Not giving the crew time to recover, K’Taul ordered, “Damage report.”

It was a moment before Vendar replied.  “Shields went offline when that wave hit us.  There’s some buckling along the stardrive section’s hull…decks thirteen through fifteen.  Engineering reports that there are a few overloaded EPS relays and conduits.”

“Warp power status?” he asked.

“I wouldn’t push it over warp seven point three,” she replied.

“Very well,” he said.  “Helm, resume our previous course and engage at warp seven.”

“Aye, sir,” James replied.

At that moment, Chris seemed to realize what he had just heard.  He looked at K’Taul with surprise and horror on his face.  “What about the Shauny?!”

K’Taul frowned questioningly.  “What about her?”

“Her crew just gave their lives!” he said in a rather loud voice.

K’Taul’s questioning frown turned to an angered one.  “Do not raise your voice with me, Commander!”

“Seven hundred people just died!” he retorted.

“Mourn them on your own time, Commander!” he replied in almost a shout.  “We’ve got a mission to complete!”

Chris opened his mouth, ready to say something else…but then thought better of it and sat back in his chair.  He glared at K’Taul, then looked down at his console.

K’Taul was angry and wanted to do more…but it wouldn’t be long before they arrived at the planet.  He would deal with him later…

Chris sighed as he sat down in the couch.  The couch, thankfully, faced the forward windows of the mess hall…giving him a great view of the streaking star field.  He looked down at his pizza, one of the ‘junk foods’ he found a long time ago in his studies of the 20^th century.  His favorite…and he couldn’t touch it.

Seven hundred people had died in one blow…almost matching the deaths that had occurred under his command, in one simple explosion.  It was tragic…  Yet this…Klingon captain didn’t even seem to care!

How am I going to deal with this guy? He thought to himself.  How can I deal with such an unemotional…arrogant man?

“Stellar thoughts?” a soft voice asked, startling Chris.  He nearly dumped the plate out of his lap, realize he had quickly fallen into a daydream state…

He looked up at the voice and saw Vendar’s familiar face, smiling.  “I’m sorry, did I frighten you?”

He smiled and shook his head.  “No…yes.  You caught me in my thoughts.”  He looked around at the mess hall to see it empty.  “And I didn’t hear you come in.”

She smiled lightly again and sat down next to him.  “That was quite a scene on the bridge…I’ve only seen you react that way a couple of times.”

There was something different about her voice…something was missing.  “As I was just thinking…in one simple explosion, in one moment…seven hundred people died…almost matching the losses that happened under my command…”

She shook her head and leaned back.  “Chris…I can’t believe you’re still mulling over those deaths.”

A look of surprise and horror over came his face.  “Shouldn’t I be?!”

“Chris…there’s a time for mourning, and a time to move on,” she stated simply.  “I was mulling over their deaths for a while…but I moved on.  You, above all people, should know that moving on is important.”  She hesitated…not just literally, but visibly, her face showing her trepidation about the subject.  “I know this might still be hard on you…but I have to use it as an example.  It took you months…but you finally realized you had to get over Sarah’s death.”

That was a difficult subject…and he knew it was hard on both of them.  And at the same time he thought about her…he realized that Vendar was right.  He had to get over the deaths or he’d never be able to live…really live again.

He looked at the deck and nodded his head once.  “You know…you’re right.  I guess I need to move on.”

She smiled again and put her hand on his shoulder.  “I know that it’s hard…you feel responsible for their deaths…”

“You could say that,” he replied shortly.  “They died because I ordered us into a situation that caused their deaths.”

“And if they could all go back in time, knowing that they would die…” She paused, letting him consider what she was about to say…  “They would still follow your orders.  They would die for the several causes we fought for!  They wouldn’t even hesitate to follow those orders again…”

Realization hit him when she said that.  She was right…they would do that.  Each and everyone knew they might die when they joined Starfleet…even the Hintaru and Britar officers…

“They stayed with the Dragon when they could have left or not even come on board,” she added.  “They stayed on board because they believed in you and the causes you fought for!  They trusted you to make the decisions you needed to make…” She leaned forward and looked him straight in the eye.  “Even decisions that sent them to their deaths…”

He heaved a huge sigh and looked down again.  She was absolutely right…  He never realized it before now…but she was right…

Chris frowned and looked at her.  “Not to change the subject…but something’s bothering me.  Something about your voice…hell, you yourself have changed…”

She smiled and leaned back, shrugging easily.  “Let’s just say that I visited Starfleet medical after the trial…”

“And they found a cure for your…problem?” he asked, relief hitting him.

She smiled oddly and shook her head.  “No…but they did help me.”  She narrowed her eyes and frowned lightly.  “From what they told me, my body has…adapted to constantly generate the energy that it had become accustomed to.  They say that, eventually, my body will fully adapt to this energy and I’ll be like I used to be…but until then, they adapted Kara’s nanites to perform a better job…and it’s working!”

Chris smiled at her, “Well congratulations!  It’s good to have an even-tempered ops officer again!”

She elbowed him in the side playfully.  “Don’t remind me of how I was…” The smile vanished as she no doubt remembered just how she was…  “I hope I never am like that again…”

The bulkheads suddenly darkened as the ship went to red alert again.  “All hands to battle stations!  We’re approaching the source of the distress call!”

Chris looked at her, all joviality lost, as they both knew that they didn’t know what was next.  Any number of things could happen now…

“I’m still not reading any ships in the vicinity of the planet,” Ada stated from tactical.

K’Taul looked up from his console and back long enough to see Chris and Vendar both walk in at the same time.  He looked back at his console and examined the scans himself.  Nothing…not even minor subspace distortions that cloaking fields sometimes caused…

As soon as Chris sat down, Vendar gave her own report.  “Captain…I’m not reading any subspace signals on the surface…except for the distress signal.  There are about three billion humanoid life signs on the surface…and I am reading antimatter signals, but nothing suggesting warp power…”

We’re close enough he thought to himself.  “Helm, drop us out of warp.  Command Perkins…”  He looked up at the planet that just now appeared on the view screen.  “Hail the planet.”

“Sending out a hail on all frequencies and languages…” she reported, working at her console.  K’Taul had been stationed on a Sovereign class starship before and so was used to the ops station being next to the helm…he wasn’t used to it being at the back of the bridge.

The bridge was silent as they waited.  There were three billion life signs…but were those life signs able to answer a hail, or were they dying for some reason?

The silence was broken by the confirmation tone on Vendar’s console.  “We’re receiving a reply…”

“On screen,” K’Taul ordered.

The screen flickered, then revealed …humanoids?  When Vendar said humanoid, he expected the usual type of humanoids seen in the galaxy…but the ones he could see behind the one in front were…humanoid…yet different!  Their skin was scaly, much like the Gorn’s skin…however, their legs seemed…like the joints were backwards…or they were compared to how most humanoids had them.  They had very long, lanky fingers, three each with an opposable thumb.  Their heads were very awkward…they looked half reptilian, half…something else.

Although his mouth didn’t move properly, the universal translator was already able to interpret his words.  “I am Mourdan of the Lauss.”

K’Taul stood up and approached the view screen from behind James.  “I am Captain K’Taul of the Federation starship Dragon.”  He paused a moment.  “We are here in response to your active distress signal.”

Somehow, Mourdan displayed a look of relief on his face.  “Thank you, Captain…we monitored the battles with that other large ship and were afraid they would come to make our troubles worse.”

This intrigued K’Taul…  “How did you monitor us?  We’re only detecting your distress signal…no other subspace signals.”

“We have a technology that masks our subspace signals so that no one can monitor them or detect them,” Mourdan replied.

K’Taul nodded…a very useful technology.  “Why, precisely, did you send out a distress signal?”

“Our species has been suffering lately…a genetic disorder that we noticed in our selves years ago has begun to finally affect us all…” He moved closer to his screen.  “We need help to combat this!”

K’Taul looked at Chris, who looked surprised.  They hadn’t expected it to be a medical problem…  He looked back at the view screen.  “Perhaps if you sent us information on this genetic disorder…we could develop a cure.”

Mourdan shook his head.  “No, we’ve already come up with a cure…what we don’t have is technology to obtain the necessary genetic components to synthesize it.”

K’Taul frowned, accenting his cranial ridges.  “I am…confused,” he admitted.  “What do you need us for then?”

“We don’t have technology to actually create the genetic components we have pieced together in a simulation.  We do, however…know where to get them.”

K’Taul suddenly realized what they were needed for.  “So you need us to get those components for you…so that you can combine them.”

“That is correct,” Mourdan replied.  “Once we do have the components, we can only then replicate more.”

“Then you need an exact, precise pattern to replicate or else it won’t work…correct?” Chris asked.

“That is correct.”

K’Taul nodded an understanding nod.  “Well, then…if you’ll send us locations, we can retrieve them for you.”

Mourdan shook his head.  “We can give you the planetary locations, you’ll have to find the genetic strands yourself…and…” He was clearly hesitant.  “There is one planet inhabited by a rather hostile species…they’ll likely resist your presence in their system, let alone close enough to their planet to transport genetic material…”