The humming of the ship's warp engines was the only noise, leaving the ready room otherwise silent. Sean sat at his desk, memorizing his revised command code displayed on the computer.

"Captain?"

He looked up from his computer. Crewman Tricia Wales stepped into the room. She held a black uniform bag in her hands. Her cream colored skin and blond hair color were nearly identical, offset only by her green eyes. She wore the yellow uniform of operations personnel and security. "How can I help you crewman?"

She unzipped the bag, pulling out a black jumpsuit folded neatly. "I have our new uniform!" She shook it, allowing it to unfold to its full height.

The jumpsuit was completely black, except for two patches on the arm. Various pockets adorned the uniform. It was functional and looked comfortable. "What is on the patches?" Sean asked, gesturing to the arms.

Tricia showed the right arm of the uniform. The patch contained a top down view of the Guenidier in the upper right corner, its saucer section facing the top of the patch, with a blue background color. A single word was embroidered on bottom of the patch, 'Guenidier.' A red border highlighted the circular patch, making it stand out. "That's the emblem of the ship, though I admit that we borrowed that a bit."

"What about the other patch?"

She flipped the uniform around, showing him the other side. The patch had a blue background, with a violet boarder. It was also circular. A faint outline of the Bridge was embroidered in a slightly darker shade of red. Four silver beads were placed on the top edge in a straight line. "This is the patch for the Bridge personnel, specifically yours."

Tricia held the uniform so the front faced him. "It's designed to be functional. You can put a tricorder in either of these big pockets here, a phaser in the other." She pointed out the two pockets about waist height. "And numerous other pockets for things I can't even think of yet."

"Did you just come up with the design?"

Tricia blushed slightly. "No, I borrowed some of the early Starfleet uniform designs. I thought it might bring us back to our roots. We're not trying to destroy everything Starfleet stands for, right?"

"Exactly."

"We're trying to restore the old values, so I thought we should go back to older uniforms." She shrugged. "Besides, they are more functional."

Sean smiled. "Consider your uniform adopted. You can begin distributing them as soon as possible."

"Thank you sir, but I'm not done."

Sean raised an eyebrow. "What else do you have?"

She reached into the bag and withdrew a camouflage jacket. "These are for away missions where we expect to encounter trouble." The jacket shifted colors slightly to resemble the room it was in. "It uses a special polymer that allows it to mimic its environment. Not perfectly, but close."

She showed him the back. "It has an embedded phaser rifle harness, which should allow us to easily use tricorders, even while we have phaser rifles." She spun the jacket back around. "There are numerous pockets too; each can be used to hold extra energy cells, or anything else that's about that size or smaller."

"Are you going to be distributing these too?"

"No sir." Tricia carefully folded it back up. "They'll be placed in the armories. There are no patches or identification. They are only for away missions."

"Sounds good crewman. Can I keep mine?"

Tricia placed the uniform on the desk. "Of course. We're already ready to distribute them too."

"Was this a small conspiracy crewman?"

"Sorta." She smiled shyly. "Most of the crewmen already know about it, some of them even have them."

Sean laughed. "Congratulations, it's now the uniform of the ship."

Tricia left the room. Sean shut down his computer and grabbed his uniform. He stepped out of his ready room and onto the Bridge. "Status?" He asked as he headed for the turbolift.

"Nothing on scanners." Kate replied. "It's quiet for now."

"Klena, the Bridge is yours." Sean stepped into the turbolift. "Deck 2." The turbolift responded to the voice command immediately. The ride to Deck 2 lasted only a few seconds, depositing him near his quarters.

He walked inside, setting the uniform down on his desk. "Computer, lights." The lighting in the room brightened to a normal level. He changed into his new uniform, stretching to get the feel of it. Already he could feel the difference.

He carefully folded up the old uniform, looking at the red stripe across the shoulders. It had once been a symbol of his position, now it reminded him of the past. Not that he would throw it away; it had been with him for too long. He took the commbadge from it, and placed it on his new uniform.

He walked back out into the hallway and immediately noticed Jason walking by. He had a different patch on his left arm. It was red, with a phaser rifle embroidered on it, a blue border surrounded it. Jason nodded at Sean before continuing on his way.

Sean shook his head; it appeared that Tricia had already spread her uniform around the ship. He headed for the turbolift, taking the time to notice the patches on other crewmen as he walked down the hall. Each patch was unique to that crewman's position on the ship.

He glanced at his watch as he entered the turbolift. He still had a few minutes before the senior officers meeting in the briefing room. "Bridge." The turbolift zoomed up and stopped, opening to reveal the Bridge before him.

He crossed the empty Bridge, heading for the briefing room. There weren't enough personnel to cover for the Bridge officers during a meeting. The computer remained in control of the ship. It was programmed to alert them of any sensor contacts.

All of the senior officers wore their new uniforms. Sean took his seat at the center of the table, counting heads quickly. Everyone was present, with Klena, Mark, and Erica sitting on his right, and Kate and Nathan on his left.

He looked at Nathan. "Would you like to talk to us about your ideas for rearming the ship?"

Nathan nodded. "Yes sir." He stood up and walked over to the wall mounted console behind Mark. He accessed his personal directory and displayed the plans for the new weapons systems. "Between Commander Turner and myself, we're looking at a decommissioning yard raid to acquire phaser parts and an additional warp core to power them."

He pointed out the two cannon mounts underneath the saucer section in the model. "I'm also proposing that we construct two phaser cannons. We'll need to modify the parts from existing phaser arrays to create the cannons. In addition to that we'll have to remove several of the living quarters on Deck 8."

He turned back to face Sean. "The yards are generally defended by sentry guns and the station itself."

Mark stood up. "The warp core modification will necessitate a complete rebuild of the warp core chamber in engineering. We have to place two cores in there and operate them simultaneously for this to work." He accessed a small diagram from the console. "My plan is to have each core provide primary power to one side of the ship and one warp nacelle each. They will still be interconnected. Should anything happen to one, we will still be able to use the other to power the ship's essential systems."

Mark took a deep breath. "Both cores will be placed side by side, and the current warp core area will be modified to contain several consoles that would be inaccessible otherwise. The core ejection system is also going to have to be modified to allow selective or simultaneous ejection of the cores. It has always bothered me that our ships have no redundancy for warp power. This system will leave us with a backup core should something go wrong with the other. I'm somewhat sorry to say that it won't resemble the original Starfleet engine room, and it'll take some getting used to, but it will give us twice the power."

"Is this even possible?" Kate asked. "I've never heard of two warp cores powering a ship before."

"It's simply a matter of proper design and execution" Mark said. "It's been considered before, but never attempted. Starfleet has the resources to create a new warp core in place of the old one. We don't."

Nathan accessed a star chart with a single highlighted region. "Our target is the Illidian 4 Decommissioning Yard. It is just outside the border of Klingon space. It's not a high priority depot, and it's far enough away from any Starbases so it will take awhile before Starfleet reinforcements arrive."

Sean glanced around the table. "We need those weapons. This is now our primary objective."

"Our second order of business is supplies." He said. "We need to gather what we can before we work our way out of Federation space. Are there any ideas?"

"There are a number of small Federation cargo depots in this region." Klena said. "They were originally placed here during the hostilities between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. They were recently restocked during the Dominion War, leaving the supplies in them still fresh, though guarded."

"We're also in the middle of a large trading area." Erica added. "A freighter convoy carrying basic supplies would be an easy target to raid, and probably result in the fewest casualties too."

"We'd be stealing from civilians though." Mark said. "We can't do that."

"True," Erica replied, "though it wouldn't be their supplies, just the cargo."

"We have to adhere to our morals." Sean said, looking everyone in the eye. "Are there any alternat…"

"Alert." The computer interrupted. "Distress call detected at 0955 hours. Bearing 090 Mark 322."

"Computer, source?" Sean asked.

"A convoy, unknown composition at this range."

"We've got to help them." Kate said.

"Convoys in this region of space are under the protection of Starfleet." Klena said. "It is likely that aiding this convoy will put us in danger."

"What if there are no Federation starships anywhere in the sector?" Kate replied quickly.

"We need to make a name for ourselves." Mark said before Klena could reply to Kate. "Right now we left Starfleet as traitors. That's no doubt spread through the quadrant. But if we show that we're not just bandits, then maybe we can make a reputation for ourselves."

"I agree with Commander Turner." Nathan said. "We can't avoid everything, otherwise the odds will catch up to us, and there will be no friends for us to turn to."

"Then it's settled." Sean said. "Erica, plot us a course for the convoy. Dismissed."

Sean stood up and followed everyone out. Mark headed for the turbolift while everyone else took their stations. He took his seat. "Red Alert, all hands to battle stations."

The ship alarms wailed and the Bridge lighting dimmed. He watched the forward viewport. "Any signs of Federation activity?"

"No." Kate said. "I've got a better look at the convoy though. They are a group of fourteen Bajoran heavy transports. There's no escort, but they're being attacked by a Cardassian Galor and two Maquis raiders."

"Most likely pirates flying those ships." Nathan said. "The Galor is our biggest threat."

"Erica, adjust our course so that we face the Galor when we come out of warp. Sean glanced back at Nathan. "Fire phasers and photon torpedoes at will. We'll only have a second to deal with it."

Nathan looked down at his controls. "Forward torpedo tubes are loaded, phasers are charged. Shields are online."

"We're dropping from warp." Erica announced.

The Galor cruiser was at the head of the convoy, firing its weapons into the lead ship. The two raiders were further down the convoy, disabling engines. Sean glanced back at Nathan. "We're not going to get another chance at this."

Nathan nodded. "Firing phasers and photon torpedoes."

Four torpedoes launched from the Guenidier's torpedo tubes and streaked across space. Less than a half a second later, the two forward phaser banks fired. Phaser beams impacted the Galor's shields. The torpedoes slammed home, punching through the shields and impacting the cruiser's hull.

The entire rear section of the ship blew off, leaving the front end tumbling. Momentary guilt hit Sean. As a Starfleet captain he had been trained to look for a non-violent solution. But the guilt was only momentary. The pirates had been attacking a civilian convoy; they had gotten what they deserved.

"Target the Raiders; bring us between them and the convoy."

"No need Captain." Kate announced. "They're turning to engage us."

The ship shook slightly as the forward phasers on the raiders impacted the Guenidier's shields. "Minimal damage to our shields." Nathan reported.

"Target the lead raider's engines." Sean said, watching as the ship arched away from his ship.

"Firing port phaser arrays." Nathan said. Phaser beams punched through the shields of the Raider. A second set of beams ripped the engines off the small ship. "They're disabled."

"Target the second Raider."

"No need to." Kate said. "They've just gone to warp."

"What's the status of the convoy?" Sean asked, coming to his feet.

"The lead three ships are heavily damaged." Kate said, looking down at her console. "I'm reading atmosphere and debris venting into space from their cargo bays. The other ships have suffered minor damage, mainly to their warp engines."

"Can we hail the lead ship?" Sean glanced at Kate.

"There's a lot of comm traffic between the fleet, give me a second to clean it up." She looked down at her console. "Wait... they're hailing us."

Sean shrugged. "Let's hear it."

There was a burst of static as the viewscreen switched to display a view of the Bridge of the Bajoran freighter. A single older Bajoran man could be seen. He looked ragged, his face bloody from numerous small wounds.

"I am Captain Tolena Landis, leader of this convoy."

"I am Captain Sean Cunningham of the Guenidier. Do you require assistance?"

"I do not know what trickery you are attempting, but it will not work." Captain Tolena wiped at some of the blood on his face.

Sean glanced over at Klena. "Trickery?"

"Assuming that Commander Turner was correct in his assumption that Starfleet has branded us traitors," Klena said, "it would be conceivable that word has spread of our 'deeds.'"

"Right." He took a deep breath. "Captain Tolena. I understand that you have no reason to trust us, but we are not pirates. Why else would we answer your distress call and risk our ship to save your convoy?"

"Perhaps you are simply trying to exploit our vulnerable position?" Tolena's eyes narrowed.

"Captain, at this point, none of your ships have shields." Sean slowly walked back and forth in front of his chair. "This ship possesses transporters capable of taking anything we want. I have no desire to steal from you." Sean stopped pacing and looked Captain Tolena in the eye. "Perhaps we could make a gesture of good faith?"

"Lower your shields and power down your weapons."

Sean glanced at Nathan. "Do it. Stand down to condition green." The lighting on the bridge returned to normal. "Captain Tolena. Our shields are down and our weapons are offline."

Captain Tolena blinked. "Please, we have many casualties throughout the convoy. We do not have the medical supplies to treat them."

"Transmit their coordinates and we'll beam them to our sickbay. You're welcome to come too."

"I've received the coordinates." Kate said. "I'm beaming them directly to sickbay in groups."

"Keep an eye out for Starfleet vessels." Sean turned to face Captain Tolena again. "We've begun transporting them to our sickbay, will you be joining them?"

"Not immediately, I must see to the repairs of my ship."

"We can transport over some supplies and a repair team."

Captain Tolena hesitated. "I'm not sure..."

"They'll be unarmed," Sean said, "as a gesture of good faith."

"Very well, that is acceptable."

Sean tapped his commbadge. "Mark, assemble a team for transport to the Bajoran convoy ships."

"We'll be over there in five minutes." Mark replied. "Phasers?"
"No." Sean replied. "Remain unarmed."

"Alright."

He glanced back at Kate. "Kate, meet Mark in the transporter room. They'll need all the help they can get."

Kate nodded.

He turned back to Erica. "Erica, maintain transport distance at all times."

"Yes sir." She replied.

"Klena, the Bridge is yours. I'm going to check on the Bajorans in sickbay."

She nodded as he entered the turbolift. "Sickbay." He waited patiently as the turbolift descended into the ship, stopping several seconds later. He walked briskly down the corridor to sickbay. The magnitude of the emergency hit him when he spotted the patients in the hall.

He sat down on his knees next to them, checking for a pulse. It was strong. The man was a graying Bajoran man, with mild burns. He stood back up, carefully stepping into sickbay.

"Excuse me Captain." Lshan said, nearly knocking him over as she carried a cart full of hyposprays to the surgical ward.

There were wounded Bajorans on every biobed and even more on the floor. The EMH was working in the main surgical unit. Sean watched his step as he walked to the Doctor. "How are they?" He asked.

"Most of them have only first or second degree burns. However, this Bajoran has third degree plasma burns." The Doctor pulled a hypospray from the tray.

Sean stepped back, letting the doctor work.

Lshan looked over the patients vital signs. The Bajoran woman looked like she should've been dead. Her face was bloody, her entire left arm was burned, and her ceremonial Bajoran earpiece was burned beyond recognition, along with that entire side of her face. "Doctor, we're losing her."

"Not yet." The EMH replied stubbornly, even though he made no mention of it. "Get me 20ccs of Kelotane for the burns."

Lshan filled the hypospray then handed it to the EMH, who promptly administered it. He ran his tricorder over the Bajoran again. "Her heart is failing. Prepare 5ccs of Netinaline."

The biofunction monitor flat lined, a solid tone replacing the normal beeping. The EMH administered the drug instantly. He waited a second for the drug to enter the Bajoran's system. "No sign of revival… Cortical stimulator!"

Lshan pressed the small device to the patient's head; she then stepped back to the medical console. There was a whine, and then the Bajoran's whole body whipped from the electric pulse.

The EMH scanned the body with a tricorder. "Again!"

There was another sharp whine. The Bajoran's body whipped again. The doctor scanned a final time. "She's dead." He pulled the sheet over the Bajoran's head. "Move on to the next one."

Lshan took a deep breath, and then followed the Doctor's orders. Sean looked down to see a Bajoran at his feet rolled over off his cot. Sean carefully placed him back on his cot, being careful not to cause anymore harm.

Sean quietly left sickbay. He tapped his commbadge. "Klena, is that all of the wounded?"

"No." She replied. "Crewman Lshan has directed me to set up a triage facility in the mess hall."

"Do it, I'll be there." He took a deep breath. "Computer, put me on ship wide audio."

There was a beep.

"I need all available crew members who are not busy, to come to the mess hall and assist with the triage." He headed for the turbolift and took it to Deck 2.

As soon as he stepped out he was swept up into the traffic as crewmen headed for the mess hall. He entered and took an emergency med kit from the desk, moving to help the nearest Bajoran. He was a very young man, maybe twenty years old. A small head wound dripped blood down the side of his face.

He gently checked for a pulse. The man stirred as he felt Sean's cold fingers. "Hold on." Sean said softly, reaching into the medical pouch and drawing a dermal regenerator. He thumbed the activated button along the side and gently passed it along the wound.

Once the wound had closed, Sean withdrew the medical tricorder from the kit. He glanced around the bay momentarily. Everywhere Bajorans were being placed on cots and examined by crewmen who could do little but treat minor injuries.

It was all they had though. Sean finished his scan. The man would live. He stood up, heading for the next Bajoran when he was stopped by Captain Tolena. "Where is Karah?"

Sean handed his kit to a crewman as they passed by. He gently pushed Tolena out of the Mess Hall. "Who?"

"My first officer. She was the most badly burned." Tolena glanced back at the Mess Hall.

"I think I saw her." Sean replied. "If I'm correct... she didn't make it."

Tolena pounded his fist against the nearest wall, tears streaming unabated down the man's cheek. "No! By the Prophets no!"

"I'm sorry." Sean replied. "Our doctor did everything he could. I'll take you to see her in a bit, right now there's very little room in Sickbay."

Tolena nodded. "I understand." He slumped down to sit against the wall. "It is the will of the prophets..." The man's eyes closed in unrestrained agony.

Sean stepped back from Tolena, giving him the space to grieve. He tapped his commbadge. "Mark, status report?"

"This freighter is a mess." Mark replied. "They've completely lost atmosphere in their engineering room. Right now Crewman Scott and I are using environmental suits to repair the damage."

"Keep me posted." Sean replied.

"Will do."

Sean turned back to Tolena. He offered him a hand. "She was important to you?"

Tolena took it, pulling himself back to his feet. "She was soon to be my wife." The man stifled his tears with a deep breath. "But now my responsibility is to my convoy."

"My engineers are working to restore your engines." Sean said. "But we only have a skeleton crew."

Tolena glanced up. "Why do you only have a skeleton crew?"

"We are the crew of the former USS Guenidier. That was a Sabre class ship." Sean shrugged. "We commandeered this ship because it was unmanned. However, it's meant for 150 personnel."

Tolena took a deep breath. "Would it be possible to see...Karah now?"

Sean looked away for a moment. "Alright." He said softly, "Just watch your step." Sean led Tolena to the turbolift and down to Sickbay. There were now two crewmen helping with the injured in the halls.

"Thank you for all your help." Tolena said. "I am forever in your debt."

"It's no debt." Sean said, stepping into sickbay. "It's our job."

"But you are not of Starfleet anymore."
"No." Sean walked to the surgical unit. "But we do hold Starfleet's morals close." He gestured to the covered body in the surgical unit. "I think this is her..." Sean let his voice trail off, taking a step back so Tolena could pull the cover back.

The Bajoran froze as soon as he pulled the cover back. Sean closed his eyes in respect, letting the man grieve with renewed ferocity. Sean had never lost a significant other, but that was mainly from a lack of them to begin with. The life of a starship captain left little time for that.

He opened his eyes, finding the Bajoran man on his knees. He was muttering in Bajoran, his eyes held shut. His hand clutched the dead woman's hand. Sean respectfully lowered his head. He quietly walked outside the surgical unit.

"Ah, Captain." The EMH said as he walked by. "I have managed to stabilize all of the critical patients."

"How long do you need to treat them all?"

"We're moving non-critical patients to the mess hall."

"Good, I don't want to stay here for much more than a couple of hours." Sean interrupted.

"I need at least a day." The EMH replied.

"Doctor, you've got four hours tops." Sean silenced the EMH. "That convoy is still sending out a distress call. I do not want to be here when a Federation starship shows up. With our reputation in Starfleet they'd fire first and ask questions later."

The EMH nodded. "I'll make sure all the patients are stabilized and mobile. The Bajorans should be able to handle it from there."

"Good." Sean walked back out of sickbay. It was going to be a long four hours.

XXX

Mark reached down to his feet and disabled the magnetic locks on his environmental suit's boots. Using the console in front of the warp core as an anchor, he spun himself upside down so that he could look at the underside of the panel.

The first priority was to get the environmental systems back online. There was a short somewhere in the console that was making it impossible to get them working. "William, give the console a little power, I need to see what is creating the short."

A small shower of sparks exploded from one of the isolinear chips embedded in the console. "Alright, turn it off!" Mark said, reaching in to grasp it with his gloved hand. The isolinear chip came free, giving him a good look at the damaged component.

The contacts on the side of the chip were blackened, useless. "Kate, do the Bajorans have spare isolinear chips?"

"No." She replied, from the control room outside. "The entire repair parts stockpile was blasted into space when the cargo bay depressurized."

"Guenidier, we need an isolinear chip programming kit beamed over to my location."

"Stand by." Klena replied over the comm system.

The kit beamed in right below Mark. "Thanks Commander." He popped the seals on the kit and withdrew the isolinear chip programming tool. It was a small narrow device, with a single sharp end. Mark held the spare isolinear chip with one hand and the tool with the other.

He reached up into the console and carefully scanned the contacts in the console. The device read their configuration and displayed it on a small display built into the handle. He carefully traced the active circuit paths on the chip, lining them up so the chip would function properly.

He carefully slid it back into position. "Okay, give me a 2 power test run." Mark waited patiently for more sparks to fly from the console. There were none. "Okay, bring it up to 50 power." Again there was no sparks. "Full power."

"Alright!" William said gleefully. "The connection to the backups is no longer severed."

"They don't make freighters like they used to." Mark muttered. He orientated himself so that his feet were on the floor. The magnetic locks automatically engaged. "Can we bring atmosphere and gravity online?"

William looked down at the Bajoran console. "We've got power, but it's in Bajoran, so I need a Bajoran to activate the system."

"I've got their night shift engineer outside." Kate replied. "He's coming in."

"Alright." Mark replied. He turned around. The Bajoran engineer was in a massive environmental suit. There was no way that he could've worked in the engineering section in that. It restricted his movements to little more than moving his fingers. Even then, the stubby gloves would prevent him from touching anything small.

"Over here sir." William said. "The console just needs you to activate the system."

"Thank you." The Bajoran said. He hobbled over to the console and activated the system.

Mark felt his magnetic boots disengage as the gravity systems came online. He glanced down at his tricorder. "Oxygen levels are rising."

"Emergency bulkheads have sealed the breaches in everything except the cargo bay." Kate replied. "I've blocked the environmental systems from trying to fill the bay."

"Good work Kate." Mark replied. "Let's try to get that warp core back online."

XXX

Sean sat down at the head of the briefing room table. "What's the status of the convoy?"

"We've managed to repair the warp engines on all of the ships except the lead one." Mark replied. "I don't believe it's possible though. There is simply too much damage."

"All the other ships are warp capable though?"

"Yes." Mark shrugged. "They'll make it."

"Lshan, how are we doing with the Bajoran wounded?"

Crewman Lshan sat in the normally empty seat at the end of the table. "All of the wounded are stabilized. We've turned them back over to the Bajoran medics."

"Then it's safe to go." Sean said, looking at each of them. "There's no doubt that a Starfleet vessel should be on its way here."

"Have you informed Captain Tolena?" Kate asked.

"That's what we're going to do now." Sean said. "Computer, hail the Bajoran convoy leader."

The display on the wall replaced to show a small view of Captain Tolena. "Captain, I must thank you for everything you've done."

"It was no problem Captain." Sean said. "However, the Guenidier needs to leave."

"I understand." Tolena hesitated. "May I ask one more favor of you Captain?"

Sean nodded. "We're listening."

"Two weeks ago another Bajoran convoy discovered the Pirates' base of operations." Captain Tolena's image was replaced by a diagram of an asteroid field. "They were making a detour through Asteroid Field Cluster 1456-B to avoid interfering with a Frengi trade conference in a nearby system."

Tolena's image returned. "In that asteroid field cluster they detected a large cargo station embedded in an asteroid. They were not able to take any detailed scans because they were attacked. We asked Starfleet to deal with the pirates, but we were ignored."

"And you'd want us to destroy it?" Nathan asked.

"Not exactly." Tolena paused. "The Pirates use their base primarily for storage. The only defenses that the convoy detected were the ships that attacked them."

"What attacked them?" Nathan asked.

"They were attacked by two Cardassian Galor class cruisers and four Maquis Raiders."

"Could we take them all on alone?" Sean asked Nathan.

"Not unless they came at us one at a time." Nathan leaned back. "We could take all four Raiders on without any problem; it's the two Galors that worry me."

"We would be willing to help in any way we can." Tolena said.

"Thank you for the offer Captain, but your freighters would be of little help." Sean said. "What about the asteroids?"

"It is possible to once again create a screen using the asteroids themselves for cover." Klena said. "However, that is a defensive tactic. We are in an offensive situation."

"What about luring a couple of them off?" Kate asked. "We can handle some of them."

"They're not going to be fooled by an Interpid class starship." Nathan said. "But they would be fooled by the freighters."

"What do you have in mind?" Sean asked.

"Use the freighters as bait." Nathan said.

"That would put the civilians at unnecessary risk." Klena said. "We could not protect them if they were a distraction."

"Unless we hide with the freighters." Sean said, a smile coming to his face. "If we stay on the opposite side of the convoy, then we can avoid being detected until the Pirates have been lured in. Kate, that's possible right?"

"In theory." She replied. "The sensors would detect the convoy, and as long as the convoy stayed close enough together, then a ship on the far side of it would be invisible."

"That way we can protect the convoy, while using them as bait." Erica said. "We come out from under the convoy with our phasers firing."

"Would you be willing to do that Captain?" Sean asked Tolena.

"Yes." Captain Tolena replied. "We would be willing to do our part in that plan."

"Tell your ships to form up and signal us when you are ready." Sean said. "Dismissed." He walked back onto the Bridge. He took his seat. "Erica, set a course and prepare for warp speed."

She nodded, coming to her station. "Aye sir."

"All hands to battle stations."

"They're hailing." Kate said.

"On screen."

"Captain, the convoy is ready to jump. We're linking our warp drives to your navigation control."

Sean took a deep breath. "Erica, engage."

"Initiating warp jump... now!"

Sean felt a slight tremor run through the ship, just enough to let him know they were at warp. He waited patiently. The only sound on the bridge was the beeping of consoles as Erica watched their course in warp.

"We're entering asteroid field cluster 1456-B." Erica announced. "Dropping from warp."

"I'm receiving sensor data from the convoy." Nathan said. "We made the right assumption. Two Cardassian Galors without ID transponders are closing with the convoy. Four Raiders are holding position near the base. Thirty seconds till weapons range."

"Kate, instruct the convoy to hold their positions." He turned back to Erica. "Prepare to take us down and under the convoy ships. Line us up with the lead Galor. Nathan, fire photon torpedoes as soon as you are in range. Phasers at will."

"Yes sir." Nathan replied.

"The ships are in weapons range of the convoy." Kate said after a moment of silence. "They're sending out a transmission."

"We already know what it is." Sean said. "Erica, now!"

The Guenidier came out from under the convoy. It immediately opened fire, catching the lead Galor unprepared with a phaser strike. The convoy's phasers lashed out, hitting both Galors.

"We're coming about." Erica announced.

"Firing torpedoes!" Nathan said. Four torpedoes streaked from the torpedo tubes and smashed into the lead Galor. The first two impacted shields, the second two torpedoes passed through where the shields had been and slammed into the bridge. The entire section of the ship exploded, splitting the ship into two pieces. "The lead Galor cruiser has been destroyed."

"The second ship is firing!" Kate yelled, just as the first torpedo and phaser strikes impacted the Guenidier. The Bridge shook from the impact, alarm sirens wailing as reports of damage came in.

"Shields took the brunt of the attack." Nathan said. "Firing rear torpedoes and phasers." Two torpedoes launched from the back the Guenidier, slamming into the Galor cruiser's shields. The phasers slammed into the already weakened shields, breaking through after only a second of resistance. They dug deep holes into the cruiser's forward torpedo launcher.

"Sweep through phaser arcs." Sean ordered. "Keep our strong shields towards them!"
"Firing port phasers." Nathan reported as the Guenidier slowly turned, its phasers ripping through the already weakened hull plating of the Galor.

"They're firing!" Kate said, just as another torpedo slammed into the Guenidier's shields. "Shields are at 30."

"Firing forward phasers." Nathan said. The final phaser strikes slammed into the Bridge of the cruiser, leaving the ship without a command center. "Firing starboard phaser banks." The Guenidier's phasers tore through the narrow section of the ship connecting the front with the warp drive in the back. It broke into two separate chunks.

"The Raiders will be upon us in five seconds!" Kate yelled from her station.

"Erica, evasive." Sean ordered. "Nathan, fire on all of them at once."

"Coordinating fire from all targeting systems." Nathan announced. The Guenidier pitched in space, zooming away at full impulse as the Raiders swooped in. The Guenidier's ventral phaser array fired, catching the lead Raider in the forward shields.

"Their shields are stronger than the two Raiders we fought with the convoy." Kate said. "These look like they've been updated."

"Target the lead ship." Sean said. "Erica, bring us about. Nathan, fire all forward phaser banks on that target."

"Firing phasers." Nathan said as the Guenidier turned to face the attacking Raiders. Two arcs of phaser energy shot forward, catching the lead Raider in between them. The Lead Raider's shields failed as the Guenidier flew by. The ventral phaser array fired. Explosions tore through the small ship, splitting it into multiple pieces.

"Shields are at 20!" Kate announced.

"I have the second Raider targeted." Nathan announced. "They are heading for the convoy."

"Let's beat them to it." Sean said. "Fire all phasers."

Four phaser beams arced out, catching the second Raider astern and ripping through the weak rear shields. The beams cut through the engine casing, spilling warp plasma into space. The warp plasma ignited, leaving a blinding flash of light as the Raider exploded.

"Target the last one." Sean said. "Fire again."

"The convoy is firing." Kate said. A burst of orange phaser fire came from the convoy, slamming into the third raider. It immediately changed course to leave the field. Another volley came from the convoy, this time blasting off one of the wing mounted guns on the Raider.

"Firing forward phasers." Nathan said. The last Raider broke off, heading out of the asteroid field. "They're retreating."

"Follow them, target impulse engines."

"Too late." Nathan said. "They've gone to warp."

Sean stood up. "Hail the station."

"No response." Kate said. "Maybe they don't want to talk?"

"It is merely a storage depot." Klena said, coming to her feet as well. "Perhaps there is no crew to man it."

"She's right." Kate said, looking behind her at the sensor displays. "There are no life signs on the station."

Sean looked at the view screen. The station was built into the asteroid, leaving very little exposed surface available to see. "Is it possible the composition of the rock is interfering with our scans?"

"No." Kate said. "I have a clear definition of the entire station. It's abandoned." She projected the image onto the view screen. "This is an analysis of the inside of the station. There is no command center, just a bunch of very large cargo bays."

He glanced at Nathan. "Assemble a team and go over there. Be on your guard."

"Captain Tolena is hailing us." Kate said.

"On screen."

Captain Tolena smiled as he appeared on the view screen. "Captain Cunningham, I cannot thank you enough. I doubt these pirates will attack anyone again, thanks to your efforts."

"We're glad we could be of assistance." Sean replied. "I am sending a team over to the station to secure anything of value, would you like to send a team over as well?"

"Thank you Captain. Alert your people that I will be sending a team over to retrieve any Bajoran valuables. Keep any supplies that you find."

"We will." Sean looked around at the bridge staff. "I'd call that a successful mission. Good work."

XXX

Sean sat down at the head of the briefing table. He looked over at the wall mounted display. Captain Tolena appeared on it from the Bridge of his ship. "Captain Tolena, we wish you a safe journey."

"May the prophets watch over you and your crew." Captain Tolena replied. "You will always have friends among the Bajoran Ministry of Commerce. I will assure you of that." Tolena's image disappeared, leaving a blank display where he had once been.

Sean turned back to his crew. "What do our supplies look like?"

"We exhausted a good portion of our medical supplies helping the Bajorans." Klena said. "However, most of them can be replicated. We did also recover a sizable quantity of deuterium from the Pirate station."

"We're down ten more torpedoes." Nathan said.

"I used up a bit of our repair supplies fixing the Bajorans' engines." Mark said. "But we more than doubled our stockpile from the Pirate station."

"I assume we didn't get any phaser parts." Sean said, glancing at Nathan.

"No." Nathan said. "The Pirates had mainly loot from their various raids."

"Alright, dismissed." Sean said. He walked back out onto the Bridge, waiting for everyone to get back to their stations. He glanced out at the forward view screen. "Erica, set a course for Illidan 4 and engage." He sat down in his chair.

XXX

"Captain, do you have a moment?" Klena asked, from the doorway to Sean's ready room.

"Sure Klena." Sean said, looking down from the datapad in his hands. "What's on your mind?"

"I believe we need to discuss our use of supplies." Klena said, coming to stand right in front of Sean's desk.

"We have a problem?" Sean asked, narrowing his eyes. "I thought we just picked up plenty."

"I was referring to our use in helping the Bajorans." Klena said.

"Are you saying you we should not help when we can?"

"No."

"Then what are you saying?" Sean gestured for her to take a seat.

Klena sat and was silent for a moment. "There are no Starbases for us to resupply at. The only way to obtain more supplies is to steal them. The resource is not reliable."

Sean put his hand to his forehead. "Klena, you're thinking logically, and I respect that." He sighed. "However, we are alone out here. We need every friend we can get."

"There are other ways to acquire friends."

"I know." Sean stood up, walking to the window of his ready room. He looked back at her. "Logically Klena, what was the correct decision today? Speak freely."

"Logically, we should have left the convoy alone." Klena said, her blue eyes meeting his. "That way we would conserve our already limited supplies."

"You need to look at it different Klena." Sean said. He leaned against the window. "Right now we have more supplies than when we started. Logically, that makes helping the Bajorans the correct decision. We also have a friend who is associated with the Bajoran Ministry of Commerce."

"In hindsight that is correct Captain." Klena said. "However, you cannot use knowledge of what will happen to predict a logical outcome. I believe it is what humans call, luck."

Sean smiled. "Exactly Klena. It was luck. But even if we had used our supplies to help the Bajorans, but not attacked the Pirate base, we would still have Captain Tolena as an ally. That's a resource."

"We would be ill-prepared to leave Federation space in that condition." She said.

Sean slouched onto the couch. "Look around you Klena. This ship is operating with a skeleton crew." He sat back up. "Sooner or later, we're going to need a full crew. We won't be able to replicate new crew members."

"That is correct Captain."

Sean sighed. "Today I was lucky Klena." He stood back up. "You're my conscience about this though."

Klena stood back up, raising an eyebrow. "I am simply raising a logical argument."

"But you make sure I ask the question 'was it worth it?'" He took a deep breath.

"And was today worth it Captain?" Klena asked.

Sean smiled. "Today it was worth it; tomorrow we may not be so lucky."