Jim let Solan's ship down on the deck in the space dock, after a lengthy, difficult time getting there. "At least we're sitting down," Bones said. He looked at Jim. "You think it will be that hard to get in there?"

"Let's hope not," Jim replied.

They left the ship, sealing it, and went down the corridor from the hangar where they landed. They met up with two security officers who looked very relieved to see them. "Sir!" one of them said as they stood at attention.

"At ease," Jim said. "What's going on?"

"I don't know how many of them there are, Sir. They're determined to take over this space dock. They killed all the others except us. We barely made it back here."

"Where are Artie and Carol?"

"Artemus is in the control center. Doctor Kirk is in the weapons control."

"Let's move. Show me where that is."

Jim was glad he would not have to find it on his own. He had not been inside the space dock many times, and when he was, he was not looking for the control center. The corridors in the space dock went around the center, and the control center was in that circle. As they came around, there were Scrin there and they were ready to fight.

Jim fired at the first one before they could fire at him. This one seemed to have shields, so it did not fall immediately. Jim got back around the corner. "They have shields!" he said to his team.

"Great!" Bones said. "Now what?"

"Let me do it," Anakin said. He activated his lightsaber.

"I can help too," Ajah added. He powered up until even his hair was electrified.

Anakin and Ajah went around the corner. Anakin deflected the fire of the Scrin, and some of the shots went back at them, destroying some of them. Ajah's electrical energy went through the shields and hit its mark. "I guess shields can't stand against electricity," Anakin said. He looked back at Jim and the others. "All out, Sir."

"Thanks," Jim replied.

They all headed on down the corridor toward the control center. They did not meet up with more Scrin on the way. As they entered the center, Artie was there. He jumped to his feet with a phaser, but he was visibly relieved when he saw Jim and the others. "Admiral!" he said. "You cannot imagine how glad I am to see you!"

"How's everything going, Artie?" Jim asked.

"Well, we have control of the ion cannon, and Doctor Kirk knows how to use it."

"I'm not surprised."

"Jim?" came Carol's voice over the intercom.

"Carol, yes it's me," Jim replied.

"Jim."

"Do we have to get all mushy right now?" Bones asked.

"It's good to hear your voice too, Doctor McCoy," Carol said.

"So, how's everything looking out there?" Jim asked.

"There are so many of them! And they're still coming through. How can we close that portal?"

"I'm not sure."

"I know," Michael said. "If you can destabilize it, it will collapse."

"And how do we destabilize it?"

"You have to fire proton torpedoes into it. They all have to hit at exactly the same time."

"Why can't anything ever be easy? So how many ships?"

"How many torpedoes can the Enterprise fire simultaneously?"

Jim scowled at that. "One."

"Then we're going to need at least ten ships to fire simultaneously."

"That won't be easy to accomplish. You ever done this before?"

"No, but I've seen it done."

"Good. Let's get started. The sooner we get that closed, the better we'll be at stopping this threat."

"Well, since you're an admiral in charge of a fleet, you should be able to get them together."

"Right."

Jim opened his communicator. "Attention to my entire fleet," he said. "This is Admiral Kirk. I need all of you to gather at the space dock. Do not dock but let me know you're here. We are about to close a wormhole, or portal, whatever it is."

"Admiral, how do we accomplish that?" Spock asked.

"I'm going to fill all of you in."

Jim looked at Michael. "They'll be here shortly," he said.

"Great," Michael replied. "We have to have a signal that will reach all of them at the same time."

"Mister Gordon, can you accomplish that?" Jim asked.

"I will certainly give it a try, Sir," Gordon replied.

"Good man. Let's get it set up. It has to reach everyone at the same time because the torpedoes have to hit at the same time."

"Yes, Sir."

Soon, all the ships in Jim's fleet were gathered. "Okay, Artie, do your magic," Jim said. "Attention, all ships, aim at that wormhole over there and wait for the signal. Fire a proton torpedo on the mark. Understood?"

Everyone replied to the affirmative. Jim leaned on the desk beside Artie. "You ready?"

"Almost," Artie said.

"Maybe I should just say three, two, one or something."

"That wouldn't work, Sir. There would be a delay for one or two, even though you speak to them all at the same time. Just one moment."

"Hurry, there are more coming in every second we wait."

"Okay, I'm ready."

"Get ready, everyone," Jim said over the intercom.

Artie pressed a button, and then Jim watched all the ships fire a torpedo at once. When the torpedoes hit, it was a brilliantly bright explosion. Jim watched as the wormhole collapsed, taking some of the ships with it. "It worked!" Artie exclaimed.

Jim scowled as he thought Artie sounded too surprised by that. "Okay, so now we just have to defeat the ones that are still here," he said. "So let's get busy."

Spock ordered the Enterprise turned around and they began engaging the enemy ships, as did the rest of Jim's fleet. "So what are we gonna do?" Anakin asked.

"We're going back down to Earth and we're gonna help take care of the ones down there," Jim replied.

"Will you need Mister McNeil on the Earth to help?" Spock asked.

"That's probably a good idea," Jim said. "How's the Enterprise?"

"It is functioning, and repairs are still in progress."

"Good. Keep it going. We need more security on this space dock. We can't just leave them defenseless."

"I will get more security up there, Admiral Kirk," Admiral Winston said. "They are already on the way."

"Great. We'll be coming back down to Earth to help with the ones down there."

"We need it. The space battle is fully engaged, and there are many Scrin on the earth. They are wreaking havoc."

As Jim left the space dock, he could not help but look back at the ion cannon as it fired. He wished he could have seen Carol in person before he had to go back down to Earth, but it was not possible. They entered the atmosphere and could see battles going on as soon as they got close enough to the ground. "Admiral Winston, are they attacking the base?" Jim asked over the intercom.

"They have not been able to penetrate it," Winston replied.

"Great. We're on our way."

"You must tell us about your trip."

"I will, Sir. It was quite interesting."

"I'm sure it was."

Jim got close enough to the ground to see the Scrin racing forward. He fired at them and took out as many as he could hit as he went over. Some of them tried to attack the ship as he was close to the ground. "That was close!" Anakin said.

"I guess we have to be careful how close we get to the ground," Jim said.

"Except the ones in the air. They'll be trying to attack us."

"This isn't going to be an easy battle. Looks like they still have some of the tanks on the ground fighting."

"Admiral, if you can let me down there, I'll join in the ground battle," McNeil said.

Just then, they received a hail from the Enterprise. "Admiral, Mac from the mirror universe wants to join in the ground battle," Spock said.

"He can help me," McNeil replied.

Jim scowled at that. "I'm in charge here," he said. He looked at Spock on the viewscreen. "He can help McNeil. He wants to get into the ground battle. Transport him down to the GDI base."

"Yes, Admiral," Spock replied. "What would you like the Enterprise to do?"

"Keep up that space battle and help Carol."

Jim transported McNeil down to the base so he could get involved in the ground battle. Jim got back into the air battle. "We need more ships," Anakin said. "I could be helping you more. Don't they have flying machines down there?"

Jim evaded an attack by two of the Scrin ships, and they quickly followed after him, firing as they went. Anakin was helping as the co-pilot and firing at them while Jim tried to evade their fire. "This is almost as bad as the swarm," Jim said.

"The swarm?" Anakin asked. "Of bugs?"

"No. A swarm of…ships. They didn't look like bugs, but they did look like nothing you've ever seen."

The ship was suddenly sideswiped by a glancing blow. Jim and Anakin both tried to get the ship under control as it went into a roll. Jim felt like he was gasping for air as they finally got it righted. "Well, that was quite a ride," he said.

"Let's try not to do that again," Anakin replied.

Michael was behind them. "I'd just as soon skip it too," she added.

"We lost some shields with that blow," Anakin pointed out. "Looks like it's doing the same thing it did to the Enterprise, only faster."

"We best get this thing landed in the hangar then," Jim said. "Hail Admiral Winston. Solan's gonna kill me."

"If the Scrin don't beat him to it," Bones said.

Admiral Winston soon answered. "We gotta land, Sir," Jim said. "We're losing our shields."

Winston was quiet a moment. "Land in hangar thirteen."

"We're on our way now."

Before they got there, the ship began blaring alarms letting them know the shields were down to 5%. "Are we sure this ship should be in there?" Anakin asked.

"Are there any foreign critters on the ship or in it?" Jim asked.

"Not that I can see."

"Then I don't think this ship can infect another."

Jim got the ship down into the hangar, and the top closed right behind them. The landing was not very smooth as the ship was listing to the left. "Man, I thought you were a better pilot than that," Bones said.

"Bones, let's go," Jim replied. "We've got bigger things to do."

They all left the ship and hurried to the command center where Admiral Winston waited. "Admiral Kirk," he said. "It's good to see you back in person."

"It's good to be back, Sir," Jim replied. "How is the space battle going?"

"Since the wormhole is closed, things are leaning in our favor."

"We have to figure out how to stop them from draining the shields on the ships. How are they doing that?"

"That's being analyzed, but there's no definite reasoning yet."

"We've met up with things like this before." Jim opened his communicator. "Mister Gordon."

"Yes Admiral," Artie answered.

"The Scrin ships are able to drain shields. You remember we've encountered something like this before."

"Yes Sir, but we never figured out how to stop it."

"Is there any more data on it?"

"I'm afraid not. I mean, I can't really look for it."

"Alright."

Jim ended that transmission. "I'll search for it," Mac said. "Tell me what to look for."

Jim considered that. "I need to know anything you can find about technology that can drain shields," he said. "It has to have something to do with the sphere builders."

"I'll do what I can. You think Cabal would know anything about this?"

"It's possible."

"Admiral Kirk!" Admiral Winston called.

Jim went over to him. "Yes Sir."

"We're receiving a transmission, and he's asking for you."

Jim followed Admiral Winston into the control center, and he saw the overlord on the screen. "What do you want?" Jim asked.

"The Tacitus! You have no right to keep it!" the overlord replied.

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Do not lie to me!"

"What is the Tacitus? And what do you want with it?"

"Don't pretend that you do not know what I am speaking of!"

Just then, McNeil walked up to the viewscreen. The overlord glared at him. "I remember you," he said.

"And I remember you," McNeil said. "You have no business here!"

"I have gathered information from Kane, and he says that you have the Tacitus! I will have it!"

"Over my dead body. If we did have the Tacitus, you certainly would not be able to get it from us."

"You will see!"

"We defeated you once, and we'll do it again and send you back to wherever you came from with your tails between your legs!"

The transmission ended. "Well, I guess that riled him up," Jim said.

McNeil turned to Jim. "He CANNOT get that Tacitus," he said. "If he got it, he would be unstoppable because of the sphere data."

"What is the sphere data?"

"That's the problem. Most of us don't know how to use it, but it was stolen from the Scrin, and they know exactly how to use it. Where is the Tacitus?"

"You know where it is."

"It needs to be hidden on this planet."

Admiral Winston cleared his throat. "Gentlemen," he said. "We have the Tacitus hidden already."

"But, Sir, we have the one from the other galaxy," Jim replied.

Winston frowned. "And it's aboard your ship?"

Jim nodded. "You have to get that off that ship," McNeil declared. "I'll go with you."

"As will I," Michael said.

"If it's all the same to you, I'd like to take some of my own team with me," Jim said. "McNeil, you're needed on the ground. You know more about all this than anyone else."

"Alright, if that's what you want me to do," McNeil said. "But you have to get it."

"I will."

Jim sent a message to the Enterprise. "Enterprise here," Spock answered.

"Spock, did Mister Scott get the Tacitus into the vault?" Jim asked.

"Yes Sir. Is there a problem?"

"Yes, there is. We have to get that thing down here to Earth."

"Explain."

"That overlord of the Scrin is after it, and if he finds out it's on the Enterprise, he's gonna be after you to get it. I want to get it down here where it won't be so vulnerable."

"You believe he can overcome the Enterprise and steal the Tacitus?"

"Spock, I am not taking any chances. That thing is dangerous."

"Yes, Admiral. How do you intend to get it down to Earth?"

"I'm trying to figure that out. I can't use Solan's ship."

"Perhaps we can come down into atmosphere and transport the Tacitus with someone."

"That may be the best bet, but don't let them get onto the Enterprise again."

"That has been rather difficult to avoid, Admiral."

"More of them got onboard?"

"Yes, but they have been taken care of."

"I want that thing down here so Mac can analyze it and maybe find something that can help us. If it can make them invincible, maybe it can help us defeat them."

"Perhaps."

Soon the Enterprise broke atmosphere and came down to transport the Tacitus down to Jim. Solan appeared in the base with the Tacitus in tow, and also the flash drive with the evil Cabal on it. "How are you feeling?" Jim asked.

"Better," Solan answered.

"You should go in there and rest. Mac will look into this."

Mac took the Tacitus, and Jim kept the flash drive with the evil Cabal. "Admiral, we need this hidden somewhere that it can't be retrieved," he said.

"That must only be half of Cabal," McNeil said. "Because he's still trying to get into the system, and he can't do it from there. He's the one who helped them to set off that explosion."

"This is the one who went into the network with us," Jim said.

"Yeah, but Cabal has the ability to split in half."

Jim sighed. "So where is the rest of him?"

Witness the sound of your own extinction, said Cabal's tinny voice from the flash drive.

Jim frowned. "Shut up or I will take a hammer to you myself." He paused a moment. "What do you mean, the sound of our own extinction?"

There was a tinny laugh. Solan looked at Jim. "He can't do anything from there," he said. "Why are you even letting him stay alive? Why don't you take a hammer to him?"

Jim considered that. "I suppose we should. He's of no use to us. We might just freeze it."

"I think we should do something with that now."

"We don't have time right now." Jim took the flash drive to Admiral Winston. "We need to put this in a safe place, and I don't think it should be with the Tacitus."

"I know just the place," Admiral Winston replied.

Jim followed the Admiral to a room that seemed rather warm. "This is the incinerator," Admiral Winston said.

Jim was surprised. "Oh, well, yeah, I guess that's as good a place as any," he said. He scowled. "He won't feel this, will he? I mean, he does talk."

"Admiral Kirk, it's only a computer program."

"Right."

Admiral Winston opened the incinerator door, and Jim tossed the flash drive into it. He thought he heard a little tinny scream, but he tried not to think that. "Admiral, how do we stop them?" he asked.

"We're making progress, Kirk," Winston replied. "As long as they don't open anymore wormholes, we'll be able to get the advantage. You take control of your fleet and command from here."

"Yes, Sir."

Jim went back to the control room. "Mac, have you found anything yet?" he asked.

"Admiral, there are teraquads of data on this thing," Mac replied.

"About what?"

"If I'm correct about this, it has information from centuries before, about everything that Cabal has done and all sorts of information."

"Anything about something called sphere data?"

"Yes, Sir. There are thousands of years of data on this, countless civilizations." Mac looked at Jim. "It's thousands of years old. It even has data from civilizations that are no longer in existence."

"So…that's what the sphere is?"

"The sphere is inside the Tacitus. The Tacitus protects it. You can't destroy it. It was encased in the Tacitus to keep it from dying."

"Are you telling me it's alive?"

"I can't even say, but it seems to be. This must be what Cabal was after so he could find out how to become sentient."

"Does it say anything about the Scrin?"

"Of course. It has information about the last time they attacked Earth, but it also has information about Cabal and a lot of stuff he did. Looks like he and Legion had the Tacitus for a while, even in the Delta Quadrant."

Jim shook his head. "So McNeil would know how to defeat the Scrin?" he asked.

"He was instrumental in doing just that."

"Great."

Jim went over to Admiral Winston. "Where's McNeil?" he asked.

"He went out to join the battle," Winston replied.

"I want to talk to him."

Admiral Winston established the connection. "McNeil," Jim said.

"Yes, Sir," McNeil answered sounding like he was being bounced along.

"Where are you?"

"I'm in a tank."

"Take charge of the ground assault. You know more about this than we do."

"Yes, Sir."

"I'll take care of the space battle."

Jim switched channels, "Mister Spock."

"Yes Admiral," Spock answered.

"How's it going up there?"

"We are making progress, Admiral. However, they still have an operation going on the moon. They seem to have an endless supply of harvesters and they are continuing to harvest the tiberium which seems to be spreading around the moon."

"So how do we stop them?"

"I am not certain where their production of harvesters is coming from."

"So, someone needs to go down there?" Jim asked.

"That would be extremely dangerous since there is tiberium there," Spock replied.

"That's what our electro-suits are for."

"Admiral, I would not advise you to go down to the moon."

"Someone has to if they're continuing."

Spock was silent a moment. "They also seem to be constructing a shield around the moon. I am not certain where its source is either."

"You can't see their base of operations?"

"We can see the harvesters, and we can see some operations, but we cannot tell where the harvesters are coming from. I believe they are throwing out some sort of interference."

"Then someone will have to go down there," Jim said.

Spock did not like the idea of anyone going down there. "Will you be taking the doctor with you?" he asked.

"Sure," Jim said.

"I would be glad to go with you as well."

"I think I need you on the Enterprise."

"You should take Anakin with you then."

"I'm sure I will. He's here."

"Inform us when you are going."

"Alright."

Jim went over to Anakin. "I think we have to go to the moon," Jim said. "Spock and the others can't make any progress because they're building more harvesters and creating some sort of force field."

"You're gonna do what!?" Bones asked. "Are you out of your mind?"

"We have to do something," Jim said.

"You have done crazy things before but this is right up there at the top! Don't you realize there is tiberium down there?"

"Yeah, I do, and we have to stop them from getting it down here."

"Jim…"

"We're going, Bones. The question is how to get down there. I don't have Solan's ship anymore, and we need weapons, and explosives."

"Jim, you can't drag me down there," Bones declared.

"You're refusing to go?"

Bones just stood there a moment debating that with himself. He knew if anything happened to Jim, he would never forgive himself. "No, I'm not refusing," he said. "I think this is crazy and there has to be some other way."

"Like what?" Jim asked.

"Well, I don't know but with all the weapons we have, there must be something."

"Not with a force field down there. We'll have to do away with it from the inside."

"Like always. Jump in the middle and work our way out?"

"I guess so."

Jim organized a team and they got another ship to go up to the moon. Anakin, Ajah, Bones, Korax, and Michael went with him. Solan had wanted to go, but Jim would not allow it since he was not completely over his injuries. Solan sat down at the computer console with Mac as they watched Jim and his team leave in a ship.

"You think they'll be able to accomplish anything?" Mac asked.

Solan looked at him, still not wanting to trust him. "Maybe," he said.

"Look, Solan, why can't we just shake hands and let bygones be bygones?"

Solan glared at him. "You were involved in my wife's death," he said.

"No I wasn't. I had nothing to do with that."

Solan did not want to let his rage come to the fore. "I don't want to talk to you about this. I may have to put up with you because Admiral Kirk wants to take you back in, but I don't have to ever trust you!"

Mac frowned. "I really am sorry about your wife," he said.

"After all the times you tried to capture Admiral Kirk, and me! I don't know how he can even look at you!"

Admiral Winston walked up just as Solan was saying that. "Solan," he said.

Solan looked up at him. "Yes, Admiral."

"Do you know what happened between Admiral Kirk and Spock when they first had to start working together?"

"No, Sir."

"Admiral Kirk is very forgiving."

"Admiral…"

"I'm not telling you what to do, Solan, but maybe you should look into it and it might just give you the closure you need."

Solan frowned as he looked back at the viewscreen and tracked Jim's ship. He knew Admiral Kirk had gotten through many obstacles to bring peace with the Klingons because he was there to witness it. And had he himself not encouraged him to look past what had happened? Solan sighed. He had no idea what had happened between Spock and Jim when they first got their ship. He supposed he could ask Jim if they ever got out of this situation. He looked at Mac. "I guess I have to thank you for helping me get them out of that prison," he said. "Without you, I might not have ever gotten to be on the Enterprise."

"You're welcome," Mac replied. "I have to admit, I did overreact. I shouldn't have expected him to just shrug off betrayal like that, but it stung."

"Stung? You tracked us all over the galaxy trying to collect some bounty on Jim."

"I know. It's something I regret. My brother helped me realize how stupid it was, and after all, Kirk didn't forget my brother when he got out."

"You still fought me."

Mac looked rather surprised. "And you fought me too. Don't try to put all the blame on me. You were over there looking for me. Admit it."

Solan rolled his eyes. "Sure I was because I didn't want you capturing Jim again," he said. "And you were out there waiting for me."

"You knew we had to meet up eventually."

"I can't believe you wanted to turn Admiral Kirk over to that maniac."

"It was a lapse in judgement."

"Is that what you call it? I think you just got revenge by betraying him because you thought he betrayed you!"

"Maybe I did, but that's in the past. I spent time in prison for that, and I can't undo it, just like you can't undo some things you did in the past either."

"I never betrayed my friends."

"Oh, yeah, Mister Perfect Solan."

"I didn't say that."

"Well, you act like you never walked a little bit over the line of the law."

"I didn't say that either."

"You were a bounty hunter when it was convenient too!"

Solan frowned. He could not deny it, but he had always hunted those wanted by the law. "Well, I only hunted people who were wanted by the law, not by some vengeful predator," he said.

Mac could not deny that either. "You still didn't always go by the rules to capture them," he replied.

"Maybe not, but I didn't kill anyone unless they were trying to kill me."

"What would you do if you were being hunted like that?"

"I've been hunted, Mac, even by you."

Mac held out his hand. "Can we just put it all aside and be allies?" he asked.

Solan considered that a moment and then shook his hand. He looked Mac straight in the eye. "You better not betray us again," he warned. "If you do, it'll be the last time."

Mac knew Solan meant it. "I won't. I'm here to help." He turned back to the computer. "Just look at this, Solan."

Solan leaned toward the screen. "What is all this?"

"It looks like it contains every kind of weapons data or anything that was ever created. How can this all even be in one place?"

"This sure is something that doesn't need to be in existence."

"I certainly agree with you there. Sphere data. You know the sphere builders? You think they've had this before?"

"I don't know, but Admiral Kirk talked about some species called the Borg, and according to this, Cabal and Legion created them. Obviously, the Scrin are similar. Did he create them too?"

"I don't know, but it all seems to be connected."

"But how?"

Mac had never seen such a complex collection of data. "No one would ever be able to use all this in a lifetime," he said.

"Cabal," Solan said. He looked at Mac. "He could trace the Tacitus, and he can analyze all of it. Maybe it can be of some use."

"You said something about Legion. Where is he?"

Solan scowled. "I don't know," he said. "No one has even heard from him since the ship went into the mycelial network."

"Did he go in? Was he really there?"

"As far as I know, Cabal took the ship in there. There was nothing floating out there that we saw."

"But they brought the good Cabal back with them, so he could analyze this and help Starfleet."

"That's up to them."

"Looks like they'd want to use it after all this trouble."

They both watched Jim ship as it left Earth's atmosphere heading for the moon. "I should be with them," Solan said.

"Maybe I should too, but he wanted me to look into this," Mac replied. "We need that Cabal down here."

"That's not our call."

"Maybe the Admiral will let us use him."