As always, thank you for all your support. "Admiral Doul Arbass, I demand that you end this battle now!" Kirk demanded. The officer growled at his younger counter part, his fangs bared. "Who are you to order me about?" The man was now breathing heavily. "I am Doul Mirto Arbass! For forty years have I defended my people. As did my father, and his before him. For one hundred years has my family defended the Azeen people. So I ask again, who are you to order me about?" "I am Joshua William Augustus Patrick Kirk! Son of Admirals David and Nancy Kirk. And for more than three hundred years has my family defended my people," He then stepped away from his command chair, and hopped over the helmsman's station to stand before the admiral in an insolent pose. "And I am the commander of a ship that can destroy your's with but a single shot, and I choose not to. But you are trying my patience!" Arbass laughed. "Do you think I am frightened by your threats, little boy? My crew will defeat you." "Do you mean the crew that lays on the deck around you?" Joshua sneered. "A dead crew can do little for you." "They were traitors! They refused to fire when ordered to. They said they needed confirmation from my son the Prime Minister," Arbass leaned forward, drool beginning to run down his chin. "But I command here! I command the Azeen Royal Navy! And I will destroy you. Even if I have to destroy this ship to do it!" The madman began pressing keys on a keyboard in front of him. Soon a voice began counting down. "A self-destruct command has been given, sir," Mark Berring said. "An explosive device located next to their main reactor. And if these sensor readings are correct, the resulting explosion of the reactor will blow off the atmosphere on this side of the planet, effectively killing everything on the planet." "Then beam that device into space." "Yes sir!" After several seconds, he nodded. "Done sir. Device beamed out into space at maximum dispersal." "Very good," Kirk said with a smile before turning back to the admiral. "I have cancelled your self-destruct order." Admiral Arbass just grinned at Joshua. But the grin died when the count down ended and nothing happened. He then began to rampage about the bridge, smashing equipment. Finally, the hatch fell inwards and a man stepped in and lifted a weapon and fired. Arbass jerked several times before falling to the deck. The man then dropped his arm and stared at the bodies. "Get him to the brig now!" He ordered three others who'd followed him in. The admiral was lifted and caried away. The newcomer then turned to Joshua, his head jerking back a little. "I was sleeping when the attack started," Kirk said with a slight shrug. "Obviously. I am Commander Wass Kirlou. I appologize for the attack. I know you are here on a mission of peace. But the admiral's mind has been deteriorating for the past year, since the death of his wife. All the fleet's captains have begged the Prime Minister to relieve him, but he couldn't bring himself to do so. He knew it would kill his father." He turned to one of the bodies and shook his head. "And unfortunately our Captain, the Prime Minister's own brother, paid the price for his indecision." "And two days after the incident, we took two representatives from the Azeen and Drell and sought out their first attempt to visit another stellar system," Joshua Kirk said as he finished his report on the visit to the Drell-Azeen system. "It seems their ship was heading right for the Hurdell system. I knew if they entered their space, they would be killed." "Oh, don't worry about the Hurd," Admiral David Kirk told his son as his wife, the Chief of Combat Operations, stood behind him. "President Davis has finally declared them to be a threat to the Federation and has ordered them quaratined to their home world." "The bleeding hearts will cry about it," Nancy Kirk said, her hands behind her back. "But they're not the ones who have to face those killers. I've never seen a race that xenophobic." "Well, that's my report," The younger Kirk said with a smile. "This is the first time I've ever had the chance to give a report to the Chief Of Starfleet Operations. We must be doing good." "Well, we were here at Starbase 17 when we heard that our son and his crew faced off against an entire fleet," David smiled, very proud of his son. "So we just had to hear it first hand!" Nancy Kirk grinned. "You and your crew are making a name for yourselves. And DaiMan Trod sends his regards and his thanks, for warning his ship away from the Hurdell system. He actually said that when his time is up, and he's a civilian again, he'll give you a decent discount when you do business again." "We'll be arriving at Starbase 17 in two days, will you still be there?" The younger Kirk asked hopefully. "No," Nancy shook her head. "We leave in two hours. We've still got five more Starbases to visit in this damned inspection tour." Joshua, who was calling from his stateroom, turned his head. After a moment, he looked back and shrugged. "Well, something else has broken down. I guess I'll talk to you later," Reaching out, he cut the connection. "Do you think he believed us when you said we'll be gone when he get's here?" David asked his wife. "Maybe," Nancy said in a doubtful tone. "Those eight are frightfully intelligent, though. Even so, he's going to be in for a surprise when he gets here and finds Shion and Teshk here as well." "You know that there will be an outcry from some officers when the news gets out that Josh, Teshk, and Shion are being promoted to Commander," David Kirk said in a voice that bordered on smugness. "Let them complain!" She huffed. "The Promotions Board was unanimous in this. Josh, Shion, and Teshk are probably the finest officers the Academy has ever produced. Come on! They were the only cadets to ever beat Kobiyashi Maru without cheating." "Oh yeah!" David sighed with a smile. The two of them had been there the day the cadets, commanded by Shion, beat the dreaded Kobiyashi Maru test. He then grew stern. "That was the only time he deserved to be investigated." "So there's been another call for an investigation?" Nancy said with a frustrated sigh. "Yes. Someone wants him investigated for the warning he gave DaiMan Trod." "He's being harrassed for saving lives?" "Yes!" David told his wife angrily. "This bastard in the Senate must be getting desperate if they're going after him for this!" The man turned to Nancy and forced a smile. "So what's on your schedule this afternoon?" The redhead bent down and kissed her husband. "You are. What's on your schedule?" "Well my dear," David Cicero Kirk grinned. "I've just cleared mine. Let's head back to Farragut." "Don't forget," Nancy added as David stood. "We have to call Mandy to wish Jacob a happy sixth birthday. Oh! Has Sasha arrived yet?" "She got here an hour ago with her father and a very pregnant Di," David Kirk laughed. "That girl is huge!" "Triplets will do that to you," The woman said as she shook her head. "And keep Bill away from our son!" David ordered. "He's been talking to Little Jess, Ami, and all four of the Wilmowski monsters about entering Special Forces." "Don't you worry about that!" Nancy said as she wrapped her arms around her husband's neck. "That boy has wanted nothing more than to command Enterprise since the first time his Uncle Spock told him stories of your grandfather," She kissed her husband briefly. "His whole life has been devoted to sitting in that Captain's chair, and he will not be diverted from that path." Yet, in less than a month, he had been. "Captain Mitchell?" Lt Commander Mark Berring approached the Captain as he talked to his exec, Ami Wu, Joshua Kirk, and his guests. "My teams report that life support has been restored on Moscow. All that's left is for the temperature to be brought up to a safe level." "Very good," Excalibur's commander said. "Then we can begin bringing people out of stasis." "Good for you, Ugly!" Joshua told him with a grin. Berring nodded his head. "Why thank you, Admiral David Kirk," The tall man said, a grin on his face. He then chuckled in a mocking way when he saw Joshua's disgusted reaction. "Oh I'm sorry! I thought you were an officer I knew. You two look so much alike." "Ok!" Ami cut in. "I want to know what is up with this silly reaction you get whenever someone says you look like uncle David. It started after you entered Starfleet." "Do you really want to know?" Joshua asked. "Yes, I do." "Are you suuuure you want to know?" The man was now smiling. "I think I want to know now, more than ever." Ami replied with a grin. "Oh, you'll love this," Berring said. "I've seen it happen twice, Commander Wu." "I've got to hear this as well," Gath Pok said. Joshua Kirk grinned at his audience for a second before starting. "As you know, this aversion to being compared to my father began after entering Starfleet," Joshua told his cousin. Ami nodded. "Well, it actually began on Starbase 12. Excelsior was in for resupply, and I was just touring the facility. That's when I met Judith Paxton." "The actress?" Gavin asked. "The same. She walked up to me, and told me she wanted me to fuck her. And that's what she actually said." "Oh, you poor man!" Mitchel said derisively. "I've seen her. She's still a damned beautiful woman, even if she is a bit old." "And then two months later, on Earth," Kirk continued. "I met Randi Merkerson, the singer. She wanted me to fuck her." "While on my bridge, you should keep the use of that word down to once in a conversation, if you'd please," Gavin said. Joshua nodded. "And there was Janet Killroy. And Denice Sorensen, Laurel Powers, Francine Jones, and at least a dozen others. All wanting to have sex with me." "Oh, you poor man," Laro mumbled. "What's the problem?" The captain asked, a confused look on his face. "I recognize some of those names. Beautiful redheads, all." "Yeah. Beautiful redheads," Kirk said as he slowly turned to Gath Pok. "Beautiful redheads who've all had sex with my father!" "Eeeeew!" Ami stood with a shocked expression on her face. "Are you fuckin' shittin' me?" Mitchel whispered, an expression of amused disbelief on his face. "No!" Kirk blurted out. "And they all had the same reason for wanting to have sex with me. To compare me to my father. I think every woman my father had sex with came hunting for me. It's like someone passed around a memo to all of them. The only women who didn't were my mother, and Mama Bev." "Ah, my mother didn't go after you." Ami said quietly. It was now Joshua's turn to be shocked. "My father had sex with your mother?" "How do you think he met Aunt Nancy? It wasn't at Starfleet Academy. It was in my mother's bedroom in Olympus City. My mom said they were having a good ol' time when her sister walked in on them. And when David C stopped giving her the business, she saw the look on their faces. She said she knew it was over between them that instant." "So that's why those two sisters fought for ten years. My mother stole your mother's man." "Well, yes," Ami said with a shrug before laughing. "But I prefer the way things turned out."