A/N: You know what? Since it seems only Kretolus is reading this one - he's awesome, you should really check out his page - I'm just going to say...this one's all for you, buddy. Thanks for all your help, and for being an awesome person!
Rixadi lost herself in combat.
She threw herself into a brutal, up-close fight against a dozen Tal Shiar agents, all wearing the face of the man who betrayed them, unleashing all of her pent-up aggression in a flurry of violence.
As one of her targets approached from her left, Rixadi twisted his gun arm away, putting him down with a punch to the throat before directing her rage against two more coming from her right. Her right hand whipped out again, this time pushing another gun arm towards its owner as she delivered a sharp kick into his knee, putting him on the floor with a crunch of shattered bone, surging forwards with her own momentum. She ducked inside the swing of a bladed weapon, delivering a heavy punch to his kidney before following up with two more to his face, then driving her knee into his stomach. A final punch laid him out, but a disruptor shot burned into the back of her left shoulder as she straightened up.
The Tkaathan blocked the pain from her mind, snatching up the dropped blade and throwing it at her next attacker, the weapon finding its mark in his chest. Rixadi broke into a run, desperate for more combat, but as she leaped for another target a single command rang out.
"Computer, freeze programme."
Everything halted, and Rixadi collapsed to the floor as she was robbed of her target. She turned her head to see Elasha entering the holo-deck, the Caitian's eyes lit with anger.
"Whatever you're about to say," Rixadi panted, her chest heaving with exertion, "I'm not interested."
She pulled at her uniform vest, sticky and soaking with sweat, and leaned back against a holographic tree.
"The holo-deck has a safety lock for a reason, Rix," Elasha growled, pointing at a spot behind where Rixadi had been, and the young Lieutenant followed her gesture.
Three more copies of her target were lined up, each armed with disruptor rifles, each ready to fire...and each one aiming at where Rixadi's back would have been a moment before.
"You're pissed, I get it," Elasha continued, "you're full of fire and fury. Samman betrayed us all, but you are not doing yourself any favours by letting your anger guide you like this. Stop blaming yourself."
"Who else should I blame, Asha, hm?" Rixadi straightened, facing her closest friend. "I am the captain of this ship. It is my duty, my responsibility to see the signs of someone like him not being who they claim to be! If I don't blame myself for this then I have no-one else to punish, because no-one else on this ship is at fault and this bastard is a thousand light-years or more away!" She punctuated her tirade by punching the nearest image of Samman, regardless of its lack of reaction. Finally she managed to reign in her rage, and she leaned on a tall rock as she fought to calm herself.
"I just...I feel so helpless," she admitted, her tone lacking the fire of before. "I need to hunt him down, bring him to justice...but I have no idea where to start."
She buried her face in her hands, heaving a weary sigh and fighting the prickling behind her eyes.
She eventually felt a gentle paw on her back, her friend standing close beside her.
"Destroying yourself like this isn't the answer, Rix," she said, her tone back to its usual hushed purr. "The crew worries about you. I worry about you. And we'll find a way to get this bastard, that's a promise."
Rixadi stayed silent, running her hands over her scalp in a stressed gesture.
"Come on," Elasha said finally, "let's get that wound seen to."
Wordlessly, Rixadi allowed herself to be led out of the holo-deck, the Caitian ordering the computer to end the programme as they left.
"Pushing yourself too hard again, ma'am?"
Rixadi glared at her chief medical officer – although few people could tell when she glared, her eyes being mostly reflective – then looked away again, wincing as he probed her wound.
"Don't you start, Herik," she grumbled, "I've already a lecture from Elasha."
"And rightly so," the Bolian replied, "I shouldn't have to list all the ways that holo-deck programme could have killed you."
Rixadi made a small, non-committal sound, but otherwise said nothing.
"So," Herik pressed, still working on treating Rixadi, "I hear you're hunting the man who shot up my sickbay and killed several of our friends?"
Despite his cheery demeanour, no-one could mistake the ice in his tone, and Rixadi's expression hardened.
"Damn straight I am," she said firmly, and Herik emitted what was almost a growl.
"Good," he rasped. "When you catch him, don't give him a clean, quick death. He certainly didn't for Sesh."
An image flashed in Rixadi's mind, just for a moment, of a pale-furred Caitian in the arms of a security officer, blood pulsing from a ragged wound in his throat and matting his fur. Rixadi shook the image away, before meeting Herik's eyes as he finished.
"I promise you, he will wish for death a very long time before it comes for him."
She stood up, pulling on the uniform jacket Elasha had left for her, and silently headed back to the bridge.
Rixadi paused as she entered the bridge, musing on something before carrying on down to the Captain's chair. Elasha stood and relinquished it as she arrived, and the dark-skinned woman gave her a gentle nod of thanks.
"Okay people, let's make some progress," she declared, her voice filled with the confident tones of an experienced captain. "Do we have the co-ordinates of our location when the traitor left?"
There was a pause, before Violet called back from Ops.
"Indeed, Captain. Shall I pass them to the helm?"
"Please do. Once we're there, we'll work out his rough heading and follow that." Rixadi paused, and gave a shrug only Elasha could really notice. "It isn't much, but we have to start somewhere."
"Location and heading received, ma'am," the helmswoman called, and Rixadi nodded.
"Lay in the course, warp five. Engage when ready."
The swirl of the nebula they'd hidden in shifted in the viewscreen, as the sleek ship came about and left on its new heading. Once clear of the nebula, the nacelles at the back flared brightly for a moment, before the ship surged to warp in a flash of light.
Although operating with a skeleton crew made for longer, more arduous shifts, Rixadi still found the quiet somewhat more peaceful. It was strange to hear so few voices around the ship, even on the bridge, but she savoured the calm while it lasted.
A tone from the Ops station suggested it would not last long.
"Captain, we have a ship on a pursuit course."
Rixadi frowned.
"What ship? Can we lose them?"
"It is unlikely, sir," Violet answered, "they are approaching at high warp – much higher than the Puma can manage."
Rixadi swore vehemently in Tkaathan, wishing she had a better warp core in their thirty-year old ship.
"How long to intercept?"
"At this speed, approximately five minutes." A fresh tone sounded, and Violet checked her display again. "In case you are interested, it is an Excelsior-class vessel. The USS Relentless."
Shit, Rixadi thought. All the captains in the universe, and it had to be her.