Brosha pushed himself up and stared the approaching Vendoth in the eye. "Why do you resist your masters?" the Vendoth asked. "It is very shameful to do so…"

"It would be an even bigger shame not to resist," Brosha replied bitterly. "If I submit, it is a sign of weakness."

"It is not dishonorable to show weakness before your superiors," the Vendoth replied matter-of-factly.

"My only superior is my superior officer," Brosha bit back. "And I do not show weakness in front of her…for that would make me weak, and she would no longer want me to be on her security force."

Instead of a reply, the Vendoth lunged at Brosha, quicker than he had expected. He tried to move out of the way, but the blade caught his right shoulder, splashing blood along the blade.

Brosha took the movement to his advantage, however. While the Vendoth was just landing and turning around, Brosha moved to his back and used his entire force to slam the Vendoth against the wall.

The Vendoth was stunned for a moment…but only a moment. He pushed hard against Brosha, sending Brosha to the ground yet again.

He shot up quickly, not giving the Vendoth a chance to do more damage, and ducked under the swinging arm and blade. He grabbed the Vendoth's arm and jabbed his fist into the armpit of the Vendoth.

The Vendoth yelled in pain and surprise, and then did so even more as Brosha picked him up and threw him back over his head. He spun around again and moved against the wall, a plan in mind. I hope that blade is as sharp as it feels…

The Vendoth jumped up in fury and spun around to face Brosha again. He sneered, which made him look very deadly, and lunged yet again at Brosha.

Brosha expected the speed this time, however, and quickly ducked and move to his left, letting the Vendoth's blade implant itself in the metal wall. Just as sharp as I had hoped…

He brought his arms up and around to slam down hard on the Vendoth's immobilized arm. The sound of cracking bone and screeching metal filled Brosha's hearing as the Vendoth's arm broke free of the blade's constraints.

Brosha took the Vendoth's stunned look to his advantage and rushed into him, pushing him against the wall on the other side of the corridor. The sound of snapping ribs filled his ears.

He did not revel in his successes…instead, he reached for the Vendoth's throat. It took every ounce of strength Brosha had to punch the Vendoth's throat and at least rupture his throat.

He let the Vendoth fall to the ground, where it sat choking on its own fluids as they entered his wounds…

"You were a worthy opponent," Brosha huffed out, out of breath and out of strength. "But you are not the ultimate species…today, you are the lesser species."

Through the sounds of his choking, the Vendoth managed to choke out, "Our defeat…will be…avenged…"

With that, he used his last breath. He fell over to his side, limp…all of his life gone from him…

Brosha regarded him with respect and honor. He was a worthy opponent…worth fighting against.

He looked around and noticed that a few other Britar had gathered around them during the fight, something he hadn't expected. He nodded to them, he didn't smile…for a very skilled warrior had died today…as did three others, his comrades.

He looked back at the Vendoth, then walked away, wanting a situation report…

 

 

Chris smiled as Rendal appeared on the view screen. His image was slightly distorted because of the damage done to the Dragon, but he could clearly see the pleased look on Rendal's face.

"We'll have the shield generator up and running in half an hour," Rendal stated triumphantly. "Thank you for your assistance, Captain Harriman."

Chris smiled and nodded back to him. "It was our pleasure."

He was half lying. Eight people had died on the surface and twelve had died on the Dragon during the battle. It had been a nasty business… Once again, Chris had given an order that sent people to their deaths…

But that was part of being a commanding officer, part of being a bridge officer, for that matter.

"For the first time in…a long time…my people can experience freedom again. We're forever in your debt, Captain Harriman. We'll be able to survive from here on out."

"I hope you succeed," Chris added. "I wish we could stay here longer, but our long range sensors are heavily damaged and we don't want to be ambushed by any other Vendoth ships. We wouldn't last a minute in another fire fight."

Rendal nodded in understanding. "Then good luck to you, Captain. May your journey take you home."

With that, the communications channel was cut. Chris let himself smile one last time, then sat down in the command chair again.

"So…another day another species liberated?" Tom asked in a half-amused tone of voice.

Chris let out a small laugh, barely audible. "Indeed…" Chris shook his head, then looked up at the view screen. "James…bring us on our original course for the center of the galaxy, warp eight."

"Changing course to two one mark one," James replied. "Warp eight."

"Engage."

 

 

Captain's Log, supplemental

Once again, we have made an impact on another part of the Kalium galaxy. It seems we are leaving a trail of allies and enemies behind us. More allies than enemies, though…thankfully.

Long range sensors are still damaged, but their resolution is increasing by the minute. Hopefully we'll be able to get back into Transwarp velocity with in the next hour…

 

 

He finished his log entry and stood up to head for his ready room. He was about to give the bridge over to Tom…when a sensor alarm sounded on Vendar's console.

"Sir…long range sensor resolution has increased enough to show us that there's a planet ahead of us…with a rather large armada in orbit."

Fear struck Chris as one single thought passed through his mind. Vendoth armada…

"Drop us out of warp, yellow alert," he ordered, sitting back in his chair. "Show the armada on screen."

A moment after the streaking stars turned into infinite pinpricks, the view screen changed slightly…to reveal an armada of Vendoth ships.

"Holy…"

"We're dead," Tom stated coldly as everyone regarded the view screen with fear. They were already moving towards the Dragon, their weapons charging…

However, before Chris could give the order to warp out, Vendar said in an alarmed voice, "I'm reading a massive tachyon surge near the center of that armada."

With that, a huge bright blue explosion of energy ripped across space. The shock wave hit the Dragon almost immediately, telling him that it wasn't normal energy and was traveling faster than the speed of light. It did little damage, however.

"Some sort of temporal anomaly has formed!" she added as Chris regarded the bright blue vortex that formed. "Wait…not temporal…temporal and spatial!"

This interested Chris. If it was spatial…where did it lead? His curiosity got the better of him. "Scan the anomaly, see if you can determine where it leads."

"I'm trying…" Vender complied hesitantly… "The Vendoth ships are all being pulled in, half the armada's already in it."

The Dragon began to shudder as the gravitational forces reached out further and further into space…

"Back us off, James, we don't want to be pulled in too," he said cautiously….

"The rest of the Vendoth fleet is through the vortex," Vendar added. I'm starting to get clear readings from the other side. The vortex is in a state of temporal flux, but the locations seem consistent in an area of a hundred thousand light years…centralized in an area of about ten to fifteen thousand light years…"

She then looked at Chris with an astonished look on her face. "It's…home…"

Chris's eyes went wide. He stood up in surprise and walked forward to stand between the helm and the Ops station. He looked over to Vendar and asked, "Can we go through it?"

She looked at her console, began to enter in a request…but then more surprise, and fear gripped her. "Sir, the vortex is collapsing!"

Chris looked at the view screen, dismay quickly filling him as the vortex began to shrink, rotating as it went. A moment later…it was gone…

That could have been their only chance to get home…and they missed it…

Chris's head sank, as everyone else on the bridge began to sulk. He moved back to the command chair and eased himself back into it.

He wanted to say something, to apologize… He felt responsible…

But he couldn't. He was too heart broken. In the matter of two minutes, he had missed their only opportunity to get home…

"Resume course," he ordered, standing up again and heading for his ready room. "Tom…you have the bridge…"

He entered his ready room, not waiting for a reply. He then moved around his desk and sat down in his chair…

Then, he buried his head in his arms…

Then a more alarming thought occurred to him. Not only had he missed an opportunity…but the Vendoth armada had just found a way to strike at the Federation. And the Vendoth…were powerful indeed…

He spun his chair around and gawked at the streaking stars. The Federation was in danger…and it would take everything they had…to win the upcoming battle.

I'm sorry, everyone he thought, realizing that he had just pissed off the Vendoth. They were mad at the Federation now…because the Dragon had liberated a planet. Now the Vendoth could exact more revenge than they probably ever thought possible. They would try to enslave the Milky Way galaxy…

Then Chris thought of something. Something that sparked hope in him. If just one vessel could stand up to the Vendoth…then maybe there's a chance. Hell, the Excalibur crew, a crew that was only in existence a hundred years ago…had been able to outsmart three Vendoth vessels…

There was hope. The Federation stood a chance because it had a knack for survival. They would win…or they would die trying…

He smiled as he stared at the rainbow colored streaks as those thoughts passed through his mind. One last thought passed through his mind, something that had sustained him…and is crew, for that matter, since the Dragon first launched. The quote on the dedication plaque for the Dragon, something that many people believed in and fought for. Freedom…

"They may take our lives…but they will never take…our freedom!"

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Star Trek Dragon graphics and written material copyright Jon Wasik. Star Trek is a registered trademark
of Paramount Pictures, a Viacom company. No copyright infringement intended.