Knight stood in sickbay, watching an unconscious Commander Rojc. In a few hours, Xanthus would learn whether or not his tactics in defending Rojc were successful or not--the anticipation was gnawing away at him.

Doctor Arona approached Knight from behind and stopped at his side. "Commander Rojc will be fine--he managed to keep control until I could sedate him and administer the B-9 to him," she began, "You should get some rest too."

Knight turned to her. "Doctor, from now on I expect to have a say in who boards this ship."

Arona frowned and opened her mouth to protest.

Knight held up a hand, interrupting her protest before it could start. "I know it was an emergency situation--but from now on, give me a little advance warning should another ëemergencyí occur. Iíd like to have some options available."

Arona continued to frown. She considered voicing her protest to Knight nonetheless, but thought better of it. "Sorry Captain--I sometimes get overzealous with my work. I canít promise anything at this point, but Iíll try to avoid any more ësevere breaches of protocol.í"

Arona grinned slyly, as did Knight. He was just about to respond when the ship was violently shaken. The first quake was not alone...

"Knight to Bridge--what the hell is going on?"

"We are under attack by the Romulans, sir. There was no warning and they do not respond to hails," reported TíSenishra.

"Iíll be right up. Knight out." Knight dashed out of sickbay and headed to the nearest turbolift.

He entered the turbolift and gruffly barked, "Bridge." The computer chirped in response and within moments, the turbolift arrived on the Bridge.

TíSenishra vacated the Command Chair, allowing Knight to take his place. "We are being engaged by four Díkhanzak-class warbirds and one Díderidrix-class warbird. That first shot fortunately didnít do a lot of damage, thanks to the ablative armor. Shields are at 53%."

"Any response to our hails at all?" demanded Knight.

"None, sir," reported Nicot, "Theyíre jamming us, so we canít get anything out past the warbirds."

"Mr. IvíOor--bring us around to face the Díderidex," ordered Knight, "Mr. Nicot--get a target lock with the phaser cannon and take her out."

TíSenishra looked quizzically at Knight. "Sir?"

"My guess is that our nefarious Prosecutor Telak decided that he wasnít going to win in the courtroom." The Phantom shook from another Romulan barrage. "Evidently heís looking into other means."

"Wonít firing back give him more to work with?" questioned TíSenishra.

"It wonít matter if weíre all dead."

"I have a lock on the Díderidex, Captain," reported Nicot.

"Fire!"

For the first time ever outside simulated tests, the Phantomís incredible phaser cannon came to life. Destructive beams of immense power lashed out against the attacker--its shields proved to be no match. After three full power blasts, the warbird was crippled.

The remaining Romulans intensified their assault.

"The B-type is more maneuverable than the A-type--generate a low-level graviton pulse through the nacelles and bring the stealth sensor array up to battle status--thatíll bring that advantage to a minimum," ordered Knight authoritatively, "Lay down fire with the phaser arrays and quantum torpedoes--use the phaser cannon only if you have a solid lock."

The Phantom maneuvered deftly, avoiding the powerful Romulan onslaught as best it could. The new change in conditions confused them for a moment, however--long enough for Nicot to snap off another two shots with the phaser cannon. The target exploded into a blazing fireball. The Phantom could yet win this...

"Shields down to sixteen percent!" yelled Nicot frantically, "Power levels are dropping across the board--we canít keep this up for much longer."

"Do your best, Mr. Nicot," responded Knight, "Mr. Sanas--do what you can to keep power to the critical tactical systems."

"Bad news," began IvíOor, "We have more hostiles incoming--reading another six Díkhanzak warbirds."

Another explosion shook the Phantom, resulting in the cascading of the Mission OPS station.

"Shields are down!" yelled Sanas, "Generators are off-line!"

"Warp drive status?" asked TíSenishra hesitantly.

"Online--but not stable enough to allow a jump inside the star system," relayed IvíOor.

"Forget the shields, then--reroute the power to structural integrity and pray the ablative armor holds."

"Romulan reinforcements entering weapon range," notified Nicot.

Almost immediately upon entering weapon range, the new warbirds fired--but their target was not the Phantom.

"What the...?"

"The new vessels are ignoring us! Theyíre weapons are focused on our attackers," reported Nicot with astonishment.

"Back us off--let the Romulans finish the work here," ordered Knight, "See if you can open a channel to the lead warbird of the new group."

"Getting a response--"

A grim Romulan maleís visage popped up on the viewscreen. "USS Phantom--power down your weapons and stay where you are." The communication was abruptly cut off.

Knight glanced back at Nicot. "Do as he says."

It wasnít much longer before the Phantomís attackers had been defeated. Nothing remained of them other than melted bulkheads, ionized gases, and dead bodies.

The Romulan commander again appeared on the viewscreen. "I am Commander Orum of the Imperial Warbird Khazara. May we render assistance?"

Knight was somewhat confused. "Youíre not here to demand our surrender?"

Orum smirked. "No Captain, we monitored your situation and Commander Telak has been apprehended for inciting the ësituationí." He paused. "I doubt youíll have any more problems from him."

"And the trial?" asked TíSenishra.

"Iím afraid that is still something you must resolve," replied Orum, "My superiors have not dismissed the trial."

"Thanks for your assistance. Phantom out." Knight turned to his first officer. "Come on, letís go check on Dade."

Ruwon scowled at the assembled Starfleet officers, as did Prosecutor Rejal. Telakís failure would also be theirs by association. Once again, spectators had been admitted to the courtroom en masse. They chatted with each other loudly, waiting for the verdicts to be delivered.

"This court will come to order!" barked Ruwon. The courtroom was immediately silent. "The prisoner will rise!"

Rojc stood, as did his defender, Captain Knight.

Ruwon glanced at the other magistrates to his left and right. "Magistrate Veton?"

"Not guilty."

"Magistrate Stol?"

"Not guilty."

"Magistrate Ishara?"

"Not guilty."

"Magistrate Relar?"

"Not guilty."

"Magistrate Parthok?"

"Not guilty."

Ruwon recorded Parthokís response and looked up to deliver his verdict. "Not guilty."

The courtroomís silence did not last. The crowd exploded upon hearing the last of the verdicts. Rojc grinned triumphantly and turned and tenderly hugged his wife.

"Silence! The trial is not over yet!" Ruwon shouted to quiet the crowd. They did so after a moment longer. A few murmurs remained, nonetheless. "Commander Rojc, this court officially finds you not guilty. Case dismissed."

Once again, the crowd came alive. Dade took the opportunity to shake Knightís hand. "Thanks, Knight. I owe you one."

Knight enthusiastically returned the handshake. "Iím going to hold you to that." He and Rojc both grinned.

Commander Orum stepped forward from the sea of people and extended his hand to Knight and Rojc, who both shook it in turn. "Congratulations, gentlemen. I knew Telakís plot would fail."

Knight was marginally confused.

"Orum is closest thing I have to a friend here on Romulus," explained Rojc, sensing Knightís confusion, "He does what he can, but he wonít stick his neck out for me."

Orum laughed. "You would be surprised how well Telak covered his tracksóhis association with Sela was apparently quite beneficial for him."

TíSenishra joined them and stood at Rojcís side.

"I suppose youíre our escort out of the building?" asked Rojc.

"Would you rather I defer it to a guard?"

"No, not really."

Orum led the three Starfleet officers through the crowd of Romulan spectators. More awaited them upon exiting the courtroom. Orum continued pushing through. By the time they had finally reached the outside, most of the reporters had given up trying to get some kind of comment from RojcóOrum dissuaded the remaining ones from continuing their attempt.

Rojc turned to TíSenishra and Knight. "Iíd like to have a word with Orum privately if you donít mind."

Knight threw Rojc a funny look. "Donít be too long." He tapped his comm-badge. "Knight to Phantomótwo to beam up." He and TíSenishra disappeared in the shimmering glow of the transporter beam.

Rojc turned back to Orum. "So what will happen to Vallera?" asked Rojc hesitantly.

"Thereís not a whole lot more that can happen to heróshe was stripped of her rank and titles back when it was first discovered she was pregnant," Orum answered, "The Romulan High Council may take some further action against heróbut I doubt it."

Rojc pressed on. "And the child?"

Orum sighed. "You never were one to let things go," he uttered. "Look Dade, if youíre asking me to look over them, then just do it. Is it that difficult to ask something of me?"

"I refer you to the last time I asked something of you."

Orum shrugged it off. "Fine. Iíll watch out for themóon one condition."

"Whatís that?"

Orum paused. "Do yourself a favor and forget about her, as difficult as that may beóyouíve got a beautiful wife now."

"Thank you," replied Rojc, "Thanks for everything."

"Donít mention itóbut we are even now."

Rojc tapped his comm-badge. "Energize."

"Captainís Log, stardate 51698.45. Our mission to Romulus to retrieve Commander Dade Rojc and Commander TíSenishra and avert a ëdisastrousí diplomatic incident has been successful. The crew is looking forward to returning the Federation, as am I. Commander Rojc remains in his quarters recovering from his B-9 injection, while the rest of the crew conducts repairs. The damage the Romulans inflicted was severe, but I estimate repairs will not take more than a couple days."

It had only been a few hours since the Phantomís arrival at Starbase 7, but Commander Rojc had insisted on seeing Admiral Bates as soon as possible.

Rojc finally got his request. He entered Batesí office and saluted.

Bates returned the salute. "First things first, Commander, congratulations on your marriage to TíSenishra."

"Thank you sir," Rojc replied stiffly.

Bates shook his head tiredly, but with some amusement. "Dade, I donít intend to chew you out and I donít really have any horrible bad news for you. Please, sit."

Rojc apprehensively sat in the chair opposite Bates.

"Better," said Bates. "Now then, on to the official business. First, congratulations are also in order for your promotion to full Commander--and no, this is not a promotion you can turn down."

Dade frowned. "Whatís my new assignment?"

Bates smirked at Rojcís attitude of impending doom. "You will be assigned to the Hood as his new first officer."

Rojc did a double take. "The Hood?" he sputtered. After all, the Hood was up there in with the Enterprise, Excelsior, and Excalibur.

"Yep." Bates nodded. "Despite the warning label you come with, DeSoto requested you specifically." He paused. "And before I hear your objections about your promotion and transfer, allow me to get to the ëbadí news."

Rojc gulped. The B-9 still in his system was making him unusually nervous.

"A note will be made in your file of this ëassociationí with an enemy," declared Bates, "Thatís it."

That shocked Rojc--he had expected something quite a bit more severe. "Why?"

"Because we won," said Bates flatly. "The Federation records a political victory and the Romulan hegemony is shaken up with the loss of several important figures. Your excellent record also helped a lot--as did Knightís tactics at your trial. His proving of Vallleraís manipulation of you kept you from getting burned."

"No prescribed treatments for my mental condition?" asked Rojc incredulously.

"A strong recommendation of counseling sessions, but no more than that. Starfleet Command figured you could tell if you needed help or not in recovering." Bates looked Rojc in the eye. "And to think, you wanted absolutely nothing to do with Knight." He grinned.

Rojc smiled. "Is that all for the disciplinary portion?"

Bates nodded silently.

"Good. Turning back to my impending transfer..."

Knight stepped off the turbolift and onto the Bridge. He smiled to himself. With Antares finally having finished the final overhaul, the Phantom had been repaired in less than a day--quite an improvement from six months. He strode over to the command platform and took a seat in the command chair--his chair. It felt good to be back in command of a starship. He took one good observation of the officers around him.

He did a double take when his gaze reached Tactical. "Is there something I can help you with, Commander Rojc?"

Rojc swiveled around to face the Captain, obviously enjoying Knightís confusion. "Reporting for duty, Captain."

"Donít tell me..." Knight looked with amazement at Rojc. "You turned down your posting as XO on the Hood?"

Rojc grinned. "Certain recent events have caused me to...re-evaluate the paths available to me." He glanced back to TíSenishra, who was standing at a Science Station. "Right now, I think this is the best place for me--that is if its all right with you, sir."

"Commander, I believe this is going to be the start of a very interesting trek," Knight answered. "Welcome aboard."

"Thank you, sir." Rojc swiveled back to face the Tactical Station. "Antares is signaling us--we can depart at any time."

Knight re-orientated his position and relaxed in his chair. "Mr. IvíOor, take us out--three-quarters impulse."

"Aye sir, three-quarters impulse."