=/\= Begin Log =/\= Athena sat on the edge of the seat intently watching the screen when she sensed a wave of defeat. She couldn't keep her mind from wondering what was going on at the research station. The minutes ticked by endlessly and then finally she saw the shuttles heading back toward the Chimera. It didn't matter what she had heard as she sat on the bridge and seeing the shuttles wasn't enough after all the anger she had felt before, she head for the shuttle bay. Some color had returned to the counselor's cheeks on the way to the bay. Still in her oversized green T-shirt, she made eye contact with every crew member as they walked past her. Some gave her appreciative, looks other seemed disgusted and yet others seemed to have no opinion at all. As Athena saw the tall figure she had been looking for walking her way; she head toward him. "Colonel," she said with question in her voice. Keylor stepped off the delta flyer style shuttle and walked to the door. He looking down to the ground watching his feet as he thought of the aliens and their willingness to negotiate a peaceful solution. Before Keylor could even reach the hall he saw a pair of bare feet and naked legs in his way. As he looked up he heard Athena's voice. "Is there a problem Counselor?" he asked finally reaching her eyes. "I had a feeling," was the only explanation she gave to his questioning gaze. "A feeling?" he said with a puzzled look. "What kind of feeling? " He gave Athena an inspecting look. "Are you not feeling well? Or is the wind blowing up your shirt?" he said in a whimsical manner. He was not sure why Athena had found it necessary to track him down in the shuttle bay, he hoped it had nothing to do with the aliens and their uneasy truce they had been able to force on them at the station. "Well," she began, "at first it was mostly anger that I sensed and then there was frustration and confusion mixed in." She paused for several moments and the continued, "I still sense confusion but its more laced with worry than anger." She looked down at her shirt and said, "Don't you like the color?" Keylor nodded to the first part of Athenaâ€(tm)s statement. "Ah you must have been sensing the Inwon. They were very angry. It appears the scientists had accidentally found a new region of subspace and caused considerable damage to this species. If we had not gotten over there when we did, that station and this region of space could well have been changed forever. But after we shut down the core and took control of the torpedoes, they seemed a little more responsive to more talking and less fighting." Keylor looked back down at Athena's shirt, "Aye very MARINE of you. I did not know you were a closet combat soldier. You keep that handy for camouflage amongst us old marines, trying to blend in or are you simply trying to get our attention, like waving a red flag at a Targ?" Her face all but said "I'm innocent" as she met his even gaze. "I knew I was forgetting to do something," she finally answered. The corporal that was assigned to Athena rubbed his hand over his face at her response but said nothing. Keylor smiled, "Well you are betazoid after all. Do not your people like to romp around in the nude? Or is that just for the weddings?" he asked with a chuckle. Athena returned his smile and ran her finger gently down his cheek and replied, "We only dress for the comfort of others." Her hand came to rest on the colonel's chest as she gave him an inquisitive look. Keylor smiled back. He took her hand off of his chest and caressed it in his. "Well it is a good thing you do. Other wise I might have a focus problem with the remainder of the crew." He paused and then continued, "But if you dress for the comfort of others, try not to forget your pants next time." He grinned. "I guess I should be thankful I wasn't sleeping in the nude when I sensed the Inwons. If you like it I could arrange to wear this more often," she teased. Her face became a little more serious when she asked, "Don't you think he should go and get some sleep," she pointed to her marine escort and gave him a wink. Keylor looked back at the marine, "Well, I don't know about sleep but I think we can do without the red alert and the constant chaperone for now." Keylor then looked at Athena, "As long as you will behave and wear a tad bit more clothing, I don't see the need to protect you form the rest of the crew." She winked at Keylor and responded, "I'll do my best to wear a bit more for the rest of the crew." Knowing what she wasn't wearing under the T-shirt Athena wondered a bit a what would qualify as a tad more clothing. Keylor gently released Athena's hand and then tapped on his comm badge. "Bretam to bridge. Cancel red alert. Also have a detail bring our intruder to the shuttle bay for transport top the station." Aye sir." Came the reply. Within seconds the flashing red lights that had adorned the inside of the ship for so long disappeared. Keylor nodded to the marine escort, "Dismissed." He commanded and then looked at Athena. "Can I walk you to your quarters?" Athena watched, as the marine escort looked thoughtful as he walked away with relief. "I'd be delighted," she answered and fell into step with him. They walked in silence for a few moments before Athena asked, "How many of the crew call you Keylor when they aren't on duty?" Keylor looked over at Athena a bit puzzled. He thought about the question for a moment and then responded. "The crew...? Well, none." They took a few more steps and Keylor added, "Having followed the traditional bajoran ways of naming all my life, and then being a marine for a good part of that life, I have always heard Bretam or Col bretam, or sir., come to think of it. " he then looked back to Athena. "But then again, with my position, I would not expect to become too familiar on the ship for people would walk about calling me by my first name." She couldn't recall anyone ever calling him by his Bajorn first name, only by rank or by his last name. Although Athena had lengthened her stride a bit to keep up with him; she was sure he had shortened his some. "Once we are on our way will we get a list of any new crew to be joining us?" She kept switching from personal to duty questions and wasn't sure why but didn't want to think about it either. Keylor shrugged his shoulders. "I can't really say, but that always seems to be the case. With the low power right now, we have not been able to contact command, except the communiqué's that have come by shuttle." He then looked forward, narrowly avoiding bumping in to a crewman exiting a door. "Once we are don't her and can power up the warp core, we should be able to connect and get all outstanding communication dispatches. Once that is done, we should know who is coming aboard." Athena nodded to what Keylor was saying their arms rubbing each other as he avoid another crew member. Switching topics again, "Doesn't Shane ever call you Keylor?" Keylor looked puzzled in thought for a moment, "No, At least not to my face. " he smiled in reply. "But you have to understand counselor; to traditional bajoran, it is an honor to be given permission to address them by their first name. It is considered highly disrespectful or even an outright insult to refer to some one by their first name with out permission." He paused for a second and looked forward. "You see it all goes back to the days of the D'jarras, the cast system on Bajor. When people from a cast deal with each other they ad to show proper respect, thus not referring to some one by first name with out permission. Since the higher casts thought they were above the lower casts, they rarely gave permission for addressing by first name. So in the rare case you were allowed to refer to some one by first name, it was a rare treat , signifying that that person considered you an equal. And even though the cast system no longer exists, the respect of the first name still hold on with many of our people." "Hhmmm...... interesting," she replied. She pressed into the colonel as a crew member passed barely missing stepping on her barefoot. "Is there anything special you would like me to do," she asked. Keylor shook his head. "Right now? No. Just relax and gather your strength for when this is all over. I suspect we will have a few days of rest some where and you might be needed to organize some ship wide relaxation for the crew." Athena smiled at the Colonel and said, "Yes, sir." She gave him a small salute and a wink. Rapidly moving marine rounded the corner bumping Athena into Keylor. She gave a small blush as he steadied her. "It would seem many of the marines are .... happy with the stand down status," she stated. Keylor nodded, "Aye, well I suspect they are quite happy not to have to escort you anymore." He winked and smiled at Athena, "You can be a hand full at times." The two chuckled as they boarded a turbo lift and headed to Athena's quarters. === End Log === Col Bretam Keylor Captain & Lt Athena Wellington Counselor