Subject: Grail: "Last Look Back"- The Morning After (Brinn)

Athalya Anne cringed before she even opened her eyes. She had no idea where

she was. She could have been in her quarters or in 10-Forward, for all she

knew. And to top it off, she could feel the hang over from hell coming on.

Her mouth tasted like wet cigars and someone was pounding on her head with

the butt of a phazer rifle. Athalya Anne marshaled the courage to open her

eyes and immedantly wished she hadn't. The light. "Computer," she

whispered, "dim lights by 75%." Much better.

Ignoring the wave of nausea that was threatening, Athalya Anne looked

around. She had only seen her quarters a once, but she had a pretty good

memory of what they looked like. This wasn't them. *Where...* Athalya

Anne looked beside her. Dr. Miranda St. Claire was occupying a bit of

carpet to the left of Athalya Anne.

*Ooohh....* Bits of memory came back to Athalya Anne. The petite woman

with quite the figure had been too much for the drunk soldier to resist.

Athalya Anne eased herself out of bed, strapped her peg leg on, dressed and

exited as quietly as possible. With any luck, St. Claire would have about

as much memory of the last night as Athalya Anne did. The last thing she

needed was to have trouble with the person who kept her boys (the Marines)

alive and well on her bad side.

In the corridor, light brutally assaulted Athalya Anne's senses. She would

have screamed, but the noise would have put her in more pain. Athalya Anne

stopped by her quarters to shower and empty her stomach before she realized

that she had a job to do. *Speaking of which, what does that job entail?*

Damned if she knew. Athalya Anne didn't exactly have the time to read her

job description.

Then memory struck her. She remembered everything that had transpired the

night before. *Oh, my God.* she thought. "That poor kid." Athalya Anne

mumbled. She had nearly raped the poor dear.

"Computer?" Athalya Anne asked as she towel dried her hair. It chimed in

response. She wondered if it was her imagination or if the volume on the

damned thing had been turned up a notch or two. No matter.

"Begin message. Hello, Fionn. First off, I would like to state, for the

record, that I would have slept with you no matter how much I had to drink.

I know myslef well enough to be aware of a few simple facts such as these.

However, don't let this become an obstacle to us developing a relationship.

Don't get your panties in a wad, it dosen't have to be romantic. Also,

don't let my rank hold you hostage with fear. Only fools can't see past it,

and cowards hide behind it.

Second off, if you're still willing, we owe eachother a demonstration of our

capeabilities. Just say when." Athalya Anne paused, realizing she had said

more than she intended. *Quit while you're ahead.*

"I am, as always, at your service." She picked a rather antiquated form of

closing. Athalya Anne debated whether or not to send it. "Send message."

And then another thought struck Athalya Anne. There were still some loose

ends to take care of. "Computer, have Francois DeMontigny report to my...

belay that. Computer, do I have an office?"

*That's pathetic.* Athalya Anne thought, *I don't even know if I have an

office or not.*

"Affirmative." the computer kindly told her. *Thank heavens for

technology.*

"Have Francois DeMontigny report to my office now." The computer chimed in

response, but Athalya Anne had all ready gone in search of her office.