A tense two hours passed, and still there was no sign of intruders. The crew was growing restless, and Kathryn had spent an hour in the office pouring over all of the information Starfleet Security had gathered. Chakotay moved in behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. She leaned back in the chair and stretched her neck as he gently massaged her. "I can't make sense of this, Chakotay. I don't understand what they're after."

"You mean besides me?" he asked, his voice gruff.

She laid a hand over his. "You may have been the initial target, but I agree with Harkin and Owen. There's far more to this Terran Guard's scheme than getting rid of you or me. Whatever it is, none of those captured by Security yet has had any clue. Only a few top members were privy to the group's true plan. The rest of them were just following orders, not really caring why. The couple that Harkin interviewed, that left the organization, did so because they started asking questions and were threatened."

The comm beeped, and Kathryn sat forward. Chakotay dropped his hands from her shoulders and moved slightly to the side. Owen's face, lined with worry and fatigue, appeared on the screen. "Kathryn, Chakotay, two unmarked, unregistered shuttles have been detected over the Channel. We're scrambling Security, but the Flyer is closer."

Kathryn immediately called for Tom. He came to the doorway, and she said, "We've got two unmarked shuttles heading this way. You, B'Elanna, and Harry launch the Flyer. Defend yourselves if you have to, but only if forced."

"Yes, ma'am," Tom clipped. "Uh, Admiral," he shot over his shoulder as he left the room.

Kathryn looked back to Owen and saw the corner of his mouth curl. "You still don't like 'ma'am', huh Kathryn?"

She smiled and said, "It'll do in a crunch, but your son is well trained, Owen. He's a fine officer."

"Thanks to you he is," Owen replied. "Starfleet's finest command team managed to do what his mother and I couldn't. I'm proud of him."

"So am I, Owen. I'll contact you when I can. Janeway out." She ended the link, and she and Chakotay returned to the rest of the crew.

"Kim to Janeway."

She tapped her combadge. "Go ahead Mr. Kim."

"Sensors are picking up the two shuttles. They are definitely heading for us, but there's a dampening field disrupting our scans. We can't tell how many life signs there are or what type of weapons are onboard. B'Elanna is attempting to clear up the readings."

"Keep working at it, and let me know when you have something."

"Yes, Admiral. Kim out."

Kathryn addressed the crew. "If they have shuttles, they can beam in like they did at the safe house. I want two of you in each hallway or room that opens to this one. Mr. Ayala, make the assignments. Everyone else stay here. We don't know how many aggressors we're dealing with, and we shouldn't spread our numbers too thin."

Chakotay checked his phaser and picked up his plasma rifle. "I'll take the main hallway. It's the widest and would allow more of them into one space, and it's the quickest way outside if they beam to the grounds instead of the house."

Kathryn nodded to him. "Go." She watched him move off, a brief feeling of worry taking over before she shoved it away.

Her combadge beeped again.

"B'Elanna to Janeway, we've detected transport."

Kathryn shouldered her rifle and readied her phaser. She heard commotion from the smaller hallway that led past the library, and then the unmistakable sounds of phaser fire and a body thudding on the floor. "Report!" she ordered.

"Two intruders disabled," Jenkins replied.

"You've got more coming," B'Elanna's voice said.

Kathryn heard scuffling and more weapons in the main hallway and in the kitchen. Ayala slid through the kitchen door, rolled to his back, fired, and was on his feet before the unseen body hit the floor. Chakotay's alert caught her ear a split second later. "Kathryn!" She leveled her phaser at the main hallway and hit the intruder square in the chest as she twisted to the side, dodging an energy blast that continued past her to hit the wall on the far side of the room.

"How many more?" Kathryn asked.

"Clear here," Chakotay reported. "Baytart took a hit to the left arm, but it's minor."

"Clear, Admiral," Ayala called from the kitchen. "No injuries."

"All clear," Jenkins added. "Took a punch to the ribs, but I'm fine."

Kathryn turned to Boylan. "Relieve Baytart so we can check out his injury."

"Yes, ma'am," Boylan clipped as he turned down the hallway. In a few seconds, Baytart entered and went to Kathryn. His sleeve was blackened, and the skin on his left forearm was red, but he had full use of the arm and his hand.

"It just grazed me, Admiral. A minor sting."

"What kind of weapons are they carrying?" she asked him.

"We only saw phasers," Baytart replied.

"Ten on the grounds," Kim reported over the comm link.

"Chakotay, Ayala, take your teams outside," Kathryn commanded. She nodded to Baytart, and pointed behind her. "You five with me. The rest of you be ready in case more transport inside."

She headed down the main hallway and through the doors, the five crewmen close on her heels. Once outside, she followed the sounds of weapons fire around the corner of the house, realizing the long window in view down the side of the building was the one in the west apartment that she and Chakotay were sharing. She wondered if it was coincidence that the intruders beamed to this point, or if they knew that section was where she was staying.

A deafening whine drew all attention upward to see one of the unmarked shuttles hurtling toward the ground. The nose pulled up at the last second, and the shuttlecraft bounced and slid across the estate grounds about 35 meters from her team's position, shearing off one of the impulse nacelles in a spectacular shower of sparks and debris.

"Janeway to the Delta Flyer. That's a hell of a package to leave on the doorstep, Tom."

"Sorry for the close shave, Admiral! We were taking phaser fire."

"Any life signs aboard that shuttle?"

"Negative. All but one had beamed to the surface. The pilot died on impact."

The distraction actually worked in their favor as her battle hardened crew paid scant attention to the chaos of the crash and took down three more intruders who were focused elsewhere. She spotted Chakotay's broad shoulders just as he pulled back his elbow and let fly, the body of his opponent snapping backward to land in a heap. She couldn't help grinning, and saw the same look of mirth on Baytart's face. "Tuvok said he had a mean left hook," Baytart remarked.

"Paris to Janeway. The second shuttle is landing to the east."

"Understood. Land the Flyer. Harry, you stay on sensors. Tom, B'Elanna, join us when you can."

"On our way."

"Chakotay, Ayala," Kathryn called. "Shuttle on the east grounds."

"Kathryn, Ayala is down," Chakotay reported. "He took a phaser to the right leg and hip."

"I'll leave Baytart with him. Tom is on his way. I'll tell him to bring the med kit and he can treat both of them. Any other injuries?"

"A few bruises, that's it."

Baytart was already trotting along the length of the house, spotting Ayala propped against the wall near the far corner. Kathryn started to the east following Chakotay and his team as she instructed Tom to bring the med kit from the Flyer and treat the injured. She could see one shuttle on the ground in the distance, and the Delta Flyer setting down to the south. Tom and B'Elanna rushed through the hatch of the Flyer, splitting off so that B'Elanna would intercept Chakotay while Tom continued to the injured crewmen.

The hatch of the other shuttle was open, and Kathryn counted seven insurgents headed toward her crew. That has to be all of them, she thought. They had to have been wedged in tight to get that many on two shuttles.

Harry's voice interrupted her thoughts. "I'm picking up a Cardassian life sign."

"Janeway to Chakotay. I want the Cardassian alive."

There was the slightest pause before he answered, "Understood."

B'Elanna had reached Chakotay's group just as the first phaser fire arced toward them. All of them hit the ground in a roll and fired back. It was impossible to find anything to shield themselves on the windswept, high plain of the estate. Agility and quick thinking would be their only defense, but that went both ways. Kathryn was confident that her crew were better trained and prepared than a fringe group bound loosely together by fear of their Cardassian leader.

Chakotay motioned for his team to spread out, and Kathryn waved her four to the left flank while she made her way to the center. One of the intruders was taken down by a shot from her right, and a second in the middle was injured. That left five, plus the Cardassian who was staying well back from the action. Larson dove to the left and rolled up on his elbows, firing his phaser immediately and scoring a hit on the man across from him. Four left.

Two of her crewmen to Kathryn's right went down, and she looked to make sure they were both still moving. As she returned her attention, she was jolted backward off her feet and pain seared down her shoulder and arm. She heard Chakotay's panicked voice yell, "Kathryn!" She tried to sit up, fell back and hit her head on the ground, then pushed herself up with her right hand, her left arm useless. She struggled to her knees as two crewmen protected her. The sound of rapid phaser fire cut through the air, and she watched the remaining Terran Guard members crumple.

Through blurred vision, she saw the Cardassian in the distance turn and run back toward the shuttle. A roar went up from Chakotay, and he and B'Elanna got a head start on the rest of the crew and were still gaining, their speed fueled by their hatred of the Cardassians in general and their anger that Kathryn had been injured. Kathryn shook her head trying to clear her vision, and thought there was no way the leader would be captured. He had stayed close to the shuttle for a reason.

He was already ascending the hatch and slapped the button to close the door. The ramp slowly lifted, and the Cardassian's face was smug as he watched Chakotay and B'Elanna in a losing race to get within phaser distance. Tom reached Kathryn's side at the same moment they heard Chakotay yell, "B'Elanna!"

B'Elanna slid to halt while Chakotay continued, and the Cardassian's eyes were barely visible above the lifting shuttle hatch. Chakotay took three more strides and dove forward, tucking his shoulder to roll twice and come up on his knees facing B'Elanna. She had started running again when he dove, and as he faced her he laced his fingers in front of him. She leapt forward, planted her foot in his hands, and he launched her in the air. Her phaser shot cleared the top of the closing hatch, taking the Cardassian dead center of the genetic ridges that gave them the unfortunate nickname "Spoonheads."

B'Elanna landed on the ground and tumbled several times before finally coming to a stop and sitting up, holding her left shoulder. "Holy shit!" Tom exclaimed at Kathryn's side.

"Indeed," Kathryn quipped, Tuvok's favorite wry agreement the only word she could think of right then.

The rest of the crew had reached Chakotay and B'Elanna by that time. Some were helping her to her feet, while Chakotay and the others continued on to retrieve the Cardassian. "Mr. Kim, anything else on sensors?" Kathryn asked.

"Nothing, Admiral."

"Good. Let's give it another 15 minutes. If there are no more surprises, power down the shuttle and join us inside.

"Yes, Admiral."

Jenkins and four others exited the house. They had secured the Guard members that had beamed in to the hallways, and now set about securing those outside. Chakotay and the rest of the crewmen were on their way back with the Cardassian prisoner when Owen and Harkin beamed onto the lawn near Kathryn. She stood up and greeted them, her only acknowledgment of her injuries being a slight sway before she planted her feet more firmly.

"Kathryn, please," Owen said with alarm when he saw her. "Sit down and let Tom take a look at you."

"In good time, Owen. I have crewmen who need attention first, including B'Elanna."

"And people call me stubborn," B'Elanna said as she reached them, rubbing her shoulder. "I took a bump. You took a phaser shot and a blow to the head, Kathryn."

Kathryn smirked at her. "Tell Chakotay not to throw you so high next time."

"It was an old move we used to practice in the Maquis. Came in handy a couple of times when the bastards would drop down behind boulders or into tunnels."

Kathryn swayed on her feet again as her vision blurred, and Tom caught her around the waist just as Chakotay approached them. Chakotay knew she wouldn't appreciate being carried, so he put his shoulder under her good arm and held her up against his side. "Let's get inside so Tom can do his job." He turned his head to Owen. "Any chance of getting the Doctor here?"

Owen stepped away for a moment and spoke over his combadge. He turned back to follow them inside and said, "The Doctor will be here in a few minutes."

Kathryn closed her eyes again, fighting not to black out. The last thing she heard was the faint sound of Chakotay calling her name.