It had been a further four days since that all important staff meeting; the 77 officers and crew were all slowly getting used to wearing the small monitoring devices attached to their temples.  Only Lieutenant Beriev the Saurian Assistant Chief Science Officer had found problems with getting the small coin shaped object to stick to his skin.  The answer came in the form of a sweat band; the Lieutenant now had to wear.  He was far from happy, and felt it made him look ridiculous.

Doctor Sunny and his small medical team would, they hoped be alerted to any abnormal or unexplainable brain activity, by the ship wide monitoring system.  So far nothing had been picked up.

**********

Ensign Green had just completed a maintenance check on the air filtration system in the Starboard Mess; and this time it had nothing to do with crewman Wy’k’Neria’s cooking.  Hayley may have been the Chief Engineer now, but that didn’t stop her from getting stuck into the routine stuff.  She didn’t see herself as been superior to anyone else in Engineering; this was a team effort, in her view.

She climbed down of the table she’d been standing on to reach the vent in the ceiling, placed a couple of tool back in her toolbox and closed the lid, letting the lock, click into place. At that moment Ensign Dravid walked in.

“Artin, how are you.” Hayley called across the room cheerfully.  “I’ve not seen you since the meeting. Is everything ok?”

The ships Logistics Officer looked up with a mix of sadness and worry in his eyes.  “I guess.”

“Sit.” She said softly, tapping the back of a chair, by the table she’d just been standing on.  “You can tell me anything.”

Ensign Dravid slumped down into the chair with a sigh. “It’s just this ship, if feels so small.”

“You’re suffering from claustrophobia.”  Hayley enquire, receiving a small nod in way of reply. “Why haven’t you said anything before now?”

“I didn’t want to let the Captain down.” Came is hurried but honest response.  “When she asked me to be a part of the crew, I was over the moon.  Everyone else tended to ignore me and in a way that’s suited me fine.”

Hayley reached out a hand and touched his. “After helping build that laser and rescuing the XO, how could you ever feel like you were letting anyone down?

“I don’t know.” He let his head momentarily drop.  “I just wanted to achieve something.  But this ship is so small compared to a starbase, and it’s gotten smaller since we entered the Expanse.”

“Do you want me to come with you whilst you have a word with Doctor Sunny?”

“Well he already knows about my condition and the medication I’m on, but I guess it wouldn’t hurt.”

Ensign Green smiled back reassuringly.  The two of the had got on really well since that incident at Tartarus II, which had left the away team trapped behind a mining tunnel cave in.   Dravid had admitted he was not one for friendships and conversation; but Hayley had an infectious quality about her.  She was hard not to like, hard not to trust

**********

Ele Trazan was another person aboard the da Vinci, people found easy to get along with; then again as the ships Recreational Manager, it was part of her job to be a friendly and approachable face.  The crew seems more at ease speaking to her than they did the ships holographic councillor.  She didn’t mind that, Ele was a good listener, even if you ignored the fact she was a Betazed, which the crew tended to.  She could hear their minds all around her; some whispered, others shouted.  There were those that seemed to sing and produce beautiful colours in her mind; and others that created softer more subtle shades.  But she did to pry or eavesdrop on those thoughts; letting them swirl and dance around in the air.

There was an indication of an incoming transmission on her monitor screen; which in itself seemed unusual, considering how far they’d travelled.  Besides, who’d want to speak to her?  Regardless though, Ele sat down an accepted receipt of the call.

The face that appeared on the screen was of a woman in her late fifteens.  Black hair style into an elaborate swirl above her head, held in place by two diamond encrusted combs, pale skin and just a little too much makeup around the eyes; bright red lipstick did anything but improve the woman’s features.  It was a face Ele knew all too well.

“Mother!  How did you manage to find me?”  Ele blurted out.

“It’s a pleasure to see you to, Eleanor.”  The elder woman half smiled back.  “I’m your mother, don’t you expect me to know were my favourite daughter is?”

Favourite was a bit of a misconception; Eleanor Trazan was the only daughter of Gwanwyn Tranzan of the Seventeenth House of Betazed.  Unlike certain other ‘Houses’ that liked to brag about their long established history and the artefacts they were entrusted with guarding, the Seventeen House of which Gwanwyn was a mid-level member; didn’t.  The fact they didn’t have any chalices, rings, statues or sacred books, was usually carefully glossed over.

It was the main if not only reasons why Gwanwyn often pestered her daughter about marrying someone with status within the Betazed community.  The only problem was that the man she’d clearly set her eye on her daughter marrying, had the look of a  puppy who’d just chewed up your favourite slippers and the personality of a large stick.  Dull and pathetic, didn’t come even close.  He was however extremely rich; or would be, just as soon as his own mother passed away, not that Gwanwyn was trying to rush things.

“So what is it you want mother?” Ele asked, feeling she already knew the answer

“Want my dear.” She half spluttered out, trying to sound shocked, indignant and confused all at the same time.  “Does a mother need a reason to contact her daughter?”

“Yes!” The sharp reply came.

“When are you coming home, Eleanor?” Mother asked. “We all miss you, so does Kaydence.”

Kaydence was the name of the man Ele was expected to marry; instead she’d hitched a ride on a freighter, in search of a new life away from her domineering mother.  It was a journey that had eventually led her to where she was now; Recreational Manager of the USS da Vinci, and the only civilian currently aboard.

“He’s missing a lot of things,” Ele replied with a sarcastic tone. “But I don’t see anyone putting in the effort to track them down!”

The conversation continued in the way many of them had gone in the past; it all got very heated.  Words were said, some that were meant, others that would be regretted later. At the end of it, Ele had a splitting headache, far worse than anything she’d felt before, even when she’d found it impossible to control all the voices in her head.  Right now, there were so many voices, too many for her to handle in fact.  She screamed, hands clutching the said of her head, and collapsed on the floor.