<Stardate: 47307. 16- 14:45- Brig>

Lt. (jg) Jhari Ryes finished her report and stood looking down at her supervisor while he absorbed the information.

"Christ. ", he finally breathed. "I was only out for an hour. And in that time, you're telling me that the Captain died, one of the Q have transported us to the Beta Quadrant, we have taken aboard an alien from the Delta Quadrant, and we have finally caught our saboteur?"

Ryes nodded in acknowledgement.

"So, why the Red Alert?", Castle asked as he turned to look at the man in the containment cell.

"Commander Terrakian is concerned that a wormhole so close to Romulan space will naturally attract their attention. ", Ryes responded crisply.

Castle nodded at the wisdom.

"And the Indiana?"

Ryes did the math in her head. "Scheduled to rendezvous within four days. "

"Why are we waiting here if we expect Romulans?", Castle pondered

aloud. "Why not move to meet the Indiana?"

Ryes simply shrugged. It was not her responsibility to second guess her commanders. "Perhaps you should suggest it, sir. ", she said.

Castle nodded. Then, he stood and walked up to the containment field. He looked at his prisoner. His prisoner ignored him. "Dismissed, lieutenant. "

Jhari Ryes spun smartly on her heels and left the room.

Castle had read the report on this man. Jarel. He was moved by the mans predicament. The mans wife was a science project. It wasn't right.

"Is there anything I can do that will mean anything to you, Jarel?"

It was the way Castle asked the question that provoked the man to even look at him. But, Castle had seen that look in the eyes of other men. He had seen it in his own eyes, from time to time. Jarel had not yet given up. He had simply been delayed.

"No, warden. ", the man responded with thick sarcasm. "Three hots and a cot is all I need from any of you. "

Castle nodded and turned away. He stopped, showing only his profile to the man. "There have been occasions where Borg have been reclaimed. Picard of the Enterprise being the most obvious example. "

Jarel looked at the man with a measuring gaze. "Why are you saying that?"

Castle turned his head to look at the man. He shrugged. "A lot of things can happen. "

Jarel seemed confused by the mans cryptic declarations. But, there was something in the way he said them that gave Jarel a feeling of...

hope.

Castle gave the man a knowing look. "Just sit tight, don't do anything stupid, and we'll see what happens out here. OK?"

Jarel's heart was racing like an engine, but he nodded with a knowing look of his own.

Castle nodded for no reason in particular and left the brig.

Lt. Logan Castle

Chief Security Officer, USS Grail

"Pinky. Are you pondering what I'm pondering?"

"Uh, I think so, Brain. But, if Eve Mallory was perfectly replicated right down to the molecular level, then what makes her different than a normal person? NARF!"

"Precisely!"

Pinky and the Brain-(not a direct quote)