Posting list in chronological order: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mission: Inalienable Rights, Day Nine Stardate: 2405.08.27 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (Starbase Geneva - Admiral's Module - SQNCO Admiral Eileen Greeley - 1920) (Starbase Geneva - Sickbay - SPC Louise Palmer - 1940) (Starbase Geneva - Park Deck - OO Crewman Montro - 21.30) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mission: Inalienable Rights, Day Nine Stardate: 2405.08.27 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (Starbase Geneva - Admiral's Module - SQNCO Admiral Eileen Greeley - 1920) Eileen scrambled to her feet, kicking off the high heeled shoes that were making it rather difficult to maneuver, when she realized that she had knocked Lise right into Aragorn. She was bracing herself for Lise's retaliation when Aragorn jumped up. "STOP IT!" he bellowed. When Lise did not stop, Aragorn took two steps closer and grabbed the back of his FO's uniform, pulled her off and flung her to the other side of the room. Seeing her opportunity, Eileen charged towards Lise, heedless of Aragorn grabbing to stop her too. Blinded by rage, she was even heedless of her negligee as it ripped and came off completely, until she was jerked to a stop by Aragorn as he grabbed her hair, and then flung her onto the sofa, quite naked. "STOP IT! DAMN YOU!" Aragorn bellowed again, breathing heavily. "HOW DARE YOU! DON'T YOU REALISE THAT AT THIS VERY MOMENT MY SON COULD BE DYING?!" Eileen looked at the man of her dreams, the object of her desires, in shock and confusion as his face suddenly turned quite pale. "I...I... I have to go!" he stammered, then he slapped his commbadge. "MISTER ROFT! GET YOUR BUTT OVER TO THE ADMIRAL'S MODULE! .... NOW!" With a final look back, he then turned and ran out of the room. Suddenly realizing her state of complete undress, Eileen quickly grabbed her dress and pulled it on over her head, so that at least she would not be completely nude when the counsellor arrived. Still her mind was reeling from what had happened. ~What could have caused me to react that way?~ she asked herself as she walked over to her tattered negligee lying in a heap on the floor, picked it up, and dropped it into the recycling chute. She tossed the high-heeled shoes into a corner and dropped into the armchair, leaning forward with her head in her hands, which was when she noticed that her necklace was gone. She straightened up and looked around, thinking it must have fallen off at some point, when she saw Commander Arianna standing on the opposite side of the room, apparently stunned as well by Aragorn's hasty departure. "Computer, lights." Eileen then stood up in the now brighter room and with what little dignity she could muster, addressed the young officer as she walked around the room extinguishing and recycling the candles. "Commander, I owe you an apology. There is no excuse for my behavior, and I have no idea what caused me to react in such a manner. Please understand that I have never done anything like this," she said, gesturing around at the room, the candles, the champagne, "before, and don't know what inspired me to do it now." She suddenly thought of Aragorn and what he must have thought of the whole situation! It had all been a complete disaster! (reply Arianna, Roft, any) (posted by Aaron Scifres) **** (Starbase Geneva - Sickbay - SPC Louise Palmer - 1940) Louise, still shaking from her row with Aragorn, sat down quietly by Meh'Nor. He still lay as still as the grave, the rise and fall of his chest barely perceptible, even when she looked hard for it. "The sad thing is, sweetheart, I don't know what to think any more," she said softly, sadly. She blinked hard, squeezing back the tears. "Just get better, Meh'Nor," she begged. "If I lose you too......." Sitting beside her son, Louise's mind free-wheeled back to the encounter with Aragorn. It replayed the evening in detail. When had things started to go wrong, she wondered. He had seemed so - so normal at first. ~Well normal for Aragorn~ she amended. He had always been so open, so honest. Louise would have staked her life on it. HAD staked her life on it once. Only once before had looked at her in *that* way... long ago, back in their Nimitz time. The Cardassian war of 2403/4. He'd thrown himself between her and the Cardassian who'd been about to shoot her and had nearly died himself. She felt sick, still, thinking about it. The damage to his brain had meant he had temporarily lost his memory, he'd even in his confusion thought she had betrayed him to the Cardassians. But even then he'd been unable to hurt her. She wondered if he remembered that or if it was lost to him. ~But then you still loved me, Aragorn~ Even blinking couldn't hold back the tears now, and they fell unheeded, rolling silently down her face and dropping onto her hands. ~And if you loved me now, then none of this mess would have happened~ Of that she felt certain. Aragorn was incapable of deceit. Or so she had thought, before tonight. ~But then maybe I've been wrong all along. Maybe he's just been a bl**dy good actor~ ~But Vegans don't lie~ she reminded herself. Then again, he didn't actually *lie* when telling the truth was unsafe, or undesirable. Not directly. She had known him to lie by omission, as it were. So had he just 'omitted' to tell her he didn't love her any more? Somehow that didn't ring true either. Not deep down. ~But what about that lipstick, on his collar, at the back of his neck? Such an intimate place for a kiss. He said *she* - ~ Even in her mind Louise refused to name the woman ~ - gave him a peck. Surely not even Aragorn could class a kiss *there* as a peck?~ No, the only conclusion she could come to was that there was indeed something going on between Aragorn and *her*. And probably the Admiral too. Why else would she receive Aragorn (and *her*) in her nightwear? Louise had rarely in her whole life felt so alone. ~Inform me of any progress of my son~ How cold that sounded, how utterly, utterly cold. The sound of the door opening brought her out of her reverie, and she looked up, unaware of the tears still running down her cheeks, to see another doctor. "Yes?" she said, wondering if he had come to check on Meh'Nor. (Reply du Pounte, Any) (Posted by Liz Geuken) **** ~What a strange day.~ thought Montro as he wandered onto the Park Deck, an air tight container tightly clutched in his hands. ~Now where could she be?~ he wondered, as he adjusted his eyes to the darker area, as the simulated sky was now darkening with the sinking of the holographic sun. He'd have to hurry and find Gertie, so he could have breakfast before he went on shift. He had tried to put electronic locators onto Gertie, but no matter what he had done, she had managed to somehow lose the device. He suspected that Izzy was somehow responsible, but he was never able to prove it. ~I wonder where she could be?~ he thought, as he moved through the park. ~She always seems to find me quickly when I have sugar.~ The park was relatively deserted with only the stray person walking here and there. "Gertie!" called out Montro. "Gertie!!! Where are you???? I've got some new sugar cubes for you!!!" Montro's eyes detected a slight bit of movement by a tree and walked over. "Gertie? Is that you?" he called out, when he realized it was a humanoid sitting under a tree. As he drew near, he could see that the man seemed rather down trodden. ~The poor thing.~ he thought, as he walked up to the man. "Hello," he said gently. "Want a sugar cube?" <> "Are you okay?" Montro asked. <> Montro listened intently to the man, when he noticed the fluttering of wings and a sinking feeling, as he heard the accompanying plopping sounds. "Ohhhhh..." he said, as he looked at the man who was now sprinkled with droppings. Looking at his own uniform for the tell tale spots, he looked up into the trees and spotted Boris and Doris "sleeping". "Boris! Doris! That wasn't nice!" he scolded. "I'm sorry, Mister. Here let me get those stains out." Placing the sugar cubes down on the ground, he opened his bag and began rummaging for that bottle of cleaner. "Need a rag." he said to himself, as he scrounged about in his bag, pulling out various items. From a ball of twine to some shiny paper. "Here it is. And here is that cleaner." he said triumphantly, as he popped opened the bottle which made a peculiar odor. Montro wasn't really sure what the bottle was, but he knew he could use it to clean stuff and it would smell pretty good. He tried drinking it once, but it didn't really catch his fancy. The label said Vegan Black. That sounded like a cleaner didn't it? "Here hold this," he said, as he handed the man the bottle. "Now hold still and I'll get the stain out. I'm really sorry about this." <> (Reply Aragorn, Any) (posted by Kaweo Kanoho) ****