by Captain Zanh
80108.14
One Week after First Tour
--=Starfleet Command- San Francisco, California=--
80108.14
One Week after First Tour
--=Starfleet Command- San Francisco, California=--
Personal Log: Stardate 80108.9
The voyage aboard the Atlas from Bajor to Earth was blissfully uneventful, even if not a joyride.
Physical therapy has been challenging, but my heart is mending; literally and figuratively.
My spine is, so they tell me, more flexible than its been in years. I'm hoping I'll feel the positive effects of the doctors' handiwork soon. Right now I still feel like I've been hit by a train.
I continue to process all that happened on Ferenginar, Aertok, and Bajor.
I'm emerging from the darkness but the shadows still seem, somehow, to follow just a step behind. End log."
The voyage aboard the Atlas from Bajor to Earth was blissfully uneventful, even if not a joyride.
Physical therapy has been challenging, but my heart is mending; literally and figuratively.
My spine is, so they tell me, more flexible than its been in years. I'm hoping I'll feel the positive effects of the doctors' handiwork soon. Right now I still feel like I've been hit by a train.
I continue to process all that happened on Ferenginar, Aertok, and Bajor.
I'm emerging from the darkness but the shadows still seem, somehow, to follow just a step behind. End log."
--=1200 Hours: In the Office of the Admiral=--
"The Voice," Zanh Liis grinned, shaking her head as she walked slowly toward Vox. "Is it really you? I am honored to be in your presence." She took a liberty few could; that of addressing him by a very old, and mostly unheard of nickname.
For years Vox had carried another title as well; that of Liis "handler" within Temporal Investigations. She had always bristled at the term; it made her sound as if she were a wild animal to be trained.
He laughed softly. "No one calls me that these days."
"I'm bet not. Admiral Vox." Liis extended her hand toward the human male she knew so well. "It's good to see you, Jonas."
"You too, Liis. Sit down." Vox released her hand after a firm shake and sat down as well, taking a sip of his tea as he shuffled and stacked a tower of PADDS that had accumulated on his desk.
He gestured toward her with one of them before perching it precariously atop its mates. "You're looking well, especially considering all you've been through."
"Thank you. I'm lucky to be here. I have about twenty five people to thank for that, which I intend to do as soon as I can."
"Quite a crew, the folks who came after you."
"Yes. They are."
"I take it that Salvek told you via subspace that they've all been reassigned?"
"He didn't say much, but yeah, about that," she leaned forward in her chair.
"If this is Starfleet's way of punishing them because they wanted to rescue me, I think that's entirely unfair. We spend years training people to protect and serve their captain. That is what they did, without regard for their own lives or safety. They should be rewarded, not punished."
"I agree."
"Good."
"But they're still being reassigned."
Liis sighed. "Are they being separated?"
"I think they should be separated." Vox tossed the remark out a bit too casually, on purpose.
"Your crew has served together too long. They are getting soft. Far too dependent on each other emotionally. And they're getting sloppy. Allowing mistakes to happen like your abduction, and that civilian stow away aboard the Alchemy,"
"I would disagree with your assessment."
"I expected that you would. Tell me why, exactly."
"I would counter with the argument that they've grown to work so well as a team that they are like individual limbs of the same body. They don't think about it, they just act. They don't need to be told what to do, their harmony is automatic. And they don't need me to keep it up."
Vox just stared at her. Or was he staring past her?
Not exactly, Liis decided. He was staring through her.
"I wasn't there when Le Marc pulled her stunt, but if anyone's to blame for the abduction, it's me." She insisted, refusing to let anyone else shoulder blame for what had happened.
"I should have had more security in the room, and a dampening field in place so no one could transport from it. I should have ordered that the alien be manually searched before he was allowed onto the bridge. I took for granted that the usual screening methods would work. I was wrong."
Vox folded his hands and continued staring. She knew enough of him to know that he meant for her to keep talking, until he either added his own comments, or told her to stop outright.
"You have every luxury and technology at your fingertips on that. . .thing. It's easy to get complacent on a ship as big and posh as that one. You just expect after awhile of things going smoothly that they will continue to do so. You take things for granted and develop a false sense of security. I will never make that mistake again." Her eyes implored him to consider her words carefully.
He stood from his chair and moved around to her side of the desk, sitting on the edge in front of her.
"Don't punish Salvek or any of the rest, Admiral. Please. Let them go back to the flagship if they want. They deserve their pick of assignments, and any ship would be lucky to have my officers." Liis still referred to them as hers even as she felt them slipping away, like drops of water through her fingers.
The sensation frightened her.
"When you split them up, did they object?"
"Don't worry, Zanh Liis. If any of them had truly objected to their new assignment, we would have considered those objections. They've earned that much."
"As long as they're happy, then I'm happy."
Vox knew that she was putting up a good front, but that the idea of losing her crew was hitting her hard.
"As a consolation, perhaps you'd like to see your new ship? Captain."
Hearing him refer to her by the rank she'd had when she walked in the door gave Liis hope, but she didn't want to jump to any conclusions.
"Row boat bound for the Gamma Quadrant? Without the benefit of oars?"
Vox laughed, and he held out a PADD to her. "You're going to like this."
Liis scanned quickly through the specs of the USS Serendipity, NCC-2012 and as soon as she saw the Alchemy's bay taking up most of deck ten, she felt the weight of the assignment.
The prototype was too high value a target to be kept out in the open, assigned to a ship like the flagship. They had to continue testing and proving her in a location less likely to draw attention.
Who would suspect that an average Intrepid class ship- average outwardly, at least- would conceal such treasure?
"How long have you been planning this?"
"The Sera and Alchemy together? Years. Planning to assign you as Captain?" Vox stroked his beard thoughtfully.
"That was decided right after your near court-martial. Your last assignment was no accident. We needed to see if you still had what it takes, after all you've been through during your time with Temporal Investigations."
Liis felt her blood pressure rising.
"You mean," she stammered, "That all of. . .of that. . .of Yensul, and diplomatic nightmares, and red tape and political bullshit. . .you sent me specifically, on those missions on purpose?"
"Testing and judgment." Vox replied evenly. "We had to be sure you were up to this task."
"And my little vacation on Feringinar? Was THAT your doing too?" She was about ready to stand up and walk out.
"Oh, no. No, no." Vox motioned for her to stay in her seat. "That was a gigantic wrench in our works. After all our planning and laying the groundwork, we nearly lost our lead. We were not happy about that at all."
He leaned closer and whispered in her ear. "Who do you think sent the order that Salvek should be allowed to take the Alchemy after you?"
"Well. . thank you." Liis began calming herself and tugged on her collar. "I was going to say that if you'd wanted to kill me outright to get rid of me, taking me out back and shooting me would have been a lot more merciful."
"And a lot more effective, too. You keep coming back like a bad penny."
"Funny, that's exactly what I always say about Dabin Reece."
Vox looked at her with an expression that Liis had never seen him wear before, and it indicated just how close she'd really come to dying, this time.
"The story that the Ferengi were writing for you. . ." his hypnotic voice turned completely serious as he continued. "Was not meant to become the final chapter in the life of Zanh Liis. You still have work to do. You're being entrusted with more responsibility than you've ever dreamed, even in your worst nightmares. With the lives of people so important to the future of the Federation that honestly, if I were you, I'm not sure I'd take the job. It's a lot of pressure."
"Let me hear this list of the Fleet's finest, before I say anything more. Since you've already reassigned my best people, who are you going to expect me to work with?"
"You've made a hasty assumption, Zanh Liis. Where do you think I would reassign people with as much experience as your crew?
He handed her a PADD but before she turned it on, she questioned him directly instead. Her eyes suddenly shined, hopeful once again.
"XO?"
"Salvek. Of course."
"Second Officer? If you need a suggestion, I have one."
"Way ahead of you. Chief of Operations, Lt. Commander TC Blane."
"Excellent." Liis nodded. "Only he needs to be promoted again."
Vox tapped orders into his PADD authorizing her to do so. "Full Commander."
"Helm and Science?"
"You get to keep your set of Trill, don't worry. Not only do they fit the bill perfectly, but personally, I think it would be cruel to separate them, or remove them from their natural habitat." He took the moment to reveal something rarely seen, his sense of humor.
*The bedroom?* Zanh thought to herself, a smirk crossing her face.
Vox took her silent musing as a sign she wasn't paying attention.
"Zanh Liis?"
"Oh, sorry. I thank you, Admiral. Please go on."
"I knew that you'd want Lair to head up engineering."
"She is the other half of the team that designed Alchemy, that unholy beast. We need her."
"True. I requested she and Salvek place their child in a boarding school instead of taking her aboard ship."
He already knew they'd declined to comply with that request, but he wanted to see how Zanh would react to the idea.
"Oh. Bad idea. Did you make it mandatory? That would be a deal breaker for them."
"No." Vox added hesitantly. "I did not."
Liis shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "Wait a minute. There's a reason you don't want Arie on the ship, isn't there?"
Vox extended his arm and tilted his hand side to side, examining his perfectly manicured fingernails with rapt attention. "Not at all."
"Oh yes there is. You're hiding something."
"It was just an idea." He relented, looking at her sideways. "A precaution."
"Precaution " was TI code for "To save our ass should anything go wrong with our primary target," which in this case, was Salvek.
"We'll keep an eye on her. I promise."
Zanh finally turned on the PADD and looked over the rest of her crew, which was filling out beautifully.
"This looks like a crew complement any Captain would dream of, Admiral. Why you want me for this command, of all people, I still don't know."
"Because you don't know, Zanh Liis. That is precisely why."
"If you say so," Her demeanor told him that she truly felt humbled to be in such company. "There's just one more person I need to add to this roster before I can sign on the dotted line. You understand, I'm sure."
Vox nodded. "I thought of that already." He tilted his head to the side. "Ingenious design, the arboretum your crew built on the last ship."
"They're a bright bunch."
"Indeed. Well, I've had our technical teams working on scaling the design down to fit a smaller space, while keeping all of the ambient effects. The lighting. The unique, rain simulating overhead irrigation system. We even replanted Jariel's prized rose bushes."
He handed her the schematics, which displayed a more diminutive version of Jariel's beloved arboretum, right down to the placement of the weeping angel sculpture that had been a gift to him from Lt. Grace- and something else that really surprised her.
"You found out about the Solace tree?"
"Zanh Liis," Vox said, his tone telling her she should know better. "I find out about everything."
"Yes, I forgot. Vox Almighty." She raised an eyebrow. "And his office?"
"The Vedek's desk and library have already been installed in his office. So has the Vedek."
"Done." Liis declared, clamping her thumb down onto the PADD. She twisted the chain on her earring, and looked up at him with large, blue eyes.
"Mind that you've been warned, Jonas. I am the living embodiment of the phrase, be careful what you wish for, you may get it."
"You think I don't know that, too?"
Liis laughed. Vox had been her superior for years. When she stumbled or failed completely, he was the one who was called on it.
Not that he remembered all of it. His memory re-sequencing had always been quite effective, where hers had failed so miserably.
"Your civilian crew is limited but colorful. You'll remember Trick London?"
"I do. He really wants this gig?"
"He asked for it, specifically. To be assigned to your next command. He passed the security checks, and the crew spoke well of him so. . ."
"That's fine. Now wait a minute, though, what about this?" Zanh gestured to Fleur Le Marc's name on the roster. "Frenchie la Femme is coming along?"
"She did volunteer to keep the crew morale up while they were trying to keep you out of the freezer. And so many members of your crew requested she be assigned to Sera,"
"Okay, okay." Liis relented, knowing that a wise Captain keeps her crew well fed. "Tres bien. But we're changing the name of that dining room. I don't eat in anything called a 'mess'. Not anymore." The term conjured bad memories for her, and so her mind was made up.
She turned the PADD off and looked up at him. "Anything else I should know?"
"Yes." Vox grit his teeth suddenly, annoyance showing through as he considered the next topic for conversation. "Your boy is driving me mad."
"What?"
"Cristiane."
He moved round the back of the desk again, and brought up Dane's record on the screen. He gestured for Zanh to come take a look.
"Are you kidding me?" She groaned. "He's going to wash out? I had such high hopes for that kid."
"As did we all. But he just cannot buckle down and accept the chain of command. He's done."
Zanh's posture changed, and clearly indicated how troubled she was by this news.
"He won't go back to the streets. He'll do something stupid, and wind up dead within a month. Isn't there anything else we can try?"
"There is one last thing. If you take him in hand, and you can get him to tow the line, then he'd have a chance. He's got so much potential, but he just won't listen to anyone." The Admiral switched the screen off.
"Oh, he'll listen to me." Zanh grew angry, thinking of all the time and energy she had invested into this young man while on the space station. For him to screw up intentionally and continually challenge authority within the program that was to be his saving grace, really irked her.
"It won't be easy to break his rebellious streak, Liis." Vox warned. "He's fearless."
"He won't be for long." Zanh replied. "Admiral, I'd like to request that you to assign Ensign Cristiane to the Sera, and put him at my communications station. He can be my receptionist, we'll see how that suits the little punk."
"Done." Vox tapped the orders into his PADD.
"Where is he now?" Liis inquired warily, wondering what she had just gotten herself into.
"Well, I have a confession to make." Vox shuffled his feet, something that he only ever seemed to do in the presence of one living being.
The woman who was now glaring at him.
"I was pretty sure that you'd agree to take him on, so he's already on the Sera, performing my own brand of community service."
"Oh?" Liis smirked. "What does that entail?"
"Shining up the deuterium exchange ports with a tooth brush," Vox replied with a sly grin, "among other duties. For the past several days, he has also relieved Lair Arie of the responsibility of cleaning the enclosed habitat of your Bajoran Tree Lizard."
For years Vox had carried another title as well; that of Liis "handler" within Temporal Investigations. She had always bristled at the term; it made her sound as if she were a wild animal to be trained.
He laughed softly. "No one calls me that these days."
"I'm bet not. Admiral Vox." Liis extended her hand toward the human male she knew so well. "It's good to see you, Jonas."
"You too, Liis. Sit down." Vox released her hand after a firm shake and sat down as well, taking a sip of his tea as he shuffled and stacked a tower of PADDS that had accumulated on his desk.
He gestured toward her with one of them before perching it precariously atop its mates. "You're looking well, especially considering all you've been through."
"Thank you. I'm lucky to be here. I have about twenty five people to thank for that, which I intend to do as soon as I can."
"Quite a crew, the folks who came after you."
"Yes. They are."
"I take it that Salvek told you via subspace that they've all been reassigned?"
"He didn't say much, but yeah, about that," she leaned forward in her chair.
"If this is Starfleet's way of punishing them because they wanted to rescue me, I think that's entirely unfair. We spend years training people to protect and serve their captain. That is what they did, without regard for their own lives or safety. They should be rewarded, not punished."
"I agree."
"Good."
"But they're still being reassigned."
Liis sighed. "Are they being separated?"
"I think they should be separated." Vox tossed the remark out a bit too casually, on purpose.
"Your crew has served together too long. They are getting soft. Far too dependent on each other emotionally. And they're getting sloppy. Allowing mistakes to happen like your abduction, and that civilian stow away aboard the Alchemy,"
"I would disagree with your assessment."
"I expected that you would. Tell me why, exactly."
"I would counter with the argument that they've grown to work so well as a team that they are like individual limbs of the same body. They don't think about it, they just act. They don't need to be told what to do, their harmony is automatic. And they don't need me to keep it up."
Vox just stared at her. Or was he staring past her?
Not exactly, Liis decided. He was staring through her.
"I wasn't there when Le Marc pulled her stunt, but if anyone's to blame for the abduction, it's me." She insisted, refusing to let anyone else shoulder blame for what had happened.
"I should have had more security in the room, and a dampening field in place so no one could transport from it. I should have ordered that the alien be manually searched before he was allowed onto the bridge. I took for granted that the usual screening methods would work. I was wrong."
Vox folded his hands and continued staring. She knew enough of him to know that he meant for her to keep talking, until he either added his own comments, or told her to stop outright.
"You have every luxury and technology at your fingertips on that. . .thing. It's easy to get complacent on a ship as big and posh as that one. You just expect after awhile of things going smoothly that they will continue to do so. You take things for granted and develop a false sense of security. I will never make that mistake again." Her eyes implored him to consider her words carefully.
He stood from his chair and moved around to her side of the desk, sitting on the edge in front of her.
"Don't punish Salvek or any of the rest, Admiral. Please. Let them go back to the flagship if they want. They deserve their pick of assignments, and any ship would be lucky to have my officers." Liis still referred to them as hers even as she felt them slipping away, like drops of water through her fingers.
The sensation frightened her.
"When you split them up, did they object?"
"Don't worry, Zanh Liis. If any of them had truly objected to their new assignment, we would have considered those objections. They've earned that much."
"As long as they're happy, then I'm happy."
Vox knew that she was putting up a good front, but that the idea of losing her crew was hitting her hard.
"As a consolation, perhaps you'd like to see your new ship? Captain."
Hearing him refer to her by the rank she'd had when she walked in the door gave Liis hope, but she didn't want to jump to any conclusions.
"Row boat bound for the Gamma Quadrant? Without the benefit of oars?"
Vox laughed, and he held out a PADD to her. "You're going to like this."
Liis scanned quickly through the specs of the USS Serendipity, NCC-2012 and as soon as she saw the Alchemy's bay taking up most of deck ten, she felt the weight of the assignment.
The prototype was too high value a target to be kept out in the open, assigned to a ship like the flagship. They had to continue testing and proving her in a location less likely to draw attention.
Who would suspect that an average Intrepid class ship- average outwardly, at least- would conceal such treasure?
"How long have you been planning this?"
"The Sera and Alchemy together? Years. Planning to assign you as Captain?" Vox stroked his beard thoughtfully.
"That was decided right after your near court-martial. Your last assignment was no accident. We needed to see if you still had what it takes, after all you've been through during your time with Temporal Investigations."
Liis felt her blood pressure rising.
"You mean," she stammered, "That all of. . .of that. . .of Yensul, and diplomatic nightmares, and red tape and political bullshit. . .you sent me specifically, on those missions on purpose?"
"Testing and judgment." Vox replied evenly. "We had to be sure you were up to this task."
"And my little vacation on Feringinar? Was THAT your doing too?" She was about ready to stand up and walk out.
"Oh, no. No, no." Vox motioned for her to stay in her seat. "That was a gigantic wrench in our works. After all our planning and laying the groundwork, we nearly lost our lead. We were not happy about that at all."
He leaned closer and whispered in her ear. "Who do you think sent the order that Salvek should be allowed to take the Alchemy after you?"
"Well. . thank you." Liis began calming herself and tugged on her collar. "I was going to say that if you'd wanted to kill me outright to get rid of me, taking me out back and shooting me would have been a lot more merciful."
"And a lot more effective, too. You keep coming back like a bad penny."
"Funny, that's exactly what I always say about Dabin Reece."
Vox looked at her with an expression that Liis had never seen him wear before, and it indicated just how close she'd really come to dying, this time.
"The story that the Ferengi were writing for you. . ." his hypnotic voice turned completely serious as he continued. "Was not meant to become the final chapter in the life of Zanh Liis. You still have work to do. You're being entrusted with more responsibility than you've ever dreamed, even in your worst nightmares. With the lives of people so important to the future of the Federation that honestly, if I were you, I'm not sure I'd take the job. It's a lot of pressure."
"Let me hear this list of the Fleet's finest, before I say anything more. Since you've already reassigned my best people, who are you going to expect me to work with?"
"You've made a hasty assumption, Zanh Liis. Where do you think I would reassign people with as much experience as your crew?
He handed her a PADD but before she turned it on, she questioned him directly instead. Her eyes suddenly shined, hopeful once again.
"XO?"
"Salvek. Of course."
"Second Officer? If you need a suggestion, I have one."
"Way ahead of you. Chief of Operations, Lt. Commander TC Blane."
"Excellent." Liis nodded. "Only he needs to be promoted again."
Vox tapped orders into his PADD authorizing her to do so. "Full Commander."
"Helm and Science?"
"You get to keep your set of Trill, don't worry. Not only do they fit the bill perfectly, but personally, I think it would be cruel to separate them, or remove them from their natural habitat." He took the moment to reveal something rarely seen, his sense of humor.
*The bedroom?* Zanh thought to herself, a smirk crossing her face.
Vox took her silent musing as a sign she wasn't paying attention.
"Zanh Liis?"
"Oh, sorry. I thank you, Admiral. Please go on."
"I knew that you'd want Lair to head up engineering."
"She is the other half of the team that designed Alchemy, that unholy beast. We need her."
"True. I requested she and Salvek place their child in a boarding school instead of taking her aboard ship."
He already knew they'd declined to comply with that request, but he wanted to see how Zanh would react to the idea.
"Oh. Bad idea. Did you make it mandatory? That would be a deal breaker for them."
"No." Vox added hesitantly. "I did not."
Liis shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "Wait a minute. There's a reason you don't want Arie on the ship, isn't there?"
Vox extended his arm and tilted his hand side to side, examining his perfectly manicured fingernails with rapt attention. "Not at all."
"Oh yes there is. You're hiding something."
"It was just an idea." He relented, looking at her sideways. "A precaution."
"Precaution " was TI code for "To save our ass should anything go wrong with our primary target," which in this case, was Salvek.
"We'll keep an eye on her. I promise."
Zanh finally turned on the PADD and looked over the rest of her crew, which was filling out beautifully.
"This looks like a crew complement any Captain would dream of, Admiral. Why you want me for this command, of all people, I still don't know."
"Because you don't know, Zanh Liis. That is precisely why."
"If you say so," Her demeanor told him that she truly felt humbled to be in such company. "There's just one more person I need to add to this roster before I can sign on the dotted line. You understand, I'm sure."
Vox nodded. "I thought of that already." He tilted his head to the side. "Ingenious design, the arboretum your crew built on the last ship."
"They're a bright bunch."
"Indeed. Well, I've had our technical teams working on scaling the design down to fit a smaller space, while keeping all of the ambient effects. The lighting. The unique, rain simulating overhead irrigation system. We even replanted Jariel's prized rose bushes."
He handed her the schematics, which displayed a more diminutive version of Jariel's beloved arboretum, right down to the placement of the weeping angel sculpture that had been a gift to him from Lt. Grace- and something else that really surprised her.
"You found out about the Solace tree?"
"Zanh Liis," Vox said, his tone telling her she should know better. "I find out about everything."
"Yes, I forgot. Vox Almighty." She raised an eyebrow. "And his office?"
"The Vedek's desk and library have already been installed in his office. So has the Vedek."
"Done." Liis declared, clamping her thumb down onto the PADD. She twisted the chain on her earring, and looked up at him with large, blue eyes.
"Mind that you've been warned, Jonas. I am the living embodiment of the phrase, be careful what you wish for, you may get it."
"You think I don't know that, too?"
Liis laughed. Vox had been her superior for years. When she stumbled or failed completely, he was the one who was called on it.
Not that he remembered all of it. His memory re-sequencing had always been quite effective, where hers had failed so miserably.
"Your civilian crew is limited but colorful. You'll remember Trick London?"
"I do. He really wants this gig?"
"He asked for it, specifically. To be assigned to your next command. He passed the security checks, and the crew spoke well of him so. . ."
"That's fine. Now wait a minute, though, what about this?" Zanh gestured to Fleur Le Marc's name on the roster. "Frenchie la Femme is coming along?"
"She did volunteer to keep the crew morale up while they were trying to keep you out of the freezer. And so many members of your crew requested she be assigned to Sera,"
"Okay, okay." Liis relented, knowing that a wise Captain keeps her crew well fed. "Tres bien. But we're changing the name of that dining room. I don't eat in anything called a 'mess'. Not anymore." The term conjured bad memories for her, and so her mind was made up.
She turned the PADD off and looked up at him. "Anything else I should know?"
"Yes." Vox grit his teeth suddenly, annoyance showing through as he considered the next topic for conversation. "Your boy is driving me mad."
"What?"
"Cristiane."
He moved round the back of the desk again, and brought up Dane's record on the screen. He gestured for Zanh to come take a look.
"Are you kidding me?" She groaned. "He's going to wash out? I had such high hopes for that kid."
"As did we all. But he just cannot buckle down and accept the chain of command. He's done."
Zanh's posture changed, and clearly indicated how troubled she was by this news.
"He won't go back to the streets. He'll do something stupid, and wind up dead within a month. Isn't there anything else we can try?"
"There is one last thing. If you take him in hand, and you can get him to tow the line, then he'd have a chance. He's got so much potential, but he just won't listen to anyone." The Admiral switched the screen off.
"Oh, he'll listen to me." Zanh grew angry, thinking of all the time and energy she had invested into this young man while on the space station. For him to screw up intentionally and continually challenge authority within the program that was to be his saving grace, really irked her.
"It won't be easy to break his rebellious streak, Liis." Vox warned. "He's fearless."
"He won't be for long." Zanh replied. "Admiral, I'd like to request that you to assign Ensign Cristiane to the Sera, and put him at my communications station. He can be my receptionist, we'll see how that suits the little punk."
"Done." Vox tapped the orders into his PADD.
"Where is he now?" Liis inquired warily, wondering what she had just gotten herself into.
"Well, I have a confession to make." Vox shuffled his feet, something that he only ever seemed to do in the presence of one living being.
The woman who was now glaring at him.
"I was pretty sure that you'd agree to take him on, so he's already on the Sera, performing my own brand of community service."
"Oh?" Liis smirked. "What does that entail?"
"Shining up the deuterium exchange ports with a tooth brush," Vox replied with a sly grin, "among other duties. For the past several days, he has also relieved Lair Arie of the responsibility of cleaning the enclosed habitat of your Bajoran Tree Lizard."
-----------------------------------------
-=/\=- Captain Zanh Liis
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
-=/\=- Captain Zanh Liis
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
NRPG: This post will be relocated in the proper place after fill-in backposts come in. . .just getting us headed in the right direction. ~ZL