S2-M1 Coming Together

[James A. Hawke]

[Earth - Home Arrest]

James looked at the monitor as he heard the news of the days.  He had been relieved of Command of the Shran and placed into home arrest.  He was allowed to have visitors from time to time, but he was under investigation.  He was a person of interest on the Death of President of the United Federation of Planets. His decision was currently question, and most of the crew were scattered.

In the background, James heard the news

"In Today's news, it has been 2 Months since the Assassination of the President of the United Federation of Planets, and the Vice President is ready to be sworn in.  As mentioned previously he was shocked by the death of his predecessors, and there is an individual or person of interest in the investigation, Captain James Hawke."  the newscaster said

Another newscaster reported, "Just because he is a person of interest does not mean that he pulled the trigger."

An angry reporter then responded "Look, the people are the United Federation of Planets are smart people, and they know that he was there fighting security.  It doesn't take a genius to figure out that he knew about the plot and that he was a distraction.  Let alone that he crashed part of his ship in San Francisco causing massive property damage."

James then said "Computer, turn the news off"  He then walked into his living room.  For the last two months he was constantly reminded of his failure.  He heard a small beep and said "Enter"

A Starfleet Admiral walked into his quarters.  The Admiral looked at Hawke and said "Good Morning, Captain.  I don't mean to sound insensitive, but you are in quite a predicament.  The President is dead, and we need someone to blame.  Unless we find someone else, it's your neck.  So tell me, James, where is the Data?"

James stood silent and said "I can't trust anyone.  The Data is a safe place."

The Admiral continued "We put the Shran together again piece by piece.  You made quite a mess, and we have looked for the Data, and we can't find it."

James smiled and said, "Maybe is not on the Shran."

The Admiral smiled and said, "Well, do you trust Admiral Kirok?"

James looked at the Admiral and said "Right now, I can only trust myself and my officers.  If you wanted to find the truth, you would give me back the Shran and let me get answers."

The Admiral began leaving his room, and she ended "We'll see your crew is a thing of the past.  They will back together.  I made sure they are all scattered"

[Michael Ferdinand]

[Earth- San Francisco- Home]

..Failure. You should have been the one to do it. You couldn't even kill the Captain when his guard was down. You are a disgrace to your kind...

The sound of Stephan's laughter echoed through the halls of her brother's apartment, waking Alyssa up from the nightmare that she had been trapped in. She had been having some trouble sleeping since the assassination, though she wasn't sure if it was from the trauma of the events or if it were the programming attempting to punish her for not doing the work herself. She was freezing under the silk comforter- her body had broken out into a sweat whilst she had been asleep.

She heard Stephen again, this time hearing her brother clumsily playing with her son. Her brother Anthony had graciously took Stephan in when Alyssa had been assigned to the Shran until she would be comfortable enough to bring him on the ship with her. He seemed more than happy to oblige at the time, seeing as he had been missing for decades, it felt more like a duty to him that he make it up to his sister, especially considering what little family they had left outside of each other was no longer there. She had been so happy when they first reunited, but that happiness disolved into biterness for a time, as she felt that he had been able to escape the hell that was her childhood for seemingly greener pastures. Yet now, now things were different. She could rely on him, she could trust him. She knew that, and for that, she was thankful.

Alyssa got out of bed, wiping the drips of sweat off her forehead and arms before making her way out of the bedroom. The bedroom opened out onto the living room, a large open rectangle decorated with rugs and pictures of them- Anthony, Alyssa, and Stephan. Anthony was sprawled out on the floor in front of Stephen with a toy starship in his hand. He closed the figurine in his hand, waved his hand over it, and when he opened it back up, the figurine was gone.

"Huh." Alyssa said. "How do you do that?"

Anthony looked over his shoulder. "Oh, you're awake." he said before getting himself up off the floor. "Never mind that. We got a big day ahead of us. I made us a lovely little picnic and we can head out to the Joe DiMaggio park in a few. Why don't you and Stephan go get ready and be back in here..."

"Anthony." Alyssa said.

"Yes, sister?" Anthony replied back.

"I don't think right now's the best time to go out. I only just got up and I have so much to do."

"Alyssa, you'be been trying to get out every activity that Stephan and I have come up with since you've come home. Please. Just this once."

"Please, mommy?" Stephan added.

Alyssa's eyes darted from Anthony to Stephan before heading back to Anthony. They were ganging up on her. They had planned this from the start. They had.... She sighed. "Alright, I'll go get ready."

[Kachina Filitov]

Starfleet Academy - Earth

It had been two months since the Assassination of the President of the Federation. And, like most of the crew of the Shran, she had been re-assigned. Because there was no evidence that she had done anything apart from be loyal to her commanding officer. As such, she had kept her rank but had been assigned to the Academy flight school. Teaching the next generation of starship and shuttle pilots.

Her Father had given her one look and not spoken to her since. Luckily she was not part of his team or it would have been difficult. Her brothers had not responded to her letters, so she assumed that they believed her to be guilty.

She was currently teaching a group of Cadets how to pilot a Delta Flyer, and she was waiting in the hanger for them to show up. They had complete work in the simulator, now the Cadets would get the chance on the real thing.

She had been waiting about 30 minutes when the group arrived. There were five of them. Two Human females, a Vulcan male, an Andorian male and a Bajoran female. They were all talking quietly among themselves when they saw her waiting.

"Oh look, it's the traitor!" One of the Human Cadets sniggered to her friend.

"It's not been proved that she is a traitor Williams." The Vulcan remarked in a neutral tone, though he did raise an eyebrow. "All that is certain is that she crashed a starship!" He added, almost humorously.

"She crashed a starship? Then what in four quadrants is she doing teaching us to fly?" The other Human smirked.

"Well I for one do not want to be trained by an incompetent pilot! How will I ever get good grades if we are not taught properly." The Andorian said, glaring at Katcha.

By now Katcha had had enough.

"QVIET!" Katcha shouted, in a tone similar to her old drill instructor. "None of you know ze facts and no-one has asked me vat happened. But if you vant a demonstration, I vill gladly give it to you. Now get aboard and I vill show you vot sort of pilot I am." She continued in a quieter, but no less serious tone.

At this, the Cadets boarded the training flyer and sat in the observation seats.

Katcha followed and, after sealing the hatch, took her seat at the helm. She powered up the systems before opening a channel.

TS Janeway to Flight control. Reqvest permission to launch on a training run.

Flight control to TS Janeway, Clearance granted. Control out.

Katcha immediately engaged the thrusters and manoeuvred the Flyer out of the hanger. She then engaged the Impulse drive and the shuttle quickly let the surface. She pushed the shuttle just past the maximum recommended ascent speed and pulled a few of the more complicated manoeuvres as she did so.

This caused the Cadets to stop muttering as they could clearly see that they were in the hands of a highly skilled pilot.

Soon they were in orbit and Katcha took the flyer past the orbital repair stations as they completed their first orbit. As they did so, Katcha smiled as she saw the Shran. She was still in orbit, in one of the repair docks.

'Good' She thought. 'She does not appear to have been assigned a new crew yet'. She concluded to herself. She then brought the flyer to a complete stop before turning to the Cadets.

"Very vell." She said coldly. "You had much to say ven ve vere on ze ground. How about vone of you showing ze rest of us how it is done?" She asked.

None of the Cadets replied, it was as if they had all be struck dumb.

Katcha almost sneered.

"Very vell zen. Cadet Villiams. You vill go first!" Katcha announced, glaring at the Cadet who had called her a traitor and who was now sitting pale face in her seat.

Katcha got up from the primary helm and seated herself in the instructors seat. It had complete duplicate flight controls to help prevent accidents. She then motioned to Williams to take the her previous seat.

Reluctantly, the young woman at at the helm and strapped herself in. She then looked at Katcha but dd not say anything.

"Set course 279 mark 72, vone quarter Impulse." Katcha ordered.

She watched closely as Williams slowly input the correct course and engaged the Impulse engine. Nothing happened.

Katcha almost laughed as the Cadet panicked and tried to figure out what she had done wrong. she then turned back to Katcha.

"I'm sorry." She almost whispered. "I don't know what I've done wrong."

Katcha raised her eyebrow. It was almost worth it to watch the girl squirm. However, she was there to teach, not mock. So she turned to the other Cadets.

"Vell?" She asked. "Do any of you have any ideas as to vot Cadet Villiams has done wrong?"

There was silence. Then the Vulcan Cadet raised his hand. Katcha nodded.

"Is i something to do with the inertial dampeners Lieutenant?" He asked.

Katcha shook her head.

"No, But it vos a good guess." She replied before turning back to Williams. "Did you by any chance forget to open ze impulse manifolds?" She asked the hapless Cadet at the helm.

Williams looked at the controls before blushing. She then opened the manifolds before again engaging the Impulse drive.

The flyer surged forward, following the requested course. Katcha smiled to herself as she watched Williams closely.

[Kyle Bytes]

[Starfleet]

"No," he said. It has been two months of saying no. No. No and hell no.

The officer leaned close to the cybernetic Ensign. "You leave us no choice," he shared. "Remember how we let you go from your last crime"

The Ensign arched an eye brow. Oh this was low. They are going back to his incident that he was not control of his crime. Fucking black mailing him. Boy he was not going to be toyed.

He took a big deep breath. "W-we'll Sir, bring up the crime. Am I not suppose to be trialed more then once."

"We seem to ignore that. This is investigation on data we seek from the Shran's Captain. Captain Hawke.," the officer said.

"Look, I am ah-an Ensign. My parents are dead. I am m-not married. I have no kids. I have nothing. I am not even an officer which you can't degrade me....sir" wow he said that without stuttering.

"Fine. I be sure you be in prison for life time," he threatened.

"Look. I told you  no.  I am not going to do your work. You have all lot Starfleet people. Use them," he glared at the man. This was not his cup of tea. He was good hacking in getting in places where he was not suppose to go because of the people who had help him to be a good criminal.

* see his bio

[T'Ra Jones]

[Earth - Stevenson, WA]

Rain gently trummled against the roof of the Buehler family home. Large pine trees loomed overhead, but from inside T'Ra could only make out the dark, green outlines through the fogged up windows. As a log on the fire let off a loud crack, she turned her head, contemplating whether she wanted to get up to throw on another piece.

"Don't even think about it, young lady," a warm voice called out. Henrik Buehler, a stout man and patriarch of the Buehler family, came striding into the room, setting a steaming cup of tea before her. "You should not have to lift a finger, so lang du hier bist," he chided, though his tone remained affectionate. "Not much more time now?" he asked, poking the fire.

T'Ra shook her head. She had been granted medical leave from Starfleet for this purpose, time that she and Evan had decided to spend with his parents. They were a lovely couple, and she could easily see where Evan got his charm and manners from.

Once Henrik had finished stoking the fire, he plopped down into a seat beside her, a twinkle in his eyes. T'Ra couldn't help but giggle. She knew that look. Evan got that one all the time. "My first grandchild..." In his excitement, her father-in-law slipped back into German. "Ich kann es kaum glauben, ein Opa zu sein! Aber, dass du mein Sohn so glcklich machst, werde ich fr immer dankbar sein." Henrik paused. "Really," he told her, "you mean the world to him."

T'Ra smiled. It was wonderful to have a loving father again. It had been almost five years now since her own had died, and she was so overwhelmed at the thought. "Na, schon," Henrik cooed. "It's alright. Now... where has that little velociraptor run off to?"

[Fala Awen]

[San Francisco Fleet Yards]

Caelene glanced up at the Shran, toolkit in hand. Two months had passed since the Shran crew had surrendered. After an initial period of limbo, she had been reassigned to the San Francisco Fleet Yards. Interestingly enough, she had been assigned to work on repairs to the Shran itself partly because she had been its Chief Engineering Officer.

Despite the major damage the ship had sustained, they were making good progress. The Odyssey class vessel was technically capable of leaving drydock, but her internal systems were still a bit of a mess, among other things. The extensive structural damage had been repaired, though it was currently being checked out before the work could be signed off on.

The Trill glanced down at her PADD to see who she was assigned to work with for the day. Vance Axelrod, Revan Arol (NPC), Kay Nostra (NPC), and Lee Agathon (NPC). The five of them seemed to be assigned as a team fairly often, which suited her just fine. Arol was another Shran Engineer, Kay was patient and efficient, Vance rarely smiled but was excellent at troubleshooting, and Lee... Lee was great with computers and the two had actually grown rather close.

[USS Shran, Bridge]

Caelene made her way to the bridge, stepping off the turbolift and glancing around. Thus far, only Lee and Arol were there, but it was still a bit early for their shift. Moving over to them, she saw Lee smiling as he saw her. Offering him a partial smile in greeting, she then grew more serious as she looked at the PADD.

"They want us to try to finish up on the bridge today. We still have some consoles to fix, the systems aren't communicating properly with the rest of the ship for some reason, and we're having power issues as well," she explained before looking up at the two engineers before her.

Arol frowned, "When are they going to let us have a look at the warp core and engines? We still need to take a look at those and the power distribution issues in Engineering."

"I wish I knew. To be honest, they might not want me, or even us, down in Main Engineering. It's ridiculous, especially since we're working on the Shran to begin with, but.." It bothered Caelene quite a bit. The Dockyard supervisor had done everything he could to keep Caelene away from Engineering - no small feat considering they'd been working on the ship for over a month.

Lee nodded as he replied, "There's not much else they can have us do at this point and we're the best Engineering team they have. They'll have to give us access. Maybe I can try bringing it up once we have the bridge squared away."

As she was about to reply, Caelene heard the turbolift doors swish open. Kay walked onto the bridge, toolkit in hand. Someone else was in the turbolift too - probably Vance. "Good morning," the Trill called out.

OFF: Tag Vance

[Ardyn Jaeger]

[Cargo ship.]
The light for the coaxial thrusters lit up for the third time today, even though Ardy had fixed the blasted part just last night. Whacking the dashboard, the light turned off briefly, before tauntingly flickering back on again five seconds later. Groaning, Ardy slumped back into the well-worn seat, near defeated. Ever since the court-martial, Ardy had been reassigned to one of the most BORING jobs this side of the Federation: flying this hunk of junk that could only scoot by on ¾ Impulse at max speed. There was no variation in the flight plan, nothing to do, as basically her only job was to take off and land, and let autopilot do the rest. Worst of all, she was left alone with her thoughts, and to add insult to injury, her new CO wouldn't even allow her to bring Steve to give her some company during the short trip from Earth to where the Shran was being rebuilt.

Ardy sighed as the Shran came into view at the Spacedock. She missed being at the helm of a fast, beautifully gleaming ship, with all the best tech, and her little raptor sitting on the nearby scratching post, purring and looking over the hustle of the bridge. thinking about it, it probably was the best that she sent Steve with T'Ra. He'd probably get into trouble much easier without someone to keep an eye on him. And with her baby on the way, T'Ra was going to need all the help she could get.
The sensor on the controls beeped, indicating she was almost there to the Spacedock. Taking manual controls, Ardy steered the old clunker inside the Spacedock and parked it in the nearest open hangar. Heading outside of the old ship, she thought she saw a familiar face in Ops from the Shran amongst the boxes. "Waring? That you, man?"

[guest1477]

[San Francisco Fleet Yards]

Caelene glanced up at the Shran, toolkit in hand. Two months had passed since the Shran crew had surrendered. After an initial period of limbo, she had been reassigned to the San Francisco Fleet Yards. Interestingly enough, she had been assigned to work on repairs to the Shran itself partly because she had been its Chief Engineering Officer.

Despite the major damage the ship had sustained, they were making good progress. The Odyssey class vessel was technically capable of leaving drydock, but her internal systems were still a bit of a mess, among other things. The extensive structural damage had been repaired, though it was currently being checked out before the work could be signed off on.

The Trill glanced down at her PADD to see who she was assigned to work with for the day. Vance Axelrod, Revan Arol (NPC), Kay Nostra (NPC), and Lee Agathon (NPC). The five of them seemed to be assigned as a team fairly often, which suited her just fine. Arol was another Shran Engineer, Kay was patient and efficient, Vance rarely smiled but was excellent at troubleshooting, and Lee... Lee was great with computers and the two had actually grown rather close.

[USS Shran, Bridge]

Caelene made her way to the bridge, stepping off the turbolift and glancing around. Thus far, only Lee and Arol were there, but it was still a bit early for their shift. Moving over to them, she saw Lee smiling as he saw her. Offering him a partial smile in greeting, she then grew more serious as she looked at the PADD.

"They want us to try to finish up on the bridge today. We still have some consoles to fix, the systems aren't communicating properly with the rest of the ship for some reason, and we're having power issues as well," she explained before looking up at the two engineers before her.

Arol frowned, "When are they going to let us have a look at the warp core and engines? We still need to take a look at those and the power distribution issues in Engineering."

"I wish I knew. To be honest, they might not want me, or even us, down in Main Engineering. It's ridiculous, especially since we're working on the Shran to begin with, but.." It bothered Caelene quite a bit. The Dockyard supervisor had done everything he could to keep Caelene away from Engineering - no small feat considering they'd been working on the ship for over a month.

Lee nodded as he replied, "There's not much else they can have us do at this point and we're the best Engineering team they have. They'll have to give us access. Maybe I can try bringing it up once we have the bridge squared away."

As she was about to reply, Caelene heard the turbolift doors swish open. Kay walked onto the bridge, toolkit in hand. Someone else was in the turbolift too - probably Vance. "Good morning," the Trill called out.

OFF: Tag Vance

USS Shran - Bridge

Axe had been assigned to the Fleet Yards while he was waiting for an assignment to come up. They said it wouldn't be long until he was assigned somewhere but here he was, still working in the yards two months later. He started to question if they had too many engineers in the fleet and he wasn't needed, but he wasn't complaining, they were working on a massive ship, the work was much more interesting than working on freighters. He looked up as the turbolift opened and offered a nod to the commander who was placed in charge of the repair team of 5. "Good morning, commander." He said as he walked further onto the bridge and looked around. The ship had been in a complete mess when they first stepped on it but it seemed to be working well now in comparison, the small group of engineers had made good time while they'd been working on the big ship. Better time than most of the other regular groups.

Axe had heard the news that the president of the United Federation of Planets had been murdered and that the captain of the Shran was currently the prime suspect in the case. He cared little about politics unless it affected him and so far it hadn't. He knew Caelene and Arol had been on the Shran previously and they seemed to be nice enough, he guessed they had probably pinned it on him so they had someone to blame if they couldn't find anyone. It was all corrupt, that was one of the reasons that Axe purposely ignored it.

"We just finishing off the bridge today?" Axe asked, walking over towards the other members of the group and placing his own toolkit on the floor. He looked around each member of the group separately, nodding to each of them as a way of saying good morning, he maintained his blank expression.

[Katheryn Brighton]

NPC - Commander Donna Booth

[Earth - Outside Hawke's Quarters]

Donna never paid much attention to the news these days preferring to spend time in the ranch she shared with her husband Damon and their children Jack, James and the newest arrival Emily and making the most of her maternity leave from the Academy where she now worked. However when she found out about her long time friend James and what had happened, she couldn't sit at home and not get in contact so after talking to her husband she had made her way into the city to see him.

She hadn't seen James since standing down as Captain of the Chin'toka but deep down knew that there had to be more to the whole situation and had never once thought her friend to be capable of murder. But she would speak to him soon enough and offer her help and support. Walking towards his quarters she noticed the Admiral leaving and acknowledged them with a polite nod before continuing on her way until she reached her destination and pressed the door chime.

[James A. Hawke]

[Earth - James' Aparment]

James kept looking at the Admiral as she left his quarters.  Hawke gave a small sigh of relief, as he looks around his Apartment.  He was in a skyrise over San Francisco.  It was close to Starfleet Command, and he had many visits.  They were days which he was tempted to give over the data, but today he felt that the Data was too valuable to give to anyone.

James nodded as he looked out the window and wondered

"How much am I willing to risk for this Data?  I have lost my ship, my crew is scattered and for my reputation is tarnished.  However, I have to be strong; I can't let the new government of the Federation be a puppet government of another powers"

James smiled as he remembers where he hid the Data or the portion under his power.  It was right under their noses.  It was hidden in plain sight.

As he finished, he heard a chime coming from the door.  James felt annoyed, he was pretty sure it was another Starfleet Officer asking him on the data or a reporter giving their slanted story.

He opened the door and before he even looked James said: "Why don't you look the data in your arse?"

He then looked a familiar face; it was Donna, a former shipmate from his time in the Chin'toka.  He looked at her and said "I am sorry about that Captain.  I din't know you were there.  This is an unexpected visit."

James pointed inside the apartment  and said: "Come in."

He approached into his liquor cabinet and asked "Do you want a drink?  And if you are here about the Data, I'll save you time and tell you the answer is no"

The Apartment was fully furnished, and they were several couches and table ample room to talk.

[Katheryn Brighton]

[Earth Á¢â,¬"œ James' Aparment]
As he finished, he heard a chime coming from the door.  James felt annoyed, he was pretty sure it was another Starfleet Officer asking him on the data or a reporter giving their slanted story.

He opened the door and before he even looked James said: "Why don't you look the data in your arse?"

He then looked a familiar face; it was Donna, a former shipmate from his time in the Chin'toka.  He looked at her and said "I am sorry about that Captain.  I din't know you were there.  This is an unexpected visit."

James pointed inside the apartment  and said: "Come in."

He approached into his liquor cabinet and asked "Do you want a drink?  And if you are here about the Data, I'll save you time and tell you the answer is no"

The Apartment was fully furnished, and they were several couches and table ample room to talk.

[James's Apartment]

NPC - Commander Donna Booth

When James opened the door, Donna was slightly confused by what he had said until he realised it was her standing there and not some higher up and apologised before inviting her in. " No need to apologise James and its Commander now, I took a demotion a couple of years back" she replied as she walked in, taking in every detail of the fully furnished apartment and it reminded her of the one her and Damon kept near the Academy.

When he then offered her a drink and mentioned something about data, she had no idea what he was talking about. " Yes I would love one and I'm not here about some data I have no clue about, me and Damon saw the news and I'm here as a friend and former colleague".

[Fala Awen]

[Fleet Yards, USS Shran, Bridge]

Caelene nodded to Vance as he walked onto the bridge after Kay (NPC). Her mind wandered a moment, wondering what had happened to the rest of her shipmates. James was under house arrest in San Francisco and many of the others were still in the San Francisco area, though not all. She'd heard that Ardyn was doing shuttle runs; Caelene could only imagine how much she wasn't enjoying that...

Shaking her head slightly, the Trill tried to focus on the task at hand. For the moment, there was nothing else she could do. Looking around, she saw the four familiar faces she'd seen pretty much daily. That was all of them, the whole team. Time to get to work.

"We just finishing off the bridge today?" Axe asked, walking over towards the other members of the group and placing his own toolkit on the floor. He looked around each member of the group separately, nodding to each of them as a way of saying good morning, he maintained his blank expression.

"For the most part, yes, Axe," Caelene confirmed. Other than using ranks when higher ups were around, she'd mostly slipped into calling them by something more familiar. After spending hours and hours with each other, it seemed more natural and comfortable. "I was just telling the others that we need to finish with console repairs, take care of some power issues, and there are communication issues between certain systems and the rest of the ship."

"There isn't much more that needs to be done, Engineering-wise, at least not in other areas of the ship," Kay noted. "I'm sure we'll end up in Main Engineering rather soon. The team they've had working there has had little success."

Lee (NPC) nodded, "True. I have heard that. I can mention that as some leverage when I approach them about getting us in Main Engineering."

Shaking his head, Arol (NPC) said, "They'll probably just move us to another ship. Or at least Tam and I... We've basically gotten kicked out of Main Engineering every time we got anywhere close. Some still see us as traitors, others are following their orders."

Caelene frowned; she couldn't really disagree with what Arol was saying - it was the same impression she got as well. But she also knew that Lee, somehow, had some influence and if the other team was unable to solve the problems, the Ship Yard supervisor would have little choice but to give them a shot.

"We'll worry about that later. Right now we have work to do and we should get started," the Trill said, picking up her toolkit. She didn't give out specific assignments, but she didn't really have to. They knew what their strengths or weaknesses were and Caelene trusted them to decide what to work on. There were five of them and three major issues - they'd work together and sort them all out, probably by sometime in the afternoon if nothing else.

Moving over to one of the still damaged consoles, Caelene knelt down and pried off the access panel. She set it aside before opening her toolkit. Even from a quick glance she could see that some of the parts inside were burnt out or severely damaged. The structural engineers had made the consoles look good on the outside, but hadn't bothered fixing their guts. Shaking her head, she got started pulling out bad parts.

OFF: Tag Vance

[guest1477]

[Fleet Yards, USS Shran, Bridge]

Caelene nodded to Vance as he walked onto the bridge after Kay (NPC). Her mind wandered a moment, wondering what had happened to the rest of her shipmates. James was under house arrest in San Francisco and many of the others were still in the San Francisco area, though not all. She'd heard that Ardyn was doing shuttle runs; Caelene could only imagine how much she wasn't enjoying that...

Shaking her head slightly, the Trill tried to focus on the task at hand. For the moment, there was nothing else she could do. Looking around, she saw the four familiar faces she'd seen pretty much daily. That was all of them, the whole team. Time to get to work.

"For the most part, yes, Axe," Caelene confirmed. Other than using ranks when higher ups were around, she'd mostly slipped into calling them by something more familiar. After spending hours and hours with each other, it seemed more natural and comfortable. "I was just telling the others that we need to finish with console repairs, take care of some power issues, and there are communication issues between certain systems and the rest of the ship."

"There isn't much more that needs to be done, Engineering-wise, at least not in other areas of the ship," Kay noted. "I'm sure we'll end up in Main Engineering rather soon. The team they've had working there has had little success."

Lee (NPC) nodded, "True. I have heard that. I can mention that as some leverage when I approach them about getting us in Main Engineering."

Shaking his head, Arol (NPC) said, "They'll probably just move us to another ship. Or at least Tam and I... We've basically gotten kicked out of Main Engineering every time we got anywhere close. Some still see us as traitors, others are following their orders."

Caelene frowned; she couldn't really disagree with what Arol was saying - it was the same impression she got as well. But she also knew that Lee, somehow, had some influence and if the other team was unable to solve the problems, the Ship Yard supervisor would have little choice but to give them a shot.

"We'll worry about that later. Right now we have work to do and we should get started," the Trill said, picking up her toolkit. She didn't give out specific assignments, but she didn't really have to. They knew what their strengths or weaknesses were and Caelene trusted them to decide what to work on. There were five of them and three major issues - they'd work together and sort them all out, probably by sometime in the afternoon if nothing else.

Moving over to one of the still damaged consoles, Caelene knelt down and pried off the access panel. She set it aside before opening her toolkit. Even from a quick glance she could see that some of the parts inside were burnt out or severely damaged. The structural engineers had made the consoles look good on the outside, but hadn't bothered fixing their guts. Shaking her head, she got started pulling out bad parts.

OFF: Tag Vance

USS Shran - Bridge

Axe nodded at Caelene and listened to the input of the other three members of the group. The whole idea of Tam and Arol being traitors seemed alien to Axe. They'd both been fine ever since Axe had met them, the team seemed to get along well. Axe lakes over to an acces panel at the side of the room where they could get to some of the power conduits. He pulled away the panel and placed it onto the ground, quickly looking over the ones visible and opening his toolkit.

Axe pulled out the little drone that he had programmed while he was out with injury. He hadn't named it yet, he didn't know what to call it. He placed the drone down and picked up a small PADD, tapping a few buttons and pressing the activate button. A small light lit up on the drone to indicate it was active and the sight of the small camera on the drone appeared on the PADD. Axe controlled the drone into the access panel and led it through the system, turning on a small light it had on it so he could get a better view of the EPS conduits.

Axe spent the next 30 minutes flying the drone through the panel, looking for any conduits which might be destroyed, he figured that was what the problem was. It usually wasn't that hard a problem to deal with, it was just whenever it did happen it could knock out some major systems in the process.

Eventually, Axe found what looked to be a junction where the conduits split off, he gave it a closer inspection and found the problem. He wondered why the power had only hit half of the room, that was because only one side of the system had burnt out. "Kay. Over there." Axe said, Kay turned around and Axe pointed to the access panel which needed opening, she went over and pulled off the panel. Axe landed the drone and stood up.

"You've found it. It's been hit good." Kay said. Axe went over to Kay with his toolkit and picked up the drone. He put it away, placing the toolkit on the ground and lowering himself next to Kay. He looked at the conduits for a moment and sighed. It had taken out a good bit of the local grid, it'd take them a while to fix it. Axe started to pull out the old conduits and replace them with new ones. He hated replacing conduits and was glad that Kay was efficient, it'd take them a while but it was quicker than doing it himself. He was glad for the backup.

[Fala Awen]

[Fleet Yards, USS Shran, Bridge]

Hours later, it was the end of their shift. Caelene packed up her toolkit and stood, looking around the bridge. Between the five of them, they'd managed to complete the rest of the repairs on the bridge, which had included replacing some parts elsewhere in the ship as well. With the final diagnostics complete, the bridge was ready to go.

"Dinner and drinks, usual place, usual time for anyone who'd like to join me," the Trill announced. It had become something of a ritual for them, although not everyone came every time. Still, it was nice to have some camaraderie. Nodding to them, she entered the turbolift to make her way off the ship.

[Earth Spacedock, Caelene's temporary quarters]

Once she finally reach the temporary quarters Star Fleet had assigned to her at Spacedock, Caelene was more than ready to relax. As she stepped into the room, she sat her toolkit in its place near the door and said, "Computer, lights."

The Trill was already starting to remove her uniform top as the lights came on and she paused. Sitting on the small round table was a blue and off-white vase filled with red hydrangeas and orange tiger lilies. Tilting her head in contemplation, Caelene slowly moved forward to get a closer look and found a small card within the flowers.

'Thought you might enjoy these. -L'

A smile crossed her lips. Of course. Lee (NPC) had sent them. The two had become friends during their time working together, but lately it felt like perhaps there could be something more. Caelene had never really been in a relationship herself, though Milara had. She'd been too busy with her studies and then adjusting to having a symbiont. Lee was understanding and didn't push her.

Caelene frowned slightly. Lee had secrets of his own, she knew. He'd slowly begun asking her more questions about the Shran's last mission and seemed to have access to information and resources beyond what he should have. It made her uneasy, but something about him still convinced her that she could trust him. Who or whatever he was, Lee seemed to genuinely care for her and perhaps he would be able to help, somehow.

Hoping that she might be able to catch him for a few minutes before the others arrived, Caelene quickly changed into a pale green off-shoulder top with flared sleeves and black trousers. Leaving her hair loose, she glanced back at the flowers one more time before turning and heading out the door.

[Earth Spacedock, Main Promenade, Callahan's Pub, 1 hour after shift]

Despite the large crowds on the Promenade, Caelene still made good time to their usual place - Callahan's Pub. It had a warm, homey feel to it with dark woods accented with green and gold. Looking towards the back, she spotted their usual round tabled booth reserved. Lee was already there, but a quick glance around told her that the others weren't yet.

The Trill made her way over and took a seat next to him, smiling. "I got the flowers; thank you," she said quietly.

Lee grinned, leaning over to softly kiss her cheek, "You are very welcome."

Caelene felt her cheeks grow hot as she blushed at his kiss. She glanced away, but felt her heart race. His hand slowly, gently moved over and rested on hers before squeezing her hand. Looking back at him, she offered him an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. Sometimes I just forget..." Offering her a menu, Lee continued, "Caelene...I know you feel I've been hiding something from you, and in a way I have, but it's nothing bad, I promise. I have some information that I think might be useful for you. I'll tell you more about it later."

Confused, she watched him closely for a few moments before slowly nodding. There were several questions stirring around in her head, but as she heard the others approach, she knew they'd have to wait.

"Have a seat; we haven't ordered yet, so you're just in time," Caelene told them, offering a slight smile as the others joined them at their table. Doing her best to put Lee's words out of her mind, the Trill instead looked over Callahan's specials for the day. Perhaps eating would distract her.

OFF: Tag Vance

[K-5]

[Earth, K-5 Soong's Current Residence]

"K-5 Soong, model 882179." K-5 firmly issued into the apartment's voice lock. She'd installed it on a whim of... What was this one? Boredom? She stepped into her small living room and dropped her back at the door before closing it.

Two months. Two months of searching, and not a single sliver of data on who activated her or even assembled her cortex. Takur had been helping a lot, but even then going through all of her files bit by bit was tedious.

K-5 leaned against the door frame and sighed, rubbing her eyes tiredly.

"Kay? I was wondering when you'd be home." She smiled when she heard Takur's voice in the small kitchen. They had a small apartment together, one bed, one bath, one kitchen, and one living room. It wasn't much, but it was good all the same.

K-5 walked into the kitchen and hugged Takur from behind, a small smile playing behind her closed eyes. He was cooking in a frying pan. Off to the side of the counter were pancakes, eggs, and syrup. Bacon and sausages were in the pan as Takur cooked.

"What's the occasion?" K-5 mused to her significant other, who echoed her musings with his own.

"There isn't one. I just thought maybe we should take the evening and not worry about activations or codes, just spend it together... and eat pancakes." Takur turned and hugged K-5 back as he finished cooking. She smiled sweetly up at him.

"What is the term people use? 'That's sweet'?" They laughed and ate and had a couple glasses of wine over their dinner, talking and smiling. They watched something from Earth's history called movies on the holoprojectors and made a mess of the bed later on.

But something nagged at the edges of K-5's mind as Takur cuddled with her in a deep sleep. With the Captain under house arrest and her early months unknown, along with the ship being rebuilt, there was a lot to process, even two months after the event. But something puzzled her more than anything that she wanted answers to- Why had she been activated early? The rest of the models in her line wouldn't be activated for at least a few more earth years, so why had she been activated?