18"Honey, what is it!?" Ellie nervously asked Devon, who was staring at the Falls through their borrowed binoculars with a slack-jawed expression, "Honey, please say something; what's going on!?"
"Uh...trust me, babe, I don't think you want to know," Devon mumbled numbly.
"Let me see!" Ellie snatched the binoculars off him and glanced where he'd been looking...and almost immediately dropped the binoculars to the ground. "Oh my God!" she gasped in horror, jamming her fists into her mouth, "Oh my God! Chuck!"
"Chuck!?" Morgan picked up the binoculars and looked at the Falls himself-and also dropped them in horror too. "Not good, definitely not good!" he gasped at the sight of Chuck clinging onto the rock for dear life mere feet from the edge of the Falls, "How did he get in there!?"
"Never mind, let's move and get help!" Ellie seized his and Devon's arms and ran as fast as she could down the walkway towards the edge of Horseshoe Falls. "HELP, SOMEBODY, HE NEEDS HELP!" she screamed to all the bystanders, pointing hysterically at her brother in the river, "SOMEBODY DO SOMETHING!"
"CASEY!" Chuck screamed again in the river. The rock shifted again, sending he and Sarah inches closer to the drop. He was also struggling to hold onto her against the force of the Niagara River. The end, he reasoned, was probably no more than a minute away.
How had it come to this, he had to wonder? That an ordinary every day computer repairman would be seconds away from plunging to his death over Niagara Falls, taking the government's top secret national intelligence computer with him? Still, he had to concede, it had been one incredible ride, much as sometimes he'd wanted to strangle Bryce Larkin for zapping the Intersect into his head. After all, he'd gotten to do things few people in his station in life would have the chance to do. If there was life after death, at least he'd have a lot to talk about with...
And then he heard the sound of a helicopter getting closer. He glanced to the sky. Sure enough, one was approaching Horseshoe Falls-as were teams of Canadian commandos, pushing their way through the crowds watching he and Sarah in the river, leaping the railing, tossing inflatable rafts into the river, and motoring across to Goat Island. "The special forces squad..." he breathed, remembering Clarence had asked Andrews to call them in.
"There, there, get a line down to them quick!" he heard a commando shout up to the helicopter.
"Real, real quick, please!" Chuck cried up to it as well. A rope ladder dropped down from the helicopter. "Grab on when it gets close!" he heard a commando shout to him further upstream. Chuck's mind raced; with only one free hand to use, he was probably going to fall once he let go of the rock, so he had a split second to grab hold, or he and Sarah were dead anyway.
"Ready!?" he asked himself in his head, his eyes trained on the ladder,, now hovering inches away from him, "One, two...!"
Before he could say three, though, the rock gave way with a groan and toppled over the edge of the falls. Chuck frantically released it, and for a split second that seemed like an eternity was failing untethered over the Falls, to the horrified screams of the onlookers...
...after which, though, he reached up with his free hand and grabbed on to the ladder. The pressure from Sarah's weight was horrific, but he strained as hard as he could to hold on. "Don't look down, don't let go of Sarah; don't look down, don't let go of Sarah...!" he mumbled out loud, staring up at the helicopter above him. He sensed himself being carried sideways, but didn't dare to look down until he felt himself being lowered downwards. He and Sarah were being lowered towards the Canadian shore, touching down on the rocks softly. Chuck took a deep breath and flashed a grateful thumbs-up at the helicopter crew, who returned the gesture. "Sarah!?" he shook her softly. She let out a very low moan, but did not open her eyes. At least she had survived, but for how long now...?
"Let me through, let me through, I'm a doctor!" he heard Ellie screaming from the shore. His sister leaped the railing and charged across the rocks towards them. "Chuck, are you all right!?" she half-shrieked at him.
"I, I think so, El..." he said, his voice still high in fear from the experience.
"Charles Bartowski, where have you been!?" she upbraided him, "I was panicking when you didn't come back to the restaurant, I had every possible nightmare scenario playing through my mind! I've searched all over the Niagara Falls area and thought you were gone forever; where were you!?"
"Uh, well, um..." Chuck thought hard for an excuse that would work, "Actually, Ellie, Sarah and I met some guys and went out with them, we went drinking for a while, and those guys then dumped us out in the country by ourselves. By the time we got a ride back to Niagara Falls, it was later in the day, and you were out, so, uh, we decided to, um, go over to the American side and explore there. I'm sorry I didn't call, but I think I lost my phone somewhere along the line..."
"Chuck, do you know how terrified I was that you were dead or missing!?" Ellie shouted, fear permeating her voice, "And then seeing you in the river like this...what happened!?" she cast a worried eye at the still unconscious Sarah.
"Uh, we were watching the fireworks, and, um, something went wrong with the, uh, launcher, and unfortunately, Sarah was too close to the platform, and the explosion blew her into the river. I jumped in after her, and, well, I guess you saw the rest..."
"I did, and it was the most horrifying moment of my life, thinking you were about to...!" Ellie let out a sob and hugged him close. "Please don't ever scare me like that again, Chuck! You have no idea how much more meaningless my life would be without you!"
She held the hug for a good minute before turning her attention to Sarah. "Will she be all right!?" Chuck asked fearfully, watching his sister put her ear to Sarah's chest and feel her forehead.
"From what I can tell here, a pretty serious concussion, but as long as we get her to the hospital soon enough, nothing life-threatening," Ellie told him. Her expression now filled with pride. "So you jumped into Niagara Falls to save her? I am really, really, proud of you, Chuck. It was kind of foolish, but also really brave. I think she's going to be really proud of you too when she does wake up."
"Well, let's get her to the hospital so she can wake up," Chuck took hold of Sarah's legs. Ellie grabbed her upper body, and the two of them carried her to shore to the applause of the bystanders watching. "Chuck, buddy, that was the most amazing thing I've ever seen," a visibly impressed Morgan lauded him once he was back on dry land, "I don't think even James Bond could have pulled that off."
"Uh, well, just a spur of the moment thing, Morgan," Chuck said.
"Well, a really impressive one," Morgan patted him on the back, "Good thing the army showed up, though," he stared at the Canadian commandos swarming ashore on Goat Island, "Who called them in?"
"Uh, probably Casey. He, uh, knows some people in high places," Chuck explained.
"Really?" Morgan mused with a soft nod, "Yeah, that does kind of fit him, as the type to go all-military for an emergency like this."
"If you only knew more about him, Morgan," Chuck suppressed a soft laugh, "If you only knew..."
"We've got trouble, Mr. Roark!" a panicked Ned rushed into Roark's office, "Canadian special forces are breaking in right now!"
"The complex has been breached. The complex has been breached," the intercom droned, confirming Ned's information. And Roark could now hear heavy footsteps getting closer by the second. "Well, time to exit stage left," he declared out loud, pressing some buttons on his console to disconnect the Ring Elders, then hitting a few more, which caused a panel to slid open on the back wall, revealing an escape capsule. "Let me in too, Mr. Roark, I...Mr. Roark!" Ned protested as Roark slammed the capsule's door in his face and locked it.
"Sorry, Ned, only room for one in here. Bye," Roark waved goodbye to him smugly. He groped for the launch button, feeling it as a numb Ned turned towards the door, which was shaking off its hinges, drew a gun from his pocket, and put it to his head. Roark hit the launch button and ejected himself down the escape tube right as the shot rang out. "Sorry to lose you, Ned, but yours truly here comes first and foremost," he said out loud to himself, "And at least they can't trace me through you now."
He closed his eyes and enjoyed the rest of the ride, which went on for a minute or so before the capsule bumped to a stop. Roark exited it, walked briskly up a set of stairs, and threw open a trap door on the floor of a bus stop on the American side. A bus was in fact parked in front of the stop, waiting for him. "Take me to the airport in Buffalo, Bernie," Roark instructed the driver, "We're taking the first flight back to Burbank."
He plopped down in the seat behind the driver once the bus started moving. "Well, so much for Scorpius' help on this project," he muttered bitterly, "But then again, at least I've got my thirty million back now. Should try and double my efforts to find Orion now; only he can...can't they leave me go for ten minutes!?" he complained, seeing a familiar number on the caller ID line of his phone. "I'm trying to escape here!" he complained to the Ring Elders on the screen once he'd connected the call.
"You have failed us, Roark," one of the Ring Elders growled at him, "This could set back the Intersect replication program for too long."
"But let me point out, A, this was more a freak accident than anything, B, this failure was everyone else's fault but mine, and C, I'm far too important to our overall operational plan to kill off for this," Roark emphasized firmly.
"You're right, Roark, we're not going to kill you, yet," another Ring Elder said sternly, "But you still will pay a price for this, namely this."
A spiral screen and high-pitched tone appeared on the screen, both of which made Roark seize up and start vibrating, his eyes rolling back into his head. "Kill all the gophers on the course, kill all the gophers on the course...!" he droned out loud, starting to slam his head repeatedly off the bus driver's seat.
"Mr. Roark, are you all right!?" Bernie braked the bus to a stop.
"Of course I'm all right, Russ; I'm in complete control of the situation!" a very confused-looking Roark insisted firmly, "One side, Audrey!" he pushed Bernie aside, then started a bizarre hula dance in the aisle. "Aloha-eeeeee, aloha-eeeeeeee!" he sang at the top of his lungs, running and jumping hard into the bathroom door. He then stepped back and randomly threw himself into the door over and over again. "What happened!?" Bernie picked up the phone and asked the Ring Elders.
"Don't worry, he'll be all right in a few minutes," one of the Elders said sternly, "But let him know, if he does fail us again, we'll do a lot worse than this..."
"Doctor, how is she?" Chuck nervously asked the doctor coming out of Sarah's room at the hospital.
"Just waking up," the doctor said, making him and everyone else outside breathe large sighs of relief, "Fortunately no long term damage, although she will need hearing aids for a while. We'll have to put her through a few more tests, and she'll probably need a little physical therapy, but she will eventually recover in full."
"Wonderful, wonderful," Chuck nodded gratefully, "Can she see visitors right now?"
"Just don't excite her too much," the doctor held the door open for him and the others. Sarah was sitting up in bed, now wearing hearing aids. She broke into a huge smile at the sight of him. "They told me you jumped into the river and swam after me," she told him gratefully.
"Well, I felt it was the least I could do, Sarah, given...everything," Chuck confessed, not wanting to say too much with Ellie and Morgan present.
Her smile widening, Sarah extended her arms towards him. Chuck obligingly stepped forward and let her hug him. "You should have seen Chuck, Sarah; he was hanging onto the edge of the Falls like Indiana Jones; it was the most amazing thing I've ever seen," Morgan told her, "I've got it on video in case you..."
"We'll keep it in mind, Grimes," Casey interrupted him, "Can Chuck and I have some time alone with her?"
"Well, OK," Morgan shrugged, following Ellie and the doctor out. Casey held up his hand at Clarence to make him stay, then closed the door behind him. "OK, time for the debriefing," he mumbled softly, pulling a small laptop from under his shirt and punching several buttons. General Beckman and Alexander Andrews appeared on a split screen. "Good ev-" they both said simultaneously, then turned towards each other and frowned. "Ladies first," Andrews told Beckman.
"All right. Well, all of you, this may not have gone as I'd hope it would, but good job on a successful mission," the general told her team, "Mr. Bartowski," she turned to him, "I would highly advise you in the future to not put the Intersect into such serious peril as jumping head on into the Niagara River when you had to have known your odds of survival were less than one percent entailed..."
"I couldn't just let Sarah die, General," Chuck protested.
"And with all due respect, General Beckman, if you'd trusted them more instead of going full tilt with the air strike, neither Agent Walker nor the rest of your team would have been in such peril in the first place," Clarence frowned at her.
"Lieutenant Sullivan, please," Andrews held up his hand.
"It's all right, Mr. Andrews," Beckman told him. "In spite of everything though, Mr. Bartowski," she turned back to Chuck, "Your actions in rescuing Agent Walker despite the high risk to your own life are very much commendable. If you were a spy, I'd recommend a large reward for it..."
"Oh come on, reward the man anyway," Clarence pressed her.
"Oh, it's all right, Clarence; I think I may have gotten an even bigger reward," Chuck turned to Sarah with a grin, one she happily returned.
"Major Casey, can you give me a status report of the cleanup of the site?" Beckman asked him next.
"The reverse Intersect was destroyed beyond repair, General," Casey reported, "Scorpius was killed in the blast, so likely the knowledge of how to make one died with him. We also found Ned Cedarquist's body inside the Fulcrum base behind the Falls; he appears to have committed suicide before he was apprehended. We found notes in his possession laying out how he was planning to install miniature reverse Intersects inside game cartridges of Wings of War."
"If that had worked, then trillions of tons of information could have been zapped into Fulcrum's hands," Beckman mused grimly, "Any leads on this Anthony Carlson that checked into the penthouse Colonel Knelman was killed in?"
"We're looking, General, but no leads just yet," Casey told her.
"You know, I've wondered," Sarah spoke up, "Cedarquist previously worked at Roark Instruments; I wonder if there might be a connection there somehow."
"It's possible, Agent Walker," the general concurred, "Roark Instruments has been under CIA surveillance for some time now. Perhaps we'll have to ramp up that investigation and see if anything connects anyone there to this."
"In the meantime, Lieutenant Sullivan," Andrews said to Clarence, "Allow me to officially commend you on a job well done. While your actions in hiding critical information from Colonel Knelman were still wrong, your efforts in successfully stopping the Fulcrum plot are laudable. For that, I am hereby promoting you to Captain, and giving you command of what remains of Colonel Knelman's team."
"So Joyce Pearson and Peter Lyons will be able to return to active duty?" Clarence inquired.
"Lyons will take longer to heal, but yes, he will eventually be able to return to duty if he chooses. He and Corporal Pearson are yours if you want them."
"Yes, I think I will," Clarence nodded, "And when we fill out the rest of the team, I'd like to do so on merit, not loyalty as Colonel Knelman had..."
"Miss Walker, we're ready for your outpatient tests now," the doctor came back in with a wheelchair, prompting Clarence to jump in front of the screen to hide the general and CSIS director.
"OK, give me a minute," Sarah slid off the bed into the wheelchair.
""Good luck, Agent Walker, and best wishes for a smooth recovery," Andrews wished her well before signing off. "Clarence," Sarah turned to him, "If I don't see you again after this, thank you also for being there for Chuck earlier. And thank you for sticking to your principles even in the heat of the moment. It may not have been your official spy test, and not how it's usually supposed to go, but congratulations, you passed it, and you're really a spy now."
"Well, I did what I could, Agent Walker," Clarence said modestly.
"She right, though; thanks for being able to pull the trigger this time, Clarence," Chuck thanked him as well. He and Casey followed Sarah out into the hall. "General, if you have a moment, I'd like a word," Clarence told Beckman before she could sign off on the laptop. He pushed the door closed behind Casey. "Is this important, Captain Sullivan?" Beckman asked him with raised eyebrows.
"Oh, I think you can say that," Clarence said, leaning towards the screen with a frown, "General, I'd like to say that while I understand your logic in launching the airstrike against Goat Island, the fact is, as previously noted, it endangered all of our team, especially in the case of Agent Walker."
"Understood, Captain Sullivan. But I hope you understand that, having lost contact with her and Major Casey, I had to assume the worst," Beckman insisted.
"Yeah, I understand that. But what I don't understand is the total lack of trust you appear to have for Chuck that you had to give Major Casey an order to kill him if you felt he was out of control," Clarence glared at her, "Because I couldn't help overhearing that conversation on the stairs earlier today between you and he."
"Again, Captain Sullivan, I had to keep the overall safety of my team in mind," Beckman said, starting to sweat, "And Mr. Bartowski, helpful though he has been, is not an official agent..."
"Maybe not, General, but he's also a human being. So I'd like you to know, I did a search earlier today, and happened to come across some rather interesting information. About how, five years ago, you made a unannounced and apparently unauthorized trip to the Central Asian country of Lieberstan, and apparently struck a deal with its president, General Leonid Mountanski-who, I'll remind you, seized power in an illegal coup-for an arms trade with him in exchange for a public declaration of support for action against international terrorism. This, despite solid intelligence that he's tortured his citizens since taking power..."
"And let me say, Captain Sullivan, that I was not happy making that deal with General Mountanski," Beckman was sweating harder now, "But I'm sure you understand that in international politics, sometimes unpleasant compromises must be made..."
"Sometimes, yes. But given it appears from the available evidence that you took the initiative for this deal on your own without consulting your superiors, and that General Mountanski seems to have used those arms he was sold to attack dissidents in his country, I'd say any public release of this information would be very, very damaging for your career, General Beckman..."
"Are you trying to blackmail me, Captain Sullivan!?"
"If you want to see it that way, General Beckman," Clarence grinned triumphantly, "As you say, the spy business isn't always clean. However, I'm a reasonable man, and would be willing to make you an offer to not go public with this information."
"What's your offer?" she looked eager to make one.
"I want your word here and now, no more assassination attempts on Chuck no matter what threat you think he might pose," Clarence said firmly, "You tell Casey to stand down in your next conference with him, and you don't touch Chuck without just cause from here on. Do that, and no one knows about that questionable arms sale but you and me. Deal?"
Beckman gave a soft nod. "Deal," she agreed, "I'll tell Casey during our next conference. But so you realize, Captain, I now have you on the record for blackmail. I could easily turn you in to your superiors for this..."
"You could, yes. But that would be mutually assured destruction; if I go down, you probably will as well. And don't think I won't hear if Chuck's harmed in any way. Have a good day, General Beckman," Clarence waved her goodbye with a big smile and a laugh and disconnected the feed. "There's some times I do really like this job," he said in triumph.
He exited the room to see Chuck standing in the hallway. "Well, Chuck, all's good and...what?" he noticed Chuck was looking up the hall. He turned...and froze. "Monica Parker?" Chuck inquired, pointing at the very lovely brunette wearing all black that was talking with other Canadian agents nearby.
"Yeah," Clarence said, sweating, "They must have called her in to tell her Knelman was dead..."
"So, I think she could probably use a shoulder to lean on during this trying time," Chuck patted him on the back, "Go on, go to her."
"You sure?"
"She is single again now, after all," Chuck prodded him. Clarence took a deep breath. "We'll see," he said, walking up the hall towards the love of his life. "Monica," he called softly to her. She turned towards him. "Clarence, hello," she mumbled softly, looking glad to see him.
"I, uh, just want to say, I'm so sorry about what happened to Claude," Clarence told her, "I was detained elsewhere, or maybe I could have done something..."
"It's all right, Clarence. To be honest, I was starting to think about leaving Claude," Monica confessed, "I was starting to get the feeling he only saw me as a trophy wife. He never wanted to do anything with me when we weren't on assignment, always seemed to forget critical anniversaries, was obsessed with furthering his career any way he could more than anything..."
She lowered her head. "I'm sorry about that too," Clarence took her hand, "I've...I've always thought you were a special woman, Monica, a very special woman. You deserve to be treated better than that. Hey, if there's anything I can do for you now, just let me know. Can I take you to dinner anywhere?"
"Sure, Clarence, I appreciate it," she smiled gratefully at him, "You know, I always thought you were a really nice guy back in spy school. If Claude hadn't proposed first, I think I would have gone out with you in the end. I'm glad to see being a spy hasn't changed the nice guy I knew then."
"Well, anything to help someone like you, Monica," Clarence beamed, visibly delighted. Chuck broke into a smile himself, happy to see Clarence winning over the woman he loved-the woman Chuck knew he deserved.
He felt a hand on his shoulder. "Is that his wife?" Ellie pointed at Monica, now conversing with Clarence with a deep, grateful smile on her face.
"No, no, not yet at least," Chuck told her, "But she could be. He's had eyes on her for a while now, and they've finally got their chance to be together now."
"That's wonderful," Ellie broke into her own smile, watching Clarence and Monica walk away together up the hall, "But I've always believed there's someone for everyone. Just like you and Sarah," she squeezed her brother close, "I know you and she are meant to be if you were willing to risk your life for her like that."
"Well, I hope so," Chuck said, hoping it could be that way. "And speaking of Sarah," he turned to his sister, "Just because Jeff and Lester might have ruined the party here, that doesn't mean we still can't do something back in Burbank..."
"Casey told her to get an order for him at Orange Orange; she'll probably be back over in about five minutes," he told Ellie a week later inside the Buy More, where streamers and balloons were being hastily set up by the staff.
"Good, good," Ellie nodded in relief, setting down the cake she'd baked on a table in front of the Nerd Herd desk, "And Sarah gets the first and largest piece," she shot a glare at Jeff and Lester behind the desk.
"Hey, we were drunk, we didn't know any better," Lester protested, eyeing the cake enviously nonetheless.
"Guys, I understand, just realize that Sarah deserves this," Chuck advised him. He walked back into the aisle behind the desk, where Big Mike was setting up another bunch of balloons. "Thanks for agreeing to let us do this, Mike," he told his boss.
"Part of me probably shouldn't, Bartowski, after Barnes and Patel stowed away on that business trip and blew the whole budget quicker then I'd hoped," Big Mike also shot a glare at Chuck's co-workers.
"But we got some good games for the store, didn't we?" Morgan walked by and patted Big Mike on the shoulder.
"Well, yeah, Grimes, you bought a couple of good games," Big Mike conceded, "Shogun Thunder for instance looks real good."
"Great. So can I count on you putting my name down for all the future video game conventions we...?"
"Don't push your luck, Grimes," Big Mike warned him with a frown, retreating to his office to get more party supplies. "So, how does it feel to be the hero of heroes to one really smoking hot girl?" a proud Morgan asked him.
"Pretty good, Morgan," Chuck admitted, "Although," his expression dropped, "You never know if someone's going to be here one day and gone the next..."
"Oh come on, pal, how could she ever leave you now after what you did for her?" Morgan seemed incredulous.
Chuck didn't answer. He was all too aware of how Sarah could be given another assignment by the CIA at any given moment. Thus, moments like this seemed that much more precious to him. He noticed Casey loading a range into its display in the next aisle and sauntered over. "So, Casey, million dollar question here: did you have fun on the trip?" he asked him.
"I didn't hate it if that's what you mean, Bartowski," Casey said without changing his usual rock hard expression.
"Come on, I could tell you enjoyed the moments when somebody wasn't trying to kill or imprison us," Chuck pressed him, "Can't I just get a small admission of...OK, I guess not," he backed away when Casey let out a soft growl. He turned to leave. "I will say this though, Bartowski," Casey spoke up, making him stop, "You may annoy me to no end at times, but I think you did a damn fine job on this mission. Especially what you did for Walker. Maybe I'm not an expert on romance, but if you're willing to go that far for her, maybe the two of you really do have something special together."
"Really?" Chuck turned around.
"Really," Casey nodded, a rare expression of respect on his face, "Don't think that just because the relationship's a cover, that it can't be..."
"Here she comes!" came Devon's call from the front of the Buy More. "OK, this is it," Chuck pulled out a party hat and slipped it on, "If you're capable of a smile, Casey..."
"I'm not wearing the hat, Bartowski," Casey frowned at the one Chuck was offering at him. Chuck shrugged and pocketed it, then rushed to the center of the Buy More with everyone else, now wearing their own party hats. The wait seemed to take an eternity, but eventually Sarah walked through the door with Casey's yogurt. "SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" he and the others shouted in unison. Sarah came to a stop, taking in the decorations set up for her all through the store. The yogurt clattered out of her hands to the floor, and she started visibly sniffing in delight. "Hey, this is all right, isn't it?" Chuck stepped forward towards her.
"Yes, it is," she told him gratefully, "But how did you know it was my...?"
"Oh, I have my sources," Chuck gave a wink at Casey, who reciprocated with a small nod. "And besides," he leaned close to Sarah's ear, "Given that as far as I know, there was once a young girl who never got to have many happy birthdays way back when, I figured this might make up for all those lost opportunities."
Wiping at her eyes, Sarah pulled him into another grateful hug. "Thank you," she whispered to him, "Please don't ever change."
"Why would I ever change, Sarah?"
"All right, give it up for the especially awesome birthday girl," Devon walked forward and raised Sarah's hand, prompting applause throughout the Buy More, "So, since we came here for a party, let's have some music!" he called back to the Nerd Herd counter.
"Jeffster rocks it, Awesome!" Jeff, clearly halfway to being drunk again, hefted a keyboard and started playing a badly off key version of Mr. Roboto. "No, no, you turkey, we'd didn't say you could handle the music!" Big Mike snatched the keyboard out of his hands, "Let me handle this one!"
He walked over to a nearby stereo and hit the Play button. Kool and the Gang's Celebration started up, prompting loud cheers from the Buy More staff. "So, Sarah, how do you feel?" Ellie approached her as well.
"How do I feel? Truthfully, Ellie, like I've finally come home," Sarah glanced around the Buy More, "Like I've finally found my real family. Like for the first time in my life, that I really, really belong somewhere."
"That's great," Ellie beamed, "You're always welcome with us, just so you know that."
"Sure are," Devon high fived Sarah. "So, how about we burn up the dance floor, babe?" he took his fiancé's hand.
"Take it away," Ellie grinned, starting to dance with. Chuck pulled Sarah close and started dancing with her too. "Ellie's right; even if, well, something happened that you'd have to go elsewhere, Sarah, you're always welcome here with us," he assured her.
"I know," she gave him a kiss on the cheek, "But I'm hoping I don't have to go. Not for a long time. Not when I'm happier here than, really, I've ever been."
She exhaled happily. "There's still one thing I'm wondering about, though," she frowned.
"What?"
"Clarence had said he'd 'Kobayashi Marued' his...his spy entrance exam. What exactly does that mean?"
"That?" Chuck broke into a laugh, "Well, I'm glad you asked. "You see, in the 23rd Century, Starfleet will use what's known as the Kobayashi Maru test to evaluate a starship captain's decision-making skills..."
THE END
