The samples have been lost. After eluding the Iapetus and the Romulans, Captain Ayer and his team have not been able to return to Alpha Centauri before the Iapetus caught up with them. Now, Captain Donovan of the Iapetus has beamed the crystals and Ayer aboard his ship, and left Sandra Burke, Zaag and Zjavick on a shuttle to die. They, however, managed to transport to the wreck of the Aquinas just in time, before the shuttle exploded. Without a ship to follow Ayer and the samples, they have no chance of rescuing their Captain. One other problem is also staring them in the face: with Zjavick unconscious, they have no engineer handy to repair the life support system, which is off line. Breathing is already becoming difficult, and it is only a matter of time before all breathable air is used up... Unless Sandra and Zaag can bring life support back on line.
And now the continuation:
Sandra struggled for air. She and Zaag had rigged all tricorders they could find to the life support generator on the Bridge and were only one step away from activating the life support system. They could both use some fresh air right about now. Both had difficulty breathing, and both knew they didn't have much time left.
Drawing increasingly more shallow and short breaths, Sandra nodded to Zaag. "Ac... Activate tricorders." Even talking was becoming too difficult due to the lack of breathable air.
Zaag only nodded in reply and pressed the button on one of the tricorders that would activate the rest as well. The tricorder displays burst into life, all beeping like crazy. For a moment, a very short moment, the console that controlled life support came back from the dead state it had been in. It died out again quickly, despite the chirping and beeping of the very active tricorders. They did supply power to the system -- it just wasn't enough.
"Damnit!" Shouting, Zaag used up more than a fair share of the shrinking supply of breathable air that was still present on the Bridge. "Why won't it work?"
Sandra shook her head. Her eyelids were growing heavy, and she felt she had to lie down. She also knew that if she did that, she would probably fall asleep and never wake up again. "What... happened?"
Zaag was feeling the effect of oxygen depletion as well. He felt light-headed, almost to the point of being unable to focus, and slumped down on the ground next to where Sandra was sitting. She seemed even more exhausted than he was. "Don't... know," he told Sandra in short and heavy breaths. "Just won't work."
"Can't you..." Sandra began, but didn't continue. She was going to suggest re-routing some of the wiring to make a more direct connection from the tricorders to the life support system, but it was as if her mind couldn't hang on to those words. They just seemed to fade away. It was difficult to think clearly -- she felt like her mind was clouded in a mist that seemed to grow even thicker when she tried to think about it. The words had left her; her suggestion was gone. She didn't have the time or energy to worry too much about that, though. "...do something?" she finished.
Zaag nodded almost unnoticeably and stood up, moaning and almost collapsing as he did so. He watched as Sandra suddenly seemed to find the floor extremely interesting; she lied down on it and closed her eyes. Zaag felt something break inside him -- it was as if the connection he had felt between him and Sandra was fading away. Sandra had given up, he knew, and he too was contemplating to simply lie down. The floor seemed so inviting.
Barely able to keep his eyes open, Zaag struggled to reach the life support console. He tapped it once, but there was no response from the console. He didn't have the strength anymore to be disappointed, and simply closed his eyes when he realised that he wouldn't be able to fix whatever was wrong. He wanted to give up, too, just as Sandra had done. He was so enormously tired -- it wasn't wrong to just close his eyes for one second, was it? After all, Sandra had done so too, he told himself, and she was perfectly all right. Just a little dead.
He opened his eyes with a shock. Dead? The love of his life, dead? He quickly kneeled beside her, desperately trying to fight the exhaustion that he was feeling. Feeling Sandra's pulse, he concentrated on the throbbing of the blood. She was still alive. "Sandra," he said with a hoarse voice. "Sandra, wake up." He began to shake her when she didn't respond. "Sandra, please. Wake up, Sandra, wake up, please wake up!" But she didn't wake up. She just lay there, as if in a deep, dreamless sleep -- a sleep from which she would never wake up. Not without life support.
Slowly, Zaag stood up again and reached for the console -- but lost his balance and fell down to the floor. Sleep approached him like a good friend, a lover, an opportunity for profit. All he had to do was close his eyes and stop fighting the fatigue. That was all there was to it. He just had to rest his head on the comfortable floor and stop resisting the natural instincts of his body. He was already beginning to lose the feeling in his arms and legs -- they had already gone to sleep.
But there was still something inside the Ferengi that kept him going. Something inside Zaag fought the exhaustion. Was it his love for Sandra? His anger towards her upcoming death? He didn't know, nor did he care at this point. It was probably both. But whatever it was, it drove Zaag to stand up again and force his legs to co-operate. Using the last of the breathable air, Zaag took a deep and difficult breath, before doing the one thing that the feelings that soared inside him urged him to do: vent his anger at the inoperative life support system. He kicked it, hit it and continued kicking and hitting it until he had no strength left. He slumped down onto the console before falling to the ground, unconscious. Zaag had joined Zjavick and Sandra in their never-ending sleep.
Captain Ayer wished he was asleep right now. A calm, soothing and refreshing night's rest was just what he needed. He also knew he wasn't going to get it. Instead, he was on the receiving end of a fist that impacted quite rudely with his stomach. Ayer slumped to the ground, his legs suddenly devoid of all strength.
"Pathetic," he heard Donovan say. Not long after Ayer had been thrown into this room -- an empty room, save for the desk and chair at the far end of it -- Donovan had arrived here as well. He seemed to derive great pleasure from watching his security officers pound the life out of Ayer. Donovan sniggered as he walked closer to the fallen Captain. "I thought Starfleet Captains these days were capable of taking much more than a little beating. You disappoint me, Captain Ayer."
Ayer was still clutching his stomach and gasping for air, but nevertheless had a reply ready. "You just caught me unprepared, that's all." He looked up at Donovan as blood trickled from his nose. "I'll pose more of a challenge next time."
Ayer's defiance told Donovan that the Captain of the Aquinas still had a will that wasn't broken, despite him seeing the shuttle with his crewmembers in it explode. What Ayer lacked in physical strength, he made up for it in a very resilient will. Perhaps, Donovan thought, he would pose a challenge indeed.
"As I understand it," Donovan continued, seemingly ignoring Ayer's comment, "Starfleet takes a dim view on violence, isn't that so?"
"Apparently," Ayer retorted, "not all Starfleet Captains do."
Donovan smiled at this. "Ah, yes. Well, I have found over the years that violence is the key to opening doors that diplomacy cannot unlock. Violence brings enemies, like yourself, Captain, to their knees. It is a powerful tool, Ayer. Why should we fear to use it?"
"So now I am your enemy?" asked Ayer, wiping the trickle of blood away. "I thought you said you and I were on the same side?"
"We were," Donovan conceded. "But then you decided not to co-operate. That made you an enemy."
Ayer looked at him with cold, defiant eyes. "An enemy of whom?"
Donovan looked back, not intimidated by Ayer's fierce look. "An enemy of the Federation."
For a moment, Ayer was too surprised to say anything. That moment quickly passed. "*I* am an enemy of the Federation?" he asked loudly, his surprise and the contempt for Donovan's statement apparent. "Last time I checked, *I* wasn't the one to fire at Federation vessels. *I* wasn't the one who killed dozens of Starfleet officers just to steal some samples. If there is an enemy of the Federation in this room, it is you, Captain Donovan!"
The Iapetus' commanding officer just smiled. "That is where you are wrong. I am part of an organisation that protects the Federation by any means necessary... But you wouldn't understand. You are too caught up in Federation values to look beyond them. Diplomacy, trust, respect? A Captain's greatest allies, indeed!" Donovan sneered. "There is an entire galaxy out there, filled with species who fire first and ask questions later -- species like the Romulans. Someone has to protect the Federation from them, Captain. Someone who is able to step beyond the boundaries of the sacred Federation values, in order to protect exactly those values."
"And that someone is you?" Ayer asked. He knew what the answer was.
"Yes," Donovan replied. "Me and the organisation I work for. Without us, the Federation would have seized to exist centuries ago. Without our continued efforts to keep the Federation safe, Earth would have fallen to the Klingons or the Romulans, humanity scattered over the galaxy as slaves and cheap labourers, and the Federation's values, the same ones you hold so dear, would exist only in the dreams of the oppressed." He paused for a moment and walked around the room, visibly upset with Ayer's resistance to see him as an ally. "You live in a utopia, Captain Ayer. *I* help make that utopia possible. For the greater good of the Federation, its citizens and its values, I must deviate from those values in order to secure the existence of the Federation in the future." He paused again and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "If you only knew everything that we've done and everything that we're doing for the Federation... If only you could see how dependent the Federation has become on us... You wouldn't think our methods were appalling. You would see that what we do is necessary for the survival of the Federation. You would be grateful for what we do!"
"So you want my thanks, is that it?" Ayer asked him, the defiant look still present in his eyes.
"I want your understanding!" Donovan shouted. "I need you to understand that what I'm doing is in the best interest of the Federation."
"Oh, I understand, all right." Ayer said with fierce anger and got to his feet with great difficulty, but all the while kept staring at Donovan. "You destroyed my ship and murdered my crew, and all that for a bunch of crystals that may give you the most powerful ship in the quadrant! I understand perfectly." He spat out the last words, his voice and the words filled with painfully apparent sarcasm.
"I see." Donovan turned his back to him and smiled, glad that Ayer was back on his feet again. It gave him the opportunity he wanted to knock the Captain back to the floor again. Without warning, Donovan spun around, his arm stretched out. His elbow connected to Ayer's jaw, after which the rest of his arm pushed him down to the floor. Donovan's victim found himself having barely enough time to turn around while falling, so he could land on his side instead of his face. It prevented him from losing consciousness at impact. Sadly, his manoeuvre did expose his stomach, and Donovan found great pleasure in kicking Ayer there with his foot. For a few moments, Ayer couldn't breathe.
"I am not doing this for myself. Haven't you been listening?" Donovan shouted. "I'm doing all of this for the Federation. For you! Everything I have done was necessary for the survival of the Federation!"
"Explain to me," Ayer managed to say while gasping for air, "why the destruction of my ship was necessary for the survival of the Federation."
Donovan rolled his eyes. He had explained all of this to the stubborn Captain before. Why, he thought, couldn't he just accept that explanation? "I told you. You were carrying the samples. The samples are of the utmost importance to the survival of the Federation, and you know it. Romulans had attacked the outpost, there was a Cardassian planning to steal the crystals, hell, I've heard news that even the Klingons were going to send a ship to steal the samples. They were slow, though. As usual."
"But why attack my ship?" Ayer demanded, still clutching his stomach. "Why not simply contact us and ask us to beam the samples to you?"
"Because you wouldn't have trusted me, Ayer," Donovan replied. "You heard rumours about the samples as well. Their incredible power was already known to you through those rumours. You weren't going to give me those samples simply because I asked you to. You would have scanned my ship, asked me why I was so coincidentally in this sector. You would see that the Iapetus doesn't even exist in Starfleet records. You would start asking questions, you would contact Starfleet, who would naturally deny that they have any other ships in this sector. You would think that I'm some sort of spy, that I want to steal the samples from you to use them for my own benefit. Starfleet would think that way, too. Before I would even get the chance to contact my superiors to make it clear to the rest to Starfleet, you would have already been ordered by the top brass to proceed at maximum warp to the Starbase, and I would have lost my opportunity to obtain the samples. On top of that, the Romulans would have attacked your ship." He paused after his monologue and looked Ayer squarely in the eyes. "So you see, Captain, I really didn't have any choice in the matter. I had to attack your ship before the samples had escaped me completely. Destroying your ship was the only course of action, and so I pursued it. I think it all turned out pretty well, don't you?"
"You bastard," Ayer cursed. He understood Donovan's line of reasoning, but didn't agree with it. True, he had heard rumours about hideously powerful energy crystals found near Alpha Centauri, and of the possibility of an enemy attack. After he heard the news, he had immediately ordered his ship to Alpha Centauri space, to see what he could do there. When he arrived there, it had already been too late: the Starfleet compound was destroyed. By some strange luck, though, the Romulans hadn't been able to find the samples. By an even stranger stroke of luck, it was Ayer's niece who was in possession of the samples.
It all seemed so simple back then. 'Back then' was only half a day or so ago, actually. All Ayer had to do was to get the samples safely to a research facility on Starbase 67. There was hardly anything that could go wrong... But their luck had turned. The Aquinas had been attacked and crippled, its crew wounded or killed. And all because of Captain Donovan.
Strange enough, though, Donovan seemed to be sincere. As far as Ayer could tell, Donovan really saw himself as one of the saviours of the Federation. His mind drifted off to a discussion he had with his First Officer a long while ago -- his late First Officer, now. She had conveyed to him a rumour about a mysterious group of Starfleet officers, who was willing to do whatever it took to protect the Federation. Operating in the shadows and not adhering to the boundaries of Federation ethics and values, this organisation was supposedly comparable to the Cardassian Obsidian Order or the Romulan Tal Shiar. It had no real boss inside Starfleet, or so the rumours went, and because of that it wasn't bound to the bureaucracy inherent to large democratic organisations such as the Federation. It was as Donovan had said: they stepped outside the values of the Federation in order to protect those very same values. Could Donovan be part of this organisation? Ayer had always dismissed the rumours as just that -- rumours. Operating above the law and in the shadows was a Romulan tactic, at best. Starfleet would never allow such an organisation. But, he realised, Starfleet probably didn't even know this organisation existed. Or even worse -- what if Starfleet did know about its existence, but chose not to interfere in its operations?
"So what do you want from me?" Ayer had regained his breath after a while, but he wasn't standing up yet. He wasn't about to make the same mistake twice. "You stole the samples, you got what you wanted. Why beam me off that shuttle?"
"Because you, Captain Ayer, seem like the perfect man to know where I can find more of the samples." He looked at him with his nearly expressionless, almost bored gaze, as if answering that question was the most normal thing in the entire universe. To Donovan, it probably was.
Ayer was stumped. "More?" If it was known among Starfleet scientists where the crystal samples had been found, then they certainly wouldn't have passed that knowledge on to Ayer, an outsider to the whole project. It was possible that Sandra knew, but as far as he knew, she had never told him where they had found the samples. He didn't even know if she knew where they came from. "Look, I don't know where those scientists at Alpha Centauri found those samples. Go ask them, not me."
"I will," Donovan replied. "But for now, you'll do nicely. Now, I ask you again. Where did the scientists find the samples?"
Ayer looked at him as if the other Captain had gone crazy. "I already told you, I don't know!"
"Ah," Donovan said with a smile, "but if you *did* know, would you tell me?"
Looking at the ground, Ayer scowled. "Probably not, no."
"You see?" replied the other. "Then I can't really be sure you don't know, can I? For all I know, you do know, but you just don't want to tell me."
Captain Ayer rolled his eyes at this paranoid logic. "So either I tell you the information you want to know, which I don't have, or I don't tell you, but then you'll assume I do have the information but don't want to tell you?"
Ayer let out an exasperated sigh and rubbed his forehead. "I'm really not in the mood for that kind of logic right now, Donovan." He wiped away some under his nose. "Can't we do this some other time?"
Alarms went off inside Ayer's head when Donovan, suddenly enraged with anger, dropped to his knees. Before Ayer had a chance to respond to any of this, Donovan grabbed him by the throat and pushed him against a bulkhead. He didn't push hard, but hard enough for Ayer to know who was the stronger of the two in this situation. "You *will* talk," Donovan told him.
"But I don't know anything about the samples," Ayer responded through clenched teeth.
"Liar!" Donovan shouted. It took great effort to restrain himself from breaking Ayer's neck right here, right now. Instead, he pushed Ayer against the bulkhead harder, up to a point where the Captain could barely breathe. "Tell me what I want to know!"
"I told you, I don't have that information..." Ayer was struggling for air now, his hands clenched around Donovan's arm, trying to push the aggressor away. When he saw that Donovan wouldn't budge, he knew he needed to come up with a different strategy. "Is this really about the info, Donovan?" he asked. "Or is this about the fact that I proved to be more of a problem for you than you gave me credit for?" Feeling Donovan's strength decrease for less than a moment, Ayer knew he was on the right track. "That's it, isn't it? This has nothing to do with the original location of the samples. This is simple revenge, and nothing more. I hurt you, and now you want to hurt me back. And you say it's all in the best interest of the Federation. Well let me tell you something, Donovan. I don't buy that."
Donovan let go of Ayer's throat and stood up, knowing that the Captain of the Aquinas realised which of the two was in control here. "You don't understand what's at stake here!" Donovan replied angrily. "You lead the Romulans to the Iapetus, Ayer. You were the one who gave them the means to track down our warp signature. You aided a potential enemy in localising a Starfleet vessel! By doing so, you didn't only endanger this ship, you endangered the entire Federation!"
Ayer clenched his fists. He knew what was coming -- Donovan wanted to punish him for what he perceived as betraying the Federation, and now that Ayer was a prisoner on the Iapetus, there wasn't anything he could do to stop that punishment from taking place. In this situation, Donovan had made himself judge, jury and executioner. Before this moment, Ayer hadn't thought that Donovan, still a Starfleet officer, it seemed, was capable of killing him. But now he feared for his life; what if Donovan was actually delusional enough to actually kill him?
"Then take me to the nearest starbase and have me face a court-martial," Ayer suggested, realising that it was very likely that this would turn into a plea for his life. "Turn me over to Starfleet Command and let them decide how I should pay for my 'crimes'. Don't sentence me yourself, Donovan. Don't do this. Not like this."
The grin on Donovan's face only grew. Clearly he was enjoying this moment. "One of the advantages of operating outside Federation law," he reached for the desk and grabbed a metallic pole that was laying on its surface, "is that I can deal with enemies of the Federation in whatever way *I* see fit."
He showed his teeth in a smile that sent shivers up Ayer's spine, and paused for a moment, his hands clenching the pole high in the air. He lashed out before Ayer could respond.
"Zaag?" The voice sounded distant, unreal in a way, but the Ferengi clung unto it. "Zaag, wake up." It was a female voice, Zaag realised. And not just any female voice: it was Sandra's. The words were almost tangible, and Zaag struggled to grab hold of them, to use them as a life line that would lead him back to consciousness. Finally, he opened his eyes and saw Sandra and Zjavick standing over him. "Zaag, you're awake!" Sandra sounded thrilled and very relieved.
Zaag, however, felt confused. "I'm not dead?" he asked hesitantly. How could he not be dead? He hadn't been able to bring life support on line and he had lost consciousness. By all rights, he was supposed to have died from lack of breathable air. Then why hadn't he? Or had he died, but was this some weird and twisted form of the afterlife? No, Zaag thought, that was impossible. This was hardly the Divine Treasury, and it couldn't be the Vault of Eternal Destitution either, for he hadn't even attempted to bribe the Blessed Exchequer yet. This, then, had to mean that he was still alive.
Sandra smiled, and as usual captured Zaag with her lovely smile. "No, you're not dead."
"You saved us all, mister Zaag," Zjavick said, also smiling. "Somehow you managed to bring the life support system on line before you passed out."
Zaag was stumped. "But all I did was hit the damn thing."
Zjavick chuckled and shrugged. "Take it from an engineer: hitting something is often a good way to make that thing work. It certainly worked here."
"Now there's an anticlimax if I've ever heard one," Zaag muttered in reply.
Before he could say anything else, Sandra kneeled down next to him and hugged him tightly. He enjoyed the feeling of Sandra's embrace and hugged her back. "You had me scared for a while," Sandra whispered, glad that Zaag couldn't see that she was crying. "I thought I had lost you."
"The only thing that kept me going," Zaag whispered in reply, "was the thought of you. Your eyes, your voice... Everything. My love for you is what kept me on my feet, Sandra. I would have lost consciousness long before I had if it wasn't for my feelings for you." He sighed deeply and breathed in the air from the life support system while remembering how Sandra felt about him. "I'm sorry, Sandra, but I love you. That's not going to change."
Sandra closed her eyes and smiled as tears rolled down her cheeks. "I wouldn't have it any other way."
They stayed in each other's arms for a long time, and Zjavick wisely did nothing to interfere, until their comm badges emitted a chirping sound. Evidently, they were being contacted. Startled, Sandra and Zaag got to their feet as Zjavick tapped his communicator to open the channel.
=/\= This is Captain Kellin of the USS Sophocles to anyone aboard the USS Aquinas. We have come to get you to safety. Please respond."
Zjavick's face cleared up and he looked at Sandra and Zaag, who were both wearing a mixed expression of surprise and joy. Starfleet had finally acted on the distress call and had sent a ship to rescue the survivors. "This is Lieutenant Commander Zjavick aboard the Aquinas, Captain. We're glad you could make it."
=/\= Any time, Commander, =/\= came the reply. =/\= How are you holding up? =/\=
"Fairly well, under the circumstances. Our injuries are minor. The Aquinas, however, is an entirely different story. She's unsalvageable, I'm afraid."
=/\= I look forward to hearing your report, Commander, =/\= Kellin said. =/\= For now, though, you've earned your rest. Your adventure is over -- you can look forward to some well-deserved rest now. =/\=
Zjavick sighed and exchanged glances with Sandra and Zaag. "Begging your pardon, sir, but there are still some things we need to take care of before we can even begin considering rest. I'll fill you in when we get on board your ship."
There was an almost awkward pause in the conversation. =/\= Be sure that you do, Commander, =/\= Kellin finally replied. =/\= Prepare for transport. Sophocles out. =/\=
The channel was closed, and Zjavick went to stand near Sandra and Zaag. He swallowed as he looked around the badly damaged Bridge. Dead bodies were all over the place, among them officers and crewmen he had known. Blood stained the carpet next to the Vulcan first officer's already cold body. There had been life on this ship, Zjavick knew. The crew had laughed here, cried here, made important decisions on this ship. Over the years he had served on the Aquinas, he had watched the crew grow closer to each other and to the ship. They had formed relationships, got used to the particular quirks of this starship and its crew, and they had shared life-altering experiences together.
There had been life here, but now there was only death. The bridge, which had once been alive with chatter, was now stained with death. This was no longer a place of the living. Zjavick glanced around the Bridge of his ship one last time as the transporter beam locked on to him and his companions. An almost sad whining sound accompanied the blue glow of the transporter, which removed the last living souls off the battered vessel. After the transport was complete, there was no creature alive on the Aquinas anymore. There was only death.
