"About six and a half months"

"That's a long time isn't it?"

"Better than a year and a half which is how long it took me to get from the Republic to Earth and the Federation, in some ways I'm surprised I wasn't discovered until then"

"Well either way we're in for a long trip which might be extended depending on if we run into any trouble on the way"

"Well for now I'll take you to your quarters and we'll go from there, by the way I should mention that due to your Force abilities going haywire you're going to have to wear the bracelet version of the Federation Force inhibitors it's for everyone's safety"

"We understand and will comply with those restrictions, to be honest I don't think we really trust ourselves otherwise"

"Very well, oh and the holodecks have meditation programs at your disposal"

"Good news we will definitely be needing those in the future"

"Let's go get you guys settled then and we'll go from there"

Ashland takes them to the guest quarters and then goes to the holodeck herself because of the fact that she needed to do some of her daily exercises and seeing as how she had a shift in four hours now was the perfect time to do so. Two hours later she was sweaty and breathing hard but she had completed the hardest of her Jedi training simulations and had two hours before the start of her shift which she used to clean up and eat, once that was done she went to her duty station on the bridge

"How are our guests?"

"Doing fine so far, they understand why we have the rule that we have to keep everyone safe, but I do suggest we get to Coruscant as soon as possible because I know what it's like to inhibit the Force for months on end and it is not a pleasant feeling"

"Don't worry we're on our way and making good time, then again it's only been a few hours so we still have a ways to go, but since we requested the mission to Coruscant most likely we won't be called to anything except an immediate emergency"

"Okay so so far everything's going well then all I have to do is monitor until end of shift"

Things were pretty calm for most of the shift and then Ashland stiffens for a brief moment before fleeing from her seat to the nearest turbolift

"Engineering!"

She quickly gets to Engineering and pushes people out of the area of the core and closes the doors behind her. Once that was done she started pushing several buttons without any prompting or making sense and then suddenly the computer starts going off which was sudden and not good considering what the computer alerted them to

"Core breach in two minutes"

"I know, I know"

Ashland continues pushing buttons but finally has to admit defeat and dumps the core having already dropped the ship out of warp, she also raises the shields to prevent damage from the explosion. Right after all of that happened the bridge contacted engineering

"Picard to Engineering what just happened down there?"

"Sentinel Portland here, right before I left the bridge I sensed that we were about to have a core breach, which would have happened with little to no warning and killed several people if not for me. Unfortunately I was unable to save the core and was forced to dump it before it exploded"

"Understood Sentinel, once you're done down there return to your station please"

"Yes sir, almost finished here, but Captain you might want to call for a tow while I explain the delay to our Romulan guests"

"Understood Sentinel"

She quickly finishes up in Engineering and then informs the Romulans why there was a delay in getting to Coruscant which was understood considering what was currently going on. They are quickly given a tow ship and limp back towards Earth for repairs and after her shift was over Ashland went to sleep only to have a vision/dream sequence

Dream sequence

She was on an unfamiliar planet with an unfamiliar race, she was also with several other Starfleet Officers who were of high rank and also the only Jedi even though there were by now several others available and also had been a lot closer to the area than she had been. They had been around a table talking when suddenly there was an explosion and then chaos because of battle though she was quick to bring out her phaser despite the weapons being used against them. They are quickly overrun though and captured though it appeared that at least one Starfleet officer who had managed to escape but they weren't sure if they would remain free. Then one of the alien's enters the cell they were all in and shoots right at her first...

End dream sequence

Ashland wakes up very suddenly at that and quickly gets dressed to head to a holodeck knowing instinctively that she shouldn't meditate alone if it could be helped and fortunately finds a meditation program running in the first holodeck she tries. She goes in and joins in on the meditation session trying to both make sense of her dream and also to recenter herself to remind herself that she was okay and several people who entered the meditation program seemed to sense that. Unfortunately they then did something very stupid considering her abilities, one of them decided to approach her without announcing themselves having forgotten that she had been forced into survival situations several times and had through the Force a heightened sense of awareness and she grappled the person who tried to touch her shoulder

"Sentinel it's okay, you're on the Enterprise!"

Ashland's eyes fly open at those words and she instantly releases the Lt. who was in her grasp

"Sorry Lt. I know I shouldn't have attacked you, but honestly I didn't sense you and you didn't announce yourself, um just how new are you to the Fleet and the ship?"

"I've only been in Starfleet a few years but I have heard of Jedi, unfortunately I didn't realize you were one until I saw the star on your uniform but by then it was too late, as for the ship I've only just been assigned, you see you guys just docked in the repair bay"

"Oh didn't know that, guess I've been meditating for longer than I initially thought"

"Yes, even the Captain came to check on you but after he saw you were here safe he didn't do anything other than alert everyone else that you were not to be interrupted, unfortunately I needed to ask you a few questions and forgot what he ordered"

"And thus got yourself attacked because of the fact that you came on me during meditation and didn't announce yourself, and when I sensed someone touching me I reacted instantly because there are risks of the ship being overrun and me not knowing it"

"How is that possible?"

"Simple, per my instructions Starfleet Captain's can disable the alarm in the holodeck I am in so that the enemy has at least one person still on board that can stop them and their plans"

"That would do it, and you have training which means you react first and look second"

"Yes, it's part of the reason why there are rules regarding every aspect of Jedi, for your safety and the safety of others. Several months ago we lost an officer because they didn't obey the rule regarding my Jedi only simulations and got themselves killed because of it"

"I understand, say how about some hand to hand training so that we can get used to each other and partially predict how we move in such a situation?"

"Works for me but not in this simulation, plus there's a simulation designed specifically for people who are new to the abilities of a Jedi. Computer reset to program Jedi knowledge 1, begin program"

The new officer is in the corner in a ray shield like device and Ashland shows him what she can do as a Jedi, both with Starfleet weapons and the weapon of the Jedi, and also how much better Jedi were at fighting blinded because of their use of the Force. Once that was done she ended the simulation and the two of them did hand to hand combat training

"Do you know exactly when I'm expected back on duty Lt.?"

"Tomorrow seeing as how you actually meditated through all but fifteen minutes of your shift, oh and he expects a report on why you were meditating so early and so long just in case of security risks"

"Oh don't worry he will know exactly what is going on because he's right Command does need to know the situation or well more like the potential situation, a great Jedi Master once said 'always in motion the future is' and they would be right, but it's still best to warn Command of potential danger"

Just then Ashland was called to the observation lounge for an emergency meeting. When she got there Command was on screen looking stressed beyond normal limits

"Sentinel, glad of you to join us, as I was saying Picard we'll ask the Republic if necessary but considering that we have a Jedi with us now on your ship we should ask her ourselves"

"Sirs what's going on and don't you have Jedi at the Academy?"

"Unfortunately not, the ship sending the Jedi to us has gone missing while in Republic space, they're looking but so far as we know no luck, any how we just had a mysterious occurrence of death at one of our member planets and we're wondering if you might recognize the symptoms displayed"

She's shown videos of what happened to the planet's inhabitants and she pales at seeing the video

"I guess it's safe to assume you recognize what's going on?"

"Yes sir I do, that's the Blue Shadow Virus, a mad doctor recreated it during the Clone Wars but it was thought to have been safely disposed of, if it's here than we're in big trouble because there is no cure known to man in this galaxy because we don't have the Reeksa Root and it's pretty much one hundred percent lethal without it"

"So there's not much we can do than?"

"Well if you access Republic records of all the information we have on the Blue Shadow Virus you might be able to create a vaccine that doesn't involve the Reeksa Root but don't count on it unless you're absolutely positive it will work"

"Understood Sentinel, how do you know about the virus by the way?"

"History lessons sir, very important so that Jedi don't accidentally start a war or political mess"

"Understood, what can you tell us besides it's lethality about this virus?"

"Not much, like I said it's pretty lethal and it was supposed to be eradicated, but one thing I can tell you about it is that it's spread through water mostly unless they have the airborne version, which is harder to contain. If we can get the Reeksa Root from the Republic we'll have a better chance, but we need a cure fast before it spreads any further"

"Understood Sentinel, we'll ask to see if there's anything similar to the Reeksa Root in these parts while asking for an emergency delivery of the Root"

"If we can get a reliable substitute then we'll be better off than we are now"

"Understood, we'll work things on our end while you do things on yours"

"Understood, I'll ask the Republic about it, we're on the way now that we have our engine, we'll be in Republic space in six and a half months"

"Sentinel, emphasize that we are positive about it being the Blue Shadow Virus and that we have no defense against it"

"Don't worry, they'll know the importance as soon as I mention the Virus"

"Good, by the way we've already released quarantine buoys to make sure that the Virus is contained as much as possible, as it is that entire system is already compromised and more could die before we make a cure, but we'll do our best"

"Understood Command, make sure that any personnel have on bio-containment suits if they are forced to go into an area that the Virus was released in"

"Got it Sentinel"

Communications are ended and Ashland quickly contacts the Senate imputing the emergency code given to her right before her mission which had her join Starfleet