The USS Jaxartes had moved to what they hoped was a safe distance away from the planet and Harpers Rift.  The gravitational pull of the planet had been increasing for some time now; drawing towards it the swirling mass of cloud that was the rift.  The core temperature of the planet continued to rise dramatically, with every passing minute.

Lieutenant Jason Devron had come round by now.  He was angry; angry with the universe and everything and everyone in it.  He’d tried ordering Lieutenant Stuart to take the ship back and rescue Doctor Andrianakis, but nothing he could say would convince her; that was an option.  Saving Phoebe would release the Entity and doom them all.  She could see that; and it didn’t make losing a friend any easier.  She could understand the pain Jason was going through, how helpless he must be feeling right now.

The ships sensors detected a change in the planets illuminance and adjusted the image on the view screen to compensate.  Had it not done so, everyone on the Bridge would have been blinded, just a few seconds later.  Even now, the flash was extremely bright; fading not because it swiftly became less intense, but as the ships computer made rapid adjustments, darkening the real time image it was presenting to them.

The light finally began to fade to something more manageable; allowing them to see details that had been obscured.  A new star had been born from what had; moments before been the planet.  Harpers Rift was gone, its gaseous cloud, now forming part of the our layers of the star; giving it a strange purplish tinge to the otherwise orange ball of fire.

“Remarkable!” Kent’s voice came from the back of the Bridge. “Simply remarkable!”

Devron had brought his legs up to his chest, head buried into his knees.  The woman he loved had sacrificed herself to save everyone.  She was part of that star now, a star without planets, all alone in the night. He stood, turning his back on the view screen.  He didn’t want to be here, not on this Bridge, not on this ship, not anywhere in fact.  It was like losing his grandfather all over again.

Three small shimmering orbs of light appeared right at the front of the Bridge; expanding into columns, then disappearing.  In their place stood three figures; two male, one female.  Stuart let out a gasp, which caused Jason to turn.

There flanked by a man in a collarless grey business suit and another dressed in boots, jeans a check shirt and cowboy hat was Phoebe Andrianakis; wearing a simple yet elegant white gown.  She rushed into Jason’s arms, flinging her hands around his neck and giving him a rather long and passionate kiss; broken only by a polite cough from the man in the suit.

“I should come over there and beat the crap out of you!”  Devron shouted.

“How typically human of you.” The man smiled back; which did little to ease the tension.  “You don’t think I actually enjoyed all this do you?”

“Your Q, it’s in your nature!” Jason continued.

“How little you understand about the complexities of the universe.” The suited man continued.  “Even we have our limits.  We just find ways around them.”

“By putting other people in danger?” Jason retorted.

“She’s here isn’t she?” The man waved towards the doctor.  “And she has a simple choice to make.”

Jason looked into her eyes questioningly.  “They’ve offered me a place within the Continuum where I can be with my father.” Phoebe pointed towards the man in the hat.  “However it would mean I could never see any of you again.”

“Oh.”  Devron dropped his arms, his head to.

“Unfortunately, for some bizarre reason she’d rather give up all her powers and just be a boring mortal, like yourself.” The man in the suit informed him.

Jason looked back into those eyes of her, totally lost for words.  Phoebe simply smiled and nodded.

“Look after my daughter Mister Devron.” The cowboy said in a friendly yet firm voice.  “She’s very precious to me, and Phoebe; tell your mom I still love her.”

The both replied “yes”, in unison; then Jason continued, aiming his question at the man in the suit. “Will you be popping up out of the blue, keeping an eye on us?”

“What a horrible thought; why would I waste my time!” He exclaimed.  “You’re not exactly special.”

“We did save the Universe.” Devron replied.

“No Mister Devron, She saved the Universe.” The man smiled.  “You were just the hired help.”

Before the Lieutenant could respond the man clicked his fingers and vanished in a flash of light.  The other Q, who was Andrianakis’s father just shrugged.  “I’m not allowed to tell you about the future. But be careful, there are dark and deadly time ahead.”

“That’s all we need.” Lieutenant Stuart bemoaned. “More disasters heading our way.”

The Q looked at the Orion and half smiled, before he to; clicked his fingers and disappeared.  “Just remember Miss Stuart, when the time comes. Fifteen degree’s port roll, twenty degree’s down angle.”

She turned and looked at the others.  “Did he just give me evasive manoeuvres?”

**********

The USS Jaxartes, made its slow, careful way back towards its home port of Starbase 86.  As a crew they knew they’d have a lot of questions to answer.  Why had they stolen Starfleet property; namely this vessel.  How had they managed to disappear from the USS Advance’s scanners and reappear well within the exclusion zone.  Also, where had this new star suddenly appeared from!   At least two other ships were currently on an intercept, but without a functioning communication system they were unable to make contact with them.

Doctor Andrianakis did feel somewhat embarrassed when the suggestion was made; but the idea had been backed by the scientists.  So on the ships navigational and scientific logs, the new star was called, ‘Phoebe’.

**********

The dust took its time to settle as the second of the two Skyrake’s touched down on its six stubby landing legs.  They had started out as average, medium range cargo transporters, before being converted into some of Vashran’s limited number of airborne military vehicles.  The hinged ramp sides; which had once been a quick and easy way to unload its cargo, now acted as a way of allowing twenty well-armed troops to rapidly disembark from each craft.  They carried with them a mix of weaponry; Romulan disrupter and various other devices they’d managed to acquire; not always through legitimate sources.

The group fanned out, in a well-practiced manner; covering all direction, but mainly focusing their attention on the route leading to the abandoned mining facility they’d landed near to.  Kralor stepped down from the second Skyrake; adjusting his field cap and pulling down his combat jacket at the side.  He was an imposing figure, even if he wasn’t one of the largest members of his race; he also held a rather unique role within the Vashran military, such as it was.  He was both a government minister and commander, rolled into one.

The soldiers moved forward as silently as the broken rocky ground would permit, four would rush to the next suitable piece of cover or drop prone, once in position a second group of four then moved past them taking up defensive positions slightly ahead.  A third and in this case final group: would then move up to the front; and the process would repeat from there.

Kralor was pleased with their performance; the training had paid off, but as yet, they’d not had to face any real enemy.  The Communications Officer next to him; had a direct link to the transporters and Squad Leader up ahead.  “Say again, Blue 1.” The Commander heard him say. “You can see how many?”

“What’s the problem?”  Kralor asked with concern.

“Blue 1 reports, hundreds of unknowns exiting the mine.” The Officer replied.

“Tell him to hold position and only fire if hostile intent is clear.” Kralor ordered.

Thoughts raced through his mind as he made his way forward; most concerning of all, was how hundreds of whatever they were had apparently just walked out of an empty and abandoned mine!  Was this an invasion or another part of Helgeshran’s plans?

A Vulcan male, along with a female; both of which were unarmed, walked forward, arms raised. “I am Commander Salan, and these people have escape from the clutches of Helgeshran.”