Senior Commander Tk'Lnn marched down the hall of the star base past the 
large panel of windows that loked out in to the vast void of Space. So 
many times he had looked out there at the stars, but now he was awed by 
them since they were through a large piece of dura-glass, and not 
through a small porthole or a fake veiwing screen. Tk'Lnn picked up his 
pace and made his way toward the Bridge of the Starbase.

            Senior Master Trr'Kaa had called him to the station and he 
did not want to be late for this legendary. Trr'Kaa was like the 
Federation's Captain Kirk and the Klingon's Commander Koloth. Popular 
in their own worlds. Trr'Kaa had been through many different historic 
periods and even served on as an Ensign on the GSN Black Claw when it 
ran in to the Federation ship USS Enterprise at Cestus III. He 
commanded a battle fleet when the Borg Incursion in to Gorn Space 
happened and also fought against the Romulans in the Gorn/Romulan Wars.

            Tk'Lnn made it to the Bridge stepped out to see a bunch of 
Gorns working busily at their stations. The Senior Master was standing 
on a raised Dias in the middle of them all looking out the giant window 
in to space. The Senior Commander Hurried over to him and saluted.

             "Senior Commander Tk'Lnn Vss'Kov reporting as Ordered, 
sir."
     
       "I have a new mission for you, Tk'Lnn." Said Trr'Kaa turning 
around. "This is very delicate and I want you to be utterly careful 
with this."
           
	 "Yes, sir."

             "Information of great military importance has been leaking 
out to our enemies the Romulans and the Kzintis. Information that will 
prove very valuable if the enemy ever wanted to strike at us. We have 
also discovered that the Federation have a leak to so we are sending 
you and the GSN Gorn Talon to team up with a Guardian's Errant Counter 
part called the USS Atlantis."

            Tk'Lnn nodded.
            "Your primary mission is to find the leak and either plug 
it...or silence it."

Tk'Lnn again nodded and saluted. "Immediately, sir."

       "Fight for Duty and Honor, Senior Commander." Trr'Kaa said 
giving the Gorn's farewell.

      "Same to you, sir. Klish'sss'Har'Mek'Sss'Rss'Ch'Rr'Kaa."

  Tk'Lnn walked away and after getting in to the Turbolift he hit his 
commbadge and said, "All Gorn Talon crew,Star Boarding now. Refit is 
done and we are getting under way."

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

Lieutenant Neekera walked in to her Sickbay and looked at the different 
computers that were off. She shook her head and softly purred thinking 
of all the work it would take to get them all on-line again for 
leaving.

    "Boy, they don't leave much left when they were re-fitting. This is 
ridiculious to get this all on-line again."

     The Lyran doctor walked around and shook her head sadly. 

      "Come on guys." she said to the nurses that were looking around. 
"Let's get this up again."

    "I have been trying too." said a Human shaking her head. "But the 
power that is being diverted away from the Medical bay is making it 
difficult for the computer to load from the base. The lag time is 
ridiculious."

    "How long?" Neekera asked.

    "4 days. We need more power."

   The Doctor sighed. "I'll see what I can do."

    "Neekera to Senior Commander Tk'Lnn." she said slapping the 
Commbadge and said, "Sir, there is a lot of work that needs to be done. 
Can you have the helm divert some extra power down here so my nurses 
can re-load the database?"

      "Sure." Came the captains answer. "I'll get Tak on to it 
immediately."

    "Thank you." Neekera said with a smile.

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

"Computer, try file Ryder Seven," Jacob called out into the vast open 
space. Over the next several seconds, a desert environment appeared 
around him, reaching off into the distance as far as the eye could
see. Oddly enough, the actual travel distance for this hologram was 
almost equal to the distance onecould see. "No, Ryder said after a few 
seconds, the heat already getting to him, "try file Ryder Eight."

Commodore Jacob Ryder hated these moments, the kind where he would 
bring all his staff together and give them the briefing about their 
next mission. It wasn't so much that he hated briefings; he just hated 
the confines of his office, even the observation lounge, and the 
typical statements that would go along with any briefing. Usually a 
mission briefing also meant that his crew would spend another set of 
weeks or even months away from their families. Even though he had no 
real family, even his adopted daughter now had her own life and career, 
and he was alone even when on leave, Ryder felt for the family types on 
board. As he muttered his own distaste for the briefings, he looked 
around at another substandard holoenvironment, shaking his head. 

"Computer, end all environment programs."

The doors to the room opened as the scenes faded around him, and Jacob 
turned to see Doctor Katherine Nehtens. Surprised slightly to see her 
so deep in the vessel, he smiled, for the sight of her was certainly 
not unwelcome. On the contrary, her beauty filled any room with 
happiness. "Well, hello," Jacob said, more jovially than he afterward 
thought he should have sounded, "How are you liking the ship so far?"

Katherine rolled her eyes, almost definitively enough to make it look 
forced and almost humorous. When she caught Ryder back in her gaze, she 
smiled and replied. 

"Oh, it's just great so far," she said, the sarcasm rolling off her 
tongue, "especially considering I haven't unpacked yet from the 
one-hour notice to be on board."

"I apologize for that," Ryder said, tilting his head down but keeping 
his eyes on the younger woman, "but Starfleet has a way of saying go." 
He paused for a moment, and then continued, mocking the tone of an 
admiral. "'You need to go,' I'm told, 'not now; right now!'" Katherine 
chuckled at Ryder's imitation of an admiral, looking up at him through 
he strands of shining auburn red hair that had fallen in front of her 
face. She turned her head back up, sweeping the hair back into place 
with her hand.

"So that's done, then. What are you working on now?"

"Mission briefing," Jacob answered, turning away from her to look into 
the vast expanse of the room, the hollow belly of the ship. The 
convertible holoenvironment looked more like an unfinished hangar
bay than it did a typical holodeck. 

"And for the mission briefing, you're here,"  Katherine said. "May I 
ask if there's a reason?"

"I need a place to do it," Ryder answered, "and I can't stand the 
offices. Last mission briefing I gave was on Oceania on Earth; you 
know, the new Atlantis?"

"Heard of it," Nehtens answered, "never been there."

"I  need ideas," Ryder admitted, "but I have already run through a 
couple scenarios I had made but none of them looked right on this scale 
and magnitude. In a holodeck, sure, but out here they just don't work. 
Guess this place is too big for a regular program."

Silence fell on the pair for a moment. Jacob lost himself in his 
frustration while Doctor Nehtens thought about her own holodeck 
preferences. Being Risan, she had both a taste for extravagance and a

disdain for ordinary marvels. Anyone could recreate the Romulan 
Firefalls or the Klingon High Council Chambers. Risa itself provided 
multiple choices, all of which were equally overused. She took a step
forward, approaching Jacob from behind. He turned his head to look at 
her, a frown on his face from his own inability to form the scene. "May 
I?"

"Go ahead," he answered, "but good luck with the programming. It 
doesn't like the low-resolution detail of the typical holodeck 
program."

"Computer," Katherine said, somewhat hesitantly as she began alking to 
an inanimate object, "locate file Omega Six from the datafiles of 
Doctor Katherine Nehtens and open program." The computer chirped 
momentarily, and then cast a medium grey hue all around the walls of 
the holoenvironment.

"File is voice passport locked," the computer said, "please verify 
authorization."

"My voice is my passport," Katherine said, trying yet  failing to 
suppress a smile. As she spoke the final word, the walls mutated colors 
and form, casting mountains and pastures in the background, a grand 
lake nearby, and trees and lofty clouds all around. Unlike most of the 
prior attempts of Ryder's, the colors remained vivid and full 
throughout the course of the scene, and no wavering appeared in the 
objects. 

Overall, the scene looked perfect, and gorgeous.

"How'd you do that?" asked Ryder, "holodeck programs aren't nearly this 
well-made."

"I can be a perfectionist sometimes," Katherine said, moving closer so 
she could whisper, "wait until sunset in this one."

Ryder turned back around, freezing in place when he saw Katherine's 
face a little closer than he would have meant. He pulled back, and 
Katherine just smiled, not meaning to have set him up to be so close.


"It's perfect; where are we?"

"This," Katherine said, stepping in front of Ryder to take in the 
beauty of her own program and countryside, "is Loch Lomond, Scotland. 
In the summer. In the morning." She smiled, closing her eyes and 
breathing deeply. She let the breath out slowly and turned back to the 
dismayed Starfleet commodore. "This is a quiet summer morning in Loch 
Lomond, Scotland on Earth. You like it?"

"I love it," Ryder answered, "I just have never seen a holoprogram that 
comes close to capturing it."

"It's like I said," Katherine grinned, "I have high standards."

  	------------------------------------------------
		GSN GORN TALON-A

The GSN Gorn Talon was on its way to the Federation border, and Tk'Lnn 
had not slept since they had left the starbase. The problem now was he 
was slowing nodding off to sleep in his captain's chair. 'Maybe I 
should just let Tak take command for awhile,' 

Tk'Lnn thought to himself, looking over to his first officer who was 
busy working at the engineering panel. The Senior Commander stood up. 
"Tak," he said, "I'm going to my room for awhile. You're in charge of 
the Bridge."

"Yes, sir," said Tak, still working on the controls. Tk'Lnn headed for 
the turbolift, but before he got there, a three tone alarm sounded, 
warning the ship that a distress signal had been picked up.

Tk'lnn spun around. "Message on-screen."

The fuzzy picture of a short, silver-eyed Gorn appeared, his voice 
crackling over the speakers and static. "This is the Gorn Freighter 
Silverclaw. We have been hurt by a... We need help immediately... 
Please respond any bod..."

The message started fading out. Tk'Lnn spun to Mk'Nrr. "Lock course on 
that message. Ahead warp Factor 8."

"Aye, Aye, sir," Mk'Nrr replied promptly. The ship lunged forward and 
Tk'Lnn settled back in to his chair to await the developments.

"Sir, I am picking up the freighter ahead. Life support is starting to 
give out." said Bk'tar from the tactical panel behind the senior 
commander. "The freighter has been damaged by some type of weapons; the 
computers are analyzing now." Bk'tar stared at the green letters 
displaying on the screen. "The ship has been wounded by disruptors, 
sir, but the power displacement is not Klingon. I'm guessing Lyran or 
Kzinti."

"Sensor sweep of the area, Lieutenant Bk'tar," Tk'lnn directed, "and go 
to defense condition one." The low thrumm of the alert klaxon sounded 
through the ship and Tk'Lnn watched as the rescue procedures of the 
shuttle started.

"Sir!" Bk'tar almost shouted. "Kzinti battlecruiser approaching to the 
left."

"Face her, Lieutenant Mk'Nrr." The ship turned and the large ship came 
on the screen.

"We are being hailed captain." Mk'nrr said.

"This is Captain Loktas of the Predator," the approaching ship 
declared. "We have come to help the freighter."

"This is Senior Commander Tk'Lnn of the GSN Gorn Talon. You are in Gorn 
space. You are to leave immediately." Tk'lnn commanded, making his 
voice very stern, growling along with it.

"Please Senior Commander, Don't take any offense." Loktas continued 
silkily as he purred through the sentence. "We just came to help."


"Your help is not necessary, please leave."

"As you wish, Senior Commander."

The screen went blank and Tk'Lnn turned to Bk'tar. "Well?"

"They are Departing in the direction of Federation space. About 200 
parsecs away from our meeting spot."

"How is the freighter?"

"We have all the crew that was alive."

Just as Bk'tar was finished, the turbolift hissed open and a 
raggedly-dressed Gorn pushed his way in as two of Neekera's nurses were 
trying to hold him back.

"Senior commander, I need to speak with you."

"What about, Captain?" Tk'lnn asked sitting back. The ragged uniform 
still had the markings of the commanding officer.

"It's about your mission. I have something very important to tell you 
and it could affect the whole outcome."

	------------------------------------------------
			USS ATLANTIS

	The staff of the USS Atlantis assembled, Jacob Ryder stepped up 
onto a platform in a small tree overlooking the bank of Loch Lomond. It 
was truly a spectacular sight seeing this piece of Scotland in the 
early evening sunset. The assembled officers seemed impressed enough, 
and after the first half hour of the holoenvironment, Ryder finally 
stepped forward to give his mission briefing. "Welcome to Loch Lomond," 
he proclaimed loudly over the young night sky. "It is time again for a 
mission briefing, and with many thanks and deep gratitude to Doctor 
Nehtens, we have yet another excellent setting for this conference."

Heads around the field turned to face their commanding officer and 
silence began to swell. Ryder appreciated the sound of it for a moment 
before speaking. The peaceful silence, with only a slight rustling of 
leaves from the movement of air caused by the crew in the holoenvironment,
was calming to him, and he could always use calm 
before his mission briefings. With the conversations dulled, though,

Jacob soon became aware of the total lack of animal sounds, such as 
crickets or birds, or even the sound of water or fish in the loch. A 
side-effect of the holoenvironment being non-interactive, it couldn't
move anything on its own, and that reality suddenly sunk in to Ryder. 
Perhaps, he thought, he would be able to add sounds, if not the actual 
actions or movements that might actually cause them.

Ryder returned from his brief reverie, aware of the waiting crewmembers 
gathered. Taking a deep breath,he began his speech.

"Good evening," he began, very simply and safely, "Before I begin, I 
would like to thank and congratulate you all for a successful mission 
not even a month ago. Without the gallant efforts of all f you
and your people, this ship would not be the distinguished unit and 
vessel that we are." Ryder paused. Most of his crew knew that his words 
were usual, the always-said script heard after any commander's 
successful mission. They also knew that Ryder meant his words, not just 
speaking them for the sake of speaking them.

"I know that you all are eager to know what our new orders are, and to 
find some sort of explanation for the sudden departure from Deep Space 
Nine. I first would like to apologize for the lack of warning; it 
caught me by surprise as well, but Starfleet makes the decision and all 
we can do is move out and draw fire, so to speak."

The faces among the crew gathered accepted the words thus far, and 
patiently awaited the actual mission briefing. "Okay, so here it is," 
Jacob began, "We have been tasked on a diplomatic mission to the 
GornHegemony. We will be making a brief stop at Earth to drop off a 
couple personnel and to top off on supplies, and then meet up with the 
Gorn vessel, the GSN Gorn Talon. They will provide further  information 
on the situation at that time."

Some in the command crew looked unconvinced.

"Rest assured, this mission is not simply a chit and chat assignment; 
information has been escaping from both the Federation and the 
Hegemony, and we are being sent to jointly find it and plug it up. This 
mission carries on the tradition the Atlantis has of special security 
interest assignments, and is of vital importance to the security of the 
Federation."

Ryder didn't know if he believed his own words.  Swallowing hard and 
hoping it wasn't noticeable, he continued, finishing up the mission 
declaration. "We expect to meet with the Gorn Talon in nine days. All 
stations and systems must be functioning at one hundred percent by that 
time, and I trust the department heads and chiefs to make that happen." 
He paused, seeing the expressions of acceptance on the crew's faces. 

"Barring any questions, this concludes the official mission briefing, 
and I have only a couple introductions before you are all dismissed."

In the ensuing wait period, nary a hand was raised or a voice spoken.

"Excellent. Firstly, I would like to welcome Lieutenant-Commander Harry 
Wolf, an old friend of mine and possibly the best pilot in Starfleet, 
not only to the USS Atlantis, but back to life as well." Wolf
raised a hand, almost sheepishly, and lowered it quickly, mentally 
hoping that he still was the best and that he would live up to the 
expectations Commodore Ryder had just set for him.

"Secondly," Ryder said, motioning toward the woman to his own right and 
front, clad in a head covering allowing her to see out and making sight 
of her face very difficult, "we have Lieutenant-Commander Amanda Zeral. 
As some of you may know, she is a human who worked undercover on 
Cardassia for many years, and for a very long while will still look 
like a Cardassian." 

Ryder dropped his jovial facial expression for a sterner one 
momentarily. "It is imperative that the crew understands this; I will 
not tolerate any discrimination or bias or incidents because of this.
She is very human, and a true patriot who made our last mission 
possible and is the sole reason we survived it all."

"Jessica Parker - yes we finally have a ship's counselor - comes highly 
recommended from her prior commanding officer, and has already shown 
herself to be a very, well," Jacob trailed off, searching for the word, 
"a very agile counselor." A couple chuckles could be heard, but Jessica 
looked up, her beautiful face shining as though it was a compliment. 
Truly, it was, but it also served as a warning.

"Captain Masters, who was initially assigned as Task Force executive 
officer and starship operations commander, was abruptly pulled for a 
Star fleet Headquarters posting. We hope that assignment will be only 
temporary, and look forward to having him back."  

Captain Masters lifted his hand up as his head went down, very quickly, 
allowing and encouraging Jacob to carry on quickly. "Also attached is 
Commander Tiffany Clarke. She will be working as our Chief Intelligence 
Officer, and Executive Officer for Intelligence Operations. For now, 
she'll serve both roles of Executive Officer. Unfortunately, she's on 
the bridge right now, working too hard, but you'll see her
around. She's the only person on this ship with captain's rank and an 
all-black uniform." People nodded, but the reaction was slightly less 
than Ryder expected. He moved on without delay.

"Raven Strongbow assumes duties as Chief Secomm Officer, and I can only 
hope that he does batter than our last chief. Having spoken to him, I 
have every expectation that he will do very well on our ship. We also 
have a Shuttlebay Chief and Chief Pilot in Tylan Kel, our local Trill. 
Tylan is very excited to be here," Ryder added with half a smile. "So 
is Kel."  

At that, the crew let out a laugh. Finally, Ryder thought, was he 
always this boring or was it just this briefing?

"And last, but most certainly not least, is the creator of this very 
holoprogram you find yourself in now, civilian geneticist and expert 
medical authority, Doctor Katherine Nehtens." Katherine hadn't seen 
that coming, and shied away from the very public exposure.  For the 
briefest of moments, she thought that her face resembled her hair in 
color, but she smiled nonetheless. "She will be remaining aboard
indefinitely to assist and monitor he physical recovery of Commander 
Zeral, and until we get a real doctor, maybe we can convince her to 
help us out now and then."

"I'm a veterinarian," Katherine said to herself, very much under her 
breath, "Unless you want to leave my office on all four, I doubt you'll 
want my help with so much as a hangnail." 

Jacob saw her lips moving, but could not make out her words or hear 
what she had said. After a moment, he looked back up. "That concludes 
the briefing and crew introductions. I welcome you all to hang here for
some time and enjoy the vast expanse and majesty of Scotland's 
highlands and Loch Lomond."


As the crowd dispersed on the USS Atlantis, Jaxom Cougar caught up with 
Juliette Starling at the grassy field near to where the door to the 
holoenvironment was. "Well, what do you think of the surroundings?"

he asked Juliette, who had been staring off toward the distant 
mountains. "The night sky is so peaceful and romantic, no rush, no 
worry." 

"The Gorn Talon?" Juliette said to nobody in particular. "It must be 
really important information to send that ship." 

Jaxom turned to look at her with a look of surprise on his face. "What 
do the lizards have to do with the romantic background?" 

Juliette turned to Jaxom and crossing her arms. "Mister Cougar," 

Jaxom rolled his eyes to say. "Oh no, here it comes."

"Mister Cougar," Ensign Starling said again, this time with more force. 
"We are relied upon to do our mission, not to think about some 
holographic area that isn't even real. You should keep your mind on 
your job also." She paused for effect, regrouping herself.  "Now, if 
you will excuse me, I have some work to do." 

She turned and left Jaxom standing there alone. 


He shrugged, put off by her departure. "Well, I like it."

As the crowd dispersed, Jacob stepped down from the platform, only to 
find himself face-to-face with Doctor Nehtens. "Extra duties," she 
said, her voice inquiring but her face accusing.

"Let's go for a walk," Ryder answered, hoping to deflect the dripping 
sarcasm Katherine playfully exuded. Katherine looked 
less-than-convinced, but agreed and followed the commanding officer. 
after a few moments, as they approached the shore of the loch, Ryder 
continued. "Why did you accept this job?"

	"I honestly don't know," Nehtens answered, "I guess it was to 
prove my research, and to undo the wrongs of another."

	"Undo the wrongs?"

	Katherine turned to face Jacob head-on. "What they did to that 
woman was wrong," she told him definitively. "Regardless of the cause, 
the rationale, the outcome, regardless of any of that, it
was unethical to do such genetic manipulations on a sentient being. I 
can't stop what has happened, but I sure can undo it, and maybe right 
those wrongs, to some extent at the least."

"Well," Jacob said, turning to face the loch as he sat down on the lush 
grass, "I'm glad you're here." 

Katherine was taken aback from the simply, calm, and frighteningly 
honest response. Momentarily speechless, she took a seat beside Jacob, 
looking out into the sunset of the highlands.

"Thank you," she said, at a loss for any other reply. Ryder let the 
response be the final word, basking in the silence and scenery of 
Scotland in the holoenvironment of the USS Atlantis.

		------------------------------------------------
	
Darkness settled gently over the holodeck, leaving only the silhouettes 
of the loch. Katherine closed her eyes capturing the quiet stillness. 
Her mind drifted back home, she wondered briefly how Roberta was 
holding up with the added burdens of Katherine's patients.

"Captain, it was nice talking with you." Katherine stood up and faced 
the captain. "I'm sure we will have ample opportunity for more 
intellectual conversations, but I'm afraid I have some matters to take 
care of, and two of them will not wait."

She extended her right hand for a brief handshake, then left the 
holodeck.

As Katherine neared her quarters, the faint sounds of Victor's yip 
could be heard. As the door slid open, Katherine braced herself for the 
Victor's zealous greeting. The terrier bounded around the room, tired 
of being cooped up with out any human companionship for the last few 
hours. 

Katherine bent down to rub Victor, as her eyes scanned the room for 
Miah. 

The cat lay regally on the arm chair, observing Victor and Katherine 
apathetically. 

"What do you two think about a quick walk? You might as well get 
acquainted with the Atlantis."

Katherine picked herself off of the floor and walked over to where the 
two leashes lay. Victor began to bounce around the room excitedly. Miah 
carefully raised herself up off her perch, and effortlessly leaped to 
the floor.

As soon as Katherine snapped the leashes into places, Victor and Miah, 
simultaneously bounded to the door. The doors slid open and the three 
made their way into the quiet hallway.

{END OF LOG 1}