[ON]

{Excalibur Sickbay}

::Arett refused to tie down a bed, so he got ready to leave sickbay.
Just then, Sage stopped him.::
"Excuse me, Lt – you can't leave yet. You were clinically dead for
almost an hour – you might still have some problems. Also, you were
not killed as many of the others were – you were given a particularly
nasty virulent form of disease from that Horseman – I want you
checked over before you go. And – "
::Arett raised his hand to stop Sage from continuing on.:: `From what
I understand by being here for awhile, none of the Excalibur's crew
have actually died yet, have they?"
::Sage shook his head, puzzled.:: "Not yet – but there are some close
calls whom – "
::Again, Arett raised his hand to halt the doctor.:: "Think about it,
Doctor. Phaser burns, explosive chemicals, exposure to space, no
oxygen, and all those bladed weapon injuries – and yet no one has
died. Shall we call it luck – or is some other power at work here?"
::Sage looked up towards the ceiling and crossed himself.:: "Let me
know if you have any problems." ::He moved onto another injured
crewman, but not feeling as pressured to work fast as he just had
been.::
::Arett gave him a grim smile, turned to walk out of sickbay – and
saw the battered form of D'erek lying on a biobed, locked into a
stasis field. His eyes were closed, and his body still had plenty of
wounds – but Arett knew he'd be fine. He moved closer to D'erek,
leaning down towards his ear.::
"I suppose now is as good a time as any – especially as sickbay is in
chaos. I have to say, D'erek, I was wrong about you – I thought you
were just another piece of Romulan flotsam sent here to make my life
hell – and then you step into the deathblow meant for me. That is one
favor I don't know how to repay – other than saying I'm sorry for
having misjudged you. When you get out of here, I'll have to buy you
a drink – even though you wont know what I'm buying it for. Thank you
for sacrificing yourself for someone who thought you were scum. See
you soon, eh?" ::Arett got up, cleared his throat, and walked out of
sickbay.::
::Watching all this was the new combat medic, Ensign Iranhy. She
moved towards D'erek and was surprised to see him open his eyes and
chuckle briefly, even though she knew it was hurting him.:: "Calm
down, Lt. What did he tell you anyway?"
::D'erek kept chuckling.:: "Oh, nothing…just that he wants to have my
baby." ::He kept chuckling, even louder.::

::As Arett was leaving the sickbay area, he passed Lts Calhoun and
McAllister. They all stopped to look at each other.::
"I'm glad to see you're both okay," ::Arett said to them,
sincerely.:: "It would have been a shame to have anything happen to
the twins."
::Calhoun and McAllister looked at each other.:: "Thank you for your
concern, Lt," ::said McAllister.:: "We had heard the worst about you –
how are you feeling?"
::Arett gave them a brief smile.:: "The humans have a quaint phrase
for this: only the good die young. It seems my time has yet to come –
I still have some mountains to climb. Ms. Calhoun, could you stop by
my office tomorrow after all this has settled down – I'd like your
opinion on this entire tactical situation and any ways we could
improve our response to it."
::Calhoun nodded her head numbly, as he briefly grabbed her forearm
and said.:: "I'm really glad you and the babies got through this
alright. See you later." ::Arett walked down the corridor, leaving
behind a pair of stunned Lts.:: "Was that Lt. Arett, the man who has
been driving us nuts on the ship with his alert drills? Who insulted
me and my planet on his first day on the ship?" ::asked Calhoun.
McAllister shook his head slowly.:: "Perhaps it is as another human
saying says: death has become him." ::They both kept walking towards
sickbay, dismayed.::

::Arett first walked towards his office on Deck Nine and as he
rounded the corner, he saw the barricades that had been hastily put
up by the security teams to hold off the rest of the crew from the
armory. On the floor and walls, there were splattered many types of
blood, along with bits of clothing and body armor pieces. The
security team jumped to stand at attention as they saw him getting
close. Some of them struggled to get up.::
"At ease, crew. How are we all doing here?" ::He looked for the
highest-ranking officer.:: "Ah, Ensign Lin. I was expecting to find
Ensign Fredericks here in command."
::Lin stepped forward.:: "He was here, sir – but now he's in sickbay –
and we don't know if he's going to make it." ::The Bolian had also
been hurt; his body armor had quite a few marks and bloody spots on
it. Arett took Lin by his shoulders.:: "Don't worry, Mr. Lin, I think
Mr. Fredericks will recover quite nicely. Now, why don't you get
yourself and your team over to sickbay as well? You can come back
tomorrow and clear all this up."
::Lin looked over at the others in amazement.:: "Yes sir," ::he said
happily, as he and the others marched off to sickbay. Arett even
stood there, watching them with a smile on his face. Finally, he
signed and went to his quarters.::
::As he entered he smiled to a couple of other crewmen walking the
corridors, who were frankly amazed to elicit such a response out of
him. After the doors closed, Arett stood there a second and took a
deep breath. Suddenly he yelled a most horrible yell, fearsome and
angry and enraged beyond all belief.::
"Q," ::he yelled,:: "you get out of me this instant! Do you hear me?
Right now! Out!"
"Oh, alright – if you insist." ::Q's disembodied voice said. With
that, a shimmering light flowed out of Arett's head, oozing out of
his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears – coalescing into a ball of light –
which then transformed itself back into Q, standing in from of Arett,
complete with the standard Starfleet uniform.:: "You know, if you did
that kind of stuff a little more, you'd be a captain in no time."
::Arett moved into Q's face.:: "I'm not here to be nice! I'm here to
do my job – which is to get rid of things like you!" ::He moved to
grab Q – just as Q disappeared.::
"Now now, sport – if you kill your kindly ol' uncle Q now, who will
help you out when you really need it later, hmmm?" ::said Q's
disembodied voice.::
"I could never have such a being like you as an uncle," ::Arett
screamed.:: `My father would have killed you himself a long time ago."
::Q appeared again – floating in midair, with his legs crossed over
yoga style.:: "So true about you Zaldans – no sense of humor in the
whole lot. Good thing you left."
::Arett stood with his hands on his hips.:: "So why are you still
here? The Horsemen are gone – the crew has been saved. What more need
be said?"
::Q leaned towards him.:: "Only this – while you're on this ship,
keep an open mind – and try to learn some subtlety and tact – because
you will need all three if you are to become that which you dream but
not say aloud. With that, I'm done – oh, other than the fact you wont
remember any of your time spent with me – except subconsciously. Your
humanoid brains are such fragile, simple things to manipulate – good
bye for now!"
::A brief flash of light – and Arett looked around him,
dazed.:: "What the hell am I doing here when I should be at my
office?" ::He walked out of his quarters.::

[OFF]Ha ha, that silly Q. Doesn't he know that Arett is meant for
kids? Character development coming up.

Lt. jg Arett Mem'Phoso
Chief of Security
USS Excalibur, NCC-2997