"Captain's log, stardate 44002.3. Repairs are complete and the Enterprise is warping to rendezvous with Starfleet at Wolf 359. Subspace communications from the site of battle have been cut off, possibly by Borg interference."

The Enterprise raced towards Wolf 359 at maximum warp. In the observation lounge, Riker had called a meeting of the senior staff. The first matter to discuss was who the new first officer would be.

"Lt. Worf, everyone here at this table shares my respect for your service to this ship." Riker told Worf, "But right now, I need your experience at tactical." He turned to Data. "Mr Data, I realise that your very nature omits ambition. Nevertheless, I want you to know I thought seriously about you as first officer. But now is not a time for change. I need you all where you are, where Captain Picard always relied on you." He crossed over to where Shelby was sitting. "I have been... reluctantly... forced to conclude that Commander Shelby, our expect on the Borg, is the ideal choice at this time for first officer." he said with tongue-in-cheek humour.

Shelby, having softened her ambitious nature now, gave a good-natured nod of acknowledgement.

Riker then turned to the next subject. "Based on our last communication, we have to assume the Borg survived the fleet's attack." he said, "Your thoughts on our last encounter?" he asked the staff

"What about that heavy graviton beam we were talking about?" Shelby asked La Forge

"I've gone over it four times. The local field distortion just wouldn't be strong enough to incapacitate them." La Forge replied gloomily

"Dr Crusher and I have been working on an interesting premise." Data put forward

"With our recent experience in nanotechnology, we might be able to introduce a destructive breed of nanite to the Borg." Dr Crusher clarified

"Nanites?" Shelby questioned

"Robots small enough to enter living cells." Data explained

Riker mulled this over. He remembered the incident when Wesley's nanites had escaped and taken up residence in the Enterprise's computer core and he certainly knew that this idea had a good chance of working. "How much time would it take to execute this?" he asked

"That's the problem." Dr Crusher sighed gloomily, "Two to three weeks."

"In two or three weeks, nanites may be all that's left of the Federation." Troi commented

An ominous silence followed as it seemed that they were out of ideas. "We have the new phaser adapters." Worf spoke up, not ready to admit defeat just yet.

"Perhaps in concert with the photon torpedoes, we can slow them down." La Forge said, though he wasn't optimistic of their chances.

All eyes turned to Riker, who took a long beat as he felt the responsibilities of command. "I'm sure Captain Picard would have had something meaningful and inspiring to say right now." he said, "Tell you the truth, I wish he were here to say it, cos' I'd like to hear it too. I know how difficult this transition is for all of you. I can take over from him, but I can never replace Captain Picard and would never hope to." He looked around the table, wandering if he was reaching them. "Whatever the outcome, I know our efforts in the coming battle will justify the faith he had in all of us. Dismissed." And everyone began to file out of the room.

~8~

Riker entered the captain's ready room, feeling frustrated, not sure what he was going to do when they reached Wolf 359 and not pleased with the way he'd handled the meeting. He looked over to the empty captain's chair. "What would you do?" he sighed. The door chime behind him. "Come." he said and turned as the doors opened to reveal Guinan.

"May I speak to you, Captain?" she asked

"Well, actually, Guinan... right now, I..." Riker began

"Picard and I used to talk now and and again, when one of us needed to." Guinan interrupted, "I guess I'm just used to the Captain's ear." And she purposefully walked over to the desk and sat down in the captain's chair. "I hope I'm not imposing."

"What's on your mind?" Riker asked, deciding to hear her out.

"I've hear a lot of people talking down in ten-forward. They expect to be dead in the next day or so." Guinan said casually if she was stating a fact. Riker studied her, wandering what she was getting at. "They like you, Riker." Guinan continued, "They trust you. But they don't believe anyone can save them."

"I'm not sure anyone can." Riker admitted

"If a man is convinced he's gonna die tomorrow, he'll probably find someway to make it happen." Guinan said wisely, "The only one who can turn that around is you."

"I'll do the best I can." Riker said with an edge to his voice.

"You'll have to do something you don't want to do." Guinan told him knowingly, "You have to let go of Picard."

"Maybe you haven't heard. I tried to kill him the other day." Riker said with quiet anger.

"You tried to kill whatever that is on the Borg ship. Not Picard." Guinan countered, "Picard is still here with us, in this room. If he had died, it would be easier. But he didn't. They took him from us, a piece at a time." They were both silent for a moment, feeling the loss intensely. "Did he ever tell you why we're so close?" Guinan asked

"No." Riker replied

"Well, then let me just say that our relationship is beyond friendship, beyond family... and I will let him go. And you must do the same. There can only be one Captain."

"It's not that simple. This was his crew. He wrote the book on this ship."

"If the Borg know everything he knows, it's time to throw that book away." Guinan said simply, "You must let him go, Riker. It's the only way to beat him... the only way to save him." She stood up again. "And this is now your chair... Captain." And she left the room.

Riker watched her leave, mulling over her words. After a long beat, he slowly walked over to the empty captain's chair and sat down in it. As he slowly swivelled the chair to face the desk, Wesley's voice came over the comm: "Captain, we're approaching the Wolf system."

"On my way." Riker acknowledged and got to his feet.

~8~

Everyone on the bridge were going about their duties as normal but deep down, they were tense and anxious as to what lay ahead for them. Shelby, now sporting Commander's rank pips on her collar, was occupying the first officer's chair, Wesley was at Conn, Data at Ops, Worf at Tactical, Ensign Piller at Science II and Ensign Cartaino was manning Mission Ops. Riker exited the ready room and sat down in the captain's chair. "Slow to impulse." he ordered Wesley, "Take us to the battle co-ordinates, Mr Crusher. Yellow alert."

Worf checked his console. "Sensors are picking up several vessels, Captain." he reported

"The fleet?" Riker queried

Data checked his console. "There are no active subspace fields." he reported, "Negligible power readings."

"Life signs?" Riker tried

"Negative, sir." Data replied, causing several worried murmurs from other crew members.

"Visual contact." Worf reported

"On screen." Riker ordered, standing up and moving closer to the viewscreen, steeling himself for whatever was about to be revealed.

The sight that unfolded on the screen was horrifying. The Starfleet armada was in ruins, with battered and burning ships drifting lifelessly in space, debris everywhere and bodies of unfortunate personnel floating in the cold vacuum. It was like nothing the Enterprise crew had ever seen before. Riker's blood went cold at the scene before him. Shelby numbly got to her feet and joined him. "The Tolstoy..." she murmured, "The Kyushu.." Then her eyes fell on the remains of an Excelsior-class ship that was missing most of it's saucer but it's name and registry could still be made out on it's nacelles. "The Melbourne." she said quietly.

Riker bowed his head in respect for all the lives that been lost on board those ships, his mind wandering what would have happened if he had been on the Melbourne. Would he have found a way to save the ship or would he have just been killed to? Lifting his head again, he took a moment to study the crew's reactions. Shelby was ashen white, Wesley looked like he was about to be sick, Worf was seething in shock and outrage and Piller was in tears, Cartanio comforting her even though he looked broken and badly shaken up himself. Then Riker turned back to the screen and forced himself to watch the cemetery of dead ships on display, Guinan's words ringing in his head. He realised that she was right; it was time to throw the book away and think outside the box.

Author's notes: And here's my first post of 2022. A short chapter, but this part of the episode is quite short anyway. The Battle of Wolf 359 is probably a watershed moment in Starfleet as it was a harsh wake-up call. Unfortunately, it seems not everyone at Starfleet headed the call, as complacency still festered up until the outbreak of the Dominion War. Some people never learn! Next time, it's time to turn the tables!