<<Stardate: 47307.16- 13:30>>

<<Science Lab 14>>

Eve Mallory winced at the sound of the sonic bombardment that assaulted her. Though it did not have the same affect on her equilibrium that it had on Blake and Castle, it was still loud. She stepped over the two of them and snatched Castles phaser from his hip. They were both out, and would be for over an hour, thanks to the nuerotoxins that were being pumped into the chamber she was standing in, as well as the chamber beyond the door that she stood before. Her ‘heart’ was beating rapidly and her ‘breathing’ was quick and shallow. She was a scientist, not a security officer. But, she was the only one here, at the moment. And the door that separated the two compartments of Science Lab 14 was opening.

Standing in the frame of the opened double doors was a man. He wore a filtration mask over his mouth and nose and his ears were closed by small plugs. The mans eyes widened in genuine surprise when he saw Eve standing there in the cloud of nuerotoxins without the benefit of protection. The man fell back a step and raised the phaser he seemed to have forgotten he held.

The man and Eve stood facing each other, each pointing their weapons at the other. The sonic assault suddenly quieted and Eve swallowed against the pressure on her ‘eardrums’. Suddenly, she could almost hear again. She heard the hum of unseen vacuums and saw the gas being pulled out of the compartment.

The man slowly reached up and pulled the plugs from his ears. Beneath his mask, Eve saw him swallowing hard, trying to relieve his own pressure.

"Drop the weapon.", the man said with a quavering voice. "I don’t want to hurt you."

Eve shook her head slowly. She saw a red light flashing on the comm panel, indicating that Security had received the alarm. "I can’t let you get away from here."

The man...whimpered? "Please. I don’t want to shoot, but I am not leaving without her."

‘Her’?, Eve thought. She knew the Borg Specimen had been a female, but who was this man, how did he know that, and what the hell did he want ‘her’ for?

"You can’t escape. Security is on it’s way.", she spoke calmly and reasonably.

"Don’t worry. I’ll escape. Now lay down your weapon and move away from that stasis chamber." The man was feeling the pressure of time. His voice was becoming strident. He was on the verge of becoming dangerous. "You’re not going anywhere with that specimen.", Eve said just as calmly as before. But the man suddenly shouted. "She is NOT a ‘specimen’! She is a WOMAN! Her name is ANGELINE!!!, you cold-hearted bitch!"

At that moment, two pairs of Security officers flanked the outer door. One pair stood back, while a Terran male and a Klingon female stepped out into the other room. Out into the open. The Klingon woman spoke coldly.

"I don’t care what her name is, dog. Drop that weapon." The Klingons smile suggested that she hoped he wouldn’t drop it. "ANGELINE!!", the man screamed as he spun and pointed his phaser at the Klingon. Before he could depress the stud to fire, the Klingon and the Terran fired. Both pencil-thin beams lanced out and struck the man in the chest. A crimson aura surrounded the point of contact and the man fell.

The Security force rushed in and surrounded the fallen man. Testament to his strength, both weapons fired at maximum stun, the man was still, but barely, conscious.

"...Angeline....", he whispered as he faded.

Eve Mallory fell to her knees at his side. She checked his pulse.

Steady, but sluggish.

"Who are you?", she asked, not expecting an answer. The mans eyes fluttered a second.

"...Jarel....", he sighed. "...she was my wife...."

Then, he collapsed.

<<OOC: Jarel, and the events surrounding his introduction into the game,

was a device to bring on board Blake Cromwell. Jarel is a PC under his control. However, as Mr. Cromwell is a military man in the midsts of escalating tensions in the Mid-East, his ability to participate is curtailed. Jarel will be arrested and confined to the Brig until such time as Mr. Cromwell is able to participate.

And please, let us all remember not only Mr. Cromwell, but all of our Armed Forces in our prayers and thoughts and hope that his duties to our country do not keep them long from us, and keep them safe. Blake, Jarel will be ‘cooling off’ in the Brig until your return. Godspeed and God Bless.>>