Subject: Grail: "Last Look Back"-`Yet another flashback'

<<U.S.S. Boyd, 6 months earlier>> Vincent walked through the doors and found himself in the battlebridge. The revolving lights bathed his face and uniform in a deep rose

color. The ringing in his ears wasn't as bad in here as in the halls, but

that problem was replaced by the the looks from the crew.

The Captain, an older gentleman with a handlebar mustache and a

British accent, turned to address the young Lt(jg.). The look on the

Captain's face as he turned away from the monitor gave every hint that a

British expression could give that he wasn't pleased with the situation at

hand (Which meant that Rogers still couldn't tell what was on the

Captain's mind). The Captain began to speak.

"Lieutenant junior grade Vincent Rogers, it has been perceived

that you have some explaining to do."

"Sir?"

"It seems that our computer navigational system has lead us off

course and into Romulan space. Now, it also seems that there was only one

entry of someone accessing the navigational program between the beginning

of our voyage and now. Would you happen to know who that might be?"

Vincent's gulp echoed in his mind as he took in every word the

captain was saying. Knowing the answer good and well, yet afraid of the

implications it would bring, he couldn't open his mouth to speak. Nodding

his head was all that he could do.

"And, who might that have been?"

"M-me, sir."

The captain folded up his arms and looked at the monitor in front

of the bridge. Turning his head, Vincent noticed for the first time the

face of a Romulan woman looking at him through the monitor. She looked

fair to Vincent, but the gleam of anger in her eyes and the way she held a

snarl on her face was enough to extinguish any flame he could possibly

have for her.

"Now, Subcommander Thalissa was kind enough to offer a few of her

ships to escort us to the Romulan border. There, we will rendevous with

another ship where you will be taken back to Starfleet to await trial.

Oh, and don't touch anything on the way out. It would be unfortunate for

all of us if you were to sabotage anything else."

Two security crewmembers grabbed Vincent by either arm and lead

him away. As they walked out the door, Vincent heard the Romulan woman

offering the captain advice on what to do with their "saboteur". Being

escorted down the hall, with all eyes glaring at him, was more than enough

punishment than he could handle at this point.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

<<Sickbay, Stardrive section>>

Vincent slowly attempted to open his eyes, but the bright lights

forced him to close them again. After a few moments, he gathered up the

courage and opened his eyes again. This time, the light wasn't so bad,

especially through the hazy film he was looking through. Blinking helped

remove the film, but the appearance of the place didn't approve.

Looking around, he found himself in Sickbay. Trying to shift his

arm, he found himself unable to move. Looking down, he saw blinking light

on the motion restraint field placed around him. Examing hmself further,

he noticed his hands were wrapped up in some sort of sealant, his head had

something wrapped around it, and some goo over most of his arms and chest.

He also saw a small patch where his commbadge should have been. Looking

down at the bandage, his mind kicked into gear. *Oh, great. They found

it. I am going to be in SO much hot water for this one.*

As if on cue, the nurse stationed there walked up to his bed.

With a pleasant smile, the male nurse ran a tricorder over Vincent's body,

pausing over the injured portions of his body longer than usual.

Appearing satisfied with the results, the man closed up the tricorder and

allowed his smile to fall upon Vincent.

"Hello. My name is Eric, and I am the nurse on call. Is there

anything I can get for you?"

Vincent looked the man over. The guy didn't look very strong.

Perhaps that was why the nurse was in medicine. Looking down at his

bandages, Vincent cleared his throat.

"Could you tell me what happened to me?"

Eric looked down at his padd and began tapping a few places on the

screen. Speaking in a voice so monotonal that it could be used in place

of anesthetic, Eric read from the charts.

"You had severe 3rd degree burns on your hands and knees, as well

as second and third degree burns on your arms and chest. Your comm-badge

melted and we had to remove it from your skin. It also seems you had a

rather serious concussion. You must have encountered some serious

fighting to come back with these wounds."

Vincent let out a barely perceptable sigh. When his hands healed,

he was going to wrap them around Frobo's neck and strangle the blueness

out of him. Mentally changing the subject, Vincent looked over at the

motion restraint device and cocked an eyebrow.

"What's that machine for?"

"That is the motion restraint field generator. It seems when we

tried to anesthetize you, you fell into a violent seizure, and needed

restraint. The anesthetic field should have worked without side effects,

so it only leaves the hypothesis of a chemical interacting improperly in

your system. Are you currently taking any medication not listed in our

records, Mr. Rogers?"

Rogers closed his eyes. He wasn't expecting the finger to be

pointed at him this way. He was expecting someone to grill him on the

improper use of medications. Vincent expected the nurse to get in his

face and whisper in his ear that he knew a little secret. He expected the

nurse to walk to the door and let security wheel him to a cell or

something. Anything, but such an open-ended question as this.

"No," Vincent replied. The nurse nodded and looked down, writing

down something in his PADD before looking up.

"Since you are awake, it is safe to assume that you will be fit

for cell reconstruction. You will be transported to the operating room

shortly, as soon as the current patient is stabilized. Oh, and if you

need me, call me with this badge. I will be right on the other side of

this door."

Vincent sat there in silence as the nurse placed the badge in his

lap and walked away. For the next few minutes, he sat there thinking over

the situation, trying to decide whether that Eric fellow knew of his dirty

little secret.

Thinking it over, Vincent promised himself that if he managed to

get through this without anyone finding out, he was going to stop taking

the verbocain...after the first bottle was empty.

Yeoman 1st Class Vincent Rogers

Mess Hall Cook

U.S.S. Grail