“I
can see how that made you suspicious.” M’rroah
slowly remarked, as she tried to put herself in Tarin’s place at Draygo. “It
just seems like too many unlikely coincidences. Mysteriously vanishing Maquis
attackers, radiation levels just high enough to block transporters without
harming the Cardassians...” Her voice trailed off as she started to consider
possible explanations.
“That’s
what I thought,” Tarin said, “but there was little I could do about it,
except proceed with caution. As it turned out that was not good enough.”
The
Caitian laughed softly. “I think it was good enough, or we wouldn’t have
this conversation.” She raised her glass in salute and took a small sip.
Tarin
Veal smiled and reached for the lamp set into the center
of the table. “Mind if I turn on the lights?” Despite their sensitive eyes
Caitians were able to adjust quickly to changing lighting conditions, but before
she had learned that, Tarin had always asked well in advance and somehow it had
become a sort of tradition for them.
“No,
I don’t,” M’rroah replied between two bites of her almond chicken.
As
Tarin activated the lamp the table was basked in a soft light that was just
strong enough to let her see what she was eating, without distracting from the
sunset or the stars that had started to appear in the darkening sky. “I hope
the chicken is to your liking?”
It was a rhetorical question, as Tarin could tell from the Caitian’s body language that she was now fully relaxed and enjoying herself, and while M’rroah’s purr was so deep that Tarin felt it more than she could hear it, it was a sure sign her friend was quite content.
“Oh
yes, I do,” M’rroah confirmed Tarin Veal’s impression. “So, you had a
spacesuited team beam down to the moon?”
The
Centauran reached for her glass, but before picking it up she answered:
“Actually I sent them down in a shuttle and had them land outside the zone of
transporter interference.”
M’rroah
carefully chewed on another piece of chicken as she thought about it. If she had
suspected it was a trap she would have been keen on getting her ship out as soon
as possible. Sending a shuttle ran the risk of exposing the ship to an unknown
situation a little longer, but it still had it’s merits, like providing the
away team with a fallback position and allowing them a good look at the terrain
during their approach. “I might have done the same, but I am a bit surprised
you had been willing to expose your ship to a potentially hazardous situation
any minute longer than you had to. Today that wouldn’t surprise me that much,
but this happened a long while ago.”
“It
wasn’t that long,” Captain Veal reminded her friend.
“No,
it wasn’t,” the Caitian replied after a few seconds. “I guess there has
been so much going on lately that I lost track of time. Anyway, what happened
after you sent down your away team?”
* * * * *
"It's odd that we can't reach them on any com-frequency."
Lieutenant Alvarez let the cone of light from his flashlight play up and down the Canatra's hull. "Yes Stevens, it's a bit odd, but there are enough possible reasons for it. Commander Tucker, what do you make of it?"
"As you said, there are several possible explanations and maybe they just don't want to answer."
"Agreed. Without power for their sensors they can't tell if we are who we say we are or not. Perhaps they suspect it's a trick by the Maquis, at least until they think of looking out the window and see our shuttle. Most Maquis raiders are just too small to carry a shuttle."
Ben Tucker shrugged, a gesture barely visible through the spacesuit. "What I find more curious are the crates strewn all around the ship. If the ship's cargo holds were breached during an attack by the Maquis it happened several hours away from here and the damage doesn't look like it occurred during the crash landing. Why then is the cargo spread out in such a neat pattern? It looks like a set-up to me."
"Perhaps they had emergency forcefields in place that failed shortly before landing," Crewman Stevens proffered.
"Perhaps," Lieutenant Alvarez slowly said, "and perhaps not, but Commander Tucker is right; it smells like a set-up, the whole situation does, not just the cargo crates." He stepped forward to the airlock of the Canatra and reached for the door controls. "But we are here to find out what's what, so we are going in. Just stay sharp and don't let your guard down."
* * * * *
Felix Alvarez opened his helmet and asked: “What’s ahead?”
“A corridor with an intersection about fifteen meters ahead. I read three Cardassians, all armed, at that intersection.” Crewman Stevens closed the tricorder and reached for his phaser rifle. “On the left and right of the corridor are small cargo bays and some machinery, but no doors into the corridor between here and the intersection.”
“Oh well.” Lieutenant Alvarez sighed. “I wish we had brought a few stun grenades. It would make negotiating with the Cardies so much easier. I’d hate to be shot by people we are trying to help.”
“This is Starfleet, not the RRTs, in case you haven’t noticed.” Ben Tucker’s voice betrayed no emotions, making it a simple statement of facts.
“And the RRTs are a part of Starfleet, in case you have forgotten, Commander,” Alvarez replied equally matter-of-factly. He was used to those remarks and they had stopped bothering him a long time ago. “We may go about things a bit different than others, but only because we have to.” The Lieutenant took a deep breath. “That aside, we are not getting into a major firefight with the Cardassians, grenades or not. If the Cardassians want to start a firefight we will withdraw. This is strictly recon for now.”
“I thought we are here to take the crew into custody,” someone said. Felix Alvarez looked over his shoulder at the speaker, the teams Napean paramedic.
“That’s the general idea, but I am not risking anyone’s life to do it. If the Cardassians don’t cooperate, we will rethink our approach. It’s not like they are going anywhere soon. Now everybody stay close to the wall and take cover.”
Alvarez watched his away team take cover as best as they could in the airlock and pressed against the wall, before he reached for the controls and opened the inner hatch of the airlock.
The door slid aside, but there was no immediate reaction from the Cardassian crew. “We are from the Federation starship Valkyrie,” Alvarez shouted. “We are here because of your distress signal, to lend assistance. I suggest you put down your weapons, so we can talk.”
“What guarantees do we have you are not with the Maquis?” someone shouted back.
“If we were, we could have just shot a hole in your ship and waited until your air ran out, before boarding.”
“True, but perhaps you want to take us alive.”
“Well, I guess you can just sit on this moon and contemplate all the possibilities forever or take your chances with us. Besides, there’s eight of us and over twenty of you. If we wanted to take over the ship we would be pretty stupid to take on odds like that, wouldn’t we.”
“You are right. Very well, come forward. We won’t fire unless you give us reason to.”
The Cardassian’s voice sounded sincere enough, but Lieutenant Alvarez hadn’t survived in his line of work without being careful and a little suspicious. ‘Oh hell,’ he mused, ‘one of us has to start trusting the other.’ He risked a peek around the corner and saw a Cardassian at the intersection who did pretty much the same, glancing around the corner without exposing himself more than necessary. Alvarez handed his rifle to the man behind him and stepped into the corridor, raising his empty hands. While he couldn’t see the other two Cardassians, Felix was relieved to see that their spokesman stepped into the intersection without any sign of hostile intentions. While his right held a disruptor pistol, it was pointed straight down.
“I am Gul Shadar, Commander of the Canatra.” The Gul slightly cocked his head and ran his scrutinizing gaze over Lieutenant Alvarez. “At least you look like Starfleet, as does your shuttle.” Shadar thought about the situation for a few seconds, before he added: “Very well, you may come aboard.” With that he holstered his weapon and took two steps forward, towards the airlock and the Valkyrie’s away team.
* * * * *
„Captain,
two ships have just lifted off from the other moon,“ Commander Enikal reported
from the tactical station. “Both are smaller civilian vessels, but heavily
modified and armed with an assortment of beam weapons. They will be here in
eight minutes.”
“Just
two of them? Very well, activate main viewer, maximum magnification.” Without
looking Tarin’s hand found the com controls on her panel. “Veal to Alvarez,
what’s your status?”
“We
need a little more time, Ma’am. While Gul Shadar is a reasonable man, not all
of his crew want to end up in a Starfleet brig.”
“I
hope they make up their minds soon, Lieutenant. It looks like the Maquis is here
and I don’t think they came by just to say hello. Perhaps this news will make
the Cardassians reconsider their position.” As the security officer voiced his
affirmation, Captain Veal turned her attention to the viewscreen. One of the two
approaching ships was an older courier of the type the Maquis frequently used -
small, maneuverable,
but certainly no danger to the Valkyrie. The second ship looked like a
commercial freighter of Federation build, but even with heavy modifications it
would be just too small to hold any weapons that could pose a threat to the
large Galaxy-class vessel. ‘On the other hand,’ Tarin thought, ‘the
Maquis have always used some pretty devious tactics and many of them know
Starfleet procedures inside-out.’
“We have more incoming,” Dar Enikal reported. “Another
two ships are leaving Draygo IV, heading for our position. They have lain in
wait near one of the most active volcanic regions of the planet. I estimate they
will reach us fifteen seconds after the first two ships.”
“Red alert.”
As the alarm klaxons started to blare throughout the ship and the warning lights came to life Tarin activated the internal communications system. “Bridge to security. We will start to beam up the Cardassians shortly. Make sure they are unarmed and keep them under close guard.”
“Commander
Enikal, open hailing frequencies. Let’s see who we are dealing with.”
* * * * *
“Report.”
“I found only a few slightly injured crewmen, none of them in any immediate need of medical assistance,” the paramedic reported.
Lieutenant Alvarez nodded. “Very well. Carry on.” As the medical officer left the Canatra’s bridge, Felix turned back to Gul Shadar. “I am sorry. Go ahead.”
“As I was saying,” the CO of the Cardassian freighter continued from where he had been interrupted, “the raiders withdrew as suddenly as they had appeared, but not before seriously damaging our engines.” Noticing the Starfleet officer’s suspicious expression, Shadar sounded rather offended when he went on. “The Canatra may not be well armed, but my crew knows how to fight. We may not have done much damage, but apparently it was enough to make them think twice about pressing their attack.”
“It is possible,” Commander Tucker interjected. “Half of the ships used by the Maquis are heavily modified civilian designs. With such a haphazard construction there’s always a chance to destabilize a lot of systems with just one lucky hit in the right place.”
So far Gul Shadar had proven to be a most reasonable man and there was no use in pressing the point, despite all doubts about the validity of his story. Especially not since the away team was still outnumbered by more than three to one. “Gul Shadar, are you sure your crew will follow the terms we have agreed on?”
“Yes.” There was no doubt, no hesitation, in the Cardassian’s voice. “We all understand that this system is claimed by the Federation and that our continued well-being depends on your help. I may not be happy about it – and I am certain my superiors will be even less happy when they hear of this – but I and my crew will place ourselves in your custody, provided you guarantee us fair treatment.”
Felix Alvarez thought back to his first few minutes aboard the Canatra and tried to recall every word he had said to the Cardassian. Talking the Gul into a surrender had not been easy, not with both sides expecting a double-cross, but it had been worth the effort. “As I told you, I can only speak for myself, not my captain, but I am certain she will honor our agreement.”
“And you said you are from the Valkyrie, under Captain Veal?” Both Felix and Ben just nodded and Gul Shadar looked down at his feet, considering his options for a moment. “Very well. I trust your captain. “
Looking up the Cardassian noticed the surprised expression of both Starfleet officers and he allowed himself a small smile. “I know your captain was in charge of the forces that opposed the Second Order at the Argolis cluster. Many of our ships made it out off the Argolis in... shall we say less than perfect condition. Your ships could have easily destroyed them, but you didn’t, instead you sent them home to Cardassia.” Shadar drew a deep breath and slowly exhaled, gathering his thoughts. “I had friends on some of those ships, friends who could be dead by now, if not for Starfleet officers like your captain and for that I am grateful.”
* * * * *
“I
am Captain Veal of the Federation starship Valkyrie,” Tarin addressed
the man who had appeared on the bridge’s viewscreen. Somehow he looked
familiar, but she couldn’t place his face.
“A
pleasure to meet you, Captain Veal.” He bowed his head, but the courteous
gesture and the friendliness of his voice seemed only superficial to Tarin,
almost mocking. “My name is Michael Edington. I take it I can save myself any
further introductions?”
“Indeed
Mister Edington. I doubt there are many in Starfleet who haven’t heard of you.”
“Ah,
my dear Captain, I am just one humble man, no need to flatter me like this. On
the other hand I must admit that a certain... notoriety sometimes works as an
advantage for a freedom fighter like myself.”
“Let’s
not discuss the finer points of nomenclature right now, Edington. I believe
Starfleet would appreciate it if I arrested you, but we are in the middle of a
rescue operation, which may give you and your friends just enough time to make a
run for it.” Ignoring Edington’s disapproving headshake Captain Veal
continued. “I can see no reason why you should try to interfere in our current
operation and even if you are determined to try, you would be ill equipped to do
so. It’s up to you now, Edington.”
“Has
it occurred to you, Captain, that these are Cardassians you are rescuing?
Cardassia is not just at war with the Maquis, but with the Federation as well.
We are not the enemy here.” He leaned closer to the camera and looked quite
concerned. “If the roles were reversed I very much doubt they would go out of
their way to save you, especially not if their own ship was in any possible
danger.”
“Now
that could well be construed as a threat and I don’t like being threatened.
You may not be my enemy, but you should take care not to change that. Veal
out.”
Tarin
closed the com-line and rose. Briskly advancing up the ramp to the aft stations
she gave her orders to Commander Enikal. “Dar, we need to beam up the
Cardassians and our away team as fast as possible. Tell the transporter chief to
work as fast as he can, then program our shields and weapons for random
frequency change.”
“Understood.”
As the Bolian started to program the tactical systems of the Valkyrie he
simultaneously gave his orders to the transporter rooms. With rotating
frequencies on the shields they would not be able to match frequencies to the
transporter beam and Tarin knew that. ‘Why would she do this?’ After
he had finished both tasks he turned to Captain Veal who was busy working at the
Valkyrie’s sensors. “Everything is ready. You don’t think that
those four ships pose a threat to us?”
“No,
I don’t think so, unless...” She left the sentence unfinished and tried to
concentrate on three different readouts at the same time. ‘I am getting out
of practice,’ Tarin thought. ‘Have I overlooked anything?’
“Moira, give me all the power you can spare for the lateral sensor arrays.”
Dar
Enikal turned to his tactical console again. “Unless...,” he murmured. As
the realization hit him he spun around to the science station again. “You
don’t think they have a cloaked ship here? Withdrawing the Defiant from
the Bajor sector would be madness, now that they have gone on the offensive
again.”
“I
don’t know Dar, I just don’t know,” Tarin replied softly. “Something
here still doesn’t work out, but I guess we will find out about it soon enough.”
* * * * *
“We
are all set,” Ben reported as he activated the last of the pattern enhancers
and looked from Gul Shadar to Lieutenant Alvarez.
“I
should be the first to go,” the Cardassian captain remarked. “My crew may
require someone to take charge of them, once they are beamed up to your ship.
Things could get a little tense otherwise, despite our agreement.”
“Right,”
Lieutenant
Alvarez said. He didn’t fully trust the Cardassian, but trust was not required.
As soon as the Gul was beamed aboard the Valkyrie a security team would
take care of him and Alvarez knew he had trained his security teams good enough
to handle a few unarmed Cardassians. “What is this?” he asked, as the man he
knew as Shadar reached for a small padd that rested in a holder fixed to the Canatra’s
command station.
“A
copy of the Canatra’s log and cargo manifest,” Shadar replied. “I
may end up in Federation custody, but sooner or later my government will demand
an explanation for what has happened today. Without this I will be in a lot of
hot water, trying to explain how the Maquis surprised us so easily.”
Felix
Alvarez considered that point for a few seconds, but he knew how right Shadar
was. Even after years in Federation custody the Cardassian Central Command would
still remember the Gul’s failure. Without some proof that he had done his best
to save his ship, the man could face a fate a lot worse than a Federation prison.
Using his tricorder to check the Cardassian padd Alvarez ensured himself that it
was indeed just a data storage device, before he gave his approval.
“Okay.
You and four of your crew will go first. You,” he pointed at one of the Valkyrie’s
security officers, “go with them.”
As
the six people stepped into the middle of the pattern enhancer grid Lieutenant
Alvarez contacted his ship. “Valkyrie, this is Alvarez. We are ready to
send up the first group.”
* * * * *
“Captain,
we are ready to beam up the first group of Cardassians. Security is standing by
to receive them and the Maquis ships are still two minutes away from our
position.”
“Very
good,” Tarin Veal replied as she deactivated the science station and headed
for the bridge’s center seat again. “Drop the shields and beam them up.”
“But
what about cloaked ships?” Rishana asked. “Could the Defiant really
be here?”
“No.”
Tarin sounded confident, but Commander Westmore was not convinced.
“You
can’t know that. That’s the whole purpose of a cloaking device.”
“You
are right, Commander, I can’t be absolutely certain, but I am still convinced
that there is no cloaked ship within striking distance.” Tarin looked down at
her hands and the four diamonds set into the golden ring on her finger caught
the bridge’s light in a glittering display. “I know what to look for
Commander, and I have looked very thoroughly. This is between us and them.
Besides, as Commander Enikal has pointed out, it is unlikely that the Maquis
would withdraw their strongest ship from the offensive in the Bajor sector.”
Tarin looked up at the viewscreen that showed the four Maquis ships who had now
joined up in a staggered attack formation. “Tactical, target the lead ship’s
weapons and engines. Stand by to fire on my mark.”
As
Commander Enikal replied with a simple “Ready”, Tarin thought about what she
was doing right now and why she was doing it.
There
were human beings on those ships and she was ready to attack them to save some
Cardassians, even putting her own crew and ship at risk to do it.
Tarin
Veal shook her head, scolding herself for the self-doubts she had allowed to
creep into her mind. Unlike what Edington had suggested, it didn’t matter whom
she saved from whom. What mattered was that she was protecting the defenseless
from the people attacking them. If she had to put her crew and herself into
danger to do it, it was still the right thing to do.
“Time
to intercept?”
“One
minute thirty seconds,” Commander Enikal replied from the tactical station.
Now
that the Valkyrie’s transporters had started to beam up the first of
the Canatra’s crew, those ninety seconds could be just long enough to finish
the mission.
* * * * *
The
man who had called himself Shadar stepped from the transporter platform and
smiled at the welcoming party, not that the Valkyrie’s security
officers looked overly welcoming.
“Come
this way, please,” one of them said, as he gestured towards the transporter
room’s door with his phaser.
“Of
course,” Glinn Detor replied as he stepped out of the way, to let his fellow
Cardassians pass. “Just follow these gentlemen,” he ordered his officers,
well aware that they would carry out their orders to the best of their ability.
As
Detor walked from the transporter room into the corridor he slowed down a bit,
to make sure the guard who had beamed up with him was close enough. Another
security team strode into the transporter room and Detor was certain that within
seconds several more Cardassians would be aboard. It was time to start the final
phase of the plan.
* * * * *
„They
are changing formation,“ Tarin observed. “What do you make of it, Dar?”
The
Bolian needed only a glance at his instruments to analyze the Maquis’ tactics.
“They are abandoning the staggered attack formation. They are still on a
direct approach, but now it looks like they want to catch us in a crossfire.”
“That
makes no sense at all.” Tarin thoughtfully shook her head. Once the Valkyrie
raised her shields the only hope the small attackers had to overcome her
defenses was to concentrate their fire on one point and hit it as hard and as
fast as they could. Still wondering about her opponents tactics, Tarin noticed
something else that was odd. At a greater distance it hadn’t been apparent,
but now the raiders had closed most of the distance to the Valkyrie.
“Dar, does any of those ships look damaged to you?”
“No.”
After a quick sensor analyses he added: “Sensors confirm that all four ships
are fully functional. No sign of recent damage. Looks like Shadar lied to us
about his heroic fight against the Maquis.”
“Give
me a complete sensor scan of those ships. Report anything out off the ordinary.”
“I
am on it.” Commander Enikal franticly worked at the tactical controls, but it
took him a moment to find what he had previously overlooked, so far
concentrating his scans only on the ships weaponry and defenses. “Captain! The
freighter has over fifty people on board. I can’t get a clear reading, but I
am certain they are not Humans or Bajorans.”
Tarin
Veal nearly jumped off her chair. Suddenly it all started to come together, as
unlikely as it seemed. “Bridge to transporter room, stop beaming the
Cardassians aboard.” Only silence answered her.
“Transporter
room, respond.” Still nothing. “Intruder alert. Security to transporter room
two.”
“My
controls are dead,” Moira shouted. “Mine too,” others reported from around
the bridge.
‘Now
what?’
was the last thing Tarin thought before she passed out.
* * * * *
With
a sharp gesture Detor sent two of his men back into the transporter room. From
what he heard the fight there wasn’t going as well as the brief struggle that
had left the Starfleet guards in the corridor either severely wounded or dead.
They had been too secure in their knowledge that the Cardassians were unarmed.
The Glinn looked down at the knife in his hand. It was constructed form a
hardened version of the same synthetic material as the Cardassian uniforms, so
it had never shown up on the transporters weapons scan.
Detor
was as glad he hadn’t had to use his weapon, as he detested the malicious grin
of his troops as they looked down at the fallen security guards. Officially they
had been assigned to his team because of their special training in hand-to-hand
combat, but Detor knew the main reason had been their ruthlessness and
unwavering loyalty to Dukat.
“All
clear,” one of the second group of Cardassians to beam up reported, as he
stepped from the transporter room into the corridor.
With
a deep breath Glinn Detor averted his eyes from the slowly spreading puddles of
blood on the Valkyrie’s deck and reached for the padd he had brought
from the Canatra. He pressed it against one of the computer access panels on the
corridor wall and activated the program embedded deep within the log entries and
cargo manifests.
The
program Detor uploaded to the Valkyrie’s computers smashed through any
defenses with the subtlety of a jackhammer, frying circuits all across the ship,
but before the Valkyrie’s computer, or any of it’s officers, could
switch to the back-up programs, the virus had already accomplished it’s
purpose.
While all other programs were suddenly locked in a self-diagnosis cycle the Galaxy-class ship’s environmental systems shut down for a split-second, then came back on-line and started to pump knock-out gas into all compartments of the huge vessel – a gas the Cardassians had been carefully inoculated against.
Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5