The flight to Earth would take the Enterprise twelve days at warp nine. Two days into the voyage, seated in the bar , sharing a bottle of whiskey as they talked. Saavok what to look for and had already found and disabled the monitoring device in Noire's ready room as well as the one in her own quarters although those in public places such as the bridge and the mess hall, he had left intact.

Mariner entered the mess hall and moved over to the tables, looking to see what was on offer that evening. She was hungry. She had just spent the afternoon reviewing training records with the Enterprise's security chief and making recommendations for drills and exercises. After a few moments thought, she helped herself to some pie and chaips before seating herself at the table with the senior officers of the enterprise. The lower ranks and passengers would not eat until later, so the officers had the spacious hall to themselves.

This was the life, she thought contentedly as she took a swig of her Romulan ale, it had been a long time since she had eaten - only a few more days and they would arrive, and then there would be all the protocol and meetings – long dreary meetings which would accomplish nothing. Despite the seriousness of the war, the Federation politicians were unlikely to listen to anything the Klingons or the Romulans – or for that matter, Starfleet, had to say. Not that they trusted the Romulans, but something had to be done to make the politicians listen to the people involved in the fighting or the war would be lost.

A burst of uproarious laughter interrupted Mariner's momentary introspection and she shook herself mentally, turning her attention back to the present.

Captain Noire took another mouthful of Romulan ale joined the other officers in the chorus.

They were on their third repetition when the comm. system was activated and the duty officer on the bridge reported an emergency transmission. A transport freighter identifying itself as the Sun Seeker, carrying refugees from the war was under attack by a squadron of Hur'q attack ships and was in need of assistance.

The Captain immediately gave the order to change course and increase speed to maximum. Saavok sensed the almost subliminal change in intensity of the Enterprise's warp drive as the vessel began to streak across space at enormous speed, taking them towards the endangered freighter and battle with the Hur'q.

It took the Enterprise a little over an hour at maximum warp to reach the stricken ship. Neatly inserting her ship between the Hur'q and their target, Demi ordered the gunner to begin firing and the battle commenced.

"Take over the helm, Boimler," Noire yelled, "Science officer Saavok, keep track of those ships." No-one seeing the captain now, would call her a joker – her good humour completely gone, she was deadly serious. And yet, there was a light in her eyes, that spoke of the fierce joy she felt in battle.

The Enterprise was just one ship against four Hur'q vessels and the fighting was intense. The enemy ships were small, only about the size of the excelsior class but they were fast, manoeuvrable and heavily armed. Their phased beam weapons were incredibly powerful and a match for even the most advanced shielding technology.

"Incoming fire," Rutherford called, "Diverting auxiliary power to the shields."

"Initiating evasive manoeuvres," Demi responded.

"Keep us between the freighter and the Hur'q ," Noire shouted. "Protect Sun Seeker at all costs."

In its efforts to protect the damaged freighter, the Starfleet ship was unable to manoeuvre well enough to completely avoid the enemy fire and the polaron beam caught Enterprise across the upper port side of the hull. It was only a glancing blow but it was enough to weaken the shields.

"Shields down to fifty percent," Tendi reported, frantically trying to bring them back up to full strength.

The Enterprise lurched violently as it was struck by a barrage of torpedoes from the nearest enemy ship and Mariner was thrown to the ground. As the ship steadied, she got to her feet, looking around her to survey the damage. It was severe. Sparks arose from the consoles and the acrid smell of smoke filled the air. Captain Noire lay on the deck, a jagged piece of metal protruding from her chest. Instantly Mariner was at her side, checking for a pulse, the captain wasn't dead, but she wasn't far from death. There was no time to waste.