It had been two days since the Leviathan had arrived back at DS9. With at least a week’s worth of repairs needed to get the ship back into action, most of the crew had been given shore leave. Now most of the crew were assembled on the shuttlebay deck, gathered together to remember six members of the crew no longer with them.

The senior staff were in their dress uniforms and joining the Starfleet crew all of the Marines were also present. Major Phanan and three Marines were dressed in EVA suits and carried assault rifles, standing towards the forward shuttle bay doors.

Captain Taybar looked over the crew, stood in lines awaiting the start of the service. Alongside her stood Commander Rashad on her left and Lieutenant Commander Barker on her right. The rest of the senior staff were spread either side, in a single line. Only Ensign ASHER was not present, no one had seen him since they had arrived at the station.

"Thank you for coming." Aki started. "As a Starfleet Captain it is my duty to speak on behalf of the entire crew in times like this. As Captains we hold in our power the responsibility for those who serve under our command and must accept that some of those people may not come back with us. We are here today to remember and honour the lives of Lieutenant Shale, Ensign Oakenshield, Lieutenant Bowyer, Ensign Tandor, Ensign Woodgate and Crewman Duff. They died at the hands of an as yet unknown enemy, but their deaths will not be in vain. Today is not about mourning their deaths or grieving over their absence. It is about honouring their lives, the way they lived, their achievements in life."

The Captain paused for a moment, gathering her thoughts.

"Whilst I have not been Captain of this vessel for long, I feel your loss. Over the past few days I have read their service records and talked to their friends and colleagues. Those who they were closest to will miss them most, but none of them failed in their duties." Aki continued. "They will be remembered as long as we don’t forget."

As the Captain completed her speech, she nodded towards the Major.

"Company forward." The Major ordered.

The three Marines stepped forward, stepping beyond the force field that kept the vacuum of space away from the atmosphere of the ship, before raising their rifles and aiming into open space.

"Fire." The Major ordered.

Three shots rang out into space, followed by five more rounds, one for each soul lost. Once they were finished, the Marines shouldered their rifles once more and stepped back into the shuttle bay.

"A fitting tribute." The Captain stated. "And I thank the Major for his assistance. Now before we all depart, I have one more announcement to make. Whilst we will all still feel the loss of our colleagues, life does go on. Starfleet has assigned us several new crewmembers and I would like to take this opportunity to introduce them to the crew. I hope that you will all welcome them."

Four Ensigns stepped forward from where they had been standing at the side of the proceedings. Two were dressed in yellow uniforms, one in red and the final one in slate grey.

"First I would like to introduce Ensign Tony Omega, who will be working in operations on the Bridge, taking over from Ensign ASHER. Ensign ASHER will be taking over the Tactical console on the Bridge, replacing Ensign Oakenshield. Next we have Ensign Tania Vasquez who will be working in Security. With the loss of four members of Lieutenant Dukal’s team, she will be a welcome addition. Next we have Ensign Acten Tureb who will be joining the Talon squadron. And finally we have Ensign Tony Omega, who is our new Intelligence officer."

Commander Rashad looked at the officer in the stale grey uniform and wondered. Her previous experience of Intel officer was not good. All of the Leviathan’s previous ‘Greys’ had been involved with Section 31 in one way or another. Was Ensign Omega another of their operatives or a genuine Intel officer, she would be investigating him closely.

"Starfleet also informed me today that they are sending an experienced helm officer to replace Lieutenant Shale. He should be arriving within the next couple of days and I hope you will accept him and treat him with the respect and dignity of a Starfleet officer." Aki finished. "Crew dismissed."

The crew dispersed from the shuttle bay and eventually only the senior staff remained. Captain Taybar signalled that they too could now leave and one by one they left as well, leaving just the Captain and Lieutenant Commander Barker.

"That was tough." Aki commented. "I’ve faced death before, but I’ve not had to address a crew of over four hundred. Death in a fighter squadron is a very personnel thing, the squadron grieves together as a unit."

"Or a family." Chu suggested. "There’s no real difference. What you need to remember is that you’ve still got a family here, it’s just that it’s far larger now. And you do have friends aboard this ship how will help."

"Thank you Chu." Aki replied. "I know you are right, but I can’t stop thinking about how I would react if it were someone close to me."

"I’m not going anywhere." Chu stated. "At least not for a while."

Chu turned to leave, but Aki stopped him.

"Chu, before you go I’d like you to check in on Ensign ASHER." Aki suggested. "I’ve noticed that he appears to be keeping himself to himself, ever since you came back from searching for the ISS Leviathan in the Hellcat."

"You’ve noticed that too." Chu remarked. "He says he’s OK and he’s just working hard on finding a way to reliably track the ISS Leviathan, but I’m not so sure. Something happened on the Hellcat, something which changed him."

"The accident with the probe." Aki suggested.

"We don’t know exactly what happened in the cargo bay to ASHER, at the time we just thought it was an overload." Chu remarked. "ASHER lost a great deal of data, mostly the sub-routines he ‘assimilated’ when he merged with the Enterprise-E’s EMH system when he was first activated. The Protector sub-routines and his ‘personality’ appeared to be intact, somehow they were protected from whatever happened."

"And now you think there was something more ?" Aki asked.

"Well he’s definitely changed." Chu replied. "It could just be the new sub-routines having problems re-integrating themselves with ASHER’s core systems. And he is certainly capable of coping with those himself. What I fear is that everything that I suggested many years ago when ASHER first attempted to gain his status as an individual have come to life. I keep asking myself ‘Could he have become a serious threat to this ship ?’"

"I remember you telling me about that once." Aki commented. "You were just saying what you thought was right, there was no true way of saying what ASHER was capable of. You had your opinion, Doctor Zimmermann had another. In the end, ASHER was given his ‘freedom’ and you both have moved on."

"But up until that point, he was my friend." Chu said. "It was like I was stabbing him in the back and I don’t think he has ever really forgiven me for what he was put through."

"It looks like ASHER maybe due for a ‘medical." Aki suggested. "See if you can’t persuade him to have his systems checked. If he refuses to co-operate, let me know and I will order him to be checked out."

"Understood." Chu replied.