The Captain awoke to a soft hand on his face and chattering voices in the background. He could see through his groggy eyes that the room was lit and several human-shaped figures stood around him; when his eyes adjusted and focused, he saw Catherine and four other figures whom he did not recognize. "How long have I been out?" he asked.

Catherine was the first one to respond. "A good nine hours, Shawn. Let me introduce you to Commander Julara Nofsinger, and Lieutenant Commanders Davis Wood, Kylie Black, and Hixana Kigara Stuchlik."

"Yes, Commander Nofsinger and I have already been introduced." He blushed and Catherine tilted her head in wonderment. "I'll explain later, Catherine. Lieutenant Commander Stuchlik, that whole thing's your name, huh?"

Hixana responded with curiosity, "Yes, Captain. Why?"

"Do you like to go by the whole thing or can I call you something shorter?"

"You may call me Kig, Captain. In case you are wondering, Kigara is my given name and the other two are my family names, Hixana being my father's and Stuchlik—"

"It's alright, Kig, I get it." He interrupted when he saw the thin brown lines covering her hands in swirling patterns, which meant that she was a Skyrian, a race notorious for giving much more information than requested, and he wanted to avoid a lecture. "Commander Nofsinger, let's get everyone into a meeting. We need to pool our resources and knowledge," he said as he stood up.

"Aye, Captain." She turned around and motioned for everyone to gather around.

"I am Captain Shawn Thornburg of the U.S.S. Tomcat. We have all been kidnapped against our wills, and we need to work together if we are to survive. I need to know if anyone remembers how everyone was brought here."

One lieutenant stepped forward and began speaking: "Captain, I am Lieutenant Brad Martin. Almost all of us were in the main hangar waiting to depart by shuttlecraft when a squad of Suundel materialized around us and stunned us all at once. It was a surprise attack."

The Captain thought out loud, "Why wouldn't they just beam everyone straight to the brig instead of risking their own troops?" Then he asked the group, "Who wasn't in the main hangar at the time of capture?"

Commander Nofsinger replied, "There were about 80 other personnel making their way to the main hangar. All of our shuttles had already departed and some of them were going to get the reserve shuttles and roundabouts in the storage hangars a few miles away from the base (we had additional personnel this month so our usual shuttle complement couldn't handle the extra load). We don't know what happened to them."

"That must be the 80 survivors the Tomcat transported. We also found a little over 40 survivors scattered around the main land mass. But is there anyone here who wasn't in the hangar?"

A tall man of medium build stepped through the crowd, followed by two other men, all in civilian clothing. The tall man said, "My name is Red Ervin, and these are my two associates J.A. Morris and S.K. Lee. We were on the far side of the planet, and we were abducted in the same way as the rest of these people."

The Captain asked, "What were you doing? How did you survive the blast? Why didn't our sensors detect you on the planet?"

J.A. spoke up. "We were conducting research for a private party, Captain. Your sensors probably didn't detect us because we were deep underground, which is also why we survived the blast."

"You must have been surrounded by a jamming field. What kind of research were you doing? Who is this private party?"

"Captain," said S.K., "these are very prying questions. We are not at liberty to discuss the details of our research or the party we represent, so please do not ask us any more questions. All you need to know is that we are as anxious to get out of here as you are. We may even be able to resume our research if we don't lose too much time."

The Captain was about to tell them about Aurora Center's destruction, but he didn't even get the first word out before the walls lit up and he started to black out; before his vision cut out completely he saw everyone else fall to the floor. He knew they had all been stunned.

Commander Crowe stood on the bridge of the Tomcat, tapping his foot anxiously. On the viewscreen, the December was orbiting a burning planet and firing a beam into the middle of the blaze. Minutes went by before Chuck turned to Jeffrey Debbs and said, "Jeff, hail the Admiral again."

The visage of Admiral Uhrlaub replaced the December on the viewscreen. "Commander Crowe, stop hailing me. I know you want to do more, but we need you here to guard against attack."

"Admiral, I believe the Tomcat's sensor dish can be reconfigured to emit the same beam you're using. We can ensure the safety of the remaining planets by—"

"Commander, I know the sensor dish can be reconfigured, but you need both Suundel science officers to compensate for the variables."

"Can the computer do it, Admiral?"

"If we thought it could, you'd already be performing the procedure on the remaining planets. We've already lost one planet, and I don't intend to lose another. The procedure is actually working this time, and since you've already transported the remaining survivors to safety, we need you here. You're helping just by being here. There's no need to be anxious. Uhrlaub out."

Chuck turned to Jeff. "Anything, Jeff?"

"I'm still detecting no suspicious or anomalous readings, sir."

Chuck mumbled to himself, "The most powerful ship in the Federation and we're powerless to do anything."

The turbolift doors opened and Doctor Yerian waltzed onto the bridge with a happy step. She walked straight up to Chuck and stared at him.

"What is it, Lynn?" said Chuck after he started feeling uncomfortable.

"The injured survivors have been healed, Chuck."

"Good job, Lynn."

"Jist so, Chuck. But I also need to inform you that it's a boy."

". . . What?"

"It's a boy! Not a what! The thing growing inside of you. Your baby!"

"You came all the way to the bridge to tell me that?"

"No, but I wanted to see how everything else was going so I thought I'd kill two Tribbles with one Klingon. It looks like it's going great! Too bad that fire's really dangerous or it would be pretty."

"Lynn, I think you may still have that virus."

"Maybe, but it likes it, precious."

"What? Lynn, just . . . go prepare some samples or something."

"Of what?"

"I don't know. Just do it. In sickbay. Not here."

"Alrighty then," she said, suddenly changing to a British accent, "I'll just toddle off, then, guv." She strolled back to the turbolift, a smile on her face.

"Just remember, Lynn, you're still a Starfleet officer and you are expected to conduct yourself accordingly."

Just before the turbolift doors closed, she bowed, extended a hand, and said, "Bob's yer uncle!"

The bridge was too quiet. Chuck took a seat in the command chair and tried not to look at anyone.

After a few minutes a chime sounded from the tactical arch. Jeff said, "The Admiral is hailing us, sir. On screen?"

"Yes, Jeff," said Chuck as he stood up. "Admiral."

"Commander, the procedure has worked. The core is stabilizing and returning to its original state. We're moving on to Jonal. Please follow."

"Aye, Admiral. Helm, match speed and heading. Engage."

The blaze on the surface of the planet began subsiding, and though the atmosphere was still gray, it brought something that the Tomcat's crew needed: hope.