Final Goodbye

Admiral Beard sat at his desk looking at a holo picture of his late wife, Janice Beard. She was a beautiful lady, dark hair that, at the time of the picture, had long strands of gray intermixed, deep, dark eyes, and a smile that melted the Beard heart of stone. She had died a Gregor's Disease that slowly "ate" away at her brain leaving nothing left but an empty shell. Beard had her for many years and had only one son, Matthew or Mattie, by her. Now he was all alone in a cruel world suffering inside. A suffering that ate at his soul, which needed appeasement.

The PADD that sat in front of him had the latest files on Captain Marcus Devore and the USS Leviathan. So far both have eluded death, death so carefully planned and orchestrated by Beard. Even his last attempts with Captain Lighter has failed. Somehow, someway the crew of the Leviathan uncovered a small snafu that his alter ego, Admiral Leary, was a dead man. Now Lighter has taken renegade with Beard's trophy, and he must do something about it.

That something was something that could never be condoned by Starfleet, Section 31 or anyone in the Federation for that matter. So by taking on this *Vendetta*, Admiral Beard was going against everything he fought for, everything his crews died for during the Dominion War, but vengeance must be taken. Mattie was his only son, and Marcus Devore took him away from him. Now Devore must die.

"Janice. I love you. Soon our son's spirit will be free from the eternal torment of the coward. I swear I will avenge him." Beard said softly as he removed his Admiral's insignia. Quietly, Beard stood up and walked around the desk. He gathered up some things and headed for the door. "Sheri. I am leaving. I am not sure exactly when I will be back, but know this, you are an outstanding officer."

Sort of shocked and surprised, the pretty commander nodded and said, "Thank you sir. " She noticed a sort of finality to his departing message, but brushed it off.

Beard turned the corner and headed for the Starfleet hangar. As he entered the bay, he noticed the new scout ship that he had commandeered a few days ago from the Utopia proving grounds. He sat down at the helm and slowly eased her out. She handled like a dream, a dream hot rod. Within in minutes the small vessel was clear of the Earth and in the vacuum of space.

"Computer. Set sensors to maximum scan and set course 034 Mark 8. "

<Course set.>

"Engage Warp engines Warp 4."

The ship slipped into space destination: USS Lynx.