==================================
Star Trek:  The Crouton Generation
Season 5, Pack #7
==================================

On the next
                   STAR TREK: THE CROUTON GENERATION
                              SEASON FIVE
                              "Infected"  

After a rough night in Paradise (TM), Captain hj stumbles into Sickbay
  for a shocking bit of news...
Dr. Ohmslaw:  Take a good look, Commanders.  You probably won't see
  anything like this for a long time.
_Subaru_ Crew:  Ewwwwwwwwww!!!

But for the Captain, this is merely an electrifying experience...
[hj stumbles out into a hallway, her face being overrun by cris-crossing
 circuitry]
hj:  Pro-ject!

Will Missy and Jim Palmer be able to save the day?
Palmer:  You started it.
Midzor:  Did not.
Palmer:  Did too.
Midzor:  Did not.

Or will drastic action be necessary to keep the _Subaru_ crew alive?
Kessner:  I say we beam her onto that planet over there, then nuke the
  site from orbit.  It's the only way to be sure.

HJ ON A MISSION OF DESTRUCTION, on the next exciting episode of
STAR TREK: THE CROUTON GENERATION!
----------------------------------------------------------------------

     The shuttlecraft landed with a loud thump.  Wondering why the captain
had made such a rough landing, Lt. JG Yi and Ens. Goldshirt rushed over to
help her out of the ship.
     The rear door on Shuttle 03 "Sushi" lowered as Captain half japanese
staggered forth, her face a pale shade of grey.
     "Captain, are you all right?"
     "Pro-ject!!!"  hj's voice was tainted with deeper echoes as she raised
her left arm and fired a beam of pure croutons at the unsuspecting security
ensign.  Goldshirt screamed as his body became enveloped in a meter wide
cube of crouton particles.
     hj turned to Yi and advanced toward him.  Yi backed away, stumbling
over boxes, then barrels, then a tricycle, three geese, train tracks...

FADE TO BLACK
----------------------------------------------------------------------
                   STAR TREK: THE CROUTON GENERATION
                              SEASON FIVE
                              "Infected" 

Written by The Admiral
With apologies to J. Michael Straczynski (and others)

Guest stars
     Louise Jameson as Dr. Wendy H. Ohmslaw

Directed by Chris Platt
Music by Picabo & Gilooly
----------------------------------------------------------------------
     The turbolift doors parted to admit Commander Jim Palmer.  Having
rushed here straight from the Holodeck, he hadn't even had time to change
out of his old Baltimore Orioles uniform.  He wiped more sweat from his
neck and forehead with a towel as he approached the command center.
     Missy stood up from the Captain's chair.  "Commander, we've got a
problem."
     "No kidding!  What were you thinking of?  *Nobody* sits on the
Queen's throne except the Queen."
     Missy's hands landed on her hips as she looked up at the ceiling in
annoyance.  "I thought we left the knight crap on Xavion with Quixote."
     Ignoring her, Palmer sighed and pointed to the floor.  "Well, there's
only one solution.  Fifty push-ups."
     "You have *got* to be kidding me."
     "Now, Lieutenant Commander."
     Grumbling, Missy slowly knelt to the floor and begin her penance.
     "You know, Commander, while I'm down here doing push-ups, the Captain
is downstairs tearing apart the ship."
     "Well at least she'll find the bridge in proper shape when she--"
     "Nine."  Breath.  "Ten."  Breath.  "No, I mean she really is tearing
apart the ship.  We've got security people all over the place and they
haven't been able to stop her."
     "Well, why didn't you say so?"
     "You were more worried about what chair I was sitting in, remember?"
     "Oh, yeah."  He watched as Missy completed her fifteenth push-up, then
grabbed her by the arm and helped her to her feet.
     "Missy, forgive me this madness."
     Missy frowned in annoyance.  "Just tell me what we should do about
Captain Blood-n-Guts."
     Kessner cleared his throat from the Ops station.  "I say we beam her
onto that planet over there, then nuke the site from orbit.  It's the only
way to be sure."
     Nods of agreement came from all over the bridge.
     "Now, now.  I don't think we need to do anything *that* drastic."
     "Why not?" asked Missy.  "What's the worst that can happen?  We nuke
her, they fire you and I get promoted to Captain.  I don't have a problem
with that."
     "Well, like it or not, we really ought to figure out what's wrong with
her and fix the problem.  I bet it's that damn Paradise (TM) planet she took
her vacation on.  If they put her in the box again..."
     "We can nuke Paradise later.  What are we going to do about hj?"
				* * * * *
     "Project!"  hj trapped yet another security grunt inside a box of
croutons.
     "If they keep this up, we're gonna run out of grunts."
     "Hey, is it too late for a transfer?"
     "Insecure!  Project!"
     hj stepped out into the light, revealing even more changes to her
anatomy.  Wires of various colors were cris-crossing her face, running
in and out of her skin.  Her face paled to grey and she was breaking
out in resistors all over.  The security guard screamed as she lifted
her arm toward him, an arm that looked rather like a larger version of
the Master's infamous Tissue Compression Eliminator.
				* * * * *
    Missy drew her phaser as she and Palmer approached Ten Forward.  Palmer
did the same, as he peeked through the window into the chaotic mess inside.
    "What is it?"
    Missy peeked in herself.  "Savor the mystery, Commander.  We don't get
nearly enough of them."  Missy paused, sucked in a deep breath and pulled
herself to her full height (which still left her deep in Palmer's shadow).
"I don't know what that thing is, but win, lose or draw, it's going to know
it was in a fight."
    "Hello?  Missy?"  Palmer tapped her forehead with his knuckles.  "You're
too young to experience that kind of pain."
    "What is with you and all these Babylon 5 quotes all of a sudden?"
    "You started it."
    "I did not."
    "Did too."
    "Did not."
    "Did too times ten."
    Missy and Palmer stopped, looked around and slowly turned back to
one another.
    "You don't think Richard Arnold escaped, do you?"
    They both thought about it for a moment.
    "Naaah."
    They heard another scream and turned to find their prey lumbering
toward the doors.
    "Insecure!  Project!"  hj fired a stream of croutons at the door,
blowing them outward and knocking Missy and Palmer to the floor.
    "Good lord," Palmer gasped.  "It's the captain!"
    Missy reached for her phaser, but realized it was between her and the
captain.
    "Missy, is it worth it?  Should we just pull back, forget the whole
thing as a bad idea and take care of our own problems?"
    "Project!"  hj leveled her Terawatt Crouton Emitter Arm in Missy's
direction and prepared to fire, when a powerful bolt of energy hit her
from one side.
    Practor looked over the barrel of the phaser rifle and smiled.  "I've
always wanted to do that to her."
				* * * * *
    Dr. Ohmslaw motioned for Palmer and Missy to come closer.
    "Take a good look, Commanders.  You probably won't see anything like
this for a long time."
    "What is it?" asked Palmer.
    "It's like the blueprints I've seen for living machines," said Missy.
"This is incredible."
    A random nurse passed by and stopped momentarily at Ohmslaw's side.
"There's a Martian war machine parked outside.  They'd like to have a
word with you about the common cold, when you have a moment."
    "Tell them I'm busy."  Dr. Ohmslaw turned back to her patient.  "In
the last five years, we've seen things no one could have ever imagined.
Kelvins, Lucky Charms, Lucky Charms fused with Borg..."
    "Jez the Wonder Kitty as security chief," Palmer added.  "Wayne Gretzky
as a starship captain."
    The doctor ignored Palmer and continued.  "But none of this has prepared
me for what we're seeing today.  This is a like a whole new step in the
evolution of the human species, but a dangerous one.  But I wonder what
might have caused it?"
    "Or who?"  Ohmslaw looked up sharply into her eyes when Missy suggested
it.  "I think I know what might have caused this."
    "And exactly which medical school did you attend, Ms. Midzor?"
    "No, no, no.  Look."  Missy turned up the magnification on the surgery
computer.  "It looks like her body was taken over cell by cell by these
machines...almost as if nanotechnological viruses invaded her body..."
    "You mean like some sort of mechanical yeast infection?" Palmer asked.
    "Ewwwwwwwwww!!!" responded the assembled crew from the perimeter of
sickbay.  Missy's annoyed look shut them up.  She continued.
    "The nanotech viruses attached themselves to her cells and manipulated
her body until she assumed the form of this living machine that has been
rampaging through our vessel.  Look at the way she's entrapped our crew in
boxes of crouton particles too.  If my theory is right, she was changed like
this for only reason -- to get to me."
    "What?"  Palmer turned Missy around to face him.  "What could make you
think that?"
    "This," said hj as her eyes sprang open and her right hand (the one
without the charged crouton emitter) reached up and grabbed Missy by the
throat.
    "Gaaaahh..."
    Palmer grabbed hj's crouton arm and aimed it away.  hj's crouton beam
shattered several shelves worth of Pyrex glassware instead of firing at
Missy.  Doctor Ohmslaw reached for her medkit and scrambled to find what
she needed.
    "Doctor, hurry!  I can't hold her down much longer!"
    The doctor pressed the hypospray against hj's neck and they all
relaxed as they heard the satisfying hiss.  Stupid move.  hj pushed
Palmer to the floor, stood up and swung around toward Missy.
    "Insecure!  Project!"
    Zap.  Thud.
    Practor tilted the phaser rifle backward and blew across the emitter,
as if to blow away smoke from a gun barrel.  She shook her head as she
walked out of sickbay.  "Humans."
				* * * * *
    "Captain's Log, Stardate Who-the-hell-cares-anyway?  I recovered
consciousness two hours ago and appear to have lost three days somehow.
I sure hope I can find them again at some point.  Plus, I've got this
terrible case of acne all of a sudden and a strong desire to stay away
from anything electrical.  I wonder what happened."
    "Captain on the bridge!" Practor barked excitedly as hj strolled out
of the turbolift.  hj's eyes narrowed in suspicion.
    "Why is Ms. Pointy Ears showing me such respect all of a sudden,
Jimbo?"
    "I don't know, Captain," Palmer smiled knowingly.
    The turbolift doors parted again, admitting Missy to the bridge.  She
winked at Jason over at the science station, then turned to hj with a more
serious look.
    "I've examined the evidence pretty thoroughly, Captain and there's no
doubt in my mind.  This was the Riddler's doing."
    "The Riddler did something to me...to get to you?"
    "Looks like it."
    "I wonder if this means the Borg are making another comeback attempt,"
Palmer postulated.  "Or does this mean the Riddler is no longer under
their influence?"
    "Whatever the reason, Jimbo, I know one thing," hj frowned.  "It was
all Missy's fault."
    "Now hang on a minute--"
    "Would you like to do the honors or should I?"
    "I've already had that honor once today, Captain.  Besides, it is
*your* ship."
    "You're right."  hj smiled and turned to Missy.  "Fifty push-ups."
    Missy's shoulders dropped as she glanced pleadingly aside to Jason,
who could do nothing.  Resignedly, she began to kneel.
    "And not those bent-knee girl push-ups either," said hj.  "Let's see
you build some upper-body strength."
    As Missy began her push-ups, Palmer joined hj in a pleasant stroll to
the command area.  "One of these days," Missy grumbled to herself, "I'm
going to wire her up myself."
    "That's twenty-five more, Lieutenant Commander," called Palmer.
    "AUGH!"
				* * * * *
    _Subaru_ leapt into the night and disappeared.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Tue, 12 Apr 1994 22:30:40 -0600
From: Knight of Shadows 
Subject: ST:TCG "Prelude to a Crouton"

[Exterior, space.  The Croutonprize flies past on Warp Drive, slow
 relative speed.]

Soraya [vo]:  Captain's log, stardate 104531.4.  We are en route to the
     Earth for a diplomatic mission of some sort.  Our orders were not
     specific; they merely said for us to come home.  I am understandably
     curious.
     The crew rotation has been completed, and the new crewmembers are
     settling in. 


[Interior, _Croutonprize_ bridge.  Everybody is at their stations:  Soraya in
 the center seat, Raptor at Ops, Crossfire prowling around, and Jez on Soraya's
 lap, purring.  Raptor's panel bleeps.]
Raptor:  Incoming subspace message.  Priority code, too.  Must be important.
Soraya [pushing a reluctant Jez off her lap]:  I'll take it in my ready room,
     Lieutenant.
Raptor:  It's not for you, Captain.  It's for him.  [He jerks his thumb over
     his shoulder, unerringly pointing at Crossfire.]
[A pause while Crossfire walks over to the Tactical station.]
Crossfire [s.v., frowning]:  From the Council?  [Out loud, turning.]  Soraya,
     may I use your Ready Room?
Soraya [nodding]:  Of course.  [She reseats herself, and Jez bounds up into
     her lap again.]
[The Camera follows Crossfire as he walks to the Ready Room.]
Crossfire:  Zen, route transmission to monitor.
Zen:  Confirmed.  Trasmission routed.  This is a priority one personal coded
     transmission.  Decryption will be impossible in the presence of anyone
     other than the intended recipient.
Crossfire:  Zen, recognize Blake, Zephiram, Commander, USS _Croutonprize_, and
     establish Alpha One priority clearance, Access Code Alpha Kappa nine-
     five-five.
Zen:  Alpha One priority clearance established.
Crossfire:  Decode.
Zen:  Confirmed.
[On the screen we can see the Grand Alliance logo, with a "Please Hold"
 written beneath it.  Pleasant, light-tempoed music wafts softly from the
 speakers.]
Crossfire:  Great.  A priority message, and I'm on hold.
[Then the music stops, and the screen blinks to show the pleasant, aged face
 of Ambassador Kennedy.]
Kennedy:  Hiya Kiddo.
Crossfire:  Don't call me kiddo.  What's up, Ambassador?
Kennedy:  Well, it looks like we've got a problem here...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Prelude to a Crouton

guest starring
Katherine Hepburn as Ambassador Kennedy
Danny DeVito as Ambassador Torv
Kevin Costner as Captain Renee Picard
Alan Alda as CMO Hawkeye
and
James Earl Jones as the Federation President

Produced and Directed by Clint Eastwood

Written by Crossfire
with input from Raptor
and apologies to Terry Nation

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

[Interior, Bridge.  Everybody is going about their business.]
Jez [sleepily]:  Meowrlllllpurrrrrrrruppp. [I wonder what that's all about.]
Soraya [shrugging]:  Dunno.  Con, ETA to Sol System?
Raptor:  Seven hours, fifteen minutes.
[Soraya nods, and suddenly the com boops.]
Crossfire [vo]:  Lieutenant Raptor to the Ready Room.
[Raptor stands, glances at Soraya, and walks to the Ready Room.]
[Crossfire is looking out the window, watching the stars trailing behind them.
 His arms are crossed and he looks tense.]
Raptor:  What was that all about?
[A beat passes.]
Crossfire [softly]:  Lieutenant, I expect my private transmissions to be
     unmonitored.
Raptor [surprised]:  Huh?
Crossfire [softly]:  You will delete the copy of that message I just received.
Raptor [even more surprised]:  How did you know?
[Crossfire does not respond, other than to finally turn and look at Raptor.] 
[Raptor nods, turns and exits.  Crossfire turns back to the window.]


[Exterior, space.  The Croutonprize is flying over the Moon.  In the distance
 we can see the Earth, SpaceDock, and several other Starships.]
[Interior, Croutonprize bridge.  Once again, everybody is at their stations.]
Soraya [sighing]:  Welcome Home.
Crossfire [regarding the readout at Tactical]:  Captain, the _Chivalier_,
     _Melbourne_, _Comatose_, and the _Fearless_ are all here.
Soraya:  Really?
Raptor:  Incoming hail from the _Fearless_.
Soraya [standing]:  On screen.
[The forward viewscreen switches from the view of Earth to Renee Picard's
 smiling face.]
Picard:  Captain Ghiasi.  We meet at last.
Soraya:  A pleasure, Captain.
Picard [his gaze shifting]:  Crossfire.  So they finally nailed you down with
     a promotion, eh?
Crossfire [growling]:  How come everybody's such an expert on my career 
     all the sudden? 
Picard:  Well, someone's got to keep an eye on you.
Raptor [speaking up]:  That's what I'm here for, Captain.
[Crossfire shoots an annoyed look at Raptor; Picard looks surprised.]
Picard:  So this is where you got to.
Raptor:  Yup.  They have better ice cream here.
[Crossfire looks about to say something, when Picard cuts him off.]
Picard:  Speaking of which...Captain, I'd like to invite you and your
     Number One over for dinner.  We've got some stuff to discuss.
Soraya:  Oh?  Like what?
Picard [smiling]:  Not now; we'll save that for dinner.  Will you come?
Soraya:  Of course.
Picard:  I'll see you at eighteen hundred, then.  Picard out.
Crossfire:  He sounds just like his Uncle when he says that.
Raptor:  Can I come?
Crossfire [a trifle too loudly]:  No!  And in the future, Lieutenant, I 
     expect you to keep out of private communications.
Raptor [donning a contrite face]:  I am thoroughly repentant, Commander.

[Exterior, space.  Shot of the _Fearless_.]
cut to
[Interior, Fearless Officer's Mess.  The camera pans to show Crossfire, Soraya,
 Kabeta, Muirden, Boom-Boom, Chow, and Picard all standing about the room,
 occasionally glancing at the table where places are being set.  Over in the
 corner, a pudgy man wearing an exaggerated, old-fashioned chef's outfit and
 a pencil moustache is tossing a salad with flair. 
[The left door opens, and in walks Ambassador Kennedy.  She heads straight for
 Crossfire, sweeps him up into her arms, and hugs him.  He responds, stiffly.]
Kennedy:  Hey, Kiddo.  How's tricks?
Crossfire:  Never better.  Don't call me Kiddo.  [He turns.]
     Ambassador, I believe you've met Captain Picard.  This is Captain Soraya
     Ghiasi, Captain Kabeta, Captain Chow, Captain Muirden, and Captain
     Boom-Boom.
[Kennedy nods to each, shaking hands and such.]
Picard:  Well, we're all here now.
Kennedy:  Yes.
Kabeta:  You want to tell us what this is all about?
Kennedy:  Well, I'm afraid we don't have good news, people.  There's a problem.
Crossfire:  A big one.
Kennedy:  It started a long time ago, but didn't really become a problem until
     recently.  During the Invasion.  After the Alpha Centauri incident.
[Kabeta frowns.]
Soraya:  And that problem is?
[Kennedy opens her mouth to speak, when suddenly both doors to the room
 burst open.  Four men dressed entirely in black, wearing strange helmets
 which appear to be partial gas masks leap into the room.  They are heavily
 armed with phaser rifles.
Crossfire leaps at Kennedy, taking her down to the ground;  a phaser bolt
 whizzes over her head.
Suddenly a salad bowl flies across the room and strikes the two men in black
 on the far side of the table.  It explodes, knocking them down and showering
 them with croutons.  The chef leaps over the table, firing a phaser, stunning
 them.
Crossfire rolls to his feet, also firing at the other two nearer men.  He hits
 one, and the other shoots him, taking him down.  In the background are
 alarms, and we can hear Picard shouting for security and shields.
The remaining man in black touches a device at his belt, and all four of them
 vanish in a transporter beam.
The Chef walks over to them.
Chef [in a detestable French Accent]:  I hate party crashers.  C'est tres
     gauche, n'est-ce pas?
Soraya:  Raptor!
Raptor [pulling a foam-rubber mask off]:  That's me!
Picard [touching his com badge]:  Medical Emergency in the Officer's Mess.
     Get me a trauma team in here now!  I said now, goddammit! 
[Everybody turns and sees Crossfire lying on the deck, bleeding from a wound
 in his chest.] 
 
[Exterior, space.  Shot of Fearless, to show time has passed.]
cut to
[Interior, Fearless Sick Bay.  Picard, Raptor, Kennedy and Soraya are there,
 looking worried.]
Soraya:  So you two planned that all along, then.
Raptor:  Yeah.  Crossfire knew that they'd try something like this.
Soraya:  Who?  Will you people tell me what's going on?
Picard:  Think about it, Captain.  Who can get on board a starship, get past
     all the security, the safeguards, and stage an assassination?
Soraya:  They were trying to get Kennedy?
Kennedy:  And Crossfire.
Raptor:  They may have.
[The door behind them opens, and Icefalcon walks out, followed by the
 Fearless' CMO, Commander Hawkeye.] 
Icefalcon:  They didn't.  He's going to be okay.
Soraya:  Thank god.
Icefalcon:  God or luck or maybe just plain meanness.  He took a phaser blast
     right in the chest.  Hawkeye's trauma team knows their stuff.
Hawkeye:  We're good, but not that good.  He's lucky he's so strong. 
Soraya:  But he's okay?
Icefalcon:  Yup.  He just needs rest, now.  And I don't want any of you
     marching in there and bothering him with questions, like you starship
     Captains always seem to want to do.  He's asleep right now, and I want
     him to stay that way for as long as possible.
Hawkeye [to Picard]:  Captain, I want to know who the hell's responsible for
     marching onto our ship and trying to kill two people.
Soraya:  We were just getting to that.  [She looks pointedly at Kennedy.]
Kennedy:  That's actually what we brought everybody together for.
Soraya:  AND?!
Picard:  There's a faction within the Federation and Starfleet that seems to
     have its own agenda.  And they're bent on removing anyone in their way.
Icefalcon:  Uh-huh.  So why don't you order some sort of an investigation,
     Ambassador?
Kennedy [shaking her head]:  Because they'd be the ones doing the 
     investigating.  They'd appoint a panel, and use it like you use panels
     in your home:  when there's something you want to cover up.
     They've got me outmaneuvered on almost every front.
Soraya:  Almost?
Kennedy [smiling]:  I've still got friends in Starfleet, haven't I?
Raptor [glancing toward the door to sickbay]:  Yeah, but for how long?

[Exterior, Space.  Shot of the Croutonprize, to show time has passed.]
cut to
[Interior, Croutonprize Bridge.  Soraya walks out of the Ready Room, frowning.]
Soraya:  I just found out what our mission is.
Raptor:  And?
Soraya:  We're here as an honor guard.
Raptor:  An honor guard for who?
Soraya:  I dunno.  [She thinks for a minute.]  Raptor, Jez, I want you in on
     this.  [She thinks for a minute more, then taps her com badge.]  Soraya
     to Icefalcon.
Icefalcon [ic]:  Go ahead, captain.
Soraya:  Can Crossfire be up and around in one hour?
Icefalcon [ic, curtly]:  No.
Soraya:  I'd really like to have him.
Icefalcon [ic]:  It's an imperfect world, captain.
Soraya:  How long before he's up and around?
Icefalcon [ic]:  I'm going to keep him here for a week, and we can
     negotiate from there.
Soraya [sighs]:  Thanks, Doctor.  Captain out.
[She thinks for a minute more, and taps her com badge again.]
Soraya:  Doctor Hoo, Commander Savan, please report to my ready room.
[She pauses.]
Soraya:  We're going to get to the bottom of this.

[Exterior, stock footage of UFP grounds.  Lots of pomp and circumstance all
 around:  honor guards, flags, etc.]
cut to
[Interior, Council Chambers.  All around are confused-looking ambassadors.
 We see, in the crowd, a depressed-looking Kennedy, an angry Torv desperately
 trying to engage her in argument...in the honor guard we see Soraya, Raptor,
 Jez, Savan, and Hoo, as well as Kabeta and a compliment of her crew, Picard,
 and Chow.  We can also see all of Starfleet's top brass; Data is there.
 Everybody's in those uncomfortable-looking dress uniforms.
[Suddenly the lights dim, all except for the spotlight on the podium.  The 
 President of the Federation steps forward.
[The President speaks sadly and haltingly, clearly reading a prepared speech
 and not making any effort to disguise that fact.] 
President:  Thank you for coming tonight.  It is my sad duty to announce that
     tonight I am resigning from my position as President.
[An uproar, and he simply stops and waits it out.  He ignores all shouted
 questions and continues with the speech.]
President:  I have had the honor of serving this Alliance for many years,
     and I shall miss you all.  But my time is past.
[Again, an uproar.  Again, the president simply rides it out.]
President:  In accordance with the Articles of the Federation, I have
     convened an Emergency Panel, and we have selected an Ad Hoc,
     president, who has agreed to serve until such time as the crisis of
     transition has passed.
[Dead silence in the chamber.]
President:  I give you the new President of the United Federation of
     Planets, Madame Angelique Mombi.

[Gaudy trumpets sound as the ex-President steps down.  Complete darkness
 reigns in the chamber as the lights go out, but before they do we can see
 selected people clapping madly, both amongst the Ambassadors and the 
 Starfleet personnel.  Everybody else is wearing a look of confusion.
Out of the darkness a lithe figure walks.  She is wearing a tight black
 dress, which perfectly matches her black hair.  Both contrast with the
 whitness of her face and hands, and the red of her lips.  She steps
 toward the podium with a cat smile on her face.
She, too, waits for the applause to die down, then speaks.]
Mombi:  Thank you for your warm welcome.  I promise to do everything in my
     power to serve our Federation.
     And I know I can count on your complete...cooperation.
[She smiles, and again the selected people burst into applause.]

[Quick reaction shots on Kennedy (sad), Soraya (confused), Picard
 (unreadable), and Raptor (angry!).  The applause swells as the camera again
 focuses on Mombi.  She smiles wider, as we....

....fade to black.  Over the sound of applause, a lone caption appears.]

                            Special Guest Stars
                        Jaqueline "Servalan" Pierce
                                     as
                         President Angelique Mombi