Star Trek: Theurgy

CHAPTER 01: Triage Centre

[ Theta Eridani IV | The Triage Centre | Yellow Zone | 2000 hrs. ] Attn: Gentleman_and_a_Scholar

It was not long after Jien Ives had parted with Captain Vasser that the Theurgy's Captain - now in his male form - arrived to the Triage Centre's Yellow Zone to find Cadet Amikris Neotin logging journals by a computer console. Dressed in a labcoat on top of her unzipped undershirt and webbed fingers tapping the display, the Ash'reem turned her goggled eyes to the Chameloid - giving him a nod. The grief of her mother was plain in every fibre and movement of her being. "Captain?" she glanced around, "who are you looking for?"

"Junior Lieutenant Rennan Cooper," he answered the second Ash'reem he had spoken with that evening, "His journal should be listed in the Harbinger's personnel files."

"Section Alpha, Tent seven, Captain."

"Cadet, I just wanted to sa-"

"Please, Captain, performing my duties is the best way for me. If you would not mind, please... don't deprive me of a way to keep my mind occupied. Thank you for your concern, though," the Cadet sounded  firm to begin with yet she had finished with a weak smile. Jien could respect her opinion in the matter, and he supposed that Dr. Nicander could judge the situation with the Neotins when it came to Medical - his decision about letting Amikris perform her duties surely based on sound reasoning.

"Very well then, Cadet. As you were." He nodded in understanding to her in parting, yet paused on his way out though, saying, "My door is open if you would like to talk to someone. The same offer goes to your father."

"Thank you, Captain... I will tell him so after my shift. Good bye, sir..."

His thoughts still lingering with Amikris and Arcorn Neotin, as well as the talk he'd had with Sarresh Morali, Jien soon found the designated tent in the Yellow Zone and entered, seeing a face that matched the personnel file he had perused earlier that day together with Captain Declan Vasser. The Weapons Scientist rested alone, with white canvas sheets sectioning him off from the patients to his left and right.

"Lieutenant Cooper?" he asked in his deep voice and stepped up before the bed with a small smile, hands idle by his sides, "I'm Captain Jien Ives of the USS Theurgy. I would have come to see you earlier if it had not been for the fact that you were recovering from surgery. I hope I am not intruding upon you, coming here unannounced like this. How are you feeling?"

Jien Ives knew this man merely by name, under the denomination Director Cooper, since it had figured in missives and reports in the weeks before the Mk. III Valkyries were shipped aboard the Theurgy. This was, however, the first time he had come face-to-face with him (both his own taken into account).

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OOC: These events take place after the speeches and ceremony yet before the Thermal Springs Lounge thread. This thread was created for a meeting between Jien Ives and Rennan Cooper in the Yellow Zone, yet if needed be others are naturally welcome to post here as well if it fits timing-wise.

Groggily opening his eyes, Rennan saw a fuzzy figure hovering over his bed. "...the hell?" he muttered under his breath. As Jien introduced himself, Rennan became markedly more lucid. "Captain," he said, his body going somewhat rigid. "That was a good speech. I think you deserve more of a first impression than a sub-lucid obscenity." he said with a slight upward tug at the side of his mouth. "You're not intruding at all. I'm feeling mostly well, still a bit stiff. I worked quite a number on myself. And the shuttle bay, for that matter."

Stretching out in the medical bed, he groaned slightly. "Just one thing." he said with a bit of confusion. "You're not..." he thought for a moment. "You're not quite the Captain Ives I remember from the gathering earlier. Was that my imagination? Or maybe the medication?" he asked, never having taken the time to study Captain Ives too in depth. Or really much at all. His interest had been in the Valkyries. While the Harbinger was en route to the Theurgy, he'd kept his nose in his original technical sketches, schematics and spec sheets from his days at R&D. Of course, he knew the birds better than anyone, but he felt the need to brush up. Going back over things could only help.

Sitting up in bed, he pulled himself up to rest his back on the pillow. Reaching beside the bed, he took a glass of water and drank the contents down, mostly because he had nothing better to do. "It may seem a bit inappropriate to ask..." he said, placing the glass back down on the table. "But you wouldn't happen to be able to get someone to smuggle me some booze, would you? I don't need much. Just enough to do what the medications won't." he said with his trademark toothy grin. "Anything will do, really. Doesn't have to be top-shelf by any means. Engineering Grade Methylated Spirits for all I care." he said with a slight chuckle.

Passively, Captain Ives listened to the man before him. Observed him. Judged his every word while smiling a little with one half of his face. Oh, not at all out of malice. He had his reasons. Director... Junior Lieutenant  Cooper's reputation preceded him, yet not in the details. Jien might also have studied his personnel file together with Captain Vasser, yet that did not help him judge his character. As for what he saw... he was not quite sure yet. Then again, it was unfair to lay judgement upon someone unaware of what was at stake.

"You already know that it's unseemly inappropriate to ask for booze when receiving medical care, Lieutenant," he said in a dry tone of voice, the smile remaining while he came to stand by the Weapons Scientist's side, "Perhaps even an act of insubordination to ask a superior officer to 'go fetch'. I am a Captain, not a loyal terrier."

Then, as he sat down on a small stool next to the bed, he changed... into her female form, and folded one leg over the other. "Perhaps, I might even become your Captain, provided you know how to listen with an open mind," she said in the same dry tone and with the same smile remaining, "and also keep that tongue in check. First test; as you can see, I am both the man that came here as well as the woman that you must have heard during the ceremony. I am a Chameloid, more precisely a result of the Ives-Pétain experiment. A singular duality. You may have further questions about that, but sufficed to say for now, I have embraced both the genders of your species as my own in order to be whole. Why? Because I could, and a significant amount of people of most species would... if they had that ability. Now, do I have your undivided attention, Mr. Cooper?"

She paused, before asking the first question. "How much do you know about the Theurgy-class starship and its tactical systems?"

Rennan recoiled mentally as he realized how what he had said sounded. "Sir, I assure you I meant no disrespect." he said, folding his hands over his lap. "I didn't mean to ask you to 'go fetch', I simply thought you might be able to convince someone else to go fetch for me." he said, his face slowly fading from gravely serious into somewhat playful. "And I wouldn't have taken you for a terrier. That's below you." he said, trying to joke his way out of a somewhat awkward situation. "Besides. Alcohol is therapeutic."

"Perhaps, I might even become your Captain, provided you know how to listen with an open mind,"

Cooper watched with a raised eyebrow as a seemingly improbable change happened before his eyes. He'd seen stranger things, but not much more in the way of unexpected. He had never encountered a Chameloid, and was quite overwhelmed by surprise. He listened as the Captain explained everything to him in an easy to understand manner. He grasped the basic concept of what was being explained to him, but as Captain Ives had anticipated, the fact of the matter left more questions than what had been answered. However, that was for another time.

"Now, do I have your undivided attention, Mr. Cooper?"

"My attention is as unified as it can ever be, Captain." he said, trying not to sound like a smart-ass, but simply stating the truth. He often had so much going on in his mind that the task at hand only got about 70 per cent of his attention. More important tasks were allocated closer to 85 per cent. This particular meeting ranked an unmatched 95 per cent.

"Well, I am intimately familiar with the overall constitution as well as tactical systems of most major classes of commissioned starships used today. There are several classes of starship that I am more familiar with such as the Sovereign-class and the Akira-class. However, I am more than averagely acquainted with the form, function, design, specifications and capabilities of the Theurgy-class. I have also studied the Theurgy-class more recently than the others in preparation for... Well, you know why I was sent here to begin with."

"Yes, you were supposed to find a way to disable or destroy my ship, Mr. Cooper." Jien Ives sat completely unmoving, brown eyes upon the scientist and the small smile the only hint that she was not upset with that fact. "You spent your time on the Harbinger studying the enemy and learning the theoretical weaknesses of the Theurgy design. You already knew the potential shortcomings of your own Valkyries, yet you had to find ways in which to take on both the MVAM-enabled starship as well as the Lone Wolves squadron. You spent two month second-guessing your own creation - the Valkyries - as well as the potential threat of the combined forces of the most cutting-edge attack fighters and a starship with its own interactive AI. Now..."

Jien shifted her seat a bit, laying both her hands on her top knee. "...your studies evidently bore fruit, since you could use your theories upon the Calamity-class Calamity. Our scans have shown that its design was clearly a development of the Theurgy-class, only yet to be commissioned. For what you did with an ordinary shuttle combined with your mere mind turned the tide of the whole battle. Had it not been for you and that mind of yours, we might not be having this conversation, you and I. It is to Captain Vasser and me quite clear that you have been a Junior Officer for far too long."

Casually, Jien rose to her feet and produced two small boxes. She placed them on the metal stand next to the bed. "You are hereby promoted to Lieutenant," she said and held out her hand to shake his, "and on behalf of both the commanding officers in this valley, as well as the two crews that fought by your side, we thank you for your efforts. For your achievement of quick thinking, engineering skills and deep knowledge of tactical systems, we also award you with something that might need justification once we reach Earth; the Grankite Order of Tactics."

The boxes, one black and one red, contained the golden pip that he were to replace his black one with, as well as the impressive medal. The decoration was the same kind that some Captains in Starfleet history had been awarded for coming up with new tactical manoeuvres, and Mr. Coopers achievement was no lesser than theirs. As Jien Ives shook the bedridden scientist's hand before her, her smile was genuine and warm. "I know this is not too much of a ceremony, but I am afraid this is all we truly have time for, the circumstances being as they are. Nevertheless... Thank you, Lieutenant Cooper."

Straightening, Jien folded her hands behind her back. She would let him have his say before she continued with the business of her visit.

Extending his hand to meet hers, he grinned as he was promoted to a full blown lieutenant, but then his face changed to one devoid of expression. His heart leapt into his throat as his hand went limp in hers. Staring blankly at the box containing a very shiny, very impressive medal, it was all that he could do not to drool over it. "That's..." he said in a monotone voice, trying to collect his thoughts. "That's the same medal that they gave to Picard. The same medal they gave to Kirk." he said, dumbfounded. "It's.. so beautiful." he stammered, at a complete loss for words. "Thank you, Captain. To hell with a ceremony, I don't need one. You've just made my entire week. I think this may even slightly outrank the joy I felt when I came up with the idea that earned me this honor."

Shaking Captain Ives' hand vigorously, a wide grin spread over his face. "It is with great honor, gratitude and privilege that I accept this honor, and I would like to thank you also, Captain. I wasn't alone in what I did. Without the support of you, your valiant crew, and those crazy cowboy pilots, My plan would have failed. I didn't win the battle, none of us did. Not on our own. Aristotle said 'The whole is worth more than the sum of its' parts.'. That has never been proven more true."

Inhaling deeply, he sighed with a smile. Cracking his knuckles, he sat up straighter in bed. "I would suggest a bottle of champagne to celebrate, but you've made your feelings on that perfectly clear." he said with a smiled. "Now, I assume that there is some other business that you have to discuss with me. Possibly corrective action to be taken against me for insubordination? Well, I imagine that would be discussed with me by my own Captain. Well, either way. Is there another issue?" he asked, still running over different scenarios in his head.

A cultured man, thought Ives as she heard the Lieutenant quote Aristotle. He was right, of course, in how he alone did not accomplish their victory over the Calamity, yet with all things considered, the odds of a battle fought without the tactical advantage of that augmented shuttle Mr. Cooper had launched seemed - in retrospect - quite poor. When arriving at the topic that was left to discuss, Jien began to slowly pace the small area around the bed while she explained.

"I am not going to wrap things in a neat little box for you. Nor will I gradually reveal my intentions step-by-step in some convoluted rhetorical fashion to let you understand the offer I am about to make. In fact, its not quite an offer, but an unanimous decision made between Captain Vasser and I. It would have been an offer made to you if we had not been at war with Starfleet Command and with the entire fleet set to destroy us," she said, merely setting some things straight right from the start to avoid unneeded discussion, "Therefore, you should not think of your promotion or the medal you have been awarded as some kind of means of persuasion. Nor do I want you to think you have been honoured today in order to ease our minds about this decision, for the merit in your actions stand alone. The honours given are not to be tarried by by being thought of as excuses in a hidden agenda to facilitate this decision."

Coming to a stop, Jien turned her brown eyes to the Lieutenant. "You will be recommissioned to serve as my Chief Tactical Officer aboard the USS Theurgy," she said, standing with her hands still folded behind her back, "and the reason why is that you are the one best suited for the job, regardless of the fact that you have belonged to the scientist wing of Starfleet's R&D Department. At one point when we fought ourselves away from the Alpha Quadrant, the Theurgy was pursued by three starships. I think it was the Defiant-class San Paulo, the Intrepid-class Bellerophon and the Rigel-class Akagi. During the battle, my Naussican Chief Tactical Officer Augarath Thenaljpar sustained heavy injuries and later died in Sickbay.  With no one else to assume his duties on the bridge, a Lieutenant named T'Less volunteered and proved herself indispensable. Yet now, she has also fallen - shot down by the Calamity's AI hologram. Now..."

Leaning forward and looking into Mr. Cooper's eyes, Jien set her calloused hands against the foot of the bed - her fingers curling around the metal bar. "...I still have doubts about you. You are essentially, undoubtedly, more of an engineer than you are a scientist given your special field of study. That is a great merit; how you apply yourself to your experiments and your studies, how you get your hands dirty in order to find the highest potential possible in a construction. You spearheaded the Valkyrie project and gave us our prototype attack fighters. You know how every single component of any weapon known to the Federation works from the inside out. You know the yield of any type of torpedo ever launched and documented in our databases. You can calibrate a ship-mounted optronically targeted phaser cannon to become an exo-scalpel. You even have leadership experience with the R&D projects you have completed - well suited to lead my Tactical Officers in this fight. Now, why might I doubt you? Because knowing a hand phaser's components does not mean that you know when you should fire it, much less how to manually target a moving enemy with a phaser array. Sure, you went through the ordinary tactical courses at the Academy, yet honestly, could you really work a targeting system again after the years gone by?"

Pausing, Jien ceded the word to the Lieutenant with a small smile. "Allay my fears, Mr. Cooper. Tell me you can handle this, otherwise I am forced to think I have decided to recruit a Tactical Officer who don't know when or how to shoot."

Sitting in his bed, his eyes followed the captain's every move as she spoke to him, only perplexing him further as she basically told him that she was not going to make the conversation simple, nor was she going to make it complicated. She spoke of an offer that was not an offer, but may have been in some parallel reality. How his promotion and new decoration was not to 'grease the wheels', so to speak, nor were they to convince anyone that this decision was justified. What he heard next made his mouth ease itself ajar for the second time during this meeting. Something he had never imagined when he stepped aboard the Harbinger, ready to rain hellfire on the Theurgy.

"You will be recommissioned to serve as my Chief Tactical Officer aboard the USS Theurgy,"

He stared at her for a moment, his mouth hanging agape. Slowly, his blank stare and open mouth turned into eyes full of joy, and a mouth pulling itself into a grin. "Thank you, Captain." he said in a barely voice. As she went on, his chest swelled with pride as she spoke of his qualifications, but then deflated just as quickly when he was told the fate of the two previous Chief Tactical Officers. 'Jesus, I really don't like these odds.' he thought, the idea of being the new Chief Tactical Officer still bouncing around in his head.

"...I still have doubts about you---"

His mouth involuntarily pulled itself into a smirk at these words, but quickly righted itself as she continued on, his chest swelling once again. She went on to rattle off everything that he could possibly ever be praised for, inside of his duty, and seemed quite pleased with his ability to serve. However, she went on to say something that cut him to his core. Something that he'd often struggled with, himself.  Did he know when to raise arms, and when to lower them? Of course he'd had his training in such matters, but as with everything, theory and practicality were always two completely separate matters entirely. Moreover, could he bring himself to destroy life, instead of merely bringing about the means to destroy it? Of course, fight or flight rules, and survival is the key directive of the sensient mind, but could he let empathy, if it were misplaced, be the death of his crewmen? He decided then and there that he would serve his crew to the best of his ability, and do whatever it would take to fulfill his duties as he was expected to.

"I'm afraid that I can't allay your fears, Captain, if you're a being of sound mind and logic." he said, looking away quickly before looking back into her eyes. "You have no reason to believe that I have the ability to, or the capacity to learn how to use proper judgment in a theatre of battle. Much less re-polish all of what I learned at The Academy." he said, folding his hands over his lap. "You know that I'm predisposed to compulsive behavior, you know that my personality is something less than completely refined, but something else that you may know is that once I set my mind to something, I throw myself into it heart-first. As your Chief Tactical Officer, I will make it my personal mission to safeguard your ship--our ship, to protect her crew, and to see her through the hellfire that is sure to rain down upon her. Through the hellfire, not damaged, but coming out on the other side refined, as iron in a forge. I can tell you that my tactical skills are rusty, but I can also tell you that every moment that I have to spare, I will spend in the Holosuite, reteaching myself what I may have forgotten. As for knowing when to shoot, that is a battle-forged skill. One that I haven't yet had the experience to acquire, but I trust that you will be there to help me hone it." he said, sighing.

"I can't allay your fears, Captain. However, I would be honoured if you would have faith enough in me to give me time to prove them superfluous."

"Wise answer," said Jien and straightened, putting her hands on her hips while going through the practicalities. "The Quartermaster will give you access and the location to your new Senior Staff quarters. If a Transport Officer is available at some point during the repairs, you can move all your personal belongings there, otherwise you have to carry it across the plain between the two ships. I don't know what kind of medical clearence you have for return to duty, since Dr. Duv has you as her patient, but as you say, you have quite a lot to catch up on."

As she continued to speak, Jien tried to advise on priorities as best as she might given his situation - knowing what she would like that he made a priority. "You have a handful of Tactical Officers to introduce yourself to; your new team of experts that man your station when you are otherwise preoccupied. Learn from them, watch them, but you should still refresh on using the targeting systems in a holosuite at first given possibility that one is powered up.

"Go back to the roots, yet also learn the Theurgy's tactical systems first-hand and not through the specs and reports you have been reading the past few months on the Harbinger. I am sure you would like to reacquaint yourself with your Valkyrie prototypes and try and develop them further, but I need you primarily on getting ready for the next battle we have to fight - be it with the Calamity or anyone else. Tactical needs a new leader sorely, and the entire crew needs a man who does his best to stand prepared."

Sighing, Jien added, "Like I said, I suspect you are not wholly cleared for duties yet, but do what you can to relay the import that you get the time you need on your new ship and with your new Department's junior officers. The Valkyries are important too, but I need you ready for bridge duty post-haste. Do you think you can convince Dr. Duv to let you get prepared and installed on the Theurgy sooner rather than later? After all, we don't know how much time we have... so you have a lot to cover in as short of a time as possible."

"A Thorough Introduction - Part 01" Joint-Post by Nolan & Auctor Lucan

[ Theta Eridani IV | The Triage Centre | 2005 hrs. ]

After having explained the situation to Rihen Neyah together with Eve, Lucan had spent some time exchanging words with his Head Nurse - allowing him to appraise the situation on his end before searching for his counterpart amongst the Harbinger personnel. This Dr. Amelya Duv and he had planned and set up the Triage Centre together, establishing a working relationship fast for the sake of the two crews and the injured personnel. As far as he had been able to appraise her, Lucan thought her a capable woman. Focused on the task at hand. A warm spirit, though, and not like the rather cold and calculating First Officer on the Harbinger. The latter was surely at least as focused, yet the former could maintain a professionalism without turning into a cold exo-scalpel.

Finding her at the edge between the Yelllow and Red Zones, Lucan walked up to her. He was dressed in his teal under-shirt, unzipped at the collar halfway down his chest due to the lingering heat in the tent. They really had to solve the problem with the tropical humidity. His medical labcoat hung open from his wide shoulders and he had his tattooed hands in the pockets. "Do you have time for a follow-up meeting, Dr. Duv? In that case, we could use my office."

Amelya Duv had just left Rennan Cooper and Miles to grab a quick break. Standing between the red and yellow zone, she used one of the basins filled with water to freshen up her face a bit. Feeling the cool water against her skin was like a blessing for her as the humidity and tropical temperatures in the triage center were at times killer factors. She looked up a bit surprised when she heard the voice of Doctor Nicander, asking for the follow-up meeting. Standing in her own teal uniform, her buttons were opened up as well, hereby giving taller men a decent view of her cleavage. She felt how a string of water ran down her neck between her breasts as she eyed Lucan "I have some time now actually. Your office sounds like a good place... Please lead the way." She replied with a warm voice and a smile formed on her lips.

As she followed Lucan to his office she thought about their first meeting when they were planning to create the triage center. To her it felt like they were the only two CMO's that actually got along well in order to create a mutual space for both crews. Nicander was a pretty good guy in her eyes, although she didn't get a clear reading on him. It was as if the man had different layers around him and she only saw the top layer.

Returning the smile, yet not looking upon her in too forward a manner, Lucan led the way as he had been asked. Well, he had not been looking more than any other man might, if he had to be honest. If she is half as proficient as she is delectable, the Harbinger crew has been in good hands, thought Lucan idly as they passed by nurses and patients, yet out loud, he gave her the current numbers and conditions while they walked. It was a long list of patients that were under their care, and their state of health varied from the brink of death in sealed stasis chambers to that of twisted ankles and cuts from falling during the battle against the Calamity after 'she' killed the inertial dampers on the Theurgy.

As he spoke his half, which took about a half a minute, they had entered his makeshift CMO 'office', which consisted of a tent flap and bare textile walls. The only thing that made it into an office was the portable desk and the chair he had brought from Sickbay. The computer console dominated the small desk, and the desk dominated the 'room', which was all in all fifteen by fifteen feet. There were medical supply crates and PADDs with patient journals everywhere, and the only kind of luxury was the small replicator that was about to topple over the edge of the desk. He worked in a state of ordered chaos, which was quite similar to how he felt - that chaos far more real than ever before. Already, he had imagined how he might rape Dr. Duv and get away with it. He could do naught but try to ignore those devilish inclinations. It would hardly be the diplomatic course of action, would it?

"...and then we have Evelyn Rawley, whom as you know already was in a bad state. Yet she was fortunate, for if she resumes her rehabilitation from her old injuries, she has made some headway and might just make a full recovery in due time. As for now, she is in no state to move around even if she would nothing rather than leave, so while she can be in the Yellow Zone now, I will make sure she does not escape again." Externally, he showed nothing as he leaned against the edge of his small desk - regretting that he had not also taken the moment to rinse himself by the water basins. Done with the report, he gestured towards the replicator and smiled. "Would you like some coffee before we get to your patients? Tea?"

An exoscalpel rammed through the eye? No?

Among all the mixed emotions from what he was going through currently, irritation at his lack of control over his own mind was the one that stood out the most.

"Some tea please." She answered him kindly as she leaned against the other side of the desk. She watched as Lucan handled the replicator, her eyes catching a glimpse of the tattoos on his hands. She wanted to ask about them but decided to get work done first. She waited patiently for the tea and cupped the mug that Lucan handed over to her with both hands. She blew at the hot beverage and nipped from it before kicking off herself. She started with the numbers and figures of her crew, yet just like Nicander, her mind was occupied with other things. She was wondering what Cooper would be up to on their so called date, yet that wasn't the only thing. Nicander had caught her eye the moment both crews had met each other. She felt some sort of attraction to him like many of the nurses probably did, yet she didn't show it on the outside. "As last patient I have Rennan Cooper who was been transferred to the yellow zone and will resume light administrative work tomorrow." She ended. "However, I do find your case about Rawley rather interesting. Are you sure you can contain her in the Yellow Zone?"

She thought Rawley to be a security risk, not per se in the large meaning of the word security. She figured that if Rawley did manage to escape or misbehave that she surely would cause a lot of trouble for herself but also for the people around her. Yellow might've been too early for her in the eyes of Amelya, yet she was the patient of Lucan.

"I am not sure we could contain her in any of our zones," said Lucan with a smile and sipped his iced water, which he had replicated before Amelya's short briefing, "My reasoning for transferring her being that since she is stable, she would cause less harm or racket if she was in the yellow, since the other patients might actually try to argue or reason with her. If needed, fight back. Call it rehabilitative peer pressure. It has worked on her before. Sometimes. A little, at least. Bottom line is that regardless where she is, she will try to leave a soon as possible, so a shorter distance from her biobed to the exit, all the better. Its not like I will clear her for the any kind of duty."

Somehow, Rawley reminded her of Phanatos, the flight leader of Harbinger. Still in the Red Zone, the squadron leader had massive burn and lacerations across his body. His face was rather deformed by the incident with his mark two and Amelya's efforts to treat the face of the man with plastic surgery had been dire. "I'd like to discuss flight leader Phantos with you Lucan... He's proving to be harder to handle than I had expected. He's refusing any form of cosmetic surgery to mask the injuries he had."

While she explained the situation to Lucan, the small space and heat were starting to get unbearable for Amelya. She felt the drops of sweat forming on her forehead and some pearls of sweat ran down her neck and torso.

"I noticed him," said Lucan, for couldn't have noticed him? He sighed and shook his head, folding his arms across his chest. "Rawley, among many of the other pilots, want to keep their scars. Yet Phantos, or as his pilots have come to call him, Phantom, has such scars that might affect his duties as Wing Commander. I ca-"

"Would you mind if I took off the teal vest Doctor? It's just too hot in here for my comfort.." She suggested and looked up at Lucan for his confirmation before removing some of her clothing.

Surprised, then again not because of the heat, Lucan nodded. "Of course," he said with a smile and pushed away from the desk, picking up his glass of water. Stepping away with his back turned, he continued, even if his interest in the ongoings behind his back took a dominating place in his thoughts. "I can try to have a chat with him too, try to see if there is any way I can change his mind, yet given what little I have learned about the Dor'GhItlh Squardon, I don't think it will be easy. Perhaps Captain Vasser will turn out to be our last resort."

Amelya waited till Lucan had turned his back to her before unbuttoning her teal vest further. She took longer than she had expected and partially blamed it on the heat making her feel a bit slow. Besides that, the long hours of intense work were taking a toll on her even if she didn't want to admit that at all. Under her teal vest she wasn't wearing the standard issue undergarments. She felt more comfortable wearing a sports bra, even though this one seemed a bit too small for her, it compacted her breasts and still gave her the feeling that sweat wouldn't run all over her body at some point. She doubted if she would have anything else to wear in this blistring heat and she judged that in his medical profession, Lucan probably saw nudity or undergarments on a regular basis. Thus she remained in her bra while folding the teal jacket and placing it on the table.

"I believe we should only turn to Captain Vasser after we depleted all of our methods to try and convince Phanatos about cosmetic surgery..." She said now after Lucan was done "However, I would greatly appreciate it if you would talk to him. Perhaps I could do the same to Rawley if you think it might influence her in a positive way?"

"Perhaps that might be a good idea," said Lucan and trailed off, glancing around - innocently - to see if she was ready. She had opted to not put on her lab coat yet, presenting him with quite an undeniable view, yet acting as if there was nothing to it. She really did not mind that he looked either, so he turned to face her. The heat really had to be getting to his head, and the Harbinger's CMO did not make things any cooler.

"Another thing," he added trying not to think about what dark instincts rose inside him like boiling bile, "We both have been at it for a long time now. Perhaps we both need a break. I have a meeting in under an hour, yet I would suggest that we both pass things on to our medical personnel for for half a shift so that we can rest, and then you and I work in 12 hour shifts around the clock after we are both less fatigued Do you like the idea. Do you have any preferences? Want to pull the first shift or second?"

"I have passed most of my work down to medical staff of the Harbinger before our meeting. I agree though that we should both take a break from the center. I'm feeling that I'm going on to my spare power so I probably should take some rest soon. If you don't mind I'd like to take the second shift." She answered and smiled friendly at Lucan. "Are there any other things you wished to discuss?" She asked now and bit her lower lip "Or any other things you wanted to share? Off the record that is."

Lucan saw the invite, subtle as it was, yet made ever more evident with how she might want him to appraise her Trill body. It was plausible because of what both ships had been through. Need for release. Wiping the mind blank for just a few moments of bliss. Then again, there might not be anything of the sort on her mind, so he had to thread carefully. For the sake of his ulterior motives, there certainly was not a disadvantage to tie bonds to the Harbinger's CMO, even if it wasn't any - yet - obvious benefits to it either. The real issue was whether or not he could keep the beast inside from killing her in the process. Was the risk worth the merit of enjoying the manipulation of new node in his web of control? Also, he was to meet with Eve Jenkins quite soon.

"Off the record," he mused and finished his glass of water, slowly walking over to the desk to set it down - thus coming closer to her. She smelled like an exotic mix of female sweat and hospital ward, and it made his mind turn towards the possible merits rather than the risks. "I should point out that anyone of our nurses might open the 'door' to my office and find us in a compromising position, you being in a state of undress as you are." The door was the textile of his tent flap, and even if his smile was enigmatic, his eyes looked down upon her without blinking - his presence filling his office more than the fact of his tall frame.

Amelya followed the words from Lucan as her eyes trailed to the textile flap. A small grin forming on her lips as she shrugged her shoulders "Me being partially undressed is easily explained due to the heat. Though it might seem weird for any newcomers, I don't see the problem unless you had something else on your mind Doctor..." She defended her current dresscode and let the last bit of her sentence muse to his ears. She wasn't deliberately giving away any hints about what she might be aiming at.

Them standing close, the moments drew on while the tension built - the anticipation rising while their bodies yet remained separated. The idea of discovery and the necessity to keep quiet lest they'd draw attention enticed Lucan - tickled his fractured mind. The imminent promise of passion was a new radiance in the office, a primal need dominating their already overheated bodies. They were both highly intellectual, experts in the field of medicine, yet what came to settle inside them needed no words. In this, they were thoughtless animals of entirely different species brought together by base needs.

When the heat reached the boiling point, Lucan suppressed the idea to break her skull open against the edge of the desk and fuck her dead body. Instead, he ran his tattooed hands into her hair and lay his mouth to Amelya's, muffling the sounds any hypocrite protests. He kissed her, their bodies surging against each other, and he felt her against the hard surface of his torso. With their haste in common, he hooked her sports bra with his thumb and pulled it up over her generous bosom - his torrid mouth releasing her lips in order to encompass one of her nipples. She tasted like she smelled, and he sucked upon the hard peak - one hand already doing down for her waistline.

A bit surprised by the sudden move of Lucan, Amelya protested little to not against the man's actions. She indeed had felt the urge to relieve herself of some tension. It was a base need that didn't get satisfied in a while for her. She was curious how Lucan would be and part of her thoughts went out to Cooper who obviously wanted something more than just a date too. She didn't get much time to follow the dilemma that was forming in her mind as she felt the lips of Lucan against hers. She kissed him back and snaked her arms around his neck, her body leaning against him and her nipples quickly turning hard. She worked with him to get rid of her sports bra and she tried to muffle her moan as she felt Lucan's lips around her hard nipples. Her hands grasped his hair and tugged at it a bit roughly as she closed her eyes and felt every vibe of his action resonate through her body.

Pressing Dr. Duv up against the edge of his desk, Lucan lashed the heaving skin of her breasts with his tongue - encouraged by her willingness and how she eagerly held his face against herself. Several of his PADDs hit the floor. With one hand behind her waist, the other brutally picked her pants open after failing to reach beyond her waistline. With better access, he ran three of his hard fingers across her damp and sweaty outer labia - his middle finger delving into the valley of her female heat and the fingers on either side stroking her slick lips.

Amelya looked beside her as she heard the PADDs fall down to the floor, hoping nobody would come and check, she let out a muffled moan. She squeezed her eyes closed as she felt the eager doctor push his fingers down the front of her pants. Soon she felt his strong fingers at her labia. She responded quickly by tugging at his labcoat, she even got his shirt underneath with it, pulling it up from his back, exposing his skin to the damp "office". She tried to get it over his head, but for that he needed to let go of her for a second.

One at the time, Lucan peeled back his sweaty garments from his arms with Amelya's help - leaving him bare-chested. As Dr. Duv might have trouble containing her voice, Lucan raised the hand behind her back and brushed his thumb against her lips - slipping it inside her gasping mouth as soon as possible. Below, he resumed sucking hard upon her left nipple, and his middle finger squirmed its way inside the hot confines of her womanhood - expanding her sick walls with the kneading movements of his hand.

Once Lucan pushed his thumb inside her mouth, she closed her lips around it and sucked on it hard. Her tongue flicking against it while she moved her hips onwards against his fingers. She enjoyed the little treat she was getting and she felt how his finger dug it's way deeper into her. Her inner walls hugging tightly against it. She moved her cold hands over his chest now and guided them down to his own pants. She opened it up and quickly and eagerly pushed her hands down there only to meet Lucan's own vivid arousal. She grabbed a good hold of it and started to stroke him while forming a smile on her lips.

Trill did have colder hands, and it was quite a blissful feeling to have them run down his torso and feel her fingers around his rigid length. He grunted deep down in his throat and raised his mouth to hers again, replacing his thumb with his own tongue. Having pinned her against his desk, he felt her saliva-cold areolae scrape against his warm body while he kissed her, groaned in guttural contentment over the way she worked his hardness with her hand. His own hand remained in the apex of her legs - pushing and devling further, harder, and not ceasing yet. They had not uttered a word since their lips met. Only rasping vowels. Rushed sounds of passion.

Meeting the lips of Lucan again, Amelya welcomed his tongue and saliva by pushing her own tongue against his. She didn't stop with working on his hardened member as seemingly he did not stop working his finger deeper into her. She did enjoy her own body scraping against his and she wanted nothing more but to wrap her legs around him and pull him closer. She broke the kiss for a second as she realised both of them were groaning and moaning even if it was silently "We should keep it down.." She whispered in his ear as she finished her sentence by biting in his earlobe.

When their mouths finally parted, there was no doubt in Lucan's mind - at least - that they were going to continue. He glanced behind himself and did not see any movements or shadows playing against the veil of the white canvas wall. He turned back, withdrew his hand from her crotch, and hurriedly pushed down Amelya's pants and panties with his thumbs. He crouched down as he did so, mouth and tongue savaging her breast and abdomen on the way down. He noticed that the stubble on his cheek had bruised her lips as he glanced up, and promptly pushed Dr. Duv up to sit on the edge of his desk - his mouth going for her slick sex. More PADDs fell, along with his portable little replicator.

Amelya let her superior officer continue as he trailed his way down to her sex. She placed her both hands on the table and stretched her arms to function as pillars to stay in balance. She was breathing more heavily now and her eyes skimmed the canvas too now, wondering if anybody could hear what they were doing, feeling the risk of getting caught to be very real. She felt the stubble down her legs now and she spread them a bit more, granting Lucan a perfect sight and field of operation if he wanted too. She cursed soft however as the replicator fell and he looked down at Lucan now, biting her lower lip. She awaited whatever Lucan might have in mind.

Yet she did not have to wait long, for the cunnilingus began quite momentarily. His lips found the red berry of her clitoris and he sucked at its nectar. He brushed it with the tip of his tongue and spooned her juices into his mouth - grazing deep into the crevice of her sex. His tattooed hands roamed her body where she had propped herself up on his desk, caressing her flustered flesh as he made it his cause to entice her to her wit's end. Never a still moment. The febrile pace kept building. The risk to kill her increasing.

Hitting the right places in the right time, she bit her lower lip to prevent herself from moaning out loud. Her nails wanted to dig into the table yet the fabric of it it prevented to do so. Her nails were short enough for if they were longer than a few millimeters they would surely fragment from the force she put behind it. She enjoyed the satisfaction Lucan gave her and she let one hand go from the table to roam through his dark hair.

As it was made evident that it was due time to proceed, Lucan rose to his feet and pulled her forward with an arm wrapped around her waist - mouth seeking hers once again. The darkness inside wanted him to do other things, bestial things, yet he kept his control firm - grinding his teeth for a moment before he lavished her neck with fiery kisses. His free hand reached down between their bodies to free his rigid arousal from its warm confines.

Once he rose back up, she pressed her lips against his and licked the inside of his mouth, tasting her own juices and kind of liking it. She kissed him passionately before she let go of him so he could kiss her on her neck. She noticed how he freed himself from his confines and she quickly sat up, welcoming the throbbing erection with her hand. She looked at Lucan with a misschievous grin before she snaked herself off the table. Forcing Lucan to take a few steps back and eventually switching places so Lucan would be able to lean against the table, she went onto her knees and stroked the phallus while inspecting it. It only lasted a few seconds before she ran her tongue from the base up to the tip. She looked up for his reaction while she licked his tip, swirling her tongue slowly yet teasing around it.

As Dr. Duv wanted to continue her diagnosis of his penis with her mouth, Lucan let her, a breathless smile given to her as she began to fellate him. He might still be wearing his uniform trousers, yet she had him completely exposed to the warm air. Her hands and her saliva made cold traces around his throbbing member, and when he managed to pull his attention from her proceedings, he raised his eyes to verify that there was no one outside.

She continued slowly by pressing her lips around the tip of his cock, next she slowly took his head inside of her mouth. She sucked hard and lavished the head with her tongue, coating it in a layer of saliva before slowly bobbing her head up and down. With her other free hand she went over his hips, leading it down to his groin to manipulate his scrotum.

The deceleration of their heated moment brought thoughts about caution, yet the way she orally pleasured him halted any impulses to do something about the opened tent flap behind her back. Their shadows might be visible on the walls from any direction in case there was a bright light lit somewhere close. His deductive mind analysed the risks, or tried to, before ceasing such depressing calculations. Dr. Duv added her other hand to her play with his genital area, and he ran a tattooed hand through her hair - making a fist as he tried to keep the sounds he made to a minimum. Halted breaths. Choked groans hissed through his teeth.

Amelya continued to pleasure Lucan orally, her head bobbing up and down a bit faster everytime her lips pursed around his head. She enjoyed the taste of Lucan's member even though the sweat was pretty present at this time. She wouldn't stop because of it, her hormonal system going berserk by the actions they were performing. She looked up to Dr. Nicander's eyes again as she took him in nearly all the way.

"I..." a word, that was all that it took to signal that she had to stop. It was made evident by his imbalanced frame; how his widened stance could not compensate for the way she made him double over in pleasure when she increased the rhythm.

With a spark of dirty thoughts spreading through her mind, Amelya did stop with her oral talents, she made her way off his member but it was a tease till the end, sucking him hard before letting go with a 'maybe' too loud pop. She smiled satisfying as she installed herself between his legs, pushing his legs apart, only to rub her sex and stomache against his warm erection. She kissed him again and closed her eyes while she leaned her hands next to him on the table.

It would seem Dr. Duv did not want things to end there, as she ground her pelvis against Lucan's roused length - pressing it between their lower abdomens. He met her kisses and ran his hands around her frame, leaning forward to graze her nipples with his lips in-between the re-building frenzy of the moment. He wanted to be inside this Trill immediately, and yet all he did for the moment was to reach down and push his length down - making the long shaft rest in the wet embrace of her folds. When she moved, she would slide her wet nether lips along him, even if he did not visit her quite yet.

However, while they were kissing she heard a stumble behind them. It could be just one of the nurses passing by with equipment or with files. On the other hand, it could be one of the nurses looking for either of the doctors with an urgent question. Yet Amelya didn't want it to stop here. She looked at Lucan if he heard it, perhaps things were just playing with her mind?

- To be continued...

By Nolan & Auctor Lucan

"A Thorough Introduction - Part 02" Joint-Post by Nolan & Auctor Lucan

[ Theta Eridani IV | The Triage Centre | 2015 hrs. ]

However, while they were kissing she heard a stumble behind them. It could be just one of the nurses passing by with equipment or with files. On the other hand, it could be one of the nurses looking for either of the doctors with an urgent question. Yet Amelya didn't want it to stop here. She looked at Lucan if he heard it, perhaps things were just playing with her mind?

Lucan's hands had come to rest upon Amelya's hips, urging her to rub herself along him, yet the noise had raised his pale grey eyes to the front end of the room. He did see movements outside. Someone was picking something up. He saw the profile briefly through the small opening - narrowing his eyes across Dr. Duv's shoulder. It was Maal, one of the nurses. He was mumbling as he sorted through the journals he had dropped, yet he was not looking in their direction. Lucan turned his head to whisper into the doctor's ear - breath warm and winded. "Slowly... Not a sound... He is not looking for us..."

Her breath had stopped for a second as Lucan inspected who was at the entrance of the tent flap. Once he had whispered to her, she nodded silently and dropped her array of kisses down his neck and shoulder. She had felt Lucan's hands urge her to move her hips over his rod, yet she was a tease. She refused to do so at start, lasting at least a few moments that probably felt like forever for both of them. Only then did she slowly grind her body against the hard length of Lucan. Her wet folds coating it while she was careful enough not to let him inside of her.

The nurse was stacking the pile of journals high in his hairy hand, and Lucan was looking right at his dim profile in the artificial light outside the office. Their own breathing seemed impossibly loud. Their thrumming heartbeats vivid. Yet still, Lucan reached down between them to make a fist around the base of his cock - angling it up against Dr. Duv's awaiting opening. Each motion ever so slow, even if his eyes were trained upon the irritating nurse outside his office that took forever getting the journals sorted.

While continuing to tease Lucan, Amelya felt how he realigned his cock against her folds. She knew the next time she'd move herself forward she'd be bringing in the CMO of the Theurgy. She paused for a second now while she looked at Lucan, she wondered if the person behind her would still be there. Seeing Lucan's eyes still glued over her shoulder, she assumed he was. It was  risky to let him penetrate now, the moans or sighs from either could easily give their actions and positions away. Amelya decided to look for herself for now, turning her head, not seeing enough, so she arched her body backwards to get a bit more of a view. Doing this however, she gave Lucan yet another view over her naked body. On top of that, she also felt the head of Lucan's member dig into her folds.

Distracted from observing the nurse, Lucan's eyes dropped to the glistening Trill body that had arced backwards - suspended upon his and her own warm hands as they held on to each other. Regardless of Maal's presence and the risk of discovery, both he and the beast wanted to thrust inside her, and the decision was based on instinct rather than thought. So he did thrust inside her - hard - just as he pushed away from the desk - forcing her to wrap her legs around him lest she'd fall. He held her suspended horizontally in his strong arms, a cry stifled at the edge of his teeth - her warm confines so tight as he squirmed his thick girth into her wet furnace. He let her hang suspended for a few seconds while the first few thrusts claimed further inches into her sheath, and when he raised his eyes again... Maal was gone.

The sudden thrust from Lucan inside the warmth of Amelya was not really a surprise. Yet Amelya grinded her teeth together to not let out a sound as Maal seemingly was done with doing his work, moving away from the tent flap. Her pretty exposed positioning ensured that Lucan could thrust deeper easily. She closed her eyes as she felt the rigid length drive it's way inside of her and he wrapped her legs tightly around the fellow doctor to not drop down.

Dr. Nicander licked and sucked upon her hard peaks, and at the point when she also had noticed that they were alone again, he hoisted her up so that they were face to face. The front of their bodies rubbing together as he bounced her upon his hips. His shoed feet wide, he made her grind down upon his full length . His hardness was swallowed whole by her soaked sex. He kissed her anew, breathlessly, while their sweat-coated bodies ground together, Lucan supporting their consummate act with his arms and his legs.

Amelya let out a soft satisfactory moan as he had hoisted her up so they were face to face. She delivered herself entirely to him as her body worked nearly in sync with his. His warm sweaty body grinding against her own soft skin, it made her feel safe for now and the rigid length sure did do the job to relieve her of some tension that had stacked up the past few weeks.

Lucan surged into her, her interior walls milking him like a slick fist. Strangled grunts. Hushed, hot, frenzy shared until their imminent...

Distant voices. "Oh, hi Maal, do you know if Dr. Nicander is in? No, okay, I will go check myself. What? No, the patient in tent seven has not woken up yet. I will see if..."

Lucan made a strangled noise of a curse in his throat, realising that they couldn't finish what they were just about to finish. "Quickly, hide behind my desk," said he said and pulled his throbbing cock free from the Trill and set her down on her feet. He scanned the floor for their garments and swept them up in his tattooed hands. He threw them behind the desk before Dr. Duv would have the chance to get there and turned to face away from the opening to the makeshift office. His hair in disarray, he worked to tuck his phallus inside his uniform trousers when the flap opened up behind him. He had made it in time, hands not in his groin region any more, yet he was not ready to turn around quite yet.

Amelya opened up her eyes as she heard the voices and she knew that they had to stop now. Feeling how Lucan had pulled out of her sheath, nearly made her moan loud again, but she bit her lips just in time to prevent that. She nodded at his instructions and wanted to pick up her clothes before Lucan did, but he had the advantage. Naked she jumped behind the desk and quickly found her undergarments, trying to put them on in all silence while she unintentionally eavesdropped on the following conversation. Within her however, she felt her heart race and found out that the brief relief of tension was not enough to satisfy her at all. She threw around curses inside her mind as the conversation began between the Assistant and the doctor.

Cadet Amikris Noetin folded the tentflap aside as she walked into the tent. "Dr. Nica-..." She started before realising that he was standing half naked in front of her. Her full green eyes scanning his back and slowly she diverted her eyes "I'm sorry sir, I didn't know that you were busy with refreshing yourself." She said quickly, apologising her intrusion "Should I come back later with the scans from Lieutenant Rawley?" She asked now and looked up again to see what the man had to say for himself.

"No, that is quite aright, Cadet," said Lucan pretending at being deeply immersed in his own thoughts where he stood with his back against the Ash'reem. The sweat trickling down his frame could just as well be looking like water from the basins outside. He had not managed to button up his uniform trousers, yet that could have been a part of the washing as well. So he turned around to face the ignorant cadet with a carefree smile while showing a lot of skin in his lower abdomen region. At least his raging erection had been tucked down along one leg of his pants. "I should have put up a sign or something, so you should not feel more embarrassed than I am."

While Lucan said it was quite alright, Amikris smelled the first faint odour of sweat, yet it wasn't the sweat of Lucan alone. She frowned a bit at the second scent and only now saw the portable replicator and PADDs on the floor. When she diverted her eyes to Lucan, she saw more flesh of his body than she had before. "A sign would be convenient I guess." She answered him eventually and looked him in the eye. "Shall I help you clean up a bit here?" She asked him kindly, already moving towards the table.

Amelya had managed to get het sports bra and her undergarments back on. The rest of the clothing would make too much noise, if not shake the table at least. She froze for a second though when she heard the visitor ask to help clean up the PADDs, surely she'd come in range of seeing Dr. Duv her clothes laying around behind the desk. She pressed herself against the table, giving it a slight nudge, one that Lucan could feel against his lower back.

Knowing ahead of the nudge that the help Amikris offered could not be accepted, Lucan pushed away from the desk and met the cadet halfway, extending a hand towards the PADD that Amikris had brought him. "No, but thank you though," he said and smiled warmly to the young woman and looking into her goggled eyes, his fragrant body closer to her. "I should have to clean up my own mess if I can't keep things from piling up. Talk me through the scans will you? I take it you have gone over them yourself already?"

It was common to educate and put the cadets to the test, and this was the perfect opportunity since it would draw attention from what had been going on in his office. If he could distract her with his pheromones and presence, then all for the better. He just hoped she would not pick up on the female sexual pheromones emanating from behind his desk. Hooking a thumb behind the waistline of his undone pants, he came to stand next to Amikris so that they could look at the holographic medical scans together.

A bit surprised to be stopped by Lucan, she nodded as she now got a good scent of his active pheromones. If she wouldn't know better she would believe that the Doctor had been having sexual actions just moments ago. She breathed in subtle to get a better smell of the room and she almost thought she smelled female pheromones as well. Yet Lucan was standing too close to her now, his own smell dominating the air around her. She started going over the scans now, pointing out the decreased blood values and the obvious fractures that had shown up during the scans. Boldly, she even suggested a course of treatment that could be cleared by Lucan to proceed.

However the smell of Lucan's pheromones became quite hard to resist for the young cadet. She leaned into him a bit as her own body started to react to him. Her goggled eyes slowly diverting from the scan to peek down his exposed waistline. Once she was done with her findings she looked up at Lucan. "Are you satisfied with my findings Doctor? Or is there something you wish to add?" She asked, images flashing before her of how she had rubbed him in with disinfectant fluids from the ducts in her hands and how he had helped her in turn.

"No, I concur with your suggested treatment, but I would recommend to try and set her on rehabilitation exercises sooner if she shows to have the strength for it," said Lucan and raised his free hand to approve the treatment with a fingerprint against the PADD. "Put it in her journal that her condition and her whereabouts needs to be confirmed on an hourly basis. She has escaped Sickbay before, and I would not be surprised if she'd try again."

The young cadet nodded and smiled once she got the approval of the doctor. "Of course doctor, I shall implement it as soon as possibly when I see fit." She answered him and remained close to him, inhaling the pheromones that kept reaching her in rapid succession.

Amelya remained behind the desk and realised that they were talking about Rawley. She had followed the diagnostics report and agreed with Lucan his decision, yet she couldn't just pop up from behind the table to say that. The situation was rather awkward at this time and to her even greater frustration, she noticed how her undergarments were displaying a wet spot from the intense action she had just moments ago.

Lucan had caught her black goggles wandering his undressed state, and as she was given her orders, he turned to face her - a small smile returning after having been formal with her. He tried to pull his thoughts away from the woman hiding behind her desk and focus on making the cadet forget about any suspicions she might have. "I know I have already said as much yesterday, but my heart goes out to you and your father. After what you have been through personally during the Niga incident, I can't imagine how the loss of your mother might affect you. Is there some way I can help you?" he asked acting the caring superior officer and not pretending like he knew just how much the pheremones his sexual activities would affect her. All the better, confusing her with his scent contradicting his words and tone. "I do think that Temporal Affairs fellow Morali might be better suited to share your pain with without language restrictions though. Ah, yes, word gets around about you two, Cadet. Don't act surprised. Otherwise, the Harbinger has a Chief Counsellor you might want to contact."

Amelya held her breath when she heard the next part of the conversation. She didn't know that Amikris had lost her mother during the last incident, let alone, she didn't know how Amikris looked like. Curiosity was a thing that mostly got the better of her, she'd take risks for curiousity. Needless to say, curiosity did kill the cat on multiple occasions for Amelya.

Amikris in the meantime looked up at Lucan. Asking if he could help her, she shrugged her shoulders and murmured "I try to keep myself busy in order not to think too much about it..." She looked away now as he brought up Morali. "Really? You already know about us?" She asked a bit surprised, even though he had warned her about it. The counsellor would be an option, yet she wasn't ready for it yet. The situation however confused her, smelling the pheromones would indicate Lucan to be ready to have intercourse at any given time now, yet how he treated her it seemed like he hinted that Morali would be the better option. It didn't make any sense unless... another woman would be here? The other scent she had picked up perhaps? These thoughts flying through her mind, she didn't show any emotion of her suspicion to Lucan.

"Yes, and hardly any surprise given how your species depend on each other," said Lucan and chuckled, laying a tattooed hand upon the Cadet's shoulder while he looked into her eyes. He used the other hand to brush some of that silken water-retaining hair from her goggles... before he slowly hugged the young Ash'reem to his bare chest.

She hugged him back tightly as Lucan showed his sign of affection towards her. She felt the warm skin of Lucan pressed against her uniform, yet by doing so, she got a serious whiff of his sweat, scent and pheromones. It pretty much made her own system go off balance as she felt a surge in her own lower abdomen, the ducts under her arms dilating.

Lucan was considering the fact that they had been through a lot together, so it was not completely unseemly to give her an affectionate hug. Not only was he treating her Isophobia off the record, but they had developed the Niga antidote together, fought side by side, and he had aborted her alien parasitic child. Beyond the strictures of their vastly separate ranks, they had bonds transcending regulations because of what they had been through. In other words, she had become quite easy to manipulate. "I just want you to know that even if you have lost someone dear, along with the alien child you almost bore, you should always know that you have non-Ash'reem friends too. I might be the CMO, but I consider you a dear friend besides being a cadet on my staff."

"You are a dear friend to me too, Lucan. The things you've done for me are just..." She paused and her big goggles looked up at him now. She could feel the still present erection in Lucan's pants and she wondered if this had been her work. Not really surprised by it she moved her hand against the rigid length against his trousers. Slowly she started to stroke it through his pants and she kept looking at him to get a reading of his reaction.

Amelya kept behind the desk for now, feeling that the vibe in the room had changed somehow. Even though she overheard the entire conversation she had so many questions left unanswered that she would have to ask Lucan at some point, just out of medical curiosity.

Not completely unforeseen, the unfolding events were equally amusing and intriguing to Lucan. Externally, however, he had paused, his smile fading - putting on a face of both alarm and hesitation. Then he mimicked the expected hasty glance out through the swaying flap of the door, pretending to try and spot if anyone was looking. Then, he lay his hand on top of Amikris - keeping it there. "I... am sorry, this is really unprofessional of me, especially right now. It appears you have had a... certain effect upon me. I don't think it is because you are Ash'reem either..." Carefully chosen words for the other CMO's ears, yet also phrased just so to flatter Amikris. He wanted Amelya to be thinking he covered for her reputation at the cost of his own. He did keep the cadet's hand where it was, and he felt how his loins reacted to her close presence. He knew Ash'reem and she was secreting her own pheromones of arousal into the room. Her plastic wrapping kept it from affecting the closest few tents in the Triage Centre though.

Amelya waited silently as she only could hear what was going on behind her back. Her mind warned her about the pheromonic excretion of aroused Ash'reem yet she didn't see a clear way out. Not without alerting the Cadet of her presence, she was trapped it seemed. The pheromones reaching her now, she felt how they started to work in on her own system, making her soft, sensitive and above all, horny as hell...

Amikris in the meantime looked up at Lucan once again, slowly moving her hand up and down the rigid length through his pants. He had caught her full attention now and she slid her hand up to his belly before pushing it down his pants. Lucan could feel how the hand of the cadet wrapped itself around his manhood and after a few strokes, the lubricant got added to the mix, making the stroking even more enjoyable most likely.

Dr. Nicander's breath caught at the unique touch of the Ash'reem hand. All Ashreem had six fingers, four regular ones and two thumb like digits one on either side of the main four. The secretion duct at the centre of their hands synthesized a thick paste that encouraged cellular regeneration and growth, while also acting as an anti-inflammatory agent and antibiotic. It made the double-thumb grip and of the damp hand even more compelling, lubricating the motion... while also removing all traces of Amelya from his member. Lucan just had to keep himself from kissing the much shorter woman if he wanted to keep her in the dark.

"Not here," he said thickly, his tattooed hand grabbing Amikris' forearm and the other sliding behind her neck. He led them out of direct eye-shot from the opening to the office - coming to stand off to the front corner of the room. Once there, he yanked his pants down over his hips and let them pool around his ankles - Amikris hand becoming visible as it was wrapped around his twitching cock. His breath heavy, he raked his fingers through her soft and moist hair... and then yanked her undershirt and uniform open - her plastic-wrapped breasts made visible to his pale eyes. His gaze lifting to hers, he then gently pushed upon her shoulder to make her crouch down. With Amelya's and his actions from before, added with the pheromones, Lucan was closer to the edge than he liked to admit - his tumescence as hard as it could ever be because of it.

Amikris was brought to her knees and she enjoyed the touch of Lucan's hands through her moist hair. She kept jerking him off slowly while the lubricant was coated over his length. Drips of the anti-inflammatory lubricant were dripping down onto the floor. She kept stroking him for a few more seconds while she gazed at his erection before she slowly parted her lips. She didn't care to lick him first and went straight to the oral action. She wrapped her gums around the tip of his erection and sucked hard as she took him deeper into her mouth.

Amelya had heard the clothes of Amikris being pulled off and she couldn't resist any longer now. She carefully moved to the side of the desk and peeked around the corner. Only to see that her previous sexual partner wsa getting some more sexual playtime while she just sat there. She felt the sting of jealousy and the frustration of the cropped up sexual tension within her, made her retreat behind the desk. She carefully started to take her clothes now and silently began to dress herself.

To feel Amikris' Ash'reem mouth encompassing him for the first time was quite memorable - the unique oral cavity flexing around his male heat while working the length from base to bulbous tip. His head was reeling on the verge of climax, and as his eyes rolled, he made brief eye-contact with Amelya. The look on her face had mirrored his own, and even if he would have liked to sheat himself inside the Ash'reem, the winds help him, he would not be able to hold out.

Just as Amelya finished buttoning up her teal uniform vest, she got startled by the sudden sound of the combadge going off. She bit her lower lip and nearly froze up as she figured she would be the one caught hiding behind the desk. However, the message following after it was somewhat surprising [Lt. Neotin to Amikris. I wish to speak with you in my quarters.]

It was short yet it seemed to have a very great impact on Amikris. She pulled back, seemingly in shock and looked up at Lucan as she wiped her mouth and tapped her combadge. "I will be there shortly, father." She answered obediently and she stood up now, apologising to Lucan, but already buttoning up and preparing to leave. Amelya listened in to the entire conversation and she found it rather amusing to know that Lucan missed the chance to get there twice now.

Amikris left in a couple of seconds after making sure she was decent enough to go out. She apologised to Lucan once again and said goodbye with a quick kiss on his lips. Once Amelya was sure she left, she stood up from behind the desk and eyed Lucan, she only wore the top of her uniform and her underwear.

The beast inside wished to tear down the walls and shriek in ire, to hunt down the Cadet and rape her in the open, yet Lucan controlled his breath and his trembling grasp on the violence almost unleashed. Images overlapped in a stream of impressions, of how he tore the goggles off the vile little cunt and blinded her permanently with the sterile lamps set up inside the Triage Centre. How he broke her soft arms and legs and then twisted her head around after he came in her bloodied arse. Still, he bent down slowly to pull up his pants, his hands trembling a little with the promise of brutal justice. When Amelya appeared, he was tucking himself behind his waistline, giving her an apologetic smile.

"Pardon for having to suffer the interruption, yet at least I think I managed to hide your presence. Its hard to tell with Ash'reem though." Lucan walked up to his desk, slowly rounding it to come face to face with the other CMO. "Even if Amikris did notice something, she did not see you, and she is not the kind to gossip either. I think there is no harm done."

She shook her head slowly and waved away any form of apologies from Lucan. "It's alright, I saw you managed to distract the cadet to some degree..." She answered, a slight sarcastic undertone to be heard in her voice. "They are however a special kind of race, the Ash'reem." She continued now and she couldn't help but smile.

Chuckling ruefully, Lucan whole body was coiled like a spring - every muscle bent on the frustration suffered at the continuous interruptions. The other CMO did not seem much better off, and yet they had lost their momentum, and the opportunity was too dangerous to take. Obviously, Lucan's office was not the best of places to indulge oneself in the ways they had done before the Ash'reem arrived. Moreover, Lucan would never pass Eve Jenkins up, whom he thought was some kind of key to controlling himself. Looking into Amelya's eyes, he raised his hand to run his fingers through her hair. "Perhaps this was not the best of times for this kind of introduction," he said with a lopsided smile, "and I have an appointment in a few minutes. I reckon we will be seeing each other at a more opportune moment, should it be that you wish so."

Given what had happened in the office between Lucan and Amikis, he was not entirely sure she did.

She agreed that this wasn't the best timing or place to indulge themselves in this kind of action. Yet she stood still before the CMO of the Theurgy as he moved his fingers through her hair, the act of feeling safe, running through her body as she felt his touch. "We will probably be running in to each other more often I reckon." She smiled and answered him with a soft voice. "Yet only time will tell what we'll do at that time..." She answered teasingly, somehow trying to keep her distance from the good doctor.

"Indeed, dear doctor," said Lucan, brushing a thumb across her lips.

Only a few seconds after her last words had filled the room, her combadge went off. [Doctor Duv, could you come to the Red Zone, Phanatos has tried to escape ma'am. I'm afraid that we won't be able to contain him without your presence.] Amelya frowned and answered "Understood, I'll be there in a minute."

Dr. Nicander frowned as well, quite surprised that someone as injured as Commander Kilinvoss would make the attempt. The man had to have a will of iron and a neglect to his own wellbeing surpassing even the most reckless pilots Lucan knew. "That sounds serious."

Amelya sighed softly and pulled on her own pants now and readied herself to leave "Yes, looks like duty calls for me. I'll relieve you of your shift later, enjoy the rest of your evening Doctor Nicander." She said softly and kissed him tenderly on the lips, before taking her leave.

"I will try to, good evening, Doctor Duv." After she left, Lucan stared at the way the flap swayed after she passed through it. Gone was his smile now, the malevolent irritation dominating his countenance. The frustration might linger as well, yet the ire was worse, directed against everyone and no one in particular. He took a deep, calming breath, and pinched the bridge of his nose - control reasserting itself.

He really needed Eve now. Or so he thought. He was not sure how many days he might take with the darkness overshadowing his mind. He checked the computer console for the time and left, needing some fresh air before Eve appeared...

- Fin

By Nolan & Auctor Lucan

"I am cleared for light duty tomorrow morning at 0600, Captain. Lieutenant Renard came by earlier to persuade Doctor Duv to allow me to work with him on the Valkyries, he and I worked closely together in the original development at Research and Development." he said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "Have you spoken to him? I wouldn't want his plans for me to conflict with your own. As you said, the Valks are not a priority, I need to brush up on my combat skills as well as meet my new team." he said, wringing his hands.

Smiling softly, he nodded. "I have a.. Consultation with the good doctor this evening. I will see what I can convince her of." he said, readjusting himself in his bed. "I can assure you that I am ready for whatever is required of me. I've worked in much worse condition than I'm in now. I should be able to convince Doctor Duv of that later on. Persuasion is something that I am by no means a newcomer to."

"Exactly what of my personal effects am I allowed to bring onto your ship, Captain?" he asked, chuckling to himself, remembering everything that he had onboard the Harbinger. "I have quite a bit of equipment on the Harbinger that I would very much like to bring onto your ship, however, I'm not sure that you would allow me to bring all that I have. There are.. Many crates." looking up into the open air, his eyes darted around as he mouthed numbers to himself. "The crates containing my effects should take up roughly one thousand three hundred and twelve cubic feet of space. Is there a certain amount of storage space that I will be allocated? If so, how much? I understand that my job aboard the Theurgy will differ from my job aboard the Harbinger, but much of my equipment would greatly aid me in my role as Chief Tactical Officer." he said, matter of factly.

Thinking for a moment, he looked at the Captain intently. "And no disrespect intended, Captain, I ask this with the most sincere intellectual curiosity that I am able. Please tell me that I'm not going to have to deal with any fucking morons. I understand that there may be some aboard the ship, but please insure me that there are going to be none under my command. I don't deal well with ignorance, nor blatant stupidity. Not to say that I doubt your crew for a second, I saw a wonderful showing of tactical ability during the battle, but I have to ask. Is anyone 'that guy'? Maybe someone with a great deal of intellect, but only twopence of common sense? Or someone who is greatly intelligent and sensible, but has a skull thicker than a rock? Anyone like that?" he asked. "I ask not out of disrespect. I ask because I have a condition. I'm sure that you know that, however."

"Besides our First Officers, Captain Vasser and I have yet to announce to our Senior Staffs of yours or any other promotions we have decided upon. I had a feeling Commander Renard might ask for your assistance, though, and I will not forbid you to work together with him on the augmentation of our decimated squadron of fighters. I only stress the import that you must make your new position a priority. I am sure Miles will understand the import of a new Chief Tactical Officer, and the reason why you need to allocate the majority of your time towards other pursuits," said Jien and she paused for thought.

"Perhaps he and Thea - our Ship AI - might assist in running the simulations needed for your Tactical training. That might be an effective way to put the Valkyries to the test. As for that, I hope your persuasion skills are good enough to convince Dr. Duv that you need more time. Perhaps she can send someone to check on you instead of you being here. I urge you to not take her word lightly though, since I have no use for a CTO who dies prematurely from internal bleeding on the holodeck." That said, the matter about his belongings was an easy thing to handle. "Regarding your equipment, we have plenty of room in our cargo holds, yet I urge you to pack as lightly as you can. Leave behind as much as possible. The Quartermaster will also help you with a designated cargo hold."

Standing next to the bed, Jien folded her arms underneath her breasts and gave the man a firm look when he asked about his new staff. "As for your tolerance level towards your new subordinates, it's something all of us have to work out for ourselves. I am informed that you have an anger management problem which you deal with through Counselling and theraputic exercise, and I expect you to handle this to the best of your ability. Your issues are no excuse to treat your personnel poorly, because the fault lies with you and not with them unless they fail to perform their duties as per your instructions. Your condition does not give you any leeway to seed animosity when the need for focus on the mission is so important as it is. That being said, neither Commander Thenaljpar nor Lieutenant T'Less reported anything of the kind, so that means your personnel has lived up to their standards at the very least. Given the circumstances, I must stress the import that you need to embrace this role with an open mind, since right now, they know more than you about Tactical operations. If nothing else, when and how to shoot."

Having made this clear, that faint smile returned to her countenance, and her stance eased into a couple of steps towards the exit of Cooper's small triage abode. "Your promotion will be announced on the morrow, yet you needn't keep it secret until then. Dr. Duv may contact me if she needs verification, yet I leave it to you to gather your new staff sometime after 0600 hrs on the morrow." She paused and turned towards him where he lay, her female form silhouetted against the stark artificial light of the triage centre. "Now, do you have any questions to me before I take my leave, Mr. Cooper? I would not like to disturb your rest any further and I have more meetings to attend to."

Time was short, and rest far from the Chameloid's mind.

"I'm sure that I will be able to appropriate my time accordingly." he said. Listening to the Captain, he nodded, folding his hands over his lap. "If you'd like, I can provide you with a manifest of my equipment so that you can let me know what you would prefer that I make sure to bring aboard."

"I'll try my best not to make anybody cry." he said with a playful smirk. "If you have any martial artists aboard your vessel, I would love to know of them. My 'therapeutic exercise' as you called it just isn't the same when performed with a holographic projection." he smiled. "Also, I would like to speak with your counselor as soon as possible to come up with a treatment plan. The sooner I can resume my routine, the less likely it is that I'll go into one of my parapsychotic rage fits."

"I can meet with my new staff in the morning, that shouldn't be any problem at all. Also, not because I'm a man of discretion, but rather because I don't make many friends, I believe that my promotion will be a surprise to most when it is announced." he said, chuckling. "I do hope that this announcement won't carry any pomp and circumstance. I wouldn't be comfortable with anything like that."

Picking up the box containing his Grankite Order he smiled, retrieving it from its' plush home. He turned it over and over in his hands, taking in every detail of it, feeling its' surface with his thumbs. "Yes, one question, actually." Breathing onto it, he gingerly polished it against his blanket before placing it back into its' box, closing the lid. "When will the replicators be back online? For non-survival needs, I mean." he asked, placing the box back onto his bedside table. "I need to get a nice frame for this. Once I have access to a computer, I'll be drafting a design for a rather nice one." he said with a small smile.

"Documentation and classifications on the cargo you bring aboard is better handled by the Quartermaster, who will be contacting me if there is anything content- or size-wise that needs my clearance. As for a counsellor, we lost ours in the battle, yet I will be speaking with someone whom might be a fitting replacement today. So in due time, after the announcement, you will know who you should contact in order to schedule a counselling session," said Jien remaining where she were, and when the Mr. Cooper mentioned his physical therapy, she could not help to smile faintly. "There are plenty of personnel who practice martial arts, me being one of them, so maybe we might be able to find some time for a spar. Like you said, holograms might be dissatisfying, though you have not sparred with Thea yet, so if I am unavailable, you should ask her."

When Rennan spoke of the ceremony, Jien was confident he would not be embarrassed. "We are technically at war," she said, "so you should not have to worry given the circumstances. As for the replicators, I would like to know that too, but we are conserving energy both for the sake of the repairs as well as trying to mask our presence here on Theta Eridani IV. The more machinery we power up, the easier it will be to pick out our readings from the volcanic radiation of the area, regardless how many torches and bonfires we lit. Hopefully, we will be able to restore enough power to take down this Triage Centre and the modular shelters on a couple of days, thus enabling us to move back aboard our ships and our quarters. I am sure you will be able to frame the Order soon enough, yet in the meantime, focus on living up to the high expectations Captain Vasser and I have on your ability to adapt to your new position in Tactical."

Since the Human did not seem to have any further questions at that point, Jien parted form him with another faint smile - one given despite the weight of responsibility weighing her down. "Make sure you do not fail to relay the import of your medical clearance when you meet your CMO. Doctors mean well with her precautions, yet sometimes you have to stroke them the right way for them to listen to reason or differing priorities. I do not know Dr. Amelia Duv, yet perhaps you know how much stroking is needed. Best of luck, Mr. Cooper."

Her own focus entirely elsewhere, so even as she had left, Jien did not pick up on the fact that her suggestion had held a humorous double meaning.

Doctor Amelya Duv made her way back to Rennan Cooper after having a emergency meeting with her nurses. The former Flight leader of Harbinger had attempted to escape the triage center. With great effort and the help of security, she had managed to get the heavily mutilated man back to his biobed. She had given him a sedative and a light narcotic. she hoped it would keep him down for at least a couple of hours. She didn't want to give up on her promise to the engineer.

As she arrived in the yellow zone she noticed Captain Jien leave. She looked at the woman but gave it no further attention. She approached Rennan now and smiled as she saw him awake. "Mister Cooper, glad to see that you are awake." she said on a soft sweet tone "How are you feeling?" she asked now as she continued to take out her scanner to get a grasp of his vitals. Her eyes had not noticed the medal yet or the new pips as her mind was halfly still dealing with Phantom.

[Sarresh Morali - The Plains]

To say the Ash'reem was alienated by his captains stern words would be a disservice to the way the man out of time felt. There was anger there, for sure. as well as guilt, shame, and a few other emotions that Sarresh couldn't quite put a finger on. His hand passed thru his slick hair, his large eyes blinking in the dim light, watching the Captain sway away. Discression that word stuck in his mind, like a dagger driven home. All of this, the secretive nature of it, his memories wiped, a procedure he volunteered for? discretion, the better part of valor.

Ives vanished from his view, and still the temporal affairs officer didn't move. Trust yourself he heard the words again. he didn't know himself well enough to trust himself, not any more. The thought that the ma he admired...that he felt he admired, Captain Ducane, might have tailored his mind to resent the choices he had willing made...supposedly willingly made - it was too much. Shaking his head in disgust, with the situation, and with himself, he decided to seek out perhaps the one person in this timeline that, despite his own better judgement, he did trust.

"Lt. Morali to Cdt, Neotin." he finally said, tapping his combadge and pulling his goggles back down over his eyes. "If you have a spare moment, I'd like a word."

[ Amikris Neotin | Triage Centre ]

Exiting the Triage Centre in a hurry, Amikris stopped to catch her breath in the firelight of the torches - putting fingers with webbed fingers upon her knees.

In her mouth she could still taste the Chief Medical Officer, and her elevated senses were still on edge - raw and alert - by the sexual pheromones that she had been exposed to. Not to mention the pheromones she was emanating underneath her biowrap covers. The transmission from her father had caught her in the act, and because of what happened to mother, her conscience simply forbade her to go through with what she had wanted to do. She had wished for distraction from the loss of mother, and Lucan had been so sweet to them after the Niga Incident. There had always been something between them, yet it had not been until she felt him react so strongly towards her presence that they had finally...

[Lt. Morali to Cdt, Neotin. If you have a spare moment, I'd like a word.]

Sarresh! What did he want? Oh, why now? What about father? He sounded so... Amikris swallowed and began to walk in a brisk pace away from the Triage Centre and towards the Theurgy-class starship, where their watery accommodations were still powered up for the three remaining Ash'reem aboard. Father needed her, despite his ill temper since mother had been put in stasis. She tapped her combadge to reply while on the move.

"Cadet Neotin here," she said in the Federation Standard way that the other species spoke since it might be duty-related, all the while trying despite everything that was going on in her head to sound pleasant for the handsome Temporal Agent, "I am on my way to father right now, but if its important, I can spare some time while on the way there. Should we meet up somewhere?"

Speaking with Sarresh certainly did not help her in regaining control of her pheromone-ducts...

[Sarresh Morali - The Plains]

He could detect what almost felt like a note of anxiety, or perhaps frustration running through the younger woman's tone, even over the combadge. And yet, despite that, there was something almost soothing about hearing her voice. With an amused shake of his head that no one saw, he smiled just a bit, and pondered her words. If he remembered correctly - always a concern these days, though truth be told, all memories starting with his assignment to Cpt. Ives crew were very much intact - her father was likely onboard the Theurgy. The man had hardly left the ship, focusing on internal repairs when able, that would leave him alone with his grief. Sarresh had tried to offer an ear for the other man to vent, but so far, Amikris' father had been less then willing to open up him.

Adding all that up, and factoring in his location to hers, he sighed softly, then responded. "A moment of your time would be most welcome, Cadet." he said, softly, "I'll do my best not to delay you too long. Familial obligations are of course important." He had put on a more professional air at that, adding. "I believe I can meet you just before the Transporter station into the ship. If I manage not to get lost in the various supply crates. It is something of a maze." It was hard to keep the frustration from the pervious conversation from his voice, but he'd save that till they were in relative privacy.

Since she was heading there anyway, Amikris did not have to alter her chosen route towards the indicated Transporter station, which was manned by Operations personnel day and night to allow for easy passage to and fro the powered down ship.

"Understood, Lieutenant, I will meet you there," she said, not able to help the excited little smile that crept into her multi-coloured features - the tone thus happening to sound far less formal than her words were. Federation Standard was a funny way to express yourself, and she had found that just like her native tongue, it was affected by your mood unless you tamed it - forced it to sound the way you wanted it to. For she was happy to see Sarresh again, even if it would have to be briefly. She was worried about her father, but she could not refute the hope that her mother might be revived from her medical slumber. Hopefully she would be able to instil the same hope into papa Arcorn's heart.

Once she got to the Transporter station, there was plenty of activity around the area, with humans and other species managing the supply of spare parts as well as nutrition for the working crews. Sleek, grey cargo containers were stacked high and low, making corridors that led to the Transporter area - like a clearing in a forest of supplies. A forest that had become more and more challenging to navigate unless you were a part of the teams that managed the in- and outflow of supplies from the station. She lowered her pace a bit as she walked the lanes and corridors that had been made, looking for Sarresh... not able to help the smile of expectation that came and went underneath her goggles.

[ Theta Eridani IV | Triage Centre | Yellow Zone | 2015 hrs. ]

Rihen had pushed herself up against the back of her bed, arms folded across her middle and her blanket held there by the pressure while she tried to think things through. Her heterochromatic eyes were lowered to her lap as she contemplated her situation - blue and brown irises equal in a mix of shock and despair.

Around her, Starfleet Officers were abound. Going this way and that. Talking Federation lingo. Many introductions exchanged, since there were two crews that had allied themselves against some new enemy. Those who were worse for wear was either waking up or trying to sleep off the pain from that battle that had brought her there. She was a civilian amongst professionals, and while she had her merits - or at least she liked to think so - she knew that she was not the brightest or most clever engineer present in this warm valley on Theta Eridan... Eradan... Wherever the two starships had landed to conduct repairs. Sighing, running her fingers against her own neck, she felt the sweat there and hoped that the night to come would bring some cool air inside this tent-complex she had waken up in.

At the impression that someone was walking straight towards her - a warning in the back of her mind coming up since it was part of survival in Paradise City - she turned her head of short blonde hair that way and tried her characteristic, wide and warm smile. It did come out rather bleak given the circumstances. "Hello, are you the one that the doctors said would come by?" she asked in her Risan way of doing anything she did, with a pleasant and somewhat sensual undertone, "I am Rihen Neyah."
 
Hayden smiled as she approached, surprised and touched Rihen could smile given her current circumstances.  O'Connor could only imagine the only thing worse than being hunted by people she trusted was being hunted by people she trusted and getting injured in the process.  That she could show such gentleness gave Hayden hope.  It was ironic in a way that Rihen was making her feel better before O'Connor had even said a word.  Instictively protective of the injured woman, Hayden made sure to keep a respectful distance so as not to crowd her.  "I'm Dr. Hayden O'Connor, Chief Counselor aboard the Harbinger.  I'm very pleased to meet you, though I am sorry for the circumstances.  Perhaps you'd like someone to talk to?"

A Starfleet Counsellor, thought Rihen, and became more at ease. This was not some doctor who would poke and prod at her and tsk tsk at the difficulty of treating a Risan, even though Eve had done a seemingly great job at it. She felt a bit stiff in her shoulder and arm, yet nothing serious about it despite the close call. Nor was the woman before her a Security Officer or a Captain that might come interrogate her about what she knew about the hologram that had appeared aboard her - now - destroyed shuttle. No Counsellors were of good merit in the eyes of Risans, who also sought to make people feel at good and relaxed. Her disarming smile grew a minor shade brighter when asked the question.

"Oh, yes, please," she said and clasped her hands tighter in her lap, the lines around her eyes and mouth the only real give-away that she was not so happy as she might seem. A Risan smile was a part of their nature, and even though Rihen had been away from her homeworld for a long time, her smile was never too far out of reach - death and damnation be damned. "The circumstances might be bad but at least you Starfleet people recognise when someone is distraught and you try to do something. I tell you, in Paradise City, there were no shoulders to cry on, figuratively said. I mean, there were plenty of shoulders, hard and sharp and quickly going up and down the streets. They could be cried upon I suppose, but I would have to cling to one of them like a Loracus devil mite get the chance."

Her eyes contradicting her smile and words, Rihen scooted over on her bed to make room for Hayden.

Hayden would normally hesitate to provide such close contact with someone she was helping, at the very least out of fear of aggravating injuries, but perhaps the combination of fear and fatigue made her less cognizant of those things.  She was a hugger and took comfort from physical contact, but more than her own needs, she found herself wanting to fulfill those of others in these moments.  She wanted to do something constructive, and someone asking for closeness was exactly O'Connor's language.
 
Hayden sat and gingerly made sure she didn't cause any further discomfort. "I'm afraid I'm still learning what everyone's been through," she offered sheepishly.  "I wasn't aware you weren't a member of Starfleet or how you were injured."

"Well, to make a long story short, I got help from an... away-team - is that the term? - that came to Paradise City. It was three people from the pointy starship that offered to help repair an industrial replicator that I have had in my possession for a year or so. They did repair it in exchange for being able to replicate what they needed - which I later learned was material for the repairs of their starship - before they packed up and left Nimbus III." Rihen sighed when she told Hayden about the outcome. "Only because of your Starfleet Prime Directive, they sabotaged it as they left - leaving only a second grade replicator with me when they vanished. I was mortified! Paradise City really needed that replicator to get back on its feet! Have you been there? It's a desert, and we need help both terraforming and rebuilding our city."

Hayden shook her head.  She hadn't been to Paradise City, but she could understand Rihen's frustration as much as she understood the Prime Directive.  No one liked to be taken advantage of, and there was something wrong with depending on another to help out and then deigning to decide what was best for that person after receiving what was requested.  "I can imagine how you must have felt."

"Anyway, I had to find the three merchants, as they called themselves at the time, and plead my case with them: That they had to restore the full capacity and the unique capabilities of the industrial replicator for the sake of the residents in Paradise City that actually try to lead peaceful and good lives. My dream was to turn the city into something beautiful, like my home on Risa. We could live on the income of tourism, and... Well, what is the use for dreaming? When I found these two starships in this valley, I was approved to dock with the pointy one, even bringing an injured pilot I tractored to my cargo hold. Only somehow, a hologram got aboard my shuttle and..." Rihen swallowed, remembering cold blue eyes and the smoking muzzle of the phaser assault rifle turning her way. "She just started shooting everyone. Then I woke up here, with Dr. Nicander and Eve - sorry, Nurse Jenkins - and they told me I was not going to get any help. Rather, it would seem I am stuck with you Starfleet people until further notice..."
 
Hayden paused, wanting to give the other woman more than a trite response.  "I'm very sorry for all you've been through.  You didn't ask for us to uproot your life after you helped us, but that's exactly what happened, and you didn't deserve to be shot in the process.  I'm sure it's hard to convey just how traumatic that was, and it can't be easy to be in such a vulnerable state with people you barely know, let alone trust."  O'Connor shook her head.  "I don't understand why people we trusted turned on us, but I can say it's not safe for us to stay in one place, and it would be wrong of us to leave you endangered for helping us.  I know this isn't what you planned, but if you're willing to hear us out, I promise to listen to you and make sure you have what we can provide."

Nodding slowly, images from that shuttle bay came back to Rihen, all of them ending with the eyes of that hologram when it took aim and shot her down as she tried to flee. "I have been told I cannot leave just yet, but even so, I am not object to listening to what my options are, I guess..." she said and ran a hand through her short blonde hair, then idly catching her blanket before it fell. Her blinding smile returned, even if the shadows and hurt still lay around the corners of her eyes. "Thank you for helping me out, and any help you can promise me is welcome. The fact is that my shuttle was destroyed and the clothes I wore has a large hole in the back, so I have literally nothing to my name - all the belongings I brought along probably destroyed too. I suppose I have to replicate something to wear, but I have none of those rations you seem to be using nor are any replicators online as far as I can tell."  Rihen would much rather talk about worldly things than what had happened to her, so she tried to stick to the clothing issue. "Do you know anyone that could spare some clothes for me?"

Deciding it was best not to press, Hayden simply allowed the woman to change the subject a bit, though she could tell she was struggling.  "I'm sure that can be arranged.  In the meantime, you might find yourself re-experiencing the shooting and other events through nightmares or even flashbacks.  Sometimes something as simple as a smell or a sound can trigger it.  It can seem so real, it becomes frightening, as if it's happening all over again.  I'm telling you this, not to frighten you, but just to let you know it's a common and normal reaction to a traumatic experience like what you've experienced.  There are things we can do to help you deal with it, and if you ever need to talk, you can call on me anytime you need."

At being told of things she had already come to experience since she awakened after her surgery, Rihen was not too comfortable with having to revisit those moments after she had docked with the USS Theurgy. If there were things to be done in order to deal with the trauma, she was more than willing to listen. Yet in being a good listener, she realised it was her call to tell the Counsellor what she needed to hear. "I..." she frowned and shook her head with a hollow chuckle. "The Chief of Security came to meet me when I docked. I am told he is in stasis now. He did what he could to protect me. He was shooting, but nothing happened to that woman in black. She... b-broke the other guard's neck with her mere hands. The sound that echoed in the bay area when he did, oh dear. She took the guard's rifle, then we were finished. First the Chief... and then me. That is all I remember."
 
Hayden was surprised the other woman had decided to recount more of what had happened so readily.  That wasn't Hayden's goal right that moment, but she appreciated it nevertheless.  She could imagine there was some part of Rihen that was eager to share the details aloud.  "Thank you for talking with me about all of this.  What you've described is truly horrific, and as I said, I wouldn't expect it to be easy to make sense of the experience.  I'm here to help you anytime you need, even if you need a sounding board for your own thoughts and feelings."  Hayden knew the trust required to really share thoughts and feelings would take time, but it was important to O'Connor her would be patient understand she wasn't just milking her for factual details.

"Ah, I understand," said Rihen and smiled as she nodded, "It has always felt good to vent my emotions or thoughts verbally, so thank you for being willing to listen. Suffice to say, my life has been turned upside down in a way I had never been able to imagine. Then again, I suppose I am not alone in this valley in that regard. Looking around, I can tell most of you Starfleet people will need a long vacation after this is over. Well, I suppose you might try to rest as best as you can before you take off again, but after hearing from the doctors what is going on with your bosses in Starfleet... Command? Anyway, after hearing about what is going on, I suspect there will be few opportunities for rest given the fact that you are branded traitors and all that."
 
Hayden nodded solemnly.  "I suspect you're right.  For now, I'm trying to focus on the notion that as long as we're alive, there's hope.  In the meantime, I'll speak to a nurse about getting you some clothes.  I'll also be back to check on you."

"Counsellor O'Connor," said a deep male voice behind her.
 
The deep unexpected voice startled her and she managed to turn quickly which she hoped would cover the fact she nearly jumped out of her skin.  She took the other man in and was puzzled as to who he was.  He stood in uniform with his hands behind his back, seemingly sizing her up as well.  "Yes, sir?"
 
"I am Captain Ives. Apologies if I am interrupting you at work, yet may I trade a few words with you in private?" asked the Commanding Officer of the USS Theurgy, glad to have found the woman so quickly in the Triage Centre.
 
"You're the--?"  Her confusion was obvious, but remembering her place, she added, "Of course, sir."  She had no idea what he wanted from her, but true to her training, she prepared to follow him out, taking one last moment to offer a reassuring smile to Rihen.

Catching on to her reaction to seeing a man instead of the woman she might have thought him to be - which was a reaction he had grown all too familiar with with - Jien began to explain to the Lieutenant. "I am a Chameloid, therefore you might have seen me in my other form. I am als-"
 
A Chameloid?  Hayden's only knowledge of Chameloids held a negative undertone.  It wouldn't be fair of her to judge Ives based on this alone, but she couldn't deny this information made her uneasy.
 
"Captain Ives?" asked Rihen when Jien had inclined his head to the Risian in parting - thus halting his steps.

"Yes, Ms Neyah?" he said in reply as he paused, a very faint if kind smile on his lips.

"I would like to request a meeting with you, where I might discuss the possibilities to return to Nimbus III and restore the capacity to my industrial replicator, and not just any replicator, but one with the capacity to help the people of Para-" said Rihen before Captain Ives had to forestall the incentive to bring up that topic at the given time. Ms Neyah struck him as someone very passionate about her ambitions and whom might never take 'no' for an answer - endlessly prying and negotiating for her cause.

"Of course," he said so that she might fall silent for a second, "and I would also like to thank you for rescuing one of our fighter pilots before you docked with us. I hear he is in stasis now, and might live on thanks to you. Yet I cannot make the time for it right now, and we need to find ways to stop the artificial intelligence that managed to beam a portable emitter aboard your shuttle. Also, you should focus on getting back on your feet right now. I look forward to speaking with you in a day or two, so please speak with my Yeoman when you are cleared to leave from here."

"Well, I see. Okay, I will do that, but just quick, what are the chances that you can help m-"

"I cannot say right now, I am sorry, but I will make time to explain the situation as best as I can as soon as we are able to make time for it, the both of us. Now, please rest and make sure to focus on your health for now." Jien was not brushing the Risan off either, making up excuses to get away from there, but genuinely wanted to help her. She being a civilian engineer judging by the reports from the away-mission to Nimbus III, it might just be she could consider assisting in Engineering in some capacity while some kind of solution to her predicament could be found.

Leaving the short-haired Risan behind, Jien led the way towards the exit of the Triage Centre. He turned his head to speak with the Harbinger's new Chief Counsellor, the faint smile still there. "What are your thoughts about Ms Neyah, Lieutenant? Do you think she is able to handle this situation that she has gotten herself into?" It was not supposed to be some test, even if Jien realised that his words could sound that way.
 
Hayden was still thinking of Rihen's persistence when Ives' question caught her off-guard.  It was not a breach of confidentiality to inquire about her impressions, but O'Connor was still leery of saying too much.  In times like these, keeping order was of even more importance.  "I have no reason to be concerned she poses a danger to herself or others, Captain, though in the interest of full disclosure, this was our first meeting."

"I understand. I am glad to hear you have found no cause for concern yet," he said quietly as they emerged through the exit of the Triage Centre. The warm night awaited them outside, and the fire-lit darkness of the valley. Also, the moderation of privacy that the conversation might require.

"I wish there was more time for a more sociable way to approach this matter, yet the situation being as it is, I hope you understand the need for haste. As you may know, Lieutenant," said Jien and turned to face the human underneath the canopy of a birch-like tree, meaning to be quite straight-forward about the situation, "the USS Theurgy has suffered heavy losses among its Senior Staff during the last battle. Captain Vasser and I have had a preliminary meeting, and given the fact that my ship has lost two Chief Counsellors consecutively during this cursed voyage, and the fact of the ship-wide trauma that has occurred a couple of weeks past, the impression was that my crew is the one that has the greater need for your field of expertise. True, the Harbinger may have fought its share of battles, yet Vasser's crew has not had to deal with a virus-induced mass-psychosis. Nor does he command a crew that - shortly after the incident I mentioned - was subjected to the malevolent will of an omnipotent being that toyed with us for its own benefit. In the end, I only have a handful of non-commissioned morale and rehabilitation personnel that lack the rank and experience to fill the role as Chief Counsellor aboard my ship."
 
It was a lot to absorb, and between the fatigue and overall sense of shock she still felt, she could only focus on a little bit at a time.  "I accept that I don't get to choose where I go as a Starfleet Officer and I am sympathetic to your crew's needs, but I can't help but feel I'm being ripped away from a crew who needs me as much as you do, sir."

"I understand your concern, yet I am told you have an Assistant Chief Counsellor that can take over your role on the Harbinger. Any other given day, I would have phrased this as a request, and made sure that Captain Vasser wasn't preoccupied when you were told this, yet the times being as they are, this cannot be the commonplace request." Jien chuckled at the bitter hilarity of the situation and what he was saying, and it was plain that he could hardly believe he had to go about a recruitment in this forceful fashion. "It's an agreement between your current Commanding Officer and I... that you will be transferred to the USS Theurgy and serve as our Chief Counsellor instead. This is not based on anything else than the greater need to uphold my crew's morale despite the dark things some of us have had to live through. I hope you understand, and can look at this objectively based on what little you have come to know as of yet. I do think, however, you will understand why our need is greater once you start going through the logs of Garen Nelis - our latest Chief Counsellor."
 
She wanted to protest that it was impossible to measure which crew had the greater need, that outward suffering was a false measure of trauma, but in the end, she had been traded by her own Captain.  That news stopped her cold.  If the Captain believed she was needed elsewhere, who was she to argue?  Her mind was still spinning, but she allowed herself to focus on the rest of the man's words.  "I guess I have no choice.  I'll review your past counselor's notes, but perhaps you can share more about your specific concerns?"

"Of course," said Jien and set his hands against his hips, looking to the ground with a deep breath, collecting his thoughts and trying to relay the past in such a way that she - as a Counsellor - might apprechiate. Years ago, he had held the same kind of duty she did, so he hoped he might be able to relay things in a clear way.

"The plights of the Harbinger crew is something you have come to experience in first person," he said, starting with what she was familiar with, "The Theurgy has also been forced to cripple and destroy entire starships in order to get away, forced our tactical officers and fighter pilots to shoot upon our own brothers and sisters in Starfleet. Beyond this level of collective trauma, the Theurgy was infected with - in crude terms - a parasitic virus when we hid in the Mahéwa System. A particular kind of semi-sentient flora that sought to propagate itself through the wombs of our female officers. The men were used to spread the flora's seed in the same fashion. The effect, as you might realise, was that my crew suffered an outbreak of a rape-virus - spreading sexually from one crew member to another. Before we were saved by the Timeship Relativity from the 29th century, and inoculated with the antidote that our Chief Medical Officer managed to make, well over 90% of my crew had fallen victim to the virus, either by rape or by deceptive seduction. Including myself."

The delivery of the last words were eerily calm, as if Jien spoke of the weather.

O'Connor wasn't sure what she was expecting to hear but after hearing Ives' words, she realized it was decidely not the words s/he uttered.  Taking a beat to consider her words, she offered a simple, "I'm sorry, I had no idea."  It was a stupid thing to say, as obviously she didn't know, but as overwhelmed as she was, she felt compelled to acknowledge the unspoken trauma referenced in his matter of fact account of events.  O'Connor as tempted to steer the conversation to Ives' personal experiences, but inwardly, she was also at war with herself.  She didn't have a rapport with her new Captain.  Hell, as ashamed as she was to admit it even to herself, she wasn't sure she trusted Ives.  Perhaps now wasn't the time to ask more personal questions.
    
"Two weeks later, after the USS Relativity left and we gathered supplies at Nimbus III - as you are already familiar with - an omnipotent malevolent alien entity had somehow picked up on the frequency of copulation taking place on my ship, by means which no one can begin to explain, and came to... harness more of the alleged energy of such activities. She fed from it, and meant to feed enought to break free of an inter-dimensional prison. In order to feed, she had to encourage said activities in her all-powerful way. She manipulated us into situations where we were either hypnotised, forced or fooled into sexual intercourse with another crew member. Some of us were less fortunate in the lottery than others, with two of my Senior Staff even having to relive being raped by the flora we were accosted by two weeks prior. And lastly, we have the battle two days ago, where half my Senior Staff was shot down and we suffered heavy losses to the enemy fire of the USS Calamity. Sufficed to say, I am glad we are still able to uphold the chain-of-command at this point."

Pausing, Jien then counted off the known repercussions. "As you can imagine, I believe the notes of Garen Nelis will mention PTSD, emotional detachment as well as dissociation, feelings of despair, loss of self-esteem, depression, sexual inhibition, a myriad of individual stressors including proactive, reactive, and passive responses. I think you get the gist of it. The only relief of it all is that the memories of those who carried the virus were affected, and the actions performed by the infected are not wholly remembered by themselves, since their memory engrams were affected by the virus too, and treated by the antidote. I think Dr. Nicander can provide more information on that if the notes does not relay enough for you to work with. So," he finished, facing Lt. O'Connor again in the firelight of the torches, "your new commissioning will be announced on the morrow."

Numbly, Hayden offered, "I understand.  I'll access the pertinent notes as soon as possible."  She didn't entirely understand, but what her mind didn't entirely grasp, her heart did.  The crew had suffered widespread sexual trauma on top of everything else.  Untreated, the impact could be debilitating.


"Excellent," said Jien, and there was a long pause between them when there was naught more to be said. He barely knew this woman before him, had not served a single day with her under his command, and it just then settled in his mind that she was to be a part of his new Senior Staff. She was to succeed Garen, whom Jien had been counsellor for back on the Vendetta. It felt like centuries past now. Regardless, he had known Garen very well, and he might eventually have accepted to sit down to speak of his own psychological ailments... had the halfbreed Betazoid not fallen during the battle. Now, he realised that he might have to confide in someone whom could just as well be one of the enemies. How could he trust anyone of the Harbinger crew to be who they said they were?

Then again, how could he trust anyone of his own crew to begin with?

"Speak with the Quartermaster on the Theurgy to make arrangements for your new accomodations aboard," said Jien at last, "I will leave it to your discretion to handle the transfer with your successor on the Harbinger. As of now, we do not know when we take off again, so so I suggest you assume and plan for that it will be sooner rather than later. Again, pardon the circumstances of this transfer to my ship, yet my door will always be open. We might not know each other, yet I am told that I should feel blessed to have you aboard. Your personnel file held recommendations from both the Challenger and the Fairchild, Captain Vasser's word aside. Welcome aboard, Doctor O'Connor, and thank you for understanding the necessity of these orders. Good evening."

"Good evening," Hayden offered reflexively.  She was numb and her head was spinning.  She had no idea it was possible her world could be turned upside down any more.

Yes, he thought he detected a thin vein of excitement under the Federation Standard the other Ash'reem spoke as she agreed to join up with him at the Transport Center, and smiled, tho it was a slightly bitter gesture. He was not so sure that she would continue to be excited once they met, and he began to unload a bit of his burden on her younger shoulders; it was quite selfish of him, he had to admit in a small moment of introspection. And yet, for his own sanities sake, he did need someone he could trust. Weather he had wanted that person to be Amikris when he first returned to this time period, or not, was no longer a relevant concern; the simple fact was, he did trust the girl. "I'll see you there. Morali out."

His own journey, with his goggles firmly back in place, took him past the fires again. Despite the dermal wrap under his uniform, the Ash'reem would swear that he could feel his skin drying out. Muttering a screeching profanity in his native tongue, he pressed on, smoothing his hair back again. Finally he came upon the first of the small, dimly lit (by human standards) artificial lights that marked the beginnings of the transport area. It really was almost a makeshift village o crates and supplies. And unknowingly, he began to mimic his younger counterparts actions, slowly walking, and searching.

Being slightly taller then the young woman, Sarresh was able to spot her bright hair before she caught a look of him. He leaned against a crate (self sealing stem bolts, a staple of any starship) and watched her for a moment, amid the churning sea of crewmen. While there were plenty of side corridors, so to speak, Sarresh had found the Cadet in on of the more heavily traveled ones. He watched her tho, eyes hidden behind his goggles, body against the crate. She had not been his first choice, but she had a spark about her that almost demanded to be cultivated. And, he thought, catching a whiff of her pheromones that sent his eyebrows rising up his forehead, she smelled good.

"Cadet Neotin," he finally called out, willing himself forward, at an easy pace, towards the younger woman.

Hearing her name, Amikris looked about and soon spotted Sarresh where he stood. She smiled and adjusted her goggles (and her hair, just a bit) as she headed over to him. Her rolling Ash'reem gait carried her out of the throng. She met him at the edge of the moving crowd, and she was a bit elated by the fact that he had wanted to see her despite the fact he had spent a full night comforting her after the loss of her mama.

Yet... her smile gradually vanished when she picked up on his chemical signature. His secretions were rife with... confusion? Anger, for sure. His bio-wraps deprived her from the full impression of his state, but she would have picked up on his ire many yards away had it not been for all the people. The scent made her involuntarily raise a damp hand to touch the side of his face - six webbed fingers spread over his cheek as if trying to close a wound in his soul.

~ Sarresh? ~ she said in their native tongue, big eyes searching his features behind the glass veil of her spectacles, ~ What happened? ~

Gone from her mind was that elation, forgotten was the need to distract herself from the fate of her mother and her widower father, replaced with deep concern for this time-traveller that had entered her life. Gone was the memory of her superior officer's reproductive organ sliding between her gums and the state of her own body, which had been so keen on completing what had been started. No, something had happened to Sarresh, and he had sought her out to share his pain.

~ Come, let's talk. My father can wait. ~ she added and despite her lower rank and lesser years, she led the way to a more secluded part of the centre, where the crates were piled high and the infernal lights did not reach so well. She acted out of her chosen profession, rather than anything else - the treating him like he was a patient.

Smiling, he looked to the good doctor. "Yes, and you've just woken up another part of me, I'm afraid." Rennan remarked with a toothy grin. "I'm doing quite well, actually." he said, quickly collecting his thoughts before picking up the two boxes in his hand. "Captain Ives came to see me." he said, setting one box at his side, opening the other, which contained his new pip. "I've been promoted to a full Lieutenant." he said, glowing. "As if that wasn't enough..." he said, putting the box down and picking up the other. "She gave me something I'd only ever dreamed of." he said, opening he box, the light glinting off of the polished medal in the box. "It's the Grankite Order of Tactics. The same medal they gave to Picard. To Riker. To Kirk." he said, beaming radiantly. "I can't believe it."

As the doctor checked him, he chuckled. "Trying to get an idea of what you're up against tonight, then?" he asked, stretching out against the biobed. "We are still on, right? You're not going to let my newfound notoriety shake you, are you? I'm looking forward to a nice drink." he said, looking her over and smiling. Her uniform was flattering on her. It accentuated all of her favorable features, Rennan thought.

"I have something to discuss with you tonight, as well." his voice had taken on a more serious tone. "Hopefully it won't take up too much of our date, but it needs to be brought up. Not here though, it's not the right time." Rennan smiled, resuming his normal light air after he had finished speaking. "So. Am I allowed to get shit faced tonight?"

While her eyes were on the scanner she only listened half to what Rennan had to say. The vitals were indeed showing great improvement over the past few hours and the good doctor was pleased with the progress. "Captain Ives?" She repeated after Rennan now as he spoke the name and she looked a bit dazzled at the pips and a smile formed on her lips. "Lieutenant huh? Well I guess that makes us equals in ranking." She said a with an enthusiastic voice. Her eyes followed his hands now as he opened up the second box and she had heard of the merits of being awarded with such a priceless medal. "My dear... It looks like I'm dealing with a war hero here." He said grinning and playful as she stashed the scanner away.

"Oh I'm pretty sure scanners won't be able to prepare me at all for what'll happen tonight." she answered him with a wink and she nodded "Yes, if you are still up for it I'll gladly join you to the hotsprings for some R&R." Her eyes going over Rennan now as he stretched himself in the bed. "Do you still have a uniform? Cause I remember removing the last one proved to render it a bit... unwearable." she said with a smirk.

"Something to discuss?" She said a bit surprised now and she narrowed her eyes "If you want we can talk it over here in private if you don't want to spoil our evening." She smiled, her own voice returning to a more serious tone, her eyebrow raised a bit as he spoke his last sentence "Shitfaced? I'm afraid I'm not familiar with that term Rennan..." She said with a slightly disturbing look. Perhaps he did have some concussion effects after all...

The temporal affairs officer watched the way Ami'kris rolled her hips as she walked. While humans might find the gait awkward, Sarresh's own gait was no steadier. Both aliens were clearly built for something other then just straight walking on land, and Sarresh took comfort in the familiar of another Ash'reem in a sea of alien life. And it amused him to watch her attempt to discreetly rearrange her appearance. She didn't need to, not that he would tell her of course.

He saw that step falter, just a bit, as she got closer to him. He figured she'd picked up on his state, and her words proved him right. While the biowrap did dampen the natural pheromones that the Ash'reem used to communicate almost as much as, if not more then their vocal language, so that Humans and other aliens serving in StarFleet wouldn't be affected, it could not completely hide the emotional well being or lack there of, of one Ash'reem to another. And he was in such a state that he didn't push her hand away, even tho they were still in public, but instead leaned into her touch.

His nostrils flared for a just a moment, as his eyes closed behind his own goggles; he could smell the scent on her hand, someone else, alien, but male. His eyebrows rose just a bit, but he gave no more reaction than to say, ~Lead on, Ami'kris~. In their own tongue, neither Ash'reem bothered with rank. He had not intended to force the young woman to change her plans to meet with her father, simply accompany her, but, as they ended up secluded among the various stacks of supplies, he couldn't find it in himself to push for entering the ship and resuming Ami'kris' original plan.

Once they were alone, he leaned against a crate, and swept a hand thru his slick hair, similarly adjusting it as she had done to her own. ~Where to begin?~ he finally asks. Now secluded, he was suddenly...shy? That added to the mix of confusion and anger. ~I...am not sure who I am, anymore.~ he finally said. After all, that was the root issue.

The lights were dimmed in the make-shift sanctuary they'd found, yet it was still too bright to remove their goggles. No matter. Amikris followed Sarresh over to that crate and scented him as much as she listened to his few words. The combination of the plentiful chemical signature and lesser words still relayed enough for her to make assumptions. Perhaps it would be presumptuous of her to make a qualified guess, but as she stood there at arms length from him - head tilted and eyes searching those multi-coloured features - she believed the truth lay in the circumstances they were in.

~ Who you are... ~ she said, frowning, twisting his confession around in her head. She was no counsellor, and it felt ironic how he'd had to stand in for one the other night when she needed someone, only to have the tables turned on him now. Who might have made him doubt who he was? Sure, she knew about his erased memories, so who might be privy to know more than him? Oh, of course. ~ Has the Captain said anything to you? What about that Temporal Directive of yours? Did he... I mean she... I mean, the Captain, did the Captain break..? ~

No, Ives was too much of a stoic and regulations-abiding Starfleet Officer to do that, and in the end, it did not matter, for what she said next was the truth as she saw it. The truth that should matter to him. It was true Sarresh might deem her young and inexperienced, and she knew she had not done much to elevate that low regard. Especially when thinking about how she had thrown herself at him the first thing she did when she saw him in the Science Labs. Still, she knew truth in her own subjective way, and it was truth enough for her right then. Hopefully, it was enough for him too. Especially when he knew no other truth about himself than the present facts.

~ Listen to me, ~ she said, reaching up to lay her hands upon Sarresh's shoulders, her four thumbs stroking the fabric of his uniform as she sought his gaze behind his goggles, ~ Whatever has been said. Whatever you think you know. Whatever you may have forgotten about who you were. You still are. You exist right here. Right now. You make up what kind of man you want to be, and you know what? The man I have come to know - in this brief time together - is a kind man and someone I know I can trust. You may not know that you are the kind of man that conveys trust. You doubt yourself because of ignorance of the future, but you are not in the future, you are here. Now. With this crew. With me. ~

Feeling that they both needed it, Amikris slid her webbed fingers down his chest and wrapped her arms about his waist - hugging him.

~ Is that not enough? ~ she said in a faint voice, wanting him to know how much she needed him.

"Hah. A war hero." he said with a chuckle. "A war hero who blew a hell of a hole in his own ship. And nearly in himself, for that matter." he said, folding his arms across his chest. "But if it works, then I suppose that the end justifies the mean." Reflecting inwardly, he scowled. "A fucking stupid mistake. It almost killed us all. Luckily, I was the only one hurt by it. Can you even imagine what they would have done to me? An unauthorized action, later approved only out of desperation? If it hadn't worked, I would be in a hell of a situation. They'd need someone to blame, and it would be me." he rolled his eyes. "But either way, it worked, so I'm a big hero now. If we ever get back home, I expect you to be at my parade." he said, his tone lightening a bit.

"Ah, so you're the one who cut my uniform off of me." he said with his trademark toothy grin. "Then you may just have an idea of what you're up against tonight. Impressive, no?" he said lewdly, never wiping the grin off of his face. "But as for your original question, yes, I should have another uniform stashed in a crate somewhere. If nothing else, I'll walk around in my skivvies until Captain Ives is forced to provide me another one to keep me from distracting the crew. You don't expect to see me in uniform tonight, do you? I don't want any sort of a reminder of the past few days. I'll most likely come dressed in my civvies. Or if it would help to get you relaxed, I could come in my underwear. Hell, it's a hotspring anyway." he said, smiling.

"I don't know. It might be better to discuss once you have some alcohol in you." he said, smiling, trying to cut what seemed like tension trying to build. "But I suppose that you're right. It would be quite unfair of me to ruin our date. Just promise me that if I don't like your answer now, you'll reconsider after our date. I may be able to better persuade you later." he said, smiling. Clapping his hands together and wringing them, he started, "Alright. Where to begin? Well. Captain Ives informed me that I've been reassigned to the USS Theurgy. I have to undergo extensive training in tactics, warfare and all things related thereof. I'm going to be the new Chief Tactical Officer, I have to have medical clearance to do all sorts of mean, nasty, ugly things in a holosuite, and he said something about not wanting me to hemorrhage. If you agree to the terms and conditions, you may kiss me. Or just say that I'm good to go. Either way, really." he grinned, almost out of breath from talking so quickly and nonchalantly. "See? I'm sure you would be more inclined to sign off on me if you had some alcohol. But either way, I can prove to you tonight that I'm perfectly fine for strenuous physical and mental activity."

"Yeah, shitfaced." he said, seeing her concerned look. "I assure you that it will most likely, and more than hopefully not involve defecation or anyone's visage." he said with a chuckle, remembering that not everybody was as enamored with antiquity as he. "It's a twenty-first century colloquialism. Synonymous with obliterated, wasted, smashed, hammered, trashed. It means utterly, hopelessly drunk. Drunk enough to forget that I'm on some backwoods planet without a home that I can go back to. To forget, just for now, that soon, I'll be charged with defending a starship that an entire empire seeks to turn into a sum of its' parts. Make sense?" he said, starting lightly, and then becoming more grave before giving a lighter emphasis at the end. "I apologize, I'm not trying to be a downer. I've just never been good at this whole interpersonal interaction business."

She nodded silently as he spoke about blowing a hole in their own ship. Perhaps the action was a bit suicidal, yet it managed to save their lives. Something to be expected from a war hero perhaps? Someone who thinks outside the box and successfully completes the objective at hand. "At least you're alive to tell the tale. There are quite a few crewmembers that won't be able to do so." She spoke eventually on a soft tone. It felt like she was bringing the buzz of the conversation down but when he told her he'd have to be at his parade, she smiled faintly and shuckled "Are you sure you want to have eye witnesses of your heroic actions at your parade?"

She looked down at him as his toothy grin appeared again and she laughed softly "Are you sure you want to go there? I've seen a lot of things as a doctor Rennan, let's say that this hardly was a shocking sight." she whispered with a teasing voice "Besides the injuries on your body took priority..." She listened now again to the newly promoted lieutenant. "Hmm, I think we might have some free time clothing laying around here if you don't mind wearing that. I was planning to wear my uniform tonight, but I guess I could go and change into something more soothing for the hotspring."she answered him and she shook her head "So feel free to wear anything that you wish to wear. Not naked preferably.." she smiled with a grin.

As she heard him out Amelya prepared the documents for transferring Rennan to green and possibly his resignation from the first aid station. She had already given in to the Miles and wasn't about to just give in this time. She did learn that it would be of the highest importance for him to follow these courses and training, yet she made the mental note for herself that both actions would be too straining for the man. Especially after his accident. "I admire your determination Rennan, I know this is highly important for you. However, I can't allow you to follow the tac con training and have you walk around on engineering. Even if you think you're strong enough for it, your body has taken quite a heavy beating after your heroics. I didn't wish to tell you this yet you came pretty close to ending up with them." She nodded towards the stasis room and looked seriously at him "So no I won't allow you to follow both of the things that have been given to you by Renard or Ives. You'll have to make a choice and even with that you'll need close medical surveillance to follow up your condition." She kept her eyes on his now and looked away "I'm sorry I can't let you do both things."

"As for alcohol, I'm sure some of it might do you some good to get all of these things out of your head." She listened now to what shitfaced truly meant and she smiled a bit "Makes sense." She said softly and felt a bit bad now for denying the man to top tier projects. "Don't worry about your communications skills Rennan you're doing fine..."

"You're right. Eyewitnesses may not be a good idea. The story would be a lot more heroic the way I plan to tell it."

"Oh. I'll go there, don't you worry. Its' feigned docility is just to lure you in. It can be much more dangerous to others than my bodily injuries can to me." he said, grinning and laughing. "As for tonight, I think I have an outfit I'd like to wear. I've had it since my academy days. It's always proven to be good luck for me." he winked at the doctor, the smile never leaving his face.

Not until her next bit, anyway. "It's not that this is important to me. It's that I need this. All of it. I'm not trying to say anything against you, but you don't know anything about me. Determination isn't the word for what I have. I understand what you're saying, doctor, but I might as well be in one of those stasis tubes if I'm not allowed to do anything but sleep and consume resources. I'm not a goddamn invalid." quickly, a look of shame flashed across his face. "I'm..." he stuttered, not sure of what to say. "I was out of line there. I apologize. Even so, I do hope that you'll be willing to reconsider later. Both of these things mean a great deal to me. I require the tac con training, so that is a priority. However, those fighters are my children. Do you know how many countless hours I spent designing and building those Valkyries? I was in the shop for hours after everyone else left, and in many cases was still there when they got back. I understand that I'll get to work on them some after we're underway, but nothing like here on the surface. Right now every 'next move' could be the one that determines our fate. Those valks could do that... But I digress." he said, smirking. "I'll change your mind yet."

"Alcohol is the best medicine when I get like this. Well, second best, to be perfectly fair. Okay then, third. Third. The first two are a tie for first." he said, working on lightening up the mood since he felt that he'd been such a downer. "Either throwing people around on a mat, or the love of a good woman comes before alcohol." he said with a grin.

Sarresh shook his head at that first question, even as he sensed that Ami'kris had already reached the proper answer. No, Jien Ives had not violated the temporal prime directive, not exactly, even if the Captain had given Sarresh far more to think about then the Ash'reem male clearly wanted. About his past, implications about what he'd done, what Jien knew, and what he didn't know. No, the Captain had kept her words well within the regulations.

it was Sarresh that was having the trouble with it, and without really having to voice it all, the young woman across form him had been perceptive enough to strike at the heart of the issue. It made it much easier to "talk" about something when he didn't actually have to talk at all. There was some irony to that, he had to admit. ~I....it is hard to push it all aside, what I might have been...what I was supposed to be~ he told her as she hugged him, ~and...you're right. I should be focusing on the here, and the now.~

He swallowed. She was young, when compared to him. And yet. She was right. She was right. She trusted him, needed him, and that...maybe that would be enough. ~maybe it is...maybe it is~ he drew in a deep breath through his nose and buried his face into her bright hair, taking the time, while he could, to enjoy the solice of her embrace. The certainty that, even if he didn't know who he'd bee...she seemed to know who he was, now.

When Sarresh said that being with this crew and in the present - with her - might be enough, Amikris felt... insufficient. Was she not enough for him? It was - perhaps - selfish hurt she felt, yet it had the effect that his words sounded like a challenge. Would she have to convince him? Could she? How?

She opened her eyes behind the lenses of her goggles. Perhaps the easiest answer was the best one. Both to soothe whatever hurt Captain Ives had dealt him with his - or her - omissions and unknown words about the future, but also to make him appreciate the fact that people of the present had come to depend upon him too. For perhaps it was her obligation to make him feel welcome, since Ives seemed to be failing in that regard. Luckily, as Ash'reem, she hoped she might know how to tempt Sarresh feel good about being yanked out of the ever-changing timestream.

~ Maybe? ~ she asked, and her hands slid down to cup his sculpted posterior, squeezing suggestively while leaning her head back - looking up into his face with a smirk. ~ You are not sure? May I argue my case in our native ways? ~

She tilted her head the other way, keeping her eyes locked upon his, and her questing hands slid around to the front of his uniform trousers instead. She moistened her lips suggestively with her gums as she opened them, effectively freeing his manhood to the evening air of the valley. Her playful smile remained as she looked around briefly, the precaution to not be witnessed by anyone from the rest of the crew merely a product of Starfleet indoctrination rather than any girly shyness.

Then, her smile still there, she slowly extended two-feet of her long tongue towards his face - as an invitation to a kiss as well as seeking his acquiescence. Already her hands had wrapped around the base of his reproductive organ, its moist Ash'reem texture added upon by her hands... as she squirted her grip full of slick regenerative paste.

"Good luck huh?" She grinned and shook her head "You're going to need luck than Rennan?" She asked with a challenging voice as she winked at him. "I am curious though what you'll wear... I think I might go get something more suitable for where we're going as well than." She answered him as she put her medical tri corder back to her belt pocket.

She heard him out once more yet she was quite determined herself. He would have to choose, the fighters or the tac conn. She couldn't and wouldn't allow both. It would be a decision she'd regret immensely if something did happen to him. Not to mention the repercussions on her medical degree if word got out. She sighed softly and shook her head once more "I understand you completely Rennan. Yet I still can't allow you to do both, not at the same time at least. Prioritize your projects, go for Tac Conn first if you think it can save our lives. Or the fighters if otherwise. Yet my decision is made, you can't do both." She said softly and rested her hand on his "Just put yourself in my position, would you use damaged materials to build a fightworthy ship?" She knew the last bit might hit him in the face like a brick, yet she needed to make her point clear to him. Yet he seemed to be convinced he could change her mind.

"Good to hear that Rennan. I do enjoy watching sparring... Even though I mostly get one or two combatants under my care afterwards. As for love of a good woman... Well I'll just not comment on that.." She answered and chuckled a bit as she seemed to relive some memories. "So lets head to the bar than?"

"Just put yourself in my position, would you use damaged materials to build a fightworthy ship?"

He felt rather stupid when she put it into terms he could understand. Of course not, the quality of his work would directly reflect his skill as a scientist. No, wait a minute. He wasn't going to let her do this to him. She couldn't win. Even if he couldn't change her mind yet...

"Under optimal circumstances? Of course not. In a perfect world, everything would be first class stock, cast and rolled specifically for the project. However, as you may have noticed, we don't live in a perfect world and circumstances are seldom optimal. If I felt that my options were to try to work with what I had or give up, you can bet your perky little ass I'd try." he said lightly, and with a grin. He wasn't being nearly as aggressive as he had earlier, now seeing a strategic advantage in docility.

Ignoring her last statements with a cocky grin, he nodded and swiveled around in his bed, picking up the two boxes at his bedside. Standing, he nodded. "I'll be there soon. You won't be able to miss me." he said, smiling.

Sarresh had meant his words not as an insult to the Ash'reem girl...woman, he would have to admit; young compared to him, but Amikris was a woman in her own right. Regardless, he had not intended any harm or slight, but instead hope. Hope that things might work out, that perhaps he could build a new future. But she had taken slight, in her youth, and her determined spirit had surfaced as well, in the way she took charge of the situation. Because rank and age be damned, it was clear that the redheaded Ash'reem had taken control.

First with the hand on his ass, making the taller alien rise up on his toes with the unexpected sensation of squeezing, and then again, with the way she worked her mouth in front of him. Goggles or no, their gazes were locked tightly on one another, and the older of the two made no effort to stop the younger's advanced. Quite the opposite, in fact. When she had freed him to the night air, he stiffened, in more ways then one, and when her tongue came out to tease his, he answered in turn. Jaw unhinging slightly, his own long muscle flicked out, lapping, tasting.

His hips gave a small jerk as the length in her hand slid back and forth, oh so slowly. His own hands reached up, cupping her face and drawing her in for a full on kiss, tho their more human crew members might not recognize it as such, right away. It took a moment to swallow her tongue between his lips, as his cheeks and throat bulged out slightly. A sharp intake of air through his nose, as he reached for the zipper of her uniform jacket, jerking it down and out of the way. He could feel, underneath the teal shirt marking her branch of operations as Medical, the slightly bulky bio wrap that his species wore to keep their pheromones in check, if only somewhat. This too, shirt and wrap, he wanted gone, he needed them gone. He needed to run his slick hands over her bare body.

All worry about the future, his past, or where he was headed, what kind of man he would be? It was gone from his conscious mind. In that, at the very least, Amikris had succeeded.

Letting out an ultrasonic purr when Sarresh cupped her face in his hands and kissed her in earnest, Amikris also tried to loose herself - to escape the real world. To forget about mom and her hurting dad. To suppress the memories of the child she lost for sake of her own survival. Right then, she focused on soothing the hurt Sarresh felt, and thus tended to her own emotional scars as well. Besides, she needed to build up the courage to face her grieving father again. So when Sarresh accepted her tongue, she accepted his - making the feeling of their oral coupling fill her mind entirely. Stroking, insistent motions of primal needs that dove down both their throats, each on turn - as if they battled to win ground within each other.

Her eyes may be closed, yet she felt him open her uniform, and she let him. She helped him too, letting go of his rigid erection with her lube-covered fingers one hand at the time in order to get out of the sleeves. Sarresh's hands upon her felt good, yet there were still too many layers in the way. She made sure at least one of her hands still worked his length as she opened the zipper of her own undershirt for him, welcoming his strong hands by pressing her body against his palms - feeling his webbed fingers against her moist and warm skin and the biowraps around her body.

He felt so warm and large in her hands, growing so big she had to squirt more paste from the ducts in her palms in order to cover it all with her secretions - stroking it harder from base to gland. She was still craning her neck to stroke her tongue against his, and to the outside onlooker, it may seem a nightmarish, alien way their gaping mouths met each other and their throats bobbed with the thrusting of their tongues, yet it was all perfectly natural to them. Even the way they touched each other, and how they had to do so on their wobbly legs, might seem like a swaying, dancing rhythm, yet it was far from Amikris mind what any others from Starfleet might think. Sarresh was hurting. She was hurting. So they had to find some kind of distraction together. Their pheromones fed of each other, as their secretions made their desires burn brighter - fanning each others' flames.

Amikris wanted to sense him without the protections. She wanted to see and feel his body with her hands, stroke him all over with her unique secretions. Make herself a part of him. She wrapped one hand around the sensitive head of his organ and yanked his uniform up - baring his abdomen to her goggles. She looked down, retracted her tongue from his mouth, and then purred again. She liked everything about him, and her need for more of him dictated the ferocity in which she went into this copulation. He was a fine Ash'reem man, and she had longed to feel him inside her. His erection beckoned for her mouth, though, so she sank to her knees and extended her tongue... wrapping it twice around his manly hardness and stroking it as only an Ash'reem woman might.

Like a snake, her tongue coiled and slid tightly around him - retracting and pushing forth in order to work the thick length fully. She had never done something like this, yet she'd heard the other Ash'reem girls tell her how to do it. Despite the oral pleasure she dealt him, she could not help but try to bare as much of his warm skin as she could from her kneeling position - pushing his uniform up and yanking at his trousers. At some points, she would pull his manhood inside her mouth entirely with her tongue - working his length whilst encompassed by her throat.

If they would loose their biowraps, they might subject the entire Transport Centre to their inclinations. Yet right then, Amikris did not care. The other species surely would not mind some distraction from their mundane duties. She needed this, and it was evident judging from Sarresh's arousal and pheromones that he needed it too.

Sarresh felt his shirt fall away from his body, the jacket, the undershirt, all piling behind him. The bio wrap around his torso felt so...constricting. His hands were crawling over what bare flesh he could reach, letting his own ducts release a thin coating, rubbing it into Amikris' arms and shoulders, along her neck, even as she stroked his tongue with hers.

Their kiss broke with the typical slurping pop that was common among Ash'reem. It almost made him chuckle, as it had been so long since he'd had a proper kiss that the noise was funny, if familiar. But what she did next stole the laughter, and the very breath, right from him.

Her tongue felt divine as it wrapped over his warm, slick girth. He barely noticed that his pants were down around his ankles now. That his bare legs were bumping back against the cold metal of a shipping container. All that Sarresh could see was the redheaded Ash'reem girl - no, woman, no denying, she was very much a woman - on her knees before him, worshiping every inch of his thick erection. His hands ran up over his neck, into the back of his hair as he let out a very audible groan - a high pitched noise to any other ear, but a groan of pure, unrestrained pleasure to any Ash'reem listening. It was an almost embarrassing loss of control, but Sarresh owed her that, to not try to repress...not to repress at all.

As she sucked that thick, hot shaft of flesh, wrapped i tongue and lips, the time traveler reached up, and undid the bindings on his wraps. Thick plastic clasps snapped open, and the gelled substance unwound, joining the rest of his uniform on the floor. At once, the rush of pent up pheromones washed over the both of them, filling the air, assaulting his nose and hers, and frankly, anyone else's. If she wasn't already wet, the pheromones that Sarresh started pumping out, unfiltered and unrestrained, would do the job in a heart beat.

Hands sunk into her hair now, gripping, taking control. <Amikris> he moaned her name in their native tongue, as his hips bucked, pushing his shaft deeper into her throat for a few steady thrusts. Then he pulled away, tho it was so, so hard to do. He wanted to plunge himself fully into her mouth, to flood her throat with his seed, but that would be later. He needed to make her moan, he needed to feel her naked body against his and he needed it now, needed it like nothing else. <stand...>

When he had finally got her standing again, he crushed his lips to hers.,tasting himself on her mouth. He ripped her pants open, and down, hard. <Strip,> He almost ordered, his voice was horse, rugged and needy. His eyes were wide, dilated by the scent of his own excretions and his need, his lust for her, to lose himself with her if only for a moment.

Slapping his right hand against the base of her bio wrap, he pushed his hand down, and down along the curve of her stomach, sinking into her open pants. He used both of his thumbs, now that his hand was where he wanted it, to spread her folds, one to each side. The two long, middle digits rubbed against his palm, coaxing the secretion down to his fingertips from the duct in the center of his hand. Now slick, those two fingers curled in, sliding over the already dampened folds of Amikris' sex. As she stroked him, so he in turn stroked her. A soft, steady push, working the two slick fingers into her, and curling more, pulling, dragging down, back and forth, wondering how long she could stay standing if he did just this, let himself get lost in the moment, in the teasing.

Breathless, lips pursed in need for more when asked to stand, Amikris did comply. For not only did she also crave more, but Sarresh had just removed his biowraps, and the onslaught of his pheromones made her head reel. She whimpered like a whistle made for Terran canines, a trembling tone accompanied with a stricken look in her eyes when she met his - the extent of his hurt and his needs dominating her whole being down to the primal core of her female body. He needn't say how much he wanted this. How much he needed her, for she knew it fully. Understood that he wanted to mate with her so badly that the care for the other humanoids was completely gone. The humans and the other races may do whatever they wanted with the sensations they imposed upon them, but they were going to mate right then and right there. Amikris would rather die from draught than to loose the chance to feel something else than sorrow.

~ Yes, please... Mmmhhhh, ~ she moaned when he yanked her uniform pants open by the waist, yet she was certainly not standing by idly while he made progress towards her sodden sex. No, for his magnificent, scented torso was bared to her, and she ran both a hand and her long tongue over the multi-coloured skin of his chest. Her saliva and her secretions were smeared all over him in short order, the ferocity of their copulation not having dissipated even if her mouth had left his organ. Her other hand still remained wrapped tightly around his girth, though - the duct in her palm squirting her grip full of lubricant so as to not chafe him with her fierce, full strokes. It was all she could do to just remove her hand from his upper body in order to unclasp her own biowraps.

When the nocturnal air hit her bared breasts and made her dark blue nipples ache even more, she groaned with a shrill noise deep down in her throat. Sarresh's thumbs spread her sex wide open for his invasive, slick fingers, and she cried out like a banshee, wobbly legs spreading as wide as possible for him - hips thrusting unsteadily against him. She pressed her chest against his strong frame for support, feeling her areolae scrape against his fluid-covered skin. She licked him, smeared him with her unique nectar wherever she may reach, tugged at his magnificent arousal until she could not abide standing up any longer.  Her knees were giving in to the sheer force of his pheromones and the penetration of his digits.

~ Take me now, please, I beg of you... ~ she pleaded with him, words rushed and broken, ~ make me forget.... and I will make you new memories... Please! ~

Caught up in the moment now, those fingers pumping, twisting inside of the other Ash'reem, Sarresh let out another moan. Need, desire was flooding his scent now. With the biowraps gone, neither alien could hide what they felt from the other; for the other, or in general. The pain, the sorrow, the cartilage deep ache, mixed with the need and newfound desire from Sarresh. And he in turn could smell her want, her lust for him; and the pain she'd endured. The loss of her mother; the contention with her father; the ordeal she'd been subjected to. He might not pick up all the specifics, but she was as hurt as he, for different reasons.

~ Take me now, please, I beg of you... ~ she pleaded with him, words rushed and broken, ~ make me forget.... and I will make you new memories... Please! ~ How could he, how could any man resist such a plea as that? He didn't answer her, not with words. No, the slick skinned male replied with action, his mouth dipping down. A pert, blue nipple was sucked past his lips, his tongue flicking over it, teasing and tasting the sweetness that was Amikris, even as his fingers plunged deep, curled, then dragged their way out of her sodden core. Hands, powerful hands now, gripped her hips, and lifted her mightily onto a nearby by crate, her bare back pressed to the stack behind them.

Anyone even remotely close to the two Ash'reem would be feeling the effects of their pheromones; at the very least, a tense sensation in their reproductive organs. There was a chance that more then one person would succumb to the desire to find a secluded place and ease the tensions; alone, or perhaps with help. At the worst, someone might end up reaching a climax with no intention or action to do so on their own. For Sarresh, he was lost in the heated, passionate need to sate himself with Amikris' body - no, it was more then that. She was more then a cheap fuck.

<Now,> he managed, as he brushed her hand aside, and slid his sticky, hard shaft over her swollen sex. The head caught what he wanted, and his hips rolled, rocking the crate he'd placed the redhead on, <only me....forget everything but me...> he said, and thrust in, hard and deep.

When lifted up and placed on the crate, Amikris had to wrap her arms around Sarresh's neck - head spinning from the way their secretions fed on each other and grew. She arched her body against his, just to feel his skin on herself. Their damp and feverishly hot bodies ground together as she wrapped her legs around his hips, perched on the edge of the crate as she was. Oh, she could feel him against herself, knew that it would not be long until he was inside her, yet still she could not stop herself from trying to thrust her slick nether lips against his hardness. Awkward, needy movements given that she had little to offer the motions when he was in control.

Though she did not have to wait long for him. He reassured her even as she slid inside, and she threw her head back in delirious pleasure when he felt him force her sex wide open, accepting his lubricated organ without any trouble. Oh, he felt enormous, and she knew she was a tight fit for him, yet the way she had secreted every inch of him made him still slide all the way - buried to the hilt inside her convulsing, taut heat. Right then, it was indeed nothing on her mind except Sarresh and how he made her feel.

Beyond their hide-away among the supplies, there was no telling how much they affected the crew. Other species tended to be awkward about their sexuality, and perhaps they tried to hide what was happening to them - concealing their wild needs behind slipping Starfleet protocols. Amikris did not care, because Sarresh was inside her, and she resumed kissing and licking him as best as she might to encourage him, even fondling herself at times as she rocked her hips against him - panting hard in ecstasy.

Gone was the notion to meet her father, for this sweet Ash'reem man could make all her worries and regrets go away.

Sarresh should have known that it would be an easy going, should have know that, thanks to the mutual lubricating the two aliens had engaged in, that he would slam all the way in, but as her pelvis smacked into his, taking him completely into her tight channel, he let out a startled high pitched moan of pure pleasure. Oh, it had been so very long since he had lain with another of his kind. He hadn't been chaste, he'd explored the feminine offerings of many species in his time on the Relativity, but it just wasn't the same thing as being able to take an Ash'reem woman for his own, if only for one night, one coupling. But she was offering him so much more then that, the knew, he could smell it in her scent.

He kept his hands on her hips for now, perched as she was on the crate and wrapped tightly, oh so deliciously tightly around his body, arms and legs both. Her hands were all over, everywhere at once, lighting up the nerves of his skin and the kiss. gods above and below, that kiss set his heart thundering in his chest even as his crude thrusts ticked up in tempo. The crate beneath them began to rock with each of Sarresh's thrusts, each time that rigid, slick length plunged into Amikris' tight, tight snatch, the boxes would wobble just a bit. There was a small risk they might all come toppling down, clearly betraying the location of the two bucking aliens.

He let go of one of her hips, finally, moving up to squeeze her breast even as his tongue forced its way into her mouth again, tasting her as he fucked her. The slick, wet slapping sound filled the night air as again and again the two hilted together. It was...it was prefect, this young girl, no this woman, this woman was prefect for him. Whatever he might have been planning for the evening could not compare to what she'd offered up to him, the gift of herself, of her...love? Affection and care, for sure. Whatever was happening between the two, beyond the physical sating of mutual need and mutual grief, Sarresh swore to cherish it and help it bloom, just as she was blooming around him now.

Febrile breaths escaped her amphibian lungs as Sarresh coupled with her, and the only thing Amikris felt bereft of was to have sex with him in their natural environment. Yet her father was in the Ash'reem apartments on the Theurgy, and he was not going to tolerate them having fun there. Not now. So having incredible land-mating with Sarresh was more than enough for her. Perhaps more than she could handle. He was a thorough male, perhaps having missed sex with someone of his own species, and she had been in celibacy at the Academy. The Niga Incident had ruined that, yet not with another Ash'reem making her feel this good.

When his tongue extended towards her mouth, she parted her lips for it greedily - a cooing sound escaping her before he descended her throat and silenced it. The mix of his scent and the taste of him in her mouth - sliding back and forth between her parted gums and into her gullet - added with his magnificent organ in the damp and needy place at the juncture of her thighs, it was all entirely too much for her to handle. She surrendered to him, tilting her head back and trying to hold her self upright on the crate while both his tongue and his penis invaded her young body. Behind her goggles, her eyes rolled on the waves of pleasure, her throat at the mercy of the thrusting, swirling motions of his tongue from above, just as he shoved his glistening length into her from below.

Then he released her right hip, almost making them both topple over since the crate tilted a bit. Her muffled alarm was replaced by another mad groan as he cupped her breast and rubbed his webbed fingers across the hardened peak. Even if his pumping tongue and engorged flesh kept her body in place, her head tilted back in abandon, she thrust her achingly swollen breasts against his hand - arched against him in wild response.

It was unbreable; rapidly plummeting her towards unspeakable ecstasy, and her eyes shot wide open behind the darkened glass. The stars danced far above with the rocking motions, and her throat contracted in short, sharp gasps around Sarresh's gustatory organ, just as her hot sex clenched and shuddered around the nether invader. A profound quake ran down her core, and she screamed against the gag in her throat - slapping her arms desperately around Sarresh in a almost panicked way before the climax hit her in full. The glands underneath her arms gushed her elation into the air, and she lost balance upon he crate - thrashing her hips against her lover in a way that was bound to make them fall over.

Truly, to be submerged while screwing, while taking Amikris, would have very possibly blown Sarresh's mind at this point; something so very long denied him, it still remained out of reach. He could smell a hint of that desire in the pheromones rolling off of the younger woman, enough to get both an inkling of the desire and to understand it wouldn't happen. Oh well. This would do more then enough for the first time, and by this point, with his cock encased inside of her, his body bucking madly, he was determined that this wouldn't be the last time he tasted everything that Amikris had to offer.

And speaking of what he could smell, and feel, he could sense that the young woman was about to burst. He braced his legs, but really, he had no way of knowing just how...violently the orgasm would rip through the small Ash'reem's body. The crates wobbled as she came, and the way she thrashed knocked the older man off his balance entirely. He let out a screech that was muffled entirely by her mouth, and suddenly he thudded down on his back. The kiss broke, a cry slipped out past his lips, as his shock, and heavy arousal filled the air, combined with the pheromones pumped out by Amikris. His cock had slipped out of her during the fall, from her thrashing, and stood firm and slick against his waist, trapped under her body, aching and throbbing.

If he had been able to focus he might have heard muffled noises near by, moans and whimpers from others caught up in the pheromone rush. There were reasons that Ash'reem wore bio wraps, and why Amikris had agreed to an oath of celibacy during her days at the academy. Like Deltans, or female Orion's, the pheromones that an Ash'reem could pump out were extremely potent.

When they fell to the ground, Amikris was beside herself with the rush of her climax. Panting with lungs made for both sea and air, she giggled breathlessly at the fact that they had both toppled over when she fell off the crate. On top of Sarresh, she could still feel his ardent need against her abdomen, and while her limbs were lethargic in the aftershocks of her release, she put her hands on his chest and raised her head above hers - wet hair dangling around their faces.

"I will take care of you, don't you worry..." she said, swallowing, and kissed him where he lay.

In doing so, her attention was drawn the immediate area around them, hearing noises from the shadows. They were not shadows for her or Sarresh, in the sense of the word, since their eye-sight made it plain to them that they were not alone. She felt mischievous about having removed her biowraps then, seeing two humans having sought refuge among the crates as well. Further away, a halfbreed Klingon had made a pliant Cadet bend over a crate, subesqently ramming himself into her willing body.

Amikris bit her lower lip and looked back to Sarresh, a sultry chuckle escaping her as she slowly, sensually, shifted position and turned around on all fours on top of her mate. She swung her leg over to present his face with her spread legs, and bent down to lay her mouth around his pulsing organ again. She wanted his mouth upon her quivering and sensitive labia - his soft tongue thrusting as deep as it could reach - while she continued to stimulate his cock. She needn't say anything, the request quite plain as it were.

After tasting herself upon him, she let go of him with a popping sound, and instead lubricated his member with her hand. She stroked the glistening length from base to tip in a firm and quick rhythm, the chorus of mating humanoids a bliss to her ears. Yet Sarresh was not just going to feel her hand, because his puckered sphincter was down there too, and his rubbery prostate well within reach for her tongue. Their species being as liberated as they were, there was no hesitation or question to what she did next, as she extended her glistening tongue and pushed it within her lover - squirming past his tight opening. Her green eyes glowing in satisfied joy behind her goggles, she firmly began to rub his prostate gland - her gullet working as she pleased him in a way only an Ash'reem woman might.

Somewhere, deep down, she hoped he had not come to grow unaccustomed to their ways in the centuries to come.

Sarresh looked up at the red head through a curtain of her damp hair, smirking. Their eyes hidden by the goggles, but still, he imagined them half open, looking down at him. His lips formed a soft smile as she moved to kiss him, equally moved by her promise to care for his needs, now that he had helped her achieve an orgasm. He couldn't care less about any of the others around them; they were there, but the mostly bare Ash'reem tuned them out. Too long had he been without the physical joys of one of his own species. It had overwhelmed his ability to care about anything else just then.

And having the red head twist about, till her folds filled his view...mmmm. ~Delicious. Don't mind if I do~ The cheeky words slipped past his mouth, followed shortly there after by his tongue. While hands gripped and spread her ass cheeks, his tongue rolled out of his mouth, impossibly long by human standards. He tasted the skin of her leg, drawing a wet, hot line up, and circled her sopping wet hole, without probing in. A few tender laps, with the flat of his tongue - the girth and size catching both her wet slit and her tight, puckered rim - was quickly followed by his first attempt to push into her with the strong muscled.

It was about then that Amikris' tongue left his cock, teasing a soft sigh out off his lips, as her hand gripped his girth. He was slick, with her juices and spit, and his tip was so swollen and large. Saline tinted pre cum beaded on the edge of his hard member, and  then - Gods above! - the thought ripped through his mind as her tongue, slick and warm, pushed right into his ass. It was a tight fit, even for such a flexible muscle, and the Ash'reem male's head snapped back, his tongue stilling for a just a moment as a high pitched whine broke out of his lips.

~So long...~ he whimpered, his body rigid, shaking as he adjusted to the sensations. He had gone without this particular satisfaction for far, far too long, and it was an adjustment, to allow himself to relax enough again to properly enjoy what he was feeling, because it was so intense. He groaned and shook and forced his head back up. The chants, the moans and yelps from all around them now, washed over him like a balm, and as his body bucked from the blissful intrusion deep within his ass, Sarresh focused in again on the taste of Amikris, the way the tang of her pussy lit up his tongue. This time it was a rush, a heated, needy push of his tongue deep...deeper, worming its way into her. While she licked his prostate, he forced the sticky, flexible tongue deep, till its tip struck the back of her canal.

With an almost possessed gleam in his eyes, hidden behind shaded goggles, Sarresh began to flick the end of his tongue, over and over, before probing her inner most barrier. He was determined to tongue fuck her thoroughly, as she took his ass with her own, stoking his aching erection all the while. His fingers dug into her skin, and his hips bucked, sliding his cock in her hands, as his tongue probed and prodded, demanding her cervix yield to him.

Land-mating had few benefits, yet one of them was the opportunity to deal more thrust without the weightlessness of the water stealing the momentum.

Amikris felt that keenly now as her slick female heat was filled with her lover's tongue; groaning around her own as it worked against Sarresh's rubbery prostate gland. She could not keep her hips still, sensitive as she was after he had made her come just earlier. Sarresh's cock was so hard and throbbing with pending release, and she wanted to give it to him, her fingers sick yet deft around his reproductive flesh and stroking it firmly from base to head. The fluids oozing from her grip made wet sounds in the night, joining with the frenzy of copulating Starfleet personnel in the vicinity.

There was so much of his tongue inside her sensitive sheath, expanding her, and she revelled in it. She groaned again as his tongue came to rub her clitoris on its way in and out of her, and her large eyes rolled from pleasure inside her goggles. She also came to gain more inches inside him, the strokes against his prostate longer and firmer as she traversed his depths.

She was about to come anew soon, never having felt so full of tongue before. It wiggled against her back wall, squirming around, and she thrust her hips to meet his movements. Still, the was relentless in her efforts to siphon the seed out of his glistening cock, her arm growing weary from the effort to milk it out as diligently as she was. Yet soon, she could not take it any more.

Amikris came anew, screaming around her tongue with her eyes wide.

Force for thrusts, yes, he had that. Be it with his hips, thrusting into her hand when she pumped him, when she wormed her tongue deeper into his ass; or with his own tongue, rolling into her core, filling it as much as he could. He reveled in the taste of her. The way she bucked above his slick body drove him wild with lust. He could feel it now, building deeper and deeper that sweet, needy burn at the base of his balls...right about where her tongue was probing him.

His fingers curled into the cheeks of her ass and he held onto her for dear life as his tongue worked her. His cock pulsed in her hand, close, poised on the edge of release. He was now past the point of reasonable thought, and it was all sensation, need, and instinctual desire. His ass burned, it throbbed and it felt wonderful, the pressure building, building with each lap of her tongue against that rubbery gland. THe fluids were building and if he were capable of rational thought he'd know he was about to well and truly blow.

Maybe it was the way she bucked, when she came, or the sensation of getting his tongue as deep as physically possible into her core. He wouldn't be able to say for sure. but the release of pheromones that flooded the area from his body only rivaled the release of salty hot semen that spurted forth from his cock. THe tight ring of his ass clenched her tongue, forcing it against his throbbing prostate as he was milked of every sticky drop he seemed to have inside of his body. Thick ropes of cum shot out into the night air, landing where they might; and while Amikris thrashed above him, his own high pitched whine joined her, and his body bucked. Webbed toes curled in their boots, and his fingers nearly broke her skin. His shoulders pressed back into the dirt under him and his whole body convulsed under the redheaded woman.

He certainly wasn't alone in his release; not at all judging by the gasps and groans filling the night air.

He gripped her harder, as much Amikris could feel through the delirium she felt. She convulsed with the waves of pleasure, and yet she still managed to stroke him until the end. He tightened around her invasive tongue, yet that was only the physical answer to her attentions. The greater gratification lay in the way their pheromones mixed in the darkness; their simultaneous climax becoming one in the nocturnal air.

Not only did she squirt a little against her lover's face, but Sarresh's magnificent hardness gushed Ash'reem seed; splattering her bare back as it rained down. The warmth poured over her hand as well, sprinkled her wet hair and even her face. Yet the milky semen was not the only explosion of reproductive fluids, for their pheromones sent several other couples around them over the brink. A chorus of hushed grunts and cries of release.

Amikris retracted her tongue from Sarresh's sphincter and looked back at him over her shoulder, breathless yet smiling ear to ear. They were in so much trouble for what they had done if they were caught, so that night, she would take to the hills with him, and no one would ever be the wiser.

"Come, let's go...."

Sarresh needed her, after all, and she needed him. Father will have to wait for the morrow.

- FIn