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Second

Episode 2B, Special 14

IDP 2015, 2020, 2022/23

Written by Vakash

Edited by Saurex

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

Don Rivas awoke as his alarm went off. He silenced it and sighed.

"Another day." he grumbled as he sat on the edge of the bed.

He wiped the sleep out of his eyes with his paws. The starbase seemed unusually quiet as he groggily got up and opened the shutters over his viewports. The Raptor was sitting in its bay with the usual flurry of work-bees and other small support craft around it.

Don sulked over to his replicator and got his normal favorite blend of coffee and replicated a breakfast of sausages, eggs, and other things that would be really horrible for his health if they weren't synthesized by a computer.

As he sat down to eat, he mulled over his current funk. He could have had such a promising career in the Cornerian Navy. Instead, he had signed on with Starfleet as part of an "exchange program", as his superiors had called it. They said it would broaden his horizons. He ended up in a dead-end program, working on a half-assed project on a barren rock.

"You'll get a command," Admiral Kramer had said.

That didn't happen either.

A loud sigh issued from him as his fork clattered onto his plate. He leaned back in his chair, staring up at the ceiling, ears flattened against his head with a scowl upon his face.

A com chime sounded.

"Yes?" he groaned.

Terri's sweet voice came over the speaker. "Commander? I have some reports I need you to look over as soon as you can."

"Is it that urgent?" Rivas sighed

"According to Harry, it is," Terri replied.

"Alright," Don replied. "Give me some time to get ready for duty and then come by."

"Sure," Terri replied and then the call ended.

* * *

He had bathed, combed his head-fur, cleaned up his breakfast, and gotten into uniform by the time Terri finally arrived with three datapads in her hands. She held them up, smiling at him as she handed them to him.

"Sorted it all just the way you like it." she said as he glanced over the first one.

"Thank you," Don said blankly. "How soon does he want these back?"

"ASAP," Terri replied. "Do you mind if I come in?"

Don nodded and stepped aside. As he let her in, he scrolled through the reports of the various station heads.

"Has your promotion gone through yet?" he asked with only a hint of bitterness.

Terri puffed at a strand of hair that was dangling in front of her eyes. "No. Fleet HQ is dragging its feet on it, as usual. I already talked to the Captain about it and he's willing to sign off on it if they keep putting it off."

"That's good. I hope it goes through proper channels though." Rivas said, continuing to read. "Harry might sign off on it, but it could cause problems if it's not official. He's still a Lt. Commander, same as me, and you've seen how dirty they did me."

"He said he knew a few workarounds," Terri said matter of factly. "He told me Stiles could technically do it if they still wanted to be bastards about it." She looked around his quarters. "Still keeping things a bit drab I see," she chuckled. "You know, a nice picture or some objects sitting about or maybe a plant would cheer this place up a bit."

"It hasn't felt very cheerful around here lately," he said, sitting down at his desk and going through the reports. "In fact, I scuttled all the cheer there used to be."

He mentally winced, catching that faint scent of cherries that always followed Terri which was now a bit maddening that she was in the room with him. It was a scent that no longer permeated his quarters since their break up.

Terri didn't add to his commentary and idly walked down into the depression of the living room. She sat there, watching him as they could continue talking.

"I still worry about you, Don." she said, watching him carefully. "I just don't think that living in these drab conditions can be very good for you or the current mood you're in."

"I'm not in a mood," Rivas growled, still reading. "I'm glad you do care though. Thank you. At least someone cares."

Her eyes darted over to a stain on the wall where, months ago, a bottle of Cornerian whisky had almost struck her when it flew out of his hand. He'd apologized since, but that altercation had ended their relationship. Terri had seen he was sincere and they'd gradually been trying to repair the relationship into something workable.

"Don't lie to me, Don," Terri said softly. "You've been a sourpuss ever since Commander Martinez got here."

"I initially didn't like him," Don admitted, making a few annotations. "He's grown on me though. How he got this command is beyond me. Either he's here to fix this situation or he's a screw-up that they're trying to frame."

"I doubt he's a screw-up." Terri replied. "He's a decorated officer."

Rivas just grunted, doing his best to keep his opinions out of his posture. Nothing changed the fact that he was still frustrated that the echidna had out-boxed him with command of the Raptor on the line.

"Well, then why is he here?" Rivas growled. "This damn project seems to be where they stick people they don't know what to do with, or who are rejects they find useful...or weird boffins like Fara and Jenna."

"Wow, that's not a bit harsh or anything," Terri snorted. "Glad you think that about your crewmates."

Don sighed. "There are exceptions, you being one of them. Why do you stay at this dump? You are a smart young woman, so why waste your time out here?"

Terri shrugged. "It's a challenge and I enjoy it. The Raptor has one of the most complex computer systems around, even though it's a bit haphazard at times."

"Then transfer to R&D," Rivas suggested. "Go put that talent to good use."

"No," Terri said, shaking her head. "I'm doing that just fine right here."

"You honestly believe that flying mess out there is worth your time?" Don asked pointedly, stopping his work momentarily and motioning to the Raptor in its bay. "We have a hard time getting anything we requisition from Fleet HQ. Half the time the orders get lost or misplaced. This results in us sitting around half the time waiting for stuff to come in and Fara having to jury rig whatever she has to keep the Raptorfunctional."

"I'm working on that problem," Terri said. "I've started taking records of all the requests and getting certifications for all the requisitions. I've been storing them somewhere safe in case it comes up."

"Good thinking." Don said. "I think a lot of it is the Urtheans taking potshots at our relay stations. We're out here in the sticks and it doesn't take much for us to get cut off from the rest of the Confederation."

"Could be, but whatever it is, it's not on our end." Terri said, shrugging as she paused, tracing Don's gaze as he stared at the stain on the wall.

"Why don't you clean that mess up?" Terri asked.

Rivas sighed. "Because I don't want to forget my mistakes."

He was on the cusp of saying more when an alarm sounded.

"RED ALERT! RED ALERT! ALL RAPTOR PERSONNEL, REPORT TO SHIP IMMEDIATELY. THIS IS NOT A DRILL."

Terri shot up to her feet. "Race you to the gangway!" she called as he rushed for the door.

Don put the tablets down and stood as well.

"Sure," he said, "just be careful. I'll give you a head start."

Terri quickly sprinted out the door and down the corridor.

"Computer, activate locks on exit," Don said, grabbing his combadge and stepping out into the corridor. He saw Terri disappear into the turbo-lift and yelled "Cheater!" at her before the doors shut as he headed for a ladderway. Grasping both ends of the rails and hooking his boots on the sides, he slid down the shaft. He rapidly descended and hopped off the ladder, running for the turbo lift, which halted as he approached. Terri gave him a miffed look as he smirked and stepped inside.

He noticed it had stopped on a deck before to pick up their science officer, which allowed him to catch up. By now the lifts had been programmed to automatically pick them up if they were near a lift during an alert to speed up deployment. It still resulted in a mad dash to the ship, but after a few weeks, it had become a habit.

In a few moments, the lift opened up on the hanger deck and they all dashed out and down the gangway. Martinez was waiting for them by the hatch. Don always wondered how he managed to get down there first as he ran past him and into the Turbo lift with O'mara and Terri. A short trip later they were on the command deck and then the bridge. All the consoles were powered up. Don glared at the vacant con station and immediately sat at it and started all the pre-launch protocols as Terri and Lt. O'mara took their stations.

Ensign Land soon entered and Rivas got out of the con and returned to his station.

"You are late, Ensign." he growled.

"I know! I know! Almost didn't make it." Land grumbled. "I already got my butt chewed by the skipper. Disengaging umbilical support and activating impulse engines."

A loud thud reverberated throughout the ship, followed by the sound of the impulse units firing up.

Harry arrived on the bridge and slid into the Captain's chair. "We'd better be clear, Mr. Land."

"Aye, sir, we are releasing the magnetic locks now." Land replied. One final loud thud sounded as the airlock closed from the Starbase and the gangway retracted.

Don looked away at the blur on the screen as it tended to make him sick. He scanned his system operations readout.

"Set course for coordinates 312, mark 216." Harry ordered. "Initiate warp as soon as we're clear of the base, best speed Mr. Land."

"Aye, Skipper, maximum warp." Land reported.

Harry then tapped the com button on the arm of the command chair. "All hands, this is the captain. It looks like the Urtheans are attacking one of our primary subspace relays in the Orinda sector. Unfortunately, this one is manned. Sickbay, I need you to be ready to receive wounded. Martinez out."

An alarm sounded on Rivas' console. He quickly read the trouble report.

"What is it, Commander?" Harry asked, his eyes focused on the screen.

"Strange...there is a slight disruption in our plasma flow to the starboard warp nacelle," Don said.

"Slight?"

Don quickly ran a diagnostic as the ship cleared the bay doors of the station and the console reported that there were currently no problems. "Diagnostic doesn't seem to detect any problems. I'll inform Fara of it right away."

"Keep an eye on it," Harry said. "I don't like problems with my Warp Drive in the middle of a deployment."

"Understood, Captain." Don nodded as he opened a channel to Engineering. "Rivas to Phoenix."

"Phoenix here," Fara replied, sounding annoyed that she was being bothered.

"My console just reported a slight plasma variation in the starboard nacelle, I ran a diagnostic and it cleared up. Have you seen anything down there?"

"I'm aware of it. There was a slight spike of 7%, just under tolerance," Fara replied.

"Please look into it. The Captain wants to make sure we don't have any problems going into a combat situation." Rivas replied.

"Then he's on the wrong ship," Fara muttered. "I'll see what I can do. Phoenix out."

The Raptor's warp engines roared to life and the ship jumped forward into warp space.

Per habit, Don initiated pre-combat diagnostics, since all the ship's defenses were already engaged because of the alert. Everyone was quiet, except for the usual chimes as Terri Lu received reports and relayed them to the Captain. The bridge felt electric, tense, with everything being briefly highlighted by a red tinge from the monitors. The plasma conduit spike problem didn't show again, so Rivas figured it must have righted itself or Fara's people took care of it.

"Captain, I am receiving a distress call from the starship Banting. They have engaged the Urtheans attacking the relay and are requesting backup." Terri reported.

"That's Captain Jetrel's ship." Don heard Harry mutter. "Helm, what's our eta?"

"Should be there in two minutes," Jack replied.

The deck plates shuddered a little bit and the roar of the engines could be heard throughout the ship as it continued hurtling itself through subspace. Don kept a wary eye on his console as various indicators changed from green to yellow, yellow to orange, and a few changed to red. Warp eight was the maximum speed the ship could handle, but that didn't mean it could do it reliably for too long.

"Ms. Lu, let the Banting know that we are on our way," Harry ordered. "Jakar, engage the attack mode."

"Belay that order, Lieutenant," Don spoke up suddenly. "Engaging the attack mode at high warp has been problematic, Captain. We haven't worked out the bugs on that yet."

"Still?" Harry asked, more than a bit annoyed.

"Yes. It's taking longer than we thought," Rivas replied. "I've been on Fara to get it taken care of and she hasn't figured out how yet, sir."

"Thank you, Mister Rivas." Harry said, rubbing his forehead in frustration. "Jakar, wait until we come out of warp. Do you have a status update on the situation?"

"Aye, sir. I am detecting at least three Scutta's that have engaged the Banting." Jakar reported as if the little countermanding between his superiors hadn't even happened.

Don smirked. Martinez had listened to his advice. If they had engaged the attack mode, they could have stalled the engines or caused any number of malfunctions. At least the echidna was willing to admit when someone knew more about the ship than he did.

"Thirty seconds." Land announced counting down. "Twenty...fifteen...ten...."

Soon the warp engines cut and the sounds of the Raptor's protective hull plating sliding into place reverberated around the ship as the bridge's lighting changed.

"Attack mode active." Jakar announced. "I have a fix on the Banting. She's currently engaged with three Scutta's"

"What's their status?"

"The Banting's shields are at 65%, no major hull damage detected, but it is three versus one. They won't be able to hold forever."

"Time to intercept?" Harry asked.

"15 seconds. I already have target locks," Jakar replied.

"Got to love them old Darrians. They can sure take a beating," Harry said offhandedly. "Jakar, target the lead Scutta. Let them know we're here as soon as we are in range. Ms. Lu, hail the Banting."

"Aye sir, channel open," Terri replied from the back of the bridge.

"Seto, I see you are picking fights again. What did I tell you about doing that without backup?" Harry asked rather jovially.

The main viewer changed to a red-furred echidna with a neat beard and piercing, dark eyes.

"You can take your time or jump in, the waters are just fine." said Seto, grinning as the camera shook and sparks flew behind him. "I was only warming them up for you Harry."

"If you insist." Harry grinned mirthfully. "Don't complain this time if I make you look bad."

"Weapons locked on the lead vessel," Jakar reported.

"Open fire."

From ports along the sides of the Raptor's saucer, photonic missiles leaped toward the lead Scutta. Three volleys were enough to completely decimate the shields of the lighter ship. As the Raptor passed between it and the Banting, the Raptor fired a volley of torpedoes and lanced out with its phaser at the other two Scuttas, causing them to break off. The Banting went after one of stragglers, hammering away on the fleeing Scutta with its phase cannons.

On the viewer, Harry watched the lead ship trying to dip into evasive maneuvers.

"Stay on them, Jack," Harry said. "I think this one might know about us."

"Don't worry about that skip," Jack said, making the Raptor juke from side to side, staying on the Scutta's tail. "He won't get away from me."

"Jakar, what is the status of their shields?"

"They are still down," Jakar replied.

"Let's remind them why they need to stay out of our space. Take off one of their nacelles." Harry said coldly.

"Aye, sir," Jakar said, targeting the Scutta's nacelle pylon.

The twin cutting beams lanced out from the underside of the Raptor and sheared off the starboard nacelle of the Scutta. Plasma fire belched out of its side and it spun rapidly out of control.

"That's one down, two to go." Harry said. "Bring us back around."

"Make that one to go, sir," Jakar said as the screen spun around to watch the Banting shatter one of the Scutta's. "The third one is escaping."

"Break off the attack," Harry ordered. "We made our point. Jack, take us to the relay. Mr. Rivas, form an away team with Doctor Okan and get the injured tended to."

"Aye Sir," Rivas said. "Jakar, you're with me."

"Of course," Jakar nodded, following Rivas as he left the bridge.

* * *

Several minutes later, Doctor Okan, Nurse Twila, two EMTs, Jakar, and Rivas materialized on the relay station's transporter pad. The air was filled with smoke and the fire was everywhere.

"I'm glad you're here!" Rivas heard a female Cabarran say as she approached. Her red uniform was scorched and torn, her red head-fur was a tangled and frizzed. "We've got wounded and our medical officer died in the attack!"

"Commander Rivas. You are?" Rivas said crisply, glancing at her pips and seeing they were the same rank. She seemed panicky and he needed her to be calm if she was in charge. She blinked, her training kicking in enough to bring her back to the situation at hand.

"Commander Dellar." she replied with a slight crack in her voice. "Sorry for the mess, it's been a rough few hours."

"Don't worry, ma'am," Okan said confidentially. "I will do my best to help your people. Lead the way."

"Before you go, were there any intruders that beamed over?" Rivas asked.

"None that we know of." Dellar replied. "They just showed up and kept blasting us. We sent a distress call, but only one ship responded. The station is in pretty bad shape, as you may have noticed."

Rivas glanced at Jakar, giving him a slight nod. Jakar drew his weapon.

"I guess we're going to secure the area then." Rivas said as he hit his combadge. "You can go Commander. We'll secure the area. We don't want any more surprises."

Commander Dellar nodded and then led Okan out of the transporter bay and into the small stations.

"Rivas to Raptor. send over the security team and a damage control team as well."

"Acknowledged." Chief O'bren responded over the com.

Shortly after that, four security officers beamed aboard with weapons drawn. Fara, Briggs, Knackt and Remmick appeared just a few moments later, carrying several toolkits.

"You just had to drag me into this, didn't you?" Fara scowled as she stepped down off the pad

"You wanted the position, Chief. If you don't, I'm sure Lt. Kurtzman will take your place and we can find you a consulting position with the dockmaster." Rivas growled. He wasn't in the mood for Fara's particular brand of insolence at the moment

Fara bared her teeth and hissed at him. "Come on boys. This hulk isn't going to fix itself." She said, attempting to shove past Rivas. All she managed to do was bounce off of him, eliciting an irritated snarl from her as he glared.

Jakar gave Rivas an inquiring smirk.

"She works faster when she's mad." Rivas smiled as Fara muttered all the way down the corridor. He then turned to the security team. "Make sure we don't have any intruders aboard. Keep an open com channel at all times.Jakar will be with me. Keep your heads up, now move out!"

The security team split off into pairs and disappeared into the depths of the station. Jakar and Rivas made their way further into the station as well. Rivas couldn't tell if Jakar was nervous or not. It always was hard to tell what he was thinking. Jakar's eyes were rapidly darting around the corridor.

"Nervous big guy?" Rivas asked with a slight smirk.

"I don't get nervous." Jakar grunted as if he'd been insulted. "I'm keeping my wits about me, as should you."

"Alright alright," said Rivas with a slight eye roll. "You don't have to get cross about it. Let me know if you see anything."

"You could be using your tricorder, just in case my old eyes miss something." Jakar growled with a deepening frown.

Rivas chuckled softly, shaking his head as he activated his tricorder. He keeping glancing behind them, his phaser drawn in his other hand.

"Quit being so twitchy," Jakar grunted. "You'll make me nervous if you keep it up."

"Noted, Lieutenant," Rivas said annoyed, but he kept glancing back, just to be safe.

* * *

Later

The relay station was in shambles. The damage was extensive. Jakar and Rivas had to backtrack several times to find a way around corridors that had collapsed or were filled with fires that were still out of control. They cleared what they could until they ran into their security team.

"I am pretty sure if there is anyone stowing away on this station, they have a death wish." Rivas muttered, closing his tricorder and holstering it.

"Yep," Jakar grunted.

There was a loud groan from somewhere in the station and the lights flickered.

"That's not good." Rivas said, eyes darting around, searching for signs of danger.

"I would recommend another check once repairs are completed." Jakar suggested, unphased by the strange rumblings from deep within the station.

"I'll trust you to handle that," Rivas replied as his combadge beeped and he acknowledged it. "Rivas here. Go ahead."

"How bad is it?" Harry asked.

"Pretty bad. I don't have any reports on casualties yet, but there is some heavy structural damage. It's going to take some work to fix this place up." Rivas said.

"I'll see what we can do for you, Commander-"

Suddenly there was a violent shudder and the sound of an explosion from deep within the relay.

"Phoenix to Raptor! We've got a problem!" Fara barked, cutting into the channel. "The main reactor is not stabilizing and the emergency shut offs are gone! We've got a meltdown on our hands and there's gonna be one helluva spike in radiation in about four minutes."

"Fara, get your people out of there!" Harry snapped. "Commander Rivas! We're going to pull the away teams and survivors off the station immediately."

"Understood. We're standing by for transport." Rivas replied.

Rivas and Jakar braced themselves as an explosion shook the entire station.

* * *

On the screen, an explosion ruptured the hull of the relay station. Harry flinched as he watched.

"Bridge to Chief O'bren," Harry said, tapping the com on the chair. "Hurry up and beam everyone you can directly to the cargo bay. We'll sort everyone later."

"We have locks on everyone already. Energizing now, sir." O'bren replied over the com.

"R-r-reactor critical! It...it's going to blow!" O'mara reported.

"Mr. Land, as soon as we get the all-clear from the transporter room, take off, any heading, warp one!" Harry ordered.

* * *

The next thing Rivas knew, he was in one of the Raptor's cargo bays, along with his away team and whomever Chief O'bren could get a lock on. The loud droning of the Raptor's engines reverberated through the hull, indicating they had gone to warp.

"Well, that was certainly unexpected." Doctor Okan grumbled, immediately returning to treating one of the station personnel. "Okan to sickbay. We've got wounded for triage. If you could all make some room? If you aren't injured I don't need you getting transported to sickbay." He quickly tapped on one of the unconscious crewmember's com badges three times and they disappeared in a swirl of transporter energy. Okan repeated this process two more times before leaving with the less severely injured and still conscious in tow.

"Martinez to Rivas, are all crew accounted for?" Harry asked.

Rivas glanced around, taking a quick headcount before replying. "All our people are accounted for, sir," he said. "I don't know about the relay crew though."

"O'bren swears he got everyone off before it exploded," said Harry. "I hope he is right."

"One moment, Captain." Rivas said, tapping his badge twice to hold the com as he motioned to Dellar and she walked up to him. "Are all your people accounted for?"

The Cabaran did a quick head count and nodded. "There were 20 of us stationed here and no one is missing."

"Good." Rivas tapped his badge again. "Sir, the station Commander says all her people are accounted for."

"Exceptional Commander," Harry said through a sigh of relief. "We'll see you when you get back to the bridge, Commander Rivas. Martinez out."

Fara and her team were already leaving; they all looked frazzled and dirty, but no worse for wear. Jakar wrangled the security team and they exited the bay soon after.

"The rest of you, come with me and we'll assign you quarters for now," Rivas said to the half dozen remaining crewmembers.

"Lead the way," Dellar said wearily. "We owe you."

Rivas led the uninjured crewmembers, numbering seven when counting Dellar, out into deck four.

"We got tight quarters here and only a few turbolifts," Rivas explained as they walked. "If anyone is feeling up to it, we do have quick access ladders to head up to the next deck where quarters are located. We'll get you guys set up so you can get some rest. Crew Mess is on Deck 2."

"Commander? If you'd head up first I can get everybody up there." Dellar said. Rivas nodded and Dellar smiled, turning back to her bedraggled crew. "Ok everyone, nice and orderly, we'll all reconnoiter one deck up. Have some patience and we'll all get some rest and food."

Her crew seemed to brighten up a little, most of them nodding. After a few minutes, everyone was up on Deck 2. Terri Lu had come down with the quarters assignments on a pad, which Rivas took thankfully.

"Ok everyone, it's gonna have to be two of you per quarter. We're a small boat and space is a premium." Rivas said. He quickly read off the names and room numbers and the small crew dispersed, each pair disappearing into their assigned rooms until finally only Commander Dellar remained.

"I don't have to bunk with anybody?" Dellar asked.

"Well," Rivas said with a slight smile, "you get officer quarters, being a commanding officer. I'm sure you'd appreciate the privacy, given all you've been thorough. We always keep a few such quarters on hand for dignitaries and passengers."

"Thanks," she said, smiling at him.

"Of course. This way," Rivas said, heading down the corridor.

Dellar lowered her voice as she caught up with him. "I wanted to thank you for coming to our aid."

"Think nothing of it. It's all part of the job." said Rivas.

"We didn't get to exchange proper names," Dellar said. "I'm Sondra."

"Don. Pleasure to meet you." he said. "Sorry about being a bit gruff earlier. We were a bit under pressure."

Sondra chuckled. "No worries, Don. I appreciate the save. Your little verbal slap got me back into my senses."

They stopped outside a door and Rivas keyed in the access code. The door slid open, revealing the standard single room quarters of the Raptor, except it had a slightly larger single bed and the normal amenities.

"It's not much, but you'll be able to get some rest." Rivas said as he showed her in. "And, don't worry, no one's got anything much better than this. My bunk is barely twice this size."

Sondra laughed. "This will be perfect. Thank you, Don. If you don't mind, I think I'd like to get some of that rest you mentioned."

"Of course," Rivas said with a nod "Rest well."

She smiled warmly at him as the doors closed.

Rivas headed back to the bridge, but before he could take his station Harry spoke up.

"Don't get settled in yet, Commander."

"Sir?" Rivas asked wearily.

"I've been invited over to the Banting," said Harry. "Would you care to accompany me?"

"Why, sir?" Rivas groused. "This is hardly the time for a social call, Captain."

Harry frowned at him. "Captain Jetrel prefers to confer serious matters in person and we have a serious matter on our hands. Now, I asked nicely. Would you prefer I make it an order?"

"No sir," Rivas said crisply.

Harry glared, but stood up and straightened his uniform. "Very well. I'll expect you in the transporter room shortly. Jakar, you have the bridge."

Terri tsked after Harry left the bridge. "What was that about?" she chuckled.

"Whatever it is, it's stupid," Rivas grumbled. "We could easily have the discussion in the lounge over com channels. We're hanging out here in a possible hostile situation."

"The only one I see in a hostile situation is you, Commander." Jakar grunted, getting up to move to the command chair.

"Did I ask for your opinion, Lieutenant?" Rivas snapped.

Jakar clammed up and stood at attention. "No sir, you did not."

"Exactly," growled Rivas, glaring at everyone as he stormed off the bridge.

"What crawled up his butt and died?" Land asked from the con once Rivas was gone.

"A lot of things," Terri said.

"That is putting it mildly, Ensign." Jakar said, coming out of attention and sitting down in the Captain's chair. "Stay sharp everyone."

* * *

Rivas hustled down to the transporter room. He stepped onto the pad as Harry stepped through the door.

"Everything in order, Commander?" Harry asked.

"Yes, sir," Rivas panted.

"Very well," Harry said, nodding. "Mr. O'bren, do you have a transporter lock?"

"Aye sir, just got confirmation from the Banting's transporter chief." the Avian replied.

"Excellent, energize," Harry ordered.

With a swirl of energy, they appeared on the Banting's transporter pad. In front of them stood a male, red furred Illari Echidna. Rivas spotted his captain's pips and made the correct assumption on who this was.

"Commander Martinez," Captain Jetrel said, "welcome aboard the Banting."

"Thank you, Captain Jetrel. This is my first officer, Commander Rivas," Harry said, gesturing to Rivas.

Jetrel held out his hand and Rivas shook it with practiced courtesy.

"Captain," Rivas said, "a pleasure to meet you."

"So, Harry, now that the formality is out of the way, I see you finally managed to get yourself a ship?" Jetrel asked amusedly.

"I see you've barely managed to keep yours, Seto," Harry smirked. "It looks like it could use some work."

Seto's face flashed a glare for a split second, but the menace faded to fondness and he slapped both hands down on Harry's shoulders amicably. "It's good to see you again buddy. Thanks for the assist."

"Any time, Captain," Harry smiled.

"Let's adjourn to my ready room," said Captain Jetrel with a smile. "We have some serious matters we need to discuss."

They followed Captain Jetrel from the transporter room. They entered a turbo lift and went up to the first deck. Rivas hadn't been on a Darrian class before, at least an operational one. He couldn't shake the feeling that even with its rounded, older style corridors it still felt a lot like the Raptor.

"This brings back some memories," Harry said wistfully.

"How's that?" Rivas asked.

"My first assignment was in a Darrian class," Harry explained as they walked. "I was its Chief Engineer."

"I bet you had your hands full." Seto chuckled. "These old ships are reliable, but they are very temperamental. Starfleet seriously needs to retire the few that are left. Maybe I can trade up to that one you got, eh Harry?"

"She's one of a kind for now," Harry said.

"I'll swap you anyway," Seto said, grinning.

"Trust me, the Raptor is more trouble than she's worth." Harry grinned wanly.

The lift slid to a stop and they exited, heading for the ready room. Once they were inside, Captain Jetrel sat at his desk and motioned for Rivas and Harry to take the seats across from him.

"So," he began, "I wanted to have this little chat in private because I've been out here the last few weeks chasing Urthreans from these relays and reporting these disturbances to Starfleet. Strangely enough, no one seems to be too damn concerned with any of this."

"Really? That's strange." Harry said, scowling.

"I'm actually surprised anyone responded to the distress call." Seto chuckled darkly.

"If I may, sirs?" Rivas interjected. "There does seem to be a disturbing amount of failure in this sector when it comes to communications. I've been stationed at Starbase 186 for a few years now and we've always had issues with reports or even equipment requests just disappearing."

"Sounds like someone or something is playing silly buggers with our communications network to me, Commander." Seto mused.

"It could be the Urthreans," Rivas noted. "However, the connecting relays back to Fleet Command are well within our space. These instances happen even when there is no Urthrean activity in the sector."

He glanced over to Harry, whose brows were knitted. He seemed to be boring a hole in Captain Jetrel's desk as he rested his chin on his hands, lost deep in thought.

"You say this has been going on for a few weeks?" he asked softly.

Jetrel nodded.

Harry looked up with a wicked smile on his face. "Well, it's a good thing you got a hold of us. Let's give the Urtheans a reason to end this nonsense."

"Sir," Rivas said apprehensively. "If we're this far out from the Starbase, they won't be as protected."

"True," Harry relented, "but Xox wants the Raptor. He doesn't care about Starbase 186." Harry sat back. "If we're out here and Xox hears that we're knocking his ships around? Oh, he'll show up."

Rivas shrugged. All of this sounded reasonable, but he wasn't thrilled they could be out on the frontier for god knew how long kicking Scutta's around.

"Besides," Harry added, "one of our duties is to protect the border and the relays are on the border to maintain communications traffic for the convoys. So, I would say this falls way within the scope of our mission."

"Well, I've never known you to turn away from a good scrap, especially if it was justified," Seto said with a smirk. "So, are you in or what? Don't make me order you to assist."

Harry grinned. "Of course! Now, where do you want to start?"

Seto grinned as he reached over and typed a few commands on his terminal. On the wall-mounted viewer behind him, a map came up, displaying where the attacks had happened so far.

"Their next target is most likely the Sketra Research Station," Seto said, pointing out the location on the map. "It's fairly close to the border and the relays they have hit have disrupted their transmissions. I don't know why the Urthreans are interested in it, but I'd bet my pips that's their next target. It's the only one they haven't hit yet." Seto sat back in his chair as the other two looked at the map. "I have managed to get a few other ships out here to cover for us while the Banting's been doing the grunt work. Captain De'Sol is watching the Irobi sector station and Commander Lafeyette and Ivanova have been covering the other two that we successfully stopped. So, with your help, we're hoping maybe we can convince them to knock this off."

"What ships do they have?" Harry asked

Rivas was curious too. He wasn't familiar with any of the Captains that Seto had mentioned. It would be nice if there was some extra firepower out here.

"De'sol has a brand new Akira class cruiser. Lafayette and Ivanovna are running Ishakas, the Minos and Persius respectively. "

"Sounds like we've got enough firepower if we need it," Harry said, nodding.

Rivas nodded in agreement. Ishakas were older designs, but they had once dominated the Fleet's ranks, along with Darrian's, and they were doing a better job of keeping up with the evolving technology of the Fleet. He also knew that once the Predator class ships-similar to but not exactly like the Raptor-started rolling out, the older Darrians would be put to pasture as purely science or training vessels or decommissioned for scrap.

"We've got even more with your ship joining the fray." Seto said with a grin. "You have racked up a bit of a reputation in the Fleet with the Raptor, Harry. I'm sure the same thing can be said with the Urthreans as well."

"I'll admit our infamy has caused them to run a bit more than they used to." Harry said, "but that's all it is."

Seto rolled his eyes and looked at Rivas, pointing to Harry. "Can you believe this guy? Takes out the damn Borg, saves a Starbase, bloodies the Urthean's noses to boot, becomes a hero and the talk of the whole damn quadrant and he acts like it doesn't go to his head!"

Rivas smirked, but didn't say anything. Harry's humility was a bit frustrating at times, but Rivas found it reassuring in a way. Rivas hated to admit it, but Harry keeping his accomplishments to himself, downplaying them whenever anyone else brought them up, it made him seem more normal.

Harry scowled. "I'm not a hero. I am just a Starfleet officer. I perform my duty like anyone else would in my place ."

"You never change, you know that? Alright, I'll knock it off." Seto chuckled. "Back to business. The Banting is tough, but she needs some extra care. I'm sure there's a list of things we could use some extra hands to fix, because my engineers are run ragged at this point. If you could spare a few people to patch us up real quick, we can get under way."

"Of course," Harry said, tapping his combadge. "Martinez to Phoenix."

"Fara here. What is it, Captain?" Fara sounded annoyed as she responded.

"Assemble a team of your best people and transport over to the Banting to render some assistance with some quick repairs," Harry said.

There was a bit of a pause before Fara growled out a, "Fine."

"Five minutes, Chief, and don't make me wait," Harry added.

"Whatever," she snapped. "Phoenix out."

"She sounds feisty." Seto chuckled.

Harry sighed, rolling his eyes. "She is. Still, she's one of the best. You want something done quick, she can do it."

"Well gentlemen, that's all I have," Seto said as he got to his feet. "Glad to have you on board with this Harry."

"It's my pleasure Captain. You know I always got your back." Harry said as he and Rivas stood. "With your leave, I'd like to have a word with my Chief Engineer before you meet her. She's an acquired taste and she can come on a little too strong if she isn't told to tone it down."

Seto chuckled. "I like her already."

When they arrived at the transporter room, Fara and her team were just getting ready to disembark.

"Fara? A moment please," Harry said sternly.

Fara huffed and stopped as the others headed for the Banting's engineering section.

"What is it Harry? Do I need to rotate the damn coils on that ship too?" Fara snapped.

"No. I need you to demonstrate a modicum of professionalism while you are on this ship." Harry said. "I tolerate a lot from you, but Captain Jetrel will not. If you step out of line, he won't even give you a length of rope to hang yourself with. He'll just do it. Do you understand, Chief?"

"Have some faith in me Harry," Fara said, smirking. "You know I deliberately irritate you just to watch your eyebrows scrunch up."

As Harry's face did exactly what she had just described, she crackled.

"Ha! That! Right there!" she rolled her eyes as she straightened up a bit. "Don't worry, Captain, I'll behave."

"You'd better." Harry said, but he was not entirely convinced as he stepped onto the transporter platform with Rivas following him. "When you are ready, Chief," Harry said to the Banting's transporter chief.

A few moments later, the two of them were back in their own transporter room.

"Welcome back, sirs," Chief O'bren said cheerfully as they stepped off the platform.

Rivas felt the growl he heard from his stomach and glanced at the wall chronometer. It showed it was close to mid-day.

"Everything okay, Commander?" Harry asked. "You seem a bit off today."

"It's nothing you aren't already aware of," Rivas replied stiffly. "I'll deal. Look, it's about lunch time. Can I go ahead and take my break and grab something before we get shot at again?"

"I see no harm in it," Harry said.

God damnit! Can't you just do something to piss me off for once? The thought bounced through his head, but Rivas buried it. Instead he said, "Alright. I'll be back in an hour unless the klaxon starts sounding."

They exited the transporter bay and Harry made his way toward the bridge. Rivas ground his teeth as he headed for the turbolift. The doors parted and he stepped forward, immediately crashing into Lieutenant O'mara, who spilled her tea all down the front of his uniform.

"C-c-comander! Oh! N-n-n-o! I'm so so so...." she stammered herself into incoherence as feathers exploded off her head.

"It's fine, really," Rivas sighed as he stared down at his soaked tunic. "It's my mistake. I wasn't watching where I was going."

"B-b-b..." O'mara muttered, trying to wipe the tea off him with her talons. All she succeeded at doing was getting some of her feathers stuck to him.

"Let it go. That's an order. Get back to your station if your break is over!"

O'mara's jaw was moving but nothing was coming out as she hovered uncertainly.

"Now, Lieutenant!" Rivas snapped a bit more harshly than he had meant to.

O'mara let out a startled squawk and took off up the corridor, leaving a cloud of blue feathers in her wake.

"Damnit!" Rivas muttered to himself, shaking off the remnants of the tea. He entered the turbolift. "Deck 2!" he growled.

The lift acknowledged the command and moved down to the next deck and the doors slid open again. Rivas stepped out, still squeezing cold tea from his tunic and trying to pick the loose feathers off as well. As he headed toward the mess hall, he did his best to calm down. He stepped through the sliding double doors and replicated himself a sandwich with some chips and a soda, then he grabbed a dry hand towel off of the bar to soak out the last of the tea. He looked up to try and find a place to sit and finally noticed that the mess was fairly packed.

His eyes caught some motion. Sondra was waving him over to a table on one of the raised platforms under the viewports. Rivas shrugged and made his way up to join her.

"I was hoping I'd see you again, Commander," she said with a wide smile. "I saved a seat just for you."

"Thanks," Rivas said, setting his food and drink down on the table and sitting. He set to work with the towel, attempting to remove the tea from his tunic.

"Did you have an accident?" Sondra asked with a hint of amusement in her voice.

"I wasn't paying attention and I slammed into my science officer. She dumped her tea all over me." Rivas said, looking up at her and returning the smile. "I may have been a bit shorter with her than I needed to be. It was my fault."

"Good thing the uniforms are mostly waterproof." Sondra said.

"Yeah, but she must've had sugar in the tea, because it's gotten sticky," Rivas sighed, giving up and settling for just leaving the towel in his lap.

"You have quite the unique ship here," Sondra said. "I've never seen one like her before."

"It's because she's one of a kind." Rivas replied before taking a bite of his sandwich. He chewed, swallowed, and then took a drink before finishing. "This girl is a mostly new prototype."

"Mostly?" Sondra asked with a curious smirk.

"We took the hulk of a Darrian Class frame and our Chief Engineer sort of ran wild with it after that." Rivas replied. "It's a long story, but it was supposed to be my ship when it was all finished. Then Starfleet had other ideas."

"Ouch. That's gotta be rough," she said with a theatrical grimace. "Why'd you stay on board?"

"Stubbornness, I guess," Rivas admitted. "A foolish sense of obligation, maybe? I really don't know anymore."

Sondra laughed and Rivas couldn't help but smile. He liked her laugh.

"Maybe you just care too much?" she suggested.

"Could be." Rivas shrugged. "It's gotta be something keeping me around here playing second fiddle a captain on my ship." He glanced out the window and saw the Banting floating in space just ahead of them. He wondered how the repairs were progressing and how soon they'd be underway again.

"Well, I suppose it's the joys of our rank," said Sondra pensively, maintaining a wry smile. "Some of us get what we want and others get put on a subspace relay instead of a science vessel. Things could always be worse, right?"

"You know, you might be right." Rivas chuckled. "I guess I should be grateful. I never thought of it that way before. I'm glad you can relate."

"It is what it is," Sondra said, her smile broadening again. "It's nice to meet someone who can understand."

Rivas nodded. "Yeah. It really is."

"When we met," Sondra said, her voice and demeanor dropping a little, "you got me snapped back into focus in the middle of a crisis. I appreciate that. You have no idea how rattled I was when you showed up. Thank you for that."

"You get shot at enough and you learn to shake it off," Rivas said, recalling what he was once told when he was still a rookie. "Was that your first time?"

Sondra nodded. "First time it wasn't simulated anyway."

"Well, a relay station is hardly a starship," said Rivas as he sipped his soda. "You just sit there and slug it out hoping help comes and your defenses hold. That's a pretty rough way of doing things, not a position I would want to be in...no offense."

Sondra's smile returned. "None taken," she said.

Rivas glanced at the wall chronometer and saw his lunch break was nearly over.

"Damn! Hey, I gotta go. It's been nice chatting with you." Rivas said, gathering up his trash. "Do you want to maybe have some drinks when I get off duty?"

"Are you suggesting we go on a date?" Sondra said coyly.

"Er...I mean...I was merely suggesting a professional encounter. I didn't say it was...a...well...dammit!" Rivas gave up, realizing he was blushing.

Sondra laughed. "I'd love to spill some drinks with you, professionally or otherwise. What time?"

"Sixteen hundred? Unless we run into an alert situation." Rivas said, smiling.

"My place or yours?" Sondra said with a devilish grin as he stood up.

"Yours, if you don't mind." Rivas said. If they were going to be discreet his quarters would not serve them very well.

"Beats being alone," Sondra said, still grinning. "I'll see you then."

Rivas gathered up his waste and tossed it in the disintegrator. He gave her a look before he left and she waved at him. The day was definitely starting to look up. His mind was giddy with anticipation when he arrived back on the bridge. Terri's voice scattered his thoughts.

"What's got you in better spirits, Commander?" she asked.

"What?" Rivas asked in return, realizing he hadn't actually heard the question.

"You've got a big, dumb smile on your muzzle," Terri giggled.

Rivas made a conscious effort to erase his smile as he replied. "My day is getting better is all."

"Uh huh, sure," Terri said, giving him a coy look. She knew that look on his face, knew exactly what it meant. She scooped up a data pad and held it out to him. "Here's the mid-shift reports, Commander. You haven't missed too much. We're just waiting on Fara to get done over on the Banting."

They locked eyes briefly and he shuddered. There was a glint in her eye, one that made him think of the edge of a razor, as if to say: You got someone sweet on you, don't you? Don't fuck it up this time.

"Thank you, Ensign. I'll give these a once over." he said, quickly dismissing himself and heading for the Operations Console. He heard Terri chuckle, but he did his best to ignore her as he reviewed the reports. He noticed the Captain's chair was empty. He spun around and tapped Jakar's console.

"Where's the Captain?" he asked.

"He's having a chat with Captain Jetrel over coms in his Ready Room," Jakar replied.

Rivas' ear perked up as he heard some gentle snoring coming from the front of the bridge.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Rivas growled. "How long has his ass been asleep this time?"

Jakar glanced at the wall chronometer.

"Approximately 30 minutes," Jakar grunted.

Rivas heard O'mara trying to warn Land in a hushed tone.

"Ensign!" she hissed as quietly as she could. "Ensign Land! You're gonna get in trouble! Wake up!"

The fox didn't even stir the slightest bit.

Rivas stood up and walked to the front of the flight controls. Land was sitting rigidly, somehow still upright, and his eyes were closed. There was even an indicator light flashing on his console, showing that he'd neglected to engage the station-keeping protocols and that the Raptor was slowly being drawn toward the Banting. It would lead to an eventual collision but, from his glance, it would be a few hours at least with their slight drift.

Growling softly, Rivas reached over, corrected the error and then slapped both hands down on the center of the console's navigational read out.

"Ensign Land! The bridge is on fire and you caused a collision!" Rivas yelled in his face.

Like a spring-loaded marionette, Land bounced straight up and fell out of his chair with a startled yelp. He scrambled to his feet and started reaching for the fire extinguisher under his station before he realized that the bridge wasn't on fire and Rivas was glaring down at him.

"Afternoon, Commander," he said grinning sheepishly, realizing he'd been caught.

"Get up, Ensign," Rivas hissed. "How many times have you been warned not to fall asleep on duty?"

"I don't know...I lost count and stopped caring after about twenty?" Land shrugged.

"Did you know you left the station keeping protocols disengaged and that we were drifting?" Rivas said, glaring.

Land's cockyness whithered significantly. "Um...no...no I did not, sir."

"That is a strike against you." Rivas growled. "I will report it and not even the Captain can shield you from that. Now, go replicate some coffee, take your station, and stay awake!"

"Yes, sir!" Land snapped, looking flummoxed as he ran to the replicator at the back of the bridge, making some coffee and retaking his station by the time Rivas had gone back to his, grabbed his datapad, and settled in the captain's chair.

Rivas did indeed report Land's little nap, although he did add that the ship wasn't in immediate danger in the details. He also listed out that Land had received a verbal warning and that no further action needed to be taken. Land's disciplinary record was abysmal as it was, but he hadn't had an official verbal warning in a while. The presence of such an action on the record would probably make him think twice staying up late again, doing whatever it was he did on his off hours.

Time passed, giving Rivas time to complete reviewing the reports. Finally, a page came over the com.

"Transporter Room to Bridge. The Engineering team has returned," Lt. O'bren reported. A minute or so later Fara entered the bridge. She was smeared with some sort of lubricant and her uniform was scorched and torn in a few places.

"Commander, can we have that ship declared unsalvageable, beam the crew over and then fire torpedoes at it till there is literally nothing left?" Fara growled.

"No." Rivas said flatly. "That bad?"

"Oh, everything is up to code per their last refit, but it's all retrofits! It's a nightmare, why Starfleet would keep a ship like that going past its prime is beyond me!" She said with a huff plopping down into her chair and logging into her station.

"Do you need a break?" Rivas asked.

"Nah! Their captain is pretty cool. He fed us a lunch out of his personal stash of real food as thanks for the help." Fara said. "We even got some booze for a job well done. I'll get cleaned up at the end of my shift, more than likely I'll probably get dirty again. I'm sure Harry will come up with something else for me to do."

Harry emerged from the corridor onto the bridge from the forward port doors. "Mr. Land, I hope you have that course laid in for the Sketra Sector?"

"Sure do, Skip," Land replied.

"Excellent," Harry said as he switched places with Rivas. "Anything I need to be aware of?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary," Rivas said, nodding in Land's direction.

"I see," Harry said, glaring at Jack.

"I already took care of it." Rivas said quietly.

Harry nodded in acknowledgement before saying, "Helm engage at warp 5."

Rivas felt the thrumming of the engines through the deck plates as they jumped to warp.

"Captain Jetrel thinks that if we make it look like we're carrying on as normal we might be able to draw them out again," said Harry.

"Sounds solid enough," Rivas said.

"Both ships are going to take a long sweeping course to the rendezvous at Sketra," Harry said, bringing up the course on his display.

"Looks like, at this rate, we'll be there sometime in the morning." Rivas mused.

This was, in all honesty, a clever ruse, giving both ships a direct approach along their arcing courses to get to the Sketra relay under ten minutes at warp eight.

Harry nodded. "Unless the Urthreans make another move, at which point we'll have to make a mad dash to get there. Attention everyone!" Harry barked, capturing the bridge crew's attention. "Informal staff meeting! Terri, could you page Doctor Okan and get him on the viewer?"

"Of course, sir," Terri replied.

Once Doctor Okan appeared on the viewer, Harry began.

"After speaking with Captain Jetrel, and getting a full report from him, it appears the Urthreans have been attacking our subspace relays along the border for the last several weeks to disrupt communications. We don't know why, but Jetrel informed me that despite his pleas for help, no one has addressed this issue from Fleet Command. Captain Jetrel and I have devised a plan where we might be able to catch them in the act and put a stop to their next raid, hence the present course that we are on. How is my ship, people? Are we good for an engagement if it comes to that?"

"Everything is copacetic in Engineering, for now," Fara said.

"What about that anomaly?" Harry asked.

"We're still looking into it, but it shouldn't cause any immediate problems," Fara reported.

Harry raised an eyebrow at her. "Shouldn't?"

"Look, this ship has thousands of glitches a day and I'm constantly chasing small problems as more pop up. As far as I can tell, it's not posing any threat now," Fara said sharply.

"That's not really good enough, Chief," Harry growled back.

"It's the best I have. I have checked everything I can and for the moment it's gone. It's not like I can buy the damn ship an ice cream and have it tell me what's wrong with it!" Fara sneered. "I can't find what's causing the problem and unless you have-"

"That's enough, Fara!" Harry snapped. "I've got it."

Fara shut her mouth and sat, glaring, her arms folded across her chest.

"Jakar? How are our weapons?" Harry asked, turning to his tactical officer.

"We still have most of our complement of torpedoes and all systems are operating nominally," Jakar reported.

"Doctor Okan?" Harry asked.

"We're still tending to a packed house down here, but I'm down to five patients in critical condition. Are we going to pass anywhere near a Starbase where we can offload some of these wounded?"

"Unfortunately, no," Harry replied.

Okan ground his teeth, but nodded with a tight smile. "Understood. Just realize that we are a bit taxed down here. Taking us into a tooth-and-nail fight with the Urtheans may not be the best of ideas."

"I'll keep that in mind, Doctor. Thank you," Harry replied. "Commander Rivas?"

"I have to agree with the Doctor," Rivas replied. "We have a lot of passengers we don't normally have on board. It might be better to drop them off if possible."

"According to my knowledge, there are no civilians on the relay station's small crew." Harry said sternly. "They're all Starfleet personnel, they know the risks."

Rivas nodded, he didn't like it but Harry was right.

"Anyone else have anything to add as we proceed?" Harry asked.

No one said anything.

"Alright then. Thank you for your time Doctor, return to your duties. Everyone else, back to your stations and remain alert." Harry said, settling back in his chair.

* * *

Later

The remaining hours of Rivas' shift were uneventful. He was more than glad to step off the bridge when his shift ended. Yawning and stretching his arms, he headed towards the turbolift and found O'mara waiting for it as well.

"Getting some overtime in?" Rivas asked.

O'mara squawked and was engulfed in a small cloud of molted feathers.

"W-w-w-what?" she asked as she managed to recover from the fright.

"Well, your quarters are on Deck one," Rivas noted as calmly as he could.

"Oh! Um...I'm st-st-st-still setting up the l-l-lab on Deck five." she stammered, keeping her eyes forwards.

The lift arrived and they both entered.

"Deck five," O'mara said.

"Deck three," Rivas said and then added, "hold." He turned to O'mara, who seemed to shrink as he looked at her. "At ease Lieutenant. I need to apologize for what I said to you earlier."

"It w-w-was my fault," O'mara muttered quickly, looking down.

"No, it wasn't." Rivas said. "I had my mind somewhere else and wasn't paying attention. Snapping at you was uncalled for. I'm sorry."

"Y-y-you're sorry?" O'mara said, her eyes flicking up to his face.

"Yes." Rivas said with his best "I'm your friend" smile to reassure her.

"N-n-n-no one's ever really said that to me...b-b-before." she said, her voice warbling a bit as her eyes fell to the floor again.

"Well, I am sorry, sincerely." Rivas said. "Resume."

The turbolift began to move again. Outside the whir of the machinery, it was quiet, and the silence was tense.

"What kind of tea was it anyway?" Rivas asked, hoping the question could soak up some of the anxiety radiating off of O'mara.

"Beera tea. It h-h-helps my n-n-nerves," O'mara replied.

"Really?"

O'mara nodded.

"I'll make sure you have some when your shift starts from now on." Rivas said. "To avoid further accidents."

"Really?" O'mara said, perking up.

The lift slid to a stop at Deck three and the doors parted.

"Consider it done, Lieutenant." Rivas said, stepping out of the turbolift. "Have a good night."

"I will! Th-th-thank you, sir!" O'mara said with a slight smile as the doors closed.

Rivas walked over to the wall panel and called the galley. One of the ship's stewards responded.

"Ships Galley here. How can I help you?"

"This is Commander Rivas," said Rivas. "From now on, I would like a thermos of Beera Tea brewed and delivered to Lt. O'mara station no more than five minutes before her duty shift starts. Is that possible?"

"Of course, Commander," the steward replied. "Just plug in your authorization code and we'll see it done."

Rivas did as instructed and once his identity was confirmed, the steward responded. "We'll have it seen to. Is there anything else, Commander?"

"No, that will be all."

"Have a good night, Commander. Galley out."

"You too." Rivas said reflexively.

Feeling that he'd undone his recent wrongs for the day, Rivas headed for Sondra's quarters. He touched the door chime and she invited him inside as the doors parted. Smiling, he stepped inside.

* * *

Later

One thing that was nearly universal among space faring races was that relationships were accomplished in a rapid manner. Due to the dangers of interstellar travel-never knowing if you would make it to see tomorrow due to all manner of hazards and dangers that could befall starships-the more carnal desires tended to take the lead whenever possible. Any lasting ties, strong bonds, or long term relationships were forged after the fact.

This was something Rivas had grown accustomed to in the Cornerian Defense Force. He had found it wasn't much different in the Confederation's Starfleet.

They lay, nude and entwined, in Sondra's bed. They were quietly chatting, each probing the other for information as they savored the aftertaste of the energy they had just expended.

"What's Cabarra like?" Rivas asked Sondra as she rubbed his ear. "I've never been there."

"It's a lot of enormous atolls and islands spread all across the planet. It's probably the only world that might have Altaria beat for miles of beaches. What isn't a beach is dense forests." She chuckled, reminded of a joke only she knew. "It's either pleasantly warm or raining."

"I'll have to go see it someday." Rivas said, smiling as he held her, content with the weight of her in his arms. "Any family?'

"No. I'm it." she sighed and for the first time he saw a flash of sorrow in her eyes. "I lost my parents in a hurricane. The planet's weather control system malfunctioned after a massive solar flare, threw everything into chaos and...they got caught up in it."

"That's rough," Rivas said, squeezing her ever so slightly. "I'm sorry to hear about that."

She pressed into him for a kiss, chasing the sorrow away with a surge. She was smiling as she pulled back again. "It's okay," she said. "It's been a few years. Things just happen and you can't really do anything about it. We all have to go sometime and we don't really have a say in it. What about you? Any familial ties left?"

"I got a sister and she has two boys. They're pretty great and are star struck by their space faring uncle." Rivas said, smiling. "I call them about once a week and regale them with slightly exaggerated versions of my adventures. At least, what I can tell them anyway. A bunch of stuff is classified of course, so I embellish other stuff to make up for missing details."

"They're kids." Sondra chuckled, nuzzling his chest. "I'm sure even just telling them about routine starship maintenance excites them, because it's in space."

Rivas laughed. "You aren't that far off. They eat it up, plot holes and all."

"I'm sure they do." Sondra smiled.

"I was wondering. How in the world did you hold out against the Urtheans so long?" Rivas asked.

Sondra chuckled. "Well, as you now know I'm good with my hands and I know a thing or two about station shield generators. Making computers dance is a sort of hobby for me, so doing shield frequency adjustments on the fly is easy." She smirked, kissing him on the neck before whispering in his ear. "I can make other things dance too, if you'd like?"

"Still catching my breath over here," Rivas chuckled.

Sondra giggled and looked over at the wall chronometer. "How about I massage some life back into you, we go one more round, then get supper?"

Rivas grinned. "Sounds like a plan to me."

* * *

The Next Morning

Rivas arrived on the bridge 30 minutes early. He relieved the nightwatch commander and sat down to go over the reports. The Raptor was still on course and nothing had occurred overnight, except for one of the turbolifts malfunctioning and getting stuck. Deck two had suffered a partial power loss that resulted in none of the lights working, but life support still functioned. Sickbay and Engineering were not affected.

"That's our fickle girl," Rivas snorted, patting the arm of the captain's chair.

Five minutes before the shift officially started, a steward entered the bridge and set O'mara's tea thermos in a holder on her console.

"Commander, incoming transmission from the Banting." Lt. Perry said, breaking the silence.

Rivas sat up, his fur standing on end. This was an ill portent.

"On screen," he ordered.

Captain Jetrel appeared on the screen. "Good morning, Commander Rivas. We just detected a hunting party of Scuttas taking our bait. They are moving on Sketra station."

"What's their ETA?" Rivas asked as the rest of the bridge came to life.

"About two hours," Captain Jetrel replied. "We're moving to intercept now. Our sensors show you can get there a lot sooner than we can, but we'll be right on your tail."

Rivas nodded. "How many ships?"

"Six," said Captain Jertel. "Although, something is interfering with our sensors. That count may be a bit off."

"We'll see you there, sir." Rivas replied.

Captain Jetrel nodded and closed the channel.

"Red Alert," Rivas barked. "Ensign Rosa, set a direct course for the Sketra array."

"Aye, sir! Course corrected, increasing speed to warp 7," Ensign Rosa said as Fara and Jakar entered the bridge and took their stations.

Harry arrived with Terri, Land and O'mara behind him.

"Status, Commander?" Harry asked as Rivas relinquished the chair.

"Captain Jetrel contacted us and said the Urthreans are taking the bait, sir," Rivas said, taking his own station and logging into it. "We're moving to intercept. Initial report is at least six Scuttas, probably more. Captain Jetrel mentioned scanner interference, so we don't have an accurate count."

"Thank you Commander," Harry said around a stifled yawn as he wiped the remaining sleep out of his eyes. "Not exactly how I wanted to start my morning, but at least we all got some rest."

"Who's this "we" you're talking about?" Fara scoffed before downing a massive gulp of what looked like cold coffee from her thermos. "I've been up all night fighting with the damn computer to get it to quit shutting off all the lights and terminals in Deck two!"

"Is that fixed?" Harry asked.

"It is for now, until she decides to make my life difficult again," Fara hissed, pointing down toward the deck for emphasis.

"When this is over, I order you to get in bed immediately," Harry said. "I mean it Fara."

"Amen, sir," she said with a belch as she scowled at her empty thermos. "Traitor," she whispered to the empty container.

Harry scowled at her lack of decorum. Noting his scowl, Fara stuck her tongue out at him. Sighing, Harry turned his attention back to the situation at hand.

"Jakar," he said, "Keep the Red Alert going. I want everyone on their toes and ready for when we arrive."

Rivas heard an excited chirp. Out of the side of his eye he could see O'mara. She was giddily opening a thermos that, based on the floral scent that wafted across the bridge, had tea in it.

"Aye, sir," Jakar replied.

"Everything in order, Lieutenant?". Harry asked, pivoting to face O'mar.

"Y-y-yes! I'm j-j-just having a good morning," she said, pouring herself some tea.

"Captain, should we engage the attack mode?" Rivas asked.

"I'm hoping we won't have to use it. They should know we're around and that will hopefully scare them off." Harry said, keeping his eyes fixed on the screen.

"As you wish, sir," Rivas replied.

Several minutes passed in tense silence. There was little to do as they hurtled towards the enemy, each officer remaining tensely at their post, eyes flitting across readouts, all waiting for something to happen. Suddenly, something caused the Raptor to shudder violently.

Rivas glared as his console began throwing error messages and his ears perked as he heard the same pings from Fara's console. Something was going wrong with the engines. Another shudder rippled through the ship.

"Captain, I think our gremlin is back," said Rivas as he scanned the messages. "We're detecting another anomaly in the starboard nacelle."

"Fara!" Harry snapped.

"It's a plasma imbalance in the starboard nacelle," Fara barked over the shuddering of the ship.

"How bad?" Harry asked.

"I can't tell. The readings are all over the place!" Fara replied, turning to her instruments and frantically typing in commands.

The Raptor shuddered again, this time a bit more violently, and the lights and terminals began to flicker off and on.

"Chief Phoenix, do we need to drop from warp?" Harry said, emphasizing every word.

"Reattuning the plasma field...warp field integrity should be stabilizing." Fara muttered, almost as though she hadn't heard him, as her fingers hammered the equations and attunements necessary to correct the error.

The shuddering stilled and the normal hum of the ship's systems returned.

"Chief, what in the hell was that all about?" Harry hissed.

"I don't know!" Fara spat back. "For now I've got things stabilized."

Harry frowned. "What exactly did you do?"

"I had to recalibrate the intermix ratio and adjust the influx from the plasma injectors. It should be fine now." Fara huffed as she glared at her console.

"Should be isn't good enough," Harry snarled. "My ship should not be rattling for any reason whatsoever! Especially not when it's flying into a combat situation!"

Rivas had to put on the best poker face he could manage. He had warned Fara for the last month that she needed to be seriously focused on ironing out the Raptor's eccentricities before something major happened and Martinez jumped down her throat. It seemed his dire prophecy was coming to pass.

"This thing is a prototype, not a production line model! It's going to have issues that we can't just make disappear!" Fara growled at the Captain, her claws protruding as she gripped the top of her station tight enough to make the padding crinkle.

"Mom? Dad? Can we talk about your divorce later? We're 30 seconds from dropping into a hot zone. Please and thank you!" Land spoke up loudly, cutting them both off as each of them opened their mouths to begin a proper shouting match.

"Lieutenant Commander Phoenix, get your tail down to engineering immediately and find a permanent solution to this problem! Now!" Harry bellowed. It wasn't the full-on shout he had been building up to, but it still had some kick to it.

Fara looked as if she was going to leap out of her chair and bite Harry-she was even baring her teeth. However, her reason got a hold of her before her rage could throw her into action.

"Yes...sir!" She snarled in such a guttural fashion that Rivas's fur stood on end.

Fara got up and disappeared through the aft port doors making an offensive gesture at Harry that he didn't see before they shut.

Rivas shook his head, letting out a long breath. He had to wonder if Harry was intentionally ignorant of Fara's indiscretions. It almost seemed like the captain was letting her actions pile up just so he could bring them down on her all at once when she really screwed up.

"Thank you for the heads up, Ensign," Harry said around a tight sigh. "That being said, your decorum could use a little work."

"I'm paid to be a flier, not a talker, Skip," Land replied. "Dropping out of warp now."

"Jakar, how far out are the Urthean ships?" Harry asked as space blinked back into its normal shape on the viewscreen.

"If they maintain their current course and speed, at least an hour," said Jakar.

"Have they noticed us yet?" Harry asked.

"I don't believe so, sir. Urthean ships don't have the sensor range that our vessels do." Jakar said confidently.

"Ms. Lu, hail the Sketra research station," Harry ordered.

"They're acknowledging already, sir," Terri replied.

"On screen," he said.

A male Catarian with commander pips and a blue science officer's uniform appeared. "This is Commander Solis. How can I help you, Raptor?"

"I'm Captain Lt. Commander Martinez." Harry said. "Commander, are you aware there is a squadron of Urthrean ships heading this way? They'll be here within the hour."

The Catarian looked shocked. "No, we're not aware of any attack! Would you have any idea why they'd be targeting our facility?"

"Maybe you could give us some insight into that?" Harry countered, raising an eyebrow.

The Catarian bit his lip, carefully weighing his options before responding. "Perhaps you should beam on over, Captain. I don't want to discuss the nature of our research over open channels."

"Very well. We'll be right over. Raptor out." Harry said, getting out of his chair. "Rivas, O'mara with me. Jakar, you have the conn."

Rivas logged out of his station and followed O'mara and Harry off the bridge to the transporter room.

* * *

They materialized on the Sketra station's transport platform and found Commander Solis was waiting for them.

"Welcome aboard the Sketra Research Station, Commander Martinez," he said, holding out his hand. "I wish it was under better circumstances."

Harry stepped down off the platform and shook the offered hand. "Thank you, Commander. This is my First Officer, Commander Rivas, and our Science Officer, Lieutenant O'mara," Harry said, introducing them.

Rivas shook the Catairan's hand as he asked, "Commander, what exactly is it you are researching out here that could have attracted the Urtheans?"

"I'll be glad to show you. Follow me please," Solis said, turning and beckoning them to follow him.

They followed him through the corridors. As they walked, Solis did his best to explain the nature of the research.

"Most of our work is purely theoretical, of course, lots of equations and such. Our primary focus is spatial theory as it applies to FTL. For the last few months we've been working on some warp field experiments, seeing if there are ways to increase system efficiencies in warp drives while decreasing strain on the ships as a whole," he said as they passed through a junction. "Right now, we're in the process of developing an improved warp drive, as well as some other minor conjoined systems to improve efficiency, as well as speed. We have a working prototype that was just finished a couple months ago, actually. It's currently suitable for a large shuttle craft, which we've been using for testing. All tests are done via drone systems, as catastrophic failure is always a possibility. Between that and the more secretive nature of some of the Starfleet divisions we work with, they posted us far from any critical infrastructure or civilized areas.."

"What type of warp drive is it?" Harry asked.

"Well, to be honest? We are somewhat associated with the Pathfinder project, the same that developed your ship out there." Solis said, his posture tensing nervously. "We've been trying to unlock the secrets of transwarp tech. They...uh...well we're working on information pulled from the engine components of the Borg cube that was destroyed a few years ago. Sorry, more than that I'm not authorized to disclose."

"I see." Harry said, scowling, aware that his skin was crawling at the thought of more Borg tech seeping into the Fleet.

"The hope is that, if we can work the bugs out of the prototype, we can have all ships outfitted with transwarp drives within the next few years." Solis beamed, his confidence suddenly resurfacing.

He continued to ramble as he led them to the observation bay that looked over what appeared to be a high-yield reactor system. The reactor was powering something that Harry figured had to be the experimental warp core-a twisting version of a standard core, all being held aloft by a massive pair of coiled suspension pillars.

"So far we've managed to get her to power up and power down successfully. She maintains a charge when active too," Solis explained giddily as they all looked on. "We're hoping to figure out power scaling and have retrofitting routines all ironed out soon so a core like this one can be integrated into a test craft in the next few weeks."

"How many people know about this?" Harry asked.

"You three, the staff here on the station, of course, and Starfleet Command," said Solis.

"Commander? M-m-may I take a look at your findings?" O'mara asked.

"Of course." Solis smiled, pointing to a terminal in the wall. "It's all there to peruse."

"Th-th-thank you, sir," O'mara said, taking a seat and starting with the first file available.

Rivas was a bit impressed that O'mara had spoken up without prompting. A quick glance to Harry showed the echidna smiling approvingly before he continued.

"Have any Urtheans come this far before?" he asked.

"None that I'm aware of," Solis confessed. "We get enough ships through here, so they've always kept their distance."

Harry looked the setup over and his brow furrowed. "This doesn't look like it can be disassembled easily."

"Oh! No it can't," Solis replied, seeming appalled at the mere notion of dismantling what they were looking at. "It took months just to set up the reactor, let alone assemble the pylons and then the core and-"

Harry drew in a large breath, which caused Solis to pause. "How many people on the station?" Harry asked.

"Seventy-five in total," Solis replied.

Rivas whistled softly. That would definitely put them over capacity aboard the Raptor.

"Do you have a ship?" Harry asked.

"We have a small survey vessel," said Solis. "But we've had more personal transferred here since we arrived."

"I don't think we're going to get them to leave and we won't be able to transport the technology away from here, Captain." Rivas said as Harry tapped his foot.

Harry nodded, eyes still on the core as he answered. "I know. Commander Solis, please tell me this facility has some armaments."

"The standard Type 12 Shield generators, a few phaser banks and four torpedo launchers," Solis replied.

"At least they have something," Rivas muttered.

"Commander, do you mind if I have a word with my officers?" Harry asked.

"Not at all! I have some other matters I need to attend to. Page me if you need anything," Solis said with a nod.

"Of course, sir," Harry said with a polite smile and nod.

Solis scurried from the room. Harry waited for the doors to close before he heaved the sigh he had been building.

"Aya!" he groaned. "Why is the Confederation putting all this bleeding edge tech out here on the frontier? There are other borders that are a hell of a lot less hostile!"

"I have often asked myself that," Rivas said drolly. "Seems like they're deliberately baiting the Urthreans to me."

"That sounds ridiculous," Harry growled. "Using critical research projects, warship prototypes, and skilled crew, us included, just to bait the Urtheans? This has to be some sort of bureaucratic incompetence."

"It's not our job to figure those things out, sir," Rivas said.

"I miss being out exploring. You don't have to deal with this stupidity until you get home." Harry sighed, walking over to the viewport and leaning on the sill, glaring at the transwarp drive array. "We'd be better off just holding here. I need to contact Captain Jetrel and see what his plans are. We can't risk anything slipping past us."

"I might know someone who could help," Rivas said.

"Whom?" Harry demanded.

"Commander Dellar," said Rivas. "We've been talking and she mentioned to me she knew some tricks with shield generators that might buy us some time. She was the one holding the shields together at the relay station during the attack."

Harry nodded and hit his combadge. "Martinez to Raptor."

"Jakar here," came the reply. "How can I help you, sir?"

"Round up Commander Dellar and have her beam over here ASAP," Harry ordered.

"Of course, sir." Jakar replied.

"I need to get back to the ship and get a hold of Captain Jetrel." Harry said, turning to Rivas. "Would you mind taking over here?"

Rivas nodded.

Harry looked up and saw O'mara approaching. "What have you got, Lieutenant?"

"W-w-warp theory isn't my f-f-forte, but from what I can understand they are on the c-c-cusp of several breakthroughs." O'mara stammered. "It could ch-ch-change space travel for the Confederation...forever."

"So you would deem it worthy of saving then?" Harry asked.

"V-v-very much so, y-y-yes!" O'mara replied.

"Good. Then I want you to help Commander Rivas assist Dellar with getting the shielding augmented on this station," Harry said.

"Sir? B-b-but I'm not an...." O'mara said.

"You are a scientist," Harry said as gently as he could. "Pursuing knowledge is your job. It won't hurt for you to pick up a few things and you can help just as much as anyone. With my damn ship acting up, I can't really spare any engineers at the moment, understood?"

O'mara swallowed nervously, but nodded, creating a small cloud of feathers that drifted down to the floor.

"Get Dellar briefed, then get back and render whatever assistance you can, Commander," Harry ordered Rivas.

"Understood, sir." Rivas replied with a stiff nod.

Harry nodded and then left the room.

"Come along, Lieutenant," Rivas said. "You got work to do."

They all arrived at the transporter room just as Sondra was stepping down off the pad.

"How can I help you, Captain? I was told to report to the transporter pad," Sondra said curiously.

"I need to get back to my ship, but Commander Rivas will fill you in on details." Harry said tersely. "He says you know a thing or two about augmenting shield generators?"

Sondra nodded. "Yes, I do."

"Excellent," Harry said, stepping up on the transporter pad. "Ms. O'mara will be assisting you. I'll update Commander Solis and you via coms as the situation develops. Chief, one to beam over to the Raptor."

The Sketra's station transporter operator nodded and soon Harry was gone in a swirl of energy.

"So, what's going on?" Dellar asked as she smiled at Rivas.

"Our not so friendly neighbors are on their way here within the hour," Rivas said. "Do you think you can work your magic on this station's shield generators?"

"I might be able to," Sondra said. "Are you going to help? I'd be glad to show you how all this works."

"We'll both be helping," Rivas said, indicating O'mara as she waved nervously at Sondra.

"Commanders Rivas and Dellar, please meet me on Deck 4, section 3, on the double." Commander Solis said over the coms.

Later

The work had to be hurried, which only made it more difficult, but O'mara, Rivas and Dellar managed to get the shield generators adjusted with some help from the station's Engineering team. Even Commander Solis got his hands dirty, doing what he could to help. Currently, they were in the station's operations center. The space was not much bigger than a large conference room, with a collection of various control stations in the center.

O'mara looked as flustered as Rivas had ever seen her. She was obviously regretting wearing the skirted uniform today, as she kept picking at her knees. By the time an hour had passed, she had stripped the feathers off her knees. There was blue blood marking the locations of scratches on her shins from her having to crawl into the station's ductwork. She had also managed to whack her head on a panel and now there was a dermaplast patched cut above her right eye.

"Lieutenant? Do you have that computer ready if the Urthreans get wise to our modifications?" Rivas asked.

"I've programmed all I c-c-c-could in the short t-t-time we have," O'mara replied tensely, adding a rather icy "sir" after a short pause.

"Commander Dellar," Rivas said quickly. "Are we ready?"

"I've coaxed all I can out of the shield generators." Sondra said with a confident nod.

"Raptor to Sketra station." Harry's voice blared over the com system. "Enemy Scuttas are closing fast. It might get a bit rough. The Banting is still 5 minutes out and our backup is at least 10 minutes out. We'll do our best to keep them off you."

"Understood, Captain. Good luck." Commander Solis replied.

"And here we go." Rivas muttered under his breath, switching to external sensors to watch the Raptor's attack mode engage as a swarm of Scuttas-totaling six vessels-dropped out of warp.

He was at an auxiliary console, helping their rather green looking tactical officer by the name of Jelco. He'd set O'mara to being Sondra's second pair of eyes. He was barking orders, trying to keep track of readouts, his senses buzzing with information. The distinct sensation of eyes on him made him look up. Sondra was watching him closely.

"Everything ok?" she mouthed.

Rivas smiled back and nodded, giving her a small thumbs up as the station shook violently under the first wave of attack runs from the Scuttas.

"Shields at 96% and holding," the tactical officer reported.

"Jelco, target their aft shields as they pass." Commander Solis ordered.

Rivas targeted one of the Scuttas with one of the four photon torpedo launchers and scored a hit as it passed. Several more volleys hit the shields.

"The upgrades are holding...rerouting power to reinforce!" Sondra shouted over the rumbling.

"Shield generator number four' s power levels are fluctuating!" O'mara shouted.

"On it!" Sondra replied. "Engineering! Reinforce the structural integrity field around that shield reactor! They're targeting it."

"Yes, sir!'

The station shook violently as the Scuttas continued to focus their fire on the same area. Rivas ducked as something overhead overloaded and rained debris down on them.

"Shields at 93% and holding," Lt. Jelco reported.

Rivas was definitely building a new respect for crews of space stations. It was frustrating to just sit and get laid into, using fixed armaments and unable to reposition. He spotted another opportunity and brought down a Scutta with a combined torpedo spread that connected at the same time as the cutting beam from the Raptor, shearing the Scutta in half. He braced himself as another Scutta made a pass at the station. There were still four Scuttas out there, even with the station's batteries doing their level best to assist the Raptor in crushing them.

A proximity alarm went off, drawing his attention. Rivas' surge of adrenaline abated as he realized what had tripped the alarm. The Banting had finally arrived and was moving in to engage the enemy.

"The Banting just joined the fight," Rivas barked over the din. "And we are still at 90% on shields, holding steady."

"We might just make it out of this yet, bucko!" Solis whooped as more sparks rained across the control consoles.

"Don't celebrate just yet," Rivas muttered to himself, eyes still locked on his sensors and controls.

Rivas checked the long range sensors. The Aether, Midgar and Persius were approaching with all haste, but they were still several minutes out. Rivas had to admit, these weren't the normal raiders. These Scutta's seemed to be a lot tougher than the ones he'd encountered before. Their shields seemed to be taking more punishment than usual. They also seemed more heavily armed, consistently chipping away at the station's shields, even with the modifications and two ships trying to swat them away.

"Shield g-g-generator three i-i-s overloading!" O'mara squawked.

"Thank you, Lieutenant," Sondra called back. "Shutting it down now and discharging it across the hull, moving load out to remaining generators. Engineering! Start rebooting generator three! I have enough in my hands at the moment."

"Aye," one of the engineers replied. "Flash cooling in progress. Shield generator three will be back up in 45 seconds."

The station shook again.

"Shields at 87%, minor destabilization in shield section seven, should clear up once generator three comes back online," Jelco reported and they were all jarred severely again.

Rivas polished off another Scutta with the photon torpedoes. He spotted another Scutta was barreling towards them out of control. It had apparently been damaged severely by the Raptor. Proximity alarms began to sound. The damaged ship was moving faster than he could target it. Jelco saw it as well and dumped a full phaser barrage into the flaming hulk, but it just kept coming.

"Brace for Impact!" Rivas shouted.

The Scutta slammed into the station's shields and exploded.

Rivas was thrown back from his station. He curled into a ball and tried to protect his head as he bounced along the deck. A core breach alarm sounded as all the lights flickered. Feeling sufficiently tenderized, Rivas grunted and slowly forced himself up. He looked to his right and found Commander Solis getting back to his feet as well.

"Damage Report!" Solis barked.

"Shields at 25% and sliding. Weapons systems are offline!" Jelco coughed through the smoke from one of many small fires in ops.

Rivas looked for O'mara. He saw her on the ground with her back to him. He scrambled over to her. As he got closer he realized she was still breathing, moving slowly.

"Lieutenant...?" He coughed heavily.

"M-m-my arm! It...it's...b-b-broken," she sobbed, her left arm clutched close to her chest.

Rivas carefully pulled her hand away. He had long since learned to keep his body in check, but the sight of a compound fracture was enough to make him cringe. A spur of black bone was sticking out through O'mara's flesh and feathers as blood dripped off her elbow.

Rivas let her cover the wound again as he spoke. "Stay calm. I'll get you-"

"Here," Sondra said as he looked up and found her with the first aid kit already in hand.

Rivas smiled at her gratefully and together they laid O'mara down and got her feet propped up. Neither of them was certified to reset a compound fracture, so they disinfected the wound, applied a coagulant, wrapped it loosely and secured the arm in a sling before Rivas administered an anesthetic to the arm. O'mara impressed him as he worked. He expected her to be a complete mess, but her tears were more from agony than anything else.

"You're doing good, Lieutenant," he said with the best smile he could manage. "Just rest for now. I'll get you out of this."

O'mara nodded with a faint smile. "Thank you."

Rivas got up and drug himself to his station. The other ships had arrived and were starting to rout the attackers. He felt his body slowly going slack. At this point, it was a numbers game, and the Urtheans were outmatched. The station's role in the skirmish was over.

"Commander," the station's engineer said. "Pieces of that ship pierced the hull and breached our main reactor. I've already switched to auxiliary power, but I can't get the computer to run the ejection sequence."

"What? Damn!" Solis snarled, pounding his console.

"Confirmed. We have several hull breaches." Sondra said. "However, bulkhead seals are all in place."

"If that core blows we'll lose years worth of work!" Solis cried.

"Can we do a manual ejection?" Sondra asked the station's engineer.

"I mean, if you hustle down there probably? But there's a lot of radiation in that compartment right now," the Engineer said warily.

"I'll go," Sondra said.

"Negative," Rivas snapped. "We'll both go. I'm familiar with the procedure, also, buddy system. Commander Solis, sir, we'll try to get the core ejected. You get everyone off the station, just in case we fail."

Solis nodded. "I'll see to it! Good luck, both of you, and thank you, regardless."

Both Rivas and Sondra sprinted out of ops, heading for a speed chute ladder to get down to the core.

"Turbolifts down?" he asked.

Sondra nodded and grabbed the ladder and keyed the hatch with the toe of her boot. "Of course they are! That would make things too easy!"

Rivas slid down ahead of her. The station was much deeper, deck-wise, than the Raptor and he felt his paws begin to heat up as they slid down. As they went down, the coms came to life.

"Attention all hands! This is Commander Solis. Reactor breach and ejection in progress. Evacuate immediately to escape pods or stand by for transport!"

"No pressure right?" Sondra shouted up at him as she arrived at the engineering deck and cleared the way.

Don arrived after her, wincing at the burning sensation in his paws.

"Wouldn't want it any other way." he said, flailing his hands to try to cool them. "I'll get the force field in place so we don't get sucked out into space. You start the manual clamp release!"

He ran over to the master control terminal. The computer, surprisingly, responded as he woke it up. His feet trembled in response to the rumble of explosive bolts detonating as the plating far below the reactor was ejected into space.

"Roger that!" Sondra replied, grabbing two multi-tools out of an equipment locker. "Don! Catch!"

She tossed the extra tool at him. He caught it, set it against the terminal and keyed in the protocols. He noticed it was unusually hot in the reactor room and his skin felt like it was itching. There was a faint burnt smell in the air, the sharp scent of burning ozone, metal, and other things. None of these things were good omens.

"Sondra, we need to hustle. I think it's worse than the sensors are telling us!" Rivas said, finally getting the computer to acknowledge the emergency procedure.

"No shit!" she barked back, setting to work on the first mount.

He grabbed his tool and ran to the clamp closest to him and set to work with the multi-tool. With some effort, and a few well chosen words, he was able to finally get the placement bolt to move. Just as he moved it to the release position, Sondra had started on her second clamp. He was shocked she was that strong, but Cabarrans were known for being about as strong as echidnas, if not more so.

The computer started yelling at that point.

"WARNING. REACTOR MELTDOWN IN T-MINUS 2 MINUTES. EVACUATE THE FACILITY IMMEDIATELY."

Rivas cursed as he rushed to the next clamp. He could barely hear his own thoughts in the chaos. There was no way anyone would hear him if he tried to contact them now. The only way out of this alive was to beat the clock.

The apparatus clicked and he moved onto the next one. When he was about halfway done as Sondra ran over and helped him finish it. He felt feverish. His stomach was churning and it was getting hard to see. As the bolt started to come loose, his left arm seized up. Sondra knocked the bolt into the release position as Rivas sat heavily, doing his best not to puke.

"Come on...one more," Sondra panted, grabbing his hand as she pointed to the floor panels under which the emergency release lay.

"ONE MINUTE TILL REACTOR CORE DETONATION."

"I know!" Rivas tried to yell at the computer but everything came out slurred.

Fur matted with sweat, Rivas helped Sondra heave the panel out of the way. Both of them grabbed a side of the release lever and pried. The lever refused to move.

"Damn it! It's...jammed!" Sondra gasped as she hauled on the lever.

"On...three," Rivas moaned as he repositioned himself to get a more solid grip with his still functioning arm. "All or nothing!"

"THIRTY SECONDS TILL REACTOR CORE DETONATION."

"One! Two! Three!" Rivas roared, putting everything he had into this last pull. Something in his arms and back twanged, but the lever jerked up, nearly throwing him and Sondra off their feet. They managed to remain upright and draw the lever up to its open position with a loud "kerchunk". With an almighty whooshing sound, the core disappeared from sight, using the station's artificial gravity to accelerate it as it plummeted out the hatch at the bottom.

They both tumbled to the ground, both keenly aware that they had been completely saturated with radiation.

"You...think we...did it?" Sondra muttered.

Rivas couldn't make his body move. The most he was able to do was reach over with his working arm and gently grip Sondra's hand.

"If we didn't, I don't think we'll ever know," he sighed.

Sondra bit her lip and nodded.

There was suddenly a violent jolt that lifted them a few inches off the plating before they dropped back down. Both of them were left with their ears ringing as silence settled in. Rivas fought as long as he could, waiting for someone, anyone to come and collect them. Gradually, despite his best efforts, his vision faded to white, then black, then nothing.

* * *

Okan's eyes flicked between the pad in his hand and the terminal on the wall. This had turned into a very, very stressful few days. Triaging the first batch hadn't been too bad, mostly broken bones and lacerations. If he was honest, Okan hated it when the Raptor went into battle. The ship itself could usually protect its crew, but other ships often had to offload their patients onto his sickbay. This round was, surprisingly, an exception.

That being said, the station crew had still suffered greatly. None of them had avoided minor injuries. There were a great number of them suffering from internal bleeding as well as a lot of broken bones. Lieutenant O'mara had come in covered in small cuts and sporting a compound fracture to her left arm. She was shocky, trembling, and muttering about Rivas and a core and radiation and an explosion of some sort.

Glancing up again, Okan grimaced. Being a ship's surgeon meant you saw some of the worst things that space could do to a body. Each doctor had their personal gripes when it came to injuries: some could barely handle blood, and others always had to call for a nurse if limbs were missing or mutilated. Acute radiation poisoning was on Okan's top five list of things he hated seeing. There was something about the idea of the body melting on a cellular level that made his spine itch.

For the last few days, Commander Rivas and Commander Dellar had been in the decontamination chamber. Normally the machine could finish within an hour or two, even when pitted against heavy doses of radiation. Its current patients had spent almost two full minutes standing next to a reactor that had had multiple fist-sized holes punched through it and had dumped its coolant into the chamber. The fact that either of them were alive was miraculous enough for Okan as he monitored the methodical process of the decontamination unit.

"Guess the Raptor isn't done with you," he muttered as Rivas's vitals spiked before returning to normal. "Hang in there, Commander. The worst of it is over now."

* * *

The last few days had been anything but pleasant. Getting decontaminated was both painful and extremely tiring, given that the machine doing the work was tormenting every cell in the body as it scrubbed the isotopes from your atoms. First, nanites were introduced into the blood. The microscopic robots proceeded to seek out the isotopes and absorb them while harvesting damaged cells and replacing them with new ones. Once the nanites had completed their task they were filtered out and the chamber began more aggressively repairing damaged tissues and cellular structures while further eliminating isotopes that had settled in deep tissues and organs. Following pokes, prods scans, a little food-which was almost immediately vomited up-another nanite purge, and several massive doses of iodine concentrate, the process was over. Both Rivas and Sondra were then released to the Raptor's sickbay and ordered to bed rest until further notice.

Having Sondra to talk to while in the chamber and now in sickbay was the only thing that made it bearable. Despite the pleasant company, it wasn't a vacation. Rivas and Sondra took turns fighting for the toilet as their bodies repeatedly purged damaged materials any way possible. After the first day of this, they resolved to just share the small shower and helped each other clean up as best they could.

The worst part came as fur started falling out. Angry boils formed on their skin, which was splitting open in random places, itching like mad, and burning as though coated in fiberglass. Rivas had to chuckle, thinking he looked like a real life zombie as pieces of him tried to rot despite the constant efforts of Okan. Sondra was much less amused, becoming hysterical when her hair started to fall off in clumps. A few bad jokes about zombies later, and the sight of Don's now hairless tail, and she was able to giggle through the tears as he held her.

"This is all part of the process," Doctor Okan assured them as he examined them both. "You are both fortunate. You've got blood pooling in your gums, but it looks like your teeth are still alive. Despite what should have been lethal saturation, your cartilage and bones are still solid. You'll both be on immune boosters for a few months, and we'll have to keep an eye on you until we're sure you aren't going to go septic from the lesions on your skin, but other than that you'll be alright now."

Both of them looked at Okan with expressions of disdain, now hairless peeling versions of their former selves.

"I assure you," he said calmly, "we're over the worst of it. Give it a few months and some proper nutrition and you two will look like you used to."

"How bad did we get dosed, Doctor?" Sondra asked.

"You both were glowing when we found you," Okan admitted as he typed on his pad. "I'd have to look to get the exact number again, but you were close to the point where your molecular structure nearly gave out. Another few minutes and you two would have been reduced to puddles."

"I think I was better off not knowing," Rivas groaned.

"You are both doing well. You are making remarkable progress for one week of treatment." Okan said with a smile.

"It's already been a week? How much longer do we have to be in here?" Sondra asked.

"Another week," Okan replied evenly. "By then you'll be fully decontaminated and once your skin starts healing you should start feeling normal again."

A few more days passed before their skin stopped peeling. In a few more days they were both covered in peach fuzz, which Sondra found very amusing. They found their energy and appetites returning and were able to play a lot of board and card games to pass the time. They talked a lot and exercised together when they could in the small room. Although, the exercise was limited, given that both of them threw up the first time they tried to do push ups. They agreed to wait on the exercise until later.

The only thing they were allowed to wear were lightweight surgical gowns that had to be changed out every day. They were at least afforded a choice of several colors of the plain, lightweight garment. By the end of another week of all this, Rivas was really missing his bed. Their current bedding had to be changed every day: mattress, pillow and the blanket that was more of a napkin than a real blanket.

Finally, after two weeks, they were both released from isolation.

Rivas put on his uniform and looked in the mirror. Other than his freakishly short and fuzzy fur, it was some semblance of normalcy again. He sighed and heard his door chime go off.

"Come," he said.

He was expecting to see Sondra, since she was due to ship out on the new Aurora class ship Belaphon. He was returning to duty today as well, but he had time to see her off. Instead, he saw O'mara in the doorway, looking a bit nervous. She had a package in her hands.

"Lieutenant? Is there something I can do for you?" he asked.

"W-w-well, T-t-t-terri asked me to come down and welcome you back." O'mara muttered, keeping her eyes on the floor. "Sh-sh-sh-she's busy with a computer issue on the R-r-raptor."

"Well that's thoughtful of her," Rivas said, smiling as he approached. "I suppose that's from her as well?"

"W-w-well...no...actually...it's from m-m-me." O'mara said, nearly dropping it.

"Oh? Well, thanks. That's super thoughtful," Rivas said, taking the package as she shakily held it out to him. "Mind if I open it?"

"N-n-no."

He opened it and found it was a bottle of Cornerian Rum that he liked.

"T-t-terri said it helps you sleep when you have a b-b-bad day." O'mara muttered.

Rivas chuckled. "Indeed it does. One shot and bang, out like a light. This is very kind of you Lieutenant. Thank you, really. Mind if I ask the occasion?"

"J-j-just returning the kindness."

"Ah." Rivas nodded. "It's much appreciated. Anything else?"

"No... well... thank you again," O'mara said blushing and molting slightly. "For what you said on S-s-sketra."

Rivas smiled and nodded. "You're very welcome."

"I-I-I need to go! Have a g-g-good day!"

She bolted from the door and he let her go. Staring at the gift, he grinned. He would be looking towards its gentle, burning embrace when he got to the end of the day. He set the bottle down on his desk and got ready to head back out into the so-called normal world.

"Computer, lights out," he said and then exited his quarters.

He arrived down at the docking ring and found Sondra was standing there by the airlock, watching her newly acquired crew check in.

"What's the word, Captain?" Rivas asked, walking up to her.

She turned and smiled. She still looked much like he did, although her ursine features were way more menacing without fur or hair.

"Oh, just a little excited is all." she said with a grin. "How are you doing?"

"Could be worse, right?" He shrugged and they both shared a laugh. "So, you got your wish: a ship."

"I know! I'm really excited too!" She then frowned. "The only part I don't like is this is probably going to be goodbye for...well, for a while."

Rivas sighed. "Yeah. But, I'm happy for you. You are going to be out exploring, making a name for yourself. It will be great. And, you get to be Captain the whole time."

She smiled at him. "What about you? I thought you wanted a ship."

"I...did," Rivas muttered. "Something changed my mind."

"Oh?"

"Before I met you, I got used to being behind a desk and not getting my hands dirty. I got detached from the work," Rivas explained. "You reminded me of something I'd lost along the way and I'm glad I found it again, that connection, the one among a crew...among friends. I think I'll manage it, for now." he said, smiling sadly. "Good luck Captain and I'll miss you."

They embraced each other.

"I'll miss you too." she whispered in his ear as she shed a tear. "I don't know when we're going to get back."

"I know," Rivas said regretfully.

"Captain Dellar. Please report to the Belaphon immediately." the automated voice rang through the docks.

She stepped back, but didn't let go of his hands just yet. "Duty calls." she said.

Rivas nodded. Hesitantly, softly, she let go of him and headed for the airlock. He stood and watched her until she disappeared from sight. He took a long, deep breath and exhaled before slowly shuffling towards the Raptor's airlock.

The ship was abuzz with activity; they were due to go out on another patrol. Rivas moved between the crewmen like a silent specter and slowly made his way up to the bridge. His heart was berating him for not following Sondra, but his head knew that wasn't an option. This, the bitter partings, was just part of life. She was off to her own adventures, exploring uncharted regions of space, and he was here, with his chimera of a ship and borderline pirate crew, doing the dirty work of keeping peace on a border with a hostile empire.

Harry had wanted a word with him and as he made his way to the bridge several crewmen welcomed him back. Some shook his hand and complimented him for his actions on Sketra. Others asked questions, but all in all many were glad to see him back.

He approached the Ready Room and just as Terri was leaving it.

"Welcome back, Don," she said, smiling at him. "I like your new look, very puppy-like."

"Very funny," Don said, but he couldn't hide his smirk.

"Can I touch your fuzz?" Terri asked, almost unable to contain her giggles.

Don sighed. "Fine, but make it quick."

She brushed his cheek with her hand, giggling madly. "It tickles! Really though, I'm glad you're back. How are you feeling?"

"Better than dead, worse than perfect." Don said. "Okan has declared me fit for duty, so here I am."

"Well, we're all glad you're back. Well...maybe not Land." Terri grinned. "Harry's been putting the screws to him since you put him on report."

"Good, he needs it." Don smirked. "How's Harry?"

"He's expecting you." Terri said. "I better get moving. I need to check the main systems." She gave him a friendly peck on the cheek. "Glad you are still with us, gotta go!"

Rivas walked up to the door and hit the chime. "Captain?"

"Come in Commander."

Rivas walked in and Harry stood to greet him.

"Glad to have you back, Don." he said, coming up to him and shaking his hand. "I didn't think Okan would ever let you out of isolation."

"Tell me about it," Rivas snorted. "So, what'd I miss?"

"Not, too much," Harry admitted as the two of them sat. "You saved the station. The Urtheans seem to have backed off for now and things are getting back to normal. We're getting ready to do another long convoy run and I'm having everyone do a thorough check of all the ship's systems before we disembark."

Rivas nodded and asked. "So, did Xox ever show up?"

"Strangely, no." Harry said, frowning. "I calculated he might have, but he was surprisingly absent during that skirmish. I...do have some news for you before we get going."

"Oh?"

Harry handed him a datapad.

Rivas read it. The Fearless was needing a new C.O. and he could apply for the position, if he wanted it. Rivas sighed, drumming his fingers against his thigh. It was a good opportunity, but the Fearless was an Ishaka cruiser. Most of them were at least thirty years old. They were good ships in their own right, but not exactly what he was wanting.

"I know you've been unhappy with how things played out here. I thought you might have been excited to get the opportunity." Harry said.

"Maybe, but I get enough excitement here." Rivas handed the datapad back to Harry. "I appreciate you bringing the opportunity to my attention, sir, but I will have to pass."

"Are you sure?" Harry said, a bit befuddled. "Command opportunities don't happen every day."

"Sir, with all due respect, I've had a lot of time to think and, for now, I'm better off here." Rivas said, feeling better hearing himself say it.

"Very well," Harry said. "I have to have a little talk with Fara down in Engineering. Would you mind heading to the bridge and overseeing things until we disembark?"

"I'd be glad to, sir," Rivas said with a smile before leaving the Ready Room.

Harry left behind him and he could swear he saw the echidna shaking his head, still confused about Rivas' change in heart. Rivas crossed the corridor to the bridge. Jakar gave him a small smile and simply said, "Good to see you back, Commander."

"Thanks big guy," Rivas said, moving to sit in the command chair. He noticed Ensign Rosa was at the conn.

"Ensign Rosa," he said.

Rosa turned in her chair. "Yes, sir?"

"Where's Ensign Land? Shouldn't he be on duty?"

"He is, but he's been sent to engineering for extra duty." Rosa said. "He was late again yesterday during a drill. Captain Martinez was not pleased."

Rivas smirked. Score one in the unending war against nepotism. "Thank you, Ensign. I was about to write him up again."

Rosa nodded and spun her chair back to the conn. Rivas glanced over to O'mara, who was enjoying her morning tea. She was calm, focused, and quietly working at her station. She even seemed happy, completely free of pre-mission jitters. Rivas couldn't even see any feathers on the floor.

The lack of feathers, her smile, it was like helium lifting his heart. He did that, and that was part of his job: to maintain good relations with the crew, pick up the ones who were struggling and put the boot to the ones not even bothering to try.

A sense of purpose and place began to fill his being once more with renewed vigor and he smiled at O'mara without realizing he'd done so.

"Do you need something, C-c-commander?" O'mara asked, noticing him.

"No, carry on." he said. "I was just glad to see you are doing better. You don't seem to be having the jitters, Lieutenant."

"I'm not!" O'mara said, smiling and blushing slightly. "I f-f-feel good for once too."

"That's great." Rivas said, settling back into the captain's chair as Jakar stepped up to him and handed him a report on theRaptor's weapons systems. "That's really great."

If he couldn't stay here for himself, then he would be here for his crew.

The End