Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1998 12:26:22 -0500 (EST) From: "Lynette R. F. Cowper" Subject: USS OBERON: In a Fog Her father was standing over the bodies of Angelo, Sczewc, Leiter, Parsons, Koto, Nabon, Christie and Anna. There was blood all over his hands. "Why?" she demanded. "I'm sorry, Kee," he said. "I had to. I can't have anyone knowing you too well. It's dangerous to the family." She backed up. It was all her fault. "No." "Yes. I'm afraid it's true. You need to come home, daughter, so this sort of thing can be avoided in the future." "No!" she screamed louder. "I won't go." Her father looked saddened as he pulled out the disruptor. "I'm sorry, daughter," he said as he aimed it at her. "No, Dad, don't!" she yelled as she felt the blast hit her. Then she was sitting up in the biobed and clawing at the air. She stopped, taking in her surroundings. She was on the OBERON, in Sickbay. Adam Crown was hovering nearby. Captain LuCypher, Stae-faan, was sitting beside the bed, obviously having been interrupted in some conversation he'd been having with Adam. "Keegan, are you okay?" Crown asked. She nodded, running a shaking hand across her sweat-beaded forehead. "I'm fine." She felt Stae-faan's eyes on her and knew he could sense her upset somehow. She didn't understand how he would know or how she knew he knew, but it was true nonetheless. "Just a... nightmare or something. Give me a minute to catch my breath." She closed her eyes, took a breath and exhaled it slowly, then repeated the exercise. Of course the dream was ridiculous. None of those people, with the exception of Anna, were remotely close to her. Why had she dreamed that her presence here had put them in danger, had resulted in their deaths? Temporary deaths, she supposed in some cases. As long as she kept her family's secret, there was no risk to anyone here. And no threat to her family. Surely her family understood she would never betray them. Before she'd stopped communicating with them altogether, she'd repeatedly assured them of that. "Keegan," Stae-faan interrupted her thoughts, "since you're awake, I need to ask you a few questions about Nivek." Nivek. Yes. Nivek and the disruptor. "Shoot," she answered, then grinned wryly at the unintentional pun. "Did he say anything or so anything to make you suspicious?" Kee shook her head. "I don't know him, of course, but he seemed normal enough to me." "Then why did you dodge his shot?" Kee mulled that over. "I don't know. I just suddenly got the feeling I was in danger." "Your Academy psi tests don't show any particular tendency toward precognition. It's my believe you noticed something, maybe subconsciously, that triggered your reflex. Think. Relax." She sat back and closed her eyes, trying to think, but nothing came to her. Her memories were addled and the dream had disturbed her. "I'm sorry. I can't--" "Relax." At his word, she felt an odd calmness sweep through her. At first, she fought the sensation, then gave into it, allowing her mind to slip back within the safety of the feeling. The image came to her. "There was something about his... his... umm..." What was the word? She felt suddenly alarmed that she couldn't think of it, but the calming washed over her. "... the thing you hold, you know, that takes... takes information about your surroundings." "Tricorder," Crown supplied. "Right. His tricorder. There was something not right about it. Like it had been... modified somehow." "Do you remember how?" She thought back. "The screen! The characters on it. I just caught a brief glance and it didn't register until after I'd turned away. Then I heard a sound like you hear when you adjust the power of your... um..." She stuck out her hand and pulled an imaginary trigger. "Phaser." "Yes. Right. Phaser." "Modified phaser?" Adam asked. "Or she could have been hearing the similar sound that a disruptor might make when being adjusted. Keegan, do you remember what was on the screen?" "Romulan characters, I think. I don't read Romulan, so I could be wrong, but it wasn't Federation Standard, that's for sure." LuCypher nodded. "Thank you, Keegan. That confirms our suspicions." "Am I okay to go?" Kee asked, glancing at Crown. Adam nodded. "You're at one hundred percent." "Great." She turned to LuCypher. "Did you have anymore questions?" "Not at the moment. Na- Keyotay is on the surface investigating right now." "May I assist the investigation?" LuCypher shook his head. "I need you to get Owen functional." She nodded. "Makes sense. I'll get right on it." ****** [Some time later] "Okay, I think all we need to do is reconnect this... thingum here and he should be capable of speech." Lanni gave her and odd look. "Are you okay, Kee?" "I'm fine. Why?" she asked as she performed the reconnection. Owen's mouth moved. "Excellent work," he said. "Good. You're back. We've gotten as far as we can go without your input, Owen. Lanni and I figured you could assist us in the final repair steps." "How are you feeling?" Lanni asked. "I've felt better. Give me a moment to examine what you've done..." ****** "... and then we just had to... um... re-... um... redo the number thingies on..." She fell silent, under the worried gazes of LuCypher, Tabak and Christie. "I'm sorry, I seem to be having trouble thinking of technical terms." She fidgeted nervously, wondering what could be wrong with her. Respectfully submitted, Lynette R. F. Cowper Lt Keegan Dacey, CEO USS OBERON NRPG: Okies, Brian, Owen can be as functional as you like. Just FYI, Kee can work just fine. She's just having trouble finding the words to explain what she is doing/did. Greg, I figured with as often as Lanni and Kee finish each other's sentences, they might have worked for some time before Lanni started picking up on a problem. --- Lynette R. F. Cowper , INWO Line Editor