Chapter 2
Lei woke up on a medical bed. An Emergency Medical Hologram stood over him.
EMH: "Well you're looking better."
Lei: "...Wh--?"
EMH: "Second degree disrupter blast to the chest, bullet wound to the leg, two smaller bullets to the shoulder."
He walks over to a table and picks up Lei's handgun.
EMH: "I'd say you live an interesting life..."
Lei gets up and grabs his handgun back: "Give me that! ...Err, uh, thanks... Doctor?"
Jackie enters the room and turns off the EMH. She approaches Lei.
Lei: "Whoa?!"
Jackie, offers her hand: "Ensign Seanna Jackie of the Utopia Shipyards."
Lei, carefully shakes her hand: "Uh... Lieutenant Lei Sanchez..."
Jackie: "Nice get up, sir. Holodeck fun?"
She leads him to the control bridge. They're inside of a Federation runabout, the Trinity, speeding through space at warp.
Lei looks out the window: "Ugh! ...We're really travelling through space, aren't we...?"
Jackie: "Yeah, you made it. Your vessel was attacked by a Remen warbird. I was nearby and tried to save you guys, but I only beamed you out before they got the ship."
Lei had a hunch that his next question should be: "...What year is this...?"
Jackie: "2379, Stardate 56918-point-5. You must of hit your head? I couldn't get a good scan of your vessel, but I don't think I've seen its type before...."
Lei, takes a seat in astonishment: "Unbelievable..."
Jackie notices Lei's emotional pause. She takes a seat next to him: "I'm sorry you lost your friends..."
She tries to sympathize, looking at the floor.
Jackie: "I... lost a friend to alien's last month. He was like a father to me... It was a cloaked vessel that abducted him."
Lei, glances at her: "Huh?"
Jackie, stands: "That's why I'm not at the shipyards right now. I snuck away on this runabout to search for him."
Lei turns to the helm controls, studying them in curiosity: "The future..."
Jackie: "Don't tell anyone okay? My Commander is going to have a breakdown."
Lei: "Ensign... Is there a... police station of some kind, I could do a background check?"
Jackie: "What? You can do a background check in the Federation database."
She leads him over to side panel on the wall and accesses it. Jackie looks over at Lei, who has a look of preliminary fear on his face.
Lei: "...Lei Sanchez."
Jackie is confused by this request of him wanting to background check himself. She taps at the panels as the computer pulls through lists of names. Lei's department picture clicks on screen.
Jackie: "Nice pic."
Lei reads through his stats.
- Born 1978. Went missing in the field. -
Jackie, checks the helm: "Here we are!"
---
The runabout Trinity drops warp and approaches the Cardassian-built Deep Space 9. The Trinity lands on a platform, so that Jackie and Lei can enter the station.
Jackie: "I'm supposed to meet a Bajoran trader here. He told me he had information on what happened to my friend."
The entire station seems busy and crowded as usual.
Lei: "I can't believe this..."
They make their way to the upper level of the Promenade, where Lei looks down at all the aliens walking around casually.
