"captain I am getting an unusual energy signature?"
"where Data?"
"it appears to be all around us sir"
"what type of signature?"
"it matches those of the USS Lansum sir when they were scanning the debris of starbase 239"
Jewel panicked for a bit then speaks up just then
"did you just say it matched the energy signature left by the explosion of starbase 239 sir?"
"yes ensign I did"
Jewel does a quick scan from her station and tags the one she feels is the bomb that could stop all of the others
"Captain request permission to get into a pressure suit and go into the space dock"
"absolutely not and even if I didn't object to something in the first place why would you want to do that?"
"so that I can deactivate the bombs sir"
"what are you talking about ensign?"
"I'll explain everything in private sir"
"very well in my ready room"
and so that's exactly where they go where Jewel explains what she now knew about the bombs though she doesn't state how she knew about them as that was classified top secret unless absolutely necessary
well starbase 135 was in trouble someone had set explosives in the docking bay and the doors wouldn't open what was worse was that if they deactivated the wrong device all of them would detonate and not many knew it
"now are you sure you can do this ensign?" asked Picard
"not entirely Captain" said Jewel
"then why are you doing this?"
"because I'm the only one who has a chance sir"
"but why ensign? I don't understand"
"do you remember the day you took me in to your crew?"
"yes I was told you had authority problems and you did have problems obeying my orders"
"well days earlier I had just saved the entire station even after I had received orders to leave the bombs alone, that they were fake but I knew better because…we had lost base 239 two years earlier to the same thing, all stations know me and will obey me"
"how do you know about base 239? no one was supposed to know"
"because I was the sole survivor by captain's choice"
"then good luck Jewel"
and so Jewel puts on a suit goes into the dock and opens a private comlink with the workers
"this is ensign Jewel to all space dock workers get inside immediately" she said with an authoritative voice and then she thought "at least this way most everyone will be in one spot if I stop the wrong bomb"
inside the command room a captain was wondering what was going on
"what are they doing?" asked the captain
"unknown sir but one of them is heading toward the doors" said the observer
"unidentified worker what are you doing?"
"this is ensign Jewel Captain one I'm trying to keep the floating bodies down to a minimum if I fail two it's good to hear your voice again sir I thought you died with the others five years ago, Captain if I fail I guess it really is goodbye this time Jewel out"
she cuts communication and the captain tried to contact her and fails so he goes wideband and everyone hears him
"NO!, Jewel don't do this I can't lose anyone else"
Jewel ignores him and observes the bomb she thinks is the key a bit closer and says one final message should she fail
"Captain Picard the past three years have been amazing thank you for them Captain Anegal I'm sorry we have to say goodbye again after having found each other after five years, everyone else I want to apologize should I fail I tried my best but my best wasn't good enough this is Ensign Jewel of the USS ENTERPRISE and starbase 239 signing off"
she cuts communication again and speaks to herself
"OK Jewel let's see if you're right"
and so she slowly starts deactivating process and gets down to a minute and gets to the final wire she needs to pull and closes her eyes and speaks again
"this is it"
she pulls the wire and nothing happens she opens her eyes and sees the timer stopped at ten seconds
"I did it I was right" she opens the comm. System "all hands this is ensign Jewel the station is safe repeat the station is no longer in danger"
on the Enterprise
"she did it" said Riker
"good job Jewel" said Picard
in the command room in the station everyone else was rejoicing as well
"you did it Jewel, you saved everyone"
Jewel went back into the station and is surrounded by a lot of people and five minutes later she sees her first captain for the first time in five long years and Jewel sees some of the scars he gained from the destruction of base 239 and he sees how much she's matured and aged and they can't speak for five minutes then Jewel manages while slowly walking toward him in a disbelieving voice
"captain is it really you?"
"yes Jewel it's me"
she runs toward him and just hugs him tightly like if she let go he would disappear
"I thought you were dead, I thought, I thought you had been killed with the rest when the base exploded"
"I know Jewel I know"
he was still comforting her when Picard manages to make his way through the crowd
"Captain Anegal I was wondering if you could tell me how you know my ensign and what she was talking about on an open frequency I would appreciate it"
"I know her because she started her Starfleet career with me as for what she was talking about it's as much her story as it is mine so we'll wait until she's awake to tell the story"
"we could beam over to the Enterprise if you like"
"thank you"
and so two hours later Jewel was awake and they were in the conference room just the three of them
"OK first thing you have to understand Captain is that there are going to be discrepancies in stories for one thing everything happened pretty fast for another we were doing two different things" said Jewel
and so they started having decided to switch back and forth with Jewel starting out
"well we were at Red Alert and practically everyone was in a panic except the captain"
"Jewel was pretty calm too anyways I sent Jewel to try and disable the bombs"
"which I figured I couldn't do so I told the Captain that and that there was only five minutes left and the next thing I know I was in a sickbay"
"well I knocked her out apologizing while at it and I put her in the pod we were right net to and pushed the button a minute before the explosion"
"well some time later an observation ship picked me up having received the pods distress signal and once I was up I found out it was a Vulcan ship so after I spoke with the Captain briefly I reported what had happened to Starfleet Command where a ship was immediately sent to scan the remains while I reported back to earth for reassignment"
"well the ship scanned the debris and found my life signature which was barely there so I was teleported immediately to sickbay where after emergency care I was put into stasis to keep me alive. I woke up months later in a medical center and was told that I was the sole survivor the center not being informed of Jewel so I grieved for two solid months thinking I had failed in my attempt to save Jewel. Two years later I was sent to my new post and that was when Starfleet Command informed me that Jewel was alive"
they then go back to present tense
"and so I stayed put and served faithfully never thinking I would see Jewel again"
"and of course you know I was under a single minded captain who didn't like me before serving you for the past three years"
"when I heard of your docking I didn't dare hope she was still with you when the emergency happened"
"of course as you know captain I had a mini panic moment thinking back five years ago and then I came up with the crazy plan that worked"
"and when I heard Jewel's voice I was overjoyed and worried at the same time thinking back five years ago"
"OK I an understand all of that and the story but how did you know about one bomb deactivating all of them ensign?" asked Picard
"because of the communiqué Starfleet Command received three weeks after the base was destroyed"
"they never told me that but then I was captain of the base that exploded so it was probably for my own safety" said Anegal
"hey captain were you forlorn on the anniversary as well?" asked Jewel
"yes but I explained it to my people as soon as I met them so they would understand, why?"
Picard and Jewel give each other a knowing look and then Jewel answers
"because I didn't and it got me in trouble with captain Picard and commander Riker my first year"
she thinks back three years ago
"ensign Jewel you're late to your shift" said Riker
"leave me alone commander"
"ensign do not make me write you up for insubordination remove the lock now"
well Jewel ignores him and Riker has to all security to override the lock and Jewel is taken to the brig and waits for captain Picard to come and talk with her
"why did you lock your room ensign?" asked Picard
Jewel ignores him
"ensign if you don't talk to me I can't help you"
"my old captain he died two years ago"
"ensign you had a captain at the station"
"I don't consider him my captain"
"you're talking about another captain aren't you"
"yes I am"
"ensign I don't know about your career before the one before mine because your records are sealed but while I'll allow you some mourning time I have to require you to attend to your duties am I understood?" said captain Picard
"yes captain"
an so she starts listening to Picard and serves faithfully but every year she ends her shift just a bit earlier than others but nobody said anything because the captain allowed it
they end their story and then her former captain speaks up
"well it seems that you've had an interesting five years ensign"
"yes captain I have"
suddenly Anegal's comm. Badge chimes
"this is Anegal go ahead"
"captain a USS FERRENAL is requesting permission to dock"
both Jewel and Anegal are shocked and exclaim at the same time
"the Ferrenal?"
"yes sir what's your response?"
"permission granted and tell the captain I want to meet with him ASAP"
"yes sir"
and so communications are cut and Jewel speaks to Anegal
"I wonder if any of the others survived?"
"me too"
Picard speaks up
"what's going on here?"
"captain the Ferrenal was one of the ships at base 239 when it was destroyed"
suddenly Anegal's communicator chimes again
"captain we have a minor correction the Ferrenal is declaring itself as the flagship of the survivors of base 239 and that there are fifteen other ships with it"
"they all survived captain"
"um we don't have the capacity to hold all of them not to mention they're no longer in the system as they were supposed to be destroyed five years ago"
Picard gives them a solution
"my ship can go to Earth and Jewel can use a shuttle we'll leave behind for that purpose"
"yes that will work thank you captain"
and so two hours alter everyone from base 239 had a meeting to give updates and be updated
"looks like we've missed a lot in the past five years" said the captain of the Ferrenal
"yes you have" replied Jewel "all of us have missed things in the past five years"
"we can make it possible for you to report in" said Anegal "that way in a little bit you can be back in the system and your families that are on Earth that were told of your death can be told you're alive"
and that's what they do and then before Jewel could get to the shuttle to get to Earth they received news of Picard's, Dianna's, Data's and Crusher's "deaths" at the hands of Cardassians and Anegal who was with her gives her his condolences
"sorry for your loss Jewel"
"I have to go captain they're going to need me"
the captain of the Ferrenal doesn't understand why and speaks up
"but what can you do? you're just an ensign"
"when something like this happens it's all hands on deck plus since I'm the only person on the Enterprise that's dealt with major loss I made up a plan two years ago should we lose more than two people and at least two of them are vital and we just lost the captain, the counselor, our navigator, and the doctor in one blow trust me they need me even if it's just to take over Lt. commander Data's spot"
"be careful ensign" said Anegal not wanting to lose her again
well days later Jewel made it to the Enterprise and Riker was flooded with relief
"ensign we need to know which plan to activate"
"take me to the bridge I'm navigating until further notice this is part of plan C-39 I believe you know the rest of it"
"OK let's do it"
they get to the bridge and speak up at the same time
"bridge"
they get there and Jewel says something in an authoritative voice
"Ro move I'm in charge until further notice"
"one I was commissioned before you and two my shift…"
Riker takes over
"is over ensign it's part of plan C-39"
"oh OK I didn't know it's all yours ensign"
Jewel gets into place and does some basic things and then waits for further instructions
which Riker gives after explaining a few things
"OK we have four people dead they were killed by Cardassians during a meeting with some Dominion representatives that ship is currently being tracked by Captain Chakotay and Admiral Janeway on Voyager we don't know why they were killed but it could be because they're important to the flagship of the Federation. Ensign heading is 359 mark 12 warp 5"
"heading 359 mark 12 warp 5 ready sir"
"engage"
three hours later they met up with Voyager
"Admiral is there anything else you can tell us?"
"I'm afraid not commander we lost their trail two hours after we contacted you sorry for not telling you but we attempted to find their trail again"
Riker sighs "thanks for trying Admiral but it looks like we'll just have to declare this a failed mission"
Jewel speaks up remembering something that could help "commander that might not be needed"
"what do you mean ensign?"
"remember last year when we were forced to shut Data down due to a virus?"
"what about it?"
"well they took their bodies according to reports right?"
"yes what about it and the virus?"
"Data finally has a tracking device on him unless they found it and destroyed it I can still track him"
Janeway butts in "wait you're saying you can pick up the trail again?"
"yes Admiral I am"
"do it" said Riker "lets see if we can find them"
and so two weeks later they made it to Romulus and Jewel and Riker are both confused and ask one question in unison
"Romulus?"
Jewel then gets a crazy idea that she knows would work for the most part
"OK I know how to contact ambassador Spock I'll beam down as a civilian"
Riker doesn't believe her and confronts her on it "what are you going to do ensign?"
"get into a fight about Romulans and Vulcan's becoming one what else"
Riker goes into a warning tone of voice "ensign…"
"commander I haven't done something like this in ages besides I can't ask for him in public it will work trust me"
and so ten minutes later Jewel was surrounded by security when a Romulan stepped up
"this person is obviously a foreigner let me educate them"
"very well T'lan"
and so T'lan takes Jewel underground
"what are you doing saying stuff like that?"
"I need to speak with ambassador Spock about a matter of great importance and this is the only way I can"
suddenly Spock shows up
"T'lan who is this person?"
"a civilian that got into trouble she says she needs to speak with you"
"who are you and why have you come?"
"I'm ensign Jewel I have come here because at least one of our dead crewman is here"
"who all are dead?"
"Lt. commander Data, counselor Troi, doctor Crusher and captain Picard sir of the Enterprise"
"captain Picard's death is not possible for two reasons"
"what for?"
"one I have mind melded to the captain so I would have a general sense of his death second though many don't know it yet the Cardassians have taken over Romulus and have threatened to kill the captain if Starfleet does not comply to their demands stating that they have already killed the other officers even though that is not true"
"how do the Romulans not know that?"
"I have screened all messages for their protection but I think it is time that they know about the Cardassians"
"live broadcast?"
"naturally"
"we get the captain while your people get the others?"
"yes but your crew is with them"
"I'll inform commander Riker then"
"main building will do"
"9 o'clock"
"yes it gives us fifteen minutes"
"lots of noise?"
"most likely"
"lets do it then"