It was astonishing how quickly Fate could put things in perspective.

Twenty-four hours ago, Josiah Sanchez had sat in his office, contemplating the possibility of leaving the Maverick for good, because his daughter Mara had appealed for him to return home since he was going to be a grandfather. Naturally, the idea of being a grandparent thrilled him, but the last year had renewed Josiah’s sense of purpose and allowed him to challenge his limitations for the first time in thirty years. It was a decision Josiah was still wrestling with when the Maverick was called away from DS5 to answer the distress signal from the survey ship, Columbus.   

The mission seemed routine enough until the last hour. The ship had come under attack and it became clear, this fight would be just as bloody as the one the Maverick faced with the Dominion.  Emerging from his office, he had gone to Sick Bay to lend his assistance, aware in such battles, there would soon be a deluge of casualties, and he preferred to be busy instead of twiddling his thumbs with worry for himself and his friends.

Over the past twelve months, the mental health of everyone on board had become Josiah’s responsibility and try as he might, he simply wasn’t capable of keeping them at arm’s length.  As he and Nathan had reminded each other on numerous occasions, professional detachment wasn’t just to protect patients, it was to protect doctors too. But when one lived on a starship, which felt like a small community, it was impossible to maintain that distance. They weren't just facing he saw every day but people he counted as his friends.

And if his friends were hurt, he wanted to be there to help them.

It was a decision with mixed blessings when the shields were lost.  With nothing to prevent disruptor bombardment from breaching the hull, the number of casualties escalated beyond all expectation. The injured were brought into Sick Bay were suffering wounds ranging from severe trauma by the violent shaking of the ship, to burns ranging from mild to severe from the overloaded systems. A particularly nasty plasma fire had erupted in the deuterium storage area on Deck 27, resulting in extreme burns for those who’d been caught in its fiery embrace.

As the battle continued, the casualties flooded into Sick Bay and suddenly Josiah was offering more than comfort, he was playing the part of the first-aid volunteer.  Helping the medical team set up emergency cots within every inch of free space in Sick Bay, it soon became apparent the number of injured exceeded its capacity, and soon they were treating people in the outside hallways and along corridors.  The Maverick was doing a valiant job to stay ahead of the four warbirds but Josiah learned from Nathan that warbirds were designed to do combat with galaxy class starships. One was manageable but four? They were outnumbered and outgunned.

Nevertheless, when the ship initiated saucer section separation, Josiah found himself taking the lead ensuring all crew were evacuated to the designated areas and families occupying quarters in the stardrive section were given a safe place to wait out the battle. At the same time, the children still on board were assigned guardians to keep them safe since their parents were most likely on duty during battle stations. Throughout the chaos, Josiah did his best to soothe frayed nerves in the quiet, unassuming tone that was so much of his bedside manner.

He noticed the woman in the aftermath of the saucer section separation. Once he caught sight of her, she was difficult to ignore. Dressed in showy clothes, with a head of snow white hair styled attractively, the woman may have been in her sixties but she was still stunning.  She was seated on the floor, with her back against a wall next to the cot they had placed Ensign Yanek who had been administered painkillers and was awaiting medical treatment.

Josiah’s stomach hollowed seeing the young woman’s injuries, the burns beneath the rips in her charred uniform appeared to be the result of a plasma fire and the splatters of blood that came from a wound he could not seem to see.  Ensign Yanek had been on board for less than a month and he winced noticing her long brown hair had been singed almost to her scalp on one side of her ruined face. From where he stood, he could smell the gagging scent of it.

Nevertheless, the older woman sat next to her, holding Yanek’s small hand, wearing a look of profound grief and yet through her pain, she was singing.

No one you can save that can't be saved

Nothing you can do, but you can learn how to be you in time

It's easy

All you need is love, all you need is love

All you need is love, love, love is all you need

All you need is love

Josiah recognised the classic song and it was one of his favourites.  She sung it in perfect pitch, revealing she was someone who knew how to use her voice. Yanek was slowly fading away and Josiah knew it wasn’t the drugs taking her in the darkness, it was something deeper and more permanent.

Grace Yanek died with a sad smile and Josiah saw the woman’s shoulder sag when the girl’s grip of her hand loosened and fell away. The lady stood up, her hand covering her face as she stepped away from Yanek in clear anguish. Josiah felt her pain screaming for him, tugging at his healer’s instincts to help.

“You look like you could use a minute to catch your breath,” he said gently.

She raised her chin and Josiah saw himself staring into blue-grey eyes that seemed very familiar.

“Her mother used to sing to her,” Adelaide Sheridan said unable to look at the child she had so shamelessly manipulated to stay on board the Maverick.  “I used to do the same to my Marigold when she was little.”

“Come on,” Josiah led her away from the hall as he spotted Nathan and Inez stepping out of Sick Bay.  Not wanting to be interrupted by the healer, Josiah led her farther down the hall as one of the nurses pulled a blanket over Yanek’s face.

She did not argue when he led her to a relatively quiet space further along the deck.  The woman was on the verge of tears and Josiah’s natural empathy told him she would prefer to do it in privacy.

“I thought I knew everyone on this ship,” Josiah commented gently. “Did you come on board recently?”

Adelaide did not look at him for a moment, feeling it deeply to see that child pass away from the world. Was it only a day ago, she had spoken to the girl? Adelaide had not been in a situation where someone was alive one minute and dead the other for a very long time. She composed herself with the practised perfection that came with life on the stage. Wiping away the moisture from her eyes, she faced him again.

“I did,” she nodded. “I’m Adelaide Travis.”

Somehow, it didn’t feel right to use her professional name when she thought of her Marigold, presently on the bridge, living this life she couldn’t fathom, where death surrounded her at every turn. More than anything at that moment, Adelaide wanted to feel like her mother, not the personality everyone in the world outside Starfleet celebrated.

Travis? Josiah’s eyes widened and then realised why those eyes looked so familiar. How many times had Josiah sat across a table in Four Corners or at a briefing, regarding those blue grey eyes that so captured the Captain’s heart?

“You’re Mary’s mother?”

“Yes, I am. I came on board at Deep Space 5 to see her. Do you know my Marigold?”

Josiah’s brows disappeared into his hairline. “Marigold?” He almost smiled but held it. He’d have to ask Mary about that later. “Yes I know Mary,” he said quickly. “She’s a good friend.”

“I’m glad she has them,” Adelaide said with a sigh. “I was worried after she married that Vulcan, she would no longer any.”

That was a strange thing to fear, Josiah thought and then supposed to a human, the Vulcans rigid way of life might make them think that way. Cold logic didn’t lend itself well to cultivating friendships, although Josiah knew many Vulcans who did enjoyed relationships with other races, it was just the way they expressed those feelings that differed to most.

“Well if it helps,” Josiah spoke to allay the lady’s fears, sensing that this was a matter of real concern for her. “Mary is happy here. I couldn’t imagine the Maverick without her or Billy.  She has good friends around her, myself included, and a sense of purpose.”

Josiah did not add anything about Mary’s relationship with the Captain, since he was unaware if the subject had been discussed with her mother and it was not his place to make the revelation.

It was a testament to the constancy of the turbulence wracking the Maverick since its entry into the battle that Josiah had started to become accustomed to it. It didn’t take long for him to receive a swift kick in his reality when the ship suddenly lurched so powerfully, Josiah was startled into remembering the ship’s current situation during his efforts to counsel Adelaide Travis.

With no warning whatsoever, the deck they were standing on dipped sharply at a nearly 45 degree downward angle, sending them careening across the corridor they were standing in, towards the wall.  Screams of panic and fear wailed through the air from the direction of Sick Bay as portable cots, equipment and other loose items from medical went tumbling down the new slope. Josiah covered Adelaide’s body with his own, protecting her from the barrage of objects that went flying through the air.

“What’s happening?” Adelaide cried out in fright, not at all accustomed to being in a situation like this. Normally, her travels across the galaxy were made on luxurious passenger cruisers, not starships that could be called onto engage in combat at any time.  Not for the first time today, she began to regret her decision to remain on board and was further horrified by the possibility this kind of danger, may be a regular occurrence for Marigold and her grandson.

Josiah did not answer at once but he glanced at the window directly across from them and took stock of the situation. Aside from the crack he could see forming at the corner of the plexiglass plate, Josiah noticed they were travelling in a downward trajectory their gravity stabilisers were unable to compensate for.  

Pushing off from the wall, he stumbled to the window and looked out, realising very quickly he had better not stay there if the window decided to shatter. Furthermore, if it did go while they were in space, what carnage they had seen so far in Sick Bay would pale in comparison with the explosive decompression that followed. Everyone had to get out of this hallway and fast.

The Counsellor remained long enough to see the Maverick’s bow surging in a slant towards the planet that was growing larger and larger in the window. The pigeon blue hull of the ship was glowing with amber heat of the atmospheric shielding as it penetrated the planet’s ozone. They were going down and they were going down fast.

Staggering back to Adelaide, he took the lady’s hand firm and started pulling her up the hallway towards Sick Bay. “We’ve got to get to Sick Bay or out of this corridor!”

“Why what’s happening?” She asked, her eyes wide with fear.

As Josiah looked over his shoulder once more to see Loren III awaiting to swallow them whole, through the window, he said grimly. “We’re about to make planet fall.”

******

TEN MINUTES LATER

A short time after Josiah Sanchez and Adelaide Sheridan rode the Maverick down to Loren III and were encountering problems of their own, Inez was still trying to escape the Romulan who had discovered her in the arboretum. Leaving the oasis behind her, she had taken the first set of doors into the hallway beyond, running at top speed. She knew he wouldn’t be far behind her and decided her only hope was to hide. Surely if they intended to take the ship, they wouldn’t waste time with her?

Even before she heard the hiss of the arboretum doors behind her, Inez was heading towards one of the crew quarters, intending to lose herself in its confines. During the battle, when the ship had lost its shields and was in danger of suffering multiple hull breaches, civilians and non-essential crew had been evacuated from the outer sections and moved to the central locations of the ship. Fortunately the crew quarters on Deck 17 were some of these and she could ensure she wouldn’t be endangering anyone else by taking refuge in them.

Entering the living space of a crew member she would apologise to later for violating their privacy, assuming she survived long enough, the room she entered had come through their terrestrial landing in predictable shambles. Furniture was upended with tables, chairs and a sofa strewn about the room haphazardly while the floor was covered with belongings ranging from picture frames, knickknacks, entertainment equipment, a shattered hydrangea plant and an oboe.

Absurdly, she wondered who on board was hiding that particular talent.

However, it was the window Inez found of more interest. Hearing the footsteps running down the hallway outside, Inez wasted no time hurrying to the large window that normally protected the room from the vacuum of space. Only now, it afforded a picturesque view of the world outside. The plexiglass had not survived the hard landing and Inez felt the breeze in her hair from the wind outside.  Wasting no time, she ran towards it as the door opened behind her.

She didn’t need to look to know the Romulan was there when she scrambled through the window as he fired again from the open door. This time, the disruptor shot was partially successful as the bolt grazed her bare shoulder. Inez let out a scream as searing pain coursed through her consciousness. The agony of it made her stumble onto the hull, barely aware she was out in the open, with Loren III’s sun blazing down on her as she gasped out loud, sucking in the ocean air.  

Mi amor, get up!  She imagined Raphael’s strong voice in her head telling her to get to her feet. You’re stronger than this Mi amor! You’re not going to be killed by a Romulan today!

Inez gritted her teeth and forced herself to ignore the pain, aware she had to keep moving if she wanted to survive the next few minutes. The Romulan would no doubt be coming.  Still half dazed from pain, Inez clutched her injured shoulder and realised she could actually see the bridge from where she was standing.

The saucer section of the Maverick was half-submerged into the sandy beach, flanked by forest and ocean. She had emerged almost at its edge and realised she was within sight of the bridge! Gritting her teeth, Inez started running again, grateful she spent all that time on a treadmill in the ship’s gymnasium because it felt like she was climbing up a rather steep hill.  Each step along the hull felt like agony and she wished she had a combadge to tell them she was coming.

Looking over her shoulder, Inez saw the Romulan sticking his head through the window, his cruel eyes searching the hull for her. It took him less than a second to spot her before he was climbing out of the window to come after her. Running harder than she had ever done before, every step Inez took made her sob with agony.  She looked at the burnt flesh on her arm and knew she was barely nicked. Nathan had been hurt worse than this. However, had he managed it? Suddenly she felt a pang of fear for the healer and prayed to God he was safe.

Despite the situation, it felt surreal running over the hull like this.  Normally, this was a view of the ship, one could only see while wearing an enviro suit during a walk in space.  It felt very strange to see it like this and hated that the current state the Maverick was in. This ship had become her home this last year, the people in it, her friends. It felt profane to see the great lady cast down like this.

Another disruptor bolt shot past her, this one missed her leg by a fraction, and Inez could feel the heat of it against her thigh. It hit the ground in front of her, sending sparks scattering across the hull, while the salt air was tainted by the stench of superheated duranium.  She didn’t dare turn around but knew the next shot was not going to miss.  She knew he had to land his shot before she made it over the curve of the hull or risked losing his line of sight.

“STOP!” He shouted in warning, perhaps hoping she would stop and he could dispense with the inconvenience of a chase. Inez ignored him, refusing to give up. She forced herself to run, gritting her teeth as she moved, focussed only on making it over that slope. Once she made it there, she could reach the bridge where the Captain and Buck was.  Legs protesting at the exertion, fear and adrenaline drove her over the crest.  

The Romulan fired and this time the bolt of energy struck her thigh. Centre, side, it didn’t matter because it brought her down just the same.

Inez uttered a short cry as agony descended over her like a curtain over her mind. She was conscious of stumbling forward, her hands flailing in front of her, in a vain attempt to brace her fall. She rolled across the hull, groaning in pain, her body doubled up, her eyes clamped shut as she was wracked in waves of searing agony.  Turning her head in her stupor of pain, she saw the Romulan approaching her, a satisfied look on his face as he closed in, preparing to finish her off.

“Why don’t you pick on someone your own size, you Romulan ptakh?”

Inez blinked and saw Alexandra Styles stepping forward from the other side of the crest, armed with a phase rifle. That remark was all the warning the Romulan received before she pulled the trigger and a streak of amber energy struck the legionnaire dead centre. He uttered a half scream before disintegrating into nothingness.

Alex had been in the Midkiff, preparing to transport herself to the bridge, having already done the same for Ezra Standish, when she sighted Inez emerging from one of the windows on the Maverick’s outer hull.  Upon sighting the Romulan, she altered her transport destination to put herself as close to Inez as she could manage, to help the bartender.

“You know,” Alex said to her with an unrepentant smile, “I was sure I had my rifle on stun.”

“Here,” Vin handed Chris the phase rifle after the Captain gave the order to break out the weapons following Alex’s declaration the Maverick had been boarded by no less than twenty Romulans.

The weapons locker, located behind one of the wall panels on the bridge, contained a small cache of phase rifles and hand phasers for the rare occasions the bridge was under threat. Upon raiding the cache and distributing amongst the remaining bridge officers, sans Ezra who was already armed when he was transported onto the bridge from the Midkiff. Meanwhile Buck and Mary, once armed, helped JD into the Captain’s Ready Room so Mary could finally administer some treatment to the young ensign’s injuries. If by any chance the fighting did reach the bridge, JD would at least be beyond the line of fire.

Chris took the weapon from Vin without looking at the Vulcan, focused instead on raising Engineering. At the moment, the Maverick was blind without the internal sensors and with Romulans on board, they needed to know where the enemy was. Even with the turbo lifts offline and the only means of getting through decks, was by Jefferies tubes and emergency stairwells, there was no reason to assume the Romulans would be held back by those limitations. Especially when the ship was now on the ground and it was easy enough to get to other decks by simply walking on the outer hull.

In the background, Chris could hear Ezra barking orders to one of his security team, sensing frustration in the man’s voice because he hated the idea of Romulans on the Maverick even more than Chris did. With shipboard communications still functioning sporadically, they’d been forced to use their combadges to coordinate their response to the Romulan threat, which was fraying Ezra’s nerves even further.

“Yes, you heard me, Romulans! They are presently on Deck 18 but I imagine they will not remain there for long. They may not be able to leave the deck utilising turbo lifts, but they have access to the emergency stairwells and they may decide it is simply easier to emerge onto the outer hull and access the other decks in that way. I want at least one team on the outer hull immediately. The rest of you, get to Transporter Room 1, the impulse engines have been initialized so you will have power to transport. I want teams stationed at Sick Bay, at secondary engineering and the shuttle bays. They may try to reach the shuttles.”

“Engineering here. Captain, it is good to hear your voice.” Julia Pemberton finally responded.

Chris saw Ezra’s gaze wavering from the conversation he was having with Katovit long enough to show his relief at her welfare. “Julia, what’s our status?”

“Our impulse drive is fully functional,” she spoke, prepared to provide the Captain with a full report. “We have partial sensors due to the physical damage of the receivers. The turbo lifts on all decks are offline and I’ve got Chanu working to restore ship’s communications. Several EPS conduits have short circuited, a third of our power relays have burnt out and we have several breaches on the outer hull of the saucer section. I’m about to send repair crews to deal with them. The transporters are functional but I recommend we limit our use because the power drain is going to be considerable. The impulse drive is nowhere near the level of the warp core for energy output.”

“Understood,” Chris replied, taking in the information before responding, “Julia, standby on sending any repair crews out at present. Conduct what repairs you can from engineering. We’ve got an intruder alert. Twenty Romulans boarded the Maverick before their ship was destroyed.”

“Oh, I hate hitchhikers,” she grumbled. “Alright Captain, we’ll stay inside and keep the doors locked.”

“Thank you,” Chris couldn’t help but smile at her quirky sense of humour. Then again, hadn’t she been the same during their battle with the Borg over Earth? Even though everything was falling apart around them on board the Rutherford, she had managed to maintain her sunny disposition despite the fact they were all moments away from death. Julia had assumed command over engineering even though she was a junior, holding that ship together long enough for the Rutherford to fight one last glorious battle.

“Julia, I want you to focus your repair efforts on restoring our security force fields and internal sensors. We need to see where those Romulans are and if possible keep them penned in. The last thing we need right now is to get into a firefight with those assholes in the condition we’re in.”

“I second that Captain,” Julia agreed. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it myself.”

“And make sure you’re armed,” Chris added. “If the Romulans are smart, they’ll try and take over key areas of the ship, which means they might be headed your way. Just because they can’t use the turbo lifts, doesn’t mean they can’t get to you. We’re on the surface now, they can literally get out and knock on your window.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll hit them with my purse,” she quipped. “Engineering out.”

“Chris,” Vin stated once the Captain finished his conversation with Engineering. “We can get out through your Ready Room window and make it across the hull to Deck 18. If we can deal with them there, we may be able to stop them from reaching the rest of the ship.”

“I concur with Lieutenant Tanner,” Ezra agreed. “We do not have time to wait for Engineering to restore our security systems in that area. No doubt, the Romulans are doing the same. By now, they would either be attempting to access the other decks through the emergency stairwells or across the hull like we are intending to do. We cannot allow them to reach any of the transporters...”

Suddenly his voice trailed off as a very ugly realisation struck him.

Both Chris and Vin recognised the gleam in his eyes. 

“What?” Chris demanded, his grip around the phase rifle tightening.

“Oh shit!” Vin caught on before the captain could, realising what had just dawned on Ezra. “Cargo Bay 3 has its own transporter!”

Vin remembered this most clearly because during the incident with the Accrans where the alien entities had taken the bridge, he, Ezra and Rain had attempted to reach the Captain and the others held hostage, by using the transporter in Cargo Bay 3.

The same Cargo Bay 3 on Deck 18, presently occupied by Romulans.

No sooner than the possibility flashed in their minds, Ezra’s tactical station emitted a loud, audible trill, full of urgency. The Security Chief’s eyes shifted immediately to the display and what he saw resulted in a corresponding clench of his jaw which bode well for no one. Without speaking, because there was simply no time for it, Ezra’s hands, so deft at shuffling cards, were now employed in a more urgent purpose as he tried to circumvent what he was seeing on his console with lightning fast reflexes.

“Ezra, what the hell?” Chris demanded impatiently, even though he suspected their worst fears, slow as they had been to realise it, was confirmed.

“The Romulans are accessing the transporters on Cargo Bay 3! I am attempting to lock them out.” Ezra snapped hastily.

“Where are they going?” Vin asked, turning away from the Security Chief, his cobalt coloured eyes scanning the bridge in case the bastards decided to show up here.

“Sick Bay!” Ezra snapped. “Damn! They have managed to lock me out.”

Chris swore and tapped his badge. “Security! This is the Captain, proceed immediately to Sick Bay. Repeat, proceed immediately to Sick Bay!” Then realising who was down there, tapped it again. “Josiah come in?”

He didn’t get an answer, nor did he have time to repeat himself because no sooner than he had spoken, the low hum of a transporter beam filled the air. Chris swung around to see the silhouette of at least six figures appearing on the bridge, at the space where the viewer had stood. Even as their patterns began to form, he could see them aiming disruptors in preparation to fire. Chris had no idea whether they had been stupid enough to fire in transit to compensate for the two second delay between their pattern forming and their reanimation, but it was just the kind of ruthless behaviour he expected from the race.

“Julia! Shut down power to Transporter 3 now!” Chris ordered, putting a stop to any more transports by the Romulans. They might be able to lock Ezra out of its controls but they had no power to stop Julia from shutting down the system entirely.

“Chris!”

Chris was aware of Vin jumping to push him out of the way of a disruptor bolt. It struck the back of his command chair as both men fell behind the Conn when the Romulans materialised, having discharged their weapons in transit to emerge firing. It was an extremely dangerous stunt, as there was no telling what a disruptor bolt would do in the pattern buffer but supposed the Romulans wanted to leave nothing to chance. Behind them, the whine of a phaser was heard as Ezra fired from his station at tactical.

The Security Chief had taken refuge behind his console, providing a barrage of phaser fire to allow Chris and Vin to get clear, since they were somewhat in the open. The Conn provided little or not cover for them and Vin found himself rolling onto his belly, making sure the Captain was doing the same as he fired his own phaser, striking one of the Romulans on the leg, sweeping the man of his feet. Unlike the disruptors, Starfleet’s stun setting was designed to incapacitate instead of causing injury. A single shot could subdue the enemy completely.

Recovering from Vin’s tackle, Chris grabbed arm and dragged the helmsman to his feet as Ezra laid down a barrage of suppressing fire, allowing them to get out from their exposed position.

“Come on!” Chris ordered as they ran towards the vestibule leading into the Captain’s Ready Room and Chris wondered fleetingly as he and Vin took refuge there, where the hell was Buck and Mary in all this.

Suddenly, one of the Romulans threw what appeared to be grenade in their direction. The object landed at the foot of the command chair and detonated, sending white sound through their ears. Chris uttered a groan of pain as his auditory senses went into overload by the frequency playing havoc with his ear drums. It felt as if someone had plunged an icicle into his brain. Dropping to his knees, he saw Vin reacting in the same way, with Ezra somehow struggling not to crumple into a heap, hanging on to the tactical console to stay upright.

Through the haze of pain, he saw the Romulans approach...

...when suddenly, the doors open behind him and Mary stepped out of his Ready Room, having heard the commotion to see the Romulans closing in on her comrades. Wasting no time, she fired the phase rifle in a continuous barrage, rather grateful for undergoing those proficiency drills Ezra Standish made all members of the Maverick undertake at quarterly intervals. Before they realised the source of the new attack, Mary had struck each of them, disintegrating them where they stood, their screams diminishing with sudden abruptness.

She stepped onto the bridge, surveying the situation and noting that the three remaining Romulans were unconscious for the time being. Wasting little time, she dropped to her knees next to the Captain, concern etched on her face at how pained and disorientated he seemed.

“Chris!” She reached for his arm, trying to help him up to a sitting position.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” he grumbled, holding his head like he was reliving the hangover he’d inflicted upon himself the night of Vin’s bachelor party. “Goddamn sonic grenade.”

“Is that what that was?” Vin grunted next to him. “Never knew I could hate having Vulcan ears so much. The acoustics...”

Ezra was already on his feet, despite suffering the grenade as badly as they had. He walked towards the unconscious Romulans, his path to them somewhat unsteady. At the sight of the man’s condition, Vin forced himself to his feet as well, deciding the Security Chief would need help while at the same time shaking his head as he tried to dispel the ringing in his ears.

“Are you alright?” Mary asked, brushing his cheek with the palm of her hand.

“I’ll live,” he held her hand in place before planting a soft kiss against her skin. “You gotta stop rescuing me.” Chris smiled. “It’s going to become habit forming.”

“Then stop getting into trouble,” Mary returned with an equally playful smile.

“Captain,” Ezra’s voice called out, interrupting the tender interlude. “One of these men is a Centurion.”

A Centurion? Chris shot Ezra a look, familiar with the hierarchy of Romulan ranking structure. If he was here, then where was Lorral?

******

FIVE MINUTES EARLIER

It was less than a minute after Buck Wilmington and Mary Travis stepped into the Ready Room when Buck heard Alexandra Styles’s excited voice through his combadge. The two senior officers were carrying JD into the room, intending to set him down on the sofa, so Mary could finally attend to the ensign’s burns.

“Commander Wilmington, come in!” Alex’s voice demanded as he and Mary sidestepped the shambles of the Captain’s inner sanctum. The normal order was replaced by overturned chairs, an upended table and the carpeted floor covered with Chris’ personal belongings. Buck spied data pads, a broken pot plant, the leather-bound copy of Don Quixote belonging to Chris’s father lying open on its spine, a family photo and a metal flask the Captain from the Sulaco, once owned by Dwayne Hicks.

“Alex where the hell are you?” Buck demanded with equal intensity when they reached the sofa. It was sitting at an angle from the wall, pushed away by their turbulent landing. Buck had expected her on the bridge shortly after Ezra beamed over to the Maverick from the Midkiff. After Mary dusted off the sofa from debris and they lowered JD onto the sofa, Buck stepped away to continue his conversation with Alex. Mary who was still holding the medkit, quickly flipped the case open to retrieve the dermal regenerator to start working on the young man.

“I’m on the hull, starboard section,” Alex explained quickly. “I saw one of our people being pursued across the hull by a Romulan.

“Who?” Buck asked automatically.

Knowing how he was going to react to the news, there was a slight pause before Alex answered. Buck, its Inez.”

Buck’s eyes widened. “Inez!”

Since they landed on the ground, Buck had been trying to contact the bartender after her frantic call for help to the bridge. While he’d ordered Security to reach her, the reality of the situation, with their rough ride upon landing, the fact that all the turbo lifts were shut down, it was going to take time for them to reach her. Buck had hoped she’d found somewhere safe to hide during the chaos until they were able to get to her but it looked like Fate was nowhere that kind.

“Is she alright?” He was almost afraid to ask, feeling his chest tighten at the idea the sultry bartender had been forced on the run from Romulans. Inez wasn’t Starfleet, she wasn’t trained to deal with the ruthless aggression of a Romulan soldier or protect herself from them for that matter. For the first time, Buck appreciated why Raphael Castille had insisted she sign on with the Maverick instead with her fiancé, on the Venture.

“She took a disruptor hit to the leg and is in pain but that’s not the worst of it. Nathan’s trapped on Deck 17 with the Romulans. Buck, he’s a senior officer, we need to get to him before they find him and use him as a hostage.”

Buck glanced at Mary, when he saw the protocol officer who had been listening, stiffen in dislike. Like him, Mary had come to the same conclusion. They could not afford to allow the Romulans a hostage to hold Chris to ransom.

Mary reached into the medkit and handed him a hypo spray. “Take this. It should help with Inez’s pain. You go on, I’ll tell Chris what’s happening.”

“Thanks,” Buck flashed her an appreciative look and decided the fastest way to the hull was through the elongated window situated on the outer wall of the room. The plexiglass had not survived the landing and fragments littered the floor beneath it. The wind and fresh air rushing through the room was coming through that opening.

It was wide enough for him to squeeze through but Buck was still mindful of any jagged pieces of glass that might still be attached to the frame when he stepped through.

Once outside, Buck was able to get a good view of the entire saucer section because the deck where the bridge was situated was elevated above the rest of the hull. He spotted Inez and Alex almost immediately. They were at the starboard edge of the hull. With his phaser rifle slung over his shoulder, he surveyed the area and winced at the damage they’d caused during their landing. Where the Maverick made its rough journey along the coastline, they left such deep grooves in the dunes, it penetrated the soil and bedrock.

Yet despite the damage the Maverick had wrought, beyond the ship the scenery was quite beautiful. He could see the ocean disappearing into the horizon, while beyond the trees and vegetation they had crushed, the rest of the tropical forest remain untouched, swaying with the breeze. There were worst places to wait out a rescue, he decided. At least once they got rid of the damn Romulans, that is.

Dropping to the surface of the saucer section, he jogged across the duranium hull, making his way to them quickly because the journey was mostly downhill. When he reached them, he saw Inez was sitting down, her legs stretched out, revealing the charred flesh on her thigh where the disruptor had struck her. The heat of the energy beam had cauterised the wound so there was little that could be done for it by way of first aid. Alex who was looking at Inez’s shoulder, had probably reached the same conclusion.

Squeezing the hypo spray tighter, he felt a sliver of emotion at the thought of her being hurt, especially when her lovely face showed the pain she was enduring.

“Inez, Alex,” he announced himself. His face breaking into a relieved grin upon seeing the sultry woman. In the last year, both Inez and Alex had become his closest friends, and the First Officer had to wonder if there was a lesson to be learnt by the fact, they had gotten that way by showing absolutely no interest in him.

Although, the smile of pleasure lighting up Inez’s face at this moment, made him wonder if the situation between them had changed.

“Buck!” Inez exclaimed, clear relieve flooding into her face at the sight of him.

For a second, Buck was revisited by those instincts when he met Inez for the first time, that she was somewhat attracted to him but held back because her heart was engaged elsewhere. Buck was certain the concern she felt for him wasn’t merely platonic, but deeper somehow. Of course, he couldn’t be sure of anything because Inez could mess up his radar like no woman alive. Still, the idea she was warming to him felt good.

“Now what’s a pretty girl like you doing in a place like this?” He dropped to his knees next to her, reverting to type. “I thought I told you to hunker down somewhere and keep safe, not go tangling with Romulans.”

“Very funny,” Inez made a face. “Can’t you see I’m in enough pain?”

Buck flashed her his most charming smile before placing the hypo spray against her bare shoulder, feeling his stomach clenched in anger at seeing her lovely skin marred by burnt flesh. “Here, this should take the edge of the pain.”

“Thank God,” Inez held his gaze, never realising until now, how good it felt to see he was still alive. Since the Maverick had come under bombardment, Inez had become preoccupied by this man’s welfare, even if every logical bone in her body told her it was a bad idea.

Buck’s expression darkened as he studied the wounds on her leg. The trouble with disruptor wounds was they either cooked your organs if you scored a direct hit or it fried your muscles if the things even grazed you. Judging from Inez’s injuries, she was damn lucky to be alive.

“Buck, you have to find Nathan,” she declared anxiously once she remembered how she’d gotten to this point. “Nathan and I were on our way to the bridge when the turbo lifts malfunctioned. It plunged to Deck 18 before going offline completely. When we climbed out to the deck, we saw the Romulans coming from the cargo bays. He was shot when we were escaping. I left him in one of the service shafts in the arboretum but they know he’s in there somewhere.”

“Don’t worry,” he assured her, brushing his finger along her jaw in affection.

Once again, he saw her eyes flicker with emotion he hadn’t seen before and felt his insides warming at the sight of it before deciding to address it later. Right now, he had a job to do. “We’re not going to let them get him. You think you’ll be okay here for a while?”

Inez nodded, whatever was in the hypo spray was doing its work because she felt the burning pain in her shoulder and leg, starting to ease off. “I’ll be fine,” she managed a smile. “Please go find him. I hated to leave him on his own but...”

“Hey, it’s okay,” he said gently, but when his eyes met Alex’s, his expression was hard enough to punch a hole through the hull. “We’re going to scrape those Rommie bastards off the Maverick once and for all.”

Josiah was starting to wish this day would simply end because he needed a drink.

Upon realising the Maverick was entering the atmosphere, the Counsellor grabbed Adelaide Sheridan and found the first safe place they could find to ride out the landing. After several near misses where they were almost struck by falling objects tumbling down the corridor, Josiah led the celebrated actress into one of the life pod bays and took refuge inside its confines, safe from the barrage. Absurdly, Josiah found himself thinking he was living some teenage boy’s dream of being trapped in a life and death situation with a beautiful actress.

Despite this, Josiah felt he owed it to Mary to ensure her mother was safe in her absence and when the Maverick finally stopped moving, Adelaide seemed fine but understandably shaken. Emerging from their hiding place after their calamitous descent, they stepped into the sunlight pouring through the broken windows along one of the corridors, over glass, loose objects and anything that wasn’t secured during the journey. Hand in hand, they returned to Sick Bay and found the area in complete disarray.

Aside from the shambles left by the tumultuous descent, the temporary first aid station created along the corridor running past sick bay showed upended cots and equipment, their occupants being helped to their feet or attended to after subject to further injury. Many suffered fresh wound, adding to their miserable situation. Josiah expected to see Nathan in all this chaos, mobilising his staff but the doctor was still absent.

Adelaide was quick to join the volunteers who were assisting the wounded while Josiah tried to raise Nathan on his combadge to no avail. The lady, put her actress persona to good use, playing not only the part of nursemaid but used her flamboyant personality to lift spirits and tell stories of her adventurous life to distract patients from their injuries.  Watching her, Josiah could see the similarities between Adelaide and Mary, even if their methods were different.

He was about to call the bridge when he saw the slender figure of Lieutenant Rain Nal around the corner.

“Josiah!”

Rain appeared as if she had been put through an ordeal of her own.  He was aware that during such crises, the Transporter Team usually lend their aid to Engineering, making up part of the damage crews that spread throughout the ship, attempting to heal its wounds during emergency situations. With the ship landed, he guessed she had opted to take a break and see Nathan.  With the turbo lifts out and emergency stairwells connecting only some of the decks in the Maverick, it was obvious she made the journey through the Jefferies tubes.

She looked tired, covered in dirt, grime and smoke, no doubt from putting out a dozen fires across the ship in the last two hours. He didn’t need counselling skills to see she was exhausted.

“I thought I was having a bad day,” he greeted her with a little smile.

“Bad day?” She snorted, waving dismissively. “You should see me on laundry day, this is nothing.”

Josiah smiled at her sense of humour and found she was the perfect companion to Nathan who could lose himself too much in his work, requiring someone as irrepressible as Rain to drag him out into the world.

“You look tired. Come into Sick Bay, I’m sure I can scare up some coffee.” Fortunately, Sick Bay was able to draw power from its auxiliary batteries in the event of main power failure, to ensure the vital systems it supported were not disruptors. As a result, all its equipment, including the replicators were still functioning, if somewhat battered.   

“Are you alright?” He asked looking her over for injury.

“Well I’m not dressed to go the ball tonight,” she regarded her dishevelled state, “but I think I can manage enough energy to slip into a bikini and check out the beach later. That is if I can convince the Doc that boogie boarding is fun.” Her eyes scanned the area behind him, searching for Nathan.

Josiah tried to form the mental picture of Nathan in board shorts, riding a boogie board and couldn’t do so without smirking. “I’m afraid he’s on call to the bridge. Can’t seem to raise him though.”  

“Com badges are working,” Rain stated, her brow knotting. “He’s too attached to his combadge to not answer.”

Suddenly, Rain felt the charge in the air of something she was on near intimate terms with, emanating from further down the corridor.  It felt like goose bumps against her skin as she saw the familiar shimmer of gold appear, followed by the materialising silhouettes of at least six people. As far as Rain knew, they were avoiding using the transporters because the drain on main power would be considerable. With no idea how long it would take for rescue and the fact the Maverick would not be leaving this planet without help, she couldn’t imagine why the Captain would authorise transporting six people to this deck when there did not appear to be any more of an emergency than there already was.

Josiah thought it might have been Chris and a security team when suddenly, the shapes began to have form.

“Are those...”

“Romulans!” Rain shouted in excitement.

“EVERYONE INTO SICK BAY NOW!” Josiah ordered.

There was hardly time as the entire area broke into pandemonium. Josiah was conscious of medical staff trying to help people into Sick Bay. He himself grabbed Adelaide by the arm where she had been standing dumbfounded, before shoving her through the Sick Bay doors.  He did so being jostled by the rush of patients and staff trying to enter the space before the Romulans realised what was happening.

“SEAL IT!”  Josiah ordered and saw Nathan’s new Assistant CMO, Zheng Li Pong nod in understanding, even if her lovely features showed her conflict at doing so. There were still too many patients in the corridor but the Romulans had now fully rematerialized and would start taking hostages. She nodded as the doors slid close between them. Even without seeing it, Josiah knew she was enacting the security protocols that would lock out the intruders from Sick Bay.

“Josiah come on!” Rain grabbed his arm, intending to pull him away from the corridor. They needed to get to the weapons locker on this deck while they still could.

“No, you go!” He said firmly as the Romulans closed in, shouting and waving their disruptors at the remaining patients. “Someone’s got to stay here and talk to them, see what they want.”

“That’s not you!” She declared hotly, glancing anxiously at the enemy.

“Yes, it is,” Josiah said resolutely.

Realisation flooded into her eyes as one of the Romulans, a female lieutenant shot a disruptor over their heads, bringing the pandemonium to silence. Screams of fright and panic slowly descended into quiet and instead of running, Rain held firm, giving the Counsellor a little smile, showing she wasn’t abandoning him. Besides, there were six of them and one of her.  Well technically there was one of her as a host, and several past lives in her Trill symbiote, but who was counting?

“Well I better stay here and keep you out of trouble,” Rain sighed as she saw the Romulans approaching. They could run but she suspected it was only going to end up with a lot of people getting shot. “We can make sure your superior counselling abilities and my effervescent charm, keep people safe.

“HALT!” A Romulan lieutenant shouted at the group, brandishing a disruptor at them as the rest of her entourage spread out amongst the group, with one of them going to the Sick Bay doors.

Josiah let out a deep breath and sighed, “Be my guest.”

******

With Mary keeping a watchful eye and more importantly a well-aimed phased rifle at the unconscious Romulans, Chris, Vin, and Ezra emerged from the bridge using the same egress point Mary and Buck had used to reach Inez a short time earlier.  Flinching when he walked through his Ready Room, at the state of the place and all his personal items scattered across the floor, Chris ignored the surge of anger that rushed through him at the continued violation of his beloved ship. Stepping through the broken window onto the hull, he was immediately bathed in welcoming sunlight and a warm breeze.

None of which he could enjoy because the presence of the unconscious Centurion had started the wheels in his mind spinning at what Lorral was playing at. She had sent her soldiers in shooting with disruptors set to kill. There had been no attempt at discussion, or negotiation. They came in weapons hot intending to kill everyone on the bridge, which meant Lorral didn’t need anyone on the command staff to negotiate. It explained why she saw no reason to join the invading party.  

This meant there was somewhere else she needed to be and that made Chris anxious. The woman was a chess player and she didn’t make moves at random.

Ezra had gone ahead, having rallied Lieutenant Katovit and a handful of security officers to meet them with handheld tricorders so they could be guided through the maze of the ship without needing internal sensors. The four, whom Chris recognised as junior lieutenants Vince Horne and John Faraday, along with, Ensigns Mi Na Lee, and Manny Garcia had arrived on the Maverick as replacements for those lost on Fiorina 361.  The four security officers, appeared no worse for wear after their tumultuous landing and if anything, seemed eager to get going.

“Report,” Chris heard Ezra demanding as he and Vin closed in on them.

Ezra’s trusted second in command, Lieutenant Katovit spoke up promptly. “I send Lieutenant. Robicheaux and his team to secondary engineering room as ordered. The turbo lifts are offline, so they’re going to take the Jefferies tubes down there. Lieutenant Chisolm is trying to reach the shuttle bay but there’s been structural damage due to the hull breach that’s making it a little hard to do. They’re trying to find alternate means of entry.”

“Good work Drew,” Chris gave the officer his approval, which made Lieutenant Katovit smile past Ezra’s own dimpled appreciation of Chris’ recognition of the lieutenant’s excellent conduct.

Unfortunately, no one had time to savour the moment because Chris’s combadge began beeping urgently. Chris exchanged a quick glance with Ezra before tapping the device.

“This is the Captain?”

“Captain, this is Doctor Zheng!  We’ve got Romulans outside Sick Bay!”

“Shit,” Vin cursed.

Chris ignored the Vulcan’s ire and addressed the anxious voice speaking through the combadge, projecting calm and authority to the obviously shaken doctor.  “What’s your status Doctor?”

“We’re presently sealed in Sick Bay with most of our injured,” Li Pong explained, using the captain’s calm to steady herself. “Six of them materialised in the corridor. Counsellor Sanchez ordered us into Sick Bay. We got as many as we could before the transport was complete before Counsellor Sanchez made us seal the doors. Captain, we still have injured in the corridors, at least ten of them. They’re probably in the hands of the Romulans by now.”

Chris’s jaw ticked in anger and saw the same reaction sweeping across Vin and Ezra before continuing through the security officers present.  “Is the Counsellor with you?” Chris asked even though he knew the answer before she spoke. Now he knew why Josiah wasn’t answering his call earlier.  

“No, he was outside when I sealed the doors! He made me do it Captain!”

Of course he would, Chris felt his chest tighten in concern for his friend and trusted confidante. The man might have been a psychiatrist unaccustomed to combat but Josiah was still one of the most courageous men he ever knew. If it meant helping a patient or someone he cared about, Josiah Sanchez would stand up to God himself,  

“You did the right thing Doctor,” Chris replied, trying to absolve the woman of her obvious guilt. “We’re on our way with a Security team.  Keep them out of Sick Bay by any means necessary. Erect emergency force fields and tell them you cannot negotiate with them if they attempt to try and coerce you into opening the doors. We’ll be there soon.”

“Yes Captain,” Li Pong answered, she sounded a little more assured now.

“Captain, out.”

“We can get to Sick Bay through the Crew Lounge observation window,” Vin declared, circling the elevated deck of the bridge to drop down onto the hull near Deck 2. The Vulcan, always impatient when it came to a fight, didn’t wait for them.

“They are attempting to take Sick Bay to gain bargaining chips to use against you Captain,” Ezra commented, feeling personally affronted by the invasion of these Romulans on his ship, not to mention threatening the lives of everyone on board he felt his responsibility as Chief Security Officer to protect.

“Not going to happen,” Chris said resolutely. “Lorral’s got something planned, I’m not sure what, but she’s scattering her people to sensitive areas of the ship to distract us.”

Ezra couldn’t fault the Captain’s logic on that point. “Faraday, Garcia,” Ezra regarded his team. “Find Miss Inez on the starboard bow and return her to the bridge with Lieutenant Travis. She has been injured. Once you have done that, proceed to Deck 18 and assist Commander Wilmington and Lt. Commander Styles.”

“Aye Sir.”

“Come on,” Chris urged Ezra after he saw Vin firing point blank at the plexiglass window of the crew lounge, disintegrating it with a blast of his phase rifle, set to kill, and created the opening needed to enter Deck 2.  “I want those bastards off my ship.”

******

 “What is that?” Buck asked kicking away the musical instrument he almost stepped on when he and Alex climbed through the same window Inez had used to escape Deck 17, when she had been pursued by her Romulan assailant.

“It’s an oboe,” Alex answered as she took up flanking position by the door leading out of the room. “Possibly the most insidious method of torture since the Romulan mind shifter.”

Buck gave her a look as he took a moment before activating the door panel. Tapping his combadge, he allowed Alex to maintain a vigil while he attempted to raise Nathan.  The healer had thus ignored their attempts at contact, but if Inez was right and he was attempting to avoid Romulans, Nathan had good reason for silent running.   He tried not to entertain the idea Nathan’s silence may have a more life threatening reason.

“Nathan, come in.” Buck spoke quietly, hoping the doctor was able to answer this time. Seconds of silence stretched into a near minute before an answer finally came.

“Doctor Jackson reporting. Where the hell is Security?”

Well he sounded very much alive, strained, and irate, but definitely alive, Buck thought. “Nathan. Good to hear your voice Doc. Are you alright? What’s your status?”

“My status is that I’m shot and I’m trying to treat myself while avoiding Romulans.” Nathan grumbled.

Buck saw Alex stifling a smile, part amusement but mostly relief at the doctor’s welfare, before Buck spoke to the doctor once more. “Okay, okay, just take it easy,” Buck replied, appreciating the man’s ire. “Security is probably having a little trouble getting to you from the upper decks but Alex and I are on Deck 17. Where are you?”

“I’m still in the access way near the service hatch in the arboretum,” Nathan explained. “Been trying to fix myself up. When the Romulan went after Inez, I thought another one might have showed up but they didn’t. I have my medical tricorder with me, so I was able to detect their life signs but now there’s only two left in Cargo Bay 3.  They somehow got access to the transporters.”  Nathan could imagine no other way they could simply disappear so quickly otherwise.

“We know,” Buck replied, having been filled in by Chris during their journey here. “The Captain and Ezra are dealing with it. Stay put, Alex and I are on our way.”

“What about Inez?” Nathan asked quickly. “Is she okay? I know she led that son of a bitch Romulan away from me.”

“She’s alright,” Buck said with a smile, thinking about Inez and how she had looked at him when she first saw him on the hull. The look in her eyes had almost stopped his heart in his chest. “She took a hit from a disruptor but it’s not serious. She got grazed. We gave her something for the pain from our medkit and left her on the hull for the moment.”

“Thank God,” Nathan let out an audible sigh of relief. “She’s a brave lady and I think she might be getting sweet on you.”  Buck couldn’t see the smile, but he knew Nathan had one on his face.

“Really?” Buck shared Nathan’s intuition. “I had a feeling...”

“Commander,” Alex interrupted, rolling her eyes in exasperation. Sometimes, she really wondered how he outranked her.  “FOCUS. Romulans, remember?

“Right,” Buck scowled at Alex, wishing she would just let him savour the moment. “Sit tight Nathan, we’ll be with you soon.”

With the knowledge the Romulans were currently in Cargo Bay 3, they were able to emerge into the corridor, secure in the knowledge they wouldn't be ambushed. Nevertheless, Buck and Alex advanced to Deck 18 with caution. Buck took the lead while Alex followed closely behind, making sure there were no surprises. It didn’t take them long before they entered the arboretum.

They hurried through the ruined garden, leaping over the fallen trees and upended benches, ignoring the ruined beauty of this place for the moment even though they both lamented the destruction. The arboretum was one of the more popular recreational places on the Maverick and Buck sometimes brought Aislynn, his Selurian Minx cat, for walks across the grass.  While Buck would have like to have stopped to see Nathan, he and Alex knew the priority at this moment was to reach the Romulans first.

The main corridor of Deck 17 was empty but as they reached the door leading into the stairwell, partly opened, they noticed the burns to its tritanium surface that allowed hands four times stronger than any humans, to pry them apart. No doubt a response to Nathan’s security lock. They descended the staircase and emerged into Deck 18, after passing doors in similar condition.

“The minute they transported, the bridge would have known about it,” Alex replied as they approached the doors to Cargo Bay 3.

There were no Romulans in the corridor, which meant they were busy up to something and Buck was convinced, it was nothing good.

“Yeah but even if Ezra managed to act in time, our safety protocols would not abort a transport once the dematerialisation process is underway. Too much risk of pattern degradation.”

“Right,” Alex nodded, aware of this herself now that she thought about it. “And if they have someone smart working it, like Rain for instance. They may be able to lock Ezra out.”

Ezra would have loved that, Buck thought.

Once again Alex and Buck took up flanking positions on either side of the doorway before he activated the panel and the doors slid open.

No sooner than the doors had hissed apart, green bolts of disruptor fire shot through the cargo bay, forcing Alex into a crouch. A Romulan had been keeping a vigil at the door, firing at them from behind a crate of containment canisters. The other Romulan was at the transporter pad, his hands moving quickly over the transporter controls, attempting to initiate or perhaps finalise a transport sequence.

“Alex give me cover!”  Buck ordered.

Alex nodded and continued firing at the Romulan, aiming at the canisters, removing the enemy’s refuge, one container at a time. Realising her tactic, especially when the gaps beginning to form were too many, the Romulan ran from his position. He slid behind a large piece of farming equipment that was meant for delivery on Vorex 2, an agricultural colony in the sector, before the rescue of the Columbus had become priority.

In the meantime, Buck took advantage of the cover she provided and entered the room, keeping low as he approached the Romulan at the transporter pad. When the Romulan saw Buck, the enemy legionnaire had no choice but to stop what he was doing. He went for his disruptor even as Buck pulled the trigger on his own weapon. The beam of amber energy struck the Romulan dead centre and he disintegrated with a scream of finality.

Upon seeing the death of his comrade, the Romulan Alex had been fighting made a mad dash for the open cargo bay doors, now unsealed without the benefit of a force field. The man could jump right off the ship.

“Give it up!” Buck shouted. “Don’t make us kill you!”

The Romulan didn’t stop running and Buck fired, dropping the man before he even reached halfway across the deck. Like Alex, he wasn’t wasting time adjusting settings from stun to kill. The twenty five dead crewmen he would have to tell Chris about and the people on the Columbus certainly had not received any mercy.

Next to the transporter controls was a portable generator, one Buck had seen used by the scientists from the Life Science department when they conducted surveys of uncharted planets. It was hooked to the transporter to provide power, no doubt after Chris had ordered Julia to cut power to keep them from making use of it.

Meanwhile Alex had gone to examine the transporter controls, to see where it was the Romulans were headed, even though both she and Buck had a good idea. No doubt, the Romulans would be attempting to reach key areas of the ship and felt somewhat confident the Captain and Ezra would be on top of that. However, the last transport destination had her brow furrowing in concern.

“Commander,” she looked at Buck, with a tone in her voice that immediately made him pay attention.

“What is it?” Buck saw her grave expression.

“The last transport was for one person,” she said worriedly, “To a runabout.”

“What is your rank?” The Romulan lieutenant demanded as she stared down Josiah, assuming he was the highest ranking officer present, due to his age and the manner in which he seemed to be able to calm the hostages presently trapped outside Sick Bay.

“Lieutenant Commander,” Josiah replied, finding it so odd to think about his rank considering he had been known throughout his Starfleet career as either Counsellor or doctor. No one ever asked his rank whenever they were in pain. They only cared that he could help them.

“Lieutenant Commander?” One slant eyebrow arched in curiosity, mostly because she assumed for his age, he would be ranked higher. “I imagined someone of your years would have achieved a higher rank.”

Josiah tried not to take offence at that. He wasn’t that old. Sure, he wasn’t about to go boogie boarding with Nathan and Rain but he didn’t think he was ready for the pasture just yet. “I am a Counsellor; a higher rank is not necessary.”

She snorted in derision, telling him plainly what she thought of his expertise in her dismissal before responding. “Starfleet weakness. I suppose you will have to do.”

By now, those who had not been fortunate enough to make it to Sick Bay were presently seated on the floor of the deck, outside the sealed doors of the medical facility. There were at least a dozen crew, himself and Rain included, surrounded by the four Romulan soldiers who had suddenly transported into their midst. One of them was attempting to unseal the doors, having pulled apart the activation panel, to tamper with the intricate wiring and isolinear chips. He didn’t appear to be having much success.

The woman who had spoken to Josiah was clearly in charge of them.

“I will do for what?” Josiah asked, certain he wasn’t going to like what they asked of him.

“You will negotiate on behalf of your ship,” she stated firmly.

Josiah exchange a puzzled look with Rain before he regarded the lieutenant once more. “I’m not authorised to negotiate for the Maverick. I think you will want the Captain for that.”

“The Captain is dead,” she stated without hesitation, a hint of smug satisfaction on her face as she made that claim loud enough for the rest of the group to hear.

The announcement had the desired effect, sending a ripple of shock throughout the faces of those present. There were audible gasps, exclamations of grief and the gamut of emotion that surfaced when such news was delivered. Josiah saw the faces before him displaying horror and dismay, commingled with defeat. Rain’s eyes showed her grief but the control of several lifetimes exerted itself and she recovered quickly.

“Nice try,” Rain replied just as loudly for the benefit of the crew and herself. “If a planet full of acid spewing xenomorphs couldn’t kill the Captain, you’re going to have to do better than that to convince us that you Rommies took out Captain Larabee.”

Selena reacted by striking her across the face. Rain’s head snapped back but the defiant Trill officer merely flexed her jaw, licking the sliver of blood away from the corner of her lip before staring back at the Romulan defiantly.

“Stop!” Josiah snapped. “If you want me to negotiate for the ship, then a good start would be to not brutalise my crew.”

Josiah flashed Rain a look to behave. Like her, he refused to believe Chris was dead. Since they had met two years ago, Chris Larabee had been his friend first before he’d become Josiah’s captain. Like the son he never had, it was Chris who convinced him to join the Maverick, to grab onto the dreams he’d sacrificed in his youth for love and family. He would not be here today, would not have seen the wondrous things he had, if not for that stubborn son of a bitch with the heart of an explorer and the calculation of a master tactician.

No, Chris wasn’t dead. He refused to believe it.

However, if Chris was still alive, then Josiah had to keep these people safe long enough for the Captain to enact some kind of plan because sure as hell, if he wasn’t dead, he was thinking up away to make these Romulans pay for what they’d done to his crew and his ship.

******

The shimmer of the transporter beam filled the corridor outside the shuttle bay with its amber glow before diminishing to deposit Buck and Alex on Deck 4. As soon as they materialised, they were confronted by two bodies, strewn along the corridor. The deck which had been evacuated when the hull had been breached by a phaser blast, was mostly empty. However, once they had made planet fall, there was no reason for the crew to believe they could not move about freely.

Buck’s jaw tensed as he went to examined one of the bodies and saw the dark burn across the man’s chest from a direct hit from a disruptor at low power. It didn’t disintegrate the man but the damage to his organs would have been substantial. His death would have been quick but still agonising.

“Its Lieutenant Karth from Life Sciences,” Buck looked up at Alex, who was herself hunched over the other body and wearing a similar look of grief. Karth often sat in on Ezra’s Friday night poker games and was a pretty decent player. Buck had liked him.

“I think this is Sharea,” Alex stared at the beautiful woman, with her dusky skin and bald head, her eyes staring into nothingness. She didn’t know the woman very well but life on a starship made the Maverick a community. Alex remembered discussing Q’onos, because Sharea had wanted to vacation there with her husband.

“Lieutenant Denal’s wife?” Buck cursed. Denal like his wife Sharea, were Deltans and the marriage between in the race was not merely a mental connection but also a chemical one because of the extreme characteristics of the race’s pheromones.

“Yeah,” Alex nodded, her jaw tensing.

“Bastards,” Buck stood up straight, deciding then and there, they were ending the Romulans who did this. He did not need to say it or hear her response to know Alex agreed with him. The set of her jaw said enough. As much as Chris and Vin had an uncanny knack of knowing what each other thought, Buck and Alex had developed the same kind of awareness as the First and Second Officer of the Maverick.

When Chris Larabee had been taken by the C’Kaia and Buck had insisted on pursuing the enemy ship even after being ordered back to Federation space, Alex had supported the decision, even though they were both in violation of orders. Since then, she was the measured counterpoint to his more emotional command style and together, they were the stable bedrock on which Chris Larabee commanded the Maverick.

“This way,” Buck headed further down the corridor away from the doors leading into the shuttle bay. If they went through those doors, Buck had no doubt they would be shot down as soon as it opened. Instead, he led her to the access way at the next junction between corridors. Alex caught on without his needing to explain and cast a glance back at the dead bodies of Lt. Karth and Sharea, the sting of their deaths still on her mind.

Reaching the juncture, Buck immediately dropped down to his knees and pulled open the service hatch at the base of the wall, next to the doors. Crawling into the space, he was grateful that this was one of the Jefferies tubes that ran through the Maverick like a maze. He always found it too narrow for him to crawl through. Alex followed him in, her phase rifle slung over her back, making a dull clunk when the butt of the thing hit the roof of the passageway until she secured it properly.

“Hey Buck,” she spoke when crawled through tube towards a junction where a set of rungs leading upwards, awaited them.

“Yeah?” He asked upon reaching it, before he straightened up to start climbing.

“About Inez?” She said with a little smile following him up.

Buck didn’t stop climbing but did glance down at her. “What about Inez?” He asked quizzically, because she was the one to kick him in the butt earlier on about focus and surprised him by bringing up the subject.

“Don’t mess it up.” Alex said simply. "After Raphael, she must feel for you pretty strongly if Nathan’s right so tread lightly.”

Buck smiled, feeling that surge of warmth again. He knew how strongly he felt for Inez. He had since the moment he met her, not just because he had a thing for sultry, Latin beauties but because the woman was earthy, smart, feisty and in recent months, been able to read his moods as easily as he’d able to read hers when she was in the deepest depths of her despair.

“Alex honey, if I get a chance with Inez, I won’t half ass it. You have my promise.” He gave her a cocky wink.

Alex shook her head at his practised swagger that hid one of the biggest hearts she knew. "You better because I think you two could be kind of great together.”

Buck thought so too and smiled, never realising Alex ever gave any thought to it. Then again, like Vin, she was so reserved with her opinions, it was nice to hear an observation about him that was more than their usual playful banter. 

“You know,” he threw her another glance, “you’ve mellowed since you got married. Must be all the se...”

“Finish that sentence and you’ll know what a phaser up the ass feels like,” Alex growled.

******

Despite Chris’s desire to take the lead when they stepped unto Deck 2, Ezra would not hear of it and proceeded to quote so many lines of Starfleet Regulations, even Vin was ready to shoot him on principle. Nevertheless, Chris relented and allowed the Security Chief to enter the deck first, realising Ezra did actually have a point. It was highly likely the Romulans would be expecting an attack and it would be extremely embarrassing to everyone involved, if he were shot the minute he stuck his head through the window of the crew lounge.

Thanks to the size of the saucer section and Sick Bay’s location to the crew lounge, their entry unto the deck went unnoticed although there was no way to approach the corridor where the hostages were being held, without being seen by the enemy. According to their tricorder readings, the Romulans were remaining close to their hostages, spreading out as far as the corridor junctions, to ensure they weren’t surprised by anyone attempting to approach them

“Captain,” Ezra spoke up as they took a moment to discuss their situation in an empty aid station to avoid being seen. “It is my suggestion that we approach them with caution. I have no doubt they will open fire if they see any of us.”

“He’s right there,” Vin agreed with Ezra, having studying the tricorder readings. “They’re spread out, and there’s at least two of them with the hostages to do a lot of damage before we can take them out.”

“No one else is dying,” Chris stated firmly. “Ezra, I’m assuming your team’s got stun grenades on them?”

“Aye Captain,” Ezra started to get an inkling of what the captain was suggesting. “While I agree this might be an adequate form of approach, I am not certain the range will assist our situation. We would have to launch one of the devices after we get past their sentries in the corridors and I cannot imagine that we will accomplish it without giving ourselves away.”

“We won’t be using one that way,” Chris shook away the comment and raised his eyes to study Ezra’s group of security officers. His eyes rested on Lee, the petite young woman who could also perform a hammer fist punch that would make a Klingon’s eyes water, before continuing. “Lee, you think you can drop a stun grenade over the corridor from Access hatch 23 located in the bulkhead just outside Sick Bay doors?”

Lee broke into a little smile, “I’m pretty sure I can Captain.”

“Good, there’s an access way in the environmental control monitoring station” Chris replied and looked up at Ezra, “once Lee is in position, we’ll make our run at them.”

“Agreed,” Ezra nodded, able to add more now the Captain’s idea was unveiled. “When Lee lobs the stun grenade at them, we should be in a position to remove the sentries. Vin, I recommend you move in as soon as the grenade is dispatched in the event any of us are not able to put down our targets. You are faster than all of us and a better marksman.”

“Right,” Vin nodded, not about to make any comment on that, even if it was true that he had the highest efficiency rating with a phaser or phase rifle of anyone on the Maverick. “Still would like to know why they went to all the trouble if they’re not even bothering to make any demands yet.”

“They probably think everyone on the bridge is dead,” Chris replied automatically. “They came in disruptors firing. They weren’t planning on taking prisoners when they beamed in.”

“I must concur with the Captain,” Ezra agreed with a frown, not liking all the inconsistencies applied to this hostage scenario the Romulans were playing out. His gut instinct told him something was wrong but he just couldn’t put his finger on it. “I must confess I cannot fathom their actions.”

“Well I’m sure it’s going to bite us on the ass eventually but first things first, let’s deal with the Romulans on this deck.” Chris replied and prompted everyone to get moving. Emerging into the corridor after ensuring the way was clear, Ensign Lee darted off on her own towards the monitoring station to make her stealthy approach to Sick Bay.

*******

Buck crawled out of the Jefferies tube into the empty equipment room, overlooking the main floor of the shuttle bay silently. The space was barely ten feet wide and a rather tight squeeze but Alex managed to lower herself onto the floor from the hatch way without too much noise. Meeting her eyes, he gestured to her to follow his lead and motioned for her to activate the door panel and let him go first. He fully expected for someone be on the walkway they would be emerging into.

Alex obeyed and activated the panel as Buck got into position, ready to fire the instant he sighted the target. The door hissed open and Buck immediately saw a Romulan inside the communication station along the walkway. The Romulan’s eyes widened at the sight of the first officer and went for his disruptor, but Buck pulled the trigger before his hand could touch the weapon. The amber beam of energy struck the Romulan across the chest, sending him sprawling against the railing and then over it. He landed on the floor of the shuttle bay with a loud squelch, no doubt breaking several bones in his already dead body.

The Romulan who had been watching the main doors swung around the instant his comrade had tumbled against the railing. Turning towards Buck, he prepared to shoot down the Starfleet officer on the walkway when Alex rushed out, ready to return fire. Dropping to her knees, she took aim and fired quickly, sending a bolt of energy streaking across the shuttle bay floor, mobilising the remaining two Romulans as her shot killed the man preparing to end her commanding officer’s life.

Buck gave her an appreciative glance as Alex continued to shoot, providing Buck with cover fire, as the two Romulans gave themselves away, one emerging from behind a docked shuttle, while the other had been watching the other entrance into the shuttle bay. In the meantime, Buck crouched low as he darted down the hallway, avoiding a disruptor shot that had managed to slip past Alex’s barrage of fire. The streak of green energy flattened against the wall above him, burning into the tritanium wall, and spreading the stench of heated metal through the air.

Not risking the journey down the ladder leading to the floor of the shuttle bay, Buck took advantage of Alex’s suppressing fire and climbed over the railing, leaping towards the roof of the nearest shuttle instead. Landing with a thud, he drew the attention of the Romulan using the runabout Worthy for cover, who immediately ignored Alex and began firing at him. Flattening himself against the roof like a bug on a windshield, Buck rolled off the roof of the vehicle and landed behind it, away from the shots.

Unable to get a clear shot at him, the Romulan returned their attention to Alex who was exposed on the walkway, as she attempted to provide Buck with cover fire. The second Romulan began to direct their disruptors at her and Buck saw Alex making a mad dash for the cover of the communications station, her phase rifle clutched across her body as she leapt into the room, barely avoiding a direct hit. Not for the first time, Buck wondered why she was wasting her time as a Science Officer when she was built for combat. 

Choosing to help her by using the shuttles to mask his approach to the Romulan doing the same, Buck was mindful of the fact there were supposed to be five Romulans in here, even though they had only seen four. There was only one runabout left in the shuttle bay after the destruction of the Perlman and the Midkiff was presently awaiting their return outside the ship, so Buck assumed the last of the quintet was most likely waiting in there.

Just as the thought crossed his mind, Buck’s eyes widened in horror as he saw the Worthy’s external lights blink to life across the hull. However, while the engines had not fired to life, Buck saw the phaser banks had and were preparing to discharge. He could only guess where it was aiming.

“ALEX! GET OUT OF THERE!” He shouted, not caring if he gave himself away or not.

Alex heard Buck’s almost frantic cry and lifted her head over the communications console and saw what was coming, she sprinted out of the station as the phaser blast struck the walkway. The blast shook the entire saucer section and Alex threw herself off the railing as the walkway gave way, crashing downwards sharply as heat and sparks flew across the deck. Thick smoke began to fill the shuttle bay as Alex landed on her hands and knees on the roof of the same shuttle that gave Buck his respite from a very fatal landing earlier.

Narrowly avoiding being shot by enemy fire, she scrambled off the shuttle and dropped to the floor. No sooner than she had done that, she was slammed into the side of the vehicle, the phase rifle dropping from her hands as she saw one of the Romulans closing in. Reacting instinctively, she threw a powerful sidekick that caught him in the sternum before she closed the distance and threw a roundhouse kick that connected with his jaw. Unfortunately for this Romulan, Alex had once fought an enraged Vulcan in the midst of the blood fever to know just how much force was needed to take him down for the count.

Suddenly, another Romulan stepped out from the midst of the smoke, his disruptor aimed and ready to fire, giving Alex a split second to realise what was coming and wincing in despair because she wouldn’t have a chance to say goodbye to Vin.

Oh Cowboy, she thought to herself, I’m sorry.

Then like salvation, Buck appeared just as abruptly behind the Romulan, locking his arm across the man’s chest before snapping his neck with the sickly sound of breaking bone. The Romulan went limp in Buck’s grip, sliding to floor without another word. Alex let out an audible sigh of relief as well a look of gratitude at the first officer, because for a moment, she really thought she was going to die.

“Great timing,” Alex exhaled loudly, relief flooding her eyes.

“One of my talents Commander,” Buck gave her a wink, grateful he had arrived in time to save her. Buck didn’t think he could look Vin in the eye, if he had to tell the Vulcan he’d let Alex die under his watch.

Choosing not to linger because there was still one Romulan left, Buck gestured Alex to follow him as they approached the Worthy which had not fired again. Its phaser banks had gone quiet but considering how abruptly the previous attack had been, he was taking no chances. Alex retrieved her phaser and they closed in on the runabout, ready to board and put an end to its hijacking.

The smoke in the shuttle bay was starting to dissipate when Buck reached the main hatch and activated it, using his command override in case, the pilot had attempted to lock them out. However, no such precaution was taken and the hatch slid open soundlessly. As it parted to allow them entry, another sound seeped through the opening they both recognised immediately.

The hum of a transporter.

“SHIT! Buck cursed as he threw caution to the wind and rushed through the hatch. He stepped inside the runabout, just in time to see Lorral staring at them through the golden shimmer of the transporter beam.

Then she was gone.

As a Counsellor, Josiah Sanchez was as adept as Ezra Standish when it came to reading people.  On the surface, it appeared the Security Chief only used his abilities to fleece helpless opponents in games of chance as he so liked to call it, but Josiah had seen Ezra use his skills to dissect enemies and threats to the Maverick and its crew with near surgical precision.  While Josiah’s own skills were equal to Ezra’s, the method of dissemination he used to diagnose neuroses and mental states was slightly subtler than Ezra’s laser like dissection.

Right now, Josiah’s methods were telling him there was something wrong with this entire affair.

The Romulan in charge of this hostage situation outside Sick Bay was called Selena. Once she and her five companions had secured the prisoners, forcing them to remain in place outside the doors leading to the medical facility, she made no attempt to communicate their demands after stating he was the party with whom she would conduct her barter. However, despite her grandiose statement, that the Captain and the rest of the bridge crew were dead, she had done little else to further the matter. As a psychiatrist, Josiah was smart enough not to goad her, especially when an outburst from such a ruthless race, could end up with someone dying, but even he was starting to feel impatient.

“Can we get on with it?” Rain grumbled, displaying none of the patience one would expect from someone with a symbiote hundreds of years old.

Josiah couldn’t decide if Rain was just plain reckless or was she attempting to hurry things along so the Romulan would get to it and start this process of negotiation. Unfortunately, her remark had done nothing but draw Selena’s attention away from her comrade who was trying unsuccessfully to bypass the security locks on the access panel for the Sick Bay doors.  

“You will do well to keep a civil tongue in your head or I’ll slit you open and pull that worm out of you. I’ve never killed a Trill before but I’m willing to try for your benefit.”

Despite her bravado, the threat made Rain shudder inwardly but fear was something she had several lifetimes to get used to and she refused to give this Romulan the satisfaction of seeing it on her face. “You don’t say?” Rain stared back at her. “I’ve never tried abseiling myself but I hear it’s a lot of fun.”  

“Enough,” Josiah silenced Rain with a look when he saw Selena bristling with annoyance, preparing to react with more violence. This was hardly the time for Rain to introduce her particular brand of humour to the Romulans. Besides, in Nathan’s absence, Josiah felt it his responsibility to his friend and colleague to ensure the safety of the man’s girlfriend. However, now that Rain had made something of an opening, he might as well exploit it.

“You mentioned negotiation. If it is as you say, the Captain and the bridge crew is dead and we’re stranded on this world, I suppose I would be in a position to speak on the behalf of my crewmates. What are your terms?  Are you after our surrender?”

Even as he thought it, he knew the Romulans asking for their surrender was ridiculous. There were more than seven hundred people on board, scattered across the saucer section and two thirds of those were Starfleet officers, to say nothing of the portion that included Ezra’s security personnel. The only reason they weren’t here yet was because of the current condition the Maverick found itself in and Josiah imagined it wouldn’t be long before they turned up. No matter how ambitious or arrogant these Romulans might be, they couldn’t possibly intend to hold the ship.

“We will talk when we are ready to!” Selena snapped, irritated at being called out. Her angry voice was a stark contrast to his calm.  She made some of the hostages jump with the sharpness of her tone and Josiah wondered if she was just trying to be intimidating or if there was something else at work here.

“What are we waiting for?” Josiah pressed on, himself intrigued now by what they were after. “If you want a better time, there really isn’t one. Breaking into Sick Bay is not going to change the outcome. In the end, we will still end up at the same table, talking.”

“SILENCE!” Selena shouted again, whirling around from the Sick Bay doors, brandishing her weapon to make him obey.  

An audible gasp of fear moved through the medical staff and injured held hostage with him and Josiah decided for their sake, he’d desist his interrogation, choosing instead to lean back into the wall. Next to him, he saw Rain shift a little closer to him before whispering in his ear.

“Is it me or does it look like their hearts aren’t really in this?”

“It isn’t you,” Josiah agreed quietly. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say they were stalling.”

“Stalling? For what?” She hissed under her breath.

“I don’t know,” Josiah shook his head perplexed, “but I don’t think we’re going to like it.”

******

Having split up to make a two-pronged approach to Sick Bay, while Ensign Lee used the Jefferies tubes to ensure the safety of the hostages, Ezra and Drew Katovit would make their advance using the corridor running along Sick Bay’s Computer facility. According to their tricorders, a Romulan sentry had been placed there. Chris and Vin conducted the same approach using the corridor along the Surgical Suite wing of Sick Bay and as expected, saw another sentry keeping a vigil on that corridor. Unfortunately, the sentry was given an unobstructed view of its entire length, making it extremely difficult for them to approach.

“Can you take him?” Chris asked quietly as Vin tried to line up the shot from the corner behind which they were taking refuge, while still maintaining their anonymity. There was only a narrow gap in which he could see the Romulan and it was going to take a very precise shot to nail his target.

“Ain’t gonna be easy,” Vin frowned because even if the range of the shot was not a problem, it was lining it up would be. It wasn’t something that could be done in haste and if the Romulan spotted him doing it, since he needed line of sight, they would lose their advantage.

“You know, if you learned how to do the Vulcan nerve pinch, you could just walk up to him unarmed and take him by surprise,” Chris remarked, unable to resist teasing despite the urgency of the situation.

“I’m willing to practise on you, pard,” Vin replied smoothly, not at all reacting to the comment as he continued to keep his aim fixed on the Romulan, waiting for the best moment to pull the trigger.

A slow vibration of his combadge made Chris retreat further down the corridor away from Vin before he tapped the device and heard Ezra’s voice. The security chief was deliberately keeping his voice down to avoid being overheard but Chris understood him clearly enough.

“Captain, Lee’s in position.”

It was now or never....

Out of nowhere, the saucer section suddenly rocked with what felt like an explosion. Whatever it was, the roar it produced travelled through the Maverick’s walls and bulkheads, causing lights to flicker on and off for a second. Immediately following this, Chris heard the distinct sound of a phaser being fired and quickly hurried back to Vin. He arrived just in time to see the Vulcan stepping out from the corner to make his shot.

While the Romulan was just as distracted as Chris had been by the sudden jolt, Vin Tanner who had just flown the Maverick through a maelstrom to land on this planet, was too unflappable to let the opportunity to go to waste. Taking advantage of the distraction, he closed the gap between the two corridors and took aim at the Romulan. By the time the enemy realised he was there and went for his disruptor, Vin had already pulled the trigger.  The amber bolt of energy struck the Romulan dead centre and threw him across the corridor with such force, he was little more than mist of amber before disintegrating completely.

Chris joined Vin while trying to identify the cause of that explosion. If he didn’t know better, he would have thought it was the blast from a phaser bank, except it was inside his ship. Was someone actually firing phasers banks inside his goddamn ship?  Very quickly, Chris deduced such a thing could have only occurred from the shuttle bay. While shuttles did not have weapon systems, runabouts certainly did.  He would have to deal with it later, right now, it had provided them with a distraction, and Chris intended to exploit it.

“Ezra, tell Lee to drop the grenade and move in now!”

“Aye Captain.”

Another Romulan appeared from the other end of the corridor, firing continuously down its length, making no effort to aim, just filling up the space with so much disruptor fire, it could cut down anyone trying to make their way through it. Vin skidded to his knees to avoid being shot, allowing the blasts to pass over his head, while Chris took fired his rifle from the edge of the corridor wall.  His stomach clenched seeing a bolt of disruptor energy streak past Vin’s shoulder by a fraction, impacting on the wall behind him. Both Chris and Vin fired at the same time, the twin blasts from each of their phasers, disintegrated the Romulan where he stood.

“Was that a blast from a phaser bank?” Vin asked getting to his feet as Chris joined him.

“Yeah,” Chris frowned before he heard his combadge thrilling.

“Captain,” Buck Wilmington’s voice reported.

“Buck,” Chris was relieved to hear his First Officer’s voice, “Where are you?”

“Me and Alex are down in the shuttle bay,” Buck explained quickly.  “We took out three Romulans but Lorral fired the Worthy’s phasers at us. By the time we got to her on board, she’d transported out of there.”

“Where did she go?”  Chris demanded, not liking the idea the woman was somewhere else on his ship, doing God only knew what.

“We don’t know,” Buck frowned. “She made sure the logs were wiped the minute she made the transport.”

Once again, the woman had planned ahead and Chris was tired of playing catch up. He had a feeling, they were nowhere near her endgame.

******

 “Now Ensign!”  Ezra ordered, confident Lee would carry out her duty and deliver the grenade to the remaining two Romulans, currently guarding the hostages according to his tricorder.

Taking advantage of the same distraction that allowed Vin Tanner to get his clear shot of the Romulan near the Surgical Suite of Sick Bay, Ezra and Katovit closed in on the Romulan sentry station along its Computer Room. The sentry was similarly distracted by the rumble that originated from the lower decks and shook the whole of the Maverick’s saucer section.

The Security Chief continued to be chagrined by the continuous violation of the Maverick since the encounter with the four Romulan warbirds. It was bad enough they were forced to make a terrestrial landing due to the Vrihan’s incursions into their space, costing innocent whose exact numbers he was not looking forward to learning. Now the Vrihan vermin had infested his ship and taken his comrades hostage as well. It was no way to treat a lady and Ezra was determined to excoriate every last one of them from the Maverick before the day was done

Upon downing the first of the sentries stationed there, the two security officers immediately took up flanking positions on each side of the corridor to wait for the second one to arrive. No sooner than they had stared at each other across the space, they heard footsteps running towards them.  The lone Romulan rounded the corner and paused at the top of the corridor, sighting his dead comrade immediately. His dark eyes narrowed as he searched for the Starfleet officers responsible, his disruptor held in front of him ready to fire.

As he did so, he reached for his communicator, probably to alert his comrades of their presence, and unwisely averted his gaze because it gave Ezra the opportunity to take aim and fire. Like before, the beam of energy struck the Romulan in the chest, disintegrating him where he stood.  Not wasting time with prisoners, Ezra’s quality of mercy had withered with the taking of hostages. Besides, he doubted the Romulans would have afforded them the same courtesy.

“Chief,” Katovit said with a grave voice that immediately made Ezra look at him.

“What is it, Lieutenant?”

“There’s still two more at Sick Bay,” he met Ezra’s gaze with a grimace.

Ezra’s jaw clenched, feeling dismay rise inside of him light fetid water, as his expression darkened as if the light had vanished from the room. The stun grenade should have been deployed by now. That it hadn’t been, meant something had gone wrong and Ezra did not want to imagine what that could be.

“Ensign Lee! Come in!” Ezra demanded, running towards Sick Bay, determine to reach the young woman if she was in trouble.

She did not answer.

******

When the thunderous sound rocked the ship, it created an understandable surge of panic among the hostages held captive outside Sick Bay. Selena and the remaining legionnaire guarding the hostages exchanged suspicious glances at each other, both concluding this was some trick perpetrated by the security officers trying to rescue their crewmates. Tapping the communication device on her studded belt across her chest, Selena gripped her disruptor tight in her hand and aimed it in Josiah and Rain’s direction.

“Check the corridors,” she ordered the sentries in place. “This might be a Starfleet trick.”

In the meantime, her dark eyes scanned the area for any signs of encroachment by Starfleet security. If it was not for her heightened sense of paranoia after that shudder through the ship, she might have missed the slight movement that appeared in the corner of her eye. Having risen through the ranks because she was a ruthlessly efficient and disciplined combat soldier, Selena was trained to notice everything. The movement of the panel across the bulkhead caught her eye almost instantly. Approaching it stealthily, her footsteps were silent as she raised her disruptor to fire, her lips thinning into an ugly scowl.

The instant the panel slid apart, revealing the faint silhouette of a body hovering over the opening, Selena fired into the centre of it.

Disruptor fire struck its target and a scream followed the body tumbling through the opening. Flesh disintegrated with such speed, Ensign Lee’s body never reached the deck.   She vanished in a haze of green energy, taking with her the grenade intended to incapacitate the enemy. A small smile of triumph crossed Selena’s lips, at once again proving how weak Starfleet officers were.

Rain felt a surge of rage as she recognised the crewmate who had just died by this Romulan’s hand. With Selena’s back to her and the other Romulan out of sight, Rain’s anger propelled her to her feet with lightning fast reflexes. Without thinking it through, Rain sprinted towards the woman.  Selena turned around just in time to see Rain slamming hard into her body, toppling her off her feet, her disruptor flying out of her hand.

Panic erupted as the hostages watched the fight in a mixture of fright and concern, particularly when Selena’s comrade returned to the scene, surveying the situation before moving quickly to act. Josiah had no doubt if he were allowed to do so, he would kill Rain and the Counsellor was not about to let that happen. Waiting for his moment, Josiah kicked out his foot when the Romulan ran past, connecting with the man’s ankle, and bringing him down immediately. The legionnaire uttered a cry of pain and indignation as he landed hard on his knees, still clutching his weapon.

Oh shit, maybe you should have thought this through too. Counsellor, Josiah thought to himself when the Romulan turned sharply at him, the disruptor aimed squarely at his chest.  However, before he could pull the trigger, he was struck in the back by a beam of energy. The Romulan uttered a cry of pain before he vanished into nothingness. His end resulted in a fresh chorus of fearful cries from the other hostages. Josiah followed the beam back to its source and broke into a smile at the sight of Vin Tanner lowering his phase rifle, the Captain a step behind him.

“Help Rain!”  Josiah exclaimed, suddenly remembering the only other Romulan left on the deck.

Actually, Rain didn’t need that much help. She was pissed. In the few seconds before that body had disintegrated, Rain recognised Ensign Lee, with whom she was quite familiar with. They shared a liking for unusual bric-a-brac and would often discuss their latest acquisitions whenever Mi Na beamed back to the Maverick from shore leave. Knowing there would be no more conversations like that, not to mention the relish this woman had taken in revealing the Captain was dead had properly provoked Rain’s sense of outrage.

Not to mention, she owed Selena for that jab earlier.

Returning the favour, Rain threw a hard punch against the Romulan’s jaw and was prepared to deliver a knockout blow when the Romulan twisted her hard, flipping the slender transporter chief off her body and onto the floor. Selena rolled onto her hands and knees, her dark eyes searching for her disruptor and sighting it within reach. She threw herself at it, her hand outstretched to pick up the weapon when suddenly, a shadow fell over her and forced her to look up.

“I really prefer you didn’t,” Chris Larabee warned, feeling very comfortable with killing her right there and then.

Selena reached for it anyway and Chris kicked her in the face, sending her reeling. She rolled across the floor dazed, coming to a stop at the base of the wall. Chris raised his eyes towards Rain and was mildly puzzled at the relief he saw flooding into her face, not at her deliverance but for something deeper. In the meantime, Vin closed in on Selena, aiming the barrel of his rifle at her to ensure she didn’t make any attempts to escape. Around them, medical personnel among the hostages were getting to their feet, quickly attending to their injured once again, now the crisis was over.

Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Josiah tapping his combadge and getting in contact with Doctor Zheng to let her know she could unseal Sick Bay, now the Romulans were dealt with.  Turning back to Rain, he offered her a hand to help her to her feet. Rain took it gratefully, brushing a strand of that wild hair out of her face. He winced seeing the discoloration of her lovely brown skin thanks to the ugly bruise at the corner of her lip, clearly delivered by a fist. For her part, Rain did not seem to notice the injury, instead her brown eyes were dancing with delight.

“It’s good to see you Captain.  That cow over there told us the entire bridge crew was dead.”

“They tried,” he answered, his jaw tightening thinking how the Romulans transported onto his bridge with every intention of murdering everyone there. “But we held our own. No one was hurt and three of them are alive and secured.”

Ezra and Lieutenant Katovit finally arrived on the scene. Judging by the expression on his face, Ezra was expecting the worst when he surveyed the scene. While there was some measure of relief that the hostages were unharmed, Chris knew the line of tension running through him was for the one member of this rescue party who was unaccounted for.

“Where’s Ensign Lee?” Chris asked before Ezra could.

Rain shook her head in silence, her downcast expression telling the three men what they had somewhat guessed when the grenade had not detonated. Like Ezra and his second in command, Chris felt a surge of grief at the loss of the young officer. Glaring at the Romulan female Vin was shadowing, Rain’s eyes sparked with anger as she explained what had happened. “She got spotted before she could get out of the access hatch. That bitch over there disintegrated her.”  

“Damn,” Ezra’s poker face wavered just enough for the Captain to see the anguish in the man’s sea green eyes. No matter how dispassionate Ezra may proclaim to be, Chris knew just how deeply he cared for everyone on his security team. Ensign Mi Na Lee was just a kid really and she had deserved better than to meet her end so unceremoniously.  Inwardly, Chris knew he hadn’t even began to comprehend the tally of lives lost today and it filled him with a cold rage at the Romulan bastards responsible for the hurt to his crew and his ship.

Ezra strode towards the Romulan lieutenant, brushing past Vin before his hand clamped around the woman’s arm. With uncharacteristic venom, Ezra hauled the Romulan to her feet, causing her to hiss in pain as he slammed her against the wall, his phaser jamming into ribs. She bared her teeth stained with green blood.

“Permission to escort our guest to the brig?” He asked, fully intending to interrogate the woman for every iota of information in her reptilian brain before the day was over.

“Permission granted....” Chris started to say, feeling no sympathy for the woman and perfectly willing to let Ezra vent his ire on his prisoner, within reason of course, when suddenly a low whine filled the air.

It was Rain who realised what it was, first.  As Transporter Chief, she would have been very remiss if she hadn’t.  “Captain! That’s a transporter beam!”

No sooner than she had said the words, a gold mist surrounded Selena’s body and Ezra immediately released his grip, lest he get taken with her. Katovit and Vin raised their weapons to fire but could not do so without putting Ezra at risk.  They could only watch in impotent fury as the woman smiled at them, uttering something that became lost in the hum of the transporter beam, before she vanished completely.

Almost on cue, Chris’s fury at her escape was further compounded by Mary’s voice coming through his combadge. “Chris, the Romulans are being transported out of the Ready Room!”

“Son of a bitch!” Vin cursed. “Can we pinpoint where the beam is coming from?”  

“Not without access to the sensors,” Ezra returned with just as much frustration.

To Chris, their voices became white noise, just like their collective frustration at their enemies’ escape. He did not react or answer Mary on the open channel because he was too busy pulling together the fragments of information, regarding Lorral’s intrusion onto the Maverick and the subsequent actions of the Romulans with her.  Lapsing into deep thought, he began to see the woman’s stratagem and had to confess, it made perfect sense.

“Chris?” Josiah asked, seeing the thoughtful expression on the Captain’s face.

“This was never about taking hostages,” Chris said finally. “This was about getting a runabout.”

“What?” Rain exclaimed somewhat incensed. “You mean trying to kill everyone on the bridge, sending security on a merry-go-round across the ship, taking us hostage down here, was just about getting a ride?”

“I hate to admit this but the Captain is correct,” Ezra agreed, feeling his own outrage at not seeing the sleight of hand, Lorral had perpetrated on them.  “All this was nothing more than a distraction.”

“Lorral never intended to take the Maverick or bargain for hostages,” Chris explained, feeling numb with fury but also exhausted after the events of the last few hours. “It’s why her soldiers were so willing to kill the bridge crew because she never intended to enter any negotiations. All this was, was to keep us from realising what she was really after, a way off Loren III.”

“With a runabout, she’s got weapons, sensors, a transporter pad and a ship capable of reaching warp,” Vin nodded in understanding, his Vulcan fury smouldering in his eyes.

“And with the transporter, she could easily retrieve her comrades using the runabout’s sensors.”  Ezra concluded.

“I wondered why Selena was stalling,” Josiah frowned, wondering whether he ought to be furious or admire the woman for her simple yet highly effective plan.  “Which runabout did she take?”

“The Midkiff,” Chris stated simply. “Buck and Alex had cornered her in the shuttle bay, that’s why she fired the Worthy’s phaser banks, to keep them busy while she transported to the Midkiff.”

“Chris,” Vin spoke up, hating to think the woman had gotten the better of them. “Let me and Ezra take the Worthy out, we can catch up to her.”

Chris Larabee sucked in a deep breath, taking note of the empty hatchway in the bulkhead where Ensign Lee had met her end, then regarded the injured being brought to Sick Bay and considered the current state of his ship. The Maverick was bleeding from a dozen wounds, her crew was still reeling from their battle and as the Captain, their welfare came before any need to settle accounts with Sub-Commander Lorral.

“No,” he said simply and swept his gaze over the faces of his crew. “We’ll catch up with her eventually but not today. Today, we need to take care of our wounded. Besides,” he thought about the woman and her plans to build a new Romulan Empire here in the Frontier. “I have a feeling we’ll be seeing her again.”

“Captain’s Log Stardate 14.339.21.

It has been two days since the Maverick was forced to land on Loren III.  At this time, we are awaiting the arrival of the USS Saratoga and USS Obama from Deep Space 5 after contacting Starfleet Command and notifying them of our situation. Despite our terrestrial landing on the planet, Starfleet concurs with Chief Engineer Pemberton and myself the Maverick is salvageable and has authorised the delivery of a replacement warp core, to be delivered by the Obama.  Our orders are to make the Maverick space worthy to reach DS5 before undergoing two months of extensive repairs.

During our battle with the Vrihan, we lost thirty crew members, including Ensign Yanek who died after sustaining grievous injuries from a plasma fire in the stardrive section. Adelaide Sheridan, Lt. Travis’ mother has taken this particularly hard and wishes me to add her condolences to the Ensign’s parents when I write to her parents. It is not a duty I am looking forward to. At least 45 people sustain injuries ranging from mild to serious, including CMO Doctor Nathan Jackson, Ensign JD Dunne and Food Technician Inez Recillos. All are recovering in Sick Bay although I am told, Doctor Zheng may resort to straps to ensure Dr Jackson remains in bed.

In the meantime, engineering crews have been hard at work, conducting repairs on both the saucer and stardrive sections of the ship. Despite damage to our shuttle bay, at least eight of our shuttles are still operational. Lieutenant Pemberton has been using these to transport engineering crews to the stardrive section, which is still drifting above the planet while we await the arrival of our new antimatter drive. Accompanying them, in the Worthy, is Lieutenant Commander Standish who understandably wants to remain close by in case the Vrihan choose to make a reappearance.

Regarding the Vrihan, Starfleet Command reports there are at least seven Romulan warbirds unaccounted after the destruction of the Romulan home world. It was assumed these were destroyed at the same time but considering our report, it may well be they have been commandeered by the Vrihan. As of yet, we have not received any further intelligence regarding the fate of Sub-Commander Lorral but Starfleet Intelligence will now be investigating the matter more stringently. The Romulan Senate, such as it is, have condemned the attack on the Maverick and consider the Vrihan a terrorist faction, and have given us leave to treat them as such in future.

******

While JD Dunne’s injuries were not as severe as Nathan Jackson’s, sustaining serious burns which modern technology was able to heal quickly enough through dermal regeneration, the accelerated process did leave the body weakened from the effort.  The horrific wounds were gone from his flesh but JD could understand the need for caution because he could feel the tenderness of the regenerated skin every time he moved.  Thus, while he was afforded the ability to leave his bed for short periods, he wasn’t eager to do much else.  

Perfectly aware the young man hated being laid up and not being able to participate in the clean-up and repair work currently undertaken by the able-bodied crew of the Maverick, Ezra Standish had left him a deck of cards during his visit, to entertain himself. To save Nathan from incurring seriously bodily harm from his own medical stuff by his attempts to leave his sick bed and assist with the casualties in Sick Bay, JD Dunne decided to alleviate his own ire at being stuck in the Main Patient Ward by entertaining the doctor.  

Nathan’s injuries, unlike JD’s, required the doctor to remain bedridden and JD learned the adage of doctors making the worst patients was proof personified by the man’s behaviour. After witnessing Nathan’s constant arguments with Doctor Zheng, JD decided for Nathan’s own sake, he better keep the doctor busy.

“Come on Nathan, it’s your hand,” JD urged, thinking he no longer felt like a junior ensign after seeing Nathan kicking up such a righteous fit of indignation, he was just one step away from tantrum.

“You’re just trying to distract me,” Nathan grumbled, following the ensign’s prompt by picking up his cards and studying them.  JD was sitting on a chair next to his bed with card game being played across the blanket on Nathan’s lap.

“No,” JD replied not looking up from his own cards, his expression one of complete neutrality. “I’m trying to keep Doctor Zheng from finishing what those Romulans started.”  

The doctor cursed under his breath before giving JD a dark look over his cards. “Very funny.”

With the same poker face that would have warmed Ezra’s heart, JD responded promptly. “I’m not kidding.”

Nathan let out a sigh, supposing he was being a little difficult. He raised his eyes to the ward longingly, frustrated by seeing his medical staff running ragged across the Main Patient Ward, clearly exhausted from tending so many wounded and being unable to help. Still, he had to admit to being damned proud of Doctor Zheng. She had risen magnificently to the occasion and justified his decision in choosing her as his assistant CMO. In fact, he was rather proud of his entire medical staff and their performance during this crisis.

“I just hate being laid up like this,” Nathan admitted with a sigh. “Everybody’s working so hard, I feel guilty just lying here, being able to do nothing to help.”

“Me too,” JD could appreciate the sentiment. “But I’m taking your advice to make sure I heal up properly so I don’t do more harm than good by pushing myself too hard, too soon.”

“Sure,” Nathan grumbled discarding two cards. “Throw that back in my face.”

Suddenly, he noticed the doors to the ward sliding open and entering together were Rain and Casey, obviously here to see them.  Both women had dropped in at varying times during the day before going on duty and their appearance now, meant they were done for the day and were able to visit. Casey was carrying what looked like a huge banana split with two spoons, aware it was JD’s favourite, to lift the young man’s spirits and while Rain did not come bearing gifts, just seeing her was a treat for a doctor behaving like a lion with a thorn in its paw.

“Hey JD,” Casey smiled, coming over to the ensign and giving him a kiss on the cheek. “How are you doing?”

“Better now that you’re here,” he said pleased to see her.

“Hey Doc,” Rain repeated the same affectionate gesture with Nathan. “Still driving Doctor Zheng crazy?”

“Not at all,” Nathan said with perfect innocence, hoping a retributory lightning bolt didn’t strike him dead for such a bald face lie. “I’ve been keeping JD busy, playing cards.”

“Uh huh, sure you are.” she looked at him sceptically, perfectly aware what a pain in the ass he was. Li Pong had called her to complain. The two women had struck up a little friendship since Rain started dating the doctor.

“We’ll leave you two alone,” JD said getting up gingerly, with Casey looking on with concern to see if he needed help.

“You just don’t want to share that banana split,” Nathan accused, nodding at the bowl Casey was carrying. “You know that’s not exactly healthy food for a man in your condition.”

“Yeah and neither is getting your doctor mad at you, but I don’t see you avoiding that either.” JD smirked, drawing giggles from Casey and Rain.

“Get out of here!” Nathan barked as JD and Casey headed off, the ensign wearing a smile showing how proud he was at himself for getting the better of the doctor.

Rain watched them retreat to JD’s bed before turning to Nathan, a smile on her face. “You know, hanging out with Vin and Buck is doing that boy a world of good.”

“That’s not the way I’d put it,” Nathan remarked before turning to Rain who began putting away the cards JD left behind.  “How’s your day?”

“Oh busy,” Rain replied, “I’m cleaning up the mess left behind by our smooth landing from the transporter bay and I still need to write a letter to Grace’s parents. I know the Captain’s doing it but she talked about them so much, I feel I know them myself.”

Nathan saw the sadness in her eyes, something she rarely allowed anyone to see. Grace Yanek was just a kid and she’d been taken too soon. “I’m sorry,” he reached for her hand and squeezed it.

“Thank you,” Rain leaned in and kissed him again, savouring his kiss because it was the tonic to take the grief she felt in her heart over the young woman, especially when Rain had been so hard on her for the whole business regarding Adelaide Sheridan.  “Alia Nal, three hosts back, tells me the Creator takes the good ones early but that doesn’t make me feel better.”

“No, it wouldn’t,” he agreed, feeling similarly aggrieved when someone so young died.

“Anyway,” Rain said with a loud exhale, dispelling the sadness from her mind for the moment. “It got me thinking about us.”

Nathan’s eyes widened. “Us?”

“Yeah, Rain nodded, “I think we ought to move in together. I mean, we’ve been seeing each other for months now.  We spend most of our off-duty time together and we’ve both got nice little spots in each other’s mattress in our quarters. I think we’re ready. Don’t you?”

Considering he had been contemplating marriage a few days ago, Nathan had to say yes. In fact, this might be a better solution than a proposal, since he was still in two minds about whether it was too soon for them to take such a step. As always, Rain had knocked him over with a feather. Much like she had done since the first time he saw her.

“I’m ready,” he smiled. “As a matter of fact, I’m so ready, I think we could go move my stuff over right now.”

“Nice try Doc,” Rain shook her head, leaning over to kiss him. “But I’m wise to your ways.”

******

Despite what they had done to the coastline upon landing, the beach beyond the hull of the Maverick remained fortunately unaffected by the damage, and it was Julia who suggested they take advantage of it. Ezra could not blame her of course, the Obama was due in twelve hours with their replacement warp core and after that, the Chief Engineer of the Maverick would barely have time to sleep, let alone steal a few hours of relaxation.  As it was, the last two days had been hardest on her, as she tried to make the Maverick capable of sustaining its castaways while they awaited rescue.

“This was a great idea Julia,” Mary complimented, as she sat next to Chris on a beach blanket, watching the dance of flames from the campfire, sipping wine while enjoying the breeze against her skin.  She was wearing a red bikini, Chris had called ‘pieces of string with a glandular condition’, with a beach robe over her shoulders, so he wouldn’t insist on her carrying an umbrella to cover herself.   Men.

“Thank you,” Julia beamed, resting her head on Ezra’s shoulder, the breeze making her copper coloured hair bounce against her creamy shoulders, bared thanks to the strapless swimsuit she wore, with her favourite sarong knotted at the hip. “I just needed to look at something other than hull breaches and broken displays I have to fix.”

As she said that, Ezra planted a soft kiss against her hair, his agreement conveyed in that one gesture.

“Damn straight,” Buck agreed as he rested against a log, his long legs stretched out across the sand, as he examined the bottle filled with a green liquor he didn’t recognise. It was one of the few bottles from Josiah’s collection that survived their crash landing.  

“Pity the kid and the doc couldn’t be here.”  In the end, he decided to risk it and poured himself a glass and looked across the fire at Josiah. “What is this?”

Josiah stared at the bottle and then shrugged its shoulders. “It’s green.”

“Well according to Doctor Zheng, disrupter hits to the body are serious, even to the slightest degree, there could be delayed effects on the organs so she wants to make sure keeping them in Sick Bay for another day,” Chris explained, recalling her report when he’d inquired after his Senior Officers and had given her permission to use extreme measures to keep Nathan still.

“Oh, Nathan’s going to love that,” Josiah remarked with a little smile, casting his gaze over the collection of faces around him.

It was Vin who found this nice secluded spot on the beach after the helmsman had gone exploring, since this terrain was more familiar to him than anyone else.  Was it only a few days ago, he considered leaving the Maverick? It seemed so distant now.  If nothing else, the battle with the Vrihan and their crash landing on this world had convinced the healer, more than ever, he was needed here.  Of course, he would miss playing the role of the doting grandfather but his life was now on this ship with his friends, and he was quite pleased with it.

“You know,” Josiah said raising his glass of Romulan ale to his lips. “I am going to be a grandfather.”

“No kidding!” Buck burst out grinning as he set down the glass of green liquor, driving it into the sand, so it would sit still while he got up and went to pat Josiah on the back.  “Congratulations!”

“Congratulations!” Chris added his voice to the salutations and was soon followed by the group, with Ezra prompting a toast by raising his glass.

“Is it Mara?” Chris asked, knowing Josiah had two daughters. He knew one of them was married and living on Earth, while the other was somewhere in Sector 001.

“Yes, Mara,” he nodded. “My oldest.”

“Well we’ve got at least two months of downtime,” the captain suggested. “You should take the time and go see them. The ship won’t be going anywhere once we get to Deep Space Five.”

“It would be nice,” Josiah considered, thinking his decision might go over better with Mara if he made it in person and spent some time with her on Earth. “I should see how Thalia is doing too.”

“That’s the one who isn’t married right?” Buck asked, finding hard to believe when the Counsellor wasn’t on the Maverick, he was a father with two grown daughters.

“That’s right, she’s at Jupiter Station...” Josiah started to say before his eyes narrowed and he stared at Buck suspiciously, “why?”

A ripple of laughter moved across the group at Josiah’s hesitation to let Buck Wilmington anywhere near his unmarried daughter, in her twenties.

“What?” Buck asked innocently.  “What’s so funny?”

“Commander Wilmington,” Ezra said with a straight face. “I believe when one looks up the terminology ‘lock up your daughter’, your image is figured quite prominently.”

Another burst of laughter followed and Buck gave Ezra a dirty look, before he caught the slight smile on Alex’s face. The Science Officer was lying against Vin on a blanket, looking spectacular, he thought in her white bikini, which was such a glorious contrast against her skin, he was rather grateful Vin could now appreciate it. Alex didn’t speak but her eyes danced with the secret knowledge at the possible change in his bachelorhood.

Alex who understood privacy like no one else, had said nothing to anyone about Buck’s exchange with Inez on the hull of the Maverick. She understood how fragile this thing between Buck and Inez was, without wishing the complication of it becoming public knowledge.  

For his part, Buck had seen Inez in Sick Bay a day after the Vrihan had gone, when they’d finally sorted through the chaos of the battle and he had a moment to breathe.

******

Like Nathan, Inez’s injuries with a disruptor had earned her a stay in Sick Bay so Doctor Zheng could keep her under observation. Even though the dermal regenerator healed skin, it was a process that required rest as the new skin settled into place.  Besides, the state of her quarters was no fit place for a woman recovering a leg injury to navigate at present. The clean-up crews had yet to get to the place and it was like most other living quarters on the Maverick, a shamble.  

“How you doing Inez?” Buck asked her, wishing she was in her quarters, instead of the Patient Ward where everyone could see him. Not that he had anything to hide and there were partitions separating the beds so they at least had some measure of privacy.  It was just what he had to say was personal and he did not wish an audience.

Even if the lady’s affections for him had changed, a thought that made him happier than he could possibly believe, Buck understood the success of Chris and Mary’s relationship was due to Chris taking it slow in his approach to Mary. When she had first come on board, Mary was a new widow. In allowing Mary the sufficient time to mourn her husband, Chris had enable Mary to move on better. Buck wished to give Inez the same consideration.

“I’m going bored out of my mind,” Inez complained unhappily, wishing she was in Four Corners, so she could assess the damage there and make a start to putting the place back together. Everyone was in clean-up mode and she hated being stuck in bed when there was so much work to be done. “I hate being sick or wounded in this case.”

“Trust me,” Buck sighed, making no move to sit down because he simply didn’t have the time. As important as what he had to say to her was, as First Officer, he could not linger long. “Being able to move around isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. When we get to DS5, I’m gonna sleep for a month.”

“You do look tired,” she said concerned, her eyes drinking him in for a moment in a way Buck knew immediately was more than just friendly concern and once again, the heart in his chest beat a little faster. Christ, how was she able to do that to him? It wasn’t like he was some lovestruck kid, like JD or Vin. There had been women, lots of women and yet this one, this one always had the power to make him feel like he didn’t know a damn thing about them.

“I am, but that’s the job.” Buck shrugged, trying to hide how affected he was by what he recognised in her eyes. “I mean we got through it okay but there’s still a hell of a mess to clean up.”

“You should get some rest,” Inez reached for his hand. “Please, for me?”

“Now how can I refuse that?” He replied taking her hand and for a moment, there was nothing but silence between them as they savoured the warmth of each other’s touch, even in this simple way.  Looking into her eyes, he saw the depth of her feelings even if she couldn’t say them out loud. That she had reached for him, and their fingers were intertwined in a gesture of intimacy more potent than sex, was a tremendous step for her.

“Inez,” he started to say and then paused because he needed to put this right. What had Alex said? Don’t screw this up.   “Inez, I’m going to be around. If you need me, you just gotta call. I can wait until you’re ready. You’re worth it.”

Inez smiled, understanding what he was saying to her and appreciating the fact he was allowing her to come to him on her own terms. Squeezing his hand, Inez felt the emotion rush to her cheeks, grateful her colouring didn’t show how much she was blushing.  She would always love Raphael, would always miss him but today, she realised she cared for Buck Wilmington a great deal and while she wasn’t ready to plunge into another relationship, she appreciated the time he was giving her.

“Thank you, Buck,” she smiled and then added with a little smirk to break the tension of heavy emotions swirling around them, “I’m told I’m worth it.”

Buck broke into a grin. “I can’t argue with that.”

******

 “Hey Chris,” Vin spoke up, bringing Buck’s thoughts back to the campfire.  

The Vulcan had sat up to get take a sip of the whiskey he was drinking, never having developed a taste for the Romulan ale Chris liked so much. Running an appreciative eye over Alex as she was wearing her barely nothing bikini, he felt a surge of desire for her he’d have to quench later until he remembered what they’d discussed about their shore leave plans.

“Alex and I were going to head back to Earth during furlough so she can see the ranch,” Vin said staring at Chris across the fire. He was rather delighted that Alex had suggested going to Earth, to see the home left to him by his human parents. They’d spent so much time with the holodeck recreation of the place, Vin was looking forward to showing her the real thing, especially now that she was his wife.  He still thrilled at being able to call her that. “We thought you and Mary might like to join us.”

“Hey that sounds nice,” Mary replied, having heard Vin talk about the ranch and seeing it in his mind during their melding sessions to strengthen Vin’s mental disciplines. “I wouldn’t mind.” She gave Chris a look, wondering if he would be willing to tear himself away from the repairs on the Maverick for a few weeks. If left to his own devices, Mary was certain he would spend every day of the next two months at Deep Space Five driving Julia crazy while she and her engineering team were on board.

“You sure we wouldn’t be intruding?” Chris liked the idea because he and Mary had never travelled anywhere, not in the year since they had met. Who knows, it might be the right time to move their semi-intimate relationship to something more solid.

“Oh please,” Alex rolled her eyes, giving Vin a look, perfectly aware of what was the reason for the invitation.  “He wants you there so you two can climb a damn mountain.”

“Which mountain?” Ezra asked suspiciously, knowing the Captain and the helmsman’s proclivities meant wherever this peak was, it was treacherous and high.

“El Capitan,” Vin grinned. “We ain’t tried that one yet.”

“True,” Chris admitted, liking the idea of climbing that particular mountain.

“Oh Lord,” Ezra rolled his eyes, hating the idea of his Captain climbing up real mountains without the safety of holodeck protocols and transporter locks. “I suppose I cannot convince you to notify the Ranger Station you are making this climb so they can monitor your progress?”

Rangers Stations in national reserves on Earth, could monitor rock climbers on treacherous climbs and were able initiate transporter locks in the event of a fall. While this was a welcome safety measure for novice climbers, experts tended to regard it as taking the fun out of the experience.

“I’ll think about it,” Chris said lying through his teeth for Ezra’s benefit even if Vin knew better.

Ezra, who could spot a con a mile away, knew when he was being mollified and made a mental note to call in some favours, to ensure the local Ranger Station kept an eye on his captain. Without the man knowing of course.

“And while they’re doing that,” Alex met Mary’s eyes, “we can do day trips to Paris and New York for the shopping, which is almost as much fun as rock climbing.”

“Well you’re certainly not going to Paris without me Marigold!” Adelaide Sheridan’s ebullient voice broke through the relative calm of the night. Everyone looked up to see the woman approaching their little hideaway, dressed in a colourful beach caftan, having crossed the dunes to find out where her daughter had rushed off too or rather hidden.  

Mary let out a soft groan and dropped her head on Chris’s shoulder as the Captain stifled a smile at the Protocol Officer’s annoyance.

Truth be told, the woman had been wonderful for morale during the last two days, which somewhat blunted Chris’s annoyance at how she’d conspired to stay on board.  Aside from visiting the injured in Sick Bay, entertaining crew and the families on board with stories of her adventures. Even though some of them had come at the expense of Mary, Chris particularly loved the one about fifteen-year-old Marigold’s first date, they had gone a long way to taking people’s mind off their recent troubles.

Furthermore, even though the woman drove her daughter insane, the rest of the senior staff found Adelaide funny and colourful, with her natural effervescence very hard to dislike, much to Mary’s chagrin.

“You said this was secluded,” Mary accused Vin as Adelaide enter the glow of the fire and promptly made a beeline next to her daughter.

“Oh Marigold,” Adelaide lowered herself next to Mary, “you really need to learn to relax. I honestly don’t know how I raised such a serious child. Perhaps I should have drank a little more champagne when I was pregnant.”

“Mother!” Mary started rubbing the bridge of her nose once again wondering whether matricide was really such a bad thing.

“Now Adelaide, give Mary a break.” Josiah spoke up, perfectly aware what Ms Sheridan was doing. While he lauded the woman’s efforts to make her daughter enjoy life a little bit more, she could overdo it a bit. In the last two days, they’d shared more a little time together and most of her fears stemmed from the belief Mary had lost herself being married to Syan.  

“Only for you Josiah,” Adelaide flashed him a smile, still feeling very grateful to the Counsellor who had nursed her through the trying landing on this planet.

Mary stared at Josiah with the same suspicion, the Counsellor had given Buck a short time ago. Chris caught the look and managed to stifle a laugh, choosing instead to move tactfully to another subject.

“So, what is next for you Ms Sheridan?”

“Well I do have a tour in about a month,” Adelaide smiled, taking the glass of wine Mary poured her from the bottle held up by the sand. “That’s just enough time for us to do some shopping in Paris, Marigold. You’ll love it Alexandra, I’m on a first name basis with all the fashion houses, you’ll get royal treatment.”

“Oh, that sounds like fun,” Julia pouted, sorry she was going to be busy with the Maverick’s repair, before realising there was nowhere else she would rather be.

“It is,” Mary admitted begrudgingly, remembering her youth and how it felt watching her mother command those snooty fashionistas with awe. As much as Adelaide drove her insane sometimes, the woman had made her childhood memorable. Clinging to those fond memories, she leaned over and kissed her mother on her cheek. “I’m glad you’re here mother.”

The show of affection took the lady by surprise and she brightened considerably. “I am too. I’m so thrilled to meet all your friends. Even your Captain, although I’d prefer if he did not crash the ship next time.”  Adelaide winked at Chris to show him she was only joking. She might have been a civilian but she had spoken to enough people in the last two days to know they were alive only because Chris Larabee was their captain.

“Thanks,” Chris laughed, “although I wasn’t driving.” He smirked in Vin’s direction.

“I just went where you sent me pard,” Vin said smoothly, giving Chris a look. “Don’t blame me if your instructions weren’t that good.”

“Anyway,” Adelaide resumed speaking. “After Earth, I’ll be heading to Bajor to do a tour of the planet. We’ll be performing the Merry Widow. For an extremely spiritual people, they do not have much in the way of theatre. Oh Ezra, I have those tickets you asked for.”

There was a ripple of laughter through the group, particularly from Buck, Chris and Vin, who were staring smugly at the Security Chief who was well and truly caught out over his claims he wasn’t a fan.

“Tickets?” Julia asked, raising a brow. “Were we going?”

“Well,” Ezra thought clearing his throat. “I thought before you became too embroiled in the refit of the Maverick, we could spend a few days on Bajor.”

“Hey if you do,” Alex spoke up, having spent a good deal of time on the planet when she was still stationed at Deep Space Nine. “There’s a pretty nice resort in the Kendra Province and there’s a lot to see, the Fire Caves, the Monasteries of the Kai and the Cliffs of Undalar.”

“And Quark’s Bar.” Buck added with a smug smile, certain Ezra wasn’t going to Bajor without visiting that particular location.

“I have no idea what you mean,” Ezra looked innocently, already thinking about the Ferengi’s high stakes games, according to Will Riker.

“Really?” Julia gave him a look, not believing him for one second.

Seeing how Ezra might end up with a situation, Josiah stepped into save him. “Adelaide, the Merry Widow, that’s an opera, isn’t it?”

“An operetta,” she corrected. “It’s been a while since I’ve had to sing and I can manage well enough but the real musical talent is with Marigold of course. She’s the one who turned down the chance to go to Julliard. I still remember your Pygmalion darling. It was wonderful.”

All eyes turned to Mary in shock.

“You sing?” Chris stared at Mary, a slow smile forming over his face at this latest bit of intelligence, trying to picture his Protocol Officer dressed up as an 19th century flower girl and couldn’t help but snigger.

Groaning in defeat, Mary let out a sigh. “Just don’t tell stellar cartography.”

THE END

BACK TO MAIN PAGE