Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Mission Gamma: Lesser Evil: Book Four of Four

Seated in the center seat of the U.S.S. Defiant, Ezri keyed the navigational display on her port command console and reviewed the arc of their journey through the Gamma Quadrant. With more than nine-tenths of the voyage complete, they had made direct first contact with eleven different civilizations, eight of which had expressed interest in follow-up contact by the Federation. In addition, long-range probes had exchanged friendship messages with sixteen other promising contacts. They had recorded or obtained samples of 644 new varieties of life; mapped (with the help of the probes) nearly 1200 cubic light-years of space; witnessed the emergence of a new sentient life-form into this universe; prevented a genocidal civil war; discovered an ineffable artifact with which members of the crew -- herself included -- had made intimate personal contact; and, somehow, managed to pass Burning Hearts of Qo'noS among every member of the crew along the way.

Even Senkowski had finally broken down and read the Klingon romance novel, after a particularly brutal loss in the crew's regular poker game. Once boredom with the usual stakes had set in, Prynn (of course) had suggested betting dares. The game quickly became more popular than ever among the winners, and despised among the losers -- Senkowski having been among the latter, after he accepted the dare to read Burning Hearts of Qo'noS during a savage hand of five-card stud with Lieutenant Nog.

One helluva voyage indeed.

Of course, they'd also seen their share of tragedies. Ensign Roness had been killed not long into the mission, while under Dax's command; they managed to make enemies of at least three different civilizations (possibly more; transmissions from two of the long-range probes had cut off abruptly, their fate unknown); and many of the crew had been personally affected by some of the things they'd encountered along the way. Not what we came out here for, Dax thought, but we all knew the risks of exploring. It was, for many, what being in Starfleet was all about. "Risk," she quoted to herself, "is our business."

"Did you say something, Lieutenant "

Dax looked up. Ensign Thirishar ch'Thane had turned from his sciences station to look at her inquiringly. She must have spoken aloud without realizing it.

"Just talking to myself, Ensign," Dax said. She worried about Shar. Defiant' s science officer had been among those most wounded during their travels, but ironically, not by anything directly attributable to the voyage itself. Shar had been betrothed to three other Andorians back in the Alpha Quadrant, and one of them, Thriss, had grown so despondent by Shar's choice to go on this mission that a month ago she'd committed suicide.