Anyway, the ship docked in America, at Anapolis. And Ray got out and ran loose on the streets for awhile, really trying to get the whole "street kid" experience. Trouble was, this was the early 24th century, and there were no other street kids. Everyone in the world had some home, even if it was an orphanage or a foster home. But Ray didn't want to live like that, he wanted to be free. Course everyplace was pretty clean and neat. There were no garbage cans in alleys, no trash or cardboard boxes anywhere. In fact, there was really no place to hide from the authorities. Still, he managed to survive on his own without being picked up, for a few months. But eventually, he was brought in by Child Welfare.

They found him alone on the street, and took him in, against his protests. For awhile he had been able to fool people into thinking that he was just a normal kid out walking or playing in the streets, and there's no harm in that, then, is there? But finally they caught on, realized he was all alone, and they tried to get him to go to an orphanage. But the first night there, he ran away, and they didn't see him again for a week.

But he was tired of living on the streets. all he really wanted was to live alone, on his rules. But he needed credits. So he tried to get a job. He went back to the shipyard, and asked if he could get a job pretending to be a stowaway on the tourist rides, like he had sort of done in coming here to America. They wanted to talk to his parents, and he finally sort of mumbled about the Welfare people. So they called them, and it was agreed after awhile that Ray could take the job and live on his own, with a few conditions (aren't there always?) He had to have someone check up on him every day for a trial period, and later, when they were satisfied that he was capable, he could schedule his own checkins with them, as long as he did so at least once a week.

Things went like this for a few years. When he was 15, he quit his job, and went out to find a new one, this was getting old, and so was he. He had learned more than stowing away on his ship, he had learned old- fashioned seamanship, he learned every job there was aboard a ship like that. He had also learned acting, that was after all part of his job. But now he wanted to get a job on a real ship, doing real work. Of course, real ships those days were many centuries ahead of the ship he was used to.

He had had a tutor at his old job, and he was very bright, Ray was. He quickly learned anything he studied, and easily surpassed most regular kids his age. He had already earned his high school equivalence degree, and now he would have to go to college or trade school. He went in to learn all he could about modern sea vessels. And it only took him a couple years to be about as knowledgeable as anyone around ships. He quickly got a job, and just as quickly realized that modern seafaring wasn't for him. He'd had hints of this in school, but hadn't wanted to be a quitter, so he had stuck with it. But soon he quit his job. when he was 18, he decided space was the new frontier, just the thing for him. He got into Starfleet Academy, and spent an entire semester there before dropping out. He realized they were much too cleancut for his tastes.

Then he thot about getting a job on a merchant ship, and he spent a few years on one, a shabby old ship called the Drake. It was barely spaceworthy; most probably wouldn't even call it that. But Ray loved it. He visited lots of places throughout the quadrant, making contacts everywhere he went. Soon he was the first officer on the Drake. After a while, he realized he was still moving up, but he couldn't be captain of this ship, so he left to buy his own ship with his savings (and he had a fair amount of those by now). He had enough money to buy himself a ship, but not a very big one. It was slightly smaller than the Drake, but in slightly better condition. It was about five times the size of a runabout. He called it the Robert April. He did alright with this ship, and had a fine crew (including his first officer, Danomar Falcon, who had been the engineer on the Drake).

when he turned 30, he met a woman, Cassandra O'Malley. He fell in love for the first time in his life. Cassandra liked adventure, but not as much as Ray did. She wanted to live in one place. So they married two years later, and settled down on Earth, in San Francisco. Ray sold the Robert April to his crew, and Danomar took over as captain. Ray bought a little bar that not many people knew even existed, in a dark corner of the city. it was already frequented by people from the TDF, some of them people Ray had met before.

So he's been running the Dragons' Lair since then, for a number of decades now. He hasn't been back in space since then, not more than a few times, anyway. Cassandra helps run the place most of the time. They have one son, Micheal.

Danomar later worked with a man named Ray Doocott, who he introduced to Cass in 2340. Cass and Ray married in 2342, and settled down in San Francisco, Terra. They had a son, Micheal, in 2346.

Cass has had a number of jobs. She dabbled in xenobiology, and knows a good deal about similarities and differences in various humanoid anatomies (espeicially terran, bajoran, and cardassian). She does some writing now and then, both technical and fiction of various sorts. She's a bit of a scientist and inventor. She's worked in counselling. She's a philosopher. She's...well, i can't even think of everything...half-decent pilot, can handle a weapon, done a little intelligence work, and works in the Dragons' Lair, which her husband bought a couple months after they settled on Earth. Really, almost anything you can think of, she's done.

(In the Original Rounder Trilogy continuity), around the time of the Conglomerate conflict, he was expecting a transfer, and a promotion to Lt. Commander. Instead he was promoted straight to Commander, and became first officer of the Lone Star. He died in 2377 on Ocampa, during the war against the extra-galactic Empire (from the Star Wars galaxy).