<<OOC : Hello all! This was supposed to come out WAY earlier, but due to a slight problem... well you only get this now (explicit huh?). hehe. Revised version of course. I'm well aware that visual presentation is really poor, but... that's the best I could do with

copy-paste (well at least I have it ;D), and I am too lazy to arrange it manually. Mmm... Don't be surprised if I use Mr. Stone a lot... from now on he's a NPC. :P Jyanne >>

The Treaty of Algeron"- 'Hot Encounter in Ten-Forward'

By Lieutenant Cara Hatcher

CTO, USS-Grail

47307.16, 1700 hours

It had been an intense shift. Cara was both mentally and physically exhausted when Epic Terrakian finally ordered the stand down of the red alert status, which would at last allow her to leave the bridge. Since the end of the meeting, it seemed to her that life had been making fun of them.

First, a woman had appeared on the bridge out of thin air. Then, a Q who had invited herself onboard, had brought them to the near border of Romulan Space, to rescue a young boy of a species they had never heard of. The captain had died, bringing Epic to captaincy, and he had chosen the El-Aurian *marine* *newcomer* as his XO.

So many changes in so little time. Cara had not even had the chance to meet her assistant. She would have liked to welcome him better than that - settling a phaser in one's hand was undoubtedly a cold way to say hello.

Cara nodded to Lt. (Jg) Étienne Paradis who stepped behind the console to relieve her. He was followed by Ens. Amia Keltreeo, a rather attractive bajoran male. The chief headed for the exit with the firm intention to go straight to her quarters and take a nap. She entered

the turbolift, and her mind slipped from her first idea to a second, more tempting one.

"Ten-Forward!" she called, and the lift began its ride to the ship's bar. Sitting in front of a huge glass of synthale, Cara felt the need to do something constructive. With the never-ending bridge activity, she hadn't been able to complete the Tac crew roster yet. She thought she could work on it a bit. And hey... what if Deric Stone joined her here? She really could use his advice on the roster matter. Or rather, the Vulcans matter.

She tapped her commbadge, knowing that anyway, he was off-duty as well.

"Cara Hatcher to Deric Stone."

"Yes, Chief?"

"This isn't the chief speaking, Deric. I'm off duty. Cara will do. I'm having a drink in Ten-Forward, and I was wondering if you would care to join me, so we could catch up on our ruined encounter of this afternoon..."

Cara took a large sip of her ale and waited for Stone's reaction. It took a while before it came <<HA!>>, but soon she could have sworn she had heard a sigh at the other end of the comm link. *Oh oh, she thought. Would I happen to have a lazy assistant? Mmm... We'll see

to this!* An evil grin appeared on her lips as the man finally dared to say something.

"You know Ma'am, I'm busy unpacking... Couldn't it wait for a few hours? I wanted to take a nap and all ya know... I barely had time to *arrive* and duty has fallen on me like..."

"Well then, Mr. Stone, Cara cut out, I guess this *is* your chief speaking after all. Report to Ten-Forward on the double, there are some things I want to talk to you about."

Another sigh. "Understood Chief." The man was about to cut the communication, but Cara held him for a few more seconds.

"And Lieutenant * Junior Grade *?" She insisted on the two last words, knowing from his career profile that he had once been a Lieutenant (*and* CTO) before being demoted. "You're still lucky I called you to Ten-Forward instead of having you come down to my office. So *please* stop sighing like an upset kid and bring your butt down here. Is that clear, Mr. Stone?"

"Yes, SIR!" The tone of the officer had grown more tense. Cara smiled inwardly. She didn't want to traumatize her assistant, but still wanted to make it clear who was the boss around. And what was best to achieve that goal than to upset him... a little!

She finished her glass in one big gulp, and gestured the bartender who brought her another glass, equally huge. With that, she took out a padd and started examining the data it contained.

Deric Stone grumbled as he tapped his commbadge to terminate the conversation he had had with Lt. Hatcher. He couldn't help letting out another sigh, but what the hell, she could not hear him anymore. It was amazing how the first impression he had had of his new chief was good, compared to the second. She seemed to be a pain-in-the-ass.

This assignment would be a LONG one, having such a woman as his direct superior. God, she seemed to know what to say to make him angry. Two things had that affect on him : insinuating his demotion, which she had done clean and clear, and giving him orders like he was a dog. That too, she had done it.

But who was he to disobey his Chief at her first day on this vessel.

He stood up, cursing, and left behind whatever he was doing, heading to Ten-Forward.

A tall man shadowed the table where Cara was sitting. He had approached from behind, and Cara could see his reflection on the surface of her glass of synthale. She turned and stood to meet Deric Stone, extending her hand.

The man didn't seem too happy, but she hadn't expected much anyway. She wanted to show him a friendlier facet of her personality during this 'meeting'. Being at war with her immediate subaltern was not part of her plans.

"Hello Deric.", she said in an almost cheerful tone.

The man ignored Cara's hand and took a seat in front of her. She grinned.

"Please, have a seat..."

There was no expression on Deric's face. It was almost, *almost* intimidating, but Cara needed more than that to actually *be* intimidated.

"You look... tensed, Mr. Stone. Perhaps a drink would do you any good." She turned toward the bartender, rising her glass for him to see. "Bartender! Bring another of these to the gentleman here."

Deric stiffened. "I don't * drink *."

Cara cancelled the order with a wave of the hand. "Too bad for you. You really look like you need one."

He did not reply. From what Cara could see, his sense of humor would need some hard training. She wasn't sure she could provide it though, her own was somewhat unstable these days...

But for now she could only try to smooth up the atmosphere a bit.

"Look, Deric... You don't mind if I call you Deric, do you? I'm not very fond of Starfleet protocols, especially when I'm off-duty. Look, I'm sorry if I have upset you. It's just that... I wanted to meet you so badly..." she added a dramatic touch to her voice.

"You have a funny way of showing it", the impassive Deric remarked. Cara shrugged.

"I told you I was * sorry *. Now. I brought you here, especially because I wanted your advice on a certain matter." A blank gaze was the only reaction she got. Nevertheless, she continued. "It's about our crew roster..." She handed him the padd. Deric stared at it in

silence for a few seconds, then he said :

"I fail to see why you would need my advice. It seems rather complete..."

"Well it's not. There are a few... crewmembers that I am still unsure where to put. Here's the name list." Three names appeared on the small screen. Deric looked up.

"Vulcans?" he queried.

Cara nodded.

"What's the matter with them?"

Cara wasn't so sure how to tell him. "Well... I was wondering if it was possible... I mean... if it was suitable... I mean... Can we put two Vulcans on the same shift? The Yellow one's mostly composed of young and inexperienced officers so I thought it could be advisable to put two Vulcans you know with their strength and knowledge and mental stability and all well..." She paused, realizing how ridiculous she must look at the moment. "What d'ya think? And we could schedule the third one for the Blue shift, heh, what do you say?" Deric ignored her uneasiness. He scrolled through the crew roster, and soon came up with his vision of things. "The way I see it, he said seriously, the Red shift would benefit more from the presence of Vulcans, than the Yellow or Blue shift. My suggestion would be to assign Lt. (Jg) K'Tran to Red, and to move Ens. Vladinski to Yellow and have Verok replace her."

Cara looked at him in genuine horror. "I don't thing that would be advisable."

"And why not?" Deric's look was most daring, as he started to realize what her superior was up to. "It would temper you down to have Vulcans working with you. From what I've seen so far, you'd need it greatly."

His arrogance tickled Cara to a dangerous level. She almost slapped him, but succeeded in deviating the inertia of her hand toward the table. It shook with the impact; at the same time she jumped on her feet, shouting.

"I will NOT allow TWO #@!?¤ VULCANS to work with ME. It would be foolishly STUPID and I'd rather have a whole team of CARDASSIANS than those self-sufficient beings!!"

Cara turned purple when she realized that every single eye in the room was fixed on them. Some looked amused. Some offended. But what struck Cara, was the silhouette of a Vulcan staring at her from an isolate table at the other end of the bar. She wore a uniform from

which emerged a yellow collar. * I damn hope she is from security *, she thought. The dozens of faces made her uncomfortable, but also helped her cool down.

Stone had stalled back in his chair in surprise. He had not expected such an outburst from the small woman. It occurred to him that, maybe, there had been some painful events in the past life of Hatcher that were unknown to him, but that motivated her obvious hate of Vulcans. He admired Vulcans. It was hard for him to imagine that someone could feel such a sharp hatred towards them. But they all were Starfleet officers anyway, and he really thought her Chief should learn a bit of diplomacy. As his assistant, he would not accept that the three Vulcans be assigned to the two other shifts. And his look clearly stated that.

Cara noted the stubborn look on her assistant's face. She recognized the look for having worn it several times herself. He needed not say anything, his intentions were clear enough. "Alright, she mumbled. I'm ready to make a deal. K'Tran will work the Red shift. BUT the two others go to Blue and Yellow. I don't want any more than one set of pointed ears at my side. Is that clear?"

"Crystal.", Stone said in a low, satisfied tone.

"Now dismissed, before I get mad."

"Yes sir."

"I said, DISMISSED!" she whooshed him away with the back of the hand.

Deric left. "Bartender, she called up. Gimme a Scotch, no ice, want it straight and strong." She sat back. "And make it double." In the opposite corner of the room, the Vulcan who had witnessed the scene stood up and made it's way to Cara's table. She stood solemnly in front of her. "I am K'tel, she announced. I believe I will be working with you."

Cara was shocked. "How the hell..."

"I have been granted a superior hearing, and I must point out, Lieutenant, that your... uncontrolled actions were unacceptable. The Captain will be notified of the incident. It is also my opinion, Lieutenant Hatcher, that your consumption of synthehol is highly exaggerated, and could compromise your ability to perform your duties.

I will make the Captain aware of that, too. Good evening, Lieutenant." On that, the impressive Vulcan left, leaving behind a stunned CTO.

"Damn. We're going to be a *wonderful* team. Bartender!" <<You know the rest!>>

<<OOC again: There is more to come. I'm immediately going back to my writings. I cannot possibly let my inspiration get away while it's here! =D>>