Path: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!prodigy.com!news.glorb.com!border1.nntp.dca.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!newsread.com!newsstand.newsread.com!POSTED.monger.newsread.com!not-for-mail Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated Approved: ascem@earthlink.net Organization: Better Living Thru TrekSmut Sender: ascem@earthlink.net Message-ID: From: "djinn_fic" MIME-Version: 1.0 Mailing-List: list ASCEML@yahoogroups.com; contact ASCEML-owner@yahoogroups.com Subject: NEW: TOS Urges 2/2 [R] K/Ch ChFF Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 808 Date: Mon, 18 Oct 2004 02:55:07 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 209.198.142.218 X-Complaints-To: Abuse Role , We Care X-Trace: monger.newsread.com 1098068107 209.198.142.218 (Sun, 17 Oct 2004 22:55:07 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 22:55:07 EDT Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated:85126 X-Received-Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 19:55:08 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) TITLE: Urges AUTHOR: Djinn CONTACT: djinn@djinnslair.com http://www.djinnslair.com SERIES: TOS RATING: R CODES: K/Ch, ChFF PART: 2/2 SUMMARY: A routine landing party leads to some strange behavior. Sickbay was deserted as they walked in, the lights all set low except for the one in Chapel's office. "We need her," Kirk said, motioning for one of the others to go get her. He turned away from the light. "Is there a reason you cannot get her?" Spock asked, glancing over at the lit office, then back at Kirk. "Just go get her, Spock." As Spock moved to do what he said, McCoy touched his arm. Shaking his head, the doctor said, "I'd like to see you do it, Jim." Sighing, Kirk walked over to the office. Chapel wasn't working, she was just sitting, staring at a screen she hadn't even turned on. She turned to look at him, and her eyes were dry, but her face reddened under his scrutiny. Then she seemed to realize the others were behind him, and she sat up straighter, forced the miserable look off her face. "Sir?" "Come out." His voice was gentle, giving no hint, he hoped, that he wanted to clear her desk and push her down on it and make love to her again. She took a hand he hadn't realized he held out for her, and they both gasped as their skin touched. "Fascinating," Spock said. "I think it's her," Kirk lied, not sure why he was doing it. He dropped her hand quickly. "You touch her, Spock." Chapel's expression turned from lost to betrayed. "Sir, no." "Touch her, dammit." Spock's eyebrow rose, but he reached out for her. Her hand was lost in his, and Kirk had a sudden picture of parts of Spock being lost in her. "I feel nothing out of the ordinary," Spock said, letting go of her. The look Chapel threw Spock was full of gratitude, and it grated on Kirk's nerves like sandpaper. "Nothing out of the ordinary? Then you are accustomed to touching her?" He smiled, sure he'd caught them in the lie. "What is wrong with you?" Chapel asked, shivering violently as the temperature in the room plummeted. "That's a damned good question," McCoy said, pulling Kirk away from her. "You stay with her, Spock. I'll check out Jim." "No. Don't leave her with him. Not with him." "Jim, calm down. Spock's not going to do anything to her. Not if he hasn't already." McCoy was trying to joke, but it wasn't funny. It had never been funny. Kirk tried to watch them as McCoy ran the scanner over him. "But that's just it. He only pretends not to like her. He only says to send her away to pull suspicion off of himself. So I won't know how he really feels about her." McCoy was staring at him. "I gotta tell you. You're not making a lot of sense." The temperature in the room dropped again, and Kirk recalled the late night conversations with his friends. Get rid of Melanya, they'd told him. Send her home. "You've heard him. At our dinners. He doesn't think she's good for the planet." "Okay, I'm relieving you of duty until I've found out what's going on." Chapel suddenly pushed past Spock. She wore a look Kirk had never seen on her face, but the other, deeper part of him remembered it from innumerable fights. Hard. She could be so damned hard. "Your lack of trust will be what destroys us, Kellor. Not me." McCoy sighed. "I'm relieving both of you. Just in case I didn't make that clear." It didn't seem to make any impression on Chapel. She started to walk toward him, but Spock caught her by the arm. "No," he said, as he kept her from Kirk. Kirk stared at where Spock's fingers were leaving marks in Chapel's arm as she struggled. "Let go of her. Don't touch her." Spock did not let go of her. His voice was perfectly even as he asked, "Or you will do what?" He took hold of Chapel's other shoulder with his free hand, pulled her back toward him. Kirk saw her relax, and something snapped inside him. He was back in his house, walking down the corridor, eager to see her after a week away. He'd come back early to surprise her. "I'm home," he said, just as he had when he opened the door to their room. She looked up at him, her face suffused with the flush of many climaxes. His friend was underneath her, his eyes closed, his smile huge as he took his best friend's woman. A woman who did not belong to him. It was that moment all over again. Only this time he wouldn't stand in shock staring while they separated and frantically pulled on their clothes. This time he wouldn't listen as his friend tried to explain, wouldn't care that his woman just stared at him with her hard, hard glare. "Damn you," Kirk yelled, launching himself at both of them. He reached for a weapon he hadn't worn for more than five thousand years. Spock pushed Chapel out of the way, caught Kirk as he tried to put his hands around Spock's throat. "I'll kill you," Kirk said, but Spock was already moving his hand to the neck pinch spot. "One touch and you know what will happen," Spock said, his voice unruffled. As if it was everyday that Kirk attacked him. Kirk felt the cold subside inside him. "God, Spock. What...?" Chapel was watching him with an odd look. "You wouldn't keep me. You were too afraid to keep me." She looked regal somehow. Regal and haughty and harder than he'd ever seen her. "And he wasn't?" The cold was rising in him, the tone of her voice inducing it, bringing the rage back. The guilt too. He wasn't sure which was making him talk to her so angrily. "Is that why you had sex with him? Because he wouldn't give you up? I had my duty. I had responsibilities." "And you think I didn't? I gave up everything to come with you. For what? This constant mistrust? To be sent back home in shame because your people don't approve? Give them time. When I bear your child, they'll have no choice. If you weren't such a coward, you'd know that." She stalked to him, avoiding Spock's hand as he tried to stop her. "I love you but even that isn't enough to make you fight for me." She was right. He had hurried home to her, but he was also considering sending her away. He loved her more than anything, and he was letting others push him into doing something he didn't want to do. He hated her for being right. "You love anyone who can make you happy in bed." Her hand was out to slap him, but he caught it and pulled her to him. Her voice was small again, tentative. "You make me happy. Don't force me to find someone else." He kissed her, not caring that his friends were watching. Or maybe enjoying that Spock was watching. Kirk pulled her closer. She was his. Let Spock see that. "Well, I guess it's an improvement on all the fighting." Bones was scanning them; Kirk pushed him away when the buzz of the instrument near his ear distracted him from Chris's tongue teasing his lips. "Something's got them, Spock. But I'll be damned if I can find any physical evidence of it." "Perhaps a mental approach would be more effective." Spock forced them apart, easily fending off Kirk's blows as anger filled him again at his friend's interference. "We're busy," Kirk said through gritted teeth. "Yes. I can see that." Chapel flew at Spock, trying to pull him off of Kirk. "Doctor, if you do not mind." "What?" Oh, right." He held a hypospray against Chapel's neck. A moment later, she sagged, suddenly calm. Looking at McCoy, she said, "Please make her stop. Before she comes back. I don't know how long I can hold her off. The drug...give him the drug." "The sedative would appear to inhibit whatever is attempting to control them," Spock said. McCoy nodded, held the hypo to Kirk's neck and let the sedative flow. It felt cool on his skin, then anything but cool as the chill seemed to fall back in reaction. Kirk felt the presence fade too, not gone but no longer in charge. "Help us, Bones." "Spock's going to try a mind meld. Quit fighting him, Jim." Kirk looked up at Spock, gave him a sheepish smile. "Sorry, old friend." "You are not yourself," Spock said softly, as he initiated the meld. Kirk had the strange sensation of being buffeted by two forces on either side of his consciousness. Spock's warm and familiar presence pushed against him, and he moved aside willingly, giving him access to the cold force that waited on the other side. "Leave," Spock ordered. "No," the presence said. "Who are you?" "My name is Kellor. I am ruler of this place." "Not this place. This is not your place." "Where is my place?" "Your place is a world long dead." There was silence then, and Kirk had the feeling Kellor was digesting that. "Where is she?" the presence finally asked. "She has also invaded another. You must both leave." Kellor ignored him, and Kirk could feel Spock trying to get closer to the presence. But he was no longer talking to Spock; he turned his attentions to Kirk. "He wants her," Kellor said, and utter coldness accompanied his words. "No," Spock said, trying to reach them both. "He will keep her from us." Kirk remembered how she felt next to him, beneath him, above him. He wanted her. "Chris," he murmured, holding out his hand. He heard a scuffle, then felt her hand on his. "Doctor, do not let them touch," Spock somehow said, his mind deep in the meld but as aware as Kirk was of what was going on around them. But McCoy didn't answer. Melanya had always been a good fighter. Then she touched Spock, her hand resting on his back, and Spock groaned. "No. I did not do this." The images of her and his friend making love rolled over Kirk, and he raised his hands, tightened them around Spock's neck, squeezing hard. Spock's consciousness faded a bit as he struggled, one hand trying to push Kirk's hands off as his other desperately tried to maintain the meld. His will lessened as he was overcome with memories he had nothing to do with. He'd had nothing to do with this. Spock had had nothing to do with this. Kirk forced his hands to open, pulled them away from Spock, then pushed the Vulcan away from him, breaking the meld with a mind- numbing crack. He could feel Chris beside him. She'd had nothing to do with this either. She was just the vessel Melanya had chosen to pop into. "You killed me," she said softly. "No. He killed her." He touched her cheek. "Come here." He pulled her to him, his lips finding hers. Gentle this time. Kirk to Chapel, no ghosts allowed. Her lips felt just as good when they were just hers. "We are not you," he said to the presence. "Get out." He felt only resistance. And calm, deadly cold anger. "Chris," he whispered as he stopped kissing her, pulling her into a tight hug. Her, not this Melanya who'd cheated on her lover for whatever reason. Not a woman who Kellor had killed in some kind of fit, pulling his too-sharp knife across her throat and watching her bleed to death on the darkened lawn, before dropping the knife and wandering away to collapse in the hallway and awaken without the memory. "Someone killed her," Kellor said from deep within him. "He did it." He meant Spock. "No. You killed her. You know you did. You sent me the memories." "I would not have. I loved her." But there was no certainty left. "You killed her," Chris said, somehow knowing his thoughts. She burrowed into Kirk's neck, her arms gripping him tightly. "You did. But this man wouldn't. He couldn't." Kirk smiled. "It's why you picked us." "Why you picked him." Chapel pulled away. "It's over." It was the wrong thing to say, it was what Melanya had said to Kellor after she'd told him that he'd driven her to his friend. It's over. Over. Over. He'd make it over. "It's not over," Kellor whispered to him. Kirk pulled out a knife he hadn't realized he'd stuck into his pocket, a folded knife that he snapped open, the sharp blade gleaming in the sickbay lights. "You love him," Kirk said, looking from her to Spock. It was true, but it wasn't wrong, wasn't anything he should be upset over. She wasn't his; she could love whomever she chose. He tried to drop the knife, could feel Kellor fighting him--and winning. Kirk moved the knife closer to Chris's neck. "I used to think I loved him," Chapel said, holding her hands out, not even trying to stop him or push the blade away. "I know you can't do it." He moved closer to her. Spock stepped in close too. "No," she said, pushing him out of the way. "Let him finish this." She smiled at him. "I don't even know what to call you." That stopped him. Him, not Kellor. He'd made love to her, and she didn't know what to call him. "Chris." "If you're going to kill me," she said, pulling his hand up, the knife nearly touching her white, white throat, "shouldn't I be able to call you Jim?" His hand shook. "Jim," she whispered. It sounded so good to hear her say that. "Yes," he drew out the word, turned it into a hiss. He wanted her. Not as Kellor to Melanya. He, Kirk, wanted to make love to this woman who held his blade to her throat. He suspected that making love to her would be better than making love to a ghost had been. He realized she was shaking, and tears welled up in her eyes. "Jim. Choose." Her voice shook. He dropped the knife. "Get out. It's over," he told Kellor. The presence fought him. "No. Kill her. She is cheating." "No, your woman cheated. Melanya cheated and you killed her and that is the truth you've been seeking." "I lost her." Kellor's uncertainty was back. "You killed her." "Melanya. I loved you." Kirk could feel Chapel's hands on his cheek. "I know," she said, her voice suddenly deeper and filled with sorrow. "Come, my love. It's time to leave." A presence brushed Kirk's mind, soft and determined, not unlike Chapel in that regard. He felt Kellor resist for a moment, and cold overwhelmed him. Then the cold was gone and he felt alone in his own mind. As soon as Kellor was gone, the sedative kicked in full force. He slid to the floor, was aware of Chapel collapsing next to him. "Chris." He held out his hand, trying to tell her it was nice to hear her call him Jim, but she was already unconscious. He followed her into lovely, warm oblivion. An oblivion with no voices in his head but his own. ------------------ "You're cleared for duty," McCoy said, as he snapped his tricorder shut. Kirk looked around sickbay. They'd put Chris as far from him as it was physically possible and still have her in the ward. McCoy followed his gaze. "She's fine too." Kirk nodded, he started to get up, wanted to walk over to her, but McCoy touched his arm. "What purpose is it going to serve, Jim?" He stopped. "She's had a hard time of it with Roger and Spock. Does she need you messing her up too? Besides, she knows as well as I do how you feel about getting involved with your crew." Kirk thought of her with Spock, was gratified to feel no roiling jealousy. He sighed. "I just want to talk to her." "Talk to her later. When whatever happened between you two isn't so raw. When it's not so immediate." He nodded, getting up slowly. He forced himself to turn his back on her, to walk out of sickbay and not look at her. He'd made love to her. He didn't have to leave her. He could have her. She worked in medical, the most autonomous section on his ship. It wasn't the same as it would have been with Rand or with Uhura. He barely saw Chapel during a normal week. He could have her, dammit. He kept walking. All the way to his quarters for a shower, then up to the Bridge to reclaim his life. He threw himself into his work, and fortunately his work cooperated, providing ample opportunities for distraction in the form of adventure and also lovely, willing ladies who did not work for him in any capacity. He had to ignore that he felt guilty when he passed her in the corridor, saw her blush slightly and murmur, "Good evening, Captain." "Nurse Chapel," he murmured back, just as pleasantly. She didn't meet his eyes. Not then, and not when they were in orbit around a shore leave planet, when he ran into her on the ship instead of down on the surface that everyone else was enjoying. Everyone else but him and the others who'd volunteered to man the ship. He'd thought she was going down. It was why he'd stayed away. "Not going down to the surface, Chris?" She shook her head, walked away quickly. He hurried to catch up to her. "I'm sorry." "There's nothing to be sorry for. It's like it was with Sargon. We were just being used." She finally met his eyes, and he saw pain in hers. "I know you didn't feel those things for me." "Just like you didn't feel anything for me?" "Right," she said, turning away quickly. He grabbed her, pulled her back so he could see her face. She was crying. "Chris, I'm sorry." She jerked her arm away from him. "You already said that, Captain." Her tone shouldn't have bothered him, shouldn't have made him feel guilty, but it did. But it didn't bother him as much as the request that showed up from her in his internal comms queue a few hours later. A request for transfer. He felt as if he'd been sucker punched. He walked down to her quarters, nodding pleasantly to the few people still on board. He rang her chime, and when she didn't answer, he rang it again and again. He would not use his override access. She needed to let him in. Finally, the door opened and she stood in front of him. Her eyes were red, and she looked less than thrilled to see him. "Request denied," he said. She closed her eyes. As if she was holding back some great pain. "Why, Chris?" "I'm going to medical school. I gave up so much when I came on board." Melanya's words to Kellor, only Kirk knew it hadn't been him who Chapel had given up so much for. It had been Korby and Spock. "We need to talk," he said quietly. Nodding, she let him in, her door closing quietly behind him. "I'm sorry, Chris, I--" "--I know you're sorry. You've said that too many times for me not to get it, sir." She sounded tougher. Maybe, for her, the experience of being linked with the ghost of Melanya had been beneficial. She looked pretty damned commanding standing there glaring at him. Or she did until she had to blink back tears. "I'm sor--" He shut up, pulled her to him. He just wanted to hold her, just wanted to comfort her. Comfort was usually not delivered by a kiss, by his arms going around her and pulling her fiercely to him, or by her mouth opening under his the way he remembered it doing before. Somehow, without Kellor inside him, touching her was better. More vivid, not all mixed up with memories of Melanya. "Just you," he murmured. She was clutching him, holding him as if he was likely to run. "Just me," she said, finally letting go of him and trying to push him away. He resisted. "Do you want me to go? Or do you think I want to go?" "Does it matter?" He nodded. "I think you want to go. I think you feel guilty over what happened and that's why you're here." He grinned despite the look on her face. "You think that was a kiss fueled by guilt?" She started to smile and rubbed at her eyes. "Well..." "It wasn't." He eased her up onto her desk, moved in and pulled her closer. "Kiss me." "Sir, no." "Jim. We've made love, Chris. Call me Jim." "We haven't made love. They made love using our bodies. There's a difference, one I'm well aware of." "Fine, I'll kiss you." He did, and she didn't resist. But she didn't help him much this time either. When he pulled away, she was crying again. She looked up at him, stroking his hair, her touch light and sweet. "I felt what it was like to have someone who I couldn't be sure would keep me. I felt that through Melanya. And I went through it with Roger. Do you know that I actually felt more sure of him when he was missing than the whole time I was with him?" She shook her head. "And you? Duty and obligation. No romantic involvement with your own crew. Those are your rules." She smiled, but it did not reach her eyes. "How long could this last?" "I don't know." He noticed that she had not let go of him. He slowly pressed against her more firmly, heard her moan. "You do want me? You, not Melanya?" She nodded but didn't look at him. "When do you want to leave?" "As soon as a replacement is named. I don't want to leave Len in a lurch." "What about me?" Her expression turned hard. "You can find your own replacement. You've been holding auditions if rumors are to be believed." It annoyed him that someone, or many someones, were talking about what he did when he was off the ship. "It wasn't that way." "Oh, it was just meaningless sex, then? That makes me feel so much better, Captain." "You aren't going to call me Jim, are you?" "No, sir. I'm not." They stared at each other, bodies close, but somehow a million miles away. He felt as if she was going to pull away from him, and she'd be gone forever before they even got a chance to find out what they might have together. "I get to Earth from time to time, you know." He watched her face as she said it. She smiled. Just barely, but it was a smile. "Unless you plan to be studying twenty-four/seven, I could stop by." She looked up at him. Her smile had faded but there was something in her eyes. Something lighter. Maybe hope? Maybe just the willingness to give him a chance? He didn't care as long as it wasn't the look of her walking away from him forever. He pressed on. "I know I don't know you." "I don't know you either." "I want to, Chris. I want to get to know you." He leaned in, burying his nose in her hair, then in her neck. "I want to learn the smell of you. The taste of you." He licked behind her ear, then kissed his way around to her lips. She kissed him back this time. He pulled away. "Unless it's Spock you really want? Then I'll leave you alone. I won't get in the way of that." She shook her head, looking away as if embarrassed. "There's nothing to get in the way of. It was a nice fantasy, but it doesn't age very well." "Then why not give us a chance?" She shook her head. "Why not?" "All the other woman." At his look, she held up a hand. "Oh, they don't matter now, not when we're not together. But in the future, they'll hurt even more. I know what it's like; Roger always had someone on the side." She laughed; it was a bitter, bitter sound. "I could relate to Kellor too. I sympathized with his pain. If I'd actually found Roger with someone, I might have killed them too." "Maybe that's why Melanya picked you?" He smiled at her. "If that's true, then why would you want to risk being around me?" She pushed him away from her hard, and slipped off the desk. "Go away, Jim." He smiled. She'd finally used his name. As she tried to pass him, he pulled her back, kissing her as soon as he had her held securely in his arms. She struggled for half a second, then her arms wrapped around him, and she was kissing him desperately. He felt a chill and laughed to himself as he realized it wasn't due to any ghostly presence but because she was tearing his clothes off him. He returned the favor, falling onto her bed with her, their bodies joining as if they really did have five-thousand-year old memories to guide them. It was even better now that they were alone in their heads. At least it was better until they finally lay still and she started to cry again. "Don't," he said, cuddling her against him. "Don't, Chris." Her lips found his, her kisses soft and somehow sad. He found himself overwhelmed by the need to take care of her. Something about her touched some part of him deep inside, called to things he'd thought he'd given up on a long time ago. Maybe that's why Melanya picked her? Maybe the ghost had been able to tell that he would never be able to hurt Chris? "I can be faithful, you know." His voice was stern, but his lips on her ear made her laugh. "I'm not asking you to be. I'm not asking you for anything." "You're done with that?" She nodded firmly. "No more romance." "You have a future. Plans and goals and somewhere you need to be." He kissed her again. "Chris, I can relate to that. And respect you for it." She pulled him to her. "Just make love to me. I don't want to think or talk. I just want to be close to you for a little while." He did as she wanted, might have overachieved in how many times he sent her over the edge. When they finally lay still, she was very quiet. "Your request is approved." He traced simple figures on her arm, felt her nestle closer to him. He knew she was crying again. "Thank you." "You're welcome." He didn't stop touching her arm, his fingers settling lightly on her skin, making her shiver. "It will probably take Starfleet Medical a few weeks to find a replacement. And you'll have to stay at least another week to train him or her." "That's true," she said, as she kissed his chest. "We could get to know one another before you leave?" He tried to not make it an order. It had to be her choice. She smiled, as if she knew how hard it was for him to not just order her back to his bed. "Yes, Jim, we could." "Would you like that?" He kissed her cheek, then nuzzled her ear. "Mmmm." "I'll take that as a yes." She pushed him away gently. "I'm not sure this is a good idea though. You have at least two more years before the mission is over. Why get close just to have it ripped away?" "Yes, that would be stupid." He eased her to her back, saw her smile as he pushed into her again. He leaned down, whispered in her ear, "I'm due back on Earth in four months for some mandatory training and a few strategic planning meetings. For two weeks, if that sounds good to you?" "You don't have to--" He put his hand over her mouth. "If that sounds good to you?" He looked at her sternly. He could feel her mouth turning up under his palm. Then she nodded. "Good. I'm glad we got that settled." He let go of her mouth, put it to much better use. It was quite a while later that they lay quietly again. "How did you know I wouldn't let Kellor kill you?" he asked. "As we said, we don't know each other very well." She turned so she could see his eyes. "I just knew." She touched his temple, brushing back his hair. "I didn't just stay on this ship because of Roger and then because of Spock. I stayed because serving under you has been one of the best experiences of my life. I've learned a lot from you, you know. You're a wonderful captain." Of all the things she could have said, this one probably touched him the most. "I think that's why Melanya picked me. Because she knew I'd trust you with my life." Her face became more serious, in fact she looked a little scared. "And with my heart." "Really?" She nodded. "But I'm stupid that way." He laughed. "I'm so glad." He held her, content to just feel her next to him. Those lovely women he'd been with lately had never been this warm. The sex had been fun, but there had been no real connection afterwards. Not like this. Kellor and Melanya had chosen well. "Did Melanya know he killed her?" he asked, suddenly curious. She nodded. "But she didn't tell me, not at first. I think she wanted me to get close to you and not be afraid of you until it was absolutely necessary." She kissed his neck, nuzzling her way around and down his chest. He shivered at her touch. "I love that ghost." He smiled as she continued her explorations downward. "You're trying to resurrect the dead, you realize?" She looked up at him. Her grin was terribly wicked. "You think so?" "I'm good but not that good." He was about to pull her up so he could kiss her some more, when he felt life coming back to places he thought for sure were finished for the time being. "Maybe I am that good." Her laughter was warm and sweet and filled the cabin. Filled him too. Chasing out any lingering remnants of Kellor and his guilt and rage. Trusting her, Kirk surrendered to the pleasure she was giving him. Having the ghost of Kellor inside him had been scary and dangerous. But he couldn't regret that it had happened if having her in bed with him now was the result. He wondered what having her in his life in other ways would be like. He had a feeling he was going to like it. Possession--everyone should be so lucky. FIN ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ASCEM messages are copied to a mailing list. Most recent messages can be found at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASCEML. NewMessage: