The Sovereign was clamped down at one of the main docking facilities of Starbase Seventy-Two. While she was tethered to the station, she received external power while her internal power, such as batteries and generators, were completely shut down. While yard workers scattered throughout the ship to conduct their repairs, many swarm around the hole that was slowly being sealed, where the crystal shard had once been.

Maxwell stood at the viewport in his ready room as he watched the scene before him. He could see the yard crew at work, while also could see various other vessels and other projects before him. As much as he would of preferred to be at the Avalon Fleet Yards where they could enjoy the facilities the station had, he couldn’t deny the pleasant feel he had with the fact that his ship will be repaired. Or the fact that the skeleton crew he had with him on board, were now on shore leave and had been enjoying the facilities this station had to offer.

Maxwell enjoyed the silence for as long as he could have it, which was immediately over the moment he heard the chime from his door. “Come in.” He heard the door hiss open and then hiss shut a moment later to indicate that someone had entered his office. The only person he half expected was his first officer, to which he was correct when he heard Art’s voice.

“The purge has been completed.” Said Art. “All records of us being in that strange universe no longer exists on board this ship. I have made a very clear notation that our computer core was severely damaged when we exited the wormhole and arrived near Deep Space Nine and that all recent records from the moment we engaged the QSD to the wormhole failed to be recorded into the ship’s databanks.”

Maxwell took a deep breath and then let out a heavy sigh of relief before he turned on his heel to face Art directly. “The best thing of having only a skeleton crew, is the fact that we can ensure that they do not speak of that universe to anyone.”

Art chuckled. “Right. If they’re one hundred percent loyal. But the good thing is, even if a small handful were to say something about our recent wild adventures, we would just deny it. Who would they believe? Non-coms and low ranking officers or the senior staff?”

Maxwell smirked. “Good point. Still. Has anyone asked?”

“Yeah.” Art shook his head. “The Commodore of the station. Fleet Captain Hunt of Starbase Four-Fifteen. You name it.”

“And?” Maxwell asked.

“Told them exactly what we had worked on.” Art smiled. “QSD engaged, crystal interacted with it, and we were propelled into a universe full of ponies.”

Maxwell made a face that looked like ‘are you serious?’ at Art. “You didn’t.”

Art let out a brief laugh before he shook his head. “Of course not!” Art had another brief burst of laughter before he resumed. “I told them the truth. We ended up in another universe, nothing special about it, and that the wormhole trick to get back home had done a number to our systems, thus why we don’t have records.”

Maxwell shook his head at Art before he went to the replicator to order himself an ice cold Caramel Raktajino Frappe. Then he went right to his desk to sit down and enjoy a sip of his drink before he asked his question. “And you left no traces of the fact that those records were deleted?”

Art shook his head. “I used every algorithm that I could think of. Grak even used some of his own.” Art then sat down in a seat across from Maxwell. “Hell. Hate to say this, but Grak was quick on his feet when we were ejected from the Bajoran Wormhole. He said that, he caused a slight power surge in the systems, making it look like there was one caused by the ejection force of the wormhole. And that power surge went directly to the ships computer core, more specifically, the databanks where we keep most of our records.”

Maxwell raised his brows in surprise. “He did, did he?”

Art shrugged his shoulders. “It wasn’t a significant amount of damage, since we barely noticed any issues in the LCARs operating system, so the computer core was barely scratched. But it is enough to make someone think that the power surge may have wiped those databanks.”

Maxwell took a sip before he sighed. “Can only hope we don’t get a surprise inspection, where the admiralty has an android to scrounge through our systems for any tampering.”

Art rolled his eyes with a chuckle. “Wouldn’t that be our luck? Oh, and speaking about Grak. He should be coming here shortly. I caught him packing.”

Maxwell frowned as he set his glass down onto his desk. “Packing? Who told him he was leaving?”

“No one.” Said Art. “Apparently, he still thought his assignment as Acting Chief Engineer was over.” And before they could continue to speak on it, the door chime went off. “That should be him right now.”

“Come.” Said Maxwell and they watched Grak step in after the door opened for him, only to close behind him. “Lieutenant Grak. I am glad that you stopped by.”

“Commander Graves requested, sir.” Said Grak. “I thought you knew.”

“I was just recently informed,” Maxwell said as he looked at Art before he looked back at Grak. “As I was also just informed that you were packing your bags. Are you planning to leave us?”

They could see the confused look on Grak’s face, as well as the sound of nervousness in his voice. “Well, sir. I was only assigned here temporarily. And I do have to get back to my ship.”

“I don’t think you understand, Lieutenant.” Maxwell said as he stood up from his seat, Art following suit, as Maxwell made his way around his desk to stand before Grak. “This is your ship.”

The confusion on Grak’s face only grew and the man even began to struggle to formulate words. “But-I-Captain, I am-What I mean is-my assignment-I’m assigned to-what?”

“Lieutenant,” Art began. “You’ve been extraordinarily helpful since you arrived. In fact, as far as we have been told by those who worked with you in engineering, you put a lot of hours into this ship, just to ensure that we got back home safely.”

Maxwell then took over. “It takes a chief engineer to show true dedication to a starship and we believe that you have shown us that you are indeed a chief engineer. That said,” Maxwell fished out of his left pants pocket and pulled out a small case. He opened it before Grak to show a hollowed pip. “As Captain of the Sovereign, I hereby promote you to the rank of Lieutenant Commander, and to make you our permanent chief engineer of this ship.”

Grak stared at the pip with his eyes so wide, they looked like they were about to pop out of his skull. He then looked up at Maxwell, at Art then back at Maxwell. He licked his lips before he spoke. “I-I…I don’t know what to say.”

“Thank you,” said Art. “Would be a start.”

Grak let out a nervous chuckle and then took the case with his pip into his hands. “Thank you, Commander. Captain. I am truly honored.”

“I also had a long chat with Ford and Commander Robertson, the Echelon‘s chief engineer.” Maxwell began. “And they told me just how much you love the Sovereign-class vessels. Well, what better than thee Sovereign herself to be the chief engineer of?”

Grak stammered a bit, where he opened and closed his mouth quite often as he tried to formulate words again. Then he finally found his voice. “I promise I won’t let you two down.”

Art placed his hand on one of Grak’s shoulders. “Relax. Deep breath.”

Maxwell smirked. “We know you won’t, Commander. You’ve shown that well enough.”

Grak chuckled nervously as he took in that deep breath and slowly exhaled to try and calm himself. “Well. I guess that I got some bags to unpack.”

“That be a good place to start,” said Maxwell. “But how about a celebration first? Come on, we’re going to the Sentinel Cafe.”

“Just be careful of Ven Goha,” said Art as they all began to file out of the ready room and onto the bridge, as they headed for the turbolift. “I heard he likes to chat your ear off.”