Captain Miguel Torres- Captain's Mess

Miguel was happy when his entry came out. The Chef had made some lobster, and a baked potato, as well as a side of asparagus. for the Captain. Another sign that the Vulcan was making sure that he had a balanced meal. Chef had made him a double cheeseburger for lunch, and probably felt that was enough red meat for the day.

Miguel went about putting some sour cream on his potato, followed with some chives. As he did, he continued to listen to the small talk the others were making. All was pretty normal, all except for the first officer. It wasn't that she was quiet, it was something else. He wasn't sure, but he had known her for over a year now. She had been asigned to the Chimera six months before he had. Granted that a year wasn't a lot of time to know someone, but it was long enough that he was starting to get hints. "Are you okay Commander?" he asked her as he began to remove the meat from the lobster tail.

Commander A'Lex T'Pol T'Ker - XO - Captain's Mess

"My status is satisfactory, Captain." A'Lex replied. SMELLY HUMAN, she mentally screamed. STINKING FOUL HUMAN.



Hallucination:
Leaping to her feet A'Lex grabbed the Captain by the throat and slammed him against the wall, the knife for putting butter on bread in her hand as she plunged it into his chest again and again. Pulling her hand back she swung. The dull blade ripping across his neck and splattering arterial blood across the plasteel window.

Grabbing the front of his uniform she launched him across the room and onto the table. Platters and glasses flew from the impact of his body. The table shaking as the senior crew held up eating utensils.

Leaping into the air she landed on top of him. His weak human body dying. His stench filling her nose as she slowly eviscerated him. The blade slicing through uniform and skin, her fingers ripping his rib cage from his body and revealing his beating heart. Ripping it from him she threw it at the Andorion, who began eating the pulsing bloody organ.

Climbing off the table she walked, her blood drenched uniform clinging to her. Piece by bloody piece she peeled it off and dropped it. She listened to the slick wet splattering sounds as her clothing fell. Finally naked, except for her boots, A'Lex continued walking. The blade longer and sharper now. Pausing behind each officer she slit their throats as they laughed in delight. Full hearty laughter. Maniacal laughter as blood fountain from torn throats.

Stepping behind the Doctor. The one that smelled so nice.. like Vulcan on a summer night. The dry wind blowing across the desert, and up from The Forge. Her fingers traced across his face, her heart pounding louder than imaginable.

Swiveling around him, she straddled his lap, mounting his own nude form in the blink of an eye. Screaming in ecstasy as his hard flesh filled her body.

Hallucination over...



"Should it be otherwise?" she asked, her left eyebrow arching.

Captain Miguel Torres- Captain's Mess

"Just curious Commander." Something was wrong, that much he could tell. However she said she was alright, so he'd leave it at that.... for now. He was lucky to have her as his XO, she probably would have been at the top of his list of canidates for the job if he had been given the oppertunity to chose one. However she had been assigned to him by command. She was efficient beyond words, and she was also tough.

Chimera was behind schedule by several months when they assigned her. By the time Miguel had arrived six months later the ship was back on schedule. And in the year since she had maintained that high standard and expected it from everyone. Yes she would definately have been on high on his list of candidates. Now he just had to hope that he didn't lose her to early in this mission to a command of her own.

He took some of his lobster and after dipping into the butter sauce he ate some. He knew at the first bite that some how Chef had managed to use the real thing and not replicated food. He wondered how he had managed that.

LT Commander Alex Hagen, CMO Captain’s Mess

Alex finished his salad and smiled at the councilor “I think that’s a reasonable excuse for an appointment” he said with a grin to the officer in front of him. “

He moved side his plate and watched as the waiter brought in his dinner, a special earth steak marinated in a specific blend of romulan and betazed spices with bezoian cauliflower and some small dish of almost unidentifiable romulan stew. While the steak looked appetizing, the stew itself did tricks to his already turning stomach.

He looked back up at the councilor “I should make you aware that it is near impossible to have a discussion with my daughter without my involvement. We are telepathically linked and while I can block her from me, she hasn’t developed the ability to block me from her. “He said with a smile, picking up his knife and fork and beginning to sink it slowly into the over tender meat “but I can do my best to keep out of her head during the appointment.” He said with a smile as he turned towards the comm. Officer and smiled at his comment.

The captain responded and Alex chuckled a bit, looking forward to getting underway as much as the captain did. He closed his eyes for a second, sending out a telepathic eye to his quarters and finding the jewel in his quarters, now at one of those rare times of peace. His daughter was asleep and if he knew the holo sitter he was sitting on the couch listening for even a hint of trouble. His daughter’s dreams where typical of a nine year old, filled with fantasy and wonder and imagination that only the innocent have.

Not for the first time, Alex thanked whatever gods there were that she hadn’t remembered her mother. She would have adored her mother, of course, but the circumstances of her death…. Well, he knew that Kara would have a lot to deal with when she finally grew up enough to ask and could understand. Alex didn’t look forward to that day, no father could look forward to the day that they have to explain to their children their mother’s death.

He opened his eyes and brought his presence back into the room, smiling around and listening to the small talk around when he felt something, something powerful, something feral in the air.

He tried to close down his senses, but this was intense, a feeling of hatred, of anonymity. An overwhelming desire and primal urges to death, destruction, lust, gratification. He traced the empathic tendrils around the room and…

Alex couldn’t help but look over at the first officer, the stoic Vulcan always in control of her emotions as she sat responding to the captain. He saw the flash of the bend salad fork as it hit the table with a silent thumb and watched her carefully for a minute. It was her. She was… emotional?

Hell, more than emotional, she was downright insane. Alex quickly withdrew his feelers before she detected him and sat, sawing at his meat mindlessly as his medical brain searched for some sort of answer. There were two cases where a Vulcan could show so much empathic emotional power as she was unleashing into the universe and she was far too young for the first option.

‘Oh boy’ he thought to himself as he took a bite of the tender meat. ‘this is going to be interesting…’ he thought as he looked over at the councilor and resumed his small talk, making a mental note to move up the first officer’s examination for as soon as humanly possible.

Commander A'Lex T'Pol T'Ker - XO - Captain's Mess

Turning her head slightly A'Lex looked at the Chief Medical Officer for a moment.....

Hallucination:

Leaping across the table A'Lex knocked the Andorian off his chair, her punch shattering his jaw. Grabbing his head she pounded his skull against the floor until it was a soft mushy consistency.

Snarling she stood up slowly, only half rising as she crouched. Looking around the room. People laughed and pointed at her, using fingers to lift the edges of their eyebrows, mocking her racial attributes. The CMO cried in soft dainty tones, while the Counselor laughed the loudest.

"STOP LAUGHING AT ME!"

Flipping the table over she crushed the counselor under it. Then using a salad fork she perforated the neck enough times to rip it completely off the body. Seconds later she turned and leaped at the Captain, knocking him onto the floor.

Straddling his waist her hips rocked, his hard flesh buried deep inside her body. She could feel the warm sticky fluid of his release as she rode him.

Hallucination over...

... then she shrugged and returned to eating her salad and precisely cut bread. Taking slow careful bites she reigned in the beast within. Maintaining her calm she breathed slowly. In through the nose, out through the mouth.

Commander A'Lex T'Pol T'Ker - XO - Captain's Mess

A tomato crushed between her teeth....

Hallucination:

and she leaped up and backwards as the Klingon CSO flipped the table over. Even as the Klingon was running, A'Lex was twisting, lifting a fork from the floor and running at him. Klingon met Vulcan in a slam of bodies, teeth flying in rage, hate, and passion.

Twisting, A'Lex punched the Klingon in the neck, pulling the fork out and laughing as the blood fountained from the punctured artery. The CSO swung, rage fueling already massive strength. A'Lex's neck snapped back and to the side as teeth were knocked from her mouth. The cartilage of her nose flexed, then fractured under the impact.

When her vision cleared she looked back at the Klingon, and felt the blade slip between her ribs, and out her back. Severing her spine.

Collapsing to the floor she could do nothing but look up and watch. And watch she did as the Klingon ripped teh XO's clothing off.

Hallucination over...

.... the juices filling her mouth as she swallowed, her gaze sliding from the Klingon.

Lt Cmdr Doyle - Captain's Mess

Doyle nodded to the doctor, "I realise that, but could you refrain from influencing your daughter's replies? That's all I'm asking, you're free to look in, if you so wish. It would be an interesting topic to discuss at your session."

Then she noticed that he seemed slightly distracted, years of practice and learning allowing her to read minute expressions. She refrained from asking though - if he was concerned about anything, he would tell her in his session - or before hand if it was urgent.

Lt. Commander Alex Hagen, CMO

After a moment Alex looked back at the councilor. “Oh, by all means. Please understand just because she cannot keep me from reading me telepathically I never have used my ability to alter what she is thinking or what she is saying. I can only think of one very unique case where I would even consider doing that.”

Alex leaned forward and smiled. “On betazed, everyone is taught the golden rule when it comes to telepathy. Respect other’s privacy and freedoms. Even if she is my daughter and sometimes may do things that are dangerous to her, the only way for her to learn her limits and to learn how to control her abilities is by the freedom to choose to do so. Forcing someone to do something against their wishes always turns into the building blocks of tyranny, at least in my opinion. Bottom line is whatever my daughter says to you will be her words, not mine.”

Alex said as he reached for the glass of wine that came with his dinner and took a generous sip, smiling and attempting to ignore the empathic signals emanating from down the other end of the room.

::Fade to Black::

Star Trek:
The New Frontiers​

Star Trek:
The New Frontiers​

Miguel wiped his face with his napkin, making sure that he didn't have any cake on his face, then tossed it on the now empty plate. He then took a drink of the glass of water, to cleanse his pallet. The evening had gone well enough, and the stewards were now coming out to see who was finished and to take their dishes away.

Miguel looked around at each of his officers, they were all good people. Just like their files had said, but there are some things that you can't always tell from an officers service record. Which is why he liked to have little get togethers like this from time to time. He placed his hands on the table and saw that it was already 21:30 hours (9:30 pm for those that don't speak military time ). Just went to prove the old saying that time did fly when you were having fun. "I guess it's time to call this event to an end. I must say that I loved hearing your stories as well as enjoyed your company this evening." he said as he rose from his chair. Afterall no one else would get up until the Captain had, it was navel tradition.

A'Lex and Alex - Hallway outside the Captain's Mess (Joint Post)

Alex stepped out of the mess hall and turned the corner. He was the first one out of the room but he wanted to catch the XO, who would be out shortly. What he had noticed in that room was important, but was also a deeply private matter. Despite her cold arrogance everyone deserved their privacy.

Walking out of the Captain's Dinning Hall, or his Mess as he called it, more like a pig sty. He smelled and ate meat, and was rude, and she had so many complaints about the Human she couldn't even name them all. And that was an accomplishment, even for her. Turning the corner she nearly ran over the CMO. "Excuse me," she murmured attempting to step around him.

Alex stepped infront of her and looked at her, dropping his voice into a lower tone "Commander, Are you feeling well?" He asked, bringing up a small pocket scanner and taking some subtle readings while the others passed them by. he made sure the scanner was hidden so that it looked like the pair was only talking privately. "I am sensing some very intense emotions coming off of you"

"Your question is illogical, Doctor." A'Lex replied calmly, if a bit stiff, but that was fairly standard, especially for her.

"Right... And I suppose these heightened levels of pheromones and wild fluctuation in subdermal chemicals is illogical as well, or perhaps the tricorder is broken..." Alex said as he looked over the readings again before folding it up and pocketing the device. "Commander, I would like you to come down to my office first thing in the morning for a full examination and workup" Alex said, straitening and putting forth his Doctor's persona.

"Your observations are noted, Doctor. And I will schedule an appointment at the earliest possible convenience."

Alex looked at her "Commander, that was an order. don't make me make this official." He replied sternly

"As XO, and Commander, I outrank you. Without a formal declaration as to my incompetence - and proof - of my inability to do my job you can't." Stepping left, A'Lex attempted to walk around the Doctor once more.

Alex stepped right to accommodate her "Under article 73 of Starfleet regulations, A Chief medical officer of a ship can remove an officer from duty for evaluation purposes for competency, further regulations stipulate that the medical officer can do this at his or her discretion without formal declaration. We can bring this matter to the captain but if this is what I suspect it is, I would assume that you would like to keep this quiet." Alex said, straitening his jaw.

"I'm not letting you off the hook, Commander. Now you will be in my office tomorrow morning for the exam or I will have you removed from your position for evaluation purposes ten minutes after you don't show up. Either way, You get examined, but there is only one way that you did so willingly. Would you care to find out if I'm kidding, Commander?" Alex said quietly, yet strongly.

"My shift begins at oh-four-hundred, the earliest available time is when my shift ends, at Seventeen hundred hours. It takes Five minutes to depart the Bridge and travel to sickbay. That will have to be satisfactory. Otherwise you can violate doctor-patient confidentiality and have me removed from my duty station.. on a suspicion."

"Doctor patient confidentiality does not apply in this case because no information is being disclosed to unauthorized parties, simply a following of Starfleet rules and regulations. And also pursuant to command regulations 241 paragraph 13 section 3 "The Senior officer and command staff of a ship is to be notified of any condition that may hinder the operation or safety of the ship. Full cooperation is to be provided by all individuals, including the officer to be examined.' Even if i was to walk onto the bridge and get security themselves to escort you down, I would not be in violation of doctor patient confidentiality and The captain himself would have to back me up in the situation. Needless to say if you are not in my office at Seventeen hundred hours and fifteen minutes, I will come and get you myself" Alex responded, moving to one side to allow the first officer past "thank you for your cooperation, Commander."

"As I do not have any condition that would hinder, harm, or hamper the safety of this ship or crew, you would be required to explain to the Captain any reasoning you have to forcibly remove me from the bridge. Which would violate the confidentially regulation. Hence, be careful how far you seek to push your authority.. Doctor. I may be required to bring you up on charges of abuse of authority." As she spoke A'Lex stepped slightly closer, her tone losing it's calm aloofness and becoming slightly.. hostile.

Stepping aside she walked past the Doctor, her stride determined, if not quite as military as before, it seemed as if her hips swayed, or sashayed, just a little more suggestively than before.

Doyle - outside captains mess

The evening, though slightly frosty in the beginning, soon turned out to be rather pleasant. The aloofness of the Vulcan at the captain's side was something less than to be desired, but she supposed that it was the XO's perogative. Being a vulcan, after all. All night, though he may want to hide it, she caught the CMO's discreet glances towards A'lex and wondered briefly to herself. The doctor seemed worried - about what she could only assume - but being human she had not empathic skills to rely on. Sometimes she wondered why she had gone into psychology - but soon dismissed the thought. She loved her work, and that was that.

As the evening wore on, and the cook marvelled them with dish after dish of exquisite tastes, Doyle spoke little, choosing to observe. As she had said before, being human made her job that much harder and so she was forced to take in her surroundings that much more in detail. Sometimes she tired of the chore, but other times it just melted into her persona and she hardly knew she was doing it.

As the evening ended and the captain stood, letting others leave the room, Doyle chose that moment to have a little more private talk with the doctor. Unfortunately, as she swung around to corner, in pursuit of him, she found him waiting for the XO.

After a rather headed discussion, something she pertinantly did not listen in to, she sought out Alex. "If you don't mind my asking, doctor, what was that about?" As the Ships counselor, she had a duty to know of any problems with personnel on the ship. No matter how discreetly they wanted to keep their - relationship - she needed to know if there was a problem that could affect either their moral or how they functioned in their roles.

If there was something going on between the vulcan and the doctor, then she wanted to know about it.

"Is there something I should know?"

CMO Lt. Commander Alex Hagen Outside captain’s Mess

Alex watched her walk away and shook his head at her. She was defiantly out of it. He was well within his right to confine her but he let it pass. He was well within his authority and she didn't have a leg to stand on, but he let her sneer at him and walk away.

Alex smiled and shook his head, heading to his own quarters to do a little bit of research on the findings he had just gotten from her. He was stopped by the councilor as he turned towards the turbo lift.

"If you don't mind my asking, doctor, what was that about?" The officer asked in her professional capacity and Alex had to smile. Leave it to the councilor to pick up on a discussion like they just had.

The words had been somewhat heated, well heated for a Vulcan. Not many other people picked it up and Alex had made sure that the conversation was as private as he could make it with the urgency of the case, or what he believes. However, The XO had brought up a good point about doctor/patient confidentiality. To speak of this to anyone by the XO this early without it becoming a very serious problem would be against medical ethics. It was a problem, certainly, and it could and will eventually affect the operation of the ship if left untreated. However now the XO was performing her duties without being too highly affected.

The soft words of the human in front of him brought him back from his thought process. "Is there something I should know?"

Alex smiled again and shook his head “Nothing currently, Councilor. This is a purely medical matter at this point. If you would like to speak of it, you are going to have to talk to the commander about the situation; my hands are tied as a doctor. However I will inform you and the captain immediately if whatever is going on turns into a potentially dangerous situation.” He said officially.

He stepped to the side and nodded friendly “Oh, I almost forgot. Is thirteen hundred hours a good time for Kara’s appointment? I’m sure you would like to speak to her first and during that time I’m on duty so it will be far easier for me to keep from her mind.” He said with another warm smile.

Captain Miguel Torres

Miguel had watched everyone leave the Mess. After a few minutes he also left and made his way to his quarters via the nearest turbolift. Although after having ate so much he had contimplated using the jefferies tube. But it was only a one deck climb, so it wouldn't have been worth it.

He had already been up a long time and really wasn't paying much attention to anyone that might have been walking around the hall ways. His mind was torn between going over the events of the day, and going over the series of events that were scheduled for tomorrow. It was going to be a good day, at least he hoped so.

Captain Miguel Torres- Bridge

Stardate: 78021.371

Sunday May 20, 2400

:It is now 0400 hrs:

:It is now 0400 hrs:

The computer said twice and Miguel woke up and inhaled deeply. He still had a couple of hours until he had to report to report to the bridge, but there were things he needed to do before he started. It was part of his routine to do his morning run. He dressed in his PT uniform and put on his commbadge and left his quarters.

When he exited the turbolift a few minutes later he was on deck 20. It was one of the 4 decks that didn’t have any cabins, labs or nearly anything for that matter. It was meant for future needs. But Miguel used deck 20 and 21 as a track for his personal run. He made his way over to one of the control panels and readjusted the gravity on both decks. Deck 20 would have a gravity 50% higher then Earth’s while deck 21 would actually be at Earth norms. It was a ritual that he had become accustomed to thanks to his over 10 years in Special Operations Command. He no longer ran the full two hours he had to back then, but he found that the 30 minute run was more then enough to keep him in excellent shape. When he was done he reset the gravity back to Earth norm, then made his way back to his quarters drenched in sweat.

By the time he had finished his shower, this time a real shower, with real hot steaming water, and dressed in his uniform it was 0520 hrs. He was tempted to just go to the bridge and skip breakfast, however he had already told Chef that he would be there. Besides all he was having was a simple bowl of oatmeal, a piece of toast, and a class of orange juice. So he went ahead to the Captain’s mess and had his breakfast. He had Chef sit and eat with him. Miguel hated eating breakfast alone. Eventually he’d start having breakfast with some of his senior staff, but for now it was nice to enjoy a meal with his old friend.

:Stardate - 78021.6:

When he arrived on the bridge it was exactly 0600 hrs. If all had gone according to plan, they should just be leaving the Sol system. Day shift, which for the most part was made up of his senior staff was already on the bridge. He looked around and saw his Chief Engineer at the engineering bridge station. It was obvious that Mr. Oliver wanted to be on the bridge for this special occasion. The Chief of security was at Tactical 1 and his assistant, who Miguel couldn’t remember his name at the moment, a Vulcan was at Tactical 2. “Status report Commander T’Ker.” he said as he made his way to his chair.

Commander A'Lex T'Pol T'Ker - XO - Bridge

Kneeling on the floor A’Lex considered all the options available. It was happening. There was no doubt. Meditative therapy wouldn’t last long. Maybe long enough, but possibly not. Always before she had secluded herself. But this time, that wasn’t an option.

***

Movie along the corridor A’Lex ran. Gravity had been increased to double Earth, and the temperature was several degrees warmer than Vulcan. Once she’d broken into a sweat and it had saturated her workout gear she stepped over to the sparing partner provided by the Holodeck and began her assault on it.

Shifting through the forms of Ke-ta-yatar she quickly annihilated holoimage after holoimage. Stepping back she increased the difficulty from nine to ten. Then engaged the target again.

***

Leaving sickbay A’Lex confirmed with the nurse that no mention of this would be made to the CMO. The notation would be in her file, but the CMO wouldn’t need to be told specifically.

Returning to her quarters A’Lex showered and headed for her Office.

****

After finishing all the reports, and putting people on report for various infractions. She moved on to ships schedules. Making sure everyone was assigned duties. Unless they were finally scheduled to be off.

Once the schedule was done for next week she went over the personnel files for the Senior Officers. Including, and especially, the Doctor.

At 05:30 hours ship time A’Lex stepped from her office and onto the Bridge.

***

“Status report Commander T’Ker.”

“Situation Normal. All stations report situation green. We are go for slipstream.” She replied, no trace of emotion. No trace of suspense or excitement.

One portion of her mind wondered at how to make the nasal numbing agent stronger.

Doyle - outside Captain's mess - private quarters

Mari waited patiently for the doctor's response. She could see and appreciate the dilemma he was going through - she could practically see the gears shifting in his head - but as Ship's counselor, she had a right and a need to know.

“Nothing currently, Councilor. This is a purely medical matter at this point. If you would like to speak of it, you are going to have to talk to the commander about the situation; my hands are tied as a doctor. However I will inform you and the captain immediately if whatever is going on turns into a potentially dangerous situation."

Mari pursed her lips and then nodded in satisfaction, though her eyes did not mirror the sentiment. "Very well - but be sure not to let this get out of hand, doctor. This is an experimental ship and I assume the crew as well. Preventable problems are not something we want to deal with." Her voice was stern, her full professional capacity. She would keep an eye on both the doctor's and the XO's files - she'll talk to either again if she feels that something is going wrong.


“Oh, I almost forgot. Is thirteen hundred hours a good time for Kara’s appointment? I’m sure you would like to speak to her first and during that time I’m on duty so it will be far easier for me to keep from her mind.”

Mari perked an eyebrow, "I don't see why not, I'm off duty myself but I'm happy to see her then. Could you see me about an hour after you've signed off? I would like to have you in a comfortable state. As I said, no need to bring Kara with you."

Lieutenant Szera, Personal quarters.

One point. It's not a large margin but it is large enough that Szera found herself in her quarters after a full night shift of simulations and last minute work ups and calibrations on the Slipstream. If she'd scored a half point better and the Engineer had scored a half point worse, it would be her in charge of this virgin run of the Chimera's Slipstream drive. And she'd be damned if she'd have been on the bridge for it! No, an Engineer needs to be down in Engineering to catch His baby if she stumbled. There was a .25 millisecond lag between the Engineering consoles and those on the bridge. Not acceptable.

Szera shook herself as she pulled off the uniform shift she wore. She dropped it into the hamper and said "Replicator, one dozen Rigellian Wren eggs, one hundred four degrees and a mug of S'sgarnon Ox blood, one hundred three degrees."

Her order appeared in it's place, just as she ordered it. Taking up one of the eggs, she cracked the top open and sucked the contents out following it with a sip of the thick purplish liquid. She could feel the hum of the ship, and it soothed her as surely as did the warm food and drink.

She finished her snack and curled up in her nest. She would try to sleep, but doubted she would. She was too excited about this flight. "Computer, increase nest temperature to One hundred ten degrees." She could feel the warmth spreading through her body, and her eyelids began to droop with the relaxation of a good basking.

No, she wouldn't be able to sleep, not a chance. The thought went through her head twice before she slipped into the slumber of the basking.

Lt. Thoras, bridge

The meal in the mess had been nothing short of spectacular. Plenty of food, all perfectly prepared and served. If only the replicators could do as well, then life would just about be perfect. Of course, other than the food, there wasn't much of note happeneing at the gathering, and Thoras had mostly kept to himself. Once the gathering had finished, he had returned to his quarters.

Once safely away in his private quarters, Lt. Thoras had gathered together his various weapons that he had secreated about the room. The blades, and especially his mining tool, had a good polishing to meep them in excellent condition. He had also stripped down and rebuilt each one of his directed energy weapons. Sure, most of them didn't work, and his standard issue type 2 phaser was the only really dangerous ranged weapon in the room, it wouldn't take long to get them fully operational. The dismantle/rebuild routine just helped with speed and efficiancy.

The next day, his shift had started as usual. Pancakes and Andorian Ale. Just a small glass, of course. No need to turn up on the bridge compleatly drunk. Thoras just liked the taste, first thing in the morning. After preparing himself for the day ahead, Thoras had gone to the bridge and assumed his station, making a note in the log and re-familiarising himself with the controlls

CMO Lt Commander Alex Hagen, Outside the Captain’s Mess"

Very well - but be sure not to let this get out of hand, doctor. This is an experimental ship and I assume the crew as well. Preventable problems are not something we want to deal with."

The Councilor said with a slight move of her lips and Alex nodded, recognizing the professionalism rise within her. She was, after all, absolutely right. As the councilor on the ship the mental wellbeing of the crew was as much her responsibility as the medical wellbeing of the crew was his. And she was even more correct in the fact that since this was an experimental ship, that wellbeing was even more important.

“Rest assured, Councilor, I will inform you the instant I think that the situation could improve by your intervention. “ Alex said with a respectful nod.

He stepped to the side and nodded friendly “Oh, I almost forgot. Is thirteen hundred hours a good time for Kara’s appointment? I’m sure you would like to speak to her first and during that time I’m on duty so it will be far easier for me to keep from her mind.” He said with another warm smile.

Mari perked an eyebrow, "I don't see why not, I'm off duty myself but I'm happy to see her then. Could you see me about an hour after you've signed off? I would like to have you in a comfortable state. As I said no need to bring Kara with you."

Alex nodded and smiled. “But of course, Councilor. At your convenience. I look forward to our conversation. “He said, knowing that he really wasn’t looking forward to it. He and his daughter had been through enough councilors through the years leading up to this point, but just because they had been through enough did not mean that they could not benefit from a fresh perspective. Besides, she was only doing her job.

Alex moved away and headed to the turbo lift towards his quarters.

CMO Quarters 05:30 Hours

The bombardment was about to begin, the weight of the offender was about to be unleashed upon the seemingly sleeping innocent in the bed. But this day was out of the norm, this day the so called innocent was prepared for the creeping invader.

Little footfalls on the padded surface of the deck moved slowly and with purpose before suddenly jumping into a sprint. The tiny golden haired body jumped and with a silent squeal of joy launched her at the lump on the bed.

She landed to feel the normally warm and soft body of her father was missing, replaced by the soft yet unfeeling mass of the pillows. The young girl turned around to the approaching man and squealed in mock terror as Alex jumped on his daughter, tickling her mercilessly.

This was a game that they played, almost every morning. This morning was different, however, and they both knew it. He knew it because it was the day of the launch, she knew it form the apprehension that she had felt from her father before hand.

“Is everything okay daddy?” She asked in her innocent voice filling the darkened air of the dimly lit room.

Alex smiled and kissed his daughter on the forehead before settling back up in a sitting position. “Yes, Hun, everything is fine. Just kind of worried that my lovely innocent daughter is going to run off again from school!” He said with a mock snarl

Kara giggled and crossed her heart with her finger. “I promise I don’t do it again…’ ‘Today’ she thought.

‘I heard that’

Kara giggled again as Alex hugged his daughter, taking joy in her joyous innocence. He shielded the rest of his thoughts from her and rose to his feet. “Okay, go and start getting ready for school young lady.”

Main Sickbay

Alex sat at his desk and slowly slipped the warm liquid from the mug as he looked over the previous shifts logs. Normal things really, a few sprained ankles, some scrapes, bruises. Hmm… A broken arm…

Alex looked over at the nurse in front of him. “Nurse, this patient right here, earlier this morning, what was this all about?” He asked while taking a sip.

The nurse looked nervous for a moment then straitened, remembering that she was dealing with a telepath. “Well sir... um...”

Alex smiled as he attempted to access the log. To his surprise he found it locked by a command code. He looked back up at the nurse. “I’m waiting…”

“The patient requested privacy on the matter.” The nurse said matter-a-factly.

Alex knew it was a flimsy leg to stand on, especially for a nurse “Does the patient in question show a habit of this injury or does this in any way preclude an impairment of their duties?”

The nurse shook her head. “No sir.”

Alex nodded and shut off the padd. “Okay, I’ll let it be then. “He said, moving onto the next set of logs.

Half an hour later h e was finished and sitting in his chair. The regular staff had been relieved and his normal staff was working hard, running around making sure that there was really nothing he could do at the moment.

Alex quickly tapped the computer and opened up a channel to the teacher.

“Doctor.”

“Hey, How is she?”

“Well she’s actually in class and making a mess with paint right now, would you like to speak with her?”

Alex smiled. “No, that’s fine thank you. Just checking up on her.”

The teacher nodded and smiled. “Don’t worry; I’ve got my eye on her.”

Alex nodded and smiled, closing the channel and finishing his cup of coffee. He sighed looking around the sickbay and pulled up the research he wanted to start for the Xo. In a moment he was ear deep in his texts and researches for Vulcan Physiology.

He set his computer to download the information he needed and compiled it as he reached and pulled out a padd, smiling wickedly.

Stepping out of his office he strode into the middle of the room.
“Computer open comm. Channel with secondary sickbay. Attention everyone.” He said with a vicious smile. The doctors and nurses moved around him in the circle.

The view screen activated with the Assistant medical officer and the crew of the secondary sickbay standing around “Secondary Sickbay online.”

“Excellent. Attention ladies and gentleman. We are going to be initiating a full scale triage and medical drill complete with holographic patients.” Alex said cheerfully. He heard the groans from the nurses and the doctors as he scanned around the room. He shared a conspirator smile with his assistant medical officer.

“And for a special treat, your first two casualties will be completely vaporized and you will be acting all on your own!” He said as he looked at his own assistant. The assistant smiled as he winked from existence to the gasp of the axuillurary crew.

The doctor tapped his comrade “Doctor to captain, I am initiating a full medical triage drill. Permission to proceed?”

The response was immediate “Understood Doctor, Proceed.”

The doctor smiled as the drill klaxons rang out in both sickbays and immediately holographic patients began pouring into the room. The doctors and nurses ran around in the chaos as Alex smiled, watching as the transporter beam took him away just as it had his assistant. The few doctors who had looked to him for direction widened their eyes in horror…

Bridge

The transporter beam dropped its cargo in the turbo lift, right next to a startled yeoman. Alex looked at the young woman with a charming smile. “Sorry ma’me, medical drill”

She looked at him with wide eyes and turned as the doors opened to the bridge. The Doctor stepped out onto the bridge and smiled at the captain.

“Just thought I could be here to witness the historic event”

The captain looked at him “what about your drill doctor?”

“The drill is simulating a loss in the chain of command. The doctor and the Assistant chief medical officer has been taken out of the equation so they have to take care of it on their own.” He said with a smile.

Captain Miguel Torres- Bridge

Miguel smiled at his CMO. "Well let's get this show on the road then. Full stop." He ordered He then keyed open the ship's public address system. "Attention all hands. For centuries there have been moments in history that would be remembered forever. Events such as Magellan's voyage around the world, the first aircraft to break the sound barrier, the first ship to break the warp barrier. Now we add our names to that list of ground breakers as we become the first to travel a distance of 3000 light-years in just 5 days. Prepare to enter slipstream." he ordered and gave his Chief Engineer the nod.

Mr. Oliver began tapping at the controls. He activated the delformer of the slimstream drive which was located within the navigational deflector. Invisible waves were being sent out 500 - 750 meters infront of them. The waves prying open a gateway into subspace.



"Gateway established Captain." The engineer called out.

"Mr. Thoras take us in. Thrusters only, standby sublight engines until we've made the transition." Miguel ordered and then watched as his CONN officer went to work. His eyes went from watching the Andorian and watching the forward viewer as they flew into the gateway. In an instant they had made the transition to slipstream.


He and some of the crew had taken part of some of the trial runs to and from Alpha Centauri, but none of those seemed to generate the same awe that this transition had. For many of the crew, though this was their first time in slipstream. For the younger officers and future officers this would become part of every day life, much as traveling in warp was for him. But as Miguel looked at the waves of engery flying past them, he wondered if he'd ever get used to this form of travel.



"Full Impulse, Mr. Thoras." Miguel said softly as he continued to look out in awe. Of course the term full impulse was just a throw back to when they actually had impulse engines for their sublight drive. But even though they were using the new gravity based drive, it still seemed to fit. And being a traditional list Miguel doubted he'd ever be able to stop using the word Impulse in his orders. It was strange knowing the ship was only using enough power to push the ship at 1/4 the speed of light in normal space. However in slipstreem it had the ability of pushing the ship several magnitudes faster then the fastest ship had ever achieved at Warp.

At the slowest slipstream velocity the Chimera would travel at speeds equal to subspace communications, at Maximum velocity it took the use of the new hyper-subspace bands to keep the ship in contact with the rest of the fleet. Using warp drive while within the slipstream had been attempted with unmanned craft, however the results were always rather explosive.

Lt. Thoras. Bridge

"Mr. Thoras take us in. Thrusters only, standby sublight engines until we've made the transition."

"Aye sir" Thoras braught up his holographic controls and ran his fingers through the air, pressing the requisit holobuttons to make the ship move. It seemed achingly slow, although the aniticipation of a jump was probably adding to his perception.

The ship crept closer and closer to the slipstream breach, eventually reaching the lip of the ship-created anomoly. Then everything started to go faster. Space turned purple, and great streaks of light could be seen on the main viewer.

"Full Impulse, Mr. Thoras."

"Aye sir, full impulse" Thoras made the ship speed up, moving even faster through the slipstream tunnel. However, mere moments after accelerating, the ship juddered as if it had just hit a bump. "Sorry..." Thoras continued to play his hands over his console, trying to prevent whatever gave them the bumpy ride from happening again