<<Stardate: 47307.17 - 08:50>>

<<USS Grail-Science Lab 4>>

Janice awoke to a blurry world. Her head was pounding horribly - a thing she was completely unused to. She groaned and tears filled her eyes as she pushed up with her arms to rise. Dizziness overcame her, and she stayed sitting, willing it to go away. She felt horrible.

She swallowed hard. *My God... I feel terrible. Empty.* It was the only word she could think of that came close to expressing what she was feeling. Squeezing her eyes shut, she grimaced, and rose to a standing position.

Steadying herself, she asked the computer for the time, not trusting her internal chronometer. She sighed, relieved. She had only been out for a few minutes. Running a hand through her hair, she realized that she had left it down, not braiding it as usual after her... encounter. She struggled to braid it into her normal French braid, but her mind wasn't up to it. She settled for a pathetically made bun instead. She didn't even want to know how the rest of her looked.. she just prayed she didn't look as bad as she felt.

Taking a deep breath, she took a step forward. The room began to spin wildly. She managed to catch herself on the edge of a console before she fell again. *I can't be like this when I return to the bridge!* she thought, upset. *I have too much to do.*

Only by pure will power did she make it to the turbolift, and when she did enter it, she leaned against the wall heavily, attempting to recover from the exertion. "Computer, Battle bridge," she whispered. The doors closed and she could hear the almost silent hum of the lift at work.

<<USS Grail-Battle Bridge>>

Summoning up all her energy, she left the turbolift and entered the bridge. *Must get to the console.* It was the only thought that occupied her mind. She completely missed the inquisitive look Epic gave her - she was too intent on reaching the console without falling over.

"The Marines have transported back, Commander," Cara Hatcher reported. "Mission accomplished!" The bridge was filled with joy, but Janice couldn't match it. *Well, at least I did some good. I did 'what I had to do.'* she thought, quoting Epic's last words to her before she left. *I just hope it didn't do too much damage to me.*

Janice's attention was pulled away from her own introspection when she realized that Epic was addressing her. "...take control of the saucer remotely and link us up?"

Janice gripped the console. "I'll get on it," she replied, turning back to the console quickly, again missing the sympathy Epic was giving her. But in her mind, all she could think was, *I hope so.* She couldn't concentrate enough to braid her own hair, let alone connect the saucer section back to the battle section. She bit her lip. She was going to _have_ to be able to do it. There was no choice here. Determined to beat her exhaustion, she began pressing numerous buttons, preparing for the reconnection. She tuned out the background conversation, intent on getting this right.

"Lt. Donucci, when Commander Hargen has managed to gain control of the saucer, you will assist her in the reconnecting procedure," Epic said. She was lucky that she did have a mechanical mind, or else she would have tuned that out with the rest of the orders he was giving. She began adapting her work so that Donucci could aid. Hopefully, she'd be able to adapt to her maneuvers as well as her own badly made ones.

Suddenly, Janice felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Epic, a concerned look on his face. "Sorry for the rough start. And thank you." Janice could only nod, all the anger she was feeling towards him melting quickly away. He took his hand away and walked towards the turbolift.

"Commander. Report immediately after contact with Major Brinn has been made. You have the Bridge." Janice nodded as the doors closed, wondering briefly why she would need to report to him.. especially when there would be bound to be repairs on the Indiana. She grimaced, realizing she wouldn't be resting for a while. She transferred the needed operations to the captain's chair and sat down. *Thank goodness... I didn't know how much longer I could stay standing.*

"Donucci, let's get the two ships connected," she said, trying to project some energy into her voice and hoping the rest of the bridge wouldn't notice what a state she was in. "Take the saucer in closer to us, one quarter impulse until we are at 1000 km. distance." Janice monitored the approach on her mini-terminal on the chair's arm. She waited for the moment, then told Donucci to drop to one quarter their speed.

Hatcher suddenly interrupted. "Sir, there was an explosion on the Main Bridge!"

"Investigate!" Janice ordered, urgency creeping into her voice. "What kind of explosion?" She tapped her commbadge.

"Hargen to Terrakian. En. Prexis has just detected an explosion coming from the Saucers Bridge"

=/\= Thank you, Commander, =/\= Epic acknowledged.

"It seems like it was from a Starfleet issue phaser, sir... but that's the most we can get from out here," Hatcher explained. Janice considered her options. She hoped that her state wasn't affecting her decision making abilities, either.

She could either continue the attachment of the ships and send in their own security officers to investigate, or she could hold off on it, keeping the battle section safe. Not sure anymore of anything, and feeling another wave of dizziness start, she turned to Donucci.

"Halt the connection procedure. I don't want the Battle section to be affected by whatever happened over there." Donucci nodded, and began backing the saucer section back up.

Leaning heavily into the chair, she waited for any news, tense and exhausted.

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LtComm Janice Hargen