On the Table

When the Passageway finally reached a Federation starbase, limping home, they turned the whole damn ship off, with me still in the holodeck. I screamed. Suddenly, the world turned black and yellow, a faceless, heartless, bereft grid, and the truth came smashing back into my face. I was instantly a shattered mess, faced with the reality of what I had done.

Of how Damson and Rhee had teamed up to take over the ship and sequester ourselves in main holodeck for months -- the Chief Medical Officer! When we awoke from passing out, we were restrained. I keep saying we here, because the shock came so greatly to Damson and to Rhee, as separate entities, that we both went into pure shock. The horror at what I had done was far, far to much for me, and my isoboromine and all other chemical levels went haywire. I couldn't even control my homeostasis autonomically.

As you can see by looking across the table, we are better now. I am not part of Starfleet medical anymore, nor was I allowed to go into engineering. Several Admirals and I agreed that command would also not likely be the right track for me. Well, really, I think the phrase "Hell 'friging' no," was somewhat close to what Jellico said about my resuming my career in a command position.

It has been years earning the trust of commanding officers back, and it has been a long, hard time. A long hard road and a long strange trip I have had getting back to an authoritative position, but I

[To be concluded]