I do not own Star Trek or anything to do with said franchise. However, I own Alianna Lordeck and co-own Sindari Lordeck and this plot. This fic is based on the new movie, and thus, takes place in the alternate universe of the movie. It's rated for lots of bad language and some sexual scenes (let's face it, it is Captain Kirk we're talking about), and violence and some drinking. You know, standard stuff. Should be lots of fun and I apologize in advance if any of the information about Star Trek is wrong. I've tried to do research, but hey, with eleven movies, five live-action shows and one animated show, along with multiple books and such, getting all the facts straight is kind of hard. Anyways, enjoy.

Ain't No Rest for the Wicked
Chapter Four: What the Hell Happened?

"I'm here to relieve you, sir."

"Oh?" Alianna's right eyebrow rose towards her hairline. She caught Sindari's reprimanding look over the ensign's shoulder and sighed, biting back the reply on the tip of her tongue. She looked down her nose at the red-shirted, eager ensign whose name she couldn't seem to remember. Not that she was putting much effort into remembering much of anything outside the functions of the Enterprise and how to use her console at the moment. Her thoughts were still mostly with the crew of the Marissa and she had a feeling they would be for a while yet to come, even if she wasn't keen on keeping them there. But the ensign didn't need to know that. No one needed to know that, not even Sindari, although she'd probably already figured it out. So, Alianna screwed her face up into a suitable expression of annoyance, nodded once, curtly, and stepped out from behind her console. As the ensign situated himself in her place, Alianna threw a contemptuous glance at nothing in particular and crossed the bridge to the turbolift.

She didn't want to be relieved of duty.

Not that that was something unusual for someone so into her career, but that desire had been especially potent lately. For the past two and a half days, as the Enterprise pulled the Marissa towards the nearest starbase, Alianna had thrown herself into her duty shifts on the bridge and she'd loved every minute of it. Not only did working keep her mind off the loss of her family, but it made her feel more like herself, more secure. Crying wasn't something Alianna did often, and she'd done more than enough of it lately to last a lifetime. Paying full attention to the chorus of beeps that filled the bridge atmosphere restored her to Alianna Lordeck, Lieutenant Commander of Starfleet. She was the unstoppable force she had made herself into. Not the young woman who spent hours crying over people passed. Alianna didn't like being that woman. She didn't like feeling weak; she wasn't weak. But she felt weak when she was away from the bridge. When she was away from the bridge, she couldn't keep her mind occupied. When she was away from the bridge, she was alone. When that happened, her thoughts wandered and she cried. And she was determined not to shed another tear over the lost crew of her old ship. Not for the remainder of this journey. At the very least.

But like the ensign, no one aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise, the flagship of the United Federation of Planets, no one needed to know that. No one needed to know what was really running through her head. What was really behind her glares and snapped orders.

As the turbolift stopped and the doors slid open, Alianna huffed and clasped her hands at the small of her back, preparing her demeanour to walk down the hall. She may not have enjoyed feeling weak, but the truth was, it was there, and she would have to deal with it, however she chose to do that. She passed no one, as was often the case, but she retained the persona until the doors to her room had hissed shut behind her and she was alone. Once locked in the privacy of her quarters, her shoulders dropped and her hands unclasped. She kicked off her Starfleet boots and changed quickly into the oversized shirt and baggy, knee-length pants that she slept in, leaving her uniform in a pile on the floor. It had to be washed anyway.

She flopped unceremoniously down on her bed and fished a data PADD out of the drawer in her bedside table. Whenever she wasn't on the bridge and she was sick of crying, Alianna had scoured the databases and downloaded every file containing anything about unknown attacks on Federation ships. Of course, there were experienced research teams doing the exact same thing, but Alianna thought the more pairs of eyes looking over the data, the less likely something would be missed. So far though, none of the unsolved attacks appeared to have any connection to the attack on the Marissa. It seemed there had been no attacks in recent Federation history where the method of death had been undeterminable. Alianna skimmed through reports she'd already read, searching in vain for that piece of information that would break the case. If it was there to find…

"This is useless," she huffed, throwing the PADD into the wall. The device thunked against the wall before falling to the floor, undamaged. Alianna sighed and rolled onto her back, staring once again at the familiar ceiling. What was Starfleet going to do about this? How were they going to figure out what had happened? What the hell had happened? She pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes and groaned loudly. Her eyes began to burn again, bringing another noise of annoyance to her lips. As the tears began to fall, Alianna realized how drained she was beginning to feel; how empty. She tried to stop herself from crying, but found the task impossible. "This is ridiculous!" she barked, rubbing roughly at her face.

The chime sounded and Alianna shot a dangerous look towards the door. "Ali? It's me," Sindari said after a moment of silence from her sister. "Are you awake?" Her voice was quiet but strong. Many people were intimidated by Alianna, but Sindari wasn't one of them.

Alianna kept her mouth firmly closed.

"OK, Ali, this is stupid. I know you're in there and I know you're awake, listening to me talk. Regardless of how pissed off you are, let me in. Let someone in, damn it! You don't have to grieve alone!"

The older of the sisters maintained her stubborn countenance for another moment before she sighed and consented, letting Sindari enter. As the redhead settled herself in the chair in the corner, Alianna realized her sister looked harried and worn out, much like Alianna felt inside. Her hair was slightly ruffled on one side and her eyes were red-rimmed and puffy as if she'd been crying. With a pang and a rush of shame, Alianna moved to hug her sister. She'd been an idiot, wrapped only in her own pain. She'd forgotten there was someone else onboard the Enterprise who had been almost as devastated by the attack; she'd forgotten that Sindari would have been affected by Alianna's pain as well as her own. She hugged her sister tighter.

"I'm sorry," she gasped, knowing her sister would pick up everything she thought and felt but didn't say.

Sindari wrapped her arms around her sister and pressed her face into Alianna's shoulder. "Well, it's not like I expected anything else, Ali. You are you after all." The sisters laughed quietly. "You always withdraw into yourself when you're upset and this is a big, terrible thing, so it was logical to think you would withdraw farther. But I am here for you. I know you likely won't take advantage of my awesome abilities as a counsellor, but don't forget it, OK?"

Skipping over the sentimental stuff that she wasn't very good with, Alianna jumped right to the first sarcastic comment she could think of. "Logical? I think you've been spending too much time listening to Mister Spock." Alianna sniffed back her tears and smiled at Sindari. She brushed some hair from her sister's brow, pushing it back behind her ear, and looked at her for a moment. The brace on her finger caught a few of the hairs and she gently pulled it free. It was as close to sentimental and emotional as she ever got: brief looks and gestures. "So did you just come to check up on me and my fading sanity or was there something else that prompted this visit?" she asked when the moment had passed.

"We're an hour away from the science station," Sindari said. "I just asked."

Alianna nodded and pushed herself to her feet. She made one slow circuit of her quarters, going so far as to walk up and over her bed to do so. Sindari watched without saying a word. When Alianna settled on the corner of her bed, she looked contemplative. "Are we staying at the science station?"

"I don't know. I'd assume so. The Captain has to give his reports and they'll probably want to talk to us—"

"That doesn't mean the Enterprise will stay. We're not technically part of the crew. They can leave us there."

"OK, well still."

Alianna flopped back on the bed. She was itching to get on the path of whoever had attacked the Marissa. She knew it was more than likely that Captain Kirk would decide to leave her and Sindari on the science station to help however they could or just to keep them out of the way—Let's face it, I haven't displayed the best emotional control—but she hoped that he wouldn't. She hoped Kirk would see the need Alianna had to be there when they found out what had happened to her shipmates. And if Alianna stayed, Sindari would have to stay too. Sindari smiled at her sister when Alianna sat back up. Always the optimist. "Well, if we're almost at the science station, I'd better get changed. I don't think it would be a good idea to do this in my pyjamas."

"Probably not." Sindari got up and stood in front of the doors, sighing with them as they opened. "We will find them Ali."

"I know."

As her sister disappeared, Alianna went to her closet and fished out one of her clean uniforms. She changed into the black pants and undershirt; because they fit better than the slightly baggy ones the men wore, she wore one of the short-sleeved women's undershirts. As she pulled the red tunic over her head and felt it ruffle her already messy hair, she bit back a sob. This time, the emotions weren't for Jonathon DeFalco. However pathetic it made her feel, the sob was for her and the chance that she might get left behind.

Dressed with Starfleet badge pinned to her chest where it should be, Alianna left her quarters and decided to go visit the other refugees from the shuttlecraft. For them, there was no question they would be left on the science station, out of harm's way. Alianna felt it was her duty to check up on them.

Sindari sunk as far as she could into the chair in the dining hall. She was sitting in the corner, away from everyone else, sipping some drink someone had recommended to her and that she'd got from the replicator. Currently, she was staring at the drink instead of actually drinking it, but no one was paying attention to her anyway, so no one noticed the weird behaviour. And it wasn't that weird anyway. Sindari wasn't used to being left alone—being the weapons officer on the Marissa had often warranted off-duty work—but she appreciated being a relative unknown to the crew of the Enterprise as, at that moment, she didn't want to speak to anyone. Even talking to her sister a little while ago had been a chore, just because Sindari didn't want to talk. When she got like that, Alianna's stubbornness seemed tenfold. She hadn't been surprised at Alianna's desire to want to run off and find the bad guy—hell, Sindari couldn't wait to catch up with whoever had done this so she could really express her anger and hurt—but she had been surprised at the sound of Alianna's voice when she spoke of being left on the science station: the tone suggested that being left behind would have been the worst thing that could have happened right then.

"Are you feeling all right Sindari? You're looking a little feverish."

Startled by the sudden company, Sindari's head snapped up. When her green eyes found Bones standing there however, she calmed down and settled back into her chair. "Yeah, I'm fine, Commander. Just tired. And frustrated."

Bones sat down across from her, his own drink wrapped in one hand. "Understandable."

"Do you think the Captain will leave Alianna and me on the science station?"

The sudden change of topic caught the doctor off guard, but only for a moment. He quickly recovered. "I don't recall giving you permission to speak freely, Lieutenant." When she opened her mouth to apologize and ask properly, he waved her off. "While that would be the course of action for most Starfleet captains, Jim isn't like most captains, so it's hard to say what he'll decide." He paused, took a drink from his glass. "If I was to hazard a guess, I'd say he'd be more inclined to let you and you sister stay on board the Enterprise."

Sindari sighed and her shoulders sagged, as if a great weight had been lifted. That source of stress was gone. At least, most likely. "That's good," she breathed. "If we had been left, I think Ali might have exploded."

Bones laughed. "I wouldn't put it past her."

The younger Lordeck's face split in a wide grin. It felt good to smile. She even laughed a bit. When the moment had passed, she smiled at Bones. "I haven't laughed in a while." After another moment and a few more sips of her drink, Sindari asked, "So, do you have any theories as to what happened?"

"None at all. Yet. I'm working on a more thorough analysis of my readings, but whatever happened to the crew of the Marissa is something I've never seen before. And there's nothing even similar in the databases to go off. As far as I can tell, nothing like this has ever happened before." McCoy's face turned pensive as he stared at the liquid in his glass. It was quite obvious he didn't like being without a lead. "I wish there was something else I could tell you, Lieutenant."

"Call me Sindari, please."

"Not one for formalities?"

"Not when I'm just talking to people, no. It makes things seem so much less… candid, I guess."

"That's an interesting way of putting it." The doctor finished his drink and plunked the glass down on the table. The thoughtful look hadn't left his face.

"This is going to drive you nuts until you figure it out, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"I can do some deeper research into weapons if that'll help at all," Sindari offered. Bones' eyebrows rose, but whether he was impressed with her offer or questioning her capabilities, she wasn't sure. Regardless, she smiled and continued speaking. "I am a weapons specialist after all. And I'm particularly interested in weapons other species have developed. I might be able to find record of something capable of killing without a trace." She sniffed back sudden tears before they could fall and tired not to think of the Marissa. "Or something similar."

"Well, any help would be much appreciated."

"Commander McCoy and Lieutenant Lordeck to the bridge."

Alianna spent close to forty-five minutes sitting with the civilians rescued from the shuttlecraft. They had all had their injuries tended to and were relatively comfortable. The Enterprise wasn't as large as the Marissa had been and it wasn't fitted to house so many civilians, but one of the cargo bays had been emptied and restocked with whatever the civilians needed. When Alianna had entered the cargo bay, she had been surprised to have so many of them thanking her for fighting for them when their shuttle had been captured by Orions.

"But, we were still captured," she stammered to the Andorian man whose antenna she'd landed on. The appendage was still slightly bruised and he was holding it at a small angle. He'd given his name as Ras, but that was just to accommodate her human mouth, which found pronouncing full Andoria names quite difficult.

"Yes, but you and your sister still fought to protect us, and that effort is greatly appreciated," Ras said.

The other civilians—a mixture of Andorian, human and several other races, all people who had been visiting Andoria or brought there to garner passage to the Marissa—all nodded. A young human girl ran over and wrapped her arms around Alianna's knees. Startled, the Starfleet officer reached down and gently patted the girl's head, unsure of what else to do. After accepting their thanks, however reluctantly, and making sure they were OK and had everything they needed one last time, Alianna left the cargo bay, feeling marginally less upset than she had before.

"Commander Lordeck to the bridge."

She sighed and turned on her heel, heading for the turbolift. On the bridge, she found Captain Kirk standing in front of the main viewer, facing the image of a older woman with curly brown hair, streaked with grey. She must be the director of the science station orbiting the planet along with the Enterprise and the Marissa. At Kirk's left stood Commanders Spock and McCoy, and Sindari. Alianna strode confidently across the bridge and took up position on Kirk's right, clasping her hands behind her back, at ease. Kirk turned to look at her, the corner of his mouth that was hidden from the screen pulling up in a small grin. Sindari and Bones also turned to look at her, but Spock's face remained resolutely forward, facing the woman on the viewer.

"Doctor Peters, this is Lieutenant Commander Alianna Lordeck," Kirk said as he turned back to the screen.

"It is nice to meet you Commander Lordeck. I just wish it was under different circumstances." The woman's kindly face turned sad. "I am sorry for your terrible loss. I hope we can do something to bring you and your sister some closure." When it became apparent that Alianna's nod was the only answer she was going to get, Doctor Peters continued. "Captain, our tractor beam is ready to guide the Marissa into the dock, whenever you are ready to release her. As soon as the ship is in place, you and your crew may beam over. We may only be a science station, but we do have some comforts, and I am sure a temporary shore leave would be welcome."

"As am I, Doctor. Hail us when you're ready for us to beam over."

As the image faded from the viewer, Kirk turned to face Chekov. "When the station has hold of the ship, disengage our tractor beam, but be prepared to reengage if something goes wrong with their system."

"Aye sir."

"Bones," he said turning to face the doctor. "Collect all the information gathered from the Marissa and transfer it to the station's computer. They'll need everything possible."

"Already done Jim."

"Good work." The Captain paused, as if thinking his next words over. "Maintain standard orbit then Mister Sulu. Sindari, Alianna, Bones and Mister Chekov, you're with me. We'll beam over first."

The mentioned party followed Kirk from the bridge and into the turbolift where they descended to the main transporter room and assembled on the pad. Alianna stood at the very back, staring straight ahead in silence. She was trying to gather herself together in order to answer any questions the doctor and her scientists had. While she wasn't known for keeping her temper in check, she didn't really want to yell at the scientists for just asking questions, regardless of how sensitive the subject matter was. She sighed heavily, and Kirk, who was standing at the front of the pad, turned to look at her. Alianna just shrugged in reply and thankfully, the Captain turned back around. Noticing the interaction, Sindari turned around too, but before she could say or do anything, Alianna gestured for her to turn around. As she stood there waiting for the hail from the station and thinking about the inquisition to come, a familiar surliness bubbled up in her chest.

"Captain Kirk," came Uhura's voice over the intercom system, "we have received the ready hail from Doctor Peters."

"Thank you Lieutenant." Kirk's attention turned to the transporter operator sitting at her station. "If you would Ensign, please beam us aboard the station." The woman indicated the systems were ready and Kirk nodded once. "Energize."

The tingling spread through Alianna's body and temporarily relieved her stress, but as she rematerialized on an unfamiliar surface, the unwelcome tightness came back with the rest of her. She bit back a frustrated scream and stumbled as she finished solidifying. A hand appeared on her elbow and pulled her onto to her feet. Startled by the sudden contact, Alianna looked over her shoulder to find Kirk with a small smile on his face. She mumbled a thank you as she pulled her arm away.

"Welcome," a cheery-looking young man said from the doorway. "My name is Doctor Gregory Smith. If you'll follow me, I'll take you to Doctor Peters' office. I think there were a few questions she wanted to ask."

"We expected as much, Doctor Smith," Kirk said.

Alianna fell to the back of the line as the small parade proceeded through the halls of the station. What is wrong with me? This shouldn't be a problem… I'll just be answering questions. Except that I don't want to think about this anymore… She crossed her arms tightly across her chest and stared at her feet as she followed the others. Against her normal pattern, she took no notice of what was going on around her. Alianna didn't even notice when Sindari had stopped walking and walked into her sister's back. I think I need a vacation or something… Damn it.

"Ali, are you all right?" Sindari asked in a whisper.

She just shrugged.

"Please find a seat," Doctor Peters' kind voice said from somewhere in front of them.

Alianna dropped into a chair at the corner of the large desk that took up most of the rather small room. She was conveniently hidden behind the Doctor's computer screen and as she planned on remaining as quiet as possible, Alianna hunkered down in the chair until she was almost horizontal. The rest of the away team found seats as well, all far more visible to the good Doctor and her questions.

"Would any of you like something to drink?"

Kirk declined the offer for the whole team. "We should answer your questions first, Doctor. This is an important matter, after all." What he was saying was serious, but as always, Kirk's voice and manner were nonchalant.

"Of course Captain," the Doctor said with a smile in her voice. "Shall we get to it then?"

Alianna let her attention wander as she half-listened to Bones go over what he had discovered about the murdered crew and what was no doubt already in the report. While she understand the Doctor's reasons for wanting to hear the account from Bones instead of just reading about, at that moment, Alianna found the process incredibly tedious and irritating. She could feel herself getting closer to the edge of her temper, and she clamped her jaw shut tighter to try and stop herself from doing something stupid. These were nice people. It's not their fault Joe was killed. The Doctor's questions moved to Chekov and then Kirk but Alianna only focused on keeping herself under control. Beside her, Sindari seemed to sense her sister's tension, as she turned to look at her, her face full of concern. Sindari reached out and put a hand on Alianna's arm, but the older sister pulled away after a minute. What the hell is wrong with me?

"Commander Lordeck?"

Alianna's head snapped around. As her green eyes met the Doctor's face, the anger flared. "Yes?" Her voice was tight.

"Could you please tell me what the Marissa was doing at the time of attack?"

"I don't know. I wasn't on the ship. That was how I survived."

"I understand that, but surely you must have some idea of your ship's mission?"

Alianna ground her teeth for a moment, her eyes never leaving the Doctor's face. She was trying not to picture Joseph's dead body sitting in his command chair. "As far as I know the ship wasn't on any specific mission at the time other than waiting for the passenger shuttle that I was on when I was kidnapped."

Doctor Peters' mouth bunched tightly as she sense Alianna's mood. "I know this is difficult—"

"Don't say it. Please." Alianna pushed herself out of the chair and made her way awkwardly to the door. "If you'll excuse me." She crossed the main laboratory without paying any attention to where she was going, her hands balled into fists at her sides and hot tears in her eyes. Ignoring every offer for help, she just ploughed on, knowing somewhere in her mind that eventually she'd have to stop and ask for directions to the guest quarters, but for the time being, she just wanted to walk and get rid of the anger. "You need help," she told herself.

"Alianna!"

She spun on her heel and stood her ground as Kirk crossed the laboratory after her. He didn't look pleased with her. Heh, I wouldn't be pleased with me either.

"What is your problem, Commander?"

It was the first time he'd used her title in a captain-like tone. For some reason, it stung. As did the look in his eyes. But she pressed her lips into a thin line and returned Kirk's steely gaze. "I don't know what's wrong, OK? Other than the fact that I don't want to talk about what happened to the Marissa or what happened to Joe." She closed her eyes and exhaled a long breath. "I thought I would be all right to talk about it, but I'm not. I can't think about it, I can't…" The hot tears bubbled over. "Damn it, damn it, fuck!" She sobbed loudly and covered her face with her hands.

Kirk approached her slowly, as if her volatile nature might attack him next. Which it might. "Alianna…" His voice changed and he was speaking to her as a friend, as a person, not a subordinate anymore. "You don't have to do this." He placed a hand on her shoulder, but she moved out of his reach.

"Good," she snapped.

The Captain grabbed a passer-by and asked for the directions to the guest's quarters. "Did you hear that?" he asked when it was just the two of them again. When she nodded, he said, "Good. Now go get some rest."

Without another word, Alianna turned and followed the directions to an area of the station that was deserted. She hurried into one of the rooms and locked the door behind her. Breathing heavily, she leaned backwards against the door and closed her eyes, trying to calm herself down. After several moments, the tears stopped. Feeling a little more in control of herself, the young officer proceeded into the bathroom where, to her great relief, found a water shower waiting for her. She undressed and stepped into a very hot cascade of water, savouring the immediate calming effect the water had on her.

Just calm down, Ali...

The image of Joseph in his command chair popped into her head.

And the tears sprang into her eyes again.

I can't think about this. I can't, damn it!

She tried to think of something else, anything else. Her sister, even her estranged parents. Nothing worked. The image of the man who had been more her father than her actual father wouldn't leave her head. Her back hit the shower wall and she sank to her butt, letting the water pound down on her head and shoulders and back. And she just sat there.

"There's something wrong with her."

"Your sister does not seem to handle her emotions well."

Sindari looked at Spock and sighed. "She never has, Commander. That's just the way she is. But I've always been able to help before. Although, we've never been through something of this magnitude before." She sighed again and ran her fingers backwards through her hair. She was standing in front of the rest of the away team and the Doctor, all of who were wondering what exactly had happened to Alianna. "Captain, I'm sure she told you of her connections to Captain DeFalco and the rest of the crew. She's lost her family. It's going to take her a while to get over this."

"Clearly."

All attention turned to Bones. Who shrugged.

"I must apologize. It seems it was my questioning that set her off," Doctor Peters said.

Sindari waved off the woman's apology. "She was acting weird before we ever beamed over, Doctor. Don't blame yourself." She turned her green eyes down the hallway that led to the turbolift and thus to the deck with the guest quarters. "Have you got all the information you need from us, Doctor Peters?" The Doctor nodded. "Then, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go check on my sister. If you need to know anything else about the Marissa, please ask me. I'll be on the guest deck." The picture of professionalism, Sindari inclined her head and headed down the hall. She wasn't completely surprised when Captain Kirk and Bones decided to follow her. She didn't say anything, though, just let them walk behind it. It was a surreal experience, walking ahead of a Captain and a Commander. When they reached the guest quarters, only one of the rooms was locked. "Ali!" Sindari called as she pressed the doorbell chime. "Ali, are you there?"

There was no answer.

"Maybe she's sleeping," Sindari whispered to no one in particular.

"I don't think so. I can hear the shower running." Bones stepped up to the panel outside the door and typed something. "Emergency medical procedure allows me to override locked doors," he explained.

Sindari shrugged with one shoulder. "That makes sense I guess."

As the doors hissed open, Captain Kirk was the first one through. Bones and Sindari followed, the latter heading straight for the bathroom. Inside the small, white-tiled room Sindari found Alianna sitting on the floor of the shower, her long dark hair unbound and clinging to her shoulders, arms and back. She was curled up with her legs pressed to her chest and her arms wrapped tightly around them, her chin resting on top of her knees and her green eyes staring straight ahead, seeing nothing. She wasn't crying. Sindari turned the water off and knelt beside her sister.

"Ali?"

"I can't get him put of my head, Sin."

She sighed in relief as she heard her sister's voice. "Captain DeFalco?" she asked quietly as she pulled a towel off the shelf and draped it across Alianna's body.

"I can see him, sitting in the chair… I can't get him out of my head."

"It's OK, Ali. You'll get through this."

Alianna leaned into her sister and sighed. "This has never happened to me before."

"You've never lost anyone as close as Captain DeFalco was to you before. And we've already discerned you're not very good at dealing with your emotions. Commander Spock seems to think it's quite the flaw."

"Maybe it is."

"Ali…"

"Maybe I should stay here and take a break."

Sindari blinked, speechless. Her sister had never taken shore leave, other than to visit their parents, and that was no vacation for the daughter who didn't get along with them. The loss of the Marissa was seriously bothering her. It unnerved Sindari. Nothing bothered Alianna this much. Well, nothing she ever outwardly expressed anyway. "I don't think that'd be a good idea, Alianna. They're going to be studying the ship here, going through all the files, studying all the bodies… You don't want to be here with all of that. You need to be on the Enterprise, away from all this. You need to be out there finding whoever did this to stop them from doing it to anyone else." Tears appeared in Sindari's eyes, and she sniffed to try and stop them from falling. Her efforts were in vain. Her cheeks were soon as wet as Alianna's. "We've lost a family… And so have many more people…"

Alianna unwound herself and stood up, wrapping the towel around herself as she did so. She pulled Sindari up to her feet and stared at her sister for a moment. Her face broke into a small grin. "Stop crying. You're going to have to play the role of big sister this time around if I keep acting like this."

Sindari laughed and hugged her sister. "Get dressed before you come out. Doctor McCoy and the Captain are out there." She closed the door behind her as she entered the sitting room. Bones and Kirk were sitting in the two chairs available, talking about what the plan was after they left that station. "Ali's OK," Sindari said, announcing her presence. "But she's really shaken up about this. I don't think it'd be a good idea for her to stay here while they're tearing through the ship."

"That wouldn't be a good idea," Bones confirmed. He turned to face the Captain. "Jim, it's my expert medical opinion that Commander Lordeck and her sister should be allowed to remain on the Enterprise for reasons of mental health."

Kirk smiled knowingly and nodded. "Well if it's your 'expert medical opinion' then I don't have any reason to doubt it, do I?"

Sindari couldn't keep herself from smiling. "Thank you Captain."

"Don't thank me, thank Bones."

"Why are we thanking Bones?"

Sindari turned and smiled at Alianna, who was dressed in her Starfleet uniform and, at least on the surface, back to her normal self. Sindari admired her sister's abilities in that regard; her own eyes were still red and puffy and she could still feel the tears ready to fall. As Sindari watched Alianna slip Joseph's ring onto the chain around her neck, she glimpsed the hurt behind her sister's confident exterior, but she kept smiling. "We're going to stay on board the Enterprise."

"As crew members or civilians?" she asked, sweeping her long hair back before twisting it up into its usual bun at the back of her head.

"I think the Enterprise's crew could use a weapons expert and a security chief, don't you Bones?"

"I think so Jim."

Author's Note… Sorry it took so long!

For those of you not in the know, PADD stands for "personal access display device".

Next Chapter: Starfleet Again.