Chapter 4

Deck Three

Stardate - 2443

Deck Three

"Do you feel more relaxed, Ensign?" Lieutenant Doctor Shunahd asked Sebastian, who simply glared at her before looking straight ahead. The Vulcan doctor folded her hands while letting her arms hang in front of her. "I will take that as a yes. At least you're quiet, nice change of pace from before."

"Well, considering how many times I wretched in Sick Bay, I would say 'yes', I'm feeling so much better. However, being that this seems to be the ship of the psychic misfits of tomorrow, I don't really know what to say. How many humans are there on board? I would hope at least a third." Sebastian muttered as they continued to walk along the hallway, "Has the Commander boarded the ship yet?"

"No, not yet. According to the computer, he should be arriving shortly. Starfleet Command was holding him for a bit and Icarus is a state-of-the-art Galaxy class vessel, made to travel at Warp 6, so as you can see Chief Emzat has a lot of work to do and a lot of work ahead of him." Lareil avoided the gaze of other lower ranking officers as Sebastian held up a pathetic smile, "You know, Sebastian, you don't always have to be so diplomatic all the time. You can speak candidly around me."

"Well, Doctor-"

"You may call me Lareil, if you wish."

"Well, I don't. Doctor, I've already voiced enough of my opinions about this ship, about this mission, and about our commander. It is my duty to serve as the Commander's Chief Counselor and as the voice of reason and peace for Starfleet. I know the Prime Directive like the back of my hand and I'm willing to help build community for Icarus. It's a beautiful vessel and it will be my home," Sebastian forced the words out. Starfleet words. Less human than a real human. He avoided her gaze, folded his arms against his chest, and paid attention to the sound of his boots against the floor.

"That sounds fair enough to me…" They walked in silence for a bit before Lareil glanced over, "Do you mind if I ask you a question, Ensign?"

"Hasn't stopped you before, Lieutenant."

"What was it like to grow up the son of a Lieutenant?"

"Specifically my mother, you mean?"

"Yes."

Sebastian paused for a second, looked into the Vulcan Doctor's chestnut eyes and smirked, "It was very difficult having a mother who led one of the most successful Starfleet missions in all of history. What she did for the sake of the galaxy is nothing short of heroic to me. It's hard to live up to her expectations. I never would have imagined that I'd have fallen so short," For a moment he caught the bubble that had been building up in the back of his throat. He took a step away from her, dropped his arms, lowered his head.

"It's alright to be emotional on your first mission. It happens, I suppose."

He rubbed his eyes quickly, lifted his head as if nothing had happened, "Not when you're Kathryn Janeway's son." There wasn't malice there, no ill will towards his mother. If anything, he was grateful for this opportunity, to finally be able to walk in his mother's footsteps for Starfleet. He had to remind himself that his mother was not born a Lieutenant Admiral, she had to earn her stripes as well. "I find myself missing her more than anything. In my mind, I always think 'how would mother handle that' or 'is she proud' of me as I throw up my waffle all over your Sick Bay and have to watch your holographic nurses clean it up."

"When I was seven, I was betrothed to the son of a Vulcan tradesman and I was forced into pon farr. My father fought with me constantly and said there was no place for a Vulcan woman scientist, especially in an industry so dominantly governed by men. I pleaded with him so that I would not have to go through with the wedding…" Lareil paused a moment, lost in thought. She glanced over at Sebastian who just stood there, listening intently. He frowned for a moment and nodded his head as if to say 'continue', "I spoke to my mother about it and she said that her hands were tied."

"My mother never married. She always said that Starfleet was her first love and that my father was lost in a mission on the USS Alexandria. I've always asked her for his name but she explained that dwelling on someone long gone in the galaxy is not the way to mourn a Starfleet captain." Sebastian could feel the bonding growing, the trust that he was earning, and he smiled, "I don't like to talk about sad things too much, to be honest, Lieutenant, we're starting off our mission with worries."

"I thought we were sharing. To build trust." Lareil commented as they passed by a rag-tag group of Engineers equipped with Tricorders and PADDs. "You seem to be very guarded."

"I'm actually starving. Is there time to eat an omelette before we head out? It seems that this launch is taking a little longer than usual," Sebastian pulled out his own Tricorder, plugged in his access code, "Chief Commander is still in Starfleet but his log says he should be arriving by 0'1200."

"I would prefer to get back to Sick Bay."

"Lieutenant Shuhnahd! How are ya?!" A young man came out from one of the sliding doors, tall, dusky blonde hair, human. He had to be at the very least in his early thirties, strong, with a goofy smile. "You ready to light this 'bad boy' on fire?!" He was followed by a woman who looked like some cross between Talaxian with a long mane of white hair starting right at the tip of her forehead and trailing down to her back, the typical Talaxian red and yellow markings without the jagged teeth.

"I'm well, Chief Hunter, and yourself?" Lareil nodded her head to the other human, "I was just showing Ensign Janeway the Icarus. It's his first mission and he'll be joining us at the helm."

"Ensign Janeway?! Like Kathryn Janeway's kid? I didn't know she had a kid! Did you know she had a kid, Rexyn?" He turned over to face the Talaxian hybrid.

"Yes, I did."

"How?"

"Because I read his personnel file before we boarded the Icarus, which you probably should have done as well as the Chief Science Officer.

"You're Talaxian and Aenarian, aren't you? That's how you're able to see but you've been around the blind. You can tell in your tone of voice, very cautious, caring, with a twinge of 'Talaxian festive fun' right at the top of your cadence," Sebastian said with a little smirk before making eye contact with the Lieutenant Doctor, "I'm Ensign Counselor Chief Linguistics Officer, Sebastian Janeway. You can call me 'Bastian', for short."

"Nice to meet you, Bastian," The blonde man shook his hand with much fervor, enough to make Sebastian wince through a pained smile, "Chief Science Officer, Nathaniel Hunter, 'Nate' around these parts and this is my lady friend."

"If by lady friend you mean your ranking officer, than I would definitely be her. Captain Weapons Officer, Level 6 Access, Rexyn. You may call me 'Captain', Ensign Janeway."

"So, that's it for the officers at the helm, I think. It's you, me, the Betafreak, Vulcan girl, Ms. Rexyn, and our lovely Borg commander," Nathaniel commented as they all stood huddled in the middle of deck three, "Are you guys ready for this doomsday mission?"

"Thank you! Thank you! At least one person on board think this is a suicide mission and isn't just me," Sebastian commented out loud.

"Lower your voice, please, Ensign. We don't need anyone to get their feathers ruffled over this," Rexyn commented, adjusted her red and orange Starfleet uniform. It hugged at her slender waist, and her boots were more of a military combat, "And, Nathaniel, this is not a suicide mission. We are going to rescue a covert Starfleet operative in The Chute, which means, that away teams will be needing your full attention."

"Yeah, and you wanna know what else is crummy?-"

"Not really, Nathaniel," Lareil commented as they continued their walk. She pulled out her Tricorder while Rexyn took out a PADD. Sebastian set his tricorder in his belt holster, folded his arms, and listened as they conversed, "Ensign, your sleeves, please."

"Fine, mom." He grumbled as he undid his sleeves, clasped them at the wrist, per the Starfleet directive.

"No, this is my time to complain about this stupid mission. Doesn't anyone think that the Chief Science Officer, who is messing with Borg Technology should be the first person to lead the away team, since I worked on this for years with drone scientists released from the Collective! The Icarus is my baby and I can't even go and support the troops that are going to die to save one person! Is the one life worth all of this Borg technology on a ship? I have no freakin' idea! Not a clue!" Nathaniel vented as they continued to make their way through the ship's decks, "No one's even visited The Holodeck, yet!"

"That's because the Holodeck is made for vacation and right now we should be gearing up for this rescue mission." Rexyn commented as she glared at one of the Cardassian ensigns who scurried off through another Hallway while the officers made their way through

"No, it's because all of you psychic freaks are on board now and the humans have to deal with you," Nathaniel said dryly, "Hey Bastian, what does the Prime Directive say about psychic species aboard Starfleet vessels?"

"Umm, I don't think it says much. The reality is, is that being 'psychic' is paranormal to humans but it's a part of their everyday life. Humans were introduced to psychic phenomena by Houdini, great magicians of the day. Imagine being a Vulcan who didn't know that there species out there who weren't psychic, that's paranormal to them."

"Very… diplomatic of you, Ensign." Rexyn commented with a smirk. For the first time they made eye contact and she smiled a bit. Bastian sort of shrugged, ran his hands against his bald head, and put his hands at his side, "Anyway, I'm not telepathic. The half Talaxian cancelled it out, genetically speaking."

"That sounds like a load of bull crap to me. Bulll… C-uh-rap. Let's see what you can do, Rexyn."

"I don't think this is how we should be spending our time," Lareil commented as they passed through another corridor on Deck 3.

"It's okay, Lieutenant Shuhnahd, you should see this, as this well be affected by space travel as well," Renyx commented, her pale blue skin glowing underneath the Starfleet issued lights. She placed her hand at right, palm facing forward to motion 'stop'. The other officers fell back in line behind her. The hybrid Talaxian-Aenarian Weapons Officer's skin glowed blue for a second and in a burst of light, a shadow-esque twin form burst from her chest, ran through the corridor in a flash while she stayed in almost coma-like state. In an instant, the shadow-like form returned back and lunged back into her body through her chest. The cerulean glow faded and she lifted her head.

"That was…" Sebastian commented, "Unreal."

"Freaky." Nathaniel replied, almost at the same time.

"I'm able to project a twin-like form, while I'm in a comatose-'esque' state. I don't know how this will grow once we start to move into space, but it's great for scouting missions. The form can also attach itself onto other species, kind of like a host, while I extract information."

"You're a spy…" Sebastian commented.

"Something like that."

"While all of this display of prowess is fascinating, none of you were checking your Tricorders. Admiral Romul of Twelve is making his way towards the Icarus and Commander Emzat wants us to meet him in Engineering so we can walk up to the helm together."

"Admiral Romul of Twelve, since when?" Nathaniel scoffed.

"Since Starfleet gave him the charge twenty minutes ago." Lareil said, curtly.

"I thought he was only General Romul of Twelve," Sebastian mused aloud.

"Well, then we better get going," Rexyn said, running an icy blue hand through her white mane.

"I still agree with Chief Hunter that this is a suicide mission." Sebastian muttered.

"Suicide or not. For Starfleet." Rexyn replied.

"For Starfleet," Nathaniel grumbled.

Captain's Log - Hey guys, hope you enjoy. Those are pretty much the story regulars with a few surprises. I really enjoyed this chapter, it was emotional, it was fluffy, we've gotten through some plot heavy stuff. This is turning out to be one of my favorite ways to spend time, just working on this story for you guys to enjoy. Please comment, please share, follow. Would love to get your thoughts. All the best, Danny.

Update - Didn't do any proofreading, just wanted to get it up. Oof.

Pronunciation Key -

Sebastian 'Bastian' Andrew Janeway - Standard American Pronunciation

Lareil Narim Shuhnahd - Lah-reel Nah-reem Shoo-nahd

Ren Emzat - Rehn Ehmzaht

Nathaniel Hunter - Standard American Pronunciation

Rexyn - Rehksin

Romul of Twelve - Rah-mool