Part Eleven

When Chris Larabee woke up, he prayed that the strange images proceeding his unconscious state had been his mind playing tricks on him and that it had been nothing more than a bizarre dream. However, when he opened his eyes and saw Alex at the helm of the Maverick, where Vin ought to have been. Casey nestled quite comfortably in his command chair and Julia manning the station where Ezra normally stood, he knew that he was not dreaming. He realized that the dream was more of a nightmare when he saw Mary Travis standing over him, holding the phaser rifle in her hands with a glint in her eye that indicated she was not above shooting him if he gave her the slightest bit of trouble.

Chris and the rest of his bridge crew were forced against the far wall of the bridge, under Mary’s watchful gaze. JD was still unconscious next to Buck whose throat showed the purplish discoloring of a severe bruise. The others members of the bridge were similarly subdued and the four women who had complete control of the bridge appeared more than adequate to the task of keeping this vital part of their ship in the hands for the time being. Buck’s gaze was fixed on the view screen and it took a moment for Chris to realize that they were traveling at high warp.

He had a feeling that they were not bound for Pacifica.

"What the hell is going on?" Chris demanded with something of a growl when he finally had mind enough to speak.

Mary looked down at him indifferently and aimed her weapon in his direction to indicate that was about as much animation she liked to see him display. "He’s awake." She spoke out loud but not to him. Her announcement was made to Casey.

"Are you okay Chris?" Buck asked concerned, his voice was still hoarse and the concern in his eyes was clear. His expression was grim and each breath he took was raspy. Chris suspected that serious injury had been inflicted upon his breathing passage when Alex had initially attacked.

"I’m fine." Chris nodded, rubbing the back of his head to dispel the ache left in the wake of the stun blast before he glanced at JD. The young communications officer lay slumped next to Buck, oblivious to everything that was going on. For a moment, he looked very much like the boy he was. "How’s the kid?"

"He was stunned like you were." Buck said tersely, giving Mary a dark look as he did so. Buck knew that it was not Mary behind those eyes, he was unashamed of feeling hostility towards the creature that had not only harmed his young protégé but also taken the body of one of his friends. "But he took a pretty hard tumble when he was hit and I think he might have brained himself good. I don’t see any blood but I think he’s okay." However, despite Buck’s attempt at reassurance, Chris could tell that he was worried about his young charge.

"So do we know what all this is about, other than the fact that they want and have our ship?" Chris whispered softly, keeping his voice down as he tried to acquire an appraisal of the situation from his first officer.

Mary was pacing the floor but she was still keeping an eye on them. Buck waited until she was a short distance away from himself and Chris before he answered. "They haven’t said much," Buck responded to his captain’s query. "But we’ve changed course."

That was not a surprise. Chris had assumed as much when he realized that the ship was in high warp. "Do we have any idea where?"

"Quiet!" Mary barked having noticed their conversation and had quickly intervened, obviously finding that action extending beyond the limits of the freedom she was willing to permit. "One more word out of either of you and I’ll shoot."

Chris turned a sharp glare at her, forcing himself to remember that this was not Mary but some alien creature that was using her before he responded. "If you wanted us dead, you would have done it already." He hissed in that menacing Larabee voice that knew no fear of anything, even when a gun was being aimed in his direction. "Let’s not get hot under the collar and do something we’ll both regret."

"Do not assume too much Captain," Mary returned with just as much rancor, her blue grey eyes narrowing as their gazes locked like two combatants poised on the edge of battle. "We do not wish to spill unnecessary blood but make no mistake that we will do what is necessary to reach our destination. We have no great love for your kind, it would not weight upon our conscience to terminate your existence."

Casey, who had been attracted by the commotion, averted her gaze from the view screen and turned her eyes to them. Taking special note of Chris, Casey pushed herself out of the command chair.

"Calm yourself Narita." She turned a cold eye on Chris. "There is no need to repeat our threats. The Captain is attempting to bait you into doing something foolish." There was no need to use the appellations of the host bodies any more. Now that their presence was exposed to the Captain, they could utilize their own identifies, instead of the ones they had borrowed when they had acquired the hosts for the Many.

For a moment, Chris did not speak. He was still rather taken back by the sight of Casey striding forward with the supreme confidence of someone who was in complete control of the situation. He had not realized until he had risen from his black sleep that it was Casey who was the guiding force behind this insurrection on his bridge. In retrospect, Chris thought it made perfect sense. After all, it had not been the others who had left him so distracted that he had no idea what was going on his ship, just Casey. Casey who had utilized a ploy so incredibly simplistic and ingenious in its conception that he had to congratulate the mind who had conjured it, if he was not so furious at himself for being taken so easily. He should have suspected that Casey’s sudden affections for him were false. Evidence of how she felt about him and JD Dunne was apparent since the day she arrived on board the Maverick. Chris was mortified by his arrogance in allowing ego do the thinking for him.

"I just want to know what you want," Chris retorted, recovering quickly now that he knew with whom he was dealing. His mind focused into the singularity of regaining his ship and more importantly, the restoration of his female officers to themselves. "You’ve taken my ship, why?"

"You are not in a position to require answers to anything." Narita, who spoke with Mary Travis’ voice answered abruptly, glaring at Chris with unmasked contempt. "We have his ship and the rest of his kind have been dealt with."

"What do you mean dealt with?" Chris asked, suddenly gripped with fear and the understanding that there had to be many of them to deal with the rest of his kind, whatever his kind was. Suddenly, the scope of the Maverick’s predicament began to filter into his head as he began to comprehend that it was not just the female officers on his bridge but throughout his entire ship.

"Captain," She who wore Casey’s face regarded him as she approached. "You did not think that we would be stupid enough to move on your bridge without first ensuring that the rest of your officers were similarly neutralized? Consider how it easy it was to make you run and hide like a frightened child." A little smile curled the corner of her lips as she responded. "All I had to make you believe was this child whose body I am using had affection for you."

"What?" Buck looked at Chris in question.

"Nevermind," Chris growled, wondering if it was possible to feel any more foolish than he already did over that stupid assumption. Casey’s supposed crush on him had been awkward but secretly, Chris had been flattered by the attention. Perhaps that was why he had not handled the situation decisively instead of hiding himself in the holodeck for hours while intruders had free run of his ship.

"Or the ease in which your first officer was deceived into believing that Alexandra Styles would couple with him, right there in your very own Ready Room."

Chris blinked and turned to Buck who was gulping visibly.

"In….my…..Ready……Room?" Chris glared at him with a long hard look before he realized that this was not the time or the place for this conversation, although rest assured they would be having it at some point, soon. "We will talk about this later Commander."

"You kind are so easily distracted Captain," Casey continued speaking, indifferent to the shock waves caused by her last comment. "We did what we have to and now we are in control of your ship. Cooperate with us and you will come out of this with your skin. Do not and your crew will pay the penalty. I trust you want to see no one being beamed into a vacuum?"

Chris’ jaw tightened with seething anger as that threat was made to him and he had made his career knowing when to blink or when the enemy was bluffing or not. As he looked into Casey’s cold eyes, he knew for a fact that she was not. For the moment at least, he would have to comply with their intentions for his ship. "Don’t worry,’ he said in a low voice. "I won’t try anything for awhile."

"I expected nothing less." Casey answered with smug satisfaction.

"So what do you want with my ship?" Chris asked once more since she never did answer that question and as she was in complete control of his ship, or so she thought, Chris gambled that she might be arrogant enough to answer.

He was right.

"You are hardly in a position to change things so I do not see why I cannot satisfy your curiosity in this respect."

"X’hala," Narita interjected. "Is that wise?"

"The information will hardly be of any use to him," X’hala gave Narita a sidelong glance before regarding Chris once more. "And if he tries to use it against us, we will simply kill Mr. Dunne."

"Like hell you will," Buck hissed, reacting immediately to that information as only he could when any threat was made against JD but Narita was prepared for him. Her gun rose enough to indicate that any further action would be a mistake.

"Buck," Chris turned a sharp eye on his first officer. "Stand down." He ordered.

He could see Buck’s anger through the tight line of tension running through his jaw and the loud breathing exuding from him like the vents of a boiler room. However, he was too conditioned to obey his captain to be able to let that anger get the better of him and immediately settled down once again. He would be no good to JD if he were dead.

"I told you," Chris glared at X’hala. "I won’t try anything."

"Then you shall have your answer." X’hala looked at him with a smirk reeking of triumph. "We need your ship to go home."

"Where’s home?" Chris asked automatically. If they were from Andromeda or beyond the galactic rim, this was going to be one long trip.

"Precise coordinates Captain?" X’hala gave him a look of amusement. "Nice try. Let us say it’s a few days away."

At least that was something, Chris thought before he spoke again. "You didn’t have to take over the ship if that’s all you wanted." A part of him was unable to believe that the aliens had gone to all this trouble for just that simple reason. Chris had no qualms about returning displaced life forms back to their point of origin. All they needed to do was ask.

"Your kind are deceivers." X’hala answered automatically. "We are not so foolish to believe for one instant that you would help us. We are aware of you and others like you. Deception is a part of your genetic material." The bitterness in her voice was not superiority or hatred, she said it like it was a statement of fact, like the world was round.

Chris looked at her with a hint of surprise as well as confusion. He still had a thousand questions running through his head. Some did not need any explanation, like the strange behavior exhibited not only by Casey earlier today but also Alex who had used sex quite spectacularly to take Buck’s mind off what was happening. Inwardly, he should have known that it would take nothing less than an alien invasion of her body for Alex to succumb to Buck’s charms. Others, like how these creatures had managed to infect the female members of his crew and what they were in reality, beneath the guise of Maverick’s most trusted officers, were not so easy to answer.

"The hated ones?" Chris wrinkled his brown in confusion.

"Men." Buck said dutifully.

"I see," Chris nodded trying to make sense of things and having very little patience with the whole situation. His ship had been taken mostly because of his own negligence and while he was furious at himself, there was something to all this that told Chris that these creatures had a reason for detesting men so much. He guessed they must have come from the artifact, for there was no other solution as to how they had gotten loose on his ship. After a moment he looked up at the young woman who wore Casey's face but nothing like the yeoman he knew. "If we cooperate, will you guarantee the safety of my crew?"

"You will cooperate," X’hala remarked as she turned her back on him and returned to the command chair and lowered herself in it with great relish before casting her gaze in his direction again. "You will cooperate or we will kill everyone on board before we reach our destination. Do we understand each other?"

Chris nodded grimly before answering. "Perfectly."

**********

Vin and Rain did not make it far after leaving the safety of SickBay in order to access the beach. The turbo lifts had been deactivated. Considering that there were almost 35 decks on a galaxy starship and the bridge was presently residing on Deck 1 and the SickBay was on Deck 17 that made reaching it somewhat difficult. Although they could access it by way of the miles and miles of ducts, conduits, electrical access tunnels, Jeffrey’s tubes and crawlspaces that ran through a ship of this size, it was still a laborious endeavor. With what Nathan had revealed in regards to the enemy’s numbers, Vin and Rain knew that they had to find a faster alternative for that careless expenditure of time was not acceptable with the ship in danger.

"What about the electrical access tunnel that runs straight through the bridge?" Rain suggested as they considered the options available to them as they put some distance between themselves and their last location following their unsuccessful turn at the turbo lift.

"That will take almost as long as trying to climb up the Jeffery’s tube and if they’ve got the bridge crew hostage, we need an element of surprise. They’ll be able to see us coming and then they’ll have two extra hostages." Vin remarked and then met her gaze when a bout of inspiration overtook him. "What about Cargo Bay 2?" He suggested, his blue eyes a flame with possibility.

"It has its own transporter pad!" She exclaimed, guessing what he intended almost immediately. "I can beam us directly to the bridge!"

"That’s a plan." He grinned as they both continued down the corridor, phasers in hand. The passageways were quiet and Vin wondered where everyone was. There could not be enough aliens to subdue everyone on the ship but Vin soon came to the conclusion that there was really no need. If all the females on board had been infected with this malaise and they were as well prepared as Vin believed they were from what he had seen so far, it was quite easy to keep a ship of almost a thousand people penned indefinitely. With travel between the ship restricted thanks to the turbo lifts being offline and phasers offered a compelling argument for the unarmed to stay indoors, Vin could understand why the walkways of the Maverick were so deserted.

They were rounding the corner when Vin and Rain ran into a very irate Ezra Standish.

"What on earth is going on?" Ezra demanded upon finally seeing a face he recognized, for that matter any face.

"Where the hell have you been Ezra?" Vin returned just as vehemently. "We’ve got hundred aliens on board and they’ve taken the bridge!"

Ezra’s face drained of color for an instant as he absorbed that news. "How?" He asked with almost a strangled whisper.

"It’s the artifact," Rain quickly explained, moving past the moment because the guilt seeping into the eyes of the Security Chief was more than she could stand. She could tell very quickly that he was blaming himself in the wake of this news that he should have been able to prevent what had happened. Rain guessed that he had probably been distracted the way Vin and the rest of the ship was and had not made his discovery of things being askew until it was too late. "It transferred some kind of alien consciousness to the females on board."

"But you….." Ezra started to point out.

"It’s got something to do with me being Trill," Rain explained before the question had a chance to escape him. "I’m about the only woman on the Maverick who isn’t affecting. Everyone else is."

"No, that’s impossible." Ezra shook his head refusing to believe it. "I was with Julia." He insisted, the image of their heated desires still fresh in his mind. "I would have known."

The shudder she saw in his eyes, told Rain something else as well and inwardly, she ached for him. The relationship between Ezra and Julia Pemberton was well known throughout the ship and probably like so many lovers across the vessel, he was having trouble believing that he was duped. In Ezra’s case, it would be a doubly bitter pill to swallow because he was the Chief of Security and any attempt to take the ship would require him being neutralized first.

"Believe it," Vin said abruptly, having no time to spare in giving Ezra a lengthy explanation. "They’ve taken the bridge Ezra. We can’t get in contact with Chris, Buck or JD. The turbo lifts are sealed. Communications has been completely disabled. They only way they could have managed all that is if Julia was involved. She is the only one with the knowledge and the authority to shut down all those systems."

An ugly thought surfaced in Ezra’s mind as he recalled the summons to Engineering that Julia had received while she had been with him in his quarters and he looked at Vin, hoping that he was wrong but knowing inwardly that he was not. Still, Ezra had to ask. "Precisely how long ago did we lose access to all turbo lifts and communications?" He asked, his voice little more than a whisper.

"About 30 minutes." The Vulcan answered automatically, unaware at the significance of his response to Ezra. "About the same time the ship kicked in Warp 9."

Ezra felt his stomach lurch as that number swam around his head and understood that it made perfect sense after a fashion. In fact, everything that had taken place since she stepped into the shower cubicle suddenly fell into place, giving Ezra a vision of the truth that almost shattered the heart in his chest. For most part, he hid it well from Vin, displaying that indifferent façade that often proved so useful during a card game. He had asked her why she had chosen to take their relationship to the next level and could not believe his stupidity in accepting so readily the answer she had given him. A part of Ezra Standish could not stomach that he had been deceived so easily and then realized that she was the one thing that could accomplish that feat with little no difficulty. His love for her had become his weakness.

Vin who had been similarly duped by Mary and even now, felt feeling of outrage, as well as betrayal could appreciate how hurt Ezra must be at this moment. Mary had inspired such passion in him that something dangerous and powerful had almost been unleashed inside of him. Had Mary not acted to incapacitate him when she had, Vin was uncertain of what would have happened. Inwardly, he still felt angered that he had been forced to share the sensation of such pleasure with his best friend’s lady and not the woman who truly had his heart. However, while Vin was justified in his rage, Ezra’s pain was a little more uncertain.

Ezra loved Julia. Anyone who saw them together would know that. Vin had a feeling that it was not an easy thing for the Security Chief to admit to either and for a man who was trained to read people and faces, Vin could not imagine the mortification he must feel at being tricked. At this moment, Vin could imagine Ezra being racked with feeling of humiliation and failure for not being able to tell the difference between the woman he loved and the creature that had stole her body.

"Ez," Vin said gently, not wishing to make him feel any worse but they were too pressed for time to indulge in a lengthy debate over this matter. The time to move was now and with Ezra here, the odds of success were slightly better than they had been. "We’re going to Cargo Bay 2 which is on this deck and has a transporter pad. Rain’s going to attempt a site to site transport to get us onto the bridge. I think the odds would work a lot better if it were three of us than just two. As it is, its going to be a gamble cause we have no idea how many there are and what they’re capable of."

"Alex was on the bridge," Ezra mused. "If she’s there, chances are Julia would be too. Possibly Mary. If I were conducting an assault on the bridge, that is the way to infiltrate it without rousing suspicion. All of them have reason to be there."

"Well you’re the expert," the Vulcan said with a little smile. "Chief of Security."

Ezra would begged to differ but said nothing, since he was still shell-shocked by what he had been told but knew that for the moment, his feelings could wait. When they had assumed control of the bridge and ejected the alien consciousness in possession of the Maverick’s female complement, then he could allow himself to consider the ramifications of what had transpired between Julia and him. A flurry of questions still remained in his mind, the first and foremost being whether or not the creatures could be expelled from Julia and whether or not she would survive the exorcism. How would she react to knowing that he had made love to her, not even realizing that it was not her that he had touched by something else, utilizing her body to cruelly distract him from his responsibilities to the ship?

Personally, Ezra did not know which was worse.

Tapping his com badge in order to reach his security team, he was greeted with silence and Ezra cast a glance at Vin. "It seems Miss Pemberton has been sufficiently thorough." He remarked as they started down the hall towards the cargo deck.

"Let’s hope she’s not that thorough," Vin responded, catching on to his meaning immediately.

"You think she might have disabled the transporters?" Rain gasped, realizing that Julia Pemberton’s efficiency as a Chief Engineer might be sound enough for such an eventuality.

"If she did not, Alex would have." Ezra commented, garnering a look from Vin. "You forget that aside from being Chief Science Officer, she is also the third ranking officer with tactical training. Her IQ is higher than most of us, so yes, I would say that there is a good chance that she may have disabled the transporters."

"Damn." Vin swore under his breath.

"That’s not a problem." Rain responded automatically.

"It is not?" Ezra and Vin looked at the woman immediately.

"I am Transporter Chief you know," she shrugged her shoulders with something of a guilty expression on her face as she spoke. "I may have inadvertently at some point, hacked into the main frame and acquired the enable codes for our transporters."

Ezra’s eyes widened and then narrowed in quick succession. "Madam, when this is all over, you and I are going to have a talk about your inadvertent ventures."

Part Twelve

"We have a problem."

When Julia Pemberton spoke those words, she simultaneously captured the attention of both hostage and kidnappers on the bridge of the Maverick. In his command chair, Chris saw the alien called X’hala who was presently inhabiting the body of Casey Wells swivel about to face the Chief Engineer. It was still taking some time for him to become accustomed to that hardened expression in Casey’s face when Chris was so used to seeing youthful exuberance and a sweetness that had the power to touch even his jaded interior, so ravaged by grief he would not share with anyone. It had been even more difficult for JD Dunne when the young man had awoke and found the girl he cared presiding over the bridge and issuing orders with a personality that was not her own or anything closely resembling the person he knew. 

"Clarify." X’hala ordered. 

Julia’s eyes moved over the console screen before her, the faint glow of the screen bouncing off her features as she made a further study and responded. "Someone is attempting to access the transporter pad in Cargo Bay 3." 

"I thought you disabled all transporters." X’hala returned. 

"I did but apparently they have the initialization codes to get the transporters back on line once more." Julia replied, somewhat confused about how this was possible because she thought that she had secured those sections earlier on. 

"Can you lock them out again?" The impatience in X’hala’s voice was growing and Chris could tell that she would not take another negative answer with any tolerance. 

Chris gave Buck and JD a look, silent in his speech but his gaze spoke volumes as to the identity of the interlopers who were attempting to access the bridge. His gut instinct told him that it was most likely Ezra and possibly Vin. If anyone could override lockout codes it was Ezra Standish, the man was as gifted with bypassing secured programming as he was with his extra curricular gambling habits.  

"I don’t think so." The Julia entity lifted her eyes to meet X’hala’s own before shaking her head. 

"Can we identify them?" X’hala inquired sharply.  

Julia returned her gaze to the computer screen once again and punched in a few more keypads to make that determination. "I am reading three life signs in Cargo Bay 3. One human, one Vulcan and one Trill." 

"It’s the one we could not take." The leader frowned. "I knew we should have done away with her when we had the chance." She said venomously. 

"Decompress the cargo bay." Alex who was at helm controls suggested, immediately bringing all conversation to a halt for a few seconds. 

"You can’t do that!" Chris reacted immediately, knowing what that would mean. "You’ll kill them!" 

"Quiet!" Narita who was standing close by growled at him, brandishing the phaser just for effect. 

Alex rose from her station at helm and more or less ignored his outburst, focusing her attention on X’hala instead when she resumed speaking. "If we initiate decompression on Cargo Bay 3, we will disable transporter functions, will we not?" Alex pointed her question at Julia. 

"Yes," Julia nodded somberly. "If we decompress the cargo bay, the safety protocols will interrupt any transporter routine in progress. Once full decompression takes place, the transporter pad will be functional again but we’re talking about a three second time delay where the transporters will be ineffective, codes or not." 

"Long enough for them to be blown out in the space." Alex said firmly. 

"Yes," Julia nodded. "Long enough for that." 

"Proceed immediately." X’hala ordered before glancing at Chris in anticipation of an outburst on the behalf of the crewmen about to die. 

"You said you wouldn't hurt anyone!" Chris shouted at her, feeling impotent at being unable to help Ezra, Vin and Transporter Chief Rain. Any remaining goodwill he had for these creatures had evaporated with that threat and he vowed if those three lives were lost, he would have every one of theirs in return. 

"If you cooperated. They are not cooperating." X’hala retorted coldly as Alex resumed her duties at the helm station. "Carry out the order." 

"Don’t!" Chris turned to Julia and tried desperately to reach her. "Julia, you’re in there somewhere. You know as well as I do that bio signature is Ezra’s! If you do this, you’ll be killing him! You love him!"  

"You waste your time Captain," X’hala’s voice spoke instead of Julia’s. "Julia Pemberton does not hear you. She is Salya." There was a hint of boredom in her voice as she spoke, almost as if the attempt was  

Chris kept his gaze locked on Julia, refusing to give up. Somehow he had to reach her. She returned his look of worry with one that was unfathomable. While he had expected to see abject refusal, he was greeted with uncertainty. "You know that this is wrong, Julia please." He tried again, hoping to use that hesitation in her features as a way of helping his comrades. 

"Carry out the order Salya!" X’hala barked fiercely, annoyed that she had not done it yet for it seemed as if she was considering the captain’s words. 

"Julia!" Chris’ voice rose. 

The entity inhabiting Julia Pemberton’s body was hesitating and she did not know why. In the milliseconds between the captain’s desperate plea and the direct order given to her by X’hala, she had found her mind not focused on the journey home but the heated passion exchanged between herself and Ezra Standish. He was the enemy. There ought to be no question as to what she should to do and yet she felt herself torn between her duty and what she felt for this human. She did not want to hurt him and unlike the couplings with others of his kind before, he had been kind and tender. He had taken such effort to pleasure her and when he said he loved Julia Pemberton, Salya believed him. They were not just words of deception, but words from the heart. 

"NOW, SALYA!" X’hala shouted this time, startling her out of her thoughts. The Thinker raised her eyes to the Leader, whose own were now blazing with anger at her inability to perform what was demanded of her.

Salya said all eyes on her, including that of the hostages and her sisters. They were all waiting in anticipation of what she would do and Salya knew that she had no choice but to act. She knew the cause and she believed in it. She would do so until her dying day. Thinking quickly, she pounded against the keypad and made split second preparations before announcing. "Proceeding with decompression."  

Chris let out a breath that was almost a gasp and felt his heart constrict in his chest because he had failed and because he had failed, he had condemned his friends to die. 

***********

 Rain was in the midst of bypassing the transporter lockout when she saw the warning that flashed on the console pad before her. Her head snapped up immediately while her eyes darted to the main doors into the cargo bay. The flicker on the control panel on the wall next to it told her that she was too late. It was already sealed. Rain faced front again and realized that they had less than two minutes before the cargo bay doors opened. The job of enabling the transporter pad would take three. They were in trouble. 

"They’re preparing to decompress the cargo bay!" Rain declared, trying not to panic even though they had less than two minutes which was plenty of time for her to begin if the need took her.  

"What?" Vin exclaimed and started towards the door. 

"Its no good," she shook her head. "The doors have already been sealed." 

"They must have detected your attempts to override the transporter lockout." Ezra retorted, thinking fast as he decided how they would extricate themselves from this situation in the time the had. He had suspected something of the sort when they began the attempt, having nothing left inside him that could hope for success after what had happened to him today. "Will you be able to get the transporter functioning before our time dwindles away?" Ezra asked instead. 

Rain did not answer and in her silence did. 

However, she still refused to give up on her attempt to access the transporters, hoping that her fingers might deliver to the magic needed to escape despite the fact that time was well and truly against her. Her digits moved with the kind of swiftness that came with being on intimate terms with the device of her vocation, after years of practice. Despite her stubborn determination not to give in, not even until the last minute, Rain was finding herself struggling in quick sand because there was a difference between hope and futility and it this case, it was that one minute. 

Vin was also thinking but his thought processes were not geared towards recognizing their situation and continuing on their intended course to escape the doom of decompression but rather how they would survive it. If the doors were sealed and they were not getting out through the transporters than there had to be another solution. Chris always said that there was always an angle to play and if there wasn't one to find it quick smart. Vin hoped that the captain was right because right now, they needed and rather desperately. His eyes were scouring the expanse of the cargo bay when suddenly; it came to him in a flash of inspiration or desperation, however one looked at it. He preferred to think of it as the former. 

"Forget the transporters!" Vin shouted to the others he started running towards a compartment at far corner of the cargo bay. "This way!"  

"What?" Rain stammered, looking up at him as she saw where he was running and realized what he intended. 

Ezra who caught on just as quickly, grabbed her by the shoulder and more or less tore her away from the transporter controls, forcing her into the run her mind was having such difficulty coping with. In a second, Rain matched him stride for stride as they saw Vin opening the compartment door. It slid open and no sooner than he had disappeared inside, the Vulcan helmsman began flinging out the enviro-suits stored within its confines for maintenance purposes.  

"Hurry!" Vin shouted as he began to pull off his shoes in order to slip into the suits which now appeared to be their only means of survival.

"I hate space walking!" Rain complained as she pulled off her jump suit and proceeded to climb into her own suit, modesty forgotten in the face of the danger her body face if she should be ejected into a vacuum. Being exposed in front of a Vulcan who could barely appreciate it or a human, who was trying to decided what to explain to his lover when this was all over, would be the least of her problems.

"I am certain you would dislike explosive decompression even less." Ezra retorted as he pulled the thick cumbersome clothes over his shoulders and did the same to the gauntlets and boots when he kicked the preceding pair of his feet.

"Do you think you both could shut up and just get dressed!" Vin growled. They did not have time to banter. In fact they would very little time for anything if they were not protected by the enviro-suits by the time those cargo bay doors opened. He snapped his helmet into place and saw the others almost as ready as he was for what was coming when suddenly red warning lights around the cargo bay doors signal their intention to open. The low whine of a warning beacon filled the room and suddenly, it appeared that had even less time than they thought in which to be ready for it when they opened.  

Rain and Ezra exchanged looks for a split second before they resumed their dressing, snapping fasteners into place and securing vacuum sealed buttons and other protection to utilize the maximum protection of their new apparel. Ezra snapped his helmet into place and pulled down the visor, all the while keeping his eyes fixed on those doors. He was almost ready for it when he they opened and managed to register Vin’s words when they finally pulled apart. 

"Use your grappling hooks!" The Vulcan reminded, aware of how rough it was going to be. 

Although air was meant to be invisible, the three occupants of Cargo Bay 3 were almost certain they could see it rushing past the doors when the starlight beyond the ship seeped into their view. At first they felt little more than a slight tug pulling at them as the air began bleeding through the narrow crack of the widening doors. However, by the time they had pulled back to allow a picturesque view of the Maverick traveling at warp, they were being bombarded with something that had the force of a typhoon. Everything that was not bolted down went flying in all directions. Storage containers, loading crates and tools were flying through the air like children’s toys. All three were swept off their feet and through the chaos of flight, Vin’s voice continued to shout instructions.

"Use your grappling hooks to stay with the ship!" Vin cried out as he narrowly missed being hit by a large container that went tumbling into space the minute it cleared the doors. "If we slip past the warp field, we’ll be smashed into sub atomic matter!" 

If they had been traveling at normal speeds, ejection from the ship in their suits would have allowed for continued existence at least until a rescue vessel was dispatched. However, no such allowance was possible while the Maverick remained at warp. If they were to drift out of the warp field, nothing would save them from the ravages of extreme velocity. It was a situation they were all painfully aware as they found themselves ejected outward from the cargo bay. Trying to keep their heads as much as they could, the displaced trio soon saw the doors of the cargo bay surrounding them before they were speeding away from the ship. 

"Grapplers, now!" Vin shouted. 

Wasting no time, three separate lifelines ejected from the utility belts contained in the gauntlet of the envirosuit. Surging forward with the power of chemical propellants behind them, the lines were not tethered to hook but rather magnetic fasteners that were attracted by the large of hulk of metal that was the Maverick. It took a number of seconds before all three magnets reached the hull and Vin could confess to that being the longest seconds of his life as he waited for the tension to pull him back towards the Maverick. In the soundless vacuum, he could see space moving past him in speeds to incredible to imagine by the first humans who had looked up at the sky to admire the stars. Space walks like these were persona non grata according to the manual. While space walking had been a fact of life for traveler since the twentieth century, no commander in recent history sanctioned the practice while the ship was in warp. 

While the person making the attempt might be safe whilst within the warp sphere that allowed the starship in question to travel at faster than light speeds, outside the sphere, the ship was being propelled forward by a velocity that could separate atomic bonds and death was an assured inevitability. All these thoughts bounced around Vin’s head as he saw Ezra and Rain being pulled forward once the magnetic fasteners had done its work and felt a flood of relief through his entire being when he felt the same force tugging him towards the Maverick. 

Vin did not realize he was holding his breath as he saw the familiar duranium plate of the hull overshadow the glass of his visor until he could see nothing but the polished steel of its surface. For once he was a drowning man grateful to allow its milky blue white exterior swallow him whole as he drew closer and closer towards the great ship. 

"Mr. Tanner," Ezra’s voice filled the inside of his helmet. "Are you still in once piece?"

"Pretty much." Vin finally dared to answer as he saw the hull only inches away. He was certain that Ezra could hear the relief in his voice. "What about you?" 

"Oh, I am certain to be seeing my dinner again when this is all over." The Security offered an unusually graphic description for a man so refined.

"Uggh…" Rain groaned in disgust. "For a man who can turn a phrase when he needs to, that is something I did not need to hear." She grumbled and indicated her state of well being by that glib remark.

Vin saw Rain and Ezra already on the hull. They were evenly distanced from each other across the starboard section of the hull and when Vin finally made his landing, he and Rain would have to walk to reach Ezra who seemed to be the halfway point between them. He did not mind the walk. Free floating in space might have its attractions but Vin would have like to have done it while the Maverick was not speeding through space at high warp. As the soles of his boots touched the metallic hide of the ship, Vin activated his gravity boots and immediately felt the slid thud of landing. Utilizing the same principle as the magnetic fasteners, the soles of the boots were magnetically lined allowing the wearer to remain attached to the ship without any danger of being spirited away by the windless drift of cold vacuum.

"The eagle has landed." Vin remarked as he felt solid ground or in this case duranium under his feat. Vin cast a brief glance into the sky above him and could not help being lost in the wonder of the moment, if only for a second. He could see the stars moving past him like streaking comets. They moved through the expanse of space like a symphony of color and even though the danger he and the rest of the Maverick was by no means over, reveling in the beauty of what was before him was a luxury he would not deny himself.

"God, it so beautiful." He heard Rain speak softly, her voice filled with hush tones of awe.

"It is." Vin agreed out loud and wished silently to himself that Alex was here to share this with him. They had often watched this from inside the confines of the observation deck and knew that she would have loved to have seen this herself. Thinking about Alex gave Vin a renewed feeling of worry for the science officer, wondering what she was enduring while something alien stole away everything that she was and forced her to commit acts of violence against her friends. Remembering Alex snapped Vin out of his reverie of admiration for the beauty around him because he had to help her. 

"Ezra, you hold position." Vin responded as he started walking across the hull. "Rain and I will meet up with you." 

"Standing by, Mr. Tanner." Ezra nodded in affirmative and then asked a moment later.  

"Hey, did either of you guys notice something strange?" Rain asked as she made the journey toward them. 

"You mean other than being blown out of the cargo hold, being dragged by a ship going at warp and now crawling all over this ship like a bug on a windshield?" Vin retorted. "No, not really." 

He could feel her glare from wherever she was. 

"Very funny," Rain muttered and then spoke again. "I mean did you notice that we were given a two minute delay between the doors sealing and the cargo doors opening?" 

"Now that you mention Lieutenant, I see what you mean." Ezra nodded as he stood waiting for them to arrive. "Normally we are talking about a matter of seconds before the cargo doors opened not a full two minutes." 

"That kind of a program specification can be carried out from the cargo deck controls but rather the bridge." Rain pointed out. 

"You mean you think someone gave us two minutes?" Vin exclaimed, realizing what his two companions were alluding to. "Chris?" 

"I doubt it." Ezra discounted that possibility immediately. The captain was a hostage. He would not have the time or the opportunity to access the controls require to give them that leeway although the intention of whomever had done it, seemed to be for the purpose of keeping them alive. "Whomever it was gave us two minutes but also chose to continue with the decompression. If you could interfere with the programming that much why not disable the countdown as well?" 

Vin had an answer. "Maybe one of them doesn't want us dead but can't see their way to helping us either without getting into trouble themselves." 

"Precisely," Ezra nodded as he saw Vin and Rain appear over the curve of the ship from two different sections. "It might mean that the alien control may not be as intractable as we believe. We may be able to reach one of them." 

"Which means, they might help us when we get to the bridge." Rain suggested once they were all together again, a few second later.

"We can only hope." Ezra smiled as he patted Vin on the back, relieved at seeing the helmsman in the flesh and returning the same warm gesture to the intriguing Lieutenant Rain. "In the mean time however, I see you are still in possession of your weapon." Ezra regarded the phaser rifle slung over Vin's shoulder. 

"Yes," Vin answered, patting the leather strap that it secure during their forced ejection from the Maverick. "What do you have in mind?" He asked. Vin had a fair idea since he was having the same thoughts himself.  

"We do what we had originally intended to when we first entered Cargo Bay 3. Except this time instead of taking the direct route, we might just take the scenic one." Ezra said with a hint of ice in his voice. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are going to the bridge."

Part Thirteen

Ever since he had discovered what it was they were dealing with in respect to the alien influence that had possessed half the ship, Nathan had been trying to discern some method of removing the invasive entities from the minds of those affected. He had always thought that identifying a problem was the first step to solving it. However, as he stared into the face of Lieutenant Charlotte Richmond lying on top of the examination table in his SickBay, he could not even begin to imagine how he would eject the unwanted presence that had impressed itself upon her mind. He had kept her sedated knowing that she might be dangerous if conscious, hoping she did not mind being used as his guinea pig while he tried to find some way to free the other women on board.

Nathan had started in the last half-hour, pacing the floor of the room. Part of the reason for this was because he could not keep his mind wholly on his work. Even though he should be focusing on the problem at hand, Nathan was more concerned about the young lady and the friends who were attempting to reach the bridge at this moment. Vin, Rain and Ezra had been gone for quite some time now and Nathan knew that if normal ship functions had yet to resume, then it was because they had been unsuccessful in their attempt to penetrate the command centre of the Maverick. Their failure did not bode well for their safety and despite the fact that Nathan was trying very hard not to be distracted by personal matters, he could not help worry about Rain.

He knew he cared about her. Even though they had known each other for barely a day, Nathan was perceptive enough to comprehend that much about his feelings. She was unlike any person he had ever met; symbiote not withstanding. Completely fearless, her unique perception of things allow her to view the world with something of a dry wit and thus allowed her to see past all the reservations that obscured most people from what was truly important in life. Nathan was a workaholic like most heads of department and yet Rain was one of the few people who could penetrate the stolid boundaries of his existence and displace him long enough to enjoy life instead of working through it.

The very idea that anything should happen to her just when Nathan had stumbled upon the treasure that she was, made him sick to the stomach. It was a fear that Josiah, who was trained to interpret psychological response in all types of races, was able to notice quite easily. The Counselor had noticed the tendrils of anxiety creeping into the healer’s manner in the last hour or so. It did not take an extreme leap of deduction to know what preyed so heavily on Nathan’s mind. He had seen how the Rain had affected the normally reserved Chief Medical Officer and realized that he was witnessing the start of something special between the two.

"I’m sure she’s fine." Josiah remarked from inside the force field that had been re-initialized after Vin and Rain had stepped out of its protective confines. He had been occupying himself for the last ten minutes with watching the dancing waves of energy moving through the air before him, swirling in place to keep them from harm. There was a certain beauty in its form, if one could look past the fact that it was merely a force field.

"They should have been there by now." Nathan stated as he looked up from his workstation.

"Perhaps," Josiah agreed but not about to entertain notions of defeat just yet. "However, we can’t assume the worst. They might have encountered an unforeseen problem. With things the way they are, that isn’t beyond the realm of possibility.

Nathan was aware of that, which was part of the reason why he was so worried. "I hope its something they can handle since we’re doing very little here to help them." He rose abruptly from his seat and glared at the terminal briefly before averting his gaze to Josiah. "Its infuriating!" He grumbled.

"Give it time." Josiah remarked soothingly, taking his ire in good stead.

"Time is something we do not have a lot of." The healer retorted. "I know that their minds are being infected with this second energy signature but I don’t how to remove it. I’ve run simulations using the medical database, bombarding the cerebral cortex with every form of treatment I know to wipe out that second brain wave pattern. I’ve even resorted to some unorthodox methods that would get me banned from the medical community if I actually attempted it and still nothing works. However this has infused itself into their cerebrum is beyond me."

Josiah let out a sigh. "Perhaps you’re too close to the issue at the moment." He suggested. "Take a moment to let your thoughts settle Nathan."

"We can’t afford to do that." Nathan declared with growing frustration. "You heard Vin. We’re moving at warp, which means they’re going somewhere with the Maverick. We have no idea how far off course that could take us, not to mention what these aliens intend to do when they arrive."

Josiah could not deny that things appeared grim at the present moment but Nathan’s pessimistic view was tempered by the fears he had for Rain’s safety that were clouding his judgment. "Brother Nathan," the Counselor folded his arms and gave Nathan a serious look. "I’m giving you a professional evaluation of your present state of mind, care to hear it?"

Nathan straightened up and suspected that he was not going to like this but could see no reason to deny Josiah the opportunity to speak. Besides, he was panicking a little and needed to snap out of it or he would be no good to anyone. An objective view on his behavior might be what he required to snap his thoughts into focus. "Go ahead." He said reluctantly.

"I think you need to calm yourself." The counselor said first and foremost. "You care about this woman and that’s a big step for you, its one I hope you will explore in the future but like every man and woman in the service, you know that risk is part of the job. We gamble with our lives when we come out here and if you choose to pursue a relationship with her, you have to accept that you could lose her."

The healer exhaled deeply and realized that Josiah was right. He suddenly wondered how Sarah Larabee must have endured her marriage to Chris. As a command officer, Chris was in the position of the highest risk of all the shipboard complement. Command officers went on Away missions, they stood in the line of fire when the ship went into battle and they were the face the enemy focused their rage upon. It was ironic that in the end, Chris had outlived his wife when all probabilities indicated he would have been the one would die first if tragedy should befall the family. For all the danger Chris must have faced on a regular basis, it must have been unbelievable that Sarah had died in a freak shuttle accident.

"You’re right," Nathan met Josiah’s gaze. "I’ve never been on the other end of a relationship like this before. It was always me that faced the risk, not the other way around."

"Turning tables is how we see someone else’s perspective." He said stoically in that voice so filled with wisdom that it was hard to ignore.

"I can’t say that you’re wrong Josiah," Nathan admitted to that much. A small smile crooked at the corner of the healer’s lip and he gave Josiah a warm look of thanks before turning back to his workstation.

It was time to put this aside and worked on their immediate problem Nathan decided as he sat down at his desk once more. "Maybe I’m coming at this the wrong way." He remarked as he studied once again, the readings that had given him so much consternation earlier on.

"How so?" Josiah asked, knowing when it was necessary to give someone a mental prodding when they needed it. If there was a way to find a solution to their present crisis through medical means, then Josiah was convinced that there was no one else on board who could accomplish this feat other than Nathan Jackson.

"I’ve been treating this thing like it’s a disease and that hasn’t worked. I’ve tried every medical way of ejecting the life force from our people and its failed. If I use more extreme methods I can’t guarantee I won’t be harming the patient."

"But it’s not a disease." Josiah pointed out. "It’s a life form and if it has a purpose, its not going to leave until it gets what it wants."

"A life form." Nathan mused for a moment and Josiah saw his eyes suddenly narrow in calculation as if he had latched onto a spark of something vague that had the potential to be more. When he raised his eyes to meet Josiah’s once again, the counselor saw a serious expression on the healer’s face. "You’re right, we’re dealing with a life form. A sentient being."

"Shall we assume that it is a life form with fully developed mental and emotional responses?" Josiah asked, seeing that his suggestions were laying the groundwork to give Nathan some ideas on how to proceed.

"Yes," Nathan nodded, running over his mind everything that had taken place in the last day. In seconds, the mosaic inside his head was forming something tangible with which he would work with. "They’ve immobilized the ship using subterfuge, lies and strategy. This isn’t the behavior of a life from acting on instinct, is it?"

It was a rhetorical question but Josiah answered nonetheless. "No it isn’t. They’ve displayed the actions of what could only be based as an intelligent, sentient life form."

"Exactly, so if we can’t treat this thing like a disease, we have to start thinking about this as a life form. Thinking this thing is like a virus could very well kill the patient by our attempts to remove it that way. We have to attack this from another avenue." He stated forcefully, his voice growing in tempo the more his epiphany reached crescendo.

Josiah considered that course of action wise and then started doing as Nathan instructed by thinking about this in a broader scope. "If we were talking about territory or space that was being occupied by an invader, we would be engaging in negotiation and diplomatic channels to secure their release. Obviously, we can’t do that here."

"No," the doctor shook his head and began pacing once again, only this time it was not because he was nervous about Rain but because an idea was forming inside his head that could very well end this conflict without any bloodshed. It just needed a little more collaboration between himself and Josiah to let it come to fruition. "They’ve been locked up for almost half a million years. Whatever they’re doing now, they’ve been waiting a long time for the chance, not to mention had ample time to plan it. I mean think about it, trapped inside that artifact, hurling through space for thousands of years, what does that do to a normal intelligent mind?"

Josiah’s eyes flared and he immediately stood up from the edge of the examination bed he had been sitting on. "That’s it Nathan!" He looked at the healer, feeling a spark of inspiration himself. " That’s it!"

"What?" Nathan looked at him, uncertain of what he had said.

"Fear!" The Counselor cried out exuberantly. "What is the one thing you would be afraid of most after being imprisoned that long? Dying? Of course not," Josiah declared, his words moving in rapid succession now that his mind was racing with possibilities. "Death is a release, not a threat after that kind of incarceration. They’ve been trapped so long inside that artifact, waiting for a ship to come along and here we are. We pick it up and they’re free. For the first time in so long, they’re free to do more than just drift like space flotsam! You say that we need to appeal to them to get them to release Mary and the others, I say we scare them into leaving."

"Scare them into leaving?" The healer exclaimed. "If they’re not afraid of dying, what else is there?"

"That’s easy," Josiah said with a smug smile, more than prepared for that seemingly impossible question. "Being trapped again."

"That’s good," Nathan started to smile, admiring Josiah’s logic but not the practical application. "But how do we managed to scare them into believing that?"

"I’m not sure," Josiah answered, his genius did not have the limits to breach that particular point. His shoulders sagged with disappointment; having hoped that one idea would give way to another. Unfortunately, it appeared that he had gone as far as he could with this notion.

Nathan found himself standing over Charlotte Richmond’s body and stared into the unconscious woman’s face. She was somewhere inside her own mind, unable to do anything while some creature had free use of her body. Not that her body was much use to the alien in its present state while strapped to an examination table and so filled with drugs that it was capable of doing nothing but lie there helplessly.

Lie there helplessly. Drift though space helplessly.

The situation was the same, only the prison had changed. Instead of being encased within the walls of a crystal artifact, the entity inside Charlotte Richmond was now finding its jail to be one of flesh and blood instead. The power produced by that piece of reasoning filled his mind with staggering potential and suddenly without even questioning all the stray beads of random thoughts that had allowed this discovery, Nathan knew what they had to do.

"You’re right Josiah," the healer spoke in a hushed voice, almost as if he dared not believe that they had found their answer and that speaking it out loud might jinx it somehow. "They aren’t afraid of dying but they are afraid of being trapped again and we’re going to do that."

"We are?" Josiah asked, unable to guess what Nathan had in mind by that enigmatic look on his face. "How?"

Nathan smiled faintly. "By trapping them in the bodies they’ve stolen."

***********

Chris Larabee felt numb.

When Julia/ Salya had calmly indicated that the cargo hold had been decompressed with all its contents now taking its place as space debris, Chris was overwhelmed with an overpowering sense of déjà vu. He remembered when he had been told about Sarah and Adam. He had sat in the office of Captain Patterson, staring blankly at the man, unable to feel anything but this deep sense of loss that would soon break out of the confines of his disbelief and sent him spiraling into the blackest hole he had fallen in all his life. Through the abyss of darkness that had ensued in the months after that tragic event, Chris had remained in that constant state of detachment until Buck’s stubborn refusal to let him wither away had pulled him back from the path of self destruction.

Losing people was a part of the job and while it was understandable for him to grieve the loss of a wife and child, Chris knew that the death of three crewmates should not have hit him as hard as it did. How many had been lost during the last battle with the Dominion? While Chris knew exactly the number, all their deaths did not make him feel as terrible as knowing that Vin, Ezra and even Transporter Chief Rain was dead. Vin and Ezra were his friends. They were apart of the Magnificent Seven who rode together in that holodeck program and that bond was more than just some simulated game but one that existed in reality.

Chris remained where he was, still shell shocked, swearing inwardly that he would end this one way or another but end it he would because he was losing no one else to these invaders. Neither was he allowing himself to sit here on the floor of his own bridge, wondering why this was happening to him and ship when the answers waited for the asking.

"Where are we going?" Chris rose to his feet and demanded, caring for none of the consequences.

Beside him, Buck and JD had been equally silent. They too, were reeling from the fact that Vin and Ezra were possibly dead. Like Chris, they consoled themselves with the idea that perhaps somehow, the trio had survived because they needed that hope to remain strong for what was required of them to resolve this crisis.

"You are not in a position to ask questions." Narita paused long enough in her vigil to retort sharply.

Chris did not back down, even though she raised her gun to fire, ignoring the fact that she looked like Mary because it was not Mary standing before him, but some creature that had stolen her body. "Then go ahead." He hissed calling her bluff. "I know you disabled the self destruct program so you don’t have any use for me but right now I don’t give a damn about any of that! Either you tell me what the hell is going on or else pull the trigger and stop wasting my time little girl!"

Narita glanced over her shoulder at X’hala, waiting for her leader to give her permission to fire. Since the death of the three officers who had attempted to beam onto the bridge, the captain had become rather unmanageable and increasingly difficult to control. Narita preferred that he dispensed with once and for all. She waited in anticipation of the order when suddenly, X’hala pushed herself out of the command chair and stood up slowly. The creature wearing Casey Well’s body like a suit of clothes closed the distance between them in seconds. Upon reaching Narita, X’hala placed her hand on the gun barrel and indicated for it to be lowered.

"We owe them nothing!" Narita hissed in protest "They would not do the same for us!"

"That is true." X’hala nodded, her voice still cold. "But we always claimed we were better than his kind so we will prove it."
She faced Chris and let out a sigh and Chris saw something in the young woman’s face that could have been interpreted as resignation and perhaps even a hint of weariness. "You have questions Captain," she looked at him with a raised brow. "Ask them."

Chris glanced at Buck who was just as puzzled and wondered whether this sudden acquiescence was a trick. However, even if it was, there was little he could do about it and since he had forced the issue with them, he might as well give them the benefit of the doubt.

"Who are you?" He asked first.

"You know our names." X’hala answered coolly with Narita’s frown, deepening with intense hatred, standing guard behind her. The woman kept her gun poised to fire and showed her distaste at the present course of events.

"What race are you?" He demanded again, realizing that she was not going to make it easy for him.

"Our race were called the Accrans but our kind is known as the Undaia]." She responded after a second of hesitation. Behind her, Narita grimaced at the revelation.

"You mean that was what females were called in your language." Buck ventured a guess, his voice still raspy as he spoke.

"No," X’hala shook her head. "That was the name we were referred to in our society. We are Undaia and those of your kind are Daia." She answered.

"I don’t understand," Chris wrinkled a brow in confusion, wondering if it was just him that could not grasp the concept or she was explaining it badly. "Undaia is not the name of your gender but it is a classification given to all women?"

"X’hala, if you would allow me?" Alex rose from helm control and joined in the conversation. X’hala gave a nod of approval to continue and the Alex entity bowed her head in graciousness. With Alexandra Styles’ memories and because of her position as science officer, the creature inhabiting her body was able to understand this culture much better than the others. "You call yourselves males and us females, is that correct?"

"Yes," Chris nodded, hoping she could shed some light on what X’hala had tried to say.

"In Accra it was the same but in addition to that classification we were also Undaia." She explained.

"What does that mean?" JD asked X’hala, forgetting that she was not Casey even though she was in every respect, the girl he loved.

"In our language, Undaia means weaker. We were called the Weaker." Narita snorted her voice unbidden in the bitterness she felt as she gave that translation and suddenly Chris began to suspect that these aliens might have very good reason to hate anything male.

"God," Buck whispered, not about to hide the disgust at that statement. He hated the thinking that would brand one group as inferior simply because of what they were. Inwardly, the attitude of such bigotry towards the fairer sex always infuriated him. His own mother had raised him alone, with little education and not in the best of circumstances but she had managed because she was strong and she loved him. Anyone who claimed that a woman was weak had never met one that was strong and did not know any better.

X’hala’s brow shot upwards as Buck made that depreciating remarks. She was mildly surprised by his reaction and continued speaking after a moment. "In our culture, Undaia have no rights. From the moment we were born, we were taught that our place was secondary to Daia. We had no say in the politics of our government and we were not allowed to read or write nor did not have the right to refuse Daia in anything. We lived and we died without the right to choose."

"Jesus Christ," Chris whispered under his breath. "That is cruel."

"You think so?" X’hala almost laughed. "You have not begun to know the extent of what is cruel. We lived our lives as slaves to whatever man chose to claim us as his mate. Not wife as your kind know it but mate and he may choose as many as he likes and discard us if he requires us no more. Discarded wives often considered themselves fortunate if they were not ejected from the home completely for we are not allowed to work or have any vocation in which financial support is assured. It is a shame to be born Undaia for the only reason that we were not eradicated completely is because our saving grace was to produce new Daia."

Chris did not know what to say because Earth culture had similar chapters of such ugliness in its history books. Until the twenty-first century, many women were still being regarded as property and were most often the victims of the wars fought during that period. Since its inception, Christianity had preached women were to be treated as second class citizens, casting them as greater instigators of mischief than any other force in the Bible. It was not to say that it was the only offender, most Arabic religions had deemed women in the same way, robbing them of the most basic freedom, conducting brutal punishments if they did not obey. As much as Chris was disgusted by the behavior of the Accrans, he could not scream outrage when his own race was similarly guilty of such cruelty.

"How did you end up in space?" Chris finally asked, since that was the safest question.

"Our culture was highly advanced," the Alex alien answered. "We had achieved interstellar travel not too different from your warp field method of propulsion. The Daia left our world and explored, discovering many other races and soon it came to pass that outside influences were opening the eyes of the Undaia to what they always believed in their hearts to be the truth, that they were just as capable as any Daia. We began to see that we were not alone and there were worlds beyond ours where things were different."

"And for that they put you in space?" JD exclaimed; unable to believe that such a short sighted people existed. He had grown up in a society of equals and could not fathom a culture with such restrictive parameters for its female members. Other than the obvious differences, JD could see no reason why a woman could not do as well as a man. His mother had certainly proved that much anyway. It was by her that he judged every woman he met and those were loft standards indeed, high enough for JD to know that a woman could do anything if she set her mind to it.

"No," X’hala shook her head and the men in the room noticed a somber expression on their faces as if a dark secret, seldom spoken of was about to be revealed. "There came a time when something happened to us. It mostly arrived with the onset of puberty. At first, we had no idea what it was. The authorities believed it to be a mutation of some sort and that was all the excuse they needed to start imprisoning us. They quarantined those of us displaying the symptoms and then they subjected us to sterilization."

"Oh my god," Buck gasped at the atrocity of "What exactly was this thing that happened to you?"

"We are not certain and in retrospect, it matters little." The alien inhabiting Alex sighed. "However, to satisfy your curiosity, I will try to elaborate. We were beginning to undergo a physiological change. Heightened awareness, extra sensory powers, some of us could start fires, others had power to move objects and those who were in extreme stages of the condition were able to alter their physical matter into pure energy. Those who did that often left us and went into the stars. Those of us, who were remained, escaped the camps, X’hala was our leader. Narita here was our infiltrator. Salya was our thinker and strategist and I was the information gatherer. We liberated other camps, prevented as many of the forced sterilization’s as we could."

"You were resistance fighters." Chris stated.

"Yes." X’hala nodded. "We were resistance fighters." She said the words with a little smile, liking how that sounded even though the events she was describing was so far into the past, it was doubtful whether or not the Accrans still existed as a race or a civilization. "The Daia believed that if we were sterilized, it would contain the situation. For you see it was only the Undaia who were subject to these changes. There were no Daia who ever developed the symptoms. They were so accustomed to being stronger that the very idea that we may usurp them, that they may become Undaia themselves, was so terrifying that they were willing to commit any atrocity to prevent it."

"Chris," Buck suddenly stated. "It was not a mutation but rather the next phase in their evolutionary growth. Think of it this way, the only freedom the Undaia had was their minds. They developed their minds because the Daia had restricted them from everything else. Their mental abilities escalated because they no longer needed their physical abilities."

"Are you meaning to say what happened to us was natural?" Salya muttered with more than a hint of astonishment. "That it was part of our genetic evolution?"

"We have encountered other races that have this kind of evolutionary pattern. Ours for instance took place in the same fashion," Chris answered, ever mindful that these people had killed Vin and Ezra but also reminded that after what he had just heard, could understand why they were so enraged and violent. They had been subjected to cruelties beyond description and if there was still apart of him that wanted to resolve this peacefully. "We descended from simians ancestors during long periods of constancy between short bursts of change at which we would evolve further. Its called punctuated gradualism."

"It doesn’t matter what its called!" Narita erupted angrily; unable to believe they were discussing the past like it was the subject of a debate. Did the others remember nothing of those terrible days before their exile into a living death? "Shall I tell you what they did to us human? Shall I tell you in the hard unblemished truth?"

"Narita," X’hala barked sharply. "Be still."

"No!" Narita shouted back defiantly. "They want to know? Let us tell them." She turned back to Chris and glared at him with nothing less than hate. "After the Daia took away that which allowed us to give life to the future, they gathered together five hundred of our sisters still in the camps and told us that if we did not surrender, they would be put to the death. We had no choice, we had to turn ourselves in."

"I’m sorry," Chris said softly, feeling genuinely sorry for these creatures and the hardship they had endured but he still felt anger at the death of his friends and that did not allow him to be as sympathetic as he liked.

"Your platitudes are worthless to us," Narita growled. "There are just words, no different from that used by the Daia to whom we surrendered ourselves, who killed the five hundred prisoners anyway. With us in their custody, they accelerated the mutation process, destroying our bodies by converting its matter into energy and then encasing what was left of us in that crystal tomb you brought on board. They ejected us into space like we were refuse and allowed us to drift for five hundred thousand years! Do you even have the slightest conception of what that is like? Do you!"

"Narita," X’hala spoke more firmly this time. "You have spoken enough. You will remain silent and do what is required."

Narita glared at them with smoldering eyes and then raised her gun in a position of attack, a warning to them that no other allowance would be given after this. Chris had no doubt that she would take great pleasure in shooting everyone on the bridge if they gave her a reason. In any case, he would not be calling her bluff any time soon. He had his answers, now it was time to consider their options at what they were going to do with this information.

After X’hala had sent Alex and Salya back to their posts, she faced Chris again. "So now you know that we are. We mean to go home Captain. If they are still there, the Daia will pay. We will take this ship and reduce their descendants to radioactive ash and then we will go home to start again."

"What about my female crew members?" Chris demanded, aware that they could do nothing without the bodies they had stolen and that observation led him to a conclusion that was not at all palatable or acceptable for that matter.

"We need their bodies to fight our war." X’hala stated automatically.

"You have no right to steal their lives!" JD shouted angrily infuriated by the idea that X’hala was not going to relinquish Casey’s body even when they arrived at their destination.

"The women of this vessel are soldiers, captain," X’hala said as she turned away and returned to the command chair. "And in all wars, there are casualties. They will die for a just cause."

Part Fourteen

Assistant Chief Engineer Chano was not happy but he was even more confused.

For the last few hours, he and the male complement of his engineering staff had been effective kept hostage within the confines of the Engineering Deck by the female members of that same group. Things had been strange ever since Julia Pemberton authorized the deactivation of all internal communication on board the Maverick. While he had accepted the need for a complete diagnostic after the recent hostilities with the Dominion, he had not agreed with her decision to shut down the turbo lifts as well. His objection to that course of action had precipitated the astonishing response of having himself and every male inside the room being held hostage at gunpoint. He could not even imagine when they had the opportunity to raid the armory but had to conclude they must have, since he was staring at the point of a gun by Junior Lieutenants Biehn and Moseley.

At first he had thought this was a joke because these were people he had served with on a daily basis. On a starship, bonds formed quickly if not deep friendships. The nature of being the only creatures in a ship so far from home tended to create a sense of community among those who inhabited the Maverick. Thus, Chano felt justified in his astonishment at the whole situation that he had been incapable of putting up a fight until it was too late. However, he soon discovered he was in a deadly situation when she saw the women, having taken control of Engineering, began their move towards the bridge. The throbbing hum of the warp core indicated that the ship was pushing Warp 9 to reach a destination Chano knew was not the resort world of Pacifica.

The jump to Warp 9 had indicated that the taking of the bridge had been successful and now Chano who had more than enough ability to stop this odd insurrection from continuing further found himself helpless by the law of the gun that was now running supreme in Engineering. Moseley, who was armed with a phaser rifle, was watching him carefully, probably aware that if resistance was to come from any of the group, it would most likely find its source with him. Chano still had difficulty getting used to the idea that she would shoot him. Claire Moseley was a pretty thing with blond hair and delicate features. Although he kept his observations well hidden, Chano occasionally found himself admiring that silky gold hair and that sweet smile that adorned her face at happier moments.

"Claire." He tried again to appeal to her. "What’s happened to you?"

"Be quiet!" She barked. Chano flinched at the harshness of it. Normally, Claire’s voice was soft. It moved across the skin like satin and he had never heard her say a crossword to any one, not even when she was upset. Perhaps it was because she had such a sweet temperament that made him so affronted her behavior at present. Still, instinct told that him that this was not Claire, this was something else occupying her body.

"Claire," Chano tried again, not to be deterred. "I know this isn’t you but you must fight this. What you are doing is wrong."

"Shoot him." Lieutenant Biehn snapped angrily.

"No," Claire Moseley turned to her normally superior officer and returned. "We were told not to harm anyone."

"He is troublesome." Biehn pointed out.

"He is meant to be, he’s the Assistant Chief Engineer." Moseley stared in his direction, issuing a silent plea for him to remain silent. He did not know that if it was Claire that was so concerned for him or the thing that had inhabited her body. In either case, he knew that it was advice well worth taking.

Chano exchanged a resigned look with another one of his fellow engineers and decided that for the time being, it looked like he was going to have to tolerate this incarceration for a little longer. Although they were being held at bay by Claire and Lieutenant Biehn, the phaser rifles that both women had armed themselves with made for formidable odds and without knowing whether those weapons were set for stun or kill, Chano was not about to do anything stupid. Besides, a part of him was uncertain of what they could do even if they were to rush the duo.

Did they use excessive force and any means necessary to stop Claire and the Lieutenant? Despite their actions clearly defining themselves as enemies of a kind, Chano did not know enough about what was happening to the two women to risk hurting them. Not until he knew more. He was not ashamed to admit that his feelings for Claire had much to do with this hesitation and was more than willing to accept the consequences of that if he was held accountable to it later on.

"It should be not much longer." Biehn said to Claire after a few more minutes had crawled past. "We will soon be home."

"If there is anything left of home." Claire responded and Chano saw a sadness filter into her eyes that was not at all appropriate on someone with a sunny disposition as Claire.

"Do not think that way," Biehn responded automatically. "We are finally in a position to deliver to the Daia our revenge."

"Do you honestly think they even exist any more?" Claire returned skeptically.

"They exist," Biehn looked at her sharply, hating to even consider the idea that after all their suffering, there was to be no retribution. The thought of vengeance was what had allowed so many of them to survive for so long. The idea that they would be robbed of it was almost unthinkable. "I see them no other way."

Claire shook her head in disapproval and turned back to her prisoners. However, Chano was no longer paying attention to her. Instead, he was trying no to give himself away as he stared through the corner of his eye, the slim barrel of something metallic inching past the doorway. At first, Chano was not certain what it was but made no move that would call attention to it. Neither Claire nor Biehn had seen it, neither had any of his engineering staff. It was only until a good length of it was visible that Chano recognized it for what it was.

A tranquillizer gun used by the ship’s zoologist.

The weapon pivoted in the direction of Claire, still unseen and while Chano felt inclined to warn her, he forced himself to remain silent because it was not Claire who was standing before him and his people with a gun, it was a stranger. When it discharged, the non-lethal instrument made little or no sound, the only indication it gave of its use was a slight hiss that was more or less eclipsed by the sound of the warp core throbbing rhythmically.

"Oh!" Claire reacted automatically as the tiny dark struck the base of her neck. She slapped the skin instinctively, trying to rid herself of the sliver of pain that had caught her with such surprise.

Lieutenant Biehn was a littler more animated than that. As soon as the cry had been uttered from Claire, she had jumped to her feet, searching. She caught sight of the barrel just as it fired again, sending its tiny projectile towards her. She raised her phaser to shoot as the tiny dark struck her skin in mid torso. She reached for it immediately, not realizing that in the second it took for her to accomplish the dark of removing it from her skin and tossing it away, it had already oozed its payload into her body. At first, she did not know what was this was meant to accomplish until she heard the clatter of something against the floor. Claire’s gun had slipped from her fingers and tumbled to the space near her feet.

"What is wrong?" Biehn demanded as she felt the warmth that was enveloping her limbs. This sensation was soon accompanied by an intense feeling of vertigo as she realized what was happening to her.

"Drugged…." Claire managed to mouth just before she dropped to her knees.

Chano saw the opening and did not waste much time. Before both women had even fell completely unconscious, he and his fellow engineers leapt into action. They grabbed the phasers that had been abandoned to the floor and swept them up into their own hands in fluid, graceful movements. In a matter of seconds, the former hostages were once again in control of the Engineering Deck.

"Is everyone alright?" Josiah Sanchez asked as he stepped out from behind the shadows of the corner where he had fired his darts. Thanks to the Magnificent Seven holodeck program that the Captain enjoyed so much, he was able to aim at his targets with a far amount of accuracy.

"We’re fine." Chano said with a smile. "Good shooting Counselor."

"Did it work?" Nathan Jackson stepped into the room behind the psychiatrist and saw the two women lying on the floor, which more or less answered his question. Without saying another word, he quickly hurried to their side to make a quick examination.

"Are they going to be alright?" Chano asked as he stood next to Nathan, concern over Claire still foremost in his mind even though a dangerous situation had been diffused.

"They’re out cold," Nathan responded with approval that the sedative he had selected to render the two women unconscious had worked so effectively. Their pulse was throbbing steadily beneath his fingertips as he examined their vitals and knew that it would remain the same way for the next ten hours, during their unconscious state. "But they’ll wake up in a few hours without any side effects. Hopefully, by then we’ll get this situation under control."

With all that out of the way, Chano took the next logical step. "Now that we’ve got that cleared up, can you please tell me what the hell is going on?"

"What is going is that we are under attack." Nathan said firmly, turning to the Chief Engineer. Technically, Nathan was ranked at Lieutenant Commander and thus held a position of superiority over Chano who was merely a lieutenant. "An alien influence has taken over almost every woman on this ship. I’m assuming the order to terminate communications and disable turbo lifts and transporters came from here?"

"Yes," Chano nodded, still reeling from the news that the scope of the problem was this bad. He had hoped that their situation was isolated but then supposed it was always an unrealistic expectation. "Chief Engineer Pemberton said we needed to run a diagnostic," Chano explained. "I didn’t question it until she ordered the turbo lifts and transporters shut down."

"Look, how things got shut down isn’t important," Josiah spoke up, sensing the Engineer was feeling a little defensive. "We have a plan to retake the ship."

Chano turned to Nathan in surprise, not expecting such a revelation to come from the doctor or the Counselor but was not about to argue the point. Both men were senior staff officers, which meant he was at their disposal.

Turning to Nathan, Chano leaned forward and asked. "What do you have in mind?"

*********

Vin did not know how he knew.

In space, there was no sound. No medium in which it could travel but when he felt the tingle of steel underfoot as they made their way to the bridge, he could feel its coming. It reverberated through the thick hull of the ship, found release on the full and continued its journey, albeit briefly through his bones before dissipating entirely. Ezra and Rain did not notice it and Vin was hardly surprised by this. They were not pilots.

Vin was a born flyer. In his mind, he liked to call himself an aviator like those who use to fly airplanes at the turn of the 20^th century. Of course, what he flew in comparison to those flying machines made of wood and canvas was the difference between a horse drawn cart and the space shuttle. Still, the essence of it was the same. It was a special kind that took the skies and felt in perfect control in such an alien environment. Since piloting his first shuttle, Vin had been on intimate terms with every ship he had ever flown. Only Julia Pemberton could understand what he was talking about. He knew the sounds the Maverick made when she had a damaged relay while flying at low impulse, he knew the slight shimmy that developed in the bulkheads whenever they were flying into intense gravimetric eddies and he knew when the ship was about to drop out of warp.

"Grappling hooks now!" Vin suddenly shouted into his helmet.

His two companions were trained professionals who knew that when an order was issued with that amount of vehemence, it was not to be questioned. Ezra and Rain immediately aimed their gauntlets at the hull of the ship and fired. The magnetic grappling hook did not have a short distance to go, striking the metal in less than a second, causing a slight shudder of vibration through the floor upon impact. Vin carried out the same procedure and then braced himself.

"Hold on," he instructed. "We’re about to come out of warp!"

"And the fun keeps coming." Rain grumbled.

"I think I would have preferred to stay in bed today." Ezra remarked with typical sarcasm but the line of tension running through all their voices ensured that they were all completely aware of the danger. If they were not properly secured when the ship drop out of warp, they would fly off the hull at such speeds that not even an environmental suit was going to keep their flesh from being torn of their bones when they were thrown off.

A minute or two passed and suddenly, the stars that had been speeding past them during the long trek to the bridge, which they were almost on top of, suddenly came to a halt abruptly. It looked as if the space had suddenly contracted around them and for a brief instant, a man might be mistaken into believing that he was indeed the centre of the universe as those stars paused and surrounded him. The sudden stop did exactly what Vin thought it would. It threw them forward but fortunately, they traveled as far as it took for the slack to run out and then the tension snapped them back towards the hull once again.

Vin felt his stomach lunge into his stomach as he landed on the hull, using his hands to brace his landing and to keep his helmet from impacting against the metal and damaging his faceplate. He heard the other swearing as they made their rough landing and could appreciate how they felt as he took a few seconds to recover after this latest in what was becoming one roller coaster ride after another.

"Are we all in one piece?" Ezra inquired as he looked up and saw Vin and Rain starting to pick themselves off the side of the ship. He was reminded of an insect caught against the plexiglass of his hover car and shook the image out of his head because at the moment, the notion was just a little too close to home.

"More or less." Vin replied as he straightened up.

"You boys always have this much fun?" Rain asked as she pushed herself upright and dusted herself off. She had no idea why she was doing this, since there was no dust to speak of anyway and the reaction was mostly reflexive.

"This is nothing." Vin turned to her and chuckled slightly, admitting to himself that he liked the dry humor of the Transporter Chief. "You should see it when we really get into trouble."

"If you could suspend your charming repertoire," Ezra suddenly interrupted. "You might take a look at where we are."

The security chief gestured to the space before them and in the nearby distance, they were treated to sight of a planet with one moon. It should have been a breathtaking sight with the stars in the backdrop and the luminous color of a living world radiating for all to see. What lay before them was none of these things, neither alive or beautiful. There was only one word that could adequately describe it and it pained them all to say it because the state of the planetary system was not the natural decay of a world in the tertiary stage of it existence but rather one caused by the sinister hand of technology.

The planet itself was dark and charred, as evidenced when it continued its revolution around the sun that temporarily illuminated the destruction hidden in the dark. The weapon that had created this obscene waste was unknown but it had left great rips in the surface and large craters of black that covered much of the planet. A ring of debris had formed around the world. Because it was formed artificially most likely in the wake of what was certain to be the destruction of another spacial body; the planet was routinely subject to asteroid bombardment.

"My god." Vin whispered. "What happened here?"

"Without sensors," Ezra shook his head in horror. "It’s hard to say."

"Nothing could live there." Rain remarked.

"I think they did." Vin replied, indicating the aliens that had stolen the Maverick and the bodies of all the female crewmembers. "Not much of a homecoming."

"It has been two hundred and fifty thousand years," Ezra pointed out. "One must has to anticipate some changes."

"Some changes yes," Vin shook his head, unable to imagine what could have precipitated such complete destruction of a world. What justification had there been in this terrible sight before them? "Not this."

"In either case, we need to get to the Captain. Our guests are not likely to be very charitable after witnessing this spectacular sight." Ezra stated seriously. His tone reminding them all the ship was still in danger, to say nothing of the friends who awaited liberation on the bridge. "There should be an maintenance hatch on the bulkhead directly above the captain’s Ready Room. We can get in through there and continue towards the maintenance shaft 32A which will bring us into the ventilation system."

"Oh the scenic route." Rain joked.

"It will take us into the Ready Room and not the bridge," Ezra said shortly, not in the mood for jokes. Not with the day he was having. "We will have some measure of surprise."

"Assuming that no one is in the Ready Room." Vin added.

"That is why I love about you Mr. Tanner," Ezra sighed. "You are always such an optimistic soul."

Unfortunately, optimistic or not, Ezra knew it was the only way they could reach the captain. It was this way or none at all.

*********

The bridge was silent.

No one was speaking because they were too focused on what was on the view screen. Men and women alike were staring at the screen; a mixture of horror, shock and sadness unifying them for one brief moment after facing each other from diametrically opposed viewpoints. The planet and its moon lingered on the screen, a stark reminder of how much destruction violence, and hatred was capable of producing when left to rage unchecked. As Chris saw the pained expression on the faces of the enemy, he could not help but feel some measure of pity for them at the sorrow they must be feeling at this moment.

Chris had been a lieutenant commander on the Brigadier when the Borg had first ventured into the Alpha Quadrant and made its bid to take Earth. Every available ship had been sent to hold the line at Wolf 359 against one Borg cube. The Brigadier had not arrived in time to join the battle but what they found when they arrived were the remains of twenty starships, almost totally destroyed. It was the single most demoralizing defeat the Federation had suffered since its war with the Romulans two hundred years ago. Seeing all those ships, broken and ruined, floating in space in a cavalcade of debris had imprinted itself on the minds of everyone who saw it and the sorrow at all those lives lost had marked him forever.

Watching the faces of the aliens who had stolen the bodies of his crewmen, not to mention his ship, Chris could imagine that what they were feeling was not too different from what he had experienced at Wolf 359.

"That cannot be Accra." Salya gasped softly, anguish reflected her eyes.

"It is." The Alex entity answered somberly. "We are home."

"They destroyed it!" Narita exclaimed. "The Daia destroyed Accra!"

"What do the scans say?" X’hala asked quietly, her voice nothing but a hoarse whisper.

Salya looked to the readings on the console before her, hoping to find some evidence of life but when she raised her eyes, Chris knew that she had not. What they were seeing with their eyes had been confirmed by the sensor scans. The world was as dead as it appeared.

"Some form of antimatter weapon," Salya recited quietly. "I am uncertain of what type exactly. Judging by the metallurgical scans of the debris, it was used on one of the twin moons."

"My god." Buck gasped, wondering how such foolishness could have been allowed in a place of authority to wreak this kind of destruction. "That would have caused a planetary catastrophe. Aside from the debris, the shock wave might have been enough to knock the planet a degree or two out of its axis. They would have had global warming or an ice age in a second."

"Is this true?" X’hala looked at Alex, who was still manning the helm, for confirmation.

"Yes," the amalgamation of science officer and information gatherer nodded sadly. "That is what would have happened."

"Confirmed." Salya responded from Alex’s station. "The planetary axis is irregular."

X’hala shoulder’s slumped at the news and Chris found his voice to speak. "I’m sorry." He replied, genuinely meaning it.

"Your kind was responsible for this!" Narita swore, almost reduced to tears.

Chris ignored her and regarded X’hala. "You have come home. I am sorry that it was not the homecoming that you envisioned but there is no more reason for this. Let us help you. The Federation can find you a new world to colonize; your existence does not have to end. We know of many races that have attained higher levels of existence, they would welcome you. I am sure of it."

X’hala met his gaze, her uncertainty apparent by the strained look in her eyes. "Your kind are not known for your compassion."

"For the last time, we are not your kind!" Buck groaned in disbelief. "Haven’t you learnt anything about us by now? We do not treat our women the way you were treated. Can’t you see by how badly we want them back alive, that we care about them?"

"Lies!" Narita interrupted.

"Enough!" Salya shouted and left her station to approach X’hala. "We have nowhere to go and if we steal these bodies and call our act a casualty of war, we become no better than Daia! X’hala, we are free. For the first time in a quarter of an eon we are free, there are no more enemies to fight. The Daia have destroyed our world because of their hatred, let us not continue this folly!"

"You have been corrupted by them!" Narita crossed the space between them to make her case. "She coupled with one of them! Perhaps she has feelings for him."

Salya was about to speak when suddenly, X’hala glanced at the panel on the side of her command chair and noticed something that gave her immediate reason to halt the debate. "Stop it both of you!" She ordered them into silence. Both women went quiet as X’hala studied what was before her. "Someone is flooding all the decks with anesthesia gas!"

"What?" Salya exclaimed. "That’s impossible!"

Chris and Buck were exchanging furious glances, telling each other in the split second that they had to offer each other the hidden signals that formed something of a plan that the time had come for them to make a move on reclaiming the bridge. Obviously, someone had regained control of Engineering. It was the only place that could bypass the bridge to carry out that subtle attack.

"The order came from Engineering!" Salya reported after a moment confirming Chris’ thoughts on the matter. "It’s moving throughout the ship. All decks except Engineering are being flooded!" Her voice was rife with excitement. "I am going to seal off the bridge."

As Chris waited for the opportunity to strike, Narita returned to her charges and glared at him. "Well captain," she glowered with a menacing gleam in her eyes. "I suppose you will have your wish. We are going to put an end to this, just not in the way you wished."

Chapter Fifteen

Chris found himself staring at the barrel of a phaser rifle and wondered if this nightmare would ever end. He did not mind so much dying, being captain made that an occupational hazard but he did mind departing this mortal existence without being able to free the woman he loved from her prison of flesh and blood. That he minded a great deal, almost as much as he abhorred realizing that his last memory of his life would be her eyes, indifferent and dark hastening his journey. The creature named Narita, who wore Mary's face glared at him in unmasked hatred and supposed after the story he had heard, was unsurprised that she would feel anything else for any male but hatred. 

The action of flooding the Maverick with anesthetic gas had produced an incendiary reaction among the aliens who still had control of the bridge and Chris was glad that at least, someone on board was actively working towards freeing the ship from hostile control. If he survived this, he would pin a medal on the instigator of this plot and even if he did not, he would be just as grateful for he expected nothing to stand in the way of liberation of his ship, not even concern for his life. He just wished that Buck and JD would not perish with him as he saw Narita gaze's burn into his skin as she prepared to fire, naked in her relish of committing that one act of murder. 

"You can make them discontinue this attack!" X'hala rose from his command chair and strode towards him. "We will give you access to communicate with the ship, tell those responsible to desist or we will kill all of you!"  

Chris straightened up and looked at the creature wearing Casey's face. He glanced at Buck and JD briefly; conveying an expression he hoped would allow them to understand why he was about to act the way he was. Buck nodded slightly and JD swallowed as he held the captain's eyes saying nothing but comprehending silently that this siege could not be allowed to continue. There came a time when enough was enough. Chris would not allow their lives to stand in the way of safety for the entire crew of the Maverick.  

And that time was here. 

"Then kill us." Chris said coldly. "But I'm not doing anything to stop this." 

"Let me!" Narita sneered almost pleasured by his refusal as she shove the barrel of the rifle beneath his neck and engendered an immediate reaction from Buck and JD who sprang to their feet about to attack when X'hala turned her weapon on them and was not afraid of using it. Chris knew his old friend and the young ensign were just brave and stubborn enough to put up a fight if his life was in danger, no matter what the consequences to them personally.  

"Stand down Buck," Chris ordered sharply, ignoring the cold feel of metal pressing against his skin and did not look into Narita's eyes, shifting his gaze instead as far as he could without turning his head, towards the first officer and his young protégé. 

"But Chris....." Buck opened his mouth to protest before Chris cut him off. 

"Do nothing, Commander." Chris retorted and then spoke out loud to their captors. "Do you hear me, all of you? We will do nothing! If you want us to cooperate then you will do it over our dead bodies but you will not have any more control over my ship then you already do." 

"I will kill you all!" X'hala barked impotently. "I will have Narita incinerate you!"  

"Then get on with it," he drawled as if the threat was inconsequential and Narita was not tightening her finger around the trigger as a warning at how close he was to dying. He kept his eyes away from the woman, not wishing the last thing he see on this mortal plane was Mary in this state of being.

"No!" Salya suddenly shouted and withdrew from the console station normally occupied by Ezra Standish. She had been in the last few seconds watching the proceedings carefully, trying to decide what was to be done as she saw the situation escalate.  

"What is wrong with you!" Narita growled in her direction, accusation of betrayal in her eyes as she demanded the question of Salya. "Are you so heated by the sensation of physical pleasure that you have lost all sense of who you are! These are the enemy! These are the ones who imprisoned us, who took our ability to give life and destroy it! Who have given us cause for pain every day of our existence!"  

"No, they're not." Salya shook her head quietly and turned her eyes to X'hala whose expression showed indecision for the first time since they were fast approaching an impasse even if they did kill the captain. "That," she glanced at the ruined world whose image was still being displayed on the view screen, "is all that is left of the enemy and of our world."

X'hala opened her mouth to deny that statement vehemently but when the time came to form the words, none would come. Mostly because Salya's claim was the truth. However, the time to understand what that meant in its reality was lost when suddenly she felt a roar filling her mind, like a thousand voices screaming inside her head all at the same time. For a moment, the disorientation was so fierce that she did not know what was happening but soon enough it cleared and X'hala understood why the Many were screaming. 

They were screaming because they were imprisoned. 

The gas had flooded the rest of the ship and she could feel the trapped minds of all the others swirling around in the limbo of unconsciousness as the host bodies fell prey to the noxious substance. The Many were helpless now. Almost as helpless as they had been when they were trapped inside the artifact and set adrift in space .Now their imprisonment was of a different kind but the principle was still the same. X'hala could feel their terror, their desperation and horror at being returned to that terrible fate once again, not after tasting freedom for so fleeting a time.

"What have you done?" X'hala demanded, grabbing Chris by the neck and almost screaming into his ear. "I feel them frightened and trapped! How did you do this?" There were almost tears of frustration in her eyes as she shouted at him to answer.  

"He did nothing." Salya spoke up quickly, feeling her heart pound as she saw the situation escalate beyond her ability to control it. Even the glacial one that possessed Alexandra Styles body was now starting to waver in her efforts to regain control of the ship and focusing more on the drama unfolding before her. 

"Shut up you traitor!" Narita was debating on whether or not she ought to turn the gun at Salya's direction. For she who would turn against her own kind, should deserved nothing less. 

"I am no traitor," Salya sighed, looking more weary than she was about to do battle with her own. "I am one of you as I will always be but we need to decide what that is exactly." 

"You speak in riddles!" Narita retorted. "Her mind is addled," she looked at X'hala. "She can no longer be trusted." 

"X'hala you know me," Salya responded. "Do you remember it was you and I who first broke the chains that kept us prisoners? We began the rebellion. We convinced the others." 

X'hala nodded slowly. "I remember Salya. Those were hard times but also good ones."

Chris remained silent because he did not want to interrupt when it looked like Salya might be able to bring about a peaceful resolution to this situation. As much as he wanted to make them pay for Vin, Ezra and Transporter Chief Rain, he had to rise beyond his need for vengeance. He had to be captain not friend and though it pained him deeply to put aside his rage, he could do nothing else but that because he was captain and the Maverick was his crew. 

However, it a peaceful resolution to this situation was what Chris was after, the sudden and unexpected opening of his Ready room doors ensured that the time was discussion was past. He did not know who fired first as the three officers emerged from inside his private sanctum but Chris found the barrel of the weapon pressed against his throat leave his neck abruptly as the creature in charge of Mary's body swung around to deal with this new threat.  

Chris dove out of the way as she fired, as did Buck and JD. For a moment, Chris was not certain of what was happening until he saw Vin, Ezra and Rain fan out. A great feeling of relief washed over him as he saw that they were alive and well and wondered briefly how they had managed to survive before deciding to hell with it, they were okay and it was time to act. Most of the phaser blasts were coming from Narita and Chris found himself in a position of decided advantage for she was shooting with her back facing him. He saw Buck and JD waiting for their opportunity to join the attack but he was closer and rolled onto his knees, preparing to lunge at her.

He never got the chance. 

A foot slammed into his ribs almost flipping him over. Chris felt bones break in an instant as he landed on his back to look into the face of Casey standing over him. Obviously, she had seen him preparing to attack Narita and decided that this would not at all do. The pain was almost blinding and he looked down and felt a wave of dizziness when he realized that not only was his bleeding but the blood protrusion quickly soaking his uniform was bone. A groan escape him and he saw X'hala reaching down to drag him to his feet, a phaser in her hand. He was not about to become her hostage and though it pained him greatly to do so, Chris kicked out and sent the ball of his heel into her sternum. She let out a cry of pain and went sprawling as he rolled onto his knees again and saw Buck heading crossing the space between himself and Narita when he was stopped in a full body tackle by Alex. 

Both of them rolled across the floor as the bridge was a zigzag of phaser blasts with even Salya firing at the new arrivals, not swayed enough in her attempt to stop the fighting by taking sides against her own. She took cover behind the command chair as she continued to fire accurate blast of phaser energy striking the armrest of the chair thanks to Ezra's near perfect aim. It was obvious that the security chief was not about to be swayed from freeing the bridge, not even if the enemy wore the face of the woman he loved. The southerner's face was a mask of stone as he continued shooting while Vin tried to get past the stray blasts of phaser energy to help Buck who was wrestling with Alex for the second time today. 

Buck's throat was still aching from where she had hit him earlier so he was not about to make the mistake of letting down his guard or being deluded enough into believing she would not hurt him because she would. Holding nothing back, the first officer threw his fist into her face and sent her tumbling off him but she recovered quick, having been accustomed to taking blows in her brutal holodeck combat programs. While still on her knees, she kicked out her foot and toppled him off his feet.  

Buck dropped onto his knees and saw her spring to her feet; her agility was almost feline in its grace and power as she prepared to kick out again. He managed to prevent her boot from crushing his windpipe, certain that if she connected with the tender flesh, she would undoubtedly kill him. Buck grabbed her foot and twisted it around hard, forcing her to spin in mid air and land heavily on her chest. He scrambled forward to pin her down to the floor with his weight when her fist flew upwards just as he crossed the space above her head. The punch was strong and connected with his ribs. Buck had no doubt that if he had been a little slower; it would have cracked into his sternum. Unfortunately, the respite was fleeting because the action had been to buy her time. She rolled onto her back and flipped upright. 

This time she and Buck faced each other, both standing and both deciding then and there that one of them would not walk away from this. She threw her fist at him and he caught it, marveling at her speed and wondering what on earth Alex was doing wasting her time with a science posting when she was so effective in combat. He dodged the blow and caught her retreating arm in between his before yanking her forward, using masculine strength and skill before flipping her over.  

"Alex, don't make me hurt you!" Buck pleaded as she landed hard and heard a cry of pain. 

She did not answer but got to her feet again and, throwing a front kick he barely avoided and had to retreat backwards in order to keep from being hit. She started throwing them in rapid succession, until he was effectively back stepping in order to avoid her. Buck was fighting her off but he knew that she had him on the defensive and when the glint in her eye clearly indicated that she was out to kill him, it was not necessarily the best place to be. Finally he realized; he did not have much of a choice.  

"Screw this." He muttered under his breath and caught her leg once more, shoving it hard against the floor so that she lost her balance. Before he could regain it, Buck swung, hard and controlled. The blow caught her in the jaw and made her stagger back. He could see her immediately recovering but he was not going to allow her the chance to do so. Without pause he swung again, slamming his fist into the side of her head and this time, her recovery was not as rapid and she shook her head, trying to shake away the disorientation. Buck punched again and once more, his knuckles connected with flesh. Blood began to run down her nose and her lip. His stomach heaved in protest because he could think of nothing more disgusting than to hit a woman especially one whom he remembered making passionate love to only a few hours ago. Unfortunately it was not Alex then and it was not Alex now. 

She was reeling and the blood was staining the side of her face but with determination that Buck was certain was Alex in some small way, she remained standing even though she could not take this beating any more. He had been holding back and she was able to draw on much of Alex's memories but not enough to keep her from being able to beat him. If Alex was the one in charge, Buck was not sure he could win. She was nearly done and she knew it but sheer stubbornness refused to let her surrender. Buck decided to take that choice out of her hands. In one final act, he pulled her to him by the shoulders and slammed his head onto hers in a head butt that more or less ended any resistance. She crumpled to the floor unconscious and Buck let out a sigh of relief because he could not have endured much more of hitting her or continuing this bloody brawl. 

Ezra who had been concentrating on draining Narita of every ounce of energy in her phaser, noticed that Casey Wells or the entity that had taken over her body was attempting to take the captain hostage, despite his best efforts to evade her. The security chief could see the captain was hurt as he fought the young woman off who was trying to hit him with a stun blast. The captain had still eluded the crippling shot but he was in pain and could not last longer. The creatures using Julia and Mary were making it impossible for him to cross the distance between himself and Chris to be of any assistance with the formidable defense they were perpetrating. 

"Lieutenant Rain!" Ezra shouted at Rain who was crouched beneath the science station and only emerged when she was firing.  

"I'm a little busy right now!" She returned as she squeezed off another shot at Narita who was taking cover beneath the command chair and was safe from the blast when it impacted. 

"I would not have guessed!" He retorted and gave Vin a look as the helmsman searched for an opening so he could get through the barricade of phaser fire. He could see Vin's eyes fixed on the captain and knew that Vin was just as determined to reach Chris Larabee as he was. Vin was no fool, he would have guessed what Casey was attempting to do and knew that if she succeeded, the bid to retake the bridge would end in failure and they would be in the same situation as they were when they first entered the room. "I have got a plan!"  

"Well get on with it!" She looked at him with disapproval and wondered what it was about men that made them waste so much time when it was commodity that they could ill afford to waste. 

"I want you to set your phaser for rapid fire with a minimal firing gap. I want a continuous volley of energy keeping them at bay!"
Rain knotted her brown in confusion. "But that will only drain my phaser!" She protested. 

"That is an order Lieutenant!" Ezra barked and made no uncertain terms that this was not a request. 

Rain however, did not need that much convincing. She realized something of what he had in mind and nodded. "Okay Commander," she flashed him a wry smile. "Since you asked so nicely." 

"I like her." Vin grinned mischievously and conveyed his approval by winking at the feisty transporter chief.  

Ezra rolled his eyes and prepared to do the same as he had instructed Rain to do. The security chief could not disagree with the Vulcan's assessment although at this time, he had larger concerns on his mind, preferring to keep focused on the business at hand. Turning to Rain he issued one final piece of instruction.

"On my mark." He ordered and saw Rain swallow as she faced front and prepared to fire. Ezra ducked another blast before he took a deep breath and hoped that this worked because he did not want to hurt either Mary or Julia however, they had to reach the captain.  

"NOW!"  

A tremendous barrage of phaser fire exploded from both their weapons with such speed, the enemy was taken completely by surprise. Although they had possession of all the knowledge that the host bodies, Ezra had gambled on the aliens needing to access that information first before they could use it. If it were truly Mary and Julia in control of their bodies, the two women would know instinctively what was required to counter this attack but as it stood, the aliens were momentary forced to fall back and taking cover. Vin Tanner wasted no time and was moving immediately. Being Vulcan, he was faster and stronger than anyone by the laws of genetics but the helmsman was already at home with physical activity than any of them, thus he was swift in his advance and very soon, closing the distance between himself and Chris Larabee.  

Vin Tanner ran faster than he had ever done so in his life, pausing only to see the unconscious form of Alex on the floor as he weaved through the random bolts of phaser fire. Buck and JD were being held back by Casey who was keeping them pinned in almost the same manner that Ezra and Rain had allowed him this gap in which he could slip through. Resisting the urge to stop and see if Alex was all right because at the moment Chris was ducking another blast of energy being hurled at him. The captain was wounded and Vin could see the effect in his inability to fight back. A chill of fear ran down his spine upon realizing that the reason for Chris' pain was obvious, a jagged edge of bone was protruding past his flesh. A broken rib had speared through the skin and was exposed to the air under his soaked uniform. 

Chris saw Vin approaching and tried to draw X’hala’s fire by taking refuge behind Vin’s console seat. Buck who had dealt with Alex a moment ago was now on the floor unconscious, having taken the brunt of a phaser blast meant to subdue him. JD was pulling the first officer out of the line of fire because not all the shots from the phaser rifle were set for stun. X’hala was determined to reach him and she grew more frenzied as he continued to evade her. He guessed her vehemence to regain control of the situation had much to do with the fact that she could sense her people in trouble and knew that the only way to deliver them from their imprisonment as she called it was to use him as a bargaining point. 

Whatever the reason, Chris did not care because he cared about his people too, not simply the men who had been imprisoned by the female comrades but also the women whose bodies had been stolen from them. Even though it was sheer agony to move and the blood gushing from the open wound was wafting its steely scent in his gut, twisting it with nausea, Chris forced himself to keep out of her reach. Fortunately, he did not have to do it long when he saw Vin making his way across the floor, taking advantage of the chaos taking place around them in order to reach his captain. The captain for his part, left himself open to a few near misses, wishing X’hala’s attention focused on him while Vin advanced. For a few seconds, it worked until X’hala realized that she was making it too easy for him. In the last instant, she realized that something was wrong and whirled around to see Vin Tanner appearing before her. 

The Vulcan did not waste time mincing words or offering any warning for her to desist. No sooner than he had closed the gap between himself and X’hala or by his reckoning Casey, Vin slammed his elbow square into her face and knocked her out cold. Without uttering a word or a cry of pain, the life seemed to drain out of the woman and she dropped forward, with Vin catching her before she hit the floor. Vin lowered her onto the floor gently before he turned his attention to Chris. 

"Its about time you got here." Chris drawled as he himself dropped to the floor, resting with his back against the console for helm control, contented not to move because the pain was damn near excruciating. 

"We took the long way here." Vin smiled as he hurried to Chris’ side to examine the injury. "Don’t move." 

"You can bet your ass on that," the captain muttered, sucking in his breath to control the pain. There was a thin layer of sweat on his skin and it was obvious that the nature of the injury was sending him into shock. He needed a doctor and he needed one immediately. "The ship?" He asked after a moment, composing himself. 

"Nathan was going to flood the decks with anesthetic gas." Vin explained. "Whatever it is, it’s only the women." 

"But Rain…." Chris remarked, indicating the firefight that was still taking place beyond them. Vin wanted to help break the deadlock but he was reluctant to leave Chris when the captain was in such a vulnerable state. 

"Something to do with her being Trill." Vin responded and looked around for a safe place. There was not any really place on the bridge but he supposed he would have to be contented with safety in numbers. "Come on." He retorted, helping Chris to his feet and dragging the captain towards Buck and JD. Movement for Chris was not easy but he could appreciate Vin's desire to see him away from the line of fire. Despite his effort to maintain a brave face, a traitorous grunt of pain escaped him as Vin helped to him feet. 

"We have to help them." Chris groaned again, requiring every ounce of strength to focus on words instead of the pain.

"We will," Vin replied in answer, confident that Ezra was more than capable of taking care of the last two remaining aliens, at least for the duration of time it took for him to ensure that Chris was out of harm's way. "But let's get you seen to first." 

Unfortunately, Chris was in no position to argue. 

**********

 Ezra was not certain whose phaser drained first but in the end it was the enemies that exhausted their reserves first and were soon facing them without armaments. The momentary advantage did not last because the effort in giving Vin the narrow margin he needed to reach Chris had placed Ezra and Rain in the same position as Salya and Narita who were now more than prepared to face them in a hand to hand confrontation. As the barrage of phaser fire between both protagonists dwindled, signaling the dying embers of the battle being fought, it was Narita who made the first move towards them. There was no way she was reaching Chris or JD, not with Vin Tanner ensuring that his captain and his comrade were protected.  

Realizing that X'hala and Alex were also incapable of helping her, Narita felt the frustration building inside her as she realized that their grand plan of vengeance was dead and their freedom was about to be brought to a shattering halt. Whether it was desperation or some frenzied act of defiance struggling to remain alive inside her, Narita lunged forward first, deciding that before they killed her, she was taking them with her, starting with the one who had betrayed her own kind by rejecting the gift of the many. 

Rain saw her coming and leapt out of the way as Narita lunged for her. She rolled out of the way easily but the mindset of the one determined to kill her was frenzied and almost half-mad with berserker rage. The momentary evasion did not last long and Narita recovered Rain's attempt to evade her and recovered immediately to regain lost ground. She ploughed into the lithe young woman, topping them both to the ground and very quickly straddled Rain. The transporter chief immediately covered her face as Narita began pummeling her with blows until she was able to launch an attack of her own when she pulled up her knee and slammed into the small of Narita's back. 

The alien screeched in pain as she tumbled of Rain who rolled onto her knees and braced herself high enough to throw a hard swing at her. Her knuckles caught Narita in the chin who reeled in pain for little more than a split second before she was up and fighting again. The two women traded blow for plow, and fighting with such a synchronized dance of violence it was almost mesmerizing to watch but it soon became apparent that it was Narita who had the ruthless savagery to win because she was willing to kill while Rain was not. 

"Enough!" Vin stepped into the fray, aiming his gun at Mary whose arm was locked around Rain's bloodied nose and was glaring at him with animalistic fervor as she prepared to snap Rain's neck in her bare hands. 

"You have no power over me Vin," Narita sneered at him, her eyes narrowing with malevolence. "I showed you that already, did I not?" Her lips curled into a cruel smile. "You dare not harm me, not I who wear the body of poor little Mary, the captain's whore!" 

Vin swallowed hard, unable to look at Narita without imagining Mary Travis, his friend and teacher. The woman who helped him understand that he was a product of a rich and vast intelligence, not a joke that had been branded as outcast. Even though his phaser was set for stun, Vin could not bring himself to shoot her even though he knew he simply had to. "Don't make me do it." He said softly, wondering why it was so hard and realizing that it had a lot to do with the pleasure she had brought him and the world she had opened up for him simply because she cared enough to try. Surely there was a way to reach that woman without resorting to violence. 

"You're weak as all your kind are weak," Narita glowered triumphantly and pulled her arm tighter around Rain's throat, until the Trill was choking and wheezing, her face reddening as she began to suffocate. "You can hurt me anymore than you can hurt poor Mary and if you can't," she lowered her gaze to Rain, "I will this abomination for your lack of understanding that Mary is gone! You will never get her back!"  

Suddenly a voice spoke and it was neither Vin's nor Narita's, it was Chris. 

"Lieutenant Tanner," Chris Larabee spoke with a voice of stone from where he was lying, JD keeping guard at his side. He met Vin's gaze with an expression that hid nothing about his thoughts on the matter and whatever would happen, would happen. Chris' jaw tightened and Vin knew he was biting down to control the pain. Each word he uttered was filled with that agony.  

"Shoot the bitch." 

Vin was not about to argue with that statement and pulled the trigger in what was almost a reflex action. The bolt of energy struck both women and Narita crumpled lifelessly on top of Rain, inert and no longer a danger to anyone. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Chris finally succumb to attraction of blackness when the captain eased back into the wall he was resting against and let the darkness take him finally. 

**********

Ezra Standish stood before Salya and knew he did not have to fight her. When she saw him approach her while Rain and Narita were in the middle of their duel, she lowered the phaser rifle. In the midst of freedom, of planning to take over the ship and their eventual revenge upon those who had imprisoned the Many, Salya had been given a stark reminder of what it was to enjoy simply being alive again. All those eons trapped in a hell no one could imagine or endure, they had all prayed with the singularity of hope that one day they would escape to right all the wrongs done to them and yet they had forgotten the most precious right of all.  

The right to live as they had always wanted. 

"I will not let this continue." Ezra said staring at her eyes and wondering if the creature who inhabited Julia's body was someone he could not have cared for in a different time or place. "I do not wish to harm you but if you do not surrender now, I will shoot you." He declared resolutely, his phaser focused on her. 

"You have no need to do that." She replied, dropping her phaser rifle onto the floor with a soft thud. She let her gaze sweep over the bridge at the battle they had lost even though Narita refused to give up but for Salya herself, ever since her encounter with Ezra Standish, she had felt troubled by their actions. The men of this time and of this vessel were clearly not like the Daia of her world. When he had loved her, he had did so as a man deeply in love with a woman and caring about her enough to ensure that she was pleasured in the same way that he was. It was beyond Salya's experience that men could behave in this manner and that one act of passion had allowed her to consider that perhaps the high minded ideals of these Federation men were exactly what they were, ideals to aspire, not merely illusion of compassion.  

It was a sobering thought because if the Many were wrong about the Daia of this world on this one thing, could they not be wrong about all of it? 

"You gave us those two minutes did you not?" Ezra asked, having guessed it when he saw her lower her weapon. "You could had the cargo hold decompress immediately but instead you put the sequence in with a two minute delay." 

"I could not turn against my own," she spoke softly, her eyes so terribly sad that Ezra felt it a knife in his heart, not because it was Julia's image projecting such pain but the creature who resided inside her body at present. "But I could not allow you to be harmed. It was not much but I had hoped you would make use of the time productively."
"Thank you," Ezra responded, genuinely touched by her act of mercy. "I promise, we will do what we can to help you." 

"No," she shook her head and came towards him. Salya raised her hand to his face and touched his cheek. There were tears in her eyes and Ezra wished he could wipe away all the hurt he knew she must have seen in her life. "It is over." She whispered as she lowered her lips to his and kissed him gently.  

"I do not understand." He muttered but inside he knew what she was going to do, he guessed.  

"The others may not leave as willingly and I hope you will be able to convince them," Salya answered, her tears coming a little more freely down her cheeks as she stared at his pained expression when he started to see what was coming. "However I have a choice and I will not take from your Julia what was once taken from me. Becoming the enemy is something I would die to prevent and I will." 

"You do not have to do this....." he started to say. 

"Yes I do," she offered him a little smile. "Your Julia is a fortunate woman. I will miss you Ezra because for a short time, you reminded what it was to live and I will always be grateful for that. Goodbye." 

He wanted to call out to her, to tell to stop what it was she was doing but he could not, in part because he wanted Julia back and also because he had no idea what to call her for she had no name in his memory. All Ezra Standish could do was watch as Julia's body became enveloped in a bluish glow of light that contracted into single orb of energy soon rising over their heads before disappeared through the bulkhead. Ezra hurried forward as Julia slumped lifelessly to the floor, catching her as she began to fall while still watching that iridescent sparkle of light disappearing into the dark depths of space.  

Did she still live or was she dead now? Ezra could not answer but wherever she was, he too, would always remember her.

Epilogue

Nathan was not happy about Chris Larabee wanting to be present when the aliens were finally conscious after receiving a variety of mediums that rendered them otherwise, thus allowing for their safe removal to the brig. The doctor, who had been mostly responsible for the retaking of the Maverick through his liberation of Engineering and also for the anesthetic gas pumped throughout the ship, was quick to resume his duties as chief medical officer. With the number of casualties that emerged from the bridge after the fighting there had concluded, Nathan decided that he would leave the alien busting to the rest of the senior staff. Besides, it was not as if his hands were not already full. 

Buck Wilmington was suffering severe tracheal bruising, same as Rain whom he had been very relieved to know was well and even more pleased when he learned from Vin and Ezra how well she had equated herself during the fight. Alexandra Styles was badly beaten up and had to be sedated when Nathan treated her injuries, only to be shuffled back to the brig when it was all said and done. The anesthetic gas had allowed the male members of the crew to take back the Maverick but the danger was by no means over. The women were still under the influence of the Many and all that could be done as the situation worked towards resolution was to keep them all confined under lock and key. 

Julia Pemberton seemed well as far as anyone could tell. She remained unconscious for a time after the alien had left her body and tests conducted by Nathan concluded that she was merely recovering from the exhaustive process of being host to an alien mind. According to Nathan, Julia could awake at any time. Although Ezra wanted to stay at her side, he was still Chief of Security and with Chris determined to face the invaders once they had regained consciousness, he intended to be by his captain's side when the interview with the aliens convened. He knew that if he asked, Chris would allow him to be relieved of the duty but as much as Ezra loved Julia, he was not about to shirk his duties any more than he had been doing since this fiasco had began. 

Chris was hardly in top form when he entered the brig. Though the marvels of modern medical science had fixed his broken bones and mended the tear in his flesh, his body still remembered the injury and he was still left tender and sore, with aches reminding him most prolifically that caution was required. Chris walked into the brig, his steps still somewhat ginger with Ezra and Vin flanking him as Buck and JD were needed on the bridge to deal with what had transpired during the failed invasion. The brig was armed with a full security contingent, prepared to take extreme measures to defend themselves if necessary. 

They knew for a fact that aliens had to make physical contact with a body in order to possess it and somehow, the crystal had kept them from escaping as Salya had demonstrated when she had so easily vacated Julia Pemberton's body. It was easy for the aliens in their non-corporeal form to escape the brig but they would be incapable of doing much else as a shapeless energy form, much less take over the ship. At the moment, Chano was trying to understand how the crystal artifact had been capable of trapping their bodies in space but for the moment, the prison of flesh and blood would have to do. 

"I still think this is not a good idea captain," Ezra voiced his concerns as he saw the captain grimace when they walked towards the cells were the prisoners were kept. 

"For once I gotta agree with Ezra Chris," Vin gave the security chief a look, indicating that he ought to try reasoning with the captain because he too could see just how much pain Chris was in. "You don't look like you're in any shape for this." 

"Will you two relax," Chris growled, refusing to admit they were right. "You sound like a bunch of hens." 

Anything either man was about to say in protest was cut short when they reached the cells where the ringleaders of the coup were being held. All three were conscious, with Narita pacing the floor like a caged animal while X'hala and the Alex entity sitting silently on separate bunk beds. Although they could have been kept apart, Chris saw no reason for that when the force field ensured that they were not going to escape one way or another. The cells in Starfleet brigs were damn near impenetrable and Chris did not wish the aliens to believe they were going to be treated in the same manner as they had been by the Daia they had known in the past, simply because they were helpless. 

Upon seeing him, Narita hissed at Vin. "You better pray that I do not escape this place Vulcan, for I will make you pay for this!"  

Vin wanted to respond but saw the look Chris gave him and restrained himself. The captain for his part, held together perfectly as he saw the woman before him and reminded himself that she was not Mary but a vengeful creature prepared to kill all of them if allowed the opportunity. "If you have done with the posturing," Chris glanced at X'hala, "I need to speak with the one of you who is in authority." 

Narita glared at him hatefully and barked. "I swear to you that I will kill this body first before I allow you to have your Mary back." The malevolence in her voice sent a chill through Vin and Ezra but Chris remained impassive.  

"Not if I do it first." Chris answered firmly and regarded X'hala. "You will vacate these bodies immediately and return to your receptacle in the artifact or any other the place you wish to go. In either case, your bout of possession is over." 

"You're mad!" X'hala laughed in derision as she rose to her feet and came towards the edge of the force field so that she could look at him directly. "If we do not choose to leave, you cannot make us go. These bodies are ours. Accustom yourself to that fact Captain. You will have to kill us to remove us and I don't think you have the stomach for all those murders on your conscience." 

Vin stiffened, his eyes fixed on Alex and wondered if she even had any idea of what they meant to each other. The expression in her eyes said no. He did not know what Chris had in mind but he knew he wanted Alex back at any costs, no matter what his duty to Starfleet. She was worth more than any commission ever could. He was certain Chris felt the same for Mary. 

"No I don't have the stomach for that," Chris said in a perfectly neutral voice. "What I do have however, is another solution. I won't kill them but you won't get to use their bodies either. I'll stick the entire lot of you into stasis for the rest of their natural lives if I have to. You think being confined in that artifact was bad, you wait until you're trapped in a human body. I'll put you into stasis and then eject all of you into the nearest singularity I can find. You can spend god knows how long wondering if you'll ever die and never knowing until it comes for you. If you've taken their bodies and ended their lives, I swear to you what possession you have will be brief!" 

"You would not dare!" X'hala exclaimed, her eyes widened with fear imagining that prison once again. 

Chris leaned closer to the force field and met her eyes with a patented Larabee glare set for maximum intensity and replied in a low voice that sounded like grated glass. "Try me lady, try me." 

"He's lying!" Narita shouted, watching the horror sink into X'hala's eyes at the realization that it was not a threat that Chris Larabee was making to her but rather a promise of what was to come. "He does not have the stomach to hurt his precious lover! It is only a bluff." 

For the first time, the entity inhabiting Alex's body chose to speak. "Shut up Narita." 

Everyone including captives and captors, turned to the alien wearing Alex's face. She had remained silent through most of the discussing observing quietly all that was occurring and trying to reach some conclusion, particularly in the light of Salya's actions.  

"How dare you......?" Narita started to retaliate when the third member of the group spoke again. 

"I dare very well Narita." She returned coolly. "I also meant it. Be silent and listen."  

"What is the meaning of this?" X'hala demanded, not wishing to have it known that there was dissension in the ranks before the enemy that was present. 

"I am called Kalista." She introduced herself before any of the Daia present mistook her for their Alex. "X'hala," she looked to her leader. "I do not wish to speak out of turn but perhaps we should consider giving them what it is they wish." 

"Have you lost your mind!" Narita exclaimed immediately. "X'hala, her brain is just addled as Salya after her coupling with the first officer." 

"Coupling with the first officer?" Vin found himself saying even though he knew nothing that transpired in the last few hours was Alex's fault. Buck, on the other hand was something else all together. He was about to become infuriated by the idea of Buck giving Alex what he could not when he realized the exchange he had shared with the creature that was called Narita who was using Mary's body against her will just as surely as Kalista must have used Alex's. He had no wish to face Chris with that on his conscience and decided then and there that while he might not like it, he was not about to accuse Buck Wilmington who had been a good friend of something that he was not strong enough to resist either.
"This is not the time." Chris said sharply and hoped it was enough to quell Vin's outrage for the moment. Unfortunately, Chris doubted that there would ever be a time when it would ever be. Vin seemed to agree and answered with a slight nod as he turned back to Kalista who was about to respond to Narita's claim about her senses. 

"X'hala," Kalista ignored Narita's response and continued speaking. "We have spent the last two hundred and fifty thousand years awaiting freedom, all the while plotting our vengeance against those who had done this to us. We were on the verge of evolutionary change and they hastened the process so that they could imprison us indefinitely in the artifact. We spent so much time envisioning all the terrible things we were going to do and now that we are in a position to do that, they are dead. Killed no doubt by their folly with far more effectiveness then we could ever imagine for them. Although it was not their intention, they did us a kindness." 

"What?" X'hala looked at her as if she were mad. "Kindness?" 

"Yes," Chris found himself lending weight to Kalista's argument. "You're alive. Although your race is gone, you are all that is left of the Accran people." 

"We were Undaia! We were never Accrans!" Narita exclaimed hotly.  

"You were Undaia," Chris responded automatically. "Now you are stronger. You're a life form we can't possibly imagine. Don't you understand, Salya figured it out. She understood that without a body you would not necessarily die. Death is something that comes to human body, to a being trapped in a cellular existence. You're energy and energy does not die, it transcend into higher state of being." 

"Don't you see," Kalista responded. "X'hala, we are free to go anywhere, to do anything that we want. Why trap ourselves in these shells of flesh when we are free to roam through the universe like gods. When we were adrift, we saw the wonders of space but we could only curse it then because we could not explore it. You have led us through our imprisonment," Kalista placed her hand on X'hala's shoulder. "Lead us now through our freedom." 

"What you ask...."X'hala tried to think of the words but they would not come because the idea was too incredible. "We could die." 

"We could," Kalista agreed, she would not deny that. "However, all things die. That is the way the universe works but I do not think we will. I want to go X'hala. I want to see the things Salya will see before us. You once said that we had to be better than Daia, that the greatest evil is to become the enemy. If we take these bodies for ourselves, if we steal from these women their futures as ours was once stolen, we will become Daia." 

"I won't be called that." Narita gasped, tears welling in her eyes because she was afraid and angry, yet she did not want to be like those who had did this to her. That was even too much for her. "I would rather die than become Daia." 

X'hala said nothing for a long time as she considered the words spoken to her, realizing that Salya, her most trusted lieutenant, her friend for so long had abandoned them because she was sick of the killing and realized after awhile that she too, was sick of it. All their lives had been a struggle, a symphony of pain that never seemed to end and only lengthen once this terrible thing was done to them. Freedom was always some elusive word during their imprisonment, something on which to pin their waning hopes and now that they had it, they were squandering it in some wasteful bid for vengeance against enemies who had turned to dust long ago. There was little point in it. 

Her mind reached through the expanse of the ship, communicating with the Many, revealing to them her intention and realizing with even more surprise that many were not adverse to the idea of leaving the body and testing out the limitations of this incorporeal existence. Trapped in the artifact, they had been given little chance to do so but now that the opportunity presented itself, they were rather eager for it. Sometimes, X'hala had to admit, her own people could surprise her. 

"Captain," she looked after a moment. "It is time we left." She said softly. 

"Where will you go?" Chris asked, unable to help feeling something for these poor creatures whose actions had foundation in terrible suffering.

X'hala smiled as her eyes shifted upwards toward the bulkhead but really it was the stars she was indicating. "Everywhere." 

***********

When they left the body it was like nothing anyone had ever seen. Suddenly, the Maverick was filled with iridescent color that seemed to glow through every corridor of the ship as the mass exodus began. Crewmen watched in silent wonder as the orbs of light move through the vessel, seeking escape through any means necessary. For a moment, it looked like fireworks had been let loose inside the ship with the sparkle of unearthly light bathing them all as the aliens made their escape from the cumbersome surroundings of the Maverick.  

Chris and the others moved to the small window in the brig after they saw the aliens leaving the bodies of the women inside the cell. As they looked into the great expanse of stars beyond the ship, they saw hundreds of sparkling blue orbs converging upon a fixed point in space. The illuminations were like a newly formed star and for a moment, their eyes were so filled with its radiance that it was almost blinding. 

"It is beautiful." Ezra replied softly, still remembering how Salya had looked when she had left Julia's body. 

"I hope they make it." Vin found himself remarking as well. After all that had happened, he could not help but feel some measure of sorrow for what the Undaia had endured.  

"I think they already have," Chris said with a little smile as the radiance from the Many's convergence sparkled in his eyes. "I think they already have." 

***********

 "My first dinner at the captain's table with the senior staff," Rain grinned as she entered Four Corners for dinner some days later. "I'm moving up in the world." 

The atmosphere on the ship was lively, despite the journey to Pacifica having been abandoned with the ship recalled to the Frontier immediately because of some minor crisis that required immediate action which only the Maverick could undertake because she was the closest ship in the vicinity of the trouble. In truth however, no one was too eager to do any more vacationing after the debauchery that had preceded the Many’s attempt to take the ship. Nathan had been hearing horror stories everywhere from men who had been seduced by women who were utterly horrified by the recollection when the aliens had departed their bodies. It made him glad that he had been in the company of the only unaffected female on the ship. 

"Don't get too excited," Nathan let his gaze sweep across the faces of his friends in the room, both at their respective corners trying to deal with the embarrassment that had occurred during the last few days. Nathan doubted that there had been a senior staff meeting since then where anyone could manage to look each other in the eye. "Neither the senior staff or the captain is what they used to being at the moment." 

"Hey," Rain shrugged as she slipped her arm through his and proceeded forward. "If you were them, bonking each other left, right and centre, you'd feel bad too." 

"Bonking each other?" Nathan looked at her, shaking his head at her choice of words. 

"What? You prefer referring to it as doing the wild mamba, the wild thing, help me out here...." she started to rattle off a few more lurid descriptions before Nathan finally conceded defeat. 

"Okay, okay," he exclaimed. "I get the hint." 

"They'll be fine," Rain said confidently as she walked boldly through the patrons of the ship's bar, pausing just long enough to wave at Inez who was behind the counter, having ventured out of her quarters for the first time since her tragic loss. The bartender was not exactly as bubbly as she used to be but Inez nevertheless returned Rain's wave before returning to her duties. "They're embarrassed and a little uncomfortable. Its up to us, with our incredible tact and charm to make them feel better." 

"God help them." Nathan groaned, shaking his head.  

Still, he had to admit as he followed Rain towards the Captain's table, he really liked this girl. 

**********

"It never happened you hear me?" Alexandra Styles whispered as she sat across Buck at one of the tables, trying not to feel any worse than she already did. Why did it have to be Buck that Kalista was assigned to? Why not Vin or Chris, hell even JD was even better than knowing that she had seduced Buck Wilmington in the captain's ready room no less? That was most likely why the captain had ordered a new desk from supply. God, she had not been able to step into the Ready Room without being revisited with images of their heated coupling as he did and then she and then on top and .....oh this was so humiliating! 

"Oh come on Alex," Buck let out a groan, wondering what she found so awful about the whole situation. Hell, he enjoyed pleasuring her and felt slightly envious for what Vin would be getting with both barrels once he was old enough to appreciate it. "I know it wasn't you and I know it didn't mean anything but we can discuss the thing like adults." 

"I don't want to be adult about this!" She hissed, glaring at him. "I am humiliated and embarrassed and appalled at being another notch on your rather long belt!"  

"Hey," he said with a hint of offense in his voice. "I'll have you know that I do not have a long belt. Actually I have a note book and you are going to go in there underneath the heading 'utterly spectacular"." He teased. 

"Oh god." Alex groaned and thudded her head on the desk. "I think I'm going to be sick." She hid her face against the table and drew another smile from Buck who could not deny that he was enjoying this somewhat. 

"Alex," he reached for her shoulder and said in a completely different voice that was devoid of smugness or any juvenile emotion.

"What?" she grumbled, looking up at him.

"I want you to know that I realize what happened between us was not your idea but I don't hate it that it happened. Touching you was wonderful, Vin's a lucky man but I don't want this to hurt our friendship and I promise you, our friendship means more to me than what we shared." 

Alex met his gaze and a little smile stole across her face as she realized that she had underestimated him. "Buck," she sighed. "Our friendship means the same to me as it does to you. I'll live with this even though you'll never let me forget it." She gave him a look of sarcasm which he returned with a satisfied smirk.

"That's true." He grinned. 

Alex rolled her eyes and added. "Because you're still a pig." 

"That's true too," Buck agreed. "But I'm a pig that got to third base." He capped off that remark with a wink and a truly shit eating grin. 

Alex groaned and wished the Many had taken her with them.

**********

Ezra sat across Julia and could tell that she was mad at him.  

How could she not be after what had happened? He had made love to her without even the faintest idea that it was an alien who had been in possession of her body, not the woman herself. How did he explain that away? The truth was he could not and it did not aid his situation that he had felt something for Salya who had left released Julia willingly, unlike the others who took much convincing and threats before they would vacate their hosts. There were no words to describe how muddled the situation was. It was bad enough that his heart was breaking knowing that the passionate love he had shared with the woman he loved was not her at all but someone else entirely. 

"Julia," he said after the long stretch of silence between them. She had avoided him for most of the days following theMany’s departure and with their regularly scheduled captain's dinner only a short time away, Ezra had finally cornered her into seeing him so they could at least try to talk things out.

"We cannot go on like this. Please," he reached across the table and was encouraged when she did not pull her hand away when he enveloped it with hers. "Talk to me." 

"Talk to you about what?" She met his gaze, pain etched in every dim fleck of her emerald colored eyes. She was close to tears but was hiding it valiantly. "You did not even know it wasn't me." 

"How could I even guess?" He asked with a pained expression in his eyes. "You were there and you wanted me and I have wanted you ever since you have entered my life. Julia I love you," he found no fear in saying words that had been so alien to him for so long. "I loved you since I first saw you and when you came to me and said that you wanted me, I was so happy, I never even stopped to think." 

Julia blinked and her tears rolled down her cheeks, unable to restrain her sorrow any longer. "I know that." She said after a moment. "I know that but I still can't help feeling this way. I don't know if I trust you any more Ezra. You made love to my body but you had no idea that it was not me! I wanted it to be special, to mean something and now I don't know what to think!"

 She rose abruptly to her feet, unable to remain any longer without feeling her insides weeping.

"Julia!" Ezra caught her hand, trying to make her stay. "Please, do not leave it like this." He almost begged and would have if it would have done any good but somehow he did not think it would. 

"I need time Ezra," she pulled her hand away from him and Ezra knew then that he would not convince her, not today anyway. "I just need time. Tell the captain I'm sorry, I'm not feeling well." 

With that, Julia hurried out of Four Corners, taking the broken pieces of Ezra Standish's heart with her. 

*********

At the captain's table, Vin was glad that Chris had not arrived. Like the rest of his comrades who made up the senior staff, Vin had not escaped the presence of the Many on board the Maverick with his dignity intact. As much as he hated to admit the invasion into his mind by Narita as she bombarded him with images of Mary’s life, he also found what he had seen tantalizing. Over the past few days, he had found himself gazing at the lovely blond, wondering how it was she could remain so composed and sedate around Chris Larabee when he had seen how hot the passion inside her could burn when she felt enough to express it. 

Until that exchange between them inside his quarters, Vin had no idea how much difference there could be in the simple biological functions between humans and Vulcans. When she had touched his mind and showed him the sublime ecstasy of the lovemaking she had enjoyed with her husband, Vin though the overpowering sensations would be the end of him. Since that day, he had replayed it in his mind how it felt to be touched that way while sharing the experience in one's mind as well. He wondered how it would feel to touch Alex in that manner, to run his fingers over her skin and bask in the sensual pleasure of her body. He wanted so badly to feel it as Mary's husband had and yet he felt like he was a boat adrift in the water by a shore he could almost reach but not quite. 

As Mary sat across him, he saw that she could not meet his gaze even though there was no one else at the table. The others were still engaged in conversations around the room, no doubt, just as awkward as this one. He could see Alex and Buck talking and felt a pang of jealousy knowing that Buck had been able to pleasure Alex in a way he could not but as angered as he felt towards the first officer, Vin knew that he was not as innocent either. He still could not bring himself to tell Chris what had happened between himself and Mary and the captain was too smart not to notice that neither had been able to make eye contact.  

"Mary," Vin spoke up and saw her raise her eyes to his slowly, as if doing so was just too hard. "Does it really feel like that?" 

Mary's cheeks reddened and it took a moment for her to answer when she realized that his question was not mean to embarrass her but rather one of genuine curiosity. "Yes," she nodded. "It feels like that all the time." 

"You must have loved him very much," Vin replied, remembering how hot the love had burned between herself and her husband. He had never thought normal Vulcans who subscribed to non-emotion could feel that way.  

"I did." She said with a bittersweet smile, feeling some of the awkwardness drain. "I still feel him inside my head sometimes," she whispered. "I almost think he's still alive and then I remember that he's not." 

"You love Chris that way?" Vin found himself asking, hoping that he was not intruding by the question. 

Now she did smile and it was not bittersweet but rather warm and inviting. The question in the past was hard to answer but when he asked her so pointedly, it screamed in her head with such clarity, she as surprised he did not hear it. "Yes," she nodded. "I do." 

"He's a lucky man." The Vulcan remarked as he saw Chris entering Four Corners and hastily added before the captain reached his table. "I hope some day I'm that lucky. Thank you for showing me what it could be like Mary, I know you're sorry it happened but I'm not. I have something to look forward to now."  

For the first time since this all began and ended, Mary found that she could look him in the eye. "Its worth waiting for Vin," she sighed and felt some of the tension evaporate, now that they had some chance to speak of it. "I'll be fine Vin," she confessed after a moment. "I'm a little confused about it all but I'll be fine." 

"I'm glad," Vin retorted, pleased that they had reached something of an understanding. "However, if you don't mind, I don't think I'll be needing any lessons for awhile." 

Mary gave him a look and retorted. "No kidding."

***********

 Chris entered Four Corners about the same time as Josiah Sanchez. As he paused at the main entrance of the popular recreational facility, he allowed his gaze to sweep across the room to see if the rest of the senior staff beyond himself and Josiah were already here. He noticed JD and Casey at the far end of the room and when she saw him, Casey lowered her gaze into the drink once more. The young Bajoran was still unable to form any coherent sentence that did not have the words, 'I think I'm going to die', followed by 'you're old enough to be my father', whenever she was in his presence. Chris wondered to take the last remark as an insult and decided he did not care as long as things were back to normal. 

As normal as they could be in light of what had happened. The fallout in the wake of the Many's presence on board the Maverick had left a great deal in shambles. He only had to glance at Buck and Alex who were making their way to the captain's table upon his arrival, to be reminded of that fact. The science officer was swatting Buck across the shoulder, no doubt in response to some tasteless remark he was making about their tryst. On that thought, Chris reminded himself to have that old desk of his ejected into space before he could ever feel comfortable working in his Ready Room again.  

Ezra Standish was alone and judging by stonier than usual expression on his face, reserved only for a most tense game of poker, Chris guessed he was hiding a great deal of pain under that seemingly indifferent facade and wished that there was something he could do. Unfortunately, Ezra was intensely private, even more so than he was Chris suspected and anything he might try to say would not be well received. The security chief seemed to notice that he should get moving to the captain's table and immediately rose to his feet in order to begin the journey there.  

Casey was still taking refuge behind JD who found the whole thing rather amusing. Perhaps because JD knew that Chris had too much honor to be swayed by any attempt by Casey to seduce him and also because the boy was too idealistic to know that there were men who would put aside friendship and honor for the attentions of a lady. Whatever the reason, Chris was grateful that JD was keeping a sense of humor about the whole situation because Casey needed to see it in the same way too. Besides, there was no way Chris was getting rid of her as his Yeoman. Her coffee was to die for. 

He noticed that Rain and Nathan were the only ones who were at ease with each other and the warmth between them despite the newness of their relationship only indicated that Rain was here to stay. Chris was glad, Nathan needed someone in his life.  

Besides, he liked her. 

Also being able to make eye contact, Chris noticed, was Vin and Mary. He knew something had gone on between them and though he knew it was not a sexual act as heated as what had transpired between Buck and Alex, Chris knew it had caused them similar discomfort. While it was very telling by Vin's reaction to Buck's tryst with Alex, the nature of this discomfort, Chris found that he was not angry or jealous. He knew his best friend loved Alexandra Styles with a passion that existed even though it could not be expressed. There was nothing that could happen between Vin and Mary that could ever challenge that. He also knew that Mary would not consciously betray him and that it was best that he not know what it was that happened between his best friend and the woman he loved. It would serve to muddy a situation that seemed settled enough when left alone because Chris valued the relationships he had with those involve more than his desire to know. Sometimes, it was best to let sleeping dogs lie. 

"You know something Josiah," Chris let out a sigh as they resumed walking towards his table. 

Josiah was in a good mood because he had been given temporary reprieve from the affections of Audrey King in light of what had transpired between them during the recent invasion. The lady had been so mortified by her attempt to seduce him that she had cited needing some time to sort herself out, which was exactly what Josiah needed to decide how he felt about her and whether or not he was ready to date again. "What Chris?" He asked, noticing the same amount of angst at the table they were about to join. 

Chris looked at the senior staff before retorting. "Boy, do you have your work cut out for you." 

THE END

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