WT: The Uwda and the others

Juliette Sri had set her tricorder to count down the hours until she could beam off this trial of a planet and see her own face in the mirror again- her pale complexion, her golden hair, her coal black eyes. But that was before. Now, as she carefully wedged a squat metal chair under the door handle to her hotel room and turned up the entertainment center to foil potential eavesdroppers, she formulated the words which would convince Captain Tilmana to extend the mission.

We are Judged by Their Silence

The counselor before Lahn was the quintessential Betazoid. Long, ropes of onyx hair down to the middle of her back, and a wide, honest face punctuated by apple cheeks and pitch eyes. She sat with almost a girlish air in the guest chair, while Lahn stood and paced. She watched Lahn, deep in thought move back and forth across the room. Finally she asked,  “How does that make you feel?”

Lahn stopped, abruptly turn to the counselor and frowned. “I don’t want to talk to you about my feelings. I want to find out who is shitting on my bed.”

The Stone That Sings Part III: Annah 2368

In summer, Annah had walked the rows of Jestral with Minerva ever since she could walk.  In the lower, hotter valleys, the leaves could be harvested year round, but here, high in the mountains, the Jestral shrubs grew much slower.  Havest was always in late summer, and had to be carefully timed with the dense fog that rolled in with the ocean.  After the third fog, but never more than a month later, Annah would walk the rows of lush shrubs, the edges of the normally green leaves taking a purplish tint. This year, Minerva dutifully followed, her toes grey from the dry, sandy ground, her young feet toughed by a summer of bare feet.

The Stone that Sings Part II

When Juliette Sri arrived at sick bay 38, her mental defenses wrapped tightly around her, the medical stations labs were dark and the bio beds empty. She consulted a console, and found all the patients had been transferred to other bays.  The reasons for doing so were indistinct, and since there was space in other sick bays, the transfers were unquestioned.  Devoid of patients, the sick bay staff had left for the day, in ones or small groups, with quick messages like, “Forgot my anniversary”, “Happy Hour at Quarks!”, “Early Dinner Date with Alain.” Or “I don’t think I fed Aslot.” One was simply a blunt. “I need some me-time.”  That left Matron Sheldt, her staff, and Juliette Sri  as the sole occupants of sickbay 38.  As Juliette approached the matron’s presence, her bodyguards coldly kept their distance, no doubt still smarting from her avoiding them and having the temerity to refuse the matron’s request.  With a deep breath, Juliette let her mental shield cascade away in a shower of diamond.

The Stone That Sings: Part I

Juliette Sri was apologizing. Again. Weaving, and apologizing. She could tell from D’Shyv’s stiff responses she wasn’t doing a very good job.

“I thought you wanted some space with Tran.”

Did I?

Sri frowned. The storms of Andoria were bone biting cold. Sri herself had nearly frozen to death hiding in the secondary hull of an ancient starship. Sunny days compared to the frost responses of an irked Aenar.  Blind as D’Shyv was, she briskly maneuvered and angled herself through the traffic of Deep Space Nine’s promenade. A pale, aloof ghost haunted by the living.  Sri felt her own peevishness at chasing after the D’Shyv creeping growing, and persisted with the verbal, if only because she knew it irritated her.

“I did. I thought you’d have something in common – talk about the homeworld—“

Homeworld? You know nothing of us, Lieutenant Commander.  Her use of Sri’s rank dripped with contempt, and Sri bit back anger. We may share a planet, but we are different worlds.

“All the more reason to get to know him. You wanted to find out more about the universe. Perhaps starting closer to home –“

The Dreamer and the Dreams that Were : Part II

“You are late. Again.”

“I am late.” Lieutenant Commander Juliette Sri conceded.  “I was busy trying to make sure your supplies made it to your sickbay instead of the USS Victor.”

“A notable goal. Were you successful?”

“That depends. Did you complete the cross-chronal matrix?”

Dr. Fenna stared intently at Sri. Sri glared. “What?”

“Your eyes are too close together.” Dr Fenna observed in a clinical tone.

“You didn’t complete it.” Sri accused, exasperated.

Only a Small Medical Emergency II

Continued from Part I

The inside of the building opened up into a large, four-story concourse that echoed just slightly with the occasional voices and crisp footsteps on the hard tiled floors. The entire building seemed lit to create the illusion of a perpetual early afternoon.  Sri turned to search the open areas of the upper floors, but was unable to see any Starfleet uniform standing out among patients, visitors or staff.  She reached out with her awareness, and the murmur of the concourse became a deafening roar of emotion.   Waves of frustration and worry, but none of the usual static that came with a Ferengi presence.  Nath was not nearby, but the sheer volume of emotion concealed a great deal.

Light Show

James Bridgeway’s first conscious moments weren’t of sight, or even sounds, but instead a scent – a sweet, charred smell, that at one time invoked memories of hot, thick cut bacon soaking in that last puddle of maple syrup. That was before he had been part of an engineering team trying to keep an alliance Klingon cruiser’s warp core from going critical. There the smell had come from the nearby plasma conduit which had ruptured near one of the targ pens. The conduit still flashed occasionally illuminating charred targ statues, caught in mid panic with brilliant white light. Other bodies, the parts that hadn’t been caught in the plasma wash, steamed. A few twitched. Others screamed. He remembered being mesmerized by the stench and the sound until the Commander had boxed her ear, screaming into it. “Want to wind up like them? Get that coolant system running!”  Afterward he’d stopped eating bacon – the pleasant memory; the warm hominess had been replaced by carbonized statues and screams.

Only a Small Medical Emergency - I

Oppenheimer’s departure from Deep Space Nine had been an experience to try the most beatific of Vulcans. As a hub of crew transfers, supply drops, and ship refits, occasional logistical mistakes at a busy station were only natural.  When that station is overloaded with novice crew and staffed with officers less familiar with the mix of Federation and Cardassian technology, one accepted the mistakes as commonplace and tried to avoid total catastrophe. Oppenheimer's supplies had been mis-appropriated to three different ships – all unwilling to release Oppenheimer's supplies until their supplies were found.  Her departure window had moved so many times the deck crew had to be re-briefed on adjusted procedure and contacts twice. Post departure, just as Sri was counting herself lucky, the quartermaster on watch discovered five crewmen milling about the mess hall who thought they were on the USS Lyons.  Not minutes later, the Lyons sent out a hysterical alert; the furious captain declared the crewmen deserters and demanded they be arrested and detained.  Despite Chief Security Officer Tran’s eagerness to put them in irons – he hadn’t had a chance to use irons, after all --   Lt Commander Sri decided they were merely lost and to make sure they had some lunch before transfer.  However, instead of bowls of hot plomeek soup,  the replicator produced a hypo of nutrients that resembled that of plomeek soup.  Closer inspection revealed the replicator to be a medical replicator, not a food replicator and that several crewmen had used the replicator to make hundreds of medical hypos – mostly stimulants controlled under Starfleet regulations.  Sri merely sighed and  ordered and enthusiastic Tran to head up the investigation to track down the hypos, mentally contacted D’Shyv to swap out the replicators, and sent the errant crewmen to sickbay for a bowl of soup.

The Dreamer and the Dreams that Were : Part I

Dr. Fenna’s glare could have melted neutronium. Instead its target was one Lieutenant Commander Sri.

“Give me one reason I should help you after you reassigned the Aenar to your team.” Her voice betrayed a bitterness so jagged Sri didn’t need her empathy. Sri had accepted the doctor’s pent-up rage as normal --just in this case her rage wasn’t nearly as pent up.

The Borg In Fate Acellerated Terms

This a take on the Borg, using the Fate Accelerated Bronze Rule, also known as Fate Fractal. This is a work in progress, and meant to represent the Borg as an abstract threat for a scene.  This take does not detail each Drone or even the Queen, and may not be granular enough for some uses.

By The Numbers II: A Full Accounting

Even though most of the officers in the ready room were off their duty cycle, sleeping was not on their minds. Syvok, stood stonily at the head of the table. His gaze abruptly went between the assembled officers which as Sri knew, passed for agitation for a vulcan.  The darkness didn’t help the mood. The yellow alert combined with wan emergency lighting created heavy shadows that turned empty spaces into lightless voids such Syvok appeared sinister instead of efficient and the officers around the table appeared sullen, bleary and agitated instead of -- 

Sri decided that part was actually pretty accurate. The stress around the table radiated out spastically around her, and she focused tightly to hold it off.

A Perfect Join: Delta I

Lahn sat on the ledge overlooking a knife-cut ravine as a chilly morning zephyr nudged a dense shroud of lead-vermillion clouds – crowned marigold by the rising sun -- across the opposing summit. The evergreens on the top tore away at the bottom of the cloud leaving them draped in a milky veil. The silence was that of the woodlands -- not the ever present thrum of a starship that she had long gotten used to but the soft cacophony of a living world of which she was both alien and participant. The rock was damp from the morning fog that prickled against her face and hands and beaded against her uniform, but she sat anyway, content to feel any sensation through her skin when scant days before, there had been no sensation – only input.

A Perfect Join: Recovery Part III

Each day, Shamat wandered the caverns. In some ways, they were a pleasant break from the chaos of triage, hurts and wants in Paladin’s sickbay.  The dim luminescence was comfortable to his Reman eyes and the smooth pumice-like walls reminded him that he really should visit Trill some day.  His sojourns were enjoyable until he inevitably descended deeper into the caverns where the walls became cracked and pitted, the air stale, and the toes of his boots would eventually scrape metal as the walls and floor became a mosaic of stone along with sections of dank, oily machinery. The dim light acquired a nauseating waxy green hue.  He picked up his pace in these sections – the machinery, while inert, gave him a sense of forboding.  Eventually he would find the antechamber – pristine and primitive, yet ending in a pair of very modern durasteel doors. It was at these doors that he would  seat himself cross legged on the smoothest part of the floor and announce himself.

A Perfect Join: Recovery Part II

Lahn did her best to move quickly, but her leg would not comply. Her cautious jog turned into a rough shamble. Helm cajoled, urged, and issued dire warnings  at every twist in the corridor. Periodically, Lahn checked the pouch with the nanite purges.  She remembered the advice. Don’t use them unless you’re sure you’ve been stung and you’re in a safe place. Between the field inducers, the full body polarity wave, and the chemicals, the nanite purge will fuck you up bad.

“You are close” Helm rasped.

A Perfect Join: Recovery Part I

Even prepared for the explosion, Lahn was knocked off her feet and her armor visuals became a wash of green-grey static that flickered across her eyes even as she rolled herself into a crouch.  She probed her surroundings with the tip of her pistol, firing whenever the barrel touched something solid. She felt movement, so she kept firing. After an agonizingly long half-second, visuals shakily returned, giving her a glimpse of a prone borg, its chest blistered by antiproton ruptures.  Her sensor net returned shortly after and its proximity alarm screamed threat from all directions. She thanked Gods Fortunate the explosion had knocked the sentries down as well, and she fired as she ran, more to slow them down than to destroy them. Hello, welcome to the new front of the war. I will be your server today.   

By the Numbers I: Oppenheimer Senior Staff

“You will find the senior staff responsibilities uploaded to your PADDS. You are expected to not only to know your own duties but the duties of your fellow officers in order to make communication efficient.”

Sri glanced around the four faces in the ready room.  Congenial, serious, placid, all listening attentively to Commander Syvok, Captain Tilmana’s First Officer. Only the Captain seemed slightly distracted, paging through his PADD as his first officer paused for the other officers to review their own PADDs

Out of Mind, Out of Sight I: Probe

“That must have been quite a powerboard accident.” Dr. Fenna said, running the ocular scanner over Lieutenant Commander Sri’s eye.

“I didn’t say I had a powerboard accident.”

“That’s good, you don’t have the lobes to sell that.” She picked up a hypo when Sri’s hand shot out and gripped her wrist tightly.  Dr. Fenna’s slow distainful stare went from Sri’s hand on her wrist to the Betazoid’s anxious expression.  “And just what do you think you are you doing, Lieutenant Commander?” Her tone was acidic.

“What is that?” Sri asked with an accusatory nod to the hypo.

Fenna twisted her wrist slightly. “The blood vessels in your eyes are grossly inflamed. A vasaldialator will reduce the inflammation.” She sarcastically added, “if that is in agreement with your medical opinion.”

Oppenheimer

Tell me what the ship is like. D’shyv asked in Sri’s mind.  The Aenar’s presence had been closer to her throughout the shuttle trip from the USS Bath to the USS Oppenheimer, even as she appeared to be sitting patiently in the shuttle seat.  This was a new world for D’shyv, and Sri carefully hid her doubts about bringing her into it.

The Oppenheimer is much larger than the Bath, and longer. The Bath was a variant on an experimental design found in the delta quadrant, while this is more standard design with a saucer section and nacelles--.

What does ‘Oppenheimer’ mean? D’Shyv cut in, and Sri winced inwardly. Of course she didn’t mean what the ship looked like.

Evlyn Lahn's Character Sheet

Evlyn Lahn

High Concept: Joined Trill  Captain of the USS Valkyrja

Trouble: My Shadowy Past Comes Back To Haunt Me

Other Aspects: Sometimes the Queen, Sometimes the Pawn; I really hate the Borg

Approaches

Careful: Fair (+2)
Clever: Good (+3)
Flashy: Mediocre (+0)
Forceful: Average (+1)
Quick: Average (+1)
Sneaky: Fair (+2)

Stunts

Long Term Planner: Because I am a long term planner, I gain a +2 to Cleverly overcoming obstacles or creating an advantage where planning ahead would help.

Battle Hardened Crew:  Because my crew is very resourceful, I have a +2 to Forcefully overcoming obstacles where the crew can help.

Tactical Wizard: Because I am a tactical wizard, I get a +2 when Cleverly creating advantages in combats with medium or large forces.

Stress: OOO

Consequences

Mild (2)

Moderate (4)

Severe (6)

Refresh: 3

A Perfect Join, Part VI

Binah

Lahn looked at Yassal’s pool, wishing her successes with her previous hosts did more to calm her nerves. The simulacrum in the pool regarded her expressionlessly with pinpoints of cold light, but Lahn couldn’t shake the feeling it was mocking her. Lahn narrowed her eyes, making a fist as she knelt by the pool. This is my mind. You cannot hurt me. She punched the liquid, letting her consciousness follow the force of the blow.

A burst of sunlight shattered brilliantly against an ocean that reached undisturbed to a cloudless horizon.  Small waves slapped a pale sandy meandering beach that arbitrated the ocean and dense jungle.  Lahn carefully surveyed the beach, feeling the heat oozing into her skin only to be brushed off by fits of cool breeze. She felt an ache in her hand, and looked down at her tightly clenched fist. She took a deep breath and slowly unclenched and flexed her hand, then sat on the beach and pulled off her boots.  She looked up and down the beach as she experimentally burrowed her bare foot into the warm sand and decided any direction would take her to Yassal.  She rose and picked one, leaving her boots on the lonely beach.

A Perfect Join, Part V

Ein Sof

Lahn opened her eyes to a soft, milky whiteness. As she waited for her eyes to adjust, she focused her senses elsewhere. The fog left a smooth distinct flavor in her mouth that disappeared even as she attempted to identify it. She lay prone on familiar stone --  warm against her cheek with  a pumice-like grittiness. The fog dissipated as she pushed herself to a crouch. The cavern floor interspersed by pools. Each pool held a figure, statues grey as the water immersed chest high in a chalky liquid. Their shapes were familiar – Sabina, Atrios, Rose, and her namesake Evlyn -- their distinctive spots inverted to cast a mute glow.  The floor was expansive, with room for many, many more pools. Lahn wondered what it would be like, to see the cavern with dozens, hundreds of pools – hundreds of lives. She couldn’t imagine.

You are my hosts only for a short while – but I am your host for the rest of my lives. I will carry you until you are legion, and crush me under your weight. I do not know what happens then, but whatever we face, we face together.  

A Perfect Join, Part IV

Malkuth

Lahn held the small thurible in her palm and lightly waved the smoky tendrils of incense to her face, inhaling an essence of moss and cinnamon combined with a faint, acrid bite that causes her to wrinkle her nose.

Lt Commander Sri sat across from her, engulfed in voluminous Trill robes. "Your requirements prohibit us from engaging in a standard witnessing. Nonetheless,  it was very helpful for the Symbiont Commission to allow me to observe one."

A Perfect Join Part III

Kether

“Captain Yassal?”  The Terran commander offered a polished grin and his hand.  “Commander Jack Forester. Friends call me Jack.” 

She took his hand, making her handshake firm. “Lahn.  Captain Evlyn Lahn. Good to meet you, Commander Forester.” They froze a second as Lahn didn’t reciprocate the offer to be addressed informally. The commander let the expectation dissolve with an easy chuckle.

“The Admiral was just sitting down for lunch, Captain. Care to join us for a bite?”

“Thank you, I already ate.” But he was already guiding her out of the foyer into a small dining room, seating her in a free chair between two other brass in uniform.  The array of food -- enough to feed twice again the number that sat at the table – was heaped on a crowd of delicate blue-veined Deferi porcelain platters. The matching place settings were framed by polished silverware that reflected the ornate glitter of a small chandelier. The officers introduced themselves between mouthfuls of food with names like Buck, Scooter, and Ace.  Only the man at the head of the table, lean and sandy-haired, paused to carefully assess Lahn.  His infectious quiet silenced the table, broken only as they all stood when he did, facing Lahn.

Life on the Bath

The hardest part of departing on the Bath was leaving Panoptes.

Only days later, when there were moments to reflect was she realized she might not see the Biome ever again. She had been busy adding pepper to her blue leaf salad when the realization ambushed her and she pushed the plate back, no longer hungry.

A Perfect Join, Part II

Netzach and Hod

Captain Evlyn Lahn broods in the low light of her ready room, a shadowy form somberly uplit  by the wan light of the PADD on her desk. Her stony expression conceals her troubled thoughts as  her mind slowly ruminates over the inexplicable events of the last few days..

Lahn’s eyes flicked upward. “Commander Grupiro, what are you doing?”

The Ferengi held two cordials and a carafe in her hands. “Narrating, Captain.”

She regarded her first officer a moment. “I am not brooding.”

“You have been sitting there for quite some time, Captain.” She set the glasses on the desk.

“The light is not dim.”

“To a Reman, perhaps.” Grupiro poured a clear, slightly vicious fluid from the carafe into each cordial glass.

Lahn dismissively waves her hand. “My mind is not troubled.” 

“Whose mind is not occasionally contemplative in these troubled times?”

Lahn sighed. “Actually, I feel rather upbeat, thank you.”

Captain Evlyn Lahn briefly sat in her adequately lit ready room, blissfully unaware she was brooding…

Lahn sighed focusing intently on her PADD. “I’m not in the mood for snail juice, Commander.”

A Perfect Join, Part I

Yesod

You wake up realizing that those closest to you were consumed in your making – you are born an orphan.  For slightly over 90 hours, two distinct and simultaneous nebula of experience collide --  dual masses strain to coalesce into a sense of self, an ego that can pronounce “I” as more a statement than a question. Part of you finds the snug familiarity of your body  violated --  your nearly vestigial pouch ripped open and stuffed with a half meter worm. The other part of you feels trapped in an alien husk, fighting the desperate urge to claw its way out, clinging to training and a sheer faith that this process – a process that no two Trill describe quite the same -- will eventually end .  

There has to be a better way to achieve immortality. Klingons try to fight their way to it. Romulans conquer. Ferengi haggle. Terrans try to fuck their way to it -- but Terrans are not alone there.

Despite the anticipated horrors and warnings, the awakening to my fourth life has been the gentlest so far.  I lie supine in a dark, cavern on a raised dais feeling rock’s warmth oozes through the layers of padding.  The light is dim. The warm, moist air smells of sweet, delicate incense. Somewhere the burble of a fountain couples with soft music.  I slightly twist my wrists, and determine the thick leather manacles on the dais remain confined to their niches carved out of the stone. My four attendants wear white robes, hiding their alert focus behind kindly smiles and slow, deliberate movement. Two stand quietly back, hypos tucked in their sleeves.  The tricorders, sensors, even emergency medical supplies, are all discretely hidden away as an attempt to reflect the old ways as much as possible, while reducing the frequency of madness, infection and death.  

Across the Desert

Juliette watched the heat ripple over the desert to make the sand appear the boil. Lorot sat nearby, meditating.

“I should like to cross the desert.” She said.

“You would most likely not succeed. It is dangerous.  Even for Vulcans, there is a considerable level of risk.”

Juliette considered this, hunching further into her linen shawl to avoid the scalding sun.  “Then why do Vulcans try to cross?”

“To achieve what awaits at the end, Naturally.”

Juliette’s curiosity piqued. “What awaits at the end of the desert?”

“Wisdom.”

 She considered this for a long moment before she asked, “Which end?”

Lorot arched a brow at her.

Sensor Ghosts

The USS Valkyrja encountered an ion storm that played havoc with the sensor arrays. At one point, sensors indicated the passing of a giant turtle, with four gigantic elephants standing on its back facing outward. On the backs of the elephants was a massive disk-shaped planet. Captain and crew could not help but observe the phenomena until sensors returned to normal.

A Perfect Join: Prelude

Many of those who hadn’t been on the away team who beamed over to Gul Maket’s crippled freighter found it hard to conceive this prim, fastidious Cardassian had tortured hundreds. They hadn’t seen the rooms, the tools, the logs.  They hadn’t seen what remained of his ‘patients’. Those that had were tight-lipped, pale and asked “only hundreds?”.

 “I must say, Evlyn – May I call you Evlyn? So nice to meet a colleague. You have the most lovely green eyes. What do the Terrans call it? Jade? Yes. I would mount them on black velvet. Could I somehow let you still see through them? That would be the challenge, hmm..”

“Bold talk for a prisoner, Gul Maket. Captain Yassal will do.”

He seemed to consider this a second. “Am I?”

“Lets see. I could consult the manifest of the brig of *my* ship, or I could ask any one of those security staff behind me…” She looked theatrically back to her security. Stoic. Hands on phasers. They’d been on the away team, so the Gul’s delicate, mild manner was only pissing them off. “They would be inclined to agree.”

Investigation of Hoken III: Examining the Origin of the Biome

Attending Officers:
Captain Mio - USS Atliss
Commander Shranz - USS Barclay
Doctor Grey -- Away Team Medical Officer
Lt. Hawk, USS Eclipse
Ensign Sri, Acting Science Specialist

Stardate 92172.54

Science Officer’s Log: We are heading toward the planet Hoken III at warp five in the USS Barclay. Our escort is Lt. Hawk in the USS Eclipse. Our objective: perform in-depth scans of the planet Hoken III, to see if this desert world has any connection with the lifeform on the beta moon -- a species that has been designated as the Biome.

Returning Home, Part Five

Juliette slept well, despite being too tired to properly conduct her evening meditation. The household was full of disciplined minds, which made her need to properly shield herself from random thoughts unnecessary.  Instead of waking to a particularly strong emotional outburst near her quarters, she awoke to the smell of pastries backing, the small pungent eggs that were soft boiled in broth, orange peel and anise. The smells that came from food being prepared, a step skipped with replication station.

Returning Home, Part Four

The smells and sounds of the house had become foreign, lacking the deep thrum of a starship or a station that normally lulled Juliette to sleep. She dozed, then woke, then meditated, then dozed again. As she awoke for the final time she groggily realized what she had gotten would have to do.

Unpacking the Biome took the better part of an hour. It was a small, dense shrub with short tangled branches clutching a dense nebula of deep green leaves bunched around mantis oblong pods, most of which were open to reveal an off-white orb inside. At the center of each orb was a red spot giving each the countenance of a baleful read eye. For its thick foliage and startling appearance, much of what made the Biome the subject of such intense scrutiny at Daystrom was not in the leaves or eyes, but in the fibers and microorganisms amid its roots. 

Returning Home, Part Three

As the flyer descended toward the shuttle pad of House Sri, the pilots maintained transparency so that Juliette could point out the old retreat nestled among ornamental gardens that produced an outburst of russet, plum and juniper ringed with the white poppies currently in season.  The shuttle alighted delicately on the landing pad while Tessa said goodbye like she was leaving a dear friend, and wouldn’t let go until she promised to attend the Tal Isle festival. Andres kept a respectful physical distance, though his presence in her mind was close and personal. Was tomorrow too soon to call on her? Not at all.

Returning Home, Part Two

House Morin’s flyer was as large as a Yellowstone shuttle – though where the Starfleet workhorse was rugged and practical, Juliette felt she was boarding a work of fine art. The inside was more than enough room for Juliette, Tessa, Tessa’s assistant (a star-struck girl from the Chiliat), Tessa’s two bodyguards, Andres and Juliette with room for at least four others. If she ignored the consoles and monitors and focused only from the filigree and brocade on the furnishings the room could have been from Betazed’s early baroque period. Even the pilot that proffered a silver tray with drinks was dressed in a uniform from the period – a stiff dress jacket with gold threaded epaulettes -- clearly an indication of how back House Morin laid claim to their line.  Juliette declined the offer of champagne and selected effervescent water mixed with fruit juice instead.

Returning Home Part One

Despite the signs and announcements against doing so, the queues for the transporters started well before the passenger ship had established standard orbit around Betazed.  Vacationers, eager to make the most of their trip, crowded the transporters until the queue compressed into an impatient, irritated mob. For most Betazoids, pockets of anxiety and frustration were at worst a distraction. For a Betazoid with the rare condition of hyper sensitivity to strong emotions, it was a trial of will and stamina. Rather than test her meditative techniques against an unruly throng, Lieutenant Juliette Sri instead rode in  a shuttle down to the Southern Continent.

Octanti Encounter at the Borg Battlefield

It only made sense for the USS Robert Hooke, an Oberth class science vessel, to meet with the Cooperative at the battlefield near the Jenolan Sphere. It was a symbolic location --  the site of the destruction of so many of the Collective. It was also a practical location --  the remaining wreckage provided excellent cover for  the Cooperative vessels  against Octanti scanners.

The Valkyrja  and The Paladin, newly outfitted with upgrades, emerged from warp, making careful scans of the system and the Robert Hooke herself.  Once they were satisfied the system was secure, Captains Lahn and Quint beamed over to a Cooperative cube to meet the Hooke's science teams. Despite visiting a Cooperative ship, Lahn insisted on a heavy security detail, quietly carrying a large array of anti-borg weaponry.

Sri's Daily Schedule

Start Time	End Time	Duration	Activity
18:00	0:00	6:00	Sleep
0:00	0:15	0:15	Meditation: Focus
0:15	1:00	0:45	Excitatory and inhibitory tran-ion flow test. Exercise, Gym Level - Cardio -- Light weights
1:00	1:45	0:45	Shower, Dress
1:45	2:15	0:30	Breakfast: -- fruit, kalam nuts, half a sweet bread. Deka tea Review Overnight Lab Results from Science Teams and Messages
2:15	2:30	0:15	Tyee Science Team Morning Brief with Chiefs
2:30	2:45	0:15	Attend XO Brief (XO many times dismisses this meeting)
2:45	4:45	2:00	Science team Activities
4:45	5:00	0:15	Meditation: Focus
5:00	6:00	1:00	Science Team Activities
6:00	6:15	0:15	Late Morning Snack -- Fruit, or cold vegetables
6:15	8:45	2:30	Science Team Activities
8:45	9:15	0:30	Afternoon Meal, check Stereoisomer levels
9:15	9:30	0:15	Meditation: Relaxation
9:30	10:30	1:00	Cadet Officer Hours
10:30	12:15	1:45	Lab Work
12:15	12:30	0:15	Meditation: Relaxation
12:30	12:45	0:15	Afternoon Snack
12:45	13:00	0:15	Tyee XO Brief (XO many times dismisses this meeting)
13:00	13:15	0:15	Science Team Evening Brief with Chiefs
13:15	13:30	0:15	Meditation: Focus
13:30	15:00	1:30	Holodeck Training: Piloting, Command Simulations
15:00	15:30	0:30	Light Evening Meal
15:30	17:30	2:00	Free Time
17:30	18:00	0:30	Test Neurotransmitter and Psilopsynine levels. Meditation: Relation, Reflection

Juliette Sri's Fate, Accelerated Character Sheet

This is Lt Juliette Sri's FATE Accellerated Character Sheet - For right now.

Juliette Sri

High Concept: Betazoid Chief Science Officer of the USS Oppenheimer

Trouble: Sometimes Senses Too Much

Other Aspects: Scion of the 433rd House of Betazed; At the Center of an Understaffed Ship

Approaches

Careful: Good(+3)
Clever: Fair(+2)
Flashy: Average (+1)
Forceful: Mediocre (+0)
Quick: Fair (+2)
Sneaky: Average (+1)

Stunts

Minor Telekinetic: Because I am a minor telekinetic, I can do minor manipulation or an attack based on my Forceful. However, after doing so, I will suffer a consequence.

Master of Defensive Techniques: Because I have mastered defensive techniques, I get a +2 to mental defense against a mental attack

Stress: OOO

Consequences

Mild (2)

Moderate (4)

Severe (6)

Refresh: 3

Background of Juliette Sri

Synopsis

Sri is many things -- In the top 10% of Betazoid telepaths, 2nd Scion of the 433 House of Betazed, an expert in the psionic sciences and an ambitious Star fleet Officer. As much as she tries to keep her life as a Betazoid and her life as a Starfleet officer separate, sometimes these worlds interfere with each other, and other times collide with spectacular results. She followed the ups and downs of Betazoid society ravenously until the death of her sister, which disgusted her when she couldn't understand why the news improved the status of her family. She has gradually come to terms with this, and uses her successes to boost the standing of her own house, but refuses to take on the duties of the 2nd Scion of House Sri. Her family life is complicated -- with her eldest sister stepping into the role of Matron of House Sri, her older brother constantly in trouble with the law, and a younger brother following in her flootsteps toward Starfleet -- something that troubles her deeply because in her darker moments, she feels its her fate to die in space like her sister.

Sri is a brutally scrupulous telepath, and knows that many beings cannot help but shout their thoughts in their heads. Secrets she hears stay secret, and she never prys. Because of her condition with Evans, she can get overwhelmed by sheer volume of thoughts, but she spent 4 years on vulcan learning to control. Her defense is very strong, and very little gets into her mind when she is strong and well-rested. She is also very observant, sensing the presence of others fairly easily. She has been known to use her background in psychology -- part of the psionic sciences -- to convince normally resistant species she is psychic -- Ferengi Bartenders being er favorite target. Psionically, her attacks are normal for a strong-willed Betazoid andh er fighting style is to let her opponent wear themselves out on her shields, and then punch them. Sri does have a minor telekinetic attack -- on the order of 20-30 microgellars. This almost always results in her getting a nosebleed and being dizzy for a period of time.

As an officer, she is friendly and outgoing, and like most Betazoids has a flair for the diplomatic. Her skills in the psionic sciences make her perfectly serviceable as a medical technician and she knows her way to working most models of EMH -- dealing with their various personalities.. She's always happy to explain (and get help on!) her latest project. At the same time, her graduating class was decimated by the Undine attack. She hates the Undine with a passion, and also is very concerned about Star ship and star base safety protocols. She can be a stickler for the rules when it comes to safety and security.

Sri carries a tremendous obligation -- as part of her presentation to the Daystrom Institute, she earned the trust of a species called the Tevi. They are a mistrustful species, and lost in the Alpha Quandrant in ship that is surprisingly low-tech (still using spin gravity) but has an unusual hyperdrive. She has been trying to find a base for them to repair, refuel and perhaps find their bearings to get home. Her first thought was K-7, but the political situation in the sector has deteriorated to the point she doesn't trust that the defenseless ship could be adequately protected. She spends much of her free time trying to find their home, or find ways to improve the poor diplomacy between Star fleet and the Tevi.

Family

Lars Sri (paternal); Betazoid; Betazed; Mathematical Sociologist
Sedna Sri (maternal); Betazoid; Betazed; deceased
Kanara (oldest Sister); Betazoid; Betazed; Matron of House Sri (Current Rank 433rd)
Kent (oldest Brother); Betazoid; Delta Quadrant; Merchant -- Failed Academy in year 3
Lara (older sister); Betazoid; Betazed; Starfleet Lt; USS Tarns Nebula; deceased
Ramel (younger brother); Betazoid; Betazed; Student

Career

2408 - Joined Academy
2412- Completed coursework in 2409, transfers for field work to Starbase Praetorian
2412 - Serves as Medical Technician on Alpha site after destruction of Praetorian
2412 - Serves as psionic combat specialist to free crewmen from Undine 'reprogramming'
2412 - Graduated 2 months early; promoted to Ensign
2413 - Services on First Contact Team on the Beta Moon of Hokken III, validating sentience of a local plant life
2413 - Promoted to Lietenant, Junior Grade
2413 - Presents at Daystom Scientific Conference on Mars
2413 - Part of Diplomatic team establishing diplomatic relations with the Tevi -- Injured in the line of duty
2413 - Requested Transfer to USS Tyee; Science Officer
2414 - Transferred to Alpha Centauri Institute -- USS Bath, Chief Science Officer -- Promoted to Lt. Commander.
2414 - Transferred to USS Oppenheimer -- Chief Science Officer, Chief of Operations, Third Officer

Meanwhile, Aboard the Tyee

Cadet Potter prepared to ring the chime on Lieutenant Sri's door when he heard, "Come in, Cadet Potter".

The light of the hallway forced its way into her dimmed quarters. Cadet Potter peered into the gloom at Lieutenant Sri, her features harshly lit by the glow of the PADD propped up on her desk, a heavy mug cradled in her hands. For a moment, she appeared to him to be made of wax, glowing and translucent, until her head shifted slightly and she looked at him.

"Its alright, Cadet" Sri said as Cadet Potter continued to linger uncertainly in the doorway, "I just have a small headache. Computer, room lights to 50%." The room brightened visibly.

Tokens

Lt. Sri's Presentation to the Daystrom Institute

Ensign Juliette Sri ended her presentation displaying current map of the P268  – more affectionately called The Outback – in relationship to the Milky Way on the holoprojector for all the attendees in the secondary hall to see. It was a map based on models the Daystrom Institute, the hosts of this conference, had spent thousands of hours in researcher and computational time building. It was those very same models she had just spent the last 45 minutes discrediting.

The image zoomed away from the Outback until the dwarf galaxy was only a small dot among the galaxies of the Local Group, and continued racing outward, until the map encompassed the entirety of the Virgo Supercluster. In a few seconds even that was too small to see, leaving a field of complete darkness as the house lights brightened, revealing a hall and audience Sri had tried to forget existed as she watched the universe zoom out to insignificance.

Life of a 3rd Year Cadet

The sickbay of the USS Antares was in a power saving mode when Sri first arrived. First, the room was dark, then suddenly brightly lit. She paused to let her eyes adjust to the light, and regard sickbay. The spartan, flat biobeds with the heavy, blocky biofunction monitors above them to her more modern sensibilities looked quaint --- almost baroque.

"Computer, activate the Emergency Medical Hologram"

The air shimmered just a few meters away. The EMH was clearly designed to appear competent without intimidation -- mature and scholarly with a dash of mousy harmlessness thrown in. Tens of thousands engineering hours to create an EMH that made patients feel better simply by the sight of it and Sri merely regarded the EMH with weary resignation.