Jaav E'thexx - USS Vanguard. ______________ It was the age old saying that "Those Who Can't, Teach". In the case of John Vincent Ecks it was quite the opposite. Having failed to suitably impress academics in any of the reputable medical schools and universities John Vincent had never quite made his dream to teach tangible. Most thought his research was sloppy, untraditional, poorly planned and had on occasion branded it laughable. John felt that these labels would be substituted for "impressive" or "revolutionary" had he been in better standing with the rest of what still was very much an 'old boys club' and as a means of biding his time and securing money to fund his own research John had taken up his post as resident psychiatrist at the Vanguard institute as a way of eventually earn the right to teach. The plan looked good on paper, but all he had really achieved was an incredible loathing for his own position, a lack of compassion towards his patients and a deep seated bitterness at not being able to achieve his ambition. Sitting in his usual spot in the staff room, pouring over set of notes after set of notes and thoughtlessly filling out forms, John Vincent heard the commotion. [Santos] Suddenly, nearby and outside the hospital, came the sounds of something dropping, followed very quickly by another dropped object--the first sounded soft, the second harder, metal striking concrete. [Santos] John stood up and quickly moved to the doorway to see what was causing the disturbance and more importantly what it was causing a distraction from his already difficult work. John began to walk slowly but sternly down the corridor. He made out Lisa, the police officer and relative of a Vanguard patient, he found her frequent presence and questioning within the institute tiresome but the lesser of two evils. Whilst ever she was there to entertain her brother he was less of a hassle to John and his staff. John also saw Santos, hanging back but still himself observing all the activity. Finally John could see two figures that he did not recognise, or at least couldn't quite make out just inside the outer doorway who seemed to be moving inside. "What the hell is all this about?!" J.V. barked, "Last time I checked this place wasn't a community drop in centre!" John's pace momentarily began to pick up before he stopped dead in his tracks and looked down at his pocket. He felt the pager in his pocket buzzing frantically, at the periphery of his hearing he'd heard the pager bleeping but hadn't wanted to consciously acknowledge. He slipped the pager out of his pocket and brought the tiny LCD screen close to his eyes. The pager read "2222" John Vincent Ecks felt the lump in his throat and the dryness in his mouth. A surge of heat flushed through his body, he felt clammy, tense. The activity at the end of the hall was virtually forgotten as he turned in his tracks and headed for the stairwell and began climbing up the flight of concrete steps, past the flickering flourescant tubes and dripping pipework to the landing of the second floor. ____________________ _____________________________________________________________ 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 _____________________________________________________________