"And that's how it happened, Captain. After we secured the base, which was by now bobbing on the surface of the lake, we called for aid and some boats from Lake Town towed the whole thing back to shore and anchored it just off the quays.
"A completely incoherent Vincent Kelly was taken into custody by Starfleet Security and will probably spend the rest of his life on Elba II. Seems that being a puppet of the Jelly Brain for so long turned him into a mental vegetable after it was destroyed. All of the personnel in the base were rounded up and hauled off as well, most of whom will also be spending the next few decades in penal colonies mining borax.
"As for the life crystals, they were all recovered, and as you can see, Lieutenant Beckett is back with us, body and mind."
Captain Matthew Cross sat coolly listening to Commander Lee Carter's report. Behind the Wing Commander stood all four Banshee members, including Sam Beckett, apparently no worse for the wear. "Welcome back to the living, Lieutenant Beckett," he said impassively.
"Thank you, sir."
Turning back to Carter, Cross asked, "What about the rest of the life crystals and all the comatose bodies?"
"We've called in specialists from Vulcan -- priests of Gol. They'll identify the life essences in the crystals so they can be matched back up with their own bodies. For the crystals whose original bodies have been lost, the Vulcans have generously offered to take them to the Halls of Ancient Thought on Mount Seleya and deposit the consciousnesses into a special wing, to be cared for by the adepts there."
"And the Jelly Brain?"
"Dead."
Cross drew a deep breath and considered all he'd heard. "So to summarize, you solved a string of disappearances that has been plaguing the area for months and has had the local constabulary not to mention Starfleet Intelligence stumped, single-handedly apprehended the most wanted criminal in the entire quadrant after he successfully eluded Starfleet Security for months, put an end to a heinous black market smuggling ring dealing in human souls, rescued the missing Lieutenant Beckett after being ordered repeatedly to cease and desist, cured Lieutenant Commander Vasser of her parapsychological trauma, and even solved the age-old mystery of the brain-sucking Ogopogo lake monster. And all without destroying your starfighters for a change. That about cover it?"
Jo was about to remind the captain about Max's little accident battling the Jelly Brain's corvette in the asteroid belt, but Max caught her and surreptitiously punched her in the gut, then snapped back to attention before Cross noticed.
Carter looked contrite. "Uh, yes sir."
Cross nodded and regarded them severely. "All right then. You're all officially reprimanded for disobeying direct orders." Then his expression softened and he actually smiled a little. "Unofficially -- good work, ladies."
"So, what do you want to do today, Alex?"
"I don't know. What do you want to do today, Jo?"
"I dunno, whadda you wanna do today?"
"I dunno whadda YOU wanna do today?"
"Duhhh, I don't know, what do YOU--"
"Oh God, not this stupid comedy routine again..." said Max, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. "If you two morons don't shut up I'm gonna kill you!" she shouted.
The five reunited friends had left Captain Cross' office high in the Starfleet tower and were now back at street level walking back to their apartment. They had the rest of the day to kill, before their normal duties resumed tomorrow. "So, how do you think we should spend the rest of our free time, Lee?" asked Jo. "We've got a few hours left in our so-called vacation."
Carter looked up. She'd been staring at the sidewalk as they walked along, her mind far away. "Hmm? What? Oh, I don't know."
Jo caught the faraway look in her friend's eyes and decided to tease her a little. "Mooning over a certain heroic rogue?"
"First of all," corrected Carter, "I do not 'moon'. And second, not of your business!"
"Uh-huh. Thought so. So, when is West being released from the hospital?"
Carter found herself smiling. "Tomorrow afternoon. I'm going to take some leave and we're gonna spend some time together. He said he wants to show me his ship."
"You sure he said 'ship'?"
"Very funny..."
"In honor of Sam's return, I think she should get to decide where we go tonight," suggested Alex.
"Here here," chimed in Max and Jo.
"Well, okay," said Sam. "As long as we don't have to walk through any dark alleys to get there!"
The End
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