[Allan Hood]

USS Ares
Sickbay

Sam thought for a moment, then said,

- I chose this one. I asked SDC for an interesting assignment, since the Klingon Ambassador that I was working for was retiring soon. This seemed very appealing to me, so I took it. As for me becoming a DO, I was actually in Starfleet Academy, but left after four months. It wasn't my taste, so I went to CBU and took diplomatic studies. That took me to SDC as an intern. When I graduated, I got assigned as a junior diplomat on Andor.

Sam smiled at the mental image of him meeting Akyv for the first time.

"I never seen anyone smile while thinking of Andoria," Hood laughed to himself, letting himself relax and not let his anxieties take over. He closed the medical tricorder and placed it back on the nearby tray. "I didn't know that thousands of kilometers of tunnels, at below freezing temperatures, could be thought of so warmly."

TAG Urquhart, Christopher

[Josh Broughm]

USS Ares
Sickbay

"I never seen anyone smile while thinking of Andoria," Hood laughed to himself, letting himself relax and not let his anxieties take over. He closed the medical tricorder and placed it back on the nearby tray. "I didn't know that thousands of kilometers of tunnels, at below freezing temperatures, could be thought of so warmly."

Sam gave a hearty chuckle.

- The cold didn't really bother me. Canadians are a hearty bunch.

He sighed a little bit and went on.

- I worked under the guy who is the andorian Ambassador now. About six months into my assignment, I met his daughter, Akyv. Man, she was something. We're engaged now. She wants to get married after I finish up here.

He had a thought. Sam went to the replicator & said,

- One Sailor Moon plush, Bandai release.

A moment passed & the plush materialized in the device. He took it and handed it to Allan.

- She might need a friend to hug.

TAG Allan

[Allan Hood]

USS Ares
Sickbay

Sam gave a hearty chuckle.

- The cold didn't really bother me. Canadians are a hearty bunch.

He sighed a little bit and went on.

- I worked under the guy who is the andorian Ambassador now. About six months into my assignment, I met his daughter, Akyv. Man, she was something. We're engaged now. She wants to get married after I finish up here.

"One of the hardest parts for me adjusting to Starfleet was the constant cold," Hood said half-seriously, brushing Gracie's hair with his fingers. "I feel a chill with anything under 32 degrees C. All the starships and space stations are freezing to me. One of the perks of being stationed on Cardassia Prime was the heat and humidity; it felt like home to me. I grew up a few kilometers from where the Xindi attacked in 2153. My wife, being from Pennsylvania, and my daughters, being brought up in space, leaves me always the coldest."

He had a thought. Sam went to the replicator & said,

- One Sailor Moon plush, Bandai release.

A moment passed & the plush materialized in the device. He took it and handed it to Allan.

- She might need a friend to hug.

"Wow, thank you, I don't know what to say," Hood said with sincerity. "Is this Terran?"

TAG Sam

[Josh Broughm]

USS Ares
Sickbay

Wow, thank you, I don't know what to say," Hood said with sincerity. "Is this Terran?"

- Yeah. When I as a kid, I found in the animation historical data banks this rather interesting Anime called Sailor Moon. I watch one episode and got immediately hooked. That started me off on my Anime obsession. Might not be the prettiest looking show, but it had a good balance of laughs and tears along the way. My office is covered in anime statuettes. Some anime are so obscure that its like going spelunking into an Andorian Ice cave. I wonder how receptive she is to the idea of a honeymoon on Andor?

Sam's mind wandered for a moment.

- Anyways, that series kept me sane while my mother was on-duty for most of the day on weekends.

TAG Allan

[Allan Hood]

USS Ares
Sickbay

- Yeah. When I as a kid, I found in the animation historical data banks this rather interesting Anime called Sailor Moon. I watch one episode and got immediately hooked. That started me off on my Anime obsession. Might not be the prettiest looking show, but it had a good balance of laughs and tears along the way. My office is covered in anime statuettes. Some anime are so obscure that its like going spelunking into an Andorian Ice cave. I wonder how receptive she is to the idea of a honeymoon on Andor?

Sam's mind wandered for a moment.

- Anyways, that series kept me sane while my mother was on-duty for most of the day on weekends.

"I'll have to look into that," Hood replied, "Gracie and I spend a lot of time on the holodeck. I try introducing her to a variety of subjects, but we seem to keep coming back to King Arthur, Robin Hood, and the Three Musketeers."

"I've taught her to fence with both the longsword and the rapier," Hood bragged, with some pride, while Grace lay with labored breathing, stroking her hair, "and she does really well for her age; she's a natural."

TAG Sam

[Nesta]

USS Ares
Bridge

Teriir waited somewhat nervously as the Caitian thought about his statements for a minute. Usually, turning your back on someone meant you were dismissed in a rather rude manner but he remained where he was because there was no way he was going to back down. He made sure to hide his emotions when R'Turan turned around.

For a moment, he was taken aback. He wasn't expecting R'Turan to be agreeable so quickly after blaming the crew, nor was he believed there would be an apology so soon. Although having a few minutes to clear one's mind always helps to resolve just about any issue. Teriir gave a slight smile to express his approval, "We have a lot of young, relatively inexperienced officers on board but also have no shortage of veterans. The newcomers will learn from them very quickly. I think it's safe to say half of the command staff have fought in the Dominion War. I'll get combat-drills going in a few days. The crew needs some time to recover physically and mentally from the most recent action."

"Of course," The Caitian said, placing his gaze on the tactical officer after deactivating the comm. "Take all the time you need." As Teriir sat down, R'Turan's gaze would follow the Trill, the Caitian listening to whatever he had to say.

Teriir sat down in one of the chairs and crossed his arms, "Just so you know, the first time I ever saw combat was back when I was a Cadet while the ship I was assigned to, the Icarus, was travelling to the front lines just after being commissioned. We managed to destroy a pair of Jem'Hadar Fighters but suffered two fatalities; a cadet and our first captain. Our first officer, Vel'tor, had to assume command afterwards. Feels like I've experienced what humans would call Deja Vu today with Captain Wilson being injured."

((TAG R'Turan))

"I see... i am not familiar with the Human term of 'Deja Vu'. Would you mind indulging me? Otherwise, I fear I might not understand your story." R'Turan said after Teriir mentioned the Deja Vu, chosing to remain standing behind the desk, being respectful of captain Wilson's chair and not taking a seat.

((TAG Teriir))

[Asteropax]

USS Ares
Deck 1 - Captain's Ready Rom

"I see... i am not familiar with the Human term of 'Deja Vu'. Would you mind indulging me? Otherwise, I fear I might not understand your story." R'Turan said after Teriir mentioned the Deja Vu, chosing to remain standing behind the desk, being respectful of captain Wilson's chair and not taking a seat.

Teriir gave him a nod, sympathizing with him on not understanding Humans. He knew very little about Human culture or terminology prior to joining Starfleet Academy and getting a Human roommate. After a short time, he caught onto a lot of the common phrases they made. He would simply nod before doing what he needed to do when told one which he didn't know and ask then about it later.

"Deja Vu is when you experience something which you have already done or seems familiar," he explained, "In the case of my story, my first CO was killed in our first combat operation. Now, years later, the first fight on this ship sees the Captain getting wounded. It feels like everything is happening all over again just years apart."

Their conversation on Human expressions reminded him of something from that morning, "Speaking of Human expressions, the Captain said something earlier which I didn't understand: Number One. I'm not sure what he meant by that but I think he was looking for someone who he'll be addressing by that unofficial title. Any ideas what he meant by that?"

((Tag R'Turan))

[Josh Broughm]

USS Ares
Sickbay

"I'll have to look into that," Hood replied, "Gracie and I spend a lot of time on the holodeck. I try introducing her to a variety of subjects, but we seem to keep coming back to King Arthur, Robin Hood, and the Three Musketeers."

"I've taught her to fence with both the longsword and the rapier," Hood bragged, with some pride, while Grace lay with labored breathing, stroking her hair, "and she does really well for her age; she's a natural."

Sam smiled a bit and said,

- She might have a future as a competitive fencer?

((TAG Allan))

- No, I'm not into fencing.

((TAG Allan))

- When I get a chance, I'll replicate the set of Manga for your daughter to read.

Before Allan could ask, Sam explained.

- Think of it as old style comic books, but with a different art style indicative to Japan.

TAG Allan

[Allan Hood]

USS Ares
Sickbay

Sam smiled a bit and said,

- She might have a future as a competitive fencer?

"If we can get enough people interested in it," Hood replied hopefully, "I've played with the idea, but I'm waiting for things to get more routine. Considering the nature of our current mission, that might be later than sooner. Do you fence?"

- No, I'm not into fencing. When I get a chance, I'll replicate the set of Manga for your daughter to read."

Before Allan could ask, Sam explained.

- Think of it as old style comic books, but with a different art style indicative to Japan.

"Let me know if you're ever interested," Hood replied. "It's cultural literature native to that particular nation-state? I'm mostly familiar with Japan's history and very unfamiliar with any literature. Japan was part of the original Ares program, one of our early manned missions to Mars. It's that one that one Voyager just found. I can't believe it encountered that graviton ellipse, taking it to the Delta Quadrant. It's amazing that the module's database, including logs recorded by Kelly after the module had entered the ellipse, were all recovered. I might run a holodeck program based of his story, with Gracie, after this is all over. You're welcome to join us, too."

- - - Updated - - -

USS Ares
Deck 7 - Hoods' Quarters

Lieutenant Hood, Chief Science Officer, Personal Log - Stardate: 58784.36
Wednesday, October 14, 2381, Time: 06:59:36

On Deep Space Nine, my family was relatively safe. While I was on Cardassia, we had predictable problems with predictable solutions. Though Gracie has recovered, my family will forever be in Ian Locke's debt. I can't imagine my life without Gracie. If it wasn't for him being there...

Our next couple stops, skirting along the border of Cardassian Space, ought to also have predictable problems with predictable solutions...but what's next? More attacks? Failed diplomacy? And what about afterward in uncharted space?

I still can't help feeling a growing sense of anxiety for what awaits us. Though we considered these things prior to our decision, our excitement due to the opportunity to explore the unknown may have overrode my better senses. I couldn't imagine going on this mission without my family, but the reality of our situation and our mission is sinking in a bit more.

I think my resolute attitude and determination were skewed by accidental smugness and arrogance. I feel that Sami-Jo and I were ready to venture this far into the unknown after being assigned to Cardassia for five years...but are we?

As a crew, our captain is injured in sickbay, in a coma, and our first officer has taken over as acting captain. R’Turan has since both scolded us for our performance and apologized for that same scolding. The crew is having a hard time reading our Caitian first officer, both because his facial features are hidden under a mask of fur and that his culture is so different from much of the crew.

Anyway, we'll be approaching Bryma in a couple days, our first stop before hitting Dorvan V and Solosos III. I'm interested to see how the colonists have been surviving, partially underground. Through their current struggle to survive, they somehow managed to construct some form of algaculture, by farming a species of native algae for their food and energy. Starfleet's hoping that installing replicators and power sources will be able to get them back on their feet.

We would have been around Bryma days ago, but the attack and our repairs held us back a bit. I'm looking forward to getting this show on the road.

End Log Entry - U.S.S. ARES

[Josh Broughm]

USS Ares
Sickbay
"Let me know if you're ever interested," Hood replied. "It's cultural literature native to that particular nation-state? I'm mostly familiar with Japan's history and very unfamiliar with any literature. Japan was part of the original Ares program, one of our early manned missions to Mars. It's that one that one Voyager just found. I can't believe it encountered that graviton ellipse, taking it to the Delta Quadrant. It's amazing that the module's database, including logs recorded by Kelly after the module had entered the ellipse, were all recovered. I might run a holodeck program based of his story, with Gracie, after this is all over. You're welcome to join us, too."

- Manga is more indicative of late 70's to early 2000's.

Sam nodded at the suggestion and said,

- I just might do that.

He bid Hood farewell, then headed off to grab a bite and to read over some notes he had on him.

USS Ares
Mess Hall

Sam arrived at the Mess and replicated a plate of fried pickles, then sat at a window table. He pulled out a PADD that had some compiled notes.

((TAG R'Turan at any time))

[Asteropax]

USS Ares
Deck 7

Ian Locke wasn't big on comfort, but the couch in his quarters was too inviting so he plopped down to take a load off his feet. It was almost 7 hundred hours the day after the combat with the Orion ships. He had been awake for 24 hours doing lots of hard work. The last time he'd done a continuous performance of straight duty like that was towards the end of the Dominion War. The doors to the bedroom opened up a few moments after he sat down as his wife stepped through.

"I was wondering when you'd get some rest," Carol commented to him.

"Sorry about missing last night," he replied, "I know you prepared a lot because we were hoping Dyrell would join us for dinner and we both missed."

"I guess the Orions wanted some of my chicken noodle casserole too," she joked weakly. Locke motioned for her to join him, guessing she hadn't slept much. He knew it would've been better to stop working a lot earlier and that there weren't any excuses. She gave him a nudge as she sat down, "How are the kids?"

"They're doing alright and the little girl who got injured is stable. It took a long time to get the parents to calm down after that though," Locke filled her in after he shot a look at her belly, which was starting to swell with their little girl, "I didn't think it would be as hard as it was, going into a burning room to find kids. There weren't any on the Icarus because it was designated a combat vessel and we weren't exactly in places which had a lot of children on Betazed."

"I know," Carol commented longingly. He gave her an understanding nod; Betazed was her homeworld and she was a little homesick. Although she was a hybrid of Human, Betazoid, and Vulcan, she always affiliated herself with the planet she was born on. Having the stability of being planetside and avoiding hazardous areas seemed much more welcoming now that they were going to be parents.

The thoughts made him ask, "We can ask to get transferred off the ship and -"

"No!" she immediately cut him off, "Planets are safer than ships but not every day is going to be like yesterday. Plus we never got the chance to experience anything new at Betazed. Change had to come to us and it rarely did."

"Okay, okay! It’s just . . . I want you and the baby to be safe. Nothing else really matters,” he almost stumbled over his own words. She gave him a quick sigh before leaning into his shoulder to relax for a moment. He thought about his words for a moment. Of course there were a lot of important things in life but the most important to him was his growing family. Speaking of family, he had to bring up what he discovered yesterday, “Mell is onboard.”

Carol looked at him in confusion before remembering, “Dyrell’s fiancé? Did you have a chance to talk to her?”

“We were both a little busy at the time. She was helping the child who got hurt and I was preventing her parents from interfering with her efforts. I don’t know if she noticed me,” Locke explained, “She’s also an officer now, probably a nurse.”

“I thought you said she was a medical technician.”

“She must’ve gone to the Academy after the Dominion War ended,” he guessed. He was aware a number of enlisted personnel returned to Earth to study at Starfleet Academy to receive the full benefits of positions which they’d earned during the war. If you are already in the position, why not make it official?

“No wonder Dyrell couldn’t locate her. He was looking for someone under the enlisted personnel files when she was actually a cadet, or nurse at this point,” Carol murmured, before asking the most important question, “Does he know she’s here?”

“Last I talked to him, no. To be fair about their relationship, I can’t do anything beyond inform them that they’re both alive and on board the Ares. It’s up to them to decide what they want to do.”

“Okay,” she said, her tone indicating their conversation was over. She leaned over to him to kiss before standing up and heading back towards the bedroom, “I need to get ready for duty and you need to get some rest. I don’t want you to add more hours to your workday than you already have.”

Locke was too tired to argue so he heaved himself up so he could collapse on their bed and sleep for a couple hours.

[Nesta]

"Deja Vu is when you experience something which you have already done or seems familiar," he explained, "In the case of my story, my first CO was killed in our first combat operation. Now, years later, the first fight on this ship sees the Captain getting wounded. It feels like everything is happening all over again just years apart."

Their conversation on Human expressions reminded him of something from that morning, "Speaking of Human expressions, the Captain said something earlier which I didn't understand: Number One. I'm not sure what he meant by that but I think he was looking for someone who he'll be addressing by that unofficial title. Any ideas what he meant by that?"

((Tag R'Turan))

"I see... I am not sure whether or not I should offer my condolences for your former commanding officer. Should it?" The Caitian asked, his yellow eyes drilling holes in the Trill. "Number One... I think I know of that unofficial title. I assume you have heard of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, commanding officer of the U.S.S. Enterprise E? I've heard he calls his first officer 'number one'. It might be a habit captain Wilson picked up during his years of service before the Ares."

[KaiserKirk]

USS Ares
Deck 16 - Sickbay

"For the last time Mr Churchill, you-do-not-have-Condonian Skin Flu... it's just a bruise from the attack earlier today!" Agus was becoming very agitated and impatient.

Joel Churchill was a Hypochondriac, meaning that he had a phobia of sickness. Usually, CMO Hems would be patent and understanding but it was late at night and he desperately wanted to go to bed, the attack by the pirates from earlier that day had taken a toll on his endurance. He was dragging his feet out the door of the Sickbay when Joel had rushed him, screaming bloody murder about Condonian Skin Flu.

After almost 30 minutes of arguing and several medical scans, Angus had finally managed to reassure his patient that he would not die a slow and painful death at the hands of a foreign disease.

USS Ares
Deck 8 - Chief Medical Officers Quaters

Angus, stumbled from the turbolift as he neared his quarters, his feet barely leaving the ground as they dragged across the carpet.

After what felt like hours of walking from the turbo lift Angus was finally outside the door to his room, it swished open, smiling with relief that now he could finally rest, as the lights turned on, however, his face lit up with horror, how could he have forgotten. He had spent the entire day in the sickbay and had only stepped into his room once to dump his luggage, which was strewn across the floor and bed, the attack must have sent the cases in every direction. He had so little energy left that all he could do before practically passing out from exhaustion was flop onto the couch and grab a holiday shirt for a blanket.

He was out to it in one minute flat.

[Asteropax]

USS Ares
Bridge

"I see... I am not sure whether or not I should offer my condolences for your former commanding officer. Should it?" The Caitian asked, his yellow eyes drilling holes in the Trill. "Number One... I think I know of that unofficial title. I assume you have heard of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, commanding officer of the U.S.S. Enterprise E? I've heard he calls his first officer 'number one'. It might be a habit captain Wilson picked up during his years of service before the Ares."

"I see," Teriir responded with a nod. He thought through some other pieces of conversation he wanted to discuss with R'Turan but decided it would be best to wait until they were off watch. With their Captain down, it was up to them to lead the mission and crew until he got better.

~"Or worse."~ The darker thought crossed his mind. Although he wanted to be optimistic, there was no way he couldn't acknowledge the option. He pushed it away and stood up.

"Lets return to the bridge," he commented to the Caitian. He knew the words seemed almost hallow, more addressing himself than the Acting Captain.

Just as they were about to leave the office, Teriir briefly found himself swept back in time to the first time he was assigned to a bridge officer post. His ship was being held in reserve as a Federation fleet of 600 ships departed Starbase 375 to take part in Operation Return. A few of the Icarus' officers were assigned to other ships to assist in giving them more crew members because of casualties, with their tactical officer being among them. When his ship was to take the place of another ship towards the front of the formation, the second shift tactical officer broke down. He was ordered to relieve him and assume the tactical station for the duration of the mission. It was the first time he'd ever fired the ship's weapons and there were plenty of targets once the battle started.

Returning to the present, Teriir stepped aside to allow R'Turan to walk onto the bridge first, hoping the Caitian would see the gesture as a sign of respect rather than him getting his mind back on his duties.

((Tag: R'Turan, Bridge Crew))

[Saelanna]

USS Ares
Bridge

With all the chaos, Laxeth knew that it was unlikely he would be able to get back to Engineering. He was confident that power grid had been damaged, but needed to confirm the logs immediately prior to the attack had not been recorded.

Otherwise, the crew might be able to trace the transmission that he sent.

Lieutenant Gytaik sat at the Ops Station on the bridge. She was almost done with the damage reports and repair schedule. Her eyes scanned backwards and forwards across the last log from Engineering, almost at the entries that had been recorded immediately prior to the attack. It was then that she saw it, the minute fluctuation in the isolinear matrix that was so characteristic of a transmission; an unauthorised transmission sent to an unknown recipient immediately before the Orions had attacked the Ares. Someone else may have missed it but not the Bajoran, whose innate gift for spotting patterns was bordering on prodigal. Her duty was clear as she tapped her combadge:

“Acting Captain R’Turan this is Lieutenant Gytaik at Ops. Please report to the bridge, there is something here you need to see.”

((R’Turan, Laxeth))