He woke up with a headache. For a moment he looked around his quarters before he decided it was time to go... It took him a while to remember that he was supposed to report to the engineering. He quickly put his uniform on and wandered off to the nearest turbolift. "Good to see you, lieutenant," he heard a sarcastic welcome from his commanding officer. "Why don't you take a look at the lateral sensor array? Some conduits seem to be misaligned." He accessed the panel and stared for a few minutes at the unknown markings before he realised it was Standard Federation language. *It's going to be a long day,* he thought, trying to find his way through the maze of colourful circuits. The day was indeed long, even though his shift lasted only six hours. After completing the maintenance on the sensor array, he was given some twenty other jobs before he was relieved. Finally, he was free to go. However, he had no idea what to do with his free time. =^= Computer, what are the recreational facilities available aboard? =^= There are five holodecks, three currently in use. There is arboretum on deck 15 and crew's lounge on deck twelve, answered the flat computer's voice. Fortunately, the computer was not programmed to be surprised by anything. If it was, it might have been curious why any officer would ask such questions. He chose to go visit the lounge. Not that he wanted to talk to anybody, he just wanted to sit down and observe. No such luck. "Where have you been?" He jumped in his seat at the voice coming from behind him. He turned around only to see an unfamiliar face of a young woman starring angrily at him. "You were supposed to meet me here over an hour ago!" Not only did he not remember the date but he also had no idea whatsoever who this woman was. He tried concentrating harder on her face but he was too tired to succeed. "I'm sorry..." he tried in vain. The woman would not have it. "Don't you sorry me!" She raised her voice. "I know how you treat women. Well let me tell you this, Mr I-am-the-handsomest-guy-in-the-known-universe! I'm not one of them! You don't ever walk out on me. Never, you hear?!" He began standing up to make his apology for whatever he had done to this woman, but she waved him off: "Don't bother!" And left, or rather rushed from the lounge in fury. He sighed, sitting down again. *It's more complicated than I thought...* * * * The next morning, the lieutenant woke up with an even stronger headache. He quickly got up from the bed to put his uniform on... when suddenly he realised it was red. And it didn't have the lieutenant's pips on the collar. There were three solid pips... a commander. *Tough,* he groaned, putting the uniform on. Then he went to the turbolift and sighed: "Bridge!" After a short while the door parted, letting him out on the bridge. "Report!" He demanded. The lieutenant on duty gave him a long, boring report which could have been summarised in one sentence: "Nothing happened." He took his seat and tried to look confident. The ship was headed... somewhere, but ETA was still three days, so there was nothing much to do for the first officer. He had some time to think before the captain arrived. "Status, Number One?" He was startled by a strong, authoritative voice. Before he could gather his thoughts, the captain came up to him, claiming his chair. The commander stood up and offered hesitantly: "Uh... all systems operating, sir, nothing unusual." The captain eyed him questioningly but said nothing, only nodded and sat down. "Any progress on Dr Ramsing's experiment?" He asked, before the commander could sit down in his own chair. "Sir?" He asked, having absolutely no idea what the captain was talking about. The captain looked at him. "Are you all right, Number One?" "Yes, sir!" What else could he say? "I thought you were interested in developing this new fertiliser. After all, you've always claimed to be keen on plants? And wasn't it you who insisted on assigning Dr Ramsing more lab time precisely for that very reason?" "Yes, sir," he said again. Then, he added. "I had no time to check on him today." "Well," the captain seemed confused. "Why don't you take a look now?" The commander nodded in relief and left the bridge in a hurry. Once in the turbolift, he had to ask: =^= Computer, where is the laboratory? =^= Please specify. There are two astrolabs, three medical, One hydroponics... =^= Belay that! Where is... uhm... what's that name again? Dr Ramsing?=^= Dr Ramsing is currently in the hydroponics laboratory. Deck four, section five. When the door to the laboratory opened, all the commander saw was a jungle of exotic plants. It was impossible to find anyone there, so he called out: "Dr Ramsing? Doctor, are you there?" "Who the devil..." came a grumpy reply. Then a man in science uniform appeared only to scold the commander even more. "Oh, didn't I tell you to leave me alone in here for a while? Can't you just get off my back and let me work?" "I'm sorry to bother you doctor. The captain wished to know..." "That's ridiculous, commander! You were here only an hour ago and now you're back again? Do you really expect progress every couple of minutes?" The commander said nothing. He looked at the doctor, bowed his head in a silent apology and left the room. Once in the corridor, he leaned against the wall and took a deep breath, preparing himself for what more lay ahead of him that day. Fortunately, the rest of his shift was uneventful. He spent that evening in the lounge again, refusing any attempt to socialise, and went back to his quarters. * * * In the morning, the commander wasn't surprised by the headache anymore. There was something else... someone else in the room. In the bed. A man under the sheets, who appeared fast asleep. *What the...* the commander thought and quickly looked down under the sheets. Then he realised that he was no longer a "he" - now, it was a "she". And the uniform was blue... * * * =^= Captain, can I see you in sickbay, please?=^= The ship's doctor's voice sounded urgent. =^ On my way,=^= the captain acknowledged and quickly left the bridge. "What is it, doctor?" He asked once he was there. The doctor led him to the biobed with an unconscious ensign on. The young woman was a computer programmer, assigned to the ship's main computer, only a few months out of the academy. There were no injuries visible, she looked like she was sleeping. "What happened?" The captain asked. "Captain," the doctor began. "She came down in here a few minutes ago, saying she can't remember her name. She said something about a large amount of data, an overload. Then she passed out." The captain looked surprised. "Do you suspect it's something serious?" "There's more. This morning, lieutenant Jacobs and commander Maxwell both complained about having slight memory loss. I gave them all a thorough check-up and found nothing unusual." "Can you revive her?" "Yes, sir, however, I'm not sure if she'll tell us anything coherent." The captain nodded and waited for the doctor to administer a hypospray. The woman on the biobed opened her eyes and looked around groggily. "Is he gone?" She asked. "Who?" Both men asked in unison. Before the woman was able to reply, a computer panel next to them came on. =^= VERY INTERESTING, HOW VERY INTERESTING INDEED. =^= They heard the computer's voice, but slightly different. The woman whispered: "It's him..." "Who are you?" asked the captain. =^= I AM CURIOUS,=^= the computer voice replied. =^=YOU ARE A VERY PROMISING SPECIES. NO FURTHER CONTACT WILL BE MADE, THOUGH. =^= "Explain," the captain demanded. =^= YOUR MEMORY CAPACITY IS TOO LIMITED. I TRIED THREE UNITS IN VAIN. I WILL RETURN WHEN YOU LEARN MORE. NOW IT WOULD BE HARMFUL FOR YOU. =^= The panel came off again. A very thorough investigation revealed no evidence of the alien presence aboard the ship. The captain was disappointed to have lost an opportunity to contact another unknown being. Lieutenant Jacobs, commander Maxwell and ensign Carra were not.
