The Qua'Dule

[Atoz 77]

THE QUA'DULE >>>>>>>>>>>>

Captain Atoz opened his eyes, wondering what had awakened him. He looked around his darkened cabin, careful not to disturb the soft, warm body asleep in his arms and half lying across his chest. He noticed that the stars were no longer streaking past outside his porthole, which meant the Odysseus was no longer at Warp. Then he remembered that the ship was scheduled to make planetfall at the Meneldar IV colony about now. Apparently the officer of the watch hadn't seen fit to disturb him.

A second later, the attention signal of his comm panel sounded, causing the cat sleeping on his chest to raise his head. "Sorry, Shiva," said Atoz, nuzzling the soft fur under the cat's throat and gently moving him aside. "Atoz here," he said to the comm panel.

The small screen on the panel lit up reveal the rich caramel-colored face and short dreadlocks of the First Officer. "Have a look at this, Captain," his deep voice said. The screen changed to field of stars, slashed by the blue-green arc of a planet. Right away Atoz saw what Fawkes was calling his attention to -- a blocky, roughly rectangularly shaped spacecraft in orbit. It was impossible to guess its size without reference points, but from its proportions, it seemed to be approximately in the same class as the Odysseus.

"I don't think I've ever seen anything like it," said Atoz, hurriedly pulling on a uniform.

"Mister Rosh has identified its configuration as Gorn," said the First Officer.

"Gorn?" This could mean trouble. The Gorn were an aggressive, reptilian race who controlled around a dozen planets. The Treaty of Cestus III had kept the peace for over eighty years, apart from the odd pirate raid. But the border was many parsecs away, unless the pirates were getting a lot bolder. "Go to Yellow Alert. I'm on my way."

***

On the bridge, Commander Charles Fawkes was in the command chair, reviewing the ship's defenses and making sure that every crewmember was reporting to his or her proper alert station. Although he had run several drills since taking over as First Officer, there was always a certain extra adrenalin rush, and therefore confusion, when you might be going into action for real.

The turbolift doors hissed open as Captain Atoz arrived. "Report," he said, striding to the center of the room where he could get a good look at the ship on the main viewscreen.

"Its armaments are approximately equivalent to one of our frigates, Captain," said Enir Rosh, at the Tactical station. "Two level 3 disruptor banks. One torpedo launcher, which appears to be inoperative. We outgun her by a comfortable margin."

"That's always nice to know," said Atoz, as he turned to the helm.

"Approaching at one-half impulse, Captain," said Lt. Caeli. "The screen is on maximum magnification. No sign that they've detected our presence yet."

"What are they doing here?" said Atoz, turning to Fawkes. "This is Meneldar IV, isn't it?" It was a newly-established colony, barely four months old. Not close enough to the border to be remotely a threat, not rich enough to be worth raiding.

"Yes, sir," said the First Officer, vacating the command chair.

As Atoz took his seat, the ship on the viewing screen abruptly changed course, turning its prow towards the oncoming Odysseus. "Sensor probes are now being directed at us, Captain," reported Rosh. "They are scanning us."

"Raise the shields," ordered Atoz. "Helm, drop us into orbit. Ensign Penner, hailing frequencies."

"Open, sir."

Atoz cleared his throat. "This is the Federation Starship Odysseus. Please identify yourself and state your reason for being here."

The viewscreen lit up rather abruptly to reveal the Gorn captain, looking very much like a short-snouted crocodile with glittering eyes and a prominent bony ridge over each eye socket. "Where is the Qua'Dule?" he demanded. "What have you done with it?"

Atoz risked a quick glance at Fawkes, who merely shrugged. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about, captain. What is a---?"

"I placed it on this planet in an underground vault a year ago for safe-keeping, and now it is gone! Hand it over at once, or by the Rings of Z'geffar, I will destroy you!"

"He is charging weapons, Captain," said Rosh, as if he were commenting on the ship's paint job. "But not yet attempting to lock them on target."

The Gorn was clearly too angry to talk with in his present mood. Atoz gestured to Ensign Penner to mute the comm channel for a moment. "Computer, check the Linguistics banks. What is a Kwaduly?"

"Working, Captain," replied the feminine voice of the computer, speaking in a much warmer tone that it usually did. The main viewer went split-screen, the left half still showing the impatient Gorn while the right half was taken up by the holographic avatar of a pretty young woman wearing a pale blue, Grecian style dress. Atoz was momentarily taken aback. This was an alien artificial intelligence they had acquired and which was now resident in the computer system. Then, on second thought, he supposed it had been the Science Officer's idea to give her something to do. "I've found 14 phonetic variations on that term, but since we're talking to a Gorn, I would guess the most likely is Qua'Dule, Capitol Q-U-A-apostrophe-capitol D-U-L-E. The eldest child and Heir to the Throne of the planet Chag-richt III. Is that what you needed to know?"

"Yes, thank you very much, Arachne," said Atoz, feeling a little bit foolish for thanking a computer.

"You're extremely welcome, sir," she beamed, cheerfully dropping a curtsy as the split-screen slid back out of sight.

Atoz gestured once again to Ensign Penner. The Gorn captain had apparently worked off some of his anger, but he started in again once he saw the channel was open. Atoz talked over him. "Captain, do I understand that the Qua'Dule is a person? You left a person alone in a vault for a year? For safe-keeping?"

The Gorn stopped, the scales of his throat flushing pale yellow in what Atoz supposed was embarrassment. "Well, she was in a Stasis pod..."

Atoz sighed. "You'd better beam over so we can discuss this."

[Atoz 77]

It took a few minutes to convince Captain Stekkor that Atoz knew nothing about the missing Qua'Dule, but in the end he saw reason. As an experienced "freelance entrepreneur", he knew better than to pick a fight with a Federation cruiser if he didn't have to. "Don't look at me as if I were an egg-eating triffjack, Captain," Stekkor growled as he paced nervously up and down the Odysseus' conference room. "I didn't kidnap her, if that's what you think. There was an attempted palace coup a little over a year ago. I was prevailed upon to put the Qua'Dule in a safe place until things quieted down..."

"And you did so out of the kindness of your heart, I expect," muttered Fawkes sarcastically.

"Yes, in fact," said the Gorn hotly. "I happen to be related to the Royal Family on my second father's side. Even if I weren't, the opposition leader is a lizard I wouldn't want to see on the throne at any price. Well, things had finally got quiet enough, they were talking about sending me to fetch her back again... and wouldn't you know old King Heksrus got himself killed in a Nee'shai tournament! Weaved when he should have ducked, the clumsy durl..."

"I suppose he just lost his head," said Fawkes, glancing at Atoz.

"Yes, he did," said the Gorn. "The blade caught him just above the dewlap," he explained to Atoz, pointing to his own neck. "His blood splattered the first three..."

"Yes, yes, we don't need to know all the gory details," said Atoz, quickly interrupting.

Stekkor made a peculiar grimacing gesture which Atoz supposed was a shrug. "And now Magrus is moving to take over the Hegemony. That is why I must find the Qua'Dule!"

"Magrus?" asked Atoz. "This is the opposition leader you were talking about a moment ago?"

"Yes," said the Gorn shortly. "I had hidden her on a nice, uninhabitted planet, far outside of Gorn space. How was I to know the Federation would come along and plant a colony there?"

"But you've already scanned the planet for your Stasis pod and found nothing," said Fawkes, unimpressed. "We've already explained that we don't know what became of it. It looks to me like it's your problem."

"Haven't you been listening?" hissed Stekkor, landing a frustrated punch on one of the chairs that nearly knocked it out of its socket. "Magrus had my former First Mate arrested and interrogated. Magrus will arrive here, probably in a matter of hours, in a very large star cruiser. Magrus needs the Heir, either as a sign of legitimacy, or to make sure she is out of the way for good. Magrus doesn't much care who or what gets in the way. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"I'm afraid that I do," said Atoz, exchanging uncomfortable glances with Fawkes.

***

Stekkor explained that the Stasis pod had been designed to look like an ordinary storage canister which would give a false sensor reading as if filled with solid kallinium, an alloy which was rarely used (and therefore likely to be ignored if anyone found it). The colony administrator, Governor Karyn Ten Haig, admitted that they had found an underground vault with a few storage canisters, but that the structure had been cleared out to house the colony's power plant. She had no record of what had happened to the canisters. She added that the only other ship they had seen had been their own colony transport, the Lothlorien, which had left two weeks earlier, bound for Pyris VII.

"A transport ship!" said Stekkor, showing his teeth. "I can catch it easily..."

"I don't think so," said Atoz, shaking his head. "I can't allow a Gorn frigate to go wandering around Federation space. You could help us best by finding another ship belonging to your own faction."

Stekkor grudgingly saw the sense in this, and gave a hiss of acknowledgment. "But what about the Qua'Dule?"

"If Magrus is due to arrive soon, I can't leave the colony unprotected," said Atoz, turning his chair to face Fawkes. "Commander, you'll have to take a shuttlecraft and catch up with the Lothlorien. We'll hold the fort until you return. I don't have to remind you that speed is vital."

The First Officer nodded solemnly as he rose to his feet. "I'll do my best, sir."

"I insist that one of my officers goes with you," demanded Stekkor.

[Atoz 77]

The runabout Scylla was soon streaking through space at full speed for Pyris VII. "I'm sorry to break it to you, Commander," said Bates, the captain of the Lothlorien, over their subspace communications link, "but I don't have those canisters any more. I gave them to a Ferengi trader in exchange for a couple of cases of genuine, 30-year-old aged Aldebaran whiskey. It turns out the Ferengi still use kallinium. Who knew?"

Fawkes heaved an exasperated sigh. In the copilot seat, Lt. Moira Blackadar, Odysseus' assistant security chief, kept her expression stony. Standing behind them were the ship's Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Ben Pierce and Stekkor's lieutenant, Hachug, listening silently as the transport captain continued to babble on. "Where is this Ferengi now?" said Fawkes, breaking into the monologue. "Did he happen to say where he was going?"

"Well, now, let me think..." Bates extemporized. It slowly dawned on Fawkes that the way he had disposed of the canisters was, strictly speaking, against regulations. Trivial conversation about it was one thing, but when it came to making definite statements which might conceivably lead to charges, the transport captain had little incentive to help find this Ferengi. And Fawkes was uncomfortably aware that, at a distance of nearly two dozen light-years, there was nothing he could to do force him to cooperate.

"This whiskey ye're speaking of," said Blackadar suddenly, her Scottish accent pleasant and quite non-threatening. "Is it pale green, or kind of sea green?"

"I'd... have to say sea green," said Bates cautiously.

"And does it by any chance have the teensiest whiff of methane?" Fawkes, who like most people these days had grown up mostly on synthohol, turned to stare at her in fascination. Meanwhile, the look on the transport captain's face went from cautious to horror-stricken. Blackadar's own face was the picture of commisseration. "If ye're brave enough to drink it, I'd have yer ship's doctor standing by," she sighed. "Aldebaran whiskey can't be kept more than 27 years or it goes over, worse luck."

"Why that flop-eared little weasel!" said Bates. "His name is Delfar, and you'll find him at the freeport of Yothom on Beta Hydra II. Slip 17."

***

With the possibility of a battle looming in the near future, Captain Atoz appointed Science Officer Diane Weir to temporarily take over the First Officer's responsibilities. They were together in the ready room when Ensign Penner interrupted. "Captain, we've received a reply from Admiral Matthews. He's dispatching the USS Vindicator to assist us. Estimated arrival in 6 hours."

"Thank you, ensign," said Atoz. Running a hand through his hair, he took a deep breath and released it. Then he stood up and began pacing nervously.

Weir watched him sympathetically. "Captain, what happens if and when Commander Fawkes finds the Heir and returns with her?" Atoz didn't respond. Instead he turned away, facing out the porthole, and forcing her to press on. "You can't seriously be planning to just turn her over to this Magrus? After what Captain Stekkor told us?"

"To tell you the truth, Diane, I haven't made up my mind about that, yet."

"I can't believe you're even considering it!" said Weir. "We're talking about a sentient being! You can't just use her as a means to an end! Doesn't she get any say in this?"

Atoz sighed, turning to face her. "She's also a figure in the Gorn government. If I don't turn her over, Magrus could legitimately claim that I was interfering with their internal political affairs. He could even claim that I actually had a hand in abducting her in the first place. It could start an interstellar war."

"But the Gorn will be the ones..."

She was interrupted by the comm system attention signal. "Captain, a Gorn battlecruiser just dropped out of hyperspace," reported Rosh. "And it is charging weapons!"

"Red Alert," said Atoz, as he raced for the door.

***

Although the planet Beta Hydra II was a Federation Protectorate, the city of Yothom was a free port, subject only to its own laws and regulations. It was an old city, built largely of sun-cured brick on the edge of a vast desert. The spaceship landing slips were shallow pits dug into the hard-baked ground and lined with ceramic, blast-deflecting parapets.

"I'm reading a mass of kallinium at bearing two-seven," said Lt. Blackadar, stepping out the hatch of the runabout with her tricorder. She touched a button and looked again. "Aye, and you can tell from the phase shift it's a false reading. Claussen, you're with me. Poole, stay with the shuttlecraft," she added, giving orders to the two security crewmen they had brought along. "I respectfully recommend the doctor stay behind as well."

"You might need me if there's trouble with the Stasis pod," argued Pierce.

"That's true, sir, but..."

"The lieutenant has a point, doctor," said Fawkes, stepping out the hatchway and looking around at the rough, lawless city street. "We'll call you if we need you."

Having put on long, dust-colored cloaks to conceal their uniforms, the party of four -- Fawkes, Blackadar, Hachug and Claussen -- advanced down the street. "Have you given any thought, Commander," said Blackadar, "to what happens if the Ferengi expects to be paid for the canister? What have we got to trade?"

"I thought I'd play that part by ear," said Fawkes.

"I've heard that some Ferengi have a taste for Human females," said Hachug, with a wicked grin.

Fawkes and Blackadar blasted open the street door to Slip 17 and charged inside. They found a small workroom, where a scarred but well-dressed Ferengi was sitting at a table in conference with a native Hydran in a ragged cloak. To the right, through the open bay doors, stood the Ferengi's ship, its landing hatch open. "Hewmons!" Delfar sneered, snatching up an electric whip as he jumped to his feet. "What do you mean by this outrage?"

"We're in the market for your kallinium," said Fawkes smoothly. With an ironic glance at the shattered door behind him, he added, "rather urgently, I'm afraid."

"Well, you're too late!" said the Ferengi. "I've already sold it to this gentleman for recycling." His eyes wandered to Lt. Blackadar, who was just throwing back the hood of her cloak. "That is, unless you have a more interesting offer..."

The Gorn stalked through the doorway at this point. "We have no offer!" he hissed menacingly, showing his teeth. "I represent the rightful owners of the pod!"

"Possession is ninety-nine one hundredths of the law..." the Ferengi began, but stopped short when he saw the enormous disruptor pistol Hachug was pointing at his head.

Fawkes hoped the Gorn was only bluffing, but he couldn't be sure. Trying not to let his uneasiness show in his voice, he said, "I wouldn't argue with him, Delfar. He's been getting really cranky the past couple of hours."

"Here, sir," said Blackadar, sweeping over with her tricorder to a large cargo hatchway which led into a storehouse littered with crates and containers of all kinds. There was one canister just inside, as if it had only recently been put there. "That's our pod to be sure, but there's..."

Moving remarkably swiftly, the Gorn leaped next to her. To use her tricorder, Blackadar had holstered her phaser on her left side, and Hachug quickly seized her left arm in a powerful half nelson to prevent her from interfering as he raised his disruptor. There was a brief, high pitched whine as the weapon built up a charge, and then he fired full power at the Stasis pod, blasting it into fragments.

***

"The Gorn vessel has four level 6 disruptor banks, eight torpedo launchers," said Lt. Rosh, after Atoz and Weir burst onto the bridge. "Displacement approximately three times that of Odysseus. It is taking up a high orbital firing position over the colony."

"Full power to the shields, Mr. Rosh," said Atoz. "Helm, place us between the Gorn and the colony. Hailing frequencies, Ensign Penner."

"Open, sir."

Atoz was aware of a feeling of deja vu as he said, "This is the Federation starship ---"

The main viewscreen lit up, cutting him off. "I am Chancellor Magrus, of the Gorn Hegemony. Surrender the Qua'Dule at once or be destroyed." Atoz was surprised that the Gorn he was looking at not only lacked Stekkor's prominent eye ridges, but had two long barbels protruding from under its jaw and seemed to have longer, sharper teeth. He wondered briefly why Stekkor hadn't mentioned that Magrus was female!

Atoz quickly recovered. "You are trespassing in Federation territory, Chancellor. If --"

Once more he was rudely interrupted. "I advise you to comply so that my trespass will be a short one. I grant you fifteen glurms." Her image vanished with quite disdainful abruptness.

Penner turned to him, her eyes wide with fright. "I... I think that's about ten... ten and a half minutes, Captain," she said, her voice quavering.

"Thank you, ensign." From somewhere inside himself, Atoz managed to pull out an encouraging smile for her. "Don't worry. Everything's going to be all right."

[Atoz 77]

The lights on the bridge flickered back on as the Odysseus spun lazily out of control. "Engineering, we need emergency power!" Atoz yelled into the intercom on his armrest as he pulled himself back into his command chair.

The tiny viewscreen lit up briefly to show the pale blue face of the Chief Engineer. "I'm venting plasma down here, Captain!" she yelled back, her antennae erect with agitation. "But I'll see what I can do!"

A moment later, Lt. Caeli got the ship under control once again, swerving sharply out of range just as the battleship unleashed another spread of photon torpedoes. "Give us a little distance, Mr. Caeli," said Atoz, glancing over to see that Ensign Penner was helping Weir to sit up.

"I'm all right," muttered the science officer, although her uniform was torn and there was a gash across her forehead.

"Mister Rosh, report," said Atoz, grasping at anything resembling a breathing space while it was available.

"We have taken out two of their disruptor banks," said the Eminian with unmistakable satisfaction, "and caused significant damage to their power grid. Their forward and starboard shields are completely down. I seriously doubt if they have warp capability. The Vindicator, when she arrives, will have no trouble dealing with them." Left unspoken was the assumption that Odysseus would very likely not be in any condition to witness it.

"Mister Rosh, in the year I've known you, I don't think I've ever seen you smile like that."

"Sir?" said the Tactical officer, taken aback. "I apologize, Captain. I..."

"No, no," said Atoz quickly. "In the present circumstances, it's positively reassuring. You should do it more often."

"Incoming!" warned Lt. Caeli, as another violent disruptor barrage struck the ship. The energy backlash raced down the plasma conduits, resulting in a feedback loop which caused the entire Tactical station to explode. Fragments of panels rained down over the bridge, as Rosh was flung into the rear bulkhead.

Weir and Penner hurried to his side to see what they could do, but he was horribly injured. Penner buried her face in her hands and let out a sob. "Stop that!" said Weir sternly, shaking the girl by the shoulder. "Help me get him to Sickbay!" Penner opened her eyes and nodded unsteadily. With one of the standby security officers helping, they carried the unconscious Eminian to the turbolift.

[Atoz 77]

Fawkes steadied his phaser with both hands, carefully aiming at the Gorn. "What do you think you're doing?"

Hachug whirled, using the slim body of Lt. Blackadar as a shield. "Stekkor is a fool! Magrus is in a much better position to claim the throne! She will reward me well for what I have done!" He gave a gurgling little hiss of satisfaction. "But I have come to like this one," he said of Blackadar. "I think I will keep her. Drop your weapon and back away."

"Not going to happen," said Fawkes, shaking his head firmly.

Suddenly Blackadar reached upwards, punching her right fist into the relatively soft underside of Hachug's jaw. The Gorn blinked and took an awkward step backwards. The woman tugged her other arm free of his half nelson, spun around and, with every bit of her 55 kilos behind it, drove her fist into his abdomen, precisely on his center of gravity. Hachug staggered back several paces, giving Fawkes the opportunity to fire his phaser twice. The heavy stun charge slammed the Gorn to the floor.

Fawkes went over to secure Hachug's weapon, noticing as he did the Gorn's thick, tough, pebbly hide. If had tried Blackadar's stunt, he would have broken his hand! "How did you...?"

She held up her fist, and now that his attention was drawn to it, he could see the bright metallic ridge along its back. "Brass knuckles," she said, dropping them back into the right-hand pocket of her cloak. "Where I come from, a lady never leaves home without them."

The native had long since run out by the street door. The Ferengi took advantage of the distraction to dash up the ramp and into the open hatchway of his ship, which closed and sealed behind him.

Fawkes ignored him, turning to contemplate the charred and smoking ruins of the Stasis pod. "I don't suppose there's any need for the doctor now, is there?" he said, wondering how he was going to explain his failure to Captain Atoz.

"That's what I started to say, Commander," said Blackadar. "The pod was empty!"

"Then where--?" Behind them, they could hear the Ferengi starting up his ship's engines.

***

Magrus opened fire on schedule without any further warning. With the two ships just sitting there facing one another, range was pretty much point-blank. The first two disruptor bolts flared against Odysseus' shields, rocking the smaller vessel violently. The third and fourth penetrated. "Minor damage to port engine nacelle," reported Rosh.

"Hull breach on deck 4, section L," said Weir breathlessly, tapping commands into her console. "I have a crew sealing it."

"Emergency protocols 5, 7, and 8," Atoz said to her. "Return fire, Mr. Rosh." Odysseus' phasers lanced out at the enormous battleship, pounding at its shields, but outgunned as they were, it was hopeless to stand here like this and take it. He had to somehow draw the battleship away from the colony, so that he would be free to maneuver.

"Their forward shield is failing, Captain," said Rosh. "They are veering to present their port side to us."

That was his chance! "Mister Caeli, quickly bring us around to their starboard side. Fire phasers, Mr. Rosh!" The Odysseus, smaller and more agile, darted across the bow of the battleship like an annoying wasp, forcing it to turn even further away from the planet even as its phasers stung again and again in its unshielded prow. Magrus returned fire, her disruptor bolts slamming into the smaller vessel's shields, followed by a spread of photon torpedoes.

"Damage on decks 7, 8, and 9, sections... J and K!" said Weir, holding onto her seat with difficulty as the ship heaved and sparks flew from a plasma conduit overhead. "There's a power surge in the primary distribution network. I can't... I don't think I can..." Suddenly the science officer was thrown to the deck as her console exploded and the bridge lights went dark.

***

The engines of the Ferengi trader powered up, his running lights came on. Fawkes and Blackadar strolled casually up to the bay doors and waited. Blackadar buffed her nails against the sleeve of her cloak. After a few seconds, the running lights blinked off and the engines powered down. The hatch popped open, and three figures emerged.

The first was the disgruntled Ferengi, escorted at phaser-point by Claussen, who said, "Ferengi ship secured, sir, as per your orders." Blackadar crossed her arms and nodded her approval.

The third figure was a young female Gorn. Fawkes was no expert, but if she were human, she would be about the size of a fifteen-year-old. "I am Galinga of Chag-richt III and I demand to be released at once!" she hissed.

"You don't understand, Your Highness," said Fawkes. "We're here to take you back."

"Take me back?" she said. "Why in Xorkin's name would I want to go back? So they can squabble over me like some kind of Hatching Day prize? I'm not going back, and you can't make me!"

"What do we do now, Commander?" whispered Blackadar.

"I don't know," Fawkes replied. "This situation wasn't covered in my orders."

[Atoz 77]

Scylla was once again streaking through space at full speed, racing against time. Fawkes was standing in the rear passenger compartment, watching as Dr. Pierce ran his medical tricorder over Galinga, paying special attention to the curious bruise that was blossoming under her left eye. "Your servant didn't have to strike me quite to hard," she said quietly. "You will see that she is punished, won't you?"

"Of course, Your Highness," said Fawkes, struggling to suppress a chuckle at the memory of the female Gorn obstinantly refusing to go aboard the runabout, planting her feet and pompously trying to stare down Lt. Blackadar. "I assure you, she exceeded her authority."

"Look, I have jewels," Galinga said suddenly. "Very valuable jewels. You can have them if you'll take me someplace far away. Someplace on the other side of the galaxy where they've never heard of a Qua'Dule!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Your Highness," said Fawkes. "My captain trusted me with this mission. I have a duty to not disappoint him."

"Duty!" she said, as if it were a word she had heard too many times. "I'm tired of being a marker in some political game. All my life, they tutored me on what do to when I became Queen, but now both sides just want me as a figurehead."

"Hold still please," said Dr. Pierce, using his protoplaser to repair the capillaries under her eye. "You know, that sounds a bit like medical school. We learned the material backwards and forwards, inside and out. But when it came to actually treating patients, there was no substitute for just getting in there and doing it."

"I don't know if I'm ready to be Queen," said Galinga miserably.

"You make mistakes, of course," the doctor continued. "But you learn. You'll have no shortage of advisors, from both sides. The trick is to remember that they each have their own agenda, which may or may not coincide with yours."

"Then how do I know who to trust?"

"You start by trusting yourself," said Pierce, looking her over one last time. "There! You'd never know your face played handball with our charming Lt. Blackadar."

***

Atoz watched the Gorn battleship turn once more in his direction. "Try to keep on her flank, Mr. Caeli," he warned, coming out of his command chair to stand at the helm officer's shoulder. Even with the damage they had inflicted, the battleship still had more than sufficient weapons to finish them off. He had to think of something...

"Didn't Lt. Rosh say that the Gorn probably didn't have warp capability?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," said Caeli.

"And do we know the rough coordinates of their power distribution complex?"

"I think so, sir," the helmsman confirmed. "But it's protected by point defense lasers. What do you have in mind?"

"I'm thinking of a variation of the Picard Maneuver," said Atoz. "We cut in the Warp Drive for a millionth of of a second, drop a photon torpedo right on top of their distribution network, and cut back out again."

Caeli just gaped. "But the timing, sir! No one could possibly calculate that!"

Desperate times; desperate measures. Atoz licked his dry lips and lifted his head. "Arachne!"

"Working, Captain!" the AI said brightly, her avatar looking a little pixilated on the damaged viewscreen.

"Are you aware of our situation?" Atoz asked.

"Yes, sir," she said. "The ship is about to be destroyed, and all of us are going to die." She said it with no sign of feeling, as if dying were something she had only heard about academically. As Atoz gave her the necessary instructions, it was equally impossible to tell if she fully understood all the implications in what she was being asked to do. But she had a mind designed for rapid, precise calculations.

Atoz nodded to Lt. Caeli as he sat back in his command chair and braced himself. The helmsman put the ship into a graceful roll. The aft torpedo launcher was already prepared. "Arachne... Now!"

It was over in literally the blink of an eye. There was an almost subliminal feeling of acceleration, and the pattern of stars on the viewscreen changed. Atoz ordered a reverse course, and as Caeli put the ship about, he could see the blast from the torpedo explosion beginning to dissipate. The Gorn battleship continued drifting to starboard, rotating a bit as she did so, obviously without power.

"They'll reroute their power distribution quickly enough," said Atoz, as a crewman in the back of the bridge cheered. "We've only bought us some time." They weren't free and clear yet, not by a long shot.

"Captain," said Lt. Caeli, "I'm picking up a message from the Scylla. Requesting permission to dock."

"Permission granted," Atoz replied. "You couldn't have timed that better, Commander Fawkes."

***

Twenty minutes later, three Gorn ships dropped out of warp, Stekkor's frigate and two small cruisers. Once he understood the situation, Stekkor was aghast. "You mean you had Magrus' ship disabled, and you didn't finish her off?"

"That's not the way the Federation does things," said Atoz.

"Captain," interrupted Fawkes at the newly repaired Tactical station, "the battleship has restored power. It's hailing us."

"Put her on screen, then." Magrus' face appeared on one side of the viewscreen, with Stekkor's face on the other. But this time, Atoz seized the initiative and spoke first. "Before you start threatening me again, Chancellor, it may interest both of you to know that I have a guest on board." The aft turbolift doors opened and Galinga, dressed in robes and jewels and looking most impressive, strode regally across and down the center of the bridge.

"You have the Qua'Dule?" demanded Stekkor. "Beam her to my ship at once, so I can..."

"I have claimed the title!" roared Magrus simultaneously. "Hand her over to me, or I swear that I will... "

"SILENCE!" howled Galinga. The other Gorn shut their mouths with a snap out of pure shock. "I am the Rightful Heir to the throne of Chag-richt III, and I will have Respect!" Magrus and Stekkor both bobbed their heads downward in an obsequious shows of submission.

Galinga turned to Atoz. "Captain, I thank you most warmly for sending your crew to rescue me. As long as I am ruler, the Gorn shall remember the Federation as gallant and honorable warriors."

"Um... thank you, Your Highness," said Atoz, bowing. "It was our pleasure."

"May I ask one more favor? Will you escort me home for my Coronation?"

Atoz tried to catch Fawkes' eye, but the First Officer was suddenly very busy with the Tactical readouts. "We would be honored, Your Highness. Mister Caeli, set course for Chag-richt III, Warp factor five."

[Atoz 77]

Captain Atoz sat in his cabin, stroking his cat, who had spent the duration of the battle in a dark cubbyhole adjacent to Sickbay, the safest place in the ship. The attention signal on his door chimed softly, and Dr. Pierce slouched into the room. "I knew you'd want my report before you went to sleep," said the Chief Medical Officer, handing over a data padd. "Thirty-seven injured. Eight of those are in critical condition. I'd like to transfer them to the Starbase hospital when we arrive."

Atoz accepted the data padd. "Rosh?"

"He's one of the critical cases." Atoz silently went on stroking his cat with a troubled look on his face. "You did what you had to do, Captain," Pierce said firmly. "Rosh understands that, if anyone does. Security officers, probably more than any of us, know what it means to stand in between innocent people and danger. He wouldn't want you to have any doubts on that score."

"Thanks, Hawkeye," said Atoz, looking up. "Did I ever tell you how I first met Rosh?" The doctor shook his head and sat down. Together they talked, while the stars streaked past outside the porthole.

Which was somehow very comforting.

>>> THE END >>>