“Captain’s log stardate seven-seven-four-three-one. We are celebrating almost two months of being back in the Delta Quadrant and returning to exploring the region known as the Gradin Belt. Starfleet was eager for us to pick up where we left off before we had to escape from the Quirennal via the underspace corridors. Though we are not returning to our exact last known coordinates, exploring the unchartered frontier between the Delta and Beta Quadrants is a welcome change compared to the amount of humanitarian work we had to do after returning home. That said, it feels that life on the ship is returning to some normality. It feels that the slow recovery from what the crew has undergone in recent months is almost there. I have to admit myself; I’m starting to feel like my normal self again. Almost.”

Stifling a yawn with the back of his hand, Lieutenant Commander Tomaz shook his head from the on set of exhaustion as he tried to refocus on his work before him. 

“Late night, Tomaz?” Jen asked from the operations console

Rubbing his cheek and smirking, he nodded at the Trill officer. “Yeah, I stayed up too late with Craigen reading over the latest study materials for the Command Training Program, then S’Tem was awake at oh-five hundred hours this morning.”

Briefly snickering at that, Jen nodded in sympathy. “I don’t miss the early mornings with a young child.” He remarked, “Tad, my first host, was the one who was always up with the kids when they were awake. He was quite the morning person, while Jonzia, my third host, hated the mornings.” 

“Well, S’Tem hasn’t gotten used to living without seeing the sunrise. The warping of starfields isn’t calming either.” Tomaz said, again pushing down another yawn.

“Yanaz found the stars calming.” Jen said, “I think it’s why she liked travelling around the Federation.”

“Yanez was your sixth host, right? The ambassador?” Tomaz checked. 

Jen nodded. “Yeah, she helped with the peace treaty with the Talarians after the Galen border conflict.”

“So any suggestions from your hosts that were parents about how I get S’Tem to stay in bed?” Tomaz pleaded.

Jen considered the suggestion for a moment before answering. “Try an alarm clock with a light on top.”

“How does that help?” Tomaz questioned with a confused expression. 

Jen explained his idea further. “Tell S’Tem he isn’t allowed out of his bedroom until the light appears, but if he finds himself awake and unable to sleep, then the only thing he can do is read quietly. Rayfi and Norvo both did that with their children, and both times it worked!”

 Tomaz nodded thanks for the idea before stifling another yawn and shaking his head. “Thanks, Lukiz, that may work for S’Tem, but I may need some strong raktajino to get through this shift.” 

“That I can definitely help you out with,” Jen said as he got up and headed to the replicator to get his friend the needed drink. 

“Commander Tomaz, you may want to try heavier expectations with S’Tem.” advised Commander Banfield from her science station. 

After receiving the hot mug from Jen, Tomaz looked at the half-Klingon-half-Human science officer with curiosity. “What do you mean, ma’am?”

“A firmer hand with him may assist with his transition to being in your care,” Banfield shared. “My daughter, Beatrice, would need firm boundaries as a young child. She pushed my buttons so much in trying to get her own way. Caleb and I found that clear rules and consequences if they were broken she understood our expectations and knew what would happen if she made a mistake.”

Tomaz took a sip from his Klingon coffee before responding. “I understand what you’re saying, ma’am, but I don’t want to be too harsh with him in his early days.”

“Commander Banfield is right, though, Tomaz.” Jen said as he returned to his station. “If you don’t set the boundaries now, he’ll be running over you in no time.”

“I’m certain that’s a lesson on the CTP too – setting boundaries with those you lead,” Banfield remarked with a smirk. “You may want to read it!” 

Tomaz groaned as he returned to work after hearing a further chuckle from Jen. 

“Cadets, welcome to your first rotation in the flight control department,” T’Rani said, speaking to the two young men before her while on the deck of the main shuttle bay. With her hands grasped behind her back, she carried on with her briefing. “The flight control department is responsible for piloting and navigating a starship, including its auxiliary crafts. Questions?”

Alfie and Jorgeh both looked at one another before facing T’Rani. Both young men shook their heads, saying firmly: “No, ma’am!”

“While you are under my supervision for the next few weeks, we will familiarise you with the smaller vessels attached to the Odyssey, and I will teach you the basics of starship flight controls,” T’Rani explained. 

“We will get to fly the ship?” Jorgeh asked before adding a “ma’am” at the end of his question. 

“No,” T’Rani answered bluntly. “We will limit your piloting training to the holodeck.”

When she noticed that neither of them had anything else to comment on, she gestured for them to move across the deck towards one of the smaller crafts.

From above high, looking down from one of the viewing landings, Captain McCallister watched his son start the next part of his learning. Chuckling to himself at how serious T’Rani took her job as a teacher, a sense of pride appeared in his heart. She had been one of the many cadets that Cambil had brought on after graduating from the academy when he took on the captaincy of the Triton back in early 2386. T’Rani had come far in that time since. 

“How is our latest recruit doing?” asked a voice approaching him from behind. 

Looking over his shoulder, McCallister smirked at seeing his master chief of the boat approaching him as he indicated down at the scene that McCallister had been watching. Court joined him by his side and held on to the handrail.

“I think Jorgeh is going to enjoy himself, actually,” McCallister answered. 

“Let’s hope so,” Court replied. “Max wasn’t best pleased with the idea and wasn’t happy with me when I supported the idea.”

“I understand why. Jorgeh and Wylem haven’t been with us long, but they’re eager and want to be a part of our crew.” McCallister stated. “I know Jorgeh will make an excellent officer.”

“He will.” Court agreed. “I think the formal approach is something he actually thrives on.”

“I get that,” McCallister said with a nod. “That said, you and Max deserve a lot of credit for how much you’ve done with them.”

Court smiled at the compliment, “Thank you, sir, it’s been quite the journey so far.”

“Fatherhood isn’t easy, but it’s worth it,” McCallister said. “I think Tomaz is finding his own feet as well now.”

Chortling at that, Court agreed. “Tomaz is quite the natural; I think he surprised himself on the Quirennal.” Court looked at McCallister. “I just wonder who else on the senior staff will end up taking another lost soul.”

“There’s always room for more,” McCallister said with a smirk. “Anyway, Tobie, what can I do for you?”

Passing the PADD he had in his hands, Court shared with the captain the latest duty roster. “No significant updates with it, sir, but Commander Banfield has requested a good number of the science department to carry out double shifts. I’ve had a few of the technicians raise concerns about the workload.”

Smirking at how hard Banfield was making her staff work, McCallister looked over the roster and the notes that Court had made on them. “Anything I should be aware of?”

Court shook his head. “No, I did tell them we’re in the process of exploring unexplored space, so having those involved in that project pulling extra work made sense to ensure we were on top of everything.”

“Good, just keep an eye on it,” McCallister said as he finished reading. “Anything else?” He asked as he passed the PADD back.

Court hesitated at first and then took in a deep breath. “There is, and it’s personal, sir.”

“Shoot,” McCallister insisted.

“Well, I’ve got a request to make, and I’d prefer if you keep it between us for now.”

Intrigued by his mysterious remark, McCallister encouraged Court to tell him more.

“So the reason I asked to see you both was that I had a question I wanted to ask you both.” Commander Duncan said from the table he was sitting at one of the tables in The Lion Gate, the exclusive area designated for the senior staff. With him on either side of the table were Commander Hunsen and Lieutenant Commander Flemen. All three of them had hot beverages on the table before them. 

“Before you ask it, Max, let me turn you down gently now and say I’m a taken man with Louwanna, and I’m pretty certain Craigen is happily playing the single life.” Hunsen joked.

Flemen looked at him, “Who said I’m single?”

Hunsen shrugged his shoulder. “Well, I hadn’t heard you’re not, so I just assumed.”

Crossing his arms against his chest, Flemen took a mock defence in that comment. “I’m hurt.”

“Fellas, I assure you it has nothing to do with me wanting to date either of you. I’m happy with Tobias.” Duncan said, getting in between their teasing of one another.

“Then what is it?” Hunsen asked, even more curious and eager to read his friend’s mind to find out the big question. Deciding not to, he didn’t want to spoil the surprise.

Duncan rubbed the back of his head, “Well, it’s a little request Tobias and I have.”

“That sounds ominous,” Flemen commented.

Ignoring that remark, Duncan spoke up. “Well, with Jorgeh and Wylem now full-blown Federation citizens and with us becoming their legal guardians, Tobias and I were just wondering if you two would like to be their godfathers?”

Surprised to hear that request, both men smiled at the gesture.

“Hell yeah!” Flemen said straight away.

“Of course, Max, I’d be honoured,” Hunsen replied. 

Before Duncan could explain more, they were interrupted by the intercom going off and a request for Hunsen to visit sickbay at once…

Slowly walking into sickbay, with Samris holding her left hand and supporting her back with his other free arm, Louwanna Horin approached the main office of Doctor Slyvexs. Slyvexs, who was in a meeting with Doctor Forbes, looked up straight away as she saw Horin coming in through the wide window that looked out onto the central area.

Standing up and making her way out, Slyvexs approached Horin with Forbes behind her. “Louwanna, is everything okay?”

The counsellor shook her head. “I’ve been feeling quite faint and ill all morning.”

“She almost passed out during a staff briefing,” Samris added.

“Something you’ve eaten, ma’am?” Forbes offered as they took the chief counsellor to the nearest biobed for an examination.

She shook her head, “I don’t think so.” Horin disclosed. 

“Okay, lay back, and we’ll run a deep scan.” Slyvexs offered as she gently placed her left hand on Horin’s shoulder to have her lie down. After Horin was flat on the bed, she activated the bio bed’s scanners to wrap around her. “Scans underway.”

Taking out a PADD, Forbes started to write notes as Slyvexs called out the readings. Everything seemed okay. “Counsellor, have you undertaken any exercise recently that you may have overdone?”

Horin shook her head again. “No.”

Slyvexs stopped calling out the readings and paused momentarily as she saw the issue. “Gentlemen, would you mind giving the counsellor and me some privacy, please?”

 Forbes and Samris looked at each other before nodding and walking away. Slyvexs activated the privacy field around the bay and turned to Horin. She deactivated the scanner and helped the counsellor sit up.

“So why am I feeling awful?” Horin asked, confused with the way Slyvexs was with her. 

Taking a deep breath in, she gave a huge Denobulan wide grin. “Because Louwanna, you’re pregnant!”

“Pregnant?”

“Yes, Tremt, pregnant.”

Tremt Hunsen had heard the words echo in his mind for several seconds. He couldn’t quite fathom the entire situation he found himself in as it didn’t make sense to him. Looking at Horin beside him, the two were alone in a private room (one of many that sickbay had on offer), sitting on the biobed. Hearing her confirm his question for the third time in a matter of minutes since he had arrived in sickbay still didn’t make it all appear real yet. The ball had yet to drop with him. 

“But how?” He asked. 

Horin looked at him and glared, showing she wasn’t impressed that he was asking that question.

“Are you sure?” Hunsen checked for clarity again. 

Horin nodded one more time, “Of course, I’m sure.” She threw her hands up in the air, frustrated with Hunsen’s response. “Unless Doctor Slyvexs has forgotten how to use a tricorder properly!”

Realising he had pushed her buttons too far, Hunsen quickly showed how sorry he was for his behaviour. “Oh, Imzadi, I didn’t mean…” He paused as he took a breath. “I mean a baby…You and me…” He took in another breath. “Wow. Just wow.”

“Surprise.” Horin sarcastically said. 

Nodding in agreement, Hunsen calmed himself down. “Surprise is right.”

“Well, it’s not really, especially when one of us…” Horin trailed off as she looked at Hunsen. 

He completed the sentence. “…one of us forgot our injection last month. Remi reminded me of that. It’s just that the way things have been going on lately-”

Horin placed her hand upon his arm, stopping him from blubbering on further. “You don’t have to apologise.” She assured him.

“I don’t?” Hunsen paused. 

“No.”

Hunsen smiled at her. *Imzadi, I love you.*

*I love you too, Imzadi.* 

Hunsen leaned in and softly kissed Horin; a sense of happiness rushed over them both simultaneously. 

Walking down the corridor of deck eight, Captain McCallister was heading home and feeling like, for the first time in ages, things were starting to become normal again as he was able to finish his shift on time and be back to make dinner for his sons. He couldn’t remember the last time when this had happened consistently. Since returning to the Delta Quadrant, the ship felt like it had gotten back into a routine working well. Thankfully, they had no emergency or crisis to deal with. McCallister was counting down the days until they did; until then, he was enjoying this moment. 

Stepping into his quarters, he started to unzip his jacket below his right shoulder and stopped when he saw his son Alfie walking down the corridor with Jorgeh and Wylem. Smirking, he remembered his conversation with Court earlier that day in the shuttle bay. 

“Hey, dad,” Alfie called after him, “is it okay for Jorgeh and Wylem to join us for dinner tonight? Uncle Tobias said you gave it the green light?”

McCallister nodded. “I did, and yes, of course, they can.” He said to his son before looking at the other two lads. “Gentlemen, come on in and make yourself comfortable.”

Wylem smiled, and Jorgeh thanked the captain as the doors opened and Alfie led them in. 

Stepping into the main living area, they found Henri and Theo. While Theo set up the table, Henri sat on the corner sofa, playing with a holographic game console. Seeing their guests, Henri and Theo welcomed them in. Straight away, Wylem offered to help Theo but was turned down politely; instead, Theo said he was almost done and that Wylem could see what Henri was doing. 

“Dad, do you mind if I change before dinner? I wanna get out of my uniform.” Alfie stated. 

McCallister had made his way over to his study area to drop off a couple of PADDS he had with him, and after hearing Alfie ask that, he just nodded to his son.

“Hey Alf, please can I borrow some clothes to get changed into as I don’t wanna wear my uniform either if that’s okay?”

“Sure, we’re the same size,” Alfie confirmed and took him up the stairs towards his bedroom. 

While finishing off his study, McCallister called out to Henri. “Henners,” He said using his nickname, “have you heard any more about that scholarship from Pike City?”

Henri answered with a flat-out “No, nothing still!”

Wylem looked at his friend, “Pike City?”

Henri rolled his eyes and shook his head, showing he didn’t want to talk about it. 

Wylem looked to Theo for answers, who looked up after sensing the glare. “Pike City is the capital of Cestus Three; it’s a Federation planet in the Beta Quadrant. They have some of the biggest sporting teams in the Federation there. Theo hopes to study sport later this year at Pike City University.”

“What about the Odyssey?” Wylem asked, sounding almost alarmed that his friend would be leaving.

Henri shrugged his shoulders, “Unfortunately, Wylem, the Odyssey isn’t the capital of the Federation’s sporting achievements. I can learn much more on Cestus Three and hopefully join one of the sporting teams there.”

“What sport would you do?” Wylem questioned.

Henri rubbed the back of his head, “Well, baseball is pretty big there; if not, I’m considering athletics, swimming or even diving. Though basketball may be fun too.”

“You do need to settle down on options,” McCallister said as he reentered the main living room from his study and headed to the replicator. “Wylem, can I get you a drink, especially as my two sons have forgotten their manners when we have guests for dinner.”

Shaking his head, Wylem politely declined. He turned to Henri, “How’d you get back to the Beta Quadrant?”

“I’ll organise transport back if the Odyssey has returned home,” Henri answered, and then he realised that Wylem may not be able to understand what all of this meant. “Don’t worry, Wylem, we can stay in touch. We can call each other over hyper-subspace or write to one another.”

“That’d be great, thanks, Henri,” Wylem replied with a smile. He turned to Theo, “What about you, Theo?”

“Unfortunately, I’m heading out too,” Theo admitted. “I’ve got a place at the Aldebaran Music Academy; I’ll leave the same time Alf does when he goes off to Starfleet Academy.”

Noticing Wylem appeared a bit surprised at this news, McCallister had picked up his drink, a glass of iced tea. “Wylem, I suppose you’re not familiar with Human customs, but as the boys are hitting the age of adulthood, they get to choose their next steps of education and their lives.”

Wylem rubbed the back of his head, “I suppose I’m not,” He paused, “I was just getting used to having real friends again.”

McCallister smiled at that comment, “I get that, Wylem; when my older brother, Conrad, went off to the academy, I found his absence hard to deal with at first. However, I got closer with my younger brother Horatio, and we became good friends in time, and I made plenty of other good friends.”

“Plus, you’re only a year behind us in human years.” Henri offered as comfort. 

Wylem sighed. “That’s the thing; I wish Jorgeh, and I were humans. We truly don’t know enough about our Rylsanti heritage.”

At that point, both Alfie and Jorgeh had returned to the main living area, and Jorgeh, wearing a pair of Alfie’s joggers and one of his favourite purple hoodies, looked at his brother. “Come on, Wylem, we’ve already spoken about this and Doctor Sylvexs said based on what she can tell, we’re almost human with our growth rates. Who’s to say we’re not on par with Alf and his brothers?”

“Actually, if we’re going to be precise here, we’re part El-Aurian, so our growth rate can fluctuate.” Theo pointed out.

“Theo, not the time to be a smart ass.” Alfie shot his brother a look. 

“Fellas, it’s perfectly normal to feel a sense of sadness and concern as the next chapter in your lives is on the horizon. Whatever journeys you take, I can assure you there is always a home here for you all on the Odyssey.” McCallister said as he went over to the kitchen. “Now, how does pizza sound for dinner tonight?”

“Pizza sounds good, dad,” Alfie said with a smile. 

“As long as there’s no pineapple on it,” Theo added

“And there’s double pepperoni!” Henri stated as he got up from where he sat.

Smiling at his friends, Jorgeh looked down at Wylem before sitting next to him. “Seriously, Wylem, things are going to be okay. I promise.”

“Will they?” Wylem asked. “If you and Alfie leave to join Starfleet Academy later, then I’ll be left here by myself.”

Placing an assuring hand on his brother’s shoulder, Jorgeh comforted him. “I promise you that I’m not going anywhere right now.”

Wylem appreciated the gesture. “Okay,” He sat up and leaned into his brother. “Thanks, Jorgeh.”

“Anytime,” Jorgeh said, smiling and hugging his younger brother.

Seeing his friend calm his brother down, Alfie looked to his dad. “Dad, why do Jorgeh and Wylem need to have dinner with us tonight and not at home with their dads?” He asked quietly. 

Pausing to stop himself from revealing anything, McCallister smirked at first. “Uncle Tobias has something he wants to ask Max. I’m sure we’ll speak to them later.” He quickly changed the subject. “Will you pass me the cheese grater?”

Checking himself out in the mirror for the tenth time, Tobias pushed down on the dark blue shirt he wore and was pleased with how it fitted tightly against his chest. Deciding not to wear a tie, he kept the collar open and checked again to ensure there wasn’t anything on his grey trousers again. Pleased, he looked fine; he touched his hair slightly to ensure there wasn’t a single stray out of place. 

“Computer, deactivate mirror,” He ordered and got a response in the form of a beep followed by the mirror before him fizzling away from existence. 

Making his way downstairs into his quarters and towards the main living space, he looked around one more time and felt the atmosphere he had created was okay. A few candles lit here and there while soft guitar music played in the background. Their dining room table had candles and some flowers in the centre of the room. It was laid out for two people to have dinner. 

Everything was ready. Everything was perfect.   

Turning to the table, he picked up the single rose he got from the arboretum earlier and then picked up the two champagne flutes. He took a seat on the armchair facing the main doorway and sat waiting for the arrival of his boyfriend. 

Only seconds later and Max walked in with a PADD in his hands. He was about to order the computer to raise the light level when he stopped and saw the table covered with what Tobias had done earlier. Then he saw Tobias sitting in the chair, grinning like a Cheshire cat. Almost bursting out with laughter, Max shook his head as he dropped the PADDS in his hands down on the small glass coffee table near his other half.

“What on Earth are you up to?” He asked as he approached him and took the rose out of his mouth. 

 After he lost the rose, Tobias handed Max the glass and rose his one, “To us.”

Liking what he saw so far, Max clinked his glass with Tobias’ flute and repeated what he had just heard. After taking a sip, he looked at his partner. “You still didn’t answer my question. What’s going on here? Why have you gone to so much effort? Where are the boys?”

“They’re with James tonight as we’re having some time to ourselves,” Tobias answered vaguely. 

“Okay,” Max said, prolonging his response as he tried to work out what Tobias was up to. 

Taking both of their glasses, Tobias immediately popped them on the table and turned to Max. Taking hold of Max’s left hand, Tobias started his prepared speech. “I just want to say these past seven months with you have been the best ones of my life. I know we’ve known each other for longer, but what we have, I feel, is real. We’ve gone through a lot, from the situation on the Quirennal to moving in and having the boys together; it just feels right what we have.”

Max nodded in agreement. “I think you’re right. The last seven months have been great, and I’ve loved every single moment with you.”

Tobias smirked at that. “So that’s why I want more of them, with you,” Getting down on one knee, Tobias pulled out a velvet-covered box and opened it. Inside sat a thick silver ring with what looked like diamonds running through the middle of it. “Maxwell Jack Duncan, will you marry me?”

Surprised, shocked and overwhelmed by the question, Max blinked several times before he answered. “Yes!” He exclaimed, “Yes, I will marry you, Tobias Finlay Court!” 

Smiling at hearing that answer, Tobias stood up quickly as he took the ring out and placed it on Max’s finger before he pulled him in for a kiss. 

Standing in Stellar Cartography, Commander Banfield was finishing off the latest set of deep space scans the ship was taking while it ventured further into deep space. She had taken over from the team on duty, saying they could go home early for the night. Being in Stellar Cartography brought back some good memories from when she held the role of Chief Stellar Cartography Officer on Starbase 212. It had been one of the highlights of her career, being able to use the station’s advanced sensor array to map out what was happening around them. She loved being in the room with its advanced holographic displays showing off what was happening around her. Setting the computer up to complete its next scan, she pressed the button to commence it when she heard the doors open behind her. Familiar footsteps walked across the walkway towards the central platform. 

“Why am I not surprised to find you in here by yourself?” her husband asked as he approached her. 

Turning around to look at Carter, she smiled instantly at him. “What can I say besides that I’m a sucker for…”

“…stellar cartography,” He finished as he rolled his eyes. Still in uniform, Commander Carter Westerham looked around the room. “I suppose it’s quieter than the lecture halls back on Mellstoxx.”

“It is when you can dismiss your staff,” Banfield said with a devilish grin. “What are you doing here, anyway?” She asked before returning to the scans. “I thought you had a debriefing with some of your cadets tonight?”

“I did; I finished early.” He said with a sigh. “I wondered if you fancied going out for dinner tonight? Logan is out with his friends, so I thought we could treat ourselves?”

Appreciating his sentimental thoughts, Banfield smiled and was about to turn around to face him when the console beeped at her. Stopping herself, she turned her attention back to the readings. 

“Problem?” Westerham asked his wife as he leaned over her shoulder.

“Far from it,” She answered, “Long-range sensors have picked up our first M-class world.”

“M-class? We’ve not seen one of them in this region for a few weeks now. Any life signs?” He wondered. 

She shook her head. “No sentient life signs picked up at this range, but it’s beaming with other living creatures. Certainly worth a look.”

“Is our dinner about to be interrupted?” Westerham asked, sounding a bit disheartened at that prospect.

About to confirm that Banfield stopped herself. They were still days away from the planet at maximum warp. “No,” She said as she turned to her husband, “I’ll log it and then raise it in tomorrow’s senior staff meeting.”

“Are you sure?” Westerham checked. “You sure you don’t want to call the captain?”

She shook her head, “No, it’s no emergency, so why don’t we go home, get changed and then head out for that dinner you offered?”

Turning to one side, he gestured towards the door and held his other hand for her to take. “This way than Mrs Banfield-Westerham!”

Laughing at his romantic overtures, she took his hand before linking her arm into his. “Sounds perfect, Mr Banfield-Westerham.”

“So, as you can see, this is the first M-class world we’ve discovered in this region of space since our return to the Delta Quadrant. Long-range sensors have located it within a binary star system inhabited by eleven planets. The other planets are a mixture of gas giants and uninhabitable types.” Banfield informed everyone as part of the morning briefing for the senior staff.

Around the long table in the conference room, everyone was paying attention to the chief science officer as she presented their late-night discovery. The main wall console showed the different scans taken so far, while holographic images showing a star system model floated just above the centre of the table. While the half-Klingon woman illustrated what was ahead of them, everyone was either sipping on hot beverages or snacking on the pastries that had now made a regular appearance in the senior staff morning briefings. Though the meeting was important, everyone appeared relaxed and calm. 

“As it’s the first one we’ve encountered for some time now, instead of just sending probes to take a closer look, I’d like to recommend we alter course and see it for ourselves,” Banfield suggested, looking at Captain McCallister. “The flora and animal life sign count is exceptionally high; it would be a waste if we didn’t explore it further.”

Looking at the smaller PADD in his hand, McCallister was reading some of the latest data that the long-range sensors had learned so far. “I agree; it’s worth a look,” He said with a nod. “These temperatures will make it rival Risa and in some places even Vulcan.”

“Congratulations, commander, you may have just found the Delta Quadrant’s answer to Risa,” Lenjir stated as he raised his mug in her direction. 

Banfield smirked at the comment from the Tiburonian before looking back to the captain, “The science department is eager to get preparations underway, so we are ready to go by the time we enter orbit,” She added.

“Makes sense,” McCallister agreed with a nod before picking up his mug of tea. “Make sure everyone is clear on their assignments and if you need to pull others from other departments then ensure you liaise with their department heads.

“Any signs of any nearby civilisations?” Flemen asked, fiddling with his PADD.

Tomaz answered, “Nothing from what we can see; however, last night, long-range sensors did pick up a few Hirogen hunting parties heading in the opposite direction from us. Thankfully, they were on the edge of our scans. Apart from that, there are some warp trails nearby, but they are several weeks old and we can’t determine who they belong to.”

“So, still no one to make first contact with,” Flemen said, sounding disappointed. 

“Either way, we could use the time to run a few battle drills, especially with a Hirogen theme,” Tomaz advised. 

“I’d be happy to lead on that,”  Lenjir offered. “My security and tactical teams are going stir crazy from the lack of variety in their duties at the moment,”

“They’re not the only ones,” Flemen agreed. 

Sitting in the centre of the table, Jen looked up from his PADD. “The eleventh planet is Y class,” He said. “Demon class, with a great toxic atmosphere, sulfuric deserts with surface temperatures exceeding five hundred Kelvin.” 

“Don’t forget the thermionic radiation discharges, but yes you are right Lieutenant Commander Jen. It is indeed Y class,” Banfield remarked as she tapped a button and the scans of the smaller planet appeared in front of them as part of the holographic model. “Do you have a point to make, commander?”   

Ignoring Banfield’s tone with him, Jen noticed she was probably annoyed at him interjecting into her presentation. “Well, from these scans, it states there’s a seriously high amount of deuterium located there in underground caverns,” He looked at the captain, “Sir, we should send teams down to mine it. This could be a good place to stock-pile extra reserves and use the onboard refineries.”

Liking the idea, McCallister turned to his chief engineer, who appeared to be a bit distracted by something else. “Tremt, your thoughts?”

Hunsen snapped out of his glare and shifted his focus back to his captain, “Yeah, I mean, yes, sir. Lukiz’s idea is a great idea. We should do it.”

Jen smiled at the engineer’s support before he looked back at the captain for the final clearance. “Is that a go then, sir?”

“It is,” McCallister agreed. “I’ll leave you and Commander Hunsen to oversee that project while,” He paused as he looked over to the science officer, “Commander Banfield leads on our exploration of this new world.”

Banfield nodded in agreement before she switched the presentation off. 

“Great, unless anyone has anything else to share this morning?” McCallister, everyone else. 

Sitting next to him on his right, McCallister noticed that his first officer was nudged hard with an elbow from Master Chief Court. Duncan sat up straight and spoke, “Yes, sir, we’ve got something we want to share with everyone.”

McCallister looked at Commander Duncan; he had noticed that both he and Court had entered the meeting concealing their hands. Suppressing his smirk, he remained professional. “Do tell, Number One.”

 Duncan pulled his left hand out from his lap under the table and showed the ring on his finger. “Tobias and I got engaged last night!”

The room erupted into cheers and congratulations for the couple. Everyone got up and either shook their hands or hugged them. The entire atmosphere in the room had turned into a more informal one as the excitement buzzed in the air. 

“So come on, who asked who?” Slyvexs asked as she looked at the ring on Duncan’s hand. The doctor was eager to know all of the details. 

“I asked Max,” Court said proudly as he placed an arm around Duncan’s hip before placing a kiss on his right cheek. 

Duncan confirmed that answer with a nod. “He was properly romantic about it all. He had planned an entire evening by ourselves.”

“Where were the boys?” Horin asked, referring to Wylem and Jorgeh, as she joined Slyvexs by her side to look at the ring around Duncan’s finger. 

“I had them;” McCallister stated, “I’ve never known so many teenagers to eat so much pizza!” 

Surprised to hear that, Duncan looked at Court and chuckled. “Did you tell the captain?”

Nodding, Court revealed the truth. “He did, but it was only so he knew why I needed Jorgeh and Wylem out for the evening.”

Duncan shook his head with a smile, “Seriously, Tobias Court, you are more crafty than a certain Grand DaiMon we just dealt with.”

“Hey, where did you think I got the idea and ring from?” Court said with a wide smirk. 

More laughter filled the room at hearing how Grand DaiMon Deliaros had been involved. The Ferengi businesswoman had a thing for Duncan when they first met her and on their last mission in the Beta Quadrant, her infatuation for him hadn’t changed, so it was surprising to hear that whatever she had said to Court had encouraged him enough to pop the question. Court went on to share that the ring itself was a gift from her, she hadn’t charged him a single slip of gold pressed latnium. Instead, all she asked for was a holographic recording of the ceremony. Hearing how sentimental she was, Duncan admitted he hadn’t expected to hear that about Grand DaiMon Deliaros. He then jokingly asked if the ring had a tracking device on it, of which Court assured him that was not the case nor did it have any other technology in it for her to use against him. Her gift was genuine. 

“Well, guys, I have to say it’s great news to hear! Congratulations!” McCallister said. 

“How did the boys take it?” Slyvexs wondered. “I take it that you’ve told them?”

“We did last night after they got home from the captain’s quarters,” Court answered. “They didn’t quite understand what it meant at first, as in Ryslanti customs, they don’t quite have an engagement period as we do, but they were excited for what it meant for us as a family. Wylem was also talking about taking both our surnames over breakfast this morning. Jorgeh seemed to agree with the idea too.”

“We tried to explain to them what a Human wedding looked like and then spent the rest of the night sharing with them how other civilisations got married,” Duncan shared. “They appeared to like some of the Klingon arrangements.” He looked at Banfield at that point.

Banfield chuckled at that point, “I’d be happy to share with them pictures from my wedding to see what happened when our guests attacked my husband and me at the end of the ceremony.”

“Let’s not give them any ideas, commander,” Duncan said, warning her off with a smirk. “That said, Jorgeh was more interested in Betazoid weddings.”

Horin laughed out loud. “He’s a typical teenager boy; of course, he would find a naked wedding interesting.” She looked over to Hunsen, who only smiled slightly. She knew that their news from yesterday was still plaguing his mind. For now, they had agreed to keep it private between them (and obviously Slyvexs too). 

“There’s a lot to plan,” Duncan said before turning to the captain, “but after talking about it all night, we would like to get married here on the Odyssey with you doing the service, sir?”

“Of course, I’d be honoured,” McCallister said with a grin. “When are you thinking about doing it? Later on in the year, or next year?”

“In two weeks,” Both Court and Duncan said in unison. 

“Two weeks?” McCallister repeated, sounding a bit surprised at first.

Duncan nodded, “We know it’s fast, but we just don’t want to waste any more time. We want to keep it simple.”

“A logical choice if you wish to enjoy the rest of your lives together,” T’Rani said. “That said, my understanding of Human courtship made me believe that no wedding is ever simple. As you said, there is a lot to organise.”

“Just be lucky they’re not Denobulan,” Slyvexs said, “You’d need someone else to marry with as well.”

“Indeed, I suppose you might be able to keep it simple as, unlike some Vulcans, you may find yourselves fortunate not in an arranged marriage from birth,” T’Rani stated. No one was sure if that was a comment from her about her own marriage to her late husband, but the Vulcan pilot didn’t elaborate any further. 

“Before we get into an interesting discussion around different customs, let’s get back to the matter at hand here,” McCallister insisted as he tried to calm the chat. He looked at Duncan and Court, “Gentlemen, yes, that’s fine. I am sure we can pull off a simple but elegant affair to make its mark here on the Odyssey.”

“Thank you, sir,” Duncan replied. 

“We appreciate it, captain,” Court added with a nod and a grin. “We both feel that Odyssey is our home and we want to get married in front of the family we’ve been a part of for so long.” 

“Okay, then, people, we’ve got a lot of work to do in the coming days; let’s get to it. Dismissed.” McCallister ordered. 

As everyone started to file out of the room, Banfield and Jen held back and looked at the captain once the room was empty. 

Banfield spoke up first, “Sir, do I have to remind you-”

“No, you don’t,” McCallister interrupted her sentence. He changed his tone to a more serious one. “I do remember that one of the timeframes that Lukiz visited was before Tobias and Max got married.” He looked at the Trill ops manager. “You okay, Lukiz?”

Jen just nodded. “I’m happy for both Max and Tobias, sir, but I wasn’t expecting our first temporal incursion to be happening so soon.” 

McCallister agreed with a silent nod.  

“Do you want me to ensure we are ready for it?” Banfield asked quietly.

Looking between the two officers, he nodded. “Brief Tobias on what he needs to know and make sure the conduit is ready to be brought online.”

“One question I have, sir, what happens if it doesn’t happen?” Jen asked. “I know we’ve asked this before, but after making the changes, including us saving Tremt from death, how do we know that timeline exists and whether or not I’d appear from the past, or the future, to do what I had to do.”

Shrugging his shoulders, McCallister didn’t have an answer for Jen. “I suppose we just need to wait for that point in time and see what happens.”

“You may be right, Mister Jen,” Banfield said. “Your actions in preventing Commander Hunsen’s death may have created a different timeline; we’d soon see in two weeks.”

“Keep this to yourselves,” McCallister ordered before dismissing the two officers. 

After they left, McCallister sat back in his chair and sighed heavily. He hoped the temporal incursion in Paulson Nebula would not soon rear its ugly head. Staring out of one of the large bay windows, he wondered if this would be an opportunity to get a message sent back into the past to save his wife. Could Karyn’s sacrifice be prevented? He didn’t know, and the headache of having to deal with the Department of Temporal Investigations again was one he wanted to avoid. That said, he was missing her incredibly. He wished she had been here to hear the news about Duncan and Court; however, he also knew she may not have survived what happened. On the other hand, her mother was sure that Karyn had met her destiny. 

Whatever that meant.

Deciding he needed to get the day properly started, he picked up his PADDs and made his way out of the briefing room and onto the bridge. 

There was still some buzz hanging around the bridge after news of the engagement was now being filtered across the ship at transwarp speeds. Duncan was sharing the news with some of the other officers, deciding to leave his first officer for a moment; McCallister took his chair in the centre of the room.

 “T’Rani, alter our course to…” He paused as he wondered what they were calling this new planet. 

“To New Risa?” T’Rani suggested aloud. 

“Indeed.” McCallister agreed, trying to sound excited about what lay ahead of them. 

“Chief Science Officer’s log, stardate seven-seven-four-three-nine. Since arriving at the planet that the crew have dubbed, New Risa, our exploration of its surface continues to go without a hitch. Our detachment of cadets has proven quite useful in supporting our efforts.”

Sitting in one of the aft chairs in the cockpit of the Invicta, Banfield was reading the latest report from one survey team. Another group indicated they had not encountered any life besides plenty of flora, but no one had encountered any insects. Requesting that a team from the microbiology department be sent down to run their scans to see what they were missing, Banfield was intrigued that a planet so perfect for humanoid life had nothing on it besides plenty of flowers. 

“Ma’am, we’re approaching the base camp,” announced Cadet Jorgeh from the helm.

Looking up from her PADD, she could see that the two cadets that had flown her down were now preparing for their landing. “Extend landing struts Mister Jorgeh and then Mister McCallister, take us down, nice and smoothly.”

Both cadets gave her an ‘aye’ in response. Knowing she should observe their handling of landing the Delta-class runabout, Banfield placed her PADD down on her lap and activated the holographic display to show her how well the two of them were doing. Though the forward most part of the cockpit was a squeeze for two people, McCallister and Jorgeh appeared to be fine as they carried out their work. T’Rani had done a great job getting them to learn the ins and outs of this craft in the last few days. She was impressed with their effort and work. 

As she ordered, the Invicta landed with a soft thud and seconds later, Alfie McCallister stated they were down securely. At the same time, Jorgeh reported he was securing their exhaust thrust and other systems. 

“Well done, gentlemen, that was executed perfectly.” Banfield praised them as she twisted her chair outwards so she could stand without hitting her knees on the console. Picking up her PADD, she was about to leave them when she paused and turned on her heels to face them. “Are you both needed back on the ship straight away?”

Jorgeh and Alfie looked at one another, then to her with a shake of their heads. 

“Then go replicate some field excursion outfits; you can join me as my aides as I inspect the latest surveys,” Banfield ordered.

Pleased and highly grateful for the opportunity, both lads simultaneously stood up, resulting in them bumping into one another near the tight squeeze. They both chuckled at their foolishness before calming themselves down after seeing Banfield’s cold stare.

Moments later, trekking across an almost white sandy beach, Banfield approached her first team. Standing under a temporary shelter, analysing something under a scanner, Lieutenant Abbej was working hard and did not see her superior making her way over until the last minute. 

“Commander Banfield,” She greeted her with a long smile before pushing an odd stray of her purple hair out of her face. Abbej had tied her hair into a bun after landing on the planet. It was pretty warm. 

Not worrying about pleasantries, something that Abbej had got used to now, Banfield went straight asking for an update. “What’s the latest, lieutenant? 

“Nothing exciting, I’m afraid, commander,” She glumly replied. “The only thing exciting is the different amount of flowers and trees we catalogued so far.” Noticing the two young cadets with her, Abbej smiled at them both. “Bringing me support?”

Disappointed to hear they had not made any more progress, Banfield ignored Abbej’s question regarding the cadets with her and indicated toward the scanner. “What were you looking at?”

“We’ve sent a few probes into the ground to see if we can find anything deeper down; I was hoping we could find some fossils, even micro ones,” Abbej answered. 

Peering into the scanner, Banfield could see there wasn’t anything there. “No luck, I’m presuming?”

“It would appear so,” Abbej replied.

“This is frustrating,” Banfield stated.

Agreeing with her boss with a nod, Abbej spoke up. “Can I suggest we look elsewhere for possible signs of life, ma’am?”

“Please,” Banfield stated, sounding almost desperate for new ideas. 

“The planet has huge oceans; why not let the cetacean ops team do what they do best?” She suggested. 

Considering the idea for a second, Banfield nodded in agreement. “That’s a damn great idea, lieutenant.”

“I’ll liaise with them to find the best way to get them down here,” Abbej stated. 

Banfield nodded to the idea before telling Abbej she was sending down the entire microbiology department to help further. She was in deep conversation with her deputy when she didn’t notice her two cadets wander off. 

Looking around the beach with a deep stare, Jorgeh placed his hands on his hips. “Alf, does this place look or feel familiar to you?”

Sitting on a nearby rock and taking his boot off before emptying it of sand, Alfie McCallister looked up at his friend while he sorted himself out. He said: “What do you mean, Jorg?” He asked for further clarity.

Turning around to face Alfie, Jorgeh threw his arms up. “This place feels familiar.”

“I suppose it does look like that holoprogram we did of the Risan beach last week,” Alfie agreed. 

Shaking his head, Jorgeh was now getting frustrated. “No, Alf, I’m being serious. I feel like I know this place.”

“How can you? We only arrived a few days ago.” Alfie stated.

Before they could say anything else, Alfie’s father’s voice came over the intercom to everyone. “Odyssey to all away teams, we are under attack by a group of ships, take shelter and prepare for-” 

Something then cut off the channel. 

“Cadets, get over here now!” Banfield bellowed with a phaser now in her hands.

As they were told, both lads ran across the beach towards their superiors but simultaneously heard the sound of a transporter effect behind them. Twisting his head around, Jorgeh saw a tall alien humanoid appear. They were reptiloid and were covered in hairless, scaly skin in shades of brown. They had slightly beak-like mouths.

“Hazari,” Jorgeh whispered in shock.

“Rylsanti!” The Hazari in Jorgeh’s direction shouted before he took out his weapon, a plasma whip, and proceeded to blast it in Jorgeh’s direction.

“Jorgeh!” Alfie screamed as he saw his friend hit by the discharge and fall to the ground. He immediately jumped across the sand to grab his mate in his arms. In front of him, his superiors started to open fire against the alien attacker. More transporter signals came in as further Hazari beamed down. 

“Get him to the Invicta!” Banfield ordered at the top of her voice as she and Abbej covered the cadets.

“Yes, ma’am,” Alfie said as he struggled to carry Jorgeh in his arms. He glanced behind him to see that a battle was in full swing. Noticing that Banfield had charged the same man that had taken out Jorgeh, the chief science officer had pulled out a Klingon mek’leth from somewhere and had knocked her attacker down in one fell swoop. Then more transporter beams appeared around them; this time, Alfie recognised the sound belonging to a Starfleet transporter. Within seconds, Lieutenant Commander Lenjir and a large contingent of security officers equipped with body armour and phaser rifles were swiftly moving forward to support their comrades against their attackers. It didn’t take long for them to take out the Hazari. 

“Is everyone okay?” Lenjir called out after they defeated the last enemy soldier. 

A round of acknowledgements followed as Banfield and Abbej joined Lenjir, who was making his way over to the two cadets.

“Alfie, everything is okay,” Lenjir assured him. “How’s Jorgeh?”

“He’s hurt,” Alfie stuttered after he took cover behind a large rock, still holding tight to his friend, “he may be stunned. What did they want with him?”

Lenjir was confused by that last statement, “What do you mean? What happened when they appeared?”

“They knew Jorgeh’s species,” Banfield said after getting her breath back and wiping the sweat from her forehead. “That crazy son of a bitch, wanted him.” She pointed with mek’leth at the Hazari she had knocked out in defence of the two cadets. “What happened up there?”

“Two Hazari vessels appeared out of nowhere, demanding we hand over our stowaways, and before the captain could find out what they meant, they opened fire on us,” Lenjir answered. “We took on one while the other started heading towards the planet. We detected they were trying to send down people, so Lukiz sent out a scattering field. Somehow they were able to bypass it with one or two people. Eventually, when they realised that they were no match for the Odyssey, they retreated. The captain then sent me down to bring you guys backup once Lukiz had disabled the scattering field.”

“I’m glad you arrived when you did,” Abbej said with a sigh of relief. 

Lenjir’s combadge then went off, followed by the captain’s voice. “Odyssey to Lenjir, report, commander. Is the situation secure? Is everyone okay?” 

Tapping his badge, Lenjir told him everything was okay now but explained that Jorgeh was injured.

“We’re bringing everyone back now,” McCallister said.

“Captain, we have a few,” Banfield paused as she looked at their attackers they had subdued, “prisoners. We should take them with us and see what information we can get from them.”

McCallister agreed to it, and then Duncan’s voice followed.

“Cline, is Jorgeh safe to transport?” The first officer asked, concerned about his son’s welfare.

“I believe so; beam him and Cadet McCallister straight to sickbay,” Lenjir suggested. 

“Standby. We’ll grab everyone in one go.” Duncan replied.

Tapping his combadge, while still holding on to Jorgeh, Alfie spoke up. “Dad, Jorgeh said he thought he knew this planet just before the Hazari attacked.”

“What do you mean, Alf?” McCallister reappeared on the channel. 

“He didn’t say much, except he just felt the planet was familiar to him. Maybe that’s why the Hazari attacked us?” Alfie offered.

“Let’s get you up here on the double, and then we can talk about it more,” McCallister stated. “Corella, Cline, secure the site and our prisoners for transfer. I want us out of here within thirty minutes.” 

“Agreed, sir. I’ll inform my teams to pack up their gear. We can use the shuttles and runabouts we’ve used to bring everything back up.” Banfield added.

“I’ll have my teams help out after the prisoners are in the brig, sir,” Lenjir added.

“Let’s make it happen, people, and quickly. Odyssey out.” McCallister ordered before the channel closed,

Banfield knelt beside Alfie, who had slowed his breathing but was covered in sand and dirt from their recent action. “You did well out there, cadet.” She assured him with a brief assuring squeeze on his arm. 

Thanking her with a slight smile, the young cadet was covered by a transporter beam seconds later and was gone. 

Once they were out of sight, Banfield stood back up and looked at the other two. “Come on; we’ve got work to do.” She ordered.

As they made their way over to the fallen Hazari, Abbej raised the same question they were all thinking. “Why would the famous Delta Quadrant’s Bounty Hunters want with a kid?” 

Lenjir shrugged his shoulders as he started to cuff their prisoners. “I don’t know, lieutenant, but I intend to find out.” Looking down at the cuts he had sustained from Banfield’s defence, “however, he may need some time to recover after he received the sharp end of Commander Banfield’s defence of our cadets.”

“No one comes after my cadets and gets away with just a simple scratch, lieutenant commander,” Banfield warned him as she put her mek’leth away. “That said, whatever reason they give us for wanting Jorgeh, they were willing to put up one hell of a fight for him.”

“But not as much as you, ma’am,” Lenjir commented. “I’m sure Commander Duncan and Master Chief Court will appreciate your defence of their son.”

“I’m sure they will,” Banfield said before turning to Abbej and issuing further orders to get their teams off the planet as soon as possible.  

Entering sickbay, Captain McCallister felt relief leave him as he saw Alfie sitting on the edge of a biobed while Doctor Forbes was treating him. Seeing Alfie in his dishevelled appearance was not welcome, but being grateful to see him alive was far more important. 

“Hey, dad!” Alfie called out with a wave, a big grin before he pushed a stray lock of his blonde hair back. Realising he made a faux pas with his greeting, he corrected himself, “I mean, sir, sorry.” He whispered the last word.

Chuckling a bit, James dismissed Alfie’s mistake as he approached him. “How is he, Remi?”

Closing his tricorder, Forbes looked at his commanding officer. “Besides a few bumps, bruises and the odd cut here and there, he is in good shape. It won’t take long to get him back to his old self.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” The captain answered as he looked back at his son. “How are you feeling, Alf?”

“Sore, dirty and sweaty, but besides that, I’m okay,” Alfie answered, pushing his hair back one more time before asking how his friend was. “How’s Jorgeh?”

“Doctor Slyvexs is treating him in exam room three,” Forbes mentioned.

Noticing his son wanting to know answers (as much as he did), the captain raised his hand, indicating for him to remain calm. “Stay here, Alf and let Doctor Forbes finish patching you back up. Let me go and see how he is,” James instructed his son. 

“Dad, you’ve got to know that Commander Banfield was a badass down there defending Jorgeh,” Alfie said with adoration for the chief science officer. He described what she did while protecting the young cadet with her Klingon martial arts and use of her mek’leth. “I want her to teach me how to do hand-to-hand combat like that!”

McCallister chuckled in acknowledgement of his son’s praise for Banfield before he left him to find out how his friend was. Walking out of the main area for sickbay, the captain made his way down the corridor towards where the private exam rooms were. Standing outside, leaning against a bulkhead and looking as messy as his son, was Commander Banfield. Her uniform jacket was open, and she had a few dirt marks on her face from the altercation on the planet below. “Corella, you okay?”

Looking up from where she was, Banfield smiled slightly at him with a slight glazed looked over her face and followed it up with a nod. Surprised to see her expression in response, McCallister was caught off guard by it. “I’m fine, thank you, sir.” She answered after a long sigh. She looked tired. 

Before McCallister could say another thing, the door to the exam room whooshed open, allowing Doctor Slyvexs, Commander Duncan and Master Chief Court to step out. Immediately Banfield stood up straight.

“How is he?” McCallister asked in a low voice. 

Slyvexs answered, “He’s sleeping the stun effect off; he had broken a few ribs, but thanks to your son quickly reacting to get him out of harm’s way, Jorgeh is in a better shape than he could have been. I’m expecting him to make a full recovery.”

“That’s good news,” McCallister said.

Duncan turned to Banfield, “What the hell happened down there, commander?” He asked her in a very stern voice.

“Hey, cool it, Max,” Court warned in a soft voice towards his fiancé as he placed one hand on Duncan’s chest. “She got our son back in one piece; let’s remember that.”

Duncan responded to the reminder as he took a breath to calm himself down. “Sorry, commander.”

Banfield gestured for him not to worry, “It’s fine, commander; I know what it’s like when it’s your own children.” She took a breath before she answered his question. “The Hazari just beamed down, pointed at Cadet Jorgeh and called him by his species. The away teams then just started to defend him.”

“Apparently, you were a ‘badass’ in helping Jorgeh,” McCallister stated with a grin, “you’ve got a new fan in Alfie.” 

Banfield smiled slightly in appreciation for the recognition from the first-year cadet. 

“What does Alfie mean by that?” Court asked, curious to know more by his godson’s sentiment. 

McCallister described how Banfield had risked her life after the incursion took place. “You may be teaching Klingon martial arts to our entire cadet unit by the end of the week!” The captain added with a smirk as he looked at Banfield. 

“We’ll see about that,” She answered, smiling slightly.

Duncan took a deep breath before speaking, “We’ll it seems we owe you one, Corella.” He paused, “Thank you.”

“Any time,” She responded with a slight bow of her head. She looked back at the captain, “What happened in orbit?”

“Two Hazari vessels just appeared out of warp and opened fire; we didn’t detect them before they were right under us. Somehow they could beam their forces down to the planet quickly after that.” McCallister answered. “If it hadn’t been for Lukiz’s quick idea of the scattering field to stop them from using their transporters, then you may have been overrun by them.”

“And who knows what would have happened next,” Slyvexs stated.

“The only thing I noticed was they could only beam one or two people down at a time.” Banfield shared as she crossed her arms against her chest. 

Duncan nodded, “Tremt believes they were using a narrow confinement beam to bypass through a gap in their shields. It might be why they couldn’t send a larger group in one beam out.”

“Inventive,” Banfield said. “What happened during the battle? How did you scare them off?”

“Tomaz was resourceful with a full spread of quantum torpedoes. It was enough to damage them both significantly to retreat,” Duncan stated. 

“The question remains, what did they want with Jorgeh?” Slyvexs asked as she placed her hands on her hips. “If the Hazari are the bounty hunters of the Delta Quadrant, why does Jorgeh have a wanted sign over his head?”“”“”“” 

Banfield shook her head. “I don’t think they knew who he was; they were more after him because of his species. They didn’t call him by his name.”

“Alfie mentioned said the same thing,” McCallister stated.

“If that’s the case, then Wylem could be in danger too,” Court said, concerned. “But didn’t Alfie report that Jorgeh was stating before the attack he felt the planet was familiar?”

“He did,” McCallister said with a nod. “We know so little about Jorgeh and Wylem’s past; maybe they had visited the planet before they were on the Quirennal?”

“For all we know, the Hazari may have been monitoring the planet,” Banfield suggested. “From your own reports, the Jyslanti vessel had advanced technology. Maybe that’s what the Hazari wanted?”

McCallister shrugged his shoulders as he crossed his arms. “That could be one reason; another one could be they were monitoring the planet and waiting to ambush us to get the boys.” 

“That takes me back to my earlier point then,” Court said. “Wylem could be in danger too.”

“Without further proof, that might be the case. I’ll have Cline assign a protection detail to them both for now.” McCallister stated. “I also suggest we equip both boys with emergency transport units to be on the safe side.”

“We still need to know why this has all happened,” Duncan stated after agreeing with the captain’s actions to protect his sons. “There’s too many possibilities and too much speculation. We need to narrow down what their intentions are.”

“I’ve already got Tomaz, Craigen and Tremt going through the database about them, but there isn’t much,” McCallister stated.

“Well, there’s another way of trying to find out,” Court stated. “Let’s interrogate our prisoners, especially the Hazari who attacked Jorgeh in the first place.”

“Agreed,” Duncan said, sounding as eager as his partner to start immediately.

Raising both of his hands to show he wanted them to slow down, McCallister spoke up. “I agree, but we must make a better game plan before jumping into the deep end.”

“Why?”  “Let’s”  there’s  “isn’t  “I’ve”  “There’scaptain’s”  “I’ll  “Court questioned his superior before adding one more word, “sir.”

“As I said, we know very little about the Hazari. Starfleet’s encounters have been few and far between; our most detailed reports are over twenty years old.” McCallister said. “If we want to get through to them, we must do our homework first.”

The intercom then went over, stopping either Duncan or Court from protesting the captain’s remarks. Hunsen’s voice followed it. “Bridge to Captain McCallister.”

McCallister tapped his combadge after he motioned for his first officer and chief of the boat to pause for a moment, “Go ahead, Tremt.”

“Sir, the last of the away teams have returned, and we’ve retrieved all of our equipment and support crafts. However, Lukiz has just modified the long-range sensors to detect the identical warp energy signatures from our recent Hazari visitors.” Hunsen paused before he continued, “We’ve just undertaken a new sweep of the area, and we’ve detected forty-seven similar signatures heading in our direction at warp nine. Their ETA is thirty-one minutes.”

“They really do mean business,” Slyvexs commented after gasping at the number of enemy vessels heading their way.

 “Damn,” McCallister cursed under his breath, “break orbit at once and then get us moving away from them at maximum warp.”

“T’Rani has found a class-nine nebula close enough for us to hide in before they reach us,” Hunsen reported. “It may give us some room to lose them.” 

“It’s better than nothing. Lay in a course and get us underway,” McCallister ordered. 

“Aye, sir, bridge out.” Hunsen closed the channel.

“Corella, if you’re up for it, then get yourself all cleaned up and head up to the bridge to assist the others in getting us a plan to get us out of this mess,” McCallister commanded his chief science officer. “I want to know if that nebula will be a safe harbour for us.” 

“Straight away, sir,” Banfield answered as she made her way out of sickbay straight away. 

“I best go see Wylem,” Court offered, looking over at his fiancé, “and get some things for Jorgeh.”

Duncan nodded in appreciation before turning to the captain. “Can we go and speak to our guests in the brig?”

“I’ve got Louwanna and Cline down there right now, doing preliminaries,” McCallister said as he gestured for Duncan to accompany him. “Doctor, keep an eye on our boys.”

“I will; once they are good to leave, I’ll send them back to their quarters”, Slyvexs informed them, “I’ll also begin preparing for triage for our possible upcoming round two.”

McCallister nodded in agreement before tapping his combadge and opening a ship-wide channel. 

“All hands to battle stations!”

 Following the captain calling the ship to battle stations, he reached out to both Lenjir and Horin. The two had been questioning their prisoners, trying to get information from the Hazari they had captured after their failed assault against the research teams on ‘New Risa’. McCallister had said that he and Duncan were on their way down for an update. 

“I’m not sure what else we can get out of them,” Horin said, sounding defeated as she sat down on a nearby chair. She and Lenjir had moved away from the main brig area to a side office used by the brig officer. “The one that attacked Jorgeh, I feel, is the senior most member.”

“I agree,” Lenjir said just as the door to the office opened, allowing for McCallister and Duncan to enter.

“Report,” McCallister ordered straight away, “anything useful?”

Lenjir shook his head, “Nothing of use, I’m afraid, sir.” 

“Max, how’s Jorgeh?” Horin asked as she placed a hand just below an abdomen and quickly removed it after realising what she had done.

Duncan hadn’t picked up on that gesture as he just answered her. “Well, thanks; Slyvexs thinks he will recover. Are you sure there’s nothing from any of them?” He said, gesturing to the room next door where the prisoners were.

“Unfortunately, the Hazari are resisting my attempts to read their minds. We were considering asking T’Rani to do a mind meld, but from what we’ve learnt about them, they can withstand that too.” Horin answered glumly. “All we have learnt is that the one who attacked Jorgeh, his name is Y’Seki. We believe he is the senior most person.”

“We’ve separated him from the others after it appeared he gave them non-verbal cues,” Lenjir added.

“Interesting,” McCallister said as he scratched his beard around the edge of his jawline. “From what everyone can tell, he wasn’t after Jorgeh himself but somehow knew that Jorgeh was a Rylsanti.”

 “We need to get to the bottom of discovering for sure what their bounty is and who paid them,” Duncan suggested with his hands on his hips. 

“Agreed,” McCallister looked at his first officer before turning back to Lenjir. “Cline, I want a full security protection detail posted to Jorgeh and Wylem until I say otherwise.”

“Understood, sir,” Lenjir nodded with acknowledgement. 

“Head to the bridge and start working with Tomaz on strategies. We’ve got an entire Hazari task force heading our way; I’d like a few tricks up our sleeves if we can.” McCallister ordered. 

“Aye, captain,” Lenjir said before leaving the room. 

McCallister gestured for Duncan and Horin to follow him, “Let’s see if we can make a bit more progress on our guest.”

Entering the main area of the brig, each individual cell was active and had two or three Hazari in them. Forcefields were fully functional, the guards were all armed, and the three officers were handed type-two phasers to attach to their hips before entering. Walking up to the cell where Y’Seki was, McCallister looked at the man who had attacked Jorgeh. He had never seen a Hazari in the flesh until now. 

“Welcome aboard,” He sarcastically said. “I’m Captain James Preston-”

 Y’Seki cut him off from where he sat up on the small bench/bed. “McCallister of the Federation starship U-S-S Odyssey, registry N-C-C-Eight-Zero-Zero-Zero-Zero.”

“Well, Mister Y’Seki, there seems to be no need for introductions then,” McCallister responded without flinching at seeing the bounty hunter knowing him. 

“Your reputation proceeds you, captain,” Y’Seki said, trying to knock McCallister’s calmness by that statement. “The man who single-handedly moved an entire civilisation off their dying world. The man who may have stopped the Kraylor from removing the Anaari from the occupation of their homeworld. The man who traversed dangerous spatial phenomena to stop an ancient weapon from destabilising the quadrant and the man who found the last Ryslanti ark and ended up destroying it. Did I miss anything?”

“Yeah, quite a bit, most of it missing the fact that my entire crew were involved,” McCallister said, still standing firm. “Talking of which, can you tell me why you attacked my crew?”

 Y’Seki appeared to have smirked at that comment. “I didn’t attack your crew.”

“No, you did, and that’s why you got your ass kicked for you to end up in there,” McCallister said, pointing to the cell. “Now, your people have a reputation of being the best bounty hunters in the Delta Quadrant, and I also hear the Borg Collective like you as you make good tactical drones, so again I’ll ask why you attacked my crew?”

“I didn’t attack your crew,” Y’Seki repeated.

Realising what he meant, McCallister then spoke up. “I suppose if you want to be literal, then you attacked one member of my crew; I still want to know why.”

“He’s a Ryslanti; their species was the envy of many in this area of the Delta Quadrant. No one wants to see their return; I’ve been hunting the ark you destroyed a few months ago for decades,” Y’Seki explained. “I want to see him and the other you have on board dead.”

Realising just how serious this was to the life of both Jorgeh and Wylem, McCallister put on his best poker face. “Are you kidding me? You’ve attacked us because you hold a grudge against a dead civilisation? And for your information, we don’t have any Ryslanti on board.”

“Lies!” Y’Seki spat out. “We know you rescued two descendants of Captain Jyster; turn them over to me!”

Remaining firm in his response, especially as he noticed that Duncan was seething underneath his attempt at remaining calm, McCallister replied quickly to Y’Seki. “We never rescued anyone from that vessel, the young man you attacked today is human and the son of my first officer,” He gestured towards Duncan. “So, I’d like to know more about why you think attacking a Federation citizen and the craft they’ve resided on for their entire life is appropriate?”

“You lie!” Y’Seki spat out. “We recovered the logs from the remains of the ark. I know you were on it for months.”

“Yes, we were,” Duncan now spoke up, “and just like you are now, we were prisoners on that vessel. My son was there with me too.”

Pleased that Duncan was going along with his bluff, McCallister added more to it. “As you seem to know so much about Captain Jyster and her exploits against her, you should know we were kept against our wishes. The only reason why that vessel was destroyed was during our escape.”

”Then explain why Jyster’s logs showed that her sons escaped from that vessel with you,” Y’Seki shouted. 

“Captain Jyster captured Commander Duncan’s sons; she attempted to change their DNA and appearance to resemble the sons she had lost. It was her lost attempt to save her people,” Horin now said, adding to the made-up story. “I’m their counsellor, and I’ve had to do much work with them with their recovery.”

Y’Seki winced at all three officers and said nothing as he slowly paced his cell. He then crossed his arms and looked over his shoulder. “It is of no consequence; the other vessels in my fleet will attack you and take them and this vessel as part of our bounty.”

“I know it’s been some time since a Starfleet vessel properly encountered the Hazari, but I’m warning you now that I will destroy this ship before you get a chance to take it,” McCallister said with a firm tone. “Can you not accept that your hunt ended when we destroyed Captain Jyster’s ark?”

“It is all lies,” Y’Seki countered back. 

“What if we had proof that my sons are human?” Duncan asked, avoiding sounding desperate. “I don’t want them having a target over their heads for the rest of their lives because of some misunderstanding.”

“The only proof is in their DNA.” Y’Seki turned to face the first officer. “Hand them over to my comrades and me to test them.”

“You must be kidding, right?” Duncan replied with a nervous chuckle.

McCallister shook his head, “I’m not handing over members of my crew to you just because you don’t believe us.” He paused as he considered his options for a second. “If you get your ships to stop their pursuit of us, I will allow one to approach us to take you and your men back. Then we’ll discuss this situation further.”

“Prove their Human, and this all ends,” Y’Seki said slowly, almost sounding like he was enjoying having the upper hand. 

McCallister looked at him, “Enjoy your stay,” He said, pointing to the cell before he indicated to the other two to walk away with him. 

As soon as they left, McCallister led them into the nearest turbolift and called for the cart to take them to the bridge. “Now, anyone got any ideas on how we prove that both Jorgeh and Wylem are human?” He asked both of them. 

“That is something to ask Doctor Slyvexs and the others,” Duncan said after a huge sigh. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

Horin comforted Duncan by rubbing his left shoulder, “If we can fool the Hazari that they are, then we end this without anyone else getting hurt.”

 “We’re going to need a huge believable backstory on Jorgeh and Wylem, too,” McCallister stated, “Do you think they’ll understand?”

“If we get Tobias on board, then I think we can explain it to them both.” Duncan said, “But what if the Hazari don’t believe us? They’ve blocked us from being able to head back to the Barzan Wormhole to retreat to the Alpha Quadrant. We can’t take on an entire task force of their ships either.”

“Then we’ll do whatever it takes to defend them both, and if that makes high-tailing it at maximum warp back to the Alpha Quadrant for the next thirty years, then so be it, but I won’t let them lay a finger on either of your sons,” McCallister said just as the turbolift arrived at the bridge and they started to work on the next part of their plan.  

Entering the aft section of the bridge after getting off the turbolift, McCallister had called for Slyvexs to join him and the rest of the members of the assembled senior staff. “Report?” He asked the small group that was gathering around the mission ops stations.

“The vultures are circling, sir,” Banfield immediately said. She pointed to one of the screens showing their latest long-range scans. “The Hazari have added to the number of ships that are now hunting us down, taking their grand total to forty-seven.” 

“They really are going to make this hard for us,” Horin said as she crossed her arms against her chest. 

“Have we got anymore as to why they attacked Jorgeh?” Hunsen asked from where he stood next to Banfield. 

Duncan nodded, “It’s something to do with an old grudge the Hazari have against the Ryslanti.”

“Our guest in the brig, we believe, is their leader; he’s spent the better part of his life hunting down the ark that most of you were all trapped on last year,” Horin added.

“I take it that it has something to do with the impressive technology the Ryslanti civilisation had? Maybe they were the envy of many others?” Flemen wondered aloud from where he stood, next to Tomaz sitting at one of the mission ops consoles. 

“You get a gold star for guessing correctly, Craigen,” The captain confirmed. “How’d you guess that?”

Flemen pointed to the screen behind his left shoulder, “I’ve spent the better part of my time trying to find out as much about the Hazari bounty hunter culture. Not only are they particular about fulfilling their contracts, but they would also make a Ferengi blush with how eager they are to get rewards if they take out someone else who is the envy of others.”

“Great, a bunch of eager megalomaniacs are on our backs that also have a strict work code.” Duncan sarcastically remarked. 

Clearing her throat, Banfield pointed back to the scans. “Not just on our backs, but also in front of us. They’re hiding in that class nine nebula we were originally heading for. We’ve altered course. ”

Sighing heavily, McCallister rubbed his face before looking at Tomaz and Lenjir. “Tomaz, Cline, please tell me you have some ideas on how we can take them on?”

Tomaz looked up at Lenjir, who just gestured for him to answer the captain. “Unfortunately, sir, even though the Hazari vessels are smaller than us and appear to be using two different configurations and sizes of ships, we cannot consider taking them on in battle without the Odyssey being heavily damaged or worse, destroyed,” The Barzan strategic operations officer paused with his grimaced expression to take a breath before tapping a button on the console he was sitting at. A holographic representation then appeared in the middle of them all. It showed a model version of the Odyssey, and various other dots indicated the location of the Hazari fleet. “For now, we’re suggesting our best course of action is evading them as long as we can and use tactics that will keep us ahead of them. That said, we know they may be prepared for them all.”

“We’re working on how we can reduce our warp profile, masking our energy signatures as a start.” Hunsen piped in. “I’ve got an engineering team already looking into how we do that.”

“I’m also searching the Starfleet database to see if there is anything else we can do to help us be more stealthy without building a cloaking device.” Jen said, “However we would have to maintain radio silence for now. We can’t risk them Hazari tracking us if we attempt to get a message out to Starfleet.”

“Will they detect a hyper subspace data stream?” Duncan asked aloud. 

Jines nodded straight away. “The power it takes to send those will be enough to light up our position. For now, calling in for any help from Starfleet is out of the option unless we want to show the Hazari where we are.”

“Commander Banfield does have one suggestion that may work, though,” Tomaz said, looking at the chief science officer. “It’s much more complicated than anything Cline, and I can come up with, but I think it’s worth considering as a battle tactic.”

McCallister and Duncan turned to her, as did everyone else. “Corella, what do you have?” The captain asked.

Using the PADD in her hands, Banfield readjusted the holographic model that Tomaz had started. “Using metaphasic shielding to protect the Odyssey, we enter the corona of a nearby star.”

“Won’t we burn to a crisp?” Horin asked, sounding concerned at that idea.

McCallister shook his head. “No metaphasic shielding has come on in leaps and bounds since its invention almost thirty years ago. As long as the shielding has enough power, we can remain in the corona for some time,” He crossed his arms as he looked back to Banfield. “That said, we can’t remain in a star forever. The Hazari will likely wait for us to eventually come out or send in their ships if they have similar defence technology.”

“Either way, we will be ready, sir,” Banfield explained as she tapped her PADD one more time, this time showing the Odyssey inside a sun. “Several years ago, I read a senior honours thesis on solar dynamics, which included an addendum where she put her theory into practice in the field. She reconfigured the tractor beam emitters to fire a particle beam onto the sun’s surface. It caused a solar eruption which ended up destroying an enemy vessel.”

“The Klingons used a similar tactic during the Dominion War; it took out one of the largest shipyards in Cardassian territory,” Tomaz added.

“Is it safe to do?” Duncan asked. “What if we get caught in the eruption?”

Banfield answered the commander’s concerns. “If the flagship of the Federation’s fleet can do it against a Borg vessel and the Chancellor of the Klingon Empire can do it with an old Bird of Prey, I am confident we’ll be successful.”

McCallister nodded with approval to the plan. “Okay, how long will it take to prepare everything?”

“I’m already working on the calculations; I need an hour or so,” Banfield answered. “I’d like to run a few simulations in holodeck three though with a few others, especially Commanders Jen and T’Rani.”

“That would be logical, as I have never flown in the inside of a star before,” T’Rani stated. “Captain, I have also been working on new evasive manoeuvres patterns that I’d like us to use.”

“Excellent; what else have we come up with?” McCallister asked his senior staff.

Tomaz took back control of the holographic display, “A few old tricks from the history books.” He pressed a button, and a simulation of the Odyssey firing a full spread of photon torpedoes from its aft launchers which were then destroyed by multiple shots from the ship’s phasers. The resulting hits caused shockwaves that hit enemy targets. “From the Battle of Vorkado, creating photonic shockwaves between enemy vessels, and hopefully either destroying them or at least disabling them.”

“Our targeting scanners are currently being realigned to do such a feat with better precision,” Lenjir stated. 

“We’re also planning a few other diversions by sending some modified probes in different directions to emit fake Federation warp signatures,” Jen added. “I’m also looking into how we can use the main deflector to create an echo displacement to make it seem like we have reinforcements on long-range sensors.”

“I used a similar trick on the Triton over a decade ago to evade a Breen attack squadron,” McCallister stated. 

“Echo displacement is not the only thing we’re considering,” Hunsen said. “Installing holo-emitters along the hull with parabolic mirrors to help enlarge holograms of smaller Federation ships, say Defiant-class and Aquarius-class ships and even fighters, might give us an advantage of looking like we actually have our own fleet protecting us.”

“It will take up a lot of our power reserves, but if we shut down all non-essential systems, we could do it,” Jen said, backing up Hunsen’s idea.

McCallister nodded again with consent; as he did that, Doctor Slyvexs finally arrived and joined everyone else. “I like it all, but as Tomaz said, these are only delaying tactics. Even the solar eruption may only take out a few of their vessels. They can still get more help.” He turned to Slyvexs, “And that’s where you come in, doctor; we need to find a way to convince the Hazari that both Jorgeh and Wylem are not the targets they want.”

Interrupting his captain, Flemen interjected. “With all due respect, sir, I cannot believe I’m saying it but a diplomatic approach may not be successful. There’s no room for negotiating a better deal with the Hazari. As I said, they’re pretty loyal to the contracts they make. They see a job right through to the end.”

“That’s why we need to remove my sons as targets, Craigen,” Duncan remarked.

Intrigued by what the captain and first officer meant, Slyvexs spoke up. “What do you need from me?”

Between them, McCallister and Duncan explained how they had told Y’Seki, the Hazari leader, that both Wylem and Jorgeh were Human and were related to Duncan and Court. Horin helped with extra details from their conversion in the brig with their guest.

“So if Y’Seki is convinced we have proof that both boys are Human, then they may leave us alone?” Tomaz asked, checking he got all of the facts straight. 

“It’s a possibility, yes.” Horin answered, “However, without being able to read their minds or sense their emotions, I cannot be certain if Y’Seki has the integrity to follow through in calling off the attack.”

“So the proof would have to be that the boys’ DNA is fully human and shows traits from Commander Duncan and Chief Court,” Slyvexs stated as she crossed her arms and considered her ideas. “Thankfully, they look human enough, but I could create a retrovirus that could be used to introduce the appropriate genes into their make-up. A genetic pathogen could also be used to alter their Ryslanti DNA into Human proteins.”

“Will it be painful for them?” Duncan asked.

Slyvexs shook her head. “No, but I can’t be certain if I’ll be able to reverse the procedure once it’s done. We are talking about significantly altering their genetic code. Thankfully I have a doctorate in genetics.”

“If the Hazari do believe the proof that the boys are Human, they may quiz them on their lives,” Horin stated. “They’ll need solid backstories, and we’ll have to alter our records.”

“I can make the adjustments to the computer records to ensure they stand up to scrutiny.” Jen offered.

“Let me talk to Tobias about it all,” Duncan said. “But I’m assuming we don’t have much time?”

Tomaz shook his head, “Not at all; the Hazari fleet ahead of us could intercept us in six hours if they get wind of what we’re doing.”

“And we cannot guarantee that all our plans to evade them will work,” Lenjir added.

Noticing that everyone was now itching to get on, McCallister clapped his hands together and gave the order for them to get going on their work while Duncan and Court deliberated on their decision. “We’ll reconvene here in four hours for updates.” He added before dismissing everyone. As everyone filed out, McCallister turned to his first officer, “Do you want me or Louwanna to come with you to discuss this with Tobias?”

Duncan shook his head gently, “No, this is something we need to chat about in private.”

“Ah, your first marital decision to make together!” Horin teased him. 

“Let’s just hope we survive this for there to be a wedding!” Duncan countered back before leaving their company to see his fiance. 

Watching his first officer leave, McCallister turned to Horin. “Counsellor, head back down to the brig and see what else you can get out of Y’Seki.”

“Sir, as I said earlier, I can’t read his mind.” She reminded him. 

“I don’t mean telepathically,” McCallister clarified, “Use those fantastic skills of yours to assess him, get into his psyche and see if you can find out what makes him tick.”

 “You want me to give him a counselling session?” She checked for certainty. “Because I can do that, and it may be enough to put him in a bad mindset if he hates it.”

“Every advantage, Louwanna,” McCallister replied with a slightly devilish grin. “Every advantage.” He repeated before heading towards his chair in the middle of the bridge. 

“He’s coming around,” Slyvexs stated with a medical tricorder hovering above Jorgeh’s head. Once she was satisfied she didn’t need to use it any further, she deactivated it and stuck it in her dark blue overcoat. “Welcome back, cadet!” She said with a wide grin.

Fluttering his eyes a few times, Jorgeh slowly woke up and blinked several times to adjust to the light. Squinting his eyes, he tried to get up fast but was slowed down by the gentle hand of the Denobulan chief medical officer. “Where am I? What happened?” He asked in a confused state.

“It’s okay, Jorgeh,” spoke Court, who was standing on the other side of the biobed which Jorgeh was on. “You’re in sickbay, and you are safe.”

Jorgeh sat up with his back against the charcoal pillow as he got his bearings a bit more. Noticing his fathers presence and his brother, he smiled at them. “Sorry if I caused any problems.”

“You did no such thing,” Duncan assured his son from where he stood beside Slyvexs. “How are you feeling?”

“A bit exhausted; my head feels a bit fuzzy.” He answered.

“That’s expected,” Slyvexs remarked. “You were heavily stunned by a plasma whip. You may feel the odd tingling sensation every so often, but it’s nothing to worry about, and the side effects will disappear within a couple of days.”

  “I was attacked,” Jorgeh said, trying to remember the last thing that happened to him. He then remembered more and quickly shot up, “What about Alf? Is he okay? What about everyone else?” 

“Easy,” Court said, pressing against Jorgeh’s shoulder to make him lay back down. “Alfie and everyone else is okay.”

“Why were we attacked?” Jorgeh asked both his fathers after calming down and returning to his resting position.

Wylem now spoke up, “The Hazari are after us, Jorgeh, because we’re Rylsanti.”

Confused by his brother’s reply, Jorgeh asked for clarity, and his fathers and the doctor explained to him what had happened so far with the Hazari.

“Most of what we assume is based on what we’ve been told by the guy who attacked you,” Duncan added. “He’s currently in the brig along with the rest of his crew, but Captain McCallister is working on a plan to protect you and Wylem.”

“What does it involve?” Jorgeh asked after requesting a glass of water. Slyvexs went away and got it. 

“Convincing the Hazari that you two aren’t Ryslanti,” Court answered.

Returning with the glass in her hands, Slyvexs passed it to the cadet and filled in what they could do to protect him and his brothers. “The procedure may take a bit of time, but it will last long enough for the Hazari to see that you and your brother are the…” She paused for a second while considering her wording, “the offspring of your fathers.”

 “So we’d be Human?” Jorgeh checked for clarity after finishing a sip of his water. 

“Yes, your DNA will show that you and Wylem are a genetic combination of your fathers,” Slyvexs confirmed. 

“Will the procedure hurt?” Jorgeh asked next.

“No, you won’t feel a thing,” Slyvexs answered. 

“Though we can’t be certain if this would be enough to convince the Hazari,” Duncan stated and looked at Wylem. “So, we’ll need to adjust our backstory as a family.”

“In what way?” Jorgeh wondered.

“Dad is referring to the fact we’ll have to change our names and make sure there’s credible evidence we’ve been with them for our entire lives,” Wylem stated. “We finally get a fresh start in our lives, Jorg. We might finally get away from everything that happened on the Quirennal.”

Jorgeh sighed at the mention of his mother’s vessel, which the Odyssey crew had saved them from at the end of last year. “And what if that doesn’t convince them?”

“We’ll return to the Alpha Quadrant,” Court answered as he took hold of Duncan’s hand. “And we’ll get away from everything the Delta Quadrant can throw at us.”

Not quite liking the sound of that drastic action, Jorgeh sat up further as he asked his next question. “What about the Odyssey?” 

“Starfleet may reassign the ship away from the Hazari, or without us being on board, it might be enough to avoid further attacks,” Duncan replied. “Captain McCallister is committed to protecting you both, though.”

 Jorgeh looked at Wylem, standing next to Court, “If us becoming Human cuts all ties to our past, then I’m all for it.”

“Me too,” Wylem added.

Duncan and Court looked at each other and then gave their permission to Slyvexs to start the procedure. 

Bringing a steaming mug of hot chocolate into the brig side room, Lieutenant Commander Flemen approached Commander Horin, where she sat at the desk. 

“Oh, you read my mind!” The Betazoid counsellor said with a smile when she saw the Lumerian diplomatic officer enter the room.

Passing the beverage over, Flemen flashed his boyish smile at her, dimples appearing through his short stubble. “I remember you said you found hot chocolate a great way to take a break.”

“All chocolate is a great way to take a break,” Horin said before sipping from it. “Oh, that’s good. Thank you, Craigen.”

“With everyone working on battle tactics, I thought I’d see if I could lend a hand with your efforts,” He gestured towards the Hazari on the other side of the one-way screen.

“I appreciate it, commander, but I’ve not had much luck,” Horin admitted between more sips. “The Hazari are unlike the Ferengi and won’t share much about why they want both Jorgeh and Wylem anymore than they’ve shared.”

Wrapping his arms around his chest, Flemen looked at them to the counsellor. “Have you just been dealing with their leader, Y’Seki?”

Horin nodded, “The others aren’t saying much.”

“What about if we play, what I’ve heard Commander Duncan mention before, a bit of a good cop/bad cop routine?” Flemen suggested.

Intrigued, Horin placed her mug down. “What do you have in mind?” 

Picking a PADD up from a nearby table, Flemen gestured for her to follow him into the brig. They both approached one of the cells where one of Y’Seki’s soldiers was standing with his arms crossed against his chest. Flemen stood just close to the cell so he could hear the buzzing from the forcefield and feel the taste of the electricity of the field in its place. 

“Name?” He asked, looking down at his PADD, pretending to take notes. 

The Hazari soldier said nothing. 

“NAME!” Flemen said louder.

Still nothing. 

Flemen looked at the Hazari with an unimpressed expression and continued to speak. “Very well, I shall designate you Prisoner One, I am Lieutenant Commander Craigen Flemen, Chief Diplomatic Officer and Staff Judge-Advocate, and it is my responsibility to inform you that you will be trialled for your crimes against this vessel before being transferred over to either the Turei Alliance or the Holy Goddess Mother’s Great Kadi State. You will be given a choice after your sentencing is complete, but I must inform you now that the Turei will most likely execute you as per our alliance agreement while the Kadi will most likely imprison you for the rest of your life.”

The Hazari didn’t flinch.

“Your silence will not help you in your trial,” Flemen said, still pretending to make notes on his PADD. He turned to Horin, “Commander Horin, has Prisoner One received a visit from Counsellor Samris to undertake his full psychological examination through the use of his Romulan Mind Probes?”

Sensing what Flemen was up to, Horin joined in. “Not yet, commander; however, do we really need to resort to such measures?” 

“Well, yes, along with a complete medical examination by Doctor Forbes. I’m sure Prisoner One has no issues with that; however, I suppose we may have to sedate him to remove his armour and uniform.” Flemen stated, still remaining in character, “Remi can’t complete the examination without getting a complete picture of Hazari physiology.”

“I suppose you’re right, but I hear the latest updates from Starfleet Medical recommend using modified Borg nanoprobes to assist with such examination,” Horin stated, not looking at the Hazari. 

  From across the brig, their conversation was overheard by Y’Seki, who had moved closer to hear clearer.

“Yes, I heard the same thing and the fact the easiest way to insert the probes is through the patient’s opening at the end of the alimentary canal,” Flemen looked at the Hazari, “I wonder if the Hazari have such an opening?”

“You will not touch him!” Y’Seki called out from the other end of the room.

Horin and Flemen smirked at each other before turning their attention towards Y’Seki.

“Prisoner, you will remain silent unless spoken to!” Flemen called out as he crossed the room. “Do you understand me?”

Stepping in as part of the act, Horin spoke up. “Commander, this is Y’Seki. He is the Hazari leader; show him some respect.”

“Respect for the man that attacked one of my godsons? I think not!” Flemen said as he tried to square up against Y’Seki. 

Turning to Y’Seki, Horin apologised for his behaviour. “I’m sorry, Captain Y’Seki, but Commander Flemen’s species are very protective regarding their family. The young man you attacked is his godson, and Lumerian custom requires him to seek revenge on anyone who hurts their young, especially those bonded to them from outside their family. Commander Duncan is Commander Flemen’s mentor.”

“I told your captain, already, show me proof that boy is Human and not Ryslanti, and we will reassess this situation,” Y’Seki stated. “In the meantime, you will leave my men alone! We do not recognise your legal position or that of your allies.”

“I don’t give a damn what you recognise; in my opinion, you lost any right to any laws that we have when you attacked that boy for no reason. Handing you over to Turei Security or the Kadi Reformation Services would be a small price to pay to see you get what you deserve.” Flemen spat out. “If you want to avoid receiving the death penalty or having to be tortured by a bunch of monks in getting you to change your ways, then I suggest you and your comrades start to cooperate with us.”

Y’Seki said nothing. 

“That’s fine with me,” Flemen said and turned away from the Hazari, “We’ll have Counsellor Samris, and Doctor Forbes sent down to begin their examinations.”

“Wait!” Y’Seki called out. “Perhaps we can talk further.”

The red alert klaxon went off, followed by the captain’s voice calling for everyone to go to battle stations.

Flemen looked at Y’Seki, “Duty calls.” He said before continuing his walk out of the brig with Horin beside him.  

Once the doors were closed behind them, Horin burst out into laughter. “Craigen, that was excellent! How did you come up with all of that on the spot?”

Shrugging his shoulders, “I’ve read too many Romulan spy novels about torture, but what was with your idea of the nanoprobes?”

“I was trying to be creative, though you’re idea of how and where they’re injected was…” She paused as she considered the right word, “A colourful approach.”

“I was going for more uncomfortable, but that’ll do as well.” Flemen said, “At least we know now that Y’Seki may be more forthcoming.”

“Red Alert! All hands to battle stations!” McCallister cried out after Banfield noted the sudden arrival of six Hazari vessels head of them. “Time for them to intercept us?”

“Three minutes,” Banfield answered from the science station. The ship entered red alert; as the lighting dropped a few levels, the crimson flashing started, and the siren began to ring out over the intercom. 

“Get a weapon’s lock,” McCallister ordered Lenjir at tactical as he got out of his seat to head over to the science station. “Where the hell did they come from, Corella?”

“Sensors show they came out of subspace corridor; I’d summarise that they’ve got access to underspace the Turei or we are unaware of in this region,” Banfield answered after looking up from her sensor readings. “And I would advise us to try to enter it. They may have it mined or heavily patrolled.”

“Agreed,” McCallister said with an annoyed inflexion. He made his way back towards the centre of the room and looked over to where Tomaz was sitting, “Suggestions, commander?” 

The Barzan chief strategic operations officer was tapping away at his console when he replied. “Not a suggestion at first, sir, but an observation.” He said. “These ships are part of those that were in that Class Nine nebula we avoided; alongside this, our long-range sensors are showing the rest of their task group of forty-one ships right behind us. I think we’re being watched, captain.”

“Watched?” McCallister repeated, “What do you mean?”

“I think they want to see what we’ll do when we engage these ships,” Tomaz replied. “I’d suggest we use standard tactics for now and hold off with what else we’ve planned. These ships are their smallest and aren’t as well armed as the others. I reckon they’ll be paired up, so one will support the other by reinforcing their shields when they attack us.”

“Okay, let’s test Tomaz’s theory,” McCallister said and looked back to his tactical officer. “Cline, target each support vessel with a full spread of torpedoes.” 

“Aye, sir,” Lenjir replied. “Sir, can I also suggest we increase security in and around the brig, just in case they attempt a prison break.”

“Absolutely,” McCallister agreed with the Tiburonian.

At that point, the turbolift to the starboard side opened its doors, allowing Commander Duncan to enter. “Number One, how’s Jorgeh?”

“Awake, and he and Wylem will undertake the procedure,” Duncan said as he made his way over to the middle to join the captain. “However, I see the Hazari are gatecrashing our party a bit early?”

“Indeed,” McCallister said before quickly updating his first officer with what was happening. “Tomaz thinks they’re going to test us initially.”

“That makes sense,” Duncan said. “See how we’ll respond and adjust their tactics when they come in for the kill.”

“Perhaps,” McCallister said as he gestured for them to sit in their seats. 

“Captain, we’re being hailed,” Jen announced from Ops. “It’s from one of the six ships coming into weapon’s range.”

“Best poker face again, Number One,” McCallister quietly said to Duncan before ordering Jen to open a channel.

“I’m Captain James Preston McCallister of the Federation starship-” McCallister started but was interrupted by the Hazari on the screen before him.

“You will return our captain, our comrades and hand over the Ryslanti you harbour from us.” 

“Your comrades attacked this ship and its personnel without provocation. They are my prisoners now, and we have no Ryslanti on this vessel.” McCallister snapped back. “However, I am willing to hand your comrades back to you if you stop your pursuit of this vessel and agree never to attack this ship or any ship belonging to the Federation.”

“We have a contract to fulfil; we will not negotiate.” The Hazari bluntly replied. 

“That’s funny as I’ve already spoken to Captain Y’Seki, and he has agreed to call off this hunt if I prove those you believe are Ryslanti are, in fact, Human,” McCallister stated as he held onto the arms of his chair tightly, hoping his bluff would work. “I can get him up here to clarify this.”

“Don’t bother; we will retrieve him and everything we want once we’ve broken your ship.” The Hazari then closed the channel abruptly.

“Well, they can’t say you didn’t try,” Jen stated.

“Two minutes until they are in weapon’s range, sir,” T’Rani announced from the helm. “What are your orders, captain?”

Considering his options for a few seconds, McCallister looked over to Banfield. “Corella, how soon until your solar eruption plan is ready?”

“We’re ready, sir, but I’d have to agree with Tomaz’s assessment; we don’t want to spoil them with everything we have planned,” Banfield answered. 

“Sir, we’ve got a bigger problem than we originally thought,” Lenjir shared. “Those six ships are all charging their deflector dishes to fire graviton pulses.”

“Damn, they plan to force us out of warp,” Tomaz stated when he realised what the Hazari were planning. “We may need to depend on our ingenuity then, sir.” He said towards McCallister. 

“We have one minute until they can fire on us,” T’Rani said. 

Jen turned in his chair, “Sir, the sensor echo displacement tactic I suggested earlier may help here.”

“Do it,” McCallister ordered before tapping the intercom button. “Bridge to engineering, Tremt, how much can you re-enforce the warp field?”

“I can push our warp profile beyond its limit for a few minutes, but after that, I can’t do much,” Hunsen replied. “Why, sir?”

“The Hazari are about to knock us out of warp with a graviton pulse or two,” McCallister replied.

 “If they hit us with a specific pulse, I will find it hard to reinitiate the warp field,” Hunsen warned the captain. “We’ll be dead in the waters for several minutes.”

“Thirty seconds!” T’Rani called out. 

Duncan then said, “Cline, make sure every shot counts.”

“Echo displacement is ready!” Jen announced.

“Do it, Lukiz,” McCallister ordered before telling Hunsen to do whatever it took to maintain the warp field.

Jen activated the echo displacement, and now, on long-range sensors, it looked like a Federation armada was coming towards the Odyssey. 

“Two ships are breaking formation to investigate our echo,” Banfield reported. 

“Ten seconds!” T’Rani stated. 

“Cline, fire at will the moment you can!” McCallister ordered. 

“Eight…seven…six…five…four…three…two…one,” T’Rani said.

“Torpedoes away, all phasers firing!” Lenjir announced as they engaged the Hazari.   

“Direct hit, aft shields are down to eighty-two per cent.” Lenjir announced, “Firing quantum torpedoes!”

The vibrations of the torpedoes being released from the aft launchers were heard on the bridge as the ship shuddered from enemy fire. Holding tightly to his chair’s arms, Captain McCallister kept one eye on the readings of the Odyssey’s status while focusing on the battle around him. “Cline, where are we in disabling those Hazari support ships?”

“Both are damaged; we are continuing to fire. They have reinforced their shields using their deflectors though,” Lenjir reported. 

“Tomaz, would a tachyon burst from the secondary navigational deflector be enough to force them to re-modulate their shield harmonics?” Duncan asked.

Nodding, Tomaz could see what the first officer was suggesting. “It would be, sir; I think we’ve got enough power to do it to affect all four of them.”

McCallister looked at his first officer, “What are you thinking of doing, Max?” He asked. 

“Force them to re-modulate their shields; we beam over a photon torpedo next to their warp drive on a three-second delay detonation,” Duncan answered. “If we can show to the rest of them we mean business. Who knows? They may get the message and force the rest to negotiate with us.”

“Maybe, while on the other hand, they may consider us an incredible threat.” McCallister posed; he considered the idea for a moment before nodding and giving it his authority to do it. “Lukiz, polarise the hull. I know the ablative armour will hold for some time while our shields are down during transport but let’s ensure we can avoid taking too much damage.”

“Aye, sir,” Jen replied with a nod and went straight ahead in working on the captain’s orders. 

Several seconds later, Tomaz announced that the tachyon burst was ready as were the transporters. McCallister gave Duncan permission with a simple nod to give the word to implement his plan. Lenjir would continue firing phasers at the enemy vessels. Tomaz activated the deflector, and the cobalt blue burst of tachyon particles was released in a shockwave hitting all four ships. Banfield apprised everyone that the ships were re-modulating their shields, and as each one did Odyssey’s transporters were pressed into service as they delivered their ‘bombs’ to the enemy vessels. Several seconds later and each one exploded as they detonated. 

“All four ships are destroyed, sir,” Lenjir announced. “The other two that were investigating our echos have fallen back to join the rest of their fleet.”

“Right, let’s hope they get the message,” McCallister stated with a sigh. “Lukiz, open a channel to the Hazari ships.”

Jen did as he was told and indicated to the captain when he could speak. 

“This is Captain James Preston McCallister of the Federation starship U-S-S Odyssey. I hope my intention to show you that we will defend this vessel to the best of our ability and is now taken seriously. I am prepared to negotiate with your next senior leader to end this conflict, when you are happy to speak please respond,” McCallister said and then gestured for Lenjir to cut the channel. 

Turning in her chair, T’Rani looked at her superior and reported they were close to the star that Banfield, and she had prepared to use to create their solar eruption. “Shall I alter course, captain?” She asked. 

Not waiting for the Hazari, McCallister wasn’t prepared to wait for an opportunity to pass him. “Do it and let’s make sure metaphasic shields are ready for us when we enter the sun.”

“Already on it, sir,” Jen announced from operations. 

The port turbolift doors opened allowing for Flemen and Horin to arrive. 

“Captain,” Horin said, grabbing the attention of her superior, “I believe we may have Y’Skei’s cooperation in the bag.”

Turning his seat to face them, McCallister looked at both his diplomatic officer and counsellor. “What do you mean?” He asked, intrigued about how they had arrived at that result. 

Flemen smirked as he brushed a look to Duncan and then to the captain, “A little bit of diplomatic persuasion was enough to secure the deal with him…however you might want to add a bit more to our bluff,” Flemen’s grin had moved to one showing he felt awkward about revealing what he had said. 

“We seemed to be getting good at that lately,” Duncan remarked as he crossed his arms. “What did you say?”

Horin answered for her colleague, “Craigen made himself the ship’s JAG officer as well as Jorgeh’s godfather.”

“Well the latter is true,” Duncan shared, “Tobias and I have asked Craigen and Tremt to be their godfathers, but we never got any further than me asking them the other day.”

“Odyssey doesn’t have a JAG officer though,” McCallister piped in after hearing the news from his first officer.    

“It does now, sir,” Flemen winced a bit more, “sorry for the self-promotion.”

Duncan chuckled, “If it helped get Y’Seki in a position to accept our bluff about Jorgeh and Wylem’s heritage, then I’m all for it. Anyway, aren’t you almost finished completing your law degree?”

“Only a few more months to go, sir,” Flemen replied. 

“Let’s discuss Craigen’s future career prospects later, Number One,” McCallister said as he considered his choices again. “Alright, the only way this is going to work is if we can prove Jorgeh and Wylem’s heritage being Human.”

“That and knocking the Hazari down a peg or two,” Horin said as she placed her hands on her hips, “It’s my professional opinion, sir, that they won’t listen while they’ve got the superior hand.”

“Then Banfield’s plan is going to be needed,” Duncan indicated. “If we can lure them into the sun with us and then set off the eruption we could easily destroy a majority of their force if not all of it.”

“That would certainly do it,” Horin stated. 

Looking over at his chief science officer and second officer, McCallister spoke up to her. “Are you hearing all of this, Corella?”

“Indeed, sir, and I promise you that this plan will work,” Banfield said confidently.

“Good, because we’re almost out of other ideas.” McCallister said and gazed back to his first officer, “Max, get down to sickbay and finish off plans to show that Jorgeh and Wylem are your biological children. We’ll hold the fort for now.”

Duncan nodded and thanked everyone again for their efforts before leaving the bridge.

Stepping into sickbay where his family was, Duncan was surprised to see both Jorgeh and Wylem laying on bio-beds while both Doctors Slyvexs and Forbes were running scans. His fiancé was sitting in a nearby chair, working on a PADD in his hands. Court immediately looked up and smiled, “Hey, I take it the first battle went well?”

“For now,” Duncan confirmed. “How are the boys?” He asked, indicating to their sons on the other side of the room. 

“They’re preparing them now for the final stage of the treatment,” Court said. “The boys have agreed to their new Human names.” The master chief passed his PADD over to his husband to show the newly updated records. 

“Jordan Luke Duncan-Court and William Nathan Winston Duncan-Court,” Duncan read and a smile crept across his face at seeing his birth father and adopted father’s names appear in their choice as well as Tobias’. “I love it, but what about how we’re going to explain how we got together and had them?”

“Ah, that’s easy.” Court said with a proud smile as he stood up, pressed a button on the PADD and loaded another set of documents. “I’ve slightly adjusted our records to show that we served on the Vendetta together first and then transferred to the Triton.”

“So I wasn’t stationed on Deep Space Five?” Duncan checked. 

“Yeah and I never did my stint at Starfleet Command,” Court clarified. “And before you ask, I’ve already been speaking with Lieutenants Tierra and Jines about how we make these records look ‘real’ to be inspected by the Hazari. Decter said he has a few tricks that the captain taught him back when he was at the Academy.”

“Are we certain all of this will hold under scrutiny?” Duncan asked, worried their bluff may throw back up in their faces. 

“They’re both certain of it and Decter is going to ask Lukiz to look it over too,” Court assured him. 

Duncan just nodded and gave the PADD back to him, “Does it say when we got married?”

Court shook his head, “That’s one thing I’m not pretending to fake if they want to know why we’ve not tied the knot, then let’s just say it’s been a long time coming.”

“Sounds perfect,” Duncan said as he placed his arms around Court’s neck and gave him a light peck on the lips.

Their moment was interrupted by the arrival of Slyvexs and Forbes. The Denobulan senior doctor spoke up first, “Good news, their DNA reconfiguration has gone without a hitch.”

“In about an hour or so, we can test to see if your combined DNA has grafted on to theirs and stands up to scrutiny,” Forbes added.

“Great, the captain is eager to try and resolve this matter as much as we are,” Duncan replied as he took hold of Court’s hand. “Will the boys suffer any side effects from the procedure?”

Slyvexs shook her head, “No, the pathogen will do its job and eventually their original DNA should restore itself.”

“Should?” Court repeated. “I thought you originally said that this would be relatively simple to do without any complications?”

Forbes responded to the master chief’s concern. “Genetics is something that we can’t always be certain will do as it’s told, plus we still don’t know everything about the Rylsanti genome, but the boys won’t be hurt from anything. It might take a bit longer than we expect for the pathogen to clear from their systems.”

“And what’s the worst that could happen?” Court questioned.

“They remain Human on a genetic surface level.” Slyvexs honestly replied. “However, I am certain this won’t happen.”

“Let’s just hope it’s enough to convince the Hazari,” Duncan said as he looked upon his sons, hoping they had made the right choice. It was a huge gamble that all of this subterfuge would pass Hazari scrutiny. 

What else could they do though?  

“Bring metaphasic shields online,” McCallister commanded. 

A few seconds later, Jen announced that the shielding system was operational; just as they reached the edge of the star, they were planning to use it as shelter before hitting the Hazari hard with Banfield’s plan.

“Captain, it would seem the Hazari task force is attempting to follow us in, but I am not detecting them having any type of shielding like ours,” Banfield shared from the science station. “They will not be able to last long in here.”

“That’s fine, but they can swap their ships out,” McCallister replied.  “T’Rani, set a new course, heading three four four mark six. Full impulse.”

“Sir, that heading takes us directly into the sun’s centre,” T’Rani stated from the helm.

“Indeed, if our metaphasic shielding does its job, then we should be able to survive in there long enough for us to finish off Corella’s plan. Let’s hope they’ll send most of their ships to find us.” McCallister said. 

“That’s a pretty risky gamble, sir,” Lenjir expressed.

McCallister looked up at his chief security and tactical officer, “It’s our final card to play, Cline.” He remarked before turning his focus to his science officer. “Corella, how long until we can create the solar eruption.”

“I need only to adjust a few more calculations and then ensure the modification to our systems are complete,” The chief science officer reported. “I could do with Commander Hunsen’s assistance.”

McCallister called down to his chief engineer to report to the bridge at once and then followed it up with a call to sickbay. They needed to resolve this situation the Hazari had with Jorgeh and Wylem. 

“Max’s, what’s the latest?” McCallister asked his first officer.

“We’ve completed their backstory, and we’ve made the updates to our records,” Duncan apprised.

Slyvexs then piped up. “Captain, we are all finished on the medical front. Cadet Jorgeh Duncan-Court and his brother William Duncan-Court are ready.”

“And both boys are prepared to help out?” McCallister checked out one more time.

“They are, sir,” answered Court. “We’ve explained everything and request that Commander Duncan and I be there when we speak with Y’Skei.”

“You’ve got it, Tobi,” McCallister replied. “Standby.” He closed the channel after Hunsen arrived on the bridge. “Tremt, your skills of being a miracle worker are just about to come into question.”

Chuckling at the captain teasing him, Hunsen joined Banfield at the console beside her. “So, no pressure then?” He countered with.

“None at all!” McCallister said with a wry smile. 

“Sir, the Hazari have sent in thirty-six vessels in to find us,” Tomaz informed from his station. “I think they’re trying to use a quick hit-and-run tactic to find us. The deployment pattern would give them enough room to cast their net to locate us.”

 Hearing that news, McCallister turned back to his science officer and chief engineer, “Guys, if we’re going to do this, then we need to do it now.”

“I’ve located the target point on the surface,” Banfield said, her focus remaining rigid on her sensor readings. 

Hunsen then shared that the tractor emitters were primed and ready. “This should be enough to create a superfluid gas eruption, and it engulfs most, if not all, of their ships chasing us.”

“Then do it, commanders; let’s show them we mean business,” McCallister ordered. 

Banfield and Hunsen worked in unison, and then the Odyssey’s tractor beam emitters came to life and fired a directed beam at the sun’s surface. As pulses hit the star, everyone held their breaths, anticipating what would happen next. 

A smirk appeared across the science officer’s face as she monitored the readings and shared what she saw. “The target area of the photosphere is destabilising. Pressure wave expansion is accelerating.”

“Subsurface fusion has been initiated. An eruption is forming on the surface.” Hunsen conveyed. 

The solar eruption extended quickly and hit all Hazari vessels trying to find the Odyssey. Within seconds most of them were destroyed or were trying to escape the oncoming wave. Their attempts were futile as they were all engulfed in the powerful energy burst. 

An outburst of cheers occurred across the bridge, and McCallister was delighted with the outcome. “Well done, Corella and Tremt,” He praised them before ordering T’Rani to take them out of the sun. 

“We are left with five Hazari vessels, sir,” Tomaz announced. “They are all smaller support vessels, and they won’t be able to do much damage to us.”

 “Good, but still get a weapon’s lock on them and bring our holographic fleet online. Let’s look like they’ve decloaked and are here to join us,” McCallister ordered. “Lukiz, open a channel to them.”

Jen did as he was told and nodded, indicating the open channel. 

Standing up from his chair, McCallister stepped forward to be in the middle of his bridge. Right behind T’Rani and Jen, he placed his hands behind his back into a tight grasp before speaking. “Hazari vessels, this is Captain McCallister; stand down, or once we are in weapon’s range, I will open fire. I am confident we can on take your last remaining forces. Let’s finally resolve all of this.”

For a moment, nothing happened, and then Lenjir had an indicator go off on his station.

“Sir,” He said, “the Hazari are powering down their weapons.”

“Finally,” McCallister said with a wide grin, showing his pride in their victory. Deciding he needed to wrap this all up, he made his way towards the turbolift and issued further orders. “Maintain a weapon’s lock; I’m heading to the brig to deal with our guests. Corella, the bridge is yours.”

Meeting Duncan, Court and their sons outside the brig, Captain McCallister gestured for them to follow him in. Walking across the detention centre, McCallister approached the cell where ​​Y’Skei was. 

“Captain McCallister,” Y’Skei said, greeting his captor before seeing the two boys behind him, both guarded by their fathers. “You’ve finally come to your senses.”

“Not quite,” McCallister replied, “You see, I’ve just defeated your forces in quite a spectacular fashion.” He used the nearby wall console to activate a holographic display of the battle that just took place and the current sensor readings showing the Odyssey with a small task group of escort ships surrounding it. At the same time, the remaining Hazari forces faced it. “So this is how this will go down; we will prove to you once and for all that these boys are Human, and then you will leave us alone forever. This lust for finding the remaining Ryslanti must end, and it ends here today.”

Realising he maybe have been defeated and had no choice, Y’Seki pondered for a moment his options. “And if I don’t submit to this?”

“Then I’ll destroy your remaining ships and hand you over to Starfleet Security as prisoners of war,” McCallister said. “As I said, the Federation doesn’t take too kindly to their kind being attacked. Your ships showed that they were an incredible threat to us when they attacked the Odyssey.”

“Your Federation has no jurisdiction in the Delta Quadrant,” Y’Seki replied. 

“No, we don’t, but our allies do, and I am sure one of them would find some interesting price to take you as their own prisoners if need be,” McCallister said. “So do we have a deal, or not?”

Y’Seki nodded, “I want one of my own to confirm the results.”

“It can be done here on the Odyssey,” Duncan replied in a strong, assertive voice. 

“We’re not fooling for any last-minute Hazari strategy of kidnapping our sons,” Court added. 

“Agreed,” Y’Seki said, sounding defeated. 

“It is confirmed, sir,” spoke Y’Seki’s aid as he walked into sickbay and handed him a PADD with the Hazari’s analysis of both Jorgeh and Wylem’s DNA. “They are human and the offspring of these two men.” He pointed at both Duncan and Court.

Remaining in control of his poker face, McCallister looked at the others in the room with him. Along with a sizeable armed security contingent, the captain was joined not only by Y’Seki and his aids but also Duncan, Court, their sons and Doctor Slyvexs with Lenjir nearby.

“It would seem your truth holds up, captain,” Y’Seki said as he winced at the human leader. 

“So you’ll stop chasing after my sons?” Court interjected, the irritation in his voice present. “Because we’d hate to have to kick your asses again!”

“I believe we did have you outnumbered at one point,” Y’Seki stated. “But there’s also the issue around your computer records.”

“What about them?” Duncan questioned. 

“Their authenticity is questionable,” Y’Seki said with a slight smirk. “They could have been forged.”

“Any question of their authenticity could be the result of battle damage that you inflicted on my ship,” McCallister countered. “Now, you could trust that what we are sharing is that these lads have been a part of this ship for most of their lives, or we could go back to shooting at one another.”

“Your scans of their DNA match up with own,” Slyvexs added. “They are human, and as the doctor who has cared for them for as long as they have been a part of the ship, I take great offence at you, sir, for questioning my ethics.”

If the crew needed to play up their buff, they certainly were doing it.

A silent stalemate then appeared between them all as McCallister glared at Y’Seki. 

“Very well, this matter is resolved,” Y’Seki relented. “However, be warned that if we find that this has been an elaborate subterfuge, we will be back.”

“If you ever decide to come back, I promise you that you won’t know what hit you, and I will not be taking a diplomatic approach with you,” McCallister replied in a firm tone. 

“As the Hirogen would say, you make an interesting prey,” Y’Seki said.

Turning to Lenjir, McCallister lifted his right thumb and gestured for Lenjir to escort their guests out. “Get him off my ship.”

“Gladly, sir,” Lenjir said as he stepped forward with the rest of the security contingent. 

Once the Hazari had left, a sigh of relief passed through everyone in the room.

“Well done, everyone,” McCallister said, congratulating those present. 

Pleased that they achieved something, Duncan and Court thanked the captain and the doctor for their efforts to protect their sons. 

“Well, now that drama is over, we still have one more thing to sort out,” McCallister said, looking at his first officer and chief of the boat, indicating their upcoming wedding. 

Sipping on a mug of hot raktajino, Commander Banfield sat comfortably in her quarters, reading over a report. Her husband was still on duty, and her youngest son was out doing homework with a friend in their quarters. She had the entire place to herself, so she was enjoying some light Klingon opera when the door chimed.

Looking over to the entrance, she told her visitor to come in as she placed her glass mug down. The doors parted, and she was surprised to see Cadets McCallister-Reyas and Jorgeh before her.

“Cadets, what can I do for you?” She formally asked them. 

“We’re sorry to interrupt you, ma’am, but we were hoping to ask you a question,” Alfie McCallister asked.

“Alfie is being generous; it’s me that has the question, and I’m afraid if I asked my fathers, they won’t quite understand where I’m coming from,” Jorgeh said. “Alfie agreed to come with me for moral support.”

  Intrigued by what was plaguing the young man, Banfield gestured for them both to sit in the two armchairs opposite her, “What can I answer for you?”

“I’m struggling to come to terms with what’s happened recently,” Jorgeh shared.

“With what transpired with the Hazari?” Banfield checked.

He nodded. “They were all so adamant about coming after Wylem and I, and now many of them are dead. How is that right? How can Starfleet be okay with that many lives lost?”

Banfield sat up to appreciate and understand the moral dilemma that Jorgeh was debating internally. “Starfleet isn’t okay with any loss of life; however, it also sees that certain measures must be taken when someone pushes you into a corner and your life is threatened. It is our job to protect Federation citizens and when the odds are so high and stacked against you, taking drastic measures to ensure everyone is kept safe is important.”

“And that justifies so many deaths?” Jorgeh challenged.

“The Klingon half of me would say yes, you either defeat your enemies or they defeat you. However, my human side would say that trying to justify anyone’s death is one of the most difficult elements of being human. All life is sacred, but Starfleet has rules and protocols for reasons.” She turned to Alfie, “Your father followed every single one of them. He tried to resolve the incident with a diplomatic and peaceful approach. The Hazari weren’t listening, and when they upped their game, wanting to take this ship, he followed regulation to ensure that no one was hurt.” She turned back to Jorgeh, “Now does he regret having to take the lives of our enemies? I would say yes. I am sure it would be on his mind tonight, but if he didn’t stand up against the bully, then who would? He could have easily destroyed every Hazari vessel; instead, in the last part of his plan, he gave them a choice to sit down and talk to us.”

“But he cheated them by not being honest,” Jorgeh said. 

“A small compromise to avoid the death of his son’s best friend,” Banfield answered with a comforting smile, “I am certain he could live with that lie, as will your fathers and everyone else involved.” She took a sip of her mug, “Ethics and morals are a hard part of being a Starfleet officer; there’s so much built inside of us that helps us choose between right and wrong every day. It’s what makes us ‘us’, but there are times when that line can be difficult to travel along. Give it time, Jorgeh; you will adjust to it all.”

“I just,” Jorgeh paused as he took a breath and gave a huge sigh, “I just suppose I hate the fact my background will always haunt me, and I hate that it caused so much grief.”

Banfield smirked; she knew where the cadet was coming from. She had been there herself with her background. Being temporally displaced into the past and unable to do anything with the knowledge of the Dominion War had eaten at her for a long time. So many deaths could have been avoided if she had shared what she knew. “Give it time, cadet.”

“I support, but for the first time today, after hearing my dads create the story of how Wylem and I were human and theirs, well, let’s just say I loved being a human,” Jorgeh revealed. “Wylem and I both agreed we preferred that life to the one we had on the Quirennal, and we know we can’t change that; however, just for a moment today, I loved being Cadet Jordan Duncan-Court. I felt more confident.”

Loving what she was hearing, Banfield smiled further at the cadet’s revelations. “Then you and Wylem need to share that with your fathers,”

“The commander is right,” Alfie agreed, “You should ask if you could keep your names.”

Jorgeh considered it for a moment and nodded once. “I may actually.”

“Let me know how it goes,” Banfield said as she rose, “Now cadets, I am off duty, so all I’m going to say is: dismissed.”

Taking the hint, both cadets stood up to attention, thanked her for her time and quickly departed from her quarters. 

After watching them leave her quarters, Banfield breathed out heavily and knew she couldn’t just leave it there. Tapping her combadge, she called for Commander Duncan and knew she would need to speak to him to ensure he and Court knew what Jorgeh had just shared with her.  

“Captain’s log stardate seven-seven-four-seven-nine point five-one. Two weeks have passed since our encounter with the Hazari bounty hunters was resolved. Long-range sensors have yet to pick up any of their vessels. I am hoping we are now in the clear. Starfleet has ordered the Odyssey back to the centre of the Gradin Belt for the time being. We are heading to Quarra, where we will be representing the Federation in trade talks. Meanwhile, our journey has given the crew a chance to celebrate the marriage of two of Odyssey’s finest.”

The Auditorium was packed with almost everyone on the ship. The room had been rearranged to allow the wedding ceremony to be set up in a traditional format. Aisles of chairs were facing the huge tall bay windows, and a small staged area had been set up to allow the wedding party to stand during the ceremony. Standing in the centre of the raised podium in full dress uniform, Captain McCallister smiled at the two men before him. Also, in dress uniforms, they both had smirks across their faces. Everyone around them was grinning. This was indeed a happy day on the Odyssey. 

Clearing his throat, the captain started. “We’re gathered here today, not as Starfleet officers, but as friends and family, to celebrate the marriage of Commander Duncan and Master Chief Court.” He paused to take a breath. McCallister didn’t want to rush the ceremony. “As Captain, the honour of joining these two people has fallen to me, and I couldn’t be prouder to see such a blessed union take place. However, before I declare them husband and husband, the happy couple has prepared their own vowels.”

Court went first. “I know what we have has been created in a short amount of time, but in that time, I couldn’t have asked for a better person to spend it with. This journey we have been on has been eventful and the family we’ve started,” The master chief paused to smile at their two sons that stood just behind them, “is one I cannot wait to finish building with you and enjoy doing so. Thank you.”

Smiling at the sentiment from his fiancé, Duncan then spoke up. “I wasn’t looking for anyone, but you appeared, and in that moment, I found the best friend I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. You make me laugh, you make me smile, and everything you have given to this relationship has only given me the strength inside to be the man I am now. I love what we’ve started with these two,” Duncan indicated with a glance at both his sons, “I cannot wait for what the future awaits us together.”

“Tobias Finlay Court, do you accept this man as your husband, to love and cherish above all others for as long as you both shall live?” McCallister asked.

Court’s smile got wider as he answered. “I do.”

Turning to his first officer, McCallister continued. “And do you, Maxwell Jack Duncan, accept this man as your husband, to love and cherish above all others for as long as you both shall live?”

Squeezing Court’s hand and smiling still, Duncan agreed. “I do.”

McCallister gestured for the rings to come forward from the two best men, the sons that the entire ship had put their lives on the line for. Court was first to present his ring onto Duncan’s finger, and he turned to the captain to wait for him to say the next part. 

“These rings symbolise your love for each other and your promise to abide by the vows you’ve made today,” McCallister stated.

Court took the first ring and squeezed it onto Duncan’s finger. “ With this ring, I thee wed.”

“With this ring, I thee wed.” Duncan echoed as he did the same thing to Court.

Both men then looked to their captain. McCallister took one more breath as he spoke the words they wanted to hear. “Commander Duncan, Master Chief Court, with the power vested in me by Starfleet Command and the United Federation of Planets, I now pronounce you husband and husband.” Everyone started to cheer, and McCallister noticed his first officer was giving him a slight glare. “You can kiss him now, Number One.”

Pleased with that last statement, Duncan pulled Court close to him, and both men embraced into a long kiss in front of their shipmates, who congratulated them and clapped as the formal part of their ceremony ended. 

Turning around to face the crowd, hand in hand, both men’s faces were still smiling as they walked down the aisle and were covered by confetti as they walked passed everyone. 

The wedding reception was in full swing, and the Auditorium’s own house band played a range of songs picked by the happy couple while everyone was helping themselves to food and drink. Captain McCallister watched as his crew enjoyed the party, leaning on the bar with a flute of champagne in his hands. He was approached by his chief science officer and second officer, who, like him, wore full dress uniform and was holding a flute too. Over the last few days, he had seen a different side to her. Her more compassionate side had been displayed after both Jorgeh and Wylem had requested to change their names to the human ones they used to bluff the Hazari with. Though Banfield had not encouraged it, she had been there for both boys to understand the impact of the change. Horin, in her capacity as ship’s counsellor, had said she felt this was still part of them dealing with the grief of what had happened to them on the Quirennal. Duncan and Court had initially not been on board with it, but they eventually agreed when they saw how much it made their sons happier. With the help of Tomaz and Flemen, Banfield had pointed out that while they remained in the Delta Quadrant, keeping up appearances wasn’t a bad idea either. Sylvexs had said that work on their DNA would last a bit longer; nothing stopped her from using the same method if they were ever rechallenged about the boys’ Ryslanti heritage. So, for now, the records on them being human and the offspring of Duncan and Court had remained. Banfield also knew that she would be acting first officer with Duncan and Court taking a couple of weeks off to have their honeymoon on one of the holodecks. As such, she was starting to show this new side to her that McCallister liked: someone who understood his style of leadership, someone who respected it and was prepared to put the crew first. Even Duncan, who initially didn’t like the commander’s attitude, was starting to appreciate her approach to things. Her being there for his sons had made the biggest of differences. 

“Are you not a dancer, commander?” McCallister asked Banfield.

She chuckled in response. “I am, but my husband isn’t the greatest at it.”

“I’m sure Carter isn’t that bad,” McCallister responded with a small laugh, acknowledging her husband, standing on the other side of the room talking to a group of lieutenants. 

“I assure you, sir, at an embassy reception last year, he fell over and knocked over a tray of canapés over the Klingon ambassador to Mellstoxx Three. He almost caused a diplomatic incident,” Banfield explained. “Are you okay, sir?”

“I’m fine,” McCallister replied as he smirked at trying to imagine how Banfield prevented her husband from having to engage in some Klingon combat ritual. Speaking quietly, he asked her the one question that went through his mind all afternoon, “did you speak to Tobias about, you know what?”

Banfield took a sip of her glass, then inhaled a breath before nodding. “I did,” She answered.

“And? Did it happen?” He asked. 

The science officer carefully looked at her superior before and slowly shook her head. “I’m afraid not, sir.”

Confused by that answer, McCallister stood up and looked at her. “Did we somehow miss it?”

“The chief told me that he waited at the time you shared with us after the Century Storm, but he said the past version of Lieutenant Commander Jen did not appear,” She shared. “I’ve been running scans of the side room all day; there’s been no one else in there besides the chief when he got ready before the ceremony started.”

Placing his glass down on the bar, he turned himself away from the rest of the crowd. “But if that didn’t happen…”

“…then somehow, somewhere, the timeline has changed, sir,” Banfield confirmed. “I’m sorry.”

“Bridge to Captain McCallister,” spoke Penelope, the ship’s ECH, over the intercom. Penelope was currently commanding the bridge while everyone else attended the wedding. 

Annoyed by the interruption, McCallister tapped his combadge in response. “This better be important, Penelope,” He snapped at her.

 “Sorry to disturb you, sir, but we’ve just witnessed the opening and closing of a vortex off our starboard bow. A small unmanned probe left it and is matching our course and speed. It is Federation in origin, but we cannot match it to any probe in our database. It is hailing us and asking for you personally.”

“Standby, Commander Banfield and I will be up there in a moment,” McCallister responded before he gestured for the science officer to come with him to the bridge. 

Moments later, McCallister stepped off the turbolift with Banfield behind him onto the bridge. There on the viewscreen showed an image of the probe that Penelope mentioned. Joining where she stood just behind the helm and ops station, McCallister asked the hologram for an update.

“Nothing besides its continuing hail for you, sir,” She answered. 

“Then open a channel,” He ordered. 

Banfield had moved to the science station to review the sensor logs and see what else she could find out for her captain. 

Once the channel was open, the holo communicator came to life, and a hologram of Karyn Reyas appeared. She looked almost the same as she did the last day that she was seen by the crew. 

“Karyn?” McCallister said, shocked to see a photonic version of his wife before him. Before it responded to her, the captain ordered for the bridge to be cleared except for Banfield. He didn’t want anything classified being shared with the rest of the bridge crew. Penelope deactivated herself before McCallister allowed for the hologram of his wife to continue. 

“Hi James,” The hologram said with a sweet smile, “if you’re seeing this holo-recording, then the probe we have sent to your timeline has arrived at the right point in which we’ve determined that divergence has taken place.”

“Divergence?” McCallister questioned and looked at Banfield, who appeared clueless like him, before turning back to the hologram. “I don’t understand.”

“I can’t explain too much, Temporal Prime Directive and all, but by now, you would have worked out that what you engaged with during the Century Storm paradox has not followed events that you were expecting. The biggest one being Max and Tobias’ wedding.” Hologram Karyn smiled. “I know this isn’t the news you were hoping to hear, but I hope it goes someway.” The hologram paused before what looked like a sensor reading appeared. “I entered an alternate future while trying to seal the subspace rift that had caused the damage to the Odyssey while it was in the Paulson Nebula at the start of the year. That alternate future has now been closed off from your timeline. From what our temporal scientists tell me, our two timelines have split from one another and cannot be undone. However, we have sent this probe with this message to tell you to cease your efforts in preparing for whatever you think will happen.”

“But what about you? You should be here with us.” McCallister challenged, almost sounding heartbroken at what he was hearing. 

 “I’m afraid I’m what they call a fixed point in time,” Reyas answered, “Well, that’s what our Krenim allies categorise it as. We’ve run hundreds of simulations, and my attempt to return will cause a massive temporal incursion that will damage both timelines. I know this isn’t what you want, it’s the same for me, but I want you to know I’m happy and safe. I’m with you, well alternate future you and I have a good life. Our sons are prospering, especially Alfie. So please, James, don’t worry anymore. Go live your life and find someone else to enjoy it with. I know you won’t want to, but I promise you everything is fine. I’ve left recorded messages for the boys and everyone else on the Odyssey in this probe, along with data that will help explain to the Department of Temporal Investigations what happened and how.” She paused, tilted her head at him and smiled. “We may meet again someday, but just in case it doesn’t, just know that I love you, James Preston Harvey McCallister, with all my heart. Goodbye, my sweetheart.”

The hologram then faded into existence. 

Captain McCallister stood there for a moment. In silence. Unable to say anything from the shock. 

“Corella, bring that probe into the shuttle bay and secure it.” He ordered, “then get me Starfleet Command.”

“Aye, sir,” Banfield answered as she, like her captain, had too many questions and ideas all running through her mind alongside the surprise turn of events that had just happened. She looked at her captain, and for the first time in ages, his confident expression was replaced with one of uncertainty mixed with anger and sadness. 

She had been there herself and knew how he was feeling, but for now, the Century Storm paradox had apparently passed the Odyssey. For the first time, Banfield wondered just how much of the ship’s destiny was now left to the unknown instead of the certainty. 

Things were going to change. 

For better or worse.