—- Personal Quarters, Assistant Chief of Security William Hume —-

Lieutenant Junior Grade William Hume had just gotten off shift. One of the advantages of being a section head, or assistant section head, was that he got his own room rather than having to share with someone. Even that was an improvement on the hallway living on the USS Anaheim, his last posting before he had come with most of senior crew over to the USS Seattle. Now he had his own room with a bathroom which was probably the most valuable piece of real estate on the ship. It let him unwind in the sonic shower for a while before putting on a fresh uniform with plans to head to the forward lounge.

He was half way through buttoning up his uniform’s outer layer when his door chime rang. He was surprised to find his ex-girlfriend Lieutenant Yuhiro Kolem at the door an odd smile on her face. He did not recognize it as the smile of someone possessed by a several million year old deity, but that’s to be expected as not many could have.

”Kolem,” he said as she pushed past him into his room.

When she said nothing, he followed it up with another attempt at interaction.

”Can I help you?” he asked, not quite sure what was going on.

Kolem smiled at him, in a way that he took as flirty but would probably be better described as a venomous snake smiling at its prey.

”Lieutenant Junior Grade Hume. You will be a valuable asset, will you not?” Kolem asked him.

He nodded, not quite sure what he was agreeing to. He’d made Kolem mad enough by cheating on her with Lieutenant Maria Cortez that he felt obliged to try to make it up to her. “Of course anything you need,” he said.

”I don’t need anything, I expect your devotion,” she said, turning and staring at him. Her eyes seemed even darker than usual, if possible. Like pools deeper than black holes, they seemed to pull him in. He felt giddy as he fell into her being, the world seeming to dim around him as he saw only the deep pools in front of him.

He nodded and smiled, “I am devoted.”

She smiled, “Good, soon everyone will be.”

—- Planet’s Surface, Abandoned Federation Colony —-

The USS Adventure had arrived to bolster the person power going down to the surface. The Seattle sent fifty people, the Adventure sent another fifty. Armed with phaser rifles, the terrorists had surrendered fairly easily, and not a shot was fired. They were rounded up, and set back to the Excelsior II-class star ship since the smaller Seattle did not have the room in its cells for them.

Which left finding the two mission officers from the Seattle. Captain Adriana Cruz, finding her First and Second Officers strangely busy with non-Starfleet related things, was down on the surface with a tricorder looking for her Chief Science Officer and Chief Security Officer. There were officers all around going through the evidence, and the weapons at the terrorist camp but finding Lieutenant Commander Miller and Lieutenant Jara fell to her. Well to her and Lieutenant Junior Grade Flores who had joined her on the sear…

”I’m getting two life signs in this crate,” Flores called. 

The two women set about disengaging the mag lock and opening the door to the container. There on stolen artifacts were her two officers, sitting waiting. At the sign of the Captain they leapt to their feet.

”Ma’am,” Jara said.

“We got locked in,” Miller said, the science officer gesturing to her and Jara.

”Well I can imagine the trip was uncomfortable enough I don’t need to lecture you,” the Captain said.

The two exchanged a meaningful glance and nodded. Jara spoke, “Umm, yes, uncomfortable indeed.”

“Well as long as you didn’t curse my ship by doing something embarrassing on the ancient artifacts,” Cruz said, “Go have a shower, get some food. I’ll read your reports in a few hours.”

”Yes ma’am,” Jara said and the pair beamed up to the ship.

—- Ready Room —-

After sending off the action report for the mission, including Jara and Miller’s accounts, Captain Adriana Cruz was sitting in her ready room. Her crew was recuperating from fighting the Cardassians, and being lost. Chief Engineer James Young was performing some much needed repairs, and she had called her First Officer (who was also her half-brother) Commander Andrés Sánchez and her Second Officer Lieutenant Yuhiro Kolem, into her ready room as they had been stanglely not present during the last week or so.

The fact that they had shown up with her Assistant Chief of Security Lieutenant Junior Grade William Hume was odd too.

”Look I try to give you all some latitude, but you can’t just not be there when we’re fighting the Cardassians,” Cruz said trying to balance being the boss with the mentor to Kolem that she wanted to see herself as.

“We had other things to attend to,” Sánchez said.

”Well we almost died, so what’s so important that it takes precedence over us all dying?” Cruz asked, “And why is Hume here? I can imagine what you’ve been up to the two of you, but Hume. That’s a whole lot weirder.”

She got that people had human needs, and desires. Even non-humans mostly had the same needs and desires. She had them, and going AWOL and vanishing into a new relationship was one thing, but this was something else. They’d been up against a Galor-class warship, and had it not been for the complicated political system on Cardassia they’d be dead.

”I’m finding this dull,” Kolem said.

”What?” Cruz asked shocked that this was her Chief Counselor who was usually much more respectful.

With a gesture from Kolem the two men stepped forward, grabbing the Captain and holding her in her chair.

”Once you’re devoted to me, we’ll take this whole ship,” Kolem said smiling.

Cruz struggled, but looked into the dark haired woman’s eyes, feeling herself falling into the endless pools.