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Beverly Picard sighed in frustration. She hadn’t heard from her husband in over a week, and she was unable to reach his ship. Jean-Luc should have been on paternity leave but Admiral Quinn had asked him to head up a special mission and it wasn’t an ask so much as he told Jean-Luc he was needed. Jean-Luc and Beverly had agreed to the short mission, provided Quinn added the time back onto the end of his leave. The two week mark passed one week ago. Beverly had last heard that they were heading back to Earth and he would be home within the week, but hadn’t heard anything. Was she destined to be a widow? First Jack, and now Jean-Luc? Was she some kind of poison or cursed or...she scoffed. She didn’t really believe in those kinds of things, though her Nana certainly did.
Beverly heard the baby stirring and went to check on their latest addition. Coralline Yvette was already displaying her personality to match the fiery crop of hair she was born with. Beverly walked into the nursery and smiled when she saw Coralline in the arms of her Grandmere – Jean-Luc’s mother. When Jean-Luc wrote to his mother to tell her about his marriage to Beverly and her pregnancy, Yvette had asked them to visit and Beverly had fallen in love with the French countryside, so Jean-Luc and his brother found a small cottage on the edge of the property for them to live in. Jean-Luc and his father still weren’t exactly on speaking terms, but Maurice did love his new grandson and granddaughter. Yvette was speaking to Coralline in French. It sounded almost musical.
“I wish I knew French.” Yvette turned around with Coralline. “I’m sure we can teach you if you’d really like to know, though Jean-Luc will tell you it’s an archaic language. I don’t think he’s really spoken it much since he left home to join the Academy, but until he was twelve, we exclusively spoke French at home.” Yvette passed the baby to Beverly. “She’s not wet, I checked.”
“Probably hungry.” Beverly settled into the rocking chair and adjusted her shirt to feed her daughter while still talking with her mother-in-law. “Why did you stop using French when Jean-Luc was twelve?”
“It was suggested by Jean-Luc and Robert’s teacher to help them be better prepared for the future. And now, we almost exclusively use Standard in the house and for the business, but I couldn’t help but speak a little French to darling Coralline.” Beverly smiled. “I think she’ll appreciate it. You should try to teach Wesley some French, too. Though,” she grinned, “I’m not sure he’d sit still long enough.”
Yvette chuckled and took a seat on the footstool Wesley liked to sit on when his mother was feeding his sister. “He seems to be adjusting well to school.”
“I’m so pleased. On the base, he was in a room with children of all different ages and abilities, so it’s really good to see him flourishing here. I think we made a good decision to come here during my maternity leave....I’m not sure I’ll want to leave when it’s over!” Yvette grinned at her daughter-in-law. “Well, you’re always welcome here anytime.”
Beverly heard the door to the cottage slam followed by “Mooooooooooooooomy?” She rolled her eyes. “Every. Time. I tell him not to yell in case Coralline is asleep.” She raised her voice slightly, “In the nursery with Mémé and Coralline.” She heard him thunder up the stairs and he burst into the room.
“Hi Mommy! Did you hear from Daddy yet?” The seven-year-old dropped his school bag at the door to the nursery and came over to Beverly and Coralline. He peered down at Coralline. “Hi, Cora.”
Beverly shook her head. “Not yet.”
“He’s been gone an awfully long time.” Wesley pouted. “Did Daddy die?”
“Wesley! Your father is not dead. He’s probably just...out of range. Or they ran into a problem. He’ll call us soon, I’m sure of it.” Beverly tried to hide her distressed look as she removed Coralline from her breast and burped her gently before placing her back in her crib. “Why don’t we go see about getting you a snack?”
“Can I have gummy bears?”
“Are they nutritious?”
“They’re fruit flavoured.”
“Hmm. How about you eat an apple first and then if you’re still hungry, you may have a small pack of them?” Wesley frowned. “Aw.”
Yvette smiled at her grandson. “Come on, let’s let your mother get Coralline settled. I’ll get you your snack while I make a pot of tea for your mother.” Yvette gently touched Beverly’s shoulder on her way past and Beverly gave her a watery smile. When Yvette and Wesley left the room, Beverly gazed down at her newborn. “Oh, Coralline. What are we going to do?”
###
“Have you fixed those relays yet, Ensign?”
“No, Captain.” Jean-Luc glared at the young man. “Well, get to it! We need to get our distress signal out and I need to contact my wife.”
“Y...yes, Sir.” The Ensign from engineering who had been in the shuttle with the Captain shuffled off to the back of the shuttle to continue to try to repair the communications relay. They didn’t even know how many of the crew had managed to evacuate before the ship was destroyed, though they could see on visual at least six shuttles. Jean-Luc sighed with frustration and pinched the bridge of his nose. A few days ago they had been attacked by an unknown ship after they had finished up the negotiations Admiral Quinn had sent him on. They were no closer to being rescued, and tempers, including his own, were beginning to fray on the small shuttle the bridge crew had evacuated to. He turned to his first officer.
“Number One, we have to find a way to communicate with the other shuttles. No doubt they are waiting for us to send the distress signal. If one of them can release theirs instead....and if they have a working comms unit we could use....” Commander Fraka nodded. “Sir, I could....use one of the EVA suits and spacewalk to another shuttle.”
Jean-Luc eyed Fraka. “Are you sure it would be safe?”
“If we get the shuttle nice and close, it should be a short walk, assuming they see me.” Jean-Luc nodded. “Right, well. See what you can do. If they have a working comms unit, have them dock with us.”
“Of course, Sir.”
###
Beverly wanted to scream. She had once again, tried to speak with someone at Starfleet Command about Jean-Luc, but no one was able to help her. She couldn’t even be put through to Admiral Quinn, despite numerous attempts because her security clearance wasn’t high enough.
Frustrated, Beverly stabbed at the access codes that would put her through to Walker at Starfleet Intelligence.
“Enter access code.”
Beverly sighed and recited the code Walker had given her in case of an emergency that would put her through directly to him. His face soon filled the screen. “Beverly! Is something wrong?”
“Wally...I can’t reach Jean-Luc. He was supposed to be back over a week ago and I haven’t even been able to contact the ship. Command is being useless since I apparently don’t have a high enough clearance to be given details about my husband’s mission and they won’t put me through to Quinn!” Beverly tried to keep her voice calm so Coralline wouldn’t wake up but she couldn’t help it and Walker could hear the panicked hysterics in her voice.
“Do you know where he was sent?”
“I only know that Admiral Quinn needed Jean-Luc for some top secret negotiations and he was going to be given his destination coordinates en route, but Quinn promised it would only take two weeks, and those two weeks were up ten days ago. The last time I spoke with Jean-Luc, he thought they might be heading home soon. He wasn’t allowed to tell me much over the comms in case anyone was listening in, but I know he was near a ringed planet since I could see it out his window. But, of course, there are loads of ringed planets. I just...I want my husband home!” Beverly’s last cry woke Coralline and Walker watched patiently as Beverly left the view screen, no doubt to pick up the six-week-old. Beverly returned with Coralline in her arms. “Sorry.”
“I’m not going to complain about getting to see my favourite niece.” Walker made a few faces at the baby and Beverly chuckled. “You and Jean-Luc. Both big softies when it comes to children.”
Walker looked straight at his monitor. “Beverly, I will see what I can find out using my contacts, but you understand his mission might have even been classified beyond my own clearance levels.”
“I understand. Just...do your best and bring my husband home. I don’t....I don’t want to be a widow again.” Walker smiled sadly at his friend before promising to call as soon as he knew more information and ended the call. He sat back in his chair and shook his head. “Johnny, you better be alive is all I have to say.”
###
Fraka kept himself on a tether as he made his way across space to the nearest shuttle. He hoped they would see him through the window and open the airlock when he banged on it. He knew his Captain was stressed out because the mission started just two weeks after his wife gave birth to their daughter, and he knew his Captain was desperate to get home to them. If Fraka could have crossed his fingers inside his gloves, he would have. He knocked nervously on the airlock door and was pleased when it opened and he was able to get inside and close the outer hatch to remove his spacesuit.
“Commander! We’ve been trying to hail your shuttle for days...”
“The comms unit on the Captain’s shuttle is broken. Have you sent out a distress signal?”
“No, Sir. We were waiting for orders...is the Captain ok?” Fraka rolled his eyes at the Lieutenant. How were they ever promoted?
“Other than chomping at the bit to speak with his wife, he’s fine.” The Lieutenant hung her head. “We should have come up with a way to communicate with you days ago.”
“Yes, well. Perhaps. Now, the Captain would to have access to your comms system.”
“How do we do that?”
“We just need to dock the two shuttles together. Have you talked to the other shuttles?” The Lieutenant shook her head. “We had a few calls, but we ignored them.”
“Right...” Fraka wanted to strangle the Lieutenant. Instead, he told her he would handle piloting and docking the shuttle.
When the door opened between the two shuttles, Jean-Luc grinned at Fraka. “So, how’s the rest of the crew been doing?”
“No idea, Sir. It seems that they have been ignoring the comms calls.” Jean-Luc frowned. “Get on it right away, Fraka. I want to know if anyone activated their distress beacon and I want to know who is on which shuttle. Let’s see about getting us all linked together, if that’s possible.”
“Aye, Sir.”
“And when you’re done, come and get me. I have a very important call to make.”
“Yes, Sir.”
###
“Admiral, I understand but I need to know if Captain Picard is alright. Do you understand what his wife is going through right now?” Admiral Quinn nodded.
“I know Doctor Picard must be worried for her husband-“ Walker leaned across the desk. “Greg. You performed their marriage ceremony. You know what happened with Jack. And with a new baby on top? She needs to know what’s going on.”
“I wish I could help you, Captain. Walker. But Captain Picard’s mission was classified...even to his wife and to you.”
“Greg.”
“Look, all I can say is we might have established the last known location of the Stargazer. Check back with me in a few days.”
###
Jean-Luc began to wonder if their distress signal was being reached by anyone or if it was even broadcasting. It had been four days since they had activated the distress beacon on the shuttle and so far, they hadn’t heard from anyone. Their comms system was unable to reach any ships or relays, so Jean-Luc had ordered the shuttles to move towards the nearest Starbase. Unfortunately, it would take them eight weeks at their current speed. Even if they detached and each shuttle moved separately, they still wouldn’t pick up enough speed. He wondered how worried Beverly was and he hoped she wasn’t panicking. He pulled up the latest picture of Coralline on his PADD and grinned. Coralline was getting so big. His smile turned to a frown as he realised he was missing his baby growing, and he was leaving Beverly in the same position she had been in when she had Wesley and Wesley’s father wasn’t around. Merde. I’m going to have to talk to Quinn when I get back and refuse another mission unless I can take my family along....if I ever get back.
###
Beverly answered the knock on her door and grinned when she saw Walker. “Walker!” She embraced her best friend. “Come in, come in. It’s so good to see you...” she trailed off when she saw the two Yeomen standing behind him and her face paled.
“No,” she whispered and tried to close the door on Walker. Walker placed his foot in the door.
“Beverly....”
“No.” Beverly pushed at Walker’s chest, trying to push him out of her door as if turning him away would make whatever he was going to say false.
“Bev, Sweetheart...please. Let me come in and talk to you.” Beverly eyed the two Yeomen. “Why are they with you?”
“Ah, well...Admiral Quinn was sending them and I thought you would rather hear it from me....”
“No. Please. Walker. He can’t be....no.” Beverly began to cry and Walker quickly walked her over to the sofa. In the background, he heard Coralline start to wail as if she knew her mother was upset and he was torn between going to Coralline or staying with Beverly. Beverly solved the conundrum by moving towards the stairs to check on the baby, and Walker followed her. Beverly picked Coralline up out of her crib and went to sit on the rocking chair, rocking her gently. “Shh, Coralline. It’s alright...Uncle Wally came to visit....” Beverly unbuttoned her top and placed Coralline against her breast and stared at Walker, as if daring him to upset her. Walker sighed and knelt on the floor in front of the rocking chair.
“Beverly,” he reached out and took her hand. “We think Jean-Luc is fine, but the Stargazer has been destroyed. SI picked up the frequency and we were able to listen to him issue the abandonment order. You know he wouldn’t have stayed on the ship any longer than necessary.” Beverly sniffed.
“Where is he?”
“Honestly? We don’t know. We’re trying to scan the area for the shuttles, but there’s debris from the destroyed ship making it difficult. We’re going to have to send a ship in to search manually.”
“I want to go with you.”
“Beverly. No. What if we don’t find him? What if he tries to contact you first and you’re not here to get his call?”
“I can route all incoming calls to my PADD. Yvette can look after Wesley and Coralline will come with me. If Jean-Luc needs a doctor....I want to be the one to take care of him.”
“I understand. Look , Bev. This is going to be a Special Ops mission. I’m not sure a newborn baby should really come along on one of these missions....”
“Walker. I am going.” Walker hung his head. “Fine. I’ll...make the arrangements. Can I use your study?” Beverly nodded. “Yvette will be over soon with Wesley, he’ll be pleased to see you and then I can tell Wesley I need to go away for a few days to bring his daddy home.”
###
Beverly stood on the bridge of the Endeavour with Coralline securely in a sling across her chest. She was wearing a uniform specially designed for new mothers that would give her the ability to breastfeed Coralline while she was snug in the sling, but out of respect for Walker and the other crewmen, Beverly retreated to her small quarters when Coralline required feeding.
The Endeavour was a small ship, around the same size as the Stargazer, but running with minimal crew. The science labs stood empty, and about half of the available quarters were empty in anticipation of rescuing the crew of the Stargazer. Beverly had been given small quarters, but they would be large enough once they found Jean-Luc for both of them and Coralline, who was sleeping in a small attachable cot to the bed. It wasn’t ideal, but it was the only way a cot for the baby would have fit, and Beverly didn’t want to have Coralline in the bed with her, for fear that she would accidentally roll on top of her or smother her with the blanket.
Walker glanced over at the crewman stationed at the science station. “Report!”
“We’re picking up a few odd signatures....”
“Define odd, Lieutenant.” Walker snuck a glance over at Beverly, who was gripping the railing so hard her knuckles were turning white.
“Well, Sir, we’re not exactly sure what we’re picking up. It looks too big to be one of the shuttles, but there is definitely a ship out there.”
“Lifesigns?” Behind him, Walker heard Beverly take in a deep breath and Coralline whimpered, sensing her mother’s discomfort. Beverly quickly moved Coralline out of her sling to gently sooth her, all the while her own heart was racing as she strained her ears to listen to the Lieutenant.
“Sorry, Sir. We need to get closer.”
“Do it.” Walker rose from his chair and walked towards Beverly and placed a hand gently on her shoulder. “Beverly, maybe you and Coralline should return to your quarters? You’ll feel better.” Beverly shook her head.
“No, I’ll only turn on the Bridge audio and continue to worry. I’d rather be here. If Coralline is bothering you, I can try to feed her and see if she’ll go back to sleep.” Walker smiled. “No, she’s not bothering me. I just don’t like seeing her or you distressed.” Beverly looked at her best friend tight-lipped.
“Find my husband, Wally.”
###
“Captain, there’s a ship out there!” Jean-Luc turned towards the excitable Ensign.
“Friendly?”
“Uh...I don’t know, Sir. But they’re moving closer. We should be able to scan them soon or at least pick them up on visual.”
“Good, good. Continue to send out the distress signal on all frequencies.”
“Aye, Sir.”
Jean-Luc sat back in his chair. He hoped it was a Starfleet ship, a Federation ship, or at least a ship belonging to an ally who could contact Starfleet for them. If it wasn’t friendly....well, Jean-Luc wasn’t entirely sure what would happen.
###
“I’m sorry, Sir, Doctor,” The Lieutenant looked sheepish. “It isn’t the Stargazer. It’s a freighter.”
“One of ours?”
“It has federation markings on it.” Walker nodded. “Open a channel. Perhaps they’ve seen something.”
“Aye, Sir. Frequencies open.”
“Attention Federation freighter. This is the USS Endeavour. Respond please.”
A crackly response came back. “Yeah, this is the Martingale.”
“Am I speaking with her Captain?”
“Yeah, I’m Captain. Who are you?” Beverly stifled her giggle. Obviously, this freighter Captain wasn’t used to being contacted by other vessels.
“My name is Captain Keel and I am in command of the Endeavour. I would like to ask you a few questions.”
“Oh yeah? Who says I have to answer them?”
“Considering you are Captaining a Federation vessel, it would be in your best interest to cooperate.” Walker was getting annoyed. Why was it so hard for this Captain? Walker wondered if perhaps the freighter was involved in illegal activities, and decided he really didn’t want to know. He would log the encounter with Starfleet and if they wanted to investigate it, that was on them. His job was finding his best friend.
“Fine.”
“We’re looking for a vessel. More accurately, we’re looking for some small shuttles that would have been launched from a larger ship before its destruction.”
“Haven’t seen anything. Don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve been in this sector for three months and you’re the first ship I’ve encountered.” Walker raised his eyebrows. It was highly unlikely that the freighter had been in the sector for three months, particularly as they had been there already for two weeks and hadn’t encountered them yet. And if they really had been in the sector, they would have either seen the Stargazer before its destruction, heard the distress signal, or seen the shuttles. Walker had a startling realisation. What if they had found the shuttles and had scavenged them and taken the officers hostage or worse – killed them? He motioned to the comms officer to mute the connection.
“Scan for lifesigns on that freighter. I want to know how many people are on board, and see if you can scan for the contents of the shuttle bay. I don’t like this guy....”
“Aye, Commander.” Walker indicated to open the channel again.
“Thank you for your help. If you do find anything, please don’t hesitate to contact me, or the nearest Starfleet vessel. Endeavour out.”
###
Jean-Luc anxiously awaited response from the ship they had detected. Their scans showed that it was a Federation freighter, so even if it couldn’t take them to the nearest base, they would be able to at least communicate their situation to the base, and maybe even be able to fix their own long-distance relay.
Finally a message came in.
“Is this the Stargazer?”
“What’s left of her and her crew. I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard, who am I speaking to?”
“Uh, I’m the Captain of the Martingale. You need help?”
“We do. Our ship was destroyed. We only have these six shuttles and we are in desperate need of assistance getting to the nearest Starbase, or at least, help repairing our long-distance relay so we can call for help.”
“You can’t call for help?”
“No, our system is broken and we could only send out this small signal in the hopes we could find a passing ship such as yourself.”
“Oh.” Jean-Luc felt the decking rumble beneath his feet. He turned to his officer at the con. “What’s going on?”
“Sir, they’ve hit us with a tractor beam....”
“Martingale, what are you doing?” No response. Jean-Luc frowned. “Martingale, please respond.” Nothing. “Can we break the tractor beam hold?”
“Negative, Sir.”
“Merde.” Jean-Luc sat back down in his chair and wondered just what was going on.
###
“Sir, I’m detecting elements that could have belonged to a Starfleet shuttle. Definitely detecting substances that wouldn’t belong on a freighter, and not in enough quantities to be cargo.”
“How many life signs?”
“Hard to say, there’s a least six in the cargo bay area. Ten on the bridge. Possibly more in other areas of the ship.” Walker glanced back at Beverly and she pulled out her tricorder, scanned Coralline, scanned herself, and started tapping at her tricorder.
“Ensign, I’m sending Jean-Luc – Captain Picard’s – DNA to your station. Can you scan for this signature?” The Ensign nodded, not wanting to tell the woman that this was above anything he had ever done. He was sure he could. He deftly remembered his training and tapped a few buttons on his console. “Got it, Doctor. Scanning now.”
Beverly darted her eyes over to Walker while the scan was going on. She could deduce from Walker’s actions that he did not think this was simply a freighter and he suspected they had somehow taken possession of the Stargazer shuttles and her crew. The hard part would be finding all of her crew, as Beverly only was able to get Jean-Luc’s DNA by splitting hers off from Coralline’s. DNA for the crew might be in Starfleet’s computers, but it would take her hours to find all of the information and she wasn’t sure if they had time. The Ensign looked over at Beverly before addressing Walker.
“Captain, I have a match.”
###
The shuttle was pulled into the cargo bay of the freighter and Jean-Luc raised his eyebrows at his first officer and reached for his side arm. His crew knew what to do and they fell into formation in front of him, wondering what was going to happen. The door opened and shots were fired, taking down his crew. Jean-Luc hoped they had only been stunned. He held out his arms and dropped his phaser just as he was shot in the chest.
He woke up in what was potentially the brig of the ship. His badge had been removed from his uniform and he was lying on a hard pallet against the wall. He was alone, but that didn’t mean his crew wasn’t in another cell or somewhere else in the ship. A man, the man he presumed was the Captain of the vessel approached. “Captain Picard, I presume?”
“You presume correctly. You are?”
“Nope,” the man shook his head. “No names.”
“Alright then. Why have you taken me prisoner, and where is the rest of my crew?” The man leeched at Jean-Luc. “Safe. And you are here because you have something we want.”
“My ship? You might find pieces of debris scattered around if you look, but I assure you, it was destroyed.” The man sneered. “Then we’ll take your shuttles.”
“Fine. But if you don’t return us to Federation space, you’ll be in a lot of trouble.”
“Not if they can’t find you.”
###
“Where is he on the ship?” The Ensign checked his screen. “He’s on a lower deck. There looks to be a few other bio signs scattered around the perimeter of the room.”
“The Brig?” Beverly asked. The Ensign nodded. “Possibly, Doctor. The other bio signs scattered like this could be an indication that they are being held in separate cells.” Walker pursed his lips. “How many?”
“Seven, including Captain Picard. Twenty-six in other rooms surrounding him in a similar pattern.”
“The Stargazer was running with a crew of twenty-eight for this mission. If one person was killed, this could be all the survivors. Any way to lock onto them?” The Ensign shook his head. “Negative. No one is wearing a badge. I can bring the Captain over since we have his DNA...” As much as Walker wanted to bring his friend back, he knew Jean-Luc would be upset if his crew was left behind.
“Can you get me into the Brig?”
“I think so.” Walker nodded. “I’m going to grab twenty-seven badges and distribute them. As soon as you can detect the badges are activated, I want you to beam over the crew. Beam myself and Captain Picard last.”
“Walker, I think you should take me with you.” He shook his head. “Bev, no. Stay here. Besides, you’ve never transported with Coralline before, she might not like it and if she cries....”
“I could...leave her behind...”
“With who?”
“One of the nurses could look after her for an hour. Walker, please?” Walker rolled his eyes.
“Fine. I suppose someone might require medical attention. But you have ONE HOUR. If we’re not done in one hour, you’re getting beamed back. Ensign, I want you to keep a lock on Beverly. If there is the slightest chance that she might be in trouble, beam her out. I’m not dealing with an angry Jean-Luc Picard if I get his wife injured.” Beverly chuckled at the terrified look on the Ensign’s face and she leaned over and patted his shoulder. “It will be fine. Don’t worry.” Beverly turned to Walker. “Give me...ten minutes to get Coralline settled in Sickbay. Do not leave without me.”
Walker held out his arms. “As if you’d let me.”
“Hmm.”
###
Jean-Luc looked up when he heard the ping of transporter beam and gasped. “Beverly?”
“Hi.” Jean-Luc scrubbed his face. Was this some kind of strange holographic projection? How was Beverly here? She was on Earth with the children. There was no way she was actually there...was there? He glanced behind her and saw his old friend, Walker.
“Walker.”
“Captain Picard. You seem to be in need of some assistance.” Jean-Luc rolled his eyes. “And, my wife is here because?” Walker crossed his arms in front of his chest and eyed his friend. “What do you think?”
“Beverly refused to let you look for me without her.”
“Uh, I’m right here, Jean-Luc.” Beverly was busy scanning him with her Tricorder. “You’ve been hit with a phaser. There’s a little bit of tissue damage, but I think you’ll live.”
“Where’s Coralline and Wesley?”
“Wesley is with your mother. Coralline is on Walker’s ship under the care of Ensign Omatta.” Jean-Luc glanced at Walker and he held up his hands.
“I gave Bev an hour. Ensign Lovato will beam her back if she’s still here in an hour.” Walker moved towards Jean-Luc’s cell. “Hm. We’re lucky they aren’t sophisticated enough to have more than a regular lock on their doors. Looks like no alarm if we deactivate the door, but if we pass through the doorway, an alarm will go off.”
“How will we rescue the others?” Walker tapped his badge.
“Keel to Lovato.”
“Yes, sir?”
“We can’t leave this room. Once we activate the new comm badges on the crew with Captain Picard, can you beam us into the next room?”
“And me,” Jean-Luc said.
“And Captain Picard?”
“Aye, Sir.”
“Fantastic.” Walker liberated the other crewmen that were locked in the room with Jean-Luc and handed them badges and they were all beamed up to the Endeavour. Walker eyed Beverly. “I don’t suppose....”
“What if someone needs medical attention?” Walker sighed and looked at Jean-Luc.
“Johnny....help me out?”
“Walker, she has a point.”
“You’re afraid of her wrath, aren’t you?” Beverly glared at her friend.
“I’m standing right here!” Jean-Luc grinned and leaned over and pressed a kiss to her lips before answering his friend.
“Absolutely, Walker. Absolutely.”
###
Beverly relaxed that evening in their quarters. Jean-Luc was cuddling his daughter close after burping her before laying her in her little crib. Beverly was drying her hair after a shower and watched Jean-Luc with a smile on her face. Jean-Luc looked up and grinned at her. “I thought I would never see Coralline, Wesley, or you again.”
“I can’t tell you how terrified I was when Walker appeared at my door with those Yeomen. I thought...” a tear slipped from her eyes and Jean-Luc placed Coralline in her crib and rose to envelop Beverly in his arms.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s...what I signed up for when I married a Starfleet Captain.”
“No.” Beverly looked up at Jean-Luc puzzled. “No?”
“I’m going to...I’m going to tell Admiral Quinn I don’t want another assignment unless I can take you and the children with us. If it means I’m grounded, I’m grounded....or maybe I’ll take a sabbatical. I won’t leave you to raise the children alone. I’m not...”
“You’re not Jack.” Beverly kissed him. “And I’m forever grateful you’re not.”