Chapter Text
A short time before the attack on Intrepid, the away team found a public place to meet and evaluate their progress-----or lack thereof, as it happened. They had just concluded a grueling three-hour search of Outpost Dragga ’Rig, (or Matroba as it was known to the locals who frequented the Bog) and had come up empty handed. The Bog’s Theta radiation played havoc with sensors, so their tricorders were restricted to short range, meaning the group had to canvas the outpost one painstaking meter at a time.
The outpost itself further stymied their progress. No one officially claimed ownership of the large trade station; it had been haphazardly assembled by myriad species over the last few centuries, much of it looking like the result of a hasty afterthought. There was no directory to consult, and the interior followed no logical pattern.
The six of them had split up into teams of two, in hopes of finding some trace of Jivin Sharm. They had now reconvened to compare notes.
Lt. Commander Adol was concerned when he noticed that Ensign Ravas had acquired a bruise on her left cheek. He looked her over with grim efficiency. “When you reported to me that you ran into a ‘little trouble’, you said it was, and I quote, ‘no big deal’.”
The young African woman just smiled mischievously. “It wasn’t for us, sir. But it sure was for them.”
“We didn’t look for it, sir.” Ensign Wells broke in, before his irreverent partner could dig herself into a hole. “The locals caught on to us right away. And as you can see, Starfleet officers aren’t too popular around here.”
Adol and Shantok spent a few minutes debriefing them. Their reports added up to a whole lot of nothing. It was obvious that their effort to blend in with the outpost residents was fooling no one, despite their civilian attire. Adol had expected as much. With a Starfleet ship hanging off the station, people were alert to anyone who seemed out of place. Their questions had been met with silence, suspicion or outright hostility.
Only Shantok’s encounter with a Gorn trader held promise, but she wasn’t generous with the details.
Afterward, Adol ordered his detachment of four guards to take up standard watch positions while he and Shantok stood near a merchant’s shop on the main promenade. The shop was burnt and abandoned. Graffiti covered the metal gate, which was spread across the small entrance. Adol noticed that at least ten different languages were represented by the tangled scrawl of lettering, three of which he didn’t recognize.
Trying to appear as pedestrian as he could in his native clothing, he leaned against the metal gate while he spoke to Commander Shantok. “I notice you didn’t expand much on your encounter with that Gorn we ran into on the way here. You did spend a while talking to him.” He tried to read her expression, to see how close he could come to predicting her answer.
“I was considering the value of my lead. However, it appears to be the only viable one we have. I think we should pursue it.” She said, sweeping their surroundings with her gaze. “The Gorn claims to have seen someone resembling Jivin in this very section of the outpost.”
“How long ago?”
“Today”.
Adol was far from enthusiastic. “With respect, there are Velk all over this outpost.” He pointed across the small avenue to a throng of reptilians who was gathering at a shop that had just opened. “There are four right over there. How do we know it was Jivin at all?”
She adjusted the drab scarf that was wrapped around her neck. “The Gorn stated that our target was in the company of beings that he described as Jem’Hadar.”
Adol’s antennas stood at attention. He squinted at her. “How reliable do you think his claim is?”
She raised her eyebrows as though the question were absurd. “I would have no way of knowing. However, the description is consistent with the records that were given us by the Gibraltar.”
Not for the first time, Adol wished that Shantok were more judicious with her use of telepathy. As a Vulcan/Betazoid hybrid, almost any secret could be hers for the taking. The galaxy was virtually an open book to her should she ever choose to read it.
But she almost never did. Violating another being’s privacy was morally reprehensible to her. She kept her telepathy in check with an iron fist, only releasing it under dire circumstances and even then, only after careful deliberation. Privately he speculated that there was more behind her mental chastity than ethical considerations. He often wondered if she was afraid-----afraid of losing control of her abilities and what that might entail for her sanity…and the safety of others.
He gave the bustling walkway another look before sighing tiredly. “I have to tell you, I’m not optimistic. According to Gibraltar’s data, Jivin was sighted here more than two days ago. Ships come and go every hour without having to file flight plans or crew manifests. He could have been taken off the station at any time-----with no trail left for us to follow.”
“We’ve yet to search the Western hub.” She offered in the Vulcan equivalent of desperation.
So named by the crew, the “Eastern” and “Western” hubs were opposite ends of a giant dumbbell. The Eastern complex contained shops, recreation facilities (such as they were) and an assortment of lodging rooms that catered to a diverse crowd of beings from two quadrants. While the Western hub was…
For a moment, Adol forgot himself and thought she was joking. “Ma’am, the Western hub is a mining complex that’s over a century old. It’s barely capable of supporting life. The Theta radiation levels are dangerously high, probably from using unsafe and substandard containment fields.” He looked at her carefully. “That place is almost a microcosm of the Bog. There’s no practical way to search it on foot and sensors would be all but useless. The few people who work there are the walking dead, no doubt from radiation poisoning.”
The reminder was an unnecessary one, but Shantok only nodded as though Adol had agreed with her suggestion. “Making it an ideal haven for kidnappers.”
He spread his arms in exasperation. “This whole station is an ideal haven for kidnappers----assuming he’s even still here.” When she returned his exclamation with silence, he just shook his head. “So I guess I’m going to have to come up with a way to make this work.”
Shantok was impassive. “For the time being, it is merely a proposal. First, we’ll dispense with our current lead. Should our search here prove fruitless I’ll propose an examination of the Western hub. Captain Aubrey will decide if such an effort is worthwhile, not me.”
He grinned at her wickedly. “Except that you have a way of getting our skipper to do your bidding.”
She seemed to consider the statement seriously. “If only it were so.” She stepped away. “It’s time for my report to the ship. Please give instructions to your guards.”
Adol set about doing just that. He motioned them together as he walked over to relay orders.
That’s when the children appeared. They seemed to come from nowhere. They were a twosome, a boy and girl of about twelve humanoid years. The boy might have passed for a Terran. The girl was harder to pin down. She had a coating of blue fur that covered an ape-like face. Bright yellow hair ran unkempt from her head and luminescent green eyes nearly glowed from the apex of a sloping brow. She was a study in primary colors. They ran towards the away team, yelling excitedly.
Ensign Ravas scanned them both with a hidden tricorder before tapping a COMM unit built into her sleeve. “Two subjects approaching at 3 o’clock. No weapons or explosives.”
“Maintain yellow status.” Adol replied briskly. “This could be a diversion.”
The boy ran up to Ensign Wells while the brightly hued girl stopped short before Ravas.
They spoke in an eager rush.
“Please, do you have food to spare-----?”
“May I have your cloak-----“
“Can you take us to Velkohn?“
“Can you-----?“
“Would you-----?“
“May I-----?“
Wells and Ravas did their best to placate the children while looking about warily. The other two guards moved forward to cover potential holes in their line of sight. With the two kids chattering and pulling at their clothing, Wells and Ravas had developed blind spots.
Shantok concluded her report in time to see what appeared on the surface as an innocent encounter.
Adol answered her silent question. “Some of the kids that live here. They beg and work odd jobs to survive, sometimes selling themselves willingly to anyone that has resources.”
Shantok observed them quietly. “I wonder how it is they came to be here.”
“Usually abandoned by kidnappers or left behind after their parents get themselves killed in various criminal operations. Some are the unwanted offspring of prostitutes too drugged up to bother with birth control.”
She raised an eyebrow at him. “You seem to know a great deal about this region.”
He shrugged. “I do my research.”
Both their earpieces came to life. “Quella to Adol.”
“Go ahead,” he replied after tapping his sleeve. Lt. Quella was positioned furthest out. The seasoned security officer was known for an inhuman attention to detail.
“Sir, the group of Velk across from as at that shop.”
He looked across the avenue. “What about them?”
Quella’s voice was tight. “Their numbers have doubled sir.”
The Andorian and Vulcan exchanged looks. It was true. There were no longer just four Velk, there were at least eight now. Somehow, in the short time that the children had arrived, the cluster had added bodies to their ranks. They had managed to do so stealthily, concealing their comrades behind each other to make their true numbers misleading. What was more, they were no longer milling about in a disorganized jumble. The group was staring fiercely at the away team, as if poised.
Adol moved into action at once. “Ravas, Wells, lose the kids now! Quella, can you verify weapons with your scanner?”
The Velk suddenly exclaimed as a commotion swept the group. There was a loud crashing noise from the shop behind them. And then, to everyone’s utter astonishment, none other than special envoy Jivin Sharm himself barreled through the crowd and sprinted into the middle of the large walkway, shoving bystanders aside in the process. He stood for a moment, looking dazed and panicked. He shot terrified looks in every direction before settling his wild eyes on the away team.
Waiving his arms like a madman, Sharm raced across the avenue, bellowing incoherent shouts at the Starfleet crew.
The situation fell apart with frightening speed.
“Jivin Sharm stop!” One of the Velk yelled after him. “You are in our custody as an enemy of the state!” But oddly, none of them attempted pursuit. They just kept yelling threats that sounded to Adol’s ear like badly written dialogue from a holonovel.
Wells and Ravas grabbed Sharm before he made it any further. “Help me! Help me! You’re Starfleet, aren’t you? Don’t let them get me!” he babbled.
The away team produced phasers while Shantok padded over to Sharm. Before she could reach him, the Velk became animated. They drew an assortment of weapons from beneath cloaks and baggy clothing. Shantok could hear the distinct whine of disruptors powering up.
Snarling out threats, they began to advance across the walkway, rudely pushing people out of their path.
“Move out!” She ordered.
Weapons fire roared across the avenue, echoing throughout the complex. The officers ran towards several columns, pulling Sharm and the children with them as they returned fire. But the crowded thoroughfare made only a few shots possible.
The promenade fell into chaos. People scattered, screaming in fear and surprise. It became obvious that the mercenaries were not professionals. Most of their shots went wild, ripping holes in the walls, blowing out signs or vaporizing furniture. Flaming debris fell over running bystanders as rafters tumbled from above. Four civilians were killed at once in the crossfire. An older man who reached safety made the mistake of going back to protect his shop, only to be cut into three separate pieces by random disruptor beams.
Ensign Wells shoved Jivin Sharm behind a pillar for protection. That action cost him his life. Just as he completed his task he was incinerated, flashing into a cloud of ash.
“Shantok to Intrepid! We’re under attack. Requesting emergency beam out for everyone within ten meters of our location. I repeat, we are under attack and have casualties.” A low hiss came over her earpiece.
“Some kind of jamming field just went up,” Adol whispered from behind his nearby column. He read his small tricorder with one eye while keeping an intense watch upon their attackers with the other. “It could also be inhibiting transport. We might be on our own.”
“They outnumber us two to one. We need a defensible position,” she stated as the aggressors began to scatter and progress forward. She narrowed her eyes at the children who were cowering behind a column with a security officer, their arms and legs sticking out from the edge no matter how hard they tried to shrink their bodies. “They’re outflanking us, and we now have civilians to protect.”
Adol nodded gravely. The kids weren’t targets per say, but these people cared nothing for the welfare of innocents-----and more than likely they had been used as a diversion and were considered expendable right from the start. It seemed that their enemies were bloodthirsty amateurs that would slaughter anyone in their path.
Shantok appealed to what was usually a universal respect for the wellbeing of the young. “We have children among us!” She yelled out. “They are not involved! We ask that you let them exit safely!”
The hostile group gave no response. They continued to spread out, trying to move around the pillars to get a clear shot. There was no call for surrender, no taunts. They were silent prowlers, driven by a single intent.
Adol tilted his head just far enough over to confirm what he remembered seeing. “Commander, I think I found a defensible position.” He gestured with his eyes, indicating a large circular entrance. “That portal over there. It leads to a docking arm. We could fortify our position in there until we can be extracted. Or until help arrives.”
She looked off to her right. “The airlock is half closed. And I believe that sign says the structure is off limits pending maintenance.”
The Andorian hunched low, preparing to sprint. “’Any port in a storm’, as our human friends say.”
“Agreed. I’ll create a diversion, then you and I will lay down covering fire for Ravas and Quella to get Sharm and the children inside safely. Lt. Koslovich will follow, then you, while I protect our flank. Understood?”
Adol would have preferred to bring up the rear himself, but there was no time to argue. The hostiles would have clear shots at any moment. He quickly gave orders to the group via communicator.
Shantok fired a sweeping beam at the remaining overhead rafters. Three of the decorative modules blew apart and plunged to the deck just behind the band of mercenaries. The metal rafters impacted with a loud bang and clatter. The group bellowed in surprise, shooting wildly into the air behind them.
The plan would never have worked had the attackers been seasoned professionals. But the simple ruse took them off guard, and the Starfleet officers were fleet of foot. In less than sixty seconds they had jumped through the half open airlock and closed it behind them. Moments later, they had two emergency doors between them and their pursuers.
They ran down the wide complex, as Quella and Ravas carried their whimpering packages in both arms, grateful for their lightweight bodies. Thankfully, Sharm ran fast for such a stout humanoid.
They stopped at the end of the tube-shaped complex, where large windows were set flush into the walls for passengers to view the different spacecraft that visited.
But now the spacious terminal was deserted-----all dark shadows and empty chairs. The air was icy, since only minimal power was left on for the periodic arrival of maintenance workers. The torn out wall panels and garbage that carpeted the floor spoke to their apathy.
“You’ve got to get us to your ship,” Sharm panted. “Beam us out of here!” He looked terrified-----and this time he was not putting on a performance. The mercenaries that had been hired to play his kidnappers were going too far. They were so immersed in their bloodlust, they could easily kill him along with the Starfleet rabble.
“There’s an inhibitor at work, no doubt generated by your friends.” Ensign Ravas responded, her breath illustrated by white puffs.
An inhibitor! Sharm raged silently. That had not been part of the plan. It was becoming all too apparent that his life was in very real danger.
Ravas sat the alien girl on her feet, then hunched down to her level. “I need you and your friend to get behind those lounge chairs by that wall, ok?”
The girl wiggled her ears, which might have equated to a nod of the head, then grabbed her companion by the hand, leading him off to the collection of sofas.
It was Lt. Quella who noticed it first. “Ma’am!” He shouted at Shantok. “I show a window in the jamming field!”
She hit her combadge at once. “Shantok to Intrepid, we have Jivin Sharm, I repeat, we have Jivin Sharm and are attempting to protect him. We-----“
A loud hiss interrupted her. She looked at Quella, already knowing the answer.
“The window’s already gone.” He reported sullenly.
Adol walked over, checking the settings of his own tricorder. “Not surprising. The field is probably being projected from the outpost. We might be near the threshold of its range. Too bad we can’t go out any further.”
Ravas looked at the ceiling, her dark face beaded in sweat. “Do you think the ship heard us?”
A grinding rumble came from somewhere behind the sealed door. Quella checked his tricorder, and then blew air through his teeth as he remembered the jamming field. “I think the first door’s open. It sounds like they’re overriding the lockouts.” He looked at his comrades. “Makes sense since they know this place better than we do and it has no real failsafe mechanisms. It’s only a matter of time, maybe minutes, before they override our airlock as well.”
No instructions were necessary. The group moved into tactical positions, using the sofas and chairs for what little cover they offered. One guard put himself between the door and the children, another in front of Sharm, who was ordered to lie out of sight. The wait was not a long one. Shouts could soon be heard through the large airlock, meaning that the mercenaries were now only meters away. There was a metallic clink on the other side of the door, signifying the placement of an override unit.
“Ready.” Shantok said, aiming her phaser at the entrance.
“Oohh…how pretty.” The alien girl purred from behind them.
Happy for any type of diversion, Sharm glanced in the girl’s direction.
“Who are they?” Asked the boy.
When Sharm realized they were staring out a side window, he crawled over on his hands and knees to see what had their attention.
Craning his neck upward, he just made out a massive saucer moving into view. He slapped his hands in desperation against the transparency, like a prisoner yearning for unattainable freedom beyond his cell. “They’re here!” He yelled. “They’re here!”
Before anyone could react, the entire docking arm began to shake violently. The lights faded to a dim gray. It sounded like a thunderstorm was now raging throughout the complex.
Sharm pressed his face against the window port, aghast at what he was witnessing. “By the Great Raptor! What are they doing?” He gasped. “There’s a plasma artery that runs through here! Are they insane?”
Adol staggered across the bucking floor to see what Sharm was going on about. He took one look out the window and immediately grabbed the reptilian by the scruff of his jacket, shoving him away and towards the middle of the room. His hands snatched out and the children went down next to him. “Don’t move!” He threw his own body atop the civilians as best he could for extra protection.
*****
Intrepid’s phaser beam sliced into the docking arm like a scalpel, cutting through the structure’s width, pulverizing layers of material as it swept onward. Clouds of gas erupted through the incision as compartments blew out in a series of violent decompressions.
Just before it touched the main power conduit that ran the structure’s length, the beam snapped off, leaving the docking arm connected by only half the mass that had once tethered it to the outpost.
Blue light embraced the battered extension. As the tractor beam began its relentless pull against the docking arm, the structure’s outer skin shriveled under the onslaught of the graviton field. At first, the outpost seemed to resist the dismemberment, stubbornly holding its appendage to the last. But finally it gave up the struggle and the docking arm ripped free in an explosion of glittering metal and plasma flashes.
Intrepid moved away, the docking structure dragging in the wake of her tractor beam as though she were parading a morbid trophy.
“We have the docking arm,” Pal called out from OPS. He shot a look of concern over his shoulder. “But life support is gone and structural integrity is failing. I was afraid of this.”
“Mr. Rodriguez, are we out of range of the scattering field yet?”
The young Latin officer clenched a fist against the tactical panel. “Another three or four minutes, sir.”
“Incoming vessel!” Pal yelped. “Closing fast!”
Aubrey wondered if the Velk warship had somehow resurrected itself faster than he had anticipated-----then he realized that it was a new opponent they now faced.
“I have an ID,” Rodriguez exclaimed. “Tellarite ship. Looks like a freighter refitted for combat. About twenty percent of our armament, forty percent our mass.”
“Send friendly greetings.”
“Receiving text only.” The tactical officer reported promptly. “They’re demanding that we abandon the structure immediately or we’ll be fired upon.”
“They think we’re guarding something valuable.” Ensign Sorna speculated absently.
“We are.” Aubrey drummed his fingers lightly against his armrest, feeling inspiration strike. “Respond that we’re disposing of a deadly contaminate. Warn them to stay back for their own protection.”
Rodriguez grinned as he transmitted the message. But his good spirits didn’t last. “No response.” He declared somberly.
Plan B, the captain thought. “Tactical, cut tractor beam and raise shields. We’ll let the structure continue on inertia. Helm, match arm’s velocity and come smartly fifteen degrees starboard rotation. Keep us between the arm and our opponent.”
The Excelsior ship rolled onto her side, assuming a parallel course with the arm’s central axis, interposing her body to protect the structure. She was peppered with disruptor cannons the instant she completed the maneuver. Her shields lit up as they absorbed the punishment.
An onslaught of phasers blasted from Intrepid’s upper saucer module and secondary hull. After a few broadsides the Tellarite ship veered away.
“We’ve lost another fifteen percent on the upper shields. Minor scarring to ablative armor portside aft.” Rodriguez reported. “No additional damage.”
“Captain, the docking arm! It’s crumbling!” Pal gripped the edges of his console as though it might fly away from him. “If we don’t get our people out now-----“
Looking amazingly calm, Aubrey turned his chair to face the tactical podium behind him. “Do we have any kind of signal to lock onto in there?”
Searching his data with desperation, Rodriguez’s face suddenly lit up. “The field’s dissipated enough for us to beam through, Captain! But we can’t pinpoint individual-----“
“Drop ventral shields and initiate a blanket transport. Zulu-two security measure.”
Rodriguez acknowledged the order. His hands were almost a blur as they worked his board.
Rather than precision targeting, the transporter instead reached out blindly, groping for anything that felt remotely humanoid.
Within the dying structure, the group of humanoids in question tried desperately to take cover as the docking arm ripped itself to pieces around them. The Starfleet officers were huddled over Sharm and the children in a pointless gesture of protection. Their frail bodies would certainly not ward off death. But perhaps they wanted their charges to feel a last ephemeral contact with warm flesh before the end.
The compartment writhed in its death throes. Ancient metal screamed. The walls twisted and then shattered as though the whole assembly had been nothing more than glass.
And then it was no more. Cold vacuum arrived to snuff out the small creatures like candle flames.
But the Reaper had appeared a second too late-----because all that remained of the occupants were shimmering after images.
*****