Lieutenant Commander Hargen's Quarters

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The door chime sounded, and even though Janice had been waiting for it, she jumped. Her stomach tightened, and her heart fluttered. *Janice, you must charm Commander Terrakian like you have never charmed anyone before.* Placing a calm, pleasant expression on her face, she stood, saying, "Open."

Epic stood at the door. Janice smiled at him, delighted. "Do come in," she prodded. "I thought that it might be a good time for us to get to know each other better. Sit, make yourself comfortable."

Epic entered with his shoulders somewhat hunched, as if he expected a blow from above. His hands were folded behind him. But, upon entering, he immediately relaxed. The ambient mood suggested intimacy. And Epic Terrakian was not afraid of intimacy.

He watched her walk to a chair at their table and indicated the opposite chair for him. The long black skirt she wore whirled delicately about her ankles. Because of the subdued lighting, Janice seemed to glide across the room on her own shadow. The blouse she wore shone a luminous emerald sheen.

Epic looked down at his uniform and grimaced. He moved to stand behind Janice, offering an old-fashioned courtesy to help seat her. Then, from behind his back, he produced a silver rose, which he sacrificed an antique timepiece to replicate, and placed it on the table between them. It glowed in the dim light.

Janice blushed, touched. *I've never been given flowers before... Especially one as beautiful as this...* She carefully touched the rose, afraid to break it. Then she remembered why she was here, and all her happiness disappeared, leaving her to pretend again.

Epic sat across from Janice as she gracefully unfolded her napkin and placed it on her black skirt. "I do hope you like lasagna. It is one of my favorites." Her chatter suddenly stopped when a thought suddenly occurred to her. *Mike is the one who taught me how to program these meals. He has always been an excellent chef. He made them - I programmed them... Oh, I do miss him!* She caught herself getting upset again. *Now is not the time,* she scolded herself, forcing herself to begin talking again.

"Well," she stumbled, collecting her thoughts, "uh, help yourself."

Epic did indeed help himself, to a portion which would easily accommodate two. "Actually....," Epic spoke softly. The subtle lighting and Janice's charming company intimidated him somewhat. "I enjoy Lasagna. It is a traditional Terran dish, but, it seems to me, everyone has their own individual recipe. It has never been the same dish twice, for me."

After that, they sat in silence for several minutes, tasting each of the marvelously prepared foods and listening to the soft music. Janice used the momentary lapse in conversation to pull herself together enough so that her next sentence sounded completely normal, her cheerfulness back in place.

"So, tell me a bit about yourself, Commander."

"Epic," Epic offered. "Feel free to call me Epic. That is true for off duty as well as on." Janice smiled, embarrassed by the attention she was getting.

Epic couldn't exactly tell whether Janice's charm was genuine or manipulative. She seemed to be pleased with his company, but a barely noticeable anxiety seemed to surround her. But, then, Epic couldn't know for sure. He felt nothing from her. He had only her pleasant and charming manners and quick smile to judge by. And he decided, at that moment, that that was all he needed. For the first time in his life, he envied Terrans. It was definitely more thrilling to be blind to the motives of others.

"And, about myself: Well," he smiled charmingly. "I hope you don't mind wild and fantastic stories. Because it starts where I was born to a travelling Betazoid carnival troop and ends with my being sent straight into the heart of the Borg."

Janice's eyes widened as she smiled, but her silence, and a nod, provoked him to elaborate.

And it turned out, to Janice's surprise, that Epic was a natural and captivating storyteller. He spoke for almost an hour. He told of his boyhood travelling the galaxy as a musician in his father's carnival. He told of his mother's ability to read the future of others, and even hinted at her infidelities, which surprised Janice. *We have more in common than he could ever know...* He told of his beloved sister, Magda, who died in his arms during a violent lightning storm. His tale became more anecdotal after that. Until, he started speaking of his last assignment.

The USS Nova.

What Epic told of his time aboard the Nova amounted to a terrifying ghost story. It was during this time that Epic became involved in the lives of R'Laurent the Klingon/Vulcan and Arda Kaje the Bajoran/Cardassian. He certainly did find himself surrounded by exotic women.

His tale ended when he stepped aboard the Grail three days ago.

Janice listened intently, filing away every word he said - as always. "Wow," she breathed, taken away by the story. "I don't think I can say much more. It seems your life has been much more... eventful than mine." She smiled. "I doubt many people know that story - and I am... honored to be one of the few. It seems, Commander.. ahem, Epic," she used the name hesitantly; it seemed wrong to her to call her commander by his first name. "It seems that we have much more in common than you could ever believe." She let the statement hang, not wishing to further delve into her past more than she already had today.

Instead, Janice delicately pushed her plate away, finished with her meal. She watched as Epic finished the last remains of his, and he, in turn, placed his napkin on the table.

"So, what do you think of your own replicator food?" she asked, smiling. *Keep the mood light...* she warned herself, for more than one reason.

But, Epic decided to tease her a little, at that moment. Tease her, and perhaps confess a little something. "It was delicious. And for myself.....", he leaned closer to her, like a conspirator. "Just because it comes from a machine, doesn't make it any less delicious."

She blushed involuntarily, this time in embarrassment. She fought to keep a smile on her face. *He hints at the awful truth so easily... could he have already decided to tell?* she thought worriedly, standing up.

"I do hope you like cheesecake..." She turned to the replicator. "Computer, create dessert for two. Dessert Hargen-34." Slowly, two magnificent pieces of cheesecake appeared on the pad, each swirled with strawberry syrup on top. She picked them up and spun around, making her skirt whirl with her. She gracefully placed the plate in front of him, and quickly cleaned up the remains of the last meal.

"Try it. I'm sure you'll like it," she prodded, standing and watching his expression as he cautiously took a bite.

At that moment, Epic was certain she would strike. If she was going to dispose of him with her secret still secure, that moment would have been the time. As a Tactical officer for most of his career, Epic had a 'feel' for moments of greatest opportunity to strike. And this was her moment. But, it passed as he tasted the creamy sweet confection. His blue eyes grew wide in surprise and he toasted Janice with his raised

fork and continued to enjoy it.

She smiled, happy and relieved that he was enjoying the meal. *I hate to turn the conversation to bad news, but...* "Well, I suppose that brings us down to why you are really here."

Epic finished the last of his cheesecake and wiped his mouth. His heart picked up a beat or two as she leveled her gaze straight at him. This was the moment.

Janice took a deep breath, about to speak the words that she had trained herself half her life never to speak. "Obviously, you know my secret. What I have been hiding from Starfleet all these years of my life. All I wish to know is, what do you plan to do with this knowledge?"

Epic realized that all her confidence this evening was a great effort, because it fell as she exposed herself to him. And he felt a pang of guilt when he considered how frightened she must have been since his discovery of her secret. How the hell could Starfleet not know?

"Janice." Epic reached across the table and squeezed her hand with a quick, but gentle, touch. She involuntarily flinched, and he withdrew his hand. "If it is a secret, then it is a secret. And I only know what I think I know. We do not have to discuss it any further."

"Your secret is safe with me."

Janice's eyes widened. She couldn't believe what he had just said. Her heart almost stopped. She tried to make sure her neuroprocessors weren't acting up - he really did say what she thought he did. She suddenly realized that, besides all her determination to make sure her career wasn't ruined, she had emotionally prepared herself for a letdown, without even knowing it. Her heart flew with relief. It felt like a weight had

been lifted off her back - one that even a super-strong android could not handle. Epic didn't need to be an empath to read the grin that formed on her face. "Thank you, Commander. I appreciate everything you just said - more than you could ever know."

With that, Epic took up the as-yet unopened bottle of wine and applied a screw to the cork. He looked into Janice's grateful eyes with a smile. A smile all his own.

He filled their glasses and raised his to her. "We all have secrets, Janice. If we finish this bottle, you may learn some of mine."

Epic smiled with a touch of a sinister wink and clinked his glass to hers. Janice started, suddenly realizing where this relationship could go. And she wasn't so sure that she would mind it... the last relationship she had was with Mike - much too long ago. Perhaps it was time that she let go of her guilt...

Janice shook her head, trying to clear herself of daydreams. *You can never forgive yourself - and never forget. If you forget that, you may forget what happened to him ... along with everything being an android means...* Janice blinked away the tears in her eyes, grateful that the dim light helped to hide them. She looked at Epic, his deep blue eyes sparkling in the dim light. She opened her mouth to reply, when...

=/\= Commander Hargen? =/\=

Janice jumped, spilling her wine all over the table.

"Yes? What is it?" she asked, grabbing her napkin to attempt to clean up the wine before it hit the carpet and stained anything. Epic carefully placed his glass on the table, and helped to clean up, smiling throughout. *Well, I just made a complete fool of myself.* Somehow, the mood had been ruined - if there was a mood. Janice couldn't even be sure.

=/\= I'm really sorry to disturb you but we're in desperate need of any help that we can get. Would you be willing to come down here? =/\=

Janice looked up at Epic, pausing before making her answer, weighing all of her options in an instant - one of the few aspects to being an android that she liked.

"Of course, I'll be right down," she responded, then promptly cut communications. She turned to Epic, who had helped her clean up the mess, quickly and efficiently.

She sighed. "I'm truly sorry, Epic, that we couldn't finish this evening. But, duty calls..." she stumbled, flustered and perhaps a little disappointed.

He shook his head. "Not your fault. Mine for assigning you so much work." He grinned, easing the tension. "Just remember to change into uniform before you get down to engineering," he added with a grin, eyeing her stunning outfit once again.

Janice smiled, hiding the blush that was creeping into her cheeks. "Thanks for the reminder. I had almost forgotten." Epic began walking to the door, to allow her to get back to duty.

"Epic?" Janice whispered, her heart beating loudly. He turned back, not knowing exactly what to expect from her. Her eyes filled with tears - she tried to hide it, but unsuccessfully. She walked over to him and quickly hugged him. "Thank you for not mentioning anything," she whispered. Epic had never realized the extent of how upset she had been until now. For once, he didn't know what to say.

When Epic finally left the room, Janice slumped to the ground. She was so relieved. She couldn't comprehend a life without Starfleet... or a life as Starfleet's lab rat. She knew that she was entrusting Epic with knowledge that could potentially destroy her - for if Starfleet found out, she would rather destroy herself than be subjected to their tests. It shocked her to realize how determined she was about that - she had never

really contemplated the idea.

She finally picked herself up off the ground - *Some time in engineering would help right about now,* she thought, managing a half-smile. As she stood, she began analyzing the evening - a reflex action... it led her to her feelings towards Epic. *I can't let it become anything. I owe that much to Mike. Just keep remembering what happened last time...* She wished she could turn off some emotions and leave others on. Well, she could make every determined effort to emotionally keep away from Epic as much as she could. She swore that she would hurt no man like she hurt Mike - and she intended to keep that promise until she died. With any man.