Star Traks: Banshee






                            "UPSTARTS"
                          By Brad Dusen











            For Laura Terry.  You encouraged my
            writing eight years ago, and it stays
            with me today.  This novel is dedicated
            to you, because it never would have
            happened without you.               -BD









             "A little rebellion now and then is a 
             good thing."        -Thomas Jefferson
 










             
PROLOGUE





	The crowd was milling in the streets by now, awaiting the 
arrival of former Grand Nagus Zek.  The Ferengi government had 
taken over economical control of Viranis recently and Zek was 
one of many speakers to announce plans for the world's future.
	'I feel out of place.'  Thought Captain Jad Vorezze as he 
wandered through the crowd, clad in ordinary civilian attire.  
The Betazoid towered at six foot three over the considerably 
shorter Ferengi around him, though he could also pick out 
several Nausicaans and even a Klingon in the crowd.
	He glanced around, surveying the crowd further.  The only 
one of his officers who he spotted was Commander Charlotte 
Burns, who was standing on a street corner nearby.
	Charlotte let out a sigh as she glanced around, then 
turned as she was tapped on the shoulder.
	"Yes?"  She looked down at a Ferengi standing next to her 
who looked to hold the rank of DaiMon.
	"How much are you?"  The Ferengi drooled, looking 
Charlotte up and down.  "No more than 20 slips of latinum."
	"For the last time," Charlotte bellowed, "I'M NOT A 
PROSTITUTE!"
	"I know whore when I see one!"  The DaiMon barked back.
	Charlotte grabbed the Ferengi's ear and started pulling 
him around.  "For the last time, NO!"
	'Charlotte says no to someone...'  Jad thought to himself 
as he watched the scene.  'Not surprisingly, Hell has just 
frozen over...'

	Commander Vincent DiSanto skipped along the rooftops of 
the buildings lining the street, as if maintaining vigil over 
the crowd below.  As with everyone else on the planet, he wore 
simple dark civilian clothing.
	He reached under his jacket and tapped his hidden com-
badge.  "DiSanto to Vorezze."  He said.
	"What is it, Commander?"  Jad asked, his voice somewhat 
drown out by the noise of the crowd.
	"I've completed scouting the area and I see no sign of 
anything suspicious."  Vince said as he looked down, barely 
able to make out the figure of his commanding officer in the 
crowd below.  "Although I do see Commander Burns in a back 
alley beating the living tar out of a Ferengi male."
	"Very good, Commander.  Anything else to report?"
	"No sir, although I think that Bolian guy in the rainbow 
T shirt is winking at me."
	"I'm very happy for you, Commander.  Vorezze out."
	Vince paused for a moment.  "Hey, wait a second..!"

	Captain Vorezze walked along the street.  For the first 
time in a long time he felt cold.  While the temperature on 
the Banshee was normally kept cool, the uniforms made up for 
that.  Of course instead of his uniform, Vorezze was wearing 
standard black pants and a nearly skin tight dark green 
pullover that his girlfriend, Commander Tagel Axik had bought 
him for his recent twenty-ninth birthday.  She argued that it 
looked good on him.  He wasn't about to argue with her 
opinion.
	"Anything to report?"  Jad asked Commander Burns as she 
emerged from the alleyway, dusting her hands off.
	"No, although you might not want to go back there until 
the medics get a chance to remove that Ferengi hornball from 
the dumpster."  Charlotte said happily as she and Jad walked 
along the street.
	"What about for our mission?"  Jad asked her.
	"No one seems to know anything about what is supposed to 
happen here.  I've asked around."
	"Keep your eyes open, then."  Jad paused, suddenly 
noticing that Charlotte was staring at him.  "What is it, 
Commander?"
	"I never noticed how nice your pecs and abs were until 
just now."  Charlotte smacked her lips and looked at the 
captain with a depraved expression.
	"Umm, yeah."  The captain nervously backed several steps 
away.  "Just keep your eyes open AND keep them directed 
elsewhere."
	"Yes sir."  Charlotte replied cockily as she turned away.
	The two stood in silence for a moment, gazing forward at 
the still empty press box where Zek would be standing in a few 
minutes.
	"What is it now, I can sense you thinking about something 
to do with my shirt."  Jad demanded.
	"It's nothing..."  Charlotte snickered.
	"Never lie to a Betazoid."
	"It's just that, well, your nipples are hard."
	"WHAT!?"  Jad looked down at his chest.
	"It's probably just the cold weather, that's all."  
Charlotte giggled.
	"Commander, it's just your imagination."  Jad said 
matter-of-factly.
	"DiSanto to Vorezze."  Vince said over the comm.
	"Vorezze here."
	"Sir, I thought you should know something that I see from 
up here."  Vince said.
	"What is it?"  Jad sprang to attention.
	"Your nipples are hard."
	Jad breathed heavily, attempting to calm himself.  
"Commander DiSanto?"
	"Yes sir?"  Vince replied meekly.
	"Don't make me come up there!!"
	Vince was laughing hard now.  "Sorry, Captain, I..."  He 
paused.  "Sir, look on top of the building across the street."
	Jad and Charlotte turned to see a small figure walking on 
the building across the street from them.
	"Sir, he's armed."  Vince said worriedly.
	"Vince, lay low.  I'll give you more orders in a second."  
Jad turned to Charlotte.  "Contact the Banshee and have 
Commander Smith beam down with a security team."
	"What are you doing, nipple boy?"  Charlotte asked.
	"I need to save the Nagus."
	"But he's not even out here yet!"
	At that moment, computerized trumpets sounded with the 
Ferengi anthem.  Zek, accompanied by his attendant and 3 
guards walked out and traveled to the podium that was set for 
him.
	"People of Viranis..."  The prune like leader said in his 
high pitched nasal voice.
	"I hate you Betazoids..."  Charlotte said.

	Vince ran now along the rooftops, ducking below the 
guardrails as he assumed a position directly across from the 
figure on the roof.  He set up his rifle if he had to possibly 
phaser the man down should he try anything.

	"We, the Ferengi commerce authorities, along with the 
Federation government, will usher in a new era of cooperation 
between our two peoples as Viranis basks in the security of 
the Federation and the commercial power of the Ferengi."  Zek 
said from his podium to a cheering crowd.
	'God that man needs a vocal cord scraping.'  Jad thought 
to himself as he ran forwards through the crowd.  'Or a 
testosterone boost.'
	Vorezze's combadge rang. He answered it.
	"Burns to Vorezze."  Charlotte said as Jad continued his 
sprint.
	"What is it Commander?"
	"Commander Smith has beamed down with an away team.  
He'll be on the scene in a few minutes."
	"Very good Commander.  Vorezze out."  Jad moved back 
through the crowd.
	Vorezze's combadge rang again.  He answered it.
	"DiSanto to Vorezze."  Vince said as Jad shoved his way 
through the populace.
	"Yes?"
	"I'm in position to snipe the sniper."  Vince said.
	"If that's a real term, then good work.  Vorezze out."  
Jad was almost to the podium.
	Vorezze's combadge rang for a third time.  He paused, 
then answered it.  "Vorezze here."
	"Jad, hun," Axik's voice rang, "I'm making Hasperat for 
dinner, where is the braktik root?"
	"In the cupboard between the dill and the oregano."
	"Thanks hun."
	Jad paused for a moment, thinking of the spicy, yummy 
Hasperat.
	"Captain?"  Charlotte tapped him on the shoulder. "The 
Nagus?"
	"Oh, right."  Jad turned and ran towards the stage.
	"...and with this new joint governing policy," The Nagus 
continued, "Our revenues will EXPLODE!"
	A phaser bolt lanced down from a nearby rooftop, striking 
the podium and missing the Grand Nagus by mere centimeters.
	"WHA!!!"  Zek screamed as he ran off the stage into the 
protection of his bodyguards.  "Get me back to Ferenginar!  
And get me my beetle snuff!"
	"Vince!"  Jad screamed into his combadge as the crowd 
erupted into chaos around him.
	"Oh, right."  Vince replied.
	Jad looked up to see a phaser blast jump from one rooftop 
to the other, striking the gunman down.
	"Vorezze to Smith.  Meet me on the roof of the SolarTech 
Computer Company building in the central square."
	"On my way."  Dan said over the comm.

	Vince and Jad arrived at the scene at the same time.  
"Where'd he go?"  Jad looked around to see no one near the 
tripod mounted phaser rifle.
	Vince took out a tricorder.  "There's a transporter 
resonance.  He must have been beamed away."
	Dan and his team reached the roof.
	"Captain, look at this."  Vince pointed to some graffiti 
on the wall.  It had words written on it in an alien language.  
He ran his tricorder over it.  "It's been sprayed on 
recently."
	"Dan, you're pretty fluent in various languages, do you 
know what it says?"  Jad motioned for his security chief to 
come over.	
	Dan stared at the alien writing for a few moments, then 
his eyes widened.  "It says...  'This is just the tip of the 
iceberg.'"
	Everyone around gasped in disbelief.
	Vince smirked.  "That's the best they could come up 
with!?"
	"Take a sensor image with the tricorder."  Jad ordered.
	"Done."  Vince folded up the tricorder.
	Charlotte finally got to the roof.
	"Is everyone gathered?"  Jad looked around.
	"Yes, sir."
	"Vorezze to Banshee.  Six to beam up."  They vanished in 
a swirl of blue light.





CHAPTER ONE





	Rain clouds hung low over the city and a pale mist 
descended from them to slicken the world below.  With ample 
pace, a woman quietly walked down the sidewalk, a force field 
umbrella clutched tightly in hand to keep her dark raven hair 
dry.  She really did hate frizzies, after all.
	She moved with machine-like precision, swerving between 
clusters of businesspeople talking on the sidewalk and others 
lined up at street vendor stands for a quick lunch.  That glop 
on a stick did smell tempting...
	Inisil was on a mission, however.  Thoughts of food would 
have to wait.  She rounded the corner, onto a sidewalk that 
graced one of the city's main thoroughfares.  Ground shuttles 
scurried along the rain glossed streets before rising up at 
the end to enter an airborne expressway.  She stopped at a 
street corner, waiting for traffic to clear before she crossed 
to the other side.  As she waited, a large shuttlecraft with 
chrome plated warp nacelles and what appeared to be a racing 
stripe landed nearby.  The side hatch opened to reveal a young 
human male of no more than twenty four years of age sitting at 
the conn.  "Hey sweet cheeks!"  He shouted above the heavy 
bass of Klingon pop music.  "How about you come in here and we 
go out for a drink, I know a great little bar about 2 light 
years from here."
	With an irritated huff, Inisil turned to stare at the 
young man and his elaborate shuttle.  Her eyes flickered with 
light as she scanned him.  "According to my ocular implants, 
the size of your genitalia is disproportionately small to that 
of your shuttle."  She said coldly.  "As such I have no 
interest in you."
	Inisil couldn't tell what the man said as he cranked up 
his music system a little louder, but her audio enhancements 
faintly detected him saying she was "itchy."  He quickly 
closed the hatch and flew off.
	The light changed and Inisil walked briskly across the 
street.  She was used to such encounters over the span of her 
life.  She was eternally beautiful.  While she was, in 
reality, nearly ninety-eight years old, she was also only 30% 
organic.  After an accident almost claimed her life, most of 
her body was replaced with bionic implants, grafted so 
perfectly on that she looked no different than she did before 
it happened.  The only side effect is that her aging process 
ground to a halt at the age of twenty-five.  Of course people 
in the twenty-fourth century aren't supposed to care about 
looking old...
	The Federation municipal building stood tall against the 
storm clouds.  Dim lights glowed from within the shimmering 
transparent aluminum-clad facade.  Here was the seat of the 
Federation government on Viranis.  Some called it the 'tower 
of bureaucracy' while others called it a cancer on the face of 
the capital.  Inisil waited outside.
	Ten minutes or so passed before Jeritt finally emerged 
from the building.  A native Viranin, Jeritt stood just under 
two meters in height, his skin almost bone white and his eyes 
a vivid purple.  Viranin hair was about one hundred times 
thicker than normal humanoid hair and sat in a neat, 
businesslike arrangement on his head like a small plate of 
black pasta.  He wore a standard Federation style business 
suit on his body and a sly, cocky grin upon his face.
	"Your meeting with the governor went well, I assume?"  
Inisil asked as she approached Jeritt.
	Jeritt turned to his aide and smiled.  His teeth had a 
natural silvery shine to them that reflected the lightning 
that crackled overhead.  "Of course, Inisil.  I promised 
legions of construction robots for the space station 
construction project.  She narrowly avoided soiling herself 
upon the news, as far as I could tell."
	The two of them walked down the sidewalk under the 
protection of the force field umbrella.  "What of the reports 
of Starfleet intelligence officers on the planet?  We might 
wish to be additionally cautious."
	"Starfleet intelligence is a contradiction."  Jeritt 
laughed as he rounded the corner.  "What few agents are here 
aren't supported at all, their home offices are more concerned 
with operations on Romulus and Cardassia to pay any real 
attention to me."
	"I'm sure there are multiple ways we could dispose of 
them."  Inisil said as the two rounded yet another corner, a 
depraved look gracing her face as the topic of assassinations 
and homicide came up.
	"No..."  Jeritt turned to her.  "If we do that, then 
Intelligence will just realize that someone on Viranis doesn't 
want them here and send even more agents."  He breathed in 
deeply.  "They must find nothing so they think there is 
nothing real to be found."  He then stopped dead in his tracks 
and looked around.  "Where the heck did you park my shuttle!?"
	Inisil pointed down the street.  "The only parking spot I 
could find was just around the corner from our current 
location."
	Jeritt grimaced.  "You parked my brand new luxury shuttle 
in the bad part of town?"
	"I thought all parts of this city constituted the 'bad' 
neighborhoods."
	"Touche."  Jeritt sighed.  The two rounded the corner 
only to find a lone shuttle on the decaying street, windows 
dented and cracked and the expensive exterior decorative 
plates gone.  "Oh for the love of the great bird!"  Jeritt 
screamed.
	"It would appear that tomorrow's appointment to have the 
shuttle outfitted with a better security system came a day too 
late."
	Jeritt's eyes became slightly brighter with anger, a 
common feature among Viranins as he pressed his hand against 
the hatch's handprint pad.  The shuttle beeped and the hatch 
very slowly sprung open.  "Rest assured, when I succeed in 
wrestling control of Viranis from the Federation into my own 
hands, I will use whatever means necessary to silence petty 
criminals like this."
	Inisil stood alone by the side of the shuttle as Jeritt 
awaited the hatch to open.  As she waited, a scruffy looking 
Viranin in his mid-20's, drenched from the rain and wearing 
ratty old clothes, approached her.  "Yo, bitch, gimme your 
banking chip."
	Inisil looked at the man and raised her eyebrow.  "It's 
broad daylight, could you wait at least until it is dark?"
	The man huffed.  "Desperate times call for desperate 
measures."  He removed an exotic looking knife blade from his 
pocket.
	Inisil smacked her lips and retrieved a small black orb 
from her own pocket.  She squeezed it and a holographic boxing 
glove shimmered into existence below the sphere, encased in 
the same kind of force field that made holographic objects on 
the holodeck so very real.  The man had little time to react 
as the boxing glove slammed into his crotch, sending him to 
the ground writhing in tears. 
	Inisil squeezed the sphere again and the glove vanished.  
She turned and approached Jeritt, who was watching the scene 
with a depraved amusement.  "You are aware that the personal 
security device industry, which has been thriving quite a bit 
in the last 25 years, will be hurt considerably if you are 
successful in crushing those who commit crimes."
	Jeritt shrugged as he entered the shuttle.  "I'm sure 
they'll get over it eventually.  If not, I'll expel them from 
the planet."
	"So true to your revolutionary spirit."

	The city of Kon Arlaan was very gray.  Gray spires 
encased in gray glass mixed with rounded Federation 
architecture rose to form a disjointed skyline of contrasts 
between the angular and the blunt.  Many towers were 
abandoned, home for pre-Federation businesses that had since 
fled.  Viranis's neo-capitalist system was never able to make 
the transition to the Federation's moneyless ideal, and many 
businesses either closed or left the planet.
	Inisil piloted the shuttlecraft through the skybourne 
traffic stream, a continuous tubular formation of small craft 
that would seem to resemble schools of fish swimming in the 
ocean more than any form of expressway.  Transit was the 
lifeblood of Viranin culture.  While the population of most 
Federation planets beamed their way around their respective 
worlds, Viranins held a certain cultural joy in their ability 
to transport themselves, savoring the journey as much as the 
destination.  In many ways Viranis was much like the Earth 
that never was as a result of the third World War - though 
most Viranins would be loathe to admit the similarities.
	Jeritt himself was the head of one of the few major 
corporations that Viranis had left.  The Muric Robotics 
Company was the leading supplier of autonomous robots in the 
quadrant.  Jeritt himself was behind the success, perfecting a 
manufacturing process that combined small, efficient, self-
sustaining robots with specialized armors and hulls capable of 
withstanding all known forms of radiation and interference.  
As such his robots were used for everything from construction 
in turbulent regions of space to science probes that could 
touch down on the surface of stars.  It was perhaps this one 
feature that allowed him to compete with well-established 
Federation companies.
	"What is this message the computer says I have?"  Jeritt 
asked as he sifted through the tampered innards of his 
shuttle, examining what was stolen.
	Inisil spoke as she intently piloted the shuttle towards 
the Muric Tower.  "It was left on your system this morning by 
one of your plant managers while you were meeting with the 
Federation governor."
	Jeritt tapped the controls and sat back as a hologram 
materialized before him.  It was the manager of the plant he 
had located on Virasis, Viranis's largest moon, a human by the 
name of Grant Fulton.  "Jeritt, this might seem random to you, 
but recently I have become increasingly aware of what you are 
planning to do.  I had only suspicions until I accessed the 
designs database and saw what was being produced at this time.  
I cannot, as a Federation citizen, allow this to stand.  By 
the time you get this message I will have reported your 
activities to Starfleet.  For the sake of Viranis, I can't let 
this happen."  The hologram faded out.
	With a heavy sigh, Jeritt glanced over at Inisil.  "I 
knew I shouldn't have reversed my policy against hiring 
Humans."
	"Would you like me to have him killed?"  Inisil asked 
with a small bit of glee in her eye.  "Just say the word and 
his shuttle becomes space dust."
	Jeritt rubbed his chin and stared out the window as his 
craft began to land on the roof of his skyscraper.  "No, I 
want to get at his flight records to see where he goes."  He 
leaned back and pondered.  "Activate the device in his 
shuttle, keep the craft intact but kill the man."
	"Very good, sir.  You do know how much I enjoy my hired 
hits, after all."
	Jeritt smiled.  He was grateful he'd installed that 
"Hitmen for Dummies" program in her computerized memory unit 
several years ago.  "That man will not live to tell Starfleet 
of what is about to transpire here.  And even if he did, I'd 
like to see one crew that could stop me."





CHAPTER TWO





	"LIEUTENANT RAYHAN, PUT THAT LASER TORCH DOWN!"  Chief 
Engineer Lieutenant Commander David Riley bellowed as he 
rushed towards the Trill engineer as he put the cutting device 
dangerously close to assistant chief engineer Lt. Serric's 
head.
	"But I just wanted to see if it would come out the other 
side."  The Trill pouted as he dropped the torch and slumped 
down on a step by the warp core.
	"I'm sure it would."  David grumbled.  "And it would have 
killed him in the process."
	"Oh..."  Rayhan looked down and rubbed his big toe into 
the floor in an ashamed manner.  "Do we, like, need him or 
something?"
	Becoming increasingly exasperated, the engineer handed 
the Trill a large sponge and said, "Here, go clean out 
Jeffries tube 16-F."
	Rayhan's face lit up as he scurried off.  "I get to play 
janitor again!"
	Captain Vorezze strode into Engineering at a brisk pace, 
glancing about.  "Commander Riley?  Are you in here?"
	"I'm right here, Captain, what did you need?"
	"Why did you turn your communicator off?  I've been 
trying to reach you for an hour."  The captain huffed.
	"Really?"  David said.  "I turned it off because the 
tactical systems maintenance department kept making prank 
pages to me."
	Jad, paused to speak, but simply shook his head and 
decided against it.  "Anyway, our cloaking device seems to be 
malfunctioning, while we were in orbit we were leaking 
particles and that might have made us detectable.  We've 
pulled away from the planet and have parked in a remote part 
of the system and dropped the cloak, so I need you to work on 
getting it operational again as soon as possible."
	David nodded.  "I'll get to work on it right away."
	"Burns to Vorezze."  First officer Commander Charlotte 
Burns's voice rang out over the comm.
	"Vorezze here."  Jad grumbled at the sound of his XO's 
voice.
	"A shuttlecraft is rapidly approaching our direction.  
It's hailing us."
	Jad flinched.  No one was supposed to see the Banshee 
while it was in the Viranis system.  That's why he'd taken 
such great pains to find a remote part of the system to park 
at while the cloak was repaired.  "Umm... tell them we're not 
home."
	"We tried that already sir, the pilot asked 'If no one's 
home, how did you respond?'  He stumped us there!"
	"Curses!  He's a smart one, he is."  The captain rubbed 
his chin.  "I'll be right there.  Vorezze out."  He turned to 
Riley.  "I want that cloak up and running as soon as 
Betazoidly possible."
	David nodded.  "Aye sir."
	The captain turned and left, leaving the chief engineer 
standing for a moment, brainstorming possible problems the 
cloaking device might be having.  Lieutenant Serric walked up 
to David as the chief engineer stood in thought and proceeded 
to tug at his arm sleeve.  "Yes, Serric?"  David turned asked.
	"Can I have a snack?"  The assistant engineer rubbed his 
gurgling stomach.
	David patted the Bolian on his little blue head and said, 
"Not yet, you have to wait until after nap time, then you can 
have a snack."
	Serric pouted and trudged away.

	Captain Vorezze emerged onto the bridge as a group of 
officers huddled over the communications console.  The captain 
paused for a moment and raised his eyebrow.  "Exactly what are 
all these people doing here?"
	Commander Charlotte Burns shot her head up, flinging 
random specs of dandruff in the air in the process.  "When we 
heard a shuttle was approaching people ran to the bridge on 
the off chance it might be another girl scout going out of her 
way to sell cookies, but we lost the transmission."
	Charlotte tapped a few controls and the last pieces of 
the message replayed over the speaker system.  "This is Grant 
Fulton, I have an urgent message for any Starfleet officers 
who can listen to me.  You have to know that – ACK!"  The 
message ended with an abrupt sparking sound.
	Jad glanced at the shuttle on the viewer.  "Has it been 
moving since the transmission ended?"
	Charlotte shook her head.  "No, sir, it hasn't."
	Jad brushed more white flakes of skin off his shoulder.  
"Please stop that, it's like it's snowing in here."  He turned 
to Commander DiSanto, who was filing his nails at the tactical 
station.  "Mr. DiSanto, tractor the shuttle into the main 
shuttlebay and have a security detail ready."
	"Aye sir."  Vince said as he engaged the beams.  After a 
few moments of careful maneuvering, he said "Okay, sir, it's 
in the main bay."
	"Excellent.  Let's go see what Mr. Fulton wants."
	An alarm began beeping as Vince glanced down at his 
console.  "Sir, another ship is approaching, another 
shuttlecraft."
	Jad spun around.  "On screen."
	The image of a small shuttle appeared racing towards the 
Banshee.  Emblazoned on the side of the shuttle was a red 
polygon figure with the words "Pizza Hut" below it.
	The captain's shoulders sank.  "Okay, who ordered the 
pizza!?"

	Fulton's shuttle was a small, dark green spacecraft that 
vaguely resembled a miniature Bird-of-Prey.  It sat in the 
center of the large shuttlebay in the Banshee's saucer section 
with an eerie silence.
	Chief of security Commander Daniel Smith cautiously 
approached the shuttle.  "Are tricorders picking anything up?"  
He asked one of the nearby guards as he clutched a phaser 
rifle.
	"Negative, sir."  The officer said.  "It's not even 
picking up any life forms inside."
	One of the other guards began to giggle incessantly.  
"Hey, check it out!  If I scan Madison's head, the tricorder 
says it's empty."
	Dan grumbled as he examined the control panel on the 
hatch.  "I'm not seeing any way to get past this locking 
mechanism."
	"Try using a tricorder."  One of the guards suggested.
	Dan looked at the hatch in a perplexed manner, then 
turned to the guard.  "Why a tricorder?"
	The guard shrugged.  "Haven't you ever noticed that 
Tricorders can do just about anything if you tap at the 
controls enough?"
	Another guard nodded and chimed in.  "I got mine to dice 
onions once!"
	Commander Smith shrugged and pulled out his trusty 
tricorder.  "Here goes nothing."  He began to randomly tap 
buttons on the small device, which made beeping and whirring 
noises in response.  After a moment, the hatch sprang open.  
"Wow..."  Dan wasn't quite sure what to say, "never saw that 
happen before."
	The shuttlebay doors parted and Captain Vorezze sprinted 
in, chanting "What'd I miss!?  What'd I miss!?"
	"We just opened the shuttle."  Commander Smith said.  He 
turned to face the entrance.  It was dark inside, and the air 
held the pungent odor of ozone.  "Hello?"  Dan asked.  "Is 
anyone there?"
	He took a step forward, phaser withdrawn and clutched 
tightly in his hand.
	Captain Vorezze stood tense with anticipation as he 
watched Dan enter the dark depths of the shuttle.  The tension 
was interrupted when he heard a loud crunch coming from the 
security guard next to him as he chomped down on a handful of 
popcorn.  Jad raised his eyebrow and looked at the officer as 
the scent of butter drifted into his nose.  "Where did you get 
that?"
	The guard next to Jad swallowed the popcorn down and said 
"I made it with the tricorder."  He motioned to another guard, 
who was holding a flat pan made of lightweight foil.  The 
guard pointed the tricorder to it, and it proceeded to inflate 
with a rapid popping sound.
	Commander Smith emerged from the shuttle.  "I can't find 
anyone in here."
	Jad furrowed his brow as he reached over and took a 
handful of the guard's popcorn.  "That's odd," he crunched 
down on it, "someone had to have placed that distress call."
	Dan scanned again with his tricorder.  "I'm detecting 
some residue on the interior surfaces.  It looks to be that of 
a human who was vaporized by a phaser beam."
	There was a strange mechanical noise from inside the 
shuttle.  With a fast motion, a small device that looked 
vaguely like a metal crab with a shiny black top scurried out 
of the shuttle and towards one of the guards.
	"What the heck is that!?"  One of the guards asked, 
pointing to the machine with his popcorn pan as it neared him.
	Without warning a phaser bolt erupted from the top of the 
device, hitting the popcorn pan and causing it to instantly 
pop.
	"Woah, that was kind of cool!"  The guard said.
	"Get down!"  Dan screamed out as he shot at the killer 
crab, which quickly scurried out of the way.
	Another phaser bolt lanced out of the machine, hitting 
the top of Fulton's shuttle as Dan ducked out of the way.  He 
grabbed his phaser again and shot the crab, causing it to 
explode in a massive spark of acrid smoke.
	The group of four guards, the captain and Commander Smith 
stood in a stunned silence for a moment before one of the 
guards asked "What the heck was that!?"
	Dan glanced down at the small pieces of debris from the 
device, kicking the charred pieces aside with his foot.  "I'm 
guessing that's what bumped off our pilot."
	"The question is why."  Jad asked.  "Seal off this 
shuttlecraft with a force field and post guards to monitor it 
24/7.  I want to make sure no other surprises come off of that 
thing."
	"What do we do now, sir?"  One of the guards asked 
Captain Vorezze.
	Jad sighed.  "Someone had to have sent that crab thing 
after him on purpose, and I bet it's related to our 
investigation on Viranis."
	"Not necessarily."  The guard shrugged.  "When I was in 
the academy a few years ago I once had to deal with a killer 
case of crabs and that wasn't given to me on purpose."
	Jad cringed.  "That's not even the same thing... and 
that's just nasty regardless!"  He turned to Dan.  "I'll be in 
my ready room.  Keep me posted."  With that the captain 
turned, grabbed another handful of popcorn, and left.





CHAPTER THREE





	"Construction has almost been completed."  The middle-
aged woman on Jeritt's screen said in front of the backdrop of 
the Federation emblem.  Her name was Olivia Powell, the 
Federation governor of Viranis.  "We never would have been 
able to finish such major parts of the station without the 
help of your robots, kind sir."
	Jeritt loathed the very sight of Powell but nevertheless 
forced his face into a convincing smile as he said, "Oh but it 
is an honor to be part of the construction of the glorious new 
Starbase 1534."  He then silently thought to himself 'You 
stupid puppet politician.'
	"I know this should help turn Viranis's economy around as 
I have been working diligently to do for the last several 
years."  Powell said with a certain joy in her voice.
	'What are you talking about?  You haven't done jack 
s**t!'  Jeritt thought to himself before saying, "Oh I know 
you've been giving our economic turmoil your utmost 
attention."
	"Why thank you.  I must say, Jeritt, you and your company 
have been some of my biggest supporters."
	'Well why wouldn't I want a weak, feeble, indecisive 
governor ruling over a planet with a pending crisis?'  Jeritt 
asked himself in his head.  "Oh but you've done so much for us 
as a people, Governor Powell, your strong leadership really is 
inspiring."
	"Well thank you again.  I've other matters to attend to, 
but I do hope I will see you at the ceremony to commission the 
station the day after tomorrow."
	"As you Humans would say, I shall be there will bells 
on!"  Jeritt smiled.  "So I can bludgeon you over the head 
with one."  He suddenly bit his tongue when he realized he'd 
said his last statement aloud instead of thinking it.
	Powell looked confused.  "Beg pardon?"
	"Oh nothing, nothing at all.  I must be going now, Jeritt 
out."  He quickly closed the transmission.
	The screen went dark as Jeritt leaned back in his desk 
chair and glanced about his office.  It was a somewhat 
palatial affair.  Jeritt had the money, so he had no qualms 
about spending it.  Viranin artwork adorned the walls, most of 
it abstract art featuring shapes and patterns that, from a 
distance, formed coherent depictions of scenes from Viranin 
history and mythology.  His desk was large and immaculately 
organized, made of a polished black stone resembling marble, 
except that the marble texture glowed a soft, subtle blue.  He 
turned in his chair to look out the window.  Kon Arlaan was 
somewhat alive looking at this time of the evening.  Dim 
lights illuminated the office towers still in use in scattered 
patterns.  Many buildings were only partially lit because they 
were only partially occupied.  Apartment towers were more 
active looking, with lights flickering on slowly as Viranins 
across the city began to return home from work.  The sole 
bright spot was the Federation municipal building where 
Governor Powell no doubt sat doing nothing all that 
constructive.  Every window in the fifty story smooth, 
mirrored tower was lit.  
	The sky behind the buildings of downtown was painted a 
mix of dark storm clouds and the blood red glow of the 
twilight horizon that shown through in random patches of clear 
sky.  Viranis was normally a stormy world, caught in an 
eternal spring rain.  Summer and winter did not exist here, it 
was only spring.
	Inisil entered in a hurried pace, clutching a PADD in her 
hand.  "Fulton's shuttle cannot be located."  She said with a 
dismayed tone of voice.
	Jeritt turned in his chair and took the PADD.  "What was 
his last known location?"
	"According to our computers he was headed towards the 
asteroid belt on the outer reaches of the system.  The belt 
forms a circle but has nothing of interest the center."
Jeritt noticed a series of hails on the transmission records.  
"What were these last hails to?"
	Inisil looked over to them.  "They appear to have been 
directed towards a Federation starship, but recent scans 
report none are in the vicinity."
	Jeritt paused, staring intently at a star chart on his 
display screen.  "Just because we can't find one doesn't mean 
that a Federation ship, possibly one from Intelligence, isn't 
here.  We saw those interlopers who botched our attempts to 
scare off the Ferengi, but we never figured out where they 
came from."
	"Could they not just be lone agents stationed on this 
planet permanently?"
	Jeritt shook his head.  "No, we'd be seeing more of them 
if that were the case."  He stood up and walked towards the 
exit.  "Send a group of mining robots to the asteroid, make it 
look like they're scanning for useful materials inside the 
asteroids but make sure they take a thorough look at the area 
around the belt."  He turned and stared out towards the 
heavens.  "Something tells me we're dealing with a deadly and 
cunning adversary."


	"Bwahaha!  I won again!"  Lieutenant Commander Vincent 
DiSanto shouted triumphantly as "You Won!" flashed across the 
game of Pong that he and Lt. Cmdr. Ben Rachow were playing on 
the main viewer.
	"Damnit, I hate losing to a dork like Vince."  Ben 
winced.
	Assistant Captain Velorn sat in his usual rigid pose in 
the command chair, watching the two officers play as he said 
"If it is any consolation, Commander Rachow, I was hoping you 
would win."
	Vince glared at Velorn.  "You're not supposed to play 
favorites!"
	"Believe me when I say neither of you two are my 
favorites."  The Vulcan responded.  "Commander Rachow is 
simply the least annoying."
	"Thanks!"  Ben grinned.  "I think..."
	Vince's controls began to beep with a proximity alert.  
"Captain, we have four small objects approaching our 
location."
	"On screen."  Velorn said.  "I hate to interrupt your 
game but we are on a mission."
	They looked vaguely like a cross between a mosquito and a 
hornet.  A central unit containing the main computer unit had 
wing-like engine nacelles attached to the back and four 
spindly gripper legs.  On the bottom was a bulbousy section 
that contained the power supplies and storage and the top was 
a powerful drill mounted on a round pivot.  Four of them flew 
in formation at low warp.
	"They appear to be mining robots."  Vince said as he 
analyzed the sensor data.  "Should I go to Red Alert and bring 
the captain out of his conference?"
	Velorn shook his head.  "No, our cloak has been restored 
so they shouldn't be able to see us.  They are probably just 
searching for minerals in these asteroids."  He sighed.  
"Besides I like being in command for a change."
	The mining robots on the viewer latched onto the surface 
of various asteroids, digging into their surfaces while 
sending out scans into the space around them.

	Commander Smith sat in Captain Vorezze's ready room 
alongside head scientist Dr. Elizabeth Lang.  "We've been able 
to get a positive identification that it was, in fact, Grant 
Fulton who was in that shuttle."  Dan said as he sat across 
from the captain at his desk with his hands folded in his lap.
	"I assume you used that organic residue you found in the 
shuttle's cabin and matched it to his records?"  Jad asked as 
he rocked back and forth in his desk chair.
	"Unfortunately that option was not available to us at the 
moment."  Liz said.  "Fulton was vaporized by that phaser 
blast, and when a living organism is vaporized, it breaks 
apart most of the chemical bonds and shreds the general 
structure of cells and the organelles it contains.  There 
would be no DNA left intact to do the comparison."
	Jad furrowed his brow.  "Well how do we have a positive 
ID then?  I need to make sure we're doing this accurately for 
once so Admiral Walker doesn't yell at me and make me cry 
again."  Which was true.  The Viranis case was the Banshee's 
first truly in-depth Section 31 assignment they'd received 
since the ship had been inducted into the secret organization.  
At all costs, Jad wanted this mission to be a stunning 
success.
	Dan removed a folded black leather pouch-like object from 
the box that sat next to his chair.  "We found his wallet on 
the pilot's seat of the shuttle."
	The captain shrugged.  "Not exactly scientific, but it'll 
do.  What do we know about him?"
	"We did a search and found fifteen Grant Fultons who 
resided in the Viran System.  Given the age range, we were 
able to narrow it down to Grant B. Fulton, a laid-off street 
sanitation worker in the southern Viranis city of Sorese, 
Grant H. Fulton, the male identity of a famous drag queen 
whose stage name is Miss Jiggles McKee, Grant J. Fulton, who 
manages a Muric Robotics Company plant on Virasis, a moon of 
Viranis, and Grant S. Fulton, a professional landbeast rider 
from the rural Viranis province of Lariss."
	"That's quite a few suspects that we'll have to sort 
through."  Jad said as he sipped an iced tea.  Oh how he loved 
his iced tea.
	"Not really," Liz went on, "We were able to determine 
this was Grant J. Fulton of the Muric Robotics plant."
	"Genetic cross reference?"  Jad asked.  "Or hacked 
computer records?"
	Dr. Lang glanced over at Commander Smith, who proceeded 
to speak.  "We found this ID badge inside the wallet."  Dan 
removed a badge labled 'Grant J. Fulton – Manager, Muric 
Robotics Co.'
	Jad huffed.  "You're not wowing me with your high-tech 
prowess."
	"Moving on."  Dan said.  "We've seen records of Fulton's 
recent transactions."  He handed the captain a PADD with a 
list of purchases on them.  "You can see by this list that he 
looks to have been shopping for items for some kind of long-
term trip or time away from home in his last few days."
	The captain glanced at the PADD at the list of 
transactions.  "Weapons, power packs, shuttle fuel, gigantic 
box of graham crackers..."   He set the PADD down and rubbed 
his chin.  "Definitely seems like he was expecting some 
turbulent times.  Are these records from his bank?"
	Liz shook her head.  "We found these receipts inside 
Fulton's wallet."  She removed several crumpled pieces of 
paper.
	Jad got up and set his empty iced tea in the replicator.  
It proceeded to vanish in a swirl of light.  He felt somewhat 
uneasy at the moment and he wasn't sure why.  "The real 
question, though, is who killed him?"
	"We were able to determine that the phaser blast that 
killed Fulton was the same resonance frequency as the phaser 
blast that struck former Grand Nagus Zek's podium three days 
ago, so we know that the weapon on that little robot in the 
shuttle was from the same source."  Dan noted.
	"Wallet?"  Jad rubbed his temples as a headache overtook 
him.
	Dan and Liz nodded simultaneously.
	"Do we have any suspects?"
	Liz spoke.  "Well we know that Fulton worked for Muric.  
He was the manager of a large production plant, and reported 
directly to the head of the corporation, a Viranin businessman 
named Jeritt.  Seems to me that the best place to start would 
be to see if Jeritt knows why someone would want to kill him."
	Jad reclined back in his chair and sighed.  "And was that 
from the wallet too?"
	Liz furrowed her brow.  "No... we hacked into the Muric 
computer database to get that information."  She stood up, 
followed by Commander Smith.  "What kind of an amateur 
research team do you take us for?"
	Jad shook his head.  "Commander Smith let's ready a team 
to head down to Viranis tomorrow to talk to this Jeritt 
fellow, see if he can shed any light on the situation."
	"Aye sir."
	"Dismissed."  Jad sat back in his chair as the two 
commanders silently left.


	Jeritt sat quietly in his chair as he sipped a cup of 
aransa, a Viranin beverage similar to coffee but slightly 
sweeter.  It was a deep, warm purple in hue and the aroma it 
let off was slightly fruity.  "Have the robots detected 
anything yet?"  He asked, not looking up from his copy of the 
Federation Times.
	Inisil sat in a chair across the room, watching the 
display screen intently.  "Not as of yet, although they did 
find some duranium deposits that might be of use for 
construction at some point."
	Jeritt nodded as he set the drink down.  "Excellent, make 
a note of that."  He looked up at his assistant, who wore a 
rather glum expression on her normally emotionless face.  "You 
look upset, what's wrong?"
	Inisil sighed.  "I had a rather unsuccessful date last 
night."
	Jeritt nodded, folding his hands in his lap and leaning 
back.  He did his best to be attentive to the needs of his 
employees.  He reveled in his ranking as one of the best 
companies to work for on the planet.
	"He made an extremely unwelcome advance at me."  The 
cyborg said coldly.  "When he attempted the move I had little 
choice but to break the wrist of his offending hand... then 
his other wrist... and then both of his legs, just for good 
measure."  She let out a heavy, pained sigh.  "I don't think 
he's going to call like he said he would."
	Jeritt shook his head.  "Another suitor who was brash 
enough to try and hold your hand?"
	Inisil nodded.
	"I'm sure the right guy is out there for you somewhere, 
one who isn't as easily broken into small pieces."  Jeritt 
said as he walked over to his assistant.
	"Thank you, sir."  Inisil smiled.
	Neither Inisil nor Jeritt were paying attention as the 
sensor image of a mining robot fluttered in the foreground of 
the display screen on the wall.  As it headed towards the open 
center of the asteroid belt it suddenly became crumpled, as if 
it had just hit some kind of invisible wall.  Derelict, it 
drifted backwards and let out sparks.
	Jeritt turned to the display screen.  "What happened to 
that robot?"
	Inisil guessed.  "It probably collided with one of the 
asteroids."
	"Hmmm..."  Jeritt stood and deactivated the display.  
"Remind me to have someone work on improving their 
navigational systems.  In the meantime, I'll examine the 
findings tomorrow.  I need dinner now."
	Inisil nodded again and rose.  "Where do you wish to 
dine?"
	"I was thinking that restaurant a few blocks away that 
serves... oh what is that exotic stuff called... 'Mexican' 
food?"
	"Very good sir."
	Jeritt grabbed his coat.  "I wonder where the planet 
Mexica is, I'd be interested in visiting sometime if their 
food is that good."
	Inisil followed her master as he headed out the door.  
"Perhaps when the world is under your control, you'll finally 
have the time and the freedom to go and find it."





CHAPTER FOUR





	The room was dark as Captain Vorezze sat propped up in 
his bed, his arms wrapped securely around Commander Tagel.  
The Bajoran leaned her head back and turned slightly so her 
face rested against the captain's neck, her long, curly red 
hair flowing down his back and shoulder.  Jad quietly and 
slowly caressed her bulging abdomen where, somewhere inside, 
the combination of the two of them was growing and reaching 
fruition.
	"Dr. Isaac is growing impatient."  Axik whispered quietly 
as she caressed the captain's arm.
	"He's still waiting for those platform shoes to come in?"  
The captain asked of the five foot high doctor.
	"No, he knows what gender our baby is.  He's dying to 
tell us, I can see it in his face."  She smiled wryly.  "Like 
he'll explode if he can't let the secret out."
	Jad smiled and let out a content sigh.  "Well he has to 
understand that we want to be surprised."
	"You're a telepath, what do you think it'll be?"
	Jad gently stroked his imzadi's hair.  "I can't read that 
just yet.  But I can tell you what I hope it'll be."  He 
gently kissed her neck.
	"What do you hope for?"  She cooed at the sensation of 
her lover's lips on her flesh.
	"I want it to be a girl."
	Axik smiled, her warm blue eyes staring into Jad's face.  
"That's odd, most men seem to wish for a son."
	"Yeah, but I figured if it's a girl and she grows up 
wrong I can just say 'You're just like your mother!'"
	"Oh..."  Axik furrowed her brow.  "Well in that case I 
hope it's a boy."
	Jad let out a long sigh as he glanced over at the wall 
chronometer.  "It's almost time for me to get up."
	"I don't like being on a mission so close to the end of 
this."  Axik rubbed her own stomach.  "I want this child to be 
born into calm environment, not one of constant red alert 
sirens."
	"Just because I inadvertently screamed 'Red alert!  All 
hands to battle stations!' in my sleep the other night and the 
ship's sirens all went off doesn't mean this won't be a 
wonderful environment to bring a child into."
	Axik sighed again.
	"I'll tell you what." Jad kissed her on the forehead.  
"When this mission is complete, I'll take a shore leave.  
We'll go to Risa.  If the baby isn't born already, we'll stay 
there until it is.  If it is born already, we'll take it with 
us."
	Axik's expression changed from worry and wonder to that 
of warmth and happiness.  "I just want to make sure the baby 
grows up right."
	"I'm sure it will.  The baby will have two very good role 
models to teach it all the morals and values it will need to 
lead a healthy normal life."  Jad began to get up.  "And I'll 
tell you what, when I get back from my mission today, we'll 
have a romantic dinner and then spend some time in our 
favorite holodeck program."
	Axik squealed with delight.  "Leather Love Dungeon!?"
	Jad grinned and nodded.
	"Oh, Jaddy, thank you so much."  She hugged him and 
squeezed him tight.  "We're going to make the best life 
possible for this baby.  We'll make sure it has a healthy, 
normal childhood."
	"DiSanto to Vorezze!"  The tactical officer's voice rang 
out over the comm.
	Jad grumbled and reached over on his nightstand to press 
his combadge.  "Vorezze here, what did you need?"
	"I'm going to be like half an hour late for the mission 
today.  I kind of got something embarrassing caught in my 
zipper."  Vince said sheepishly.
	"Hold still, you're just going to make it worse!"  Dr. 
Isaac was heard shouting in the background.
	The captain raised his eyebrow and thought for a brief 
moment.  "Commander none of our clothes in this day in age 
even have zippers on them."
	"I know..." Vince winced, "that's what makes this so 
embarrassing."
	Jad shook his head.  "Just be there as soon as you can, 
I'll let Commander Smith know about the delay."  The Betazoid 
rolled over in his bed and kissed Axik on the forehead again.  
"I have to go get ready, we're going to try to track down this 
Jeritt guy today.  It shouldn't take long though."
	"Be careful, Jaddy."  Axik said with a worried look on 
her face.
	Jad smiled warmly at the beautiful Bajoran in his bed.  
"I always am, sweetie."  He turned and promptly fell over his 
nightstand.

	Dr. Elizabeth Lang sat hunched over a console in her 
laboratory deep within the Banshee.  The lights were low as 
she tapped at controls, adjusting various readouts and 
analyzing what she saw.  A half eaten breakfast bagel sat on a 
plate that was resting above the console.  Eating would have 
to wait.  To the doctor, solving a puzzle that was put before 
her was more important than food or sleep.  It was a matter of 
preserving her own pride.
	"Look at this material readout."  She turned to Commander 
Dan Smith, who sat sleeping in the chair next to her.  
Angered, she kicked Dan's chair, sending him spinning in 
circles and crying out as he was flung from his peaceful, 
albeit uncomfortable, slumber.
	The chief of security yawned.  "What is it?"
	Liz pointed across the screen.  "According to this, the 
materials used to build the phaser that the small robot inside 
Fulton's shuttle was equipped with is the same materials used 
in standard Federation phasers."
	"Well I think we could have ruled out the Klingons, yes, 
since we're several thousand light years from their 
territory."  Dan snapped back, cranky from his lack of sleep.
	"True," Liz noted, "but doesn't it seem just a little odd 
that a Federation citizen would murder another citizen?  It's 
not like murders are common these days."
	Dan reached over and felt blindly on the counter before 
locating his cup of coffee.  He raised the glass mug to his 
mouth and took in a large gulp of the warm, bitter, energizing 
liquid.  "True, but you and I both know that Federation 
technology can easily fall into the hands of others."  He set 
the mug down.  "Besides, Viranis has the highest crime rate of 
any planet in the Federation, so it's not like we're talking 
about Earth or some other normally safe and secure planet."
	"I don't know."  Liz shook her head.  "Something about 
this doesn't feel right."  The scientist glanced over to her 
beloved pet hamster, Zeke, who sat diligently on the 
countertop a few feet away from her, stuffing a pile of 
sunflower seeds into his ever infating cheek pouches.  "Isn't 
that right, Zekey-pooh, something doesn't seem right."
	Commander Smith flashed a frightened look as he sipped 
his coffee again.  "Something's not right, that's for sure."  
He mumbled to himself.  "I need to get going, I have to meet 
the captain in transporter room three to go down to the 
surface for a while.  Let me know if you find anything else."
	"Oh I sure will."  Liz began rubbing the underside of her 
hamster's chin.  "I sure will won't I Zekey."
	A look of bewilderment came over the security chief's 
face as he slowly backed out of the lab.


	Inisil slowly walked back and forth through the lobby of 
the Muric tower, waiting patiently for a food order that 
Jeritt had placed for his lunch.  The receptionist sat rigidly 
at her desk, watching the cyborg pace back and forth.  Jeritt 
had Inisil handle most of the disciplinary responsibilities 
for his company, and her 'counseling' sessions with employees 
who were deemed delinquent were known to be extraordinarily 
unpleasant experiences.  She didn't want to raise the cyborg's 
ire.  Especially not while she was quietly slipping blank 
isolinear chips from the supply room into her purse.
	The doors of the lobby parted and three men dressed in 
Viranin style business suits strode in, though neither of the 
three were Viranin.  Inisil stopped and glanced them over, but 
her shoulders sank when she saw the men were not carrying 
food.
	Captain Vorezze stood in the middle of the formation and 
whispered quietly to Commander Smith and Commander DiSanto at 
his side.  "Okay, I believe that's Jeritt's personal assistant 
up ahead of us."
	Dan wiggled his eyebrows and smiled.  "She looks like the 
type who I'd like to have assist me in a personal way."
	"That's kind of unprofessional."  Vince sneered at him.
	Dan huffed.  "You just don't see women like the rest of 
us."
	"Hush."  The captain intervened.  "Let's remember our 
codenames that we use.  I'm Dontar, Dan, you're Leopold, 
Vince... you're Bubbles."
	Vince grumbled.  "C'mon, I hate being Bubbles!"
	"Then Dan can be Bubbles next time we go undercover, but 
for now, the names stand.  Remember, we're reporters for the 
Kon Arlaan Tribune, doing a feature story on prominent Viranin 
businessmen."
	"And how are we going to get into questions about Grant 
Fulton's death using that ruse?"  Dan inquired.
	"Just follow my lead."  Jad whispered.
	"Last time you said that I inadvertently walked into a 
force field."  Dan grimaced.
	Inisil watched the three as they talked quietly back and 
forth, but even with her enhanced hearing she was unable to 
determine what they were discussing. "Can I help you 
gentlemen?"  She briskly walked forward, half prepared to 
shake their hands, half prepared to snap their necks.  Of 
course she pretty much approached everyone like that.
	Jad turned from his subordinates and faced Inisil, 
flashing his most dashing smile and saying in as calm and 
confident a voice as he could, "Why yes, my name is Dontar 
Honeycut, these are my associates, Leopold and Bubbles."  
	"My parents were cruel."  Vince chimed in for his own 
defense.
	Jad continued.  "We're here to see if we might have a 
word with Muric Robotics owner Jeritt for an article we're 
doing on Viranin businessmen for the Kon Arlaan Tribune."
	Inisil looked the three over, scanning them with her 
ocular implants for anything suspicious.  A snazzy device 
courtesy of Section 31 kept the away team's phasers, 
tricorders and communicators hidden from all scanners, though 
Inisil did find Commander DiSanto's choice of thong underpants 
slightly disturbing.  "Please wait here."  She said coldly 
after concluding they posed no immediate threat.  "I shall 
find out if he is able to see you."
	Jad nodded and smiled again.  "Thank you kindly, madam."
	Inisil exited the lobby into a turbolift.  As the doors 
closed, the three officers relaxed.  "Well she's a pleasant 
one."  Vince groaned.
	Dan began to speak. "She's still got a nice..."
	"Commander?"  Jad interrupted.  "Don't gross poor Vince 
out."  He looked towards the door with an expression of worry.  
"Something's not right about her, I couldn't read anything 
from her.  Not her thoughts, not her emotions, nothing.  And 
very few species are unreadable to Betazoids."
	"Jeez, cold, emotionless, AND unreadable."  Vince sighed.  
"Reminds me of my ex."
	"That guy Jim you used to hang out with?"  Dan asked 
slyly.
	Vince pouted.  "I hate you all."

	Jeritt stood in his office in front of a mirror, holding 
up two different colors of suit jacket and analyzing his 
reflection.  Inisil strode in at a brisk pace.  "Sir?"  She 
asked impatiently.
	The Viranin turned to her with the two coats still in 
hand.  "Which of these coats do you think makes for a better 
iron-fisted dictator outfit?  I want to start filling out my 
wardrobe now before I have to throw all the good tailors on 
this planet in jail for their side jobs smuggling 
prostitutes."
	"The green one."  She said hurriedly.  "My liege, there 
are three men here to see you, claiming to be from the Kon 
Arlaan Tribune who wish you interview you for an article they 
claim to be doing, but I feel they are very suspicious."
	Jeritt draped the coats over a chair and turned back to 
his assistant.  "How so?"
	"Well first off, none of them are Viranin.  In fact if my 
imaging scanners are correct, the microscopic skin pattern on 
the face of the lead man matches the complexion of a Betazoid, 
not a Human.  There are minor enough differences to tell."
	Jeritt sat down at his desk and rubbed his chin.  "That 
alone doesn't necessarily seem odd, Viranis has a fairly large 
population of foreigners."
	Inisil nodded.  "This is true, but there is something 
else."
	"And that is?"
	"There is no Kon Arlaan Tribune."
	Jeritt sighed.  "That does sound odd, but I would rather 
not arouse suspicion by turning them away.   Send them in to 
see me."
	"Yes, sir."  She turned and left.

	Jad felt nervous as he stood in the lobby, Commanders 
Smith and DiSanto bickering endlessly behind him.  Part of 
Betazoid telepathy was the ability to sense danger as well, a 
product not of a single mind but of being close to a mind or 
group of minds that had malicious intents.  
	He felt vulnerable for once.  Perhaps it was because, for 
the first time in years, Jad realized that he actually 
mattered.  For all his shortcomings and his arrogance, he had 
always regarded himself as a soldier who was prepared to die 
for the Federation if need be.  That was all fine and good to 
him if he did before, though.  His family took him for dead 
anyways when he joined Section 31 and he was required to fake 
his own death.  For the longest time, he didn't really have 
anyone important whom he'd be concerned about if anything 
happened to him.  Yet every time he envisioned a worst-case 
scenario - swarms of guards, a hail of phaser fire, all 
leading up to his own demise, his thoughts returned to Axik.  
His imazadi.  He didn't want her to be alone, not with his 
child on the way.  No... it was more selfish than that, he 
realized.  He didn't want to part with her at all, to ever 
leave her side.
	"What do you think?"  Dan suddenly derailed the captain's 
train of thought and snapped the Betazoid back into reality.
	"I think I want to marry Axik."  Jad said distantly, 
still somewhat lost in his own inner consciousness.
	Dan paused as he and Vince looked at each other with a 
mutually perplexed expression.  "Okay, but that doesn't quite 
answer the question of who you think would win in a slap 
fight, Vince or Lieutenant Esther Harlow from the science 
department."
	Jad shook his head.  "Sorry, I was distracted.  Besides, 
Harlow's the oldest member of the crew, she's almost eighty.  
Given that I'd say Vince might last an extra two minutes 
before he gets knocked out."
	Vince was about to speak when the turbolift doors opened 
and Inisil emerged, a glare of suspicion emanating from her 
dark brown, almost black eyes.   "Jeritt will see you now."  
She said coldly and stood aside so that they might enter the 
turbolift.
	"Very good."  Jad snapped to attention and smiled at the 
irritated cyborg.  "Come along Leopold and Bubbles."
	"I don't know how but I'm going to make you pay for 
this..."  Vince grumbled as he entered the turbolift.
	The three stood in silence for a moment as Inisil pressed 
her hand to the control plate of the lift to release the locks 
on certain floors.  "Executive suite, floor 47."  She said.  
The turbolift's computer beeped in response and the unit began 
to hum softly along.
	Several more moments of awkward silence passed.  Vince 
stood biting his fingernails while Dan kept his eyes attached 
to Inisil's backside.  Sensing increasing unease, the captain 
finally decided to speak.  "So... uh, you're Jeritt's 
assistant?"
	Inisil nodded coldly with a slight look of death in her 
eye.  "I am responsible for managing both his business and 
personal affairs, as well as several other important duties in 
the company."
	Jad nodded, pretending to be interested.  "I almost 
assumed you were his wife or girlfriend or something."
	Shaking her head, Inisil replied, "No, Jeritt has no 
interest in women."
	Dan smiled and put his arm around Vince.  "What a 
coincidence, neither does our associate, Bubbles."
	Jad quickly elbowed Dan in the stomach for that remark 
and then elbowed Vince for the remark he sensed the tactical 
officer was about to make.
	"He has no interest in men, either.  Viranins tend to be 
naturally asexual unless they are attempting to produce a 
child."
	'Does this mean you're not available?'  Dan thought to 
himself as the lift pressed on.
	'I heard that, Commander!'  Jad echoed out in Dan's mind.
	'Sorry, sir!'
	"Of course anyone who worked for a newspaper in Viranis's 
largest city would know that."  Inisil's gaze became more 
piercing.
	Jad looked around nervously.  "I'm new to this planet."
	"I'm sure."  Inisil said flatly, quite unconvinced.
	The lift reached the forty-seventh floor and the doors 
parted.  Beyond them lay a brightly lit, richly decorated 
corridor.  The captain felt a sudden sense of ease.  'Nothing 
bad ever happens in nice places like this, it's always 
abandoned factories or deserted planets and the like.'  He 
thought to himself.
	'Don't be so sure, we've had bad things happen to us in 
nicer places.'  Dan thought back.
	'Commander?  I thought I stopped projecting my thoughts 
into your head a few minutes ago.'
	'Nope, I heard everything you've been thinking since 
then.  Including a recap of last night's bedroom activities 
with Commander Tagel, you sick, sick individual you.'
	'Jeez, and people mock me for what *I* supposedly do 
behind closed doors.'  Vince's mind chimed in.
	'Commander DiSanto!?  You were hearing my thoughts too?'  
Jad became red with embarrassment as they walked.
	'Oh yeah, every horrific detail of it.'  Vince's mental 
voice sounded slightly disgusted.
	'For the love of the Great Bird I'm never going to live 
this one down.'  Jad shook his head.
	'Nope.'  Dan and Vince thought in unison.
	They were interrupted as Inisil led them to a closed 
door.  "Mr. Jeritt is waiting for you on the other side."  She 
said coldly.
	In an effort to be polite, Jad took Inisil's hand.  "Well 
I thank you ever so kindly for your assistance, madam."
	Inisil's eyes became narrow and full of loathing.  "I 
could break you, little man."
	"I'd be careful, I'm pretty sure he's into that."  Dan 
muttered.
	"Well I don't want to keep Mr. Jeritt waiting."  Jad 
said.  The three men turned and entered through the closed 
door.  On the other side lay a spacious office with gold toned 
walls and rich blue carpets and matching furniture.  The rear 
wall of the office was one long series of windows offering a 
panoramic view of the Kon Arlaan skyline, currently shrouded 
in a pale mist so only the silhouettes of the skyscrapers 
appeared against the gray sky.  A desk was placed in the 
center of that rear wall and behind it sat Jeritt, relaxed and 
composed
	"Welcome, gentlemen."  The Viranin's voice was calm and 
deep.  If Jeritt was nervous or suspicious of the away team's 
presence, the confident smirk on his face masked it well.
	Jad shook Jeritt's hand and took a seat across from him 
at the desk, removing a PADD from his jacket and preparing to 
take notes.  "Mr. Jeritt, my name is Dontar Honeycut, I'm 
preparing an article on powerful members of the Viranis 
business community, and naturally you appeared at the top of 
my list."
	"I'm flattered, truly."  Jeritt nodded.
	"I was just wondering if you could tell me a bit about 
your company and what you do here."
	Jeritt nodded and leaned forward.  "Muric is the largest 
manufacturer of self sufficient robots in the quadrant.  Our 
robots serve a variety of purposes, everything from space-
borne projects like asteroid mining, construction and repair 
to household chores."  Jeritt stood up.  "In fact let me show 
you our latest creation."  He walked over to a cabinet on the 
side wall of the office and removed a small robot, no larger 
than a basketball.  It consisted of a long polished metal tube 
and four jointed legs.   The Viranin set it on the floor and 
it began to scurry over where the three officers sat. "This is 
Rex, our new virtual pet robot."
	Rex hopped up onto Dan's lap and began to nuzzle up to 
him.  "Very nice." Dan said nervously as he gently stroked the 
robot's hard brushed duranium hull.  "Not quite as cuddly as 
the real thing though."
	A compartment on the underside of the robot opened and 
shot a warm yellow liquid out all over Dan's pant leg.
	Dan cringed.  "I'll give you kudos for trying to be 
realistic, though."
	Jeritt picked the robot back up and deactivated it.  
"We're still working some of the kinks out of the behavioral 
program, but we expect it to be a big seller."
	Jad nodded as he jotted notes onto his PADD.  The notes 
were not about Jeritt but rather simply read "Note to self: 
make fun of Cmdr.  Smith later for robot pee."  "That's quite 
interesting."  Jad looked up.  "Where do you manufacture your 
robots?"
	"Our primary development plant is on the moon of 
Virsasis, the lower gravity environment helps a great deal 
when they are put together.  Most of our space-borne robots 
are self-replicating, however, once we get the designs 
finalized."
	Jad was becoming slightly frustrated.  He was getting 
nothing particularly useful about his mission from either 
Jeritt's words or from his inner thoughts.  "And that plant is 
managed by a gentleman named Grant Fulton, correct?"
	Jeritt tried not to appear surprised, partially because 
he was not.  He figured the plant managers name might come up 
at some point, yet he didn't want his suspicions of Jad, Vince 
and Dan to show through.  Not to a Betazoid.  "Yes, that is 
correct, has been an excellent plant manager for many years 
now."
	"And what do you have to say about his recent mysterious 
death?"
	Jeritt paused.  Something was definitely fishy now and he 
knew it.  "I was unaware that he was dead, to be honest with 
you.  He disappeared a few days ago, I'd assumed he simply 
fled the planet like so many others have done to escape the 
poverty here."  That was a partial truth and he knew should 
pick up as truth if Jad was scanning his mind right now.  "But 
you delivering me this news is rather... troubling."
	"Do you have any idea why someone might want to kill 
him?"   Dan asked, following the captain's lead as he'd been 
instructed.
	"No."  Jeritt said tersely.   "This is a very dangerous 
world, crime has risen exponentially since the Federation took 
over fifty years ago and botched our economy with their own 
economic principles.   People are poor, starving and 
desperate."
	The captain felt a sudden rise in anger within Jeritt's 
mind that was suddenly repressed.  "I see..." he said 
nervously.
	The situation came to a standstill and Jeritt knew he 
needed to end it.  Inisil's suspicions were right, for he knew 
normal reporters would not be asking these questions.  "I hate 
to cut this short, but I believe I need to be excused.  
This... news that you've brought me, it's upset me somewhat, 
as I'm sure you can understand."
	Jad nodded and looked and Dan and Vince.  "I believe we 
should be on our way as well.  I believe we have enough 
information for an article."
	"Very good."  Jeritt shook Jad's hand again, then pressed 
a button on his desk to page Inisil into the room.
	The cyborg entered, disgruntled looking as ever.  "Yes, 
my lord?"
	"Our good reporters are ready to leave.  Show them to the 
turbolift."
	Inisil nodded as Jad, Vince and Dan got up from their 
chairs.  "It was a pleasure to meet you, sir."  Jad smiled, 
suddenly more confident.
	The three walked silently alongside Inisil through the 
hallway to the lift doors.  "The turbolift is programmed to 
take you directly to the lobby.  I suggest exiting the 
building immediately.  Security here is very strict, and it 
would be most unfortunate should you wander astray and have to 
encounter them."
	Jad chuckled nervously as he entered the lift.  "We're 
late for a lunch appointment anyways.  Come along, gentlemen!"
	"It was a joy, as always."  Vince smiled at Inisil, who 
gave him the look of death in response.
	The doors closed and the three officers felt a sense of 
relaxation.  "Something's not right at all with them."  Dan 
muttered.  "Did you get anything from his mind, Captain."
	Jad shook his head.  "No, that's what's strange.  Every 
time I peered into Jeritt's mind, all I got was him going 'La 
La La La La La La' over and over."
	"Maybe it's a new hit in the Viranis music industry that 
he can't get out of his head?"  Vince offered.
	"I doubt that."  The lift arrived at the lobby and the 
three walked out towards the door.   "Commander, get me all 
the information we have on Jeritt when we get back to the 
ship.  I think he's hiding more than he lets on."
	"Aye, sir."

	Jeritt sat in his office, eerily still save for him 
rolling a small metal ball that was a desk ornament around in 
the palm of his hand.  "They knew about Fulton's death."  He 
said softly to Inisil, who stood rigidly by his side.
	"Do you believe them to be intelligence agents?"  Inisil 
asked.
	"They have to be.  No one knew of his death except the 
two of us and whoever found his shuttle."  Jeritt turned and 
examined the images of Jad, Dan and Vince from a security 
senor watching them in the lobby.
	"They seemed a bit too unorganized and, well, 
unintelligent to be with Starfleet Intelligence, though."  
Inisil noted.  She motioned to the screen, where Commander 
DiSanto, with all his might, was pulling on the handle of the 
front door, which was clearly labeled "Push."
	"No, I believe it's just an act meant to deceive us."  
Jeritt said as he watched Jad and Dan join in Vince's pulling 
effort.  "No one could possibly be THAT moronic..."





CHAPTER FIVE





	"Such a crowd has turned out today for this dedication 
ceremony, it's certainly a glorious sight."  A busty Viranin 
reporter said as her image played on the subspace news feed 
displayed on the Banshee's primary viewscreen.  "Hundreds of 
people have turned out for the dedication ceremony of Starbase 
1534 in orbit of Viranis."
	"Seems like a damn out of the way place to put a starbase 
if you ask me."  Lieutenant Commander Ben Rachow sneered from 
the helm.
	"Indeed, this sector is extraordinarily low traffic."  
Assistant Captain Velorn nodded coldly.  "However I did not, 
nor I was I planning on asking you.  Hence your point is 
irrelevant."
	"In just a few minutes we'll be hearing Governor Powell's 
opening remarks to kickoff the countdown to tonight's big 
event, so stay with us!"  The reporter continued.
	Jad, Vince and Dan emerged onto the bridge from the 
forward turbolift, once again clad in their black Section 31 
uniforms.  "Well that was an unproductive outing."  Commander 
Smith grumbled.
	"Hey, this frozen virath-cream cone I got from that 
street vendor was worth it."  Vince said as he licked the pale 
green, foul smelling frozen treat.
	"I take it that you were unable to extract any 
information from Mr. Jeritt, as I had assumed would be the 
case."  Velorn huffed as he relinquished command to Captain 
Vorezze.
	Jad plunked himself down in the chair, squirming about 
for a bit to find the most comfortable position.  "Our 
questioning yielded less than spectacular results, yes, but I 
do think we should be looking at him as our primary suspect."
	Velorn snorted.  "Section 31 has outfitted us with 
advanced and illicit technologies to aid in our fight to 
secure the Federation.  These include tools that would allow 
us to locate Jeritt, beam him out of even the most heavily 
shielded vessel or facility, extract information from his mind 
and erase his memory of it, all in a matter of minutes and you 
prefer to dress up and play detective."
	Captain Vorezze squinted his eyes at the lower captain.  
"Maybe I felt this might be a more effective way of doing 
things."
	"No, it's irresponsible handling of a potentially 
dangerous situation."
	"Captain, please just hush, I've had a hard day as it is, 
I don't need to be dealing with your endless criticisms."
	"I most certainly will not hush."  Velorn said 
defensively.  "My entire purpose on this ship is to educate 
you in the ways of Section 31 and criticize when you're not 
following procedure and that is what I intend on doing."
	Jad sighed and faced the Vulcan, who was breathing 
heavily with beads of sweat forming the face that was supposed 
to be stoic and emotionless.  "Velorn, do you remember when 
you taught me the Vulcan neck pinch for self defense?"
	Velorn furrowed his brow in confusion at the sudden topic 
change.  "Yes, why?"
	Jad reached over and performed the maneuver on Velorn, 
causing the Vulcan to fall limply back into his chair.  "Much 
better."  Jad smiled and stood up.
	"He's going to be furious at you as soon as he regains 
consciousness."  The otherwise silent Commander Charlotte 
Burns said from her chair flanking the other side of Jad as 
she intently picked on a scab.
	"We'll just have to use some of our 'illicit Section 31 
technology' to wipe his mind of the last two minutes then, now 
won't we."  Jad grinned.
	"So you were down there for how long and we're still 
clueless in this investigation?"  Charlotte asked as she 
examined the scab minutely as she clawed at it.
	"He's a difficult one to read, he must have somehow known 
I was a Betazoid and did everything he could to resist me 
reading him."
	"I think most of us tend to do that."  Charlotte 
muttered.
	Commander Smith glanced over to the viewscreen.  
"Speaking of our friend, there he is."
	Governor Olivia Powell stood at a podium on the 
viewscreen, flanked on each side by her Lieutenant Governor to 
the left and Jeritt to the right.
	Jad froze as he stared into the Viranin's vivid purple 
eyes.  "Turn it up."  He ordered.
	With a sudden blare, Cher's "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's 
In His Kiss)" was belted out over the loudspeaker.  Jad spun 
around and stared at Vince.
	"Oh..."  Vince said sheepishly.  "You meant the 
viewscreen transmission... not my music."
	The music stopped and Powell's voice rang out over the 
speakers.  "People of Viranis, a new era is upon us.  Earlier 
today, construction robots generously supplied by Muric 
Robotics Company owner Jeritt put the last pieces of starbase 
1534 in place.  Tonight at 2000 hours, we will be officially 
dedicating this station to the people of Viranis.  Join us for 
a celebration, if not in person at the station than at one of 
many other parties tonight."
	"Big whoop, the base is only going to make things worse."  
Charlotte said as she found another scab to pick at.
	Jad turned to her.  "What do you mean?"
	"Viranis is a capitalist society."  She said.  "More 
traffic from the Federation isn't going to do them any good 
because Starfleet types aren't about to start paying for 
things."
	"Since when do you know about economics?"  Jad asked, 
slightly surprised.
	Charlotte smiled.  "I had an affair with several 
economics professors at the academy."
	Jad cringed, then turned back to the viewer.  "Jeritt's 
not blocking me."  He said softly.  "He doesn't know I'm 
watching."
	Ben smiled and sighed.  "Just like those girls in the 
women's lockeeeer I mean, uhh... nevermind."
	Jeritt took to the podium on the screen.  His dashing 
smile lit up the room with all its hollow warmth and he 
projected his charms onto all who would listen.  "My fellow 
Viranins, this is a great day for our peoples."
	"He's planning something."  Jad mumbled, probing across 
the vastness of space as hard as he could.  The crew around 
him sat mesmerized, like children around a campfire waiting 
for him to unfold the rest of the story.
	"A new era for our world is on the brink of dawning.  
Soon our crime shall begin to fade and our prospects shall 
look brighter."
	"It involves the starbase..."
	"There was no greater honor for me than to donate my 
resources to construction of this impressive space station.  
It became a personal cause to me, for I knew the night it 
opened would change Viranis forever!"  The crowd around Jeritt 
burst into applause.
	"He's going to make his move tonight."  Jad's voice 
suddenly became tense and panicked.
	"Join us tonight in celebrating the birth of a new 
Viranis.  I promise it will be a night to remember!"  A second 
round of applause burst out and Jeritt stepped down off the 
podium.
	"We have to be at this gala tonight."  The captain said 
softly.
	Lt. Cmdr. DiSanto huffed at tactical as he filed his 
nails.  "Good luck, those kinds of things are harder to get 
tickets for than the Federation Antique Festival I tried to go 
to last year."
	"We're Section 31 agents, Commander."  Jad said with a 
wry smile.  "We have advanced resources to handle problems 
like that."
	"We do?"  Vince asked, examining his self-finished 
manicure.
	The captain walked over to the replicator and spoke.  
"Four forged tickets to the starbase 1534 dedication ceremony 
and gala."
	In a swirl of light, four tickets appeared on the 
replicator pad.  Jad grabbed them and spun around with an 
enthused grin on his face.  "Who wants dress up and schmooze 
with rich people!?"


	His charms were endearing enough that even after such a 
brief speech, people passing him in the hallway of the 
Federation Municipal Building in Kon Arlaan still waved with 
appreciation and even applauded.  Jeritt soaked it all in, 
basking in the spotlight cast by those who hadn't a clue what 
the night would really hold for them.  He strode at a brisk 
pace with Inisil glued to his side.
	"Our plans for the evening remain unchanged then?"  
Inisil asked quietly as they entered a less crowded corridor.
	"Of course they are."  Jeritt said tersely, flashing his 
smile at a passerby.  "I'm not about to let one awkward visit 
spoil three years of intense, careful planning."
	"They might attempt to intervene."  Inisil cautioned.
	Jeritt turned to face her.  "Among all the things you've 
been for me since I hired you ten years ago, you've never once 
failed me as my head of personal security.  You are 
unbelievably beautiful, and that makes you all the more 
deadly, for no one will so much as suspect what insanely 
lethal abilities you possess."
	"Flattery does not answer my question."  Inisil quipped, 
her voice eternally lacking emotion.
	"In plain Viranin:  if someone tries to stop me, snap 
their necks and throw them out an airlock."
	Inisil cracked a smile.  "That might just make this a 
potentially enjoyable evening, sir."
	"I thought that might pique your interest."  He said as 
he abruptly rounded a corner.
	The cyborg became increasingly flustered with the abrupt 
movements and daringness of the man she was assigned to 
protect.  "Where are you going now, sir?"
	Jeritt poked his head around the corner.  "Just let me go 
to the bathroom in peace."  He turned and walked down the 
hallway to the restroom door.
	"Oh..." Inisil relaxed slightly and stood guard.  "I'll 
just wait here..."


	Lieutenant Commander Vincent DiSanto sat leisurely in a 
chair in the quarters of Dr. Elizabeth Lang.  The room seemed 
to lack personality as Vince looked around.  Most officers 
kept pictures or holograms of friends or loved ones and other 
personal effects strewn about.  Aside from a disturbingly 
large collage of pictures of Zeke the hamster that hung on the 
wall, Liz's quarters were rather Spartan, a testament to her 
minimal social life.
	"So Lieutenant Thompson asked me out again."  Vince said 
as he flipped through a copy of Agrothi & F'itch Klingon 
clothing catalog that Liz had on her coffee table.
	"Why didn't you say yes, you keep saying she asks you out 
regularly."  Liz said as she pawed through her closet to find 
something to wear to the gala.
	"Not she..."  Vince sighed as he set the catalog down.
	"Oh..."  Liz grunted as she wiggled into a tight evening 
gown.  "I say you say yes anyways, you might like it if you 
try it!"  She giggled
	"Ummm, eww!"  Vince crinkled his nose.  "That's like me 
telling you to try being with a woman."
	"Lord knows Commander Rachow's been barking up that tree 
for the last two years."  Liz sighed as she emerged from her 
bedroom.  She was clad in a tight but elegant looking evening 
gown.  It lacked a particular color because it was in a 
constant state of change – one moment dark red, the next the 
colors would swirl into a dark green, repeating through all 
potential colors in random order, but whatever color it was, 
it shimmered lightly like it was made out of diamonds.  Her 
lipstick, shoes and eye shadow changed to match the color of 
the dress as well.
	"I like being single, though."  Vince shrugged.  "More 
time for me and what I like to do.  You wouldn't believe how 
many musicals I've learned how to sing since I came on this 
ship."
	Liz nodded a bit as she fastened a pair of earrings.  
Most women didn't have pierced ears but rather earrings of the 
day tended to be self-adhering through a powerful bio-magnet 
technology.  "I tend to agree.  I don't feel like I 'need' 
love either.  If it happens it happens, but I can stand on my 
own two feet.  I guess you could say I'm just a modern, 
enlightened, ultra-feminist woman."  She turned, ensemble 
complete, to face Vince.  "Does this dress accentuate my 
cleavage enough?"
	Vince smiled.  "It's beautiful."
	Liz picked up her handbag, inside which she'd stashed a 
phaser, a tricorder and a personal force field.  "I wish you 
were coming with us.  We could have fun, stuffing our faces 
with hors d'oeuvres and picking on what people are wearing 
like we used to do in The Twilight Zone before it got boring."
	"Not my fault everyone wears black on this ship."  Vince 
grumbled.  "I'm on backup duty anyways, if there's trouble I 
have to come rushing with my phaser blaring.  It's my time to 
be a real manly man."  Liz realized Vince's voice suddenly got 
deeper as he said 'manly man.'
	She looked at Vince nervously.  "Commander Smith is going 
to be on that team too, right?"
	"Yeah..." Vince said confusedly.
	Liz sighed with relief.  "Good, I feel better now if 
something bad did happen."
	"Well just tap your combadge twice and we'll rush to save 
the day."  Vince grinned.  He loved acting all manly and 
stuff.
	Dr. Lang paused for a moment and furrowed her brow.  
"Wait if you're staying here, who's my 'date' for this 
mission?"
	Vince looked around nervously.  He knew the answer but 
was reluctant to say it.  "Uhh, errr... Commander Rachow..."
	Liz's eyes widened with fear and she grabbed her combadge 
and tapped it twice.
	"Yeah, that'll only work once you're on the station."
	"Damn!"  Liz pouted.

	With a frosty glass of iced tea in one hand and a stack 
full of PADDs in the other, Captain Vorezze hurried into his 
quarters.  He was running late, as usual.  He set the iced tea 
down on his desk and turned, only to have the PADDs slapped 
out of his by the lash of a whip.  He looked up to see 
Commander Tagel standing in her favorite pair of leather 
stiletto boots and clad in various pieces of leather lingerie.  
Even in her near-term pregnant form, her body was in 
immaculate shape from her gym exercises and commanded a 
significant level of sex appeal.
	"I've been waiting for you, slave."  She said seductively 
as she curled the end of the whip around her free hand.
	"Oh... right..."  Jad looked around nervously, not 
wanting to admit the truth that he'd completely forgotten 
about their holodeck plans.  "About that, I was thinking maybe 
we try something different tonight."
	"You want to change the safety word?"  Axik smiled 
seductively as she straightened her leather collar by tugging 
on one of its five inch long metal spikes.
	"I was thinking maybe we should go out instead."  Jad 
offered nervously.  "There's a dedication ceremony for the new 
starbase tonight and I think we should go."
	Axik's shoulders sagged and a disappointed look came over 
her normally gleeful face.  Jad could tell both by her body 
language and her thoughts that she was suspicious of 
something.  "Why do you think we should go?"
	Jad bit his lip.  He knew what he was about to say would 
ignite Axik's Bajoran fury, but he also had a policy of never 
lying to her.  If their relationship ever came to an end and 
she was talking about him to someone, the only thing he wanted 
to be sure he could never be called was a liar.  "I think it's 
important to our mission that we be there."
	The rage was not there.  Jad had expected shouting, an 
argument, or something along those lines.  All that he saw was 
a look of sadness that crept over Axik's face.  "I see."  That 
was all she said.
	"Honey, don't be upset."  Jad put his arm around Axik's 
chain-linked-leather-clad shoulders.
	"I'm not upset!"  She snapped back, oblivious to the fact 
that lying about her emotions to a Betazoid wasn't a terribly 
worthwhile endeavor.  "You go on your mission, like a good 
captain."  Her voice cracked as though holding back tears.  
"I'll just go to the holodeck by myself and whip the wall for 
being naughty and make the love hammock my bitch."  She turned 
and headed for the door.
	"Axik..." Jad stopped her as she prepared to leave.  His 
eyes, warm and green as a lush forest, scanned her face.  Her 
eyes, clear and blue as the water that gives the forest life, 
met with his.  "I love you."  He wasn't sure what him saying 
that was supposed to accomplish, as if that one three word 
phrase could somehow undo the damage he was slowly inflicting 
upon his own true love.
	The Bajoran said nothing, but simply kept her gaze on the 
captain's eyes for another moment before silently turning and 
walking out the door.
	For a moment Jad was tempted to chase after her.  Every 
nerve in his body was on fire with emotion as pain swept 
through him after he saw the look of hurt in his imzadi's 
eyes.  Then he turned and looked out the window.  The mushroom 
shaped form of Starbase 1534 hung over the gray and blue 
sphere that was Viranis.  Jad couldn't help but feel that the 
fate of that station, as well as that of the world below it, 
rest in his hands.  He couldn't forsake his duty, even if it 
meant hurting the woman he wanted to spend his life with.
	His personal life would have to wait.  Suddenly glum, Jad 
sank into his desk chair and sighed, staring at the 
condensation as it dripped down the side of the glass of iced 
tea.  Speaking to himself, he said, "I think I need to give 
this tea a Long Island accent."

	Dr. Lang stood rigidly in transporter room 4, her color-
shifting ensemble currently a shade of deep amber.  Lt. Cmrd. 
Rachow stood at an uncomfortably close proximity, clad in the 
a questionable looking powder blue tuxedo with ruffles that 
looked like it had emerged from a time capsule in which it 
should have been burned instead.
	"I must say, Doctor, you look ravishing tonight."  Ben 
smiled at Liz as he ran his hand down the doctor's back.
	Liz smacked the horny helmsman's hand away and tersely 
replied, "I know."
	"You know this tux is vintage 1970's earth.  Passed down 
from generation to generation."  Ben said as he ran his hands 
along the ancient fabric.
	"The 1970's have been over for four hundred years.  And 
most of humanity is grateful for that."  Liz replied tersely.  
"It was a dark, dark time for fashion, and don't get me 
started on some of the sick, twisted authors that were born 
that decade..."
	Ben was prepared to make yet another unsuccessful and un-
witty remark to Liz when the doors parted and a confused 
looking Captain Vorezze came wandering in.  "Oh...  here you 
guys are."  He said in slightly slurred speech, smacking his 
lips as he stood in the doorframe.  "The last five transporter 
rooms I went to were empty."
	Liz leaned over to Ben.  "I think he's drunk."  She 
whispered.
	Ben raised his eyebrow.  "I didn't think Section 31 
officers were allowed to get drunk.  Even The Twilight Zone's 
bar doesn't stock real alcohol."
	"Maybe he's got a private stash."  Liz shrugged, then 
turned to the captain.  "Sir weren't you bringing Commander 
Tagel?"
	Jad shook his head.  "Naaaaaah, she decided she'd rather 
go do other things so I had to invite someone else at the last 
minute."  The captain then broke into a spat of intense 
giggling.
	As if on cue, Charlotte walked through the door wearing a 
surprisingly conservative black pantsuit.
	Ben spoke as Cmdr. Burns surveyed the team.  "Quite a 
fitting choice for a last resort."
	Charlotte opted to ignore that remark and instead focused 
on the captain, who had plunked down on the edge of the 
transporter pad, leaning back and staring blankly off into 
space.  "Is he okay?"
	"He's drunk or high or something."  Ben shrugged.  
"Whatever it is, I'm sure it can only be an improvement to his 
behavior."
	"Good point," Charlotte nodded, "let's go."
	Liz and Ben hoisted the captain up into a weak standing 
position on one of the pads and assumed their own spots.  
Charlotte looked forward at transporter chief Cellis.  
"Energize."
	In a swirl of sparkling blue light, they were gone.

	Lieutenant Commander David Riley walked through the lower 
levels of the Banshee with a stack of PADDs in hand, finally 
done with one of the more grueling shifts he'd had in recent 
memory.  Of course any day when he decides to let his 
engineers play dodgeball as a reward for a job well done is 
usually a trying experience.  He reached a turbolift, and when 
the doors opened, he saw a droopy looking Commander Tagel 
standing there, leaning her head against the wall.  "Lost your 
way?"  He nervously asked the leather clad Bajoran.
	"No."  Axik weakly shook her head.  "I'm not even sure 
where I'm going."
	David paused for a moment.  Given her current outfit, he 
wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know where she would be 
going.
	"I'm not sure about anything anymore."  She sighed again.
	"I see..." David said nervously.  "Have you considered 
talking to Counselor Stokes?"
	"What good will that do?"
	David shrugged.  "She's the counselor.  She's supposed to 
help you through your problems with constructive personal 
analysis and unbiased listening."  He stopped to think for a 
moment.  "Whether or not she actually does any of those things 
is a completely different question, but you could give it a 
shot."
	Axik nodded.  "Maybe I should.  I have a lot on my mind."  
She turned to address the turbolift's controls.  "Computer, 
deck 14."
	The lift hummed along silently for a moment before David 
spoke again.  "Ummm... Commander?  You might also want to 
consider changing outfits before going to see the counselor.  
I'm not sure what her reaction would be to your current getup, 
but I'm going to venture a guess that it won't be a good one."


	Governor Powell had a certain grace to her as she greeted 
guests in the impressive lounge of the otherwise empty 
starbase 1534.  Massive five-deck high windows gave a 
spectacular vista of Viranis and the space around it.  A small 
orchestra was hired to provide background music and what few 
Starfleet officers had been assigned to the station were all 
shoved into dress uniforms and made to be servers wandering 
around with trays of hors d'oeuvres and glasses of champagne.  
Her logic was that, since Starfleet's newest dress uniform 
designs looked like something an Italian waiter would be 
wearing, she may as well have them play the part.
	Liz hesitantly held onto Ben's arm as she approached the 
Governor to hand in their fake tickets.  "Thank you for 
joining us tonight!"  Powell said warmly as she collected the 
tickets.
	Jad and Charlotte were next.  Charlotte held tightly onto 
Jad's arm more for the sake of ensuring the captain didn't 
fall over drunk than to create the convincing aura of a 
couple.
	"This place is packed."  Ben noted as he glanced around, 
the four officers standing by the hors d'oeuvres table.  
	The majority of the crowd was human.  Various members of 
the Viranis Ruling Council, also oddly primarily human, 
floated about, as did many prominent business leaders.  Trophy 
wives of all shapes, species and sizes gossiped in clusters.
	"Good lord."  Charlotte muttered.  "I haven't seen this 
much blue blood in one place since I ran that Bolian slasher 
holo-novel a few weeks ago."
	"That must be Jeritt."  Liz said quietly, pointing to 
Jeritt off in the distance.
	Ben raised his eyebrow as he laid eyes upon Inisil for 
the first time.  "Well hello, hello, Miss Jeritt's Date."  He 
grinned slyly.
	"Don't let her see me, she might recognize me from 
earlier today!"  Jad said nervously, slowly regaining his 
cohesiveness.
	Charlotte huffed.  "Shouldn't you have thought of that 
before you came on this mission?"
	Jad pouted.  "I wanted to come though."
	Liz glanced across the room as the two began to move in 
their direction.  "We'd better think of something fast, 
they're heading our way."

	"Will you relax?"  Jeritt said softly as Inisil darted 
her glances around the room frantically.  "We haven't seen any 
trace of agents yet, this is all going exactly as planned."
	"I still can't help but feel that something might 
interfere with our plans."  Inisil replied.
	"We have backup plans, so that's an irrelevant point.  
Besides, it's a party, loosen up, relax."  Jeritt grabbed a 
glass of champagne from a passing waiter and took a swig.  "At 
least until I launch my diabolical plan for world domination 
into action, then you can stop relaxing."
	The two finally arrived at the table and Jeritt took a 
plate and began to survey the food offerings.  "Ugh, mostly 
Terran food."  He shook his head before noticing a woman 
standing by the table.  She was clad in a dark pantsuit and 
looked eerily beautiful yet eerily repulsive at the same time.  
It was Charlotte.  As Jeritt neared her, he noticed that she 
smelled like a strange combination of cheap perfume and burnt 
hair.  "Pardon me, ma'am."
	Charlotte turned and moved out of the way before saying, 
"You're Jeritt, right?"  She reached out and extended her 
hand.
	The Viranin nodded as he consumed a cracker.  "Yes, yes I 
am.  And you are?"
	"Oh it's such an honor to meet you."  Charlotte faked 
giddiness as best she could.  "My name's, errr, uhh, 
Charlene!"
	"A pleasure to meet you, Charlene."  Jeritt smiled 
despite being somewhere repulsed.  He then observed that her 
date looked somewhat less repugnant and opted to try to 
include him in the conversation.  "And what is this fellows 
name."
	A nervous Captain Vorezze spun around and Jeritt was 
faced with a man near his own height.  He was 
indistinguishable from a Human or a Betazoid save for the a 
moustache which, peculiarly enough at first glance looked like 
little more than the tails of two cocktail shrimp stuck to his 
upper lip.  "Why yes, my name is... Jed.  Jed Varmit!"
	"A plesure to meet you as well."  Jeritt nodded.  "So 
nice of so many people to come out for tonight's celebration, 
don't you agree?"
	"Oh I know!"  Jad smiled.  "Such an energetic event, it 
really is."  Jad smiled as Jeritt turned away to collect more 
food.  As he smiled, half of his fake moustache fell off.  The 
Betazoid immediately spun around to hide his face.
	"You know Starfleet said a station of his magnitude could 
never, ever have been brought to working order in just three 
mere weeks."  Jeritt said cockily as he spread some cheese on 
another cracker.  "My construction robots broke every speed 
record in the Federation for construction time."
	"Indeed."  Jad turned again with a napkin covering his 
mouth.  "Definitely a feat of engineering."  His speech slowly 
became nervous and flustered.
	"Ahh, well, I won't keep you, enjoy the party."  Jeritt 
smiled again, shaking Jad and Charlotte's hands before 
disappearing into the crowd.
	"Ugh."  Jad sighed once the Viranin was out of sight.  "I 
need another drink."
	Charlotte rolled her eyes.  "Just promise me you're not 
going to try to molest any ice sculptures like you did last 
time we went undercover to a party and you got drunk."
	Jad huffed as he grabbed a glass of champagne.  "It's not 
my fault the ice sculpture had a nice rack."


	Axik's eyes were slightly moist from spurts of crying as 
she lay on Counselor Stokes's couch.  She clutched her stuffed 
targ in her arms as she spoke with a shaky voice.  "I just 
don't know about him anymore."
	Counselor Emily Stokes sat in a chair across from Axik, 
PADD in hand and a judgmental glare in her eye.  "Well what do 
you think is causing the troubles of your so-called true love 
affair?"
	"I want a raise a family."  Axik said softly.  "Lead a 
normal life.  Jad wants to keep playing Captain, rushing in to 
save the Federation from destruction at the last moment."
	Emily nodded.  "Well those are two somewhat noble causes, 
raising a family and serving one's people.  You could see how 
the captain might have difficulties deciding between which 
takes precedent."
	"I don't."  Axik sniffled. "It's always been clear to 
me."
	Emily sighed.  "Because you're not the captain of this 
ship.  You're not the one who's responsible for the safety of 
eight hundred fifty lives, or the successful completion of 
mission after mission.  And he's not the one with the product 
of your sinful relationship gestating in his loins.  If HE 
were the one who was pregnant,"  Emily paused to ponder that 
thought for a moment, "and God help us if THAT ever happened, 
but if he were carrying the child he'd see things different 
too."
	Axik rubbed her chin.  "So I should get him pregnant 
then?"
	The counselor looked at Axik for a brief moment.  The 
Bajoran's face was flush with raw emotions, yet seemed to echo 
a certain amount of vacancy.  "Commander... something tells me 
that's not going to be a terribly successful attempt on your 
part.  Just a hunch."
	The Bajoran sighed.  "I just want him to love me, to want 
to spend time with me."
	Emily shrugged.  "You two will spend plenty of together 
in Hell for bringing a child into this universe out of 
wedlock, don't you worry."
	A look of wonder came over Axik's face.  "Hell...  
where's that?"
	The counselor grumbled.  "Look, Commander, something you 
need to understand is that we are all in the military, even if 
it doesn't always seem that way.  We're officers of the 
Federation, and our duty is to protect it.  Captain Vorezze is 
just doing his duty.  You have to accept that, if you two are 
to stay here, that his duty comes first."
	Axik bit her lip.  "Maybe I don't want to stay here 
then."  She sighed.  "Maybe I don't want to sit here on the 
ship by myself on nights while my one true love is out working 
hard on some mission."


	Highly inebriated, Captain Vorezze leaned on Dr. Lang's 
shoulder as she approached the drunken Betazoid.  "Hiya, 
toots!"  He slurred.
	Liz raised her eyebrow.  "Why did Commander Burns let you 
have more champagne?  She knows you can't hold your alcohol."
	"I can hold it just fine!"
	Liz sighed.  "Then why are you currently urinating in the 
fountain?"
	Jad shook his head.  "'Cause the bathroom was 
waaaaaaaaaaay over there."

	Governor Powell stood at Jeritt's side as the two 
surveyed the crowd, Jeritt still savoring the flavors of the 
night.  "I must say, Governor, these snacks are delectable."  
For the first time ever, Jeritt realized he was uttering a 
complement to Powell that was actually remotely truthful.
	"Why thank you, I picked the menu out myself."  Powell 
smiled.  "Although someone should probably tell that Klingon 
gentleman over there that he's supposed to remove the crab 
legs from their shell before eating them."
	Jeritt glanced around.  For all he'd been legitimately 
enjoying himself he knew it was time to throw his plan into 
action.  "Governor if you'll excuse me, I need to find a 
restroom.  I don't like using public ones so I'm just going to 
go find one near the banquet hall."
	Powell nodded.  "Go right ahead, I trust you completely."
	An evil smile crossed Jeritt's face as he turned.  "I 
know."

	"Hey doctor, does this remind you of anything?"  Lt. 
Cmdr. Rachow said slyly as he waved a cocktail weenie in Liz's 
direction.
	Liz sighed and replied dryly.  "In size only."
	Charlotte began to look around nervously.  "Where did 
Jeritt go?"
	"He's moving."  Liz said as she eyed Jeritt out of the 
corner of her eye.  "Heading towards an exit."
	"Good, I was getting sick of watching him."  Jad giggled.
	"No, sir, you said you thought he was going to make his 
move sometime, this might be it!"
	Jad suddenly snapped to attention, though still heavily 
intoxicated.  "Okay, I'm going to go after him.  You three 
stay here and make sure nothing happens."
	A worried expression came over Dr. Lang's face.  
"Captain, are you sure that's wise?  You've had an awful lot 
to drink."
	"I haven't had that many!"  The Betazoid shot back 
indignantly.  "I've only had..." He paused and began to slowly 
count drinks on his fingers.  Then he moved on to his second 
hand.  Then his first hand again.
	"Oh just go, he's getting away!"  Liz barked back.
	"Yes, ma'am!"  Jad squeaked.  He removed his phaser and 
handed it to Liz.  "Here, hold this for me 'til I get back."  
With that he darted off into the crowd.
	A puzzled look appeared on Liz's face as she clutched 
Jad's phaser and looked over at Charlotte.  "Do you think he's 
going to need this?"
	Charlotte shrugged.  "I sure hope not."

	The corridors of the starbase away from the banquet hall 
were dark.  The station was still completely unmanned, and 
this provided Jeritt with the idea time to exploit that fact.  
His pulse was racing now, for it was now or never, the 
culmination of years of planning, manipulation and the kissing 
of Governor Powell's posterior - metaphorically, of course - 
and it would all fall into play on this one single night.  
Jeritt rounded the corner and saw Captain Vorezze standing in 
front of the turbolift doors.  "I can't let you proceed."  Jad 
slurred.
	"And I can't let you stop me."  Jeritt barked back.  
"I've waited too long for this night."
	Jad furrowed his brow.  This was when the cool captain 
stuff he loved came into play and he knew it.  "I'm going to 
have to take you out then."  He reached into his coat.  
"Hey... where's my phaser."
	Jeritt paused to give the drunken Betazoid a look of 
sheer confusion.
	The captain huffed.  "Hold on a moment, I'll find it."
	Jeritt groaned with annoyance.  "I don't have time for 
this."  He snapped his fingers and in a flash Captain Vorezze 
was on the ground with Inisil standing triumphantly over him.  
"Take care of him, Inisil."  Jeritt said coldly.  "I'll be in 
Ops."  The Viranin disappeared into the turbolift.
	Jad staggered to his feet. He swayed, dazed and drunk, as 
he stared at Inisil at the end of the hallway.
	"So, Mr. Honeycut, we meet again."  Inisil said coolly.
	The captain weakly pointed in Inisil's direction.  
"You're a bitch, ya know that?"
	Inisil squinted her eyes.  "I'm quite aware."
	The cyborg clenched her fist and prepared to attack.  At 
that moment, Jad's eyes began to roll into the back of his 
head and the alcohol overtook him.  He abruptly collapsed into 
a crumpled heap on the hallway floor.
	Inisil paused with confusion, walking towards Jad.  Her 
internal scanners told her he was out cold.  She shrugged.  
"Not quite the valiant struggle I was hoping for, but it'll 
do."  She grabbed his feet and dragged him down the corridor.

	Charlotte stood nervously in the banquet hall, watching 
the crowd mill.  Several people were dancing now as the 
orchestra began to play fiery Latin music.  Charlotte just 
prayed they weren't on the verge of busting out some Ricky 
Martin.  "The captain's been gone a while."
	Liz and Ben nodded as they both rabidly consumed a tray 
of bacon wrapped crab meat.
	Commander Burns sighed.  "Do you think we should check on 
him?"
	Liz's head perked up as she locked eyes with one of the 
servers.  "They're bringing out cheesecake!"
	Charlotte gasped with delight.  "Okay, screw the captain.  
Doctor?  Find me a fork!  That's an order!"
	"Yes ma'am!"  Liz took off in search of a utensil.

	The Operations Center of the starbase was dark, save for 
the glow of the control consoles and the minimal emergency 
lighting.  The place had that new starship smell still, 
unfettered by years of occupation.
	Jeritt took a seat at a rear console.  Upon turning on 
the computer screen, he was faced with a familiar LCARS 
display with the heading "Welcome to Starbase 1534" and below 
it was a menu of options:
    "- I am a Starfleet officer assigned to this station, 
       please log me into my available controls and Starfleet 
       account.
     - I am a visiting Starfleet officer on this station, 
       please log me into my Starfleet account.
     - I am a civilian visiting this station, please provide 
       me with information.
     - I am a hostile intruder to this station, please help 
       me take over all primary systems and controls."
	Jeritt selected the last option.
	"Welcome hostile intruder."  The computer's voice said.  
"Would you like assistance in locating and anesthetizing the 
command crew and security forces?"
	"Please do, they're all in the banquet hall."  Jeritt 
smiled.  He loved Starfleet's ultra-easy to use interfaces.
	"One moment, please."  The computer responded.
	Jeritt pressed a button and turned to face the main 
viewscreen, which displayed an image of the banquet hall.  
There was a hissing noise and a purple haze formed as 
Starfleet's knockout gas of choice, anesthezine, began venting 
into the room.  Partygoers began to run about in a panic as 
they dropped like flies.  Liz appeared on the viewer, fighting 
the temporary paralysis that was coming over her body as she 
reached, with all her might, for the piece of cheesecake that 
lay just out of her grasp.  She could have tapped her combadge 
twice and alerted the Banshee, but somehow, the cheesecake was 
just more important.  Finally she, and all the guests, fell 
into a state of forced unconsciousness.
	"Anesthetization complete."  The computer said.  "Would 
you like a tutorial on operating the station's weapons, power, 
security and other major systems?"
	Jeritt shook his head.  "That shall be all for now, 
computer."
	The computer beeped in response.  "Thank you and enjoy 
your commandeering of Starbase 1534.  Have a nice day."
	A grin crossed Jeritt's face.  It was all he could do to 
stop himself from bursting into a fit of maniacal laughter.  
The first phase of his plan was complete.  He controlled the 
starbase and, more to the point, it's powerful weapons and 
vessel launching systems.  As such he controlled the space 
around Viranis.  He turned the viewer to an image of Viranis.  
Staring at the swirling clouds below him, he softly said, "Let 
my rebellion begin."





CHAPTER SIX





	The bridge crew was silent.  There wasn't much to do as 
the ship sat idle.  The form of starbase 1534 gave no 
indications of what might be happening on board.  The planet 
below seemed quiet, too.  Not even so much as a thunderstorm 
to watch from above.
	"How long has it been?"  Commander Dan Smith sat at his 
security station with increased unease.
	"They've been gone for approximately four hours."  
Lieutenant Carn sat at the science console in Dr. Lang's 
absence.  One would think an android would have more accurate 
memory than to use an approximation, but Carn wasn't very 
typical of most androids.
	"I wanna say something's wrong."  Vince chimed in.  
"Shouldn't we have heard from them by now?"
	Dan nodded.  "Sadly both Captain Vorezze and Commander 
Burns left without realizing that Velorn hadn't quite 
recovered from receiving a Vulcan neck pinch."
	Everyone glanced over to Velorn, who sat limply in the 
command chair, his eyes half open and drool running down his 
chin as he softly uttered, "Looooooooooooogiiiiiiiiic."
	"It's a party over there regardless."  Dan shrugged.  
"They're probably just having a good time."


	Jad felt throbbing pain as he opened his eyes.  He tried 
to move before realizing that his hands were bound in 
Starfleet-issue handcuffs.  "Good god, where am I?"
	Dr. Lang, also in handcuffs, sat leaned up against the 
wall beside him.  "You of all people should be delighted to 
wake up in a pair of handcuffs."  She quipped.
	The captain rolled over and propped himself up.  "Where 
are we?"
	"A brig somewhere in the bowels of the starbase, I 
assume."  Liz looked around, a forlorn expression across her 
face.
	Jad flinched with pain again.  "My head hurts so much."
	"Hangover serves you right for drinking so much."
	He shook his head.  "No, I fell and I must have hit my 
head.  Betazoids don't get hangovers no matter how drunk we 
get."
	"Good thing, too."  Liz said.  "Give you people a thimble 
full of champagne and you're up on a table dancing with your 
pants off."
	"One time..." Jad grumbled.  "Where's Commander Burns?  
Or Commander Rachow?"
	Liz shrugged.  "I haven't seen them, I've been in this 
cell since I woke up from the gas."
	"Ben, I don't care if you're shackled, stop putting your 
hand there!"  A scream sounding like Charlotte came from the 
next cell over.
	"Guess that answers that."  The captain muttered.
	"It was a fun night while it lasted."  Liz sighed, 
staring at the blue haze of the force field in front of them.
	"Not for me."  Jad said.  Memories were trickling back 
now.  They were lightning fast moments, all of them with 
Axik's eyes as the shining center.  Those clear blue eyes that 
echoed of pain and hurting, staring at Jad through his own 
memories.  The captain shuddered, a shudder that came from 
deep within his being.  "Commander Tagel and I had a fight."  
Somehow that wording made it sound simpler than it was.
	"About what?"  Liz asked quietly.  She saw the look that 
came over the Captain's face.  His eyes became somewhat vacant 
as his mind began to drift into his own thoughts.  They held 
worry, pain and fear deep within their emerald green irises.
	"It wasn't really a fight..." The captain reluctantly 
began to open up.  "I told her I had to go to the dedication 
ceremony, because I had to stop Jeritt from executing his 
plan..."
	"And a lot of good that did."  Liz muttered quietly to 
herself as the captain spoke.
	"But when I said that, she just got this look of pain on 
her face."  Jad paused, turning to Dr. Lang.  "It was like I 
just killed a kitten in front of her or something."
	The doctor nodded.  "Having not slaughtered many kittens 
in front of people to gauge their reactions, I'll just assume 
she looked hurt."
	Jad nodded silently.  "I seem to be good at hurting her."
	"Love does that to people, Captain.  I was only in love 
once."  Liz leaned back against the wall again.  "It was just 
before I was stationed on the Banshee.  We were together for 
three years.  The thing I learned about love, from that 
experience, is that love, in its truest, most powerful form, 
is the most painful."
	"I thought it was supposed to be this great thing.  It's 
not supposed to make me reel in pain."
	"That's how you know it's real, though.  Because you need 
someone so much, you have such a deep-rooted connection, that 
when they hurt, you hurt.  When you're apart you feel it.  And 
every ounce of pain can be countered by the joy you feel 
during the best times.  It all balances out."
	The captain closed his eyes.  "I liked being single 
better."
	"It's a simpler, albeit much more shallow existence."  
Liz nodded.  "That's why I have my Zekey-Wekey."
	"Somehow I don't think a small rodent is going to fill 
the void that Axik could leave in my life if she left me."
	The captain waited patiently for a response, but Dr. Lang 
was far too engrossed in talking gibberish to her hamster, who 
was laying on the floor in a pair of miniature handcuffs 
alongside her.

	"It's got to be them."  Jeritt said in a perplexed tone 
as he sifted through Starfleet database records in the 
Operations Center of the starbase.  "Captain Jad Vorezze, USS 
Banshee, thought to be deceased more than a year and a half 
ago."
	Inisil stood by his side, staring down at the screen.  
"The descriptions do match, and I find it highly unusual that 
we'd have four individuals who apparently belong to Starfleet, 
all of them from the same ship that was supposedly destroyed."  
She glanced about, constantly fearing a potential intruder.  
"Besides I also don't believe the dead can rise from the 
grave."
	He was even more confused now.  The Federation usually 
kept the identities of its intelligence operatives a secret, 
through a combination of no public rosters and descriptions 
and highly detailed false identifications.  This he knew fully 
well, for he'd made it a point to learn all of Starfleet 
Intelligence's usual tricks before he even began planning.  
"Tell me, Inisil, if you were to find four apparent Starfleet 
officers, ones who are listed as dead, at a large event, what 
would you do?"
	"Snap their necks and dispose of their bodies."  She 
replied flatly, without even pausing to think.
	"Besides that."
	The cyborg paused for a moment now.  "Perhaps discover 
what agency they are truly working for.  It seems evident that 
they still work for Starfleet in some capacity, given the 
equipment they possessed and Captain Vorezze's resolve to 
thwart your takeover plans."
	"That might be a good start, then."  Jeritt stared back 
at the profile photograph of Captain Vorezze on the display 
screen.  "The Federation is far more illicit with its methods 
for gathering intelligence and propagating its agenda than it 
would ever care to admit.  Finding out just what division they 
work for seems essential."
	Inisil nodded in agreement.  "Then snap their necks and 
dispose of their bodies."
	"We might need them as a bargaining chip, though."
	"So keep one, dispose of the others."
	"No neck snapping!"  Jeritt shouted.  His voice echoed 
slightly in the emptiness of Ops.
	Inisil hung her head down with a look of sadness.  "Yes, 
sir."
	With a devilish look slowly crossing his bone white face, 
Jeritt said slyly, "Perhaps we should attempt to gather 
information from our four mysterious operatives.  Whatever 
they provide us could be a more useful bargaining chip with 
Federation representatives than all the hostages on this 
station combined."
	"Shall I commence with torturous interrogation, sir?"  
Inisil asked giddily.
	Jeritt nodded as he stared forward at the captain's bio.


	The anxiety was eating away at her.  Commander Tagel sat 
sullenly at her place at the operations manager station, 
gazing sullenly over the display before her, managing the 
systems of the complex piece of machinery on which all of 
their lives depended.  A light would blink on and she would 
know just what it meant.  'Power fluctuation in power manifold 
21-C4 caused by normal wear and tear.'  She silently rerouted 
power around the fluctuation and posted an alert to 
engineering.  'Turbolift shaft 84 reports warning for 
scheduled maintenance.'  She thought as another light came on.  
Silently she put that on the repair schedule.  'Artificial 
gravity compromised on Deck 24, caused by the evil gremlins 
gnawing on the emitters.'  She couldn't take it anymore and 
spun around to face a contemplative Commander Smith.  
"Commander, shouldn't they be back by now?"  The Bajoran's 
voice broke the bridge's eerie silence.
	Dan glanced up from his tome of spells, hexes and curses.  
"These kinds of missions take time."  He said before pausing 
to think.  "And you've been asking that every ten minutes for 
the last hour."
	Axik sighed, almost shuddering as the emotions began to 
overwhelm her.  "I want to talk to Jad."  She sighed, not 
realizing she was thinking aloud.  "I just wish I could force 
him to love me as much as I love him."
	"Love spells aren't until chapter twelve."  Dan said 
tersely without looking up as he turned the tattered, yellowed 
page.  "You'll have to give me some time on that."
	The previously silent Lt. Cmdr. DiSanto spoke.  
"Actually, maybe we should go over there.  It has been a 
while."
	Dan closed the book, frustrated by the constant 
interruptions.  "Since when are you so eager to go on an away 
mission?"
	"It's boring here.  Besides, if everything's fine, the 
bar might still be open."  A smile began to creep across 
Vince's face.  "That means I could get me an appletini!"
	"I guess you're right."  Dan stood up.  "Commander 
DiSanto, Lieutenant Carn, let's go."
	Axik stamped her foot as her eyes bugged out slightly in 
rage.  "I'm coming too!"
	Vince turned to Dan.  "Should we really be taking a 
pregnant Bajoran on a potentially dangerous away mission?"
	Dan shrugged.  "We're taking you, aren't we?"
	"I'm just going to shut up now before I set myself up for 
anything else."


	Visions were swirling around the captain's mind as he 
tried to make the best of his time by meditating in the corner 
of the cell.  One moment he saw a blue sky, and a house, and a 
yard.  He saw Axik at the door with a child in her arms.  
Without opening his eyes he blinked and the mental image 
changed.  The viewer of the Banshee became clear now, looking 
out over a vast nebula, a pristine region of space to explore, 
to protect, to serve.
	Dr. Lang sat nervously on the opposite end of the cell, 
staring at the captain as he sat almost motionless.  She was 
no telepath, but she knew that he was lost in an internal 
emotional turmoil.  The look on his face and in his eyes told 
it all.  She tried to think of things she could say to him, 
ways to comfort him, but she resigned.  The captain had always 
been an enigmatic figure to the crew, and she didn't know him 
nearly well enough to offer any advice.
	'I'm alone without her.'  Jad thought to himself as his 
mind wandered further.  'It's just me and my work.'  His mind 
wandered again, then something happened.  He paused and slowly 
opened his eyes, staring over at Dr. Lang.  'She's thinking 
about me...  wondering about me...' For a moment he longed to 
speak, release all his pain, every emotion that he'd bottled 
up from years of emotional distance from those he surrounded 
himself with.  He sensed she was a kindred spirit.  Part of 
Dr. Lang wanted to get to know him better, but not 
romantically, rather as a friend, as a fellow isolated soul.  
His own sense of privacy, and his own personal inner 
awkwardness prevented him from speaking.
	"Captain Vorezze."  Jad looked up to see Inisil standing 
at the force field, phaser in hand and a look of depravity in 
her eyes.  "And Dr. Elizabeth Lang.  In the other cell we have 
Commander Charlotte Burns and Lieutenant Commander Benjamin 
Rachow."
	Jad attempted to stare down the cyborg as he spoke, see 
if he could somehow get her to break.  "I'm afraid I never got 
your name."
	"Inisil.  Not that it's of any consequence to you, other 
than perhaps so that you might know the name of the one 
responsible for your demise."
	"If you know our names then you know how valuable we 
are."  Liz spoke up in a surprisingly confident voice.  As she 
spoke she slowly tucked Zeke away behind the edge of the 
brig's cot to keep him safe.  She wasn't sure what was about 
to happen, all she knew was that the murderous glint shining 
from Inisil's eyes contradicted what she was about to say.  
"You wouldn't kill us."
	"You might serve numerous purposes, yes."  Inisil said as 
she paced back and forth.  "But once we've exhausted those 
uses for you, rest assured that we will dispose of you quickly 
and thoroughly."  She stopped and smiled as a thought occurred 
to her. "And since you're all apparently dead we don't even 
have to deal with covering it up afterwards!"
	"What do you want out of all of this?  You must have some 
goal."  Jad growled.
	"Our goal," Inisil said, "is to rescue Viranis from the 
clutches of the Federation and restore our independence."
	"That's funny."  Jad smirked.  "I'm here to rescue 
Viranis from the clutches of you."
	Inisil huffed.  "Regardless, it is time for your 
interrogation.  You will come with me."
	"I'm comfortable here, but thanks for asking."
	"That wasn't a request."  Inisil deactivated the 
forcefield and walked into the cell.  With one hand she picked 
the captain up by his belt and carried him horizontally out to 
the door, the forcefield crackling back on behind her.
	"I can walk on my own, you know!"
	Liz said nothing as the brig doors closed behind them.  
There was nothing she could do but wait.

	A dead silence had overtaken the starbase, moreso than 
the silence that had engulfed the station when it was 
unmanned.  This was the kind of silence that only came when 
something was terribly wrong.  The quiet was interrupted for a 
brief moment by the musical jingle of the transporters.  
Comamnder Smith, Lieutenant Carn, Commander Tagel, Lt. Cmdr. 
DiSanto and two guards snapped to attention as they glanced 
about their surroundings.
	Dan sniffed the air, shining the light mounted atop his 
phaser rifle around.  "We must be close to the banquet hall, 
the scent of food is in the air."
	Carn nodded as he inhaled the scent for his android brain 
to analyze.  "According to my internal sensors, the scent is 
of McNuggets.  Chicken McNuggets."
	Vince smiled.  "That's my favorite kind of McNugget!"
	Axik stamped her foot as she examined her tricorder.  
"Where's Jaddy!?"
	"There is a large cluster of life signs still in the 
banquet hall."  Vince said as he examined his own tricorder.  
"Several more life signs are scattered across the station."
	"Curious."  Carn said as he tapped at a control panel.  
"For some odd reason I can't access any of the station's 
systems, they're all locked out."
	Dan frowned, glancing nervously about.  "Someone must 
have taken control of the station then.  That would explain 
quite a bit."
	"Oh..."  Carn deactivated the wall panel.  "I thought the 
computer was just being a bitch to me.  Kind of like the main 
computer of the starship Blasdell, because I used to date the 
main computer of its sister ship, the Lackawanna."
	"We'd better be careful, we have to make sure no one 
knows we're here."  Dan turned to Vince.  "Commander DiSanto, 
did you bring the device to keep the intruder sensors from 
detecting us?"
	Vince nodded and removed it from his satchel.
	"Good, let's go."  Dan led the group as they took a 
single step forward.  At the same moment, the piercing screech 
of the intruder alert siren sounded.  Dan turned angrily to 
Vince.  "I thought you brought the device with you."
	A puzzled look came over Lt. Cmdr. DiSanto's face before 
it was suddenly illuminated again with a spark.  "Oh, that's 
what's wrong."  He chuckled nervously.  "I forgot to turn it 
on."
	Dan shook his head as they walked brisky down the hall.  
"Thankfully, if this is Jeritt's doing, he's just one man, so 
he won't have much luck taking all of us down."

	"I'm not a cruel person."  Inisil attempted to explain 
herself while she strapped Captain Vorezze into a medical 
gurney, which she'd converted into a makeshift interrogation 
table.
	"Of course not, you're just misunderstood."  Jad grumbled 
as his feet became bound.
	"I do what is necessary to protect myself and my master."  
Inisil began tightening the captain's belt restraint.
	"I suppose that's noble."  Jad sighed as he glanced at 
the tray of sharp, pointy objects he could only assume were to 
be used on him momentarily.
	"You are a threat to my people."  She grunted as she 
tightened the Captain's wrist straps.  "So I find no pity 
while combating you."  She paused as she finished tying the 
captain down.  The wrists and waist were quite tough, Inisil 
could see as she surveyed the captain from top to bottom.  She 
stopped halfway down.  "Captain, please.  Try to keep that 
thing under control."
	Jad flinched.  "Sorry, force of habit."
	"Inisil!"  A deep voice boomed out from behind the 
android.  She spun around to see Jeritt standing in the 
doorway.
	"Yes, my lord?"  She asked as she polished a hook shaped 
torture device on an antiseptic cloth.
	"We have intruders in the banquet hall."  Jeritt glanced 
over to the captain on the table.  "It looks like they're from 
his ship."  Jeritt paused as he looked at the captain, then 
whispered to Inisil, "Is it just me or does it look like being 
tied up turned him on."
	Inisil shrugged.  "Did we load our security systems onto 
the station yet?"
	Jeritt nodded.  "Yes, they're in place.  I would like you 
to deal with the intruders using the security devices.  I will 
conclude the interrogation of the captain."
	"Yes, my liege.  I will deploy the Sentries now and 
supervise their operation."  Inisil turned and left.
	Jad looked up at Jeritt as he struggled slightly to see 
if there was any way to free himself from his restraints.  "I 
don't care what you have up your sleeve, I doubt you're any 
match for the forces of my ship."  Okay, so that was a blatant 
lie and Jad knew it.  Thankfully Jeritt was not the telepath 
in this situation.
	"I've prepared for every possible contingency."  Jeritt 
said.  "And besides, you know your forces aren't as invincible 
as you'd like to think.  I can see it in your face."  So much 
for Jad's poker face.
	"Even if you defeat the forces of my ship, Starfleet will 
not let this rebellion stand."  Jad's face was stern with 
authority and confidence.
	A smile crept across Jeritt's face, and a sinister 
twinkle flashed in his eye as he spoke.  "That, my good 
captain, is where you come in.  You and I need to have a 
little chat about just who you work for."
	"You won't get any information from me."  The captain 
said defiantly.
	"I'm afraid your obduracy will only render your situation 
worse."  Jeritt wheeled over a cart of small tools.  "I am a 
businessman, so I know when I need to be ruthless to obtain 
what I require."  He picked up a small device looking vaguely 
like a phaser but with a round, blunt end that glowed a deep 
crimson.  "First I might simply try an old fashioned burn gun 
on you.  Sear random bits of your flesh until you start to 
talk.  If that doesn't work, I'll use this Klingon pain stick, 
sending horrendous amounts of pain barreling through your body 
until your inner will breaks.  You will endure hours upon 
hours of unending physical agony until I get the information I 
require from you."
	Jad swallowed hard as beads of sweat began to appear on 
his forehead and his eyes widened with each horrific tool that 
Jeritt picked up off of the table.
	"I do have some good news for you, though."  Jeritt said.
	"What's that?"  Jad raised his eyebrow and spoke with a 
nervous twinge in his voice.
	"I just saved a ton of money on my shuttlecraft 
insurance."
	The captain's shoulders sank and he grumbled under his 
breath.
	Jeritt said nothing, but simply picked up the first tool 
and stepped towards the captain.

	The faint scent of anesthezine hung in the air as the 
away team entered the banquet hall.  Tables were overturned 
and food lay scattered around the floor.  In the center of the 
room, dozens of party guests lay tied up in shackles, 
squirming around like fish on dry land.
	"For the love of the prophets."  Axik said as she looked 
around the wreckage of the party.
	Commander Smith stepped forward and surveyed the crowd of 
people, bound and gagged, most of them blindfolded as well.  
"No wonder the captain wanted to come to this so badly..."
	One of the guards approached a guest and scanned them 
with a tricorder.  "Everyone here seems to be in stable 
medical condition."  He said.
	"Can we get their shackles off?"  Vince asked.  "They 
might be able to tell us who did this."
	Dan glanced down at the electronic blindfolds and gags, 
all of them attached by bio-magnetic constrictors.  "These are 
advanced restraining devices.  I don't know if we'd be able to 
get them off."
	The guard tapped a few buttons on his tricorder and the 
shakles of one guest clicked, the blinking lights went d