Title: "Transport Malfunction"
Name: Michael Strope
Author:  Commander Jonathan Lataro
Stardate: 2460227
Earthdate: March 24, 2360
Location: USS Virgo

Lataro answered, "We'd be walking into a lot of unknowns over there, Captain. I suggest we take a minimal party at first: heavy security, science and engineering to make scans. If we determine the area to be secure, then we can beam down larger details to begin the dilithium and tridanium extraction."

Maruu pondered the plan a few seconds. Finally, he said, "Very well, Jon. The initial landing party is at your discretion." He addressed the entire assembly. "We need these materials for our general repairs and for our new transwarp drive. Let's get this done people."

"Mr. Benton, Lt. Tomme. Meet me in Transporter Room One in 10 minutes," Lataro said, heading out the door.

"Yes, Sir," Benton acknowledged. *He is in a hurry!*

The door closed shut behind Lataro as he headed for the bridge. Lt. Commander K'Lara was at the helm when he came on. "Commander Lataro," he said with a smile. K'Lara face remained glued to the viewscreen with a small section of the asteroid in site as the *Virgo* was in standard orbit. "Um, Commander. I was calling you," Lataro said softly.

"What, Jon, I mean, Commander?" K'Lara said, recovering from her daze.

"Well, Commander Lataro, I called you and you didn't answer me."

"I'm sorry. I heard 'Lataro', but I thought that someone was calling you," she said with a smile.

"Get used to it, Mrs. Lataro. You have my last name now."

"Oh really!" she said with a devilish smile. "What if I decide I want to go by something else?"

"Like what?"

"Like Commander K'Lara-Lataro, or just keep it K'Lara."

"Now I guess we have to talk about that," Lataro said with a smile.

"I guess we do. So what is it?"

"Well, the captain wants me to go down to the surface and do a prelim investigation."

"Okay. When?"

"Now."

"Oh. Well I guess the honeymoon will have to wait," she said sadly.

"Well just keep the bottle of champagne chilled. I plan to be back before the end of the day."

"Okay."

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

"Okay you two," Captain Maruu said, coming on the bridge. "Jon, you had better get going. We need to start the mining procedure as soon as possible."

"Yes, Sir," Lataro said. "I will see you tonight, Mrs. Lataro."

"Can't wait, Mr. Lataro."

Commander Lataro left the bridge and went to the transporter room. On the pad, Tomme and Benton were all ready there waiting. "It is about time, Commander," Tomme said jokingly.

"Now. Had to say goodbye to my wife," Lataro said with a smile as he got on the pad.

"Well, you will be back before dinner," Benton said.

"Newlyweds, Lt. Benton. You'll see," Tomme retorted.

"Okay, Sir, I have your coordinates. Ready?" the transporter chief asked.

"Go ahead, Chief. Energize," Lataro ordered.

The familiar procedure started and their atoms begin to scatter and dissipate. A few moments later, the transporter panel started to flash, noting to the chief something was wrong. The pattern buffer was being purged by something. The chief began trying to rematerialize the officers back on the pad, but something flashed in the isolinear chamber, and everything began to smoke.

"Captain. This is the transporter room. We have a problem."
 

Title: "Three Blind Mice"
Name: Michael Strope
Author: Commander Jonathan Lataro
Stardate: 2460227
Earthdate: March 24, 2360
Location: Unknown

As the three materialized, they were stunned to find that they were not where they had assumed they'd be. The chamber was dark. It was difficult to see five feet in front of them. There was a single light shining down from above that illuminated two sets of bunk beds. But there was no other light and no one else nearby.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Jenara said as she pulled out her tricorder. As she tried getting some readings, her tricorder refused to work.

"What's wrong, Tomme?" Commander Lataro asked.

"My tricorder... It can't seem to pick up anything. It's like it's dead."

Immediately, he and Benton pulled their tricorders out and tried them. Again, the same scenario played out.

"If I were to guess, I would say we're not near that asteroid," Jenara replied.

"I would say, you're right," Lataro replied. "But the question now, is how do we find out where we are. I can't see anything beyond the light."

Jenara thought for a moment. "Let me see what I can do."

Suddenly, her Human form melted away into the figure of a large predatory cat. She had changed herself into a Targelian Jungle cat with a dark coat of fur and eyes that could see perfectly, even in inky darkness. She could feel the man look at her startled for a moment. Changing her form was not something she did frequently anymore and hardly any of the crew had witnessed it. Their reaction was perfectly normal.

"Good kitty," Lataro replied. Inside Jenara chuckled.

Benton looked on with a certain amount of amazement. But without another moment's hesitation, she disappeared into the darkness. She walked another six feet before she came to a wall. Slowly, she followed the path it made looking for any escape root, anyway in and out, but there wasn't one. It was as if they had been placed in a room that could not be accessed except through a transporter. Then, something else caught her attention. A faint blue haze on the walls. One of the other advantages of being a Targelian Jungle Cat was the
species was very sensitive to electrical current. In the wild, they avoided it, like a plague. As she drew nearer to the wall, the dark fur on her ears stood on end.  Cautiously, she drew closer to it, but just as she reached an inch away, a flash of light blinded her and pain racked her body. A screech echoed from her as she was flung away from the wall. As she hit the ground, she had melted back into her natural form: humanoid.

"Jenara!" both Lataro and Benton called as they saw her still body at the edge of the light. Quickly, they were at her side. Benton took her pulse.

"She's still alive."

"Let's get her over to the bunks," Lataro replied, picking her up.

Jenara started to stir, but her whole body was racked with pain. Focusing all her strength, she tried to control the pain. "Commander," she whispered out. "We're...trapped here... What I... What I could tell...is that...there are no doors... No way in... No way out..."

Suddenly a wave of pain coursed through her and she cried out. "There's also...some kind of force field...covering the walls... I'm sorry..." she finished, crying with the pain. Within moments, she was unconscious once more.
_______________________________________

As Lataro set Tomme on one of the lower bunks, Benton tapped his com badge, "Landing party to *Virgo*." There was no answer. "*Virgo*, come in."

"You don't really expect an answer, do you?" asked Lataro from where he crouched next to the immobile form of Tomme.

"No, but I had to try," said Benton. "How's Jenara?"

"Out cold, but I don't think it's serious," replied Lataro.

"Good."

Now that Tomme was resting comfortably, Lataro stood. He surveyed their dim surroundings and said, "We have to find a way out of here."

"Agreed, Sir," nodded Benton. "However, I'm at a loss. There is no stir in the air which would indicate that their are no air ducts, and the only footprints in the layer of dust on the floor are our own."

"Maybe we can cut our way out," mused Lataro. Being this helpless was getting on his nerves.

"I would advise against that, Sir."

"Why?"

"Well, for all we know, phasering a hole in the wall could open this room to the vacuum of space."

"True."

"Besides, our phasers didn't seem to beam over with us," finished Benton.

"What?!" exclaimed an alarmed Lataro as he frantically patted his side where his sidearm should have been holstered. "Things started happening so quickly, I hadn't even noticed yet."

"Of course, Sir," said Benton. "What do you think we should do?"

Lataro looked around the bare room again. There was nothing inside the circle of light except themselves and the two double bunks. Suddenly, he had an idea. He looked up at the pinpoint light source on the ceiling above. It looked high, but not unreachably so.

Lataro turned back to Benton and explained, "As soon as Tomme wakes up, we can try piling the bunks on top of each other so we can get a closer look at the ceiling."

As if on cue, a low moan issued from the now-stirring Tomme. The two men rushed over and helped her to sit up.

Tomme slowly shook her head, trying to bring her surroundings back into focus. She put a hand to her forehead and said, "What... What happened?" Her voice was still a little shaky, but she was regaining her strength quickly.

Lataro began explaining that she had blacked out after her brief encounter with the wall, but Benton's attention was diverted by something he thought he heard. It seemed to be coming from no particular place, as if it were all around them: a low keening whine. It was growing steadily louder, Benton was sure he heard it now.

"Shhh! Quiet!"

Lataro and Tomme were surprised by Benton's uncharacteristic outburst, but before Commander Lataro could object, Benton said urgently, "Listen!"

Then Lataro and Tomme could hear it too: a high-pitched whine that was growing louder and higher by the second. It was becoming loud to the point of being painful. The three prisoners had their hands pressed over their ears, but it didn't stop the sound. It continued to vibrate through every bone and fiber in their bodies, still increasing in intensity and frequency.

And it seemed to be changing location. The sound was almost a physical presence now, and it was centering itself on Benton. Benton staggered backwards away from Lataro and Tomme, seeking to escape the intangible
audio attack.

But it was no use. There was no where to run. As Lataro and Tomme looked helplessly on, Benton was suddenly encased in a brilliant blue aura. Then, just as suddenly, the aura was gone, the deafening shriek
was gone.

And Benton was gone.
 

Title: "Three Minus One Equals Three"
Author: Lieutenant Benton
Stardate: 2460227
Earthdate: March 24, 2360
Location: Unknown

"Benton!" Lataro yelled out as he noticed that Benton was no longer there. "Oh great!"

"What happened commander? Where is Lt. Benton?" Jennera asked.

"I don't know," he replied, taking a seat on the opposite bunk. Lataro began to rub his eyes and his temples. He began questioning himself if anything will ever go right for him. All his life it had been nothing but mishaps and accidents. First, it was as a child and the continual run-ins with the law. Then, onboard the *Vixen* when he lost his parents, orphaning him on a lone planet; it just doesn't seem to be getting any better. However, he rationalized that his assignment to the *Virgo* may have been the best thing for him, but quickly getting in to a fire fight with the Kirusan, Syrineans, and even the mishap with the Overlords, had made him question the validity of that. It only has been a few months since he had crashed on Trelane and when he and K'Lara finally got married, Lataro figured that his luck might be changing. *Yeah right!* he mused. Now he was locked in a room with no apparent way out, trapped with a woman who he inadvertently had made a pass at under the fog of alcohol. *I bet K'Lara is really liking this!*

"Commander. What do we do?" Tomme said, breaking his thoughts.

"I don't know yet."

Suddenly from the ceiling came a bright, intense light that shone on Lataro. In a mechanical, echoing voice, someone or something spoke. "What is your purpose?"

The voice startled Lataro. It almost sounded like the Borg, many voices speaking as one, but this was not Borg. This was something else: something that he had never experienced. "I am Commander Jonathan Lataro, First Officer of the Federation Starship *Virgo*. Why are being held captive? Where is my crewmember?"

"Silence! You have trespassed into our space. What is your purpose?" the voice retorted.

"Purpose? What purpose?" Lataro yelled defiantly. Suddenly the intense light turned red as surges of heat and coolness flooded over him. The light overpowered Lataro overloading his senses and screamed as it felt as if the skin was literally being burned away. Instantly, as the coolness sensation came, the 'exposed' flesh was frozen as causing Lataro to fall to his knees. Tomme quickly ran to Lataro's side and tried to put her arm around him to help him but the rays of light also acted a repulsor beam and kept her from making contact. Finally the
light stopped, and Lataro writhed in pain on the floor. Bringing his hands where he could see them, he noticed that there were no burn marks or scars, but the pain still was present. "You son of a..." Lataro screamed.

"Again. What is your purpose?" the voice said.

"Purpose for what?" Tomme yelled, holding Lataro.

The light now shone on Tomme. She looked up and squinted as the lights shone directly in her eyes. However, the heat and coolness where not there, just the illumination.

"What are you?" the voice said.

"What do you mean 'what am I'?" Tomme yelled.

"You are not like this one. We have never seen a species such as yourself. What are you?"

"Of course I am not like him, I am a woman."

"Woman?  What is woman?"

"Me!" Tomme said matter-of-factly.

"Lieutenant..." Lataro said painfully. "Name...rank...serial number..."

Tomme looked down at Lataro who was still on his back. He held his hands in a nursing way, shaking. His nerve endings were sensitive and sending back information to his brain: *We are freezing.*

"What is the purpose of woman?"

"Wouldn't you like to know." Tomme yelled defiantly.

Lataro looked up at the light an noticed that the beam was beginning to change colors again. Painfully but as quickly as possible, he rolled over and pushed Tomme out of the way where he was basked in the torture light. He began to scream as the light pulsed the familiar hot and cool rays that now reddened his skin. Lataro screamed loudly, so loud that it echoed throughout the chambers and hurt Tomme's ears.

"Stop it!" Tomme yelled as she watched helplessly as Lataro writhed in pain. "Stop it now!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, not being able to control her emotional response. Closing her eyes, she could sense the Commander's pain as if it were her own. She had to do something, but what? Suddenly, her form melted and grew into an energy shield. Instead of the beam reaching to Commander it pelted down on the energy matrix she had become. But she also knew she would be unable to keep it up for long. She could feel the light bearing down on her. Just as she was about to collapse from the relentless pelting, it suddenly stopped. Shaken, but still coherant, she melted back into her own human form, her auburn hair cascading down her back. She went to Commander Lataro who was unconscious and gently caressed his face. "Commander...Lataro..." she whispered, tears forming in her eyes. Tenderly, she dragged him from the path of the light and manuvered
herself so she could rest his head on her lap. "Who's doing this to us?" she cried.

Suddenly, a groan issued from Lataro and his eyes opened. As their eyes met, she smiled, the tears still glistening brightly in her eyes."I'm glad to see you're awake..." she whispered.

He forced a smile and tried to sit up, but pain wracked his body and he groaned again. Quickly, Jenara pulled him back down. "Don't try to move yet. You're body needs time to recoup," she explained.

"It feels like every nerve in my body is on fire."

Tears started to appear in her green eyes once more. "You'll be all right," she replied. "Just some time to rest and you'll be as good as new." She could only hope she was right.

After some time had past, Commander Lataro started to recover, and, eventually, Jenara helped him to a bunk, sitting next to him to make sure he was all right, and to do what she could for him. "How are you feeling now?" Jenara asked.

*Better," he replied, sitting up.

"I was very concerned that I...I mean...WE would lose you. That beam, whatever it is, could have killed you," Jenara replied. Without her tricorder there was no way to know what that beam was composed of. She could sense her feelings for him cropping up again, and she tried to force them away. He was married and his heart
belonged to someone else. But still, the feelings were strong. In fact, more powerful than they had ever been. Carefully, Jonathan sat up and looked at her. She could sense some of the same emotions within him. Tenderly, he caressed her face with his hand. She sighed and closed her eyes to allow the sensation to penetrate her very core. As her eyes opened again, they were drawing near each other, ready to share a kiss, when suddenly a noise caught there attention.
________________________________________

Meanwhile, somewhere else, Benton awoke to find himself lying on a cold metal slab. His vision quickly cleared, and he saw he was in another dark chamber similar to the one with the bunk beds. He was not
restrained in any way, so he sat up and looked around. Apparently, his captors had not counted on his waking up, or they would surely have taken greater measures to keep him immobile.

The metal slab was in the center of the room. High above was the familiar light, and surrounding the slab were several complex control consoles. There was no one else in the room that Benton could see, so he swung his legs around and stood up. A wave of light-headedness hit him, and the room seemed to spin. Benton grabbed the edge of the metal slab with one hand to keep from falling over, and his head with the other hand.

*Strange,* he thought. *What's been happening to me?*

The dizziness passed quickly however, and Benton took a few seconds to make sure he was unharmed. Nothing hurt really, aside from a headache, and the pain caused by the high-pitched whine was gone. Benton
surmised that it had been some kind of transporter effect, but thought its designers should probably do a little more work on reducing the audio impact it had on its transportees.

Benton tried to guess how long he had been lying on the slab. He had a vague feeling that more than just a few minutes had passed. For one thing, his stomach was rumbling hungrily, which it wasn't doing before he had been transported. For another, he felt as though he had been through a mighty mental battle of some kind. He couldn't recall any details, but somehow he knew he had fended off a powerful and ruthless telepathic probe into his memories. He was thankful he was Kelvan. What had merely given him a bad headache, would've killed a normal Human, and even a Vulcan would have been hard pressed to defend himself against what Benton felt he had endured.

*I wonder where the others are,* he thought. He tapped his com badge, "Benton to Lataro." There was no answer. "Benton to Tomme," he tried. Again no answer. He hadn't really expected one.

Benton resumed his inspection of his current surroundings. The metal slab he had been laying on was simply that, a featureless, silver metal surface approximately seven feet long and three wide. Looking at it made him feel uneasy, so he quickly shifted his attention to the control consoles surrounding the slab.

The consoles were covered with extremely complex data readouts and command inputs. Benton had no idea what their exact functions were, but he had a strong intuition that they were medical in nature. He opened his tricorder and took what readings he could. Maybe the *Virgo's* computers would be able to make sense of the data after they got back to the ship.

That task done, Benton turned his attention to the dark area beyond the lighted circle. He remembered what had happened to Lt. Tomme when she encountered the forcefield in the bunk room, so he proceeded carefully, scanning ahead with his tricorder. As he explored, he noticed that there was no dust on the floor in this room. Also, it was a lot larger than the bunk room. He had walked more than fifty feet already, and still there was no sign of a wall. And the darkness here was not as complete as it had been in the bunk room. Now that his eyes
had adjusted to the dimness, he could actually see a little.

After walking another fifty feet, Benton finally came to the wall. It was smooth and looked like granite. He scanned with his tricorder, but couldn't detect any force fields. Hesitantly, Benton reached out to touch the wall. As his fingertips made contact, he jerked his hand back. The wall was cold as ice. He tried to scan beyond the wall, but the tricorder's signals couldn't penetrate the material, whatever it was. He scanned the wall itself, and found that it was some kind of collapsed matter, similar to carbon neutronium, but very different on the sub-quantum level. Part of its substance actually seemed to physically extend into the subspace realm!

"Fascinating!" Benton said to no one.

He reluctantly tore himself away from his discovery and started along the wall. It was time to find a way out of here.

The room was quite large, so it took a while to reach what he was looking for. But finally, there it was in front of him: an open doorway.

Benton leveled the tricorder at the opening and scanned for force fields: nothing. He was immediately suspicious. Why would his captors leave him unattended and not even bother to close the door? It made no
sense.

The darkness beyond the doorway was complete, but scans showed there was a lot of stuff inside the room beyond, none of it appeared to be threatening. Since there didn't seem to be anything else to do, Benton took a deep breath, steeled himself and walked forward into the darkness.

Benton was very conscious of his booted footfalls echoing throughout these rooms, and he felt exposed. When the lights suddenly came on in the room he was entering, he nearly jumped out of his boots. He dove for cover behind a heavy workbench and prepared to meet the expected attack.

But he could hear absolutely nothing except his own heavy breathing. Benton peeked above the top of the bench and surveyed the room. He was still alone, apparently the lights had been triggered automatically when he entered.

He stood, reopened the tricorder and continued exploring. This room was much smaller than the one outside, only about twenty feet squared, and it was well lit. There were no doors other than the one he had entered through. There were a number of big work benches like the one he had used for cover, all of them covered with tools, instruments and other, unidentifiable things. The unidentifiable things generally had little tags attached to them. Alien writing on the tags presumably labeled each item as to what it was.

Benton guessed he was in some kind of science laboratory. All these items must have been collected from other captured space travelers like himself and the rest of the *Virgo* landing party. Things began to fall into place in Benton's mind.

"They're *studying* us!" he realized. "That's why I woke up on an examination table, and why they tried to probe my memories."

His gaze caught some familiar-looking objects lying on a bench on the opposite side of the room. He went over, but sighed when he got a closer look at them.

"Well, at least I found our phasers," he said as he picked up the disassembled pieces of one of them. "Looks like they're interested in more than just us. They've studied our technology too," he mumbled.

"I sure am talking to myself a lot," Benton said to himself. *I'll have to watch that in the future.*

One of the other, unidentifiable objects on the workbench caught Benton's eye. It was an asymetrically-shaped, roughly rectangular piece, about twelve inches in height, eight inches wide and a half inch thick. What looked like an ordinary mirror was framed by an inch-wide border of what looked like granite. There was a hand grip of
sorts built into the lower left of the object, so Benton picked it up. He noticed that the grip was definitely not made for humanoid hands, and that the object was much lighter than it would have been if it had been made of rock and glass.

Benton scanned it with his tricorder. The frame was composed of the same strange metal as the room's walls, and the "mirror" part didn't register at all! He hypothesized that the reflective material was capable of reflecting *all* wavelengths, even the scans from his tricorder!

He closed the tricorder and inspected the "mirror" more closely. The back of the object was just featureless "granite". There didn't appear to be any controls or access ports or a power supply. He turned it right-side-up again. The "mirror" reflected his face perfectly, although there was a slight quasi-shimmer if he looked at its surface out of the corner of his eye. He noticed he needed a shave, another hint that they had been here for quite some time. Behind the reflection of his own face, he could see the rest of the alien lab.

But then, the quasi-shimmer grew more distinct. What looked like a blue electrical wave washed across the surface of the "mirror" from lower right to upper left like a miniature wave across a miniature ocean. When it had passed, Benton was astonished to find that his reflection was gone! He could still see the reflection of the lab
behind him, but he couldn't see himself. It was as if he were a ghost and the "mirror" was looking right through him! He tried looking at the "mirror" from different angles, all to no avail.

*Just what is this mirror, that my tricorder can't scan it, and that can do this?* Curiosity got the better of Benton, and he reached his free hand up to touch the "mirror" surface. His fingertips touched the smooth, glass-like surface and an enormous electrical shock shot up his arm and coursed through his body!

His muscles were locked in place by the bolt, so he couldn't withdraw his fingers or even drop the "mirror". He tried to cry out, but those muscles were locked too. The scene before his eyes flashed momentarily brilliant white, then black as pitch, then it was all over.

As quickly as the bolt had come, it was gone. In fact, what had seemed an eternity of high voltage induced paralysis had lasted only the tiniest fraction of a second. Even as Benton thought on it, the memory faded until finally he wasn't even sure the incident had even ever happened.

He was still holding the "mirror". Its surface had resumed its more normal appearance, and his usual clean-shaven reflection was once again visible. *I'm glad I let the doctor talk me into trying a facial depilator salve. Now I can go a month between having to shave,* he thought.

Setting aside such frivolous thinking, Benton turned his mind back to the problem at hand. The "mirror" would prove interesting to study, so he took it with him. He also went to collect the phaser parts in hopes that at least one could be reassembled. He was momentarily confused when the phasers weren't where he was expecting them to be.

*I could've sworn they were on this bench.* Benton looked around the room. *Oh, there they are. Strange.*

Having collected everything he needed, Benton left the alien lab the way he had come in. When he exited the room, the light went out, he was once again in the dark. He took a few minutes to let his eyes readjust to the dimness, then set off again in search of his comrades.

After another long walk beside the wall enclosing the medical lab, Benton came to another open doorway. He set down his cargo and drew his tricorder. This time, there was indeed a force field across the door opening. He focused the tricorder's beams on the field as best he could, but the information he could gain was minimal. He was fairly certain that the force field was not deadly. It most closely resembled the atmospheric containment field that covered the doors of the hangar bay on the *Virgo*, but unfortunately, there were differences which made him nervous.

He decided to look for other doors before trying this one. He left the "mirror" and the phaser parts on the floor to mark his starting point and set off to circumnavigate the big medical lab.

There were no other doors. In the end he wound up back at the force field door. He scanned it one more time. The tricorder showed a livable environment on the other side, but no other details. Finally, unable to think of anything else to do, Benton holstered the tricorder, picked up the "mirror" and the phaser parts, took another
deep breath, and stepped into the force field.

It was as if a giant hand had grabbed him and flung him forward. He was shot out the other end of the doorway like a human cannonball and landed very unceremoniously flat on his stomach. The things he had
been carrying flew out of his hands and skittered across the dusty floor.

Two shocked voices cried out in unison, "Benton!"

Benton looked up from his prone position and saw Commander Lataro and Lieutenant Tomme sitting on a bunk and staring at him open-mouthed.

"Oh dear," he said.
 

Title: "Missing Friends"
Name: Richard Merk
Author: Lieutenant Benton
Stardate: 2460227
Earthdate: March 24, 2383
Location: USS Virgo

Spot looked left: nothing. He turned and looked right: still nothing. He made an entire 360 degree turn: nothing at all. There wasn't a crumb to eat in his cage.

Spot thought that was very unusual. Usually, the giant bipedal life form that lived with him gave him food regularly. In Spot's opinion, it was never quite enough food, and it wasn't jelly doughnuts often enough, but that was another story.

Come to think of it, Spot hadn't even seen the giant bipedal life form for a few days now. Spot suddenly felt anxious. What if the giant bipedal life form *never* came back? Spot would get lonely. Living in this big cabin all by himself would get boring. But most important, who would feed him?

Well, that situation simply wasn't acceptable, Spot would have to do something about it. He would go and find his bipedal friend. He squirmed over to the wall of his cage, and then began inching up the side. Once Spot reached the top, it was a simple matter of nudging the top open and then inching back down the outside of the cage wall. He had always been careful not to do this little trick when anyone was watching. To this day, his friend had no idea how Spot always managed to escape.

Having made his escape, Spot began a cursory examination of the cabin. It didn't take long, the cabin was very Spartan: a bed, a night stand, a desk and chair, and the replicator niche. Spot headed that way. He knew that's where the food came from, but he was disappointed again. The replicator was clean.

*Oh, dear,* thought Spot. He didn't know what that meant, but he had heard his friend use it often.

Well, his friend obviously wasn't in the room (and neither was there any food), so Spot decided to expand his search. He looked around the cabin until he spotted the ventilation duct. He headed in that direction.
___________________________________________

Meanwhile, Francesca sat in front of her mirror brushing her hair. It was late, normally she would be in bed by now, but tonight she felt anxious and restless. As she pulled the brush through her soft dark hair, her gaze wandered involuntarily to the picture that was stuck on the upper left of the mirror. It was a candid shot of Lieutenant Benton on duty. She had painted a lipstick heart with an arrow through it around the photo.

As Francesca's eyes found Benton's miniature face, the hand holding the brush stopped its motion and slowly sank to rest on the countertop. She sighed wistfully. Would she ever see him again? She had so many things to tell him, he can't get himself lost now!

She didn't dare call the bridge *again* to ask how the search for the missing landing party was coming. The last time she called, the captain threatened to throw her out an airlock if she bothered them one more time. But she had to ask *someone*!

She had it, she'd call Sitto. After the incident where Sitto had had to pull her off the newly arrived Benton, she and Sitto had become friends.

She thumbed the com switch on the counter in front of her. "Milano to Security," she said.

[Security. Kelowitz here,] came back a disembodied voice.

"Hi, Kelowitz. Is Sitto there?" she asked.

[Just a sec.]

After a minute, Sitto Lan came on the com channel. He sounded a little annoyed, [Franny. To what do I owe the pleasure of your call, as if I didn't know?]

"Well, I was just wondering if you heard anything about how the search was going, Sitto," she said.

A small chuckle came over the com channel. [Why are you asking me, Franny? Didn't the captain threaten to throw you out an airlock again if you didn't quit bugging him?]

"Yes," she said, a little chagrined.

There was a slight pause at Sitto's end. When he replied, Sitto's voice was uncharacteristically compassionate. He said, [Try not to worry so much, Franny. I'm sure they're all right. Benton can take care of himself. And the captain's doing everything he can to find them. Try to get some sleep, will ya?]

"Thanks, Sitto."

[Any time.]

Francesca clicked off the com. She looked over at her bed, but it still didn't look inviting. She got up. Maybe if she went for a walk...

Francesca wandered the decks aimlessly. Crewmembers she passed in the corridors wondered at the faraway look in her eyes. That wasn't like her, normally she was bubbly and exuberant. Eventually, her feet led her down to the engineering decks. She hadn't even realized it, but now that she looked up and got her bearings, she found herself in front of Benton's cabin.

Francesca darted quick looks to the left and right to make sure no one was in sight, then entered Benton's access code into the door panel. If anyone found out how she got the code, she'd be in big trouble. The door obediently slid open, and she ducked inside.

She hadn't ever been in here before, so she was momentarily taken aback by the sparseness of the decor. She decided that what the place needed was a woman's touch.

She noticed Spot stuck to the wall. It looked like he was headed for the ventilation panel. She walked over and plucked him off.

"Where do you think you're going, buster?" she asked with a smile. She looked in the cage and noticed there was no food in Spot's dish. "Aha, so that's it."

Francesca put Spot down on the bed, ordered a jelly doughnut from the replicator. She got Spot's dish out of the cage and put in on the bed next to Spot, then she put the doughnut in the dish, and Spot on top of the doughnut.

Spot purred very happily. *You're my new best friend,* he thought.

Francesca sat down on Benton's bed alongside the feasting tribble and absentmindedly began petting Spot's fur.

"We'll wait for Benton to come back together," she said.

Spot purred again.
___________________________________________

Meanwhile, Benton felt a strange sensation in his ears, or at least, he thought he felt something. He couldn't be quite sure, the sensation wasn't quite real. His ears felt warm.

He remembered an old Human proverb, and said, "My ears are burning. Someone must be thinking about me."
 

Title: "The Tests of the Lab Rats"
Author: Lieutenant JG Jenara Tomme
Stardate: 2460227
Earthdate: March 24, 2386
Location: Calista
 
 
"Oh dear," Benton said as he landed face first in the dirt. Immediately, Commander Lataro and Lt. Tomme were at his side trying to help him up. He arose filthy from the dirt and the dust which he calmly wiped away.
 
"What happened?" Lataro asked.
 
"I don't know. I seem to be in what looked like to be some sort of control room," Benton said. "Sir? You look sort of red. Are you okay?"
 
"Yes, Lieutenant. I seem to have a run in with a ray of light." Then, a familiar noise began to resonate in the room. "Everybody. Quiet. Listen. That is the same sound we heard before you disappeared. Quickly; huddle together. Hopefully if we are together they would not be able to lock on to us."
 
The three of them quickly huddled together. The noise grew louder and louder, similar to the noise preceding the abduction of Benton, which caused them to cup their ears. Just as it reached the familiar pitch, Lataro disappeared in a disintegrating blue light.
 
"Jon!" Jenara yelled. "Oh no!" Jenara cried and burst into tears anew as she sat back down on the bunk. "What will they do to him?" she said, speaking her thoughts aloud. She didn't expect an answer. "This is like some horrid nightmare that I keep hoping we'll wake up from. I can't even control my own emotions." She sniffed and wiped at the tears on her cheek as she failed to try to settle herself down.

Gently, Benton sat down next to her and tentatively placed an arm around her shoulder. Taking the opportunity, she turned to him and buried her face in his chest and continued to cry. Though he wasn't quite sure what to do next, he simply held her and let her tears fall. It seemed to be enough, but no sooner had she started to quiet down, when the sound started again. "No," she whispered, sensing who the next target would be.

"NO!" she screamed and vanished in the intense blue light.
_________________________________________

In a room unlike the other, Lataro was restrained on a large steel table, sprawled on his back. His uniform had been removed, and he now was completely naked; the cold metal made squirm as its coolness touched his back. Benton's description of the room could not be verified, because the large, intense light that the aliens had shone directly in his eyes. All he saw was a bright spot each time he tried to look into the darkness.

"What is your purpose?" a mechanical voice said again, just as it did earlier.
 
"What do you mean 'purpose'? I am Jonathan Lataro, Commander of the Federation Starship *Virgo*. We are on a m..." An electric surge pulsated through his body that loaded his senses with intense pain. Lataro arched his back off the table then finally it stopped. The pulse, which lasted a second, felt like it had lasted an hour.
 
"Why are you here?"
 
"Fine!" Lataro said with his eyes closed enjoying the moment of relief. "My crew and I are here on an exploration mission."
 
"Why are you here on Calista?"
 
"Calista? The asteroid belt?"
 
"Yes."
 
"We are here to mine for mineral we need for fuel."
 
"You mean the megnazite?"
 
"If that is what you call it."
 
"Oh." The voice seem to trail off. "You are not here to conquer."
 
"Conquer what? This hole in the rock?"
 
"This 'hole', as you say, is our home. We are do not want intrusion from any outsider. We have taken great means to hide ourselves from our enemies."
 
"Well you did a poor job. The trilithium is nicely stockpiled and the caverns are nicely laid out. That makes a miner happy to see his work is all done for him."
 
"We see. You have not answered our question. What is your purpose?"
 
"Purpose? What do you mean: 'purpose'?"
 
"Well if you are not going to tell us then we will have to find out for ourselves." Suddenly, from the darkness, Lataro heard a whirring sound, similar to a dentist's drill. Then something came into the light. It was a octagonal tool with eight tools each equipped with something that looked like medical tools. Lataro felt a sudden pain in his neck then light the disappeared. Lataro was unconscious.
_________________________________________

Slowly, her senses were returning. She could hear voices talking amongst themselves. It was a language that took a second for the universal translator to work on. But she kept her eyes shut, though she wanted to know where she was. What was certain is that she felt cold steel against her back and knew she was lying on an examination table.
 
"She is unlike the others," a strangely mechanical voice said.
 
"Yes...we have watched her change her shape at will," another voice replied. "But what is the function of woman?"
 
"According to the physiology, the woman is necessary for reproduction," said a third voice. "Look at this. It is as if the other subject's anatomy is this woman's other half. Where she is lacking, he has."
 
"I see. Then we much see."
 
Though nothing further was said, she could sense them considering some new idea. "Then it is decided," the first voice said. There seemed to be an air of agreement. She didn't seem to like the sound of things. Something ominous was in the air. But just as quickly, she was hit by a blinding pain that emanated from her temples. Suddenly, she realized with a sick heart they were scanning her brain. Unconsciousness came swiftly.
_________________________________________

As her consciousness returned once again, she found herself in a chamber alone. She was on a cot of some type. Her head was still aching. She was also very hot. Suddenly, a hand touched her cheek. As her eyes fluttered open, she saw Jon looking down at her. Worry was etched into his face. "I'm glad you're awake," he said. "I was starting to think you were never going come around."
 
"How long have I been here?" she asked, trying to sit up, but Jon made her remain in place.
 
"At least for the last three hours. What did they do to you?" he asked, as he gently touched the marks on her temples. Suddenly, Jenara couldn't remember. "I don't know," she replied. There was no mistaking the electricity in the air around them, as Jon gently caressed Jenara's face once more. As their eyes met, they knew what was happening was wrong. But it was also unstoppable. As he leaned toward her, she was ready for his kiss. Nothing at that moment mattered, but them.
_________________________________________

Watching from the control room, the beings exchanged smiles. The pheromones released in the room had made it quite impossible for the humans to resist the urge to be with one another. But did it work on all humans? They wondered.
 
"It would seem that our first test has been a success. When shall we conduct the next test?"
 
Looking at the screen, the leader smirked. "Observe them. Once they have completed this mating ritual, then begin preparing for the next test."
_________________________________________

Jenara and Jon held each with a blanket wrapped around their form. But suddenly, they were started, as that ominous sound began again. Tears sprang to Jenara's eyes. She didn't know why, but she was frightened. "Not again!" she cried. But instantly, they both disappeared in a beam of blue light.
_________________________________________

"Wipe his memory of this event and prepare his return."
 
"Yes, sir."
 
"Once the next test is complete, repeat the process with the other two. They must not remember any of this."
 
"I understand."
_________________________________________

Benton heard the familiar sound of the transporter beam and watched as Jenara's form was deposited in front of him. Immediately, he was on his feet as she collapsed right into his arms. Regaining herself, she quickly stood up. She was clad in nothing but a silken shift. Her auburn tresses cascading down her back.
 
"Are you all right?" he said, helping her sit on the bunk.
 
"I don't know," she replied. "I can't remember anything."
 
He touched her temples where the marks from the scan still appeared. "They've harmed you," he replied.
 
What the couple failed to sense was the chamber getting flooded with pheromones that immediately began attacking their senses.
 
"This is like some strange nightmare where nothing makes sense," she said, tears spilling from her green eyes to trickle down her cheeks. Immediately, Benton looked for something to hand her to wipe away the tears, but there wasn't anything. Instead, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and held her as she cried.  He did, however, notice a change in his thoughts toward her. He felt a way he never had before, and his thoughts were picked up by Jenara. She gazed up at him, and knew what was happening. Sensing that he wasn't accustomed to encounters such as these, she leaned toward him, gently caressed his face and kissed him.
 
"I don't know what's going on, Benton," she said, "but I want you...and I know you want me too."

She was immediately greeted with a kiss that he initiated. Something seemed very familiar about this whole thing, but she was lost in the emotions. She would have to think about it later. Little did she know that later would give her a puzzle that she
wouldn't be able to solve.
_________________________________________

Lataro was now in the original quarters fully clothed. He looked around, still trying to find a way out. Suddenly, the noise again started, and the missing crew members appeared. Benton and Tomme were now standing in front of him. "Lieutenants. You all right?"

"Yes, sir," Benton said grabbing on to the bed pole. His head swam in circles. Lt. Tomme sat down on the bunk, trying hard to remember what happened. She wasn't sure what happened, but she did feel different.
 
"Lt. Tomme? You all right?"
 
"Yes, Commander. A little light headed."
 
"Okay. We have been playing around long enough. It is time to get out of here. Look what I found." It was a phaser. "I can't believe our captors would be that incompetent, but I don't care. I have had enough." Lataro aimed at a wall and fired full setting.
 
"Commander!"  Benton yelled as the walls dematerialized. Now they stood in a gigantic lab.
 
"I am tired of this game!" Lataro yelled. "Either you let us go or I start blasting away at everything in sight."
 
"As you wish." The omnipresent voice said.
_________________________________________

"Captain, something happening to the transporter. It started initiating on its own." Suddenly, before Captain Maruu could respond, three forms appeared: Commander Lataro, Lt. Benton and Lt. Tomme. "Its them! Its the away team!"
_________________________________________

The three members of the ill-fated landing party were unconscious when they reappeared in the *Virgo's* transporter room. Lieutenant Loran was manning the controls himself during the crisis. As the three crumpled to the deck, he was already on the intercom to sickbay calling for the medics.
_________________________________________

Dr. Nori was rushing from biobed to biobed waving her medical tricorder over her three new patients. "Well, there doesn't seem to be any permanent physical damage to any of them," she said to K'Lara, who was standing as close to Lataro's biobed as the good doctor would let her.
 
K'Lara looked relieved. She asked, "When can I talk to Jon, Doctor?"
 
"I'd rather not give them a stimulant, but they should be coming out of it on their own any second now," replied the doctor.
 
As if on cue, all three patients began stirring.

As the world swam back into focus for Benton, the first thing he saw was Dana Nori working over him with her tricorder. He tried to speak. "Nurse..." was all he could utter. He was still a little groggy.
 
Nori looked up from her tricorder and said to Benton, "I think you mean 'Doctor'."
 
Benton looked confused, but before he could pursue the subject he was grabbed from the other side of the biobed by a young, brown-haired woman. She hugged him tightly, lifting him partway off the bed. She had his arms pinned at his sides by her embrace, so he was basically immobile and at her mercy.
 
The young woman was saying, practically sobbing, "Oh Benton! I was so worried!" She had pretty much squeezed the breath out of Benton by now, so he couldn't reply. Then the young woman seemed to remember that other people were watching, and she tried to regain her composure. She released Benton from her embrace, but Benton wasn't prepared. He fell back and banged his head on the panel at the top of the biobed.
 
"Ow," he said.
 
The young woman winced and said, "Ooh! Sorry 'bout that."
 
"That's all right...aah...Ensign...aah..."
 
The young woman looked hurt. She said, "It's me! Francesca!"
 
"Ah. I see. Do I know you?" asked Benton.

Francesca was startled by this question. She looked at Dana. Dana resumed scanning with her tricorder. Benton waited expectantly. After a few seconds, she said, "I can't find anything wrong with you, Lieutenant."
 
Benton sat up. "Actually, I feel fine. What's been happening? Why am I in sickbay?" Benton looked around the room confusedly. When his gaze landed on Lataro, he exclaimed, "Captain! Are you all right?"
 
Now it was Lataro's turn to look confused. He said, "I'm fine, Lieutenant. But I'm not the captain. Stephen Maruu is."
 
Benton's face registered shock. "Captain Maruu is alive?!"
 
"Either you bumped your head a lot harder than it looked like when Ensign Milano dropped you, or there's something very strange going on here." Milano shot him a look. After a moment, Lataro continued sardonically, "I mean, something strange *on top* of the fact that we all just woke up in sickbay with no memories of what happened after we beamed to the asteroid."
 
Dana was watching this exchange. Now she said, "Well, if you all are finished with your 'who's who', you can get out of my sickbay."
 
"Doctor?" said Lataro.
 
"I'm certifying you all fit for duty, Commander. Of course, I'm still going to have to run tests to determine why you can't remember anything, or why Benton's memory is mixed up, but there's nothing physically wrong with any of you.
 
"Very well, doctor. In that case, Tomme, Benton, report to your duty stations," said Lataro as he started towards the sickbay doors.
 
Benton hopped off his bed and headed out of sickbay himself. Francesca followed him. As the sickbay doors closed behind them, Francesca could be heard saying, "What do you mean you don't remember me?"
_________________________________________

Jenara had been dismissed early. But in her quarters she looked at her mirror and noticed that she was glowing. *What happened to me?* She began to think as the feeling of nausea set in. She was very tired and, in fact, hardly had the energy to pull herself out of bed to get ready for her shift. As she stood up from her bed, she immediately felt sick and rushed to her bathroom, retching into the sink. She immediately tapped her com badge. "Tomme to Dr. Nori, I'm going to need to see you right away."
_________________________________________

"You're sure you don't remember anything when the away team vanished?" Dana asked.
 
Jenara shook her head. "Not a thing. It's like a blank in my memory."
 
"Well," Dana continued, "there's a reason that you're sick. You're pregnant."
 
Jenara's eyes opened wide. "What?!"

"About three weeks. The baby is half Tanzaran and half human. Who is the father so that we can notify them and do a work up on them as well."
 
"Honestly, Doctor, I don't know."
 
"How is that? You are not a virgin are you?"
 
"No, not at all."
 
"Then how don't you know who the father is?"
 
"I don't know." She lowered her eyes.
 
"Well, we can find out later when the baby is more developed where we can do a DNA scan."
 
"Pregnant...?" echoed Jenara as her eyes hit the floor. "I don't even remember what happened and what's everyone going to think?" she said, shaking her head in disbelief.