A Crossover between 'The Ancient Destroyer Universe 'by Rob Morris and  The 'Shadows And Suns Universe' by Kevin Johnston.
    AD Universe : History has been dramatically altered by several events, chief  among which is the existence and ascendancy of King Ghidorah, The  Three-Headed Dragon. In most universes, he is either a fictional character or a  very dead legend. But as has been revealed, the ADU is a 'Funnel' reality, wherein  much of the bad that could have happened elsewhere in fact took place. By 2286, the Alpha Quadrant of our galaxy is all that remains of the universe. Lifekind itself is threatened with extinction.
    SAS Universe : The residents of The AD Universe might at first glance envy the residents of the 2370's-based SASU. Odds are, they wouldn't do so for long,  though. In this reality, a series of events led to the Federation losing The Dominion War, then winning back its freedom at a cost high in lives and ethics. Three of the great Captains of ST now ride their ships in the restored Federation's defense. But things are tough. The victorious Fed-Klingon-Romulan alliance, though strong, has real potential strains. And now, the returned Prophets have brought to them all a refugee from the ADU--Bajor itself. A living world replaces the dead--but what happens now?
      Characters (AD Universe) Saavik Kirk, Peter Kirk, and David Marcus
      Characters ( SAS Universe) Commodore Sisko, Captain O'Brien, Captain James Kirk, Captain Spock, Captain Scott, Doctor McCoy, Colonel Kira, Odo, Worf, Ezri Dax, Doctor Bashir, Viceroy Dukat, Section 31, Bariel Menos (Of New Bajor) and others including Captain Picard and crew.
      AD-Time-Setting : Towards the end of Chapter 23 of 'Behold, The Ancient Destroyer!', approx. late April, 2286 (Canon time between third and fourth movies)
      SAS-Time-Setting : Just after part 1/40 of 'Universal Constants', three weeks after 'The Heart Of The One True Warrior', approx late 2375/early 2376
      PG, just to be safe
      You should probably have at least passing familiarity with both universes.
      After the complete destruction of as many as ten major worlds, Peter Kirk and his wife, Saavik, who together are The Rock of Prophecy, managed to save one world, pre-Occupation Bajor, from King Ghidorah. They did this with the help of David Marcus, whose own Psychokinetic abilities have now kicked in, and in concert with The Multiversally-based Prophets Of Bajor. Literally moving Bajor with their minds to an alternate universe where it was rendered lifeless, an exchange is made. Exhausted, the three choose to rest before returning to their beleaguered universe.
      In this other universe, almost 80 years later than their own local timeframe, The Federation is slowly rebuilding after its near-annihilation at the hands of a victorious Dominion. Needless to say, the appearance of a living, nearly pristine Bajor in place of the ravaged one sets off alarms across the quadrant. Two great leaders investigate--Commodore Benjamin Sisko and the returned Captain James T. Kirk, who may or may not know that he owes his life to Section 31. At New Bajor, Sisko is informed to his frustration that he is once again The Emissary Of The Prophets. Now, he meets with Bariel Menos, an ancestor to the great Vedek Bariel--at least in their native universe.
     Now, the heroes of two battered realms meet. But all is not well..........

Spoilers For Behold, The Ancient Destroyer!

Chapter One - Emissary And Rock

Sisko nodded at Bariel Menos, and was struck by how much he resembled the great Bariel, gone these many years. He hoped against hope that, dimensional transport or no, this was a good omen. For Commodore Benjamin Sisko had seen too damned few of those, lately. They all had.

"Faith In The Prophets is important, Vedek. As many questions as I have about their approach--I have to admit, I'm glad they're back."

Bariel cocked his head, at that. It seemed he was the only one willing, or able to speak at this point. Sisko's eye caught a Vedek's name-plate that translated as 'Winn Kosar', and offered up a silent prayer that it was just a name. Bad omens, they still had plenty of. The Alliance had weathered Gowron's rage over the use of Genesis to end The Dominion's reign. His slips in this matter even helped strengthen Martok's position on The Klingon Council. But things had been close for a week or so, and the possible presence of new schemers was decidedly unwelcome.

Bariel now asked his question.

"Back, Emissary? The Prophets are ever with us, in feast or famine. You speak as though they left. Do the distant galaxies leave the night sky?"

Now, a young man stepped forward. He was human, with jet-black hair and a striking resemblance to Captain Kirk. He spoke to Bariel, as though to an equal.

"We both know, Bariel, that they did just that--that they are in fact, still doing that, as we speak."

Sisko now wondered where this young man--not to mention his two companions-- had emerged from, in the sealed chamber. Bariel nodded at the Terran.

"The Rock is correct, of course. But I referred in my own mind to the night sky of this universe, where dread Ghidorah holds no sway."

Ben, still amused by the thought of a poorly animated vid-character like Ghidorah as Eschatology made flesh, almost didn't hear what Bariel addressed the Kirk-alike as.

"The Rock? You--are The Rock?"

A young woman, A Vulcan, spoke for him. From her manner and the lack of the man's objection, Sisko correctly presumed that this was The Kirk-alike's wife.

"Actually, Commodore--we are The Rock. Lieutenants Saavik Kirk and Peter Kirk, at your service, sir."

A blond, curly-haired young man, also with traces of Kirk's face in him, nodded.

"I'm Doctor David Marcus. I'm not The Rock. I am--along for the ride, I guess."

Sisko stood frozen, his jaw dropped and his finger in the air. An odd corollary to studying the history of James Kirk and his crew--which so many in Starfleet did-- was the intense study of the so-called 'third-tier' of Enterprise alumni. After the main seven Bridge crew members, and after Chapel, Rand, Riley, Mitchell, Piper, Dehner and Kelso, all found the next layer of associated people utterly compelling. So it was that Sisko easily knew who David Marcus was. The events of the past few weeks were shaped by his life and work, after all.

Saavik took only a moment to recall, and although her exact fate was fuzzy to him, the woman's easy reference to herself as Saavik Kirk said in no uncertain terms that she was not the Saavik that his history had spoken of.

Peter Kirk was most difficult to recall, til the Commodore remembered Cestus--no, not Cestus--Deneva Three, and the parasite plague that felled so many, including Captain Kirk's brother and all of his family except one. A nephew, name of Peter James Kirk, or PJ, to his uncle. An obscure figure, he had washed out of Starfleet after attempting a Kolvoord--no wait, that was Worf and O'Brien's young friend. In any event, a man who lived his life in happy distance from the rather intense avuncular limelight.

In Sisko's reality.

In the universe where, absurdly, Ghidorah was ascendant, this young man and his wife were The Rock. Evidently, they had enough power to transport a planet between universes. That put them at Q-level, or perhaps beyond. Bashir had speculated that Q's efforts in another quantum universe might be opposed by the local Q's, thus negating his power. The Rock seemed to have no such restrictions.

"May I ask who, exactly, you all are? By that I mean specifics, to differentiate you from your counterparts here."

Peter Kirk went first.

"I was born in 2255, on Deneva 3, the legal son of Sam and Aurelan Kirk. On my  5th Birthday, I learned the truth. Sam was sterile, and my father was in fact then-Commander James T. Kirk."

Saavik went next.

"I was born in 2262, on the world known as Hellguard. My father is Captain Spock,  and my mother, a cruel Romulan Commander named Linviaj. Like Peter, my birth  holds several other secrets, which are not now relevant. Suffice it to say that the trauma of that place caused Spock to reject me until very recently."

Her enlarged stomach told Sisko the rest. But they were way off in origin from their counterparts. That he knew of, neither were children of the Captains in his universe.

"My name is David Marcus, son of Carol Marcus and James Kirk--though I'm like Saavik--I only found out a few months ago, just before I lost my mother to Ghidorah."

Still off, but much closer in this instance. What vagary of time and space required Kirk's son to marry Spock's daughter, and do battle with a frankly ridiculous creature?

He saw Peter Kirk staring at him.

"Ridiculous? Commodore, how can you say something like that? Oh, I see. The Prophets only showed you an image of Ghidorah as you've seen him."

The young man was a telepath of immense power. Sisko hadn't even felt his probe. But now he felt anger.

"Lieutenant--I'll thank you to leave my thoughts untouched."

Young Kirk stiffened up, and nodded.

"My apologies, Sir. I forget myself, at times. When I was younger, my life was in constant peril from forces loyal to Admiralty Hall. It stays with you."

Sisko shook his head.

"Admiralty---what?"

David spoke up.

"Not to be smart, Commodore, but it was a Hall at Starfleet HQ in San Francisco where the Admirals made their decisions. It--kind of started as a social club. Then, decisions were issued from it. Then, decisions were issued in its name."

As Peter now seemed reticent, Saavik continued.

"Starfleet Command was slowly but surely infiltrated by a xenophobic, and at times pedophilic group of murderous ambition, known as The Order Of The Ancient Destroyer. They worshipped Ghidorah, believing that he was coming to cleanse the universe of non-humans. Tellingly, every world had an Order."

Now, Peter had his voice.

"When I was 13, they kidnapped and used me-----"

He trailed off, as though keeping back a great and hideous shame.

"--used me as a transmitter, with which to call Ghidorah to them. Their leader was a man named...."

Sisko broke in.

"Cartwright?"

All three pairs of eyes went wide, at that. Sisko nodded.

"I'm not a telepath. But he and I are related, through my father, who somewhat resembles him. Dad always said that Brock Cartwright could bring down all creation, if he were left in charge for too long. Lieutenant Kirk--Peter. Can you show me what your Ghidorah looks like?"

If Sisko expected a hand-initiated meld of some kind, he was to be proven wrong. Peter Kirk merely nodded---and Sisko saw.

Sisko found himself aboard a Constitution-Class Starship. Beside him was Captain Robert April.

"George? George? I asked you, whether or not they came up with a name for your first grandson yet."

Ben responded as George Samuel Kirk, Senior. He was First Officer of The USS Constitution itself. The year was 2255.

"Bobby--give me a break. The brat's not even mewling, yet. Neither The Doctor nor my nutty ex have had a chance to slap him."

Sisko noticed that he was wearing an insulated uniform. April nodded.

"Its good to have an XO who's willing to get his hands dirty, doing board work on this rickety Bridge. Now, Mister Kirk, the dustbunnies await your tender---"

"Captain---sensors are picking up something---undefinable."

Sisko grabbed a look at the telescoping device, and had to fight back the urge to simply run off with this beautiful relic.

"George--what are we up against?"

The ship's shields rocked.

"Bobby--this is big!"

Chapter Two - Dragon And Lair

Still himself and still George Kirk as well, Sisko watched Captain Robert April take his own look at the sensor readings. Being both men, Ben knew certain things.

The Robert April of his own universe had retired a Commodore, with full honors.

The Robert April of this other universe had run afoul of a group of powerful, bigoted Admirals in a place called Admiralty Hall. His career's end consisted of commanding The USS Constitution, the line-ship for that venerable class, albeit when that ship was almost ready to be made scrap. His First Officer, the man Sisko currently was seen as, was most vocal in his opposition to the building of Admiralty Hall. His career track bore the scars of that choice.

In this, George Kirk and Benjamin Sisko were of one mind, time and reality aside. Having dealt with 'Nechayev The Negotiator' and 'Just Obey Jellico', Sisko shuddered at the thought of a social club where Admirals sat around and agreed with one another. He couldn't imagine Admirals becoming any more isolated than they already were, at times. Starfleet tradition dictated that the rawest cadet learned in the same complex as the people who made the big choices. That this had been betrayed around 2220 told Sisko far more about this other realm than any history book could have. It was as the Prophets had described it, a kind of funnel reality, a place where bad will and bad possibilities went. Certain other things were evident, as well. When the young man called Peter Kirk had spoken of being used as a psionic transmitter, his voice nearly broke. Apparently, that had not been the only manner in which he was used.

Captain April finished looking.

"George, that thing can't be organic. You mean to tell me that our little search for Vulcania colony has yielded up the largest sentient ever recorded?"

Another odd reference. Sisko couldn't recall what the purpose of the so-called Vulcanian Expedition was, but he was certain it had nothing to do with any Roanoke-like lost colony.

"Well, Bobby, I guess we'll just do a diagn...."

Suddenly, every panel on The Bridge--and it sounded like every board on the ship--exploded with a hellish fury. Men and women were erased where they stood. April's burned body fell back in his chair. Only Sisko's insulated uniform protected him from the onslaught. Ben said his thoughts out loud.

"Something just took out a working Constitution-Class Starship and killed its crew, all in one shot."

Despite himself, Ben thought of Vid Night, back on Utopia Planitia, after Wolf 359. Whenever Shelby saw Ghidorah, and the blatantly phony shots of people running and screaming in the ancient Toho vids, she would stand and shout.

"Help--save me from the bad prop and worse plot!"

But the gigantic tails that Sisko saw dart just past the edge of the rounded screen hinted well that this was no bad prop--- and that the plot was one worthy of Kafka, King, and Kaliearn.

"Computer--reduce mag----"

At the same time his thoughts reminded him of his time and place, Ben was adjusting the helm/nav console to meet his needs. The view panned back. Then, he wished it hadn't. Sisko said one word.

"Ghidorah."

From one point of view, it was a magnificent obscenity. If the creature in the old vids was at best 125 Meters--this one was closer to a Megameter, in total diameter. The wingspan alone could bat back the Dominion fleet that destroyed the Bajor he knew, merely by flexing.

"I never understood what the hell those poor extras were screaming about."

What if they weren't extras, thought Sisko? What if you were living on pre-Cosmic Earth, in the 1960's, and you saw this....monster? He remembered the mercifully brief appearance of Rumplestilskin on the destroyed DS9. Perhaps reality and fantasy shared a relationship like time and space.

He now saw the three heads. Gold and King. Silver and Mecha. Grey and Death. It was a piece of art that somebody somewhere had built to kill and displace the Universe. It was no wonder that Peter Kirk took offense at Sisko's casual characterization of the creature. The massive neck and cranial appendages were not undulating, like the New Year's Dragon of the old vids. Their movements more resembled orbits. Circles of pure death.

"Well, I'm not giving in."

Again, George and Ben were of one mind. Working all the remaining consoles, he coaxed the distant warp-engines--still hard-wired to Bridge controls in this era--back to life. He then slaved all available power into one last potential burst, while the behemoth was still motionless.

"Just lie there, Threeskull. Please just keep lying there, like a good little dragon."

Finally, he had it. Jury-rigging a switch, he prepared to move the shattered hulk like a divine solar wind.

"Time-Warp Factor Four---Now----"

But as the once-great ship began to lurch forward, the titan sprang to hideous life. The gray head turned, and fully charged, fired its green beam. The gold head--was smiling, like Gul Dukat must have been as DS9 was taken, earlier in the war. Sisko fumed.

"You son of a bitch! You allowed me to make my repairs--so I would build up false hopes----DIIIIIIIIEEEE!!!!"

But it was George Samuel Kirk who died, that day. It was December 8, 2255. An hour before his death---George had become a grandfather. Sisko beheld a great city, and saw a migration of fallen souls to this necropolis. A small boy welcomed George to his new home.

That boy, now a man, summoned Sisko back to his time and place.

"Apologies, Commodore. But you and my grandfather were more alike than I could have imagined. The personality merger was significant." Sisko was wiping away a single tear. He looked at Peter Kirk.

"He wanted to meet you, so very badly."

Young Kirk smiled.

"He did, sir. It was for him I built The City. And he was merely the first I welcomed into my garden."

Ben began to regain himself. A thought came to mind.

"Are you two--in your capacity as The Rock--the subjects of any kind of veneration?"

Peter went stiff again, at that. So did Saavik. David Marcus was at a complete loss for words. Bariel Menos took over, then.

"Emissary--our native realm has undergone several kinds of madness, of late. Refugees, fleeing both Ghidorah and the so-called Planet-Killer, are crashing into each other, trying to escape when there is no escape. The Pagh-Wraith Cult here was absorbed by Ghidorah--body and soul. Desperate for answers, the hope-starved have begun to directly worship The Rock---a thought that greatly disturbs both husband and wife, whose faiths teach against such idolatry. In some cases---that worship is enforced."

In a very gentle gesture, Sisko placed his opened palm on Saavik's pregnant belly.

"It can get to be a real pain. They expect you to have all the answers. And sometimes you even do. But their faith is so very important. Figure out a way to help them deal with their pain."

The young Vulcan shocked The Commodore by smiling quite openly.

"We shall, sir. And thank you."

Sisko hit his combadge.

"Defiant-Enterprise-suggest the senior staff of both crews beam down. We have some unique visitors, down on this New Bajor."

"O'Brien here, Commodore. We have some company up here, too. Estimate 12 hours to the arrival of two fleets. One of them is Dukat's Prime Order. The other is Federation-based---but largely without identification."

Peter Kirk now spoke up.

"That would be Section 31, if I know my alternates. Commodore, are they any better here?"

Ben shrugged.

"Better, Peter--is a quite relative term. Suffice it to say--I'm no more anxious to see them than you."

The extended membership of two great crews beamed down. Captain Kirk of The Enterprise-A gasped at seeing Doctor Marcus.

"David--you're alive?"

Odo's eyes narrowed.

"Not for long, he's not!"

His intent quite murderous, The Last Changeling moved to avenge his fallen people.

Chapter Three - Family And Faces

Odo's right hand formed into a great axe. Before him, standing dumbfounded, was Doctor David Marcus, one of the prime developers of the Genesis technology that had ended The Dominion War by wiping The Founders away.

Lost on him was the fact that David Marcus was 90 years dead, and that this young man was his counterpart from another quantum universe. No, like many a good constable pushed too far, Odo saw only the man who killed his family.

No one could react.

Sisko didn't even have time to regret not foreseeing this near-inevitable reaction by Odo.

James Kirk was in a frozen hell, about to watch his son die again, because of another alien who wanted unjust, blind vengeance on a Federation that had dared to defend itself. Although he would never place Odo in Kruge's class, Captain Kirk would kill him for this, just the same.

Even if not registering Kirk or his probable response, Kira Nerys screamed as the axe began its downward arc. Odo would not just be ending his life, but condemning his soul to walk with the Pagh Wraiths for all eternity.

All had their thoughts--and none of them mattered one wit, for the axe found its mark. That mark, however, had a guardian archangel. Odo's substance shattered upon reaching David. As he painfully reformed, the glowing eyes of Peter Kirk told it all.

"Leave My Little Brother Alone!"

Despite the danger to herself, and his past efforts to push her away, Kira went and held the shaking Odo. He was near to either a breakdown or a breakthrough, and she just couldn't tell which. She briefly glared at Peter, til she realized that he could easily have destroyed the shapeshifter, and chose not to.

"I had a brother once, so I understand. But he's been through so much. If I have to beg you for his life, I will."

Peter's eyes stopped glowing, and he shook his head.

"You don't. My wife and I know all about pain, and what it can drive you to."

David Marcus now raised his hand.

"Do I have to beg to find out why this--- guy wanted to kill me?"

The tragedy averted, Captain Kirk now stepped forward, and took the hand of the man who was and was not his son.

"David--this--our universe has seen its own share of battering, recently. Constable Odo's people, who were The Founders Of The Dominion, conquered The Federation. We won back our freedom at a very high cost. That price not only included lives but ethics, as well."

Marcus's own psionics were coming online, now. Those, context and intuition told him the rest.

"Genesis. You used Genesis to wipe away another sentient species!"

"David---"

"My God! This is my worst nightmare made real! Plowshare into sword, though, right, Dad? The military way? Wait a minute---I'm long dead, here, right? Who did you get that knew Genesis well enough to--------"

Kirk wouldn't meet his gaze. But the answer was an easy one. David nodded.

"Mom. In your mind, I can see the ice that replaced her soul. Heh. She still blamed you, for me. Couldn't have been matriarchal manipulation or stubbornness, could it Carol? No. It must have been the father he knew for five seconds. You people. You got desperate, and-and you did just what Odo here, did. You replaced your right hand with an axe. Do any of you even have souls anymore?"

An unexpected voice followed David's.

"Shut up, young man---because I can guarantee, you have not the slightest idea what you're talking about."

To the shock of all, most certainly Kira, the one shushing Doctor Marcus was Odo himself. But David continued.

"Don't I? It was my device that was corrupted into a tool of genocide."

"And it was my people who were destroyed by that tool. But before you go off on a political tirade, maybe you better hear some facts, first."

Catching Peter's nod, David decided to acquiesce.

"All right--I'm listening."

Odo appeared to clear his throat, a sure sign of his nerves on this matter.

"If my people had merely been conquerors, even slightly totalitarian ones, I might well have joined them. Nog's uncle could attest to the fact that I have a mania for order. I am of my people--I can't change that. But from the first day I found them--something was wrong. They told me that all they wanted was to have the Gamma Quadrant free of Alpha Quadrant powers. Yet, even then, I thought about how they had destroyed a large Federation starship, not three months before. People who want to demonstrate their power and be left alone disable starships. That action should have told me everything. But I thought surely they would settle. They had the Gamma Quadrant. But then they wanted the Wormhole. They wanted the sectors surrounding the wormhole. They wanted to conquer all the solids, to make certain of their security. They lied to me, and I lied to myself."

No one stopped him, so Odo continued.

"Genocide. It was always about genocide. It was never not about genocide. They didn't want a secured universe. They wanted a-----"

The young Vulcan called Saavik Kirk caught the eye of Captain Spock as she finished Odo's trailing words.

"A Cleansed Universe. That was the motto of The Order, on all the various worlds where it once existed. Ghidorah would come, they would say, and spare only them. So far--an empty promise."

Odo nodded.

"Bigots are the same life-form, no matter where they thrive. Doctor Marcus, my people had decided long ago that everyone else didn't matter--that the death of all solids was not only desirable, but required. That the betrayals of old made like behavior acceptable on their part. Had they been thwarted, they could have been nudged back into the light. But victorious, they moved forward to begin their sick cleansing. My pain over their passing is enormous. Equally large, though, is my pain over their actions. They didn't deserve to be wiped away. But I know--perhaps as no other being does--it was the only way to stop what they were doing. That is my dichotomy. That is my life."

David considered his words.

"Then I guess it really was Genesis. Life snatched back from potential lifelessness. I'm sorry for my speech-making--but I can not and will not celebrate this. It cuts way too close. Pete--when we get back--I'll allow Genesis to be used against Ghidorah--but then I'm gonna destroy it. No one should have this kind of power."

But Sisko objected to this thought.

"Doctor--those vids I mentioned? Not all of them were silly. The very first one was quite grim. In it, a scientist who built the weapon that beat the monster destroyed his notes and then comitted suicide, to ensure his device would never be used again. But in your universe--I can think of at least one piece of barren rock that could use rebirth. We used to call it Bajor."

Peter Kirk looked at David.

"Think about it, little brother. If we make it through this war, a lot of planets will benefit from what you created."

While Marcus pondered this, Captain James Kirk took note of something.

"That's the second time you've called him little brother. Isn't Sam your father?"

Peter realized that everyone there potentially had quite a bit to explain, and not much time to do it in. So he developed a plan.

 "Captain Kirk--there are tons of information we have to impart--that all of us have to, if we're to protect Bajor. In order to save us the time needed for those basic exchanges, may I suggest using my telepathy?"

This young man who looked so much like himself was just full of surprises, thought James Kirk. But Spock spoke before he could respond.

"Young man--a group meld is a terribly intimate thing. In addition, it may take us hours to sort through the thinnest layers of what we have learned."

Peter wondered what need existed in the Spocks he knew, that it became necessary for him to slap down his every idea. Saavik wondered if every Spock was equally afraid of the word 'intimate'.

"Understood, Captain Spock. But I have been trained in the art of Ku'n Lu'n Rn'dCag--the outward sweep. In short, any information that you would not want someone else to know will remain private. Conversely, anything you wish them to know or are indifferent about will be said, as though in a conversation."

Spock nodded, partly in realization.

"That art--is a proprietary one. Belonging only to members of my family. Then your teacher in the mental arts was Sarek. Captains--everyone. I believe this will be for the best."

Sisko nodded.

"I've seen what these young people are up against--and I trust them. In any event--they posses the power to force us, or to simply do what they please. With no objections--let's do this."

There were none, and so Peter Kirk began. Beginning, he saw.

He saw a Peter who grew distant from his uncle. He saw a Saavik who was not a daughter to either Captain, almost a footnote in their long history. He saw David Marcus die, and was not surprised to see Kruge's hand directing the d'tahk that took his life. He saw, as he had in other realities, the miserable launch of the Enterprise-B. He saw three friends in despair. He saw Captain Kirk in a meaningless limbo, til he was given one last chance to make a difference--a last chance that wasn't his last. Peter struggled to hold back his scream when he saw exactly who headed up the always elusive Section 31.

And Spock saw. He saw a version of himself that turned away from his own child, and choked inwardly. He saw a Sarek keeping his coherence but struggling with full emotion. He almost smiled to see Amanda as she always was, Mother and keeper of that place called home. Shockingly, he saw a daughter, disgusted by a Vulcan worse by far than the one of his own childhood, make the choice to follow her human blood.

And Kira saw. She saw a Bajor that had been weeks away, not only from Ghidorah, but from the first Cardassian 'trade mission', the one that later declared it needed protection from Bajoran radicals. The one that never left, and kept needing more Cardassian soldiers for its protection. The beginnings of both The Occupation and The Resistance, as the tragic figure of Gul Damand worked against his people to help Bajor learn to fight back. She viewed the restored Bajor, and began to cry. If this new world didn't have a shrine to the Two Who Were The Rock, she would have to erect one.

And Worf saw. He saw his grandfather, Kach'rn Worf, named Ch'dch Kth'n, second to The Rock--a vital link in the coming battle with Ghidorah. He envied Peter Kirk for having so great a foe to battle. But then his heart nearly stopped. Because Ezri Dax saw. Saw Trill wiped away, and not even by Ghidorah or the Planet-Killer. By a tertiary disaster. She reached out to one who, in another life, had been her heart.

"Worf--life is so damned sweet."

And Worf, watching Mighty Q'onos fall, agreed. One Hundred Cruisers---enough concentrated power to incinerate the entire Cardassian Legatorium from a distance--fell like toys before the beast. He would tell this to Martok. The story would merely put Gowron in one of his moods. hey had died as Klingons, but yet they had all died.

And Saavik saw. Saw the family she knew repeatedly drift apart, only to come together again and again. With interest, she saw the fractious family of what was Deep Space Nine. Their rough-and-tumble way of living and loving seemed far closer to her own life. That they had all nearly lost everything confirmed this for her.

And Bashir saw. He had always thought the treatment of children in his world was cold and dismissive. But to see it as bad as it got in this realm of The Ancient Destroyer made him boil. The cold thin hands that held him down as a boy while he was supposedly raised up contrasted harshly with those sweaty, meaty hands that held Peter Kirk down as he was raped.

And Captain Kirk saw. He saw himself, as a battered child, somehow emerging to become the man he still knew. He saw four sons--and a daughter. He'd always wanted a little girl, and Saavik was that playful, wonderful little angel that never failed to bring a smile to his face. Two sons stood before him. One died as an infant. One died corrupted and evil beyond measure. One, utterly brilliant, lived while his mother, a beautiful but difficult woman, died. The first son, though---a being---a being. Just a being. The One.

And they all saw. The War, asked O'Brien---what has it truly cost us? The War, Marcus asked---how badly did we set ourselves up for it? The hates, the deceptions? The menace was coming. We saw the signs. We knew we weren't ready. All our ruthless tactics barely scratched them, and flew back hard at us. We didn't just lose people, or worlds. We lost ourselves.

In the midst of it all stood Bareil Menos.

"Hear me, brothers and sisters. Let this day be one of celebration. Let this Bajor become a funnel between realms. One world has been spared, twice over. The hate which created Ghidorah. The hate which spurred The Founders. Both are defeated, merely by our living. You Bajora here have kept the best of us alive, with your friends. You Champions have delivered us from evil, and yours is the power and the glory to defeat Death itself. We have the Prophets' bright blessing, and for now, we are together, heart and hand."

All necessary information imparted, and with their souls recharged, Peter ended the outward sweep. Many were near to swooning. Some were caught as they stumbled by yet more visitors. Captain Kirk knew the regal man who caught him.

"You and I, Jim--have a great deal to discuss. But I am glad that you are back, for it has obviously made all the difference."

The people with Admiral Picard were not just his crew. They were HIS crew. By hook and by crook, he had reassembled them, however temporarily. A look passed between the many leaders in the chamber. Perhaps the time had come to do politically what Peter Kirk had done in his native universe, by way of explosives. The Command needed a change, and they would be the ones to bring it about.

But perhaps those plans now had a major obstacle.

"Hail, Hail, The Gang's All Here! But what the hell do I care?"

Picard gasped. So did Peter. So did Bashir. The intruder nodded.

"You've all guessed at my existence. Now, meet yours truly--the secret head of Section 31."

The man had obviously undergone transporter regeneration. But all native to that world had glimpsed him, never making the connection. Bashir spoke.

"Mister Sloan's supposedly fictional superior. The man known only as 'The Rock'."

The spymaster smiled.

"Peter James Kirk---at your service."

Bashir knew him.

While Sloan accused, cajoled, and first attempted to recruit him, the young man was a guard, a chair-mover--a jester, but never a king.

Picard knew him.

When Ro Laren, among others, returned to his service, he had been a face in a crowd of new officers. He was the one you could never find, the one that neither the order-barking Geordi, the gregarious Riker, nor the friend-seeking Mister Crusher ever went near, or sought out.

Captain James Kirk knew him. He was the image of the Captain's brother, which was to say his own image. But not, apparently, his likeness in mind and spirit. When Kirk had been revived by Section 31, questions raced through his mind. If they can travel through time, he asked, why me? Why not Garth, before he went mad? Chris, before he was crippled? Hell, after he was crippled, considering modern tech. His was hardly the only worthy name in the long history of Starfleet. Why had 31 chosen him to violate the Temporal Prime Directive?

Part of the answer lay in the relative ease of erasing Picard's memories of the event. Part of the answer was even blood simpler : Because they could. But he had seen a face, in those fuzzy memories that he caused Jellico to suspect were so clear. A face he thought could not be there. A face he thought sure was the result of his pain and rehab. Except that it was not.

Peter Claudius Kirk knew him. With the exception of sandy brown hair, and the lack of Vulcanoid-influenced angularization of his facial features, the face of the secret head of Section 31 was one he had seen all his life. In The Mirror. That face was his own.

Peter James Kirk, 'The Rock' to whom Sloan and all the others reported, looked around at The Vedek Assembly chamber like it was his own domain.

"I guess we could call this Beta Squared, eh Unc?"

Captain Kirk looked at the other Peter, the one he knew to be a hero. A skeptical look passed between the two.

"How do I know you're my nephew? You could be anyone."

PJ nodded.

"Anyone except a shapeshifter, that is. Pity about them. Really wish we could have found another way, Constable."

Odo was even more skeptical.

"My morphogenic field bleeds for you."

PJ Kirk stopped smiling.

"I mean it. Literally. By the time we encountered your people, we should have been at a position of such strength, that The Odyssey would have been able to withdraw, basically intact. We then could have granted them the Gamma Quadrant til they were ready to behave. As it stood, the loss of a working Galaxy-Class was an invitation to dance---if those Vorta planners ever danced. Which I doubt."

His words drew a response from Picard.

"You speak of strength. To some, that word is suspect. The very worst have used that word to disguise terrible evils."

Captain Kirk resisted glaring at Picard for that, wondering again when strength became something they were supposed to be ashamed of.  But PJ surprisingly, did not gainsay Admiral Picard in this.

"You are correct, sir. But I most pointedly do not speak of the 'strength' to overrun borders or Neutral Zones, or to put any species narrow concerns over others."

Finally, PJ's counterpart asked the question.

"I don't like riddles. In my battle against Ghidorah and his followers, I've played more guessing games than I care to talk about. So just what in the hell are you talking about?"

PJ smiled at his slightly younger counterpart, pulled back his fist and socked him in the jaw. Peter Kirk did not flinch. PJ did, rubbing his hand.

"No, no--don't tell me---You Are The Rock. Owww."

Gathering himself, PJ nodded.

"Okay, kid. You want the answer?"

He pointed at Geordi LaForge.

"That man and another friend of his were almost lost to an alien reproductive spore on a world called Tarchanea Four. Four other friends were lost. Did their souls leave their body when that happened? Or was their humanity buried in a deep, irretrievable hell?"

Captain Data noticed his friend shudder, to be reminded of all that, and so spoke up.

"Director Kirk--as the saying goes, this has what to do with the price of tea in Greater Asia Province?"

PJ Kirk shook his head.

"Nothing, Captain--per se. The Tarchaneans were merely propagating their species, with no more malevolence than a gnat bites at your skin. But they lead to a point. Captain Riker---what about that game you brought back from Risa? That oh-so addictive game?"

Riker bristled.

"If you have a question about my loyalty..."

"No, Captain. My successor may. Actually she does. About everyone here. But you were bamboozled, free and clear, plain and simple. We slammed the Ktarians hard for that, afterwards. Risa is supposed to be Holy Ground against such ventures. Oh, and Admiral Picard? In your report after The Game was done with -- you made a Freudian slip. I fail to see how getting Lieutenant Crusher here off the ship would get things back to normal, when he was not the one who started the troubles."

Despite his past disgrace, the young Traveler had a tinge of 'Oh, Yeah?' in his eyes as he looked at a suddenly sheepish Picard. Sisko broke the spell.

"Is there a point to all this? And just what do we have to do to make you turn your fleet around?"

PJ kept his calm, as seemed his wont.

"Patience, Commodore. Yes, there is a point. The Ktarians. The Satarrans. The Ferengi, once upon a time, apologies to Mister Nog. The pathetic Pakleds, for God's sake. Once, seeing a Starfleet ship meant letting us go about our business of exploring. But The Aldeans wanted our children. The Satarrans decided we should fight their wars for them. Informed of The Prime Directive, people who were little better than drug dealers laughed at The Federation. Now, in all those instances, we prevailed. But as time went on, our enemies became bolder still. If we had had a single Tal Shiar on our payroll, I can guarantee that Sela would never have breathed on Commander LaForge."

He had them listening, and so continued.

"An invincible Starfleet is a pipe dream, of course--and perhaps even an undesirable one. But when did we become a side of beef, or a salt lick? They aren't animals--they are other sentient species. We take pains to remember that even those most different from us have potentially infinite worth. So why do they nibble at us, growing hungrier with each pass? Some things are the cost of doing business--the interaction between species making contact. But others?"

PJ turned to Nog.

"Mister Nog--based on your own understanding of our two cultures, would you say that early on, there were a few incidents that crossed the line?"

At a nod from Sisko, Nog answered.

"Well, sir--the only two where I feel the Federation has a 100 percent legitimate gripe are the seizure of The Enterprise-D by Daimon Lurin, and the interference in the war games that I read of by another ship. Both instances stretch well beyond the limits of the Book Of Opportunities in The ROA, and no familial concerns were in play, either."

PJ Kirk nodded.

"Exactly. But those Daimons knew--Starfleet could be messed with, with limited loss of profit. Starfleet has never been about door-kicking. But somewhere, somewhen, someone got the idea that it was all right to kick in our door. Its my intention to open the other door--the one where Starfleet policy is debated and created by its Captains, and not by isolated Five-Pips in hardened bunkers, in Sector 001. Will it be perfect? Hell, no. But ever since 31 seized the reins, and started making these secret deals to create a surface paradise, debate has been stifled. Stamped down."

Captain Spock felt a natural break in the spymaster's speech, and so pointed out his apparent contradiction.

"Peter--you speak of Section 31's pernicious influence--and yet you are, for all intents and purposes, the very embodiment of Section 31."

PJ again did not totally disagree.

"Captains and Sirs--I became leader of 31 after the C was lost, in 2345. I had been an operative since Jim's funeral. I left for a time, when it seemed possible that certain forces within 31 caused the 'accident' on the B's launch."

James Kirk suddenly started.

"Are you saying that 31 was responsible for my apparent death?"

PJ shrugged.

"Impossible to tell, Uncle Jim. Much like the American CIA after John Kennedy, its possible that 31 wanted people, including myself, to think that they were."

McCoy nodded.

"That--I'll buy. Why actually stage an accident to scare people when you can just claim credit for a very real one that already looks damned suspicious? Go and puff yourself up on people's paranoia. Spies or witch doctors--you decide. Jim, when we lost you--we had some thoughts, to be sure."

Jim nodded.

"So, apparently, did 31. PJ--why did you go back, if you had those doubts?"

PJ looked at Worf.

"We uncovered evidence that the Romulan successes against Klingon colonies were the result of a collaborating House--House Ja'rod. Since this meant Romulan involvement in Klingon affairs--not to mention the treaty negotiations--I saw the need to intervene. By systematically blowing up every Klingon vessel crossing the Romulan border--we cut House Ja'rod's throat. The Alliance was allowed to be born--likely with the blood of innocents."

Worf nodded.

"Many more of whom would have died, otherwise. I had long wondered about the failure of Duras family in this matter, and if there were other levels to it. My compliments. Especially because there were no Klingon vessels legally crossing the border, then."

The other Peter Kirk, the Champion, spoke next.

"So for that they made you Head of their organization? A neat accomplishment, but I would have been damned suspicious of their intentions."

His wife, Saavik, followed up.

"Section 31--has no leader, does it? A figurehead, meant to answer Council questions. But the agents are truly the free rogues that many have accused Uncle Jim of being. Many, doubtless, with their own agendas."

PJ again gave it up.

"I realized my position quickly. I told my second to get me a list of malcontents, people who weren't team players--and I made them my team. 31 did not become the province of Angels. But for the first time since Nogura's day, they were doing what they were supposed to : Supporting and Spying. Chiefly, I focused less on unreliable info that we got from other powers and more on keeping our own safer. A matter of degree, but the other powers were finding out a lot more about us than we were about them. Then, came The Borg."

Picard made the leap.

"You were countermanded?"

"By my own people, Admiral. Many of whom I trained. They got to certain reactionary members of The Federation Council before me. My notion was to seek our farthest borders and have a Wolf-like stand on the farthest edges of the Alpha Quadrant. But they saw the chaos as an opportunity. Hence, Wolf 359. Section 31 wanted that behemoth within our borders."

David Marcus said what his siblings would not.

"Wow. Deja Vu."

PJ looked over.

"I'm sorry I never met you. I lost both my brothers on Deneva 3. Anyway, after that debacle, they were discredited but not down. So I found out about Captain Scott, and he and I developed the transporter regeneration."

Captain Kirk looked over.

"Scotty--you knew about him?"

The Engineer shrugged.

"Sir--just where did you think I got the means to find--let alone fully refit--The A?"

But Captain Kirk nodded.

"That cost you, didn't it? You spoke of a successor. A new figurehead? Paranoid about loyalty? Who is it, PJ?"

Picard felt his stomach tighten.

"Norah Satie. The perfect mouthpiece for a secretive organization that wants a free hand. Director Kirk--is it her fleet?"

"She's at the head of it, Admiral. Almost literally a figurehead. Sloan's group currently holds the majority--for how long, though--for how long, is anyone's guess."

Sisko bit his lip, but then said the plain truth.

"Three ships cannot hold back that fleet, Director. Unless you have a plan."

"I do, Commodore. By the way, in case you were wondering why they were headed here--its to restart a certain failed experiment, having to do with other universes. They want to arrest you all, and quarantine New Bajor. Now, I could ask our three young Psis here to intervene, but power readings suggest that they'll soon be headed home, and its a dangerous precedent, to boot. So--all I need is an unblockable Comm signal."

Captains Scott, O'Brien and LaForge all raised their hands.

"That, lad--would be us."

The Three Engineers quickly worked out a warp-powered Communications relay that would allow PJ Kirk to say his peace.

Captain Kirk asked the other Peter a question.

"You're a telepath. Is he on the up and up?"

"Definitely a spy, Captain. But on your side, you'll see."

"Good. By the way--tell the other Jim he has one hell of a kid."

"We all do what we have to, sir."

Finally, the link was made. PJ spoke.

"Norah, Honey? How's every little Inquisition?"

A voice colder than even Picard remembered it spoke.

"I don't converse--with traitors!"

"Sloan--you up there, you wacky fella, you?"

"There's still a place for you here, sir. Even if we've excised all your voice commands. Is that what this link is about?"

"Voice, shmoice. Voices come and go. Words are eternal. Words like---oh--- BETA!!!!"

On board Defiant, the results were quickly seen.

"Captain O'Brien---The 31 fleet--just vanished."

Down below, Miles was skeptical.

"Gone to Cloak?"

"No, sir--just gone. No explosions, no nothing."

All looked to PJ.

"Well, I guess I'm permanently out of a job. That was a lot of 31's personnel."

Jim Kirk shook his head.

"But Beta--failed. We never found an appropriate evac universe."

PJ shook his head.

"Not--quite true, sir. We found two. One already had a Starfleet-In-Exile, run by Admiral Uhura. The other one--was the one she and her people fled. Right about now--Sloan, Natie, and all the rest of the hardcore should be facing a Romulan fleet that has absolute control of The Alpha Quadrant--with their Beta initiatives slagged, and their entry signatures ribboned through the local Nexus."

Spock looked up.

"Then that only leaves Gul Dukat's so-called Prime Order. It was ingenious, PJ--your use of vocal inflection to initiate Beta. To stop you, they would have had to excise both word and tone of voice--a challenge I would not relish."

PJ nodded at Spock, and looked at Jim.

"Need a good Security Officer?"

"We'll talk--about a lot of things."

Deanna Troi, silent throughout all of this--now spoke.

"Dukat's fleet is near--and I can feel Bajorans, as a willing part of it."

Colonel Kira, who had been transfixed on the man who was her Bariel's good twin, nodded grimly.

"The Pagh Wraith cult swelled after the Prophets left us, for a time. If I were a bettor, I'd say her former Eminence is up there with him."

A transport beam struck Saavik Kirk, and she vanished, looking at her husband.

"Peter!"

"Saavik!"

Peter Kirk stopped. PJ looked at his counterpart.

"Why aren't you going after her? You must be rested enough for that."

Peter smiled.

"She's one of the two most powerful beings in this universe. She'll be fine."

"Signal from The Cardassian Fleet."

A familiar voice of angry doom spoke out.

"This is Royar Dukat. The invasion of this new ripe fruit, and all of the appropriate arrests and slaughter will begin right after we folk settle some religious business."

As Kira had foretold, the voice of Winn Adami was next.

"This woman stands charged with the most hideous and inconceivable of crimes--the murder of our Gods, The Pagh Wraiths. They showed her image before they passed forever away. So it is that she and her unborn child will die in a ceremony meant to raise them back up. You heathen, now know your fate!" As all stood and listened, including Ro Laren. She spoke to David Marcus.

"Excuse me--am I to understand that a pregnant Vulcan from another universe has killed the Gods Of Evil and is now about to be punished for it by our own fallen Kai?"

David nodded.

"Yeah. But Saavik's tough. Pete would be on them in a heartbeat if they could really threaten her."

Ro fought off laughter, but not a smile.

"May we live in interesting times...."

Chapter Four - Happy Moments

Sisko was blunt with the other universe's Peter Kirk.

"Young man, I don't think you quite realize what it is you're up against. Your pregnant wife has just been kidnapped by two of the most ruthless people I've ever met. Yet--you don't seem at all worried. Dukat and Winn...."

Peter interrupted him.

"....Are bugs, Commodore. My wife could take apart that entire ship, without her powers, and while entering labor. If I intervened now, she'd hit me."

Vedek Winn Kosar, silent until now, stood up at that.

"Behold, The Cuckolded Champion, who fears his own wife! I swear, this new era needs the loins of true men to bring women back where they belong!"

The Rock's eyes glowed, and Winn Kosar appeared before him.

"Vedek Winn--do you want your passport revoked?"

The haughty man shrugged.

"What passport, weakling?"

"Winn--shut up now, or I'll transport you to Vulcan."

"Do so---I fear not the sands of another world."

Bariel Menos nodded at Peter.

"Vedek Winn--we have seen the sins of your children. The Prophets warned us that we had to change when we came here, or die. Do you truly choose this exile?"

"To maintain a true Bajor, yes. Send me away from this fool who wields power over all but his own woman."

In a flash of light, he vanished. Picard allowed a smile when he saw this.

"Normally--I despise such tactics--but now he can be Jellico's headache, at that new Hall he's so arrogantly put up."

Sisko and Peter Kirk both felt their blood run cold. Peter spoke.

"Admiral--what Hall is this Jellico putting up?"

Picard saw the looks, and of course grew concerned.

"Is there one in your universe? Here, Lieutenant, the Admirals make their choices in the same complex as learns the rawest cadet. This--Admiralty Hall seems a betrayal. A place where the Command-- sometimes-isolated--may quickly become the always-isolated."

PJ Kirk, once head of Section 31, looked over at his counterpart.

"Pete--is this how it started, in your place?"

The Rock nodded, though oddly he still showed no concern over his wife.

"I can meld with you, pretty safely. You want it all?"

"Depends. The era of 31 is over, or I intend to make it so. Will I be free to share what I learn with everyone else?"

"Yes."

"Then do it."

Each witnessed a series of tumultuous lifetimes. Too many events to even begin to speak upon. So only a few words, the very same words, were spoken when the meld was done.

"I Know You Did Your Best."

Admiral Picard asked two things.

"Should we contact Vulcan, to see if that rude Vedek made his way? And what precisely does the construction of Admiralty Hall potentially portend?" Captain James Kirk answered one question.

"It means, Jean-Luc--that our blustering talk of a coup just took on new and more real-world dimensions. I only hope that what I fear is just the result of ancient thinking."

"I fear not, Jim. I may have, in a moment of stupidity, called you a cowboy. But now, those spurs, and those revolvers, and those horses are all quite necessary. Luckily I have my own saddle."

Kirk shrugged.

"Who doesn't?"

Sisko looked about nervously, then remembered.

"I do have that Gucci one someone gave me, when I boarded DS9."

Peter Kirk now answered Picard's second question.

"As to Winn Kosar---I didn't send him to your Vulcan.........."

 ---------------------------------------------
ANCIENT DESTROYER UNIVERSE

Winn Kosar noticed a great wind.

He looked up.

He saw a great foot, kilometers above him.

He saw little else. He spoke a word.

"Mother!"

 ---------------------------------------------

Bariel Menos nodded at David Marcus.

"Doctor--you are a biophysicist?"

"Among other disciplines. Why, Vedek?"

"We have in our labs, kept in top security here in our Council Complex, a substance we cannot identify--and believe might be sentient. Would you analyze it, while you are still with us?"

David nodded.

"You mean, actually do something instead of just standing here? Lets go!"

Odo noticed Kira staring at Bariel, as he pointed Marcus towards the labs.

"Go to him, Nerys. Good, bad or indifferent, you'll never know until you speak with him--perhaps at length."

"Odo--are you sure?"

"I'm a big boy, Colonel. Besides, I want to talk to David Marcus--make certain he holds no grudge."

So while Kira talked with an awkward burden upon her, Odo followed the man he had tried to kill. In the nearby lab, Marcus was staring dumbfounded at his finding.

"Hey, Odo? You willing to undergo a tricorder reading?"

The once-Constable nodded.

"Certainly. But why?"

Quickly mastering the Bajoran Tricorder, and using his own enhanced senses, Marcus smiled, fit to bust.

"You--better get McCoy and the other two physicians in here. I need independent confirmation of this."

David's enthusiasm was infectious, so Odo quickly fetched McCoy, Bashir, and  Crusher. The findings were quickly confirmed, then re-checked by Crusher, who was the least biased party.

Out in the chamber, odd conversations took place. Peter Kirk talked with a familiar friend whom he had never met before. Wesley Crusher shook his finger.

"I know you! I mean--you and I, specifically, have met. Oh--crap. You're the one who tried to talk me out of performing the Kolvoord Starburst. If I had listened to you---hindsight."

Peter nodded, now realizing how foolish it was to believe that he had traveled into the past of the Wesley he knew from his travels, rather than an alternate like this one.

"Its always twenty-twenty, Wes."

Listening, Nog chimed in.

"You're telling me. I nearly tore Jake's head off, after The Valiant incident. Then I read about you, and Locarno. Turns out Capta---Cadet Watters regarded him as a personal hero, when running Red Squad."

Crusher nodded.

"Doesn't surprise me. I mean, I fell for it, too--big time. But exactly when did The Academy start teaching that loyalty to a single squad superseded things like loyalty to all of Starfleet, and The UFP?"

Peter Kirk responded.

"The Academy is always a boilerplate, and may be run imperfectly. In my reality, they actually instated In Loco Parentis-- appointed Cadet Masters, who were well loved by all--all bullies, that is."

While the three closest to their respective Academy Days chatted, PJ Kirk found himself questioned by Admiral Picard.

"You honestly mean to tell me that a former Chief of 31 will happily serve as a mere security chief aboard a starship?"

PJ shrugged.

"Captain, 31 is either destroyed or severely curtailed--which was my goal, all along. It could do good, like any weapon, but in secret, it had no checks. The time for Section 31 may come again. But it will either be as a last option force, as it once was, or an open admission that we sometimes need such entities. But no more kingmaking. No creation of a false Paradise. In Jim's day--hard, controversial decisions were made in public. It will have to be that way again, at least somewhat. 31's presence allowed us all--sometimes even myself--to believe those times were over. But while nothing ever boiled over, the pot's bottom rotted out."

"You'll excuse me if I choose not to agree with you on some of that. We have moved forward, and I see at least some of our approach as well worth keeping."

PJ agreed.

"Good. Keep thinking that way. Because in the debate that is to come, we'll need to keep all that is right about this era--and you are its very best representative. This isn't the good old days, Captain. Those hopefully haven't occurred yet."

Picard was a bit thrown off that PJ Kirk was not the reactionary he had envisioned, as a former head of the arrogant 31.

"Still, for you to accept the status of a security chief aboard---your uncle's ship. Clever. That has been a lifelong dream of yours, hasn't it?"

PJ looked like a man battling tears behind his eyes.

"Before my final ouster, and their temporary placement of Jellico as figurehead, I was able to restore the greatest man I've ever known to life. I was so inspired by his return, I gave up on 31 forever. Big, bad choices--are made in public. You choose--and then you deal with it. Plus, with my connections--I can try and protect him from any sudden attempts on his life or career. They want him--they'll have to take him in public."

Picard realized that PJ Kirk was a creature of the shadows--who had found his way back to the sunlight. No angel, merely a man like the rest of them, who had lived with false assumptions until he could stand to do so no longer.

If there were an angel among them, Picard mused, it was that other Peter Kirk, the one Deanna had proclaimed to have a near-messianic aura. When Sisko had explained the situation this New Bajor had escaped from, Picard's blood went cold. That any two young people should have to bear so much made him appreciate his remade crew that much more.

Now, an excited Odo emerged with the four Doctors. Kira could feel his joy.

"Everyone--its great news! When Ghidorah wiped away my people in the other realm--one got away!"

Bashir, also joyful at his friend's happiness, held up the container.

"One infant shapeshifter. To be raised and trained by the very best of all Changelings. With the odd bit of help from his friends."

McCoy felt some of his guilt over Genesis Mark Two and The Founders fall away.

"Healthy--strong--and protected. No one is touching this infant. Anyone who tries--will have to go through me."

Since Beverly Crusher had no direct role in the Founders' end, she was less ebullient, but just as happy to see life win out for once.

"Suggest--we don't report this, right away. Our experience with Lal, and Doctor Bashir's mention of the previous infant Changeling tells me that Starfleet likes to rewrite the laws when they get the chance. I don't like saying any of that, mind you. But after a long war, a week's worth of 'Please, Admiral' over subspace has no appeal to me."

Now, Wesley Crusher approached the container.

"Hey, Geordi--can you calibrate for specific quantum signatures? The Traveler in me is screaming anomaly--and not just because of our visitors."

"Sure thing, We---whoa! You're right! Hey, Constable--you know what?"

"No--I'd have to say that I don't."

La Forge smiled.

"This isn't just another shapeshifter. The signatures are a perfect match."

Odo now held the container, in dumb wonder.

"This---is me!"

McCoy nodded.

"Of course, only someone with David's background in amino acids could have spotted the little clues he asked all of us to confirm."

Bashir agreed.

"Especially since this container is of a different configuration than the one that brought our Odo to Bajor."

Odo stared at Marcus.

"Any possible debt, Doctor--is now paid in full. Thank you, David."

David looked at the liquid.

"Tell him about us. In case we don't triumph. Which we may not."

A voice broke through.

"Illogical, brother. Good always triumphs over evil. Did you not know that?"

Peter smiled, for it was Saavik, floating in with a stunned Dukat and Winn Adami, held in front of her. She cast them down, where a waiting Kira and PJ Kirk had them both shackled in moments. Kira looked at Peter.

"Champion--may I have a piece of tape?"

Peter nodded, and it appeared. Kira promptly taped over Dukat's mouth.

"I don't want to hear about---my mother, my father, your father, your children, Ghemor, Bajor, Cardassia, the weather on Ferengenar, how merciful you've been, how nasty you're going to be, Jadzia, how intelligent I am, how intelligent you are, how you respect Commodore Sisko, how you want to kill Commodore Sisko, or about how you romanced my trampy duplicate from the mirror universe. In other words--you have the right to remain silent!"

For once, the look in Dukat's eyes as he was led away was lost and without arrogance. Whether this was Kira or Saavik's doing mattered not a wit to anyone---the master planner had been whipped. Winn Adami said nothing at all, especially when she saw Bariel, like a Dickensian spirit, staring at her.

Their fates left for the future, almost all smiled to see Saavik and Peter kissing.

But not Captain Spock.
 

Secured in his cell, Royar Dukat removed the tape from his mouth, and smiled.

"Adami--aren't these surroundings lovely? Oh, I only wish my people hadn't been so thorough in destroying the original Vedek Chambers. You know, I never had a chance to see them?"

Winn Adami, former Kai and now-former Pah-Wraith worshipper, moped in her cell, now truly a lost soul.

 "Shut up, Dukat. You know, I've waited a long time to say that? Whether as your sworn enemy, partial ally--pawn, whatever. I've always just wanted to say---SHUT UP, DUKAT!! I'd rather listen to Sisko's speeches than your psychotic drivel. We are done. It is done. All of it. I was rejected by one set of gods, failed by another set. There are no gods--so no one created me, and I don't exist. I'm probably just a holo-character in one of those suites. Therefore, I'll just wait for it to power down--and I can happily cease to exist."

Dukat suddenly appeared in front of Winn. Holding his opened, cupped palm in front of her face--he drew out her soul.

"That was always you, Adami. Myself, I've been through several sets of gods. And now--I've finally found one that meets all my exacting criteria."

As the unmourned Kai's body crumbled to ash, Dukat's eyes glowed a familiar red. But not from the banished Pagh Wraiths. For the moment or for eternity, the sheer will of Saavik Kirk had all but erased them. Simply put, there were other evils.

"The Shadows. Flagg. Ahrman. Mephisto. So many universes, so many lovely bidders for my miserable, up-for-grabs soul! But only one was you! Dukat Prevails --- GHIDORAH!!!!!!!"

The madman's flesh began to molt. Guards who lived on a world of piece began to run--and die.

Back in the Vedek Chamber, Captain Spock found that he could stand no more. The public affection between the Peter and Saavik from New Bajor's native realm had come to offend him greatly.

Before he went to speak, though, Commodore Sisko asked a question that forced Spock to consider his own center in this matter, for it was about a far more pressing concern.

"Lieutanant Saavik--what about the Cardassian Fleet?"

Saavik stopped kissing her husband, and came to attention.

"Commodore--they do not have one any longer. I brought you those two, as I though you would want. The rest I sent to their respective homes--and most found that they were quite happy to be there. The fleet itself I merely destroyed, along with the shipyards they came from."

Garak, utterly silent until now, stepped forward.

"My dear--did you just say that you rendered Cardassia a space-less power?"

Saavik nodded.

"Yes."

Garak's eyes shifted.

"What about the many orbital battle platforms?"

Captain O'Brien, leery of any sudden shifts in Garak's mood, questioned his ally.

"What's your concern, Garak? A space-less Cardassia will be a lot easier to take. Ten times as easy without those damned platforms."

"My concern, Chie--Captain, is that a space-less Cardassia will be a lot easier to take---for all concerned. The battle platforms would at least present a deterrent to any new movements from Romulus---"

Garak looked at Worf.

"Or the other great powers."

And Worf chose not to gainsay Garak, simply because Gowron was far too unpredictable to not have concerns about. Saavik shook her head.

"I had not noticed the battle platforms. So they are still there."

The balance in The Alpha Quadrant, however tenuous, remained intact for the moment. As Spock gathered his words, other concerns kept on, as they always do.

Riker turned to Picard.

"Sir--this past week, with all of us back--I don't know if this has been psychologically healthy. We are supposed to leave the nest, at some point."

The weary Admiral nodded.

"I'll admit, some of my--tactics--in netting you all were a trifle on the questionable side. But Will--with Marie gone--you nine are my family. My logic has always been a trifle strained, where that is concerned."

The words were classic Sarek, but then Jean-Luc Picard certainly had the right to use them. Will smiled.

"Yes, sir. But--my worry is, if we don't all go our separate ways, very soon--that we will never be able to do so. Especially since--all of the old tensions are resolved. Geordi and Wes each have, stable, mature, steady--non-holo-- relationships. Deanna and I have talked more openly and deeply than at anytime since Betazed. Data is finally making use of the chip, instead of being ridden by it. Ro seems to have put both guilt and questions behind her. I won't presume on yourself--or anyone else--except to say I've picked up on happiness. The kind of happiness I don't need empathic abilities to sense."

Picard grew wistful.

"You know, right after my first few assignments, but before Stargazer--I had to find a home, on Earth. So guess who I moved in with?"

Riker shrugged, so Picard gave it up.

"Robert. My own brother."

"But--you two---"

"For those two years---we got along famously. No parents to impress, no need to be king of the hill. We knew each other's foibles and flaws. We knew what to talk about, and what not to. When it was done--it all came back. But for that time--I'd have to call it true comfort."

But they both knew that true comfort wasn't enough. Starfleet would never be this fluid again. It was a choice between family and career that had a twist on it none of the veteran crew ever expected to face. But face it they would--in one month's time.

A student traveler who had returned to a desperate Starfleet, making limited use of his nascent powers over time, now walked over to the woman he had always resisted fantasizing about, for how good a friend she had always been.

"Deanna--why are you staring at the two Champions? I mean, I know its unusual for a Vulcan like her to display that kind of behavior, but they really make a cute couple, I think."

Entranced by the Kirks' deep and mutual love, Deanna Troi did not look at Wesley.

"Wes--can you bend time around those two? See their chronal signatures?"

He shook his head.

"No. They're too powerful. Everytime I do--I see wings. Weird, huh?" She lightly brushed his cheek.

"Kid--some people might have resented your presence--I never did. Because, Traveler or no, you always had this way of seeing things. I just hope that, as years pass, we all keep in real contact. Not just in touch. Contact."

He nodded as she left, then whispered to himself about a random thought.

"Oh, yeah. That would have been the wrong thing to say, just then. Twelve years, and she's still---Deanna."

Geordi LaForge saw Data in a stance that usually meant deep calculation.

"All right. I'll bite. What has your positronic brain in granny-square knots?"

"Geordi--I have been calculating the power levels necessary for the transport of alternate Bajors, the destruction of a fleet and shipyards, the other feats we have witnessed, and I have come to this conclusion : The three extradimensional visitors simply cannot possess that kind of power. No humanoid, mainly corporeal sentient could."

Seeing that Scotty was listening in, Geordi smiled.

"Captain Scott--Flight Of The Bumblebee?"

"Aye Geordi--Flight Of The Bumblebee, to be sure."

Data caught on more quickly than he once would have, realizing that they referred to an ancient scientific problem. The laws of physics plainly stated that the bumblebee could not and should not be able to fly, as it was designed. But as the joke went, someone had forgotten to tell the bumblebee.

Odo, still studying the container bearing his infant counterpart, was approached by Colonel Kira Nerys.

"Bariel and his wife are looking forward to having us over for dinner."

The Constable's eyes widened a bit, at that. There would be no repeat of Kira's great romance, here. But he tried to hide his joy at this.

"What else did you discuss?"

"Oh, Post-Occupation Farming Techniques. Since this Bajor has tens of millions of acres of land that was not ruined by the Cardassians, we can make good use of those more efficient techniques. Simply put--this planet can, without choking, absorb not only our evacuated population--but maybe a bit more. Odo--do you remember those refugees who said that Bajor was their promised land? The ones we turned away, six years ago?"

While he knew this to be a sore point with her, Odo acted quickly to deflate this grandiose notion.

"Nerys---I know you were ashamed of your people's stance, on those refugees. But that is a pipe dream, even if they wanted to come back. The differences between Old Bajorans and New are going to be vast enough. Take the caste laws--"

Kira shook her head.

"The Rock has ordered, with the blessing of The Prophets, that those be repealed. But you are right. A planet that has never known divisions not based on birth will suddenly experience them on a very large scale. Bariel wants to create a planetary police force---to keep the peace. But he wants someone that no one can accuse of bias to head it up."

Her look was sheepish, and cute, and Odo was buying none of it.

"Forget it. I Love You. But I am not walking into that mess again. Period."

Kira threw out her ace.

"The Chiefs Of Security--would be immune from extradition--as would members of their family."

Her message was clear. New Bajor would guarantee the legal right of Odo to keep and raise the infant shapeshifter, free of all UFP and Starfleet concerns.

"Chiefs Of Security? As in Plural?"

"Multiple, really. They want Ro Laren, as well. That--I'm not very keen on, but I promised I would ask her. Also--Bariel has discussed appointing a Non-Bajoran as head of a group opening us up to galactic commerce. Someone he described as being immersed in the culture of commerce and profit, and preferably a trifle amoral, to ensure that the pump is primed beyond stoppage."

Odo put his head down.

"Tell me he doesn't expect you to ask Quark."

She smiled nervously.

"Er--no. He--expects--you to ask Quark."

Odo then did the most unexpected thing of all. He began to laugh, and walked off.

Bariel saw this.

"Nerys--is anything wrong? Did Odo agree to our request?"

She gulped.

"He's--thinking it over."

As Sisko watched four civilians beam down from Defiant, he was now glad that O'Brien had defied him. Bringing along his family--not to mention Jake--may have seemed stupid, at the time. But when the base they were all staying at became a prime target of leftover Dominion forces, Commodore Sisko was a very happy man, to have them on board.

"Hi, Dad."

"Jake! How's my---"

"Where's the couple that moved the planet? I have GOT to get their story."

Jake walked over to The Kirks. Sisko waved at his back.

"Good to see you, too, son."

Peter saw Jake Sisko.

"Can I help you?"

"Sure, if you'd just answer a few questions."

Across the way, Captain Kirk gave his counterpart's son a look that said 'get used to it'.

"Sure. Go right ahead....."

But before he could say anything more, the outer chamber doors flew off. A dragon, about 50 feet in all, and with skin that looked somehow Cardassian, burst in.

"COMMODORE!! COLONEL!!! FIRST DIES THE ROCK!!!!! THEN, AS PROMISED,  I SHALL BURN ALL OF BAJORRRRRR!!!!!"

"I Don't Think So."

From an unseen scabbard, Peter Kirk withdrew a long and lustrous sword. In a single motion, he moved across the room, leaped up, and then moved downward, severing the beast's great head. As it fell, the transformation was undone. Kira phasered all of Dukat out of existence, then. She cried a bit for what the man could have been, had hate not eaten him alive. She then kneeled before Peter. For this moment, he did not seem unnerved by it.

"You Are The Rock. You Are The Deliverer. You Are The DragonSlayer."

Admiral Picard was hardly the only one to take note of Peter's sword.

"That--sword. May I see it? Is it what you will use to defeat this Ghidorah?"

Peter handed it over.

"Its just a family heirloom. I've only used it once before. It'll be no help against Ghidorah, though."

Picard inspected it, and saw an inscription. He nearly choked as he handed it back.

"Just---a--family--heirloom?"

Beverly Crusher helped her dear friend sit. He was shaking like a leaf.

"Jean-Luc--for pity's sake, just what did it say?"

He looked at her.

"Beverly--imagine finding the fingerprints of Hercules on the Rock Of Gibraltar. Imagine--Imagine finding a salt statue, only to find it had been Lot's wife. Beverly---THAT is what that sword was. For you see--it said 'Here Is The Weapon Of The Rock. Here Is The Sword Of The Celebrated War Chieftain, Artorius.' That sword--was THE sword."

Beverly Crusher looked over at the young hero.

"Each evening, from December to December, as you lay back to sleep upon your cot...Think back on all the tales that you remember..."

She trailed off.

Jake stood in awed wonder. Dukat had turned into a dragon, and then been killed like he was nothing. It was all a bit much. But he was still a reporter.

"Peter--how would you best describe your life, overall?"

The son of one great commander took in the question offered by another, while watching his wife and his brother repair the damage caused by Dukat. He gave a one-word answer.

"Eventful."

---------------------------------------------
Peter Kirk felt that his time in this 'safehouse' universe was almost done. To see that his power was fully recharged, he scanned outward into the galaxy beyond.

He found it refreshing to scan a universe that was not mostly dead. Yes, the Alpha and Gamma Quadrants had been battered rather harshly. The Beta, as always, was still largely unexplored, beyond the Klingon/Romulan borders. And in the Delta-----he found something very, very interesting.

"My name is not important. Please--just ready yourselves for a quick trip."

Jean-Luc Picard heard this, and walked over.

"Peter--were you speaking with someone?"

"Yes, Admiral. After we three leave, the evidence of the one final delivery I've made will be apparent."

Picard raised an eyebrow.

"Another gift? Lieutenant, one could easily say that you've given us gifts enough. Hope springs quickly to mind."

Peter smiled.

"Thank you, sir. But in time, everyone now present will receive another gift, each according to their needs. The Prophets will call the timing on most, after we're gone. But for some of you, here, we'll present them now."

"Indeed. Such as?"

"Admiral Picard--did you know that a good portion of the Arthur legend was a falsehood? That Gwenievere and Lancelot never betrayed Arthur? That Arthur and Guenevere had a son? That Merlin prophesied that while that son would never wear a crown, his bloodline would ennoble mankind?"

Picard shook his head, to hear such a revision.

"No. I hadn't heard this, I must admit. So the boy was sent away, as was Arthur, ere the kingdom fell?"

Peter nodded.

"To Ireland, where he protected those vital monasteries from Nordic marauders. The fate of Excalibur was also blurred behind the lie. While Bedivere Of Glenfinnan was trusted, it was that knight who accepted the historical dishonor to whom it was given, to hide."

Picard said the obvious name.

"Lancelot."

"Yes, sir. And now, as then, the fate of the Sword rests with a noble Frenchman who has never forgotten his ideals."

Peter now took off the telepathically hidden scabbard, which contained Excalibur. He presented this to a stunned Picard. The Great Man looked ready to faint. But he did not.

"Please--I beg you. I am not worthy."

The Admiral held his gift oh-so tenderly, and wondered which of them, in the big picture, truly outranked the other. But Peter spoke without arrogance.

"No, sir. A time of decision is coming, here. Your universe's admiralty is not corrupt, as mine was. But they exist in an isolation born of ignorance and incompetence. They will either have to be freed of that or shaken loose themselves. It may already be too late for the former solution. But make it clear to them all that such a solution exists. My father's counterpart is still groggy, to some extent. He needs to recognize what you have accomplished. Commodore Sisko is war-weary. He needs to remember life before the war. You alone have been there when the system as it is worked."

Picard kept looking at the sword, transfixed by an archeologist's dream.

"Might for right. A Brotherhood of equals. The spread of civilization through learning, not through carnage. Yes, then. I shall endeavor to be worthy."

Peter walked away, nothing else needing to be said.

PJ Kirk spoke to McCoy, and the subject drew in the interest of the other three doctors.

"PJ---forgive me, but I thought that the transporter regeneration method was more limited in its use. But there's myself, at least a few others--and now you. Was that a lie?"

The former head of the all-but destroyed Section 31 sighed.

"And a few more after that, Doctor. The problem is, the trans-juvenation process, as I call it, requires precise mapping of every last molecule. Even then, there are no guarantees. The high failure rate still cost me my entire senior staff, when we first knew we were being moved against. That my wife and I survived was the result of decades of scans, done for security reasons. But, some of 31 must have fled our internal coup. Because guess what has cropped up, all over this battered galaxy of ours?"

Bashir, having not been chased off, entered the conversation.

"Outmarket Rejuvenation. Much like Outmarket Genetic Acceleration. At least in this instance, its themselves people are dragging in, and not their children." Beverly Crusher gave her two cents.

"Director Kirk--what kind of failure rate do these outmarket labs have? What is the best they can hope to do?"

PJ considered her question.

"Doctor--Doctors, the last lab we raided before everything hit the fan had a failure rate of 80%--a maximum potential success rate of 50%, if they did it right, and a waiting list of about six months."

McCoy spoke first.

"Many of the regional medical administrators in the UFP owe me their damned licenses."

Crusher nodded.

"Many of the traditional folk healers I know are adamantly opposed to all the so-called 'ladder-climbing' tech. They keep an ear out for those boilerplate facilities."

Bashir finalized the deal.

"Before and I after I fully joined the happily-defunct 31, I picked up a great many contacts. Word was, they had been keeping an anti-Founder virus available. Never did find out if they completed it. Then we're agreed. We need to put some rather greedy folks out of business. Director Kirk--will we have your aid?"

PJ shook his head.

"Sorry. But I lost almost all of my contacts when I initiated Beta. Besides, as time went by, I was more of a department head within 31 instead of the over-all leader. I can provide you with names, aliases, and modus operandi. But how reliable they'll be, I couldn't say."

McCoy nodded.

"They'll do, kid. Well, the Captains have their agenda--and we have ours. And May God Have Mercy On Us All."

PJ Kirk left, then, to greet two new arrivals, from his soon-to be surrendered warp-capable, cloaked runabout.

While he did this, Spock finally spoke to the woman called Saavik Kirk.

"Am I to presume Captain, that this concerns my UnVulcan behavior?"

Spock nodded.

"It does. Originally, I had thought that I would urge you back to our ways. But, on speaking with an old acquaintance, I have remembered that even Vulcan contains pockets of deep cruelty--sometimes very deep. It seems that in your reality, that cruelty has all but consumed it."

Saavik was appreciative.

"Then, you will not offer me a lecture?"

"No. If Vulcan had embraced you, then perhaps a strong urging would be appropriate. But in turning you away, that place is diminished immeasurably. Instead, on behalf of that other Vulcan, I merely offer--an apology."

Saavik fought back a smile, to hear so welcome a thing at long last, even at this odd remove.

"Then I thank you. But who was this old acquaintance?"

"It was I. Peace And Long Life, Saavik Kirk."

To the young Champion's astonishment, she saw a woman standing with PJ Kirk, and holding in her arms a little girl with sandy brown hair, blue eyes, and pointed ears.

"Live Long And Prosper--Saavik Kirk."

Peter now walked over as well, and the little girl stared back at the two in wonder.

"Two Daddies And Mommies?"

Captain Kirk now met the newest member of his family, his own grand-niece.

"What's your name, Honey?"

She smiled at the reborn hero.

"Amanda."

Spock remained calm, but Kirk could tell he was moved.

"Saavik--the favor you undertook for myself and Sarek, as my dying mother needed care, you have now repeated by honoring her name in this child. I thank you."

As Kirk held the little one, she looked quizzically at Spock.

"He sure talks a lot."

Captain Kirk gave PJ a glare, both about the girl's fresh mouth, and to clearly indicate that, 100 years or no, kids still weren't going to be living aboard his Enterprise. But at least now he finally understood why the policy had been tried.

 -------------------------------------------------
Nog surveyed his new shipmates.

"Starfleet is no life of joy and adventure. We give all we have, then we find more to give. But let me say this--you two have been exceptionally brave civilians--you'll do well as JG's. One, the third toughest lady I've ever known--the other, the best friend I've ever had. The Commodore has informed me that, whether we attack Command or try to help them out of their isolation--we're going to need good people. Bar none, you are two of the best we could hope to get--and we'll need more, have no doubt. So, without further ado, welcome to Starfleet, Keiko Ishikawa O'Brien and Jacob Louis Sisko."

Nog left the two new inductees to talk, while he figured out how to get his uncle to take a certain job on New Bajor.

"Jake? Are you going to ask to be on Defiant?"

"Well--no. One, being under my Dad's direct command is not something I want to really think about. Two--my reporter's instincts tell me that I should try for The Enterprise-A. Between The Kirk family, Captains Spock and Scott, not to mention Admiral McCoy---those are some major-league first-hand accounts to put on PADD. Plus--there's just something about a Constitution-Class. Lastly--I have a feeling that my potential quarters might be better used for a certain Molly and Yoshi O'Brien--right?"

Keiko smiled at Jake's intuition.

"He'll fight me--but I want us to be a family, and that means regular togetherness. You know I just realized? All the kids I've known over the years are now firmly part of Starfleet. It makes me feel old."

Jake shook his head.

"Lady--we may have been mooning over Jadzia, and trying to figure out Nerys--but we all knew that Chief O'Brien had sewn up the very best. So don't give me old."

Keiko nodded.

"Thanks. I mean that. But I have to wonder where all the kids have gone. Are there any left?"

Molly wandered over.

"Mommy! Yoshi tried to kiss Amanda Kirk, so she neck-pinched him, so he pulled her hair. Can I marry the superhero man, who moved the planet?"

Jake chuckled, as Keiko went to do her thing.

"Base--we have found the kids!"

Odo asked David Marcus over, to sit with him and Kira.

"What? Is the infant shapeshifter alright?"

Odo held up the tiny container.

"My name, Doctor Marcus, was a bit of an accident. I don't want that kind of thing happening with my counterpart, nor do I want any thoughts of Odo, Junior, or the like. Therefore, we'd like your help."

"In coming up with a name?"

Kira took over.

"No, Doctor. In giving him one. With your permission, we'd like to name him David."

Marcus was plainly stunned.

"But--I invented the weapon that wiped your people away, alternate or no."

Odo nodded.

"Yes. And you are also the one who held back The Ancient Destroyer, bringing the infant and New Bajor to this reality. Duality, David. Its something I've come to appreciate. Will you allow this?"

David looked at the container.

"Its an offer I can't refuse."

Saavik Kirk looked at her husband and fellow Champion, and asked an odd question.

"Peter-Kam--why is that most of the alternate realities we travel to end up being in the 24th, rather than the 23rd Century?"

He had only a partial answer.

"Ours is a funnel reality, darling. Maybe the evil we need to draw in and destroy has more to do with the 24th Century than it does with ours. The Wesley Crusher we know even commented that our 23rd Century sounded more like his 24th."

The nature of the multiverse is a mind-bending subject, even for they who are The Rock.

Three men laid the groundwork for a coup, and hoped it would never come to pass.

James Kirk.

"My notion is this. First, we arrange a meeting between people of our viewpoint and theirs. We watch for traps though, of any and all kinds."

Jean-Luc Picard.

"And if there are traps? I must admit that if not for recent events, certainly including Captain Spock's sudden ouster as CIC, I wouldn't even be considering this. But barring immediate violence, I'm in."

Benjamin Sisko.

"If there are traps, we first make damned certain that it was The Hall behind it. And I do mean damned certain. If we're not sure its them--well, I've been through the disinformation game enough to let that doubt rule my decision."

James Kirk.

"If this happens, I want it to be said that we tried to reason and negotiate. I'm not for outright scrapping the way you good gentlemen have done things. But I am for raising serious questions. If the answer is 'No, Jim' -- I'll live with it. But I want to see how seriously they take the questions to begin with. Past a certain point, incompetence is the same as corruption, for all intents and purposes. I'm sorry if I sound reactionary. But since my emergence--reacting is all I've been able to do."

Jean-Luc Picard.

"We've had years now of Admirals bamboozled by every manner of foe. How do people who managed to make that rise also manage to act as though they're breathing thinner air? I don't want a revolution. I merely hate having to figure out what my orders really mean. When I say to Will or Deanna--'You Have Your Orders'--I like to think that means I have fully explained myself. But when I hear it from top command---it usually means anything but that. I hate to harp on poor Admiral Nechayev--but when she showed me that wretched Cardassian Treaty--I felt Sarek rear up in my mind, politely raising his voice saying what all that would lead to. Just an echo, mind you--but a damned prophetic one."

Benjamin Sisko.

"I think we're agreed. Pray and work to the thought that revolt is unnecessary. But when the signal is given--we move. Because, even though it was Nechayev in that Vorta-created fantasy world, signing the UFP over, inch by inch--she might not have. But I know a number of Admirals who would have, some of them just to bring home a good report."

Elim Garak had been listening in, as was his wont. He smiled.

"Oh, Well! With this little twist, so much for happy endings."

Kirk shot the ex-spy down, hard.

"Only fools believe in happy endings, Mister Garak. But only the very greatest fools fail to recognize the value of happy moments. Like this one, we use them to sustain us, for when the lean times come."

As the coup-talk broke up, Garak went to Doctor Bashir, and pointed at Kirk.

"Julian--you never told me that 23rd Century humans were so very Cardassian."

Little Amanda Kirk was fascinated by her father's counterpart, the hero from the other dimension.

"Are you and the lady that looks like Mommy going to have a baby?"

Peter Kirk, The Rock Of Prophecy, was equally taken with the little one.

"We sure are. We're going to have a little boy. Amanda, honey, I'd like to give you a gift, Ok?"

"Ok."

Peter lightly brushed his fingers against her forehead, and she felt a tingle.

"What was that? Can you do it again?"

"No, sorry. But one day, you'll know what to do with it. Kay?"

"Kay."

As she ran off to play and fight with the O'Brien children, Peter hoped that he would one day soon be watching his own child play and frolic, in a universe free of Ghidorah's taint.

"Hey, Pete? Mind if I ask you a few more questions?"

Peter turned and looked at Jake Sisko.

"Actually, Jake--its time for your gift."

With three fingers on the younger Sisko's forehead, Peter gave Jake--the story of a lifetime. The lifetime of his native universe.

"Pete--thank you. I don't know where to begin a story like this. I might have to tell it in a nonlinear fashion."

"You're the writer, pal. I'm just glad that I don't have to sort through that mess."

As Commodore Sisko met with Peter Kirk's wife, Captain Kirk met with PJ Kirk's wife, the Saavik native to his universe.

"You had a question, Uncle?"

"Frankly, yes. Saavik--when did you and PJ meet?"

While a great deal more Vulcan in demeanor than her almost-human counterpart, Saavik now suddenly looked a bit nervous and sheepish.

"We--met at a social gathering."

Captain Kirk nodded, smelling a rat.

"A--social gathering."

"Indeed. A social gathering."

"A social gathering like a wedding?"

"No, sir. A more--solemn occasion."

Kirk moved in.

"Solemn--like a funeral?"

Saavik tried to make a choice.

"Like--a funeral. Very much like a funeral."

They stood together in silence. Kirk then gave up and suddenly violated a taboo by kissing her on the cheek.

"Welcome to the family, kid."

Kirk left her a little off her mark, and wondered what his own funeral had looked like, back when. Saavik called her husband over.

"PJ--he is still so--human."

"Viki--would you want him any other way?"

"No. I suppose that he is a Nexus for change. Husband--a Nexus--for change?"

PJ shook his head and walked away. Saavik nodded.

"Still a difficult concept."

Commodore Sisko spoke up.

"Everyone--our young friend here has something to say."

Saavik Kirk, The Rock Of Prophecy, had her eyes glowing brightly.

"I direct your attention to the northwest corner of the Assembly's sky-dome."

As they all looked, and the three orbiting ships confirmed, a vaguely crablike structure appeared, pulled there by Saavik's power. Captain O'Brien said it for everyone.

"Its Empok Nor!"

Ben Sisko beheld with awesome pride as the sight of Deep Space Nine once again filled the sky over a living world called Bajor.

"Lieutenant Kirk's power can only bring us the station, folks. As we've all seen, it takes a lot more time and effort to create than to destroy. Just like last time, it needs fixing--maybe more than Terok Nor did. But as far as I'm concerned--we've come home."

As the Kirks native to that reality and The O'Briens made care arrangements concerning their children, Peter Kirk of the other universe talked to Wesley Crusher.

"So you want me to contact my counterpart, the one you know? But Pete--I don't have that kind of power."

Peter said three words.

"You do now."

As Wes felt his understanding of the universes expand, Deanna Troi caught up to the Saavik whose power had brought a new station to Bajor.

"I'm sorry to ask this so suddenly--but could you increase my power? I'm not a full telepath, and I think that could be of help, very soon."

Saavik nodded.

"Do you wish to be fully Betazoid?"

"No. Just to have abilities that are more defined."

Like someone once forced to wear thick spectacles, Deanna felt her focus and awareness sharpen. She still could not sense thoughts word-for-word--but now she had a much better feel for the direction of those thoughts. She saw a beloved shipmate, and shook her head.

"I can sense---Data? But even with the chip...this is going to take some getting used to."

Saavik nodded.

"It usually does. My husband and I are Nexuses of such change."

Deanna chuckled at that, and walked off. Saavik saw her counterpart puzzle at this.

"But I told the same joke."

"You lack timing."

"Indeed."

Garak argued with Bariel.

"Sir, the very idea that Old and New Bajorans can coexist at all, let alone in some utopian harmony, is ludicrous. They'll see you people as reactionaries, and you'll see them as anarchists."

Bariel nodded.

"Then, you'll take the job as Minister Of Relocation?"

"A thankless, impossible job like that? After tailoring, it'll be a breath of fresh air."

At last, it was time for the three Champions to leave. Captain Kirk spoke to his counterpart's children.

"You three are my gift. To know that I could have done it--actually serves as a father, means I know more about myself, and my possibilities. Besides that--you are all so obviously great kids. You've given back hope. Whatever happens there, here you are the victors. Lieutenant Peter Kirk?"

"Aye, Sir?"

"You are now to consider yourself under orders to kill one King Ghidorah, aka The Ancient Destroyer. How say you, Commodore Sisko?"

"I confirm the order, and further order that it be carried out in full. How say you, Admiral Picard?"

"I confirm both orders, and add a third, as well. Godspeed to you all!"

Peter Kirk looked at everyone, knowing that they woul serves as able guarantors of this one victory over Ghidorah.

"People back home are calling us heroes. But today--I feel that I have at least walked among them. Goodbye, my friends."

After Captain Kirk hugged each Champion  in turn, The Prophets took them back where they belonged. As promised, Wes would contact another Wesley with dire instructions. But for now, all heard a message.

"Defiant to O'Brien."

"Go ahead."

"Captain--you've got to hear this message. Its coming from the fringes of the Federation. Relaying now."

The voice of a woman was heard by all.

"Repeating--this is Captain Kathryn Janeway, Commanding The USS Voyager. We should be home within a month. Does anyone know who or what The Rock is?"

"O'Brien to Defiant. Link comm to warp power, if you have to--but you send them this reply. 'Welcome Home'."

As all celebrated the good fortunes of the moment, Jake Sisko sat and wrote at a terminal he had set up. The words just flew out, he found.

"Peter's Christmas--by Jake Sisko. 'He would have to leave The Enterprise, soon. But his family's death would stay with him--as would horrid dreams of a three-headed dragon whose name was..."

And in the shadow between Bajor and its sun was the soon-to-be restored place called Deep Space Nine. Docking near it were The USS Defiant, two mighty ships called Enterprise, and soon a wayward Voyager, finally come home.

It was a happy moment.

 ------------------------------------------
With this, I hand back the universe called 'Shadows And Suns' to the very able Kevin Johnston, who created it. The Ancient Destroyer Cycle will continue, under my tired hand, as well. Kevin, I hope I kept it true. ---- Rob