The two women eventually left the ready room, having discussed the details of their plan, the transporter coordinates and the myriad other details they needed to establish.

"I'll beam back over to the Leucosia, make gather my team and meet you down there," Loraya told the Bajoran. "This is the most promising lead we've had yet, and I really think this could be Mol'Rihan."

Lydana repeated the word, her tone confused.

"Sorry," Loraya replied with a smile, "that would be 'New Romulus' to most other races. It will be a pleasure to work with you, my friend."

"And you, Loraya. I'll see you shortly."

The Romulan embraced her friend, tapping her wrist communicator as they parted.

"Leucosia, I'm ready to beam over."

A moment later she dissolved in a beam of glittering jade energy, and Lydana instantly turned to her chief science and communications officer.

"T'Vrell, organise a science away team, with emphasis on botanists and geologists, and meet me in the transporter room. We'll transport down to the planet surface shortly."

"Of course sir."

As T'Vrell left her station to see to her captain's orders, Elisa looked around at Lydana with a frown.

"Lyddie, do I need to remind you about the regulations regarding captains going on away missions?" she asked pointedly. "It should be me going down there, not you."

Lydana scoffed, grinning wickedly at her friend.

"Lise, if we need any doors kicked down or any lifeforms blown up, I'll call you. But I'm a scientist - this is what I joined for. I'm not passing this up for anything."

"Somehow I think I'm not going to win this argument."

"You're not," Lydana answered casually as the turbolift returned. "And look after my ship! Remember what the Ferengi say - you break it, you buy it."

Elisa's brow knotted in thought.

"Which rule of acquisition is that?"

Lydana shrugged as she stepped into the lift, her expression indifferent.

"Who cares? See you in a little while, Lise."

The doors finally slid shut, and Elisa shook her head in mock exasperation.

"That girl is gonna be the death of me, I know it," she muttered to herself, before setting up some new tactical manoeuvres for the tiny ship.


A short while later, Lydana and her away team materialised on the planet's surface, and the Lieutenant immediately pulled out her tricorder and began issuing orders.

"Okay, fan out everyone, I want the usual samples of flora, soil, rocks...sounds like there's a body of water nearby, so get a water sample as well. I want us to get as much information as possible to support the Romulans here, and it'll be useful to know if there's anything they'll be able to trade to other races."

As her team spread out to carry out her commands, Lydana looked up from her own scans to see Loraya hurrying over to her, her eyes lit with joy.

"Have you seen this place, Lydana? It's beautiful!" she exclaimed, and Lydana smiled at her friend.

"It truly is," the Bajoran replied, taking in the vast trees of pale blue, the pink-hued flowers and the vibrantly-coloured animals she saw scurrying around. "The background radiation levels really have dropped significantly in the last few years," she remarked, checking her scans again, "seems like there's some ruins nearby too."

"We have some teams investigating those already," Loraya explained. "Come on, there's something I wanted you to check out. I'm no scientist, so maybe you can understand it better."

The Romulan led Lydana over to a small rock formation, inviting her to take her own scans of it.

"I can't be sure, but I think there's something in the rocks that may have helped reduce the radiation," Loraya offered, and Lydana nodded in agreement.

"It looks like they have a high lead content, which would certainly have helped," Lydana mused, continuing to examine her tricroder. "I wouldn't mind getting a closer look at the water though, see if there's anything there that contributed."

"There's a river down this way," Loraya offered, gesturing towards a small, naturally occurring trail through the forest. "It'll be a pleasant change of pace for you. Let's go."


"May I ask you something...personal?" Loraya asked, as Lydana slipped her boots off and slowly walked into the river shallows.

"Well, that sounds ominous," the Bajoran joked, carrying out more scans of the water and surrounding scenery.

"Well, when I was assisting you and your crew on the Steadfast, I overheard many of them speaking of their loved ones - family, spouses or lovers. And yet, I've not heard the same from you. May I ask why?"

Lydana's cheeks reddened at the probing question, since it was a topic she didn't like to discuss most of the time.

"I don't really talk to my parents," she explained, deliberately trying to lead the interrogation away from her love life. "My mother wanted me to join the temple and become a Vedek. My father wanted me to join the Bajoran Militia. I looked up at the stars every night as a child and only ever wanted to be in Starfleet. It probably didn't help my parents' case that Starfleet has been a part of Bajor's life for a while now, what with Deep Space Nine sitting on the wormhole."

"No siblings?"

Lydana shook her head.

"An only child. I think something happened when I was born that stopped my mother being able to bear children."

She crouched in the water, pulling the hem of her uniform skirt up an inch so as to avoid it getting wet. "The life on this world is amazing," she remarked, gazing at the small fish in the river. "I'm astounded so much life has thrived here."

"No spouse?"

Damn it. Lydana had thought she'd succeeded in avoiding that part, and the blush on her cheeks grew darker.

"I-I don't...n-no, no spouse."

"Really?" Loraya pulled off her own boots, joining her friend in the water. "That's surprising. How come?"

Lydana almost choked at the very personal nature of the questions, feeling extremely shy about discussing the matter. It was bad enough that her mother had nagged at her on a regular basis about her romantic connections - or lack thereof - but to be asked about it now, and so innocently, was somehow worse.

"I...w-why would you want to know that?" Lydana could barely disguise the blush on her cheeks now, and she felt like they were overheating.

"I'm simply curious," Loraya answered with a shrug.

Lydana straightened up, heaving a long, weary sigh as she did.

"I...I don't know," she answered softly, as if she was ashamed of the fact. "I suppose it hasn't helped that I've always been...what did Elisa say? 'Socially awkward', that was it. I'm not a confident person, and coupled with my dedication to my field, I guess...I never really got involved with anyone."

She expected ridicule or laughter, and yet she knew she should've expected better from her friend, considerably more mature than a lot of people she'd met at the Academy.

"I'm sorry for probing," Loraya told her, "I just...I wanted to get to know you, that's all. We didn't have a lot of chance for that last time."

Lydana turned back to her friend, brushing wet soil from her hands as she walked back to the riverside.

"Then here's an idea," she said, sitting on the bank, "when we get back into orbit, why don't we have a...a sort of senior officers' dinner? You, me, and a couple of our bridge officers, and we can all get acquainted then."

Loraya nodded vigorously.

"Sounds good, I'd love to. As soon as-"

Her communicator beeped at her, and she held a finger up in a 'one moment' gesture, walking a short distance away to accept the transmission. Almost immediately after that, Lydana's commbadge twittered, and she tapped it in confusion.

"Kassai, go."

"Captain, we need you and the away team back on board," Elisa announced hurriedly. "We've got Tholians coming in, and fast."

Lydana swore viciously. Tholians were technologically advanced and intensely xenophobic, which meant they were generally permanently hostile.

"Understood, I'll gather the team and get back up shortly. Kassai out."

She rushed over to Loraya, who had just finished her own conversation and was looking equally concerned.

"Loraya, we need to go, we've got-"

"Tholians, I know, we detected it too. However, the good news is that Commander Temer's ship just warped into the system as well, so we aren't alone."

"Looks like dinner just got cancelled," Lydana told the Centurion as they hurried back to the clearing where they'd arrived.

"Postponed," Loraya corrected with a chuckle, "you aren't getting off that easily."

In a few short minutes, the two women had rounded up their respective away teams and stood ready for transport, disappearing in hazes of light as their ships recalled them.


"Did you have a nice paddle in the water with the Romulan lady?" Bolm quipped as Lydana stalked back onto the bridge, and she didn't look at him as she replied.

"I swear, Mister Bolm, there will be a date with an airlock in your very near future if you don't shut up."

Lydana dropped her boots beside the captain's chair as Elisa vacated it, and settled back into it herself.

"I recommend we move in support of the Leucosia, sir," Elisa advised. "We can't add much to this fight, but we can use our tractor beam to snag enemy ships, leaving them vulnerable to attack by the Romulans."

"Sound advice. Ryan, bring us into supporting range of the Leucosia if you would. T'Vrell, ready the tachyon beam - that seems to be effective at draining shields, lets make sure we use it."

"And me, sir?" Rhobas asked from behind Lydana's position, and she thought about it for a moment.

"Take what shots you can, but try not to draw too much attention to us. We may have decent shields, but I'm not taking chances against Tholians."

"Aye sir."

"Mister Bolm?"

"Sir?"

"Watch those shield facings, if you don't mind. I don't want any more holes in my ship."

"I have as much desire to keep on living as you, sir," the Tellarite said seriously, and Lydana gave a humourless snort.

"I'd believe that if you didn't keep trying to wind me up," Lydana countered. "Divert auxiliary power to the shields and deflector dish, ready weapons."

"When this is over," Elisa said to her quietly, "you'll have to explain to me why you're blushing so much."

"Keep that up, Miss Flores, and you'll be joining Bolm in that airlock," Lydana replied with mock threat.

Any further conversation was cut off by Rhobas, calling out one final update.

"Here they come!"


Three Tholian ships, slender and knife-like, bore down on the Leucosia, lashing the Romulan ship with bright blue streams of tertyon energy. They split up as they passed, one to each side and the third going over the small warbird, and each one fired an additional volley into the DaVinci before sweeping around for another pass.

"Damage report!" Lydana called, desperately trying to think of how to tackle the situation.

"Port and starboard shields at eighty-three per cent, dorsal shields at ninety. Minor damage to the upper decks, no casualties."

"How's the Leucosia doing?" she asked, trying to keep the concern from her tone.

"She's chasing down one of the Tholians," Ryan replied from the helm. "I'm trying to keep up, but this ship is a lot less agile than her."

"Just get that Tholian ship within our deflector arc," Lydana ordered. "T'Vrell, stand by with the tachyon beam."

As the Leucosia lined up behind its target, a volley of disruptor pulses spewed from its cannon mounts. The dark green shots splashed against the Tholian vessel's shield, causing it to flare brightly for a moment but otherwise having little effect. Despite this, the Leucosia continued firing, hoping to achieve through cumulative damage what they didn't achieve outright.

But the warbird was not alone, and Ryan's skill at the helm finally paid off. As soon as they were in position, Lydana gave the order to T'Vrell, and the Tholian's shield began to flicker as the DaVinci's tachyon beam began draining power from them.

Under the combined onslaught of the tachyon beam and the Leucosia's disruptor cannons, it wasn't long before the Tholian's shield collapsed, and both ships fired a single torpedo at the target. Both projectiles impacted at the exact same moment, and the Tholian ship was torn apart by the resulting explosion.

But it wasn't over yet. The two partners of the destroyed vessel swept back into the fray, making the mistake of splitting their fire between the warbird and the now-exposed DaVinci.

Lydana gripped the arms of her chair as the ship shuddered under the renewed assault, cringing as a console behind her blew out.

"Starboard shields at sixty-two per cent!" Bolm shouted. "Hull breaches on decks four and five, emergency force-fields are holding. We need to do something about them, and fast, sir."

"Thank you Mister Bolm, I noticed," Lydana growled through clenched teeth. "T'Vrell, status of the tachyon beam?"

"Recharging, sir. It will be available to use again in another twenty-seven seconds."

"And the Leucosia?"

"Her weapons were knocked offline in that last attack, and her shields are worse than ours. She needs some time to make emergency repairs."

Lydana swore violently, rapidly coming to a decision she was certain would provide her nightmares with fresh fuel.

"Ryan, move us into a defensive position near the Leucosia. Bolm, divert power from the deflector to the shields, draw from the engines if you have to. We're not hitting warp any time soon, so may as well use what we have."

"Are you sure that's wise, captain?" Elisa asked candidly, and Lydana replied with a subtle shake of her head.

"No, I'm not. But the Romulans are our allies, and it's what any good Starfleet captain would do."

"And the fact the Centurion is your friend has nothing to do with it, right?" Elisa's tone was doubtful, and Lydana leaned in close to her.

"Of course it does Lise, but I'd be doing the same if I didn't know the Leucosia's captain personally. Like I said, it's what's expected of us as Starfleet officers. Would you do any different?"

Elisa seemed to think for a moment, diverting her eyes as she reached the same conclusion.

"No, I don't suppose I would."

"Then we're agreed." Lydana straightened up and checked her display, noticing the Tholians were coming in for a third pass.

"T'Vrell, lock a tractor beam on the nearest Tholian ship as soon as it's in range, and hit it with the tachyon beam the moment it's ready."

"Understood sir. Please be advised that we will only have a few seconds before the Tholians adjust their shield harmonics."

"That's all we need. Rhobas, get ready to fire the forward phasers on overload."

"Aye sir."

"Stand ready. All hands, brace for impact."

The pair of Tholian vessels tore in, both of them hammering the DaVinci with streams of tetryon energy. With both ships firing at one target, the damage suffered by the aging science ship was significant...but not enough to stop Lydana's plan.

As the Tholians attempted to pass over the DaVinci, one of them was caught by the ensnaring field of a tractor beam, holding it in place as its fellow carried on. Another tachyon beam from the science ship knifed into the Tholian's shield, and once again the flickering glare indicated the drop in shield strength.

"Phasers ready sir," Rhobas announced, and Lydana stared at the image of the ship on the viewscreen.

"Hold fire," she said, focussing all of her attention ahead of her. She was watching for that pivotal moment, the last possible second when the phaser burst would do the most damage.

"The Tholians are trying to remodulate their shields," T'Vrell announced, and Lydana repeated her order, only firmer.

"Tachyon beam offline. The Tholians-"

"Fire!"

A split second before the Tholian's shield adjustments took effect, an overloaded phaser blast lanced into it. The timing was perfect - the enemy ship had no shields in the moment the phaser beam struck, and it bit deep into the Tholian vessel's hull. As they got their shields back up the vessel limped away, only to receive a rapid volley of phaser shots from the DaVinci's rear phaser array as it did. Its engines detonated in a spray of flame, before its warp core overloaded and immolated the entire ship.

"The third Tholian ship is breaking off!" Rhobas declared happily, and there was a cheer from the other members of the bridge crew.

Except for T'Vrell, who continued working her console.

Lydana, for her part, merely leaned forwards, resting her head in her hands as she struggled to halt another panic attack.

"How are we doing?" she asked, taking a deep breath as she sat up again. She coughed suddenly as she inhaled the scent of something burning, which was usually not a good sign.

"Decks four and five have had to be evacuated," Bolm informed her. "They took too much of a beating, ended up with a few fresh breaches. Moderate damage to decks six through nine, but emergency force-fields are in place and repair crews are on it. Forward phasers and the deflector are offline."

"Damn it," Lydana muttered. She'd come to rely on that tachyon beam, and without it her job would be a lot harder. "Casualties?"

"Belay that," Elisa countered, and Lydana frowned at her.

"Don't do it to yourself, Lyddie," her first officer said quietly. "Not here. Not now."

"It's my job to know, Elisa, my job to deal with it, and deal with it I will. Casualties."

Bolm looked over the reports on his console, sighing to himself as he offered the information.

"Twenty-seven wounded, three of them critically. Three dead, including one lost to space."

Lydana buried her face in her hands again, as she realised that over a quarter of her new crew were now out of action. She fought with her own consciousness, trying to drag herself away from such heavy thoughts, and asked for a different set of information.

"How's the Leucosia?" she asked weakly, fighting back tears.

"Centurion S'Vae reports full operation again, but she wishes to speak with you personally. I can put her onscreen at your command, sir."

"Thanks T'Vrell. Onscreen."

The viewscreen ahead of her lit with the face of her Romulan friend, a small cut above her eye testament to some of the damage her ship had suffered. The view of the warbird's bridge didn't seem any more appealing, but at least Loraya was alive.

"Lydana, I am glad you still live," Loraya said with a pained smile. "I think we desrve that dinner after all this."

"I'd say so too, Loraya," Lydana responded, her own humour muted by the grief she felt.

"I just wanted to tell you...thank you. Your bravery in defending us saved the lives of many of our crew, and I will be making a report to that effect to your commanders."

"Loraya, you don't-"

"I also know what that must have cost you," Loraya continued, "and I'm sorry for any losses you suffered. But please, remember what I told you before. You performed your duty admirably, and the men and women of your crew know the dangers of Starfleet service. Do not allow grief to cripple you, okay?"

Lydana found herself unable to speak, as emotion choked any words she may have attempted. Instead, she offered Loraya a mute nod, and that seemed to placate her.

"Good. Once we've cleared this system, we'll make arrangements for dinner. Leucosia, out."

Lydana heaved a shuddering sigh, and Elisa tapped her arm.

"Something you want to tell us?"

Lydana blushed at Elisa's suggestive tone, and shook her head vigorously.

"I-it's not like that!" she protested. "It's a dinner for us and our senior officers, there'll be several of us there. We-"

She was interrupted by a warning tone from the tactical station, and Lydana whipped around to face Rhobas.

"What is it?"

"Another group of Tholians, entering the system!"

"By the Prophets...helm, get us moving!"

"Sir, may I remind you-"

"Not now, T'Vrell! Rhobas, which side are they coming in?"

"They're approaching our port side, but sir-"

"Ryan, hard to starboard, put those incoming Tholians at our backs. Bolm, stand by to eject warp plasma from the nacelles, Rhobas...move aside for a moment."

She moved quickly, getting around to the tactical console just as Rhobas moved away.

She stared at the console for a moment, searching for the controls she needed, speaking to T'Vrell as she did.

"T'Vrell, contact Commander Temer's ship, request they head on a reciprocal course to ours in-" she checked the tactical display for a moment - "six seconds. Ah!"

She found what she needed and began tapping furiously at the controls, making adjustments as the Tholians moved ever closer.

"Bolm, I want all possible power to the aft shields - auxiliary power, life support from the vacated decks, forward phasers...take the photon torpedoes offline as well, put the power from the launcher into the aft shields.

"Uh...yes sir, as you say."

"T'Vrell, put the Tholians on screen," she commanded, moving away from the tactical station, and Rhobas looked at her in confusion.

"Ma'am, these adjustments-"

"Won't do a damn thing to them, I know. Just aim directly behind us and stand by."

She moved to Ryan Cobham's shoulder, leaning down to his level as she gave him his own instruction.

"When I give the word, I want you to dive. Hard. Full impulse, every drop of power you can put in the engines, straight down. Got it?"

"Aye sir, all power, straight down."

"Good man." She looked up at the viewscreen, just in time to see the Tholians opening fire. The ship shuddered violently under the repeated impacts, as four Tholian vessels all fired their tetryon beams at the fleeing DaVinci.

"Sir, they're closing on us!" Rhobas shouted, and Lydana held a hand up in a 'wait' gesture.

"Get ready Bolm," she said gently, as if worried the Tholians would hear her. The ship shuddered again, and Lydana forced herself to stay on her feet as she kept watching the display. Eventually, when she judged the distance and speeds to be right, she gave the order to Bolm.

"Vent plasma!"

As the DaVinci sped along its course, a cloud of green-tinged gas spewed from the warp nacelles, forming a trail behind the tiny science ship. Directly ahead of her, the large, swooping form of Temer's warbird bore down on her position, and Lydana gave her follow-up commands.

"Rhobas, aft phasers! Ryan, now!

A single beam fired from the rear phaser array, and thanks to Lydana's adjustments it did exactly what she intended it to - it ignited the warp plasma, catching the four Tholian vessels in a massive conflagration that burned hot and bright as a newborn star.

The D'serek. Temer's Moghai-class heavy warbird, flew directly over the plunging Federation ship, opening up with all of its disruptor cannons, ripping through the group of enemy ships as their shields collapsed and their hulls caught fire. The damage from the plasma fire was catastrophic - the follow-through from Temer ended them in seconds.


"All stop, Mister Cobham," Lydana told her helmsman with a grin, and turned to the rest of her bridge crew.

"Excellent work, all of you. Thank you for your hard work...and your trust. I couldn't have done it without you."

A tone from T'Vrell's station caused Lydana to look towards the Vulcan, who looked up promptly.

"Commander Temer is hailing us, sir."

"Onscreen."

She turned to regard her friend's superior, a man with strong features and thinning black hair. A scar ran from above his right eye down his cheek, and Lydana marvelled at the fact he hadn't lost the eye. He had the look of a stern, no-nonsense fighter, but his narrow lips split into a smile as he greeted the Starfleet officer.

"Lieutenant Kassai Lydana, I assume?"

"Yes sir, and you must be Commander Temer."

"Please, no need to stand on ceremony, Lieutenant," he said politely. "Just Temer will do. I just wanted to congratulate you - that was a daring move you just pulled off, one I doubt the Tholians were expecting."

"I'm sure they weren't sir- Temer, sorry. But I can't take all the credit - my crew were instrumental in getting that right."

"Naturally, and your humility and graciousness do you credit. I also wanted to thank you for saving the lives of the Leucosia's crew. Acts like that are what alliances are built on."

"I owe her captain a personal debt, Temer, one I can probably never repay. It was my honour to protect her and her crew, as she once did for me."

Temer nodded in understanding, and smiled at her again.

"I know what you mean, Lieutenant. Anyway, I'm afraid I cannot stay in-system - I have to take the information you and Centurion S'Vae gathered back to our leader, D'Tan. But thank you once again, and I hope to meet you again in future. Jolan Tru, Lieutenant. Temer, out."

Lydana sighed heavily, before turning back to her crew.

"Maybe now we can get some repairs done without being shot at?"

The crew chuckled with her, and she began making her way to the turbolift.

"Do what you can guys. I'm going to try and help in sickbay. Elisa, you have the bridge for now."

Lydana scrubbed at her eyes as the turbolift closed, pressing back tears and the emotions that went with them. More wounded, a few more deaths and another ship pounded to within an inch of its life. She was beginning to think she should have taken that job on DS-9 after all - at least there she would only have been worried about doing her own job properly, and not having to be concerned with the pressured of command that she should never have been thrust into.

She ordered the turbolift to the deck sickbay was located on, deciding that the least she could do to soothe her battered conscience was to try and help her crew personally.

She took a deep breath, choking back the emotions that fought for control, and as soon as the lift doors opened she marched towards sickbay, determined to help her crew.