HOME | DD

Description
Star Trek: Chimera
The 5th Anniversary Specials
Episode One: “The Storm.”

Part One

It had been an entire year since the end of the Kurlan occupation of the Rigel System. A year full of celebration and change, getting back to normal and ensuring that something of the like would never happen again.
The New Federation, Starfleet and the Rigellian Government had worked tirelessly for the last twelve months to ensure that the Rigel System and her neighbours were better protected, safeguarded from a similar event happening again in the future.
Of course these measures, these safeguards were never entirely going to protect the lives of everyone from yet another alien invasion, but the groundwork was there, to make sure that one of the New Federation’s most important sectors of space was as guarded as best as possible.
Protecting the lives of trillions is no easy feat, but the increased presence of Starfleet within the sector was one that was welcomed by the Rigellian Government and the many people on the populous worlds that inhabited them.
Not only were there now more Starfleet vessels and installations within the sector, but a unique transporter system had been deployed throughout the sector, allowing the mass transit of individuals across the sector virtually instantaneously -it was a brilliant technological feat of engineering, spearheaded by the engineering crews based at Starbase Chimera and one that both the New Federation president and the president of the Rigellian Worlds personally thanked the crew of Starbase Chimera for undertaking and seeing through to its end.
Once the Sector Wide Fast Transporter Network, or ‘SWFT’ had completed its trials and the first people were practically instantaneously transported from Rigel I to Rigel XIV without incident, work began on updating the slipstream gates within the sector.
Where once just one gate orbited Rigel IV, now three orbited the worlds of the Rigel System. The gate above Rigel IV was rebuilt, following its destruction at the hands of the Kurlan and two more were constructed above Rigel III and Rigel-B II, offering the ability for starships to travel at faster than light speeds within the system and to the furthest known worlds of the New Federation, providing additional access points to the already massive Slipstream Network within the New Federation.
Instead of it taking months or even years, starships could now travel in a matter of weeks, ships could travel from the Rigel Sector outward to all four quadrants of the galaxy and beyond.
Rumour has it, that a secret project, headed by the now rebuilt ASDB on Rigel IV, is currently underway to reach the Andromeda Galaxy by way of the new slipstream gates and a recent breakthrough in the study of benamite crystals!

Change had come to the New Federation and for the most part it was positive. A quiet era of peace and cooperation appeared to have swept through all of the major powers within the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. The joining of the Cardassian Empire with the New Federation had gone without incident and was currently undergoing a transitional period as much of the military was absorbed into Starfleet. It was now commonplace to see Cardassian officers in Starfleet uniforms aboard New Federation starships and the same was true in reverse, as many Starfleet officers enjoyed the countless officer exchange programmes that had sprung up over the last twelve months.
The same could be said for Romulan and Klingon officers, now all commonplace within Starfleet, making Starfleet a truly diverse and inclusive organisation, one that many would have thought unimaginable or unthinkable just ten or twenty years ago, with some dubbing this era a ‘utopians dream.’

Life was good…but for some, the doubters and the non-believers, the naysayers and unconvinced wondered how long this utopia could stay this way…that there may be a storm looming on the horizon…that war, poverty and famine or something far worse would one day return to the galaxy…

*_*_*_*

“The Storm.”
by Jonathan Crosby-Bromley.

“There are the stories you tell yourself…
…and then there is the truth.”

*_*_*_*

“You can’t be serious!” Winter Shahn declared at the top of her voice, as she stood opposite Admiral Anna James in the briefing room.
Her reaction to Anna’s news came as somewhat of a shock. Given all that they had been through together, she was surprised that Anna had handed in her notice of retirement to Starfleet Command without telling her. Not only that, but command were already on the look out for a replacement.
“But why now, I thought you liked it here?”
Anna was sat down, looking out of the window at the rain pouring down from the heavens with her back to Winter, feeling as though the way she delivered her news was somewhat cowardly.
As a shuttlecraft landed outside on the promenade, Anna stood up and finally turned to face one of her oldest and most trusted friends.
Acutely aware that she should have told Winter that she was thinking about hanging up her admiral’s uniform, she started with an apology, before explaining her reasoning behind her decision.
“How long have we been here Wint? Fifteen, twenty years? More? It’s time to move on, let someone else have a crack at the big chair, make the big decisions.”
Winter unfolded her arms and sat down, adjusting her somewhat standoffish posture to something less aggressive.
“I get that, that totally makes sense, but I just don’t get why now.”
“We’re not exactly as young as we used to be, Wint,” Anna smiled.
“Speak for yourself, I’m a Trill, age is but just a number.”
“Im tired,” Anna replied, “I love it here, but I’m so tired and if I’m overly honest, I’m questioning what I want from the rest of my life.”
“That’s quite the admission, Anna.”
“That’s exactly what Freddie [Admiral McNair] said when I told him, but he understood, as I hoped you would too.”
Winter took a deep breath before responding, then looked around the room, “This place won’t be the same without you, I just hope they don’t ask me…”
“Don’t finish that sentence, Anna started, interjecting, “I’ve already put a recommendation in your file for you to be considered as my replacement.”
“You’ve done what?!” Winter said, sounding just as surprised as she did when Anna first announced news that she was leaving.
COMMAND CENTRE TO JAMES, the disembodied voice of Captain Knight, Anna’s first officer spoke via the comm.
“Go ahead Nate,”
YOU MIGHT WANNA COME THROUGH HERE.
Anna looked at Winter, who looked just as puzzled as she did and mouthed the words, ‘What’s going on,’ to which Winter shook her head and shrugged her shoulders.
“On my way…”

*_*_*_*

Billy hadn’t been back for some time, it must have been almost ten years, and it still looked exactly the same, well, more or less.
As he disembarked the shuttlecraft that had landed on the promenade, he half expected to see Darren Tel or Marcus Riker standing by the entrance to the command centre waiting to greet him upon his arrival.
Instead, he was met by just Commander Gabby Tel, Chimera’s chief science officer.
She smiled and rushed out from inside of the main reception area and out into the rain to greet Billy Scott with her arms wide open and a great big smile on her face.
“Bill! You’re really here!” She said jubilantly, giving him an all encompassing hug.
“Woah! It’s not been that long!” He replied, embracing the moment, before stepping back to take a look at Commander Tel.
“You look great, by the way,” Billy commented on the commander’s dramatic weight loss, “You must look ten years younger, not that we’re supposed to care about that sort of thing in this day and age.”
“Hey, I’m all for the compliments, I’ve lost almost fifty pounds,” she replied, still smiling, then suddenly noticed that there was something different about Chimera’s former chief engineer. “My god, Bill, what’s happened to your [bio-synthetic] arm?”
“Was due an upgrade,” he replied, gesturing away from the shuttle, “shall we go inside, I’m soaked to my skin.”
“Oh, sorry! It’s just so good to see you, sure, let me take you up to the command centre.”
“Mind if we take a detour?” Billy asked, pointing in the opposite direction, towards Medical One.
The smile finally dropped from Gabby’s face when she realised that Billy wanted to go the infirmary. “Everything okay?”
“I must confess, I have an ulterior motive,” he replied, adjusting the strap on his carry-all as they crossed the promenade towards the infirmary’s main entrance, “I wanted to check in on Joey first, you know, before getting down to business with Dahl and Dedral over at the engineering complex.”
Gabby nodded, she completely understood and lead the way, “Sure. It’s been a few days since I popped by to see how he is doing, mind if I tag along?”
“Of course,” Bill said, struggling to make eye contact for a second, “kinda hoped you would actually. I think I’m a bit nervous if I’m honest. I just hope he remembers me, if that makes sense?”
“He went through a lot, he’s still trying to piece his life back together. But I’m sure another friendly face will help him along a nicely.”
“Thanks, Gabby, you’re a good friend,” he said, taking her hand and squeezing it, more for support than anything else as they made their way into the infirmary, Gabby asking him about how he’s been and making small talk to settle his nerves slightly.

He had been meaning to come back to Chimera sooner, but duty and life had got in the way, delaying his return to Rigel IV and the chance to catch up with some of his oldest and dearest friends, but most of all, he wanted to see for himself, first hand, how Joseph Green was fairing following the Kurlan Occupation. Joe’s body had been taken over by a Kurlan symbiont, much like many of the crew of Chimera nearly two years ago, but unlike the crew that had their parasites either removed or vaporised by the effects of the Okkula Device, in no small part due to Harry Green’s successful attempt at ridding them from this realm, Joe had faired the worst. The removal of his parasite or ‘symbiont,’ as the Kurlans called them, had lasting effects on Joe, causing him to loose a considerable portion of his memories. He had to learn how to be himself again, hell, he had to learn how to be again. And it had been tough, with many setbacks, but thankfully those who cared about him made the effort in an attempt to rehabilitate him. Doctor Natasha Taggert delayed her return to the Nightingale for over six months to help Joe remember who he was, Counsellor Nimah Zeta took a three month sabbatical to help counsel him, in the hopes that she could help him process what had happened. Even Ambassador Landes, who was still grieving the loss of her husband, Morgan Bateson paid him several visits in the hope that she could help Joe reclaim some semblance of normality, of self.
Sadly, very little had worked, and those who cared for Joe were concerned that a full recovery may just be a pipe dream.
Hence why Scott was here —Billy was one of Joe’s oldest friends, they had not only served together on Chimera for years, but had also had a prior friendship, way back before either of them were in Starfleet. Jason Bush had asked Billy to stop by, whilst he was on Rigel IV assisting with the many engineering projects that he was spearheading, to pay Joe a visit in the hope that he might trigger some long unawakened memories in Joe’s mind that might help him remember who he was before the Kurlans invaded his body…

*_*_*_*

Everyone in the command centre had come to a complete and sudden standstill. Only the soft beeping of consoles and automated readouts perforated the silence.
Captain Nathan Knight stood at the centre of the upper level staring, like the rest of the crew in silence, wearing a look of sheer disbelief on their faces as they looked at one of their own on the main viewscreen in stunned silence.
Engineering assistant, Ensign Christian Grayson stood next to the captain as did Lieutenant Commander Alto Channing, the Starbase’s chief of operations.
Anna entered crossing the room, flanked by Winter Shahn and as they did they tried to understand why the starbase’s senior most staff were standing like statues, completely agog with what they were witnessing, Nathan nodded in acknowledgment of Anna’s arrival and then pointed towards the viewscreen.
ADMIRAL JAMES, IT’S SOMEWHAT OF A PLEASURE TO SEE YOU AGAIN, a familiar voice spoke from the direction of the viewscreen.
Anna turned to face the viewer and involuntarily smiled out of politeness and instinct to greet whom had just addressed her by name with a level of familiarity and slight disdain.
The smile soon disappeared off Anna’s face, replaced with a look of shock and surprise, both in equal measure, as it sunk in as to whom was speaking to her, from orbit aboard his own ship.
YOUR FIRST OFFICER HERE, CAPTAIN KNIGHT, IS IT? HAS SOME RESERVATIONS ABOUT MY SHIP AND CREW LANDING ON THE SURFACE, he said in a tone that which nobody knew if he was joking or being serious, in a way that could have been quite easily misinterpreted if it hadn’t been for his son’s prior insistence to hear him out. I HOPE THERE HASN’T BEEN ANY CONFUSION OVER MY INTENTIONS, ADMIRAL?
It was like she had seen a ghost, like all of them had. It had been almost two years since they had all seen him, well, most of them anyway, some had seen him a lot more recently than others, less than a year in fact, when the Rigel Sector was still controlled by the Kurlans, by her…by Anna.
“Apologies, Captain Grayson,” Anna started, her voice somewhat hoarse. “Apologies for any confusion caused,” she continued, having cleared her throat and allowing her normal façade to return to her face, “You’re more than welcome to come down, all of you. It will be good to see you again, David.”
GLAD TO HEAR IT, Captain Grayson spoke, only this time in a more relaxed, jovial tone of voice, one that reassured Knight and the others somewhat.
“I know your son and step-daughter are eager to see you, we all are, it’s been far too long,” Anna smiled, turning to Christian, then nodding, indicating for him to clear his father for landing. “I’ll have Christian and Thea meet you at the spaceport upon your arrival, Gabby too.”
VERY GOOD OF YOU ADMIRAL, I’D LIKE THAT.
And with that, the comlink to Captain Grayson’s ship, the Tomwrah ended and the image on the viewscreen returned to that of Chimera’s master operations display.
As the comlink closed and David Grayson’s image disappeared, a veritable collective sigh of relief reverberated around the command centre as the crew returned to their duties.
Winter shot Anna a look, one to say, ‘Do you trust him?’ whilst Christian’s face appeared more jubilant, excited —clearly the thought of seeing his father again was a happy one and he was eager to leave the command centre however, Knight and Winter both had their concerns.
But not wanting to dampen the young Ensign Grayson’s reunion with his father, both Knight and Winter together, in unison, pointed back towards the briefing room from where Shahn and the admiral had just entered and said, “Conference. Now.”
Folding her arms and tilting her head to one side, wearing a half smile on her face, Anna knew that look the pair of them were giving her and suddenly felt as though she was about to be ambushed.
“Mr. Channing, the command centre is yours, if you need me, I’ll be in the briefing room with Ms. Shahn and Mr. Knight…”

*_*_*_*

Before Anna could even make it to one of the chairs that surrounded the briefing room table, to pull it out and sit down, Winter had already aired her concerns.
“Can we trust him?”
“If he’s coming down here, we need to make sure he’s clean,” followed Knight.
“He’s not been seen for almost two years, Anna, you can’t just let him walk around here like nothing has happened.”
“What if he’s still Kurlan?”
Anna stood with her back to her two senior most officers and felt her stomach tying itself into knots as the pair of them continued to point out their concerns about David Grayson and his freighter crew coming down to the surface. And as they did, all she could think about, was how he had done nothing wrong, that there really were no concerns about Grayson beaming down. He could walk around the command centre if he wanted, probably even regain his former commission if he asked Command for it back. It was her that was in the wrong, it was Anna. And what was more difficult for her, was the fact that she knew it. That she knew that David hadn’t done anything wrong, that his actions during the Kurlan Occupation, the ‘Incident,’ were all of her doing. She had controlled him, manipulated him, got him to do unspeakable things. For whilst she was under the influence of the Kurlan Queen, she made him do things that no one in their right mind would do and that’s what hurt her the most, that’s what she was struggling to come to terms with, after seeing his face back on the viewscreen after all this time.
She was about to be caught out as a fraud, a liar, someone that had deceived her closest friends and told several untruths to his son, his stepdaughter and his ex-wife about his disappearance following the end of the occupation. She lied to spare their feelings, not to protect herself or her career, but she knew deep down, she knew the second she saw him on the viewscreen that all of those secrets, those lies, were about to come out of the woodwork, that her dirty laundry was about to be aired for all to see and that, most likely after all of this was over, a lot of her friends, her colleagues and peers would never trust her again.
And that’s why she wanted out, that’s why she was tired, because she was worn out, unable to keep this to herself for much longer and needed to be free from this place, away from them, away from it all, in a place where she could finally deal with what she put so many people through during the occupation, to come to terms with what she had done when she was enemy number one, ‘the chief puppet of the Kurlans.’
She needed to speak of it. But right now, all she could truly think about was Christian, Thea and Gabby reuniting with David and that’s all she could do right now, she had to make that happen. So she quashed Winter and Knight’s concerns without further altercation or argument and said, “My orders on this are final. David Grayson and his crew are clear to land. I can assure you there is absolutely no concerns about him and the Tomwrah being here. He, like many of us have been debriefed by Starfleet Security and Intelligence and have all been cleared of any charges for our actions during the occupation whilst under Kurlan control. He has done nothing wrong and I would like you to make sure that he is made to feel just as welcome as any other visitor to Rigel IV and Chimera, is that understood, Commander?” Anna locked eyes on Winter.
“Yes, m’am.”
She then turned to Nathan and offered him the same steely gaze, “Captain?”
“Aye, sir.”
“Good, I’m glad that’s settled,” Anna said, relaxing her tensed posture slightly, “Now one of you go with Christian, Thea and Gabby to welcome him home, after all, this is his home just as much as it is any of ours.” Anna said, trying to smile, trying to ignore her eyes that were now tearing slightly.
“Yes, sir,” both Winter and Nathan replied, before quickly turning on their heals and exiting the briefing room.
As they did, Anna let out a deep sigh, practically doubling over, clutching her stomach with relief that this debate, if you could call it that, was over.
She braced herself against the table and sunk forward, her head in her hands, taking deep breathes in and then slowly out. If only Marcus were here, or Darren, hell, even Bateson would have been able to handle this better than she was fairing now, “What I’d give for someone to talk to right now,” she said to herself aloud, hoping, praying that if she did make it through the next few days without all of this coming out in the wash, that someone, anyone would still talk to her, understand what she had to do and still respect her.
“Get it together, Anna,” she said to herself as she straightened up and made her way over to the window.
The rain was still coming down in droves, it just didn’t want to seem to stop. And Anna couldn’t help but feel that the weather outside matched her mood, that Rigel IV mirrored what she was feeling and hoped that it would be over soon. It had to be. She couldn’t keep all of this to herself any longer —she couldn’t keep feeling like this.

*_*_*_*

Almost two years ago…

Materialising outside the Command Centre —his site to site transport from the Hangar Bay Facility complete, Captain David Grayson made his way along the promenade to surprise his good friend and ex-wife, Gabriella Tel.
As he made his way through the scores of people that were out enjoying the unusually warm weather, David noticed a complete lack of a civilian presence. Everywhere he looked, he saw Starfleet personnel -he was quite literally the only civilian on the promenade and he suddenly felt ill at ease -people were staring, looking at him vacantly with a fixed expression, it was eerie, odd, uncomfortable.
David became very self-conscious, checking his belt to make sure that his phaser pistol was still present and holstered, just in case something were to happen, he’d been in so many scrapes recently, since commanding his own freighter and he didn’t want to take any chances here.
As he neared the Command Centre, he saw three Starfleet security officers up ahead, guarding the main entrance.
He had worked at Starbase Chimera for many years before he set out to command the Tomwrah and recognised the three officers that stood at the entrance holding phaser rifles. This puzzled David somewhat; he knew the protocols, he knew that something would have had to have gone awry, that there had to be a security concern for there to be officers stationed at the entrance to the Command Centre. He also knew that he wouldn’t have been allowed to land the Tomwrah if there was such an emergency or security threat -something was wrong, something didn’t feel right.
Thankfully, David did not need to think on his feet, think of a reason to enter the Command Centre, Gabriella emerged from the main entrance and greeted her friend.
“Well aren’t you a sight for sore eyes!” -she remarked, a beaming smile on her face and offering out her arms, drawing him in for a hug. “How are you?” -she asked.
“I’m well…” -he responded, removing a bottle of Holka wine from his bag. “…I brought you a little something.”
Gabriella took the gift from David and read the label before starting to look a little puzzled. “Holka wine? Never heard of it.” -she responded, accepting the gift nonetheless.
David’s look of concern deepened. He was already dubious of what was going on around here, but for Gabriella not to recognise the wine -something that the pair often enjoyed together, something that they consumed on their wedding day, made him subconsciously question just what the hell was going on here. Without letting on, he changed the subject to that of their son, “How’s Christian?”
“He’s well; immersed in his studies.”
“That’s my boy.”
“Our boy…” -Gabriella corrected him, “…he was promoted to acting assistant chief engineer last month, Commander Dall say’s he’s doing a grand job.”
“Engineer hu? Who’d have thought it!”
“Not me, I was somewhat surprised when he told me that he had a passion for engineering, but I didn’t complain too much, I didn’t want him turning into a hot shot pilot like his dad.”

The pair made their way down towards the central courtyard, which was situated between the habitat block and the Command Centre. Gabriella took a seat and gestured to David to do the same. It didn’t take long for David to start asking questions, asking about the lack of civilian presence here at Chimera.
Gabriella explained that a lot has changed since he last dropped by, that most of the civilians live out in the colonies now, that they don’t tend to come out this way -something that David found hard to believe. He didn’t question her, he allowed Gabriella to talk of how things had seemingly become more militaristic here, that the Starfleet presence around the Command Centre had grown over the last couple of years, that increased security had been stepped up at the behest of Admiral James.
Asking about the admiral, asking how she is finding her feet, David probes Gabriella for more information. Gabriella extolls nothing but praise for the admiral, expressing that Anna is an exemplary leader and a great admiral, going on to say that she is probably one of the finest commanding officers that she’s had the pleasure of serving with -something that really didn’t sound like Gabby at all. She used words and phrases that didn’t fit with her personality. He hadn’t been gone that long for her whole personality to change to this degree. It was unusual, but he kept his calm, kept himself composed.
“I sent Chris a message, telling him that I’d be around for a few days.”
“I believe he is exceptionally busy today.” -Gabriella replied, almost excusing their son, she went on to tell David that she wouldn’t expect to see him before asking, “A few days, I wasn’t aware that you were planning on sticking around so long?”
‘Unusual,’ -he thought to himself. “Well maybe I’ll try and catch up with him tomorrow…”
“Captain Grayson…” -a familiar voice spoke, interrupting them.
“Admiral! What a pleasure!” -Gabriella responded, quickly rising to her feet to greet Anna.
“I heard that the Tomwrah was nearby.” -she spoke authoritatively, lacking any emotion.
“Anna, how the devil are you…how long has it been!”
A momentary look of confusion washed over the admiral’s face, -something that David picked up upon straight away. “Eight months, nine weeks and fifteen days.” Anna replied, like an automaton.
“I’m impressed.” -David responded. He was impressed that Anna knew exactly how long it was since his last visit, but he was equally concerned by the fact that she managed to recall the amount of time with pin point accuracy.
“What brings you here?”
“My son mostly, it’s been a while, thought I’d pay him a visit, Gabby and Thea too.”
“Indeed…” -the admiral paused, surveying him, scrutinising his appearance. “Be sure to pop by the Command Centre tomorrow, I need a hand with something that would be suited to your talents.” -and with that, she nodded and then made her excuses before leaving.
David turned to Gabby, who was completely unfazed by the whole unusual exchange between him and the admiral.
“That was odd.” -he thought aloud.
But just as Gabriella was about to respond, to make an excuse for the admiral’s strange behaviour, something caught both of their attention…

Several phaser beams tore across the promenade, causing a commotion. Immediately turning to see what all the fuss was about, David watched as four Starfleet security officers chased B’rellun down the promenade.
“What the hell!” -David called out, concerned about his friend and helmsman.
“David, don’t!” -Gabriella cried, trying to stop him from attending to the rapidly developing situation in front of them. Grabbing him, holding him back, Gabby told David not to interfere, to let the security officers do their jobs. “Are you kidding, they’re chasing after him, firing at him!”
Gabriella was unusually strong. David was not a small man nor was he weak, he had put on several kilos since he left Chimera, yet she was able to forcibly stop him from rushing to check on his shipmate. It was surreal.
Seconds later, two more Starfleet security officers appeared from nowhere. Gabriella ordered them to restrain David.
“What the…why the hell are you restraining me?” -he asked, trying to make it as difficult as possible for the officers to bring his arms together, to stop them from placing a set of ‘mag-irons’ around his wrists. “I’m a New Federation citizen, you cannot forcibly restrain me with no reason, with no justification,” he called out.

Suddenly B’rellun fell to the floor -he had been hit by one of the security guard’s phaser’s. He was still conscious, but barely -the force of the phaser blast absorbed by a special vest that he always wore on away missions or whilst visiting strange new worlds. He cried out, screaming Klingon and Vulcan profanities. It took all four of the security guards that had previously been chasing him to cuff’ him. They did not speak, they did not explain their reasoning, no justification, no nothing…
Finally affixing the handcuffs -the ‘mag-irons’ to his wrists, the guards sat him up for all to see and unholstered their phasers once again and pointed them directly at him.
David watched in horror, terrified that his friend was about to be publicly executed for no apparent reason. He felt his heart pound in his chest as the two security guards that restrained him walked David over to his shipmate in front of the Command Centre.

Admiral Anna James arrived. Her face was totally devoid of any emotion, any feeling -it was like she was a Vulcan or something, David thought to himself as he struggled somewhat. She slowly walked up to Grayson and B’rellun and offered a pained looking smile…sinister even.
Then she spoke. She knelt down next to B’rellun and looked him square on in the eyes and in one breath, in one quick moment, she spoke.
“Kill him.”
The guards raised their phasers and took aim.
B’rellun’s eyes were wide with fear, yet he did not speak. He did not question her orders -he knew that they clearly knew too much about something. He knew that they were outsiders, that they did not belong here. But he couldn’t put his finger on it. He couldn’t work it out.
“…and when you’re done with disposing him, bring Grayson to my office…I have plans for this one…”

*_*_*_*

Present day…
Landing with precise precision, the privately owned Bird of Prey, the freighter Tomwrah, commanded by Captain David Grayson touched down in the already very busy, somewhat crowded Rigel IV Starport Facility.
Various Starfleet hangar officers made their way over to the vessel to welcome the crew of the Tomwrah to Rigel IV and begin the disembarkation process, checking papers and cargo consignments and the like.
The welcome was far warmer than Grayson was expecting, as he emerged from inside his vessel and made his way down the landing platform to see his son, Christian, his step-daughter Thea and his good friend and ex-wife, Thea Tel all standing eagerly awaiting his arrival, all sporting beaming smiles on their faces.
“Well aren’t you lot quite the sight for sore eyes!” David bellowed at the top of his voice.
Christian rushed over to his father and wrapped his arms around the man he thought he’d never see again, the man he thought that had died at the hands of the Kurlan.
“Oh dad, I can’t believe it,” he started, before his emotions took hold and he began to sob tears of joy, the sight of his father being home, back on Rigel IV was simply too much for him.
“Now come on son, don’t go wasting your tears on me.”
David separated himself from Christian and placed both his hands on his sons shoulders and smiled, “Look, son, it’s going to be alright now, we’re finally all back together. What’s done is done, the past is the past and we’re going to move on from this, start a fresh,” he said, softly but firmly, reassuring his son that everything would be okay, before wiping Christian’s tears from his eyes. “How’s that boyfriend of yours, still causing you trouble?” He asked, referring to Christian’s boyfriend Charlie, the man he met on the day of his father’s disappearance.
But before Christian could say anything, Thea interjected, took hold of her step brother’s hand and lifted it up, to show David the beautiful silver pressed latinum ring that Christian was wearing on his wedding finger.
“He only went and got himself engaged,” Thea said matter of factly.
“Son, that’s brilliant news, when do I get to…” David stopped, he turned to Thea and looked at her, she seemed a little…fuller figured.
Thea smiled, before placing her hands on her rounded stomach in such a way that it was clear that she was pregnant.
“You’re not?” David said, conscious that Thea was clearly trying to steel her step-brother’s thunder.
“She is!” Said Gabby, I’m going to be a grandmother!
“Ha!” David laughed heartily, from the pit of his stomach, right up through his chest and then out of his mouth, practically doubled over as Gabby, the woman he loved, the mother of his child and one of his closest friends delivered the news.
“I can only imagine how your father feels about that!”
“Darren and Will were overjoyed!” Said Gabby, as she hugged Thea.
“Well, it certainly looks like we have a lot of catching up to do, and a lot of celebrating too! Why don’t I go freshen up and then I take us all out to the Bozeman Colony for dinner, have a big old family reunion?!” David suggested, feasting his eyes on the love and family that he was so overjoyed to be reunited with.
“Sounds perfect, David,” replied Gabby, before reaching in for a squeeze and a quick peck on the cheek.
They still loved each other, that much was obvious, maybe even more so, after all, absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that, Gabby thought as she released the father of her son and good friend.
David smiled as Gabby let go of him, and then reached for her hand. “It’s good to be back,” he spoke, as the four of them made their way out of the starport, “I mean that Gab, I’ve missed you…”

And as the Grayson’s and the Tel’s headed into the busy crowds of the starport, disappearing into the arrivals halls and outward towards Chimera and the Bozeman Colonies, Anna James stood watching from above, on one of the many observation posts within the starport.
Her arms were crossed, as she pondered what to do about Grayson. After all, he was just one man, a man reunited with his family once more after such a terrible ordeal. They had all been through a dark time, the darkest of times and now finally, there was a light at the end of the tunnel for Grayson and his family. ‘But what about me,’ Anna wondered, hoping that soon she would see the light at the end of her metaphorical tunnel. She wanted closure, needed it in fact, but the only way that she would ever get that would be for her to confront David Grayson and hope that he would forgive her, that he would finally forgive her for all the terrible things that she did to him. That he did for her.
They may be in the past, but the scars of the past had long lasting consequences and they were deep.
Yes, all she could do was hope, hope that he would see her for who she was now, and who she was before the Kurlans came. What she was in between was monstrous, horrid, evil and she hoped, selfishly, that he could forgive her. Because she sure as hell couldn’t forgive herself…

*_*_*_*

Sixteen months ago, at the height of the Kurlan Occupation…

The infirmary lights were dimmed, that’s the way he preferred it. And quiet. You could have heard a pin drop. Only the sounds coming from the patient bio-monitors could be heard as Doctor Brandon Tyler, or what was once Doctor Tyler entered from the bio-lab, carrying a metallic case, containing a Kurlan symbiont.
The symbiont that lived inside Tyler’s body, embedded at the base of his skull, controlling his every movement, every thought and action made their way over to the primary surgical bio-bed, ready to insert one of the two symbionts contained in the case inside another host.
This symbiont was special and was about to be entrusted with task of the utmost importance.
Not only was this symbiont about to be implanted into a host that would go on to infect others, to convert individuals to the ‘Kurlan Way,’ as part of the ‘Grand Plan,’ but it was Tyler’s host’s mate.
She was impossibly old, even older than the symbiont that controlled Admiral James, and had lived for thousands of years, all the while, feasting on the bodies of those who opposed them. Altering them, changing them and manipulating them to do terrible things. She had been there at the beginning, on Trill and then went on to the Kurlan Homeworld. She survived the orbital bombardment that befell her homeworld and went on later to infest Earth, shortly before Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Enterprise-D uncovered their conspiracy in the early 2360’s.
How she survived, not many knew, only her mate knew her full story, her dark and twisted backstory, that had spanned millennia. She had survived, long after many of her brood had died, or had been killed. And now she was about to meet her next host.
David Grayson lay naked on the surgical bio-bed, his body surrounded by a force field, a stasis field. He was paralysed from the neck down and he was conscious, as he watched Tyler approach, before placing the metallic case down beside him and then proceed to pick up a tricorder to begin scanning him.
Tyler said nothing as he conducted his scans, he only looked up from the tricorder to visually compare the readings that his tricorder had taken of Grayson’s body.
David knew what was about to happen, that his individuality was about to come to end, that he was about to be infected, to play host to a Kurlan parasite.
His eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed as Tyler leant forward to inspect him closer, leaning in that tightly, that he could practically feel Brandon’s breath on his skin.
“You are truly disgusting creatures,” the doctor spoke, venomously, “but necessary nonetheless.”
“How unfortunate for you,” David replied. If he could have gotten up off of the bio-bed, he would have punched Tyler square in the jaw and then made a run for it, not that there was anywhere to go. The whole planet had been consumed by the Kurlan. Starfleet, the real Starfleet, not those infected by the Kurlan where nowhere to be seen. Grayson was one of only a handful on Rigel IV with his individuality intact, and those who were not under the Kurlan’s control were being hunted down for conversion or to be exterminated.
It was such a dark time, and David had been through his fair share of dark times during his tenure in Starfleet. That was one of the main reasons he left the service, but now he found himself back in the enemy’s sights and his life was once again at risk by another alien race that wanted galactic Armageddon or for the universe to bend to their will. It was a story as old as time, one that repeated over and over with such frequency that if David were in a different position now, he’d have probably found it funny, or the topic of a great debate with his old friend, and helmsman B’Rellun, who served with him onboard the Tomwrah —not that B’Rellun had been seen for months.
David had spent the best part of four months in Chimera’s brig, along with several other individuals that The Admiral had her eyes set on for her many plans of universal domination.
They were just toys, playthings to test her almost maddening theories upon. Test subjects and experiments —they were essentially lab rats. And David, as he lay there on the surgical bed, scared and alone was test subject number one.
David had overheard Tyler and Anna discussing the procedure that he was about to undergo —they were concerned that Tyler’s mate, their symbiont would not take to Grayson’s mind, that he would not be able to accommodate all of her memories, her lifetimes worth of experiences and that the transfer may kill not only David, not that they were worried in the slightest about Grayson, but the symbiont as well.
In his darkest hours, David hoped that it would end him. That the procedure would not work and he would not be able to accommodate the ancient symbiont. That if the procedure did not work, that at least he’d kill an ancient, evil being that had spent its lifetime trying to bring an end to everything that he held dear.
But Tyler and the others had made a breakthrough and after a small surgical procedure on David, they believed that they would be able to safely transfer the symbiont to Grayson.
And Tyler smiled, as he thought about all that he had achieved in making this a success, he almost looked as though he was gloating as Anna entered the room, asking for a report.
“I am overjoyed to report that we have overcome our shortcomings and are now successfully able to transfer my beloved into this individual.”
Anna smiled, smiled that awfully eerie, creepy smile that she had developed since playing host to one of the Kurlan Queens and folded her arms as she made her way to send David Grayson off for good.
“You and your family have been a thorn in my side for long enough, Mr. Grayson, I speak for all of my people when I say this, that I will be glad to see the back of you. The symbiont that will inhabit your body is older than time itself,” she said, exaggerating her words, “she will live on in you and go out into the heavens and find more suitable hosts for my people, and to finally, put an end to your people’s pathetic, childlike ways. Gone of the days of squabbles over space and territory, resources and ridiculous notions of love. You are about to receive a gift, Mr. Grayson, a wonderful gift and you will know what it feels like to be truly Kurlan.”
If he were wielding a phaser it would have been pointed in her direction and he would have not hesitated to pull the trigger. To end her right here, right now, regardless of who she once was.
But instead, he had no choice but to accept what was about to happen, that yes, he was about to become Kurlan and go on to kill, slaughter and convert countless more to their cause.
A single tear fell from his eyes, Tyler reached forward with a hypospray and injected him with a massive dose of zopliconzene, knocking him right out.
His eyes closed. And as they did, all he could think about was his son, “Christian,” he spoke, before drifting off into an artificial slumber.
He was now truly at their mercy. Her mercy.
She was about to change him forever. And she did not care, she did not pause or falter, she gave the order, to unite the symbiont with its host…

…and then David was gone. No more. His individuality erased. Gone. Replaced by that of a being thousands, millions of years older than him.
He was over.
And she remained…

*_*_*_*

Present day…
As the rain continued to pour down from the grey, overcast skies above, and as the streets ran with rain water like little streams and rivers, The Bozeman Colony still continued to be the thriving metropolis that it had grown into being.
Where once just tents and poorly converted starships and transport vessels lay, home to the hundreds and thousands of refugees from the Borg Invasion lived, now stood a thriving multicultural city, a veritable jewel that rose up and out of the Rigellian landscape.
And as children played in the puddles and adults made their way about their daily lives, David, Gabby, Thea, Christian and Charlie Enzo, (Christian’s fiancé) all sat down in one of the many restaurants that lined the waterfront for dinner, to catch up, to share stories and to once again be a family.
After the server had seated them at the table and had returned with several bottles of champagne, and Relva Juice for Thea, David poured each and everyone of them a glass.
He took a long hard look at those seated around him and acknowledged them all individually.
He was so very pleased to be here and raised his glass to propose a toast. “You have no idea how much I have missed you all,” he started, smiling at Christian and Gabby. “And I still cannot believe how much has happened in the last year. All of it good I might add. My son’s an ensign, an assistant chief engineer no less and my step-daughter, my beautiful Thea about to become a mother. I am truly blessed.” He then turned to Charlie, of whom he had never met before today, but whom he had instantly felt a warmth from, a kindness and gentleness about the man that he found endearing and could see why his son was so interested in him. “Charlie, may I take this opportunity to welcome you to our family. We might be a little dysfunctional and a little crazy at times, but I can see that you’ll fit right into the madness, and that you’re just perfect for Christian.”
Christian smiled and thanked his dad for saying that, for accepting Charlie into their family, before placing a hand on Charlies and continued to listen to his father speaking.
“And Gabby. Oh Gabriella Tel, where would I be without you. We had some good times together didn’t we?”
She nodded, smiling, looking resplendent in a beautiful red dress that complimented her figure.
“I can’t wait to get reacquainted with you, to share the rest of our lives together…”
Thea looked up at David in surprise, but before she could say anything, before she could interject, David continued, “Your mother has asked to remarry me. And I’m pleased to say, hell, I’m overjoyed to say that I have said yes,”
Thea smiled at her mother, before she took her hand and then looked at Christian, then laughed as they both realised that they were all now holding hands with one and other.
“So let’s raise a toast, to family!”
“To family!” Everyone spoke, clinking their glasses together and as David sat down, he turned to Thea and asked a question, asked the only question that had been on his mind since he first saw her again in the starport and said, “So Thea, who’s the father?”
Thea looked down at the table, averting her eyes from David and spoke, with a smile on her face, “Oh, you won’t of heard of him.”
“Ha!” Christian scoffed, amused at how Thea was going to announce who the father of her child was going to be.
“What? Tell me, I thought we had no secrets in this family?” David said, before taking another sip of his champagne.
“So,” Gabby started, taking his hand, “your soon to be step-daughter is about to have a child with the son of the Gul-Tar of the Cardassian Empire.”
“Oh?”
“Yep, kind of a big deal, Gabby said, reaching for her glass. “And he also happens to be the chief tactical officer of the starbase…And he’s half Bajoran.”
“But I thought Winter was chief tactical officer.”
“That’s what you picked out, out of all of that?” Christian half jokingly asked.
“Well this is big news! Congratulations Thea. So will that make you like royalty? In the empire?”
“Not quite, well, I guess it kind of would wouldn’t it? Oh god, I never thought about that,” Thea said, with a sudden realisation that her life would probably never be the same again washing over her as she spoke.
“How did you never think about what would happen if you went to bed with him?” Laughed Christian, teasing his half-sister.
“That’s a bit rich, you met him,” she started, pointing at Charlie, “got yourself infected by a parasite and didn’t see him again for five months. Poor kid was like a lost puppy, moping around after you until you came to your senses and remembered just how special he was to you.”
Christian looked shocked, surprised by Thea’s candor, he looked at his mother for support.
“Now now, come on, tonight’s about celebrating, about having your dad back with us, we can put the cray aside for one night can’t we?” Gabby said, trying to smooth the situation over a little.
“Deal. Truce?” Christian said, looking at Thea, holding up his glass of champagne like an olive branch.
“Truce,” she replied, standing down, before offering her brother a smile and an annoying rub of tussle of his hair —something that he couldn’t stand in the slightest, yet he bit his tongue out of respect to his parents, before turning to Charlie and asked, “Still wanna marry into this?!”
Charlie laughed, “Even more so now, this got interesting!”
And with that David took Gabby’s hand and laughed at Charlie’s remark, before sitting back in his chair and thought, ‘this is why I’m here.’
He was so glad to be home. The last few months and years had been filled with pain and turmoil, confusion and regret, but now, right now, this is exactly where he wanted to be. Surrounded by his family. His loved ones. The people he cared about the most…

*_*_*_*

Billy Scott made his way out of the infirmary, out of Medical One and sat down on one of the many benches that were placed along the promenade.
He did not care that it was still raining, that the storm had not passed. He was so preoccupied that he felt like now, everything else was just secondary concern, redundant, pointless.
He wished he had not come, had not seen Joseph like that. He couldn’t believe how different he was now, how much the I’ll performed removal of the Kurlan parasite had affected Joe.
It reminded Billy of a time shortly after the Borg Invasion, a time when he met survivors of the collective who had suffered terribly at the hands of the Borg and who had their individuality ripped away from them, leaving their minds in tatters, jumbled and in dismay.
It was truly harrowing. And to see Joseph like this now, was frightening. Not only had Joe lost his husband Harry, who sacrificed himself to end the Kurlan Occupation, but he now had no memories of the man who laid down his life for the good of all mankind. Not to mention the fact that he didn’t really know who he was or who his friends were.
It was so sad. And if wasn’t for the rain, it would have been possible to tell that Billy was crying. Not inwardly, but outwardly, overtly. He was visibly shaken and truly horrified.
And as he sat their, soaked to the bone, he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and a familiar voice say, “Come on Billy, time to come inside, time to get out of the rain.”
Bill looked up to see Winter standing over him, his good friend, one of his oldest friends, one of the people that he came to Chimera with all those years ago, aboard the Elysium to serve under the then Commander Marcus Riker.
“Oh, Wint, what are we going to do about Joe?”
Winter shrugged, she didn’t know what to say that had already been said about Joe. The doctors had all tried, so had the counsellors, nothing had worked, he still wasn’t responding to any known science or technological help to reverse his condition, to help him restore his memory. Like Billy, Winter felt terribly sorry for Joe, but hoped, no, she knew, that one day, somehow and somewhen, the Joseph Green that they knew and loved would come back to them again.

To be continued…

“The Storm”
by Jonathan Crosby-Bromley

Starring:
Freema Agyeman as Admiral Anna James
Matthew Noszka as David Grayson
Lili Reinhart as Gabriella Tel
Greg Austin as Christian Grayson
& Brianne Howey as Thea Tel

Also Starring:
Dacre Montgomery as Billy Scott
Maggie Grace as Winter Shahn
Orlando Bloom as Nathan Knight
& Lukas Gage as Brandon Tyler

With:
Jordan Renzo as Charlie Enzo
Adam Joseph Copeland as B’rellun

And:
KJ Apa as Alto Channing
Scott Foley as Dedral Latt
Jonny Green as Joseph Green

Description
Star Trek: Chimera
The 5th Anniversary Specials
Episode One: “The Storm.”

Part One

It had been an entire year since the end of the Kurlan occupation of the Rigel System. A year full of celebration and change, getting back to normal and ensuring that something of the like would never happen again.
The New Federation, Starfleet and the Rigellian Government had worked tirelessly for the last twelve months to ensure that the Rigel System and her neighbours were better protected, safeguarded from a similar event happening again in the future.
Of course these measures, these safeguards were never entirely going to protect the lives of everyone from yet another alien invasion, but the groundwork was there, to make sure that one of the New Federation’s most important sectors of space was as guarded as best as possible.
Protecting the lives of trillions is no easy feat, but the increased presence of Starfleet within the sector was one that was welcomed by the Rigellian Government and the many people on the populous worlds that inhabited them.
Not only were there now more Starfleet vessels and installations within the sector, but a unique transporter system had been deployed throughout the sector, allowing the mass transit of individuals across the sector virtually instantaneously -it was a brilliant technological feat of engineering, spearheaded by the engineering crews based at Starbase Chimera and one that both the New Federation president and the president of the Rigellian Worlds personally thanked the crew of Starbase Chimera for undertaking and seeing through to its end.
Once the Sector Wide Fast Transporter Network, or ‘SWFT’ had completed its trials and the first people were practically instantaneously transported from Rigel I to Rigel XIV without incident, work began on updating the slipstream gates within the sector.
Where once just one gate orbited Rigel IV, now three orbited the worlds of the Rigel System. The gate above Rigel IV was rebuilt, following its destruction at the hands of the Kurlan and two more were constructed above Rigel III and Rigel-B II, offering the ability for starships to travel at faster than light speeds within the system and to the furthest known worlds of the New Federation, providing additional access points to the already massive Slipstream Network within the New Federation.
Instead of it taking months or even years, starships could now travel in a matter of weeks, ships could travel from the Rigel Sector outward to all four quadrants of the galaxy and beyond.
Rumour has it, that a secret project, headed by the now rebuilt ASDB on Rigel IV, is currently underway to reach the Andromeda Galaxy by way of the new slipstream gates and a recent breakthrough in the study of benamite crystals!

Change had come to the New Federation and for the most part it was positive. A quiet era of peace and cooperation appeared to have swept through all of the major powers within the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. The joining of the Cardassian Empire with the New Federation had gone without incident and was currently undergoing a transitional period as much of the military was absorbed into Starfleet. It was now commonplace to see Cardassian officers in Starfleet uniforms aboard New Federation starships and the same was true in reverse, as many Starfleet officers enjoyed the countless officer exchange programmes that had sprung up over the last twelve months.
The same could be said for Romulan and Klingon officers, now all commonplace within Starfleet, making Starfleet a truly diverse and inclusive organisation, one that many would have thought unimaginable or unthinkable just ten or twenty years ago, with some dubbing this era a ‘utopians dream.’

Life was good…but for some, the doubters and the non-believers, the naysayers and unconvinced wondered how long this utopia could stay this way…that there may be a storm looming on the horizon…that war, poverty and famine or something far worse would one day return to the galaxy…

*_*_*_*

“The Storm.”
by Jonathan Crosby-Bromley.

“There are the stories you tell yourself…
…and then there is the truth.”

*_*_*_*

“You can’t be serious!” Winter Shahn declared at the top of her voice, as she stood opposite Admiral Anna James in the briefing room.
Her reaction to Anna’s news came as somewhat of a shock. Given all that they had been through together, she was surprised that Anna had handed in her notice of retirement to Starfleet Command without telling her. Not only that, but command were already on the look out for a replacement.
“But why now, I thought you liked it here?”
Anna was sat down, looking out of the window at the rain pouring down from the heavens with her back to Winter, feeling as though the way she delivered her news was somewhat cowardly.
As a shuttlecraft landed outside on the promenade, Anna stood up and finally turned to face one of her oldest and most trusted friends.
Acutely aware that she should have told Winter that she was thinking about hanging up her admiral’s uniform, she started with an apology, before explaining her reasoning behind her decision.
“How long have we been here Wint? Fifteen, twenty years? More? It’s time to move on, let someone else have a crack at the big chair, make the big decisions.”
Winter unfolded her arms and sat down, adjusting her somewhat standoffish posture to something less aggressive.
“I get that, that totally makes sense, but I just don’t get why now.”
“We’re not exactly as young as we used to be, Wint,” Anna smiled.
“Speak for yourself, I’m a Trill, age is but just a number.”
“Im tired,” Anna replied, “I love it here, but I’m so tired and if I’m overly honest, I’m questioning what I want from the rest of my life.”
“That’s quite the admission, Anna.”
“That’s exactly what Freddie [Admiral McNair] said when I told him, but he understood, as I hoped you would too.”
Winter took a deep breath before responding, then looked around the room, “This place won’t be the same without you, I just hope they don’t ask me…”
“Don’t finish that sentence, Anna started, interjecting, “I’ve already put a recommendation in your file for you to be considered as my replacement.”
“You’ve done what?!” Winter said, sounding just as surprised as she did when Anna first announced news that she was leaving.
COMMAND CENTRE TO JAMES, the disembodied voice of Captain Knight, Anna’s first officer spoke via the comm.
“Go ahead Nate,”
YOU MIGHT WANNA COME THROUGH HERE.
Anna looked at Winter, who looked just as puzzled as she did and mouthed the words, ‘What’s going on,’ to which Winter shook her head and shrugged her shoulders.
“On my way…”

*_*_*_*

Billy hadn’t been back for some time, it must have been almost ten years, and it still looked exactly the same, well, more or less.
As he disembarked the shuttlecraft that had landed on the promenade, he half expected to see Darren Tel or Marcus Riker standing by the entrance to the command centre waiting to greet him upon his arrival.
Instead, he was met by just Commander Gabby Tel, Chimera’s chief science officer.
She smiled and rushed out from inside of the main reception area and out into the rain to greet Billy Scott with her arms wide open and a great big smile on her face.
“Bill! You’re really here!” She said jubilantly, giving him an all encompassing hug.
“Woah! It’s not been that long!” He replied, embracing the moment, before stepping back to take a look at Commander Tel.
“You look great, by the way,” Billy commented on the commander’s dramatic weight loss, “You must look ten years younger, not that we’re supposed to care about that sort of thing in this day and age.”
“Hey, I’m all for the compliments, I’ve lost almost fifty pounds,” she replied, still smiling, then suddenly noticed that there was something different about Chimera’s former chief engineer. “My god, Bill, what’s happened to your [bio-synthetic] arm?”
“Was due an upgrade,” he replied, gesturing away from the shuttle, “shall we go inside, I’m soaked to my skin.”
“Oh, sorry! It’s just so good to see you, sure, let me take you up to the command centre.”
“Mind if we take a detour?” Billy asked, pointing in the opposite direction, towards Medical One.
The smile finally dropped from Gabby’s face when she realised that Billy wanted to go the infirmary. “Everything okay?”
“I must confess, I have an ulterior motive,” he replied, adjusting the strap on his carry-all as they crossed the promenade towards the infirmary’s main entrance, “I wanted to check in on Joey first, you know, before getting down to business with Dahl and Dedral over at the engineering complex.”
Gabby nodded, she completely understood and lead the way, “Sure. It’s been a few days since I popped by to see how he is doing, mind if I tag along?”
“Of course,” Bill said, struggling to make eye contact for a second, “kinda hoped you would actually. I think I’m a bit nervous if I’m honest. I just hope he remembers me, if that makes sense?”
“He went through a lot, he’s still trying to piece his life back together. But I’m sure another friendly face will help him along a nicely.”
“Thanks, Gabby, you’re a good friend,” he said, taking her hand and squeezing it, more for support than anything else as they made their way into the infirmary, Gabby asking him about how he’s been and making small talk to settle his nerves slightly.

He had been meaning to come back to Chimera sooner, but duty and life had got in the way, delaying his return to Rigel IV and the chance to catch up with some of his oldest and dearest friends, but most of all, he wanted to see for himself, first hand, how Joseph Green was fairing following the Kurlan Occupation. Joe’s body had been taken over by a Kurlan symbiont, much like many of the crew of Chimera nearly two years ago, but unlike the crew that had their parasites either removed or vaporised by the effects of the Okkula Device, in no small part due to Harry Green’s successful attempt at ridding them from this realm, Joe had faired the worst. The removal of his parasite or ‘symbiont,’ as the Kurlans called them, had lasting effects on Joe, causing him to loose a considerable portion of his memories. He had to learn how to be himself again, hell, he had to learn how to be again. And it had been tough, with many setbacks, but thankfully those who cared about him made the effort in an attempt to rehabilitate him. Doctor Natasha Taggert delayed her return to the Nightingale for over six months to help Joe remember who he was, Counsellor Nimah Zeta took a three month sabbatical to help counsel him, in the hopes that she could help him process what had happened. Even Ambassador Landes, who was still grieving the loss of her husband, Morgan Bateson paid him several visits in the hope that she could help Joe reclaim some semblance of normality, of self.
Sadly, very little had worked, and those who cared for Joe were concerned that a full recovery may just be a pipe dream.
Hence why Scott was here —Billy was one of Joe’s oldest friends, they had not only served together on Chimera for years, but had also had a prior friendship, way back before either of them were in Starfleet. Jason Bush had asked Billy to stop by, whilst he was on Rigel IV assisting with the many engineering projects that he was spearheading, to pay Joe a visit in the hope that he might trigger some long unawakened memories in Joe’s mind that might help him remember who he was before the Kurlans invaded his body…

*_*_*_*

Everyone in the command centre had come to a complete and sudden standstill. Only the soft beeping of consoles and automated readouts perforated the silence.
Captain Nathan Knight stood at the centre of the upper level staring, like the rest of the crew in silence, wearing a look of sheer disbelief on their faces as they looked at one of their own on the main viewscreen in stunned silence.
Engineering assistant, Ensign Christian Grayson stood next to the captain as did Lieutenant Commander Alto Channing, the Starbase’s chief of operations.
Anna entered crossing the room, flanked by Winter Shahn and as they did they tried to understand why the starbase’s senior most staff were standing like statues, completely agog with what they were witnessing, Nathan nodded in acknowledgment of Anna’s arrival and then pointed towards the viewscreen.
ADMIRAL JAMES, IT’S SOMEWHAT OF A PLEASURE TO SEE YOU AGAIN, a familiar voice spoke from the direction of the viewscreen.
Anna turned to face the viewer and involuntarily smiled out of politeness and instinct to greet whom had just addressed her by name with a level of familiarity and slight disdain.
The smile soon disappeared off Anna’s face, replaced with a look of shock and surprise, both in equal measure, as it sunk in as to whom was speaking to her, from orbit aboard his own ship.
YOUR FIRST OFFICER HERE, CAPTAIN KNIGHT, IS IT? HAS SOME RESERVATIONS ABOUT MY SHIP AND CREW LANDING ON THE SURFACE, he said in a tone that which nobody knew if he was joking or being serious, in a way that could have been quite easily misinterpreted if it hadn’t been for his son’s prior insistence to hear him out. I HOPE THERE HASN’T BEEN ANY CONFUSION OVER MY INTENTIONS, ADMIRAL?
It was like she had seen a ghost, like all of them had. It had been almost two years since they had all seen him, well, most of them anyway, some had seen him a lot more recently than others, less than a year in fact, when the Rigel Sector was still controlled by the Kurlans, by her…by Anna.
“Apologies, Captain Grayson,” Anna started, her voice somewhat hoarse. “Apologies for any confusion caused,” she continued, having cleared her throat and allowing her normal façade to return to her face, “You’re more than welcome to come down, all of you. It will be good to see you again, David.”
GLAD TO HEAR IT, Captain Grayson spoke, only this time in a more relaxed, jovial tone of voice, one that reassured Knight and the others somewhat.
“I know your son and step-daughter are eager to see you, we all are, it’s been far too long,” Anna smiled, turning to Christian, then nodding, indicating for him to clear his father for landing. “I’ll have Christian and Thea meet you at the spaceport upon your arrival, Gabby too.”
VERY GOOD OF YOU ADMIRAL, I’D LIKE THAT.
And with that, the comlink to Captain Grayson’s ship, the Tomwrah ended and the image on the viewscreen returned to that of Chimera’s master operations display.
As the comlink closed and David Grayson’s image disappeared, a veritable collective sigh of relief reverberated around the command centre as the crew returned to their duties.
Winter shot Anna a look, one to say, ‘Do you trust him?’ whilst Christian’s face appeared more jubilant, excited —clearly the thought of seeing his father again was a happy one and he was eager to leave the command centre however, Knight and Winter both had their concerns.
But not wanting to dampen the young Ensign Grayson’s reunion with his father, both Knight and Winter together, in unison, pointed back towards the briefing room from where Shahn and the admiral had just entered and said, “Conference. Now.”
Folding her arms and tilting her head to one side, wearing a half smile on her face, Anna knew that look the pair of them were giving her and suddenly felt as though she was about to be ambushed.
“Mr. Channing, the command centre is yours, if you need me, I’ll be in the briefing room with Ms. Shahn and Mr. Knight…”

*_*_*_*

Before Anna could even make it to one of the chairs that surrounded the briefing room table, to pull it out and sit down, Winter had already aired her concerns.
“Can we trust him?”
“If he’s coming down here, we need to make sure he’s clean,” followed Knight.
“He’s not been seen for almost two years, Anna, you can’t just let him walk around here like nothing has happened.”
“What if he’s still Kurlan?”
Anna stood with her back to her two senior most officers and felt her stomach tying itself into knots as the pair of them continued to point out their concerns about David Grayson and his freighter crew coming down to the surface. And as they did, all she could think about, was how he had done nothing wrong, that there really were no concerns about Grayson beaming down. He could walk around the command centre if he wanted, probably even regain his former commission if he asked Command for it back. It was her that was in the wrong, it was Anna. And what was more difficult for her, was the fact that she knew it. That she knew that David hadn’t done anything wrong, that his actions during the Kurlan Occupation, the ‘Incident,’ were all of her doing. She had controlled him, manipulated him, got him to do unspeakable things. For whilst she was under the influence of the Kurlan Queen, she made him do things that no one in their right mind would do and that’s what hurt her the most, that’s what she was struggling to come to terms with, after seeing his face back on the viewscreen after all this time.
She was about to be caught out as a fraud, a liar, someone that had deceived her closest friends and told several untruths to his son, his stepdaughter and his ex-wife about his disappearance following the end of the occupation. She lied to spare their feelings, not to protect herself or her career, but she knew deep down, she knew the second she saw him on the viewscreen that all of those secrets, those lies, were about to come out of the woodwork, that her dirty laundry was about to be aired for all to see and that, most likely after all of this was over, a lot of her friends, her colleagues and peers would never trust her again.
And that’s why she wanted out, that’s why she was tired, because she was worn out, unable to keep this to herself for much longer and needed to be free from this place, away from them, away from it all, in a place where she could finally deal with what she put so many people through during the occupation, to come to terms with what she had done when she was enemy number one, ‘the chief puppet of the Kurlans.’
She needed to speak of it. But right now, all she could truly think about was Christian, Thea and Gabby reuniting with David and that’s all she could do right now, she had to make that happen. So she quashed Winter and Knight’s concerns without further altercation or argument and said, “My orders on this are final. David Grayson and his crew are clear to land. I can assure you there is absolutely no concerns about him and the Tomwrah being here. He, like many of us have been debriefed by Starfleet Security and Intelligence and have all been cleared of any charges for our actions during the occupation whilst under Kurlan control. He has done nothing wrong and I would like you to make sure that he is made to feel just as welcome as any other visitor to Rigel IV and Chimera, is that understood, Commander?” Anna locked eyes on Winter.
“Yes, m’am.”
She then turned to Nathan and offered him the same steely gaze, “Captain?”
“Aye, sir.”
“Good, I’m glad that’s settled,” Anna said, relaxing her tensed posture slightly, “Now one of you go with Christian, Thea and Gabby to welcome him home, after all, this is his home just as much as it is any of ours.” Anna said, trying to smile, trying to ignore her eyes that were now tearing slightly.
“Yes, sir,” both Winter and Nathan replied, before quickly turning on their heals and exiting the briefing room.
As they did, Anna let out a deep sigh, practically doubling over, clutching her stomach with relief that this debate, if you could call it that, was over.
She braced herself against the table and sunk forward, her head in her hands, taking deep breathes in and then slowly out. If only Marcus were here, or Darren, hell, even Bateson would have been able to handle this better than she was fairing now, “What I’d give for someone to talk to right now,” she said to herself aloud, hoping, praying that if she did make it through the next few days without all of this coming out in the wash, that someone, anyone would still talk to her, understand what she had to do and still respect her.
“Get it together, Anna,” she said to herself as she straightened up and made her way over to the window.
The rain was still coming down in droves, it just didn’t want to seem to stop. And Anna couldn’t help but feel that the weather outside matched her mood, that Rigel IV mirrored what she was feeling and hoped that it would be over soon. It had to be. She couldn’t keep all of this to herself any longer —she couldn’t keep feeling like this.

*_*_*_*

Almost two years ago…

Materialising outside the Command Centre —his site to site transport from the Hangar Bay Facility complete, Captain David Grayson made his way along the promenade to surprise his good friend and ex-wife, Gabriella Tel.
As he made his way through the scores of people that were out enjoying the unusually warm weather, David noticed a complete lack of a civilian presence. Everywhere he looked, he saw Starfleet personnel -he was quite literally the only civilian on the promenade and he suddenly felt ill at ease -people were staring, looking at him vacantly with a fixed expression, it was eerie, odd, uncomfortable.
David became very self-conscious, checking his belt to make sure that his phaser pistol was still present and holstered, just in case something were to happen, he’d been in so many scrapes recently, since commanding his own freighter and he didn’t want to take any chances here.
As he neared the Command Centre, he saw three Starfleet security officers up ahead, guarding the main entrance.
He had worked at Starbase Chimera for many years before he set out to command the Tomwrah and recognised the three officers that stood at the entrance holding phaser rifles. This puzzled David somewhat; he knew the protocols, he knew that something would have had to have gone awry, that there had to be a security concern for there to be officers stationed at the entrance to the Command Centre. He also knew that he wouldn’t have been allowed to land the Tomwrah if there was such an emergency or security threat -something was wrong, something didn’t feel right.
Thankfully, David did not need to think on his feet, think of a reason to enter the Command Centre, Gabriella emerged from the main entrance and greeted her friend.
“Well aren’t you a sight for sore eyes!” -she remarked, a beaming smile on her face and offering out her arms, drawing him in for a hug. “How are you?” -she asked.
“I’m well…” -he responded, removing a bottle of Holka wine from his bag. “…I brought you a little something.”
Gabriella took the gift from David and read the label before starting to look a little puzzled. “Holka wine? Never heard of it.” -she responded, accepting the gift nonetheless.
David’s look of concern deepened. He was already dubious of what was going on around here, but for Gabriella not to recognise the wine -something that the pair often enjoyed together, something that they consumed on their wedding day, made him subconsciously question just what the hell was going on here. Without letting on, he changed the subject to that of their son, “How’s Christian?”
“He’s well; immersed in his studies.”
“That’s my boy.”
“Our boy…” -Gabriella corrected him, “…he was promoted to acting assistant chief engineer last month, Commander Dall say’s he’s doing a grand job.”
“Engineer hu? Who’d have thought it!”
“Not me, I was somewhat surprised when he told me that he had a passion for engineering, but I didn’t complain too much, I didn’t want him turning into a hot shot pilot like his dad.”

The pair made their way down towards the central courtyard, which was situated between the habitat block and the Command Centre. Gabriella took a seat and gestured to David to do the same. It didn’t take long for David to start asking questions, asking about the lack of civilian presence here at Chimera.
Gabriella explained that a lot has changed since he last dropped by, that most of the civilians live out in the colonies now, that they don’t tend to come out this way -something that David found hard to believe. He didn’t question her, he allowed Gabriella to talk of how things had seemingly become more militaristic here, that the Starfleet presence around the Command Centre had grown over the last couple of years, that increased security had been stepped up at the behest of Admiral James.
Asking about the admiral, asking how she is finding her feet, David probes Gabriella for more information. Gabriella extolls nothing but praise for the admiral, expressing that Anna is an exemplary leader and a great admiral, going on to say that she is probably one of the finest commanding officers that she’s had the pleasure of serving with -something that really didn’t sound like Gabby at all. She used words and phrases that didn’t fit with her personality. He hadn’t been gone that long for her whole personality to change to this degree. It was unusual, but he kept his calm, kept himself composed.
“I sent Chris a message, telling him that I’d be around for a few days.”
“I believe he is exceptionally busy today.” -Gabriella replied, almost excusing their son, she went on to tell David that she wouldn’t expect to see him before asking, “A few days, I wasn’t aware that you were planning on sticking around so long?”
‘Unusual,’ -he thought to himself. “Well maybe I’ll try and catch up with him tomorrow…”
“Captain Grayson…” -a familiar voice spoke, interrupting them.
“Admiral! What a pleasure!” -Gabriella responded, quickly rising to her feet to greet Anna.
“I heard that the Tomwrah was nearby.” -she spoke authoritatively, lacking any emotion.
“Anna, how the devil are you…how long has it been!”
A momentary look of confusion washed over the admiral’s face, -something that David picked up upon straight away. “Eight months, nine weeks and fifteen days.” Anna replied, like an automaton.
“I’m impressed.” -David responded. He was impressed that Anna knew exactly how long it was since his last visit, but he was equally concerned by the fact that she managed to recall the amount of time with pin point accuracy.
“What brings you here?”
“My son mostly, it’s been a while, thought I’d pay him a visit, Gabby and Thea too.”
“Indeed…” -the admiral paused, surveying him, scrutinising his appearance. “Be sure to pop by the Command Centre tomorrow, I need a hand with something that would be suited to your talents.” -and with that, she nodded and then made her excuses before leaving.
David turned to Gabby, who was completely unfazed by the whole unusual exchange between him and the admiral.
“That was odd.” -he thought aloud.
But just as Gabriella was about to respond, to make an excuse for the admiral’s strange behaviour, something caught both of their attention…

Several phaser beams tore across the promenade, causing a commotion. Immediately turning to see what all the fuss was about, David watched as four Starfleet security officers chased B’rellun down the promenade.
“What the hell!” -David called out, concerned about his friend and helmsman.
“David, don’t!” -Gabriella cried, trying to stop him from attending to the rapidly developing situation in front of them. Grabbing him, holding him back, Gabby told David not to interfere, to let the security officers do their jobs. “Are you kidding, they’re chasing after him, firing at him!”
Gabriella was unusually strong. David was not a small man nor was he weak, he had put on several kilos since he left Chimera, yet she was able to forcibly stop him from rushing to check on his shipmate. It was surreal.
Seconds later, two more Starfleet security officers appeared from nowhere. Gabriella ordered them to restrain David.
“What the…why the hell are you restraining me?” -he asked, trying to make it as difficult as possible for the officers to bring his arms together, to stop them from placing a set of ‘mag-irons’ around his wrists. “I’m a New Federation citizen, you cannot forcibly restrain me with no reason, with no justification,” he called out.

Suddenly B’rellun fell to the floor -he had been hit by one of the security guard’s phaser’s. He was still conscious, but barely -the force of the phaser blast absorbed by a special vest that he always wore on away missions or whilst visiting strange new worlds. He cried out, screaming Klingon and Vulcan profanities. It took all four of the security guards that had previously been chasing him to cuff’ him. They did not speak, they did not explain their reasoning, no justification, no nothing…
Finally affixing the handcuffs -the ‘mag-irons’ to his wrists, the guards sat him up for all to see and unholstered their phasers once again and pointed them directly at him.
David watched in horror, terrified that his friend was about to be publicly executed for no apparent reason. He felt his heart pound in his chest as the two security guards that restrained him walked David over to his shipmate in front of the Command Centre.

Admiral Anna James arrived. Her face was totally devoid of any emotion, any feeling -it was like she was a Vulcan or something, David thought to himself as he struggled somewhat. She slowly walked up to Grayson and B’rellun and offered a pained looking smile…sinister even.
Then she spoke. She knelt down next to B’rellun and looked him square on in the eyes and in one breath, in one quick moment, she spoke.
“Kill him.”
The guards raised their phasers and took aim.
B’rellun’s eyes were wide with fear, yet he did not speak. He did not question her orders -he knew that they clearly knew too much about something. He knew that they were outsiders, that they did not belong here. But he couldn’t put his finger on it. He couldn’t work it out.
“…and when you’re done with disposing him, bring Grayson to my office…I have plans for this one…”

*_*_*_*

Present day…
Landing with precise precision, the privately owned Bird of Prey, the freighter Tomwrah, commanded by Captain David Grayson touched down in the already very busy, somewhat crowded Rigel IV Starport Facility.
Various Starfleet hangar officers made their way over to the vessel to welcome the crew of the Tomwrah to Rigel IV and begin the disembarkation process, checking papers and cargo consignments and the like.
The welcome was far warmer than Grayson was expecting, as he emerged from inside his vessel and made his way down the landing platform to see his son, Christian, his step-daughter Thea and his good friend and ex-wife, Thea Tel all standing eagerly awaiting his arrival, all sporting beaming smiles on their faces.
“Well aren’t you lot quite the sight for sore eyes!” David bellowed at the top of his voice.
Christian rushed over to his father and wrapped his arms around the man he thought he’d never see again, the man he thought that had died at the hands of the Kurlan.
“Oh dad, I can’t believe it,” he started, before his emotions took hold and he began to sob tears of joy, the sight of his father being home, back on Rigel IV was simply too much for him.
“Now come on son, don’t go wasting your tears on me.”
David separated himself from Christian and placed both his hands on his sons shoulders and smiled, “Look, son, it’s going to be alright now, we’re finally all back together. What’s done is done, the past is the past and we’re going to move on from this, start a fresh,” he said, softly but firmly, reassuring his son that everything would be okay, before wiping Christian’s tears from his eyes. “How’s that boyfriend of yours, still causing you trouble?” He asked, referring to Christian’s boyfriend Charlie, the man he met on the day of his father’s disappearance.
But before Christian could say anything, Thea interjected, took hold of her step brother’s hand and lifted it up, to show David the beautiful silver pressed latinum ring that Christian was wearing on his wedding finger.
“He only went and got himself engaged,” Thea said matter of factly.
“Son, that’s brilliant news, when do I get to…” David stopped, he turned to Thea and looked at her, she seemed a little…fuller figured.
Thea smiled, before placing her hands on her rounded stomach in such a way that it was clear that she was pregnant.
“You’re not?” David said, conscious that Thea was clearly trying to steel her step-brother’s thunder.
“She is!” Said Gabby, I’m going to be a grandmother!
“Ha!” David laughed heartily, from the pit of his stomach, right up through his chest and then out of his mouth, practically doubled over as Gabby, the woman he loved, the mother of his child and one of his closest friends delivered the news.
“I can only imagine how your father feels about that!”
“Darren and Will were overjoyed!” Said Gabby, as she hugged Thea.
“Well, it certainly looks like we have a lot of catching up to do, and a lot of celebrating too! Why don’t I go freshen up and then I take us all out to the Bozeman Colony for dinner, have a big old family reunion?!” David suggested, feasting his eyes on the love and family that he was so overjoyed to be reunited with.
“Sounds perfect, David,” replied Gabby, before reaching in for a squeeze and a quick peck on the cheek.
They still loved each other, that much was obvious, maybe even more so, after all, absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that, Gabby thought as she released the father of her son and good friend.
David smiled as Gabby let go of him, and then reached for her hand. “It’s good to be back,” he spoke, as the four of them made their way out of the starport, “I mean that Gab, I’ve missed you…”

And as the Grayson’s and the Tel’s headed into the busy crowds of the starport, disappearing into the arrivals halls and outward towards Chimera and the Bozeman Colonies, Anna James stood watching from above, on one of the many observation posts within the starport.
Her arms were crossed, as she pondered what to do about Grayson. After all, he was just one man, a man reunited with his family once more after such a terrible ordeal. They had all been through a dark time, the darkest of times and now finally, there was a light at the end of the tunnel for Grayson and his family. ‘But what about me,’ Anna wondered, hoping that soon she would see the light at the end of her metaphorical tunnel. She wanted closure, needed it in fact, but the only way that she would ever get that would be for her to confront David Grayson and hope that he would forgive her, that he would finally forgive her for all the terrible things that she did to him. That he did for her.
They may be in the past, but the scars of the past had long lasting consequences and they were deep.
Yes, all she could do was hope, hope that he would see her for who she was now, and who she was before the Kurlans came. What she was in between was monstrous, horrid, evil and she hoped, selfishly, that he could forgive her. Because she sure as hell couldn’t forgive herself…

*_*_*_*

Sixteen months ago, at the height of the Kurlan Occupation…

The infirmary lights were dimmed, that’s the way he preferred it. And quiet. You could have heard a pin drop. Only the sounds coming from the patient bio-monitors could be heard as Doctor Brandon Tyler, or what was once Doctor Tyler entered from the bio-lab, carrying a metallic case, containing a Kurlan symbiont.
The symbiont that lived inside Tyler’s body, embedded at the base of his skull, controlling his every movement, every thought and action made their way over to the primary surgical bio-bed, ready to insert one of the two symbionts contained in the case inside another host.
This symbiont was special and was about to be entrusted with task of the utmost importance.
Not only was this symbiont about to be implanted into a host that would go on to infect others, to convert individuals to the ‘Kurlan Way,’ as part of the ‘Grand Plan,’ but it was Tyler’s host’s mate.
She was impossibly old, even older than the symbiont that controlled Admiral James, and had lived for thousands of years, all the while, feasting on the bodies of those who opposed them. Altering them, changing them and manipulating them to do terrible things. She had been there at the beginning, on Trill and then went on to the Kurlan Homeworld. She survived the orbital bombardment that befell her homeworld and went on later to infest Earth, shortly before Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Enterprise-D uncovered their conspiracy in the early 2360’s.
How she survived, not many knew, only her mate knew her full story, her dark and twisted backstory, that had spanned millennia. She had survived, long after many of her brood had died, or had been killed. And now she was about to meet her next host.
David Grayson lay naked on the surgical bio-bed, his body surrounded by a force field, a stasis field. He was paralysed from the neck down and he was conscious, as he watched Tyler approach, before placing the metallic case down beside him and then proceed to pick up a tricorder to begin scanning him.
Tyler said nothing as he conducted his scans, he only looked up from the tricorder to visually compare the readings that his tricorder had taken of Grayson’s body.
David knew what was about to happen, that his individuality was about to come to end, that he was about to be infected, to play host to a Kurlan parasite.
His eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed as Tyler leant forward to inspect him closer, leaning in that tightly, that he could practically feel Brandon’s breath on his skin.
“You are truly disgusting creatures,” the doctor spoke, venomously, “but necessary nonetheless.”
“How unfortunate for you,” David replied. If he could have gotten up off of the bio-bed, he would have punched Tyler square in the jaw and then made a run for it, not that there was anywhere to go. The whole planet had been consumed by the Kurlan. Starfleet, the real Starfleet, not those infected by the Kurlan where nowhere to be seen. Grayson was one of only a handful on Rigel IV with his individuality intact, and those who were not under the Kurlan’s control were being hunted down for conversion or to be exterminated.
It was such a dark time, and David had been through his fair share of dark times during his tenure in Starfleet. That was one of the main reasons he left the service, but now he found himself back in the enemy’s sights and his life was once again at risk by another alien race that wanted galactic Armageddon or for the universe to bend to their will. It was a story as old as time, one that repeated over and over with such frequency that if David were in a different position now, he’d have probably found it funny, or the topic of a great debate with his old friend, and helmsman B’Rellun, who served with him onboard the Tomwrah —not that B’Rellun had been seen for months.
David had spent the best part of four months in Chimera’s brig, along with several other individuals that The Admiral had her eyes set on for her many plans of universal domination.
They were just toys, playthings to test her almost maddening theories upon. Test subjects and experiments —they were essentially lab rats. And David, as he lay there on the surgical bed, scared and alone was test subject number one.
David had overheard Tyler and Anna discussing the procedure that he was about to undergo —they were concerned that Tyler’s mate, their symbiont would not take to Grayson’s mind, that he would not be able to accommodate all of her memories, her lifetimes worth of experiences and that the transfer may kill not only David, not that they were worried in the slightest about Grayson, but the symbiont as well.
In his darkest hours, David hoped that it would end him. That the procedure would not work and he would not be able to accommodate the ancient symbiont. That if the procedure did not work, that at least he’d kill an ancient, evil being that had spent its lifetime trying to bring an end to everything that he held dear.
But Tyler and the others had made a breakthrough and after a small surgical procedure on David, they believed that they would be able to safely transfer the symbiont to Grayson.
And Tyler smiled, as he thought about all that he had achieved in making this a success, he almost looked as though he was gloating as Anna entered the room, asking for a report.
“I am overjoyed to report that we have overcome our shortcomings and are now successfully able to transfer my beloved into this individual.”
Anna smiled, smiled that awfully eerie, creepy smile that she had developed since playing host to one of the Kurlan Queens and folded her arms as she made her way to send David Grayson off for good.
“You and your family have been a thorn in my side for long enough, Mr. Grayson, I speak for all of my people when I say this, that I will be glad to see the back of you. The symbiont that will inhabit your body is older than time itself,” she said, exaggerating her words, “she will live on in you and go out into the heavens and find more suitable hosts for my people, and to finally, put an end to your people’s pathetic, childlike ways. Gone of the days of squabbles over space and territory, resources and ridiculous notions of love. You are about to receive a gift, Mr. Grayson, a wonderful gift and you will know what it feels like to be truly Kurlan.”
If he were wielding a phaser it would have been pointed in her direction and he would have not hesitated to pull the trigger. To end her right here, right now, regardless of who she once was.
But instead, he had no choice but to accept what was about to happen, that yes, he was about to become Kurlan and go on to kill, slaughter and convert countless more to their cause.
A single tear fell from his eyes, Tyler reached forward with a hypospray and injected him with a massive dose of zopliconzene, knocking him right out.
His eyes closed. And as they did, all he could think about was his son, “Christian,” he spoke, before drifting off into an artificial slumber.
He was now truly at their mercy. Her mercy.
She was about to change him forever. And she did not care, she did not pause or falter, she gave the order, to unite the symbiont with its host…

…and then David was gone. No more. His individuality erased. Gone. Replaced by that of a being thousands, millions of years older than him.
He was over.
And she remained…

*_*_*_*

Present day…
As the rain continued to pour down from the grey, overcast skies above, and as the streets ran with rain water like little streams and rivers, The Bozeman Colony still continued to be the thriving metropolis that it had grown into being.
Where once just tents and poorly converted starships and transport vessels lay, home to the hundreds and thousands of refugees from the Borg Invasion lived, now stood a thriving multicultural city, a veritable jewel that rose up and out of the Rigellian landscape.
And as children played in the puddles and adults made their way about their daily lives, David, Gabby, Thea, Christian and Charlie Enzo, (Christian’s fiancé) all sat down in one of the many restaurants that lined the waterfront for dinner, to catch up, to share stories and to once again be a family.
After the server had seated them at the table and had returned with several bottles of champagne, and Relva Juice for Thea, David poured each and everyone of them a glass.
He took a long hard look at those seated around him and acknowledged them all individually.
He was so very pleased to be here and raised his glass to propose a toast. “You have no idea how much I have missed you all,” he started, smiling at Christian and Gabby. “And I still cannot believe how much has happened in the last year. All of it good I might add. My son’s an ensign, an assistant chief engineer no less and my step-daughter, my beautiful Thea about to become a mother. I am truly blessed.” He then turned to Charlie, of whom he had never met before today, but whom he had instantly felt a warmth from, a kindness and gentleness about the man that he found endearing and could see why his son was so interested in him. “Charlie, may I take this opportunity to welcome you to our family. We might be a little dysfunctional and a little crazy at times, but I can see that you’ll fit right into the madness, and that you’re just perfect for Christian.”
Christian smiled and thanked his dad for saying that, for accepting Charlie into their family, before placing a hand on Charlies and continued to listen to his father speaking.
“And Gabby. Oh Gabriella Tel, where would I be without you. We had some good times together didn’t we?”
She nodded, smiling, looking resplendent in a beautiful red dress that complimented her figure.
“I can’t wait to get reacquainted with you, to share the rest of our lives together…”
Thea looked up at David in surprise, but before she could say anything, before she could interject, David continued, “Your mother has asked to remarry me. And I’m pleased to say, hell, I’m overjoyed to say that I have said yes,”
Thea smiled at her mother, before she took her hand and then looked at Christian, then laughed as they both realised that they were all now holding hands with one and other.
“So let’s raise a toast, to family!”
“To family!” Everyone spoke, clinking their glasses together and as David sat down, he turned to Thea and asked a question, asked the only question that had been on his mind since he first saw her again in the starport and said, “So Thea, who’s the father?”
Thea looked down at the table, averting her eyes from David and spoke, with a smile on her face, “Oh, you won’t of heard of him.”
“Ha!” Christian scoffed, amused at how Thea was going to announce who the father of her child was going to be.
“What? Tell me, I thought we had no secrets in this family?” David said, before taking another sip of his champagne.
“So,” Gabby started, taking his hand, “your soon to be step-daughter is about to have a child with the son of the Gul-Tar of the Cardassian Empire.”
“Oh?”
“Yep, kind of a big deal, Gabby said, reaching for her glass. “And he also happens to be the chief tactical officer of the starbase…And he’s half Bajoran.”
“But I thought Winter was chief tactical officer.”
“That’s what you picked out, out of all of that?” Christian half jokingly asked.
“Well this is big news! Congratulations Thea. So will that make you like royalty? In the empire?”
“Not quite, well, I guess it kind of would wouldn’t it? Oh god, I never thought about that,” Thea said, with a sudden realisation that her life would probably never be the same again washing over her as she spoke.
“How did you never think about what would happen if you went to bed with him?” Laughed Christian, teasing his half-sister.
“That’s a bit rich, you met him,” she started, pointing at Charlie, “got yourself infected by a parasite and didn’t see him again for five months. Poor kid was like a lost puppy, moping around after you until you came to your senses and remembered just how special he was to you.”
Christian looked shocked, surprised by Thea’s candor, he looked at his mother for support.
“Now now, come on, tonight’s about celebrating, about having your dad back with us, we can put the cray aside for one night can’t we?” Gabby said, trying to smooth the situation over a little.
“Deal. Truce?” Christian said, looking at Thea, holding up his glass of champagne like an olive branch.
“Truce,” she replied, standing down, before offering her brother a smile and an annoying rub of tussle of his hair —something that he couldn’t stand in the slightest, yet he bit his tongue out of respect to his parents, before turning to Charlie and asked, “Still wanna marry into this?!”
Charlie laughed, “Even more so now, this got interesting!”
And with that David took Gabby’s hand and laughed at Charlie’s remark, before sitting back in his chair and thought, ‘this is why I’m here.’
He was so glad to be home. The last few months and years had been filled with pain and turmoil, confusion and regret, but now, right now, this is exactly where he wanted to be. Surrounded by his family. His loved ones. The people he cared about the most…

*_*_*_*

Billy Scott made his way out of the infirmary, out of Medical One and sat down on one of the many benches that were placed along the promenade.
He did not care that it was still raining, that the storm had not passed. He was so preoccupied that he felt like now, everything else was just secondary concern, redundant, pointless.
He wished he had not come, had not seen Joseph like that. He couldn’t believe how different he was now, how much the I’ll performed removal of the Kurlan parasite had affected Joe.
It reminded Billy of a time shortly after the Borg Invasion, a time when he met survivors of the collective who had suffered terribly at the hands of the Borg and who had their individuality ripped away from them, leaving their minds in tatters, jumbled and in dismay.
It was truly harrowing. And to see Joseph like this now, was frightening. Not only had Joe lost his husband Harry, who sacrificed himself to end the Kurlan Occupation, but he now had no memories of the man who laid down his life for the good of all mankind. Not to mention the fact that he didn’t really know who he was or who his friends were.
It was so sad. And if wasn’t for the rain, it would have been possible to tell that Billy was crying. Not inwardly, but outwardly, overtly. He was visibly shaken and truly horrified.
And as he sat their, soaked to the bone, he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and a familiar voice say, “Come on Billy, time to come inside, time to get out of the rain.”
Bill looked up to see Winter standing over him, his good friend, one of his oldest friends, one of the people that he came to Chimera with all those years ago, aboard the Elysium to serve under the then Commander Marcus Riker.
“Oh, Wint, what are we going to do about Joe?”
Winter shrugged, she didn’t know what to say that had already been said about Joe. The doctors had all tried, so had the counsellors, nothing had worked, he still wasn’t responding to any known science or technological help to reverse his condition, to help him restore his memory. Like Billy, Winter felt terribly sorry for Joe, but hoped, no, she knew, that one day, somehow and somewhen, the Joseph Green that they knew and loved would come back to them again.

To be continued…

“The Storm”
by Jonathan Crosby-Bromley

Starring:
Freema Agyeman as Admiral Anna James
Matthew Noszka as David Grayson
Lili Reinhart as Gabriella Tel
Greg Austin as Christian Grayson
& Brianne Howey as Thea Tel

Also Starring:
Dacre Montgomery as Billy Scott
Maggie Grace as Winter Shahn
Orlando Bloom as Nathan Knight
& Lukas Gage as Brandon Tyler

With:
Jordan Renzo as Charlie Enzo
Adam Joseph Copeland as B’rellun

And:
KJ Apa as Alto Channing
Scott Foley as Dedral Latt
Jonny Green as Joseph Green