=/\= Begin Log =/\= Still familiarizing herself with the ship, Athena walked through another corridor with a padd. She would try to do some evals as she roamed the ship. It wasn't long before she came across the Csec office and wonder if the officer in charge was in. She rang the chime and waited for a response. The noise brought Okrin out of his concentration. SO far, since his arrival he'd been left alone, mostly ignored since the ship was not fully operational and the internal sensors had gone offline since he checked them last time. He'd come back to his office to do some more assigning of posts and the other ODAs, still looking them over and reading the files of the concerned officer, but with that disturbing noise, he was afraid his duties where catching up to him. "Come!" He barked, a little too loudly than needed. Athena took a hesitant step into the office figuring backing out now would be worse. "Is this a bad time," she asked even before she realized who was sitting at the desk. "It depends do you have yet another report on dysfunctional security systems or lack of supplies" He said without looking up. Noting a pause from the guest, he looked up. He stopped what he was about to say. "What is she doing here?" He thought to himself. The he pinched himself mentally for thinking such thoughts in the presence of the betazoid counselor. "Eh.. Lieutenant." He said, forcing a smile. "What brings you here to the Chimera and my office? I thought this location was classified." She smirked a bit and then schooled her _____expression into a congenial smile. "The Chimera is my new assignment. You're not working too hard are you?" Okrin chuckled. "Hell no, I have the personnel that is roughly the size of a platoon, far less than a company, piece of cake, if you ask me." He said, smiling and placing his PADD aside, closing his computer console. "Please have a seat." He rose and gestured her to sit in one of the chairs facing his desk. She sat down and returned his smile. "That's good to hear. I hope its a good group of men and women that you have." She was keeping the conversation light as she began to take her baseline assessments. "They look adequate, yes. Some are from Aurora too, so I'm not worried, other already have experience in the SSF, others are newly graduated from the Q course. Should be interesting." He sat back down. "I apologize for not offering you anything from the replicator, my last Bajoran tea was served without a cup." He said as he wondered if the counselor had been busy checking his medical file over, has he hoped and feared. "So, Athena. What can I do for you?" "That's OK. My last experience with a replicator wasn't all the great either." She paused for a moment and then continued, "I was just wondering around and wondered if anyone was in." Okrin nodded. "That's good. I should get aquatinted with the ship deck schematics myself, but with all the missing supplies, or lack of equipment, to the security systems not working and the personnel still coming in, I have plenty of things to worry about." He pause, hesitating on his next question. "I... I'm wondering. Concerning our last conversation..." He wet his lips. "I may be able to speak of my 'predicament' now that we're more secure than Starfleet Command." She knew it was something that had deeply concerned him before and met his steady gaze with one of her own. "Well, you know I liked to help you but I only want you to share what you feel comfortable with." Okrin looked away, then back at the counselor. "Well, to put it simply, I'm the unwilling victim of a medical experiment." He closed his fists, remembering those he saw, those responsible, those that could have helped him, if they only knew. "And it's still going on, although as far as I know, it should come to an end, soon." He said, thinking of the three steps experiment, from which he'd done two already. Most counselors would have probably asked him how that made him feel, but for her it wasn't necessary. The sudden anger and disillusionment that came from her almost took her by surprise. It was she could do not to change her __expression. "That must be awful," she said calmly, "Almost done," she questioned. "Yes." He said, recalling the first meeting with Dr. Nevarre, how he despised her, yet could do nothing. "I was told it was a three step process and I have done two of them already. I researched similar experiments in the Federation medical and historical databases and I found the Angosian had done the same in the Tarsian wars, to give their soldiers the hedge on the battlefield. But this experiment apparently is a refined version of those drugs in the supersoldier program of the Angosian. It takes lass time to recover, less side-effects." "The reason I did not speak of this before to anyone is because they seemed to find me where ever I went. When I served on the Hawke, on Aurora, on Bajor." He shifted in his seat. "Initially I thought I had some implant, but it would have been detected by the medical scanners, so I chose the thesis of an informant. It's easy to hide someone on a station the size of Aurora." She listened to him intently. "Yes, it would be easy to hide someone on Aurora." Athena had several questions going through her head, but which one to ask first. "It doesn't sound like you were a willing participant in this experiment," she paused a second before continuing, "so what were they holding over you? And What happens to you if you miss the third step of this experiment? How dangerous is it to you?" Once the first question was out of her mouth it was all she could do to get herself stopped after the third one to allow him time to answer. Okrin nodded. "Well, it's simple enough. If I don't pull through it can be fatal to me. Ever since the first treatment, my metabolism has been living at an accelerated rate. I don't know the specs of this whole thing, only they know, and I can't figure out a thing about it, since none of it is listed anywhere." He crossed his arms on his chest. "So as long as I'm waiting for the last dose of it, I'm stuck, and if they don't eventually show up, I'll go to them, starting with Bajor, where it happened last time." "Is the third treatment going to even out you're metabolism or is it going to be what kills you?" Although he seemed informed about parts she could tell that he was concerned and angry. "Could our science and medical teams work together and figure it out?" Okrin shook his head. "I can't get anyone else involved. If you knew what I'd gone through just to tell someone, to share my burden, lighten it a little." He paused, recalling her first question. "The third would stabilize me, yes." She listened to him but felt like something wasn't being said and she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Not knowing what else to do she just asked, "And what aren't you telling me?" She paused for a minute or two as her blue eyes seemed to penetrate his soul. "You know who's behind this... don't you?" Her words echoed in his head. His eyes darted left and right, seeking a visual cue that would reveal it all, that would answer the prevailing question. He had so many possibilities yet none that broke from the rest, when he heard the question, nothing came to mind, nothing at all. "Believe me counselor, when I say that I have no idea who is behind this. I've seen different uniforms, but garments can't confirm anything, one day military that other day civilian, where to begin?" "The beginning," she said simply. She reached across the desk and let her hand rest on his as if it would give him the strength he need or the courage or maybe her the answers. All she felt though were feelings on confusion, angry and betrayal and fear not for himself but for her. That last thought was confusing and unsettling, by itself but the deep feelings of pain that followed brought tears to her eyes. The tears remained unshed as she removed her hand and continued to look at him. "I'll listen to whatever you want to tell me and whenever you need an ear let me know." Okrin sighed, looking down. "I would rather end it than live it again. Some parts of it do get sketchy at times, it started when I was just a simple Cpl. in this fleet. A while back." He looked back at her. "If you don't mind, Athena, maybe we could carry this conversation else where at another time? I really have a department in shambles and do need to bring it above sinking level as it is." He said, regaining his typical marine major demeanor with a deep breath. "As you wish," she said quietly and continued calmly, "I am always available." She gave him a small smile as she stood. "I need to get things settled a bit myself." She looked back over her shoulder one more time as she walked out the door, sensing that he needed a few minutes to himself. As she left the department she left orders for the Major to be left alone for 5 full minutes and then continued on her quest. =/\=End Log =/\= Lt. Athena Wellington Ship's Counselor USS Chimera & Major Nejor Okrin Chief of Security/ODA Commander USS Chimera