CHAPTER 10

I could see a Romulan warbird out my window. It was far off, but it was there. I knew that the other was there also, hovering just out of sight. It had been there for almost an hour, not moving forward but not retreating. It had appeared a few hours after Riker had left. I had no idea what was happening on its bridge, nor on the bridge of the Enterprise. I hoped that they were trying to find a peaceful solution, and that they would succeed.

Yellow Alert had been active ever since the Enterprise had come to the Neutral Zone. I knew that as soon as it was upgraded to Red Alert, fighting would start. I didn't want that to happen. For the first time in a long while, I was worried about more than just myself. I was more worried about Will.

I stretched out on the couch, trying to relax. It something was going to happen, I would be informed by movement of the ship or Red Alert. It was more than probable that the situation would be resolved peacefully, and that we would all make it out safely. Captain Picard was known to be a good diplomat, and I had faith in his abilities. I rose and got some tea to help me calm down. Everything would be fine.

The blaring sound of Red Alert pierced the silence as, seconds later, the ship rocked. I jumped up, turning toward the windows. Both Warbirds were visible, and they were both firing weapons at the Enterprise, phaser blasts and torpedoes streaming from them like liquid fire. From my vantage point, I couldn't see much but I could tell that the Enterprise was firing back.

I nearly lost my balance as another volley hit the ship. Grabbing onto the edge of the table, I stared out at the Romulan Warbirds. Both were well-armed and top of the line. However sophisticated and well-armored the Enterprise might be, I knew that three Warbirds were definitely a good match for it.

I steadied myself as more weapons hit. It was obvious that the shields were still holding, but I couldn't tell for how long. Making my way across the quarters, I opened the large consol that Will often used.

"Show me the shield status."

"That information is classified."

"Damnit!" I cursed. Of course, all information that I wanted, or that would tell me anything about the battle, would be classified. I briefly considered changing and making my way to the bridge, but dismissed the idea. The Captain and crew had enough to worry about without having an alien intruder on the bridge. Besides, I wouldn't be able to do anything to help.

For the next ten minutes, there was nothing I could do but stand and wait. For the first time in a long while, I was entirely helpless, and I hated it. I'd sworn that it would never happen again, and yet here I was.

I jumped, my gaze drawn to the outside window. Now, I could only see was one Romulan ship. Where the other had been was nothing but a ball of fire and flying debris. Before I had time to celebrate the Enterprise's small victory, my quarters were rocked by an explosion of their own.

The force of the explosion, or whatever it was, knocked me to the ground. In the seconds that I lay recovering, I heard the world collapse around me. It sounded like the entire Enterprise was ripping apart, and it seemed to never end. Finally, though, relative silence fell again and the rending sounds were replaced by the quiet groaning of the injured ship.

I took several deep breaths and slowly pushed myself to my feet. As I did so, I knocked something off of me. I looked down at it, and saw that it was part of the ceiling. All around me, pieces of debris littered the room. The wall between myself and the adjoining compartments was blown out, as was the wall by the hallway.

The ceiling groaned, as if a warning as to how precarious it was. Indeed, it looked like it was going to collapse any second. I gave myself a few seconds to recover, and then began to pick my way through the rubble. I had to get myself to a more stable area. I considered shifting, but decided against it. If I were to shift into something that would make it easier to travel, such as a bird, I would only be more likely to be injured if I were hit by the falling debris. There were circumstances when size was actually an advantage.

I soon made it to the door, which had been destroyed by the blast. I didn't know exactly what had caused the destruction, but I had a pretty good idea. The Romulans must have launched a photon torpedo after the Enterprise's shields were weakened or even destroyed. I didn't where, exactly, the torpedo had hit, but I knew I was lucky that I hadn't been blown out into space.

Once I made it to the hallway, I looked up and down it. The hallway the littered with debris, but its structure was still standing. As I started down it, with no clear objective in mind, I saw someone coming out of the adjoining quarters. It was a human man, and the left side of his face was smeared with blood. He was limping.

As I came up to him, his foot snagged on a pile of twisted metals. He teetered, and started to fall. I caught him just before he hit the ground, and quickly helped him lean against the wall.

"Are you alright?" I asked, starting to wipe some of the blood from his face. He had two long gashes along his left cheekbone, but it didn't look terribly serious. No bone was showing. He jerked away as I touched him.

"My leg," he muttered.

Bending down, I inspected his left. The lower part was bent out at an unnatural angle.

"I think it's broken," I told him. He closed his eyes

"Oh my god," he said. "I'm going to die."

"You're going to be okay, but you need to get to Sickbay. You need to come with me."

"I can't," the man said. "I can't walk."

"Yes, you can," I told him. "You were doing okay a minute ago." I raised his arm, and draped it around my shoulder. "I'll help you."

I half dragged him forward, but as he took the first step, he crumpled in pain.

"I can't make it," he said.

"You have to. Look at me." I glanced at his collar. "Ensign! Look at me!" Saying his rank had the desired effect. He looked over at me. "You are going to make it to Sickbay, and you will be fine. I can get you out of here, but I need your help. Your ship needs you. Now come on!"

I slowly started walking again, allowing the ensign to put most of his weight on me. I could tell that every step put him in agony, but he kept going. If we ever made it out, I planned on recommending him for promotion.

While I had been talking to the ensign, the hallway had become more crowded. Survivors from different departments were coming out, and many of them were injured as well.

"Come on," I said, just a little further. I didn't know how far we would have to go, but I knew that medical personnel should be arriving soon.

All along the hallway, people were staggering along, alone or in pairs. Many of them were leaning on each other for support. Up ahead, I saw that the damage looked less severe. We must be getting out of the blast zone.

"Help! Someone help me!" The cry was coming from somewhere to my right. I stopped, turning in the direction. A little ways back along the hallway, a door was blown totally away and I thought the cry was coming from in there. "Help!"

"Why are we stopping?" my ensign asked. I looked back at him. His breath was coming fast, and he was sweating hard. Sighing, I looked over at the doorway.

"Can anyone hear me?" The pleas were getting quieter. Whatever I was going to do, I had to do it fast.

"We're taking a rest," I told the ensign. I helped him to slowly lower into a sitting position on the ground. "Wait here."

"Where are you going?!" the ensign asked, still holding onto my shoulder.

"I'm not leaving," I assured him. "I'll be right back, I promise."

"Don't leave me," he gasped. I looked back again. I could no longer hear the injured man. I looked up the hallway, and relief flooded me. Ahead were several of the blue-suited medical personal.

"Hey!" I yelled to one of them. It was a young woman. "Nurse!" She turned towards us, and then hurried in our direction.

"This man needs help," I told her. "His face is cut in two places, and I think his left leg is broken."

"I'll take care of him." She drew up one of the hovering stretchers. "Are you injured?"

"No," I said. "Just make sure he gets to Sickbay." I don't know why I said that. She knew how to do her job better than I.

Turning away, and ignoring the questions of the nurse, I hurried down the hallway. The doorway that the cries had been coming from was one of the most badly destroyed. Half of the wall was blown out, leaving nothing more than a tangled wreak of metal. I carefully began to climb over it.

"Hello?" I called carefully, as if being loud would cause the room to collapse around me. "Is there anyone in here?" I was positive that the man, whoever he was, had been in this room.

"Over here!" The cry was faint, weakened, but it was there. "Here!"

I looked around, trying to find the source of the noise. It was hard to see in the dimmed light of the quarters. Finally, though, I spied a piece of tattered cloth across the room. It belonged to the speaker.

Painstakingly slowly, I made my way across the room, climbing over and under fallen beams. Finally, I made it to the man. It didn't look good.

The man was lying flat on the group, his arms and legs splayed. His right arm was definitely broken, as was his leg. But that wasn't the worst part.

A support column from the ceiling had fallen down on top of the man. It was now laying directly across his chest, and I was willing to bet that several of his ribs were broken. The only way that he was still alive was because one end of the beam had snagged on the side of the replicator, allowing the man the few centimeters he needed to survive.

The man looked up at me, his eyes unfocused.

"Help me," he mumbled. He coughed feebly, and a small amount of blood came up. I knelt down beside the man.

"I'm here to help you. I'll get you out of here alive," I promised him. How I would keep that promise, I had no idea. I wiped some of the blood off the man's mouth with my sleeve, and assessed the situation. The only way to get the man out was to lift the beam, and that would be impossible by myself.

I stood, looking out across the quarters.

"Can someone help me?!" I yelled loudly. But my shouts were drowned out by the commotion from the hallway. More doctors and nurses had arrived, and were escorting the wounded to Sickbay. I considered going out to get help, but realized that it wouldn't work. By the time I navigated my way out and came back, the man would already be dead. Whatever I was going to do, I had to do it alone. And quickly.

I looked back down at the injured man. I couldn't lift the beam myself, unless… I froze. It would work, I knew it would. Sandorians were weak when compared to other creatures in the galaxy. Another creature could easily lift the beam.

But it wasn't worth it. It wasn't worth exposing myself for him. Was it? I looked down at the man. His eyes were closed, and I could no longer hear him breathing. I hurriedly knelt down, and ran my hand over his forehead.

"Hey. Hey!" I shouted at him. He slowly opened his eyes. "Stay with me, here!"

"I can't breath," the man mumbled.

"I know. I'm going to get you out of here, though. Okay? Just hold on for a few more minutes, and I'll get you out. Can you do that?"

He nodded.

There was really only one thing that I could do.

"I need you to listen to me," I said. "I can't explain everything right now, but something very strange is about to happen. I promise, you'll be safe. I just need you to stay perfectly still, and not move. Can you do that?" The man nodded again. I was losing him.

Standing up, I thought for a second. Klingons were strong, but not enough. I didn't have long, and I couldn't risk dropping the beam. Aldebaran primate it was.

I quickly got in position beside the beam, and then shifted. I could hear the man's exclamations of surprise, but ignored them. I had to focus.

Putting my arms beneath the beam, I pulled up on it. It was heavy, but I was strong. Slowly, ever so slowly, the beam began to budge. I pulled harder, feeling my muscles strain as I pushed myself to the limit. And then, the beam was free. I pushed it back, making sure it was well beyond the man's head before dropping it. It crashed onto the ground as I shifted, collapsing beside it and panting. After a few seconds, I crawled over to the man.

"Hey," I said, shaking his shoulder. "You still with me?"

"Get...away...from me," he murmured. His eyes were closed again.

I released his shoulder. Then, I slowly rose. I would go get medical help for the man, and then leave.

That's when I realized that there were people watching me.

There was a small crowd of people watching me. Survivors and medical were standing in the hallway, no doubt drawn by my shifting. I carefully made my way towards the hallway, making sure not to disturb any of the wreckage. Some of my audience drew back as I approached them.

"That man's going to die unless he gets medical attention," I told them. Two nurses grabbed a stretcher and started over to the injured man. When they got him to Sickbay they could perform surgery and he would be fine.

These people knew I didn't belong here; there certainly wasn't a shapeshifter in the crew manifest. I sighed, and sat down on a twisted hunk of metal. I was sure that someone had already called security, so there wasn't anything to do but wait.

Within a few minutes, I saw some of the yellow-shirted security coming toward me. I stood up, waiting for them. The crowd that had been around me had dispersed, with some going off to Sickbay and others helping with the cleaning effort.

As the security approached me, I recognized Lieutenant Worf. He was followed by three other officers. Apparently, I was considered a threat. They already had their phasers drawn.

"You will come with us!" Worf ordered.

"Okay," I answered.

Two of the security officers moved behind me while Worf and the other stayed ahead.

"Are you injured?" Worf asked.

I looked down at myself. My sleeve and side was covered in blood. It had come from two different people, but neither of them was me.

"No," I answered. "It's not mine."

"We are escorting you to Sickbay," Worf said.

"Alright," I said, nodding.

I followed the two officers through the hallways. Not far from where I had been, the destruction was not as great. The blast must have come very near Will's quarters, as that was where it had been worst.

My stomach knotted up as I thought of Will. I didn't know if he had been injured, or if he was even still alive. No, I wouldn't allow myself to think of that. The torpedo had hit on Deck 8, so the Bridge was probably unaffected. It had to be.

Worf led me us to a operating turbolift, and I accompanied them inside.

"Sickbay," Worf ordered.

Inside Sickbay, it was chaotic. The injured were coming in at a steady pace, and the beds were nearly filled. I could see that only the most injured were brought here, as minor injuries could be mended in the field, but it was still crowded. Worf led me to an empty bed. Soon, I was joined by a nurse.

"Where is Doctor Crusher?" Worf demanded. I wasn't sure if he was trying to be rude, or if that was just the way he normally sounded. I suspected the later.

"She's performing surgery," the nurse explained. "I can attend to her."

Worf shook his head. "We need Dr. Crusher's medical ability."

The nurse nodded, closing the tricorder that she had opened.

"I'll let her know." She disappeared across the room.

We waited in silence for a while, watching the injured stream in. It was slowing down, as most of them had already come in. I was sure that rescue operations were underway for those who couldn't make it out on their own. Like the man who I had seen. I hadn't seen him come in, although he probably had come in before me. I also wondered about my Ensign. He was probably alright, at least he wouldn't die as he had feared, but I hoped that his leg was able to be healed without any permanent damage. I had faith in the doctors on this ship.

A while later, Doctor Crusher came over to my bed.

"Worf?" she asked. She was obviously asking who I was.

"She is an intruder we discovered on Deck 8," Worf said. "The Captain wishes you to treat her and then we are to escort her to the brig."

"I see," Crusher said. She drew out her tricorder, and then looked at the security officers. "You can stand over there," she said, pointing at the door.

"My orders are to stay with her."

"You can watch her from over there," Crusher said. Worf and the others retreated. However much power Worf might have over the other parts of the ship, Crusher was obviously in charge here in Sickbay. "Thank you," Crusher said. "I'm Beverly Crusher."

"Tasha."

She returned to her tricorder, and began to scan me. A frown came over her face.

"I don't recognize your physiology. Your species isn't on record."

"I'm a Sandorian," I supplied. I knew that Sandor had had little contact with the Federation, so it wasn't surprising that they didn't have medical scans of us. Come to think of it, I wasn't sure if my physiology was even similar to regular Sandorians.

"That explains it," Crusher said. "Lie down, I need to take a full body scan."

I did as she ordered, and she started to scan me. As she did so, her frown became more pronounced.

"What's wrong?" I asked. I doubted that there was anything wrong with me, but I couldn't be sure. I had never actually been medically scanned before.

"This can't be right," Crusher muttered, more to herself than to me. She tapped several buttons on the tricorder, and then frowned down at me. "Your molecules are giving off a faint radiation," she said. "It's like they're…in a state of constant flux."

I'd never heard it described like that. Actually, I'd never heard anyone talk about shapeshifting. It was the greatest taboo on my planet.

"I think I can explain that," I told Crusher. She looked down at me. "I'm a shapeshifter."

"A shapeshifter," Crusher repeated. She looked at her readings again. "That would explain it. But there are no records of Sandorians being shapeshifters. All of our information says that they are physically very similar to humans."

I couldn't believe that I was explaining this to her; I'd never explained it to anyone. In fact, I'd tried to hide this information for the entirety of my life. Not that it mattered now. "Most of us are. But there are exceptions."

"Fascinating," Crusher said. She finished her scan. "You can sit up now." I did so. "You aren't injured except for a few scratches," she told me. "I can take care of those now. " She pulled out another instrument, and ran it over my forehead. I hadn't even noticed that I was injured.

Just as she finished, Crusher looked up; I followed her line of vision until I saw what she was looking at. I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw Captain Picard and Will walking in the door and over towards us, followed by Worf. He was alright. I relaxed.

"Doctor, did you finish your examination?" Picard asked.

"Yes, I've just completed it," Crusher answered, setting her instruments aside on a tray. "She's fine."

"Good." He turned to me. "I'm Captain Jean-Luc Picard," he said.

"I know. I'm Tasha."

"Some of my crew tells me that you're a shapeshifter. Is that true?"

"Yes, sir, it is. I'm a Sandorian."

Picard glanced at Crusher, who shrugged.

"We don't have anyone of her species on file, so I have no way of knowing. Sandorians are known for being very secretive. Not much is known about them."

"I'm not lying," I told Picard. "Some Sandorians, not many but a few, have the ability to shapeshift."

"And you've been using this ability to hide aboard my ship. How long have you been on board?"

"I stowed aboard at Starbase 47," I said to Picard. "I wanted transportation to Starbase 32."

"Starbase 47?" Picard asked. "That was almost a week ago."

"Yes, sir. I've been hiding out ever since."

"Hiding out where? Our sensors didn't detect you."

I sighed. I was going to tell him the truth, but I didn't know what to say about Will. I glanced over at him quickly. He nodded imperceptibly. I paused for a moment.

"In Riker's quarters."

Picard turned to Riker, incredulity on his face. "Number One?"

"He thought I was a cat," I said quickly. There was no reason for Will to get in any more trouble because of me. If he wanted to tell Picard, that was up to him. I wouldn't. "I thought that Riker's quarters were a storage room, and by the time I realized they weren't he'd already come in. I pretended to be a cat so no one would notice me."

"You were the cat?" Crusher asked.

I nodded. "It was safer," I said. I didn't mention how much safer it would have been to have simply disappeared that first night. But I didn't regret it, either. I couldn't make myself.

"And for the past week, everyone thought you were a cat?" Picard asked. I could tell that he thought the entire idea was preposterous, and I myself had to admit that it was pretty out there.

"Yes, sir," I lied. If Will wanted to contradict me, he could.

"No, sir, that's not entirely true."

The four of us turned to Will.

"Will?" Crusher asked. I gave him a lopsided smile. I didn't blame him for not lying to his Captain. It would have been easier if he hadn't told the truth, but I admired him for doing it.

"Captain, I knew about Tasha's real identity."

"You knew?" Picard asked in disbelief.

"Yes, sir. I learned about it two days ago."

"Wait, you knew that she was a shapeshifter?" Crusher asked. "And that she wasn't a cat?"

"Yes."

There was silence for a minute.

"Why didn't you report this, Commander?"

I had to say something. "I asked him not to tell anyone," I said. I knew that whatever I said would be pointless, but I had to try.

"Tasha." Will shook his head. Picard's gaze went from Will to me, and then to Will again. "I didn't feel that Tasha posed a security risk, sir," Will continued.

"That wasn't your decision to make, Commander!" Picard said.

"I know, sir. I'm sorry."

"Mr. Worf, please escort Tasha to the brig. We'll deal with her later."

Worf started to lead me away, but I stopped. There was something I needed to know first.

"Doctor," I said. "There was a man who was injured in the blast. A beam fell on him, and I think his ribs were crushed. He should have come in a little before I did. Do you know if he's alright?"

Crusher nodded. "I finished operating on him just after you came in. Five of his ribs were cracked and his lungs were punctured, but he's going to be fine."

I sighed in relief. "Good," I said. "Thanks."

I turned to follow Worf.

"You saved his life."

I didn't answer the Doctor, but followed Worf and the security officers out of the room.

When we made it to the brig, I stepped inside and Worf activated the forcefield.

"Lieutenant?" I asked as he turned to go.

"What?" Everything he said made him sound angry.

"What's happening with the Romulans?" Ever since the initial blast, I hadn't felt any other weapons fire. Either the Romulans had been destroyed, or there was some sort of cease fire. Both options seemed unlikely.

"I cannot tell you," Worf said. He turned to go.

"Please," I said. He stopped, obviously annoyed. I shrugged. "I'd like to know if I'm going to die soon."

"The Romulans have disabled our ship, and are demanding our surrender within two hours," Worf said. He left, leaving me with my own thoughts. We might be dead within two hours.

I walked to the back of the brig, and sank onto the bed. It was hard, and uncomfortable, but I didn't expect to be doing much sleeping.

I looked around me. The brig was relatively empty. There was a sink on the right side and toilet next to it, but besides that it was bare. One wall was made up of a shimmering forcefield.

I looked down at myself. I was still covered in dust and blood. I quickly shifted into different clothing, but I couldn't shift away the blood. Walking to the sink, I washed off my hands and then my arms. I watched as the red-tinted water swirled down the drain.

I was 16, and had just tried to kill myself for the first time. It hadn't worked, and I was sitting in the bathroom, watching my blood slowly flow down the drain. It swirled away, running down the drain and out of sight into the pipes below. I let the water continue to run over me long after the blood had washed away.

I looked at my wrists. The two red lines were bright against my pale skin. The doctors had stopped the bleeding and made sure the wounds wouldn't reopen, but they had left me to clean up, and to deal with the consequences.

I sank to the ground beside the sink, resting my head against my knees. I had heard that most people who attempted suicides regretted after they had failed, but I was only regretting that I had failed. Death would be better than being here.

I had been living at the government facility for three years, ever since I had come here from my home. For three years, I had spent my time sitting in my small room, my long days interspersed by visits from governmental "counselors." These "counselors" were supposed to make our lives here better, and our transitions easier, but I knew that they were there to contain us and find ways to better control us.

The door opened, and one of the guards came in.

"The Senior Facilitator wishes to see you," he said.

My body froze, but I forced myself to my feet. The guard held the door open for me and I exited into the hallway. We made our way down the hallway, passing identical doors on the right and left. At the end of the hallway was the quarters and office of the Senior Facilitator.

I had never met the Senior Facilitator before. There was one assigned to every block of "residents," and it was his job to make sure everything ran smoothly. This included everything from organizing the outdoor recreational time allotted to every resident to punishing those who disrupted the orderly life at the Facility. Apparently, I was now one of those disrupters.

We arrived at the door, which the guard opened and then stood aside. I stepped into the office.

The room was sparsely furnished, but every item was obviously expensive. An intricate rug lay on the floor, which was made of what looked like wood. I'd never seen a wood floor before, although I knew that they used to be common. Indeed, everything in the room seemed rustic and old-fashioned.

The Facilitator sat behind a desk at the far end of the room. He was middle-aged, but his hair was already streaked with gray. His eyes were hard.

"Have a seat," he said, gesturing to a small chair. I cautiously made my way across the room and sat down.

"I assume you know why you're here," he said.

I nodded. He leaned forward.

"At this facility, we do our best to make you comfortable. It upsets me that you would attempt something like this."

When I had first come here, I had believed this. I had swallowed everything that they had told me. But not anymore. I knew why we were here, and it wasn't for our own protection.

"It is important that we keep the moral of our population up. When one of you tries this, it upsets everyone. You see that, don't you?"

I nodded. I could see that. If someone tried to commit suicide, it might inspire the others to do the same. Then where would the government be, if they had mass suicides in one of their "protection" facilities? What if everyone saw that they weren't quite the happy places that they were made out to be?

The Facilitator sighed. "Why did you do it?" he asked. I looked up at him for the first time since I had come in. As angry as I was at everyone here, I was still frightened of this man. He had more power over me than any of the other guards, counselors, or junior facilitators.

"I don't want to be here any more," I told him. It was the truth. Death was better than this. I was tried of this place. Tired of the constant "counseling" sessions where they attempted to convince us that we were dangerous, to ourselves as well as others, and that we were here for our own safety. That we could never shapeshift, because to do so would be the greatest kind of crime. I was sick of the white walls and tiny rooms, of the constantly stuffy air because of the lack of windows, and of the prevalent feeling of prison.

"It is obvious to me that you are mentally unstable," the Facilitator said. "You are dangerous to yourself and to everyone else here. As you can see, I have no choice but to isolate you from the rest of our population here." He pressed a button on his desk and the guard appeared at the doorway. "This is an order for you to be placed in solitary," he said, holding up a piece of paper. He handed this to the guard. "Take her to level 3, section 21, and give this to the senior facilitator there."

I stood, and the guard led me out.

My new room was even smaller than my previous, and I was in one of the only occupied rooms in the hallway. I had learned what solitary meant. No outdoor privileges, no contact with other residents, and basic rations. More counselors.

As I sat down on the hard bed, I swore something to myself. I was going to escape from this place. I didn't care how long it took and I didn't know how I was going to do it, but I was going get out. I was going to get out of this place and off of this planet.

I sat on the bed, looking out at the shimmering forcefield. My circumstances now were far different than they had been then, but they were similar enough to draw back the memories.

The door to the brigs opened. I looked up as I heard someone walking toward my cell.

"Hey," I said, standing up.

"How are you?" Will asked.

"I'm fine," I answered. But it didn't matter how I was doing just then. "Are you okay? How's the ship?" I crossed the cell in a few steps and stood on the other side of the shimmering barrier.

Will sighed. "We've taken heavy damage. The torpedo that hit Deck 8 was one of three that made it through our shields."

I exhaled. Without shields, three torpedoes could severely cripple a ship even as grand as the Enterprise.

"Worf said that the Romulans were demanding a surrender, and that they gave us two hours," I said.

"Yeah. Geordi's working on getting the shields up, but right now we're running on minimal power. We don't even have warp engines online."

"How did this happen?" I asked. I couldn't imagine the Enterprise being trapped in a situation like this.

"The Romulans ambushed us. We were talking with the Warbird when another one appeared and attacked us. It'd been hiding in the gravitational field of a Red Giant."

I sighed, leaning up against the edge of the brig wall.

"They're rogue Warbirds," Will continued. "They're not associated with the Romulan government, which means that they probably won't want to negotiate any more if we refuse to surrender."

"And that they're more likely to destroy us."

Will nodded. "I'm sorry that you're in here," he said. "The Captain wouldn't leave you in here normally, but with the Romulans…"

"You don't have to apologize for anything, Will. I'm the one who got us into this. God." I shook my head, rubbing my forehead. "I can't believe I'm doing this to you. I can't believe I made you lie to your Captain. This is my fault."

"Tasha, this is not your fault. You didn't make me do anything. It was my decision."

"I still put you in this position. Whatever Captain Picard decides to do about you hiding me, it will be my fault."

"Tasha." Will took a step toward me, as if he wanted to step through the forcefield. "Damnit!" He sighed again, trying to calm down. "We can talk about this later," he said.

I nodded. "If there is a later. What are our chances of getting away?"

"Right now our best chance is getting the warp core online," Will said. "That will give power to the shields and warp. We couldn't fight, not with this much damage, but we could run. There's a Federation envoy a few light-years from here that we could join. But there's no reason that the Romulans wouldn't be able to follow us." He frowned. "If we had a way to disable their engines, we'd have a lot better chance. But that's impossible."

I nodded. It made sense. Even if the crew got their warp core online and functioning, the Romulans would be able to catch up and destroy us. The only way to prevent that was the disable the Romulans' warp drive. And that was impossible in our current, weapons-depleted state.

"No, it's not. I could do it."

"Do what?"

"I could disable their engines." I knew that Warbirds didn't use warp cores, but instead artificial quantum singularity. I didn't know much about them, though, nor if they could be shut down. There had to be a way, though.

"What?"

"Think about it, Will. I'm a shapeshifter. If I could get onto their ship somehow, I could disable their engines and maybe even their weapon systems."

"No."

"Will-"

"No. It's too dangerous. There's no way we're letting you go over there alone."

"What other option do you have?"

"We're not debating this. It's my responsibility to keep this crew safe, and that includes you."

I sighed. I could do this, I knew it. There were a lot of details to work out, yes, but it could work.

"Will, this can work. Just listen to me, please?"

He sighed and I knew he didn't like it, but he nodded anyway.

"What we need is to be able to get away from the Romulans. If I get onboard their ship and disable their engine core, they would lose power. That would give us the chance to get away."

Throughout my explanation, I could see Will getting more and more upset. He waited until I was finished, though, to voice his opinion.

"There's no way we're sending someone, especially you, alone onto a Romulan ship!"

"Just tell Picard about it, okay?" He wasn't going to, I could tell. "Please, Will. I wouldn't suggest it if I didn't think I could do it. You said yourself, it's unlikely that we'll be able to get our warp core online in enough time. I could get us that time."

Will didn't answer.

"Will, if I have even the slightest chance of saving the 2000 lives on this ship, I have to try."

"I'll think about it. I have to go," Will turned and left. I watched him walk out as the doors closed behind him. I returned to my bed, thinking. It was a crazy plan, but I could do it. I had to do it. The hardest part would be getting on board the Romulan ship.

I sank back. Right now, there was nothing to do but wait, and hoped that Will had enough sense to tell my plan to the Captain.