Part Ten

Okay, he admitted it; things were looking pretty bad.

Around him, the klaxons were screaming for a number of reasons. First and foremost because Chris had placed the ship under red alert status, which meant everyone on board the vessel, knew that there was danger. Fortunately, the nature of this mission from its onset had given the crew, even civilian to prepare for the advent of such an emergency-taking place. Drills had been conducted during the past, few days, which saw to it that no one would be at a loss over where they should be during an attack like this. Even though Chris could not see them, he knew that at this moment, Josiah and Nathan were taking care of those formalities even as they spoke.

 Inside the bridge, the bridge was bathed in colors of red as emergency lighting dimmed for the coming battle, whether it was an effort to conserve power or some other tactic devised by Starfleet ship builders to do so, Chris could not be sure. All he could be sure of was the fact that the sensors were screaming at the large body of ships on present intercept course. Long range scanners had pin pointed the ships the minute they had dropped their shields and began converging upon the lone galaxy class ship. Across the bridge, the tension was so thick it could be sliced through with a knife but no one made any comment. They were all too busy with their own jobs to worry for the moment about what was coming.

 Ten minutes seemed like an eternity when the Maverick was facing that was coming at them at warp speed.

 "Engineering," Chris said opening a com channel to that particular deck. "Come in."

 "Pemberton here Sir," Julia's voice responded and behind Chris, Ezra reacted long enough to look up before he returned his attention back to the crisis at hand.  

"I want you to put all power to our shields, reinforce them if you like but I want every spare terra watt of energy diverted. Power down unoccupied decks if you have to but get me every bit you can. We're going to have to keep our shields up at all costs. If I know the strategy, they will try to board us. We have to keep that from happening." 

There was a brief pause as he waited for her to answer. "Just like the Rutherford Sir, I'll keep her together." 

Chris allowed himself a little smile, remembering that young lieutenant who had kept his ship together long enough for him to help Picard defeat the Borg. Thanks to Julia Pemberton's ingenuity and sheer determination in Engineering, the Rutherford had fought her last battle with great honor and distinction. Chris hoped it would not come to that with the Maverick. 

"Understood," Chris answered. "Good luck Lieutenant."  

"To all of us Sir," Julia responded automatically. "Pemberton out." 

"Buck," Chris turned to his first officer who was conferring with JD at the communications station. "How are we going getting a distress signal through?" 

"As anticipated," Buck looked over his shoulder long enough to respond. "They're jamming us on normal subspace. JD and I are trying to piggyback a signal on a tachyon burst. It will take a little longer to get to Starfleet but at least it will be able to get through their jamming net." 

"I'll take what I can get." Chris replied and asked loudly. "How much time do we have?" 

"Four minutes." Alex answered, She had taken on the duties of monitoring the sensor array since Ezra was now required at the tactical station. He was not only coordinating his security people to get the civilians on board to safety but also ensuring that should the Jem Haddar attempt to board the Maverick, they would be ready. On top of all of this, he would soon be required to man the ship's arsenal when the attack finally came.

"Ezra," Chris swiveled around in his chair and faced the security officer. "I want a security detail to find Gul Lemar and put him in the brig. I wouldn't want him to making any separate deals when the fun starts." The captain said with clear menace in his voice. He had no idea how far Lemar's complicity went but Chris wanted him out of the way where he could be of no further aggravation in the situation that was impending. 

"Gladly," Ezra responded with a little smile, exchanging a look with Alex and feeling inwardly that perhaps the day would not turn out so badly after all.  

"Vin," Chris faced front again, running through all the preparations he had to make in those four minutes and knew that it would never really be enough. "I want you to start plotting an escape route for us in case we have to make a run for it. We'll take on as many of them as we can but we're not coming out of this unscathed. Starfleet was recalling a few ships from the front lines to help us in case this happened but last I heard they were days away. We need to find some place we can hide for a good amount of time if necessary."

 "I'm on it." Vin retorted and immediately began seeking out such enclaves of safety in the vast area of space they had charted and documented on record.  

Chris took a deep breath and finally regarded the one person he had been avoiding since this situation had arisen. He wished she was not here because the chances of them surviving this was not good and considering what Alex had been through, Chris' stomach knotted with disgust at the thought of such a fate befalling Mary. Still, although he wished her to be anywhere else but on this ship at the moment, there was a part of him that was glad that she was at his side.  

If this were the end, then they would be together. 

"Mary if you want to leave the bridge..." Chris started to say. 

"No," she put her finger to his lips and shook her head in response. "My place is here with you." 

Chris nodded and interlaced his fingers through hers for a few seconds because a few seconds was all they had really. Nothing else needed to be said and he knew that it was pointless attempting to convince her otherwise. She would never listen and in truth, he really did not have the time to waste on such a futile exercise. 

The bridge came alive with a new sound that was not so different from the klaxon's already wailing throughout the bridge like a banshee in the night. He did not need to be told what the sound was because it could only be one thing. 

"Proximity alert." Alex spoke up and it was of surprise to nobody. 

The convoy had breached what the Maverick considered minimum safe distance for an unknown ship. Normally by this time, appropriate hails and universal greetings would negate the necessity of the proximity alert. That it had sounded meant that whatever purpose the new arrivals had in approaching them was almost certainly an expression of hostile intent.  

"Captain!" Ezra shouted. "Someone just activated a transponder signal!"  

"What?" Chris stood up and whirled around in his chair. 

A transponder device was a single beam of focused energy that allowed a person on a ship that was heavily shielded to be detected by another to be capable of being transported safely through. The transponder was effective only once and since the Maverick's shields had yet to be activated because the ships approaching were beyond firing range and raising them early would be expending energy they would need later, whomever the transponder had belonged to was guaranteed a sure escape off the ship. 

"Lemar!" Alex swore when she saw evidence of a transponder allowing the enemy to beam the Cardassian off the ship. 

"Shields up!" Chris ordered but knew it was a wasted effort. Lemar was probably already beamed off the ship before the thought had even occurred to them to put a stop to it. 

"I knew that son of a bitch was playing with us!" Alex growled in anger, unable to believe that she had not killed the sorry bastard when she had the chance.  

"Get over it." Chris retorted. "He's gone and we have bigger problems that one Cardassian traitor." 

Still, Chris did make a silent promise to himself that when this was all over, he and Gul Lemar were going to meet one last time. Putting that thought in a nice safe place for the moment, Chris glanced at the view screen that was showing the first signs of the approaching ships in the darkness of space. They were little more than specks of light at this point but he knew that soon enough, they were going to be larger than life and there would be no mistaking them for anything as majestic as the stars among which they traveled. 

"Alright," Chris stood up a moment later and let his eyes touch upon every person currently occupying the bridge with him, even Mary. "We're out numbered and chances are we're not going to have much chance to run. They'll almost certainly try to surround us so I'm giving you fair warning, prepare yourself. This is going to be bloody. Our biggest threat is the war bird. She can cloak and she had firepower equal to our own. She'll come at us head on while the Cardassian warships pick at us and the Jem Haddar, keep us netted." 

Chris took in a deep breath as he saw the somber expressions on the faces of his subordinates and declared. "We have one advantage. They want to take the ship intact. They have to if they want what in the main computer. That, at this point, is our biggest asset. I am going to try and use it but the fact of the matter is, in the end to get the Maverick, they will have to collapse our shields and board us. As senior officers on this ship, we will not allow that to happen. I have a couple of tricks up my sleeve that will make that a little harder than they thought. We're not as outgunned as they think but we're still vulnerable. If they even attempt to take the bridge we will self-destruct this ship and anyone on it before we let that happen. If you think that 1000 people is a big sacrifice then think in terms of the billions that will face slavery and death if the Dominion gets its hands on a new supply of white." 

The others nodded in understanding of the order he had just given them, even if he did not come out and say it. They all knew what Chris meant and they all knew that if the time came, they would be equal to what he had asked of them because he was right. A thousand lives on the Maverick was a small price to pay for the security of Alpha Quadrant and United Federation of Planets. 

"Okay," Chris said as he lowered himself into his command chair and faced the view screen once more. "Hail them." 

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

 Not surprisingly, when communication between the prey and predators were finally made, it was the commander of the war bird that addressed the Captain of the Maverick. Of course, it was not a Romulan that stared at Chris from the bridge of his ship through a viewer but rather a Vorta. Then again, Chris supposed than it was to be expected when one engaged a Dominion attack force. No sooner than the warbird had taken position directly at the bow of the Maverick, the Cardassians battle cruisers took up flanking positions while the Jem Haddar warship remained at a fall back position, where they would join the fray should the need arise.

"Captain Larabee," the Vorta said with typical politeness that was just a hint above groveling. Apparently that was their natural state, Chris was led to believe. They were not an overtly violent or aggressive race, always feigning subservience to the Founders when in the process of committing all kinds of atrocities against other species. Chris supposed that it was one way to let themselves sleep at night. 

"I don't I've had the pleasure." Chris said coolly, no hint of fear in his face as he stared at the enemy appearing completely indifferent to the odds that his ship and his crew were facing.

 "I am Fanaian of the Dominion Empire." The Vorta introduced himself with a sickening smile of courtesy and reminded everyone on the bridge of weasel. "I am here to offer you a proposal."

 "A deal," the captain remarked, not at all fooled by this display by the thin veneer of civility on display by both parties. It was only foreplay to the battle about to be wrought. "How interesting. You often conduct proposals with a fleet covering your back?" Once again, there was no hostility in Chris' voice and the bridge crew found themselves singularly impressed by the captain's ability to bluff.

 Not even Ezra was that good.

 "Considering that we have to make our a proposal in what is clearly Federation space, it seemed a necessary precaution." Fanaian responded as if it were the most natural thing in the world to bring an attack force behind enemy lines and attack a ship full of civilians.

 "Naturally," Chris said skeptically. "However, I would prefer if your Cardassian 'allies' withdrew from the immediate vicinity. Considering the current state of war between our governments, I might take their presence to be a little provocative." 

"Unfortunately, that is quite impossible." The Vorta replied, aware that the human was dancing around the issue just as the human was aware that the Vorta had gun aimed at him and was masking the shot with words that reeked of diplomacy. "The Frontier is such an unsafe place. We would like to offer you our assistance in returning your crew to a starbase." 

Chris exchanged a glance with Buck who was just as nauseated by the syrupy tone of the Vorta's voice as he was and quickly returned. "And what would be the payment for this little escort?" 

The Vorta smiled like a child that had been caught out attempting to play a prank on someone who knew better. "Why nothing exorbitant. Perhaps let me say the entire contents of your computer core." Fanaian answered. "The Dominion would find it very useful if we were allowed access to all your data involving stellar cartography and geological analysis of planetary bodies."

"And one other thing," a new voice entered the fray and the Vorta glanced sideways in a mixture of annoyance and surprised.  

Even though they did not see the speaker, every member of the bridge recognized the voice and was frankly not surprised by the turn of events. Gul Lemar stepped into the path of the viewer, with a satisfied smirk on his face knowing that he was now in a position to demand everything that had been denied him when he was on board the Maverick. 

"You know Gul Lemar."

 Chris looked at Alex for a second before he faced front again. The science officer's expression was unreadable but there was something in her eyes that surface long enough for the captain to recognize it for what it was. Calculation. There as calculation in her eyes and considering their present situation, Chris wondered whether it was meant only for their enemy or only for Gul Lemar? At the moment, there was little time to consider the question of which because he had bigger problems to deal with. 

"I should have had you spaced when you first came on board my ship." Chris glared at the man. 

"Alas you did not," Lemar responded, still wearing that look of supreme confidence, now that he had the weight of a Dominion fleet around him. "What the Vorta is too polite to say Captain," Lemar's eyes narrowed. "Is that we expect your unconditional surrender or we'll take your ship from under you. The only way you can save yourselves is to download the entire contents of the Maverick main computer into our ship or we will destroy you."

 "Is that all?" Chris asked coolly, looking not at all bothered by the request since Lemar was good enough to put aside the cordialities and get to the point. "I seemed to recall that you waned something else. Care to let me in on what that might be?" 

"Yes," Lemar nodded and spoke. "You will transport the charming Lieutenant Travis and Commander Styles to the Tasmeem immediately or we will blow your ship out of the sky." 

"Son of bitch!" Buck exclaimed in rage as he saw Mary turn ashen. Alex held firm because she knew her captain and even in the unlikely chance that she was forced to go, she knew that she would never arrive on the Tasmeem alive to suffer any repeated brutalities at Lemar's hand. When she had said to Vin that she would die before she went through that hell again, she had meant it. 

"Stand down commander!" Chris hissed. 

Buck sat down on his command chair once again, noticing the same outraged expressions on the rest of the male officers. While no one could see Vin's eyes because his back was facing all of them, Buck could imagine the fury that must be running through the Vulcan's blood at this moment. Ezra's anger could be seen in the wavering of his calm demeanor. The disgust in his eyes was apparent and if it could been sighted through that impenetrable poker face he always seemed to wear, then it must have been quite intense indeed. JD was biting down, his jaw tensing in bitter anger. 

"Fanaian," Chris turned back to the viewer once he had dealt with his second in command and showed no signs of being insulted even though if Lemar had been within reach, the man would have felt his displeasure most profoundly. "I'll deal with you only. I have no desire to conduct these negotiations with your underlings. I think this situation could be handle more amicably if someone who is in actual authority speaks. Our current problem is fragile enough as it is without lackeys with delusions of grandeur making unreasonable demands that will not be fulfilled. We my be able to negotiate for the information but I will not give any of my crew to that Cardassian so that he can practice his rather clumsily techniques at mating." 

"I will see you beg!" Lemar snarled when suddenly the Vorta spoke up and silence him immediately. 

"Shut up Lemar!" Fanaian remarked with enough force in his voice to let even one as thick headed as the Gul to know the price if he did not obey. 

Behind Chris, the rest of the bridge crew was sniggering at the captain's masterful handling of Lemar despite the fact that they were nowhere out of trouble. Whatever negotiations Chris intended to conduct with the Vorta would be short lived for they all knew Chris would never give up the Maverick. Lemar seemed livid as he was more or less disregarded and shunted aside once the Vorta had reason to believe that Chris might cooperate and hand over the ship peacefully. Of course they all knew what Chris was doing, he was stalling for time. At this moment, JD was decrypting top secret codes that arrived from Starfleet at the onset of this mission and relaying those codes to the tactical station. When the time came, only Chris' authorization would make them of any value. 

"Time?" Buck hissed out of sight of the viewer.

 "Thirty seconds to complete upload." JD responded quickly.

"Ezra," Buck answered as Chris continued the game of thrust and parry with the Vorta. "Remember, set it up and wait for the captain's mark." 

"The Cardassians are powering their weapons," Alex informed quietly. "They're targeting us."

 "No surprise there." Buck answered. "What about the Jem Haddar ships?"

 "They're standing by." She replied a second later.

 "They know we got to get through the Cardassian ships before they need to make a move," the first officer responded. "They'll sit back and watch until its time to engage."

 "I can get us to the Vikaris Quasar." Vin announced under his breath. The bridge was a cacophony of silent whispers as strategy was mapped out and decided while Chris continued his 'negotiation' with the Vorta and the Tasmeem.

 "Its still gonna a bitch to break free of these guys." Buck remarked, glad that they had an alternative but the truth was, escaping the fleet to reach the Quasar was going to be problematic.

***********

 "Captain," the Vorta said finally. "We do not really need your permission." The man was attempting to appeal to Chris' sense of self-preservation. If he knew what it was to earn a Starfleet uniform, Chris thought silently, the Vorta would have understood what a futile gesture it was. "We can take your ship."

 "And I can order her destroyed into a billion particles of dust before you ever got your hands on her." Chris answered back in turn, completely aware that things were about to get very ugly.

 "You wouldn't dare." Fanaian responded, not at all liking that idea if the sour expression on his face was anything to go by. The destruction of the Maverick would mean a complete failure of their mission to the frontier and the Founders were not forgiving of such disasters.

 "Before I let any of your Cardassians pets touch one woman on the Maverick, I will throw the switch and blow this ship to smithereens and there won't be a man on my crew who will lift a finger to stop me. So," Chris glared at the Vorta. "I have only one thing to say to you Fanaian."

 "And what is that?" Fanaian sneered.

 Chris smiled coldly. "Catch us if you can."

Part Eleven

Chris had come to the conclusion that the playing field needed leveling.

Despite the tremendous odds before the Maverick, Chris knew that he could get his ship and his crew out of danger if he had a little room to maneuver. Unfortunately, there was little chance of that with the Cardassians flanking them on all sides, preparing to close in on them with a phalanx of phaser blasts. Chris could not help thinking that they would not be so bold if they did not have even more formidable allies to pull their fat out of the fire if they got in over their heads.

However, the fact still remained that they did have rather powerful allies who would intervene at an instant's notice if required. For the moment however, the Jem Haddar were content to take fall back position, allowing their Cardassian brethren to handle things until their intervention was necessary while the warbird prepared to square off with the lone Federation ship. Chris could handle the Romulan and he could handle the Jem Haddar but the Cardassians?

They were plain pissing him off.

"The Cardassians are firing!" Alex announced loudly out a few seconds after Chris had terminated their channel of communication with the Vorta and the Romulan warbird. The Cardassians had obviously decided that since diplomacy was not going to work in convincing the Maverick to capitulate, they would have to attempt more persuasive means.

No sooner than those words had left her lips, the entire ship felt the effect of her exclamation as the energy blast struck the hull of the Maverick. The initial blast traveled through the ship and allowed everyone to know that the battle had irrevocably begun. The force of it threw Buck and Mary to the floor. Chris barely managed to remain seated, digging his nails into the cushioned armrest. Others were not so lucky. Alex slammed hard against the walls while JD was nearly flung from his seats. Anything unbolted went flying and the clatter of beverage cups and other various items rained down around their ears. He covered his head with his arms, narrowly avoiding being hit by someone's drink mug.

Immediately, the white lighting shifted a glaring red. Emergency klaxons shrilled across the ship and the status alert indicators began flashing crimson. Buck found it difficult to get up, unable to get his footing right. The explosion had disorientated all of them and very quickly he realised he was off balance because he had landed on his ankle badly. Chris immediately grabbed his first officer by the arm and helped him back into his command chair. Looking at Mary who brushed loose strands of her hair out of her face, she gave him a little smile of assurance that she did not need any assistance as she took her place next to him.

The others struggled back to their seats and knew that the reason the ship had taken a hit so badly because all four ships had chosen to fire at the same time in order to frighten them and impress upon the Federation starship how hopelessly outnumbered they were. Bullies, Chris snorted silently to himself, that's all the Cardassians were, bullies.

"Our shields are holding." Ezra replied as he returned to his console.

"They did that to shake us up," Chris answered smoothly. "They're trying to scare us in to surrendering. They think if we can be frightened by the numbers we might save them the trouble of fighting for the ship." The captain remained in his command chair and braced himself because from here on end, that was the last free shots the Cardassians were going to get at the expense of the Maverick. From this point on, they were going to learn the hard way, numbers or not, what it going to cost to take on Chris Larabee's ship.

"Captain," JD said suddenly, studying the incoming signal on his console screen, "the Tasmeem is hailing us again."

"They probably think we're more ready to talk." Buck commented as he shifted in his seat, trying to take the weight off his injured foot.

"You okay?" Chris asked, noticing his attempts to become more comfortable with his injury.

"I'm okay." Buck waived away the inquiry. His foot was throbbing painfully and he could feel the swelling already but he was ignoring it because he was not leaving his captain under any circumstances.

"You'll get a chance to make it to Sick Bay, I promise." Chris said with a glint in his eye that Buck recognized as the Larabee turn of genius. It could be scary as hell but well worth the effort if you knew how to ride it out. Buck felt his stomach hollow and suddenly had a premonition that things were about to get very rough and not because the Dominion was out there but because Chris Larabee was about to get very crazy.

"Are we gonna talk to them?" Buck asked instead.

"We are." Chris met his gaze with a little smile. "I doubt they're going to like what I have to say though." The captain turned towards JD. "Open a channel Ensign."

"You're going to talk to them?" Mary asked incredulously, forgetting herself for a moment because the situation was critical and she was more than a little afraid by the odds before them. She had never really been in combat like this before and she could not deny that she felt a little out of her depth. She had remained because she was a bridge officer and despite Chris' feelings for her, she was not going to take advantage of his affection by being in a safer place to wait out the attack.

"It would be rude if we didn't," Chris gave her a little wink before standing up and turning his attention to Ezra. "First things first though, are we ready with our little surprise for the Cardassians?"

"Ready and waiting." Ezra answered automatically.

"They're firing again!" Alex warned and instinctively and this time everyone on the bridge braced themselves for the blast. It came no more than a second later, sending more klaxons screaming again through the bridge and lighting up more consoles. This time however, they survived the blast with a little more balance and most managed to grab onto something to keep themselves from falling or getting thrown about the bridge like rag dolls. The ship heaved in protest and as the after effects of the blast dissipated, they knew the interval would not last indefinitely. At the very best they had less then a minute before the enemy would feel the need to encourage them to surrender once again.

"Shields are still holding." Ezra declared, his voice taut as he studied the readings. "They're playing with us Captain."

"Oh I knew that," Chris agreed without question. "They're trying to soften us up. Trying to make it easier for us to surrender."

Ezra almost snorted in derision at the ridiculous presumption of the enemy that had led them to such a belief. Who did they think they were facing? Despite the Cardassians' show of force, the Dominion could not afford to damage the Maverick too substantially, not if they wanted to contents of the ship's computer core. For this mission in Federation space to be considered any kind of success, they would have to take the Maverick intact. While the phaser bombardment they were currently hurling at the Maverick, might serve to convince another commander that surrender was permissible to save his crew, they were not dealing with another commander. They were dealing with Chris Larabee and where Chris Larabee was concerned, even Ezra was not fool enough to bet against those odds.

Needing to take the Maverick in one piece gave Chris a lot of room to maneuver even if at the moment, that room was more figurative than literal. Ezra could guess that Chris was going to use their own ends for the Maverick against them and in the hands of Chris Larabee, that was a very powerful advantage indeed.

"Alex," Chris looked at the science officer who was keeping her eye trained on the console before her, ready to warn them at the first sign of incoming fire. "Take over from Ezra. I want you to man the decryption protocol." Without taking a breath, he turned his attention to the security chief. "Ezra as soon as we are in position, I want you to fire a full spread of quantum torpedoes at the Cardassians ship, no warning shots. I'm going to assume you that you know the best place to hit them. I want them out of commission permanently. We've got enough troubles without trying to swat the flies out of our face."

"With absolute pleasure Captain," Ezra responded, allowing himself a satisfied smirk and more than happy to comply with that order. He almost wished that Lemar was here to have heard what Chris considered the five Cardassians battle cruisers in comparison to the Jem Haddar and Romulan ships.

"Vin," Chris moved away from his command chair and faced front again before striding towards the helm. He came to a stop next to Vin's place at the ship's con. "We'll only have a few seconds between the Cardassians being hit and the Jem Haddar moving in on us. I want you to break through the Cardy lines and put as much distance between us and this fleet as you can. We can't outrun them but I want a little maneuvering room."

"I'll get her through," the Vulcan drawled and looked back with an expression equal to the calm being displayed by his captain. "You can bet on it." He said with damned unflappable expression, showing the others that strange ability shared between both men that allowed them to communicate without ever needing to put into words what they intended.

Mary who was sitting near both men wondered how these men could manage to remain so composed. Inside, she felt like a thousand bundles of exposed nerve endings and yet those around her, not just Chris and Vin were holding themselves together with ease it seemed. Even JD was keeping his fear reined and Mary could not deny that she wished she had that ability. She had been a diplomat for most of her career and had not been involved in enough combat situations to evolve the same iron clad disposition as those around her.

"Engineering." Chris' voice snapped her out of her reverie. "Come in Engineering." The captain spoke out loud, waiting for a response from the mechanical heart of the Maverick.

"Pemberton here," Julia's voice responded after a few seconds. There was more than a little tension in her voice as she answered him and in the background, the low rumble of people running back and forth, working frantically within the deck could be heard throughout the bridge. Whatever damage the phaser bombardment had been done to the ship, Chris was certain that it was probably felt more prolifically in engineering than it was on the bridge.

"How are we doing?" Chris found himself asking, not just for himself but also for Ezra whose rigid poker face was more damning about how he felt than any vocalization he might make in regards to the state of her present welfare.

"We're just peachy down here." Julia answered wearily. "You think that we could maybe move the ship out of the way when they fire Captain? It just seems like a terrible waste of time for them if we just sort of sat here and let them blow us to pieces."

Chris felt the same wave of affection for Julia as Ezra did at that moment and both men exchanged a knowing glance before Chris continued with a little smile. "Suggestion noted Lieutenant. I'll see what I can do. In the meantime, I thought I might just warn you that in a few seconds, Vin is going to hit maximum warp to get us out of here. When that happens, I want you divert all power to the front shields. We may have to punch our way through the Cardassian flank to get out of this net they've got us in."

"Understood Sir," Julia nodded. "When they time comes, you'll have all the power to the shields even if I have to go out there and push."

"Thank you Lieutenant." Chris smiled, not surprised that the Rutherford had survived to fight her last battle against the Borg when she had with Julia Pemberton in Engineering holding her together in one piece.

"The Vorta is waiting." Buck informed Chris who immediately terminated his conversation and turned back to the blank view screen.

Chris met his first officer's gaze and nodded. "Let's see him."

The viewer flicked briefly before Fanaian appeared on screen again. "Captain," he said as soon as he sighted Chris, once again that sickeningly syrupy voice contaminated Chris' bridge. "You ship cannot take much more of our fire. Why not surrender? I give you my word of honor that no harm will befall any member of your crew."

"That's very kind of you." Chris met the man's gaze through the electronic medium before them and pretended to consider the man's words. "I give you my word of honor that when the time comes I will pledge the same courtesy to you." Without drawing a breath as the Vorta's brow wrinkled in confusion, trying to understand what those enigmatic words meant, Chris changed the tone of his voice from cordial into menacing. "Computer, transmit frequency code Trojan - authorization, Captain Larabee, Christopher - Access Code, Nimrod."

"Transmission relayed!" Alex responded as she saw the computer recognize the captain's personal access code.

"What?" The Vorta was still staring at him through the view screen, unable to understand what had happened. "What have you done?"

The Vorta did not understand and Chris did not expect him too. Since the end of the Border Wars, the Federation had been certain that it troubles with Cardassia was not over. The Federation by nature did not make war and thus the technology discovered through a century of exploration had given it advantages it did not use unless in times of great crisis. Though many would not know it, the Federation code crackers had no peer anywhere in the Alpha Quadrant and since the end of the Border wars, every Cardassian ship had catalogued and stored in Starfleet memory, including the codes for its shield modulation. With access to the shield modulation of a Cardassian ship, torpedoes could be modified to pass through Cardassian shields with no trouble at all.

"Adjustment made for shield modulation!" Ezra announced. "Firing quantum torpedoes from all bays in full spread!"

"On screen!" Chris ordered as the Cardassians ships appeared on the viewer just before the volley of torpedoes Ezra had launched caught up with them. The quantum torpedoes, designed by the Federation to pierce the amour of Borg ships, impacted against the hull of the Cardassians battle cruisers. The view screen glared at them with blinding white light as the detonations flared across the ships. Some were completely enveloped, others had managed to hold off but most were taken completely by surprise.

"Now Vin!" Chris ordered. "Get us out of here, maximum warp!"

The helmsman was already starting to move the great ship forward but Chris' order caused him to propel the Maverick ahead at full speed. The galaxy class starship surged through the cloud of heat and exploding plasma eruptions form the disabled Cardassians ships, leaving a streak of blue and gray as it pierced through the flares of white that was radiating from the enemy ships as a result of their little 'surprise'. The Maverick rumbled with the power as it broke through the enemy line, barely avoiding collision in its haste to leave the scene of the battle. However, under Vin's capable hands, the vessel sailed through the obstacles placed before it, navigating its troubled path with expert precision at the helm.

"The Jem Haddar are giving chase." Alex informed immediately. She could see the signs of their pursuit on the console screen before her. No sooner than they had realised that the Maverick had managed to slip through the Cardassian net, their thrusters had fired and they began to give chase. The Romulan ship was still holding back, no doubt allowing the Jem Haddar of doing the dirty work instead. "Two Cardassians ships have been completely destroyed, the other three have sustained heavy damage. I doubt that they can even maintain life support without help."

"Two down," Chris replied, returning back to his command chair. "That still leaves eight and we are nowhere out of trouble."

"With your permission captain," Buck glanced at Chris. "I'd like to give you a little more breathing room with Jem Haddar friends."

"By all means," Chris grinned. They were already living on borrowed time and Chris knew perfectly well that Buck was capable of surprising him now and then. He hoped this was one of those times.

"Let's slow them down a bit." Buck replied, turned in his seat to the science station now that he had the captain's leave to act.. "Alex, vent all our waste plasma."

"Aye Sir," Alex complied immediately and let her fingers fly over her console screen. In a second, the order was fulfilled. "We have vented all plasma."

"Ezra," Buck glanced at the security officer. "If you will be so kind."

"I am never one to turn down the request of superior...well a higher ranking officer any way." Ezra grinned. "One torpedo at your service."

"Thank you," Buck gave the security man a look. "Fire at will."

The plasma once vented was easily ignitable and throwing a torpedo into a mix would create an explosion of monumental proportions. While the Jem Haddar shields would survive the encounter well enough, the effect upon their sensors was another thing entirely. The resulting explosion would create such a massive influx of energy that the sensor array of the enemy ships would be incapable of coping with the over load. For a few seconds at least, the Jem Haddar ships would be completely blind and the Maverick would gain enough time to acquire the distance the Captain required to make his next play for their survival.

The space around the Maverick flared with white energy as the plasma ignited behind them but Vin was the only one not paying attention to the brilliant display of light and color. Everyone immediately shielded their eyes but Vin could only see the console before him as he pushed the Maverick harder and faster than it had ever traveled before. The ship was accelerating at Warp 9.98 and Vin knew he could not keep this pace up much longer without the energy requirements for such a speed draining vital systems to satisfy itself, systems such as the shields and life support.

"Captain, I'm reaching Warp 9.9!" Vin announced. Taking the Maverick to Warp 9.99 was a command decision that had to come from Chris.

"Captain, main power is starting to drain." Alex added her voice to his. "We can't sustain this speed and keep our shields at full strength."

"Where are the Jem Haddar ships?" Chris asked quickly, starting to feel the pressure a little but refusing to allow it to effect him any further than that. His crew needed his faculties intact if he was to save them. "What's their status?"

"They're still attempting to recalibrate their sensor array." Ezra responded. "They are lagging."

Only one chance now and Chris had to take it. It was dangerous and he knew it but the Maverick had no chance in hell of winning this by playing it safe. This battle was so stacked against them that the only way Chris could think of surviving, to say nothing at all about winning, was to play against the house and play it wild.

"Bring us about!" Chris ordered.

"Captain?" Vin was astonished by the order. The rest of his fellow officers shared his reaction similarly. They had just spent considerable energy attempting to escape the battlefield and now the captain was taking them back.

"You heard me!" Chris barked, "turn us around now!"

Vin need not make a second inquiry because Chris' tone of voice was enough to convince him that it would not be taken well by his captain. Praying that Chris had some secret weapon up his sleeve that would allow him to disable the shields of the Jem Haddar ship as easily as they had done to the Cardassians, Vin steered the Maverick to veer back the way it came in a tight arch. The great ship executed the move flawlessly even though the energy readings in front of him told the helmsman that the Maverick could not keep this up for too long. She was accelerating at top speed while nursing wounds caused by enemy fire while at the same time still trying to maintain full shield strength. Something was going to give soon.

"Set course directly for the warbird." Chris ordered once again.

"For the warbird?" Buck looked at Chris, not sure what his captain was playing at and it was his job to know.

For any other time, Chris might have agreed with Buck's conclusion but not today. "You have trouble hearing me Commander?" Chris turned on him with a sharp glare. "If the Dominion wants the Maverick so bad, they can have her. Right down their throats."

Buck wanted to respond but Chris' gaze made him think better of it and he remained silent. Alex and Ezra were smart enough to keep quiet while Mary and JD hoped that their inexperience was the reason why they did not understand what Chris was attempting to do.

"Ezra open all gun ports," Chris spoke as the Maverick changed course and began its suicidal dash towards the Tasmeem. "I want you to fire all phaser, I want so much fire power in the space between us and the Jem Haddar, they'll have no choice but to get clear."

"Yes Sir," Ezra nodded mutely, able to perform that minor miracle but unaware of how they were going to survive when the Jem Haddar came at them full throttle.

"Viewer on." Chris ordered.

The view screen before them revealed a terrifying scene as they headed back they way they had come originally. The wreckage of the Cardassians ships was floating in the air, drifting through space like flotsam after the sinking of a passenger liner of old. Except here, the bodies did not disappear into the depths, they floated through the darkness, their faces in a sculpture of agony, causing those who viewed the carnage to hope that they had died form something other than explosive decompression. The other three ships were floating dead in space, no doubt their crews moving frantically to repair them as they saw several billions tons of starship bearing down on them.

"Captain!" Julia Pemberton's voice reached down from Engineering and cried out to Chris. "Captain, you have to reduce speed, I can't maintain shield strength at Warp 9.9. We're taking a heavy pounding from the enemy, the shields are going to buckle."

"Sorry Lieutenant," Chris said shortly. "Can't talk right but you will maintain shield strength."

"But..."

"Bridge out." Chris retorted cutting off the channel. In the view screen he could see Ezra's handiwork as volley after volley of phaser blasts were hurled at the Jem Haddar ships who were weaving frantically to avoid being destroyed by the Maverick's formidable arsenal.

The Jem Haddar ships were still firing though and every now and then their return fire manage to penetrate the wall of phaser fire that Chris had ordered Ezra to create. He could see Alex fighting to maintain shield integrity, sealing up the gaps that Julia could not in Engineering. He knew he was pushing his ships beyond safety limits but they were not going to get out of this playing it safe. If they did not reach the warbird before she cloaked, they would be in serious trouble and heaven helped them if the Jem Haddar figured that out as well.

The Maverick continued to shudder uneasily as it surged forward. The hits from the Jem Haddar ships were becoming from frequent because phaser power was dwindling and soon they would only have torpedoes to launch at the enemy. Each time the ship took a hit, it rocked precariously and Chris could feel the floor beneath him drop for a moment before attitude control was regained. Every warning system in the bridge was sounding its alert, adding its voice to the human component to desist on the course he was embarking upon.

"One Jem Haddar ship destroyed!" Alex announced.

Indeed as she said that, he had noticed the flare of brilliance to the edge of the view screen. "One more has fallen back with severe damage. The other two are still maintaining pursuit." As she made that last statement, the console before her suddenly exploded outwards. Alex barely managed to leap out of the way as dangerous projectiles of glass came flying at her. Having suffered the injury once before, the science officer knew how to avoid injuring herself a second time.

"You okay?" Buck asked as she picked herself up from the floor. "Chris, whatever you're going to do, do it fast."

"Romulan warbird dead ahead." Vin declared almost as if he was answering Buck's question for Chris.

Chris looked up and saw the Tasmeem preparing to face whatever the Maverick had in mind. Chris doubted that even the Vorta could have foreseen what he was about to say next.

"Vin," Chris took a deep breath and hoped that he was right about this. "Take her to ramming speed."

Part Twelve

"……ramming speed."

The words hung in the air for a few seconds because no one had actually believed that it was said. Even Vin found his fingers frozen over the controls that would make the order a reality, wondering if he had heard wrongly, that his captain had not asked him to do what Vin thought he just did.

Unfortunately it was no aberration, those words had left Chris and as he stood behind Vin waiting for helmsman to do as he had been so instructed, Vin knew he had no choice but to obey. It was obedience wrought not out of loyalty or the dedication to duty that refused to let a Starfleet officer deny his Captain but because of the friendship and explicit trust that existed between both men. That alone told Vin that Chris would never consciously force his ship into a position he could not pull it out of again. Taking a deep breath and taking a leap of faith because he could do nothing else, Vin keyed in the sequence for request into the console before and felt the ship surge forward.

Emergency klaxons sounded again. This time they signaled the ship’s acceleration into Warp 9.99 and save a great feat of technological magic they did not possess, there was no way the Maverick could cross the warp threshold and reach the speed of Warp 10 without first tearing the ship apart.

"Captain," Alex called from behind Chris as she studied the readings wrought of the klaxons and the increased burst of propulsion as the ship continued on its direct course towards the war bird in the viewer before them. "I am reading multiple fractures in the structural integrity of the ship. Sir, we have to slow down."

In response to her question, Chris responded coolly. "Maintain speed and course Vin."

Buck could see that Chris was not about to be convinced of anything and immediately tapped his com badge, acquiring shipboard communication that would reach every single person on board the Maverick. Like Vin, Buck knew that Chris had a plan but whether or not the ship would survive it was another thing entirely. It was a gamble this thing he planned but at the moment, Buck understood that it was the only way. Playing it safe was not going to get them out of this but he hoped playing it wild did not allow the Maverick to end up the same way.

"All hands," the first officer spoke loudly. "Brace for impact."

Without even seeing what was transpiring across the ship with his own eyes, Buck could imagine it well enough. At this moment, crewmembers were placing themselves in crash position. Parents were placing their children in safe corners of the room, padding their hiding places with cushions and other soft material to lessen the force of the impact if collision was eminent. At this point, Buck was unprepared to say whether it was or not.

"Engineering." Chris spoke up and the ship’s computer immediately opened a communication to the desired deck. He was the only one who seemed to be enduring this entire situation with the modicum of reason . Buck wondered how the man managed to rise above his fear until the first officer realised himself that there was no room for the Captain to feel fear, he was too busy trying to save all their lives.

"Captain," Julia’s voice answered, sounding most anxious possibly because she knew how this present course of action was taking its toll upon the ship more than anyone else on board the Maverick. "You have to slow down. I can’t maintain shield strength if you push the ship this hard with all phasers firing! As it is we’re having trouble maintaining structural integrity. The Maverick was not designed for this kind of stress!"

"Julia," Chris spoke again, sounding as if he had not listened to a word she had just said. "I want you to take the phasers offline and deflect all energy to maintaining this speed. I want you to power down all unoccupied areas and divert that extra energy to the front shields. The structural integrity will hold, we’re not keeping this pace for much longer. Can you do that for me Lieutenant?"

Julia did not answer for a few seconds and those who knew the engineer with any depth understand that she was acquiescing to the captain’s requirements, even if she was not answering him yet.

"Alright Sir," she responded quietly. "I’ll do what I can but if the structural integrity goes, it won’t matter if we don’t have shield strength. She’ll crack apart like an egg."

"Noted." Chris answered and terminated the line.

"The war bird is hailing us," JD exclaimed, staring at Chris with the hope that the attempt at communication might convince the captain that reducing speed might be prudent. "Shall I put them through Sir?"

"Negative," Chris retorted abruptly, turning his attention to Ezra.

The security officer whose eyes were fixed firmly on the console before him because at this moment, he was all that was keeping the Jem Haddar ships in pursuit from bombarding the Maverick with all the power that they were capable of hurling upon the lone Federation space. Ezra had some idea of the gamble that Chris was attempting and while he was one who lauded playing the odds, he was not so certain that this time fortune was in their favor. Particularly after the Captain had ordered the phasers taken off line.

"Ezra, I want you to keep those Jem Haddar ships off our back until we can lock onto the war bird. Use quantum torpedoes if you have to but do it. I want a clear path to the Vorta." Chris said firmly.

"Aye Captain," Ezra nodded, showing no signs that the occasion was getting to him even if the urgency was pressing up against his spine like nobody’s business. There were three Jem Haddar ships falling upon the Maverick with relentless determination as they attempted to sway the great ship from continuing its course towards its Romulan counterpart.

In the viewer before him, Chris could see the Romulan ship looming larger and larger on the screen. The disable Cardassian ships had limped away, having seen what was coming and had no wish to be on the collision end of a galaxy class starship. The blast radius that resulted from such a catastrophe had the power to destroy every one of the Cardassian ships with their shields presently disabled.

"Now I’ll talk to them." Chris looked at JD.

The ensign let out a sigh of relief and immediately patched a frequency of communication between the two ships. The Vorta appeared on the screen in less than a second, looking decidedly less calm than he had been during their earlier conversation. Even Lemar was in the background, appearing a little nervous and Chris felt some measure of satisfaction knowing that considering what they were putting his ship and his crew through, he could still make them sweat a little.

"Captain, what are you doing?" The Vorta demanded upon seeing the human, his response being a little closer to genuine since the fear in his eyes was apparent. He composed himself soon enough though and the smooth voice returned once again as he remembered himself. "You cannot seriously think that we would be tricked into believing that you would destroy yourself and your ship by this action?"

"I am never anything but serious when it comes to my ship." Chris answered calmly, his aloof and indifferent manner a stark contrast to the noticeable urgency in the Vorta’s expression. "If you had any sense, you would be a little concerned yourself."

"You would not dare risk the lives of all those on board with this pathetic attempt at a bluff!" The Cardassian bellowed behind Fanaian, who looked over his shoulder and glared at Lemar to be silent.

"And yet I’m not the one who seems to be sweating." Chris retorted with a little smile, wishing he could have two minutes alone with the Cardassian inside his brig. After the part he had played in this hoax, Chris would have been delighted to let Alex have her revenge upon Lemar, the way she had intended when the bastard had first come on board the Maverick.

"If you intend to frighten us," the Vorta said after a moment when he had ordered one of his Jem Hadar to ensure that Lemar did not intrude on his discussion with Chris, much to the delight of Alex. "I think you will find that the Dominion does not scare easily."

"Romulan warbird 5000 kilometres and closing." Alex announced loud enough for the enemy to hear.

"And neither do I." Chris continued. "Either you and your Jem Haddar ships withdraw, or I’ll give you the Maverick for however long it takes for the blast to vaporize all of us. Now unless I have your surrender, I'll keep my ship on this heading."

"Surrender!" Fanaian almost blanched at the thought. "We outnumber your vessel seven to one! Do you really think that this pitiful attempt will make us capitulate?"

In truth, Chris did not think he had not the faintest chance of forcing them to surrender but then surrender was not what this was about. The more time Chris kept Fanaian talking, the less time the Vorta would have not considering his situation clearly until the last minute where he would be forced to use the war bird's cloak as a means of escape. The ship was beginning to shudder as the Jem Haddar continued its attack upon the Maverick with relentless determination. Chris could feel the vibrations in the hull and through the floor. On the seat beside him, Mary's fingers were dug into the arms rest of her seat, her knuckles turning white from fear. He wish he could take the time to reassure her that they were not all going to die but unfortunately, at this moment he was sure of nothing himself.

The view screen before them showed the space that alive with color flaring across the black canvas of stars, from the detonation of multiple quantum torpedoes to the energetic reaction of Jem Haddar shields as they attempted to absorb the formidable arsenal that was being flung at them. The enemy was not simply taking fire but returning it with equal intensity. Each blast that impacted against the shields caused a low rumble of sound to reverberate throughout the duranium platted hull of the Maverick, until everyone could feel for themselves the eminent structural collapse that Julia Pemberton had been warning with every strained groan of the ship.

"Romulan ship dead ahead!" Alex exclaimed as the space between the Maverick and the war bird suddenly began to evaporate.

Chris held his breath in anticipation, feeling his heart pound in his chest because this was the moment of truth. In less than ten seconds, the Maverick would either emerge victorious in this most ancient strength between two opponents or be destroyed utterly in the collision that was almost certainly going to take out any other ships in the vicinity as well. Suddenly, the image of the Romulan ship in front of them began to shimmer and Chris found his voice escaping him even before the thought had formed any cohesive substance in his mind. "Ezra, forget the Jem Haddar, fire all quantum torpedoes dead ahead! Full spread!"

"Oh good Lord, yes!" Ezra realised in that split second it took for his fingers to comply with the order, understanding completely what it was Chris had tried to do. It was sheer brilliance and pure Chris Larabee. "Torpedoes away!"

The warbird had barely time to complete dissolve before them on the view screen when the spread of torpedoes ejected form the firing bays of the Maverick and met their mark. The explosion was spectacular and traveled across the hull of the enormous ship, sending heat and exploding gasses in all directions. However Chris did not take time to enjoy the sight because despite its dire straits, the Maverick was still bound directly for her. . It would not be long before those explosions reached apogee and Chris knew he did not want to be anywhere near the Tasmeem when she finally reached critical mass.

"Hard to port Vin!" Chris shouted. "NOW!"

Using more skill than Vin Tanner thought he had ever possessed, he forced the Maverick to make that neat arch, pulling sharply away from the exploding warbird with a fraction of a second before several millions tons of starship collided into the beleaguered vessel. The Maverick decelerated as she pulled away, dropping her speed from the perilous 9.99 to a more sensible velocity that was sure to ease their engineers nerves.

"You crazy son of a bitch!" Buck laughed out loud, slapping Chris on the back, unable to help himself as the insanity that Chris had indulged upon them earlier had evolved into sheer genius.

"That was outstanding Captain!" Even JD could not keep his exuberance from showing as he stared in adoration at his hero.

Chris was not about to accept all their applause just yet. There were still three Jem Haddar ships in pursuit and they were far from what could be deemed as being anywhere safe. "Vin, get us to the Vikaris Quasar at best speed."

"What just happened?" Mary found herself asking. She knew that they had scored a victory and that the Romulan warbird that was shrinking in the view screen the more distance the Maverick put between itself as the vessel was hurtling towards destruction. A few seconds later, the entire view screen came alive with the brilliant flare of that final conflagration when the ship met its fiery demise. The entire bridge came alive with cheer as its complete destruction and she could see friends cheering, lovers holding each other tightly and the universal feeling of victory permeated the bridge with that possibility that they might all get out of this with their skins intact.

However, she still could not understand how that had occurred. Being a novice to space battles on this scale and being on the front lines only added to her puzzlement at the expertise Chris had wielded so formidably to achieve this end. Mary had assumed that Chris' entire purpose in driving the ship towards the enemy with nothing less than ramming speed had been to unnerve the Vorta and send the warbird into retreat but obviously that was not what had taken place.

"The captain just pulled a rabbit out of his hat, that's what!" Buck grinned.

"I don't understand," she looked at Chris, unable to be unaffected by the first officer's grin but still somewhat confused by what had transpired.

"By heading towards the war bird at ramming speed," Buck explained once he composed himself. "Chris scared Fanaian enough to make the Vorta order the Tasmeem into raising its cloak to escape and as most of us know when a Romulan ship raises its cloak...."

"It has to drop its shields." Mary exclaimed, almost feeling a wave of satisfaction when the light of understanding reached her as well and she stared at Chris with a broadening smile of admiration. "Very well done Captain."

"Thanks," Chris answered abruptly, hardly noticing the compliment. His eyes were still fixed on the view screen and the three Jem Haddar ships that were bearing down hard on the Maverick. "We're not out of this yet."

In achieving that little miracle, the ship had been pushed to its limit and while the Romulan ship was destroyed, the threat was no means ended. With three Jem Haddar ships pounding the Maverick relentlessly during the time he had been attempting to force the Vorta's hand, the starship's energy reserves were dwindling rapidly. They did not have much time before the shields buckled completely. All it took was another massive show of force from the Jem Haddar and they would be wide open for attack.

"Engineering," Chris called out again. "What's our status?"

This time Julia did not answer rapidly and while Ezra was paving the way behind the Maverick with a goodly amount of torpedoes to force the Jem Haddar to break off pursuit, the security man still managed to look up in concern at the continued silence.

"Lieutenant Pemberton," Chris saw the fear in his eyes and repeated himself. "Come in!"

"I'm sorry Captain!" Julia's voice was heard a moment later, followed by a loud series of coughs. There was hissing in the background and Engineering seemed in nothing less than a state of utter pandemonium. "We're losing power. The phaser bombardment from the enemy ships has weakened the magnetic containment field of the anti-matter core; I am trying to prevent a core breach. We've lost forty percent of reserve power and there are hull breaches on deck 12, 27 and 31. We've also had emergency decompression in the main shuttle bay. I have also detected fluctuations in our shield strength, I have my people trying to reinforce it or the Jem Haddar are going to be able to transport straight through our shields."

"Noted lieutenant," Chris said quietly, expecting it to be this bad even though nothing took the place of hearing it told to him so starkly. "Julia, you did a good job. You held us together." He made that final offering of gratitude. Even though she was not on the bridge, the part she had played was no less vital to their continued survival. If they were to be destroyed today, Chris wanted her to know that.

There was a slight pause as she considered his words and almost everyone on the bridge shared Chris' gratitude towards the young Chief Engineer who had managed to hold the ship together while they had been so determined to fly her apart. "Thank you Sir." She said abruptly. "Now I've got to get back to my ship, you've left a hell of a mess for me to clean up Captain." There was the familiar teasing in her voice as she made that last remark.

"I apologize," he grinned slightly. "Larabee out."

"Captain," Alexandra Styles spoke up the minute he had terminated the line with engineering. Something in her voice made him turn around immediately. Alex's expression when he faced her seemed disturbed and his science officer disturbed was never a good thing.

"What is it?" Chris demanded.

"One Jem Haddar ship is maintaining pursuit. In fact, its put all its power into reaching us at any cost." Alex met Chris' gaze, not comprehending and if she did, what she understood gave her a very bad feeling. It was an emotion Chris could very well understand because the thoughts were coming together in his head even as she spoke.

"Aren't they all?" Buck asked, taking note of the troubled expression on both their faces and feeling this gnawing in his gut that was quickly growing in intensity the more he saw them trying desperately to figure out what the enemy was playing at this time.

"No," Alex shook her head in answer. "The other two have fallen back to safer speeds, they are still in pursuit but they're not going at it as hard as the lead ship. It's pursuing us at Warp 9.99, diverting all power to propulsion just to reach us."

"Can we outrun it?" Mary asked nervously, hating it when Chris went quiet like this because it only seemed to indicate the worse.

"No," Alex shook her head. "That stunt with the Romulan war bird has drained all our systems to critical levels as it is already, if we try matching its speed then Julia is not going to be able to stabilize the core and we will have anti-matter containment failure and warp core breach. The Dominion won't have to finish us off, we'll go up like a Roman candle."

"Thank you for that colorful description Commander," Ezra winced as he tried to guess what stratagem the lone Jem Haddar ship was attempting to carry out. Did it not know that the minute it came within sights of the Maverick's targeting screen, he was going to blast it out of the sky? "I do not understand what this vessel is attempting to accomplish." Ezra spoke out loud, hoping his Captain might have the answer that he did not. "Surely the enemy must know that we will be able to obliterate it out of our sky the minute it attempts to fire upon us? One Jem Haddar ship does not have the fire power to incapacitate us."

Chris saw the Jem Haddar ship closing and watched Ezra prepare to fire when suddenly, the vessel moved into a series of neat maneuvers, skillfully avoiding the torpedoes. The phasers were off line and in order to fire again, Ezra had to recalibrate the torpedoes to make another shot. It was during this margin of time that the Jem Haddar further accelerated, pouring so much speed into its acceleration, there was no way it would be able to keep it up for long and when its power reserves had exhausted itself, it would be lying dead in space.

Chris continued to stare at the ship, trying to understand what it was doing. It certainly did not have the fire power to cause significant damage to the Maverick as Ezra had said and unless the captain of the vessel was preparing to hurl itself into the galaxy class starship's path there was little it could do to halt their escape. Unless….. a very ugly notion unfolded inside his mind.

"Oh shit!" Chris swore, "Vin evasive maneuvers now! It's not going to shoot at us, its going to ram us!"

No sooner than he said it, Chris watched in horror as the Jem Haddar warship used the narrow margin of time that it took Ezra to realign the targeting scanner of the torpedoes to make another shot and close the distance between the two vessels. It seemed almost biblical, like David and Goliath, Chris thought absurdly as the smaller ship sailed towards the Maverick and slammed hard into the port nacelle. The impact of the ship against the pride of the Federation fleet was nothing less than devastating. If they had though the initial blast the Maverick had taken at the onset of the battle was bad, it was nothing compared to the suicide collision of the Jem Haddar warship into Maverick.

Almost everyone went flying through the air as the ship surged sideways, Chris was thrown to the floor. He watched Alex hit the wall and Ezra rolling across the ground. Consoles exploded, raining glass around their ears. A length of conduit dropped down above JD and the ensign barely had the time to leap out of his chair to keep from being fried by several thousand watts of power. The viewer in front of him shattered and Chris threw his body over Mary, covering her from the spray of fiber optical glass that collapsed around him like a tidal wave of sharp jagged pieces.

Vin had dived beneath the helm controls and just in time to avoid from being injured severely since the con was right in the front of the bridge and he was positioned closest to the view screen. As the devastation continued, the bridge was bathed in the color of crimson as emergency lighting kicked into being. For a few seconds, all was quiet following the collision. Everyone was too afraid to move in the aftermath until a sharp shrill sound thrilled loudly in their ears, cutting through their astonishment and reminding them that if they thought things were bad now, it was about to get a whole lot worse.

Alex staggered to her feet, wiping the blood off her cheek as she returned to her console, one of the few that had not been destroyed following the impact with the Jem Haddar ship. She cleared the glass off the screen in order to see what was happening and wished she did not when she saw what was before her.

"The two Jem Haddar ships are closing." She answered with a strained voice as she saw Chris getting to his feet and helping Mary to her. Vin had returned to his position at the con but not before he had a chance to look in her direction to ensure that she survived the impact. Ezra too was on his feet and returning to his station at tactical. The side of the security chief's face was red and his cheek was swelling with discoloring from where he had hit the floor.

"Damage report!" Chris demanded.

"The Jem Haddar ship hit one of our nacelles, destroying…" she examined the readings on the console before her. "Three decks. Our warp engines are off line and we are floating dead in space. By the looks of it, Engineering is attempting to reroute power so that we can have partial impulse."

"What about our shields?" Chris asked, his worst fears confirmed as he listened to the state of his ship. At this moment, he could not even bring himself to ask how many people had been on those three decks when it had been obliterated.

"We have no shields." Alex looked up at him somberly. "Our shields are completely gone. The collision overloaded the shield generator and buckled it. I'm reading massive destabilization to the warp core so I'm assuming that Engineering is attempting to correct that problem before attempting to deal with our shields and our lack of warp capability."

"Captain!" JD fairly shouted and brought all eyes to him. The young man was kneeling over Buck Wilmington who was lying on his back, unconscious. A piece of glass had embedded itself deep into the man's left side and his head was bleeding profusely from a gash incurred when the view screen had shattered. "I think he's hurt bad!"

"Sick Bay!" Mary tapped her com badge immediately, trying to feel useful in the face of all this damage. "We need a medical crew in here right now. Commander Wilmington is injured!"

"I'm sending a team immediately!" Nathan Jackson's voice replied full of urgency. "We've got lots of hurt down here Captain!"

"He needs someone now!" Chris barked. "Get someone up here." The captain said as he hurried to his old friend. Mary was already there, having some medical training in her past but not enough to give Buck the help he needed.

"How is he?" Chris asked.

"He's bad Chris," Mary replied. "If he doesn't get help soon…."

"What?" JD demanded. "What's going to happen?"

"Ensign," Chris spoke firmly. "Get to your station. Mary will take care of Buck. I want you to send a priority one distress call to any Federation ship in the area. We should be out of their jamming range now." The order was calculated to take JD's mind off Buck and Chris wished that there was some distraction that would allow him the same courtesy when suddenly, the computer's cool dulcet tones spoke up and granted him that very same wish.

"Intruder alert."

They were being boarded.

Part Thirteen

In Engineering, Julia Pemberton had no knowledge of the danger that was approaching her at warp speed, too involved with the attempt to re-initialize the declining containment field that surrounded the antimatter that powered the Maverick’s engines, to worry about such incidental matters. As far as she was concerned, the battle outside was the purview of the bridge and the current state of the Maverick was hers.

 Anti-matter perhaps one of the most powerful sources of energy in existence and had been used to power nearly all warp ships in existence by the reaction that was caused when it came into contact with normal matter. Initial testing with anti-matter had been a catastrophic affair with whole stations where the research was being conducted destroyed into utter finality. Eventually, the powers that be learnt that anti-matter energy could be harnessed safely with the aid of a magnetic confinement field. Once the genie was returned to its bottle, more reasonable scientific work progressed. 

When Alexandra Styles had explained that the collapse of the containment field was more of a threat than the Dominion outside the ship, she was not exaggerating. Should the field collapse and the anti-matter come into contact with normal matter, even an atomic particle of it, the resounding explosion would not only obliterate the Maverick and the Jem Haddar warships, but quite conceivably tear a whole into subspace itself. Everyone on the engineering deck knew that and while Julia had dispatched a crew to deal with the rest of the problems that the Maverick was currently experiencing, it was the restructuring of the containment field that had most of her attention.

 Julia remained poised over the controls that regulated the containment field, working feverishly to key in the correct sequence as she saw the field strength on her terminal decreasing steadily. Once it dropped to below 15 per cent, they would have a warp core breach and with all the systems that were damaged at this time, there would be no way to eject the core into the vastness of space. In fact, there would be not much anyone could do but die. Julia had too much planned for her next vacation to let such an eventuality come about.  

"Intensify the power output to the dilithium matrix!" She ordered.  

Chano, her Native American Assistant Chief Engineer, immediately let his fingers fly over his station as he attempted to comply with her order. Like herself, Chano knew was what at stake if they failed in this undertaking. Across the Engineering Deck, their situation was prolific by all the repair crews working at the same pace they were, trying to manage the miracle that was expected by those on the bridge following the collision with the Jem Haddar war ship. There was no mistaking the urgency of the situation. Until warp power and phaser banks were online once again, the ship was effectively crippled. At this stage, the Maverick could neither run from its attackers nor protect itself when they finally converged upon the wounded starship. 

"Field strength is starting to climb." Julia declared tautly, watching the readings on the screen indicate that the containment field was beginning to repair itself. Chano’s action of intensifying the power output had given her stabilization efforts the boost it needed to reconstruct the magnetic field. Julia watched the field surge upwards, moving out of the red danger zone and returning to the safer blue levels.  

Glancing at the warp core, the heart of the Maverick was no longer pounding erratically and the uncertain hum had returned to a definitive rhythm that indicated its well being. Julia could tell the state of her ship by the sounds it made and at the moment, she was hearing all the noises she equated to her ship becoming healthy again. Wiping the sweat and grime from her brow, her eyes scanned the length of the Engineering Deck and saw the damage that had been caused in the aftermath of the collision with the Jem Haddar ship. Beams had fallen to the floor, terminals were flashing intermittently with malfunction, and the emergency lights of a red alert still flared and then subsided at regular intervals.

 "Alright," she looked up at her engineering crew, all attempting to put out the dozen brush fires that had ignited following the impact. "Lieutenant Chano and I will attempt to bring the warp engines online. Lieutenants Biehn, Sanjeet and Ensign Revellos, I want you to get started on bringing back the phasers." 

"Yes ma’am," came a relieved reply from the blond engineer as she and her two comrades hurried off to undertake the order they had just been given.  

"Lieutenant," someone spoke up, she did not look to see who because the whole place was filled with shadows. "We have hull breaches on three decks. The hardware between here and the EPS relay has been damaged. Emergency force fields are not coming on." 

That was serious. "Okay, Siobhan and Chang. Go seal off those breaches." Julia ordered. With instructions given to her Engineering Team who know hurried off to complete their assigned duties, Julia turned back to the station that controlled the warp engines. She knew that as soon as internal communication was re-established on the ship, the Captain would be calling for that very same purpose. She knew for a fact that the bridge had not experienced the brunt of the collision but like the rest of the ship, the displacement from the impact had been severe. She told herself not to think about Ezra, to keep her mind focused on what needed to be done. He was the Chief of Security, if anyone on this ship knew how to take care of himself, it was Ezra. She had to believe that or else her fears for him would be her undoing and the ship needed her too much for that at the moment. 

Suddenly, she heard the slight shimmer of a transporter beam coming into play and Julia’s instinctively turned towards it. Although the sensor array had not been damaged in the collision, no one had been paying much attention to what was taking place beyond the walls of the ship. That was the bridge crews’ job, not the Engineering deck. However, as she saw what materialized on the floor of her deck, Julia knew what was happening outside was about to make itself felt very prolifically. She had heard about them but had not been in a situation that allowed for a face to face confrontation.  

However there was no mistaking that the four figures transporting into her Engineering Deck was undoubtedly a Jem Haddar warrior.  

"Chano!" Julia turned to her deputy because he was closest to the weapons locker. "Break out the phasers!"  

She had little or no time to react after that sentence before the Jem Haddar reacted. The lead warrior raised his blaster to fire and with agility she did not know she had Julia leapt behind a console just before the blast turned the place she was standing black from the shot. Landing hard onto her side, she felt the snap of bone and the petite red head let out a sharp cry as she felt her arm break and saw the Jem Haddar advancing into her Engineering Deck. 

Chano had reached the weapons locker and pulled out a phaser rifle. He glanced in her direction as he held another in his hands and slid towards her on the floor. That was the last thing he had time to do before the Jem Haddar opened fire on him. The Cherokee Indian by birth immediately threw himself out of the way and rolled into an upright position before firing. The shot caught the enemy squarely in the chest, sending the warrior flying backwards. The other Jem Haddar immediately rose their weapon to shoot the officer who had taken the lives of one of her comrades. Across the engineering deck, the other members of the engineering staff had scattered.  

"Don’t shoot!" Julia shouted as she saw where their fire would hit if they pulled the trigger on their weapons. 

Julia dropped the gun and stepped forward, holding her arm in pain but refusing to let it interfere from what she had to do. She would not allow them to kill Chano. She raised her uninjured arm as best she could and glanced at Chano, ordering him to do the same. She took a deep breath and proceeded forward, feeling her fear escalate as she approached the three very formidable looking warriors. The Jem Haddar was all about armor. The texture of their skin looked reptilian but they were nothing so simple. Genetically engineered for the purpose of battle and nothing else, their bodies reflected the design in every way. They were big, sturdy looking creatures, with a dense skull with a crown of bony protrusions and the of course, the trademark tubes that led from their necks to the pack slung over their shoulders. The tubes fed them the White stored in the compartments on their backs.  

Two sets of weapons immediately turned their barrels at her and Julia took a deep breath, holding her hands up as she attempted to convey a look of surrender. "Look, you can’t fire your weapons in here." She said slowly. "You could hit the warp core," she glanced at the construct in the centre of the deck. "It will destroy the entire ship." She explained. "You too Chano." She ordered. 

Chano was reluctant to do that but saw that she had some plan in mind. He was not about to question her until he knew what exactly what her plan. As much as he might dislike the idea, he knew he also had to give up his weapon in order to convince the Jem Haddar they did not have to shoot to protect themselves. The gun clattered noisily on the floor and Julia offered him a silent note of thanks as she continued her approach.  

The Jem Haddar was not stupid and he knew that she was not lying. The ship had sustained grievous injuries by the collision with one of their own and the Founders had decree that the Maverick be returned to Dominion space intact. Damaging the warp core would do also destroy the Maverick and to the Jem Haddar, sworn servants of the Founders, this was not at all acceptable. 

"You are the Chief Engineer?" One of them asked her. 

"Yes," Julia replied, very conscious of those guns aimed in her direction. She would have no more firing in her Engineering Deck but neither was she prepared to turn her ship over to these men. "I am Chief Engineer Julia Pemberton. Tell me what you want to do and I swear I’ll do it, just don’t hurt anybody."

Chano stared at her, wondering what she was attempting to do because he knew her well enough to know that Julia would never consciously cooperate with the enemy.

 "You will disable main power." The Jem Haddar repeated. 

"I can’t," She answered shakily. "Shutting down main power might disrupt the magnetic containment field. The collision with your craft has damaged the autonomic controls of the antimatter core. We had to run it off main power to prevent a core breach. If we shut down main power, it will collapse the field and we will have antimatter exposure." 

"This is an attempt at deception," the Jem Haddar responded, his weapon dropping in order to make a more physical argument. "You will comply."  

He slammed into the side of her head with a backhanded blow that had enough force to send Julia sprawling in the direction she came. Although her cheeks flared in pain as she felt warm blood running thick rivulets down her nose and her broken arm screamed in protest, she was alert and mindful of what had to be done.

 "Computer!" She shouted. "Erect Level 1 force field at Section 3, Grid 7 – Chief Engineer Pemberton - authorization code 221324!" 

The eyes of the Jem Haddar warrior who had struck her widened in anger as he realized how deep the deception she had played on him really went. He had little time to do anything about it before the force field dropped its shimmering veil right in front of his eyes. He raised his weapon to fire but whatever escaped from the barrel of his phaser was harmless absorbed by the force field that surrounded himself and his party.

Julia let out a sigh of relief as she staggered to her feet, her arm was crooked oddly and her lips were slick with blood from the ooze coming from her nose. The Jem Haddar was trying desperately to escape their confinement to no avail. Chano immediately came towards her.

 "Somebody call security!" He sang up in the wake of confrontation. "Tell them we need help down here." With that Chano turned back to Julia, "you need to get to sick bay."

 "Like hell I do," Julia retorted, wiping the blood from her nose and declaring. "I’ve got no time for Sick Bay. We need to get warp power on line so we can get the hell out of here before more of their friends," she gestured at the Jem Haddar, "come looking for them."

***********

 Nathan Jackson trusted no one to make their way to the bridge other than himself. When he had heard the sound of intruder alert sounding through his ship, he knew the safest place he could be at the moment was inside the confines of his sickbay. It was not as if there were not more than enough casualties within the place to warrant his continued presence but the call from the bridge had just enough ring of desperation about it to drag the Chief Medical Officer out into the open. As he hurried down the corridor immediately following his emergence from sickbay, the evidence of chaos was prolific indeed.  

While it had been difficult to keep appraised of the battle that had been raging with the Dominion ever since the Jem Haddar had engaged the Maverick, Nathan had guessed they were holding their own to some extent. Those who were in Four Corners had seen the destruction of the Romulan ship and had reported that experience when the collision had forced them to seek medical treatment. It did not take the doctor long to reach the turbo lifts and he knew that it was fortunate indeed because the cry of the ship’s computer informing them on an intruder alert could only mean that the Jem Haddar was on board the Maverick. 

Stepping into the turbo lift, he felt some measure of gratitude knowing that he had made it unaccosted and was none too glad to see the doors coming to a close upon entering its confines. The corridor he had just left was dimly lit with emergency lighting which indicated that whatever damage the Maverick had incurred was severe because emergency lighting usually appeared whenever the ship had lost main power. The floor of the ship appeared slightly tilted which meant they were had lost attitude control and were most likely floating dead in space. Nathan suddenly felt a surge of concern not only as a physician for those in the bridge but a more personal fear that his friends might have been injured. 

True, he did not spend a lot of time on the bridge but the camaraderie that had formed between the senior staff of the Maverick was something he felt most profoundly. From their weekly dinners together, to their Friday night card games where it would end up being a stand off between Ezra and Alex, to the time he, Chris, Vin and Buck had gotten drunk in that strange bar on Aldebran. A small smile crossed Nathan's lips when recalled the face that had been that it evening. It had ended up with Mary Travis having to bail them out the local constabulary because of an insult to a local tribal elder involving two dancing girls and a bowl of jelly. Even now, Nathan found himself sniggering as Chris tried to explain his way out of that one to Mary.  

The humming of the turbo lift snapped him out of such jovial thoughts when it began to move and even the normally soothing sound of the transport seemed strained as it struggled to reach its location. Nathan considered himself lucky he did not have to climb up something like fifteen decks to reach the bridge, having no fondness for Jeffreys tubes. Even the illumination inside the lift was dim and Nathan guessed that the ship had to converse power in any way to still continue to function. 

When the lift finally came to a stop, Nathan was shocked at the state of the bridge. He doubted anything he had seen so far had shocked him as much as the sight of the central nexus of the Maverick being in such a state. Not even the wounded he had seen in the sickbay had been able to take his breath away as seeing the bridge like this. Nathan could not explain why it was but he could not deny it either. 

"Nathan!" JD exclaimed. "Thank god you're here!" The young man immediately hurried towards the doctor and met him no sooner than Nathan had managed to step out of the doorway leading to the bridge.  

Everything on the bridge remained in a state of flux with JD attempting to contact any ship in the vicinity that might be able to help them out of the situation they were presently embroiled. The senior officers on the ship were attempting to gain attitude control while Alex tried desperately to bring up the shields even though the effort was proving difficult with main power still off line. Ezra was trying to raise internal communications to no avail on was relying upon his com badge to coordinate some form of defense against the intruders who were on board the Maverick. 

Mary on the other hand, kept close by Buck, trying to force her knowledge of first aid to keep Buck alive even though they all knew that it was next to impossible. He needed the help of real doctor, one who could tell that his left ventricle was damaged and that he was bleeding to death inside and have some idea how to stop it. Chris was seated on his command chair, attempting to raise anybody he could while Vin remained beneath the sensor grid, trying to get internal sensors to detect just how many Jem Haddar were on board the Maverick. 

"Did you see any Jem Haddar?" Chris asked as Nathan made a beeline to Buck more concerned about the first officer than offering any kind of report. 

"No," Nathan answered quickly, barely registering the question as he came to a halt in front of Buck and dropped to his knees. Buck was unconscious and as Nathan examined the wound beneath the slick wet of his uniform, the healer decided it was just as well. Buck Wilmington was as close to dying as any man could be at this moment. The wound on his head was superficial but the one under his uniform was not. He deduced immediately the rough position of the wound to have done considerable damage to the big man's heart. 

"I have to get him to Sick Bay." Nathan said after a moment. "I can't do anything for him here." 

"We have no transporter control." Chris answered. "We'll have to carry him." 

"I'll go with him Sir," JD volunteered immediately and Chris knew that while Buck was in this condition, he was not going to get any sense out of the boy any way. Besides, if the Jem Haddar were smart, they were probably making their way to the bridge as the Maverick's senior officers discussed Buck Wilmington's fate. 

"Alright," Chris nodded  

"Chris," Mary stood up and came to him. "I have to go find William." She said feeling guilty to abandon him but with the enemy on the ship with them, she needed to see for herself that her son was safe. Besides, she was hardly needed here. 

If Chris had heard that thought, he would have certainly told Mary that he needed her but he understood she had to go. If it were his child out there, Lords knows he would hardly waste time asking permission, he would already be running after Adam. She had stayed with him on the bridge because she cared about him and to be there at this tense situation even though she could have gone to safety long before this. He loved her for it but he also understood that with Mary, Billy would always come first, no matter how she felt about Chris. 

"Go." He said firmly as JD and Nathan started to lift Buck off the ground. Mary met his gaze for a few seconds as things passed between their eyes that were laden with emotion. She did not want to go and he could that she was torn between her feelings for him and her need to reach her son. Although there was no doubt in his mind that he would be the loser should he come between her and her child, Chris also understood how much she cared about him. 

"Thank you." She whispered her eyes misty as she turned away him, unable to continue the stare because it would only make her powerless to leave. Mary was almost grateful when Ezra's voice interrupted.  

"Captain, I cannot coordinate my people from up here." The security chief declared. "I need to join my security team. I will provide an escort to Doctor Jackson in bringing the Commander to sick bay then I am going to mount some kind of a defense before the Jem Haddar reaches the saucer section and attempt to coerce into handing over the ship by hostage of the civilians." 

"Alright," Chris nodded in understanding, not liking the idea of the civilians falling to that fate very much either. "I am going to stay here. The Jem Haddar knows that while I still have control of the bridge, they will not take the Maverick. I can set the ship for auto destruct from here, so they will be coming."

"Captain," Ezra looked at him not at all happy at that idea. Mary turned sharply to him as well, disliking it even less. "They will kill you before they allow you to do that." 

"That's right," Chris answered, "I would say that we would be a motivating factor in coming to the bridge don't you think?"

 None of the senior staff found that remark at all comforting even though they were certain of what the Captain was attempting to accomplish by such actions. The Jem Haddar knew that Chris was the only obstacle left in gaining control of the Maverick and quite a formidable one at that if he could order the starship to self-destruct. He could also lock out computer control so nothing could be retrieved from the its database, rendering the entire purpose of the Dominion's mission to this sector of space to find the White a failure. 

"We're staying with him." Vin declared. "No Cardy, no Jem Haddar or goddamn anything else is getting into this bridge. They got come through me first." 

Chris threw the young man a smile and knew it too, that Vin would be at his side no matter how bad things got and they were going to get very bad indeed. Until the warp engines were back on line, they were at the mercy of the Jem Haddar ships and possibly the Cardassians too. "Get going Ezra," Chris ordered quietly. "The Dominion have too much leverage over us as it is, if they get to the saucer section, they'll use those people to force me to turn the ship over to them and I won't let that happen, not under any circumstances." 

Ezra nodded in understanding, perfectly aware of what Chris was trying to say to him. Turning over the ship to the Dominion would mean sentencing billions to die instead of the one thousand people on the Maverick. In a situation, like this it came down to simple numbers. The survival of the Federation was far more important that the lives of the Maverick's crew. If he were forced into it, he would not hesitate to make the decision that was required. 

"Captain!" Alex called out. "I'm receiving a transmission from the Jem Haddar ship." 

Everyone went quiet as they stared at the science officer. It took a minute before Chris finally spoke. "What do they want?" 

Alex swallowed thickly because even though the chances of it were remote, hearing it left a taste of ashes in her mouth. "Our unconditional surrender."

Part Fourteen

The word hung in the air and though it had been spoken, no one could comment. All eyes were on the Captain because it was his thoughts that would make or break the situation. The enemy had called for surrender and justifiably so; the Maverick was in distress and no longer capable of fighting the battle against its enemies it had so spectacularly held off against despite overwhelming odds. With their inability to flee thanks to the warp engines being offline and boarding parties beaming onto the Maverick, it felt like the great ship was bleeding from a thousand wounds and there was no way to staunch the flow. So Chris Larabee made a decision. 

If the Maverick was going to die, then she was taking everyone with her. 

"Are we capable of transmitting?" Chris asked Alex a few seconds later. 

"Yes," she nodded. "Short range is still effective."  

"Good," Chris nodded and allowed his gaze to sweep across the faces around him as he came to his decision on what would be his answer to the enemy. "You can tell them to kiss my ass. The only way they're taking my ship is in a very small box because that's all that will be left of her when I turn her into radioactive dust. You tell them that if they don't get clear, they can join us because that's the only way we are surrendering." 

"In those words?" Alex asked with a perfectly straight face 

"In those words." Chris replied and then added with a tone of voice that was absolutely menacing and not to be argued with at any costs. "No woman on board this ship is going to Cardassian rape camp. Not while I'm their captain, not while I'm alive. Is that understood?"  

He glared at all the men on the bridge and made it certain that they understood what he meant by that statement. If anything were to happen to him, Chris would expect them to take the necessary steps to ensure that such a fate did not fall upon any female on the ship. After what Alex had gone through, he was fairly certain that no woman would endure such hell if they could be given an alternative, even one as final as death.  

A silent note of agreement rippled through the bridge with every one present accepting what he had charged them to undertake should the situation deteriorate to that conclusion. A moment was all that was needed and in all truth, all the time that they had. Chris crossed the floor of his damaged bridge, feeling a stab of blinding hatred for those who had brought his ship to this state and nestled himself in the command chair. He did not look at Mary because to look at her would only affect his judgment and at the moment, he had more than just her life to protect. He had a crew of almost a thousand people who were counting on him to save their lives and he was not done yet, not even now. 

"Ezra, as soon as you get to the armory, I want weapons beamed in here. Emergency site to site transport should still be possible." Chris ordered. 

"You will have them even if I must bring them here myself." The security man said firmly and meant it. He was torn between his duty to his ship and his duty to the captain. However, Ezra knew he could rest easier with Alex and Vin's presence on the bridge with Chris. Alex, who was a specialist in combat and tactical training, was capable of holding her own against Klingons and Cardassians who did not use implantation devices. Meanwhile Vin, being a Vulcan with strength four times that of a human and more than a match for a Jem Haddar had the same self defense expertise with Alex and almost as much of an edge. Between them both, any Jem Haddar attempting to break their ranks in order to reach the captain was going to regret it. 

Mary wanted to go to Chris, to tell him that she did not want to leave but her son was out there and unlike the captain, William could not defend himself and he needed his mother. However, Chris was avoiding looking at her and there was enough of an emotional bond between them for Mary to understand why. She could sense the conflict within him. His fierce desire to protect her was being assaulted by his need to defend his ship, to think about not just one life but a thousand. Such decisions were the reason why most starship captains did not marry, or more specifically could not marry. She wish they had the time for her to be able to allay his guilt at allowing her to go and tell him that she understood that he was what he was and she cared too much about him to ever try and come between him and his ship. 

"Get going all of you!" Chris ordered because they had to leave while they still could. No doubt, Jem Haddar boarding parties would be converging upon this location and Chris did not want them running into those approaching forces if it could be avoided. Buck needed to be in sick bay before he died here on the floor of the bridge, while Ezra needed to tend to the Jem Haddar boarding parties roaming around his ship and Mary needed to be with her son.  

When Alex's message was sent through the Jem Haddar at their refusal to surrender, Chris was perfectly aware what they would do. He counted on it. If they were still of the belief they could take the ship with an armed assault, then they would be focusing their attention on reaching the bridge. As long as the Captain of the Maverick remained on the bridge, he was able to order the vessel to self-destruct and since the price for the Dominion seemed to be the Maverick that was the one advantage Chris had in his arsenal.

"Take care." Mary said softly and Chris turned in her direction for a brief instant, permit himself that one brief instance for her to understand that he did not do this lightly and he held her deeply in his soul, even if it was for the last hour of his life. They stared at each other for little more than a fleeting moment in time, where so much was conveyed about how they felt and the emotional bond between them had never been stronger. However, a moment was all that they had before Mary blinked and turned away, her eyes glistening so brightly that she had to get off the bridge before she started weeping.  

"I will." He nodded slightly seeing in the emotion in her eyes as she turned to leave. "Go." Chris said simply. 

Chris turned away and faced front again. He did not look that way until Nathan and JD carried Buck out of the shattered remains of his bridge and Ezra and Mary were gone. 

***********

 When the alert had sounded, Josiah was in the process of returning one of the children who also happened to be a patient back to school. The young lady in question was the daughter of the new schoolteacher and had been sent to see him because of her apparent difficulty in making friends. Her mother whom Josiah had never met had felt that talking informally to a Counselor might aid her daughter in explaining the anxieties she had difficulty confiding to her parent. Much of the little girl’s difficulties Josiah found were not difficulties at all but a preference to remain alone because she found no one she could really connect with. It was not a crime to wish solitude even if it was somewhat unusual. However, in talking at length with young Lilith King, Josiah had found the child to be so reminiscent of his oldest daughter that he immediately warmed to her and put down her behavior to an eccentricity of personality, not some deep seeded psychosis. In fact, for a young girl her age, she was extremely focused on who she was and Josiah wished that some of his adult patients had that much certainty of self.  

They were almost to the school when the ship entered red alert and protocol required him to get out of the corridors. The most logical course was to continue onwards to the school because he was certain his young charge would prefer to be with her mother at a time like this and he had no particular preference where he sat out the current crisis. They had almost made it to that location when the bombardment had started followed by the shock announcement to brace for impact. Struggling to the nearest room they could find, in this case a storage room, Josiah and young Lilith sat out the battle until the aftermath of the ship’s collision with the enemy. Both had them stumbled out of the storage room and hurried to the school with Lilith becoming more afraid despite her brave attempt to hide it.  

When they arrived at the schoolhouse, the Jem Haddar was already there.  

Josiah entered the room with Lilith and stopped short at the sight of five Jem Haddar warriors, training guns on the schoolteacher who had placed herself between their weapons and her students. He had never met Audrey King before but when he entered the room, she saw her eyes flood with relief. At first he thought it was from the appearance of her daughter, since it could not possibly be from the notion of his coming to liberate them. The idea was preposterous since there was one of him and five of them and he was unarmed. However, he soon realised she was glad to see another adult who could help her protect the children.  

"Hold!" The Jem Haddar shouted at him before he even had a chance to think of retreat, not that he would anyway. 

"I’m unarmed." Josiah offered, unwilling to make any provocative action that would result in them opening fire in a room full of children. Audrey’s class was for the under tens and he could see the terror in their faces as they were fully versed in what a Jem Haddar was.  

"Your rank?" The warrior demanded, taking Josiah’s formidable into account despite the uniform that indicated he was clearly not a command officer. 

"Lieutenant Commander Josiah Sanchez, ship’s counselor." Josiah said gingerly, his grip still on Lilith who wanted to go to her mother but was not about to just yet.  

"Counselor." The warrior snorted in derision. "Jem Haddar warriors do not need nursemaids on board."  

The action was meant to goad him into reacting but Josiah who had dealt with mental patients with far more hostility him than this genetically engineered creation, shrugged the remark off easily. If this Jem Haddar meant to shoot him, well that was well and good but he was not going to give the man an excuse to do so. "I am here for the children." He glanced at the young girl wishing nothing but to be at her mother’s side. 

"We do not endanger our children by taking them on board warships." He said haughtily, unimpressed that his attempt to goad Josiah into acting had failed.  

"Do you also harm them?" Audrey demanded.  

"If we must." The warrior spoke indicating clearly that he was in just of this particular group. Facing Josiah again, he waved the Counselor and his youthful companion to join the others by the barrel of his gun. "You will do well not to give us any trouble." He remarked as an additional warning. 

Josiah moved briskly towards Audrey and the other children, who were huddled together in the playroom of the school facility occupied by her class. Lilith immediately ran into her mother’s arms and Josiah had the opportunity to examine Mrs. King closely as he found himself next to her. She was a little over forty he estimated, with dark auburn colored hair and just enough experience in her age to indicate her vintage. She was still very attractive and she gazed at Lilith with blue eyes that Josiah found himself thinking looked very much like Ayla, his deceased wife. 

"Is everyone alright?" Josiah asked her, the circumstances did not allow for proper introductions to be made. 

"Yes," she nodded, still shaken by what was happening but managing to remain calm so not frighten the children in the room. "They’ve been threatening but not deliberately malicious." 

"Good," Josiah said with a sigh of relief. Little was known about the Jem Haddar except that they were foot soldiers of the Dominion and were genetically engineered to be dependent on the substance Ketracel White.  

"Do you know what’s happened?" Audrey asked, hoping that he might have some intelligence on what was taking place on board the Maverick at this time. "Have we been captured?" 

"I don’t think so." Josiah shook his head. "I didn’t see anything like that but I do know we took a serious beating. However, I don’t think they have control of the bridge yet…." 

"Silence!" The leader barked again, not wishing that subject to be clarified because the unknowing was a sort of intimidation in itself. 

Suddenly the fearful tension in the air between captors and captives were broken when the sound of phaser fire came alive in the outside corridor. Judging by the voices both human and Jem Haddar being traded intermittently between the shooting, Josiah estimated that the Maverick’s security officers were attempting to deal with the boarding parties scattered across the ship.

"Stay where you are!" The leader of the Jem Haddar troop ordered as he saw the humans under guard reacting to the situation outside. Once he was certain that they were subdued, he turned to his companions. 

"Go aside and evaluate the situation." He ordered. "See if you are needed. I will stand guard with Cringe and keep an eye on our captives. We may need them for hostages." 

Josiah stiffened at that suggestion and saw Audrey's eyes darkened with disgust at the thought of the Jem Haddar using any of them as bargaining tools. However, with two Jem Haddar still remaining in position, he could not make a move against them yet. Not with the children in easy range of their fire should they decide to fight back. 

For the moment, Josiah would have to bide his time. 

************ 

"Watch out Mary!" Ezra shouted as he retreated behind the wall.  

Mary was not listening. The protocol officer was a woman possessed when she learnt that one of the boarding parties had taken possession of the schoolroom, in particular the class where her young son was presently waiting out the current crisis. Despite Ezra's attempts to convince her to let him and his security team handle it, Mary would not be denied. She had taken a phaser for herself and insisted on accompanying despite his efforts to persuade her otherwise. He supposed he never really had a chance of convincing her, not when it was her son that was in danger. 

Mary pulled back; seemingly unafraid of the phaser blast that impacted on the wall near her. The air was thickening with the stench of burnt metal and fibers but she could only see one thing before her and that was her son. The Jem Haddar had taken position in the corridor utilized by the Maverick's school for its younger crewmen. With the exception of the Cardassians, no other race in the Alpha Quadrant considered children as hostage material. The Romulans declared themselves more civilized then that and the Klingons felt it was just plain dishonorable. The Jem Haddar obviously threw their vote in with the Cardassian way of doing things.

There were at least a dozen Jem Haddar soldiers in the corridor and almost as much Starfleet security officers. Either side was exchanging shots and Mary could not tell through the streaks of energy whizzing from one end of the corridor to the other, who was winning. She glanced at Ezra who was dragging one of his fallen officers to safety and immediately sought to provide him with cover. Firing into the thickest concentration of Jem Haddar soldiers, she provided enough suppressing fire to allow the security chief to scramble into the corridor where one of his men had been shot but remained alive even though he was severely injured.  

Behind her, Lieutenant Katovit also added his fire to her own and together they managed to create enough of an opening for Ezra to slowly pull back the injured member of his security back to safety. The body was a dead weight and yet Ezra refused to give up and Mary had to admire the determination on the man's face as he dragged his burden out of the kill zone and into the safety of the corner turn of the corridor. 

"Is he alive?" Mary asked crawling to his side as he let the officer go and pulled back to the wall himself. For a moment Mary did not understand why he was grimacing in pain until she saw the black stain on his side.  

"Ezra!" Mary exclaimed. "You're hurt!"  

"It is not severe." He replied, even though the tension in his jaw said differently. "I trust you will not over react and make some exclamation that I ought to be going to sick bay?" He gave her a look which clearly stated that she might as well save whatever she was going to say regarding his condition because it was going to be just as ignored as his advice to her about letting them retrieve Billy for her.

"No I won't," she shrugged deciding she could not force him to obey when she had refused him. "But are you sure you can manage?"  

"My dear lady," Ezra replied. "I will not do anything as inconvenient as dying before those vermin are removed from ship. Rest assured, I will manage." 

Mary glanced past the corridor and saw Katovit and the rest of the security team forcing back the Jem Haddar contingent further and further up the corridor. Across the ship, it was more or less the same. Despite the fact that Jem Haddar boarding parties were beaming on board the Maverick, the crew of the starship was putting up one hell of a defense. Most of the Jem Haddar boarding effort seemed concentrated on the saucer section of the ship making separation, even if the Maverick had been capable, virtually impossible. However, since emerging from the bridge, Ezra had activated every security measure he could think of, utilizing every trick from erecting force fields to transmitting portable disruptions beams to keep more Jem Haddar soldiers from beaming on board. Some of it worked and some of it did no. In any case he was buying the Captain valuable time with each desperate effort.  

Forcing back the pain he felt in his side, Ezra saw Mary tending to the injured man he had just dragged out of the fight and quickly move to reinsert himself into the battle that was raging in the corridor nearby. He emerged to see Katovit and the handful of security officers forcing back the Jem Haddar. Bodies littered the corridor and Ezra's stomach hollowed seeing that not all of them were Jem Haddar. Some were his own people and he could tell by the way they were lying on the deck that it was a wasted effort trying to save them as he had done the man Mary was examining in the behind him. 

Suddenly, a voice called out amongst the shooting whose words chilled his insides the minute he understood its content. This was what he had been afraid of when he had first realised that there were Jem Haddar attempting to reach the school. He had accompanied Mary here not simply because her son was here, there were sons across the entire ship so he could not allow himself to act any thing but impersonally, but mostly because he knew that children were very effective hostages. No sooner than the Jem Haddam’s words had echoed through the corridor, the firing ceased.  

As Ezra emerged into hallway, he noted the number of bodies on the carpeted floor and realised that his team had been very successful in attempting to remove the Jem Haddar threat that invaded this section of the ship. He counted almost a dozen warriors on the ground and realised that unfortunately, despite the grisly scene of death, their number was incomplete and the remainder of the boarding party had taken the last resort to come out of this alive, not to mention take control of the situation.  

He saw a Jem Haddar warrior emerging into the hallway, unafraid of the firepower of the security forces waiting to gun him down. He did not have to fear, Ezra thought to himself as he saw the situation unfold. 

"Hold your fire!" Ezra announced, although it was a redundant gesture. No one was firing. Not while the Jem Haddar was holding up young William by the neck. The child's feet was dangling off the floor and the strength of the Jem Haddar was such that he was being held suspended by his throat. William's arms were wrapped tight around the Jem Haddar's thick arm and the child was struggling not too choke.  

"Mary." Ezra called out; wanting William to see his mother was here even though Ezra could not vouch for Mary's state of mind when she saw what he was seeing. 

"What it is?" Mary looked over her shoulder and felt her heart stop when she saw the expression in his eyes. Almost terrified, she forced her legs to work, to go to Ezra's call even though instinct had told her that something awful was lying in wait for her. Mary could see all that in his eyes and hoped she was strong enough to endure what was written so grimly on his features. 

Mary's eyes widened when she saw her son. 

"Billy!" She exclaimed, being so horrified by the sight of her son in the grip of the Jem Haddar that for a moment she forgot herself. Mary took a step forward when suddenly Ezra spoke sharply. 

"Mary, stay absolutely still!" He ordered. 

She froze in her tracks and stared in anguish at her son, almost willing to risk trying to reach him before the Jem Haddar could shoot her but knew that it was not her life that she worried about, it was her sons. The Jem Haddar could snap his neck before she even took two steps forward and so she remained where she was, shaking with fear and desperation, wanting to reach her son but frustrated because doing so could kill him. 

"Drop your weapons!" The Jem Haddar shouted his demand. 

"That is not going to happen." Ezra said firmly.  

"I think it is." The Jem Haddar responded confidently, tightening his grip around Billy's throat, forcing the other security officers to withdraw, lowering their weapons but not quite prepared to relinquish them just yet. The child started to choke, making raspy sounds as he struggled to breathe. 

"Billy!" Mary cried out again. "Please!" She begged. "He's just a child!" 

"Then you should not have him on a warship." The Jem Haddar said coldly. "Battle lines are no place for children. You bring them on board a warship and you make them casualties, just as your child is now." 

Ezra swore under his breath. He knew the minute he ordered his security team to drop their weapons this Jem Haddar was going to open fire on all of them. If young William did survive that, it would hardly be a blessing since his mother and the rest of them would be dead. However, Ezra was not about to let the Jem Haddar strangle an eight-year-old before their shocked eyes. There was not even common sense in the universe for him to let that happen. God help him.

 "We will not drop our weapons," Ezra tried one last gamble, hoping it would work even though the odds of it were slim. If this were a game of cards, he would not even bother with a stake; the odds were that slim. "We will allow you safe passage out of the immediate vicinity."

 "NO!" The Jem Haddar snarled. "You will drop your weapons or I will snap this child's neck in front of his mother. That is all the negotiation that I will permit on this matter!"

Mary blinked thinking very fast what she ought to do. She knew as well as Ezra that to capitulate to the enemy's demands may save her son but they would be condemning everyone else here to death. She thought about what Chris would do. How he would handle the situation. Chris always said that when there was nothing left to lose, there was nothing wrong with taking a chance, no matter how insane it was. If Ezra had heard the thought, Mary was certain he would agree with her.

"Ezra," she whispered softly enough for only the security chief to hear. "Fire when you get the chance." "What?" He blinked, not believing what he had heard for a second. 

"You heard me," she repeated herself. Hopefully the Jem Haddar would mistake her lowered voice as an entreaty to Ezra to submit to his demands. "When you have the opportunity, kill this son of a bitch." 

She met his gaze with a look that was pure lioness before facing the Jem Haddar and her son again. William's eyes were fixed on hers and Mary took a deep breath and spoke out loud. "Billy, don't be afraid. Mother is here, mother is gonna make sure nothing happens to you." 

"Mother." The child started to weep. The sound cut through Mary's heart. However, she told herself to be strong. 

"Billy, you must be brave. Like your father was brave. Remember how he told you the story of itcha kaiduk lachnor?" 

Billy's eyes widened. 

"Itcha kaiduk lachnor." Mary repeated herself because he was scared to do what she had just commanded. He was not old enough but not so young that he was not capable of what she was asking. 

He nodded quickly as only a child could and the Jem Haddar could sense something was wrong. "Silence!" He roared at Mary, jarring her into looking at him and forcing her to curb her instructions. 

Ezra's brow wrinkled in confusion because he had no idea what Mary was saying to her son but the boy stopped struggling immediately and closed his eyes. His grip on the Jem Haddar strengthened but this time there was not fear in his face, just concentration.  

Mary chanted the words under her breath, certain that William was reciting them as well. 

My mind to your mind. My thoughts to your thoughts.

William continued his tight grip and his face contorted into an expression of focus that soon began to have effect when the Jem Haddar warrior holding him suddenly staggered forward. His eyes clamped shut as if disorientated and William began to swing in his uncertain grasp. 

"GET OUT OF MY MIND!" He screamed and dropped the child. 

"Billy stay down!" Mary shouted as the child landed on all fours. She dropped to her knees as Ezra saw the opening and used it. Before she had even touched the floor, the security chief had opened fire. The phaser blast impacted the Jem Haddar warrior in the chest, sending him flying backwards. Mary was on her feet and running towards her son before the enemy even hit the floor. William scrambled to his feet and immediately ran into her embrace. 

"I did it!" He exclaimed with surprise as well as relief. "I did it mother!"  

"Yes you did," Mary said embracing her son tightly, tears running down her cheeks as she continued to hold him. 

Suddenly, the door opened and a Jem Haddar warrior came flying out of the doorway. He crashed to a stop on the opposite wall before doubling over in a heap with just as much aplomb as his dead comrade behind him. Mary grabbed William and pulled away from the scene as Ezra and his security officers closed in, prepared to deal with whatever threat emerged from that open doorway. 

Josiah emerged into the corridor into a sea of startled faces and saw them staring at him. Self consciously, the Counselor looked at them suspiciously before retorting. "What?"

Part Fifteen

JD Dunne wondered where Casey had gotten during the battle for she had been scarce ever since red alert had been sounded. When he arrived at SickBay, having accompanied Nathan Jackson to the place when helping the doctor carry their injured First Officer to receive medical treatment, he found the Captain’s Yeoman already there. At first, he thought she had been injured and alarm had spread through him like wildfire. However, it became very apparent while she was helping other crewmen to examination tables and by the manner she was retrieving objects and assisting the other junior doctors under Nathan’s command that her capacity in the place was not as a patient. 

"Oh yeah," Nathan noticed JD’s surprise following their entrance into SickBay. "Casey has been helping us out ever since the casualties had come in. Seems she had some first aid training and we’ve the number of injured people we got coming in, I had good use for her." 

"I never knew." He mused as he and Nathan helped Buck to the nearest examination table. Buck’s color was pale and the bleeding that had concerned Nathan so much had not stopped during their journey here. The First Officer’s breathing was shallow and JD found himself facing the unimaginable prospect of anything happening to Buck Wilmington.  

Ever since he had come on board, Buck had taken the frightened young ensign under his wing, mentoring him, keeping an eye on him and not to mention filling up those empty spaces that JD was certain would never be filled when his mother had died. Olivia Dunne had passed away shortly before JD had graduated and for a boy whose entire sense of family was that strong, determined woman who had raised him on her own, it felt like the universe had drained of its color at her demise. Although it terrified him beyond belief when he had learnt that newly promoted Captain Chris Larabee had asked for him as a member of the bridge crew, not to mention senior staff, Buck Wilmington had been waiting for him when he arrived. 

"Maria!" Nathan motioned one of his staff forward once Buck was on the examination table. "I need some help here!" Without missing a beat, he turned to JD who was still hovering. The young man was still distracted by Buck’s condition to consider anything else. Unfortunately, Nathan needed room to work if he was going to save their first officer. 

Casey caught sight of JD across the room and when she made eye contact with Nathan, realised why the doctor was staring her way so intently. She left what she was doing after delegating the duty to someone else and quickly approached JD and Nathan. As the young woman hurried towards the ensign, she felt a flood of relief knowing that he was all right and then saw the reason why he was so anxious, when she realised that Buck Wilmington was on the table waiting treatment. 

"JD!" Casey exclaimed happily upon approach. "You’re all right!" She wrapped her arms around him in a heartfelt embrace. 

"I’m fine." He said quickly returning the hug but still too wracked with worry about Buck to appreciate it properly. "Buck’s not though." 

"Well come away from there," she said hastily entwining her fingers with his before towing him away from Nathan. "You’re only going to get in the way and Nathan needs to work." 

"But…." He started to protest. 

"Please JD," Nathan replied, glancing over his shoulder to lend weight to Casey’s statement. "I’ll let you know the minute we’re done but for right now, I need to get started and I can’t do it with you hanging about." 

JD looked at Casey and saw that he was outnumbered and had no choice to comply with this advice since he worried enough about Buck to not wish to be a hindrance to the help he needed at this time. "Thanks Nathan," JD said withdrawing from the scene and allowing Casey to follow him away.

She led him out of the SickBay to the quiet corridor outside so that they could have a moment alone. JD seemed somewhat shell shocked and considering what he must have seen on the bridge, Casey could not blame him. Thanks to the damage to the ship, communication was in disarray and no one really knew anything for certain except that there were Jem Haddar on board the Maverick and that the starship had taken heavy damage in what seemed to most like a collision. 

"Is the Captain alright?" She bombarded him with questions as soon as they were alone. Such intelligence was meager at the moment and she felt inordinately concerned for the man for whom she worked so closely. "What happened? We heard the red alert and then the crash! Have we been captured or something?" 

"No," JD shook his head quickly, forcing himself to concentrate on her questions instead of thinking about Buck. Suddenly, he had the idea that was what Casey was attempting to do anyway and found a surge of warmth filled his insides for her and he felt a little guilty that he had not been more grateful that she had come away from all this injured. "The Captain’s fine. A Jem Haddar ship rammed us. They don’t have us yet but we’re in bad shape." There was no reason to lie to her on that point, not when the lights in the corridor were flickering uncertainly and the ship was tilted at an odd angle, indicating the severity of the damage. 

"Oh no." Casey shuddered thinking that they might soon all be captives of Cardassians. Being Bajoran, Casey knew just how brutal they could be. The Cardassian annexation of Bajor had been one of the greatest injustices of modern times. Like the forced occupation by the Indonesians of Timor in the late twentieth century, the Cardassians had been ruthless with the civilian population and quelled the resistance to their presence with callous savagery. Her own parents had died smuggling her out of Bajor and if not for Admiral Wells, she would have spent her life in a refugee camp.  

"Don’t worry," JD said with some measure of confidence in Chris Larabee. "The Captain won’t let that happen."  

"I hope so." She sighed.

"If anyone can do it," JD reassured her, "it’s the Captain." He leaned forward to kiss her when suddenly the sound of phaser fire broke out. 

"Casey get to Sick Bay!" He ordered and saw a group of Starfleet officers running towards them, one was carrying an injured crewmen with severe burns from what was obviously a phaser.  

"But…." Casey started to protest.

"NOW!" He barked, not wishing to repeat himself. She nodded blindly and hurried back into SickBay, casting anxious glances over her shoulder as she did so. 

JD hurried to the officers coming forward and recognized one of them as being Lieutenant Richmond of stellar cartography. The lieutenant was armed and upon seeing JD, immediately retrieved the weapon tucked in her injured companions’ belt and shoved the weapon at the youth. 

"What’s happening?" JD asked. 

"We’ve got Jem Haddar coming right at us, that’s what!" Charlotte responded. "I need help holding them back. We can’t let them take SickBay. We overhead them talking while we were making our way out of the boarded areas and they’re trying to take as many hostages as they can in order to use against the bridge." 

"That makes sense." JD replied taking the weapon immediately. "The Captain threatened to blow the ship if they don’t withdraw." 

Charlotte nodded wearily and wiped the sweat from her brow. "The rest of you get MacNeill to Sick Bay. Ensign, come with me." She ordered as she retreated up the corridor once again while the others proceeded forward.  

JD was not about to argue. He knew that she was a competent officer and had spent her time in the front lines of the Dominion War to know what she was doing. 

"We have to hold them off as long as we can." Charlotte responded as JD was checking the phaser she had given him. "A security team is on its way but until then, it’s just you and me."  

JD did not like the sound of those odds but he supposed that he could take comfort in one fact as he and Charlotte positioned themselves along the corridor and prepared to face god only knew what when it came at them. 

At least he was not worrying about Buck any more. 

**********

"How long until we have warp power?" Chris demanded from his command chair once he managed to get in contact with engineering. Understandably, restoring warp had proved a little difficult because of the trouble Engineering was having with the Jem Haddar warriors who had attempted to gain control of the deck. 

"I’m almost there!" Julia Pemberton responded sounding as if she was mobile as she made that declaration. He could hear her breathing hard as she hurried across the deck, shouting orders at her personnel and also took note of the added strain he knew was not just exhaustion and urgency to complete the task at hand.  

"Lieutenant," Chris found himself asking. "Are you all right?"

"Just a little broken arm." She grunted as she continued working. "Nothing that can’t wait. We’ve restore main power and we’re powering up the shield generator. You should have shields and sensors in two minutes." 

"Good," Chris commented and wondered what agony the woman must be enduring in order to complete the repairs. "Julia, you’re doing outstanding work and it is important that we get things going but take it easy. You’re more valuable to me in one piece than in several broken ones." 

"Thank you Sir." She said obviously affected by his gesture of gratitude. "But I need to keep working. We’re dead in the water unless we do." 

Unfortunately, he could not disagree with her on that assertion and so he merely answered quietly. "Understood. Bridge out." Chris replied and turned his attention to the other two officers on deck.  

Alex was working diligently under the sensor panel, trying to restore full sensors. At the moment, they had little idea what was going on in the rest of the ship, being able to communicate only through their com badges and that made it virtually impossible to gain any kind of perspective on the urgency of the situation. Vin on the other hand was performing similar repairs on the helm and navigation stations, which had borne the brunt of the damage to the bridge when the view screen had shattered. Both of them had phaser rifles close at hand in case of danger. Chris himself glanced at the phaser on his belt expecting trouble because eventually they would have company, it was just a matter of time. 

From the sporadic reports they had received, the Jem Haddar had been unsuccessfully trying to capture hostages in order to barter for their release with the Captain. To Chris’ utmost pride, the Maverick’s crew had put up such a show of resistance that even the Klingons would be impressed. No one was allowing themselves to be taken by the enemy which meant that as the alternatives for negotiation were cut off at every juncture, the Dominion would be forced to resort to one last act of regaining control of the situation.  

The doors to the turbo lift had been sealed but Chris knew that it was pointless nonetheless. With their shields down, the enemy could simply transport dozen-armed men onto the bridge without any difficulty and Chris was poised for that moment because he knew it was coming. Even though the Maverick’s shields would be raised in two minutes or less, Chris knew that it was during this limbo period of time that an attack was coming. If the Maverick raised its shields and attained warp power once again, the battle would resume and time was not on the enemy’s side.  

By now, the distress signal that JD had managed to send would have reached Deep Space Five and every starship in the sector would be aware of their troubles even if they were not in range of being of any help to the Maverick. Even if the Maverick was destroyed, Starfleet would still hunt down the convoy of ships that had dared to penetrate so deeply into Federation space. Chris was certain that Dominion had not expected their engagement with the Maverick to have lasted as long as it had. In truth, neither had Chris. He had kept his ship alive by almost flying her apart by the seat of his pants and even he knew that she was alive only on borrowed time. 

"How are we doing?" Chris asked out loud. 

"I’ve repaired the sensor grid," Alex declared emerging from underneath the console, dusting herself off as she stood upright. "When Engineering puts them online, we should be able to have almost complete usage." 

"Hold onto that thought." Chris said with a smile, pleased that some things were looking optimistic. 

"That and a few others." She mused enigmatically. Now, she thought silently to herself, time to engage in some personal activities. 

"What about you Vin?" Chris turned to the officer of the Con. The Vulcan was sliding a cracked panel into place after rewiring a couple of by pass circuits to do the job of those that had been fried when the collision had caused a spike in the power grid.  

"Ditto." The Vulcan responded automatically. He slid into his chair once more and immediately started tapping the console before he was rewarded with readings that indicated that the warp engines were starting to power up. 

"We’ve got warp power online in four minutes." Vin looked over his shoulder with a grin. "I’m making a course heading that will put us on the fastest route to the Vikaris Quasar."  

"That will do for now." Chris nodded in approval. Retreating to the Quasar would give the Maverick adequate time to lick its wounds and wait for reinforcements. The turbulence surrounding the spatial body would make them virtually undetectable to the enemy sensors. Chris did not like the idea of running from a fight but he liked losing his entire crew and his ship even less, just because he was too stubborn to make the decision to save it. Pride was one thing. Stupidity was another. 

"You think Lemar and the Vorta made it off the warbird?" Vin asked. 

"I would almost guarantee it." Chris replied. "Neither of them seem the kind who hold to the belief that the captain goes down with the ship. I would say both of them beamed to Cardassian ship before we blew the warbird to hell."

 Vin glanced at Alex, wondering how she felt about her hated enemy making his escape. However, she did not make any comment. The science officer was not looking at him and had barely heard the conversation. He noticed her concentration focused on the communication array, in particular the station that was utilized to send encrypted messages and decoding alien frequencies and wondered what she was working on there. According to the readings on his console, communications was nominal as was the sensor grid. There was no reason for her to be focusing her repair efforts on that particular system and made a mental note to ask her about it later on.

A shrill sound tore through the bridge and the trio of officers looked up. Chris glanced at the controls on his command chair and saw that one of the enemy ships was making an attempt to contact them. Chris decided that there was no reason why he should not hear what they had to say. Perhaps, he would even gain some time.

"This is Captain Larabee." 

"This is Fanaian." The Vorta’s smooth voice responded even though his image could not be seen. 

"How nice to see you’re still with us." Chris said with a hint of satisfaction. 

"Your attempt at humor is ill advised Captain," Fanaian retorted tersely. "Gul Lemar and I managed to transport off the Tasmeem before it was destroyed." 

"Yeah," Chris frowned, disliking the whole act of abandoning one’s crew in that way because it reeked of cowardice. "I guess you’re not as expendable as your crew." 

"The Jem Hadar know their place in the scheme of things." Fanaian snorted, apparently feeling the heat a little since he would no doubt be surrounded with those same Jem Haddar when Chris made that declaration. 

"You mean as cannon fodder," the captain said derisively, hoping that those in question were hearing everything he said. 

"You waste time by this effort," Fanaian barked impatiently. "I give you one last opportunity to surrender."
"Sorry," Chris retorted without having to think twice about it. He nodded at Vin who offered the same unspoken message to Alex. All three bridge officers reached for their weapons. It was time.  

"If you want this ship Fanaian, I’m afraid you’re going to have to come and get her." Chris knew the challenge he was offering was a gauntlet about to be picked up but there was no avoiding it really. The Vorta knew as well as he did that the moment they went into warp, their chances of escaping would become a real possibility. The only preventative measure left to the Dominion was to end the battle was to take the bridge and kill him. Because even if they managed to fill the Maverick with hundred of Jem Haddar warriors, Chris still had the power to deny them their prize.  

No more than a second had passed following that statement when all of a sudden, the space in front of the command chair shimmered with color. In the two seconds it would take for transport to be complete, Chris jumped out of his command chair as Jem Haddar warriors were transported onto their bridge. There were three simultaneous transports all at once and Chris counted no less than nine warriors on the bridge. Thanks to the two-second delay between transport and rematerialisation, Vin and Alex had moved into position and started shooting. 

The number of nine soon dwindled to seven.

Chris leapt out of the way as soon as the shouting started and took the necessary precautions he could not make until this absolute moment. "Computer – initiate complete mainframe lockout, access only permitted only to Chief Engineer Pemberton, to be verified by code."

The dulcet tones of the computer responded in kind. "Authorization?"

"Larabee, Captain!" Chris retorted rolling onto his knees and firing into the Jem Haddar approaching him as everything on the bridge went to hell. "Authorization code – Nimrod. Initiate lock down now!"

"Mainframe lock out initiated by Captain Christopher Larabee of the USS Maverick, verification by voice pattern recognition and authorization code. Non restrictive access permitted to Lieutenant Julia Catherine Pemberton, Chief Engineer." The computer confirmed his order. Unless he authorized it, even if they killed him, the Dominion would not be able to access the data that they had launched this entire campaign to obtain. 

A Jem Haddar was attempting to rush Chris when Vin intercepted the warrior in a full body slam, with every once of Vulcan strength behind the impact. The warrior almost sailed across the bridge and toppled into the thick of Jem Haddar forces attempting to converge upon Alex. Chris turned just in time to see another warrior about to fire on his Vulcan helmsman, realizing perhaps that no effort to subdue the captain would succeed unless they removed the formidable officer of the con from the picture. 

"Vin! Get down!" Chris shouted as Vin was trading blows with one of the warriors that were running lose on his bridge.  

The Vulcan pivoted his head enough to see the danger and immediately dropped to his knees as he felt the bolt of energy scream overhead, taking the advantage of the sudden shift in position to throw a fist into the lower half of his opponent. The Jem Haddar brought up his knees and connected with Vin’s jaw, jarring him backward before advancing upon him for the kill. Knowing that Chris was taking care of the Jem Haddar who had attempted to shoot him, Vin struck out his foot and slammed into the knee of the warrior on approached. His focused his kick and felt something give way under the ball of his heel before rolling aside quickly as the Jem Haddar warrior began to topple over in his direction. 

In the meantime, Chris had effectively dispatched the armed Jem Haddar who had almost ended Vin’s life with one shot. He saw Alex fighting two of them off and hurried across the bridge when he saw one of them lock an arm around her throat. He had not taken more than two steps when he saw her kick out, using the solid obstruction of the warrior in front of her to propel her backwards, slamming herself and the assailant behind her into a console. Surprising the warrior who had her in a chokehold, Alex stabbed her elbow forcefully into her sternum and swung around to throw a left and right at the enemy’s face. The second warrior advanced upon her, preparing to grab her from behind when she lashed out in a back kick that met the soft tissue of the Jem Haddar’s gut and then whirled around just as expertly to slam her palm into the warrior’s neck.  

Chris saw her initial opponent at the console screen started to get up and closed the space between them in a matter of seconds. Kicking the Jem Haddar in the side as he prepared to launch himself at Alex, Chris felt bones shatter as the Jem Haddar turned around to face the direction of the new attacker. Despite sustaining severe injuries, the Jem Haddar were capable of maintaining combat effectiveness with almost 70 per cent of their bodies injured. Only the Jem Haddar warriors Vin was dispatching stayed down because his Vulcan strength was enough to deliver the damage needed to penetrate their thick armored skin.

Throwing a succession of punches into the enemy’s face, Chris focused his blows to break bones, knowing that this was the only way to keep them from launching another attack. He kept throwing his blows, holding back nothing until the Jem Haddar remained on the floor, unmoving. Chris immediately turned to Alex and saw that she had done the same. One warrior was at her feet as she jumped onto the floor of the command chair just into time to land on a Jem Haddar warrior preparing to shoot Vin.  

Vin hardly noticed the danger and was in the process of a flipping a Jem Haddar soldier onto his back and towards a sharp protrusion of glass left from the shattered viewer. His opponent groaned in pain, having little time to do much as else as the length of glass slice through his insides like butter, cleaving his heart into with little warning. Obviously, the Jem Haddar had only encountered Vulcans who were disciplined with the tenets of logic and had never seen one that was just plain pissed. Chris saw Alex running to Vin’s side, offering her help as she fought off the dwindling number of opponents left on the floor. She pulled the Jem Haddar who was holding the Vulcan’s arm and preventing him from finishing off the comrade with whom Vin was wrestling.

Wrenching him off Vin, Alex delivered a powerful front kick to the Jem Haddar’s ribs, snapping bones with all the force she could muster enough to send the broken splinters slicing through organs. Chris saw another third and final warrior recovering enough to realize that there was only three of them left and his two companions’ were seconds away from defeat. The warrior staggered to his feet and aimed the barrel of his gun at Alex’s direction, aiming for the center of her back when Chris decided he would get there first. Shooting from the hip, the captain did not think twice as he fired the phaser in his hands and watched the amber beam envelope Alex’s would be executioner before he convulsed and fell to the floor in an unruly heap. 

Alex paused long enough to realize what the captain had done before she delivered another side kick to her combatant’s sternum which connected with a loud squelch as a rib cage was broken and lungs were punctured. She dropped to the floor from the force of the kick and watched as Vin brought down his elbow on the last Jem Haddar’s neck. The enemy went down quickly and did not get up again as he lay at Vin’s feet. 

For a minute, no one said anything as they surveyed the grisly scene before them. This did not look like the bridge of a starship meant for exploration; it looked like a war zone. Alex was breathing hard, Vin was staring at both Chris and her, ensuring that the people he cared about most in the world was safe and Chris just damned proud of both of them. Suddenly, the moment was broken when Julia’s voice spoke up. 

"Captain, the warp engines are on line!"   

The three officers looked at each other blankly before making a mad dash for their respective stations on the bridge. Chris slid into the command chair; Alex hurried to the station normally occupied by Ezra Standish while Vin returned to his position at the con. Breathing hard and aware that their time was limited, Chris was almost panting when he spoke out. 

"Computer, disengage mainframe lock out - Captain Chris Larabee, verification code Nimrod!" 

"Verification code accepted," the computer responded. "Mainframe lockout disengaged." 

"Raise shields!" Chris ordered without waiting for the computer to finish speaking. Alex immediately let her fingers fly, complying with the order with more speed that she thought she was humanly capable of managing. 

Hot on the heels of his command to raise the shields and keep any more Jem Haddar warriors form beaming onto the Maverick, Chris turned to Vin and barked an equally important order and the one that would most likely saved them. "Vin get us out of here!"  

"We're on our way!" Vin exclaimed and following that statement, the Maverick surged forward in a burst of power as its propulsion systems fired. Chris could feel the gentle throbbing of the warp engines as the ship streaked out of its present position. Escaping the two Jem Haddar ships that were reeling from surprise by the Maverick's sudden departure. 

"Jem Haddar ships in pursuit!" Alex responded automatically, watching the screen on Ezra's console since the viewer was destroyed in the attack. 

"Full speed ahead!" Chris ordered. "Get us to the Vikaris Quasar as fast as you can!" 

"Captain," Alex's voice suddenly shifted and it was no longer euphoric or jubilant. The sudden change in tone made Chris swivel around in his chair and face her. The expression in her eyes was black and Chris had this sinking feeling that they had escaped nothing. 

"Four Jem Haddar vessels just de-cloaked and are proceeding to intercept."  

"What!" Vin exclaimed. 

"Reserves. "Chris groaned inwardly. "They had FUCKING reserves!"  

"We can out run them." Vin declared refusing to give up hope no matter how much the odds had shifted out of balance, leaving them the loser, again. 

"They're spreading out and setting up a kill zone." She paused as she collected her thoughts and continued her report. "We're caught in the middle captain. The Cardassian warships are also closing in. We've got nine ships converging on our position. We don't have power to shift to maximum warp to outrun them." 

Chris faced front again, not believing this. He could not believe this but he knew Alex was not exaggerating. For a moment, there was another pregnant pause as Chris tried to think of what to do. The ship was caught in amber and he knew it. In fact they all did. There were options left. He could continue attempting to break the blockade, most likely destroying his ship in the process or he could surrender. Somehow, the second alternative was not the better. There was a third option left to him and it was one he loathed to take but avenues were being cut off and they were becoming more and more trapped by the second.

Closing his eyes, he could not find the strength to respond. He would rather die than have to do this but he had no choice. He hoped Mary, wherever she was on the ship would forgive him. Chris supposed that if there was some consolation in all this, she would never know what had happened until it was all over.  

And then nothing would matter. 

"Computer." Chris let out a heavy sigh. "Initiate self destruct." 

Neither Vin nor Alex showed any surprise at his instruction. "Self destruct initiated, command officers verification code required." The computer said tonelessly, completely indifferent to the situation. 

"Captain Chris Larabee. Command authorization code - Nimrod." 

"Voice pattern recognition accepted." 

Chris looked at Alex who swallowed the bile of defeat away and took a deep breath before she spoke too. "Lieutenant Commander Alexandra Styles. Command authorization code - Phoenix." 

"Voice pattern recognition accepted. Self-destruct initiated. 4.59 seconds......4.58 seconds......." 

"I guess that's it." Chris responded easing back into his chair. Neither Alex nor Vin had ever seen Chris Larabee so defeated. 

"You did everything you could Chris." Vin responded softly, not afraid to die and taking solace in the fact that he was with the two people universe he cared most about when it happened. It was something at least.  

"You gave them one hell of a fight Captain," Alex answered, just as emotionally. Glancing at Vin, she looked to Vin and spoke in a tone complete with authority. "Lieutenant, stand at attention." 

Vin grasped her meaning and immediately stood up, the Maverick was automated enough to be able to stand his absence from the controls for a few seconds. Both he and Alex stood at attention before Chris. 

"It has been an honor and a privilege to serve with you Sir." Alex said from her station, while Vin nodded his agreement from where he was. 

Overhead the computer continued its vocal countdown. "2.27.....2.26....." 

Chris swallowed hard, feeling the same heavy emotions. "Thank you." He almost whispered. "I'm sorry I couldn't do any better for you." 

Vin was about to respond when suddenly, a soft beeping noise was heard from Alex's station.  

"What now?" Chris grumbled. "The entire Dominion Fleet?"  

"No!" Alex exclaimed, scarcely able to believe what she was seeing before her. "I am picking two, no make that three ships on an intercept course. Captain, they're ours!" 

"What?" Chris just about jumped in his chair. "Three ships." Alex continued as the readings before her became more specific. "Two are Starfleet warp signatures and the third is Klingon!"  

"Klingon?" Vin exclaimed confused. 

Chris was not sure of anything but he had to gamble that Alex was right about what she was seeing on the sensors and this not being an illusion perpetrated by the enemy to trick them. However, whether it was or not, it would take more than the time left according to the auto-destruct sequence for them to sort it ought. They had less than a minute left before there would be nothing for those ships, if they did indeed exist, to rescue if he did not act now. 

"Computer, terminate self destruct." Chris said hastily and offered his authorization code as quickly as possible. Alex did the same thing and the final ending that they had envisioned only seconds ago evaporated with a short but completely indifferent response by the computer that the protocol had been disengaged.  

"The Cardassians and the Dominion are breaking off!" Alex added. "Captain, they are withdrawing." 

Somehow Chris was not surprised. It was one thing to take on heavily damaged starship but the odds were a little more even and less certain in the Dominion's favor when they had to taken on an additional three ships as well. "Cowards." Chris whispered under his breath. "Do we have an identification on the three ships?" Chris inquired, wishing to know to whom he ought to be grateful for saving their lives. 

"Not yet," Alex replied. "Sensors are still a little sluggish from the party we just had."  

"Vin, bring the ship about and move to intercept." 

"Glad to Sir," Vin looked over his shoulder long enough to flash Chris and Alex a happy smile. 

"The lead ship is hailing us." Alex announced with a smile just as radiant, not just for Vin but also for her captain, not to mention the little surprise gift she left for Lemar. Perhaps the day was not going to end on such a sour note after all. 

"Put them through," Chris said coolly, never thinking he could se so relieved to have anyone pull his fat out of the fire as the captains of those three vessels had. He made a mental note to buy whoever was at the other end of this hailing frequency a drink at Four Corners when things had settled down. 

"Captain Larabee." A familiar voice responded over the com system that almost made Chris fall out of his chair. Chris recognized the voice immediately and looked up with damn near awe on his face. 

"This is Captain Jean Luc Picard of the Enterprise, may we be of assistance?"

Chapter Sixteen

With the arrival of the Enterprise, the Venture and the Klingon ship called C’boath, the battle was more or less over. The Dominion, taking the arrival of the reinforcements as a sign of things to come, chose to depart while they still could. The six Jem Haddar ships departed while the three Cardassian vessels limped along behind them, tail tucked neatly between their legs because no of them were prepared to face the Federation's flagship in battle. After the spectacular defense put up by the Maverick, the Dominion was not about to risk further humiliation by attempting to take on the legendary USS Enterprise. Especially when it was supported by the Venture captained by Raphael Castille one of the more wolverine commanders on the current front lines and a then there was the Klingon, upon which no comment was truly required.

For the first few hours of the reinforcement arrival, the communications between the captains were mostly done via hailing frequencies. The Maverick had taken heavy damage and the Enterprise had elected to assist with the repairs it would require for the galaxy class starship to make it to the nearest starbase for repairs. Crew transfers from ship to ship at this point was restricted mostly to Engineering staff and medical personnel. There were many injured on board and there were still Jem Haddar prisoners remaining, having been contained by Ezra's security team and left behind by the ships when the Dominion had retreated.

Still the fact that Dominion had gone did not change the situation as it stood; the Maverick was still unable to defend itself properly after the substantial beating it had taken from those ten ships. Thus the Venture and the C’boath kept a vigil over the surrounding space as they repairs were conducted. Several hours after he had almost destroyed his ship instead of allowing her to fall into enemy hands, Chris Larabee found himself pacing nervously at the only undamaged transporter pad, awaiting for his contemporaries to arrive. Despite the fact that he was a starship captain and had no reason to be such, Chris was extremely nervous.

"Captain," Alex sighed and she waited with him. "Try to show a little dignity would you?" She teased.

Chris stopped pacing and gave her a dark look and then noted that the Transporter Chief Rain was attempting not to snigger. "Very funny." He retorted and returned to a more casual position next to her.

He knew he was being nervous for no reason. After all he knew Raphael from his Academy days and the Klingon commander was like any other he had come across in his time, brutally honest and coarse as the day was long with a hair trigger temper. However, among their number was also the captain of the Enterprise. Jean Luc Picard was coming aboard his ship and Chris was not so jaded that he could not feel anxiety at that meeting. This was Picard, the first man to make contact with the Borg, who secured the treaties between the Federation and the Gorn, this man had literally saved the Federation a dozen times over and Chris could not deny that he was struck with a little case of hero worship.

"Captain, " Transporter Chief Rain spoke up. The tall, exotic looking woman who also happened to be a Trill with a tendency to look upon her crewmates with bemusement as she was doing so to him now announced that Captain Castille of the Venture was awaiting transport.

"Bring him aboard." Chris responded.

His order prompted the low hum of the transporter's activation and the next thing he knew, a shimmer of color appeared on the pad long enough to coalesce into the definitive shape of a man. It took a few second until the form of Raphael Castille fully materialized before them and like the frame of a picture that had been frozen and then set in motion, the process was soon completed and he was staring in their direction.

"Chris Larabee," Raphael broke into a wide grin. "How long has it been compadre?"

"I don't know," Chris returned his smile with a warm handshake, knowing that between old friends like this, the usual aloof gestures would not be enough. "How long has it been since I had to peel you off the floor of that bar in San Francisco?"

"About as long as it took for me to talk you out of going out on date set by Buck Wilmington. Where is that skirt chaser anyway?" Raphael looked around the room and noted that the Maverick's first officer was absent.

"He's been hurt." Chris said somberly. "When our bridge went up, he took the worst of it."

Raphael's mood shrunk into a frown. "Is he going to be alright?"

"He's going to be fine," Chris answered, having recalled the conversation with Nathan a short time ago before their arrival in this room. "Raphael, this is my Science Officer and temporary exec while Buck is recovering, Lieutenant Commander Styles."

"Please to meet you Sir." Alex said with a smile as Raphael looked in her direction briefly and managed, in those few seconds, to convey to the science officer that he had something discreet to discuss with her captain. Alex immediately excused herself and went to assist Rain.

"Chris," Raphael said quietly. "I was sorry to hear about Sarah and Adam. I was on a deep space mission when I heard the news. I wished I could have been there for you."

Chris shrugged, having dealt with that particular hurt a long time ago even though remembering always sent a shard of pain through him, no matter how hard he tried not to let it affect him. "Its okay Raphael," Chris answered honestly. "I wasn't really there myself, not in spirit anyway."

Both men nodded in unspoken understanding when Chris decided a change of subject is definitely in order. "I'm assuming that part of this trip so far out of your way has to do with a certain lady bartender that serves on board."

"Yeah," Raphael grinned, happy to leave the somber subject behind him as well. "If you don't mind, I'll catch up with you later. I haven't seen Inez since she signed up on the Maverick."

"You could have her posted to the Venture." Chris pointed out.

"Not a chance in hell compadre." Raphael retorted. "I don't want her on the front lines with me. I can deal with dying on a daily basis but I can't do my job is I have to worry about her too."

It was a sentiment Chris understood all too well; indeed any captain would have. "I understand. We'll meet up later. Last I heard she was in Four Corners. Ship to ship communication is still down so she may not know that you're on board."

"I get to surprise her." Raphael grinned as he started towards the door. "What could be better?"

"Captain Picard standing by to transport." Alex informed him once Raphael had gone.

Chris almost jumped out of his skin being disarmed by his reunion with Raphael long enough to remember Picard was about to come on board.

"How do I look?" Chris turned nervously to Alex as he began straightening his uniform and running his fingers through his hair. Something about being in Jean Luc Picard's presence warranted such behavior.

Alex rolled her eyes in disbelief but nonetheless found her instinctively straightening his collar anyway before responding. "The model of a starship commander, Lieutenant?" She glanced at Rain. "Initiate transport."

"Hey I wasn't ready!" He grumbled.

Alex wondered how Mary put up with his.

Anything she was about to say was cut short when the shimmering began on the transporter pad. The tall, slender form of Captain Jean Luc Picard materialised before him and it took a few seconds for Chris to get accustomed to seeing the man before he was able to force himself to react.

"Captain....Captain Picard." Why was he stammering? "Welcome on board the Enterprise... I mean the Maverick." Oh real smooth Larabee, Chris thought to himself following that impeccable delivery.

Alex rolled her eyes again.

If Picard noticed his stumbling, the man certainly did not show it. Instead, the legendary commander extended his hand towards Chris in a handshake. "Thank you Captain Larabee, it's a pleasure to be here. I admit, I would have like to have seen the Maverick under better circumstances but I must commend you did admirably under the conditions."

"Thank you Sir," Chris found himself swallowing visibly at the man. "The truth is, if you and the other ships had not arrived when you did, it could have ended very differently."

Their gazes held for a second and Picard understood completely what Chris was trying to say, not to mention that he was honest enough to admit that the help was needed and appreciated which was a rare thing with captains. Picard had come across enough men in his time who had egos the size of Class 9 gas giants to know that such modesty was rare and to be valued. "We make our careers by what we accomplish by the skin of our teeth Chris, I think you fared better than most and please call me Jean Luc."

"I wouldn't feel comfortable about that." Chris said honestly. "By all means call me Chris but to me you're always going to the captain who always managed to beat the odds and I'm still too awed by all that to be on a first name basis."

Picard was pleasantly surprised and decided that he would like this Captain Larabee very much, enough perhaps to even call him a friend. "Actually I been wanting to meet you and make some thanks myself Chris," Picard remarked.

"Why?" Chris asked automatically and suddenly had an idea what JD must go through around him and reminded himself that from now on, he was going to try and show as much consideration as Picard was doing for him.

"You were one of the commanders who chose to follow me during our last battle with the Borg even though I did not have command of the fleet. You could have been severely reprimanded if the attack had failed and Earth would have fallen to the Borg. It is quiet something to me that you and those like you chose to follow me into that battle on a faith alone."

Chris did not know what to say. Following Picard into that fight had gained him his captaincy and yet the man was here, thanking him. It was almost too much to take and yet he knew he had to answer. "You were the Captain of the Enterprise. I couldn't expect to do anything else."

"I've been told that before." He chuckled and then let his gaze move over the transporter room before remarking. "I miss the last Enterprise you know," Picard mused. "Perhaps it takes time to get used to a sovereign class Enterprise but I always liked her better when she was a galaxy class ship. She had character."

Chris could understand that all too well and he knew that no matter what ships came and went in the future, he would always have a special place in his heart for the Maverick. Suddenly, he realised he was being rude and immediately introduced Alex and Rain to Picard.

"I believe you are the reason the Klingon ship is here Commander Styles." Picard said to Alex when the introduction are being made.

"Me?" Alex stared at him blankly. "I don't understand."

"Captain, the C’boath has signaled its readiness to transport. Two to beam over." Rain broke in at that point.

"Go ahead," Chris ordered as he was listening to Picard explaining things to Alex and Rain immediately went about activating the transporter pad, filling the room with that familiar hum as they spoke.

"The Enterprise was already on its way to intercept the Maverick as per Starfleet's orders when we were told to rendezvous with the C’boath to pick up a passenger. When your distress signal reached us, the commander of the C’boath felt that it would be much more interesting assignment to lend assistance in a combat situation instead of just ferrying passengers from one destination to the other." Picard sighed as that was one of the eccentricities of Klingon behavior that needed no further explanation.

"You said it had something to do with me...." Alex asked again.

"Well apparently, their passenger was coming to see you." Picard smile gesturing to the transporter pad where the commander of the Klingon ship and another more familiar figure appeared in front of them.

Alex did not speak and she vaguely heard the Klingon commander striding forward, uttering some greeting towards her before he joined Picard and Chris. In the background, she heard Commander Kavroth telling Chris that how the crew of the C’boath envied the Maverick for the glorious battle that must have been fought before the arrival of reinforcements from the Federation and its allies.

Alex could only see the woman before her.

It had almost been three years since she had been on Kronos and seeing Kellien before her was more than enough to take Alex's breath away. She could hear Chris ushering the other captains and Rain out of the room in order to offer her some privacy but it was all a blur. Kellien stood before her, tall and matriarchal, wearing the leather coverings of a Klingon woman and looking as if she could wipe the floor with any human that made the effort. Her long auburn hair had grayed a little but it still reminded Alex of a lion's mane as it had done when she was a child, falling a sleep in that strong woman's embrace. Kellien looked like the quintessential expression of Klingon femininity.

"What are you doing here?" Alex managed to say.

"I received a communications from your ship's counselor saying that I was needed." Kellien stepped off the transporter pad. She stood the same height as Alex and watched her foster daughter closely.

Josiah. Alex thought to herself, only Josiah would have the audacity or for that matter, the insight to do that. A thousand emotions ran through her as she saw Kellien coming towards her. Suddenly the events of the last few days came crashing down on her with the appearance of the one person who had been able to instill in her the need to go on after her discharge from Starfleet Medical after what had happened to her. Lord only knew what Alex would have done had she been left to her own devices. When she had left the care of doctors and counselors, she had been so traumatized by her experience in that Cardassian prison that she would have killed herself like so many others before her. Too ashamed to go home to her father whom Alex still could not face, she had instead gone to the only other person who might be able to help her.

Kellien had done that for Alex and more.

"It is good to see you." Alex whispered softly, the emotions inside her threatening to break Alex in half.

"How have you been?" Kellien asked, aware that Alex was nearing the threshold of just how much she could take. "I worry about you."

Alex blinked, trying to stop the tears and took a step closer to the woman. "He was here, on this ship."

Kellien nodded trying to keep her stiff upper lip but starting to succumb to the moment as well. "I know."

"I wanted to kill him." She swallowed.

"You had every right to." Kellien answered. "But you placed the lives of those around you before the need for the vengeance. You acted honorably."

"I did not," Alex shook her head, not about to accept her praise, not after what she done before the Dominion fleet had left. Her hands were bloodied even if she had not done the killing herself. "I had my vengeance, they just don't know yet."

"Then honor is doubly satisfied and I do not care about that p'takh. You have been the daughter I never had, the child who so easily filled my heart from the moment you entered it. You have done nothing to be ashamed of and you have survived. I am proud of you." Kellien said softly.

Alex crossed the space between them and stood poised for a few seconds in front of Kellien before she finally placed her head on the woman's shoulder and allowed the woman to embrace her in her comforting arms. Alex had no idea what would happen tomorrow but for the moment, all she wanted to do was be held by the closest thing in the world she had to a mother.

***********

Lemar knew something was wrong when he was summoned abruptly to the bridge of the lead Dominion ship. As it was, he had been attempting to limit his dealings with the Vorta ever since they were forced to run from the Maverick like frightened children. Who knew that one galaxy class ship could have mounted such a formidable defense when fighting off an entire of phalanx of Jem Haddar warships? Of course, it probably had most to do with the fact that the Dominion had seriously underestimated Captain Chris Larabee and how determined he would be to keep his ship. Lemar who had been in close proximity to the man had to give the captain credit where it was due.

The man's ruthlessness was almost Cardassian in its nature.

Fanaian had been in a foul mood ever since they were forced to beam off the bridge of the Tasmeem prior to its destruction, onto the nearby Cardassian ships which had been wounded in the battle. Later on, they transported to the Jem Haddar ships for reasons of safety once the battle had been lost and retreat was in order. Lemar guessed that the reason for Fanaian's mood had much to do with the fact that when they returned to Dominion territory, he would have to give his masters, the Founders, a very good reason for the failure of this mission. Lemar did not wish to be in his shoes for that particular meeting as the Founders were not known for their tolerance of mistakes, especially one on this scale.

When he arrived on the bridge however, he noted that Fanaian had taken centre seat and seemed in very good humor. This in itself was unusual considering what they had just been through but for some reason, Lemar felt a chill of something cold running down his spine upon seeing the man's mood. It was a feeling he could not quite define but it nagged at him nonetheless, remaining vaguely in the backdrop of his mind awaiting its time.

"Lemar," Fanaian said with a smile. "I am glad you are able to join us."

"You seem in good spirits today." The Cardassian said as he paused in front of the command chair where Fanaian was seated and presenting himself like a king presiding over his court. Lemar looked around and noticed two Jem Haddar guards moving to flank the door and wondered what that was all about.

"I am, I am." Fanaian replied exuberantly. "I have been in a terrible melancholy you know." He said with an exaggerated frown of dismay. "After our defeat at the hands of the Maverick, the complete failure of our mission, who could blame me?"

"Yes," Lemar nodded, unable to swallow away that nagging feeling that was pressing insistently against his spine the more Fanaian continued to exude this positive outlook. "The situation was unfortunate. However, I suppose in all things one must accept the failures along with the successes."

"How true," the Vorta nodded in agreement. "However, I must confess to feeling a little trepidation in reporting to the Founders that we had failed them. One does not tell a god that one is not equal to the task that he has set you."

Lemar had his own opinions about the deification of the Founders but chose to keep them silent. "I take it this good mood is because you have found a way out of your problem." He asked.

"How perceptive of you," Fanaian grinned wider. "I have found my solution indeed."

"Well," Lemar leaned against the command chair. "I am agog with anticipation."

Fanaian looked at Lemar slyly and then answered. "You should be. You are the instrument of my deliverance."

Lemar blinked. "Me?"

"Yes," Fanaian gushed deliberately. "It came as a complete surprise to me as well but it was like a revelation. Apparently, before the Tasmeem was destroyed an encrypted message was sent to you from the Maverick."

"From the Maverick?" Lemar exclaimed bewildered. "Why?"

"That's what we wondered," Fanaian looked around at his Jem Haddar companions who were keeping a very sharp eye on Lemar right at this moment. "However, upon decrypting it and let me tell you whoever sent it was most determined that only you should have access to it, we understood everything."

That nagging feeling was now screaming in his ear and Lemar felt the iciness expand from his spine to encompass the rest of him. "Understood what?"

"Understand how Larabee was able to disengage the shields on three Cardassian warships. It appeared that you provided him with the shield frequency." Lemar said as casually as he might be reporting that the ships' systems were all nominal, not accusing Lemar of nothing less than treason.

"What!" Lemar cried out horrified, suddenly feeling the sands of his life starting to drain rapidly. "What possible reason would I have to aid the Federation?" He demanded

"To save the life of your lover of course." Fanaian answered smoothly.

This was getting more preposterous by the minute that Lemar was starting to feel his head swim with the disorientation from being bombarded by so many untruths. "I do not have a lover on the Maverick!"

"Of course you do," the Vorta replied looking at him hard. "Her name is Lieutenant Commander Alexandra Styles and in what she thought was her last message to you, she told you not to mourn for her and it is not your fault that you were unable to save the Maverick. At first I thought that this was ludicrous until I checked the records and discovered that she was your prisoner once wasn't she?"

"Yes..." Lemar said meekly, understanding the trap that Alexandra Styles had so neatly created for him.

"A prisoner who escaped just as you escaped from a maximum security military outpost which she managed to obliterate off the face of the planetoid it was situated upon to hide her escape and your act of treason!" Fanaian retorted, adding more and more evidence to support Alex's plan with each word he spoke.

"You cannot possibly believe any of this is true!" Lemar tried desperately to convince him.

"In truth," Fanaian looked at him and replied. "No, I don't actually."

"Then you believe me." Lemar asked, unable to imagine how his life now rested in this Vorta's hands and his belief in Lemar's innocence.

"Absolutely." The Vorta answered. "However, that does you little good."

Lemar stared at him.

"You see Gul Lemar," Fanaian rose to his feet. "What I believe is inconsequential. When I take this to the Founders and inform them that this mission failed because I had a traitor in my ranks that sold us out in order to save the life of his lover, they will believe it. They will believe it because of your previous dealings with Commander Styles and the fact that ten warships were incapable of taking one galaxy class starship without help. They will understand that I failed because of these mitigating circumstances."

"You can't do this!" Lemar roared and took a step towards the deceitful Vorta. He made no more than two steps forward before he was stopped by Jem Haddar warriors who quickly removed his weapon and had him in their unwavering grip before he even knew what was happening. Fanaian returned to his chair once again and faced the struggling Cardassian.

"I will deny it!" Lemar screamed desperately. "You'll never get away with this! When I tell the Founders..."

"You will never see the Founders to make that rebuttal." Fanaian said sharply and then looked at the Jem Haddar beside Lemar. "Space him."

"NO!!!!!!!!!" Lemar shouted in his ear.

Fanaian let out a sigh as the Cardassian was dragged away screaming and stared at the view screen before him. He could still hear Lemar's screams down the corridor and down towards the main airlock.

"Odious creature." Fanaian said with an expression of disgust to no one in particular. "The Cardassians will make anyone a Gul I suppose."

The Jem Haddar soldier at the controls of the ship said nothing in response for it was not expected or required for that matter. He maintained his gaze on the controls and the view screen before him and only wavered his attention when he noted the indicator on his console that someone had opened an airlock.

EPILOGUE

Captain's Logs Stardate 14.25.02 - The repairs on the Maverick continue swiftly aided in part by the Engineering staff from the Enterprise led by Commander Geordie La Forge. Captain Picard has been extremely generous in crew assignments to the Maverick although I am starting to suspect that this is due to the fond memories they had of Enterprise D and working on a galaxy class starship. We have also transferred all our Jem Haddar prisoners to the Enterprise as she will heading back to the front lines where prisoner of war exchanges can be negotiated. Intelligence reports from Cardassian Prime indicate that Gul Lemar never made it home with the rest of the Dominion task force sent to take the Maverick. I can only assume that he must have been blamed for their failure in this instance. In either case, I do not mourn for him and was rather surprised by how stoically the news was taken by Lieutenant Commander Styles.

She seems to be holding up well and I have to say that a contributing factor of this would be the arrival of her close friend Kellien from the C’boath. Even though the lady had remained on board for only two days, her presence added greatly to the well being of our science officer. There have been no cause for concern in regards to the commander's behavior and she spent much of Kellien's visit in the lady's company along with Vin Tanner. Commander Wilmington seems to be recovering nicely and although he has been discharged from sick bay, has been placed on sick leave for the next week, although to hear him complain, one would think that Nathan Jackson had drummed him out of the service altogether.

For myself, I am immensely proud of the way the Maverick handled itself during this crisis and while there are still things to settle in many quarters, I feel that this are just the details left over in the wake of what has happened. Whether or not there is a planet in the Frontier that has Ketracel White may now be a moot point. I have been told that there is a very good reason why Captain Castille had made this special trip to the sector was in order for him to see his fiancée. According to Picard, Benjamin Sisko is presently amassing the largest fleet in the history of the alpha quadrant to launch an all out attack against the Dominion. The battle will be decisive and will end the Dominion threat once and for all. We have been ordered to return to the nearest starbase for repairs to our damaged upper pylon in order to join the battle that will take place over the skies of Cardassia Prime."

*******

The problem with androids is the fact that they did not blink

Humans blinked. Cardassians tended to smooth the ridges of their brow. Andorians got a nervous twitch in their antenna while Pakleds were so dumb that it did not matter what gestures they did or did not produce, it was almost routine beating them. Klingons sat stoned faced, offering no expression but still very illuminating. Romulans always bluffed but androids? Androids did not blink and what was more infuriating, is that they also had the best poker faces with the exception of Vulcans that Ezra Standish had ever seen.

"No discards Mr. Data?" Ezra Standish asked as he stared across the felt covered table inside his quarters were he was presently playing an intense game of poker with some members of the Enterprise, including a very skilled though disgustingly modest third officer who just happened to be an android.

"No thank you Commander Standish." Data said politely, glancing at his cards once again even though it was a redundant gesture. What he had seen of them when they were first handed to him was imprinted in his positronic brain. There was no need to keep his eye on them because there was no chance of his forgetting. Besides, he did not wish to take too much attention away from his observations of the man Commander Riker called the best damn poker player in Starfleet. "These will do."

"God," Julia Pemberton declared from Ezra's right, her arm still in a sling as she watched the stand off between human and android. She had been played out long ago but she could not help remain behind and watch the game. Although she was technically supposed to be cheering for Ezra because of their relationship, Julia could not help wonder if Mr. Data whom had been assisting her in Engineering the past few days was capable of playing Ezra. Just the possibility of their security chief being beaten by this pseudo human was too delicious to imagine. "He's even more than polite than you are."

"Is that not the proper way to behave?" Data inquired, not wishing to offend.

"Of course it is," Nathan said fascinated by this automaton who was so much like a human despite his outer covering that it was really quite uncanny. In the few days that Nathan had gotten to know the android, Nathan found him to be far more human than any of the flesh and blood specimens he had met in his life time. "It's just that you manage to sound sincere when you do it and not like you're about to move in for the kill."

"I take umbrage at that." Ezra said with a look of mock hurt on his face. "I always managed to sound sincere when I go in for the kill." He broke out into a dimpled smile.

"Face it Ezra," William Riker laughed. "These people know you too well."

"You are just annoyed Mr. Riker because I have all your money." Ezra threw him a satisfied smirk.

"Commander Standish," Data's voice suddenly interrupted the two old friends. "Are you engaging Commander Riker in such banter as a ploy to avoid laying down your cards as I have called your hand?"

A ripple of laughter ran throughout the room, not to mention whistles and hoots from the gallery.

"Ezra, I do believe he is calling you out." Nathan declared, unable to keep from laughing out loud at the whole situation and partaking of the amusement shared by everyone in the room.

"Mr. Data," Ezra looked at the android. "Is that what you were intending to do?"

"No Commander," Data said with that perfectly expressionless face, the one that did not blink. "I am merely attempting to prevent you from stalling for time. You have raised the stakes and I have met the challenge, I wish to see your cards."

"Never let it be said that I am unresponsive to polite requests," Ezra remarked as he laid his cards down on the table, near the considerable pile of chips in the middle.

"Very nice." Riker whistled seeing the four aces that stared up at everyone.

Ezra looked at Data and responded. "Mr. Data, can you rise to that challenge?"

Data nodded shortly. "I think I can." His answer stunned Ezra somewhat and made the security chief anxious as he proceeded to lay his cards downs for the others to see. Suddenly, Ezra had a bad feeling that he was going to ......wait a minute!

"That is two pair!" Ezra declared. The game had been focused on the two of them with stakes being risen to an obscene amount of credits for a lousy two pair! It was beyond Ezra's comprehension.

"Yes." Data answered with complete innocence. "Congratulations Commander Standish. That was well played."

"Well played?" Ezra balked. "You had two pair! Are you telling you were bluffing me?"

By now everyone in the room was reduced to hysterics as they saw the bewildered expression on Ezra's face. Nobody bluffed Ezra Standish. It was a cardinal rule. When that happened, expect weather forecasts to report in that hell freezing over.

"I could not beat you." Data replied with that same polite voice. "Commander Riker told me that before we began playing. However, he did mention that you seemed to enjoy the game more when you were engaged in a bluff. I thought you would be pleased."

Ezra gave Riker who look who was wearing the same smirk he had given the first officer of the Enterprise a minute ago. "You have no shame, Commander Riker."

"Yeah but like you said, you have all my money."

Ezra could only glare as he heard their continued laughter.

*******

"What does she see in him?" Buck Wilmington complained as he saw Inez and Captain Castille sharing a romantic dinner at a table overlooking the window inside Four Corners.

"Well he's a captain," Mary remarked staring at the same direction that Buck was. She and JD Dunne were attempting to keep Buck company since the first office had just miserable since being taken off active duty for his injuries. After having Buck stroll onto the bridge numerous times for no good reason, Chris had ordered Mary to keep Buck distracted since the chore was already driving poor JD Dunne to distraction. Buck's need to be in the thick of things was more than a young ensign could hold back and Chris decided a more experienced hand was necessary.

"So what?" Buck shrugged. "There's nothing great about being captain. You just get to sit in the big chair." Then he looked at Mary and snorted. "Oh look who I'm talking to about this. You're just as bad."

"Buck!" JD said mortified that he could speak to her that way, even in jest.

Mary however, was not at all offended. In fact, she had a good return to his remark. "Well," she flashed a little smile at JD and then turned to Buck who was still staring longingly at Inez's direction and convincing everyone at the table that his feeling for Inez was not as typical as he might have them believe. "It has to do with those captain's bars."

Buck turned to her. "Really?"

"Oh yes," Mary said with an exaggerated bat of her eyes and misty pout to her full lips. "Something about those extra pips on the collar that just turn me on so much. Why how you can just settle for a first officer after that.? It would be like slumming." She ended that statement with a wicked gleam in her eye as JD started to chuckle.

"I bet you think you're real funny." Buck gave her a look. "I thought Vulcan wives weren't suppose to have a sense of humor."

"I'm not Vulcan." Mary winked at his direction when suddenly the door slid open and an extraordinarily beautiful woman with sultry features and a magnificent mane of dark hair walked into the room. She was paused and studied the place for anyone she knew before drifting towards the bar and pulling herself a seat.

"Hold the phone!" Buck exclaimed, spotting her immediately. "If Inez wants a captain that's fine with me." Buck declared, leaving no mystery as to where he was going when he go to his feet and started walking towards her. "I just sighted land in the horizon."

"Buck," Mary spoke up as he started towards her. "You know how to really get her interested?"

"You know her?" Buck glanced at the beauty who had ordered herself some chocolate ice cream and was now consuming it. Now he knew for a fact that women substituted chocolate for another other basic need which meant he was in a great deal of luck.

"Yes I do," Mary said with a completely straight face. "Just keep thinking to yourself how you want nothing but to show her a thousand and one pleasures. I guarantee you, she'll fall into your arms."

"You're kidding me," Buck retorted with obvious disbelief.

"I'm not," she insisted. "Just keep that thought in your head right up to the second you speak to her. She'll sense it and respond. Trust me, that woman likes a man who know what he wants."

"Alright." Buck grinned and decided it was worth a shot. Leaving their table, he started swaggering to the lady in question, oozing typical Buck Wilmington charm.

JD waited until he was gone and then asked. "Isn't that Counselor Deanna Troi of the Enterprise?"

"Yes." Mary taking a sip of her coffee while wearing a look of pure innocence on her face.

JD thought so and then had to ask further. "Isn't she telepathic?"

Mary grinned. "Yes."

"So if he thinks that.... oh!" JD stared at her and started to laugh. "Ma'am that's cruel."

Mary met his gaze and smiled. "Yes it is."

JD turned his eyes eager to feast in the carnage that was to be Buck's introduction to Deanna Troi and muttered to himself. "Its no wonder you go for the Captain, the first officer is just no match for you."

*******

Josiah Sanchez and Chris Larabee had been giving each other wide berths since this entire situation with Gul Lemar had emerged, particularly with the conflict that had been created thanks to their differing opinions on how Alexandra Styles should be handled. Although things had turned out for the best, it was clear that their friendship had reached something of a crossroads. Chris knew that for them to continue serving together on board the Maverick, boundaries had to be set and lines drawn so each man understood where one's bounds began and the other ended.

Instead of waiting for Josiah to come see him, Chris decided that it was best if he made the conciliatory gesture. He knew that he had hurt Josiah's feelings when he had refused to take Alex off duty but he still believed as he had believed then, that he had made the right decision. Keeping Alex on duty had saved their lives because she had inadvertently discovered the deception that Gul Lemar had been attempting to perpetrate upon them. Had it not been for her timely alert, the Maverick would have been caught by surprise and Chris did not even want to imagine what would have happened if his ship had been taken. Not just to Alex but to all of them.

"Am I interrupting?" Chris asked politely as he peered into Josiah's office in the Counselor's suites on the same deck as the Sick Bay.

Josiah who was going over some crew fitness reports in light of their recent battle immediately looked up and found himself surprised by the Captain's sudden appearance. Then again, Chris had the ability to do that like no other man he had ever known. "Sure." He nodded and put down the data pad in his hand.

Chris walked into the room and seated himself in the chair before the Counselor's desk just as Josiah pulled himself out of it and went to the shelf where he kept his stock of Romulan ale. Extracting the bottle and two glasses from its place there, he poured them both a drink. Neither man said anything as Josiah handed Chris a glass and returned to his seat nursing his own.

"Are we the most stubborn people in the world or is this how it usually happens between Captains and their Counselors?" He broke the silence finally.

"I like to go with the second option actually." Chris said with a smile as he heard the exhale from Josiah that indicated that there was no hostility remaining between them, just unresolved issues that needed discussing. "People say I'm stubborn but I refuse to believe it."

Josiah chuckled softly and then responded. "Chris, I'm sorry I pushed so hard with Alex."

"Don't apologize," Chris said automatically. "I'm glad you did what you did Josiah. It shows me what an exceptional healer you are. You put her life before anything else and that is how it should be. I'm not holding it against you that you took an opposing view to mine, it just makes me glad to know that if I ever was in the same place, you'll be there to help me just as resolutely as you were able to help her."

"When I read that report about all those suicides," Josiah responded softly, touched by the depth of feeling Chris had just conveyed and felt once again the warm glow of friendship and paternal affection he had for the man. "I just reacted. I thought about all those lives destroyed. All those women who took their lives for something that was not even their fault and then to see Alex, so tortured inside, I just could not stand that happening to her. I was trying to protect her, not realizing that sometimes you don't protect someone by keeping them wrapped up safe, you do it by letting them face the demons and giving them the chance to fight back."

"I was where she was once Josiah," Chris confessed reluctantly. "When Sarah and Adam died, I was ready to walk of the edge of a cliff if I thought the pain would go away. It was Buck who reminded me that there were things worth fighting for and though I damn near drove him to killing me himself, he stood by me and made sure I kept remembering that. He made me put all that rage and hurt into some place where it could work for me and here I am, Captain of this ship. I had to believe I could do the same for Alex."

"Well it worked" Josiah commented, taking another sip of his glass of ale. "She actually came to see me you know."

Chris' eyes widened in surprise. "Will wonders never cease?"

"It was mostly to thank me about getting Kellien here but she stayed around long enough to say a little something about how she felt and that's a hell of an improvement for someone who used to do anything to avoid stepping in here." Josiah admitted.

"So how is she doing?" Chris asked, knowing Josiah would tell him as much as possible without breaking doctor patient confidentiality.

"Better," Josiah said with a smile of pleasure at being able to report that much to his captain. "Says she had problems sleeping but not anymore."

"Not anymore?" Chris looked at him. "What does that mean?"

Josiah could only shake his head in confusion since he had no idea himself.

********

Vin Tanner savored the scent of her long hair in his lungs, trying to decide if the intoxicating smell was wildflower or apple. He wondered how she managed to get her hair smelling like that before he decided it was just one of those things women seemed to manage so easily while men smelled like ordinary soap. Wildflower or apple, he continued to wonder for a few more seconds as his arms lay draped over her waist while she lay asleep on his bed. After everything that happened, Alex had asked if she could sleep with him for awhile since she was unable to do so alone without waking up screaming.

After awhile, he gave up pondering the question and chose instead to nuzzle his cheek closer against that heavenly cascade of jet black hair that spilled onto the pillow and her back. He felt a surge of pleasure feeling the silken strands against his skin and the action of taking a deep breath of her only forced a soft sigh from Alex's lips as she snuggled closer to him. She had been asleep for some time now, not at all plagued by the nightmares that blighted her sleep on so many occasions that the only way she had been able to get through the night was with heavy neural suppressors. Strangely enough, her slumber with him had been nothing but peaceful.

Vin wished he could see her face at this moment but decided that to do that he would have to let go of her and Vin never ever wanted to let go of Alex. Vin was enjoying holding her in his arms, feeling her body spooning up against him in a gesture that was terribly intimate and yet, not all sexual. Vin did not know how whether this was proper or not, sharing a bed like this but he knew that while it lasted, he was going to enjoy every second of it. Perhaps one day there would be more but for the time being, this was enough. Vin would be there for Alex for as long as she needed, until she felt safe enough to be without him, though he wished that day would never come for he would always need her.

As she lay with his arms wrapped around him, Vin could only stare at the stars outside his window and hope that wherever she was, her dreams be as beautiful as this.

THE END

BACK TO MAIN PAGE