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

Shenoa Debekk and Stephan Bergstrom entered Stephan's quarters hand in hand. They were friends but they both had felt something new in their 
friendship, but hadn't quite been able to digest it yet. Shenoa stopped 
and looked about in the dark quarters not really sure what to make of 
this arrangement. Shenoa watched Stephan walk into the dark and lighten 
the two very romantical candles, at least in Shenoa's mind. Stephan 
ordered the computer to get a little light, though very dim, then he 
put some music to give a warm environment to eat in. There was a 
holographic fire by the backwall that made the impression of an cabin 
somewhere in a snowy mountain.

 
Shenoa smiled and walked forward interested in knowing how the food 
would be like with the otherwise perfect setting. Shenoa thought that 
this must be cliché. "So, Stephan Bergstrom, what made you choose this 
setting for a woman like me?" Shenoa crossed her arms over her chest, 
trying to look demanding, but her smile ruined that impression.

 
Stephan grinned and drew a chair out for the lovely lady. "Please sit, 
my fair. I think you deserve only the best. Since no one else is taking 
you on treat, I thought I had to." He grinned broader as Shenoa sat 
down and Stephan hurried to open up a bottle of wine and filled their glasses before sitting down in front of Shenoa.
 
"Why thank you, handsome. And you got wine for me, too?" Shenoa asked 
being impressed at what Stephan had arranged and sipped the sweet wine. 
"Mmmmm, it's excellent. What you have for dinner, mom?" Shenoa tried to 
act a teenager waiting for food. Stephan looked at her shortly as if he 
had seen a monster before running off into the kitchen corner behind a 
small wall. Shenoa looked over, listened to Stephan working in the 
kitchen and smiled while she enjoyed her wine.

 
A couple of minutes later Stephan came back to the table and sat down a 
plate with bread and another with stew. He seemed to be a little 
embarrassed as he served the food to the both of them, before sitting 
down. He was happy that he had made the stew, because the real dish had 
burned in the owen, that happened to be installed in his quarters. 
Shenoa didn't have that in her quarters. "There you go, Shenoa." He 
said offering the food to her.

 
"Thank you." Shenoa said with a smile and started to eat. "Excellent. I 
didn't know you cook."

 
"I usually don't..." Stephan answered with a smirk and they continued 
eating in silence enjoying the food.

 
After the dinner they started to small talk about everything from Earth 
to Cardassia and Atlantis until they came back to Engineering stuff, 
their usual topic. After a moment Shenoa spoke up almost startled. "I 
have to get back on duty. Thank you, it was nice."

			------------------------------------------------
Jacob Ryder had found his time at Earth and  Starbase one so busy and 
demanding, that he had become backed up on  reports. Though  he had 
managed to remain on the USS Atlantis for almost the entire  time, he 
was constantly in meetings over  communications channels,  surveying 
the damages to the ship and the requisite repairs that  were still 
ongoing, or just writing reports.

  Sitting on his desk were personnel assignments,  computer  software 
upgrades, and a listing of the new shuttlecraft that the  USS Atlantis 
would be receiving. Ryder looked at  them from a  distance. He knew 
that he should have read them  already, but he   hadn't had the time 
and, he figured, they weren't going to change  anyway, so they took on 
a low priority for him.  Picking one up at  random, he found himself 
reading over the new  listing of  shuttlecraft. Mostly Viper Class and 
Warhammer Class, the new fleet  would be slightly smaller in total 
size, but these new shuttles really packed a punch. Scrolling through 
the list, looking for  pictures only while ignoring names or other 
writing, he looked to  see if any of the new, so-called Delta Flyer 
Class  shuttles would be on his Atlantis.

 He found none. Smiling, he leaned back in his  chair and  continued 
with the list, starting again at the top.  Beginning with  the shuttles 
of old that would remain, the medical shuttlecraft  topped the list. 
Jacob was happy to see the Medshuttle Curie  returned to the Atlantis 
from refit, a process that had taken the  vessel from them for their 
last mission. Following this was Ryder's  personal favorite, a type six 
shuttle that had been with him  personally since the first USS Atlantis, the Shuttle Earhart. Ryder  smiled when he saw this 
inclusion. The shuttle had been beaten and  battered, and yet it had 
always managed to survive. 

 Dropping the PADD back to his desk, he decided to instead of  reading 
the list to visit the shuttlebay later to see the newest  shuttles. He 
looked over the other PADDs on his desk, reading only  the titles of 
them all. He had an engine performance upgrade report  from the 
starbase's engineering chief, a roster of new personnel  assigned to 
his ship, and an intelligence briefing on the Gorn and  their current 
situation with their current fiercest enemy, the  Kzinti. He reached 
for the personnel listing as the door chimed. 

 Setting the new assignments back on his desk unread, he  answered. 
"Enter."

  Stephan Bergstrom stood at the door, his face bright and  cheerful. 
He bounded into the room, somewhat unlike his natural  manner. Ryder 
eyed his old friend suspiciously, as if he were  waiting for the 
practical joke to fall on him. 

 "What can I do for  you?" he cautiously inquired. 

 	"Oh, I was just wandering about and heard that the new  
personnel contingent was boarding soon, and so I took a look at  their 
profiles. Have you seen them yet?" 

"No," Ryder answered hesitantly. "Why do you ask?" 

 "Because they're boarding in ten minutes," Stephan  answered, "and I 
think you ought to greet them in the transporter  room. They should 
meet you immediately, and I think you'll enjoy  meeting them too."

 	 "Why am I suspicious of your motives?" Ryder asked, "and why  
are you so happy today?"

 	 "Let's just say that I've discovered a new reserve of energy  
on the Atlantis," Bergstrom answered, "and between Shenoa and I, I  
expect it to be explosive."

 	 "I should be happy then," Ryder said in a half-statement and  
half-question tone. 

 "I am." The professor smiled, his face rosier than usual  and his 
personage upbeat and energetic. "Come on," he said,  grabbing the 
commodore by the arm and pulling him from his  seat, "you have a new 
crew to meet." Ryder tried to grab the PADD  as he was removed from his 
chair, but missed, sighing as he  coalesced to Stephan's insistence. 
Smiling his defeated smile, he stepped toward the door with his good 
friend Stephan Bergstrom,  heading to the transporter rom to meet, for 
the first time, the  newest additions to his crew.

			------------------------------------------------
Commodore Jacob Ryder and Professor Stephan Bergstrom of the Daystrom 
Institute stepped into the transporter room of the USS Atlantis as the 
transporter technician was confirming the final coordinates of the 
contingent from Earth. He looked up at the two men and straightened. 
"Good morning, sir," he said to the commanding officer, "we were just 
about to bring up the new cadets."

"Cadets?" Ryder asked.

"The graduates," the technician answered, "the Academy graduation was 
two months ago, and they have just finished their Primary Leaders 
Development Seminar."

	"That's right," Ryder said, looking down at thefloor. In all 
the excitement of the new mission, he hadn't been able to be at his 
daughter's graduation. It wasn't the first time he couldn't be at such 
ceremony, but he still had felt horrible for having to miss it. "Well," 
Ryder said, looking back up to the transporter operator, "might as well 
bring them up."

"Aye, sir," he said, looking back to the controls. 

"sir, would you like to do the honors?"

Jacob smiled. It wasn't often that a commanding	officer was even able 
to do any real work, and he	usually treasured the experiences. 
"Tank you," he said to the tech, stepping over to the transporter

controls as the other moved back a step. "Earth station, this is 
Atlantis. Engaging transport."

The transporter became a wash of blue sparkles as the entire 
transporter pad materialized a large group of officers. They all looked 
so young as the shimmer faded, and Ryder harkened back in his mind for 
a quick moment, wondering if he had ever looked that young and 
energetic. Ryder could count at least fourteen faces, and it was 
obvious that more were hidden behind the front rows of people.

"Welcome to the USS Atlantis," Ryder announced loudly to the assembled 
ensigns. "My name is Commodore Jacob Ryder, commanding officer. I hope 
that your travels have been pleasant and restful, because I can quite 
assure you that we will have you working straight away." Ryder smiled. 
He could see some of the newcomers shifting uneasily, while others 
seemed confident and ready to work. Many shifted their bags from one 
shoulder to the other, and Ryder was able to get a glimpse of some of 
the other officers near the rear of the group as people moved around. 

His eyes locked on a face so beautiful, so familiar, that Jacob 
couldn't believe his eyes. He looked over to Stephan Bergstrom, who had 
read the manifest. The professor just held back his smile, looking away 
from the commodore as if hiding his own prior knowledge.  

He looked back to the group, some of whom had an odd look on their 
faces at the sudden pause in their welcome speech from Ryder.

"Uhm," Jacob began, trying to continue as if nothing had happened, "I 
see that many of you are in operations departments, so I think I'll 
hand the briefing off to Professor Stephan Bergstrom, our	engin 
specialist from the Daystrom Institute. He'll take you on a brief tour 
of the ship, and I'll meet with you all later today after you have a 
quick chance to get settled into your quarters." He turned to Stephan, 
expectantly. 

"Ensigns," he announced, "If you'll follow me, I'll take you first to 
my domain, engineering." At Stephan's words, a couple of the people 
began moving toward him, and many other stood still, as if intimidated 
by their first moments on their first starship. Ryder turned to the 
transporter technician and motioned for him to go with the group as 
well.  

"Don't just stand there," Bergstrom said loudly, "get a move on!" He 
turned and stepped from the room, with the group of newly commissioned 
officers in tow. 

As the one that had caught Ryder's attention moved toward the door, her 
face determined to be one of the many, Jacob grabbed her by the arm and 
pulled her aside, just as the door swooshed closed behind the rest of 
the group, leaving Jacob and Alexis alone together.

"Alexis," Ryder said, his heart racing in his own disbelief. "How did 
you get here?"

His daughter smiled at him. "Good grades, dad," she answered, "and 
first choice of assignment because of it. I hoped you'd be happy to 
have me." Her voice trailed off at this, almost as if she were begging 
emotionally for confirmation of her adopted father's approval of her 
decision, her abilities, and the joy of serving together.

Jacob threw his arms around her, answering her question unequivocally. 
"I love you, Alexis," he said, "and I can think of no greater legacy or 
honor than to have you on my ship."			

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

After both the captains left the bridge, Tak went over and sat in the 
captain's chair. "Lieutenant Bk'Tar," he said, "make sure that the 
Kzinti battlecruiser dose not sneak up on us." Tak then turned to 
Mk'Nrr. "Lieutenant Mk'Nrr, take us to the rendezvous point, warp six." 
Sitting there in his chair, he stared at the screen.

He started to remember his old friend at the academy, Dr'Nohk, and how 
they use to play pranks on all the other cadets. Of  course no one on 
this ship new he was a cadet in the Gorn fleet, not even Tk'Lnn new, 
for he had gone in under his middle name. He smiled as he thought of 
the fun they had until the accident; yes, the accident and he was still 
not sure what happened.

"Sir, are you all right?" asked an ensign that was standing beside him, 
holding out a PADD for him to look over and sign.

"Oh, yes ensign. I am alright." He took the PADD and signed it, looking 
around to make sure everything was alright. After a couple minutes, he 
got up out of his chair and walked over to Bk'Tar, looking at his 
panel. 

"Any sign of the Kzinti, Lieutenant?" Tak asked.

Bk'Tar turned from his routine security check that he had been doing, 
since they did not have a security officer, and tapped in a few 
commands to the scanning computer. He studied the screen closely. "Sir, 
The Kzinti ship has left the scope, but something else I can't make out 
is sitting at the edge of our sensor range."

"Keep an eye on it and let me know if it gets closer."

"Yes, sir," answered Bk'Tar, logging the sighting down in  the computer 
so it would maintain surveillance. Tak turned around just in time to 
see the captains come out of the ready room.

"Sir," Tak said to his commander, "we have something following us, and 
we are not sure what it is."

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


Mk'Nrr sat down at a table smiling to himself as he watched out the bay 
window the stars going by. He had already got helm on it's way and the 
captain had dismissed them till they reached their location. 

   "How's my favorite Gorn?" asked a voice behind Mk'Nrr and he turned 
in his chair to see the human, Laura, walk up to him wiping off her 
hands with a pale yellow dish towel.

   "I'm doing fine, Ms. Smith. Just came down here to relax." 

   "Anything I can get you?"

  "I would like a-"

  "Cassiopian Glow Water." Laura finished. "It seems to be the only 
thing you order around here except for that weird tasting 
dish...A...Vss'Kss'Rrr."

   Mk'Nrr feigned insult. "Weird tasting dish? The Vss'Kss'Rrr is the 
best delicacy in the Confederation."

   "It tastes weird." Laura said not backing down and then she smiled. 
"But to each his own. What is it anyhow?"

   "A Rodent on our planet that has been dipped in batter by it's tail 
and then fried."

   Laura's face turned pale and she put her hand to her stomach. "I 
don't feel to well. I'll get your drink."

   She left and Mk'Nrr laughed. He made it sound awful, but even humans 
used to eat other animals on Earth. He had read about their Hamburgers 
and cheeseburgers in the history books on Alien Cultures.

   Laura returned with the crystal Clear syrupy liquid and said, "Here 
you go. Anything else?"

   "Just wondering if you want to know what Krr'Tkk'Naa is?"

   "No, I don't want to know." Laura said shaking her head and making 
the black curls bounce. "Keep it to yourself. I'll take human food any 
day."

    "At least it's not Gagh." Mk'Nrr finished. "I agree with your 
tastes there."

Laura smiled and when she saw another customer walk in she said, 
"Enjoy, Mk'Nrr. I'll come by later to see if you need anything else."

      "Fight for duty and honor." Mk'Nrr said giving the usual 
greeting/farewell phrase."

    "Same to you." Laura said. "I don't want to even try to pronounce 
it."

Mk'Nrr stayed at his table to finish his drink and he thought on the 
past adventures that he had been in. Terrorists, escaping Princess, who 
knew what was waiting for them at the Gorn/Federation border.

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

				USS ATLANTIS
The Gorn had once been feared in the Federation. Once they had been 
fought. Once they had been hunted. Once they had been hated, and once 
they had been ignored. Regardless of their place in the history of 
Earth and Earth's allies, the Gorn people always left an impression, 
usually on first sight, and their image was one that most found 
difficult to forget. 

Commodore Jacob Ryder knew this going in to the mission, and had 
prepared himself as best he could. He studied what little information 
was available on the Gorn Hegemony, the military confederation ruled by 
the Gorn, but he still felt uneasy about meeting a Gorn. They were said 
to be over three meters in height sometimes; they were said to be 
stronger than ten Vulcans; they were ever said to be twenty times as 
cunning and secretive as Andorians and Romulans put together. All the 
legendry aside, they were people just like Ryder and his own crew; 
maybe bigger, greener, and probably more handsome, but they worked for 
a living and they fought for their families. Ryder leaned back in his 
chair, trying to relax as the USS Atlantis soared near the top of the 
regular warp speed charts. After departing Earth, leaving behind a 
small number of crew and picking up a larger number, the Atlantis began 
the task of settling back in to its normal rhythm. 

With only two more days before they arrived to Cestus III, the place of 
first contact with the Gorn a hundred years ago and the designated 
meeting point this time around, Ryder hoped and prayed that the ship 
would be at peak efficiency in time. 

"Enter," Ryder said into the air when the chime rang. The doors to his 
office opened, and a Cardassian-looking woman stepped inside, 
hesitantly. "Commander Zeral," Ryder said upon seeing the Starfleet 
officer, "please, have a seat." Amanda Zeral sat down, but her face 
showed an expression less than happiness or even contentment. Her 
Cardassian features were noticeably softer, even after only a few days 
of therapy and reverse gene sequencing by the genetics specialist, 
veterinary Doctor Katherine Nehtens. Ryder walked around from his desk 
and sat near the woman. "What can I do for you?" 

"I don't know," she answered, her voice betraying her despondent mood, 
"I just don't feel right. I'm not being harassed by the crew or 
anything, but I can feel this, uneasiness." Amanda took a deep breath. 
"I know that your crew is a good crew, and that they mean no ill 
towards me, but I feel it regardless, even if it's not there, I still 
feel it." Jacob sat forward in his seat, about to reply before being 
stopped by Zeral. 

"This isn't something I should burden you with," she said, abruptly 
standing, "this is more a counselor thing. I'm sorry to have bothered 
you." Ryder stood and caught her before she got to the door, blocking 
her path out of the room with an arm. She turned her head to look at 
him. 

"Amanda," he said, his voice soft and compassionate, "You can talk to 
me anytime you want, anytime you need; I'll understand." Amanda looked 
at him, her face quivering just slightly. Ryder looked into her eyes, 
deeper than he ever had before, and she kept her eyes locked on Jacob. 
"I'll be here for you in anything you need, just ask." Amanda felt a 
strange feeling deep in her gut.

 As Ryder pulled back his hand, no longer blocking her exit, she 
thought to proceed out of the room. At the same time, her mind ran wild 
with thoughts of other courses of action. She could see herself turning 
back, running out of the room, throwing herself at Ryder, and even 
doing nothing, standing there with her eyes locked on the man. Frozen 
in her indecision, Ryder spoke again. 

"Stop by anytime," he said, "and if you ever need, you know where my 
quarters are located. Feel free to stop by sometime." Ryder heard 
himself say. 

Zeral smiled, her feet still frozen to the floor. Ryder broke his gaze 
into Zeral's eyes, turning his face to the ground for a moment. Zeral, 
distracted from her raptured gaze, left he room with a brisk pace, more 
frightened of her own thoughts than the commander's. 

"Captain," a voice called out over the intercom, "we're nearing the 
rendezvous area. We'll be within communications and visual range in 
five minutes."

 "Thank you," Ryder answered into the air, turning back to look at his 
desk, hoping to find something he could accomplish before they arrived. 
Sighing as he found nothing, he smiled, shaking his head. "I'm on my 
way." Jacob looked up and turned toward the door, stepping onto the 
bridge of his mighty starship, USS Atlantis.

{END OF LOG 3}