Jesa walked in slowly after Drake, casting a look around the room before heading to a chair to sit down. She had to mentally remind herself that this time, she had to sit at the head of the table, rather from the seat she was most accustomed to. As she walked in, a wave of sadness overtook her, realizing how very few familiar faces would be in this room. She couldn't help to glance over at the seat that Gear normally took. Some part of her wanted that seat to remain there, empty, for all time. Drake had found himself a seat rather quickly, and busied himself by looking around the room. Jesa walked quietly to behind the captain's chair, and lay her forearms on the back, resting against the chair for support.

It was a standard Galaxy/Nebula class style, with the twin monitors on each end of the arc shaped room. The large windows curled up the outer wall, boasting a view of space, or at the moment---spacedock. On the long beige wall, lights focused on some various objects important to the ship. At one end was a model of the Isannah, complete with the mission-podd, which was right now, missing. In the center was an artist's rendering of the ship as she sailed gracefully off into a red nebula, her blue engines almost seeming to pulsate as if in life. On the other end was a plaque, which bore the names of previous captains on it---Richards' name hadn't yet been bored into the cold metal. Jesa noticed there wasn't much more space for names on that metal square.

At that moment Ray Baker walked into the room, looking around with curiosity, as probably would be the distinct emotion on many people's faces. He was a pretty average example of the human species, with the interesting combination of black hair and brown eyes. Though he did have the tendency to lurk in the shadows, and as such put other people off. Jesa's appearance was immaculate, but her face was rather distant, unfocused. Baker walked up to Jesa, she straightened and looked at him, ready to hear whatever it was he had to say. He looked distinctly at Jesa's neck, and then saluted. "Congrats, Commander."

She stood straighter and saluted back, her face almost emotionless. "Thank you, Ensign." He acknowledged her salute by lowering his, and then turned to take his seat. For a moment Jesa nervously watched him walk around the table to choose a chair---one quite near Buck's---but instead he sat down a few chairs away. She refused to show a slight sigh of relief.

Johnson entered in his usual efficient manner, casting a look around the room before taking a seat on the near side of the table and busying himself in work; refit schedules if Jesa's eyes could be trusted. After him, Lysander entered. Jesa's eyes met his briefly, but he looked away. He was possibly the only other one so far who was showing grief and sadness. He walked around the table and took a seat at the traditional XO's spot, to the right of the head of the table.

Without looking at Jesa, Ethan sat down, then turned the chair to look out at the ships docked. 'I wonder what he's thinking.' Jesa allowed herself quietly. But then tore her glance away as the door whooshed open again. Darrel Rich entered, looking almost hostile; not that anyone could really tell, but there was something in his gait, and something in the way he glanced at Jesa, that made her think so. He was half-Betazoid, half-Human, and his good looks were expressed in his features, combined with tightly curled black hair and dark eyes. He was known to be something of a flirt, though there were other sub-tones going on between himself and Jesa. The changeling mentally shook her head at him, preferring to relocate her gaze out at the spacedock. And the door flew open again.

The next person to enter was the new Counselor, as Jesa knew from his file. He wasn't a very tall man, but Jesa always considered that good for a Counselor---tall males tended to intimidate some people. His Betazoid-black eyes shone like dark holes, but not empty ones. His eyes were matched by equally black hair, forming quite a contrast against his rather Caucasian colored skin. She also knew he was a full telepath, and empath, thus she needed to stay out of his way, as too much contact would lead him to wonder about her---because she couldn't be telepathically sensed the same way other 'humans' could. She had a mental discipline that repelled passive scans, and she could tell if anyone tried actively digging around in her mind. And as a human, officially anyway, that would be suspicious, but not completely unheard of.

He looked a little lost and sat down in one of the chairs, only to move to another. Then he looked over and spotted Lysander. He walked over and engaged Ethan in conversation for a few moments. Jesa did her best not to eavesdrop, instead watching the door like a hawk, waiting for the next people to come in; those who were missing---and late. 'Barron, Pullman, Summers, Faulk and Dixon... hm, and Levin.'

At that moment, Levin hurried through the door looking a little sheepish. Jesa let him have the evil eye for a moment then relocated her vision. She then tapped her comm. badge. "Computer, locate..." and trailed off as one of the other stragglers came in, Faulk. Then Dixon was next, carrying a rather uncomfortable looking case. They both looked a little out of sorts, like most of the cadets looked right before midterm exams. The door opened again for about the twelfth time in the last hour, and an uncomfortable looking Summers stumbled in.

Jesa watched them all take their seats, noting that Gear's seat was still empty. Now it was time to get the wayward pilots into the room. "Callen to Barron and Pullman. Gentlemen, I do believe I called a briefing, FIFTEEN minutes ago, and I expect you to show up! Callen out." Jesa said utilizing her amply sharp tongue. Then she drummed her fingers on the back of the chair, her eyes narrowed, continuing with a rather perturbed look. A moment later a transporter beam deposited Barron in the middle of the Observation lounge, looking disheveled and breathing hard. A second later Pullman came running in, but the funny thing about him was he looked like he had just been crawling through the plasma manifolds, and there was some funny white stuff in his hair that looked strangely like pasta.

'Leave it to this crew to have... unusual experiences,' Jesa thought with only a hint of amusement.

Jesa swallowed a smirk, and allowed the two men to take their seats without too much embarrassment. Then Jesa coughed slightly. "I know it seems like a lot to ask, but I do expect that when I call a briefing, it be attended on time." She said in a low tone, glancing around the table. Those who were guilty, knew it; but she laid no specific blame. All the seats were filled at the table, except one---Buck's. That one would be left empty, even if just through the force of her sheer will.

She allowed her eyes to linger on his seat for a moment, then swallowed back the grief and reset her serious face. 'Let me get through this briefing.' She thought silently, asking for help from sources she wouldn't even name. Then Dixon, who had been fiddling with something in the corner, stood up, and then the form of LAURA appeared in the room. He looked up at Jesa, and then sat down again.

LAURA seemed a little disoriented, but after looking around, she walked over and pulled out Buck's chair. "Uh... er..." Jesa sounded involuntarily, drawing LAURA's gaze. She shook her head. "Nothing, never mind." She said, dismissing it. But as LAURA eased herself into his chair, she seethed inside, becoming angry, and had to work very hard to keep from demanding that the hologram not sit there, and should really be removed from this altogether. 'Why did he want to bring her here!?' her mind demanded angrily. 'STOP IT! You're being irrational!' she chastised herself.

Jesa cleared her throat to gain attention of those at the table. Though that task in and of itself wasn't very hard. "Now that we are all here, I shall begin." She said, making eye contact absently with those around the table. "As you have noticed, I have been promoted and asked to take over the command of the Isannah---something I have accepted with Lysander's blessings." She looked over at him briefly, quietly withdrawing three boxes from who-knows-where and laying them on the table before her.

"Lieutenant Rich, to Lieutenant Commander." And again, a black box went sliding across the table down to the rather sullen looking Counselor. "And the last goes to Lieutenant Junior Grade Faulk, who is now Lieutenant." She gave the last box a little push and watched it come to rest before him. "As to the rest of you, the crew reports and evaluations were lost in our little struggle---I'm sure that many of you were intended promotions under Richards, but I am afraid you will have to wait until the next evaluation cycle."

A few of the looks told Jesa they weren't happy with that, but she didn't particularly care at the moment. "Also, the following changes have been made to the crew roster. Ethan Lysander is now the Executive Officer, Rich will be moving from Counseling to Second Officer. Faulk will be taking over as the Chief Medical Officer." Jesa's voice skipped over it a bit, trying not to waver, as that was always Buck's position, she thought he'd always be here to fill it.

Jesa licked her dry lips then looked up and around, giving herself time to gain composure. "Also, as you may, or may not have noticed. We have several new crewmembers with us. Pullman and Levin have requested to remain with us on the Isannah; as Helm and Chief Science Officer, respectively. Adrian Balur is our new Counselor, and Ensign Alexander Drake is our Deck Officer. Welcome to the Isannah, Gentlemen." She said, looking down at a padd she had brought in with her. "Oh. And before I go on, I'm sure there are a few partygoers among you that might get the bright idea to throw me a congratulatory celebration of sorts, because of my promotion. But let me assure you such an event is quite unnecessary." She looked around the room, her face impassive about what she was saying.

"Also, Doctor Dixon has requested LAURA, our EMH, to sit in our briefings, as she has been treating much of our crew extensively." She nodded to her, as a side note. "And as all departments should know by now, while here at base, the Isannah will be undergoing an overhaul, bringing our systems up to current fleet technological standards. Most of you have already filed some of the required paperwork for recommendations during the overhaul, that should make the engineers on base less cranky, and thus their superiors not so likely to complain to me---I thank you. It will make my job easier," She said, sitting down in her chair, finally.

There was more to be said, of course, and she covered it, the mask of formality still in place. "Three weeks of shore leave will be granted to many of you; though I am strongly requesting that some of you remain on board, as we will need one coordinator for each department during the refit. So if you are going to take command up on its offer, make sure you leave someone competent in charge." She sighed internally, knowing this next part was the more unpleasant of what she had to say.

"As a side effect from our last mission, Starfleet has declared all matters concerning it, and the Prophecy, as classified. No discussion among the crew, nor with other officers is allowed; under threat of charges from command. Make sure that everyone in your department receives this message. Also, there will be formal inquiry panel from the JAG corps aboard, conducting interviews into this matter. Levin, I believe you have connections in the department, so I will assign you as liaison... hopefully so things go a little smoother." She looked over at him, trying to get an impression of what he thought. He was already aware of something, she thought.

"Three days from now, we will be moving to temporary quarters on the Starbase. Starbase 120 has assigned us a section of the Officer's quarters, complete with lounge and other facilities while the Isannah is under the more substantial sections of the refit. Hopefully this relocation off the ship will not be for long, and much of our crew will be utilized in that operation---thus we will not be too far out of the loop." She took a deep breath, looking around and wishing she had thought to replicate some water before coming in here. "Now that I think I have talked quite long enough, we will move on to departmental reports." Jesa glanced down at her padd. "Johnson, I believe you are up first."

Until this point Johnson had just remained quiet and watched the proceedings. He quietly mused to himself, Callen certainly knew how to take command and didn't let anything slip as regards to her obvious personal turmoil regarding Gear. Johnson stood quietly and walked over to the main screen. It changed to show a schematic of the Isannah. Several key areas highlighted red.

"Okay as you can see this is a schematic of the Isannah over thirty percent of the ship suffered complete depressurization with a further twelve percent suffering partial depressurization. In addition to the hull breaches four of the major support bulkheads collapsed resulting in a weakened structure around from deck 12 to 15 on the starboard side. That entire section needs replacing but to do it they have to depressurize the ship to prevent high pressure loads on the structural integrity field so Commander Callen has already stated the crew will be re-located to SB120 on a temporary basis. The mission PODD was also lost along with the warp drive and ninety-five percent of critical systems."

Someone whistled lowly, Jesa ignored it. But the meaning was clear---they were blessed to get out alive, many of them didn't. The habitable areas were still rather habitable, but only by the barest margins were life-support and normal functions able to be continued in those areas. Johnson looked around the table it was obvious from some of the looks that the appreciation for being in once piece was firmly impressed into all of them.

"Now that's the bad news. The good news is the mission PODD is being replaced with a rapid response shuttlebay for the new fighters assigned to the Isannah. Also the existing data network is being replaced with bio-neural circuitry. Aside from that the rest is pretty much standard upgrades. Engineering staff complement will be short for a while due to the large number of casualties in Engineering but this is already being looked at. Also I would be grateful to have all of you requirement reports to me by tomorrow afternoon as the final work schedule is being produced the following morning. The only other thing I have to ask is will there be a new ACEO assigned to the Isannah?"

Jesa looked at him. "We are looking into the matter. I haven't received conformation on many of our personnel requests right now. Best keep in touch with Lysander on those developments." Jesa said, sitting slightly sideways, tapping the table surface gently. Johnson quietly sat down and took his PADDS off the table. "Thank you, Johnson."

She nodded at Johnson as he sat down. "Thank you. Summers, I know you have been out of sorts recently, but I have asked Ensign Keeves to also be present as she has been handling a lot of the administrative functions of various departments, though I'm still waiting on the report to explain how exactly you all justified assigning her to various tasks." Jesa gave a few questioning looks around the room, but no one seemed willing to speak up, so she turned her attention back to Summers, "Also, she has finished the administration work for your department in your unfortunate absence. I believe security came up as all green, as of last report."

Upon turning her eyes to the seat where Summers sat, she narrowed them slightly. He looked bad, really bad. She pursed her lips and contemplated sending him to sickbay right then and there. Summers tried to sit up but found it unsuccessful. He slumped instead of straightening up. He immediately noticed that Dixon and LAURA had stood up to help him but he waved them away. Jesa was just about to order him back to Sickbay, when he got up and walked over to the nearest display screen, pulling up the ship's security schematics.

"As you can all see I am recommending transporter inhibitors on all decks with a failsafe to be triggered in the event of shield-breech while red alert is active. This will keep all unauthorized transports from happening with shields down, that is all for now." He said; his words slow but clear. He walked away and stood behind his chair.

"If no one minds I would like to leave, I need to report to in sickbay." He said tiredly. Jesa nodded in acknowledgement, but he didn't even see it; for he turned and left without acknowledgement. Jesa cursed silently, wondering what was up with him again, and hoping it wouldn't create nasty repercussions.

"Well...Thank you for your input." She said towards the door, her eyebrow raised slightly. Then she turned back and looked down the table at the Chief Tactical Officer and spoke. "Baker, I'm assuming you have nothing to report at this time, because if something was up on the Tac scopes at the moment, I would definitely worry."

"Nothing from my end Commander. Except that one of the crewmembers aboard managed to knock himself out following me. He ran into numerous bulkheads and I had to carry him to sickbay. Glad to say he suffered nothing more than a bruised ego." Baker replied. "As for staying aboard, I will be seeing the refit of the new targeting sensors. I also have further matters to discuss, but I think that secrecy will be needed."

Baker finished his report and picked up the PADD in front of him. It contained the specs for the new sensors and some additional items. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind." Jesa said with the outlines of a smile forming on her face about the incident, but the part about secrecy had her curious, and that was never a good thing. 'Secrecy, and you announce you want secrecy? That's the surest way to bring every prying eye and eavesdropping ear within light-years...' she mused. "Doctor Dixon, Faulk, what is our Medical status? Are there any other effects of the enigma sickness we should worry about?" she said, turning to him.

"No, Commander." Dixon began after exchanging a look with Faulk, seeming to be undecided between standing and just giving his report sitting. He stood, then sat, then looked decidedly embarrassed. Clearing his throat, he continued. "With the deactivation of the enigma drive, no further cases have been reported, and those still in sickbay with symptoms are improving steadily."

"Thank you." Jesa nodded at him. "Rich, what are we looking at currently as a psychological status of the crew? Are there any concerns we should worry about there?"

"Obviously the crew is in mourning, Commander," He said, stating the obvious. "But I can't recommend anything other than light duty for those who need to work through it, and shore leave for those who wish to get away. Everyone needs to recover in his or her own way."

Then she turned her chair slightly and looked at Levin. "I know you've just been assigned to this post a day ago, Ensign Levin, but you've been on the Isannah for over a week. Do you have anything to report?"

"Well, I haven't been in the Science Department yet, and most of my freedom on the Isannah has been in Engineering. The rest of my time here, I was in the brig, and those cells need to be made more comfortable. It might make the prisoners a little happier."

Jesa suppressed a smile; somehow making prisoners happy didn't enter into her mind. "Thank you for your input. Are there any questions?"

She paused, looking around at all the assembled faces, but no one seemed ready to say something.

"Then if there are no questions, this you are all dismissed." Jesa said, watching everyone begin to rise and chat with everyone else. "Oh, and one more thing." She said, causing those who began rising to pause. "There will be a memorial held tonight at twenty-two hundred, for those who died in the recent... mission." Jesa said, her voice finally betraying her and breaking. She hurried with what she was going to say "There are also other memorial services held in accordance with the different beliefs we had represented in this crew, but this one is more for the crew..." her voice quaked, but she immediately forced it back and continued.

Jesa paused a long moment to gain control of her voice "Than for the families of those who died. Please attend if you can." She said, looking away from everyone so as not to betray any emotion in her eyes. "That is all."

Then she simply turned her chair towards the window until the noises slowly died down as people left. A slight sigh escaped her lips as the door closed for the last time. "Well, I made it through that one." She spoke quietly to herself, biting her lip to stop the tears. 'So why don't I feel strong?' she thought silently.

She took a deep breath and turned to rise, surprised to see Lysander still there, looking at Jesa. Their eyes met for a moment, but neither one said anything. Then the form of Ensign Balur seemed to almost melt out of the darkness, for the way he was suddenly noticed by the two command officers.

"Is there something you wanted Ensign?" Lysander said, almost with a distinct tiredness.

"Yes, sir." He said, then paused for a moment in thought. "I wanted to speak both of you for a moment, if I may."

Jesa looked over at him, her face betraying nothing. She seemed passive, tired more than anything. But truth be told, her mind was a blank slate at the moment, just trying not to think of anything. Lysander looked at her a moment, then turned to Balur.

"Go ahead, Ensign." He said, leaning back and looking at the young counselor. Balur, however, had his eyes transfixed on Jesa, who seemed not to notice, but in actuality, noticed every inflection of his body language. She could tell he was uncertain how to approach something, as well as apprehensive of bringing the subject up. He also seemed to be taking interest in her, something most telepaths did at first.

"I understand that this crew has recently gone through an extreme situation. I know I wasn't here during this... enigma disaster, but a lot of reports have been coming in about it." he said, trailing off for a moment. Jesa felt some humor at the way he delicately worded that, but she didn't smile. "I guess you could call it that." She stated.

"I wanted to know if the classified order applies to me when attempting to counsel some of these people," he said, his tone particularly soft, and Jesa could understand why he was dedicated to counseling. Most people probably would have been reassured by his quiet manner.

"Actually, no. The confidentiality requirements do not extend to you so long as you are discussing it in an official capacity with someone who needs to speak of it. Just make sure your files are appropriately secured," Jesa answered, watching those dark eyes watching her back. She could feel him brushing the edges of her mind with his, but she gave no indication of that knowledge and focused on what she was saying.

"And with so much that is emotionally trying, I have sensed some particularly unstable moods in various members of the crew." Balur continued.

Jesa gave an unconscious mental shiver, she never did really like the idea of telepaths going around sensing the "mood" of various individuals without their permission, especially when they did it out of line-of-sight.

"I wanted to request a full set of psych exams for the crew. I know they, we," he paused, correcting himself, going on in his soft voice. "are getting some R and R, but even so, I believe it is important to make sure the soundness of this crew before we are set back to active duty. I have some concerns about specific individuals, but would prefer just to get a baseline of what is going on," he phrased carefully, Jesa could almost feel how each word was specifically chosen for its effect.

Lysander frowned slightly, though who could tell what was on his mind, was anyone's guess. But one could see him piling up thoughts like a stack of dominoes, seeing how this simple request would reverberate through the ship, causing many, many reactions.

Jesa piped up, shrugging off her feelings of discomfort. "I think that is a good idea, Counselor. But I would request that you make use of Lieutenant Commander Rich, as he knows most of this crew's... how shall we say... quirks. Such as the particular officer Baker mentioned." She smiled lightly at him. "You would do well to heed his advice. But be wary, with the rest of the confusion going on, I don't want you to cause undue tension or stress in this crew. The trial, and recent goings on, not to mention of moving off the ship during this refit is difficult enough."

He nodded. "Thank you, sir." Then he looked at Callen for a moment, obviously in contemplation. "Commander, I would like to speak to you privately if I may."

Upon studying his face for a moment, she shrugged, and then looked over at Lysander, giving a slight nod with the barest of smiles that said. 'Don't worry, and congratulations...' unspoken messages that she wasn't sure he'd understand, or receive. But she knew she'd need to talk to him later. Ethan quietly got up and left and Jesa watched him as he departed from the room. Then she turned her entire attention to Balur.

"What's on your mind, Ensign?" she said, with a relaxed posture and manner. Jesa was really too sick and tired of everything to much care, so it was more apathy, than relaxation he was sensing. Another distant part of her, one unconnected to her emotions and more in tune with her instincts was quite on alert, watching his moves even as he watched and probed her---or tried to.

"Please call me Adrian, sir. I understand that you have lost someone very dear to you. Please accept my deepest condolences. If there is anything I can do, please let me know." He said, seriously, looking at her.

"Thank you, Bal--- Adrian." She corrected herself with the barest of smiles. "But I don't think that's the only reason you wanted to speak with me." She said, her tone growing sober again.

"No, it wasn't. I just have been sensing something rather odd. I don't use my telepathy on others as a matter of course, at least without their permission. But for the first time we met, as you were coming out of sickbay. I sensed something... vacant, in you. I'm not entirely sure how to describe it. And today you just seem... misplaced, out of focus, shifted... but it's a different manifestation of the same thing," he said softly, his fingertips together in almost an apologetic gesture.

Her eyebrow shot up slightly, not really in true surprise, but playing the roll of surprise. "Oh? And what is that?" she questioned.

"I'm not certain, Commander. You just don't read the same way as most people do, not like anyone I've met before. I feel like you are suppressing your emotions, or hiding something. I understand with your loss sometimes it might seem like you can't deal with your emotions, and need to bury them to function. I'd like to be your friend and help you if I can," he said softly, glad he had gotten the statement out without her interrupting him.

She didn't react at first, just sat there and tapped her fingernails against the table gently, making an annoying clicking sound, which she slowly varied into a mathematical progression. Then she stopped abruptly, looking out the window and began speaking softly to herself. Quietly turning her attention to Balur, she spoke. "I apologize, Adrian, that just struck a remembrance. The reason you do not sense me like others, is because of two reasons. I have been trained in telepathy-resisting techniques, and thus am not as openly readable as most people. Secondly, my emotional state is rather jagged right now, thus making the sensation even more acute."

She trailed off. "As for my hiding things... show me someone who does not have a skeleton or two in his or her closet, and I'll show you someone with no real life... for those things tend to accumulate over time. I am a very private person, Adrian, something I'm sure you can appreciate, especially with me in the position I am in. My relationship with---" her voice caught, and she cleared her throat. "Well, my relationship was not a very public one, and I do not feel that my grief should be any more displayed."

She sat up straighter and looked him right in the eye. "I appreciate that you are now the counselor aboard this ship, and that you are only looking out for the mental health of this entire crew, including me. I would be lying right now if I said I was fine... I am far from fine... but it doesn't mean I am ready to cry on anyone's shoulder, or express my grief just yet." She paused for a moment. "Thank you for your diligence in doing your job, it will be noted in my official log."

Then she quietly turned away, a silent 'thank you, but I can take care of myself, you are now dismissed' hanging in the air. Jesa's mood became more distant, contemplative, and certainly walled up. He watched her again for a moment, and then slowly left through the door. She only breathed a slight sigh of relief as she noted the door closing behind him.

Silently she stared through the window, watching the occasional shuttle move from ship to base, and back again, carrying cargo, people, or whatever else. But Jesa didn't think about that, in fact, she didn't think about much of anything for the next five minutes.

Jesa heard a few footsteps behind her, but she didn't turn around to see who it was. All she would need was the voice, which followed a few seconds later. "Captain, Captain Nsala from the Prophecy and I talked just prior to the briefing, and he informed me of the investigation. He also said that there might be a court marital, and that if he is, he wanted me to defend him. I told him that I would." Levin said, watching her back.

She nodded silently, though he couldn't see it. "I figured something along those lines had happened..." she turned and looked at him. A slight bit of surprise shone in his eyes. "I'm not entirely without my resources, Ensign. I do not know, but highly suspect, that court-martial proceedings will take place. I also am pretty sure that Nsala, Hansen, and probably Galloway that will bear the biggest burden of blame." She sighed. "But when R and D, the Brass, and other prominent parts of the fleet are involved... who can say how fair the trial will be? Heck, who are we to say who was to blame? We all lost someone."

Jesa ended, trying very hard to keep two bits of information totally separate, in order to keep at least a semi-rational appearance. A, that the person or persons to blame in this could be these. B, that whoever they are, they were responsible for Buck's death. Levin didn't respond for a long moment, letting the silence settle into the room.

"I was wondering, what are the families of the dead crewmembers from the Prophecy and the Isannah going to be told about the deaths? Since it seems that Starfleet wants to cover this up, I thought that much beyond 'killed in the line of duty' will be true." Levin's manner was calm, even comfortable around her.

She shook her head slightly, the topic one she would be dealing with in the days ahead, but not one she wanted to think about. "Unfortunately, the families won't be told very much... the details of specifically how they died, as in the cause of death, and that they were killed in the line of duty, but nothing connecting the mission to the cause of death." She spoke slowly, deliberately, turning back to look out at the viewport. Not ignoring him, but just not meeting his eyes. 'Oh god, how can I tell Buck's family... though knowing them, they already know.' But Levin's voice interrupted her.

"And about not talking about the Prophecy, it'll leak. Maybe not anytime soon, but it will. Every secret eventually gets out. And when it does, someone's going to get sacrificed, and trust me, it ain't gonna be anyone from the brass. More likely, it'll be one of the senior officers from the Isannah. And they won't have much of a career, if any left after that. When I worked as a lawyer, I defended about ten people in cases like that, and only won one, because the prosecutor was fresh out of law school with no experience. What I'm saying is, the Prophecy won't just be forgotten after the investigations. But, I guess that the best we can do is to keep our mouths shut."

'Maybe that's why they want me here, a perfect scapegoat.' She thought, silently. Then she spoke. "Thank you for the warning, James... but let me assure you, I won't let anyone in this crew take undue blame." She turned to face him. "And well... if they want to come after me..." a corner of her mouth turned up slightly in a snarl, "Let them." Surprise crossed his face at her reaction; Jesa thought it best to continue. "I haven't done anything wrong... we've all done what we could. Unfortunately..." she began, turning back around. "It wasn't enough." Her tone was dark, serious, and distant.

He stood there for a moment, and then left, heading down to the Science Department which was his duly assigned hell for at least the next few months---chaos city, without the fractal theorems to assist. Jesa stood there and looked out to the interior of the Starbase, not really seeing anything going on in front of her eyes, her emotions a jumble of conflicting emotional streams. Her brow furrowed as she saw things replay from the mission, things part of her wanted to forget, and the other part... would not let her.

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