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"Green Scare"
[previous post was "The Grand Game"]
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Setting: MASQUERADE DREAMS, Crystal Ballroom, another section
Stardate: 30151.2120

[From Francois' "Having a Ball"]

"Who was that?" Sonja inquired as she returned to the table, two glasses of champagne in her hands.

"A secret waiting to be revealed," Ya'Han cryptically replied as she accepted one of the glasses from the visibly puzzled Engineer.

[Mine]

The once daughter of the High Sovereign found herself slipping back into memories that she had done her best to hide well out of her mental reach.  Her past as a member of the royal Nylaan family had best been forgotten to insure that she would be able to live a life that would be hers and not one dictated by her father or the social economical ways of an entire race.

Ya'Han tried to dismiss as best she could the encounter with the green haired woman has having been nothing more than an odd sequence of strange and unusual events.  Many races counted people with such colored hair, some because of genetics and others simply because they enjoyed changing their hair to that color.  So it had been a valid possibility that the woman who had approached her had in fact been from any one of these numerous other humanoid races.

She had introduced herself as Ye'Lan, a name that fall well within the boundaries of names given to members of her race, but still there had been a mathematical probability that such a name could be found on one or more of the worlds present in this galaxy.  Still, what had been the odds of such a coincidence taking place?

Then there had been the way that the unknown woman had approached and addressed the raven haired undercover security officer.  Respectful as one would have expected when addressing a member of the royal family.  Every gesture including the way her eyes fell onto the floor pointed to Ye'Lan knowing something about the Chief of Security that no one else knew, but how could this have been possible?  It had been nearly a decade since she had escaped from her world, from her father and that Ferengi troll of a betrothed husband.  How could that woman have known who she was?

Ya'Han's breathing became shallow and rapid almost to the point of hyperventilating as memories of her father and his dealing with those who disobeyed him came to mind.  Escaping from her home world had been a way to avoid marrying that Ferengi troll, but it had also been a way for her to avoid her father's unforgiving wrath.  If Ye'Lan had indeed been a member of the Nylaan Performing Arts field, and if she had indeed identified the black haired woman as being one of the daughters of the High Sovereign, Ya'Han feared that all of her work to have a life free of her past would have been in vain.

"EARTH to Ya'Han," Sonja said as she took hold of one of the trembling woman's arms.  "You know the shakes are supposed to happen *after* you have had a few drinks, not before you even have your first sip, right?"

A forced smile flashed on the woman's lips as she was drawn back into reality, her sitting at one of the countless tables at the black and white ball.  "Sorry," Ya'Han added before she downed the entire content of her champagne glass in one single gulp.

"Woah," the redhead chuckled dryly, knowing that something had caused the woman to be troubled to such an extreme.  "As I see it you have two choices there lass, you can either start talking about what it is that has you in such a troubled state or I can get you a few more drinks and wait until you are drunk as a skunk to get you to tell me what's bothering you.  The first way means that things stay between you and me, the second is likely going to involve some fancy and daring dancing on any one of these tables.  The choice is yours although I will admit that I am partial to the second.  I think there are a lot of people in here who would love to see something unexpected take place."

"It's complicated," Ya'Han whispered as she closed her eyes and drew in a trembling breath.

"I gathered as much," Sonja said as she gently squeezed the harm of the Chief of Security.  "You might want to start by calming yourself enough to change your hair back.  Purple is sure way to attract a lot more attention than I suspect you want to have aiming your way right about now."

Ya'Han had been ready to bolt out of the ballroom but Sonja held onto her arm tight.  At first the Chief of Security had wondered why but it soon became clear that the Chief Engineer had saved the scared woman from making a scene that would have for certain drawn unwanted attention to her.  As she closed her eyes and drew in slow, long breath, the Chief of Security once again became the black haired woman that she wanted everyone to know her as.

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Hanali Han

Ensign Ya'Han
Chief of Security / Chief Tactical Officer
USS ANUBIS, NCC-18501