Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile

Episode 27: The Tallamatrix

(Stardate 48837)

By

Jay P. Hailey

And

Dennnis Washburn

 

"On paper our war with the Phoenix Domain looked like a win." Kevin Mitchell said. He was a tall, lanky man with brown hair and a permanently relaxed attitude. "We all know that it was actually stalemated towards the end by the Lucifer."

In the briefing room of the USS Endeavor, Mitchell was addressing his senior officers. "When we were called away by Starfleet Command to continue our patrol, a number of you expressed reservations." He said.

"Without us here, the sector was a sitting duck for the Lucifer." Miriah Katasai said, summarizing the concerns.

"Yes. That's true." Mitchell said. "The response was supposed to be this." He waved at a view screen and it lit up to show a Federation Ambassador class starship. "This was the USS Tallamatrix. She was assigned to guard this sector after we went on our way."

"Why? Why not just leave us here?" Paul Durango asked. He was the Science Officer of the Endeavor and the unofficial chief hacker.

"The Endeavor is a ship of the line. Our crew are mostly officers and specialists. Starfleet felt that we could serve better elsewhere. The Tallamatrix was mostly crewed by reservists from the Great Spiral Sector." Mitchell explained.

"Unless the Tallamatrix was modernized, she would be no match for the Lucifer." Enrico Watabe said. He was the Tactical Specialist and Chief of Security for the Endeavor. He had been trained to excel at all levels of war from dirty commando fights to strategic level campaigns. He had a point. The design of the Ambassador class was forty years old.

"The Tallamatrix was newly built at the Starbase 94 shipyards." Mitchell said. "She was modernized in the design stage."

"Still, the Tallamatrix would not be a match for the Lucifer." Enrico said.

"Interesting. What makes you say that?" Mitchell asked.

"They did not have me."

"Well. Be that as it may, the Tallamatrix did have one weapon that they hoped would even the odds." Mitchell said.

"You said 'hoped' as in the past tense." Genevieve Quest, the Chief Engineer pointed out.

"I'm getting to that." Mitchell said. "What the Tallamatrix had up her sleeve was this." He waved his hand at the display again and it changed to display a cut away drawing of the Federation starship. The drawing showed some huge device taking up a sizable portion of the ship's engineering hull. "An anti-proton cannon."

"My God!" Genevieve said. "The power curve must have been enormous!"

"Nothing could stand against it." Miriah Katasai said.

"What happened?" Durango asked.

"The Tallamatrix was attacked and captured well inside Federation space." Mitchell said.

"Did they get the weapon?" Watabe asked.

"What happened to the crew?" Miriah asked.

Mitchell took a deep breath. "They captured the Tallamatrix. They got enough to reconstruct the weapon, given time. We don't know about the crew yet."

"Oh, boy. I can guess what our mission is." Durango said.

"That's correct. We are to take back the Tallamatrix or at least keep the weapon out of the hands of the Phoenix Domain." Captain Mitchell said.

"What about the crew?" Miriah asked, although she was sure she knew what the answer was going to be.

"If the Phoenix Domain is able to recreate the anti-proton cannon, then more than just the crew of the Tallamatrix are in danger." Watabe said.

"If it were you, you'd sure want to be rescued." Genevieve said.

"If it were me, I'd want Starfleet to take the actions necessary for the survival of the Federation." Watabe said. No one had any reason to doubt him. He was ready, if not eager to suffer torture and death to forward the cause of the Federation.

"Unfortunately, Watabe's on the mark with this one. If the Phoenix Domain replicates the anti-proton cannon, then whole worlds are at stake. We have to settle that first and then rescue as many of the crew as we can on the way out."

"Isn't this a job better suited to Starfleet Intelligence?" Miriah asked.

"I asked that but the answer was vague. If I had to guess I'd say that they don't have any assets that they can move into position quickly enough." Mitchell speculated.

"Great." Miriah growled.

"Mr. Watabe, I'll need a plan as soon as you can bang one out. Until then, set course for the Phoenix Sector and engage."

-*-

The Phoenix Sector was named for a large nebula that dominates one border of it. The nebula, when seen from certain angles resembles the mythic Phoenix taking flight. It was a handy landmark for navigation in the sector and a pretty decoration in the night skies of worlds all over the sector.

-*-

"Tell me about the war against the Phoenix Domain." Kevas asked Miriah. They were lounging in his quarters. Their affair was rapidly becoming serious. They began to spend more and more time together.

Kevas Quatros was a Betazoid/Klingon. He was tall and his ridges were not as pronounced as a full blooded Klingon's. He had a merry twinkle in his black eyes. It was as if the whole universe was some private joke that only he was in on. Miriah was beginning to appreciate his wry humor and quirky sensitivities.

"I don't know how much of that you know." Miriah said. He had only transferred onto the Endeavor in the later parts of the campaign. Miriah had been very busy at that time and hadn't really gotten to know any of the newer crew members until later.

"Assume I know nothing and start at the beginning." Kevas said.

Miriah took a deep breath and organized her thoughts. "The Phoenix Domain comes from the Great Spiral Sector, nearby. One hundred and twenty years ago the Federation contacted the Great Spiral. The worlds there had an alliance, not too unlike the Federation. The relationship began peaceably enough. Then the subject of joining the Federation came up. Some of the worlds liked the stability that the Federation represented, while others saw the Federation as an obstacle on the route to power. The two factions had a civil war. When it was over, the winners joined the Federation as The Great Spiral Sector, and the losers fled. They founded a society based on their ideas of strength and power. That was the Phoenix Domain.

Later, the Federation and the Phoenix Domain began to expand into the Phoenix Sector and there was some tension. The Phoenix Domain was not shy about invading worlds that they coveted. Their expansion was halted. They were stalemated. The Federation didn't want to be put in the position of exterminating small anti-Federation states, so they compromised and took up a stance of containing the Phoenix Domain.

There was a planet named Beehive that contained many examples of silicon life. The Phoenix Domain and the Federation both claimed the world. The Federation negotiated a joint administration of the world. Many of the life forms were found useful for industrial purposes. A species of silicon tree was found to be very useful for building advanced computers.

A few years ago I was given my first assignment as a First Officer. I was assigned to the USS Kongo. She was an old ship, but modernized. She was good enough to do what we had to do. Mitchell was the Captain. Much of the crew was the same as on the Endeavor. We were sent to patrol the Phoenix Sector and prepare to neutralize the Phoenix Domain's attempts to expand in the sector.

We put in at Chelsea, the Federation capital of the sector and they asked us to go to Beehive and secure some samples of crystal trees. They had sent freighters and free traders but the Phoenix Domain always objected to the removal of the trees.

We went to Beehive and secured several samples of crystal trees. The Phoenix Domain said nothing to us. We warped away back towards Chelsea just as calm as you please. Then someone hacked into the computer and began a violent and desperate battle over control of the Kongo. We were able to hold the main computer, but the invaders got control of the engineering computers. They took control of the warp drive and turned the ship back towards Beehive. Then they began to sabotage the Kongo's life support system.

We discovered that the trees were not just silicon life forms with electronic properties. We discovered that they were sentient beings. They meant to kill us and to use our ship to spread across the sector and to wage war against organic life.

We fought as hard as we could to get the trees out of our computer but we were no match for living sentient computers. We tried to destroy them physically, but they used the systems of the Kongo against us.

As the Kongo neared Beehive, Captain Mitchell made a decision that the Kongo would not be used like that. He vented the hot drive plasma out through the drive nacelles. That destroyed the Kongo's warp drive.

Not long after, Watabe discovered the weakness of the trees and we were able to get them off the Kongo. It was too late for the ship. We were taken back to Starbase 94 and there we were assigned to the starship Endeavor. She was a newer ship. Better in many ways than the Kongo. We were sent back into the Phoenix Sector.

Understand that the Phoenix Domain hates the Federation. They don't have high enough technology to compete with us militarily. The only way they were able to close the gap with us in terms of computer technology was to use the crystals harvested from the crystal trees. Essentially they had been harvesting sentient creatures to run their ships.

Honestly I don't think that the crystal trees were surprised or especially outraged by this. It seemed as though they hated organic creatures anyway and simply expected us to behave this way. I'm told that afterwards, they even tried to buy weapons and starships using pieces of their own dead.

The Federation may have been indecisive in dealing with the Phoenix Domain, but when it came to genocide, they really got behind us. The Endeavor was sent to end the Phoenix Domain's presence on Beehive, to protect the trees from harvest and to protect the rest of us from the trees. There was a short battle, but the Phoenix Domain had nothing that could really stand up to the Endeavor.

Then we set up the Kongo to become a sort of system defense boat. If it was in impulse range of Beehive, the Kongo could still put up a powerful fight. With Beehive so covered, we continued with our patrol.

We stopped at Lungold. This Federation world had been as prosperous and wealthy as Chelsea. Then they got the blue plague. The population was decimated, and their civilization threatened to collapse.

Our Chief Medical Officer, Starcloud-to-Ennienen demanded to be put down on Lungold with medical equipment. She would not take no for an answer. Captain Mitchell sent her down and called for a replacement Chief Medical Officer.

Starcloud confounded us when she discovered the cure to the blue plague. Federation medical teams had been struggling with it for years. It seemed as though there would never be a cure. Starcloud found it in four weeks.

When she returned to the Endeavor, she hit us with the secret that her research revealed. The blue plague on Lungold was not natural. It was an artificial virus. No one knew who had actually done it, but all eyes turned towards the Phoenix Domain. Accusations were exchanged and tensions began to run high.

Then the Phoenix Domain came to us under a flag of truce. They said they wanted to negotiate but what they really wanted was a chance to eliminate the Endeavor. They felt that if they could get rid of us, then they could capture or demolish all of the Federation worlds in the sector before the next big starship arrived.

Watabe was too paranoid for them. When they launched their sneak attack, the Endeavor was ready. We destroyed two of their old dreadnoughts and captured one more, the Domination. I renamed her the Reformation. She was my prize ship." Miriah sighed.

"Anyway, as soon as word of the defeat leaked out, the Phoenix Domain declared war on the Federation and attacked with everything they had. The Endeavor was faster than any of their ships. We out gunned any of their ships. We were busy for several weeks destroying incoming attacks. Several of the Federation worlds in the sector did not have adequate defenses. We would spot an invasion fleet and intercept it. After destroying their escort, we would damage or destroy enough of the transports to ensure that the invasion of the target world would fail. Then it was off to intercept another attack.

They tried to assemble big fleets to attack the Endeavor. Watabe would always spot the fleets forming up. Then we would do hit and run raids until the fleet was destroyed or broken up.

After a while reinforcements arrived from the Great Spiral Sector. Old destroyers from the time of their civil war. The ships were modernized as much as possible, but they were still slow in warp. So Watabe arranged them in defensive formations and the Endeavor went on the attack. No invasion or major offensive could succeed against the old destroyers, especially if we were there to cripple it first. This freed us to attack targets inside the Phoenix Domain.

Winterjewel, Shiva and Videga were all independent worlds that had been conquered by the Phoenix Domain. We attacked the occupation forces. After destroying or driving away anything in orbit, we would spend hours shooting any Phoenix Domain military targets on the ground. We even destroyed communications centers, command posts and power systems. Then we beamed weapons and supplies down to the native resistance. After we were done mauling the occupation forces it was a much more even match between the armed rebels and the Phoenix Domain occupation. All three worlds eventually won their freedom.

All in all we destroyed more than a third of their fleet and eliminated a lot of war production. Then the tide turned. The Phoenix Domain launched the Lucifer. She was as fast as we were and as well armed. We had several engagements with them, but nothing too serious. Captain Mitchell didn't want to loose the Endeavor and then have the Lucifer go on a rampage, and the Phoenix Domain can't build another ship like the Lucifer unless they retake Beehive and make it stick.

The Phoenix Domain asked for a cease fire and the Federation was happy to oblige. Beehive, Winterjewel, Videga and Shiva are all free now and the Phoenix Domain is stalemated. Unless they can duplicate the anti-proton cannon. Then they'll put it in the Lucifer and the Lucifer will destroy all opposition in the sector."

"How did you feel about the war?" Kevas asked.

Miriah sighed. "Honestly, I was glad when it was over."

"Really?" Kevas asked.

"I may be a Klingon but I'm not a killer." Miriah growled. "It was no fun after a while blowing up PD destroyers. They had no chance against us. The crews were only following their orders. The maniacs who gave the orders were never hurt, just their hapless flunkies."

"And that bothers you," Kevas led.

"Yes. I would much rather beam into Duke Osric's throne room with a Bat'leth and have it out right there than massacre a bunch of people who were just following orders."

"Interesting." Kevas said.

"Why? What about you? How do you feel about this?" Miriah asked Kevas.

"I feel much the way that you do." He said. "I am not so much blood thirsty as competitive. I would love to face the leadership of the Phoenix Domain face to face rather than blowing things up all over the sector."

"Not the most Klingon of attitudes." Miriah mused.

"Really?" Kevas asked.

"No. The average Klingon would revel in mass destruction. They see that as the mark of the warrior." Miriah said.

"How many average Klingons have you known?" Kevas asked.

"I met a few when I visited Qo'noS." Miriah admitted.

"Who taught you?" Kevas asked.

"My father taught me the Way of the Warrior." Miriah said, using the formal name.

"Was he average?" Kevas asked.

"No. He emigrated to the Federation to practice his craft. He was a civil engineer. He found more respect for it in the Federation than in the Empire." Miriah said. "Who taught you?"

"My mother." Kevas said.

"Your mother is Klingon?" Miriah asked.

"Yes." Kevas looked at her. "You didn't expect that."

"No. I just assumed..." Miriah said. She tried to imagine a Betazoid man wooing a Klingon woman and failed.

"Not the best of habits." Kevas said.

"Tell me what happened." Miriah asked. It was the first time they had discussed family history.

"My mother was of the House M'Chok." Kevas said.

"I don't recognize the name." Miriah said.

"You wouldn't. It was destroyed about thirty-five years ago." Kevas said.

"Your mother survived it?" Miriah asked. It was rare for a Klingon to survive the fall of his house.

"She was on a starship on a deep space probe. When they returned to base, she was informed." Kevas said.

"And," Miriah prompted.

"They expected her to kill herself honorably. She refused. The Klingons expected her to behave as a dutiful wife or sister and go down with her house. She wanted to take up her family name and keep fighting." Kevas said.

"What happened then?" Miriah asked. She was pretty sure she could figure it out.

"She was discommodated and expelled from 'civilized' territory." Kevas said.

"How did she come to meet your father?" Miriah asked.

"After some time as a mercenary in the Federation, fighting pirates and small wars, she realized that she had no focus. She was just acting out the role expected of a Klingon who was unjustly dishonored. She found a job fighting and just kept on fighting. When she realized what she was doing, she resolved to break out of the proper role and try to gain some power over her life. Not too long after that, she discovered that Betazed was seeking trainers for its self defense force."

"Betazed has a self defense force?" Miriah tried to hide a smile. The idea of Betazoids trying to form a military amused her.

"Yes. Their uniforms are lavender." Kevas said. He waited patiently through Miriah's laughter. "My mother applied and was accepted. She taught the Betazoids how to fight."

"How did they do?" Miriah asked.

"My mother said that the Betazoids are not as weak as popular opinion would have them." Kevas said.

"And your father?" Miriah asked.

"He was in one of my mother's first boot camp classes." Kevas said.

"That must have been interesting. What does your father do?" Miriah asked.

"In daily life he is an accountant." Kevas said. He expected Miriah to laugh again. She did not. "He is still in the self defense reserve. They are married and their relationship is strong to this day." Kevas said.

Miriah tried again to picture it. "I hope I get to meet them some day."

"Perhaps." Kevas said.

-*-

"Captain," Watabe said. "I believe I have a plan."

"Well come on in and let's see what you have." Mitchell gestured Watabe into his office.

Watabe put an isolinear chip into the terminal on the Captain's desk and punched in an access code. "This is a recording of the long distance scans taken by Chelsea. The Phoenix Domain ships took the Tallamatrix back onto their territory and kept going. They seem to have towed the ship into the Phoenix Nebula. Intelligence reports suggest that they have a secret police base in there. If that's true, then there's very little hope of getting close to them with the Endeavor."

"Are you sure?" Mitchell asked.

"Yes, Sir. They have bases here and here, that could scramble ships to meet us. The battle would keep us busy long enough for them to move the Tallamatrix and any data they have recovered. If we tried to sneak around the Nebula, we would run the risk of running into the Illshani. That would be a whole campaign in and of itself. Then we would have to sneak through the body of the Nebula. None of that takes the Lucifer into account."

"That's not good. What's your plan?"

"A cloaked ship forearmed with data about the Phoenix Domain forces and installations could easily infiltrate right up to the nebula itself. It would stand a good chance to remain hidden within the nebula once there."

"Wonderful. I'll call back to Starfleet for a cloaking device right away." Mitchell said acidly. "One little problem, though. It's illegal for us to use it."

"It is not necessary to call back to Starfleet at all." Watabe said. "Pirates are active in the sector. Many of them have cloaking devices. We can take one of theirs. I don't think that they'll complain too loudly."

"Watabe, it's a beautiful plan except for one thing. If the Pirates have cloaking devices, how are we supposed to find them?" Mitchell asked.

"I have noticed a statistical spike, Captain." Watabe said. "The Federation planet of Rhad is noted as a haven for free traders. The space industries are their biggest employers. However their ships are successfully attacked by pirates less often than random chance might suggest."

"They do tend to be well armed." Mitchell pointed out.

"That is a factor, but I believe that there is another one at work. I believe that the free traders of Rhad have discovered how to break cloaking devices." Watabe said.

"Are you sure?" Mitchell asked, stunned.

"No. But I believe that you have contacts on Rhad?" Watabe said.

"You're right. I have some old friends there who will know if anyone does." Mitchell said thoughtfully. "Set course for Rhad."

-*-

Miriah wandered into the tavern on Rhad. Captain Mitchell had gone to talk with his old friend alone and so the Endeavor's crew was taking some shore leave on Rhad. Reading the brief on Rhad excited Miriah. Long, severe seasons gave Rhad an extensive and hostile wild life. The planet itself tended towards large forest regions and rugged terrain.

In orbit above them, the Endeavor was docked to Graylight Station, a large space dock. Rhad was the unofficial capital of the free traders for the whole region. The only real industry on the planet was building and crewing free traders and so it was everyone's goal on Rhad to become the master of his own ship.

The wild life on Rhad was extremely violent and persistent. This meant that nearly everyone went about armed on Rhad. It was a libertarian sort of world, long on codes of honor, short on law.

Starfleet officers were advised to go armed on Rhad to conform to local custom but to always be polite. The natives were armed also and often had more experience with weapons.

Miriah wanted to go down to Rhad with Kevas but found that the watch rotation and the leave rotation did not favor that. Instead she went down to the surface with her usual partner in crime, Genevieve Quest.

The tavern was a low wide place, with a stone fire place in the middle and a long bar across the back. Scattered randomly around the room there were wooden chairs and tables. Miriah was strongly reminded of Carson City, Nevada, a town a short distance away from San Francisco. Miriah visited several different places on Earth during her time at the Academy. Rhad really wanted to be the American West, she decided, but didn't actually want to be uncomfortable about it, or anything.

Along the wall behind the bar there were rows of bottles and odd knickknacks from all over the quadrant. There were also replicators behind the bar. The real stuff cost about ten times more money.

The bartender was an older human with a wide girth and a friendly smile. "Hello, ladies. Welcome to Carney's. What'll it be?"

Miriah ordered a Raktajino. She would have ordered something stronger but didn't want to get drunk. Genevieve ordered an odd liquor from the edge of known space. Carney was proud to have some in stock.

There was a scattering of spacers at the bar and among the tables of the establishment. All were wearing solid, heavy guns strapped to them. Most of them were humans.

"Starfleet wimps!" One of them said.

Miriah looked casual but stopped and listened for movement. Genevieve sipped her exotic liquor and carefully ignored the loud mouthed patron.

"How much you wanna bet that they run away if I call 'em out?" The loud mouth said. His friend tried to shush him but it did no good. The loud mouth stood up. He was over six feet and about two hundred pounds, with thin brown hair and an unshaven face. He was padded but looked like he knew how to use his weight. He weaved a little under the influence of too much alcohol.

"Hey Starfleet." He called. Miriah turned mildly to look.

"I gotcher Prime Directive right here, haw haw!" He said grabbing his crotch.

Miriah looked at him.

"Whatchu think about that!?" The loudmouth said.

"It's a good thing you're covered by the Prime Directive." Miriah said. "You're underdeveloped."

The bar crowd laughed and hooted at the expense of the loudmouth.

"Well, you know what I think? I think you pansy Starfleet cruds are a bunch of damned cowards." He said.

"Really?" Miriah said. She didn't like being called names in front of the bar. She could feel the anger build inside of her.

"Shee-yit, if I had to depend on you for protection against pirates I'd be shoveling shit for some Orion Lord by now!" He took an uncertain step forward.

Genevieve said "Gee, look at the time, we've really got to be going now..."

"If it weren't for us, you'd have been bowing and scraping for a PD noble and hoping that maybe an Orion would come along to bail you out." Miriah growled.

"Is that so?" Loudmouth said. "Is that SO!?"

Genevieve tugged on Miriah's sleeve. "Miriah, take a deep breath."

"Yes." Miriah said. "That's so."

Loudmouth reached down to his weapons belt and unbuckled it. "Well let's just see about that!"

One of loudmouth's friends took the weapon way. The loudmouth struck an uncertain martial art pose. "C'mon!"

"Dude, are you sure?" One of loud mouth's friends asked carefully.

"She'll probably ask to negotiate." Loudmouth said.

"The moment I knock you on your ass, one of your friends will back shoot me." Miriah said warily.

The reaction of the bar crowd said it all. Many looked disgusted. Some looked confused. "Naw," One said. "That's not the way it's done."

"Is that the way you Starfleet types would do it?" Loudmouth said. "I bet it is."

Miriah unclipped the phaser and holster from it's pocket on her uniform. "Hold this." She handed it to Genevieve. "If they try anything, stun 'em."

Genevieve looked at the bar filled with armed patrons and said "Uh huh."

Miriah stepped up to the loudmouth and paused for a moment. "Whew!" She said. "Can we trade some more insults until your breath clears up?"

The bar crowd laughed. The Loudmouth turned red and swung a big punch at Miriah.

-*-

The loudmouth was named Ernie and he bought drinks for Miriah and Genevieve once he could talk clearly again.

The bar took on a festive atmosphere during and after the brawl, letting Miriah and Genevieve know that they were acting in an acceptable fashion.

"That was a good one." Ernie mushed. "I liked that with the twirl right in the middle. I didn't even know where the floor was until you hit me with it."

Miriah spoke carefully around her loosened jaw. "You're faster than you look, Ernie."

"You Starfleet types are okay by me, let me tell you. You ever need anything you jus' call me, okay?" Part of the bar crowd's first aid attempt on Ernie had been more alcohol.

"Okay. We will." Genevieve said. She liked most of the bar patrons, except Ernie. She was leaning away from his breath and exuberant attitude.

"Hey, you're bleeding green!" Ernie said to Miriah. "I thought Klingon blood was pink."

"How much Klingon blood have you seen?" Miriah asked slowly.

"Ahhh, good point." Ernie wisely nodded. He turned to Genevieve "Your friend's pretty cute for a Klingon. Have I told you that?"

Genevieve leaned around Ernie. "Now it's really time to go." She said to Miriah.

Miriah had been hearing similar sentiments from other patrons. "I guess you're right." She fished some gold pressed latinum out of her pocket "But first, a round on me!"

"Lovely." Genevieve said.

The crowd at Carney's cheered.

-*-

Kevin Mitchell walked up a short walkway towards the rambling house. He would have beamed in closer to the house, but he couldn't. Transporter scramblers covered the house. While he walked his eyes scanned the area, and he was conscious of the weight of his weapon in its holster along his waist. He could have brought a phaser from the Endeavor's armory, but he had owned the blaster since he was fifteen. It felt better to carry his own weapon to meet his old friend.

A white haired figure came out of the front door of the house and moved towards Kevin. Kevin noted how the passage of time changed his friend.

"Kevin, boy! How have you been?" Ben said happily.

"Ben. Nice to see you." Kevin grinned.

"Well, don't just stand there, c'mon in!" Ben grabbed the starship captain and brought him inside the sprawling house.

-*-

They were seated in comfortable chairs near an old fashioned fireplace.

"Well, well, well." Ben chortled at Kevin. "A Federation starship captain. Who would have guessed?" Ben shook his head.

"You're not doing too badly yourself." Kevin said "How many ships do you own?"

"Oh, a few, a few." Ben admitted. He owned an entire fleet of free traders. He was one of the wealthiest men in the sector. "You ever hear from Lyla any more?"

"No. I can't keep up with people anymore unless they have a set address." Kevin admitted.

"Well. It's been a while hasn't it?" Ben said. He waved towards a small alcove in the room. In it there was a model of a starship and a picture of several people. It was the SS Ranger and her crew. Kevin looked and there he was, fifteen years old and very earnest.

"Did you ever miss it, Kevin?" Ben asked. "Growing up without a house, a yard, a dog and a school full of people to go to?"

"No." Kevin said. The older survivors of the Ranger asked him this from time to time. He didn't understand it. Kevin supposed that it was because they had grown up on the surface of a planet and wondered if they had done the right thing, raising Kevin on the Ranger. "It was good for me. Better than being raised on Earth would have been."

"Good. Good. I heard about the pasting you gave the PDs. It was about time." Ben said. "Did everyone on your ship get through it okay?"

"We lost a few people," Kevin said. He still remembered writing the letters home to their loved ones, "But we got it done."

"Well I'm sorry about your losses." Ben said. "I have always worried about that. Growing up on the Ranger like you did, I was always afraid that you'd adopt your crew. Identify too close with them. Might make it sort of tough to get the job done. Starfleet's a little more violent than civilian life in space."

"If I didn't care, I wouldn't be as a good a captain." Kevin said. He remembered the death of his parents. It was an accident on the Ranger. After a big debate the rest of the crew let him stay with the ship that had been his only home. Later, pirates had demolished the Ranger. On the timely intervention by Starfleet saved them at all. Still, the ship was lost and several of the crew had been killed.

Kevin had been on Starfleet ships where nothing had happened for years. He couldn't tell if civilian life in space was more or less violent than Starfleet.

"True, True. You've got Starfleet in your blood, boy."

"Speaking of which, I am engaged in a little hunting expedition." Kevin said.

"Who is it now?" Ben asked.

"Pirates." Kevin said.

Ben grinned ruthlessly. "Wonderful. That monster ship that the Federation lets you joyride around in should give the bastards fits."

"I've heard that the ships out of Rhad have been leading charmed lives." Kevin said.

"Where did you hear that?" Ben asked sharply.

"One of my staff noticed a statistical spike." Kevin said.

"Ah hell." Ben griped.

"What's wrong?"

"Well if you noticed it, then your bosses on Earth will pick it up soon. Then they'll send some goons out to examine it. We'll tell what we're up to and they'll send it back to San Francisco. The Orions have somebody on the inside there. About the time your bosses get around to telling you what's up the thing will have become general knowledge. Every wannabe from here to Antares will be using it and the Pirates will have a fix for it. Damn!" Ben rampaged.

"What are you talking about?" Kevin asked.

"One of the bright boys on my ships came up with a way to break cloaks. Not all the way, and not well, but how good do you need it to avoid trouble? I been spreading it around quiet like, but I suppose that it couldn't stay secret forever, could it?"

"What is it?" Kevin asked.

Ben peered at him closely. "That's what you came here for, isn't it?"

Kevin held the stare. "Yes sir. I figured you would know if anyone would."

"Well hell, Kevin. I couldn't very well keep it away from you, could I? The Endeavor should be able to run it like a charm." Ben shook his head. He went over to a large desk and activated a computer terminal. "It's just a collection of about a dozen anti-stealth techniques combined into an adaptive algorithm. That turns cloaking into a contest of computer speed is all. Your staff may have noticed that Rhad has become a big consumer of advanced computer hardware."

"If he's noticed, he hasn't told me." Kevin said.

"Well keep it under your hat, at least officially." Ben said. "I don't want the pirates figuring this stuff out or we'll loose our hole card." Ben handed Kevin an isolinear chip with the data on it.

"Thanks." Kevin said. "Mum's the word."

"Good, good. Now can you stay for a real visit or does duty call?" Ben asked.

"Well, I've got my crew taking shore leave, so I figure I could spare a day." Kevin said.

"Wonderful. We'll catch up on old times." Ben grinned.

-*-

The pirate ship Ferret laid low in the Phoenix Nebula. She was a smaller raider, with a crew of about fifteen people.

The crew of the Ferret were engaged in their usual activities, killing time in a variety of ways.

Ousthan, the Captain watched his crew carefully. To some people, pirates were romantic rebels against society. To others they were thugs whose manliness was measured in terms of body count. They all saw piracy as either an expression of distaste for what was called civilization or as a good way to get rich. No one in their right mind wanted to be a bad guy. Piracy tended to attract people who were not in their right minds.

None of the people who were new to piracy ever really had an idea what the whole job was about. Mostly it consisted of waiting. Then it consisted of taking a cheap back shot against a weak or helpless target.

The Klingons claimed to be predators, but Ousthan doubted it. No predator ever grew fat taking part in honorable combat.

While waiting in a patched together pirate ship the mental instabilities of the crew were magnified. Ousthan watched carefully. The most dangerous time to be a pirate captain was while there was nothing happening.

The Ferret had been prowling slowly around the nebula. The recent war between the Federation and the Phoenix Domain had destroyed many of the corvettes and destroyers that the Phoenix Domain used to escort their freighters. That would seem to make the Phoenix Domain inviting targets, except for two things.

The big new battleship Lucifer could easily out run and out gun the Ferret. If Ousthan made his move unwisely then the big new PD flagship would be all over him.

It was unpleasant to be arrested as a pirate in the Federation. The best one could look forwards to there was time in a pleasant penal colony. Lots of time. Life or more. Worse was the treatment the psychos got. They were mind wiped and then did life in the penal colony. In the Phoenix Domain, the best a pirate ever got was summary execution or being sold into slavery. The worst was to be tortured to death for the amusement of the ruling Duke. They had expert torturers who could keep an unfortunate victim alive for weeks and months of torture.

Ousthan waited and bided his time in the nebula. He carefully watched the information gathered by the Ferret's sensors and communications gear. If he knew where the Lucifer was, then he could strike where she wasn't. "Hit 'em where they ain't." It might just be the pirates code. Ousthan smirked to himself. He was getting sentimental in his old age. Pirate's code? "I'm alive and rich, you're dead and broke." That was the pirate's code. Ousthan upheld it whenever he could.

The Ferret had an old cloaking device. Fifty years old if it was a day. Mostly it could fool freighters and civilian ships. Ousthan had seen the sudden course changes that took prey away from his strike zone. He knew that his cloaking device was just too old. He calculated the price for a newer model. He'd have to get a few more good hits with almost no trouble if we was to buy a new cloaking device.

McEnzie called out. "I got a bogey."

Suddenly the quiet activity on the Ferret stopped.

"What is it?" Ousthan asked. "Find out quickly McEnzie."

Ousthan trusted McEnzie more than most of the other crew. McEnzie had once been in Starfleet. You couldn't trust people who had once been in Starfleet worth a damn usually. They had good technical skills, but usually they were either Starfleet Intelligence plants or Maquis sympathizers. Ideology didn't pay as well as greed.

McEnzie had drifted into his circle after she had been dishonorably discharged for selling classified secrets to the Ferengi. When Ousthan heard how much she got for the sale, he knew he could trust her. McEnzie operated on the principle of greed. As long as being trustworthy paid well, Ousthan knew, then you could trust McEnzie with your life. The moment she got a better offer then you were toast. At least she was predictable.

"It's... Damn it's the Endeavor!" McEnzie said.

"All call." Ousthan told the computer. "Attention, my loyal crew. There is a Federation starship trolling for us. Rig for silent running now. Right now. Just like last time." He turned off the intercom and then said "Activate the cloak and go to silent running."

Ousthan was nervous, but didn't let it show. That was why he was Captain. The Endeavor had been in scanning range of the Ferret twice before, but never so closely. Each time they activated the cloak, and then helped it along by shutting down nearly all power and electronic activity on the Ferret.

-*-

"I got a ping, Sir." Paul Durango reported.

"On screen." Kevin ordered.

"It was just a blip , Sir. It's gone now."

"Helm, intercept the last position of that blip." Kevin said. "Are you ready to run that program, Lieutenant?"

Durango nodded. "Yes. Sir." He was annoyed. There was nothing inherently magical in the collection of software that the Captain brought back. He could have done all of it. He had even improved the thing a little. However, he just hadn't thought of it. It galled him.

"Slow to one half impulse." The Captain said.

As the Endeavor began to slow, Watabe asked. "Shall I raised shields?"

"No, Lieutenant. That will just let them know we see them. I want to take the Pirates as cleanly as possible."

Watabe thought for a moment and then called an alert for his security troops. "Prepare for boarding party." He said.

-*-

"Jesus Christ, they're coming right for us." One of Ousthan's more reliable crewmen said. "We've got to get out of here!"

"We can't run." McEnzie said.

"Why is that?" Ousthan asked. He had an idea, but he wanted McEnzie to be the one to voice it.

"If the Endeavor makes us, then she can out run us. We can't fight, she'll blow us away. Our best bet is too sit tight and hope they don't scan us." McEnzie explained.

"Her shields are down. We could make a quick attack against their warp nacelle and then run." One of the crew men suggested.

Ousthan thought it through carefully. Power up, prepare engines and weapons. Decloak. Move into position, fire. Run, evading the returned fire. It was close, but uncertain enough that he didn't want to risk it.

"We sit tight." He said. Then he carefully picked up a PADD and began reading a book that he had plowed most of the way through.

The crew watched his casual performance and drifted away from the scanner station, trying to act casual.

Waving lightly to McEnzie he said "Maneuvering thrusters only. Move us away from them."

Using the lightest possible touch, McEnzie imparted a drift to the Ferret. The would drift lightly away from the Federation ship.

-*-

"Mr. Watabe, prepare the brig for a lot of prisoners." Kevin ordered. "Miriah set up the transporter rooms. We'll beam the crew off the pirate ship as soon as we get lock on."

"Organics only?" Miriah asked.

"Of course." He replied. "Mr. Durango. When you get a lock on to the pirate ship. Relay the data immediately to the transporter rooms."

"Aye, Sir."

"We're in range of the anomalies' last recorded position, Sir." The Helmswoman said.

"Very good. Are we set?" Kevin asked. Security had prepared the brig and was standing by in the transporter room. The Transporters were energized and standing by. Durango turned and gave the Captain a thumbs up. The modifications to the sensors were on line and ready to roll.

-*-

The big Federation ship filled the screen. Ousthan hated it. He wanted to run screaming, but he knew that would get him nowhere. He took a deep breath.

"The Federation ship has stepped up scanning." McEnzie said. An irritated beep sounded on her board. "They've broken the cloak!"

"Drop the cloak and raise the shields! Bring main power back on line! Arm all weapons!" Ousthan gave the orders sharply, yet calmly. He was surprised at his own calm. He knew that they were doomed.

-*-

"Got 'em." Durango reported.

Down in the Transporter room, the transporter officer repeated it. "Got 'em, Commander."

"Set the filter and energize." Miriah ordered.

The transporter of the Endeavor was fitted with biofilters that kept harmful organisms off the ship. The Endeavor's crew had modified their transporter's filters to be able to exclude a wide variety of inanimate objects. The transporters of the Endeavor reached out and grabbed only the most organic pieces of the crew of the Ferret.

-*-

The cloak came down and McEnzie reached for the shields. She felt the peculiar tingle along her skin that meant that a transporter had her. She quickly took her hands off the shield controls. Transporters were nearly perfectly reliable, but there was no point in pushing your luck.

She felt a strange slipping feeling along her skin as she dematerialized. She saw other members of the Ferret's crew grabbing weapons of various kinds.

Then she was materializing in the transporter room of the Endeavor. As she solidified a settling feeling and a slight breeze told her that her clothes had not made the trip.

Ousthan grabbed his chest and grunted in pain. He keeled over.

"Idiots!" McEnzie yelled. "He had an artificial heart!"

Miriah said. "Get off of the transporter pad, quickly." Most of the Pirates stepped down onto the floor of the transporter room.

When the Orion man on the Pad was clear, Miriah called sickbay. "We've got a patient for emergency transport. His left his artificial heart behind."

"I knew that your clever transporter filter wasn't as smart as you thought." Starcloud said. "We're ready for him."

The transporter technician beamed Ousthan to sickbay.

"As for the rest of you." Miriah said to the naked Pirates. "You're under arrest."

"Hey! She's a Klingon!" One of them said.

-*-

"With the Ferret, we can slip a team inside the area where we suspect the secret base to be, while distracting most of the response forces, including the Lucifer with the Endeavor." Watabe said.

"What's the condition of the Ferret?" Kevin asked Genevieve.

"She's okay. She started out life as a Federation corvette and so we have many of technical stats here on the Endeavor. I can do some quick repairs and upgrades and she'll be better than new." Genevieve said.

"Excellent!" Watabe said, grinning. "Now, Captain , I recommend that you send myself and a hand picked crew in the Ferret to infiltrate while you and Commander Katasai keep the Lucifer busy-"

"I'm not sending you, Watabe." Kevin said.

"Wh- why not, Sir?"

"Do you think that the Phoenix Domain has a file on us by now? I'm pretty sure that they know all of us pretty well."

"But I don't see-" Watabe said.

"When would you be most afraid of Watabe, Commander?" Kevin asked Miriah.

She answered honestly. "When I couldn't see him and didn't know what he was up to, Captain."

Watabe shut up for a moment and tried to assimilate the compliment.

"If we start dueling with the Lucifer and you're not on the bridge, then the Phoenix Domain will know for certain that you're up to something. What we need for this mission is a face that the Phoenix Domain won't miss."

"Me, Sir." Genevieve said.

"You, Genevieve? But we'd need our Chief Engineer if we went into battle against the Lucifer." Kevin said.

"My second in command is as good as I am in that role, Sir. Lieutenant Vengla will do fine. Besides, this is a chance for me to gain some command experience." Genevieve said.

"We're going to trust a critical mission to an officer with little or no command experience?" Watabe said, horrified.

"Yes." Kevin decided. "Yes we are."

Watabe was stunned.

"I'll need you to make a plan that looks like the Endeavor is making a run for the Tallamatrix. We'll let the Lucifer dissuade us from that course. While we do, the Ferret will sneak in and see what she can see." Kevin said.

"Yes, Sir" The officers of the Endeavor said.

-*-

"Captain I must protest!" Starcloud said heatedly.

"The Ferret had them in her hold, Captain." Durango said. "What am I going to do with them? Give them back?"

"They are pieces of murdered sentients!" Starcloud raged. "Fiddling with them is disrespectful!"

"Find out as much as you can about the crystal computer shards, Lieutenant and when you're done, we'll take them back to Beehive for proper disposal." Kevin said.

"I might be able to find out how to jam them, Sir." Durango said.

"This is ethically insupportable!" Starcloud growled. The fur on her tail was standing straight out and her eyes were fully dilated. Kevin was afraid that she was about to attack.

"If that works, then the crystal computer shards would be useless for starships. There would be no more reason to kill the trees." Kevin said.

"It's participating in genocide and I will have none of it!" Starcloud hissed and then she left.

Kevin felt himself relax as the angry Sivoan left. "Don't mention this to her again, will you, Paul?"

"No problem, Sir!"

-*-

"Genevieve has asked me to be her second in command on the Ferret." Kevas said to Miriah. They were in her quarters.

"What did you say?" Miriah asked. She wondered if Genevieve was making a mistake.

"I told her that I would go." Kevas said. "The mission will look good on my resume, too."

"Is that why Genevieve volunteered for this mission?" Miriah asked.

"Partly. You know that she has an extensive family history." Kevas said.

"Yes. I read that the Quests have been heroes and adventurers on Earth for hundreds of years." Miriah said. She had to look it up. Genevieve never said anything about it.

"Genevieve feels a certain amount of pressure because of this. She feels like she must live up to the example her ancestors set." Kevas said.

"What about you?" Miriah asked. "Why are you going?"

"I became a counselor because it seemed as though this were a task that I was especially suited for, with my empathy and my mixed heritage. I am no longer certain that this is the truth. I wish to explore other career options." Kevas said.

"Command?" Miriah asked.

"Yes. Perhaps if I study hard and learn well, I can be ready in time to be your first officer." Kevas said

"That's assuming a lot, isn't it?" Miriah said, playfully.

"Yes. I may not choose to go into command." Kevas said with a straight face.

Miriah tickled him.

-*-

The Endeavor popped out of the Phoenix Nebula and ran deeper into Phoenix Domain Territory, scanning as she went. The response was immediate and direct. The PDS Lucifer emerged from her dock at Enlas-Dhu, the Capital world of the Phoenix Domain and streaked off in pursuit of the Endeavor.

Over the next several days they played an intricate and deadly game of cat-and-mouse.

-*-

The Ferret slipped along quietly, while Genevieve worked on the cloaking device. She was patching it into a portable computer from the Endeavor.

Soon she completed her work and ran a test on the cloaking device. Its diagnostics checked out OK.

"Great. That ought to work a little better now." Genevieve grinned.

"How did you know that was going to work?" Kevas asked her.

"What?" Genevieve didn't follow.

"It's illegal for the Federation to build or use cloaking devices. So how did you know how to fix that one?" Kevas asked.

"Just because it's illegal to build them, doesn't mean that it's illegal to think about them." Genevieve said. "It's a favorite subject for thought experiments and simulations. If we engineers get it right, then ships in the field can use our data to spot real cloaked ships."

"How often does that work?" Kevas asked.

"Not often enough. Genevieve said. "Let's activate the cloak and see how I did."

The Ferret shimmered and the quality of light changed.

"Yes!" Genevieve shouted.

-*-

Aboard the Lucifer, Count Ryhsler the chief of the Phoenix Domain secret police watched the Endeavor. Once again the big Federation ship exchanged a few cursory torpedoes at long range and then ran away.

"What are they up to?" Ryhsler asked himself. The Endeavor stops at Rhad for a few days and then laboriously picks her way through the Phoenix Nebula to enter Phoenix Domain Territory. He knew that they were after the Tallamatrix. They had come disturbingly close to the base where the Federation ship was. Now they dueled with the Lucifer. In and out. Never into a straight battle but always on the run.

They might be searching for the base even now.

"Admiral Yentees." The Count said. "Does the Endeavor look like she's running

a search pattern?"

"Yes, My Lord. That is exactly what it looks like."

Ryhsler thought for a few moments. "There's a small supply dump there, right?" He pointed to an obscure supply dump in an unused corner of the Domain.

"Yes, My Lord. It is hardly worth noting." The Admiral said.

"Let's play pretend, Admiral." Ryhsler said. He enjoyed playing with the minds of subordinates. They never knew when he might put their names on the enemies list.

"My Lord?"

"Pretend that this supply dump is actually a top secret intelligence base and we're to keep the Endeavor away from it at all costs." Ryhsler said.

"Is it, My Lord?" The Admiral asked.

"No. The real base is in a different location. It would be amusing, however, if the Endeavor were to spend all of her efforts in order to get a scan of a supply depot wouldn't it?"

"Misdirection, My Lord?"

Ryhsler sighed. Yentees was reliable and trustworthy. Evidently smart was further down the list. "Yes, Admiral, exactly."

-*-

"The Lucifer has begun to cover this area." Watabe said, pointing out a zone in an unused corner of the Phoenix Domain.

"Is that where the Tallamatrix might be?" Kevin asked.

"Either that or we are meant to think that." Watabe said, a cunning gleam in his eye.

"Either way, by putting pressure on there, we take pressure off the Ferret, right?" Miriah asked.

"Yes." Watabe said.

"Then let's see what they are guarding." Kevin said.

"Yes, Sir."

-*-

Chief Himos Genar floated in the Phoenix Nebula. He orbited a small red dwarf star that wasn't very interesting. The whole Phoenix Nebula spread itself before him in fiery glory. It was one hell of a view.

Chief Himos didn't enjoy it. He was dead. He had been killed several weeks before, when agents of the Phoenix Domain secret police threw him out an airlock without a space suit on. He was a member of the crew of the Tallamatrix. He floated through space with about a hundred of his comrades, all in a long, silent, single file line.

"Oh God." Genevieve said. Tears streamed down her face.

"Back track their orbit." Kevas quietly said to the helmsman of the Ferret. "They may have their vengeance, yet."

The line of dead Starfleet Officers led the Ferret right back to the secret base. It was floating near a small dead rock of a planet and the wreck of the Tallamatrix was tethered to it.

Genevieve could see that the ship's engineering hull had been mostly disassembled and that most of the work was concentrated on the anti-proton cannon there.

"Okay." Genevieve was grim, "Let's see what we can see."

-*-

The Ferret began scanning with the lightest possible of scans to determine what they could and could not find out about the Secret Police Space Station.

It held approximately 11,000 people. Many areas of it were shielded or transporter scrambled as a matter of course.

Many parts of the interior were heavily segmented and could survive independent of the space station.

There were no sign of any Starfleet survivors.

There were plenty of well armed marines.

Genevieve scanned and thought, thought and scanned.

-*-

A message came to Count Ryhsler on the Lucifer. The Secret Station had been plagued by sensor anomalies.

A mirthless chuckle escaped him. "Admiral Yentees. Set course for the following coordinates and engage with maximum warp."

"But, My Lord, the Endeavor?"

"The Endeavor is not our problem right now." Ryhsler said. "She was the distraction."

-*-

"The Lucifer has just gone to warp." Watabe said. "She's headed for the suspected location of the secret base."

"They've detected the Ferret." Miriah said grimly.

"Set course to pursue and engage at maximum warp!" Kevin said.

The Endeavor whirled about and sped after the Lucifer.

-*-

"They have the defenses to stop any infiltration." Ensign Zweller said. He was a big man from the planet Cappella. "I'm sorry. Lt. Watabe wouldn't accept it, but I just can't see how to get in there and back out."

He had carefully explained his conclusions to Kevas and Genevieve and they understood his reasoning clearly.

"I'll have to come up with something." Genevieve said.

Kevas looked at her closely. She appeared calm, but he could feel her conflicted emotions. There was anger and fear in heavy doses in Genevieve's heart.

-*-

The Endeavor raced the Lucifer across the Phoenix Domain. Other Phoenix Domain ships tried to intercept the Endeavor, but she was too fast for them. A slight turn here or there, and the Endeavor stayed out of their range as she passed.

The Lucifer wasn't quite as fast as the Endeavor, but didn't have to turn to avoid the other ships. She was gaining slightly on the Endeavor.

-*-

The Lucifer dropped out of warp and plunged into the Phoenix Nebula. Soon, the Endeavor followed. All of the distance the Lucifer gained in warp was surrendered at the boundary of the nebula.

"Shield effectiveness will be reduced in the nebula, Captain." Watabe reminded Kevin.

"So will theirs, Mr. Watabe."

"Mr. Durango." Miriah said. "Stay on top of those sensors. I don't want to loose the Lucifer in the nebula."

"Aye, Sir." Durango said.

"Did you discover how to jam the crystal based computers, Mr. Durango?" Kevin asked.

"I'm not sure, Captain. It looked good under laboratory conditions." Durango answered.

"We'll find out, I guess."

-*-

The Lucifer doubled back and tried to ambush the Endeavor. They exchanged fire and moved off into the nebula.

-*-

"Damage report?" Kevin Mitchell asked.

"They hit us pretty badly," Miriah said. "There's radiation and plasma leaks in Engineering.

"What did we do to them?" Kevin asked Watabe.

"There's no way to be sure, Sir." I think we gave as good as we got." Watabe said.

-*-

"Report." Ryhsler said.

"We have heavy casualties in the forward sections and some weapons are off line. The Lucifer is still intact and our power is good." Admiral Yentees said.

"Attack them again." Ryhsler said. He sounded casual, but he was not. With the Endeavor gone, It would be some weeks before the Federation got a new ship out to the Phoenix Sector. They could easily retake Beehive, even without the Lucifer.

The Lucifer came around.

-*-

Genevieve went to engineering and got two sample containers with heavy force fields. Then she went to the anti-matter containment pods and drew out four micrograms of anti-matter, placing two micrograms in each container.

Then she took the containers to the transporter.

"Can I help you?" Kevas asked.

"Nope. I got it." Genevieve said.

Once she had the containers on the transporter pads, she turned to Ensign Zweller. "Give me your phaser, please." She held out her hand.

Zweller placed his phaser into her hand. She took the phaser over to one of the containers and set it to overload. Then she put the shrieking phaser on one of the anti-matter pods.

Moving to the transporter controls, Genevieve locked the transporter onto the Secret Space Station and the wreck of the Tallamatrix.

With care she directed the container with the overloading phaser into the Tallamatrix where the anti-proton cannon was. The one without went into an area where there was a transporter scrambler. The container materialized scrambled with the anti-matter and no force field active. It exploded like an atomic bomb. The container next to the Tallamatrix sat peacefully for a few moments until the Phaser completed its overload cycle. Then the Phaser destroyed the container and the reaction blew hot anti-matter into the heart of the anti-proton cannon.

In a few thousandths of a second the Secret Police Base was vaporized wreckage.

The crew of the Ferret was thrown to the deck by the violence of the explosion.

-*-

The Lucifer had completed her second pass on the Endeavor. It was not as successful as the first one. Both ships limped away from each other bleeding plasma and atmosphere.

Then the bright flash of the anti-matter detonation washed over them.

Aboard the Lucifer, Count Ryhsler said grimly. "That's rather more ruthless than I've come expect of them."

"Shall we move to investigate, My Lord?" Admiral Yentees asked.

"No. There's plenty of time for that after we finish off the Endeavor." Ryhsler said.

"I'm not sure how much we'll be good for after that, My Lord." Yentees said.

"We'll be good enough, Admiral, Good enough." Ryhsler said.

-*-

"Report." Kevin said. He hated to see the Endeavor taking a beating like she was. The only consolation was that the Lucifer looked almost as bad.

"Warp power is dropping off. Shields are at 25% and holding. Our dorsal phaser bank is down, but we still have full power on the ventral bank." Miriah said.

"I believe the time has come to perform your experiment, Mr. Durango." Kevin said.

"Aye, Sir. I'll need a communications link." Durango began to set up his program.

"Hail the Lucifer." Kevin said.

-*-

"The Endeavor is hailing us, Sir." A communications tech said.

"Put them on." Said Ryhsler.

The screen filled with the image of the Endeavor's bridge. "This is the USS Endeavor. I'm Captain Mitchell." Kevin said.

After waiting a few moments for Mitchell to continue with his message, Ryhsler said. "Captain Mitchell, to what do we owe the pleasure?"

"Well, ah I really just wanted to see if you've had enough. Our mission is accomplished. Why don't we forget the whole thing and move on before anyone else has to get hurt?" Kevin said.

"Surely you must be joking!" Ryhsler said. "I intend to celebrate your death on the home world in just a few days. Do you have anything else to say?"

"Yes. I was really just calling to sabotage your ship." Kevin grinned.

As if on cue, the Lucifer lost power and the lights went out. Ryhsler took a deep breath and counted to ten.

The emergency lights came on in the Lucifer's command center and some of the panels lit up, weakly. "Report!" Admiral Yentees barked.

"Main computer systems down, back ups coming on line slowly." A technician reported.

The view screen came back on. Its picture was fuzzy and often blacked out by the interference from the nebula.

"Now. Surrender and I guarantee you no one will be hurt." Kevin said more seriously.

"Admiral?" Ryhsler looked at the military commander of the Lucifer.

The Admiral looked back at Ryhsler grimly. "Anything with a crystal based computer in it has been wiped. We can barely move. We're no match for them, now."

"Do you surrender?" Kevin asked.

"No. I think not." Ryhsler said. He knew that he could not let the Lucifer fall into the hands of the Federation. He could not stand the humiliation of having her painted white and used by the Federation to hold the sector against the Phoenix Domain. He had already lost the anti-proton cannon. If he let things go this way he ran the risk of being tried for treason and slowly tortured to death for the Duke's amusement. If the Federation realized who they had, then he would be questioned. Ryhsler knew everything there was to know about the Phoenix Domain. Armed with his knowledge, agents of the Federation could easily destroy it.

"I really don't think so." Ryhsler said. he moved to the command panel and keyed in a code only he knew.

"What are you doing?" Yentees asked.

Ryhsler confirmed his command and then entered another code that only he knew.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Yentees screamed.

The PDS Lucifer scattered herself all over the Phoenix Nebula in a blinding flash of light.

-*-

The Endeavor conducted a quick series of repairs. Then she went in search of the Ferret.

Searching the location of the former secret base, the Endeavor found the wreck of the Ferret. They took the Ferret into tow.

It didn't take too long to circle through the nebula and back out into neutral space. The Nebula hid them well against the swarm of smaller Phoenix Domain starships that came to investigate.

-*-

Kevas found Genevieve at work in the Endeavor's Engineering section.

"How long have you been on duty here?" He asked her.

She looked up at him vaguely with red rimmed eyes. "Huh? Oh, not too long." She turned back to her task. Kevas watched her work. She was slow and methodical. Every so often she would stop for a little bit to remember just what she was doing.

"Computer. How long has Lieutenant Commander Quest been logged on duty?" Kevas asked.

"Thirty two hours twenty one minutes, fifteen seconds." The computer said.

"That's too long, Genevieve." Kevas said. He could feel the fuzziness and anger build in her.

"I just couldn't sleep is all. And there's a lot to do down here." Genevieve said.

"I'm sorry about your second in command." Kevas said.

"Lt. Ruezre Vengla." Genevieve reminded him. "Someone should remember her name."

"Yes. They should." Kevas said mildly. What was that he felt from Genevieve? Guilt? Fear?

"Someone should remember..." Genevieve's eyes unfocused and she just sat for a minute. Kevas could feel sadness and guilt wash over her.

"You did what you had to do." Kevas said. He wasn't certain that she made the right choice, destroying the secret police base, but she was the only one left to help, now.

Genevieve looked up at him. "I murdered eleven thousand people, Kevas." She said. Then she slumped onto the deck and broke into tears.

Kevas just knelt down beside her and waited. After a while he picked the crying woman up and carried her to sickbay. Genevieve was placed on medical leave when the Endeavor reached Graylight Station.

-*-

With the news of the defeat of the Lucifer morale in the Phoenix Domain dropped like a rock. Hard on the heels of that, the effects of the death of the chief of the Secret Police rolled through the empire.

The Phoenix Domain Secret Police were in disarray and the Domain had no defense against the Federation.

Many nobles began to speak of replacing Duke Osric openly. Many spoke of replacing him with themselves. This talk soon blossomed into civil war. In the end the Phoenix Domain disintegrated. Duke Osric retained the throne on his own home world and the loyalty of two more planets. Others like Tara and Estremerine declared themselves independent and sought closer ties to the Federation.

The Federation worlds in the sector, with no fear of the Phoenix Domain began to expand and trade further and more openly.

The crew of the Ferret was convicted of piracy and sentenced to a variety of penal colonies. McEnzie got a lighter sentence in exchange for testimony against the rest of her crew. Ousthan lived out the rest of his life in the land called "New Zealand."

Genevieve eventually recovered from her trauma and returned to duty as the Chief Engineer of the USS Endeavor. She never again sought a command posting and turned down all assignments having to do with command.

-end-

Disclaimer: Paramount owns all things Trek. I claim original characters and situations in this story for me.