-= Gaalen's quarters =- He walked in rather tired. He had been surprised that the Co was promoted in such hastly prepared ceremony, and a cream pie to the face. He had been quite taken by surprise, but it looked like it was the ritual on this ship. As he pulled on his tunic collar to loosen it he knew that he would probably have to face such ritual himself when the day of his next promotion would arrive. He was glad that a few engineers where back on duty, he could find some time to rest and finally settle in. He still wondered about his dept. chief, Lt Blackburn. He was no where to be seen, apparently he was on sick leave cause of the flower spores that infected him. Gaalen shook his head as he moved to the bathroom, where his sonic shower was waiting for him. He jumped in and enjoyed the cooling sensation of the sonic wave as they dematerialized the dust, sweat and dirt particules from his body. It was nothing like a good old water shower, but it was much faster and less messy to clean up afterwards, plus it did not tax the recycling systems too much. At the thought he smiled. It was not like a sonic shower to send the system on overload. When he stepped out, he walked around his quarters, naked. He went to the boxes and luggage still waiting by the door and started to unpack. He placed on the wall, the various weapons he was trained to handle, either by blood, from his clan's tradition or by his own interest which made a good sized collection, mostly blades and archaic weaponry. He also put on the floor, in the middle of the room, his biggest blue bear pelt, it also happened to be the first bear he'd killed in his young years, with his father. The thoughts stopped him as he recalled those years... -= Years ago =- His heart trobbed in his hears, as the adrenaline pumped through his veins. He was still deadly scared, even if his father was by his side. They had been chasing the blue bear for days and miles pursuing it until it would make one last stand, having nowhere to run. His bow was bent, an arrow ready, aimed at the bear. Like him, his father aimed and waited a few moments, for it to spot them. His father had told him that these bears had their furry skins too thick to be pearced by arrow from the back, top or sides they had to hit the stomac, which any animal would protect at all costs, being a weak point to most bypeds and quadrupeds. It was trapped, it was looking for an exit but could not find one, the rock cliff was everywhere, it could not find a way out, it considered turning back, but the smell of the deathbringers and metal arrowheads finally reached it's nostrils. It turned around and saw the two creatures one smaller than the other, it seemed younger, anxious than the bigger one, she smelled fear. Like it's progeniture during a dangerous moment. A previous encouter with one of those had caused her great pain and the death of many of her kind. She could not allow that again, she was doomed. She charged, growling and snarling the best she could. She heard the bigger one make a sound, she stood on hind legs and the pain came... It was not too long... She fell to the ground... Fatigue overcame her and she stayed there... Then the blackness came and shrouded her in warm confort as her spirit left her material body... She was dead. Gaalen stood in fear, still holding his bow, mezmeried by the sight. A few more meters and he was dead, but he'D prevailed. "Straight through the heart. Good shot, son." His father said, a proud smile on his face as he replaced his arrow in his quiver. Gaalen had killed his first blue bear, unassisted. A glorious moment for the young andorian. -= Today =- He came to, realizing he was standing, holding the pelt that followed his every move from his home to the Andorian forces to the academy and here. He would have liked to get a fire place, but on Starfleet ship, just like any ships, you did not get fireplaces. He placed the skin where it would sit for the duration of his post on Chimera. He carried on placing stuff around, putting his clothes away, decorating his quarters. When it came to place pictures on his desk, he noticed a message waiting for him. He accessed it and read the simple line: "Thank you for the flower." That was it. He was half stunned, half trying to understand it. Was it the same person? He tried to trace the message but he could not. He sat there, staring blankly at the screen, not knowing what to do really. He saved the message, everything came to be known if one could wait for the answer. Ens. Gaalen Idrani Engineer Officer USS Chimera __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - Find what you need with new enhanced search. http://info.mail.yahoo.com/mail_250