USS Enterprise NCC1701,

Tuesday 18th January 1994

It had been several days since the Enterprise had arrived in the period of Earth's history known as the twentieth century. The crew had spent that time monitoring the situation and learning as much as they could. At this point, Captain Kirk had absolutely no idea how they were going to complete their mission, remove the Klingons from Earth and preserve the correct flow of time. He had studied the information from the Department of Temporal Investigation and knew it was not going to be a quick or straightforward mission.

So far, they had at least remained undetected. The Klingons did not seem to be directing any scans towards space, but that could change at any time and there was always the possibility of a supply ship arriving. Hence, Kirk was keeping his ship hidden behind the moon and with the exception of passive scans, that should... and he found himself crossing his fingers at the thought… not be noticed by the Klingons, they were pretty much running silent.

Leaving Scotty down in engineering and Sulu, Uhura and Chekov on the bridge to continue monitoring – and it was not that he did not want their input, but he needed at least some of his senior staff running things - he had settled himself in the observation lounge with Spock, McCoy, Giotto and his two 20th century guests.

The information they had could be vital to the mission and Kirk listened carefully as Chrissie described what she had observed inside the Klingon security building. Her report was concise and to the point but at the same time, full of detail. "You did well," he praised her when she finished.

"Colonel Karg is known to the resistance," Sarah said. "As far as we were aware, he is the senior officer here. He's got a bad reputation." She glanced at her friend. "Are you sure this other Klingon, the one in black was senior to him?"

"It looked like it," Chrissie said. "They referred to him as the chief. Whoever Karg is, he seemed to be running things while the other one was away." She hesitated before adding, "I might be wrong, but I got the impression Karg didn't like him very much."

Kirk frowned. "That's interesting. I wonder what the different uniform means?"

"The black uniform signifies Klingon Imperial Intelligence," Spock said. "It would be reasonable to say that there is indeed conflict between them and the Defence Force. That was well spotted, Ms Martinez."

Kirk frowned. "So a captain in Klingon Intelligence outranks a colonel?"

"The rank is not captain," Spock corrected. "It is captain of security and it is indeed superior to colonel, significantly so. I find it concerning that there is such a high-ranking Imperial Intelligence officer present on Earth. Especially, since, if I were to indulge in the practice of guessing, this officer may be the person that we are going to need to deal with when the time comes."

McCoy gave the Vulcan an enquiring look. "How do you know so much about Klingon Intelligence?"

"My father is a Federation Ambassador," Spock reminded the doctor. "As such, I attended several diplomatic functions during my childhood and met several high-ranking intelligence officers."

Much as he wanted to, McCoy could not argue with that and he suppressed the urge to make a rude comment. This was neither the time nor the place for his usual bickering with Spock. Instead he concentrated on the issue at hand. "So how does this affect us?" he asked, "If the Defence Force aren't calling the shots, is that good or bad?"

"As I said, Karg is a butcher," Sarah responded. "We know how to deal with his type. If this other Klingon… Chrissie, what did you say his name was? Kang? Whoever he is, he's an unknown quantity and that's worrying. He's been clever – he's stayed below the radar to a point where we didn't even know he existed. He…"

"His name was Krang," Chrissie said. "Security Captain Krang. He seemed very polite and reasonable when I met him."

"Don't start sympathising with the enemy," Sarah snapped.

Chrissie flushed. "I'm not! They killed my…" Unable to bring herself to say Diego's name, she stopped. The Klingons had done her a favour there, she just wished that Miguel hadn't been caught up in it all. Each time she had encountered the Klingons, they had treated her with respect - the first time because she'd been pregnant (and she felt a pang of grief for the lost child) and this time because… actually, she wasn't sure why, maybe because he had understood her situation? Whatever the reason he'd been almost kind to her and had that been concern in those dark, hawk-like eyes? Certainly, he had done his best to reassure her, reminding her that his people did not harm children. Even the other one, Karg… the one Sarah had described as brutal… he'd frightened her, he'd been abrupt and rude in his manner, but he had not harmed her in any way.

They were her enemies, she knew that. But it had not been the Klingons who had punched her in the face when, tired and nauseous, she had dared to say no. In all honesty, it seemed to Chrissie that if you followed the rules and didn't provoke them, life under Klingon rule wasn't that bad, although she wasn't stupid enough to voice that thought.

Lost in her reverie, Chrissie realised belatedly that the conversation had moved on and Sarah was sharing her own news. Pulling herself together and forcing herself to focus, she listened carefully to her friend's report. Most of it she already knew. That one of the leaders of the local resistance had been arrested by the Klingons was devastating and as Chrissie had previously noted, it put Sarah's safety in serious jeopardy. It put her in danger as well, Chrissie realised suddenly. She was the widow of someone considered a resistance hero, a man who had been brutally executed by the Klingons. Her brother was in a Klingon prison… and now her flat-mate was potentially known to them as well. Why would they believe in her innocence?

There was good news as well as bad. At significant risk to themselves, Sarah's team on the ground had finally located the prisoners.

"I believe we have very little time left to act," Sarah was saying, "Captain Kirk, on behalf of the resistance, I am asking for your assistance to rescue the prisoners being held by the Klingons."

The request was not unexpected. The Enterprise crew could not individually rescue every prisoner held by the Klingons but in this case, it would build good relations. If they were to succeed in their mission, they needed the cooperation of the resistance. "It's going to be risky," Kirk said, carefully working out his options as he spoke. "The prison is shielded and with the shield generator in place, we can't just beam up all Terran life-signs in the vicinity. We are going to have to do it the old-fashioned way – go in and get them out." He glanced at his security chief. "Giotto, can you put an away team together?"

Lieutenant Commander Antonio Giotto was a tall, grey-haired man who spoke with a faint Italian accent. He had remained quiet until now, listening carefully but having nothing to add to the conversation. Now he stirred. "Aye, sir." He hesitated, glancing at the two women before asking "Will the ladies be part of the team?"

That was a good question and Kirk took a moment to think before answering. He'd heard most of the conversation… argument, rather… between the two women that day in the church; he understood Chrissie's desire to save her brother, but allowing her to join the team would be, in his professional opinion, a massive mistake. Her lack of training would put the other team members at risk and jeopardise the mission. Sarah on the other hand not only had military training, she was a resistance leader and she knew the terrain. She'd never given him her last name, he realised. Considering the importance of her role, that was not a bad policy, making it harder for the enemy to identify her.

"Sarah will be part of the team," Kirk said at last. "Giotto, I suggest you take her down to the firing range and give her some phaser training. Chrissie, I am sorry. You will have to stay here."

"Captain, please…" Chrissie begged.

Sarah placed a hand on her friend's arm. "Chrissie, you can't go. It's too dangerous for you."

"But not too dangerous for you?" Chrissie retorted, pulling her arm away angrily. "You gave your word!"

"Under duress!" Sarah snapped back. "You are not trained for this."

"Neither are you!" Chrissie argued desperately.

"I was not always a housekeeper," Sarah reminded her friend. "You're forgetting… before I got stranded in Spain, I worked for NCIS. Chrissie, please… Trust us. Let us do our job."

It wasn't fair, Chrissie thought rebelliously. She was not useless; she knew how to use a gun and she would not get in the way. But they had dismissed her as a liability and they were not going to change their minds. Bitter anger filled her, but she knew she could not win this one. "What am I supposed to do then?"

"Go home," Sarah said. "There's no reason why you shouldn't be safe there, they don't seem to see you as a risk. If they did, they would have arrested you by now. We'll call you when…"

"You can't," Chrissie interrupted. "That's the other thing I meant to tell you. When they searched the flat, they did something to the phone. The wiring has been tampered with. I don't think it's working."

"I'll give you a communicator," Kirk decided. "But only use it to contact Enterprise in case of absolute emergency. Whatever you do, don't let the Klingons find it."

"We'll call you as soon as it's done," Sarah promised.

Slowly, reluctantly, Chrissie nodded. "I should go now then. It's best I don't know the details of your plans, just in case."

"We'll beam you directly into the house," Giotto said, getting to his feet. "If you two ladies would come with me…"

Midnight came and went. 01:00 hours passed and at a slow, painful crawl, 02:00 hours, the chosen time for the raid approached. For once, the British weather was cooperating; the rain had finally stopped but the moon and stars remained obscured by heavy clouds that also had the benefit of keeping the temperature just above freezing.

Her long, blonde hair tied into a pony-tail and secured under a black, woollen hat, Sarah was dressed in combat trousers, a warm jumper and a leather jacket and gloves, all of them black in colour to make her less visible. The Enterprise team – Kirk, Spock, Giotto and four security officers - were similarly dressed, their normally brightly coloured uniforms replaced by sensible black combat gear.

Carefully, the team eased themselves into their positions, preparing for the raid to come. Hidden from sight, they waited for the right moment.

The heavy tramp, tramp, tramp of footsteps approached and the team waited, still and quiet, as a pair of Klingon guards passed them, coming within a few feet of their hiding place as they patrolled the street in front of the prison. Holding his breath, Kirk watched as they disappeared out of sight, raising his hand in preparation to give the word for the raid to begin.

As he did so, the front doors of the prison opened with a creak that sounded unnaturally loud in the silence and two Klingons stepped out into the darkness, eerily lit by the orange glow of the nearby sodium streetlamp. Between them was a Terran prisoner, half standing, half supported by their grip in his arms. The team watched as the Klingons let go of the prisoner, shoving him forwards, towards the road and away from the prison, before turning back towards the door.

Dazed and confused, the Terran stepped out into the dark, empty road, swaying in a manner that looked almost drunken with the effort to stand and walk.

Sarah let out a hastily muffled squeak of shock. "David!"

Kirk swore under his breath. While it was good that at least one prisoner was free, this changed everything. Swiftly revising his plans and speaking in a quiet whisper, he gave the team their new instructions. The open door had left them an opportunity and they had only seconds to make use of it. "Sarah…" Quickly he beckoned her over to him. "Go and get him to safety. I'll take the team and retrieve the rest of the prisoners. Go now! We don't have time to waste."

Sarah didn't argue. "Understood," she said tersely. Right now, David was her priority and she was professional enough to trust the team to finish the job without her. Not looking back, she broke cover and hurried towards the man she loved.