'Check the weapons are on-line.'

Tambecki did so. 'Ready.'

'Transporters?'

'Ready,' answered d'Amatsu.

Mc Sorley tapped her own tricorder and composed a message. She handed the instrument to d'Amatsu. 'Transmit this as soon as we clear the interference.'

'Prepare to analyze the data burst, and ready on phasers.'

The crew of the Gaunt tensed as they waited developments. Sia had his transmission ready too.

The Augustus settled itself into the thin clouds that managed to swirl even at this altitude, then it sped off at full impulse to the equator.

It arrived some minutes later.

'Ready on phasers.' Kausler did not even need to be asked she was ready.

'Ready to initiate sensor sweep.' Smith had put everything into one command. All he had to do was give one tap on his console and the multitude of commands to the sensors would commence. He waited with his finger poised over the command key. 'The distress message is ready for use when we next emerge.'

'Then take us slowly Ensign and scan when you are able.'

Hope tapped the controls, the Jem'Hadar vessel rose quicker than she had expected. She compensated to slow it down. She nudged it ten meters above and in front of the Augustus. The ships rocked at the stresses that the maneuver was causing. Ohlson made no comment, something for which she was grateful. Satisfied that the delicate balancing act was as good as she could make it, she fed more power to the engines and both vessels rose. In the viewscreen they could see the silhouette of the enemy ship above them become more readily defined as the clouds thinned.

Then the clouds were gone and the stars filled the sky.

'Initiate sensors,' Ohlson was straining to see if the ruined Dominion ship did shield them. We'll find out soon enough, he thought.

The command was given and Smith's sensors came to life. The sensors on the wreck activated and pulsed some energy signals and gathered others, the resulting collection was fed rapidly back to the Augustus below. The computer started taking the data and analyzing the information for signs of ships and life. Smith read the results as quickly as he could.

'Anything Lieutenant?'

'Yes,' he sorted up the umpteen bits as they came to him. 'The prisoners are still on the station, the large warship is not within sensor range, but six Jem'Hadar assault craft are patrolling the space between us and the prisoners.'

'Have the detected us, or their colleague?'

'No,' he watched the readings as they tumbled from the screen. 'Amend that, they know we're here, or that someone is here. Three are coming in our direction.'

'Wait until they are close to weapon's range and then take us lower Ensign, don't give them time to get within range to scan the wreck for life signs. Lower us slowly, I want them to believe it's already badly damaged. And as soon as we're among the planetary interference again transmit the sensor information to the others.'

Hope Barret remembered that her mother had wanted her to be a lawyer. She shrugged away the thought and concentrated on the three enemy ships that were racing to confront them.

The screen showed the data that was visible from the vessel above them, as they looked through the eyes of the Dominion ship. Specks that were the enemy craft approaching rapidly.

'They will be within weapons' range in thirty seconds.' Barret watched the readouts carefully, she had no desire to make a mistake at this stage. Anyway, if she did it might be the last one she would ever make.

The ships were ten seconds away, she nudged the controls and the Augustus' nose dipped dragging the enemy carcass with them. They were in the clouds and the enemy's sight and sensors were obscured.

'They've fired, they know all is not what it seems.'

Barret's announcement came as Ohlson thought they had gotten away from the approaching danger, or at least far enough away so as not to be in imminent peril.

'Send the data to the Caesar and Gaunt, ready the phasers and torpedoes.'

Smith tapped the console. 'Data sent, and received.'

'Weapons ready.' The soft voice of Gretchen Kausler sounded incongruous amid the tension.

The disrupter blasts were of mixed accuracy. One thumped into the derelict and sent it veering to one side. Barret pulled it back as best she could. The other two hit the Augustus and one of them was completely absorbed by the forward shields. The last hit the Bridge.

The vessel rocked, and Smith's old station was showered with sparks as the console exploded.

'Forward shields at seventy percent, we've lost power to the port nacelle, I'm rerouting from the auxiliary batteries.' To himself Smith sounded like he hadn't a care in the world, but he had. He watched as the rerouting was finished and he opened the conduits. Would it work?

'Port nacelle is back on-line,' he breathed a sigh of relief.

'Can we see them through this fog?'

'I still have their coordinates and trajectory, but other than that…' Barret wasn't sure if that was what Ohlson wanted to hear. 'Should I keep hold of the derelict?'

Apparently the news wasn't enough to ruin his day. 'Fine, target phasers to the estimated position, and to an arc ten degrees to the port, fire four three second bursts and then fire three torpedoes ten degrees to their starboard.'

Kausler didn't question the order.

'As for the derelict, let's keep it close for a while longer.'

The phaser pulses left the Augustus and disappeared into the twisting clouds, seconds later the whoosh of the photon torpedoes broke the silence that had descended on the Bridge. They waited.

'Six Jem'Hadar between the prison, and three are heading to the Augustus.' Tambecki glanced to Mc Sorley. 'I don't think they bought the crippled Dominion ship ruse.'

The redhead was thinking. 'One wing stayed behind, we are no match for three fighters, probably no match for one.'

Sia had came to the same conclusion. 'We'll have to get out there and take some of the pressure from the captain, open a link to the Caesar.'

T'sella did as she had been ordered. The viewscreen showed Deborah Mc Sorley in the makeshift captain's chair on the Caesar.

'I'm moving towards the Augustus, and then we hope to draw the other three ships to us. If we succeed make a run to the prison, we'll be right behind you.'

'Agreed, good luck Sia.' The viewscreen returned to showing the ubiquitous atmospheric conditions of the Demon class planet.

'I really don't like that colour scheme,' mumbled the Indian.

'Take us to within ten kilometers of the Augustus' estimated position, can you get them on screen?'

Colimo tapped the console and the ship moved toward the scene of battle. Almost immediately the Bridge of the Augustus appeared on the screen. Even as the crew of the Gaunt watched the captain of the other ship was jarred to one side as a disrupter blast hit the ship.

'Captain,' Sia leant forward, as if that would help him speak over the sounds of battle, 'we're on our way, we'll assist with these three and then try to lure the rest in, with the three still near the prison the Caesar couldn't get within transporter range before being obliterated.'

Another blast rocked Ohlson. 'We will be looking forward to your presence Mister Singh.'

'Report Ensign Barret.'

'From what I can gather, there's only two out there, and one is not maneuvering as well as we know they can.'

'Good, said Ohlson, 'we'll chalk that up to the phasers and torpedoes.

Now how about getting me a shot at the others.'

'I'll do my best Captain, but the sensors are only useful to, almost pointblank range. It doesn't give us much time to act.'

'I take it,' said Smith, 'that what we are experiencing then is probing fire.'

'Gretchen, is there anything you would suggest for making the enemy's life as uncomfortable as they are making ours?'

'Well we can guess their position from the trajectory of the disrupters and the knowledge that they will be maintaining a set distance away from the planet. In essence they will keep level, and although they are moving, it is within strict parameters.'

'I'm right on it.' Smith had the computer download the last six phaser shots and their trajectories, then he computed the time intervals and the fact that it was two-dimensional space and not the usual three. Finally he asked where were the Jem'Hadar.'

'One is inside a circle of one kilometer in diameter to our right and one hundred meters above us. The other,' he smiled as he read the computer's predictions, 'it's fifty-five meters directly overhead, and is the crippled one.

It's slower and not making as many changes in its search pattern.'

Ohlson was smiling too. 'Have you ever heard of the Barret maneuver Ensign?'

'Eh, no sir.'

'That's probably because you are about to become the first person ever to execute it.

Stand us on our tail, reverse thrusters and drop a hundred meters, give a pulse to the tractor beam and throw the derelict three hundred meters above us and to the enemy's port side. Then fire a torpedo to explode at the altitude that the Jem'Hadar is supposed to be, and hit full impulse. Fly through what, we hope is the debris field and turn to where the second hunter is, with luck surprise will be on our side.'

Hope Barret waited as she digested the strategy.

'Did you get all that?'

'Yes sir,' she hoped to God that she had. The Barret maneuver, she liked the sound of that. Behind her Ohlson was still smiling.

She nudged the thrusters until the ship was at ninety degrees to the tangent of the planet, then she gently raised the power to reverse and watched the indicators as they showed the drop in altitude. It took some delicate engine control to maintain contact with the derelict they were dragging about like a dead dog on a lead, amid the inaccurate but nuisance fire from the two ships but she managed.

She scanned to ensure they were still perpendicular. They were. She stopped the engines. 'Ready on your command sir.'

Ohlson looked to Kausler.

She nodded. 'Ready with the weapons.'

'Dump the derelict.'

Hope sent an energy surge to the tractor beam and moved its center so that the push, when it came, thumped the ship upward and outward. She corrected for the motion in the Augustus that the move generated.

She watched the sensors. 'Its going a little more than four hundred meters off the targets estimated locales.'

'That should be enough Ensign,' responded Ohlson. 'Brace yourselves, fire one.' The whoosh of the photon was hardly gone when Ohlson spoke again. His voice was low and precise. 'Full impulse, take us to two hundred meters and then angle us towards the second Jem'Hadar. Go.'

The blast of the torpedo rocked the Augustus as it sped upwards and into the downward shook wave. Smith grasped his console to prevent himself from leaving his seat.

Barret concentrated on the readouts, she was scared to look at the viewscreen in case there was a large chunk of Jem'Hadar lying in front, at this speed and visibility it would be no point in trying to avoid any obstacles. They were out of the clouds, and the bumping stopped. She pushed the ship level and then checked the sensors. There it was.

'Fire phasers!'

Ohlson and Kausler had seen it too, probably before Barret had taken her eyes from her station.

Gretchen had fired two pulses of phaser in the direction of the enemy.

Barret had the Augustus heading directly towards the insect-like Dominion ship.

'It's turning towards us.' Smith watched the screen.

'Element of surprise is over with then,' Ohlson sounded calm.

Kausler had ceased firing. Barret wondered why, then the tactical officer had the range and the enemy ship was hit with two straight and true blasts.

'Their shields are collapsing,' Alex scanned the region of space that they had vacated.

Kausler fired again, and again, the Jem'Hadar was swaying as it attempted to compensate for the surprise assault.

The first blast hit the ship at where its Bridge was located, the second swept down its back. It started it spinning.

The Augustus was all but on top of it when it exploded.

'Shields are at twenty-two percent, there's a hull breech in Engineering.' Smith heard the sparks commence from his old console as another conduit was severed.

'Take us back to the planet,' Ohlson wanted them away before the remaining Jem'Hadar started towards them.

'We've lost weapons.' Kausler's neutral voice got an answering glance from the captain.

'Permanently?'

'No, I've started to reroute power to compensate from the damaged controls. That should be done in a few minutes.'

Smith took the slight pause in the action to send the subspace message to Starfleet, or anyone who might be interested, thought the medic. 'Message sent.'

'I suggest that you hurry and get the phasers on-line.'

Ohlson looked at Barret. She was looking at the viewscreen.

Ohlson looked at where she was staring. The viewscreen changed as they dived into the clouds. Marcus Ohlson had seen little before that. 'Why Ensign?'

'The remaining three ships are closing rapidly on our position. They have powered their weapons.' She looked at him. 'They should get to our last position in twenty seconds, give or take a couple.'

'Just for the record,' Smith tapped his console for more information from the sensor scans that they had done while free from the planet's ionized atmosphere. 'One enemy ship was destroyed by the photon torpedo, and of the one that didn't reach us, it, by the readings I have, suffered a plasma leak and that ignited. I have no idea of which weapon did the deed.'

'Anything new on the penal colony?'

Smith shrugged. 'Apart from the Shoeman, it's unguarded, if that's any good to you.'

'Not me, but Lieutenant Commander Mc Sorley might find it interesting, tell her.'

Smith opened the link with the Caesar.

'Glad to see you're still in one piece.' The ex-first officer of the Augustus looked worried at seeing the traces of combat that were visible in the view of the Bridge.

'No time to talk, we've a few visitors arriving at any second. The way to the prison is clear, good luck.'

The screen went back to the clouds.

That was when the disrupter blasts hit the Augustus' rear shields.

'They aren't certain of our whereabouts,' Barret clung to her console as another salvo swept the region.

'Where is it? asked Ohlson. 'Our whereabouts?'

Barret looked at Smith.

'Impossible to tell,' he glanced at his sensors. They were inoperable in the atmosphere.

Another blast sent the crew rocking.

'Let's get out of this pea soup, bring us to half a kilometer from the end of the interference.' Sia was scanning the viewscreen. He did not like flying in these conditions, he'd rather have it that his enemy were visible and waiting for him, rather than this blindness.

Colimo tipped the navigation controls and the Gaunt parted company with the Demon class planet. The clouds vanished as if by magic and stars filled the viewscreen.

He tapped the console beside the captain's chair and the message was transmitted. He turned his attention back to the present dangers. 'Status?'

T'sella was scanning their immediate environment even before Sia had asked. 'Four Jem'Hadar, one badly damaged seems dead in space between here and the penal colony, another is firing apparently at random into the clouds, the other two are making directly for the Caesar which is heading towards the prison.'

'Take a run past the one firing at the clouds, aim phasers all around it, try to distract it and let the Augustus get out from under. Then full impulse to the Caesar.'

Colimo had laid in the instructions, T'sella waited at the weapons.

'We can't take this punishment for ever, they may actually hit something important.' Ohlson sighed. 'Take us up, and ready on phasers.'

The Gaunt cleared the clouds first. Two ships were five kilometers off their starboard side, they were facing away from them.

Colimo had the ship turned and baring down on the enemy with phasers blazing before them had even commenced to break formation and regroup.

The phaser fire hit one causing the shields to flare in protest.

Then the Augustus arrived. It came from below and behind the now turning Dominion ships. The first three pulses were accurate and deadly, the explosion filled the viewscreens.

'Its aft shields have failed,' T'sella had followed the Augustus' assault, he how took advantage as the ship sped past them. He sent a long and powerful phaser pulse into the main body of the ship, it was only a few microseconds before the shot had penetrated what remained of the lateral shields.

They were past the burning debris and turning towards the last position of the Caesar.

Behind them the Augustus blasted the last Jem'Hadar vessel that remained, it flared before tumbling into the clouds of the Demon planet.

Barret was analyzing the data they were collecting, the Augustus was almost alongside the Gaunt as they headed to assist Lieutenant Commander Mc Sorley.

Mc Sorley watched as the computer verified that the emergency signal had been transmitted.

'They are gaining.' Benko was scanning the pursuing ships.

'We won't be able to outrun them.'

Mc Sorley looked at d'Amatsu. 'Have you an idea you would like to share with us Lieutenant?'

The junior lieutenant was grinning. 'Sir,' he said, 'there was something Lieutenant Singh and I were working on.'

'Go on.'

'Interception in thirty seconds.' Hope Barret was aiming directly in front of the Caesar, hoping to catch up before the enemy did.

'There's a message coming in from the Caesar,' Smith waited.

'On screen.'

Deborah Mc Sorley appeared. 'We're trying Sia's idea, be ready.'

The screen returned to showing stars and the ships that were involved in the deadly chase.

'What was Sia's idea?' asked Smith wondering had he missed something that had been said at one of the briefings.

'I have no idea, so we'd better be ready for... whatever it is they intend to do.'

On the Gaunt they had a better idea of what the Caesar had planned.

'Brace for impact! Ready on phasers!'

The pursuing Dominion ships neared weapons' range, they powered their weapons array and aimed.

'Energize.'

d'Amatsu did as Mc Sorley ordered. 'Transportation complete.'

'Something has materialized between the Caesar and the Jem'Hadar,' Barret scanned the incoming data for clues to what was happening. 'It's big, whatever it...'

Ohlson had realized what was being done. 'Brace for impact!'

'Fire one!'

d'Amatsu fired.

The small charge that had been secreted on the borrowed nacelle that was how floating in space ignited.

A cloud of plasma rushed from the many fractures that the bomb had created.

The Jem'Hadar ships quickened and veered to either side of the obstacle.

'Fire two!'

d'Amatsu fired again.

The proton torpedo sealed at the tip of the broken nacelle detonated, as did the other four concealed within, all had been Jem'Hadar and unusable by the Caesar in any other capacity. But each was powerful enough, if well enough aimed, to incapacitate a Galaxy class starship.

The plasma ignited and the mass of roaring matter hurdled away from the Caesar and towards the oncoming ships.

Both Jem'Hadar vessels were hit. One shuddered as the searing plasma engulfed its frame. The other spun as one of its own nacelles separated from the fuselage of the main ship.

Sia Singh's ship weathered the shook wave better than the Augustus did.

'Forward shields at fifty percent.'

'Fire when you're within range, don't give them time to recover.'

They reached the stricken ship first. T'sella aimed the phasers at the main body and watched as they ploughed into the vessel.

The explosion seemed small compared to the one that had preceded it.

Colimo's voice interrupted Sia's meditation. 'The Augustus has reached the other ship.'

'Put it on the viewer.'

The battle at the other ship was longer, but not by much. The Augustus fired first, the Jem'Hadar turned and retaliated, then two torpedoes from the Starfleet vessel ended the matter.

'Incoming message from the Augustus.'

'Put her on.'

Ohlson's face appeared. 'I liked the idea Lieutenant, but if you get any more would you so kind as to share them before we meet them.'

'I'll make a point of that,' he smiled, the banter was a good sign that damage was minimal. 'What's your status?'

'Shields are holding, just about, and some of the systems are running via auxiliary power units.

But other then that... How about the Gaunt?'

'Shields at optimal, weapons in readiness, and no discernible damage to report.'

Ohlson nodded. 'Then let's go help Captain Mc Sorley before she leaves the star system without us.'

Deborah Mc Sorley was nearing the penal colony as the other ships exchanged reports. 'Run a sensor sweep of the entire vicinity. I want to know where everyone is and who they are, isolate the Jem'Hadar, Vorta, and the bridge crew of the Shoeman if you can.'

d'Amatsu refrained from questioning the instruction especially the section on the Shoeman's bridge crew. He punched the relative commands into the console and waited.

'We've got two hundred and forty eight separate life signs, one hundred and nine human, thirty-four Betazed, ten Trill, seven Bolian, fifteen Vulcan, thirteen mixed race Federation personnel, fifty-one Jem'Hadar, and nine Vorta.

The establishment is built as a main block comprising a hub with three wings linked to a corridor projecting from a small indent on one side, at this end is a tall pylon... its the docking bays.

The mass of the Federation personnel are housed in the three large sections of the prison, the Jem'Hadar and Vorta are spread throughout the facility, and exclusive to the hub and corridors.'

'Any defense systems, batteries or mines?'

d'Amatsu scanned the mass of data that he had collected. 'None operational, I've finding some scattered and destroyed field generators, and one gun emplacement, also destroyed, only regular force field barriers against the environment. It looks like all they had was the fighters to hold off any intruders.'

'What of the Shoeman?'

'It's on a launch pad, seven on board, two human, four Jem'Hadar and a Vorta.'

Mc Sorley pondered on her next course of action. 'Can you identify individuals?'

d'Amatsu did not hesitate in responding. 'We could if we had the individual patterns available, but we haven't, so no.'

'Okay then, bring us to transporter range.'

Tambecki was already aiming the vessel in that direction.

The two other ships in the small fleet were only a few seconds behind the Caesar. They positioned themselves on either side as they neared the prison.

'No,' said Barret, 'they have no anti spacecraft defenses.'

'Keep an eye on the Demon class and the long-range scanners,' to himself he muttered, 'I wonder where the battleship is?'

Barret had been wondering the same. She glanced at the scanners. There was nothing untoward to report... yet.

Sia Singh had ordered T'sella to watch for the twin threats that they all were hoping would not materialize; the still patrolling Jem'Hadar vessels on the planet; and the large unaccounted for battleship. He was thinking that they could possibly get back to the relative safety of the planet's ionosphere if they caught sight of the battleship's approach, but what could they do if another couple of attack flights come at them from the planet? He sighed and brought his attention back to the Caesar's rendezvous with the prison.

'Something's up.' Colimo was watching the viewscreen, it showed the prison.

'What?' Sia was scanning the picture.

'The Shoeman,' answered T'sella, 'it's powering up its engines.. It has raised shields.'

Ohlson had seen it too. 'Hail them.'

Barret did as requested. 'No response.'

'We have no choice, reduce their shields and target their engines and weapons.'

Kausler didn't hesitate. 'Targeted.'

'Fire!'

On the screen the Shoeman was reversing out of the docking bay, it hovered several meters off the ground. Then a phaser blast struck the ship. It rocked heavily.

'Again.'

Gretchen fired another pulse at the target below them. It hit the main body of the ship.

'There shields are at fifty percent.'

'Fire!'

Another blast slammed into the Shoeman.

'Twenty-five percent.'

'Target the generator.'

'That did it they've lost shields.'

'Now get their weapons and engines.'

Kausler did as she had been ordered. More phaser fire buffeted the Shoeman.

'It's lost engines. But the weapons' array is still operational.'

'Keep firing until it's disabled.'

Kausler did as she had been told.

The Shoeman veered as it cleared the spatial limitations of the prison's docking pylon. Two further shots from the Augustus crashed into the ship.

'Weapons down and its returning to the docking bay.'

'Will they have transporters?'

'No, the power readings that we are detecting wouldn't be enough to let them.' Smith was still analysing the readouts as he finished speaking.

Ohlson smiled. 'Good.'

'Incoming message from the... Shoeman.' Barret failed miserably to suppress her surprise.

'On screen Ensign.'

The view of the three long wings with the central pylon and platform vanished to be replaced at the face of Captain Soo Han Lu. 'Commander Ohlson, cease firing at once and stand down. That is a direct order.'

'He's telling them to stand down.' The Bolian sounded surprised but not too surprised.

Maybe it's me, I'm the one who's surprised, thought Sia. They had picked up the transmission from the Shoeman too. I wonder what he'll do. He didn't have long to wait to find out what Marcus Ohlson would do.

'No, Captain Lu, you stand down and prepare to be boarded.'

Well I don't have to speculate any more, Sia smiled. His first command and it was destined to end in a court-martial. Ah well, worse could happen.

And it did.

Lu remained stony-faced, then turned to someone off-screen. 'Put we through to Captain Shay.

He doesn't know, thought Ohlson. Then the viewscreen went back to showing the prison.

'Commander Mc Sorley is hailing us.'

'Put her on.'

'Marcus, what now?'

He cut off any further discussion. 'Ignore the Shoeman as anything other than a potential threat Deborah, proceed with the transportations from the prison.

Remember what we discussed, trust no one, especially officers.'

She nodded. 'Okay Captain, we'll start now.'

She turned to Benko and d'Amatsu. 'If anyone else starts throwing court-martials around I'm the one who's ordering you to do what comes next. Commence transporting the Starfleet personnel to the main body of the Caesar, once inside erect a level two force field and keep them in that until further instructions are given.'

Both the others nodded. d'Amatsu smiled. 'To think I thought engineering was where all the excitement was.'

He started programming the transportation console, then he initialized the force field in the bottom two thirds of the main body of the old tanker. Satisfied he had done everything in order, he then pinpointed and started to beam the non-Dominion personnel on board.

'Where is Captain Shay, and who are you?'

'Dead, and Lieutenant Sia Singh.'

'What are you doing on the Gaunt Lieutenant?'

'I'm the new captain, Captain Lu.'

The news did not seem to please the mission commander. 'Then I'm telling you what I told Commander Ohlson. Stand down, this is a direct order.'

Sia paused before continuing. 'Commander Ohlson is the new mission commander, I take my orders from him and he has not ordered me to stand down.' He turned to Colimo. 'End transmission.'

The screen showed the relatively less threatening picture of a Dominion prison camp.

'Well,' said the Bolian, 'I'd doubt anyone ever spoke quite like that to him before.'

'They've commenced the beam outs, four so far.'

Ohlson was thinking.

'Do I target the Shoeman?' Kausler sounded neither alarmed nor elated at that prospect.

'Keep an eye on their status, if they make any threatening moves then stop them, use as little force as you can to do so.'

'Sir,' Barret still looked at the console, 'what do we do with Captain Lu and the others still on board the Shoeman.' She paused. 'Do we take them with us?'

Ohlson had been wondering the very same question.

'Eighteen, ' reported d'Amatsu, 'and they are trying to hail us.'

'Do they still have their communications badges?' Mc Sorley looked surprised.

'No,' he nodded to the door, 'I can hear them shouting.'

Mc Sorley sighed. She rose from the captain's chair, and walked to the door. 'Ben you have the Bridge, I'll be back soon.' The door opened with a whoosh and then closed behind her.

'Sensors report blast fire in the prison. It's Dominion disruptors.'

'Whereabouts is it from?'

Smith was scanning for the data. 'It's coming from three different sites, I think they know we're taking the prisoners back and they're shooting them first.'

Ohlson bit his bottom lip, then he had an idea. 'Put Sia on screen.'

Ohlson's face filled the viewscreen. 'Use the Gaunt's transporters and lock on to the Jem'Hadar, transport them to the Shoeman.'

'We can only take two at a time.'

'That'll have to do. We'll take the two humans off the ship. We can't hope to get any more of our own people out of the line of fire but we can disrupt the enemy.'

'Are you sure about sending them to the Shoeman?'

A pause. 'No.'

'We're beaming Captain Lu and whoever the second human is on the Shoeman to us?'

'Yes Ensign, Lieutenant Smith bring them straight to the bridge. On my mark. Mark!'

Alex Smith only took a few seconds to pinpoint the two human life signs on the U.S.S Shoeman, then he locked on to them and on Ohlson's command beamed them on to the Bridge. He glanced around and his mouth dropped as he saw Ohlson standing holding his phaser.

Two lines of materializing bodies appeared to the left of the captain, then they solidified. One was the redoubtable, and not happy looking figure of Captain Lu, the other was an ensign in the blue of a science officer. She looked like she wasn't certain what was happening.

Lu started to speak but Ohlson was firing.

A pulse from the gun hit both arrivals square in the chest. They fell.

Marcus Ohlson turned to face the others. 'They're stunned, I don't know enough yet to actually kill them.'

Barret nodded, then wondered if she was in shook.

'I think you did right sir, for what it's worth.'

'Gaunt is hailing us.'

'On screen.'

Sia looked happy to see Ohlson still standing. 'We detected phaser fire.'

'Captain Lu and an as yet unidentified ensign have been rendered unconscious Lieutenant Singh.

We'll have to place them in a secure place before they regain their senses.'

The news didn't seem to bother the Indian that his present commanding officer had just shot his previous one. 'We'll get back to transporting the Dominion troops to the Shoeman, over.' The screen returned to showing the moon.

'Now, to put these two somewhere safe.' Ohlson started to tap out instructions to the computer.

'I demand to be released.'

Mc Sorley scratched her head. 'For the last time Lieutenant, no, you are to remain here until further notice.'

The lieutenant bristled. 'Who the hell do you think you are, and where have you received the authority to detain us like this?'

Deborah decided not to waste any more time with the woman. She stepped away from the force field and raised her hands. 'Quiet please!'

Those that had arrived, and the others who materialized looked at the woman. All seemed very confused and disoriented.

'Thank you. You will all be wondering what has happened. My name is Lieutenant Commander Deborah Mc Sorley, of the...' she paused then smiled, 'U.S.S Caesar, a newly commissioned transport ship.

We are part of the retrieval mission to rescue Starfleet personnel held on the prison below.

You will have to remain behind the force field until further notice, and then I will be back to get your personal details.

As it is we are doing things as fast as we can,' a couple of the twenty-eight people present started to speak. 'Please, be patient, we are still in a war zone, so forgive me, but I'm required on the Bridge.' With that she turned and strode back to the command section.

Two officers and an ensign started to shout after her, she ignored them.

One ensign, dirty and tired looking turned to a lieutenant beside her. 'The U.S.S. Caesar, I've never heard of that ship.'

The lieutenant was looking at the ribbed inner surface of the converted Cardassian tanker. 'No, neither have I, and this architecture, seems that Starfleet design has became very radical in the last few weeks.'

'How many?' Mc Sorley sat down with a sigh.

'Forty-eight... fifty.'

It seemed such a long way to one hundred and forty eight.

'They are making good progress, over fifty on board so far,' Smith tapped the console again. 'They are taking them up one wing at a time.'

'What of the Dominion and casualties?'

'We lost twelve, and all but ten of the Jem'Hadar have been vacated.'

'Must be getting very cramped on the Shoeman,' pointed out Barret.

'Talking of which,' added Smith, 'it is docked and they are opening the inner doors to the prison again.'

'How long will it take them to get to the main building?'

'Minutes.'

'Keep an eye on them, send them back if they get close.'

'That's all them from that wing,' Colimo switched the sensors to the next wing and commenced his search for the remaining Dominion troops. He found one, locked on and then the soldier was on board the Shoeman.

'Eighty-eight.'

'Captain Mc Sorley,' Ben's voice sounded terse.

'What is it Ben?'

'I think you'd better see this.'

Mc Sorley was out of her seat and over to the console as quickly as she was able.

Benko pointed to the readout.

'Get me the Augustus.'

'They've started a self-destruct device.'

Ohlson met the news with some concern. 'How long until it detonates, and how many have you got off the prison?'

d'Amatsu answered from out of Ohlson's right. 'One minute and fourteen seconds, and one hundred and two.' He looked at the information he had coming into his station then added. 'They've killed twenty-one so far, so that's another twenty-five... make that twenty-three, to go.'

Ohlson rubbed his hair. 'Let me know when you have them, out.'

'I thought he'd tell us to get away as soon as we'd finished,' said Tambecki.

So did I, thought Mc Sorley, so did I.

'Can we stop or disrupt the countdown?'

'Hmm, maybe.'

Ohlson turned to Smith angrily. 'I don't need confusion Lieutenant, I want answers.'

Smith felt a blush rise then pulled his mind back to Ohlson's questions. 'Sorry sir, yes I think it can be disrupted.'

'How?'

'According to the sensors the device or at least the mechanism of the countdown clock we've detected, is sited at the hub of the establishment. It appears to be the Dominion section, one torpedo would destroy that part and cause only superficial damage to the rest. Bulkheads separate them so depressurization won't come into it.'

Ohlson cut to the chase. 'Will that stop the countdown without detonating the explosives?'

'If it were Starfleet, yes, explode the torpedo underground and depend on the shockwave to destroy the device. It will stop the countdown it's all probability about whether or not it neutralizes the bomb.'

'Great,' Ohlson turned away from his crew, 'then it'll have to be the last resort.

How many are left down there?'

A pause as Smith checked. 'Eleven, and there's a minute to go.'

'The Augustus is hailing us,' Colimo had been doing his own calculations moments before for Singh. 'We'll have approximately thirty seconds to get clear by the time they've emptied the prison.'

'On screen.'

Ohlson appeared. 'Move to a safe distance Sia, we'll continue to shift Dominion personnel until Mc Sorley's ready. See you soon.'

The screen returned to showing the prison. 'Okay Colimo get us to three thousand kilometers off the moon.'

'Aye aye Captain.'

Seconds later the Gaunt was hurdling away from the imminent explosion.

d'Amatsu gave a curse. 'They're still killing any they can find.

That's our lot.' He glanced up at Mc Sorley. 'We could only get one hundred and eighteen.'

Mc Sorley tried and failed to avoid thinking of the thirty, no it would be more than that if the crew of the Shoeman were included, all dead. She pushed the thoughts as far away as she could. 'Put the Augustus on screen.'

'Move out as fast as you can.'

Mc Sorley needed nothing else. 'Full speed Lieutenant get us out of here.'

The Caesar turned slowly and then its thrusters engaged. It accelerated away from the moon and towards the distant speck on the viewscreen that was the U.S.S Gaunt.

'We've made it, and with thirty-eight seconds to spare.' Smith tried not to sound elated at getting away from the booby-trapped moon.

'Sir, we have a problem.' Barret sounded anxious.

Ohlson looked to the ensign. 'Problem?'

The Gaunt had seen it too.

'It'll intercept us in less than six minutes.' Colimo was staring at the viewscreen, which was at full magnification. Dead center of the picture was the Dominion battleship. Seconds earlier Colimo had spied the vessel as it came within sensor range. It had been in the nebula that was the escape route of the three Starfleet ships. They were heading directly towards it.

'It gets worse.' d'Amatsu had just relayed the new sensor information to Mc Sorley.

'Worse? How could it get worse?'

'There are six Jem'Hadar fighters leaving the atmosphere of the Demon class. They are heading our way too.'

'I had to ask.

Ready on weapons.' This should be one of the shortest battles in space history, she thought. Three rust buckets, damaged rust buckets at that, against six fighters and a battleship. Oh boy!