"So what's going on?"

"Here, these need tested to come up with effective inoculations against as much of that as possible as fast as possible, and I am also to remind you that unless they are wearing Force inhibitors Jedi will react to those substances differently from the rest of Starfleet so take that into consideration when making said inoculations"

"Who told you to tell me all of this?"

"Sentinel Portland, and in this matter she's allowed to give us orders"

"True enough, seeing as how my people have already left for the day I will get them right on it first thing in the morning, Portland did good preserving these samples"

The next day the medical team got to work on the samples Ashland left while Ashland herself headed to her new post knowing it would take at least another day before arriving at the rendezvous area. She was meditating when she suddenly sensed danger and quickly left her quarters and headed to the nearest turbo lift, once on the lift she quickly headed to the bridge and moved the helmsman aside and punched in new coordinates faster than anyone but Data could possibly do and once that was done gave out a sigh of relief and then left the seat and faced the ships Captain

"Care to explain yourself Sentinel?"

"Certainly sir, I was just in meditation when I sensed danger, as it is I barely managed to avoid the attack in time, and yes I know we were in warp but they have a means of forcing us out of warp though I'm not entirely sure how"

"Understood Sentinel, is it safe to start heading back to our destination?"

"Yes it's fine we'll just be a little late to our rendezvous point, thankfully as far as I know the supplies you have to drop off and pick up aren't time critical supplies"

"Indeed it is a good thing now then I think you need to finish meditation while I need to continue running this ship without anymore interruptions hopefully"

"Indeed if not for the fact that the Force was most insistent I wouldn't be up here right now"

"Good thing it was though because we don't exactly have weapons to beat a big ship"

"Captain I've read the reports and I know that Sentinel Portland is unique but what exactly is a Jedi and why do they have so much power over everyone?"

"A Jedi is someone who serves something called the Force as good as possible and sometimes that means going against orders or extending them, the reason why they have so much power over us officers is because of that ability to listen to the Force, they can sense danger a lot faster than anyone else that we know of which is why they are to be in charge if no one else has higher equivalent authority or if they sense danger that we might not be aware of"

A newcomer to Starfleet was a bit confused

"Wait equivalent authority?"

"Yes as a First Junior I have the equivalent of a Lt. Commander and as such if something happens and there's no one that has a rank of Commander or above then I am in charge, even if someone has more time in that rank than the Sentinel"

"Okay, what about if there are two Sentinel's of the same rank? I want to know that because of the fact that while you were thought dead such a situation happened and while there doesn't seem to have been any confusion it could happen again"

"I know, which is why after we found out how we fit into the rank system I sent out a message stating that if such a situation ever happened then we would use seniority in rank to settle the matter and whoever has the longest time in rank will be the one in charge"

"Speaking of which I have a message from the Sentinel's for you"

She reads the message and quickly sends a reply to them acknowledging what they were saying and then leaves the bridge intent on finishing her mandatory meditation period and simply relaxing for the rest of the trip which she succeeds in

"Well we have supplies to pick up and you have a ship to wait for"

"It appears that they're the ones who are going to be late but considering they're last known location it's understandable, hopefully they won't be too late though"

Fortunately three hours after being dropped off the USS KOMATSU arrives and picks Portland up and she is met by the Commander who takes her to the bridge for her to meet the Captain

"First Junior Sentinel Portland reporting for duty sir"

"Welcome aboard Sentinel Portland you are to be stationed at the helm unless told otherwise by me and only me, I should let you know I don't believe in this Force you're talking about and I won't have anyone acting without proper authority even in an emergency"

"But sir Starfleet Command has ordered..."

"I don't care what Starfleet Command says about you or your fellow Sentinel's this is my ship and I am going to run it my way"

"Understood sir"

"By the way Sentinel from here on out I will be calling you by your equivalent rank instead of your proper rank due to my beliefs"

"Yes sir"

Ashland is escorted to her quarters where she quickly sets up a secure commlink with Starfleet Command knowing that they needed some vital information immediately, while she waited she wondered just how she was going to handle the situation until she got backup

"Sentinel Portland what can I do for you?"

"Admiral we have a problem"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes sir, the Captain in charge of the ship isn't the Captain sir, or at least it's not his normal state of mind, I think he might be under alien influence"

"What makes you say that?"

"The Force, I know that some Captain's are still struggling even after almost seven years or so but even those still struggling wouldn't deny your orders to let Sentinel's act as they see fit if required or call us by our equivalent rank instead of what we're supposed to be called. I can't confirm it seeing as how it's just a feeling in the Force but still..."

"I understand anything else I need to know?"

"Tell those at the academy to be on alert for any further trouble and extend meditations by another hour until ordered otherwise or unless they are in a situation that makes such orders impossible, I'll be alerting the other Sentinel's myself on our secure network"

"Understood Sentinel, may the Force be with you"

Communications are cut and Ashland passes on those orders to the rest of the Sentinel's who for the most part say that they will obey her orders but one argues with her and they quickly switch to Huttese for arguing

*I am giving you an order Freshman and I expect you to obey it*

*How many times do I have to tell you that it's simply not possible?*

*Why not?*

*I am under strict orders to limit access to the Force right now because of the fact that our new mission involves aliens who are scared of mind powers and since this is an extended mission and they are occasionally on board the ship, it's simply too dangerous right now for me to meditate even the mandatory period Starfleet gave us*

*I understand then, just be careful and if need be do Force inhibitor meditations instead*

*Will do First Junior, will do*

*Report back to me as soon as it's safe for you to do normal meditations seeing as how while you have been forced to not have access to the Force before you've never been in this type of situation so you don't know how to handle that type of meditation while I do*

*Talk to you then Freshman out*

*First Junior out*

Communications end and Ashland starts adjusting to her new position when a few days later she was told to meet with most of the command team except the Captain in the Commander's quarters

"What's going on here?"

"It's pretty simple really, you know how you suddenly aren't allowed to do your job?"

"Yes I informed Command about it"

"Good because you're the only person who has secure comms no matter what and that's what needed right now"

"Commander are you telling me my suspicions are correct?"

"What suspicions?"

"Alien influence"

"It's either that or a very good imposter and it happened on our last mission, we've been monitored so closely that even this meeting is very dangerous"

"What about blood tests? I would think that after such a mission mandatory check up is required in fact as far as I know that's Starfleet policy"

"Yes, except he hasn't seen me and I can't force him unless he does something obvious that means he needs checked out, and no him not obeying isn't enough because even you know that there are still Captain's who can't really accept Jedi"

"I know, once I heard his orders and stance I have deliberately left my lightsaber here in my quarters in a secure location and I don't like it"

"You're also wearing the normal uniform and you look uncomfortable in it"

"I am I feel naked without my weapon or cloak"

"We'll figure something out I just don't know what"

"Well hopefully Command will contact me soon and we'll get to the bottom of this"

"Let's hope so, in the meantime just deal with it as good as possible and I will be allowing you special holodeck time Sentinel and whenever I give you PADD orders they will have your proper rank"

"Commander I know you don't want to think about this but what about staging a coup?"

"No not unless lives are at risk I can't do that"

"I understand sir, and Commander I hope we get to the bottom of this soon, by the way was I requested before or after this most recent mission?"

"Before, you were actually requested a month after we found out you were alive"

"Okay then the request is legit and not something he'll be confused about once he's in his right mind"

"Well he will be if this guy is an imposter because we never quite knew when you would be arriving until after your most recent mission"

"That was not part of the plan"

"We know, by the way how have you been coping with your new crew?"

"It's been going pretty well so far, the hardest part is not having access to the Force because several people want examples of my abilities so that they can get an idea of what I can do if needed and yet I have to wear the Force inhibitor to obey the Captain"

"That's mostly good to hear and Portland we will find out what's wrong with the Captain but I need you to trust us to do our jobs properly so that we don't put anyone in danger"

"I know and I am willing to wait patiently it's just that it's really hard for me to keep calm right now because even without access to the Force I keep getting a bad feeling about all of this"

"Great that's not a good thing"

"So you've read Captain Picard's reports then"

"Indeed I have so I understand exactly what you're not saying"

"I need to do some sort of activity so for now I think I will go to the holodeck and do some regular self defense training because I can't do anything else and I need to vent my emotions in a safe manner"

"Question do all Jedi have emotional problems when they have to wear Force inhibitors?"

"Actually no, however this is not a normal situation now is it?"

"You have a point"

Several days later what Ashland was feeling even without access to the Force happened and they finally got the Captain to sickbay and finally learned why he was acting so odd because the day that Ashland met with the Commander she mentioned that they had been ordered by Starfleet Command to obey the Captain's orders as usual until they had proof he was under alien influence or it wasn't him