1130 HRS

Lt. Cmdr. Liam O'Riley was strolling along the corridor on Level 4, looking for the Counselor's office. 'Room 423, should be coming up soon,' he thought to himself. Room 423, that was the information the computer had given him when he had looked up the Counselor's room number. And here was 420, so it had to be just around the corner.

Liam walked a few more meters and then stopped in front of Room # 423. '4..2..3...this is it. Let's see if Lieutenant Sawyer is in.'

Lt. Sawyer, the computer had also informed him, was the Counselor on duty. He had contemplated just passing the information on to Damon, but after thinking about it for a little while, he had decided to see her himself. He could use some counseling, too. After all, Cass was his aunt and the whole situation with her disappearance was greatly unnerving to him as well. Maybe Lt. Sawyer had an open spot in her schedule.

Liam O'Riley activated the chime and waited until the door opened. He stepped into an empty room and, walking toward the desk, looked around for the Counselor.

"Make yourself at home," a pleasant female voice came from the adjacent room.

His eyes widened in surprise, and his whole body tensed. 'NO! It can't be!'

Liam swung around just as Lt. Sawyer stepped out of the small refreshing room. Their eyes locked, and they stared at each other in disbelief, frozen for what seemed endless seconds. His heartbeat was pounding in his head like a hammer. She clenched her jaw and narrowed her eyes scornfully, making an icy chill run down his spine.

"Anabelle?" he muttered.

"Liam..."

=/\=

The air in the Counselor's room felt as chilly as an Andorian summer breeze, and it was making Liam's hair bristle. He was gasping for air, since the shock of seeing her again had left him breathless. He kept staring at her while his heart was threatening to jump out of his throat.

"How... are you?" he finally squeaked, not being able to control the pitch of his voice.

"FINE!" The icy coldness in her voice was only matched by her sub-zero glare.

"I... I was looking for... the Counselor," he stammered.

"That would be me!" Anabelle replied sharply with an unceasingly contemptuous look in her eyes.

"Oh. I... I didn't know... you had a... uh,... new last name."

"There are obviously many things you don't know!" she sneered.

Liam compressed his lips and wrinkled his forehead. "Yeah... obviously."

"What do you want?" she asked him with a sharp tongue.

"I... I was just... running an errant... for a friend." Fluency of speech was still evading him.

"FRIEND? Don't make me laugh," she scoffed. "Do you even know what that word means?"

His eyes darkened. "Now, hold on a se..."

"NO! You hold on!" Anabelle angrily interrupted his attempted rebuttal. "I have nothing more to say to you! GET OUT OF MY OFFICE!"

Liam recoiled, staring wide-eyed at the fiery rage erupting from her eyes. He lost all color in his face and, clenching his jaws and bowing his head, capitulated and abruptly marched out of the door.

'That was undignified,' he thought when he stopped in the corridor to calm himself. Thrown out of a Counselor's office in less than 60 seconds... that had to be a record!

His head was starting to spin, and he decided to return to the Centurion and take some time to relax. Relax and think. Think about his next move...

=/\= - =/\=

1300 HRS

"Ugh... I think, I'm gonna hurl," Derek Lowe groaned. "What was in that nasty concoction of yours?" He was sitting on the couch in his brother's quarters, holding his head.

"Secret recipe," Damon grinned broadly.

Derek's head was aching and his stomach was doing somersaults. Suddenly, he slapped his hand over his mouth, jumped up, and ran to the bathroom.

"Don't need the Captain smelling alcohol on your breath a mile away, when we go see him," Damon said loud enough for his brother to hear it over his convulsions.

After a few minutes, Derek came back out of the bathroom, white as a sheet. "Then, what is he suppose to smell?" he asked quietly, "My half-digested breakfast?"

Damon looked his brother over with pity. "Hm," he shrugged. "You don't look so good, bro."

"Ya think!"

"You had to try that new drink, didn't you?" Damon shook his head.

"They should have put a warning label on that one," Derek grumbled, rubbing his forehead.

"The bartender was trying to warn you, bro. But you didn't listen." Damon flashed a lopsided smirk. "Sit down and let me get you some crackers. That'll settle your stomach, now that my 'Ejection Elixir' has done its job." He chuckled. "Works every time."

He started rummaging through one of his cabinets for a while, and finally pulled out a box of Saltines. "Here, have at it," he set the box on the table. "And, when you're done, we'll go see the Captain."

"No rush...," Derek moaned in agony.

=/\= - =/\=

1400 HRS

"Good that you're here, Lieutenant. The Washington just transmitted updated information on their investigation," the Ops Officer smiled at Derek and handed him a PADD as the two Lowe brothers stepped off the turbo lift onto the Centurion's bridge.

The red haired Engineer started to scroll through the information with Damon looking over his shoulder. "Hm. Looks like they've identified the energy signature from the weapons as matching those of Dosi ships," he gazed at his brother. "That doesn't sound good. Those guys are known for their aggressiveness in dealing with other species."

"But, why would they have any quarrel with Mom?" Damon didn't understand.

"Well, she has been in the Gamma Quadrant, negotiating with the Karemman government," Derek pointed out. "Maybe they don't like the Federation dealing with members of the Dominion."

"Or maybe, the Founders don't like it that the Karemma seem to want to break away from the Dominion," Damon ventured a theory. "And they've sent the Dosi, who are their allies, to take care of the Federation representative... Mom."

"Hm. We can't start speculating, Damon. But something's fishy..."

"We just have to talk to Dad again. And soon," Damon declared with determination.

While they were still analyzing the information, the Captain's ready room door hissed open. Captain Mitriv Ronovsky stood in the door frame, eyeballing the two Lieutenants. They looked up at him and simultaneously cringed at seeing the agitation in their CO's eyes.

"I would like to have a word with you, gentlemen," he grumbled, his voice sounding highly stressed. "Step into my ready room, please."

The brothers exchanged apprehensive looks. Uh-oh!