Seeking Truth

Max started wandering around the station, his mind occupied with everything that had happened that morning. While it was nice to see Dream again, it was frustrating not being able to tell hir everything yet. Shi had been a sort of catalyst for everything that had happened to Max and he really wanted to share what had happened since shi had left; but his mates had a point. It was better to be safe than sorry where shi was concerned. So, Max wrestled with his conscious as he randomly wandered the halls of the space station.

Dream wrestled with hir own thoughts as shi continued to examine Max's scans. There were too many similarities just as there were too many differences. Shi sat behind hir desk contemplating everything. Finally, making a decision, she keyed the computer, "Computer, page Nurse Lapigne to my office." The computer gave an acknowledging chirp and sent out the request.

Jackie had never been quite this busy before; nor had she ever seen quite a variety of morph species, all of which having genetic modifications far and away from what anyone would consider normal. There were many with attributes that made it almost impossible for them to move much less walk. There were some whom could do nothing without a human's express command. The list went on and on. She spent her time assisting Doctor Spiritweaver. The Doctor was a Native American human from Earth who had volunteered for this assignment willingly and had been giving it his all to help these poor morphs. He was a very nice man with a big heart and Jackie was more than happy to assist him in his efforts to help these poor beings. She was so busy that it took two pages from the intercom system to catch her attention. She acknowledged the request and after letting the Doctor know, headed to the requested office. She made her way to the office, activated the door chime, and was told to come in. When she saw who had summoned her, she instantly grew wary.

"Thank you for coming, Nurse Lapigne, please have a seat," Dream said as shi indicated a chair in front of hir desk.

Jackie sat in the aforementioned chair and looked expectantly at Dreamspirit. "You requested to see me, Shir?" she asked politely.

"Nurse Lapigne, what can you tell me about your mate?" shi asked curiously.

Jackie blinked at Dream, "Umm, I'm not sure what to tell you, Shir. We met at the Liberation Festival on the Skunktaur Archipelago. He had shared a large quantity of historic music anonymously and when he was found out, he was recognized by the committee and then was pressured into singing a song from the archives for everyone. From the time he opened his mouth for the first words of the song, I was hooked. I kind of strong armed him into singing with our band for a couple of songs which ended up turning into singing all night with us. After that, I kinda just knew he was the one. Poor guy; I didn't give him a lot of chance to say no really. I think he was still a bit overwhelmed by his first mate and I kind of slipped in on that wave. Of course, I don't regret it one bit. I love him. Heck, I loved him when I first heard him sing and I won't apologize for chasing him," she smiled fondly at the happy memory.

Dream had been looking at the stars out of the window of hir office while Jackie had been talking. Shi turned around looking at the rabbit morph curiously. "What can you tell me about his past?" shi asked.

Jackie got much more cautious with her words. "Well, I know he came to Chakona from Earth and that he is a computer security specialist. That is about it. It really didn't matter that much to me. Everyone has a past. Whether it's good or bad, we all deserve a fresh start in a new place if we want it."

Dream looked at her over hir desk and concentrated on Jackie before asking, "What do you know about JC McClellan?" and felt a sudden spike of anxiety.

Jackie managed a fairly decent external facade. "Who?"

"JC McClellan, alleged H1 terrorist, accused of murdering a skunk morph during a riot and subsequent explosion on Earth?" shi pressed.

Jackie managed to look thoughtful, "Oh, I think I remember seeing that name on the news. Didn't he die in the riots? I thought I saw or read someplace that they found his body in the rubble after the explosion?" she queried curiously.

Dream's tail twitched in angry agitation. "Yes," shi growled. "I saw the same reports recently. Of course, that was after being contacted by the Federation several times asking me about what I knew about him since we were stationed on the same ship and had become close friends. Then suddenly they stopped contacting me." Shi squinted at Jackie, "I don't believe he was involved in H1 knowingly, nor do I think he had anything to do with the death of that morph or the explosion. That just isn't Jayce," shi murmured the last part almost to hirself, of course rabbit ears hear just about everything.

Jackie raised an eyebrow at Dream. "Who is Jayce?" she asked.

Dream grimaced slightly. "Jayce is what I called JC when we were friends. Jayce just flowed better than JC," shi shrugged.

"So, you don't think he did it?" Jackie inquired with a touch of curiosity in her voice.

"NO! I don't. That wasn't Jayce. If he was there, then he had no clue what was going on. Jayce was nice, shy, quiet, and very sweet when he wasn't busy being his own worst enemy. He helped make my free time aboard our ship more bearable. He also liked to sing when he didn't think anyone else was listening," shi said that last part with a penetrating look at Jackie.

Jackie gave Dream a searching look. "You miss him, don't you?"she murmured.

"He was my friend, of course I miss him!" shi said with some exasperation. "And when I heard the reports that he was dead..." Shi stopped with a forlorn look on hir face. "Well, it hurt," shi shrugged.

Jackie made a decision and leaned on Dream's desk looking at the unhappy looking 'kat "Come to the pub on deck 12 at 2100 this evening. Take a seat at the back table and watch and listen." With that she left, leaving a confused chakat behind.

Jackie contacted Swytch and they met up for a late lunch. Jackie relayed what had happened and laid out her idea. Swytch looked a bit skeptical but after listening to Jackie's idea for a few minutes nodded in agreement with her. When everyone finished work, they all wound up in their quarters around the same time and had dinner together. Then Swytch declared hy wanted to go out and explore deck 12 which was one of the habitat decks with shops and restaurants. Max tried to beg off saying he had already gotten lost eleven times today while wandering but was quickly overrode by his mates.

Their exploring found them in front of the "Stout Libations" pub close to 2100 and they dragged Max inside close to the stage and ordered drinks before sitting down. They had a couple of drinks letting Max loosen up a bit and then the bar announced that it was open mic night for anyone who wanted to go up on stage and try their luck. Jackie quickly got up and grabbed Max's hand pulling him toward the stage to which he halfheartedly attempted to flee from to the amusement of the patrons. Finally, Jackie managed to get him on stage and on a bar stool by the microphone, while she picked up one of the provided guitars off the rack on the side. Now, Max was feeling pretty good, he never drank much or often so it really didn't take much for him to loosen up. Jackie walked up and whispered in his ear and his face lit up and he nodded eagerly. Jackie scanned the crowd spotting what she was looking for and then played the opening riff and then Max started to sing.

On a long and lonesome highway

East of Omaha

You can listen to the engine

Moanin' out his one note song

You can think about the woman

Or the girl you knew the night before

But your thoughts will soon be wandering

The way they always do

When you're ridin' sixteen hours

And there's nothin' much to do

And you don't feel much like ridin',

You just wish the trip was through

Here I am

On the road again

There I am

Up on the stage

Here I go

Playin' star again

There I go

Turn the page

Well you walk into a restaurant,

Strung out from the road

And you feel the eyes upon you

As you're shakin' off the cold

You pretend it doesn't bother you

But you just want to explode

Most times you can't hear 'em talk,

Other times you can

All the same old cliches,

"Is that a woman or a man?"

And you always seem outnumbered,

You don't dare make a stand

Here I am

On the road again

There I am

Up on the stage

Here I go

Playin' star again

There I go

Turn the page

Out there in the spotlight

You're a million miles away

Every ounce of energy

You try to give away

As the sweat pours out your body

Like the music that you play

Later in the evening

As you lie awake in bed

With the echoes from the amplifiers

Ringin' in your head

You smoke the day's last cigarette,

Rememberin' what she said

Here I am

On the road again

There I am

Up on the stage

Here I go

Playin' star again

There I go

Turn the page

Here I am

On the road again

There I am

Up on the stage

Here I go

Playin' star again

There I go

There I go

(Turn the Page by: Bob Seger)

Max never saw the stunned chakat walking towards the stage and as the final strains of the guitar died away, the crowd let loose with thunderous applauds. Max decided to bow to the crowd, but in his slightly inebriated state, overestimated how much to bow. As his face unerringly sought the floor in his overbalance, a hand landed on each shoulder keeping him from falling forward. Max looked up smiling happily to thank his savior only to come face to muzzle with purple fur.

"Jayce?" shi whispered.

Max held a finger to hir muzzle and said, "Shhhhh, it's a secret," and giggled drunkenly.

Dream glanced up to Jackie on the stage who was watching hir with an intent look mingled with a touch of worry. Dream just closed hir eyes for a minute taking a deep breath, then when shi opened them shi nodded at Jackie. A very worried bunny managed to look relieved.

"He couldn't tell you," came a voice from beside hir.

Dream looked over to where Swytch now stood beside hir.

"It tore him up not being able to contact you, but he has a family and a child now and if anyone found out about him, Starfleet said they wouldn't be able to help him again. I hope you understand that and can find a way to forgive him, but decide now if you want Jayce back or if you can only handle Max, because I won't let you yank him around. You're either still his friend, or you're just his Doctor. Make a decision," Swytch said with steel in hys voice as hy stared intently at the chakat.

The crowd found Max's inebriation amusing but everyone patted him on the back and applauded as the three morphs carried Max from the bar back to their quarters. Once they reached the quarters, Dream laid Max on the couch and quickly turned and left the quarters.

Dreamspirit walked down the halls to hir office, keeping hir mind closed. Getting into the lift, shi thought about the intel shi had been given. 'Why would they do this?' shi thought to hirself. Once the doors to the lift opened shi stepped out into OPS. "I'll be in my office. No one is to bother me until further notice," shi said not looking at anyone and going directly to hir office. Stepping behind hir desk and sitting, shi pulled up Max's file looking over the names of the people involved in his case. Shi then opened a comm link to Commander Shylin.

The comm made a waiting tone and then a voice only channel opened. "This is Commander Shylin. How may I help you, Lt. Commander Dreamspirit?"

Shi looked at the fleet emblem on the screen as Shylin's voice came in. "Why did you do this? Why didn't you tell me who he was?" Hir voice sounding calm but with a hint of a hidden storm brewing in hir. "Did you think I wasn't going to find out?" shi asked.

There was a length of silence on the other end as murmuring could be heard and then the comm cleared. "What exactly might you be speaking of Lt. Commander? Surely, you are not referring to something that would be considered classified, would you?"

Shi growled deeply, "I mourned his death! Damn it!" shi almost shouted as shi slammed hir fist on the desk. "I accepted it! I was just coming to terms with it! Then you send him, HERE!" Hir control slipping slightly. "You knew he was my friend, you had your pet officers all over my station for weeks constantly asking me same damn things." Tears grew in hir eyes as shi yelled, "This is cruel. To both of us. You...you..." The ability to speak suddenly left hir in a rush of despair. All hir anguish, hurt, and feelings of betrayal spilled from hir like water from a broken dam.

"I'm guessing, Mr. Pilumnus told you then. You do know he's trusting you to not land him back in prison for the rest of his life, don't you? Also, we didn't find out he was even on Chakona until the events that happened at the ARCS station. Now, would you rather have had us lock him away forever and let you know he was alive but never leaving prison, OR, would you rather him be free with a plausible cover story? Now, Lt. Commander," he said emphasized hir rank. "If you think you can maintain your calm, I'm in the coffee shop two blocks from your office. If you CAN'T rope it in, then you will have to deal with voice only comms."

By the time Shylin finished speaking, shi had managed to get control of hirself finally, but, hir emotions were still boiling under the surface. "Told me? NO! He didn't tell me, figured it out on my own! Do you have any idea how unique he is? He is 1 of 800 million with DNA that contains a natural biological modification from Rashtitik Diggers. He was... is... was... DAMN IT! I don't even know who he is anymore! You sent me a ghost!" shi growled out. "I can keep his secret, I can do the work, but don't you ever, EVER, betray me like this again. I trusted you and yours to do your job and I trusted you would tell me the truth!" shi yelled before slamming the button to end the comm-link. Shi sat there breathing ragged, angry breathes. Finally, shi let the catharsis wash over hir as shi accepted both his death and his rebirth and in a wail of heartbroken loss, shi finally let hir walls crumble to the ground.

Shylin tapped hys comm badge with a thoughtful look and ordered a frozen coffee with extra whipped cream and marched over to Dreamspirit's office and rang the bell. Hy held the coffee between hymself and the door like a shield and waited.

Dreamspirit ignored the door chime as shi cried at hir desk. Shi was unable to feel who was at the door as hir friend shielded hir from all incoming and outgoing senses while shi let hir emotions work themselves out.

Shylin managed to get a bit of a ping mentally and then started ringing the doorbell over and over making random songs out of the tones.

Shi lifted hir head from the desk looking at the door. With what little control shi had left, shi said, "What is it?!?" through the door comm. Shi quickly cut the comm as a new wave of tears fell on hir arms as shi continued to cry.

Commander Shylin opened the door peering in and trotted up to Dreamspirit and set the frozen treat by hir and then took a seat on hys haunches waiting for hir to compose hirself.

Looking up, shi glared at Shylin. "What are you doing?" shi asked harshly. Growling, shi pushed the button on hir desk to lock the door from opening to anyone else.

Shylin cocked hys head at hir looking at hir intently. "How much did he tell you? Anything?"

Shi stared at hym with hir eyes puffy from crying and shi shook hir head. "He kept the secret well enough. It felt like I knew him the first day I saw him," shi admitted harshly. "The scans picked up the unmistakable modifications that were done by the diggers natural bio-healing plasmatic excretions and when I asked his mate Jackie, she couldn't hide her emotions well enough, and I knew she was hiding something about Jayce or Max or whatever you guys are calling him now. It was his singing that finalized what I had suspected," shi growled at the end, expressing just how hurt and angry shi was that no one trusted hir with her friend's life, not even hir friend.

Shylin motioned towards the frozen coffee treat and got comfortable. "The thing is, Max, for that is who he is now..." hy gave Dream a meaningful look. "Is in the equivalent of witness protection. There are probably quite a few people who would love to see him dead for what he is supposedly responsible for in the past. Max, on the other hand, has a clean slate. While the death of JC McClellan closes many doors, and gives some people a sense of closure, the only person who has even mourned his passing is you. He has no family who cares about him, no mates or spouses, and you are probably the only one that could be classified as a friend. We sent him here because he has the same issues any LNAW slave has. We didn't do it to hurt anyone, just to get him the best treatment we can. As it is now, Max is a ticking time bomb. We have no idea what will set him off or how to deprogram him so that he can have a normal life. Would you deny him that because he had no choice whether you knew about him or not?"

Shi growled deeply. "I won't deny him anything. If you even knew a fraction about who I am, you'd know I do my job. I didn't receive command of this station for half-assing my work. This case has a lot of classified information all over it already and that tidbit of info directly to me wouldn't have changed how he would be treated on this station; but as least I wouldn't have had to find out I'd been lied to. Other than his new mates, his mind is still there. I can feel it there. I mean how many times did I tell you guys I didn't think he would do that type of thing. How many times did you come to me for his profile. How many times did I say he couldn't take a life. I KNEW him. You come here and say I could be 'classified as a friend,'" shi quoted back to the Commander. "You have no idea how this feels, do you?" shi asked.

"Lt. Commander, you of all people should understand what 'need to know' means." Shylin made a face then. "Plus, it wasn't my call to make," hy sighed. "Sometimes, the hardest part of this job is all of the lying and omissions of facts. BUT, that doesn't mean I won't do my job as I am directed to do. He may have a new face and a family now, but he is the same person you knew, he just has a bit more life experience. So, I have two things to ask. The first is, will he just be another patient to you? Will you make him pay for our secrecy? The second question is this, I have shared his experiences that helped explain everything to us and