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"Not So Purrfect After All"
(Cont. from "Glorious Freedom")
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Setting: NEW ALEXANDRIA, Section C-2, Level 4, Corridor leading to the Holodeck
Stardate: 63073.1910

Aki grinned, pleased with herself and the discovery she had made back in the arboretum.  Captain Morningstar had seemed rather pleased as well that the aCSciO had found what she had, thus indicating a likely cause for the explosion and the possible involvement of the Tal'Shiar in this affair.

It was true that the idea of the Romulan Intel agency having had a hand in this accident had not been all that pleasant but at least it had given them a starting point in their investigation.  Now all that remained was to go to the VALLA ROYAL, find and retrieve the box and return it to NEW ALEXANDRIA without anyone knowing that this had been done.  Nothing to it!

The Captain had suggested to the aCSciO to get some rest before their 0500 departure onboard the HATHOR, but Aki had wanted to get one last climb in before turning in for the night.  The Asian woman had wanted to rest and in order to properly do so she thought it best to have her body be as tired as her mind had been.

With her thoughts already well inside the holodeck she had been heading to, Ensign Mitshiba had not noticed another Ensign rapidly heading in the opposite direction towards the same destination. Obviously equally distracted, Hex had not noticed Aki until the two officers collided right in front of the heavy holodeck doors.

"Hex?!?" the aCSciO gasped as she tried to get back to her feet, not only surprised at the sight of the Kzinti whom she had not seen in a while, but also at her stance which had been far more feral than would have been expected from a Starfleet officer.  "Did I do something wrong?"

"What?" the Kzinti Sec/Tac officer asked, only realizing after the fact that she appeared ready to leap at the Asian woman as if wanting to tear her to shreds.  "Sorry, I was just…" Hex began and left the rest of the answer unspoken as she took a more upright posture.  "Were you heading to the holodeck?"

The question had been so abrupt and direct that Aki figured Hex had wanted to change the subject.  Given the current situation and what they all had endured during their last mission, the aCSciO had been more than happy to oblige.  "I was planning on doing one last rock climbing run before heading to bed," the Asian woman said.

"Rock climbing?" the furred Sec/Tac officer mumbled, obviously this not having been her first choice for a holodeck activity.

Aki chuckled, there had been no reason to expect the Kzinti to enjoy the same pastime as the aCSciO did.  "We could always try orbital sky diving," the Asian woman suggested, half hoping that the Sec/Tac officer would decline or flat out refuse.

"Let's go inside first," Hex offered instead.  "There we can find something that we can *both* agree on."

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Dawn Bohr
Ensign Akira 'Aki' Mitshiba
Assistant Chief Science Officer
USS ANUBIS