=/\=Vacation Horizon Style=/\=

[Bryan_Cash]

[Bridge]
[Horizon]

Bryan finished up the last of the announcements and activated his own leave code. Admiral Harmon was talking to the director of planetary activities a Director Thorson about the Horizon taking leave on the planet. Not wanting to disturb the two gentlemen bryan quietly excused himself from the bridge and entered the turbolift.


"I thank you for the hospitality Mr.Director." Mark said with a smile. He had never met as nice a facility director as this Thorson.......who didn't appear to be quite human......betazoid possibly.

"Not at all Admiral. We welcome the opportunity for your crew to give our resort a real tryout. We have everything i think your crew will be looking for. Especially our new holosuite complex. We have the most advanced largest model holosuites available that can accommodate up to forty individuals comfortably each."

"That is very impressive Mr. Director. I've authorized immediate leave for my people so if we can begin beaming people down immediately that would be great."

Thorson smiled and nodded his head. "Not a problem admiral we await the first arrivals."

OFF: ;)

[Bettina Cash]

[Horizon]

Bryan finished up the last of the announcements and activated his own leave code. Admiral Harmon was talking to the director of planetary activities a Director Thorson about the Horizon taking leave on the planet. Not wanting to disturb the two gentlemen bryan quietly excused himself from the bridge and entered the turbolift.

"There you are!" Running up the corridor at the turbolift as Bryan stepped off. Grinning, she leapt into his arms, kissing him all over the face. "So, are we going to go have some fun? Or just do nothing alone? I had some plans..." She winced as a cramp hit her, leaning against him. "I just want some time with you...I love you, you know..."

TAG
BRYAN

[Janzie]

[[Horizon - Janzie's Quarters:]]

Janzie stuffed a few things into a small bag. Technically she didn’t really need to back at all. But on the assumption that she was still being restricted on her shape shifting, it was better to not take the chance. Of course there were toiletries that she should back irregardless. But the again, wasn’t this a resort and they’d have that kind of thing available to them? She shrugged.

It was disappointing though. Chances were that the level of sophistication of these holodecks and the sheer vast amount of space involved…she could shift to her hearts content and it was likely no one would ever know. Unless they were actually trying to find who they recognized to be Janzie... she sighed. There was always that pesky paranoia that people had around those that had the ability to look like anyone else at the drop of a hat.

She had actually been surprised she got to go down to the planet at all. She still wasn’t technically crew, so therefore probably shouldn’t have been granted shore leave Besides that she was still under the close eyes of Both Admirals and probably the First officer and security. The latter two probably didn’t have the whole picture, actually making them more suspicious about her than the first two.

But in the end, she wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. She mused…such a funny cliché. Leroy had stuff he needed to get done after their holodeck time together on the ship…but claimed he would join her later. Janzie would almost bet money she’d have to come up here and get him. But he had surprised her with the holodeck offer, so maybe not. She was proud of herself that she had behaved herself and didn’t dunk him in the water like the last time…maybe that would encourage him to take this shore leave he had been granted.

“We’ll just have to see,” Janzie told herself as she swung her bag over her shoulder and headed out of her quarters.

<tag anyone>

[QaDghab]

QaDghab finished changing into the fresh cloths. He was angry though that she accused him of making up things and wanting to be in sickbay. And it was obvious he was angry when he grabbed Veska's wrist. "I pretend nothing." He was trying to say but it could only mouth it. He then let go and started for the door. If she thought he was fine then there was no point in him staying here. He came back because he couldn't speak but after her accusations, it was clear to him at least that she was the wrong person to ask for help.

tag (hope not have the timing wrong)

[Jandar]

Bridge
USS Horizon

Jandar had just gotten done with his shift on the bridge, and wondered what he was going to do with his off time. He knew that he would have to keep in touch with the Admiral about things, just to make sure that everything would be ok with him. He chuckled to himself about being the Bodyguard to Admiral H, but with being the Assistant Chief of Security and Tactical on top of that, he was kept on his toes.

He walked over to the door of where the Admiral was talking to someone and rang the chimes, letting him know that he was there.

Tag Admiral H and anyone on the bridge

Ensign?? Jandar Saddlebags
Assistant Chief of Security and Tactical/Admirals Bodyguard
USS Horizon

[Mark Harmon]

[[USS Horizon - Bridge]]

Mark finished exchanging pleasantries with the Director, then as the man left to finish his preparations Mark called to whoever rang the chimes as the Admiral settled into his seat to finish off some work before he could allow himself to begin his own shore leave. He silently wondered where Jackie was now, and whether she'd even set foot outside the ship as the Admiral tapped at the screen in front of him just as the doors swooshed open.

"Ensign?" he spoke seemingly without even looking up from his work.

OFF:
Tag Jandar.

BTW folks, say hello and welcome to our new crew member! *waves to Jandar*

[Leroy Jenkins]

[[USS Horizon - Leroy Jenkins' quarters]]

"Shore leave? why would anyone willingly want a shore leave?" Leroy wondered out loud as he heard the announcements. He set aside a PADD and reached for another half wondering if he should actually get out of the quarters and go for this thing called shore leave, or keep working. Besides wasn't what he and Janzie did in the holodeck sort of a shoreleave? Satisfied at his explanation, Leroy Jenkins chose work and dove right in as the people on the ship prepared to disembark to the planet they've just arrived.

Leroy looked up as a thought flashed into his head, he smirked as he wondered if work ever took shore leave. Probably not , he thought , considering how much work there always seemed to be on his desk. Even if most of it, some even Jenkins couldn't read, was for the Admiral to look over and approve.

Tossing a PADD aside Leroy stood and stretched the muscles in his neck then followed that with a short trip to his replicator to refill his coffee.

OFF:
tag any. Janzie 'haps?

[Jandar]

USS Horizon-Bridge

Jandar walked in and nodded. "Just checking to see if you need me for anything during the shore leave Admiral. I know you can handle yourself quite well, so thought I would see what we got going on around this place. It wouldn't be logical for me to stay around you 24/7 if it's not needed on Shore Leave."

Tag Admiral

[Mark Harmon]

[[USS Horizon - Bridge]]

Mark frowned, he really didn't see the need for StarFleet to send a bodyguard his way. However, perhaps with the recent adventures of the Horizon and the current situation, perhaps Mark understood why they sent him a bodyguard. Especially considering what just happened with the pirates. He supposed he didn't do himself any favors by going over to the pirates' ship himself, but this wasn't the first time he ignored that particular section of the rules. CO or not, Admiral or not, Mark didn't consider himself anymore valuable than any crew member on this ship. Of course there was a lot of stuff he knew that shouldn't fall into the hands of any enemies, and that's why the risks he usually took were calculated. With a few exceptions, there were always exceptions...

Mark took in a breath.

"It's shore leave, which means no work. Staying around me 24/7 constitutes as work. Do the math Ensign" Harmon smirked slightly. "Go on," he nodded waving a hand, "have a look around and enjoy yourself." he spoke in a warm tone.

OFF: tag right back at'cha!

[Veska]

[[Horizon - Sickbay:]]

“As I said before, I’ll keep you informed on the progress on the voice device,” she called out after QaDghab rubbing her wrist. But at the speed he was exiting the room, it was questionable if she heard him. He was upset with her. Perhaps he should have been, but she was only telling him what the equipment was telling her. Yes, he had problems with his voice, and she was working diligently with her medical specialists to come up with a workable solution, but otherwise he was recovering well from his earlier surgery and she had no explanation for him being ill such as he was.

She scoffed slightly. He really should have been happy. To know nothing was wrong with him, other than an inability to speak properly - which was being addressed - would have been a relief if it had been anyone else. To have to go to sickbay all the time, especially as a Klingon, was usually considered an embarrassment, a sign of weakness. Most Klingons avoided sickbay like the plague, only going there when they were near death anyway. Of course if he had spent considerable time in the Federation, perhaps he had a different opinion, but even then the prevailing perception was the occasional (usually once or twice an earth year) preventative check up and the even less frequent treatment of minor injuries to prevent one’s health from deteriorating to the point that it took more than just a hypospray and a swift pass of a dermal regenerator was required to fix.

Veska shrugged. There was only so much she could do. She wasn’t going to treat symptoms that had no cure. Then she sighed at looked back to her work. Maybe she just had to dig deeper. There had to be some reason he was ill…but damned if she knew what it was. In the meantime, she did hope that he tried to enjoy himself on the planet. Given his medical record and service record, it certainly sounded like he could use some relaxation. If she was going to get any vacation however, and to make QaDghab’s more enjoyable, she needed to get that voice device figured out. Then at least he couldn’t be mad at her for that…

[Janzie]

[[Horizon - main transporter room:]]

Janzie stepped into the transporter room with a grin to the man behind the controls. She probably should have stopped and spoke to the Admiral about her…question, but the poor guy probably was already down on the surface enjoying some surf and sun, or something. She laughed out loud, causing the transporter chief to look in her direction. Yeah right. He was probably sitting at his desk pouring over PADDs about something.

Speaking of someone pouring over PADDs instead of relaxing… “Chief?” she asked leaning against the top of the transporter controls. “Has Petty Officer Jenkins passed through here yet?”

“Who?”

Janzie rolled her eyes. “About so high, receding hairline…usually follows the Admiral around grousing about something or other with a stack of PADDs in his hands?”

“Ohhhh,” the chief replied realizing who she meant. “No ma’am. I haven’t seen him. Wasn’t expecting to. He’s never taken a shore leave before that I know of.”

Janzie rolled her eyes again. “Why am I not surprised.” She pushed herself off the console and thought for a moment. A plan in mind, she swung her bag off her shoulder. “Thank you Chief. Uhm, can I leave this here and come back for it?” she asked in reference to her bag. “With any luck I will be back soon and with the Petty Officer whether he wants to go or not,” she vowed.

“Of course ma’am. If you don’t get back before my shift ends, I’ll make sure to make the next chief aware its there,” he answered. After a moment more he added. “Good luck ma’am.”

A chuckle escaped Janzie’s lips. “I have a few tricks up my sleeve and probably know Mr. Jenkins just a bit better than most of the people on this ship. Just you wait.” With a shift of her weight onto her toes, she put a brief bounce into her step, and with a smile and a wink, headed off to make Leroy enjoy himself some more.

[Tag Leroy!]

:dev-tail:

[Bettina Cash]

~Cash's Quarters

Bettina had packed a small bag, then made sure that Buster had plenty of food and water before tapping her comm badge. =^=Bryan...this is Bett. I'm ready, I can meet you at the transporter pad. Oh, and I have to find Jackie, see if she's coming along...I'll be there in fifteen minutes...=^= She was honestly looking forward to some time alone, relaxing with the love of her life. Grinning, she gave Buster a final pat on the head, then turned to leave, wincing as her belly cramped a little,

TAG
BRYAN

[Jackie Clawson]

[[USS Horizon - Holodeck]]

Jackie shivered as the wind blew across her figure making a mess of her neatly tied ponytail. The Caitian sat with her back propped up against a rock on the all too familiar beach of San Francisco, Earth. She looked out at the waves coming in and out. For her, the place signified many things; happy times when she was still at the academy and shortly after; and and not so happy times after she returned from her first posting on a ship.

She recalled the last time she was actually at the real beach. The time she met Mark for the first time. Jackie closed her eyes to shut off the images of the lone figure, all hope gone from the eyes, all that mattered in life lost at 27. The lone figure had nothing left, sitting on a rock down in San Francisco on Earth with a phaser set to high, and pointed straight at herself.

"I don't think you want to do this" a soft voice spoke behind her.

For a long moment she didn't reply, looking at the phaser pointed at herself, both hands on the weapon as she tried to summon the courage to press the button that would end it all forever. Fighting her inner turmoil, fighting herself her hands shaking...she felt an arm on her shoulder squeezing it but he made no move to take away her weapon, she flinched but kept her eyes locked onto the phaser in her hands.

"Let me help" he spoke again in a soft tone, Jackie looked up at the man, he was wearing Starfleet red, Commander, his dark brown hair fluttered in the wind, his blue eyes looking gently at the Caitian's features. He could see the pain and guilt in her eyes, the loss of all dear to her, he could see the silent agonizing plea for help radiating from her.

She met his eyes, tears welling up in her own as everything flooded back at her, the Caitian cried out dropping the phaser and threw her arms around the human burying her head in his chest as she cried.

That was then... now she was a different person. Almost.... Jackie shook her head sadly looking down at the sand on the side as she fought off tears; even if this was the second time she'd lost a mate. this time it was slightly different, she hadn't lost it all. not completely.

"not completely" she whispered to herself holding her belly. She wasn't sure what to make of Krezek's statement in the office. Where did he get the idea that she was suicidal? Maybe she was, before she gotten involved with Alex and ended up carrying his child; right now she was torn between wanting to live and not wanting to live; but she knew she had to if only for the sake of her unborn child. A child that carried part of Alex's DNA, part of Alex that Jackie was intent on seeing through and bringing the child up and protecting him from anything she could. Problem was, she no longer knew what to do with herself. she couldn't run. she couldn't hide. not anymore. and she didn't think she belonged back in Starfleet anymore. what was she to do? how would she protect her child? A single tear slipped down her face as she looked out to the sea, for a moment listening to the sounds of the water splashing about.

Bettina had been looking for Jackie...she wasn't sure why, she just had a feeling she needed to see her...and the computer had indicated that the Caitain was on the holoedeck. Without asking, Bettina entered, breaking into a smile as she stepped into a familiar setting. She had grown up in the North Bay and knew the area well.

She spotted Jackie, and as she walked toward her, she noticed that she held her hand over her belly in much the same way and grinned, then gestures were so similar.
"Jackie...ma'am? I hope I'm not intruding?"

Jackie's ears flickered at the sound of Bettina's voice, she took in a deep breath to steady herself before she replied.

"No." she spoke without turning to face the human female for the time being. "What can I do for you, Mrs Cash?" Jackie spoke brushing back a strand of lose hair that got whipped about by the wind created by the holodeck.

Bettina shrugged. "Nothing." She sat in the sand beside Jackie, looking out at the Golden Gate Bridge. "This is so pretty here," she murmured, turning her attention the the Marin Headlands directly across from them. "I've heard that on a clear day you can see the Sierras from the top of Mount Tam, but I've never tried."

Jackie nodded, "you can" she spoke softly, "it's beautiful" she added shifting her position slightly the Caitian winced. "this beach and Mount Tam , we used to come here a lot when i lived on Earth after finishing Academy" she spoke brushing aside a lose strand of hair and letting out a small breath at the memories stirring up inside her, good memories. before everything got messed up.

Bettina grinned. "So, maybe we were here at the same time before and didn't even know it?" It was an interesting thought. "You know, there is a legend of some sort about an Indian maiden who threw herself off the top of the mountain when her father tried to marry her off to someone other than she man she loved. You can see her face and nose and...boobs." She chuckled as she pointed out the features. "And her hair. Kind of romantic, even if it is silly."

Jackie felt a lump in her throat as mental knife stabbed at her heart as Bettina's words. "yeah, silly" she managed to say with a rasp in her voice. she coughed several times to clear her throat as she pushed aside the thoughts of once again losing something she cherished and cared about so deeply. She bit into her lip and held her breath as she stared out at the water fighting hard not to break down as her memories clawed at her.

"Jackie..." Frowning, Bettina reached over and put her hand on her back, then pulled her into a hug. "I'm so sorry..." She would die if she lost Bryan...the only thing that would keep her going would be the child she was carrying. "You have your baby..."

"I know" Jackie spoke, her voice low, " if i didn't , it probably would've killed me this time for good," she said shaking her head sadly. "can't go through this again like that." she trailed off, glancing at her belly.

"Didn't think I could still have a child after everything that's... gone on in my career." she added, she laughed sadly. "keeps me going, this one" she held onto her belly, "even if i don't know what to do with myself anymore" she took in a breath and closed her eyes, torn between two paths as she acknowledged her dilemma out loud for the first time.

"Give it time." Bettina put her arm around Jackie and pulled her close. "First you have to have the baby...after all, your outlook might change after that. I mean, I imagine what it will be like, but I really don't know. I know things will change, but there could be something you didn't think of that might direct your path." She shrugged. "You have good friends here, you know that..."

"I know," the Caitian flashed a brief smile to the other woman. "I just... " she shook her head, "first time out of my quarters and trying to get back into things, and what happens... i end up in sickbay because of someone coming after me." she spoke in a slightly agitated tone, "again" she added. "and all because of who I am and what I've done," she shook her head, "I don't know how i can protect my child from everybody coming after me." she said looking at Bettina, "I couldn't protect Jack and Jen." she added turning away, her tone laced with pain. She dug her claws into her palms drawing blood and refocusing her pain elsewhere as she closed her eyes.

"Jackie!" Bettina grabbed her hands and pried her fingers away from her palms. "Don't...you don't need to do that." Putting her arm around her friend, she pulled her into a hug. "I told you, you aren't alone...you have friends to help..." She sighed and held her tighter. "Besides, it isn't as if you have a choice. Our son will be your child's best friend, right?"

A shiver ran through the Caitian, she wasn't sure whether it was from the wind on the simulated beach or something else. Jackie opened her eyes glancing at her hands. The sting from her claws going through her skin was still there as was the small trickle of blood forming from the wounds. But this was nothing compared to what the Caitian really wanted to do, but what she dared not to do, and she knew she wouldn't do especially not now. She stayed silent for a long time it seemed. Thinking. Contemplating. Fighting.

"Mark found me here, y'know.. well.. the real thing." she spoke softly, "still not sure how he tracked me down after..." she trailed off, the memories of all those years rushing back at her, Jackie took in a sharp breath. "Hell of a first meeting though, he saved my life" she smirked a tad, "first time i resigned, i ran, Starfleet couldn't find me, I couldn't let them, not until I had to do what i had to do, since they wouldn't do anything." she sighed, "not that it brought back Jack and Jen, but the son of a bitch responsible paid for what he did." she looked up suddenly, "and years later, I'm still paying it off. So's everyone around me, it seems."

"I still miss 'em. even though, I can't bring them back" she spoke, "still miss him. i don't know whether he's still out there somewhere. Caitiains and mates..." Jackie took a deep breath. "close bond. once that's disturbed " she laughed suddenly, "I still don't know what happened with me and Alex. and how. " she shook her head. "Why'd he have to go now?" Jackie ignored the tears coming down her face now; she wasn't known for crying much, especially in front of other people, especially those who looked up to her when she was a CO. but this was different. She knew what happened to Jack and Jenny, and she could do something about that, and she did. With Alex, there were still a lot of unanswered questions, and that was part of what confused the hell out of the Caitian.

Scooting closer, Bettina pulled her into a tight hug. "Oh, Jackie, I don't know..." She shook her head, her own eyes misting. "He did what he had to, what his nature as a man told him to do and you couldn't have changed that." Sighing, she hugged her more closely. "You could have asked him not to go and he might have stayed, but..he would have been as lost as he is now. You might still have him, but it wouldn't be him...Bryan is like that. I know one day he'll need to do the same thing...I wish I was carrying a daughter so I didn't have to worry about her being too like her father."

"Oh I wouldn't be too sure about that." Jackie spoke, a small shaky smile on her lips. "Daughters can be too like their fathers too," Jackie spoke in a soft voice. She blinked away the tears, mentally getting a grip on her emotions for the time being. "Jenny was always..." Jackie trailed off, swallowing a lump in her throat at the memories. "I just..." she began again then stopped and took in a few gulps of air. "I just don't know. Everything about Alex is..." she shook her head, "I have no idea where it came from. " she whispered, "Wish I could have had more time with him. he'd at least get to see his child." she closed her eyes fighting to control her emotions again.

Bettina sighed, still holding her. "I don't know why bad things happen...I wish we could change them. I guess there is a reason for it all, but I don't know what." She shrugged. "Would you rather that you hadn't known him? And if he had to....go...I'm sure he was happy that he got to know you." While she knew it would be hard to lose Bryan, she wouldn't give back what they had for anything, and she knew that even in the brief time they'd known each other, she had made a big impact on his life...

"No no no.. no..." Jackie shook her head vigourously, "I don't even.." she began searching for words, "no. " she said, "I wouldn't give anything to erase the past several years" she said, "I'd give anything to find him again" she swallowed a lump in her throat. "I know.. it's... " she shook her head, "stupid" she added, "it took me years to accept what happened to Jack and Jenny." she flexed her wrists and extended her claws locking her gaze at the tips. "I just....I don't know where to begin even" she said. "I don't know what to do" she laughed sadly, "can't command a ship, can't really run around with a betleH in my condition; hell you saw what happened when i took over security on the bridge for a few hours." she placed a hand on her belly as if trying to connect with the being inside.

"You don't need to make any decisions right away. Give yourself some time." Sighing, she rested her head on Jackie's shoulder. "I wish I could convince Bryan to take some time, to go to the real San Francisco or something." The baby kicked and she winced, putting her hand over her belly. "Please, don't give up, Jackie, and don't shut your friends out, all right?"

"Hey, who said anything about giving up?" Jackie smiled sadly looking over at Bettina. "Probably would've if I didn't have this one." she put a hand over her belly. "I'm just lost, is all" she replied with a long sigh. "But I'm not giving up. and i'm most certainly not suicidal in any way." she spoke, "though I suppose punching the chief of security to get that particular point across may have been a bit overboard" she mused, "but then, the old me would've done the same thing without a betleH nearby, wouldn't she?"

Bettina laughed and nodded. "Well, that's true. It serves him right for making assumptions." Then she reached over and gave her hand a squeeze. "I'm afraid I don't know how to help with feeling lost. You can stay on Horizon, can't you? I mean, I hope so. I don't want to have to figure this all out alone. I'm looking forward to having a baby, but I don't know really what to do with one...where to even start so that he has a chance of becoming a good man..."

Bettina laughed and nodded. "Well, that's true. It serves him right for making assumptions." Then she reached over and gave her hand a squeeze. "I'm afraid I don't know how to help with feeling lost. You can stay on Horizon, can't you? I mean, I hope so. I don't want to have to figure this all out alone. I'm looking forward to having a baby, but I don't know really what to do with one...where to even start so that he has a chance of becoming a good man..."

She shrugged in a 'I don't know' in response to Bettina's question about her staying on the Horizon. Truth was, Jackie had no idea what to do.

"It starts with two good parents. and yours will already have that part," Jackie smiled slightly, "the rest.." she trailed off shaking her head as memories were brought up. She didn't know much about raising kids either when she had Jenny. "it... you and Bryan are going to be great parents. I've seen you two. I know you two. " she reached out to lay a hand on Bettina's belly for a moment. "where do you think you should start?" she asked.



Smiling, Bettina looked over at Jackie as the baby kicked, then she shrugged. "I really don't know where to start. Love him, of course, and try to give him what he needs to grow up to be a good man." Then she sighed. "I know Bryan will be a wonderful father, but...his life is dangeous, and he might disappear at any moment..."

A look of mixed emotion crossed over Jackie's face for a moment. Hurt. pain. desperation. Jackie of course knew of Bryan's situation recalling their conversation at a previous betleH tournament. She always seemed to get the interesting ones on the crew. which is always a good thing.

"I know," she said with a small sigh. "I can ask Mark to perhaps get someone to protect Bryan to some degree. at least from anyone wanting to come after him." she said. "the other stuff..." she trailed off. "just hope and pray he won't disappear anytime soon. that he at least gets to see his son. raise him." Jackie's next words got caught in her throat and she grew silent knowing full well her baby wouldn't have that same opportunity, she didn't want Bettina to go through what she herself was going through.

Bettina chuckled. "You could try to assign him a body guard, but he would just make it his goal to ditch him." Then she shrugged. "Besides, if he wanted to disappear, he would. And if he does.." she reached to take Jackie's hand, "I'll just have to do the best I can, and look to my friends for help."

Jackie swallowed a lump in her throat. "yeah. i'd imagine he would. i know i dodged a few in my time. sickbays too. " she said with a slight shake of her head, "just... cherish whatever time you have left with him. especially now. " she said with a pause. "Maybe Mark can get someone to keep Bryan out of trouble if Mark stays out of trouble himself. " she shook her head, "this ship... just seems to attract trouble" she added, "wonder why?" she asked rhetorically looking up at the sky for a moment.



Bettina laughed. "I don't think it's the ship so much as the crew." Then she shook her head. "If a son won't keep him out of trouble, nothing will. I really do hope having a child will keep him here...make him realize there is more." Letting out a breath, she shrugged. "I'll just be happy if he doesn't get himself kil...." Looking over at Jackie, her eyes went wide. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that..."

Jackie's ears flickered, she winced inwardly and drew in a breath. "it's ok. i know what you mean" she spoke slowly choosing her words and keeping tabs on her voice to ensure there weren't any breaks in her tone. She closed her eyes and fought off an onset of tears, mentally berating herself for being such a basket case.

"I don't think he's dead" she suddenly spoke, "he's out there somewhere...." she spoke in a quieter tone, "i know it... sounds crazy, but..." she shook her head. "he's out there. only problem is, there's no way i can get to him."

Looking up at her, Bettina nodded, then rested her head on Jackie's shoulder. "I know what you mean...that first time that Bryan left, I knew...I could feel him, when he was well and when he wasn't. It's our faults for falling for dangerous men." She smiled slightly, then shrugged. ""Will you keep us company on the planet? You are welcome to hang around with us, you know."


Jackie shook her head, "no no.. I wouldn't want to impose. You two want to be alone, I'd just be a third wheel" she half smiled. "I'm just going to..." she shrugged, looked down at her belly, "stay here i guess" she tossed a light nod at the San Fransciso illusion created by the holodeck that the two women were now in. Jackie wasn't sure she'd be up to getting out of the ship. Besides, if she did, what if someone came after her and hurt her baby like he did the last time she dropped her guard and tried to get back to 'normal life'. She winced at the memories of her close call with the console. Surely if she had been a bit slower damage would've been worse; and that was the thing, next time she might not be as fast. and she didn't want to lose the baby after losing so much already.


"We don't mind, really," Bettina insisted, "although you'll have to get your own room." Bryan had been close to Alex and she was sure he wouldn't mind.


"mhmrr. what if they're here? the...pirates....spoonheads...anyone who's been after me? i can't let them get to me. i can't let them hurt my baby.. " she chased away old memories still clawing at her mind. "you saw what happened on the bridge. " Jackie stopped herself before she stammered anything else, she took a few breaths in to calm down. "Sorry.. I'm... " s he almost laughed, "a mental case right now. " her voice cracked as emotion threatened to engulf her. She fought it down, she wasn't like that before, what the hell was happening to her?

"All the more reason you need to be around friends." Chuckling, Bettina reached over and hugged her. "Now, come on, let's get going."


For a moment Jackie didn't say anything. She definitely had to do something about her emotions and moodswings, something other than going out there and killing someone.

"You go on ahead. " she finally spoke, "i need to see if Mark has any herbal stuff left to stabilize all the... " she waved a hand near her temple, "..y'know..." she let out a chuckle. "get me a room or.. something... i...don't know how all this works...I.. you guys should just enjoy yourselves. I'll be okay" she said with a small smile. She really didn't want to impose on the two, well aware she didn't know how much time they had left, and Jackie didn't want to be the one to take away any moments the two could be with each other.


"Jackie, please..." Bettina stood, tugging on her arm. "We can go to an herbalist down there. Besides, I could use some stuff myself sometimes. I'm sure Bryan is tired of being a punching bag." She grinned.

The Caitian flinched, of course her idea of a punching bag was a good hunt for prey which only in later years multiplied into something more.

Uncertain she let herself be pulled up. "How bad do yours get?" she asked, "although Bryan's probably glad you don't have claws. not that it's always a downside," the Caitian shot a sideways look away from Bettina. Definitely wasn't a downside for her and Alex in certain areas.

Bettina's cheeks went bright red as she laughed. "Oh, um...well...I tend to cry a lot. And he thinks there should be a reason. Men!"

Jackie nodded, they stopped walking long enough to shut off the holodeck simulation "I was like that with Jenny. and over little things, y'know... can't find my ship specs PADD, get hysterical. Now it's... " she shook her head, "I really don't know what to make of all the... " she made a gesture with her hand pointing at her head again. "it's just too much in there sometimes. no way to let it all out. well at least not without killing someone. hard to control that sometimes. " her mind went back to the moment she punched Jeral. "extremely hard," she added. "wouldn't be surprised if Jeral Krezek tries to put me in the brig for that"

"Serves him right for being a man," Bettina chuckled, putting her arm around Jackie's waist as the started out of the holodeck. "Do you need to get anything before we leave?"

Jackie shook her head, "I got everything I need right here" she smiled lightly and patted her belly then gave Bettina a quick hug.

"Yeah, until it needs diapers!" Bettina laughed, returning the hug, then heading for the transporter bay.

OFF:
TAG: Bryan.

JP by Bettina Cash and Jackie Clawson

[Jandar]

Jandar looked at the Admiral and nodded. "Aye aye sir, and have a good shore leave yourself." He turned to leave after snapping off a salute, then went down to his quarters to get ready to enjoy some time off without having to be around the ship or the Admiral all the time. The man was a great man, but still he could be a bit non-logical like most humans, and Jandar's Vulcan side didn't see the point of that.

Tag Admiral Harmen

[Bryan_Cash]

[Transporter Room]
[Horizon]

Bryan set the pile of bags on the center transport padd. He wiped a bead of sweat from his brown and sighed. Taking so much for what amounted to a weeks shore leave seemed a bit excessive. Then again he had never really had a vacation in his life so he trusted his wife.

He walked down and sat on the steps leading to the padds. His thin silk Hawaiian shirt leaving him feeling a little chilly on the cold starship. He didn't take a comm badge with him but as always he had his trusty old handheld communicator in the pocket of his Bermuda shorts. Bryan hoped Bett would be able to track down jackie and convince her to take a little shore leave with everyone else.

They had a suit of rooms reserved at the largest complex on the planet. A large hotel with attached holocomplex right on the fantastic shoreline and beach. The water on the planet was a strange bright green color and it looked breathtaking from orbit.

[Jeral Krezek]

[Security Office]

There was no such thing as rest for the wicked. At least, while there was paperwork left to do.

Jeral Krezek sighed as he looked at the PADD of things he needed to get done. Transfer orders... QM requisition requests... all just from the last mission and the losses they had incurred from it, which admittedly wasn't much. The station on the bridge was shot, still, and they were in the middle of repairing it to working order while Jeral was supposed to be on shore leave, but...

There was still one thing left to do.

Sighing, he took out his mini-hypospray and administered the shot of the neural inhibitor that kept him sane, breathing in gently as the pain that the medication caused rose and finally ebbed. He checked the chronometer, and was sorry to see that it was almost a full hour before he was supposed to take the medication again.

"Damn," Jeral said to himself, quietly. Toran had warned him about this happening, but had said it was unlikely. It was probably a sign that the medication had to be rebalanced, he had said. Question is... Toran's off exploring in deep space, far away from where Jeral was.

Jeral hadn't even checked in with the doctor on board yet, with his "condition".

Sighing, he picked up another PADD and headed for the door. The last duty that he had to take care of couldn't wait. He had to deliver the security report himself... this time, with a little something extra.

(OOC: Want a JP, Harmon? I think I figured out a good way to butt heads with Jackie indirectly...)

[Bettina Cash]

[Transporter Room]
[Horizon]

They had a suite of rooms reserved at the largest complex on the planet. A large hotel with attached holocomplex right on the fantastic shoreline and beach. The water on the planet was a strange bright green color and it looked breathtaking from orbit.

One hand resting over her belly, Bettina walked into the transporter room, wondering if it appeared to others that she was waddling. Unlike some women, she didn't feel ungainly or ugly just because she was pregnant. To the contrary, she was happy and excited about the whole thing, and looking forward to holding Bryan's son in her arms. Still, she wondered how much it showed to others.

For the trip, she had chosen a white linen sundress that was gathered over her enlarged abdomen, then flowed out to mid-calf length. A short silk jacket, similar to a bolero, was worn over the dress. When she spotted Bryan she broke into a huge grin, crossing over to him and sitting beside him. "Hi there. Are you going my way?"

TAG
BRYAN

[QaDghab]

QaDghab had barely glimpsed Bettina before running to catch up to her. He rushed into the room and grabbed her. "Can I come?" He tried to ask though he couldn;t speak yet. He didn't know where to go and hadn't known ahead of time about the R&R to plan anything.

[Mark Harmon]

[[USS Horizon - Ready Room]]

Mark skimmed through a few reports detailing the ship's status, at least this time they didn't need too many repairs. It would be good to have some RnR down on the planet, and judging by the number of people left on the Horizon, majority couldn't wait to get the small vacation started. He hoped Jackie would come down at least for a short while. Chasing off stray thoughts aside, Mark got back to the reports. There were still a few things Mark had to finish before he even ventured outside of the ready room.

OFF: indirectly? what's the fun in that? not like she's gonna punch you again.
tag me over IM when you're available. else we can always do it via email.

[James Dweebs]

ON:

[[USS Horizon - Main Engineering]]

There weren't that many people down in Engineering by now. James watched the Chief Engineer rush around, the other man was still in his suit, still eager and enjoying every moment of being in main engineering of a starship. James was still wary of a non Starfleet officer in charge of the department such as engineering, but there had to be a good reason why the Admiral made the decision to put a civilian into such a position. From what the ensign had seen so far, the chief was very good at what he did despite not wearing a Starfleet uniform. He did seem very fond of his brown long coat that he sported anytime he wasn't crawling around the Jeffries tubes or working on something where the coat might interfere, although Dweebs thought civilian clothing interfered with any job in engineering.

"Ensign.. ? "

James heard his name called, he blinked snapping out of his haze

"Sir?"

"Mr Dweebs, You're staring. " The chief engineer spoke with a slight smirk on his lips as he tossed a tool into the nearby toolbox and hopped over a railing to retrieve his coat draped over an unused console.

"Sorry.uh.. Sir.." the ensign stammered his face taking on a red-dish tint.

"Didn't you hear the announcements for RnR?" The chief asked.

"Yes, Sir.." Dweebs responded.

"What're you still doing here?" the chief engineer asked.

"Uh.. "

"I can handle things down here, you go on, enjoy your RnR. You could definitely use it." he remarked, "maybe you'll come back a bit less..." he closed one eyes and looked up as he searched for the right word, "tight...no, that doesn't sound right.. less... twitchy? no. no no... Less..." he blinked, then suddenly grinned, "rigid" he hopped up as he found the right word. "Yes, Mr Dweebs, maybe you'll come back less rigid. Relax a bit. Go on." he waves a hand.

James blinked and raised an eyebrow at the other man. Maybe he was at least twenty years older than him, but the chief sure still acted like a little kid sometimes. Didn't he know he was embarrassing himself?

"Uh.. Yes, Sir..." he responded.

"Good good!" The chief clapped his hands together as the ensign backed out of the main engineering leaving the strange man to his work.

OFF:
JP between the Chief Engineer and

[Bettina Cash]

~Station

Bettina wrinkled her nose up as she looked around the fashions in the store they were in. "Nothing is going to look good," she complained, her hand resting on her belly. "How am I going to know how something will look on me once this is done with?" Not that she minded being pregnant, but that belly!

"Well. go with your gut feeling" Jackie spoke from behind. she wasn't really looking for anything herself, but tagged along with Bettina just for company. "Or I can hold it behind your back you'll at least know how it looks like from behind, " she said in a half kidding voice

"Maybe..." Bettina laughed, then picked out a gauzy light blue see-through gown. "Hmmmm...he'll need a reward for..waiting." Her cheeks turned red.

Jackie smiled, then felt a wave of emotion sweep her away. she leaned against the nearest wall cursing herself. 'Damn it' she thought squeezing the bridge of her nose. she wanted to run. lock herself up in a room. this life thing wasn't easy especially if she can slip up any moment. 'Damn it' she thought fighting away the wave if emotion inside before it reared its ugly head outside.

Bettina glanced over and saw Jackie, but chose to continue what she was doing for the moment...not wanting to intrude or let on that the Caitiain's emotions were so evident. "What about this?" She held up a mass of multi-colored, poofy, frilly, completely ugly material that was supposed to be a dress.

"Yeah" Jackie coughed to get rid of the rasp in her throat. "If you're a clown" she spoke, her tone more or less even. She put one furry hand over her own belly as if she was seeking comfort from a part if Alex that was growing inside her.

"Yeah, I guess not." Bettina smiled and hung the dress up. "You know what I really want are feetsie jammies." She winced as a pain hit her, gripping the rack as she waited for it to pass.

Jackie blinked, made her way to her friend's side as fast as she could. " You all right?" she asked, concerned. "Should I call Bryan?"

"No, I'm fine..." She forced as smile, still waiting out the pain. "He's just kicking a lot..." But then she went suddenly pale and sank to her knees. "Oh...ow..."

"Ah..." Jackie froze , "hold on!" she called out, dropping to her knees by bettina's side. "Wheres a medic when you need one?" she growled calling the attention of the nearest attendee.

"Right here," Bettina gasped with a grin as she held her belly. She gripped Jackie's hand, squeezing tightly, then finally relaxed. "I'm fine now...must have been breakfast..."

The Caitian narrowed her eyes, " are you sure? " she asked , skeptical. what sort of breakfast had that effect , she wondered.

"Uh huh..." Bettina smiled, then rose. "I'd love a big family, but I don't know that I'm willing to go through this again!" She chuckled, letting go of Jackie's hand. "Maybe we should just get something...sweet? Chocolate...or...ice cream?"

"Maybe" Jackie agreed. " I think I need to get off my feet for a bit anyway" she said.

"Oh, a foot massage..." Bettina grinned. "Or a nice hot tub and...well, we can't have wine, but a fruit smoothie..."

Jackie chuckled, Bettina seemed to be ok. "First one , then the other, then the smoothie? " she offered. " after ice cream of course"

"All right...that sounds good. I can shop later." She smiled. "I think just relaxing sounds good." She hooked her arm into Jackie's. "I think it's this way..."

Jackie smiled. "All right then." she said "let's go"

A JP by:
bfjackieclawson: ( I must be insane...)
Jackie Clawson
USS Horizon - A
and:

[QaDghab]

QaDghab waited outside for the two women. He wanted to be useful so had taken his job to be to guard them as they did their frivolous shopping. Something he never understood about human women, or Caitian for that matter. Why go to a shop just to look? Why not just go there, get what want and leave. He shrugged, still he needed something to do and he did find some material to make a sword with as well as found a smith shop that would allow him to borrow their shop for a price. Not to say they wern't enjoyable to watch. Still he also kept an eye out for any danger as well.

tags

[Bettina Cash]

~Station

Arm in arm with Jackie, Bettina left the dress shop othewise empty handed. "We're going for sweets," she announced to QaDghab, although that was an edited version of their goal. She smiled at the Klingon, although her complexion was pale and she was still feeling a little weak. "You can get something to drink..." Another pain hit and she winced.

TAGS

[QaDghab]

QaDghab noticed she didn't look well and frowned. "Are you alright?" He asked as he approached them and touched her stomach. "He's low." He commented.

[Bettina Cash]

"I'm fine, he's just active today." Bettina smiled up at him, then took his hand and placed it where a little foot was trampling on her insides. "There..."

[QaDghab]

QaDghab nodded. "He's a little warrior. Already practicing." His lips read. He wanted to be able to speak vocally though. "Battle his way into the world he will."

[Jackie Clawson]

Jackie blinked, "er, you do know that for most species having their child battling their way into the world isn't a good thing?" Jackie queried, there's all sort of complications that could arise during pregnancy which result in an unborn child fighting for their life just to be born, she should know, jenny was born fighting for her life, Jackie just hoped this baby would be born all right.

[QaDghab]

QaDghab blinked, or least his good eye did. He shrugged, he didn't know these things, not like he ever had much experience bringing a child into the world. Plenty taking them out but not bringing them in. At that thought he became somber and just nodded before stepping back in place to keep watch.

tag

[Bryan_Cash]

[Holosuite complex]
[Forstus II]

Placing his sword back into it's scabbard he stepped throught he arch and out into the holocomplex. Sweat pouring down his face he laughed as he exited. Almost knocking the three cornered cap from his head.

"Now that was fun!" He exclaimed to nobody in particular. Three days at sea aboard the HMS Victory and the battle of Trafalgar. You couldn't find a more realistic simulation anywhere. Bryan had relished the action and the thrill of naval battle from days long since past. finding his way to a refreshment stand he unbuckled his weapons belt and took off his heavy wool coat. How they did it back then with the sheer amount of hot woll he didn't know.

Sitting down at a table he ordered a cold drink and wondered what his wife was up to. She hadn't been up for three days of simulated ship combat so in her gentle way had let her man once again wodner off to play on his own.

[Bryan_Cash]

[Holosuite complex]
[Forstus II]

Bryan was sitting trying to enjoy his drink when a slightly older gent approached him. By the looks of the fellow he had just gotten done with an old earth ancient west holoprogram. He wore a brown duster over a plain blue work shirt around his waist was a pair of very strange looking energy weaponry. They looked almost cobbled together from older weapons. His hair was a jet black starting to go grey at the temples. His face was covered in a light stubble that also showed signs of age and grey.


"Howdy, Mind if i sit with ya a bit my friend?" The stranger asked of Cash.

Cash nodded and pointed to the empty seat across from him. There was something vaguely familiar about the older man's face. Bryan watched with some amusement as the man sat. He had a peculiar way of moving that seemed a bit dated.

"You look like ya just walked out of an ancient west holo novel friend" Bryan said with a smile.

The stranger just nodded and gave a small chuckle."You could say that." He extended a hand to shake.

"Names Ryan David." Cash grasped his hand and shook.

"Bryan Cash." He felt that still familiar feeling when he looked at the man. Perhaps they had met somewhere else.

"So you here alone bryan or with family or friends?" The stranger asked.

"Here with my wife.....and the crew of the ship i'm XO on. How about yourself?" He picked up his drink and took another swallow.

"I'm here on my own unfortunately." The strangers eyes looked distant and sad.

"Well that's a shame. Places like this are always more fun with friends at least." Bryan set his glass down and motioned for the waiter to come over.

"How about a drink friend? I'm buying and i don't take no for an answer." Bryan smiled and took out his little sack of latinum.

[Bettina Cash]

[Forstus II]
~Promenade

"He'll come out ready to fight, I'm sure," Bettina said with a laugh, "if he's anything like his father. For now, he thinks my uterus is a gym!" Then she put her hand over her belly. "Oh, that was just plain hunger. I think we can take care of that now!" She looked up at the others. "Let's go find something to eat."

TAGS

[Jackie Clawson]

"Sounds like an idea, " Jackie shook off the feeling of dread and past and smiled hand over her own belly. The child she was carrying, that was all that mattered now, she reminded herself.

[That Guy]

[[ USS Horizon - Main Engineering ]]

He watched Dweebs go, that man was odd, but then the chief engineer of the Horizon thought most starfleet was odd. Especially those who followed rules to the letter. He knew only too well that as a civilian he wasn't too welcome in main engineering, but alas, he was asked to come, here, and if it weren't for one or maybe two people on this ship, the engineer never would've accepted a position aboard a starship.

He stretched his arms ensuring his coat sat comfortably on his shoulders, straightened out his suit and then sauntered over to the center of main engineering.

"Right then!" he clapped his hands as he approached the core. This was the back up they've switched over to earlier, he'd have to have a look and determine what was wrong with the primary core, maybe he'd do that instead of taking an RnR on the planet. He hated leaving things hanging, yes, he'd find out what was wrong with the core and fix that before he went anywhere.

His hands began running over the console in front of him tapping away in excited madness. Entering a command after a command. Pulling up diagnostics. He mouthed a series of "tut tut tut's" as the results came back. He hopped over the railing so he could get closer to the core. Looked up, moved around it, thinking and getting slightly lost in thought as he watched the blue swirl around within the enclosed space as the Horizon sat idle above Forstus II.


OFF:
set up for a JP to intro our counselor.

[Gregory Smith]

[[San Fransisco]]

"If this is your idea of a strong coffee what do you serve as water? Air??!" Greg was clearly unimpressed and demonstrated this by banging his fist on the table hard enough to make the crockery totter dangerously close to the edge. The waitress, startled, hurriedly removed the offending item, mumbling something that sounded like 'free replacement'.

Greg left without waiting to see what watery concoction would be brought back to him. He had taken to drinking coffee here in SF, as it seemed even preparing tea was beyond the competence of most places. He looked at his PADD, face contorted in an expresion of disgust as he read over the letter once more. He had been 'dismissed' due to a 'failure to diagnose'. Yet HE had informed them the day before that the patient had showed suicidal tendencies. Did they listen? No. Much easier to lay the blame elsewhere - right on his doorstep.

*Feckless incompetent fools." The thought is followed by a snicker as his mind returned to hot beverages. That employee lounge there too, had never been able to produce a drinkable cup of tea. There was at least one person, though, that would appreciate the value of a decent drop. He looked up this old friend and tapped the screen. Perhaps something had malfunctioned because the information was obviously incorrect. Or was it?


He made his way home to more comfortable sitting arrangements and, raising an eyebrow, checked over the details again. What the hell was this chap doing on a starship? A STARSHIP of all places! He looked it up; USS Horizon, Intrepid class, currently under command of Admiral Mark Harmon, previously under command of Commander Alexander Chadwick, formerly under command of Vice Admiral Jackie Clawson, and that was only in the past 3 years.


"Information directly from the source" he mused to himself and then raised his head looking at nothing in particular, "Computer, open channel to USS Horizon, Chief Engineer"


[[ USS Horizon - Chief Engineer's Office ]]

He sat at his desk, his coat flung over a worktable covering some gadgets, an old neural gelpack, and some random objects hard to recognize at first. His desk was littered with more gadgets and tools than the worktable, amongst those there was a stack of PADDs and the single console upon which he was now reviewing diagnostics reports, comparing the diagnostics ran on the primary core to those of the currently functioning back up. Trying to figure out what was wrong, he had to be missing something...


"Incoming transmission." spoke a disembodied voice jolting the engineer out of his thoughts.

"I *really* should do something about that voice" he muttered to himself, it was far too sharp, too....strict. cold. He shook his head, clearing the screen to be replaced with the federation logo as he keyed in a response to connect wondering what was up and who'd be calling for him now.

"Dr Smith, fancy that will ya?" The Engineer grinned at the face that replaced the Federation logo, " 'Ello! "

"Good lord, it IS you! Or is it a cunning replica?" Greg's grin matched the Engineer's.

"Nah, I learned my lesson the last time," the man made a face, "ta for the reminder" he pointed out sticking his tongue out at Greg.

Greg laughed. "What are you doing on a Starship of all places? Found the only place that makes a decent cup of tea or something?!?"

"Skip the nice-ties and get on down to business right away, eh Gregory?" The Engineer chuckled, then frowned for a moment lost in thought. "Helping out a..." he took in a breath and exhaled it heavily "friend." he finished, his voice took on a hint of a sadness that disappeared almost as soon as it slipped in.

Greg grinned, oh yes, this was the real Engineer, no doubt about it. "Yup, you know me too well!" He paused, giving the Engineer a bit of time and then continued, his tone conveyed understanding, "friend, eih? Thought it might be that. Either that or the tea. . ."


"Sometimes you gotta travel far for a good cuppa" the Engineer grinned, ran a hand through his hair, "even better when you're the one who can fix the replicators to deliver a good cuppa," he winked.

Good point. Greg mused to himself, then was suddenly struck by a thought.
"I'm up for travelling, got all the time in the world. I reckon I need to verify this claim of a good cuppa..." his voice trailed off.

"What?" The Engineer couldn't believe he's heard that, "What...?" he repeated, "you?" he asked, "Okay, spill the beans, Greg... what's up?"


"Aah. Need a haircut and a new job?" He raised both eyebrows, making light of the current situation.


"There was... an incident. They blamed the grumpy guy." It was a simple statement, but said a lot.


The Engineer eyed Greg raising an eyebrow of his own.

"Figures," he spoke finally. "All right.. er... " he thought for a moment, "Horizon might need a counselor" he spoke, then closed an eye, "or two" he smirked, "they've got their share of assorted loons and ....well... let's just say it's not your typical Federation vessel" he said, "and not just cuz they got a civilian heading up Engineering" he winked.

"Probably need three with you on board!" now it was Greg's turn to smirk.

"Oi!" The Engineer retorted, "get your arse over here and say that to my face" he spoke, "we're above Forstus II, I'll have a word with the Admiral" the man added

"Right then. Best get that cuppa ready!"

"Uh huh, " the Engineer chuckled, "just get o'er here" he said and tapped at the console to sever the connection between the two.


Greg laughed as the connection was severed. He thought again over the events of the day which resulted in more laughter.
"Now... where did I put that travel bag. . ."

OFF:
Joint post by The Engineer and Greg Smith.

[QaDghab]

QaDghab didn't even think about it. He followed along with them. He found he was hungery himself, but in his case he was just eating for the days he went without food, not for 2. He knew he would have to be careful what he ate though as his stomach had been sensitive since his surgery.

He was somewhat distracted when a young boy came flying by between the two women. But his reflexes were quick as he saw the boy take something from the two and reached out his hand grabbing the collar of the boy as he tried to get by. The boy stopped in his tracks trimbling with fear as he saw who had grabbed him. As QaDghab couldn;t speak he didn;t even bother trying. He grabbed the stollen items from the boy's shaking hands and let go of the boy, letting him run off.

He turned back and returned the items to the two...

tag

[Bryan_Cash]

[Forstus II]
[Holocomplex]

Bryan laughed heartily at his new friends story. He picked up his beer and swallowed the last of it down. Leaning back in his chair he regarded the man he had just met only and hour ago. It seemed like they had known each other for years.


"So.....tell my Ryan. What do you find yourself doing when not on vacation?" Bryan asked while he held up his empty beer for the waiters attention. The slightly dashing older man set his now empty glass down and sighed.

"Well i'm not really sure i can or should tell you that." His face taking on a grave looking expression.


Bryan raised an eyebrow. "Why's that friend? Nothing illegal is it?" Bryan asked.

"Well honestly in the past yes.....but for a good long while now i've sorta been in ....well been in starfleet." He leaned back and looked to be studying bryan's face for a reaction.

"Really? Your in the fleet?" He eyed Ryan again.....he certainly didn't look like Starfleet.

"Sort of...." He looked around to make sure no one was approaching and leaned forward. "I shouldn't even be here really.....but i know it's necessary now."

"What are you...." Bryan started to say before the man interrupted him.

"You said your here with your wife and starship crew.....Your going to want to get up from this table before the day is out and get them all to leave here." He stopped and watched bryan for a reaction.

"Who the hell are you?" Bryan said again his defense raising.

"It's not important. What is important is that you get everyone off this planet before the end of night. Can you do that?"

Bryan didn't say anything he just studied the man's face again.

"Your asking an awful lot of me stranger.....especially not telling me why." Bryan could see something in his face now. Something familiar.

Reaching into his pocket the man removed a small metallic colored piece of cloth. He slid it across the table. Bryan stared at it for the longest time finally picking it up he clutched it tightly in his hand. It was an old uniform patch from Venture Star.

"Junior?" He mumbled and looked up to find the man gone.

[Bettina Cash]

[Forstus II]
[Holocomplex]

"Thank you." Bettina took back her package from QaDghab, then frowned as she watched the boy run off. "Can you catch up to him?" She pulled some credits from her pocket and handed them to the big Klingon. "See if you can find him and give him those..." The poor kid needed help and she couldn't let him go hungry...

TAGS

[QaDghab]

QaDghab looked at the credits and shook his head no. "He only run more." His lips read. Without a voice to call out and tell the boy why he was coming the boy would only be frightened and run more.

[Bryan_Cash]

[Forstus II]
[Holocomplex]

Cash gazed down at the scrap of cloth in his hand. It looked very old and worn. As if someone had held on to it for years. What the hell had just happened? Was he asleep and dreaming this? Was he still in a holodeck? Rubbing at the back of his neck he sighed.

"I just wanted a little vacation." Now he appeared to have been visited by his still unborn son from the future with a cryptic warning about the planet. Rising to his feet he was going back to his room to change......something was afoot here and he was going to find out what it was.

[That Guy]

[[USS Horizon - Admiral's Ready Room]]

At the chime, Mark looked up from the stack of reports he was almost done with.

'now what?' he wondered, thinking almost all crew were already down on the planet, who, aside him, would be crazy enough not to take the time out?

"Come" he called out.

A moment later, the Chief Engineer sauntered in, his brown coat moving with him, Mark found it a bit off to have a civilian dressed in a suit, pair of Converse and a coat, but he supposed nothing was too weird on the Horizon anymore.

"Not taking a shore leave?" he queried as the ready room doors slid closed behind the Chief.

"Naaah," the Chief engineer spoke, "not yet anyway“ he added. ”Repairs,“ he clarified, besides he wanted to tinker more with the ship’s engines, make some improvements. ”I’d rather not wait on them“

”I see,“ Mark spoke, he could tell the man had something else on his mind. ”Nothing too serious?“ he asked, concern creeping into his voice.

”What? Oh the ship. No, no no“ The Engineer spoke, ”I just hate to leave the work unfinished“ he added.

Mark nodded his approval.

”There is one thing however,“ the Chief engineer added

Mark figured as much. ”Go on“ he said, wondering if the chief engineer was going to give him a long list of equipment they needed.

The chief engineer paces the room for a few moments, wondering how to bring up the subject, then decided to just go for it.

”I noticed that the Horizon doesn’t have a Counselor aboard“ he said finally.

”Are you volunteering for that job then?“ Mark asked, well aware of the engineer’s background with certain people on the ship. Well one person, really, which is why the engineer was here in the first place.

”What ? Me? Nah,“ The engineer chuckled, ”friend of mine actually. Dr Gregory Smith,“ he said, handing over a PADD with Greg’s profile.

Mark took in, glanced over it quickly, great, another civilian. Couldn’t hurt, especially if this one would not transfer out as quickly as he’d come in. But Mark’d have to do some more digging.

”Any particular, reason you’re recommending him?“ Mark asked, ”other than being your friend.“

”Greg’s....“ he paused, cleared his throat, ”erm....unique perspective and way of counseling might help a lot of people on this ship,“ the engineer replied.

”I see,“ Mark spoke keying in something on the console in front of him to bring up a more detailed profile of Gregory Smith.

He raised an eyebrow at the colorful language used to describe Greg and his ways, however effective they may have been as many who he worked for were forced to admit later.

The Engineer saw the hesitation on the Admiral’s face.

”The ship’s crazy, we need him. He’d get a kick out of the looneys, if anything“ The Engineer spoke with a lop sided grin. ”hey, I’m getting a kick of out some of the looneys running around here. Ensign Dweebs down in engineering being one of them“ he spoke as a side note.

Mark blinked, raised an eyebrow, Dweebs was by far on the more ‘normal’ side of the insanity meter. He looked over the profile, perhaps Greg would indeed fit in with the folks around here, however brash and...unique his ways of counseling seemed to most people. Aside everything else Horizon’s crew was definitely unique.

He nodded finally. ”All right. When can he get here?“ he asked.

”Excellent!“ The Engineer hopped up, clapped his hands together, landed back on his feet and hopped from foot to foot. Mark gave him a curious half amused look, the man chuckled slightly. ”Thank You. Er.. he should be here within the week,“ he added.

”Good, we’re not going anywhere for a while.“ Mark said, ”anything else?“ he asked.

”Nope. That would be about it..“ the Chief Engineer paused, ”Sir...“ he added as an afterthought, still not quite used to the formalities, although Mark didn’t seem to mind it much.

”Very well. go ahead. Get some rest, repairs aren’t going to run anywhere. You never know when the next opportunity to relax will present itself“ Mark said.

The Engineer smirked, ”I could say the same thing for you , Admiral.“ he pointed out nodding at the stack of PADDs on Harmon’s desk. ”Work’s not going anywhere,“ he shrugged.

”Duly noted“ Mark responded with a slight smirk.

The Engineer offered a semi-salute to the Admiral before disappearing from the ready room and onto the bridge.

Mark shook his head, the man had a point. He set aside the PADDs and made an exit to pick up his things from his quarters before heading down to the planet to rejoin his crew.


OFF:
Joint post by
Admiral Mark Harmon
and

[Veska]

[Horizon Sickbay:]

“Shouldn’t you be down on the planet ma’am?” came a voice from behind the console.

Veska peered around the screen to see one of the nurses that was to be on duty while she went down to the planet…several hours ago. “I should be yes,” the half Klingon agreed, “but I want to make sure that someone else can enjoy their vacation equally so, or at least have it worth while. If I can get several solutions put together for QaDghab so that when he has time that he can choose and we can get a surgery schedule, I think everyone will be happier.”

Why a Klingon his age kept getting into situations that ended up requiring such elaborate surgeries, Veska wasn’t entirely sure and it was probably best she didn’t know she had a feeling. Her medical engineers had sent her a file with several options for devices that they could implant that they thought would work for QaDghab. It would only be slightly noticeable, and mostly in that his new ‘voice’ would have a very slight mechanical sound to it, but that was better than no voice at all.

She sent a message to QaDghab’s quarters requesting a consultation about his options and stood to stretch. It would also provide her an opportunity to see how he was doing over all and if some time off ship was improving his over all health. A few more buttons and the computer was instructed to inform her via comm. badge when QaDghab replied to her message. As a backup, she also sent a copy of the message to Bettina as from what Veska had witnessed, the woman was pseudo family to the elder Klingon and she had promised to keep her informed of QaDghab’s health.

That task completed, she left her office to stop by the mess hall. In her hand was a PADD with a listing of recommended programs that were in the resort’s vast library that she might enjoy. There might even be time to enjoy one or two between now and when she performed QaDghab’s surgery.

Tag QaDghab (Bettina?)

[M'karll]

OOC: Because all the cool kids are doing it...

[Planet Side]

M'karll sat in a dark corner of the little dive he'd found, though really one could only call it a dive if they were feeling particularly vindictive. Everthing about this little planet was entirely too cheerful, they wouldn't have known what seedy was if it ran up and smacked them across the backside with the flat of a cutlass. That was another problem, these people wouldn't let M'karll carry one of his cutlasses planet-side. Still, he had received a message that he might be able to procure something somewhat stretching the bounds of legality if he were in the right place at the right time, and so the pilot sat in the back corner of the bar, sipping his rum, and waiting for the contact to make themselves known.

Rather abruptly, a somewhat questionable looking man slid into the booth across from M'karll and slipped a Ferengi PADD across the table to the pilot. M'karll lifted the device and perused it, his eyes widening slightly. Typing out a message back on the PADD, M'karll slid the device back across the table. The seller picked up the PADD and, looking irritable, wrote out a new message for the pilot before roughly sliding the PADD back across the table. M'karll glanced at it, and the price asked, and shook his head once before writing out a figure that was considerably lower. The seller picked up the PADD again and glanced at the number M'karll had indicated and blanched. Quickly he scribbled down a new number and slid it to M'karll. The pilot glanced at the number, which was just slightly under the halfway mark for the last set of figures they'd exchanged, and then made to stand up.

"If ye not be a horswaggler an' be seekin' ta sell yer fine bit o' shiney ye'd best knock a couple a bars off yorn offer there. An' I be wantin' ta know where ye be findin' it," the pilot turned to start to leave when the buyer grabbed his arm.

"Fine... two bars and ten strips," he said quickly in a hushed tone. "And how I got this is immaterial."

M'karll flashed a predatory grin, feeling he had the negotiation won since the seller clearly wanted to be rid of what it was that he had, especially if he were willing to let it go for under ten bars of latinum a price that the pilot would never be able to afford. "Two bars and four strips," he purred in a very soft tone. "An' I be havin' be new row boat straight away."

"Done," the seller spat. "Pad Nine-Delta." Quickly the man left. Finishing his rum, M'karll left soon after.

Taking his sweet time, M'karll meandered over to the landing pad and inspected his newest acquisition. It was exactly as he'd expected it to be, and looked to be fresh off the assembly line. There was no telling how the seller had obtained it, but then again that was not M'karll's problem. He had legally, mostly speaking, purchased the craft and he had the papers to prove that he'd bought it legally. The question of whether or not the seller had legally had it before was immaterial.

"I bes' be lettin' fairest maiden know I be procurin' this fine new bit o' swag," the tiger-striped Caitian muttered to himself. Deftly the pilot slipped into the cockpit and behind the controls of what was probably the only vessel of its class in Federation space. Quickly, he changed the transponder signal over to that of a Federation vessel before lifting off. "Now ta be findin' the maiden..."

It was a simple matter to get the craft fired up and off the ground. After that it was a relatively simple matter to use the craft's scanners to find Jackie Clawson and beam her aboard to the vessel's only other seat. As the beam rematerialized the woman M'karll reflected that it was a shame that the fighter had two seats instead of just one. Having Jackie in his lap would have been infinitely preferable to having her in the back seat.

"Greetin's," he roared. "Ye might be wantin' the cap in front o' ye," he continued, not bothering to even consider the effect that suddenly beaming her away from where she was might have on whomever she was with.

(tag)

[Bettina Cash]

~Promenade

QaDghab looked at the credits and shook his head no. "He only run more." His lips read. Without a voice to call out and tell the boy why he was coming the boy would only be frightened and run more.

Sighing, Bettina nodded. "I guess you're right." She glanced at Jackie and sighed. "He probably hasn't eaten in a while and just..." Frowning, she looked closer as Jackie seemed to start to lose form. "Jackie..?" She reached for her friend, but before she could touch her, Jackie fizzled out in a transporter beam.

"JACKIE!" Looking up at Qa'Dghab in surprise, she moved closer to him. "Where is she? What happened to her? We need to...we need to find her...find Bryan!"

TAGS

[QaDghab]

QaDghab was just as alarmed, and pissed off. But there was little he could do except get help. At Bettina's panic he held her to him in way of both comfort and to protect her in case another beam out was made. He hit his com badge he had been given then realized once more he couldn't speak. He motioned for her to speak for him.

tag

[Grenn]

[Forstus II]
[Some beach at a Starfleet Recreation Complex]

Face down on a folding chair, J'al was asleep on the beach wearing just enough to be considered decent by most other species. The sunlight was very warm, due to the planet's proximity to its star. Next to him on the ground was a bag of his things with a commbadge pinned on the top. He wasn't all that worried about theft here. This was a part of the Starfleet complex and therefore had restricted entry to all but personell.

One arm hung down off the side, resting on the sand. He preferred the elevated chair to lay on, as sand and fur don't mix well. It just gets everywhere and even sonic showers can miss some of it. In this case though, the relaxing sound of the ocean coupled with the warmth of the sun was worth the potential minor discomfort.

Oblivious to the drama playing out with his deranged cousin and Jackie, he stayed put, snoring softly in the comfortable sunlight. Had he still had his tail, it would be curled over the side of the chair, hanging loosly.

OFF: Ah, you guys go ahead and duke it out. I'ma keep sleeping :)

[Bryan_Cash]

[Forstus II]

Bryan stood in the center quad outside the administration building. Alla round him walked Forstus entertainment workers and the occasional starfleet officer. There was something about everyone that bothered him and he couldn't quite figure out. He watched everyone go about the normal duties and assigned tasks. He was missing something damnit! it was starting to make him mad. Hell everything was making him mad.

All he wanted was a simple vacation. Now after a visit from a man he believed to be his future son he had a cryptic warning to get everyone off the planet and away from Forstus before the end of the night.

"Sometimes i wonder if the universe is getting plenty of laughs at my expense." He muttered to himself as he continued to watch everyone and try to figure out what to do.

[Bettina Cash]

~Promenade

QaDghab was just as alarmed, and pissed off. But there was little he could do except get help. At Bettina's panic he held her to him in way of both comfort and to protect her in case another beam out was made. He hit his com badge he had been given then realized once more he couldn't speak. He motioned for her to speak for him.

Huddling close to QaDghab, Bettina held a hand over her belly, grateful for the big Klingon. She looked up at him, then nodded. "Bryan, it's Bett," she spoke into the comm badge, "someone...something took Jackie. She was with us, then she was just...beamed away..." There was an edge of panic in her voice.

TAG
BRYAN
VESKA
ANY

[Janzie]

[Forstus II ]

[Afore mentioned beach at a Starfleet Recreation Complex]

Janzie double checked the translucent sarong that was wrapped around her slender waist, the dark blue of the lower half of her bikini peaking through the light blue fabric. IF Leroy ever tore himself away from those PADDs long enough, she had told him where she would be and what she would be wearing.

The idea of warming herself under bright, warm, natural lighting had appealed to Janzie. Often cold in the artificially lit corridors of the starship, that had been one request she had made to her quarters. She had heat lamps added over the bed. While blankets worked for most people, Janzie preferred actual heat.

Through her sunglass tinted gaze, Janzie surveyed the available lounge chairs. There was music playing softly somewhere, setting a relaxing tone that complimented the gentle crashing of the water. The contrasting sensations of the warm sun against her skin and the cool water lapping around her feet had some appeal, but she could do that later. Her first goal was to find a well placed chair where she could enjoy the fruity drink she held in her one hand and the old fashioned book that she held in the other.

It took some careful browsing and weaving in and amongst the loungers to find the chair that she wanted. Close by she recognized a Caitian lounging, asleep by the looks of it. She was sure if he still had his tail, it would have been swaying lazily back and forth. Like most of the people on the ship, Janzie only knew them in passing and maybe a name if she was lucky. Most people knew who flew the ship however, if nothing else to complain about their driving when things got bumpy.

She settled herself into the chair next to Grenn, taking a deep sip of the fruity concoction they had given her at the bar. What exactly it contained she wasn’t sure, but it tasted pretty good and slightly intoxicating...that was a plus.

[Grenn?]

off: Agreed. Relaxing at the beach sounds more enjoyable than abductions or shopping :p

[Jackie Clawson]

[Planet Side/Above Forstus II]

Jackie felt the transporter beam engulf her, she let out a gasp and by the time she could even say anything to Bettina or QaDghab, the Caitian was gone.

She rematerialized somewhere unfamiliar. unfamiliar craft...

Her first thoughts threw her into panic, did one of her enemies just get his hands on her and her unborn child so easily? Her hands flew over to the bump on her stomach; 'I won't let them hurt you' she thought, noticing that her hands were shaking and realizing that her heart was racing Jackie fought to catch her breath and calm down.

"Greetin's," a voice spoke "Ye might be wantin' the cap in front o' ye," it continued as it drilled through to her.

"Are you..." she paused, her voice coming out in gasps, "out....of your mind?" she asked, her voice edgy yet weary and more than a bit angry amongst a number of other things she felt right now.

She tossed her head back into the seat and closed her eyes fighting to calm herself down. She could tell this affected the baby in her belly as well as she felt a few kicks as the baby seemed to wake up given the sudden jolt to Jackie's system.


OFF: Tag back.

[M'karll]

"I indeed may be a might crazy thare, fair cap'n," M'karll replied. "Thought ye might be feelin' a bit out o' water, as it were, an' could be usin' a diversion o' sorts," he continued, keeping the fighter on a steady course. "Ye can'ta been too busy on shore leave."

(tag)

[Jackie Clawson]

"You call that...." Jackie gasped, threw her head back and shut her eyes. "...a diversion?" she took in a sharp breath as the pain washed over her senses enough to make her dizzy, or maybe it was M'Karll's flying.

'Breathe' she reminded herself, 'breathe' her breath came out in short gasps as her hands felt her belly.

OFF: Tag back.

[Bryan_Cash]

[Forstus II]


Bryan stood in front of the complex and stared at it for the longest time. What was it about this place? Everything seemed fine at first glance....but then if you stopped and really looked at things..

"That's it!" He almost slapped himself on the head before. When he had charted this planet all those years ago there was a reason it hadn't been scanned or developed further. Bryan shook his head and realized how much trouble they all we're in. then his comm badge beeped.

"Bryan, it's Bett," she spoke into the comm badge, "someone...something took Jackie. She was with us, then she was just...beamed away..."

Sighing deeply he felt the color drain from his face. What the hell else could go wrong!

=/\=Head to the administration complex i'll beam back to the ship and see what i can from up there. Jackie being gone is important but....We need to get everyone off this planet and out of orbit before the next sunrise. Tell the Director Thorson I'll contact him when i get back to the ship and try to locate Admiral Harmon.=/\=

=/\=Cash to Horizon......one to beam directly to the bridge.=/\= He paused and waited for the automated computer to beam him back up.

[Bridge]
[USS Horizon]

Bryan materialized in the center of the darkened bridge. Most everyone was down on the planet below. Stepping to the flight console he activated the internal comms.

=/\=To anyone still aboard. Report to the bridge immediately." =/\= Sitting down he activated the sensors and broke horizon from orbit.


TAG:

[Bettina Cash]

[Forstus II]


=/\=Head to the administration complex i'll beam back to the ship and see what i can from up there. Jackie being gone is important but....We need to get everyone off this planet and out of orbit before the next sunrise. Tell the Director Thorson I'll contact him when i get back to the ship and try to locate Admiral Harmon.=/\=

"All right." Bettina looked up at Qa'Dghab and Veska. "I hope she's all right..." Her hand rested over her belly, as if the simple gesture could protect her child, and Jackie's as well. "Come on..." She turned to lead the way, hesitating only briefly to make sure the others were with her. Her hand curled into Qa'Dghab's sleeve, clinging to him in hopes that his bulk would protect her from the fate that had snatched Jackie away from them...

TAGS
VESKA
QA'DGHAB

[QaDghab]

QaDghab kept protectively close to Bettina, watching everywhere to make sure no one sneaked up on them as they shuffled to the Administration Complex. Of course if another transport happened all he could hope for was to be close enough to be taken with her.

tags

[Bettina Cash]

[Forstus II]

QaDghab kept protectively close to Bettina, watching everywhere to make sure no one sneaked up on them as they shuffled to the Administration Complex. Of course if another transport happened all he could hope for was to be close enough to be taken with her.

Slipping her hand into QaDghab's, Bettina headed quickly for the Admin Center, her free hand resting over her belly. When they arrived, she walked right up to the reception desk and, in an uncommon show of force, demanded, "I need to see Director Thorson now. Captain Bryan Cash is my husband and I speak for him...it's urgent..."

[Veska]

[Forstus II]

Veska wasn’t sure there was much else she could do but follow Bettina along with QaDghab. She had only found the group a few moments earlier, having wanted to talk to the latter about possible surgery dates. She had been waiting patiently in sickbay for the Klingon to get back to her, the opportunity to speak again being one she thought he would be very eager about, but it turned out he hadn’t even been aboard the ship for several hours. Deciding that this was something he would probably want to get started as quickly as possible, she determined where they were and arranged for transport to the surface. Once she found them she was surprised Jackie wasn’t with them as she was reported to have been. Veska was then quickly informed about what had happened, moments before her arrival. Veska found the circumstances of the abduction slightly suspicious, but tried to be optimistic.

“Bettina,” Veska began, “We didn’t get any warnings from the Horizon or through the resort communications about any possible hostile ships in the area and the resort would have had to inform the Horizon about any one that might have fit that classification that was here recently. That doesn’t negate that something did happen and it clearly wasn’t planned from what it sounds like, but try not to worry. I’m sure as soon as she’s able to contact us, she will. Worrying like this isn’t good for the baby.”

What was oddly a little harder to understand, besides that the Caitian former Admiral had been apparently abducted, was that after only three days and little explanation (yet), they were being recalled to the ship. Besides Jackie’s recent disappearance, which didn’t seem to have anything to do with whatever bigger thing was going on, by the sounds of it, Veska hadn’t noted anything different or unusual aboard the Horizon that would explain it. It was a little aggravating to have finally come down to the planet (granted still work related) only to have to return to the ship so soon.

Perhaps this director they were going to speak to could offer some sort of reasonable explanation for why Bryan was acting as he was. Veska found herself having started to look forward to some time of relaxation, and right now that didn’t look like it was going to happen.

tags

[Janzie]

[Forstus II ]

[Afore mentioned beach at a Starfleet Recreation Complex]

The cold, dark shadow loomed closer. Its chill sending shivers down her spine. She couldn’t let it get closer, it would kill her. She could hear its voice, calling to her, tempting her closer... NO… it was getting to close. It was about to touch her. It’s hand, if you could call it that was…warm?

With a jolt, Janzie came to, the menacing shadow that had been calling to her, was a waiter noting she had dropped her book into the sand. Once he had her attention, he offered to refill her drink. Though for a brief moment she questioned the idea, wondering if the drink had been what had led her to imagine her life had actually been in danger or if it was the science-fiction mystery she was reading. Banking on the latter, she nodded in affirmation of the refill. The waiter glanced at Grenn next door, still apparently fast asleep, and moved off to fill her order.

Following his gaze, Janzie looked at the sleeping Caitian, wondering for a moment if with all that fur, if they could still get sunburn. She wasn’t sure how long she had been reading before she then fell asleep, but it didn’t look as if he had moved at all in that whole time frame.

The temptation was there to touch him, make sure he was all right, or at least didn’t want to turn over and bleach the other side of his fur in the sun for a while. But if he reacted to her as she had done to the waiter…he had claws. The last thing Janzie wanted to explain to the Klingon doctor on the Horizon or whatever medical staff they had at the resort was why she got clawed.

Instead, she resituated herself in her lounge chair. She shook the sand out of her book, doubtful she would get it all, but made the attempt anyway. It was nice, if but for a little while, to be ‘out of touch’. If the Horizon needed either of them, she was sure Grenn had a badge, and if not…there was always the unannounced transport she supposed. Finding where she last recalled she was, she nestled deeper into the soft chair and began to read again.

tags anyone... (pokes GRENN!)

[Bryan_Cash]

[Forstus II]

Tom was in his office when he heard a commotion outside. The sound of a woman wanting to see him. Standing he walked to his office door and opened it up.

"I need to see Director Thorson now. Captain Bryan Cash is my husband and I speak for him...it's urgent..."

Tom raised an eyebrow and stepped forward. "Is there a problem here?" He inquired aware that something seemed wrong.

TAGS:Bettina fun party

[Horizon]

Taking the Horizon into a higher orbit Bryan scanned the planet and surrounding area for caitain life signs. A few people had begun to trickle onto the bridge and take up stations.

Watching the readings come across his console he paused as the computer registered one caitain life sign on the planet as Commander Grenn....and another two in orbit of the planet aboard another smaller craft. Scowling he turned the horizon and made for the other ships position.

=/\=Unknown vessel you have one of my crew aboard. Stand down or be fired upon.=/\= cutting the channel he spotted the small ship on the view screen. Activating shields he brought the weapons online and targeted the ships engines.

TAG:Crazy cats and anyone on the horizon.

[Bettina Cash]

[Forstus II]

Tom raised an eyebrow and stepped forward. "Is there a problem here?" He inquired aware that something seemed wrong.

"I don't know, Sir." Bettina moved up to the man, still holding onto Qa'Dghab for security. "I was just told by my husband to ask you to get everyone off the planet and out of orbit...before sunrise tomorrow. He said he'd contact you later." She wasn't sure what it meant, but she had heard the urgency in Bryan's tone.

TAGS

[M'karll]

[M'karll's Toy (Because I've not named it yet)]

"You call that...." Jackie gasped, threw her head back and shut her eyes. "...a diversion?" she took in a sharp breath as the pain washed over her senses enough to make her dizzy, or maybe it was M'Karll's flying.

'Breathe' she reminded herself, 'breathe' her breath came out in short gasps as her hands felt her belly.

"Course I be callin' it a diversion from the most scallawagous clutches o' boredom," M'karll replied, his own voice drowning out the sounds of Jackie's breathing so as to not allow that particular noise to be heard. Before anything else could be said the small vessel's comm system crackled to life.

=/\=Unknown vessel you have one of my crew aboard. Stand down or be fired upon.=/\= cutting the channel he spotted the small ship on the view screen. Activating shields he brought the weapons online and targeted the ships engines.

M'karll depressed the comm switch as the fighter's computer began to warble a warning alarm that the ship was being targeted by weapons. "We be 'avin' a might more'n one o' yer crew, ye great space dog," M'karll fired into the comm system, not feeling too badly about referring to the Captain as a space dog since he was, technically, still on shore leave.

"In fact, ye might even be sayin' there be twice that number o' yer crew on me finest new ship," the Caitian continued. "An' it be a might bit o' diff'cult ta be standin' down when I not be standin' up in the firs' place!"

(tag Jackie and Cap'n)

[Jeral Krezek]

[USS Horizon]
[Jeral Krezek's Quarters]

Being one of the last people left aboard had a few... perks. One of which being the ability to do paperwork on his bed.

Finally catching up on the massive load of paperwork that Kiara had left when she left after her wedding was a task that he had gladly volunteered to stay behind for. First, he was new to the crew, and second... the reduced staff on the ship was actually very calming to his empathic sense. He actually had reduced the amount of his neural suppressant for the duration of the vacation that he actually had - 175 souls reduced to 20 or 30 on a ship of this size was a mental vacation for him, and his dangerous empathic ability, he could use the time to try to control it, using mental techniques that Toran had given him for situations such as this.

However, duty was duty.

He had a PADD in his hand, lying on his back tapping out a security report for the day when the comm system came to life.

=/\=To anyone still aboard. Report to the bridge immediately." =/\=

Cash's voice was unmistakeable, and Jeral's eyes went wide. Something was wrong - he could feel it in Cash's newly sensed mind - and he would be needed. Jeral rolled off of the bed, grabbing up the uniform vest off the chair and not bothering to grab the jacket. A quick hypo injection of the new balance of stuff, and Jeral was out the door, masking the pain the neural suppressant cocktail put his body through as he walked.


[Bridge]

=/\=Unknown vessel you have one of my crew aboard. Stand down or be fired upon.=/\=

Jeral stepped off the turbolift to hear that ultimatum spoken. He strode over to the tactical station, logging in and taking control of weapons. "Captain, am I reading these lifesigns right?" Jeral asked. "There's a Caitian on board that ship."

(OFF: He's back, front and both sides! Oh, and turning email notifications on so I know when someone posts to this damn thread!)

[Janzie]

[Forstus II ]

[Starfleet Recreation Complex Beach]

Bleh… who was she kidding. She was as bad as Leroy, just not as partial to PADDs. She attempted one last time to get the sand out of her book and got up out of the chair. The remaining contents of her glass were emptied and the glass replaced. Janzie looked over at the still sleeping Caitian next to her and shook her head. If only she could sleep that much.

Janzie readjusted the wrap around her waist and headed towards the nearest transporter location. She realized she should have brought a badge with her. Even though she ‘technically’ wasn’t a Starfleet crew member, she was still considered crew and therefore had one. But given her current attire, there was a distinct lack of places to put one comfortably.

She shrugged. What could go wrong on a vacation that she would need one anyway. They weren’t due to return to the ship for a while, and she had fully intended to have hers with her when she was due to either be ‘on call’ or when it was time to go back up. But her work-a-holic attitude was getting the better of her anyway. Soon enough she would have her own issued badge back on and waist deep in some console somewhere that needed to be tweaked.

Passing through the doors of the building that housed a set of transporter pads, she smiled coyly at the individual behind the console there. “One to send up to the Federation ship USS Horizon please,” Janzie requested, leaning over the console, the position offering the man seated there quite a view.

So much so he just stared with his mouth hanging open for a moment…until Janzie, amused, cleared her throat. “uhm, right. One transport coming up,” he replied, blushing. “Are you coming back later? I get off in a few hours…” he added gesturing towards the lighted platform behind her.

Janzie smiled. “Perhaps.”

He smiled back. “The Horizon is ready to receive you.”

“Thank you.”

***

A few moments later, at least properly dressed (though as not Starfleet, it was her usual black leather pants and t-shirt) and her comm badge pinned to her chest, she headed to the bridge. The transporter chief on the Horizon when she arrived had indicated anyone on board was to report to the bridge…so that is where she headed. Why did she both hate it and look forward to being right…that things weren’t as peachy as they were supposed to be?

The doors parted and she gave a nod to both Bryan and Jeral. “So what’s the party?” she asked stepping further out onto the bridge.

Off:

Alrightly…Grenn is on his own. Yo Bridge… I am here! :p

[Grenn]

[Forstus II ]

[Starfleet Recreation Complex Beach]

An annoying chirping commbadge woke J'al up out of nowhere. He played the recall message back from it after digging it out of his pack. Oh well, it seemed like he got enough rest.

He shook a bit, feeling nice and warm from the hot sun. Grabing his things, he caught a transport just after Janzie's and found himself on the bridge just after she entered.

OFF: Yeah, sorry about that. But I am on the bridge now. Nothing inspired.... but I just couldn't get things rolling on a way to get myself back other then this simple cop out. :dev-upsidedown:

[Jeral Krezek]

“So what’s the party?” she asked stepping further out onto the bridge.

"Looks like we may have a hostage situation," Jeral said, nodding to Grenn as he entered as well. "Janzie, can you take Ops? I'm still trying to figure out the situation as well."

Jeral didn't wait for a response, but just kept a weapons lock on the small ship as it flitted around, which proved to be no easy task. "Sir, whatever that ship is, I'm having a Hell of a time tracking it. It's employing some form of scattering field, almost making it impossible to keep a solid lock on their engines. I make a wrong move, and we may have to collect the remains in a specimen jar."

[M'karll]

OOC: A partial repost.

[New Used Fighter]

=/\=Unknown vessel you have one of my crew aboard. Stand down or be fired upon.=/\= cutting the channel he spotted the small ship on the view screen. Activating shields he brought the weapons online and targeted the ships engines.

M'karll depressed the comm switch as the fighter's computer began to warble a warning alarm that the ship was being targeted by weapons. "We be 'avin' a might more'n one o' yer crew, ye great space dog," M'karll fired into the comm system, not feeling too badly about referring to the Captain as a space dog since he was, technically, still on shore leave.

"In fact, ye might even be sayin' there be twice that number o' yer crew on me finest new ship," the Caitian continued. "An' it be a might bit o' diff'cult ta be standin' down when I not be standin' up in the firs' place!"

(tags)

[Grenn]

[Horizon - Bridge]

"What the..." J'al said, as he manned the conn. "That's M'karll on the commline." he said, turning around slightly to tell Cash.

He shook his head a bit. Sometimes his cousin was an idiot..... and then there was now.

OFF: :)

[Jackie Clawson]

[[M'Karll's Fighter]]

Jackie winced as the sharp screech of the alarms cut into her senses as she clutched at her midsection fighting off her existing pain. She mumbled something incoherent for a few moments as the hell broke lose all around her.

"Horizon. Stand down. we're good." she called out in between a series of short breaths; not too sure if her hands had found the right controls to activate the commlink on her side.

"M'Karll...request permission to dock." she called to the other Caitian through clenched teeth, " getting shot down by your own ship.. not the way I want to go" she mumbled in between gasps. "and not the way I'd have thought....... Junior's going to..... see the world for the first time" she shut her eyes, her right hand on her belly. She knew what was happening and Jackie fought herself to remain calm for the time being. If calm was even possible for her these days.

OFF:
tag M'Karl. folks on the bridge.

[Janzie]

Janzie had given Jeral a nod and took Ops. It had been her pseudo standard station when she was given bridge responsibilities so she was already familiar with its controls. She logged in and took a brief glance at what she had missed so far. Like the weapons system, the sensors in general and transporters were having a hard time getting much by the way of information. What they could get, the probabilities on it being correct were a lot lower than Starfleet would allow action to be taken on typically. But…then the comm was heard.

“I thought something about those readings looked familiar. Like I’ve seen them somewhere before. Maybe not on this console panel, but a read out of some where,” Janzie commented. But for the life of her she couldn’t think of where at first. She had a passing interest in small craft, so there could have been any number of places. But now knowing the pilot was Starfleet…it had to have been in the ship’s computer. Her interest didn’t lay so much in the piloting but the programming of, the composition of their parts and how they worked together. Her original interests in Starfleet had been in computers and computer operations after all.

Janzie shook her head again…there was hardly anyone on board the Horizon that didn’t find a certain Caitian’s typical speech pattern either amusing or annoying. Then speaking of Caitians, Jackie’s voice came over the comm. There was something not quite right about the former Admiral’s voice though, but perhaps she was reading too much into the short exchange. Janzie looked at Bryan and Jeral, not having anything specific to do with the ships ready status, other than making sure weapons had the power it needed, which it clearly no longer needed. She did however make sure that the shuttle bay was ready for a returning ship. “The shuttle bay is ready to receive them. Standing by on the shuttle bay force field.”

tags

[M'karll]

[Fighter]

"M'Karll...request permission to dock." she called to the other Caitian through clenched teeth," getting shot down by your own ship.. not the way I want to go" she mumbled in between gasps. "and not the way I'd have thought....... Junior's going to..... see the world for the first time" she shut her eyes, her right hand on her belly. She knew what was happening and Jackie fought herself to remain calm for the time being. If calm was even possible for her these days.

"Ye'd not be fakin' layber ta be gettin' back at me now would ye, bonnie lass," M'karll asked, swinging the craft back around in the direction of the Horizon. "An' 'sides the 'Rizon'd not be takin' any broadside at us that I couldn' dodge! I'm a leaf on the wind!"

[Jackie Clawson]

"Don't..... tempt your..... luck..... R'Pas," Jackie muttered through clenched teeth. She took in a sharp breath and closed her eyes as it felt like she's been hit by a hard blow from the inside. This one would definitely be a boy, Jenny was a lot easier, granted she wasn't kidnapped at the time she went into labor. And this one really did want to come out now; part of Jackie wanted to channel her pain into several angry swipes at the Caitian infront of her, if there wasn't a wall of controls seperating the two of them

"Hnngg!" Her eyes flew open as she grasped the edges of her seat. "Gaahrgh" she took a few more short breaths and let them out. 'C'mon this isn't as bad as anything you've gone through at the hands of Cardassians or Romulans' she thought, 'easy does it, this one you can control' she took in a few more breaths, let them out quickly. if the fighter's not gonna land any time soon, Junior would definitely going to be introduced to the world in an utmost strange fashion, even for a Caitian's child.

"I'm gonna kill you M'Karll, you hear me?" she tossed back her head connecting hard with the seat.


OFF: tag Pirate kitty

oh you are soooo dead when this is over ;p

[M'karll]

[Fighter]

"Don't..... tempt your..... luck..... R'Pas," Jackie muttered through clenched teeth. She took in a sharp breath and closed her eyes as it felt like she's been hit by a hard blow from the inside. This one would definitely be a boy, Jenny was a lot easier, granted she wasn't kidnapped at the time she went into labor. And this one really did want to come out now; part of Jackie wanted to channel her pain into several angry swipes at the Caitian infront of her, if there wasn't a wall of controls seperating the two of them

"Hnngg!" Her eyes flew open as she grasped the edges of her seat. "Gaahrgh" she took a few more short breaths and let them out. 'C'mon this isn't as bad as anything you've gone through at the hands of Cardassians or Romulans' she thought, 'easy does it, this one you can control' she took in a few more breaths, let them out quickly. if the fighter's not gonna land any time soon, Junior would definitely going to be introduced to the world in an utmost strange fashion, even for a Caitian's child.

"I'm gonna kill you M'Karll, you hear me?" she tossed back her head connecting hard with the seat.

"Yar, ye mean ta be sayin' ye not be fakin'," the pilot asked, punching the throttle on the craft up to full. It may have been an older Klingon fighter, but it could still hit nearly full impulse power. A few moments later he keyed the mic again. "This be Ensign R'pas and the fair maiden kitty, an' we be landin' now. Stand by fer med'cal transport."

(tags)

[Janzie]

[Horizon Bridge]

<"This be Ensign R'pas and the fair maiden kitty, an' we be landin' now. Stand by fer med'cal transport.">

Looks were exchanged across the bridge. A request for a medical transport was not a good thing. “Looking for Veska,” Janzie announced with out the request for such needing to be made.

[Forstus II]

Tom raised an eyebrow and stepped forward. "Is there a problem here?" He inquired aware that something seemed wrong.

"I don't know, Sir." Bettina moved up to the man, still holding onto Qa'Dghab for security. "I was just told by my husband to ask you to get everyone off the planet and out of orbit...before sunrise tomorrow. He said he'd contact you later." She wasn't sure what it meant, but she had heard the urgency in Bryan's tone.

Tom looked at the small group before him, especially the woman claiming to be the wife of Captain Bryan Cash. What she was saying seemed odd and completely out of the blue. “I don’t know why he would make such a request. I haven’t been informed of any problem of a scale even remotely close to requiring evacuation. I don’t think we even have the ship capacity right now to do such a thing if we wanted to.”

Surely the Captain knew something he did not, but what, the increasingly nervous director didn’t know. “Mrs. Cash, if you could have your husband send me more information that would be greatly appreciated. Of course I don’t want anything to happen to any of our residents, but just a statement as impacting as yours is…that is not much to go on and could panic everyone.

<Horizon to Veska. Ma’am, we’ve to M’Krall calling in a medical emergency and given what we know, it’s got to be Admiral Clawson. Prepare for transport. Horizon out.> came Janzie’s voice from Veska’s comm. badge.

The half Klingon medical doctor looked at Bettina and Qa’Dghab. “I doubt there is much more we can do here. On the ship however, seems to be several things that may need us more in the short-term,” she prompted, seeking a request on their parts to join her.

Bettina nodded, concern on her face for Jackie quite evident.

<Tag Qa’Dghab>

ooc: Hope no one minds the borrowing of the director…we need to get this ball rolling again ;) And good thing I checked oocs before posting this. Taking a chance here that Bett would want to be with Jackie, so potentially kidnapping her unless someone more in the know speaks up.

[Leroy Jenkins]

[[USS Horizon - Bridge]]

Leroy stood quiet as the exchange went down. what the hell was going on? evacuation then the medical emergency on the horizon. He looked at Janzie

"medical emergency with the Admiral" he ran a hand through his hair as he turned to face Janzie, "do you think she's sick?" he asked.

OFF:
tag Janzie

[Janzie]

[[USS Horizon - Bridge]]

“Calm down,” Janzie chided. She then realized she had misspoke to Veska. “You know, technically M’Krall said Medical transport. So it could mean a lot of things. He didn’t sound overly panicked when he said it, so I’d guess it’s just something that needs to be seen to asap, not yesterday. And,” Janzie pointed out, “she does like to fly…so doubt she’s that kind of ‘sick’. Now a pregnancy related sick…”

Janzie narrowed her eyes at the console, not that it would help. “You know…it could be that junior as decided that now, in the middle of an evacuation, is the time to arrive.” She looked back Leroy. “I wonder if Veska’s ever delivered a baby?”

She kept an ear open for an indication that Veska and anyone else with her was coming with her. “I’m sure everything will be fine,” Janzie offered to Leroy.

(bleh...short - for me at least - but a post none the less)

[Jeral Krezek]

"I've delivered a child."

Jeral spoke very low when he said it to the bridge. It was a part of him that he didn't want to admit that he had done... due to the circumstances behind the first birth. But knowing that the crew was down on the planet, most of them incommunicado... it might be the only way Clawson would have survived.

"I can do it," he said, louder this time. "I will meet them in Sickbay. Someone willing to assist, and another person willing to get ready a bottle of very hard liquor for afterward? I have a feeling I'll need it."

[Jackie Clawson]

[Shuttle Bay, USS Horizon]

There was a soft thud as the Klingon fighter touched down in the Horizon's shuttlebay just before M'karll quickly powered it down and popped it's canopy. Standing up, he surveyed the lines of the craft and mentally remarked on just how many Klingon ships seemed to look like, and be modelled off of, the bird of prey. Then, as if suddenly remembering where he was he spun around to face Jackie. "Yar, be the wee bilge rat decidin' ta enter da world," he asked, leaning down over the back of his seat to eye Jackie more closely.

"No kidding." Jackie grunted shutting her eyes tight as she grasped at her belly. "It's not....how I remember it" she gasped between breaths, sweat pouring down her face. She was fighting to keep herself calm, well aware that help would be on the way now. or so she hoped. Jackie tossed her head back, her hands trembling.

Part of the pilot wanted to reach in and lift Jackie out of the fighter and get her down on the deck. The other part was not so sure this was a good idea. After all, women in labor had the strength of a thousand Klingons, or so he'd been told. "Aye, so what be ye needin' me ta do, fairest maiden?"

"Something us.." her eyes widened as both her hands shot out to grasp hold of the edges in her seat. "Hooboy...." she blinked back tears closing her eyes again. "Oh this one's a Chadwick definitely" she gasped.

"Yar, well he taint one o' mine," M'karll replied, still leaning on the back of his seat and watching Jackie. It wasn't as if she had told him to do something, other than be useful. Of course, he had no idea what might be useful in this situation. "Me wonders where da scabb'rous sawbones' are," he continued lightly, looking around for the medical team that certainly should have been here by now.

OFF:

JP by pirate kitty and the other kitty
Tag Veska, Jeral?

[Jeral Krezek]

[Sickbay]

"Bridge, we're in position. Energize."

A small hum of the transporter sounded, and there appeared Clawson and M'karll on the floor. And there was Jeral, right by the Caitian's side. "Come on, let's get you onto the main examination table, ma'am. Well, stop standing there, help her!" The last part of the statement was said to the still standing there M'Karll. "Veska's a little late, so I'm what you're stuck with."

"Done this before, right?" Clawson asked. "I'll .. kill you dead if you harm my child!"

"Twice. Once in a simulation... and once more in conditions a lot worse than this..." he said, thinking about that time he actually did it for real...

---------------

[Two years ago]
[Nautilus, refitted Venus Class starship]


"Jeral... it's coming."

When Lieutenent jg Jeral Krezek heard those words, it sent a shiver through his spine. "Now, Saj?" he asked in complete disbelief.

"No, three hours from now. Yes, [B]now," Lieutenant Commander Sajida Kajada, Jeral's wife, replied with anger laced throughout her voice. She lowered herself very slowly onto the bunk in the small-ish brig, breathing heavier. "I feel it happening."

"Breathe," Jeral said, handing his wife a blanket that was sitting in the corner of the small brig to prop her head up on. "It'll be all right. I've had training in this. I can do it."

"Have you ever done it outside a holodeck?" Saj asked.

"Of course," he lied to her, kissing her on the forehead. "It should be fine... Granted, it was with a few more tools than what we have now, but hey, that's not needed, right? We'll be good."

"You're not doing a lot to boost my- UGH!" Saj winced in pain as another contraction shook her body.

"Hang on, Saj..." Jeral said to her as the pain rolled over her...

-----------------

"It'll be all right, ma'am... hang on," Lieutenant Jeral Krezek said as they got Clawson up on the biobed. "We'll take care of it, no problems." He grabbed a tricorder and started to scan over the Caitian. She froze, eyes wide, Jackie let out a yelp as another contraction rolled over her...

TAG

[Veska]

The doors parted into sickbay and Veska charged through, shadow (pl?) in tow. “All kinds of excitement today,” Veska mused as she scanned the room and not a nurse in sight. So much for setting up a proper sickbay rotation to ensure that the place was still adequately covered at all times. There was definitely going to be a staff meeting about this at the next opportunity. “Apparently I haven’t scared the threat of Gre’Thor into them enough yet.” She gave a look to Bettina, but the woman was already on the job and nearing Jackie’s head.

All through the Caitans pregnancy, Veska had been studying up and monitoring as closely as she could given the woman’s seclusion for much of it. She wasn’t worried about the mixed genetics as she knew that Jackie had had such before. But there was always the potential for complications. Fortunately, she hadn’t seen any reason up until now to believe there would be any.

Veska quickly scrubbed her hands and arms down and joined the growing group around Jackie. It was likely to be both an additional reason to avoid sickbay in the future. The half-Klingon grinned at Jeral. “A security officer that can deliver babies. Definitely a good find.” Bettina took a brief moment away from Jackie to grab something to pad her dampening forehead.

Veska peered over at the tricorder in Jeral’s hands. “So where are we at? Contracts are how far apart? Do we have a reading on how far she’s dialated?” She knew that the contractions had already started, but that was about it so far. “Has she been given anything for the pain?” She drew the surgical table closer with all the necessary items and began sterilizing a few items just in case. With at least two pregnant women on board, Veska had been sure to have the basic supplies near by for when the events came.

Tags

(phew, almost thought I'd miss the party!)

[M'karll]

OOC: Oh, I can't resist this... even though it's going to be very short.

[Sickbay, USS Horizon]

Veska peered over at the tricorder in Jeral’s hands. “So where are we at? Contracts are how far apart? Do we have a reading on how far she’s dialated?” She knew that the contractions had already started, but that was about it so far. “Has she been given anything for the pain?” She drew the surgical table closer with all the necessary items and began sterilizing a few items just in case. With at least two pregnant women on board, Veska had been sure to have the basic supplies near by for when the events came.

"Ye be speakin' all manner of voodoo which I not be knowin' naught abou'," M'karll said, eyeing Veska seriously. At the looks he received from those gathered around Jackie, the horrible death glares, the pilot decided rather abruptly that there were several places he would much rather be than in the middle of sickbay while Jackie was giving birth. "Yar... I be thinkin' a tactical withdraw be in order," he said, and quickly made a hasty retreat from sickbay, passing his brother I'zzad as the Surgeon tugged on a lab coat and brushed past him.

(tags)

[Leroy Jenkins]

[[USS Horizon - Bridge]]

"something that needs to be seen to ASAP? It's Jackie Clawson we're talking about. she doesn't exactly frequ.....ooh.... the pregnancy" he blinked, how'd he manage to forget that little bit of info?

"Um.. what?" he stared at Jeral as the security officer offered his help and shortly beamed out from the bridge. "Hard liqueur is illegal, especially on duty." he called to the empty air to the spot where Jeral stood a few moments ago. Leroy'd wondered why would the chief of security know how to deliver a baby, let alone need hard liquer afterwards; was it another one of those....odd ticks most of the crew of the Horizon seemed to have come aboard with?


OFF:
tag: Janzie.

*really* short... :S

[That Guy]

[[USS Horizon -- Main Engineering]]

He was well aware of the havoc going on on the bridge and on the planet, glad he didn't take the leave time, the man cracked his knuckles as he watched a read out. After the core transfer, with the new core fully operational, all systems were reporting normal, the core transfer was a complete success. The man hopped up and clapped his hands together drawing curious looks from his fellow engineers.

'Starfleet...' he thought with a small grin as he stretched his arms ensuring his coat sat comfortably on his shoulders. The man straightened out his suit and then sauntered over to the center of main engineering where the core sat.

"No temper tantrums now, aight?" he spoke, "maybe after we get away from the planet."

He hopped over the railing so he could get closer to the core. Looked up, moved around it, thinking and getting slightly lost in thought as he watched the blue swirl around within the enclosed space.

OFF:
tag anyone in engineering.

[M'karll]

[Main Engineering]

"What do you think you're doing," a big Andorian asked, crossing to the newly installed warp core. For a moment he wondered who would be stupid enough to get that close to the warp core. Of course, it didn't take three guesses to figure out who it was. Not that Prith could remember his name, since the man wasn't in Starfleet the Andorian hadn't put much effort into trying to remember it. Still, it was that guy, that civilian guy, who had somehow managed to worm his way into the job of Chief Engineer on a Starfleet vessel without actually being in Starfleet, and Prith for one was disinclined to allow the civvie to wander about like this. Underfoot was one thing, potentially ship endangering, at least in his eyes, was quite another.

(tags)

[That Guy]

[[USS Horizon - Main Engineering]]

"Amazing isn't it?" he asked, still watching the swirling mass. He reached out to trace the swirls with a hand, at a safe distance, then suddenly hopped back over and onto the main deck of the bridge to face the Andorian.

"You know," he put a hand on the big man's shoulder and with the other gestured at the blue swirling mass that was the core of the Intrepid. "It's interesting, most consider the bridge as the brains of a starship," he mused, "but this... engineering... the core..." he trailed off taking in a breath.


"....is the *heart* of the ship" he lowered his voice to a whisper as he spoke the last few words. "And just like any heart, it needs the personal touch of those close to it." he spoke.

"Look at it! Powering an entire starship allowing hundreds of crew to live and travel in space." he grinned, getting slightly excited again.

OFF:
Tags!

[Janzie]

Janzie just rolled her eyes at her ex. Granted the Horizon was a bit less rigid than even ships she had been on in the past, but how Leroy hadn’t exploded yet was an amazement. “I’m pretty sure he’d wait until he was off duty, if even at all Leroy. Have you forgotten how people often say things that they wouldn’t actually follow through on?” She wasn’t entirely sure why the security chief would know how to deliver a baby either, but presumably being an emergency response, she imagined security would have a bit more under their belt than just the standard basic first aid.

A nod from the comm station and Janzie indicated to the transporter room to beam Veska and company aboard. She gestured to her console. “See, nothing to worry about as far as Jackie is concerned. She has plenty of people.” Probably too many, but better to have too many than not enough in some cases.

“Now, if you want something to worry about Leroy,” Janzie noted quietly, though she didn’t really want to have to take Leroy to sickbay to join Clawson due to a heart attack or ulcer or something of the sort, “I’d wonder why all of the sudden we’re being recalled to the ship and the planet evacuated,” she continued in a whisper.

Since determining that it was M’Krall and the Admiral in the shuttle, Captain Cash had been deep in concentration in the command chair, muttering and calculating something on the chair’s console. She assumed he was busy trying to figure out what was exactly going on more specifically before he began ordering those on the bridge and off the bridge to do something about whatever the emergency was. Until then she’d just have to wait like everyone else.

“So, I did manage to get a little bit of a tan while I was down there,” Janzie commented to Leroy.

Tags

[Leroy Jenkins]

[[USS Horizon - Bridge]]

"Why? I don't know maybe this was a mock vacation? " he shrugged, "with this crew, who knows..." he was half kidding there. He consulted his PADD , pondering a few things. "Tan looks nice on you by the way" he noted shifting through his notes.

OFF: Tag, really short one.. :S

[Jackie Clawson]

[[USS Horizon - sickbay]]

Jackie's own glare joined those of everyone in sickbay as M'Karll retreated; she let out a gasp as another contraction hit; with a grunt and an outburst of strength, Jackie pulled at Jeral. She half sat up still holding a steel grip on Jeral, "make sure to throw his tail in the brig for a looong time," she muttered through clenched teeth.

The Caitian swore in her native tongue. She let go of Jeral and allowed Bettina to make her a bit more comfortable as the human woman's gentle touch reached for Jackie.

"Oh geez..." Jackie winced, tossed her head back. "Argh!" She fought the urge to hold her breath and instead let it out in big breaths. This was one of the times she was glad she wasn't as susceptible to pain as most folk. Even though right about now she wouldn't mind torture as opposed to what she was going through at this very moment.

OFF: Tag those in sickbay.

[Jeral Krezek]

Veska peered over at the tricorder in Jeral’s hands. “So where are we at? Contracts are how far apart? Do we have a reading on how far she’s dialated?” She knew that the contractions had already started, but that was about it so far. “Has she been given anything for the pain?” She drew the surgical table closer with all the necessary items and began sterilizing a few items just in case. With at least two pregnant women on board, Veska had been sure to have the basic supplies near by for when the events came.

"She hasn't been here long enough to time any contractions, but her cervix is fully dilated," Jeral reported. "She just got here, so no. If I remember my medications correctly, though, it won't matter at this time. The baby's ready, now."

"Ye be speakin' all manner of voodoo which I not be knowin' naught abou'," M'karll said, eyeing Veska seriously. At the looks he received from those gathered around Jackie, the horrible death glares, the pilot decided rather abruptly that there were several places he would much rather be than in the middle of sickbay while Jackie was giving birth. "Yar... I be thinkin' a tactical withdraw be in order," he said, and quickly made a hasty retreat from sickbay, passing his brother I'zzad as the Surgeon tugged on a lab coat and brushed past him.

Jackie's own glare joined those of everyone in sickbay as M'Karll retreated; she let out a gasp as another contraction hit; with a grunt and an outburst of strength, Jackie pulled at Jeral. She half sat up still holding a steel grip on Jeral, "make sure to throw his tail in the brig for a looong time," she muttered through clenched teeth.

Jeral tried not to wince at the pain. "Noted," he said.

The Caitian swore in her native tongue. She let go of Jeral and allowed Bettina to make her a bit more comfortable as the human woman's gentle touch reached for Jackie.

"Oh geez..." Jackie winced, tossed her head back. "Argh!" She fought the urge to hold her breath and instead let it out in big breaths. This was one of the times she was glad she wasn't as susceptible to pain as most folk. Even though right about now she wouldn't mind torture as opposed to what she was going through at this very moment.

"Breathe, just breathe," Jeral said, letting Veska take control as she was the more experienced medical personnel on board...

------------------

"Breathe, just breathe," Jeral said.

"What, do you think I'm not!" the half-Klingon woman yelled at him. It was uncomfortable for both of them, and the situation wasn't exactly the best, but they were making do.

"Of course I think you're doing fine, sweetie," Jeral commented. "Now, I'm going to have to see how far the baby has come down... this might be slightly uncomfortable..." He grimaced for a moment at what he was going to do and then took a measurement of her cervix manually when her contraction was done. Fully dilated, and the baby was starting to crown.

"What the Hell are you doing!" Saj commented, grabbing Jeral by the collar and pulling him up to her face. "This is NOT the time for that!"

"Urp... I... was... measuring your... cervix..." Jeral gasped out as Saj was crushing his windpipe.

"...oh..." Saj commented, releasing Jeral from her grip. "Not quite used to manual measurements."

Jeral straightened himself up and recovered his breath. "You're fully dilated, and are ready to push."

"Already?" Saj commented.

"You do everything else fast, why not this too?" Jeral asked as he got into position.

"Not the time to be making jokes now, Jeral," Saj said with a wince.

"Push!"

------------------

"Push!"

<TAG to people in Sickbay>

[M'karll]

[Main Engineering]

"Amazing isn't it?" he asked, still watching the swirling mass. He reached out to trace the swirls with a hand, at a safe distance, then suddenly hopped back over and onto the main deck of the bridge to face the Andorian.

'Does this guy ever listen to himself blabber on? Does he ever think before he acts,' the Andorian wondered to himself, eyeing the Horizon's Chief Engineer and trying very hard to keep the look of extreme dislike from his face.

"You know," he put a hand on the big man's shoulder and with the other gestured at the blue swirling mass that was the core of the Intrepid. "It's interesting, most consider the bridge as the brains of a starship," he mused, "but this... engineering... the core..." he trailed off taking in a breath. At which point Prith took the oppertunity to shrug the other man's hand off of his shoulder.


"....is the *heart* of the ship" he lowered his voice to a whisper as he spoke the last few words. "And just like any heart, it needs the personal touch of those close to it." he spoke.

"Look at it! Powering an entire starship allowing hundreds of crew to live and travel in space." he grinned, getting slightly excited again.

Prith eyed the man that was the Chief Engineer warily. The man definitely looked, and sounded, as if he was on some kind of illegal drug or stim or something. 'Does this guy ever listen to himself talk,' the Andorian wondered. Quietly, he smiled a thin tight-lipped smile and nodded while making a mental note to tell every engineer to triple check this civilian's work to make sure that it was not going to cause the Horizon to explode randomly, as the ship seemed wont to do every so often.

[QaDghab]

QaDghab had come along and was standing to the side watching silently, notthat he had much choice on the silent part as it was. He shifted uneasily. He had never watched a woman give birth before even at this age. And for as many things he had seen in his life and done, would think much worse... it was surprising when he took one look at the crowning and nearly passed out...

[Veska]

“Just a few more,” Veska called out. “Push!” She could see the baby’s head. Just a few more… Out of the corner of her eye she saw QaDghab swaying. “I'zzad,” Veska called out hoping the Caitian was near by. “Can you get him,” she noted with a nod towards the Klingon. “I’m a little busy,” she added with a wry smile.

Veska looked back at Jackie. The bio bed would need some tender loving care after this… “Come on, you can do this. Then you don’t have to see my beautiful face nearly as often,” she joked, even though she imagined that Jackie was hardly in a joking mood at the moment. No, at this moment she was probably wishing she was Bajoran. Arguably the most desired species to be when it came to giving birth. In stark contrast to the pain most others experienced, the goal of a birthing Bajoran was to be completely relaxed. If you were stressed, it actually complicated things considerably. The sneezing morning sickness was a small price to pay.

“Push!”

Tags!

[Janzie]

Janzie snorted. Mock vacation. It would be the story of her life. It seemed like every time something was going her way, it got all…mucked up some how. Her first marriage, her first posting… any number of relationships she had tried to start along the way since Leroy…

While Leroy pondered the pads as usual, Janzie pondered her console. There hadn’t been any word on how things were progressing in sickbay, but no one wanted to interrupt just yet. It took a moment before Leroy’s last comment sunk in. Had he actually complimented her?

“You like it?” Janzie asked in slight disbelief. “Not sure I should really be tanning, as it’s rather temporary, even more than ‘normal’, but…well..glad you like it. At least I got something memorable, even if fleeting, from this mock vacation. It wouldn’t have killed you to step off the ship at least once in the last few days. Even Captain Cash managed to do that,” she said with a nod towards the occupied Captain’s chair. Maybe once this crisis was over, whatever ‘it’ was, she could drag Leroy off the ship, assuming the Horizon wasn’t called off somewhere else before the end of their designated shore leave allocation. “I mean the holodeck was a nice time. I enjoyed it. But it’s really hard to beat real air, real tangible beach, actual fish…not the recreated stuff.”

Tag Leroy

[M'karll]

[Sickbay]

The surgeon nodded, happy enough that he was not going to be expected to help deliver Jackie's new baby into the world. Births, no matter what the species was, were always disgusting. The Caitian grunted as he got the Klingon's arm around his shoulders as the man started to sag. "Come on," he said, trying to pull him out of the line of sight in the direction of one of the biobeds. "Over here."

[Jackie Clawson]

[[USS Horizon - Sickbay]]

She took in a breath, held it in and closed her eyes. Jackie heard the chorus of 'push' all around her.

"how about you tell me to do something I'm *not* already doing," she half growled half hissed as she released the breath and gave another push.

OFF tags to sickbay folk. keep outta my line of slicin'n'dicin' ;)

[Leroy Jenkins]

[[USS Horizon - Bridge]]

"real air, real fish rea...." Leroy spoke, "if you want real atmo, starship's definitely not for you. planetary base perhaps. In San Francisco maybe" he added, making a point that the a lot of things on a starship were artificial, and he seemed to get used to it rather quickly, he found. or maybe because he hadn't really paid much attention to it before Janzie brought it up. He frowned getting lost in thought a bit, took a look at his PADD as if it's have all the answers.

[That Guy]

[[USS Horizon -- Main Engineering]]

"Oh c'mon, lighten up," The chief spoke as he let go of Prith and parked himself at the nearest console. His fingers flew over the controls as he brought up a set of diagnostic reports on the core. "all tip top, ready for anything." he tapped at the screen displaying the results. "She just needs to be treated right, is all," he grinned.

OFF: tag Prith

[M'karll]

[Main Engineering - USS Horizon]

"And I think you just need to be treated... by a mental health specialist," the Lieutenant Commander replied in a slightly cold tone without feeling any need to add a 'sir' at the end of his statement as this man was not in Starfleet and, therefore, not his superior.

[Bettina Cash]

~Sickbay

"Did I miss it?" Flustered, Bettina ran into Sickbay, looking around frantically. Then she saw that Jackie was in the process of labor, but still hadn't delivered. Letting out a sigh of relief, she went over to Jackie's side and took her hand.

"How are you doing? What's it like?" Her turn was coming, but there was still time. "You'll get to see him soon." Her free hand moved to rest on her own belly. "Lucky."

TAGS

[Veska]

[[Horizon Sickbay]]

Veska wasn’t sure that Jackie was in the mood for questions at the moment, but the information would be rather relevant for her other pregnant patient to know. To the rest of the group, she warned, “Alright people, one person gets to issue the calls to push around here, and that at this moment is me.”

That clear, Veska returned to the task at hand. Looking at the approaching baby and the oncoming of another contraction Veska called out “Here we go Jackie, last one, you can do it…Push!”

Her hands were at the ready as she guided the little bundle the last few inches. Once free, little limbs moved unbound in all directions. He was an active little one. And once his mouth was sucked free, a beautiful wail echoed off the walls of sickbay.

The necessities of recent childbirth were taken care of quickly and soon Veska came around towards Jackie’s head, a little bundle in her arms. “Here we are,” she announced. “A beautiful little boy.”

Taggies!

[Jeral Krezek]

Jeral watched as the child was brought forth to Jackie's waiting arms, smiling painfully as the joy he felt was cascading through Jackie, as he had had to endure everything with her - pain, joy, all of it.

Just like the last time...

--------------------

"Come on, Saj, just one more, and your beautiful baby girl will be in your arms," Jeral said, taking off his uniform jacket and getting ready to grab the baby as it came out.

"Are you sure?" Saj said, breathing heavily after all the effort.

"Positive, just one last effort, my love, and you'll be done with it," he said with a wink. "Would I lie to you?"

"YES!" she screamed.

"Well, I'm not," Jeral replied. "Come on, darling. You can do this, I know you can."

Unbeknowest to Jeral or Sajida, the door opened, and there stood the guard, a human male armed with a disruptor, observing the behavior of the two in the small cell. He watched for a moment, then took out a communicator and spoke into it, "My Lord, the Klingon is giving birth."

"Good. Finally, we have leverage. How far along is she?" came the reply.

"I would say that the child will be coming within the next few minutes," the guard said.

"I will be there shortly."

Jeral didn't hear any of this, as Saj was delivering the last push, and then there, in his arms, was their baby girl, who immediately took a breath and started to cry out her arrival to the universe. He moved quickly, tying off the umbilical cord with a strip of cloth then severing the connection with the sharp edge of a plate from their rations they had been given. He held his daughter for a moment, then offered her to Sajida, tears streaming down his face. "There's someone here who'd like to say hello," he said with a smile as wide as he had ever smiled in his life.

Saj took the baby from his arms and held her baby for the first time, rocking it gently to stop her from crying. "Hello little Miral Michelle Krezek," Saj said to the baby very gently, a smile crossing her face too, making Jeral's happiness even more intense, his empathic sense very open to his wife. They looked at each other and kissed happily, before Jeral went back to his spot at the foot of where she lay to deal with the afterbirth...

----------------------------

"If you'll excuse me," Jeral said, bowing out to the assemblage of doctor, friends, and Jackie, a smile being betrayed by the hurt and anguish in his eyes and the tear rolling down his cheek. He backed away slowly, and barely made it to the corridor before he broke out in uncontrollable sobbing, headed for the nearest source of real alcohol he knew was on board.

<TAG to whomever wants to deal with that>

[Bettina Cash]

~ Sickbay

The necessities of recent childbirth were taken care of quickly and soon Veska came around towards Jackie’s head, a little bundle in her arms. “Here we are,” she announced. “A beautiful little boy.”

"Jackie, he's perfect!" Bettina reached out and touched the little hybred's head, smiling. She was anxious to see her own son, but she could still celebrate with her friend. "He has his father's eyes..." It was easy to see Alex there, more than just his essence. "He's going to be a good man," she added quietly, and he and little Bryan will be good friends."

TAGS

[QaDghab]

[Sickbay]

The surgeon nodded, happy enough that he was not going to be expected to help deliver Jackie's new baby into the world. Births, no matter what the species was, were always disgusting. The Caitian grunted as he got the Klingon's arm around his shoulders as the man started to sag. "Come on," he said, trying to pull him out of the line of sight in the direction of one of the biobeds. "Over here."


QaDghab had followed along, stumbling slightly and trying not to think about the scene. But it was worse than that, as part of it was the memories of what he had done in moments of insanity and rage on the romulan colony years ago... and the cardassian world later. Long time he would been boasting about his crazy stuff. But he was more ashamed these days. Took him a long time to see things this way. He pulled a flask from his armour and took a drink.

tag

[Jeral Krezek]

[Random Corridor]

After receiving the death glare from all of the women in sickbay over his likely ill-timed comment, M'karll had beat a hasty retreat to his quarters to prepare himself for a celebratory holodeck trip over his new purchase. As he headed towards one of the Horizon's holodecks decked out in traditional Terran high seas pirate garb, complete with eye patch and a number of corked flasks of rum, he hummed a bawdy tune that it was unlikely anyone else knew the words to but him nearly being run over by a sobbing member of the Horizon's crew going in the opposite direction.

"Ya-har! Watch where ye be goin' ye scab'rous space dog," he growled a bit threateningly at the man, not recognizing immediately who it was. "Ye almos' made me spill me rum!"

Jeral Krezek looked up at the man, a little perplexed by the manner of his dress and said quietly, "Sorry, I'm just... a little shaken right now." He didn't know how else to put it or what to say about how he was behaving, nor did he expect to run into a Caitian dressed as a pirate, but it was enough to get him to stop.

"Ye be lookin' like a sailor withou' a boat," M'karll replied, thrusting the open flask of rum into Krezek's hands. "Take a drink me hearty!"

The trip to the alcohol in his quarters could wait, as he smelled the dark rum within the flask, taking a sip of the pungent liquid and feeling it burn his throat. It wasn't something he had had before, and it went down a lot better than he thought... and it was stronger. "Ack," Jeral said after te first swig, nearly spitting it out but keeping it in as it burned his throat. When he saw the Caitian's stare, he shrugged. "It was what I was headed towards, anyway, the five bottles of wine from my family that I had on board..." He paused for a moment, getting a good look at the person under the costume. "You're M'Karll, right?" he asked, almost rhetorically.

"Wine," the Caitian asked, his nose wrinkling slightly in disgust. "Ye never be puttin' hair on yer chest with wine," he cried as Jeral took a swig. It seemed he was not about to be reprimanded for snapping at a senior officer, so much the better. "Aye, I be the mos' dread pirate M'karll, at yer service," the pilot replied to the question, sketching a small bow.

"I'm supposed to arrest you," Jeral said in a matter-of-fact tone, remembering what had happened in the sickbay through a tear or two. "Something about some inappropriate comments to a senior officer in front of about a dozen witnesses, one of them happening to be me."

"Ye mus' be jokin' matey," M'karll said with an easy laugh, grabbing another flask of rum from his belt and uncorking it to take a big swig. "How's about we forgo the brig and do a spot o' drinkin'?"

Jeral considered the offer, then said, "I'm thinking we should do both. Let's do some drinking... in the brig. This way, both of us can't be thrown out of Starfleet for dereliction of duty, and I'm probably going to end up in the drunk tank by the time the night's over anyway. Let's just make the process more efficient."

M'karll considered this for a moment. He'd spent what he felt was more than his fair share of time in the brig for various small offenses, and he'd never been allowed to keep his rum before in the cell, which always made the time pass much more slowly. However, that unfortunate problem would not, by the security chief's own word, be afflicting him during this brig stay. "We have an accord," he declared, holding out the paw that was not clutching an open flask of rum for Krezek to shake.

Jeral shook the offered paw with his hand, and together they started to head towards the brig. "What were you headed to do, anyway?" Jeral asked with curiosity as to how the Caitian was dressed.

"Holodeck," M'karll grunted, taking another pull. "I s'pose ye be makin' me turn over me cutlass?"

Jeral just looked at M'karll and said, "That would be preferable. Weapons in the brig aren't exactly a good idea." Jeral also took another drink from the rum when offered, which was doing exactly what it was designed to do: getting his mind off of his problems. "Then again, neither is alcohol, but alcohol can't stab you."

"Yar, fair 'nuff," the Caitian replied. "I'll turn 'em in when we be makin' port."

The tears had started to dry up in his eyes, and the liquor was starting to relax him a little more as they made their way to the turbolift. "That's some good stuff... what was it again?"

"Ye mean ta be sayin' ye don' know what rum is," M'karll asked, flabbergasted that someone could possibly not know what rum was or just how wonderful it was to drink.

Jeral shook his head. "Can't say that I do," he replied. "My family is made up of a long line of wine makers, though, spanning back generations on Betazed. I grew up with wine, not much else, and I was never really a party person in the Academy." He sniffed the flask. "What's it made out of?"

"It be comin' from a Terran plant, cane o' sugar I think they calls it," M'karll replied, sliding into a turbolift with Jeral. "Take us ta the brig ye scabb'rous movin' box!" Obediently, the lift whisked off in the direction it had been told to go in.

"Sugar cane?" Jeral exclaimed. "No wonder my family hasn't adopted it... gotta send a note to cousin Pierce about this..." he trailed off again as he took another sip. "By the way, sorry for almost colliding with you in the corridor. I guess I'm not myself right now."

M'karll waved away the apology. "Yar, no worries thar matey... we not be spillin' the rum an' that be mos' import'int." As the lift came to a stop and the doors slid open M'karll stepped smoothly from the lift. Having visited the brig so many times before, he knew the way by heart. "In ta the teeth o' the cannons," he cried, heading for the entrance to the brig.

"I've never heard it referred to that way," Jeral commented. As they walked the short distance to the brig and in the door, Jeral asked, "Mind if I take the cutlass now?"

"Aye," M'karll replied, "An I 'spect ye be wantin' all o' it." He proceeded to unsheathe a cutlass and pass it to Jeral, then he unsheathed a second one and passed it over. "Aye, there be more!" Next he drew a quartet of black-powder pistols from various places on his person and handed them over one at a time. Then came long knives, one from each boot and a third from somewhere within the voluminous coat he was wearing, all of which he passed hilt first to Jeral one at a time. After passing over the knives the pilot stood there for a moment, a puzzled look on his face. "Know I be fer'gettin' summat," he muttered, then he snapped his fingers. "Right, now I 'member." M'karll slapped each arm to his side, hard, and a throwing knife slid from up the sleeves of the coat down into each of his paws. He passed these too over to Jeral. "Tha' be all o' it matey!"

"...you take your Holodeck excursions a little too seriously, M'karll," Jeral commented, handing the knives and ancient pistols over to the brig guard, then taking the Type 2 and backup Type 1, plus the boot knife he kept off and gave it over to the brig guard. "I want those back," he said to the brig guard, and then took his place inside the containment cell. "Raise the field," he ordered.

"Sir, you're in the brig," the brig guard said.

"Trust me, today, I am in here because it makes more sense to drink in here instead of getting drunk out there and then getting thrown in by my own security force," Jeral replied. "Raise the field."

"Aye, sir," the brig guard said with a puzzled look, raising the forcefield.

"Now," Jeral said. "Let's break into that rum."

"Ya-har, I be likin' the way ye theenk," M'karll cried, unstoppering a flagon of rum and taking a long pull before passing it to Jeral. "A night o' drunken revalrie fer we!"

"Good enough reason for me," Jeral replied, receiving the offered liquid, then raising it up. "To those lost, but never... forgotten..." He bit back a tear, then took another pull of the drink.

"Yar, spoken like a true shipmate," M'karll said, clapping the man on the back brusquely. "An' if we run out ye can send along the cabin boy ta fetch more rum!"

"Aye," Jeral said. He looked around. "You know, for some reason... this is comforting. Weird to say, isn't it? I was born in one of these, you know... a cell, during the Cardassian occupation of Bajor."

"Was ye now," M'karll asked, settling himself in on one of the bunks for a night in the brig.

Taking another drink, Jeral nodded. "My daughter was also born in one... fitting." He passed the bottle back to M'karll.

"Didn' know ye had a passle o' bilge rats," M'karll said, taking a slug from the flask and passing it back. "Never had any me self, yonder fair maiden in sickbay never seemed int'rest'd in me fer some reason."

"No," Jeral said. "I did have one child... and I had to deliver her." He took a swig of the flask, his gaze getting a little unfocused on where he was. "And she was taken away on that same day."

"An' why might tha' be," M'karll asked, beginning to slur his speech a little as he took another pull of rum.

"Well," Jeral replied...

--------------------

Jeral had just finished with the afterbirth when the door slid open and there was three disruptor rifles pointed at them. "Bring him and the baby," was all they heard.

"NO!" Sajida screamed, but all her protests were met with a butt of a disruptor rifle to her temple, knocking her out.

Jeral began to react, but the rifle butt came down on his head, dazing him and making him go limp. He couldn't move, and all he could hear was his baby girl screaming her head off as they moved down the corridor, for what seemed like forever, until they got to a small, dark room. He felt his hands being bound behind him, and then, as he slowly started to regain control, he could see that he was in what looked like an interrogation room meet his eyes. He couldn't see what was going on, as the room was dark and his vision was still clearing, but he could still here.

"Congratulations on the birth of your baby," a voice said. "She certainly is a beautiful baby."

"Go to Hell," Jeral spat.

The voice laughed, and then Jeral felt a fist come down and hit him in the cheek. "You're a very cheeky one, Lieutenant Krezek," the voice continued. "A family trait, no doubt. But we must get down to business. A most unpleasent kind, in light of the circumstances... but we must all do what we can." The voice was approaching him from behind, and he felt a hand grab his hair and yank his head back, and breathing in his ear. "I will make this simple," he whispered. "Tell me the command prefix code for the Highlander, and I won't harm your child."

Jeral's eyes went wide as he realized the full depth of the situation. "You wouldn't," he accused. "You're not that heartless."

"I would, and I will," the voice replied. "You don't even know who I am. Sure, your security reports might peg me as one thing, but I can assure you... I am that ruthless."

A light turned on, and there was little Miral Michelle, in a seat asleep. A neural stimulator was in front of her. "It's amazing what the brain can do, even on a newborn," the voice continued. "A stimuli here, a firing neuron there, and they can be something so advanced they can make even modern computer cores look to be... obsolete." The man behind the voice waled over to behind that little girl and touched a control, activating a biomonitor. "So young... and yet, the way she is right now, she's got nothing in her brain... can't have that, now, can we? The children are our future, after all." He touched a control on the device on her head, and the biomonitor changed ever so slightly. "I just sent a charge through her brain, which stopped all neurological function for a split second. Give me what I want, or I will increase it until your daughter's brain is depolarized."

Jeral just sat there, looking at his daughter. Tears started rolling down his cheek. "I don't know them," he said.

"You're lying," the voice said, and he touched the control again, causing the biomonitor to wink out for longer than before. "Oh, look... it actually caused brain death for a moment. I better not do this too much, or else it will kill her."

"I am telling the truth!" Jeral shouted, struggling against the restraints.

"Come now, Jeral, all Starfleet Chief Tactical Officers are required to know the command prefix of their own ships," the voice said. "The fact that you don't is a problem for your own job, is it not? So let's try this again." The hand hovered over the control again. "The command prefix code, please."

Jeral looked at his daughter, sleeping peacefully. He could see her chest rise and fall with the movement of air through her lungs. THe fact that she was still alive was good, but at what loss... "One five seven three two four nine eight five," he said after a long pause. "Just please... don't harm my daughter." Tears were streaming down his cheeks, and the fact that he was restrained was torture enough. He wanted to rip out the guts of the person doing this to his daughter.

The voice was silent for a moment, the hand still hovering over the device on Miral's head. Finally, he heard, "Good." The hand retreated, and Jeral breathed a sigh of relief. "We're transmitting that message to the Highlander now. Untie him, and let him be with his daughter."

The restraints loosened, and Jeral was led to the little girl at disruptor point, and he picked her up and hugged her close, careful to keep his back to the people holding him hostage and keeping his bulk in between them and the baby. Jeral didn't listen too closely, because he could have heard what was coming next.

He was spun around, and before he could react, there was a disruptor bolt, and he was flung to the ground by the force of the blast. He landed with a jolt, in pain. His right arm wasn't responding, and as he looked down, he saw a burn right where the child's makeshift wrappings were. His heart stopped as he reached over with his left arm and looked in the wrapping...

----------------------

"She was killed because someone changed a code on a ship," Jeral said simply, "as per Starfleet regulations. Not telling some people that were holding me hostage cost me my marriage, my sanity and nearly my life." The alcohol numbed the pain considerably. He touched his right shoulder with his left hand, which instinctively hurt, more psychologically than actual pain. "The birth today... it brought those memories up."

"Ya-har," M'karll replied, taking a long pull before continuing. "Soun's like we needa do a bit o' privateerin' an' get the dam'd scabb'rous bastards! Where be they makin' 'ome port?"

"I never found out," Jeral said. "And every lead I've ever turned up has turned out to be a dead end. But... I never forgot the voice."

Unsure as to what to say to this, M'karll passed the rum to Jeral. "Yar... drink up, matey."

"To vendettas," Jeral said, accepting the bottle and raising it before taking a large swig. After swallowing, he said, "May they not be the death of anyone."

(A JP from the Pirate Kitty and the emotional freak)

[Jackie Clawson]

[[USS Horizon - Sickbay]]

Jackie smiled, weariness criss-crossing her features, for once, at least for a moment the Caitian looked her full age.

"Thank You," she spoke, her voice gentle. "May I hold him?" she queried Veska as the Caitian attempted to sit up somewhat.


OFF:
tag. sorry for the delays. kept getting sidetracked! D'oh!

[M'karll]

[Sickbay]

"Put that away," I'zzad said, plucking the bottle from QadghaB before he could down too much of it. "You're obviously light headed and downing whatever it is in here," the surgeon held the bottle to his nose and sniffed it, making a face before stoppering it and putting it out of his reach. "Now lay down while I run a few scans, just to make sure you're as ok as you're capable of being."

(tags)

[Veska]

[[USS Horizon - Sickbay]]

Jackie smiled, weariness criss-crossing her features, for once, at least for a moment the Caitian looked her full age.

"Thank You," she spoke, her voice gentle. "May I hold him?" she queried Veska as the Caitian attempted to sit up somewhat. Veska smiled, admiring the unique face she held in her arms. “Of course,” she answered. “You’ll want to nurse him as soon as you are ready to.” Veska wagered she hardly needed to tell Jackie what to do. This was not the first child she had had, even with the mixed heritage. That awareness threatened to steal the joy from this moment, but she forced it away. She was sure Jackie had similar, and probably stronger, thoughts about the reminder, but hoped the joy of the current moment kept the other, less pleasant memories at bay.

When Jackie, attempted to sit up, Veska wanted to help, but she had the newborn in her hands and was hardly in a position to. Fortunately, another set of arms aided in repositioning the pillows that had been under Jackie’s head more upright to facilitate her leaning back against them and helped her.

Once Jackie was comfortable, Veska placed the boy into his mother’s arms. “He is beautiful and both of you are doing fine.” She could tell Jackie later, that she would still need to pay close attention to herself as both of them would still be vulnerable health wise for a while yet.

Veska heard I'zzad and frowned. Perhaps QaDghab’s surgery would have to wait.


OFF:
tag. sorry for the delays. kept getting sidetracked! D'oh! Well stop that. And before you get side tracked again…I updated our JP.

[Janzie]

[[USS Horizon - Bridge]]

"Real air, real fish rea...." Leroy spoke, "if you want real atmo, starship's definitely not for you. Planetary base perhaps. In San Francisco maybe" he added, making a point that the a lot of things on a starship were artificial, and he seemed to get used to it rather quickly, he found. or maybe because he hadn't really paid much attention to it before Janzie brought it up. He frowned getting lost in thought a bit, took a look at his PADD as if it had all the answers.

“I didn’t say I had any problem with life on a starship Leroy,” Janzie countered. “If I did, I would have never met you.” It was hard to meet someone if you had no reason to be where they were, which resulted in her attending the academy. “It’s just that it’s nice to see, touch… taste the real, authentic thing once in a while. You should try it some time.” Then she snorted to herself. Who was she to talk about ‘real’ and ‘authentic’? She could scarcely remember the last time she truly was herself. Leroy had never seen it.

“But I do miss San Francisco,” Janzie admitted. “The apartment had such a lovely view.” She had already missed the apartment she had shared with Leroy when they were married back then, as she had slipped, or rather sunk, deeper and deeper into her ruse of portraying her friend.

The reminder of her seriously misguided mistakes sunk her into silence again. She busied herself with whatever small and meaningless task she could find while she waited. Though what they were waiting for she wasn’t sure. Bryan was still staring intently at the captain’s chair console as he had been for some time now.

How long the silence on the bridge persisted, she didn’t know. But soon Veska’s voice came over the bridge comm. speakers: =^= Sickbay to Bridge. Mother and son are doing well. I will keep you informed when visitors are allowed. Veska out. =^=

Janzie noted that Bryan had paused when the announcement of a successful and apparently uncomplicated birth rang across the bridge, but his break was short-lived. “That was a welcomed announcement,” Janzie commented quietly, not being immune to the feelings that a birth tended to fuel in females of any species…though she had probably ruined any chances of being in the same position a long time ago. She busied herself with her console again.

tag Leroy

[QaDghab]

[Sickbay]

"Put that away," I'zzad said, plucking the bottle from QadghaB before he could down too much of it. "You're obviously light headed and downing whatever it is in here," the surgeon held the bottle to his nose and sniffed it, making a face before stoppering it and putting it out of his reach. "Now lay down while I run a few scans, just to make sure you're as ok as you're capable of being."

(tags)


QaDghab didn't really listen to well as he instead started to get up and go for the drink again. Not quite as out of it as he was watchig the birth.. but still somewhat dazed more from the reoccurring flashbacks. He reached the flask and grabbed it downing another drink before he could be stopped...

tag

[M'karll]

QaDghab didn't really listen to well as he instead started to get up and go for the drink again. Not quite as out of it as he was watchig the birth.. but still somewhat dazed more from the reoccurring flashbacks. He reached the flask and grabbed it downing another drink before he could be stopped...

"I said lie down so I can run scans," I'zzad barked, a bit more forcefully. "And stop downing that swill!" Reaching over the surgeon removed the bottle from QadghaB's hands again, stoppered it, and placed it out of his reach. "Touch it again and I'm sticking it in the matter reclamation unit." The Caitian said seriously, pressing the Klingon down onto the bed.

tags

[Jackie Clawson]

[[USS Horizon - Sickbay]]

Jackie smiled up at Veska, "Thank you" she spoke as the other woman handed her her child. She took the baby from Veska's arms being as gentle as she could be.

"Hello there," she smiled at her child, "little one." she added. Already she could see he looked a lot like his father, it was bittersweet at most as Jackie felt both hapy and sad at the same time.

'I'm sorry you're not here to see your son, Alex.' she thought to herself as she held her baby. To anyone in sickbay, the only hint of her being slightly shaken up as the wave of mixed emotions hit her was the slight trembling in her arms as she held her newborn son.

OFF: but.. but... the lights.. are so pretty! :p
actually I'm just trying to catch up on my reading and shows, hence me not being online that much (aside Twitter, but that's mostly from my phone).

[Leroy Jenkins]

[[USS Horizon -- Bridge]]

Leroy got lost in thoughts as Janzie mentioned San Fransisco. He made no note of acknowledging Veska's announcement and only seemed to snap out of it shortly after Janzie spoke again.

"Quite," he responded, attempting to look as if he'd heard every word so far. "Y'know I still have that apartment" he looked up at Janzie briefly as he mentioned the little bit of information as a side note. then is eyes dropped back onto his PADD as of looking for an answer there.

OFF: Tag.

[QaDghab]

"I said lie down so I can run scans," I'zzad barked, a bit more forcefully. "And stop downing that swill!" Reaching over the surgeon removed the bottle from QadghaB's hands again, stoppered it, and placed it out of his reach. "Touch it again and I'm sticking it in the matter reclamation unit." The Caitian said seriously, pressing the Klingon down onto the bed.

tags


QaDghab blinked, feeling himself pushed down onto the bed. Of course he made no sound vocally since his voice box was long destroyed. He didn't understand the need for scans, there was nothing else wrong with him physicaly other than a few stiff joints. But at the threat on his drink he laid back and complied for now.

tag

[M'karll]

[Sickbay]

"That's much better," I'zzad said, in a voice that would carry to the rest of the sickbay, even though that wasn't his intention. "Now, if you're good you'll get it back when we're done... honestly, you're behaving worse than a child... but not nearly as bad as Jackie," he continued, remembering his first meeting with Clawson when he had put his foot down and forced her to come to sickbay. Turning, he picked up a tricorder, calibrated it, and began his scans.

(tags all around)

[Veska]

Veska heard the commotion over to the side, and gesturing to a nurse that had reappeared. She recognized the woman as one of the more sensible on the medical staff that was smart enough to realize as the ship was being recalled that someone had to help the influx that was likely to come into sickbay with them. “Help her if she requests it?” Veska indicated to the nurse. The woman nodded and continued to clean things up while keeping an open ear for any requests from Jackie.

The half Klingon ACMO made her way over to I’zzad and QaDghab. “Feeling better I hope?” she asked QaDghab rhetorically. “You would think a man you has seen all that you have seen, would be able to handle a birth,” she commented as she gave QaDghab a physical inspection in addition to I’zzad’s scan.

“At any rate, drinking, should only be for celebratory occasions and battle, not to forget bad memories,” she noted. “With your current facial expressions, you hardly look happy or preparing for war, so I can only assume the latter.” She put her hands on her hips. “Now, I was down on the planet looking for you, you know,” she informed QaDghab. “I was trying to tell you that in the last few days, I had been working long and hard with the medical staff to come up with a proper voice box for you. The remaining question, was when you wanted the surgery. With I’zzad’s help, the surgery wouldn’t take long at all. Though the recovery and teaching you how to use it…would take a while. Longer if you don’t follow the therapy after words to the letter,” she warned.

“The big question,” she continued with one last point before she would let him think on the subject, “is how you would want the surgery. We can do it Klingon style, though at your age, that will take considerably longer and has much higher risks of not succeeding, or we can do a more Federation approach, which would be my recommendation. I can leave as much to natural healing as you wish, but the more we do this with modern Federation methods the better it will go.”

Veska arched a brow and waited for QaDghab's answer, focusing on his lips so she didn't miss anything.

[QaDghab]

QaDghab considered a moment looking at both, his head cleared some with the injection. Do this the way you think best to work, but not lose touch with Klingon side. His lips formed the words with a resigned expression on face. He wanted be able to speak, and could not risk not being able to.

tag

[M'karll]

I'zzad listened to the one sided back and forth between Veska and the older Klingon. When she said something that caused his ears to perk up, surgery of some sort. "Wait," he said quickly, "what kind of surgery are we talking about here? How come I wasn't consulted on this?"

[Bettina Cash]

[[USS Horizon - Sickbay]]

"Hello there," she smiled at her child, "little one." she added. Already she could see he looked a lot like his father, it was bittersweet at most as Jackie felt both hapy and sad at the same time.

'I'm sorry you're not here to see your son, Alex.' she thought to herself as she held her baby. To anyone in sickbay, the only hint of her being slightly shaken up as the wave of mixed emotions hit her was the slight trembling in her arms as she held her newborn son.

"Oh, Jackie, he's perfect," Bettina repeated, reaching to brush damp hair from her friend's face. "I think Alex will be happy that his and Bryan's sons are going to grow up together, to be friends. You know that if you even need anything, we'll be here." Words easily spoken, with no knowledge of the future.

TAG
JACKIE

[Veska]

[[Horizon - Sickbay]]

I'zzad listened to the one sided back and forth between Veska and the older Klingon. When she said something that caused his ears to perk up, surgery of some sort. "Wait," he said quickly, "what kind of surgery are we talking about here? How come I wasn't consulted on this?"

“If you check your messages you would see I have been trying to. But with shore leave, it’s been hard to get any work done around here much less meet up with people to discuss said work,” Veska pointed out. “There has not been a final, final decision made just yet. That can’t be done until the patient and the surgeon or surgeons have decided on all of the variables. I’ve actually narrowed down to three different devices. Depending on what work best for QaDghab under the circumstances, that will be what we go with.”

She put up a finger to signify she would be right back and left to get something from her office. Returning she offered it to I’zzad. These are the specifications on the three devices. None of them will quite come to his original voice. They will all have a slight mechanical sound to them. But he will be able to talk again and with out much difficulty after the speech therapy.”

“One of them is a little more noticeable than the other two, but that one will be easier to make adjustments to and maintain in the long run. Though, depending on if someone can keep himself out of trouble or not, that may not be a factor,” she said looking pointedly at QaDghab. The man had a history of being in the wrong place at the very wrong time. “How you’ve managed to live this long, is a feet to your luck QaDghab...or stubborness," she added with a grin.


“Please,” Veska asked of I’zzad, or expression serious again. “Take your time looking this over. As a man who has considerably more experience with surgeries than I have, your opinion is certainly wanted and I wouldn’t have moved forward with out it.”


Tags

[M'karll]

The surgeon examined the padd in his paws for several moments. As he looked over the requirements of the surgery and the three devices he was grateful, not for the first time, that Veska was a Klingon woman. As such he was decidedly less than interested in her beyond a professional level of interest, which kept his caligynephobia from acting up. After several minutes he spoke. "Yes, this one would work best," he said, indicating the one that Veska had said would be easiest to adjust. "Mostly because we wouldn't have to be constantly cutting him open to maintain it. That would make recovery faster and somewhat more permanent." He paused and examined the Klingon who had already proven to be a little bit troublesome. "Then again, that may not matter much if he doesn't follow his recovery and therapy regimen."

[QaDghab]

QaDghab watched the two doctors, shifting uncomfortably at the attention. Yet stayed to wait, his single seeing eye going to the flask that had been set out of reach. He wanted to see the newborn as well... hoping that if he got the chance it would not bring the memories rushing back.... which on that hope he pressed a palm to his forehead as a few flashbacks ran through.

tag

[Janzie]

[[USS Horizon -- Bridge]]


Leroy got lost in thoughts as Janzie mentioned San Fransisco. He made no note of acknowledging Veska's announcement and only seemed to snap out of it shortly after Janzie spoke again.

"Quite," he responded, attempting to look as if he'd heard every word so far. "Y'know I still have that apartment" he looked up at Janzie briefly as he mentioned the little bit of information as a side note. then is eyes dropped back onto his PADD as of looking for an answer there.


Janzie looked down at her console in much the same way that Leroy sought ‘something’ in his pads. The conversation had brought up a lot of things she wasn’t sure he still thought about or was interested in. It had been a long time since they were together and he had probably been with other women since then, though as far as she knew he wasn’t now. The bridge was hardly the place to be having such a conversation in the first place, but the next question slipped out of her mouth before she could stop it. It was mainly out of curiosity, though if the answer was no, she had no idea what she would do about it. She had been interested in a few people in the last decade or so, but they had not worked out for one reason or another, and she was relatively happy as she was at the moment. “Leroy, are you with someone now?” she asked quietly.

[Jackie Clawson]

[[USS Horizon - Sickbay]]

"I know," Jackie spoke, "you and Bryan have done a lot for the Horizon and me just by being here," she said.

Jackie closed her eyes, fighting off the wave of mixed emotions she was swimming in by now. She was glad the child was healthy, and he was handsome even for a hybrid.

"Maybe you'll grow up without a father, but not without knowing what kind of a man he is," Jackie spoke softly. "He's great, y'know... We made one hell of a team even before he came to the Horizon." she smiled at the memories of the first time she ran into Alex on Serenity Base at the betleH tournament.

OFF: Tag Bett

[Leroy Jenkins]

[[USS Horizon - Bridge]]

Leroy blinked taking his eyes off of the PADD for a moment, completely taken aback by her question. "I'm with Captain Cash, Lt Cmdr Grenn, half the senior staff on the bridge and you," he responded, wondering what kind of a silly question had she asked him. "What, you mean you can't see them?" he queried, genuine concern on his face. "Perhaps you should get to sickbay," he went on, "too much real atmosphere down on the planet perhaps.."

OFF:
tag.

[Bettina Cash]

[[USS Horizon - Sickbay]]

"I know," Jackie spoke, "you and Bryan have done a lot for the Horizon and me just by being here," she said.

Bettina shrugged. "I'd be lost..." She wasn't going to say the words, no point in testing fate.

Jackie closed her eyes, fighting off the wave of mixed emotions she was swimming in by now. She was glad the child was healthy, and he was handsome even for a hybrid.

"Maybe you'll grow up without a father, but not without knowing what kind of a man he is," Jackie spoke softly. "He's great, y'know... We made one hell of a team even before he came to the Horizon." she smiled at the memories of the first time she ran into Alex on Serenity Base at the betleH tournament.

Bettina smiled sadly, reaching to stroke Jackie's arm. "We'll all tell him about his father. Bryan was very...fond of Alex, I'm sure he'll have plenty of stories to tell." She sighed then giggled a little. "Hard to imagine Bryan or Alex in diapers."

TAG
JACKIE

[Veska]

[[Horizon - Sickbay:]]



“You do have to keep in mind, that Klingon medicine does historically incorporate bloodwine in both the surgery and recovery processes, but that has its limits, and is ‘regulated’ just as any medication would be in that circumstance,” Veska said pointedly at QaDghab, noting briefly his current posture. She looked back to I’zzad for a moment. “Doctor, I can send you a few very interesting papers on the subject if you are interested. “By in large most of that use is in the absence of Federation technology though,” she added. “But yes, recovery and therapy will need to be followed closely or it will complicate things greatly.”

She looked back to QaDghab. He had not spoken for a while and still had his palm pressed to his forehead. “QaDghab, I may not be full Klingon, but the half that isn’t, is not Betazoid. Since you were recently scanned, it isn’t likely medically related either. Of course you don’t have to tell us, but if there is something I can help you with besides scheduling your surgery, with I’zzad’s agreement, is there anything else that I can help you with?” she asked.


tags

[QaDghab]

[[Horizon - Sickbay:]]



“You do have to keep in mind, that Klingon medicine does historically incorporate bloodwine in both the surgery and recovery processes, but that has its limits, and is ‘regulated’ just as any medication would be in that circumstance,” Veska said pointedly at QaDghab, noting briefly his current posture. She looked back to I’zzad for a moment. “Doctor, I can send you a few very interesting papers on the subject if you are interested. “By in large most of that use is in the absence of Federation technology though,” she added. “But yes, recovery and therapy will need to be followed closely or it will complicate things greatly.”

She looked back to QaDghab. He had not spoken for a while and still had his palm pressed to his forehead. “QaDghab, I may not be full Klingon, but the half that isn’t, is not Betazoid. Since you were recently scanned, it isn’t likely medically related either. Of course you don’t have to tell us, but if there is something I can help you with besides scheduling your surgery, with I’zzad’s agreement, is there anything else that I can help you with?” she asked.


QaDghab shook his head no and pulled his palms away from his head looking at her. "Just headache and memories." His mouth formed. "How long till do this?" He asked.

tags

[M'karll]

[Sickbay]

I'zzad glanced quickly over the information he had just been given concerning the surgery. It all looked pretty basic and straightforward, in and out. Slowly, I'zzad nodded. "I think we can go ahead and do the surgery right now if you want," he said a bit tentatively. I'll just need a few minutes to scrub and prepare and then we can begin."

[Janzie]

[[USS Horizon - Bridge]]

Leroy blinked taking his eyes off of the PADD for a moment, completely taken aback by her question. "I'm with Captain Cash, Lt Cmdr Grenn, half the senior staff on the bridge and you," he responded, wondering what kind of a silly question had she asked him. "What, you mean you can't see them?" he queried, genuine concern on his face. "Perhaps you should get to sickbay," he went on, "too much real atmosphere down on the planet perhaps."

Janzie returned to her Ex a look of disbelief, but then she just shook her head. Of course he would have heard the question in that context instead of the one she had actually asked. After a moment more she said, “No, I see them just fine,” she answered then sighed, looking back down at her console again. “Nevermind.”

It had been a silly question anyway. Like it mattered if he was single or not, or at least if he had answered the question correctly. She had been on the Horizon for how long now, and the only women she had seen Leroy raise his nose out of a PADD for was the Admiral and herself. Some times she wondered how they had ever been married at all, or him to anyone else for that matter, though his service record clearly showed he had been. Gluttons for punishment she supposed.

“You really should try to at least get off ship once in a while Leroy. It would do you some good,” Janzie commented, tapping a few things on the console as the power allocations switched around with the fluctuating return of people from the surface. “Without any PADDs to keep you from interacting with others,” she teased, mostly. She rarely saw him without one in hand or at worst within reach. It couldn't be healthy, speaking of sickbays.


tag.

[QaDghab]

QaDghab simply nodded in agreement and understanding. A hand going up to touch the scarring on his throat. He shifted waiting for whatever was next.

(OFF: sorry so short, couldn;t think of anythign else)

tag

[Veska]

With QaDghab in agreement, if all being a little nervous about it perhaps, Veska nodded as well. To I’zzad, she said, “go ahead and get scrubbed up and a nurse can help you get the surgical bed prepared. I have a few things I need to attend to first and then I too will scrub and assist you.” The medical engineering members of her staff had already prepared devices, so it would be a simple matter for them to do a final sanitizing of the chosen device, one last round of tests to insure that it would work, and then to actually insert it. But that would be for the assistant that would be helping I’zzad to prepare.

Veska, had other patients to see to first. She made her way back towards Jackie, her newborn son, and Bettina. She gave the two women a warm smile, which being half human, didn’t look like she was in severe pain in the attempt to show her pleasure at the turn of events. “I think there are at least two of you over here that could use some rest. Coming into the world is still exhausting work in this century,” Veska commented. Looking to Bettina Veska was sure to add, “Not that those yet to be born cannot be tiring as well,” she grinned. “But Jackie and our newest arrival,” Veska wasn’t sure she had heard the Caitian name her son yet, “should probably get some sleep. As a friend of QaDghab however, I should mention that a speech device has been chosen and I’zzad believes that we can give QaDghab his voice back as soon as the surgical suite and our illustrious surgeon are ready. I’m sure he would appreciate the added company.”

She looked around the room and made a mental note to ask Engineering for a means to give Jackie a little more privacy before they began the surgery on QaDghab. Intrepid Sickbays were not the large suites of rooms that some of the larger class ships had, but it would only be temporary that the Caitian and son would need to be there anyway. As long as she was comfortable with everything and both of their healths remained stable for a few more hours, they could both be released.


tag Jackie/Bettina

[Jackie Clawson]

OFF: Sorry for the drop offline again. MacBook finally ground to a standstill awhile ago, and I had to come down with a bug that knocked me flat for a few days. Now with brand new MacPro trying to restore all my data and settings, only been around the net via my phone. Should be fully back online in a couple of days. IMs and everything.

ON:

[[USS Horizon - Sickbay]]

Bettina smiled sadly, reaching to stroke Jackie's arm. "We'll all tell him about his father. Bryan was very...fond of Alex, I'm sure he'll have plenty of stories to tell." She sighed then giggled a little. "Hard to imagine Bryan or Alex in diapers."

Jackie smiled, but remained silent as she craddled her newborn son before Veska made her way back to them.

"Sleep?" The Caitian was about to object, but Veska was right. Jackie hadn't even realised how tired she was until Veska mentioned it. "Can you..." she gently lifted her child towards Bettina motioning for her to take him, " make him comfortable?" she queried.

OFF: tags Bettina, Veska

[Bettina Cash]

~Sickbay

"Sleep?" The Caitian was about to object, but Veska was right. Jackie hadn't even realised how tired she was until Veska mentioned it. "Can you..." she gently lifted her child towards Bettina motioning for her to take him, " make him comfortable?" she queried.

"Of course." Smiling, Bettina took the infant, cradling him carefully as she looked down into his sweet face. "Oh, Jackie, he's so precious! Don't you worry, we'll be right here." She knew that when her little Bryan was born she wouldn't want him more than a few feet from her for at least the first twenty years of his life!

Dragging a chair to where Jackie could see them, she settled down into the stiff seat, thinking that she would have to get a rocking chair made for Sickbay. Maybe QaDghab could make one?

Sighing, she held the baby close, rocking him gently and dreaming of the day that it would be her own child...

[Veska]

[[Horizon - Sickbay:]]

Veska smiled at the pair and then heard the doors swish behind her. Turning she saw an engineering team bringing in temporary walls. She stepped back from the biobeds to greet them.

"Put them up around the Admiral," she requested. "And quietly. These are supposed to help keep down the noise, not sound like a world war 4." The pair nodded and put up the walls.

With some privacy for Jackie and her newborn assured, Veska looked back to her other task. Getting QaDghab able to speak again. She took one last look at the 'construction' and set about helping I'zzad prepare for the surgery. It shouldn't take them long, but that didn't mean they could skimp on preparations.

<Tags all around if you want...otherwise just wanted a little space before other posts go up. ;)>

[Janzie]

[[Horizon – Sickbay:]]

Though they had been on the same ship for more than a year, more than two technically if you count the time jumping episode in there, Janzie knew little about the Caitian that she had hoped would be her ticket back into a uniform. The Admiral was a busy man as well, and as long as Janzie had a ‘roof’ over her head and an occasional task tossed her way, she was content for the time being. Since Chadwick’s…disappearance, Janzie and Jackie had exchanged a few words and glances, but not much else. She had though this shore leave was a chance to change that, but so far that hadn’t seemed to pan out.

Taking the chance that the Caitian would appreciate a little company while temporarily housed in sickbay with her newborn, Janzie wandered into sickbay. She figured the small fortress in the corner was the place to be and headed over. Inside she found Jackie and Bettina.

“Mind if I join you,” Janzie proposed as she approached.

Jackie shrugged, "not like I am going anywhere" she said.

Bettina smiled and offered to give the pair a little privacy, promising to take good care of the child.

Janzie paused at the remarking, wondering if this had been such a good idea after all, but drove ahead. She honestly didn't know what she was going to say, but this silence between them... she shrugged internally. "So how is your vacation going so far?" Janzie asked shooting for small talk if nothing else. It was the understatement of the century.

"Been on vacation ever since I resigned, haven't I?" Jackie asked, not sure if this was a rhetorical question or not. The only difference here is they weren't on a mission, and they weren't getting chased, shot up or otherwise maimed. "Course if you can call all that vacation," she smirked, almost laughed.

“Suppose,” Janzie agreed. “Though by that definition, kind of, I’ve been on ‘vacation’ a lot longer than that.” Not that that was really a good thing in her mind. In the relatively short time she had been with the Federation before, she had grown to like the routine and the comfort that surrounded the expected. Being on her own for the last 10, going day to day and as the jobs came, was a rough way to live.

“But still, to occasionally see something different, experience new things, in a ‘controlled’ environment, it does have its appeal. As long as there is that ‘family’ and safety to go back to,” Janzie added. Even with out Alex, Janzie assumed others on the ship still somewhat filled that nitch, or at least tried to. That thought, however, spurred the curiosity of what her answer would be to that statement. Her own family had long dismissed her for her choice to leave home and she hadn’t seen them in almost two decades now. Leroy was kind of family…she supposed. Maybe that was why she really wanted back in, to get back into her adopted ‘family’ of Starfleet.

Jackie shrugged, "was never really a fan of....new things in a controlled environment" she admitted laying a hand on her now empty womb, she just hoped everything would be all right and she wasn't bringing in the child into a world that was...dangerous in far more ways than necessary. Janzie mentioned family, Jackie didn’t really have that either, either it was taken away from her early on, or it wasn't too safe. Mark was family, she trusted him with her life given everything that happened prior and after she came back to Starfleet and joined the Rayden decades ago. Bettina and Bryan were sort of family, although Bryan she didn't talk to much, as much as she wanted to ask him what happened with Alex on the planet; or just talk to him. Bettina, Jackie knew she opened up to the human far more lately, but that was likely because of her being pregnant and lost when it came to her personal life. She still didn’t know what to do with herself, how would she bring up her child, how would she even keep going without really knowing where or what or how or when. She closed her eyes, fought off the incoming emotions, calmed down long enough to face the world, or at least Janzie as if nothing was going on.

“You don’t have to put on a brave face for me,” Janzie commented at the prolonged closure of Jackie’s eyes and the absent-minded massaging she was giving her stomach. “I can’t begin to know what you’ve been going through, nor could you imagine my past probably. But I wouldn’t think anything less of you.” Janzie rubbed her fingers together not really knowing what else to do with them.

“Bryan can probably tell you better what happened on that planet. I’d assume since they knew each other longer and Bryan seemed to have a better idea of what was going on, perceived or reality, that he’d know more. But,” Janzie shrugged, “I can give you my limited and probably opinionated version of things other than what was in the reports. Obviously it isn’t likely to bring him back…assuming that he went somewhere. Admittedly, I still don’t really understand what exactly happened. Even if I had taken those kinds of classes at the academy, if there were any, it’s not something I’ve kept on top of since then.”

"If I've learned anything whilst on the Horizon, with things happening on the ship and involving the ship and crew, is sometimes it's best not to even try to understand some of the things that happen on board," Jackie admitted, with this one, she wasn't sure what exactly happened. All the weird things and bleed-throughs from another world that appeared on the ship shortly before their trip on the Venture Star; Jackie thought back to all the apparitions and sounds she's seen and heard through that period; the memories of some of them still chilled her to the bone, especially the tell-tale whirring of the servos in the dark that could only mean one thing. Some apparitions were far too real, she recalled the terror she felt as she ran to escape it all , only to end up being captured by another one, she reached up to touch her neck where the tubules entered to inject the nano-probes into her bloodstream, she could've sworn there was something familiar about that particular drone, and the iron clad hold he had on her, Jackie couldn't fight him; for a moment thinking this was it for her, moments later the drone was gone before he could finish what he'd started. She's kept that to herself, choosing not to tell even Mark, especially following the events of finding out Alex wasn't coming back; that seemed to overshadow her run in with the Borg on her own ship. Of course by then it wasn't her own anymore.

She closed her eyes chasing away the bad memories, "there's a lot of things Starfleet doesn't prepare you for," she said.

“Ain’t that the truth,” Janzie agreed. She had certainly learned more after being kicked out of Starfleet than she did while she was in…especially since in reality she hadn’t been in that long at the time. She wasn’t watching Jackie’s face but she could hear the sadness in the woman’s voice, implying that in or out, the Caitian had had her share of experiences, and not all of them favorable either. “Still,” she continued. “Even with its ‘flaws’ I had come to miss it, and miss the sense of family and purpose that serving on a starship gave me. So that you, and Admiral Harmon, have given me the opportunities that you have, means a lot to me.”

Jackie gave a brief nod, "Almost fifteen years ago, Mark gave me a chance and an opportunity to get back into Starfleet," she spoke, "I know how it goes, even if you and I have had different circumstances under which we left the fleet," she added after a short pause; 'at least the first time' she thought to herself, second time was voluntary, she thought she could change the outcome this time around and not lose a mate because of what she did for a living, but fate played a different hand this time around, one in which Jackie lost anyway.

Janzie nodded. “In my case it was probably for the best, in a way. While I could do it, and was able to help a few people in the short time that I was actually practicing, I don’t think I would have made a very good counselor in the long term. At the time I was a little naive and a lot of ignorant, and probably would have caused more harm than good.” She shook her head at herself. Granted the life she ended up doing perhaps took her to the other extreme. “Counselor, I am not. A friend on the other hand…that I think I can be,” she concluded with a smile, her head tilting to see what Jackie thought of the idea. Her hopeful smile became a brief chuckle. “Besides, I hear you avoid blue.”

Jackie raised an eyebrow, "avoid blue?" she wasn't sure what the other woman had meant by her last remark. "Sorry,” she shook her head, "I'm not quite clear on what you mean." Jackie admitted.

“Cute,” Janzie chuckled, assuming that Jackie was just being coy or, more than likely, really distracted about something. “Blue, as in medical blue, though maybe you have a thing against science officer’s too,” she teased. “But doesn’t really matter,” Janzie continued. “I was supposed to be gold at one point. I had started out at the academy for computer operations, though technically my record will say that I graduated with that as a minor, with Counseling as my major. Though, that isn’t entirely accurate. I had a lot of help from Liam,” she admitted. Liam being the ‘memories’ she had temporarily hosted until they could be returned to the Zel symbiont years later. “With that ‘help’ back where it belongs, I can only give the same well intentioned, but probably worthless advice that everyone else can give.”

"Oh... *that* blue" Jackie remarked, nodding absently, she wasn't sure if that statement was correct any longer either. Jackie rubbed at her head wincing lightly; "I don't avoid medical, or science, I just preferred to spend my time elsewhere," she said.

Janzie smiled. “I’m not sure there is anyone that prefers to spend their time in sickbay. I certainly don’t, but if I need to go I need to go. So, I go, just as long as they don’t get too curious and dig too deep in my case. I don’t think they’d like what they find unfortunately, and avoiding them is just likely to encourage them to get too curious most of the time.” Though the Federation claimed to be open to all races, there were still a few, like shape-shifting species that still got a double take and a wide berth. “I would imagine with a baby on the way, you’d been in sickbay quite a bit before now, or they’ve made house calls.”

"Well, I knew this one guy who quite enjoyed being in sickbay," Jackie paused, "almost as much as I enjoyed constantly sending him there, perhaps?" she shrugged.

A lull took over the conversation, Janzie having run out of small talk to fill the space. She wasn’t entirely sure if she had succeeded in befriending the Caitian beside her, but this was the most conversation they had exchanged since their first meeting in what seemed like ages, when she had first come aboard and Leroy had agreed to help her get her foot back in the door into Starfleet. “I suppose I should leave you alone with your thoughts,” Janzie voiced, breaking the silence again. “But if you need me to do anything for you, or just want someone to chat with, just let me know. My schedule is pretty flexible these days,” Janzie added with a shrug.

"No, it's..." Jackie trailed off, "frankly I'm not sure how safe it is leaving me with my own thoughts" the Caitian finally admitted, 'especially now' she thought, if anything the responsibility of having a son made it that much more important she actually stayed alive right now. It was enough Jr is going to grow up without a father, there's no way she'd want him growing up without a mother, even if at this point in time, the Caitian just didn't know what to do with herself.

"Well," Janzie started to respond, then went quiet again with a thoughtful expression on her face. "I know we don't know each other that well at the moment, other than our service records. Though you obviously have more access to mine than I do yours, but anyway... We're both freelancers to an extent at the moment. Unless Admiral Harmon says otherwise...I am at your disposal."

"Freelancers..perhaps... " Jackie thought for a moment, the other woman had a point; the really weren't all too different from each other. "How's Leroy?" Jackie asked not having seen either the man or his pet PADDs in quite a while.

“Obsessive as always,” Janzie replied with a chuckle. “I tried to get that man down to the planet at least twice without much luck. Oddly enough though,” Janzie paused, thinking back to just a few moments ago and how he had been commenting on things like her tan and the apartment of his she missed, “we did spend some time in a holodeck fishing not too long ago. And I think he actually missed me in the time we’ve been apart.” Her face slowly went from a smirk to a bit of a frown. “Considering how I left him in quite a lurch when I was actually married to him, that was a bit of a surprise. Something else I probably don’t deserve.” She shook her head to get rid of the depressing thoughts. “Did you hear about how the pads on his desk attacked him a while back? Knocked him right out. Took him to sickbay even. Oddly funny, even if he actually had a pretty good concussion from it,” she pointed out with a smirk returning to her face.

“He certainly has his quirks,” Janzie smirked. “But then, don’t we all.” She turned to look at the infant sleeping in the infant sized biobed near by. “Junior picked an interesting time to arrive,” she observed. “You get ‘kidnapped’ by our resident ‘pirate’ and the ship is under a perplexing shore leave recall.” Janzie still wasn’t sure what the latter was about, but maybe they would get some answers soon. If Bryan ever pulled his head out of the command chair console on the bridge. But until she was needed back on the bridge, she was content to feel needed here.

Pulling up a stool, she brushed the length of her coat aside and sat on top of the cushy perch. From a coat pocket she pulled out a well used deck of cards. “Through all my travels I’ve learned a few games. If you’d like to distract yourself a bit, I’m sure I know whatever game you’d like. I can understand if you’d like to sleep though too. Up to you,” Janzie added.

At that point Bettina returned, the child in her arms fast asleep. A small bassinet had appeared next to Jackie at some point and the infant was placed inside.

"Oh no, I think I had enough sleep to last me for a while" Jackie protested, "Poker's no good with two people, but let's see what else you got." she smiled casting a side glance at her sleeping child.

“Care to join us Bettina?” Janzie offered.



<Optional tags. This JP has been languishing for a LONG time. Feel free to have Janzie disappear if you guys have something else that needs to go up that she’s not in. ;) >

[Bettina Cash]

[[Horizon – Sickbay:]]

“Care to join us Bettina?” Janzie offered.

"Sure, what are we doing?" Smiling, Bettina flopped down into a chair, her hand going instinctively over her belly. She couldn't wait to have her own child, caring for Jackie's son had given her a taste of what to expect.

She saw the cards and shook her head. "I'm not too good at cards, just so you know. So, what are we betting?" She grinned.

TAGS

[Bryan_Cash]

[Bridge Horizon]


Cash sat in the command chair and watched the planet below as he talked to Admiral Harmon.

"Yes sir we've confirmed the last of the planetary staff has been beamed to the ship." glancing between the two command chairs he double checked and the life sign count on the ship was confirmed.

"Understood captain." Harmon replied. cash could hear him talking to the chief administrator in the background. It had been an amazing thing when bryan had finally figured out what was going on down on the planet.

"We'll do a final check sir but I'd sure feel a lot better if you beamed up right now." Cash could see that the day was ending on the far side of the planet and that meant the mysterious warning he had received was going to shortly come true or not.

There was something strange about everyone on the planet when they all had first beamed down. It was a sense of familiarity that struck bryan. Everyone down there had been wearing clothing at least ten years out of date. Time seemed to move differently here. Slower the closer you got to the planets surface. Double checking with a federation time bouy confirmed the ship had been in orbit and everyone down on the planet for over a week. When all told only a scant few hours seemed to pass.

"Admiral Harmon is back aboard ship." Someone called out from the rear of the bridge. Bryan noted the announcement but was fixated on the coming end of the day on the planet. Hoping that nothing was going to happen.

He held his breath and watched as the planet slipped into it's night side and the horizon entered the dark along with it. A new day had started on the planet and so far nothing.........

The ship started to shudder ever so slightly. Bryan noticed it first. His experience had taught him to be aware of even the most minor of details on a ship. The deck plates had started to vibrate. Standing he stared at the viewscreen. A strange glow had started to come from the dayside of the planet.

Shielding his eyes the glow suddenly flashed and every alarm that could sound on the ship did and every light flashed off and on.........

Everyone on the Horizon passed out for the next ten minutes...

[Bridge Horizon]
[Ten minutes later]

Cash came to on the bridge first. Everyone else was passed out cold at there stations. Alarms blared and consoles sounded warnings. Standing and walking back to the master system display he could see that a subspace energy rift of some sort was emanating from the center of the ship. It was giving off massive amounts of Chronoton particles.

It was only a few meters in size but it was powerful and apparently growing slowly.

"Damn........now what." Cash uttered while trying to make sense of the conflicting readings. chronotons dimensional cascade energy....subspace readings........it was odd and slightly familiar at the same time.

[Jeral Krezek]

[Brig]

The shaking was what woke Jeral Krezek up first.

He jarred himself up, feeling slightly nauseous from the amount of alcohol he had imbibed over the past few hours. He had definitely passed out, but he couldn't tell what that was about.

M'Karll looked like he was going to be out for a bit; the alcohol must have hit him hard, the security chief thought. He stumbled to his feet, almost falling over twice due to the shaking and his own inability to balance himself rightly, and promptly staggered over to the far wall, which had the force field.

"Hey guard!" Jeral called out. "I-I think we might... erm... need... the doctor in here." He giggled uncontrollably. "The pirate kitty person's really outta it." He laughed out loud, but when he calmed down, he noted that the guard hadn't responded.

"Guard?" he called out again. "Crewman!" His calls were getting a little bit more desperate in his attempts to rouse the guard to his side. "Hey, Crewman! I am your supeeeerior offisher, and I d'mand that... you..." his voice trailed off as he saw that the guard on duty was flopped over the security console unconscious. "We didn't give you any alcomohol..." Jeral pondered to himself. He tapped his comm badge, which he forgot to take off when he went in to the brig. "Brig to Sickbay... uh... the Seeecurity guard is kinda passed out here. Itsa my department, I know, but I might be slightly in... inebr... drunk. Can you bring me something to counteract the alcomohol, please?"

<TAG: Sickbay>

[Bettina Cash]

[Horizon]
[Sickbay]

Blinking, Bettina sat slowly, frowning as she looked around in confusion. She remembered that the ship had been shaking, and then...well, this was it. She was on the floor, but she wasn't sure why. Moving stiffly, she pushed to her hands and knees then stood, gripping onto the back of a chair for support as she reached to feel for Jackie's and then Janzie's pulse, before moving on to Veska and the others in the room. They all seemed to be alive and unscathed, besides being unconscious, so she relaxed just a little.

=^=Petty Officer Cash to Bridge,=^= she murmured into her comm badge, =^=something happened here in Sickbay, everyone is unconscious...=^= She cut off as a small cry caught her attention. Moving to the side of Jackie's biobed, she noticed little Alex looking up at her.

"Are you all right?" Bending down, she picked him up, then cradled him gently. "Poor little man." She smiled, relieved that he was all right, then carried him to Jackie's side. "There's Mom, she's all right..." At least I hope she is.... The infant was surprisingly calm.

"Brig to Sickbay... uh... the Seeecurity guard is kinda passed out here. Itsa my department, I know, but I might be slightly in... inebr... drunk. Can you bring me something to counteract the alcomohol, please?"

=^=This is Petty Officer Cash,=^= Bettina replied into comm badge, =^=we'll get there as soon as we can, but...there's problems here.=^= It was good to know there were other people awake on the ship.

TAGS
ALL YA'ALL

[Alex Chadwick]

[[Near Horizon – Sickbay:]]

He stood in the center of the corridor. Covered in dirt and cuts and burns from phaser and disruptor fire. He was dazed and slightly confused. One minute in the middle of a massive firefight with Borg. The next standing in the corridor of what by all rights and the feel of the plates beneath his feet was a starship. Gripping his Batleth tight he took a few steps forward trying to find his bearings.

"where the hell??" He mumbled as he made his way slowly down the corridor.

His Artificial Foot bothering his stump he sort of walked and slowly limped forward. There was something very familiar about where he was. By the look of the corridors it was an Intrepid class ship. He rounded a corner and saw a set of double doors to the right. Walking quicker he paused in front of the doors.

"Raising his weapon he moved a half step closer. The doors swooshed open and he saw a woman standing with her back to him. She had beautiful dark hair and like the ship seemed familiar.

Stepping inside he lowered his weapon slightly.

"Hello?"

TAGS:everybody.

[Bryan_Cash]

[[Near the Mess Hall]]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/Ussvoyagerco/TMPCash.png
The figure dressed in a maroon uniform most people on the Starship Horizon would have recognized from museums walked slowly down a corridor. All around him appeared to be Starfleet officers in strange uniforms unconscious on the deck. Bending down he felt for the pulse of a young woman. It was steady and strong. He gazed at the insignia she wore on her chest.

"No mistaking that." He commented to himself. The star fleet delta though different in design was similar to the one he wore on his maroon uniform. Standing again he continued walking down the corridor.

[[Horizon Bridge Readyroom]]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/Ussvoyagerco/cashavy.png

He awoke laying on some sort of soft surface. His eyes fluttered slowly open and he could see space before him. Rising quickly he jumped to his feet and stumbled backward hitting the back of his legs on a table. Turning he appeared to be in some sort of officer or meeting area.

Instinctively reaching to his belt he no longer carried the communicator that was normally there. He reached down with his right hand and found his phaser. Pulling it off the belt he activated it and scanned the room with his eyes. He turned a complete circle and stopped on his reflection in the large windows he had awoken looking out of.

"Where the hell am i?" He said as he gazed at his reflection wearing it's yellow command shirt.

[[Horizon shuttle bay]]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/Ussvoyagerco/cash2222-1.jpg

"Unggh..." the man wearing a slightly future version of the uniform being worn by the Horizon crew awoke on his back and the shuttle bay deck. Admiral Bryan Cash the man from a universe where the Borg had waged a terrible war on the galaxy had no idea where he was. Or that matter where he had been before. He had almost no memory at all. He didn't know why and maybe that was a good thing.

Getting to his feet the man stumbled around in a slight daze. The bay was empty he was alone.

Like he was when it had ended the first time.

[[A lone old Transport ship.]]
[[Position next to Horizon]]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/Ussvoyagerco/davis.jpg

Bryan stood on the flight deck of Starlight and watched the Horizon closely. He was glad to see the ship still in one piece. Things hadn't gone to plan as much as he would have liked. the ship was supposed to be out of orbit when it happened. Now there was a rift on the horizon that was going to need to be delt with.

"Wouldn't be your ship without trouble dad." He said with a sly grin.

Glancing down he saw that he didn't have much more time here. The D.A.M machine back in 2412 was going to go critical in another six hours. If that happened he would be stuck here. Irish wouldn't like that at all. It took all of his powers of persuasion to get her to let him come here alone.

"Forever and always." He spun the ring on his finger when he thought of her. He would get back home and make sure his future existence was stable.

[Veska]

[Horizon – Sickbay:]

Veska blinked a few times, hearing voices, but as she regained consciousness she came to realize it was Bettina and who sounded like the chief of security, but he was having…issues. In a way it made her smile, having been on Klingon ship’s prior to the Horizon, it sounded like ‘home’. As the realization that something serious had happened however, she frowned. On a federation vessel it was not good to have your chief of security inebriated.

She pulled herself up off the floor and looked around. Sickbay was a mess. People and equipment scattered everywhere, but the place only looked shook up. Things weren’t sparking…that was a plus. She grabbed a tricorder up off the floor and began to scan people just to reassure herself that her visual assessment was accurate. A nod was directed at Bettina to indicate she was alright and would get over to Jackie as soon as she had verified the people closest to her, namely I’zzad and QaDghab. Once they’re vital signs came back satisfactory, just unconscious, she made her way towards Bettina.

As she scanned Jackie, Veska shook her head. “I don’t know what just happened, but everyone seems ok. No major concussions, just minor bumps from when people hit the floor where ever they happened to be at the time they lost consciousness. After she finished scanning Jackie and gave her a positive nod, she ran a quick scan of the infant and concluded the same. “She should come out of it naturally. If you can stay with her…” Veska moved on to the others nearby and directed some to biobeds to recover rather than on the floor. She sent a quick update to the bridge of their status.

She saw a man stumble in to sickbay, cleary dazed and confused. But she needed to get the chief back in ‘fighting shape’. Bettina, can you see to him until the medical staff comes too. Wake a few of them if you have to,” she commented pointing towards the location of the hyposprays. “I’ll go see to the brig,” Veska added, still finding the call interesting, as she assembled a detox kit.

[Horizon – Security:]

Veska stepped into the holding cell area and first went to check on the guard that was crumpled on the floor. She pulled a leg that was bent in a funny direction and noted that while not broken was likely to give the man some trouble when he came to. But first things first.

She stood again and moved towards the cell that held Jeral. Veska voiced her medical override to take down the force field and then stepped inside. “I wish I could tell you what happened, but I’m not sure. The bridge is still assessing the situation I would assume,” she informed him as she scanned him with the tricorder before selecting a vial from her kit and pressing a specific dosage into the hypospray she snapped it into. “People are unconscious all over the ship, but so far most of the injuries are restricted to those who weren’t already sitting down at the time they lost consciousness…for the most part,” she clarified. A soft hiss could be heard as she pressed.

Veska stood. “That should do it. You’ll still have a bit of a headache, so I would recommend getting some water into your system at your first opportunity, but the dizziness, slurred speech, reaction time, etc, should be returning to ‘normal’.”

“I should probably get back to sickbay. The man that entered as I left, may not be the only one who had more severe injuries during…whatever happened,” Veska added waiting to leave until Jeral could confirm he was indeed fit for duty again.

Tags ;)

[Grenn]

[USS Horizon - Corridor, Mess Hall]

J'al had been in the Mess Hall when whatever happened, had happened. He was alright, all things considered. He had tried his commbadge, but nobody had answered. Perhaps they would wake up as he did, but right now, he didn't even know if anybody else was awake.

After grabbing a phaser from a storage area, he exited into the corridor seeing a few crew there. Quickly, he checked their pulses, which were seemingly normal. It should be alright to leave them be for the moment, he decided.

His left ear twitched as he heard footsteps down the corridor. Most would probably not have heard them on the soft carpet, but he could tell there was somebody there.

Almost as if stalking prey, J'al hastidly yet silently made way towards the sounds. Quickly, he could see a man dressed in some kind of maroon clothing from the back. He looked like an older Human.

Satisfied that he could take him by surprise, J'al stepped out into the hall and a bit closer before speaking. "Stop." he said, levelling his phaser just in case. At this point, he had no idea who this person could be. "Turn around, show me your hands, and identify yourself."

[USS Horizon - Corridor Outside Brig]

The Caitian woman stood up and shook her head for a moment, trying to stop the dizzy feeling. She looked around once she felt better and tried to figure out where she was. A moment ago, she was on Deck 4 walking back to her quarters, but now from what she could gather she was near the Brig. She didn't know it, but this was not her Horizon. It was identical to hers in time, design, and crew compliment, but she did not exist on this one. At least not in the same way she did on hers.

Maybe there would be somebody in the Brig that could tell her what happened, she figured.

Entering, she saw Dr. Veska, Lieutenant Krezek, and her cousin M'Karll. Or at least, this universe's versions of all three who she mistook for her universe's.

"Doc, Lieutenant.... what happened?" she asked, not expecting them to stare at her for a long moment as if they didn't know who she was.

"What?" she asked, unsure what their problem was. She was in her uniform, identical to theirs, just with a red collar and Lieutenant Commander rank insignia. She also looked extremely similar to this Horizon's Chief Flight Control Officer, J'al Grenn, only she was a she.

OFF: Heh..

[Bettina Cash]

~Sickbay

As she scanned Jackie, Veska shook her head. “I don’t know what just happened, but everyone seems ok. No major concussions, just minor bumps from when people hit the floor where ever they happened to be at the time they lost consciousness. After she finished scanning Jackie and gave her a positive nod, she ran a quick scan of the infant and concluded the same. “She should come out of it naturally. If you can stay with her…” Veska moved on to the others nearby and directed some to biobeds to recover rather than on the floor. She sent a quick update to the bridge of their status.

"Yes, of course." Bettina nodded, looking around the room. "I can check on all of them. Go, do what you have to..."

She saw a man stumble in to sickbay, clearly dazed and confused. But she needed to get the chief back in ‘fighting shape’. "Bettina, can you see to him until the medical staff comes too. Wake a few of them if you have to,” she commented pointing towards the location of the hyposprays. “I’ll go see to the brig,” Veska added, still finding the call interesting, as she assembled a detox kit.

Bettina nodded, watching Veska leave, then turning her attention to the newcomer, reluctant to put down the infant that she held, particularly since the man was carrying a Batleth "Are you all right?" she asked, approaching him. "Where are you hur..." Then she looked from the weapon to his face and gasped.

"Alex?" Clinging more tightly to the baby, she took a step back. "How did you...I mean, aren't you...dead?" A million emotions rushed her at once, but the foremost was her instinct to protect the child her held, as well as the one she carried, and she would do what she had to.

TAG
ALEX
ANY

[Alex Chadwick]

~Sickbay

"Alex?" Clinging more tightly to the baby, she took a step back. "How did you...I mean, aren't you...dead?"

Alex stumbled backward slightly as the young woman turned around and spoke to him. His eyes wide he recognized her immediately. Bettina Cash wife of Bryan mother of Bryan Jr. One minute he was fighting borg on the bridge of the Kongo in 2394 the next he found himself on the USS Horizon again.

Lowering his blade he stepped forward again.

"Bettina?" He dropped the blade on the floor. His eyes darting around the room. Not much had appeared to change. It couldn't have been much more then a year or two in this universe since he vanished. He glanced behind Bett and Saw Jackie lying unconscious on a biobed.

What the hell was going on?



TAG
Bett
ANY[/QUOTE]

[Bryan_Cash]

[USS Horizon - Corridor, Mess Hall]
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/Ussvoyagerco/TMPCash.png
"Turn around, show me your hands, and identify yourself."

Bryan froze at the sound of the voice. Slowly he raised his hands and turned around.

"Don't shoot friend. I have no idea where i am or how i got here." He said as he saw who was holding a weapon on him. If it was a weapon. It didn't look like any kind of phaser he had saw before. The Caitian was wearing what looked like the uniforms everyone else passed out in the corridors was wearing. Vaguely Starfleet looking.....at least with the delta.

[Grenn]

[Horizon - Corridor, Mess Hall]

As the man turned and spoke, J'al recognized what he was wearing. At least he was pretty sure he did. The old uniform complete with period delta pin on the left chest seemed quite out of place in this day and age. The rank pin on the white background on the man's shoulder was.... Admiral? J'al was not exactly an expert on Starfleet history, though like every other cadet, he had studied it.

For the moment, he sided with his instincts and decided the man was probably not hostile. Besides which, he would always give the benefit of the doubt to somebody who wore a Starfleet uniform. Even one as old as this one appeared to be. He lowered the phaser, noting the surprised and confused look in the Human's eyes.

"You're onboard the Federation Starship Horizon. I'm Lieutenant Commander J'al Grenn. Forgive the rude welcome, but you can't be too careful after randomly being knocked unconscious. And you are...?"

[Bettina Cash]

~Sickbay

"Bettina?" He dropped the blade on the floor. His eyes darting around the room. Not much had appeared to change. It couldn't have been much more then a year or two in this universe since he vanished. He glanced behind Bett and Saw Jackie lying unconscious on a biobed.

What the hell was going on?

"Yes, sir." She looked at him warily, then stepped toward him. While she may have at one time been completely freaked out by seeing a dead man, having met Bryan...and Bryan, had changed her ideas of 'normal'. "You're on the Horizon, Sir. Something happened..." She shrugged, then glanced at Jackie. "She's all right." Then she nodded to the baby she held. "Your son, Sir..."

TAG
ALEX

[Alex Chadwick]

~Sickbay

"She's all right." Then she nodded to the baby she held. "Your son, Sir..."

"My son......I'm really back...How did i end up here...." Turning he gazed down at the baby in her arms. His son....he had never expected to see either of them ever again. The boy was beautiful a lot like his mother. With a few of his own features nestled in there.

Looking to Bettina again he wiped a smear of soot from his forehead.
"What happened here. Who's in command of the Horizon Bett?"



TAG
Bettina ;)

[Bryan_Cash]

[Horizon - Corridor, Mess Hall]
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/Ussvoyagerco/TMPCash.png

"You're onboard the Federation Starship Horizon. I'm Lieutenant Commander J'al Grenn. Forgive the rude welcome, but you can't be too careful after randomly being knocked unconscious. And you are...?"

Bryan lowered his hands and tried not to look stunned. This was almost surely a federation starship. Just one he had never saw before.

"I'm Admiral Bryan Agustus Cash." He said plainly and simply not noticing the Caitians eyes widen in surprise.


"You might think this strange. But what is the current year?"

[Grenn]

[Horizon - Mess Hall Corridor]

"Oh, that's..... alright then...." J'al replied to the man giving his name. He wasn't about to mention anything about their XO at the moment. Truth be told, he didn't know much about him. For all he knew this was his father, or a relative, or something similar. He hadn't had cause to investigate him back in his Intel days.

Asking what year it was convinced J'al even more that not mentioning the XO's name would be a good idea at the moment. He had heard rumors about temporal events taking place from time to time, and instantly he was reminded of the few reports he had access to as CIO. The whole idea of some kind of time paradox arising from all of this was enough to make him sick. Changing history, causing this to not happen because of that and the other thing... or whatever... that wasn't something that he wanted to have to deal with.

"Um..." he said, hesitating a moment. It was painfully obvious though, that he was going to have to be honest and let the consequences be damned. "....2385."

As the Admiral took this in, it was evident to J'al that this might be something he should bring up to anybody else above him. So he hit his commbadge.

"Computer, shipwide comm." he said, as it beeped an acknowledgement.

"All hands, this is Commander Grenn. Pending contact with Admiral Harmon, or.... the XO..." he said, omitting using Captain Cash's name. "... I'm taking charge. Anybody with medical training, please assist Sickbay as they deem necessary. I need the highest ranking member of each department that is conscious to send a status report to the bridge. Keep the commlines clear except for medical reasons until we know more."

He clicked it off and motioned for the Admiral to follow him. Luckily, the turbolifts were working. "Let's head to the bridge. We can figure things out better there..." he said, as the man followed him, still obviously taking the moment in.

[Horizon - Brig]

As J'al made his announcement, the Caitian woman in the brig looked around, shocked.

"Hey!" she said, upset. "That guy's using my name!" Not waiting for anybody else to say something, she hit a few buttons on the console. "Computer, who just made that announcement?" she asked as it replied.

"Lieutenant Commander J'al Grenn, Chief of Flight Operations" it said in its simple voice. It also brought up a brief of his personnel file, including an image.

She looked at it, trying to make sense of what was going on. "That's not me!" she exclaimed, angerly hitting the console. "What the hell is this?"

OFF: :)

Meh, no JP necessary. Just post it in story.

[Bettina Cash]

~Sickbay

"My son......I'm really back...How did i end up here...." Turning he gazed down at the baby in her arms. His son....he had never expected to see either of them ever again. The boy was beautiful a lot like his mother. With a few of his own features nestled in there.

"I don't know, Sir." Bettina shrugged, holding back a little, not yet quite willing to let him get too close to the baby. "Something happened and we all passed out."

Looking to Bettina again he wiped a smear of soot from his forehead.
"What happened here. Who's in command of the Horizon Bett?"

"Admiral Harmon is in charge. I don't know how you got here, everything was normal just a few minutes ago." Well, as 'normal' as anything on Horizon ever was. And then came the announcement.

"All hands, this is Commander Grenn. Pending contact with Admiral Harmon, or.... the XO... I'm taking charge. Anybody with medical training, please assist Sickbay as they deem necessary. I need the highest ranking member of each department that is conscious to send a status report to the bridge. Keep the commlines clear except for medical reasons until we know more."

"Bryan?" She looked up at Alex, fear in her eyes. Why couldn't they find him? Was he all right? "Um, he's XO," she explained. "I don't know where he is." But she couldn't leave to look, not while she was in charge of the baby.

She winced as a cramp surged through her belly, but managed to ignore it -- for now. "We all thought you were dead," she muttered quietly. "Jackie..." The Caitian had been torn apart and was barely beginning to recover.

TAG
ALEX

[Veska]

[Horizon - Brig]

She looked at it, trying to make sense of what was going on. "That's not me!" she exclaimed, angerly hitting the console. "What the hell is this?"


Veska arched a brow and looked at Jeral and a still unconscious M’Krall. He would be ok, just hit his head a little harder than the others it seemed. She looked back to the female Caitian. This was confusing to say the least. “Your name?” Veska questioned. “As for what hell this is… it is the USS Horizon, and you are in its brig. I don’t know why you are claiming to be Lt. Commander Grenn, though you have the uniform right. But we already have a Grenn aboard. I don’t really know him well enough to comment on if that is enough or not,” she quipped.

She stepped out of the cell and gestured towards the door. “If you want to join me in sickbay, since I should be getting back there, we can try to get to the bottom of this. I made an initial report to the bridge before I answered the call to come here.” Maybe the woman hit her head or something. To Veska’s knowledge though, Jackie was the only female Caitian presently on board…or so she thought.

“If we have command staff not checking in… that means I need to find out where they are, and or be available to patch them back up since we are short a CMO,” Veska continued as she moved closer to the door. She looked expectantly at the group behind her. Jeral still looked a little dazed, but as the drug kicked in, he’d be back to his old self…though she didn’t really know what that constituted just yet. M’Karll… maybe the bump on his head would knock the pirate out of him. Strange feline. Speaking of felines, they either had one with amnesia or… just thinking of the other possibilities made her head hurt.

“So…are you coming?” Veska asked.

tags! ;)

[Grenn]

[USS Horizon-Brig]

The Caitian woman was still trying to piece all of this together. Doctor Veska didn't know who she was apparantly, or maybe she was injured a bit herself.

"Look.... you know me. I'm Lieutenant Commander J'al Grenn and I'm the head of Flight Control here on the Intrepid Class USS Horizon. I don't know why the computer shows that other person in my personnel file. I suppose he looks a little like me, but he's not. It even lists me as male. I can't explain that, but it's not true." she said, a bit exhasperated. None of this made sense yet.

"I was in my quarters, about to head to the mess hall, then I felt queezy and fainted. I woke up in the hall outside the brig and that's when I came in here and saw you with my cousin and Lt. Krezek."

They stood there for a moment until she let out another sigh. "Ok, look.... let's just all go to sickbay while M'Karll's still out. The last thing I need right now is to hear his stupid pirate imitations. Then I'll deal with whoever that person is who thinks they're me."

:p

[Veska]

[Horizon - Brig:]

Veska arched a brow, looked at the imposter, and then shook her head as she continued on her way. If the Caitian followed that was up to her. If not, she’d let Jeral handle it. He was security after all. “Look. Unless all of us had head injuries, you…not us…are the one out of place. Our Grenn, is male. Live with it. Where you came from, if you insist that you too are Grenn, we’ll have to figure that out. But you are the one that is out of place. Not us.

“I’m beginning to see why the Horizon has the reputation it does,” Veska muttered as she stepped into a lift to take her to sickbay, waiting for the female Grenn to join her. “Let’s get to sickbay, and try to get this figured out. There has to be some explanation as to how we ended up with two Grenn’s, assuming you really are Grenn, and how you are female.”

Veska held up a hand. “Don’t even /think/ about trying to explain to me the literal explanation of how a child becomes female or male. I am a doctor,” she said cutting off the woman just in case.

<Tags>

[Janzie]

[Horizon - Sickbay:]

Janzie groaned. A hand came up to touch her head which was throbbing. There was a lot of conversation going on around her, and she remembered she had been in sickbay. If she was hearing a lot of people, whatever had knocked her out, couldn’t have been good. Though why was she still on the floor? She either wasn’t hurt that badly, or there were so many injured people that they just hadn’t gotten to her yet.

She brought her hand down in front of her eyes. Good, still human, she thought as she did a visual and mental check. That would be a bad thing if she all of the sudden appeared to be something different than what everyone had seen her as last.

Assured that everything was still as it should have been, minus the headache, she eased herself up off the floor. She first looked at the Caitian on the bio bed, gave a wincing nod to Bettina, and then looked to see… “Ok, I must have hit my head harder than I thought,” she said absently to Bettina as she noted Alex. “Cause I am seeing things,” she announced. Though, now that she looked closer at Bettina, the woman looked a bit in shock herself. Janzie didn’t have a mirror, but maybe she had shifted to look like something else? “Right about here,” she said pointing at Alex, “I can see a guy that looks just like Commander Chadwick. But that isn’t possible.” But then again this was the Horizon. She had joined this ship primarily since it was an odd little ship, to put it mildly.

When neither Bettina or her apparition seemed to be disagreeing with her, Janzie looked back and forth between the two. “I’m not seeing things am I…” she wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not just yet.

Tag!

(hope I remembered rank...lol)

[Alex Chadwick]

[Horizon - Sickbay]

Looking from jackie to his son and back to bettina he tried not to frown.

"No I'm not dead. I went someplace else when i entered that rift. Someplace not very nice." He tried to focus on the now and not from the horrors he had just come from. Or the fact that he was in terror that this all might not be real. That he was being assimilated and worse yet. That this was real and he would have to go back to that horrible place again.

Bettina and Alex both turned as Janize groaned and rose to her feet.

Janzie eased herself up off the floor. She first looked at the Caitian on the bio bed, gave a wincing nod to Bettina, and then looked to see… “Ok, I must have hit my head harder than I thought,” she said absently to Bettina as she noted Alex. “Cause I am seeing things,” she announced. Though, now that she looked closer at Bettina, the woman looked a bit in shock herself. Janzie didn’t have a mirror, but maybe she had shifted to look like something else? “Right about here,” she said pointing at Alex, “I can see a guy that looks just like Commander Chadwick. But that isn’t possible.” But then again this was the Horizon. She had joined this ship primarily since it was an odd little ship, to put it mildly.

When neither Bettina or her apparition seemed to be disagreeing with her, Janzie looked back and forth between the two. “I’m not seeing things am I…” she wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not just yet.

Alex wasn't surprised to see janzie still aboard. It showed a good amount of afterthought keeping her on the crew from Captain Cash who was now the Horizons XO evidently

"Your not imagining things Janzie. It's me..here....somehow." shaking his head he glanced around the sickbay. Most everyone else was waking up Jackie still laid unconscious.

"We need to find out what's going on here." Walking to a wall panel alex tried not to let his limp show from his artificial foot.

[Bridge Horizon]




http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/Ussvoyagerco/cashavy.png
Bryan He had heard commander Grenn's announcement over the shipwide comm. But for now stood looking at a version of himself..or the other Cash wearing a Starfleet uniform about a 100 years old. He had emerged from the ready room and looked about as stunned as Bryan did who had immediately lept from the command chair at the sight of the blast from the past. The reports kept flooding in about intruders and strange people all over the ship.

As he was about to speak another blast from the past came in over the ship wide intercom.

"This is Commander Chadwick to the bridge." The voice said plainly and simply as if he had been aboard for the last year. Bryan for one of the first times in his life felt speechless. With an inward sigh he took a deep breath and tried to gain control of the situation back.

Pointing to the 2250's version of bryan cash bryan held up a hand and told the man to not move and keep quiet for the moment. Tapping his comm badge he addressed Chadwick.

"If this is really you. What was the last thing you told me on the surface of Bateman six charlie?" He waited for an answer.

"Take care of Jackie for me." Alex stated plainly and simply.

"Get up to the bridge Commander. We have a fairly big problem right now." Bryan flipped the comm off and looked over to the young Cash standing gazing at the bridge with wide eyes.

[Corridor near Messhall]
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/Ussvoyagerco/TMPCash.png
As they walked the ships corridor Admiral Cash saw a great many species he had never seen before getting up groggy from whatever had happened to them. Every so often they would pass a computer panel or open door and the Admiral Marveled at what he saw. Things at this point had to be incredibly advanced. Finally they reached the lift and stepped inside. The Caitian who was named Grenn spoke and the lift started moving.

"This is all incredible commander." Cash said genuinely impressed by what he saw. It was a shame he could never tell anyone about what happened here or anything he saw. Damage to the space time continuum could be devastating.

TAGS everybody! This is fun eh? :)

[Grenn]

[Turbolift to Bridge]

"Wait until we get to the bridge." J'al said in response to the Admiral's comment about everything he was seeing. He allowed himself a small grin. Even though this was a serious situation, the amazement on the Admiral's face was enough to make him smile.

As the turbolift opened, J'al looked around the bridge to see several crew working at their stations. Standing in front of the command chairs was Captain Cash, and what appeared to be yet another version of him in an even older uniform.

Upon seeing this, J'al froze. Behind him, the Admiral was stepping onto the bridge, right into the middle of what was bound to be an epic meeting...

[Horizon - Brig]

If this was not the Dr. Veska she knew, she was apparently the same stubborn Klingon in any dimension. Rather then try and fight her, the Caitian decided just to go along with things until they got to sickbay. Her, Dr. Veska, and Lt. Krezek, even in his medicated state moved M'Karll to sickbay as fast as they could.

Upon entering, she heard the end of a commline telling somebody to get to the bridge. She looked up and to her amazement saw Commander Chadwick standing by a console, as M'Karll was shuffled off to a nearby biobed.

"Commander?" she asked, remembering all too well the events leading up to his disappearance. Things had played out in an identical manner where she had come from.

:D

[Bettina Cash]

[Horizon - Sickbay]

"Your not imagining things Janzie. It's me..here....somehow." shaking his head he glanced around the sickbay. Most everyone else was waking up Jackie still laid unconscious.

"We need to find out what's going on here." Walking to a wall panel alex tried not to let his limp show from his artificial foot.

"I'll stay here, Sir," Bettina commented, "and watch Jackie. But...if you see Bryan, can you just ask him to let me know he's all right?" While she wanted to go looking for him, she wasn't going to leave Jackie here alone.

[Alex Chadwick]

[Sickbay Horizon]

Alex nodded to Bettina. "You know i will Bettina."

Alex turned at the sound of his name.

"Grenn?" alex asked unsure of who he was looking at. His memories had been a little fuzzy but last he remembered Grenn was a male.

TAGS: Sickbay folk.

[Grenn]

[Sickbay Horizon]

"Yes!" she said, smiling happily. "Thank you! Nobody else here seems to recognize me. I'm so glad you do. They keep saying there's already somebody onboard with my name, but... they're a guy. We've been hearing all kinds of rumors about strange things on the way here though, so I don't have any idea what's happening..."

She shook her head slightly. "What happened to you after the attack?"

OFF: :D

[Jeral Krezek]

[Sickbay]

Jeral felt like a thousand starbases had landed on his head, and here he was pulling people to Sickbay.

"Rum," he muttered to himself as he helped carry M'karll to a biobed. "It seemed like a good idea at the time..." He turned around and looked at the assembled group in the sickbay. He could have sworn he saw Commander Chadwick standing there, as well as a few old-style Starfleet uniforms and a few extra Caitians, but Jeral just shook his head. "Damn hangover headache..." he muttered again and headed out the door...

Only to run into someone with a blue uniform on.

"Ow!" Jeral yelped. "Watch where you're going! What's with all the bright lights too?"

"...Uncle Jeral, is that you?"

The sound of the voice speaking to him snapped Jeral's mind to attention. There was a very familiar pang to it, almost as if it was from a dream, a forgotten reality that he had helped to shatter in a small way. "It can't be," he breathed, looking up and trying to ignore the pain coming from his eyes.

"Yes, it's me, Uncle Jeral," Lt. Colonel Annika Krezek smiled at him. "How I'm here, though, I couldn't tell you. Last thing I remember, I was hurtling down a transwarp corridor to blow up the Divine Alliance's transwarp gate."

Jerral blinked a few times to try to figure out what she was saying. "But... how?" he asked, words failing. "That was six months ago!"

"I need to speak to whomever's in charge," she said. "I have no idea what's going on, but at least with my temporal background, I can help figure out what's going on." Annika looked down at Jeral. "You shouldn't be leaving Sickbay in your condition."

Jeral's headache suddenly was the forefront of his concerns. "I... thought I saw..." Jeral turned back around and headed for the doors, still squinting and seeing exactly what he saw earlier.

"This is going to be a long day..." Jeral muttered.

"Actually, Uncle Jeral, it's the evening according to the ship's chronome-"

"Not now, Annika."

(OFF: I know I said I was going to bring in Commander Mormar from NEO, but there was a last-minute change of plans. Besides, she's displaced from being displaced in time, a woman from 2396 and an alternate future, where she was in 2384 and just at the end of a kamikaze mission to save the Federation. Representing another alternate bleak future in the house!)

[Alex Chadwick]

[Sickbay Horizon]

She shook her head slightly. "What happened to you after the attack?"

Alex frowned and tried to suppress a shudder at the question.

"After we had beaten back the borg.........i walked into the vortex on the planet that was growing bigger and bigger. I ahh.i thought i was going to die. for a little bit i actually thought maybe i had."

Thinking back to the horror he had emerged into he whispered to himself. "Sometimes i think maybe it would have been best if i had died."


"Anyway i came to in another place on another ship. From what I've learned on that side. It's getting close to this time period. Only some bad things are happening with the borg. There's a terrible battle going on over there right now that i was pulled away from." Looking down at his batleth laying on the sickbay deck he hoped no one noticed the drying green borg blood on the blade.

[Jeral Krezek]

"Sounds like a good fight."

Jeral Krezek walked up to the group, accompanied by the female in the future Starfleet uniform. Jeral simply nodded a greeting to Alex. "Commander," he said, then looked around, seeing the female Grenn - making him double-take on the duplicate - and a few others.

Annika didn't waste any time, and nodded to the group. "Lt. Colonel Annika Krezek, former commander of the USS Loki and Temporal Division senior officer... at least where I come from," she said. "Anyone got an idea what's going on? Any way I can help?"

[Veska]

[Sickbay Horizon]

Veska approached the growing group, a medical tricorder in hand to scan Alex. She frowned slightly at what she saw, but from the sounds of it, he could have been a lot worse. “If you’d pick a biobed for yourself…Sir… we’ll see what we can do about those battle scars before the next wave of disoriented, or out of space and time…” she looked at a few of the strange faces around the room, “…arrives. This one,” she pointed at the female version of Grenn, “insists she is our FCO. She won’t believe me that our Grenn, is male. Who she is exactly…I haven’t had the time to investigate.”

A nurse cautiously approached Veska, a grimace on her face. “Out with it,” she bellowed to the timid woman. The human swallowed and then leaned towards Veska’s ear. Veska listened intently, her facial expressions ranging from disbelief to amazement. “I see. So we either have a ship full of crazy people playing dress up, or we’re peppered by some sort of temporal phenomena…again.”

Veska hadn’t been there for the previous period of time gone crazy, the one that had ultimately resulted in the disappearance of the man she was conversing with at the moment, but she had read some of the reports from that time frame…or time frames, depending on which side of the event the writer had been on. “So, it is entirely possible, I guess, that we have two Grenn’s at the moment. However,” she looked at the female Grenn once again, “unless I have left the Horizon to end up on your horizon… you…are still on the wrong ship, or at least the wrong dimension… whatever,” she exasperated as she tossed her hands in the air briefly before reaching for a set of regenerators.

“I hope there aren’t duplicates of the entire ship running around,” Janzie quipped. “There are some people, one is more than enough of.”


"Temporal?" Veska muttered. "At least someone who might know how to fix this mess." She paused and looked at the newest stranger more closely. "The bridge is probably where you want to be. Sickbay puts people back together, not time," Veska joked.


tags!

[Bettina Cash]

~Sickbay

"I need to find Bryan..." Now that things were settled down, Bettina felt compelled to find her husband, just to assure herself that he was all right. Placing Jackie's son in his bassinet, she excused herself from the gathering, confident that the infant would be seen to while she was gone, then headed for the Bridge.

~Bridge

The trip through the corridors had been interesting as she passed a mixture of crew and folks she didn't recognize who looked thoroughly befuddled. She stepped onto the bridge, not sure what to expect, and looked around.

"Bryan?"

TAG
BRYAN
BRYAN
BRYAN
BRYAN

[Alex Chadwick]

[Sickbay Horizon]

Alex sighed and remembered Cash's order.

"We all should get up to the bridge. Anyone that can help anyway." Turning he headed for the sickbay doors and motioned for the others to follow.


OOC: Ok here goes the biggest most insane crossover I've ever written. I'm going to refer to the Cash's like so. TOSCash TMPCash FECash HorizCash and when he shows up CpnDavies.

[Bridge]
[Horizon]

HorizCash at first couldn't believe what he was seeing. Yet another version of himself. This time older and wearing a maroon Starfleet uniform. Bryan gazed at the new arrival and could see that it was indeed really Bryan Cash. Looking from the young version in the yellow command shirt back to the seasoned Admiral with experience oozing from every crack and line in his face HorizCash was unsure on how to continue.

TOSCash and TMPCash both uttered the same astonished one word.

"Wow" as they gazed at all three versions of themselves. Finally HorizCash spoke.

"I don't need to ask who both of you are because i think it's fairly evident to me. Now i think the youngman here in the yellow likely has a lot of questions.

Nodding affirmative TosCash just looked on in utter amazement. "This is some sort of temporal event or something?" He asked.

"I'm not sure." HorizCash said. "It might be but i think it's different somehow."

The bridge doors parted unheard by anyone and a single slender figure stepped off the lift.

"Bryan?" Bettina said looking at all three men and unsure of what she was seeing.

Before HorizCash could say anything the air was split with the sound of a transporter and a single being materialized int he middle of the forward command deck. Dressed in a brown duster and rather unique looking clothing that reminded everyone of earth's ancient west. He had a familiar look about him that everyone noticed right away. Stepping forward Captain Bryan Davies looked at the cash's in turn finally turning to the upper bridge deck and looking at Bettina.

"Mom?" He asked as surprised as everyone was to see him standing there.

TAGS

[Bettina Cash]

~Horizon Bridge

"Mom?" He asked as surprised as everyone was to see him standing there.

"Bryan?" She knew him immediately, no one needed to say anything. Instinctively, her hand moved over her belly, as if to protect the infant there. As she smiled, the color drained from her face and tears started to trickle down her cheeks. "My Bryan?" He was her age, or close, and he looked so much like his father. Moving up to him, she reached to caress his cheek, then suddenly gasped and doubled over, the grip on her belly tightening.

TAG
BRYANS
(LOL! Davies can deliver himself!)

[Jeral Krezek]

[Bridge]

Jeral and Annika rode the turbolift together up to the bridge and came to a very odd sight: three Cash's, one person that looked like another Cash, but different... and Bettina collapsing on the ground.

Jeral went over to help the newcomer that looked similar but different to all the rest. "We should really rename the Horizon to Noah's Ark..." he muttered. He looked over at the Cash's again in amazement as he helped Bettina to the ground. He nodded to the newcomer. "Lieutenant Jeral Krezek, Security on the Horizon."

<TAG: Davies>

[Bryan_Cash]

[Bridge]

"Lieutenant Jeral Krezek, Security on the Horizon."


Davies Looked from his mother to his father and then to the Lt.

"Captain Bryan D....." He paused almost using his mothers maiden name. But he could trust these people of course.

"I'm Captain Bryan Cash. Of the Transport Ship Starlight." He looked down at his Ma. She seemed to be in incredible pain.

His father moved in close and placed his fingers to check her pulse.
"I think she's going into labor." He said more calmly then his son had thought possible. He stood and tapped his comm badge.

"Cash to sickbay.....medical emergency on the bridge!"

Looking down at his mother he focused on her belly and what.....who was inside. Everything was happening just like he had been told. Now they just had to stop what was happening to the horizon.....and he had to convince the Cash's to leave with him when it was done.

Davies' head turned at the sound of the lift opening again. Stepping out was a very dirty very tired.....very young looking version of Admiral Chadwick.

Alex stepped onto the bridge and his eyes spread wide at what he was seeing. Multiple versions of Cash surrounding Bettina on the deck and in pain.

The ship shuddered hard and the lights dimmed on the bridge. Everyone still focused on Bettina. Even the time lost Cash's.

Davies pulled a cobbled together looking tricorder from his duster and flipped it open. The anomaly was growing and more and more people were popping up on the horizon. Either the anomaly would destroy the ship or it would fill up with temporal/dimensional displaced people.

[Jeral Krezek]

Annika ran over to the tactical station, ignoring all others on the bridge, since they meant nothing to her. She started entering commands into the console. "I'm going to try to configure the shields to a Class One temporal specifications," she announced to anyone that would care. "It'll hopefully do something to at least slow down the rate of people getting onboard."

She started punching buttons, but accidentally armed photon torpedoes and set off an alarm. "Whoops," she said, turning off the torpedoes. "It's been a while since I handled these types of controls..."

[Veska]

"Cash to sickbay.....medical emergency on the bridge!"

Veska tossed up her hands almost at the same time that the ship decided to toss its entire complement around. She managed to grab onto the biobed before she embarrassed herself by falling to the floor. Several of her patients and medical staff however were not so fortunate. As soon as the shake stopped they picked themselves off the floor or walls they had been tossed against and went back to what they were doing. Every minute more people poured through the door. They had already had to set up auxiliary beds in the mess hall and one of the cargo bays. How the ship kept acquiring more and more people…she had yet to figure out.

The half Klingon doctor brought one hand up to respond, leaving the other attached to the biobed in case the ship decided to buck again. “On my way,” she replied to the bridge. She looked at who was available and what the current chaos of the sickbay looked like. Veska snagged to medics, instructing them to grab an antigrav stretcher and she grabbed a medical kit. “Let’s go,” she said as the trio began to weave their way through the growing crowd and out of sickbay.

***

When the lift opened Veska’s first thought was who had called the family reunion and decided now was a good time to have it on the bridge? Many of her colleagues on Klingon ships would argue that all of the humans looked the same, but maybe her human half allowed her to differentiate them better.

“I’m not sure I want to know,” she muttered and then shrugged as she made her way towards Bettina on the floor.

“Bettina,” Veska began as she knelt down next to the woman. “Bettina, it’s Veska. Can you hear me? Can you tell me what you feel…”

Tags All!

[Bryan_Cash]

[Bridge]

Davies looked on as Veska attended to his mother. His father was occupied with the situation as well and didn't even noticed Chadwick on the bridge. Davies standing walked to the confused looking young chadwick.

"Hello Admiral." Davies said as quietly as possible.

"Admiral? I'm not an admiral son." Chadwick looked the strange up and down and noted his strange old style of dressing.

"Well not yet i guess. Can you tell me the last year you remember?" Davies pulled out his tricorder again and started to scan chadwick.

"I was on the bridge of a ship the year was 2389 or about." He had no idea what any of this mattered.

Davies frowned and closed his tricorder. "Your not going to be able to come back with me Mr.Chadwick. I"m afraid your story is not yet even started." It was a true shame having a younger version of the admiral riding shotgun at his side would have been an asset.

Turning back to the bridge everyone seemed focused on bettina still. Except for the time displaced Men called Cash. Slowly the each walked to davies and chadwick.

"Captain Cash.....it is a pleasure to meet you sir." Davies said extending his hand. The young brash captain before him in the yellow command shirt was indeed young. He had none of the years of wisdom that you saw on his alter versions.

"Thanks i think." He glanced around especially at the older version of himself in the strange maroon uniform.

"Admiral Cash....I've read a great deal about your mission sir." Davies extended his hand and shook the older version of Cash's hand. The age on his face and the wisdom behind his eyes were comforting somehow.

"Thank you son. Can you tell us what's going on here?" The elder cash said as bettina groaned again in the background.

"What's going on is an event my father told me about. You see i come from another universe.......well sort of anyway it's difficult to explain. But those two people over there are my mother and father. This event is very important because where i come from we've just started to recover from a terrible war with the borg that last over 20 years. Now they've returned and.....well i came here to look for help in fighting them."

Pausing his pulled out his tricorder again and opened it.

"I think this might help explain things." The old tricorder showed a schematic view of the horizon. In the center of the ship was a growing large anomaly.

"Where i come from a scientist named Hellstrom created a machine. It's purpose was to open up a portal to other dimensions parallel to our own. The first time he activated the machine." Looking at chadwick davies frowned.

"The first time he activated the machine he accidentally locked on to you Alex. He pulled you from this universe to ours. In the process he changed your biology and you became sort of unstuck between both universes. Your quantum signature was unstable.
The second time he activated the machine he accidentally brought a small piece of our universe into yours." Frowning he closed his tricorder again.

"That was what this ship got involved in and what brought you to our universe for the final time alex. You actually saved both when you walked into the entropy field. If you hadn't done that it would have first merged the universes and then annihilated them."

"I only did what i thought was right. I had no idea it was all because of crazy machine." Alex scowled, he had lost his entire life and lived through hell all because of a scientist and a machine!

"We are very sorry for what happened alex. But your going to do some very amazing things when you go back i'm sorry i can't tell you about. It's not going to be easy but it's important....an entire universe depends on you going back when this is all over."

Alex stood silent......not wanting to say anything. Davies knowing what was going through his mind didn't press the matter anymore he watched alex walk down to join bryan and bettina.

"Anyway....we're fighting a war again. A massive war on multiple fronts and we need help. We need Bryan Cash again." Davies paused as they all seemed stunned.

"You need us? But arn't we supposed to go back to when we came from?" The young cash asked.

"If we......when we win. We'll be able to alter things so that you can go back as if you never left. " Davies was sure they would come with him.....he knew them almost as well as himself.

The elder admiral Cash stepped forward. He was old but Davies could tell the prospect of getting back out there and doing good again excited him.

"If you really need us......I'm willing to go. But what about what's happening to this ship and people now? There are people appearing here from any when and where."

"We took a chance activating the machine again. But when my father told me about this. I knew it was the right time. This ship seems to be a focal point for the multiverse. It was a risky choice but i think we have the people here and ability to fix the anomaly. that Krezek seems to have a lot of knowledge on temporal mechanics and have a few things i brought with me from doctor hellstrom on my ship."

"Allright then son. First we help these people and then i think we can go with you." Admiral Cash unbuttoned his maroon tunic and smiled. "I always loved a good adventure."

The young cash smiled his big smile and laughed. "I guess if my older self says so i'm game!"

All Three men paused as the turbolift doors opened again. Inside was something that none of them had expected. The end of the line for the Cash dynasty. The man who had started a revolution in starfleet commanded a renegade armada fought a civil war in the federation and had given his life at the second battle of sol saving the galaxy once again. He wore a current looking starfleet uniform. On the breast where a communicator should have been was the insignia of the USS Venture Star. Admiral Bryan Cash...a man who should have been dead walked out onto the upper bridge deck.

The color drained from Davies face as he saw his "uncle" bryan again. Then he remembered....they had found no body in the debris of the USS Dissension. Nothing....it was possible he had been pulled from before that event.....but...no it was crazy but there he was.

Admiral Cash looked in turn at each version of himself and then settled his gaze on davies. He smiled warmly at the young man that had come to be like a son to him. He still dressed like an ancient earth cowboy. He looked a little older....a little wiser but was still the same young brash kid.

"Hello kid." The admiral said simply.

"Holy crap." Davies said then rushed forward to hug the surprised admiral.

"It's you!..i don't know how but it's you!" He was babbling but another groan from his mother got his attention back.

"Umm Uncle this is going to sound strange but.....well my mom is about to give birth to me....and i kinda want to see that."


TAGS: Next person that can make something really weird happen is it!

[Grenn]

<<Fine, I will. But I can't compare to what you just did :p>>

[Bridge]

Even though she had arrived on the bridge with Commander Chadwick, J'al or at least the alternate J'al Grenn who happened to be a woman had slipped behind the tactical station as discreetly as possible. This universe's J'al, the correct male one was nearby. As the situation was explained by Davies, she slipped around and stood behind him, listening to what Bryan was saying, but with interest split half and half between things.

After he finished and Bettina started going into more advanced labor, she tapped herself, or correctly J'al on the shoulder. Turning around, he let out a cry of surprise.

"Oh, come on!" he said, probably a bit louder then he should under the circumstances of a woman giving birth not more then 10 feet away. "You... er... I... uh... guh.....woman..." he started before she stopped him.

"Oh come on yourself. Yes, I'm you, you're me, and yes I'm a girl. You just heard the explanation, so you're fine. I'm the one that should be worried. I just hate to think what M'Karll will say once he finds out. Both yours and mine..." she said, knowing full well that their pirate loving cousin would get a kick out of this.

"Yeah...." J'al said, recovering himself. "But... shouldn't you be a duplicate of me? Like... same sex and everything?"

"I donno." she said, crossing her arms. "Genetics isn't my strong point, but I guess the whole theory of infinite possibilities would make sense in this situation. I thought about this on the way up here, and somewhere along the line something did one thing differently in each universe that determined gender."

"I think we need to talk.... but after we know Bett and the baby are alright..." he said, knowing something very odd, or at least as odd as the rest of the day was about to happen.

OFF: :p

[Bettina Cash]

~Bridge

“Bettina,” Veska began as she knelt down next to the woman. “Bettina, it’s Veska. Can you hear me? Can you tell me what you feel…”

"Pain," Bettina chuckled before wincing and groping for her husband's hand. She gasped as she looked around, then shook her head and sighed. So many Bryans...she must be hallucinating, although she allowed as how it was a good hallucination! Of course, that wasn't a normal part of labor, but who was to say? Certainly, these weren't all real? She was just seeing things.

But then, how did that explain Alex's presence? He was...dead. And then she spotted the concerned young eyes darting her way, the mirror image of his father's, but the slightly upturned nose...that was hers. "How..?" She looked up, perplexed, then clenched her teeth as another pain hit her.

"Veska, please, don't let anything happ..." Then she smiled as she glanced over at Davies again. "Our son...he'll be fine..." Of course, that didn't account for her well-being.

TAGS

[Bryan_Cash]

~Bridge

Davies watched as his mother went through labor. It was sort of surreal standing on the bridge of the starship Horizon with so many people from different places and times. All there where and whens started to get mind boggling when you really thought about it.

Veska attended to her and his father looked on concerned. Bettina glanced his way and her eyes met his. He could see the woman he knew back home in them. The kindness the gentle spirit....

"Ma..." He said as he felt the connection to her. He hadn't known about this part of things. Many things his father had left out.

The ship shook hard again and the lights flicked off and then came suddenly back on.

[Veska]

[[Horizon - Bridge:]]

Veska growled at the ship as she motioned for the medtechs to come forward again. “If someone could keep the ship still it would make this easier.” To Bettina, she said, “Now do not even entertain thoughts like *that*,” she warned. “Both you and your son will be fine. A little bit of bumping and light flashing is not going to stop me from bringing yet another life into this world *and* keep the one that brought him here as well..” She ran the tricorder over Bettina’s abdomen and hummed slightly. “Sickbay is a better place for you to deliver than the bridge. But more so because we’re likely to get trampled underfoot than because anything is or could go wrong with the delivery. If you feel anything other than a contraction though… “ she smirked. “I’m sure you won’t hesitate to let me know.”

The half-Klingon ACMO stood and shooed the multiplying (somewhat literally) crowd back so the techs could get through with the antigrav. “I don’t know how many of you are supposed to be here… but…if one of you wants to come along, you better do so now. This little bundle is not wasting any time in coming. And I may need the extra help if the turbolift decides to quit before we get to sickbay.”

Veska made a final inspection of Bettina’s placement and security upon the antigrav and gestured towards the lift. The doors parted before her and she motioned the techs with the grav in ahead of her and then turned to see who, if anyone was following and to make a parting statement to those remaining behind. “I will keep the bridge informed and… don’t take this the wrong way… but I do hope to not see any of you in sickbay until it is to visit the happy mother and son after all this chaos is over.”

tags!

[Bettina Cash]

~Bridge

"Ma..." He said as he felt the connection to her. He hadn't known about this part of things. Many things his father had left out.

Smiling through the pain, Bettina nodded, then relaxed back. If he was here, nothing was going to go wrong.

The ship shook hard again and the lights flicked off and then came suddenly back on.

Veska growled at the ship as she motioned for the medtechs to come forward again. “If someone could keep the ship still it would make this easier.” To Bettina, she said, “Now do not even entertain thoughts like *that*,” she warned. “Both you and your son will be fine. A little bit of bumping and light flashing is not going to stop me from bringing yet another life into this world *and* keep the one that brought him here as well..” She ran the tricorder over Bettina’s abdomen and hummed slightly. “Sickbay is a better place for you to deliver than the bridge. But more so because we’re likely to get trampled underfoot than because anything is or could go wrong with the delivery. If you feel anything other than a contraction though… “ she smirked. “I’m sure you won’t hesitate to let me know.”

"Of course." Bettina smiled, then winced as pain cramped her belly. "It's going to be fine, Veska. After all, I have you as a physician, and a whole bevy of Bryan's to figure this all out." She glanced at her son and smiled again, tears forming in her eyes.

The half-Klingon ACMO stood and shooed the multiplying (somewhat literally) crowd back so the techs could get through with the antigrav. “I don’t know how many of you are supposed to be here… but…if one of you wants to come along, you better do so now. This little bundle is not wasting any time in coming. And I may need the extra help if the turbolift decides to quit before we get to sickbay.”

Veska made a final inspection of Bettina’s placement and security upon the antigrav and gestured towards the lift. The doors parted before her and she motioned the techs with the grav in ahead of her and then turned to see who, if anyone was following and to make a parting statement to those remaining behind. “I will keep the bridge informed and… don’t take this the wrong way… but I do hope to not see any of you in sickbay until it is to visit the happy mother and son after all this chaos is over.”

"I'm fine," Bettina muttered again, "birth is natural, right? I don't need all this fuss..." She looked up at Veska and smiled, then glanced over the bridge. "I wouldn't mind if Bryan came along," she added, wishing her husband could be there, but knowing he had other work to do, but content to have any of the men named Bryan along to give her support.

TAGS

[Veska]

[[Horizon - Bridge/Sickbay:]]



“Birth is quite natural,” Veska agreed. “But not on the bridge,” she quipped and made sure Bettina was as comfortable as she could for the lift ride. Who else, or how many else, joined them by the time the lift doors closed, Veska didn’t care. “Sickbay,” she called out and then felt the subtle movement of the lift as it sped the few decks down to the level of sickbay.

Before long the lift doors opened again, depositing them at the lift closest to their destination. “Alright, let’s go,” she voiced to the two medical staff she had taken with her to the bridge, who were navigating the anti-grav bed that Bettina currently rested on. “Keep following those breaking exercises Bettina,” Veska instructed as the made their way down the corridor. “Won’t Jackie be surprised to see you,” Veska quipped as they approached the doors to sickbay, which parted to admit them.

Veska motioned for the medical staff with her to hand Bettina off to the scrubbed staff that awaited them, as she continued to head towards the prep area to scrub herself. “Alright, anyone staying and or helping, better be attired to do so. The rest of you, stay out of the way. There will be plenty of time to coo and idolize after we deliver this baby.” Silently, she hoped that whatever had been, or still was, affecting the ship, would take a break. Birth was not generally a complicated matter in their advanced medical age, but there could still be issues. The ship trying to rock itself apart, could make things more challenging than she really wanted or that Bettina needed.

Her hands scrubbed and a surgical gown on over her usual medical attire, she approached Bettina again. “Alright Bettina. Here we go.”


[Tag Bettina...(and the Bryans if they reappear) and anyone else that wants to chime in.]

[Bettina Cash]

[[Horizon - Bridge/Sickbay:]]

“Birth is quite natural,” Veska agreed. “But not on the bridge,” she quipped and made sure Bettina was as comfortable as she could for the lift ride. Who else, or how many else, joined them by the time the lift doors closed, Veska didn’t care. “Sickbay,” she called out and then felt the subtle movement of the lift as it sped the few decks down to the level of sickbay.

"I know, and I'm not worried, with you to take care of me." She smiled, then winced as another pain hit. "It'll be fine," she gasped.

Before long the lift doors opened again, depositing them at the lift closest to their destination. “Alright, let’s go,” she voiced to the two medical staff she had taken with her to the bridge, who were navigating the anti-grav bed that Bettina currently rested on. “Keep following those breaking exercises Bettina,” Veska instructed as the made their way down the corridor. “Won’t Jackie be surprised to see you,” Veska quipped as they approached the doors to sickbay, which parted to admit them.

"Yeah, now she'll have to babysit." Bettina's grin didn't quite cover the grimace on her face as she gasped in pain. "Veska..." The pains were sharp, going through her abdomen, and she could feel the life inside her scrambling around, almost as if he was frantic to get out.

Veska motioned for the medical staff with her to hand Bettina off to the scrubbed staff that awaited them, as she continued to head towards the prep area to scrub herself. “Alright, anyone staying and or helping, better be attired to do so. The rest of you, stay out of the way. There will be plenty of time to coo and idolize after we deliver this baby.” Silently, she hoped that whatever had been, or still was, affecting the ship, would take a break. Birth was not generally a complicated matter in their advanced medical age, but there could still be issues. The ship trying to rock itself apart, could make things more challenging than she really wanted or that Bettina needed.

Her hands scrubbed and a surgical gown on over her usual medical attire, she approached Bettina again. “Alright Bettina. Here we go.”

"Something's wrong!" Bettina struggled to sit, but was held back. Reaching out, she grasped a handful of Veska's tunic. "Something..." She couldn't really specify what she was feeling, but terror coursed through her, and the infant inside was becoming more and more restless.

Her grip tightened. "Veska...he has to live, no matter what. You hear me? The baby has to live..."

TAG

[Bettina Cash]

~Sickbay

Veska reached for one of Bettina’s hands. “Bettina, I have no intention of letting either of you die. There is a minor complication, yes. But it isn’t anything we can’t handle. Both you and the baby will be fine. Try to relax. Easier said than done, I know, but try,” Veska emphasized. She gestured to one of the nurses on the opposite side of the surgical bed to provide Bettina with a little bit more sedative.

"I trust you," Bettina murmured, smiling weakly. "Besides, I know what happens....well, sort of anyway." After all, her son was here, wasn't he?

Once the nurse was in action, she gestured to her assistant. Veska wasn’t sure where I’zzad had gone to, but with as many people that were crowding the medical bay right now, it was possible to lose the Caitian. Wordlessly, the assistant acknowledged that he was aware of what Veska needed.

Breathing deeply, Bettina fought to center herself and to stay calm. She would have felt better with Bryan here -- any of them -- but she knew they were trying to figure out what was going on with the ship. At least Veska could be here, and that put her at ease more than anything. "Do what you have to, Veska, just...don't lie to me, all right?" She wanted to know exactly what was going on.

“This will take just a hair longer, but…” Veska commented, “I think you will actually feel less. We need to do just a little surgery, but it is nothing to worry about Bettina,” she continued. She kept talking to Bettina calmly and metered, her voice attempting to calm the woman as much as the sedatives that were flowing through her veins. “They used to do these all the time,” Veska commented as she locally numbed Bettina’s abdomen. “No risk of scars these days though. Unless you’re going to go Klingon on me and not want me to heal the incision,” she half joked as she worked.
"No, no, tha's awright." Bettina grinned crookedly. "You c'n fix it up. I can' feel it no how." She blinked rapidly, trying to stay aware, wanting to be there when her son was born, to hear his first cry.

With a few motions of her hands and those of her assistant, soon she could see the infant. “He’s beautiful Bettina,” she commented, even though as she pulled the little boy up, his skin color was slightly off.

"A'course. He's his papa's son." Tears started to trickle down her cheeks. "Ours...Bryan's..." How far they had come, from that first time in the bar at the Betle'H competition when something had passed between them, to the time they'd spent on Venture Star, to..."You was there," she muttered to Veska, suddenly recalling that first Tournament. "When Bryan an' tore'Q busted each other up..." So, Veska had been there from the beginning, it was only right she be here now...

Again, with the practiced routine of a staff that had done this many times, soon the beautiful sound of a baby’s wail echoed over the din of the room. Heads of medical staff and crew alike, no matter what time frame or dimension they were from, turned to look and cheered.

The baby was whisked off for a few moments to get cleaned up and vitals recorded and verified while Veska and her assistant saw to Bettina. “He’ll be right back,” she assured her. “I can already see the resemblance.”
"Is he awright?" Bettina had gotten a glimpse of the infant and smiled, reaching for Veska's hand. "Bryan...my son, Bryan, strong, like his daddy..." Tears started to trickle from her eyes as she thought back on the path that had led to this moment. "Tell Bryan Bryan is here...an' th' other Bryan, too, an' Bryan an'..." She smiled and giggled. Like with Bryan certainly was interesting!

TAGS

[Veska]

The baby was whisked off for a few moments to get cleaned up and vitals recorded and verified while Veska and her assistant saw to Bettina. “He’ll be right back,” she assured her. “I can already see the resemblance.”

"Is he awright?" Bettina had gotten a glimpse of the infant and smiled, reaching for Veska's hand. "Bryan...my son, Bryan, strong, like his daddy..." Tears started to trickle from her eyes as she thought back on the path that had led to this moment. "Tell Bryan Bryan is here...an' th' other Bryan, too, an' Bryan an'..." She smiled and giggled. Life with Bryan certainly was interesting!

“He’ll be fine,” Veska smiled at Bettina, the joy on her face was hard to miss. Though her comments relating to the multiplying Bryan’s on the bridge tempered Veska’s enthusiasm. Given her concentration Bettina, Veska had not gotten a good grasp on what was going on during her time on the bridge. She wasn’t sure she would be much help even if she had. In the meantime she had a steady stream of people with the full gambit of injuries. She guessed about half of them were one’s that actually belonged in this time and this space.

Squeezing Bettina’s hand Veska said, “I’ll be sure to let them all know. It will give them all some piece of mind as they try to figure out what is going on here and what to do about it.” And she hoped it was soon. If people from other…whatevers…kept appearing on the Horizon, the Intrepid class’s systems, in theory, could reach a stress point if the ship filled to its maximum capacity and beyond. If they started having system failures…how close they were to that point at this moment, Veska didn’t know. She’d have to run an internal sensor scan, provided that was operational, and maybe consult engineering.

Veska pushed the thoughts aside. She should only truly concentrate on the matter at hand at the moment and that was getting Bettina taken care of and getting her son back to her. Bettina’s hand was given a final squeeze and released. “We’ll get Bryan Jr. back to you in just a minute Bettina.” She gave her assistant a nod, and together the two of them worked quickly. Just as they were finishing up, dermal regeneration the only thing left to do, a nurse returned with Bryan Jr. wrapped in a medical blanket.

Bettina was then assisted into a seated position, before Bryan Jr. was placed in her waiting arms. “Here he is…all healthy and hungry,” Veska announced.


tag!

[Bettina Cash]

~Sickbay

Bettina was then assisted into a seated position, before Bryan Jr. was placed in her waiting arms. “Here he is…all healthy and hungry,” Veska announced.

Bettina was beaming brightly as she took the infant and cradled him closely, looking down into his face, into his eyes. "He's perfect," she muttered, wishing that Bryan...her Bryan...could be here, but knowing that he was busy with saving the ship. As she looked into the baby's eyes, her smile softened, then she looked up at Veska. "Ive seen his eyes before..."

Then she suddenly frowned. "The ship...all that's going on here...with Bryan...the future Bryan...do you think there's a danger, having them both here?" She clutched the infant more closely, her heart starting to pound. "You don't think it will hurt him, do you?"

TAG
VESKA
ANY
BRYAN, BRYAN, BRYAN, BRYAN, BRYAN and BRYAN (did I miss any?)

[Veska]

[Horizon - Sickbay:]



Veska looked at the mother and child. “I don’t know,” she said honestly. “Time paradoxes are not my area of expertise.” Though, she wasn’t sure they were for anyone really. “I would think that if they would be a problem for anyone though, it would be for the Bryan’s that aren’t supposed to be here. Not that that is likely to make you feel any better I suppose,” she realized. “I am sure that the guys on the bridge are working on this and will get things worked out.”

With a second look at both Bettina’s and Bryan Jr.’s vitals, Veska gave Bettina a hopeful smile. “Right now, I only see a healthy mother and child. If there is any risk that that could change, I am sure the bridge will let us know.” That they hadn’t said anything so far, did concern the half-klingon slightly. Considering how the ship was being inundated by people from different time frames and time lines, and many of them and the people already on board the ship, ending up in sickbay, it would be nice for a progress report.

“At worst case,” Veska added with a shrug, “maybe we have enough people here in sickbay that cover all of the various departments, that we can attempt to figure out what is going on ourselves.” She really wasn’t keen on that idea, but if it was an alternative to just sit and wait until the ship slowly destroyed itself and at least attempting to do something about it…die in battle as it where… her klingon half was advocating the latter.


“But let us give the bridge a little more time to assess the situation, and if we don’t hear anything from them, we can try and contact them…one way or another,” Veska proposed. “In the meantime, I have an overflow of patients that need me.” She also had a surgery scheduled, but with all the patients flowing into sickbay in a steady stream, she wasn’t sure when that would happen.

TAG Bettina... anyone else?...

[Bryan_Cash]

[Bridge Horizon]

Davies stood and knew what had happened. In some strange way he could feel his own birth. There was now two of him here as well. Everyone was struggling to deal with all the arrivals. Since just stepping foot on the bridge himself no fewer then a dozen people had appeared out of thin air.

He knew what they had to do and they had very little time to do it. Turning he reached into his duster and pulled out his fathers ancient communicator. Flipping it open he smiled as all the Cash's turned at it's unique chirp chirp noise.

Cash to Starlight. Decloak authorization Davies alpha one bravo.

On the viewscreen in front of the horizon a small Transport ship decloaked into view. She was old even by this timelines standards. But she was strong and always brought her crew home. Davies hoped she was good for one last ride.

"Does anyone here know about temporal shielding? Cause if we don't do something soon this ship is going to fill to the brim with people. My ship out there is capable of generating a field large enough to surround the Horizon. I just need someone to be aboard her to operate the controls."

He scanned the crowd of people for a response. His father wasn't really listening he could tell. Only trying to stabilize the situation long enough to head to sickbay.

[Bridge Horizon]
[while Davies is speaking]

"Understood engineering we need you to keep up the mains. We're getting overloaded here and we need all the power you can muster." Bryan wiped the sweat from his brow. He was needed here he knew that. But he wanted to be in sickbay with his wife. He resigned himself to dealing with everything when a hand laid on his shoulder. He turned and saw alex standing there with a smile.

"Go." Alex spoke in a soft tone.

"What? But i can't I"m needed here." Bryan tried to keep his composure....the man standing before him had such honor and sacrifice it was almost hard to look him in the eyes.

"Go bryan......your wife and child need you." Smiling his usual big smile.

"Besides i technically outrank you. I got a promotion in that other place i was. So that's an order mister. I can handle things while you deal with your family."

Smiling he patted his friend on the shoulder. "I stand relieved sir." turning he ran to the turbolift and went to his family.

[sickbay]

The lift ride had seemed incredibly long. All along the way to sickbay he had been stopped by scared crew or time displaced people who wanted help. But finally he was here. Slowly he stepped inside and saw his wife lying on a biobed cradling a baby in her arms.

[Veska]

[[Horizon - Sickbay:]]



Veska exhaled a sigh. She had just had to sedate a woman that had gone completely hysterical. The older woman next to her, looked sadly down upon the woman now sleeping on the biobed. The resemblance was uncanny, down to a slight crookedness to the bridge of her nose where it had likely been broken…in both women…at an early age. They were the same women, just from different times, or dimensions, Veska wasn’t sure which.

This had hardly been the only incident, though most people seemed to be handling the sudden appearance of themselves from different times or relatives…some yet to be born, appearing out of nowhere. Those that were Starfleet trained, future or not, seemed well aware of the need to keep silent on events. It was those that weren’t trained, like the pair she had just interacted with…that caused the occasional panic attack. All it took was the mention of one name, a look that said that person was no longer living in the future, and emotions ran freely…and dangerously.

Veska patted the shoulder of a member of the medical staff as she passed. The look of exhaustion clear on their face. But there was no end in sight. Or was there… Veska glanced up to see on man that might have answers walk into the doors of sickbay. Bryan. At least she was pretty sure it was the Bryan that belonged here, in this time and place…more or less...

She weaved through the growing crowd. “Congratulations Captain...he is beautiful and they are both fine. Worried about the current situation of course, but fine. I apologize for the lack of privacy, but it is a bit out of my control at the moment. As soon as she is feeling up to it however, I can arrange for her to be taken to quarters.”

She gestured towards the biobed they resided on, and then led the way, shouting to clear the way. As they approached Bettina, she said, “Bettina…look who is here.”


Tags!

[Veska]

[[Horizon – Sickbay:]]

Veska left the happy parents to be reunited and after a brief check to ensure the other recent arrival and mother were still in good health, Veska made a quick check of sickbay.

For now, the previously continuous influx of patients had slowed considerably. Whatever the bridge seemed to be doing was helping. Confusion was still rampant as people met themselves, past, future, or relatives long past or yet to come, but those that could not handle the knowledge or couldn’t keep future knowledge were sedated for everyone’s safety. Those that had firm grasps of the temporal directive were allowed to help where they could, be it engineering (which needed all the help it could get), medical, science, or where ever.

She slipped into the CMO office for a moment of peace and to catch up on all the ‘paper’work that had accumulated during the course of the current crisis. Supplies were running low and staff hours were continuing to rack up, even with the impromptu additional work force. But in one corner of her desk at the special pad with the specifics of the device that was about to be implanted into QaDghab before the crisis struck.

Though this was hardly the time for an ‘elective’ surgery, the ebb was slowing and Veska reasoned that given his ability to recover quickly, thanks to his Klingon heritage, combined with the accelerated healing afforded by the Starfleet technology that was available to them, it was possible they could still move forward with the surgery. There would be risks of course. Like, what if they crisis resumed in full force while they were working or shortly there after… however, the benefits could be far greater. QaDghab would no longer need to hoarse whisper everything he wished to say, and though it might be a little hard to understand as he adjusted to the new voice he would receive, others would be able to interact with him a lot more easily should the crisis necessitate such once he did. His ability to aid in what events that might be yet to come could be invaluable.

Veska grasped the padd and set off to discuss the possibility with QaDghab and I'zzad.

[Veska]

off: tried to contact M'Krall/I'zzad and QaDghab before I wrote this...but no response. So at least trying to tie up this loose end should QaDghab return at some point.

on:

[[Horizon - Sickbay:]]

While the new parents spent a little time with their newest addition, Veska continued on with her growing list of tasks. Between the at least temporary slowing of the multiplying occupants of the ship and the unexpected benefit of some of those ‘duplicates’ having medical knowledge and wishing to be put to use, Veska found her self able to perform what under most circumstances might have been considered an elective surgery: QaDghab’s voice box.

Veska had gone over the surgery many times in her head. It seemed an odd thing to daydream about, but if it returned to him the ability to speak again, something most humanoids were quite dependent on, it would return his ability to function normally again. Perhaps, such a thing was not quite on the level of bringing a new life into the world, as she had done twice in recent history, but to him it might be.

Gloves were snapped over her hands as she joined the rest of the surgeons and nurses that were standing ready around the sedated Klingon. Around her waist was her dagger. She hoped it was there purely for show, for ceremony, but it was customary for someone – though usually a family member – to be considered the final word on the person’s life that was undergoing surgery. If things were not going well, if something went wrong, things were not to be left to chance, but to the blade. As a doctor, Veska hated the idea, but as she had grown in her knowledge of Klingon traditions, she could see the merit in it.

“Let’s do this,” she voiced through the surgical mask to those around her. “We may not get another chance.” An echo of murmured agreement rang around the table.

***
[Post surgery:]

Veska looked in on the still sleeping QaDghab. The surgery had been successful, but they would have to wait for him to wake up before they could make the final adjustments and to train him on how to use it. In theory, it should work as if he had never lost his voice at all, but they would see.

For now, she had to wait. She had many patients, and they were potentially growing in number again.