"… Hiten of Vayu is the modern-day incarnation of Robin of Locksley … A thief … but a thief with standards."

Hiten countered in his Oxford accent, "I prefer to think of myself as a wealth redistributor. Christopher, I jettisoned a small fortune to come save your ass. So let's get off this rock and discuss my commission."

Pike raised an eyebrow. "I believe you still owe me after that incident on Atreidia."

Hiten stroked his goatee, looking like he was carefully weighing Pike's comment. "Ah, yes. A small inconvenience."

Pike stared at him.

"I concede, a rather considerable hassle."

Pike snorted.

"It was a close call." Hiten reluctantly admitted after a few seconds.

"You were minutes from execution," Pike reminded in a stern tone of voice.

Unconsciously, Hiten's hand hovered over his throat. "Very well, we will call it even."

"I warned you about the Ateidianssss," the woman in the navy cat suit said with a slight hiss as she thumped her tail on the ground.

"Not the time or place," Hiten retorted softly to his first officer.

"Issss never time or placccce when time to admit you were wrong and I wassss right."

Sibilant voice, Maleficent. "Malie?" Pike flashed a bright smile. "How are the hatchlings?"

Hiten sighed heavily pretending annoyance which was betrayed by his beaming smile, "Singeing everything within a three-foot radius."

Tilly could keep quiet no longer. She was bouncing with excitement and near to bursting with questions. "Singeing?"

Pike nodded. "It takes eighteen months before the babies learn control."

Tilly turned to Malie, "So you really are …"

"Yes, Al-Tinninian." Mali held out her hand, mimicking the gesture she learned from Pike. "Maleficent Lucifera." She added in explanation familiar with the inevitable follow-up question, "My father was fascinated with Earth's religions and fairy tales. Sleeping Beauty is his favorite."

"And you breathe?" Tilly managed to squeak as she offered her own hand.

"Fire? Stand back." Once Tilly retreated to a safe distance, Malie puckered her lips and puffed out steam, a few sparks and then a stream of fire composed of red, yellow, and blue flame that was four inches long.

Bonnie's eye grew wide. Detmer grinned. Reno whistled. As was often the case, Tilly spoke for the group, "Frigging amazing."

Using the voices, Pike had formed a mental picture of those standing nearby, believing the Captain of the Vayu to be in front of him and Malie to be on Hiten's right. He looked straight ahead, directly at Malie as he asked, "Hiten, have you scanned the planet?" Pike paused postponing the answer to his next question. "Any debris?"

A Captain to his core, Hiten understood the intent of Pike's inquiry and replied in a quiet but serious tone, "Yes and no, Christopher. There is no evidence of ship wreckage other than a small shuttle."

Still silent, Una studied Pike. At first confused when he didn't acknowledge her presence, her alarm grew as she watched him during the unfolding conversation. His head was turned in their general direction, but never did he look at them, not even once, instead he stared just to the left or to the right of the speaker. Which felt off … disconnected and disjointed … like he was disinterested. That is out of character for him. And he said Malie's name as if it were a question … oh … OH.

"You can't see." Una blurted out.

Pike turned towards her voice and gazed at a spot to her left and just above her head. Blunt, clear, commanding. Una. "Number One. I assume you arranged our rescue?"

"Yes sir. What happened to your eyes?"

"An accident. How did you find us?" Pike asked.

"A … message from Nhan." Una answered cagily.

"When," Pike demanded earnestly, "when was that message sent?" Breathe, he reminded himself.

"Three days ago."

Pike almost exhaled. It was sent after the explosion in the atmosphere. "Discovery's status?" He asked in a clipped tone.

"Unknown," Una replied. "Her message was brief and vague by design, a simple distress call on your behalf." She added sheepishly, "It wasn't sent via normal Starfleet communication channels."

"A new protocol?" Pike queried.

He couldn't see Una's unsure but game smile. "An accurate assessment."

The right side of Pike's mouth curled upward in a slight smile. "One I am unaware of?"

"A second accurate assessment." Una said a bit louder than necessary. Hiten didn't try to hide his amusement. She shot him a withering gaze.

"I see. A topic we shall return to at a later time." Pike warned in a good-natured tone of voice.

Tilly piped up, "Still, they must have jumped away in time."

Pike turned in the direction of Tilly's voice. "We will proceed with that assumption. Commander Reno, Lieutenants Detmer and O'Malley, Ensign Tilly, this is Enterprise's XO."

Reno stood with her hands on her hips, her expression a cross between disbelief and merriment. "Let me get this straight. Our rescuers are one of Starfleet's finest, a space pirate who is Robin Hood of the Rim, and a bipedal dragon? Did you fly here in the Jolly Roger?" Then she added in a dry tone of voice, "There's never a dull moment with you, is there Captain Pike?"

"What is a Jolly Roger?" Tilly asked.

Reno shook her head and muttered, "Today's children. They never read the classics."

Hiten asserted with a twinkle in his eye, "Captain Hook was an amateur."

ooooo

Discovery

Michael entered the bridge and came to attention. "You called for me Commander?"

"I did. At ease."

Michael continued standing ramrod straight, her shoulders thrown back, and her hands remained clasped behind her back. He's going to say no, he's going to order me to stand down.

Saru rose from the command chair and faced his second in command. "Commander Stamets is stable but remains unresponsive. And I have considered your proposal. Carefully. Your willingness to proceed with what is most certainly forbidden by Starfleet directive and Federation law and with what could be injurious to you is noted and commended."

She flexed her fingers and thought, here it comes.

He fidgeted, first placing his hands on his waist, then steepling his fingers together before allowing his arms to dangle at his sides. Saru straightened. "I recognize and appreciate the hardship this decision creates for every member of this crew. At our maximum warp capacity, we are sixty-eight years, five months, and nine days from home. Yet that fact is not a compelling enough reason to abandon our principles. Nor can we permit our egos to embrace the level of hubris required to believe only Discovery can solve the mystery of the seven red signals and use that as an excuse to break the law. Commander Burnham, you are forbidden from injecting the tardigrade DNA into yourself in order to interface with the mycelia network. As you are off shift, you are excused."

Michael heard Saru order as the turbolift doors closed, "Set course for the nearest Federation outpost. Engage with best speed. Bryce, open a ship-wide channel."

Once in her quarters, Michael locked the door and retrieved from the top shelf in her closet the Vulcan puzzle box Sarek gifted to her years ago. She ran her hand over its smooth blonde wood tracing it's grain with her fingertips. The box was constructed from a rare tree variety, one that was highly prized, and which grew in the only cool green area of the planet. This box was his gift on her eighteenth birthday, a symbol celebrating her human culture's legal recognition of adulthood. She smiled, remembering Sarek reminding Amanda on that day of the illogic of age marking the threshold between child and adult rather than demonstrated maturity as in the Kahs-wan, the Vulcan rite of passage. Amanda, as was her usual custom when Sarek singled out one of the contradictions riddling human ethos, smiled in her unique way, communicating affection for and amusement with her husband, and changed the subject.

Opening it required strength and at times a gentle yet dexterous touch that few humans possessed, but with time Michael had mastered it. Today it hid and protected the tardigrade DNA she had secretly cloned. She gingerly removed it and cradled the vial and its attached hypospray in her hands.

Saru is wrong. Starfleet should not be deprived of Discovery's unique assets. We're needed. And its crew should not spend their lifetime traveling to home. They should not be separated from their friends and loved ones. Nor from their life partners. Not after the losses of the Klingon war. Not after surviving the mirror universe. Not when a solution with acceptable risks exists. Yes, it might bend the rules, almost to the breaking point, but the justifications are sound and correct. I know this. It is logical.

Michael picked up the hypospray. Raised her arm until the injector was poised over her neck. Her thumb hovered over the trigger.

I am right. I can save us.

ooooo

Spaceship Vayu

Reno whistled for the second time that day as she toured Engineering with Hiten and Una. "With a ship like this to play with and in, I'd consider donning an eye patch …" when Hiten narrowed his eyes, Reno amended, "Oh sorry, right, you're not a pirate." She tilted her head in acquiescence. "Pirate, rob from the rich to give to the poor, not sure there's a big difference but I'll humor you. I'd consider joining your band of merry men. This warp engine may be thirty years old, but they were built to last back then."

Hiten glanced at Una. "Starfleet officers are always welcome in my crew, particularly those serving under and trained by Christopher." He added with a grin, "We have similar … standards."

"You know with a few modifications; we could squeeze another .5 factor of warp out of this engine. And improve the fuel efficiency of the impulse drive." Reno continued without noticing the subtle glances exchanged between Una and Hiten.

Hiten gestured with a broad sweep of his arm. "By all means, commence playing. Jewel will work with you and supply whatever you require. She's quite talented, though young and without a conventional engineering education."

"Once Bonnie releases Tilly, I'll enlist her help as well. She has … shall we say … uniquely creative ideas." Reno replied. "I'm surprised though, that you don't have a more seasoned engineer onboard."

Hiten smiled. "Jewel is very willing and needs the work. I must check in with the bridge." He bowed slightly, "Ladies."

"He really needs a cape. And a hat to doff." Reno mused.

"Don't give him any ideas, that's exactly the type of dramatic flourish he would find amusing." Una replied in a wry tone of voice.

"I don't get it. This ship may be old, but it is meticulously maintained. And I assume is frequently called upon for hasty retreats. Why entrust it to a junior and untrained engineer?" Reno asked.

"You'll find the number one qualification for a position on board the Vayu is need. A need for work. Or a need for shelter. Or a need for a safe harbor. Like the teenage boy fleeing his abusive father that Hiten recently took on board as the chef's assistant." Una smiled fondly. "Only, the Vayu doesn't have a chef."

Reno beamed. "Oh please tell me Friar Tuck is the officer in charge of beverages."

Hiten stopped in the medical bay on his way to the bridge. He found Bonnie sitting at the bedside of a sleeping Pike. "Ms. O'Malley, do you have the required equipment and medicines? If not, I have a friend who can procure supplies."

"Please call me Bonnie, everyone does. Do you mean from a nearby hospital? Perhaps with an ophthalmologist? I'm concerned the longer his eyesight is undiagnosed and untreated, the less chance he will regain it."

"Not exactly. It's more of an … underground market."

Bonnie grinned. This is like landing in the middle of a storybook. "I see. How … sorry, I shouldn't ask."

"Go on, you will find the rules on my ship are more relaxed than on a Starfleet vessel."

She paused and considered and then allowed her curiosity free reign. "How did you and Captain Pike meet? I mean, well, it seems unlikely your paths would cross."

"An astute assessment. I assume you sedated Christopher. Otherwise he would not willingly be prone."

She glanced back at her commander, her brow furrowed, and nodded. There was concern in her soft voice. "His condition is worse than I thought, or rather than I could determine without proper medical scanners and with only touch and visual assessment. I wish Dr. Pollard were here."

Hiten placed his hand on her shoulder. "Then I shall sit this vigil with you and tell our story. I intercepted …"

"You mean robbed?" Bonnie interrupted.

"Rob is such a harsh word. And ignores the prevalent though often subtle subtexts."

"It seems pretty straightforward to me." Bonnie pointed out.

"This particular merchant, who is ruthless and exploits many children on the rim begging the question who is truly stealing from whom, was an Eton classmate of Starfleet's chief of operations. Christopher and Enterprise were pulled from another assignment and immediately dispatched to apprehend …"

"Captain to the bridge."

Hiten rose. "My apologies, another duty calls. I will return and finish our story." He added in a quiet, serious tone before leaving, "Call me at once if his condition changes."

Malie looked up from her station as Hiten entered the cramped bridge. "SSenssorss inssisst it issss an echo, but that issss wrong." She pointed to an anomaly in the picture from the aft sensor. "It'ss a sshadow."

"Analysis?"

"Too sssoon for that. Not enough data."

"Guesses then."

"You will sssay I'm paranoid."

Hiten looked heavenward. "One time, one time I mildly suggested your conclusion was slightly over the border of obsessive …"

"And I wasss right."

"Which I have admitted multiple times."

"It'ss a ssship. Trying to hide. Every hour or so it movess closse enough for detection and then a few ssecondss later fallsss back." She snorted. "Sssloppy. Their engine needs calibration."

"We will judge their maintenance routines at a future time. Work with Una. Keep an eye on it and get me an identification."