"we hope to be home in about six months maybe a little longer if we decide not to tax the engines but we definitely will be home before the ten year mark"

"that's good to hear admiral everyone misses you a lot in fact the Enterprise is wondering if they could know exactly where you'll end up so that they can act as a personal escort back to Earth"

"unfortunately we don't know that ourselves right now but once we do know we'll give you a call so anything else you want to know about before we sign off?"

"yes tell us about how things have been going since you came out of your coma"

"sure well we…"

suddenly the ship shook like crazy and a Lt. spoke up

"hey admiral we're under attack"

"hard to port Lt. see if we can't scare them with the pulse torpedoes"

"ready when you are sir"

"fire"

well it doesn't work like they'd hoped it would

"all right plan B fire the sonic phasers and then it's plan beta 39 for now if need be we'll change it"

"yes sir"

well things start taking a real turn for the worse

"admiral we're losing maneuverability capabilities"

"try and compensate ensign we can't afford to lose those abilities and see if we can't boost our shields any we're gonna need it"

"sorry sir no can do it looks like our shields are staying where they are for now"

"keep trying Lt. Anesel, Lt. Parson see if you can't get a weapons lock and fire everything we've got at them"

"the tracking mechanism has been destroyed we can't lock onto targets as easily as we need to sir"

"keep trying Lt. we've got to get them off our tails and this ship to the Alpha Quadrant"

"sir we're losing the main engine"

"engine room keep that engine as functional as possible we need it to get home"

"on it admiral"

"sir it looks like we've lost all power to maneuverability we can't go much any where's anymore we're cooked"

"not if I have anything to say about it keep trying to gain maneuverability we are not losing this ship is that clear?"

"yes sir"

and so the battle continues with Starfleet overhearing it until one large explosion and then nothing but pure silence. The silence lasted for about fifteen minutes when Lt. Barcaley decided to try and reopen communications

"Starfleet command to Jewel respond please…Starfleet command to Jewel respond please…Jewel this is Starfleet command do you read us?"

he tries for several more hours until he's ordered to stop by his commanding officer

"enough Reg they're gone"

"but…"

"no Reg they haven't answered since that explosion face it they're not coming home even though we'd hoped they would that is no longer an option"

Reg just sighs in defeat knowing his commanding officer is correct "yes sir"

"I will be informing the president and he will decide when the memorial will be held on that day this place will be closed down as will most of Starfleet I suspect only those still in space can't rest for a long period of time but I'm sure that they will have a time of mourning"

an ensign fresh out of the academy who had been regularly updated on Jewel and her crew as the academy had news of them practically every six months if not every few weeks spoke up

"I don't think I want to know what will happen on the Enterprise as that's the ship the admiral served on right before she got her command"

"oh Picard is not going to take this easily at all"

and so the captain went straight to the president's office knowing that he was still up despite the fact that it was pushing close to midnight and so he knocked and was acknowledged

"yes captain what do you need"

"sir I have some news regarding admiral Jewel and her crew"

"what is it captain?"

"they're gone sir destroyed in battle"

"are you sure of this?"

"yes sir my team and I have just heard the explosion during their communiqué"

"the president sighs at that "very well I will have the memorial service date ready by tomorrow morning in the meantime please inform your men that they are to keep this a secret until everyone can be informed of the loss"

"yes sir…sir what are you going to do about captain Picard?, he was her commanding officer before she took her own command after all"

"I'm honestly not sure captain but I'll think of something in the meantime do as I've told you"

"yes sir"

and so he goes back to his men

"what did the president have to say captain"

"for now we are to keep their loss a secret he'll inform us when the memorial is taking place an I assume that that is when the others will be informed of our loss so make sure you don't tell anyone even your family is that understood?"

"yes sir"

and so a few weeks later the president held the memorial service for the lost crew by making an announcement first

"would I have all of Starfleet's attention please a few weeks ago Starfleet got a transmission that everyone was glad to hear it was from admiral Jewel stating that they hoped to be home soon unfortunately during that communiqué a battle erupted forcing the admiral into action approximately fifteen minutes into battle all communications to the ship was lost, an officer tried for several hours to reestablish communications but he failed" the president paused for a bit to gain control of his emotions and hide his sigh of regret "as of last night the USS JEWEL has been declared destroyed and her crew lost today will be a day of mourning for those on Earth for those in space I urge you to find a time to mourn the loss for a brief moment President of the United Federation of Planets out"

with that the message was ended and the rest of the people shocked but none more so than the Enterprise and what was worse was that no one wanted to wake up Picard for the bad news

"as second in command of this vessel I'll take responsibility to wake him up to inform him of what's happened"

"I am sorry sir but I cannot allow that"

"what do you mean Data?"

"simply this sir the captain was…close to the admiral and may not be able to control any emotional outburst therefore I am the best person to tell the captain should he need to be restrained"

"fine but let him know he's needed on the bridge to enact the mourning protocols and I'm the one who gets to inform him exactly who Starfleet has lost"

"yes sir"

and so Data goes to the captains quarters an wakes him up

"yes Mr. Data what is it"

"we've lost a ship sir you're needed on the bridge"

Picard loses it for about a minute than regains control

"very well Mr. Data give me five minutes and I'll be ready to go"

a few minutes later they reach the bridge and Picard could tell it was serious by the look Riker was giving him

"what's going on number one Mr. Data said that we've lost a ship"

"yes sir it's…it's admiral Jewel sir we've lost her ship and crew I don't know exact details but apparently it happened in battle"

"very well at fourteen hundred hours there will be a moment of mourning everyone will be able to mourn more on their own time right now I need everyone to perform to the best of their abilities"

"captain I think you need to make the announcement now it's 1350 hundred hours now"

"very well all hands this is the captain speaking moments ago there was an announcement made to all Federation vessels a few weeks ago the USS JEWEL was destroyed in battle with all hands lost at fourteen hundred hours I am declaring a moment of silence for that lose you are to find your own time to mourn them after words after all we're still a Starfleet vessel and we still have a mission to complete that is all"

well the crew on Voyager was a bit different since they were actually closer to what was going on emotionally

"what now admiral they're gone"

"so were we once Chakotay you know that so by the way I've been meaning to ask how's Seven been?"

"oh not much just having our first born in about five months plus she's still one of the best teachers for quantum mechanics"

"Seven's pregnant and you didn't tell us?"

"yes admiral we were debating on how to tell you when this happened Seven called me just now and said that since she's showing the academy already knows and stated that we might as well have some good news to go with the bad"

"I'm happy for you guys Tom find the Enterprise and meet up with them"

"Tuvok see if you can't contact them so that they know we're coming"

well Spock was on Vulcan visiting his mother when he found out

"I must go to Earth the Romulans can manage without me for a little while"

"no you're needed on Romulus"

"mother I am needed on Earth I am the logical choice"

"now that Starfleet knows why you are here they would agree with me that you should stay on Romulus"

"mother I have mind melded with captain Picard as such I can tell his emotions better Starfleet will need me"

"Picard has the strength of both you and your father and I feel that he will need it in the coming days your place right now is on Romulus"

"very well I will go back for now"

meanwhile Jewel and her crew were very much alive but they were beat up physically, mentally and emotionally plus the ship was in bad shape as well

"chief see if we can't salvage the engine, Lt. try and get basic weapons and shielding up"

"they're up admiral"

"are communications back up yet?"

"no sir they still need a lot of work on" said Parson annoyed that his repairs were still not working on the ships communications when he knew for a fact that they should

"keep on it Lt. we need them back up and running as soon as possible thanks to the explosion that lost our communication with them Starfleet has probably declared us dead"

"it'll be my top priority"

"thank you Lt."

"OK James I need constant updates on this ship we're going home and we're gonna be in the Gamma Quadrant if not exactly home at the nine year mark"

"than lets get to it admiral everyone is ready to go home"

"ensign head for home warp thirteen"

"aye sir"

well a few weeks later the chief had a surprise ready for them and he came up to the bridge to reveal it

"ensign go to warp nineteen and stay there for three hours"

"we don't have warp nineteen sir"

"actually we do I would have gone up to twenty while upgrading and repairing but I didn't want to destroy us so I had to do nineteen"

"ensign do it"

"yes sir"

Well at the nine year mark after all the battles and trials they had to go through to survive in the Delta Quadrant they made it to the Gamma Quadrant and was greeted by the Dominion cordially if not completely friendly and they stayed there long enough to resupply and get a basic update on Starfleet as they had lost the ability to communicate with Starfleet six months earlier and discovered captain Sisko was back then finally they went through the wormhole an saw a piece of home after nine long years. On DS9