A phaser rifle blast rang out throughout the Array, and then silence.

“Did we get them all?” Tani asked with a heavy sigh. She blew her hair out of her face in frustration.

Priam shouldered his rifle and opened his tricorder. “It looks like it. I’m not detecting any Jem’Hadar life signs.”

“Great,” Tani said, shouldering her rifle. “We did it.”

“We still have to attend to the scientist’s wounds, repair the damaged countermeasures, rewrite the Array’s command codes, and reestablish the Array’s exterior shielding.”

Tani wagged a finger in mock disapproval, “Don’t let Benson’s negative slant on things infect you, we did good work here.”

“We did, agreed.”

“Besides, you’ll have all of that other stuff wrapped up in an hour,” Tani said with a smile.

They both chuckled.

“Cantabras to Veva,” Alex’s voice rang out on Tani’s combadge.

Tani tapped her badge, “We thought you abandoned us here.”

“We had to introduce some new friends to some old friends. And that can be an awkward situation. How are things over there?”

Tani looked at the dead Jem’Hadar at her feet, “We had a little get-together, met some new friends, and had some laughs. But things got a little rowdy and we had to politely, but firmly, ask them to leave.”

“Very rude, but I’d expect nothing less from them. We’re going to dock in port… six. We can compare notes.”

“We’ll see you there. Veva out,” and she tapped her badge to close the channel. She turned to Priam, “You don’t happen to know where docking port six is, do you?”

“Well, I think that’ll about do it,” Alex said, carrying the last Jem’Hadar body into the shuttlebay.

“What do you suppose they do with them?” Tani asked.

“I’m not sure, I never thought about it. They can’t exactly send them back to their families.”

“Jem’Hadar don’t have families, they’re created in birthing chambers,” Tani frowned. “I hope it’s something respectful; I know I’d want the same in return.”

The two of them walked out of the shuttlebay, headed for Central Command.

“Have you ever thought about being stationed in a place like this?” Alex asked as they walked.

Tani shook her head, “I’m not much for science logistics. I like to discover science, not process it after its discovery. Don’t get me wrong,” she motioned to the open corridor, “this is impressive, and they do amazing work here, but I have to be out amongst the stars.”

“On a planet, cataloging every leaf and rock,” Alex stated.

“Discovering a microbe that could be the natural evolution in Starfleet weaponry,” Tani shot back. “And just because I’m not in the stars, doesn’t mean I can’t feel like I’m a part of them.”

“That’s a fair point,” Alex said. The rest of the walk was silent, the only sound was their boots on the metal grating. Finally, they arrived at Central Command.

Tani looked around at the hive of activity. “This place is a lot more active than the last time I was here.”

“Oh Commanders,” Priam said, turning away from his console. “we’ve about finished up with the rewriting of the command codes. The scientists have been an amazing help.”

The scientist Tani and Priam had used the command codes from approached the group. “Commanders,” he said in a thick German accent. “I am Dr. Augustin Waldner, head scientist for the Liakso Array. I thank you both for repelling the Jem’Hadar threat. I don’t know how much longer they would have kept us alive.” He winced and grabbed his cheek. “I’m afraid our dermal regenerator can only work so quickly.” His face was mostly healed, but the previous damage was still apparent.

Alex shook the man’s hand, “Sending Commander Veva and Ensign Mear to help was the right decision. The way things are progressing, things should be back to normal in a couple of days.”

“Whatever normal will mean going forward,” Waldner chuckled and returned to his console.