Captain Skyrunner walked into Sickbay and stopped just inside. He briefly looked around, seeing the medical staff busy with various patients, both members of his crew and the few survivors from the USS Thunderdragon. Kirok spotted the Thunderdragon’s doctor, who was working with his own Chief Medical Officer. He slowly walked over towards the doctors, smiling and nodding to patients, giving them peace of mind. He approached the doctors as they were working on the severely injured Engineering Ensign that was severely burned earlier. The Thunderdragon’s doctor slowly pulled a blanket up over her head. Captain Skyrunner stood at the foot of the bed, stunned at the loss of a crew member. The doctor saw him and approached him.

Zorvath T’Koren, the Thunderdragon’s Chief Medical Officer spoke first, “I’m so sorry for your loss Captain. Your Ensign looks to have been next to plasma conduits when they blew up. The burns were just too severe.”

Captain Skyrunner looked at his own Chief Medical Officer, eyes locked on his, as if asking for confirmation. He just nodded slightly, then turned to walk away, to file the death certificate and report. The Thunderdragon’s Chief Medical Officer slowly walked away, to go check on his two people from the Thunderdragon. Captain Skyrunner stood at the foot of the now deceased Ensign’s bed, his anger rising, he slammed his closed fist on the biobed.

“Damn it!” He said softly to himself. “Why me?”

Across the Intensive Care Unit, his wife, Captain Sophia Jasmine Rodriguez was laying in her bed. She called out to him.

“Kirok?”

Kirok slowly lifted his head up at the sound of his name. He started to look around, then stopped when he saw who it was that was calling him, his wife.

A smile broke through on his face and he hurriedly walked over to her. He gently took her left hand in both of his.

“I’m here sweetheart,” he said to her. She fully opened her eyes, looking up at her husband. He gave her a soft smile. “You look like crap honey.”

She softly swatted at his arm playfully as she giggled. Then she winched from her fractured ribs. Kirok softly soothed her.

“Easy there Captain, Doctor said you got a fractured rib.”

Kirok leaned down, kissed her forehead, then spoke softly to her.

“The Admiral at Starbase 72 told me that the Thunderdragon was listed as missing.” He looked into her eyes, his eyes becoming watery. “I thought I had lost you baby.” A single year streaked down his cheek.

Sophia reached up and softly cupped his cheek, wiping away the tear with her thumb. She gently pulled his face closer, leaned up to kiss him. She laid back down, still looking in his eyes.

“You found me, baby. You saved me.”

She pulled him closer. He rested his head on her shoulder and cried. The Carlsbad doctor saw his Captain with his wife and he discreetly pulled a privacy curtain and gave his Captain all the time he wanted. After a good long cry, Captain Skyrunner lifted his head and looked her in her eyes.

“What happened to your ship?” He asked her.

Sophia’s gaze dropped, her voice cracking. “The USS Thunderdragon…it was destroyed. We were under attack…I don’t know what happened to my crew.” Sophia started to get worked up. The bio sensors on the bio bed started beeping louder and faster. Kirok looked at it, then back at her.

“Calm down sweetheart,” he soothed her.

Sophia stopped talking and focused on taking deep breaths. Kirok glanced at the bio sensors again and saw they started calming down.

“That’s it love, big deep breaths.” He looked at her. The Carlsbad doctor slipped inside the curtain and checked her vitals with a medical tricorder. “Feel better love?”

She looked back up at Kirok as the doctor finished his scan. The doctor said she was ok and slipped past the curtain, once again leaving the couple to some privacy.

“Can you talk sweetheart,” he asked her softly, holding her hands.

She nodded slightly.

“We were heading to Starbase 72 to resupply and get some much needed R&R. I planned to link up with Catersha and finish plans for your surprise birthday party.”

She paused intentionally, letting that sink in with Kirok. He just sat there, gazing into her eyes. He slowly shook his head in disbelief, because she knew that he didn’t like surprise parties. She gave him her best playful smile she could muster, then continued her report.

“Suddenly, we encountered severe gravimetric disturbances and before we could figure anything out, we got pulled into some kind of subspace tunnel. When we managed to figure out where we were at, we figured out a way to get out. When we finally managed to get out of the tunnel, we took serious damage to all systems. When we found out that we were about 560 light years away, we ended up in the middle of a serious firefight. Our limited scans detected two Vaadwaur ships firing on a Type 4 Assimilator class Borg ship. The Borg ship was taking heavy damage. One Vaadwaur ship detected us and moved to intercept us.”

Sophia paused reporting to her husband and she fought back tears. Kirok gently hugged her, trying to comfort her.

“It’s ok baby,” Kirok whispered in her ear. “I’m here now.”

She nodded, her cries muffled by his uniform tunic. When she regained her composure, she resumed her report.

“We tried to fight the Vaadwaur ship as best as our damaged weapons could do. The Borg ship managed to destroy one ship and was coming to help us. Our warp core got hit by a volley of quantum torpedoes. My Chief Engineer reported that a breach was in progress and he could do nothing, so I ordered all hands to abandon ship. I made sure all my crew got to the escape pods before I got on mine, like any good Captain would. My Chief Medical Officer and Chief Engineer were with me, making sure the crew got off safe. My Executive Officer was killed during the fighting. He was in Engineering when those torpedoes hit. That section got breached to the vacuum of outer space. When everyone was off the ship, we boarded our escape pod and launched, barely in time before the core breached. I think we were hidden from the Vaadwaur scanners because their fighters were picking off all the escape pods, like target practice.” She stared Kirok right in his eyes, fueling all the anger and hate she had inside her. “I heard those monsters laughing as they mercilessly killed my crew, like they were sheep. I hate them, Kirok!!!”

She screamed that last part out, not caring who heard. Kirok held her tightly as she lost all control and broke down crying. The doctors peeked around the curtain, to see what was wrong. Kirok glanced at them and waved them off. They nodded and discreetly backed away. Sounds of the medical staff resumed after the doctors backed away. Kirok held his wife for what seemed like eternity, trying to comfort all the hate and anger she was forced to accept and not able to deal with.

He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close as he whispered tender apologies in her ear, his warm breath sending shivers down her spine. Between gentle kisses on the temple area of her head, he repeated his heartfelt words, “I’m so sorry, baby,” his voice a soothing balm to her frazzled emotions. The soft pressure of his lips and the comforting warmth of his embrace seemed to envelop her in a sense of safety and security, allowing her to slowly unravel the tangled threads of her anxiety and source of her anger. Kirok knows she is almost never angry at anyone, so for her to be this distressed seriously concerns him.

As he held her, he could feel the tension in her body begin to ease, her rigid muscles relaxing into his gentle grasp. He continued to whisper his apologies, his kisses a steady, reassuring rhythm that seemed to lull her into a state of calm. Time lost all meaning as he held her, his only concern being to provide comfort and solace to the woman he loved. For as long as she needed, he would hold her, whispering his apologies and wrapping her in his love, until the darkness receded and the light of peace returned to her eyes.

When Sophia finally calmed down enough, Kirok slowly let her go, letting her lay back on the bed. She quickly passed out, exhausted from her extremely agitated state and what she has been through. He held her hands for another minute, then kissed them before he carefully laid them down. He spent another minute just watching her sleep, his mind racing over what she said and what his next steps would be. Kirok quietly slipped out from behind the privacy curtain and walked to the doctors. They had a questioning look on their faces.

“She is ok, gentlemen. She is sound asleep now. Please keep me informed on her progress and the other survivor,” Kirok ordered. He looked at the doctor who came from the Thunderdragon. “You were from the Thunderdragon?”

“Yes sir. Doctor Zorvath T’Koren, from Betazed. Chief Medical Officer, formerly of the USS Thunderdragon.”

“Oh ok. What was your crew’s state of mind when this happened Doctor,” Kirok asked.

“I just completed a full crew physical on everyone last month sir. Excellent health across the board, both physical and mental,” replied Dr. Zorvath T’Koren,

“Very well Doctor. I’m thankful for everything you did during and after the unfortunate date of the Thunderdragon. I’m very appreciative of all you have done. Carry on gentlemen.”

Kirok strode out of Sickbay, his footsteps purposeful and determined, as he made his way to the Bridge. The soft beeps and whirs of the medical equipment faded into the background, replaced by the hum of the ship’s engines and the quiet chatter of the crew. His eyes narrowed, focused on the task ahead, as he began to plan a joint operation that would bring justice to those responsible for the brutal attack on his wife’s ship, the Thunderdragon, and the Federation.

His jaw clenched, a muscle twitching in his cheek, as he thought about the atrocities that had been committed. The image of his wife, battered and bruised, still lingered in his mind, fueling his anger. This wasn’t just personal; the Federation had been attacked, and it was his duty to respond. As he stepped onto the Bridge, the crew turned to him, their faces set with determination, ready to follow his lead into battle. The planning would begin immediately, and Kirok would stop at nothing to ensure that those responsible were brought to justice.