The Alexandria warped through space as it approached the planet that held members of its crew.

"Now entering orbit, sir." Perim said.

"Doctor Plumley, report to transporter room two." Allensworth said into the intercom.

"On my way." She said.

"Transporter room, do you have a lock on them?" Allensworth asked.

"Yes, sir. I'm beaming them aboard now."

"I'll be in the transporter room. Helm, set a course out of this universe and then once we're back in our own universe set a course for Earth. Maximum warp. Sparhawk, you have the bridge." Allensworth said as he entered the turbolift followed by Sato.

Moments later, the turbolift doors opened and they ran down the corridor and turned to corner that led to the transporter room. The doors opened before they got to them. Two nurses pushed an anti-gravity sled with Ensign Stull on it and were followed by two other nurses that pushed an anti-grav sled with a body on it that was covered by a sheet. Hoshi's heart dropped as she feared the worst. Doctor Plumley came out of the transporter room followed by Merriell and Zofchak. Hoshi ran up to Dustin and hugged him tightly.

Putting two and two together, Allensworth realized it was David Fulks that lied underneath the sheet. "What happened?"

"He jumped in the way of a phaser beam that was meant for me. He saved my life, Captain."

Allensworth lowered his head saddened by the loss of his comrade. Plumley and the two nurses continued on their way to sickbay with Zofchak and Merriell in tow.

Shortly later, with the ship back in its own universe, it and the Thunderchild were en route to Earth. The senior officers of the Alexandria stood in the lounge. Zofchak stood with a bandage on the spot of his neck where the metal shard once was. Merriell was probably the luckiest out of the bunch with coming out of the mission with only a few scratches and scrapes. Lieutenant McKenzie and Ensign Stull stood with them too. Stull was bandaged underneath her uniform but acted like nothing was wrong with her. Captain Allensworth stood before both of them.

"He spoke very highly of you. He had informed me that he would like you as his successor if anything were to happen to him. I wish this was on different terms, but due to recent events, you, Lieutenant McKenzie will become Chief of Security."

"Thank you, sir."

Allensworth reached up and changed her pip from one gold and one black to two gold pips. He then took a slight step over to face Ensign Stull.

"You did knowing and willfully go above and beyond the call of duty for this crew and this ship. You have earned the admiration and respect of the entire crew. I, hereby promote you to the rank of Lieutenant and the rights and privileges thereto."

He then placed a black pip next to the gold pip on her collar. She did her best not to grin but couldn't help it when she saw Merriell grin and then wink at her. Then the captain turned around and opened a bottle Chateau Picard and poured it into multiple glasses and then handed a glass to each of the officers. They all raised a glass into the air.

"To absent friends."

"I remember the first time I met David." Sparhawk said. "He and I went to high school together. We all had to do family trees and he stood up there proudly as he stated the fact that he was related to Jonathan Archer."

"There heroism obviously didn't falter through the family line." Hoshi said.

"Then when we ended up going to the academy together and there was a shooting tournament, double elimination. He lost in the first round. He stayed up all night practicing and then he flew through the tournament beating everyone else and winning first place. That's when I knew that I couldn't wait to serve with him on the same ship."

"I saw his service record and the commendation his captain gave him while he served on the Nautilus." Captain Allensworth said. "He stayed at his post when the Nautilus was boarded by Jem'Hadar. With most of the bridge crew killed, he stayed and made sure the captain was safe. Because of that he was promoted to Lieutenant. That's when I knew I wanted him to be my Chief of Security when I got this command."

Allensworth looked at the faces of his senior officers including the two newly promoted ones. Even though this was a hard time with the loss of a good friend, he knew that this group of individuals would grow to become a close knit family. This place was his home and these people were his family and he would do anything to protect them. That's what he believed and that's what Lieutenant David Fulks believed. He smiled because he knew everything was going to be all right.

"Dustin and Hoshi. Didn't the two of you have something that you'd like to share with us?" Allensworth asked.

Dustin looked at Hoshi and she gave him a smile and nod. "Go ahead." She said.

"Well, uh, you see. Only one other person in this room knows. It turned out that David knew too, before I did. Hoshi and I are having twins."

The mood almost instantly changed from a saddened one to one of joy. Allensworth stood there knowing definitely that things were going to be all right.

Suddenly, the intercom kicked on with its usual set of beeps.

"Bridge to Captain Allensworth."

"Go ahead, Lieutenant."

"Sorry to interrupt, sir, there's a message from the Challenger saying they have Admiral McKeen."

Allensworth nodded in approval. Now it was time to get some answers.

The End.