Board Thread:Archive/@comment-24866242-20140520214712

Subj: Leavetakings 1 Date: 8/9/97 8:45:45 AM From: Ben Stinel

When Ben left the Doomlands he left without warning. He had Chaz fuel his fighter for him early in the morning with instructions not to tell anyone. Jarrid let him go without even broadcasting a warning. No flight plan was filed. No destination was given. No reasons. But Ben was the boss. If the boss wanted to go joy riding Jarrid wasn't going to stop him.

He left the Doomlands behind him not long after he took off. He left Rhydin behind him next. He was leaving a lot behind. Friends that he had known for years were behind him now. He didn't really know if he was coming back but the note he had left for Ryan said he was.

You're in charge until I get back. Or until Jugger does. Ben
 * Ryan,

It didn't say enough. It said everything he could say. Ryan would have to draw his own conclusions. Strange as they might be. He should have left someone else in charge, but he didn't know who. Machinshi had the Aiel to keep him occupied without having to worry about keeping control of the Doom Bringers. Eli just didn't seem to care. Seth wasn't the choice now of all times and neither was Kat for almost the same reasons. Ryan was it.

Ben set the tiny fighter on auto-pilot and let the night before catch up to him. He hadn't slept yet and it was a long flight… His helmet touched the glass of the canopy and he fell into a fitful sleep.

The hum of a tractor beam against the hull pulled him out of a dream of endings. Above him was a star ship. Ahead of him was an open shuttle bay. The Saint John and AMB's orbiter. With a yawn he sat up and rubbed at his eyes. He had slept the trip away. Ten hours from Rhydin to the New Oregon base and he had slept through all of it.

After the fighter touched down he pushed open the canopy. Two men he recognized ran into the bay and across to the fighter. Until they saw that he was standing they looked panicked. He jumped down to the ground and stifled a yawn.

Ted Ramsey sighed heavily, "We thought… well, we didn't know what to think. You know better then to sleep through an approach, Ben." Jake Dent nodded his agreement.

Ben blinked at them, "Nice to see you too."

"Common, Ben," Jake said, "We'll get some breakfast."

The quick trip through the halls of the orbiter was different then Ben remembered it. Boxes and crates were stacked at various places. There were twice as many people moving around as there should have been. A few minutes before they stopped at the cafeteria he put two and two together and got five. It was the right answer but he had no idea why.

"You're leaving," he said simply.

Jake looked at him and nodded, "Three ships arrived four hours ago with the orders. We sent a message down to you but by that time you must have been on your way here. The base will still be here. Empty, but the Doom Bringers can take it."

They walked along in silence for a moment before Ben said, "I'm going with you."

Ted and Jake glanced at each other before looking back to him.

"This is sudden, Ben." Ted said.

Ben looked around them at the commotion, "So is this." He took a deep breath and stopped. Ted and Jake took two steps before they realized it. "I'm not hungry," Ben said, "You two go ahead. I'm going to the gym."

He disappeared into a turbo lift before either could stop him.

When Ted found him, Ben was playing Racquet Ball by himself. The ball bounced and he hit it back. Harder and harder every time.

He kept at it until he missed one and threw his racquet against the glass wall in a rage. The racquet bounced off without leaving a mark so he hit it again with his mind. The huge window fell to ground in a rain of little beads and shards. He sat down hard and scrubbed a hand through his hair.

Ted walked over and stood over him. He didn't say anything but he looked at the shattered glass on the floor.

"What do you want?" Ben demanded.

Ted looked down at him, "To talk."

"I've tried that before. It doesn't do any good. It's time to just do something."

"Why are you leaving the Doom Bringers, Ben?"

"It's my choice, Ramsey!" Ben was on his feet in an instant and shoving a finger against Ted's chest, "You're not my father and you're not going to change my mind about this! It's my choice."

Ted looked nothing but shocked at the outburst but he answered calmly, "No, I'm not your father. Your father died in my arms six years ago and I couldn't stop it. But I stayed where I was needed. With your brother. I didn't run off on some insane quest for vengeance."

"JUSTICE!" Ben shouted, "We found justice for our dead and you did nothing! Nothing!"

"I was fighting a civil war. Have you found your justice, Ben?" Ted said quietly, "The others have all gone home. Christopher Landram. Jim Paz. Bill Taylor. Adam Jensen. Brad Shannon. Jake went home to find his family dead, Ben. Wade Abbot did die in your quest for justice. But you kept running. You found your justice four years ago. I thought with the Doom Bringers at least maybe you had found something, but all of a sudden you're ready to give that up and go home too. Why?"

By the time Ted finished talking Ben realized he was clutching the other man's coat in his fists. He dropped his head to his chest and forced his fingers to unclench before pushing himself away and sitting down again against the wall.

He began slowly. "Things are falling apart around me, Ted. They squabble like children sometimes. Kat is being tormented from all sides because of the lies that girl Kayleigh is spouting about her. Now that twerp is lying about me too saying I sold her into slavery as if she hadn't tried to take one of my officers as a slave herself. After an argument Kat had with Seth Engasser the other day it came to me that she had accused him of treason out of the blue. When I confronted her about it she said she had evidence but refused to produce it. I've known Seth for years, Ted. I love Kat like she was my own sister but how can I turn on people I trust on her say so? She can be so damned illogical sometimes!"

Ted listened while Ben vented all of the frustrations that had been building steadily over the last months. When he finished Ted nodded.

"Do you want me to have your commission reactivated with the New Oregon military?" he asked.

"No," Ben told him, "I'm through with being a soldier. It's time to stop being Ben the commander. Time to be Ben Stinel. Schmo."

Ted nodded finally, "Okay. Get a shower then. We'll get some breakfast and then I'll find you a room for the night. Alpha Moon Base is going to be an empty derelect by noon tomorrow. We'll be on our way home."

Ben spent most of the next morning staring through the windows of the base lounge. Not towards Rhydin. His back was turned on the planet. Instead he looked the other way. At the seven star ships clustered around the station. The Ajax was there. The largest of the bunch. There was the Saint John. The first and only ship Ben had served on in the New Oregon Military. The Arch Angel and the four other ships were the same class as the Saint John. New Orleans Class frigates all and every one of them was dwarfed by the huge Sovereign Class Ajax.

His hair was cut short now. The station barber had done that. He hadn't shaved since the day before and two days of stubble covered his chin. Maybe he would grow his beard again. He could now that…

Unbidden, the Doom Bringers popped into his mind. And with that came Kat. He had sent her a letter from the base's computer. In it he had explained his reasons for getting away. Told her sheepishly that he had forgotten his cat when he left and asked if she would take care of Sachy till he saw her again. She would have read it by now. Ryan would have read his note too.

The bartender stopped by the chair Ben had straddled near the windows and cleared his throat, "Ben? Time for me to close up shop." Ben glanced at him and realized that he was carrying the last of the boxes he had been packing all morning. The bar was empty. The only thing left was the chair Ben sat on.

He stood and picked up the chair. He walked with the bartender out into the hall and towards the transporter room. The halls were emptying out. People were leaving.

"Which ship are you on, Pell?" Ben asked casually.

"The Springfield," he answered, "You?"

"The Saint John."

"Nice little ship," Pell said, "Nothing compared to the Ajax though. Now that's a ship."

Ben grinned. People were so ready to latch on to what was bright and shinny. "If you say so."

"You served on the Saint John, didn't you?"

"Yeah," Ben said, "First assignment out of the academy. First love of my life too. I think my brother had her assigned here just to remind me of home."

Pell glanced at him and nodded. It took Ben a moment to realize that Pell had just remembered who Ben's brother was. The king of New Oregon. Ben had only seen Jon twice in the last six years but he still remembered that sometimes annoying, sometimes fun kid who he'd gotten into fist fights with when they were teenagers and who had helped him pull off the greatest prank in the history of the Eugene Military School.

They walked into the transporter room together and the operator motioned Ben onto the pad first. He left the chair with the bartender and put his arms at his sides.

When he rematerialized on the pad in the Saint John and stepped down he was stopped by the operator, a woman this time. "The Captain wants you to report to the bridge, Sir."

Ben nodded and politely refused an escort. He knew his way to the bridge. He had been the helmsman for the ship for over a year.

Familiar faces nodded to him more then once on his way to the turbo lift. A ship this size typically crewed about fifty or sixty and people didn't change ships very often. He was on the bridge in less then a minute. Eleven decks didn't leave a whole lot of walking distance.

Captain Samantha Dent turned around and grinned at him. Captain at twenty-seven. She and Jake had been classmates of his. He hadn't been all that surprised when they told him they were getting married.

"Hey, Ben!" she gestured at the conn, "Wanna fly us out of here for old time's sake?"

Ben grinned and moved to the seat that the lieutenant quickly vacated. He sat down and called up the course the small fleet would be taking home, "Course plotted and laid in, Captain."

The opps officer next to him spoke up, "The Ajax reports that all personnel have evacuated the base."

"Good. Warp six, Ben. Let's go home."

Subj: In Search Of........ Ben (1) Date: 8/28/97 7:01:50 AM From: KatrylleM

She had received the message from Ben about his leaving weeks ago. Her first impulse had been to follow him, drag him back by the.......hair ...if she had to. But calmer winds had prevailed.

Ry had convinced her that, like her, Ben had needed to leave. He had been through too much and the simple fact that he had left Satchy behind was enough proof for anyone that there was no other way left to him. So she waited, bided her time until the Vextis left RhyDin's orbit.

Their first stop was suppose to have been Drea VI, but Kat was able to convince Ry that a quick stop over to Alpha Moon Base to drop off Satchy would do no harm. Course, she had to *promise* not to try and convince Ben to return to RhyDin, but, after thinking about it for those many weeks, it would not be a difficult promise to keep. She didn't realize that the hardest part would be actually *finding* Ben.

The lack of radio response from Alpha Moon Base told all concerned it was empty. Now, standing in it's bowels, Kat realized it was not just empty, it was deserted......lonely. From the looks of it, the 400 some odd people who manned the moon base had left not long after Ben's departure from RhyDin. She remembered the base and the people clearly from the short time she, Ben, Tasha and Ryan had spent solving a strange and dangerous puzzle. Now there was nothing left except walls and an odd bit of furnature. For some reason, she hadn't been surprised. The empty halls were unnerving. They reminded Kat too much of her last visit and of what the shadow creature had almost done.

Kat, Sal, Travers, Free and LaeAnne had beamed in to the station's main transporter room planetside earlier that morning and had spent most of the day exploring for any lead that would tell them where everyone had gone.

The techs had left the main computer, but then, it would have been hard to move six entire walls in such a short span of time. When the landing party had found it, Kat thought they had found their answer. There would surely be a flight plan or something or other to point the way. No luck. It had taken Sally all of five minutes to crack the system, but all she had found was a blank memory core.

"Scrambled," Sally announced smuggly, "Now we could prob'ly restore it... part of it anyway... ifn ya wanna wait a month or so."

Kat sighed in exasperation. There was still one place they hadn't checked. So far, the searching had taken place in the main base on the surface of the moon. The smaller, docking rings in orbit could possibly contain a solution, but Kat wasn't holding much hope. They had been too throughough in cleaning out the main base. Still, they had to try.

Kat comm'd the Vextis, asking them to direct beam the party to the transporter inside the docking ring. It wouldn't take them nearly as long to search this part of the station. It was only about half the size of the base planetside.

The structure consisted of an outer ring 'spoked' to a central cylinder. Kat knew from the previous time spent here that the outer ring housed all shuttle bays and airlocks while the cylinder contained the living quarters, med bay, main console and transporters.

She had the party split up. While Sal attempted to bring life back into an otherwise dead computer, Kat and Travers checked the barraks and med units while LaeAnn and Free moved on to the shuttle bays. As the minutes slowly progressed into an hour, then an hour and a quarter, the hope of finding any trace of the inhabitants faded quickly. Kat had received word from Sal that the computer was a no-go and within moments, Sal had joined up again with her and Travers.

On the last room of the med bay, Kat's dispare was running full course and was on the verge of making a physical mark in some wall when her comm beeped. On the other end, LaeAnne's obnoxiously calm voice suggested everyone meet in shuttlebay six, that she and Free had found a lone starfighter.

She didn't need to check the registry numbers to know it was Ben's fighter. She knew it almost as well as she knew the Angel. Without a word, she climbed up into the cockpit and slid into the pilot's seat. For a moment, she just sat there, trying to get his feel. She only sensed deep depression.

Shaking the feeling, she reached over and powered up the fighter, smiling slightly as the computer requested a Doom Bringer ID. She was fairly sure her old access code would work. She had still been a DB when he had left RhyDin. Still, she held her breath as she punched in her ID.

Suddenly, Ben's face appeared on the dash screen. He wore civvies, his hair uncombed, and was sitting in the cockpit of the fighter. Through the windows behind his image, Kat could see bustling activity in the shuttlebay as workers arranged crates to be loaded onto a transport. It was almost like the vid screen was a mirror Kat was looking in only the reflection looking back was Ben in the seat instead of her.

"Hi, Kat. If you're seeing this then I guess you're looking for me. I thought about this long and hard and eventually I decided I should make this a mystery for you and keep it hard. Leave a puzzle that will lead you right to me once you solve it..." He paused, a slight smirk on his lips like he knew she was steaming right at that moment.

Suddenly, he grinned. "...but then I realized that I really wouldn't mind having you come see me. I guess the fighter was easy to find? A scan of the orbiter by the Vextis should have led you right to it. If you really want to find me, take the computer chip that's in the box under your seat. There's a starmap saved on it. Now, if anyone of my people knew that I had left a map here pointing the way, I'd be in pretty big trouble. You'll know why when you get here. Because of that, the chip is encoded. To break the encription, there are three questions that only you should know the answer to. You shouldn't have any problem. I'll see you soon, sis." The screen went blank only to power up thirty seconds later just as Kat had started to climb out with the box containing the computer chip.

"Oh yeah, sis... Do me a favor and leave the fighter the way you found it. There's a message there for Ryan telling him how to get the base up and running if the DBs take New Oregon up on the offer of the base." Blank screen once again.

She couldn't help but chuckle and, as she made her way back to the metal flooring of the base, faint images of good natured revenge began forming in her mind.

She cussed Ben for the thousandth time, banging the desk with her fist for emphasis. The Isolinear chip had fit fine in her personal computer. She even had the ability to read it. But the damn questions had her stymied.

From the moment she had placed the chip into it's slot, the white letters had been flashing consistantly on the dark blue field.

"1. What is the only thing you have ever given me?"

She had tried various answers from 'trust' to 'coffee', but still the words only blinked back at her. She sighed heavily, laying her head against the back of her chair and closing her eye. She smiled softly, relaxing visably as gentle hands pressed down on her shoulders. "Y'need a break, babe. He'll still b'there t'morrow."

Kat sighed again, lifting her hands to Ry's, softly caressing his fingers and knuckles. Suddenly, as a finger brushed across the bull's head ring she had given him as a wedding present, she sat bolt upright, slapping herself upside her head in frustration. For once, Ben had been *literal* not *figurative*. Frantically, she typed in two words; signet ring. The screen shifted to a deep magenta, the letters remaining white.

"2. In the vision we shared on Pelvar, who did I believe the Shadow to be?"

Kat frowned, flopping back in her chair. She had remembered the vision vividly, but it had been a long time since she and Ben had spoken of it. In the vision, she had truely believed she was the reason for the death of the Doom Bringers on the battle field surrounding her. She had been the cause of their arrival on Pelvar and, deep in the shadow of guilt and dispair, she believed Ben's appearance in her private torment was only a ghostly vision send to haunt her further. It wasn't until much later that she discovered he had actually "followed" her into the vision. Only when she had literally been dragged from the depths of the shadow by Ben had she realized it was there, surrounding her, blaming her as she would surely have blamed herself.

It wouldn't be until later, after the battles had ended and they were all safe on Rhydin, that Kat and Ben could have the opertunity to discuss what had happened that day. During the conversation, he told her how he had seen her in the middle of the shaddow and, in his own anguish, had thought her to be in the clutches the Devil himself.

Blinking once, Kat sat up, placing her fingers on the keyboard and typing the word Devil. The screen blinked once, then shifted to a forest green. Still, the letters remained in white.

"3. What is the translation of ZyThyrn?"

Kat laughed at this one. There had only been 3 living people who knew her entire background. He realized he had been safe with this question. Quickly, without hesitation, she typed in the response; Nyteshade.

Suddenly, in a flash of light, the screen went black and the letters forming the third and last question exploded into millions of pixles. Swirling madly, they seemed to gather in the left side of the screen, taking the form of what seemed to be a star map. On the upper right portion of the screen, Ben's laughing face suddenly appeared. It was clear by the background activity, this message had been recorded at the same time as the one she saw in his fighter. In the lower right corner of the screen, directly under Ben's video, appeared the directory listing for the chip.

She heard Ben's congratulations and the chuckling remark about how he knew she *so* loved puzzles. She countered to the still laughing screen with a one finger salute, the soft chuckle behind her letting her know Ry was still watching.

Toying with the program, she clicked on the only colored dot in a sea of black and white and immediately, the coordinates and stats of New Oregon appeared next to the planet. In response to her inquiry, Ben's voice began droning on about the planet and what to do once they reached the system. "Gotcha!" With a quick punch of a key, the coordinates were uploaded to the Vextis' navigation computer.

She turned to face Ry, about to suggest he let navigation know about the little package she had just sent them, but he was already at the comm. She smiled as she watched him give the order to divert to the course indicated then stood as he clicked the comm to the "off" position. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she leaned up and kissed his chin.

"Y'know.....yer gittin t'be a mind reader, love." His only response was to kiss her deeply, Ben's droning voice left to the background.

Subj: Throwing a wrench.. Date: 9/4/97 5:18:38 AM From: MatterCat

Matt was half asleep on a desk topped in black glass. He was staring trough half lids at the reflective top, which, when he first started looking at it, made him think of how it showed all the reflections in a shadowed light, as though it were showing the seldom seen dark side of the world around him. That was over an hour ago, now his mind had wandered far afield of his original musings and started to slip into the neither world of dream.

''Requested parameters met. Data received on personages leaving the main body to nearby moon.''

Standby….

Standby….

It took Matt a moment to become aware that the desktop was lighting him from below with bright green text as it acted like a terminal to the ships computer. It took him another moment to remember that he had ordered the ships computer to inform him of anybody leaving the ship, and their destination. He knew he was being paranoid, but one could never be too careful.

"Names of those Transported." He commanded.

''Transporter log requested… Standby… Transported personal consist of 1 Kat 2 Sal 3 Travers..''

As the computer listed off the transported people, Matt relaxed. He had told the computer not to adress his friends to him using their full names, made them sound like people he was reading about in a old history book or something. He was just about to tell the computer to quit it's listing when the notion hit him that they where at a moon. He'd been wondering what the ship was going to be doing now that it had a new purpose, but no one would say right off, as though those in charge didn't know themselves.

Now, at least, they had found a moon. For what reason, he had no idea. All he knew was that there might be some sort of action going on, and damned if he was going to miss it. If there was going to be action, he made it his business to be in the middle of it. He had sat on his derriere too long...

Easier said than done. He found that this grand ship he was on was much easier to get lost in than he at first thought. Needless to say, it took him sometime to not only figure out when Kat and crew arrived back, but also find the little lady. As he approached her quarters, supposedly with her aready returned to them, he heard the sound of Ryax chuckling. Without further hesitation, he rang the doorchime and waited.

Subj: Dangers of Ringing a Doorbell Date: 9/5/97 5:15:55 AM From: KatrylleM

When the door opened, it revealed Kat standing on the other side in nothing more than a small bath towel. Small traces of what looked to be chocolate and whipped cream clung to her hair, chin and body.

"Heyas Matt! Ry....Matt's here!!!" Without actually inviting him in, she turned and stepped further into the living room of Heaven. Within, Ry was on his hands and knees scrubbing at what appeared to be a chocolate stain in the carpet. Glancing up, he laughed at the look on Matt's face, causing Kat to turn, then join in the laughter.

"I guess I'd better go see wha' th' kids are d'in in th' bathroom. Matt....grab up a rag an' make yerself a' home." Her giggling bounced off the hallway walls as she disappeared into what he could only assume to be the bedroom. A short moment later, the giggles were replaced by a scream then the pounding paws of a rather large animal. In an instant, Grizz came lumbering down the hallway, chocolate all over his muzzle and what looked to be her towel in his mouth. Very close on his heels was Joke, her orange and white cat, also covered in chocolate.

"RYAX!!! Ah hell......I'll git another one!" Her voice filtered in from the doorway of the bedroom, although she remained out of sight. Moments later, the sound of the shower was heard.

Subj: Naked Truth Date: 9/5/97 5:40:44 AM From: Ryax

Ry blinked as the bear ran through with Kat's towel in tow. He chuckled and stood, watching Matter regain his balance after nearly being bowled over by the massive ball of fur.

"I gatta untrain that bear." Ry smiled. "I mean, grabbin' women towels came in handy when I was single. Now, it's gotten so's Kat can't wear a towel in peace.." He paused, rubbing his chin in thought, then finally smiled. "Maybe I'll wait t'untrain Grizz when Kat resigns herself t'jus' walk around naked." He grins to Matt. "Wha' d'ye think??"

Subj: In Search Of........ Ben (6) Date: 9/8/97 5:40:36 AM From: KatrylleM

She stepped out of the bedroom thirty minutes later fully dressed, her hair wrapped in a bathsheet. She smiled as she made her way to the bar, almost laughing as Ry and Matt's conversation came to an abrupt end.

"Welp, Matt. M'thinks yer hear fer a reason, an' it donnae hae annathin' t'do wi' cleanin m'carpets. Soo....whasup?"

She poured herself a whiskey and sipped it as Matt explained his reasons for ringing their doorbell. When he was done, she stepped out from behind the bar and made her way to the computer on her desk, calling up the directory of the chip along with Ben's message. She sat back in her chair as all three friends watched the fourth explain all the little quirks about New Oregon and its people.

Subj: Important stuff... Date: 9/8/97 6:37:56 AM From: Ben Stinel

Ben paused, wondering where to start. "Pause recording." The whir of the camera refocusing itself stopped and Ben rubbed his chin. "Okay, computer. Begin recording New Oregon Entry Procedures File."

"Okay, sis. I'll start at the beginning. By the time you're in sensor range of the system you'll already have been scanned and reported to Fleet Headquarters. Don't try and avoid it. The last thing you want to do is look hostile. By the time you reach the edges of the system you'll have been intercepted by one or more star ships. Best guess is that it's a New Orleans class cruiser. Do not enter the system with the Vextis. Stop right there and hail the approaching ship immediately. The captain will refuse to allow the Vextis to enter the system, so you're going to have to go from here on by yourself.

"Now under normal circumstances the captain wouldn't even let you in, but I've still got quite a bit of sway around there so I'll have it taken care of by the time you get here. This chip will be your ID card so you'll have to show it to the captain of the ship to prove your identity. You will be the *only* one allowed in system. The ship will bring you to its command post and from there you can catch a transport in system. The captain of the ship will send a message off to me and I'll be waiting for you. Be on your guard though. The New Oregon base at Rhydin wouldn't have been recalled if the situation at home weren't tense. I'll see you then.

"Pause recording." Okay… What next? Ben scratched his chin. "Okay, computer. Begin recording file 0032…" Ben went on recording the various files on the chip.

Subj: Void and Stars. Date: 9/8/97 8:01:20 AM From: MatterCat

He wanted to scream at the stars..

There was little he could do however. The hard casing of his helmet barred his voice from the void of space. So he stood there, standing near the monstrous form of one of the main fold thrusters looking out into the distance between him and those points of light.

He wanted so much to try and jump the distance, regardless of the futility of it all. He even toyed with the idea for awhile, going as far as turning off his mag-boots, and letting himself drift next to the massive ship, daring himself to give one good push against the hull.

In the final moment, he couldn't bring himself to do it. He couldn't bring himself to leave his friends, … desert them. It meant a lot that he prove he could be trusted this time, more than his desire for the peace of oblivion. Katrylle, and Ryax.

They meant well, he knew. They joked with him about his lack of finding a girlfriend. They chided that he was missing out on a good thing, companionship. They unknowingly rubbed his nose in it every chance they got. What was he to do? They had the best of intentions, trying to cheer him up with a bit of lighthearted kidding. Hell, works in mysterious ways.

It was difficult hiding his feelings from Kat. Her telepathic powers had grown quite powerful since she had discovered them. His mental barriers only held out her casual probing, but for her more intense searches, he had had to blank his mind entirely, becoming effectively nonexistent in a mental sense.

After he had met the two of them in their room, He had watched their married antics with joy. For all his brooding, he was grateful that his friends had found such happiness in their relationship. In the end, however, it became too much. It was all he could do to stay long enough to ask about the current mission going on to find their elusive lost friend Ben, before he made a quick retreat to the peace of the outside.

So, here he stood, mag-boots reactivated, his feet now a mere few inches from the thrust port of the main drive, a few feet from the incalculable radiation pouring forth from them. Yet between him and the drive where a scant few inches of void, enough to separate him from utter destruction. How symbolic, he thought, of his existence.

Subj: Homecomings Date: 8/10/97 3:22:05 AM From: Ben Stinel

The fleet dropped out of warp near an observation post just outside of the solar system. The impulse wake left by the seven star ships rocked the small box like satellite as they blew past it at three quarters the speed of light. The smaller ships circled the Ajax in a small cluster maintaining tight formation and a distance of one hundred meters at high speed.

On the bridge of the Saint John, Benjamin Stinel sat at the helm. A civilian among officers, he was the only one not wearing a uniform. He had left all signs of rank behind him. Even the DB Dog Tags were left hanging on the wall of his old room on Rhydin. The flight jacket he wore had spots of velcro where there had been unit patches five days ago.

He tuned out the bustle around him as people made ready to dock at the huge star base orbiting the planet on the view screen. Sensors had picked up the image almost the moment they had come out of warp. New Oregon. Home. An hour and he'd be home.

He gestured to the lieutenant standing by the wall to take the post and boarded the turbolift, unnoticed in the activity. "Deck five."

Sam had gotten him his old quarters for the trip home. She hadn't been able to get all of his old things though. The room was empty but for what he brought with him. Everything he had fit into the green duffel bag he had taken in his fighter. Pulling open the dresser he pulled the empty bag out and started filling it up. Everything went in but the clothes he was wearing and his gun belt. That he strapped around his waist. Pistol on the right, light saber on the left. That was a remembrance of Ryan. He had something from most of his friends given him one time or another. The saber from Ryan. The ring on his right hand from Kat. And so on.

"All hands, we'll be entering transport range in fifteen minutes. All passengers report to the transporter room for debriefing. All crew members, shore leave will be available once we've completed docking and debriefing at star base."

He slung the bag over his shoulder and left the room. When he got to the transporter room a tall lieutenant was addressing a group of non crew passengers from AMB.

"Now I need to remind you all," he said, "that the Rhydin project is still classified. Speaking of your knowledge of our base their or your roll in that project with anyone without clearance is strictly prohibited." At this the man grinned, "We wouldn't want to spread undue panic."

A ripple of laughter spread through the small group. Xenophobia. Ben had forgotten about that aspect of his home. The real reason for the base at Rhydin was to make sure that none of the… people… coming into this universe through Rhydin ever tried to get to this system or this planet. Gatherings like this one would be taking place on all seven ships. Fifteen or so passengers on each of the smaller ships. Hundreds together in the shuttle bay of the Ajax. Someone must have finally decided the way to keep aliens out was just to fortify the home front.

The lieutenant was moving through the passengers now asking for destinations. Each person gave the place they were going. Either to their new post on the planet or to the transport that would be taking them to their new jobs at one of the many outposts in the system.

"Lord Stinel?"

Ben winced. He had forgotten about that too. "Yes?"

"What's your landing point, sir?"

Ben gave him the coordinates but didn't tell him where it was he was going. His family's estate was in the Eugene district, just outside of Springfield.

A few minutes later groups of six were climbing onto the platform and dematerializing. When Ben's turn came he climbed up with the last five. They were all going to different places but they would leave together.

He materialized on a stretch of gravel below the manor house. Trees scraped the sky all around him and a creek babbled nearby. The shade of the trees and the cool stream kept it cool despite the fact that it was late summer here. He knelt next to the water and dipped his fingers in. Water spiders fled from the spot, skimming along the surface of the current. Raising his eyes he found the fort he and Jon had built in the trees. Their sister had laughed at them for that. That was what had prompted the "No Girls Allowed" sign that was nailed to the side of gray wood.

Standing he started up the path. He was home.

"Lord Benjamin?"

Ben sighed and set the book down on the arm of the chair. He remembered a time the old butler had spanked him for stealing cookies.

"Yes, Henry, what is it?"

"There are some gentlemen here to see you, sir."

"More retainers bearing invitations?" He didn't know how but people knew he was home. He had received invitations from lords of several houses.

"No, sir. I believe you are acquainted with these six gentlemen."

"Six?" Ben turned and looked at the white hared old man.

From the next room Ben heard a familiar voice call out, "Hooa, Cap'an, suh!"

"Shannon?"

"YEEEAAAHHH HAAAAA!!!!" Brad Shannon jumped into the room and yelled at the top of his lungs before he grabbed Ben's arms and pulled him around in a circle while he jumped around. Behind him five others entered the room grinning at the spectacle.

Christopher Landram, Jim Paz, Bill Taylor, Adam Jensen, and Jake Dent moved in to join Brad next to Ben while the butler bowed out.

Ben grinned broadly at the six men, "What are you guys doing here?"

Shannon's eyes widened so suddenly he couldn't be doing anything but jibing, "Weell okay, suh, Ah guess Ah'll jus' go then." He turned and started for the door before Ben grabbed the back of his shirt and stopped him.

"Hold it right there, Lieutenant!"

Shannon shot to attention and tossed off a salute, "Yes, suh, Cap'an, suh!"

Chris grinned and pushed on Jake's shoulder, "Dent here gathered us up. Said you were back in system and you needed a party."

"Actually," Adam said, "I heard before Jake told me."

Jim and Bill nodded solemnly.

"I'd say someone's very interested that you're suddenly back, Ben," Jim said.

Jake looked cautiously curious but Chris openly groaned, "Woah, here go the politicians."

Shannon rolled his eyes, "Politics? Who wants to talk politics? I'm here for a party!" He emphasized his words by grabbing Ben's shirt and looking him close in the eyes. The southern accent was gone.

Ben grinned and patted Shannon's arm, "Don't worry, Brad. We won't let the men in the white coats take you back until we've gotten you good and drunk."

Shannon laughed, "Ya see, now that's what I wanna hear!" he grabbed Ben's arm and started pulling him towards the door, "Common, I know a great little pub down in Roseburg. We can get piss drunk and you can tell us all about those uh, those uh," he snapped his fingers, "Those Doom Bringers you hooked up with after we left."

Ben was nursing his second beer in two hours. They had found Shannon's pub eventually, but not without hundreds of twists and turns walking through the rustic streets of Roseburg. Brad kept insisting that things were starting to look familiar and saying, "Well what did ya expect? I was already drunk when I stumbled on ta the place."

When they had finally found the little bar Shannon had grinned and ordered a round for everyone there just to celebrate their success. The barkeep grinned and poured the drinks.

Now Brad was off in a corner with his fifth mug and a pretty young waitress telling her that he was the high seat of a noble house. She looked skeptical, but she must have decided he was cute or her drink would have been in his face by now. They always thought he was cute, Ben remembered with a grin.

The seven of them had clustered around their table and talked of old times. They talked about their time alone away from New Oregon. Friends made along the way and enemies left dead behind. And friends left dead behind as well. Wade Abbot was the only one who hadn't made it back from their crusade. Not long after his friends had started him talking about Rhydin. They had all been there for a year by the time they had caught up with their quarry and they were all curious about the old place. For the most part Jake let Ben tell the story adding his piece every once in a while. Talk of Rhydin became talk of the Doom Bringers. Soldiers or ex-soldiers all, they were intrigued by the concept of a military unit that answered to no one but itself. He went over it in some detail, telling about his friends and acquaintances. None of them pressed him when he skipped over his reasons for leaving.

When the conversation died down and Brad had wandered away with the pretty waitress, Chris eventually went over to play with the pinball machine and the others began talking again. Quietly and in hushed tones.

"It's good to have you back, Ben, but things might get ugly now." Adam said, gravely.

"You mentioned that before," Ben said, "But Chris and Brad stomped you down before you finished. Why is everyone so fascinated by the fact that I'm home?"

"They're sure not beating down my door," Jake said over a sip of beer, "I guess a house with only one member doesn't rank very high in their minds. Not as long as I don't fill House Dent's place in Parliament." Dent had been a powerful household before the last succession war had virtually wiped the family out. Jake was the only one left.

"It's Ben that everyone's whispering about all right," Bill said, "Although some rumors do say you came home at the same time."

"Well, we did," Ben said, "Doesn't mean anything."

"In the Great Game?" Adam said, "That doesn't matter. People will read their worst suspicions into it. No one has known where either of you have been for years and now you show up at the same time? House Dent and House Stinel were great allies before the war-"

"I like to think we still are," Ben grinned at Jake.

Jake raised his beer and grinned back.

Adam continued, "More then one will see some kind of plot in the works."

"Are things really still that bad here?" Ben asked.

"Now you know why I stayed on remote duty for so long." Jake said.

"That's not the worst of it, I think," Bill said.

"Oh?" Four heads swiveled in Bill's direction at once.

Bill sipped his drink and nodded, "It just occurred to me. People are talking because the King's brother is home. The King's *older* brother."

Ben didn't have the scheming mind that some of his friends had been forced to grow after settling into politics, but he could see the problem, "They can't think I would try and take the throne… I don't want it in any case."

"That's the obvious one," Bill said.

Adam was dumbfounded and Jim was counting something off on his fingers. Jake frowned.

"Geeze, Bill, you're right, this is a clunker," Adam said, "Even if one of Jon's enemies didn't manage to maneuver Ben into making a play for the throne, I don't think there's *ever* been a situation like this."

"A situation like what?" Ben asked.

"I can think up at least nine different plots that Jon's enemies might cook up with this one," Jim said, "And I don't like any of them."

"Any of what?"

Adam told him, "Whenever a house has controlled the throne, it's always been the highest ranking house member to sit under the crown. Legally, there's nothing that says that the highest ranking member of a house *has* to sit on the throne… I guess it's something the law makers always just took for granted. But the highest ranking member of the house, for example, let's say… You… could legally boss baby brother… in this case, Jon… around. Even though baby brother is king."

"You're the high seat of House Stinel, Ben. Even though Jon is king, you're the elder brother. The law is very clear about that."

Ben shook his head, "You guys are nuts, you know that?"

Chris walked over and grinned, "That's one of the top ten requirements for politicians," he grinned, "That's why I stayed in the military."

"You're well out of it, Chris," Ben said, "I'm staying as far away from it as I can, myself. Common. I'll buy you another beer."

Jake went with them to the bar and they left Jim, Adam and Bill talking among themselves. Ben glanced back at the trio and wished that the look on Adam's face wasn't so worried.

When the beers came Ben let Chris tell him all about what he'd been up to since he'd come home and tried to forget all about politics.

"I talked to my brother yesterday," Ben dropped in casually.

"Really?" Chris Landram had stopped by again a few days after the get together at the bar. He and Ben were drinking coffee in the Stinel Manor sitting room. The two glass walls looked out over the woods and the creek below the house and they watched a heron that had landed next to the water. "What did he have to say?"

"He wants me to come to the capitol."

"I'm not surprised," Chris said, taking a swallow of coffee, "He must be going through hell right now. It couldn't hurt him to have you there."

"I thought you didn't follow politics, Chris." Ben gave him a wry grin.

Chris swallowed another gulp before answering, "I don't. I'm a soldier, always will be. But there's a difference between politics and conspiracy theories," he took another drink, "So what'd you tell him?"

"Same thing I told all of the others who wanted me to come to the capital for some fool reason or other," Ben grimaced, "I'm on vacation."

"Not even the high seat of House Roth refuses to come if he's summoned by the King, Ben. Although he'd spend the entire time trying to figure out how to kill him."

"Haven't you heard?" Ben said sourly, "I outrank the king. Besides. I came home to relax for a change."

Chris looked at him, his face deadpan, "You look relaxed too."

This earned him a glare from Ben.

"Have you considered just going and getting the whole mess out of the way? It has to be easier then what you're going through now."

"It's the principle of the thing," Ben said, "You want some more coffee?"

Ben took Chris's cup when the other man nodded and walked towards the kitchen. The kitchen had been built to have a full time cook and two helpers but no Stinel had lived in the house since Richard, Ben's father, had died. Unless maybe Jon had taken vacations here after becoming King. Henry, the butler, had stayed the entire time as the caretaker of the manor and he was really the only servant left. It only took one man to keep an empty house. Even now that Ben was living there he hadn't seen any reason to hire anyone more then Henry. The man was an excellent cook by his own rights and kept the house very clean. The kitchen was empty. The metal counters were all tidy and the pots were hung on their pegs. On the corner of one counter sat a small instant coffee maker. Mr. Coffee. It seemed almost out of place in such an elegant house but Ben had been living on Mr. Coffee since before he left home the first time. He poured two cups, black, and started back to the sitting room after resetting the machine for another pot. A nearly frantic voice made him turn around.

"Lord Stinel! Lord Stinel! There's someone here to see you." Henry said. The man practically skidded into the kitchen as he tried to slow down.

"Someone's here? Who? And why does it have you so riled up?"

"Lord Karl Roth, sir," Henry wiped his brow with a handkerchief which he produced from his pocket, "He says he requests an audience with the High Seat of House Stinel."

"Now? Like this? Why didn't he send a letter?"

"He did, sir," Henry mopped his forehead more vigorously, "It came right after you instructed me to start throwing them away."

Ben glanced the way Henry had come from and sucked on his teeth for a moment, "Okay. Bring him to the sitting room in exactly five minutes. Don't even go back to the parlor to fetch him until then. And whatever you do, don't offer him any refreshments."

Henry nodded and went back the way he had come.

Ben took the coffee cups and headed back to the sitting room, taking the long way through the pantry so he couldn't be seen by Roth from the front room. Chris had stood up and was looking out the window.

"There you are! I was starting to wonder if I should go after you."

Ben set the coffee cups on the table in front of the chairs, "Wanna help me deal with a pest?"

"What sort of pest?" Chris asked.

"Lord Roth is here. Henry says he wants to talk to me."

"He's here!? What do you want me to do."

"Well, first of all, turn these two chairs around so they're facing where he'll come in. We'll be sitting in them when he comes in like we've been expecting him. I'll get rid of the third one so he'll have to stand and there are only two cups of coffee so he'll go without."

Chris grinned and shook his head, "Only a month back in town and already you're playing the Great Game half asleep. You should have stayed in the military, Ben. I'm the high seat for House Landram but I'm a ship captain too so I'm not expected to play. Makes things nice and simple."

"Lucky you," Ben said, lifting the only other chair in the room, "Just move those chairs. Henry's going to bring him in any minute."

The third chair was quickly hidden and Ben and Chris sat down in their own chairs only moments before Roth entered on the heals of Henry.

"Sir, allow me to present," Henry glanced over his shoulder at the bearded man and clasped his hands together as he looked back to Ben and took a breath, "Lord Karl, High Seat of House Roth, Duke of Death's Bane, Earl of-"

"Yes, thank you, Henry. We've met."

Henry looked almost relieved to be cut off in mid title, but Lord Roth looked perturbed.

"We have, Lord Benjamin?"

"You gave a lecture at the New Oregon Military Academy while I was a student there."

"Ah yes," Roth said as he looked for a chair but found none. He looked at Chris for a moment and seemed to notice the coffee at the same time. "A lecture on the Military's place in politics."

"The professor criticized your stance."

"And now he's working single man duty on a radio relay at the border." The way Roth said it left no doubt about just who was responsible for that, "Looks like I was right after all."

Ben sipped his coffee, "Actually, he's working on the Military Advisory Council to the Throne. Although you were still right."

"Really?"

"I based a holographic character on you once, Lord Karl."

Roth smiled, seemingly not distracted by the change of subject, "What an honor. I have no objection to being immortalized."

"He died."

The smile faltered, "I see."

"What did you come to see Lord Stinel about, Lord Roth?" Chris interjected. His use of family names in the other two men's titles made his military status clear. It was a habit that Ben shared but he had suppressed it for this occasion. Karl winced at this. "Civilian" Lords were accustomed to using familiar names with titles. Chris's phrasing had just brought it uncomfortably close to home that he was dealing with a pair of career soldiers. Not men to be taken lightly.

"Actually, I had come to inquire if the Lord… Stinel… had any plans regarding the new law passed by Parliament yesterday evening."

"Parliament passed a law?" Ben asked.

"Don't sound so surprised, Ben." Chris said, sipping his coffee, "There's a first time for everything."

And disdainful of politics. Karl was more and more off balance with every second. The most powerful enemy of the King was not likely to stay off balance for long though.

"The law declaring that the King can belong to no House of the nobility? That all Kings from now until the end of the monarchy must sever all noble ties when they accept the Sword and the Crown?"

Chris raised his eyebrows in surprise but Ben showed no outward reaction. Inside, though, he was shocked.

Chris raised his eyebrows in surprise but Ben showed no outward reaction. Inside, though, he was shocked.

"Laws do not concern me, Lord Roth," Roth's face lost its gloating expression when Ben used the military style title, "But this sounds like a good one. Maybe now I'll be left in peace for a change."

"Of course, Lord Benjamin. My only purpose was to inquire as to your plans. You will need to move quickly if you wish to preserve House Stinel's status as the most powerful of houses. The services of House Roth are yours should you wish them."

"Frankly, Lord Roth, I don't care about where House Stinel stands."

"Perhaps someone should. Your brother swore the new oaths this morning. He certainly seems to have taken them to heart. House Stinel is at the very back of his mind."

"That is King Stinel's business." Ben said.

"Actually," Karl said with the slightest of smirks, "it is merely King Jon now. *All* noble ties."

"Is there anything else, Lord Roth?"

Lord Roth held his smirk, "No, Lord Benjamin. I have said my piece."

"Then you may leave."

Roth's smirk turned to a snarl of anger as he realized he had just been dismissed by a man he held in regard as lower than himself. Henry was at his side in an instant, guiding him to the door before he could say a word and soon Ben and Chris were alone again.

"That explains why Jon wanted you to come to the capitol I suppose," Chris said.

"He had me on the phone. Why didn't he tell me what it was about?"

"Maybe he didn't *know* what it was about yet," Chris sipped his coffee, "But like you said, it really does sound like a good law."

"It does, but what will be important in the politician's eyes is that I wasn't there to support it."

"Woah… We're getting a little deep into the politics for my taste. I've already had more then I can stomach for the day."

"Well," Ben said, "I'm not in the military anymore and I don't have the political shield to keep myself out of it."

"You were in the military… That ought to be *some* protection. No sane man should have to live through New Oregon politics." By sane, of course, Chris meant soldier.

"I'm afraid it doesn't work that way," Ben said.

"Well," Chris told him with a grin, "You could always go back to active duty."

Ben chuckled, "If things are as bad as I think they are in the capitol, I might."

"So you're heading down there, eh?"

"Yeh," Ben said, "I'm gonna have to catch the next flight out."

Chris glanced at his watch, "I'll leave you to it then, Ben. I'm going to have to head back to my ship anyway. My crew misses me if I'm gone for too long." He grinned.

Ben grinned back although his heart didn't seem to be in it, "Okay, Chris. Are you staying in orbit long?"

"Not actually. I got new orders today. They're setting us out on border patrol for the next two weeks."

"You're well out of it then. I'll see you in two weeks then, old buddy." He shook Chris's hand firmly.

"Hey, take care of yourself in Salem. It's a rough town. Politicians everywhere you look." Chris grinned and stepped away from Ben, pulling a comm from his belt, "Landram to Fearless. Beam me up, Tommy."

"Aye Captain. Stand by."

Ben watched his friend dissolve in a shimmer of light and turned around to find Henry there with a bag already packed.

"Have a nice trip, sir."

Subj: Re:Homecoming Date: 9/15/97 12:29:54 AM From: Ben Stinel

When Ben's transport landed he stopped at a concessions stand at the airport. It was a small shop and he didn't see anything more appetizing then the coffee. Which wasn't to say that the coffee looked appetizing.

"Hey, soldier boy. You gonna order or are ya gonna just stand there until everyone behind you dies of hunger?"

Ben glanced down at the cashier, a short woman with knotted hair and a blue apron hung around her neck but not tied behind her back. She was smoking a cigarette and, Ben noticed, flicking the ashes into the coffee pot.

He took this in and more than graciously stood aside. So did half of the other people who were close enough to see what was going on.

Hunching into his NOM Field Jacket, the reason the cashier had called him soldier boy, Ben slung his bag over his shoulder and started towards the airport exit again. He passed people going the other way, headed for the outbound gates. Some were on their way out. Others would be picking people up who were on their way in. Royal Airport was the largest on the planet and it was a long walk out. Eventually he found a long moving walkway leading towards the exit and got on. He leaned against the moving handrail and set his bag down. Sitting there, it occurred to him that you could tell a lot about a person from the way they used a moving walkway. Some people let it take them, like he was, wherever it was going. Others walked briskly along, anxious to get to their destinations. About a hundred feet ahead of him a seven year old child was trying as hard as he could to stay in exactly the same place. His family, Ben noticed, was standing on the other side of the rail, talking to a young man in a uniform. Sending their son off after boot camp, Ben guessed. As the conveyor took him past he tossed the young man a crisp salute. The soldier beamed and returned it. Ben was going to have to take those Lieutenant Commander's bars off his jacket.

About half way to the end of the walk way a man in a uniform and glasses spotted him and started running towards him. "Commander Stinel!" the man called out. Ben winced. At least it wasn't "Lord Benjamin". "Lord Stinel!" the man called this time. Ben winced.

The man was carrying a clipboard and was wearing Air Force blues. An office worker, obviously. A pen pusher. "Commander Stinel," he said as he caught up to Ben on the conveyor. Even now he had to hold a brisk pace to keep up. "I've been sent to brief you on the current situation in the capitol, sir."

"What's your name, Lieutenant?"

"Brisco, sir. Philip Brisco."

"Well, Lieutenant Brisco. Who sent you?"

"Well, sir, in most cases you would have been met by a member of your household in the city, but since the recent law passing has reduced the size of House Stinel from six members to one… Well, it was deemed that since you are ex military it should be the military to greet you.

Ben started walking along the conveyor. The lieutenant suddenly had to jog to keep up. "Start your briefing, then, Lieutenant."

"Well, sir, there is a rumor going around that any high lord that wasn't in the capitol at the time of the law passing was opposed to it and is therefore opposed to the king. It may not be safe for you to remain here."

"Politics," Ben muttered.

"I'm sorry, sir? I didn't catch that."

"Nothing," Ben said. "I want an audience with the King. Can that be arranged?"

"It can be, sir, but it may take some doing."

Brisco was panting by now, so Ben vaulted the railing and stopped. The lieutenant ran on for ten feet before he realized what had happened and turned around.

"What's your current assignment, Lieutenant?"

"Diplomatic aide, sir."

"Now you're my aide, Brisco. Get me that appointment with the King. Get me a copy of the new law regarding the King's noble ties and get me a cup of coffee without ashes in it."

The nearest stand was staffed by a beer gut of a man who was wearing a stained white t-shirt and was smoking a cigar. Brisco looked at the stand and then back to Ben, "I don't think I can find one here, sir."

Ben laughed, "That's okay, lieutenant. Just find us a ride into town then. I've got reservations at the Regency Hotel."

Subj: In Search Of........ Ben (7) Date: 9/19/97 5:56:25 PM From: KatrylleM

The nervous energy had been building steadily the closer they had come to New Oregon. It had been over a month now since Ben had left RhyDin without a word, and she hadn't heard from him at all except for the instructions he had left for her in his fighter. His disappearance had come as a complete surprise and, at first, she had been angry. Luckily for Ben, Ry had insisted they wait to go after him. Between that and the eleven day journey from the moon base, Kat had a chance to cool down.

From the moment they had entered sensor range of New Oregon, she had been hovering over Rah's shoulder, anxiously reading his panel and waiting for something to happen. Almost two weeks of waiting and now things were finally coming to a head.

"We are being hailed." Rah announced calmly.

"Put it on the speakers." Ry instructed from the captain's chair.

"Unidentified Vessel." The clearly surprised voice of someone who had spent years patrolling the borders of this system without once finding anything out of the ordinary crackled over the bridge of the Vextis. "Do not attempt to enter this system. Hold your position. We are sending ships to intercept you. You will not be attacked until you prove yourself hostile."

That almost put a damper on her good mood. "Until..." she murmured. Sounded like the guy expected there was no doubt about it. She could feel the tension around her as well as the many eyes boring into her back. It was because of her these people were in this situation. She only glanced from the screen once to smile uncertainly at Ry. He merely shrugged slightly and slouched in his chair, a small wink closing the distance between them.

Within minutes, the first ship appeared on the Vextis sensors. The readout showed it to be a heavily armed New Orleans class frigate and the tension blossomed. Through it all, Ry still held the lazy calm he always seemed to bring into a tough situation. "Bring her up on screen, Rah."

The ship was impressive. "Captain, we're being hailed by her." Rah's deep growling/purring voice seemed to startle everyone.

"Open th'channel, Rah. Audio only." Ryax instructed. "Let's see wha' they have t'say."

Kat stopped hovering behind the communications officer and moved to Ry's side as he issued the order. She sat on the arm of the command chair with her right foot on the floor and the hell of her left resting easily on the edge of the chair between his thighs. She leaned comfortably against him and he put his arm around her waist.

"Unidentified ship," a male voice began. "This system is controlled territory. Entrance is *not* permitted. Turn back or we will engage you."

Ry frowned "Stand by." he said for the other ship to hear.

"Muted" Rah announced.

"Tactical," Kat lifted her right foot so Ry could turn the chair to face his tactical officer. "Report."

Kala, the Klingon tactical officer called up her figures and tensed, saying, "the ship is small but heavily armed. Its engine and weapon configuration suggests that it is four times a maneuverable as the Vextis at sub-light speeds. We could easily survive a battle with the craft and achieve her distruction. We would sustain 10% damage ourselves."

"But.....?" Ry read his crew well.

The Klingon's scowl came through in her voice. "Two more vessels of the same configuration are approaching. Our advantage over one vessel is lost when weighed against the maneuverability of three. The targets are small, fast and they bite back. Sensors show that there are nearly twenty ships of the same configuration within fifteen minutes distance and at least two ships that are even match for the Vextis."

"Put them on video, Rah." Ry ordered as the chair turned once again.

The image of the bridge of the other ship was unfamiliar. Kat had never been on either of the New Orleans class ships during her brief stay at Alpha Moon Base, but there was one element that was completely familiar. Behind the startled face of the other ship's communcations officer sat the ship's captain, Samantha Ramsey.

Ry shook his head slightly and was about to say something when Kat placed a hand on his arm. "Saint John, this is Katrylle Morgahn on th'Vextis." She was actually taking a chance this ship *was* the Saint John, but it was a bluff that paid off. "Captain Ramsey, may I speak with you?"

The frown on Captain Ramsey's face was very evident as the view on the monitor zoomed past the communications officer's shoulder to focus on her. "Captain Ramsey here, though I haven't gone by that name in about a year. It's Dent now."

Kat smiled. "Congratulations, Captain Dent. Y'prolly dinnae remember me, but Ben introduced us a while back on Alpha Moon Base....jist b'fore th' Ajax crashed."

The woman chuckled slightly, relaxing visably. "Yes, Commander Morgahn. I remember you. Ben warned me that trouble might be on the way. I have permission to transport you and Satchy into the system. You are to come alone, do you understand?"

"It's jist Kat now, Captain Dent, an yeah, th' subject o'who's gonna b'allowed in came up once er twice. Are y'ready fer me? I'm a bit anxious t'smack th' crap oota our Benny-Boy fer leavin wi'oot a g'bye, nae t'mention leavin his cat in m'care. Y'know how much tuna tha' beast eats??"

Laughter could be heard in the background over the link and Samantha smiled. "Welcome aboard the Saint John, Comm....um...Kat. I'll have someone meet you in the transporter room and escort you to the bridge."

"Thank ye, Captain Dent. I'll see y'in a few, then." As the connection closed, Kat leaned over and kissed Ry softly then stood and spun on her heels for Heaven to retrieve Ben's cat and her duffle.

The Saint John didn't take her all the way. The plan had been for them to drop her off at the first outpost, then a shuttle would take her and Satchy planetside.

She had breathed a sigh of relief when, upon reaching the Saint John, a scan of her person was not done. It wasn't that she was armed that had worried her, her blaster was clearly displayed where it had always been. It was the possiblity of the search for creatures other than herself and the cat that made her nervous. Only two other people knew that Satchy wasn't the only creature she carried into the system with her and none of them had a thing to do with New Oregon.

As she sat comfortably in the shuttle seat, she smiled very slightly at the movement against the back of her shoulders and neck. Her gaze drifted to the stars flashing by the main shuttle window and she leaned forward, tapping the pilot on the shoulder to catch his attention. "How much longer afore we're there?"

The pilot never turned to look at her, merely calling over his shoulder, "About five minutes to atmosphere, then another five to landing."

"Anna chance o'gittin a message t'Benjamin Stinel o'our landin? He's suppose t'be expectin me, though I'm fairly sure he don't know I'm aboot t'land in his lap." The pilot shook his head.

"No. We don't have that capability. You'll be able to reach him once we get planetside." Kat nodded and shifted in her seat, taking great care not to lean too hard against the back of her chair.

Subj: Re:Homecoming Date: 9/22/97 8:22:53 AM From: Ben Stinel

Ben was in the park across the street and he was smoking a cigarette. Which was odd. Even he admitted that. Ben didn't smoke cigarettes. Cigars… okay. Once in a great while, maybe. Never cigarettes. He looked at the glowing cancer stick and frowned, blowing the smoke out of his lungs as he gathered his thoughts.

His "aide" had been trying all day to get an appointment for him at the palace. No luck there.

Lords that didn't fill their seats in the Parliament had to wait at least a week to speak with the king, Brisco had been informed.

Even for the king's brother?

Brother? Haven't you been paying attention? There's a new law out!

So Brisco had slipped into a terminally sour mood and Ben had sent him off to run some errands.

Maybe he was making too much of this. Maybe he should just go home and ignore it. Try to make it clear that he wasn't about to be caught up in politics. He said these things to himself but in the back corner of his mind a nagging voice told him that if he did that he'd be assassinated in a month as an enemy of the throne. No choice for it. He had to get in to see his brother. Once that much was done he knew what he could do.

"Hey, mister!"

Ben looked down to find an eight year old boy anxiously tugging on his sleeve.

"Mister, don't you know that's bad for you?"

"What's bad for me?" He asked the boy.

"That!" said the boy and pointed at his cigarette. Ben glanced at his hand and nodded. "You're right. It's very bad for me," he took another puff.

"Well, don't you care about Lung Cancer?" the boy asked. "Heart disease? Emphysema? Don't you worry about these things."

Ben sighed and took the pack of cigarettes out of his pocket. Kids were getting to smart for their own good. Just as he was about to toss the pack into the nearest waste bin the boy stopped him.

"Can I have them?"

Ben looked at the kid for a minute before he realized the boy was serious.

"No." Ben said and pulled back for his throw again. Suddenly the boy kicked him hard in the shin and laughed, running away with the pack of cigarettes that Ben dropped as a result. Ben scowled and pulled his bruised leg up onto the bench, rubbing it vigorously.

Punk kids were getting entirely too clever.

Frowning, he scrubbed his cigarette out on the path and tossed the butt into the garbage can. He stood up and started walking back towards his hotel after a few minutes, tired of the cold damp park.

At the edge of the park, he stopped. His scowl momentarily shifted to a look of confusion. Something seemed familiar somehow. He turned around and looked directly at a tiny orange dot moving through the sky. The sense of familiarity doubled itself for a moment and was gone as the orange point of light drifted down towards the horizon and out of his sight. He paused for a minute more, scanning the sky while goose bumps spread across his arms. From here he could see most of the park. It was almost empty. No one wanted to be outside on a rainy day like this. They were all indoors. Across the street from where he stood was a large courtyard spread before his hotel. Vehicles sped past every once in a while. There was hardly any traffic on Sunday. Ben saw Philip Brisco emerge from the front doors and Philip saw him. The other man waved and Ben started across the street to meet him.

The hotel exploded.

Subject: Re: Homecoming Date: Thu, Oct 2, 1997 6:55 AM From: KatrylleM

The smile was almost evil in nature. Since the shuttle pilot had begun their decent, Kat had forced herself to relax, reaching her mind out in search of her errant brother. OOh...he was gonna pay for putting her through all this worry.

The smile widened as the pilot confirmed the final touch down sequence with the tower. Benny-boy was in for one hell of a surprise. Suddenly, she felt it. Not strong at first, but the more she focused, the more clear he became. He could sense her, but......she chuckled softly...good...he didn't realize it *was* her. Absently, she scratched Satchy's ears as she tried to solidify the connection.

Suddenly, as if she was there in place of Ben, she saw the man coming from the hotel, she knew who he was and lifted her arm to wave. That arm was flung over her.........his head when the explosion hit. Immediately, she was outside of Ben's body and watching him dive for cover. "BEN!" was all she could get out before she was flung from her feet by the aftershocks, Satchy clawing his way free of her arms.

She didn't even realize her body had somehow caught up with her mind until the ground came up to smack her in the face. Ten feet away Ben had...

Subject: Re:Homecoming Date: Thu, Oct 2, 1997 8:18 AM From: Ben Stinel

…hit the deck. Head tucked down under his arms, Ben felt the shock wave from the explosion pass over his back, showering the entire street with debris. Once the wave had passed, he lifted his head and surveyed the area. On cue, a flaming love seat landed about five feet to his left and he threw his arms over his head again as if doing so would protect him from the hundred and fifty pound object. He was just glad there wasn't someone still on it. Several other objects landed nearby as he got up and scampered back across the street.

There was someone else lying face down in the road nearby. Another patron of the park he guessed as he went over to check her. He rolled the longhaired figure over and started in surprise when he saw Katrylle's scratched and eye patched face. A lamp whistled out of the sky and landed twenty feet away followed a moment later by a small refrigerator containing all of those nice little liquor bottles of various flavors and with the cute little labels. He knew what was in it because it smashed open when it hit the concrete four feet from them.

A small New Oregon tabby scrambled up onto his shoulder and meowed loudly in his ear. He turned his head and was not at all surprised to see Sachy. Why not with the morning he was having. While the cat danced on his shoulder he lifted the slight form of his sister into his arms and carried her into the park and away from the burning building.

He set Kat down on a park bench well outside of the circle of falling debris and pulled his comm off his belt, flipping it open.

"I'm in Hyde Park across the street from the Regency Hotel." Ben paused, listening to the response, "No, the emergency isn't in the park it's in the hotel. The building just went up in flames. There's furniture falling out of the sky down here." Another pause. "Well it's nice to know there are still other people out there who report urban explosions."

Ben snapped the comm shut with growl and turned around to face his sister. Kat groaned and put her hand to her face, fingering the scratches left by the concrete.

She opened her eye and looked at him. She scowled and hit him weakly when he knelt down next to the bench, saying, "Yer always gettin' me inta trouble."

Subject: Re: Homecoming Date: Thu, Oct 9, 1997 8:51 AM From: Ben Stinel

Rather then try to explain Kat to the police when they came he had told her to go deeper into the park and wait for him. The police chalked the explosion up to an assassination attempt. A successful one at that. Ben wasn't the only high lord staying at the hotel that hadn't been in town at the passing of the new law. House Preston was now looking for a new leader. The investigation would be turned over to the CID and more then likely brushed under the rug if the right bribes had been placed.

After half an hour of questions they let him go and he disappeared into the foggy park.

Kat was leaning against a tree, looking into the fog. It was still drizzling, although not as hard as before. Ben stopped by the tree and Sachy jumped off his shoulder to a nearby branch.

"So. Welcome to New Oregon."

He wasn't sure what he expected, but he didn't expect to wind up doubled over on the ground clutching his stomach where she'd just punched him. It took him a few moments to get his breath back but when he did he managed to choke out between coughs, "What the devil was that for?"

"Fer leavin wi' oot sayin g'bye fer one," she told him. "Fer saddlin me wi' yer damn cat fer another!! D'ye know how much tha' furball eats in tuna?! AND...above all else.....fer makin me come after yer sorry hide nae only t'make sure y'were safe, but t'gi' th' four legged garbage can back t'ye!"

Ben coughed a few more times while he tried to come up with an adequate response. When nothing came he said simply, "Nice to see you too."

Kat walked a few steps away and stood with her back to him. After a moment she turned around and marched back over to the tree. She loomed over him for a moment, glaring down at him before moving to the other side of the tree-trunk and crossing her arms with a huff.

Ben stood back up, using the tree for support and peered cautiously around. Kat glanced at him hotly and he flinched back, ready for another punch. When it didn't come, he decided to take his chances and came the rest of the way around the tree.

"I didn't have a lot of time, you know…"

"Hah!" Kat turned on him. "Y' found oot tha' N'Oregon was pullin' away from Rhydin and y'wanted t'find oot why!"

Ben nodded.

"Y'coulda waited t'tell me and then caught th'next transport oot."

Ben almost had the first syllable of his retort out of his mouth before he called it back. "You're right, I could have."

Agreeing with her wasn't the right way to go it seemed because she flared right up at that. "Then why dinnae ye!?"

"Accosting young maidens in the park, my lord? How very noble of you."

Ben and Kat turned simultaneously to face the source of the sarcasm laden voice. It turned out to be a tallish man in his mid twenties. He was wearing a black silk shirt and black pressed pants. His brown hair was cropped to an inch of length. He had an equally brown goatee and a gold earring in his right ear. If you looked closely you could see that the black silk shirt had a patterned black vest over it. The man must have thought that a black tie would have been overkill but he did have the top button of his collar done up.

"Who the devil are you?" Ben asked.

He rolled his eyes and accompanied it with just a slight loll of his head in just such a way that perfectly conveyed that he didn't think much of the person he was doing it to. "I," he said, "am a royal process server. I bear," he removed a wax bound scroll from inside his vest and held it in just such a way that made it perfectly clear that he thought it very silly that it was wax bound, "a royal summons."

"A summons?"

"Why would y'b'gettin' a summons in th'park?" Kat asked.

Ben shrugged, "I wonder what it's about."

"Perhaps you would care to have the summons read, my lord?" the man in black cut in.

"Sure, go ahead."

The man rolled his eyes again and said just loudly enough to hear, "My God, this is so pretentious…" He broke the seal on the scroll and unrolled it, proclaiming, "His Royal Highness, King Jon, Ruler of New Oregon, Protector of the- Are you sure you want this all read? It goes on for paragraphs."

"Give me that." Ben snatched the scroll from the server.

"Thank you," the man said in a sigh of relief before turning and striding towards the park gates.

Ben looked the parchment over, holding it so Kat could see too.

"Says here that my brother wants to talk to me about the assassination attempt when he holds court tomorrow."

"Assassination! Is tha' wha' tha' was jist now? And on who?" Kat's anger was completely forgotten.

"Either on me or on the other guy. And it might not have been just that. It could have been a terrorist bomb…"

"Terrorists," Kat looked at him and shook her head. "Lovely planet."

"Says here I can bring a guest. Wanna come?"

Subject: Re:Homecoming Date: Thu, Oct 16, 1997 9:53 AM From: KatrylleM

Though she had been in several palaces in her life, very few were due to actual invitations from the rulers or owners. Usually, she was breaking into or out of them with either prisoners or treasure. The urge was gonna be hard to fight this time around.

'Blackshirt', as she kept referring to the process server, had kept a good distance ahead of them on the way to the palace, almost as if he did not wish to be tainted by the mere presence of the king's brother and a "woman". Kat was begining to have her doubts about the gender preferences of the man, but she kept them to herself. She was pretty sure she'd be in enough trouble once the constables caught up with her.

At the discovery of the assassination attempt and the distruction of the hotel Ben had been staying in, King Jon had gratiously offered every diplomat in the city a suite at the palace for the night. Kat had tried to bow out of the overnight stay, but Ben had insisted so, in the end, she just shrugged and walked along.

She still hadn't told him about her "secret" and she cast a nervous glance at Blackshirt. She hadn't realized she had sighed until Ben nudged her. She blinked once and looked at him like he was nuts. "Wha' was tha' fer?"

"You were off in space. You haven't heard a word I've said for the past five minutes." She frowned at him, trying to remember if he had actually said anything. This caused his eyes to sparkle even though his face remained perfectly passive. She growled, knowing he had been teasing, then glanced again at Blackshirt who had slipped further ahead of them. She still wasn't comfortable with the proximity of the man so, when her gaze flicked back to

Ben, she made a distinct movement to her neck, clutching the ring that *still* dangled on a silver chain there. She saw his eyes shift to her hand, back to her face, to Blackshirt then back to her face again, a very slight nod finishing off the instantanious movements.

>Um. How soon you think them guards o'yers are gonna come lookin fer their lost lamb?<

He frowned then almost laughed at the question. >Guards? For you? Escorting you in system was a big hush hush operation. They'll be on the look out for you just so they can keep an eye on you but there won't be an active search for an "Alien from outer space".<

She actually seemed to look guilty, an expression Ben wasn't quite use to, particularly from her. >Alright.....um.......question number two. Think they'd git hostile ifin they....um.....discovered I brought sumthin wi' me?<

Very pointedly, he did *not* look at her with concern. >What sort of something<

She turned her gaze to Blackshirts ever fading back, then causually looked at the scenery around her. >oooohh....... welllllll.......a little treasure I discovered on th' Vextis.<

This time he glanced at her, catching the undertone in the word "treasure" that would not have been there if he was talking to anyone but Kat. >Then I'd make damn sure they didn't find out.<

>Alright, look. You made it sound like sumthin was up an' I figgered tha' garbage can o' a cat o'yers was n'use in a decent fight. S'I stacked th' deck, s'ta speak. I got m'self another pet. B'fore I left RhyDin, Cam gae me wha' he thought t'be a female faerie dragon. I named her Avalon. Welp. Turns oot th' dragon was jist an illusion t'hide th' real creature b'hind. M'dragon turned oot t'be a demon....literally. In any case, she's um.....well......she's wi' us.....in a sense.<

He returned his gaze to the people around him as if there was no conversation of such a magnatude was going on between them. >I don't think supernatural beings count. But, you said yourself you didn't find your pet on the Vextis.<

>Aye. I dinnae. *But*....I did discover Ry's chief security officer. A woman b'th' name o' LaeAnne. She's got this......nack o'b'comin wha' she touches skin t'skin. Welp, like I said, y'made it seem as though sumthin was up, so I asked Ry t'loan LaeAnne t'me fer as long as I was here. Since I couldnae jist bring her ootright...< She shrugged, leaving the rest of the scentence unspoken.

He looked at her again, this time with a more critical eye. >Well, just keep your hair down.< She arched an eyebrow, then shook her head at his comment. She would have added something but his voice interrupted her.

"We're almost there. See the towers over those buildings down the block? That's the palace."

Subject: Re:Homecoming Date: Sun, Oct 19, 1997 6:21 AM From: Ben Stinel

The palace was arranged to direct traffic towards the throne room. Ben remembered thinking the same thing the one other time he had been there. Two years ago during his only visit home since he had first left. In his own mind he was still getting used to the idea that his brother was the ruler of the entire system. The main hallway had no adjoining passageways. No doors. Evenly spaced alcoves held ivory busts of former holders of the crown on either side of the hall. Two rows of forty guards stood at strict attention, each one holding a polished bayonet stiffly to their shoulders. Former Kings had taken comfort in knowing that even if someone with sinister motives made it through the gauntlet, they stood no chance of getting out again. At the far end of the hall two tall mahogany doors stood open, their tops nearly reaching the fourteen foot high arched ceiling. Ben stood there at the end of the hall and couldn't help feeling a sense of awe.

"Nice carpet," Kat said beside him. "Bright red. I thought this was a palace, nae a cat house."

This was followed by an extremely shocked and offended gasp from behind them. Black Shirt, Ben realized he had picked the name right out of Kat's thoughts, hadn't come into the hallway with him and Kat. Instead he was beckoning them back into the outer hallway.

"Your audience with the king is tomorrow," he told them. "In the mean time I will take you to your quarters. That will at least give us time to find the pair of you more… suitable clothing." He closed the remark with a pointed glance at Kat's skin tight leather pants, thigh high leather boots, ruffled white shirt and leather vest. The entire ensemble seemed to offend him and he would undoubtedly have requested a change of attire even if there had been an article of clothing between the pair of them that hadn't been scuffed in some way by the near run in with the exploding hotel.

Kat shifted her weight to one dangerous stiletto heeled boot and crossed her arms over her chest. Ben could feel it coming, but could do nothing to stop her. Slowly, she gave Black Shirt the once over, both eyebrows raised to match the sarcasm in her voice. "Wha? Black shirts are th' fashion trend fer th' day? N'thanks. I wouldnae wanna b'mistaken fer ye."

Realizing that she was just getting started and seeing Black Shirts jaw drop at the indignity of it all, he quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her back into the Hall. "Thanks for the offer, but I'm really in kind of a rush," he said in a rush, anxious to separate Kat from her intended target.

He set off down the hall with Kat in tow at faster then his usual brisk pace. He even held onto Kat's left arm just to make sure she wouldn't go back and hash it out with Black Shirt. So, he thought, distract her. "Kat," he said. "I want you to promise me that whatever you see or hear me do in there you won't burst out laughing."

That worked well enough. At least she wasn't glancing back anymore. She was intrigued. She arched an eyebrow, a smirk already forming on her lips. "Wha'? Y'gonna bark like a dog an' chase yer tail er smuthin?"

"Promise," he warned her. "Or I'll send you back to Black Shirt and have him put you in the most horrid and poofy pink dress he can find."

She held her hands up, not in surrender....she would *never* surrender..... more like compliance. "Alright, alright.....ifin it's tha' important t'ye......" She let the rest of the sentence go unsaid.

At the end of the hall they came to a stop. A fat bald man stood at a podium there with a list. "Names?" He asked in a sort of condescending upward tone.

"Lord Benjamin of House Stinel and company."

"Lord Benjamin, yes…" the man made a show of checking his list before looking up at them with confusion. "Lord Benjamin? But you're not supposed to attend court until tomorrow."

Ben folded his hands behind his back, "I demand the Right of Audience which is the right of any High Lord who does not hold his seat in Parliament."

The fat man raised an eyebrow at that. Doing so actually pointed out the fact that he didn't actually have any eyebrows. "Such is your right. Wait. I'll announce you."

The fat man stepped through the mahogany doors and boomed across the large room beyond in a deep strong voice. While he did this Ben leaned over to Kat and whispered, "I don't know why I didn't do this before. Two days now I've been trying to get an appointment and all the while I've had the power to just drop by if I felt like it."

"You may enter," the man said, reclaiming his post at the podium.

Ben glanced at Kat and she nodded. They stepped into the throne room together.

Subject: Re:Homecoming Date: Sun, Oct 19, 1997 8:07 AM From: Ben Stinel

"In a related story we bring you live to our palace corespondent, Shauna Lane, live at the scene. Shauna?"

"Thank you, Renton. I'm Shauna Lane with P-Span live. What you're seeing now is footage recorded only a few short minutes ago. In a surprise visit to King Jon's court this afternoon, Benjamin Stinel, High Seat of House Stinel, swore an oath of fealty to King Jon. This is the first such act by a high lord in one hundred and fifty years, Renton and the attendants at court today were shocked."

"So, Shauna, we're all wondering here what exactly this means. To the King, to House Stinel, and to the general public."

"Well, Renton, Benjamin Stinel swore an oath of fealty. Webster's Third Interplanetary Dictionary defines 'fealty' as 'the fidelity of a vassal or feudal tenant to his lord or king'. Basically, Benjamin relinquished all property and holdings of House Stinel into the possession of the King. In effect, Benjamin became the caretaker of part of the King's estate. No lord has been subservient to the King of New Oregon in just such a way in more then a hundred years…"

Ben flipped the TV off as he and Kat walked in and jumped over the sofa to sit down. "Nice place."

Kat didn't say anything. She walked around the room slowly, humming quietly to herself and fingering things here and there. There was a slight smirk on her face, but not what Ben expected. Curious about her odd behavior, Ben turned around and looked at her.

"I was sure you'd be rolling on the floor by the time we got out of the public eye. I saw you squirming when I leaned down and kissed Jon's ring."

She glanced at him, the smirk still playing around her lips, and picked up an ivory statuette from the mantle of the fire place.

Just in time to avoid answering, the door to the apartment burst open and King Jon burst in right after it. "Ben, that was brilliant! I don't know how you came up with the idea!"

Ben grinned at his brother and stood up to face him, "Well, this politics stuff was really always your game anyway, Jon. I've been struggling to catch up ever since I got home."

"So I noticed. I doubt you'll have to worry about any more assassination attempts now. Oh!" Jon turned and extended a hand to Kat. "My apologies. If my wife were in here she'd be reminding me how terribly rude I am. I'm Ben's brother, Jon."

"Kat," she answered, shaking his hand.

"Kat. Sounds familiar."

"Katrylle Morgahn, Jon. Recon Lance Commander for the Doom Bringers." Ben said.

"Former," Kat amended.

"Katrylle! That's right. Well, I should have guessed by the eyepatch. I've heard so much about you," Jon said.

Kat glanced at Ben and he shrugged, thinking to her,

"Not the least of which," Jon continued, "being how you got into the system. That took some work."

"I called in a few favors just in case." Ben said.

Jon grinned, "You've got no idea how many laws you're breaking, have you?"

Ben grinned back and shrugged. "Some idea," he admitted.

"Ahh, what's the good of being the King's brother if you can't break a few immigration laws?" Jon motioned them to the door with a smile. "Common. Let me give you the grand tour before dinner. It'll give me a chance to introduce you both to my wife. You never met my wife, did you, Ben?"

"Actually, I think I did meet Tammera once. At a school dance in eighth grade… They shipped us all over to that girl's school, remember?"

"She did go to that school, didn't she?" Jon mused. "Eighth grade. How about that. Now you can't say no. Common, both of you! Let me show you my kingdom. Well, at least the part of it in this building."

Subject: Re: Homecoming Date: Tue, Oct 28, 1997 4:48 PM From: KatrylleM

She had finally slipped away from the palace and the sudden flurries known as Jon and Tammera. Course, "slipped" probably wasn't the correct word.

From the moment Kat met Jon's wife in the informal dining room, she knew the two women were not destined to become anything more than aquaintences. Tammera seemed to have the impression that all women were adicted to shopping so, starting from the moment the appetizers appeared and not ending until after the desert dishes were cleared away, she gave Kat every tip she could think of on the best places to buy this or that. Kat tuned her out after about the first thirty seconds, providing only a slight nod or a murmered "Huh-huh" here and there when the woman stopped long enough to take a breath.

Kat's attention returned to the woman, however, when she mentioned antiques. From what Kat could gather from the hasty speech of the queen, there was a part of the city that had restored to it's origonal ancestrial splendor. The "Old Quarter", as it was referred to by the locals, played host mainly to antique stores, though there were several quaint coffee houses and book nooks as well. The glint of mischief in Ben's eyes was blatantly ignored as

Kat finially joined the queen's one sided conversation.

Now, twenty minutes later, she had successfully dodged an invitation to listen to the queen play the harpsicord, wrangled some local currency in the form of a "spending allowance" card and ducked out of the palace before she was waylayed by the queen once again. She was free and dangerous, least as far as Ben's account was concerned.

The Old Quarter was easy to find. She got a taxi to take her most of the way. There was a place in the city where the modern buildings and trafic simply stopped. The cab driver let her out in a small parking lot somewhere along the boundry. The road continued into the quarter but instead of concrete it was paved with red bricks. Yellow poles stood at three foot intervals across the road to make the point. Pedestrians only. The buildings were as antique as the road was and people bustled in and out with their purchases or wiping their mouths after a meal. Tourists in a tourist trap, but a good one.

Kat stopped just inside the no car boundry and took a deep breath. There was a bakery near by and the smell of fresh bread was wafting out into the street. A sandwich shop had a hand written sign declairing that the footlong tuna sub was the sandwich of the day.

This was perfect...heaven for Kat. Antiques had always been her biggest weakness and before the first shops started closing their doors, she had managed to put a sizable chunk in Ben's credit account. Her arms full of packages, she was about to make her way back to the place the cab had let her out when a soft chittering sound caught her attention.

The hand painted sign in the large front window of the little, brick adorned shop made her laugh.

"Tails Optional"

It wasn't the name of the shop, though it would have been perfect for the pet store nestled in the quiet alley. The sign was merely explaining that the tiny, multicolored primates romping behind the glass came with or without tails. While the sign was funny, the antics of the little beasts made her laugh harder.

The monkeys were tiny, averaging about a foot in height. The tails on those who *had* tails were about 2 feet long and they used them for just about everything. Those without tails did not seem hampered by their "handicap". They leaped across the bars and ropes just as well balanced as the others.

There was no defined coloring to the fur on the various monkeys; some were white, some black, some various shades of brown and some were a mixture of colors. The fur also varied in length, ranging from short to extremely long. All these differences didn't appear to matter to the monkeys, however. There was no grouping of one type or another and the only conflict seemed to be which one could make Kat laugh the hardest.

Through the flury of fur, something caught Kat's attention. Huddled silently in a far corner, it's tail wrapped around it's feet and backside at least twice, sat a monkey much smaller than the others. It's fur was mostly short and black though a cap of long white fur sat on it's head like a wig. Its status as "outcast" was reinforced as several of the monkeys took great pleasure in hitting it as they passed. Kat made up her mind almost instantly and moved to the door.

Turning the knob, Kat attempted to enter the shop. Instead, she smacked a booted toe into the bottom of the door as it refused to budge. The resulting bang caused the clerk inside to jump. Kat blinked, then actually read the sign directly in front of her nose as the clerk shouted the single word; "CLOSED!"

Kat frowned, then, with a sidelong glance at the little monkey, smiled at the clerk. "Kin I jist quickly purchase one o' yer monkeys? M'daughter will b'so thrilled!" The clerk shook her head.

"Come back tomorrow. We open at ten!" This time it was Kat's turn to shake her head.

"I won't b'here t'morrow. I'm leavin' th'pla......um...I'll be leavin' town a'sun up. Please. I won't be but a moment. My daughter's birthday is tomorrow and she would be so tickled. Please? I would *really* hate to disappoint her. She's wanted one of your monkeys for so long now." Kat felt the poke in the middle of her back, but maintained the smile, the words quietly whispered past her lips. "She ain't gonna know th' difference. Y'really need t'quit bein' me conscious." Another poke, this one a bit harder, made itself felt. Kat raised her voice once again to the woman inside the shop. "Ifin y'like, y'kin git th'critter an' everythin it'll need while I wait here. Y'need nae open th' door until yer ready t'accept th'......hundred credits."

Kat almost smirked in satisfaction as the woman flinched at the amount. The monkeys had been advertised at 30 credits and with food and bowls for it, as well as a harness and leash, Kat estimated the cost to be no more than 45-50 credits. She could tell she hit an extremely tender, but useful nerve with the woman.

It took the clerk less than thirty seconds to make up her mind. Quickly, she gathered the food stuffs, held up several harnesses and leashes for Kat to choose from, then, finally, moved to the window to capture which ever monkey Kat had set her heart on. When Kat pointed to the little one still huddled in the corner, the woman gave Kat a look that spoke volumes. "The runt? Why would you want the runt? There are much more playful monkeys in the cage."

Actual communication was not possible through the thick glass, so Kat merely ran her hand down her own hair then pointed at the monkey. The woman only shook her head, adding yet another in a very long line who seemed to think Kat was a loonie.

The monkey did not reisist. He simply hung in the woman's hand as she carried him and the bag of supplies to the door. Setting the bag at her feet, the woman unlocked the door and opened it just far enough to slip the monkey out to Kat. During the pass, Kat slipped Ben's credit card into the woman's hand as she took the monkey.

Kat heard the gasp as the woman read the name on the card, but continued to cuddle the monkey, talking to it softly as she gently stroked its fur. She knew there would be no trouble with the card. Ben had Kat's picture placed on it to assure there would be no concern on the vendors' parts. Hurriedly, the woman slipped back into the depths of the shop, leaving the door partially opened. As the clerk rang up the purchases, Kat slid the door open further and retrieved the bag.

Crouching, she pulled out the deep purple harness and leash and began attaching them to the monkey. All the while, the little beast just clung to her silently.

As soon as the last buckle was hooked, the woman stood at the door, pulling it open wide. "My apologies, Miss Morgahn. I didn't realized you were with the house of Stinel. Please, if you are in need of anything further, let me know. I would be happy to help you!"

Kat's smile was genuine as she shook her head. The little monkey had climbed up Kat's shirt to perch on her shoulder when the woman had returned to the door and Kat idlely scratched it's black chest. "Jist two things an' I'll leave y'be, Ma'am. First, is m'monkey a male er female and second, d'ye hae any treats I kin gi' her fer trainin purposes?"

Before rushing back into the store, the woman confirmed that the monkey was a female. Within moments, the woman returned with another large shopping bag in her hand. Setting it next to the first, she shook her head emphatically when Kat tried to hand her the credit card once again. "It would be my pleasure, Miss Morgahn. Will there be anything else?" Kat thought for a moment, almost laughing as her "conscious" made it's move again. "Jist one other thin. A book on th' beasts. I'll b'needin t'know how t'keep th' little one happy an' healthy."

As if anoyed by her own forgetfulness, the woman once again rushed into the depths of the store and within seconds, Kat had the requested item in hand. Smiling once again at the clerk, Kat bent to pick up the packages, the monkey shifting instinctivly with her. "Thank ye, Ma'a, on me daughter's b'half. I'll b'sure t'tell Mr. Stinel o'yer wonderous shop. Twas a pleasure."

Kat waved to the woman just before stepping onto the main brick covered road. Humming happily, a bag in each hand, Kat made her way out of the old quarter and back to the taxi stand. Ry was gonna flip when he saw the monkey, but he would also know why she had bought her.

Kat couldn't face going back to the palace just yet. It was still early, about 9:00 in the evening, and she was fairly sure Tammera would still be awake, if nothing more, than to see what Kat had purchased. Fortunately, though she had bought much, it was all to be delivered to Ben's house the next day. For now, Kat just wanted to enjoy the nightlife of New Oregon.

She had asked the taxi driver to take her to his favorite bar and the man replied happily, agreeing to lock her bags in the trunk when she offered to buy him a round or two of drinks. He was a nice portly fellow of about fifty, married with seven kids, or so the picture on the dashboard claimed. Once she had asked about the picture, he prattled on about his family with pride and love as he navigated the streets on instinct alone.

He was still prattling as he helped her out of the cab, stopping only long enough to let her know that the proprietor would not allow the monkey in the bar, but, since she was a friend of Old Max, she would be allowed. Kat couldn't help but chuckle as "Old Max" slapped his chest with pride. Instinctively, she leaned up and kissed his cheek. "Yer a sweetie, Max. An' ye ain't old a' all." Max blushed six shades of scarlet, huffed and tried to look stern.

"Careful, lass. I'm a married man!" Kat giggled. "I'll try t'be good an' keep m'hands t'meself from now on, Max. I promise ye." Max glared at her for a moment longer before breaking out in smiles and leading her into one of the most interesting places she had ever been to.

The decor.....if it could be called that....seemed to change with each step across the scarred, hardwood floor. One portion looked as if it belonged on a pirate laced wharf in Madagascar during Earth's 16th century, another appeared to be from a pub directly from RhyDin. It was as if the owner could not make up his mind as to what type of bar he wanted. Curious, Kat leaned up to yell in Max's ear. "Wha's th' name o' this place?"

Max laughed loudly. "It's called Max's, lass." Kat blinked, took half a step back and gave Max the once over.

"Y'sly dog! *Ye* are th' proprietor! M'thinks tis ye who should b'buyin *me* a round er two then, eh?!" Max laughed again, the sound turning several patrons' heads to look in their direction. "It was my full intention, lass!" With that, he slid his arm around her waist and pushed her towards the bar, his bulk veering off to relieve the barman.

For several hours, Kat learned just about everything about Max, the bar and several of the patrons. Then, just in the middle of a rather bawdy joke, every patron in the room went dead silent. Arching an eyebrow, Kat glanced around, seeing all eyes glued to the twin televisions behind the bar. She blinked several times and followed their gaze, gasping as she saw her own picture paired with Ben's on the screen.

"Once again, the King has been murdered. One suspect, the kings own brother Benjamin Stinel, is currently in custody. A second suspect, an outsider he seems to have smuggled planet side, is being sought at this moment. Katrylle Morgahn about 5' tall with distinctive black hair that reaches her calves. She wears a silver studded eye patch over her right eye and is considered dangerous. If you have any information on this woman, please contact the police as soon as possible. Now, to Shauna Lane with an on the scene report."

"Thank you, Renton. I'm Shauna Lane with P-Span live. I received a report just moments ago that indeed, the king and queen are dead, apparently murdered in their sleep at approximately ten o'clock this evening by the very man who only this afternoon pledged his fealty. There is not much information on the second subject, Stinel's alleged sister-in-law, Katrylle Morgahn, but it seems as though Stinel had her illegally smuggled onto the planet. Details are sketchy at this moment, but, to reiterate once again, King Jonathan Stinel and his wife Tammera Stinel *have* been murdered. Back to you, Renton."

Kat shook her head slowly in utter disbelief. Only when a rather large hand was laid over hers did she realize that everyone in the bar was staring at her. Nervously, she licked her lips, glanced at the hand covering her hers, then up to the concerned face of Max. His voice was gentle. "You were here, lass. I got a room full of people who will attest to it. All you need to do is explain it to the cops and we'll back you up. The worst they can do is deport you."

Kat choked on the first word past her lips, coughed once then tried again. "Ben didnae d'it! Wha' will they d't' him?" Max shook his head slowly, sadly.

"Worst for him will be death as a traitor and assassin. It's yourself you need to worry about now, lass. Let me call the cops and...."

Kat jumped off the bar stool, causing the monkey on her shoulder to scream in surprise. "NO! You dinnae understand. He's m'brother....I cannae let them railroad him inta an easy solution!" Before anyone could stop her, she ran out the door and into the darkest night she had seen in a very long time. She spent the rest of the night avoiding sirens and passerbys and it wasn't until the sky had begun to turn magenta that Max had found her.

Somehow, he managed to coax her into the cab and drove her home to meet Maddy and the kids. As her eyes closed in exhaustion, she whimpered as she realized she was still no closer to a solution for Ben. She did not hear the whispered conversation in the next room.

Subject: Re: Homecoming Date: Fri, Nov 7, 1997 5:58 AM From: Ben Stinel

"Wake up."

Ben grunted and lifted his head. He'd only just fallen asleep and now he was being shouted at? "What's going on?" Rolling over to look at whoever it was did no good. It was a dark shape in a dark room on a cloudy night. Whoever it was, though, he was smiling. Ben could tell by his voice.

"Sit up slowly. Don't make any sudden movements. We need you alive for now but I won't hesitate to put a bullet through you. Another dead noble tonight won't make a bit of difference in the long run."

Ben slowly put his feet on the ground and raised his hands. He was trying to make out some detail of his captor but it was too dark. A movement to his right made him turn his head. Two of them, not just one.

"Oh, put your hands down. Don't insult me. You don't think we checked you for weapons before we woke you? Not that you're the type to sleep with a blaster under your pillow. If you get through this alive then I'd start if I were you."

"You want me to put the binders on him, boss?"

The dark shape in front of Ben moved a bit. Shaking of the head, Ben guessed. Correctly.

"No. No evidence, remember? Cuts on the wrist where hand cuffs would go would be a bad thing."

"Right. Guess the threat of dying is gonna have ta be good enough then," the flunky said. "Common, yer lordieness. Get dressed."

Ben pulled on the pants and shirt he had worn to dinner. They were still on the floor by his bed where he'd left them.

"Follow me up or yer gonna be a very dead noble. No funny stuff either."

Ben stood up and moved slowly towards the dark shape on his right. When the dark shape moved up onto a stool from the wet bar, he followed. As he moved through the air duct into the ventilation system he realized that they had bypassed the security alarm to get into the room.

He followed the lackey a few feet down the vent way before turning around to see the guy in charge follow them up and gesture at him. Ben still hadn't seen the gun but he wasn't going to take any chances.

"Who are you guys anyway?" he chanced, looking under his arm at the head kidnapper.

A brief light flared up and Ben saw a ski-mask and a cigarette. Then the light went out as the match was extinguished and all that was left was the faint glowing tip and the smell of tobacco smoke.

"Get moving." The man said. He wasn't smiling anymore by the sound of his voice.

Ben started moving forward and said casually, "I thought you were trying not to leave any evidence behind. I don't smoke you know. Cig smoke is pretty heavy evidence."

"Actually," the man said behind him, "a tabloid vid-zine got some very nice footage of you in the park today. I took this from the pack you had in your jacket. Now shut up and get moving."

He crawled in silence through the vents, following the flunky close behind and with the boss right behind him. They passed through two intersections and for a fleeting moment Ben thought of making a break for it. He stopped himself when he saw the glowing embers of a lit cig waiting in the adjoining vent.

"Okay, down here."

He realized the flunky had stopped on the other side of an open vent.

Ben looked down and saw someone waiting to help him down.

"Remember," a voice said quietly behind him. "I've got you covered back here. No funny stuff."

He dropped through the vent head first and held on to the edge to rite himself as he flipped down. By the time he had sorted out where he was, the man already in the room had jumped and been pulled into the vent.

He looked up and saw the glowing tip of the cig in the boss's hand. And something else.

"Catch."

The object dropped from the man's hand as the ski masked form pulled out of sight. Instinctively, Ben reached out and caught it. Then he realized what it was. It was his boot knife. And it was sticky.

The door opened and light flooded into the room.

"FREEZE!"

"HE'S GOT A KNIFE!"

"All right! Drop it, buddy!"

Ben blinked in the sudden light and did as he was told as five uniformed palace guards surrounded him. A sixth went over to the bed and lifted the covers while one of Ben's guards turned on the light. The sixth man turned around and almost heaved up his dinner.

"What is it, Jim?"

"Owhh, God! He killed 'em! He killed the King and Queen!"

Four of Ben's guards gaped at the sixth man in stunned silence. The fifth one winked at him and smiled.

At that moment Ben realized what was going on. The man that had been waiting in the room had just killed his brother and now *he* was being implicated. And the fifth guard was in on it! While the other guards stared at the bed, stunned, Ben kicked the gun out of the fifth one's hand and then slugged him in the face with all of the force he could muster. The guard anticipated enough to keep his jaw from being unhinged but the result was the same.

The other guards realized what was happening and they pulled Ben to the ground together. While three of them held him down the fourth snapped handcuffs around his wrists.

"You did it, you really did it. You killed your own brother." One of the guards said in his ear.

"I didn't," Ben answered as well as he could with his face pressed against the floor. "I was framed."

"You expect us to believe that, you heartless S.O.B?" Said the one on his back. The gray haired guard pulled him to his feet by the bracelets and turned him around roughly and looked him in the eyes. "We found you with a bloody knife in your hands. There isn't a court in this sector that would fail to convict you. You Lords may get off on a lot of laws, but with Murder, it's always the same."

The guard that Ben had punched got to his feet and was holding his hand to a bloody lip.

"You okay, Charlie?" asked the guard that had handcuffed Ben.

"Yeah," Charlie answered. "Just let me process him. I'll be fine."

"Sure. He's all yours." The older guard shoved Ben in Charlie's direction. Charlie didn't bother to take any care in how gently he stopped his ward and the entire procession moved towards security.

"Okay, sit over there," Charlie shoved him into a chair by his desk and sat down in front of his terminal. "Never had ta book a noble before. Should be fun." Charlie wagged his eyebrows and grinned at Ben.

Ben rubbed his wrists. Now that he was safely in custody they had seen fit to join his hands in front of him instead of behind. "Why are you doing this?"

Charlie glanced at him and quirked a brow. "What d'ya think this is? A bad spy movie? Now that the bad guys have the good guy by the short hairs they're gonna tell the chump everything? Sorry, chump, it don't work that way. And I wouldn't spread your story around either. Half the guys in this room are in on it."

Ben glanced around the room, looking at the various uniformed guards in a new light. "I don't need to know how. Why?"

Charlie lit a cig and looked at him. "Okay. You ever hear of the American Revolution?"

"Yeah. Earth military history is mandatory in the acadamy."

Charlie blew some smoke into Ben's face and shook his head. "This is nothing like the American Revolution. That was reactive. This is a proactive-"

A large hand came down on Charlie's shoulder and just like that he stopped.

The hand was connected to an arm and Ben followed the arm to the owner of the hand.

"You shouldn't be talking about that, Charlie." The man's hair was cut short, less then half an inch. Gray hairs flecked through the red except for his side burns. There the red hairs flecked through the gray. The voice was instantly familiar and Ben imagined he could see the ski mask over the face. The man motioned to another uniformed officer, saying, "Peterson, would you take over for Charlie? He and I need to have a little talk."

Ben watched the pair walk off and couldn't help but notice the suddenly terrified expression on Charlie's face.

Subject: Re: Homecoming Date: Mon, Nov 24, 1997 11:19 AM From: KatrylleM

It had been two days...two days of pacing, planning and worrying. By some miracle, Max, Maddy and LaeAnne had kept Kat from storming the castle, so to speak, to break Ben out. Course, it wouldn't have helped anyway. She discovered the hard way the first morning that Ben had been moved to a maximum security jail cell far from the palace.

Once Kat discovered Maddy had free rein of the palace as the housekeeping supervisor, it had taken quite a bit of begging and pleading before the older woman agreed to take Kat with her the day after the murders as one of the "crew". Luckily, Maddy believed, as Max did, that Ben was innocent.

It hadn't taken much to get a uniform for Kat. The tough part was concealing her hair and eye patch. There was no way in *hell* all that hair was going to fit under one of the caps that came with the uniform. As Kat sat in a worn but solid chair, Maddy and LaeAnne, who had made an appearance at the front door hours before, circled her slowly several times, one arm across her ample bosom the other propped on it, fingers against her chin in thought. Finally, Maddy snapped her fingers, smiled and proceeded to braid, weave and twist Kat's ebony curls into some form of magic.

Magic....that was the only way Kat could describe it. By the time Maddy was done, the cap fit perfectly and Kat appeared to have shoulder length hair. Kat smiled up at the older woman in appreciation. She only received a concentrated frown in return.

"We'll have to do something about that eye patch Again, Maddy began tapping her fingers against her chin in thought. Suddenly, a slow smile began to form on the woman's lips. Without a word, she dashed from the room as fast as her portly form could carry her. Moments later, with just as much speed, Maddy returned carrying a pair of dark glasses and a white cane tipped in red. Kat blinked, but before she could ask the questions racing through her mind, the items were shoved into her hands and Maddy was telling her to hurry or they'd miss their bus.

Without further hesitation, Kat removed her patch and settled the sunglasses accross the bridge of her nose. She didn't have to practice much at being blind. The disguise had come in handy on Kendel 6 when she and Jack had to break Joke out of a manor house dungeon he had been thrown in for playing footsy with the owner's wife.

Maddy nodded and smiled as she stepped aside to let her husband in. As Max's eyes settled on Kat, he blinked, looked to his wife, then back to Kat again. "Corly?" Maddy giggled.

"She looks like her, doesn't she?" Maddy linked an arm through Max's. Kat frowned, looking between the two.

"Dare I ask who this Corly be?" Kat had never been the kind to pry into other's lives, but the look on Max's face piqued her curiosity.

Max shook himself and blinked again before coughing once. "Um. Corly is my oldest daughter. She left the planet several years ago. My *GOD* you look just *like* her!" Slowly, Max walked around Kat giving her the once over. Shaking his head, he walked to his wife and kissed her soundly. "You've done a wonderful job, my love. But you'd better get going. They'll suspect something if you're late."

Maddy nodded then kissed her husband's chin before holding a hand out to Kat. "Come along Corly. Time to get our work done." Kat didn't miss the wink directed at her and immediately fell into the role of the woman's daughter. It wasn't hard to accomplish.

The trip to the palace had been short. It was getting past the crowds of people that took so long. Most were sobbing hysterically, other screaming in rage. All of it was directed at the main gates of the palace. Slowly, Maddy leading the way, the two women were able to slip through the palace gates. The guards had instantly recognized the uniform of the cleaning staff and then, as she got closer, the face of the kindly woman who had treated them all like sons. Kat was amazed to see a smile on every man's face as they looked at the older woman, despite the tragedy that had taken place just the night before.

When the guards' collective gaze fell on Kat, she tried to keep from stiffening. As they had shouldered their way through the crowd, Kat pretended to cower against Maddy's bulk. Now, the ruse seemed to soften the guards. Their questioning was expected, and Kat's nervousness eased as she realized the inquisition was executed with only half hearted intent. Before they had left the house, Maddy had produced Corly's old security badge, clipping it on Kat's uniform. Now, supported by Maddy's story that her "daughter" was filling in for a sick member of her crew, Kat....or rather Corly had been allowed to pass.

Once inside the palace, Maddy lead Kat to the security office under the pretense of cleaning the room. In one of the numerous news reports, it had been mentioned that Ben was being detained in a "holding cell". This was the only part of the palace that would fit that description. Unfortunately, they were too late. Kat's heart sank as she realized the only cell in the room was completely empty.

Somehow, Maddy must have sensed Kat's mood swing. Squeezing her hand lightly, Maddy then took Kat by the shoulders and turned her towards a desk. Once in position, Maddy reached down for Kat's hand and placed a feather duster in it. "Dust this area, Corly. I need to have a talk with Tom for a moment." Kat could only bring herself to nod slightly before going through the motions of dusting a lamp. Within a heartbeat, Maddy disappeared through a doorway Kat hadn't noticed before.

Kat took a moment to pull herself together and remember who she was suppose to be. The guard that had remained in the room had not taken any particular notice of her and so she went about her business, humming softly as she "blindly" dusted the desk. The humming paused, however, as Kat caught sight of Ben's name on a piece of paper sticking from a folder on the desktop. Kat recovered quick enough and, in an effort to occupy the guard, Kat "accidently" dusted the desk lamp right onto the floor, shattering the bulb and lamp hood. To complete the distraction, Kat screamed, then burst out into hysterical crying as the guard immediately appeared by her side.

Kat had noticed the man wore no wedding ring and had taken the chance that he was the sort of man who could not handle the hysterics of a female over a simple mishap. It was a gamble that paid off. Stammering and stuttering, the man seemed unable to decide between calming the woman or cleaning up the remains of the shattered lamp. Kat made the decision for him by suddenly collapsing in his arms in a "faint".

Carefully, the man lifted and carried her to a cot in the cell, leaving the door open as he ran out of the room to retrieve some form of "revival" for the fallen woman. Once alone, Kat moved with lightning speed, running to the desk and grabbed the folder as well as a garbage bag from the can under the desk. Wrapping the folder in the bag, she shoved it to the bottom of a pail filled with dirty water. Wiping her hands on her apron, Kat darted back into the cell and onto the cot milliseconds before the guard returned with smelling salts.

As the salts passed under her nose, the pungent odor caused her to jump. Again the broken container made it's way under her nose and she almost sighed her relief as she heard Maddy's frantic voice.

"What have you done to my daughter?!!!! Corly!!! Corly what has happened??" Kat whimpered to hide the laugh that threatened to expose her at Maddy's act. The guard, on the other hand, caught in a fairly compromising position could do nothing more than stammer all over again. He never really got the chance to explain as Maddy shoved him aside to reach Kat's side. Slowly, Kat sat up and rubbed her head.

"I'm sorry, mama. I dinnae mean ta break another lamp!"

Kat could see the twinkle in Maddy's eyes as she realized the situation was something of Kat's creation. "Ah Corly. Not another one. Alright dear. I'll take care of it." Maddy protectivly wrapped an arm around Kat as she lifted her to her feet. Glaring at the guard who had continued to stutter, Maddy once again shouldered her way past him, leading Kat out of the cell.

Seeing the shattered lamp on the floor, Kat....or rather Corly began to cry once again. "Mama...I wanna go home. I'm sorry mama....please don't be mad mama."

Maddy patted Kat's hand gently cooing, purring and assuring her "daughter" that all would be taken care of, adding that they would be leaving immediately. As Maddy lead Kat to the exit of the room, Kat stopped suddenly. "Mama... didn't you leave a bucket of water in here somewhere?" She could sense Maddy's confusion as she answered the question in the affirmative.

"I'll have one of the girls move it for us, honey. We need to get you home now." Again, Maddy made as if to leave the room. Kat held firm.

"But mama...I couldnae fergi' m'self ifin tha' nice man were ta hurt himself on it. Please mama. I've caused enough damage t'day."

Maddy could tell that Kat was trying to tell her something. Nodding slowly, Maddy patted Kat's hand and lifted it off her arm. Smiling at the guard, Maddy returned and wheeled the bucket towards the door. "Be a good boy Dennis and clean up that mess will you please?" Dennis nodded mutely and proceeded to do as she had bid.

In the seclusion of a supply closet, Kat dumped the bucket into the utility sink and unwrapped the file. Carefully, she rolled the file so it would form fit itself across her stomach and, after raiding a first aid cabinet, taped the folder to her body under her uniform. Then, older woman leading younger, they left the palace, slipping silently into the crowd to disappear.

Subject: Re: Homecoming Date: Tue, Dec 2, 1997 6:57 AM From: Ben Stinel

The bridge of the Arch Angel was quiet. It always was when the ship was in orbit of New Oregon. Jake had read old books about earth and that world's navies and he supposed that it was like being in the home port of one of the great aircraft carriers of the United States. Nothing to do but sit tight and wait for the next set of orders.

As he walked onto that quiet bridge he found himself wondering what he was doing here on this ship. He was a Colonel in the Air Force, not a Navy Captain. Now he was contemplating an action that would change New Oregon's Space Navy forever. It was for the best, but he wondered if he really had the right.

He sat down in the command chair and looked around the bridge. There were two others present, A Chief Petty officer and a young ensign. The Chief really had command of the bridge. The ensign was there as a formality. Regulations called for one commissioned officer to be on the bridge at all times. It was the chief that he could count on though. In a crisis situation the ensign would be set to lesser duties.

"Chief, hail Captain Ramsey on the Ajax. I'll take it in the briefing room. Make it a secure channel."

The chief nodded from his console, "Channel is open, sir."

"Good." Jake stood up and headed for a door aft of the bridge. In just a few moments he was seated in front of the small display screen in the briefing room looking at the face of Captain Theodore Ramsey of the Ajax.

"Jake!" Ramsey started. "What's new in your neck of the solar system?"

"Ted," Jake nodded. "Are you secure on your end?"

Ted pushed a few buttons on his terminal that Jake couldn't see. "I am now."

"I've just spoken with a mutual friend. One former commander of a mercenary group you're familiar with."

Ted's smile dropped. "I see," he said. "And what did he say?"

"He says that he was framed. That secret elements in our government are conspiring to set into motion a new succession war."

Ted looked at him gravely, "It looks like that is happening with or without a secret society of traitors. This would be the second civil war in five years. I don't think it will mater who wins this round if there is one. There will be a revolution. The people won't stand for it."

Jake nodded. "Our friend has a solution, however."

Ted leaned forward, interested. "Really? Please, go on."

"He suggests that if we amass the fleet outside of the system perimeter then it can't be used by quarreling nobles in their upcoming feud. No weapons, no war."

Ted shook his head, "That's impossible. There are still thousands of planet stationed fighter craft and an entire infantry to consider."

"Well, there's no way to move that equipment without the nobles noticing instantly. But, Ted, five years ago seventy-five percent of the fleet was lost in the eighth succession war. We're not even up to half of what we were before that. Another war will wipe the fleet out. This fleet is New Oregon's main line of defense. Without it we're open on all sides."

On the screen Ted nodded thoughtfully, "Okay, you've convinced me. We'll have to move quietly though. There are many who would call this treason."

Jake nodded, "I know. If you would start spreading the word… I have some planet side business to take care of."

Ted raised his eyebrows for a moment, not quite understanding. But then he smiled and nodded. "I see. Wait ten hours before you make any drastic movements though. I want to have a head start before all hell breaks loose."

"That'd be her," Chief Stern said confidently. "I'd bet my career on it."

"Don't you think that would be premature, sir?" Ensign Thomas asked. "There are hundreds of signals just like this in the capitol city. What makes you so sure this is the one? We haven't even decoded it yet."

"Kid," Stern said, "y'may be an officer but y'got a lot t'learn yet. This signal is dif'rent. Think about it for a second."

Bill Thomas frowned at the screen for a moment. "It's the location, isn't it."

"What about it?"

"Uhhmm…. It's not a government structure?"

Stern grinned ear to ear. "Way t'go, kid. It *is* odd to see a signal like that coming from a pub on fifth street. I'll make a lieutenant of y'yet."

Thomas grinned. "Then you can call me 'Sir'."

Stern smirked, "Don't get cocky, kid. Jus' cause you make O2 doesn't mean you've got anything on my E9. Start decoding it." With the smile still on his face he turned and looked at Jake in the Captain's chair. "Sir. I think we've found her."

Jake twisted in his chair to see them before standing and walking over.

"Decoding now, sir," Thomas said. After a moment the computer finished and displayed the results. "It's a perfect match to the signal the St. John sent us."

"Excellent," Jake said. "Chief Stern, you're with me. Ensign, lay in a course for the outer Asteroid belt and stand by."

"Aye, sir," the ensign said, standing to head for the helm.

"Commander Donaldson, report to the bridge. I'm taking Chief Stern to the planet with me. You're in command."

"Aye, sir."

The alley they chose as their beam-in site was empty except for a cat sleeping on a fire escape a floor above. They knew the pub was across the street, but it wasn't visible from the alleyway where they stood. Straight away Stern took a tricorder from a sheath on his belt and flipped it open. He nodded to the mouth of the alley and they walked out into the street.

When they emerged from the alley the other pedestrians didn't even give them a second glance. Both were dressed in casual street clothes and could have been any pair of men on their way to the pub for an afternoon pint. Jake had never been in this part of the city before and he looked around with some curiosity. Brick buildings and open windows made the sounds of the neighborhood reverberate over the occasional car. A few blocks away a line of picketers marched in front of the local police precinct. Closer to them, a cat pranced across the street and jumped up to the tiny sign bearing the name "Max's Pub" in an amazing display of feline acrobatics involving a garbage can and a jutting drain pipe.

It was towards that sign that they walked, Jake looking around and Stern looking ahead. Stern had grown up just a few blocks from that street and not much had changed from when he was a boy. Pausing so an elderly woman could pass in front of them, Stern broke the silence.

"Are y'sure this is the best plan, Jake?" The stocky chief asked, using his commander's given name since they were operating incognito. "We could beam her up with no trouble."

Jake shook his head, "I do that and I don't think she would trust me."

"I though she knew ya though."

"I only met her once and it was under extraordinary circumstances. That was before the Arch Angel was assigned to me."

"I see. You want to make sure she knows who y'are before y'whisk her away." The chief looked thoughtful. "What if she bolts? She knows the government is looking for her or she wouldn't have stayed loose so long."

"If she bolts we can always go back to your plan," Jake said. "She's still got that locator beacon the St. John's doctor stuck her with when he inoculated and decontaminated her. With that thing floating around in her blood stream we can pick her up out of a crowd of people wherever she is."

By now they had come to the door of the pub. The cat peered down at them from its perch on the sign and meowed suspiciously. Stern reached up and tugged gently on the cat's dangling tail before following Jake through the door.

The pub was… bizarre, Jake thought. He'd never seen anything quite like it before.

"I think I've been here before," Stern said brightly.

Jake looked at him and quirked an eyebrow.

"Well, it wasn't decorated quite like this…" the chief said hastily. "It didn't have the same name and it must have been twenty five years ago, but I'm sure this is the place."

It was a place all right. The helm from an ancient Spanish Galleon covered a good portion of one wall. Where would you even get something like that on New Oregon? There had never *been* any Spanish Galleons here. Placed around the helm even with the spokes were framed portraits of famous chess players. A soccer jersey was pinned up nearby. A deflated soccer ball had been nailed just above the jersey right in line with the neck hole. Two swords were mounted above that. Nothing matched. Bizarre.

"Well," Jake said, "since you're the expert, you choose where we sit."

Stern smiled broadly and went straight to the bar.

They sat down on stools and turned their backs to the bar to observe the other patrons.

"Do y'see her?" Stern asked quietly.

Jake shook his head. Most of the customers were men. There were maybe two women there and they both had short blond hair and, quite frustratingly, two eyes each. Jake had only met Kat that one time, but somehow he found it hard to believe that she was the type to giggle like that anyhow.

"What can I get for you two gentlemen?" came an attractive voice behind them. Stern swiveled on his stool to look at the bar tender of "Max's" Pub and smiled. "I'll have a pint of your most expensive lager, please."

"Oh, you don't want that," came the voice. "It's really not the best."

"Okay," Stern said. "Give me your favorite then."

"Coming up. And you, sir?"

"Some raktajino would be good." Even as Jake said the words he tried to bite them back. This girl wouldn't know what raktajino was. He hadn't even heard of it until his third year in deep space.

"Oh, don't tease me like that," she answered. "I would love some nice hot Klingon coffee but all they serve on this God Forsaken rock is the local bean."

Jake turned and frowned at the girl, seeing her for the first time. She was about three years younger than him. She had brown hair and an athletic build. Her eyes were colorless but had a depth that kept them from looking at all flat.

His look of surprise was mirrored in those eyes as the girl realized what she had just said. This was obviously not Katrylle Morgahn, but who else on New Oregon would know about Klingon coffee?

She hesitated a moment. "Uhm.. I'll just get you a cup of regular coffee, how's that?" Without waiting for a response she went to the coffee maker and poured a cup. She set it in front of him and handed Stern his bottle of lager. Without another word she went to the far end of the bar and started wiping the counter nervously.

Stern looked at her and then glanced at Jake with a frown. "What was that all about?"

Jake stood up and patted Stern's shoulder. "That's about our quarry."

He walked down to the end of the bar and looked at the girl. He stood there for a moment and she pretended not to notice him.

"How do you know about Klingon coffee?" he eventually asked.

The rag in her hand stopped moving and her eyes took their time moving up to meet his face. When they finally did, she lifted an eyebrow just a fraction of an inch. "I work in a bar, sir. It pays to know what your customers like. I admit, though, this *is* the first time I have ever had a customer ask for an off-world drink. How do *you* know about Klingon coffee?"

Jake looked at her for a moment before turning and singling out one of the patrons of the pub. "Sir," he started. "Have you ever heard of Klingon coffee?"

The man peered at him, blurry eyed and confused. "Uhh… Is that a new south islands blend?"

Jake shook his head and pointed at another man who said he didn't know. Four more men and both of the women in the bar agreed that they had never heard of Klingon coffee.

The bartender had the rag clenched in her fists by now. When Jake finished and looked at her again he asked his original question. "So how do *you* know about Klingon coffee?"

"I think you'd better leave, sir," she told him. "Or I'll call the police."

"Go ahead," Jake said softly. "There's a precinct just a few blocks away, they'll be here before you know it. But they won't touch me. In case you haven't figured it out, I stand outside the boundaries of civilian law. But you… Do you know how they deport people here?"

She shook her head numbly.

"They'll put you in a torpedo tube and launch you into deep space. It could be years or decades before you pass through a populated system."

"They wouldn't."

"They would," he promised her. "Or… You could take me to Katrylle. If the police find her they won't deport her. They'll just put her up for the same drumhead trial that Stinel's going to get. I promised him that I wouldn't let that happen."

She surprised him by dropping her scared look. "Katrylle? Who's that? I only serve the drinks. I don't ask for names." Without waiting for an answer, she turned and went through the door that led into the kitchen.

Stern walked over, sipping his lager.

"Well?" Jake asked.

Stern just sat down next to him and handed him his tricorder. The screen showed a still image taken of the bartender during Jake's conversation with her. Her fingerprints and dental impressions had been picked up by the device too and a simple message flashed across the screen.

Subject not on file.

"Medical records, dental records, finger prints, driver's license photo…" Stern paused. "Nothing. It's like she doesn't exist. I uploaded that to the Arch Angel and they accessed every major and minor records database on the planet and came up short."

"Okay," Jake said. "I'm going to go find Katrylle now. You go in there and grab that girl. Right then you signal for emergency beam out. The beam will take both of you."

Stern nodded. "Aye, sir," he said softly. The older man stood and went through the doors the bartender had just passed through.

Jake glanced down at the cup of plain coffee she had given him and left it there, untouched. He quickly reset Stern's tricorder to home in on the signal that Katrylle was unwittingly emitting and looked around for a flight of stairs. She was two flights up.

Subject: Re: Homecoming Date: Thu, Dec 4, 1997 2:50 PM From: Ben Stinel

Sachy squinted through the door at the man who had pulled his tail. Whoever it was had a lot of nerve. He'd tried to swat at the man's hair but the tug on the tail had left him off balance. He had just made up his mind to jump down and follow the villain inside when the door slammed shut behind him. Stupid humans, always forgetting about their masters.

Quite suddenly, a small bird fluttered down from above and perched on the sign between Sachy and the wall. Sachy quite suddenly forgot all about the tail puller and scrunched down as close to the sign as he could. The bird chirped at him cheerfully and fluttered it's wings while Sachy prepared to pounce.

Sachy carefully coiled all of his energy into his hind legs. As the power built up his hind quarters unwittingly began to wiggle. His tail twitched in anticipation. The bird was quite witless and Sachy was confident of an easy kill. He sprung!

The bird flew!

Sachy slipped and nearly fell off of the sign before banging his head against the wall. Now he did fall but at the last instant he managed to grab hold of the ledge that the sign was mounted on. By hooking one of his front claws in a chip on the ledge he managed to hoist himself up the rest of the way. That accomplished he calmly started washing himself. Anyone who had witnessed his little faux pas could rest assured that he had fully intended to allow the little bird's escape. He continued washing himself despite the sudden, raucous laughter of a little girl below. It couldn't possibly be aimed at him, after all.

Once he was certain that no one suspected he had blundered, he decided to set out exploring the ledge he had discovered himself on. He knew it was the only obvious choice. He could sense his true prey more clearly here than anywhere else since he had started his hunt.

After his main servant had disappeared from Sachy's royal palace Sachy hadn't been very concerned. He was a generous master and he allowed his servants a great deal of personal freedom. Ben had been known to disappear for days at a time. So Sachy had wandered his palace. The other palace servants treated him like the god he was. He was in heaven!

Two days had gone by when something tugged Sachy from his euphoric bliss… A familiar sound… A scent… Poking his head around a corner he saw her. She was behaving quite oddly, but it was her. She hadn't stayed very long, and when she left Sachy followed.

He had followed to this place. Now he jumped up to an open window sill. The room inside was empty so he ignored it. He went straight through and found a set of stairs. He followed them up to an open door. Inside was his target… He pounced!

Subject: Re: Homecoming Date: Thu, Dec 4, 1997 9:16 PM From: KatrylleM

She hadn't heard the intruder. She had no warning of the pending attack. The only thing that saved her from most of the twenty needles was that she had come to the end of her pacing lane and had made a sudden turn. Still, she was hit and she was hit hard.

Working strictly on instinct and gut reaction, she grabbed the brownish blur out of the air before her mind could even acknowledge that she had been wounded. The natural follow through of the grab carried her attacker across the room to disappear behind the couch as she spun and released at the same time.

Cussing under her breath, her mind finally caught up with her body and she crouched, waiting for the next attack. The pain across her arm and part of her back was mild, but she never took her gaze from the spot her attacker had disappeared to check the damnage. Days of pent up anger, worry and frustration had primed her to be able to ignore the pain. Her only objective was to discover who or what her attacker had been and why she had been attacked. She was fairly certain of the why, once she had taken a fraction of a second to think about it. The government had found her. They must have sent some form of subduer in the form of........

A cat? Kat blinked several times as the little brown head peeked cautiously over the back of the couch. It's ears were laid back in both anger and fright and she could hear it's tail hitting the back of the couch in hard, agitated movements.

Once cleared of the inital confusion, Kat slowly realized that this cat was entirely too familier. "Hoover?? Uhmm....Satchy?" During his stay on the Vextis, she had nick-named Ben's pet Hoover after the infamous vaccume cleaner. She had been constantly amazed at how much the little fur-ball could eat. Still, he never seemed to grow out of his kitten-like size.

"Satchy! G'lord....I cleanly fergot aboot ye!" As she approached the cat, he hissed and dropped back down behind the couch. "Cummon, cat. It's yer own damn fault!" She knew reason wasn't gonna work with this one. It never worked on cats. Sighing heavily, she turned from the couch and stepped into the kitchen. Pulling a small can of tuna from the cubbard, she resorted to the only thing that *would* work with cats; out and out bribery.

It had taken several moments for Satchy's stomach to override his indignation at being flung across the room, but, as always, the stomach was louder than the pride. Once he had started in on the tuna, it didn't take him long to woof it down. As he resorted to liking every microbe off the plate, Kat leaned down and gently lifted him into her arms. "Alright. I'm sorry, kay?? Y'an yer owner....neither o'ye will *ever* learn nae t'sneak up on people will ye?" At first, his purr seemed reluctant, but the constant scratching of his ears and jawline soon had his motor going on all eight cylanders. Kat chuckled softly as she watched the cat's gold eyes slowly close. Yup. Hoover was in heaven.

Cat still in arms, she sighed softly and slowly sat on the sofa. Her fingers continued to absently scratch Satchy's head as her mind drifted to the more important problem of reuniting cat and owner....perferably in a less "caged" environment. It was only Satchy's sudden lifting of his head that drew her attention to the footsteps on the stairs.

Subject: Re: Homecoming Date: Thu, Dec 4, 1997 11:50 PM From: Ben Stinel

Jake followed the tricorder most of the way up the stairs. He was paying enough attention to where he was to turn left at the stairwell landing of the third floor, but it didn't occur to him to put the unit away before he went through the door it said she was behind.

He was still looking at it when he heard her gasp.

"Who are you?" Kat demanded of him when he looked up.

She had been sitting on the couch in the room petting a small cat. She must have stood up the moment he stepped through the door. The cat regarded him lazily, indifferent to his presence.

"Jake Dent-" he started to say but she cut him off.

"What are you doing here?"

Jake took a breath before holding up the tricorder. "I'm looking for you." He tossed it to her so she could see that it was homed in on the signal that was emanating from her location.

She caught it one handed and looked it over. She glanced up at him with anger on her face. "I remember seeing you. You were wearing a uniform. You've come to take me in."

"Don't be foolish," he told her. "You saw me on Rhydin. Ben asked me to get you off planet before you got caught."

Her next words didn't quite make it past her teeth. "Ben sent you? How do I know that? Got any proof?"

Jake shook his head and pulled out his communicator. "Dent to Arch Angel. Beam both of us to the bridge, now."

The room dissolved around them and the cat before it refocused itself as a starship bridge. Commander Donaldson vacated the solitary captain's chair and Jake took it. New Oregon filled the upper half of the view screen and Ensign Thomas sat at the helm.

After checking a few items on the arm display of his chair, Jake looked up at her. "No proof," he said. "I don't need your permission. I could have beamed you up from where you sat without leaving this ship but I thought it would be more polite this way."

With a meow, Sachy jumped down from Kat's arms so he could crawl into Ensign Thomas's way. Once he was there he did his absolute best to prevent any actual work from happening at the helm. Thomas was just too happy to oblige.

"So you've got me," she said. "Now what?"

Jake looked at the chronometer in the corner of the view screen. "In five hours I take you to the edge of the system and deposit you with your ship. By this time they're probably wondering what's happened to you."

Kat growled. "And Ben. He's suppose t'sit quietly though this joke o'a trial? He's suppose t'let them make him their scape goat?!!" Kat's voice had risen to almost a shrill scream. She stood in front of Jake's chair and her fists were clenched so tightly they shook. She glared down at him and told him through gritted teeth, "Put me back on th' planet. Y'may b't'damn scared t'do sumthin t'prevent this, but I ain't."

Jake rested an ankle on his knee and looked up at her. "There are very few things that scare me, Miss Morgahn. I'd be frightened if someone dropped me in front of an angry bear wearing nothing but my underwear. That would scare me a lot."

Kat's smiled but it didn't soften her voice. "I could arrange tha'."

He stood up and looked her right in the face, continuing as if she hadn't spoken. "Almost as badly as the thought of pulling Ben out of that cell in," he checked the chronometer again, "four hours and seventeen minutes and having to tell him that I haven't kept my promise to him! Now sit down and mind your own business till then or get off my bridge!"

Before Kat had a chance to retort the intercom beeped. "Security to bridge."

"Bridge here," Jake snapped.

"Uhh, sir? We've got a little problem with Chief Stern in the transporter room."

"What?"

"Well… We can't tell which one is him and which one is the woman he was bringing aboard."

Jake frowned, "I'm on my way."

Kat's expression went from anger to surprise to amusement in three seconds.

Jake just growled. "You're coming with me," he told her.

Subject: Re: Homecoming Date: Tue, Dec 23, 1997 10:03 PM From: KatrylleM

She hadn't intended for it to happen. But then, she had also thought she wouldn't be followed into the kitchen. Underestimating was not one of her usual talents. Perhaps she had been too long on the Vextis to keep in practice.

In any case, she felt the heat on her skin an instant before she realized the room had completely changed. The shocked expression on the transporter technician's face confirmed what the heat on bare spot between glove and sleeve had told her. She'd been through it before. She had every thought, every memory that Chief Stephan Stern's brain had processed his entire life. She didn't need a mirror to tell her that she also had the man's exact build, facial features and even his manerisms. The only difference was, *she* was not surprised by the sudden apparition of herself....or rather of Stern....standing before her.

She used the stunned silence to fly full throttle into action. Reversing the hold Sterns had on her arm, she ducked then came up behind him, his own arm locked high against his back. At the same instance, her arm came around his throat, Stern's own sidearm under his jaw, and she immediately yelled to the technician.

"Irons! Get the captain down here right now!!! Call security too! This imposter is deadly!" The young man LaeAnne suddenly knew as Patrick Irons could only gape at the sight before him. Her hold on Stern's neck prevented him from saying anything and somehow, he knew struggling would be useless. She gave Irons a moment to collect his frazzled thoughts as she searched Stern's memory for various names of officers on the ship....the........Arch

Angel. A ghost of a smiled played across her new features as the names came quickly and easily, the most important one coming first. Captain Jake Dent.

"Damnit Irons!!! I said get Captain Dent!!! NOW!!!!!" It was either the urgency of "Stern's" voice or the fact that "he" called the captain by name that got Irons moving. Although clearly still confused, he did as ordered. Irons had prayed the Captain wouldn't ask questions, but it was a prayer that was to be unanswered. At least it was turning out to be a most interesting day, the technician thought.

Subject: Re: Homecoming Date: Wed, Dec 31, 1997 10:28 AM From: KatrylleM

When Jake walked into the transporter room with Kat he almost couldn't believe his eyes. Two identical Stephan Sterns sat on the edge of the transporter platform, each trying to convince the two security officers that had shown up that they were the real one. From what he heard on the way in, they were neck in neck.

As he passed through the doors, one of the security men turned to him and shrugged. "I don't know, Sir. They're identical. And they both know the same things. I'm thinking that Irons missed his target on the surface and the two transporter beams doubled him or something." The transporter technician grumbled a denial behind him.

Kat's chuckle announced her entrance and it grated on Dent's nerves. Angrily, he shot her a glance over his shoulder but was greeted with only a mock look of innocence accompanied by a devilish smirk. She knew something but he was pretty damn sure she wasn't about to tell him, so he returned his attention to the delma at hand.

He frowned at the two Sterns as he crossed his arms over his chest. The silence in the room was deafening as Dent tried to come up with a way to tell the two apart. Finally, he sighed deeply and dropped his arms to his sides before speaking.

"During the battle between the Raven Empire and the Saurans, what was your reasoning for not going to the aid of the Empire when asked?" Almost in perfect syncronization, the Sterns opened their mouths to answer. Immediately, Dent's raised hand stopped them. "No. To be fair about this, I want the answered whispered to me. This will prevent the imposter from learning the correct answer, agreed?"

Both men before him nodded and stood. Dent motioned for the man on the right to approach. With only a slight frown on his face, he listened to the whispered answer, giving no indication as to whether it was the correct answer or not. With another motion from Dent, the first man stepped back and the second approached, taking the same position and repeating the same actions as the man before him. Dent's frown grew and he sighed once again as the second man returned to his position next to the first. Shaking his head slightly, Dent glanced at the security officer and nodded, adding "Transporter glitched."

Turning away from the crowd, Dent ran a hand over the back of his neck with exhausted slowness. "Run them through the transporter again and see if you can blend the signals back into one man. Then see if you can get a lock on the woman he was suppose to have brought back with him. We'll need to get her out before it all explodes."

Kat's laugh caused him to snap. Spinning on her, he growled. "What's so damn funny?!!"

Kat shrugged and simply said "Yer transporter dinnae glitch an y'got yer woman."

Dent held his breath for the longest time, trying to regain his composure. He failed miserably. Still angry, he glared at Kat. "I'm *not* in the mood for games, Morgahn. Tell me who the real Stern is or, by God, I'll take you back to the Vextis and drop you off *without* your companion! If I can't tell who my tactical officer is, then I'll damn well keep them BOTH!"

Kat pushed herself away from the doorjamb and stood toe to toe with Dent. "Y'll nae make it oot o'range afore th' Vextis gits her back. BUT... I will gi' ye th' information y'seek.....fer a price. Y'hae ta let me help y'break Ben oot. He knows m'better than t'think I'll jist g'merrily on m'way wi'oot him. B'sides, y'kin use me.....*us*. Think o'it. A woman who kin nae only take on any shape she touches, but th' memories an' thoughts o'tha' shape as well. N'one would suspect. *YE* dinnae even suspect. Transporter glitch indeed."

Dent looked at the two Sterns with a new shock. Shapeshifter? One of the Sterns was watching the exchange between them calmly, but the other was staring open mouthed at the first with a look of sheer horror. The two guards now held their weapons with a nervous twitch that said they were faced with something more horrible then anything they had contemplated before.

"You brought a SHAPESHIFTER into the system?!? An ALIEN?!"

A gasp seemed to bring with it the shock of realization as the once calm Stern finally realized what the implications were. Kat continued calmly. "Actually, she's th' Vextis' chief security officer. Th' captain figgered it would b'better ifin I had an escort an', knowin th' paranoia on N'Oregon, she was th' best choice. It was either her er a full blown demon. Would y'hae preferred th' demon instead?" She smiled at him sweetly.

Dent steamed. "I'd have preferred it if you had done as you were asked and come alone. I'm not going to be manipulated by you, Katrylle. I have every intention of getting Ben out, but it's on my terms, not yours." He turned to one of the security guards. "Take them to sick bay. I want full blown brain scans on both of them. Have the doctor compare the scans to the ones on file." Glancing over his shoulder at Kat, he growled once and turned his attention to the second guard. "Put her in the brig. She can come out when she decides to play nice."

Kat chuckled again, returning to her position against the doorjamb. "D'ya really think yer gonna git either o'us tha' far? How easy would it be fer her t'say, pass a person in th' hallway an' simply touch 'em, allowin her t'slip away in th' crowd?" Kat's tone changed from teasing to tense. "Look. I ain't tryin t'manipulate ye. I wanna help. Fer Christ sakes, he's m'brother! Why cannae y'see tha' we could be an asset t'this?!"

It was Dent's turn to laugh, though the sound was cold. "Why should I let you help if I can't trust you? You want to help? Give me a gesture. Stop playing these games. Have your... Shapeshifter stop pretending to be my Chief and don't make me lock the pair of you up. I can clear the halls of everyone between here and sick bay. Your Shapeshifter won't get away and once she's there it will be simple to find out which is which. If it goes that far you'll both stay in the brig until I get you out of this system."

Kat arched an eyebrow. "Yer a fine one t'talk aboot trust. Where was yer trust when y'carted me off th' planet wi'oot even a blink? Y'simply walk inta th' room, introduce yerself then poof, here I am wi' only yer word tha' Ben hae sent ya. Y'dinnae trust me enough t'let m'come o'me own free will!"

Dent shrugged. "Okay, the brigg it is." He turned to the guards, "You take Ms. Morgahn to the brigg and you escort the Sterns to sick bay. Full Prisoner transfer measures. Moving force fields separating them from each other, you and everyone else."

Kat cussed then rolled off the doorjamb and out the door, heading down the hallway in a full sprint. She never looked back at the confusion behind her. It was enough to know they would be in hot persuit to keep her running.

Dent shook his head and nodded to the guards. They motioned to the Sterns with their weapons and the four of them started moving the opposite way through the halls towards sick bay with forcefields in place and moving with them.

Jake turned to the transporter tech. "Bring her back and put a force field around the platform."

"Yes, sir." A moment later Kat appeared on the pad behind a shimmering field of energy.

Jake sighed. "You just can't play nice, can you?"

Kat shook her head slowly, her voice taking on the tones of someone in the throws of emotional agony. "Nice ain't in m'vocabulary when th' life o' sumone I care fer is a'stake." Crossing her arms over her chest, she closed her eye and took several deep breaths. In a moment, she went completely silent as if meditating. In a matter of seconds, one of the guards came rushing back into the room. "We've got her, Captain. The Shapeshifter. She just suddenly stopped, then........ changed.....right before our eyes!"

Kat's voice was soft behind Dent and, when he turned, he caught the tear sliding down her cheek before she could angrily swipe it away. Her eye remained closed. "Happy now?" was all she said.

Jake nodded. "I am." He turned to the guard. "Have Stern report to the bridge. Tell the Shapeshifter how to get to the conference room and let her go there by herself." He tapped a control on the transporter technician's panel and the force field around the transporter pad lowered. "You want to come with me, Katrylle? If you two are going to help rescue Ben you're going to have to be briefed."

Kat's red-rimmed eye opened very slowly, her brow furrowing in a deep frown of confusion. She was still not use to this "trust on the first meeting" thing and she couldn't be sure if Dent was playing with her or truly meant what he said. She didn't move as she tried to read his face.

Jake looked at the wall clock and motioned to the door. "Better make up your mind. We've only got four hours left till we move and there's a lot to tell."

Kat closed her eye once again and seemed to receive her answer. Opening her eye, she stepped off the platform and past Dent, actually leading *him* to the conference room.

Subject: Re: Homecoming Date: Sun, Jan 4, 1998 2:32 AM From: Ben Stinel

Kat picked Sachy up as they passed through the bridge on their way to the conference room. While they had been in the transporter room he had calmly assumed command of the ship and was sitting in Jake's chair, silently ruling over the ensign at the conn. The ensign didn't seem to object.

Sachy of course, was happy to be included in the briefing and jumped from Kat's arms to the table as she sat down. He danced on the table going from LaeAnne to Kat to Jake and back again meowing quite vocally. Finally Kat pulled him back into her lap and suppressed him.

The conference room they chose was on the port side of the star ship and the light reflecting off of the oceans and clouds of New Oregon illuminated the room far better than the artificial lighting in the ceiling. Black oceans, very different from the blue of Rhydin, but to Jake it was the only color.

"Well, where should I start?" Jake stood up and walked to the replicator while he talked and produced three cups of raktajino, setting one in front of LaeAnne and another in front of Kat. LaeAnne eagerly sipped hers and Jake took a contented drink when he sat down. "There are only three ships in the fleet where you can get this stuff."

"Y'can start b'tellin us why we have ta' wait fer four hours before goin' fer Ben," Kat said.

Jake set his Klingon coffee down on the table and thinned his mouth before starting. "Well, in four hours the fleet is going to regroup at these coordinates. Every ship that we can convince to join us. I expect that ninety percent of the fleet will be there. The reason this means we have to wait is because we can't let anyone on New Oregon know what is happening until it's happened. Once we break Ben out the nobles will know that the fleet has pulled away. The longer the wait before they realize it the better."

LaeAnne frowned, "But Dent is one of the noble houses. I heard it on the news broadcasts."

Jake took another sip of the raktajino and nodded. "There are fifty houses. Only ten houses have ever allowed their members to join the military. Two of the houses were wiped out five years ago during the last succession war and Ben is the only one left of House Stinel. Most houses see the military as a tool of the nobility. House Dent and the other six houses that allow military membership have different views."

"S'y' hae yer reasons fer waitin' then." Kat said. "Once we d'move though....wha's th' plan?" "Well, we've got blueprints of the complex," he tapped the control panel on the table and a three dimensional display appeared over the glass surface. "The building is surrounded by transporter dampers. Our plan is to infiltrate the complex with a large force and remove Ben. Once he's outside we can beam him to the ship."

Kat shook her head, " I told y'we'd come in handy. LaeAnne kin shut th' dampenin' fields down usin' their codes an' she willnae even b'noticed."

Jake looked at LaeAnne and she nodded, saying, "I can assume the shape of the warden and use his memories to shut the field down."

"That would work," Jake admitted. "But we don't know Ben's precise coordinates in the structure. We'd still have to send in a team to retrieve him."

"An' tha's where I come in," Kat said.

Subject: Re: Homecoming Date: Mon, Jan 5, 1998 11:58 AM From: Ben Stinel

"Hey, do you hear that?" asked Ben from the cot in his cell.

"What?" the guard asked nervously.

"Why that's the rescue party come to save me," Ben grinned.

The guard glanced into the cell and quirked a smile. "Again? I thought you heard them over an hour ago? And what about yesterday? They didn't come then."

"Well they must've gotten turned around somehow. Took a wrong turn somewhere I bet. This time they'll find me for sure."

Ben was lying with his legs crossed and propped against one of the poles supporting the top bunk. He had his pillow doubled under his neck and his hands were joined behind his head. He was doing his best to read the cryptic writing on the plywood bed board under the top bunk.

"Yeah, they'll find you soon," the guard agreed.

Ben squinted at the writing again. He'd seen the word Blann at least thrice and it was always followed by the same word each time. 8rrn? No, that was wrong. B. It was a B, not an eight. Brrn? Burn? Been? Beer! It was beer.

"You know, Ben, you're not like most of the murderers we have come through here."

Ben looked back to the door of the cell. The guard's back was turned and he was leaning against the bars.

"Oh? How's that?"

The guard shrugged. "You just don't seem the type to kill your own brother and sister in law in cold blood."

"Well that's because I was framed."

The guard looked into the cell again with a frown. "How's that?"

Ben looked at the guard. "You're out of the loop, aren't you. What side are you on, McKenna?"

"Side? I've worked here for five years and no one ever asked me to take sides. I just guard the special case murderers that come in from time to time. Two of 'em were nobles, like you. Difference is, they looked guilty."

Ben chuckled. "You're all right, McKenna. When that rescue party gets here I'll tell 'em not to hurt you."

McKenna rolled his eyes and turned around with a grin on his face. "Gee, thanks."

Ben went back to the writing. He thought he could make out the first sentence now.

"If you're sick, it'll make you well, put you in condition… The man who drinks of Blann's Good Beer…"

The guard cut in, finishing the verse. "Has need of no physician."

"You know this poem?" Ben asked.

"It's not a poem, it's a song. There was a guy in here 'bout a month ago wouldn't stop singing it. I kind of liked the sound of it so I learned it from him." The guard started singing, "Blann it is the beer for me, a pint of it's so handy, it's as fine as any wine and strong as any brandy."

"So that's what's written on this bed. I've been trying to figure it out for the last hour."

"'Twill ease your pain, 'twill warm your brain, drive out the melancholy. The man who will drink Blann's Good Beer is always fat and jolly."

Ben joined him for the next verse as his brain finally deciphered the bad handwriting.

Fine good it would do them Give them a year with Blann's Good Beer Their country would not know them.
 * "The meager French their thirst would quench

'Tis only to deceive us Give them a year with Blann's Good Beer I'm sure they'd never leave us.
 * "The foreigners may praise their wine

I'd have you set about it All you with pence and common sense Would never do without it."
 * "All you that have not tasted it yet

McKenna laughed.

Ben squinted at a different patch of writing. After a moment he realized it was perfectly legible and was mostly obscenities and crude drawings of naked women, and more disturbingly, naked men, so he abandoned it.

"Hey, did you hear that?" he asked again.

"Your rescue party again? Nope, I did-" McKenna cut off abruptly as the lights went out. Sunlight streamed through Ben's barred window and cut beams through the dust in the air. "I don't know about your rescue party, but I sure noticed that."

Ben stood up and looked through the window. There was some kind of commotion and guards were streaming out of the building. Pulse rifles were out and shots were being fired into the trees.

"Odd," Ben muttered.

"Control, this is prisoner holding cell H. We've got a power loss down here, over."

LaeAnne looked over the control panel and located the comm grid. Cell H was where Stinel was being held according to the warden's memories. She lifted the comm and spoke into it with the warden's voice. "McKenna, this is Rallings."

"Warden?"

"McKenna, I'm sending back up your way. Some terrorists managed to knock out main power with some kind of bomb to the power lines. Emergency generators are still powering the transporter shield but lights won't be restored for another hour at least."

"Understood, warden. I'll be waiting."

The line closed and LaeAnne moved down a terminal to shield control. She entered the Warden's override code and deactivated the shield. Behind her, slumped unconscious against the wall was the real warden.

Infiltrating the complex had been easy. She had lured a guard away from a side door with her looks and his partner had prodded him on his way, cheering and shouting encouragement. Once she had him in the trees she knocked him out and took his shape. She went back to the door, carrying the guard's rifle and told his partner that the girl had run off. A few minutes later he slipped through the doors, claiming that nature called.

She found her way to the Warden's office easily enough. The guard had known the way. The Warden's secretary had greeted her when she walked through the doors. She clubbed the man and touched his neck. That was how she found out that the warden was in the control center. Wearing the new guise she took the pulse rifle and went to control. She went in firing, taking down the two technicians first. Then she grabbed the panicked warden and transformed into him before his eyes. Once she had his memories she clubbed him and let him slump against the wall.

"Chameleon to Angel. I'm done here. The letter of the day is H. I'm ready to go home."

She resumed her normal shape and disappeared in a shimmering light.

"Cell H is this way," Jake said and Kat nodded dimly.

"We're getting closer," she said.

Kat had told him the moment she had found Ben's mind after they entered the complex. Jake had been taken aback at first. He still was, but he could accept it. This woman wasn't from these parts after all. There were others on Rhydin who could do more amazing things. At first she had wanted to take him right to Ben but he had convinced her that if they materialized in a prison cell with Ben it wouldn't do them much good. So Kat led the way through the almost deserted halls. It seamed as though every guard was outside defending against their distraction. Sloppy. It had been child's play to neutralize the guards on the west doors. The distraction was at the east side. Unfortunately, so was cell H.

"This way," Kat called out and Jake followed her at a trot down the hallway. They passed confinement area F. About a hundred feet and three turns later they would pass area G and then came H. The letter of the day indeed.

Kat stopped and frowned.

"What is it?" Jake asked.

"Something is wrong. His mind isn't as strong as it usually is."

"How do you figure?"

Kat shook her head. "It's not important. Let's get this done with."

They kept going and ran past area G. Finally. Area H.

"That'd be the backup," McKenna said as they heard footsteps running down the only hall into the holding area. He stepped in front of the hallway and peered down it. A blaster bolt brushed across his shoulder, throwing him back. Gripping his rifle, he fired two shots down the hallway and moved across the floor towards Ben's cell.

"I've changed my mind," McKenna said, putting his back against the bars. "I think your rescue party just backtracked their wrong turn."

Ben moved from the window, quietly while McKenna fired a few shots around the corner. Twenty bolts returned in rapid succession were all he got in return for his efforts.

When McKenna put his back against the bars again Ben reached through and touched his shoulder. With that contact he gained the only telepathic ability he had without the ring Katrylle had given him. Not much, but he'd done this trick of persuasion before Kat gave him the ring.

"McKenna, it's time to choose sides. Big things are happening, bigger than you can know. The bad guys are the ones that put me here and they're willing to roll over anyone that gets in their way. You're a good man, McKenna. Time to make a choice."

Hesitantly, McKenna lowered his rifle. After a moment he let it clatter to the ground and he kicked it into the hall.

"It's okay!" Ben called. "You can come in now, he's had a change of heart."

After a moment Kat stuck her nose around the corner. When she saw Ben had his hand on the guard's shoulder she pointed her blaster in his face. Jake moved into the room and retrieved McKenna's key from the desk across from the cell. He opened the door and Ben moved out.

"Kat, it's okay, he's on our side."

"Is he? Then why was he shooting at us? He came less than a foot from killing me!"

"What can I say?" McKenna smiled a bit. "I'm a good shot. Better than any of you I'll wager. You're damn lucky I wasn't looking when I fired at you."

"Why you little…" Kat's hand tightened on the blaster and she subconsciously lowered her target two and a half feet.

Ben smirked at McKenna and hugged Kat, pulling the blaster out of her hand. Then he whirled on Jake. "You! I told you to get her out of the system. What the hell is she doing here?"

"Saving your sorry hide," she glared at him. "If this is the thanks I get maybe you can just stay here."

"Speaking of staying here," McKenna said, "I'd rather not if it's all the same with you. I'm gonna be in big trouble when this is done so, do you think we could take your escape route?"

Jake nodded and pulled his communicator from his belt.

"Wait a second," Ben said and went to the desk. He pulled the bottom drawer out of it's slot and set it on the desktop. In the drawer was his wallet, and his light saber. His clothes were tied in a bundle in the back of the drawer and he pulled everything out.

He looked it all over and then looked straight at McKenna. "Where's the ring?"

McKenna looked confused. "Ring? There was no ring that I saw in there. Maybe someone in processing snatched it. Was it very valuable?"

Ben looked at Kat and she mouthed, The ring?

Ben nodded and held up his right hand. The ring was absent.

"There's no time to stay and find it," Jake said. "Arch Angel, four to beam up. MA."

After Kat stopped off at Max's to get her things and to say goodbye, the Arch Angel left orbit at full impulse speed, nearly a quarter of the speed of light.

"The fleet is amassing here," Jake said. He punched the controls on the arm of the captain's chair and the main view screen came up with an image of the star system. "We're due there in fifteen minutes."

"That's not good," Kat said. "The Vextis is there." She pointed to a point on the far side of the system.

Jake frowned. "I can't take you there," he said. "It would take me five hours out of my way. I have to be at the rendezvous point on time."

"We'll have to find some other way to get there then." Ben said. He moved forward to the Conn. and punched a few buttons. The helmsman sat back, out of his way.

"How?" Jake asked. "I could give you the fastest shuttle we've got but you'd still be over run by the slowest ship in the fleet. And you can bet that there are ship captains that didn't take Captain Ramsey's point of view."

"Here." Ben finished typing and the view screen zoomed in on a point in orbit around the fifth planet. "It's on the way and we can pick up our transportation there."

"The Redmond Ship Yards? That place is guarded…"

"By the Navy. At least in my day. The St. John pulled that duty for four months my last year."

"You're going to steal a ship. What about the crews? The ships there are always being worked on."

"They're navy too, sir." Stern said from tactical. "They'll be on the ships headed for the rendezvous."

"I can't see any reason why not then. Helm, set course for the Redmond ship yards, full impulse. We'll be three minutes late for the rendezvous, but they can't fault us for that."

The Redmond ship yards was a triple purpose facility. There were hundreds of retired ships of various classes in parking orbits around the fifth planet. There were almost enough to form a ring. Ship's were sent here when they were decommissioned and were eventually scavenged for anything that wasn't obsolete and still worked. Ben spotted a gutted Miranda Class, even an Excelsior model.

Second, it was a ship building center. Ben had seen the Sovereign class ships being built when he had worked on the St. John. There were some Sovereign's in the early phases of construction now, but they weren't ready for what he needed.

Thirdly, and finally, it was the repair center for the entire system. Repair, salvage, refit, all ran through Redmond. This was where they were going to find their ship.

"What have we got?"

"Accessing the station manifest. There are two space worthy ships in port. There's a Miranda being refit at port nine. Seventy years old though. You'd be overrun before you knew what hit you.

"This looks promising though…"

Ben turned and looked at Stern. "Got something?"

"Steamrunner class at port 3. She's in the middle of her refit and she's in messy shape, but according to this the new warp engines have been installed. She'll sustain warp 9.98."

Ben let out a low whistle. "Fast."

"I wouldn't push her that hard though. The Space Frame modifications are still only half finished. The engines won't complain but the ship will fall apart under your feet."

"I'll take her. Jake, I'll be getting out of your hair now. Where's my cat?"

The bridge was a mess. Wires hung from the ceiling, chairs had been ripped away from their consoles, half of the consoles were open and their innards were spread around. The ship was like this all over. It needed work, but it was his.

Kat shined her flashlight over the mess and gave him a dubious look.

"The ship is twenty years old, sis. It's in the middle of an overhaul. I'll get her cleaned up. We'll stop at Rhydin. I'll see if Chaz is ready to leave the DBs yet. He'll jump at this." Ben grinned.

"Chaz already left the DBs," Kat told him. "He's on the Vextis."

"Really?"

"So are Jarrid Pallin and Eli O'Donovan."

"Part of your crew?"

"No. Just passengers."

"Perfect."

Ben shined his flashlight to the left of the turbolift and read the dedication plaque. "The Colorado, Steamrunner Class, Registry NAX-45786, Redmond Ship Yards, New Oregon, Admiral Yuri Jakovich Presiding."

He moved the light to the bottom of the plaque and read the dedication, "…in this place where the mountains begin."

"This place is a dump, Ben. She'll fall apart before we get out of space dock."

"Don't be so cynical, sis. Anyway, once I get you back to Vextis you never have to put a foot on her again. I think she's perfect. Let's see if we can get main power up."

The lights lit up almost as if at command.

"Already have done," LaeAnne said from the engineering console. Amazingly, it was intact.

"Fantastic! Computer!"

A crack of static attacked their ears. From his perch on Ben's shoulder Sachy screeched in response and dug his claws into Ben's shoulder as he jumped down.

Ben clutched his wounded shoulder winced as the computer painfully stuttered, "Woooorrrrk-ork-ork-orkkkkkinggggg"

Computer, transfer all command codes and authorization to me, Wartime Authorization, Stinel Beta Eight Eight One Three Charlie Quincy."

"Authhauthauthhoriizzationnn accaccaccepted." After a short pause the voice returned, actually a bit more normal, but still very mechanical, "Welcome aboard, Captain."

"We're being hailed," LaeAnne announced.

Ben blinked. "Put it on screen."

The view screen lit up and the face of Ted Ramsey appeared. He was obviously on a much cleaner and much more advanced bridge.

"Ben. Good to see you in one piece. I thought you might appreciate the warning. You're about to have some company."

Ben glanced at LaeAnne and she shrugged. "Sensors are down. I couldn't tell you what's three feet in front of us."

"How much and how soon, Ted?"

"One ship. The Eugene. Captain Thomas. He's one of ten captains that held out on us. He's been sent to take you back. The rest of the ships have been recalled to defend New Oregon from us. Not that we have any plans to attack."

"Thanks for the head up, Ted. I'd better get this thing underway if I intend to outrun him."

"Good luck, Ben. The Colorado's a good ship. She'll take care of you if you treat her right. Hail me when you get out of the system. You and I have business to discuss. We'll talk on subspace. Out."

Ben activated the console. "Time to fly…" 