For Lieutenant Jason Devron this was just a chance get himself lost in the sprawl and chaos of a large alien city; or at least as lost as anyone could get with a com-badge which meant your location could be pinpointed at a moment’s notice.  Not that he expected anyone would want him that was.  His ship, the little Raven class corvette USS Jaxartes was in a mess thanks to an encounter with a Jem’Hadar Fighter.  The hull plating could be replaced, the holo-deck repaired and the aft crew quarters reconstructed those thing where relatively simple on the grand scheme of things.  The replacement of a main support beam however was far from simple. It would require heavy lifting equipment to remove the old beam and bring in the new one.  Equipment that was currently all in use working night and day to fix other vessels from the Fourth  Fleets major Dominion engagement.  Also none of it was anywhere near where his ship had been forced to dock; after an attempted pull by tractor beam had only worsened the damage further.

How some of the other starships had survived was a miracle and a testament to the skill and determination on the part of their officers and crew.  On the way in after the battle was over, he’d seen one ship with a huge chunk of her saucer section ripped out, another with a hole; three decks high and at least sixty meter’s wide.  Jason tried not to think of the lives lost, just in those two instances, along with countless others.

So here he was alone sitting at a quiet little coffee shop in a side street which he’d simple stumbled across after meandering through the city for half an hour.  Third left, first right, second left, fourth right and third left; if he’d bothered tracking his own route along the way from the shuttle port.  Though to class this place as a coffee shop was a bit of a stretch.  The liquid was warm and brown, yes.  Rather pleasant tasting to.  But to call it coffee was taking a lot of liberties.  He couldn’t recall what the Bandi waiter had called it; just that it was well liked by both locals and Starfleet personnel.  Which meant Jason wasn’t the first one to have found this place. Though may be the ‘Frontier Day’ flags and bunting across the window should have been a bit of a giveaway.

He was half way through the mug sized drink when someone asked if the seat opposite him was taken; a rather odd request as two other tables outside in the street where he sat were both empty. He looked up. “Doctor Andrianakis, what a surprise. Fancy seeing you hear!”  The surprise was very genuine and he felt a slight mix of annoyance that he’d been found and happiness that it was at least someone he got along with well.  Not that he had problems with any of the crew.  Jason indicated the other chair. “Please.”

The young Greek woman was dressed in a simple pale green summer dress; something far removed from what she’d been wearing the vast majority of the last few days.  She pulled back the chair, scrapping it across the square brick pavement. “Just call me Phoebe.” She replied sitting down. “At least whilst I’m not working at any rate.”

“What brings you all the way out to this particular coffee shop?” Jason asked her sincerely. “I only found it by accident.”

“Same really I guess.” She drew the attention of the waiter. “I’m on another shift later, but I have a couple hours spare.”  The waiter took her order and went back inside.  Andrianakis had been helping out at the main hospital were roughly a hundred Starfleet personal; one of those being the Valkyrie pilot they’d rescued during the battle.  Plus a dozen Cardassian’s had been sent for treatment.

“How is Lieutenant Beaufort getting along?” Jason asked having learnt the man’s name some time later after the injured man had regained consciousness.

“Fine, fine. Considering that stupid EMH on your ship told me he was dead soon after we beamed him into sickbay.”  She paused as the waiter placed her drink down, smiled and withdrew.  “I mean ok I couldn’t save his right leg, but the man is alive.”

Jason had noticed that about the doctor; if there was a problem or something wrong, it was his ship.  When good things happened it was theirs.  He tried not to smile at that thought.  “What’s happening to him and the rest that are down here?”

“Most will be transferring to the USS Chapel when she arrives in two days’ time.” Phoebe answered. “A few will be back on their own ships once space is freed up and the Cardassian’s have made their own arrangements.”

“Isn’t the Chapel where Dinari’s brother is?”

“Of cause, yes your right.  I hadn’t thought of that.”

“He hasn’t really spoken to any of his family other than his Grandmother since he joined the Academy.”

“Pity that.  I saw his mother once at a conference whilst I was with the World Health Organisation.  Though at eight rows back I wasn’t all that close to her.”

“Talking of mothers Phoebe, have you been in touch with yours?”

“Last night.  Asked me how I’d got mixed up in a minor boarder skirmish half way across the Alpha Quadrant from where I should have been!” She took a sip of the blue liquid in her glass.  “Mother was just repeating most of what everyone’s heard on the news.  I can’t believe Earth is so blind these days!”

Devron was about to reply, when his attention was caught by an elderly man dressed all in black with silvery grey hair.  No; surely not! It couldn’t have been him, could it?  The man who; back on Earth had helped give him a second chance.  But what was he doing here of all places?  Jason made his apologies and got up to follow the man who’d just rounded the corner of the street.  He ran quickly to the junction and spotted the man again turning another corner. But when Jason reached that point moments later, he couldn’t see the man anywhere.  Just a dozen other people and aliens going about their daily business.

He stood there a moment, before nearly jumping out of his skin when a hand touched his shoulder. “What’s the matter?” Asked the doctor.

“A face from my past, or at least I think it was.” He replied putting his own hand on hers a moment.  Before they both broke contact.

“The past you hardly talk about?”  She enquired.

He turned towards her with half a smile on his face. “Are you a doctor or a detective miss Andrianakis?”

“In my line of work, sometimes I need to be both.” Phoebe turned towards the direction they’d come. “Any way let’s get back to those drinks before the waiter notices we’ve both disappeared and not paid.”

He agreed and the two walked back towards the coffee shop.  They sat back down, thankful that the drinks were still on the table where they’d left them. “I will find out you know.” The Greek woman announced.

“Find out what?” Devron replied even though he knew what she meant already.

“You’re secret.” Phoebe responded. “The real Jason Devron.”

“I am the real me.” He made a show of tapping his left cheek and back of his left hand. “See all real.”

“After having a Changeling on board; that’s not funny.” She scowled at him, before snatching up her glass and taking a long gulp.

He placed both his hands on top of her other hand that remained on the table. “Look I’m sorry.  That was stupid of me.”

“Very.” The tone was a little softer this time. “Look if your father was an assassin or grandfather was an Admiral, you can tell me.” She sighed. “Look I don’t even know who my father is or was.”  She thudding the glass down, sloshing around the small amount of blue liquid that still remained inside.  “Who the heck doesn’t have at least some knowledge of their father in this day and age?”

“Hasn’t your mother ever said anything about him?  And what about DNA?” Jason asked still with his hand over hers.

“Talks about him like it were a dream.” Phoebe closed her eyes a moment before opening them again.  “As for DNA, there isn’t any.  None that isn’t a direct link to my mother and her side of the family.”

Jason was no scientist, but he felt that shouldn’t be the case.  In fact shouldn’t it be medically impossible?  He was starting to wonder who out of the pair of them the biggest mystery was.

Whilst her captain and the doctor were enjoying their drink together; Lieutenant Stuart had set other plans in motion.  The sort of plans that either gets you a gold star or a slap on the wrist; depending on the final outcome.  Right now she was at the controls of a rather large four wheeled forklift. It was a vehicle she was very familiar with; and the very machine she’d learned to drive as a young girl.

Her father had arrived with his Clyde Class medium freighter the ‘Spirit of the Loch’ early that morning; caring a consignment of engineering equipment.  And once he’d used the ships ‘Yarrow’ heavy forklift loader to empty his cargo, she’d asked if she could ‘borrow’ it.  Donald Stuart had never been the sort of man that could turn his daughter down; especially when she flashed those emerald green eyes of hers and gave him her best ‘Oh please daddy’ look.  It was the same look that had got her a kitten at the age of six.  A tabby by the name of ‘Major Tom’.  That cat was now 14 and still roaming the ship like it owned the place.

Lyanna’s dad had given her a big hug the moment she’d walked into view and mom Luna had followed soon after with a kiss on both cheeks. They’d not seen their daughter in the flesh since her birthday in November, but she’d managed to make contact with them via video link at least once a month since then.  To have them there though, so soon after recent events really lifted her spirits and gave her the determination to get the job in hand done.

Lyanna had already used the Yarrow to drag out the damaged support beam from the Jaxartes; once it’s Chief Engineer and a nearly a dozen other crew members had positioned a number of frames to support the weight of everything normally held up by the beam itself.  Now she was using the heavy forklift to ease the brand-new beam into place. Stuart watched for the directional signals from Lyambo who was holding a pair of bright orange bats like someone on the bow of an aircraft carrier directing in the fighters after another mission.  Using the radio or com-badges would have been pointless the old Yarrow’s engines made way too much noise for anything like that to be feasible.

The job was slow but anything was quicker than the eleven days they’d originally been told to wait.  Though telling the crew of the Jax; ‘if you can do it any quicker, go ahead’ was probably something someone was going to regret saying out loud.  They just hoped their captain would appreciate the gesture.

Dinari turned the two paddles around, showing the black side; an indication to stop moving and shut down the engine.  Lyanna put on the brakes and flipped the three large switches across the top right hand side of the control panel, before turning the ignition key anti-clockwise.  The great beast of an engine roar, coughed and groaned, before settling on a steady whine that slowly died down to silence.  Once satisfied it had shut down; she placed her thumb on a small blue button, pressing it down hard.  This then allowed her to pull out the key.

Stuart placed the key in the top pocket of the navy blue coveralls she was wearing.  Her brothers’ spare pair, though she’d had to roll up the legs and sleeves.  But she certainly wasn’t mucking up any of her own clothes.  She opened the cab door; a simple hinged thing that swung back and up slightly. “How’s that then chief?” She asked Lyambo.

“Perfect.” He beamed. “I owe your father a bottle of something very special.  Plus I can get my hands on a replacement air filtration system if he wants it?”

“Oh he’ll love you for that.” Lyanna replied happily. “Place smells like something died in one of the holds a month ago.” She was sure nothing had died, her dad wasn’t one for carrying livestock not since the stampede of 2393 that is.  But something had definitely left a strong lingering smell that the old filtration system was not clearing out.

The two crew members set about unwrapping and unfastening the chains that held the beam to the Yarrow.  They were almost finished when Albert Torf; Lyambo’s Betazoid engineering assistant and Chief Petty Office Thomas Lose whose main role on the ‘Jax’ was seeing that the automated torpedo loading mechanism worked correctly and didn’t jam during combat. On a good day he wouldn’t have to do much, but none of the other crew envied the fact he was locked away amongst highly explosive warheads in a section of the ship often targeted by enemy vessels.  At 32 Thomas was now the oldest member of the crew and the only one to have served on another ship before this assignment.

“Ready to start welding and bolting when you are, boss.” Torf announced in his usual polite manner.

“Well I’ll leave you boys to play whilst I take this thing back.” The young Orion tapped the huge balloon tire with its thick treads next to her.  Lyanna then climbed her way back into the cab.  As the three others made their way inside the corvette, she started up the powerful engine on the heavy forklift and looking over her shoulder reversed it around the edge of the hanger.  Once lined up with the exit ramp she waited for crewman Lightwood to open the doors; before gunning the engine and thundering it up the ramp and out.

The space station they were docked into was a commercial one dealing in 90% freight the rest short range passenger shuttles, but after the battle and unloading the people they’d rescued; anywhere had been a safe haven to rest the war weary Raven.  The Presidium Class station where they were currently staying was more secured, but its hangers where only just big enough to squeeze in a Raven; which would have made it impossible to undertake the work they’d started. When someone had commented these little ships can take a lot of punishment they really meant it.

Beyond the hanger doors a massive warehouse complex; seven stores high and the width of three football fields. Around the perimeter of this warehouse and another just like it above was other hangers, just like the one the Jaxartes now sat her rear most section docked inside; the rest outside the space station.  Stuart checked she had a green light to proceeding down one of the many aisles as she headed back to hanger 11 were her father and the ‘Spirit of the Loch’ waited.

**********

Lieutenant Stuart had only been gone a few minutes and already Lyambo and his team of workers were hard at it.  Sparks flew and the very air seemed to hiss and crackle as with torch in one hand he welded one cross beam to the new support beam.  Crewman Tyson was below and to his right welding an identical looking beam to the other side.  His dad was a ship builder back on Earth and as a teenager Tyson had done an apprenticeship with him in the Belfast shipyard where he worked; just in case he wasn’t accepted into Starfleet.  So the young man knew what he was doing.

“Hey George.” Dinari turned to the other man. “If you’re this good at welding and stuff how come you didn’t go into engineering with your old man?”

“The yard only builds one or two vessels in a year and maintenance work is a hit and miss affair.” The other man replied pausing to examine his handy work.

“So why not building star ships instead?” The Chief asked honestly

“I can’t stand heights.” Was the reply

There was a moment of silence whilst Lyambo tried to figure that one out in his mind. ‘How can a guy that hates heights go into space?’  He scratched the back of his neck, feeling there was something that should be said; but in the end gave up and set about getting on with the job in hand.

Further along the new beam Ensign C’Rren and Chief Petty Officer Lose were assisting each other with bolting a diagonal cross-member into place.  The young Caitian had nominated himself for this job; feeling that fire and fur didn’t really mix, especially in the confined space the other two were working in.  Besides that, with the power tool they had, each of the bolts was taking seconds to tighten up.  Once that was done, they’d need to fix the wall panels and decking plate back in position.  They were currently stacked up along with other section of plating in what remained of the holo-suit.  That would be the last section of the ship that would get fixed as it wasn’t as essential as other parts.

Whilst this was going on Ensigns Torf and Tholakath had set about relaying some of the many cables and ducking that had been damaged or in some spots completely severed.  They couldn’t lay them anywhere the welding still needed to be done, but there were plenty of other sections to be going on with.  At the moment everyone was working under temporary lighting but given another half hour that situation would hopefully improve.  Throughout other sections of the corvette another half dozen crew members worked away at their allotted tasks, all in the hope of bringing their ship back to life.

There was one noticeable absentee from the repair work going one; other than the captain and doctor.  Ensign Chad Harris, the other helm officer.   He was seated before a communications screen waiting for a video link.   The Federation sign sat at the centre of the screen with the words ‘Please Hold’ in white across the bottom. He’d been on hold a good seven or eight minutes.  But after the battle with the Dominion here at Farpoint; communication both military and civilian had more than quadrupled.

After another few seconds the image faded away to be replaced by a young Korean woman clearly sitting up in a hospital bed somewhere. “Been waiting long?” She asked in a soft almost whisper.

“Just a few minutes.  Its chaos around here right now.” Replied Chad. “How are you?”

Ensign Cho thought about her answer looking down at the tube in the back of her hand currently feeding fluids back into her system. Then she looked back up. “Getting there; doctors say I’ll be here another few days yet.”

Chad could see the lost look in her eyes.  He’d been allowed to read the report a couple of days ago, so he knew what she’d been through back on the USS Los Angeles.  Two week in a coma and most of that without any form of nutrition or treatment of any kind just slowly wasting away.  Had it not been for the Captains injury and an error made by the Changeling that had taken her place in regard to Lieutenant Takalla’s illness; the person it was originally pretending to be, there was no guarantee that either Cho or Takalla would have been found alive.

There was also the issue with all the tension and confusion between the Fourth Fleet and the rest of Starfleet which had meant the captain of the Los Angeles hadn’t been believed when he’d originally sent his warning.  So by the time they’d been contacted, the truth was already known to them.  ‘Trust no one but the fourth’ carried a hollow ring to it for Chad, when it had almost cost the life of the person he loved, if not potentially the whole crew of the Jax. Right now he just wanted to grab someone by the scruff of the neck, bang them against the nearest wall and scream at them.  But the young New Zealand knew that wouldn’t help matters.

“You look angry and tense.” Cho could plainly tell from the look on his face and the way he sat. “You can’t blame the universe or yourself for that matter.”

He sat back and let out a sigh. “I know, and I can’t even act out my revenge of the creature that did this to you.”

“Oh!  Why is that?” She asked puzzled.

“The Breen blew the shuttle up, she, it was in.” Chad paused a second. “Our shuttle in fact.  The Changeling and three Jem’Hadar took it.”

“Is everyone ok, did they hurt you at all?” Cho was extremely concerned by this news as the doctors had kept any information regarding the fate of the crew from her.  So this revelation came as rather a shock.

“We just got shoved around a bit.  The Jem’Hadar wanted to do more, but agreed to just leave a bomb instead.”

“Then how?”

“Well our new Tactical officer Tholakath managed to disable the device.”

“Sounds a bit Cardassian.  How did we end up with him?”

“I’m not sure entirely.  He’s good at his job at least, and the fleet does have one or two Cardassian’s who’ve come through the Academy. All part of building bridges and putting aside the past they say.”

“I look forward to meeting him. I miss you all. You the most”

“I miss you to.” Chad kissed the tips of his fingers and pressed them on the screen where her lips were.

Cho was starting to feel tired; despite her long enforced period of sleep she was still finding it hard to stay awake for any length of time.  Trouble was when she did sleep she saw the image of that other her.  Nose almost touching, just laughing at her.  How could anything laugh the way that thing did; it cut through your soul like a knife and even just thinking about it made the young Korean shiver.  She wanted so much to be in Chad’s arms right now, so needed to be back in her job, doing the thing she loved and had trained to do.  But was she still the same person; or had that creature taken more than just her face?

She kept her composure long enough to apologise for being tired and say goodbye.  Then when the Starfleet logo re-appeared on the screen by her bed, she buried her head in the pillows and cried.

After walking the doctor over to the hospital where she was volunteering; Jason made his way back to the quarters he was using whilst his ship awaited repairs.  It was a small place just two rooms, but more than adequate for his needs. He had the place to himself which was another bonus.  It had given Jason the chance to finish up his reports.  The next thing on his list was crew evaluation, something he wasn’t exactly looking forward to.

The door made a kind of ‘ffisshusf’ noise as it opened and the lights came on as expected at his request and the door closed again behind him.  All as expected all pretty normal.  What wasn’t expected or normal was the tall thin man sitting on the sofa.  He was dressed in a sort of light grey collarless business suit with a white shirt visible underneath, but no signs of a tie. The shoes the man wore where black and that well-polished that the light directly above him reflected in them.  His face was that of a man in his mid-forties may be; slightly rounded but fairly unremarkable.  The hair on his head was short and as black as the shoes.  But it was those eyes; eyes that sucked you into a never ending void.  Whole galaxies had got lost in those eyes, or so it felt to Jason.

“Ah, mister Devron.” The stranger spoke with a voice like the rumbles of distant thunder whilst flashing impossibly white teeth.

“Who the hell are you?” He shouted at the intruder. “And how did you get in here?”

The stranger looked at Jason in the same way as a father looks at a naughty child, just before he tells him off for leaving chocolate fingerprints everywhere. Coupled with those eyes it stopped the young lieutenant in his tracks.  Then with a click of the fingers; which in itself sounded much loader than it should; he was gone in a brief flash of light only to reappear almost in the same instant in the office chair over the far side of the room, which he swung around to face Devron. “Take a wild guess?”

“Q!” He replied in surprise.

“Well one of yes.” The older man replied. “There are more of us than just that one.” The word ‘that’ seemed much more emphasised, like the particular ‘Q’ it referred to was an annoyance to this individual.

“So what would a member of the Continuum be wanting with me?” Jason enquired folding his arms, but still remaining in the same spot near the door.

“I hate to disappoint.  But right now you are just a pawn in a galactic game of chess.”  This ‘Q’ acted and sounded differently from the one often encountered by the Enterprise. “No it’s the doctor that concerns me.”

“Doctor Andrianakis?” Jason asked as if there could be any other doctor this intruder was referring to.

“One and the same.” The ‘Q’ clasped his hands together.  He couldn’t honestly remember the last time he’d been in a solid form and done that before today.  It had been a while, but time was subject and annoying.  He also wasn’t going to let it be known he’d spent a good hour practising speaking in front of the mirror either.  This whole idea of lips and jaw moving to create a sound.  Rather than think it into another person’s head.  How did his compatriot manage it with such ease?

“Have you noticed anything strange going on, around her?” He finally said.

“No, why do you ask?” Devron was puzzle by the question.

“So somehow surviving the attack on Y’Tech V, and being missed by an Orion firing his weapon despite being much closer to the exit of the transporter room than you yourself who took a direct hit.  Aren’t strange?”

Devron thought about it for a moment, she’d been on the other side of the island, and he and Stuart had both escaped being killed during that mission.  As for Hasray missing the doctor when he fired.  Well that was just luck.

“And I suppose you’re stupid enough to believe the armour on that Romulan car saved your lives to?”

Jason had never really thought of it much.  Yes the damage was only minor, but those things had been designed to protect whoever was inside. So hadn’t that been the case?

“Typical human behaviour.” The ‘Q’ sighed. “Always dismissing what’s right in front of you.  How you ever made it past the primordial soup stage, I have no idea.” He got up and stretched.  His backside was actually starting to feel numb, and people actually sat on these things for eight hours a day! “I suppose that Jem’Hadar warrior freezing mid-swing was just luck to?”

‘Did this entity know everything that had happened?’  Ok that was a stupid question to think, at least Jason felt he’d only thought it; though this ‘Q’ smiled like he’d heard it. Yes that was strange, granted.  Those warriors didn’t hesitate. But what was this stranger implying?

“And just to top it all off.  She brings a pilot back from the dead.” The ‘Q’ finished

Phoebe had said it herself; the EMH had declared the man dead.  But if all this was connected to her; what was she?  His mind had clearly been read again, as an answer was soon forthcoming.  “She’s human enough.  Just her father wasn’t.”

“Then?”

“Her father was a member of the Continuum and it’s become apparent that the good doctor is displaying abilities beyond the scope of a normal human.” The stranger knew what was coming next even without needing to read this young man’s mind.  “And yes breeding with lower life forms is frowned upon. But it does happen from time to time.”

What did he mean lower life forms! Who did this ‘Q’ thing think he was anyway?  Jason was angry now, and he was sure the entity could sense that to.

“There will come times when your crew will face danger, grave danger.  And if she unleashes these powers she may do untold damage, way beyond what your primitive minds can understand.  You must help steer her clear of those actions.”

“How do I do that if I don’t know the dangers or what she’s capable of?”

“You’ll find a way mister Devron.  As for her abilities and power even we can’t predict that yet.”

“And the alternative?”

“For her, there is no alternate.  She either follows this path or the road ends here.” That last part seemed to sting, as it was said with weight and menace behind it. Then in a far friendlier tone of voice. “Oh and you’ve got someone at the door.”

Jason turned towards the door, then back again, but the room was empty. Then someone knocked at the door.  That made him jump more than it normally would have.  The two security officers standing outside was rather a surprise to.  One of which peering inside as if half expecting to find someone else in there.  Had he heard anything, Jason wondered.  The other man held up a Padd. “Have you seen this man sir?”  The face on it was unmistakable that of the man he’d seen today and knew from back on earth.

“No, should I have?”

“You are Lieutenant Junior Grade Jason Alan Devron, grandson of retired Rear-Admiral George Jason Devron, the man in this photo?”

It was at this point the Jason’s world imploded.  ‘What the heck was going on?’

The two security officers had left a good hour ago; after Jason had let them in to look around.  They hadn’t actual asked, but he felt by doing so; they’d see he was clearly cooperating fully and not trying to hide anything.  He’d also promised them he’d contact them if he saw the Rear-Admiral, but whether he did that straight away he wasn’t certain just yet.  Too many question for one thing.  So for a start why had he never heard of Rear-Admiral Devron even if he was retired?  When did he retire?  He seemed pretty active a couple of years ago.  Though at that point; he didn’t know the man’s name.  Why had he given him his surname as a new identity, was there or had there ever been a real Jason Alan Devron.  Who was he supposed to trust?  Frustrated the young lieutenant slammed his fist into the cushion on the sofa; before letting out an exasperated groan.

How do you find a man that’s trying not to be found whilst simultaneously not letting anyone else know you’re actually searching for him?

Devron moved over to the office chair which was exactly were that ‘Q’ fellow had left it; sat down and turned towards the computer.  He wanted to see what he could discover about this Rear-Admiral George Jason Devron.

The man seemed rather unremarkable; Born in 2314 he’d joined the Academy before going on to serve aboard a number of various vessels as he moved up through the ranks before finally becoming Captain of the USS Seattle in 2355.  Eight years later he was working on Earth in Starfleet intelligence becoming a Commodore three years after that.  By 2377 he was listed as a Rear-Admiral, but retired in 2390 having never risen further than that.  That couldn’t be right though, Jason had met him seven years later, and he was clearly working back then.  More puzzles, mysteries and misinformation.  The truth was buried deep and to search any deeper might set off someone’s alarm bells!

Right now though all these questions along with how he was going to handle the situation with the doctor needed to wait, right now a shower and something to eat sounded a much better idea.

**********

The crew of the USS Jaxartes had been working on her repairs in secret for roughly ten hours that day.  Secret that is from their captain, who they hoped would appreciate their efforts.  It would probably take then another day to get the important work finished, but at least the worst of it was out of the way and the old girl was flyable again.

Dinari the Chief Engineer sat himself down on an empty packing crate to the rear of the corvette admiring the effort they’d put in. “You know Albert.” He said turning towards the Betazoid standing next to him. “You’ve put those panels in upside down.”

The other engineer walked forward.  Ran his eyes and then his fingers over the perfectly flat surface of the bulkhead.  Then turned as he heard the unmistakable chuckle of the ebony skinned Chief.  He was just in time to catch Lyanna give the other man a light hearted punch in the back of the shoulder. “Behave and stop teasing the guy.  He’s worked hard.” She gave a long loud yawn, putting the back of her other hand across her mouth. “We all have.  Time to call it a day”

With that the crew gathered together any stuff they wanted to take with them and headed for the exit ramp.  Last off the ship, Lieutenant Stuart closed and sealed the hatch before coding in an eight digit security lock.

“What does the Captain think we’ve all been doing, by the way?” Tyson asked.

“Eating, drinking, sightseeing, sunbathing.” Answered Stuart. “Basically anything but actually working on that ship.”

“I’m surprised he hasn’t checked up on any of use.” C’Rren mused.

“He’s not the sort of person to go around chasing after everyone, not unless there’s a problem.” Lyambo reassured the young Caitian. “So enjoy whatever you have planned for what remains of the day.”

C’Rren hadn’t really thought that far ahead.  What was there to actually do on the planet or the small space-station housing their temporary accommodation?  He hadn’t visited many places in the past; other than those on his home world and that of the Academy, so he wasn’t really sure of what to expect on other planets.

They all rode the lift up to the top level.  It was a huge thing designed mainly for cargo, with just a simple set of concertinaed doors which had taken a lot of effort to pull across.  As it moved it groaned, clattered, squeaked and squealed like something that hadn’t seen a spot of oil in who knows how long.  It shuddered to a stop, allowing them to force open the doors and exit into a large drab corridor.  Beyond two sets of double door at one end of the corridor they entered the only marginally better looking passenger foyer.

Crewman Lightwood went on slightly ahead and came back a minute or two later. “We have a shuttle heading our way in six minutes.” He informed the rest of the crew.  They boarded the shuttle a couple of minutes later; sitting along the fold down seats along the sides of the main compartment.  A couple of engineers joined them placing a large metal box and three smaller ones in the centre which some locals helped them load on board.

Lyambo soon struck up a conversation with the woman and her male Tellarite companion; discovering that the boxes where part of the cargo from the Spirit of the Loch and where to repair a damaged Runabout.  Of cause when they learned it was Lyanna’s father in charge of that ship which had delivered the parts; that drew her and other members of the crew into the discussion.  They were so busy talking they didn’t realise their shuttle had arrived until its stubby little legs touched down.

When the aft doors opened and the ramp slid out, they offered to help the engineers unload their cargo and place it on the back of a pair of motorised trollies waiting for them.  With a thank you and a smile from the woman; Tellarite’s didn’t really do smiles, the two engineers disappeared off towards another section of the station.

“Did you get her name and details?” Lyanna whispered in Dinari’s ear, knowing what his reputation with members of the opposite sex was like.  The Chief turned giving her his ‘who me look’ smiled and put his finger to his lips. Before walking off laughing to himself.

“So who fancy a drink?” Asked Lose.

“You paying?” Enquired Ligthwood.  The Chief Petty Officer made a show of having empty pockets; not that anyone carried money around.

“You lot go have fun. I’m meeting up with the family.” Stuart informed them. “So I’ll see you in the morning 7am?” They groaned and she just ignored then, because she knew they realised she hadn’t really meant that.

They’d all be ready to work again in the morning, whatever they got up to.

Another two days had passed and Lieutenant Devron had not heard any more about the Rear-Admiral; nor had he really heard much from his crew.  He was beginning to wonder if something fishy was going on behind his back; but wasn’t about to contact his first office and start asking questions.

So basically he’d gone about doing his own thing for the most part, meeting up with Phoebe at least once in each day.  He still wasn’t sure how to handle this whole ‘Q’ situation; she seemed so normal so human.  But then his visitor had told him she was human, just a human who had an unnatural ability to protect herself from harm. They were together now in fact, but far from alone and enjoying a quiet drink.  No today was a little more work related.

The medical ship USS Chapel had arrived to pick up the last of the wounded personnel from the battles with what had remained of the Dominion forces that had made one final attack at and around Deneb IV.  There were 87 in the end, a few of the others were now back on their own ships; however for these few the road to recovery would be much longer.  Most would like many others that had suffered terrible injuries not be in a position to serve in Starfleet again; there where many that carried scares of a different kind.

But the USS Chapel had been designed to carry and care for many more sick and injured than this small group, so the doctors, nurses and other specialist would not find their first active mission too challenging.

Devron was stood to one side keeping out of the way whilst a group of four doctor’s chatted away and compared notes on their Padd’s regarding the parents being transferred.  The Chapel had beamed down its own beds and monitoring equipment which the parents had been moved to, during the course of the afternoon.  Satisfied things where in order the one doctor stepped away and touched his com-badge.  “This is Doctor Xyikis, are you ready to begin?”  A few seconds later he received an affirmative.

“Bed’s 23,25 and 26. Energise.”  With that three beds dematerialised from the ward.  “Bed’s 40 through 53. Ready for transport.” Another thirteen beds from another part of the hospital where now on their way to the orbiting ship. “60 to 64. Go.”  He carried on running through the list until 87 beds had been transported back up to the medical vessel.  This stage of the operation was over in just a few minutes.

Andrianakis walked over to were Devron was standing. “I’ve been invited aboard to look around, care to join me?” It was a question sort of asked in hope more than anything.

“I would like that very much.” Jason replied. “Thank you for asking.”  He wasn’t sure if that was a slight hint of a blush, the doctors olive complexion tended to mask that sort of thing.  They were both starting to feel rather comfortable in each other’s presence. Phoebe was a very easy person to like.

**********

A few minutes later the Lieutenant was standing on the transporter pad aboard the USS Chapel; along with Doctor’s Xyikis and Andrianakis.  There was another doctor there to greet them, and although Jason had never met the man prior to this; his features rather gave away who he was before he’d even opened his mouth to speak.

“I am Doctor Charlie Lyambo, Chief Surgeon, Commander and First Officer.” He shook both the new arrivals hands.  “Welcome aboard the Olympic Class Hospital Ship USS Chapel.”

Jason would have been a little surprised that a man so young could be a Chief Surgeon and a Commander, but Dinari had told him about his eldest brother some time earlier in the year when this vessel was still being build.  In fact the ship still had that totally new smell about it.

“I’m Lieutenant Jason Devron; Captain of the USS Jaxartes.” Jason said smiling back at their host. “A very impressive transfer of those patients you made.”

“That was a piece of cake, trust me. “ The Commander announced, guiding the two out of the transporter room. “So your Dinari’s boss then.”

“You know about me then?” Jason enquired.

“More than my little brother realises. Step this way, please.” He gestured to a turbo lift which they rode up to deck 3.  Once in another corridor he led them around to his office; and offered them both a drink.  They sat around a small coffee table in well-padded leather seats which had clearly never been sat in before; they were far too new and smelled it to.  Charlie gave a sign holding a cup of herbal tea in both hands. “Your probably thinking we are a cruel family when it comes to Dinari. And in a way your right.”

“He feels very cut off,” Jason said sincerely. “What happened?”

“To put it bluntly, our father.” He took a sip of the tea. “Well you know how powerful and influential he is?”

“A lot of medical supplies are produced by his company, I know that much.” Replied Jason. “But how does that connect with Dinari.”

“Well our father likes to control everything.  Not just the business side of things but family life to.” Charlie took another sip of his drink. “My young brother went completely against his wishes when he chose to be an engineer.”

“But how does that stop to talking to him?” Phoebe asked him.

“Because he has the power to make or break our careers at the click of a finger.” The Chief Surgeon sighed. “And he’d do it without a second thought.”

“That’s horrible and to his own children.” Phoebe looked him in the eyes. “Are you sure he’d do such a thing?”

“Ever heard of Professor Immanuel Ebrae?” Charlie asked them both; and when they shook their heads, he continued.  “Mom’s highly respected brother until he went up against our father in a court case about fifteen years back.”

“What happened?” Jason queried.

“I don’t have all the details.  But my uncles name and reputation were destroyed overnight; and he took his own life a year or so later.”  The other two looked back at him in amazement. “Our Dinari is the bravest one out of all of us. He got away from under his thumb and found a career where our father can’t interfere.  We are all proud of him. Just too stupid and damned scared to show it.”  He lowered his head, closing his eyes, and Phoebe placed her one hand on the back of his.

They chatted for a bit longer, whilst finishing off their drinks.  Then the Commander offered to give them a tour of the ship.  The USS Chapel was the latest in a long line of Olympic Class vessels. Though the class itself was over forty years old now, various alterations and modifications had been made along the way. The crew and medical staff currently numbered just over 400 slightly more than half what she was designed to carry, and she had facilities to handle 300 patients in various ICU, Critical Care and Isolation wards with an additional 6,400 evacuees if the need arose.  There was also prefabricated parts and equipment on board to build a 100 bed surgical hospital complete with generators; down on a planet’s surface should long term medical help be required.  Something her sister vessels didn’t have.

Charlie was just showing them the four specially designed Medical Runabouts sitting in Shuttle Bay 2; another feature that made the USS Chapel stand out from the rest, when his com-badge chirped. He tapped it. “Lyambo here, go ahead.”

“Commander our escort is in position.  So if you’d like to take our guests back to the transporter room. We can depart.” It was the voice of the Andorian Captain.

“What escort?” The First Officer replied, puzzled. “I didn’t think there was anything available?”

“The USS Jaxartes is in position off our starboard side.  Didn’t captain Devron inform you?”

Jason shrugged, genuinely not knowing anything about it.  But the other man covered for him by simple saying it a slipped his mind. He tapped his own badge to contact the corvette.  “Number one, thanks for the heads up.  Just wait till I get on board!”

“Not in front of the Admiral Sir.” Lieutenant Stuart answered him.

Jason broke the connection without saying any more; turning to catch doctor Andrianakis attempting to hide a grin.  But to be honest she was none the wise, just amused by the situation.

“I guess we’d better be off then.” Devron stated. “And Commander, I’ll pass on your thoughts to the Chief.”

So his crew had somehow pulled off a miracle and repaired the ‘Jax’ completely behind his back and without the use of proper repair facilities. He’d have to ask how they managed that little stunt.  Also who was this Admiral and why was he on his ship?

A few minutes later Lieutenant Devron and Doctor Andrianakis materialised on the transporter pad of the Jaxartes; the Betazoid engineer was at the controls as he was in most cases, in front of them stood Lieutenant Stuart, standing to attention. The young Orion gave a crisp salute, much better than the hastily returned one her captain gave back. “Welcome back sir.” She beamed enthusiastically before turning slightly to her right. “I believe you know Rear Admiral Devron?” There was a slight tone to that last part.  The sort of tone that suggests ‘you may be my commanding officer, but you still have some serious explaining to do.’

“It’s been a while sir.” Jason shook the hand of the man who up until a couple of days ago had just been a mystery man.  The man with no name dressed in black.  Here he was though in full uniform, much like the one in the photo those two security officers had shown him. “Care to join me in my office?”

“I’d love that.” Replied the older man.

“Your dismissed number one.” Jason announced. Then stepping closer on his way out, whispered. “How the heck did you get this ship up and running?”

Lyanna merely tapped the side of her nose and winked. As the two Devron’s exited the room. She felt the Phoebe’s hand slip under her arm. “So” The doctor enquired. “What do we know?”

The Orion tapped the other woman’s hand before pulling way and turning around.  “Well its clear from not just the name those pair are related.”

“Why do you say that?” Phoebe asked.

“Way too secretive for one thing.  I mean what sort of an Admiral appears out of nowhere without any sort of escort on a civilian space station and knocks on the hatch of a corvette?”

Andrianakis stood there a moment pondering that though as the Lieutenant walked off. “And what do you think?” She asked Torf.  The Betazoid just shrugged and made his own exit from the transporter room.

**********

Inside the Captains Office/Quarters the two men sat facing each other; freshly replicated drinks in hands. “Care to explain all this, Sir?” Jason asked after a long silence.

“There is something big going on, something sinister.” The older man replied.

“More sinister than what ever has security out looking for you?” Devron looked his name sake straight on pointing an accusing finger. “If you are putting me or any of my crew in any kind of danger just by being here. I will drag you to the brig myself; Rear Admiral or not. Are we clear on that Sir?”

“Crystal. There is something going on within Starfleet, and those involved are doing their level best to stop me or anyone else finding out what it is.”

“What makes you so sure?

“I’ve lost three operatives in the space of two months. Only had one guy killed under my command since joining intelligence before that!”

“What were they investigating?”

“A massive cover up or possible conspiracy of some kind.  I suspect massive alien involvement.  But how it connects to the forthcoming Frontier Day, I have no concrete evidence.”

“You’re asking a lot for me to believe something like that.”

“Look at the attitude towards your Fourth Fleet and their battle with the Dominion.  It was like Starfleet didn’t care about the loses.” Jason considered that for a moment.  The Admiral was right in the sense that no one had seemed in any rush to support their efforts and had done a lot to conceal the true scale of the conflict.  But a conspiracy; and to what end?

“Then there’s that Changeling you encountered.  One of two originally on the USS Johannesburg and could have only come from Earth.  So neither of them was connection with your lost fleet.” The Admiral paused for a moment. “Taking you Ensigns place had not been part of their original plan.  I’m sure of it, and I think they completely messed up there.”

“Any idea what they were doing or if there are any more?”

“Whatever they were planning, Captain Vance is having that ship complete stripped down and turned inside out.  Which for ship the size of an Obena Class, could take some time.”

“I take it he won’t be getting back to Earth for the celebrations?”

“Command tried to order him back and said the Changeling incident was most likely an isolated event!”

“How did he react to that?”

“He was more than happy to comply if it hadn’t been for the unexpected failure of the warp core.” The older man smiled. “It’s amazing what accidents a good Chief Engineer can arrange for you. If you ask nice.”

“Anyone know you’re on this ship?”

“Other than your crew.  No one.”

“You do realise we’re escorting the Chapel back to Earth?”

“Last place anyone is going to expect to find me.  On a Federation vessel heading for Earth.”  Rear-Admiral Devron leaned back in the chair a grim half smile on his lips.

“So tell me why do I have the same name as you?” This was the other big question plaguing the young man’s mind.

A sad faraway look crossed the Admirals face as he looked out the small window to the stars streaking past. “You look so much like him you know.” He signed. “Moment I laid eyes on you, it was like looking at his twin.”

“Who?” Jason asked. “Are you saying there is a real Jason Alan Devron out there?” He pointed out into space through the window.

“It’s a hundred times easier to create a past around a real person than create a whole new identity from scratch. Besides, it was his idea!”

That last part shocked the Lieutenant the most.  The guy whose name he’d been using to hide from those ‘Earth First’ terrorists was alive!  The young man was visibly shaken, so much so, that he had to put the cup down. “What kind of a mess have you got me into?”

“Honestly I don’t know what mess anyone is in.” The Admiral tried to sound reassuring. “And I don’t know who I can trust anymore.” He looked back at Jason. “Besides, you are my grandson to.”

Jason couldn’t find the words to follow that comment. He’d always assumed this name was totally random and just to stop anyone from the terrorist group tracking him down.  However he’d often wondered why go to all the elaborate trouble just for a young cadet.

The silence between them lasted a few minutes, neither man knowing what to say to the other. Then the young Lieutenant leaned forward a thought just crossing his mind. “How come no one’s realised I’m not the same person?”

“Because my damn full idiot of a son, your father was married to two different women and both had a son, within a month or so of each other.”  The Admiral slammed his cup down sloshing some of the liquid across the coffee table between them. “Your half-brother, bless him agreed to you taking his name and place when I figured out who you were.”

“But my dad’s name was Poole.” Stated Jason.

“My wife’s maiden name.”  The older man grabbed a couple of tissues from a small box in an attempt to wipe. “I’d really hoped to meet and tell you all this under better circumstances.”

“So tell me about my brother.”

The Rear-Admiral spent the better part of an hour going through the life of one Jason Alan Devron.  How he’d grow up wanting to join Starfleet and journey into space like his grandfather had.  How one night his mother had taken him with her in the car and had followed her husband; only to discover he was leading a double life.  She’d raced off and had an accident soon afterwards. The young Lieutenant remembered vaguely about the crash. Car accidents were extremely rare, as most cars were computer controlled.  But this one had been in manual mode with all the safety systems disengaged.  The car had ended up in the river Cherwell. It wasn’t all that long before his dad had left.  Both he and the brother he’d known nothing about; would have been 12 at the time.

“He wasn’t offered a job on Lorillia was he?” Jason Questioned. “You sent him there, in the hope he wouldn’t do any further damage to mom’s life.”

The other man nodded. “Fat lot of good it did you or her in the end.”  George Devron walked over to the window looking out at the stars hands behind his back, clasped together. “I’ve spent half my life protecting the people of Earth, mostly against dangers they have no idea even exist.  Yet I couldn’t protect my own family.”

Jason had walked up behind him, placing a hand on the older man’s shoulder. “Whatever is going we’ll find out. Together.”

‘Today is the day the world ended, the day I became a monster, the day I became a killer, and this is how it started.’

**********

Ensign Harris was in a cheerful mood, a sign he’d managed to grab a chat with Ensign Cho before he’d come on shift.  The Young Korean woman was still recovering, but according to Chad, she was looking much brighter; though she did say this one doctor had her on the treadmill not long after breakfast that day, in an effort to improve her leg muscles.  Cho had also received a visit from Captain Vance who wanted to see how she and Lieutenant Takalla were recovering.  She still hadn’t told her parents about what had happened; in fact they believed she’d been posted to Starbase Bravo and had remained well away from any sort of danger.  Chad had tried to convince her she should tell them the truth, but she didn’t want to worry them.

Harris wasn’t the only one in good spirits though; there seemed an air of calmness throughout the ship, a sense that may be things could return to normal.  Today was ‘Frontier Day’ after all!  A chance to celebrate 250 years of going boldly amongst the stars; a chance for the Federation to show off its skills and a chance for Admirals to make long boring speeches and pat each other on the back.

Dinari with the help of a couple other crew members; was currently fixing up one of the walls in the Holo-suite so that it could be used as a large viewing screen for any crew not on duty to watch the live broadcasts been sent out from Earth and Starbase 1.   Getting the Holo-suite completely working would take a bit longer.

Despite the fact various members of the crew had been sending messages and videos to family and friends etc.  Their captain had ordered them not to reveal the presence of Rear-Admiral Devron aboard ship.  Something that puzzled them slightly, but they had all followed that order.

It had been hard for Jason to adjust to the whole idea that there was this other family he knew nothing about.  He had a half-brother roughly his own age, plus an aunt and uncle with a boy and girl of their own he had no idea about.  Then there was the man he’d first met on Earth in Oxford, never imagining for a moment they were related.

Right now the USS Jaxartes was flying through deep space at a steady warp 6, keeping pace with the much larger USS Chapel, and acting as her escort.  It wasn’t that the crew of either vessel expected any sort of trouble; not this far inside Federation space that is.  It was more a chance to let the old girl stretch her legs a little, and although they wouldn’t reach Earth for another few days Lieutenant Devron felt it would be good to allow those crew members with family there, at least a couple of days leave. Technically that now included himself; but whether he did try to make contact with or visit any of this family was something he wasn’t entirely sure about.

Lieutenant Stuart had managed to spend of few hours with her family over the last couple of days having a late evening meal before they’d departed early this morning.  Donald Stuart was very happy with the new Air Filtration Unit which was certainly helping to clear up that horrible smell.  As for the 200 year old bottle of genuine Whisky the Chief Engineer had somehow managed to track down; The Scotsman wasn’t about to tell him it was one of the bottles he’d delivered to the planet roughly four years ago.  Clearly no one had opened it, in that time. But it had changed hands at least once since its arrival on the planet.

Ensign Tholakath the Cardassian Tactical Office had managed to spend a bit of time with his father to, prior to the Cardassian warship he commanded headed off.

The Caitian Science Officer, Ensign Maasl C’Rren was probably the one who’d had the least contact with any of his own family during these past few days and weeks.  Born on one of his races colony worlds Hochlor IV; Devron would make sure he’d have the chance to go back there sometime in the near future.

**********

Down in the holo-suite Dinari was giving the screen a test run relaying images from the ships forward camera directly to the wall he’d fixed.  Satisfied that was working he switched to the Federation News Network which was currently showing a view of several star ships in orbit around the planet Earth.   He left that running whilst he went to help with carrying a few chairs into the room, so the crew would have somewhere to sit when the main celebrations kicked off.

It wasn’t long before the room looked like a mini-cinema, with two rows of seat facing the screen and a gap down the middle.  Someone had asking him about popcorn, so his next job was going to check if the replicators could make the stuff.  He’d never actually eaten popcorn in his life, so if he could get some made he’d get the crewman who’d suggested it to try it, just to make sure it was ok.

**********

As if on cue, right before the main part of the ‘Frontier Day’ celebrations was due to commence; Rear Admiral Devron walked on to the bridge.  Jason offered him the captain’s chair, but instead the older man elected to sit in the communications spot and turn the seat to face the main view screen which was now showing the same images as those being viewed in the makeshift cinema.

Ensigns, Harris, Tholakath and C’Rren all sat at their respective posts watching everything that was happening, whilst keeping half an eye on the ships systems.  They could have left it all set on automatic and joined the rest of the crew, but all were happy enough to stay on the bridge.

The ‘Camera Probe’ relaying the current images across the galaxy had just moved past the USS Huygens a Sutherland Class Vessel positioned close in to Sol Station; which was the main focus of the camera.  Fireworks erupted all around, signalling the impending launch of the USS Enterprise F from Spacedock.  And as the camera moved round; one set of the huge doors in the upper section of the colossal space station began to open.  Once fully open, there she was in all her glory the Odyssey Class starship under the command of Admiral Shelby; on what was to be the start of this ships final voyage.  Moments later the image changed to the admiral herself seated on the bridge of the Enterprise as she gave her speech about the NX-01 and that Enterprises historic voyage these celebrations were marking.  Once her opening remarks where concluded the picture changed back to the external view of the ship as it continued it sweeping turn to port, heading for its allotted position with the formation of star ships formed up around Sol Station.  Once in position Admiral Shelby started talking about the Federations latest technical advancement as she put it; ‘Fleet Formation’, the ability to control every ship as one single entity.

At some point during this; George Devron had stood up and was now standing alongside his grandson.  But as the admiral continued talking another voice cut in; that of Admiral Picard warning her and anyone else able to hear his voice regarding changeling incursion within the Federation and the risk from the Borg connected with it.  But something or someone cut Picard’s message off.

Then a weird noise screeched out from the bridge sound system leaving all those there confused.   Jason Devron felt like someone had just shoved a red hot poker through the front of his head.  A million voices rang out in his head, or was it one voice from a million places.  But whatever the case there was one clear message one clear goal and all he knew was that he must obey.

Admiral Devron looked into the young Lieutenant’s eyes as the veins on his face and neck became much more prominent.  Then from the lips of the young man and the Cardassian at tactical came the chilling words. “We are the Borg.”  The admiral looked up at the Caitian Science Officer and shouted. “Run!”

As Maasl dived for the door Chad made a move from the Helm, but with swifter reactions to the situation Tholakath grabbed his right wrist in a vice like grip preventing him from leaving.  He was looking at the main viewer when he witnessed Admiral Shelby getting shot by two members of her own crew!  Just then the transmission was cut off from the source.

“Target one zero six seven located and identified.” Came Jason’s voice as he rose from the captain’s chair. “Eliminate.” His hand shot forward and grabbed the Admiral around the throat. George Devron looked at him in shock as the young man now under the influence of the Borg crushed his windpipe and broke his neck. The old man dropped to the deck, dead.  Jason Devron sat back down. “Collective, we have the Jaxartes.”

**********

Down in the Holo-suite the rest of the crew had witness the events and the death of Admiral Shelby.  Left stunned and confused in the dim light of the room; it had taken them a moment to realise they had three Borg amongst them. Lieutenant Lyanna Stuart and crewmen Derek Lightwood and George Tyson.  “We are the Borg resistance is futile.” The three said in unison. “You will remain here and await assimilation.  Failure to comply will result in immediate termination.”  Someone made a bolt for the door, but Tyson grabbed him and through the poor guy across the room, where he landed on the floor next to Lyambo.

The three Borg controlled crewmembers walked out of the room sealing the door behind them.  Panic and shouting erupted from most of the crew left in the room. Only his fellow engineer Torf seemed to remain calm and seated as Dinari yelled at them to keep quiet.  When finally he did convince then to be silent Lyambo tapped his comm-badge but couldn’t get any reply from the bridge.  Well that just meant that for now at least he was in charge and that would mean keeping everyone in order and coming up with a plan.

**********

When the young Caitian ensign had run from the bridge he’d headed for the first place he hoped he’d find someone else; Sick Bay.  Doctor Andrianakis was rather surprised when C’Rren burst in, not even giving the door a chance to fully slide open.

“Bheeoorrrh, Burhhhoorhg!” He wheezed breathlessly.”Bohoorg, Borg.”

Phoebe half dragged him over to the bio bed and went over to replicate a glass of water, which she helped him drink by steadying his shaking hands. “Now say again. What’s going on?”

The Caitian took several deep breathes. “The captain and Tholakath just turned into Borg.”

The doctor crouched in front of him. “What about anyone else?”

“I think they may have killed the Admiral.  I didn’t see what happened to Mister Harris.” C’Rren was clearly in shock, so the doctor gave him a shot to calm his nerves a little.

“Computer, verify the number of human life signs on the Bridge.” Andrianakis enquired.

“One human life sign detected.” Replied the female computer voice.

“Computer, who else is on the Bridge?” She asked.

“Two anomalous Borg life signs detected.” The computer gave its answer swiftly.

“Computer, explain anomaly?”

“Borg life signs are only a partial match to those on Starfleet records.”

She had one final question to ask the computer, at least for now that is; whilst she tried to figure out what herself and C’Rren should do next. “Computer, explain partial match.”

“Borg life signs are 100% organic.  No cybernetic or mechanical components detected.”

The two of them looked at each other, both wondering what that all meant and how their two friends had been physically altered; and whether the process could be reversed somehow.

Lieutenant Beaufort was half asleep when he heard the commotion from his medical bed within one of the many wards that make up part of the Hospital Ship.  With half open eyes he looked across at the nurse tending to the guy in another bed.  The sight looked a bit odd though; something just seemed off.  Doctor Xyikis was moving over to the same bed, he shouted something, which the pilot didn’t exactly make out, but the first word had been ‘stop’.  As the doctor got right next to the nurse; she half turned, grabbed the man by the scruff of the neck and flung him across the other side of the room; sending him over an empty bed on to the floor.

Max shot bolt upright and was about to shout something when he realised the nurse had turned back to the patient and was strangling him!  Further along a male Orderly was doing the same thing to another patient.  What the hell was going on, thought the lieutenant?  Had the world gone completely mad?  He looked away for a moment as he hit the bedside panic button and leaned down to grab his crouches.  With only one leg; after losing his other one at the battle of Deneb IV moving around wasn’t exactly easy, but whatever was going on, this wasn’t a safe place to be right now.  He swung himself round, placed his bared foot on the floor and placed the crouches under each armpit before pushing himself to a standing position.  All he had on at the moment was a pair of dark grey shorts.

Doctor Xyikis was half up off the floor partly leaning against the bed he’d rolled over the top of.  The Orderly who by now had clearly killed the patient he’d been dealing with walked up to the doctor. “Eliminate all inferior specimens.” Came the voice of both Orderly and Nurse as one.  Like the two of them where somehow linked, sharing thoughts and ideas as one. Max looked across realising the Nurse was now much closer to him, blocking any chance of his escape.

A beam of red energy struck her in the lower abdomen. “Get out of here!” Yelled the security guard that had just fired his Phaser at the woman. “This way quick.”

Lieutenant Beaufort hobbled past the guard as quickly as he was able; as the man fired a second shot, this time at the Orderly.  Out in the corridor beyond the doors of the ward he could hear shouts and screams, but it was difficult to tell from what direction or how far away any of these noises where.  Max turned back to the security guard to ask him which way; but the other man had rushed over to check on Doctor Xyikis, huge mistake as both assailants had somehow survived being shot by his phaser.  The Nurse whipped his legs from underneath the guard and the Orderly struck him over the top of the head with a portable monitor, killed the poor unfortunate guy instantly.

The Lieutenant didn’t hang around any longer, instead heading along the corridor away from where he thought most of the noise was coming.  The next ward along was empty, clearly no one had been brought here from the planet and there didn’t appear to be any staff around either.  Further along the corridor ended in a junction.  To his left a dead Andorian nurse lying face down; so he headed right. The next door was an office and another dead body.  This time a Efrosian doctor lay slumped in his chair, the blood still fresh on his lips and a nasty looking gash across the forehead.  The weapon used a trophy of some description on the floor near him.

Beaufort pushed the doctor and his chair to one side so he could hopefully access the computer on the desk as he was still unsure as to his current location on the ship.  The terminal was still active, but would only allow the viewing of very basic information; for anything more detailed Max would require a password.  Something probably only know to the dead Efrosian.  What he was able to ascertain was this was deck 17 and he was roughly in the middle of the ship.  Heading for the bridge was probably a bad idea, so he took the decision to head aft and locate the shuttle bays.

**********

Commander Charlie Lyambo had been on the bridge when everything had gone crazy; half the bridge crew had suddenly turned on the other half.  He saw the strange blank look on their faces, the veins prominent against their features, regardless of what species they were. “We are the Borg.”  They had announced as one.  Now the Captain was dead along with two other bridge officers.  Lyambo himself had barely got off the bridge alive, taking the turbo lift down to deck 3 where his office was.  He got to the room unnoticed first trying his comm-badge; but not getting any response from anyone. He then accessed the ships computer in the hope of finding out more information.  The commander was part way through reading the status report of the ship.  The Borg or at least crew member and medical staff that had become Borg where all over the ship.  Life signs kept winking out as various individuals were apparently being killed.  Then he realised, he was tracking everyone via their badges, and if he could do it, so could the Borg.

In fact three where almost outside of the door right now.  Lyambo climbed on top of his desk where there was an air vent.  He tried to use his badge to remove the screw and pull away the panel, but that wasn’t working.  So he climbed back down and pulled open draws and cupboards as he searched for something to use like a screwdriver.

Twice someone outside tried to open his door; but the Commander had set the lock, preventing anyone getting in.  Back up on the table he tried a number of items until finally the edge of nail file proved the perfect tool for the job.  Charlie could hear a noise from outside then saw a small section of the door start to glow.  Someone was using a phaser to cut through.  As the second of the screws hit the table and bounced away the hole in the door was opening up.  He frantically pulled at the vent panel twisting it and yanking it part way down.  But he wasn’t going to get up and away in time.  He threw his comm-badge as far as possible along the air shaft before jumping off the table and going into the back room.

A few seconds passed before the sound of the phaser stopped and was closely followed by the noise of the door being wrenched open.  He heard footsteps; then someone climb on to the table. The panel was pulled away and heard hitting the floor as it was thrown down.  Another sound followed which was possible one of the Borg controlled crewmembers climbing up; at least part way into the vent.  Charlie heard two thuds; no doubt the first being the same individual landing back on the table, followed by them jumping to the floor.  When a moment or two of silence followed, he began to wonder if may be he’d gotten away with it.

However luck was clearly not on his side, as the door to this room opened and the three Borg Crewmembers matched inside. “Resistance is futile.” They said in unison.

“I surrender.” Blurted out the Commander; dropping to his knees.”

“Surrender is irrelevant.” Came their reply. Charlie closed his eyes waiting to die.  But something stopped them; an apparent change in orders was the only thing the Commander could think of. Two of them grabbed him under the arm and hoisted him up.  “You will come with use.”

**********

On the Jaxartes, Ensign Harris now found himself secured to the communications seat with tape from the emergency medical kit stored on the bridge.  The Borg controlled Lieutenant Stuart now flying the craft.  It was rather eerie and frightening to see three fellow crewmembers being controlled like this.  Each one performing the job they normally did, but in completely autonomous way.  Nothing much seemed to be going on, there had been no cause changes or alterations in speed.  The corvette and the Hospital Ship she was with; still continued their journey to Earth.

But what was happening on Earth, Chad wondered.  He’d witness Admiral Shelby get murdered, because that’s basically what it had been.  Who was fighting though, and how many?  Why had only certain members of this crew been affected?  Was that the same case back on Earth and Sol Station?  The young New Zealander had so many questions running through his mind.

His train of thought was suddenly broken by a flurry of activity.  The small starship banked sharply and dived under the hull of the bigger vessel, with what seemed like only metres to spare.  He knew Lyanna was a remarkable pilot but this manoeuvre went far beyond anything she’d probably attempt under normal circumstances.  As the corvette came around the other ship, he caught a glimpse of another vessel on the view screen.  Something small but agile.  As the Jaxartes closed the gap Chad realised it was a shuttle craft from the Chapel.  The smaller ship weaved; constantly changing direction in an attempt to lose the pursuing craft.  “Target acquired.” Tholakath droned as he fired the ships forward Phasers; scoring a direct hit on the shuttle, probably enough to seriously damage if not collapse its shields.  A second shot sent the other craft crippled and spinning.  Clearly whoever had been aboard couldn’t have survived, yet the Borg controlled Cardassian fired a third time turning the shuttle into spreading mass of glowing fragments. “Target destroyed.” He announced with dull lifeless tone.

With this achieved Lieutenant Stuart simple turned the ship around and brought it back in line with the USS Chapel as if nothing had happened.

**********

Doctor Andrianakis and Science officer C’Rren had been basically left alone in Sickbay; the Borg controlled crewmembers seemed to know they were there, but appeared to be in no rush to deal with them.  It seemed to be a case of don’t cause any problems and we won’t eliminate you.  The two of them had tried to access the ships computer for information and a possible deterrent.  Though the thought they may have to kill people they shared friendships with was a disturbing one.  The doctor had even activated the EMH; bouncing her ideas of that.  The Borg clearly had other notions and after only a few minutes all electronics in Sickbay other than life support and lighting, shut down.

After that the two of them just sat and chatted.  They were both fearful and knew that at any moment those doors could open and the end would be upon them.  So they tried to put on a brave face and keep each other’s spirits up.

**********

Lyambo and Torf had both noticed the subtle change in the ship; it was the skill of a good engineer to sense and feel fluctuations and deviations.  The Jaxartes had altered both speed and direction, rapidly in fact; the other crew with them in the holo-suite hadn’t appeared to notice, but it was a clear bank to starboard followed by two, may be three other course corrections.  A pause followed by another sweeping turn, because the ship settled back down to how it had been before.

What they couldn’t know was that was the point when the corvette had gone in pursuit of the shuttle attempting to escape.

With everything seemingly back to normal; they returned to the task of removing some of the floor panels in a bid to find an escape route of their own.

Max Beaufort the injured Valkyrie pilot had so far managed to avoid the Borg controlled crew and medical staff of the USS Chapel.  Despite having only one leg and needing crutches the Lieutenant had succeeded in giving the Borg the slip.  He was now inside a Jefferies Tube, having gained access through a panel an engineer had removed whilst doing some maintenance work.  The man himself was dead, but whoever had killed him had just left everything as it was. So Max had crawled inside as best he could and slipped the panel back in place; though only one bolt was holding it, and if anyone took a closer look or touched it, they’d soon get suspicious.

His original intention of getting to a shuttle bay had been brought to a grinding halt, not so much by the Borg controlled crew blocking his path, but having found himself by a window in one of the dining areas; witnessing the destruction of a shuttle craft by a Raven Class corvette.  Evidently this wasn’t the only ship that had been taken over.

Right now all he needed was a place to rest up and think.  Other than those he now knew to be dead, he’d not come across anyone else not affected by whatever the Borg had somehow created.  He couldn’t be 100% sure, but those who were being controlled all seemed to be younger than those he’d found dead.  Though may be in the case of the other patients, the Borg had killed them regardless of age.  Everything just seemed so surreal he’d even pinched himself just to check he wasn’t dreaming.  To think; last night he’d gone to sleep wanting to end his own life, and yet here he was hours later; desperate to stay alive!

**********

Commander Charlie Lyambo had been taken by his captors’ to Main Engineering, or at least the corridor outside it and the adjoining office.  They sat him at a consul in the Chief Engineers office, which had access from both the corridor and Engineering itself.  Beyond the large reinforced window the Commander could see several dead bodies littering the floor.  Some no doubt killed in a fight; other had succumbed to poisoning from the radiation that had flooded the room.  The warning lights blinked on and off.  He could only assume it had been do as a last desperate act by a member of the crew, who hoped to stop the Borg taking control of the ship.

The computer had sealed the room due to the high levels of Gamma Radiation.  As a senior officer, a quite possibly the only one left alive, the Commander would be able to override the safety system and allow the Borg controlled crew access.  The fact that any of them that entered Engineering would die unless they put on a hazard suit, didn’t really matter to them.  Whether it took one or a dozen, they looked prepared to keep going until the system was fixed and the radiation cleared or die trying.

But that’s where one fundamental floor in their thinking lay.  With the entire engineering staff of the USS Chapel now dead; the Borg had to rely solely on their link to communicate the knowledge with whoever entered Main Engineering.  A link that was being severally compromised by the radiation inside the room.  When the fouth crewmember they’d beamed inside dropped dead, and hardly any of the work had been done; even the Borg realised this plan wasn’t working.

One of those that had brought the Commander here turned to him. “You will assist.”

“And if I don’t?” He asked in reply.

“You will be eliminated.” Was his answer.

“I can’t be of much help if I’m dead, now can I?” Charlie looked the Borg controlled crewman directly in the eyes as he said that. A long pause followed as if waiting for additional information or orders. “You will provide an alternate method.” The Borg finally answered.

“You know if you hadn’t got them all killed you could have sent in an engineer not under your influence.” The Commander smiled. “Of cause they’d need to be suited up and willing to help you; and I can’t see that happening.”

“Method verified and approved.” The Borg droned.  The Commander looked back stunned wondering what was actually meant by that.

**********

Dinari Lyambo was halfway down a hole in the floor of the holo-suite.  So far with a bit of help he’d managed to create a gap wide enough for the all crew to squeeze through one at a time. The careful shut off of a valve along with the disconnection of section of pipework had been required first. Then some wires pushed out of the way.  It only needed the ceiling panel removing from the aft cargo bay and they’d be free.  It was right at the moment he felt a distinctive tingle throughout his body. “Oh crap.” He exclaimed; as the rest of the crew watched him get beamed away.

In the briefest of time the young Chief Engineer found himself standing face to face with his older brother, flanked by two Borg controlled crewmembers; another stood behind close to the door.  Over to his left Dinari could see Main Engineering.  Warning light flashing, bodies across the floor.  “What the hell!” He blurted out.

His brother stopped him from saying any more. “Our friends here would like a trained engineer to sort out the radiation problem they have.” Charlie announced.  “And they appear to have picked you for the job!”

“What happens if I don’t do it?” Dinari asked both his brother and the Borg.

The Commander managed to get a word in before the Borg gave their usual threat of death. “We’ll just live a few minutes longer if you do, and who knows what might happen in that time.”

Dinari wasn’t sure why he agreed with that statement; however twenty minutes later he was in a protective suit and being beamed into Main Engineering.  He gave a thumbs up to his brother before getting to work on fixing the problem.

**********

Ensign Harris was still stuck in the chair on the bridge by the communications consul.  He’d actual dropped off to sleep at some point, but was now wide awake again.  He couldn’t really tell how much time had passed since the Captain and other crewmembers had fallen under the control of the Borg.  Hours for sure; he knew he felt hungry having not eaten since breakfast.  The hunger was party what had woken him up.

He noticed the Cardassian’s head sat at Tactical loll slightly then he sat up again.  A minute or two passed then the same thing happened again.  The Captain brought his own hand up to his forehead not long after.  Lieutenant Stuart at Helm let out a low moan and half slumped across her consul. “Where am I.” She murmured almost slipping out of her chair.  Tholakath let out a scream slamming one fist into the controls before him.  That seemed to jolt the other two.

“God what have we done?” Devron muttered.  It was then that he saw the body of the Rear-Admiral next to him. He dropped to the deck pulling the body to him and tapping his comm-badge. “Medical emergency, bridge.” He shouted.

Doctor Andrianakis and C’Rren the Caitian; both rushed in moments later; carrying medical equipment. She check on the two Devron’s, one living the other long dead.  C’Rren first freed Chad then went over to Lyanna.  For the three bridge crew their vital signs seemed to be slowly returning to normal; though the doctor would conduct a full scan in Sickbay at the earliest opportune moment.

Jason Devron staggered and wobbled to his feet. “Ensign Harris as my last order as your captain, you are now in command of this ship until further notice.  I or anyone else affected by the Borg Collective cannot countermand that order. Is that clear?”

“Yes Sir, aye Sir.” Chad replied.

“Doctor you may confine myself or anyone else to either Sickbay or our quarters until such time we reach Earth or another Starfleet vessel arrives.” Jason told her, looking once more at his grandfather. “I wish I’d know you.” He said softly, before heading to the door.

Ensign Harris elected to take the Helm as, Stuart and Tholakath both followed their captain off the bridge. “Maasl, jump on comms and see if you can raise anyone.”

**********

When crewman Lightwood unlocked and opened the door to the holo-suite, the crew had already made their exit through the floor and replaced the panel behind them.  He was confused to find the room empty as his half confused brain was telling him they should be here.  A phaser pointing at his back was both a shock and a relief.  The totally un Borg like expletive he let out probably saved him from being shot right there and then.

**********

In Engineering as a Borg; George Tyson was connected to the collective minds of several engineers spread across the galaxy, now he sat on the floor dazed and totally clueless.  Wondering why he was there and what half the read outs and flashing lights meant.

**********

Dinari Lyambo was too busy to notice what was going on around him. Only the calm voice of his brother informed him the nightmare was over. Though it would still be a while before the USS Chapel’s Main Engineering would be safe to enter; for now though full operational control could be maintained on the bridge.

**********

Lieutenant Beaufort wasn’t discovered till an hour later after a full sensor sweep of the ship was conducted.  It took a lot of persuasion and help to extract him from his hiding place, but eventually he was out.

In all; the ship had lost just over a quarter of its crew and medical staff, Max was the only one of the 87 patients still alive. Half those affected by the Borgs influence where in no fit state to do anything, most of the others were pretty shaken by the ordeal they’d gone through.  It was for that reason the Commander Lyambo asked him to take the helm of the ship and help get them home.  His brother Dinari; suitably decontaminated would run Engineering from the bridge and assist in coordinating operations.

**********

For the USS Jaxartes and USS Chapel their ordeal was at an end; but as they continued the journey to Earth, incoming communications revealed the full horrors of what had gone on, and as to how close the Federation had come to becoming a new Borg Collective.