"Raise shiel…" Picard shouted, charging towards the turbolift, but before he could complete his sentence, there was a sound of an explosion. The Enterprise's deck rocked wildly beneath his feet. He lost his balance and had to catch himself against the wall of the lift. Geordi LaForge's voice echoed over the sirens.

"Captain, they just took out our main deflector dish. Shields down to 10%!"

The lift shot upwards towards the bridge. Picard quickly ran through his options. There weren't many.

"Open a channel to the Ferengi vessel," he ordered Worf. "Prepare for evasive maneuvers. I want options if this goes wrong."

The monitor flickered, and the wrinkled, smirking face of DaiMon Torek appeared.

"Why Captain Picard," he said with mock surprise. "What a coincidence that we should have the pleasure of meeting you again."

Picard was in no mood to play games. "Why have you fired on my ship, DaiMon?" he demanded.

The Ferengi's smug grin widened. "We came to collect our property, Picard. Give us the vampire, and no one needs to get hurt."

"You realize that by firing on a Federation vessel, you have committed an act of war?" Picard asked, keeping his anger firmly under control.

DaiMon Torek shrugged, but Picard could see the nervousness in the gesture. "If this is what we can expect to encounter from the Federation, they will not pose much of a threat."

"Where does this newfound courage come from, DaiMon?" Picard asked. "Surely you are not so blinded by greed that you fail to realize the seriousness of your situation?"

The Ferengi's smirk faded. "You have not yet answered our demands, hu-man," he snarled. "Give us the vampire, or be destroyed!"

"Let me handle this, DaiMon," another voice interrupted. The screen split in two as a new face appeared on the other half. It was the face of a human man in his late thirties, with sleek, well-oiled black hair and small, snakelike eyes. When he smiled, Picard could almost hear a hiss.

"You and I are both reasonable men, Captain Picard," the man said calmly, ignoring the Ferengi's continued temper tantrum. "You realize that we have the upper hand."

"And who are you?" Picard demanded.

"Pardon my lack of manners," the man said smoothly. "I am Captain Oneida, of the starship Basilisk." He smiled wider, and Picard had a brief pang of nausea. "Now," he continued, his smile disappearing as though struck by lightning and his eyes growing cold. "Back to business. You have something we want, we have something you want. Life."

"And if I should refuse to give up Mr. Fitzroy?" Picard asked.

"Then you shall all die," Oneida said easily. "Surely the price of one vampire is nothing compared to the lives of your crew, Captain?"

"Why should I trust you?"

"You don't have a choice, Picard," Oneida said. "Give us the vampire or die. You have five minutes to decide." The screen went blank.

"Both vessels are armed and ready to fire," Data reported from the helm. "As we are, Captain, we can not hope to survive an attack."

"I am aware of that, Mr. Data." Picard thought for a moment. "Mr. Worf, would it be possible to reconfigure the phaser banks to target the weapons systems of both ships simultaneously?"

"Yes, Captain," Worf said slowly. "But it would take time."

"How long?"

"Perhaps fifteen minutes."

"Time we don't have," Picard muttered. He turned to Riker. "We need to stall them."

"Three minutes, thirty seconds remaining," Data said.

"Whatever we plan to do, we have to do it fast," Riker said.

Picard nodded. "Begin reconfiguring the phasers, Lieutenant Worf. Commander Data, try and find some way to mask what we're doing from the Ferengi." He tugged down his uniform. "In the meantime, hail the Ferengi vessel."

"What do you plan to do?" Riker asked.

Picard glanced at him. "We'll give them what they want."

"I knew you were a reasonable man, Picard." Captain Oneida said with a smug smile. On the other side of the screen, DaiMon Torek was rubbing his stumpy hands together greedily.

Picard nodded. "I'm simply trying to protect my people."

"Of course."

Picard rubbed his chin with one hand. "One thing concerns me. How do you intend to take possession of the vampire?"

"We will lock onto his coordinates and beam him directly to our ship," DaiMon Torek interjected.

For the first time, a smile ghosted across Picard's face. "I don't think so. If you had the ability to do that, you would have beamed him off at once." He met Oneida's eyes. "The detention level is shielded independently. With the shields still in place, you can't beam anything on or off that level."

Oneida's smile didn't fade. "Then you will drag the vampire into the turbolift and proceed to a level that is not affected by the shielding."

"That will take time," Picard said. "Trying to force a vampire where he does not wish to go is very difficult, as I'm sure you know."

"Oh, it's not difficult at all," Captain Oneida said. "Simply stun the creature."

Picard bristled. "I will beam Henry Fitzroy to your ship, along with a full security team to keep him under control. I will not harm him for your convenience."

"You are in no position…" DaiMon Torek began, but Captain Oneida waved him into silence. "Very well, Picard, but you must accompany this escort. To prevent…misdealings."

Picard inclined his head. "Very well. We will send you our coordinates when we are in position."

"Don't take too long," Oneida warned. "DaiMon Torek has an itchy trigger finger." The screen went blank.

"Captain, are you insane?" Riker demanded the moment Captain Oneida's face had disappeared from view. "You are giving them another hostage!"

"I am aware of that, Number One, but I needed a way to keep Henry conscious when he sets foot on that ship." He turned and strode towards the turbolift. "I will need a full security team to assemble on the detention level, immediately."

The doors hissed shut behind him. And Picard prayed silently that he had not just made the biggest mistake of his career.

The team had already assembled outside Henry's cell when Picard emerged onto the detention level. Henry stood in the far corner of the cell, half-crouched, fangs bared. The team eyed him nervously.

Picard didn't have time to waste on hesitation. He strode right up to the forcefield.

"Henry, listen closely." The vampire's eyes slid upwards to his face. "Captain Oneida has given us only minutes to beam you aboard his vessel." Henry growled, but did not interrupt. "I have managed to convince him to allow us to accompany you." He gestured at the security team. "Though we will carry weapons, in all likelihood, we will not have the opportunity to use them."

Henry still remained silent. Picard continued, despite the lack of a response. "In less than fifteen minutes, we will be able to disable their weapon systems. Fifteen minutes, that's all I need."

Henry said nothing. Picard pressed one hand flat against the forcefield, willing the vampire to listen. "Trust me."

Henry hesitated for a moment longer, then crossed the cell and placed his hand flat against the forcefield opposite Picard's.

Picard breathed a sigh of relief. "Open the cell," he ordered. One of the security team pressed a few buttons, and the forcefield hissed as it was deactivated. Henry stood quietly as two members of the team fitted energy cuffs around his wrists. His eyes never left Picard's.

Commander Riker's voice cut through the detention level. "Captain, the Ferengi are getting impatient."

"We're on our way." Picard stared into Henry's eyes. Then without another word, he headed for the turbolift.

He breathed another private sigh of relief when the vampire followed him without complaint.

"You'd better hope this works," Riker's voice said as Picard and the team assembled on an upper deck with Henry in the center. The vampire was still behaving, but Picard could see a rigidity in his movements that betrayed his tension. He was like a spring ready to unwind, or a bomb waiting to detonate.

"Energize!"

As the transporter beam caught hold of him, Picard was horrified to see that the shapes of the security team remained solid. He looked at Henry; the vampire was dissolving into beads of light.

Just us then, Picard thought. I should have known Oneida wouldn't play by the rules.

Then his boots were striking metal flooring. He kept his phaser out, trained on Henry. As soon as he solidified, the vampire sagged slightly against Picard as though stunned, keeping the phaser hidden from view.

"See, Captain, handling a vampire isn't so difficult after all." Picard looked up to see Captain Oneida flanked by a pair of heavily armed smugglers. Picard looked around. They were on the smuggler's ship. Why not the Ferengi vessel?

As if on cue, DaiMon Torek's sharp, irritating voice cut through the air.

"Oneida, we agreed to bring them to my ship! How dare you break your side of the bargain!"

"I'm tired of your yammering, DaiMon," Oneida said in a bored voice, keeping his phaser trained on Picard and Henry. "I'm cutting you out of the deal."

The Ferengi's angry, horrified protests were cut off by the sound of laser fire.

"Captain," one of the smugglers reported. "The Ferengi vessel has been destroyed."

"The Enterprise's reaction?"

The smuggler grinned. "They haven't moved."

Oneida let out a bark of laughter. "Guess they're afraid to fire on us, what with you so conveniently on board, Picard." He gestured with his phaser. "Slide your weapon to me, carefully."

When Picard did not move, Oneida let out a short controlled burst from the phaser. It struck Henry in the chest. The vampire grunted with pain and doubled over slightly. Oneida's thumb toggled a switch on the phaser.

"Next one is set to disintegrate." He stared at Picard. "Now."

Moving slowly, Picard set his phaser down on the floor and slid it towards Oneida with his boot. As Oneida picked it up, keeping both his eyes on his prisoners, Henry let out a low snarl. Picard followed the vampire's eyes to Oneida's belt. There, hanging in an ornate sheathe chased with gold, was a sword. The hilt was studded with jewels, while the grip itself was made with the finest leather.

Oneida followed Henry's gaze. "Do you like it, vampire?" he asked with a laugh. "I could probably sell it for a fortune on the black market, but I like it. It reminds everyone that I'm a king." He patted the handle fondly. For a moment, his eyes drifted away from Henry and Picard, moving to the gleaming sword.

It was in that moment that Henry struck. Twisting the cuffs in the manner Picard had shown him to snap them off, he sprang. His speed was incredible. Before the others could even blink, he had snapped the neck of the first smuggler to cross his path, heading straight for Oneida. The second smuggler got in the way, raising his phaser, but Henry punched directly through his chest.

It was only a second's delay. But it was enough. A golden beam shot from the nozzle of Oneida's weapon. Henry cowered, shielding his face with his hands. Even as he scrambled backwards along the floor, trying desperately to escape the light, his movements became slower.

Oneida smirked. "UV light, vampire," he said. "We rigged it up special, just for you. It can make you fall asleep or…" He toggled the switch again. "It can cause you agonizing pain." Henry screamed, frozen in place by the strength of the beam. As Picard watched, the skin began to crackle and hiss.

"I won't kill you, vampire," Oneida said, smiling as Henry writhed on the floor. "But I'll make you wish I had."

Forgotten, Picard began to inch towards the smuggler. His phaser was in Oneida's belt, so he would have to find another weapon. His eyes fell on a piece of metal pipe. Carefully, he eased it off the pile and crept towards Oneida.

Oneida whirled around. He raised the phaser, thumbing the switch to change it to an ordinary phaser beam. Picard had nowhere to run. In seconds, his body would be just another layer of grime coating the floor of the smuggler's ship.

What Picard learned that day, a lesson he would carry with him for the rest of his life, is that a few seconds is a very long time.

A few seconds was all the time it took for Henry to surge upward from the floor, teeth bared in a terrifying snarl. And a few seconds was all it took for the vampire to reach out and tear Oneida's head from his shoulders. Blood spurted from the smuggler's neck as his body collapsed. It sprayed Henry's face, soaking his hair and clothes.

For a long moment, Picard and Henry were silent, staring at each other. With a distracted air, Henry licked the blood away from his mouth and wiped the rest of the gore on his sleeve. He wrung his blood-soaked hair between his fingers, letting droplets of Oneida's blood spatter to the deck. His eyes did not stray from Picard's face.

The question in them was clear. What now?

What now indeed? Picard wondered. Henry stood before him, still soaked in blood, despite his ministrations. Three men lay dead at the vampire's feet. But looking at Henry's burned and blackened face, Picard recalled Oneida's gleeful expression as he had watched the vampire writhe in pain.

"I won't kill you," he had said, "But I'll make you wish I had."

Another voice rang out in Picard's head. This time, it was the voice of Admiral Nura. "I would like you to transport the vampire to the Darwin Genetic Research Center."

Picard wavered. Was he really considering disobeying an order from Starfleet Command?

Henry tensed. In spite of himself, Picard felt his stomach clench with fear, and his gaze fell on the modified phaser, lying only a few inches away from Oneida's mangled corpse. But he forced his eyes to return to Henry's face. The vampire looked exhausted and hurt, but ready to fight if necessary. He was only waiting for Picard's answer.

What now?

Looking at the vampire, Picard made up his mind. He tapped his comlink. "Picard to Commander Riker."

Riker's voice cracked over the comlink, sounding relieved. "Captain, are you alright?"

"Yes, Number One." Picard stared at Henry. "Oneida is dead, and the Ferengi ship is destroyed. I see no reason to linger, do you?"

"And Mr. Fitzroy?" Riker's voice sounded tense.

Picard hesitated for a moment. "Dead," he said at last. Henry's eyes widened, and he started.

There was a pause. "What are your orders, sir?"

"Prepare to beam me back to the Enterprise," Picard ordered.

"Acknowledged."

The last thing Picard saw as the transporter beam pulled him away was Henry's smile.