Chapter 4

Heather was feeling a bit better, though not entirely. As Dr. Bishir predicted, it was taking her longer than most people to get over it. But then again, she was used to that. Dr. Bishir had helped her fix up a screen link to the bridge, so she could see what was going on at all times and would not be out of the loop when she was taken off sick leave.

About a week after Heather first got the flu, an unexpected event occurred that would change her life profoundly.

"Captain…I'm receiving a distress signal from a Starfleet vessel. Apparently it's being attacked by a Cardassian ship…" Kira's voice trailed off as she studied the console in front of her. Captain Sisko frowned. "Put the ship on screen."

Heather, who had been watching from her screen in sickbay, adjusted her screen so it would show the main viewscreen. What she saw jolted her in surprise, and slightly fear.

It was a medium-size ship, with the usual look of a Starfleet ship. But what made Heathers' eyes open wide in disbelief were the words and the symbol engraved on the ship's underbelly. There was a handicapped sign, then the word Ability.

"Oh my god." She whispered. (A/N: If this was a real episode, they would break for a commercial at this point.)

Heather immediately hit her com badge. "Martinez to the bridge."

"Go ahead, Lieutenant."

"Captain…I know that ship. That's my old ship, that's the starship Ability!" The captain made his decision.

"Lock phasers on to the Cardassian ship. Fire when ready." The blast hit the Cardassian ship head-on, and the Cardassians became distracted. They stopped firing on the Ability.

Kira checked her console. "The Ability is badly damaged There are nine dead, out of the hundred person crew. More are wounded."

"Beam the survivors directly to sickbay!" Sisko ordered. Heather, who had been following this, watched as her old crew materialized in front of her. She stifled the urge to cry out. Many of them were badly wounded. Blood was rapidly puddling the sickbay floor, whose blood it was, she couldn't tell. But she felt a jolt of fear and realized that she was scared for her former crewmates.

"They're not just my former crewmates," Heather explained to Kira and Dax later that day. Dr. Bishir, who had enough to deal with, had suggested she go for a drink at Quark's, as long as she was back within a few hours.

"They're my friends. My best friends. See, when the crew of the Ability was formed, Starfleet had to choose carefully. They wanted a starship of all-disabled crew, yet they needed to make sure the crew was strong enough to withstand basically anything they encountered. They picked my best friend since my teens, Kathleen Marrari, to be the Captain, and they asked her if she knew any other disabled people who might be interested on serving on the Ability. She said yes, and so assembled a crew of me, her, and some of our friends who were, of course, disabled. Most of the crew I've known since childhood. That's why I got so upset when I saw them so…helpless, so…injured."

Kira and Dax nodded thoughtfully. "I uploaded their database (which included their transmissions) into our ship's computer." Dax told them. "Apparently they were just…exploring, when the Cardassian ship offered to take them to a moon he knew of where 'people like them' they said, were 'taken care of'." She made quotes in the air with her fingers. "When the crew of the Ability refused, the Cardassians got upset and started firing at them."

Heather smiled thinly. "They always were fighters." She said. "I was so glad I knew most of them since childhood. Especially Kathleen. I usually knew every move she was going to make before she made it. I was her first officer."

Heather's com badge sounded. "Bishir to Martinez."

"Go ahead."

"The captain of the Ability, Captain Mararri, is severely injured. She may not survive." Heather's face looked extremely worried, and she looked like she was fighting not to cry. "On my way."

A/N: Did you like this chapter? Captain Mararri is based on my best friend in the world, Kathleen Downes. You'll find out more about Capt. Mararri in the next chapter. I left you at a cliffhanger, didn't I? Will the captain of the Ability survive? You'll have to wait and see!