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The following story takes place after "Home Again

Forms of Life

Written by Chris Stephenson

2

"…This is a difficult request, at best, Commander."

"I'm sorry, Captain, but I just don't see why this is such a big deal."

Kelvok sighed inwardly, and crossed across his ready room. He had anticipated a problem of this nature when he had allowed the camera crew to come on board. Fame had its way of changing people into something they never had been before. While Lieutenant Commander Skrit wouldn't have been his first choice for who would suddenly turn like this, it was hardly surprising that he was having this discussion. As such, he had prepared for it.

"You were informed, as was the crew, that the producers of this show had complete control over who would or would not be allowed to participate. Over who would be able to be on screen. We have no real jurisdiction over their actions, and it would be improper for me to order them to restore you to your former status."

"So you'll do nothing?" Skrit asked, incredulous.

Kelvok shook his head. "It is not my call to make. Think of it as setting a precedent, Commander. If I ordered them to make a change on their show, and they followed it, suddenly I have become the director, instead of he who was chosen. If we follow this to the logical conclusion, this show will be seen as nothing more than propaganda for the Federation, and it's removal from the Maximillian will be swift."

Skrit sank deeper into the chair in front of the Captain's desk, even though Kelvok rarely sat there. "In other words, it's a lost cause."

"In other words, Commander, there are other deserving crewmembers on this ship besides yourself who could use a moment in the limelight. If you are as loved as you have stated, then it could be only a short time before you regain your post."

Skrit stood finally, ready to leave. This was rapidly approaching a dead end for his cause. "You didn't see them, Captain; they were practically drooling over him! He didn't even have to do anything, just swish his tail a little bit and…"

"Time will reveal if their apparent infatuation with Lieutenant Squirrelly is lasting or merely a fleeting interest. In the meanwhile, Commander, I have more pressing matters to attend to. I trust you will be able to settle this without me."

"Yes sir…what about Commander Tamak? Could he make a suggestion or…?"

"We're no further than we started, Commander. Commander Tamak is, and will be for some time, on special orders from Admiral T'Kill." This last part Kelvok said with some difficulty. "As such, his duties as First Officer have been suspended for the current time. Commanders Nato and Kragnar are also on assignment. If you must speak with anyone, I suggest your co-workers, and especially Lieutenant Squirrelly himself, if for no other reason than to get this settled. Now if you will excuse me…"

"Thank you." Skrit said, somewhat strained, and left the ready room. He was thankfully off shift at this point, but he didn't feel tired or in need of a recharge. At this point, he felt wired, energetic, still eager to at least make some headway with the producers. But how? Meeting with them again would lead nowhere, and he really didn't want to talk to Squirrelly again. He decided, as he reached the turbolift, that he would take his Captain's advice, and discuss this with his friends and co-workers. "Deck 3", he spoke into the air, and the lift shunted him there in less than a minute.

As he walked out into the hall, he had every intention of talking to Commander Starblade. But as he reached his quarters, hearing a terrible crashing noise from the interior, and then a pained sounding yell; "NO….no….Databit!....Get away from that rack…nooooo….", he decided to keep on walking. He didn't want to interrupt droidsitting, lest he get trapped with the diminutive android.

But where else could he go? Who else could he talk to, would let him ramble on about this obsession? For anyone else, he'd probably suggest medical help…

"C'mon Jaydin, you have to have some idea of what I could do?" It had clicked in his head. He had to go to sick bay anyway for a quick checkup, he might as well get a doctor's opinion on the matters at hand.

"I have about as much idea of what you should do, Skrit, as I do about your electronics." She sighed loudly, and grimaced as she received yet another shock from his emitters. She remembered why she went into medicine in the first place. Much easier than fooling with these parts and wires.

"But you know what it's like!"

"Know what's like?"

"To be the center of attention! All eyes on you, waiting for your next breath!"

"I told you, don't bring that up again."

He knew it was a sore spot for her, and that she was still a little unsure of leaving Bajor as it was, even though she didn't want to leave the Maximillian. But if it proved Skrit's point, he wasn't about to leave it alone. "Ok, forget everything else. You know you liked it, being up there on that stage."

She closed the panel to the emitter. Obviously she wasn't getting anywhere with the circuitry that enabled him to keep functioning. She closed her eyes, remembering what she wished she could forget. "Honestly, Skrit, I didn't. Thousands, Millions of people, just waiting for me to say the wrong thing, to screw something up. I don't see how you can stand that pressure."

"My electric personality?"

"Heh. Sorry, Skrit, I'm on Kelvok's side with this one. This isn't something we can help you with. Just like your emitters."

"Huh?"

"These things are far beyond any medical knowledge I have, near as I can figure it, they're taking in too much power from you. They're designed for holograms, after all, not energy beings."

"Will they last?"

"You need an engineer to answer that one, Skrit. Probably someone as qualified as possible." She hinted.

"Well, Commander Tamak's tied up with Starfleet stuff….oh, you mean him."

"If there's a problem that needs worked out, only way you're going to do it is by talking to who you have the problem with. And since the producers are only following him around…you know what you have to do."

"I tried that, I'm not trying it again. The emitters 'll be fine. I've lasted on them for this long, haven't I?"

"And if they go out, there goes your freedom. Stuck in a holodeck for the rest of your life. Ask Voyager's doctor how much fun Sickbay was. I'm sure after the first week it stopped being amusing. Try being a security officer trapped in one spot."

"I'll be fine, Jaydin." He stood quickly, gathering himself up, and moved quickly for the door, trying to avoid any more confrontations. Apparently, coming to sickbay was a bad idea. "No, really, it'll be okay."

"I'm trying to help you, Skrit! You came to me, remember!" She called as he was leaving.

"Thanks!" He yelled, already halfway down the hall. That had turned into a stunning failure, he thought to himself as he moved. He should have known that she was still smarting from the recent Kaipar incident. Maybe in a couple more days she'd cool off, and he made a mental note to avoid sickbay until then. But now Skrit was at a loss. Who else did he know well enough to talk to about this? Indeed, who else would listen?

It wasn't until his next shift on the bridge, a quiet overnighter, when he found someone who wasn't sick or disinterested in his opinions on the matter. Newly transferred from the position of Chief of Stellar Cartography, Lieutenant Commander T'Purr Meowran hadn't ventured much outside her quarters and the large stellar cartography bay, so now that she was one of the main crew members, she was interested to learn all she could about her fellows. Naturally, at least in the beginning, she was interested to hear and discuss the situation.

"Yeah, I've been on a couple of different shows. Kaitians aren't the most common of species you know." She said proudly. "Always got a little twitch of stage fright, but it passes." Skrit was initially ambivalent to talk to her, due to the fact that she was essentially a giant cat, and since the problem in question was also a giant furry thing, he thought that it might be a lost cause. But, he had come to far to back down now, so he had instigated the conversation as they sat scanning the system, not finding anything, as was the usual norm.

"What do you think of Squirrelly?"

"He's fairly new, isn't he? I haven't had much chance to see him yet. I hear he's a nice guy."

"Yeah." Skrit said, somewhat non-committal. "I just…I don't know, wish that he'd realize that being on the shows probably isn't good for him…especially with all the work he has to do to keep this ship running."

"You mean you wish he'd realize that since you want it, he'd give it up." T'Purr chuckled. "I don't think that's going to happen, and if that's the case, then you might have to use your ace in the hole."

Skrit looked at her quizzically. "I don't follow."

"Ace in the hole. It's an old expression….never mind. Point is, I watched the show. You talked about maybe someday saying where you came from, how you came to be. Now I'm not a big-shot producer or anything, but energy beings don't come along very often, and your story has to be a bit more special than 'Mommy and Daddy squirrel had a big squirrel.', you think?"

Skrit nodded. And suddenly knew what he had to do. It was so simple! He'd offer them the story of his life! Where he came from, how he came to be on board, all of it. If he couldn't take it back by force, then he'd have to do it the sneaky way, but this way had more of a chance of working out…He stood, asking T'Purr to cover for him for a few moments. She understood, and allowed him to leave, with the caveat that he mention her on air.

She knew she had to stop putting off getting her eyes checked when she saw him leave, and for a quick moment he faded a bit, blinked in and out, then returned to his regular form. He didn't seem to notice, and the door shut behind him. LCDR Meowran took a quick look around the room, noticed that the rest of the night staff didn't seem to notice anything wrong, and she went back to studying the screen. Definitely something with her eyes…