A steady, soft beeping was the first thing that LCDR Varyn K’lev heard when he began to stir, followed thereafter by the voice of Lt. Ophelia Lotharys saying, “He’s waking up, I think!”

The first sensations he felt were the mattress of the bed he was lying on and gentle pressure on his right hand, though if truth be told everything felt muted.  As his eyes slowly opened, the first thing he saw was a ceiling-mounted light.  Sickbay, he thought.  Why am I in sickbay?  He looked to his right, following the pressure on his hand, and saw Lotharys sitting at his bedside, holding his hand; that explained the pressure.  She smiled gently.  “Welcome back,” she whispered.

Another form appeared behind Lotharys as Ensign Hilava, the ship’s chief medical officer, walked up, taking a moment to study the readout on the monitor of what K’lev now realized to be a biobed before she looked down as well.  “Good to have you back with us, sir!”  Hilava said brightly.  “I’ve gotta say, it caused a bit of a scare when you were brought in, but you’re healing up quite nicely.”

K’lev nodded slowly, still trying to blink back the haze that had settled on his senses.  “What happened?” He asked, then came to a realization.  “The battle…. I’m needed on the bridge…”

He started to try to rise, but Lotharys put a hand on his chest and gently stopped him.  “It’s okay; the battle’s over.  We got the station; well, the Salvation did.”

He settled back, looking between Lotharys and Hilava.  “How bad were we hurt…?”

“Ruptured warp nacelle and damaged coils, several hull breaches, starboard torpedo launcher’s down, engineering console on the bridge needs to be replaced, and a bunch of blown EPS relays, not counting messes,” Lotharys responded.  “Don’t worry, I’ve already talked to Pelix and Tiza; they’ve got the repairs well underway.  Nacelle’s already fixed and the warp drive’s already back, and we should have the last of the hull patches done shortly, then we’ll see to the rest.  Pelix says he should have us fully back up within twelve to sixteen hours,” she finished in a soothing tone, knowing her former-engineer captain was about to try to coordinate repairs from sickbay.

K’lev squeezed her hand gratefully.  “Thanks, Lia,” he said with a small smile, which faded as his gaze shifted to Hilava.  “What about the crew?  How many…?”

“We’ve got 43 wounded, but nobody was killed, and everyone should make full recoveries,” Hilava said.  “Pelix and Chief Bong say that the call you made before the fight, to reinforce the shields and structural integrity by rerouting power from non-essential sections and decompressing them, may have saved at least a half a dozen lives.”

K’lev nodded once more.  “How long have I been out?” he asked, the conversation helping bring him back to a more full awareness.  “And how badly was I hurt?”  As he asked the second question K’lev caught Lotharys expression; oddly, she had darted a quick glance at Hilava.

Hilava cleared her throat before answering.  “You were out for just a few hours,” she said.  “They brought you in with a concussion, burns, shrapnel injuries, and…”

K’lev looked between the two once more.  “And what?” he asked, now towards Lotharys.

“When the console exploded, it threw some shrapnel into your face…” she began.  “Hilava did a wonderful job treating your other injuries, but that one…”

As she trailed off, K’lev shifted to try and sit up once more; this time, Lotharys didn’t try to stop him, instead helping to steady him as he propped himself up on an elbow.  “What is it?” he asked her.

In answer, Hilava switched off her PADD’s screen.  “A larger piece had hit your eye, and did some damage to the side of your head too, as it flew by, and as you fell you bounced off the console edge; your head hit it in the same area.  When they brought you in, I was able to knit the bone back together with the osteo-regenerator, but it didn’t seem to work completely, and your eye…”  She looked at him apologetically, shaking her head.  “There was nothing I could do, other than fit a prosthetic; I tried to make sure it matched your eye as closely as I could, and make the rest as unobtrusive as possible…”

With that, she turned the darkened PADD screen to face him, using it as a mirror.  In the reflection, K’lev saw his own face, the green skin now accented on the right side by a strap of silver metal running from the eye socket and brow over his ear and towards the back of his head.  His right eye looked a little too perfect now compared to his left, and it was also now a shade or two bluer than it should have been.  As K’lev examined himself in the improvised mirror, his fingers drifting across the metal, Hilava and Lotharys shared a worried glance; eventually, he took a steadying breath.  “Does this eye have any tricks I need to know about?” he asked, trying to focus on what he could control instead of the immutable past.

Hilava shook her head.  “No, I didn’t want to put in anything fancy unless you asked me to.”

K’lev nodded, sitting upright with Lotharys’s help and then getting to his feet; he seemed a little unsteady, but it would pass.  “Thank you, Hilava, for everything you’ve done,” he said, in what he hoped was a reassuring tone.

Hilava smiled.  “You’re welcome, sir.  And I’ll keep you both advised on everyone’s recoveries.”

Seeing K’lev still processing this sudden change to himself, Lotharys answered for them both.  “Thanks,” she said simply, then turned to K’lev.  “Can you walk?”

“Yeah, I think so…” he answered.  “But stay close to me, please.”

She nodded, then the two left the room, heading for the bridge; K’lev’s balance was quickly returning, but Lotharys remained close to him even after he had stopped physically leaning on her.

When they stepped out of the turbolift, the bridge was a bit of a mess, but still functional.  Ensign Phillips had the conn; when they looked over at the sound of the turbolift doors and saw their wounded captain and first officer returning, they stood and – in violation of a standing order K’lev had put in place that it never be done again unless there was someone not from the ship with him who might object to the show of decorum not happening – called “Captain on the bridge!”

The bridge crew all stood to attention, facing the turbolift doors.  K’lev stopped, looking to Phillips as the latter cracked a grin.  “You know I hate it when people do that,” he said by way of an at-ease, and the bridge crew broke into applause, though they stopped after he waved a hand and cracked a smile.  “Yeah, yeah…  Boss’s back, party’s later.  How’s the repairs going?”

One by one, each of the senior staff gave their reports, either in person or over the intercom.  Tiza’s prudent supply staging efforts had paid off in a very major way, with Pelix’s teams actually ahead of schedule; they had just finished the final hull repairs and repressurized the decompressed sections of the ship, and final repairs were now estimated to be done within eight hours, ten tops.  Satisfied, K’lev returned the conn to Phillips, then he turned to leave; Lotharys went to remain on the bridge, but K’lev motioned for her to join him.  Before stepping into the turbolift, though, he leaned towards Chief Bong.  “Tonight, once repairs are complete and we’re back underway,” he said, “have the senior staff report to my quarters.  That includes you, by the way.  It’s informal; tell the others it’s a special study session, they’ll know what that means.”  As the chief nodded, the captain and first officer re-entered the lift and the doors closed.

The next few hours passed uneventfully.  Still in need of some rest but with one thing to do first, K’lev made a quick stop by the quartermaster’s storeroom; as anticipated, Tiza wasn’t there, but that made things easier.  He retrieved a few things and left a note saying it was him and to log it when a chance arose, then headed to his cabin for an ironically-much-needed rest.  At some point during his nap, the faint thrum of the engines began again as Culver City got underway.  Before he knew it, his door chime sounded and roused him; answering, he found Lotharys standing there, now in more casual attire and carrying a small bag.  “Come on in,” he said with a smile.

She entered, giving him a tender kiss after the doors closed.  “How are you feeling?” she asked.

“Tired, a little brain-foggy.  Definitely glad Hilava gave me painkillers,” he finished with a small laugh.  “How about you?”

“Glad this is all over, and that you’re okay,” she said, leaning into him.  “You sure you’re up for this tonight?”

He smiled.  “I did tell you I’d host one of these ‘study sessions’ after the crisis was done, didn’t I?  And after everything we’ve been through, I’d say it’s a perfect time.”  His smile turned impish.  “Though I will have one matter of business to do before we can crack open bottles, snacks, and games.”

Lotharys looked confused, until K’lev pulled five black pips out of a pocket.  “Swiped these from Tiza’s stores earlier; don’t worry, I left a note.  Good surprise, you think?”

She smiled widely, now understanding.  “I do!”

Over the next hour or so, the rest of the team trickled in; Chief Bong arrived last.  When the chief arrived, K’lev met him at the door, now moving much more steadily.  “So, Chief,” he said in a conspiratorial whisper, “I’m sure you’d heard about some of the end-of-term ‘study sessions’ held at the Academy when you taught there.  Well, now you’ve been invited to one!  Got one quick bit of business to attend to first – matter of some pips being given out, nothing big – then we’ll open up the food and drink and have some fun; with what we’ve just been through, a celebration of life may be just the thing.”

With that, K’lev turned and moved to the center of the cabin, picking up a small box as he passed the small desk in the living area.  “Before we get too deep into the night’s festivities,” he said, “I do have one bit of business to attend to, that’ll make this a double celebration.  Ari, Hilava, Tyrisa, Teles, and Tiza, you’ve all done a lot of great good since we’ve been out here, and I’d say it’s high time we did something about that.  So, stand up, all of you, and put a hand out.”

The quintet stood and each extended a hand, looking between each other in confusion as they did so.  K’lev walked among them, dropping pips into palms.  When he was done, he looked at them with a grin.  “I’ve already sent the notice to command, so now it’s all official, and all that remains” he picked up a glass that he has poured for himself for just this moment “is to toast the new lieutenants!  Cheers!”

The group of nine all raised their glasses, joining in the toast.  That seemed to break the ice rather effectively, and over the course of the party, which lasted some four hours or so, games were played – gambling, yes, but the chips were not latinum-backed; it was all just for fun, after all – snacks were eaten, drinks – real ones, not syntheholic ones – were shared, and stories were swapped, the walls of the cabin echoing with the sort of laughter that comes naturally to those celebrating life after making it through some great challenge, whether that be Academy final exams or a border crisis.  As it turned out, Chief Bong and now-Lt(jg). Ghimir were both very good at cards, Pelix was very lucky with dice, and Lt(jg)s sh’Livo and Tiza – both fans of Klingon opera – proved to be talented singers with an enthusiastic rendition of one of the arias from Kahless and Lukara that sounded quite good in the moment and probably would have sounded better if both were a little less tipsy.  Eventually, the ‘study session’ did break up, though, everyone retiring to their cabins to some much-needed rest (and perhaps a strong coffee the following morning).

Over the next few days, as the Culver City began her trip back from Starbase 420 to Starbase 86, Pelix’s engineers were able to repair the last of her damage; the ship could have stood a new coat of paint, but she was back at full functionality.  In sickbay, and in the secondary triage of shuttlebay 1, the ship’s wounded were all improving quite nicely under Hilava’s and Ghimir’s expert care; most were back fit for duty within a day or so of the battle, and those who weren’t had fully recovered well in advance of the Culver City‘s return to SB86.  K’lev did spend some time on the trip home in session with Ghimir; especially in light of what had happened on Frontier Day of the previous year, he needed some help in coming to terms with his new appearance.  Under Ghimir’s care he had begun the process of acceptance, but it would be some time yet before he truly felt no fear or unease when he saw himself in the mirror again.  After Culver City returned to SB86, she underwent some yard time, to inspect the field repairs and refine them and make them seamless; at the end of that time, she had been re-certified for full duty and was now fully-crewed with a complement of 300.