[Darkness.  A lone figure trudges across the snow-covered landscape,
wearily pushing off with large snowshoes.  Clothed in thick furs, the
figure's identity is indiscernable, even with a close up.  Cut to: the
terrain as the figure sees it.  Snow is falling steadily, leaving
visibility at three meters.  In the background we can hear distant
thunder rolling through the heavens.  It is semi-darkness, as at dusk.
Cut back to: the figure as it trudges wearily along, breathing hard.  We
can see a shadow, short and almost directly underneath the heavily
clothed figure.]

Figure: Haaaaallllllloooooo!

Echo: Haaaaallllllloooooo!

[The sound echoes emptily for several seconds before finally dying in
the silence.]

Figure: (steadily, as it walks) There-must-be-someone-near-here.  This-
     used-to-be-a-thriving-city.

[The fur-covered figure reaches a cliff, and due to a continuity error,
we can now see a giant crater in the ground, as though some mighty being
came along and scooped it out.]

Figure: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

[With that despairing scream, the wanderer collapses into the snow which
rises up past his (her?) waist.]

Figure: Shonyo, you have forsaken us.  We can do nothing but die.

[Slowly pan away from the figure to an aerial view of the snow-covered
plain which grows steadily deeper.]

------------------------------------------------------------------------
		STAR TREK: THE CROUTON GENERATION
			"The Perfect Game"
	      Part 23: "The Prize We Sought Is Won"

By Melinda Kay Allen and Dave Learn

Starring
     Kabeta
     Aren
     Eliana
     Dave Quixote
     half japanese
     Eric Kessner
     Jim Palmer
     Missy Midzor

Guest Starring
     Dave M'iello as Freston the Enchanter

Directed by: William Shatner
Music by: Delcara and the Many
Casting by: Thomas Dekker
Lighting by: William Shakespeare
Makeup by: Christopher Marlowe
Special FX by: Ben Jonson
Read by: You

Ending adapted from _Man of La Mancha_, by Dale Wasserman.
Lyrics to "Man of La Mancha" and "Dulcinea" by Joe Darion.
Aren's prayer, taken from _Merlin_, by Stephen Lawhead.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

[A lavishly decorated room, with gold artifacts and valuables adorning
the walls.  A fire burns fiercely in a fireplace.  Seated around the
room are Aren, Eliana, Kabeta, and a witness who remains silent.]

Aren: I--I don't know what to say, your Highness.  That is quite
     generous of you.

Eliana: I suppose we could always say, "Thank you," Aren.

Aren: (glibly) You're welcome, Eliana.

Kabeta: (smiling) There's no need to thank me, Eliana.  I've given this
     a lot of thought.  I may have joined Star Fleet to run away from my
     bad memories of Xavion, but after recent events, Star Fleet needs me.

Aren: H'm.  The war brought out the best and worst of humanity.

Kabeta: (wryly) And of Star Fleet.  There have been several riotous
     demonstrations on Earth.  Numerous high-ranking Star Fleet officers
     have resigned or been reassigned.  The Council has launched a full-
     scale investigation into Star Fleet's actions throughout the war.
     The Inspector General's office has been breathing down our necks...
     Even the Vulcans are . . . concerned about some of Star Fleet's
     actions. (hushed) There is talk that Vulcan may leave the Federation.
     If it does, you can be sure that there will be others.

Aren: The breakup of the Federation is not something I would like to
     think about.  Even if the Borg never bother us again, there are
     plenty of other races who would be only to happy to overrun us.  We
     can't afford to break up.

Kabeta: So you can see why I must remain in Star Fleet.

Eliana: (hesitantly) I don't mean to be presumptuous, Captain, but . . .

Kabeta: Yes?

Eliana: Are you sure you aren't just running away from Xavion again?

Kabeta: (after a long pause) No, I'm sure.  I've been coming to terms
     with my responsibilities to Xavion lately, and with my past here.
     But it's just that: it's my past.  Star Fleet is where I am now,
     and it is where I will be in the future.

Aren: Your highness, we would be honored, but there is the matter of
     descent.  We are no kin to Stephen, or to you, for that matter.

Kabeta: That's where you're wrong.

Aren & Eliana: What?

Kabeta: I looked into the records. (activates a computer which shows a
     chart)

Aren: (awed) I had no idea . . .

Eliana: (awed) Descended from King Puddlegulp himself . . .

Kabeta: What?

Eliana: Sorry.  Wrong story.

Aren: Still, our claim is tenuous at best.

Kabeta: That's why I am here.  As a legitimate heir, I possess the
     authority to affirm you in that role.  Your blood ties will only
     strengthen that claim.

Eliana: I'm impressed.

Kabeta: Then will you do it?

Aren: Of course--if you are willing.  Xavion needs strong leadership.

Eliana: I am willing.

Kabeta: It is done, then.  Hail, King Aren and Queen Eliana, rulers of
     Xavion and Keepers of the Orb of Melathrion and the Dragon Poker.
     When shall your althing take place?

Aren: Two days from now, when the sun reaches its zenith.

Kabeta: Very well then.  You will assume full duties as monarchs of
     Xavion immediately upon the conclusion of your althing.  Best of
     luck.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
COMMERCIAL BREAK

Winter got you down?
Can't get the car started?
Feeling drafts in your house which you can't stop up?


Tough luck.  You should have moved to Florida when you
had the chance, kiddo.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Space: the Subaru is in orbit around Xavion and Terim.  The debris from
the recent Borg conflict is still evident from the pieces of the Borg
ships and the two decimated moons of Xavion which encircle the twin
worlds.  The planets themselves are covered with a thick cloud layer,
giving them a brilliance in space.  Cut to: the bridge of the Subaru.
Palmer is doing push-ups.  Everyone is in dress uniform.]

Kessner: I don't get it.  Why does Star Fleet want *us* here?  Wouldn't
     the Melbourne be a better choice?

hj: That's what I would have thought, too, but Counsel -- Queen Eliana
     and King Aren requested the Subaru's presence at their althing.

Practor: That is most illogical.  The King and Queen served upon the
     Melbourne.  They do not know any one from the Subaru.

Palmer: (finishing push-ups) Not so.  They do know Dave.

hj: You don't seriously think that he's why -- ?

Palmer: (shrugs) He is the only crewmember invited to the althing who
     isn't a member of the senior staff.

Kessner: That's weird.

hj: Yeah.  Now Palmer, do you have the data I requested?

Palmer: Coming right now, Captain.  The althing is taking place in
     Lycosgrad, which is having its summer right now.  We can expect
     about thirty-two centimeters of snow during the next twenty-four
     hours.  Temperatures are maxing out at twenty below during the day.
     At nights, they've been reaching as low as 80 degrees below.

Kessner: And they call that summer?

Palmer: (grimly) Not normally.  The wreckage from the Borg ships and the
     two moons is blocking out much of the sunlight.

Practor: Is the Federation planning famine relief?

hj: Not that I know of.  Xavion is far enough from the center of the
     Federation that it's become a lower priority in this chaos.

Palmer: Captain!  There must be something we can do!

hj: Sure.  Fire the bureaucrats.  First thing let's kill the lawyers.
     (pause) We have to be going down.  Panza, are your security men
     ready?

[Panza slides out from behind the security station in his mechanized
hover chair.  The scars from the Borg-inflicted injuries are all too
evident, and Panza appears to still feel them, wincing as he moves.]

Panza: They are in the . . . the . . .

Palmer: The croutonizer room?

Panza: Yes.  They are in the croutonizer room.  We're ready to beam down
     at your order, Captain.  Alpha patrol has already checked the area
     and verifi-- verif-- veri-- . . . they guarantee that it is safe.

hj: Panza, you don't have to go if you don't want to.  Your injuries--

Panza: (angrily) My--my -- my injuries are my o-own c-concern, Captain.
     Mi-mind your own b-business.

hj: (angrily) Lieutenant, you are not to use that to--

Palmer: Captain.

hj: Butt out, Palmer.

Palmer: No.

[The two of them lock eyes for a moment.]

hj: You're right.  I apologize, Lieutenant.  Let's get going!

[Later, down on the surface of Xavion.  The Subaru bridge crew + Quixote
trudge their way to the Castle of Melathrion past a huge, angry crowd.
The entire away team is wearing thick fur coats, even Quixote.]

Missy: What's their problem?

Palmer: They're the Secessionists.

Missy: Come again?

hj: The Secessionists want Xavion to leave the Federation.

Kessner: Why?

Palmer: This is the second time Xavion has been attacked by the Borg.
     Some view it as Shonyo's punishment for Xavion's joining the
     Federation.  Others view it as foolishness since the Borg and
     Antareans first learned of Xavion through the Federation.

Missy: That's ridiculous.  What're King Aren and Queen Eliana going to
     do?

Quixote: Commander, I suspect that they will bow to the demands since
     so many Xavionites feel this way.  If they do not, there will be a
     riot, and the royal family will certainly be killed.

[The away team approaches the castle.]

Aletha: Greetings to you in the name of Shonyo, the Protector of Lycos'
     people.

Palmer: (to hj) I will handle this.  (to Aletha)  Greetings Aletha,
     Guardian of the Future King.  We are six tired travelers who would
     seek hospitality before the althing.

Aletha: Hospitality is freely given to all who are friends of the realm.
     Are you such?

Palmer: Guardian, we are.

Aletha: Then I bid you welcome to the Kingdom of Xavion, my lord.  You
     and your friends are most welcome in this place.

Palmer: We humbly thank you.

[The Subaru crew enter in to the castle where they shed their bulky fur
coats.  Underneath, they wear the standard dress uniforms of Star Fleet.
Quixote has forgone his traditional armor.]

Kessner: What was that all about?

hj: Palmer, as captain, I should have given the greetings.

Palmer: No offense, Captain, but you aren't a man.  Xavionite tradition
     demands that the oldest man give the greeting.

Quixote: My squire speaks truly, Captain, though not completely.

Palmer: No?

Quixote: The custom is that the knight who protects each band of
     travelers announce them.  As you are but a squire, it was wrong for
     you to do so.  Mayhap they will not learn of your error.

Palmer: Oops.

Aren: (entering) My friends!  How are you?

Quixote: But well, friend Aren.

Aren: You seem tired, Dave.

Quixote: I am not myself of late.  I have seen such evil in these days
     to freeze my blood.

hj: I thought that was what the weather was for.

Aren: Please, don't remind me.  The army is already building huts for
     the people to keep them from freezing to death.

Missy: We can replicate blankets for your people --

Aren: It wouldn't matter.  They would burn the blankets to protest the
     "tyranny" of the Federation.  I fear we may leave the Federation to
     save Xavion while we can.

hj: How would that save Xavion?  That would be suicide.

Aren: Captain, if we do not leave the Federation, there will be a
     rebellion.  My wife, my sons, and I will find our heads adorning
     metal spikes, and Xavion's leadership will be thrust into less
     capable hands which will immediately remove Xavion from the
     Federation.  Eliana and I may be able to save Xavion from itself if
     we allow the secession.  Perhaps in fifty or a hundred years, our
     grandchildren will apply for readmission, but right now we can't
     afford to stay members.

Kabeta: (entering) Aren?

Aren: Your majesty?

Kabeta: The sun is reaching its zenith even now.  Are you prepared?

Aren: No.  (laughs)  But I am ready.  Come along, my friends.  I welcome
     you to my althing as friends and as representatives of that great
     and glorious Federation.

[During the althing.]

Smarag: . . . blah blah blah rhubarb blah blah watermelon cantelope...

hj: (hushed) Does this go on forever?

Quixote: Do you hear something?

Palmer: Sh!

Missy: Hush yourself, Jim.  I think he's right.

Aren: In Shonyo's sight, I swear I do.

Smarag: blah blah cantelope watermelon blah blah blah blah . . .

Eliana: I also so swear.

Smarag: Then by blah blah cabbage, I blah blah rhubarb.  All rise.

hj: (rising) Is it over yet?

Smarag: You here, do you blah blah blah blah . . .

hj: Sheesh.

Quixote: I *do* hear something.  By Heaven, I must answer this
     commotion.

[Quixote departs, phaser at the ready.]

Smarag: Then Aren and Eliana, I hereby declare you King and Queen of
     Xavion.  May Shonyo bless you and guide you as you rule the land.

[The rear doors burst open and Quixote is trampled under an angry mob
of Xavionites.]

Quixote: Someone to see you, sire.  Oof!

Aren: (very booming voice) HOLD!  I wield the Orb of Melathrion and I
     carry the mighty Dragon Poker.  Stay your hands!

[No one hears.  The mob surges forward, overturning tables, benches,
chairs, trampling people underfoot.  Those at the front of the mob
grab Aren and threaten to tear him to pieces.]

Voice: Food!  We want food!

Second voice: Clothes!  Blankets!

[Aren disappears under the throng of people and soon his regal robes
appear over the top of the mob.  They are soon torn to pieces as
the crowd fights over them.]

hj: HOLD IT!  HOLD IT!  I SAID HOLD IT!

[No one pays any attention.  Thoroughly annoyed, hj grabs her phaser
and fires it at the ceiling on a setting low enough to do no damage
but high enough to get people's attention.]

hj: Let King Aren go.

Man: It's one of the Federation witches.  Kill her!

hj: (resetting phaser) Just try it, buddy.  I dare you.  Now let Aren go.

[Aren appears out from under the mob, very dissheveled.  He is missing
a handful of hair, his fine clothes are trampled and torn, and his nose
is bleeding.]

Aren: Thank you.  You need food?

Voice: Yes, we need food.  My crops all died in the summer snow.

Second voice: My livestock all froze to death.

Aren: QUIET!  One at a time, please.  I want to help you all.  I do.
     Aletha!

Aletha: Yes, your majesty?

Aren: Every good citizen here is invited to dine at my table to
     celebrate the althing.  (to the crowd)  I swear as your king that
     not one of you shall leave my althing hungry or unclothed.

Woman: I have children at home, starving and freezing in the cold.

Aren: Then let them come.  I will turn no one away from my table today.

[The crowd exits through the doors, hurrying to find their way to the
dining hall.]

Palmer: Aren, are you sure that's wise?

Aren: I am told that a king once gave a banquet for his fellow lords and
     ladies, but none of them came.  Each had an excuse: he had just
     gained a city, she had just acquired a new maid.  The king was
     furious with these nobles, and so sent his messengers out to the
     common folk and had them brought in.  He filled his table with
     the common folk and never lacked for friends or allies.  Such is
     my intention today.

Eliana: Sounds like a good plan to me.  But where's Dave?  I thought I
     saw him in here?

Quixote: (arising from the floor with a bloody face) I am here, your
     highness.

Eliana: Dave?  Is that you?

Quixote: Yes.

Eliana: (to Aren, hushed) But where's his armor?

Missy: Dave has been showing increased signs of sanity lately--a marked
     improvement.

Palmer: He's been extremely depressed, Missy, and you know it.  Lay off.
     That's an order.

Aren: And now, my friends, will you join us at our banquet?

hj: By all means!  Lead the way, your highness.

[Exit all.  Cut to the banquet hall.  Long wooden tables run the length
of the chamber.  On each side of each table sit peasants in whatever
clothes--sometimes furs, often less--they could gather.  Servants rush
from table to table, making certain that there is enough hot food and
drink at each table.  At the head table sit (L-R) Kessner, Missy,
Quixote, Kabeta, Aren, Eliana, hj, Palmer, and Practor.  Aren raises
his hand with two fingers extended, and Aletha appears immediately at
his side.]

Aletha: My lord?

Aren: Aletha, why is that table empty?

[Aren points to the table directly in front of the head table.]

Aletha: That is Lord Razhumin's table, your highness.

Aren: And he has not come?

Aletha: No my lord.

Aren: Fill it at once with those worst off.

Aletha: Yes my lord.

[In a matter of minutes, the table is filled with orphans, beggars,
and other completely destitute people.]

Aren: (under his breath) "Not one of those who were invited will get a
     taste of my banquet."

Kabeta: Did you say something, Aren?

Aren: Just thinking aloud.

[Time passes.  A peasant approaches Aren on his knees.]

Aren: Rise, good sir!  There is no need for you to bow like that.

Peasant: (head bowed) In the presence of a king, one should approach
     fearfully and with reverence.

Aren: Only when the king is greater than he who approaches, and I have
     learned from a good knight that all men are noblemen and all women,
     fine ladies.

[Quixote continues to move his food about, brooding silently, and does
not hear this.  The man rises.]

Peasant: My king, we ask justice of you.  Before Shonyo struck our land
     with this Summer's Winter, we had a daughter and we tended Lord
     Rassilon's vineyards.  When the Summer Snow came, the ground froze
     and the grapes were lost.  Rassilon's men . . . raped and killed
     my child as payment for the lost grapes.

[The peasant now has the attention of everyone at the head table.  None
of them are eating, and they all stare, blanched, in disbelief at the
man.]

Peasant: (shakes and composes himself)  They threw her body to their
     dogs . . .

hj: I'm going to be sick.

Aren: (shocked) Does no one resist them?

Peasant: Who can?  Shonyo's wrath has hit our people, and justice is
     established by the strong.  I struck one of Rassilon's men as I
     tried to stop save my little girl.  They made me watch as they
     beat my wife half to death.  She died during the night--I-I was
     unable to keep her warm in the growing cold . . .

Kabeta: "This is the way the world ends.  Not with a bang, but a whimper."

Aren: You will have justice, I swear.

[A second peasant approaches and begins his tale of woe.  A business-
woman.  A merchant.  One after another, they come, victims of famine,
illness, exposure, and the strong.  Through it all, the camera focuses
on Kabeta as she grows paler and paler.  Beads of sweat draw upon her
forehead, and she finally exits in a flurry.  Dave gets up to follow.
Outside the Castle of Melathrion, Kabeta sits in the heavy darkness
on a stone well by the wall which surrounds the castle.]

Quixote: Milady, what is wrong?  Has someone struck you?  If they have,
     they shall be punished for their crime, I swear.

Kabeta: Crime?  You know what the worst crime of all is?  Being born.
     For that you get punished your whole life.  You lose loved ones
     again and again.  I had it lucky--I never saw my fiance die.  These
     people get to watch day by day as their friends and family waste
     away and freeze to death.  Go rave about nobility in some madhouse
     where no one can hear you.  How could I have ever believed what
     you told me?

[A figure appears a stone's throw from where Quixote and Kabeta are.]

Quixote: Milady --

Kabeta: I am not your lady.  Leave me alone, you lunatic!

[Kabeta begins to storm off.  Quixote grabs her by the arm.]

Quixote: Milady, please do not --

Kabeta: I said to leave me alone!

[And with that, she picks up the armorless knight and tosses him into
a snow drift where he lands head first.  Kabeta leaves.  As Quixote
pulls out of the snow, he sees Freston.]

Quixote: You.

Freston: Greetings, Dave Quixote.  Or should I say Alonso?

Quixote: (through gritted teeth) I am not Alonso Quixano.

Freston: No?  I can hardly tell a difference these days.  (pause)  A
     pity about Dulcinea, isn't it?

Quixote: Leave me alone.

Freston: H'm, such a shame that she would treat you like that.
     Dulcinea.  The woman who has inspired you to do great and glorious
     deeds, the woman on whom you have called during defeat.  You're a
     lunatic to her.

Quixote: No, no . . .

Freston: Oh, yes.  She seemed rather angry to me.  I think she hates
      you, you and your mad delusions.  Look at me, Alonso.  I am what
      life is about.  Xavion is every bit mine.  People come to me by
      the score these days.

Quixote: No no . . . I will defeat you.

Freston: Will you?

[Quixote grabs for his sword, but it is not there--he has not worn it
in days.  With a rush, Freston plunges his fiery sword into Quixote's
uniformed chest.  Quixote shudders and grows still.  Freston disappears
and the snow continues to fall.]

[Inside the castle, as Kabeta storms about the hallways, decorated with
ornate tapestries.  She pauses by one with a large green frog on it with
the name "Melathrion" emblazoned along the sides.  Beside the frog is
a sphere, resembling the Orb of Melathrion.  She continues her mad
rush through the hallways and comes to another tapestry with a malicious
looking frog on it, armed with a sword.  This one is labeled "Mud-
sprad I."]

Kabeta: (perplexed) Why are the old kings represented with frogs and
     not wolves?

[She storms off again, talking to herself.]

Kabeta: How could I ever believe him?  He's a lunatic, especially if
     he thinks one person can ever accomplish good.  Who does he
     think he is, giving people false hope, stringing them along with
     those crazy dreams?

[Cut to: Quixote, in "Just a Bit of Light," attacking the fulling mill
and nearly drowning as he loses.]

[Kabeta makes a wrong turn and stops short in an alcove.  There, on a
tapestry just completed, is King Stephen in his royal armor.  Kabeta
stops cold.]

[Cut to: Quixote, in "Just a Bit of Light" as a wolf rakes his face.]

Kabeta: "One man, scorned and covered with scars . . ."


[Time passes.  The sun rises, for the sky is a dark gray instead of
solid black.  Aletha is out in the courtyard, removing garbage from the
kitchen.  She trips over something and lands face-down in the snow.]

Aletha: What in Shonyo's name?

[She sweeps off the snow already an inch or two thick with her hand, and
sees a Star Fleet uniform.]

Aletha: Oh my . . .  (shouts) Your highness!  Your majesty!

[Later, in a bedroom.  Alonso is lying in bed, covered in blankets but
still shivering as he stares off into oblivion.  His face is covered
with sweat.]

Aren: Where is he?  Where in the dark caverns of his mind is he?

hj: Can't you find him with your telepathy?

Aren: I've searched, but I can't find him.  Complete catatonia.  It's as
     though he's given up all desire to live.  How long was he out in
     the snow?

hj: I don't know.  Kabeta was the last person to see him, apparently.

[There is a knock on the door.  Palmer peers through to see if he can
come in.]

hj: Palmer, stay away from --

Aren: Captain, what harm can he do to Alonso?  It's all been done.

Eliana: Come in, Jim.

Palmer: Thank you, your majesty.  I just miss him.  Could I just talk
     with him?

Missy: No talk of knight-errantry.

Palmer: Right-o. (to Alonso) Hi, Da -- Alonso.  It's me, Jim.  How are
     you doing?  I've been wandering around the Subaru, just thinking.
     Thinking about hj's calling you "Don" instead of "Dave," or when
     we put peanut butter in Kessner's --

Kessner: So you're the ones who --

[Alonso's eyes close, and his head lolls to the side.]

hj: Way to go, Palmer.  You've bored even a catatonic person.

Palmer: No push-ups now, Captain.

    (leans forward while everyone else goes on talking)
     Oh I haven't fought a windmill in a fortnight
     And the humble joys get duller every day.
          Why when I'm asleep a dragon
          With his fiery tongue a'wagging
     Whispers, "Palmer, won't you please come out and play?"

Missy: What!  Jim, what do you think you're doing?  Get out of here --

Aren: Sh!  Look, he's stirring.

Alonso: (eyes open, sees hj) Buenos noche, Capitan.  (O esta ma$ana?

hj: (forces a smile) Huh?

Palmer: No hablamos Espa$ol.

Alonso: How did I come to be here?

Missy: You don't know?

Alonso: No, I can't say that I do.  Where am I?  Is this part of the
     psych evaluation?

Missy: You could say that.

Eliana: (softly) He's forgotten it all.

Aren: (sadly) It looks like it.

Alonso: Come closer.

[They all come closer.]

Alonso: I have dreamed most strangely today.  I thought I had declared
     myself a -- no, I dare not say it lest you think me mad.

Missy: Put the thoughts out of your head.

Alonso: They are gone.

[Alonso closes his eyes.  His breathing becomes more shallow.]

Eliana: Alonso!

[Alonso opens his eyes.]

Alonso: Forgive me.  When I close my eyes, I see before me a pale
     horse that I am bid to ride.

Palmer: Don't die, Alonso, but live on many years.  Dying is such a
     waste of good life.

Alonso: (smiles)  Soft and fair, Commander.  In last year's nests,
     there are no birds this year.

[In comes Kabeta.]

Kabeta: (to Jen-L) How is he?

Jen-L: Not well.  An hour, maybe two, I'm afraid.  He's awake, though.

Kabeta: Can I talk to him?  Just a few words.  Small ones.

Jen-L: Of course.

[Kabeta turns to look at Alonso, but is dumbstruck by his gauntly
appearance.  No longer does he look the part of a daring young knight,
but now more like a dying officer.  Alonso notices her staring at him
and beckons to her.]

Alonso: Come closer, Capitan. (confused)  Do I know you?

Kabeta: (uncertain) Yes.  My name is Kabeta.

Alonso: Kabeta? (pause, strains to remember)  I am sorry.  It is
     possible I knew you once, I do not remember.

Kabeta: My lord?

Alonso: Why do you call me "lord?"

Kabeta: Because you are my lord, Dave Quixote.

Alonso: Dave Quixote? (his face pales) Forgive me.  I am disturbed by
     shadows today.

Missy: Captain, you'd better leave now.

Kabeta: Not yet!

[Kabeta pushes her way to see Alonso and kneels at his side.]

Kabeta: You do know me.  You must remember.

Alonso: Is it so important?

Kabeta: Everything.  My whole life.  You called me by a different name,
     and it changed.  Everything was better.

     Dulcinea, Dulcinea
     Once you found a girl
     And called her Dulcinea.
     When you spoke the name,
     An angel seemed to whisper,
     "Dulcinea, Dulcinea."

     Dulcinea, Dulcinea.
     Won't you please bring back
     The dream of Dulcinea?
     Won't you bring me back
     The bright and shining glory
     Of Dulcinea?  Dulcinea . . .

Alonso: Then perhaps it was not a dream after all . . .

Kabeta: A dream?  You spoke of a dream, and about a Quest, and how it
     didn't matter if you lost or if you won, as long as you were true
     to the Quest.

Alonso: But the words.  Please, tell me the words.

Kabeta: "To dream the impossible dream."  But they are your own words!
        "To fight the unbeatable foe."  Don't you remember?
        "To bear with unbearable sorrow."  You must remember!
        "To run where the brave dare not go!"

[Kabeta buries her head in her arms.]

Alonso: To right . . . the unrightable wrong.

Kabeta: (raises her head hopefully, there are tears in her eyes) Yes.

Alonso: To love, pure and chaste from afar.

Kabeta: Yes!

Alonso: To try when your arms are too weary,
        (with conviction)
        To reach the unreachable star!

Kabeta: (crying with joy) Thank you, my lord!

Alonso: My lady, this is not seemly!  On your knees, to me?

Kabeta: But my lord, you're not well!

[Alonso (or is it Quixote?) rises from bed, his body shaking with the
effort.]

Alonso: Not well?  What is sickness to the body of a knight-errant?
     What matter wounds?  For though he fall a thousand times, yet shall
     he rise again, and woe to the wicked!  Palmer!

Palmer: Here, your grace!

Alonso: My armor!  My sword!

Palmer: More misadventures?

Alonso: More adventures, old friend.

[He places his arms around the shoulders of Kabeta and Palmer, leaning
on them for support.  A band suddenly appears out of nowhere, and
Quixote begins to sing.]

Alonso: The trumpets of glory now call me to ride,
        Yes the trumpets are calling to me.

Palmer: (confused) I don't hear anything.

Kabeta: Shut up, Jim.

Alonso: (still singing)
     And wherever I ride, ever staunch at my side,
     My squire and my lady shall be.
     I am I, Dave Quixote, the Lord of LaMancha,

[Palmer and Kabeta join in.]

     Our destiny calls and we go.
     And the wild winds of fortune
     Will carry us onward
     Whithersoever they blow,
     Whithersoever they blow.

Alonso: Onward to glory I -- unhh!

[Alonso suddenly clutches his chest in pain and falls to the floor.]

Alonso: (pained) I go!

Palmer: Your grace!

Kabeta: My lord!

[The next day, out in the courtyard of the castle.  The senior staff of
the Subaru, Kabeta, and King Aren and Queen Eliana stand gathered around
an open casket by a hole in the ground.  Inside the casket is the body
of Alonso Quixano in full armor, his sword laid across his chest.]

Aren: We are gathered today to give final respects to our honored dead.
     Dave Quixote was a man of few words --

hj: (hushed, to Missy) And even fewer which made sense.

Aren: -- so I will be brief.  I knew this brave knight only briefly,
     but I know his soul to a be a valorous one, full of courage.  His
     spirit was unbreakable and inspiring to all of us who knew him.
     Dave had the courage to stand his ground in front of insurmountable
     odds and not waver.  Whether it was defending the virtue of his
     lady from her kidnappers or fighting Borg soldiers over Yoyoboq,
     his fire was undefeatable.
          Although Dave was born in LaMancha on Earth, I do not think he
     would mind a burial here on Xavion.  Earth needs her heroes, it is
     true, especially now when she is at war with herself after the
     Borg's narrow defeat.  But Earth has her heroes by the score: men
     and women such as Rachel Garret, James Kirk, and Admiral Avenger.
     Many of those here are also heroes of Earth and defenders of the
     Federation.
          Xavion has great need of heroes, especially in the dark days
     to come.  We have severed our ties with the Federation and face
     times to come when the famines of ages past will seem like times of
     plenty.  In times like those, when we live in an age of steel and
     the sword, we will need to remember such men as Dave Quixote who,
     in his own words, came in an age of iron to create a world of gold.
     Although this mad dreamer has gone the way of all Shonyo's -- no,
     all of Jesu's -- creatures, his mad dream lives on in us.
          A man died who we bury today.  I knew Alonso Quixano not.  But
     Dave Quixote is not dead, and I do not think he will ever die.  I
     make it my sincere prayer that he never will, that he shall always
     live in the hearts of the people of Xavion of the Federation.
          Great Light, Mover of all that is moving and at rest, be my
     Journey and my far Destination, be my Want and my Fulfilling, be my
     Sorrow and my Reaping, be my glad Song and my stark Silence.  Be my
     Sword and my strong Shield, be my Lantern and my dark Night, be my
     everlasting Strength and my piteous Weakness.  Be my Greeting and
     my parting Prayer, be my bright Vision and my Blindness, be my Joy
     and my Sharp Grief, be my sad Death and my sure Resurrection!

[One by one, the funeral attendees bow before the coffin and make their
way into the hall where a great fire blazes away on the hearth.  The
camera remains outside, where the lighting suddenly increases
dramatically.  Palmer looks up and a brilliant smile illuminates his
face.]

Palmer: (exultantly) Oh my gosh . . .

Kabeta: (coming back out) What is it, Jim?

Palmer: The sun.  Don't you see, the sun!

Kabeta: Oh my . . .

hj: (also coming out) I don't get it, what about the sun?

Palmer: Ha ha ha ha!  Yeeehaaaa!

[Kabeta and Palmer begin to run about wildly, throwing snow at each
other and everyone comes out to see what the hoopla is all about.]

Eliana: Jim, what is it?  What about the sun?

Kabeta: (laughing) Can't you see it?  Look up above us!

[And they look up, and directly above them is the sun, shining through
in its glory to the surface of Xavion, unfettered by the clouds which
have blocked its light so completely for such a long time.]

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Next time, on
		STAR TREK: THE CROUTON GENERATION
			"The Perfect Game"
		  Part 24: "Thicker Than Water"

The Federation is beginning to pick up the pieces...
Furd:  Anyone for a game of Knockout Whist?

While Kabeta tries to put some ghosts to rest...
Eliana:  Have you come to any new profound conclusions?

...and meets up with some old friends.
Anna Leonova:  So what have you done with all this time?

HELLOS, GOODBYES, AND THE END OF THE SERIES on STAR TREK: THE CROUTON
     GENERATION!