Jared

Personal Log:

I've had a lot of people asking me about Jared, so let me tell what's going on.

Jared is a wonderful guy. He really is.

But....I wasn't ready to get married, and we rushed things. We decided to postpone the wedding indefinitely, then later called off the engagement.

After that, he was really distant and quiet. I can't blame him.

Now...I am on a new ship. (More about that later.)

I...have to say....I....miss him.

Another transition

Once again, my life is in transition.

This will be a short post - I'm tired and really need some sleep.

Everyone on the Liberty is gone - Jared, Zeke, Morgan, Rain - everyone. I don't know where they went. I've been alone.

So I have gone to another ship. My old friend, Navaar, has gotten her freedom and has a ship called the Orion Star. I am serving on there as a medic, alongside D'mel, an Orion doctor.

I hope things go well. I'll write more soon.

Jared's proposal

I am still in shock as I write this.

Last night was our Halloween party. It was fun getting ready - I helped Morgan make food, desserts, etc.

We also decorated the Cargo Bay with spooky decorations. It was fun! I love Earth holidays. :)

I went dressed as Magenta from the ancient Earth movie the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Jared went as a Starfleet captain. *sigh* He looked so handsome in that uniform. And I found out that he was in StarFleet! He went to the Academy! MY Jared! *shakes her head* I can't get over that. I can't picture him as a cadet. *laughs*

We had a good time - music, dancing, joking around. Then Jared said he needed to leave, so he disappeared for a while.

When he came back, he handed me a small box. In it was a beautiful ring (pictured).

But what stunned me even more was when he dropped to one knee and said that I had saved his life, he trusted me with his life, and he wanted to share his life with me.

Then he asked: "Shara, will you marry me?" and held up the ring to me.

Of course, I said yes. *laughs* Once I found my voice, of course.

We will be getting married during the next shore leave. I am looking forward to this next step.

Prynn

This has been a very difficult time.

Jared, Chase and I went to one of the moons nearby – Prynn - in order to pick up some supplies and to have some shore leave.

(Chase is a former medical student from Dr. Ishom's medical school. The medical facility has a school associated with it. Chase lost his funding over some infraction of the rules. We are giving him transport to the next system so he can try to get into another medical school.)

It was a beautiful place. There were lush forests, plenty of wildlife, and the people there lead a very simple life. They shun technology and choose to live a life that is much like the life their ancestors lived.

I loved it there. I enjoyed getting to know the locals and taking walks in the forests with Jared.
But to Jared began to act differently. He simply was not like himself. Eventually, he began to be violent and his entire demeanor changed. He was hostile and spoke terrible things to me.

Come to find out, he had been infected with a native microbe. At this point, I am still not certain whether he was infected accidentally or intentionally. I suspect that it was intentional, because the way he spoke made it seem like he was under the influence of the elders in the village. While this is completely speculation on my part, I do believe that it is a valid conclusion.

During our stay, once his behavior got extremely erratic, I had to hide from him. One night, I stayed in a nook in a tree. Some of the local animals – called chittermyrrs -stayed with me and helped keep me warm. (They look like large Earth chinchillas.)

Another time, when Jared had a hold of me and would not release me, it was necessary to plunge my dagger into his upper arm in order to buy some time so I could escape. It haunts me that I would have to do something like that, but it was necessary. There was no other way.

In order to escape, Chase and I had to drug Jared. Chase tricked Jared into letting him administer a sedative. We used a mild sedative at first said he would be more compliant but he would still be able to walk. Once we got him on the shuttle, he began to act violently again – so I had Chase give him a stronger sedative that knocked him out.

I had to pilot the shuttle. It was a bumpy ride, but we made it. I had flown the shuttle before, so I knew that I could take off and fly. The only problem was going to be with landing. Luckily, Morgan was able to use a tractor beam in order to bring us in safely to the shuttle bay.

Once we got back to the ship, I discovered that we had a stowaway. One of the chittermyrrs – named Grey One Who Chitters All Night, but Grey for short - snuck aboard the shuttle and came back with us to the Liberty. Since there is no way that we will be able to take him back, he is going to have to stay on board with us. *laughs* Not that he seems to mind. He seems to enjoy it here.

Once on board, I took Jared to the infirmary. I treated him with a strong antibiotic while I kept him sedated. I also consulted with Dr. Ishom, and he made a suggestion as to a medication to add to Jared’s regimen. This additional medication in conjunction with the medication I had already administered seems to have done the trick. Jared is back to his normal self.

While I was in contact with Dr. Ishom, he made me a surprising offer: a spot in his medical school. All expenses will be paid, plus I would have a stipend. There would be a place for me to stay, and I could even bring Jared with me.

It is an incredibly tempting offer. Not only would I be able to become a full-fledged doctor, but it would also be a chance to set down some roots on an actual planet instead of going hither and yon. I have talked to Jared about it. I know that he would support me, no matter what I decide – but I also know that he enjoys wandering the galaxy. I really believe that he would be bored to tears if I asked him to settle down somewhere.

Now we are getting ready to have a Halloween party. I am looking forward to having some lighthearted fun. Maybe it’ll take my mind off of everything.

~ Shara, Chief Medic of the Liberty

Medical Conference - The Aftermath

Personal Log

Jared and I have returned from the medical conference on Symmtach.

Jared was right - there was trouble, but not from where we thought there was going to be trouble. Jared had thought that Dr. Ishom was a threat, that we were maybe walking into a trap. But that was not the case at all. The medical conference came under attack - people interested in stealing the new medical device and also medical supplies. Hostages were taken, and 20 of the doctors were killed.

It scares me to think that if it were not for Jared's instincts - if he had not made us leave right before those men took over the conference - we could be dead right now.

We have a guest aboard the liberty - Dr. Ishom, the leader of the medical conference. He happened to follow us out of the room he saw us leaving - a move that very well may have saved his life.

Dr. Ishom will be staying on board liberty until it is safe for him to return to the medical facility. If he chooses to go somewhere other than the medical facility, I'm sure that we can take him wherever he wants to go.

Another thing happened while we were at the conference - I saved Jared's life. Again. *soft chuckle* After all those times of him being afraid to take me with him on away missions, I end up saving him.

I don't think that he will be insisting I stay on the ship anymore. He says that he wants me as his away team partner from now on.

I like the way that sounds.

Unusual Cargo

Chief Medic’s Log:

For starters, I lost a bet to Jared this week. I said I could hide better than he could track. I dragged Morgan along with me. We hid and Jared found us – because I was wearing perfume. Not to mention that he suggested I wear the perfume that morning. No, that wasn’t cheating at all….

Oh well. I lost, so I’ll have to pay up. *laughs*

On a different note, we picked up some unusual cargo this week. Zeke was paid a premium to take the cargo sight unseen. (Not unusual in our line of work, I might add.)

Shortly after we picked up this cargo, the crew began to see unusual things. Morgan saw a puppy she had long ago when she was a child. Jared saw his grandmother. Rain saw his sister, Misty. I saw Misha, a pet that we had on my old ship, the Cedalion.

At first we thought that we were simply tired and were seeing things; but after we had gotten together and compared notes, we discovered that all of us were seeing things that we had been thinking about in the moments before they manifested. Whatever we thought about, we saw.
Putting two and two together, we realized that this began when the cargo was brought on board. After Jared, Morgan and Rain went down to the cargo bay, they discovered that the crate we had brought onboard was a portable holodeck – one designed to manifest what the person is thinking. It had powered up on its own.

Morgan shut it down after disengaging the power source and things returned to normal.
Now we are looking forward to some nice, relaxing shore leave – spending the money we made from the cargo, of course.

Oh. And I am continuing to train the crew and take precautions in case something happens to me. I am continuing their training in first aid and also making notes to include in the medkits on board.

~ Shara, Chief Medic of the Liberty

Transitions

This is an excerpt from Ezekiel Storm's Log:

Captain’s Log:

Our mission on Augan was a complete disaster. Not only did we not get paid for the mission, but our medic doublecrossed us. He and his cohorts ended up stealing our payload and also ransacking the ship. My remaining three crew members – Jared Stone, Morgan Connelly and Rain Meadows – were all seriously injured in the process.

Jared was in the worst shape of all three, but Morgan and Rain were pretty bad off, too.

We had a few remaining medical supplies, but no idea what to do with them or even what they were for. Then, we pick up something on our long-range scans that ended up being an escape pod. Two life signs on board, and one of those was weak. One human. One Orion. In the Delta Quadrant!

It turns out that the Orion is a ”doctor’s assistant” named Shara that is serving on Voyager. She patched up her friend that was in the pod with her – some hotshot pilot named Tom Paris – and then proceeded to jump right in and help my crew. I’ll be damned if she didn’t save them all.
Rain and Morgan were up and walking around the next day – weak, but alive.

Jared was still in bad shape, and Doc – which is what we have been calling Shara – said she needed stronger medicines in order to help him. Plus she needed some other stuff for her pheromone shots, whatever the hell those do.

Since we were going to go on a “procurement mission” – in other words, go grab some stuff – in order to get what we needed, Doc went ahead and made up a list for us to get so that we could fully stock the infirmary and also have extra stuff we could sell off later.

We found a nearby planet that operates on a caste system. Upper and lower caste. Morgan had a contact that was a doctor in the hospital for the lower caste. He supplied uniforms, IDs, and map and key cards. We go in, take the meds from the upper caste hospital, then give some to him for payment for the uniforms and ID’s, plus he’d give us crates of food, jugs of water, and other supplies.

Since Jared – our pilot – was in no shape to help, MU Tom Paris (aka Hotshot) offered to pilot for the mission. I’ll say this – he is an arrogant son of a bitch, but he sure can pilot a shuttle. Damn. Poetry in motion is all I can say about that flight. It all went without a hitch – textbook operation. We went in, grabbed the goods, made the exchange and got the hell back to Liberty. Hotshot went right in with us and worked right alongside us – no problems at all.

Doc worked her magic on Jared with those meds we got. He is still hobbling around, but at least he is breathing. Doc says he’ll be walking on his own soon. Not sure when he can pilot. Doc was really hesitant to tell me when that might happen.

I was impressed as hell with that short, green spitfire. Doc knows her way around an infirmary, and her saving my crew – plus Hotshot, her friend – was the best possible job interview I could have seen. I offered her a position as our medic on Liberty.

Tom wanted to stay. Almost from the minute he set foot on Liberty and was conscious. Doc took some convincing. Damn, she is a stubborn one. But she can tell we genuinely like her, and we appreciate her. I think that goes a long way. She accepted my offer.

Last night, I met with the captain of Voyager (Captain Janeway) and one of her officers, a Vulcan named Tuvok. They came aboard the Liberty to see the ship and to see Shara and Tom.

Janeway did her best to convince me that keeping Tom and Shara here is a mistake, but I know in my gut that it’s the right decision, and I told her so.

Still, as a courtesy and to make sure things go well, I agreed to follow close to Voyager for a while and see how things go during a trial period. I don’t have any concerns, but Janeway does. I think it will work out for both of us. I am sure we will see each other again soon.

Ezekiel (”Zeke”) Storm, Captain of the Liberty (www.usslibertyrpg.com)