Surefoot 56: Shelter from the Storm

"There's a Jem'Hadar task force also heading towards the system!" Kohanim called out over the ambient noises.

Weynik ground his teeth; he could have gone the whole week without hearing that. But he bolstered himself and replied, "Then let's get ready to give them a bad day: Red Alert!"

*

Hrelle stopped when he heard the sounds of frightened children.

He had been crawling through a horizontal tube, when the scent reached his nose, and he stopped and listened, before crawling back, unlocking a floor hatch and quietly sliding it open, thankful that the power was still out down there, though his night vision and other senses compensated.

He took in what he sensed within: a room of rows of medical scanners and biobeds, eighteen or twenty children -- all human, all girls, all aged from six to twelve, and all scared -- and two human male adults by the door, alternating their attentions between trying to calm the children, trying to calm each other, and trying to access the station's comm system, all to varying levels of failure:

"Get the damn door open, Mr White!"

"I can only do so much, Pinkman!"

"I want the lights back on!"

"What's going on?"

"I want to go to my room!"

"Tabitha, just stay where you are, the power will be back on before you know it-"

"Yo, Mr White, is it the Dominion?"

"How the Hell would I know? I'm literally in the dark, just like you! Where's Security? They're supposed to be here by now!"

"I have to go to the bathroom!"

"You will, soon, Charlotte, I promise-"

"It's Starfleet, isn't it, Mr White?"

"Shut up, Pinkman! You're supposed to be an adult, now act like it!"

As quickly and as silently as he could, Hrelle emerged through the maintenance hatch into the room.

"Starfleet? Starfleet's here? President Agar said they were all killed!"

"They were, Avesta! There is no Starfleet anymore! President Agar has saved all of us! Now just stay quiet!"

"No! You lie! You're lying to us!"

"Do you want to get hit again, Avesta? Do you?"

Hrelle bared his claws.

He continued his approach, his eyes adjusting further, seeing the children around him and moving around them unnoticed, staying focused on the two adults near the door, one of them holding a PADD and using its minimal light to illuminate his attempts to manually open the door. One of the taller, older-sounding girls, was standing before them, declaring, "You'd better let us go! Starfleet's here! They're gonna take care of all of you!"

One of the adults' fear scent heightened. "Mr White-"

The other adult, sounding older than the first, blindly reached out in the direction of the girl confronting them. He found her, grabbed her roughly by the shoulder, shaking her. "Avesta, for the last time, THERE IS NO STARFLEET ANYMORE!"

Hrelle drew out the torch he had taken from one of the guards and shone it full in the adult's face. "Wanna bet?"

The human, a bald, bearded, pale-skinned man, blinked and covered his eyes. "Who the fu-"

"Language." Hrelle smacked the man across the jaw with the torch, sending him flying into an unoccupied computer station, before handing the girl the torch. "Hold this for me, would you, please?"

Then he rushed up to the other adult and slammed him into the nearest wall, before bringing his claws up to the human's throat, his teeth bared. "What's going on here? Who are you? What are you doing with these cubs?"

The fear practically dripped from him, and he was shuddering so much he looked on the verge of collapse. "I- I didn't- I'm not r-responsible- I'm not in charge-"

"Did I ask any of that?" Hrelle demanded, letting his claws pierce the soft flesh they encountered. "DID I?"

"His name's Mr Pinkman," the girl told him, shining the torchlight onto the man's pale, sweaty face. When Hrelle looked to her, she continued. "He and Mr White are supposed to be getting us ready to go into stasis tubes until the Galaxy's safe again."

Hrelle allowed himself to be impressed by the girl's composure -- so much like another little girl he knew -- and deliberately softened his expression, knowing she and the other youngsters were looking at him now, and he needed their cooperation, not their fear. "Hello there! I'm Captain Hrelle, of the Starfleet vessel Surefoot. What's your name? Where did you come from?"

The girl straightened up like she was being addressed by a teacher, accentuating her reminding him of Sasha. "Aveste Pevan, Sir. We were being evacuated from the New Masshad Colony because of the Dominion. We were supposed to go to Starbase 225 to be with our families. But we were brought here, we met President Agar. He said the Federation had fallen, but he was gonna save us."

Hrelle looked back at Pinkman. "And why are they here? Agar should have everyone he needs already. Why would he take children as well? 0He's not the altruistic type."

The human was shuddering, his eyes wide. "I- I don't know, I swear-"

"You're a liar!" Aveste accused him angrily. "You and Mr White told us President Agar wants us all to have babies when we wake up!"

Hrelle tightened his grip around Pinkman's throat until the latter could barely breathe, glancing down and seeing a discarded PADD. He tried bending down to pick it up -- only for Aveste to draw up and help him. "Thank you." He brought the screen to life, saw medical files on the children... including fertility scans.

Hrelle bared his teeth further, idly wondering how difficult it would be to insert the PADD into the technician, even as he continued to speak with the girl. "Well, that doesn't sound like any fun at all, Aveste. How long have you been here?"

She breathed in, swallowing. "Two weeks, I think, Sir; they said- they said the Federation had fallen..." Her hazel eyes widened up at him, and the frightened little cub behind the brave young woman who stood before him appeared now. "It hasn't... has it?"

He looked at her, his heart breaking a little at what she, and the others, had undergone, and smiled warmly. "No. It most certainly has not. And I promise I'm going to get all of you back to your families." He looked back at Pinkman, teeth bared once more. "And you're going to help me do that very thing, aren't you?" Then he leaned in close to the technician's left ear as he added in an almost-intimate whisper, "Because I bet you've thought of better ways to die than having your own balls ripped off and shoved down your throat. Haven't you?"

From the sound of urine running down the human's trouser leg, he had.

*

"Lieutenant," Sasha's voice announced within C'Rash's helmet, "The Engineering Team have returned."

"About fricking time," the Caitian acknowledged, having fully expected the station to begin raining down weapons fire on them by now. She dropped to one knee. "All Team Members: Now!" As she saw Stalac slither along the hull towards the clamps, she opened her kit and drew together the component pieces of her phaser, moving as quickly as she could, not knowing how much time they would have before the station personnel grew suspicious-

From the corner of her eye, she saw the weapons array above flare with life.

"FIRE WHEN READY! WEAPONS POD FIRST!" She finished assembling her rifle, aimed and began firing upwards, taking a second to adjust her aim as she continued. Seconds later, her orange beam was joined by others. The pod flared up and exploded silently.

"Secondary targets now!" C'Rash ordered. She glanced over at Stalac, who had almost finished burning through the first clamp, and was now moving to the next one, leaving a smoking trail of acid on the hull that thankfully did not appear to be eating through.

The rest of the team were striking their designated targets... including Sakuth, though she seemed to be having less effect. "Captain, what's wrong?"

The Vulcan continued to fire. "The area around the cloaking projector is reinforced, and the warping nature of the cloak itself is diminishing the strength of my phaser beam."

C'Rash began moving to join her... just as she saw something slide open on the side of the station, where they would most likely have their- "Shuttledeck! They're launching shuttles!"

From the widening rectangular maw of the station's Shuttledeck doors, a half-dozen delta-shaped vehicles emerged.

"I believe they are starfighters, not shuttles," Sakuth corrected her.

The fighters banked in a wide arc upwards, before aiming for the dorsal side of the Surefoot.

Mother's Cubs... "ALL UNITS, OPEN FIRE!"

*

On the Bridge, T'Varik examined the readings. "Red Alert! Lt Hrelle, status?"

Sasha glanced at her station as the crimson lights overhead eclipsed the broad white, and the klaxons sounded. "The Security Team's attack has only been partially effective, the station still has partial dampeners up, but Mr Stalac's almost burned away the second clamp."

"Mr Arrington, prepare to break us free of the station's airlock, but take care, we still have people outside. Ensign Kaldron, arm phasers only, no torpedoes, they're too small and fast-"

"Commander!" Sash called out. "The station's cloak is failing!"

T'Varik looked up, seeing the view from beyond.

And almost cursed.

*

The nightmare swirls of a Universe from behind a cloak abruptly dropped away, in favour of a battle in space, as thirty-six scarab-shaped Jem'Hadar attack ships engaged with the Ajax and the Mother's Fury, their phaser pulse beams and disruptor wave cannons lighting up the sky.

With the station, the station's own starfighters, and the Surefoot, all caught in the middle.

*

"Helm, Evasive Manoeuvres!" T'Varik ordered. "Sasha, lock onto the Security Team and beam them onboard!"

"Commander!" Urad called out. "Shields have just snapped on-"

The ship rocked under Jem'Hadar disruptor fire, dropping away.

*

"HOLD ON!" C'Rash screamed in her helmet as the ship banked sharply away from the station, tearing the airlock tunnel from it like a piece of skin.

Around her, her team obeyed.

Ironically, she didn't take her own advice, and felt the momentum overcome her gravity boots, and she was launched into space-

*

"Captain Hrelle?" Agar's voice spoke overhead. "I know you're listening. We've tracked you to Medical Bay 4. My compliments on evading capture."

Hrelle looked up. "Evading being killed, you mean."

"Po-tay-to, po-tah-to. It's over, Captain. I know you're in there with my children."

Hrelle bared his teeth. "They're not 'yours', you filthy maggot! You abducted them!"

"I saved them. They will now serve a far greater role in my New Age than they could ever have dreamed of in their old, paltry lives."

"And if they don't choose to do that?"

There was a pause, and then Agar continued. "Captain, further debate is pointless. We have sealed up the maintenance tubes leading into that room. The only way out is through the door. Surrender, or we will destroy your ship."

Hrelle grunted. "You have that planned anyway. Kiss my furry ass." At the reaction of some of the children, he added to them, sotte voce, "Swearing's not big or clever."

Suddenly he looked up, hearing the hiss of air being pumped in- no, being drawn out.

"Captain, surrender now, or you'll die of suffocation in there."

His heart raced. "The children! They're in here, too, Agar! They'll be killed as well!"

Agar's response was as succinct as it was chilling. "Survival of the Fittest."

He looked around, seeing the rising panic in the children. He had no choice. "Okay, Agar! You win! I'm coming out! Stop it! NOW!"

Seconds later, the hissing stopped.

"We're diverting power locally to the door," Agar informed him. "Step out slowly, unarmed, hands raised. You'll be taken into custody, unharmed. You have my word."

Hrelle grunted -- the man's word, and some spit, was worth the spit -- but replied, "Acknowledged." He looked to the children, to Aveste. "Stay close together, take hands, form a chain, watch out for each other, but stay in here until I tell you different."

Aveste, looking fearful, nodded regardless, and motioned to the other girls to link hands.

Closer to Hrelle, Pinkman, who had been silent since he wet himself, now offered a sneer. "Not so tough now, are you?"

Beside Hrelle, the door powered up, a beep indicating it was operational again. He gripped his remaining disruptor as he looked back at the human. "I have my moments."

His eyes still on Pinkman, Hrelle reached out, activated the door.

It slid open.

Hrelle shoved Pinkman out, the human immediately getting caught in a crossfire of disruptor beams.

Behind Hrelle, the girls screamed, but he couldn't help them now, reaching out just enough with his own disruptor to fire overhead at the ceiling lights, and then dropping to fire again and again at the legs of the guards waiting outside, before launching himself outward...

*

C'Rash felt herself flung out, ready to tumble into the Void, probably to end up in an exhaust vent or shot to fu-

A gloved hand clamped around her wrist: Sakuth, her other glove's gravity units reinforcing her boots' security to the hull. "Hold on, Lieutenant!"

C'Rash felt like her arm was about to be wrenched from its socket, but she gritted her teeth and forced her way back to the hull beside the Vulcan. "Th- Thanks-" She looked around, confirmed her team were clinging to the skin of the ship like leeches, unable to make their way back to the hatch while the ship engaged in the most stomach-churning manoeuvres, and- Seven Hells, was that the Mother's Fury out there? The Matriarch's ship?

*

"Attack Pattern Five!" Weynik barked, gripping the arms of his chair as they took out another Jem'Hadar ship, and then the last of the starfighters attacking the Surefoot. He had no damn idea what that space station was, or why it had been cloaked, but he figured he'd get a good story out of Captain Meatball when all of this was over and they were safe.

"Three final Scarabs closing in on the Surefoot!" Kohanim called out.

Weynik was prepared to launch an intercept run... when the Caitian flagship beat him to it, opening up a wicked volley of missiles that finished the last of the attackers. Remind me not to rub that cat's fur up the wrong way...

*

Chief Maryk cursed from behind the controls of Transporter Room 1, as the pads filled with an avalanche of spacesuited Security personnel, and one apologetic Horta, slithering off of Neraxis. "Forgive me, Lieutenant! I didn't mean to get so familiar with you!"

Neraxis helped herself up, removing her helmet and wiping her beaded blue brow before helping the others. "Don't- Don't tell my husband, he's the jealous type..."

C'Rash steadied herself, removing her own helmet and helping Sakuth up, her feelings clear in her eyes. "Thanks for what you did out there."

Sakuth took off her own helmet, frowning. "Gratitude is unnecessary, Lieutenant. Whatever else you might think of me, I remain a loyal, disciplined Starfleet officer."

C'Rash grunted.

The Vulcan raised an eyebrow to the reaction. "That your partner will inevitably be forced to acknowledge her gratitude to me for my actions had no bearing whatsoever on what I did."

C'Rash grunted again.

*

Hrelle cursed as a disruptor beam caught him in the side, but he charged forward anyway, roaring, slamming into three of them, sending all and himself to the floor, as he clawed and tore, making blood spurt and men cry out in pain-

His combadge chirped, and Sasha's voice. "Dad, stand by for Emergency Beam Out-"

"NO!" He struggled to reach up to his combadge to slap it in response, choking as he demanded, "Hostages here! Beam out everyone in the area! EVERYONE! EVERY-"

Quantum mist enveloped him-

-Dropping him, and the four guards he was grappling with, onto the cold, hard deck of the Surefoot's Shuttlebay, the largest open area to transport as many people as possible at once. His senses were overwhelmed with the hundreds of people already here, the survivors he had been caring for-

Below him, someone drove a blade into his gut.

He ignored it, looking behind him, seeing the abducted children behind him, huddled together, watching.. and Captain Price stood by, confused, aghast at the scene. Hrelle pointed to the children. "PRICE! GET THEM AWAY! DON'T LET THEM SEE THIS!"

Price, to his credit, moved quickly, along with several of his people, swiftly ushering Aveste and the others out of sight.

Good.

Hrelle turned back to the nearest guard, roaring as he swiftly and efficiently crushed his windpipe with a single blow. The second one went with a sharp sound of his neck breaking that made the onlookers gasp. The third was luckier, passing out with a broken kneecap but still alive, with the fourth one screaming as Hrelle broke his arm and left him on the ground.

Hrelle staggered to his feet, as several of his Security people worked their way through the crowds. He clutched his side; the blade was still there, so he kept it in place as he ordered, "Get them to the Brig, or the Morgue. Don't care which at this stage." He ignored the terrified looks he received from the people around him as he hobbled to the exit, his bloody paw touching his combadge. "Good work, Sasha, what's our status?"

T'Varik responded this time. "Captain, we've repaired the damage, Lt Shall and her team are back inside, and the Ajax and the Mother's Fury have dealt with the Jem'Hadar attack force, but there is another enemy battalion, along with a Battlecruiser, on its way, ETA 23 minutes."

"Acknowledged. I found children over there, refugees from the New Masshad Colony. Get a Sickbay and Counseling team down here, on the double! I'm on my way up."

Moments later, he entered the Bridge, ignoring the reactions of Sasha and the others to stare at the image of the space station on the viewscreen. "Hail Agar One."

T'Varik had risen from the Captain's chair, staring at his bloodied state, before nodding to Sasha.

Seconds later, the image was replaced by the man himself, looking furious. "How dare you! You have some nerve contacting us after the chaos-"

His protests dropped like lead weights as Hrelle roared at him. When he had control of the conversation, he continued, "You're guilty of abduction of Federation citizens, slave trafficking, and attempted murder. I'm giving you one chance to surrender. Only one."

Agar sneered. "You pathetic animal! I've told you already, this is an Independent Sovereign State! You have no authority over us! Weren't you listening?"

He grunted. "Yes, I was. I just wanted your answer for the record, in case I'm asked why I left you at the tender mercies of the Jem'Hadar reinforcements on their way here now."

Agar's sneer dropped. "What?"

"You can confirm it once you get your remote sensors back online... but by then, it will be too late. Like you, they appreciate the notion of Survival of the Fittest. I'm sure you'll have a fine negotiation with them, especially when they arrive and see the wreckage of all of their ships here, and you the obvious cause of it.

So much for your New Age... but then of course, you were only President-For-Life. End Transmission."

Agar's horrified face vanished, as Hrelle turned to T'Varik. "Hail the Mother's Fury, ask them if they can take us and the Ajax in their Prowl field before the incoming Jem'Hadar detect us... and then... set a course for home." He looked down, seeing drops of blood dripping onto the floor from the wound around the knife still embedded in him. "Meanwhile, I'll get to Sickbay before my wife sees me and kills me ahead of my wounds."