61

The Obsidian sailed towards Lopso. The Lopso system was a visual binary located towards the coreward side of the DMZ. Located almost directly across from the Outbound Ventures' homeport of Barrinor, the system contained two habitable worlds. The first orbited the primary Lopso-A and the second orbited around Lopso-B.

The primary was a K1 red giant. Lopso-A III was an artic M-class world. There was one permanent settlement on the frozen world. It was primarily a mobile, smuggler's clearinghouse. It had been a roving settlement since it's founding in the late 23rd century.

As was so often the case, the criminal element had charted the system well in advance of the forces of "civilisation". Deducing that no permanent, non-scientific base would ever be established on the world, it seemed a perfect place to set up a portable fencing operation. The "colony" had operated for over a century, throughout the various regime changes, relying on the host planet's inhospitablity to ward off unwanted attention.

Gemini orbited the G2 yellow dwarf secondary. It was technically labelled as Lopso-B II. It was a dry arid world, with one great ocean and several great lakes with smaller lakes and rivers and streams. The bulk of the terrain was high desert country lining mountain ranges. Large stretches of sterile desert also existed, including one entire subcontinent.

Gemini's primary product was livestock. Great herds of cattle and sheep roamed the natural ranges of the high desert. Irrigation had expanded the high desert's frontiers into the sterile regions. In actuality, the outer borders of the sterile deserts more closely resembled the Mojave of Earth rather than the Gobi-like stretches of the interior.

Upon taking possession of Gemini, the Cardassians had immediately fallen in love with its meat products. Beef jerky made from Geminian cattle was now standard issue amongst Cardassian field rations. In fact, owing to their export contracts with various Federation worlds, the Ferengi, and the Cardassians, Gemini was flush with latinum.

The demand had grown so high that a Cardassian construction firm was in the midst of building yet another shuttleport and an orbital mooring for freighters and their support craft. It was this construction, and the Geminians' willingness to do business with the Cardassians, that had brought the planet under the scrutiny of the Real Maquis.


The Obsidian slipped into orbit twenty hours after Macen's fateful meeting with Aric Tulley. Seven "guests" were aboard. They included Deirdre Armstrong and Annika Ryst. Macen was less than happy with the presence of his unwanted guests.

Deirdre had brought along six members of her covert action team. Up till now, the CAT had conducted its own reconnaissance and relied upon local contacts for intelligence. Although still wary, Deirdre had high hopes that Macen and his crew would prove their dependability. Macen's original Maquis intelligence group had become an institutional legend. Both the Cardassians and Starfleet had come to respect their competence and ability to overcome overwhelming odds with minimal resources.

The core of Macen's team was present. T'Kir and Lisea Danan had been the crux of that unit. Their continued presence was a huge vote of confidence in the eyes of the newest generation of Maquis. And right now, Macen thought miserably, I need all the votes I can get.

The mission already posed the greatest question an undercover officer faced: how far do I go to establish my cover? Although their outing to Gemini was ostensibly a mere intelligence gathering and reconnaissance mission, the presence of Deirdre's commandoes suggested a darker purpose. Her presence, and the presence of her personnel, was unnecessary in light of Annika Ryst's attendance. Ryst could easily fill the role of executioner at the first sign of betrayal.

Deirdre's attitude had softened during her time with Macen. Ryst's, on the other hand, was more intransigent. Then again, Deirdre had served with Macen and the others in the old Maquis. Ryst had only encountered Macen in a duel to the death. It was a duel he'd won, which was unforgivable in her eyes. Macen wondered if Ryst's personal feelings would cloud her judgement and cause her to attempt to kill him before he actually betrayed the Maquis to the Cardassian authorities.

That he'd have to betray them had become evident from his conversation with Aric Tulley. As an empath, Macen had sensed Tulley's fanaticism. Tulley had always been a fervent soldier of the rebellion, but now his obsession for unilateral victory bordered on mania. It was a frightening shift of mentality but not the scariest.

T'Kir, through her shared telepathic link with Macen, had alerted him to the other major change in Tulley's outlook. He'd become a nihilist. If he couldn't achieve his victory on his terms, he'd destroy and maim as many Cardassians and colonial "collaborators" as he could before he himself was killed. He'd throw every member of his organisation to his or her death before he'd ever entertain the notion of surrender. Even then, he was philosophically committed to dying in a fiery chasm of destruction.

This was a far cry from the stoic farmer that had become Ro's lieutenant. A Cardassian paramilitary group had executed Tulley's wife and children during the Cardassian acquisition of the DMZ's Federation colonies. This atrocity drove Tulley into the arms of the Maquis.

Tulley had come to the Maquis as an ardent supporter of Cal Hudson's guerrilla warfare doctrine. Tulley had supported Ro's decision to detach the Ronaran cell from the main body of the Maquis Council when the various cell leaders embraced Eddington's plan to use weapons of mass destruction. His convictions had been so strong that he'd actually proposed a coup, intended to substitute Ro for Eddington.

Ro herself had vetoed the idea. She opted to speak out against Eddington's proposed operational doctrine in the Maquis Council. The majority of the Council sided with Eddington's plan. Ro and the other dissenting Maquis cell leaders struck out on their own, forming a loose coalition of forces.

Tulley had been a strong advocate of these moves. His current operational philosophy was born of bitterness and hate, not of prior convictions. It was a sad spiral into madness. Macen truly wished he could pull his friend out of the abyss he was in but he only saw a bad ending in the near future.

Deirdre approached Macen's Command chair, "We're here. Now what?"

Macen rose from his seat and proceeded to the rear of the bridge. He stood in front of the MSD, between the OPS and Science stations. T'Kir and Danan each looked at him.

"T'Kir, being probing their municipal and defence mainframes. Lees, run a complete geophysical and atmospheric scan. Rab, run a survey of their defensive capabilities and of their municipal layouts. Route parallel scan data to my board." Macen ordered and returned to his seat.

He activated the monitor located between Riker's seat and his own. Riker perused the incoming data even as Macen scrolled through the information flow. Daggit interrupted their examination.

"Captain, the Trade Guild would like to know the purpose of our visit to Gemini."

"Put `em on the screen." Macen sighed.

A hard bitten Andorian woman wearing a cowboy hat appeared on the main viewer. Holes had been cut in the body for her antenna. In some ways she reminded Macen of Shervarhia'annderi, or Rhiann, Grace's relief.

It's the mouth, he decided, they have a similar smile.

"Hello," Macen smiled, "how can I help you?"

"Actually, Captain," the Andorian rancher smiled, "I was wondering how I could help you. What's your business on Gemini?"

"Simple R&R." Macen lied, "We've heard about some of the sights on Gemini and were hoping to offer some dirtside liberties."

The Andorian looked disappointed, "Sure I can't interest you in some mutton or beef?"

Macen chuckled, "I'll have my Quartermaster contact your offices. I'm sure she wouldn't mind supplementing our stores with some fresh meat."

The blue skinned woman brightened, "Good. Our local merchants would be delighted to take your latinum Captain. Send your people ashore whenever you want."

The comm circuit was cut and the viewer returned to an image of the planet's "horizon".

"That was odd." Riker noted, "That's normally a job for a government official."

Macen shrugged, "I think our friends on Gemini have taken a page from the Cardassians and the Ferengi and adopted capitalism."

"Capitalism." Riker snorted, "The Federation was wise enough to do away with that nonsense almost a century ago."

"And instead adopted Capitalism's antithesis: communism." Macen observed, "The difference between the 20th century and 24th century variants being the lack of totalitarian controls."

Riker frowned but dropped the subject, "So what's the plan?"

The plan is to let some of the crew go ashore." Macen answered, "We'll send along the investigative team and we'll conduct reconnaissance of the capital…as requested by our potential employers."

Ryst, who was within earshot, bristled, "Your employer's goals should be your own."

"In case you've forgotten, we haven't been hired yet." Macen pointed out, "My primary objective is the safety of my personnel. The mission is a secondary concern. That's the way I ran my operations during the rebellion. I won't change now just because Aric's changed the operational doctrine of the Maquis."

Ryst's hand came to rest on her phaser's grip. Daggit swivelled around and took aim at Ryst. Deirdre pulled her phaser out and aimed at Daggit. Macen and T'Kir rose as one and took aim at Deirdre and Ryst respectively. Deirdre shifted her aim and focused on Macen.

"This doesn't have to happen." Macen said, eyes boring into Deirdre's, "Call off your dog and we'll get back to the business at hand."

Deirdre hesitated and then nodded at Ryst. Ryst's hand moved away from her pistol. The Outbound Venture's personnel stowed their weapons in their holsters and returned to their previous activities.

"Your people have fast reflexes." Deirdre commented.

Macen looked up from his reader, "They need them. This contract is a cakewalk compared to the rest of our résumé."

"So I've heard." Deirdre admitted.

"How is it everyone in the Maquis seems to know what I've been doing for the last five years?" Macen enquired.

Deirdre grinned, "When Aric first planned this revival of the Maquis, he quietly put out feelers searching for original Maquis veterans. You came up in his search. Sympathisers in Starfleet informed him of your war record and your subsequent court-martial following the war. Using public record searches, he learned of your forming a private security company. Word of mouth attested to your crew's competence."

"Aric would have contacted you at the very beginning of the movement but he was trying to avoid employing mercenaries." Deirdre informed him.

"Then why the change of policy?" Macen nodded towards Ryst. He could sense her anger. T'Kir flashed him a warning that Ryst was teetering on the edge of losing control.

"As you noted, most of our recent recruits are youngsters in their species' equivalent of their late teens and early twenties." Deirdre explained, "My team and Tom Reynolds' crew are the only two groups entirely comprised of veterans."

"Tom Reynolds?" Macen repeated.

"That's right, you've never met him." Deirdre remembered, "Tom's the skipper of the Viper, our most powerful raider."

"I'm sure I'll meet him this time `round." Macen remarked.

"He's a good man," Deirdre commented, "and he'd love to meet you."

"Maybe we shouldn't get so friendly with our 'hosts' until they prove their loyalty." Ryst growled then snidely added, "Which I doubt they'll be able to do."

"Ever the voice of confidence, eh Annika?" Macen quipped.

"Don't you dare use my given name!" Ryst hissed, "You haven't the right."

"What exactly did I do to piss you off so badly?" Macen wondered.

"You survived." Ryst's eyes narrowed into slits, "First you beat me, tarnishing a perfect record, and then you somehow survived your execution. Finally, your team, in an effort to rescue you, killed the most lucrative employer I've ever had. He was a misogynistic pig but he was a rich misogynistic pig."

"I wish I could say I was sorry, but the plain truth is that I'm not." Macen admitted, "Such are the fortunes of war and our business is to conduct campaigns for currency. If you want to take it personally, that's your affair. If you want to let it interfere in business, then you should consider a new line of work. Personally, I don't like you because of your part in my wife and I's abduction. That's well and good on a personal level. We won't ever be friends but that doesn't mean I won't work with you. I'll be getting paid to conduct intelligence surveys. If that means including you in the mission, so be it."

"Pretty words." Ryst sneered, "Let's see you live up to them."

"I already am." Macen countered, "Let's see you do the same."

Ryst snarled and stalked off to the rear of the bridge. Macen looked back towards Deirdre.

"Quite a temper she has. Let's hope it doesn't get her killed."

"Aric wouldn't look kindly on her sudden demise." Deirdre warned.

Macen shrugged, "That's up to her. She's here to play observer. Fine. Let her observe but if she chooses to play executioner, she'll be dealt with."

Deirdre broke into a thin smile, "I'll pass the word along."

Macen nodded, "It just might keep her alive."


Macen, T'Kir, Deirdre, and Ryst beamed down together to the heart of the capital city. They strolled about its concourses, took a public tour of the congressional rotunda, perused a shopping centre and were now moving towards an avenue of restaurants and pubs and gambling houses. They entered one of the more popular saloons and took a look about. The clientele was primarily composed of ranchers. Since 90% of the populace was involved in ranching, it was no great stretch of the imagination.

Even the politicians and bureaucrats were at least part time ranchers. Most of the shopkeepers had stakes in ranches or herds. Even the police and military forces kept herds of cattle and sheep. One of the local hospitals had a herd of llamas. The physicians were the subject of much shaking of heads and idle gossip.

These were hard men and women from over a dozen Federation worlds. They came in various hues, shapes, and sizes. They wore a menagerie of clothing styles. Denim and leather were heavily favoured. Wide brimmed hats were a necessity.

The Real Maquis scouts immediately stood out. T'Kir had donned the same outfit she'd worn on Ronara Prime. Macen had also repeated his wardrobe selections from the previous evening. Ryst wore a pair of Outbound Ventures coveralls. Deirdre came the closest to blending in.

Deirdre wore denim jeans, a denim jacket over a black tank top. She also wore a leather vest under the jacket. Clad in cowboy boots, a belt with an enormous buckle, and the prerequisite wide brimmed hat, the only thing missing to her appearance was the sun baked, wind bitten appearance of the locals.

Their weapons did not draw attention since everyone else in the establishment, except the dance hall men and women, were armed as well. A large number of the original Maquis had come from Gemini. They'd been employed as weapons instructors and heavy weapons specialists and snipers.

The Cardassians had never established a presence on Gemini. The locals, with their romanticised notions about freedom and independence, would have revolted en masse at such a move. To this day, the only Cardassians on the planet were the local "Governor" and her staff.

The Cardassian governorship was a largely ceremonial position. The actual work involved was more akin to an ambassador's or a trade negotiator's. The Governor only had a dozen security guards guarding the entire Governor's "mansion". The mansion proved to be little more than a converted warehouse. The various mission members both lived and worked in the mansion.

The Cardassians maintained a low profile in order to avoid offending the Geminians delicate sensibilities. They were virtually restricted to the mansion at all times. The turnaround rate for the staff was phenomenally high. The isolation wore heavily on the various workers and few lasted longer than 18 months.

The rest of the investigative team had beamed to various locations across the capitol. Members of Deirdre's team accompanied each group of SID investigators. Daggit and Parva had gone to scout out the Governor's mansion. Dracas and Grace had checked out the city's shuttleport. Radil and Kort observed the emergency response crews and hospital trauma staff. Riker and Danan had gone to inspect the planet's commodities exchange.


As Macen and the others took a table at the bar, Daggit commed in, "Captain, we're wrapping up here. Do you require any assistance?"

"The others have already checked in. They've all concluded their various tasks." Macen informed him, "We're currently at an establishment called the Cowlick. If you want, call the others and invite them all for a drink. It's on the company."

"Kort and Radil will probably refuse but I'm sure Hal and Hannah will oblige. Parva and I are on our way." Daggit replied.

The comm circuit shut down and Macen smirked. Daggit had been very careful not to mention their escorts. He had a nasty suspicion that the Angosian and Orion had pulled a fast one and ditched their "observers". He idly wondered how the volatile Ryst would react to this development.

Although their weapons had not drawn any stares, their attire did. Soon, a pair of burly wranglers wandered over. It was immediately apparent that the two had had too much to drink but not enough to hamper their reflexes in a major way.

"Git up." The larger of the pair told Ryst, "Lemme git a look at you."

Ryst ignored him and concentrated on her drink. The wrangler grew angry, "I said git up!"

Macen rose and moved around the table, "Why don't we all calm down. How about we buy you gentlemen a drink?"

"Sit down you pantywaisted pretty boy." the smaller of the two spoke in a reedy voice.

"Suit yourself." Macen said with his hands held up.

"I'm only gonna tell you one more time," The tall wrangler growled, "git up so I kin get a looksee at you."

Ryst was immobile but T'Kir rose. The wrangler went for his phaser but T'Kir snap drawed her phaser and stunned him. His companion shifted his aim from Macen to T'Kir. Macen drew his own phaser and stunned the man.

"Well, that was certainly fun." T'Kir said with a grin.

"Yeah," Macen said tightly, "but I think we riled the crowd."

Half of the pub's patrons were now on their feet and approaching. Macen and T'Kir holstered their weapons and moved around to the front of the table.

"You gonna help?" T'Kir asked over shoulder.

Ryst shook her head and Deirdre shrugged, "We didn't start this. I see no reason to get involved."

"Great." T'Kir groused as she returned her focus on the approaching mob.

Macen slapped the comm badge on his belt, "Rab, you'd better hurry if you want to see us alive."

"Gotcha." came Daggit's taciturn reply.

Divide and conquer? Macen mentally suggested to T'Kir.

T'Kir nodded her assent and surged forward towards the crowd. The lead cowboy mirrored her move and charged forward. T'Kir snapped off a wheel kick, breaking the man's jaw and hurling him back into the crowd.

Macen thrust his elbow into the face of the closest shepherd. The man staggered backwards. Macen kicked him in the groin. As he doubled over, Macen grabbed a hold of his head and drove a knee into it. The man collapsed in a heap on the floor.

The next cowhand threw a right cross at T'Kir. She deftly blocked it with her left wrist. She then punched the man with her left hand. As it was her dominant hand and she was a Vulcan, it struck with considerable force. The woman went down with a broken nose.

The next cowboy threw a roundhouse punch at Macen, which he ducked under. As the man overextended, Macen punched him. The cowhand then threw his arm in a backhanded sweep. Macen ducked and spun out of the way. As the man came to face Macen, Macen rose from his crouch and placed a punch squarely on the man's nose. The man dropped to his knees and tried to staunch the blood flow as tears welled up in his eyes.

T'Kir delivered a side kick into a man's jaw, levelling him. She then spun around and delivered a savage backhand into an approaching woman. The rest of the milling crowd hesitated after seeing the casual brutality Macen and T'Kir could inflict.

Daggit and Parva charged into the saloon at that moment. The crowd took one look at Daggit's expectant, fierce expression and began to retreat. The couple dove into the scattered remnants of the mob.

Daggit grabbed the first man by the neck and the crotch and lifted him up. He then threw the man behind the bar counter. The bartender started to object but stopped when she saw the cold lethality in Daggit's eyes.

Parva came in swinging. Her high gravity musculature enabled her to severely damage the first two cowboys she came across. A resounding explosive sound ended the combat. Daggit spun and levelled his phaser at the shotgun wielding bartender before the woman could level the gun at the crowd.

"Easy partner," she said evenly, "it's filled with rock salt. It's non-lethal. This scatter gun's just for stopping ruckuses like this."

"And you haven't used it before this because…?" Daggit asked dispassionately.

"Hell sonny, everyone appreciates a good brawl. We had one helluva betting pool goin' on." The bartender cackled, "Now, you gonna put that hogleg down?"

"Put your rifle away and we'll see." Daggit replied.

"Well, I don't see how that's rightly fair. I suggest…" the bartender was cut off by Daggit thumbing his phaser's power setting into the lethal range. "I see your point." she said and stowed the shotgun behind the counter.

Daggit holstered his phaser and turned to the crowd, "This fight is over. But if I see one of you so much as twitch in the direction of your phaser, I will cut you down."

His statement carried so much certainty, the rest of the establishment's patrons readily believed it. They quieted down and resumed their previous activities. One pair drug the first two wranglers off into a back room to recuperate from the stun blasts Macen and T'Kir had delivered.

Macen and T'Kir retook their seats and Daggit and Parva joined the table after ordering drinks.

"Here's to a peaceful evening." Macen toasted with his cup of tea and everyone took a shot of his or her chosen beverage.

"We should get so lucky." T'Kir remarked, setting her mug down.

Dracas and Grace burst into the bar at that moment.

"Rab told us you were in trouble!" Grace gasped.

"We're fine now, Hannah." Macen said with a grin, "Why don't you order a drink and sit down before you fall down."

"Sounds like a plan." Dracas wheezed, "I may have a thirty year olds body again but I seriously need to spend some time in the gym."

Daggit chuckled, "That could be arranged, Hal."

"Ha!" Dracas scoffed, "I'd rather take my chances with Kort or Radil."

"I'll take you on as an exercise partner." Parva offered.

"Gods woman, you'd kill me!"

"Yeah, maybe." Parva agreed, "But us engineers have to stick together especially when everyone else on the team is spoken for."

"There's still Lisea." Dracas protested.

Parva shrugged, "Let me know what you decide. But remember, don't take too long. A fem has got t'do what a fem has got t'do. If that means finding another partner, I will. Rhiann has offered to be my gym partner and I'm seriously thinking of accepting her proposal."

"Saved!" Dracas heaved a sigh of relief.

Parva stuck out her tongue at him.

"Wait a minute!" Ryst suddenly erupted, "Where are your escorts?"

Daggit and Parva and then Grace and Dracas all exchanged conspiratorial glances and collectively shrugged.

"Somebody had better tell me where their damned escorts are or I will begin killing you one by one." Ryst snarled.

Daggit and Ryst each pulled their phasers so fast that only Grace could, barely, keep up. Macen, T'Kir, Parva, and Dracas all followed suit and the entire team thumbed their phasers to maximum power while they aimed at Ryst. Deirdre remained completely still.

"Well?" Ryst demanded, "Aren't you going to help?"

"Not my fight." Deirdre replied, "You got yourself into this, get yourself out of it.

Ryst slowly shifted her aim to Macen, "Even if you kill me, he'll be dead first."

Ryst suddenly let go of her phaser and it fell onto the table. She began to feel a strange pressure in her skull and her vision blurred.

"You don't have one of those fancy helmets this time `round." T'Kir's tone was glacial, "And I, for one, am sick and tired of your threatening my husband and my friends. So, unless you have something very persuasive to say, say goodbye."

Ryst opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. Her head swam and then darkness overtook her. Her body went limp and her head slammed down onto the tabletop.