She smiled and shook her head, then moved next to his side. Ada jogged up to Chris, then smiled. "That’s it sir…we’re all set."

Chris nodded approvingly, and said with a smile, "This is the kind of efficiency I wish all security forces had."

Ada shrugged off the indirect comment and replied, "Well, I was with a black Ops unit."

"Yes, I remember," Chris said, amused. He did, too, remember when he had first asked her aboard the Dragon. He smiled at the memory, then remembered what was going on.

"All right everyone!" he shouted so that everyone could hear. "Fall back to the yacht!"

Not having to be told twice, the security detail streamed out of the reactor room. Ada handed Chris the detonation device, the moved after them.

Chris nodded to Sarah with a smile, then quickly followed. They weren’t sparing themselves any time as they ran as fast as they could. Corridor intersections and doors seemed to fly past as they didn’t bother to check around corners.

That soon became a mistake. When they had seemingly reached a cargo bay area, weapons fire from behind began streaming past Chris and Sarah, hitting two officers ahead of them.

They spun around to see Vorkalai coming around an intersection, firing as they came. The security detail quickly dove behind cargo creates, as well as other odd-looking devices, and returned fire.

They would have to take care of these people, then get back to the yacht double time…

Voices? James thought, pointing his pulse rifle at the hatch. The queasy feeling had left him a long time ago, but now that was replaced with fear. He thought he had heard voice in the corridor.

He pushed himself to the deck, then said, "Computer, reactivate gravity."

Not having to be told twice, he felt his feet plant firmly on the deck as gravity was restored…just in time for some small device to come flying up the open hatch.

Beeping as it went, it clanged to the deck, little green figures moving across one face. Knowing exactly what it was, James dove for the bomb, pushing it towards the hatch.

At first, his heart stopped as he realized he didn’t push it hard enough. It seemed to stop just at the edge, not wanting to tip over…

At the last possible second, it finally tipped over and clanged down to the sleeve. James immediately stood up and looked for something to grab onto. He found nothing, and was thrown to the deck as a huge explosion roared up the sleeve.

Chris was suddenly thrown against the wall he was near, the sound of an explosion roaring down the hall. He hit his head on a bulkhead, then tried to steady himself.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that someone else had been thrown off balance and thrown from cover. Who ever it was, they had been hid in the arm.

Not wanting to lose the surprise the Vorkalai no doubt had also just felt, he quickly moved from cover and fired off two shots, taking only one Vorkalai down.

He quickly ducked for cover, then searched for Sarah, making sure she had made it out of that explosion OK…

…and that was when it had hit him. Lying in the middle of the deck, with no cover, Sarah was the one who had just been hit in the arm.

At first, his heart stopped as a lump formed in his throat. The universe seemed to slow down for him as he realized what had just happened. She had been hit! The Vorkalai had fired on her!!

When he saw that they were still trying to pick her barely moving form off, Chris finally snapped. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" he shouted in a crazed rage. He moved from his covered position, not caring about himself. One by one, he began picking off the Vorkalai, taking pleasure in each death he caused.

They focused their weapons fire on him, but for some unknown reason…they couldn’t hit him…

Ada stared, wide eyed, as energy beam after energy beam seemed to barely miss Chris. He was systematically picking off each and every Vorkalai. No one seemed to be able to hit him. A moment later, it was over, and the last Vorkalai had been killed.

Chris threw down his pulse rifle as he kneeled next to Sarah. Ada quickly moved next to them, just in time to see Sarah cough blood out.

"Hang on, Sarah!" Chris said, tears beginning to form, despite the rage on his face. He lifted her off of the deck, her form appearing limp.

As he began running towards the Yacht again, he shouted, "Move out, NOW!"

Ada hesitated, then decided not to let him make his way there by himself. "You heard the man!" she shouted, tears barely being held back. "Move it, now!"

Once again, everyone broke into a run as they didn’t want to encounter any more Vorkalai. With in minutes, they were back at the Yacht.

Dead Vorkalai and black scorch marks lined the entire corridor, making Ada realize that someone had tried to take out the yacht. Thank goodness James had come along…

Ada was the first to fling herself up the hatch, zero-g making that easy for her. She stopped herself just at the hatch, then swung herself over and onto the deck. After her came Sarah’s limp form held by Chris.

She watched, not caring about the rest of her task force, as Chris moved to the front and into the cockpit with Sarah. Kara quickly followed them, her medical kit already out.

Chris’s mind raced as he set Sarah on the deck. "James, get us out of here, now!" he shouted, not caring about anything else. He stared into her bloodshot eyes, Kara already at their side and taking readings.

"Hold on, I’m restoring gravity!" James shouted. With just those words, Chris felt gravity return to normal. If Sarah hadn’t been in her current condition, he would have sighed in relief.

"Sleeve retracted," Kalia said. When did everyone get in here? Chris asked himself.

"Engaging impulse engines…" James said hesitantly. "You know, we can’t leave with their shields up."

Chris saw it…the nod Sarah gave. It was slight, almost motionless, but she gave it. He nodded back to her, then pulled out the detonation device.

"Here goes nothing," he said quietly. After hesitating…he pushed the button.

The Yacht began to shudder as explosions began to rock across the battleship’s hull. A moment later, he heard the familiar hum of the warp engines engaging.

Knowing they were out of danger already, he looked to Kara. She stowed her tricorder and looked morbidly at him.

Not having to be asked, she said, "The Vorkalai weapon only hit her arm, yes…but it did much more. It had some sort of neurological deconstructor in the energy beam…she’s dying, and there’s nothing I can do."

Feeling like he had just been killed himself, Chris felt his jaw drop. Disbelief filled him, but he quickly looked to Sarah, who started to speak.

The words barely able to come out, she said, "Chris…I know…I know how you have felt recently." She coughed again, blood splurting onto her face and uniform. "You’ve had a ship to command, though…so don’t feel bad. I have never stopped loving you… I loved you on Karandis Seven…and I love you now."

"Please," Chris quietly said, barely getting the words out. "Please…you can’t leave me…not now. I need you, Sarah!"

She smiled at him weakly, her strength slipping from her. "I want you to remember our time together. Never forget what we had."

He smiled equally weakly, tears streaming down his eyes. "True love," he whispered, not even having to have said it. "I’ll never forget…I promise."

Sarah smiled even deeper with that statement… Even looking like she did now, Chris thought she was the most beautiful person in the universe. No one had ever compared to her, and no one ever could. No one had her personality…

His heart suddenly fell from him as he saw it happening. Her smile faded…her eyes went blank… He saw the very life from her suddenly leave, as if she had a spirit that was breaking free from the constraints of her body. She exhaled deeply, like she was sighing…only her chest did not rise again.

Everything ceased to exist. There was nothing, no one. There she was, lying on the deck…with nothing to guide her. She was gone…and he knew, for the first time, just what just happened.

He buried his head in his hands as seemingly animal-like sounds emitted from him… Like never before, tears began streaming down his cheeks, dampening his uniform. Someone, he didn’t know who, came to his side and embraced him in a warm hug.

Who ever it was, he didn’t know…all he knew, was that his only love…was dead…

…and it was more than he could bear…

First Officer’s Log, first entry, Lieutenant-Commander Thomas Halkrat

After a short hop at maximum velocity, and by Captain Harriman’s request, we’ve returned to Neo-Risa…where we all believe Sarah would want to have been buried. She never did seem to like the idea of being buried in space…

It had been a few days, yes…but Chris still felt the tears begin to well in his eyes. He still had trouble accepting her death. How could she be dead? It had to have been their destiny to be together! Why did she have to die?

He looked over to the side of the clearing, where Terry was lined up with other officers. He gave Chris a reassuring nod, and telepathically said to Chris, "Don’t worry, you can do this."

Chris nodded slowly, then cleared his throat, making sure he had everyone’s attention. With the sun shining down directly above them, the small clearing was very, very bright. A small camera was placed to transmit the entire funeral throughout the Dragon.

Starting with a traditional saying, he started to talk with an almost unemotional tone of voice. He found it hard to express his feelings right now…

"We are gathered here today…for our honored dead," he started. "Sarah Caft gave her life in the line of duty…like any one person would ever want to do. She died honorably, on the field of battle…but she did not die easily. She had put up a great fight…

"We can be thankful that we did not allow her death to be in vain," he continued. "She might have died…but the threat of the Vorkalai has finally been destroyed. They took her life…and she in turn took theirs."

He paused a moment, staring hard at the Federation flag that was mounted on the torpedo casing. He somehow thought that he could see her spirit standing next to the casing, smiling at him. He swore he saw her urging him on, giving him a vote of confidence.

"Do I have the right to mourn her death more than any one else?" he asked, more himself than anyone else. He nodded confidently, "I think so. No one could have ever felt the way I did about her. It simply wasn’t possible, for she was my one true love…"

He sighed despairingly as he continued to think of what he would say next. "Sarah was a strong-willed person. No one could ever get her spirits down. If she felt depressed about something, she always found a way to get herself out of her depression…and if someone else was depressed, nothing could stop her from getting a smile on your face." He gave a short, quiet laugh as he remembered some of the times she had done this very thing for him…the many times aboard the Dragon…

"I can say, with pure confidence…that I will miss her the most," he said quietly…but loud enough for everyone to hear.

With that last statement, he nodded to Ada. Seeing a tear stream down her face surprised him, for she almost never showed her emotions. Sarah had been an excellent first officer and person. She was friends with almost everyone on the ship…and had conflicts with no body.

Ada wiped the tear from her, then stood at attention. "Attention!" she ordered, causing everyone to also stand at attention. She quickly pressed a command on a small console, barely perceptibly, causing the casing to slowly lower itself into the grave. Four honor guards slowly took hold of the UFP flag and held it taught over the descending casing…

Chris watched every millimeter of the casing as it lowered itself down. Even after it had finally made it below his field of vision, he could not take his sight away. The honor guards then walked forward and began folding the flag.

Chris lost track of time for a moment, but was brought out of his daze as he noticed Ada standing in front of his field of vision. There, she held the flag that had been folded. Chris smiled to her, then slowly took the flag from her. He folded it under his arm, then stood at attention.

"Dismissed!" he said in the most commanding tone he could manage. Without waiting for even the commotion to start, Chris turned around and moved into the dense forest.

Dead branches and plants still littered the forest floor from the storm that had happened so long ago. As he remembered their experiences on the planet, he thought back to the riddle that had been found here. Now…you’ll never know the answer to this riddle he thought, referring to Sarah. You’ll never know…how all of this happened…

Soon, he could hear the waves crashing against rocks and rolling up the sandy beach, and not long after, he cleared the brush onto the vast beach. The white sands glittered in the afternoon sunlight as the tide seemed to be coming in.

He stopped there, on the edge of the beach, and simply stared out at the beautiful ocean. This was a place where Sarah would definitely want to have been buried…a place where she would be at peace…

After what seemed like only a short time, the sound of moving brush made him spin around. There stood Vendar Perkins.

Her eyes still wet from crying hard, she slowly walked out of the forest. "Sorry, sir."

He smiled at her and nodded, "That’s OK, Vendar."

He turned to face the ocean again as Vendar stood beside him. After a moment of silence, she said, "Do you think she’s out there, right now?"

A morbid look on his face, Chris shook his head unknowingly. "I honestly don’t know…but I hope so."

He saw her nod out of the corner of his eye, then they continued to stare out… He noticed for the first time the position of the sun, and estimated that he had been her for a long time…

He turned to her and asked, "Is everyone aboard?"

She nodded in reply…which surprised it. It was the first time she had not been proper about her actions. He smiled, hoping it would last, but knowing it wouldn’t.

"Very well," he said, barely containing his amusement. He tapped his comm badge and said, "Harriman to Dragon…prepare to break orbit." He looked to her, and she nodded back.

Chris looked one last time out on the ocean, hesitating, somehow knowing that Sarah was out there…

Realizing the comm channel was still open, he ordered, "Two to beam up."

In a dazzling display of light, the ocean disappeared…

…and so did Sarah…