DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Enterprise, or anything from the Star Trek universe for that matter. They belong to Paramount. I do, however, own a number of characters that will appear in this story. In this chapter I own: K'Tel Jones and Admiral Rowan. Please do not ues them without my permission.

K'Tel Jones stared blandly at her console. Had someone told her, when she was younger, that she would be spending her thirty-fourth birthday examining a sample of titanium alloy, she would have been reluctant to believe it.

It wasn't particularly that Jones minded taking and examining samples, but titanium alloy? This particular sample was exactly the same as what was used on many ships. Nothing to be aware of, nothing different, nothing strange. All jobs had somewhat undesirable aspects and the Daystrom Institute's Robotics Counsel members had to endure them like anyone else. Jones should have expected that with her luck those undesirable aspects would show themselves most prominently on her birthday. 23533.01. The exact stardate of her birth. The hour was steadily approaching, but Jones did not count down as she had done when she was a small girl. She didn't expect to find herself any different the moment she turned thirty-four. It was just another age.

If anyone at the Daystrom Institute thought that Lieutenant Jones was unhappy because her birthday was slowly shaping up to be a minor disappointment, they would have second guessed themselves watching Jones at her console. Deep down, she was bored and wished to retire, but not even a shadow of that feeling appeared on her face. That was one of the advantages to being part Vulcan; nobody asked how one felt.

Unlike many similar to Jones in blood-line, Jones occasionally did admit to having emotions, something that often half-Vulcans denied. When K'Tel was very young, she used to wonder why her mother never responded when her father said he loved her. It wasn't as though Mrs. Jones did not love her husband, in her own way, but expressing such feelings was not logical. When K'Tel was older, she began to wonder why her mother didn't simply marry a Vulcan. It seemed that the relationship between K'Tel's half-Vulcan mother and human father went against the Vulcan definition of logical.

Jones breathed out slowly, in what could almost be classified as a sigh, as she finished examining her sample of not interesting, not dangerous, not different titanium alloy. Only 12 more samples to go through, she thought semi-sarcastically.

She keyed in the request to move to the next sample into her console when a voice came from the comlink.

"Rowan to Jones," said the voice.

Jones reached to the upper corner of her console and tapped the comlink symbol. "Go ahead Admiral," she said, keeping her eyes on her dull work.

"Lieutenant, I'd like to see you in the lounge immediately. There is a matter I'd like to discuss with you," the Admiral had no time for pleasantries.

"I'm on my way sir, Jones out," she replied as the communication ended.

Here was a ready made excuse for getting away from the examinations she was doing, and somewhere deep inside, she was glad for it. On the other hand, a tiny bubble of anxiety inflated in her chest. The Admiral rarely contacted her. The first of those occasions was simply to welcome her to the Daystrom Institute and tell her that her cybernetic knowledge would be much appreciated. That was almost five years ago. One of the other occasions occurred after she had accessed a classified log on Dr. Noonien Soong. Jones had admitted to enlisting the help of a more senior officer to gain access to the information, but Jones would not reveal the identity of said officer. She'd assured him it would not happen again. One way or the other, that visit to the Admiral's presence had been far less pleasant.

Jones was not prone to insubordination, for she was not one to freely speak her mind. It was logical to assume that she had done nothing to incur the Admiral's wrath once again, but she could not be certain of that.

"Well look who it is," came the voice of a man from behind her.

Commander Bruce Maddox was not one of Jones' favourite people. He often said she was a hermit, simply because she preferred seclusion to socializing. Jones found him pompous, though he was very intelligent and quite wise. She'd heard about his exploits to deem an android as an insentient being, though that had been before her time at the Institute. Jones couldn't help but feel that had she been around, she would have argued whole-heartedly against Maddox. An android was not just a calculator. An android was something special, that Jones believed deserved the same rights as any human.

"Good afternoon Commander Maddox," she replied politely, but continued walking.

Bruce caught up with her and walked alongside, "Haven't seen you out and about for awhile Lieutenant."

"I've been quite busy," she told him.

"So what brings you out into the light of day now?" he asked, sounding somewhat smug.

"Admiral Rowan has requested a word with me."

"What have you done now, Jones? Accessed more classified information?"

"If Admiral Rowan thought it was important for you to know why he summoned me, he would've told you," she said curtly.

He saw that she was determined to keep the subject closed, "Isn't it your birthday today Jones?"

"Please Commander, I don't really want to be reminded that I'm entering my mid-thirties."

This provoked a laugh from the man, "I can remember my thirty-fourth birthday. Everyone thought it'd be fun to throw me a party."

Jones couldn't help but feel that Maddox was bragging; the fact that she had few friends at the Institute didn't bother her as much as Maddox probably thought. "Wasn't that kind of them?"

"Well, I'm afraid I have work to do, good luck with the Admiral, Lieutenant," he said and turned off into a separate corridor.

She was unsure as to why Maddox often subtly mocked her. Perhaps it was because he was unused to people not acting warmly towards him.

She touched the pad on the wall as she approached the door to the observation lounge, where Admiral Rowan often called meetings during his frequent visits. "Enter," came his voice as soon as he'd heard the chime.

The doors slid open silently, admitting Jones into the Admiral's presence for the third time in five years. She found the Admiral, facing the window behind the long table. The lounge was large but hardly decorated at all. It was very clean, almost sterile. The Robotics Counsel took no interest in plants or bringing the outdoors in. There was a large viewscreen at the front of the room, but little more.

"You asked to see me Admiral?" Jones asked, standing at attention.

He turned to look at her, as though sizing up a piece of meat. "You remember when you came to us Lieutenant?"

Jones thought this was an odd question to ask. How could she forget her coming here? It had been an important decision that she only regretted on occasion, like when she was examining alloy samples. "Of course sir."

"Why did you decide to come to us?" he asked.

Again, an odd question. Jones knew very well that the Admiral knew exactly why she'd accepted his offer to place her at the Institute. "I was always interested in cybernetics, but I didn't get to work in that sort of area very often on the Tracker."

"Had there been cybernetic work and study on the Tracker, would have stayed?"

This question, Jones actually had to think about. Captain Leonard Pringle had been kind to her, as had the entire crew. If she had stayed, she would have had her own quarters by now. Had the Tracker been a Galaxy-class ship, there would have been and whole lab for cybernetics, which she would have reign over by now. Her own work space was very appealing. She would have gotten to remain among the stars. "In all honesty sir, I think I would have declined your offer," she admitted, wondering why she was being quizzed.

"So if there were a Star ship that needed a cybernetics engineer and the position was offered to you, Lieutenant, am I correct in assuming that you would take it?" he asked, a small smile forming on his lips.

"Yes, I would sir," she presumed his question to be hypothetical.

"Well, Happy Birthday Jones, here," he handed her a PADD.

She did not ask what it was, the moment she read the heading, it became clear that it was a request directly from Starfleet Headquarters. She read through the entire thing. It was a request for an engineer knowledgeable in cybernetics to board the Star ship U.S.S. Enterprise for their continued mission into the farther reaches of the quadrant.

Jones looked up at Admiral Rowan, "Sir, have you suggested me for the post?"

Rowan chuckled, "Of course Jones, why do you think I called you here? I assume you want the position?"

She nodded mutely. The Enterprise was practically a legend. She never dreamed of something like this. Perhaps her birthday was not a disappointment at all.

"So this is the Enterprise?" K'Tel Jones asked, examining the miniature hologram, taken directly from Star Base 127 orbiting above. It was an impressive ship, more so than the U.S.S. Tracker, the only other ship she'd ever been on. If anyone had asked her whether she was nervous about serving under Captain Jean-Luc Picard, it would have been difficult to lie. Captain Picard was almost legendary. It was an honour to be assigned to the Enterprise. It was more of an honour to be their first official cybernetics engineer. Then again, they'd never had a need of someone so versed in cybernetics. Assisting Commander Geordi La Forge was nothing to take lightly either.

There had been an increase in the amount of holograms on this version of the fabled ship. The likelihood of a problem increased exponentially as the number of holograms increased. In all honesty, Jones didn't think her services were really needed. Commander La Forge could most likely handle all repairs on his own, along with his team of engineers. From what Jones understood, he was considered a genius in engineering since he was a boy.

Nevertheless, she wasn't about to turn down the offer, nervous as she was. If only she could have served under Captain Riker of the U.S.S. Titan. Jones knew that Riker had been Picard's first officer for many years. No doubt he could advise a new cybernetics engineer about the quirks of Captain Picard. Jones wondered how long it would take to learn.

"That's her," Commander Madden replied, sounding like a proud father. Commander Madden hadn't been on the Enterprise long, but it seemed as though he had already been taken in by the magnificence that the ship was said to encompass. Jones knew she would eventually become intoxicated by the Enterprise too.

"Few more repairs and tune-ups and we'll be on our way," Madden told her, watching as the hologram rotated slowly.

"Where are we going Commander?" Jones asked, not taking her eyes off the Enterprise.

Madden shrugged, folding his arms, "We'd like to try and get as close to the Delta Quardrant as we can, but who knows which way the stars will call Captain Picard."

Jones forced back a small smile. That would only provoke her human side more than it had been just by looking at the star ship. "That was very poetic, sir."

"Get used to it, Picard is the master of poetic quotes," Madden said with a chuckle.

This did tweak a small smile at the corners of Jones' lips. She supposed she might like hearing poetry every so often. She wondered if they sang too.

"Where is the crew staying currently?" she asked. Jones knew she would meet the crew while she was aboard the ship, but it was a strange thought, boarding a ship when it was only Madden that she knew.

"Most of them are on board the ship, but there are a few in the VIP quarters in the B wing," replied the first officer, examining his nails.

Commander Madden seemed somewhat vain to Jones. She supposed it was hard not to be, when one knew they were good-looking. And Commander Madden was, with his bright blue eyes and his perfectly trimmed brown hair. Despite his handsome appearance, Jones wasn't allured by him. It wasn't usual for Jones to experience attraction, even if she wanted to. Her human part occasionally damned her Vulcan part.

It was only natural for Vulcans to ignore emotions, in fact it was shameful to show feelings of any kind. Jones' mother had embraced her own human side as much as she could, even by marrying a human, but her life had always been based highly on logic. She had taught her daughter that, in spite of K'Tel's best efforts to force herself to be human. At this point, in her mid-thirties, it seemed impossible.

"Permission to be dismissed Commander?" Jones asked.

"Permission granted Lieutenant. Hoping to run into some of the crew Jones?"

"If you mean, am I heading to B wing, then yes. It can do no harm to acquaint myself with the people I will be living with, can it?"

"I don't suppose it can," Madden said. "If you happen to meet Captain Picard, would you tell him that we should be ready to board in fourteen hours?"

Jones nodded, "I will tell him sir."

"Thank you Lieutenant, I don't doubt that we'll meet again before boarding," Madden gave her a friendly smile.

"Yes sir," Jones turned and strode towards the turbo lift, leaving Madden to admire the ship he was beginning to love.