“You’re my friend?” Robin said dryly.

Soleta seemed to shrug with her eyebrows. “In the sense that we see each other every day and I do not find your presence repulsive, yes.” Then, more softly, and with what seemed genuine sympathy, she said softly, “We’ve helped each other in the past, you and I. Believe it or not, I’m helping you now by telling you to get off the bridge and take some time. Take as much as you need.”

“I don’t—”

“You do. Go to your quarters. Go to the holodeck.”

“The holodeck.This is hardly the time for recreation.”

“Perhaps it’s exactly the time. Just ... go. Be anywhere but here. If a situation arises, I promise you that you will be summoned instantly.”

“But Soleta, I don’t think that ...”

“Robin,” sighed Soleta, “leave before I have Mr. Kebron carry you out bodily.”

“Can I?” inquired Zak. “I’m bored.”

“Fine,” Robin said in exasperation. Maintaining as much of her dignity as she could, she crossed quickly to the emergency stairs, since the turbolift had been unreliable at best. She clambered down and out of sight of the bridge ...

... and for a moment, she almost lost her grip on the ladder.

She wondered what could possibly have caused her to do so, and it was only at that point that she realized her body was seized with great, racking sobs. Desperate not to slip off, she threw her arms around the ladder, clutching it like a lover, and she dissolved into tears while chewing on her lower lip so as not to let her sobs echo up and down the passageway.

III.

Elizabeth Shelby was shocked at how wan and exhausted her husband, Mackenzie Calhoun, appeared.

She’d been sitting in the team room, along with Dr. Selar, Commander Burgoyne, Lieutenant Soleta, and Chief Engineer Mitchell. They all looked tired and shaken by what they’d been through, but that didn’t surprise the Tridentcaptain particularly. They were all fine officers; she knew, having served with all of them. They’d had a hell of an experience, though, and she couldn’t blame them at all for looking tired, even a bit forlorn.

She was not expecting it from Calhoun, however. It wasn’t simply that he was her husband and therefore she anticipated a certain level of performance from him. It was because, in all the years she’d known him, he was one of the most unflappable people she’d ever encountered. Not only did stress and difficulty not impede him, but he actually seemed to thrive on it.

Not this time, however. When Calhoun entered, there was a haunted look in his face, in his eyes, such as she had never seen. He covered it very quickly; when the others began to rise in response to his entrance, he gestured for them to remain seated with as much calm and control as he always displayed. They’d never have known there was anything wrong. But Shelby did.

“Thank you for coming, Captain,” he said with impressive formality. She’d been expecting his typical, offhand “Eppy,” his abbreviation for “Elizabeth Paula.” He knew she hated it and derived perverse delight in employing it whenever possible. “And I should add,” he continued, “that the thank-you is on behalf of everyone aboard this ship ... or what’s left of this ship,” he added ruefully. Immediately he turned to Burgoyne and Mitchell. “Damage report.”

They proceeded to give him a blow-by-blow description of everything that was wrong with the Excalibur.It was a staggering list. The Beings had done an astounding amount of damage, up to and including punching a hole in the saucer section that was sealed off by automatic forcefields. “With all of that,” Mitchell commented, shaking his head, “it’s a miracle we were able to rejoin the saucer and hull sections as smoothly as we did.”

It had seemed a good idea, a smart tactical move. Separate the saucer from the main hull and then fly both into battle, with Calhoun (and Morgan Lefler assisting) employing a new holographic technology that enabled them to be on both the saucer section and the battle bridge of the main hull. Unfortunately, it had backfired ... or else it simply had not been enough. The damage sustained by both vessels had shorted out the holotech, and things had gone downhill from there. ...

Maybe it wouldn’t have if you’d been there.

As Mitchell and Burgoyne continued their report, it was all Shelby could do to banish such thoughts from her mind. Calhoun was a brilliant captain, leader, and tactician. There was no reason whatsoever to think that, if she’d been along for the ride, she would have been able to accomplish what he hadn’t.

Except you did. They ran when you showed up. ...

“Only because I had another starship,” she said.

That brought conversation screeching to a halt as they all look at her in bewilderment. “I ... beg your pardon, Captain?” asked Burgoyne.

“Nothing.” She waved it off dismissively. “I was just ... thinking out loud.”

Calhoun nodded, looking as if he wasn’t paying all that much attention. “Dr. Selar ... total damage?”

“At last count, eighteen fatalities, forty-seven injured. Considering the violence of the attack, we must consider that number to be extraordinarily low.”

“Almost miraculously,” said Burgoyne.

“Miraculously,” Calhoun said distantly. “Burgy, we’ve lost eighteen crewmen and we’re only a few notches above dead in space. This isn’t exactly the time to start dwelling on the mercies of the almighty.”

Burgoyne looked in confusion at the others. “My apologies, Captain ... I didn’t mean to—”

As if Burgoyne hadn’t even spoken, Calhoun said, “Repair estimates.”

“Hard to say, Captain,” Mitchell told him. “Until we get in to a starbase ...”

“We’re not going to a starbase.”

There was a stunned silence around the table. “Captain,” Soleta said cautiously, “Starbase 27 is reachable, particularly if the Tridenttakes us into warp-speed tow.”

Shelby nodded. “That’s certainly doable. Not the best thing for standard practice, but once we put tractor beams on and get moving, and we don’t go above warp three ... provided Burgy and Mitchell think the ship’s up for it structurally.”

“We should be able to hold her together,” said Mitchell. “The question is—”

“Excuse me,” Calhoun said, his voice far sharper than it had been before. “I believe I’m still in the room. Furthermore, I believe I’ve already addressed the idea. We’re not going to a starbase.”

“But Captain ...” began Burgoyne.

“For future reference, Commander, those are two words that should never be combined in the same sentence ... especially at the beginning.”

Shelby saw the stunned look on Burgoyne’s face, and on Mitchell’s. Soleta and Selar, naturally, managed to maintain inscrutable expressions, although Shelby fancied she could see a flicker of surprise in Soleta’s eyes.

Calhoun leaned forward and said, “This is the part where you say, ‘Yes, sir.’ ”

“Yes, sir,” Burgoyne immediately replied.

Nodding once, Calhoun continued, “We came to this area of space because we detected energy surges that we now know were created by the Beings. We’re not going to run off because we got our eyes a little blackened ... particularly considering that, for all we know, they’re still out there, waiting to see what happens next. Well, if they’re going to keep an eye on us, we’re keeping an eye on them as well. And we can’t do it if we’re sitting in drydock at Starbase 27. Captain Shelby, I take it that the Tridentcan extend whatever aid is required in terms of effecting repairs?”

“Whatever is required, yes,” Shelby said carefully.

“Very well. Chief, I want you to put together a complete list of what you’re going to need to pull this ship together again. Manpower, hardware, the works. Have it for me within the hour.”

“Within the—?” Then Mitchell paused, the expression of shock on his round, bearded face subsiding, and he simply said, “Yes, sir. Within the hour, sir.”