When everyone had found a seat around the table, Picard leant forward. "Before we begin, I thought I would inform you all that we will be delaying our mission to Sector Alpha 1.02. Starfleet his allowed us 72 hours to investigate the situation we find ourselves in. Pending my report, they will decide our next course of action." He looked towards Emelle who was looking at the table, her eyebrows furrowed slightly. "As I'm sure you're all aware, this is Commander Emelle Pinces." She looked up and plastered a fake smile. When Picard went on to ask Worf about the scans of the Waden system where they found the Volkerie, Emelle dropped her gaze again.

Deanna's attention was pulled by the sudden rush of emotions coming from the woman sitting across from her. She continued to look at Worf as he spoke, but her full attention was on Emelle. At first it was a rush of emotions, but there was one that stuck out: fear.

Fear gripped Emelle at the thought of telling them the truth. She had no idea how they would react when they found out, and so many negative scenarios plagued her mind, she decided not to divulge that information unless she absolutely had to. As she glanced up from the table, she remembered there was an empath present, and was no doubt sensing her emotions. Using a technique perfected in the past, Emelle shut her mind, and stared at Deanna.

Feeling the woman's mind close suddenly, Deanna look at Emelle and found her staring at her. Sending a quick smile, Deanna returned her gaze to Worf. It was rare to come across a human who could shut their mind to her in an instant like that.

"Commander La Forge, any updates on the repairs to the Volkerie?" Picard's voice brought Deanna's attention up, where she met Will's questioning gaze. Shaking her head lightly, he dropped his eyes and turned to Geordi.

"Well, not really." Geordi looked toward Emelle. "We were hoping you'd be able to help us put the pieced together."

"I would be happy to." Emelle sighed in relief.

Picard held up his hand. "Commander La Forge can give you a full debrief after we're done here."

"Actually sir, Data and I would like to run a few more detailed diagnostics, and were hoping to start on them as soon as possible."

Picard nodded. "You're dismissed." He folded his hands as the two left, and stared at their guest. "There are a few things we need to know from you." Uncomfortable with the intensity of his gaze, Emelle nodded as she shifted in her seat. "For starters, the other survivor we found on the bridge; we know he isn't Cardassian."

"Well, you're right. Tarren was human. He had the physical characteristics of a Cardassian male added surgically so that we'd be able to move throughout the prison complex without being questioned."

"Why were you rescuing prisoners?" Picard asked.

Emelle sighed. "As I said before, they weren't criminals. They were people taken by force from their homes to mine derinium; a compound used to create weapon systems in a variety of war class ships. We were asked by a system of planets in a distant sector to infiltrate the mine, and rescue a political figure." She shook her head. "When we got there, and saw how horrifically these people were treated, seeing children sob as the Sodier guards beat them." She felt her anger rise even thinking about it, so she took a moment to try and push it back down. "The Volkerie can hold a decent amount of people, and Tarren thought we should try to take as many as we could. We all know how well that turned out."

Will nodded. "How did you come to command the Volkerie? Were you military on your home planet?"

She didn't immediately answer, Picard noticed her hesitation. "Is that where you got your ship? ON your home world?"

"The technology is remarkable." Data stated. "There are many systems that I am very curious to know their functions."

Emelle nodded. "Sure." She turned to Picard. "The truth." She shook her head. "The truth is, I'm a long story." She chuckled half heartedly. "No, I'm not military, and where I come from, we're no where near interstellar travel. When I left, separate regions couldn't even solve problems between themselves."

"Perhaps things will have changed in the time you've been gone." Deanna said hopefully.

"Maybe." Emelle swallowed heavily. "It's been a...a long time. I'd like to think humanity can evolve beyond throwing nuclear weapons at each other."

Beverly closed her eyes and nodded. "That would explain our test results. When we did a thorough scan, I noticed some abnormalities that could result from being exposed to residual radiation. They aren't life threatening." She looked at Emelle. "You must have been far from the blast site. Very lucky."

"Lucky?" Emelle asked, disbelief evident in her voice. "You think I'm lucky?" She shook her head. "Ok. You want my story, here it is. The region I was living in was no where near any of the blast sites. But the shockwaves of two of the closest explosions were so strong they toppled buildings." She paused. "After eight nuclear weapons were dropped, world wide, there was a cease fire delegated by the more powerful territories. And by powerful, I mean those that were in power before hand."

"Such levels of radiation would account for many casualties." Beverly interjected.

"Millions." Emelle shook her hear sadly. "The amount of people affected by radiation poisoning and other related diseases grew exponentially. Just when we thought we're living in hell, one of the regions who signed the cease fire reneged. They launched a bio-bomb on a region they were at war with before the initial attacks." She closed her eyes. "Not only was the intended target infected, but within three months, it was a global pandemic. People were dying so fast, and so soon after the attacks," She raised her shoulder in an attempted shrug. "we didn't know what to do with the bodies." Loosing her internal battle, a lone tear slipped out, and was quickly wiped away. "It was a respiratory infection, passed from person to person by simply touching them. My dad died within a few days of being infected. My sister a month afterwards."

"We are sorry for your loss." Picard said shaking his head. He observed the young woman, and he knew he had to push her further. "Please, continue when you're ready." When she looked at him with, the look on her face crushed him.

"Maybe we should take a break?" Deanna suggested.

Picard shook his head. "The Federation council informed me that they will want to run a full investigation, asking these same questions but in a much more formal, public arena." He looked at Emelle apologetically. "I think it would be better if we knew everything here, so that we would be prepared for what the council will hear."

She rapidly blinked the tears away and composed herself with a sigh. "Because of how easily it was spread person to person, governments created a scanning device that would tell them who was infected. The symptoms didn't appear until a few days after coming in contact with an infected person."

"Were the physicians not able to find a cure?" Beverly asked.

Emelle shook her head. "The scannings were frequent. Our political leaders wanted to get a census of how many people were killed. Everybody had something; radiation poisoning, the infection, other deadly diseases. When it was my turn, we were rounded up, transported to a military facility where the doctors checked us over. There were 14 of us in a group. Ten were infected. The other three had tumours throughout their bodies, slowly killing them."

"And you?"

Emelle looked to Will and pursed her lips. "I had nothing." Seeing the shock on his face and the faces of the other officers, she sighed. "When the shockwave tore through our city, it carried with it high levels of different kinds of radiation. Apparently, something in the wave woke up a dormant gene in my system, and my body started to produce this protein that was fighting off infection. I was immediately moved to a more secure location, I had no idea where, and shoved into this room for days. People came in and out drawing so much blood at a time, I can't remember how many times I passed out. Then one day I was moved again, this time into an other nation all together. When we arrived, I was put into a large medical room with nine other people. Turns out, I wasn't the only one with the genetic abnormality." She turned to Beverly. "That's what your scans found."

"I don't believe it. How many people had it?"

"I later heard that globally, there were a 257. In the complex I was in, there were only the ten of us. We were forced to live together in a large complex, and as a result we got to know each other rather well. After almost a year, they were able to synthesize the proteins in our system and create an antibody to help fight the infection."

"And it worked." Beverly stated, rather sceptical.

Emelle nodded. "Yes, for a bit. As a thanks for our cooperation, our families were the first injected." Her sad smile began to fade.

"However..."

"However, the infection mutated. The antibody was no longer effective. So, they began to run more tests, and we went from feeling like heroes, to prisoners. Our communication with our families was broke to a minimum. And then," She sighed. "then two of the people in our complex got sick. The infection was able to work around the protein in their systems, and they died. When we heard the same report from around the world, the rest of us were completely removed from any of the medical research, anyone who would come in contact with the infections. We were shut in a small complex for over two weeks with no contact to the outside, until finally they came to a decision. Of the 257 that stared, there were only 40 left around the world."

Picard sighed. "They couldn't have kept you locked in a room for the rest of your life. Did they release you to a neighbouring world to be cared for?"

"There was no neighbouring world, Picard. We were alone in our corner of the universe."

"Then what did they decide?" Deanna asked, taunted by the dark thoughts coming from Emelle.

"They decided to freeze us, and launch us into space, to prevent any more of us dying, and with it any hope for a cure."

Hearing the familiarity of the story, Picard leant forward. "Cryogenics." One at a time, the rest of the senior staff clued in, remembering the group they came across almost seven years earlier. "Where, exactly, did you say you're from?" Picard asked quietly.

Lightly chewing on her lower lip, Emelle considered lying, but they knew about the process, it would only lead to trouble if she lied. "My name-my real name- is Emily Holmes." She swallowed. "I'm from Earth."

Oooohhh! Tell me what you think! More to come soon!