“If there’s something worse than the Dominion, it’s the Breen.”  McKee sat in the center chair of the bridge, staring at the system map that Natalie had pulled up.  They’d been working through the Deneb system over the last week by coordinating supply drops and pickups.  Their current course took them toward a colony planet between the Breen-controlled Deptrock and Federation-controlled Janoor systems.  It was a medium-sized colony of one city with a mix of Caitians, Humans, and Betazoids.  They had intercepted a distress call after the colony had been a stop on a hit-and-run attack launched from Breen space with some Dominion fighters mixed in for good measure.  They’d been able to bloody the noses of the enemy, but they’d suffered their wounds in the fight.

Harris grumbled, “We’ve got supplies for them, but it won’t be enough.  I’ve put out a call to the Tallahassee to see if she can work some miracles.”  They were minutes away from arriving and unsure what they would see. What they had seen in their travels was a new level of hell.  Each stop was a fresh set of trauma and suffering.  And it was endless.  “There’s just so much out there…and not enough hands able to help.”  She tapped at the console, “Dropping from warp.”

They spent the next few hours stretching the supplies as best as possible while Natalie did her best to support them with her engineering knowledge.  She returned to the SS Ambrose with a PADD full of needs and requests.  She slumped down in the forward console, “The good news is they’re thankful.  The bad news is…they’re really in need.”  Harris handed the PADD to McKee, who had left her chair and stood behind her.

“They’re asking for a ship?”  Harris sighed, “I don’t blame them.  They need something bigger than the aging shuttles they’re currently maintaining.  I looked at those things.  They’ll need a serious refit before I’d certify them for flight.”

She continued through the list, “Most of this we could probably request from Farpoint.  It’ll take time to….”

Reid shouted from the rear of the bridge, “Incoming warp signature…coming in fast and close!”

McKee didn’t have a chance to order the shields raised before a massive starship flashed into existence right over the top of them.  It slowed, and she shook her head, “I’m going to kill whoever’s the helmsman on that ship.”

Jordan checked her sensors and the computer, “Well, it’s the USS Olympic, and they’re hailing us, so you get to tell them yourself.”  She tapped at the console, and the bridge appeared on the screen.  And Reid gasped.

The Olympic CO was amused, “Well, not the first time I’ve been greeted like that.  Captain Crawford, Federation Starship USS Olympic…and you are…,”  He looked to his science officer, who was staring shocked at the screen along with the other former Mackenzie crew.  “Fowler?”

She shook herself loose, “Uhm, yes.  The SS…Ambrose from Harris Transport.  Captain is Elizabeth Rachel McKee.”  She swallowed the potent reminder of her former commanding officer.

McKee saw familiar faces, but Reid spoke, “Captain Crawford, I’m Doctor Jordan Reid…former Chief Medical Officer of the USS Mackenzie.  I know some of your people, sir.”  She amended that in her head.  She knew many of them.”

Pete was catching up, “Ambrose Harris.  I’m familiar.  What are you doing here?”  Between Reid, Harris, and McKee, they explained what and where they’d spent the last twenty or so days with supply runs, supply chain management, and doing whatever they could wherever they could in the face of what was happening in the Deneb sector.

“And you, sir?” Reid wondered what had brought the lumbering Olympic to them.

“We’re slowly relocating colonists from Janoor III.  The colony Jolla seemed like a good place…but they’ve had some unwelcome guests.”  He accepted a PADD from Fowler.  “More than a few looks like.  We’re still assigned to the Deneb sector, and Jolla needs help…you mind if we play in your end of the holodeck?”

McKee caught approving glances from the others, “We’ll be happy to assist you, sir.”

Crawford moved to close the channel but held his eyes on Jordan Reid.  She had been a friend and colleague to much of his current team.  “You all are invited to dine with us tonight…I’m sure old friends would be happy to see you.”  He closed the channel.

Harris turned in her station, “It’s a bit…weird seeing those faces again.”

Reid murmured, “As big as we think the universe is, Nat…it is incredibly small sometimes.  Today is one of those days.”  She shifted her thought, “I was thinking…what if we gifted the SS Ambrose to the Jolla people?  Nat?”

Natalie felt competing emotions tugging at her heart.  Before they slapped her late brother’s name on the ship, it’d just been an older model Aeries class ship waiting for a refit.  She hadn’t meant much.  Now, she felt something towards the old beat-up starship.  The voice of her brother echoed in her mind, a reminder of the character of the man…and what he would have done in the situation.

“Nat?”

She opened her eyes, finding Reid and McKee waiting for her answer.  She nodded her head, “I think we do it…I’ll let Mom know… we’ll have to ask Captain Crawford for a ride home eventually.”

It was Reid’s turn to smile, “Given that it’s Prentice at the helm, I’m not terribly worried.”  She gave McKee a knowing look, “William Prentice has come a long way, but he’s still a flyboy at heart.  I doubt that flyby was an accident.”

Elizabeth cocked her head, “Well, then I gotta meet this kid.”

Nat stood from her station, “Don’t beat up Prentice.  He’s a nice boy.  And he has a girlfriend last I checked.”

Reid stared at her, amused, “You checked?”

McKee rolled her eyes, “I’m not looking, thankyouverymuch.”

Harris felt her face redden, “I mean…you don’t?

McKee waited for a beat and couldn’t help herself.  She cackled and shook her head, “Oh, to be young again.  Let’s focus on getting this girl ready for transfer to the colony.  At least one more good thing can come out of this trip.”