[The main city of Xavion, outside the palace.  The sun is shining at last, but 
it is far from warm.  The crew of the _Subaru_ and Captain Kabeta stand outside 
with the new King and Queen.]

hj:  Well, I guess we have to be off.  We don't have our new orders yet -- we 
	don't know if we're going back to the LMC  or not -- but they want us 
	out there.
Palmer:  Thanks for your hospitality, Counsel -- er, Your Majesties.  [a beat]  
	Take care of Dave for us.  We'll miss him.
Missy:  Yes... even I will.  [short pause]  Though I think Shenando will be 
	just as happy...
[A couple of beats pass.  No one laughs, not even Missy at her own joke.  
	Then Aren shakes off the gloom.]
Aren:  You are most welcome, all.  Come back and see us anytime.  I hope we'll 
	have better weather next time you come for a visit!
Kabeta:  Yes, Xavion really does have a pretty nice climate most of the time.  
	[She looks up at the sky.]  Except for the occasional shattered moon...
[This time people laugh, mostly to break the nervous tension.]
hj (to Kabeta):  Will you be joining us, Captain?  I'm sure we can catch up 
	to the _Heisenberg_ pretty quickly.
[Kabeta looks a little uncomfortable.]
Kabeta:  No, I'm not coming with you now.  [pause]  I have... some unfinished 
	business to take care of here first.  Tell the _Heisenberg_ to come 
	get me in a couple of days, okay?
hj (looking a bit puzzledly at Kabeta):  Sure, Captain.  
Palmer (taps communicator):  _Subaru_, team minus two to beam up.

[The Xavionites watch as the _Subaru_ team dematerializes.  After they are 
	gone, Kabeta turns to the royalty.]

Kabeta:  Have the transportation systems been too badly disrupted?  Would it 
	be possible for me to get to Kurakh in the next couple of days?
Aren:  Kurakh?  That's south, yes?  [Kabeta nods.]  We should be able to 
	get you there, leaving tomorrow. 
Eliana:  You will stay with us tonight though, won't you?  [pause]  After all 
	that's gone on the past few days and weeks, I could use some company.
Kabeta (smiling sadly):  Of course, Counsel-- [She stops herself, smiling more 
	happily now.]  It's going to take me a while not to call you that 
	anymore!

[The three walk off toward the castle, Aren guiding Eliana gently with a 
	hand on her arm.]

	******************************************************
		STAR TREK:  THE CROUTON GENERATION
			"The Perfect Game"
		   Part 24:  "Thicker than Water"


Written by Katherine Bryant
Directed by Katherine Bryant
Music by Colcannon and Fairport Convention
(Lyrics to "Meet on the Ledge" by Fairport Convention)

Guest starring:

	Devyn Lee Gavryth as King Aren
	Angela Lansbury as Irina Korasov
	Joan Hickson as Anna Leonova

Also guest starring:

	Dave Learn as Dave Quixote
	Denzel Washington as Anthony Morgan
	Teresa Gualtieri as Alexis and Aseret
	Iain Lamb as Stephen
	Karim Farah as Highlander
	Chris Platt as Chris P. Crouton
	Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard
	Bryant Durrell as Garrett
	Christina Marzano as Lycos
	Melinda Allen as Lechon
	Robert Sean Leonard as Simon Leonov
	Peter Bryant as Andrei Gorovin
	Lucinda Bryant as Marya Gorovina

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


[The palace cemetery.  The Borg attack has left much of it in ruins.  Kabeta 
walks out, bundled in a cloak and hood.  She picks her way through tumbled 
gravestones and uprooted trees, some blown down by the storm winds after 
the attack.  Others are here too; people checking to see if graves of those 
they love are still intact.  We hear laments and occasional laughter as the 
sun pokes through the clouds.]


[She stops first at the newest grave in the place, that for Dave Quixote.]

Kabeta:  Dave, Dave.... at least you are now where no one can ever tell 
	you your dream is madness.  [pause, then slightly bitterly]  As I 
	once did.  Forgive me my lord, I did not understand.  Madness is 
	sometimes the only way to stay sane.

[From beneath her layers of wraps, she produces a small bunch of dried flowers.]

Kabeta:  I wish I had fresh ones to give you, my lord, but nothing will grow 
	here now.  [She pauses, then puts the flowers on the grave.]  For my 
	lord Quixote, from your Dulcinea.  Requiescat in pace.

[She moves on, looking carefully through the wrecked stones.  Every now and 
	then she stops at a familiar name.]

			***********************
[_Heisenberg_, bridge.]

Snark:  Oh acting captain Furd, a message comes.

Furd:  On screen, please, Lieutenant.

[The screen lights up to show hj on the Subaru.]

hj (ss):  Hello, Commander.  How's life on uncertain territory over there?

Furd:  Quite well, Captain.  Have you come to give us our captain back?

hj:  Nope.  She's taking a few extra days on Xavion, heaven knows why.  That 
	place is an icebox full of doom and gloom these days. 

yaz:  After what the Borg did, I wonder she'd want to stay there too.

hj:  Anyway, she asked me to ask you to come get her in a few days.  

Kleber:  Well, it's not like we have that much else to do.  No orders as yet.

Furd:  Okay, Captain, I think we can handle that.  Thanks for the message.

hj:  No problem.  Have fun -- we're off.

[The screen goes blank.  Furd yawns.]

Furd:  Well, that's something to do in a couple days anyway.  Anyone for 
	a game of Knockout Whist?
				************

[Back to the cemetery.  Kabeta is now kneeling beside three graves, once
regal in their decoration, but now broken like many of the others.]

Kabeta:  Ah, my brothers and sisters.  Do you know what has happened to 
	the planet we left?  Civil wars, and now near-destruction.  [pause]  
	Lycos my brother, your daughter and Stephen are dead.  They died 
	bravely, defending the palace, as the Borg cut it apart.  [pause]  
	All those times we spent together.  All the dreams we had for the 
	planet.  And now we cannot bring them about.
	[She swallows hard, but then begins almost to smile.]  But there 
	is hope.  Eliana and Aren will rule well and wisely.  Perhaps they 
	can bring us back from the brink.

[She remains kneeling beside the graves for a while, before finally getting 
up, shivering, and heading back to the castle.]

				*************
[Inside the castle.  Aren and Eliana are sitting down to dinner.  They are 
not speaking aloud, but we hear their telepathic communication.]

Aren:  Do you think it is healthy for our cousin to be spending her time 
	in the cemetery?

Eliana:  As healthy as anything, dear husband.  She has been through a lot.

Aren:  Yes, but so have we, and we don't spend our time grieving.  There is 
	work to be done, here and elsewhere, and she would be best off doing it.

Eliana:  Perhaps.  But she spent a long time denying everything that 
	happened to her.  It is, in a way, high time that she went to the
	cemetery and faced it all.

[The door opens, and a young servant comes in.]

Servant:  Princess Kabeta.

[Kabeta comes in, looking flushed from the cold and a bit embarassed.]

Kabeta:  I'm terribly sorry I'm late.  I rather lost track of time out there.

Aren:  Quite all right, Kabeta.  Do sit down.

[Kabeta sits in a chair in the middle of one side of the table (Aren and 
	Eliana are at the ends).  The servant serves dinner.]

Eliana:  Have you come to any new profound conclusions?

Kabeta:  No...  Just spent some time talking to some old friends.

[Silence for a moment, as they eat.  The meal is solid, but not sumptuous -- 
Aren and Eliana believe they should not be overluxurious in a time of hardship.]

Aren (suddenly):  Oh, Kabeta.  We've got transport for you to Kurakh for 
	tomorrow, if you're interested.

Kabeta:  So soon?  I'm impressed.  Thank you.
				************
[The small Xavionite village of Kurakh.  Here the damage was less severe, 
but it is, of course, still colder than usual.  Townspeople scurry about 
in fur and heavy cloth wraps.  We have seen this village before, in Kabeta's 
dreams and flashbacks.  It has changed in the 20 years since she was last 
here, of course.
We focus in on the equivalent of a bus station.  A horse-drawn carriage 
pulls up.  Several people, including Kabeta -- now wearing a hooded cloak -- 
get out.  Waiting friends and family greet the others, but Kabeta walks out 
alone and slowly.
We follow her down the main street, as townspeople turn to watch this 
stranger go by.  She walks up to a shop full of cloth and other merchant 
goods.  Over the door hangs a sign reading "Phelan and Irina Korasov, 
Merchants" (though in Xavionite, of course).  Just above the sign, though, 
we can see faded paint that once named Andrei and Marya Gorovin as the owners.
Kabeta hesitates, and then enters the shop.]

[Note:  speech is naturally all in Xavionite.  But I'm not fluent in that, 
so I will stick to English.  Pretend these are the subtitles.]

Woman behind counter (presumably Irina Korasov, the owner):  Ah, good day, 
	mistress.  And how can I serve you?

[Kabeta drops the hood from her head, looking around her.  It is very strange 
for her to be here again, so many years after she helped run it.]

Kabeta:  Ah, er... I'm just looking now, thank you.  [pause]  How long have 
	you owned the shop?

Irina (slightly puzzled, slightly suspicious):  About ten years, why?

Kabeta:  Oh, I used to live in this village, that's all.  I haven't been 
	here in about 20 years, but I used to know this shop well.

Irina:  Really?  That's back when the Gorovins still owned it, right?

Kabeta (swallowing a lump in her throat):  Yes, that's right.

Irina:  I remember the Gorovins and their daughter.  A lovely young 
	girl, I remember.  And then that horrible day.... (she trails off, 
	remembering)

Kabeta (shuddering):  I remember.  Too well.

Irina:  I wonder whatever happened to... oh dear, I can't even remember 
	the child's name now.  First they said she was a princess, then we 
	heard rumors she'd disappeared completely.  I wonder where she is now.

[Kabeta half-smiles at this.  She buys some purple and white ribbons,
thanks Irina, and leaves the shop.  We follow her as she walks along.
As she walks through the village square, she looks at and then turns
immediately away from the spot where once she saw three blood-soaked
bodies (see the flashback from "A Modest Proposal").  She walks out of
town, to the old church with its little cemetery.  There she finds
three graves -- undamaged, as the Borg did not attack here.  They are
well tended, and lie next to each other.]

"We used to say that come the day
 We'd all be making songs
 Or finding better words
 These ideas never lasted long"

Kabeta:  Mom?  Dad?

[She sits next to the graves.  We see marked on two of them "Andrei Gorovin" 
and "Marya Gorovina."]

Kabeta:  I... I came home.  It's been a long time since I came here.  [pause]  
	I tried to forget you.  I tried to forget all the pain I saw here.  
	[pause, then very quietly]  I couldn't forget anymore.  They almost 
	destroyed us, Mom, Dad; they almost killed everybody.  [pause]  Or 
	worse.  I tried to help, and I think  I did.  But Xavion is in ruins, 
	and it's partly my fault.  [pause]  I wonder if you'd be proud with
	what I've done with my life.  What would you have thought of the 
	Federation?  To see your daughter climb its ranks?  Would you have
	let me go if you were still alive when they came here for the first
	time?  Would I have gone, if things were different?

[There is a long, long pause.  Finally she turns to face the third grave,
marked "Simon Leonov."]

Kabeta:  Simon... Simon, I miss you.  I've had half the alien captains in 
	known space propose to me, but none of them will ever feel the same 
	as you did when you asked me to marry you that day.  [long pause]  
	So much has happened since then, Simon.  So much.  [She places on
	his grave a bow made from the purple and white ribbons.]  I
	wanted to bring you starflowers; you always loved them so.  But
	nothing grows here now, it's so cold. 

"The way is up, along the road
 The air is getting thin
 Too many friends who've tried
 Blown off this mountain by the wind."

[During an instrumental, a flood of images flows through Kabeta's mind.  We 
see them all.]

......Dave Quixote, in armor, diving at the wolves with the Anterians in 
"Just a Bit of Light."
......Anthony Morgan as an Academy cadet, laughing with her as they walk 
down a hall.
......Queen Alexis and King Stephen of Xavion as young adults, greeting her 
aunt Kabeta, and as small children bidding her farewell.
......Highlander, swinging his katana furiously over his head.
......Chris Crouton welcoming Kabeta to his bridge.
......Admiral Picard reading the wedding ceremony for Avenger and T'Lillith.
......Garrett, onetime Croutonizer chief of Starbase Harvard and the 
_Heisenberg_, laughing with the crew.
......Lechon, her brother, dying in her arms of an arrow wound.
......Lycos being crowned king.
......Aseret opening the door to Lechon, Lycos, and Kabeta, her real siblings.
......Her father Andrei and mother Marya holding her tightly by the hands 
when she was a small child.
......Simon Leonov, on his knees proposing marriage.

[Finally, for the first time in far too long, Kabeta puts her head in her 
hands and begins to sob in grief for those she has lost.]

"Meet on the ledge, we're gonna meet on the ledge
 When the time is up I'm gonna see all my friends
 Meet on the ledge, we're gonna meet on the ledge,
 If you really need it, it all comes round again..."

[As Kabeta sits sobbing into her cloak, we see an elderly woman approach 
from behind her.  This woman cannot see Kabeta's face.]

Anna Leonova:  Who comes this day to weep at our son's grave?

[Kabeta jumps up and whirls around, surprised.  She does not even stop to 
wipe the remaining tears.]

Kabeta:  Mrs. Leonov!

[Her hood falls away, revealing her tear-stained face.  Anna Leonova stares 
at her, puzzled, and then slowly recognition dawns.]

Leonova:  Kabeta Andreevna?  You here?

[The women embrace.  They walk away together, talking.]

Leonova:  So what have you done with all this time?  Last we knew, you had 
	disappeared after Stephen and Alexis took the throne. 

Kabeta:  I did rather, I suppose.  I went and joined Starfleet, joined the 
	Federation.

Leonova:  So it was you who brought us into the Federation.  I should have 
	guessed.  [She laughs, then turns serious.]  We have a lot to thank 
	you Federation people for, after saving us from the horrors we have 
	seen here.

Kabeta:  Thank, or blame?  Were it not for me, in many ways, they would not 
	have come here.  [pause]  They were out to use me to hurt others, 
	and hurt me as well.  And succeeded quite admirably.

[Anna Leonova stops abruptly, looking sternly at Kabeta who, though probably 
only 20 years or so younger, looks more so thanks to Federation medicine.]

Leonova:  Kabeta Andreevna, that does not sound like you.  Where is the 
	cheerful side of you?  Where is the adventurous side of you that led 
	you to the stars?

Kabeta:  Burned out by a lot of pain, Anna Toranovna.  I have seen too much 
	death...

Leonova (sharply):  As have we all.  I lost my son when you lost your 
	husband, remember.  But self-pity -- or denial -- will get you 
	nowhere.  You should know that by now, Kabeta Andreevna Gorovin!

Kabeta:  I am beginning to learn that again.  [pause]  It has been a hard 
	few months, with far more destruction than any of us ever wanted to 
	see.  It will take a long time to pick up the pieces.

Leonova:  And that is why you must be strong to pick them up.

Kabeta:  Yes, I suppose.  And I'm beginning to see that I can do it, can come 
	to terms with what has gone before.

[Leonova smiles, and is about to say something when we hear a muffled chirp.  
It is Kabeta's communicator, buried under her clothes.  She shoves aside a 
layer or two, surprised, and we hear:]

Furd (ic):  _Heisenberg_ to Captain Kabeta.

Kabeta (taps pin):  I'm here, Commander.  You certainly got here quickly!

Furd(ic):  Had to practice Jolt-Warp navigation, you know, Captain...

Kabeta (smiling):  All right, Commander.  Give me about ten minutes, and I'll 
	be ready to beam up.

Furd (ic):  Will do, Captain.  Furd out.

[Leonova is smiling broadly.]

Leonova:  Captain?

[Kabeta blushes.]  

Kabeta:  Well, yes.  Captain of the _U.S.S. Heisenberg_, one of the finest -- 
	if strangest -- ships in the fleet.  [She smiles, looking younger and 
	less exhausted than we have seen her lately.] 

Leonova:  I knew you were destined for greatness, right from the beginning.  
	Must you leave so soon?

Kabeta:  Yes, I'm afraid so.  But while my life is now [gesturing upward] out 
	there, my home is, and always will be, right here in Kurakh.  [pause]  
	Whatever I may have tried to convince myself otherwise.

[The women laugh, and embrace.]

Leonova:  Now you stay in touch.

Kabeta:  I will, I promise.  Even if I can't send you messages directly, I'll 
	send them to the palace and I'm sure they'll get them to you.

Leonova:  You do that.

Kabeta:  Give my greetings to your husband, and to anyone who might remember me.

Leonova:  I will.  Farewell.

[She walks away, as Kabeta smiles gently and wistfully as she goes.]

Kabeta (taps communicator):  All right, _Heisenberg_, I'm ready.  [She looks 
	around.]  Really ready, this time.

[She waves goodbye to Leonova as she breaks down into her component croutons.]

				*********
[Bridge, _Heisenberg_.  The turbolift doors open and Kabeta, now back in 
	uniform and looking quite refreshed, steps out.]

Furd:  Ah, hello Captain.  We were wondering what you'd been doing with your 
	shore leave.

Kabeta:  Just tying up a few loose ends.  Have we gotten any orders from 
	Starfleet yet?

Furd:  Not yet.  We're on our own.

Kabeta:  Well, anyone got anything they particularly want to explore?

yaz:  Well, there's this gravitational anomaly over by Iprindia Seven that 
	I've been wanting to study...

Kabeta:  Sounds good to me.  Any objections?  [Hearing none:]  Then let's go.  
	Lt. O'Forever, plot a course to Iprindia Seven, Six-Warp Seven please.
	No need to stretch the engines with too much Jolt-Warp if we're just 
	in this galaxy!

O'Forever:  Obviously not.  Course plotted.

Kabeta:  Before we go, Lt. Snark, send a message to the palace.

Snark:  The channel now is open for your use.

"And now I see I'm all alone
 And that's the only way to be
 You'll have your chance again
 Then you can do the work for me."

Kabeta (clears throat):  Your Majesties, this is Kabeta.  I apologize for 
	leaving so abruptly, but the _Heisenberg_ showed up a bit sooner than 
	I expected.  [pause]  I wish you the best with the challenge you face.
	I will be in touch with you, and hope to visit you sometime again soon.
	[In the background, Kleber and yaz react with distinct surprise to 
	this sentiment.]  In the meantime, be well, and take good care of 
	Xavion.  She needs you.  Shonyo bless."  End transmission.

Snark:  Recording finished, Captain mine, indeed.

Kabeta:  Good.  Mr. O'Forever, engage.  [She smiles.]  I need to get something
	from my Ready Room.  I'll be right back.  [She walks up the ramp to
	the Ready Room and disappears inside.  When she doesn't emerge after
	a minute:]  

Furd:	What's taking her so long?  She needs to sign this.  [He holds up
	a padd brought to him by the yeoman.]

yaz:	I'll go see.  [He walks up to the door.  It chimes and there is no
	response.]  Captain?  [He turns to look at Furd, questioningly.]

Furd:	Go on in.  We'd better make sure there's nothing wrong.

[Cut to inside Kabeta's Ready Room.  Kabeta is sound asleep in her chair,
feet up on the desk.  The door opens to admit yaz.  Seeing her, he smiles,
turns around toward the bridge with his finger to his lips, and we fade out
on him watching the sleeping Captain.]


"Meet on the ledge, we're gonna meet on the ledge
 When the time is up I'm gonna see all my friends
 Meet on the ledge, we're gonna meet on the ledge
 If you really need it, it all comes round again......."