if he had wanted to prove his point, he couldn't have done so any better. That almost stopped the guilt. He kept forgetting how frail these humans were. He kept forgetting how frail this particular human had become.
	It was about two minutes before the Terran showed signs of waking. As suprised as the Velk was by the spell, he had little doubt as to what was the cause. Now as he rocked the Terran in his arms, he could only wonder what had happened on Garidia to turn an oherwise confident trickster into a scared child, darting at shadows.
	"What happened lad? I need to know now more than ever before...what did the Garidians do that not only drove you away from us-but has branded its terror on you even years later?"
	Bonnie fussed in the background, checking vitals and whatnots. She didn't let up on the scolding tone of voice with the Velk. She had warned him, and did anyone listen to an Artificial Intelligence? No. And why not? Since he had programmed her to be wise and learned in human behaviour, she should know what she was talking about-
	"Bonnie-" Trey whispered "pack the complaints for another day-I've got a headache the size of the Abraxian Starr..."
	"Welcome back." Ty rumbled "your methods for evading my question-while interesting are not going to work you understand."
	"Question?" he asked confused "what are you talking about Ty? I remember you badgering me."
	The Velk looked sharply at the human, trying to ascertain what he was trying to pull. What he saw was a genuinely bewildered and dishevelled Terran. Not to mention an indignant one.
	"Umm..." the human muttered, trying to extricate himself from the furry embrace "I hope it was good for you Ty-but what's with the personal bonding in public? Especially since you just threatened to toss me in a closet tied up like a turkey on the block?"
	"You fainted." he said. 
	"Shoot." Trey muttered "you had to push it man."
	"Trey-" Ty began reasonably, not able to forget the scared face of minutes ago. "We are  likely to be near Garidia-I wish I could understand what it is that has upset you."
	"You can't." he interrupted sharply " Heck I can't."
		"Enough of that cub.  You fainted on me, and that doesn't give me any more confidence in your ability to handle this gross secret of yours."
		"Let me _go_ Ty." he gasped, wiggling free. "You promised!"
	"So I did cub. But you promised to be able to hold up your end, and chances are, we'll be passing through Garidia, and I'll not have you cowering in the corner as we do."
	"Passing thro-you didn't tell me that!" for a moment he thought he might pass out again, thoughts of giving up and just going crazy there and then passed fleetingly.
	"Your Starfleeter acknowledged our request to make a direct line for Romulan space. Our intial plan would take too long. And I'd have this out if I can."
	=^Trey-=^ Bonnie began worridly.=^are you-?=^
	"Can it Bonnie." he whispered.
	"Well?" Ty demanded. "I meant what I said cub. I'll drag you before a telepath if I have to."
	"You really wouldn't-" he asked, gulping "would you?"
	"For the good of the group? You're right I would. And I will." He sat down beside the staring Terran. He ran a nervous paw through his shaggy purple hide and sighed.
	"Look Trey. We all said alot of things we didn't mean on that day you left us. Truth is, I think the world of you, and I hate to see you hurting. Ever since that fiasco, you've been different, moody."

	Scott scowled at the floor. Then he looked up at his friend.
	"Life seems simpler for the mad. Don't you think? I do sometimes. Do you have a drink inside that rug somewhere? No I didn't think so. That's allright I don't really imbibe the stuff anyway. But I would consider taking it up. Sometimes I think it can drive away the nightmares."
	"That's not an answer."
	"There is no answer." Trey glumly pronounced. "Only Nightmares-and lost dreams." He hummed a few bars of "doomed, doomed, doomed" a favorite barroom ditty and then sighed. "When are we ready to leave?"
	"As soon as you tell me what has you so afraid. Then I judge whether you come with us as an equal, or a sack of rags."
	"Rags." he snarled.  He got up and started to pace nervously. Then he sat down.
	"We've been friends for a long time, haven't we Ty?"
	"Yes."
	"What if I told you I was a murderer?"
	"That's not something I would easily accept."
	"It's true you know." Trey replied flatly. Blue eyes focused on the floor. " I was an orphan-I had learned as a boy how to survive under opressive conditions. Garidia was just another situation I had known all my life. I hoarded, I saved what food I could. I did what I had done before-I survived. I guess I wasn't careful enough-someone had seen me hiding my stash. I had just turned in for the night when I heard her footstep beside me. I rolled out of the way as she drew her knife and struck. We scuffled, and a few moments later she backed away from me. In the struggle I had turned the knife and she was mortally injured. I-I remember her eyes..." he stopped for a moment. "Ty-that girl could have been _me_ not eleven years ago! I stole for food, I might have even tried to kill for it if I had become hungry enough. I killed myself that night. And in the morning all the Garidians did was kick the body aside and ignore it."
	He finally found the siilence too painful to bear. Steeling himself for the look of loathing he knew he deserved, Trey glanced up to meet his shaggy friends' eyes.
        Sadness gazed back.
        "This is what drove you away from us all those years ago?"
        Overcome he blurted "You mean you don't hate me?"
        "Hate you? Cub how could you think that? That wasn't murder-that was defense, for she'd have killed you if she could. The fact that she was a child makes the tale all the more heart breaking-but doesn't mean you'd committed any crime." He chuckled dryly "save of course smuggling, which was what landed you there in the first place."
        "But she-I" confused he stopped.
        "She was starved, and so were you-my fur! But did you see yourself when we finally managed to rescue you-t'were nothing but bones! There was _no murder_!"
        =^He's right Trey.=^ Bonnie added in hesitantly. =^murder is the intentional and premeditated act of ending a life. You were neither intentional or planned in that.=^
        He wanted to believe them. He felt himself curling away a bit from the center of hurt in his heart. He tried to look at it the way they said it was. But how could he forget?
        He yelped in startlement as Ty lifted him by the nape of the neck and lifted him to eye level.  He kicked once or twice for purchase before falling limp.
        Ty grinned and placed him on the ground and shoved him good naturedly toward the ship.
        "Go and tell Chi that the ship is prepped and ready for flight. And we need not mention this again unless you choose to. But place that memory where it belongs Trey-in the past. We can't have all of our skeletons dancing out of our closets."