The captain's deep, even voice came across the transporter station's comm system. "Travis to Kramer. We're ready to move in on the target. Stand by."
Kramer tapped the console controls to activate the comm, and answered immediately. "Aye, sir. Standing by." Looking over the transporter controls, she went over the sequence one last time in her head. She had basic familiarity with Cardassian technology, but now would be a bad time to make a mistake.
"Mama?" came a small voice from behind her. Startled, she let out a quick scream and whirled around so fast a nerve pinched in her neck, sending darts of pain down her body.
Assessing the situation, she exhaled loudly in relief. In front of her was a small Cardassian child – a little girl, maybe six or seven years old, or least she would be if she were human.
"Mama?" the child repeated. She was extremely disheveled and covered in a grimy black soot. "I can't find my mama," she repeated again.
She's in shock, Kramer realized without even really thinking about it. Instinctively, she went over to examine the child.
"Have you seen my mama?" the child repeated pitifully.
Straining, Julie fought back a sudden surge of tears that welled up inside of her. Choking, she did not reply to the child's query, lost in a sudden barrage of her own memories.
A small child who had lost her parents….an orphan of war. Julie knew just how that felt. She had lost her parents; they had died fighting the Cardassians.
She had grown up on Earth – a galactic paradise – as a war orphan. At least she had grown up knowing peace.
Now, here stood a little Cardassian girl facing the same future – only her planet wasn't Earth, but a Cardassian hellhole under brutal Klingon occupation.
"Travis to Kramer! Energize!" From somewhere behind her, she could hear the captain urgently calling for a beam-out. The little Cardassian girl continued to stare at Julie, just standing there, unable to think of anything else to ask besides whether Julie had seen her mama.
Outside, Julie could hear the dull roar of heavy weapons fire, the harsh, guttural speech of the Klingon invaders. But she could not take her eyes off the little girl standing in front of her.
She thought, This girl is almost certainly going to be dead in the next few hours.
"Travis to Kramer! Energize!" The captain again, even more frantic than the first time.
Julie didn't want to leave. She wanted to stay, protect this young Cardassian, shield her from the emptiness of growing up alone. But her Starfleet training was screaming at her – activate the transporter! Activate the transporter! Do it now! NOW!!
Crazy schemes flashed through her head. If she took just a few extra moments, she could re-configure the transporter for five instead of four. She could take the girl with her. She could…
"T'Katha to Doctor Kramer. Doctor, now would be an excellent time to activate transporters."
The Vulcan woman's icy voice snapped her back into reality. She was out of time. The mission had to come first. Tears welling up in her eyes, she tapped the transporter console, giving the command to transport General Kalor and the three of them to the top of a remote mountain fifty kilometers west.
As the unfamiliar orange light of Cardassian transporter technology engulfed her, her eyes met the dull, confused gaze of the Cardassian child. Even as the darkness of transportation came over her, she could still see the little girl's face, haunting her mind's eye.
Fighting back tears, Julie felt new, more powerful emotions wash over her like a tidal wave, washing away all her training as a medical doctor and Starfleet officer, everything she knew about what it meant to be civilized and enlightened.
Rage. A small child, an innocent, like she once was. Facing certain death. Nothing she could do about it.
Hate. The Klingons were responsible for it all, and Kalor was responsible for the Klingons. Their invasion was brutal. They were going to kill this child.
Compassion, mercy, empathy: none of it mattered. Only one thing did.
General Kalor would die.