Cmdr Ayers

Nick is staring out at the stars and lost in his thoughts so he doesn't notice the arrival of several Federation Transports escorted by a pair of Starships. "Commander, Task Force 67A has arrived. Captain Kelain of the USS Valdemar is requesting permission to begin transferring over equipment, supplies and personnel to begin repairs to the Station," Lieutenant Shaharin reports. Nick stifles a yawn before turning to address the young Lieutenant standing at Tactical. "Permission is granted. And tell Captain Kelain that he and his ships are a very welcome sight for sore eyes." He pauses slightly then adds "Inform the Captain of the Task Force's arrival as well." Nick turns back to face the windows to watch two of the transport ships maneuver for docking. As he does so he stifles another yawn. Grumbling to himself, he turns and heads for the turbolift as he says "Lieutenant, you have the Br....Conn until the Captain returns. I'm going to go try and get some rest before I fall asleep on my feet." As he steps into the turbolift he thinks "And before Ethan shows up to play mother hen," to himself. He can only hope that his mind would actually let him get some sleep. After periods of emotional overload, his mind has a tendency to conjure up dreams and nightmares bad enough that it kept him from sleeping much. So far in the last several nights he had relived the battle from a few days earlier though in those nightmares in addition to the foes they had fought a swarm of Borg and Dominion had also made an appearance. The one from last night featured no known enemies and not even the ones that assaulted the station. It instead had featured a nasty insectoid race that, for the life of him, Nick could not recall ever having come across before. Unless they were from some memory that was buried so deep and from so long ago that it would only show itself in his dreams."

The elation that Nick had felt at the arrival of the Klingons had lasted all of five seconds. Then the realization hit home...they had survived....and were going to have to clean and repair nearly the entire Station. Hot on the heels of that was the memory of how many people had died during the fight. Privately Nick wondered if Starfleet would be willing to bend the rules and award a medal to Gabrel posthumously. The Cardassian had certainly earned the honor even if Nick didn't exactly agree with the methods the Cardassian had chosen to use. He would inquire with the Captain about the idea once Nick had finished the various paperwork that would need to be filed, as well as the numerous commendation recommendations he intended to make for the actions of the rest of the crew. Lost in his thoughts, it takes Nick a few seconds to notice the Doctor kneeling before him. The Doctor starts tending to the cut above Nick's left ear. "Doctor, I'm fine. There are people more injured then I am. Tend to them." The Doctor frowns "Commander, be quiet and be still. You could have a concussion as well as that cut." Nick frowns "A console blew up just after I jumped back from it. I didn't hit my head against it. It probably would have took off my head if I hadn't felt the electrical surge, however. As I said..there are people who have worse injuries then I do." The look the Doctor gives Nick in reply is enough to shut Nick up. Fiona used to give him that same look when she thought he was too concerned about everyone else and not concerned enough about himself. Nick had persisted despite that look once and had brought upon himself a guilt trip that outstripped any his mother had cause to use. Nick sighs and closes his eyes, letting the Doctor tend to him without a further word. He stifles a yawn causing the Doctor to say "You really should get some sleep, Commander." Nick blinks his eyes open and says "No...I'll sleep later. There's too much I have to do." The Doctor replies, "When was the last time you slept?" Nick frowns "Before this mess started. And no..no sedative. I will sleep later but not right now." The last thing he wants to deal with right now was the nightmares that his mind would conjure as a result of the carnage around him.

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With some effort Nick forces his feelings under the surface. Which is more difficult because the current situation could be best described as an emotional sensory overload. Between protecting the others, taking care of the enemy and watching out for himself, it was difficult to maintain one's own identity in a sea of fear, hatred, anger, determination and death. For most of the others they saw people, friends and enemies die. Nick felt the emotional shadows of each and every death even with his mental shields in place. Feeling someone, even an enemy, cross the razor's edge that separated being alive from being dead was a bone-chilling sensation, one that had been an emotional stain on Nick's soul from the Dominion War. This, an elderly El Aurian friend of the family had reminded Nick, was why their people tended to stay in support roles within the Federation and Starfleet. Not many were brave enough....or foolish enough to be willing to pay the price. Nick feels someone brush against him and he glances down to see some young Ensign lean out to take a shot. Nick reaches to pull the Ensign back, thinking the Ensign was leaning out a little too far. As he does so an energy bolt from one of the enemy's weapons slices through the air close enough for Nick to feel it. Nick watches in mute horror as the shot from the energy weapon catches the Ensign full on in the chest. The Ensign is dead even before he hits the ground. "Quick, relatively painless...and an utter waste." Nick mutters to himself as he briefly wonders if that visit from death had been meant for him.

It was strange and more then a little ironic, Nick thinks to himself as he watches the viewscreen, that one of his worst fears was outliving everyone that he had ever cared for and loved and here he was most likely about to die centuries before some of the best Doctors in the Federation thought would be the end of his life. Truth to tell, the thought of dying now before he had seen what benefits that longevity could bring combined with the thought that his crewmates...his friends and family by proxy were also going to die was more then enough reason for Nick to consider the beings on the ships approaching with the same loathing that he reserved for the Borg. He glances briefly down at one of the smaller display panels and for the fourth time checks that the torpedo firing program was ready in case that the 80+ incoming warheads got through the point-defense systems. The Captain hadn't ordered it but if they were about to die, Nick reasoned that at the least they could take the huge alien ship with them. He could reason that it would help protect Cardassia Prime but in all honesty it was more out of a desire for revenge then anything quite so charitable. As he watches the distances between the alien torpedos and the Station close he checks his memory to see that he had remembered to send three last messages. The first message was for his family, he didn't want to face death and leave them in the dark about it. Especially his father. His father had railed hard against Nick's assignement to Cardassia, saying that it was time and effort wasted on a wasted species. Nick had tried to explain the reasons that had led to his choice but his father, with typical human stubbornness hadn't accepted the reason. There was also a separate message for his various step-siblings but as they were far older then he was he hadn't exactly been real close with any of them. Still, they deserved the last act of respect. The last message had been sent to two old friends. A blinking light draws Nick's attention back to the present and with it all thoughts of the past are gone.

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I'll tell you one thing. If the primates we came from had known that one day politicians would come out of the gene pool, they'd have stayed up in the trees and written off evolution as a bad idea." --Babylon 5, ""The Long Dark" Nick mutters under his breath as he moves the light around to try and get a better view of the damaged wires that usually fed the display panel on his console on the Control Tower. The repair of the display panel is low priority...which is why he was fixing it and not one of the engineers. They were needed for more important things. The cold leaching through the thin carpet against his back combined with the difficulty of completing what should have been a relative simple repair was doing nothing to assuage Nick's foul mood. What was really bothering him though was the decision of the Cardassian government to not inform their people about what was probably going to happen. The functionary that had informed the Captain and Nick of the government's decision had tried couching it as a way to prevent mass-panic and the riots that they led to. Admittedly, part of Nick even agreed with that decision. It took a few minutes for Nick to decide that was the human side of him agreeing and that was only partially. The El Aurian side saw it in a completely different light. The idea that the leaders of a people would be willing to let their people march off to oblivion while completely ignorant and oblivious to it is repugnant to Nick. Treating them as children who needed to be protected from the "bogeyman" was inhumane. They have a right to know what was most likely going to happen to them, if only so they can prepare for what lies beyond. Though personally Nick was pretty certain there was no beyond. The idea of there being a beyond implied that there was some cosmic plan, that something or someone was out there waiting. Which wasn't really what Nick objected to, it was the idea that the supposed being was beneficent that bothered Nick. There was simply too much evil in the Universe for it to be explained as the idea of some supposed cosmic and celestial being that only wanted what was best for everyone. Somewhere along the Beta and Delta Quadrant border there was a lifeless husk of a planet that was all the proof that Nick needed to know there was no "beyond" and certainly no cosmic being waiting.

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A warning bell goes off in the back of Nick's mind when the Captain says "Your a lot older than me, thoughts?" On face value, it is a simple statement that is patently wrong. Unless Nick is incapable of judging ages in Andorians, then it was obvious the Captain is the elder being. That left that it was the Captain who was incapable of judging age in humans, even a half-breed such as Nick. Or..it was simply the Captain's means of fishing for information from Nick's El-Aurian heritage. Unfortunately any info that Nick could provide as an El Aurian would be meaningless unless they found out who was pulling off the attacks. Nick couldn't provide information if he didn't know what he was supposed to be providing information about. If they found out who is behind the attacks then anything Nick knows about them could be told to the Captain....probably. The existence of El Aurians within the Federation..even before the Federation even existed had always been a tightrope act, the line between living in the Federation and interfering with it's development being incredibly thin. On one side was the pitfall of being heartless and on the other was the pitfall of divulging knowledge that was better left unknown. And while the tightrope had widened since the Federation "found out" about the El Aurians, that doesn't mean it had gone away. More then a few times over the last century Starfleet Intelligence and others had decided that the El Aurians knew something that they weren't telling and that had to be corrected. Or that surely that new technology could be gleaned from a race that had been space-faring for centuries before Earth. And Starfleet Intel had a bad habit, according to the El Aurians that had unfortunately became of interest to Starfleet Intel, of acting a lot like certain 20th century organizations. Some things were better left secret until the time was right. Nick can only hope that this wouldn't be one of those situations.

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During the hours that it takes the Pandora's Box to return to the Station, Nick finishes the reports and updates Starfleet. He transmits the reports as he sense the ship near the station. He stands and steps towards the doors as he feels the ship slow down to Impulse. He steps through the doors and glances briefly at the viewscreen, frowning slightly at the damage that is still so very obvious. Saying to the Bridge crew in general "Drop the freighter a safe distance from the Station and then summon a replacement crew here. I want the Pandora fully crewed until the Station's defenses are operational. I'm returning to the Station now." Nick's attention again returns to the viewscreen and the frown deepens as his gaze traces over the damage. Admittedly he wanted to find the attackers alive in the dark hope that they would attack. He wanted to know if they were quite so willing to do so when their target wasn't lying defenseless. That someone or something else killed them only meant the answers to why and what was going on would likely go unanswered. Nick long ago stopped believing in coincidences, whoever killed the ones that attacked the Station did not just happen upon them by happenstance.

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Co-written with the Captain. Nick glances up as the Cardassians beam aboard. For a split second his mind goes back to when during the war a group of Cardassians had beamed aboard his ship. Just as quickly he reminds himself that this time the Cardassians did not have murderous intent. He pushes himself to his feet and steps towards the lead Cardassian. He says "I'm the First Officer here. A lot of my crew, including the Captain, needs medical attention. We also need to secure the station and will need assistance with repairs so we'll need everyone you can spare." Nick pauses momentairly and then says in a cold matter of fact tone "And I want one of your Galor class ships to accompany my ship. We have some hunting to do, I would like your assistance in tracking down who did this to us..before they attack someone else." Without waiting for the expected objection, Nick switches his attention to Demore. "Lieutenant, contact Mr. Gabrel, Mr. Andrews and either Doctor Images or Doctor Sheepy and have them and yourself beam over to the Pandora's Box with me. Round up a skeleton crew for her as well." The Cardassian stood, not moving and simply folded his arms. "My orders are to protect this station until your Starfleet arrives. My ships aren't going anywhere and none of my people are helping fix your station. It's a good thing you and your superior, wherever he is, weren't in charge during the war. We'd had been the victors...", he mumbled. Nick looks back at the Cardassian, managing to keep from decking the arrogant son of a..... Nick draws himself up to his full height which is still at least an inch shorter then the Cardassian. "The war is over, Gul," Nick refrains from saying "and you lost it." but he does say "...and now we have a new enemy to deal with. An enemy that managed to do a lot of damage to this station. Imagine what that enemy could do to your ships or to your planets. I would think that you would have as much interest in finding out who did this and stopping them as we do. As for helping repair this station that is also in your interest. There are more then a few Cardassians aboard and this station is central to the rebuilding of your world. Not to mention the fact that if this station blows up your ships will be destroyed by the shockwave and quite possibly a large chunk of the station might head in the direction of Cardassia Prime. Helping to repair the station is helping to protect it." Nick turns to walk away but then turns back "Oh and did I forget to mention that we were the ones that stuck around and evacuated your entire planet when we all thought it was going to blow up? Using your reasoning my people and I should have walked away. How fortunate for your people, Gul, that we chose otherwise." Nick watches the reaction in the Gul's eyes to what he had said. Just when the Gul is about to say something Nick smiles and says "Have your ships stay here if you want, Gul, I can certainly understand the choice. I will make sure to thank your government for your assistance. It'll reflect well on your record I'm sure." Nick turns his attention to Lieutenant Quark and says "Until the Captain or Commander Hawke are on their feet, I'm leaving you in charge here. Send an update to Starfleet and request that they send reinforcments. Also request that they send at least one ship to rendevous with the Pandora." Nick glances at Mr. Demore "Energize when you're ready, Lieutenant." While waiting for the transporter beam to activate, Nick glances at the Cardassian's. As he does so he remembers something Terra, his sister, had said about the Dominion and the Cardassian's during the war, "They are a dying people's, we should let them pass." Nick had pointed out to her at the time that the same exact thing could be said of them. The debate that had followed had been his sister's true intent. A means of providing the outlet for the anger and rage she had sensed from her elder brother as he saw people he knew and cared about go to their eternal rest because of the Cardassians and the Dominion. The Gul stood there motionless, his arms still folded. The tall figure of a man groaned slightly and glanced to the figure to his left. In response, this subordinate nodded slightly and walked away..pulling out some form of a communicator. "You shall have an escort, Commander Ayers of station that's still an occupational force. Should it get destroyed, I will have this station on a...what do you say...platter?" As the transporter beam takes a hold of Nick, he spears the Cardassian with a glare. He thinks "Only over my dead body will you harm them." as he disappears.

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