Fortune smiled on the USS Atlantis, for within days they arrived at 
Starbase One at Earth, without incident. By the time they arrived, 
Professor Bergstrom and Commander Debekk had managed to bring the
engine operating efficiency to over ninety-nine percent, setting a 
new record for the ship. 

Lieutenant Strongbow seemed to have a very good grasp of his duties at 
the secomm station, and when Ryder stepped out onto the bridge, he 
found that he was not bombarded by the usual questions, reports, and 
panics. 

All-in-all, Jacob Ryder was beginning to become very comfortable with 
his command and ship, and almost looking forward to this mission with 
the Gorn. 

Then there was the issue of the reporter. Over the last couple days, 
portions of the last mission had began to clarify in his own mind, and 
moments planetside on Cardassia came back to his memory. 

Ryder began to question how Finn John had even made it to the ground, 
let alone armed. Doing his own subtle investigation, he found more 
questions than answers.  How had John managed to secure a barracks room 
himself? What was the relationship of Finn to Spartan and then to 
Ryder? Most telling of all, in a memory that had been lost at the 
outset of the travel from Deep Space Nine, was the showdown on the 
planet that had Finn with a phaser rifle trained on Commodore Ryder's 
chest.

"How did I  manage to block that memory?" Jacob asked himself aloud as
 he strolled down the hall to Finn's quarters. Still, though, Finn and 
Ryder had been cordial enough since that moment, and perhaps Finn had 
also somehow dropped the moment from memory, or at least was playing it 
quiet until he could get off the ship. Either way, Ryder had to play 
along for the moment. Arriving at the door, Ryder knocked. 

Ignoring the usual panel and chimes, Ryder knocked on the metallic door 
twice, a solid and powerful, but not overbearing rap on the door. 

The doors slid open to reveal one Finn John, bags on each shoulder, and 
another under an arm. "Good morning, Keptain," Finn said in his usual 
less-than-serious manner. Ryder refrained from rolling his eyes at the 
supposed Federation Press employee.

	"Let's go," Ryder said, "you have personal things you need to 
take care of." Finn stepped out and Ryder joined him at his side.

	"So," Finn said, "I get a command escort to the transport even? 
I figured I'd get some petty officer really." Finn was needling the 
commodore, still secretly uncomfortable about their encounter back on
Cardassia Prime. "I guess I should thank you."

As the turbolift began its trip to deck two, a short eight-level ride, 
Ryder replied. "Well, I guess I should say 'you're welcome'." Finn 
twisted his lip, feeling the sarcasm that he used to believe was his
sole domain. Suddenly, it looked like Ryder was beginning to fight back 
in the war of words. In away, it was refreshing, really, for fencing 
with words isn't nearly as fun if your opponent doesn't play
also. This thought brought a slight smile to Finn John's face, which he 
tried to hide. The doors parted and the pair stepped from the lift and 
toward the door of the transporter room. The doors opened and Ryder
stepped in first; Finn followed, opening his mouth to speak.

Finn's head hit the wall just barely after his back did, after the 
transporter room doors closed. Ryder's hand squarely on his chest, Finn 
fought the look of bewilderment as his bags dropped and he looked up to 
meet Ryder's eyes. "I know who you are," Ryder said, threateningly and 
ominously. "And I don't know which side you're working for, but don't 
you ever try to work against me again."

Never at a loss for words, Finn managed a reply, with less quippiness 
than his norm. "Which side of what?" 

Ryder frowned at him. "Surely I don't know what you're talking about."

"Finn," Ryder said, "I've worked for the section, Spartan works for the 
section, and it's a good obvious bet that you do too. Whether you work 
for Kennedy or Fitzgerald is the only question." Ryder paused, pulling 
his hand back to release Finn. "Which means that we have that in 
common, but I work for the new order, for the true good of the 
Federation." He turned his eyes cuttingly into the other man. 

"Examine who you work for, and what that work encompasses."

Ryder let the pause sink in through the eerie silence, and hen released 
his entrapment of the other man, stepping to the transporter console in 
the otherwise empty room. "Now get on the transport pad before I change 
my mind about letting you leave after that stunt you pulled on the 
planet."

Not leaving his future to Ryder's whim, Finn picked up his bags and 
stepped to the transport pad quietly.  Looking up to see Ryder 
preparing for transport confirmation, Finn assembled a sentence, one he 
hoped would reassure Ryder as well as reassure and justify himself. "I
 only fight for the future of my family and the Federation whole. It's 
all I can do for their security."

Ryder looked up. The tone Finn used was a new one for him, suddenly 
serious and sounding almost heartfelt. He paused his hand just short of 
engaging transport. Eyes locked, the two men perhaps had just gained a 
new understanding of the other. Perhaps in the future, they would be 
able to work together. "For the Federation," Ryder said solidly in 
farewell.

"For the Federation," Finn replied. "Always."

Finn John was gone from the USS Atlantis, transported off the ship in 
seconds of glimmer and light, leaving Ryder alone in the transporter 
room to contemplate the situation. In the last ten minutes, his view of 
the other man had changed drastically. Though he knew Finn John 
couldn't hear him, he spoke into the air,  quoting one of the more 
famous lines from Starfleet's first contact history. "In a different 
reality," he breathed, his voice silent and solemn, "I might have 
called you 'friend'."

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

Walking out of the quarters she now shared with Martin Ramirez, Tylan 
strolled contentedly down the corridor. She was still trying to 
convince herself that being here with Martin was real and not a dream,
 and only partially paying attention to where she had been going. 
Stepping into the turbolift, she pressed the manual control to go up a 
few levels. She could feel Kel's teasing nature as it conveyed a 
curiosity of the Terran idea of marriage. She rolled her eyes as the 
turbolift stopped and the doors slid open.

Tylan stepped aside as a science crewman walked in and nodded to her, 
"Good morning, Lieutenant. How are things in the shuttlebay today?" 

Still distracted with the teasing from Kel, Tylan shook her head and 
audibly muttered, "Oh just shut up once, will you?"

The science crewman took a step away, eyes nearly as wide as the saucer 
section as his mouth opened and closed without saying anything. His 
facial expression clearly revealed his shock as he continued to try to 
regain his voice.

	Tylan's face also grew shocked as she realized she spoke aloud, 
and she flushed slightly. "I am so very sorry, Crewman. I didn't mean 
that for you. I was addressing Kel, my symbiont..." She trailed off as

the turbolift stopped again, this time on her deck.  Stepping out of 
the lift, she turned back, "Please forgive me, Crewman." She inwardly 
winced as she felt the waves of amusement emanating from Kel, 
consciously keeping her focus on the science crewman. 

the crewman merely nodded and waved his hands dismissively, "It's ok, 
Lieutenant, really. I understand completely." He pressed the resume 
control and the look on his face revealed that he didn't understand at 
all. The doors slid shut between him and Tylan, putting an end to the 
situation.

Shaking her head, Tylan spun on her heel and started off again. She 
turned her thoughts inward for Kel only, 'You did that intentionally 
and I will get my revenge.' She rounded a corner and trailed off from

her musings with Kel as she nearly collided with yet another remember. 
She barely had time to notice that this person had an animal at her 
feet, two actually, skipping lightly to avoid stepping on it. 

Finally stopping and bracing herself against the opposite bulkhead, she 
realized that it was Nehtens from the briefing. "Oh, please excuse me, 
Doctor. This is not my day for walking I guess." She smirked slightly, 
hoping the other woman wasn't too upset. 
	  ------------------------------------------------

Chief Engineer Shenoa Debekk was working deep in thought by a station 
in Main Engineering. She was sure that it was possible to further 
improve the engines, she wanted them perfect for Jacob Ryder, her and 
the ship's Captain. She changed the value for the power inflow and ran 
a diagnostics. It only showed that the effiency went down just as she 
expected and changed the power inflow back to it's original value. She 
streched her arms straight up and yawned, not realizing that Stephan 
Bergstrom had just entered with a smile on his face.

Stephan Bergstrom knew he'd find Shenoa down by the power inflow 
console. They had talked about it the day before and Stephan didn't 
think it would work by the theory Shenoa had, but because of the fight 
during the last mission, Stephan had decided to let her try it and it 
never hurt to be quiet in certain situations with one's friend and 
Chief. Stephan had a plan and went to arrange it while Shenoa worked. 
"Shenoa, you look tired." Stephan said with a grin.

 	Shenoa quickly brought down her hands and turned around. "Oh, 
you. I wasn't aware you were on duty this shift. Anyhow, the theory I 
had isn't working, but here's something I found." Shenoa gave him a 
padd.

 	Stephan shook his head, but took the padd and looked at it. "I 
didn't came here for this..." He said deep in thought, fascinated by 
what Shenoa was showing him. Then he quickly put it down and turned 
toward Shenoa. "You know, we should celebrate what we achieved a few 
days ago. Don't you think?"

 	Shenoa was surprised that Stephan put down the padd. "What you 
mean? We have to work for the next mission. We will be deep in trouble 
soon enough..." Stephan interrupted her.

 	"I invite you to a break in my quarters, I have everything 
ready. The sooner you come with me, Shenoa the sooner you'll be back 
here. Come now. Just food, nothing more." Stephan said kindly but 
forcefully with a grin. Stephan wanted only to be friendly towards his 
friend and wondered what Shenoa would think.

 	The invitation got Shenoa to blush a little and she stood up. 
"But aren't you on duty?" Shenoa asked carefully.

 	Stephan grinned. "Not until tomorrow morning. Lets go now." 
Stephan took her hand and dragged her along.


 	Shenoa grinned and followed him. "If you say so..."

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

Katherine absently walked down the hallway with Victor and Miah. She 
needed to meet with Amanda Zeral. Her one brief meeting had left her 
with several unanswered questions. The Woman seemed secluded, as if by 
self-punishment.  

"I'm probably just reading too much into it."

Katherine looked down at her scampering pets, as they rounded a corner, 
right into another person. 

The corridor instantly turned into a lively game of hopscotch as 
Katherine and the other person bounced around trying not to step on 
Victor or Miah. The pets run around in circles creating a furious knot 
with the leashes.  

As the confussion abruptly died down. Katherine looked up to find the 
other crewmember braced against the bulkhead. Katherine gathered Victor 
and Miah closer to her. Pink starting to flood her face. Before she 
could speak the other woman beat her to it.

"Oh, please excuse me, Doctor. This is not my day for walking I guess."

What a way to make an impression! Katherine smiled weakly. "I'm afraid 
the fault is mine. I should have been paying more attention. Are you 
alright...?" Her mind scanned for the woman's name and came up blank. 

Tylan tried, unsuccessfully, to hide the flush that came over her face 
again at Kel's amusement of the situation.  She closed her eyes for a 
moment then opened them again, "Yes, thank you.  I'm fine."  She
held a hand out to the doctor,  "Lieutenant Tylan Kel. I'm the new 
chief pilot in the shuttlebay."  She inwardly winced as she felt Kel's 
amusement at her choice of words as if to say, 'Where else would you be 
chief pilot?' and tried to ignore the ancient symbiont.

Katherine nodded "Well you already I'm Doctor Katherine Nethens. These 
are my pets," she looked down to where the animals began to calm down. 
"The Terrier is Victor, and the Cat is her royal highness Jeremiah, 
she goes by Miah for short."

Tylan glanced down at the dog and cat as the doctor gripped her hand, 
"They certainly get along better than most animals of that breed I've 
seen."  She watched for a moment as the pair finally sat
side-by-side, looking up at the two humanoids.  Looking back up to the 
doctor as her hand was released, she silently implored Kel to silence 
and smiled to the other woman.   

"So, Doctor, how are you liking the ship so far?"  She looked around 
the wide corridor again before continuing, "It's a little bigger than 
/I'm/ used to but seems nice."

Katherine smiled sheepishly, "It will take some getting used to. I'm 
finding it to be much better than I expected though. I'm hoping it 
won't be too hard to fit in."

	Tylan nodded and smiled in return.  "Well, if nothing else, 
know that you have one friend already.  I think I can safely speak for 
Martin too in this case so that makes two."  

 	She realized she was probably keeping the doctor from her 
appointment and looked in the direction Nehtens was going.  "I hope I'm 
not keeping you from anything but if you have time, we could go to the 
ship's lounge to talk further?"

	Katherine shook her head, "I was just out for quick walk to 
admire the bulkheads." she rolled her eyes playfully. "I haven't been 
to the lounge yet, it sounds lovely though."

A tug on the leashes in her hand, immediately turned Katherine's 
attention to Victor and Miah, who were starting to pace around 
restlessly. 

Miah looked up accusingly, as if to say "What?! You prefer a human to 
us, far more excellent... and cuddly animals?" In an instant Miah was 
rubbing against her leg, and giving her a pitying look.

Victor cautiously approached Tylan and sniffed her foot. His tail 
started wagging energetically. He

turned his big chocolate eyes up at the Lieutenant, begging for her 
attention.

Katherine shook her head at her pets. They were just like children 
sometimes. She turned back to the Lieutenant. "The lounge sounds 
great." she repeated. 

"Do you mind if I drop these two off in my quarters before they decide 
the whole ship is their play yard?"

	Katherine gently tugged on the leashes, nudging Victor and Miah 
toward her quarters. Lieutenant Kel fell into step beside her.

Katherine found herself chatting with Tylan as they walked through the 
hallways. "I would really appreciate it, if you would just call me 
Katherine."

She told the Lieutenant. "It seems so odd to have people address me as 
just "Doctor". I am a veterinarian, most of my patients don't talk to 
me. I enjoy the title, don't get me wrong. But it seems so... 
professional. I'd rather think of you as a friend, than a co-worker."

They reached Katherine's quarters and the door slid open to admit them. 
Katherine bent down and unhooked first Victor's leash, then Miah's. 
Jeremiah pranced to the cushy chair, and leaped on top. She circled 
around the cushion then lay back observing Victor disdainfully. Victor 
just sat there at Katherine's feet looking up at her with is big heart 
breaking chocolate eyes.

Katherine teetered on the edge of uncertainty. Maybe she should take 
them with her. She looked between Miah and Victor.  No. She decided. 
Not this time. "You two better behave." She warned as she followed 
Tylan into the corridor.

Walking beside Katherine, Tylan suddenly realized Kel had taken her 
advice and zipped its metaphorical lips. At first she wondered at this 
but quickly gave a mental shrug, deciding to take advantage of the 
silence from the ancient symbiont.  She clasped her hands behind her 
back, glancing sideways to the doctor as she smiled,  "How well do you 
know the commodore?" 

She saw Katherine's facial reaction and hurriedly added, "I don't mean 
to be rude or pry into personal business, Doctor.  I am just trying to 
understand the man.  I only just met him when I came here and he 
seems…."  She trailed off, unable to find the word she wanted.


Katherine worked hard not to laugh. She hadn't been on the ship for a 
week and already people were asking her about the Commodore. That was 
certainly unexpected.

"I'm afraid I can't be of much help there. Other than meeting him on 
Deep Space Nine, just before our departure, the only time I've 
conversed with him was in the holoenviroment, for the mission 
briefing."

She paused and lowered her voice, "Though I think I know what you mean. 
Something about him is... hard to read." 


	She smiled stepping outside of the serious air she and Tylan 
had created. "Now I'm curious, what brought you to the Atlantis?"


	Tylan thought about her reason for coming here, flushing 
slightly as it took Kel's needling again to return her attention to her 
conversation with Katherine.  Her smile turned sheepish as she responded, 	"My...umm..." she trailed off, flushing slightly, correcting herself before she said more. 

"My friend, Martin Ramirez, is assigned here as chief science officer. 
 We've been apart for a few months..." 

Again she trailed off, not sure why she was saying as much as she had. 

Katherine smiled playfully. "Of course! Friends are always a good 
reason to go somewhere." She turned her attention to the ship around 
them, "Now where are we exactly?"

Tylan looked around, spotting the computer interface on the far wall.  
After checking the schematic of the deck, she turned back to her new 
friend and smiled. 

"We're actually already on Deck 10.  The ship's lounge is just up the 
corridor," she pointed in the direction they were already going before 
continuing. 

 	"So what brought /you/ to the Atlantis?  What made you become a 
veterinarian?"  She mentally winced, ignoring the feeling she got from 
Kel that she was being too nosey. Something made her feel a sort of 
'kinship' with this other woman, a person she only just met.  

 	Maybe it was the fact that she admitted to some slight 
discomfort with the commodore as well, she pondered this and walked 
beside the doctor.

	Katherine grinned "I've always loved animals. I'm actually 
onboard the Atlantis, because my field of expertise is genetic 
resequencing. I'm here to help Amanda Zeral actually." She bit her 
lower lip and confided to Tylan "It's a bit nerve racking. It's 
different to work on animals... people are harder. I'm not sure how to 
explain it. I'm just hoping everything will go well."	

{END LOG 2}