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“Ensign, this is Nurse Chapel. I need to talk to Lieutenant DeSalle.”

“He’s busy with the warp circuits right now. I don’t think he can—”

“That’s an order, Ensign.”

Harper sounded unconvinced. “Aye.”

“DeSalle here. What is it?”

“Lieutenant Uhura is unconscious, pending surgery.”

“So?”

“That puts you in command of the Enterprise.”

“Not if we ever hope to get free. Is Lieutenant Sulu well enough to do it?”

A good question. “I’ll check.”

“Look, I can do more good down here. Engineering out.”

Chapel found herself wishing that Mister Spock was here. He would know what to do about the distortions, how to save the ship—

“Oh, that’s right,” said Roger, snapping his fingers. “You did replace me. With a man completely incapable of reciprocating your feelings. What does that say about you, I wonder?”

“I don’t—It’s not like—”

One blink later, a figure was standing next to Roger—Spock, as lifelike as could be. But unlike Roger, he didn’t say a thing. He simply stared at her, a judgmental look on his Vulcan features.

“I’ve moved on, from both of you,” she said at last.

Roger snorted. “That seems likely.”

Spock just raised an eyebrow.

Spock set the Hofstadter to head back to the planet and the source of the subspace distortion. The explosion had sent both shuttles reeling, and Spock had just regained control. The Columbus was stabilizing as well. He ordered Lieutenant Kologwe to match his course.

“What… what happened?” Engineer Scott asked in a shaken voice.

“We were hit by the explosion of the satellite,” Spock said. “Petty Officer Emalra’ehn was killed.”

“How?” Scott asked.

Spock kept his eyes on the screen ahead of him, but he could hear Scott attempting to sit up, followed by M’Benga admonishing him. “Once it was apparent that the Hofstadter would no longer be able to assist, Petty Officer Emalra’ehn triggered the power dump. He died instantly.”

“The poor lad… And the fighters?”

“The remaining fighter craft was destroyed. The shuttle sustained considerable damage. Shields are almost depleted.”

“Should we land?”

“Rest assured that this is what I have in mind, Mister Scott. We are heading to the hub of the reactor network, the cause of the subspace distortions.”

“Sir,” said Jaeger, who was at navigation. “There’s a Farrezzi ship in orbit. Over the northern hemisphere. It’s bigger than the fighters.”

Spock checked the readings. “We need to land before it notices us,” he said. “We cannot enter another firefight.”

“Are we still going to deactivate that weather satellite?” asked Jaeger.

“We will destroy it on our way down,” said Spock. “How long will it take the anomalous weather system to abate?”

Jaeger checked his readings. “A few hours at most.”

Spock nodded. “Setting course.” His fingers danced over the console. Simple, too simple. He had protected his crew, he had done his duty. But it was too easy, too easy to kill. Of late, Spock was troubled that he was forgetting what it meant to be Vulcan.

“Mister Spock,” said M’Benga, “do you know how the Columbus fared?”

Spock turned his attention to the physician. It appeared that he had sustained a cut on his forehead when the shuttle had been hit. “Kologwe reported that their shields held,” Spock said. “There were no injuries.”

M’Benga closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them to glance around, in search of something. “I need to look after Mister Scott.”

“Perhaps you should look after yourself.”

“No, sir, I’m fine. I can—” M’Benga wiped the blood off his forehead. He headed aft.

Spock swiveled around to face the console, resolving to increase their speed without overtaxing the engines.

Stardate Unknown

McCoy pushed upward, but the darkness swirled around him, dragging him back down.

stay here stay here stay here stay with us don’t go stay here stay here

The voice was Jocelyn’s.

He tried to shut it out, but it was almost comforting. Outside, all that waited for him was an insoluble problem. In here, he was safe.

that’s right stay here stay here don’t go stay here stay here

The voice was his father’s.

Safe? No! When had he ever thought