She heard the shouts getting closer. She knew she should have waited for Apollo to come get her. Anna had awakened, and left the safety of the bin. It wasn't long after she wandered out of the alley looking for Apollo that they spotted her. She tried to duck back in the shadows, but it was too late. She heard the sound of running footsteps, distant, but getting nearer far too quickly for her liking. So she went back into the alley, where she knew she had seen an alternate opening, and ran out the other side. A replay of events was quickly taking form in her mind, when she was running from them before Apollo even showed up. Then Piotr was there again, running with her. She heard her cries in her head, calling for him to run faster. The sound of the phaser blast, the light from his vaporization... it all came back to her so suddenly. She began to panic... it was all she could do to keep from screaming.
She was running past a pond that not more than a few hours ago, she and Apollo were walking by, taking in the sights. Suddenly she tripped, rolling once, twice. Anna got up, but one of the guards was almost upon her. She started to run again, and heard him trying to call his compatriots over. "Guys! She's over hhuuurrrkt..."
Anna stopped, wondering what that sound was supposed to be. She turned around and saw the guard lying on the ground clutching his throat. Then she saw the arm thrust out from behind the corner of the building, and Apollo stepped out into the open. "I saw you running... heard the shouts." He quickly grabbed the guard by the front of his uniform and hauled him into the shadows behind the building. Anna quickly followed. "Where were you?" he asked her. "I went back for you, and you were gone."
"I... I woke up, left my hiding place, but you weren't around. No sooner did I start looking for you then some of them spotted me."
Apollo nodded. "Well, now we're going to get a few answers." With a thought, his aura flared as it returned to his normal self... his eyes lit up the shadows. Anna looked around nervously, but Apollo said, "I had to do this. It'll give me the edge I need." Looking directly into the guards eyes, he said, softly but firmly, "You're going to tell me what I want to know."
He placed his hand on the guard's face, placing his fingers in certain spots. Normally he wouldn't be so intrusive, but he was getting frustrated with all this running. "Let's take a ride, shall we?" he whispered, grinning evilly.
It was silent for a moment. Then the guard started to scream.
~ * ~
They were running again, but this time toward the Spaceport. "What did you do to him?" Anna asked Apollo.
He shrugged. "Nothing permanent. I simply made him helplessly face his worst nightmare. When he's found, they'll probably want to take him off the duty roster for a few days for a psychiatric evaluation."
She stared at him, then shuddered. Before they knew it, they were at the Spaceport. Surprisingly enough, the runabout and skimmer were exactly where he had left them. He took Anna to the runabout and after opening the door, he gripped her by the shoulders. "Listen to me. I want you to go in there and hide. In the storage compartment, in a crawlspace, whatever. Just wait for me. I have to go get Circe, but I'll be back soon. Got that?" She nodded. As soon as she went inside, he shut the door and locked it with an encryption code. Then he set off after Circe.
A lone guard was seated at a desk in the main lobby. A bank of monitors sat before him. Apollo knew about them... he stood in a blind spot, staring at the banks of instruments lining the walls. When he was positive of what to do, he rose straight up, then flew as close to the ceiling as he could. By his calculations, he should have passed the section undetected. He then opened his hand revealing insignia pips he had taken off the guard he frightened half to death. With a well-placed toss, he sent the pips rattling down the corridor in the opposite direction. "Hello?" the guard said. Picking up his phaser and a palm beacon, he went down the corridor in search of the source of the sound. Something reflected off the light. Bending down to pick it up, the guard examined a gold pip from a rank insignia. He had just enough time to wonder where it came from, before Apollo, who glided up behind him just an inch off the ground, rendered him unconscious by applying pressure to the nerve bundle at the juncture of the neck and the shoulder. He carried the guard back to the desk and stuffed him underneath.
Inputting a couple of commands, Apollo found where they were keeping Circe. This would be no small task... except he was surprised when she wasn't in their brig. Instead, she was in a set of guest quarters... under guard, but at least she was comfortable. Getting through those guards would be tricky if he didn't want them to raise an alarm. He really wished he had the Highlander at his disposal now.
After much thought, it seemed that a frontal assault was exactly what he'd need to do. But he'd need a diversion. An idea in mind, Apollo headed back toward the hangar.
~ * ~
Phense was sucking on his hand. He was doing that to try and relieve the pain that the prisoner caused it when she bit a nicely sized chunk out of it. But he considered himself lucky. One of the guards would be in the infirmary for a week. He never realized that the human arm could be broken in so many places.
Now the Starfleet officer was in the room they set up for her, physically and mentally spent. Good thing she couldn't catch him sucking on his hand... he did that when she first caused the injury, and she smiled ever so sweetly at him, displaying the teeth that had done the deed. He glared at her and turned his back on her as the others took her into the room. Don't know why she did that... I mean cripes, I can understand kicking and punching, but biting? Sheesh.
Suddenly the alarm went off. Guards that were sleeping in their bunks close by were immediately alert and running toward the source of the commotion. The guard sharing his duty took one look at his partner... when Phense nodded to assure him he had things under control, the other guy sprinted off after the rest. "What's going on?" Phense asked of one person heading for the disruption.
"That admiral somehow got the skimmer... he's buzzing the building," she answered before pelting off after everyone else.
Phense went to a monitor and punched up an external view. Sure enough, the skimmer was weaving and bobbing through the air. He could see guards shooting at it, but more often than not, it avoided the shots... the ones that hit only glanced off. This guy's good, Phense thought.
Finally, enough people were out there shooting, and the skimmer took a solid hit. It started belching smoke, and crashed in the exact spot where it would cause the most damage... right on top of an EPS generator. The explosion lit up the sky. He smiled and entered Circe's room. Her face was clearly showing confusion. Phense couldn't resist rubbing it in. "Hehehehe... looks like you'll be looking for a new commanding officer."
Then he felt the tap on his shoulder. He knew he shouldn't turn around... he was positive he shouldn't turn around... he had seen several holovids where the person turned around and instantly regretted it. Yet something deep down inside made him turn around. He regretted it.
"Looks like she won't," Apollo said, grinning evilly, and put his lights out.
Circe smiled as he initiated the command that lowered the forcefield in front of her cell. "I forgot you would have teleported out of there before the skimmer would crash."
He stopped and thought a moment. "Oh yeah. There was that, too. Actually, I was never in the skimmer to begin with. Amazing what you can program those things to do."
As soon as he had entered the room, she went up to him and hugged him. He cleared his throat, and she suddenly remembered herself. "S-sorry, sir. I just..."
He smiled. "It's okay. Really." As they left the security ward, Circe picked up the phaser from the fallen guard and they ran through the corridor.
Somehow, they managed to reach the hangar without running into any guards. Apollo was suspicious of that, and he held Circe up before they entered the hangar. She was about to ask him why when she noticed his instincts were once again right on the money. There were guards poring over the runabout. She also noticed no one was going in the runabout. "You locked the door." It wasn't a question, but a statement.
He nodded. "But they're using tricorders. They'll find Anna in there, and nothing as simple as a locked door will keep them out." He watched the men for a minute, certain that at any minute they would discover her lifesign, but there were no reactions to that effect. "Strange..."
"What?" Circe asked, puzzled.
But Apollo didn't answer her question. Instead, he said, "I'll distract them, you get to the runabout. As soon as you're there, I'll open up the door for you." He didn't wait for her to acknowledge. He stepped into the hangar and immediately flew up at a right angle to the door. As soon as he deemed himself in the right position, he fired on them with his eye beams. He managed to stun a couple of them before they scrambled around to the far side of the runabout for cover and began firing on him. As they concentrated on him, they didn't notice Circe rush over to the door on her side. She looked up and nodded, hoping Apollo saw her.
He did. Tapping his commbadge, he said, "Racer to runabout computer. Open entry, access code Racer Echo 29647238429647210."
The entry door obediently opened, and Circe darted through. It took a moment for the guards to realize what happened, and by the time they did and could react, Apollo swooped down and flew in the door. Once inside, he closed an locked it. Circe had already started up the engines. Soon the runabout was spinning around, facing the guards... and a closed door.
"Make us a doorway, Commander," ordered Apollo.
"With pleasure," Circe replied, grinning. She brought the weapons online and shot the door. It disintegrated, sending sparks and debris flying everywhere. The guards scattered, trying to find cover. Once the way was clear, Circe kicked in the engines, and the runabout shot through the opening and immediately climbed toward space.
Apollo walked towards the rear of the runabout. "Anna?" he called out. "Anna? Are you here?"
A hatch opened in the floor in front of the small transporter, and Anna wriggled herself out, smiling. "We did it!" she said gleefully.
"Yes, we did," replied Apollo. He returned to the pilot's compartment and sat down to the right of Circe. Anna took the seat behind him. They shot out of orbit and headed away from Centaurus.
"Heading, Admiral?" Circe asked.
He studied his readouts in front of him. "Find the Highlander. I wish to be on home turf for the next phase of this."
Circe looked puzzled. "Next phase?" Anna looked equally puzzled.
">Apollo took a deep breath and let it out. Then he got up and paced a bit, collecting his thoughts. Then he sat back down, staring at the viewscreen. Finally he swiveled his seat to face both of them. "Have either of you... in your experiences or studies... ever heard of a group called Section 31?"
"Odd name," Circe said. "No, I can't say that I have." Anna merely wore a puzzled expression.
He nodded. "I plucked it from the mind of the guard that I... well, that's a long story. At any rate, Section 31 is this covert group he works for. I couldn't get much more than that... his mind was disciplined pretty well. It was only when his system went into an advanced state of shock that I could get anything at all out of him, and that's all I got."
"What in the Nine Hells do you do to this guard?" Circe asked.
"He gave the man a tour of his worst nightmare," Anna said, repeating what she remembered him telling her.
Apollo shrugged and left it at that. "Whoever this group is, they believe themselves powerful enough to take on a Starfleet admiral, and the Head of Intelligence, at that. And win."
"Ryan was working for them," Circe stated.
Apollo nodded. "And I get the feeling he's not the only one collaborating with them. In fact, some of what I was able to glean reminded me of an intelligence agency I used to study, a very long time ago..."
A beep on the console interrupted him, and Circe answered it. "I found the Highlander, Admiral. Shall I hail them?"
He was about to say yes, then stopped. "Not yet. Wait until they hail us." Circe didn't understand, but she complied.
It wasn't until they were within visual range of the ship that they received a hail. "USS Highlander to unidentified runabout, please respond."
"Highlander, this is Admiral Racer and party, requesting permission to dock in the shuttle bay," Circe replied.
There was silence for a moment. Apollo's senses were going off, but he couldn't afford to follow them at the moment. Then the shuttle bay doors began parting to admit them. "You are cleared to land. As soon as you are aboard, Admiral, you're requested on the bridge."
"Understood, Highlander.," he replied. "Racer out." As soon as their ship made a graceful touchdown in the hangar bay, Apollo opened the door and strode out. "Commander, bring Anna with you and head for the bridge right away."
"Aye sir," she said, though she wasn't sure why he said that. He knew she was going to follow him, and that Anna would most likely tag along.
As soon as Apollo reached the bridge, he started to say, "Contact Starfleet Command. Let them know of..." He stopped halfway to his chair. No one was moving. Sam looked at him with a mixture of sorrow and helplessness. Apollo instantly knew something was wrong. He sent a questioning thought to Sam.
:I'm... I'm sorry, Apollo.: she thought to him. While he pondered that, she said, "I'm very sorry, Admiral. I'm afraid I'll have to relieve you of command. You'll need to be confined to quarters, pending..."
He helds up his hands, cutting her off. "Whoa. Waitaminute. Relieving me off duty? Where did this come from? On whose authority? Sam, there's..."
The door to the ready room had opened during his questions. "By my authority, Admiral."
Apollo quickly turned, and saw Admiral Nechayev standing there. "Excuse me?"
"Apollo... is it true? What she's been saying?" Sam asked.
"I'm afraid you'll have to be taken into custody," Nechayev said.
He pointed to the other admiral. "You... you're part of this. You're one of Sec..."
"You see, Captain, it's just as I had described."
Sam started to walk towards her husband. Things were going too fast... Apollo needed to think. He backed quickly toward the turbolift. By sheer luck, the doors were opening to admit Circe and Anna, but they were blocked when Apollo got in. The doors shut again.