The alarm sounded in the middle of the night. Regina was up and dressed within the first minute. She sprinted to the bridge as Lieutenant Nova called everyone to their battle stations on the comm link. Regina's stomach felt like it was twisting itself into knots. They had jumped a fair distance away and taken other measures not to be found. How in the world did they find them so fast?

She took a deep breath. It didn't have to be the AI. It could be something else. They were on the Border after all. It could just be some raiders who'd gotten stupidly cocky. But then again for a small fleet of raiders the whole ship wasn't put on red alert.

Regina burst onto the bridge with Mal right behind her. "Status report!" they both barked at the same time. Regina glanced at her second in command for half a second and nodded before turning back to the situation at hand.

Lieutenant Nova stepped forward, looking more frazzled than normal. "Captain, we picked up the signature of ten vessels of unknown origin and size heading towards us fast about two minutes ago. As far as we can tell they match the signatures of the AI vessels from last time."

"Son of a bitch." Ten of them. They had barely gotten out of it with six. "What are the status of the repairs? How many of our fighters do we have to send out?"

"At last count only half of the older ones were cleared to go out," Nova responded.

God above how in the world could it get any worse? She didn't want the answer to that question. "Send out the best pilots we have. Tell Lieutenant Dracon she's going out in dragon form this time. They can't hack that form. Load the ships that can go out only with the older missiles. Those who are left behind are to help the flight crew with repairs and everyone is to work on the fucking double. I want as many ships in the air as possible as soon as possible. Pull everyone you can and set them to repair work. If their battle stations aren't weaponry, shield maintenance, or engine work, get them down there," Regina's commands were rapid fire as she approached her seat, looking over the screens in front of her, surveying the image of ten ships getting closer and closer to them.

"Five minutes out!" Someone called.

Five minutes wasn't near enough time, but then again when was there enough time in the middle of a fire fight? "For god's sake someone figure out how they found us so quickly! If we have to jump again I don't want them finding us the next time." Regina shouted above the din.

She turned to Mal. "I might need you to go out as well. Ten ships with over half our fighters down, we're going to need something to even the odds."

Mal nodded. "Just say the word and I'll be out."

"Just for god's sake come back when you need to. I don't want you dead."

Mal looked at the screen beside them. "I come back too early and we all might be dead."

Regina said nothing to that. Mal was right in a way.

"Captain! There's new activity on the edge of our radar," one of the science officers called.

Regina looked over again and sucked in a breath. A ship, a big one, was just coming into view. "Someone get me specifics on what the hell that is. I want them five minutes ago."

"What are the odds that that's their mother ship?" Mal asked, voice low as they watched the large dot move towards them at a slower pace than the fighters, but still at a good clip.

"Very good, but why bring the mother ship anywhere near the fight?" Regina's fingers tapped against her chin.

"Maybe they want to talk?"

Regina turned to her second command. "About what? They want to eliminate us. What is there to talk about?"

"Plans can change."

"Not to anything that we will like."

Mal laughed without humor. "I didn't say anything about that, now did I?" She cocked an eyebrow.

"No, I don't suppose you did."

"Captain! As far as our scanners can tell it's a ship somewhere around Queen class size, but it's not one of the Directive's. The signature is different and doesn't match up with anything we've seen before, but I suppose that's to be expected."

Regina nodded at the soldier. "Any readings on how many could be on the ship?"

"We don't have a way to track AI, but it does seem like their might be a human presence on the ship. The life support systems are working, that much we can get off the signature. Why would a ship full of AI burn the fuel to keep it up otherwise?"

"Why in the world would they have humans with them?" Mal asked.

Regina looked back and shook her head. "They don't like the directive, that doesn't mean they would team up with up with other species, humans included, if it got them to their mission objective."

"So what do we do?" Mal asked.

"If they're working with the AI, the answer is simple."

"But how do we know that they're working with the AI and not just captures?"

Regina bit her lip. "That is that hard part." She scrubbed her hands through her hair, still loose. She hadn't taken the time to put it up once the alarm sounded. "I would assume that anyone with them is working with them. We saw what they did to the ship's crew. I don't think they are much for prisoners, but I am not sure."

Mal hummed. "And of course if we don't know we can't act."

"Civilians always complicate things."

The dots were two minutes out now and still moving fast. The big ship was maybe ten minutes out.

"What is the status of the launch?" Regina barked out.

"The launch bay has been cleared. The first fighters should be out within the minute."

Regina scowled they were cutting it too damn close. "What the hell is going on down there? Don't they know that alarms mean to hurry the fuck up?"

"They're working as fast as they can, Captain, but there's a lot going on down there," someone called out, Regina didn't turn to see who it was.

"And there isn't a lot going on up here? No excuses. I don't want another damn hit on our shields." Regina looked at Mal. "What was the status of the repairs on the shields?"

"Not great, they maybe bought us another fifteen percent, but we've got one, maybe two more hits in us before they're down and everything's fried with them."

Regina looked towards the ceiling. "We can't spare a line of fighters to defend us. Get Commander De Vil and tell her to man as many of the guns as she can, and she better damn well be on the biggest. She's the best shot we have. Anything that's new tech is off limits."

"We can't put up the shields if we do that."

"They aren't doing us a lot of good even if we do put them up. Better to be able to fire back than fire out all the damn systems, don't you think."

Mal frowned but nodded. She stepped away and double tapped her comm link to talk to Commander De Vil.

One minute out.

"First fighters have launched. Second round in fifteen seconds," another officer called out.

Regina watched the dots appear on her screen, flying out fast to meet the incoming ships. Projectiles started flying almost instantly from her fighters. She held her breath, waiting for one to hit, any of them at all, but none were. If anything, it seemed like the enemy fighters were wasting their ammo blocking the shots instead of returning fire. Regina stepped closer to the screen and squinted. But why in the world would they be doing that?

Another wave of her fighters launched. "Last round in fifteen seconds."

She looked at the screen at the dots color coded to match their ship's color. There weren't nearly enough ships out there, and she didn't think it would change with another wave. She glanced over. The mother ship was seven minutes out now. She didn't even want to know what they could have hidden weapon wise on a ship that size.

Mal stepped back beside her. "Commander De Vil was already sitting at the Junli laser when I called. Her best shots are all at their stations ready to fire when you give the command."

Regina nodded. She gestured towards the screen. "What does it look like they're doing to you?"

Mal looked for a few long seconds, eyes tracing over the ships and the little blips that were missiles. Her face grew confused. "Are they…blocking?"

Regina nodded. "That's what I thought too."

"Why would they be doing that?" Mal looked at Regina, blue eyes scrunched in thought.

"Your guess is as good as mine." She looked at the mother ship, getting closer by the second. "If I had to guess." She tapped on the dot. "It has to do with that ship. Either they have a weapon that will destroy us in one fell swoop or…they're coming to talk with us. Which doesn't make sense with the video we saw, but otherwise it concurs with blocking missiles."

The last wave launched and Regina stood by and continued to watch the fight, dots on the radar traveling so very quickly.

"What do we do if they want to talk?" Mal asked.

"I wouldn't trust them as far as I could throw them under regular gravity conditions."

"That much is a given, dear. So you're saying no talking with them at all?"

Regina thought that over for a few seconds. "No, I think we should meet them, if only to see what it is they could possibly want, but there will have to be a number of precautions taken before that happens."

"Neutral ground with fighters on standby?"

Regina nodded. "And The Rocinate ready to jump again, at the very least."

"Do you want to tell the fighters to hold off?"

The mother ship was five minutes out now. Regina waved down all the screens and looked out the front windows to see a black dot getting larger and larger by the second.

"Someone tell me if they have any weapons deployed on that thing!" Regina yelled.

"Scans are saying no, Captain," Lieutenant Nova said, coming up beside Regina. "But that's for regular weaponry. We don't have any idea if they've got something new that doesn't give off one of the frequencies scanned for."

"Call off half of the fighters with strict orders if the other ships start to fire to redouble their attack. If the fighting diminishes we'll have our answer."

Mal nodded and issued the orders quickly. Immediately the flares of missiles dimmed somewhat. Regina didn't see any of the enemy ships firing except to defend themselves. She swallowed hard, lead in her stomach weighing her down.

"I guess that's our answer. Call off the rest of them, but tell them to hold their positions, fingers on the trigger."

Another second passed and fighters on both sides stilled, floating in the middle of space, calm as calm could be.

"Who are we sending to talk with these bastards?" Mal asked, looking out at the enemy ship still approaching, but slowing down now.

"If they know anything about us, they will want me to go. Why talk to an underling when you can talk to the Captain herself."

"And me?"

Regina shook her head. "No, you need to stay here just in case this all goes south. You're the only one I trust to get this ship out of here in one piece." She looked over at Nova. "No offense to any of the rest of you, but experience is life's greatest teacher."

Nova nodded. "Of course, Captain."

"I want the repairs of the fighters to continue on at top speed."

"Do you want one made ready for you and whoever else is going?"

Regina frowned. "If they want peaceful talks a fighter will send the wrong message."

"But you have to be able to defend yourself!" Mal scowled.

"Get someone to outfit a transport with missiles, and keep them hidden. I'm not going in there to be a sitting duck but I'm not going to ruin any productive talks that might be had."

"That's going to take time," Mal said.

Regina looked towards the ceiling again. "Get Swan on it. Somehow I think she'll get it done just in time."

"That's an almost impossible mission. How the hell are you so sure she'll get it done?" Mal's hand hovered right above the comm link, ready to carry out Regina's orders, but only if she was truly sure.

"Because she's got something to prove to me." She looked away. "And her file says she's the best on the damn ship, now get on it. We don't have all day."

Mal shook her head but tapped her comm link anyway.

"Tell Commander Mer to scramble our signals for as long as possible. I want time bought before they can contact us." They would catch up and over take any encryption that a human could come up with eventually, but any time bought was another hidden missile on a transport ship, and maybe if they were lucky more information about what was to come. She didn't think they were that lucky, but she had to try.

"It's done. She said she could get at least one volley on there, enough to buy some time to escape, but after that you would have to rely on the fighters waiting in the wings for cover."

Regina bit her lip. That wasn't the answer she was hoping for, but it was a damn sight better than no defense at all.

The mother ship completely stopped, hanging peacefully, but still looking menacing. Everyone on the bridge was glancing up at it uneasily before going back to work at twice the normal pace, trying to ready the ship for anything to come.

"Captain, Commander Mer says she can't hold them off much longer."

Regina pulled in a breath. Already? Damn. This was not what she wanted. "Tell her I don't care what she has to do, but she's to keep them out as long as possible. As long as she doesn't rip out the comms system, anything else is free game."

The officer nodded and turned to relay the information back to the Commander.

"They're damn fast," Mal said beside her, looking out at the ship.

"They're AI, what did you expect?" Regina cocked an eyebrow.

Mal turned towards her. "The system I have at home takes five seconds to process an order."

Regina waved that off. "That's a civilian model. I know you've seen government models and what they can do. They're scary bastards."

Mal hummed. "But they were nothing like this."

"And that's why they were level five classified."

"Captain, they've made it through. Do you want me to display the comm?" Lieutenant Blue asked.

Regina pinched the bridge of her nose for half a second before standing straight, snapping to attention and looking as regal and in command as possible. Mal did the same on her right.

"Go ahead, Lieutenant Blue."

An AI system, much like the one that had been on the ship they had tried to rescue but slightly different in design, sleeker almost, popped up on screen.

"A Captain does not fight with her crew, how disappointing," it's mechanical voice rang through the bridge speakers.

"I think you and I both know that it's foolish to put the one in charge in danger. You do not send out your central databank into battle, now do you?" Regina looked down her nose, though she wondered if the change in body language would mean anything to a machine, even one this intelligent.

"I suppose not. But Captains are in charge of negations, as per chapter seven section nine of the Directive handbook."

"They are. Are you saying you wish to initiate negotiations?" Regina clenched her fists behind her back.

"Negotiations might be a bit too strong a word, talking, however, we would like, yes."

Regina nodded. "That can be arranged, but only under specific conditions."

"Do you really think you are in any place to lay down terms?"

"There is some reason that you want to talk to us. We will only talk if I can guarantee the safety of my people first, both before these talks and after."

The AI paused for a second and Regina got the impression that it was thinking things over, planning out all possibilities and thinking how it could benefit from them.

"Inform us of your terms before we agree," it finally said.

"I want to meet on neutral territory. No weapons and minimal personnel at the meeting sight. We'll make sure that talking is the only thing we're doing at this meeting. And I want a promise that until these talks are over no shots will be fired, at all, until the ship that arrive on is back within The Rocinate."

"These talks, why must they be done in person, we are speaking right now Captain. We could continue speaking and there would be no need for your foolish demands to be met."

"You sited the Directive handbook at me, tell me, what does it say of negotiations?" Regina cocked an eyebrow and tried to ignore the sweat that was breaking out on her forehead. She had been in firefights that were less tense.

"Chapter fourteen section twenty, all negotiations between two parties will be carried out face to face to foster a sense of fellowship and the ability to work together for a common goal." When the thing was reciting the handbook it sounded even more robotic. "Are you always so by the book, Captain? After all, these aren't technically negotiations."

"I think you know that as a Captain I must uphold all the rules, talks or negotiations, they are the same here. You want to talk we will be meeting face to face under my stipulations. And what do you have to lose? They are mundane and are only a hindrance if you were planning an attack, and why go through all that trouble when you could just attack us right now with the same effect?"

"Very well, where would you have us meet?"

Immediately a map of the surroundings popped up without Regina having to ask. She shot a grateful look over her shoulder before she looked at the planets within range. Several were red, the others yellow, only one was clear of any color. Regina immediately stiffened. Her instincts were screaming trap. She did not want to meet there. She looked at the yellow planets for another option. They were only suspected, there was nothing confirmed, and some of the warnings were years old. She pulled in a deep breath and tried to calm her racing heart.

Two were a day out, which was probably too far though Regina would kill for that amount of time. She wondered if she could get away with it, but then again she did not want to be seen as stalling. There was one half a day away, but that wasn't an option. She was pretty damn sure that planet would be classified as red any time now. That left the one friendly planet and one other yellow planet within a few hours of each other.

"Omptima Glasus," Regina said, finally making the decision. She hoped picking a yellow planet wouldn't come back to bite her in the ass, she really did.

"So it shall be then."

Outside the ship the enemy fighters turned and flew towards their mother ship.

"We will see you there. We will make contact with further details of our meeting when we reach the planet."

Regina nodded and then the image cut out. Everyone on the bridge took a huge breath and let it out slowly. Holy hell.

"Set course for Omptima Glasus," Regina said, voice lacking its normal snappy command.

No one batted an eye however, slowly setting the course just as she asked. Regina blinked a few times before she slowly let her posture relax. Her shoulders were stiff and achy already. She had held herself too tightly, a rookie mistake they corrected in the academy. She was supposed to be able to stand at attention like that for hours if needed. She snorted, but this was the real world, not the academy.

She turned to Mal who was stretching out her back carefully. "That will buy us at least five hours. Tell Granny to break out the caffeine supplements. Those who were woken up in the middle of the night will bottom out soon and we can't have that right now."

Mal nodded. "You need one?"

Regina shook her head. No she wouldn't need one for a good long time after a conversation like that.

"Me either, but I thought I'd ask. I'll put an announcement out that they'll be available to anyone who needs them."

"Good."

Regina sat down in her chair and tapped her nails against the arm. She couldn't go alone to this meeting, that would be akin to suicide and she knew it. She should at least bring two people with her, but what two would be best? Not Mal, she had to stay and command the ship just in case this all went completely sideways. Nova would be the next choice, but Regina wasn't so sure that the woman would do well outside the ship. She had a clear head under pressure, but she was meek sometimes at the worst times. Blue could work, but that would leave Mal without one of the best science officers. But as long as she left Commander Sherwood everything would be fine.

She nodded. Blue it was then, but then who else? If she had brains, brawn might make sense. One of the security officers then. She flicked open her datapad and scrolled through the crew manifest until she came to the section she needed. The men and women who ended up in the security officers weren't the highest common denominator, mostly they were those officers who had just made it through the academy, or those who hadn't specialized for one reason or another, along with those enlisted who scored on the lower end of the entrance test. But even though she was looking for muscle she didn't want them to be completely blockheaded. That would not work out in her favor in this case.

Regina scrolled through, looking at their different scores and work reviews. Petty Officer 3rd Class Charming looked promising. He had scored well enough that he could have gone to other departments, but he had actually chosen the security division. Regina wondered about decision and what it said about him, but his record was clean and his superiors had always left good reports about him. He would do.

Mal walked over again and sank down in her own chair. "Granny's already ahead of us. She got them out when the alarm sounded, said she figured that they'd be needed."

Regina snorted. "Well, she isn't wrong." She turned and handed Mal her datapad. "I need him to go with me to the talks with these…things."

Mal looked at Regina skeptically. "Why him?"

"Smart muscle. I'm taking Blue as well."

That calmed Mal's facial expression somewhat. "There are others you could take that aren't security officers, you know, that are just as muscled."

Regina hummed. "Yes, but most of them rely more on blasters than anything else."

Mal sighed. "You're right, but that doesn't mean I have to like this."

Regina reached out and patted Mal's shoulder. "We both know I can handle myself. If everything goes right there won't be any need for the muscle to do anything at all." That got Regina a rather skeptical look. "I know, but in a perfect world." She shrugged.

"I wish you would take Lily with you instead of that guy. At least I know she's capable."

"She's also a weapon of mass destruction. It's not exactly hard to see that she's a Draconian. If you were going with me I could justify that choice since you are my second in command, but Lily is not and they will see right through why I brought her."

Mal huffed, a bit of smoke clouding the air around her. "Fine, fine, the Captain knows all, but if it all goes sideways and muscle man here isn't really of use to you, then I get to tell you I told you so when you get back. And you will get your ass back here or I will fly to whatever special hell they put you in and drag your ass back from the dead."

"Thank you, Mal, I worry for your safety too."

"Yeah, yeah." She stood from her chair. "I'm going to go make sure everything is stocked for an all-out firefight now, if you'll excuse me."

Regina nodded and Mal stalked off. She shook her head looking at the retreating back of her best friend. Mal could be such a hot head sometimes, but she did have Regina's best interests in mind most of the time even when she was literally blowing smoke. She sighed and opened up her datapad again. There was a great lot to get done and only a few hours to execute it.