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File #11

After some time to think Muraco returned back to his home, originally not being able to find it after being unfamiliar with the environment of the settlement. He had so much going through his mind and his inability to remember the last nine years continued to plague him. If it was true... then he had missed out on a whole chunk of his life.

Kayleigh greeted him warmly as he finally returned home and contacted Doctor Tao over communicator to let him know that he was safe. He still felt suspicious as he continued to doubt the words of his own "wife" and continued almost with desperation to find any inconsistencies in his story that could not be explained.

He wanted it all to be a lie... an elaborate Romulan cover up.

If it was a cover up, then it was the most realistic one he had ever encountered in his life. He had learnt not to take face situations at face value during his time on the Warrior. During one mission, his shuttle had been caught in some kind of disturbance on the way back from a survey and an alien lifeform of incredible power had tried to convince him that he was dead. It was all an elaborate lie but the experience had stuck with him during his time on the starship.

It was a reminder... a warning.

He had not had an easy night sleep. His wife had tried to treat everything as if it was normal and although Muraco still felt anything but normal, he appreciate her effort. Kayleigh had spent the evening explaining in intimate detail how they had met, fallen in love, got married and created this home together. She had said that Muraco had helped to construct most of the buildings in the settlement, with the help of some of the surviving engineers of the Warrior and the Atlantis.

However, even after such a convincing story, when he wife had rolled over to hold him during her slumber during the night, he had froze.

He still had doubts.

He still wanted to hold onto his conspiracy.

The next day, he had chosen to meet Administrator Shon Tempest. He had walked through the streets of the settlement, being awkwardly greeted by every former crew member that he recognised and even some that he did not.

But he still smiled, and waved and pretended that he remembered this reality.

"Muraco..." smiled Shon as he got up from behind his desk in the makeshift Town Hall. It was a large room, made out of scavenged parts, just the same as the rest of the colony, metal slap-dashed together all over the place. However this place had a more ordered feel to it. Muraco could recognise a bureaucrats office from a mile away.

Shon rushed up from behind his desk to greet his old friend, taking his hand in his paw and shaking it with glee. Muraco could not help but glare at his older face, the grey streaks coming through his brown hair and his once brilliant blue fur starting to dull under his civilian clothing.

He had also known Shon to dress smartly when off duty, even on the Warrior, he preferred to wear more classic suits, like Earth males wore, even with a little red dickie-bow tie under his muzzle.

"Where have I seen that desk before?" thought Muraco.

"They told me that whatever happened out there, caused you amnesia..?" asked Shon, his eyes glinting in the sunlight coming through from the large, makeshift window behind his desk. Muraco could not help but notice how much more cheerful he seemed, the Commander Tempest that he had known always was the last one to be dancing at a party and he seemed to have an attitude more fitting to Captain Greyfell then the stern first officer that he had known Tempest to be.

"Eh... yeah..." replied Muraco, scratching the underside of his chin with his massive paw, unsure of how to react. "Kinda..."

"Yusa came back in the same condition..." replied Shon, looking to him with concern. "I'm sorry... I really should not have sent you to the ruins without analysing the risk first. That was extremely careless of me."

"Yusa" thought Muraco, his eyes momentarily widening. Maybe Yusa would know more about what had happened? Maybe he had also been affected by whatever had happened to Muraco as well.

"Is... Yusa alright?" asked Muraco.

"Yes... luckily our recovery team found you both quickly." replied Shon, heading back to his desk and sitting down, looking over some of the PADD's that lay neatly ordered on his desk.

Muraco scoffed a little, at least some things never changed. This Tempest was just as neat and ordered as the one he had known on the Warrior. They had interacted many times as part of the crew but he had never got to know the man personally, Tempest was the last person to attend social functions onboard.

"Can I speak to him?" Muraco asked, wondering where exactly he was.

"Of course, he's at his house... resting after his ordeal."

"Where... is his house?" asked Muraco honestly.

Administrator Tempest stopped for a moment and looked over at Muraco, his expression was a mixture of surprise and compassion. He clearly had a lot of sympathy for what Muraco was going to as he raised his paw to tap a few buttons on the pad on his desk.

"Wait... how do you have power?" asked Muraco without thinking. It had been something that was bugging him since he arrived. He had seen many different technological devices still being used like Doctor Tao's tricorder and lights inside his own home but he had not seen any evidence of a power generator.

Shon stopped his paw from making the final input, hovering over it before responding calmly. "We salvaged one of the Impulse Fusion Reactors... You helped us design it. We connected it to the whole of Warrior's Rest."

That answer actually made a great deal of sense to Muraco, he had worked with the Warrior's engines are was familiar with the amount of power that just one of the Impulse Fusion Reactors could generate. It would have been enough to easily power the entire settlement.

Warrior's Rest... the name of settlement was both illuminating and somewhat morbid.

Shon continued to press the buttons built into the desk. "Mewsin, can you come in here a moment?"

The door behind Muraco opened, who was still standing up, waiting for somebody to phaser him, or to notice some vital inconsistency in the story and be stopped. Muraco turned to see Mewsin walking into the room, her hair in a more "business" arrangement then Muraco had ever seen before, her sleek but formal outfit clinging to her voluptuous curves.

"Yes Administrator..?" she asked, giving Muraco a brief smile.

"Can you take Mr Muraco here, down to Yusa's residence?" asked Shon.

"Of course..." replied Mewsin, ushering Muraco towards the door.

Muraco felt slightly unwanted and a bit of tension, especially between Tempest and Mewsin. He wondered what kind of history, if any, existed there between the two. The way that they spoke to each other was the kind of way that you would greet somebody that you did not like at a formal dinner, with a handshake in one hand...

And a knife behind your back...

Muraco walked out with Mewsin, she walked ahead, her heels creating a distinctive sound on the solid stone floor. They followed the entrance hall out into the broad light of day.

"That was Captain Greyfell's desk!" thought Muraco suddenly, finally recognising the desk in the office of Administrator Tempest. "It was in the Ready Room of the Warrior!"

"Don't tell me that you are getting cold feet Muraco..." said Mewsin with a hushed tone as they walked through the street. "If you wanted to speak with me, you might have come up with a better way then asking the Administrator for me to take you to a place you already know."

He had no idea what she was talking about. What exactly did she mean or was she unaware of his current condition. He felt it was best to say nothing and continue walking with her down the street.

"Everything is in place..." continued Mewsin after a few seconds, checking the street was clear, the harsh daylight making both of them feel warm in it's radiant glow. "Batov and Ramsey are in position for tonight... that leaves you to disable the reactor."

Muraco was not sure what was going on, why was the former counselor asking of him. Why did he need to disable the reactor that supplied power to the city.

She suddenly turned to face him in the empty street and pulled him into a deep and unflinching passionate kiss. Muraco was taken back by this almost completely, he was caught off guard and did not know if he should blush, or rip her head off, especially considering that he was supposed to be married.

He had never even desired the counselor on the Warrior like this before. He even preferred the company of the other men on the Warrior.

After a few seconds they parted and she looked at him with eyes that blazed hot with burning embers of passion. "Don't look so scared..." Mewsin smiled, her glasses slipping down from her eyes as she pushed them back up with a finger. "After tonight... we are getting off this planet and finally going home. Tempest has been scare mongering for too long."

Muraco was not sure what to do. He had already been accosted by one woman that he was unfamiliar with and now, his former colleague and counselor, was suggesting that they were also involved.

He must have been a right asshole before he lost his memory.

They continued to walk, approaching a small residence at the top of the street. "I need to know that you are committed..." said Mewsin, looking at him with the most accusatory glance he had ever seen come out of her eyes before. "The Atlantis people... they've corrupted Shon's mind... pacified him into giving up hope of leaving this place. We've been here for nine years and I'm sick of it... I'm not telling you what to do but we need control if we are ever going to get access to the shuttles and..."

"Alright..." replied Muraco. He figured it was best to play along, it was clear that Mewsin was not privy to the information of what happened to him and due to the nature of the conversation, it was best that they kept it that way. "I'm in..." he said.

Mewsin's eyes went from accusatory, back to compassion in the blink of an eye. "Good... and if you even think about backing out... I'll kill you myself." she chanted with a deadly earnestness that made Muraco quiver internally.

"This is our one chance..." she said. "You better not screw it up..."