Gamma Update (Part One of Two)

Logan was sat in the mess hall eating and reading the Padd he had just received. The Padd had bad news, something which he knew Captain Taybar would not take well. The news detailed a security breach onboard the Taurus and even though Logan was officially no longer responsible for the security of the vessel, he still felt bad.

The mess hall was fairly empty, most of the crew were either still on DS9 enjoying the last hours before they were due to leave or settling into their new ship. Which is why Logan had decided to read the Padd there.

The doors opened and a young woman with brown hair and eyes, dressed in a Science uniform appeared. Logan looked up to see who had just come in and tried to remember who she was. She certainly wasn't from the Taurus, Logan knew everyone from there, so she must have been from the Leviathan. Although it was the responsibility of the chief of security to check everyone's credentials, he hadn't had time to get to read everyone's files. He'd decided to concentrate on the Security personnel first and work his way through each section one by one.

The young lady went to the replicator and ordered a black coffee. Logan watched as she looked around the almost empty mess hall. Apart from Logan, there were only two other officers, deep in discussion with each other, plus a pair of Engineers who were working on a console in the corner. At first she looked as if she was going to sit on her own, but then her eyes met Logan's and she altered course to sit opposite him.

"Is this seat taken ?" She asked nervously. In an almost deserted room it was an odd question to ask.

"No." Logan replied, switching off the Padd and taking another bite of the sandwich he was slowly eating.

The young woman took a sip of her coffee and winced as if it was still too hot to drink. She put the cup down and took a deep breath before suddenly speaking in a rushed voice.

"I'm Amy. Sorry, Lieutenant Amy Lloyd." She said, holding out her hand.

"Lieutenant McQueen." Logan replied, quickly shaking Amy's hand. "You're our Stellar Cartographer aren't you ?"

"That's correct sir." Amy replied, pausing to think. "And you're the security chief."

"Got it in one." Logan said. "I was going to come and visit you before we left, we've just finished examining the logs recovered from the rogue Jem'Hadar base. Some of it shows details of Dominion space, including both active and abandoned bases in the Gamma quadrant. I wanted to have all the data transferred into the central database and take a look at it all in the Cartography lab, I hear it's quite a sight."

Amy smiled at the compliment. Obviously Lieutenant McQueen hadn't seen it yet.

"We could upload the data now if you'd like." Amy suggested. "There's not a lot for a Cartographer to do whilst we're still docked as DS9."

"Unfortunately, I have to go and see the Captain now." Logan replied. "But if you come to the Security office in about an hour, I'll have the data ready."

"Yes Sir." Amy replied.

"Then I'll see you in an hour." Logan said finishing off his sandwich and rising from the table. He left through the door and disappeared.

Amy sat back and relaxed her whole body, relieved that she'd spoken to Lieutenant McQueen. She continued to drink her coffee and sat watching the Engineers working.