Note: I'm not gonna lie, I was going for scary towards the end but at the same time I started to give myself such a ridiculous mental image I was giggle after a point. Hopefully I reigned it in well enough not hurt the mood but anyway, we finally have the semi Empok Nor recreation I was going for. A warning (which I realize I should've given again or last chapter or several chapters ago) for minor characters biting the dust to increase dramatic tensions... maybe I should've dressed them all in red shirts. Anyhoo, thank you everyone who continues to read and support this effort. We're coming to a close in this arc and I look forward to new adventures, more fun with out beloved trio along with more murder plots abound and oh yeah, an angry Worf. Of course C&C is always welcome too! (As long as this has been running I'm sure there are plenty of things that can be picked at...)


It takes both Laxis and Tam to pull Nog from the opening, the water splashing around all three of them. He reaches for Collins, screaming again, still in shock as he stares at the body on the ground, blood running red down that hole. His hands vacillate between reaching for the gun and reaching out to her, finally his hand settling for going over his mouth as he's yanked violently backwards.

"D-Do… Do…" He stutters, still staring at that hole, expecting some nightmare creature to come thundering out. He doesn't hear anything but the sound of the running water.

"Nog!" That comes from Laxis to his right, the broad shoulders holding him tightly. He screams again, a loud cry clawing up from his throat, making his vocal cord vibrate, hurt, that squeal a pain to his own ears as he holds that weapon and slams it to the ground hard over and over, that keening cry in his throat until he almost thinks that it bleeds.

They let him scream. He doesn't know how long it lasts until his feet stop kicking, the hand holding the gun shaking hard as he holds it pointed at the ground beneath them. Tam is on his knees, turned away looking pale. He takes a few deep breaths as Laxis looks to the ground, finally letting Nog go when he stills his movements. He feels a moments of strange calm and remembers Leeta telling him as a child that the Prophets would always come to him in his hour of need. His father had always been hard pressed to find words of comfort from his own culture that calmed him in the same way. It will have to be all he can hold onto for now.

"It… It came from the ground, didn't it?" He looks at Tam and Nog's fingers curl underneath him as he looks slowly around, pulse starting to race even faster as the reality of the situation sets in beyond the death of his former lover.

"What was that?" Both of them look to him and as improbable as it seems, Nog calls to mind the tunnels beneath, that catacomb network running even under their very feet now. He'd explored several kilometers with Jake when they were younger and he knows for a fact that there are even other egress and ingress points. He's often wondered if early Westworld settlers didn't explore and carve those tunnels further out, but there's never been any physical evidence left behind to truly confirm that. But the result remains; while some are more practical than others, one can navigate around that area and even come up behind where they stand now, though Nog can't imagine anyone scaling that face of cliff to do so.

He turns his gun over in his hands, knowing what that noise was, knowing that marquee but still wanting to shut his eyes and imagine that he's back in space with nothing but the warm hum of the engine in the quiet. Or even further back in his memories to his days at the Academy when they'd met, and Dorian had looked at him half shyly with a duck of her head, introducing herself to him before anyone else had. But he isn't, and he looks at the rock below them as if he could somehow see through it, just imaging some enemy below. Get a hold of yourself, Nog, you know that's not possible. They fired there because a bullet could not possibly fire through the rock and they have no way of knowing your location. Whoever it is... whatever it is.

He looks back towards Collins, towards Dorian, the only one who he thought believed in him, who he knew above all else wanted to help, wanted to save as many people as she could. She nearly fell apart during the attack when Captain Ramirez was killed and he knew it if wasn't for Captain Watters she may not have held together. As if it was Watters who stayed with her after those first few days. It wasn't Watters who stayed up listening to how homesick she was, how scared she was. The Captain didn't want to hear a word of it. And you were too blind to your own cleverness to see it. All you cared about was showing how important you were, how useful you were, that you belonged in Starfleet, in Red Squad.

"Nog?" He watches her image waver and he can feel a stick tight in his throat as he tries to blink it away. He and Laxis were close once. At first, it was only him standing again Captain Watters, but Laxis had joined him, agreeing that it was too dangerous to let such a substance out into the universe; trusting him even without knowing all of the details. He takes a deep breath knowing that they need to move, that they need to find Julian and the others immediately. Just like the disaster on the Valiant, there will be time to mourn later. Right now he needs to act and he stands up, taking a deep breath.

"It's a gun. A Westworld firearm. As far as I know only the four of us have them; Molly, Yoshi, the Cardassian, and me." He hesitates, knowing that Captain Watters had one along with Commander Farris. He sees a brief flash of that fire, that weapon discharging as he threw himself to his feet and shoved Farris in the way of the creature before it could hit Collins. He feels that lead weight wrapping around his heart, shaking his head. Even if they survived, they wouldn't have been able to make it here in their condition. Not as injured as they'd been. Which either left the remaining three or some unseen force. But Westworld isn't space, and nothing here operates under those same strange laws.

"Was anyone else with you?" He asks Tam and Laxis as they gravitate towards his center surrounding him, anxiously staying close. Tam shakes his head, wiping his hands on his pant legs.

"No, it was just us. The Captain said that his superiors didn't trust anyone else to know about what we'd found."

"Then that still leaves one." Nog considers Neem, in hiding, as far as he knows having never spoken with any of them except him. Laxis shakes his head.

"You were the only one to talk with him. As far as I know he's still hiding out somewhere in the badlands. He might even be with the Maquis. But he's not here."

"Then we need to get to the others." Nog takes a few steps then stops, turning around. He looks at the cave opening and then at the water with a deep frown. He knows that to venture into the caves will mean swift incapacitation. He knows that it will make him a liability- a danger to himself and everyone else. But they need to know what's going on and warn Julian and the others, and splitting up would be an even worse liability.

He looks to the two humans uncertainly. There was a time once when the three of them would have trusted each other with their lives. There would be no hesitation. He needs that trust again, but it will leave him vulnerable. And he remembers too well Quark telling him that dead men earn no profit. Nog takes up one of the ropes and hands it to Laxis.

"We're going to have to go in. And you're going to have to tie my hands. The Kironide has a proximity effect and I don't know how far we'll need to go in. For that tunnel below to be accessed, whoever that is would have had to pass the underground river and pass the Kironide. I know if I get that close that it will… effect me.

"Are you both still with me? In destroying it? Whatever happened between us I… I still need to make sure that it can't be used by anyone else." He looks, expecting reluctant faces as he turns to both of them but only sees that steely Starfleet resolve. It is that hoo-man honor that Captain Watters used to preach that at first seemed completely alien to him, only Nog thinks that he was the one who didn't truly understand what that meant. It was that same honor that Mr. O'Brien had spoken of when he'd tell them tales of the war, of men in generations past even greater who would sooner die than betray their comrades.

"Can you see us off world when this is over? We need to make our report and I don't even know where the we're gonna start. We were requested for this assignment by a bunch of guys in leather coats and to be honest, I didn't ask a whole lotta questions once I saw the look on Commander MacDonald's face."

"Of course. And I think when this is all over that we'll all have a lot of things to think about as well." Nog swallows as he's tied carefully, looking ahead to that darkness with an inexplicable sense of dread.

Garak cannot be certain but he almost thinks that the Kironide has heightened his other senses to level that have far surpassed even the most skilled of hunters. The female that he'd taken down had seemed but a pin drop as he looked up at the bright sky from the darkness of that cavern. And yet he was successful. He could feel the drip down warm onto his skin from her blood bleeding in with that water and he smiles triumphantly counting off one more down. He would have preferred the Ferengi, but now that he considers it, he'll need a pilot for the ship back. The first ship, the large one is too cumbersome. In fact he may disable that so that they can't follow him. The second plane however, that small craft surely can seat two. He had been concerned initially; the two prospective candidates for that mission were the two young augments, but as he considered, he was suddenly thankful that it wasn't the Ferengi who'd appeared. Of course, he could be persuaded to fly that plane though it may be a sight more difficult now that his woman was no longer available as a bargaining chip.

You see, Elim, you try and adjust for your inaction, for your earlier hesitations, and you make a grave miscalculation. But you can recover from this. And the Ferengi looks easy enough to break. Perhaps if you start taking out his companions one by one he'll realize the error of his ways. That leaves the two with him, and the rest with Julian. Ah, dear, dear, Julian, you and I were only getting started weren't we? Count yourself fortunate that didn't I set the Kironide on fire without a secondary means of escape. I would have enjoyed the satisfaction of knowing that you're burning to death with that regret of ever crossing me but I'll have to come for you later. I know that you'll survive this though. You've survived so much already I know this alone won't be enough to kill you. Garak is already moving again, those thoughts a mad rush through his head. He can see far easier now, as he practically runs through those caverns, the blood flowing wildly, making him hot, every bit of organic matter, the insects, the snakes, the moss along the walls seeming to burn like beacons for him mapping the way.

He calls back to mind the entrance, every bit of that layout, knowing that there will be a point even before he reaches that three way split that he can catch them. It will have to be from underneath once more, but he can manage it. The dust and the damp have made that red stick to his face, his body, leaving him far more capable than he'd ever imagined, even without ingestion. He feels lighter as he runs, racing against them knowing that they cannot be allowed to meet up with Julian. Ah, but they don't know that he'd heard them. He knows everything they're planning and he decides that the gun will be far too loud now, instead deciding that he'll use that scalpel. It will be far more quiet, far more deadly.

Garak once more replays that map diagram in his head, remembering that hole that he'd nearly fallen into on their way to the containers. If his timing is right then he can get there first, or at least intercept them. He's down far, but not nearly as far as they'll need to come around to reach that point and he has some nearly otherworldly sense that he can do it. It makes no sense, of course, but as he feels the slick walls and that steep angle, there is some instinct in him awakened, reborn, that just knows that he'll be successful. Garak smiles ferally, unaware of the blood beginning to trickle from his nose as he makes that ascent.

They had found Keiko carefully taking notes on a sample of one of the moss varieties not too far in from the entrance. She'd been so focused on the view beneath the ultra magnified lens that she nearly jumped when the three of them had approached. When Nog explained the situation however, she was quick to pack away her supplies and stand.

"I must've lost track of time." She takes out a small watch and looks at it with a frown. "They should've been back already." Keiko immediately looked to Tam. "This isn't another part of the plan is it." He visibly blanches, seeming to remember that bag hitting him earlier from a far less calm Keiko.

"No Ma'am. There's only…" he swallowed, looking to Nog uncomfortably. "There's only the three of us."

"Then it has to be that Cardassian man, Garak," she says definitively. "Miles said to watch out for him, that he didn't trust him… Of course, my husband still has some of his old prejudices but..." She looks down the tunnel visibly worried. "Julian wouldn't let anything happen to Molly or Yoshi. I know he wouldn't."

"I don't mean any disrespect to Doctor Bashir, but his closeness to the Cardassian might make him do something foolish."

"I trust Julian. But you're right, we should hurry. The sooner that we find out what's going on the better."

Nog steps to the front, still adjusting his gait to compensate for the disruption to his balance caused by his tied back hands.

"I can show you the most straightforward way to the shipment. Jake and I were here for weeks making maps, and surveying the veins of Sedinium that run through here. It's easy to get lost." He keeps forward, moving quickly. "I don't know long it will be that I can guide you. I don't remember exactly how much time had passed the last time I'd been exposed. The Kironide should be contained. The cargo containers that cousin Gaila had sold us could withstand even fire from a plasma cannon-"

"So he claimed," Tam mutters under his breath as the four of them half jog through the narrow passages.

"I trust our cousin Gaila," Nog protests defensively.

"Wasn't he the one you said sold your Uncle Quark those explosive charges that didn't work?"

"They work," Nog retorts. "Just not onworld…" He presses on continuing fast through the cave. "The container won't have failed."

"But if it did?"

"Then it… might be problematic," he admits, slowing down to a stop.

"You know if we run into him head on I'm just as likely to hit you with this thing, right?" Laxis holds the weapon awkwardly and Nog can feel his nerves start to slip just a bit. He's started to feel the head pressure slightly, but he's sure if they hurry they can make good enough time to meet up with Julian and the others. Keiko wastes no time in neatly snatching it from his grip.

"I know how to fire it," she motions forward with the gun and it gives Nog a brief flash of being taken hostage. He takes a deep breath focusing back on the ground.

"It… it may be starting," he says uneasily. "Watch me. If I start to act strange I…" He isn't entirely sure what to suggest. On the Valiant he'd had to deal with it, locking himself in his room while the rest of the crew experimented with the temporary telekinetic effects. He has a brief memory of the objects flying around his room, a model that he'd been working on shattering against the wall as the images went out of control. He swallows hard. "Just watch me," he pleads as he starts off again. "And watch your step. We're close to a connector tunnel that goes down. I think the ground is more stable around the right but I…"

He stops suddenly, hearing a loud grunting breathing, a dark hissing huff that chills him immediately. Nog isn't sure though if it's only in his head or if he's really hearing it. He turns to the humans, frustrated, knowing that none of them would even be able to begin to hear it.

"Be careful I… I think I might hear something." He hurries around, hoping they'll remain on guard , getting a bad feeling as that sound grows louder. It's followed by some slick sliding sound that seems to be coming from that tunnel. No, No, you know that isn't possible. No one could come up that way without the proper equipment. The angle is too steep, the walls are too slick. No, it has to be a hallucination. Nonetheless, he hurries around, hearing that hiss suck seeming to get loud in his head, making him throw himself against the wall of the cave, shoulder first, shutting his eyes tightly.

"Nog?" This from Laxis but it's drowned out by that amplified respiration resonating and he feels a tug to his other shoulder that he draws back from.

"Don't you hear it? You have to hear it or I'm already…. That noise…" He looks to Keiko who only stares back confused but he can see the three of them pause and listen. It's hard to see, the only light comes from the lantern that Keiko had passed to Tam. The three of them are stopped completely, and as the sound of their feet stop that breathing grows louder, angrier and as terrified as he is to look, Nog opened his eyes and turns towards the hole. Keiko frowns, looking at him with a nod.

"You're fine Nog. I hear it. But I can't…" She listens harder and Nog takes a few steps back along that wall, feeling the damp starting to soak through his uniform. He sees Tam with the raised lamp turn, that hole to his left. He looks down, leaning over it.

"Are there any underground heat sources that could be outgassing?" He kneels down, the lantern above that sharp steep tunnel, revealing little more than a sharp slop that curves back around. Tam shakes his head, standing back up brushing his uniform off at the knees. "Well let's just keep moving, yeah? Nog?"

Nog can still hear it and it's only getting louder. But now it's more than the breathing. He hears an angry series of hisses, a low guttural growl that seems familiar but he can't quite place it. He also thinks that he hears his own name, but again, that has to be impossible. Tam is right. They should move. They should run. He feels annother irrational chill that makes him shiver and he turns to Keiko.

"I know what I said but… maybe… maybe you should undo these ropes. I swear I… I think I need my hands, I think we need the gun, please." He feels a cold sweat, his body clammy, almost feverish as the walls seem to bow out behind the three watching him. Keiko looks concerned, turning back to the hole once before looking at him again.

"I hear it, Nog. But I don't…" She stops, that frown deepening, her eyes getting wide. "Wait. Wait I know what that sound is." She keeps hold of the gun but fumbles to untie his ropes at the same time, clearly reluctant to holster it. "It's Cardassian! I've heard it spoken enough that I... I don't understand what it's saying but I'm sure of it. It's Garak! Nog forget the ropes, we need to move right now we need to-"

She doesn't get to finish that sentence as he sees it- some nightmare creature that rises from that hole like something Mr. O'Brien used to tell tale of to scare the children around the campfire. It's a monster. As sure as he breathes, whatever it is that propels itself out of the depths cannot possible be anything but. It seems to fly, to hover out as it launches at Tam. A flick of its arm around his neck and Nog sees a bright red gash cut neatly across his throat, the creature snarling, talons extended towards the rest of them. Keiko raises the gun to fire, but with Tam's body shielding it, she doesn't take the shot. And that's when the lantern drops the lantern, his hands coming up desperately to try and staunch the bleeding. It's covered in blood. Nog is sure of it. Before that lantern falls he sees red eyes, flared furious nostrils as a guttural voice burbles his name once more.

"Nog..."

"Shoot it!"

"I can't I..." She can't see, of course with the lantern rolling down that hole the light leaves them all to be plunged into darkness. He hears the thud of a body and screams again as he he fights away from Keiko with a piercing scream,

"Shoot it!" His legs locking uselessly as there are more guttural noises, more hisses, his name again followed by the sounds of a scuffle. That has to be laxis. Nog's hands are still tied and he cannot hold still for her to finish unbinding him as she tries once more now blind- he doesn't allow it. The light was gone suddenly reappears, the tempered glass finally shattering someway down immediately sparking a flame burning from below.

The flames rise quickly behind as the monster lurches forward with that alien tongue, the fire blinding Nog's eyes as Keiko shoves him out of the way firing two shots at the two wrestling men. Nog struggles to right himself and he can see all at once those flames reach up engulfing the both of them. There's a roar that he hears, and he rolls over, struggling back to his feet, the only light that fire that blazes around them.

"RUN!" He hears shouted and by now has no idea by who or why, but there's another gun shot that comes as Nog finally braced against the wall stands and starts running as best as he can over the slick rock. He hears the flames, more gunfire and just starts screaming into the dark unable to see as the light from the fire fades.

His heart is racing, more screams and cries seeming to come from all directions before he trips and crashes hard into either the wall of the cave or one of the rock formations from below. He isn't sure which it is, feeling hands grabbing him roughly, right before he blacks out.