Finally, Amanda was reunited with her family. They looked a little worse for the wear but seemed okay. They were levelheaded, much calmer than how Amanda originally thought she would find them. They were safe – at least for the moment.

As she rattled her brain for a way to escape she finally concluded that though she found a way to them and in one piece – for the most part – she was way in over her head. Way, way in over her head.

Was what David said true? Had her family lied to her all this time? Had they tried to keep her safe by keeping secrets from her? All those times she had wished them luck, envied their adventure, aspired to be like them, to touch other's lives with their extensive knowledge – they weren't doing that at all. In fact they were going on top-secret missions to do – what, exactly? What did they do?

Amanda imagined that Starfleet had invested in them to spread culture and experience, peace keeping in some sort of way – but no. Were they pillaging some city in a far away planet? Studying wormholes?

What did Starfleet really do?

She had always thought they were explorers – pushing the boundaries in a collective of species and races, sharing thoughts, knowledge, respect for life … Yet here she was, on a small spaceship small enough to hold only less than a hundred crew, held captive – prisoner by a mad man that went on and on about a "Doomskey".

Starfleet couldn't just only be explorers. The way the man – David – presented himself - he was more military. Amanda wasn't stupid, she knew that there had to be a way for Starfleet to protect themselves in case a rival or enemy came to Earth's doorstep. Was David one of those too?

And where did that leave her family? They knew each other – with the special attention she saw he was paying Doris, she wondered if more than just "knew" each other. Was her family part of the military sector of Starfleet too? Were those the kind of missions they went on?

Damn it, Amanda, she scolded herself. Had you tried to read up on Starfleet and their operations and not focused what was in front of your nose, you would know these things.

And that was what made Amanda mad most of all. She wasn't paying attention. Had she been paying attention from the beginning would she have realized what her family was doing? Would she have known what was around her neck?

Amanda instinctually touched her neck, where her necklace had laid for years. She was short-circuiting it? What did that mean?

Amanda coughed slightly into her closed fist, trying to breathe as easy as she could. It seemed that she couldn't catch a deep breath again.

"Are you all right?" Her sister spoke next to her softly so only she could hear.

They were being led down the hallway of the ship she slightly recognized. Amanda assumed they were leading them down to where she was originally found so they could look for her necklace.

When David had first mentioned it, she had reached for her neck, feigning that it had magically disappeared at some point from her neck. After he turned his attention away from her, she had checked her pocket in the shirt where she hid it before. It was gone, burned a hole through the small pocket and had fallen somewhere.

It really was lost and Amanda didn't have a clue where it could have fallen.

"I'm fine," Amanda lied to her sister.

The blond grabbed her wrist from in front of her and looked at her watch on her own wrist and she put two skilled fingers to Amanda's.

Amanda ripped her hand away from her. "Since when can you read someone's pulse?" Amanda didn't mean to sound disgusted – she was still hurt from David's revelations.

Doris visibly flinched. "It's part of training. Look, you're burning up – you should take it easy."

Amanda stopped suddenly. "How long have you been doing this? Lying? Sneaking around?"

Doris put her hands up in a defensive stance. "It's been years Amanda – we have been doing this for the greater good – "

Amanda scoffed. "Greater good?"

The men that were pointing phasers at them as they walked lightly nudged Amanda with it on her shoulder. "Keep walking, it's just ahead." Amanda walked again, over her conversation with her sister.

"Hands up," he growled.

Amanda put her hands up again and continued to walk.

"You too," the man leading Doris urged.

Doris finally caught up and fell into stride next to her. "We had no choice, Amanda, please know that."

The man pushed Amanda against a closed door, too roughly, she thought, he seemed to be enjoying it a little too much. "It's in here."

He pushed a small button and the turbo doors opened.

Amanda fell inside on her knees. This brought a series of harsh coughs.

She could hear commotion behind her and a struggle. When she looked again could see Doris had pushed the guards out of the way.

Amanda blinked. Were there two? Four? Were there always four escorting them?

Doris threw herself next to her and put a hand to her forehead. "How are you feeling?"

Amanda shook her head. "I'm fine."

Doris put a hand in front of her face. "Your eyes are having a hard time focusing."

Amanda pushed her away. "I'm fine, Doris." She felt that way at the moment, at least. Her eyes were adjusting again, her coughs ceased. "Let's start looking."

Doris didn't look convinced but Amanda ignored her anyway and started looking around the floor on all fours for the necklace.

The room was small at least but twenty minutes later, they still couldn't find it.

As she crawled around the space, Amanda was just about to give up when she accidentally bumped into Doris doing the same.

Doris didn't look like herself at all. Usually primped and polished, Doris's blonde curls were a frizzy mess, not all caught in the small ponytail she had. Her clothes looked like they hadn't been changed in days, very un-Doris like.

Amanda took a deep breath. As betrayed as she felt, she couldn't imagine how Doris was feeling or how she had been dealing being prisoner. But something was gnawing at her from the moment she found out about her family's secret.

"Is he an ex-boyfriend?" Amanda tried to sound pleasant but came up short.

Doris did give a small smile. "Yes. He's not all there though." She pointed to her temple. "We were a thing for a while, dad's protégé, actually. But something changed while he was on a mission and, well, he was let go from Starfleet." She sighed. "I wanted to help him but – he was convinced everyone was against him. It didn't work out."

Amanda gave a small nod. She looked towards the men at the door, they hadn't noticed they were talking – they were engrossed in their own conversation. She nodded towards them. "Lackeys?"

Doris shook her head solemnly. "Worse. Mercenaries."

Doris reached out and put her hand over Amanda's. "Where is it? You can tell me," She whispered, barely audible.

Amanda shook her had slightly. "I don't know. I took it off and it must have fallen out of my pocket."

"Think, Amanda, where did you last see it?"

Amanda thought back. Of course! The vent!

Amanda turned around, looking at the walls. Recognizing the right one, she whispered, triumphant. "Here!"

The small space behind the vent glowed the familiar purple haze. Amanda placed her fingers against it and gently took it off the wall as she had done before.

The noise must have drawn the guard in the room and they were soon standing next to them as Amanda struggled with the vent.

Once off, Amanda reached inside and grabbed the familiar chain. Pulling it out, she suddenly dropped it, forgetting how hot the chain had gotten.

At that moment, Doris sprang into action. She grabbed one of the guard's arm and twisted it behind him, making him drop his phaser.

They had dropped their guard and Doris took advantage of it incapacitating one. The other was armed and ready.

Amanda ran forward and pushed him as hard as she could to the ground. She kneed him as hard as she could in the groin but he was too fast. He pushed her off and twisted around to point the phaser at her.

Doris suddenly appeared behind him and pushed the back of his knee as hard as she could. The man flew forward, on top of Amanda, knocking what little breath she had in her lungs.

Amanda heard a small but deliberate shot strike and the man on top of her go limp.

"Amanda!" Doris pushed the heavy guard off of her. "Are you all right?"

Amanda nodded, ignoring the black blobs crowding her vision.

Doris hugged her fiercely and Amanda felt instantly comforted. "I'm so sorry you've been dragged into this. We never thought this would ever happen."

Amanda shook her head, tears starting to spring from her eyes. All in all, she was happy to see her sister again. "Don't worry about it."

Doris stood, as if getting into fights with men twice her size was normal, every day. She grabbed the necklace off the floor, "Come on, we have to make sure they don't get their hands on this."

Amanda felt like she was ready to puke. She was so dizzy. She pushed past it. "What does it do anyway?"

Doris sighed, as if thinking about whether or not she should let her know its secrets.

"The Doomskey – it powers the Doomsday Device. It's a very dangerous ancient machine that was – is – very important to the Gorn. David made a deal with Santaurans to give them the device – I don't know to what ends though. He cannot have the two – the Doomskey or Doomsday device together. We have to keep it away from him, at whatever cost."

Amanda didn't feel any better but she stood to her feet. "You're making it sound like it would be the end of the world if he did."

Doris smiled slightly, uneasy. "According to Ancient scripture, it will be."

Hi everyone, Apologies as always for the long time between updates. Will be trying to punch this out as fast as I can. Originally just a summer project, it has turned into a story that has spanned 3 Star Trek movies - yikes. Not intentional in any way. Life, as it happens, has been getting in the way, as you know. Please review. Thanks!