*** Bridge * USS Chimera *** The Shields were raised with the frequency set to random sequence. There was now no way for the CEO to know the modulation at any given time.Rangi knew she had, in effect, cut off the Away Teams easy path of return. She sat for a few disquieted moments in the XO s chair, then got to her feet and walked towards the ready room, looking back at Lt Foster as she did so. "I'll be in the Ready Room." she told him needlessly. Once inside, with the door sliding shut behind her, Rangis steps slowed. She sighed deeply as she moved to Keylors desk and sat down in his chair, leaning back, hands in her lap and looking up at the ceiling. Not for the first time did she wish that the General was on board and handling the mission. It would have been different if he had been there to make the decisions, she thought, and she felt that she would have learned alot from his wisdom and would not have the feeling that she was sinking into a sea of self doubt that at times had her double questioning her own reasoning. Shifting forwards on the chair,she placed her elbows on the desk top and rested her forehead in the palms of her hands, eyes closed, worry personified. With two Away Teams out of contact, she pondered her next move. It was all very well to sit and wait for one or other of them to reappear but either or both could be in dire need of Chimeras assistance. Of the two, she considered that Walshs team was in the better position. They were an ODA team, trained in warfare and skilled in tactics. She wasnt convinced that the shuttle had been destroyed, the evidence might appear so, but she thought it more likely that the debris was some sort of decoy to take the Kzentis attention away from the asteroid itself. Even if the shuttle was damaged, she felt Walshs team was less in need of help than Shanes might be. The asteroid held more places to hide and the marines were well trained to survive in hostile environments. The Away Team on the Romulan ship was another matter. True, there were marines in it but there was also a young doctor and a possibly injured counselor. That was banking on the fact that Athena had actually been freed. If they had been discovered, and the chances of that were quite high she thought, there was a limited scope for hiding. A ship could be searched end to end and intruders quickly found. The Romulan disguises, though good, were not infallible and it was simply a matter of time for them, time that was surely running out. Exactly why the Warbird had cloaked was still a mystery.But cloaked it was and the chance of tracking the Away Team was gone. Rangi sat back in her chair, her right arm wrapped across her waist, her left arm raised and the hand used as a prop for her chin. Then there was the question of the five patients in sickbay, three Betazoid and two Vulcan, or at least partly so. Rangi wondered what the cerebral spectrum analysis would show and wished that she could be in sickbay and not sitting in a Ready Room waiting for something to happen. Shane was never far from her thoughts and he appeared in her minds eye now. She saw him as she had last seen him in sickbay, a Romulised version of himself. How she had hated performing that surgery and yet would not have trusted it to anyone else. How she longed to change him back, to undo the cosmetic alteration, to restore his loved face to its normal state. In her minds eye Shane smiled at her.Not a smile that he gave to other people but the one that was for her alone, the one that held the memories they shared, of whispered words, moments of shared laughter, of the tender and the passionate times. Rangi sat staring at a small clay figurine set at the far side of the desk, something the General had bought at some time. She looked at it blankly, seeing instead Shanes face, hearing his voice, feeling his fingers stroke her hair. She sprang up from the chair, tossing her head and pressing a hand to her throat. Walking quickly to the replicator, she stood uncertain of what to request, wanting nothing but with a need to do something that would take her mind away from its current path. When the comm channel 'bleeped' at that moment, she snapped her head to the right, her eyes wider than usual, expecting a message of doom. "Sickbay to Commander Summers" Rangi exhaled a breath that had caught in her throat and hurried to reply, pressing the comm button with outstretched had as she reached the desk and sitting perched sideways on the chair. "Yes Scott!" she said, recognising his voice and experiencing a wave of relief passing over her, glad it wasnt Foster telling her bad news. "We have some results ..I've sent them to you...you have them? " Rangi tapped the compact desk consol, accessing the sickbay channel. "Yes." she replied beginning to read the text. "You see Corporal Vel'ky? " "Hang on....yes..yes I have it." Scott paused, giving her time to read and then explained anyway what she could now see. "The Psiosynine in the Paracortex.?.... that's almost three times its normal level. Ensign Ahleros results are the same." Rangi listened and read on as Scott continued. "The Vulcan pair..Maly and T'pchek...they both have increased tryptamine and seratonin." "I see that." Rangi replied. "So basically,their neurotransmitters are going into overdrive." Scotts voice held a tone of concern. "Indeed." she answered, noting how he summed up the situation in few words. "It's as if they're trying to maintain mental equilibrium." he added. Rangi frowned.There were a few moments of silence. Eventually she asked: "Scott... are Romulans telepathic?" Surprised by the question, Scott hesitated. "No...I dont think so..." he replied after a moments thought. "Why do you ask?" "Just an idea.." Rangi said quietly and then, more positively: "Keep me informed of developements. If any of them give you the slightest cause for concern you'll tell me at once." "Ofcourse" "Thankyou Scott." Rangi sat in the silent room, the figurine once again seemingly the focus of her attention, But her thoughts were far removed from the questionable appeal of its shape. {Somethings causing the telepathic members of our crew to place themselves into meditative states....something thats not affecting anyone else.....yet. Are Romulans telepathic? I dont think so either...but Vulcans are...and theres a common ancestry so its possible....was something happening on the Warbird too then?.....is that why they cloaked the ship?......} Pressing her fingers against her forehead Rangi tried to think. {It must be something linked to the fact they're telepathic...either that or they're more susceptable than the rest of the crew. To what?....something the Romulans discovered and..... have 'cloaked' in an 'effort' to 'avoid'!!} She sat up straight and pressing both palms against the edge of the desk whispered "Kzenti scan" The idea took root and quickly became the solution. {Oriana found a type of Beta wave in the Kzentis datastream. With that sort of technology who knows what else they've been doing! They've been scanning Chimera and somehow its beginning to affect the crew and the Romulans already discovered this.} She jumped to her feet, heading towards the door at a fast pace. "Lieutenant" she said, exiting the ready room and walking swiftly to his station. "Prepare to cloak the ship." "Ma'am?" "I believe the Kzenti datastream is somehow being used to affect the crew...possibly its happened on the Warbird to. I want you to cloak Chimera. Do everything to locate Commander Guzmans away team. If theres the slightest chance of finding them we'll drop the cloak, grab them, and disappear." Even to her own ears it sounded a drastic and desperate step, but Andersen Foster wasn't the kind of officer to question orders and with a slight nod he swivelled his chair back to face his consol and began to do as she asked. *** End Log *** LtCmdr Rangi Summers CMO/AXO USS Chimera & Ltjg Scott Fisher AMO (npc) Rangi