TWENTY-TWO YEARS AGO

His roommate was a slob.

This was the first thing Chris Larabee concluded the minute he stepped into the room he would be occupying for the next four years.

The half of the room he would be inhabiting was still in the pristine condition of vacancy, with its regulation made Starfleet bed with sheets tucked so tight one could bounce a coin off it, if one had a coin that is. His desk, side tables and the closet were similarly tidy, while the walls awaited him to add his own distinct touch, once he got around to unpacking his bags.

The other half of the room resembled a crime scene following the detonation of a photon grenade.

Clothes were strewn everywhere. On chairs, on the floor, across the unmade bed and on closer observation, Chris realised not all of it was male, if the frilly pink bra hanging from the lampshade was any indication. An impressive collection of empty drink cans and disposable food containers were gathered in slovenly worship on the floor next to the bed. Still, this untidy mess offered some hope the person with whom he would be sharing living space with, wasn’t a complete idiot. The datapads scattered across the desk flanked the collection of orange rinds, food wrappers indicating someone who took his studies seriously.

Chris lowered himself on his bed, exhaling loudly and debating whether or not demanding a new room assignment was the way to spend his first day at the Academy. Behind their shared bathroom door, he heard the hiss of a water shower and raised a brow at that. Most people took sonics, but Chris supposed he couldn’t dislike anyone who liked water showers, he’d grown up with them. His father was old fashioned and often cited no one could get really clean in a sonic shower, and Chris tended to agree.

“Hey Sweetie! Can you hand me a towel please?”

Chris’s eyes flew open, and he stared at the bra hanging from the lampshade once more. There was a naked girl in the room with him. At seventeen, this was a big deal. Reaching for one of the towels on the collection left for him on the bed, Chris took it to her instead of grabbing one from his room mate’s side. Frankly, some of those towels were cultivating bacteria on the verge of developing language skills. Sliding the door open, he left a crack just wide enough to let the girl know he was there.

A slender arm poked through the opening, clutching at air until Chris placed the towel within her grasp. As he did, Chris took note of what a nice arm it was, all graceful and luminous as it was covered in beads of water. He couldn’t help but sigh a little at that glorious dusky skin, slick and gleaming before her arm withdrew into the bathroom again.

“Thanks, Bucky!”

Bucky? Okay, that made sense. The guy liked being called Buchanan as much as Chris liked being referred to as Christopher. Still, Bucky knew how to get girls to take showers in his dorm room, Chris thought, unaware the universe was presently laughing its cosmic ass off at the understatement of all time.

As he stared at the bathroom door mulling over the girl in shower and what she might look like, the hiss behind him indicated Bucky was back. Turning around, Chris saw his roommate, Buchanan ‘Bucky’ Wilmington for the first time.

First off, the guy was tall. Really tall. He stood at least three inches taller than Chris, with a head of dark, unruly hair and, warm brown eyes. He was also half-naked, clad only in sweatpants, barefoot while carrying what appeared to be a rose in between his teeth, and a tray of food in his hands. Stepping in, he caught sight of Chris and stopped short in surprise.

“Oh hey,” he spoke through the stem of the rose, “you must be Chris! Kind of early aren’t you? I didn’t think you’d get here till noon.”

“We start classes tomorrow,” Chris pointed out somewhat defensively as ‘Bucky’ unloaded everything he was carrying on Chris’s desk. “I wanted to get here early.”

“Early, huh?” ‘Bucky’ broke into an utterly affable grin which told Chris immediately how he managed to get the girl in the shower. “Let me guess, you’re one of those guys who planned on being an admiral from the time you could walk?”

Chris bristled at the taunt because he was absolutely correct.

“No,” Chris returned, not wanting to look like an over-achieving tool with delusions of grandeur. “I just wanted to get here early.”

“Don’t sweat it,” Bucky slapped him on the shoulder. “I’m just messing with you. We all want to be Kirk right?”

Before he could answer, Chris had a hand thrust at him.

“Name’s Buck Wilmington.”

“Not Bucky?” Chris stared at him as he took the outstretched hand.

“Hell no.... oh?” He stopped short at that and glanced slyly at the bathroom door. “You’ve met Lupe. Well you know how girls are, once they get attached to you, they start giving you cute nicknames.”

Actually, Chris didn’t know. Not in the slightest.

“Yeah, sure, happens to me all the time.”

If getting to second base could be considered happening to him all the time. The truth was, Chris had been so single-minded during most of his adolescence in achieving his dream of qualifying for Academy entry, there hadn’t really been a lot of time for girls, other than a few random dates. Furthermore, they tended to find him a little intense, which Chris never entirely understood.

“Stick with me,” Buck said with a grin, understanding quite a bit about Chris Larabee from his half-hearted answer, and decided the guy needed to get laid in the worst way. “We’ll get through the next four years without any trouble.”

He lied. There was always trouble, and Chris enjoyed every second of it.

“Captain?”

Casey Well’s voice snapped Chris out of the memory he had repeatedly been revisiting since Ezra delivered the news to him Buck was taken by the Borg. Seated behind the desk of his Ready Room, he saw the girl bringing him a tray of food even though the food replicators were still working and he was more than capable of getting something to eat. Although if the truth was known, he’d skipped breakfast to get to the bridge and food had been the last thing on his mind during the previous few hours.

“Casey,” Chris sat up in his chair as she brought the tray to his desk. Even before she reached it, his stomach rankled in interest at whatever she was bringing him to eat. “You didn’t have to bring me anything.”

“Don’t be silly Captain,” she gave him a look he recognised as one of infinite patience. Strange how all the women in his life seemed to share that same expression. “It’s my job to make sure you eat so you can do yours.”

“Right,” he decided not to argue with her. Easing back into his chair, he saw she’d brought him a club sandwich and some fruit, what he recognised as her recipe to keep his strength up when there were in a crisis situation. She set it down on his table and then promptly went to the replicator on the wall panel to program him his cup of Jamaican blend.

Chris watched her for a moment, envying her youth and the fact the only thing she was responsible for was herself and a somewhat irritable Captain who was not always as kind as he could be. Seeing her made him think of that girl Buck dated. Lupe. The one who started his oldest friend’s fascination with Latin women. Casey was sweet like Lupe had been, sunny even though there was a world of tragedy in her life.

“Here you go,” she set down his coffee cup and flashed him a smile.

“Thank you, Casey,” Chris replied, realising there and then how much he would miss her when she left the ship.

Instead of leaving, the girl lowered herself into the seat in front of his desk. Staring at him with a serious expression, Chris couldn’t fathom what she wanted.

“Captain, are you alright?”

Chris stared at her surprise. “Of course, I am. Why do you ask?”

“Captain,” she tilted her head and gave him a look which told him immediately, he was not fooling her at all. “I just wanted to know if you’re okay, I mean with Commander Wilmington....” she didn’t finish the sentence, but then again, she didn’t need to.

“Yeoman, I’m fine.” He insisted, but she didn’t move and continued to stare at him. “Really, Now run along, I’ve got things to do.”

“It’s okay, Captain,” she said quietly. “Whatever you decide to do, it’s okay.”

He had intended to tell her that this was not her concern, but the look in her eyes, the understanding and affection he saw there silenced him, and despite himself, it felt liberating to hear those words spoken with such sincerity. Before he knew it, the need to vent his frustration just as Ezra had done became too much to restrain, and the words flew out of his mouth before he could stop himself.

“No, it’s not okay, Casey. It’s just not. I have to get us out of here,” he gestured at Fluidic space beyond the window of his Ready Room. “I have to get us home, and I can’t figure out how to do it without sacrificing Buck and all the others, because even if we do manage to find a way out, how can I justify staying to search every inch of Fluidic Space for them? I can’t risk everyone just to find a few people.”

“But it’s not just people, he’s your friend.”

“He’s more than my friend,” Chris bit back with more emotion than he intended. “He’s my family, and I owe him more than I can even begin to imagine. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be in this chair commanding this ship. At the worst moments of my life, he’s been there. Now, I have to decide whether his life is worth the risk to the rest of the ship. When Mary and I were taken by the C’Kaia, Buck came after us. He was ready to chase us all the way to the Delta Quadrant to get us back. How can I look at myself in the mirror when I can’t do the same for him?”

“I don’t know Captain,” Casey sighed, having no answers for him, but decided he just needed someone to listen. “I know whatever you do, Commander Wilmington will understand.”

“I wish I could be so sure, Casey.”

“I am Captain because I know Commander Wilmington. He’s got more faith in you than anyone else on the ship. If there is a way to save him, you will find it, and if you can’t, he’ll know that too. He’d want you to do everything you can to keep Inez and JD safe for him. That’s the truth.”

Chris turned away, unable to look at her and realising begrudgingly she was right. If it came down to it, Buck would want him to make sure JD and Inez survived. To that end, Buck Wilmington would risk anything, even what remained of his life. Closing his eyes, Chris felt more empathy with Ezra Standish than ever before and hoped Josiah was able to nurse the man through his pain. Hell knew Chris’s own wouldn’t be fading anytime soon if the worst came to pass.

“Thank you, Casey,” Chris faced her again. “Thank you so much for listening.”

“Don’t you know Captain? ” she gave him a little smile as she got up to leave. “It’s my job.”

Alex Styles couldn’t bring herself to take Buck’s seat when she returned to the bridge after helping JD and Drew Katovit with reprogramming the nanoprobes. While it felt good to be back on the Maverick command deck again, she couldn’t ignore the noticeable void left by the First Officer’s absence. It was just as jarring as the empty space at tactical Ezra customarily occupied. The senior staff had always felt like family, but right now, that family was fractured.

On the viewscreen ahead, there was nothing but the endless sea of Fluidic Space, and like the Captain, Alex disliked the absence of stars. As the Science Officer who spent hours in stellar cartography charting the Frontier for star mapping purposes, the lack of them felt as if the oxygen had suddenly disappeared from her lungs. Fluidic space felt suffocating and never did she think it more apparent than now when they were experiencing a momentary bit of calm before the next crisis.

Following the increasing rate of decay in the microbial life of the plasma of Fluidic space, Vin’s stewardship of the helm took the Maverick further and further away from the Coral and the crippled bioships. As well as Buck and Julia, Alex thought glumly. The atmosphere on the bridge was as disconsolate as her mood, with Mary in her chair deep in thought. Alex wondered what was on her mind and guessed she was worried about the Captain, who was slowly being crushed by the choices he was making for the good of the crew, but not himself.

“How are you doing?” Alex drifted over to Mary and asked discreetly.

Mary lifted her eyes to Alex and offered the Science Officer a little sigh. “I’m fine, I’m just worried about Chris. He’s in an impossible situation and whatever choice he makes is going to hurt.”

Alex nodded in understanding. “I don’t blame you. As much as I want out of this place,” she glanced at the view screen and the translucent world of murky green in front of them, “I want to get Buck and Julia back. The last thing he said to me is how he couldn’t imagine anything worse than being assimilated. It just kills me to know he’s living that nightmare now.”

“Chris will figure a way out of this,” Vin suddenly spoke up, surprising them both because he seemed engrossed in following the trail of the life-draining phenomena plaguing Fluidic Space. “Things look pretty bleak now, but we’ve been in rough spots we didn’t think we would get out of before, and we’re still here.”

“My husband the optimist,” Alex flashed him a radiant smile.

“You know it, Darlin,” Vin winked at her and his faint smile was a welcome sight in the face of the gloomy mood at present. It reminded both women there was hope and he was right. Hours earlier, they had faced death when the Captain ordered the self-destruct and just as quickly, Chris Larabee had turned their fortunes around so they could face another day.

All of a sudden, the bridge came alive with the shrill chirp of an alert. Though lacking the urgency of red alert, it was enough to send Alex hurrying to her station and rendering the attempt Vin made to alleviate the tension all but moot.

“What is it?” Mary asked.

“It’s the proximity alert,” Alex answered, her expression grave as she scanned the display.

“Is it them?” Vin glanced over his shoulder, poised to go into evasive maneuvers if the bio ships were back.

“No, I don’t think so,” Alex shook her head and tapped her combadge. “Captain Larabee, please report to the bridge.”

She didn’t offer any report mostly because he would be on the bridge in thirty seconds and Alex could use the time more efficiently to find out what had prompted the alert to sound in the first place. Scanning the area, she saw no signs of compression or displacement waves to indicate the fast approach of bioships. However, the pattern was familiar, and suddenly, the tension she felt bled out of her shoulders.

“What is it?” Chris asked as he emerged from his Ready Room and headed towards his command chair.

“I’m reading a mass in front of us, not unlike those produced by the swarm of jellyfish we saw at the Coral.”

“The proximity alert sounded because of that?” Chris stared at her with surprise, not to mention a little annoyance at being pulled out of his sojourn for jellyfish whose migratory path they happened to stumble upon.

“No,” she shook her head, her brow furrowing. “The sensors read them as an obstruction in our path because the swarm isn’t moving.”

“Isn’t moving?” Mary stared at her. “You mean they stopped swimming?”

“Hey, you all,” Vin called out, “you need to look at this.”

All eyes turned to the viewer and what they saw silenced them immediately.

Earlier, the Maverick crew had marvelled at the luminescent creatures moving across Fluidic Space, a perfect example of the beautiful, natural wildlife of this unusual dimension. Breathtaking in their beauty, the swarm had glided gracefully before the Maverick , utterly oblivious to the interlopers into their realm, concerned only with the journey they were taking.

No more.

The jellyfish drifted across the screen, lifeless and no longer beautiful. The bioluminescence of their bodies was diminishing, like the dying embers of a fire. One by one, they looked like stars blinking out in the sky, and as the light they produce began to vanish, a soft, wailing bellow moved through the plasma to reach the crew’s ears through the hull. It was of profound desperation and grief. At that moment, it didn’t matter if these weren’t intelligent creatures, it mattered they could feel the death around them.

“They’re dying,” Mary whispered, her hand covering her lips and Chris could see that haunting sound touched her heart because her eyes were misting with emotion. “They’re all dying.”

“How can they be dying?” Chris shot Alex a look. “We only saw them a few hours ago.”

“I’m not sure,” Alex shook her head. “But the entire swarm is affected. Captain, they’re all dying before our eyes.”

“How many are left alive?”

“No more than fifty,” Alex answered quickly, “but their life signs are fading fast. If something is to be done to save them, it has to be now.”

Chris thought of how many lives had been lost today, how many who might still die yet. At the end of the day, he might not be able to prevent those deaths, but right now, this was something he could change. The idea of these inoffensive, peaceful creatures being made extinct before his very eyes did not sit well with him, and he was going to do his best to help them if he could.

“Rain, this is the Captain,” Chris spoke after tapping his combadge. “I need you at Transporter Room 1 immediately.”

“Aye Captain,” Rain answered without question. “I’ll be there in a flash.”

“Good,” Chris turned to his Science Officer. “Tell Nathan to get down to Cetacean Ops.”

Alex nodded in understanding. Cetacean Ops was the section of the ship prepared for life forms that required something other than an oxygen environment to survive. While its name implied only water-based species could use its facilities, it was also tailored for life forms with more complex environmental needs. The trio of bays could be modified to host extreme ranges of temperature, air content and in this case, plasma.

“You’re going to bring them on board?” Mary asked, her eyes bright with the hope the survivors of the swarm could be saved. It pleased her to know, no matter how difficult things were, as members of Starfleet, they could still cling to their principles.

“Yeah,” Chris nodded. “The Cetacean Ops isn’t occupied at present. Those three bays are entirely sealed and can support these life forms. We could transport the survivors there until Nathan can figure out how to keep them alive. I’m not allowing these creatures to end up as collateral damage if what’s happening in Fluidic Space does turn out to be our fault. We’re Starfleet officers and our mandate is not just to seek out new life but also to render aid. I think this situation qualifies.

“Damn straight,” Vin agreed, giving Chris a grin that told the Captain he wholeheartedly agreed with Chris’s decision. Earlier on, he’d marvelled at the beauty of the swarm and hearing their heartbreaking sound of dying was more than he could stand. Once again, Chris’s actions justified the loyalty and the affection his crew had for him, even when he was suffering tremendous personal loss.

“Alright then,” Chris turned to the screen and felt his jaw clench when he saw another light extinguished. “Let’s bring them aboard while we still can.”

Sad.

It was the only word Chris Larabee could think of when he saw them. Behind the plexiglass bay of Cetacean Ops, Chris was mesmerized by the haunting beauty of the creatures before him, singing their tale of sorrow requiring no words to express. It penetrated the walls of the bays and touched the hearts of all who heard it. Grief exuded from every tragic note of their song, and it reached Chris very personally on a day when there was much to mourn.

The newest arrivals on board the Maverick sailed through the plasma environment inside the containment bays, the illumination of the room set to the radiance of Fluidic space. While dim, the bio-luminescent creatures or Fluidics as Nathan was calling them for now, trailed magenta light as they tested their new environment and Chris wished there was some way to communicate with them, to let them know he and his ship meant them no harm.

"They're so beautiful," Mary said next to him. "And so sad."

"Yeah," Chris nodded. Earlier on, the size of their swarm had been large enough for the Maverick to believe they were being attacked by ships. That the number was now able to fit into three bays in Cetacean Ops with room to spare, filled the Captain and the explorer he was at heart, with a mixture of rage and shame. Suddenly, he imagined he was Cortes and his Conquistadors, arriving in the new world only to end the one already there. "Considering there's about fifty of them left, it's almost their entire school."

"Are you able to adjust the universal translator to communicate?" Chris glanced at Alex, who was hard at work with her translator attempting to do just that.

"No," Alex shook her head. "This species may not communicate in any way we can interpret. I'm afraid they're not that sophisticated."

"They're telepathic," Mary announced.

"You can sense them?" Captain and Science Officer turned to her in surprise.

"Very mildly," Mary explained. "That's how their telepathy works, it’s carried through their song."

"What are they feeling?" Chris almost didn't want to know because it was evident in the sounds echoing through his ship.

"There's a bit of fear, but there's a great deal of grief." Mary blinked, and Chris saw her eyes glistening a little and knew whatever she was able to glean from her connection to the creatures, it was affecting her emotionally. "They may not be sophisticated by our reckoning, but they know loss. They understand many of their numbers have died and they don't know why."

"We transported one of the dead Fluidics to Sick Bay so Nathan could do a post-mortem," Alex explained. "Perhaps that might give us a few more answers."

Mary stepped closer to the glass as one of the Fluidics approached, its body pulsing with violet light. The Protocol Officer pressed her palm against the transparent surface, only to have the Fluidic repeat the gesture with one of its tendrils. The gossamer-like filaments at the tip spread out into a hand almost as if in greeting. As it did, the magenta shade of its body turned into sapphire, and Chris watched Mary’s lips spread into a smile.

"What is it saying?"

Mary turned to Chris and Alex and blinked, a tear rolled down her moist eyes. "Hello."

Alex broke out into a smile while Chris raised his gaze towards the glass, and for the first time, Fluidic Space became a region as wondrous as any in the universe. He wanted to save it, not because it would avert a war with Species 8472 but because this was the reason why he had become a starship Captain, to protect every beautiful, fantastic corner of the universe for the diverse creatures living in it. In that instance, he knew something else as well.

He was not letting Buck go, not Buck nor Julia.

The doors of the bay opened behind them with the usual hiss and the eager voice of Nathan Jackson sliced through the melody around them.

"Chris! I got this! I know what's causing it."

All three officers turned to the healer in surprise. Nathan was so excited by his discovery, he was still wearing his scrubs. In his haste to reach them with news that needed personal delivery instead of relaying through a combadge, he had forgotten to remove them.

"What do you mean?" Chris stared at his CMO, hoping he had news that would crack this mystery wide open because honestly, the way their luck was going lately, Chris didn't think he could tolerate any more disappointments.

"I told you earlier on, there was something familiar about all this," Nathan explained, realizing what he was wearing and taking off the surgical gown over the top of his uniform. "Until I did the autopsy of the Fluidics, I couldn’t figure out how."

"And now you can?" Chris asked, wanting the man to get to the point quickly. He had little or no patience left today.

"Yes," Nathan nodded. "As I suspected, every cell they possessed, was being drained of energy and even though whatever caused it has moved on, Fluidic space itself is the reason for the continuing decay. If this were normal space, the drain would have stopped after the cause moved on but because we're not in a vacuum but a matter state environment, it's continuing, and because of that, it's wiping out whole species in its wake."

"What is 'it'?"

Nathan told them.

Chris's jaw tightened. "Alex, I want a senior staff meeting in ten minutes, everyone, including Ezra."

"Aye Captain," Alex nodded, with just enough lift in her voice to show the news just delivered to them was the first break they had received in an otherwise traumatic day.

Less than ten minutes later, the senior staff was gathered in the Conference Room once more. Though Buck and Julia's absence was still profoundly felt, this time they had a purpose they could achieve, since they were prevented from tackling the more formidable issue of retrieving their lost shipmates. Chris had summoned Ezra to join them, suspecting the distraction might do the man more good and frankly because the solution to the problem Nathan had identified required all the resources at his disposal.

Ezra seemed a great deal more composed than their last meeting, and though there was no doubt in Chris's mind he was still gripped in the same anguish as his Captain regarding Julia and Buck, he appeared ready to work, his consummate professional mask back in place again. Chris had no doubt, Josiah, who was seated next to him, was responsible for much of this. Since Chris dismissed Ezra, Josiah had been at his side, offering comfort to a man who normally abhorred showing anyone his emotions.

"Alex?" Chris prompted her to begin the meeting, mostly because while Nathan had the cause, she had a better grasp of its history.

Alex had pulled together a quick report for the Senior Staff that would segue into Nathan's discovery during the autopsy of the dead Fluidic native.

"Unfortunately for all of us, Species 8472 is correct in assuming this threat does originate in the Alpha Quadrant and in particular, our section of it. Where they are wrong, is in the assumption that this is our fault. It isn't. In the year 2267, stardate 4307.1, a Federation starship was en route to Starbase 6 not far from the Gamma 7A star system, where it was directed to investigate the loss of contact, not just with the inhabitants of that system, but also the USS Intrepid, one of the few Starfleet ships with an all Vulcan crew."

"All Vulcan?" Vin raised his brow at that. "Isn't that a little...I don't know, exclusive?"

That was the most diplomatic word Vin could think to use.

"Back then," Mary explained, "it was common practice for there to be an all Vulcan crew, mostly because they didn't believe other species could fully appreciate serving with Vulcans, especially when most Vulcans don't need shore leave and they can go without sleep for much longer than humans. Furthermore, humans are used to physical contact, something most Vulcans were still getting used to from other species, a hundred years ago."

"Oh," Vin eased back into his chair, never considering such a thing. He did have to admit he was always an early riser and his ability to remain alert was much longer than humans, to say nothing about his mental abilities. Without possessing any of the disciplines all Vulcans were taught from childhood, his first few months serving on the Maverick had been difficult to say the least. "I never thought of that."

"Anyway," Alex glanced at Mary gratefully for giving Vin that explanation before a nod from the Captain prompted her to continue. "The ship dispatched was the USS Enterprise."

"Which one?" Josiah asked automatically, aware there had been several ships with that particular name.

"The original," Alex couldn't help but smile as she said it.

"Constitution Class?" JD sat up straighter in his chair.

"Yeah," Chris nodded, guessing the kid was about to burst with excitement at the possibility. "His ship."

"James T Kirk!"

There was not one of them in the room who had not gone through their time at Starfleet Academy without hearing the adventures of one of the Federation's greatest heroes, James Tiberius Kirk and the crew of the legendary USS Enterprise. Knowing their current predicament might have something to do with the adventures of James Kirk and Enterprise, filled everyone with a little bit of awe, in a mission that had so far yielded nothing but defeat upon defeat.

"While I am sufficiently agog by the inclusion of the legendary Enterprise in all this," Ezra spoke up, not at all sharing JD's excitement. "Can we continue?"

"Yes, sorry," Alex nodded and resumed speaking. "The Enterprise was dispatched to determine the reason for the subspace silence and soon discovered the crew of the Intrepid were all dead, and worse than that, so were the inhabitants of Gamma 7A. The population consisted of billions, but they were all wiped out by the time Enterprise was able to investigate."

"My God," Josiah whispered, unable to imagine the scale of it. "What was the cause?"

"It wasn't easy to determine at first, but the Enterprise was able to trace the cause to a dark matter area of space, or rather that’s what they believed it was. The truth was beyond anything that was encountered at the time. Nathan?" she gestured to the healer to take up his part of the tale.

"Right," Nathan nodded. "It wasn't a dark matter anything, though the Enterprise could have been forgiven for thinking so considering the size. What it was really, was the protoplasm of a single-cell organism."

"A single-cell organism?" Vin exclaimed. "You mean like an amoeba?"

"If amoebas were the size of a planet, yes," Nathan answered.

"So all this," Mary glanced at the window and Fluidic space beyond it, "is because of a life-form?"

"That's correct," Nathan nodded. "This thing devoured any form of energy, from the warp engines, living tissue, you name it. In having to deal with it, Enterprise had to reach the cell nucleus and were drained of almost all power. When I examined the Fluidic creature, I recognized the same tissue damage recorded after examinations were performed on the USS Intrepid's crew. This is it, Chris," Nathan looked at the Captain. "This is our smoking gun."

"So how did the Enterprise eliminate the threat?" Ezra asked the obvious question.

"From the logs," Alex retook the narration. "They modified a torpedo to deliver a high yield antimatter explosion to the life-forms nucleus. It was a sound conclusion since the life form had a preference for positively charged energy. Captain Kirk believed negatively charged energy would be enough to destroy it."

"So we destroyed it," Vin stated.

"Not necessarily," Alex sighed because much of her speculation was theoretical. "According to the logs, the creature was about to reach mitosis, meaning it had a lot of energy stored for the purpose. The contact with an antimatter component and that much stored positively charged energy could have created an explosion big enough to open a rift in subspace."

"Like that produced by a quantum singularity." Ezra guessed.

"Exactly, I think this thing got blasted into Fluidic space, and if the conditions were right, which I believe in this case it was, the subspace rift was temporal."

"You mean this thing is the same life form encountered by Captain Kirk?" JD stared at her. "A hundred years ago?"

"It fits," Chris said with a nod.

"And this is absolutely the perfect environment for it to thrive, Chris," Nathan added. "Everything here is organic, exuding positive energy in one form or another. From the microbes in the plasma to the Coral and even Species 8472."

"Well, that explains why they're blaming us," Josiah remarked. "If something from their side infiltrated our space, with the power to annihilate every living thing in existence, we would naturally assume it's a weapon."

"Not merely a weapon," Ezra remarked, "but a weapon of extinction-level destruction. I concur with the Captain, we need to correct this matter immediately before they decide to respond with a military solution. Considering the formidability of their biological technology, I do not wish to see what it is they can conjure up to wipe us out of existence."

"There's one other thing, and this is a worst-case scenario," Nathan warned because they needed to understand exactly how much danger they were about to court. "We've seen extensive damage since we got here, meaning the life form has been consuming considerable amounts of energy. When a single-cell amoeba stores enough energy in its system..."

"Oh hell," Alex whispered.

"What?" Vin looked at her in question.

"It divides." Chris stated.

"You mean there could be two of those things?" Josiah stared at Chris as the Captain made that explanation.

"Not just two," Ezra replied just as gravely. "Four, sixteen, depending on its needs for reproduction and the supply of energy at its disposal. We could be contending with several life forms."

"I think it is several," Mary spoke up. "I think that's the reason they're so certain it's a weapon instead of the aberrant life form it is."

"Alright," Chris spoke up, taking charge of the meeting. "Assuming we are dealing with several life forms, we will have to deal with them all ourselves."

"Couldn't we tell Species 8472 what's happening?" JD suggested. "I mean, if we told them how to fight these things, we could work together to find a solution."

"Under any other circumstances, I would recommend that myself," Mary glanced at Chris. "But all I get from them is our culpability. They won't take our word for it."

"And we have every reason to lie," Josiah added. "We're in a vulnerable situation in their space. They have no idea our presence here is unintentional. We can't leave without help, and we can't communicate with Starfleet. Our only option is to appeal to them. If we come up with this story, they'll just say we're making it up to get ourselves out of trouble."

"Exactly," Chris agreed with the Counsellor. "So, here we are."

"Captain," Ezra pointed out because personal traumas aside, his responsibility was to the crew of the Maverick . "We can use the ablative armour to approach these life forms, but if they feed on energy, the armour will eventually be exhausted, and we will be subject to the same life-draining predicament as the Enterprise and the life forms of Fluidic space."

"Then we don't approach it using the Maverick ," Vin spoke up.

Chris turned to the Officer of the Con. "Runabouts and shuttles?"

"Yeah," Vin nodded, glad to see Chris had picked up on his unspoken thought as usual. "The runabouts are capable of firing antimatter warheads, and our shuttles can launch probes."

"An excellent idea," Ezra gave the Vulcan a look of agreement. "I see no difficulty in modifying a probe to contain an antimatter payload, aimed for the life form's nucleus. Depending on how many of them there are, that is."

"I don't like the idea of destroying any life form," Mary sighed, aware there was no other solution out of this situation. "However, I can't see any other way around it."

"Mary, this has to be done." Chris appreciated her concern, but the truth was, they didn't have any choice. He thought of the Fluidics in Cetacean Ops, their swarm perched on the edge of extinction as they sang their song of mourning, and knew he couldn't sit by and allow them to end. Not just them but potentially all life in this realm. If the alien creature continued to multiply, Fluidic Space could become infested, and nothing would survive here.

"I know," Mary nodded and once again, thought of that shy creature that greeted her earlier. No, she would not see it or any more of its kind destroyed.

"What are the risks to us?" Chris turned back to Nathan. "According to the logs, Enterprise barely made it out. Sure we have the ablative armour as Ezra indicated, but if there's more than one creature, we're still going to feel it."

"I can administer stimulants," Nathan suggested, "but according to the medical records of Dr Leonard McCoy, the Enterprise's CMO, people are going to be affected. Headaches, fatigue, loss of concentration, the severity depending on the species."

"Our shield strength is a lot stronger than it was a hundred years ago," Alex pointed out. "We can probably hold out a bit better than the Enterprise."

"Josiah," Chris regarded the Counsellor because the Maverick differed in one significant element the Enterprise was never forced to contend with. Families. "You need to talk to the civilians, tell them to keep children indoors, stick to low-intensity activities to keep up their strength. If you need me to make a personal appearance, especially to the children, I can."

"Noted," Josiah nodded, although he didn't think an appearance by the Captain was necessary and if the truth be told, he knew Chris really didn't have time for it. However, Chris was always mindful of his crew, even its youngest members.

"Alex, tells the department heads no one is to go anywhere alone. The last thing we need is someone collapsing in a Jeffries tube while conducting repairs, without anyone being aware of it."

"Aye Captain." Alex nodded, and after a moment added, "I can modify the ship's internal sensors to monitor the crew's life signs and flag medical if anything goes wrong."

"Thanks, Alex," Nathan appreciated the effort. "That will save time."

"Okay, Ezra and JD, you two get to work and build us as many antimatter warheads as you can before we reach the life forms. We better do this before Species 8472 catches up with us. I have a feeling we're going to run into them pretty soon."

No one could disagree with the Captain.

EIGHTEEN MONTHS EARLIER

JD Dunne should have been running a gauntlet of emotion as he stood upon the transporter pad of Starfleet Command, awaiting transport to his ship, the Maverick .

All week, he was on the receiving end of congratulations, well-wishes and stolen looks of envy and annoyance. Mostly from those who either felt he deserved the commission or were affronted by an ensign fresh out of the Academy scoring one of the best postings on the fleet. A year ago, he would have considered this a dream come true. He was going to be serving as the junior navigator on the USS Maverick , a galaxy-class starship about to embark on an expedition of the frontier facing the Delta Quadrant.

Today, all he felt was profound sadness.

When he finally left the Academy to take up his position on the Maverick , heading to the Transport Terminal with everything he owned, JD thought how different this felt in comparison to his arrival. During that time, his mother was with him, and Jennifer Dunne had been almost as excited as he was by his enrolment. JD remembered fondly how she fussed over him, making sure his trunk was packed with stuff he didn't really need but felt was her God-given right as his mother to insist he take.

After he'd settled into his room, she'd guided him through the Academy campus, showing him all her favourite places and introduced him to some of her old tutors with whom she still maintained relationships. It was a little embarrassing, but she had been just so damn proud, JD couldn't deny her the chance to show off her little boy. Later on, they'd spent the weekend together, taking a tour of San Francisco before she headed back to her ship.

JD had written her almost every week until her death, six months before graduation.

By the time he was to report to the Maverick , JD had convinced himself he'd gotten over his mother’s loss, although there was a part of him that knew he never would, not really. Every time something happened to him, there was a moment when he would forget she was dead and he would start to record a log telling her about it before cold reality crept in again. Those moments continue to plague him, even as he felt the gold shimmer descend around him and with it the terminal on Earth.

When he rematerialized, he was standing in front of the First Officer of the Maverick .

Next to Commander Buchanan Wilmington, JD felt positively tiny. JD remembered thinking he would not want to get on the wrong side of the man since he was big enough to snap JD in half and not even break a sweat. The man looked impressive enough as it was, towering over him in his uniform, waiting in expectation for JD to step off the transporter pad.

"Uhm, Ensign Dunne reporting for duty Sir, I mean Commander, I mean Commander Wilmington."

Then as if the clouds of an overcast day had been chased away by sunlight, Buck had broken into a warm, welcoming smile. "At ease Ensign, I don't want you breaking anything on your first day."

"No Sir," JD shook his head, trying to recover from his less than auspicious greeting.

"Well you know who I am," Buck extended a hand towards him, "so I don't need to make any further introductions, except to say welcome aboard the Maverick ."

JD returned the handshake, uncertain of what to say. "Thank you, Sir."

"You can call me Buck," Buck said kindly. "Commander Wilmington is too much of a mouthful and Sir, makes me think I'm twenty years older than I actually am."

JD had opened his mouth to object but only managed a nod.

Buck had stared at him for a moment, sizing him up in a second, though JD didn't know it at this stage before he motioned JD to follow him.

Since the Captain had yet to arrive, Buck was getting everyone settled, starting with the youngest of the bridge officers. As Buck led him through the ship, explaining what Chris Larabee expected of his officers, JD had listened carefully, feeling more and more overwhelmed and wondering what on Earth he was doing on a ship like the Maverick , fresh out of the Academy. Sure, he'd pass the Kobayashi Maru, but he'd managed that trick out of sheer desperation, not any potential brilliance.

Then he set foot on the bridge and suddenly, JD didn't care anymore how he had gotten to the Maverick , he was just thrilled he was there.

The Officer of the Con had offered him a slight nod of acknowledgement and appeared almost as uncomfortable as JD who noted with surprise he was Vulcan. Except Vin Tanner was not like any Vulcan JD had ever seen, not with his almost shaggy long hair and ears carefully hidden beneath it. Yet there was no mistaking the slightly greenish tinge of his skin, the result of the high copper content in Vulcan blood.

As JD sat down at the navigation station, taking note of the empty command chair and then view screen before him, JD ran his palm across the navigation station in silent reverence. This was where he worked so hard to be. Now that he was here, JD was suddenly struck with a wave of profound sadness. This was a day he would have related to his mom in excruciating detail, perfectly aware she'd savour every morsel of it.

Except she was gone.

For a second, the pain of her loss was so acute, it felt as fresh as the day he was given the news of her passing. He almost couldn't breathe, and as he blinked away the sorrow that threatened to spill down his cheeks and humiliate him in front of his new comrades, JD felt a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Come on, kid," Buck said softly, "Let's go for a walk."

And they did just that, walking along the halls of the Maverick , still partially deserted because not everyone had reported in yet.

"It's okay you know?" Buck spoke as they walked in no particular direction, merely taking advantage of the Maverick 's numerous corridors and decks to pass the time.

JD stared at him in question.

"It's okay to miss her."

JD's response was automatic because the platitudes had come so fast and plenty during the last six months, he was almost programmed to reply without thinking. "I'm fine."

"Bullshit," Buck said, not at all caring that this was hardly the way to speak to a young, eager space cadet like he was. "You just lost your mom, and you're hurting. It's okay to feel it, even if you don't want to talk."

"I'm getting by," JD managed to say in the face of that advice. "I just...."

"Forget she's gone?" Buck ventured a guess, prompting JD to look up at him in surprise at the accuracy of his statement.

"Yeah," JD nodded slowly. "I keep wanting to tell her how I'm doing because that's what I've always done and then I remember she’s gone."

"I know," Buck had squeezed his shoulder. "I felt the same way when I lost my mother. She wasn't Starfleet like yours, but she always made me feel special. She died before I got to the Academy and everything I've done since then, I keep wishing she could see it. I think she would have been proud, just like your mom is awful proud of you, wherever she is."

"I know," JD found himself opening up to Buck in the face of the First Officer's empathy. "I just feel kind of lost you know? It was always the two of us, and since she's been gone, I feel all alone."

"Well, you see Ensign," Buck offered him a smile. "That's where you're wrong. Your mom's gone, and there's no changing that, but you're not alone. I'm here if you need to talk and even though he's an ornery son of a bitch," the first officer glanced around to ensure no one was privy to that comment, "so's the Captain. As long as you're on this ship, I'll keep an eye out on you, so don't go thinking you're alone JD, you're just not."

And Buck was right, he wasn't alone. From that day on, Buck became his family.

JD Dunne concentrated on the work in front of him, pouring all his mental energies into building the antimatter explosive device that would need to be installed in a Class One probe. Working alone in the armoury, Ezra Standish had left him to his devices to address the more complex exercise of developing a nanite warhead to deal with their other enemy, Species 8472. It felt as if he had done nothing else but figure out ways to get around the numerous opponents appearing out of nowhere since the singularity showed up in the viewscreen earlier today.

"Hey, do you want some coffee?" Drew Katovit, who was working on this project with him asked. The Assistant Security Chief was stepping away from the collection of components he was using to construct the housing for the antimatter core to be inserted into the probe when it was ready.

"Sure," JD said gratefully as Drew slipped out the door to the nearest food replicator on this deck.

Facing front again, JD tried to concentrate on what he was doing, refusing to let other distracting thoughts enter his head because everything in his life seemed to be imploding lately, the least of which was being stuck in Fluidic Space. If Buck were here, the big man would tell him he was blowing things out of proportion but thinking about Buck made him remember where the First Officer was, and that only made JD want to scream in frustration. Wasn't it bad enough the Borg had taken his mother? Did they have to take Buck too?

JD hadn't noticed Drew leaving as he lingered on his thoughts, wondering how on Earth he was expected to go on if they didn't get Buck back? It was too hard to suffer that kind of loss, so soon after his mother.

"JD?"

So deep in his misery, JD didn't realize Casey had slipped into the room, passing Drew who was embarking on his pilgrimage to find fresh coffee. He saw her approach in surprise and had to admit, it was good to see her, even if things weren't exactly the best between them right now. In fact, after everything that had taken place in the last day, their disagreement about her departure seemed somewhat childish and added to his gloom, because on top of losing Buck, soon Casey would be gone too.

Yeah but she can come back, a voice that didn't sound too unlike Buck Wilmington pointed out. She isn't dead or assimilated, she's just going home for a while. What was wrong with that?

"Hey Casey," he greeted her, wondering why she had sought him out even if her presence wasn't unwelcomed. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see if you were okay." She admitted honestly.

"I'm fine," he started to say and then blinked because Buck's words echoed in his head. He wasn't fine, but it was okay to admit it. "No, I'm not. I want to go find Buck."

Casey leaned against the wall, careful to remain out of the way, so she didn't get underfoot as he worked. "Me too."

They lapsed into silence again and the awkwardness thanks to their quarrel, remained between them until JD could bear it no more. "Casey, I'm sorry."

Casey stared at him. "Sorry?"

"I'm an idiot," JD set down his tools on the nearby workbench. "Of course you should go to Bajor and be there for a while. I was selfish, expecting you to stay just because I couldn't stand you being gone. I don't have any right to hold you back and you’ve gotta do what's right for you."

Casey nodded, breaking into a little smile at his words. Pushing away from the wall, she narrowed the distance between them and embraced him a second later. "Thank you, JD," she said softly. "I love you, but I have to do this. I have to find out where I come from."

JD kissed her tenderly on the forehead. "You should. Buck said part of life in Starfleet was being able to let the people we love go, so they can come back to us. I want you to do that, Casey. I want you to go and do what you need to, so you can come back to me when you're done."

"I will," she whispered in his ear as they stole a moment with each other amid the storm around them.

And as he held her, JD couldn't help thinking even now Buck was still his teacher.

In hindsight, it was easy for Chris to understand why Species 8472 was so wholly unprepared to deal with the life-forms invading their dimension.

Pouring over the mission logs of Captain James Kirk and the legendary five-year mission of the USS Enterprise, specifically those surrounding the Gamma 7 incident, he could appreciate the man's bewilderment at what they were facing. Since Kirk's day, it had become increasingly clear that life evolved even in the vacuum of space. From Enterprise D's interactions with space alien life forms at Far Point Station, the Crystalline Entity and the space-born creatures of Alpha Omicron, even the Maverick had its own encounter with such life forms.

So far, the common denominator seemed to be energy. They all needed it for sustenance. Chris supposed being in space, upon what else would they feed? While Chris didn't like the idea of killing a creature for was merely fulfilling its biological function, what was to be done about it when they posed such a significant threat to other life forms? The aliens of Far Point were benign, but the majority endangered ships and wiped out entire civilizations. Where did his high minded principles of IDIC stand when faced with a death toll that numbered in the billions?

A chirp on his door made Chris put down the log account of the Enterprise's First Officer Spock, which was just as well because his eyes were getting tired.

"Come in."

The door slid open, and Josiah Sanchez walked in, brandishing a bottle of something green. Aldebaran whiskey, Chris realized after a moment. Easing back into his seat, he couldn't help but smile a little at the Counsellor's visit and reached into the lowest drawer of his desk to retrieve the pair of glasses he kept there.

"House call?"

"With the day we're having, I thought we could use a drink." Josiah sat down in the chair before the desk, placing the bottle on the smooth surface at the same time Chris set down both glasses between them.

"Amen to that Counsellor," Chris gave the man a look of affection. Josiah always seemed to know the best times to call for a 'drink' as he called it, even though Chris recognized it for what it was, an attempt to see how his Captain was doing without actually counselling him. Josiah learned well enough from their initial meeting following the Battle of Sector 001, Chris Larabee did not react well to psychiatrists or therapy for that matter.

As Josiah unscrewed the lid from the mouth of the bottle to pour them both a shot, Chris felt inordinately grateful for his presence and still marvelled at how much Josiah reminded him of his father, Marcus Larabee. The Professor had died a few years ago, surrounded by his books and mourned by his students. While Chris detested the man's bow ties, every one of them was kept in storage because he didn't have the heart to give them away.

"How's Ezra doing?" Chris asked, aware Josiah's focus since their last meeting was the wellbeing of his Chief of Security. With Ezra's penchant for masks, counselling him required a great deal of work on Josiah's part to penetrate the poker face Ezra wore over his emotions like a shield.

"Hanging on," Josiah was unafraid to admit. "Even after that display earlier, he still keeping a lot of his emotions bottled up, as if it were a great shame for him to even let us see that much."

"It's the gambler in him," Chris shrugged, familiar with Ezra's mannerisms even before the Maverick . "Always with the poker face."

Josiah nodded in understanding. "Most of his problem is guilt, of course. He's circling in on all the things he should have told or done for Julia before today and it's eating him up inside. I've tried to tell him Julia accepted him as he was, she didn't need the validation, but you know how it is. "

Chris did. How many times had he spent in a bottle, beating himself up over all the things he ought to have said and done when Sarah and Adam were still alive. He had blamed himself for things that couldn't possibly be his fault and it damn near broke him A Changeling decided their fate which had nothing to do with his shortcomings as a husband or a father. Julia was taken by the Borg. Ezra dropping on one knee, proposing the world and giving her the wedding of her dream would have changed nothing.

"I recall," Chris said quietly. "I just hope he doesn't spiral the way I did. I had Buck..." Chris faltered a moment because mentioning his oldest friend reminded him just how much he shared in common with Ezra in terms of mutual despair. "I had Buck to pull me back from the edge."

"The difficulty lies with the fact that Ezra would still not let anyone in on how he feels even if he does have friends to offer him the help. Thanks to his mother's altruism, or appearance of it, Ezra believed her lack of concern for others also included him, which is damn hard on a child. Since displaying sentiment was also considered a weakness in her opinion, he didn't dare express any of his. As a result, he's spent his life constructing facades to conceal his true emotions from everyone. This is further exacerbated by a childhood spent on the fringes of society where over sentimentality was deemed a failure."

"Yeah," Chris shrugged, aware that Maude Standish had made her living in places like New Sydney, Torman IV and the outlier colonies beyond Federation reach. Settlements of this type functioned with their own set of rules or lack of it. Criminal organizations such as the Orion Syndicate maintained control and local authorities had little or no power to enforce the law. Ezra had grown up surrounded by the worst kind of element and Chris always admired him for being able to rise above his seedier beginnings, to make something of himself. Hell, he even used it to his advantage.

"Ezra's had to construct a fortress of control to survive. It's why he's so successful as a gambler, but there's only so much he can keep truly hidden. Sometimes I think the emotions he does express to us are to appease our expectations. Added to that, his hesitation to discuss his origins speaks to his insecurity about his earlier life, adding another construct behind which he can hide."

"It's a wonder how Julia got in at all," Chris admitted as he took a sip of his whiskey. He always found the pairing a little unusual even when it seemed to work. "I mean with Vin and Alex, you can sort of see how a relationship could form. The two of them came on board with enough baggage to fill a star cruiser, but Ezra and Julia, they're so entirely different."

"I think that is exactly why it works," Josiah uttered a little laugh. "Julia doesn't know the meaning of the word guile. What you see is what you get, which is diametrically opposite to Ezra's experience.s While it might have been the physical that attracted him initially, I think it's her rose-coloured view of the world that touches him. Even after everything she sees, Julia sails through her life, hopeful instead of cynical. I'm sure there's a part of him that wishes to protect her innocence because it's a glimpse of what he's never been able to feel."

Chris lapsed into silence, wondering if Julia's sunny disposition would still be intact when, not if he told himself defiantly, they retrieved her from the Borg. Would the experience affect her significantly?

"You're worried about whether we can get them back?" Josiah guessed astutely.

Chris needed another drink before he could answer.

"I don't know my friend," he let the whiskey burn down his throat before he resumed speaking. "If all goes well and we managed to destroy the threat to Fluidic Space, not to mention avoiding getting obliterated to kingdom come by Species 8472, we have to find them. My worry is how much of a head start the runabout got on us and what would happen if Species 8472 finds them first. Species 8472 was willing to let us escape to take out that Borg cube. That tells me if they realize our runabout contain Borg drones, they're going to destroy it and not lose any sleep about the mistake."

"That is unfortunate," Josiah frowned, thinking not just on Julia but also Buck. Inez's hopes were propped up by her belief in Chris's promise to get Buck back, but what would happen to the lady if the Captain was unable to deliver? "So you're resolved to keep searching?"

Chris drained his glass and stared at Josiah across the table. "I know it's not the sensible decision and I ought to be putting the good of the many over the needs of the few, but I can't abandon Buck or any of them for that matter."

Looking away for a moment, his thoughts about Buck surfaced inside him like an ocean swell, white froth spilling over the edges of the beach, unrelenting and unapologetic. "I can't abandon Buck, Josiah. I just can't. He's more than just my friend, he's my brother, and I owe him more than I can even begin to describe. When Sarah and Adam died, I was ready to die with them, but Buck hung in there, he put up with all my shit and believe me, that was a lot, but he still stuck with me and kept me from walking out of an airlock. I can't let them have him, I can't let them destroy him piece by piece.."

"I understand," Josiah nodded in understanding. "And I know it might not mean much in the light of the decision you have to make, but there's many onboard the Maverick who agree with you, not just the Starfleet personnel, but their families. They've had more than a year to get to know Buck, and they hold him in great regard and have faith you can find him. They're behind you, Chris."

Chris let out a sigh, grateful for that fact. "I just hope they don't have reason to regret it."

“I can’t look at this anymore.”

Mary Travis turned away from the screen, grateful her role as protocol officer allowed her to do this when the rest of the bridge crew had no choice but to stare at the macabre tableau being displayed on the viewscreen. While she averted her eyes, she saw the others, in particular, Chris and Alex, staring stonily ahead and could imagine what was running through their minds as they bore witness to the carnage before them.

With the backdrop of yet another Coral construct, as equally dead as the one the Maverick encountered previously, were the latest victims of the space entity from the Alpha Quadrant. This time the creatures who had been overcome by the lifeform were squid-like, with tentacles connected by a dark crimson sheathe, making it look like it was wearing a cloak. In life, they must have been something to behold, but in death, they resembled the broken bodies of soldiers following the aftermath of a violent battle.

Contrary to what they knew about Fluidic Space and the claim made by Species 8472 being the only life here, it was apparent the dimension was home to numerous species, diverse and fascinating in their evolution. If the situation were not so dire, the opportunity for scientific study would have been too good to resist. Unfortunately, the Alpha Quadrant invader, the crew of the Maverick , was now referring to as the Protozoa, since it seemed the most appropriate name for a single-celled parasitic organism, had laid waste to all life it encountered.

They no longer needed to trace the rate of microbial death in the plasma to know what path the Protozoa had taken, all they had to do was follow the bodies.

“It’s the same as the others, Captain.”

Chris’s jaw tightened. As an explorer, he could think of nothing worse than a foreign invader entering a new frontier, bringing nothing but death. While he was consoled the Federation was not the cause of this carnage, it still didn’t make him feel any better knowing the Protozoa had come from the Alpha Quadrant. Alex’s voice behind him sounded softer than usual, and Chris saw Vin craning his neck just enough to catch a glimpse of his wife and followed suit.

The Science Officer appeared visibly distressed at the decimation of the indigenous population in Fluidic Space. Chris could understand her horror. As a scientist, she was dedicated to the study and preservation of life. Seeing the death of so many species by a foreign agent into their environment went against everything she knew about contamination. General Order 1 or the Prime Directive as it was better known, prohibited Starfleet from interfering with other cultures for just this very reason. Even if they weren’t responsible for what was happening now, it still stung to see its aftermath.

“You okay Alex?” Chris asked because he knew Vin would if he were anywhere but on duty.

“Yeah,” she nodded somewhat sedately. “It beggars belief that the Fluidics we managed to save in Cetacean Ops, were the lucky ones.”

“I agree,” Ezra replied from Tactical.

The Security Chief had retaken his position, and Chris was glad to see him there. Even though Chris would never say it to Ezra himself, in the Captain’s opinion, at work was the best place for Ezra to be right now. Having something to focus on other than Julia’s situation might ease his burden for the time being, at least until they were ready to tackle the problem of retrieving their lost crew.

“Ezra, how are our shields?”

“Still functioning at full strength,” Ezra studied his console and tapping the display lightly before looking up. “However, I am beginning to detect micro traces of power drain.”

“It will get worse the closer we get to the Protozoa,” Alex stated.

“Assuming there’s only one of them,” Vin spoke up. “With all the energy it’s been getting its hands on,” the Vulcan looked at the screen ahead of them and like everyone else on the bridge, felt similarly outraged by the deaths, “it might have divided already.”

“God,” Mary shook her head at the gloomy prospect. “If one of them is capable of doing this, I can’t imagine the effect of more than one.”

“According to James Kirk,” Chris eased back into his command chair, still flinching every time he saw that empty seat next to him. “These things were like a virus invading the body of the galaxy. With the energy supply it has in Fluidic Space, it may well do that here if we don’t stop it.”

“I’m surprised Species 8472 hasn’t done anything about it,” JD spoke up, adding to the discussion.

“They may not be capable JD,” Chris explained. “Their technology is entirely organic-based. If they even get close, the organics in their ships will immediately be affected. The Maverick is composed of inanimate material that, while conductive, does not generate energy. We can get far closer to the Protozoa than Species 8472 without being compromised.”

“On that note, Captain, when do you wish me to deploy the ablative armour? Lt. Chanu informs me all the repairs to it have been completed, we can use it at your discretion.”

Chris considered Ezra statement. “Not just yet. I think we should try and get by on what we have for the moment, I want to keep the ablative armour in reserve for when we finally reach the thing.”

The Captain faced the viewer once more when at the corner of his eye, he saw Mary swaying slightly in her seat. Her head lolled back for just a moment, but it was enough for Chris to know something was wrong. Snapping back to attention, she shook her head as if trying to dispel the wave of disorientation suddenly gripping her.

“Mary,” Chris caught her arm out of concern she might tumble out of her chair. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, yes,” she nodded, somewhat embarrassed at her momentary lapse and being the focus of everyone on the bridge. “I’m sorry, Chris, I just felt a little dizzy.”

Ezra and Alex exchanged glances sharing the same thought. Mary’s disoriented state was a precursor to something worse.

“Captain, it’s starting,” Alex felt compelled to speak up. We’re going to see more of the crew affected the closer we approach the Protozoa.”

It fit with the log reports of the original Enterprise, Chris thought silently and tapped his combadge after her statement. “Captain to Sick Bay.”

“Good timing Captain,” Nathan’s voice replied almost immediately, and the tension in it did not bode well for the crew. “I was just about to call you. We’ve got at least fifteen crew members reporting signs of fatigue and disorientation. A few actually fainted. It happened in the space of a few seconds.”

“Mary just had a spell up here,” Chris explained and saw Mary bristled with annoyance at being the first on the bridge to falter.

“Okay, I’m sending Josiah up there with stimulants,” Nathan declared, using a tone Chris knew well enough not to argue with. Nathan was a rather good-natured man most of the time, but Chris would rather face a Queen Xenomorph than challenge the man’s authority as the CMO of the Maverick . “He’s been helping out in Sick Bay. I’m giving him a couple of doses for all of you, so let the man do the work and don’t give him any trouble.”

“Aye Admiral,” Chris couldn’t help but respond.

“Admiral my ass,” Nathan snorted. “Try God.”

A titter of amusement moved across the bridge, and Chris was grateful for Nathan’s attempt at humour because after what they had seen so far, the mood needed lightening.

But it was just a moment.

“Captain,” JD’s voice filled the bridge from the navigation station. “I’m detecting an object half a light-year away.”

“Is it a ship?” Ezra asked before Chris could.

“Negative,” JD answered automatically, continuing to examine the readings on his display. “The object is moving too slowly for that. It’s barely reaching impulse.”

“Confirmed,” Alex added, now that she calibrated her long-range sensors to scan the object JD had brought to their attention. “It is not any bioship. It’s about five thousand miles across, and it’s deflecting our efforts to scan it. Captain,” Alex looked up. “I think it’s the Protozoa.”

“Our illustrious Science Officer may be correct, I am detecting a rise in the rate of our shield deterioration. If it is indeed the creature encountered by the USS Enterprise, then I believe our energy depletion is consistent with their experiences.”

After learning what they were up against, Chris studied James Kirk’s logs in greater detail. “Well, our shields are far stronger than what the Enterprise had back in the day or else we would be in worse shape than they were at the same distance. I say we follow Captain Kirk’s lead. We head in there and fire an antimatter warhead at point-blank range. We’ll use our shields for as long as we can, and when that reaches critical, we’ll switch to the ablative armour.”

“I concur,” Ezra agreed, not so single-minded about Julia’s fate he could not see the need to eliminate this threat for the sake of the billions inhabiting Fluidic Space. Like the rest of the bridge crew, he was appalled by the deaths of innocent life forms, dying on mass to satiate the needs of the Protozoa, a creature that was almost the embodiment of entropy and anti-life.

“Vin, head directly for the object at maximum impulse,” Chris ordered, deciding there was no time to waste. If they could deal with this threat sooner rather than later, they could get back to the business of finding Buck and the others.

“We’re on our way,” Vin stated, his words spoken over the sound of his chirping console as he tapped the display to send the ship forward.

The Maverick ’s acceleration could be seen as it moved through the plasma sea in front of them, its mass displacing the carcasses around them, scattering them in all directions. Despite himself, Chris felt ashamed at being unable to do more for the creatures than simply ploughing through their bodies felt like the worst kind of arrogance. However, if he wanted to prevent this carnage from recurring, they needed to reach the Protozoa and put an end to its murderous rampage.

Glancing at Mary, he saw her rubbing the bridge of her nose, and she looked decidedly pale. The effects of the energy drain had yet to hit him, but he could feel it tugging at the edge of his stamina, fraying the closer they neared the Protozoa.

“Not the way I planned on spending my day off,” Chris said quietly, thinking the morning felt like a lifetime ago.
“I was hoping for breakfast in bed at least,” she returned quietly, for his ears only.

“I did have something pre-programmed in the food replicator,” Chris offered her a faint smile. “Plomeek soup.”

Mary uttered a soft laugh, remembering the first few weeks on the Maverick , when she’d found him working himself to death, trying to be the best Captain he could be, forgetting to eat, prompting her to force him to join her for dinner. The menu had been Plomeek soup. He was unaware it was her husband Syan’s favourite. The two of them had come so far since then, he was a man finally accepting his family’s loss, and she was still mourning the empty space once occupied by her husband.

“We will find them Chris,” Mary assured him softly. “I know it.”

Chris wished he was that confident, but he knew he would never stop trying to retrieve Buck and Julia while there was breath in his body.

Continuing to scan the area to the Protozoa, Alex shifted her attention from her console to regard Ezra who was beside her at tactical. The Security Chief had said little since his return to the bridge, even though he was undoubtedly better composed than what he had been when he had his episode in the meeting earlier. Not that Alex could blame him, if it were Vin taken, she would be in no better shape emotionally.

If there were time, she knew Vin would have tried to speak to Ezra alone, but as the Officer of the Conn, with Vulcan endurance no less, Vin was reluctant to leave his station, even when his duty shift ended. While he had given her no specifics, Vin’s choice of Ezra as best man at their wedding spoke to the friendship shared by both men. Alex knew Ezra had nursed Vin through the worst of his turbulent emotions during Pon Farr, successfully convincing the Vulcan to seek help. It was a gesture Vin never forgot, and because he couldn’t do it himself, Alex felt compelled to reach out to Ezra.

In a lot of ways, Alex understood Ezra better than most. Like her, he lived behind masks. His walls had been erected since birth. Meanwhile, Alex was forced to build hers after her ordeal with the Cardassians. The people who loved them needed infinite patience and endurance to put up with their emotional barricades, and when either of them lowered their defences enough to let someone in, they loved hard.

She had seen just how ruthless Ezra could be when it came to Julia. In that simulated world, Quinn had placed them, Ezra was a wire of tight control when Julia was murdered by Silas Poplar. When it came time to unleash his fury, not even Josiah Sanchez was prepared for the ferocity of it, and Alex had a feeling if Julia was lost to them, Ezra might just be enraged enough to take on the entire Borg Collective single-handedly.

“At the risk of asking you something completely predictable,” she edged a step closer to him, still eying her console. “How are you?”

Ezra raised his sea-green eyes to her and shrugged. “I am in better control of myself if that is what you wish to know.”

“No, it isn’t,” Alex replied, smiling inwardly at his ability to evade the question. “But I can’t imagine how you must be feeling, so I’m not going to attempt to offer you meaningless words to tell you to feel any different.”

“Thank you.”

“I am going to tell you one thing though,” she said without looking at him directly, continuing to scan the area for the Protozoa.

“And what is that my dear Alexandra?” Ezra asked, his own gaze fixed on his display as he prepared the warhead they would use when they reached the Protozoa for launch.

“You’re not alone in this. We can’t know what you’re going through Ezra, but we can be here for you while you’re feeling it.”

Ezra said nothing, finding it difficult to lower his guard after his shameful display in the Conference Room. He behaved as if no one else was suffering the losses of the day. Everyone at the table cared for Julia as much as Ezra did. He knew of the friendship she shared with Mary and Alex, the sibling affection she had for Vin Tanner and JD Dunne. The Senior Staff were family, their bonds forged through battles and emotional upsets. All his life, he felt like an outcast. Only on the Maverick , did he feel apart of a kinship that accepted him on his own terms. Through his despair, he never felt that more than at this moment.

“I cannot even begin to process how I will be able to function if we do not find her Alexandra,” Ezra admitted, making the confession he was unable to share with Josiah because the man would view it through a Counsellor’s lens. “I have been a dilatory fool in regards to our relationship and if she is lost to us, I know I will never stop regretting it.”

“Ezra, you weren’t ready, and she knew it,” Alex said kindly, having had numerous discussions on the subject with Julia, usually over a pitcher of margaritas and a holodeck recreation of Praia de Batata beach with Mary and Rain in attendance. “We will find her. I don’t think the Captain is ready to give up on her or Buck, and there’s not one of us here who isn’t willing to ride into hell to get them back. Even so, she never thought you were a fool. She loves you.”

Ezra offered her a little smile, “God only knew why.”

“Oh,” Alex gave him a little nudge with her shoulder. “That’s easy. Julia likes working on fixer-uppers.”

“Lovely,” he threw her a shadow of his usual smirk.

Before she could answer, Alex’s console came to life, chirping loudly to imply something had changed since she last checked the readings. The moment between them evaporated as Ezra returned his attention to his own station, trying to assess what threat if any there was to the ship, beyond the danger they were already facing from Species 8472 and the Protozoa.

“What is it?” Chris demanded from his command chair.

“Captain, I’m detecting....” Alex tried to articulate the readings into something that made sense. “A dead region ahead of us. I think it’s the Protozoa?”

“I thought it was alive,” Mary shifted her confused stare between the Captain and the Science Officer.

“It is,” Chris quickly explained, “but according to Kirk’s logs, the first encounter with the Protozoa was the detection of a dead zone in the middle of space.”

“That is correct,” Alex explained. “The life form’s ability to draw all energy to it, including what’s radiated by our scans makes it impossible for the main computer to define it in any way. Only the area immediately surrounding the region gives off any kind of reading for us to know its there.“

“So the area isn’t actually dead,” Mary nodded in understanding. “It’s just where the Maverick ’s computer can’t scan.”

“Exactly,” Chris replied. “Can we get a visual?”

“Yes, Sir.”

It took JD only a second to give them their first look at the Protozoa, which was to say not very much at all. In fact, the region in front of them appeared no different than any other in Fluidic Space, except there was a faint outline of something substantial in the middle of the screen. While they could see current shimmering through the translucent fluid around it, the Protozoa itself resembled a globule of plasma fixed in place.

With the Maverick ’s course placing the ship in a direct heading towards it, the Protozoa continued to expand in the viewscreen. Chris had to confess the size of the thing was enough to explain its devastating effects on Fluidic space. As it was, more dead life forms drifted aimlessly through the plasma in its immediate area.

A thud made him turn sharply, and Chris pulled his gaze away from the screen just in time to see Mary slide out of her chair.

“Mary!” Chris grabbed her before she could hit the floor. This time the disorientation gripping her appeared worse than ever, with Mary unresponsive to his words for a few seconds.

The effect wasn’t just limited to Mary, however. As he helped the Protocol Officer back into her seat, he saw JD slumping forward across his console, gripped by similar fatigue. His own temples started to throb, but Chris shook off the sensation, aware this would get worse the closer they approached the Protozoa.

“Looks like I got here just in time,” Josiah announced himself stepping through the turbo lift doors with a medical kit in his hand.

“It appears so,” Ezra agreed, blinking away the pain in his head to manageable levels. “I fear it will get worse the closer we near the lifeform.”

“It’s not that,” Alex shook her head, squinting as if she had a migraine as she stared at the screen. “Captain, I’m detecting additional dead zones.”

The entire bridge fell silent with all eyes turning to the Science Officer.

“How many?”

“Including the one we just detected,” Alex answered the Captain, rechecking her readings to make sure she was not picking up an echo or worse, making a calculation error. “Four. There are four of them out there.”

 "It looks like we have a problem," Chris sighed as he flinched when Josiah pressed the hypo spray's contents into his arm through the sleeve of his uniform.

The Counsellor was dutifully moving through the bridge, taking up the chores typically undertaken by Nathan Jackson who was by all accounts, inundated with patients down in Sick Bay, the nearer they approached the Protozoans. The shock wave of knowing just how many of the anti-life entities they were dealing with had now evaporated from their minds to be replaced by the compulsion to do something about it. Chris convened an impromptu senior staff meeting on the bridge, since they had no time to retire to the more formal settings of the Conference Room.

"Correction. We have four problems." Ezra, never able to avoid a witticism, remarked promptly.

Chris shot him a look of warning at this not being the time for such levity, before continuing. "Thoughts?"

"Chris we're already getting a quarter of the ship reporting the symptoms recorded by the Enterprise when they ran into this thing." Nathan, who was listening through coms from Sick Bay, spoke up. "It isn't critical yet, but the strength of four creatures at once is going to be affecting, shields or not."

"Captain, he's right," Alex agreed with the unseen doctor. "If it's affecting us this adversely from this distance, it's not going to get any better the closer we get."

"So let's not get any closer," Vin spoke up from the Conn, reminding the others of his earlier suggestion. "We got a runabout and two shuttles. The shuttles can launch the probes we've got rigged up with the antimatter warheads, and the runabout can fire one, and transport the other."

"Lt. Tanner is correct," Ezra nodded in approval at Vin's idea. "We do not put the ship at risk by drawing any closer to the Protozoans than we must. The shields on our smaller craft far exceed the strength of those on the Enterprise of a century ago, we will be able to tolerate the drain far more effectively."

"But we gotta be careful about the blast rate though," JD spoke up, "we can't set them off simultaneously."

"Good point," Alex gave JD a look of approval at that reminder, feeling it was her duty to do so in Buck's absence to validate the younger man's contribution because JD often felt overshadowed by his older comrades. "Captain, if we detonate those antimatter explosions too close to each other, I'm not certain what the effect will be."

"Agreed," Chris nodded, understanding immediately what his two junior officers were saying. "If this were normal space, the detonation of that magnitude would tear a hole in subspace, but with Fluidic space, it's not so easy to determine the effects."

"Without being familiar with quantum principles at all," Josiah remarked as he took JD's arm and administered the stimulant shot, "I can tell you just hearing it, doesn't sound very good to me."

"Chris, they already blame us for the Protozoans effect on their space," Mary added. "If we do any further damage, they will come after us."

"They're going to come after us anyway," Chris stated without any trace of doubt in his voice that sooner or later, the Maverick was going to be flying into a confrontation with Species 8472. If they managed to do what they intended, removing the Protozoans from the board might be enough to buy them some goodwill to avoid being destroyed by Species 8472's formidable weapons.

"We have only one play here," Chris ran his eyes across the faces of his friends and comrades, "we have to destroy the Protozoans. We do that, we might have some bargaining power with Species 8472. I'm counting on it to get their help finding Buck and Julia because I'm guessing they would be able to find a ship occupied by Borg a lot faster than we can."

As he spoke, he saw Ezra's composure shift just slightly before Alex reached over and squeezed his arm in support.

"So, we're going to time this operation just right. We'll leave a gap of sixty seconds between each explosion. That ought to be enough time for any residual effects to the environment to settle before we initiate a further blast. "

"So who's going?" Josiah asked the novice question, now that he had completed dosing the bridge crew, leaning against the seat usually occupied by Buck.

"Vin," Chris regarded Vin and saw his best friend waiting in expectation to be singled out first. "You take the runabout. You'll be exposed longer than any of us, but you've got the endurance to take out two of the Protozoans."

"Yeah I do," Vin was not about to argue with that, and if Chris hadn’t picked him, he would have volunteered anyway.

"I'll take one of the shuttles," Ezra spoke up without hesitation. "As Chief of Security, I would not allow anyone to undertake a mission this hazardous in my place."

"I'll take the other," Alex spoke, meeting Vin's gaze long enough to tell him she was going and that was that. The helmsman offered her a little smile, expecting Alex would be one of the first to volunteer.

If he were anyone but the Captain, Chris, would insist on piloting a shuttle himself. Unfortunately, Chris's responsibilities to the Maverick took precedence over his ego. Besides, even if Buck Wilmington was absent, Chris could hear his First Officer reminding him most pointedly, in the conditions the Maverick found itself right now, there was only one place he ought to be, and that was on the bridge of his ship.

"Alright," Chris nodded with approval. "That's it then."

"Actually it isn't," Nathan who remained silent, mostly because he was treating patients while taking part in this meeting from down in Sick Bay, made himself heard again.

"What do you mean?" Chris wanted to shoot the man a patented Larabee glare and then cursed inwardly because he wasn't face to face with Nathan.

"Captain, right now you're all feeling the effects of the Protozoan drain because there are four of the things. Even though our shields are a hell of a lot more powerful than the Enterprise, the presence of four of the creatures takes away any advantage we might have. Now on the Maverick , we're not feeling it as much, but the runabout and shuttles don't have the same shield strength, therefore sending anyone into the nucleus of each Protozoa is going to be exceedingly dangerous."

"Nathan, we don't have a choice," Alex spoke up before the Captain could. Considering the losses already suffered since the Maverick encountered the singularity, the Captain did not need further reminders of the lives he was risking by his decision. "We can't allow those things to wipe out all life in Fluidic Space. We're Starfleet officers, we know what we signed up for."

Chris gave Alex a look of thanks, aware she was trying to step up because of Buck's absence, trying to fill the sizeable void left by his old friend. At that moment, he could tell why Vin adored her so. "Nathan, we will take all the precautions we can, but we have to do this."

"Is there any reason why we can't have two people on each craft?" Josiah asked. "One to fly and one to monitor life signs."

"Then we would have two people compromised instead of one,Counsellor," Ezra pointed out kindly.

"Not if we put one in stasis."

All eyes turned to JD, who was pondering the possibilities following Josiah's suggestion and hadn't realized he had spoken out loud the idea he was mulling over in his head.

"What did you say?" Chris stared at him.

JD swallowed thickly, mortified by his lapse. Even more now he had to explain himself. "I meant that you know the runabout and the shuttles both have medical stasis tubes for emergencies. The stasis field is pretty indestructible, and it has its own power generator, so even if the shields of the shuttles or runabout weakens, it would take a while before the stasis tubes were affected. We could program the computer to wake a sleeper if the life signs of whoever's flying the ship, drops below an acceptable threshold. Then they could take over and complete the mission or get them both to safety."

"That's good, JD," Vin gave the kid a grin. "That's really good."

"I agree. Alex, can we do it?"

"Absolutely," Alex nodded. "We can program each craft to trigger the stasis tube into waking the sleeper the minute the pilot begins to falter."

"Then I volunteer," Mary spoke up.

"Absolutely not."

Mary gave Chris a look of utter impatience. "Captain, if you recall, I was able to break us out of a C'Kaia prison cell and fly their ship, I think I can handle this."

Chris groaned inwardly, supposing it was only a matter of time before she brought that up.

"Fine, throw that in my face," he glared at her. "But you're still not going. I need you on the bridge in case Species 8472 shows up. You're the only one who can communicate with them, and I'll need that if we want to avoid a fight."

Mary opened her mouth to argue but then realized he was right on that point. "Yes, Captain."

Chris let out an inward sigh of relief, maintaining his innocence that the reason for making her remain at his side was not out of worry for her safety but for the sake of the ship. He saw JD open his mouth and realized even before the kid uttered the words, what was in his mind.

"No, JD," Chris cut him off before the inevitable request was made. "I need you on the bridge with me. With Alex, Vin and Ezra off the ship, I need an experienced officer on the bridge."

"But Captain..."

"Sounding like my teenage son is not going to change my mind," Chris said good-naturedly. Chris was sending enough people he cared about to face these monsters while he had to remain behind, he wasn't about to send JD too.

"Yes Sir," JD said glumly as Josiah patted the younger man on the shoulder to console him.

"Alright then," Chris looked at his Senior Staff. "Let's do this."

*****

Much to Nathan's chagrin, Transporter Chief Rain was more than willing to accompany Vin when he took command of the runabout Cimmaron. It was decided she would remain in stasis until Vin fired his first warhead at the Protozoan, with Rain coming out of stasis to take charge of transporting the second device when Vin went after his other target. With her expertise in play, it would allow Vin to make a hasty exit since he would be in the proximity of the Protozoans far longer than any one of the flight teams.

Vulcan or not, even his endurance had limits, and Chris was not about to test that.

Meanwhile, Ezra had assigned Lt. Opa to the shuttle Hawking commanded by Alex Styles since the security officer had the skill set to fly the craft in the instance Alex was overcome by the Protozoans. He would be accompanied by Kate Stokes, who seemed very reluctant to let him out of her sight for some reason. With Drew needed on the bridge while he was gone, Ezra was gratified by her presence. The woman, like Drew, was one of his most reliable officers and he knew if anything happened to him while he was piloting the shuttle Ballard, Kate would ensure they returned to the Maverick in one piece.

"Are you ready, Lieutenant?" Ezra asked as she prepared to climb into the stasis chamber on board the Ballard.

Kate did not relish spending any time as a sleeper when the shuttle was about to fly into danger, but her desire to protect the Chief overrode her fears.

"As I'll ever be," she stared at the bed and frowned in dislike.

"Lieutenant," Ezra caught her sour expression. "If you do not feel up to this, I can assign someone else for this task."

As it was Ezra felt guilty she was embarking on this mission with him, after his shameful behaviour on Deck 14, resulting in the death of Lt. Razul and Pico Chavez being assimilated. If she was doubtful of his ability to handle himself after Julia's abduction, he couldn't blame her for it. She worked with both of those men daily, considered them friends, and he couldn't imagine her feelings after such a loss.

Instead, her face showed her dismay at the suggestion. "Chief, I'm fine. I'm not about to let you go deal with this thing alone."

Without intending to, Kate reached for his hand, brushing it just lightly enough to show she cared. Ezra met her eyes and was mildly surprised by the intensity of the emotions projected his way. Grateful for her consideration, he took a step back from her.

For her part, Kate said nothing climbing onto the stasis bed so he could activate it and put her under, inordinately grateful he had not noticed the bloom of colour across her cheeks.

For the first time in almost a day, Vin and Alex stole a moment alone to wish each other good luck before boarding their own vehicles to carry out their mission to deal with the Protozoans. Since the appearance of the singularity, they had been running from one crisis to another, with barely any time to catch their breaths. Now on the cusp of a mission that could jeopardize both their lives if anything went wrong, Vin wanted some privacy with his wife, not the Acting First Officer of the Maverick .

"Look I know you've got this Vulcan endurance that makes you stronger than any of us, but you're going to be facing the Protozoans longer than the rest of us. Please be careful for me?"

Vin lifted her chin as he stood in front of the shuttle Hawking, the craft she would be piloting when she launched the probe into the nucleus of one of the four Protozoans. Pressing his lips to hers, for a second, the world and their troubles were forgotten. Their marriage bond always kept them mentally attuned to each other, but for Vin, it never took the place of physical contact.

Vulcans, in general, shied away from touch because of their mental abilities but Vin was raised human, and after he'd been rescued, people took pains not to touch him, for fear of offending him when in truth, it made him feel more of a pariah. Until Alex kissed him that first time, Vin hadn't realized how much he missed the contact of another person against his skin.

"I will, I promise," he assured her, aware she was especially afraid for him after what happened to Buck.

Since Buck had been lost to them, Vin knew exactly how affected Alex was by Buck's assimilation. For the benefit of the crew, including the Captain, she tried her best to hide it. With Ezra's wounded state after Julia's loss and Chris's obvious guilt, Alex wanted to project a brave front to the rest of the Senior Staff because that was what Buck would do if he were present. While Alex did not possess the same passionate feelings for Buck as Inez, Vin knew there was a small corner of her heart reserved for the First Officer.

After Buck had made a disastrous attempt to date Alex, the First Officer discovered just how traumatized she was by her ordeal as a prisoner of war and tried to reach out. Buck, who was incapable of seeing a lady in need without trying to help, did everything he could to be a friend to Alex without encroaching her privacy. It was he who suggested to Alex she ought to find someone she trusted and let them in, aware of her hostility to Counsellors. This advice allowed her to take Vin into her confidence and solidified the relationship that led to their marriage.

"I just don't want to lose another person today," Alex admitted allowing the emotions she had guarded all day to rise to the surface.

"You won't," he assured her. "Alex, we'll get Buck and the others back."

Alex blinked, realizing she shouldn't be surprised Vin could see straight through her.

"It was the last thing he said to me, Vin," she raised her eyes to his again. "Buck couldn't imagine anything worse than being taken by the Borg. All I can think of every second he's a drone is that he's living his worst nightmare and I know how that feels personally. We've got to get him back, before everything he is, all the good things that make him what he is, gets crushed for good."

Vin felt his stomach clench, understanding why Alex felt so horrified after hearing that. "We will Darlin' we will."

Alex was about to answer when she saw Rain approaching the runabout with Nathan, no doubt waiting for Vin to join her on board. The transporter chief was holding back, allowing them to say their goodbyes while she did the same with Nathan. The doctor didn't seem at all pleased by the prospect of Rain leaving the ship since Nathan more than anyone, knew how dangerous the Protozoans was to them.

"We better get going," Alex replied, taking a deep breath and stepping back into the persona of the Maverick 's Science Officer again. "The sooner we deal with these things, the faster we can get after Buck and the others."

"Right," Vin nodded. "Fly straight Darlin'."

Alex managed to smile, "You too, Cowboy."

On the bridge, Chris found himself compelled by Starfleet Regulations to remain in his command chair when all he wanted to do was to pilot one of the shuttles. On the viewscreen ahead, the quartet of Protozoans could be seen clearly now. Across the murky green expanse of Fluidic space, they were only visible by the outlines of their massive forms and resembled large hollowed rings floating in the plasma. Drifting around the Alpha Quadrant invaders, were more dead carcasses of Fluidic space lifeforms and seeing that floating graveyard, made Chris doubly determined to rid the dimension of these agents of anti-life.

"Captain," Ezra checked in. "The Ballard is ready for launch."

"Likewise Captain," Alex who was listening on the open channel to the bridge, responded just as promptly. "The Hawking is ready to go on your mark. "

"Good," Chris nodded, exchanging a glance with Mary and JD. "Are your passengers tucked away?"

"Yeah, Chris," Vin replied, "Everyone's squared away. Rain looks awful funny though wearing a sleep mask in her stasis tube.'

"A sleep mask?" Mary tried not to chuckle.

"Oh don't get me started," Nathan, who was listening from Sick Bay, quipped in resignation at his fiancee’s eccentricities.

"That woman is weird," Chris shook his head with a grin.

"But fun," Mary pointed out.

"Alright you three," Chris shook off the joke and was sure Rain had worn the sleep mask for that very purpose, to break the tension before it snapped them all in half. She was like Buck that way. "You have clearance to launch."

The bridge lapse into silence as they watched the shuttles and the runabout leaving the ship one by one, appearing briefly in the main viewer before disappearing towards the separate hearts of the Protozoans.

Beneath his breath, Chris whispered softly. "Good luck."

Almost two years onboard the Maverick , Vin Tanner believed nothing could surprise him.

Most of the time, he faced the situations the starship encountered wearing the familiar unflappable mask that allowed him to conceal the extent of his shock and convince himself things would turn out alright. He didn't know until much later, his ability to maintain that expression of indifference often gave comfort to those around him, mostly because they believed it meant things wasn't as dire as they feared. If there were other Vulcans to discuss the matter with, they might have told him he was in his own way, displaying a version of non-emotion, even if Vin had turned his back on all of Surak's teachings.

It was not to say Vin disliked being Vulcan. He didn't. It had taken him a long time to accept he would always live in exile from his people. Fate had marooned him on a world with human rescuers who took him into their hearts and raised him as their own. Vin did not regret the love shown to him by his adopted parents or the price he would pay by having them in his life. Not long ago, he learned the name of his parents' thanks to Svinak, his doppelganger from the alternate dimension that gave Chris Larabee back his son.

Svinak who bore all the mental disciplines Vin never possessed and more, revealed his parents were V'tosh ka'tur, a sect that abandoned Surak's teachings of non-emotion, and were ostracized by Vulcan society because of it. His own investigations once they returned home revealed why no one was eager to claim him when he was finally rescued. There was simply no record of his birth for any family to be found. His parents, Svianek and T'Lara never reported his existence to the Vulcan Registry of Births, and as he no longer remembered their names, there had been no way to trace his family.

Vin liked to think that the current trajectory of his life would have pleased them. Staring through the cockpit window, he was glad he lived the life they would have wanted for him, able to feel the pleasure of love, friendship and at this moment, wonder.

The entity before him should have been terrifying and he ought to have no feeling for it at all, but it was difficult to view the thing without some measure of respect, despite its ravenous proclivities being so detrimental to all life around it. Once the runabout Cimmaron penetrated the solid space the scanners were unable to penetrate, Vin was able to see for himself the creature he was about to destroy.

It was exactly as described in the logs. The Protozoan was a single-celled organism, incapable of anything except the fulfilment of its essential functions. Devour and procreate. As Vin studied it, he had no need to scan it, because it was an almost picture-perfect depiction from a page of a biology book. He could see the nucleus surrounded by cytoplasm, speckled with mitochondria, centrioles and Golgi apparatus. He watched the thing going blithely about its business, with no clue everything it came into contact with, would die.

It is a virus, Vin thought.

"Cimmaron to the Maverick ," Vin spoke into coms as he stared at the thing through the cockpit window. "I've got a visual of the target. Confirming that it's what the Enterprise tangled with."

As a matter of course, he began programming the litany of tests Nathan had insisted he make before they fired their antimatter warheads. Running the DNA decoder after adjusting the enzyme recorded to take readings on multiple wavelengths, Vin completed the set by running the acetylcholine test. A wave of dizziness ran through him then, not unlike the lightheadedness one felt when standing up too fast.

"How are you doing?" Chris's question came through just as Vin shook his head to clear it.

"I'm doing alright," Vin replied, allaying his Captain's fears. While he could feel the weariness tugging at him, it was nowhere as severe as he imagined it must be for Alex and Ezra. Vin brushed away thoughts of Alex because his feelings for her would only get in the way of what needed to be done. Glancing at the medkit on the empty seat beside him, Vin added. "If it gets too bad, I'll break out the stimulants Nathan gave us."

"Good," Chris replied and Vin could tell that the Captain was wishing he was one of the pilots flying this mission. "Move into attack position and fire your payload as soon as you can. You've got another one of these things to deal with, you need to have something left when you do that."

"Aye Captain," Vin nodded. "How's Alex and Ezra doing?"

"They're doing okay," Chris assured Vin's to keep his mind off worrying about Alex. "They're on final approach to their targets."

As the Protozoa loomed larger and larger in the window, Vin felt another wave of fatigue sweep over him and reached over for the medkit. Flipping it open, it revealed the hypospray containing at least four doses of stimulant. Nathan was unwilling to provide more than that because his heart might start to go into cardiac arrhythmia if he took too much of the stuff. Pressing the hypospray against his jugular to ensure it got into his system as quickly as possible, it took but a few seconds before his head cleared and he was back to full alertness.

"Chris, I'm about to arm the torpedo banks to fire the warhead. Are Alex and Ezra in position yet?"

"Stand by," Chris replied.

To avoid damaging Fluidic space with multiple antimatter explosions, the detonations needed to be coordinated, and as Vin was first in position, he could fire one warhead before allowing Vin and Ezra to follow suit. The faster he fired the first torpedo, the faster Alex and Ezra could do the same and leave the area. The two humans would be far more susceptible to the energy drain than he.

"You have a go. Fire at will."

Vin was poised to fire and at Chris's order, he launched the warhead.

"Torpedos away."

"Alright, get the hell out of there."

Vin didn't need to be told twice. The window in front of him revealed the Cimmaron's sharp turn, veering away from the view of the Protozoa that was oblivious to the death approaching it. Resembling a star hurtling through space, the torpedo glowed with amber light as it closed in on its target, the dark spot of the Protozoa's nucleus.

Vin paid little attention to this, even though he could have pulled up a view on his console if he wished it. Flying away from the Protozoa, he noticed his shield strength had been reduced by at least 25 per cent after being in such close proximity to the creature, explaining why he was hit with the wave of dizziness earlier. Of course, the runabout's shields were stronger than those of the shuttles and certainly better than the ones used by the USS Enterprise a century ago.

All of a sudden, every alert signal on the Cimarron came alive as the ship was jolted violently. As klaxons screamed in his ears and the runabout began to spin, Vin wrestled with the controls, trying to ride the explosive wave of power from the detonated warhead behind him, to escape the blast. The ship shuddered around him, and the case on the seat clattered to the deck.

"Computer, rearview!"

The display revealed the scene behind him. Vin saw a brilliant explosion that completely consumed the Protozoa behind it. Looking away because the intense flare of energy was making him see spots, Vin continued his hasty departure when suddenly, the dead zone surrounding him, began to evaporate. In its place, was the welcome return to Fluidic space and the Maverick in the distance. Studying the screen once more, he saw the explosion was finally extinguished and where the Protozoa had been, was nothing but the familiar plasma sea of the region.

"Computer, scan for the Protozoa."

The computer's response was prompt and confirming.

"There is no evidence of the Protozoa life form in the previous coordinates."

Easing back into his chair, Vin let out a sigh of relief.

One down, four to go.

Alex's skull was pounding by the time she dosed herself with another shot of stimulant and frowned because she had one more left in the medkit provided by Nathan Jackson. As a human, the doctor had recommended no more than two doses, with the third to be used in emergencies. Unlike Vin, whose Vulcan metabolism could easily handle four without risk, Alex hated her human biology for being so much weaker.

Through the viewscreen, the Protozoa she was sent to destroy expanded across the cockpit window of the shuttle Hawking. As it increased in size before her, so did the effects of its vampiric need for energy. As it was the shields on the Hawking was down forty per cent and slowly descending. She'd rerouted as much power into the shields as she dared, aware compromising its strength would mean cause her to deteriorate faster.

Conducting the same plethora of test the others were doing on their own ships, Alex felt some measure of scientific curiosity bleed back into her mind once the stimulants silenced the kettle drum playing the highlights from a Wagnerian opera in her head. It was worse than the morning after she went drinking with Jadzia Dax on Deep Space Nine.

Oh, but what a night.

A part of her grieved having to kill this creature, whose place in existence could not be without design. She suspected it might have slipped through the cracks between dimensions, possibly originating from a place where it was not such a menace, but just another life form in its home universe. Her mind tried to grasp the mechanics of such a realm, and what other creatures might exist there. If this was a single-cell specimen, what were the more complex ones like?

They had believed Fluidic Space to be occupied by only one species, but as the carcasses they found on the way here revealed, Species 8472 was certainly not alone. Perhaps they were displaying the same arrogance as man some hundreds of years ago, when humanity thought themselves superior to everything on Earth, sentencing thousands of species to extinction. Species 8472 might possess the same sensibilities, albeit to a more extreme degree.

The Protozoa's size was almost covering every space of plexiglass on her cockpit window, and Alex leaned forward to see the sea of cytoplasm contained within the cell membrane sac, the mitochondrial strands drifting languidly through eddies along with other organelles. Grateful her scanner was taking all this data in, Alex wished there was some other way to do this, but knew the lives of the Maverick and the creatures of Fluidic space had to be protected. Silently, she made a promise to make a thorough analysis when this was all over. Perhaps if she did that, she might find some way to feed these things without risking any other life forms if they were encountered again.

The soon had no sooner crossed her mind when another wave of blackness swept over, and this time, Alex nearly slumped over the cockpit controls of the shuttle. Glancing at her vitals on one of the screens, she knew she was draining faster, now that she was within range of launching the probe at the Protozoa. She had to hang on, Alex thought defiantly. She had to hang on.

"Alex," Chris Larabee's voice snapped her back to attention. "The Cimarron has just launched a warhead. Begin the sixty-second countdown."

Thank God, Alex thought silently and immediately brought the shuttle to a stop. She was close enough anyway.

"Aye Captain," she replied and hated the weariness in her voice because she knew he would notice it.

"Sixty seconds."

"Alex, are you alright?" Chris demanded.

"I'm fine," She assured him as she tapped the sequence into the computer and prepped the Class 1 probe for launch in one minute. A counter appeared on her console screen, indicating how much time she had. "Just a little winded. Requesting a week off when this is done."

"Would you actually take it?"

"Forty-five seconds."

"I'll try not to be offended by your scepticism," she returned with a little smile, aware she could be a workaholic as she reached for the final dose of stimulants. In the background, the computer's dulcet tones began the countdown to launch. Once again, she pressed the instrument to her shoulder, allowing the drugs to pass through her skin.

"Thirty seconds."

The fog in her head cleared, although this time it had not been as fast. With the shuttle frozen in place, she clutched the console, allowing the drug to take full effect as she readied the probe for launch. It wasn't just that she felt dizzy, but it was becoming harder to stay focused, which she simply had to be to launch the probe. Gritting her teeth, she tried to take her mind off her worsening physical condition.

"Is Vin alright?" She asked, sure the Captain would tell her if he were not. While they had a marriage bond that kept them tethered mentally, Alex still had difficulty in relying on it.

"He's fine," Chris answered promptly. "He fired the warhead without a hitch. He's heading to the next target now."

"Fifteen seconds."

"Show off."

Alex closed her eyes, staving away another bout of disorientation, painfully aware now the stimulants were no longer having any effect. The shield strength was now declining rapidly, and as she watched the numbers slowly reach fifty per cent, Alex knew if she did not get out of here soon, she would not survive long enough to return to the ship. Digging her nails into her palms, the pain offered her some measure of clarity but not enough.

"Zero."

Without a second thought, Alex tapped the controls once more, a gasp of relief escaping her as she heard the computer making a new statement over the coms.

"Class One probe launched."

"About time!" Alex whispered under her breath. "Computer, full reverse thrust!"

The shuttle spun around abruptly as the probe escaped the small craft, heading towards a target for a purpose far beyond its original design. Alex paid little attention to any of this. She was trying hard to remain in her seat as the shuttle pulled away. Taking a final look at the Protozoa, she leaned back into her chair, closing her eyes a moment to regain her strength when another blanket of fatigue smothered her so completely, she could do nothing but tumble out of her seat.

The last thing Alex saw before she blacked out completely was the view of Fluidic space rushing past her through the cockpit window.

The game was Solitaire.

Ezra Standish stared at the screen, ignoring the behemoth in the cockpit window, interested only in the game he was playing. He'd decided to go with a three-card draw, using the vintage deck Julia had acquired during a trip home to Maine. It was in pristine condition, and he was sure cost a pretty penny to purchase, but God help him, he adored her for it. Originating in the 1870s, its condition was so perfect, the paper was as stiff as the day it was made. Produced by the New York Consolidated Card Company, the deck of 'Squeezers' as it was called back in the day, came complete with indices at the corner, so they could be fanned out in display.

Used only with the friends he played poker with on Friday nights, having the deck here during this possible suicide mission to destroy the Protozoa, seemed appropriate. It was also a reminder he had to survive this mission so he could get on with the business of helping Julia. The woman who would go to this much trouble for him, could not be lost for any reason.

"Ezra, the second warhead has been detonated."

"Excellent," Ezra remarked almost dismissively as his hand reached away from the cards played across a second of his console and he set the countdown to begin.

"How are you holding up?"

Ezra studied his cards, frowning at what he had in front of him. "I think I need a black Queen."

"Excuse me?"

"I need a black Queen, I cannot move my red Jack, without a black queen. There doesn't appear to be one accessible to me at this point."

In the background, the countdown continued distantly, but Ezra's focus was on the cards. Focusing on the numbers, he could ignore the fatigue attempting to drag him into the darkness or the way the room wanted to spin like an old-style turntable. The cards had always given him focus, and this occasion was no exception.

"Ezra, are you alright?" Chris Larabee's voice exuded understandable concern, like that troublesome voice in his head he sometimes referred to as his 'conscience'.

"I am fine, Captain," he said, drawing the three again and saw no help with the new selection. "Although I cannot say the same for my game. I think I am out of moves."

There was a pause, and Ezra looked up long enough to take note of how much time was left. The computer's recital sounded like the voice of a dealer at the roulette table. The only thing missing was the white ball.

"Ezra, how many stimulant doses have you taken?"

"Just one Captain," Ezra replied. "I need no concoctions to maintain my thoughts, just the embrace of Lady Luck."

Ezra could not see the exasperation on Chris's face, but he knew his Captain well enough to know it was there, especially when the man uttered his next words.

"Even Lady Luck needs help, Commander. Take another dose."

"Zero."

The computer interrupted Ezra before he could respond. The single utterance made him forget the game because now there was a new imperative. No longer was he the gambler sitting at a felt-covered table, dressed too well for the saloon he was in and certainly too refined for the cheap whisky he was drinking. Now he was the Chief of Security again, and he had work to do.

"Launching the probe now."

His fingers moved across the controls with a different kind of dexterity, and within seconds of the chirping sound made by the freshly inputted commands, he saw the probe through the cockpit window of the Ballard, flying to its fate within the nucleus of the Protozoa. This time, Ezra was not too proud to use the hypospray, and pressed it to his neck with one hand, while the other turned the shuttle around and flew it away from the soon to be destroyed life form.

It was only after he put a reasonable distance between it and the Ballard, Ezra Standish realized the Maverick had suddenly gone silent.

If Ezra wondered why the Maverick had suddenly fallen silent, having the answer would not have made him feel better.

".....launching the probe now."

On the bridge, Chris was satisfied the mission to destroy the Protozoans was progressing according to plan. The reappearance of the Cimarron indicated the first life form was destroyed. Although Chris was glad to see Vin had made it out in one piece, the Vulcan still had one more creature to kill, and Chris hoped he was in reasonable shape to do it. Not after hearing Lt. Opa checking in to tell the bridge Alex had collapsed on the floor of the Hawking, prompting the security officer's emergence from stasis to get them back to the ship.

Easing back into his chair after Ezra's report, Chris was listening to Charlotte Richmond telling him they had avoided damaging Fluidic Space by their staggered antimatter assaults on the Protozoan when once again, Lady Luck as Ezra would say, decided to show her hand.

And their luck being what it was today, it was naturally bad.

"Oh!"

Mary uttered a sudden groan, and Chris shot her a look immediately, seeing her double over in her seat.

Josiah who was occupying Buck's chair at present, mostly because Chris couldn't bear to see it empty and the Counsellor was the only one Chris could tolerate there for the moment, jumped out of his chair and hurried over to the Protocol Officer. At first, Chris thought Mary was suffering from their proximity to the remaining Protozoa, but as she clutched her skull in pain, he realised this was something different.

"Mary, what is it?" Chris demanded, feeling his anxiety for her welfare ratchet up a notch at the pained look on her face. While they could all feel the fatigue and weariness tugging at their bones, her reaction was far more acute.

Josiah was in the process of running a medical scanner over her, employing skills he seldom used as a Counsellor, trying to determine the problem. While he was nowhere as adept as Nathan, keeping company with the doctor had convinced him to brush up on the basics, since the Maverick often had emergencies requiring the extra help.

"Her life signs are stable for our current situation," Josiah answered, seeing Chris's approach towards panic and well aware the Captain couldn't be distracted right now.

"They're coming!" She raised her head and looked up at Chris. "Chris, I can hear their thoughts. They're coming, and there's a lot of them!"

She didn't need to elaborate on who 'they' were.

Chris jumped to his feet immediately. "Charlotte!"

"Already scanning!" The Acting Science Officer replied, her eyes already running over the Science station, trying to confirm Mary's urgent exclamation.

"Drew, is the Hawking on board yet?" Chris turned to Ezra's replacement at Tactical.

"Yes Captain," Drew nodded. "She just entered the shuttle bay."

"What about the Ballard and the Cimarron?"

"They're still in the null field surrounding the Protozoans.”

Chris thought quickly, he couldn't waste time swinging around to pick them up, at least not yet. Cursing inwardly, he hoped Ezra and Vin could manage on their own until he dealt with this new crisis. It seemed fate planned on throwing everything but the kitchen sink at them today.

"Then raise shields and be ready to deploy the ablative armour."

"Captain, I'm detecting at least seven ships!" Charlotte stared at him with more than a visible trace of fear. It did not bode well for their situation.

"Confirmed," JD added from his station where he was scanning the area in his capacity as navigator. "Captain, they're coming at us on an intercept course."

"On screen!"

The scene was as bad as Chris expected it as a phalanx of bioships appeared on the viewer, the points of their dart-like configuration moving through Fluidic Space with all the velocity one would expect from the design. The speed on which they were closing in on the Maverick told him they had seconds, not minutes to act.

"Time to intercept?”

"Forty-five seconds," JD replied promptly.

All of a sudden, the bioship broke formation, spreading out in a starfish pattern that Chris recognised from Voyager's footage of their encounters with Species 8472. Knowing what was coming, he knew the Maverick would not survive if Species 8472 launched the assault it intended by this new configuration. The things had taken out a Borg planet. A goddamn planet.

Crossing the space between his command chair and the Conn, presently occupied by Ensign Nora Densham who was taking Vin's place while the Vulcan was off the ship, Chris knew their present circumstances required someone who was not fresh from the Academy.

"Ensign, you're relieved."

The junior officer looked at him puzzled before she understood what the Captain intended and promptly obeyed, getting to her feet. Taking a step back, she withdrew to another station in case she was still needed. No sooner than she stepped away, Chris took up the seat she just vacated. JD glanced at Chris in surprise, having never seen the Captain take the helm but knew from experience, Chris's earlier assignment before he became the First Officer of the Rutherford, was the Officer of the Conn for the USS Indiana.

"Armour deployed Captain," Drew announced as he saw the ships completing their new attack pattern.

"Good," Chris replied as he swung the ship around, needing to put as much distance between themselves and the enemy ships as possible. "We have to lead them away from the Ballard and the Cimarron, long enough for Commander Standish and Lt. Tanner to detonate the antimatter warheads."

"Is there any chance we can talk to them?" Josiah asked. "Tell them what it is we're doing?"

"Mary?" Chris asked as he swung the Maverick around and headed away from the Protozoans. The bioships in his rear scanner revealed the ships had completed their attack formation and a volley of fire was coming their way. He did not look at the Protocol Officer as he spoke, his eyes fixed on his console and the screen ahead.

"I'll try," Mary replied. "They're rather upset with us over the attack on their ships before. I can't hear it in words, but the emotion is clear."

"I can try to hail them," JD suggested, aware it probably wouldn't do any good since he had no idea how the bioships functioned or whether or not they possessed any form of receiving transmitter.

"Couldn't hurt," Chris responded, his attention fixed on one of the ships pulling ahead in front of the others, as if leading the charge, except Chris knew better. "Captain, they're charging weapons!"

"All hands," Chris said, tapping his combadge to make the shipboard announcement, "Brace for impact."

All ships but one fired their weapons, but their target was not the Maverick . Instead, they were funnelling the energy beams into the lead ship, allowing it to act as a conduit to deliver one massive burst of power. When that deadly payload escaped the bioship and struck the Maverick 's hull along its wounded nacelle, despite Chris's best efforts to evade it. If not for the ablative armour, Chris was sure they would have lost the entire pylon. As it was the Maverick was flung into a violent tailspin. Everyone clung to anything they could reach as the bridge turned upside down as it was thrown into its corkscrew trajectory.

Klaxons screamed the ship's protest at the treatment and as soon as Chris fired the thrusters, forcing the Maverick to break out of the deadly maneuver. Being in Fluidic space meant they only had the use of impulse power to make their escape. Had they been home, Chris would have warped the hell out of there, but no such avenue was available to them.

"Ready transphasic torpedoes!" Chris shouted as he forced the Maverick to come about sharply, heading not away from the enemy ships but towards them.

"Captain, what are you doing?" Charlotte demanded. "You're heading right for them."

Chris ignored her. "Engineering, I want all power to the front shields."

"Captain," Josiah asked. "Mind letting us in on what you're doing?"

"Not unless this became a democracy and no one told me."

Mary gave Josiah a look that spoke volumes with what the Senior Staff had to deal with daily.

Another bolt of energy was coming at them, and this time, Chris was better able to avoid it, waiting until the absolute last moment to perform a barrel roll maneuver that not only took the Maverick out of its way but spiralled around the incoming fire. Once again, everyone gripped any handhold available to keep from tumbling out of their seats, wondering at what point Chris Larabee became an even crazier pilot than Vin Tanner.

"FIRE!"

Trying to keep up with what the Captain was demanding of him, Drew managed to unleash a volley of torpedoes as the Maverick continued in its spinning trajectory. As the weapons flew towards the enemy ships, it became challenging for them to avoid the incoming projectiles and one or two had to break formation to avoid being struck. As a result, the wing's ability to deploy its combined strength was temporarily disrupted as the ships in the Maverick 's line of fire scattered.

"Keep firing!" Chris ordered. "We've got to keep them from regrouping!"

"Captain, our shield strength has decreased by 15 per cent," Charlotte warned from her station.

"And I think I'm going to lose my lunch," Josiah remarked, never realising how disorientating it could be to be stuck on the bridge during these engagements. Usually, he found himself a comfortable spot, preferably in a closet or some confined space to ride out these battles. He did not think having a front seat could be even worse than that.

Despite the situation, Chris couldn't help but smile at the remark. "Oh, this is just a little bumpy. You're lucky it's me here and not Vin."

"I beg to differ!" Mary quipped as the Captain performed another dangerous maneuver, just as Drew fired again.

Another blast striking them made the Maverick spin around again and this time the starship took longer for Chris to right, tumbling sideways the way no vessel this size ought to be doing. This time, JD fell out of his seat but managed to scramble back to his station just as quickly. As Maverick prepared to returned fire, Fluidic space suddenly came alive with a brilliant white light, everyone on the bridge immediately identified.

"That's a warhead!" Charlotte shouted.

For a second as the shockwave moved through the battling flotilla of ships, all parties ceased firing. As the brilliance evaporated and sensors in danger of overloading normalised, Chris turned his ship around and headed towards the source. Emerging from the proximity of that blast would be his officers, and he needed to get to them before the enemy.

"Whose payload was that?" Chris demanded.

"It was the Ballard," Drew replied automatically. "Commander Standish's ship."

"Hail him.”.

"Ballard, this is the Maverick , please come in."

A few seconds of silence followed before Ezra's voice filled the bridge. "Captain, do I take it this is a bad time to drop in?"

"Don't be funny!" Chris snapped.

"Captain," Charlotte looked up at him. "The bioships, they're falling back."

Chris looked over his shoulder at her, "are you sure?"

"Yes Sir," she nodded, glancing at Drew for confirmation. "They're falling back five thousand kilometres. Only one ship is maintaining position with us."

"Captain, they're hailing us," JD spoke up, compounding the incredulity of the sudden turn of events.

"Put them on screen," Chris ordered. "Ezra, get your ass back on board immediately. I don't know how long this detente is going to last."

"When you put it so succinctly," Ezra replied unseen. "I shall be on my way."

"Captain, we have to lower our shields to let Commander Standish on board," Drew warned.

"I know, I know," Chris was well aware of that but said nothing further when all of a sudden, a most familiar face appeared on the viewscreen, displaying as much irritation as Chris was feeling.

"Chris Larabee, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Isn't it enough you've filled our space with dangerous critters devastating our home. Now you gotta start detonating antimatter bombs left right and centre?"

Chris could only stare at the face in front of the screen that did not at all resemble a member of Species 8472, but a rather angry curmudgeon bearing a striking resemblance to Boothby, the head groundskeeper at Starfleet Academy.

"Boothby?"

"Of course not you idjit," the man on the screen barked back. "I just look like him, so I can talk to you people."

"Good likeness," Josiah had to admit.

"And just as charming." Mary agreed under her breath.

Chris shot them a look to be quiet before facing front again. "We're not taking potshots at your space, we're trying to stop the creatures that are killing off the life forms in your territory."

"You expect us to believe that?" The Boothby facsimile stated skeptically.

"We didn't intend to come into your space, we were investigating the singularity you opened in our quadrant when we ran into six Borg cubes. We entered the singularity to escape them, but once we got here, we saw what was happening to Fluidic space."

"Because you caused it!" Boothby accused, but there was less venom in his voice, and the look in his eyes implied the man was listening anxiously for Chris to elaborate.

"No," Chris countered immediately. "One hundred years ago, one of the things arrived in our territory and killed millions, the entire population of a planet and a full complement of a starship. We discovered it was a single-celled organism."

"Do I look like I fell out of the rhubarb patch last week?" Boothby stared at him in disbelief. "You're telling me that thing, devouring all life in our space, is a giant amoeba?"

"That's exactly what I'm telling you," Chris returned. "We had as much trouble accepting it as you, but we know how to kill it. The thing feeds of energy, all forms of energy, including those produced by living organisms. It's why your ships can't get close and ours can. We detected four Protozoans, and I dispatched my officers carrying antimatter warheads to detonate them inside the nucleus. That's the only way they can be destroyed. Now we've neutralised three of the things, but there's one more left. When this is done, I will turn over all our data on the creatures to you so you can deal with them yourselves, so this never happens again."

"You're willing to do that?" Boothby eyed Chris, still appearing suspicious, but there was something in his voice that implied acceptance.

"We're not here to pick up a fight," Chris said injecting all the sincerity he could put into his voice. "We're trying to get home, but we saw the damage being done to your home and we couldn't let that continue, not when we can help."

The man stared hard at Chris through the viewscreen, his face an expression of silent contemplation. On the scanner of the helm controls, Chris could see the bioships were holding position, no longer making any hostile moves. They were simply waiting for a decision to be made.

"Okay, I believe you. Mostly because that story is too ridiculous to be a lie. Also, because the little lady over your shoulder believes it to be the truth."

Chris glanced instinctively at Mary and realised even though Species 8472 was using a verbal form of communication, they were still able to read her thoughts and determine if the Maverick was attempting to deceive them.

"It is true," Mary spoke for the first time. "You can read my mind, you know exactly what we've been through since entering the singularity. We don't want to fight. We have families on board this ship, we just want to get them home."

"And we want to save our homes," Boothby nodded. "I guess we both got a lot to lose by not cooperating with each other, and my people have confirmed what you're saying. They're not registering those dead zones any more. Every time we've tried to close in on the damn things, they just wiped us out. We've lost a lot of good people and ships."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Chris admitted. "I saw what it did to the wildlife here and that was bad enough."

"Okay then," Boothby said with a nod. "We'll let you do what you have to, and you'll provide us with the information to keep the dogs off our lawn in the future."

"Keep your people at minimum safe...."

Before Chris could finish, another explosion lit up space around them. The antimatter detonation was far enough away to be seen but not enough to be felt. Everyone on the bridge flinched a little at the brilliant glare, and on the screen, Boothby winced similarly.

"Captain!" JD broke into a grin. "I’ve got Vin on the line."

"Put him through," Chris almost smiled.

"Chris, what in the hell are you doing to my girl? You can't fly her that way! She ain't a shuttle, she's a goddamn starship!" Vin's ordinarily calm voice exploded across the coms, sending a ripple of soft laughter across the bridge as he unleashed a litany of curse words at his friend whom he'd momentarily forgotten was his Captain.

Through the screen, Boothby stared at Chris. "That's a Vulcan?"

Chris rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Yep."

"If you come with me," Alexandra Styles said to Lt. Valerie Archer, or rather the Species 8472 version of the Starfleet officer who was a descendant of famed Admiral Johnathan Archer. "I'll give you what we have on the Protozoans."

"Of course," the dark-haired woman smiled politely. She stood up gracefully from the conference room table where she and her commander, wearing the face of Groundskeeper Boothby, were in discussion with the Captain after the final Protozoan was destroyed and all the Maverick crew was back on board.

From his chair, Ezra Standish frowned at the idea of allowing the woman any access to the rest of the ship, but as the Captain impressed upon him shortly after his return, they needed to show good faith while travelling through Fluidic space. After all, if the truth was told, the Maverick and its crew were trespassing, and it would be exceedingly bad manners to treat the natives like they owned the place.

"So now that you've launched a few torpedoes in our space, what are you going to do ?" Boothby asked Chris, and the Captain got the distinct impression Species 8472 would prefer it if the Maverick left Fluidic space immediately.

"Figure out how to get out of here of course," Chris answered not standing on ceremony. "We're going to leave by going back the way we came."

Boothby made a face. "Afraid it doesn't quite work that way, but we can help you out there. Our ships can create a portal for you to leave."

"Captain," Ezra looked at Chris, reminding him they had unfinished business to deal with. While he would never presume to tell Chris Larabee his business, under no circumstances was Ezra leaving without Julia or Buck, or any other Maverick crew already assimilated.

"First, we have to head back to where we encountered your ships near the Coral," Chris explained, catching the question in Ezra's eyes. "We have a missing runabout carrying some of our crew who have been assimilated. We're not leaving without them, nor are we allowing them to reach Borg space."

Aware of how Species 8472 felt about the Collective, Chris expected some vehement objections to this, but instead, Boothby seemed unsurprised by the revelation, uttering a response that captured the attention of everyone at the table.

"We saw them."

"Where?" Ezra demanded before he could stop himself from usurping the Captain.

"One of our ships spotted them. They were heading towards a region in our territory, we don't normally go, mostly because it’s too dangerous. You see, singularities aren't the only way into Fluidic space."

"They're not?" Chris stared in surprise because Voyager had mentioned nothing about this.

"No," the man shook his head. "Before our technology developed enough for us to create singularities ourselves, we had access to your dimension through wormholes. They're scattered throughout most of Fluidic Space, and we use them as a kind of highway I suppose, into your territory. It's probably one of those damn trips that gave us away to the Borg."

"So what happened to the Corrizo?" Vin asked.

"Well they probably figured our ships would tear them a new one, so they hightailed it out of our space by using one of the wormholes.'

"Do you know which one?" Ezra asked because the escape of the Corrizo through a wormhole meant it could be anywhere in the galaxy. The possibility meant there would be next to no chance of ever recovering Julia and Buck if the runabout emerged in the Delta Quadrant. The despair threatened to rise up from inside Ezra and send him into a panic.

"We do," Boothby answered, but his manner didn't fill the officers at the table with much confidence, not if that grim expression on his wizened face was any indication. "But I wouldn't go after them if I were you."

"They're my crew," Chris said firmly, ignoring the ominous tone of his voice. If there were a way to retrieve Buck and the others, there would be nothing stopping Chris from seeing it done. He made a promise to his oldest friend and to Ezra, he would bring Julia and all the others assimilated, home to the Maverick . He was not about to abandon them at the first sign of trouble. Buck would never be halted by such an obstacle and neither would Chris. "If that's where they've gone, then that's our destination."

"Why don’t you think we shouldn’t go after them?" Mary had to ask, guessing Boothby might be warning them off for good reason.

"Because this particular wormhole is a little twitchy. There's some kind of instability we can't seem to identify. What we've been able to tell, it's got some strange neutrino readings and other quantum anomalies coming off it, unusual even for wormholes. Of course, the other reason we don't go traipsing through there is because those who went through didn't come back. "

Ezra's expression grew pale, as one would expect him to do at the possibility Julia might have met the same fate. Chris, on the other hand, maintained his expression of granite determination.

"If that's where the Corrizo went," he spoke up, not just to Boothby, but to his crew who might think he was reconsidering the idea of going after the runabout, "then that's where we're going."

As he made that statement, Chris saw Ezra's look of gratitude and nodded at his Security Chief in assurance. JD had been silent because as the youngest member of the bridge team, it wasn't his place to speak during a meeting like this. Yet hearing they were going after Buck and the others, made the young man breathe a visible sigh of relief. Once again, Chris was reminded of the strong bond between Buck and JD since the kid arrived on the Maverick straight from the Academy.

"Alright then," Boothby shrugged taking on the manner of a man who had done all he could and was washing his hands of the situation. "It's your funeral."

*****

Less than a day later, the Maverick arrived at the coordinates provided by Boothby pinpointing the location of the wormhole used by the Corrizo to escape Fluidic Space.

Remaining long enough for the exchange of information, the Maverick left the area. However, before their departure, Alex conducted a thorough scan of the region to ensure the Protozoans were truly gone, and not merely thrust into a different dimension to cause further mischief. While Species 8472 would prefer it if they left immediately, Chris was right about the destruction of the Protozoans, earning them enough goodwill for the attack on the Federation to be abandoned. It also resumed the cautious friendship between the two sides.

Staring at the wormhole through the viewscreen, Chris could not help thinking it resembled a giant whirlpool and to enter it would be to descend into the depths of Fluidic space itself. It was almost the size of the singularity they used to enter this dimension. The vortex dragged the detritus of the plasma sea into the dark blue eye at its core. Pieces of coral, the carcasses of dead animal life and even soft porous material resembling kelp, were sucked into its orifice.

"It's a wormhole alright," Vin remarked, having seen one or two in his career to recognise the spatial phenomena, even if it looked like what happened when he drained the water from his bathtub.

"Confirmed," Alex announced, looking up from the science station after studying the readings produced by her scans. "I'm detecting normal levels of tetryonic particles, neutrinos and theta-band emissions. The content of ionised hydrogen is particularly high, so I recommend we go in there with shields and thrusters only. If we go in at full throttle, we're liable to ignite the hydrogen."

"I concur," Ezra agreed, already conscious of the risk the Captain was taking to retrieve Julia and Buck, without wishing the ship to be further endangered. As it was, he was still mindful of what Boothby had said about there being something unusual about this particular wormhole.

"Noted," Chris nodded, thinking the same thing as Ezra though he was unaware of it. "Vin, think you can ride the rapids with thrusters only?"

"I better," the helmsman replied and then glanced over his shoulder. "Otherwise, you'll probably take the Conn and Christ knows what will happen then." A little smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he threw a cocky smirk at his Captain and best friend.

"Just fly the ship Tanner," Chris waved him away dismissively. "JD, take us to yellow alert."

"Aye Sir."

Alert panels were soon flashing throughout all decks of the Maverick . As the notification spread across the ship, Chris took the opportunity to address the rest of his crew.

"All hands, we are about to enter the wormhole that will, if our luck holds, return us to normal space. All department heads report to your stations and all civilians, please remain in your quarters until further notice. We will update you as the situation develops.”

"Alright Vin," Chris said once all the forms were observed. "Let's get the hell out of here."

Vin did not waste time, eager to leave this place as the rest of the Maverick 's crew. "We're on our way."

The Maverick sailed forward, and as she approached the aperture that would take them away from Fluidic space for good, the starship began to shudder as the gravimetric forces began to work its will through the hull. While the violent currents were nothing the ship couldn't handle, Chris saw Mary clutching the grips of her chair while the rest of the senior staff clung to anything they could reach to remain steady on their feet to continue their jobs.

Nearing the maw of the wormhole, Chris imagined the dark blue eye he could see in the centre of it to be the welcoming sight of normal space peering through the maelstrom. Instinctively, he longed for the sight of stars. The turbulence continued to intensify, and as the wormhole grew larger and larger in the view screen, it felt for a moment like the ship might fly apart from the stress.

"What's our status?" Chris demanded over the sound of the violent shuddering.

"Our structural integrity appears to be holding!" Ezra responded over the noise. "Our shields are protecting us from the worst of the gravimetric forces."

"How long until we're through?"

"Fifteen seconds," Vin's voice never rose an octave despite the chaos around him. Instead, the Vulcan seemed maddeningly calm, his focus fixated on the viewer and his helm controls.

On the viewscreen, Chris saw the Maverick finally crossed the point of no return and knew they were committed to completing their journey. As the iridescent vortex of Fluidic space swirled powerfully around them, he saw the centre of the wormhole widen even further, and for a moment, Chris thought it looked like the lazy eye of a great space beast blinking awake at the sight of them. As it continued to expand even more, until the stars he imagined he was seeing became more and more visible, he suddenly heard Alex speak for the first time since they began their approach.

"Captain!"

There was enough fear in her voice to force even Vin to glance over his shoulder at the same time as Chris. It wasn't often they heard the panic in her voice, and despite the fact they were seconds away from disappearing down the wormhole for parts unknown, they were all compelled to look in her direction.

"I'm detecting tachyon emissions coming out of that thing!"

"What?" Chris Larabee exclaimed sharply, needing only a split second to know what that meant. "VIN! TURN US AROUND NOW!"

But it was too late. They were going in.

*****

When the Maverick stopped shaking, and some semblance of order returned to his bridge ten minutes later, Chris stared at the viewscreen in front of him and knew exactly where he was.

The planet was decidedly arid, with vast tracts of red desert covering most of the surface. What patches of ocean there were, could hardly be seen through the atmospheric shield of heat. The planet had no moons in orbit, although there were stories as far back as four thousand years that claimed there had been one once. Savage wars, even by human standards had destroyed it, raining debris across the planet that ruined its lush tropical climate and turning it into the harsh world before them.

"Is that what I think it is?" JD asked, shaking his head from the disorientation of their emergence from the wormhole.

"I believe it is," Ezra nodded, already scanning the area and noticing Alex was doing the same, although he was searching for enemy ships and she was studying for something else entirely.

"We were on the other side of the Federation," Mary stammered, recognising the world before her just as clearly as Chris. "How did we..."

It didn't matter, Chris thought because where they had emerged was not the problem.

"Alex, how bad?" Chris stared at his science officer.

"Bad enough," she returned after a second, knowing he recognised the urgency of the situation as well as she did. "I can't find any traces of subspace buoys, none of the orbital stations or starbases. Captain, there's nothing out there, and the stars are wrong. I'm detecting one that went nova two thousand years ago. It's still there."

"How is that possible?" Mary gaped as Alex's statement stunned every one of them

Everyone except Chris, that is. The instant his science officer had told him there were tachyons in the wormhole, he knew this was a possibility. It was why no ships from Species 8472 ever returned after passing through the wormhole. It wasn't where they had ended up, but rather when.

"The wormhole must have created a temporal rift at its exit point," Alex explained. "We've emerged in what by our calendar would be the 4th century BC."

"Are you telling me we have returned two millennia in the past?" Ezra's mask of composure was nowhere in sight, and he stared at Chris in astonishment.

"That's right," Chris nodded, facing front again and the red planet before them. "We've gone back in time."

"Where?" JD managed to ask as he grappled with the impossible realisation.

"Vulcan," Vin Tanner spoke for the first time, looking at the planet where his race began. "We’re at Vulcan."

THE END FOR NOW

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