From: Shawn, Justin and Kim (kimtoussaint_at_yahoo.com)
Date: Sun Jul 27 2008 - 17:58:34 PDT
"Sunday"
( Continued from Shawn's "History lesson" )
---------------------------------------------------------------
LOCATION: GATEWAY Station
SCENE: Arboretum
STARDATE: 2.80727.1757
Crichton and Stephanie Farrell walked together through the
arboretum, stopping now and then to admire a piece of particularly
exotic flora. Of course, being an engineer, Crichton wasn't really
into plants, but after sharing three drinks with him in the bar,
Stephanie had said she wanted to go for a walk, and the arboretum
seemed like the best place to do it. The climate-controlled chamber
even had a blue sky and simulated sunlight, giving the impression
that the pair were out on a friendly walk in the park on a sunny
day.
Of course, Crichton would have walked through the military
barracks' shower room if Stephanie had wanted to go there. He
was truly enjoying her company, finding it a welcome relief from
the usual stresses of living aboard GATEWAY. They had talked
a lot about their pasts, where they were from, what they did with
their free time... small-talk, mostly, but Crichton still enjoyed it.
"Look at that," Stephanie said as they rounded a corner and
saw a large gathering of people on a nearby lawn. "Must be
a convention or something."
Crichton followed her gaze, and found that he recognized
the group. Commander Davidson was there, along with her
children. He also recognized Cochrane Stephens, there with
a group of people whom Crichton assumed was his family.
Thomas Varn was there too, along with Cade Foster.
Crichton started towards them, thinking he'd say hi. One of
Daisy's children spied him approaching, however, and held up
what looked like a small animal. At first, Crichton thought it
was a dog... but then he counted the number of heads.
"My goodness!" he said, jumping back as he realized that
the boy was holding up a three-headed dog. The boy giggled
at the engineer's reaction, then put the dog on the ground to
let it run and sniff around. Crichton knelt next to the animal,
holding out his hand for it to sniff, then glanced over at the boy.
"Got a name for him yet?" he asked.
The boy shook his head.
"Cerberus would be fitting," Crichton shrugged, standing up again.
"And obvious," Stephanie Farrell said, coming up from behind.
Crichton glanced back at her and frowned.
"So what would *you* name him?" he asked. "Fluffy?"
"I don't have to name him anything," Stephanie teased.
"It's not my dog." And she crouched down in front of LJ, to
scratch the dog behind one of it's six ears. "I think he's
adorable."
"Thanks," LJ said, a little shyly.
Crichton, meanwhile, had turned to look at Thomas Varn.
"Wings," he nodded with a smile. "Good to see you."
Varn nodded politely back, not sure how he felt about the
nickname 'Wings'.
"How's your head?" Cochrane asked with a smile, remembering
their narrow escape from the SHIV.
"Right as rain," Crichton said. "Thanks to Doc Foster here."
Cade Foster looked at him quizzically. "Actually, I don't believe
we've met."
"But you-" Crichton started, confused. Then he remembered the
SHIV and how everyone had duplicates of themselves running
around. He nodded. "Right, you're not Cade Foster."
"I am too," the mirror protested.
"How are *you* feeling, Commander?" Crichton asked, turning
to Daisy.
"Relieved everyone's safe." Daisy smiled. Then, she teasingly
asked, "Care to introduce me to your friend?"
Crichton blinked, a bit of color rising to his cheeks. Then, he
chuckled and replied, "Of course."
-------------------------------------------------
LOCATION: HAVEN Space Station
SCENE: Courtroom
Martin Anders stared hard at Rakka, who had stood now and
began to approach the podium where Anders sat. The Cardassian
had a bemused expression on his face as he walked, and when
his eye caught Raxl’s, the bounty hunter could swear he saw
true mischievous mirth in the alien’s eyes.
“This is most irregular,” Anders pointed out, his attitude towards
this most recent development made quite obvious by his tone of
voice. “You are the one who accuses this man of the crimes
he’s being tried for today.”
“That’s true, your honor,” Rakka nodded. “However, since no one
else will stand to defend him, I will shoulder than burden as well.”
“You are aware that, should you withdraw your offer to defend
him, he will be immediately sentenced and executed?” Anders
asked, sounding more than a little annoyed.
“I am, your honor,” Rakka nodded. “And let no one say that
HAVEN’s courts are so unjust.”
Anders sighed. “Very well,” he said. “Let the record show that
Councilor Rakka has offered to represent Raxl Dreyton for the
duration of this hearing.”
Rakka moved now to stand behind Raxl. The bounty hunter
leaned over to whisper to his new defense attorney.
“What kind of game are you playing?”
“I thought that would be obvious,” the Cardassian whispered
back. “I’m saving your wretched life.”
“Why?”
“We can go into reasons later,” Rakka said. “For now, we have
a trial to win. And guess who my star witness is?”
Raxl’s reply would have been suitably pithy, but Martin Anders
pounding his gavel interrupted it. The honorable Judge Anders
then leveled his eyes at Rakka and said, with more than touch
of venom in his tone, “The defense may call its first witness.”
“The defense calls Raxl Dreyton,” Rakka said with a knowing
grin. Anders made a face that suggested he anticipated this
statement but was nonetheless displeased by it, then nodded
solemnly. Raxl approached the podium and turned to face his
attorney. Rakka merely smiled back at him for a few moments,
giving the impression that he had mistaken Raxl for a particularly
delicious piece of Cardassian cuisine, then approached to begin
his questioning.
“Please state your name for the court.”
“Raxl Dreyton,” Raxl replied warily, still not convinced that
Rakka was really on his side.
“And what do you stand accused of, Mr. Dreyton?”
“Attempted murder,” Raxl said. “Of you.”
“I see,” Rakka said, turning now to face the assembled crowd.
Raxl could tell the Cardassian was enjoying this, and still wasn’t
sure if that was a good or a bad sign. “Would you please give us
your version of the events leading to your arrest?”
“I showed up on HAVEN looking for a wanted man,” Raxl said,
glancing sidelong at Martin Anders. “My intel said he’d been last
seen on HAVEN. After I came aboard, I headed to your place-”
“Please state the name of the establishment,” Rakka cut in.
“For the record.”
“HAVEN’s Haven,” Raxl said, a little annoyed.
“Very good,” Rakka nodded, giving him that disturbing grin
again. “Please, continue.”
“I went to the bar, and ordered a drink,” Raxl said. “Then you
sent two of your goons over to bring me to your office. I asked
you if you’d seen Martin Anders, and your response was to have
one of your thugs try to kill me.”
“Let met get this straight,” Rakka said. “Are you suggesting
that the violence you perpetrated in… where was it again?’
Raxl frowned. “HAVEN’s Haven,” he grumbled.
“Right,” Rakka nodded. “So, the violence you perpetrated in
HAVEN’s Haven was only in response to a direct attempt
against your own life?”
“I’d say so, yeah,” Raxl nodded, his frown deepening.
“Your honor,” Rakka said, turning to face the podium. “In
light of this new evidence, I submit that there is no basis
for pursuing charges against Mr. Dreyton. He was clearly
acting only in the preservation of his own life.”
Martin Anders scowled at the Cardassian. “I see,” he said.
“And may I assume that the plaintiff has no testimony to
offer that may contradict that of the accused?”
“You assume correctly,” Rakka nodded, oozing with fake
respect. “Your honor.”
Anders continued to stare hatefully at the Cardassian for
several moments before picking up his gavel. “Very well,”
he said. “In light of this evidence, this court has no choice
but to drop the charges against the accused. He is free
to leave HAVEN.”
A murmur went through the assembled crowd. Rakka
merely gave Raxl and accomplished smile, while
Anders glared daggers at both of them.
“And in the future,” Anders continued, “May I suggest that
certain members of the HAVEN council not waste this
court’s time with trials they know will serve no purpose?”
“Oh, I agree wholeheartedly,” Rakka nodded, giving
Anders the same predatory smile he usually reserved
for Raxl . “I believe that everything we do must have
a purpose. *Everything*.”
He glanced sidelong at Raxl as he said the second
“everything”, and for a moment Raxl felt he would
rather be anywhere else in the galaxy than where he
was right now. For reasons unknown, Rakka had just
saved Raxl for certain death, and the bounty hunter was
having a hard time feeling grateful. Instead, he felt
more like he’d been thrown out of the frying pan and
into the fire.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Location: GS2
Scene: Main Science Lab -> Corridor -> Turbo lift
Time index: The next day
That morning, someone came up from the Chocolate
Shoppe and brought him a lovely mug of hot chocolate.
The winged Science officer was surprised, " I didn't
order this." Andrea scurried out of the room to avoid
attention as the delivery woman cryptically said, "Oh,
it's on the house. We like to stay on good terms with
the station's senior staff." She had several other mugs
and a few pastries in her cart, so Thomas believed her
and enjoyed the drink without giving it another thought -
much to Andrea's disappointment. Her face fell as she
stepped back into the main lab and Thomas still showed
her no particular attention.
Later, reading over a pad carefully Thomas rubbed the
back of his neck. He had that odd sensation as if
someone was watching him intently. Slowly lifting his head
Thomas looked around the lab in front of him before
turning to see who was there. Turning slowly he came
face to face with the wall and the other consoles which
at the moment were not being used so he shook the
feeling off.
Shrugging once he turned back to the console he was
currently using and jumped keeping himself from screaming
from shock. There between him and the console was one
of his lab technicians Andrea Bloch, with a large smile on
her face. Closing his eyes and shaking off the sense
of surprise he sighed, “Is there something I can assist
you with Ms. Bloch?”
The young Vulcan and Romulan hybrid smiled and
shook her head, “No sir, I just want to give you an update
on the biologicals that were retrieved from the pirate
vessel.”
Nodding once Thomas held out his hand waiting for the
padd to be handed to him, but nothing came. Tilting his
head he looked at the young woman, “Well, Ms. Bloch?”
Jerking slightly she nodded and handed the padd over,
“It took me several hours to catalogue and classify each
one, but based on the biologists classifications these
should be accurate and acceptable.”
Thomas nodded and slipped the padd below the one that
he was reading trying to finish the work that he had begun.
It took several moments before he realized that the young
lab tech was still standing there staring at him. Lifting his
eyes slowly he turned to her, “Is there something else?”
Shaking her head she still smiled, “Just waiting on
approval sir.”
Raising an eyebrow Thomas scanned the padd quickly
attempting to look as if he had been reading it before
turning to her, “Very nice work, tell Kroot nice job and I’ll
be submitting this to Starfleet Science.”
Turning and walking from the console Thomas began
roaming the labs looking at others works and getting
reports form the various departments. Little did he know
that Andrea was still standing there her face turning
slightly red with aggravation. Dr. Lavix , a Talaxian
physician, walked as she was gathering her things
and preparing to leave. She couldn't help smirking as
Thomas growled, "Oh, not you again."
Atleast twice a week, someone from sickbay was
forced to visit Thomas with requests for DNA donation.
It was always the same "pitch".
"Don't worry, Mr. Varn. It's not like it was centuries
ago. Yes, I know everyone remembers the stories
of men having to spill their 'seed' into cups. A tissue
sample from your arm or any piece of DNA you are
comfortable surrendering would suffice. The party
wishes to remain anonymous and you would not be
subjected to any parental obligations once the child
is born "
Walking up the corridor, she knew Thomas and his
daily routine well enough to imagine just how far
Dr. Lavix would get in his little speech. She muttered
softly and counted out the seconds on her fingers.
"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine..."
She sighed and shook her head with disgust and
watched Thomas ejecting the physician from the main
science lab as she stepped backwards into the turbo lift.
The petite Talaxian's backside hit the floor with a thud
and Thomas could be heard roaring, "....and stay out!
Leave me alone."
The turbo lift doors whooshed shut and Andrea was left
alone in the turbo lift. Her anger over Thomas never
noticing her, the way he practically considered her
part of the Science Department furniture, was temporarily
pushed aside as she pulled a small white feather out of
her pocket. She rubbed it against her cheek and then
lightly sniffed it - wishing she could do more for him
than just occasionally picking up feathers that occasionally
dropped from his lovely wings to the floor as he worked.
------------------------------------
Location: Daisy's quarters
Scene: Front door -> Corridor
Daisy blinked with surprise to find Hunter and Kate at her
door. Both the Marine and the XO could hear the sound
of children laughing from within. Whatever initial
discomfort they'd felt about going back to their quarters,
Daisy had gotten them past it.
The older woman had her doubts, though - that she
could get them past their discomfort around the
P'Narran marine just yet. She quickly stepped out into
the corridor and let the door shut behind her.
"Kate, why did you bring him here?"
Hunter groaned softly and sighed, "Commander, please.
There is something I want to discuss with you about LJ."
Not wanting to hear it, Daisy rolled her eyes, "I know you
blame yourself for what your alternate did, but really...
you should just stop...and my kids will be fine. Now,
Foster and I have a meeting in sickbay with the other Foster
and both Varns. So, please...."
Kate groaned, "You're the station's Commanding Officer.
I think you can make them wait..."
Daisy scoffed at Kate, "Excuse me?"
Crichton stepped out of the turbo lift at the end of the
corridor just in time to see a heated argument developing
between, Daisy, Hunter and Kate. The Engineer walked
towards them - unnoticed at first.
Then, he cleared his throat loudly and asked,
"Is everything ok here?"
_________________________________________________________
NRPG: Tag~!
Kim Toussaint AKA Commander Daisy Byrne Davidson, M.D.
Commanding officer of GATEWAY STATION
From HyperNews_at_youth.net
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