The turbolift doors opened allowing the three to return to their seats; relieving the three who had taken their places. As Kirk sat down in the rather uncomfortable captain's seat, he silently prayed for several seconds on what to do. "The hostages have to be the first priority," he kept thinking to himself. "But that violates our mission," he would add. Hopefully, something would come to him. "Lieutenant Davies," he announced, "put me on shipwide. Everyone needs to know what's going on."

The proclomation made her nervous, but she quickly complied. "You're on, Sir," she replied.

Kirk nodded his appreciation. "Warlord crew... this is Commander Kirk. I need you all to stop what you're doing for a moment." He paused for several seconds trying to gather his thoughts. "We just received new orders from Starfleet Command. Because the Dominion is attempting to retake the alpha quadrant through Cardassia again, we've been instructed to... well... destroy them. We are to turn this ship around fly straight into the battle fleet in Cardassian space. I know... it sounds like long odds. But... I've said it before. This is the best ship in the fleet and the best crew in space. We'll get through this and we'll eliminate this new Dominion threat before it can threaten anybody else. I need first shift crews on standby until further notice. Kirk out." He gave the cut sign to Elaine who promptly ended the transmission.

"Ensign Bristol," Kirk began.

Tyler snapped to attention and turned around. His jitters were over. This was exactly what he had been hoping for. This was the kind of battle he had been dreaming of his whole life. Heck, almost all his favorite holodeck programs involved a battle just like this. He was practically jumping out of the chair. "Yes, Sir!" He shouted with more entheusiasm than the rest of the bridge crew was comfortable with. "Yes, Sir," he repeated more quietly with a slight look of embarassment on his face.

Stephen had to smile. He had been just like that... several years ago. Still, that kind of positive attitude would do well in this situation. "Don't worry about it," Kirk countered with a smile. "Lay in a course for Card... wait a second." Something struck him. He turned to Commander Richards. "Kenyon... what do you suppose the odds are we're being followed?"

Kenyon hadn't thought of that, but it made perfect sense, especially in the eyes of a paranoid Cardassian race and an upstart Dominion takeover. He nodded. "Considering damn near all those ships had a cloaking device... I'd say it's a fool's bet."

Kirk smiled. "My thoughts exactly. We can't afford to have someone telegraphing our next move." He turned to his tactical officer, T'Nia. "T'Nia, our shields are still up, right?"

She looked to confirm before turning back. "Yes, Sir. We are still at a tactical alert status."

Kirk nodded before turning back to Richards. "We haven't bothered doing a tachyon burst for awhile, have we?"

Richards shook his head. "Wouldn't do any good if we did. At warp speed, the thing is pretty much useless."

"Oh, yeah," Kirk remembered the description of the burst and how it worked... one of the few times he bothered paying attention to technical descriptions. Tachyons started at one point, then just kept continuing into infinity from that point. At warp speeds, they would completely overshoot their ability to monitor the tachyons' trajectories as soon as they initiated it. Their only alternative... stop. "We'll have to stop and look," Kirk offered, scratching his chin.

"All they'd have to do is stop beyond our effective range," Richards countered.

Kirk smiled evilly. "Then we'll have to stop quickly." That comment made Tyler turn around and raise an eyebrow. He wasn't relishing the thought of making something as big as the Warlord stop 'quickly.'

"And if they're following too close?" Kirk was actually enjoying Kenyon playing devil's advocate.

Stephen shrugged. "Then... I guess we'll find out how good these shields really are. Let's face it, no matter what our next step is; we need to clear our baffles of whatever may be behind us."

Kenyon shrugged. There was no getting around that logic. However, there may not be anyone behind them after all. If there was, there was still a chance this wouldn't expose them. That said, he couldn't think of a better way to find them... if they WERE there.

Kirk thought a moment. "Mr. T'Nia, ready tubes three and four and seventeen and eighteen." Kirk ordered.

"Aye, Sir," she replied emotionlessly. Her fingers danced across the panel loading all four torpedo tubes with ordinance.

"You're loading forward guns, too?" Richards asked.

Kirk shrugged again. "If they're above or below us, they may shoot past us." He turned to Tyler. "Tyler, I need you to prepare for an emergency stop." Kirk spun around. "Elaine, warn all departments."

"Aye, aye, Sir." Lieutenant Davies quickly spun back around and put her earpiece to her ear.

"Torpedoes loaded, Sir." T'Nia announced.

"Ready when you are, Commander," Tyler added with his fingers over the braking controls.

Kirk turned to Kenyon. "I'll need a tachyon burst as soon as we stop."

"I'm on it," Richards announced as he spun back around to his console.

"Commander, all stations on alert." Davies added.

Kirk nodded and took a deep breath. "Everyone ready?" The question was more rhetorical than anything, but the bridge crew nodded just the same. What would happen if nothing was behind them, he thought. What if this didn't work? He shook his head. It was too late to worry about that now. They needed to do something. They had to gain the upper hand somehow. It was the only way they'd have a chance at rescuing Picard. He nervously rubbed his hands together. "Let's see who's back there... all stop!"