Chapter 25


Brom seemed to freeze, and his eyes bulged up at her.

Kad rushed over to interfere. "Don't listen to her, she is in league with Picard," Kad screamed into Brom's other ear.

"He's a madman," Brom whispered pointing at the screen.

"You made him that way!" she replied. "And especially you..." She glared at Kad accusingly and then turned back to Brom still gripping his chair. "Look, I am in league with him...I understand the way his mind works; at least I did until you both saw to it that he was captured and abused."

She took a deep breath and attempted to not let her emotions get the best of her. "And that's why I know that the only way to get through to him now and call this whole thing off is for you to surrender. He'll understand that and he will stop trying to kill us. He's a good man…he's not a bully. Not like your father!"

Brom's eyes bulged slightly less, but still he hesitated. His assistant Bero was now at his side glaring at Beverly skeptically. "Was that supposed to be the deal you were offering?"

Beverly glanced at Bero. The truth was when she had gotten them on the bridge and closer to Brom by saying she had a proposition for him, she had only been thinking on her feet. And she certainly hadn't had any real deal in mind. "What is more profitable than escaping with your lives?" she asked them in a measured voice.

Bero grinned. "Well…I hardly think that we are finished yet-"

"Daimon! The attacking ship has disappeared!"

Beverly whirled to look at the view screen, and saw with horror and confusion that only the stars and the blackness in between them were now visible.


Having extinguished the fire on the bridge, Zev had returned to her station and skillfully began monitoring and repairing the ship's systems to the best of her abilities. "Captain, I've boosted shield strength somewhat, but if we sustain another hit to the top of our bridge, quite simply the three of us will be dead."

Picard turned his head slightly to the side to look at his first officer. She was covered in soot and looked exhausted, but she carried on. And for what? But then an image of General Unh's mocking and sadistic features played through his mind and he grew determined again.


"We're not going to die," he promised. "At least not yet." The Ferengi vessel appeared to be retreating, but surely the enemy now knew the Stargazer's weaknesses. And they would target those, whether on the run or not. He also noted with some concern that the Ferengi pilot seemed to have improved his skills considerably within the last minutes. No matter… if the top of the ship was compromised there were ways to protect it.

"They're targeting the bridge again!"


"Everyone hang on," he warned them. He threw the ship into stomach-turning spin, bringing it upside down and then gave it a burst of speed sending the ship underneath the belly of the Ferengi vessel. "Fire all weapons," he shouted back at Vigo.


It turned out that the Stargazer hadn't actually disappeared—instead it had simply flown beneath Brom's marauder. "Daimon they're underneath us, strafing our underbelly!" The marauder shook and there was a frightening creaking sound emanating from the ship's hull. Beverly decided at this point that she was just better off sitting down on the deck. She glanced over at Riker who looked pale and worn out. She turned her attention back to the view screen and saw the Stargazer shoot out from underneath them, weapons still firing, and upside down. She looked at Will again and this time they made eye contact. If they didn't either stop this now or get off the ship it was clear they would perish.

"Our engineer is reporting an inner hull breach and our propulsion systems have been shocked. We won't have full power for another hour, Daimon," Bero said, finally beginning to sound as if he was willing to admit defeat.

Riker stood up. "Enough of this, Brom! We're dead in the water."

Beverly got to her feet and put her hand on the back of Brom's chair. Her hand other shook as she brought it up to her face and she watched the Stargazer shoot away and turn upright again. Jean-Luc, what are you doing? Tears flooded her eyes and she looked down at Brom. "Cant' you see we're out of options?"Brom stood up. "Extend the neck. Show them that we intend to surrender."

"But Daimon," Kad interjected."Do it!" Brom shouted.

Riker walked forward. From his minimal experience with the Ferengi he knew that to "extend the neck" meant that the Ferengi were exposing the weak areas of the ship, by literally and mechanically extending the forward nose of the ship. But it also looked quite menacing from an outsider's point of view. Young Jean-Luc Picard had no frame of reference and therefore, might take it the wrong way.

"That's not going to be enough, Brom," he said. "You're going to have to hail him and signal your surrender." Brom nodded to Bero, who reluctantly moved to the communications station and began typing.


"Captain," announced Zev. "The Ferengi are signaling their surrender. The message states: 'Daimon Brom humbly request that our two mighty vessels now share in the acquisition of peace with deliberate calculation for the mutual benefit of our material wealth'."

"Huh? I don't even know what the hell that means," Picard responded gruffly. But he allowed his back muscles to relax somewhat at the ship's controls. He pondered their situation. They might have a slight tactical advantage at this point, but there was no telling how long that would last. The Ferengi's armaments seemed slightly superior, and their technology was at least equal to theirs by the looks of it. At best they had a stalemate.

"Captain, you can't possibly be considering surrender," Vigo exclaimed from tactical. "They are crippled."

Picard let his hands drop from the console, but he didn't turn back to look at Vigo. He closed his eyes and a voice rang in his head. "We will be together again like this in the future, Jean-Luc…I promise you." He had something to live for, even if she rejected him, if only he could just see her again. And when he saw her, how could he face her knowing that he had destroyed the ship hanging in front of him? He was better than that. He was still capable of showing mercy. He opened his eyes again. "Since when do we destroy defenseless ships, Vigo?" he said. "Zev, signal our acceptance of their surrender. Tell them that any further acts of aggression against Starfleet personnel will be considered an act of war." he said.

"Aye sir," Zev answered, sending the transmission quickly.

"No!" Vigo shouted. "Not after what they did to our people. They are responsible for the deaths of our comrades!"

He still hasn't remembered. Picard took a deep breath, still staring at his helm console. "No, Vigo…the Malkatans are responsible. We cannot continue to destroy everything in our path motivated by blind vengeance. When will the killing stop?"

"Traitor!" Vigo suddenly screamed, leaping over the railing and rushing Picard.

"Captain!" Zev tried to warn him, but Vigo was on him so swiftly, bringing one arm around Picard's neck in a choke hold. The Captain brought his arm back to try and rake at Vigo's eyes; Vigo squeezed and with his other hand brought a sharp knife to Picard's neck. Picard whipped his hand out and grabbed Vigo's wrist trying with all of his might to push Vigo's arm away from his throat. But Vigo was in a superior position, and he had leverage as he crouched behind the seated Picard. Vigo pointed the knife inward as trembling limbs strained against one another.

Picard choked and tried to lower his chin, narrowing the target for Vigo. His vision was growing hazy as he felt the cool blade begin to sink into his neck. And then abruptly he was released, and fell forward, gasping and clutching his neck.

He fell to the deck and turned expecting Vigo to pounce. Instead he saw Zev standing above a fallen Vigo. She had slammed him with the handle of her phaser, saving Picard's life and knocking Vigo cold.

Picard staggered to his feet, lightheaded, and brought his palm to his neck.

"Captain…are you alright?" Zev asked, noting that his neck was covered in blood, but the cut wasn't too deep. Thankfully…because a little to the left and the Captain would have been dead.

Picard wiped at the blood on his neck and nodded. "Beam him to the brig. I can't look at him anymore," he coughed, barely able to speak.

"Yes sir," she said, moving away to comply with his order.


Beverly looked around the marauder bridge, and her heart suddenly grew cold. Where was he? "Where's Bok?" she demanded out loud.

Riker's expression mirrored her own renewed fears. They had all lost track of Daimon Bok during the battle. He looked at Bero questioningly, who shrugged, but then checked the computer sensors. "Bok isn't on this ship anymore," he confirmed, glancing up at Riker.

Riker was operating completely out of desperation at this point. He swiftly snapped his handcuffs back on Kad's wrist; grabbed Bero's disruptor from his holster and pointed it at Brom's head. "We're going over to that ship, and we're taking Brom with us," he said quickly. "Once we know Picard is alright, we'll beam the Daimon back over." He glared at Bero, who glared back at him. "Beam us over, Bero. Now!"


As he stood there applying pressure to the cut on his neck and his bruised trachea, Picard looked up in surprise as the doors to the bridge hissed open. There stood a Ferengi. By this point, Jean-Luc had only seen one Ferengi in person. There was Kad…whom he had seen down on the Malkatan base, just before he'd been shot—and then there was the hazy memory of a Ferengi who had been talking to General Unh on the view screen.

Was this the same individual? Still, beyond his dim and unreliable memories, the Ferengi was unfamiliar to him personally, and yet the alien seemed to know Picard very well. And judging by the disruptor now leveled at Picard's chest as he walked in, this Ferengi didn't think of Picard in a friendly way. But that was fine, because Picard wasn't in a friendly mood either.

"Captain Picard, we meet again…and for the last time," said Bok.