Surefoot 52: ...This Means War Pt. 03

She checked the magazine of the .666 Magnum pistol from the Ajax's Armoury, a wicked black ballistic killer she had used previously, and holstered it. "They're both long stories, Sir, and I'm too busy to tell them now. If you excuse me?" She turned to face her friends, the only ones she knew and trusted here to be able to fight effectively. "Thykrill, Eydiir, you're with me... Neraxis, Kit, technically you're survivors, you don't have to participate, you can sit this out if you're not up to it-"

The Bolian offered Sasha her middle finger.

Beside her, Kit adjusted the phaser strapped to his hip. "I will not offer such anally-directed gestures in public, Respected Lieutenant... but I mirror the overall sentiment."

Sasha smirked. "Thanks. Jonas, you're in charge again until we return, see what you can do about reinforcing the shields on my shuttle, I don't want it flying out again if Dad has to pull some tricky manoeuvrers getting us out of here..."

*

Bridge:

T'Varik had been focused on mentally assessing the probable cause of the growing number of malfunctions, her progress impeded by her general lack of Engineering expertise, when she felt the ship decrease speed, and alerts rise. "Helm?"

Velkovsky's hands moved rapidly over her board. "It's not me, Commander! The ship's dropping itself out of high warp to keep from ripping apart! We have failures in Structural Integrity and Inertial Dampening!"

The Vulcan rose to her feet, seeing the Ajax jump ahead on the viewscreen. "What is our current maximum speed?"

"Warp Three, Ma'am!"

As calmly as even she could manage under the circumstances, she responded with, "Attempt to identify and correct the problem; Ms Michel, join Mr Gentry on the Auxiliary Engineering Station to assist in the task. Mr Neheru, raise the Ajax."

*

USS Ajax:

"Captain!" Kohanim almost shouted. "The Surefoot is decreasing speed to Warp 3!"

Weynik had been reviewing an inventory of their remaining weapons: 12 quantum torpedoes, 10 photon torpedoes, the main phaser banks charged but the pulse cannons down for capacitor replacement. "What? Raise them!"

"They're contacting us, Sir!"

The starfield shifted on the viewscreen to that of another Bridge, centred around a familiar Vulcan female. "Commander T'Varik? Where's your Captain? Injured?"

"No, Sir. We have Jem'Hadar onboard, but we're unable to detect or contain them. The Captain is on the Hunt."

Weynik grunted. "Well, the Dominion forces are regrouping, and heading back towards us to pick off any stragglers! Why are you slowing down?"

"We have been experiencing a growing number of malfunctions, possibly damage-related, possibly the result of sabotage. We are attempting to identify the cause, and correct."

Behind Weynik, Kohanim butted in to report, "Captain, another wave of Scarabs are on their way back, in our direction! Possibly running our subspace shifts!"

He looked back at T'Varik. "Any chance of a last-minute restoration of high warp?"

"That cannot be promised. Sir, in the absence of our own Captain, I will accede to your greater tactical experience."

The Roylan nodded and glanced over his shoulder, already planning on it. "Are we within their full sensor range yet, Mr Kohanim?"

"No, but we will be, in approximately two minutes."

"Then ready one of the high-warp target probes we used last month to help the Squabs on the Surefoot track enemy ships, rig it to emit the Surefoot's sensor signature, and prepare to launch it on a parallel course with us. Then send a general signal on all frequencies, that we're still alive and escorting our sister ship out of the Khavak system."

"A general signal guaranteed to be picked up by the Dominion, Sir?"

"Exactly." He looked back at T'Varik on the viewscreen. "Drop out of warp completely, Full Stop, and go on Silent Running. Their subspace sensors will fix on our high warp signature, but not to the point where they'll be able to tell they're only chasing one ship. Once we're gone, get back on your way and get to the rendezvous point by a different route. It'll take longer for you at Warp 3 if you don't get the problem fixed, but you're less likely to be detected."

The Vulcan nodded. "Acknowledged. Good luck, Sir. Surefoot out."

As the viewscreen returned to the starfield view, Kohanim updated him with, "Target probe ready, Sir."

"Launch. Helm, set a course for the Fleet, Warp Eight, engage now!"

As their ship jumped up to high warp, Weynik stared ahead, his hands gripping the arms of his chair tightly. It galled him to leave his best friend and his ship behind, but he knew that if they had stayed, the Dominion would have caught up with them both, and the resulting fight would have been both brief and inevitable.

Good luck, Brother. You and your family had damn well better survive.

*

USS Surefoot, Deck 3 Mid -- Science Lab:

Sreen lay swaddled and bundled up in Kami's arms, mewling despite her mother's efforts to comfort her. I could do with some comfort myself.

The lab was packed, with over thirty people, many youngsters around Misha's age, their anxiety fed by the occasional rocking that Kami's experience taught her came from collisions or impacts, and by the lack of communication from the Bridge and by Jhess' recent departure. Crewman Travers did her best to keep things under control, but her youth and lack of experience could only allow her to do so much.

Misha stood near the door, staring as if he could peer through the reinforced plating and multiple forcefields in place. "Is Jhess coming back?"

"I don't know, Sweetheart," she replied honestly. "He heard someone was in trouble, and went to help."

"I wanna help too!"

"You are. You're protecting your little sister and me, and everyone else in here." As she rocked an anxious Sreen in her grasp, feeling the growing tension in the confined space, she breathed out, calming herself, and began to sing an old Caitian lullaby:

"Cub of Mine, full of light

Rest your head on me tonight

Dark and stormy skies awoke you

Sleep, my cub, and peace becloak you."

The others in the room began to respond to her song, looking at her, listening, their arguments simmering, with children drawing closer to adults. Even Misha clung to his mother's leg now, as she wrapped her tail around him.

"Cub of Mine, full of love

Sleep beneath the stars above

I'll be with you 'til you slumber

Let your frets and woes discumber."

It was a placebo, she knew that, but as an old mentor once told her: Sometimes, placebos work.

"Cub of Mine, full of life

Free your brow from fear and strife

And as you go throughout your day

Know my heart will guide your way..."

*

Deck 4 Aft -- Main Engineering:

Zir ducked once more behind her wall as another bolt flew past her, spattering on the corridor wall behind her, joining the growing number of scorch marks and smoking craters there already.

On the other side of the doorway, Urad and Ree-Taan fired back, holding their own, but only just, the Miradorn male declaring, "This is intolerable! We can't stay here indefinitely!"

For once, Zir was in total agreement with him, though she suspected his sentiment was due to the Miradorn's lust for battle rather than an appreciation of the overall tactical situation... which seemed poor. There was no contact or communication with the rest of the ship, stirring terrible thoughts within her about what was going on, and the longer the Jem'Hadar and Cardassians held Engineering, the greater the chances of something terrible happening with the hostages, to them all.

She had to do something. But what if her actions ended up making things worse, infinitely worse? A stray shot could blow up the warp core or something! How could she live with that... assuming she lived? Assuming any of them lived?

There was a noise, and a familiar voice cursing, catching her attention from deep within Engineering.

Cautiously she peered around the corner again, looking past the support columns and conduits to the far end, where she saw half a dozen Cardassian soldiers dragging a fighting Tori into the Chief Engineer's office.

Urad saw her too. "TORI!"

Ree-Taan crouched as well to look. "What are they doing to her?"

Zir didn't answer. But she was a woman, and she saw the leers on the Cardassian males' faces.

She knew.

And she knew she had to take action. Now.

She turned her phaser to adjust the settings. "We're going in. Set your weapons to Kill... but be careful. I'm taking full responsibility. I'm setting the Proximity Alarm on this and throwing it. When they scatter, Urad, you lead the way; Ree-Taan, mindlink with your sister and tell her to follow us inside from the Auxiliary entrance at the same time." She looked up at them. "Ready?"

She turned on the phaser's alarm, its high-pitched screech cutting into her head as she swung back and lobbed it as far inside Engineering as she could, shouting, "GRENADE!"

As she had hoped, Jem'Hadar had emerged from behind their secure places to reassemble elsewhere.

"URAD... CHARGE!"

*

Tori fought still as she watched the Cardassians enter Chief Grev's office, several of them knocking over chairs and sweeping the contents of his desk away, while the ones holding her lifted her up bodily to set her down on her back on top of the smooth, cold surface, as she kicked out at them, struggling with the hot, leathery hands holding her wrists and ankles. "Get your fucking hands off me! Fucking let go of me, you limp-dicked little shitstains!"

Close at hand, Glinn Drurocc leaned in and laughed. "Now, is that any way to talk to your first lovers, child?"

She turned her head to him, working up enough saliva to spit into his face. "Fuck you! Fuck all of you to Hell! I'll fucking kill all of you! You, your fucking families, I'll burn your fucking planet to ashes-"

Drurocc drew back and slapped her across the face, shocking her into silence. Then he wiped the spittle from his face, turning to his comrades. "Just like the old days on Bajor, huh, boys?" As they made sounds of amused agreement, he continued, "Frankly, I don't care if her colleagues give up the command codes or not... time we enjoyed the Spoils of War."

Soldiers cheered and began working at the waistband to her trousers, trying to tug them down, as Drurocc drew down between her legs, obviously hoping to be first.

Tori lifted up her head, rage and terror driving her to curse them once more-

-Until she looked past them, through the tinted transparent aluminium walls of the Chief's office, to see a massive silhouette racing up, thunder filling the air with the pounding of giant boots on the bulkhead, as five hundred kilos of fury stampeded in their direction.

Cardassians at Tori's feet turned as well, in time to cry out as huge hands reached into the open doorway... and tore apart the wall entirely like it was Altairian featherwood, flinging the pieces behind him.

Urad Kaldron bellowed as he reached in, hands grabbing Cardassians and tossing them behind him as easily as he did the office walls, before finally grasping two of them nearest Tori's legs and slamming their heads together like eggs, sending the contents spraying outwards before tossing the bodies aside.

The Cardassians still holding onto Tori's wrists let her go to reach for their pistols... but allowing Tori to roll off the desk and tackle one of them, struggling with him. He was strong, snarling up at her with fury-

Until she saw the award flying on the floor near her: a dynospanner-shaped award the Chief said he had won years ago in a Starfleet competition. It was a source of considerable pride for the older Tellarite... and it was made of a heavy black marble.

She reached for it, swinging it down onto the Cardassian's head, again and again, seeing the dark red mix with the black marble-

A disruptor bolt almost singed her temple, and she drew back to see the other Cardassian aim again at her-

Until Urad's hand clamped around the Cardassian's and his pistol, crushing both and making him scream, before being flung out of what was left of the Chief's office,

"Tori?"

She looked up, seeing Urad leaning in, his thick skin covered in disruptor burns, his face no longer driven by rage, his other hand held out to her. "It's over, Comrade Little Sister. You're safe now."

Unable to take her eyes off him, she let the award drop from her grip as she rushed into her friend's protective arms, holding onto him for dear life.

*

Moments before, Zir and the Miradorn twins had followed Urad inside, letting him draw the attention of the Jem'Hadar and buying the other cadets time and opportunity. She slipped the other phaser she had concealed under her armoured vest as she assessed the situation instantly, spotted the hostages in the far corner of the Main Display Panel, huddled together on their knees, and she shouted to the hostages, "ON THE GROUND! NOW!" even as she continued firing, bringing down one Jem'Hadar, and then another, while the Twins worked with an uncanny unspoken precision, their telepathy making them move and operate almost as one unit, instinctively watching each other's backs and not wasting firing on the same target.

Zir dodged one disruptor bolt, turning a corner in time to see Urad literally rip open the front of the Chief's office, sending pieces flying... quickly followed by Cardassians, tumbling almost comically. She glanced in, saw Tori, alive, apparently unharmed, but her face pale with terror.

If Zir had left it a few minutes more...

Rage, at the enemy, at what they had wanted to do to her friend and crewmate, and rage at her own mistakes while in command, made her bare her teeth as the four Cardassians Urad tossed aside began recovering quickly, raising their weapons -- towards Urad's back. They hadn't even acknowledged her presence.

Idiots.

She fired, striking one Cardassian in the back of the head and sending him down. The others immediately turned and fired at her torso, striking her armour. The ablative material absorbed the disruptor bolts to a limited degree, but residual numbing energy travelled through her, making her drop her phaser.

One of them stopped, tried to tackle her, his hot breath on her face as he pinned her down, hands around her throat, as he snarled, "D-Dirty- Orion cu-"

The rest of his proclamation was lost, as if bled from him by the combat knife Zir had drawn and stabbed into his abdomen.

He let go instinctively, allowing Zir to shove him to one side, draw her blade out and reposition it in her grip as she rose. The other three Cardassians somehow forgot the advantage they had in numbers and arms, and charged her as once. Zir ducked the first one, slicing deep across his femoral artery and shoving him aside, before driving her boot into the groin of the second one. She twisted her knife to bring the tritanium hilt up into his nose, smashing it completely in a flower of blood and making him stagger back.

The third was ready for her, grabbing her arm and kicking the back of her right knee, sending her down as he raised his pistol to fire point blank at her head.

Until something -- someone -- pulled him off of her. Zir looked up to see Urad slam the last Cardassian down to the bulkhead... and drive his boot down with all of his weight onto the invader's torso, crushing the sternum utterly. Then he moved to the wounded Cardassians remaining.

"Enough, Cadet!" Zir found herself ordering, rising to her feet, hoping her friend would listen to her.

Fortunately, he did, though he looked reluctant... as did Tori, clinging onto his left arm like a child at her first day at school.

Zir grabbed her fallen phaser and rose to unsteady feet, looking to the surviving Cardassians but calling out, "Report!"

From around the corner, Ree-Taan responded, "Jem'Hadar dead, prisoners freed... two casualties, Ma'am: Chief Grev and Ensign Yeager."

Zir felt stunned... she had left it too late to help them. "Rei-Taan, stand guard at the door. Ree-Taan, see about moving those Jem'Hadar bodies out into the corridor." Then she focused on one of the surviving Cardassians, one with officer's insignia. "You: surrender and cooperate."

He looked up at her with pain-laced contempt. "Under the Galactic Rules of Engagement, as Prisoners of War we have a right to proper medical treatment to deal with the barbaric treatment we have received by you and the other members of Starfleet-"

His further protest was cut off by Tori, who started towards him with a murderous look in her eyes. "Shut your fucking mouth! What do you call what you wanted to do to me, you bastard?"

He sneered up at her. "Shore Leave."

Now Urad stepped forward... and the Cardassian crawled backwards like a frightened, wounded animal, looking to Zir again pleadingly now. "Keep that monster back! It has no right-"

Zir raised her phaser at his head, silencing him. "Shut up. Shut up, or I'll walk away for thirty seconds, and believe whatever my friends tell me about what happened to you."

*

Hrelle raced down the corridor once he heard the last of the firefight and smelled the blood in the air, even as he sensed that he had missed most of it. He slowed down as he saw one of the Miradorn cadets emerge, raising a phaser. "HOLD YOUR FIRE!" He nodded to the cadet as he approached and passed him.

And entered a charnel house; the bodies of half a dozen Jem'Hadar lay sprawled around Engineering, the Chief's office looked like a bomb had detonated within, and there were six or more Cardassians... though the exact number was uncertain, given the state of some of them, obviously the work of Urad Kaldron. Mother's Cubs, he literally pulverised some of them...

Zir Dassene and the rest of her Security team were covered in the blood of others, they had taken disruptor bolts to their armour and themselves, and their expressions were haggard and stunned and exhausted to varying degrees. Zir approached him, her phaser still in hand but hanging at her side, her voice cracking slightly as she straightened up and announced, "Sir, Cadet Zir Dassene reporting as ordered: a group of enemy soldiers... beamed into Engineering and took hostages. We held off as long as we could, expecting reinforcements or communication, before I- I-

On my authority, I ordered my team to attempt to free the hostages. We have Cardassian POWs, all requiring medical treatment before incarceration. Unfortunately, there are two casualties among our side: Chief Grev and Ensign Yeager."

Hrelle started, following the eyes of the Orion girl as they fixed on two bodies lying together near one of the Auxiliary stations, their chests and heads covered with Starfleet jackets.

Mother's Cubs... he had known Grev for years, had been one of the first crew he had met and recruited to join the old Surefoot. And Nancy... she had grown so much from that angry little thing he remembered giving Jonas such a hard time after the Rising Star incident. She'd had so much potential... so much more life ahead of her...

"Sir," Zir cut into his thoughts. "I must accept full responsibility for their deaths. I didn't act in time-"

"That's not true!" Arad Maf stepped forward from the others, the Bajoran male looking shaken, but determined to speak. "Sir, Chief Grev was killed almost immediately from the moment those animals beamed in, when he locked out the command systems! And Nancy chose to die rather than reveal the codes! Cadet Dassene couldn't have saved either of them! And if she hadn't acted when she did, when those bastard Cardassians took Tori into the Chief's office-"