CHAPTER 25

The image on the bridge viewscreen crackled before solidifying. A dark-haired Human male peered out from the screen at them but did not speak. His gaze rested speculatively on Hoshi sitting in the captain's chair.

Hoshi let him stare. She wasn't about to speak first, weakening her position. She would let him ask the first question. But she did let a small smile flit across her lips, giving the impression that she was relaxed and confident in her position, and enjoying being looked at.

After an eternity, the man spoke. "Captain Sato?" His voice was a pleasant baritone, and he said her name as if it were a verbal caress.

Hoshi slowly inclined her head, closing her eyes as she did so, then opening them as she raised her head.

"Forgive me for contacting you before you entered orbit," the man said calmly and without a hint of sincerity. "But when I was informed that the captain of the approaching warbird was a female, I was intrigued, especially since the name given was not a Klingon one, but of Earth ancestry."

"I am Human, if that is what you are wondering," Hoshi said in a sultry voice, consenting to speak at last. Deliberately hardening her tone, she added, "Most of my crew, however, are Klingon."

She rose from the chair and took a step closer to the screen, inspecting the man on the screen. Tall, dark hair, broad shoulders like Matthew's... She felt a growl vibrate in her chest as she stared at him. How dare he resemble Matthew, even superficially!

"I'm sorry. I haven't formally introduced myself," the man said. "I'm Shidak."

Hoshi turned her back on him and returned to her chair. Seated, she glanced at the readout on her chair's arm panel. Looking up at Shidak, she said, "We will assume orbit in 47 minutes. I expect to be met in person."

A smile that combined both anticipation and greed blossomed on Shidak's face. "Until then," he said.

Hoshi snapped a command at the communications officer and the connection was cut.

Reed, standing behind Hoshi's chair, heard her growl as she stared at the man on the screen, and could feel the anger emanating from her like waves on the ocean.

He was also aware of the strange chemistry that ran between the two as they talked. She hated Shidak, but Shidak was fascinated by her. He felt a growl of his own reverberate in his throat.

If Shidak was attracted to Hoshi, it was going to be even harder to protect her. He shot a glance at Kleth only to find the Klingon staring back at him, a knowing look on his face. Kleth was observant, Reed knew, and not only had he picked up on the nuances in the conversation between Shidak and Hoshi, he had seen Reed's reaction to it.

Kleth turned to address Hoshi as soon at the communication ended. "Your orders, my mistress?" he asked.

"We will continue on course to the planet. We should receive further instructions as soon as we enter orbit." With a wicked smile she said, "I made it clear I do not wish to wait."

Reed heard Kleth's answering rumble of low laughter before she continued, "I want you, Garef, Reed, and Tucker to accompany me to wherever it is we will meet that son of a targ."

She spun the chair around toward Reed. "If you have any special 'spy' weapons, I suggest you arm yourself with them," she told him.

"Already anticipated," he said, pausing before adding with a slight bow of his head, "my mistress."

He saw Hoshi's eyes open a fraction wider at the use of the honorific expression for a Klingon female leader. That he had used it in front of a bridge full of Klingons had surprised her. What she didn't know was that he was using it as a symbol of his claim on her.

"You want me to go with ya? What for?" Tucker was hurrying alongside Reed as they made their way to the transporter.

"It was her idea," Reed said, "but I'll feel better having you there. I need somebody to watch my back."

"Watch your back?" Tucker repeated in astonishment. "I'm an engineer, not a...a... What about Kleth? He'd be much better at that kind of thing."

"He's going, but you're going, too."

Reed stopped walking as they came to a corner in the corridor. Clasping Tucker's arm and pulling him closer so as not to talk any louder than necessary, he threw a quick look around the corner at the transporter at the far end of the corridor. "I don't think it's a good idea for us to be split up," he said as he pulled his head back.

"What about the scout ship?" Tucker asked, putting out his arm to stop Reed when he started to move away.

"When it's time for a demonstration, we'll all come back to the ship," Reed said. "I'll insist upon it. No one thought to ask for the access codes, and we're the only ones who can pilot it."

Reed glanced impatiently toward the transporter, where Hoshi, Kleth and Garef waited for them, along with Malin who would operate the device. "Come on," he hissed.

With a resigned sigh, Tucker followed him. "If I woulda known, I woulda checked this thing out first."

"They've been using it a lot longer than Starfleet has," Reed said. "Kleth says they've never lost anybody."

"Where have you been?" Hoshi asked sharply, climbing onto the transporter pad as they approached. "We received the beam-down coordinates ten minutes ago."

When Reed didn't say anything, Tucker said, "Sorry. Had a few things to take care of in engineering."

Kleth and Garef followed Hoshi onto the platform, as did Reed, who took up a position to her right.

"Well?" she said, glaring at Tucker who was standing on the step at the bottom.

The engineer threw a glance at Malin at the controls, crossed his fingers, and stepped up onto the platform.

Immediately the transporter beam engulfed the group.

The beam-down point wasn't much better lit than the dim corridors of the warbird. Smoking torches lined the walls of a circular room with stone walls. The transporter platform and the control console looked out of place in the medieval setting.

The effect was more appropriate for knights of feudal times than it was for pirates, Hoshi thought, and wondered if Shidak was a student of Earth history who hadn't learned his lessons very well.

As far as her teaching him a lesson, she'd have to wait. He was too well guarded, she saw, and not exactly trusting. A handful of rough-looking men armed with a variety of hand weapons were ranged around the room, standing in defensive positions.

Another two men were by the console, one apparently the transporter operator, the other the man they had seen on the Falcon's viewscreen. Her pulse raced as she recognized Shidak, and she had to force herself not to leap off the platform, take his neck between her hands, and strangle the life out of him.

"Captain Sato! Welcome!" Shidak said as he stepped forward, his hands outstretched, to greet her.

She was aware of Kleth on her left and Malcolm on her right stepping forward as she stepped down from the platform. They took up stances on either side of her. Both, she could see out of the corners of her eyes, were focused intently on Shidak.

Shidak wasn't unaware of their movement, and took a moment to glance at them as he lowered his arms before speaking to her. "Really, my dear. This is unnecessary. No harm will come to you here."

Kleth issued a low growl, sneering at the man, and Hoshi could feel Malcolm tense on the other side of her. She looked up at Shidak, who was a good head taller than she. "They serve me, and they are doing their duty," she said coldly.

Sidak gazed at her speculatively. "What have you done to inspire such loyalty?" he asked, and she could hear the lascivious implication in his voice.

If she hadn't already hated the man, his manner would have easily led her to do so. It would be best to get to what Shidak believed drew her here.

"Are we to do our negotiations here in a waiting area?" she asked contemptuously.

"No," the pirate leader replied. "Come with me to a more comfortable place." His gaze raked over her entourage and he added, "They may wait here for you."

"No," she said, looking him straight in the eye and daring him to contradict her.

"No?"

Looking around at Shidak's men, who had yet to relax their stances, she pretended to be considering. Letting out a loud sigh, she said, "Very well. Two will remain here. Two will accompany me. That should be more than enough," she added.

Shidak stared at her, then burst out laughing. "Either your men are the best killers in the galaxy, or you have a very inflated opinion of their abilities."

Kleth growled again, his hand going to the knife at his waist. On her other side, Reed's hand was resting on the disruptor slung low on his hip.

Hoshi saw Shidak's gaze follow the Klingon's movement and laughed inwardly. Kleth could probably dispatch the entire room of men without raising a sweat. From the look on Shidak's face, he was coming to the same conclusion.

"Perhaps you're right," Shidak admitted, his earlier, false convivial attitude evaporating. "Follow me."

Turning abruptly, he strode for the open door, leaving Hoshi no choice but to follow. Kleth and Malcolm fell into step behind her, with several of Shidak's men behind them.

They marched down a hall, the walls made of the same stone as in the transporter chamber, torches hanging in brackets at intervals. She slowed her steps enough for Malcolm to catch up to her side.

"I have to get Shidak away from his men," she said in a low voice.

"Don't do anything stupid," he cautioned her.

She laughed harshly at that, playing her role as a Klingon pirate captain, and reached out to caress his cheek possessively as a female Klingon leader might with a favored consort. She saw Shidak, who had turned to look over his shoulder at them, register the gesture, and saw a hardness come into his eyes. Let him think what he wants, Hoshi thought recklessly. As far as she was concerned, a little jealously might make her task easier.

And she couldn't deny that she wanted to touch Malcolm, even in the most dangerous situation she had ever been in. With him walking beside her now, she could feel his presence bolstering her strength and her resolve.

She would see this through, no matter what it took.