Once again, Kirk witnessed the horror of seeing his crew being slaughtered before his eyes, with almost no control over his anger he looked around the bridge for something to hit or destroy, yet all he could do was punch the navigation officers seat next too him. With almost all of the crew evacuated to the Stardrive section of the ship, he was willing to sacrifice himself and his half of the ship to allow them time to escape if the plan went wrong, yet no one could have foreseen this disaster happening once again. On the screen before him, the wreckage of the Enterprise' engineering section burned in space as he collapsed to the floor. With all of his anger, he let loose a blood-curdling scream that echoed around the bridge like a bomb exploding.

"ANDEEERRRRSSSS!"

A deep sense of sorrow filled his heart as he slowly stood and looked at the large dark and twisted ship on the veiwscreen while Monroe walked towards him carefully. Slowly she placed her hand on his shoulder as every muscle in his body tensed with a deep hatred and anger.

On the veiwscreen before him, a face appeared with a dark smile creeping over the lips of the enemy as Kirk looked on.

"Well, Well, Well… the great James T. Kirk. It's… good to see you again"

"Anders!" He growled.

"So sorry about your ship, but then… you always did have a problem getting out of trouble. Didn't you Kirk?"

"There were over 400 people on that ship you murdering Bastard!" He growled.

"Tut-tut-tut. I expected something a little more… of a challenge from you Jimmy-boy. Defensive pattern Picard Alpha-One is an old trick, but then… you wouldn't have known that, would you Kirk?"

"Why don't you come aboard Anders, we'll settle this face to face!" He smiled darkly.

"I guess that's possible, we're detecting only eight crew onboard your ship. I believe the Ventra would love to get their hands on what remains of your cute little ship"

With the touch of a button, Monroe closed the channel from the Helm as she looked at Kirk with concern in her eyes.

"He's older, Anders has aged"

"What?" Kirk grunted.

"He did not have grey hair when he left; he's been with them awhile… of course. He'd have to be with them awhile in order to build the temporal device as well as trust with them, Kirk we may still be able to stop him"

"How?"

"Find out where and when he went, after he left the Newton" She smiled.

"And my ship?"

"Kirk, we have bigger problems then your ship right now. What ever he has done here, he's destroyed the Federation in my time… the Newton is all that is left. The Ventra are everywhere… even Earth"

"What. How?"

"Alright… as you know, in the 26th Century… the Ventra attempted to invade the Federation. A descendant of your Crewman Alison Foster took command of the USS Daedalus after her Captain and First Officer was killed. Using the new ship she was able to halt the advance of the Ventra fleet giving Starfleet time to assemble a fleet at Wolf 359 to stop them"

"All this to kill one person?" Kirk said with disbelief"

"What was supposed to happen, Crewman Foster will save the life of Pavel Chekov. Captain Kirk gave her a field promotion to Ensign for her selfless act, she was swiftly transferred to Security and that's when she started to date another security officer… Kill Chekov, stop her promotion. In turn she won't be assigned to security and she will not meet her future husband and her family line will not be created… you get the idea?"

"Yeah. So what do we do now?" Kirk said slowly.

"This!"

Smiling she reached towards the Helm and activated the two large Impulse engines at the rear of what remained of the ship. Almost instantly, the large saucer shaped vessel leapt forward at full power as it screamed towards the large spider shaped Starship. A dark smile slipped over his lips as he turned to face the Monroe and nodded slightly before the familiar feeling a transport beam catching him and beaming them both off the bridge. Moments later, the two officers materialised on the bridge of the Timeship Newton as Lieutenant S'Var smiled slightly.

"Now S'Var!" Monroe smiled.

A large distortion field had begun to form around the large arrow shaped vessel, as it appeared to twist and ripple until finally it disappeared from the 29th Century. Moments later, the large vessel materialised in the 23rd Century to witness the final mission of what remained of the legendary Enterprise as it slammed into the large spider-shaped Ventra vessel only to break up and bounce off its powerful shields.

Smiling, Monroe stretched out her arms and her shoulders as she was beamed back into her own body once more while Kirk looked around in shock.

"Open a channel to that ship" She smiled.

"Channel open Ma'am" Called out the Ferengi officer.

"This is Lieutenant Commander Monroe of the Federation Timeship Newton to Ventra vessel. You are in violation of the Temporal Accords, lower your shields, deactivate your weapons and prepare to follow us back to your own time. You have no alternative on this matter"

Smiling slightly, Kirk looked down at his uniform and noticed the uniform he was wearing was the same one he wore when he was last on this ship; even the burn marks his blood where in the same positions. Slowly the pain he was experiencing early began to return, as the warm feeling of blood began to run down the side of his face while an intense pain radiated from the left side of his rib cage.

Once more, the image of the former Captain of the Timeship Newton appeared on screen, smiling slightly he walked towards the veiwscreen and looked around with a dark look on his face.

"It is good to see you all again, it has been some time since I last saw you. S'Var, still as ugly as I remember. Monroe, how is my little hell-cat doing?"

"Anders, surrender your ship. You know you're out gunned in all aspects, surrender yourself. You know you have very little choice in this matter" She smiled slightly.

"Ohh I think I do. A time-drive, is not the only upgrades we have made here. But then, you already knew that didn't you? Tell me something Julia; is Kirk everything you thought he would be?"

"Surrender Bill, I don't want to hurt you Bill. You know I will if I have too…"

Grabbing his side in pain, Kirk walked towards her as he wiped the blood from his forehead.

"Mute Audio!" He ordered.

"What?" Called out S'Var"

"Do it…" Monroe added. "What is it Kirk?"

"I understand now. Listen, I don't know much about your time. But, I can recognise a man in pain when I see one. Use it against him Commander"

"What do you mean?"

"You're relationship with him, I can tell by your body language, he was your mentor… he taught you everything he knew, you must forget what he taught you. Be unexpected, as you did with Enterprise… it shocked him, look in his eyes. He doesn't know what you're going to do next"

Smiling slightly, she turned her back on the viewscreen as Kirk continued.

"Did you ever take the Kobayashi Maru test?"

"No, it was retired centuries ago. But I've read the files…"

"Okay, but I did…" He smiled.

Nodding slightly, she turned back to the viewscreen as the audio was activated once again.

"Kirk here is an interesting specimen, he deserves further study. Tell me Anders, do you trust your new friends?"

"Implicitly… they will follow my orders"

"I see, very good. You've developed a trust with them, it is a little strange is it not, that eight years ago… my time of course. You where responsible for the death of their Sovereign?"

"They know about that. I have made… recompense for that act or terror" He smiled darkly.

"Really? As a trained temporal agent, you are responsible for many deaths throughout the timeline; did you forget the incident during your second mission? You almost wiped out their species by introducing a very deadly plague into their population… who had to repair that damage?" She smiled.

"You did. I remember that. I was also cleared of all charges. It was an…"

"Accident, I know. What was the plague called on Earth?"

Slowly she walked around the helm of the Timeship as four Ventra soldiers walked towards the renegade Temporal Agent.

"That was an accident. You know I was cleared of all charges… why are you bringing this up now?"

"I believe it was called the Bubonic Plague on Earth, am I correct? It almost destroyed humanity in the 17th century. You where infected, but did not show any symptoms… you where a carrier Bill. The plague hid in your body and mutated because of your heritage, humanity has already faced that illness it was ineffective against your system because of your human D.N.A. The Ventra however… had never faced it before, I was sent back to introduce a counteragent into their water supply that eradicated the problem, but not before millions died a horrible and painful death. You almost wiped out their civilisation Mister Anders!" She smiled.

Leaning slightly over the helm, she typed into the console a series of commands as more soldiers joined the ever-growing group behind him. Laughing slightly too himself, Anders applauded his former First Officer as he stepped closer to the screen.

"Very good Commander, The Ventra have sworn an oath to me. They will not break that oath"

"Really?" Kirk laughed. "Look behind you!"

Slowly, Anders turned with a slight smile on his face. As he saw the large group gathering behind him, his face changed slightly as he yelled an order.

"Get back to your stations!"

It appeared as if every Ventra soldier folded their arms in unison, as they stood tall. From the front of the group, what appeared to be the ranking officer stepped forwards as he spoke with a deep, gravely alien voice.

"You will find your authority limited on this ship now… My Lord!"

"Back too your stations… NOW!" He yelled.

"Having a little problem are you Anders?" Kirk laughed as he stepped to Monroe's side. "Take a look people, this is what we call the Kobayashi Maru scenario… stay onboard the Ventra ship, and face death at the hands of its crew. Surrender to Monroe here… and face charges when you return too your own time"

"Your choices are limited Anders… either way. You loose!" Monroe laughed.

Almost laughing, the Ferengi Officer stood as he spoke.

"Monroe and Kirk are correct; I've seen the Ventra when they fight… Ewww! Very nasty"

"S'Var is right Anders… You know they eat their victims; some are even still alive when they start to feed. If you're lucky, they may kill you first"

"Ventra Commander, I am Captain James Tiberius Kirk… I was once Commander of the Enterprise. I know nothing about the time you have come from, but I have seen my share of no-win situations. Surrender this man too his former crew, he will face charges…"

Slowly, the large senior officer from the Ventra crew pushed past the former Captain as his spoke once more.

"Captain James Kirk, of the Enterprise. I am familiar with you sir, the attack upon your vessel was not my doing. This… Hewma'an must face charges for his negligence, this is not the appearance of our species… the plague he unleashed upon my species has disfigured us beyond our ability to repair the damage done. We where once as you are now, allow us the honour of his trail"

"No, he is a citizen of the Federation. Surrender him to me and I will promise you that he will face the full extent of the charges against him" Monroe said firmly. "Listen to me, I give you word that I will personally correct the damage done to your species as payment"

Slowly, the large disfigured alien turned towards his crew as they held the renegade Captain.

"Very well Lieutenant Commander Monroe, the prisoner is yours. Captain Kirk, please forgive us for what we have done"

"No promises!" He growled.

Holding position in the 23rd Century, the two large powerful vessels hung motionless in space as the prisoner transfer was conducted. Once again, former Captain Anders stepped foot onto the bridge as he looked around at the many armed guards before him, including one very large bruised Klingon. Keeping his distance from what was in his time an enemy of the Federation, Kirk kept one eye on the large Klingon officer as he escorted the prisoner to the holding cells.

With a large smile on her face, Monroe walked towards Kirk as she spoke softly.

"Interesting tactic Captain"

"It was a gamble. What are you going to do with that ship out there?"

"It will be escorted back to its own time after all temporal technology has been removed from the vessel. But…" With a large sigh, she looked at Kirk with sadness in her face. "The time I came from, no longer exists. The Federation has been overtaken by the Ventra centuries ago"

"What about me?"

"You're ship has been destroyed. But I have an idea that can restore your ship and the time-line, but for that… we need Anders' help"

"How?" He said with sadness.

"We need to know where and when he went once he left this ship. I'll go after him and stop him before he put his plan in motion, then you will be returned to your own time and ship" Monroe replied.

"No, I'll do it. I'll go… your place is on the bridge of your ship… Captain" He bowed slightly.

Laughing, Monroe shook her head as she held out her hand to signal to the Captain to join her as she left the bridge. As they walked through the ship, Kirk marvelled at the technology he was seeing before his eyes until they finally entered the sickbay. His jaw almost hit the floor as he looked at the clean cut and smooth lines of the ship's sickbay.

"I take it this gets your seal of approval Jim?"

"And then some. Bones would love this" He said with a slight sadness.

"You ain't seen nothing yet. Activate the C.M.O" She called out.

In the centre of the sickbay, an energy pattern began to form as finally the appearance of a middle-aged and beautiful doctor appeared before his eyes. Almost awe struck, Kirk walked around the Doctor as she spoke.

"Commander, I see you have captured the Captain?"

"How does it know that?" Kirk replied.

"I have… full access to the ship's logs and internal sensors"

"You're a hologram?" Kirk said with a large smile.

"Yes, a fourteenth generation Holographic crewmember. In my case… ship's doctor"

"You're modelled on a Romulan?" He said with disbelief.

"Yes, it is a long story Captain Kirk. Well, you have three broken ribs, a slight concussion and a rather large laceration on your forehead. Please sit down while I take care of you" She smiled.

"Okay… sure!" Kirk Laughed.

Climbing onto a bio-bed, Kirk looked around as the holographic doctor stood before him and utilised the equipment she brought with her, moments later she smiled at the Captain as she spoke.

"All done. You're as good as new sir"

"What, that's it?"

"Unless you have anything else that the internal sensors can not pick up on?"

"Umm, no… I'm fine, thank you Doctor. If I had one of you, it would put Bones out a job"

"Bones? Ahh yes, McCoy. Doctor Leonard H. Chief Medical Officer aboard the USS Enterprise…"

Slowly, the holographic Doctor leaned towards the Captain and smiled as she spoke.

"I have been programmed with his full medical knowledge. Is it true that you once had a case of…"

"Okay, I get your point" He blushed. "Well Commander, this ship of yours is amazing. A holographic doctor must come in handy from time to time"

"Not just a Doctor Captain. Our chief engineer and several other officers you have met are also holograms"

"W-What?" He said with disbelief.

"Maintaining the temporal core is a dangerous vocation. Holograms are perfectly suited for that job. Actually one of the first H.C.E's was designed around your chief engineer"

"H.C.E?"

"Holographic Chief Engineer. Cap… Commander Scott was used as the original template after the Holographic C.M.O was issued to every ship" The Doctor replied.

"I think the Captain should get some rest Doctor" Monroe said quickly.

"Yes Ma'am. Well Captain Kirk, it has been a pleasure to meet you sir. I hope not see you see you in the near future" She smiled.

Slowly, Kirk slid off the bio-bed as he nodded to the Hologram before him.

"That was a little rude, wasn't it?"

"No, it's a standard… Ahh forget it. Be safe Captain Kirk!"