Captain's Log: Stardate 60144.0.  Once again we have been stuck out in the middle of nowhere. I have come to the conclusion that they have no real work they want us to do, so they just stick us with busy work. It's hard to believe that with all that's gone on in the past three months that they would stick us out here. This crew has more than proven itself to Starfleet Command. I think that maybe Admiral Happosai just wants me as far away as possible so that he will be free to steal underwear.

"He still steals underwear?" A naked Akane asks.

Ranma grins and kisses his wife on the back of the head. 

Ranma is sitting up in his bed making his log entry. Akane is lying up against him, with her head on his chiseled chest.

"I am sure he does." Ranma acknowledges. "I heard on the Federation News Service that the Victoria's Secret warehouse on Titan was burglarized and emptied out completely. Only one person I know of could possibly have done that."

Akane nodded slightly as she adjusted herself so she'd be more comfortable.

"It's got to be even easier for him now that he has the entire 16th fleet at his disposal!"

Akane murmured. "Aren't we in the 16th fleet?"

Ranma smacked his forehead. "D'oh!"

Akane laughed at her husband as he continued with his log.

Our new Chief of Security has adjusted well to her position. She has the security officers running like finely turned machines. She also got all of the new officers that boarded at Starbase 445 trained in record time. Commander Shampoo took some time to adjust to the change, but the two of them get along great now.

"That's because they're both nuts!" Akane giggled.

"Akane!" Ranma scolded. "They may be a little-" Ranma paused to find the right words. "-eccentric and maybe a bit high strung, but nuts is such a harsh term to use!"

Akane shrugged. "As Chief Medical Officer it's my word to use on whomever I please." Akane grinned and yawned. "Aren't you done yet? I'm still tired."

"Almost," Ranma stated and then continued with his log.

My helmsman, on the other hand, seems to have gotten worse. Ever since the incident in the torpedo tube – what he was doing in torpedo control naked is anyone's guess – he has been very quiet and very distracted.

"I haven't noticed anything different about him." Akane chimed.

"Really?" Ranma asked. "You should see him on the bridge. He won't say anything, he won't even look at Mina –"

Ranma cut himself off. Akane sat up.

"You don't think -?" Akane asked.

Ranma's eyes narrowed. "That would explain why she glares at him every day."

"Glares?" Akane asked.

"Yeah, one almost as evil as yours!" Ranma replied. Akane quickly responded with a fist to the nose, followed by a glare. "Yeah, that one," Ranma murmured.

Akane laughed. "When do you think it happened?"

"After the wedding – Lita and Gosnell's – is when I noticed the change." Ranma started to laugh.

"What?" Akane asked.

"She threw him out of her quarters naked! That's why he was running around the ship nude!" Ranma started to tear up he was laughing so hard.

"That wasn't nice." Akane scowled at the thought of Mina chucking poor Ryouga out into the hallway with nothing but his birthday suit.

Ranma eyed the dark-haired girl. "What would you do if you found a naked Ryouga in your bed?"

Akane's eyes shot wide open at that thought. "Eww."

Ranma began to laugh again. Akane covered her mouth and turned and hit Ranma once again. "That wasn't nice!" She said.

Ranma continued to laugh. "I'm not the one who said ‘eww'!"

Akane just grumbled and turned towards the window and closed her eyes. "Hurry up and finish that damned log."

Ranma giggled a few more times and continued.

Ryouga has nothing to worry about though. Everyone loves him and his antics. This will pass in time. I do have to say that I hope Commander Aino got her shot. I'm not sure if the quadrant is ready for another Ryouga. 

Ranma grunted as the elbow of Akane impacted his ribs. He took the hint and quickly finished.

Other than that, all is good. Looking forward to another exciting day of doing nothing tomorrow.

"End log," Ranma stated. The computer chirped. "Set wake-up time for 07:00."

The computer chirped in compliance and Ranma rolled over wrapped his arm around his wife, kissed her once, and fell fast asleep.

"I AM NOT AVOIDING YOU!" Ryouga yelled.

Mina just continued to glare at him. "I'm late. The shot may not have worked. You need to be a man and do the right thing."

"What? Marry you?" Ryouga asked.

"Don't be a moron." Mina scowled. "Deposit one-third of your paycheck into my account."

"ONE THIRD?" Ryouga screamed again. Several of the other patrons in ten forward looked towards the pair, but one look from Mina changed the direction of their stares.

"It's the least you could do, considering you got me drunk, seduced me, and knocked me up," Mina stated dryly.

"I DID NOT SEDUCE YOU!" Ryouga yelled, this time flailing his arms. The patrons of the bar again looked in their direction but this time it was Ryouga's look that got them to turn away.

"Well, there is no other reason I would sleep with a subordinate, ENSIGN," Mina stated quite matter-of-factly.

Ryouga lowered his eyes and grinned ever so slightly. "So, you're saying that if we were the same rank you might go out with me?"

Mina was thrown off by this question.

"Maybe."

Ryouga's grin widened. "See, I didn't seduce you. You wanted it. You wanted some of this all along. Big poppa Ryouga was on your mind from the very beginning."

Mina promptly sent Ryouga flying across the room and walked out. Ryouga simply lied on the floor and laughed.

He stopped though when he realized the exact reality of the situation. He couldn't afford a child. What if she was pregnant? They couldn't tell for sure yet though. The shot always messes with a woman's cycle. She could simply be late as a side effect of the shot.

Ryouga sat up and groaned. He was going to have to get her into sickbay for a test. He knew that she didn't want to though. She didn't want any chance in anyone knowing that she slept with him. He wasn't sure why though. Just looking around ten-forward Ryouga determined that she could do worse. A lot worse.

Ryouga also acknowledged to himself that he really didn't want Akane knowing that he had slept with her. She'd never want him if she was just going to be his sloppy seconds. The pig-boy sighed, stood, and walked out of the ships watering hole.

Behind the bar, Gosnell was laughing. His wife, Commander Lita Gosnell, was sitting across from him. The pair watches Ryouga leave the room.

"Naked you say?" Gosnell asked.

"Yup," Lita replied. "I wasn't working yet at the time but from what I heard he was kicked out of her quarters-"

"Naked?" Gosnell asked.

"Yes, naked," Lita confirmed somewhat annoyed. "Then he got lost and was wandering around the ship."

"Naked," Gosnell stated. Lita smacked him with a menu.

"He was in engineering, shuttle bay seven, and then ended up in torpedo control."

"Ah yes. Where he got-"

Lita smiled. "Stuck. Yeah."

Gosnell just laughed again. "You know, I haven't known that guy long but I gotta tell you. I love him! Comedy relief of the ship."

Lita nodded. She shoved her glass across the bar. Gosnell filled it up with a bubbly green colored liquid.

"What is this again?" Lita asked, taking a drink.

"It's called Mountain Dew," Gosnell stated. "It's become very rare ever since the great sugar prohibition of 2204."

"I like it! It's woken me up quite a bit!" Lita giggled, pushing her now empty glass back to her husband.

"Now, now. I don't think you need much more. This stuff will make you wired and that's never good for someone with their finger on the proverbial trigger." Gosnell explained, taking her glass away and giving her some water.

"Bah!" Lita groaned.

Lita spins on her bar stool for a couple of turns as her husband walks away. Lita's been very happy the last two months. She's gotten married, gotten a new job, and gotten to see Ryouga's mini P-Chan pulled from a torpedo exhaust intake valve.

She wasn't working at the time, as she said, but when she heard what was going on she HAD to go see it.

Yeah, she smiled to herself, life doesn't get much better.

It doesn't take much for her to remember back to the worse times though. Back to when she thought she was happy. Back when she was robbing, stealing, and shooting.

Lita sighs and shakes off the memory. They have been coming back to her in greater frequency lately, but she hasn't really thought anything of it.

The double doors to ten-forward hiss open. Lita spins around a couple of times more and looks towards the doors. (Lita really likes to spin in her chair!) She hops off and smiles when she sees who enters.

"Good morning! Li-Li!" Serena smiles.

Lita gives her friend a hug. The pair sits down at the bar. Lita sternly looks at Serena.

"You know I hate it when you call me Li-Li."

Serena giggles. "You don't hate it when Gosnell calls you Li-Li."

Gosnell turns to the girls upon hearing his voice. "Huh?" Lita grins at her husband and smacks the top of his head with a newspaper that was conveniently left in the next seat. Gosnell sobs.

"WHAT?!" He whines.

"Don't call me Li-Li." Lita grins.

"Yes ma'am." Gosnell salutes. Lita swings at Gosnell again, but he avoids it and smiles at Serena.

"GOOD MORNING!" Serena yells.

Gosnell flips over backward and falls to the floor. He slowly gets back up and groans.

"Uh, good morning, Commander. You seem very perky this morning."

Serena giggles. "I had a great sleep last night. I got me something that I have needed for quite a while!"

It's Lita who falls out of her seat this time. "You don't mean-?" She whimpers from the deck.

"I do." Serena giggles. (Insert semi-dramatic pause here!) "My new Cat Girl Nuku Nuku comic!"

Lita, who had just managed to get back to her seat, falls out of it once again and Gosnell tumbles over. Gosnell is the first to recover.

"That's great, Commander. Would you like your usual?" Gosnell grins.

"Yes please!" Serena grins.

Gosnell nods and walks away. Lita gets back up and returns to her seat.

"So how's work, Serena?" Lita asks.

Serena sighs. "It's okay. I haven't caused any explosions." Serena hangs her head. "This week."

Lita pats her friend on the back. Gosnell returns with a bowl. He places it in front of Serena. He then pulls out a box of Lucky Charms. He pours them into the bowl and then pours some milk on it.

Serena grins. "Thank you!"

Gosnell nods and walks off to tend to the other customers. Serena starts to chomp on her cereal. She's had a decent couple of months as well. She hasn't caused any accidents that have required major evacuations. She's gotten new quarters after hers caught fire while she was in the shower. Seems she left her curling iron sitting atop her paper towel collection.

On an additional note, Serena now takes a towel into the shower with her. She was quite embarrassed walking out of the shower, naked of course, and into a room full of firefighters and security personal. 

Serena takes another spoon full of her cereal and looks around. She doesn't see Mina, but that's understandable. She starts work an hour earlier than Serena. She also doesn't see Raye. That doesn't surprise her either.

Raye has kept to herself since the events that led to her killing her first and only love.

Raye's quarters are completely dark. The only light coming in is from the running light, annoyingly placed right outside of her deck four quarters. 

A beeping noise starts. Some glass is heard shattering and then the beeping stops.

"Shit," Raye mumbles. "Lights!"

The room illuminates. Raye's quarters are trashed. There are clothes, PADDs, and bottles all over the place. Raye's normally organized desk is in utter chaos.

Raye slowly slides out of her bed. She walks over to her nightstand and takes a long look in the mirror. She's very disappointed in what she sees.

Raye's self-confidence has gone right down the drain since that fateful day two months ago. She no longer wears makeup. She no longer bothers to make sure her long black hair is in perfect condition. She now just places it in a ponytail and ties it back with a rubber band.

Raye, frankly, just doesn't give a damn.

"Why should I?" Raye finally asks herself.

She mopes into the bathroom and showers. She mopes over to her closet and gets dressed for work. She mopes over to her desk and flings the crap that was on her chair to the floor. She picks up a PADD and looks it over.

Raye studies the PADD for several minutes. She finally growls at it and throws it across the room.

"That's not right at all."

Raye grumbles again and walks out of her quarters.

This walk has become a morning ritual for her and some of the other crew members that live on deck four, section eight, near her. They have learned what they need to do if they see Raye coming.

Hide.

One crewman starts to walk out of his quarters as Raye comes walking by.

"By honey! I love you!" He calls into his quarters as he starts to walk out. He suddenly notices Raye standing there. The crewman's eyes go white. He quickly turns and runs back into the quarters.

The doors slide shut and a locking chirp is heard.

Raye shakes her head and sighs. She walks up to the turbolift to find another man standing there waiting for the lift. The man looks at her and smiles. He then returns his attention to waiting for the elevator.

Raye cocks her head and watches him for a moment.

He must be new. He hasn't run in terror.

The crewman turns back to her. He smiles again.

"Yes, Commander, I am new." He smiles. Raye looks bug-eyed at him. "And even if I wasn't I doubt I would run in terror. Not really my style."

"I'm also Betazed." He offers his hand. Raye takes it and they shake. "Lt. Jeff Fuchs."

"What do you do here?" Raye asked.

"I'm the new assistant to the ship's counselor."

Raye takes a step back. "Assistant?" Raye was unaware that they had hired her an assistant.

"Yup." Jeff nods. "I'm on my way up to her office now."

Raye grins. The turbolift opens. The pair walks in.

"Deck Eight." They both say in unison.

"You're going that way too, eh?" Jeff asked.

Raye nods.

They ride in silence for the quick ride down to deck eight. When the doors open they both walk out. They walk down the hall and stop at the door to Raye's office. Jeff walks up to the doors, but they do not open.

"Doors locked." The computer helpfully tells him.

"I guess she's not in yet!" Jeff laughs. Raye smiles, steps past him, enters in her code, and the doors open.

"She doesn't usually get in until 07:30 on Mondays." Raye smiles.

Jeff laughs and the pair walks in.

Shampoo sighed.

The slow-moving stars on the viewscreen were becoming very boring. She was getting very sick of watching the same star hardly move at all. 

Shampoo hated impulse.

The warping stars had become her escape when she was on the bridge. Her escape from the memories; her escape from reality.

Shampoo had gotten back to normal for the most part over the past two months. She had finally come to terms with Mousse's death. And she was beginning to come to terms with Ranma's marriage to Akane.

The pair had not made it public, but after Shampoo saw them kissing after the memorial service she had made a point to keep checking their personal records. She knew she didn't have access to Ranma's record, but she could easily access Akane's.

Shampoo sighed again. She sat up in her seat and turned towards the helmsman. Ryouga was not in yet, so she wasn't worried about getting lost if she wanted to go for a little joyride.

"Helm!" Shampoo yelled. "Do loop-de-loop!"

The helmsman turned to Shampoo. Mina does as well.

"Loop-de-loop?" He asked.

"Yeah!" Shampoo stands and demonstrates what a loop-de-loop is with her hands.

"Yes ma'am." The helmsman acknowledged.

The ship starts to move forward very quickly. Shampoo sits back down and smiles as the stars start moving again. The ship then pitches the stern up 45 degrees. After a few seconds, the ship is back the way it was, one loop-de-loop complete. Shampoo claps and giggles.

"Now do a barrel roll." Shampoo ordered.

The helmsman looks over to Mina's station. Mina just shrugs and the helmsman complies. The ship completes several barrel rolls.

"Shampoo pleased!" Shampoo states, walking to the helmsman and patting him on the back. "Now, do both!"

The helmsman is starting to get into the spirit of things. He giggles and starts to move the ship forward, increasing the speed. The ship pitches upwards and begins the loop-de-loop. 

Helm hits a few more buttons and the ship starts to roll. The starts begin spinning in every which direction.

Meanwhile, in ten-forward:

"What the hell?" Gosnell says, pointing towards the windows. Serena and Lita both turn and look out the window. They see the odd direction that the stars are spinning in.

"Uh-" Serena mumbles.

Meanwhile in Ranma and Akane's quarters:

Ranma smiles as he finishes getting dressed. He starts to pat his hair while looking in the mirror. You know, to get it to sit straight. Ranma stops though when he sees the reflection of the stars in the mirror.

Ranma slowly turns towards the window to confirm that he's not having a hallucination. Once that is established he calls for Akane.

"Hey, Akane."

Akane walks back in with a sandwich in her mouth and a glass of water in her hand.

"MUMF?" She mumbles.

Ranma points to the window.

Akane looks. The sandwich falls out of her mouth. "What the hell?"

Ranma hits his communicator.

"Saotome to Bridge?"

On the bridge:

"Uh oh." Shampoo mumbles to herself. "Yes, Ranma?"

"What's going on?" Ranma's voice asks.

"Nothing! All fine!" Shampoo turns to the helmsman. "ALL STOP!"

The helmsman complies and the ship slams to a stop.

"SON OF A BITCH!" A female voice, that's not Akane's, is heard screaming through the comm. system.

Shampoo quickly looks around, and then to Mina. "Shampoo on break. You have bridge."

Shampoo quickly runs to the turbolift and disappears.

Back in Ranma's quarters:

Akane can just stand there, her glass of water empty. She looks to Ranma-chan who just fumes.

"Son of a bitch." She grumbles.