Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek.
Chapter Twelve
It's Just Another Manic Monday
Captain's Log. 2259.56: Our position, orbiting Psi 2000, an ancient world, now a frozen wasteland, about to rip apart in its death throes. Our mission, pick up a scientific party below, observe the disintegration of the planet. I am frankly concerned about the psychological effects that seeing a planet break apart will have on the crew given the events of last year.
Rose drummed her fingers on her as she waited for Spock and Turmoleon to report. Her shoulders relaxed slightly when Spock finally spoke to her.
"Kirk, affirmative," she answered immediately.
"All station personnel are dead," Spock bluntly announced. Rose heard Lt. Lisa Baldavin, the on-duty comm officer, gasp quietly in the background, but she herself gave no outward reaction to the unexpected news.
"What caused it?"
"Unknown, Captain. I have never seen something like this before."
Rose frowned at Spock's answer. If her CSO didn't have a clue what was going on, it didn't bode well at all. She cursed mentally. An already stressful mission had just gotten significantly worse.
"Return and report to sickbay for examination immediately," she ordered.
"Yes Captain."
Captain's Log: Stardate 2259.56: The science party we were to have picked up has been found dead. Life support systems had been turned off. Station personnel, frozen to death. Conditions highly unusual. Meanwhile, we remain in orbit to complete our mission, close scientific measurement of the break-up of this planet.
"You're fine, Joe," Bones was saying as Rose entered the medbay. "Up and out of here. Spock? Your pulse is two hundred and forty-two, your blood pressure is practically non-existent, assuming you call that green stuff in your veins blood."
"The readings are perfectly normal for me, Doctor, thank you, and as for my anatomy being different from yours, I am delighted. Captain."
"Boys," Rose warned. "You know my opinion on that sort of talk." Of course, she knew it was only their version of banter, but as two of her highest ranking officers, she needed them to set an example. The two nodded, chastised.
"How are they?"
"They're fine, Rose," Bones assured her. As per their rules, no hint of their personal relationship entered their on-duty interactions.
"Terrible, Captain," Tormoleon declared, a look of horrified anguish in his eyes. His emotions were completely off. Rose made a note to refer him to Dehner for a psych eval. "It was terrible. They were just sitting, like they didn't care. Whatever was happening, they didn't care. I keep wondering-"
"You keep wondering if man was meant to be out here," Rose interrupted, skillfully interpreting his emotions as she reached out to pat him on the shoulder gently. "You keep wondering, but if we weren't, we wouldn't have discovered warp. Go get some rest Joe. Send a message to your family, spend some time with your friends. You'll feel better after a rest."
Tormoleon left, repeating "Six dead. Six people dead," under his breath as he went.
Rose sent him a concerned look, but she was too busy to focus on him at that moment. She sent a quick email to Dehner ordering her to speak to the Lieutenant before turning to Spock.
"Well Spock? Any clue what happened down there?"
"I wish I could say, Captain," Spock replied while shaking his head. "The circumstances were quite bizarre, however our record tapes may show us something."
Rose nodded briskly. "Right then. Set up those tapes, Mister Spock. We'll see if the answers are there." She quickly kissed Bones goodbye before following her First out of the infirmary.
"Next tape, please," Spock requested.
"Spectro-analysis tape, sir," Rand handed it to him.
"Thank you," he told her, Rose's 'social training' showing itself. Despite the situation, she smiled slightly at him in reward. Briefly, Rose wondered how to approach the topic of Spock joining their relationship with Bones, before firmly shaking the thought away. Crisis situations, as this most definitely was going to be, were not the place for romance related thoughts.
"It's almost as though they were irrational, drugged," Rose mused aloud, frowning at the image on-screen. "An engineer sitting there, apparently oblivious to everything. A woman strangled. A crewman with a phaser pistol in his hand."
"He'd used the computer room as if it were an amusement gallery," Spock added.
"And a fully clothed man frozen to death in a shower," Rose finished. "If the image wasn't so ugly, it would be laughable. Not even a theory, gentlemen?"
"Definitely not drugs or intoxication," McCoy ruled. "The bio-analysis on the tapes prove that conclusively."
"It could be some form of space madness we've never heard of, but it would have to be caused by something. Our spectro-readings showed no contamination, no unusual elements present," Spock was blatantly, at least to Rose it was blatant, unhappy at the lack of answers.
"Or at least none your tricorders could register," Scotty pointed out.
"Instruments register only those things they're designed to register," the Vulcan acknowledged. "Space still contains infinite unknowns."
"Earth Science needs the closest possible measurement of the breakup of this planet," Rose stated grimly. "To do this, we need the Enterprise in a critically tight orbit. Question. Could what happened down there to those people create any unusual danger to my ship or the crew?"
The men exchanged glances before Spock answered. Under the table, McCoy gripped Rose's hand to reassure the worried captain.
"We will need top efficiency, Captain. It'll be a tricky orbit. When the planet begins to go, there may be drastic changes in gravity, mass, magnetic field."
"The purpose of a briefing, gentlemen, is to get me answers based on your abilities and experience," Rose's voice was sharp and she smacked the table as she spoke. "In a critical orbit, there's no time for surprise."
"Unless you people on the Bridge start taking showers with your clothes on, my engines can pull us out of anything," Scotty declared confidently. "We'll be warping out of orbit within a half second of getting your command."
The comm activated, Lt. Lisa's voice coming from the speakers. "Bridge to Captain."
"Kirk here."
"Scanners report sudden four degree shift in planet magnetic field. A change in mass also, ma'am."
"It's beginning," Spock stated. "Unusually rapid shifts."
"On our way, Lieutenant. I'll hold you to that half second, Scotty."
"Relative gravity increasing, ma'am."
"Compensate, Mister Chekov."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Magnetic field continuing to shift, ma'am," Sulu reported calmly. "Planet continuing to shrink in mass."
"Mister Spock?"
"All scanning stations manned, all recorders functioning, Captain."
"Orbit steady now, ma'am," Chekov announced, making Rose relax a fraction.
"Obviously, this planet is condensing more rapidly than expected," Spock commented. "A valuable study. We may be seeing Earth's distant future. Before its sun went dark, this planet was remarkably similar to yours."
"Helm answering nicely, Captain," Sulu chimed in.
"Good," Rose replied in a more curt tone than was typical for her. Part of her was filled with thoughts of Tormoleon, debating what she could have done to prevent his actions in the canteen. She should have sent him straight to Dehner, instead of just ordering an eval.
"Communications are good, Captain," Lt. Lisa added. Rose nodded distractedly, making an absent note to have someone assigned specifically to Alpha Shift for communications. It was taking up far too much time, choosing a different person every month. She headed over to whisper to Spock.
"Tormoleon's record?"
"Psychiatric file, personality quotients," he explained.
"Was he trying to kill himself?"
"It's doubtful he meant to. He was confused, self-tortured."
Rose frowned unhappily at that. "Doesn't sound like the man I know."
"His capacity for self-doubt has always been rather high. What puzzles me is what brought it to the surface with so much force."
Rose sighed, uncrossing her arms to pat down her side-braid. "I should have sent him straight to Dehner," she repeated her earlier thoughts. "I knew he was feeling depressed. I just didn't think that he would escalate so abruptly. He was fine before the mission."
"Indeed, he was," Spock agreed. "You had no reason to assume he would suddenly become so unstable. Do not blame yourself. You are not responsible."
"If I didn't blame myself, I wouldn't consider myself fit for command," Rose answered swiftly. "As captain, I'm responsible for everyone on board. I should've been able to do something to help him." The ship suddenly jerked slightly, and Rose forced herself to put thoughts of Tormoleon to the back of her mind. It was callous, but she had to keep the other members of her crew safe.
"What happened?" She demanded, hurrying to the helm.
"Relative gravity increase, ma'am," Sulu explained. "Like the planet reached out and yanked at us."
"Compensate," Rose snapped, adjusting Chekov's controls.
"Orbit steady now, ma'am. Perhaps I am a leetle nervous."
"There's no reason for it," Rose replied, patting his shirt-covered shoulder reassuringly. "You're the best navigator in the fleet."
The comm activated as she returned to her seat. "This is McCoy. Captain Kirk to Sickbay."
Rose stood with a silent sigh. Never a dull moment on the Enterprise. "Lieutenant, monitor communications. Tell McCoy I'll be there when I can."
The older woman nodded briskly. "Yes, ma'am."
"Planet breakup is imminent, Captain," Spock warned. "Shrinking in size at an increasing rate. As the planet continues to shrink in size, its surface moves away from us."
"Forcing us to spiral down to maintain the same distance from it," Rose finished.
"Exactly. We must be prepared to respond instantly to any sudden change."
"Engine room from Bridge."
"Scott here, Captain."
"Tie into the helm, Scotty," Rose ordered. "If we need to call for power, we'll want it fast."
"No problem, ma'am," the Scotsman assured her confidently. "You'll have it."
"Rate of compaction seems constant," Spock commented.
Rose nodded, flashing him her trademarked heart-stopping smile. "Then I'll go see what the good doctor wants. Keep me informed of any change, Mister Spock."
"Acknowledged."
Rose had just left sickbay after discussing Tormoleon's death with Bones when Spock commed to tell her about Sulu and Chekov going rogue. She groaned in dismay.
"You mean that both my best helmsman and navigator are out of commission, under an unknown influence, now of all times?"
"Yes Captain," Spock admitted reluctantly. She pressed the heels of her palms to her eyes, thankful that no one was around so she could reveal her distress.
"I'll be there in a moment."
She arrived just in time to see Lieutenant Brent relieve Lt. Lisa at the helm and quickly hurried to her First's side.
"What were their symptoms?"
"Nonviolent at this stage," Spock reported. "Slightly disoriented. Chekov seemed rather pleased with himself, as if he were-"
"Irrational, or drugged," Rose cut him off, echoing her earlier words. Spock nodded crisply to her.
"Precisely."
"Patch me through to Security, Lieutenant Lisa," Rose ordered. The brunette nodded pushing various buttons.
"Yes, ma'am. You're through."
"Both Sulu and Chekov, locate and confine. I want every crewman who comes in contact with them medically checked."
"Ma'am, level two, corridor three reports a disturbance. Mister Sulu chasing crewmen with a, a sword."
Rose blinked in mild shock but then reconsidered her surprise. Sulu loved fencing after all. "Put Security on it."
"Fascinating," Spock mused. "A pattern is developing. First, Tormoleon. Hidden personality traits being forced to the surface. Then Chekov, who fancies himself a Russian revolutionary from the early 20th century, and now Sulu, who is at heart a swashbuckler out of your 18th century."
Rose's jaw tightened. In her opinion, the pattern was a disaster, not fascinating. "Present condition of Psi 2000."
Spock turned to check his scanner. "Gravity pull increasing. We've shifted to two percent and should stabilise our position."
"Helmsman, stabilise position," Rose snapped, her stress leaking into her tone.
"Helm is not answering to control," Brent replied, his own tone full of worry as he fought with his station.
"Warp us out of here," Rose demanded, panic beginning to rise. That only made her more uneasy, because Rose had the same training in emotional control that all empaths and telepaths were required to get. It should take more than this to rile her. Was she infected?
"No response from engines, ma'am."
"Impulse power then," Rose suggested in frustration. "Blast us out of this orbit."
"Impulse engines also dead, ma'am."
"Engine room, we need power!" Spock called into the comm. There was no reply.
"Mister Scott, acknowledge," Rose tried to contact Scotty herself. "Our controls are dead. Take her."
The turbolift door slid open, revealing Sulu. His chest was bare and he was brandishing a sword in one hand.
"Richelieu, at last!" he exclaimed, waving the sword at Spock. Spock blinked, one of the most obvious displays of bewilderment that Rose had ever seen from her Vulcan friend.
"Sulu, put that thing away," Rose ordered, trying to carefully push the point away from Spock.
"For honour, Queen, and France!" Sulu cried as he lunged at Spock. She gripped his arm, pulling him back.
"Sulu!" She snapped.
"Ah." His eyes lit up as he finally seemed to register Rose's presence.
"Sulu, give me that," she insisted, trying to pull the weapon away.
"I'll protect you, fair maiden," Sulu declared, tugging her behind him. Rose was instantly infuriated at the archaic actions of her helmsman. She yanked herself out of his grip.
"Like hell! I don't need anyone's protection!"
"Foul Richelieu." before Sulu could continue his rant, Rose grabbed him, making him falter in surprise. Spock took advantage of the chaos to knock the crazed man out with a neck-pinch.
"You need to teach me that sometime," Rose commented, breathing heavily as they gave Sulu's unconscious body to the guards beside them.
"Take D'Artagan here to Sickbay," Spock ordered them as Rose turned back to the comm to continue working on contacting Engineering.
"Scotty, we need power. Engine room, acknowledge!"
The voice that answered was most definitely not Scotty, but Rose could hardly believe that it was him. "You rang, ma'am?"
"Who's this?"
"Zis is Captain Chekov, Pavel Andrevich, of ze USS Enterprise. And vho is zis?"
"This is Captain Kirk," Rose snapped furiously, outraged at the mutiny. Drugged or not, no one got away with trying to steal Rose's position. "Of the USS Enterprise! Get out of the engine room, navigator. Where's Scotty?"
"I hawe reliewed Meester Scott of his duties. Now, attention, cooks. Zis is your captain speaking. I vould like double portions of zakuski for ze entire crev for dinner zis evening."
"Clear that tube, will you?" Rose demanded, pressing the button harshly to try and sever the link. "And what the hell is zakuski?"
"Yes, ma'am," Lt. Lisa replied quickly, wary of aggravating her CO's obvious fury.
"Zakuski is a traditional Russian dish made up of a selection of Russian hors d'oeuvres," Spock added helpfully.
Rose shot him a withering look. "I don't care what it is," she hissed. "Just make him stop singing that damn song!" Indeed, Chekov had begun to sing the Russian anthem, and his voice was, frankly, horrendous. Lisa bent over her station, trying to turn Chekov's comm off as Spock turned to check his scanner.
"Captain. At our present rate of descent, we have less than twenty minutes before we enter planet atmosphere," Spock warned.
"And burn up," Rose finished his sentence. "I know, Mister Spock." Chekov continued singing and Rose groaned in dismay at the headache-inducing noise.
"How did Chekov get in there?" Rose asked as soon as she arrived at the corridor just outside Engineering.
"He ran in, said you wanted us on the Bridge," Scotty explained as he tapped at the wall, searching for the best point of entry.
"He's cut off both helm and power," she informed her CEO.
"And he shut the door behind us and locked off the mechanism," Scotty finished his story. "Gotta admit the lad's got a clever head on his shoulders." Rose shot him an irritated look.
"Given the present circumstances," she gritted out. "That's not a good thing. Can't you get to the auxiliary?"
Scotty shook his head, frowning heavily. "I can't. He's hooked everything through the main panel in there. I need to get to my office and pull the plans for this bulkhead. The only way to get that door open is to cut through these wall circuits here." He tapped the wall and Rose nodded quickly as Chekov restarted the damn anthem again.
"Do it!" She called over her shoulder, heading back to the turbolift.
"Cut him off," Rose hissed, gripping her temples desperately.
"I can't, ma'am," Lisa told her apologetically. "There's no way to do it."
Chekov cheerfully announced a dance that evening and Rose's scowl darkened, her left hand tightening on her armrest.
"No way, Captain," Spock agreed. "He controls the main power panels. He can override any channel from down there. Seventeen minutes left, ma'am," he added as the ship jolted severely.
"Sickbay to Bridge," McCoy called over the comm. Rose turned to look at Lisa.
"Can you tie me in to the Sickbay?"
"I'm getting you, Rose," McCoy called. "Look, can you keep this beast level? I've got Sulu tranquillized and we're running tests on him. So far there's nothing unusual in his bloodstream. Body functions seem normal."
"Chekov's the immediate problem, Doctor," Rose replied tightly. "Is there any way, anything you can do to snap him out of it?"
"Negative," Bones denied making Rose's scowl deepen. "Not until I can get a little farther on these tests."
"Zis is Captain Chekov. Crew, I hawe some additional orders."
"I have a cell in the brig with your name on it," Rose muttered lowly. She listened incredulously to his demand for the women on board to wear skirts that only just covered their bums, and to have their hair loosely framing their faces. "Oh, I'm gonna kill him."
"I believe that you would later regret taking that course of action, Captain," Spock commented dryly.
"But it'd feel fantastic in the heat of the moment," she retorted, rising to her feet, as she checked her watch. "We're running out of time."
"And now," Chekov cheerfully declared. "I shall sing ze national anthem of ze great Mozer Russia, vun more time!"
"Please not again," Rose whimpered in genuine horror as Chekov's voice again began to screech out of the inter-ship comm.
"Sixteen minutes left, Captain," Spock reported. "We've stabilised, but we're still spiralling down."
"Emergency signal, Captain," Lisa added. "Both decks four and five. Fights and disorders."
"Get me Sickbay," Rose instructed.
"I have no intercom for Sickbay. He keeps switching channels on me."
Rose huffed in frustration, patting down her hair in case the stress had made it come undone. "See what you can do to help Doctor McCoy. Better check Scotty first. Make him move faster. He's got to get through that bulkhead."
"Scotty, we haven't got much time left." Rose's voice was full of strain as she paced in front of the engineering door. Scotty didn't turn away from his inspection of the engines.
"Bridge to Captain," Lisa called over the comm. Rose swiftly yanked it out and held it to her mouth.
"Kirk here."
"Entering planet's outer atmosphere, ma'am," Lisa reported with stony efficiency.
"Captain!" Scotty suddenly yelled, voice frantic with urgency. Rose spun around.
"What is it?"
"He's turned the engines off. Completely cold. It will take thirty minutes to regenerate them."
"Ship's outer skin is beginning to heat, Captain," Lisa warned. "Orbit plot shows we have eight minutes left."
"Scotty!"
"I can't change the laws of physics. I've got to have thirty minutes. Maybe twenty-two, twenty-three minutes."
"Scotty, we've got six," Rose rebutted him, wearing her most serious expression as she spoke.
"Captain, you can't mix matter and antimatter cold," Scotty insisted. "We'd go up in the biggest explosion since-"
"We can balance our engines into a controlled implosion," Rose countered, cutting him off.
"That's only a theory," Scotty protested. "It's never been done."
Rose's jaw clenched determinedly. "Bridge, have you found Spock yet?"
"If you wanted to chance odds of ten thousand to one, maybe, assuming we had a row of computers working weeks on the right formula," Scotty continued ramble, oblivious to Rose's plan.
"Mister Spock is not on the Bridge, Captain," Lisa reported. Rose's eyebrows pulled together as she thought as quick as she could.
Scotty was giving orders over the comm when Rose rushed into the briefing where she had finally found Spock. He was obviously affected by the virus, sobbing softly into his hands. "Where have you been? What happened?"
"My mother," Spock moaned. "I could never tell her I loved her."
"We've got four minutes, maybe five," Rose told him, fear for her ship and crew beginning to overwhelm her.
"An Earth woman, living in a culture where love, emotion, is bad taste," Spock continued to ramble. Frustration started to rise in Rose's chest. Why couldn't Spock focus on the important thing? Saving Rose's beautiful ship from destruction.
"We've got to risk a full-power start," Rose insisted. She grabbed Spock's shoulders desperately. "The engines were shut off. No time to regenerate them. Do you hear me? We've got to risk a full-power start!"
"I respected my father, our customs. I was ashamed of my Earth blood."
Beginning to reach hysteria, an unfamiliar state for Kirk, she slapped him sharply, trying to snap him back to reality. It didn't work.
"Rose, when I feel friendship for you, I'm ashamed."
Rose continued to slap him as she spoke. She knew with grim certainty that she too was affected by the virus. "You've got to hear me! We need a formula. We've got to risk implosion!"
"It's never been done!" Spock yelled back finally. "Understand, Rose. I've spent a whole lifetime learning to hide my feelings." He finally hit her back and Rose was almost relieved by it. At least he was starting to snap out of it.
"We've got to risk implosion," she insisted adamantly. "It's our only chance."
"It's never been done," he denied, shaking his head.
"Don't tell me that again, Science Officer!" she ordered him sharply. "It's a theory. It's possible. We may go up into the biggest ball of fire since the last sun in these parts exploded, but we've got to take that one in ten thousand chance!"
Lisa came over the comm. "Bridge to Captain. Engineering asked, did you find-"
"Yes, I found Spock! I'm talking to Spock, do you understand?"
"Yes, ma'am. Three and a half minutes left, Captain."
Rose staggered away from her XO, leaning against the wall. "I've got it, the disease. Love. You're better off without it, and I'm better off without mine. This vessel, I give, she takes. She won't permit me my life. I've got to live hers."
"Rose," Spock frowned at her.
"This ship is my life," she sighed. "I'd kill myself if they took her away from me. I'll die and be buried on my girl Spock. I swear it to the Four Deities."
"Rose, there is an intermix formula," Spock told her. Rose ignored him, stroking her ship as tenderly as she stroked Bones' cheek.
"It's never been tested," Spock continued. "It's a theoretical relationship between time and antimatter." Rose hummed absently as Scotty entered, an urgent look on his face.
"Captain."
Rose groaned, staggering away from the wall. "Scotty, help," she croaked.
"Stand by to intermix," Spock ordered, now fully in control. "I'll call the formulae in from the Bridge."
"Entering upper stratosphere, Captain," Lisa warned. "Skin temperature now twenty-one hundred and seventy degrees."
"I've got to hang on," Rose gasped. "Tell them. Clear the corridors, the turbo lift. Hurry." The two nodded and rushed out, while Rose staggered back to the wall. She stroked the wall tenderly again. "Never lose you," she crooned unsteadily to it. "Never."
McCoy jabbed her with a hypo as she exited the turbolift. She grimaced at him, making her way to her chair.
"Engine room. We're set. Hyperbolic course."
"Direction, ma'am?" Lt. Brent asked briskly, pushing various controls. Rose waved her hand distantly, a distracted look on her face.
"Direction. Direction. It doesn't matter. The way we came."
"Course laid in, ma'am," Sulu reported.
"Engage."
"Are you all right, Rose?" Spock inquired softly. She gave a him a strained nod.
"Are you?" He nodded back, stepping back a bit.
"We found a cure," Bones reminded them, gripping Rose's shoulder. She reached up to clutch his fingers gently. "We're over that part of it."
"Obviously, we were successful," Spock drawled condescendingly. "The engines imploded."
"Captain, my velocity gauge is off the scale," Sulu called. Rose stiffened, releasing Bones' hand and sitting forward slightly.
"Engine power went off the scale as well," Spock added. "We're now travelling faster than is possible for normal space."
"Checked elapsed time, Sulu," Rose ordered.
"My chronometer's running backwards, ma'am," Sulu answered apologetically.
"Time warp," Rose breathed with wide eyes. "We're going backward in time. Helm, begin reversing power. Slowly."
"Helm answering, ma'am. Power reversing."
"We're back to normal time, Captain," Spock announced.
Rose sighed in relief, settling back into her chair and flashing Bones a tired smile of satisfaction. "Engines ahead. Warp one."
"Warp one, ma'am," Sulu confirmed.
Rose turned to her SO. "Spock."
"Yes, ma'am."
"The time warp. What did it do to us?"
"We've regressed in time exactly seventy-one hours," Spock explained. "It is now three days ago, Captain. We have three days to live over again."
"Not those last three days," Rose immediately declared, casting a warning look over the bridge, as if anyone would attempt to repeat the stressful events of the past few days.
"This does open some intriguing prospects, Captain," Spock pointed out. "Since the formula worked, we can go back in time, to any planet, any era."
Vulcan went unspoken of and Rose bit lightly at her lip.
"We may risk it someday, Mister Spock," she murmured, turning away. "Resume course to our next destination, Mister Sulu."
"Course laid in, ma'am."
"Steady as she goes."
It wasn't until the middle of the next day that Rose got sit down in her room and get to work on sorting out her backlog of personal emails. There were several from Sam that she watched with a fond smile, one from Joanna, eagerly chatting about her new (Earth based) school in Georgia, one from the lawyer she and Bones were working with to gain custody of Jo, one from her mother that she deleted without checking, and finally, one from Roslyn.
She clicked it open, revealing her elegant older counterpart. If Rose looked half as good as Roslyn did at that age, she could die a happy woman.
"Rose, I hope you're doing well. My greetings to Mini-Bones and Mini-Spock. Congratulations on becoming a couple with Mini-Bones, though of course, I expected it would happen sooner or later.
I have an invitation/request for you and the crew of the Enterprise. I've organized for a Shakespearean acting troupe, led by a man named Anton Karidian, to come and perform in June for a week. There'll be a bunch of conferences and such going on at the same time, and several of the guest list will be familiar to you I suspect. Thomas Leighton and his wife for example will there to discuss colony fertilization procedures.
Considering the timing of the event, I thought you might want to take advantage to meet up with them in person instead of over comms for once, and of course the conferences should be interesting too. By the way, you recall I was working on a project? I'm pleased to say that it's nearly complete. I could do with your help in tying up the last bit of it though. Send your reply soon so I can make arrangements. I would really appreciate your attendance.
Best wishes,
Roslyn.
Well, with a tease like that, how could Rose refuse?
