Everything is about to change...

Posted on Mon Jan 25, 2016 @ 9:13pm by Fleet Captain Rhea Kennit & Lieutenant Commander Miguel Torres & Lieutenant Nicole Anderson & Lieutenant AJ Taggart & Lieutenant AJ Taggart

5,613 words; about a 28 minute read

Mission: The Fall
Location: USS Victory

Captain's Ready Room

1341 hours

Throughout the day, the Captain had remained silent but clearly on edge. Something was bothering her, but she gave no indications as to just what that something might be. She'd declined breakfast and lunch as well, drinking several cups of coffee but little else.

She had also insisted on repeated series of high-resolution scans, searching for tetryon radiation or indications of tachyon pulses in the sector around them as the Victory cruised at warp towards it's scheduled rendezvous with a Federation cargo transport, the MS Cortana, which had agreed to take on the survivors of Abora Colony and get them started on their way back home. Victory was not equipped for civilians, or children. The sooner they were off her ship.. the better!

Having civilians aboard made the Captain nervous. They were untrained, unfamiliar with starship operations and posed a danger to themselves and to her crew.

And she couldn't shake the feeling that something was happening.. just out of sensor range.. something that would put her ship and her crew into serious danger..

Standing in her Ready Room, the Captain stood gazing out through the viewport at the passing stars.. all too certain that the appearance of quiet beauty was deceiving..

Satisfied that they were leaving the planet and maintaining a sensor sweep. Alec stood outside Rhea's Ready Room. He jabbed at the chime wishing access to the room and her. He wanted to know what she knew.

The doors parted, accompanied by the Captain's voice calling out "Enter".

Alec stepped through the doors and came to stand in front of her desk. "We've left the system and are proceeding en route to meet the USS Serling at our current speed we'll meet up with them in 6 hours." He reported formally.

She nodded, not taking her eyes from the stars visible outside the viewport. "Very good. The sooner we hand them safely off and they get out of this area..the better." She did turn then, "Has there been any changes in the sensor sweeps? Any unusual readings.."

"No changes captain and no unusual readings. We'll still monitoring them as you ordered."

"Continue the sensor scans." she told him. "I don't want ..." She stopped. Then said, "We're at the edges of where Federation vessels have traveled. Better safe than sorry.."

"Yes Captain." A pause and then he spoke again. "What do you know that you aren't you telling me Rhea?" he pressed.

"There is something happening.. I know it." she told him. "I don't know what.. but they are out there. I heard them .. " she stopped short, suddenly realizing what she'd said.

Alec caught what Rhea said. "Who did you hear Rhea?" he asked softly wanting her to reveal what she knew of her own volition. "Rhea, what is it?"

She didn't answer.

"Captain?" he prodded, "I should know whatever it is you know. So we both have the same information and I can offer informed opinions."

She did look at him then, turning away from the window with a fluid motion. "There are Borg somewhere near this part of space. Though they were not responsible for what happened at Abora. They are none the less on the move.. The scans I have ordered are searching for indicators of a Borg vessel moving through a transwarp conduit. To give us as much warning as possible.." Silently, she thought :: Though it will be of little help against them should they target us. ::

The Borg. The very words set Alec on edge. Set every nerve on high alert. "The Borg? How do you know? There haven't been any reports of anything even remotely hinting at Borg activity."

A muscle in her jaw twitched, she turned to face him fully. "I heard them. Distant. But unmistakable. A large number of Borg vessels.."

"You heard them? The only person I've ever heard of having sharing a connection with them was Capt. Picard after he was assimilated and then rescued by the crew of the Enterprise. How is it you can hear them?"

She just gazed back at him for a moment, waiting. Knowing he was smart enough to realize he'd already answered his own question.

He stood looking at her when the realization hit him. "You were assimilated! When? How? Why didn't you tell me?" He fired the questions off at her.

"During a point in my career where the details remain classified." she answered quietly. "During a combat situation, I was injured and believed to have been killed during the fight. The Borg ship we were fighting was severed from the Collective during the battle. I was not however, fortunate enough to have lost my life." As if to emphasis the point, she lifted her left hand slightly and flexed her fingers. From the middle and ring fingers of her hand, two assimilation tubes snaked out from her finger tips, flexed in the air and then retracted back leaving no trace of their existence within her arm. Not so much as a mark on the skin of her fingertips. For her, to finally flex and activate the Borg components in her arm after the remaining Borg systems within her had reactivated was a relief so intense it was nearly painful. "The only person aboard, other than now you, who is aware is of course, Dr. Anderson. By order of Admiral Bennett, that part of my history..shall we say.. is classified." In other words she was telling him, don't share.

Alec moved to a chair and collapsed into it. He stared at her, at what he had seen. Rhea had been assimilated! The knowledge scared him. Yet this was Rhea! The woman he loved. "Yet you were recovered and like Picard you were brought back. Also like him you share a connection." He looked at her left hand. "Your 'enhancements' have recently been reactivated. It's why you've been flexing your hand so much, Isn't it?" he then added, "Of course I'll keep your secret."

"The good Doctor in Sickbay is.. concerned unnecessarily by the reactivation of the nanites within my blood stream, and the remaining implants." She told him. "She shot me with a phaser to test her hypothesis that the implants retained had reactivated." the Captain added with an unmistakably peevish note of irritation to her voice.

"Well it is a healthy concern wait! She did what? Shot you with a phaser? She is nuts. Clearly they have. Is there a way to deactivate them?"

"No." Kennit answered simply. "Nor can the implants be removed without killing me. My implants are.. unique and permanently bonded both to my muscular and neurological function. And yes," she added. "I am quite stronger than I seem."

Alec nodded slowly. "I should have suspected something the way you jumped down the access tube and then tore the door open where we found the survivors." He grew quiet trying to piece everything together. "Unique and permanently bonded? You were a Borg Queen."

She just shrugged her shoulders a little and did not answer. What was there really to say?

Looking back out at the passing stars, she said "So.. though I don't hear them now.. the knowledge that a Borg strike force passed close enough to our location for me to be able to hear them, however brief though it was.. is cause enough to warrant additional caution and keep our eyes open.. so to speak."

"Um how close do they have to be for you to hear them and are your implants deactivated?" Alec questioned.

They were interrupted by a call from Lt. Evans on the Bridge. =/\= Captain, I am sorry to disturb you but we are receiving a Priority One transmission from Admiral Macedo. The transmission is also flagged with an emergency priority. =/\=

Her eyes turning towards Alec with unease, the Captain answered "Send it through to me in my Ready Room please Lieutenant."

=/\= Aye Captain, sending it through now. =/\= Evans replied.

Walking to her desk, Kennit brought up the computer system and entered her access authorization codes. What she saw made the color bleed from her face.. "Oh my God.." she whispered.

Seeing Rhea's face drain of color and hearing her whispered comment, Alec knew instantly the message had to contain bad news. He just didn't know how bad. "Rhea? What did the Admiral say?"

She shook her head, sliding her chair back slightly so that he could walk to her and read the message on the computer screen for himself. A massive Borg attack against Federation held systems in the Delta Quadrant had left Task Force 38, and it's personnel, now cut off from the Federation. SB 900 was gone, completely destroyed, and the Iconian Gateway which allowed Federation ships to travel to the Delta Quadrant from the Alpha Quadrant safely and quickly has been destroyed. Task Force 38 was cut off, and alone.

Alec felt himself go pale. As he read the message. It took a moment for the enormity of the situation to sink in. "Now I know how those cavalry officers felt in those Western holovids I watch." He straightened up. "We're on our own. What are your orders Captain?"

"Orders?" she echoed. "We have our orders. We are recalled to Helios Colony, situated next to Persephone Colony. Best possible speed...We'll need to inform the crew.."

Alec nodded and tapped his combadge, =^= Mr. Sextant, alter course for the Helios Colony best possible speed.=^=

There was a slight pause before Sextant replied. =^= Aye sir. Altering course for the Helios Colony. Increasing warp to 7.5.=^=

Rhea barely heard him speaking. She was thinking of the thousands of lives lost, of the families back in Federation space... There was an odd ringing in her head.. the edges of her vision turning red, then darkening towards black..

Alec looked to Rhea see if she had anything else. She looked odd, off. "Rhea? You okay? Rhea?" He repeated.

She didn't react, didn't even seen to hear him. The Captain tried to stand, made it half way then collapsed back to her chair ..

"RHEA!" Alec called out instantly as he was beside her in a flash. "Rhea. Take it easy. Just relax. Listen to my voice. Everything will be fine." He spoke urgently but he hoped in a soothing enough tone to get Rhea focus on him and what he was saying.

Lack of sleep, combined with stress and then this.. She leaned against him.. shaking..

Alec rubbed her back and shoulders with one hand while holding her close to him with the other. "It's okay. We'll get through this. Just relax and take some deep breaths.

"There were so many people at SB 900.." she said, still leaning into his arms. "Oh my god..."

"I know. I know. Good friends. Good people. Rhea we'll grieve for them later. Right now we have to get to Helios and prepare for a possible Borg attack."

It hit her then.. she had 'heard' a Borg strike force ...

Alec saw Rhea's face register something. "Rhea?" He gently prodded. What is it?"

"I heard.." she said. "I heard but I didn't realize.."

"The Borg? yes. You already said you heard them what didn't you realize?"

"The timelines match..from when the attack was taking place to when I woke up because I heard.." she said. "I heard it and I didn't realize.."

"Rhea. There's nothing you could have done." Alec replied comforting her.

She didn't say anything more for a while. Finally, she said "We have to inform the crew."

"Want me to do it?" He asked knowing she didn't. She would shoulder the responsibility.

Shaking her head, she said "Its my job."

Standing up slowly, she took a moment to straighten her uniform and then with a look to him, stepped away from her desk and crossed the Ready Room. Exiting to the Bridge, she walked to the center seat and said "Mr. Evans. Put me on the ship-wide 1MC please."

"Aye Captain." Evans answered. "You're on Captain."

Her voice calm, she said "Attention all hands. This is the Captain. Just a few minutes ago we received a Priority One transmission from Admiral Macedo with Starfleet Command, Delta Quadrant. Approximately 22 hours ago, a Borg strike force attacked SB 900." She was silent a moment, then said "SB 900 was destroyed. In order to prevent the Borg from utilizing the Iconian Gateway to reach Earth, the gateway was collapsed. The Borg Invasion was stopped, but at a terrible price. We are currently enroute to Helios Colony, which the information we have been sent indicates has been set up near Persephone Colony to report in. At this time, Task Force 38, of which the USS Victory is part.. is cut off from the Alpha Quadrant."



**********************************************

Miguel had just gone to sleep after being up all night working on Lt. Naroot so he hadn't heard the first part of the message. It wasn't until he heard the word"Borg" that he woke up immediately alert. He finished listening to the message and then had the computer replay it so he could hear the whole thing. He was shocked to hear about the starbase having been destroyed. It was something he had been worried about, but had kept it buried in the back of his mind. After all Starfleet hadn't officially been in any confrontations with the Borg in awhile.

Of course he knew that didn't mean that command or intelligence didn't know about any unoffical ones. He immediately looked up what assets they had in the task force. From what he saw there were 4 total ships that were designed to take on the Borg, three of them were Sovereign class and then the Victory which was a Prometheus class ship. The Sovereigns had so far proven themselves in battle against the Borg, but the Prometheus still didn't have much of a combat history against them. Things were going to get rough for awhile, he immediately began to think about those early days of the war against the Dominion. Something told him they were going to be wishing for those days. he got up, even though he was still tired, made his way to the sonic shower to freshen up. There were going to be some long hard days with little sleep ahead of them in the future.

**********************************************

Tom, standing alone in Transporter Room One, froze when he'd heard the Captain's announcement. He'd fought the Dominion and had a few other unpleasant altercations across the galaxy. But never the Borg. In fact, it hadn't been until this assignment that he'd ever left the Gamma Quadrant. Being cut off from home wasn't troublesome for Tom. He liked gallivanting around the galaxy, but his thoughts went immediately towards the enlisted men and women aboard the Victory. He knew most of them wouldn't share his thoughts and were very likely troubled by this turn of events.

He immediately locked the transporter controls and began typing a message to the NCOs on board for a morale check and to otherwise check in. Until he knew more information, there was little he could do.

**********************************************

Nicole gasped and sat straight up behind her desk. She spent a moment wishing the victims well, then immediately jumped to her feet, rounding her desk and grabbing her black bag.

She crossed into Sickbay and snapped her fingers, heads turning immediately. "Dr. P'k'ala, I need all BTKs inventoried and a two-shift supply readied. Get teams Gamma and Epsilon to secondary stations." As the yellow-alert signals activated she made eye contact with each person in the room. "Rule two," she said. They nodded and she turned and left Sickbay to report in on the bridge.

**********************************************

AJ was in his office going over reports when the announcement came over the 1MC. At the mention of the word 'Borg' his blood turned to ice. Hearing the rest of the Captain's words, AJ couldn't help but feel a wave of sadness rush over him. Over 6000 people had been wiped out in a wink of an eye. AJ shuddered at the thought of those who had been unlucky enough to survive- they now had to deal with the worse fate of all- assimilation. To be integrated into the collective was a fate worse than death, no one that he had known that had been turned had lived to tell the tale. Grabbing his jacket, he was out of the office and in the corridor before the communication cut out. Running through the corridor, he could see many of the crew in states of disbelief and shock. Many of them had friends aboard the Starbase 900 and the ships assigned to protect it and there was no way of knowing who had been lost until the ships reported in to their assigned rally points.

Entering the turbolift, AJ elected to key in his selection for the bridge. Holding his tongue, he ran through the contingencies were slated to be put into place if a large scale attack ever took place. A prominent one was simply called the 'Sanctuary Protocol'. It mandated that if the primary command base were to be destroyed, all ships were to proceed immediately to a designated emergency rally point on a random approach vector in order to await further orders.

Exiting onto the bridge, he looked over to the bridge crew who were standing by for orders. Walking over to his station, he ran a check of all tactical systems and found that besides a few minor power fluctuations, everything was ready to be used in the event that things got hairy. Swiveling in his seat, he addressed Rhea and Alec. "Captain, XO. In accordance with Starfleet Emergency Priority Order 098831A-1, I am requesting that we open the Sanctuary Protocol orders and execute them accordingly.

Before the Captain could reply, the XO answered and said, "Mr. Taggart." Alec acknowledged the other officer. "The Captain has already received orders for us to proceed to Helios Colony and meet up with the remaining Starfleet ships in this sector."

AJ fought the overwhelming urge to shake his head at this man. "Sir, with all due respect. If we proceed on a non randomized approach vector, we run the risk of being tracked by any Borg scouts that may be in the area. Furthermore, I also request we go to Yellow Alert and place weapons on standby. We can't take any more risks since we don't know what's out here."

"Mr. Taggart." Alec said simply as he felt his anger rising at the officer before him. "No one said nothing about not going to Yellow Alert. Please do so. AS for our course I believe the Captain has already given her orders on the subject."

Placing a hand on Alec's arm, she gave him a light squeeze with her fingers as she said "Mr. Taggart. Yellow Alert. Continue to the scans previously ordered. Course heading to Helios Colony if you please, and open the Sanctuary Protocol orders per 098831-A however, whatever they may contain will not over-ride our orders to return to Helios Colony as that order was issued by the Task Force Commander, Admiral Macedo himself."

Alec felt Rhea's fingers on his arm, giving it a slight squeeze. It was enough that he bit back any retort he was going to say to the Security Chief.

AJ nodded. "Aye, ma'am. Setting Condition Yellow and continuing scans." he watched as his superiors interacted. Something about their rapport suggested that there was more going on with them that met the eye. Pushing it to the back of his mind, he let his fingers glide across the console to open the emergency orders. Accepting them, he quickly filed them away and continued his scans.

Giving one last squeeze to Alec's arm, she let go and walked to study the navigation display. The Victory was 2 weeks journey from Helios Colony. "Transmit acknowledgement of orders to Helios Colony," she ordered. "Give them an ETA of 14 days to our arrival."

Alec felt Rhea squeeze his arm again before letting go and walking to the nav display. He silently observed her. Rhea seemed better, more in control than she had been a few minutes ago. Not that he blamed her in the slightest. Finding out Starbase 900 was completely destroyed and they were now stuck here in the Alpha quadrant. Was an enormous shock. He hoped she knew he was here for her and support her every way he could.

Yarin entered the Bridge and took his place at Science Station One. He had sequestered himself in his quarters for the past several hours, busy with his various projects and experiments.

Nicole stepped onto the bridge and came around to the Captain's chair. "Captain, Commander," she said, "if I might speak with you." She glanced at them both.

Alec turned at the sound of the CMO's voice. "Doctor, the floor is yours. Does this conversation need to continue in private?"

Nicole nodded gently and looked to the Captain.

Alec looked to Rhea, he guessed she would suggest her Ready Room but he didn't want to speak out of turn so he waited for her to speak.

The Captain looked at them both, then looked towards Taggart. "Mr. Taggart. The Bridge is yours." Then, without another word she motioned towards the Ready Room doors and started walking that way. Once inside the Ready Room, she walked to her desk and had a seat, waiting for the Doctor to speak.

"Aye, ma'am. Tactical Officer has the bridge." Getting up from his station, he strode over to the Captain's chair and took a seat. "Ops, increase power to sensors and primary shields. Master Chief Tomaszewski, set shield frequency modulation every 30 milliseconds."

Following Rhea, Alec took a seat on the sofa and turned to look at the doctor. An expectant look on his face.

"Have you told him about your situation?" Nicole said, looking at the Captain.

"My situation." the Captain echoed. "If you are referring to my medical status as a former Borg.. yes. I have."

Nicole's shoulders lowered a bit and she rocked back onto her heels. What she thought was going to be the hardest part of the conversation was over. She hoped.

"Did you hear them? Did you have any premonition of it happening? I would also like to give you a complete scan. If you are in contact we need to retune your signal so they can't locate us."

"A little late for that now.. don't you think Doctor?" Kennit responded. At the scowl the Doctor shot her, the Captain looked at Alec as she said "I most definitely was aware of a Borg strike force passing.. which resulted in Alec's my being forced to explain a few.. details.. to him." Then, turning back to the Doctor the Captain added. "If I was aware of them.. be assured. She.. was and is.. aware of me."

"Well that puts a different spin on all this." He looked at Rhea, " Okay. By she I'm assuming we're talking about the Borg Queen. Is there a way to prevent her from being aware of you?" He glanced at Nicole, "Is there a way to block any signal the Captain is broadcasting?"

"Yes," she said slowly, "but it's complicated. The last CMO I served under had extensive experience with the Borg, and I've had some as well. There are some obstacles however."

Not even bothering to hide it, the Captain rolled her eyes and crossed her Ready Room to her desk where she withdrew a flask and poured herself a drink of cinnamon whiskey. Rather than sipping the sweet, potent brew she simply knocked the shot back with a swift flick of her wrist and then licked her lips as the cinnamon whiskey sent a warm, pleasant burn down her throat into her belly to infuse it's warmth through her veins. Idly tracing the rim of the shot glass with her index finger, she cocked her head slightly down as she turned towards them once more. Her gaze rose in a slow, deliberate track to meet their eyes. Standing ramrod straight, she set the glass down on her desk with a slow, deliberate motion so very delicately that it made no sound as it touched the desk surface. With a smile on her lips, and her eyes almost as dark and cold as the black of space visible over her shoulder through the view port the Captain said "If She is so inclined, we will know it soon enough. The fact that a Borg ship has not already appeared on our sensors should be considered a good indication that the recovery of a disconnected member of the Collective is not currently a high priority."

Alec stared at her, "That's it? That's your answer? Roll your eyes and drink? Wow. I feel a lot better now." He added not bothering to hide his sarcasm. "However it doesn't answer my question if the disconnected member of the Collective suddenly becomes a high priority."

"What would you have me do?" she asked softly. "There is no where to run. No where to hide. The only answer one would think was death but even that has proven not quite as final as I once believed. I remember what it feels like to feel my heart beat one last, struggling, painful beat and then nothing. I remember what it is to be Borg. I remember the sudden agony of that separation and of the certainty that I was not going to survive that either. I am here, now.. because I grew weary of the leash and collar around my neck. I walked away from who, and what I was.. I came here. To the Delta Quadrant. Fully aware that the possibility of an encounter with the Borg was very likely. It is not the worse thing I have faced.. and if they come. Let them."

Alec looked pained. "And I don't want you to ever experience that whole ordeal again. However shrugging your shoulders and drinking isn't the answer. I seem to remember that the Enterprise was able to block the signals of drone that they later named Hugh. Why can't the same be done here with you?"

"Because the Borg have adapted," Nicole said, sitting down with her bag on her lap, but watching the Captain constantly. "They have had instances of rogue drones attempting to come back. They also learned the dangers of their inter-dependency. Since then, they've adjusted their signals accordingly. It's not just a matter of strengthening the shields anymore. I would have to get into her brain...and I would need to know the current frequencies from the nearest cube."

"I am not allowing you to 'get into' my brain." the Captain said in a mild voice that seemed out of place considering the level of malice contained in the otherwise soft, sultry tone.

"I agree with you there Captain." Alec answered as he again posed a question to the CMO. "I know the Borg adapt. Why can't we adapt as well? It's like a chess match. Move and counter move."

"I have about six counter-moves ready to go," Nicole said. "But without taking a closer look at the Captain's cortical implants, I can't give you much more than speculation and hopeful thinking."

"You've conducted several scans of me in sickbay," the Captain pointed out, her dislike of sickbay and of being scanned, poked, and prodded well known.

"And elsewhere," Nicole said. "But this is more than the passive scans I've been doing. Not to mention this would require something substantially more in-depth." She huffed and looked at Alec, but didn't expect much support. "Without your consent, Captain, I can only sit and watch, for now. But with the Borg in the area, there is a real danger, and I will have to note this in my reports."

"That is precisely why I am unwilling to submit to more testing.." the Captain replied. "Should a Cube ship drop from transwarp and attack, I need to be on the bridge...not in sickbay." the Captain shook her head. "Besides..what do you think you'll find? I won't suddenly revert back to being Borg merely because a Borg ship passed near us." Then before she was even aware of the thought, from that dark place deep inside came, "Besides, if that was to happen...nothing anyone on this ship could do would save any of us."

Nicole wasn't a mind-reader by any stretch, but her eyes narrowed at the Captain's expression. She stood up slowly and walked up to the Captain, coming so close their noses were nanometers away. Her nostrils flared as she inhaled deeply and she didn't blink for almost a full minute before squaring her shoulders and saying, "Okay."

She turned and picked up her black bag and brushed nonexistent dust off her uniform. She headed for the ready room door, then stopped. "I'm sorry, one more thing," she said slowly. "16136. Care to give a guess as to what those numbers mean?"

Alec looked Rhea. His eyebrows raised, a questioning look on his face. he shot a quick look towards Anderson, it was clear, she had an idea of what the numbers meant. If he was to guess that since they were talking all matters of Borg, these particular numbers had to do with the Borg classification of a subjected race they had added to the Collective.

The Captain's lips just curved ever so slightly into a mocking semblance of a smile, she cocked her head slightly in a position which arched her neck. "Not particularly." was her response.

A beep suddenly sounded from Nicole's bag. She looked in and saw a small light on the inside, which was blinking furiously. Nicole's shoulder slumped a bit and she sighed. "If you'll excuse me, Captain, Commander," she said, "a patient needs me." She snapped her bag closed and nodded to them, then turned and quickly left the ready room.

The Captain didn't say anything, but her expression and the way she gave a quick, short shake of her head spoke volumes enough.

After the doctor had exited, the Captain said "I need you to get me a list of all Federation ships which are in this region of space. Starfleet vessels will have received the same emergency message we did, civilian ships however likely won't. See that all civilian ships we are able to identify are given the information we have regarding the loss of SB900, the collapse of the Gateway and the transfer of Starfleet command in this quadrant to Helios Colony."


Alec nodded, he felt he still wasn't be told everything but for now he'd have to wait for any more answers. "Certainly Captain, I'll get the list back to you as soon as possible." He headed for the door, stopped and turned back to her, "I'm here for you Rhea. You aren't alone."

"I'm also not a science experiment.." she replied, her voice slightly snappish.

Alec looked at her, his eyes flashing a momentary registration of hurt at her tone. "I never thought you were." He replied quietly.

Eyes nearly black, Kennit shot a scowl at him but didn't speak. Her comment had been in response to the Doctor's continued determination to 'get inside' her head and had nothing to do with him yet he took it as a personal remark. With a shake of her head, she poured herself another shot of the fireball whiskey and downed it in two swallows.

Alec's eyes were on Rhea as she downed another glass or fireball whiskey. "Go easy on that stuff Rhea. We need you clear headed should a situation arise."

She cocked her head slowly to the right, her eyes never leaving his and then, deliberately she picked up the flask of fireball once more and said "Go easy on what..this?" She asked, waving the flask at him for a moment before taking another drink.. this time straight from the flask. With the nanites active in her blood, it would take considerably more of the sweet amber liquor to do more than give her that warm, pleasantly sweet burn as she swallowed. Licking her lips, she said as much "It would take more than this to impair my cognitive function."

Alec walked back to her, his eyes never leaving hers. "Oh really?" He quipped. "'ll take your word for it. We.... I need you clear headed." He repeated.

She actually laughed at him, "Relax before you sprain something.." Kennit told him.

Alec grinned and let out a soft chuckle. "Well, we don't want that do we? Might be something I really need." he answered.

"Don't you have something to do..like I don't know.. XO stuff?" she asked him with one eyebrow raised.


Alec smirked at her, "XO stuff? I suppose I do or at least I can pretend I do. I don't want the captain to think she's got a slacker for her XO." He was quiet for a moment before speaking again. "I can take my fighter out and scout the area ahead of us. Give us a little extra lead time." he offered.

She shook her head,"Not necessary at this time. I'd rather not have any ships out in flight at this time .. right now all we're going to do is make best speed back to Helios Colony as ordered."

Alec nodded, "Alright. Makes sense, no need to clutter the area and someone get trigger happy and start shooting. However my offer stands if and when you decide to avail yourself of it."

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OOC Captain: 1/20/16:: I think this post is done. Unless anyone has anything else to add I'll be finalizing it and posting it in the next day or so.

 

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