Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek or any of the characters created therein.
First Impression, Chapter 15: Together at Last
"Oof—sorry," Kincaide tried to roll off of Taurik without much success. Vesta hauled both the doctor and the Vulcan to their feet. They had made it to the upper level of the structure despite the near-riots forming throughout the station. They stood now at the the edges of the marketplace to get away from the scrambling, pushing crowds and to survey the situation.
"Where are Bohemir and Arima?" asked Kincaide, scanning the room as best she could.
Where is Kincaide? Bohemir wondered as he listened to Pevet ramble. She should have safely purchased the lieutenants by now and started toward Bohemir and Arima's location. There was a lot of disruption on the station, though. He had been grateful for it at first but now he was changing his mind. Had his communication gone through? Could they get here?
He could still hear the muffled roar of throngs of people just below them in the markets. This seemed to make Pevet nervous: he couldn't stop talking.
"How do I know why they wanted them? Would you have asked? I think not. They're involvement here made Par'at Nor bigger than it's ever been—we pulled in more profit last year than any other trading outpost in the Beta Quadrant, legal or no. You can't argue with revenue like that!" He was talking so quickly that Bohemir could barely make him out now. Pevet had backed himself flat against the wall and was waving the phaser from one corner of the room to the next, as though assassins lurked at every turn.
"Now you think I'm going to close it down because Starfleet knows about us?" he screeched. "I have worked too long and made too many sacrifices for that!" He stopped shaking, aimed the weapon directly at Bohemir and pressed the trigger.
The shot flew wildly toward the ceiling as Pevet was knocked forward onto the floor. The door he had been leaning against burst open, revealing a very disheveled Vulcan, Andorian, and, well…
"Doctor! Commander Arima's been hurt."
Vesta sized up the situation and leapt on Pevet before he could recover himself.
"Help me get out of this damned costume," Kincaide insisted as she bent over Arima.
Forgotten in the commotion, Taurik took a moment to look over the room. A well-camouflaged control panel on one wall caught his eye and he went to examine it.
"Sir," he addressed Bohemir, who was hovering behind the doctor as she worked on Arima. "I believe this panel controls the dampening field around the station. If we can disrupt it we could communicate with the ship and beam back over."
"Can you do it?"
"It is encrypted."
"I bet I know someone who has the key." Vesta pulled a squirming Pevet to his feet.
"I won't help you! You don't know what the Romulans would do to me!"
"No," Bohemir picked up the phaser from the floor. "But I do know what Starfleet will do to you if one of their officers dies at your hands."
Taurik stepped aside to give him room, and as he did so his sensitive Vulcan hearing picked up something else. He turned and peered through a doorway into the darkness beyond. There seemed to be cages…
Meanwhile, the fire in the Orion seemed to go out. Vesta pushed him toward the panel and he began to work.
Jack had been working on the panel for several minutes and had so far succeeded only in burning two of his fingers as the circuits fizzed with energy.
"Can you fix it?" Una asked.
He didn't answer. "Hand me that spanner."
She did as she was asked. He took the spanner and looked up at her, as though struggling with something internally. She was standing very close to him, very, very close…
Una stared back at him, willing him to talk to her, tell her what was on his mind. Or better yet, to not talk…
Garat's voice sounded over the comm. system. "We need that generator!" he barked.
The moment broke.
"I'm working on it, I'm working on it." For someone under a lot of pressure, Jack was certainly keeping a cool head. Una watched him work and the feeling she had on the station grew in the back of her mind—not the attraction, the other feeling…that something about this guy didn't add up. His presence was not entirely coincidental.
Her thoughts were cut short as Jack straightened from the panel. "Try it now," he told Garat, and waited.
"Good! The generator is working. None too soon—we are back at the station, and we are not alone. Starfleet is here."
Jack and Una raced one another back to the bridge. When they arrived they were greeted with the site of the U.S.S. Temura staunchly treading space beside Par'at Nor…along with two Romulan Warbirds. The Orion vessel that had been pursuing Garat's ship broke off and flanked one of the Warbirds.
"Poor Starfleet," Garat commented.
Things had finally come to a head, and Una made a decision. "We have to help them," she told Garat and Jack.
She was shocked when Garat smiled and answered, "Don't worry, Lieutenant, we will. Decloak beside the Temura!"
"Captain," Japel called, "a Klingon ship is decloaking beside us! They're hailing us."
Before Sovak could respond the tactical station beeped again. "We're also being hailed from the station! It's the Commander."
"Report," ordered Sovak.
Commander Bohemir's voice filled the bridge. "Captain, it's good to hear your voice. We've got a lot of things cleared up here on the station but we have no idea what's going on out there."
Una had no idea what was going on now. "You called my name when we were fighting the Orions, even though I never told you," she accused Jack. "How are you involved in this?"
"We're on the same side," Jack began.
She backed away.
"Perhaps you could discuss this another time?" Garat snapped at them as the Temura's bridge came into focus on the viewer.
"Captain Sovak!"
"Lt. Magis. I see you made it off the station. What is your current status?" Sovak sounded for all the world like he was inquiring after her mother's health or some other mundane subject.
"I'm fine, Captain."
"Captain Sovak, I believe we are working on the same problem," Garat interrupted.
Sovak turned his attention to the muscular Klingon. "Oh?"
Garat nodded. "I have been investigating a series of kidnappings and disappearances over the last year in Klingon space. I was informed that you were doing the same for Starfleet. I am here to offer you assistance."
"Who informed you of this?" Sovak asked.
Una shot a look at Jack, who had opened his mouth to speak.
"That is not important," Garat continued. "I assume that you have come to the same conclusions that we have—the Romulans are behind these kidnappings."
"Yes," announced a voice to the left of the Vulcan. Bohemir strode into view, still dressed in his Denobulan garb. "What we're not clear on is why."
"Commander!" Una called. "Is everyone alright?"
Bohemir nodded. "We're all back on board—along with the Dukin and a very unhappy Orion."
Jack laughed. "You found Pevet, eh? Who's running the station?"
"Par'at Nor is, for the moment, closed for business."
"We believe the Romulans wanted to destabilize the area of Federation space closest to Klingon space," Garat addressed the question at hand. "So it would seem," Sovak raised one eyebrow. "I suggest we pose our questions to Commander Tar and his friends."
Garat grinned again. "Agreed!"
Not surprisingly, Tar had very little to say to Sovak or Garat's accusations. Upon hearing that Par'at Nor had been under investigation for several months, he hastily announced that he would need to discuss the "egregious persecution" by the Klingons and Starfleet with his superiors.
"Think they'll be brought to justice for this?" Vesta asked Japel as they watched the Romulan ships speed off into the nebula. She had taken up her place at tactical again, much to Japel's relief.
"Who knows? But I'll bet the people you rescued from the station are just grateful to be free again. That's some sort of justice, anyway."
The Andorian nodded, reminding herself that there was one Vulcan on the ship to whom she owed an apology.