Jennifer Spader

"Afternoon, Lieutenant. Give me a minute...allow me to use my psychic powers and determine what this might be about." Aegis Cargo Chief Rosalind Wills placed her fingers lightly to her temples and squeezed her eyes shut in mock concentration, then opened them abruptly and gave Spader a tired look. "I'm going to go with...there's stuff missing all over and you're coming to inquire about where it went." "You're brilliant, Chief," Spader said dryly. Wills snorted. "So I keep telling everyone but no one seems to listen. I've been getting all the reports in myself, but I don't know any more about what's going on than you do, except that all the work on my teams' end has been right on the money; if these things were lost, they were lost before they got to storage and distribution." "Of course," Spader said calmly, spreading her hands in a diplomatic gesture. "I didn't come here to place blame. But I had a full compiled inventory of missing components and thought you might like a copy. A present, see?" "Shoulda waited for my birthday," Wills quipped, but took the PADD Spader was offering her anyway and looked it over. "Eh...some of this is new beyond the reports I'd already seen," she added grudgingly after a moment's silence, before looking into Spader's off-kilter implant gaze with a rather exasperated expression. "I mean, seriously...who the hell steals PVC pipes...tricorders...a bunch of empty iso chips...atmo scrubbers? The resale value's terrible, and the only thing I could think to build that used all of this at once would be a particularly shiny scrap heap. It doesn't add up!" Spader just *barely* managed to restrain a grin at the chief's affronted air, though she knew some amusement was apparent in her voice. "I can think of a number of reasons, Chief, basic stupidity being the primary one. But you're right, it's weird." Wills rolled her eyes. "All respect, Lieutenant, you don't understand just how damn much trouble this sort of thing causes. Receiving, transporting, and delivering supplies isn't magic; there's a lot of good people working their tails off down here to make sure everything gets where it needs to be. This sort of chaos is hell on staff morale -- we're all doing our jobs properly and it still all goes to schut. Not to mention that having a bunch of SEC teams wandering around all the delivery areas tends to make my boys nervous." She paused, then offered Spader a slight shrug. "No offense." "None taken. At any rate, my job isn't to apologize to you, Chief; just to keep you in the loop," Spader returned easily, quirking a faint grin at the older woman. Wills grunted. "Right. I guess I'll take what I can get." She tucked the PADD under her arm and gave Spader a pointed look. "So who's behind all this?" A smirk spread across her face as she saw the Security lieutenant shift her weight just slightly, the motion a telling indication of an awkward subject. "We...ah, don't quite know yet. We're working on it, trying to narrow it down," Spader answered, shaking her head slightly. "You'll know when we know, trust me. In the meantime...just see if you can cover the missing items as best you can, keep everything distributed equitably." "I can't call tricorders out of thin air, Lieutenant," Wills said a little irritably, not interested in letting her downplay the situation. "I'll do what I can and you can be sure I'll keep the place running -- but if this shoplifting gets to be a habit on someone's part, or the amount lost starts to outweigh the buffer room for loss and damage built into the shipments we get...we may start to have a problem." Spader grimaced. "Dabi's got a pretty good guard rotation set up; we're keeping an eye out and I don't mean to let anything else slip out. But I'd rather know who the hell's behind this." Wills smiled faintly. "So would I. But I guess that's your ballpark, isn't it, Lieutenant?" "Yep. I guess it is."

Mac was already going through the alarmingly big pile of parts that were scattered on the floor of the shuttle bay while Fin and Fletcher were still talking. He was glad that he finally had something to do again. All this sitting on his butt with nothing to do and not knowing whether he still had a job and a home had been getting to him. Fin quickly scanned the debris pile and noticed that, at least at a first glance, it contained nothing that had once belonged to any vital systems. He took it as a good sign. From what he could see so far, and from the scans he had gotten from the fighters, Fin could see that the Slighe had taken quite a beating but was still mostly in one piece. Now he just hoped that, with the help of the goldshirt, it wouldn't take them too long to get her into working order again. He couldn't wait to get the hell out of this place. For his taste it had been too much of an adventure -- Jen, an insane Chief of Security, a Ferengi in charge, and ship-eating...somethings. Fletcher rolled his head from one shoulder to the other as he surveyed the assortment of damaged parts. It was something of a small miracle that his neck didn't snap under the weight of that boyish ego at times, but for the time being, head and body remained entirely attached. "Coulda been worse, from the look of things." Reaching into the pile, he withdrew a severely burnt...something or another. He brought it within sniffing distance of his face. Taking in a big whiff, he could immediately discern the smell of burnt poly. "Much worse. This looks like a replicator unit, but I don't see much else that's more difficult to replace than that. I expect there's some structural damage, but at least your systems shouldn't be too far gone...: Fin looked at the goldshirt. This Fletcher seemed a bit odd, but likable enough. You could say or think about Starfleet whatever you wanted, but its engineers were always good. Thinking about it, however, Fin could not remember ever meeting one that was completely right in the head. Must be something they inhaled in Engineering. "Yeah, I can't see anything here that looks all that important. Is there anyway you boys could erect forcefields to close the hull breaches so we can actually go over there? Not much sense in trying to figure everything out from the few parts we got here." Mac turned to Fin and Fletcher, wiping his hands on his trousers and nodding agreement. "Well, laddie, it doesn't look too bad that's for sure. At least not concerning what she's been though. I swear, when I saw that pylon all messed up like it is I was surprised to learn that there was actually something still left of the old girl." Tossing the irreparable part aside, Fletcher nodded to the two civies. He was probably more like them than most of the crew on board; less polished, less concerned with formality, less lame in general. Nevertheless, his interaction with folks who weren't affiliated with one of the governments represented on Aegis had taken a nosedive over the past few years. He tried to amp up his coolness factor, but a suit with his collar popped is still a suit. "Yup. We can make that happen. I'll have someone do it ri--" His focus drifted from the two men to the bay doors as they opened. Jen Spader stepped through, her ocular implants quickly sweeping the bay as she let the heavy doors slide shut behind her. She was still wearing her flight suit from the scanning runs she and Revon had been doing; next on the list was, absolutely, dinner, but the shuttlebay swinging past on her left as she jogged towards the turbolift had given her pause. Caden's freighter had probably gotten itself towed in by now, or most of it anyway; might be worth stopping in and seeing what condition it was in, in the event she ran into him again and he pulled the "no one cares about my ship" card. She checked her step abruptly as she realized she wasn't alone; the debris pile scattered over the main deck of the shuttlebay was accompanied by three people, heat signatures amid the cool metal, whom she quickly recognized. Caden, his engineer, and one of the Aegis goldshirts -- the one who had looked so zonked out in sickbay earlier, and had asked for her number. Seemed he was back on his feet, and he'd seen her first; her gaze slid across his already watching her. She grinned to herself. Walked in on a party, didn't I... "Evening, boys..." she said, ambling casually towards them. Fin had not been paying attention to anything but the parts. He only looked up when he heard Jen's voice and he saw Jen checking Goldie out. He couldn't quite see what Fletcher was doing, as he was standing with his back towards Fin since he had turned towards the doors, but Fin was ready to bet quite some latinum that the guy was staring and drooling. After all, Jen did look hot in that flight suit. Fin frowned. "What are you doing here? Your wacko Chief sending you to check on me again?" He meant to be sounding every bit as hostile and condescending as he did. Fletcher too had been paying attention to the parts, though they did not belong to any space-faring vessel. He grinned boyishly as Spader approached, much in the same way he had as he'd left his not-deathbed the week before. As if nothing else anyone may have said had been directed to her, he started up, "Well, 'lo there. What are you doing here?" Spader's gaze flipped across Caden's and she resisted the urge to scowl at his immediate sarcasm -- not really surprising, but aggravating all the same, given that she had put a decent amount of work into the finding of the ship he'd been so worked up about. Screw it. She ignored him for the moment, focusing on the engineer, who had a far more appealing Cheshire-Cat grin on and had given her his full attention at once. "Just seeing what's shaking down here," she said easily, grinning back at him. "Me and my flight dug up that thing out of the wreckage..." She gave a nod to indicate the somewhat worse-for-wear Slighe Chlann Uisnich hanging outside the bay. "Figured I ought to come down and make sure it got towed in properly." Let Caden chew on that if he liked. "Am I interrupting?" "Yes," Fin spat out immediatley. Again ignoring anyone else in the room, Caelan shook his head. "Nah...just, you know. Tryin' to put the ship back together." He reached up to scratch the back of his head, "Welcome to stick around, if yeh like." Spader gave Caden a saccharine sideways smile. "I wasn't asking you, was I?" Turning back to Caelan, she nodded promptly at the invitation with a grin. She had to admire the engineer's focus; it had taken her *years* to learn to ignore Caden when he was determined to be an ass. "Sure, it'd be a pleasure...if I can help." Dinner suddenly seemed less important; aggravating Caden would have been worth it on its own, but Caelan's abrupt focus on her in contrast was, she had to admit, flattering. She shook her head slightly and glanced at the debris. "I'm not the world's handiest with a hyperspanner but I can service my own fighter; can't be too different, right?" she said dryly. Fletcher held his grin, looking directly at Spader as he spoke. "I'd be happy to service your fighter whenever yeh like." Did those eyebrows just waggle? "But we'll take all the help we can get." He acknowledged the other two men in the room since Spader arrived, "Right, gentlemen?" Fin rolled his eyes and opted to ignore Fletcher's comment. Instead he turned to Jen. "Good luck having a go at these with a hyperspanner." That was all the attention he was willing to give her; the next sentence was addressed at goldie. "So, Mr. Fletcher, how about the force fields and paying the Slighe a visit?" Caelan looked back over at Fin distractedly. "The what?" Spader's presence in the room and Fletcher's reaction to it somehow caused Fin to lose his patience. He wasn't jealous that the two were clearly flirting. After the fight Jen and Fin had had in front of sickbay, however, he would have preferred if she would have stayed out of his way. "The Slighe Chlann Uisnich. My ship. Antares Class freighter." Spader smirked at the sound of Fin's temper snapping and deliberately took her time in re-entering the conversation. "I appreciate the offer, Mr. Fletcher," she said with a half-wink in his direction. "Surely would be more fun than doing all the work by myself. But not now...we can't keep Mr. Finlay waiting." She kept her voice light, with no hint of the gibe she knew Fin would hear. "I know how much value he places on that ship." Fletcher flashed a smirk, "Just kiddin', Mister Fin." Whether that response was honest or not, he proceeded to tap his comm badge. "Fletcher to Engineering. Let's get some forcefields up 'round the Sl-i-ge-heh. Level Nine." Nodding, as if satisfied with his control of the situation, he looked back toward Fin. "Probably'll take'em at least an hour or so to get 'em flush with the holes in your ship. I'm starvin'. How 'bout you?" The question seemed to be addressed to everyone, but he looked toward Spader as he asked. Fin shook his head. "No thanks, Mr Fletcher. I'll see you later on the Slighe. I still have a lot of work to do." With that, he walked away from Spader and the pathetically trying Fletcher. Spader's implant-eyes tracked Fin as he stalked away, then swung back towards Caelan, noting that he didn't seem too disappointed in Fin's departure. She laughed, puffing a loose bit of hair off her forehead. "I was actually just heading down to get something to eat when I decided to swing in here." "Well...looks like it's just us." Fletcher's eyes shifted from left to right, as if looking for anyone else who might be joining them. "Haven't had much of a chance to try out the food here - is it any good?" He held out his hand, offering for Spader to lead the way. "It's not bad," Jen said with a chuckle, falling into step slightly ahead of him as they headed towards the door of the bay. "Replicators here make a better beef stew but the potato soup is crap compared to Aegis. So it all evens out..." She grinned at him sideways, raising her eyebrows just slightly. "You've just got to go with whatever catches your attention, I guess." Shrugging slightly, Caelan followed close in tow. 'I think I just did...'

“On the Battlefield” A log by Lieutenant Jennifer Spader and Freighterless Captain Caden Finlay Fin was fuming when he walked along the corridor to sickbay. He wanted to see Deshaun who had sustained minor injuries while helping evacuate the docking ring. A giant man had run into him trying to save some supplies. The secondary motive for his visit to sickbay was that he hoped to find some brass there, or a cane in the case of Drankum, Fin was ready to demand some answers. This whole trip out here had been a disaster from start to finish. First he had run into Jen, which wasn’t bad per se, but she had acted like a...woman. Then when he finally had a date with some doctor, the whole station fell apart. Not that he cared much about the station, but whatever had caused this disintegration had also destroyed his ship. And not a single one of those bloody, slimy, uniformed worms thought it necessary to inform him about what was going on. The Slighe Chlann Uisnich was his life, quite literally. It was his only source of income, it was his home, and it was the same to his crewmembers. Yet, nobody seemed to understand that, and that infuriated him the most. The doors of sickbay slid open and a Federation officer stepped out, her head down, studying the floor, and her shoulder collided with Fin’s as he turned the corner into the med facility. Jen Spader yelped, startled at the sudden impact, and backpedaled, her head coming up to see who she had struck, words of apology dying on her tongue as she realized who it was. Speak of the devil... was all she could think for a moment; she had just been inquiring after Fin’s safety and now here he was in all his glory. He was looking madder than a hornet, of course, but for a moment she didn’t even register that; a feeling of relief went through her stronger even than she’d expected. “Caden!” she said, a rough smile flashing onto her face, the old name coming back by force of habit. “You made it alright...” Fin stopped dead in his tracks when he heard his name. The relief in her voice, however, was completely lost on him. He said in a quiet voice which was barely above a whisper, “Made it alright? Do I look like I made it alright, Lieutenant?” The next statement came out as a bark of pure unbridled fury. “I am not alright!” Spader’s head snapped back as if he had struck her and her implant-eyes narrowed in startled anger at his tone. Somewhere in the back of her mind she understood that she was probably just a proxy for his anger at the situation in general, but the rest of her, the part of her that was pissed as hell herself (about many things) and had been honestly trying to set it aside in favor of the positive light, seethed with a sudden righteous indignation at his lack of gratitude. “Oh...of course. ‘Scuse me,” she answered, the relief dropping from her tone in favor of a defensive acidity. “I figured I could maybe say that, given that you managed to escape a station falling apart in the middle of deep space with your skin intact. Thought that could be considered good luck. My mistake.” “Well, I don’t consider it good luck to have lost my job, my home, all of my possessions and those of my crewmates. I am supposed to be strolling along the promenade of your blasted station with a woman holding my hand and wanting to...” He broke off, he couldn’t take thinking about what this day should have been like any longer. As for Jen’s worry, he didn’t care; she was neither his mother nor his girlfriend, so she was in no position to make such a fuss. It absolutely wasn’t jealousy that led to the roll of the eyes from Jen that answered this statement of wishful thinking. Definitely not. Just a certain aggravation at his constant assumption that he was the center of the therak universe. “Yes, for the rest of us the loss of the station was just a momentary inconvenience, I suppose,” she said coolly. “You’ll get another ship, I imagine -- you always knew how to find a way to move on.” She really didn’t get it. “You know, every goddamn day that you are stranded on this blasted ship you will know that you will always have food and a place to stay. Excuse me for being extremely angry for nobody realising that I do not enjoy such luxuries. No cargo, no pay. No pay, no food. No ship, no place to stay. Why won’t any of you stupid Fleeters get that into your thick heads?” He was positively yelling now. It felt good, even though he knew he was targeting the wrong one, but he just couldn’t stop once he had started. “Maybe we’ve got more on our plates than one angry cargo-runner,” Spader said, her tone grating in her throat with frustration at the jibe. “But you’re right, I’m sorry, we should be focusing on you and nothing but you, never mind an entire Sky Harbor taking up space potentially being completely scuttled to our aft quarter, God forbid you spend a few days off your schedule that you would have spent with some airheaded bimbo anyway--” Fin clenched his fist, which was a bad sign, because it always meant he had to hit someone... or something. Even though Jen was really pissing him off, he didn’t want to hit her. So he hit the wall instead... hard... too hard. Perfect, just perfect. Of course he didn’t show his pain to Jen, that would have been way too embarrassing. “I’m not saying that you and the rest of that Ferengi’s minions shouldn’t care about that stupid station of yours, but someone could at least have had the courtesy to inform me of what is going on. Even though you are sadly convinced that I only care about myself, I have a crew to take care of. You know, despite everything that ever happened between us, the times you hauled my butt into campus house arrest, the times you wrestled me to the ground after I tried to climb the fence...I always knew you were on my side. You did what you had to do, but now, I don’t know Jen, you need to see past that uniform every now and then, the way you used to.” Spader flushed. “Why? What loyalty should I have to you? I stuck it out, I put in the work, and you turned your tail and ran. I have a job here and you’ll forgive me if it’s my first priority.” Her jaw worked and she looked away from him abruptly. “I wish you’d stayed away.” Taking a step forward, she pushed past him, nudging him out of her path down the corridor without a backward glance. “Good choice, by the way,” she added caustically over her shoulder. “Punching the wall outside of sickbay. Means you’ll get attention right away. That’s what you always want, isn’t it?” And she disappeared around a corner. Fin turned and yelled after her, “You just don’t get it, do you? You never did!”

Sickbay was still teeming with activity. Some patients were sitting on their biobeds, waiting for their physical and the OK from a doctor to get back to duty. Others were not so lucky. Some of the engineers had sustained serious injuries during the collapse of the station. Broken bones, burns, contusions, internal bleeding. The list of injuries was long. The good news was that they would all make it unless there were complications. Nick entered the bustle of main sickbay. He had just checked on Commander Chirakis before getting back to work.They had decided to put her in the the long term ward even though she would most likely not have to remain in sickbay very long. But it was much quieter in there and she definitely needed the rest. Now he was making a beeline for the console which showed which patients still needed treatment. Spader carefully sidestepped a member of the Missouri's medical staff as she entered the sickbay, her implant-gaze sweeping the main bay quickly, taking in the increased heat of the crowded room. Some of Aegis's medical staff was here, and new patients too; all in all the air seemed to vibrate with body heat in her vision. This place was not meant for the influx it was being forced to bear. She ignored the distracting element, however, and the unpleasant thoughts that went along with it; she had a mission here, and it didn't take long to nail down her target. "Dr. Lepage," she said, just loud enough to be heard over the noise around them, seeing the Aegis CMO pushing his way towards the console on the far well. Nick turned around, expecting to see a nurse asking him to sign something or to check on a patient. He was surprised to see Lieutenant Spader. She hadn’t been aboard Aegis when the station had collapsed – or so he thought. “How can I help you, Lieutenant?” he asked. Quickly Spader crossed the few feet separating them and came to a halt in front of Lepage, her arms laced behind her back and her eyes not quite looking at him, more somewhere over his shoulder. “Chief Dabi sent me; hoping to bring back a report on the state of the...last survivors of Aegis, sir,” she said, her voice just the slightest bit stiff as she tried, and failed, to find a way to phrase the situation that didn’t sound so damn final. “Oh, right,” Nick replied, his mind more on treating patients than giving reports. It took him a few seconds to think of an appropriate answer. “Everybody’s condition seems to be stable. We’re keeping Commander Chirakis here for the time being. I’m not entirely sure about the others since I didn’t treat them but it seems everybody is doing...well...fine, considering the circumstances.” Spader nodded slowly. “Yeah...considering the circumstances...” she said slowly, looking around. It was a vague but satisfying report; she supposed he couldn’t give her more without breaching doctor-patient confidentiality. “Well, that’s good to hear...everything we can do towards nailing down where everyone is and how they stand.” She rubbed the back of her neck and looked back at Lepage again. “Any bad news Security should know about?” “I have no idea what you have in mind but, well, no.” Nick was a little puzzled by the question. “What bad news were you thinking of?” Spader chuckled. “In my experience, bad news is usually the stuff you can’t think of. Never mind...just trying to be thorough.” Her implant-gaze flicked its way around the room again, searching for faces she recognized, a few niggling worries at the back of her mind trying to satisfy themselves. “You haven’t--” she began, then stopped, debating giving voice to her concerns. “No I haven’t,” Nick replied with as serious an expression he could muster. “But I’d love to. Only sickbay’s a little crowded right now for skydiving,” he added with a broad grin spreading across his face. For a second it was Spader’s turn to look puzzled; then she caught the grin and realized he was joking. “Right...” she said with a low laugh. “I’ll get back to you on that later, then, when you’ve got more room to maneuver.” She paused, then went on more slowly, “What I was going to ask is...you haven’t seen a civilian captain...brown hair, brown eyes, about yea tall...” She gestured about two inches higher than her own head. “Name is Finlay...he been through?” She felt stupid for asking. Caden probably wouldn’t be asking after her. But she had realized, in the wake of Aegis’s disintegration, that she had not seen him since the early stages of the evacuation process, and that she had no idea when, where, or even if he had beamed out. “Just...trying to keep track of everything,” she added lamely, with a mildly forced air of nonchalance. “Right,” Nick replied simply, playing along. He stepped over to the medical console and pulled up the patient files. “Nope, he hasn’t been in here. Do you have any reason to believe he was on the station with the engineers and the Commander?” Spader shrugged. “I dunno where he was. He had no one ordering him around, and his ship was still aboard the station...” Her voice trailed off and she shook her head. “Like I said, just thought I’d check.” Caden wouldn’t have stuck that close to his ship, would he? He’d have left. He’d left in the past when things got tough, after all... She shook her head. Stupid thoughts for a senseless time. “Anything I can do to help while I’m here?” “I’m sure he beamed out when we all did.” It was obvious Spader was asking for a reason and Nick had the hunch that there was more to it than just making sure no one had been left on the station. “As for helping,” Nick paused and looked around sickbay as if he was seriously considering her offer. “Thanks but last time I had someone from another department help out I had two engineers running around suggesting to leave seriously injured patients to their own devices. So, well, we’re not that desperate yet.” The grin that showed on Nick’s face yet again betrayed his amusement. Spader laughed. “Yes, but those were engineers...Security is much more sensitive, you know...” she said dryly. “All that aside...I can take a hint; I’ll be out of your way now, and make my report to the chief. You need anything, though, give a holler.” God knows I need something to keep me busy... Turning, she walked towards the door, her expression a bit troubled. Nick’s smile faded as he watched Spader leave and his mind turned back to the patients who were still waiting to be treated.

Fin slumped against a wall. Everybody had been evacuated from the shuttle and cargo bays and he had been running around like a madman making sure that everybody had left the area. He was exhausted. People had been running around, some had stumbled a couple had been injured. Nothing major, but sprained ankles meant limping, limping meant weakness, weakness meant death in situatuions like these. Fortunately, the security staff, which he was reporting to, was able to calm things down before any real panic broke out. Either way, carrying people to safety was a tiring task. So now that everything was over Fin allowed himself to sit down for a minute to regein enough strength to reach the next bar for a stiff drink or two. He hadn't been sitting there very long when a set of footsteps came around the corner. Spader didn't look up to see whose feet exactly were sticking out into the middle of the corridor, just mumbled, "Come on...move along. We're clearing out this corridor too. Little further in." She was exhausted; the whole place -- or at least its outer sections -- had gone very abruptly to hell, and the evacuation was still in the cleanup stages in the outer decks, though she'd finally been convinced by one of the techs to let them handle the easier bits and go get some rest. It was hard to rest when all signs pointed to the station slowly being eaten from the outside in, but she figured it might be a good plan to take advantage of the rest when it was offered. "Come on...up you get," she said, a little more force in her voice, raising her eyes to see who it was. "No time to--oh." Finlay. Her voice dropped in volume slightly and edged up abruptly with frustration. "What are you doing still here?" He was tired and didn't feel like fighting with Jen again. Usually he enjoyed it immensly; he loved driving her insane and seeing that he still knew how to push her buttons. But right now he simply got up and walked along the corridor next to her. "What do you mean? My ship's falling apart and I'm pretty sure it's Starfleet's fault. So, where would I go? I didn't feel like taking a space walk today, so I thought I'd stay." He sounded tired and annoyed. "Your ship was falling apart when it showed up," Spader said, in a tone that indicated the jibe was more force of habit than anything else. There was no energy behind it; her voice was low. She paused, then sighed. "Come on, Fin, you can't stay here, I'm to get everyone off this deck." Fin sighed: "I'm not sure I can walk anymore, will you carry me?" With that he leaned on her heavily. It was strange, but after the bad day he was having he felt like reliving the old times was a good idea. Just that in the old times when he was leaning on her like that it had usually been because he was drunk and she had caught him outside after curfew. Fin stopped for a moment, forcing Jen to do the same. "Strange all this, innit?" Spader grunted, holding his weight up with a startled noise, then checking her step abruptly as he stopped, trying not to fall over. "Strange what? That the station's falling apart? Hell yes, it's strange." Shifting her shoulders slightly to stop his chest from digging against her shoulder, she tugged him forward. "Come on, Finlay...one foot in front of the other." Slowly he started walking again. "Well, that's strange, too. But I meant that we run into each other again. Although, it figured that it had to be pretty much at the end of the universe. I never really got to say goodbye, did I?" He knew full well that he never said goodbye, it had all been a part of his more or less well thought out plan. Spader gave him a sideways look, and a thousand responses danced on the tip of her tongue waiting to be spat with all the energy she had left, which wasn't much. But it would be a waste and she knew it. He was deliberately being obtuse. "No." "I guess I never really expected to see you again." He knew that it wasn't really an explanation for what had happened between them, or rather for how he had behaved when it had all ended, but he hope that this answer would suffice for now. He also knew that she would demand answers soon. Jen had never been one to leave questions unanswered, and she must have plenty. It would all have been much easier if he hadn't run into her again. Life had been great an uncomplicated until the moment they had docked at Aegis. Since then he had been falsely accused and interrogated, his ship was falling apart, he was enhausted, his and his crew's jobs were at risk (without a ship no job) and now all this Jen business again. "Clearly." She knew she sounded sulky and she didn't care, just slapped the turbolift controls as they reached the end of the corridor and gave him a nudge, stepping back to make him walk in under his own power.

Starfleet Academy; 2381 Fin sat in a chair in the room of the Disciplinary Committee of the Starfleet Academy feeling thoroughly uncomfortable. His discomfort had nothing to do with the situation he was facing, it wasn't the first time, after all, and he didn't really care, but rather with the fact that he was bruised all over. The Marine Corps believed in administering only rudimentary medical treatment to those who got into a fight with your team leader during a drill. Fin glanced over at the guy who had gotten him into this mess and was glad to see that he was not only sporting one black eye, like he did, but two, and a swollen nose. "Mr. Finlay," the voice of the chairman of the committee sounded exasperated, "I can't say that it's good to see you here again. I read the report from Sergeant Salt. What do you have to say for yourself?" Fin stood up, just shrugged his shoulders and looked at the old man before standing at attention: "Sir, my teamleader was being an idiot. He was leading us into a trap and I told him so, he wouldn't listen." Cadet Jen Spader, Academy freshman and Discipline's security grunt du jour, cocked her head slightly from where she'd been standing at attention next to the chairman's desk and resisted the urge to grin at the young man's explanation. She knew she was supposed to be on the side of the old guy at her elbow, meting out justice and defense, but she was more interested in protecting against the real killing and destruction -- frankly, she couldn't blame Cadet Finley, even if he was a marine. Joker Douglas *was* an idiot, and that was a hell of a lot better reason than for most of the fights Spader had gotten into back in high school. Of course, she'd also come out of them looking better, most of the time, though Finley was kind of cute, if you looked past the black eye and all. Let's hurry this up, already, she thought dryly, keeping her eyes on the infractioner for lack of anything better to look at and waiting for the chairman to finish chewing over the case. "The assessment of your fellow Cadets' performance is hardly your job, Mr. Finlay. We've been over this before, haven't we? This is my final warning; if I ever see you here again, we will have to assume that you do not have the necessary qualities to be a member of Starfleet. Is that understood?" Fin nodded and dutifully answered: "Yes Sir!" "You are suspended from any and all extracurricular activities for two months; furthermore, you shall be confined to quarters for that time and are only allowed to attend your classes and training programs. The hearing is closed. Cadet Spader, please escort Finlay to his quarters." This was what Fin had expected, and he didn't mind, there was always a way to get out of his quarters, it was just a matter of not getting caught. He saluted and waited for Cadet Spader, whoever that might be, to step forward. His eyes met those of the Cadet standing next to the chairman. She was kind of cute, and she was looking at him. He winked at her with his unbruised eye and smiled. Spader almost grinned but the chairman was looking at her for her response so she snapped a salute and responded crisply, "Yes, sir!" Gesturing the young man out the door ahead of her, she checked the information for his quarters and followed him out into the hallway. "Think I've seen you around before...I take it I don't have to read you your rights or anything," she said wryly when they were out of earshot, falling into a regular guard stance and beginning to direct him down the corridor. Fin walked along the corridor, smiling. Must be his lucky day; well, apart from the disciplinary hearing. "Well, Spader, it depends, what do my rights say about flirting with security escorts?" Spader really did grin now; out of earshot of the old Discip blowhard, she figured she was safe enough in it. Even in her first year of SEC training, she'd run into enough real bad guys to know that the young man was small potatoes in the criminal department; she wasn't worried about him. "Not sure they mention it, actually, Mr. Finley." "Fin," was all he said. "Fin. Earhart building, floor 4, room 25, right, Fin?" Spader asked by way of a response, her off-kilter blue gaze sparking with amusement. "At least you've got a room with a nice view; you'll be seeing a lot of it for a while." Fin stopped dead in his tracks and turned around with a wide grin spread across his face. Spader checked her step at the last moment as her charge turned around, knocking gently into his shoulder. "Aye, come on, what are you doing, Finley? Exit's that way," she said, her tone a little aggravated. "Well Spader, I was just thinking, you know my roommate's in the hospital after an accident during one of his drills, so it's going to be very lonely for me, why don't you just come visit every now and then, since you already know where I live." Fin knew he had her interested in him. He stood in the corridor a bit longer and took a closer look at the young woman. She was tall, not as tall as him, but quite tall for a woman, had nice black hair, too bad she didn't wear it longer, a nice body, well proportioned, and bluegreen eyes. Her eyes, something about them was odd, but it didn't make her less beautiful. Spader's gaze actually flicked down from his for a second as he looked her over; she felt oddly embarrassed. "Well, I've gotta keep an eye on you," she said, a little dryly. "Make sure you don't break house arrest. I'm sure you'll be seeing me..." "Well, if you drop by I won't have a reason to sneak out, will I? Otherwise I'll have to make sure you'll have to come chase me." Fin turned around and started to walk towards his quarters again. He had noticed that Spader had blushed slightly while he had looked at her. She also avoided his eyes, those were all good signs. Spader chuckled. "Don't make my life difficult, Finley...I'm trained to be able to make your black eyes symmetrical." Sighing theatrically Fin turned around, facing her again: "Fin, Spader, it's Fin. And you do realise I'm training to be a Marine, right? The only way you could give me a black eye was if I'd let you, and you'd have to be really nice to me in order for me to do that." Spader laughed as he stopped again. He had nerve, she had to give him that, and she kind of admired that. And he really did have nice eyes. Dammit, with this attitude I'll end up in front of Discip myself. "In two months, maybe we can find out which of us is right. Walk on, Fin, you've got me late to lunch." "Pity, I'd invite you to lunch, but you know, I'm kinda busy staying at my place at the moment. Although, I tend to interpret the confinement as more of a suggestion than an order anyway." Letting her know that he planned to sneak out of his quarters might have seemed like a stupid move to most people, but he planned to find out how much she sticked to the rules. It wasn't like he was a dangerous criminal, and if she wasn't fun then it wouldn't be worth opening the door next time she came to visit. Spader sighed. "What'd I say about making my life difficult?" she asked him wryly. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that. And if I catch you outside of your quarters during your house arrest, I track you down and drag you all the way across campus by your shirt collar." She paused, then gave him a pointed look. "Got it?" That was all Fin needed to know. She wasn't going to tell any superiors. He liked a woman who took matters into her own hands. He quickly stood at attention and saluted her. "Understood Cadet Spader, ma'am. I won't let you catch me." Spader rolled her implant-eyes at him, finding herself again trying not to grin. "Of course you won't," she answered, in a tone that suggested mostly disbelief but a little amusement. This man is going to get me into trouble, she thought idly, and grabbing him by the shoulder, she turned him back to face the direction they had been walking. "Come on then, Marine. Forward march."

Fin was standing in the corridor leading from his Cargo Bay to the airlock. The small space was cluttered with boxes waiting to be unloaded. Unfortunately his cargo still wasn't cleared and he was slowly getting angry at Aegis Security. This wasn't the first time he was transporting cargo for Starfleet. This was a routine trip. All the containers had Starfleet seals and none had been broken. What the hell was taking them so long to clear everything? Fin had handed in the paperwork right when they had arrived. He sure hoped Aegis personnel wasn't always this incompetent when dealing with cargo or they'd starve out here. After all they were one of the few civilian freighters that would transport cargo out here. Fin was pacing between the crates. Additionally to his ship still not being unloaded something else was bothering him. What on earth was Spader doing here. This was the last place he had expected to see that woman. It had been 4 years since he had seen her last. Their break-up hadn't been one of his proudest moments, but it had been necessary nonetheless. Spader herself was some distance away, talking in a low, aggravated tone with another security grunt, who handed her a PADD detailing the freighter's cargo manifest and the results of their security checks. She sighed. It would have been nice (for a given and somewhat selfish definition of "nice") to have an excuse to boot Finlay out on his rear, to give him the kick he'd deserved four years ago and that she'd wanted to give him for quite a long time after. Better late than never, after all. There was nothing wrong with his cargo, though. No legitimate reason to keep him off Aegis, no matter how disconcerting it was to see him again. And, in a way, she had to admit it was almost a relief, too. She'd wondered what had happened to him. Not that she cared, since he clearly didn't. Turning away with PADD in hand, she moved towards Finlay standing among the boxes. "Captain," she said, a little stiffly. Spader kept her voice scrupulously even and congratulated herself on it silently, deliberately ignoring his aggravation. "You're cleared to proceed, Mr. Finlay. Cargo crew will be arriving to assist you in unloading shortly." Fin turned to Mladen and motioned for them to start putting the crates on carts. "Thank you, took you guys long enough." He guessed he had just ruined his chance of going for a drink with Jen later to talk about old times. It was a pity, she was still beautiful. "No problem," Spader said coolly, debating a tirade about how much paperwork an arriving freighter entailed and then deciding against it. "Welcome aboard Sky Harbor Aegis." Turning, she moved to step over a box and walk away, then paused and glanced over her shoulder, her implant-eyes a bit narrowed, unable to resist the parting shot. "I know it's not your habit to inform anyone you're leaving, but make sure you go through the right channels before you undock." Her comment actually made Fin smile. She definitely had developed a side she didn't have as a freshman in the Academy. He was pretty sure she meant to hurt him by confronting him with his leaving. "You don't know anything about my habits Jen, Captain Finlay is a different guy than Fin. Gotta stick to the rules, or I'll find myself having to do illegal business soon. And you know me, I'm such a lover of rules and of doing what's right." Spader snorted. "Yeah, you always were a do-gooder..." Seeing him smile, something inside her twisted just the slightest bit and she suddenly really wished she could be glad to see him, and her voice took on a frustrated edge as she turned back to face him again. "Did you know I was here, Fin?" "'Course I did, dollface. Didn't I tell you back at the Academy that I'd go to the end of the universe for you? And voila, here I am." He was surprised at her question; he didn't see what difference it would have made if he had known. He had a job to do, so did she, and that was that. "Right. Guess you were on a bit of a time delay," she said dryly. Frak it. If running into her again didn't mean anything to him, why should it to her? "Well, I hope you enjoy your stay," she went on, deliberately relaxing her tone to a dismissive shrug as she turned away again. "Try not to make me have to come pull you out of the Promenade by your collar." At this Fin’s grin widened; ah, she knew him too well, even after all this time. “Jen?” He called after her. She stopped, closed her eyes and opened them a few times, and then said evenly, without turning around, "What?" "Whose head do I have to throw a PADD at around here to ask for permission for my crew and me to stay for a few days?" Fin could tell she was upset but he didn't quite know why. He hadn't done anything to upset her, yet. And he couldn't imagine that she'd still feel bad about what had happened in the past. "When your cargo's all stowed, you'll want to pass that through the station CSEC; he'll make a decision based on your background checks. You'll know him when you see him. Rihan, doesn't smile too much. You'll love him." Glancing over her shoulder at him, she raised an eyebrow slightly. "Any other questions?" "Well, I'd ask why you're mad at me, but I have a feeling that I shoud know the answer to this already, so I guess I won't bother. And since you're mad at me I guess there's also no point in asking you out to dinner." He didn't quite know why but he had to ask, even if he was only doing so indirectly She looked at him for a second in silence. He still had the same easy confidence; she had to give him that. No self-doubt, just the blithe certainty that he could do no wrong. It had, four years ago, by turns infuriated and amused her, but there was no question it was familiar. She didn't know what to say to it, though; it was difficult to think, to determine whether she was being unreasonable or he was, or they both were together. She felt flustered and angry and didn't answer, just gave a faint shrug and turned away; this conversation was only going to keep getting both of them aggravated. "I'll see you around, Captain Finlay. Keep out of trouble." Fin made a frustrated noise halfway between a grunt and a sigh. Then he walked up behind her and grabbed her hand, turning her around. Not quite knowing what he was doing or why he kissed her. Spader made a startled noise as his lips touched hers and for a moment she just stood there dumbly, pressed against him. I...what? she thought vaguely, feeling very keenly his fingers pressed lightly against her shoulder. I thought you didn't care...you left me without even a damn note four years ago and stroll in here like you own the place and now you want to act like...like you still...like you didn't...no, frak that, you don't get off that easy..."Oy!" she grunted, pulling back from him with more than expected difficulty; her hand came up and around to push him away, slapping him across the jaw. "What the hell?" As Jen pulled her hand away from his face Fin grabbed her wrist. He had more than once been at the receiving end of her violent outbursts, came with her job. "Jen, I don't know what to do with you. You don't want to talk, you don't want to go for drinks, you're cleary mad at me, I have to interact with you in some way. So it's either this, or you talk to me. I know I'm a jerk when it comes to feelings and all that, and you should remember that you have to spell it out for me. So please, talk to me." "You don't have to do anything with me," Spader said, shaking her head and looking thoroughly thrown off her groove. "You made it clear a long time ago that you didn't want to...so why play games?" Wrenching her hand out of his grip, she turned and stalked away before he could say anything else, glaring at the security grunt from before who had witnessed this little interchange and was opening his mouth to comment.

13 July, 2386 Revon furiously typed paragraphs detailing the security aboard the station. Normally, this was Technician Bean's job, but he had called sick, for the 6th time in a row. Tired from lack of sleep, he reached for his coffee mug, finding it empty. "You've got to be-" Just then, he heard the door open. Revon shot up, expecting Centurion Dabi. "Chief!" He said, saluting. Instead, he was greeted with Spader. "Ehm..." Spader let the doors slide shut behind her and nodded a grin at her fellow SEC officer. "Sorry to disappoint, just me," she said cheerfully, her off-kilter blue implant-eyes narrowing slightly in amusement. "How's shift, Revon?" Revon's arms grew stiff, his throat became tense. "Ehh, heh, good. How about you...", he said nervously, eyes narrow. Spader saw his expression drop and she raised her eyebrows slightly but kept her tone easy. "Ah...going along well enough. Bad night's sleep." She wandered over to the far side of the SEC office and ordered a cup of coffee. "Bean skip out again?" Revon quickly straightened himself. He looked down at his empty glass of coffee. "Yeah." He walked over to Spader and ordered a refill. "Sixth time this week." "Lazy bugger," Spader said with a chuckle. "I swear he never got over being chief for...five days or whatever. Went to his head." She sipped at her coffee and moved over to stand at one of the consoles, keeping an eye on Revon out of the corner of her eye. She felt she knew the young man well enough by now to know when something was up, and lately any comfortable chatting tone towards her which he might have used had become short, clipped, as if they had only just met each other. "You alright, Rev?" she asked after a moment's silence. Revon once more became tense. He forced out a reply. "Well, really..." He took a great swig of his coffee. "I haven't really gotten over it..." Spader paused, then let out a low breath. She'd had a feeling he hadn't been quite so nonchalant about that business as he'd acted at the time, and her voice took on a note of slight, defensive aggravation. "It was three weeks ago, Rev. I know I acted a bit stupid, but it had to be done." Well, more than 'a bit,' maybe, she added mentally, reflecting back on the incident with the damn freighter... **** 26 June 2386 Spader shifted around in the biohazard suit she was wearing and eyed the interior of the devastated freighter with distaste. She wasn't clear on the details of exactly what had happened to the little Norkova-class cargo hauler, or why it was currently saturated with large amounts of highly toxic radiation which even now was spreading all the way across Aegis's main approach lane. Hazmat spill, maybe, or plasma leakage on a massive scale...she had no idea. She didn't get that kind of insider information. She just knew she and a few of the other SEC grunts had been called in to do rescue work on the crew, and that her suit was pinging a general alarm that if things got any worse around her than they already were, it couldn't be held responsible for what happened. This whole business was ringing far too much of a bell for comfort; the heat and the radiation alarms of a Norkova had been burned into her memory since she was ten years old. "I'm doing another sweep," she said, gesturing with her tricorder and turning awkwardly in the suit to face Revon who was standing just behind her. "Give me one sec." They'd gotten the order to pull out but Spader's heart was racing and she was not going to leave anyone behind. Revon looked upon his surroundings. Alarms blared, and the entire ship was tinted with dark red. He looked at his tricorder, showing 3 greys of radiation. He raised an eyebrow. "You're serious? We're supposed to pull out." He followed Spader, after taking a glance at the shuttle. All the while, he kept a close eye on the geiger counter. "We're not in the danger zone yet," Spader said absently, staring intently at the tricorder, partially because it kept her from looking at the bulkheads. Her ocular implants lent her, among other things, the ability to (to some extent) see the radiation growing in the walls and it was rather unnerving. "And I just want to be absolutely sure..." "Careful. Too many greys and these suits are done. Do you detect anyone?" Meanwhile, Revon felt torn between 2 things. He'd always put the mission orders first, but he'd never really made any good friends on his previous vessel. Revon paused, took a glance back, and continued forward after Spader. "I'm not sure...tric's about as blind as I am..." Spader said roughly, turning again slightly and tweaking the tric again. "I'm not getting any--" Her voice cut off with a sharp intake of breath. "Cargo bay. Level below us. There's something there." Gods, the levels down there were spiking; they couldn't be left there, there wasn't any time... She swallowed, and without waiting for an acknowledgment from Revon, turned and bolted for the nearest Jeffries tube, awkwardly sliding herself down towards the next deck. Revon whipped around to Spader as she ran for the tube. "Spader! The-" She dissapeared into the deck below. He put his hand on his suit's faceplate "Ugh..." He walked over to the tube, looked down and said to himself "I'll regret this." Instantly, he snapped out of his grim mood and cracked a smile. He shouted "Banzai!" and shuffled to the lower deck. The effects of the radiation could be felt as soon as they hit the deck. It was warmer down here even with the aid of the suits, which immediately began screaming alerts that this was not at all a good place to be and what kind of fool officers were they to be here in the first place. Spader ignored them, looking around the cargo bay, which looked as torn up as the rest of the place if not more so. Containers lay scattered everywhere, some of them broken open, and the walls. "Dammitall," she muttered. "Where are you...?" The lifesign readings were growing faint and she all but ran across the bay, then came to a halt and pointed. "There!" One of the freighter's crew, terribly burned and unconscious, was lying sprawled half-under a fallen cargo crate, and she bolted towards him, starting to wrestle him out from under it. Revon immediately whipped out his Geiger counter. Though they had been exposed to various radiation types, his suit was going bat-crazy. The device read 6 greys, and every step he took increased the intensity. He ran after Spader, finally happening upon her lifting a heavy crate. He helped her, and yelled "The heck are you doing?! These suits can't stand this much and you know that!" All the while, Revon roasted in his suit. "They'll hold," Spader said, shaking her head slightly without looking up. "Got a bit of wiggle room...if we get this one and get out we'll be alright." Probably. "Come on, give it a little--there we go!" The crate slid to the side, exposing the man underneath it. Spader wondered whether he would even be alive at this point, given the way her suit was reacting, but she didn't spare the time to look at the tricorder, or even a thought towards the idea of turning around and leaving. Instead she leaned forward and began wrestling him into a fireman's carry. Revon put a hand to his temples, and he saw the plastic layer of his suit begin to drip. Beyond arguing, he simply said "Go.", and marched behind Spader towards the Jefferies tube. The man hung so heavy and limp on her shoulders that this idea was feeling worse and worse all the time to the practical part of Spader's mind but she knew, knew down in the core of her what it was like to be trapped in this situation and she refused to let it happen, no matter what her suit said. She just wished Revon hadn't gotten himself tangled up in it too. What were these people carrying? At this rate, it'll spread around half the system...she thought absently, struggling forward with the weight of the body and pushing it towards the Jeffries tube. "Just need to get him up the ladder...we can get a beamout...almost there..." Revon wondered whether the man was still even alive. The geiger counter of his suit was rising steadily, and a direct exposure meant death at this point. "Let's get up." He climbed into the tube, roasting in the compressed heat, as he put a hand down for Spader. Hanging onto the man with one hand, she grabbed Revon's arm and let him help her up out of the irradiated bay into the somewhat less irradiated corridor. "Son of a..." she groaned, toppling out onto the decking with the cargo crewman's weight on top of her. Taking a moment to catch her breath, she took in the abrupt reduced ringing of her suit alarms. "Made it..." she muttered, looking up at Revon with a tight grin and beginning to drag the man's body as carefully as possible along the deck towards the beamout point. "Put in the call...get us out of here." Revon leaned against a wall, with a great grin. Breathing heavily, he was shocked, happy and mortified at the same time at the death he had evaded. He picked up the other end of the body, and nodded to Spader. He pressed his pin, "This is Revon. We are inbound for extraction, over. ETA, 1-2 mins." "Acknowledged, Rev...where the hell were you guys?" came a voice over the comm. Spader sighed. "Just get us out of here," she muttered into her own comm. Her job as she saw it done, she did not want to look at freighter walls any more. "Right...on it..." the voice responded. Spader glanced at Revon sideways, knowing she probably looked at least six kinds of crazy, and gave a slightly forced laugh, bluffing it out. "Went well, huh?" The cargoman's arm was limp in her hand, she didn't feel a pulse, but she pulled determinedly anyway, moving into the area they'd earlier designated for team extraction. Might as well see this through to the end. Revon held the foot of the body and began laughing as well. "No, that was the best op I ever was on! Ha!" He calmed himself slightly. "You know, Spader, you've scared me six ways to Sunday, and then a bit more for good measure." Revon adjusted the limp corpse and carried it to the extraction point. "And you know what? I'm fine with that." He tapped his badge, "Revon here. We are ready." ***** 13 July 2386 Revon took the final gulp of his coffee. "Well, yeah. I guess you're right. Still, though, I can't believe we dragged a dead body to extraction, after all that." Spader grunted. The freighterman hadn't had a chance, intellectually she knew that -- that ship had been so thoroughly riddled with radiation that Aegis's approach vector was still only tentatively useable. Still...there was no way to make it sit right. "I wasn't gonna leave him behind," she said shortly. She hadn't explained her reasoning at the time and she debated whether to do it now. "Wasn't a lot of time to think." Revon leaned against the wall, trying to relax after his work. "Ahh, I guess work has just been making me tired." Revon snapped his vision to Spader. "I merely have one question: Why?" Spader, who had already begun to half turn away from him, paused. "He needed help," she said, as if that explained everything, then paused again, then sighed. She owed Revon an explanation at least, since she'd dragged him down into the bowels of the dead freighter with her, and he clearly knew there was more to it than just duty. "I was once where that guy was, in a way," she said, inwardly relieved at the fact that she managed to make it sound pretty nonchalant, and gestured vaguely at her eyes with a shrug. "Guess it struck a little close to home, that's all." Revon raised an eyebrow at this. "Interesting. I never really got around to knowing your past, really." He took a glance at the terminal "In any case, I'm by you. You're a good friend." Revon walked to his terminal, and sat down. "I've got a few more reports to whip up. What are you doing, patrols?" "Yeah, probably, might as well get the exercise," Spader said wryly. "If Bean finally takes it into his head to drop by, give him my best and tell him I send him a kick in the pants." She paused, then looked over her shoulder at him with mild concern. She appreciated that he wasn't giving her too many questions, even though clearly the freighter business had rattled him more than he'd let on at the time, because even if he didn't think she was bat-scat, there were at least a few other people who knew the story and probably did. "And you should get some rest, Rev. Been a busy couple weeks." "Heh. Will do." He stretched his leg, half intending to do it. "See you later, Spader" And with a wave and a smile, he went back to compiling his reports as he had, although much happier.

Spader checked her step walking back from the pylon where the newly-arrived Lieutenant Armstrong had sent her for her first patrol shift, glancing at the guard standing outside of an otherwise nondescript door. "What's the occasion?" she asked the young crewman on duty, raising an eyebrow. "Lieutenant Porter's quarters, ma'am. He fell in with Commander Chirakis," the crewman answered, as if that explained everything. Given the multiple sides of the story making the rounds, Spader was starting to doubt that it explained anything at all, at least as simply as it claimed to, but she just nodded and eyed the door for a moment thoughtfully. "Here to check in on him?" the crewman asked, looking expectantly at her. "No, I'm just--" Spader began, then paused. If she was to be completely honest, she was curious about these people currently behind bars. If they were innocent, she wanted to know how they'd ended up in this mess that had the whole station inside out, and if they were guilty...well, it took a certain kind of person to do that, and that in itself was a bit fascinating. "Yeah. Open her up. We'll make sure he hasn't started breakin' anything to stay occupied." The crewman grinned faintly and turned, tapping the door open and taking up a guard stance at Spader's rear. Porter sat on his sofa, or rather, Porter slouched on his sofa. He had let himself go a bit while confined to quarters. While he had considered not even showering for a while, as a way of protest, he found it impossible to stand the quite offensive BO, especially since he worked out a lot... push-ups, sit-ups and the like, as there was simply nothing else to do. But he hadn't shaved for days and he only wore gym shorts and an under shirt. He wasn't expecting any company he much cared about anyway. He hated being confined to his quarters, he would have preferred staying in the brigg. This was probably a way to make the others wonder what he had done to get special treatment. His life was a mess, a boring, excruciatingly unchanging large pile of vole droppings. Spader came to a halt inside the door and looked around, doing a quick scan of the room and its contents before letting her gaze come to rest on its occupant, who looked about as pleased with his situation as she could reasonably expect him to. "Lieutenant," she said with a nod. She really needed to figure out whether he actually *was* still a Lieutenant; so far she'd been taking pains to treat everyone at least with enough respect to cover her rear in the event that they were all acquitted, but still...it was a weird balance to keep. Porter looked to the door, not so much because he cared much for who came in, but because it was something new. But when he saw who actually had entered he was suddenly interested, he had never seen this gold shirt before, and to top it all off, the shirt was pretty. "I don't know if that's still the case, munchkin." When he heard his voice he was surprised it still worked, and amused that he still automatically tried to annoy the hell out of everybody. Spader's eyebrow quirked up again at the diminutive. "Just bein' polite," she answered dryly. "Not sure anyone knows what's the case around here." At this Porter scoffed: "Ya, middie, no kidding. Frankly, I have not the faintest idea what's the case around here either. The small, crazy man with the sacred cane won't clue me in. Anyway, what brings you to the sunshine cave? The amazing party I announced via the comm was a lie, by the way." It occurred to Porter to be nice for once, just to make sure that the middie wouldn't turn on her heel and walk back out again. Spader smiled. I guess that answers the question of whether mutual respect is still required, at least with this prisoner. "Just doing the usual rounds, you know. I'm sure you're getting used to us poking our heads in every once in a while." "Ah, indeed, but it's usually ugly heads that poke in. I'd offer you something to make up for the party thing, a drink, or cake, but I'm afraid I'm not allowed to use my replicator. The gnome in charge thinks I'm planning to overthrow him and all, so they pretty much left me here to rot." Potrer thought it'd probably not be a very wise move to let the goldie know that next time he saw Drankum he would have to fight his urge to strangle the Ferengi. Instead he just sat there and grinned at her. Yeah, she was really pretty...too bad he hadn't met her under other circumstances. On the other hand, some girls are into bad boys, or so he had heard. Spader's grin widened a little; Mr. Porter was clearly a master of the backhanded compliment. "I wouldn't take it personally; standard procedure." Well...standard-ish, at least. Nothing about this is really standard. "Ah, Midshipman Whatever-thy-name-may-be, everything's personal if they throw you in the brig for doing what you're supposed to be doing. Anyway, are you at liberty to bring me up to date? I mean, nothing classified yadda yadda, but it'd be nice to know whether the major planets still exist and the like. You know, general stuff." Actually Porter didn't really care, but he wanted the goldie to stay, talking to someone felt nice. "Oh, and by the way, I'm Porter; under normal circumstances we would have met at OPS." "Spader," Spader answered, folding her arms. "And I'll be honest; I just got here. Probably know about as much as you do." Porter frowned at Spader: "Welcome to Sky Harbor Aegis Midshipman Spader. You must be thrilled to be here, and under that Romulan, too. Theoretically. Who's in charge of security right now, anyway? At least you were lucky enough to miss the attack, but then you were still unlucky enough to be sent here at all." "Better the wrong place at the right time than the wrong one," Spader said easily. Wouldn't be the first time on either count. "And Lieutenant Armstrong's down there now. Before that, was a fellow named Bean." Not that Porter cared. "Right. So, what do we do now? The party was a lie, the cake was a lie, the allegations were a lie, you can't tell me anything exciting about station life..." Porter trailed off. Great, his boring life made him boring, too. "But I didn't lie," Spader quipped. "So you can't tell me I'm not adding variety." "You're quite right; I just didn't assume you stopped by for a chat. Mind you, you can stay for a chat anytime. Or for a drink, if you bring the drinks." Suddenly Porter was quite glad he had opted for the shower, though he was quite convinced the stubble contributed to his appearance, as everything would. Spader laughed. "You're quite a host, Lieutenant." She shook her head slightly. "But I'm not makin' a social call. And seein' as how you aren't being a disruptive prisoner, I'll be heading on my way now." Porter took the tray that was still on his coffee table and threw it across the room. "Ooopsie." Spader watched the tray clatter by her feet and sighed, fixing him with a pointed look. "Don't do that...I'd have to send one of the 'ugly heads' in to keep watch over you and I don't think either of us would like that." Porter shrugged. "Worth a try. Oh well, I sure hope you'll be coming by again one of these days, you know, to see if I'm being a good boy, or to execute me, or whatever it is that you do." "One of the two," Spader said wryly. "Maybe even both at the same time, if I'm feeling industrious." Turning, she headed back towards the door, tapping on it to indicate the crewman outside should let her out. "You need anything, you know where to find us." Laughing, Porter shook his head. "Yeah, I'll just ask one of the grunts outside to take me to their leader. Have a good day, Spader; at least one of us should have one."

Jen Spader stood in the middle of the Sky Harbor Aegis medical bay and tried to think. She had been aboard the station -- her first posting -- for all of thirty-six hours and already all hell was threatening to break loose. The station was under some kind of semi-mutiny situation; the chief she was supposed to report to (a Romulan, which was already weird enough) was in the brig and she'd already managed to make an enemy of the acting chief when the Rommie had suggested she could do the job better than Mr. Bean. Whether this actually made her the acting chief she wasn't sure; Tech Bean had, almost as if out of habit, seemed to still respect Dabi's authority -- he had listened when Spader had experimentally started giving orders, which had been somewhat jarring. What it came down to was that Spader didn't really know what was going on, and that made her antsy; things were clearly in a state of uncertainty all the way down the command chain, which could mean just about anything was in the offing. For right now, she wanted to get her physical over with so she could get back to trying to work out the situation, but so far the docs hadn't done more than confirm who she was and check her in, so she stood waiting for someone to come get her and let her leg drum rhythmically against the decking. Nick stepped out of his office and was surprised to see two new faces in sickbay. He had gotten some files of new crewmembers but somehow he had assumed it would take them at least a couple of weeks to arrive. It seems like he had been wrong. So he picked up a PADD, grabbed his tricorder, and walked over to an apparently impatient young midshipman. "Hi, I'm Doctor Lepage. I suppose you're here for your physical, Miss....?" He offered the young woman a warm smile and gestured for her to take a seat on a biobed. Spader turned, looking in the direction of the voice from behind her. Her gaze, made slightly off-kilter by the ocular implants which gave her eyes an overly sharp blue-green aspect, quickly swept over him, taking in what she could absorb at first glance of his appearance and bearing while mentally identifying his name as that of the station's chief medical officer. Apparently he had managed to keep his position despite all the chaos, which was more, as near as she could tell, than she could say for anyone of the other Starfleet chiefs on the station. "Spader. Jen Spader. Security," she said gruffly, moving towards the biobed and hoisting herself up on it. "Alright, Jen Spader, Security. I haven't had time to go through your file yet. Beside your eyes, is there anything I should know about? Medical conditions, allergies, special dietary needs?" While going through his mental list of questions to ask during the first physical, Nick opened the tricorder and started the first basic scan. "No medical conditions -- yet, anyway. Allergic to shellfish and stupidity." She cocked her head slightly, watching with an alert expression as he began to run the tricorder over her, then grinned. "I try to keep it simple." "Ah, well, we're not good at simple out here, I fear," Nick answered with a slight grin. He checked the readouts on his tricorder, apparently satisfied. Making a few adjustments to the scanners on the biobed, he started the next scan. "So what does an officer have to do these days to be sentenced to a tour of duty in the middle of nowhere?" "Be able to both fly and shoot, I suppose," Spader said, rolling her eyes slightly, chuckling at Lepage's analysis of the situation. "Or maybe just having a good tolerance for the absurd, judging by the stories floating around the decks at the moment. I have to say I'm curious which side of the story I'd hear from you if I asked." She paused, and then added, as a moderate afterthought, "Sir." The grin on Nick's face widened. Somehow he liked this woman. She definitely had a sense of humour. That was always good. "All I can tell you is that everyone's out of their minds and we're all gonna die...and it's probably gonna be a painful death. Welcome aboard." Spader cocked an eyebrow up. "You sure know how to make a girl feel welcome," she drawled, folding her arms. "Not telling me anything I didn't already know, though. I'm watching my back." She always watched her back; it was like second nature. She was a security officer, of course, and that was part of it, but she also just tended to figure things could change awful fast. Wouldn't be the first time. "So I got anything catching, Doc?" "Nope, you're as healthy as can be. Let me do a quick scan of your ocular implants and you're free to go. How often do you usually go for a check-up?" "The docs at the Academy recommended I get 'em checked every two or three months. Never had a problem with 'em personally, 'cept a headache every now and again, so I'd guess it can probably be longer without getting anything too mucked up." Nick contemplated the readouts for a few seconds before answering. "I'd like you to come in as usual...every two months if possible. Unless, of course, there are problems. With those implants, it's better to make sure we spot any potential trouble before it give you any symptoms. The optical nerve is very sensitive even when it's not damaged. In your case I'd say...better safe than sorry." "Aye, aye, sir," Spader said with a chuckle. "Guess you'll be seeing me around, then." With a deft jerk, she slid herself off the biobed and stood up, eyeing Nick curiously for a moment. "So if you don't mind my asking...what's your secret, Doc? Seems like this craziness has left you pretty much on the level." There was honest curiosity in the question; Lepage seemed relaxed and trustworthy enough, and given the current insecurity in Security, it seemed wise to learn everything she could about everyone. The CMO shrugged and chose his words carefully before answering. "I try not to get involved more than I have to. I didn't pick a side, that's why I'm not in the brig, but Ambassador Drankum knows what I think of this whole mess." Spader nodded slowly. "Sounds smart to me," she said with a slight grimace, running her hand through her hair. "Hope I'll be able to manage as well." She cast her eyes quickly around the room before fixing them back on Lepage. "Anything else you need from me?" "I'm glad you approve, Midshipman," Nick said with a grin. "I've got all I need for now. You can go, but try to stay out of the brig if you can." "Or at least out from behind the business end of the force fields," Spader responded with a low laugh. "Thanks, Doc." With a half-salute, she turned on her heel and moved for the door at a jog, disappearing out into the corridor.