USS Tirpitz

Sovereign Class Capital Cruiser NCC 84937

Phaser Range

En-Route to Romulan Republic Border


─•~:~•─


For three hours now, Kala had been trying to break the worst of his Fishie cousin's shooting habits that they had picked up from the Academy. He finally understood why Colonel Mor was such hard ass.

For the most part, they at least knew which end of a Phaser Rifle to aim at the enemy, as he had been taught three years ago when he was Midshipman. And then Colonel Mor and the team that would eventually become the Command Staff of the Federation Marine Corps had taught the Bajoran that everything he thought he knew about shooting was wrong. It cost Kala two broken noses, but he eventually figured it out.

And now Major Tatum had given him the job to pass his experience on to the crew of the Lonely Queen of The North. Kala was incredibly frustrated. The Fishies tried to do things like firing from the hip, couldn't understand the concept of talking rifles, and stubbornly believed that Starfleet issue personal force fields would keep them safe from Romulan disruptor fire. Even a Sharkie in full armour would still take cover.

A young Betazoid Woman was proving to be his most irritating student. She was tiny, and weak in the arms. And she wasn't even pretty enough to bed. Kala watched her trying to hit a target barely five meters away from the hip, and finally had enough.

He ran over and started screaming, "What the fuck are you doing, Fishie?!"

The Woman turned with tears in her eyes, "I-I'm sorry Sargent s-sir. I haven't done this since the Academy a-and I was never very good."

Kala pointed at his Staff Sargent's insignia on the arm of his MDU, "Do not call me sir, Fishie! Do I look like an officer to you?!"

"N-no. I'm sorry, I-I don't really understand Sharkie, I mean, FMC ranks. I-I just, this rifle is heavy-" she replied before Kala cut her off.

He drew closer to her face, "Do you think the fucking Romulans will care whether your rifle is heavy or not?! Newsflash, they fucking wont. Now, if you can't aim the damn thing right, then you need get the fuck off my range, Fishie!"

The woman took a step back, awkwardly cradling her rifle, "B-but the Captain ordered us to learn how to shoot from the M-marines! I can't just leave!"

"By the fucking Prophets, if you don't put that rifle down and fuck right off, I'll-" Kala started, before a hard shove to the ground stopped him.

Ginny towered over her Staff Sargent and said with a cold fury, "Sarge, get back on the firing line and supervise your crew, or I'll break your nose permanently, clear?"

Kala knew when he was beat. He quickly picked himself up, saluted the Major, and moved down the line to watch the rest of his class.

Ginny turned and looked at the Betazoid woman. She recognized her as the Botanist who had been shoved into a bulkhead by Ginny's own designated marksman.

Ginny had witnessed the event, and broke both of his arms and ordered him to spend the next month making new flowerpots for her. The man now spent nearly all of his free time growing flowers, but to Ginny's sadness she realized that this poor girl had been put through hell by her Marines.

"Hey, I'm sorry about that. The Staff Sargent is just training you the same way he was trained. He didn't mean anything by it. Are you okay Jean?"

Jean the botanist, still crying, nodded, "I-I'm okay, thanks Major Tatum. I'm just...I grow flowers. Why do I have to know how to shoot?"

"He's right about one thing," Ginny said, taking a space next to Jean, "The Romulans aren't going to care whether you grow flowers or not. If they see you with a weapon, they will shoot you. And it's better that you shoot them first."

"But isn't that your job, Major Tatum? Aren't you supposed to protect us from Romulans?"

"I can't be everywhere at once Jean. And maybe you'll have to protect me?" Ginny said with a smile.

"How? This rifle is too heavy!" Jean sighed.

Ginny, a full foot, and a half taller than the botanist, stood behind her and wrapped her massive arms around her. She adjusted Jean's arms into a proper shooting position that would be comfortable and yet effective for a girl her size.

"There, how's that feel? I know it's heavy, but that rifle should feel better if you hold it like that," Ginny asked, taking a step back.

Jean smiled, "Wow, that's way easier actually. How did you know to do that?"

"The problem with Fishie tactical instructors is they try to teach a standard way of doing things. It makes it easier for them to push through cadets, but the weapon has to match the shooter, not the other way around" Ginny replied.

Sandhurst required that all OCS candidates log forty-five hours per week at the shooting range. That was more time with a weapon that the majority of non-security Starfleet officers would have in their entire careers. It allowed the Marines to develop muscle memory for the handling of their weapons, and thus to match the weapon to the shooter, just as Ginny had told Jean the Botanist.

Ginny stood behind Jean again, "Now, let's teach you how to shoot."

She put her hand on the butt end of the rifle and forced it into Jean's shoulder blade, not roughly but enough that the botanist would know what do,

"This is the stock. You need to brace it against your shoulder like this. The nice thing about phaser rifles is that they don't kick too badly, not like an XR-118. But you still need to have control so you can guide the beam properly."

Next, Ginny used her foot to spread Jean's legs out appropriately, and gently pushed her waist down to straighten her back out, "You want to stand like this. This is called a Weaver Stance. We use this because your centre of gravity creates two solid lines between the shooter and the rifle, which allows you better control of the weapon and makes you a smaller target."

"Your body is at fifteen degrees, and your rifle is at ninety. Think of it like a flower, your bulb is here," said Ginny, putting her hand on the top of Jean's head, "and your branch is here," pointing with her other hand to Jean's barrel.

Ginny slid Jean's left hand closer to the trigger group, "Move your grip hand back here. I can see that you're going to have a tough time balancing the rifle if you keep it where the Academy taught you to keep it. I want you to forget that, Jean. Focus on having the maximum amount of control on your weapon."

Next, Ginny gently shifted Jean's head so that her right cheek would sit on the rest of the stock, "Now, don't close your weak eye. Aim with your good eye in the middle of the cross hair on the sight. You want to line up the middle point with the target, but still be able to see what's around it. We call this creating a sight picture. Got it?"

"Yeah, I think so," Jean replied as she shifted slightly to make the sight picture appear.

Ginny wrapped her own hand around Jean's shooting hand, "Good. Now, take a couple of deep breaths. Breathe in slowly for a three count, and then out for a three count. Do that twice. On the third time, I want you to squeeze the trigger with your pointer finger. Don't pull it, but wrap it around the trigger, like you're squeezing a flower. You'll feel it lock up a bit as the trigger travels back."

"On the third exhale, squeeze tightly and let the trigger break all the way backwards. Keep your barrel steady and don't close your eyes. You're gonna aim at this target over here. I want you to hit your beam dead centre."

Ginny shifted Jean slightly to point her at the target standing at fifty meters.

Jean protested, "But that's so far away! I can't hit that!"

Ginny smiled, "Of course you can, just remember what I told you. When your ready, squeeze the trigger."

Jean breathed in and out twice. And on the third exhale, she did as she was instructed. The orange phaser beam erupted from the barrel and a heartbeat later slammed cleanly into the white circle in the target's chest.

The holographic target faded away, and a beep sounded out from the computer showing a successful hit.

Jean smiled, "Wow! Look at that, I hit it!"

Ginny patted her on the back and let Jean lower her rifle, "Good job Jean. I'll make a sniper out of you yet. Keep practising just like that, alright?"

Before Jean could respond, the ship slammed hard as she dropped out of warp speed into impulse.

Ginny's wrist-comm automatically opened a message from the bridge, "This is the Captain, we are now at yellow alert. All hands to emergency stations. Senior Officers to the bridge on the double."

The yellow alert klaxon sounded, and the dark lights of the phaser range lit up bright white. The rest of the shooting group quickly left the range to attend to their stations, while Kala armoured up and left behind the group.

Ginny turned to Jean, "Where's your emerge station?"

Jean seemed less scared now, "Um, I'm supposed to be on a damage control team. Main Engineering, I think"

Ginny nodded, "Okay, get there as soon as you can, and don't forget what I taught you. You'll be alright Jean. I can already tell you shoot better than half of OCS"

"I will. Thanks for helping me Major" Jean said as she slung her rifle behind her back and left the range.

Ginny sighed as she made her way to the nearest turbo-lift. Provided she kept practising, Jean could shoot reasonably well by Ginny's standards.

But she hoped that the botanist wouldn't have to.

There was no way she was ready for real action just yet.


Ginny quickly stepped onto the bridge.

But where she was expecting a Romulan Warbird to be in front of the Lonely Queen of the North, there was instead a strange orange net, stretching throughout space as far as she could see and clearly blocking Tirpitz's path forward.

"What the hell is that?! Another Tholian web?" Ginny asked, even though she knew the Tholians were gone from the Milky Way, unless Star had decided to put them back.

Scott Hathaway shook his head, "No. Not Tholians. I'm guessing you didn't do so well in History class at the Academy, Major?"

Ginny took an empty seat beside her Captain and shook her own head, "I didn't, but I'm guessing you did?"

Scott nodded, "Dean's list three years running, and honour roll graduate. I'd have been Valedictorian if it hadn't been for Douglas Mitchell. What you are seeing, Major Tatum, is an object that is a quantum copy of another object encountered by Jean-Luc Picard aboard Enterprise-D during Big D's very first mission to Farpoint Station. Which just so happens to be the first known encounter between Starfleet and the beings we call the Q Continuum."

"Right, those other god-like things that supposedly don't like Star's songs either. What do we do?" Ginny asked.

"Kath, anything on sensors?" Hathaway asked the science station.

"Negative sir. The field extends out to three Au's in any direction and appears to match our own movements," came the reply from the Klingon science officer.

Yue spoke up next, "Don't the Q usually just pop in wherever they want? Why the field?"

"I'm sure they have a reason. I did my Captain's dissertation on the Q. They do like to play games with us, but I'm not really in the mood for this shit today," Scott said, rising from his chair.

"We know you're out there, Q. I really don't have time for you. Show yourself or get out of my way already!"

Seconds later, a bright flash of light erupted on the bridge.

When it faded, a teenage girl wearing a Starfleet Uniform with a Captain's rank pips appeared, lying casually on top of Kath's science console.

Ginny was on her feet instantly and drawing her assault phaser at the first sign of an intruder, but Scott's hand raised up and she lowered the weapon.

"Easy Major. That's a Q you're aiming at. Shooting her will just piss her off. Although I'm surprised that it's not the Q we've come to know."

Scott approached the teenage girl, who looked to be human with blonde hair and green eyes.

She shifted to her side, propped her head on her hand and answered back with a bored tone, "Oh, you little human things know another Q, do you?"

"I'm Captain Scott Hathaway, in command of the Federation Starship Tirpitz. And yes, we have encountered several members of the Q Continuum. The individual I'm referring to put up a terribly similar energy field in space for Enterprise-D, and he's harassed Captain Picard for decades."

"He also tried to convince Admiral Janeway to have a baby with him. He tried to bother Ben Sisko once, but Ben socked him in the face. If I'm being honest, I'd be temped to do the same with you, except my wife would be very disappointed in me if she knew I struck a lady out of anger," said Scott.

The Q Girl laughed, "Ah, you must mean my uncle Q! Yeah, he's kinda nostalgic about all his fun times with Humans. He suggested I make the field for old time's sake. He'd have come himself, but I've been told to tell you that he's a bit busy right now."

Scott crossed his arms, "My loss, I'm sure. And do you have a name, Miss?"

"Why would I tell you what my name is? Your tiny little human brain would probably splatter in your skull if you tried to speak it. Just call me Q, okay?" Q-Girl replied, looking annoyed.

"Alright, Miss Q. Is there something you want from us? I'm fascinated by your appearance, but I really don't have time for games," said Scott, still keeping his arms crossed.

Kath added in her own growl, "Please get off my console."

Another flash of light blinded the crew, and Q-Girl reappeared in Scott's empty chair.

She looked next at Ginny, still standing with her assault phaser held at low-ready, "Who are you? My Uncle told me about Starfleet, but you look much angrier. Are you one of those Augments that the primitive little humans experimented with a while ago?"

"Are you positive you don't want me to shoot her, Sir?" Ginny asked.

Scott waved his hand, "Stand down, Major," he then looked at Q-Girl again, "You'll speak to me and me alone, Miss Q. And again, I ask, as respectfully as I can, do you want something from us?"

Q-Girl sighed, "Fine, ruin all my fun then. It has come to the attention of the Continuum that the primitive, savage and child-like Human race has gained access to a device that we have determined they should not have access to. Ordinarily, I would have just taken it away and sent your cute little ship into a black hole or something, but my Uncle decided to at least give you the chance to cooperate. In simpler words, I can't blow you up, yet"

"And what device is that?"

Q-Girl suddenly turned her bored teenage complexion into a deadly serious one, "Don't try to be cheeky. This Augment, or whatever she is, has the device in her pocket at the moment," she said while pointing at Ginny.

"Hand it over, and you can be on your way."

"No," Scott replied simply.

"Excuse me, Human?" Q-Girl replied, standing up, "Your better has just given you an instruction to carry out. Do it, now, or I'll start to get annoyed."

Q-Girl snapped her fingers, and the ship shuddered violently. The red-alert klaxon sounded automatically, and the bridge darkened to tactical lighting.

From the weapons console, Dean spoke up next, "We just got rocked by a massive gravitational wave, Skipper. No damage, but it took a good chunk out of the shields."

"Uh, Captain Hathaway, maybe we should do what Q tells us?" Yue suggested, backing away and standing behind Ginny for cover.

"I think not, XO. As I said, I've studied the Q pretty closely, and I'm not inclined to allow them to take away our access to Star," Scott replied, standing firmly.

Q-Girl put a mocking smile on her face, "Oh you've studied us, have you? Oh, your tiny, primitive human brain is almost cute!"

"That's true," Scott said, walking a step closer towards Q-Girl, "I drafted an extensive thesis about your kind. And I came to one conclusion, which is a question I'll ask you. What exactly has the Q-Continuum ever actually done for us?"

"In every encounter the Federation has had with one of your kind, you've done nothing but antagonize us, at best. And at worst, your uncle is personally responsible for the deaths of over eleven thousand Starfleet officers, as it was thanks to his own temper that we met the Borg far before we were prepared for it"

Q-Girl unexpectedly smirked, "How brave of you, little human. Is the ant this brave before the boot squashes it?"

Scott shrugged, "My point exactly. You are standing here, threatening us with destruction if we don't follow your wishes. Star on the other hand has done nothing but help us. She's taught us more about the universe in a year than the Q-Continuum ever have. And she's never asked for anything in return for this knowledge. And she never acts superior to us, or calls us primitive, or threatens us with destruction for not complying with her own wishes."

He continued, sitting back at his chair, "In fact, in my dealings with her, I'd say Star seems to be incredibly annoyed with the very concept of violence. But I'm ranting now, so I'll sum it up for you. I see no reason to comply with your wishes, Miss Q. And I won't be intimidated by your threats."

Q-Girl snapped her fingers again, and the ship violently rocked. Ginny felt the deck-plate beneath her groan in agony, and tired desperately not to fall over.

"Another gravitational wave, Skipper! Shields won't take another hit like that!" Dean replied from his console.

Cyron's voice came over the ship-wide comm's, "Engineering to Bridge, what the hell is going on up there? My containment fields are starting to fluctuate. Can you not shake us so hard?"

Scott hit the comm's switch on his panel, "Maintain Chief. Do whatever you can to keep us stable."

Yue pleaded with her Captain, "Scott, we shouldn't be pissing off the Q like this. I strongly recommend we do what she says and hand over the caller."

"Maintain your station or get off my bridge, Commander Tanaka. We will not comply with the Q's demands, and you can consider that an order!"

"You should listen to the female, little human. I'll give you one last chance, and then I destroy your little boat in the stars," Q-Girl said, raising her hand to prepare to snap.

Hathaway looked at Ginny and nodded. A second later, the Marine holstered her phaser, and reached into her pocket to retrieve Star's Caller.

But instead of handing the device over, Ginny pushed the small, black button, and a heartbeat later, Star appeared next to Ginny.

"Hi Ginny. Did you need something from me? Do you hear another song?" Star asked, oblivious to the situation to the situation around her.

"Hey Star. Not quite, but we might need your help. Say hello to Q-Girl. She says that if we don't give your caller to her, she'll blow up our ship," Ginny replied, pointing to Q-Girl.

Star turned and looked at Q-Girl with her usual smile, "Hello, Q-Girl. I am Star. You are from the 73rd Dimension. I'm sorry for having to communicate with you using outside talking, but it scares my friend Ginny if I use the harmonics of 73rd dimensional space in the third dimension for communication. Could you not blow-up Ginny's ship though? That isn't very nice."

Shockingly, Q-Girl stepped backwards and seemed to be afraid.

Is this Q afraid of a little girl? Ginny thought to herself.

Q-Girl ignored her and stared at Scott, "You really don't understand what's at play here, do you little human? This, thing, may look sweet and may teach you things at a level your primitive minds can understand, but this thing is something you should not even know exists, let alone interact with."

Star looked annoyed, "I am not a thing, I am Star. Please don't be upset with Scott. He is the commanding officer of Tirpitz. Three-Dimensional Space uses hierarchical organizational command structures and delegation. He asked Ginny to ask for my help, so three-dimensional things can better understand other things in their universe."

Q-Girl finally looked at Star, "They don't have the right! And they don't understand what they're doing by contacting you. The Continuum has determined that their species is not ready for this level of development, and you have already upset our carefully planned orchestration with your little episode with the Tholians. "

"And you are still actively blocking our attempts to correct this mistake, Star. You will return the Tholians to their proper home. The Humans will cease their contact with you, and we will destroy your caller, or we will have no other choice but to destroy them and you."

Star suddenly spoke up in a tone that made Ginny's spine shudder in icy cold terror, "No. You won't hurt my friends. If you do, I'll hurt you, Q-Girl. And I can hurt you much easier than you can hurt my friends."

"You don't get to decide at what level they can advance. I looked into the Tholian's songs before I sent them away, and they are far happier in their new home than they ever were here. I can see in your own songs that the Continuum is jealous of Humans. They are achieving advancement at a rate that is one hundred times faster than your own. Are you worried that they would replace you?"

Q-Girl was exasperated, "Do you have any idea of what goes on outside of your tiny home, Star? There is an order to things, that is our responsibility to maintain. You are upsetting this order, and that won't be tolerated. Your little insights are just a small part of the issue. Your very presence is this space is outside of what we determine is proper in this dimension!"

"Now just one damn minute," Scott said, speaking up, "I fully acknowledge that the Q are, at the present, as above us as we are above bacteria, but just who in the hell do you think you are, with all of the shit that the Continuum has put us through, to tell us what you think is proper in this universe?"

She faced Scott yet again, "Do you understand, little human, just how insignificant you are?! You only exist, because we allow it."

She raised her hand to snap, "And you will end, because we demand it."

Ginny raised her assault phaser again, but not fast enough to stop Q-Girl from snapping.

But nothing happened. She snapped again, and again nothing happened.

Star had her hand up and looked completely irritated.

"Don't do that. I've told you that you won't hurt my friends. You just tried, and I stopped you. Now go away and leave them alone, or I'll hurt you, Q-Girl!" Star warned.

"How dare you?! I am a God to these insignificant little creatures. Your kind moved on from this universe a long time ago, and you have no right to interfere with our property!" Q-Girl screamed.

"And neither do you. The Others might be gone, but I'm still here, and I want to help my friends learn and grow. Are you going to go away, or do I have to hurt you now? I don't like to hurt things, but I will if I have to," Star said, with her hand raised.

Ginny was having a tough time wrapping her mind around the potential battle between Gods that was about unfold in front of her.

She fell back to the only thing she could rely on – her training – and kept her assault phaser aimed at Q-Girl, however ineffective it might be.

Star took a step towards Q-Girl, and shockingly to Ginny and the entire crew, Q-Girl took a step backwards.

Ginny could swear this Q, who had claimed to be a God, was terrified of her friend Star.

Q-Girl found her confidence though, and spoke with voice that amplified through Ginny's soul, "So be it."

She snapped her fingers once again, and the light around the bridge faded to an eery purple.

The teenage girl disappeared, and in her place was a floating orb of purple light, perhaps the "true" form of the Q.

The ship began shaking violently, and the red alert klaxon screamed out as though Tirpitz herself was in terror.

"Report!" Scott screamed to anyone who would answer him.

"Captain, I don't know of a better way to explain this, but the universe appears to be contracting around us, I'm losing sensor contacts from nearby stars and-" Kath began before more violent shaking battered the Lonely Queen of The North.

Several consoles on the back wall blew out. A junior crewman was scorched badly by the sparks. Yue ran over to attend to him, but he was already dead by the time she got there.

"For fuck's sake Captain! This has to stop! Ginny, put the caller down in front of... what ever the hell that is and back off. That's an order!" she screamed.

Scott stood and put his hand on Ginny's shoulder, "Belay that. I trust Star, and so will you Commander!"

Before Ginny could answer either Yue or Scott, the ship shook violently yet again.

Dean spoke up next, "That's it for our shields! The hull's buckling in every section I can read skipper! Whatever you or Star are gonna do, it's gotta happen now!"

Ginny finally made a decision, one that she hoped her Captain would understand.

She knelt down beside Star and spoke softly to her friend, "I'm scared now, Star. More than I ever have been in my life. Please, help us."

Star, still holding her hand in the air, looked at Ginny and smiled, "Okay Ginny, I'll help you. Hang on, I have to sing now."

Star lowered her hand and walked towards the eery orb of purple light. When she got within two feet of the orb, she dropped her hands to her sides, opened her mouth and began to sing.

That same low, droning noise that she had first heard on Tranbir Nine erupted into Ginny's ears. The micro-filters now worn by entire crew of Tirpitz kept them safe, but Ginny's very soul went cold. Star's song was scary enough on its own.

But on this occasion, the song was somehow even more terrifying. It was louder, lower, and touching her very being in a way that made her absolutely shake in terror.

In her own mind, Ginny wondered if Star's new song was what Hell sounded like.

But the song was working. The ship gradually stopped shaking, and the purple light began to fade as the more normal red tactical lighting returned. On the view screen, the familiar sight of stars returned into view, and Ginny started to feel safer.

Star walked forward, still singing, and raised her "tone" up slightly. Suddenly, the orb of purple light blasted away, and Q-Girl's human form returned, violently landing on the deck-plate. Ginny thought that Q-Girl looked as though she had been thrashed in a violent fist fight, which was the only way her mind could make sense of the metaphysical battle that had just taken place.

Q-Girl rose, slowly, and started coughing.

She shot a look of scorn at Star, "I hope you understand...you've made an enemy of the entire Q-Continuum today. We won't let this disgrace go unchallenged."

Ginny was shocked when Star walked right up to Q-Girl, and slapped the god-like entity in the face, "Stop it! You've only heard the first verse of my song. Do you want me to sing the second one? Because I will, and I'll sing it in your home this time. None of you will survive. And if I have to, I'll sing the chorus in the 73rd dimension and destroy everything you've ever built!"

Again, Ginny was shocked as Q-Girl put both her hands up and started begging, "No! Please, don't do that! I-I'm sorry, alright? I was just doing what my uncle told me to do"

Star pointed towards space, "Leave, right now. Go away, and don't ever try to hurt my friends again!"

Q-Girl stood and backed away from Star. "Before I go, you should know that another one of your little human ships encountered her kind before. The ship isn't far from you. See for yourself just what it is that you dared to grasp in your primitive hands. We will be watching, and we will be back."

Star was about to open her mouth to sing for a second time. Q-Girl snapped her fingers and disappeared from the bridge in a flash of white light. None of the bridge crew dared to speak.

They had just witnessed a war between Gods.

At a certain point, it stops being a question of science and we start getting into metaphysics, and I'm not even sure that's an accurate statement to make. We're talking about levels of... existence, that are orders of magnitude beyond our own

Scott's words danced in Ginny's mind. She still didn't believe in God, or the Prophets like Kala, or Sha-Ka-Ree, but witnessing Star and Q-Girl locked in battle?

It made her think.

Star turned and walked towards Ginny, still on her knees. She wrapped her arms around the Major, with her touch being light and yet cold as ice to her skin.

"I'm sorry that Q-Girl scared you, Ginny. Are you okay?" Star asked, cradling Ginny in a tight hug.

Ginny took a deep breath before she answered, "Yes, I'm alright. Thanks for helping us. Umm, are you going to be okay? Q-Girl looked pissed off."

Star smiled, and her deep black eyes stared at Ginny's own, "I'll be fine. The Q have come to my home before, and they ran away when I tried to sing to them. Now that I've met them in person, I realize that they are very mean. I hurt that Q enough that you won't see her again. And if others like her come back, just call me again and I will stop them from hurting you."

"Okay, I'll keep that in mind," Ginny replied.

"Wait," Scott said, finally rising from his chair, "I have to ask, Star. Was what she said true? Have we met you before?"

"You have not met me before you came to my home, Scott. There is another ship like Tirpitz nearby though, about six hours travel at your current speed capabilities. Were you able to make a quantum harmonizer yet? You could get there much faster if you have" Star replied.

The Captain shook his head, "No, we haven't had time yet. I realize this might be a little much to ask, but can you stay with us for a little while Star? I'd like to check out this ship and you may be able to help us understand just what Miss Q was on about."

Star nodded, "That's okay, I'm happy to stay here for a while. Do you want me to stand here, or should I go somewhere else?"

Scott laughed, as he really didn't know what else to say or do, "Umm, whatever works best for you. I'm not really in a position to argue"

Yue was less amused. She walked directly in front of Scott and said harshly, "Captain, I'd like to speak to you and the senior officers in the conference room, immediately"

"First thing's first, Commander," Scott replied, turning to look at Dean, "Damage report LC?"

Dean, with sweat visibly dripping from his bald head, looked at his console, "All systems are showing normal Skipper. No appreciable damage to the hull either, and I've got full power to shields and weapons."

Scott next hit his comm's switch, "Bridge to Engineering, how are you doing down there Cyron?"

The Bajoran's innocent voice replied back, "Is it over yet?! Can I talk safely?!"

Scott laughed again, "It's fine now Cyron, but I need your report please."

After a moment, she replied, "Umm, the containment field is fine now. The crystals are okay too. We have full warp power when you want it, but, like, can we not do the whole shaking thing again?"

"I'll try my best. I need you up in the wardroom please and collect Doctor Selar for me on your way up. Hathaway out," he replied as he closed the channel.

He turned next to the Cydberian helmsman, SC-2180. The half cybernetic steersman of Tirpitz had been silent through the whole episode, and Ginny wondered if he even experienced fear, "SC, you have the bridge. Plot a course to this ship and engage at warp five"

SC nodded and pointed at Star to ask for the coordinates without turning on his chest reactor to speak. Star placed her hand on the helm, and the ship entered warp speed with perfect efficiency.

"Okay, now that we're underway, let's have our meeting Yue. Dean, Kath, Ginny, you're all invited too" He replied, letting his XO lead the way into the wardroom behind the bridge.