September 23, 2373

Miranda Class U.S.S. Portland, Uncharted space, Gamma Quadrant

"Lieutenant Moreen to Science Chief's office please." The gruff voice of Lt. Commander Oran rang through the lab. The young science officer brushed her straight black hair from her caramel face with the back of her arm as she worked her other arm out of the dirt sample she had been working on.

"Aye sir. Could you give me a moment to clean my arms off and put a uniform on?"

"Meet me in ten minutes but be quick it is important."

Shara pulled herself up and brushed her soiled tunic off. She then looked to Ensign Ramerez, "Ryan, take over for me. Keep the dirt moving at a steady rate until the timer on the biological stimulator goes off then take readings of the bacterial formations."

"Lieutenant, I have done this before. Geological expert, remember?"

"Right, sorry. Guess I better go see what the Commander wants." She stood up and grabbed a hand towel. She then headed toward the sink at the rear of the lab. After washing and putting a fresh uniform on. She then headed toward the Chief's office.

She stood in front of the door as she straightened her uniform and did a quick, nervous check over her tiny, 1.5-meter tall frame before reaching for the door chime.

"Enter." The door opened and Shara began to enter before coming up short.

"Captain, I did not expect to see you here. Is there anything I can help with? Am I in trouble?"

Captain Remor stood as stiff as she always did. In her monotone Vulcan voice told her, "No Lieutenant. Quite the opposite actually. I heard from Lt. Commander Oran that you have finished your bridge certification with Lt Commander Dax while we were refitting on DS9. Is this true?"

"Yes sir, I did most of the course on the way to the station and Commander Dax granted my request to administer the test while we waited. She was extremely helpful."

Remor looked over to Oran who then continued, "Lieutenant, she did more than that. She put in the official report that you were a natural leader and your solutions were rather original and as she said…unorthodox."

Shara straightened up and stood as tall as she could, "That's not how she said it to me. She accused me of being reckless and showing a; complete disregard for protocol. Then again she was laughing when said it."

Lt. Commander Oran stood up and walked around his desk. "Captain would you like the honors, it is your ship."

"No Lieutenant Commander, she is your officer I believe the distinction should be yours."

"Very well. In recognition of your dedication and hard work as well as your initiative in taking the bridge certification exam, with the power vested in me by Starfleet Command and Captain Remor, I hereby promote you to the rank of Lieutenant. You are now authorized all the privileges and duties of that rank. Congratulations, Shara." He then pulled the black pip off of her collar and replaced it with a silver one.

Shara beamed as she stood as still as she could. "Thank you, sir."

Captain Remor then stated, "Now that the...pomp; is out of the way, Lieutenant I want you to go to your quarters immediately."

Now, the new lieutenant was confused. "Sir?"

"Lieutenant Moreen, is there an issue with my order? Do I need to escort you there myself?"

"No, No sir. Just confused as to why."

"Well Lieutenant, I like to have my bridge officers rested before duty. You are officer of the watch tonight. Report to the bridge at 0000 hours to relieve Commander Warren. Do you have any issues with that?"

She almost leaped out of her boots and tried in vain to control her excitement. "No sir, I'll be there on time." She turned and almost ran into the wall before finding the door. She told her team that she was going to bed, then went to her quarters before tossing for a couple of hours before excitedly drifting off to sleep.

2217 hrs.

The force of the blast shook the entire deck and threw Lt. Moreen out of her bunk and unceremoniously onto her face. Just as she gained her awareness, the klaxon wailed and the lights blinked red. "Red Alert, Red Alert All hands to stations"

Shara started for the door then realized she was in her underwear so she grabbed the pants and tunic off of the chair by her desk and put them on with a smooth motion learned from years of practice getting to breakfast before her older twin siblings could get to the good bacon. She grabbed her jacket and boots on the way out planning to put them on when she got to her emergency station near astrogation.

After making her way to the turbo lift and getting her jacket and left boot on she heard the Captain's stoic, Vulcan voice over the com. It sounded slightly more strained than usual. For her that meant trouble. "All hands, this is the Captain, the ship is under attack. I say again ship under attack. All security and boarding teams report to designated areas." Knowing she was an emergency tactical officer she put all thoughts out of her head before speaking to the air. "Computer halt. Go to Deck 8 secondary armory." She felt the lift stop and change direction. She finished putting her right boot on then anxiously waited for the door to open. As soon as it did, the ship lurched to the side, the lights went off and she was thrown into the wall. She quickly regained her footing and headed toward the armory. She used the manual release and her hand print security override to enter the room. She grabbed a hand phaser and a compression rifle. Just then three enlisted crewmen came into the room and she almost shot one before she recognized them, two security personnel and an administration specialist. Seeing as she was youngest but highest-ranking crewman there, she knew she had to take charge. In the sternest voice she could muster she commanded, "Grab weapons and lights. Anyone know what is going on?"

Crewman Armon spoke first. "Jem'Hadar sir, surprise attack. No entry as far as we know. Engineering reported warp core damage"

"Ok let me see what's happening." She pointed to the two security crewmen, "You two, corridor, both directions." Then pointed at the admin, "You, door, shoot anyone not those two. Weapons on heavy stun."

Almost simultaneously, all three answered with "Aye sir" then they moved out to their positions. Shara paused to collect herself before thinking, Damn this is real time. Now keep cool. Don't let them see you flinch. She tapped her combadge, "Bridge, this is relief security team 8A. Power out on deck 8 request further direction."

Static sprang through the air before the voice of Commander Warren came on. "Security team 8A, we lost contact with Teams 8B and 7A, please investigate. Two known intruder teams on board. Prepare for close quarters and set phasers to level 4. Check targets and rep..." His voice broke into a pained scream then continued in renewed haste, "Intruders on the bridge all security teams..." The transmission was cut short by a wet thud followed by a gurgle. All communication from the bridge ceased.

Well shit. Can't hesitate. Come on Shara think, think. The Lieutenant looked at the faces of the terrified crewmen. The security members tried to hide their fear, but she could feel it. An unfortunate side effect of her psychic powers. Knowing they had to do something, she came to a decision, "All right first we secure this armory then move to team B's position picking up who we can. Then we will make a plan to retake the bridge. Understood?"

"Understood sir" the team took up positions in a standard search stack. Shara, not knowing them personally, took the assumption that the security crew were more trained in weapons and placed them front and rear while keeping the admin crewman in front of her. She struggled to remember their names. She decided then that she would do more to learn about her fellow crewmates. Crewman Armon was the senior of the three. She was human and up for Petty officer. The other security crewman was centauran. Shara believed his name was Calto but couldn't be certain. The betazoid admin crewman's name was Roin but she knew it because she was one of three telepathic crewmen on board. She could feel the telepath's attempts at hiding her fear but betazoids were not known for hiding things. They were by nature very open. Shara decided to attempt to calm her by contacting her telepathically. "Annia, I know you're scared. We are together. Stay calm and we will see this through."

"Thank you, sir." Roin told her telepathically as she looked Shara in the eye with relief. I just hope I can keep calm myself. They quickly worked unopposed toward B team's position. Just before they got there, they heard weapon fire ahead. The team pushed to either side of the corridor and bounded toward the sound. They came up behind a Jem'Hadar fire team. Shara directed her team and they dispatched that team but found more in front of them. They couldn't get a clear shot with phasers and the other team was pinned down. Shara looked at the downed soldiers and found their combat knives. She pulled one out of its sheath and gave it to Calto and instructed the other two to grab one as well. Roin looked at hers and telepathically told Moreen "I am an administrator. I have no idea how to use this."

"I know. I am a science officer, but if we don't stop them we will both be dead and our training won't matter." Shara looked at the terrified crewman then realized if she forced her to melee she would probably be worse off. "Ok, calm down. Watch us and shoot anything that can kill us."

"Thank you, sir."

She gestured for each security crewman to take out a specific soldier. She then set to the task of taking out the largest Jem'Hadar in front of her. This is insane that guy is over twice my size. Well the larger they are… At her command all three Starfleet personnel did their jobs and took out the soldiers. The Lt. was impressed and disgusted at just how well both her and the other crewmen performed. She had little time to reflect, however. Another soldier saw them and charged her. She set to take the charge, but an orange blast blazed over her shoulder and into the face of the rampaging Jem'Hadar. Shara knew what happened before she turned. "Good work, Annia."

After regrouping with the other fire team, she found out she was the highest-ranking officer left alive. She had little time to reflect on that. They cleared the bridge and determined all enemy were eliminated. Lt. Moreen had to place replacements onto the bridge and find a way away from the three Jem'Hadar cruisers. Senior Chief Petty Officer Falki Geirson was the senior tactical officer left. Also, by sheer happenstance someone the Lieutenant knew intimately. The former lovers and current friends now had the lives of the remaining 107 crew in their hands. As she thought of what to do with that she quickly thought of the other 110 who were already dead.

They did an assessment of who was left and what systems weren't damaged. Lt j.g. Quinn was highest ranking engineer left and he had his hands full since outside of command, engineer was the hardest hit both in terms of personnel and equipment. Impulse was at 74% and they could manage warp 5 for two hours which was just enough to get home. Ensign Omaly was the highest medical left and though it was only a nurse it was a damn good one. Keeping as many alive as possible. The rest of the new bridge crew consisted of Ensign Markus was at ops, Crewman first class Waylin at the science station, and Midshipman Aninos at the helm. Also for Lieutenant Moreen some other good news, her lover Counselor Timothy Xavier, a civilian Psychologist was alive and was helping in sick bay with what little medical training he had.

Long range communications were destroyed so they had no way to call for help. They were playing hide and run from the cruisers in an asteroid field. They had one functional torpedo tube and all phasers so at least they had that. Though, with shields at 19% they couldn't fight for long. What constituted her senior staff had run many ideas by each other and each one shot down as flawed for one reason or another. They were running out of options and time.

Suddenly, a plan presented itself and Geirson and Moreen saw it at the same time but Falki was the first to speak up. "Sir, that asteroid has a large pocket of explosive gas."

Shara threw him a familiar laugh and glance. "Moreen maneuver?"

"You mean Geirson maneuver? It was my idea after all."

"Sure you did. But anyway, yeah that's pretty much our only option."

Aninos spoke up now. "Sirs, I know I'm the new guy but what are you talking about.?"

The large Scandinavian man behind to tactical station pointed both hands to the commander and indicated that she should answer. So she did "During one of our training missions we torpedoed a gas pocket causing a large sensor flash. During the confusion, we blasted the enemy ships' deflector dishes and warped to the other side of the pocket and ran.

"The rumors are true then, y'all are nuts."

"Y'all?" asked Waylin

Geirson answered "You all. He is from Texas."

Waylin just nodded and went back to his station. "Well for that to work here, we would have to put the torpedo just below dead center on the fissure there." He put the asteroid on the front screen with the fissure highlighted.

"Falki, can you hit that?"

"I'll have to do it manually but yeah easy enough."

"All right let's do this." She reached for the com button on the arm of her chair. "All hands brace for impact. This could get rough. Mr. Geirson if you please."

"Aye sir, targeting. Helm prepare for jump 003 mark 2 best speed."

"Best speed aye."

The Portland lurched as the torpedo launched and then jumped into warp. The bridge was silent for about 20 seconds before tactical announced "Two ships no longer following, the third is slowed but still in pursuit. Sir they will overtake us in 40 seconds."

"Options anyone?"

Waylin spoke up first. "There is a small path along the outside of the belt. It will shield us for long enough to change course and escape."

Geirson went next. "If we target its port nacelle where it was damaged in the explosion we can slow them down or stop them."

"Ok let's do both. Helm lay in the course, tactical line up your shot."

The second fight was short as the replacement crew did far better than Shara expected. The shots hit and the course worked to perfection.

After escaping, Lieutenant Moreen ordered the ship to the worm hole at best speed. They also began repairs on the ship. As soon as they were out of immediate danger, Shara collapsed into the command chair. She brushed her now matted midnight hair out of her face and looked toward her friend Falki. "Well that was an interesting first watch."

"If that was interesting, I'd hate to see dangerous. Anyway Lieutenant, now that we have a few moments, perhaps you should go see the counselor. I'm sure he wouldn't mind a visit."

"I'm sure he would. However, we have work to do. But, a message would probably make him feel better."

The large man laughed and shook his head jokingly. "Probably"

"Bridge to sickbay."

An exhausted voice came over the speaker "Sickbay here."

"Nurse you sound tired, at first chance, you should get some rest."

"After I finish the next three surgeries I will. Captain, is there a reason you called?"

"Captain?" Shara's voice was a bit shaky and confused.

"You are senior officer are you not? Anyway, I'm kind of busy what do you want?"

"I was just wondering if the Counselor had a moment."

A soft-spoken voice came over the com. "Hello Shara, so glad to hear your voice. I would love nothing more than to come to you my light, but the doc is a bit overwhelmed and I am currently almost elbow deep in a crewman repairing an artery. I will talk to you more later. Xavier out."

Shara smiled to herself but also shed a tear as she thought about those lost and how her peace- loving fiancé is now covered in blood in the middle of a war zone.

"Time to worm hole?"

"Three hours seven minutes."

"I'll be in the Captain's…my ready room. I have a lot of paperwork to do." With that the tiny woman with the weight of a hundred lives on her shoulders left the bridge.

The Vulcan's office was sparsely decorated but still beautiful the pristine desk with only a computer on it was the complete opposite of her own cluttered desk. She sat down in the chair behind the desk with the intent of filling out a battle report but instead laid her head on the desk and passed out.

She was rocked awake again and immediately rushed to the bridge. "Report"

"Five Jem'Hadar ships between us and the worm hole."

"Damnit. Evasive maneuvers. Fire at the ones in our direct line and get to the hole. If we can make it through, the fleet and DS9 can assist."

The small ship ran at full speed toward the worm hole. Just before it made it a blast struck the starboard nacelle sending the ship into a forward spin. All the bridge crew was tossed forward. Lieutenant Moreen was thrown against the operations console so hard, she heard a loud crunch instantly before feeling the worst pain she had ever felt in her abdomen then blacked out.

September 24 2373 0356 hrs

Deep Space Nine Infirmary

The world spun back into focus as Shara regained consciousness. She sat up and looked around the room. A doctor came over. "Captain she's awake."

Shara tried to stand up but her legs buckled as she fell back onto the bed. The doctor went to her side, "Easy Lieutenant, you took a nasty shot to the head. I am Doctor Bashir. This is Captain Sisko, the station's commander."

"Hell of fight you went through. Your crew says you are what brought them back."

Shara rubbed her aching temple. "I had..help. How's the crew? What about the ship?"

Bashir answered for the crew "105 crew alive though 27 including yourself are injured enough for care. 112 dead. All accounted for."

Shara looked at him curiously and with concern. "There were 107 alive when we were attacked. Do you…do you know who the last two deaths were?"

Sisko responded this time. He spoke in a voice all too familiar with death, "During the attack, there was an energy discharge in sickbay. Doctor Xavier and Nurse Omaly were killed protecting Crewman Lynn whose abdomen was open by injury. They were heroes."

Bashir could see the color leave the young woman's face. It was more than just the loss of a crewman. He looked to Sisko "Captain, perhaps she needs some more rest."

Sisko nodded. "Lieutenant we will talk later."

"Aye sir."

As soon as he left she turned to the doctor "Thank you"

Doctor Bashir moved toward her and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "He was the father, wasn't he?"

She didn't say anything just nodded her head as she began to cry. He didn't say anything for a while he just held her. Not sure what else to do. Soon the large tactical officer came in and asked where she was. The Bajoran nurse who came up to just past his waist pointed to where her and Bashir were sitting.

Bashir saw him coming and slowly stood up to face him. In a professional voice laced with sorrow and low enough she couldn't hear him. "Are you her friend?"

"One of her best"

"Do you know about her and the Doctor's relationship?"

"Everyone does why?"

"Do you know about her condition?"

"You mean her pregnancy?" The doctor nodded. "I'm one of three besides them that do. She only told the Captain and obviously the ship's doctor."

He went to put his hand on his shoulder then stopped and put it onto the man's elbow when he realized he couldn't reach the shoulder. "Then perhaps this next news should come from someone who knows her. He paused as he searched for the words. "When she hit the console, the impact caused a miscarriage. The baby was lost. If I had known that Doctor Xavier was the father I would have spaced the news out more. I'm sorry."

The big man appeared to shrink to half his size but gained twice his weight as he nodded to the doctor and whispered a thank you before going to his friend.

He bent low to her ear facing her. The doctor couldn't hear the words but didn't have to. After a few seconds, all the strength he had seen in the tiny woman was gone as she collapsed into the man's arms and the man just kissed her on the top of the head and stood there being the strength for both of them. The doctor wiped a tear from his face and hoped that if he ever needed a friend that he had one like that man. He slowly turned and left them alone.