A New Life

First Encounter

"Captain those coordinates will bring us into the Neutral Zone." I said.
"Yes I am aware. Make it so."
"Yes sir." Said Data.
"Sir may I ask why we are heading into the Neutral Zone?"
"I will explain later. In the mean time. Rehu, Ryker, Data come with me."
"Yes sir."
I left the bridge following the Captain. We took the turbo lift down to deck twelve. "Sir where are we going?"
"Why are you questioning my orders? You never do."
"Sir it's just... Well... I always get anxious when we head towards the Neutral Zone. I am always worried that someone will recognize me. If they where to scan the ship and find me... It could cause war. At the very least they would pool all there power to destroy this ship. My brother is a star ship officer. If he were to recognize me... My cover would be blown."
"Understood. However, I am still the captain. You are to follow me orders."
"Yes sir. I will always follow orders. You know how loyal I am to you and Star Fleet."
We walked down the hall to sickbay. When we walked in it became apparent why we were heading to the Neutral Zone.
"Captain, said Doctor Crusher, their condition is worsening. However if we arrive within the next 24 hours I expect everyone will make a full recovery."
"So that's why we are heading to the Neural Zone. Let me guess there was an outbreak on one of our outposts and we are heading there to provide medical help."
"Correct. Now doctor who are you going to bring down with you?"
"Aside from myself I'm not sure. The illness targets red blood cells and destroys them. It will be very dangerous. Anyone who comes done will have to be careful. Any contact with someone who is infected could be deadly."
"Sir I could go. If what the doctor said is completely accurate I could go down there with little to no risk. If the illness targets red blood cells it couldn't hurt me."
"Yes. That would work. If you want we can test whether or not it would hurt you."
"That's probably a good idea."

Terra 9
I saw how bad the situation was as soon as we beamed down. People were laying on the ground. The station was completely unkempt. Half the systems were offline or unmaintained. "Doctor how bad is it? Have they worsened?"
"Yes but there is still time to save them."
"Good. Shall we proceed?"
"Yes."
We set to work administering the cure. After only 2 hours we had successfully stabilized everyone.
"Should we beam them aboard to make sure they don't relapse?"
"Yes. They should remain aboard for at least 48 hours before we return them to the station. In the meantime we need to get this station up and running again and we also need to decontaminate the station."
"Right. If you beam them up I'll start decontamination of the station."
"Very well. I will return shortly. And Sela... don't get carried away with your cleaning."
"Yes doctor..."

Sickbay
"Decontamination complete."
"Terra 9 is now fit for operation sir. The illness is completely gone from the station. We have left a supply of the cure on the station incase something happens."
"Good. Now let's leave before the Romulans start wondering why we are here."
"Yes sir."

While we were walking back to the bridge we received a message saying that there was a disturbance detected at the edge of the Neutral Zone. We rushed back to the bridge as fast as possible. Along the way the Captain started asking me some questions as to why the Romulans may have shown up in the Neutral Zone or if I thought it was just a natural phenomenon. I said that it was most likely a Romulan War Bird just trying to figure out what we are doing so close to the Neutral zone, but that we should still go to Yellow Alert.

Bridge
"Captain", said Worf, "sensors indicate a disturbance directly ahead. It looks somewhat like a Romulan War Bird."
"May I see?"
"Here."
I looked at the screen hoping to see that it was just a natural phenomenon, but it was not to be. Right there on the screen directly in front of my eyes were the telltale signs of a cloaked Romulan ship. I had taught myself to recognize the patterns that a cloaked ship makes.
"That's a Romulan ship for sure. I could recognize that pattern anywhere."
"Stay calm everyone. We don't know what they wan't yet. They could just be curious as to why we are here."
"Sir they are decloaking!" Said Worf.
"Hail them."
Just before they made contact I realized (in horror) that this was my brother's ship. I recognized the ID number. Panicking I ducked down under my station hoping that I wouldn't be seen on the viewer. Worf turn to look at me.
"Lieutenant what are you doing?"
"Um... Well... You see it's just that this is my brother's ship, and.. If he were to see me my cover would be blown and it would put everyone on this ship at risk. You see they don't know I'm here cause I kinda faked my death and put it on my file, so... According to my whole family, I'm dead."
"I see. Well couldn't you just pretend to be a Vulcan?"
"No... That wouldn't work. My brother can recognize me by sight, and Romulans show up differently on a scanner then Vulcans so if they checked their scans well they would figure out that I'm here and they would know where all their spies are station if they had any so they would know that I'm not a spy and that I'm "not supposed to be here."
"I see. So what are you going to do?"
"Hide in a big crowd of people. Tell the Captain if he asks where I went. I'll accept responsibility for my actions but I might end up saving the ship by doing so. They will be less likely to find me in a crowd."
"Where will you go?"
"Tenforward."
"Worf." Said the Captain,"I need hailing frequencies now."
"Yes sir. Sorry sir. Hailing frequencies open sir."
I snuck out of the room just as my brother appeared on the main viewer. I walked on to the turbo lift.
"Deck ten."
I rushed down the hall trying to get to a crowd before they scanned the ship. I arrived and sat down near the biggest amount of people I could find. I glanced around nervously wondering if they had scanned the ship yet and if they had found me. I was starting to panic. Thoughts of the ship being destroyed or worse them beaming me aboard and being forced to face my family and the Romulan Star Empire's government. I shuddered at the thought. Suddenly I heard a voice behind me.
"Hey. You look pretty shaken up. Are you okay?"
It was Guinan.
"Oh... Um... Hello. Sorry. I was just trying to get to a crowded area."
"Oh? Well you picked the right place. May I ask why?"
"Well we are bordering the Neutral Zone right now and my brother's vessel is sitting directly in front of us. I can't have him see me and if I am in a crowded area their scanners will have more trouble noticing the slight difference between Romulans and Vulcans. I had to sneak off the bridge. I don't know what the Captain will say. I didn't exactly ask permission to leave. I am kind of worried but I may also have just saved the ship. I don't know what's going to happen but I am nervous, no I'm actually scared."
"You can't control what happens now. You did what you could to protect yourself and the ship. There is nothing more you can do but hope that they don't find you. I know that might not be very helpful but that's really the only thing I can say. Anything else and I would be lying to you."
"Thank you. That did actually help. You're right what happens now isn't in my control. There isn't anything more I can do."
I was starting to calm down.
"Good. Would you like anything while you're here?"
"No. But thank you. I'm still to nervous to eat or drink anything. Besides, technically I am still on duty. I'm just going to wait here until they leave. Then I'll go back."
"Whatever you want."
"Thank you."
About ten minutes later the Captain called me back to the bridge. I looked out the window before returning. I couldn't see the ship anywhere. I assumed they were gone. I walked back to the bridge as fast as I could. I walked onto the bridge expecting to see faces of annoyance. Instead I was met by looks of concern from everyone including the Captain.
"Sir I'd like to apologize for leaving without permission. I just panicked. I wasn't thinking straight."
"i am not angry with you at all. You did the right thing. You got yourself away from harm which in turn got the crew out of harm. We should however develop a procedure for dealing with this kind of problem."
"Yes sir. That would be a good idea."
I was so relieved.
"Where did you go?" Asked Ryker.
"To the biggest crowd I could find. I thought that they would be less likely to notice a Romulan in a crowd. When scanned we look almost identical to Vulcans and I assumed they wouldn't pay too much attention to a big gathering of people in a place like Ten Forward."
"Ah so that's where you went."
"Yes sir. I seemed to work."
"Yes it did." Said Ryker.
And so that became the procedure if we encountered a Romulan vessel.
End of chapter 2

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