Deep Space 9 Dr. Mira Montgomery stood by herself in the upper pylon of DS9 staring at what was left of the Enterprise-E. It had been towed back to DS9 after the battle that almost completely destroyed the ship.

A shudder went through her body as she remembered the battle. She wrapped her arms rightly around herself. She remembered.....

Enterprise-E Sickbay She had just finished talking with Dr. Callahan, the dentist when the ship was rocked by the first of many tremendous blasts. Mira was knocked against him and both went crashing into the sickbay wall, Dr. Callahan hitting his head and Mira injuring her left shoulder. The red alert klaxons were sounding loudly and the lights flickered off and on as she took out her tricorder and began scanning the unconscious Dr. Callahan, ignoring the pain in her shoulder.

Nurse Kate O'Sullivan came running over to both doctors, "Dr. Montgomery are you all right?" Kate asked as she helped the doctor to her feet.

"I'm okay, but Dr. Callahan has suffered a concussion. Help me get him to a bed." Before they could get Callahan up, the ship was rocked by another blast which sent all three to the floor again!

"Dr. Montgomery to the bridge. What's going on up there?!" she screamed into her comm badge. No response. The lights of sickbay continued to flicker on and off.

"Looks like communications are out," said Montgomery as she tried getting to her feet again. The ship continued to lurch and she knew they were in serious trouble! As Kate and Montgomery finally got Dr. Callahan to a bed, he began to come around.

"What's going on here? What happened?" he asked, holding a hand to his head.

"The ship is being attacked and I can't raise the bridge. Lay back down, you have a concussion," ordered Mira.

"O'Sullivan, see if anyone else is injured in here. We're going to need teams to treat all the people I know must be injured."

Since it was late in the night, sickbay was minimally staffed. It was unusual for Dr. Montgomery to be in sickbay at this time of night, but Dr. Bryant was ill, requesting time off. "Dr. Montgomery to Dr. Bryant." Still no response.

"Dr. Montgomery to Dr. Wahlberg." Again, nothing. The ship was rocked by yet another blast. This time Dr. Montgomery was prepared and held onto Dr. Callahan and the bio-bed. The lights flickered and this time did not come back on. The only light in sickbay was the dim red glow of the emergency beacons.

Dr. Callahan and Dr. Montgomery's eyes locked. They knew the ship must be in critical condition. Mira turned to go find Kate and get all her people together. She knew they might have to evacuate the ship. "Stay here," she ordered Callahan.

Callahan caught her arm, "Dr. this is not the time for me to be laying around. I know we're in deep trouble. I'll get the medkits. We're going to need them."

Mira thought for a moment then said, "You're right. See to it. I'll be right back." She went to find O'Sullivan. She found her with Nurse Linda Emerson and Med Tech, Roman Anderson, treating their wounds. Emerson had a gash in her forehead and Anderson had a broken leg.

"Kate, we need to get everyone together. We may have to evacuate the ship!" The red alert klaxton was still sounding, the ship was still rocking to and fro and it was difficult keeping their balance.

"Yes, doctor. I've just finished with Anderson's leg."

"Can you stand, Anderson?" asked Mira.

"Yes, I'm fine".

"I doubt that. But we can tend to your wounds later. Right now we need to..." Before she finished her sentence, another blast rocked the ship. This time it was harder and worse than Mira had ever experienced and she wondered if they were being attacked by the Borg. How did anyone sneak up on the Enterprise? she wondered as she helped Anderson to his feet, the pain in her shoulder forgotten for now. What was Allegra doing up there? Whey didn't Tawny sense this coming? These questions and more raced around in her mind while she tried to get her group to safety.

Just then, over the computer access terminals she heard Chief Engineer Taggert's voice shouting, "All hands abandon ship! All hands abandon ship!" She and Kate looked at each other and nodded. They knew just what to do. Montgomery helped Anderson out while Kate, Emerson and Dr. Callahan, who did manage to grab several medkits, exited Sickbay.

They were on their way to one of the many lifeboats situated all around the Enterprise. They were met in the hall by several people running this way and than, all trying to get to the same place--lifeboats!

As they were running down the corridor, a door opened on the right of them and a crewman staggered out, holding his chest, and fell just as they passed his door. Dr. Montgomery noticed him, stopped and turned back.

"Dr. Callahan, give me a medkit. O'Sullivan, you and the rest go on to a lifeboat," she shouted as she knelt to administer to the young man.

Kate looked at Callahan, Emerson and Anderson. "Can you make it?" she asked. They nodded yes. "Then go! We'll catch up with you. Hurry!"

"Kate," began Mira, "please go!"

"No, doctor. I'm staying to help. You can't carry him to a lifeboat with your shoulder the way it is." With that, she knelt and grabbed under the crewman's right arm, while Mira grabbed under his left, lifting him up to his feet. All three rushed to where they hoped a lifeboat would be waiting. Dr. Montgomery was painfully holding her tricorder with her left hand and scanning him as they ran.

"You're going to be all right, Crewman," she told him. "You're not having a heart attack, if that's what you're thinking." The crewman gave her a weak smile. "We'll take better care of you once we reach a lifeboat."

They finally arrived at a lifeboat, looked inside and saw only one person in it. The Lieutenant calmly smiled at them and said, "Come on in. I've been waiting for enough people to leave! Are there any more coming?" How can anyone smile at a time like this? Mira asked herself, but still welcomed his levity.

She answered, "No, there's no one else. We were the last at this location." I hope Allegra, Tawny, Simon and the rest made it out, she thought to herself. As soon as they got in and seated, the Lieutenant released the lifeboat from the Enterprise. The tiny boat sailed out and away from the damaged Enterprise.

Mira was attending to the Crewman when Kate called out. "Oh, my! Look!" She was pointing toward the Enterprise. From where they were at, they could see the top portion where the bridge was supposed to be. Mira slowly turned from her patient and gazed out the window, down at what she thought she would never, and hoped she would never see--the whole top portion of the Enterprise was gone! There was a huge gaping hole where the bridge should have been. Sparks could still be seen between the torn and twisted metal and escaping gases. She knew then, without a doubt that Allegra and Tawny were gone. She wondered how many were left. Did Simon make it out? Audra? Creascha? Her medical team? She noticed that there were many, many lifeboats around.

Kate gently touched her arm, "I'm sure they all made it, Dr. Montgomery. There are many lifeboats around and..." She couldn't finish her sentence as tears started to flood her eyes.

"Yes, Kat, I'm sure a lot made it. After all, we did, didn't we?"

There were 781 survivors to the Gamma Quadrant Disaster as it came to be known. Simon McRaney made it out alive, although injured. Drs. Wahlberg and Bryant did not. Many of her medical team would not be returning with her.

She shivered again at the thought of it all. The Biancoans! Damn them! I hope they run into the Borg one day!

"Dr. Montgomery. Would you like to come and join a few of us for a drink at Quarks?" The voice brought her back to the present. Mira turned around and faced Audra McKay.

"How did you know I was here, Audra?"

"I saw you leave the promenade and figured you were heading this way. I came up here once--once was enough."

"Yes, I think it will be," replied Mira. "And, yes, I think I will have a drink with you," she said as the two of them started walking.

"A Samarian Sunset, Doctor?" Audra smiled. She knew that was the doctor's favorite drink.

"Yes, I think so, Audra. A very big Samarian Sunset!"