4 Season 5 Page

Title: "A Little Jealousy"
Author: Commander Jonathan Lataro
Stardate: 2460474
Earthdate: June 22, 2383
Location: Bridge

Major Chee had been called early by Commander Lataro to the Conference Room. Lataro had his back to the door looking at a view monitor when Chee entered. It was early in the morning and the mission of the previous day left some things unanswered. However, that was not the reason why Lataro wanted to see Chee. Lataro felt that his toes are being stepped on and he wanted to know why.

"Major Johnny Chee reporting as ordered," Chee said sternly snapping to attention.

"At ease, Major. Please relax. I have some concerns and question that I wanted to talk to you about but first I would like for you to tell me what happened," Lataro said, sitting at the head seat where the Captain would normally sit.

Slightly perplexed, Major Chee looked at the first officer. "Sir?"

"Major. I would like to know what happened."

"Commander, shouldn't I have some time to prepare a formal report?" Major Chee asked suspiciously.

"Possibly. Fine. But, I have some questions for you. Number one: why wasn't I informed of the away mission? Isn't it protocol that the first officer accompany all away missions?"

"Yes, sir, but in missions such as this, and I quote, '...when there is a possibility of hostile activity in any landing or away party involved missions, Starfleet Marines, if available, are to clear and secure the area and its vicinity,' Regulation 451 B, paragraph three, section..."

"Okay, Major. You made your point." Lataro sat back and stared quietly at the window. He missed the times that he led the away teams. Ever since K'Lara had had T'Lan, Lataro has felt that Captain Maruu, and even the rest of the crew, was keeping him from doing what he used to do, like lead dangerous away missions. "It is just hard for me to sit back and watch these things considering that I was once involved with EVERYTHING the away teams did. It seems that ever since that you and your marines came onboard, my role in the away teams have diminished."

"I am sorry that you feel that way, sir, but understand I am just doing my job."

"You are doing a fine job at that. Listen, keep me informed as best as possible and try to remember that I still command the away teams."

"Commander Lataro, I haven't nor do I want to take that command from you, but my job is to rock and roll. I cannot have you interfering and possibly jeopardizing the mission."

"Major. Do not forget. I used to be Chief of Security on this ship and I was a damn good one at that. I have had some of the training that you and your marines have been through, so I can hold my own in a fire fight. Do you understand what I am trying to say?"

"Yes, sir, Commander," Major Chee answered.

"Good. Now I would like to see a full report on the incidents of yesterday on my desk by 1300 before the captain gets it. Please include the casualty list. Dismissed."

"Yes, sir." Chee said, disappearing through the doors.
_____________________________________

Lataro left the conference room and went straight to the bridge. He took the chair and continued the rest of the morning waiting for Alpha Shift to take the duty stations. However, this time, Lataro was not tired. He was anxious to see what was in the report and why the T'rais attacked the marines.

Title: "The Switch" (Part 1 of 10)
Author: Lieutenant Johnathan Valdago
Stardate: 2460477-60496
Earthdate: June 23-30, 2383
Location: USS Virgo

June 23, 2383

The half-Kirusan spoke up. "Captain, this system is populated. I'm sensing warp signatures. And, I've got a Class M planet."

"Well, bring us in a little closer, K'Lara." The half-Tellarian maneuvered the huge ship like it was on rails. Without discomforting anyone, the ship made a stop and a sharp turn then headed in its new direction. "Do we have a visual at all, Mr. Valdago?"

"I've got the planet, and some ships orbiting it.

"On screen."

The screen in front of the bridge changed from the normal space view showing a small speck of a sun to a close up of the planet. It was very busy with activity. Ships were moving everywhere. "Captain," announced the tactical officer, Richard Wallace. "We are being hailed."

"Bring it up," said the Captain as he stood to address who ever it was that wished to speak with him.

On the monitor screen a man appeared. He was short and squat. He was also familiar. "Captain Maruu, I'm so happy to see you and your crew again." The man smiled as two women were massaging his back.

Maruu also smiled. He remember his friend from a month earlier. Throgg was the governor of a peaceful civilization that was the first to *help* the *Virgo* in a long time. They had met when *Virgo* was looking to see who made a warp signature. They had been in need of some simple supplies, and the *Virgo* helped them with their simple request. They in return gave the crew some jewelry which had no value other that sentimental since it was made of gold and other non-precious metals. Maruu had refused payment but the Throgg (an odd tradition of the people was to rename themselves to match their leader) had been very adamant. Maruu wore one of the necklaces to remind him that not everyone was trying to kill him.

"I see you still have my necklace. I'm glad you like it."

"Yes, thank you. What brings you out this far from home?"

"VACATION! What brings you here?"

"Your hail. What did you want to speak to us about?"

"Well, let me tell you." He snapped his fingers and the two girls massaging him walked away. "We had a fairly dry summer and are short on food for the winter. We need some help."

"Sure, let me check with my first officer on our supply situation." Maruu leaned over to Lataro who began punching up the conversion charts on his PADD.

"We need 40 K'thraps of grain to last us our winter." Lataro punched in the numbers. When the amount of cubic tons that was equal to 40 K'thraps appeared Lataro looked up at Stephen who was dumb founded. Lataro tried the numbers again. The same answer appeared.

"Maruu stood up. Well, Throgg, we'd love to help you but even if we dumped all our personnel, the *Virgo* couldn't even hold that much grain."

"Well," Throgg announced with a huge roar of laughter emerging from his gut, "I didn't expect you to give us all of it. We're simply scraping resources from all our know allies. Can you spare any?"

Maruu conferred with Lataro. "I believe we can help you with an eighth of a K'thrap. It doesn't seem to even dent your need."

Then Lataro got an idea. "Sir, if I may?"

Maruu nodded his head. He knew that Lataro was probably thinking of a great plan, as always.

"On my planet we have a saying: 'Give a man a fish and he eats for a day; teach him to fish and he eats for a lifetime.'"

Throgg was silent. If he had been a Vulcan his eyebrow would have jumped off his forehead with confusion. "Mr. Lataro? What's a fish?"

"That's not the point. Basically what I'm thinking is this: our botanists have grain samples from all over the galaxy. I'm sure they have something that will grow in Throgg's winter climate. We can give him a sample and with some training we can make sure his people know how to reproduce and cultivate it."

Maruu liked what he heard. It utilized even less resources that giving them a minuscule portion of what they needed. "How long would it take for our botanist team to show the Throgg what they needed to know?"

"Not too long. A few days maybe."

"That gives me an idea," Throgg said. If you don't mind, Captain, I can arrange to give you and your first officer a week long vacation on the planet. The pleasures are uncountable."

Maruu thought about it for a while, as did Lataro. They of course planned on refusing. "I'm afraid, sir, that we can't accept. We aren't here to trade for profit."

"Well, in that case, I'll make it a week vacation for *five* crew members! Now I won't accept the grain unless you take payment. Every time you refuse you'll get five more tickets. What'll it be?"

Maruu was left with no option. "I accept the five weeks. Thank you. As soon as you and your botanists are ready hail us and we'll beam them over."

"Good, good. Same for you. As soon as you choose the five crew members beam them down. I'll see you soon." And with that, Throgg was gone. Now Maruu had to decide who went and who stayed.

"Mr. Lataro, make the arrangements, I need to pick the other four crewmembers that will accompany you to the surface." Maruu began heading for his ready room.

"Sir," interrupted his first, "with all do respect, I would like to stay here. I've got a newborn, and I could never go without K'Lara. I don't want you playing favorites with such a big decision." In a way Lataro didn't mean a word of it, but he did prefer to stay with his family.

"Well, in that case, I grant you and K'Lara officially on leave tomorrow. Holodeck One is yours all day. Thank you for your selflessness." That made Lataro happy he made the decision he did. On the holodeck he could take his whole family to a pleasure planet (as fake as it might be).

It also gave Valdago an idea. "Sir, if Holodeck Two is still open I'd volun..."

Maruu cut him off. "Don't even think about it, Lieutenant." He walked into his ready room. He moved to his desk and sat down. First he punched up the crew roster. Hundreds of names began to fly by. He had no idea how to start. "Computer, I need to pick five crewmembers to go on a week long trip on the planets surface. Any suggestions?"

<Searching. Only 78 members of the *Virgo* crew have that many days of shore leave available.>

Maruu couldn't believe it. An obvious start. "Computer, erase Stephen Maruu, Jonathan Lataro, and K'Lara Lataro from that list." The captain thought a bit more. Seniority. "Computer, remove anyone with rank less than full lieutenant, or a rank comparative to that in the case of NCOs from the list. How many does that leave?"

<Computing. Thirteen.>

That was a damn good start. "Computer, randomly choose five of those crewmembers to be the lucky ones. Don't inform me until I request the information. Oh, and have those 13 officers report to the DEL." Maruu headed there himself. As he walked onto the bridge he noticed that Valdago, Wallace and Benton were heading to the turbolift.

Valdago had a grin on his face. He knew what this was about. "So, it's us four and who else," Valdago said.

"First of all, I'm definitely not going. Second of all, it's a random choice between you thirteen others. Good luck." They all entered the turbolift.
__________________________________________

It didn't take long before Dana Maruu, Garek Loran, Johnny Chee, Sandra Yosh, Jenara Tomme, and various others got to the DEL. Maruu informed them of the situation. They all began looking around. Each of their odds weren't even half. "Computer, begin reading of the five names one at a time."

The group applauded. Yosh let out a little squeak.

Johnny really hadn't been expecting to hear his name at all. The others applauded, which made him a little embarrassed. "It's not like *I* did anything."

Valdago patted his friend on the back. Again, the crowd applauded.

"YES!!!" He jumped into the air and smacked his skull into the bulkhead. He fell to the floor with a horrendous thud. He stood up slowly holding his head. "You and me Garek, you and me!" Garek was smiling until he noticed the evil glares the two were getting. Something told the rest that it was an amazing coincidence that those two best friends both were picked. No one applauded.

This time all applauded. Everyone knew how much work she put in and thought she deserved a break. "All right," announced Maruu. Those lucky five, get packed, you leave in two hours. The rest of you, I'll see to it that you all get some extra time off this week. Wallace, Benton, meet me in my quarters tonight at 2100 hours. It looks like you me and Lataro got some poker to play. And Benton, don't forget to bring the sucker."

"Right," Benton agreed, "I'll see to it that Sitto comes with." Most of the crew had already started heading back to work. Chee, Garek, Valdago, and Yosh were racing to their quarters to get ready. Dana stayed behind.

"This isn't right, Stephen. We're married, we shouldn't spend this whole week apart." She grabbed him around the waist.

"Now, now, Babe. You deserve it. Plus, I have to win back four slips of latinum from Benton. Go, enjoy yourself."

"No, I couldn't."

"That's an order, Lieutenant. Don't make me have Yosh give you a medical examination to prove your sanity. We could use a
little vacation from each other. We both need it now and then."

Dana was quiet for a while. "I guess you're right. I'll go."

"That's why I get paid the big bucks."

"Who are you kidding?" added Dana as she headed for the door. "You don't get paid. And by the way, it's Lieutenant *Commander*." The captain smiled as she left the room. Outside the door, Dana quietly screamed a big "Yes!" and she ran off to her quarters. Even with the doors closed, Stephen knew exactly what happened.
__________________________________________

The planet was everything that Throgg had said and more. The two women enjoyed beautifying mud baths and facials, the men enjoyed hot tubs and beautiful sites. There was plenty of oxygen, food, trees, and best of all, women.

"It's a good thing Lataro declined this trip," said Valdago as his head turned with his eyes locked on another beauty.

"I know," said Garek, looking at another. "All of this would have been a waste on a married man."

"How true, how true," said Chee as his gaze was also distracted.

"Everything here is great," Valdago stated. "All except those two horrifically ugly beasts headed this way," he yelled quite louder than necessary. Garek and Chee got the hint. They turned to look at the two women in robes that were approaching the hot tubs. "My lord, I'm being blinded! AAAAAAAAH!"

"Very funny," Sandra Yosh said as she got close enough to speak. She and Dana were wearing short robes and their faces were covered in a green mud that was suppose to remove wrinkles. What are those hot tubs suppose to do to you?"

"Relax us," said Garek. "It's working too, look at all those bubbles." Garek's face turned into that of a five-year-old who knew he had just done something bad.

"You boys are disgusting," said Dana as she sat down on a bench. The three men looked at each other as if they had been offended, then, simultaneously, they looked at the to women and grinned acknowledgment.

"So," said Yosh as she leaned over the edge of Valdago's tub. "What are you boys wearing under all those bubbles?"

"Just our smiles, care to see?" answered Chee.

"It's a good thing we aren't in uniform, young man, or I'd have to press charges," the CMO told him.

"So, Sandra, under that frog face what kind of face are you wearing?" Valdago questioned.

"A beautiful princess, kiss me and see." Sandra moved in close and offered a big old puckered face. Then, to the amazement of all, the Russian/Kirusan stood up, picked up the medical officer and kissed her. Then he pulled her into the hot tub with him.

"It's a *real* good thing we're doctors, or we'd be seeing something for the first time."

"Speak for yourself," Garek said as he shielded his eyes. Chee had dunked his head under the water.

"Don't worry, Garek," said Sandra as she sat down, "you're at least five yards away. You wouldn't be *able* to see anything." All laughed accept Chee who had just emerged from the water and of course, Johnathan who didn't find the joke funny at all.
__________________________________________

June 30, 2383

On board the *USS Virgo*, Intelligence Officer Alysa Sinclair was having a conversation with her commander. Not the commander of the ship, but *her* commander. Luther Sloan.

"Is everything ready?" he asked her.

"Yes, I've got someone installing the 'mirror' right now."

"And you've adjusted it to the settings I gave you?"

"Yes, of course, although I'm not sure what the plan is."

"Well, I'll tell you when the time is right. Jacobsen is a promising young agent. He won't fail you."

"Yes, sir. Sinclair out." She turned off the com panel. *It's begun.*
__________________________________________

Antilles and Jacobsen were working on the transporter. They had been getting some odd readings from it and had taken the thing apart trying to find it. Without Garek it would probably never be fixed.It was probably a noisy conduit out of alignment, but there were so many that it was just near to impossible to find the one that was faulty. Luckily, a transporter had enough back ups that nearly half of conduits could go out before it failed.

[Maruu to Antilles and Jacobsen. How's it going down there?]

"Ohay," said Antilles, "I have to admit that I don't think we'll find it until Garek gets back."

[Well, they're ready to beam up. So get ready.]

Antilles moved to the transporter panel. She began to operate the machine. It began humming, and five forms began to appear on the transporter pad.

Suddenly the five forms disappeared. "Oh, hell!" yelled Antilles.

"What happened?" asked Jacobsen.

"I don't know, I just lost their patterns. Hold on." She began working the controls again. A very short time later the five forms reappeared. They started to fade and reappear. Finally, Jacobsen ran over and tried something. It seemed to work. The five forms finally materialized. That's when the controls shorted out. Both Antilles and Jacobsen were thrown to the floor as fire covered the panels. The fire went out quickly but the room was filled with fog.

"Vut da hell is going on here. Are you *trying* to kill us?"

"Sorry, sir," said Antilles as she stood up. She couldn't see a thing. "There was a power fluctuation. We weren't able to find it."

"That's okay," said Garek. We all made it back."

"Shut up, Garek. They need to be put in the brig with these two." Johnny Chee was motioning to the females. The smog began to clear.

"Admiral Valdago to Admiral Maruu. Could you get some real engineers vorking on dis ship? I'm sick of dis crap."

[Excuse me? What's going on down there?]

The smog cleared up and Antilles and Jacobsen got their first glimpse of the five. Dana and Sandra were in tattered rags with bruises and scars all over their bodies. Johnny Chee was dressed in an odd, very militaristic uniform. Garek looked normal, but Valdago...

He was fully Human.

Jacobsen reported to his commanding officer. "Captain, we have a problem."

Title: "The Switch" (Part 2 of 10)
Author: Lieutenant Johnathan Valdago
Stardate: 2460496
Earthdate: June 30, 2383
Location: Alternate USS Virgo

Valdago, Chee, and Loran walked through the forest. They had found what they were hunting for and now had to take their prey down.

"Chee, you and Loran cover da back, I'll attack from da front. Don't do anyting unless and until someting happens. Got it?"

The two nodded in agreement of the Russian's orders. Admiral Valdago headed one way and the other two went another. It wasn't long before Valdago got to a large clearing where a small village was built. He heard screams from a smaller tent. He knew that was where he was heading. He began to sneak around.

>From one tent to the next, the young admiral made his way to the tent. It seemed as if the entire town had been abandoned, *or something worse with those two around*, he thought. As he got closer and closer
the screams grew in volume. Finally Valdago had reached his target, and he moved to the flap of animal hide that was used for a door. He pulled out his phaser and set it for stun. He was ordered to return the criminals for trial. Suddenly the screams stopped.

He stood up, walked in front of the door. In one quick motion he jumped into the tent, rolled across the room, took cover behind a cabinet and pulled his phaser out.

"All right, ladies, stop right now! I've got you!"
_______________________________________

"QUICKLY," the doctor yelled to her slave.

"He's kicking, can't we put him under first?" asked the giant.

"Just do as she says, or you'll be next," said another doctor.

Reluctantly Neo kept dragging. The man he had in his hands resisted furiously. He did everything he could: kicked, tried jumping, everything but screaming since his mouth had been gagged. The two doctors went into a tent they had their equipment in and Neo followed, dragging their patient with him.

The man was thrown onto a large table. The doctor turned on some lights overhead to make it a bit easier to see. Neo ripped the tape off of the man's mouth. He immediately screamed.

"NO! Please! Stop!" he yelled, begging for his life.

"Now, now, Throgg, you know better than that. Your screaming only makes it loud in here."

"But, Dana!"

She cut him off. "That's Doctor Nori to you. Please, try again."

"Doctor Nori!"

"Now me," added Sandra.

"Doctor Yosh!"

"That's better. See how easy it is. Now, we'll restrain you to the table and take out your liver." She strapped him down as Neo kept him down.

"Dana," inquired Sandra, "I thought we were taking his lungs?"

"Lungs, liver, what's the difference? Take em all. Grab the kidneys while we're at it. Maybe a heart or two."

"I know we have a buyer for the lungs, the kidney is a pretty universal organ, but how many of Throgg's people will pay for a heart or liver?"

"That's not the point. Throgg stopped paying to keep his organs, so now we get them. It's kinda like rent, except we never owned them in the first place. And as far as this whole, 'no buyer' thing is concerned, I always said, 'Waste not, want not.' I still live by that rule." She picked up a laser scalpel and set it up for the first incision. Yosh attached a mechanism of Nori's design that kept the patient's eyelids open and applied water drops to the patients eyes so that they wouldn't dry up.

"What are you doing?"

"You wanna watch don't you?" Nori began to make a cut.

"What about anesthesia?" he pleaded.

"You just wanna spoil all the fun, don't you? Well, how much you got? Obviously you don't have the hundred or you wouldn't be on this table. But, for a percentage, say fifty I'll put you under."

"I've only got about twenty!"

Dana turned her head in disgust. "For twenty? No way. Maybe I'll let you close your eyes, but that's pushing it." She began to cut. The laser scalpel seared into Throgg's chest. He screamed, the pain was indescribable. She had adjusted the laser so that it would only cut, but not work on the nerves. Most scalpels cauterized and numbed so that the pain wasn't too strong, but Nori had figured a way around that.

"I'LL GIVE YOU EVERYTHING THAT I HAVE! THE TWENTY, MY HOME, MY BUSINESS!"

"I want your seat. Make me governor and I'll not only give you anesthetic, but maybe I'll only take one heart, a lung, and kidney. You know, let you live." She had been hoping for this moment ever since she started charging him a monthly fee to keep his organs three years ago. She had recently raised the cost to speed it up.

"ANYTHING! JUST LET ME LIVE!"

"Fine, it's a deal. I'll take your kidneys and in exchange, you get me your seat as governor. I don't really care how you do it, bribes, murder, whatever. But know this: Fail me," she said and paused. It seemed as if somehow, someway, the man's eyes opened even more, "and I'll find your daughter. Then, as a bit of acid liquefies your inner organs, I'll have Neo here make sure your only little girl never has a child.

Neo smiled for a quick second at that though. Throgg's daughter was the most beautiful woman on the planet. Then, after thinking about the pain he would cause, and how rough it would be, he knew that raping a woman to near death wouldn't be fun at all. In fact, it would be more work than Neo thought he could manage. Not to mention he would most likely be forced to kill himself if he committed such a gruesome act. He prayed at that second that Throgg completed his task; he had no desire to do what would be asked of him otherwise, and he knew that Nori always made good on promises. Always.

Sandra Yosh got a hypospray ready. She took the eyelid mechanism off of Throgg who immediately closed his eyes. Yosh injected him with the anesthesia. He happily went under.

Nori was just about to start cutting again when a figure jumped through the door. A man rolled to safety behind a cabinet. Nori and Yosh dove to the floor. Yosh sat there for a second wondering where to go, but Nori was already crawling for the back of the tent.

Valdago brought his phaser and head out around the cabinet. "All right, ladies, stop right now! I've got you!" He saw only a huge giant standing with his arms in the air and governor Throgg lying on the operating table unconscious. The giant motioned to Valdago that someone was right next to him. Valdago began to slowly move that way. As he got closer, the woman jumped up. She held a laser scalpel in her hands. Valdago was caught off guard, and Sandra fired the scalpel. At that range its power was very low, but the cut on his hand forced him to drop his phaser.

Yosh began to run for the door as Valdago grabbed his hand. But, as she passed Neo he extended an arm and clotheslined her. She fell to the ground gasping for breath. Valdago picked up the hypospray. He walked towards Yosh who was attempting to get her breath as she crawled to the entrance. Valdago gave her a swift kick in the gut and she curled into a ball. Valdago kneeled down and picked her head up by the hair. Fear was in her eyes.

"I guess you aren't dat important to Starfleet. For your sake, I hope dis is an anesthetic." He injected her with the hypospray, and she went under.

"Please," said the giant. "I helped you; let me go."

"Frankly, I don't care vut you do. Just let dat man keep his organs or vee'll be back for you."

Valdago threw the limp woman over his shoulders and walked out to find what happened to Nori.
_______________________________________

On board the *USS Virgo*, Intelligence officer Alysa Sinclair was having a conversation with her commander. Not the commander of the ship, but *her* commander. Luther Sloan.

"Is everything ready?" he asked her.

"Yes, I've got someone installing the 'mirror' right now."

"And you've adjusted it to the settings I gave you?"

"Yes, of course, although I'm not sure what the plan is."

"Well, if you needed to know I'd tell you. Just make sure Jacobsen does his job right. We can't afford any mistakes."

"Yes, sir. Sinclair out." She turned off the com panel. *I wonder what this is all about?*
_______________________________________

Nori could hear Valdago going to get Yosh as she crawled out of the tent. She squeezed her head and arms under the tent and looked at her surroundings. Unfortunately for her, it was Garek Loran and Johnny Chee.

"Hello, bitch," Johnny told her. His foot came down on her face. He began to dig her face in the dirt. He picked his foot back up and Garek helped him drag her the rest of the way out. Garek pulled out his phaser.

"Now we wait for the Admiral."

"Hell no, now we have fun." He kicked her again. Then he crouched next to her. Her face had dirt and grass on it. Johnny brushed off her face. "Sorry about that. Let me help." He dragged his tongue across her lips and left cheek. She winced as his saliva covered her mouth.

"Come on, Johnny, stop," implored Garek.

"Hey, I don't care if you do outrank me. I could still kill you without trying," said the marine. He took a knife from his boot and began to cut Nori's clothing away. She began to slap his hands away but she hit the knife and slit her hands open. Johnny sat on top of her and held her hands down. "Now I'll show you what we do to
criminals."

Just then Valdago walked around the corner with Yosh on his shoulders.

"Damn it, Johnny! Get the hell up." The young marine looked at the Admiral. For a second he didn't plan on moving. He looked at Garek for help but got none. He returned his gaze to Valdago but saw only a boot. Valdago jumped down and placed his knee on Johnny's back. He pulled his arms behind his back and yelled in his ear.

"YOU DO NOT, EVER, EVER, CONTRADICT MY ORDERS! IS DAT CLEAR, YOU LITTLE SHIT?"

"Yes, sir," the marine replied.

Valdago spit in his face and stood up. "Now pick dat ting up and lets get out of here." He walked back to Yosh and stood her upright. Apparently there hadn't been much anesthetic left since she was starting to gain consciousness. The Admiral pulled out a communicator.

"Admiral Valdago to *Virgo*."

[Admiral Maruu here. Do you have them?]

"Affirmative. Target apprehended. Beam us aboard."

[All right. We'll see you soon.]
_______________________________________

Antilles and Jacobsen were working on the transporter. They had been getting some odd readings from it and had taken the thing apart trying to find it. Without Garek it would probably never be fixed. It was probably a noisy conduit out of alignment, but there were so many that it was just near to impossible to find the one that was faulty. Luckily, a transporter had enough back ups that near half of conduits could go out before it failed.

[Maruu to Antilles and Jacobsen. How's it going down there?]

"Okay," said Antilles, "I have to admit that I don't think we'll find it until Garek gets back."

[Well, get ready, their ready to beam up. So get ready.]

Antilles moved to the transporter panel. She began to operate the machine. It began humming, and five forms began to appear on the transporter pad.

Suddenly the five forms disappeared. "Oh, hell!" yelled Antilles.

"What happened?" asked Jacobsen.

"I don't know, I just lost their patterns. Hold on." She began working the controls again. After a very short time the five forms reappeared. They started to fade and reappear. Finally Jacobsen ran over and tried something. It seemed to work. The five forms finally materialized. That's when the controls shorted out. Both Antilles and Jacobsen were thrown to the floor as fire covered the panels. The fire went out quickly but the room was filled with fog.

"That was close. Almost died after a great vacation."

"Sorry, sir," said Antilles as she stood up. She couldn't see a thing. "There was a power fluctuation. We weren't able to find it."

"That's okay," said Garek. We all made it back."

"Yeah, just get it right next time." Johnny Chee was more afraid than he let on. The smog began to clear.

"Lieutenant Valdago to Captain Maruu. Did you miss us?"

[Excuse me? What's going on down there?]

The smog cleared up, and Antilles and Jacobsen got their first glimpse of the five. Dana and Yosh weren't even in shackles. Instead they both wore small swimsuits. Yosh was hanging on to something's arm. Chee was
dresses in an pair of light pants and had no shirt on. Garek wore something similar. Valdago was no where to be seen. Instead there stood a giant bluish creature with...

"Oh my God!," Antilles said. "Is that you Admiral Valdago?"

"Of course it's me. Except for the title." Then he thought for a moment. *Actually, Admiral Valdago? I like that.*

Jacobsen reported to his commanding officer. "Admiral, we have a problem."

Title: "The Switch" (Part 3 of 10)
Author: Lieutenant Johnathan Valdago
Stardate: 2460496
Earthdate: June 30, 2383
Location: USS Virgo

Sitto Lan, Benton, Maruu, Lataro, and Wallace were in the captain's ready room.

"I think it's obvious we're dealing with an alternate reality here. The question is, which one?" Maruu brought the question to his officers hoping, but not expecting an answer.

"It isn't the same one I encountered, sir," said Benton. "From the small amount of information I got, mostly from Loran, they have had no dealings with the Kelvans since James T. Kirk first contacted them."

"Sitto," asked Lataro, "you served on DS9, right?"

"Yes, sir."

"Did you have any dealings with the alternate reality that was common to affect those officers?"

"Actually, sir, no. Only one attempt from the other reality to infiltrate DS9 was made while I was there. But, from what I was briefed on, this is not in any way that reality."

"Well," said Maruu, "does anyone have any ideas?"

"About which reality it is?" asked the chief tactical officer.

"On anything. I hate to admit, but I don't have a single clue as to our next move."

"Well," Lan said, "the transporter modifications were based on what time our reality and their reality separated. The captain can get access to the plans and then we simply need to discover the time when the two realities split."

"Get some historians on that. We'll try and figure out which of the alternates can help us the most."

"Sir, I have a question," Lan said. "They all have the same ranks, except for *Admiral* Valdago. Do they serve about our vessel, if so, under which rank?"

"No, they cannot serve as officers. To do so would be a major risk of security. We don't know what values, if any, they have."

"Agreed," nodded the captain. "I think for now, until we can figure something better out, we need to keep a good watch on them and try to get as much info as possible. Benton, do you think that it's okay to release them from quarters?"

The Kelvan thought for a while. It was a tough choice. "No, not at all. They could be very dangerous." He paused. "But, I don't think that we can learn anything from keeping them locked up. Therefore, we *have* to let them out, even if it is a bad idea."

"Except," added Lan, "for Dana and Sandra."

Maruu was taken aback. He hadn't expected that.

"In fact," the young man offered, "I think we need to place them both in the brig as Admiral Valdago suggested."

Maruu blew up, a rare thing to happen. "MY WIFE WILL NOT SPEND..."

"He's right, Stephen." Maruu stopped as his First Officer and best friend Jonathan Lataro spoke up. "She's not your wife. She's Dana Nori. All we know is that she has been accused of stealing organs from *living* patients for sale on black markets. Now, true or not, that's a pretty big risk to run. Do you really think they'd let our Lieutenant Valdago run around in their world? They won't take chances and neither should we. As sad as it is to admit, we must consider guilty until proven innocent and we must fear what we don't know."

Maruu was silent. In his heart he knew Jon was right. He needed to protect his ship, not a carbon copy of his wife. "Agreed. Place the two in the brig. Minimum security should do. Make sure they're as comfortable as possible."

"Do you wish for me to question them?" asked Wallace.

"No, I need you to keep an eye on Garek Loran. Benton, you watch Chee; Lataro, you watch our friend the Admiral. I'll ask the questions.
_________________________________________

Garek Loran was waiting in his quarters. Well, not *his* quarters, but some guest quarters that he was given. The door chimed.

"Come in."

Richard Wallace entered. "Excuse me, but the captain's decided that you can leave your quarters now."

"It's about time. Tell me, is the library here in the same place as it is on *my* Virgo?"

"I wouldn't know. I've never been there."

"Where, *my* Virgo or the library?" said Loran with a smile.

Wallace actually smiled a bit himself. "Well, neither. Why do you need to go there?"

"Well, I've been thinking, and if we can determine the time at which our two realities split, I may be able to get home."

Wallace was stunned. "Well, that sounds like a good idea." *I may as well get started. He's willing to help,* thought Wallace. The two of them headed for the library.
_________________________________________

Jonathan Lataro walked down the corridor to Admiral Valdago's guest quarters. He wasn't sure he liked the idea of Valdago being an Admiral. *He'd probably be Starfleet's Head of Partying.

He stood in front the door and waited for Valdago to answer, but there was no answer.

"Computer, open door." The door opened, and Lataro walked into the empty room. *Next time an alternate version of somebody shows up, I'm locking the door.* "Computer, locate Admiral Valdago."

*Silly me, where else would Head of Partying go?* Lataro made his way to the nearest turbolift.
_________________________________________

Benton was following Chee down the corridor.

"Exactly why do you insist on following me?"

"Exactly why do you insist on wandering the halls with no apparent destination."

The two walked for another few minutes in silence. Chee walked up halls, down halls, in turbolifts, and everywhere.

"You know," said Benton, "I've noticed that you have really high collars in your reality. I wonder why that is?"

Chee stopped, turned, and faced Benton for the first time. "Why are yours so damn short?"

The two stood and stared at each other for what seemed to Benton to be an eternity. Finally, Chee turned and started walking.

Benton asked, "Are we going to walk in circles forever?"

"Well, let's go past the bathrooms a few more times. Maybe we can stop and visit your mother."

Benton shook his head at the confusing comment and followed Chee.
_________________________________________

Sinclair read the confidential reports that she didn't have access to.

"Computer, open channel to Officer 003, authorization Sinclair Alpha Two Omega."

<Authorized. Channel open.>

Luther Sloan appeared on the screen. "Hello, Alysa. Is it done?"

"Yes," Sinclair answered. "We have crewmembers from a different reality."

Sloan was silent.

"What should I do?"

"Nothing. Everything is going according to plan. Just sit back and enjoy the show."
_________________________________________

Admiral Valdago was sitting in the Day's End Lounge. He was sipping, a loose term for a Russian, on a glass of Vodka. He was staring out the windows watching the stars fly by.

Jonathan Lataro entered from the other side. He noticed Valdago and began heading towards him. Before he got within fifteen feet he was started by the Admiral's voice.

"Is dere someting I can do for you, Mr. Lataro?" He didn't turn around.

"I was just coming to say hi."

"Then say it and be on your vay."

Lataro stood motionless for a few seconds. Valdago wouldn't even turn to look at him. And, he wasn't sure how he knew it was him. "Hi," was all he managed to get out. He turned and started to walk away.

"You know vut's wrong vith you, Lieutenant?" Valdago had turned around at the same time that Lataro did. Lataro turned back and looked into Valdago's deep eyes. Either Lataro didn't remember those eyes from
before the *accident*, or the Johnathan Valdago he knew didn't have them. Either way, they frightened him, a little.

"In this reality, I'm a Commander."

Valdago looked at the man. Contempt was on his face. "I understand." He repeated, "Do you know vut's wrong vit you, *Lieutenant*?"

"What?"

"Your problem is dat you're less trust worthy dan a Romulan. At least you can count on a Romulan's honor."

Lataro now looked at the man with equal contempt. He wasn't insulted often. "Romulans have no honor."

Valdago laughed as he stood up. He took a large drag from a cigar that he had been smoking. *Odd that a Starfleet man smokes in these days,* thought Lataro.

"Exactly," said Valdago as he walked face to face with Jonathan. The scene had caught the attention of the entire room. "At least you know never to trust a Romulan, in dat vay day are trustvorthy. You always know vut to expect. But, vit you, you newer know ven a knife vill appear in your back." He took another very large drag form the cigar and blew the smoke directly in Lataro's face.

Lataro tried not to cough; he tried to keep his dignity. He was able to control his body and no one in the lounge saw the pain on his face, but Valdago could see Lataro beginning to gag. He waited until he could see the tears in Lataro's eyes. Then he walked out of the room, disposing of his cigar in a young ensign's drink.
_________________________________________

Garek Loran and Richard Wallace entered the ship's library. After the short walk Wallace's gut told him to trust this man. He seemed very much like the Loran that he knew. Seconds after entering the library, they bumped into Franny.

"Hi Rich, hi Garek. Well, not Garek really. I'm mean your name is Garek but you're not *Garek*, you know."

"I think I understand. I've had the same feelings."

"What are you to doing here? Can I help with anything. I'm really in here quite a bit." It was obvious since her arms were full of pads.

"No thank you, Francesca," said Wallace. "We're fine."

"Actually," said Garek, "I'm looking for a good timeline. Could you help us?"

"Yes, you've certainly come to the right place. A timeline terminal is right over here." They began walking. "Tell me, you're an engineer, why do we have a library if we can access everything from any terminal?"

"Well, it's a simple matter of efficiency. The main computer could access everything all the time, but to be required to access all the material on this ship all the time would slow it down considerably. After all, it controls the gravity, the temperature, humidity, flies the ship, controls weapons and shields, sensors, keeps itself running, self diagnostics, analyzing data, controlling communications and makes sure the warp core stays stable. We don't need to give it any more to do if we don't need to."

"I guess that makes sense. Here we are." Franny sat down at the terminal, Garek pulled a chair nearby and Wallace continued to stand. "Where would you like to start?"

Garek looked over at Wallace with a blank look. "I'm not sure. We're looking for a specific event in time that I don't recall."

"How long ago?"

Garek again was quiet. Wallace spoke up. "It would probably be fairly recently. Our uniforms are generally the same, except the collars, and it doesn't seem that too much is different, accept for Johnathan Valdago. I guess we know to start before. When did Valdago become half-Kirusan?"

"Um, let me check." Francessca began working with the terminal. "Stardate 59622."

"All right, start 50 years before that." Francesca again began to work with the terminal. The three of them began looking.
_________________________________________

The captain entered the brig. He noticed the two doctors in their separate cells. He then excused the security guard.

"Computer, open communications with cell one. Close communications with cell two unless emergency is detected."

<Acknowledged.>

Maruu walked up to the cell where a woman with the same features, looks, and DNA of his wife sat. But her name was still Dana Nori. Obviously they weren't married wherever she was from.

"So..."

"So what?" she replied.

"I'm not exactly sure why you're in the brig. I just know that Lieutenant, I mean, Admiral Valdago stated that it was necessary."

"He's probably right. Can I get some replicater control? I just want a cigarette."

"A what?" Maruu wasn't familiar with the term.

Dana just stared at him. "Obviously this Starfleet is a bigger bore than mine. Computer, can you make a me a cigarette?"

"Terran. Tobacco. Smokable stick filled with tar and nicotine."

"I've heard the lecture. Now please, give me one cigarette and one lighter. You do know what a lighter is don't you?"

She gave the captain a look that said, "I don't know you, I don't care about you, just give me what I want." He was so shocked that he allowed the replication without hardly thinking. After hearing the description he realized it was much like a cigar, but upon seeing it noted that it was much smaller.

"You know, the replicator can make something like that which won't give you the physical side effects."

"What would be the point?" she said as she lit it. Maruu noticed the smoke and turned the detectors in her cell off.

"I just thought that as a doctor," he thought for a moment. "You are a doctor, right?" She nodded in agreement. "Then you know about the side effects?"

"I also know that cancer isn't exactly incurable. I'll live. Don't I get a counselor or some sort of legal representation or something like that?" She laughed at the thought which to her was hilariously impossible. Maruu thought otherwise.

"If you wish I can swear in my first officer. He's the best I can do this far from the Alpha Quadrant."

"I knew there was a reason I worked out this far. No lawyers."

That was the lead in Stephen was waiting for. "Exactly what line of work are you in?"

She laughed and then looked at his quizzical face. "Oh yeah, you don't know." She was quiet for a moment as she thought about the implications of a confessions and then realized a tight ass like this guy would send her straight to Starfleet for a trial which might actually be fair in this universe. Those were better odds than Valdago
was going to offer.

"I sell organs on the black market."

The surprise on his face was easy to see. The thought of his wife doing something crooked was odd. "Where do you get them?" he asked, knowing the most likely answer.

"Where do you think? People."

"Dead?"

"Do you know how hard it is to find a healthy organ matching the one you need in a dead body that's not taken? Of course we take them from living bodies." Then she got a little carried away. "We have this great system, we find a ruler or someone, blackmail them for their own organs and then threaten to take them unless they give us some power on a major scale. It started out in this one little town where the leader gave us the rights to do whatever we wanted, but after we got the idea in our head... Did you know that we own the entire Risa system?"

That's when she noticed his face. It wasn't the surprise that he had before but a little awe and a little anger.

"So you own an entire solar system and you still do all the work yourself?"

"Well, I've got a team of people that run my various businesses and latinum laundering schemes, in fact, if they're loyal, they're working on closing some of the more risky ventures and getting some bounty hunters to find me. With all the money coming in I hardly have to do any work. I only make rounds reminding my customers that I'm still there and making special trips now and again. I just got control of Governor Throgg. He controls the entire Throgg system. That's about a dozen systems. To tell you the truth, it's been almost a year since I've actually sold any organs. I've taken a few to keep people in line, but I don't get enough money for my troubles."

Maruu was looking even angrier. But, in his mind he was going over how one woman could turn into the wife he knew, and the same woman, under different circumstances, could turn into this. "So, Starfleet is trying to take down the mob. And, they've finally caught up to you. Well, I guess when, and *if* you get back, that will all be gone."

"What are you talking about? Starfleet isn't arresting me for blackmail, laundering, bribery, or even organ theft."

The captain was surprised again. He had thought he figured it out.

"They're arresting me because I'm not paying my *taxes* on the money I make from blackmail, laundering, bribery, and organ theft."

Title: "The Switch" (Part 4 of 10)
Author: Lieutenant Johnathan Valdago
Stardate: 2460496
Earthdate: June 30, 2383
Location: Alternate USS Virgo

Admiral Maruu and Lieutenant Lataro were alone in the observation lounge. Lataro was standing, Maruu was sitting in his chair looking out the window, sipping on a drink.

"It's over. We're screwed. We have to abort, now!"

Maruu didn't move. He didn't speak.

"Hello, did you hear me?!" yelled Lataro.

"I heard you, I just wasn't listening."

"I said that we're screwed. It's all over. Without Valdago the plan may as well not exist."

"We still have Valdago, he's just..."

"A FREAK! The crew will never trust him now!"

"The crew will do what I tell them to. Half of us know the truth, the other have are inferior. And we only need to convince them for a few more hours, then he'll do the rest. We've got our finest set up for this. He's as good as you are worthless, which is almost infinite."

"Let's just push it up. We can do it right now. Why wait, why did we wait this long? It's crazy, let's just..."

Before he finished Maruu spun his chair around. With his right hand he threw his scalding hot drink into Lataro's face. As the lieutenant put his hands up to cover his burning face, Maruu threw the cup into his chest shattering the glass. Then as Lataro's hands moved again Maruu jumped the table and using his left hand picked up Lataro underneath the chin.

In a calm voice he began talking. "Now it's time for you to shut up. We will proceed as planned. And, for your pitiful memory's sake, we needed Valdago to capture Nori. After tonight he's going to loose some of that information. So, you go to the sickbay, get set up, and we'll see you at 2300 hours. I've got my own work to do. Do you understand?"

Lataro's face was turning deep purple, he tried to talk but had no air.

"Oh, I'm sorry, trouble speaking?" Maruu threw the man to the ground. "Get going, and don't let me see you until tonight."

Gasping for air, Lataro acknowledged and left the room.

"It's always something with that man."
____________________________________________

Down in the brig, Dana Maruu was crying. Lieutenant Yosh was holding her head.

"I can't believe this. Why are we down here? I don't get it."

"Calm down, it'll be fine. I'm sure they'll learn about the mistake and let us out."

Dana just wept. She was still weeping when Admiral Maruu walked in. Yosh shrugged Dana's head up and she immediately cheered up when she saw the alternate version of her husband. He dismissed the guard and
pulled a chair up to the force field.

"So, I understand you wanted to see me?" he said to the doctors.

Dana let out a sigh of relief. She could finally get free. Surely her Stephen would let her go.

"Yes, please, there's been some kind of mistake. We aren't the people you were looking for."

"But you certainly look like Dana Nori and Sandra Yosh. I believe that a DNA or retina scan would find the same." He voice hinted at condescension, Dana couldn't tell if he sincerely wasn't sure of the situation of if he was toying with them.

"We may in fact be Sandra Yosh and Dana Ma... Nori, but not the same ones you're looking for. I think there's been some sort of crossover between our world and yours."

"Geez! You think?" Now Dana knew it was condescension. "Well that would certainly explain the FREAK UP IN THE ADMIRAL'S QUARTERS, WOULDN'T IT?!?!?!"

Dana and Yosh were so surprised they actually stepped back.

"You know, I don't lose my cool very often but you two are just pathetic. The two doctors I know would have tried to kill me by now, you two probably couldn't kill and amoeba. Still follow the Hippocritic Oath?"

"Hippocratic," Yosh protested.

"Oh yes, sorry. But the point is that you two look like Dana Nori, sound like Sandra Yosh, and that's all I care about. This is all for the show. It's about theater, not punishment. I could care less if you two, sorry," he paused as he corrected himself, "your alternates stole an organ from some Rigilian diplomat. It really doesn't matter to me."

"Excuse me, this is the first I've heard of this."

"Well we weren't planning on informing you of what we knew you obviously knew. Of course, *you* two wouldn't. You see, you've been involved in a mafia so to speak. You threaten to steal organs from diplomats and high ranking officials, they in turn see to it that you get all the power and latinum you want. A good little scam, most of it's legit now. Nori and Yosh control entire solar systems. They make enough money to do just about anything. Starfleet isn't even charging you for organ theft, it's so minor a crime from you two that they don't care. We're getting you on tax evasion. You two owe us big time."

Dana looked at Yosh. They couldn't tell which was more surprising, the crimes that their alternated committed, or the one they were being tried for.

"Like I said, it really doesn't matter to me. I'm in it for the show. All of the little 'Save-the-Federationers' will love to see your execution. They'll love to see that the Federation is getting back to the good ol' days."

"I hardly call public execution 'good ol' days'," Yosh said.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Maruu questioned insincerely. He pulled out a control and with it lowered the field around the cell, then pulled out his phaser, shot Lietenant Yosh, and as quickly as he opened the cell, closed it. "Oops, wrong button."

"You're a sick man. You're nothing like the man I know."

"Do I give a shit? Sorry, I shouldn't use profanity in front of a woman like yourself. How would a doctor put it? 'Do I give a piece of fecal matter molded into a cylindrical shape by my anus?' Much better." He stood up. "Now wake that pathetic woman up. You two are going to face your death at midnight tonight. I'll see you in eleven
hours." He walked out of the room.

Dana looked and saw that Yosh was going to be fine, she didn't hit her head and was only stunned. Instead of seeing to her well being, she immediately worked on an escape plan. *A headache will be the least of her fears if we don't find a way out of here.*
____________________________________________

Lieutenant Valdago was sitting in the chambers of his Admiral counterpart. He saw uniforms with four pips. Something he never thought he'd see himself in. Of course, none would fit, after being partially assimilated into a Kirusan, he was a good eight inches taller and seventy pounds heavier.

He walked over to a table which had a picture viewer. He scrolled through pictures of himself. It had been a long time since he had seen the face that once belonged to him. *I wonder how my family will react.* It was the first time he had really pondered how he would be treated once he returned home. At one point, there were pictures of him and another woman. As the number of pictures increased, he began to get curious.

"Computer, who is the woman in these pictures?"

Valdago was surprised not only to find out that he had been married, and that she had died five years earlier, but that it was the same symbiote of his friend Lazarus Kox. *I guess this universe has some differences that aren't so obvious. Won't Lazarus be surprised about this when I return. If I return.*

"Computer, explain cause of death."

"Details."

"Was any action taken against Lataro?"

"By whom?"

"I'm an Admiral!"

Valdago was about to argue with the computer some more when his door chime alerted him that someone was at the door.

"Enter."

Admiral Maruu entered. "Good day, I see you've relaxed in your quarters."

"Let's not exchange false pleasantries. What's going on here?"

"I'm as stumped as you are. I've got my top science teams working on it, but it seems that you've been sent here from another universe. I'm sure the Valdago I know is busy in your world."

"I'm sure."

"But, you're right, let's skip the bull and cut to the chase. I'm here to offer you the position of Admiral."

"But I'm not an Admiral. I'm not even the same person. Don't you think your crew might notice?"

Maruu put his hands up to his face and exhaled. "Johnathan, I may call you Jonathan?" Valdago nodded. "Can we sit down?" The two walked over to a nearby couch. Valdago sat in the couch and Maruu pulled up a chair.

"I'm sure you've experienced deep space missions. I'm sure you know how importance moral is." Valdago agreed by nodding. "Then you understand that if we were to lose our commanding officer that a ship on the brink of mutiny may go crazy."

"Mutiny? Commanding officer?"

"Yes, your alternate was my superior officer, just by a few hours. And, yes, mutiny is the rumor that is spreading. You see, we've been searching for the renegades Sandra Yosh and Dana Nori for some time now. The crew is tired and wants to return. Now that we have them they are satisfied that they will return, but they need a leader to get them there."

"You do realize that the women you have that you think is Dana Nori is actually Dana Maruu, your alternate's wife?"

"Yes, I've spoken with her. And I know were you're going, but please, don't worry. We will take them back to Earth where they will be pardoned, seeing as they aren't who we know them as. But, our crew must not face that reality until we reach the Alpha Quadrant. Can I be honest?" Again, Valdago agreed with only a nod. "The crew isn't very fond of me. I'm a bit hard-handed and relentless. They believe in you. They trust you. If you were to be lost, I truly fear that the crew would mutiny. I need you, I need the Admiral, to get us home. Can you help?"

Valdago thought for a moment. The logic was there, but he wasn't sure about the protocol. "Isn't that against a few regulations?"

Maruu stood up and knocked the chair over. "Damn regulations! You taught me that sometimes regulations made by men at women sitting in the safety of Earth's Eden-esk atmosphere know nothing about running a
starship, and you were right!" He moved over and took a seat next to Valdago. "I need this. We need this. *Starfleet* needs this! Please, you're an officer, you know the importance. Help us get home."

Valdago's forced logic won. He knew that it might be a bit irregular, but the though of command for a year was very overwhelming. *Who knows, maybe I'll do such a good job that Starfleet will keep me Admiral and give me a ship, maybe the *Enterprise*!* "I'll do it."

"Grand!" Maruu stood up.

"But, how do we explain this?" Valdago stated as he stood up and looked down at Maruu.

"I've already covered that. We will explain that Dana used some sort of genetic weapon that made you change. Then we'll report that the CMO managed to stabilize your condition. I'm sure you can explain to Dana
what's happening and she'll agree."

Valdago thought about the women. "I'm afraid that she won't like me being an Admiral and her being a prisoner."

"Oh, don't worry about that, we'll just transport her home."

"From the Gamma Quadrant!"

"Sure, we've got the technology to send someone through relay stations. It's done only in extreme emergencies and must be ordered by top brass, but I'm sure they'll understand the importance, then she and Yosh will be on Earth and can start a new life for themselves."

That's the first time it really hit Valdago that he might be stuck here. He had relished in the idea of being and Admiral but had forgotten that this wasn't really his home, as much as it seemed like it. He knew that Dana and Yosh probably had known that since they stepped onboard.

"Okay, but I still want to try and find a way home."

"Of course, I wouldn't want anything but that to happen. Nothing personal, but I'm beginning to miss the old Russian. Now, feel free to order some clothes that will fit and put those pips on. Remember, you're an Admiral now." Maruu walked out of the room. Valdago walked over to the uniforms and took the pips off the collar.

"Computer," he said as he moved to the replicater, "Vodka, double." Immediately a shot glass appeared.

"Here's to getting what you wish for."
____________________________________________

Sinclair read the confidential reports that she didn't have access to.

"Computer, open channel to Officer 003, authorization Sinclair Alpha Two Omega."

<Authorized. Channel open.>

Luther Sloan appeared on the screen. "Is it done?" He was not one to make small talk.

"Yes," Sinclair answered. "We have crewmembers from a different reality." Sloan was silent. "What should I do?"

"Nothing. You will do nothing."
____________________________________________

Garek Loran was sitting in the quarters that belonged to his counterpart. They were, for the most part, the same as his at home. He was sitting in front of his computer console going over the history files. He knew that he should be doing this in the library, but he wanted to stay away from the crew as much as possible.

After a few hours of getting the database set up, he found that up until 50 years ago, everything seemed to be exactly the same. He had limited knowledge though since he wasn't a history buff and had to rely on the information on Betazed's history which wasn't too extensive in the earlier years. But, when he got to modern Starfleet history he began to notice the difference.

The first thing he noticed was just a *small* little difference between his universe and this one.

In this universe, the Federation barely existed. Most of it was destroyed during a civil war fifteen years earlier.
____________________________________________

Johnny Chee was heading down to see Dana Nori and Sandra Yosh. He knew that they were being held in the brig for some reason but wanted more information.

He had almost reached his destination when he fell to the floor, he reached around to his back and tried desperately to pull out a knife, but passed out before he could reach it.

BACK NEXT

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws