Getting Back to Work "
By: Dr. James McIntyre , Physician , [NPC]
Teilani Dane, Chief Medical Officer, [PC]

Stardate: 58207.28 1030

“James!.” Teilani said with a smile, carrying a big sachel. “Yes its back to business again.

"It's hard to get back to work after such a long vacation," confessed McIntyre.

Teilani grinned. “True but you know, two days on the job and you don’t know any better.

They walked through the door of the transporter room and both handed the transporter operator their security clearance and then stepped on the PADD.

"Energize," said McIntyre.

Disappearing in the familiar shimmering it didn’t take long before they materialized on the transporter pad of the USS Zion.

“Morning Doctors, welcome home” the Transporter tech said. “Morning Daniels,” Teilani answered, “Its good to be back.

McIntyre shifted the small bag on his shoulders, "Where are you heading to?" he asked.

“Sickbay of course,” Teilani responded. In fact she was curious if all her requests had been granted. The bay needed a small upgrade.

"Me too," he said as they made their way towards sickbay.

As the door opened, Teilani was struck by the clean ness of the room, bright lights and a particular smell as only sickbays and infirmaries can smell.

“Ah don’t you love the smell of desinfectant,” she said with a grin to James.

McIntyre smiled, "Well, I've got some reports to get done."

“That’s alright, when your finished come into my office for a coffee.

**** 1 hour later.***

Doctor James McIntyre chimed Dane's door and entered. "The medical reports Ma'am," he said handing her a PADD.

"Thank you James," Teilani said as she accepted the padd. “There is a new brand of coffee, try blend number 34. Its divine.”

He took the cup and sipped it. "Its good. Where'd you get the specs for it?"

"What you think, Quarks of course."

McIntyre's head peered conspicuously around Dane to view the small olive plant he had given her. It looked like it was badly in need of water. "Do you want me to get some botanical growing agents to help freshen that up?" he said gesturing with his eyes at the plant.

Teilani chuckled. "Would you mind? I told you I m not that good with plants."

McInyre smiled, "I suppose no body watered it while we were off ship, its not your fault."

Teilani smiled. The plant looked indeed in poor shape.

"Anyway, everything is ship-shape, all the supplies are stashed and stowed."

"Excellent."

"There is also a manifest of new crewman some of which will need transfer physicals, including the Captain's new Yeoman," he said wiggling his brow suggestively.

"Your kidding, Hunter has an assistant??," Teilani responded browsing the padd. She chuckled; probably it was a young female right of the academy. Poor kiddo.

"Uhm, yes, we also have a male Atican joining our crew."

"An Atican? It has been ages since I had my hands on one of them." Teilani said.

McIntyre face bore a perplexing expression.

"James!.... Literally speaking I mean.” Teilani quipped. “Their physiology is fascinating."

McIntyre lowered his eyebrow as if he were looking for something suspicious in her response.

Teilani just smiled and continued "Oh did you know if Quark dropped something off?"

He shook his head, "No, were you expecting something?"

"Yeah, just something I ordered a long time ago." In fact it was a new box of Marsian delights, and she could only hope Quark had been able to get his hands on it. Sure it would cost her a fortune again but at least she had something to nibble during nightshifts."

McIntyre quirked his brow, "Well, I hope they arrive soon then because I understand we're going to be leaving very soon."

"Yeah finally, the Station was wearing thin on me." she replied. "I believe I have seen all the restaurants by now."

"Really?" said McIntyre with a smirk suspecting the doctor was someone prone to exaggeration.

"Hey some old fashioned replicator rations are still much to be desired for."

He shook his head and chuckled.

"So James," Teilani said as she checked off some supplies. "Tell me what have you been doing?"

"Well, I went and visited some friends in the Daron VIII colonies. Nothing of any interest. How about you?" he asked as he took a sip of coffee.

"Well.... the same ol'stuff. Visited that seminar about Andorian physiology... really fascinating."

Now James had now way of knowing if she was being sarcastic or not.

"How so?" he said pressing her for an answer.

Teilani rolled her eyes. "Well it was given by some physician. I mean nothing to say about the good man but he surely wasn't a teacher. Boring stuff, and nothing new was said."

McIntyre Grinned. "I heard some people enjoyed the session on nano tissue reconstruction. Did you hear about that one?

Teilani nodded."yes I did, but I couldn't get in, all the places were taken. I did request the reading material though."

"Its an interesting field, let me know if you get it."

“Of course, so in a nutshell that was my time on QT, but you know what the worst thing was? I went to that new massage shop next to Gizmo's..."

"Yes?"

"Well, the massage was great, I can recommend it to everybody but the masseur told me I had to give up coffee. Can you believe it!? Teilani grinned and took a sip of her steaming mug.

"Now that is bad," concluded McIntyre sipping his coffee.

"Hey you better believe it." Teilani replied with a grin. "So those Daron colonies. I never heard of them, any special reason for you to go there?"

"Never been there before. I got an invitation from a friend of mine. It is one of the more impressively terraformed colonies I've ever seen."

"Big city bright light type?"

"Actually, no, more like country side. Some of the areas are beautiful with vegetation. Much of it is still desert though."

"Sounds beautiful. Mars has the same kind of environment.

"I've never been to mars," said McIntyre. "I never heard beautiful used to describe it."

Teilani huffed. "Well it is, I should know it. You should see the sunsets, breathtaking. You know what. If you have time we can go to the holodeck and I can show you."

"Well, I'm officially off duty as soon as you sign off on those reports."

"Well let's go then," Teilani said as she signed off the last of the reports. Multitasking they call it James." she said with a grin... "That is something only women can do."

"I thought giving birth was the only thing women could do," said McIntyre purposefully mincing his words.

Teilani arched her eyebrows. "Well James, I see that you have a lot to learn about women." she said softly.

"Perhaps I need a good one to teach me."

Teilani laughed outloud.. "Just make sure that the other Zion women do not catch you saying that, you will be in a lot of trouble then.

"Meet you in the holodeck in 20 minutes?" asked James.

"See you there."

Silvio's Shore Leave "
By: Giuseppe Silvio, Chief Engineer, [RNPC]

Stardate: 58207.28 1100

Silvio opened the iso-chip container and began adding the new chips to the junction box. This was likely to be the last of the upgraded scheduled for the Zion. Harry had decided to do the core upgrade at the last minute after gettting a ugrade buliten from the Sovereign design team.

It was mind numbing work that Silvio could have assigned to someone else, however, today Silvio wanted to be alone and actually welcomed the work. It gave him a chance to reflect on the last month. It had been a busy month for Silvio, but a prodictive one. On top of the Zion repairs and upgrades he had met Patia's brother and his family; and had started seeing a counselor at the station about his nightmare problems. The result of which, had been him being able to actually get some sleep at night.

Silvio had not mentioned seeing a counselor to Patia, anthought he was almost certain she knew. While she was aware of his nightmares about the Kittyhawk, he had not gone to see Patia about it in an official capacity becasue he did not want to cause her any type of ethical conflict, plus she was on vacation.

Silvio continued to slide the isolinear chips into their sockets. Patia's brother had been his biggest surprise. He expected a hard nosed security chief but it turns out that he was actually a pretty nice officer who actually cared about the men under his command. Silvio had to respect that. Silvio had been worried at first, because he had received a note from a couple friends with whom he had served with in the past to warn him that someone had initiated a background check on him. Silvio coul dnot blame Michelio if he had done a background check on him. If he had a sister he would likely do the same thing.

Patia's sister-in-law was great. Trina owned a flowershop and had helped him surprise Patia with a large flower order. It was a great surprise. Patia also had two nephews and one niece. He could see how much she loved them and in fact, they loved her, althought, Patia wasted no time in showering them with gives from "Autie Patia". Silvio believed that Patia took it has her mission in life to spoil those kids. She was good at it too.

The whole excahnge with her family has been a wonderful new experience for Silvio. It made him think much more often about his own family. He had no brothers or sisters, only his parents. He had not heard from them in a very long time, in fact, he did not know if they were still even alive. It was a distressing situation to be sure. If he knew how, he would pay to get them smuggled out of the Federation. He missed them very much.

Silvio sighed as he inserted the last chip. He resealed the iso-chip container and closed the node. He began climbing again, only 25 more nodes to go.

Fun in the Sun "
By: Miranda, Lounge Manager, [RNPC]
Rosie , Miranda's Mother , [NPC]

Stardate: 58207.28 1400

Miranda piloted the shuttle on approach into QulTuq station. She had been cleared and assigned a docking port on the main docking ring. Miranda, who believed in traveling light had only the clothes on her back, which amounted to a white Risian robe and the smile on her sun tanned face.

Her trip to Risa had been exactly what she needed. She started the vacation with her Mother Rosie, who now sat next to her in the co-pilot's chair. Miranda could not remember seeing her mother much after their arrival.

"It was sure nice of Count Mirabella to let us use his shuttle," said Rosie.

"Yes, he is a dear, dear man," replied Miranda, still smiling. "He is somewhat of chauvinist though."

Rosie chuckled, "That is the way his culture is," said Rosie.

"Indeed," said Miranda, "He was a bit shocked when I told him I could fly a shuttle."

Rosie laughed and then attempted to imitate Miranda's voice "My Dear Count, I am one hundred years old. I have flown my share of shuttles." Rosie laughed again. "The poor man nearly had a heart seizure."

Miranda and Rosie shared a laugh together for a few moments. "You know," said Miranda, "he is a very nice man. We should not be making fun of him. It is not his fault that his life has been so sheltered."

"I think he is a fine man," said Rosie, "but he was still amusing." She paused a moment to watch Miranda guide the shuttle into the station. "By the way, the local Risian woman were sure glad that he whisked you off to his private villa. They were starting to get jealous of all the attention you were getting on that public beach."

"You stop it Mother," protested Miranda, "you and I both know that the local Risian's are not afflicted with the need to become jealous of one another. They are not like humans in that regard."

Rosie held up her hands in mock defeat, "Yes , yes, but none the less you did monopolize the top prospects on that beach. Next time you should try sharing." Rosie laughed again, "Wearing a bathing suit would probably help too."

Miranda smiled at her mother, "They just get in the way," said Miranda. "Since when did you become such a prude?"

"I have been living with Humans too long," said Rosie. She looked out the window as Miranda docked the shuttle. "You were very happy on Risa. Why do you insist on coming back to this warship?"

"I have too much unfinished work to do here," exclaimed Miranda. "I need to get Silvio and Patia safely married off, I have to get that stick out of Commander Wright's..."

"Miranda!" interrupted Rosie, "Don't be vulgar."

"Oh, sorry Mother...the commander is a nice guy, I just need to get him to loosen up and let go of his dead wife, and the Doctor, I have not even started working on her yet, and then there's the captain..."

"Ok!" said Rosie. "You have always had this need to mettle in other people's business."

Miranda winked at her mother and then kissed her on her forehead. "This is where I get off Mother. Thank you for celebrating my 100 years with me."

"It was my pleasure Daughter," said Rosie. "Please be careful. Don't get yourself killed in this stupid war."

"I'll be ok." said Miranda as she opened the air lock.

"What do I do with the Count's shuttle when I get back to the star base?" asked Rosie as she took the pilot's chair.

Miranda shrugged. "Sell it. It doesn't matter. The count gave it to me as a gift. It's all yours now." Miranda gave her mother a wave and exited the shuttle. Walking through the docking tunnel she emerged into the docking ring and turned around to watch though an observation portal as her mother departed the station in the shuttle. A single tear rolled down her cheek, she missed her mother already.

Space sickness "
By: LT Peters , npc , [NPC]
Teilani Dane, Chief Medical Officer, [PC]

Stardate: 58207.28 1400

Eventually Peters reached sickbay with a very sauer expression on his face.

Teilani yawned, although there had been some excitement during the day, when Xioa showed her holopictures, the rest was rather uneventful. Some new crewmembers of the Zion had around complaining of nausea, dizzyness etc. Teilani blamed it on either nervousness of getting into space or the inertial dampeners were not calibrated correctly.

She yawned again, the humming of the equipment made her very sleepy. Having read all the new medical reports, she made some final notation on a padd for the Chief of boat and after this she streched.

As she got up to get someting from the replicator, she noticed that someone entered sickbay. A patient at this time of day, must be serious.

"Lt Peters, Teilani said as she walked towards him. "How may i help you?"

"I'm not feeling too good doctor, I have this spiking pain in my stomach." Peters said as he slowly sat down on one of the biobeds glad he had reached sickbay.

"O.k. lie down," she said as she moved the diagnostic console over the bio bed. Tell me Lt, have you been eating or drinking anything wrong? "

"The food was quite good actually" Peters almost gulped, "The cook was trying out a new recipe with spices from a planet called Denkar IV or something." Peters tried to lay very still, he felled his heart bounce in his chest as the doctor was scanning him, on top of that he felt quite nauseous.

"Relax Lt, Teilani said with a smile while she tried to hide a yawn. Your going to be fine, it seems that you are allergic to the spice in that particular dish, so my advise to you is don’t order it anymore".

Peters nodded, "Can you give me anything to ease the pain in my stomach?"

"Im going to give you some medicine to stop the nausea and the stomach ache Teilani turned to a tray and prepared a hypospray.

Softly she pressed it against Peters's neck. "Lay down for a minute let the medicine do its work".

Peters tried to relax a little on the comfortable biobed. Slowly the pain in his stomach disappeared along with the nausea, relieved Peters took a breath and sat up slowly.

"Thanks Doctor, I feel much better now," Peters said thankful, "Can I go now?”

"Of course Lt, Teilani replied. “Just take it slow and don’t eat any spicy stuff any more.

Checking out the Marines. "
By: Sgt Maj Casper Zimmerman (npc) , Drill Sargent , [NPC]
Teilani Dane, Chief Medical Officer, [PC]

Stardate: 58207.28 1420

He noted their activity with satisfaction, noting the brisk walk and efficient manner of conducting business with the eye of a drill instructor and knowledge of someone well aquainted with hospitals from the 'recieving end' as it were.

This sickbay looked good, well stocked and roomy just like every other part of the huge vessel, crewed with seemingly quite competent people. Trying to spot the chief physician Cas turned around a full circle.

"Good morning Mr Zimmerman," Teilani said as she looked at the Marine. =hmm he was quite nice looking=

Cas turned around to look at the medical officer, frowning a bit. "Good morning, ma'm. I'm here for my checkup."

"Very good, Mr Zimmerman. Please follow me." Teilani walked to the main examination room and pointed towards the biobed. "Please sit down, and stop frowning Sir, it will be over soon and besides it makes your face wrinkle."

He walked briskly behind her and sat on the biobed, carefully smoothing his features into an impassive poker-face. "Sure, ma'm."

Inwardly Teilani sighed. When would people ever learn that Sickbay was not a scary place that a doctor only ment well. She turned and took her tricorder from a tray. "Do you have any medical problems Sir, something I should be aware off? she asked softly.

"Well, nothing that isn't in my file, ma'm. I'm still watching my cholesterol intake, and PT keeps me in pretty good shape." Cas shook his head.

"PT?" Teilani asked questionably as she ran the scanner along Cas's body.

"Physical Training. Usually a five-to-ten mile run on the treads plus calisthenics. Just the normal stuff to get up and awake in the morning..." Cas shrugged, finding it again hard to explain a habit of twenty years.

"I see," Teilani responded as she checked the tricorder readings. "Perhaps if you are interested we could do some jogging together Mr Zimmerman." She reached back and took a hypospray. "I'm giving you some vitamin booster, you were lacking some B12 and calcium."

"Oh, I do most of my jogging down on the Marine country. There's not a holosuite big enough for a full platoon to excercise together, so we set up shop in a storage bay, with treads and excersize equipment. It's not fancy, but you are welcome there, ma'm." Cas smiled at her, lifting his chin a little to give her a better aim.

Teilani gently pushed his chin a little further exposing the artory and gently pressed the hypo spray against it. A soft hiss told her the vitams were administered correctly. "I dont care much for fancy surroundings Mr Zimmerman, I just might visit the cargo bay to hold you up on your offer."

Teilani smiled as her green eyes fixed on Cas's face. "You are cleared all is fine, thanks for coming Sir,"

He stood up, looking down to her eyes. "Thank you, ma'm. A pleasure to meet you." he smiled, nodded and headed to the doors. ~Well, I'm glad that's over with,~ he thought, ~but it would've been worse with a doc less easy on the eyes.~

Fiddling with her tricoder Teilani watched Zimmerman leave. Who would be next?

Marscape "
By: James McIntyre , Doctor , [NPC]
Teilani Dane, Chief Medical Officer, [PC]

Stardate: 58207.28 2220

Teilani stood on the holodeck, the wind blew through her red hair. As soon as the holodeck was available, Dane called McIntyre to meet him there. She turned as she heard the holodeck doors open.

“James,� she said. “Glad you could make it."

"I couldn't pass up the opportunity," he said with a smile, "I've never been to Mars before."

"Welcome to my home planet."

James McIntyre looked around. It was a little chillier than he thought it would be. Some how, he thought it would be a hot arid desert. The ground was evenly littered with jagged rocks and formations which seemed to float on a sea of red sand. It stretched in all directions to the vast horizon. There, sky's reddish pink hues coalesced as if to form a large celestial dome which sealed everyone and everything in.

“Are you ready for the tour?� Teilani said and she pointed around.

Almost to breathless to reply, McIntyre replied, "yea.."

“Mars obtained its name due to its deep, war-like red colour. The Romans named the planet after their god of war, Mars. Over there we have Olympus Mons,� she explained pointing to a large mountain-like structure in the west, the largest volcano in the solar system is named after Mount Olympus, the home of the Greek and Roman gods and goddesses. It is 24 kilometres high, and the top of it is 70 kilometres wide; the base is about 600 kilometres wide."

"Breathtaking," said McIntyre.

"This volcano is now dormant, but was active millions of years ago. Can you imagine the firework during an eruption?� she said passionately.

He turned to look. The holodeck had shifted the landscape slightly. Even from where they stood, the distant volcano was disproportionate to everything else in view, rising up so incredibly high, so incredibly symmetrical.

"It would probably blow lava straight into space," said McIntyre observantly.

Teilani nodded. “Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos, they are named after Fear and Panic, the two lackeys of Mars.�

He smiled and nodded, "of course."

The landscape shifted yet again.

“Follow me,� she said and started down a small slope, the red sand swirled around her feet. “Mars is about half the size of the planet, Earth. Unfortunately it's thin atmosphere is slowly being blown away by the sun's solar wind. However, its atmosphere forms clouds, and sometimes supports planet-wide dust storms. We managed to overcome this by creating underground structures and those you see over there.� Teilani pointed in the distance, where bright white sphere like bulbs could be seen.

"How is it we're able to breath? I thought the martian atmosphere was generally to thin?"

“True and the air is too chilly, we have over come that by terraforming and medical intervention which helps produce more red blood cells, so we are able to sustain that. On some days we do have to wear light breathing equipment, especially after a big storm."

"The Klingons would have loved it here," commented McIntyre, "..it could be called, 'planet bloodbath' or something," he mused.

Teilani grinned. “Well its reddish color is due to the iron oxide - commonly known as rust - that is in the soil.� She picked up a hand full of dust.

He watched as the wispy sand sifted through her fingers.

“What about the polar ice caps is a true that they have been used to help make the atmosphere?� Mcintyre asked.

“True, we do have polar ice caps. These huge caps of water and carbon dioxide ice expand and shrink due to seasonal changes.� She explained further, they were used to terraform the spheres.

"Aren't there huge canals and glaciers too?"

Before she could answer, the landscape changed again. Now, they were unmistakably near the lip of the giant vulcano.

“We have.� Teilani said. “you see those canals?� she said pointing.

McIntyre studied the deeply carved crevices far below.

These canals and "seas" cover the entire planet. According to our scientists the canals may have been waterways many millions or billions of years ago, but they are now dry, as are the seas. The seas were probably oceans that covered parts of Mars. Archaeologists have found prehistoric life dated back million of years.

Both James and Teilani halted as they came to a large canyon.

"Wow," said McIntyre as he peered into the chasm.

“Welcome to Valles Marineris, or Mariner Valley, “ Teilani said with a chuckle. This canyon is one of the longest canyons in the solar system. Its about 4000 kilometres wide. It ranges from 5 to 8 kilometres deep. Come to think of it, if this canyon was on earth it would stretch from New York to Los Angeles.�

"Hardly a valley then is it?"

Teilani turned to James, her eyes sparkling. “Now you see why I love my home world. Its rough, wild and some places still untameable.

"It is a pretty amazing place, but doesn't it all look the same after a while?"

“Oh no it doesn’t.� Teilani said with a smile. “After a storm the whole surface is re-landscaped. The dunes in the east have either shrunk or grown. The rays of the sun cast different shadows every day.

He raised his brow, "sounds wicked."

Teilani grinned. “Each day on Mars takes 1.03 Earth days, which is approx 24.6 hrs. A year on Mars takes 687 Earth days; it takes this long for Mars to orbit the sun once�

McIntire scratched his head, "that make me what? 12 years old here?" he said with a grin.

Teilani laughed, "funny isn't it," she said still gniffling. "Shall we go to the city?"

"Sure."

Teilani pointed at a big gate like entrance, "thats an airlock, once we are true there you will be amazed."

"Its too late, I already am," he said smiling at Dane.

A loud hiss sounded as the door mechanism spread apart. As both of them went through the airlock it closed again with a loud metallic clunk which reverberated down the corridor. The noises of people could be heard in the distance. A display of vibrant colours, like yellow, green, blue greeted their eyes.

"So you see James, its not all red here."

"Beautiful."

He looked around, "This is so different."

"I'm glad you like it."

McIntyre ran his fingers over an intricately set, almost gaudy mosaic that adorned the corridors. "I didn't say I liked it," he said with a cynical smirk.

Teilani rolled her eyes. “Men,� she thought. "You see James, because of the harsh environment, the struggle we have to go through in order to make a living here, made Mars and its people stand up against oppressors. As I told you Mars was named after a god of war and as long as I know we always have had a rebellious attitude to it all. Whether it was to the Federation occupation or to those who are helping us to liberate our selves, Marsian people are survivors, they refuse to give up."

"Like the infamous Terra Prime cell or today's underground," said James acknowledging what he knew of Martian culture.

"Exactly James, you do know your history." Teilani said.

"I know a thing or two," admitted McIntyre. Dane paused outside a small shop. A storekeeper greeted them from the open door way and offered Dane some samples of his wares.

"Here taste this." Teilani said giving James some candy, the shopkeeper had given her.

James regarded the morsal and put it in his mouth. "Mmmmfph!"

He smiled, "delicious, you gave me one of these a long time ago, you keep them in a little wooden box in your office cabinet." he said. "But what are they?"

"Well this is Marsian delight." Teilani answered smiling, she put a little piece of the candy in her mouth.

"No doubt manufactured here," he said licking the tips of his fingers as he studied the small store which appeared to be carved into the rock of the cavern and then fitted with high tech building materials.

"Thats right." Slowly they walked on, Teilani gave James enough time to take in the various shops and people. Their bickering about prices, laughter of the children etc.

"Over here we have the hydroponics gardens, not only are they beautiful but they also provide a lot of the oxygen you are breathing here. Are you ready to go underground?"

"Sure, lead the way," said McIntyre gesturing.

Coming to a small bunker like structure Teilani handed James a small lantern. "The first part is quit dark and your eyes need to adjust to the different light."

After walking several minutes McIntyre stopped to examine the walls, "What's this?" he asked.

"Well the fluorescent glow you see is a sort of fungi, it illuminates the walls and we recently discovered that it contains a good antibiotic."

"Of course," said McIntyre, "Luciferous Omphalia, I bet."

"There could be some popping in your ears, we are going down quit a fair bit."

"How far?"

"About 3 kilometers." Teilani said. As the lift halted a different earth, sand like smell reached their nostrils. "We take shelter here when the big storms hit. They can last up to one week." Teilani explained.

"How deep do these caverns go?"

"Nobody knows how far nor how deep the caves go, a lot of them have been excavated and explored but a lot of them are still uncovered and dangerous. Now you see why the Federation had a hard time getting a foothold on this planet."

"Makes sense too," he said turning to Dane, "and ergo, 'The Underground' I suppose."

"I suppose so," Teilani said lowering her voice a little. "Its better not to use the word underground too often, you never know who listens."

The comment struck McIntyre's curiosity. It was almost an odd, paranoid thing to say.

"Uhm, sure," he said in response.

"I know we are on the holodeck but even those can have ears."

McIntyre's curiosity was no even more intense. His brow furrowed slightly but he knew he probably shouldn't press for more info.

"So where are we now?" he asked.

Teilani looked around. "It has been awhile since I have been here, we are now in Montsegro. Its an underground facility, where we can take shelter. Over there are the recycling facility, basically its has the same layout as the city above, but then only underground."

Some men in dark coverall's passed them, nodding at them.

"Martians?" said McIntyre in jest.

Teilani giggled. "Those are miners, they check if the structure is still holding out. We do have tectonic shiftings every now and then."

"Quakes? That sounds very dangerous," he said inspecting the structure above him.

"Don't worry, its very safe here." she replied still gniffling. "Do you feel that....| she asked James. A soft breeze could be felt caressing their faces.

"Its a breeze," he said with an inquisitive look.

"Thats because we have giant wind traps all over the complex. Not only are they providing for some cooling but also provide us with water, which as you have seen is scarce here."

He nodded.

"Over there are the living quarters," Teilani pointed up, so you see in fact we have it all, Mars maybe a harsh and unfriendly planet but its home."

"So you grew up here?"

Teilani nodded. "Yes, as a matter of fact our home is just around the corner, but I haven't been there in a while...... she stopped and her gaze became distant.

"What's wrong?"

"We better go up again. It's getting chilly here."

"Are you sure you don't want to visit where you lived?" he asked.

Teilani looked up at James, "maybe a quick peek wouldn't do any harm.

He smiled.

Gingerly they strolled along the streets, taking in the sights. Then they turned a corner and Teilani stopped at a small house. She could feel a lump in her throat, she knew it was only a holodeck program but the sight of the house, the old fake tree it was so life like. She could picture her family running out of the house any second now.

"This must be the place." he said

She blinked a few times. A rush of memories came flowing back to her.

"Dane?"

Teilani took a deep breath. "Sorry James, too many memories....."

"Its okay Doctor, take your time."

As they were walking back Teilani looked back at the house. Would she ever see it again but then for real. Would there come a time that they would all be together again, Josh, Melissa, Eric... She coughed.

"Doctor?"

"I m fine. We can go this way to go back above ground."

"If you are ready," said McIntyre.

The trip to the surface was done in silence. And Teilani was glad that she could see the sun again. "You know if we are lucky we can see a dust storm."

"Aren't they terribly dangerous?"

"I don't think so, according to the scientists the general appearance of the Martian storm seems consistent with an intense low pressure vortex with rising air causing cloud formation, possibly with a small core that is cloud-free, like the eye of a hurricane.

"You seem to know a lot about the weather, you should have been a meteorologist," said McIntyre with jest in his voice.

Teilani giggled. "Well if you want to survive here, you have to know something about the weather."

"With all the dangerous activity I bet there is quite a demand for doctors," said McIntyre.

"Well you know its not that bad, even though Mars is dangerous, us Martians have learn to adapt, to be one with the planet. There are hardly any accidents, but I agree that if accidents occur they're usually fatal.

He nodded as he accepted her explanation.

"So what you think of it now?" Teilani asked. "Still skeptic?"

"It seems like a nice place to visit, but I'm not sure I'd want to live here."

Teilani turned around and watched the sun set behind the mountains.... She smiled. "Computer........... arch."

They both stepped out into the corridor. The bleak white lighting took a moment to get used to. McIntyre turned to Dane, "I suppose I can see how it would grow on you."

"Believe me its a great place." Teilani said with a chuckle. "I will see you tomorrow James."

"Okay," he said, "See you tomorrow. "

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