Breakdowns ( eBook ) Breakdowns Summary . Description . In San Francisco , a Starfleet Tribunal headed by Vice Admiral William Ross finds the near - destruction of the " da Vinci " and all twenty - three deaths related to the incident on Galvan VI not the fault of Captain David Gold and in the line of duty . The only officers present are Admirals Ross , Sitak , and Captain Scott – as David Gold had requested a closed session to let the survivors stay on their shore leave . Captain Scott , head of the Starfleet Engineering Corps reminds Gold that it really wasn ' t his fault – and that nothing he could have done would have changed the outcome . Gold finally gives in to Scotty , and heads to his home in the Bronx , New York with his wife Rachel . After a happy reunion with his dog Freser , he is greeted by his entire family ( which is very large . ) He sees several of his children and great - grandchildren he hasn ' t seen in years . After several minutes of exchanging stories , they go to have dinner , another of Rachel ' s famous meals . In Vieques , Puerto Rico , Sonya is in her parents attic , which serves as her mother ' s sculpting studio , contemplating the Galvan VI incident again . Her sister Belinda comes in , and after trying to strike up a conversation , she gets Sonya to tell her what happened – and explain how Kieran proposed . After more jabbing from Belinda , she finally gets her to come out of the attic and the to head to a nearby beach . Back in the Bronx , Gold happily and silently sits at the head of his huge table , with his entire family eating and chattering around it . But after dinners over , several of them have to head back home . Joey , who hasn ' t said more then a few words the whole night , leaves on bad terms – arguing that he doesn ' t want to be there anymore , and doesn ' t speak to his father . Before Khor and Esther can leave , David insists the two stay at the house . After some persuading that they really should head back to the Klingon embassy in Paris , Rachel convinces them using some Klingon word play that it is only honorable to accommodate such an accommodating host . After some more of Rachel ' s food , the family members that are staying the night gather in the living room to hear David tell the full story of what happened at Galvan VI . David Gold explains how a missile being carried aboard the USS " Orion " was to be tested on a gas giant , until the ship mysteriously got caught in its atmosphere . The " da Vinci " went to rescue it , and a powerful explosive it was carrying , when it to got caught in the atmosphere . Trying to prevent the explosive from going off , killing the entire native population of non - corporeal beings , 23 crewman gave their lives . One of which , pushing Gold out of the way of a falling piece of debris that destroyed his hand . ( Gold has since had it replaced with a bio - synthetic copy of his original hand , though he complains it doesn ' t feel the same . ) Gold vows to contact the families of all twenty - three dead , and give his personal apologies . While some families take Gold in better then others , he , one by one , contacts everyone on Earth . In Juneau , Alaska , the father of Lieutenant Kara Bain took his arrival very badly , slamming the door in his face and cursing at him several times . In the Gobi Desert , Gold gave his regards to the son of a security officer , who seemed unemotional about the whole thing . Gold gave Eddy ' s son the Starfleet Citation for Conspicuous Gallantry she ' d earned , as he was the next of kin . In Dublin , Ireland , Gold finds the parents of Stephen Drew , as well as Drews friend ( fellow " da Vinci " crewman ) Vance Hawkins . The two share some stories with Drew ' s grandparents , who couldn ' t have been prouder of their grandsons sacrifice . Back home in the Bronx , Gold is waiting for it to be an appropriate hour on Betazed so he can call the parents of Lieutenant Elleth Deo . Rachel argues it can wait till tomorrow , and that he ' s been overworking himself contacting everyone in such little time . After some convincing , and a reminder of how rarely he gets to return to Earth whether lone his bedroom , he decides it " can " wait till tomorrow . In Vieques , Gomez is having a breakdown – she needs to go to Portland to see Kieran ' s mother and Kieran ' s grave . When her mother tries to get Gomez ' s mind off it at dinner , it just starts an argument about another of Gomez ' s sister Belinda ' s careers . Belinda screams that Sonya ' s indecision probably led to Kieran killing himself , and Gomez believes it . She runs out , and gets on a shuttle to Portland . There , she finds Christa Duffy ( Kieran ' s mother ) and Captain Gold , who Gomez blames for Kieran ' s death . When Gomez screams at him for killing Kieran , but Gold finally convinces her that Kieran didn ' t die because he thought she didn ' t love him , nor did Gold order him , but because he was the only one who could have disarmed the warhead and saved everyone . When Gomez is finally convinced of this , the two head back to New York where Gomez stays with him for several days . The day before the " da Vinci " is ready to return to duty , Gold and Gomez has their returning crew meet at Golds home . After Gold gives a speech on how they should mourn their losses , but also celebrate living ( something he ' s learned coming from a big family ) after which , its time to hand out the promotions . Several once - junior officers are promoted to division heads – and Gomez and Gold approve on the transfer of the new second officer , a Tellarite . The crew goes inside to eat one of Rachel ' s delicious meals , as Sonya ponders if she ' ll be able to go on without Kieran . " " Tomorrow , she ' d find out . . . " " Memorable quotes . " " Got another surprise for you two inside . " " " " Son , Freser trying to knock me to the ground isn ' t a surprise , it ' s an inevitability . " " " " This is the most emotion you ' ve shown since you got here . I was starting to think you got replaced with an android or something . Doesn ' t that happen to you Starfleet guys all the time , getting replaced with android duplicates ? " " " " Changeling s more often these days . " "