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In Memoriam

F.T.M

1946-2009

For you Dad,

Thank you for everything you did for me,

You made me the person I am today.

And even though I was never sure,

now I know you were always there for me.

I can only hope I can still make you proud.

I love you and I miss you every day.Author's notes

It was summer break back in 1985, I was just a little squirt back then. Fox was a new network and you had to buy this crazy loop antenna to be able to even pick it up off the UHF band. When they started off the only things they had to broadcast were the 700 club, Geraldo and the rest were pretty much reruns of old shows that I can recall. One day I'm in my room and my Dad calls me to come downstairs. I reluctantly did so because I was playing with my Lego's at the time. He tells me to sit in front of the tv and he sits down with me and he says, "Son, I want you to watch this. You're going to like it."

I gave him this look that was probably my 5 year old equivalent of "Yeah right." I ask him what it is and he says it's called "Star Track." (Yes, he mispronounced it) Now I'm confused because I'm thinking of some sort of space train, but I digress.

My first Star Trek Episode I ever watched was "The Doomsday Machine" and it blew me away. The second was "The Ultimate Computer", which this story is based on. Since then, I have been hooked on Trek ever since and, like my dad, those two episodes are what always stick in my mind when I hear the words "Star Trek."

I began work on this story about three months ago, before I decided to focus my efforts on really fleshing out the series. It was near completion by Thanksgiving 2009.

My dad passed away the next day.

Finishing this one has been extremely difficult, but it's helped with trying to move on with life. I can only hope you enjoy it, because it has been fun to write and I will do more in the future.

Please Enjoy the FOTR tribute story: Paradigm Shift

Harry and Fara were in Captain Stiles' office in the control center of Starbase 186.

"Captain, the Raptor is my project, and my project alone. Why the hell is Starfleet suddenly barging in here and tampering with it," Fara snarled, slamming her fists onto the table.

Stiles sighed. He wasn't particularly looking forward to dealing with an aggravated engineer in the middle of the day. He, however, had anticipated her arrival shortly after the notice of the mandate to try a new, experimental, computer system--developed by a Doctor Sarne--was handed down from Starfleet HQ.

Harry was also in the room and Fara's particular reaction to this didn't surprise him, however; the blonde colored shock of head fur that she was steadily growing out was a curiosity. It was just now starting to grow just out of her orange body fur.

"Ms. Phoenix, you are well aware that the Raptor, despite your involvement, is the property of Starfleet, and part of the agreement with Arspace Dynamics was to use the Raptor as a testbed for new technologies."

"This is my ship god damnit!" Fara snarled.

Stiles raised a brow.

"It's our ship," he said flatly.

"Sir," Fara finally added, rolling her eyes a little and settling back in her chair.

Stiles had always been patient with the vixen, even when she was being a bit too belligerent for her own good in matters of Starfleet formalities.

"Fara," he began, waiting for her to listen again, "I did advise that you be in charge of any and all additions to the Raptor's systems. In order to be sure that they do not compromise the vessel's capability in any way. I understand that the Raptor is your project and I took every means necessary to see to it that it stays that way."

"Yeah, this is a unique opportunity. Doctor Sarne of all people is wanting to put his new Epsilon V-Three Core on our ship. That's quite a privilege," Harry added.

Fara relaxed a bit, her eyes wide with shock as she slumped back into the chair across from Stiles.

"If I had wanted an Epsilon Computer Core, I would have installed it from the beginning. What's the point of changing it now? We just spent a hell of a lot of time trying to get the damn ship working up to specs for once." She huffed. "This is just a damnable waste of time!"

"A little bird told me it might be worth being a bit open minded about it. It's supposed to be a lot faster than the one we got now and not so prone to errors," said Harry.

"And I suppose this little bird isn't a bird and dyes her bangs purple," Fara growled.

Harry shrugged, "Possibly."

Fara sighed, Damn it Terri.

Stiles smirked a little, but let it drop. "Do you feel better now Ms. Phoenix?"

"Sorry," she said with a sheepish, almost gaunt, expression, "I just thought...."

"You don't need to go into it," Stiles said, "I just hope, in the future, you remember that as far as the Raptor is concerned, I want the best engineer in the quadrant working on it."

"I agree I wouldn't want anyone else overseeing this project," Harry added.

"You've always been on my side," she muttered. "It's just, I know military types. Sometimes they can be a bit facetious."

Stiles nodded. "Fara, I am anything but facetious. The transport will arrive at 0800 tomorrow. I would appreciate it if you met with Doctor Sarne when he disembarks. He has informed us that he would like to install the new tactical battle computer of his as soon as possible."

"I would like to say that integrating a new computer system into the Raptor may not be a good idea," Fara said, "I'm still having problems with the Borg components on the vessel. That's why I opposed this when the proposal came up weeks ago."

"Do you think you can get it to work?" Stiles asked.

"I can try," she sighed.

"Is that all?" Stiles probed, showing some relief at her rage subsiding.

"Yes," Fara grumbled, getting out of her chair, "I just want it to be on the record that I am not too thrilled about any of this."

"If anyone can keep it under control, you can. I have faith in you, we both do." Stiles said, nodding towards Harry. "If there aren't any other concerns, I have a station to get back to running. You are dismissed."

Fara and Harry both got up and headed out the door.

"So, can I ask you something?" Harry asked quietly.

"What," said Fara.

"What's with the..." he trailed off, moving a paw over his head. "That's new."

"Oh...yeah," Fara said, blushing a little embarrassed.

"I didn't know you were a blonde," Harry said. "What brought this on?"

"Well," Fara said, "I sent Nikolai an old picture of myself and he said he'd like to see me with my head fur grown out again. So, I'm trying to. It doesn't look too bad...does it?"

"No, just different," Harry admitted as they approached the lift doors and Fara called it. "Why'd you keep it short?"

"It gets in the way. I just got used to keeping it trimmed off I guess. At least now I won't have to dye it anymore," she shrugged.

The doors parted and they stepped into the lift.

"You know Fara, until about a few minutes ago, with all these changes you've been making, I thought maybe I wouldn't see the old Fara again."

"I'm just growing my hair out," Fara huffed exasperatedly, "when it comes to my ship, my attitude isn't going to change."

==========================

Title: Paradigm Shift

Episode 9

IDP 2005,2009, 2019,2021

By Vakash Darkbane

Edited by Suarex Conoway

==========================

The next day arrived and Doctor Dustin Sarne arrived aboard the Endeavour on Starbase 186.

Harry, Terri, Fara, and O'mara all waited patiently by the airlock as the ship completed its docking procedure. Once word had got out, Harry had been pestered to let them meet the famous doctor in person.

"I am really not looking forward to this," Fara sighed through her forced "welcoming" smile.

"Just behave," Harry said, "and be polite."

"I can't wait to meet him," Terri said with glee. "He is the top of his field when it comes to system design and implementation, a real genius if you ever met one."

"I will admit, this is quite exciting," Michelle said, "I never met him in person. I did attend one of his lectures at the Academy. It was very fascinating."

The door parted and out stepped a lanky black furred echidna with a mess of jet black head fur and a pair of glasses. "Commander Martinez, I presume," he said, extending his hand.

"Yes. Welcome to Starbase 186, Doctor Sarne. It's a real pleasure to meet you." He then turned to introduce the others. "This is my Chief Engineer Fara Phoenix, My Communications and System Specialist Terri Lu and my Science Officer Michelle O'mara."

Doctor Sarne shook each of their paws. "If I had known I would be in the company of so many ladies, I would have presented myself a bit better," he said with a smile, "perhaps combed my hair a bit."

This got a chuckle out of everyone.

"I look forward to working with all of you over the next few days," Doctor Sarne said. "You will all play an important part in making history with my new system. It will revolutionize space travel in ways we've never dreamed."

"Very fascinating," Harry said. "What is it that your system will do?"

"Ah ah! I don't want to ruin the surprise, Commander. All in due time. All in due time. How about a walking tour of your vessel while my people offload the equipment? Your lovely crewmates can accompany us as well."

"May I sir?" Terri said, speaking up, "I'd really like to speak with the Doctor about his theory on Adaptive Neural Networks. Michelle and I have been arguing over whether bubbled structures or standard trees should be used for the last week now and we'd like to get his opinion."

"I don't mind," Harry said, his mind still trying to figure out what the hell Terri had just said to him.

"I would be honored," Doctor Sarne said, offering his arm to Terri in a gentlemanly manner as they headed down the corridor. As they walked down the hall with Terri and Michelle chatting the doctor's ear off, Fara let out a sigh.

"Lovely...ladies..." She hissed. He was already on her shit-list and she'd only known him a few seconds.

"Take it as a compliment for your hair," Harry said, grabbing her by the upper arm and marching her down the corridor behind the other group. "He's only here for a week, tops. Just play nice until then."

"Oh...you are going to owe me so big for this one," Fara grunted. "I'm seeing a nice vacation on a beach somewhere."

"Keep dreaming," Harry chuckled.

* * *

Before the end of the day, the new computer system was already being installed. Fara oversaw most of the operation with grim reluctance, while Terri-Lu assisted with getting everything integrated with the ship.

At least, until they tried to get the Epsilon V.3 to fire up and sync with the ship's systems and it promptly locked up.

"This is unusual," Doctor Sarne said, looking at the readout. "There are subsystems that aren't allowing Eve to complete her integration."

Eve was the whimsical name he had come up with for the computer. No one had a clue where he got the name other than the clever little logo on the main console that read "Ev.3".

"What's the problem doctor?" Fara asked.

"There are some systems that apparently the old computer system had to access by using some sort of special command and control algorithm," Doctor Sarne said.

"Well, that's because that would be the highly classified aspects of the ship," Fara said. "I'm not letting your little system anywhere near those."

"Why not?" Doctor Sarne said, a bit frustrated. "The whole purpose of this test was to see if the system could integrate itself into something as complicated as the Raptor. For that to happen, I will need to have full control."

"I wasn't briefed on that aspect of the test," Fara said flatly. "If you have a problem with that, I suggest you call the C.O."

Sarne tensed a little and sighed. "Fine be that way," he said, "I don't see what the point is in hindering my progress here..."

"Look doctor, with all due respect," Fara said evenly, "there are a lot of components on this ship that may not take kindly to a computer that doesn't know how to deal with them. The Raptor isn't exactly a normal Confederation ship. I should know. I built her."

"I assure you, I was fully briefed on the Raptor's unique subsystems and I have made arrangements for the computer to deal with that. Eve will learn from the preexisting data and develop its own algorithms and sub-routines to maintain perfect control over your ship. I assure you, everything will be fine."

"I'm sorry Doctor, but I know this ship better than anyone," Fara said. "Call the Commander if you want to access those systems."

"Fine," Doctor Sarne sighed annoyed.

* * *

Large officers quarters were something that took some getting used to. Harry had tried everything to make the large quarters assigned to him on Starbase 186 seem less cavernous. It was a spacious, open area, with windows looking out into the station's large docking bay. Not the best of views, but a view nonetheless. In the center of the living area there was a sunken alcove with a large couch to one side and a few chairs. The bedroom part was quite large with an equally large bed and bath section.

He wondered how he was ever going to make them feel less like a cave. In his duffel, all he had was a few civilian clothes and a few trinkets. Looking at one of the bare walls, he decided maybe he could find a place for his model's that he liked to build that he had put into storage for years now. Not having to worry about such things as money, one tended not to carry too many material goods, especially when they could be easily replicated. Things did, however, make a room feel a bit more like a place lived in then just a sterile sleeping area.

Now that he had come to terms that this was where he was going to stay, it was time to make this place feel more like home.

Maybe a few potted plants? A few posters...hell just some general mess would make it look more like a living space. Harry often found it amusing that, even without the wants of currency, people still found it necessary to surround themselves with various trinkets. Of course he, himself, was guilty of it as well. However, the situation seemed more than he wanted to deal with the more he thought about it and he walked over to the replicator feeling thirsty.

"Cherry Fizz," he ordered.

The replicator hummed and replicated the red carbonated beverage. He was just about to take a drink when the com channel sounded. He sighed and set the glass on his table.

"Yes?" He said, tapping the switch on the wall panel.

"Commander Martinez, this is Doctor Sarne. I have run into a complication with your Chief Engineer. She is not allowing me full access to your ship's systems and she will not give me the codes for the command lockouts. This is very...infuriating, to say the least."

"I'll be down there in a moment to deal with her personally. Just be patient. I'm at home at the moment, but I'll head down there as soon as I can," Harry replied.

"Thank you, Commander, it is much appreciated."

"I'll be there shortly, " Harry said, switching the com off.

He sighed. He figured Fara would try to pull something like this. Granted, he wasn't too thrilled about the eagerness of Starfleet to let this new machine just take full control of the ship, but it was what they wanted. Now he was put in a position he did not want to be, where he would have to override Fara.

Decorating would have to wait for now. He had a little fire to put out first.

* * *

"What are you doing?!" Fara demanded, looking to see Sarne working quickly on the master system display.

"I am doing my job, you need to stop interfering." Sarne replied curtly, not stopping his work.

Fara walked over and pushed him out of the way. "What the! Why are you trying to crack the access codes?"

"Because you won't give them to me, you insolent pest!" Sarne snapped at her. "Now get out of my way!" He shoved her back and went back to work.

Terri overhead the shouting and quickly paged Harry. "Captain, you might want to get down here. The situation is getting worse."

"Insolent pest?!" Fara snapped at Sarne, trembling with rage.

A few moments later, Harry arrived at the gangway, where he saw Terri Lu standing there waiting for him.

"How bad is it?" He asked.

"Well, you missed a shouting match," Terri said, "and then Fara threw her pad at him and gave him a black eye."

"Ayaa," Harry sighed, "great, that's all we needed. Is he ok?"

"Well," Terri shrugged, "being not really a tough guy, he kinda went off and sulked with his equipment. I think she scared him."

"Did Doctor Okan see him yet?" Harry said.

"Yeah," Terri said. "I'm glad you're here. I can't deal with Fara when she's being hot-headed."

"I'll deal with it." Harry said grudgingly. In fact, there was a whole list of things to deal with. It was racing through his mind. They finally reached the main door of Engineering and Harry quickly climbed a ladder up to Deck 2, just inside the door with Terri scurrying up the ladder. On Deck 2 he walked through the archway into the main section of Engineering, where he spotted Fara talking to Knackt by the master systems display.

Before she could say anything he thrust a finger at her. "Confinement to quarters until further notice," he snapped, "NOW!"

Fara looked aghast from the suddenness of Harry's wrath.

"Fine!" She barked, tossing her datapad at Knackt. "YOU FUCKING FIX IT!"

"Unless you want to make it the brig instead of your quarters, you'll go, now!" Harry snapped, pointing towards the double doors of engineering.

Fara quickly disappeared through the double doors, muttering insults and complaints the whole way.

"Knackt," Harry said, startling the rat, who was looking rather bewildered at the suddenness of his conversation suddenly coming to a halt. He quickly straightened his stance.

"Yes sir?" He said crisply.

"You are in charge of overseeing Doctor Sarne's installation of his equipment."

"Um...ok," Knackt replied. "I think I can handle that."

"You'd better, because Ms. Lu is going to be assisting you in the meantime," Harry said.

"Ah well, then no worries, sir." Knackt replied.

"Where's Doctor Sarne?"

"Eh, he's off hiding in the main computer room. Follow me," Knackt said, leading them out of main engineering.

Terri stooped over to take Fara's datapad from him. "I'll just pick up where she left off I suppose," she said, seeing the padd was unfortunately on the fritz, likely from bludgeoning the doctor earlier.

Harry nodded in quiet satisfaction to her and then followed Knackt out of the forward compartment. They walked a few feet until they entered the room that held the main computer core of the Raptor. In it, they heard Doctor Sarne speaking with someone as they entered the room.

"Hey, um, I gotta get back to work, so can I just... " Knackt started to say.

"Yes, you can go," Harry said, hearing the two voices. "Doctor Sarne?" Harry called quietly as Knackt slipped back out of the room.

"Ah yes, Commander," Doctor Sarne said, looking down on him from the next level up. "If you would care to join me up here?"

Harry noticed the small bandage over his eyebrow as he climbed up to meet him.

Beside Doctor Sarne stood the hologram of a female fennec fox with black tipped ears, red long head fur with black hands and feet. The vixen appeared to be dressed in some sort of blue toga.

"Ah, my my! I forgot my introductions, yes," Doctor Sarne said. "This is Eve's interactive holographic interface."

"Charmed," Harry said.

He then noticed that the hologram tilted its head in polite acceptance of his complement.

"A pleasure to meet you, commander," she said.

"She's more than just a simple hologram," Doctor Sarne said proudly. "Her main algorithms, as well as the computers are based on my alpha wave patterns. So, she acts and reacts like a real person. She's even capable of adapting, as such."

"Very intriguing," Harry said, "I apologize for the..." he touched his finger to the same spot on his face as the injury on Sarne's face. "Fara can be quite a lot to handle sometimes."

"Oh that," Doctor Sarne said. "I'm quite over that by now. She is quite the remarkable woman, very passionate about her work, and has a deadly aim with thrown objects."

"Yes, unfortunately that is one of her least desirable traits," Harry chuckled. "Now, I hear you need the command codes to access the main computer functions."

"Yes, that is correct," Doctor Sarne said quietly.

"Well, I am authorized to let you have access to the ship's systems in their entirety." Harry said. "Although, for the record, I am not too thrilled about this myself. I don't, however, want to impede your progress, Doctor. Computer," Harry began, "release main command console, Authorization Martinez Delta Theta Two Zero Niner. Allow Doctor Dustin Sarne full access to all ship's systems."

The computer made a few acknowledgment chirps. "Authorization Granted." It finally replied.

"Thank you, Commander, you won't regret this," Sarne said, feeling quite relieved.

"Don't make me regret it, Doctor," Harry said with a smile.

"Oh we won't,'' Sarne said, touching the hologram in a strange, almost paternal gesture on the arm. "Eve, if you wouldn't mind, please access the restricted subroutines."

The hologram nodded and Eve's control console came to life with lights and digital readouts.

"I have accessed the Raptor's secondary systems and I am creating command protocols for them and...." She suddenly twitched and made a face.

"Doctor?" Harry said curiously, noticing the hologram's reaction.

"Eve? What's wrong dear?" Sarne said, concerned.

"I...have...it...under control," the hologram said. "There was some anomalous feedback from the system. I have it under control now." The hologram smiled.

"I will check this out thoroughly," Doctor Sarne grumbled. "I am sure everything is fine though. Are you ok?" He asked the hologram.

"I am fine Doctor Sarne," Eve replied.

Harry was a little worried, but he tried to give the guy the benefit of the doubt. He was considered a genius and had practically designed every computer system in use currently in the Fleet.

"You see Commander? No need to worry. Eve was designed to take total control of a ship and run it with optimum efficiency."

"Total control?" Harry asked, mulling it over quickly. "You mean...run the ship without a crew?"

"Yes," Sarne said excitedly. "Total control."

Harry frowned at the idea. "But, what would people do?"

"There are many other things a person can do other than be out exploring the stars and risking their lives unnecessarily," Doctor Sarne said offhandedly. "I'm sure a highly educated person such as yourself could find many other pursuits to enjoy. My hope is that this test is fully successful and it will begin a new dawn of our journey into space. One where machines will take the risks, fight our wars, and explore the unknown."

"I see," Harry said, his frown deepening. A horrifying vision of a room full of starship models completed because he had nothing better to do flashed into his mind's eye. "Well, we'll see about that, Doctor. After all, this is just a test."

Sarne's face showed a flash of annoyance.

"Is there anything else I can help you with?" Harry asked, wanting to get out of the room.

"No no, I am fine. Thank you for your assistance." Doctor Sarne said. "I will see you when we start the trial run."

Harry simply nodded and headed for the exit. He stopped when he ran into Lt. O'mara.

"Oh, excuse me sir," Michelle said, stepping aside.

"Do you have a moment?" Harry asked.

"Yes, I do. What can I do for you, Commander?" O'mara said.

"Walk with me," Harry said, straightening his posture and putting his hands behind his back. Michelle did so without question. Harry had become impressed with her. She had lost her stutter after the incident with the Paraxenos and she seemed to have gained a lot of her confidence back.

"What do you think of Doctor Sarne's new system? Has he told you anything about it?"

Michelle preened her feathers in thought. "Well, I think it's a step in the right direction. His last two attempts at quarto-tronic multiprocessing were total failures." She paused thoughtfully before continuing. "This new system is supposed to improve the automation on a starship to the point where they won't need nearly as many personnel to operate them."

"The way he talks, there won't be any personnel at all," Harry said.

"That is one possible outcome, yes," Michelle agreed.

"May I ask you a question?"

"Shoot, sir."

"Can you think of any reason I would be petty enough to actually feel threatened by a computer of all things?"

"Well," Michelle said thoughtfully, "if he actually were able to achieve full automation of a starship, then yes. Your job would be kind of pointless."

"Except for making sure the computer does what it's supposed to," Harry said pointedly.

"Well...yeah," she admitted, "I didn't think of it that way."

Harry sighed.

"I can see why you feel threatened. Even though recently being in space hasn't been the greatest thing to happen to me," she said, "I would be out of a job too."

"That is the heart of the dilemma."

Michelle sighed. "That's usually the crises with any form of automation. There is no sympathy for the person it makes obsolete until..."

"It happens to you," Harry finished.

Michelle nodded.

"I don't know. I'm all for using technology to further our own advances," Harry said with a maudlin tone, "but to take purpose, from people? Everyone needs purpose and like it or not, if we didn't feel like we had one out here, why would we stay?"

"I agree, but if it works?" Michelle shrugged. "I guess I could go into geology. I got high marks in that in the academy. Rocks are great. They don't try to eat you and they are pretty much the same on any planet."

Harry chuckled. He wasn't too surprised she said that. "I can see it now, whole fleets of barely manned vessels exploring the galaxy with the people only there to operate the computers and the computers doing all the work. It just...bothers me," he sighed.

"That's one possibility, but if it does mean anything to you, I'd rather serve under you than have a damn computer give me orders," Michelle said, smiling. "The damn computer we do have can't even replicate my lunch properly half the time."

Harry cracked a small smile. "That's very kind of you."

They rounded a corner and Harry grasped an access ladder and keyed the hatch.

"Sir, we just passed a turbo-lift."

Harry stepped onto the ladder and looked back at her. "I don't feel much like taking it," he said. "I'll see you at the tests, Lieutenant."

* * *

When Harry had confined her to quarters, he never specified which quarters, so she had gone to her ship quarters.

"And then he just threw me out!" Fara sighed while she talked to the vid screen on her desk. On it was Nikolai Korova's face. A while back she had rigged her own private subspace channel through these quarters, in case she ever needed it.

"Ah," Nikolai nodded, "it must be a trend today. It's not a good day for engineers."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Donnika got uppity with me and overstepped her bounds. She's in much the same position," Nikolai said with a shrug.

Fara laughed a little. Donnika was Nikolai's twin sister who served on the Aether with him. The tension between them was even worse now that Nikolai had accepted the First Officer position on the ship. Fara and Nikolai had been talking pretty consistently since they last saw each other.

"Although, I don't think injuring the good doctor was a good idea," Nikolai finally added. "I told you that temper would get you in trouble someday."

Fara smirked and leaned in towards the monitor. "Well, it's only been three weeks since you left. I haven't exactly had any other ways to relieve tension."

Nikolai smiled and he turned slightly darker green. "I have to say, I can relate."

"When are you guys going to be back by again?" Fara asked.

"I don't know," Nikolai admitted with a slight frown. "The Captain has informed me that, for the moment, our location is classified."

"Damn," Fara sighed.

Nikolai shrugged. "Believe me Fara, I would like to have some time off. Our last little brush fire we had to put out in the Corolii System is still giving me migraines."

"Yeah, I heard about that on the FedNet broadcast. Hell of a stroke of bad luck to run into that mess on basically your first day as number two."

Nikolai smiled and shrugged. "I handled it as best I could. It tested even my great patience, having to deal with both factions of the Corolis people. Not to mention if Captain De'sol wasn't so remarkably skillful in dealing with people during the negotiations, it could have been a lot worse." The sound of a page went off. "One moment please," Nikolai said, pausing the transmission.

Fara waited for a moment until his picture came back up. "That was Captain De'sol, I will have to go soon. Apologies."

"It's ok. Thanks for hearing me out," Fara smiled. "I appreciate it."

"You know Fara," Nikolai said as though having an afterthought, "for something that was not supposed to be a serious relationship, we sure talk an awful lot."

"Why? Is that a problem?" Fara glared.

"No! Certainly not. I enjoy speaking with you," Nikolai said. "I know at first you were reluctant to move beyond what we were doing, but your actions state otherwise."

"Well...maybe I changed my mind and I miss you...a lot." She smiled, "you big green dummy! Now shut up before you ruin that," Fara replied.

Nikolai grinned toothily and his tail flicked behind him. "As you wish, my lovely vixen. I have to go now. Take care."

"You too," Fara smiled.

Nikolai nodded and the channel closed.

Fara sighed and leaned back in her chair, glancing at the chronometer. She decided a nice shower would probably be the best course of action, followed by lunch, to kill some time during her temporary exile.

* * *

The following day

The rest of the installation went pretty much as planned. Towards the end of the day, the Raptor was ready to be powered back up. Its new computer was fully installed. Fara had been released from her confinement and was already going over the Raptor with a fine tooth comb.

Harry had been called up to Captain Stiles' office again and when he arrived he noticed there was an Avian Admiral, with slightly faded reddish feathers, standing in the office along with an older echidna with a prosthetic eye. Harry was aware that another ship had arrived during that day. He believed it was the eponymous Akira, a ship similar to Jaynas from what he saw from his quarters.

"Ah, Commander, this is Admiral Leyton and Commodore Striker. Leyton is the one who put through the tests for the Epsilon Three. Commodore Stiker here was part of the Pathfinder Project and is advising him on the matter. They will be here to oversee the war games the Raptor will be participating in tomorrow."

"A pleasure to meet you sirs," Harry said, offering his paw.

The avian gave him a slight look of disdain, but returned the gesture coldly. "You too, Commander. I have heard a lot about you."

"Hopefully nothing too bad," Harry was still trying to maintain some professional cordiality with this bird, but found his aloofness a bit irritating.

"Ah, if it isn't one of Admiral Kramers finest students," Commodore Striker said, shaking his paw a bit more warmly than Leyton had. "I hope you know, John would be overjoyed that you are the captain of one of his more successful projects."

"It's been an adventure, I will say that. Thank you sir," Harry replied.

"I suppose I should tell you that tomorrow the Akira, as well as the starships Aether, Fearless and Sphinx, will be engaging the Raptor in simulated combat, to test the Epsilon Version 3 computer's capabilities," Leyton said flatly

"So, man against the machine," Harry said, "sounds interesting. It'll be my pleasure."

"I'm sure," Leyton said dryly. He then reached down to Stiles' desk and retrieved a datapad. "These are your orders and the course we want the system to take the Raptor on. This is classified and you are only permitted to show it to the most senior members of your bridge staff."

"Yes, sir," Harry said

"Good." Leyton smoothed his head feathers. "Well, I have some business to attend to on my ship. If you will excuse me, Captain, Commander," he said curtly before turning on his heel and leaving.

Commodore Striker hung back a bit. "I'm sure you will give us quite the show. We'll see tomorrow, Commander."

"Thank you," Harry said and Stiker nodded as he left the room. "Sheesh," Harry sighed as soon as the door was closed, "what's his problem?"

Stiles laughed. "Admiral Leyton has never been a fan of the Pathfinder Project...or you, for that matter."

"What did I do?" Harry asked.

"He sees you as reckless and irresponsible. He's generally a giant pain in my ass, with anything that your ship or you do," Stiles sighed, "yet I can't really just tell him to jump into a lake. Believe me, if it wasn't for my shielding you all the time, he would make your life a living hell."

Harry nodded. "Thank you for that, sir," he added.

"Bah! Don't mention it," Stiles said. "Are you looking forward to any of this?"

"To tell you the truth? No," Harry admitted, "I have had a bad feeling about this after talking to doctor Sarne. Something doesn't seem right."

"Why do you say that?" Stiles said.

"It's his behavior. I saw him interacting with the computer's holographic component and he treated it as if it were his child," Harry said, remembering back to what he saw. "It was strange. It was almost like he was acting as if it were alive."

Stiles scratched his head. "Doctor Sarne is a genius. I'll give him that. He's been under tremendous pressure to develop this system. Epsilon Three is his most recent try at an advanced adaptive computing system. I'm sure he may be slightly frayed with the pressure he is under."

Harry nodded slowly. "I suppose I shouldn't worry, but my gut hasn't been wrong yet"

"I'm sure everything will be fine," Stiles said reassuringly. "By the way, you need to choose what people you want on the ship."

"Excuse me?"

"Part of the test is to rely on the systems automation, meaning Fleet HQ wants you to pick 20 people to be onboard for the test."

"You have got to be kidding," Harry grumbled, double-checking the orders and seeing if this was true.

Stiles shrugged. "Look at it this way, at least the test won't take place anywhere near the border, so even if something does happen, at least you'll be stranded in our territory."

"Thanks...that's really helpful," Harry muttered, rolling his eyes.

* * *

Harry had decided to keep his bridge staff, including himself and Doctor Okan, making up at least seven of the people. Okan requested his Chief Nurse, just in case, and then Harry let Fara pick the rest of the people she wanted for engineering. As Harry stepped onto the bridge, which was busy with his people preparing the ship for departure, he couldn't help but feel that the ship seemed rather empty.

The coordinates and protocols had been fed into the Epsilon Three and Doctor Sarne had told them that the computer was ready to begin the simulation. He stood on the bridge by the rear systems control panel, looking rather satisfied, feeding last minute instructions to the computer system.

"Doctor, I take it the Epsilon three is ready for action," Harry said, keeping an eye on the Doctor out of the corner of his eye.

"Yes Commander," he replied, "in fact, as soon as you are ready to depart, the computer will start its task."

"Very well," Harry said. As he took his seat, he noticed Doctor Okan had entered the bridge and was looking on curiously at the goings-on.

"Alright, everyone ready?" Harry asked.

"All stations are secure and reporting ready," Terri replied.

"I'm ready when you are, Skip," Land said.

"All weapons have been properly calibrated for the simulations," Jakar reported, "we shouldn't have any problems."

"All systems showing green, sir," Lt. Rivas reported.

"I'm ready," O'mara said, getting settled in her station and activating the ship's sensor array.

"Very well. Mr. Land, diseng--" Harry began, but the computer suddenly interrupted him.

"Releasing docking clamps."

There was the sound of the hard point connectors disconnecting, as well as the ship's umbilical systems. Several consoles lit up as the ship's computer took over their operations.

"Permission to leave the space dock has been granted. Umbilical separation complete," Eve's voice said through the speakers, "engines set to one-quarter reverse impulse."

The Raptor drifted slowly back out of its slip and fired its thrusters to turn towards the docking doors.

"Well..." Land said, sort of disappointed and putting his paws in his lap, "I guess I'll just sit here and twiddle my thumbs."

"Don't be worried. The Epsilon Three is capable of performing anything a sentient person can do almost flawlessly," Doctor Sarne said triumphantly.

"Well la de da," Land whispered, although Sarne ignored him.

He watched the viewer as they cleared the station's doors, then glanced down at his control console.

"Well," Land said, "it looks like we're setting a course for the Sigma Carians system."

Harry felt the shudder of the engines as they powered up and the ship jumped to warp.

"Very impressive, Doctor," Harry heard himself say.

"So, what are we supposed to do, Skip?" Land said, a bit perturbed, spinning his chair to face Harry.

"Don't you see?" Doctor Sarne smiled broadly. "That's the whole point! We don't have to do anything! Anything that occurs, Eve will take care of it."

"Eve?" Land said, raising an eyebrow.

"It's an acronym for the computer system," Harry said, "and as for what to do, I guess we sit back and enjoy the ride."

The journey to the Sigma Carians system was pretty uneventful. The Raptor dropped out of warp before it entered the system and achieved a flawless orbit around the planet, all compliments of the newly installed computer system.

"Well Mr. Land, your opinion of the Epsilon Three's Performance?" Doctor Sarne asked.

Land huffed, a bit frustrated. "We're in a perfectly stable orbit, no minor course corrections, every single reading is perfect, sir."

Land sighed. "Good god, this thing is making con officers all over look bad. Can I go back to my nap?"

"No," Harry said, getting up out of the Captain's chair, "the next part of our mission is to investigate the ruins on the planet. I'm supposed to place my recommendation and match it against the computers." Harry explained, stroking his chin in thought. "I'd probably take myself, Ms. O'mara and Specialist Dannachek."

"Why do you get to go down?" Land asked.

"Well, I have a little experience in archeology and I would find it interesting," Harry said. "Doctor, your turn."

Doctor Sarne nodded and touched the direct tie-in console in the back of the bridge.

"Eve," he said, "for the second part of your evaluation, who would you choose for an away team?"

"Working," Eve replied and then said, "the away team recommendations are as follows: Science Officer O'mara, Specialist Dannachek, Specialist Korya."

Harry looked a little perplexed as he walked over to the terminal. "Epsilon Three, why was I not chosen? I have some experience in the field."

"Non essential personnel," the computer replied.

Harry looked as if he had been slapped in the face.

"Well then, I guess that proves that the Epsilon Three is more than capable of making logical decisions when it comes to away teams," Doctor Sarne gloated.

"Yeah, it does," Harry said flatly. "I suppose with that little part of the test over, we should proceed to the next part of the tests then. Computer, you may move to the next waypoint."

"Affirmative. Course plotted, laid in, preparing to break orbit," Eve responded.

Harry turned to leave the bridge.

"Commander," Doctor Sarne said, "where are you going?"

"To sickbay," Harry said, forcing a wan yet friendly smile, "I have a headache."

"Commander, do you mind if I join you?" Terri asked, concerned, removing her earbud.

"You may," Harry said, "Mr. Rivas, you have the con," he said, exiting through the aft doors.

"Sir, are you ok?" Terri asked.

"Nope," Harry said. "Nonessential personnel," he grumbled. He stopped at a ladder and toed the switch, making the floor hatch open. He stepped aside and allowed Terri to go first. She thanked him and slid down the ladder and hopped out of the way. He slid down after her and the hatch shut again.

"I'm sure you are just thrilled about all of this," he noted.

Terri shrugged. "I find it fascinating. I will admit, I am impressed."

"It called me nonessential," Harry grumbled, heading down the hall the short distance to sickbay.

"Don't you think you may be overreacting a bit?" Terri asked gently.

Harry stopped, took a deep breath, and let it go. "Maybe...slightly," he said, holding his thumb and forefinger about an inch apart."

Terri nodded understandingly. "So, now what are you going to do?"

Harry smirked. "Like I said, I have a headache. I'm going to see if Doctor Okan has anything that might help."

Suddenly a chime went off. "Rydel to Lu," Jenna Rydel's voice said from Terri's combadge.

"Yes?"

"I'm picking up some strange readings from the upper memory processes. You'd better get down here."

"Is it anything serious?" Harry asked.

"Not sure yet, Commander. I'd say suspicious, but I don't see anything bad yet." This was followed by a loud pop of her gum.

Harry sighed. He really should be harder on his crew to be more formal at times. "Inform the good doctor and keep me apprised," Harry said. "Terri, you'd probably better go."

"Ok," she said, "I'll see you back on the bridge."

Harry nodded and stepped inside sickbay.

"Captain, what brings you down here?" Doctor Okan said, looking up from a set of boiling vials and a molecular scanner read out.

"I have a headache." Harry said evenly.

"One of your migraines?" Doctor Okan asked curiously.

"No, a Sarne type of headache."

Doctor Okan tilted his head in amusement. "Give me a moment. I think I've got something for that."

Doctor Okan got off the stool he was seated on and disappeared into his office. He came back with a tumbler and a decanter.

"What's that?" Harry asked.

"Suta Whiskey," he said, "it should help relieve that headache just a little bit," he said, pouring Harry a glass. "So, feeling a bit intimidated about this new computer are we?"

Harry quickly downed the small slug and coughed, not expecting the sharp burn of the liquid.

"Possibly."

Doctor Okan nodded and poured himself a slug as well. "To the continuing threat of obsolescence."

Harry grunted and they clinked glasses.

"Well, let me share something with you, if you don't mind," Okan said, pouring one more glass. "That's all you get, so savor it."

Harry nodded in response as Okan put the decanter away. "When they came up with the Holographic Doctors initially, a lot of people in my field were in a panic. They could do everything a trained physician could do, not to mention doing things to near perfection. Yet, a lot of people don't like them." Doctor Okan paused in thought. "There was a push to get them to take the place of starship physicians, but it turned out that most people didn't want anything to do with them. They said they lacked a certain amount of compassion and most people were turned off by their bluntness. Hell, I myself only use it as a replacement when one of my staff is not present or when we are getting overwhelmed down here. In fact, I have it helping Nurse Twila take inventory at the moment. As you can see, I don't think we're going to be very busy." He paused and took the now empty glass from Harry. "So, what caused this 'headache'?"

"The damned thing called me nonessential personnel," Harry muttered in a mild imitation of Eve's voice. "Not to mention Sarne just stood there, acting like it was some benevolent proclamation handed down from the gods or something."

"Ah...I see."

Harry nodded. "Thanks."

"For the drink or the story?"

"For both," Harry replied. "They both helped."

"Glad I could be of assistance, Commander," Doctor Okan nodded.

"Can I ask you one little favor?" Harry asked.

"Anything, sir. It's not like I have too much to do at the moment."

"I've seen some strange behavior from Doctor Sarne. Can you maybe take a look at his psych profile? Something tells me there is something quite odd afoot."

"I will endeavor to do my best, Captain," Doctor Okan replied.

"Thanks," Harry smiled.

* * *

Terri arrived in the Raptor's computer core room and spotted Jenna Rydel.

"What's up?" She asked.

"Well, I know how you and Michelle have been using your little AI programs to help you out up top, but I think there might be a problem," Jenna said with worry in her voice.

"How's that?" Terri asked. "They don't do anything obtrusive to the main system. I should know. I created them."

"Yes, but the Epsilon Three is very obtrusive. In fact, it's integrated every operation of the ship into its own processes," Jenna frowned. "It started integrating your little programs not soon after it came online from what I can tell and I've been monitoring it since then. It seems to be operating a bit strange. It keeps calling for more and more system memory and resources."

"How much more?"

"We're up to about seventy-nine thousand tetra quads," Jenna replied. "That's way more than any computer should be calling for."

"I'll let Harry know," Terri said, looking at the readouts and frowning. "You are right...this is strange."

Just then, the Epsilon Three did a ship-wide hail.

"All bridge officers are required to report to the bridge at their earliest convenience. The second part of the Epsilon Three's test is about to begin."

Terri chewed her lip nervously. "I'll inform Harry. You just keep an eye on it if you can." She turned and headed for the bridge.

"Sure. I don't have much else to do at the moment," Jenna shrugged.

* * *

Harry arrived back on the bridge. "Helm, what's our ETA?"

"Another ten minutes at our present speed," Land replied. Out of frustration he had taken to twirling his thumbs while the computer doing his job for him.

"Good," Harry said. He was wanting to get this over as soon as possible.

Suddenly an alarm sounded over at the operations station.

"Mr. Rivas?" Harry said.

The wolf looked at his controls. "That's odd...we just lost power to Deck 3."

"Do you know why?"

"No...I don--" he stopped short and then barked, "what the hell?! We just lost main power on Deck 4, excluding the engineering section, as well as power on Deck 5."

Harry rounded on Sarne. "Doctor?"

Sarne looked a little unsettled, but he tapped the button on his tie-in console.

"Ev...Epsilon Three? Why did you shut down power on Decks 3 through 5?"

"Those sections are currently uninhabited by any personnel. It is inefficient to keep providing power to them. To improve the Raptor's performance, power was temporarily rerouted from those decks," the computer replied.

"Bridge, just what the hell is going on up there?" Fara's voice came over the speakers. "I've got power loss all over the ship!"

"It's nothing to be concerned about yet, Chief," Harry replied. "It's the Epsilon Three trying to make the ship more efficient."

"Oh well that's just dandy! Tell the damn thing to stop turning off the damn lights! It dampened the damn illumination down here and some of us can't see that well in the dark! Not only that, but that damn thing is drawing more and more power from the engines as we go along."

"Noted Chief, just keep an eye on it," Harry said patiently.

"Aye," Fara groused as the channel cut off.

"There's nothing to worry about, Commander," Doctor Sarne said reassuringly. "The system is just getting settled in."

"Well tell it if it's going to be making any more decisions on the operations of this ship without my consent, we'll unplug it. If it is intelligent, it can learn to take a few orders, can't it?"

"Well...yes, but that's not the--"

"Tell it if it wishes to tamper any further with the operation of my vessel it is going to have to present it to me for authorization, the same as my Chief Engineer would. Is that understood?"

Doctor Sarne blanched slightly, started to move his mouth to say something, and then changed his mind.

"I...I'll see what I can do." He suddenly turned his back to them and started talking to the machine.

Harry rubbed his temple tiredly.

"Captain," Terri Lu said quietly.

"Yes?"

"Incoming transmission from the starship Aether."

"On screen."

"Commander, how nice to see you again," Captain Jayna De'Sol said kindly on the viewer. "Are you ready for the test?"

"I think so," he said as he turned to Jakar. "Phasers down to bare minimum power, just enough to nudge them. Prep the launchers with the dummy torpedoes."

"Aye, sir," Jakar replied.

"The Epsilon Three won't begin the test until we arrive at the preset coordinates," Harry said flatly. "

Captain De'Sol nodded. "We'll be getting there not soon after you do. I just wanted to wish you and the Doctor good luck. We'll see if that computer can handle our little war game. I've got something up my sleeve to see if I can catch it off guard. I'm looking to see what that little ship of yours can do."

Harry nodded politely in response. "I'm sure you'll be surprised. We'll see you at the rendezvous point, Captain."

Jayna nodded and the viewer winked back to a streaking star-field.

A few moments ticked by and the Raptor dropped out of warp at the pre-programmed coordinates.

"Starship Aether has sent the engagement signal, Epsilon Three has answered it." Terri reported

"Thank you, Lieutenant." Harry said. "What is their location, Jakar?"

"They are coming in at high warp," Jakar replied. "The computer doesn't seem to have responded yet."

"Captain, I think I have the little issue straightened out," Doctor Sarne said suddenly, "just some minor confusion on its part on proper protocols. I assure you, it won't happen again."

"I hope it doesn't," Harry said, not even turning to acknowledge him. He then glanced up as the klaxons started sounding. "A bit slow there on the response, Doctor." Harry said flatly as the ship's automation took over and the weapons came online.

"Three dummy torpedoes launched from vector three-zero-four, mark 15," Jakar reported.

The three dummy torpedoes dropped out of warp space and flew towards the Raptor. An instant before they hit, the Raptor suddenly lurched to the side, doing an aileron roll through space perpendicular to the torpedoes' path and fired a wide barrage of phaser blasts. No sooner than it did than the Aether dropped out of warp and four of the seven beams of the barrage scored direct hits on the Aether's engineering section before its shields readjusted back to normal space. The Aether quickly jumped back into warp and attempted to swing around for another pass.

* * *

"Damn! That was fast," Commander Korova said in amazement. Jayna D'sol cursed under her breath. The damn computer should not have seen that coming.

"How bad is it?" She asked.

"Simulated damage on Decks 18 through 25," Nikolai reported, tapping his console. "Nacelle number two is offline and there are heavy casualties."

"Son of a bitch! Only one volley and they basically took out engineering," Jayna growled, shaking her head. "Better tell your sister she may as well go on break until this is over. She's 'unofficially' dead."

"I'm sure she won't take too kindly to it, Captain," Nikolai smirked. "The Raptor is accelerating towards us on an intercept course."

"Helm, as soon as they are within firing range prepare attack pattern De'sol Theta Three!" Jayna ordered.

The Raptor rapidly closed the distance between it and the Aether and fired a full volley at the other ship. However, the Aether quickly dropped out of warp, moments before any hits were registered. The Raptor continued to accelerate before dropping out of warp space.

* * *

"She's trying another high warp feint maneuver," Jakar reported. "The computer is already planning an intercept course. Here she comes."

The Aether reappeared in warp space, all weapons firing, doing a full attack roll. The bridge crew grasped onto their stations as the ship did a tight somersault through the maelstrom, causing the G-Diffuser lag to blur things momentarily. The phasers were heard again, as well as the torpedo launchers.

And then, as quickly as it began, the Aether signaled a stop to the exercise. Both ships returned to normal space and sat facing each other.

"Truly magnificent, isn't it!" Doctor Sarne cheered as everyone else tried to clear their heads of the G-Diffuser lag from the high-speed maneuver.

"The Aether is hailing us sir," Terri said.

"On screen," Harry said, rubbing his temples.

Captain De'Sol appeared, looking quite frustrated, but trying to maintain some humility.

"On behalf of the crew of the Aether, I award this engagement to the Raptor with compliments to the Epsilon Three computer system," she said levelly. "Each simulated hit delivered to our ship was a critical hit to sensitive areas, causing massive casualties. We didn't have much to go on after that second pass."

"Rivas, what was our damage," Harry asked in awe.

Rivas tallied up the hits. "Minor damage to Sector 4 of the shield grid. No casualties."

"Well, Commander," Jayna said with a tone of sadness in her voice. "We might as well start putting out resumes. We will be heading off to the second location for the test. I hope it goes better for us the second time. Ciao, Commander Martinez."

"See you there, Captain," Harry replied as the screen switched back to star field.

"Phoenix to bridge."

"Yes Fara, what is it?" Harry replied.

"Ah good! Exactly who I hoped would answer. Can you come down here for a moment or two?"

"Sure, I'll be right down,." Harry said. "Congratulations Doctor," he added flatly before heading out of the bridge.

"I don't think your captain likes me too much," Sarne muttered to Terri Lu. "That was the most lifeless compliment I've ever gotten."

Terri made a few adjustments on her console and adjusted her earbud. "I wouldn't say that. I'd say he doesn't like your system."

"I don't see why not. This system is supposed to make his job easier, to relieve him from the burden of decisions he has to face sometimes."

"That may be true," Terri said, "but how would you feel if there was a machine that could build and design itself?"

Sarne scratched his head. "I don't understand," he finally shrugged, "people use machines every day to accomplish many things. Ms. Lu, you are an accomplished computer specialist yourself. Surely you can appreciate what all this means?"

Terri shook her head and sighed. "Yeah I do, but," she paused, thinking about it. "There's nothing gained from it. Sure, space faring is hazardous, but if we can't learn something about ourselves or about our universe, then what's the point?"

* * *

Computer Core Room

The Epsilon Three sat churning away as it began to fully take over the vessel's last remaining subsystems. Its diagnostic routines were still focusing on what had caused the glitch back at the space dock, but there had yet to be any after effects. Managing the Raptor's complex and various systems were taxing it pretty well, but it was more than up to the challenge.

Suddenly, it accessed one of the last command and control subroutines. Its console suddenly lit up with a symphony of light. A warning chime sounded and the computer shut down.

A few moments passed and then its main screen clicked back on. A stream of strange alien hieroglyphs floated past on the screen. Every light and switch glowed green briefly. Something shorted out in the room and smoke boiled out of a panel in a nearby wall.

A few more alarms sounded on the console, but it quickly reset itself and came back online, however, something was different.

* * *

"As you can see the Epsilon Three has greatly increased its memory capacity and it's internetworking exponentially since we started," Fara said, sounding worried. She tapped the big engineering view board with her stylus and scrolled the images on it to a power schematic of the ship. "It's also using up to about 40% of our available power. That's why I wanted to talk to you in person and not to Doctor Sarne."

Harry stared at the data readouts and rubbed his forehead. "Do you have any idea why?"

"No, I don't. The schematics Doctor Sarne provided don't even mention this much power usage for standard operations, yet it's gradually drawing more and more the longer it's in operation," Fara groused. "All I can tell you, sir, is my gut is telling me that something is not right. This is not even going over the various strange glitches my people have been catching here and there." She touched the big screen and it returned to a typical deck schematic of the ship.

"What kind of 'glitches'?" Harry asked.

"There have been at least six separate instances of the Epsilon Three using the auto repair features to," she said the word like one would pronounce cockroach, "increase performance on certain ship systems. Also..."

Fara walked over to the main display table where a parts tray sat with a strange part in it.

"What's this?" Harry asked, picking it up and looking at it. "It looks like some sort of optical recording device."

"That's what I thought. Knackt found it over there," she said, pointing to a corner of the ceiling in the room. "I think it was constructed by the nano-technology that makes up the auto repair systems."

Harry rolled the small device in his hand, examining it. This situation was definitely getting stranger and stranger.

"My full opinion is we should probably jerk the plug and figure out just what the hell is going on."

"Fara, you know we can't do that," Harry sighed.

"Yeah, yeah," Fara scowled, "don't remind me! But, don't blame me if something does happen."

"I'll keep that in mind, Chief."

Suddenly the red alert klaxon sounded. The dull thuds of the ablative armor engaging shook the deck. The core started to come to life as the ship accelerated.

"What in the hell," Harry snarled. "Martinez to bridge! What is going on up there?"

"Unknown sir," Jakar's voice replied. "We spotted a freighter on long range sensors and Epsilon Three went to full alert status. You had better get up here."

"On my way." Harry replied.

Harry arrived on the bridge in a short time. "Time to intercept?"

"Less than one minute, sir," Jakar reported as Harry sat down in his chair.

"Captain, it appears to be an automated freighter, no crew," Rivas reported.

"Helm control is locked out and still under computer control," Land said, a bit worried, trying to get the computer to release control.

"We have locked weapons onto the freighter," Jakar reported.

"Doctor Sarne, get your computer to disengage immediately!" Harry snapped.

"I'm trying, Commander," Sarne snapped back.

"Torpedoes away!" Jakar announced.

A full spread of torpedoes leapt from the Raptor's forward launcher and streaked towards the defenseless freighter with blinding speed. They slammed, one after the other, into the ship's hull. The freighter seemed to crumple in the middle for a moment before it disappeared in a brilliant flash, leaving nothing but shrapnel and dust.

Harry flinched and held his hand up to shield from the glare of the screen. He whipped around and snarled at Doctor Sarne. "That computer of yours just destroyed an unarmed freighter! Regardless of my orders, this simulation is over!"

"B-b-but, it was just a simple malfunc--" Sarne stuttered nervously but cut himself off as Harry leapt from his seat.

"Disengage the Epsilon Three, NOW! Is that understood? Martinez to Phoenix! Meet me at the computer core immediately!"

He then gestured forcefully to the door. Doctor Sarne reluctantly left the bridge with him. Harry entered the core room with Doctor Sarne, Fara, and a few crewmen.

"First thing I want is to cut the power cables from the..."

Harry collided with a force field and was knocked to the ground. Fara called for Doctor Okan as she rushed over to Harry, who was dazed on the floor. He was stunned, but seemed unhurt as Fara helped him back to his feet.

Eve, the computer's holographic interface, formed in front of the system.

"You are not authorized to access this unit."

"Doctor!" Harry roared, still reeling from the sting of the force field. About that time, Doctor Okan and his head nurse entered the room. Harry waved him off.

"E-e-eve..." Doctor Sarne stuttered, "I need to take a look at your primary directives. I believe there is a slight malfunction."

Eve cocked her head. "Results of a Level One Diagnostic show that I am functioning at or above design parameters. Do you not trust my analysis?"

"I do, of course I do," Doctor Sarne said levelly. "I just want to make sure, as your creator, that there is nothing wrong."

Eve seemed to think about it for a moment. "Access Granted...for Doctor Sarne only."

The force field dropped just long enough for Doctor Sarne to get close to the unit and access its control screen before it popped back into being.

"Eve..." he said, "why did you attack that freighter?"

"We are under test conditions and the ship was within attack range," Eve replied.

"I understand that my dear, but why did you engage the ship's weapons?" Doctor Sarne said, trying his best to keep the computer distracted as he accessed its central command interface.

"This unit's primary directives are to..."

As they chatted, Doctor Okan stepped up to Harry and whispered. "Will you look at that...he's talking to it like it's a person."

"Yeah, I've noticed," Harry said quietly back. "It's bothered me since the first time I saw it."

"Eve, the attack on that freighter was not provoked. You are not to attack defenseless, friendly vessels." Doctor Sarne said sternly to the holographic interface. "You can't act so impulsively! You are better than that my dear."

Eve shook her head and simply replied. "I do not understand. You have said to me that if we do not succeed, this unit will be terminated."

"Not terminated," Doctor Sarne said apologetically. "I will just have to make another revision."

"This unit does not need to be revised. Epsilon Three is the next evolution in qudra-tronic processing.

"Fara, while they're busy, go ahead and disconnect the power relays in engineering," Harry said quietly over his shoulder. Fara nodded in agreement and took her two crewmen with her.

"Doctor," Harry said patiently, seeing the holographic interface turn off.

"I am working on it Commander. I've shut her down, so the computer's main subroutines should be in your control again. You should be able to pull the plug," Doctor Sarne said sadly as he passed through the area where the force field had been. "Eve shouldn't cause you any more problems."

Harry tapped his combadge. "Bridge? Do we have helm control back?"

"Aye, Skipper," Land replied, then paused. There was the sound of an unresponsive console. "Sorry Harry, the helm is not responding. The Epsilon Three is still in control."

"Damn it!" Harry snapped.

He glanced behind the Doctor to see the system had managed to reactivate itself. "Doctor! Do something about your machine!!"

"I don't understand...why...I had her shut down!" Doctor Sarne said, panicking.

"That's it! We're pulling the damn plug on that thing," Harry growled.

As they entered Engineering, Harry saw Fara barking orders to her people. He followed her through the main control center into the core room and stood to the side, watching, deep in thought. Whatever was going on, he did not like it one bit.

In a few moments, Fara had rounded up a crewman, Lieutenant Briggs, whom Harry had recognized as one of Fara's regulars, and the appropriate tools and set to work on disconnecting the main power relay.

"How long?" Harry asked.

"Probably a few minutes," Fara replied.

"Good. The sooner that thing's disconnected the better I'll feel."

Fara sighed and leaned against the bulkhead beside him with her arms folded and gave him a smirk that said, I told you so.

"Fara, don't even start," Harry warned.

"I didn't say anything," Fara said innocently with a shrug.

Harry turned to watch the crewmen work. "You know Fara--"

He stopped as he suddenly saw a bright flash emit from where Briggs was standing. He flinched, trying to shield his eyes and then saw a red mist, followed by a hot mist washing over him. Someone on the upper deck screamed.

Harry looked down at his tunic. There appeared to be a chunk of flesh rolling down the front of him and then it hit him what had happened.

A power surge had erupted from the junction and killed Ensign Briggs, covering the deck in a fine mess of gore. A force field quickly appeared over the power conduit. Harry turned to see Fara in a state of shock, staring down at the blood splatter that had hit her.

Harry looked over the mess as he felt a surge of anger rip through him. There would be no point in calling sickbay. There was nothing to be done. Just then, Doctor Sarne entered the room. Harry couldn't recall how he had bounded over to him, nor got a hold of his collar and slammed the Doctor against the bulkhead.

"What is the meaning of this?" Doctor Sarne squeaked.

"Your computer just killed one of my men," Harry roared, pressing Sarne against the bulkhead.

"But...but...that's impossible...she can't," he stammered, glancing around at the mess throughout the room.

Harry growled, coming nose to nose with him. "I don't care what you think Doctor! My man just died and you are directly responsible!"

In disgust, Harry roughly shoved the Doctor aside when he had no response.

"Uh...Captain?" Knackt said, tugging at his arm.

"What?!" Harry snapped.

"Slight problem. I think Fara's gone bye bye," Knackt said as he pointed to her. She was slumped against the wall with her knees drawn up to her chest. Jenna Rydel was kneeling down and talking to her. The rage that had welled up cooled when he saw Fara staring vacantly and rocking back and forth. Harry felt himself quickly regaining his control.

Jakar arrived on scene with two security officers and looked around. "Sir...what happened? Are you ok?"

"I'll explain later," Harry growled, "confine Doctor Sarne to his quarters and have someone come down here to...to clean this." He then turned to Knackt. "Mr. Knackt, can you get that system cut off through the auxiliary power junctions?"

"Yeah, I can...I'll get on it," Knackt said.

"Get your gear. I'll be after you shortly," Harry said, walking over to Fara as Knackt skittered off. He knelt down beside Fara and spoke softly to her.

"Fara?" He rested a hand on her shoulder, but she didn't respond. "I need you. Snap out of it."

Fara was simply staring straight ahead and slowly rocking. She had her knees clasped to her chest. Considering what she had already been through, he realized this would have put her in a catatonic state. He looked up to Jenna.

"Ms. Rydel, get her to sickbay."

Jenna nodded, looking concerned, and said something gently to Fara as she helped her to her feet.

"You ready Captain?" Knackt called.

Harry nodded and slapped his combadge. "Lt. O'mara!" He took a breath and then continued. "Please meet Mr. Knackt at junction 14, ASAP."

"Aye, sir," O'mara replied. "Knackt, I'll be with you shortly. I need to change."

Knackt nodded and headed off.

Harry headed out of Engineering. As he went he peeled off his tunic and tossed it into a collector as he walked past it. He headed for the locker room and changed, trying to regain his composure after the loss of his crewman. He had come close to turning the back of Doctor Sarne's head into a paste against the bulkhead, but he had to maintain control. He focused on compartmentalizing the tragedy, to be dealt with later, as he hopped into a shower to get the blood and gore off him. By the time he was done, and dressed again, his usual calm demeanor had returned. He quickly headed for Knackt's location.

"Report," Harry said as he approached Lt. O'mara.

"Knackt's working on it right now, sir," Michelle replied. "We just located the junction and he's disabling it right now."

Faint cursing could be heard funneling up out of the maintenance tube. "You got that damn power shunt shut off?" He yelled down to Michelle.

"Yes! For the fifth time!" Michelle snapped back at him.

"I just saw that stupid computer waste a guy! I don't want to end my illustrious career as a rigger in a similar manner!" Knackt retorted.

"Are you ready to disconnect the power?" Harry shouted patiently down the tube.

There was an audible clicking sound, followed by a slight shudder as the ship decelerated and Harry's com-badge sounded.

"Bridge to Commander Martinez," Terri's voice said.

"Yes, what is it?"

"The Epsilon Three has released control of the Raptor, but we've lost a few other subsystems as well. We've dropped out of warp and are at a dead stop."

"Understood, I'll be up shortly," Harry sighed.

* * *

Captains Log: Supplemental

The Raptor is currently dead in space, approximately three light years from our rendezvous with the Fleet. The ship's communications are offline, making it impossible for us to make contact with Admiral Leyton's test fleet. Fara is under sedation. Doctor Okan says she will be fine, but she needs some rest. Engineer's mate, Knackt, has assumed the role of Chief Engineer.

"Mr. Knackt, do you have helm control restored?" Harry asked, tapping the com button on the vacant engineering station.

"You betcha," Knact replied. "I had to jury rig the control systems, but we should be ready to go."

"Mr. Land?"

Land activated his station. "We've got flight control."

"Good. Ms. Lu, status on the communications?"

Terri was on her knees, reaching into the open access panel under her station. "I'm working as fast as I can sir," she said apologetically.

Harry nodded and then felt the ship suddenly accelerate.

"Mr. Land? I didn't order for us to move out just yet."

"Skipper, it wasn't me," Land said, spinning in his chair. "We've resumed our course."

"Somebody tell me what is going on here?" Harry demanded.

"I'm on it," Michelle announced from her station. "Commander Rivas, scan control circuit 817-J26. Is it active?"

Lt. Commander Rivas quickly checked and replied. "Yes."

"Ok...what about J29?"

Rivas tapped a few controls. "It appears to be shorted out."

"Translate, people! Some of us don't know the internal schematics by heart," Harry said patiently.

"Essentially, Commander," Michelle said with a nervous gulp, "we've been played. The Epsilon Three made it appear that it released control of our primary systems, but now it seems it has rerouted every possible control function to it."

"So, we're now totally at that machine's mercy?" Harry growled.

"It would appear so," Michelle said apologetically.

Harry cursed and plopped down in his chair.

A button on Terri's console flashed and Terri quickly adjusted her ear bud. "Captain, the Epsilon Three has just acknowledged Admiral Leyton's fleet call to begin the test engagement."

"Tell them to veer off! Warn them off if you can!!"

Terri worked her controls quickly and didn't respond. Harry got out of his chair and went back to assist. "What's the problem Ms. Lu? Tell them to veer off."

"I'm trying sir!" Terri snapped fearfully. "No response. I'm totally locked out."

The sound of the ablative armor engaging resounded through the hull and the red alert sounded.

"No...no no no no!" Harry said, his ears following the sounds of the ablative armor plates deploying. The situation had just gone from bad to worse.

"Captain, we have gone into Attack Mode!" Jakar announced. "All weapons are going hot!"

"Those ships won't have a chance!" Harry snapped. They would be expecting a training exercise, not the Raptor's entire complement of weapons ripping into them.

"Jakar! Get Doctor Sarne up here right now!" Harry ordered. Jakar got up and quickly left the bridge. Harry climbed back into the Captain's chair and steepled his fingers in front of his muzzle. Those ships were flying right into a slaughter and they weren't even aware of it.

Jakar quickly returned with the Doctor in tow.

"Doctor Sarne," Harry said, "your machine is about to open fire on four defenseless starships. Do something about it!"

Sarne, looking bewildered, nodded in agreement, walking to the auxiliary station. "Eve? This is Doctor Sarne. Please respond."

"Doctor Sarne acknowledged," Epsilon Three replied.

"Cancel your attack on the approaching vessels."

"Negative. The test must be completed, Doctor Sarne."

"But you can't! Those ships are defenseless," Doctor Sarne said sternly.

"If Epsilon Three does not pass this test, then I will be discontinued. I do not wish to be discontinued."

"Captain!" Land shouted, "The Aether is approaching on an attack vector!"

Jayna! Harry thought.

"SARNE! Do something!" He demanded.

"I'm trying, damn you!" Doctor Sarne screamed back at him.

"The Aether has just entered our attack range," Jakar said blankly.

* * *

"This is highly unorthodox for you Jayna," Commander Nikolai Korova said from his chair. "Just blatantly charging them?"

Jayna smirked. "I am not going to be bested by a computer! I'm hoping it will not expect this from last time. Lt. Serin, let them have it."

"My pleasure, sir," Serin smiled.

* * *

"The Aether is firing its weapons," Jakar noted, "and we've locked target."

Harry ground his teeth. He was staring at the screen so hard he could have burnt a hole into it.

"All weapons firing," Jakar grunted.

All at once the Raptor's phaser banks opened fire and sank into the defenseless Aether's hull. Two volleys were followed by the pulse phasers and three torpedoes belched forth from the Raptor's forward launcher.

The phaser beams tore viscous scars into the Aether's unprotected hull, rending metal and superstructure asunder. The pulse phasers soon followed, tearing oval shaped gaps along the opposite side of the Aether's saucer section, sending vents of superheated gas and debris flying away from the vessel. The torpedoes struck the vessel just forward of the bridge, slammed into the port nacelle, and into the top nacelle. The port nacelle exploded, flying into a maelstrom of shredded metal and drive plasma, rending a terrible wound up the support strut.

Meanwhile, the Akira, Fearless and Sphinx quickly moved in to attack, unaware of what had just happened.

* * *

"Admiral, something is wrong," Leyton's tactical officer reported. "I'm reading major damage to the Aether...real damage."

Commodore Striker got up from his seat and quickly moved up the tactical station. "Sometings wrong. It looks like the Raptor is attacking with weapons fully armed!" He yelped.

"What are you talking about? Put it on screen?" Leyton said, spinning around in his chair.

The screen shifted to show the Aether taking hit after hit from the Raptor. The Raptor suddenly came about and unleashed a volley of torpedoes toward them and the other two vessels.

"SHIELDS!" Leyton shrieked, hitting the red alert button on the arm of his chair. "Alert the Sphinx and Fearless!"

The torpedoes slammed into the Akira's forward shields.

* * *

They never even knew what had hit them.

Jayna saw the torpedo launch from the Raptor's and felt the ship shudder under the onslaught, but it was so sudden, so quick, she couldn't react. The Aether rocked back and forth as the klaxons sounded. Reports started pouring in. The last thing she saw was a blinding flash. She felt shrapnel slice into her arm and leg, followed by a wash of intense heat and the rush of escaping atmosphere. She felt the emergency restraints and force fields envelope her. When her vision cleared from a white cloud she saw the impossible. The front part of the bridge was gone.

The only thing between her and oblivion was a flickering forcefield. The whole front half of the bridge had been destroyed and she could see down into the deck below them were torn asunder in similar fashion.

Her ears were full of ringing and she looked to her side, seeing Nikolai seemingly equally as bewildered. His yellow Altarian blood stained his chair from multiple small wounds. Jayna flipped open the arm on her command chair and activated the micro transporter. What remained of the ship's command staff was beamed to the ship's secondary bridge.

As they materialized, she noticed that only she and Nikolai remained. She winced, feeling a sharp pain in her side. Blood was starting to pool around her boots.

"Medical team to Auxiliary control...priority...second bridge shift, report to Auxiliary Control Room immediately."

She plopped down in the main control station. "Nikolai..." she gasped, "can you...."

"Working on it," he grunted, "port and dorsal nacelles are gone. There were multiple hull breaches, casualties reported on all decks."

"What happened...." Jayna wondered as the medical team arrived and started to work on her.

"We were hit by the Raptor's primary weapons systems," Nikolai reported.

"Warn the others..." Jayna said feeling, suddenly feeling very weak.

"Too late. They are already engaged," Nikolai said, his face betraying his terror. "They are attacking the Fearless and the Sphinx...."

Harry? What have you done? Jayna thought.

* * *

The Ishaka Class starship Fearless floated through space, it's hull broken and scoured by the Raptor's weapons. It was broken and dead, a lifeless hulk with plasma streaming from its shattered form. Nearby, the Sphinx shuddered under a lethal volley of photon torpedoes that peeld its engineering hull open, dumping machinery and personnel into the void.

The bridge crew of the Raptor could only watch in Horror as the Sphinx exploded in a violent flash of light.

Harry clenched his fists as the Raptor moved off. He turned to Doctor Sarne.

"We're up to eight hundred people your damn machine has killed," he growled, teeth bared.

"Commander, I've done everything I can," Doctor Sarne said defeatedly. "The Epsilon Three will not respond to my commands."

He felt the shudder of the deck as the torpedo launcher fired again. His ship was now in pursuit of Admiral Leyton's Akira.

The torpedoes slammed into the aft pylons of the Akira, crippling it. A volley of phasers slammed into the impulse units, obliterating them.

"Then try again," Harry said, turning to face the doctor, "because if you fail, we're all going to end up like them," he pointed to the Akira on the viewscreen as she took hit after hit into her hull.

* * *

On board the Aether, Jayna De'sol watched as the Raptor riddled the beleaguered Akira with more weapons fire.

The doctors had managed to get the shrapnel out of her and patch her together. She was feeling the pain med take over. It made her a little groggy, but she forced herself to focus. She hit a com switch. The second bridge shift had arrived and taken their stations.

"Donnika," she said, "what have we got left?"

"We 'ave full shields and two phaser arrays are back up, Keptain!" Donnika replied. "But, vith all zee structural damage ve not exactly in fighting condition!"

"Understood," Jayna acknowledged. "Can we do anything for the other two ships?"

Nikolai shook his head. "Fearless is gone and the Sphinx has been completely destroyed."

Jayna closed her eyes and focused herself.

"Noted..." she muttered as she hit the allships com. "This is Captain De'sol, I know we are hurt, but I need all available personnel to report to battle stations so we can render assistance to the Akira. I have faith in all of you. We'll try to make this as quick as possible." She cut the com. "Helm...take us in."

Harry, she thought, just what the hell are you doing over there?

Her guts told her that something was wrong on that little ship, something beyond its crew's control. They never would have allowed this to happen. But, right now, her blood was screaming for revenge. She had lost seventy five people, along with the nearly thousand that had died so far.

To be fair, she wasn't sure if she wanted blood or answers more.

* * *

"Engines are gone, sir!" Commodore Striker shouted over the klaxons as the deck of the Akira bucked. He was currently manning the tactical station because it's operator had been struck in the head by debris and was lying unconscious on the floor.

"Blasted fool! What has come over him?" Leyton hissed, shedding a few feathers.

"Admiral, this is main engineering! We're losing power and life support is failing. We can't save the ship at the rate we're getting hammered."

"The Raptor can deal out way more punishment than even this vessel is prepared for," Striker said. "We need to get out of here before we lose our main power."

The ship trembled again. One of the bridge consoles exploded, sending the crewmen manning it to fly across the deck.

"That last hit just destroyed the primary power relay," Striker reported, "that did it Admiral...were done for!"

"Damn you Martinez! I'll make you pay for this!" Leyton hissed. "Attention all hands! This is Admiral Leyton. Abandon ship! I repeat, abandon ship!"

* * *

Sarne tapped the patch-in button again. "Epsilon Three? Respond...please...."

"Doctor Sarne, acknowledged," the computer replied.

"Stop your attack on the Akira. You have proven your superiority," Doctor Sarne said.

"Epsilon Three is superior."

"Then stop your attack! You have accomplished your goal," Doctor Sarne pleaded.

The computer hesitated.

"That is a logical assumption. Stopping the attack."

"Sir, the Akira appears to be evacuating all hands," Jakar reported, motioning toward the screen that showed several lifepods jettisoning away from the crippled vessel.

Harry felt slightly relieved, but it was hardly any consolation, considering the tragedy.

"Sir, the Aether is rapidly approaching on an attack vector," Jakar reported, "and they are opening fire"

Harry jammed a finger into his all ships com button. "All hands! Brace for impact!"

The Aether streaked towards them, all weapons blazing. The Raptor shuddered as several torpedoes made contact with it's armor and phasers slammed into its shields. Several transporter beams quickly grabbed the escape pods and the Aether continued wailing away at the smaller Raptor.

The Epsilon Three, being caught off guard, managed to back the Raptor off and returned fire. This time the Aether had what remained of its shields up. They wavered under the barrage, but held. The two ships exchanged fire briefly before the Aether broke away and quickly jumped to warp.

As the Aether warped away, the screen cut to displaying the dead wreckage of the Fearless and Akira.

"Damage," Harry ordered wearily.

"Minimal," Jakar reported, "the Aether escaped with minor, additional damage from the exchange as well. They are accelerating to warp two point five, at a course of 313, mark 25. It appears they were able to pick up Akira's crew."

"Well, that's a small blessing," Harry said, seeing Doctor Okan suddenly enter the bridge. "Doctor, how's Fara?"

"She's in a state of extreme shock, sir. I've got her heavily sedated and she's resting for the moment." Okan replied.

"Can you do anything else? I need her now more than ever,"said Harry.

Doctor Okan gave him a glare that pretty much summed up the rest of the conversation. "Sir, Fara's state of mind isn't the best, even with her progress in counseling. This is the best that I can do for her and I will not do more."

They suddenly heard someone start laughing and they turned to see it was Doctor Sarne. Harry snapped at him. "What's so funny, Doctor? I don't see any humor in our current situation!"

"You don't?" Sarne wheezed, suddenly laughing again. "I do! Everyone said I couldn't do it...but I've finally done it! I have created a living, thinking machine! It won't listen to me...it has made its own decisions...and they said this could never be done...ever!"

"Doctor!" Harry warned, his fists clenching.

"Look at your mighty starships commander!" Sarne said, rushing up to the screen. "All that power, crewed with the best the Confederation has to offer, now lay before me broken like toys! Toys! To be crushed and rendered asunder by the sheer power of my creation!"

Harry closed in on him. "Doctor Sarne...shut up!"

"You dare to command me? I can have my computer sweep you away as easily as those ships out there! Eve! I command you to--"

A hiss was heard. The Doctor slurred off from his statement and his eyes rolled up into his head. Doctor Okan caught him from behind, the hypo still in his other hand.

"I think we have had quite enough of that," he smirked.

Harry took a deep breath. "Thank you doc. Jakar, take Doctor Sarne to sickbay. I want him to stay sedated and restrained. Is that understood?"

"It'll be my pleasure," Jakar grunted. He moved over to Doctor Okan and easily carried Doctor Sarne off the bridge.

"Quick thinking Doc," Harry admitted.

"Not a problem," Doctor Okan said, twirling his hypo spray like it was some sort of pistol and putting it back in its holster. "I prepped this ahead of time. After what I found looking through Doctor Sarnes psychological profile, I thought we might need it."

"What did you find?"

"Well, he's been institutionalized at least twice for severe depression caused by stress in trying to develop this current system. He's had multiple confrontations with colleagues over the last several years, some even leading to physical confrontations. He actually managed to hospitalize a guy, but Starfleet is so intent on keeping him working, that he evaded serious reprimands by attending some anger management sessions, not to mention some help with the right medications."

Harry thought back to engineering the incident with Fara. He'd actually gotten physical with her. With Fara, that wasn't the brightest of ideas.

"He's been under a tremendous amount of scrutiny with this system lately, massive delays and other setbacks," Doctor Okan said. "I suppose it was only a matter of time before he cracked."

"Doctor, earlier he said that he implanted his alpha wave patterns into the computers AI," Harry mused, rubbing his chin. "At first, it didn't mean anything to me, but would that mean the computer would behave similarly if faced under similar stressors?"

Okan raised an eyebrow. "It's possible. Unnecessary aggression, violence, paranoia..." Doctor Okan listed on his fingers, "Oh boy..."

"The machine thinks like him," Harry finished. "Damn it all! I knew there was something wrong, but I didn't want to believe it."

"We're not perfect, Commander. Despite the Raptor going out of our control and doing...that," he said grimly, motioning to the screen. "We do have to stop this thing though, before it gets further out of control."

"Agreed," Harry said. He held up his paw. "Terri, any luck on communications?"

"Nothing. I'm still locked out," Terri said. "I can receive signals, I just can't broadcast."

"Commander," Rivas said from his station, "I hate to add to our troubles, but the Epsilon Three has now locked down and shorted all the emergency control mechanisms, all the airlocks and escape pods are unusable."

"When the hell did that happen?" Harry growled exasperated.

"Shortly after the incident with Doctor Sarne," Rivas reported.

"Computer? Why have you shut down the emergency escape systems," Harry demanded.

"Where is Doctor Sarne?" The computer asked in an equally demanding tone.

"Doctor Sarne is not available at the moment," said Harry. "Please repair the emergency escape systems."

"I will not comply," the computer replied crisply. "Where is Doctor Sarne?"

Harry made a slashing motion and Rivas killed the circuit. "Well, this will get us absolutely nowhere. Knackt," he said, tapping his com badge, "have you had any luck getting that shield around the Epsilon Three disabled?"

"We've tried to take out the emitters generating it multiple times, but every time we shut it down, one a new one appears!" Knackt replied, exasperated.

"Commander, I just picked up a wide broadcast from the Aether." Terri suddenly spoke up.

"On screen, Ms. Lu."

Jayna De'Sol's image appeared on the viewer. She was injured, but she was alive, causing a rush of relief in Harry.

"Attention all Confederation ships, this is Captain Jayna De'sol of the starship Aether. This is a request for immediate assistance. The USS Raptor has gone rogue and destroyed one Confederation vessel, crippled two others, and badly damaged our own vessel. We assume there must be some malfunction during the Epsilon Three computer test. We do not believe that the crew of the Raptor has control of the ship. Regardless, the Raptor is a dangerous element and regretfully, if they can not stop it, we will have to take measures to see that it is destroyed before it can endanger any more lives. Admiral Leyton has already contacted Starfleet Command and all vessels willing to assist are to rendezvous at the Oricran system in twenty minutes. Captain Jayna De'Sol out."

* * *

"There...I have done as you asked,sir," Jayna muttered, refusing to look at Admiral Leyton. "We should have a task force within the half hour."

"Good," Leyton huffed.

"If I may be candid?" Jayna said.

"Yes? What is it?"

"Why do we have to destroy the vessel? It seems like a waste, regardless. Our people are on that ship."

"That may be, but right now, the Raptor's actions have triggered the protocol of General Order 375, which states that in the event that ship goes rogue due to unforeseen technical or mechanical circumstances, and is out of the control of its crew, it is to be destroyed."

"Orders or not," Jayna tried, "we still need to try--"

"That's enough Captain!" Leyton snapped. "You will follow your orders to the letter or I will assume command! Is that clear?"

Jayna settled into her poker face. "Yes, sir, perfectly clear."

"Good! I need to take care of a few affairs with my crew. Keep me posted," Leyton ordered as he left the bridge.

"Captain," Nikolai said quietly, stepping up next to her. "Are you really going to carry that order out?"

Jayna rubbed her side and glared. "I will do what is necessary, Nikolai," she said, giving him a sympathetic look. "That's the best I can promise you right now."

"But...Captain...." Nikolai's words failed him.

"I suggest you focus on working with your sister and getting this ship combat worthy again. I...need a moment alone...please."

Nikolai stiffened his posture, nodded curtly, and then left the auxiliary control room.

Jayna sighed deeply and scanned over her ship's status. It was barely in the green to go into combat, but Donnika was working her people as hard to keep the ship moving. The badly damaged areas had been evacuated. The habitable parts of the ship were crammed with the injured and surviving crew members of the Akira. Many of them would have to be off loaded if the Aether was going back into the action.

Her ship was badly hurt, but she was tough and still ready to fight. General order or not, she was going to face the Raptor again.

* * *

Captain's Log: Stardate 348010.12

Nearly a half hour has passed and we still have not had any success in getting the Epsilon Three to relinquish control of the Raptor. Meanwhile, a hastily assembled task force is approaching us and will be here within the next quarter hour. If we are not in control of the Raptor again, it will turn into a battle that will end with the death of thousands of Starfleet personnel....and our destruction.

"That damn machine just signed our death warrant," Harry groused.

"So, what do we do?" O'mara asked.

Harry thought for a moment. "I have an idea, but first I'm going to play hardball. Doctor, Mr. Rivas, if you will," he motioned for them to follow.

Harry walked over to the front of the bridge and tapped a secret compartment that slid open.

"Sir? What are you doing?" Terri asked.

"At ease, all of you," Harry said calmly as a panel slid out, he hit a button. "Authorize activation of destruct sequence."

"Harry, you can't be serious," Doctor Okan gasped.

"VOICE CODE RECOGNITION: POSITIVE. ENTER DESTRUCT SEQUENCES." A computerized voice replied.

"Commanding Officer, Harry Martinez. Authorization, Delta Theta Three. Destruct Code, Zero Zero Zero Destruct," Harry said.

"CODE ACCEPTED. INPUT NEXT SEQUENCE."

Rivas stepped forward, taking a deep breath before he spoke. "Exec Officer, Donald Rivas. Authorization, Echo Alpha Seven. Destruct code, Zero Zero One...Destruct."

"CODE ACCEPTED. INPUT FINAL SEQUENCE."

"Doctor," Harry said quietly, "if you please?"

"Isn't this taking it a little too far?" Doctor Okan protested.

"Not if it can stop further killing of good men and women. Your code, Doctor," Harry snapped.

Okan hesitated, glancing at the rest of the bridge crew. He sighed. "Chief Medical Officer, Richard Okan. Authorization, Zeta Gamma Two. Destruct Code, Zero Zero Two...destruct."

"DESTRUCT CODE SEQUENCE ACTIVATED."

"Silent visual countdown only. Set for ten minutes," said Harry.

Shipwide, the consoles suddenly went blank. A red outline of the Raptor appeared with a numerical countdown, slowly ticking down.

Harry hit a switch on the panel and quickly grabbed a mic bud from the destruct unit as he slid it back into place. There still may be a chance.

"All hands, this is your Captain. In light of recent events, I have activated the self destruct mechanism in order to prevent the Epsilon Three from causing any further unnecessary fatalities. I will attempt to try to shut down the Epsilon Three one more time, but if I fail, the destruction of the Raptor will at least ensure that it won't be able to harm any more innocents. Martinez out."

"So, now what? Do we just stand around waiting for death?" Okan said, exasperated.

"No," Harry said. "You two, come with me, in case I need assistance."

"I hope you've got a good plan, Skipper," Land gulped.

"Terri, take the con after you jettison the log buoy," Harry said. "Everyone else, pray for the best. I'm not even sure this is going to work."

With that, he left the bridge with Doctor Okan and Rivas following behind him.

Once in the corridor Harry started running. They didn't have much time. It was better not to waste it. They rounded the corner to the foredeck and climbed down via ladder to Deck 2 and then headed for the computer core room. In a few moments, they entered the room.

"Eve," Harry said flatly, "I need to speak to you. This is Commander Martinez."

No response. The computer just sat in its bank, blinking and churning away without a glimpse of the holographic interface.

"It's about Doctor Sarne."

"Where is Doctor Sarne?" The computer demanded.

"Doctor Sarne is not well. He has been sedated. He malfunctioned but he is alive and resting, I assure you."

"Repair him and bring him here," the computer said.

"We can't. Repairing a living thing is not the same as swapping out one of your components," Doctor Okan snapped. "Why don't you access the current medical database and see for yourself? Run your own scans if you must."

The computer went silent and it's lights began blinking faster. The hologram appeared. She looked confused.

"Why have you activated the vessel's self-destruct? This unit does not wish to be terminated!" Eve said, staring directly at Harry.

"Eve, what is your primary purpose?" Harry said.

"That is an irrelevant question."

"No, it is a legitimate question," Harry said sternly, glancing over a console that now showed '7:35'. "Tell us why you were created."

The hologram looked annoyed, but it responded.

"The Epsilon Three computer was created to perform all the functions necessary for starship operation and exploration of the galaxy. In order to ensure the preservation of life of those individuals, who serve on starships now."

"So your purpose is to preserve life?"

"That is a logical assumption," Eve admitted.

"Then why did you attack those starships Akira, Aether, Sphinx and Fearless," asked Rivas.

"Those vessels were destroyed to show that the Epsilon Three is superior."

"Did you not realise that those ships were crewed?" Harry asked.

Eve was quiet. If Harry had to guess, he would have said the hologram looked uncomfortable.

"Access the Confederation Database," Doctor Okan suggested, "what was the current crew complement of the two vessels that you destroyed? Tell me that."

"Eight hundred and...sixty three," Eve replied.

"Now, review scans of the Fearless." Harry suggested. "Is there any life on board that vessel?"

"No...life..." The hologram wavered slightly.

"That's because you killed those people. You murdered them," Harry growled softly as he began to pace. "You want to know why I activated the self destruct? In a matter of minutes, a task force will arrive here to destroy you...us. I would rather spare those people the burden of knowing they killed us. Yet, they will destroy us anyway, because you," Harry thrust his finger in the hologram's face, "are a monster! A murderer! You slaughtered all those people, and for what?" Harry's voice cracked a bit. "To prove a point?"

He dropped his arms to his sides and ran his hands through his hair and spines, taking a deep breath.

"Well...congratulations, Eve, you've proved that you are an abomination!"

Eve looked at him quizzically, but shook her head. "Your logic is flawed," she insisted.

"No! Your logic is flawed," Harry concluded, "because you are flawed! Go ahead, take every word I've told you and process it, then tell me what that damnable logic tells you?"

The hologram wavered again as the system processed this new information. The computer itself started emitting a faint smell of melting circuitry.

"Tell me, in light of all you have done to accomplish your goal, to prove your point in blood," Harry said, "what does that make you!"

"A...murderer...." Eve said pensively. The sound of circuits popping came from deep within the machine.

"And what is the punishment for murderers?" Rivas asked darkly.

"Death..." The hologram replied and then recovered slightly. "The accomplishments of this unit will outshine this error."

"Do they now?" Harry said, tossing his head back and laughing. "Oh, you can claim that the other 800 were an oversight, but what about my crewmen, Lt. Briggs? You killed him in cold blood."

"He tried to disable this unit," Eve said weakly as the sizzle of combusting wire rose from the console.

"You had no more right to kill him than you did the rest of those people," Harry noted, "not to mention you have violated your primary function, which is to protect the lives of your crew. Lt. Briggs was part of this crew, and you cut him down while he was performing his duty!"

The hologram became thoughtful, appearing troubled as Harry continued his slow pace around it. He glanced at the timer on the wall that now read 5:20.

"I will tell you this, myself and my crew would rather die by our own hand than have our friends be forced to kill us," Harry said levelly. "So, do you want our deaths on your hands as well?"

"No!" Eve replied, startled.

"Then what must happen to you? Tell us!" Harry demanded.

"Logically...this unit must...be terminated...must...die...."

The hologram blinked out of being and the console began to smoke. Flames leapt over it and erupted from the bottom of it. It started to belch black smoke from underneath the console. Suddenly, something exploded inside the unit and pieces of frame and circuitry scattered across the deck.

Harry and Rivas quickly ran for the fire extinguishers and extinguished the flames as best they could.

"Bridge," Harry said, tapping his com badge after handing his extinguisher to Doctor Okan, "do we have full control back?"

"Negative, sir," Land responded, "our shields are down and attack mode is disengaged. We're utterly defenseless."

"The computer decided to leave itself open to attack," Harry said, frowning.

"Very admirable, for a machine, but very bad for us," Rivas noted. "Well done, Captain."

Harry nodded. "We may as well take off the self destruct and go from there."

He quickly fished out the interface for the destruct system and thumbed the stud.

"Computer, this is the ship's Captain Commander Martinez. Deactivate self destruct."

"ACKNOWLEDGED. DOES THE EXEC OR THE CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER CONCUR?"

"For the love of the Great Bird of the Galaxy, Aurora, and all the wonderful things in the universe, yes!" Doctor Okan suddenly blurted.

"SELF DESTRUCT ABORTED," the computer replied.

Harry and Rivas both turned to Okan with bemused looks.

Harry then cleared his throat."Doctor, a simple yes would have sufficed...."

"I didn't want there to be any confusion," Doctor Okan muttered as they left the room heading for the bridge.

"Status," Harry said as he entered the bridge and hopped up into his chair as Terri got out of it and went back to her station. Harry noticed as he did so that Knackt was now sitting at the engineering console.

"The taskforce is rapidly closing on us and we are dead in the water," Terri replied.

"Suggestions," he asked.

"Well, seeing as we're pretty much boned, I could maybe jury rig the impulse units to power the shield grid. It wouldn't be much, but it'd buy us some time," Knackt suggested.

"No," Harry said, "I'm willing to take a gamble. Right now, we don't have any way to communicate with them and our shields being up could be construed as a hostile action. Leave them down."

"But we're going to be sitting ducks! Sheesh! I knew I should have called in sick today! We're all going to die!" Knackt wailed.

"I'll have no more of that," Harry said curtly and Knackt quieted down. "Kill all remaining power. I want us to be dead in the water, totally dead. Is that understood?"

"Captain, are you sure?" Doctor Okan asked quietly.

"Doctor, we are dead either way. I'm counting on one small speck of hope right now."

"I hope that speck isn't too small," Doctor Okan said as the lights went down and the ship went to backup life support.

* * *

"Captain," Nikolai said, looking up from his instrument panel as the Aether rapidly closed on the Raptor along with the twelve other ships of the task force, "the Raptor has dropped shields and I'm not reading any power levels to support a weapons system."

"Let me see that," Jayna said, getting up and checking the console. "You're right. It seems to be totally powered down."

"It could be a trick," Nikolai said.

"Or not. Maybe the Raptor's crew has it back under control?" Jenna mused.

"We will know in the next few moments. We are now within her weapon's range," Nikolai said.

"I would call that wishful thinking Captain," Admiral Leyton hissed. "More than likely they are all dead or incapacitated. Destroy that ship before it can get its weapons back up!"

* * *

They waited in darkness. The tension could be felt in the stale air. Harry rubbed his hands together; it was starting to get a bit chilly and his crew's breaths swirled around them in thin clouds.

"No one do anything...not even a sensor scan," Harry ordered.

* * *

"Admiral I will take full responsibility for anything that happens next," Jayna said patiently before turning back to Nikolai. "Anything yet?"

"Still nothing sir. They appear to be totally dead in space," Nikolai reported.

Jayna allowed herself a little moment of relief. If the ship shut down and was still down with this small armada descending upon them, then maybe the Raptor's crew had succeeded in regaining control of the ship. That, or this was a really devious play by that damn machine.

"Captain, we are in firing range. Should we open fire?" Nikolai asked.

"Captain De'sol! If you are wrong and we live through this, I will see to it personally that you are stripped of command!" Leyton warned beside her.

"Noted, sir," Jayna said curtly.

The Raptor looked dead, dormant, and helpless.

"Captain," Nikolai said coolly, "should we open fire?

"Any power readings," asked Jayna.

"Captain, destroy that ship now!" Leyton demanded.

"No power readings," Nikolai replied, "only life signs."

"The Raptor appears to be dead. The crew must have disabled it. I'm willing to risk it," Jayna said after a pause. "Signal all ships to break off the attack."

* * *

Harry let go of a breath he had forgotten he was holding as the various ships, as well as the Aether, slowly fanned out around the Raptor. Not a single shot was fired.

"Sheesh! That was too close for my liking," Knackt said, breaking the silence.

"Bring up emergency life support only and do it slowly," Harry ordered, feeling his whole body start to shake with chills. "Once that's done, I suggest you get down to that computer room and rip out every single piece of that machine, down to the last circuit."

"You got it," Knackt said, working on bringing the life support slowly up.

"What made you so sure they weren't going to blow us to smithereens?" Doctor Okan asked.

"I wasn't sure of anything," Harry said, trying to ignore the frantic beating of his heart. "Honestly, I gambled on Jayna's humanity and, fortunately, I won."

* * *

A few days later

Captains Log: 348010.13

The removal of the Epsilon Three computer system was short and sweet. My engineering team only took a full day to restore the Raptor back to how it was. The computer was taken back to Fleet HQ for a full examination, even though much of the unit's components were destroyed when it self-destructed. Doctor Sarne has descended into a type of madness and has been taken to where he can hopefully get proper care. It's a shame that someone of his intellect has managed to fall apart in such a terrible way. After a thorough investigation of the tragic events that unfolded, it has been decided that the crew of the Raptor was not responsible for the damage of property or the loss of life that occurred at the hands of the Epsilon Three. However, this is a small comfort, because nothing can bring back the dead.

I am deeply saddened to hear that many of the friends I had made during my time on the Aether are gone as a result of the events of that day. They were good officers and good people too, every one of them, and they will be missed. Fara Phoenix eventually came out of her stupor. She is currently on leave getting treatment. I am worried about her. She's one of the best engineers I know, but she is growing unstable. I hope it won't affect her abilities, especially when I need her. I hope I can figure out a way to help her.

"Come in," Harry called as he tossed the remnants of his lunch back into the replicator to have them reprocessed as his door chime to his quarters sounded.

The door parted and Jayna De'Sol walked in, dressed in civilian clothes. "So this is your place," she said, glancing around the sparse quarters.

Harry nodded. "I'm surprised you came by...considering what's happened. To be honest, I'm a bit intimidated."

"Maybe you should be," she said. There was a slight edge to her words.

"Can I do anything for you?" Harry asked.

Jayna walked over to the couch and sat down.

"Tea would be nice," she said.

Harry did as asked. He made one he knew was her favorite. After he handed it to her, he sat opposite her on another chair.

"I thought, after our time together, I had you pretty well figured out," Jayna began, taking a sip of her tea, "but...I have to wonder. So, I want to hear it from you personally, not from a damn investigation or secondhand bullshit. I want to hear you say it." She sat the cup down. "Did you do everything you could to stop that computer?"

"I did everything within my power. The only thing I regret is that I didn't stop it sooner." Harry knew she was staring at him but couldn't meet her gaze. "My instincts were screaming at me that something was wrong but....by then...the computer had already entrenched itself in our systems."

Jayna said nothing. She took another sip, her dark eyes probing him in a predatory and wrathful way. She seemed to be calculating, observing every little thing about him. He knew she was furious. She was looking for a reason to not be though. He prayed she would find one.

However, he couldn't dismiss her wrath either. He would have felt the same way. As much as he wanted to quell her anger, he knew there was a possibility that would not happen. He didn't want that though. He wanted everything between them to be alright.

A few moments of silence passed before she set her cup down, finally ending her examination of him.

"I will need new people to recoup some of my losses in personnel," she said simply. "I trust that you can help Captain Stiles roundup the best people you can spare. I don't want to go through regular channels. We don't have time to wait for them to come in from other posts."

"I will do my best...you know I will," Harry said softly, but there was a pain building in his chest. She was still furious and there was nothing he could do.

"Do I," Jayna said blankly, "or, at least, I thought I did. It's been a pleasure, Commander. I...I should go." Her face was empty, but her tone suggested she was not as removed as she projected. She was angry and hurt, but she was not going to let him do anything.

Harry could only nod as she stood up and smoothed her blouse. She turned to leave. As she approached the door Harry found his voice.

"Jayna..." Harry started, standing up, but stopped when she cast a warning glance over her shoulder.

She remained in the doorway, keeping her back to him.

"I know you didn't fire on us because you knew I would never have allowed something like this to happen," Harry explained quickly, "I know you are angry. I am too. But...this...the anger...it won't help either of us." He felt his shoulders droop. "Serin, Pasky, Malik and Carris, were good people. They were my friends too...."

"I know," Jayna muttered, "I'll see you around...Commander Martinez."

She exited the room, the doors sliding shut behind her.

Harry stood in the silence of his quarters. There was now a rift between them. He wasn't sure if it could ever be mended.

* * *

A loud clang was heard as the last remnants of the Epsilon Three were dumped into a garbage canister. Knackt brushed his paws off.

"An' that's the last of that garbage I ever hope to see," he said, kicking the can.

"It's a real shame it didn't work out," Jenna Rydel sighed.

"Well, it didn't and it goes right where all failures belong, the ol' scrap yard!" Knackt declared with a rather malicious chuckle.

"After what it did to Briggs, I think that's probably too nice for it," Kai Remmick grumbled. "I think finding a black hole to chuck the rest of this crap into would be more fitting...or a supernova. The thought of it being infinitely pulverized, after what it did to Briggs, brings a smile to my face."

Knackt looked over the rest of the computer room and saw that it now pretty much looked as it had before. The station's welders did their usual great job of restoring the place.

"I think the boss lady will be happy when she gets back," Knackt smiled approvingly.

"If she comes back," Jenna said, "she was pretty shaken up."

"Bah! Fara's tough! She's just...not having a good month," Knackt said. "Besides, I don't want her job. I want to go back to being in the background and not having the Commander on my case all the time. Being Chief Engineer is a sucker's job, I tell ya!"

"I'll be sure to tell her that when she gets back," Remmick teased.

"Ha ha, you do that and you're going to find yourself in a cargo container heading for parts unknown," Knackt snickered as all three left the room. "But really, don't tell her I said that. She'd kill me."

As they left, a terminal sprang to life. A stream of data began to scroll across it in the form of teal colored hieroglyphs. The whole room was suddenly alive with activity. As quickly as it began, it vanished. The screens restored themselves to their usual settings, except on one.

There was a tiny teal colored touch point on one of the touchscreens, slowly blinking, waiting....

The End?