Chapter 21

Cessation

Captain's log, stardate 57517.7. Lieutenant Commander Wilson has brought us up to speed on everything that has happened since the orchestrated fake assassination of President Sha'Gra. The thought of our enemies using our own dilithium against us frightens me. After restarting the warp core we have laid in a course back to Vesuvia.

Alec and Rene went to the quarters provided to them. Rene fell right to sleep, and Alec tried but couldn't, despite how much he wanted this day to end. It was not over. The weapon ship may have been destroyed but Sela and Tomalak were still out there, and they would try again. He just wished he knew when.

After what seemed like endless tossing and turning, Alec got out of bed rather than risk waking Rene. Hell hath no fury like a woman woken up. Following some time spent in the sonic shower, he dressed himself in the uniform provided to him by Captain Janeway. Although she was not his captain and therefore could not reinstate him to active duty, she considered him a valuable asset and granted him access to all areas of the ship.

Whenever he needed to unwind back on the Enterprise, he liked going for a walk through her decks. Just because he was on a different ship didn't mean it shouldn't work just as well. The Emissary was smaller than the Enterprise but it had roughly the same amount of people on board. He expected to come across more than he was used to.

He had never been aboard a Nebula-Class ship before, but he tried to make himself as familiar as possible with all active Starfleet ship classes. The corridors were roomier than he expected.

It didn't take him long to decide that he preferred the corridors on the Enterprise. It was like sleeping in someone else's bed, a certain uneasiness was always there. And it didn't help that there were only eight people out of the eight hundred on board that he was familiar with.

Had the Emissary been a Galaxy-Class starship, the saucer would have been moreso relegated to living quarters, but because the drive section was smaller, work areas were more abundant. Their astrometrics lab was among the best he'd ever seen, second perhaps only to the Enterprise. He didn't bother to look at their holodecks, there wasn't much room for improvement in the technology.

The one area where the Emissary had the edge over the Enterprise was her sensor arrays. The Nebula-Class, while primarily a ship of exploration as per the Starfleet charter, was designed to be more of a science vessel. There were two variations, one with a sensor pod, and one with a weapons pod. The reason being 'there's no telling what's out there.' The Emissary was of the latter design. During the war, when exploration was not the Federation's foremost concern, the sensor pod located at the very top of the secondary hull was replaced with a weapons pod. All such alterations had since been reversed, but she could still pack a punch.

Alec's walk brought him to the sterile environment of sickbay. There was still one member of the crew he had not seen: Dr. John Gillies, the emergency medical holographic program from Voyager.

The EMH Mark I was originally designed as a short term supplement to a ship's chief medical officer. It was a walking talking encyclopedia of medical knowledge that was capable of performing any task that a flesh and blood doctor could, as long as it was performed within the confines of sickbay where the holoemitters were located. The installation of holoemitters on all decks of each ship equipped with an EMH now allowed them to go wherever they were needed. But with the twenty-ninth century mobile emitter that he attained, Dr. Gillies had been able to do so before, and was currently the only EMH with the ability to leave his ship.

When they had been stranded in the Delta Quadrant, the crew of Voyager had been forced to improvise. With replacement medical personel at least seventy-five years away, the EMH was given a more permanent capacity. The holographic man had gone seven years without a name, but he finally decided to name himself after a renowned physician from late twentieth century Earth.

The Emissary was currently one of only two ships in the fleet that had a crewmember in a major position that was classified as an artificial lifeform. Starfleet had tried to convince Janeway to assign a 'real' doctor and to include the more advanced Mark IV EMH as a supplement, but she refused. Her and her crew had been adamant that he be included. His experiences with them had made him as much a part of the crew as any flesh and blood officer. Although, he had wholeheartedly accepted the full medical staff.

"Commander!" said Gillies as he extended his hand. "I had heard you were on board. What brings you to my humble abode?"

"I have a few bumps and bruises that need mending, Doc."

Gillies gestured to a biobed and picked up a medical tricorder. "You've come to the right place. "Please have a seat." he said as he opened the tricorder and removed the peripheral. "You just missed President Sha'Gra. Her ordeal with the Romulans left her worried."

"How is she?"

"Aside from a case of malnutrition she was in perfect health. Commander, just out of curiosity, you weren't always a Bajoran, were you?"

Alec touched his wrinkled nose and dangling earring. He had completely forgotten about the surgical alterations that Bashir had made. As had Rene forgotten about the Trill spots that had been added to her face and neck.

"I also need some minor surgery." he said as he removed the earring after explaining his appearance.

"Coming right up." Gillies put away the tricorder and proceeded to heal Alec. "How did you get the injuries?" he asked in an attempt at small talk.

"Don't insult my wife's cooking." Alec joked.

Gillies stopped for a moment and his look of concern vanished as he realized his patient was pulling his chain. "Be thankful it wasn't Lieutenant Torres."

After Alec's injures were healed, he was anesthetized so Gillies could reverse the surgical alterations to his nose. He woke up feeling refreshed, but he knew it was only a temporary effect of the drug used to wake him.

"So," said the Doctor as he replaced his instruments and handed a padd to a member of his staff. "Can I schedule Mrs. Wilson?"

Alec hopped off of the biobed and shook off the slight dizziness. "Actually, I'm going to try and convince her to keep the spots."

Gillies had never met a human that didn't have at least some interest in the exotic. As a holographic human, he himself was no exception.

"Thanks for making me my old self, Doc. But if you'll excuse me, I've got to sepak to B'Elanna."

Alec left sickbay and made his way down to engineering. He spotted the warp core immediately upon entering. The pulsing could be heard throughout the ship. It was about half the size of the core back on the Enterprise, and with easier access to the crystal chamber, which was at deck level. Like any engine room, there were countless computer consoles.

Alec heard a woman giving orders from the second level. There was no question it was the voice of Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres, the half human/half Klingon chief engineer who had been Chakotay's chief engineer on board his old Maquis ship. She stood holding a padd at the gangway railing that circled the core. She had not seen him yet.

"You call this running an engine room?" he called up.

Torres took her eyes off the padd and looked down to see who had spoken. She smirked and shook her head. "Can I help you?"

"That's what I'm hoping."

She placed the padd on a nearby console and climbed down a ladder to the main level. "Can't sleep?" she asked as she neared.

He turned and leaned against the railing that directly circled the warp core. "Not yet. Too much on my mind." He reached out and rapped his knuckles against the intermix chamber. "Like your ship still being in one piece. I did the math. After the planet was destroyed, the Romulans had enough time to get in range of the Emissary and use their weapon, but they didn't."

Maybe they were waiting for the Travioli to get within range before they went to capacity."

Alec had considered that but ruled it out. He shook his head. "We were coming like a bat out of hell, they must have known we were coming to stop the. I think something must have happened that prevented their weapon from working."

Torres looked at her warp core and tried not to imagine the end result of Romulan success. "But what?"

"That's why I'm here." he pushed off from the railing and faced her. "What happened after the planet was destroyed?"

It was Torres' turn to lean against the railing. She did so with one hand. "We couldn't establish a stable warp field because of a subspace eddy that decided to stick around after the Romulans brought the planet out of hiding. Planetary debris weakened the shields, then the shockwave hit. We were lucky, that shockwave knocked out several systems. I had no choice but to shut down the core before it was next. An EPS conduit-"

"Wait wait wait! You shut down the core?" Noooo, it can't be that easy.

"Yes." she said, taking her hand off the railing. "I didn't think a breach would have impressed Captain Janeway."

Alec couldn't believe it. The solution was so simple that a child could have come up with it. He held his forehead and chuckled.

"What's so funny?"

"That shockwave may have saved your lives."

"Like putting out a match when you're surrounded by petroleum," said Alec to the senior staff in the observation lounge. "We just turn it off."

"Please explain, Commander." said Janeway.

"B'Elanna did the right thing when she took the warp core off-line, more than she could have known at the time. When she shut down the matter/antimatter reaction, she took away what would have destroyed the ship. The Romulans knew this, that's why they didn't use the weapon on the Emissary. They must have been waiting for your warp core to come back online."

Kim took a few moments to digest everything. "I wonder why they decided to wait for us to have Vesuvian dilithium. Wouldn't they have tried testing it on some of ours first?"

"They would have, it must not have worked. They would have been able to get their hands on our dilithium, but not one of our warp cores. There are two factors that I think could have worked onto it. The first being the matter/antimatter reaction itself."

"Just to be sure," began Torres. "I ran a molecular scan of the crystals in the articulation chamber."

"What did you find, Ms. Torres?" asked Janeway as she crossed her hands on the long, shiny table.

"There was a minute degradation in the crystal's structure, but not enough to cause any concern. The matter and antimatter streams must make the crystal susceptible to whatever frequency the Romulans are using to shatter them."

"Wait a second," said Paris. "What about the planet? Call me shortsighted, but I can't picture a matter/antimatter reaction extreme enough to send a planet into subspace or to affect that much dilithium."

"That brings me to number two." said Alec. "Vesuvian dilithium is incredibly pure. According to Ty'brel, impurities make up less than 0.1 of its composition. That's why it's so high grade. That's also why it was so affected by Romulan's weapon."

"I'm afraid we're missing the bigger picture." added Chakotay. "Shutting down the warp core may prevent them from using the weapons successfully, but with ships running on reserve power, shields won't last long in a firefight and neither will weapons. We'd be sitting ducks."

"It's not a permanent solution." admitted Alec. "But it's a step in the right direction. When we get this back to Starfleet Tactical I'm sure they'll come up with something."

"I hope so, Commander." said Janeway grimly. "Because the thought of a Romulan armada crossing the Neutral Zone does not sit well. The amount of devastation they could reap and sow would be unparalleled."

After the meeting, Alec politely declined an invitation to join Paris and Kim on the holodeck and returned to his quarters. Fatigue had begun to kick in and would have made him incapable of living up to Captain Proton's standards. They failed to entice Seven of Nine as well.

Rene was awake and waiting when he entered. She sat on the sofa staring down into a cup of tea on the table in front of her. "And just where have you been?"

He removed his uniform tunic and slung it over the back of the sofa before sitting next to Rene. He exhaled loudly as he eased into the cushion. "Too many things on my mind. I went for a walk to clear my head. Managed to get some answers."

Rene leaned over and rested her head on his chest, feeling it rise and descend with his lungs. She felt his hand begin stroking her hair. "Not all?"

His mind was getting hazy. "I don't think anyone manages to get all the answers they want." he said in an attempt to be philosophical.

"Nice viewpoint, Aristotle."

Although she still had angry feelings towards him for leaving her on the Enterprise, they had steadily declined over the past few days. By not leaving it alone he was helping save billions of lives from either slavery or worse. It was hard for her to stay mad when she considered the alternative implications. Rene considered herself lucky Alec was the man he was, others would have waited for it to play out, some would have given up. He was not a patient enough man to wait, and giving up was simply not in his nature. Their children, and his parents, would have been proud of him.

"I think Romulan Ale is in order when we get back to the Enterprise." said Rene. She at least expected a chuckle from him, he knew she couldn't stand the alien beverage, but he didn't respond. She lifted her head and looked up at his face. His eyes were closed and he was beginning to snore lightly. Rene smiled and lay her head back on his chest. Sleep came to her in about as much time as it took to close her eyes.

A summoning message from Captain Janeway roused Alec from sleep. Rene was not at his side as he remembered her being before he went under. He removed a blanket he didn't recall covering himself with and retrieved his uniform tunic. After thanking his good fortune for being with such a woman, he left his quarters for the bridge.

He stepped off the turbolift and immediately heard Rene's laugh. The bridge of a starship was one of the last places he expected to see her. Her head was visible on the other side of the wooden railing, as was President Sha'Gra's.

"Greetings, Commander." said Tuvok as he noticed Alec. Alec received another greeting from Seven as he passed the science station.

"You wished to see me, Captain." he said as he faced her.

Ty'brel sat to the left of Chakotay in a V.I.P. stool, while Sha'Gra was on Janeway's right in the third chair, followed by Rene in the other V.I.P. stool. Dante was there was well, standing next to Ty'brel. Janeway had been apprehensive about having a changeling on board at first but she believed that his desire to return home was genuine and allowed him remain out of the brig.

"Yes, Commander." said Janeway graciously. She seemed to be fighting a smile. "I'd say have a seat but I think we've run out."

"That's alright, Captain. I'm used to standing when I'm on duty."

"Fair enough. We'll be entering the Vesuvian system momentarily. I felt that you'd want to be here so they can personally thank you for bringing their president back alive."

Alec grinned. "I appreciate that, Captain." The apology alone would probably make the whole endeavour worthwhile.

He now noticed that it wasn't just Janeway that was smiling. Chakotay, Ty'brel, and Sha'Gra all seemed on the verge of a laughing fit. None of them were able to make eye contact either. Then there was Rene, she was looking too innocent. He had seen that face too many times to fall for it again, and he didn't need long to figure it out.

"You told them didn't you?" he asked Rene.

There was no more restraint. An explosion of laughter erupted from the semicircle of chairs, confirming his suspicion. Rene had told them about his most embarrassing moment. Back when he and James Moore were still attending Starfleet Academy, before he and Rene were married, she had helped James pull off his first and only successful practical joke on Alec. It was Alec and Rene's first time using the transporter. She had made up and excuse for having to beam back to the Academy grounds early, and when it was Alec's turn, James beamed him over to their dorm room without any clothing, in full view of their welcome back party.

Rene told the tale of the incident whenever she needed a story to top someone else's. She rarely came in second.

If she had done this a week ago, he probably would have gotten upset. But in lieu of recent events, a little jocularity was exactly what everyone could use. Rene had to have come to the same conclusion. He couldn't help but join the laughter.

"I'm sorry, Alec." said Rene, making eye contact for the first time since he came onto the bridge. There was no mistaking the puppy dog eyes. "We were in her ready room having coffee and it just slipped out."

"You're getting a pass this time." he said.

Paris swiveled his chair to get a glimpse of the scene. "Have we missed something?"

"I'll tell you later." said Rene.

"Noooo, you won't."

Paris turned his chair back around and checked the arrival counter. "We're entering the Vesuvian system, Captain."

"Slow us to impulse, Lieutenant."

Chakotay turned to Alec, who despite the smile on his face had gone a little red in the cheeks. "Don't worry, Commander. I had something similar happen to me in my Academy days. Although I had my combadge."

"Good to know I'm not the only one." said Alec, feeling a little better.

The Emissary cruised through the system to the sole inhabited planet. They all looked forward to a little rest and relaxation. Enough excitement had been seen to last anyone years, and near destruction tended to take the wind out of anyone's proverbial sails. Conversation passed the minutes. To Alec's relief there was no more references to his undiginified moment, although they subject was still not entirely present. There were most likely people still loyal to Sela and Tomalak on Vesuvia. The immediate threat was over and the conspiracy uncovered which would drive them underground until the time came to act again. But when that time came, Vesuvia and the Federation would be ready.

Ty'brel was just happy to finally be home. After two years in self exile, he was eager and ready to pick up his life where he left off. And he made himself a promise to not live his life in fear nor to run away into hiding again. He could not live with that shame, not considering what it almost cost the first time.

A tear almost came to Ty'brel's eye upon seeing his planet on the viewscreen and Sha'Gra let out an audible gasp. Prior to the past few days, neither expected to ever see home again so any excitement was contained until the moment came.

"Standard orbit, Mr. Paris."

"Aye, Captain. Standard orbit."

"Commander," said Janeway to Alec. "Would you like to ring the bell?"

Alec held up his hand. "It's your ship, Captain."

Janeway nodded. "Mr. Tuvok, open a channel to the Parliament."

"Yes, Captain."

In moments, the voice of a female administrator answered over the comchannel. "Welcome back, U.S.S. Emissary. Please standby."

Sha'Gra and Ty'brel were frozen in horror, and Alec lunged at the companel installed in Janeway's armrest. "Wilson to Torres, shut down the warp core immediately!"

"Commander, what's going-"

"Do it!" yelled Alec. "Commander Tuvok, shunt emergency power to the shields!"

"Commander Wilson," said Janeway sternly. "When you're done giving orders on my bridge I'd appreciate an explanation."

Alec was almost too wound up to speak. But he had no doubts he was right. Had any existed he would need only the looks on the faces of his Vesuvian friends to affirm himself. "That was Sela's voice, Captain."

Janeway's eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open as her head snapped towards the viewscreen. "Are you certain?"

"It's her, Captain." said Ty'brel. His skin had gone a paler shade of blue. "Until a few days ago I had never seen her face, but I had her voice in my head for two years."

"But why shut down the warp core?"

"I think there's another weapon ship and that she intends to use it on Vesuvia." He hadn't made the connection until now. Vesuvia had dilithium present in its crust. He had seen it first hand when he was in the cavern.

Janeway turned back to Sha'Gra. "Vesuvia has-"

"No, the core isn't made of dilithium. But there are extensive deposits throughout the crust. My planet would never recover."

Janeway put her eyes back on the viewscreen. "Janeway to Torres, if you haven't followed the Commander's order, do so quickly."

"They must have intercepted the hail." said Chakotay.

"Mr. Tuvok," said Janeway. "What's the status of the cloak sensor?"

"The recalibration is almost complete, Captain. It should be online within minutes."

"Captain..." said an apprehensive Kim.

Janeway heard his warnings and saw what it was for moments later. Complete and after silence took hold of the bridge as not one, but two Romulan Warbirds shimmered into existence in front of the Emissary. Their large curved beaks looked as vicious and capable of tearing at their innards as that of any flesh and blood raptor. Level nine.

Alec found himself speaking aloud the words of Dante when the poet had first seen Lucifer. "'Do not ask me how I grew faint and frozen then- I cannot write it; all words would fall far short of what it was.'"

"'I did not die.'" continued Janeway.

"And I was not alive." finished Chakotay.

'Their weapons are fully charged, Captain." warned Tuvok.

"We'll make no aggressive movements." advised Janeway. "I'm not going to give them any excuses to open fire."

"Not that they'd need one." said the always opinionated Paris.

Janeway almost scolded him, but she couldn't deny that he was right. "Whatever you're waiting for," she said to the Romulan ships. "Just do it."

Tuvok's console sounded. "It appears the wait is over, Captain. The lead Warbird is hailing us."

Janeway cleared her face of all emotion but resolve. She did not intend to be or appear intimidated. "On screen."

The Romulan that sat centered on the Romulan bridge was the spitting image of intimidation. She was leaning forward, elbows on her knees, and her hands locked together. Janeway was not the only one that had emptied her face of emotion, Sela was staring forward in a cold, hard expression. A Klingon would be wary.

"The illustrious Captain Janeway." said Sela mockingly. "I've heard of you and the U.S.S. Voyager but I never thought we'd meet."

"Nor did I, Sela. Did you enjoy your exile?" Janeway almost smirked as Sela twitched at her remark.

Sela's cold stare almost faded when she noticed Alec standing near Sha'Gra. She did not expect to see him ever again. And her gaze did not go unnoticed by him.

"Surprised to see me?" he asked, stepping forward. "I would be too."

"And Tasmith?"

"Try checking out an asteroid field nearby. If you're lucky, you might find her in about twenty or thirty years. She might be a little cold by then though." Alec looked over at Dante, wondering why Sela hadn't said anything upon seeing him. He saw that it was because she hadn't. The changeling had taken the form of a Starfleet officer.

"I do not know how you managed to survive, but soon that will no longer be an issue."

"We won't allow you to destroy Vesuvia." warned Janeway. It was an idle threat, but it was all she had.

"I commend your gaul, Captain." said Sela in an almost respectful manner. "But even at full capacity you would be no match for two of our Warbirds, let alone one."

"Maybe not." Janeway matched Sela stare for stare. "But we'll buy as much time as we can before the Enterprise returns."

Sela's expression was that of someone who had just put the final nail in the coffin of her true enemy. "The Enterprise won't be returning anytime soon. You know as well as I do she's halfway to the Neutral Zone investigating the destruction of the first of many Starfleet vessels to fall before us."

"So," said Alec. "There is a second weapon ship."

"The prototype still remains."

"We both know that you can't destroy the planet." said Janeway. She would not let remorse for the crew of the U.S.S. Falcon cloud her thoughts. There would be time for that later, she hoped.

"The planet won't be destroyed." admitted Sela cruelly. "But there is enough dilithium in the crust to ensure enough damage done that the population will wish it had been. And you can do nothing but watch."

The comline closed. Janeway had no cards to play. It felt like she was playing a pair of deuces against a flush. "Status on the sensors, Mr. Tuvok."

"Still inoperative, Captain."

"At least they don't know we have the ability to detect the ship." said Ty'brel.

"At this juncture I believe the correct term is 'imminent' ability." noted Seven of Nine. "And it will be irrelevant if the planet is devastated."

"If we do attain it," began Alec. "I'm for locating the weapon ship and destroying it, then holding off the Romulans for as long as we can."

"Agreed." said Chakotay.

"I third that idea." said Paris, turning his chair and joining the conference. Kim followed suit and added his support.

Janeway pondered the idea. "Any sign of the Enterprise on long range sensors?"

"Negative, Captain."

Janeway sighed. She leaned on the armrest and rested her chin on her knuckles. "Sacrificing one's self to save the many. It's a noble gesture."

"Indeed." added Tuvok, who noted significance in what she said.

"Klingons wish for this." said Chakotay with a smile, adding fuel to the fire.

"Ty'brel. Madame President?" The two Vesuvians didn't utter a word, they simply met each other's gaze and nodded their approval. She had already made up her mind, but she was curious. "Seven, how many inhabitants are on the surface?"

"Approximately four billion, Captain."

Janeway pushed the companel on her armrest and opened a ship-wide channel. "All hands, this is the bridge. Battle stations."

As the klaxon sounded, Alec put his hand on Rene's shoulder. She turned her head up at him and gripped his hand in hers. "They're in good hands. My parents won't let anything happen to them."

"If you're dad's cooking hasn't gotten to them already."

"Whatever, Mr. Chef."

Tuvok's console sounded once more. "Captain, a cloaked vessel has just appeared on sensors. Three thousand meters off the starboard bow."

Alec squeezed Rene's hand and released it before making his way up to tactical next to Tuvok. His intention was to take over should Tuvok be incapacitated. "Consider me your backup." he said, to which the Vulcan simply nodded approval.

"Mr. Tuvok," said Janeway. "Prepare a spread of photons. Dispersal pattern sierra."

"Target locked." he said over the acquisition tone.

"Get ready for a surprise, Sela." said Alec as he leaned forward.

Janeway sat poised. Her mouth opened to give the firing order but an announcement from Tuvok prevented her from doing so.

"Captain, there is a ship coming out of warp."

"The Enterprise?" asked Chakotay optimistically.

"Negative."

"More Romulans?" scoffed Janeway, dreading the worst.

"I do not believe so, the warp signature is scrambled. That is why sensors did not detect it sooner."

"Who is it then?" asked Chakotay.

Alec took a closer look at the display. The warp signature cleared just enough for him to see what ship was coming in. He couldn't believe it. "It's the Defiant!"