=/\= Lt. Foster's Quarters =/\= "Centauri coffe, doublesweet," said Andy as he read the Federation Newswave he'd recently downloaded into a PADD. It was an hour yet before his shift on the bridge, he'd just finished his breakfast, dressed in a freshly pressed uniform, and looked forward to settling down with a hot drink and a newspadd. After scanning some headlines about the Federation as a whole, noting with sardonic amusement that there'd been no mention on integrating genetically modified Jem'Hedar warriors into Federation society, he pulled up local system news. Aldeberon ... Andoria ... Antares ... Betezed ... Bajor ... Cardassia ... ah, here we were, Centauri. Mmm. He checked the sports page, saw that his ovalball team had dropped out of the finals to win the Latinum Egg for the season. Pity ... Dimensions, a small holo-production company had just struck it big; it was purchased by the Terran Entertainment Consortium, and now was flush with cash. Ah, well, thought Andy with a tinge of wistfulness for his home planet, so much for small-studio entertainment. After reading a while longer, an item caught his eye that gave him pause. It was a brief report about the Kelstrom Ambassador's meeting with the Centauri Prime Minister ... not that there was anything unusual about that in and of itself, but it brought back a memory of something that had been troubling Andy for about the past week. He flipped the PADD onto his bed, and slouched back petulantly into his chair, remembering the stinging heat of Commander Palmers hand against his cheek. He'd been too stunned to defend himself ... not only was she a superior officer, but she used to be one of those creepy SSF agents. Also didn't help that she was damned pretty. Still, for the life of him, he couldn't figure out what upset her so. He'd reviewed the evening dozens of times over the last week ... how the command team suggested another winter themed party. This time, with no children on board, Athena didn't have any excuse to dress him up as Sanda Claws, or whatever his name was ... some terran mythological being, the patron god of toys or something. So he started thinking about winter ... in winter it got cold, cold places -- of course! Ekslaf... a barren ice world that served as a vital waystation a few parsecs from Alpha Centauri. When the world was first discovered, the Centauris and Terrans who touched down on the icy plainet didn't realize they were atop a great permafrost over massive chilly oceans. After a few hours, their ship broke through the ice, trapping the crew remaining on the ship under half a mile of frigid water, and stranding the others above, with little provision or protection against Ekslaf's cold wilderness. Soon enough, however, the outlandish Great King Ebiregc of the Kelstrom Empire, an underwater race of amphibious, coldwater humanoids came to the aid of the hapless, freezing explorers. Ebiregc befriended the scouting team, reunited them with their submerged shipmates, and his people helped care for them in their underwater cities while they waited for help to come. He finally downloaded several historical pictures of Ebiregc from the Enciclopedia Galactic, and had the computer approximate and replicate a dress ceremonial outfit for Andy for the party. All was going well at the winter ball, although Andy grew a little exaspirated at how few people knew about the Kelstrom Empire, figuring the planet, rich with legend and story must be well known only to Centauris. "You still look like that Neptune type," laughed Samantha, just as Andy had remembered, "what with the trident and all," mistaking his costume, as so many others had, for an ancient Terran God of the Sea. Andy remembered smiling gently, and saying, "Don't worry about it." He adjusted his headpiece, which was starting to chafe uncomfortably. "Gods, I want to take of this crown," and then looked over to the bar and picked up his drink, "can I fill your glass?" He turned back to Samantha just in time for her hand to connect stingingly with his cheek. "How 'dare' you!" She abruptly turned and left, leaving Andy stunned, holding an empty glass. Andy, dazed and confused, left the party shortly thereafter. He shook his head, mystified, no closer to understanding what happened than he was a week ago. Frowning, he took a look at his chrono, and saw that it was 20 minutes until his shift time. Well, he thought, why not give Guzman a shock, and actually show up early for shift? He recycled his mug back to the replicator cavity, and headed toward the bridge. Lt. Andersen Foster Operations Officer USS Chimera