Melora walked into sickbay. It was early in the morning before her duty shift. Dr. Meyer was in her office working the personnel physical reviews that were due to Starfleet Medical when they arrived at Starbase 32. Meyer looked up to see Melora leaning against one of the exam tables.

Meyer said as she left her office. "What can I do for you Lieutenant?"

Melora forced a smile. "Doctor, I'm not sure. I've been nauseous the last few mornings. I thought it may have been something I ate, but now I don't know."

"Ok, hop up on the exam table here and I'll have a look." Meyer said patting the table Melora was leaning against.

Melora lay back on the table and crossed her hands on her stomach. The doctor opened her tricorder and ran the bio scanner over the body of the lieutenant. Meyer studied the output and then ran the tricorder again verifying the results. She slowly closed the tricorder and helped Melora sit up. "Well Lieutenant, I can tell you for certain it was not something you ate."

The suspense was driving Melora crazy. "Well, what is it then?"

Doctor Meyer smiled. "Well Melora, it seems you're pregnant."

That was the last thing she had expected to hear. The look on her face, surely told the doctor that exact same thing. Not that her and Duncan had been celibate, but they had taken precautions. The Doctor must have picked up on her surprise. The doctor said with a raised eyebrow. "This wasn't a planned course of action? You don't want a child?"

"Um…no, I mean…Yes. Wait a second. No. We had hadn't planned it. Yes. I would love to have a child." She and Duncan had simply never discussed it. They had not seriously discussed marriage yet, much less children. "It's just such a surprise." Melora said as her mind finally stopped reeling.

"When are you going to tell him?" The doctor asked knowing of the relationship between her and the Captain.

"Soon, very soon." Ito said as she slid off the table. She rubbed her stomach gently. "Can you tell what it will be? A boy or a girl?"

"Are you sure you want to know?" Arianna asked.

"Yes!" Melora said enthusiastically.

"It's a boy." Arianna said with a smile.

"A boy." She said looking down. "Ian." She whispered.

The doctor strained to hear what Melora had said. "Excuse me."

"Ian." Melora repeated. "We'll name him Ian after Duncan's brother." Melora said smiling. She gave Doctor Meyer a small hug. "Thank you doctor." Melora left to tell Duncan. Melora smiled as she thought of her son, her and Duncan's son. He would be as fine and honorable a man as his father? Would he look like her or Duncan? There were so many things to think about. Her head was spinning by the time she reached her quarters. "Computer. Location of Captain MacDermott?"

The computer responded coldly. "Captain MacDermott is on the bridge."

She put on her duty uniform, tied her hair back and left for the bridge.

"Long range sensors are picking up a federation starship entering this sector." The Klingon on the helm said to the leader.

"HA." The human smiled. His plan was starting to come to fruition. He had worked so long on it. He would finally exact his revenge. "Shutdown everything except for minimal life support. We're going to send them a distress signal. The federation can't help but help those in need." He said sarcastically. The twinkle was back in his eye. "When they lower their shields, we beam over to the bridge and into engineering. Once we have control of those areas we control the ship." The leader rose from his seat.

The Klingon growled. "What if we encounter resistance?"

The human patted the Klingon on the shoulder and laughed. "That's what you and your friends are for." He swept his arm around the cramped bridge of the ship.

The Klingon laughed in the way that only Klingons can laugh.

On the bridge of the Missouri, Duncan was sitting in the center seat, with Kern and Costello talking among themselves. The ensign at tactical said. "Captain, we're receiving a distress signal." MacDermott turned to the ensign. "Put it on speakers, Ensign."

The sound from the speakers was broken, distorted and filled with static. "An.. . hip in range.....is the ship, ..N..va. We've had a ....core failure, ra..iation leak. We..n.... evac.. Hel..us."

"The message repeats, Sir." The ensign said.

"Where is that ship, Ensign?" Kern asked.

"Bearing 347 mark 13. point 4 light years. Sir."

"Helm, match bearings and take us in, warp 8." MacDermott ordered.

The Missouri rolled to her right and jumped to warp 8. "ETA, 6 minutes, Sir. Current speed." Kelley said from the helm.

"Very good, Lieutenant." MacDermott turned to Kern. "Take charge of the evacuation, XO." Kern nodded as MacDermott sat back in his chair.

A few minutes later, Melora stepped out of the turbolift and walked around to the command level. "Captain?" Even though everyone on the ship knew they were seriously involved. The two of them kept it on a very professional level while working. "Could I see you for a moment in private?"

"Of course." The captain smiled as he rose from his seat. "XO, you have the bridge. Take care of any causalities."

"Aye, Captain." Kern responded. He was still dealing with the problems with his wife but Kern had been able to separate duty and personal time. Anya was not affecting his ability to perform his duties anymore. Kern and Costello shared an amused glance at each other after the captain had left.

On the civilian ship, fourteen of the sixteen prepared for their assault. They divided into two teams. The leader, Rika Kel, and two Klingons would beam to the bridge. Ten Klingons would beam into the engineering area. "All of the them carried disrupters from various manufactures, Klingon, Romulan, Breen, Cardassian, and Orion. The human engineer announced. "They are lowering their shields. We're being hailed."

The speaker on the ship announced. "Civilian vessel, this is the Federation Starship Missouri. Standby to be beamed aboard."

The leader told Childs. "Tell them to standby. We're getting everyone together."

Childs nodded. "Standby Missouri. We're gathering the crew." As the link went dead he said. "Do you think they bought it?"

Their leader smiled. "It won't matter. Have the weapon ready to transport."

Duncan and Melora were in his ready room. "Duncan, I have something to tell you." She was smiling.

Duncan looked at her. He was confused. "What is it, you know you can tell me anything."

On the civilian ship, Childs responded. "Missouri, We're ready." When the link was broken, Childs initiated the transporter. A few seconds later, the group materialized on the bridge of the Missouri. Kern jumped to his feet and was immediately knocked unconscious by one of the Klingons, before he could say a word. The rest of the bridge crew was quickly herded together. Costello stood her ground as the leader walked up to her and said. "If you call for help," He pointed a Romulan disruptor at Kern. "He dies, then you join him." The leader, noticing the rank pips on Kern's collar asked. "Where is the captain?"

Costello was silent. The leader backhanded her for her silence. The human looked around and saw the ready room door. He directed the two Klingons to the door. The mercenaries took up positions on either side of it. He slid the selector on his disruptor to full and held it under Costello's chin pushing her head up. "First lock all doors to the crew quarters. Give the proper command authorization, then call the captain to the bridge, or you die." Costello eyes cut over to her captor.

"Duncan, I'm.....we're...go"

"Captain MacDermott to the bridge, immediately, emergency." Costello's voice interrupted Melora.

Damn. Melora thought to herself as Duncan stood and without hesitation moved for the door.

At the door he paused and turned gave her a look she knew all too well. "I'll be right back." Duncan said.

That’s what I get for being involved with a Starship captain. She told herself.

The doors opened and MacDermott was thrown backward by the heel of a Klingon hand impacting his chin. Melora, caught by surprise, ducked for cover and drew her phaser as her security training took over. She fired a shot that went wide as she moved behind Duncan's desk. She fired two more bursts that caused the Klingons to duck behind the door. One of the Klingons raised the settings on his disruptor to full. MacDermott's desk took the blast from the full power disruptor. The desk was demolished. The other Klingon fired. His blast struck Melora in the abdomen as she tried to find other cover. She struck the ground hard. Her last thought before losing consciousness was of her unborn child.

The human walked into the office. "Get the woman to sickbay. I want everyone alive to witness what I'm going to do." He said of his grandiose plans. One of the Klingons picked her up roughly, tossed her over his burly shoulder and carried her off. As the Klingon crossed the bridge on his way to the turbolift, members of the bridge crew started to move toward him, but were pushed back by Kel and her disruptor. The human kicked MacDermott with his foot. "Get up." He pulled MacDermott up.

The man slapped MacDermott back to consciousness. "What the hell is going on? Who are you?" Duncan looked around. He was alone with the human. "What happened to Me....?" MacDermott asked remembering what happened.

The man ignored MacDermott for the moment. "K'garn, have you secured engineering yet?"

Over the intercom came a voice. "Yes. They were most cooperative." The voice said most sarcastically.

"Take them to the brig and lock them up. We'll be along shortly with the bridge crew." He turned his attention back to MacDermott. "Shouldn't you be more concerned with what is going to happen to you?" The human laughed. "I need your ship, if you cooperate no one gets hurt. If you don't, I start killing your crew. It's that simple. Captain???" The human inquired nonchalantly.

"MacDermott. And I'll be damned if I'm going to turn my ship over to you." The human raised his hand to backhand the captain. As he swung MacDermott grabbed his hand and stopped it cold. Peering deep into his eyes Duncan said in a low voice so calm and devoid of emotion that it caught the human off guard. "You're going to have to try harder than that." Duncan lashed out with his free hand and drove his fist deep into the stomach of the leader of the terrorists. He doubled over as MacDermott hit him with doubled fists across the back of his neck. The human dropped to the floor. Duncan picked up his disruptor and moved toward the door. He was still trapped in his ready room. As soon as he opened the door the others would open fire on him or his crew. He only had one option. He hoped it would work. "Computer. Request voice recognition?"

"Voice identified as MacDermott, Duncan E., Captain, USS Missouri." The computer responded.

"Computer, lock out all functions. Helm, weapons, life-support, and engineering. Deactivate manual overrides. Erect level ten security field around the computer core. Authorize MacDermott delta delta omega. Disable all tactile terminal interfaces. Accept commands from my voice only. Enable voice authorization. Execute. Authorize MacDermott delta delta omega."

The computer responded. "All functions locked, all tactile interfaces disabled, voice authorization in effect.

On the bridge, the Bajoran woman watched as every monitor and LCARS interface on the bridge went dark. What is going on? She thought as she went to find the leader.

MacDermott breathed a small sigh of relief until the doors opened and the Bajoran woman saw him standing there and her leader on the ground. Duncan attempted to move, but she was too fast. He was stunned by the disruptor blast. She stepped to the door. "Take the Captain to the brig, along with the rest of them." She returned to help the human up. They entered the bridge as the bridge crew was herded onto the turbolift. The man paused, rubbing the back of his neck. "Wait." He pointed to Costello. "She stays. Get the rest in the brig."

The Klingon entered sickbay and dropped Melora on the table and pulled his disruptor. "Take care of her." He ordered.

Dr. Meyer was too shocked to speak immediately. "Wh..what the devil is going on?" She was knocked to the ground for her curiosity. She picked herself up and began to examine Melora.

"We are in control of this vessel. If you cooperate you will not be harmed." The Klingon said. "If you leave this area you will be killed." The Klingon left sickbay.

She put the tricorder down and stared at Melora. "5 cc of anamezdazine." She ordered trying to stabilize the woman. The nurse slapped the hypo into her hand. The hypo hissed as the drugs entered her system. Melora began to stir. "Where am I?" She started to sit up.

Dr. Meyer put her hand on her shoulder. "Lay back Melora. You're hurt. You've been shot with a disruptor. There is some internal bleeding."

Melora started to feel scared. She looked into Meyer's face. "The baby?" She whispered.

"I don't know yet. I'm sorry."

Melora lay back as a tear fell from her eye.

Costello looked to MacDermott as the turbolift doors closed. He tried to tell her with a glance that everything would be Ok. The woman, who was just a child during the revolution on her home world of Xenex, was scared. "What do you want with me?"

The man pushed her into the helm seat. "Plot a course for Earth. If you don't, I'll kill you."

Her fingers moved over the dark board. Nothing. She tried again with no results.

"What is the problem?" He said angrily.

"The interface is off-line." She replied.

"Fix it, NOW." He told her sliding the tip of the phaser along her jawline.

She flinched sucking in a breath as she felt the cool tip of the phaser. She looked at him, her eyes filled with a combination of fear and anger.

He saw the look in her eyes. "Ooo, spirit, I like that." He whispered almost seductively into her ear. "FIX IT!" He backhanded her again.

Amanda wiped the blood from her lip. "Computer, enable helm interface." She spat.

Silence.

They forced MacDermott and the rest of the bridge crew into the holding area. They were put into cells but the terrorists could not bring the forcefields on-line. Duncan smiled to himself as he moved through the crowd to get near T'Gerran.

"T'Gerran," He whispered. I have disabled the computer. Once they figure it out they will be coming for me. That may be your only chance."

The big Klingon only nodded. Standing taller than everyone else, he did not dare speak. He knew MacDermott to be a warrior. Nothing, he thought, was more important to him than his ship. Those who invaded it would surely pay.

One of the Klingons in the holding area covering the prisoners raised a communicator. "Turoc to Lorcano, We cannot raise the force fields. The computer is down."

Kelley's head snapped up. Lorcano, he knew the name. He thought the man on the bridge was familiar, he couldn't place it before, but now he could. Kelley made his way to the captain. "Captain. I know who the leader is."

Duncan looked at him. "Who?" He said quietly.

"Nicholas Lorcano. He was the leader of Nova squadron at the Academy. He was expelled from the Academy in '68. He convinced the rest of Nova squadron into covering up an accident that caused the death of a cadet." Kelley explained.

Duncan filed this information away for future reference.

"We're having the same problem up here. Bring the captain up here. If you have any trouble; kill one of the hostages."

"Understood." The Klingon said to the communicator. Into the communicator he said. "K'nur, bring one of the others and watch the prisoners."

"Understood." The communicator responded.

He turned back to the crowd. "Where is the Captain?" The Klingon yelled.

MacDermott started to move forward. T'Gerran put a hand on his arm to stop him. Duncan looked at him. I cannot let someone die to protect me.

T'Gerran understood. There was no honor in hiding, unless it was in battle, not just to avoid danger. There was a lot of shuffling around as MacDermott made his way to the front of the group.

"Keep everything under control, Tom." Duncan said as he passed his first officer. The Klingon grabbed Duncan and pushed him toward the door.

The other two Klingons entered as the doors opened. The Klingon mercenaries looked as if they would kill anyone who approached the door.

Connor O'Roarke slowly crawled up the Jeffries tube he had been in for most of the day. The battle damage from the Romulan ships had been repaired. He was still tweaking the systems back to their peak performance. A few meters from the top he heard what sounded like shouting. Nothing made quite the noise as an angry Klingon. Slowly Connor inched his way to the end of the tube. He peered out just long enough to see a number of armed Klingons wondering around on this engineering deck. He slid back down the Jefferies tube. At the bottom he thought. My God, What the hell is going on? He tapped his combadge. Nothing. "Computer." No response. Damn, what did they do to the computer? Connor entered a connecting tube and made his way as far from the Klingons as possible until he could talk to the Captain or someone on the bridge.

"DAMMIT." Meyer swore as she continued to work of the body of Melora Ito. "There must be some sort of dermal inhibitor in that disruptor. I can't stop the bleeding." She had been operating on the Lieutenant for over three hours with no success. "Computer, activate a stasis field around biobed 1." The stasis field shimmered around the table. Meyer sighed as she leaned against the counter behind her. She crossed her arms over her stomach holding in the pain of not being able to help a patient. Arianna said a silent prayer for Melora. "At least I can keep her alive until we reach a starbase." She said to no one in particular.

Duncan was pushed from the turbolift by his Klingon escort. Duncan cut his eyes back to the Klingon as he caught himself against the chair to the left of the command chair. MacDermott looked up to see Lorcano sitting smugly in the center seat. "Ah Captain MacDermott, I'm so glad you could join us here on the bridge."

Duncan just looked at him with disgust.

"Tsk, tsk Captain.” He said noticing the Captain’s look of disdain. “Do you see something wrong here?"

MacDermott answered sarcastically. “Besides, you being in my chair?”

"Besides that.” He sneered. “I'll give you a hint.” He said quietly. “THE COMPUTER IS INOPERATIVE." Lorcano yelled. His demeanor changed again. "And your operations officer, lovely as she is," He glanced at Costello sitting at the helm, "has not had much luck fixing it. I thought you could help us."

"Go to hell, Lorcano." Duncan said.

"Ah, so you know who I am. Now who in your crew knows me? hmmmm." He said. "I take it from your response you're not going to be very cooperative."

"You're right." Duncan responded, his Scottish accent becoming a little more pronounced.

"That's a shame. Now I'm going to have to kill someone." Lorcano said with no trace of remorse."

Duncan looked at Lorcano trying to see to see if he is bluffing or not. "Go ahead. These people know the risks that go with the uniform. They'd all rather die, than see you carry out your plan." Duncan retorted wishing he knew what the plan was.

"Yes, noble words but, would say ten of them like to watch each other die? Hmmm, Captain? Would you?" Lorcano raised his communicator. "Turoc?"

"Turoc here." The voice said over the communicator.

"Take ten hostages to the shuttlebay and lock them in. If the captain," he looked at MacDermott, "doesn't give me computer control, depressurize the bay, slowly. Make them suffer."

Lorcano looked at Duncan. Duncan was doing his best to remain poker faced. Years of playing the game against Will Riker helped, but it wasn't easy.

"Understood." The Klingon said. He used the tip of his disruptor to point out different members of the Missouri crew. One of the other mercenaries forced them into a small group. The Klingon had made it up to nine before pausing, looking. "You. You’ll do nicely." He said pointing to Lieutenant Angela Thomas, a small, fragile looking young woman. She tried to sink back into the crowd as the Klingon pointed to her.

Turoc moved to grab her and push her over with the rest of the group when T'Gerran stepped in front of her. "No." The security officer said.

"Ah, I was wondering when the warrior in you was going to awaken, or if you were just a cowering p’tok." The mercenary laughed at T'Gerran. Turoc shoved the Klingon over with the rest. "Take the brave one. We'll see how brave he is when there is no air to breath." Turoc laughed again.

T'Gerran leveled his gaze at Turoc. "After I kill the rest, I'm coming back to kill you." T'Gerran said without a hint of emotion, but there was a fire in his eyes that would not be extinguished.

The Klingon mercenary laughed as T'Gerran and the others were walked out at phaser point. "We'll see," he laughed again, "we will see."

"Ten members of your crew are on their way to die, Captain." He looked at MacDermott for any sign of him breaking. There was none.

Lorcano decided to change his angle. "Lorcano to Nova." He said to his communicator.

"Yes."

"Beam the weapon over. Right on to the bridge."

"I would not recommend that." The voice said.

"DO IT!" Lorcano pounded on the arm of the chair. The whine of the transporter started. Quickly it materialized into a photon casing. Childs was standing next to the device with a tricorder, slowly scanning the device.

Lorcano rose and slowly walked around the device. "This,” he slid his hand lovingly along the duranium casing, “this is what is going to make me a legend."

Connor O'Roarke opened the panel leading to the Jefferies tube slowly. He found himself in sickbay. "Doctor," he whispered.

Arianna Meyer turned to see the engineer standing there. "What, what the devil are you doing here?" She whispered, looking around to make sure no one saw him.

Are there any more Klingons in the area?" He asked, scanning the area.

Arianna put her hand on his arm in an effort to calm him. "No. One of them brought in Lt. Ito. She has been wounded. He told us if we were caught in the passageways we'd be killed."

"Everything is going to be fine." Connor said trying to calm her and himself as he looked around sickbay. "Do you have a phaser in here?" He asked.

"Yes, in my office. I'll get it for you."

Connor looked around. “Why are the terminals in here active?” He asked. Suddenly he remembered. “Oh that’s right, the sickbay systems have their own dedicated processor. It’s linked to the main computer, but it has it’s own processor.”

Arianna returned. “Here it is.” She held out the phaser as if it was diseased.

Connor took it and checked the charge on it. It was fully charged. He held it up and smiled. “Do you know where the Captain is?”

“No. I figure he’s being held or he would be here with Melora.” She said gesturing to the biobed where she lay in stasis.

“What happened to her?” Connor didn’t know the Lieutenant that well, but the times he had worked with her or talked to her she seemed like a nice person. He hated to see nice people hurt.

“One of those Klingon bastards shot her with a disruptor at close range.” The doctor frowned.

Connor frowned, he didn’t know what to say. “Will she be Ok?”

“I don’t know. There is some sort of dermal inhibitor inherent in the disruptor. I can’t stop the bleeding.” She didn’t know whether she should say so or not but she did anyway. “To make matters worse. She just found out she was pregnant. I don’t know, what effect this will have on the baby.” She started to cry, from the stress of the situation, sympathy for Melora, and the frustration that she could not help her.

Connor could see the frustration and sorrow etched on her face. He was not much of a people person. He was more at home with machines and warp cores. He did the first thing that came to mind, he just held her in his arms.

A few moments later Arianna broke away, embarrassed. She wiped the tears from her eyes and stammered an apology for her behavior.

Two Klingon mercenaries led the ten hostages to the shuttlebay. T’Gerran was the last. One of his security people, Jon Roberts was leading. Next to him was one of the mercenaries. As they walked, Jon decided that this was as good a time as any. They approached an intersection in the passageway. Suddenly with all his might he pushed the Klingon next to him against the bulkhead. The mercenary was dazed for a moment. It gave T’Gerran the opening he needed. He ducked and spun around. He came up behind his opponent as the mercenary called to his comrade for assistance. The Klingon turned and raised his weapon to shoot the Security chief of the Missouri. As he fired T’Gerran pulled the other mercenary in front of him. The Klingon screamed as he was vaporized. His soul was on its way to meet Fek’lar at the place where the dishonored go. T’Gerran ducked into a doorway. The remaining mercenary was torn. Did he go after the Klingon or remain with the hostages. Jon Roberts decided for him. The security officer hit him as hard as he could. The Klingon was not phased. He laughed as he raised his disruptor. T’Gerran heard the screams as Jon was vaporized. The mercenary, K’nur, quickly herded the rest to the shuttlebay. He then informed Turoc. The leader of the mercenaries was furious. Only now did he begin to take T’Gerran’s threat seriously. Turoc raised his communicator. “Lorcano?”

“What?” Came the reply.

“We have got a problem. The Klingon escaped.” He said slowly.

Duncan smiled when he heard that bit of news. He nodded to Amanda. She also smiled remembering how tough T’Gerran was.

“We also had to kill one of the hostages.”

That took the smile off Duncan’s face as he thought of who it might be.

“Are the rest in the shuttlebay?” Lorcano asked.

“Yes.” Turoc replied.

“Begin to depressurize the bay.” Lorcano said looking to MacDermott.

The Klingon responded. “Understood.” K’nur said as he found the manual controls and opened the valve, venting the air in the bay out into space.

Within minutes the hostages in the shuttlebay were finding it hard to breath. A few minutes later, some to them started to panic. Ironically, they were using their remaining air faster.

“Do you hear their screams, MacDermott?” Lorcano taunted.

Duncan was sickened by the sound of his crew members slowly suffocating. This was the part of command he detested. Did he let crewmen, his shipmates die to save others, or did he let this madman have control of his ship to kill who knew how many. The minutes felt like hours as the screams of those in the shuttlebay slowly became silence. Duncan looked at Lorcano, not even trying to hide his anger and hatred. “You sadistic bastard. I’ll see you executed for this.” Duncan spat at him.

Lorcano just laughed. “It’s your fault as much as mine, Captain.” He said sarcastically. “All I wanted was your ship. All you had to do was give it to me and those people wouldn’t be dying right now.” Lorcano said.

T’Gerran emerged from the turbolift shaft after forcing the doors open. He quickly, stealthily made his way to his quarters. When he stepped up to the door. They didn’t open. His first thought was to break the door down. T’Gerran rethought that strategy. “Computer, security override. Leonheart, lambda lambda lambda.” There was no response. He repeated the command. No response. He thought with a smile. “Oh well back to plan one.” Once inside he took a moment to thank Kahless for allowing him the opportunity to assist his shipmates, and if he were to die today, he would die with the honor a warrior deserves. He promised Kahless that those Klingons without honor would pay dearly for disgracing the whole Klingon race. He removed his Mek’leth from its case and ran his fingers along its blade. As usual it was razor sharp. T’Gerran decided his first course of action would be to free his shipmates from the shuttlebay before it was too late. He picked up his phaser from the table and slipped it into its holster. He quietly left his quarters.

Connor opened the door to the Jefferies tube. “Dr., Arianna. don’t take any chances with those Klingons.” He told her, not wanting anyone else to be hurt.

She rubbed her hand on his upper arm nervously. “You either.” She smiled hiding her fear.

He crawled into the Jeffries tube as she closed the door behind him. Silently she said a prayer for his safety.

There had been no sound from the shuttlebay for a few minutes. Duncan knew inside nine of his crew were dead and he could have prevented it. Duncan was very angry now. “You bastard, so you’re going to what? Fire a photon torpedo at what? Starfleet academy? You get booted out for covering up the death of a cadet. So in revenge you’re to blow the damn place up?” Duncan chided him.

Lorcano looked up. He then exploded. “I would have made Captain before I was 30. I was the best that had ever gone through that place. Better than Pike, better than Kirk, better than Tryla Scott, I was better than Picard.” Lorcano reflected for a moment. “Picard, that bastard.” He spat the name of the Captain of the Enterprise. “We’d have gotten away with it, if it wasn’t for him and his damned sense of honor and nobility. He got to Crusher.” Lorcano thought of his old friend Wesley Crusher. “That sniveling child. I’ll kill him if I ever see him again.” He threatened not knowing that Wesley Crusher had joined the being known as the Traveler.

Duncan looked at him.

Lorcano continued. “No no. I’m going to do more than just blow up the Academy. Inside this photon casing is a biological weapon that will make the Ebola plaque of 2004 look like a cold. Childs, what are the projected deaths?”

The man who beamed over with the photon case pressed some buttons on his tricorder. “If the prevailing winds are right, over 4 million dead within a month. The disease with mutate into a nonthreatening form within two months. Total deaths 9 million plus.” He said coldly.

Duncan was shocked. “What is it?” He asked backing away from the casing slightly.

Childs said. “It’s a genetically engineered derivative of Tyrillian fever. Only this is a hundred times more virulent and can be transmitted in the form of an aerosol, whereas Tyrillian fever could only be transmitted by contact.”

Amanda gasped. She remembered being on a relief team while stationed on the USS Chicago. The colony had been decimated by and outbreak of Tyrillian fever. Costello started speaking without thinking. Never taking her purple eyes off the photon case. “The symptoms of Tyrillian fever are grotesque to say the least, Captain. Huge open bleeding sores on the skin. The teeth disintegrate, the gums adding to the bleeding. The high fever is caused by a breakdown of the immune system, the body creates an overload of antibodies to fight the disease. The disease rewrites the coding of the antibodies, they assault the organs of the body, slowly eating away at the internal organs. If the host is not killed by the extremely high fever, it dies from internal bleeding. The mortality rate is more than 97 percent.”

Duncan turned back toward Lorcano. “You’re insane. You get booted out of the academy so you’re going to wipeout most of the population of North America.”

“I may be insane, but I’ll be a legend. The planet Earth will never forget the name Lorcano.” Lorcano said emphatically.

Duncan retorted. “Right up there with Hitler, Khan, Green, and Adrik Thorensen. That’s some impressive company.” He said sarcastically.

T’Gerran stalked through the passageways of the USS Missouri. He was crouched making his 2 meter size a little smaller. In one hand was his Mek’leth. The other was free, but extended in front of him, his hands extended in front of him like the antenna of some incredibly large insect. He peered around the corner from the shuttlebay. T’Gerran saw the Klingon, K’nur peering through the viewport. He was laughing. T’Gerran wondered if he had laughed when he killed Roberts. He thought to himself. This dishonorable piece of scum will pay dearly for the death of my friends. He crept closer. T’Gerran was nearly three meters away when K’nur turned and saw him. The Klingon mercenary quickly brought his weapon around to bear on the Security chief. It was not quick enough. Instead of trying to cover the distance. T’Gerran hefted his Mek’leth with all his might. K’nur squeezed the trigger of the disruptor as the blade struck him in the center of the bony crest on his forehead. The Klingon mercenary never saw the disruptor fire. He would have slumped down the wall except that the Mek’leth was imbedded nearly 4 centimeters deep in the wall. T’Gerran strode up to the corpse and looked into its lifeless eyes as he withdrew his Mek’leth from his skull. The dead Klingon slid, leaving blood trailing down the wall behind him. It came to rest in front of the valve for the shuttlebay. T’Gerran pushed him out of the way with his foot. He closed the valve. T’Gerran opened the doors. The roar of the air being pulled into the shuttle bay was deafening. T’Gerran quickly entered the shuttlebay and checked the people inside. They were all alive. Barely. The ranking officer in the shuttlebay was Lieutenant Osmaros, he helped him to sit up as he regained consciousness.

“Thank you commander.” He said wearily

“No thanks are needed. Stay here. I will fuse the valve so no one will be able to open it again. I have to try and regain control of the ship.” T’Gerran said.

Osmaros nodded as the big Klingon rose and left. T’Gerran paused at the door and fired his phaser at the valve fusing it closed. After the doors closed he also fused the door closed so no one would be able to get in. As he holstered his weapon he heard the voice of Turoc on K’nur’s communicator. “K’nur, you son of a Targ, come in damn you.”

T’Gerran pulled the communicator out of K’nur’s belt and brought it up to his mouth. “K’nur is not able to respond right now. He’s dead.”

“What? Who?” Turoc asked.

“I told you. When I kill the rest I’ll be back for you.” T’Gerran promised him.

“Damn!” Dr. Meyer said as she slammed the monitor closed. “There is nothing in the medical database that covers her problems.” She looked out at Melora on the biobed and felt helpless. She ran her fingers through her hair trying to pull the frustration and tension from her body.

Connor crawled slowly up the Jefferies tube he had crawled up before. He could count seven Klingons and a Romulan. Was he seeing things right, A ROMULAN? He had to get out of this Jefferies tube. He peeked out again. There were three bodies shoved into the corner. Those poor souls were obviously dead. From his vantage point he could make out Ensign Pulver and Lt. Commander Davis. Both had the mark of a close range phaser blast on their heads. Those Klingon bastards executed them. Connor looked around again, there in front of the warp core was ther rest of his engineering staff being covered by two of the Klingons. Connor’s mind raced through the possibilities. I could destroy one of the plasma coolant tanks, but that would kill everyone in the room including me. I could take my chances against nine armed Klingons, they would kill us all. The idea came to Connor like a vision. Quickly he went back down the Jefferies tube.

“What do you mean K’nur is dead?” The voice came from the communicator in Turoc’s hand.

“That Klingon killed him. The Chief of Security, the one who escaped.” Turoc explained impatiently.

Lieutenant Kelley came up quietly behind Kern. “Commander, we can take him.” Jared started to move past him.

Kern put his arm up to stop him. “No!” He turned to see a number of the crew trying to advance on the Klingon. Kern pointed to Kelley. “Do you want to die?” He pointed to another, and another. “Do you?” He repeated. “The captain ordered me to keep things under control. Now at ease. That is an order.” He said in a low whisper. The officers backed down.

“Send a couple of your men from engineering to track him down and kill him.” Lorcano ordered.

“Understood.” The Klingon said with a smile.

Duncan stood impassively on the bridge as Lorcano stalked around yelling into his communicator. Lorcano stopped and looked at him. “Maybe you don’t care about the rest of your crew, but I think there is someone you care about on this ship. hmmmm Captain?”

Duncan froze. He thought of Melora. What she wanted to tell him. Their whole relationship passed before his eyes in a matter of moments.

Lorcano could smell the fear in MacDermott. He knew he had won. “Ah, I was right. There is someone. Turoc! Send one of your men to sickbay to bring the woman that you took down earlier. I think I have found the Captain’s Achilles’ heel.” He said smugly.

“Understood.” Turoc out.

The Klingon entered sickbay. Roughly he asked. “Where is the human woman that was wounded earlier?”

“Why?” Doctor Meyer asked defiantly.

“She’s wanted on the bridge.” He smirked.

“She cannot be moved. If she is; she will die.” The doctor said standing her ground.

The Klingon said. “Bridge.”

“Yes.” Lorcano responded.

The Klingon relayed the Doctor’s diagnosis. “The woman will die if she is moved. What do you want me to do?”

“Wait. Captain it’s your call. What’ll it be? You give me the ship and she lives, you don’t and she dies. It’s that simple.”

“Go to hell.” MacDermott responded playing the bluff, the fear and dread threatening to overwhelm him.

“Kill her.” Lorcano said without a trace of thought or remorse.

Duncan could hear Dr. Meyer struggling with the Klingon. Everyone on the bridge heard a thud as Dr. Meyer was knocked to the floor.

“Wait.” Duncan surrendered.

“Wait!” Lorcano said into his communicator anticipating the Captain’s surrender.

“Understood.” The Klingon said in response.

Lorcano gloated. “Well Captain. Do I get control of the computer or should I have my associate finish his task?”

“You win, you son of a bitch. Computer, request voice recognition?” He said grimly.

"Voice identified as MacDermott, Duncan E., Captain, USS Missouri." The computer responded.

“Disable all computer lockout and enable all tactile interfaces.” MacDermott said without emotion.

The computer responded. “Computer operations returned to normal functions.”

“Thank you, Captain.” Lorcano said as he sat down in the center seat. “Would you care to join me?” He said laughing.

“Go to hell.” Duncan spat at him.

He turned back to Costello. “Commander lock a tractor beam on our ship and then set a course for earth. Warp 7.” Then he added with sarcasm. “Engage.”

She sat there impassively.

“Didn’t you hear me. I said Engage!” Lorcano screamed.

As Lorcano prepared to backhand the commander again. Duncan said simply. “Amanda, Do it.” MacDermott hadn’t felt this defeated since he had to abandon Kathryn Janeway and Voyager in the Delta Quadrant.

Amanda frowned as the Missouri turned to port and flashed into warp on her mission of death.

Lorcano smiled as he saw how beaten he was. “Thank you for your assistance Captain.” He said with all the smugness of a bad sportsman.

Duncan noticed that the Klingon guarding him was giving him more room than he should have. Duncan jumped at Lorcano before the Klingon could react. MacDermott had the human in a choke hold. He ripped the disruptor out of his hand and held it to Lorcano’s head. “GET BACK!” He said to the Klingon.

“Kill him.” Lorcano ordered.

Duncan countered. “Back off.” The Klingon wasn’t sure what to do.

There was a flurry of activity on the bridge as Childs was stopped by Costello from interfering. No one saw the Bajoran, Rika Kel approach MacDermott from behind. The first thing anyone saw was the flash from her phaser as it struck MacDermott in the back. MacDermott crumpled on Lorcano as they both fell to the ground.

Lorcano crawled out from under the unconscious form of MacDermott. “Tsk, tsk, Captain. Close.” He laughed. “But close doesn’t quite cut it. Get him back to the holding area.” The Klingon grabbed MacDermott under his shoulders and drug him toward the turbolift.

Childs stepped back from Costello and straightened his tunic. Lorcano stepped up behind her and grabbed a handful of her long red hair and pulled sharply. “You keep your ass in that chair, or so help me I’ll kill you. Do you understand me?” All of the false attempts at seduction were gone now.

She just nodded.

“Good.” He pushed her forward. She caught herself before her head hit the panel. She knew if she crossed him again he would kill her.

The Klingon deposited MacDermott on the floor with all the grace of someone dropping a sack of flour. Kern knelt next to him. “Captain, are you Ok?”

“Tom.” Duncan said defeated. “He’s got the ship. Going to destroy the academy. Have to stop...” Duncan lapsed back into unconsciousness.

Childs was in the torpedo room with the Romulan. They were working on the weapon. As he lowered the vials that contained the Tyrillian Fever virus, he said. “Sleep tight, my babies until it is time to waken and take your place in history.” He patted the vials as a father pats his newborn child. The Romulan sat there and watched utterly fascinated. She asked deadpan. “Why do you humans talk to inanimate objects as if they were alive?”

Childs just looked at her. “I created this. This is me. To quote an ancient Earth religious text. ‘I have become death, the destroyer of worlds.’

She thought of the words for a moment. It made sense to her. “Why do you want to do this? I understand Lorcano’s motivation. What is yours?”

“I was in starfleet academy. They kicked me out. I cheated on an exam. I worked hard, I studied, I didn’t want to be in command. I wanted to work in the sciences. They make you take command classes. I took some notes onto the Kobyoshi Maru test.”

She just looked at him. Being Romulan she had no idea what the Kobyoshi Maru scenario was.

Picking up on her confusion he explained. “It’s a test, to see how command officers react in a no win scenario. I took some notes on what some other candidates had done. I got caught, and they threw me out. I come from a long line of Starfleet officers. My family ostracized me. I was an outcast until Nick took me in.”

She just nodded. She knew Lorcano was just using him for his knowledge. Once this was over, Lorcano would either kill him or abandon him.

She felt sorry for him as they pushed the device into the torpedo tube.

T’Gerran crawled through the Jefferies tubes. He’s narrowly escaped three Klingons in one of the passageways. He was glad they didn’t know how to use the internal sensors. Onward he crawled. He stopped suddenly hearing a noise. Turning his head slightly to put his ear closer to the sound. There was definitely someone in the Jefferies tube with him. They were approaching. Quickly and quietly, T’Gerran made his way to an intersection. He drew his Mek’leth and waited. His senses were so heightened he could almost sense when to strike. He lashed out and grabbed form around the corner and pulled it around. Holding it down with his free hand, T’Gerran prepared to bring the Mek’leth down.

“Wait. T’Gerran it’s me.” O’Roarke said bringing his hands up in an attempt to block the blow, suddenly fearing for his life from everyone on this ship.

Slowly T’Gerran brought down the blade. “Commander. It is good to see you. I thought I was alone.”

“We have to get to auxiliary control, try to regain control of the ship.”

“Agreed.” T’Gerran said.

The two of them crawled off toward the auxiliary control room on Deck 5.

Duncan came around slowly. “Melora?” He asked as the fog still didn’t clear.

Kern responded. “No, Captain. It’s me. Kern.”

“Right.” The fog was clearing. “Sorry, Tom.”

Kern just nodded. He knew how deeply the two of them cared for each other. He helped the Captain to his feet. “How long was I out?”

“Four hours, Sir.” Kelley said.

“Damn, we’ll be almost to Earth by now. We’ve got to take this ship back, now.” Duncan said with determination.

Kern asked. “What exactly is going on Captain?”

“Lorcano has a bio weapon on board in a photon casing. He’s going to fire it at the Academy. It’s potent enough to kill most of the people on the North American continent.”

Ensign Darok was a Vulcan assigned to the astrometrics department. He stepped up with all the emotion of a floor tile. “Captain, I have an idea that may help in this situation.”

“I’m all ears, Ensign.” Duncan replied, instantly regretting the bad pun.

Lorcano sat smug and confident in the command chair. “Take us into a standard approach, Commander. Remember, I’m a pilot too. I’ll know if you do anything that may give us away. If you do, I’ll make you live long enough to regret it.”

Amanda just kept her back to him. She could feel him looking at her. “We will be in orbit in one hour.”

“Very well, Commander. Carry on.” He said sarcastically.

T’Gerran and Connor emerged from the Jefferies tube in the auxiliary control room. Each man took up a station. “Damn. I was afraid of this. They’ve locked out the auxiliaries. The only way to override the bridge is from engineering.” Connor said. “But that room is full of Klingons.”

T’Gerran looked at him.

“Ah, Sorry, no offense.” Connor added. “We can’t do a thing from down here.” O’Roarke said. “I can get an image from the viewscreen.”

The viewscreen came to live. An image of Earth’s moon slowly passed by. “Sweet creeping Jesus, we’re approaching Earth.” Connor continued.

They both watched in silence as the blue and white marble that is the planet Earth slowly spun below them. “It’s Earth.” Connor said as the T’Gerran moved for the door. “Where are you going?”

T’Gerran spoke. “We don’t have time to take the Jefferies tubes.” The thought pleased the warrior in him. “We’re going to have to take our chances in the passageways. I have an appointment to keep.” T’Gerran said thinking of the mercenary, Turoc. “You should head for engineering. If you encounter anyone who does not belong. Kill them.” T’Gerran continued without emotion.

“I will.” The engineer said nervously. He’d never killed anyone like this before. He’d fired phasers and photon torpedoes in battle before, but had never seen the person he would have to kill. Connor didn’t really like that idea, but T’Gerran was right. “I guess they will sing songs in the great hall to our honor?” He said half hearted.

T’Gerran growled. “If we are fortunate. Today is a good day to die.”

Connor just rolled his eyes. What have I gotten myself into?

A smile came across the Klingon’s face. “I was making a joke, Commander.”

Thank God. Connor thought as they forced the doors to the control room open.

Duncan approached the Klingon, Turoc cautiously. “I have to talk to Lorcano. There are defense codes he will need to get past the security nets.”

“Stand back or I will kill you.” Turoc responded with the point of his phaser.

Ensign Darok eased quietly behind Turoc while the Captain had his attention. Darok made eye contact with MacDermott. A silent signal that let Duncan know the Ensign was ready. “Turoc, do you want to take the chance I might be lying? If I’m telling the truth, Lorcano will kill you for screwing this up.”

The Klingon thought for a moment. As he glanced down at his communicator, his mind registered something touching his shoulder, right at the base of his neck. The last thing his mind registered was the floor rising up meet him.

Duncan smiled. “You will have to teach me that sometime, Ensign.”

Darok was proud of himself, but it didn’t show.

“Tom, take ten men, get to the armory and then come with me to the bridge. Kelley, take ten men and go to engineering.” Duncan ordered.

“Aye Sir.” Kern and Kelley said in unison.

MacDermott moved through the passageways of the Missouri with Kern and the men he had picked all of them carried phasers. Duncan carried a compression phaser rifle. They worked their way toward the bridge. It was time to take his ship back from this madman. Moving toward engineering was Kelley and the men he had taken with him.

Lorcano smiled as the Missouri settled into orbit over Earth. “Very nice flying if I say so myself, Commander.” He said. All the smugness from before had returned.

Costello looked out at the viewscreen. There were a number of starships in orbit. If only there was a way to get a message to one of those vessels. She thought to herself.

As if Lorcano could read her mind. “Commander, don’t even think of attempting to signal one of those vessels.”

Quickly she dropped her head pretending to monitor something.

“Childs.” He called over his communicator.

“Yes.” Came the response.

Lorcano responded. “Once you and T’cha are ready. Get back over to the Nova so we can get out of here. Understood?”

“Yes. We’ll see you onboard.”

Locarno sat contented in the center seat. “Commander, put us in a synchronous orbit over San Francisco.”

Costello followed his orders. She hoped the Captain would get here in time.

Duncan, Kern and their men made their way down the passageway to the turbolift to the bridge. MacDermott tapped his combadge. “Kelley are you outside engineering yet?” He asked. The signal was scrambled, so the internal com system wouldn’t pick it up to give their plans away.

“Aye Captain. Give us thirty seconds to get set up.” Kelley said.

“Sounds good. We’re entering the turbolift now. I’ll give you a signal when we take the bridge.

“Understood, Captain. Good luck.” Kelley wished.

MacDermott countered. “Watch yourself Jared. Bridge.” He ordered the lift. The lift started moving.

Lorcano walked around the bridge. “Look at it. North America, The place where first contact was made with an alien race. The United States, Canada, Mexico. They will all fall to me. The birthplace of the great United Federation of Planets. Starfleet command will tremble at the sound of my name after what I have unleashed.” He paused by the tactical console to enter the coordinates of Starfleet Academy. “Commander, what was it MacDermott called you? Oh yes, Amanda, such a beautiful name for such a beautiful woman. I am going to bestow upon you a great honor.” He rambled on. “You are going to launch the torpedo that will make me an immortal. Come over here.”

She shuddered at the thought of all the deaths. “No.” She whispered.

“COME HERE!” He yelled. He crossed the distance in an instant. Grabbing her by the hair again. He drug her over to the tactical console. “LAUNCH THE TORPEDO!”

“NO!” She yelled in defiance.

As he attempted to ram her face into the console. She elbowed him in the ribs. He was caught offguard. She scrambled across the bridge. She told him. “If you want to become a GOD. YOU DO IT! Go on if you have the courage to kill millions. DO IT!”

Lorcano recovered as the turbolift doors opened. MacDermott and Kern jumped out and found cover. Rika Ke,l who had been in the Captain’s ready room, came out at the sound of the commotion between Lorcano and Costello.

“HOLD IT, LORCANO!” MacDermott yelled.

Kel brought her disruptor around to fire. She was struck by several different phasers. She didn’t even have time to scream before she died.

“Childs, NOW!” Lorcano ordered.

His finger was on the button as the transporter effect took over his body. “See you in hell, MacDermott.” Echoed across the bridge as the torpedo full of Tyrillian Fever toxin tore away from the Missouri’s launcher.

“Shit!” MacDermott exclaimed as he watched the torpedo speed away from the ship. “Amanda can we lock onto the torpedo and send it back into space?

Costello replied. “No captain.”

“Tractor beam?”

“No.”

“Phasers?”

“Can’t get a positive lock. If we miss we hit populated areas. If we could just get a little closer.”

MacDermott had a vision. He tapped his combadge. “Kelley, We have the bridge. Have your men retake engineering, I need you up here NOW!”

“Aye Sir.”

“XO, time to impact?” MacDermott asked.

“Four minutes forty seven seconds.” Kern replied. He couldn’t help but think about Anya. Their marriage may be over but, he still cared for her.

“Prepare for Condition Blue. Set shield configuration for atmospheric flight. Energize the supplemental thruster quads.”

Amanda’s finger flew over the console. The nose of the Missouri dipped toward the planet below. “Captain, we’ll need to break the atmosphere at half impulse to catch the torpedo in time. The Flight Dynamic shield configuration was not designed for that speed. She could come apart on us.”

“Then she comes apart. Bring us to half impulse. Engage.”

The Missouri shot forward as the impulse engines kicked in. Kelley stepped off the turbolift to see the shields flair from the friction with the Earth’s atmosphere. “What the hell is going on?” He thought outloud. He saw MacDermott looking at him. “Sir?”

“Take the helm. Lieutenant. We’re chasing a torpedo loaded with biotoxin. It’s targeted at Starfleet Academy. Time?” Duncan explained as Amanda rose to give Kelley the helm. She leaned over the console handling the controls until Kelley was seated and ready.

“Three minutes, twelve seconds.” Kern said.

The Missouri shook as she entered the outer atmosphere. “We’re getting some buffeting, should smooth out in a few seconds.” Kelley said. It didn’t smooth out.

“XO, take tactical.” Duncan ordered. Without a word Kern rose and took the weapon’s station.

“Engineering to Bridge.”

“Bridge here.”

“We’ve established control down here. The Klingon mercenaries are dead.”

“Understood. Good work. Is Commander Leonhart down there?”

“Captain, this is O’Roarke. He said he had an appointment to keep.”

Duncan was pretty sure what that meant. “Understood.”

T’Gerran approached the holding area cautiously as MacDermott’s voice played on the speaker. “Captain to crew. We have regained control of the ship. Remain where you are until further notice.”

The doors opened to show Turoc standing there with a disrupter. “I’ll kill you.” He said.

“With that.” T’Gerran nodded toward the disrupter. “That is the weapon of a coward. A real warrior kills with his hands or a blade.” T’Gerran told him. “Like I did with K’nur.” He taunted the mercenary. “I used a mek’leth and split his skull like an overripe melon.” He continued as he approached Turoc. “I closed his eyes so his spirit is trapped. Now I’m going to keep my promise and kill you.”

T’Gerran was only a couple of feet away as Turoc held the disrupter at eye level. “I am going to vaporize you right now.” Turoc’s finger tightened on the trigger. T’Gerran spun and kicked the phaser as it fired. It’s beam burning a hole in the wall. The two Klingons circled each other.

“This is the way it should be, hand to hand.” T’Gerran said.

Turoc lunged at him with a ferocity that T’Gerran didn’t expect. The mercenary landed a number of blows to the Klingons face and body. T’Gerran was finally able to throw him to one side. His eyes wide with the lust for battle. A feral smile on his face. These were not men anymore, but animals in a fight to the death. Turoc rose up on one knee as T’Gerran prepared to land another kick. Turoc caught his foot and threw the big Klingon down. The mercenary then pulled a Klingon dagger from his boot. He pressed a button and two smaller blades snapped open on each side of the blade. He swung the blade at T’Gerran, cutting his uniform. A thin line of violet blood appeared on his stomach. Turoc charged. The blade held up over his head. T’Gerran caught Turoc’s arm as he brought the blade down inches from his head. The two wrestled for control of the blade. The warriors danced together the blade between them. T’Gerran was overpowering him slowly. After what seemed like hours the tip of the blade was pointing at Turoc. T’Gerran told him. “Today is a good day to die.” With one last burst of strength T’Gerran drove the blade into the other Klingon to the hilt. Turoc’s eyes went wide as the blade tore through his insides. T’Gerran looked deep into Turoc’s eyes as he twisted the blade, opening more of his internal organs to the blade. He kept a hold of the blade until Turoc was limp against it. T’Gerran released the dagger and let the dead mercenary drop to the floor.

“TIME?”

Kern answered. “Twenty seconds.”

“Distance?”

“Two thousand meters. I barley have a photon torpedo locked on.”

“Fire.” Duncan ordered. There was no time to wait for a better lock.

The Missouri burst forth from the clouds above San Francisco. A single orange torpedo sped toward it’s target.

The torpedo struck its target in a blinding flash. The matter/antimatter explosion vaporized the biotoxin. The explosion dug a hole three meters deep in the Academy commons. Windows shattered all over the academy. Several cadets were knocked to the ground by the blast.

"Amanda, scan for the Tyrillian Fever virus."

She replied. "Scanning. Negative. No virus detected."

“OH SHIT! I don’t know if I can pull out of the is dive. Firing thrusters.” Kelley said his voice cracking.

Thrusters on the underside of the saucer section fired, the bow of the Missouri rose slightly.

“We’re not going to clear the bridge.” Kelley warned.

Duncan said calmly from the center seat. “Jared, go underneath. It’s 90 meters from the water to the bottom of the bridge deck.”

The Missouri ripped across San Francisco Bay toward the Golden Gate Bridge. Enormous fountains of water shot up behind the starship. Everyone on the bridge of the starship held their breath as they shot underneath the bridge deck. The sonic boom created by the starship was deafening. Kelley opened his eyes. All that was ahead of them was open water. The people on the bridge all released their collective breathes. Duncan walked upto the helm and patted his helmsman on the shoulder. “Jared, you never cease to impress me. Under the bridge, heh. Jared, get us back into orbit. Secure from condition blue.” Duncan ordered.

“Sickbay to bridge.” It was Doctor Meyer’s voice.

“Bridge here, what is it Doctor?” MacDermott asked.

“If the crisis is over. I need to see you. It’s Melora, Captain.” Meyer said.

The smile on Duncan’s face disappeared. He could tell from the Doctor’s voice it was not good news. “On my way, Doctor. Tom, raise starfleet....”

“Ca...Mac....Go!” Kern told him.

Duncan forced a smile at his first officer, his friend. The doors to the turbo lift closed before Duncan fell back against the wall of the lift. Not again. Please not again. I can’t go through it again. He pleaded to the powers that be.

The lift opened. Duncan stepped out and made his way down the passageway. Once again they were full of the people who belonged there. They paid their respects to the man who had saved their lives with a simple nod of the head. MacDermott was oblivious to all of this. He entered sickbay as he walked quickly to sickbay. Meyer was waiting for him. He looked into her eyes. All he saw was sorrow and commiseration. “Is she?” he could not bring himself to say the word.

“No. I think you should to sit down, Captain.” She led him over to a chair.

“I want to see her.” He said forcefully.

She responded in force. “We need to talk first. Sir.”

Duncan acquiesced. “What’s the problem?”

She sat across from him. “She was struck with a disruptor. Inherent in a Breen disrupter is a dermal inhibitor. It keeps the wounds open. The only way I could control the bleeding was to put her in a stasis chamber. “

“How long?” Duncan asked too stunned was he to be emotional. That would come later when he was alone.

“Until someone comes up with a way to overcome the dermal inhibitor.” She explained. “That is one of the problems. The other...” Her voice cracked and faded.

“What is it, Doctor?” Duncan asked leaning forward in his chair.

“She wanted to tell you herself. I wish she could have.” A tear rolled down her cheek. She knew a doctor was supposed to stay removed from their patients. That was nearly impossible on a starship where you are in contact with the same people for months or even years at a time. She tentively took MacDermott’s hand. It was no longer a conversation between a captain and the CMO. It was now between a doctor and the person closest to a patient. “Capt...Duncan, Melora is pregnant.”

MacDermott found it suddenly very hard to breath. That’s what she was trying to tell me on the bridge when all this started. It felt like someone was standing on his chest, as if someone had turned the artificial gravity up too high. He couldn’t speak. The words would not form. A few moments later Duncan was able to speak. “Is...is the baby, alright?” He managed to gasp out.

“Naturally, it’s in stasis also. No one has done extensive study on the effects of long term stasis on an embryo. I just don’t know what this might do to him. I’m so sorry.”

Duncan rolled the words over in his mind. “Him?”

“Yes, It’s a boy. Melora had said something about naming him Ian. After your brother?”

A tear rolled down Duncan’s cheek. “Yes.“ Duncan sat completely motionless for a moment. “May I see her?”

Dr. Meyer wiped her eyes. “Of course, Sir. Follow me.” She got up and led Duncan into the area where the stasis chamber was. Duncan stopped at the door. Part of him was afraid to go any further. Slowly he approached the stasis chamber. He was drawn to it. It was a large duranium tube with a glass front. He looked through the window. “Melora.” He whispered. Her eyes were closed. She lay there with her hands crossed over her stomach. She looked as if she were dead. The stasis effect gave the skin an unearthly grey pallor. There were no signs of her breathing. The slow rise and fall of her chest, he had seen so many times as he watched her sleep. He looked to the doctor. “Is she alright?”

“The monitors there on the wall,” she said pointing, “everything appears to be normal.”

Duncan looked at her. He wanted to touch her, to hold her hand, anything, just to let her know he was there.

“Commander Costello, it is imperative I talk to Captain MacDermott. I have to make a report to the Starfleet Defense Council on this incident immediately.” Admiral Tanzell said.

Amanda smiled and tried to charm her way through this. “Admiral, I understand your need, however the Captain is indisposed at the moment. This has been a harrowing ordeal for everyone involved, especially the Captain.” She said, but thought, Harrowing is an understatement. I hope you can sympathize with our situation. We also have some problems up here with some of the systems due to the extreme nature of our dive through the atmosphere.”

The Admiral knew a snowjob when he heard one, but decided to just let it drop. “Commander, please have Captain MacDermott contact me at his earliest convienence.”

“Aye, Sir.” Amanda replied as the screen went back to the Earth circling below.

Duncan didn’t know, how long he had been standing there looking into the stasis chamber. They were in Hawaii on the beach, laughing and having the time of their lives. Duncan smiled as a tear dropped onto the glass. Kern’s voice brought him back to reality. “Captain. Captain. I’m sorry but...”

Duncan raised his hand. Kern got the message. Duncan looked at her lying there. He kissed his fingertips and touched them to the glass over her face. “I love you.” He whispered. He paused for a moment listening, waiting, half expecting her to respond, before slowly turning and walking away to face the universe again.

"Home"