Lt Commander Samantha Palmer Mission Specialist USS Chimera NCC 96899 = Samantha’s Quarters The Chimera’s mission specialist walked into her quarters and stood still as the doors closed behind her. She couldn’t remember why she had returned to her quarters, but it seemed as good a place as any to hide. Was that why she’d come here? To hide? It was starting to seem like that to her. Samantha had been rather anti-social as a teenager, and she remember her room was her favourite place to hide from the world, with her astronomy books that served as friends. Now she was doing exactly the same: avoiding people because she was ashamed of what she had to hide. The encounter with the Counselor outside the Mess Hall was a perfect example. Samantha had been so relieved when she was called to Astrometrics that she feared her expression betrayed that relief. Suddenly Samantha heard a ticking sound. At first she thought it was her imagination, but when she heard it again she looked around for it. Walking towards her workstation, she stopped and was amazed by what she saw. Samantha stared at the object that stood as an ornament on her desk. For years it had no other function to her than to serve as a decoration and as a sentimental congratulatory gift from her brother. Now, however, the El Aurian clock that had never ticked was ticking wildly. It had one large face, surrounded by eight smaller faces. The three hands on the large face had begun to tick, along with the smaller face which was located at north-west. The large face went on slowly and steadily, though, but the smaller face spun like a clock that had been set on fast forward. She remembered her brother telling her of a legend when he gave her the clock. The legend said that the clock only ticked when it detected interferences in the timeline. Though Samantha had been in the vicinity of several phenomena which interfered with time, she had never had the clock with her and had never seen it tick. She had also never thought of the legend again after her brother mentioned it, not being one to believe in myths. Until now, that was. Without blinking, Samantha walked into the bathroom, looked in the mirror and adjusted her hair, making sure it was perfect. Then she turned on her heel and headed out of the door. = -- Internal Virus Database is out-of-date. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.323 / Virus Database: 267.9.0/50 - Release Date: 2005/07/16