Lisa sat on the bench that ran down the centre of the locker room and balanced her heal on the edge as she tied up the lace on her boot. Her locker stood in front of her, the door was open and the photo of her family was in clear view. The photo had been taken 5 years ago at Christmas, Lisa and her brother had bought their father a camera and they had decided after they were bored of party games they would test the camera out. It was the last photo ever taken of them all together. Lisa felt a hand on her shoulder and she snapped back to reality. It was her colleague and friend Emma " So I heard a rumour..." Lisa stood up and grabbed the sweater out of her locker "Really? there's always lots of those floating round" Emma let out a loud sigh "Ugh you're no fun, ok I'll get straight to the point. I heard that Steven Bennett asked you out for a drink" Lisa inserted her arms into the sleeves of the sweater then pulled her head through the top "Wow it never ceases to amaze me how quickly gossip spreads in this place" Emma smiled "We're cops Lee it's part of our job to be all detectivey and in the know....sooo...Steven! What happened?" Lisa ran her fingers through her hair and proceeded in tying it back "Hmm your detective skills are obviously not honed too well then... I said no" Emma gasped "What? you said no?? Steve is like the hottest guy in this place" Lisa placed a few items in her bag then zipped it up and removed it from her locker. "I just don't have the time for dating right now" She shut her locker door. Emma took her friends hand "Lee, what happened to your parents was a tragedy and looking after your brother the way you do it's admirable but you have to live your life, you can't keep throwing yourself into work and spending time with your brother honey you need to think about you for a change. You've been doing this for 5 years now and I've just watched you and let you get on with it, but I can't stay silent any longer I care about you too much..." Lisa finally interrupted "Em, I appreciate the concern but it's my choice I'm all he has left I can't abandon him....I'll see you tomorrow ok" Lisa drove up the driveway to the Vanguard Psychiatric Hospital. She parked up in her usual spot and pulled the keys out of the ignition. Lisa volunteered there in her spare time, That way she could be close to her brother. Her next shift at the precinct didn't start until late afternoon the following day so she would stay the night at the hospital and help out with breakfast and see her brother in the morning. She rang the bell and the security guard greeted her at the door "Hey Lisa, it's getting cold out huh?" "Hey Phil, it sure is" Lisa replied as she wiped her feet on the mat "Catch any bad guys today?" Phil asked as he shut the door behind her. "Absolutely" Lisa said as she signed the register Carol walked out of the staff room "Hey Carol" Lisa said acknowledging her Carol just grunted and continued to walk down the corridor "Yeesh what's her problem?" Lisa asked Phil "Oh don't mind her she's just tired and grumpy because I ate most the chocolate cake earlier" Phil chuckled She walked down a long corridor where the patients rooms were situated. As she continued to walk she spotted a room where the light was still on, she gazed in as she walked by to see Dr. John Vincent Ecks sitting down with one of the patients. It was Santos, Lisa knew him well, he had been at the hospital about the same length of time as her brother. "He must be talking about his space adventure again" Lisa thought She headed over to the sleeping quarters where staff had the opportunity to catch 40 winks and threw her bag and jacket onto the chair in the corner. She flicked the lamp on by the side of her, grabbed her book that she had left in the drawer of the nightstand and propped her pillows up. She rested her back on the pillows and opened the book where she had left it. The book was called Ender's Game, it was about the future where mankind had barely survived two separate invasions by the insectoid "buggers", the world's most talented children, including the extraordinary Ender Wiggin, are taken into "Battle School" at a very young age to supply commanders for the coming Third Invasion. Lisa wondered if the world Santos believed he was from was anything like in the book. She carried on reading until her eyes could not stay open any longer and she drifted off to sleep. _____________________________________________________________ USS Vanguard: http://www.ncv80221.net/default.htm Vanguard Archives: //www.freelists.org/archives/ncv80221 FreeLists: //www.freelists.org Trying to contact the USS Vanguard managers? Send an email to: vanguard.staff@xxxxxxxxx _____________________________________________________________