Stardate 52042.8

     Lieutenant Philip Emerson exited Sickbay.  He had just gotten off his 
shift.  He stood outside the doors wondering where to go.  Perhaps to the 
Equilibrium to get a bite to eat, or back to his quarters to rest up a bit? 
Just so many choices.  He could also go to the Concert Room on Deck 7 and see 
what was playing, or he could just go to the Holodeck for an intense game of 
ice hockey.  Yes, that would be fun.
     Just as he was about to start walking, he felt an odd sensation in his 
stomach.  He looked around, and there was only one person in sight, a young 
female Ensign with short blonde hair.  She had been walking towards him and 
stopped at the same time he felt it.  She looked at him, as if to say, Did you
feel that too?  They both entered Sickbay together.  They were examined by the 
EMH, but it couldn't find anything wrong with either of them, and no one else 
had reported anything so far.  They decided it was just a coincidence and that
maybe they were both a little too hungry.  So, they headed off toward the 
Equilibrium together.
     While they walked, they introduced themselves.  Emerson said his name, but
then told her she could call him "Bowers" because that is what his friends 
called him.  She introduced herself as Ensign Etely Bruder, called either Etely
or just Et by most people.  When she said her name, Bowers stopped.
     "Say that name again."
     "Etely Bruder."

     Etely walked into her quarters and flopped down on her bed.  Wow, she 
couldn't believe it, how they had ended up on the Equinox together.  She and 
Emerson had known each other when they were very little.  They were neighbors 
and always played together.  Back then he was seven, 4'6, and had bright blonde
hair and green eyes.  Now he was 22, 6'0, had darker but still blonde hair, and
still had green eyes.
     There was something odd about the whole situation.  When she had first 
seen him, she thought she was seeing her father.  Bowers looked just like the 
pictures of him.  Then she realized it wasn't him because her father had blue 
eyes, not green.  Etely, in fact, looked just like her father, except with her
mother's green eyes.  Etely sat up in her bed.  Bowers had lived with foster 
parents!
     She turned on her compter and checked her parent's records.  It seems 
four years before Etely was born her mother disappeared for a while.  When she 
showed up again, she didn't know anything, and no one could figure out where 
she had been.  Her father also went missing, but only for one day, and he said
he had been searching for his wife.