Prologue
"Report!" shouted Chakotay as B'Elanna came racing up to him.
"They've got two Galor cruisers armed to the teeth plowing through the channel," she said, breathing hard. "They're laying waste to anything in range. The colony is toast."
Chakotay swore under his breath. "At least we got the people out in time."
"Damn karks. This is neutral territory," said B'Elanna. "Why are they attacking us?"
"We did what we could. How's the evacuation coming?"
"The Liberty is leaving now, so we'll be the last ones out. We've got one more load and we'll be ready to get underway."
Chakotay nodded, taking one last look at their base. It wasn't supposed to happen like this. How had the Cardassians found them? Was there a mole somewhere among the renegades? Then again, it was no secret that the renegades openly opposed them. Thank the Heavens they'd gotten enough warning to evacuate the civilians. Maybe this incident would be enough to get the Federation's attention. And maybe those Seafleet admirals who had ignored the refugees asking for help would realize how desperate they really were. The Cardassians were supposed to be an ally of the Federation. How could all those people turn a blind eye to what those allies were doing to the Federation's own displaced people? Chakotay had often asked the spirit of his father to send wisdom to the leaders, but so far nothing had changed. Then again, maybe this incident was the way they were to gain that wisdom.
Without warning, a nearby building exploded. The force of the blast threw Chakotay off his feet. He lay there for a few moments, stunned, staring up at the cloudy sky. Nearby, others of his crew hauled themselves upright, calling out to each other. He couldn't hear anything but an eerie ringing; all the voices and sound came as if from far away. Jarvin was there, pulling him to his feet.
"What happened?" he shouted. Jarvin's response was choppy and quiet.
"-scout… eastern rise… bomb… with a catapult…need to leave now…see us."
If there were a ship on the other side of the eastern rise, the Val Jean would be in plain view once they pulled around it. They were sitting ducks.
"All hands, prepare to cut and run!" he shouted. His crew staggered to their feet and dashed for the ship. Chakotay took one last look around and, seeing no one, headed for his ship. A spatter of rain broke out over them, lasting less than ten minutes. Not surprising, considering the cloud cover.
"That was a cheap shot," said Jor, bringing him back to the moment. "Throwing bombs while still out of firing range."
"What do you expect from a Cardassian?" said B'Elanna. "They're greedy, power hungry thieves. They aren't going to fight fair unless it hurts more people."
"Haul anchor!" Chakotay shouted as he ran. "Bring in what lines we can and cut the rest."
"WAIT!" screamed a voice on shore. Everyone looked up to see a blonde woman running toward them with a small child in tow. "Help me!"
"I thought you said the colony was empty," said Chakotay. B'Elanna shrugged.
"I don't know who they are," she said. "They weren't there when I checked."
"Who are you?" called Tabor. "What do you want?"
"My name is Samantha Wildman, this is Naomi-" she indicated the small girl –"and I need passage off this island."
"How did you get here?" said B'Elanna. "We spent the last two days clearing everyone out of the colony."
"The Cardassians sank our transport vessel, we were the only survivors," she waved the question away as if it were unimportant. "Please, you have to help us!"
Dalby dashed to the rail and pointed at her. "She's wearing an officer's belt – she's with Seafleet! They found us!"
He was right, but it wasn't her belt that gave her away as much as her new, well-maintained clothes. Chakotay couldn't help feeling a little resentment toward her for that. She probably didn't even notice the state of their threadbare tunics and worn out boots. He had been the only one to notice that particular fact, because all the renegades began shouting accusations and insults, none of which were about her clothing. The anger and hate in their words made Naomi shrink fearfully behind her mother.
"-as if it weren't bad enough that the karks are out to kill us, now Seafleet's here to arrest us!"
"No way in hell you're coming on our ship – get lost!"
Samantha, however, didn't flinch. Instead, she walked closer and started telling them off for swearing in front of her child.
"Enough!" shouted Chakotay. "We don't have time for this! Samantha, are you a Seafleet officer?" He shot a glance over the Eastern ridge. For a heart-stopping moment, he thought he heard a cannon fire, but it was only a thunderclap.
"Yes, but we landed here by accident. All I'm asking for is passage to a neutral port. In return, I'll serve as a crewman on your ship and I won't tell anybody who you are or where I came from."
He considered the situation, weighing the risks. Finally, he spoke. "Do you swear it?"
She raised her right hand. "May I live a hundred years and never sail again, the Father my witness."
"Good enough for me. Get aboard."
The crew protested, but Chakotay wouldn't hear it. "We're not going to leave a mother and her child here to get killed. We're better than that."
The pair ran up the gangplank and the crew immediately hauled it up after them, still grumbling at this unseen turn of events. Another bomb exploded, startling them all. Chakotay had to shout at them to snap them out of it. "All of you, back to work! Weigh anchor and hoist the mainsail!"
People dashed to follow orders, including Samantha, hauling lines and lowering the sails for a quick exit. A voice called "Anchor's aweigh!" and the tension on the deck seemed to lessen.
"Can we trust her?" Tabor asked Chakotay as they slowly pulled away from the harbor.
Chakotay looked at him. "If you made a promise in the name of your gods, would you break it?"
Tabor looked at him. "No, I wouldn't. But how long do you plan on keeping her?"
"For as long as she said – just until we find a neutral port."
Tabor nodded, adjusting a nearby line. "I wish we'd been able to get one good blow in before we had to leave."
B'Elanna overheard him and came over. "Don't worry, I took care of that."
"How?" asked Tabor.
"I left a little housewarming gift in the main bunker." She grinned mischievously.
Chakotay smiled a little. "So that secret project you were working on with all the powder we couldn't take with us…?"
"It's on a trip line. The minute one of them sets foot inside –" she made an explosive gesture – "Boom."
Tabor chuckled. "Now I'm sorry we won't get to see it."
"We'll probably hear it. There was a lot of powder left."
"You aren't worried the bombs will set it off early?"
She shook her head. "Not with the Hold spell I cast on the building. I don't think even the powder trap will knock it down now."
The ship cleared the last part of the channel as they spoke, coming out into the open waters of the ocean. Slowly, the pitching of the deck became more pronounced. Whitecaps dotted the waves and another spatter of rain broke out for a few moments. The storm was bearing down on them with unnerving speed. With any luck, it wouldn't break before they were in port. Ayala, on lookout, waved Chakotay over.
"What is it?" he asked as he came to the bow. Ayala passed him the cracked spyglass.
"There's a ship on the horizon. It's headed for the islands."
Chakotay frowned. "They've probably spotted us. We'll have to try and out run them."
"You think they're after us?" asked Ayala
"They could be. Better safe than sorry."
"Should we head for Terikof?" said Tabor.
Chakotay thought for a moment. Terikof was the one place the renegades could hold off almost any attack. But if the ship following them turned out to be an enemy, they couldn't afford to reveal its location.
"We'll head for Nivoch," he said. "It's neutral and we have a few allies there in case things turn sour. I don't want whoever that is to follow us all the way to Terikof."
"You got it."
Chakotay went to adjust the course, still frustrated over the need to retreat. The only thing they'd been able to do to protect the colony had been to evacuate it. Some freedom fighters they were; forcing people from their homes rather than chasing the Cardassians away from those homes. He sighed. Maybe once this situation settled down, they'd find a new assignment. Preferably one that wasn't a huge target. There had to be something else worth protecting, something they'd be proud to fight for.
The wind gave a powerful gust, boosting their speed. A glimmer of hope flickered through him. Maybe they had a chance to get out of here before the ship caught up with them.
"Huh," said Ayala, still staring at the chasing ship.
"What?" said Chakotay.
"That ship following us – I think it's a Seafleet vessel."
Instantly, the crew turned an accusing eye on Samantha. She seemed as startled as they.
"Do you know anything about this?" Chakotay said to her.
"Nothing! I'm on leave. No one even knows I'm out this far. They must be looking for you," she said. Thunder rumbled and suddenly it was pouring.
"Oh great, a storm!" shouted Tabor. "That's all we need!"
"Actually, I think it is!" replied B'Elanna, yanking on lines and ropes. "Trim the sails and make fast the lines- we'll ride this storm right out of here!"
The crew moved to follow her orders. It was risky, but it was their best chance to escape. The Val Jean was tough enough to take considerable punishment and light enough to skim the waves. As long as the patched sails didn't rip and the worn out timbers in the yardarms held, they had a chance. They could do it.
A soft but unmistakable powder blast sounded from behind them and everyone grinned.
"Nicely done, B'Elanna," called Dalby from the tiller. B'Elanna shrugged and kept working, calling people to different places to shore up the sails.
But as the storm progressed, growing in strength and ferocity faster than any storm Chakotay had ever seen, he started getting worried. The waves they had hoped to skim were now half as tall as their main mast, sending the ship bucking and heaving through the valleys and crests. More often than not, the waves simply broke over the bulwarks or the bow, threatening to swamp the ship. Thunder and lighting rumbled and crashed almost without pause. Soon the storm would be right on top of them.
Suddenly, one of the halyards on the mainsail snapped. The vibrations rang through the whole ship and B'Elanna let loose a string of Klingon profanities. She dashed from one point to the next, trying to jury-rig something to hold the mast in place. The wind caught the wild sail and yanked them around to port and the massive waves slammed into their starboard side. Soon, the Val Jean was careening from wave to wave in a drunken roll.
Chakotay felt his gut twist with fear as he suddenly realized how badly they were listing to port. He shouted for the crew to compensate, but his words were instantly swallowed by the wind. Lightning struck the waters around their ship, seeming to come closer with every hit and he realized that they might not make it out of this.
It's not fair! He raged to himself. We were supposed to go down fighting our enemies, not in a freak storm! Spirits of my father, don't let me die yet! Not yet!
A huge wave swelled in front of them, cresting with a terrible roar.
Not yet! Not like this! We deserve better! Not like this -