Acknowledgements

Once again, my thanks to my fellow FFN writers Kehlan and AmandaG96 for their help and support. I highly recommend their stories as well, especially Kehlan's epic adventure "Captain's Honour" and any of AmandaG96's delightful Amanda and Sarek stories.

STARBASE ONE

"Mind Games"

Prologue

"Read 'em and weep," Lieutenant Ed Garrison said as he laid his cards on the table. He displayed three kings along with the queen of hearts and the ace of spades. "Three of a kind," he said with a smug grin, knowing he had beaten his fellow players with a relatively low hand.

The others all exclaimed in exasperation. They were a small group of junior officers who had known each other since their time at the Starfleet Training Centre, and had all had the good fortune of being assigned to Starbase 1 together, where they kept up their weekly poker game in their quarters. Although gambling was frowned upon at Starfleet facilities, friendly games still happened, even if they did often threaten to turn unfriendly.

"How does he bluff his way into a win with crappy cards every time?" asked Ross, a security officer, with a chuckle.

Ed gathered up his chips and took a swig from his beer bottle. "I'm just hypnotic. People can't help but give in to my charm. Isn't that right, Kat?"

Kat, a shuttle pilot and Ed's girlfriend of four years, gave a small smile and nod. They were quite the contrasting couple: Ed was tall, gangly, dark-haired, brash, and loved the sound of his own voice, while Kat was petite, fair-haired, demure, and quiet.

In truth, Ed was not part of their original clique, and only integrated himself via Kat. It seemed obvious to the others that, if not for Kat, Ed would have no friends of his own, but it wasn't pity for him that kept him close. They respected Kat, even if none of them could understand her choice of partner.

"Yeah, you can't resist me either," Ed said to Kat, leaning over to stroke her cheek with the heel of his hand. Kat simply stared at the table.

Trying to shift the discomfort everyone else was feeling, Lexi, another security officer, spoke up. "Maybe when you go for those psychological tests, you can get them to look at your ego," she said, only half-joking.

"What ego?" Ed snapped, following it up with a grin.

"Uh, what's this about psycho tests?" Ross asked.

"Haven't you heard?" said Lexi. "Some shrink is visiting the base. He's doing a study, something about how deep-space assignments affect Humans. Sent out some random invites, looking for subjects."

"Aw, I didn't get one," said Ross.

"That's cause there's no mind for them to analyse," said Dav, a biochemist. Everyone laughed at the playful jab.

"Whereas some of us," said Ed as he stood, "have minds worthy of study, apparently."

"You leaving already?" Dav said to Ed. "Not gonna give us a chance to beat you?"

"We can't all sit around playing games," said Ed. "Us department heads have work to do."

Everyone, except Kat, groaned as Ed once again reminded them of his recent promotion to Chief Communications Officer. He had only achieved the position because his predecessor had to take extended leave to care for a sick relative - not that Ed showed any sympathy for his former boss - and Ed had been the next best qualified.

He bent down to kiss Kat, who timidly reciprocated. "I'll see you in our quarters when I'm done," he said.

"Oh, we were gonna see the movie tonight," Lexi said.

Ed looked to Kat sternly. "You're gonna let me come home to empty quarters?"

Kat was almost apologetic. "I'll probably give the film a miss and just come straight home."

Ed nodded. "Okay. Catch you all later." He gave them all a casual wave as he exited.

There was an awkward silence, and Ross started gathering up the cards for another round.

"I don't know why you're still with him," Lexi said to Kat. Ross and Dav gave her dirty looks. This was something they had discussed before, and Kat had only got upset about it, so they had resolved not to bring it up again. Lexi did not seem to want to honour that agreement any more. "Look at the way he treats you."

"He just gets stressed," said Kat quietly, gazing downward. "He's been really busy since the promotion."

"I don't think he's right in the head sometimes," Lexi said. "And if you're staying with him, maybe you're not either."

"Lexi…" Ross said in a firm tone, surprised at how harsh she was being.

Lexi held up her hands. "You're right, you're right. I'm sorry. Who am I to judge?" She was clearly still disgruntled, but seemingly stifled for now, taking a sip of beer.

"Anyway," said Kat with a smile, trying to lighten the mood, "I'm taking part in the psychological study as well, so we'll soon find out if there's something wrong with either of us."

Nobody was quite sure whether she was kidding or not.