A Well of Soul...

"Mornin', Sam. How's the new grandson?"

"He's slobberin', suckin', and shittin'. He's the spittin' image of his father." Sam laughed at his joke.

Allen smiled. Sam always laughed at his own jokes, funny or not. He proceeded to the elevator. As he stepped on, he mentally flagged Sara, his aide, greeted her, and enquired about todays schedule. Sara was a godsend to the busy office of the DO. She was exactingly efficient, ruthlessly organized, and dogged about keeping Allen on time during his busy schedule.

"Mornin', Allen. All of the meetings are scheduled as per normal, except Chief Mckay. He would like to move his meeting to 1030 hours instead of 0900 hours." Sara was steaming slightly at this breach of her schedule.

Allen paused. Landon Mckay was one of his station chiefs, posted on Osters Planet. Their conference was concerning the transfer and incarceration of an alleged psychic murderer being brought in from the outer rim station 'BRAKKUS'. He probably just needed more time to collect his information.

"Go ahead and re-schedule. Say, have the sticky buns arrived yet?" Sugary bread treats were a weakness of Allens. Sara kept a tight count on how many he had, part of a pact that she and Allens' wife Camille had to rob him of the most delicious calories in the universe.

"Yes. Your ration is sitting on your desk."

"Thank you, oh guardian of my calorie intake." She sniffed at his apparent ingratitude of her vigilance.

He entered the office, remarked to Sara how nice her hair looked, grabbed his correspondance padd off the corner of her desk, and entered his private office.

The rather plain walls and single, large window only served to accentuate Allens' prized possesion. A large oak desk, predating the first alien war, dominated one end of the office. Ornate in its' design, it effectively concealed the many electronic devices built into it, including a deadly defence system. From here, he conducted the business of keeping in touch with his station chiefs and agents in the field.

He asked Sara to contact the first person on his agenda, and began his meetings. It was all routine and very positive; operation updates, transfers, promotions, and the like. He was enjoying his day when Landon Mckay appeared. He was middle aged, unmarried, easy going, and a strong psychic against those with violent intent. He was perfect for a station on the wild frontier, where things tended to get a little, well, wild.

"Good mornin', sir," a relaxed and confident Mckay said,

"I'm sorry I had to reschedule this meeting, but the ship bringing in the prisoner had a malfunction in its navigation computer, delaying its' arrival. I didn't want to give a report without all the facts in hand."

"That's quite all right,Landon. What do you have to report?"

"She is in a null-psyche chamber. She is able to project telepathic force, it has been a while since I've seen this manifestation. Apparently, she was attacked on station 'BRAKKUS', and she lashed out at her attacker in a panic to save herself. Her loss of control resulted in two bystanders being killed, along with her attacker. Right now she is feeling incredible guilt over the deaths. We have already begun psyche treatments," he took a deep breath to continue, but Allen cut him off.

"The commander of station 'BRAKKUS' reported these deaths as murders. Where did he come by this conclusion?".

Landon shifted in his seat, "I know Commander Ekton, he's a good man, and a very fine commander, but he is not a strong telepath, and he tends to not want possibly erratic psychics anywhere near his posting. He probably knew that reporting a murder would bring us out there the quickest, and get rid of his problem for him."

'He's probably right,' thought Allen. As well as being able to restrain the violent psychic, Landon could discern the true motive behind the deed, helping get a leg up on the rehabilitation of the subject.

"Very good, Landon. The next transfer ship is due in at Osters Planet in three of your local days to relieve you of your prisoners and the young lady. Well done, Landon. You saved the girl a lot of problems down the road."

"Hey, that's why you pay me the big bucks. Have a good day, sir."

The communication was broken. As he grabbed his last sticky bun, he asked Sara to push back his next meeting five minutes, to her annoyance. His day was going well, and he thought he deserved a small break.