The stars streaked by the window of the small shuttle craft as Cassandra Johanson, the new Communications Officer on the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D), drifted in and out of sleep. Commander William Riker was piloting. They were headed for a week of shore leave on Rysa. Cassie had agreed to take her vacation, under protest, only after Counselor Troi and Doctor Crusher insisted. She knew she could handle the news that her sister and former fiancé were being married. That did not bother her. What really hurt was that her parents had been killed three months earlier in an unprovoked attack on the small farming community in which they lived. Terrorists had bombed the marketplace and her mother died instantly. Her father died the next day. Even now, on Earth, they could not do anything for him. Cassie’s sister was there and she knew it had to have been her. Cassie had just been assigned to the Enterprise and was not allowed to go home.

"Now the wedding is coming up and I don’t want to go." Cassie had told Deanna Troi.

Soon after that she was ordered to take a vacation. Commander Riker volunteered to make sure she rested. It was his suggestion to go to Rysa.

"Well," said Riker, "here we are."

Cassie opened her eyes. "Here we are," she said. "It was nice of you to volunteer to baby-sit me, Commander, but you didn’t have to."

"First of all, call me Will, when we’re not on duty."

Cassie nodded.

"Secondly," he said, "I volunteered to go with you because I wanted to get to know you better, on a personal level."

"Lots of people want to do that because of my great-great-uncle."

"I don’t care about your relatives, although it is exciting to know the great-grand-niece of James T. Kirk. I really would like to know Cassie Johanson."

Cassie blushed. "I’m sorry, Will," she said. "It’s just. . ."

"I know, it’s hard living in the shadow of a legend. I have had the same problem with my own father."

"Not just that, I’m the first one in my family, since then, to be in Star Fleet. It’s been a real challenge."

"I’m sure it has. I bet that’s why Deanna insisted that you take some leave."

"But, I don’t need to take a vacation!" She shouted.

"Then, relax and enjoy yourself." He said.

Cassie looked at him and saw that he had a big silly grin on his face. "Sir," she said, pretending to be offended, "I’m not that kind of girl."

"If you’re not that kind of girl, then why are you going to Rysa with me?"

She shook her head and both of them laughed. Cassie sighed. "Okay, Will," she said, "you made me laugh. That’s the first time in weeks, maybe even months."

"Good," he smiled, "then I am doing some good."

They both smiled.

Cassie tipped back in her seat and began to tell Riker about her childhood, growing up in a farming community in Wenatchee, Washington on Earth. Her parents owned an apple orchard. Her ex-fiancé owned the pear orchard next door. Both farms had been in the families for generations. Cassie’s great-grand-mother had left for a short time to marry Peter Kirk, Captain Kirk’s nephew. But the marriage did not work out and she returned to the farm two years later, with Cassie’s grandmother. Cassie was the only one since then to venture off the planet. Her family thought she was crazy to join Starfleet, but she craved adventure.

"Just like Captain Kirk." Said Riker thoughtfully.

"Uncle Jim was a great man." She said defensively.

"He was that."

Suddenly the shuttle craft was jolted. Cassie was knocked out of her chair and she slid across the deck. Riker lunged to the control panel. He slipped, hitting his head on the panel. He slumped to the floor and slid across the deck. Cassie heard a crunch as he hit the wall with his right shoulder. She scrambled t the pilot's seat and began working the controls.

Finally the small shuttle craft settled itself. Cassie had flown before, so it was fairly easy for her to get them back on course. Then she went to Riker and knelt beside him.

"Are you all right?" She asked.

Riker opened his eyes. "Am I dead?" He asked.

"No."

"I thought you were an angel."

"You’re fine." She said as she extended her hand to help him up.

He moved his right hand to take hers and winced in pain. "Ow." He said, as he gave her his other hand.

She helped him to get back into his seat. Just as he settled into the seat, he looked up at the viewscreen. A blue energy discharge was coming right at them.

"Shields to maximum." Riker shouted, as he dodged the fireball coming toward them. Three more were headed toward them as well. Riker did his best to avoid them. "Who the hell is shooting at us?" He shouted.

"Unknown," Cassie responded.

"Try hailing them."

"I have, sir. No response."

"Can you tell what vessel is shooting at us?"

"No, sir." Said Cassie. "Oh, wait, it’s coming from on of those satellites orbiting that planet."

"Which planet is it?" Riker asked.

"It looks like it’s coming from Valhalla."

"Valhalla? How did we get so far off course?"

"Off course? I was just following your directions. You said you knew a short cut."

"Well," said Riker changing the subject, "that’s not important now. What’s a satellite doing firing at us? I thought those were only used for subspace radio transmissions."

"Some satellites in orbit around Earth, in the late 20^th Century," said Cassie, "were used for defense."

"Defense against extraterrestrials? Valhalla hasn’t even begun space exploration, they haven’t even broken out of their own orbit."

"Perhaps this one is malfunctioning?"

Riker dodged another burst.

"Is there a Federation observation post here?" Asked Cassie.

"No, we withdrew about three years ago, the report said they were progressing nicely and were no longer of interest to the Federation observers." Said Riker, as he dodged another burst. One more followed right behind it and crashed into the shuttle craft. The vessel was tossed around. Riker was bounced around in his seat and was having trouble steering.

"Commander," said Cassie, "we’ve lost all deflectors and warp drive is off line. Impulse power only."

Another burst came directly at them. Riker dodged it.

"What if," asked Cassie quickly, "we destroy the satellite?"

"Can’t," said Riker, "most of them are linked together. We’d be asking for trouble."

"Can we get around it?"

"That’s unlikely, it fires at us where ever we go."

"I vote," Cassie said, "to shoot it out of the sky."

Riker looked at her and frowned.

"Okay," she said, "then just disable it."

Riker nodded. "Phaser on stun." He said.

"Aye."

"Fire!"

"Direct hit sir."

"Good, now set course for. . ." He began. A bright light flashed in front of them and rocked the shuttle craft violently. Riker was tossed out of his seat again and slammed up against the far wall. He lost consciousness. Moments later Cassie picked herself up off the deck and climbed into the pilot's seat, just in time to see the cloud cover on the planet coming toward her. She applied reverse thrusters and slowed some, but not enough. The time craft screamed through the atmosphere. Cassie was able to prevent too much damage with shear luck. The craft landed with a thud and skidded to a stop right at the foot of a rock embankment.

"Wow," she said. "What a ride!" She stood up and felt the craft tilt and sink slightly. "Must have landed in the water." She said as she tried to awaken Riker.

The craft sank some more. Cassie opened the hatch and water rushed into the shuttle craft. She grabbed Will and pulled him from the sinking shuttle craft. Carefully she put him on the bank of the river that she had landed in. The she watched as the craft was covered over in water. She could barely see through the darkness, as the roof disappeared under the water.

"Great," she sighed.

Riker opened his eyes. "Not dead?" He mumbled.

She smiled at him. "No," she said.

"Good," he said and went to sleep.

Cassie lay on the bank next to him and tried to fall asleep.

*********

The sun rose on a beautiful lush green valley, at the foot of a rocky mountain range. A swift river ran through it. Cassie awakened to find herself being held by Will. She nestled closer to him, then realized what she was doing. He was her boss.

"It’s not right," she said as she sat up. "Will," she touched him gently. "Wake up."

"Huh?" He said, opening his eyes. "Ow," he said as he struggled to sit up. "What happened?"

"Well," began Cassie, looking toward the shuttle craft, "we crashed."

"Great." He sighed. Then he looked at Cassie, "Did we?" He asked.

"No, Commander," she said shaking her head. "All we did was sleep."

"Oh," he let out a disappointed sigh.

Cassie scowled at him.

"Let’s get this thing out of the water and leave," he said, "before we’re discovered."

Cassie looked across the river and saw what resembled a 20^th Century tow truck and three humanoids in police uniforms coming toward them. "Oh, oh," she said. "It looks like we’re too late."

Riker looked up. "Oh shit." He said.

Cassie put on her most innocent face and waved at the approaching men. "Hey," she said, "over here."

"Stop that." Riker whispered.

"I know what I’m doing." She said, smiling at him, "you’re hurt. The med kit is under water. They can pull the shuttle craft out of the water easier than we can. It’s logical."

"You sound like Data."

"I worked on Star Base Nine with Vulcans, translating captured Romulan transmissions. I learned a lot from them."

"Oh, good. I hope this works, here they come."

"Excuse me, Miss," said one of the policemen. "Is this your vehicle?"

"Oh," said Cassie, sounding agitated, "yes, my boyfriend and I ran off the road. Can you help us? He’s really hurt."

"Yes, ma’am," said the policeman, coming closer. "It looks like your mini-van is really under water. I’ll get the truck to pull you out."

"Oh, thank you."

"You need to thank that man up there," the policeman said, pointing to a handsome red haired young man standing on the road. "He saw you run off the road last night and called us."

"Oh," said Cassie looking at the man on the road, "I’ll be sure to thank him."

"Your boyfriend needs to see the Doctor. He’s on the road. Can your friend walk?"

"Yes," said Riker standing up slowly. "I’ll be okay, just get my shut, er, van out of the water."

"Your car will be fine. You go up there and see the Doctor."

"Will," said Cassie gently, "go see the Doctor. I can take it from here."

"You need to go too, ma’am." Said the policeman. "It’s policy."

Cassie sighed and took Riker’s arm as they climbed the hill toward the road.

"Why did you do that?" Asked Will.

"I didn’t want to arouse and suspicion. Anyway, they are developmentally similar to Earth in the late 20^th Century, they can’t hurt us too badly."

"Okay, but if things get weird, I’m leaving."

"Agreed."

**********

As the ambulance pulled away, Riker whispered to Cassie, "I feel stupid in this thing." He gestured to the sling on his arm.

"Will," she said louder, "Jean-Luc, is going to be made that we broke his van."

Will stared at her.

The red haired man looked at her. "I know a good mechanic in town," he said. "He could fix it for you."

"Thank you," said Will, "but I can fix it myself."

"Okay," said the man, "but at least use my phone to call your friend."

"Yes, thank you," said Cassie.

Will stared at her, she winked. They began walking up the road toward the house. Cassie chatted to the man. She found that his name was Mike Harvey, and that he had lived in the area all of his life. It was a beautiful area, lush and green, at the foot of the mountains. A clear river ran through the middle of the area. The house was made of wood and had a large deck overlooking the river. She told Mike that she looked forward to seeing the inside of his house.

"What are you doing?" Asked Riker. "I can fix the shuttle and we can get out of here."

"I know, but I want to take in some of the local color." Cassie said with a gleam in her eye.

"Lieutenant, you know that Valhalla is not ready for the first contact. It would be against the Prime Directive to have any contact with them. Captain Picard will have our heads if he finds out."

Cassie knew from her Starfleet courses, that the area had developed similar to Earth in the 20^th Century. She thought it would be fun to study some of that history. "Oh, come on Will," she said, "we crashed. As long as we don’t do anything, just observe, we’ll be all right."

"I don’t know."

"You’ve been hanging out with Captain Picard too much. Live a little!"

"The phone is just inside the bedroom," said Mike.

"Thank you," said Cassie, stepping into the bedroom. "Johanson to Shuttle Craft," she said quietly.

A chirp was her response.

"Send standard homing beacon, with the following message:" Cassie began quietly. Then she said in a normal tone, "Jean-Luc, Will and I have wrecked your van. The people here are very nice, we will be staying with Mike Harvey in Paradise City until you or Deanna can get us home." Then quietly again, "Thank you, Johanson out."

When Cassie came out of the bedroom Mike asked her, "Did you get in touch with of your friend?"

"No, I got his answering device."

"Oh, you left a message on his answering machine."

"Yes."

"Well, as I was telling Will, you are welcome to stay here. You can have the guest bedroom."

"Oh, thank you. We appreciate it, don’t we Will?" Said Cassie.

"Uh huh," sighed Riker. "But I need to get to work on the van."

"It’s getting late," said Mike, "could you wait until after lunch?"

"I suppose," said Riker.

"We’ll get cleaned up." Said Cassie. "Where is the guest room?"

"Right there," said Mike pointing to the room Cassie just came out of. "It’s the room where you used the phone."

"Great," smiled Cassie, "come one Will."

Riker followed her into the bedroom. Inside was an old fashion four poster bed with a plush quilt and four big pillows. Cassie smiled as she looked at the antiques scattered around the room. Even by Valhallan standards the furnishings were antiques.

"Umm," he said eyeing the bed, "do you want to try it out?"

"Like to sleep on it?" Cassie asked.

"Well, sleeping wasn’t exactly what I had in mind."

Cassie blushed. "What kind of girl do you think I am?" She said faking surprise.

"Umm, well, er," stammered Riker.

Cassie smiled broadly at him and lead him to the bed. "The correct answer to that question," she said, "would have been ‘You’re a Kirk’." She pushed him gently to the bed and lay on top of him, pinning him to the bed.

"I think you’ll have to show me exactly what it means to be a Kirk." Said Riker. Cassie kissed him passionately. Will reciprocated and soon he was lying on top of her. She wrapped her long legs around his waist and continued to kiss him. Both were just beginning to enjoy themselves when there was a knock at the door.

"You guys ready for lunch?" Said Mike from outside the door.

"Yeah," said Cassie. "We’ll be out in just a moment."

"Okay, Mother says you’d better hurry or it will get cold."

"Okay, I’m ready," said Cassie opening the door and straightening her clothes. Will was right behind her with his hair all messed up. Both smiled broadly as they walked out of the room.

********

All through lunch Cassie noticed that Will had not stopped smiling and that every time they made eye contact, his face lit up. She felt good, Will was a nice guy, and a good kisser, although a little too conservative for her tastes. She liked him.

At lunch Cassie and Will met Mike’s mother and younger sister. They learned that Mike’s father had been killed a few years earlier in an accident at his job. No details were given. It was an interesting conversation that got more interesting when a news report came over the antique television.

"This just in," said the man on the television, "from GBC News. A weather satellite in orbit above Paradise City was maliciously destroyed by terrorists from the Elysian Republic. Residents of Paradise City are urged to stay inside their homes for the next three days to give the debris a chance to fall through the atmosphere. If you must go outside, be aware of falling space debris. Now, in other news, a mini-van crashed into the Paradise River just five miles up river from Paradise City. Police and rescue teams indicate the driver and passenger are both doing well. Details at 6 PM. We now return you to your regularly scheduled program."

"Those Elysians," Mike said, "are always trying things like that."

"Isn’t that what I always say," said his mother. "Man was not meant to be in space."

"That’s true, Mother," said his sister. "If the Gods had wanted us to fly, we’d have wings."

"That’s true," Mike agreed. "Father died trying to put us in space. We don’t belong there."

"Do you really believe that?" Asked Cassie, who had been patiently listening.

"Yes, I do. So do a lot of my friends." Said Mike. "People don’t belong in space. Besides, we’re all alone in the galaxy. Why should we even try to see what else is out there?"

"On the off chance that you’re wrong. Wouldn’t it be interesting to see what’s out there? The galaxy could be teaming with life forms, thousands, if not millions of species."

Mike raised an eyebrow at Cassie. "Where did you say you were from?" He asked.

"Just over those mountains," said Riker, gesturing over his shoulder.

"Elysia is that way."

"No," said Cassie, "we’re not from there."

"Do they look like Elysians?" Said Mike’s sister.

"Umm," he said, "no."

"Then how could they be from there?"

"Cassie is fine. The guy I’m not sure about."

"Mike," said his sister, "does he or does he not have blue eyes?"

"They’re blue, but awful dark. Could be brown."

"Oh, come on, you know he’s not Elysian."

"Okay, I guess they’re Paradisians. They do talk strange."

"Nonsense, many people believe we should explore space."

"But. . ."

"Hey," said Cassie breaking in, trying to change the subject. "Tell me about the area around here. It’s so beautiful. How did your family get such a great house?"

"My great-grand-father built the house. It has been in the family for over 100 years."

"Wow," sighed Cassie.

"Is everyone ready for dessert?" Said Mike’s mother.

********

After lunch, Mike asked Cassie to go with him into town, to the Mall. He was going to meet some business associates there. Cassie agreed to go since Riker did not need her to help him dry out the shuttle craft. As she and Mike walked around in the Mall, Cassie could not help noticing that all of the people she saw had blue eyes. Although their hair and skin could be any color, their eyes were always blue. She wondered what the Elysians looked like.

"Sure is empty today," said Mike looking around.

Cassie nodded.

"I guess," he said, "that satellite scare is keeping people home. You would think they would be used to that by now."

"It happens that often?" Asked Cassie.

"Yes. The Elysians are always shooting down our satellites, and our airplanes. My father was shot down while in orbit."

Cassie gasped.

"It was terrible," he continued. "He would have been the first man in space. Men don’t belong in space. That’s what my friends and I are going to prevent."

"How?"

"I’ll tell you later." He said as he waved to a group of people sitting around a table in a restaurant. "Hey, Kenneth!" He said. "This is Cassie, she’s staying at the house."

A large gentleman in a suit nodded in Cassie’s direction and said, "At least she has blue eyes."

Cassie smiled. Just then a beautiful brown eyed woman came up from behind the group and kissed Mike very passionately.

"Katherine!" He said. "What are you doing here?"

"We have a meeting, right?" Said the woman.

"Yes, but you shouldn’t be out."

"I know you’re ashamed of me. I know that you’re friends don’t approve of me, but Mike, I am your wife."

The big man sighed. "You finally did it didn’t you?"

Mike nodded.

"He’s a real radical," the big man said to Cassie. "He believes that we should all live in peace." The last word was emphasized by the big man wrinkling his nose.

"It’s a noble idea," said Cassie.

"What we need is a major catastrophe in order to bring people closer together."

"Catastrophe? What do you mean?"

"Well, you see, all of those satellites falling out of the sky?"

"Yes."

"That was no accident. Katherine gave us the security codes to make them self-destruct, they are all on a timer. Nifty, huh?"

"Yeah, Nifty." Said Cassie, breathing a sigh of relief. "At least," she thought, "the phaser didn’t blow it up."

"If we destroy all of the satellites in orbit around the planet, no matter what they do, then new methods of mass destruction would have to be found. In the meantime, we could start peaceful relations with the Elysians."

"Isn’t that the same thing that Mike wants?"

"No. He wants to just have everyone be friends." The big man said with a not of disgust in his voice. "I want to give people a reason to work together."

"Wouldn’t you also be destroying the television and communications satellites?"

"Yes, leaving communications all over the world disrupted. This would be the major disaster that we need to get everyone to pull together."

"What if some of those satellites had bombs or missiles on them?"

"We don’t have anything like that. Those satellites are for communications and weather."

"Okay." Said Cassie, knowing full well that the thing that disabled the shuttle craft was an orbiting missile platform. "If these people continue with their plans," she thought, "they could start a global war, with each side blaming the other. I can’t let them go through with this."

Just then the final member of the group arrived. He was tall and slender, with a wild look in his blue eyes. He was introduced as Thomas.

"How do you do?" Cassie said extending her hand.

Thomas eyed her suspiciously and said, "Do you know how many germs are transmitted with a handshake?"

"Millions, I suppose."

"Correct, but only one is needed to kill off the entire human race. The right one." He laughed maniacally.

Cassie withdrew her hand and put it in her pocket.

"Let’s begin the meeting," said Thomas to those assembled.

*************

After dinner, Cassie and Will took a leisurely stroll in the woods next to the river. It was a cool night. Valhalla’s two small moons shown brightly.

"It’s a beautiful night," said Riker.

"Yes," said Cassie, looking at the reflection of the moonlight on the river. "It’s a shame they want to destroy it."

"That’s always a shame. But we can’t interfere."

"Will, I can’t just stand by and let these people blow themselves up."

"You have to, you’d be violating the Prime Directive."

"I know, I know, they have to make their own mistakes. But, this is a major one."

"We can’t do anything about it."

"Could we, if say, your life was in danger and I was protecting you?"

"Uh, well."

"Tell me you wouldn’t take every step necessary to save Captain Picard."

"Yes, I would."

"Up to and including bending the Prime Directive?"

"In an extreme circumstance."

"This isn’t?"

"No. We don’t know when they plan to do this. We may be back on the Enterprise by then. Besides, it’s not worth risking our careers."

"You’re right, I’ll keep talking to them and see if I can’t talk them out of it. That won’t violate anything, right?"

"Your opinion is your opinion, but be careful of what you say. You don’t want to let on that you’re not from Valhalla."

"Will," she said leaning up to kiss him, "I’m not a rookie."

He kissed her, "I don’t imagine you are." He said as they climbed the steps to the house.

Inside Mike was meeting with another group of people. The group was chatting together and stopped as Will and Cassie walked in.

"Good." Said Mike, "Cassie, Will, these gentlemen were just leaving. Won’t you stay up and have coffee?"

"No thank you, I have had a busy day. I need to get some rest." Cassie said.

Riker stretched and yawned. "Yeah," he said, "me too."

"Fine," said Mike, "see you in the morning then."

"Good night," Will and Cassie said in unison, as they shut the bedroom door.

"Now where were we?" Mike said. "Do you have the package?"

An older man handed him a small suitcase.

Taking it Mike said, "The payment will be in your account tomorrow, after."

"That will be fine." Said the older man.

"What about my part of the deal? Where is part two?"

"Locker number 666 at the airport."

"And?"

"Part one is in that suitcase."

"You are sure there is no more of this and that it will work?"

"I am a professional." Said the older man as he headed for the door.

Cassie had opened the bedroom door to ask for an additional blanket, but stopped short when she overheard the conversation. She quickly closed the door and ran into Will’s arms.

"Oh, Will," she whispered. "I think something bad is going to happen tomorrow."

Will held her tightly, "How do you know?"

"I overheard them talking about it." She went on to tell him what she had overheard. Together they decided to find out what was in the suitcase. After all of the noise in the house had died down and they were sure everyone was asleep, Cassie volunteered to take a tricorder and see what was in the suitcase. She looked all over the living room, the den, the kitchen, and dining room. The suitcase wasn’t there. She was about to give up when the door to Mike’s room opened. He was standing in the doorway and behind him, next to the bed was the suitcase. Quickly, Cassie, put the tricorder in her pocket.

"What’s going on?" Mike asked.

"Oh," said Cassie, sashaying over to him, "nothing. I was just wondering around. I couldn’t sleep." She moved closer to him and ran her hand across his shoulder. "Could you help me sleep?"

Mike cleared his throat. "How?"

She put her other hand on his shoulder and carefully ran her hand down his arm. "I don’t know." She said with an evil smile.

He smiled back at her nervously. She took his hand in hers and led him over to the bed. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him. He held her close, she snuggled next to him, nuzzling his neck. He began breathing harder. She took the tricorder from her pocket and gently eased him to the bed. She lay on top of him, kissing him. She let the hand with the tricorder in it drop to the floor, right on top of the suitcase. She activated the tricorder, all the time keeping him occupied by kissing him.

"Oh," he said suddenly pushing her away. "I know what you’re trying to do."

Cassie jumped and quickly shoved the tricorder into her pocket. "What?" She said innocently.

"You’re trying to make me forget about Katherine."

"Uh."

"Well, you can forget it. I don’t care if she’s Elysian, I love her. You can tell Thomas and his friends to give it up. I’ll do their dirty work, but only as long as Katherine is safe. That’s why I have the antidote and he’s not getting it."

"Umm, oh, you’ve got me. I’m sorry. I feel so silly, will you ever forgive me?"

"Sure, just go back to Will. He really cares about you. He told me."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Okay, good night."

"Good night," said Mike as he hurried Cassie out the door and shut it behind her.

"Wow," thought Cassie, as she went into her room.

"What was that all about?" Asked Will as Cassie came into the room.

"I’m not sure, but I think I’ve been dumped."

Riker looked at her and blinked. "Huh," he said.

Cassie waved her hand, "Oh never mind." She said, "I got the information though." She looked at the readings on the tricorder. "Oh my," she gasped. "Will, look at this."

Riker looked at the tricorder. "No." He said, "we have to stop them."

"But how can we and not violate the Prime Directive?"

"Considering what that is, I don’t think violating the Prime Directive is much of a concern."

"Where would they have gotten Tholian Flu virus, and in such a large amount?"

"I don’t know. Wasn’t that the one that wiped out so many people on Argos 7?"

"And Kronos, and Calefra and the list goes on."

"Wasn’t it finally stopped by massive inoculations?"

"Yes. I have never been so sick in my life as I was when I had to take that shot." Said Cassie.

"You had a shot?" Asked Will.

"Yes. It was just before I joined Star Fleet. Mother was such a Retro, that she insisted on all of us getting shots."

"With real needles?" Riker said with a slight shiver.

"Yes." Said Cassie, nodding.

"This guy hates his world doesn’t he?"

"What do you mean?"

"Didn’t you say that he was going to destroy all of the satellites, even with the possibility of starting a global war?"

"Yes."

"What about the Tholian Flu? Wouldn’t that be overkill, so to speak?"

"He must want to make sure only certain people live through a global war."

"It must be the antidote that’s at the airport."

"I still wonder where he got it." Said Cassie.

"I don’t know," said Riker, "but I have a feeling we are not the only aliens on this planet."

"Who would have access to live virus in that quantity?"

"Klingons developed the antidote, but they don’t fight that way."

"Cardassians would use biological weapons, but they don’t have the virus. It never got to their space."

"Let’s not rule them out, they could get the virus." Said Cassie, thoughtfully.

"But," said Will, "what use is Valhalla to them. No, I don’t think we’re looking for a Cardassian spy, or a Ferengi."

"Why not a Ferengi?"

"Our host didn’t pay enough." Snickered Riker.

Cassie laughed.

"Okay," she said, "we’d better go to bed. We’re getting loony."

"Fine," said Riker, "I’ll take the couch."

"Who said anything about sleeping on the couch?" Said Cassie, pulling him to the bed with her. She began kissing him passionately.

********

In the morning Cassie awakened in Will’s arms. She snuggled closer to him and he held her tightly. She felt safe and warm.

"Oh, no." She said as she sat up in bed. "Will, wake up."

Riker opened his eyes.

"We’ve got to get the contents of locker 666 at the airport."

"From what you said, it should be the antidote." He said sleepily.

"No," she said emphatically, "I think it’s something more."

"A hunch?"

"Yes."

"Then you go to the airport and get a tricorder reading. If it’s something dangerous I can beam it to a containment field on the shuttle craft."

"That’s a great idea." She said as she hugged him and kissed his cheek.

"Good," he said as he put his arms around her waist. "Where were we, last night?"

She lay back in his arms and kissed him. "Right here, I think." She said.

Later in the morning, after breakfast Cassie and Will went to the shuttle craft to work on it.

"Oh," said Cassie, going through the door. "It’s still very wet in here. It even smells musty."

"Yes," said Riker, "at least the standing water is gone."

"I hope the transporter works."

"I think it will for short distances."

"Let’s try it." She said as she took a deep breath. "Energize."

The transporter whirred and the shuttle craft was replaced by a stall in a bathroom. Cassie blinked and touched her communicator.

It chirped.

"Riker, here."

"Hey," she whispered, "where am I?"

"Should be the ladies room at the airport."

"Okay, where do I go from here?"

"Out the door and turn left, I think. Should be right there, sensor readings are scrambled. There’s still water in some of the systems."

"Okay, I’ll find it. Johanson, out." She said as she left the bathroom. The airport lobby was very small, only a few airplanes were waiting to board passengers. Some of the planes that she could see from the window looked as though they had been in a battle. She surmised the damage was caused by space debris. She shrugged and looked around for the lockers. Across the empty terminal, way over in the corner of the building, she saw the small block of lockers.

"Ah, ha," she said, as she walked to the opposite end of the terminal.

"601, 611," she said as she scanned the lockers with her tricorder. "Will," she said into her communicator, "have you found anything yet?"

"You’d be surprised what people store in those things!"

"Stop snooping and find the virus."

"Oh, that’s in 666. But, there’s a very large amount of explosive in 656."

"Well, beam both of them out of here, fast." She said, looking across the terminal. She saw Mike coming through the main door. "Mike is coming."

"Okay," said Riker, "Damn."

"What?"

"Transporter malfunction. . . There got them."

"Good, I gotta get out of here before I’m discovered."

"Go back to the head and I’ll beam you out."

"Head?"

"Ladies room, hurry."

"Right, Johanson, out."

"Riker, out." Said Will, as he looked at a small wooden box inside a containment field.

The communicator chirped.

"Riker, here." He said.

"I’m ready, energize." Said Cassie’s voice from inside the shuttle craft.

Riker began to work the controls of the transporter. Cassie’s image sparkled on the pad and then disappeared. Sparks flew from the controls.

"What happened?" Said Cassie.

"Transporter is out, water in the controls. Shorted something." Said Riker.

"Great, how do I get back?"

"I don’t know, you’re the culture expert. Think of something."

"Will, are you getting frustrated?"

"Uh, huh."

"Me too. It’ll be all right."

"Acknowledged. Riker out."

Cassie stepped out of the bathroom in time to see Mike and his friends covered in soap bubbles. It looked as if an overfull washing machine had exploded all over that part of the lobby. Cassie laughed as she got into a taxi outside the terminal.

"Humph," muttered Riker, as he lay under the transporter control panel. "That water got into everything. I thought I had the controls dried out, but," a spark arced across his fingers. "Damn," he said withdrawing his hand, "ow." He jumped and hit his head on the control panel. "Damn it, I’m not an engineer. I wish Jordi was her."

"He’s not here," said Cassie from the door, "will I do?"

Riker turned around and smiled broadly at her. "Sure," he said, "you’ll do just fine."

"Great," she said, jumping into the shuttle. "What can I do?"

He went to her, put his arms around her and held her close. She put her arms around him and lay her head on his chest. Looking up into his eyes, she said, "it’s going to be all right."

"I know. You’re back here with me." He held her tight.

She kissed him passionately. He led her to a somewhat dry chair, he sat in it and she sat in his lap. They kissed, caressed and hugged for a very long time.

After a long while, Will said, "we need to get to work, so we can get back home."

"Yeah," said Cassie.

"You’re going to have to move."

"Yeah, oh, sure, sorry." She said as she stood up. "Where should I start?"

"Grab some towels and start drying out that control panel. I’ll work on this one."

"Aye, aye, sir." She said smiling at him.

For the rest of the morning and late into the afternoon they worked on drying out the instruments and the seats. As they worked, Will told Cassie about the adventures he and the Enterprise crew had had. Cassie listened intently. She told him how happy she was to be on the Enterprise and how much she was looking forward to having adventures like that.

"I guess, a listening post on the Neutral Zone is just not adventurous enough for you?" He said, teasing her.

"It was incredibly D. U. L. L. That’s why I requested a transfer to a Starship. I guess it was someone’s cute idea to assign me to the Enterprise."

"No one said Star Fleet doesn’t have a sense of humor."

"I guess Star Fleet works in mysterious ways."

"No kidding."

They laughed. Suddenly, someone knocked on the door.

"Yes?" Said Will as he opened the door.

Mike’s little sister stood in the door or the shuttle, she was crying. "It’s started." She sobbed.

"What’s started?"

"The war. The war that Mike wanted to start."

"War?"

"Yes. After the stuff wasn’t at the airport, he gave the word for our troops to march on Elysia. Look," she said pointing to dark clouds rising in the distance. "That’s him. He said the first thing they were going to burn was the Elysian Fields."

Will and Cassie looked at each other in surprise.

"You two have to get out of here. Mike says it won’t be long until they come after us."

"Where are you going to go?" Asked Riker.

"Mother and I are joining Katherine up in the mountains. Mike says we’ll be safe there."

"Okay, we’ll get ready to go. I’ve just about got this finished."

"Good," she said as she jumped into the shuttle and kissed Riker very passionately.

"Umm, well," he said, "I guess this is good bye."

"Good bye, Will." She said as she jumped out of the shuttle.

Will cleared his throat and said, "Good bye."

Cassie had been watching this and tried not to laugh while the girl was there. But when she left, Cassie could not contain herself. "Will," she snickered, "what did you do to that little girl."

"Nothing, honest."

"Right."

"Hey, honest."

"Right."

"Okay, okay, let’s get this crate out of here."

Cassie sat in the co-pilot’s seat, it was still a little bit wet. Will sat next to her in the pilot’s seat.

"Well," he sighed, "here goes nothing."

The shuttle lurched forward and bucked. It jumped and carefully bounced into the air. Slowly it rose off the ground and floated into the atmosphere.

"Well," said Riker, "we’re on the road again."

"Wasn’t that the title of a song in the 20^th Century?" Said Cassie.

"I believe so."

"My Mom used to listen to those old songs on a record player."

"Records? I saw one in a museum once, I didn’t know what it was really. Did they have music on them?"

"Yes, it was really nice. But the quality was scratchy and they got broken or bent easily. No matter, Mother just loved hers, we would listen to them for hours." She paused and sighed. "I guess my sister has them now."

Riker smiled at her, she smiled sadly back at him.

"It’s going t be all right." He said.

"Thanks." She said. Suddenly, a large energy burst hit the shuttle craft square on. The little craft jumped and jerked.

"Fire phaser at that thing." Riker shouted.

"Firing," said Cassie. On the viewscreen they saw a small stream of phaser fire and then nothing. The satellite continued to fire at them.

"Damn," Riker said slamming his hand on the control panel.

"I thought we got all the water out of there." Cassie said crawling under the control panel. Suddenly, the shuttle craft sputtered and the engines quit. Cassie came out from under the panel with both hands in the air. Will, looked at her and shrugged, as he tried to make a smooth landing on the surface. They could see a patchwork of fields below them. Riker chose a medium green shade field to aim the shuttle craft at. They landed with a thud and skidded a short distance.

"We’re getting good at this aren’t we?" Will said smiling at Cassie.

"Yeah," she said, "but what about those folks coming toward us with guns?"

"Guns?"

"Look," she pointed out the window.

"Oh shit."

"To put it mildly."

They opened the shuttle craft door and walked out with their hands above their heads. The new arrivals nudged Cassie and Will with the barrels of their guns.

"Move along," one solider said, shoving Cassie hard.

"Leave her alone," shouted Will as he turned to grab one of the gun barrels. Another solider hit him across the head with the butt of his gun, for his trouble. He fell to his knees.

Cassie, ran to him, and looked up at them pleadingly. "What have we ever done to you?" She cried.

"You landed on our land. You must be spies. Now move along."

"Come on, Will." She said, helping him to his feet. "Let’s go with them and see if we can’t straighten this out."

"Uh huh." He said holding his head in his hands. He blinked and stood up straight. Cassie took his arm protectively and they walked through the field with the soldiers.

Cassie and Will were led to a large building in the middle of another field. Inside, there were several soldiers milling around. The pair were pushed into a small room, with no windows. There was one thin mattress on the floor and a beat up folding chair in the corner.

"Nice accommodations," said Will as the guard shoved him through the door. "Hey, where are you. . ." The door slammed in his face. Cassie had not followed him into the room. The guard took her elsewhere. Will began to beat his fists on the door. "Let me out!" He yelled, alternately with "Bring back my partner!" Finally, realizing it was hopeless, he straddled the chair and sat down. He rested his very sore head in his hands. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, trying to make the pain go away.

"I should never have let it go this far." He said to himself. "Cassie is captured, maybe being tortured and I’m here. I should be finding a way to rescue her. I wonder what’s happening to her." He paused and listened, but heard nothing. "I have got to find a way out." He stood up, and collapsed to the floor. The room went dark.

Sometime later he woke up, cold and hungry. He crawled to the mattress and lay on it. He had just closed his eyes when the door opened and a guard shoved Cassie through the door. She was bruised around her beautiful face and her clothes were torn. Will jumped up and tried to stagger toward her. He crumpled to the floor, again.

"See what you’re doing." She yelled. "You’re killing him! He needs medical attention! At least feed us!!"

"Tell us what we want and you both can go." Said a voice from the ceiling.

"I told you, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I only attended two meetings with him. I don’t know what his plans are. I don’t know anything about a space craft. He hated them, I told you that. Let us go!"

"We will check out your story and then you can go. Dinner will be in two hours."

"Thank you."

Will opened his eyes and tried to stand again, but Cassie insisted he stay on the floor. She carefully sat on the floor next to him and held his head on her lap. He smiled up at her as she stoked his hair. She hummed quietly to him until he drifted off to sleep.

"Go to sleep." She said quietly to him. "It’s best for you now." She sat there very still so as not to disturb his slumber, and gently ran her fingers through his wavy dark hair. She thought about how he always made her feel special. He never talked down to her, as some of the older crew members sometimes did. Nor did he cow-tow to her because she was James Kirk’s great-grand-niece. He treated her with respect and friendship. She was fond of him and respected him. This trip with him had shown her that she really did care about him, maybe more than she was willing to admit. Nothing between them could ever work, he was her Commanding Officer and that just wasn’t done. He had to know that. The best they could hope for was to be friends. She was happy to have it that way, she hoped he felt the same. She made a note to talk to him about it when she got a chance.

After what seemed to be hours, a guard appeared at the door. He escorted Cassie and Will to an office, with a desk and two chairs. They were instructed to wait in this room for the Commander. Will sat gingerly in one chair and Cassie sat protectively close to him.

"I feel miserable," Riker said. "What happened, anyway?"

"That rifle stock," said Cassie, "got you real good."

"I can still see stars."

"I know."

"What about you? I remember that you were pretty well beat up too." He said, beginning to get agitated and starting to stand up. "I’ll kill those. . ."

"That’s all right, Will." She said, holding his hand and pulling him back into the chair. "I’m all right. Star Fleet training paid off."

"What did they want?" Asked Riker.

"Only to know what Mike was up to and if I knew anything about a space ship."

"Could they mean the shuttle?"

"No, this was another one, I think."

"Okay, so now what?"

"They said wait for the C. O."

They sat quietly for a long time. Cassie could see it hurt Will to speak. It pained her to see him that way. How she wished for a med kit. She sighed out loud.

"What?" Said Riker.

"Oh, nothing," she said. "I was just thinking how nice a med kit would be right now."

"Why?"

"I don’t like seeing you hurt."

"I’m all right."

She looked sideways at him, he raised both eyebrows innocently. She smiled, he smiled broadly at her, then winced in pain and grimaced. The door burst open and a guard came through. Then another person came through the door. Cassie gasped.

Riker struggled to raise his aching head. Focusing his eyes he saw a guard and a Romulan. "Romulan?" He thought, "I must be seeing things." He blinked. The Romulan was still there.

"What are you doing here?" Asked Cassie.

"I was about to ask you the same thing," he said. "When my friends confiscated your shuttle, I figured there was Federation involvement in this."

"This war?"

"War?" He laughed. "Not hardly. We don’t get involved in Civil Wars. It’s not worth our time."

"So, what is the Romulan Empire interested in here?"

"The Tholian Flu virus and the antidote, of course."

"But, we don’t have it."

"Don’t lie to me, I know you beamed the antidote to your shuttle."

"Well," said Riker, "the transporter malfunctioned and all I got was an empty box."

"He’s right, sir." Said the guard. "We searched the whole shuttle."

"Where is the virus!" Shouted the Romulan.

"I don’t know!" Said Riker firmly. Then the Romulan punched him in the stomach and kneed him in the head. Cassie jumped up and ran to him, as he crumpled to the floor.

"Why did you do that?" She asked the Romulan.

"I’ve always wanted to do that to a Star Fleet Officer. You all lie, even the Vulcans. Take them away."

The guards grabbed Will and Cassie.

"Now, who’s lying? You said you would feed us." Said Cassie as she was shoved to the door.

"Oh," said the Romulan, "feed them."

"Thank you." Said Cassie.

"Get out of my sight Star Fleet." Said the Romulan waving his hand.

Cassie and Will were escorted back to their cell, where they found two trays of food waiting for them. Will could barely sit on the mattress to eat. Cassie knew he was hurt badly. She did what she could to comfort him. He ate a little and lay his head in her lap and went to sleep. She stroked his head and hummed softly to him. Soon she fell asleep as well.

What seemed like a very short time later, Cassie and Will were rushed out of their cell and into an underground tunnel. Soldiers were rushing to and fro in a state of panic.

"What’s going on?" Cassie asked of one of their guards.

"Paradisians are attacking. They’ve broken through our defensive lines and are marching on the City. We have to evacuate."

"Where are you taking us?" Asked Riker.

"Some place where you will be safe, although I would rather just kill you now. The Supreme Commander wants to keep you alive."

"That’s nice of him." Cassie said.

"He especially wants to keep you unharmed." The guard smiled at her lecherously.

Cassie shivered and looked away.

"What’s that all about?" Asked Riker quietly. "I get the feeling you know him."

Cassie nodded. "Bortel," she said, "and I are aquatinted. I met him while on an assignment in the Neutral Zone. It was an attempt at diplomatic relations."

"I never heard anything about that."

"No one did, it was a complete failure. So Star Fleet kept it a secret. Now they deny it happened."

"You and Bortel?"

"In the interest of diplomacy, I was his escort to a dinner in his honor."

"Sounds innocent enough."

"It was, I was young and scared."

Will looked at her with a fatherly look, "Well," he said with a note of jealousy in his voice. "Did you?"

Cassie sighed and shook her head. "No," she said.

"Then what’s his problem?"

"Will, I kind of gave him the impression that, maybe. Anyway, I think I may have broken his heart. Now he wants to pick up where we left off."

"If he tries anything, I’ll. . ."

She shook her head. "No," she said, "I have to settle this myself."

"That’s not the way it’s done on the Enterprise. We protect each other."

"You’re jealous."

"No," he said.

She looked at him.

"Well, maybe a little. But, that doesn’t matter. If this guy bothers you, I’ll kill him."

"I appreciate that, thank you." She said realizing the depth of his feelings for her. It was exciting to have him offer to defend her honor like that. She was flattered, she smiled at him. He stood close to her protectively, as they walked down the corridor to a large underground hanger where several aircraft were stored. In the corner they saw a typical Romulan shuttle.

"Well," Cassie said, "I see how Bortel got here."

"That’s a short range shuttle." Said Riker. "There must be a ship somewhere near here."

"Cloaked, I’m sure."

They were ushered to the Romulan shuttle, where the Supreme Commander was waiting for them. "Hurry up," Bortel said waving at them. "We have to get out of here."

"We’re not going anywhere with you." Will said, stepping in front of Cassie.

"Really?" The Romulan said raising an eyebrow. "Have it your way. These people are crazy, they’re going to blow up the planet."

"As if you weren’t trying to help them." Cassie said.

"Now, Cassandra," Bortel said, "You should know me better than that. I disdain Civil Wars, besides there is nothing to gain here. It’s time to leave."

"We are not going with you." Said Riker.

"Fine, whatever you want Commander. Cassandra, are you staying with this guy who will get you killed? You can come with me, at least I won’t strand you on this planet."

Cassie stared at him.

"Oh I get it, you think I’m still hung up on you. I knew you were teasing me, I wasn’t even surprised when you dumped me. If you hadn’t I would have dumped you."

"No, I," said Cassie.

"Now I understand, you’re in love with this Star Fleet Officer. Oh Cassandra, I would have expected more from Kirk’s niece."

Cassie looked at Bortel and then at the ground. "You’re right," she mumbled.

"Then you and your Star Fleet can stay here and get blown away. I tried to save you." He said boarding the shuttle, "good-bye."

There was a bright flash and a loud rumble and the shuttle flew out of the hanger.

"Great," sighed Will, "my arrogance has gotten us trapped here in the middle of a Civil War."

"Don’t take it so hard, Bortel’s a creep." She said, "I wouldn’t have one gone with him anyway."

Will smiled broadly at her and she took his arm as they walked out into the daylight.

"Look," shouted one of the soldiers, pointing into the sky. "What’s that?" A small vapor trail streaked across the sky, Will and Cassie knew it was Bortel’s shuttle. Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light, followed by a star burst of color and light.

"Oh my God," sighed Cassie. "Those satellites, Bortel, Will?"

"Cassie," said Will holding her close to him. "It’s going to be all right."

"Will, what about us!!"

"We need to disable the satellites."

"But how?" She asked.

"I don’t know." He said.

"If we had the shuttle craft, we could stun them."

"Wouldn’t they then self destruct like the other one?"

"Not if we use a low level ion blast from close range." She said.

"Why didn’t you think of that earlier?" Will asked.

"Because, the shuttle didn’t have the data until after we blew up the first one."

"Now, you tell me." He smiled broadly at her.

She smiled weakly back. "Let’s look for our shuttle." She said.

They walked around the hanger unnoticed. The Elysians were in a state of shock, their Supreme Commander had been killed, while running from the fight he started. The news reported that Bortel was the head of a plot to kill all life on Valhalla, by the use of a top secret biological weapon. When the plot was uncovered, the weapon was destroyed. Plans were also found that indicated, Bortel was going to turn the ‘guns-in-space’ as the news called them, on the planet. Ironically, the weather satellites had been fitted with guns while Bortel was in charge and it was one of those guns that killed him.

Cassie had watched the news report and filled Will in on what was happening.

"Well," he said, "that makes it sound like the Elysian government accomplished all of this themselves."

"What do you mean?" Asked Cassie.

"The reason no one could find the virus, is because the bio-filters in the transporter killed it and the antidote, which was a dead virus."

"So all we have is a wooden box?"

"Yes. Do you want a souvenir?"

"Sure, as soon as we get the shuttle back."

"Right."

They continued to search into the night. They could find nothing. Finally, Riker suggested that they rest in an abandoned storage closet. Cassie thought that would be a good idea since Will still had not recovered from his ordeal. She was able to find some pre-packaged food in one of the containers. It looked and tasted like cardboard. She was sure it was nutritious, so she insisted that Will eat a large amount of it. She ate some, and was finally able to finish the portion she had taken.

"That was an interesting meal." Riker said, finishing his portion.

"Yes," said Cassie, clearing her throat. "It was."

"You know what would be real good right now?"

"What?"

"A two inch thick T-bone steak with sautéed mushrooms and a big baked potato."

"The mushrooms and potato sound good, but the steak. . ." she shuttered.

"I take it you’re a vegetarian?" He said with one eyebrow raised.

"Yes, I am."

"I know several, I just don’t understand how they live."

"There is protein in foods other than animal products."

"I know, but nothing beats a good steak."

"I’ll take your word for it. My mother never served meat, so I never developed a taste for it."

"How do you know, this," he held up the package their meal came in, "doesn’t have meat or animal products in it?"

"Even vegetarians have to stay alive. Besides, since the Elysians are farmers and have very few animals, it was logical."

"You sound like a Vulcan again."

"I’m sorry, some habits are hard to break." She laughed.

Will laughed. He put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to him. They kissed, very passionately.

"You must be feeling better," Cassie said.

"I am," said Will. "Do you want to see how much better I’m feeling?"

Cassie giggled and pulled him to the floor.

A few hours later they were awakened by the sound of an explosion and panic outside the door.

"What was that?" Said Riker, sitting up and grabbing for his clothes.

"Sounds like there was an explosion of some sort." Cassie said as she pulled on her clothes.

"We’ve got to get out of here."

"It sounds like the place is collapsing."

"Come on, let’s get out of here," he said as he threw himself against the door to jar it open. "Door’s stuck."

"Did you turn the knob?" Asked Cassie.

"Uh, no." He turned the knob and it did nothing.

"Well, it was worth a try." She said as they both threw themselves against the door.

"It’s coming." Will said, as they hit the door again. "One more time." They backed up as far as they could, and got a running start.

Slam. The door fell away from it’s frame and hit the floor with a thud. Cassie and Will walked out nonchalantly, but no one noticed. What was left of the soldiers in the facility were running toward a very large opening at the end of the hanger. Cassie looked back from where the soldiers were coming and saw their shuttle craft. It looked as if someone had gotten into it and tried to take off. The shuttle was bouncing, it would go up to the ceiling, hit it, then drop to the ground. On the ground it would fire the phaser or the thrusters.

"Obviously," said Will, trying not to laugh as they ran toward the shuttle. "Someone is trying to steal our ride home."

"My dad always said ‘crime doesn’t pay.’ In this case it’s true." They both smiled as they reached the shuttle. It hopped once more, Will grabbed the vehicle and swung up on the back. He touched the plate that should open the door, but nothing happened. He keyed in the override code and the door slid open. The shuttle hopped again as Riker flipped through the door and into the shuttle. The door closed just in time for him to slide up against it. Riker picked himself up off the deck and noticed that the inept pilot was none other than Mike Harvey.

"I don’t believe it." Will said. "What are you doing here?"

"What does it look like?" Said Mike, as he fired the phaser again. "I’m taking this vehicle for the good of the cause."

"What?"

"This is a space vehicle, right?"

"Umm," Riker hesitated.

"Come on, I saw you take off. It has to be a space vehicle?"

"What if it is?"

"Our cause could use such power."

"You can’t have it." Riker said defiantly.

"You have to know our cause is right." Said Mike.

"That doesn’t matter, I can’t help you."

"You’re on their side!"

"No, I just want to get out of here. I don’t care about your war, or your cause."

"We are going through with disabling the satellites. If they don’t shoot at you, there will be no problem for you to leave."

"You realize that disabling them could be dangerous."

"Yes," Mike sighed.

"Then why do it?" Asked Will.

"It was Elysian technology that put them up there and made them destructive. We have to get rid of them."

"Could the satellites be turned off?" Cassie’s voice came from behind them. "Wouldn’t that be better than destroying them?"

"The control room is in this building." Said Will, "I remember seeing it last night when we were looking for the shuttle."

"What," asked Mike, "is the control room for communications satellites doing here?"

"Mike," said Cassie gently, "those satellites may not be just for communications."

"Then we have to turn them off."

"Lets go to the control room." Said Will as he jumped out of the shuttle. "I think I saw it down that corridor." Pointing to an opening in the dirt wall. The three of them rant toward the opening.

Bang, a shot rang out. Mike fell to the ground. Will and Cassie dove for cover behind some barrels. No more shots were fired. Cassie went to Mike, Will was right behind her.

"I’m a communications specialist, not a doctor," she said, kneeling by Mike. "But, I think he’s dead, Will."

Riker stared at the body on the floor, there was a whole in his chest the size of a dime in the front and about two feet in diameter in the back. "I think you might be right." He said, he heard the sound of footsteps behind him and turned around.

"May I help you?" Said a solider from behind them.

"No thank you," said Cassie. "We were just leaving."

"Not so fast. Is that your vehicle?" He said pointing at the shuttle craft.

Cassie and Will nodded.

"Good, if you could get it out of here, you’ll be free to go."

"Thank you." Said Cassie.

"And don’t worry about the satellites, after Bortel was killed, we deactivated them."

"Thank you," said Will.

"One question," said Cassie. "What about Mike’s family?"

"His mother and sister are safe in our custody and his wife was on our side all the long. Our whole planet thanks you for your efforts in preventing a global war."

"We didn’t do anything." Said Cassie.

"Maybe not, but if this is any indication of the caliber of Federation citizens, when the time comes, Valhalla would like to join."

"How," asked Will, "did you know about the Federation?"

"Bortel was always berating the Federation and Star Fleet. When you were captured, we saw that he was wrong."

"Is the war over then?" Asked Cassie.

"Yes, and now the planet can begin the long healing process."

Cassie breathed a sigh of relief as she and Will boarded the shuttle craft.

"Do we still have time to go to Rysa?" Cassie asked as they warped out of orbit.

Riker smiled broadly and said, "I think that can be arranged."