Captain Taybar sat in her ready room, drinking a mug of Raktajino as she read through Lieutenant Commander Barker's report on the away mission to recover the Par Maru. The encounter with the holographic ASHER from the mirror vessel was according to Chu not unexpected, but even he had underestimated the hologram.

But the away team had prevailed and the Commander and the Marine Jack Truman were investigating the holo-emitter used by ASHER. So far the investigation wasn't going entirely to plan, but Chu was confident that he could gain access to the various systems and that these would lead to the tracking down of the mirror ISS Leviathan.

The chimes of her door pulled her away from the console and she announced "Enter."

The Romulan-Bajorian t'Rashad stepped into the room and walked over to the desk where Aki was sitting.

"Captain, you and your Federation have been very kind to me and Dukal." She stated. "But I have another request to make of you and your crew."

"Please take a seat and tell me what it is you require." Aki said softly.

t'Rashad took a seat opposite the Captain and started to speak again.

"Now that I have my ship back, I'd like to try and make repairs to the ship and eventually leave." She stated. "But with Dukal still in your sickbay, I would need the assistance of some of your engineering staff."

Aki was silent for a moment, thinking over what had just been said. She knew what she should have said, but over the past month, she'd been able to get to know these visitors from another universe. She knew that they didn't belong and the fact that everyday they had to face their Starfleet counterparts and see how well their lives had turned out was hard. It was also hard for the Starfleet officers, especially Commander Rashad.

"There are all kinds of things to consider about your request." Aki replied. "Whilst I would normally offer every assistance to a ship in need of repair, the fact of your status in this universe makes things much harder. I doubt Starfleet would allow you to just 'take off' into space on your own."

"Captain…" t'Rashad started to protest, but was stopped by Aki.

"But I know that your vessel is important to you and Dukal." Aki continued. "So I will suggest a compromise. I will authorise that we make the necessary repairs to your vessel in return for the understanding that you will remain with us until Starfleet and the Federation council approves your departure. Is that satisfactory ?"

"Captain, your generosity is limitless." t'Rashad stated. "And I agree to your terms."

"Then I guess I should have a word with the Chief." Aki said. "I'll have him meet you in the maintenance bay in say an hour.

"Thank you Captain." t'Rashad said, graciously rising from her chair and heading out of the room.

"Captain Taybar to Lieutenant Commander Taline" Aki announced, pressing the comm button on her console.

[Taline here.] The voice of the Leviathan's chief engineer came back. [What can I do for you ?"]

"t'Rashad has asked me if I would assist in the repairs of her vessel." Aki explained. "And I've given my consent."

[Is that wise Captain ?] Lucas replied. [Once her vessel is operational, she could fly off anywhere.]

"She's agreed to remain onboard until I can get clearance from Starfleet and the Federation council that she can leave." Aki stated. "But just to make doubly sure, I'd like you to delay the repairs to the warp systems for as long as possible."

[I had a brief look over the vessel when the away team first brought it onboard.] Taline remarked. [I'd say that the warp core would require a complete overhaul before it would be ready to work again. That's would normally take at least a week to complete, but with all the other repairs that would need to be made they could be onboard for quite a while.]

Aki wasn't fully sure that the Engineering chief was telling her the whole truth, but she realised that they were on the same wavelength.

"A week you say." Aki remarked. "The ship must be in a worse state than I thought."

[That's obviously only a rough estimate of the repair time.] Taline suggested. [With the limited manpower we have and working with unfamiliar systems, it could take a little longer.]

"Chief, I'm sure you will do your best to get the ship operational again." Aki said. "I've arranged for you to meet t'Rashad in the maintenance bay to go over what might need doing."

[I'll collect my equipment and go meet her.] Taline stated. [I'll give you a report on the work and materials required along with a more definite estimate on the time that it would take to make the necessary repairs. Taline out.]

Aki closed the comm link and sat back in her chair. She didn't like the fact that she had just persuaded her engineering chief to deliberately delay the repairs to the Par Maru, but she needed to be sure that t'Rashad and Dukal didn't leave the ship for the time being.