Frobo turned around, surprised by the flash of light and the scream. Looking down at his phaser strapped to his belt, he shook his head. *Why do I always forget to put the safety on?* Looking further back, he saw the gaping hole where Vincent used to be.

"Boss! I've killed my boss!" Frobo screamed as he looked at the hole, who's edges were still glowing red from the heat. There was no room to turn around, so Frobo crawled backwards to the hole. After carefully examining it, he jumped down to the ground below. If there's one thing good about the Pinot, they always land on their feet.

"Alert. Weapon fire on deck 10." blared through the ship, followed by a series of alarms wailing throughout the room. Frobo clutched his ears as he looked around the room. It was really dark, and it took a while to adjust to the bad lighting. When he could see again, he saw Vincent laying there on the ground. Quickly, Frobo gathered his unconscious friend and held him up, surveying the damage.

"Boss, speak to me. Are you alive?" Frobo frantically asked as he looked him over. *He could be dead. Oh, no. Wait, he could just be unconscious. But, how can I be sure? That's right. Vanessa told me about checking a pulse. Now, where did she tell me to check for it? The wrist...no. The side of the neck...not there. Maybe it was the toes... nah. I know. I'll just check to see if his heart is beating.*

Frobo placed his hands gently over Vincent's chest. After feeling around a bit, he noticed a slow thumb-pump that he guessed was his heart. Frobo breathed a sigh of relief knowing his friend would be all right.

* What should I do? *, Frobo thought. *We were supposed to report at the computer core, but Vinny's really hurt. Oh, if the boss were awake, he'd tell me what to do. Let me think for a moment*

Frobo sat there for a few moments, holding his injured friend and trying to gather his mind together. Finally, he decided to get help for Vinny.

"=/\= Frobo to Sickbay, I need you to beam up my boss here. He's really hurt. =/\="

A soft voice came back over the com-badge, trying to reassure Frobo..."=/\= Calm down, sir. Things will be all right. =/\=" After a few moments, the voice came back on line..."=/\= We're sorry, but we can't get a lock on his com-badge. We'll have to beam both of you here. =/\="

Frobo nodded his head, and tapped the badge again..."=/\= All right. =/\="

Frobo waited for a moment, then the two of them were transported to the sickbay. Several nurses gathered around the two and carried Vincent away. Relieved of carrying his friend, Frobo stood up and looked at the person in charge of the ward.

"Tell me, son, What happened to him?"

Frobo looked at the human uneasily. He wasn't sure how he should tell the story, since it could look bad for him or Vincent. Fortunately for Frobo, his mouth took over for a moment.

"One of the phaser's misfired, and it blew out the floor under my boss. That's when he fell down and hurt himself."

The human nodded and wrote it down in the PADD he was carrying. When he looked up, Frobo asked a question.

"Uh, sir. If it's all right, can you have me transported to the computer core on deck 36? The boss and I were supposed to report there by now."

The human shook his head, tapping his writing device on the PADD nervously..."I'm sorry, but due to power constraints under this red-alert, we're not allowed to make non-medical related transports. You're just going to have to get there by foot."

Frobo kicked the ground, then rushed out of the room. --Ken Doman

a.k.a.:

Yeoman 1st class Vincent Rogers

USS Grail

ICQ: 8178648

Try Depends, your answering machine for when nature calls.

This message was Closed Captioned for the visually impaired.