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"Alternate Identity"
(Cont. from "Breakfast")
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Setting: USS HATHOR, Bridge
Stardate: 63076.0630

Aki had returned to her post and tried her best to keep her mind on the task at hand.  This had not been as easy as it had seemed given how many times the aCSciO had found herself looking at the COO instead of her instruments.  The words that he had said to her back in the Mess Hall kept resurfacing in spite of her efforts to leave things in the past.

ET had made it clear; he still had feelings for her.  Aki on her end had to agree that she too felt something for the father of two, something that she could not ignore even though part of her wanted to.  Being involved with someone meant leaving yourself open to being hurt, either directly by actions and words from them or by the events that no one had any control over.

At any moment something could happen, an accident, an error at a crucial juncture in a mission, an unforeseen event that would change life forever.  Aki understood the dangers of being a Starfleet officer, of risking one's life each and every time they were called onto a mission, but the Asian woman could not ignore the loneliness that always seemed to tag along.

Would it not be more logical for everyone to remain single, separated, isolated from making the lost of a fellow shipmate more traumatizing then it needed to be?  Maybe this was the way things were on a Vulcan ship, but the crew of the USS ANUBIS had been as far away from being unemotional as could be.  That was why things had been so difficult for all of them, because they all cared so much for one another.  As difficult as it might have been though, they would make it through because they were all part of the family that had found a home on that ship.

The weakness of the human heart is that it is capable of caring far beyond its reach.

The strength of the human hart is that it is capable of caring far beyond its reach.

With a sigh Aki made her decision, one that seemed to go against her training and better judgment, a decision based solely on emotions.  As she approached ET's station, the aCSciO felt her heart racing.  Would she pass out before making it to the COO?

"Elliot?" the Ensign called out in a trembling voice.

"Yes Aki?" the COO replied, having turned to meet the Asian woman's gaze.

"I was thinking," the aCSciO said leaving the rest of her sentence to drift into silence.

"About what?" ET asked, not entirely certain if this had anything to do with their earlier conversation.

"We will need new identities while on the VALLA ROYAL orbital station," Aki said, her throat gradually growing tighter to the point of almost making it impossible for her to breathe.  "Maybe we could arrange to be a couple?"

"It would mean that we would be able to cover less ground," the COO noted a little too quickly for the Asian woman's visible liking.  "It would also mean that we could keep a eye on each other and maybe provide the others with a centralized point to relay any information that could not be transferred over normal channels."

The two Ensigns gazed into each others eyes for a few moments, having forgotten that they had been on the Bridge of the HATHOR and in full view of their CO.

"You two can plan the honeymoon *after* we get there," Captain Morningstar said, accepting their undercover identities for the mission while at the same time reminding them of their more immediate duties onboard the ship.

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