Deanna rushed around her quarters, trying to decide what items would be appropriate for a mission she had no idea what she would be presented with. Finally coming to a halt in the middle of her room, she realised that there was nothing for her to bring. If they were going to keep up the appearance that this was a kid-napping, then she needed to go as she was. Dropping the items she held in her hands onto her bed, she crossed her arms around herself, feeling the anxiety crawl through her.

Attempting to calm her nerve, she closed her eyes and breathed in an out. After they had calmed down enough, Deanna slowly opened her eyes and looked at the chronometer. She had only a few minutes before she had to leave. She walked to the mirror, checked herself over one last time, zipped up her uniform and started towards her door. She'd be better off taking a longer route to the cargo bay than pacing her room for three minutes.

As she entered the sensor range of her door and it slid open, Beverly walked in, walked right passed Deanna and lowered herself onto her coach. Deanna stood there, not quite sure what to do. When Beverly looked up, her eyes brimming with unshed tears, and unable to actually vocalize why she was in her friend's quarters, Deanna closed her eyes. "Oh, Beverly."

"What if he's gone, Deanna?" She quietly asked. She shook her head as tears began falling down her face. "I don't know what I...I can't do it again Deanna." She said lookin at her folded hands in her lap.

As Deanna walked to stand behind one of her chairs, she glanced at the chronometer. She didn't have time for this, but she couldn't imagine leaving Beverly in the condition she was in. "Can't do what again, Beverly?"

Beverly wiped her fallen tears away before answering. "I lost Jack, and it almost killed me." She raised her hand under her nose as more tears formed and fell. "I don't know how I'll survive if I loose Jean Luc." A sob escaped her throat.

"You won't loose him Beverly." Deanna said, her own calmness surprising her. Whatever hesitations she had about going on this mission, she knew that if they didn't get the Captain back, not only would she loose a friend and commanding officer, but she knew Beverly would never be the same way again. The only chance of that not happening, is if she put her fears aside and go. "You are more than welcome to stay here as long as you need. But I am on my way to say goodbye to Emelle, she's planning on leaving soon."

Suddenly Deanna could feel intense anger coming from Beverly. "I can't believe I thought that she would make a positive addition to this ship." She stood up in her anger and moved to look out the window. "She says that she knows everything about this sector, but at the first instance we need her help, she leaves. Such cowardice." She nearly hissed.

Deanna exhaled heavily, wanting very much to tell her about their plan, to put some easy to her pain, but she couldn't. So she settled for second best. She walked over to Beverly and laid a soft hand over upper arm, and waited for her to face her. When she did, Deanna hugged her. Deanna remembered how late she was, and slowly pulled herself away. She grabbed both of Beverly's hands and gave them a squeeze. "I meant what I said. You're more than welcome to stay here as long as you need. When I get back," she said with a subtle cough. "we'll talk. Ok?"

Beverly nodded and moved to the coach as Deanna turned and left her quarters, walking faster than normal to try and get to the cargo bay.

Emelle glanced at the chronometer. Deanna was late. "Sir, you're cleared to leave." Emelle looked at the two officers standing outside the Volkerie with her. "Is there something wrong?"

She nervously shook her head. "No. I guess I'll be...I'm going to start the pre-flight checklist."

"You already did that sir." The same officer said, starting to sound annoyed with her.

Emelle squinted her eyes at him as she stepped forward. "Loose the attitude, it's not becoming."

Finally, the cargo bay doors opened and Deanna entered, slowing her pace. "Commander, I was hoping to catch you before you left." She could see relief in Emelle's eyes, followed by annoyed. "Is there a problem?"

Emelle looked from her to the two officers and then back at her. "No." In a quick movement, Emelle grabbed the phaser from one of the officers, and after a quick blow to his throat, she disarmed the other before slamming his head against the outside of the hull. She turned to Deanna and raised her phaser. "You're late." She muttered before firing. Deanna was instantly surprised, before loosing consciousness and began falling to the floor. "Whoa." Emelle rushed forward before she could fall and grabbed her arm, throwing it over her shoulder. Emelle dragged Deanna into the ship, and buckled her into the other control chair. "You're so going to be less then happy with me when you wake up." She muttered as she quickly started the engines, disengaged the cargo bay force shield and left the Enterprise.

Will watched from the bridge as the small ship began flying away. 'Good luck.' He sighed as he sat in the command chair.

"Volkerie is away." Worf replied from tactical.

"Thank you Mr. Worf."

Suddenly an alarm sounded. "Sir, security team in the cargo bay is reporting that Commander Pinces was able to disarm them, and take Counsellor Troi hostage." Worf never fancied himself a good actor, and he was sure he was overselling the point.

"Get a lock on her signal!" Will barked.

"We can't. She seems to be jamming us."

"Well then get a tractor beam on the ship, now!"

"Sir tractor beams are not working."

Will sighed as he turned to watch the Volkerie jump into warp, dread forming in the pit of his stomach again as he though about the dangers they might face, and the chance they weren't coming back. They were on their own now.

Headache. Deanna could feel the rhythmic thumping against her temples. Slowly she started to open her eyes. "Nice of you to join me." She forced herself awake further, and turned towards the voice as her eyes began to clear. "How do you feel?"

"What happened?" She asked raising a hand to her head.

"Well, the kid napping went off with out a hitch."

"You shot me." Deanna stated as her memories started to come back. "I can't believe you shot me."

"Had to make it look convincing." Emelle said before turning her chair towards her. "Sorry about that."

Deanna shook her head. "Remind me to be mad after my head stops hurting." Emelle smiled. "How far are we from Iddrr II?"

"Still a couple of hours." Emelle replied turning back to the controls. "You can try and get some sleep if you want?"

"No, I'll be fine." Deanna replied as she unbuckled the straps holding her in the chair. She closed her eyes. "Actually, maybe I will." She slowly stood and walked back to the benches. When she lowered herself, she rubbed a quick hand over her eyes before lying down.

"We're approaching the coordinates." Deanna called back to Emelle, who closed the conduits she was working on and walked toward the front of the ship. As she came up behind the control chair, Deanna stood and moved to sit in the ops chair.

Emelle sat and called up the heads up display. "As soon as we drop out of warp, I need you to activate the cloak."

Deanna nodded. "Won't there be a brief moment when we first emerge from warp where we will be visible to any other sensors?"

Emelle exhaled through her nose and lightly drummed her fingers against the steering controls. "That's why I'm dropping us out behind one of the planets moons, out of sensor range of the planet or anything that might be in orbit. I had to reroute the power around the systems that are still damaged through the cloak program in order to get us here as fast as we did. There's a chance we may have overloaded it, and in that case we would no choice but to scrub the mission."

"There's a chance you overloaded the cloak?" Deanna repeated slowly, and became more frustrated when Emelle didn't reply. "How big a chance?"

"Slight."

"How slight?"

"Nothing to worry about."

"Yet you mention it."

Emelle turned to Deanna and was about to shoot a sharp reply when two sharp chirps echoed. She shook her head and returned her gaze forward. "Dropping out of warp."

As soon as they did, Deanna typed the control to cloak the ship. "It's not working Emelle." She tried the command again, but nothing happened.

Emelle swore under her breath and kicked the console between her and Deanna's chair. "Try again." Deanna stared at her with an 'are you crazy' look. "What?"

Deanna shook her head before re-typing in the command, and received a confirmation beep. "Cloak is active, and appears to be holding steady. I have a feeling that won't work again."

"You're probably right. OK, I need you to turn off any non essential functions before I move us out from behind the moon. Our sensors won't work back here, and I want to minimize any chance of them picking us up on their sensors." She and Deanna each tapped on the consoles in front of them, and when completed, Deanna nodded to Emelle who shrugged. "Here we go." As they pulled away from behind the moon, they were immediately shocked at the sight of a large armada orbiting the planet.

Deanna's jaw dropped and she gaped at the scene before her."Oh...my god."

Emelle called up the display again. "There are six Sodier war ships, twenty Ku'Mak ships, and dozens smaller one man Wooken fighters." She sighed as she worriedly stared at the armada. Shaking off the fear that crept into the pit of her stomach, she increased speed and began to move closer to the planet.

"So you're just going to fly through them?"

"You have a better idea?" Emelle looked to Deanna who turned to look back out the front viewer. "The cloak will keep us hidden, even when we enter the atmosphere." She grabbed a PADD out of her bag and handed it to Deanna. "There are the schematics of the outpost in the computer. Copy them to the PADD so we know where we're going when we get inside the complex."

Deanna plugged the end of the PADD into the cord connecting to the computer. "How long will it take?"

"Don't know exactly, but by the time we get through that," nodding to the ships in front of them, "and find a place to land, it should be done."

"I'm taking it as a good sign that the Captain's on the planet."

"I'd say. These larger Ku'Mak ships are used to accompany someone of high rank or status, like a General. It's more likely that someone important is on the surface."

The women fell into complete silence as Emelle wove in between the ships orbiting the planet. The first wave of ships was the small one man fighters, about the same size as the Volkerie. They each had four torpedo bays, and phasers. Then the Sodier and Ku'Mak ships were scattered around the upper atmosphere. The Sodier ships had twenty torpedo bays each, and the Ku'Mak had 15. As soon as they passed the last ship and began their decent into the lower atmosphere, both women let out sighs of relief, and turned to Deanna. "Any indication they saw us?"

Deanna shook her head as she read the screen on her console. "No. All ships are remaining in formation, and none are powering weapons. There were no subspace communications detected either." Emelle nodded. As she switched to auto-pilot for the decent, against her better judgement, Deanna addressed the emotion coming from the woman next to her. "You seem anxious."

Emelle kept staring ahead. "Those were ships from the Sodier, Ku'Mak, and Wooken, the three most powerful groups in this section other than the Cardassians. They're all rivals, and the fact that they're working together means that they formed a coalition. This is very, very bad." Deanna looked towards Emelle, waiting for her to continue. "The rebellion was hoping that they would fight each other for power in the sector, beating each other down, while the Federation comes in and gets a foothold here." She looked worried and rubbed a hand down her face. "The complex is in the middle of a thick forest. The closest we can get to land is about 20 km from it. Hope you're up for a hike."

It was night by the time they found a large enough clearing to land the Volkerie, and thanks to the cloaking device, they managed to land the ship without being detected by ground crew.

"Powering down engines." Emelle tapped the command console, and pushed the chair back and turned towards Deanna. "How far along are we on the download?"

Deanne glanced at the small PADD she was holding. "We're 90% complete." Emelle nodded and walked to the rear of the ship to where the weapons were being stored. She began to pull out gear and lay them on the table in the back. "How are you expecting to infiltrate the complex? I couldn't help by notice the lack of phasers..."

"That's because we're going to use something better. Come on back and let me show you."

Deanna stood and placed the PADD on the seat of her chair, and walked back to where Emelle stood. As she approached the table, she noticed the less advanced weapons holstered on the table. "How are these better?"

Emelle picked up on of the holsters and handed it to Deanna. "The Wooken have the technology to track weapons like your phasers. Here, it buckles around your waist, and down on the outside of your right leg." Mimicking Emelle's actions, Deanna managed to buckle hers on and adjust the tightness so that it fit perfectly. "So," Emelle drew her weapon. It was approximately twelve inches from tip to tip, and is held in one hand. "this is a projectile weapon created by the Deborians. It has a magazine of twenty shots, and," she pulled a small tube looking device from the outside of the holster. "it has a silencer." As she pushed the end into the barrel of the gun, a small light on the handle turned from red to green, and it chirped in confirmation. Emelle handed several cartages to Deanna, and silently showed her how to load and re-load the weapon.

As Deanna stored the cartages in the slots on the belt, she looked worried from the gun in her hand, to Emelle. "Should we not be better armed? I saw the size of the complex when we flew over it, and it looks like we could come across serious resistance. We can't possibly hope to rescue the captain with just these little guns!"

"Cause it's all we brought. We were trying to make it look like I kidnapped you, and it would have been suspicious if I packed more then these. Beside, it's easier to get around when you're not packing heavy!"

Deanna shook her head. "Why do you think a Ku'Mak General is on the surface?"

"I think whoever captured the captain, is relatively low rank, and probably wasn't even trying to capturing him." Emelle shrugged. "He got lucky."

"What do you think they have done to him?" Deanna asked reluctantly, not really sure if she wanted to know. Emelle looked sympathetically at Deanna, and cleared her throat. Deanna held up her hand and closed her eyes. "I don't need to know the details."

"They would have beaten him, hoping to get any information out of him. Then, going on what I know of your captain, he wouldn't have told them anything, so they would implant a small device in the base of the skull." Deanna dropped her head and rubbed her eyes. "This device gives the controller the ability to control what Picard sees, hears, and feels." Emelle scoffed before continuing. "I don't even want to think about the scenarios that they'd make him go through over and over again."

"That's enough."

Emelle nodded. "We know he's alive. They never would have called for a General if they had killed him."

"Small consolation, Emelle. Very small."

Emelle walked past Deanna and grabbed the PADD off the chair. She turned and handed the PADD back to Deanna, who read that the download was 100% complete. "Like I said: I don't think they were trying to capture him. When their torture didn't work, they called for a General." Emelle stopped and turned to Deanna with a hypo-spray. "It's a radio-isotope that will allow us to enter the complex without being detected. We'll have 12 hours before it completely wears off."

"Shouldn't we wait until we're there before we spray ourselves?"

Emelle shook her head. "I'm not sure of the sensing equipment they may have in the woods. We can't risk it." Hesitantly, Deanna nodded and accepted the hypo-spray after Emelle injected herself. "Ready?"

Deanna dropped the spray on the table and walked to the balk-head door at the back of the ship. "I'm not so sure these outfits are best for this kind of mission." Emelle looked down at herself, and then at Deanna. They both wore simple black pants and boots, and a relatively form fitting black jacket which Deanna found to be rather stiff.

"Well we could go in Federation uniforms. But if we get caught, we'd be shot on site. It's totally up to you."

Deanna frowned at her sarcasm. "Well then. Shall we? I'm not sensing anyone outside."

Emelle slapped the control, and the back door slowly lowered, to reveal a mossy clearing with trees surrounding it. She pulled out a small remote control, and used it to close the back door. "Which way?"

Deanna pulled the PADD from the pocket on her belt, and turned to the left. "That way will get us there the fastest." As she pocketed the PADD, she struggled to push the anxiety from her mind, and followed Emelle into the woods.

"Oh, one last thing." Emelle commented as they began to make their way further. "From what I know about this planet, there's plenty of wildlife, but the most dangerous live in the water. We should try to avoid a route that would require swimming."

Deanna exhaled sharply and shook her head. 'What else?'

Picard found himself standing on the bridge of the Enterprise, with no one else on the bridge, and the alarm blaring. As she slowly turned looking around the bridge, he knew it wasn't real, he knew he needed to fight. When he turned to the viewer, and saw Earth, he stepped forward. He looked down at the helm control and saw that a collision course was set; the ship was hurtling towards Earth. As the hull began to break apart as it entered Earth's atmosphere, there was a blinding light.

"NO!" He screamed as his vision returned, and he found himself in the dark cell. Every time he was thrown into these scenarios, they were so real; he found it took all of his control not to give in. His arms were chained above him, and there were armed guards on either side of the commander.

He was holding the control device in his hands and shook his head as he stepped towards Picard. "I don't understand. You had the time to save your ship from crashing, yet you didn't do anything."

"I won't play along." Picard's rasped voice replied.

"You're an intriguing species. You've been in several situations where you could save your ship, your crew...yet you do resist." The commander raised his eyebrows as he circled Picard. "Your strength and stubbornness won't last you much longer. Perhaps we can try again."

He pressed the button and pain rippled through Picard, and he found himself in an other twisted mental game.

"Commander." He turned from watching Picard grimace and twitch to the officer who walked next to him.

"What is it?"

She looked Picard up and down in disgust before continuing. "Perhaps we need to approach this from a different perspective."

"How so?"

"We've put him in different scenarios, all of which ended in devastation. What if we put him in a more relaxed situation, perhaps with a companion? We could try to retrieve the information we want through their conversations."

The commander nodded slightly and turned off the device. Picard slumped, struggling to catch his breath. "You still refuse to do anything, even as your family and friends die, over and over again?" He leaned closer to Picard. "Tell us what we want to know, and we'll stop. It's that simple." Picard just looked at him, and didn't respond. "Very well." He moved opened the cell door and suddenly Beverly came stumbling into the cell, beaten and bleeding.

"Beverly." He muttered. 'She's not real. She can't be here.' He thought to himself, but he could keep from looking at her.

The Commander nodded to one of the officers, who drew his weapon and pointed it at her. "Tell us what we want to know, or I'll order my officer to shoot her."

Picard looked into her pleading eyes. "She's not real." He muttered, feeling his heart break when she started to cry.

"What do you mean?" The Commander asked. "She's right in front of you."

"It's not real." Picard's voice cracked. "I won't tell you anything." Without a second thought, the Commander shot her. Picard felt as though he had been shot as he looked down at her lifeless body. "It's not real." He rasped. The Commander shook his head and walked towards Picard, only affirming that Beverly wasn't really there when he walked through her image before it shifted then disappeared.

"I've been going easy on you, Picard. One last chance." Picard saw one of the Sodier soldiers raise a stick to the wall where it discharged a small charge. Steeling his emotions, Picard stared at where Beverly's image was, and said nothing. "Have it your way." He nodded to the officer who walked over and pressed the stick against Picard's ribs. His anguished cries echoed through the corridors.

The two made their way through the forest in silence; every noise made Deanna jump and reach for the weapon on her thigh. "There are only a handful of creatures that would attack us." Emelle stated, looking as Deanna's eye darted through the forest. "Besides, we've been walking for over 2 hours. If something was going to attack us, it would have by now."

"Forgive me if I don't find that comforting." Deanna said as she continued to walk.

Emelle followed her with an amused look on her face. "Can I ask you something Deanna?"

"Go ahead." Deanna replied, still looking through the forest around them as they continued to walk.

"What does 'Imzadi' mean?"

Deanna turned to look at her. "Excuse me?"

"Well, I heard Riker call you that a few times. Is it, like a nick-name?"

Deanna scoffed. "No it's not."

"What does it mean then?"

"It's a Betezed term of endearment...means 'beloved'." Deanna said quietly.

"Oh. So you and Commander Riker are together?" Emelle asked pushing the branches out of her way.

"Um. No actually." Deanna replied as she stopped and looked at the map on the PADD.

"I'm confused." Emelle said as she stepped up next to Deanna. "You're not a couple, yet he calls you 'beloved'."

Deanna pointed a head of them to their left. "There's a narrowing of the ridge in that direction. It'll be easier to cross over there."

Emelle smiled as she started to follow Deanna. "So you were a couple."

"You know, commander, this isn't exactly the right place for this kind of conversation."

"Alright." Emelle relented. "I was just curious." Deanna didn't respond, she just shook her head.

When they finally came to the edge of the ridge, they stopped. There was a fallen log spanning the 10 foot distance across the water, which was only three feet below it. "Didn't you say we should avoid the water?"

"Yeah. Just don't fall in." Emelle stepped aside. "After you."

"I don't think so." Deanna said with a soft chuckle.

"Fine. I'll go, just to show you it's safe." She climbed the log and slowly began to cross it. It lagged a little under the added weight, but she managed to get to the other side safely. "See?"

Carefully, Deanna climbed on, slowly making her way across. When she passed the half way mark, her foot slipped off the side of the log, and in an attempt to regain her footing, she fell over the side. She landed in the water on her back, but quickly managed to stand herself up and move to the edge of the water.

Emelle had moved down the ridge and into the water to help Deanna out. "Are you alright?"

Deanna wiped the water off her face. "I'm fine." She threw a glare at Emelle as she moved past her to climb the ridge. "That was reckless."

"Please, it was safe. I guess I didn't take in your poor balance." Deanna purposefully over exaggerated a step, causing dirt to go flying into Emelle face. After spitting out the dirt, wiping her tongue on her sleeve, she pulled her self up. "That was nice, thank you."

Before Deanna could respond, they felt an explosion close by, and saw the sky over the trees start to glow. "Tell me that wasn't the complex that just exploded." Deanna asked, fear gripping her.

"Can't be. Something is firing on the planet from the surface."

"What? How did they get past the armada in orbit?" Deanna asked as an other shot hit the ground, closer than the last.

"Maybe we should get moving." Emelle turned to continue towards the complex.

"Aren't you worried we won't be able to leave whatever is attacking?" Deanna asked, remaining where she stood.

Emelle turned around and flopped her arms to her side. "Of course I am. But wouldn't you rather get the Captain before whoever it is lands." She turned and kept walking. Deanna, agreeing with her, jogged to catch up with Emelle as more weapons fire hit the planet's surface.

It had started to rain over an hour ago, and was now pouring rain, soaking Emelle and Deanna as they moved through the woods. The wind carried the smoke from the bombardment through the forest, and it started to make the visibility difficult. Luckily, they came to the clearing with the single large complex in the middle.

"Do you sense anyone outside the complex?" Emelle asked looking to Deanna.

She closed her eyes and concentrated. "I'm not sensing anything. But that could mean anything; closed minds, or they could be a species I can't use my empathic abilities with."

Emelle looked through the clearing. "Look at that." She pointed to a lone door facing them. "Let's head in there. Where would that put us on the schematics?"

Deanna pulled out the PADD. "It'll put us on the far east wing. The...the holding cells are on the other side of the complex." Deanna dropped her hand down.

Emelle saw her reaction. "How many levels is the complex?"

"There are four levels descending into the ground, but it would appear that there's significant structural damage to the below-ground levels, making them dangerous to occupy. It should just be the top level."

"Ok. Let's go." Emelle pulled up her weapon and started to jog towards the door. Deanna quickly did the same. But as they were closing in on the door, a shot hit the ground 50 meters to their left, and its shockwave threw them to the ground, and smashed the facing side of the complex. After the dirt, twigs and grass stopped raining down on the, Emelle moved her arms from covering her head and lifted herself up to rest on her forearms. She had the wind knocked out of her. "You alright?" Emelle asked as she fell into a coughing fit.

Deanna pushed herself to a sitting position. "I'll be fine. You ok?" Emelle nodded after the coughing subsided, and slowly got to her knees. Deanna offered her hand, and helped her up. She could still hear a ringing in her ears, and her head was throbbing.

When they made it to the door, Emelle tapped the console near it, but nothing happened. "That shot must have taken out the power." She lifted a hand to rub over her left ear. She noticed her legs were still shaking, but she forced herself to continue. "That means the mechanical lock will have disengaged. Help me get it open." They both grabbed onto the door handle and pulled. Finally, they were able to slowly slide the door open enough so that they could squeeze in. Emelle leaned against the door for a moment, still trembling slightly. Shaking herself out of it, she pulled out a small flashlight, and flashed it into the complex. "Looks clear."

"Are you sure you're ok?" Deanna asked noticing how the flashlight shook in her hands.

"I'll be fine." She answered exhaling. She wiped the dirt off the barrel of her gun before pushing herself off the door and walked past Deanna and into the complex.

Picard slumped in pain as the officer removed the sick from his side, still twitching from the electric current that passed from it through his system. Suddenly the commander stormed into the room. "Leave him. We need to return to our ships."

"Sir, what is going on?"

"The Sodier and Wooken have turned on us and are firing on our ships in orbit. Our shielding has made it difficult for them to lock onto the complex, but they are getting closer." The ground shook as an other shot it the ground, only emphasizing his point. He looked to Picard. "You should hope they destroy this place before finding you. They are not as patient as I am." He then turned and left the room, his officers following him out, leaving Picard alone.

He didn't really consider himself a religious man, but in that moment, he prayed to whatever god was out there, to bring an end to his suffering. Tears poured down his face, and a sob escaped his throat. If this was to be the end, he only wished it would come quickly.

The dull sound of the alarm echoed as they quietly moved through the corridors. The only lights were the flashing red warning lights, and the small flashlight in Emelle's hand. She was in front, hugging the wall as they walked past room after room. Her right arm was fully extended aiming her weapon in front of her and her left held the small flashlight pointing straight ahead. Deanna followed closely, her weapon in her right hand and the PADD with the map in her left. As they came to a corner, they stopped and Emelle turned to Deanna. "Which way?" She whispered.

Deanna checked where they were. "Left." As Emelle began to turn the corner, Deanna sensed people coming. She grabbed Emelle's arm and dragged her back. They both looked around for a place to hide. Deanna noticed a broken door that was stuck open across the hall. Emelle indicated for her to go first, and then followed her in just in time. Four armed men ran past the room and down the hall.

When the sound of their footsteps disappeared, Emelle looked to Deanna. "Any more?"

Deanna shook her head. "Not that I can tell." She gave a frustrated huff, and glanced at Emelle who had ducked her head out to check the hall before moving out. After several minutes of dodging other officers, the two found themselves crouching behind a fallen balk head.

"According to the map, down that hall," Deanna indicated to the hall a head. "are the holding cells. However, down the other hall appears to be their interrogation room." She and Emelle looked from one hall to the next. "Which one you think?"

"Oh I don't know." Emelle rubbed a hand across her face, pausing over her eyes. She removed her hand. "Let me think. It took us 5 hours to get from the ship to the complex, longer than I thought, and it's going to take us longer on the way back."

"Is the 12 going to be enough?"

Emelle sighed. "Better be." Looking back down each hall Emelle nodded. "Ok, you go down the hall to the interrogation room, and I'll head to the cells. If you find him, come get me first, and I'll do the same. We need to make up some time."

With that the two women made their way down each hall. As Deanna poked her head in room after room, she found her self wondering 'How the hell did I get here. I'm a ships counsellor not a special ops officer.' Reaching the end of the hall, she looked into the last room. Empty. With a quite curse, Deanna turned and ran back up the hall to meet up with Emelle. Glancing around the corner, she saw Emelle look through the small doors of the cells, when all of a sudden she stopped. Turning to her direction, she indicated for Deanna to come, and when she got there, Deanna felt like being sick. There in the middle of the room, his arms chained above his head, was Jean Luc Picard. He was bleeding badly, and it appeared his legs were no longer holding up his weight. What was left of his uniform barely covered the broken and bleeding body of the man she so admired.

"We need to get in there." Emelle's voice broke Deanna's trance. She raised her hand to the doorway, only to be shocked by the force field. "Oh, damn it!"

As Emelle cradled her throbbing hand, Deanna's attention was drawn back to the captain. She noticed his head move as he slowly pulled it up to look. "Counsellor." His voice was above a whisper, and Deanna was overwhelmed by the emotion coming from the captain.

"Yes sir, we're going to get you out of here." Her voice cracked and her eyes began to water when she saw tear fall from Picard's eyes. She looked at Emelle who shook her hand trying to return some feeling to the extremity. "You can get it open right?"

Emelle noticed how Deanna's voice cracked, and laid a soft hand on Deanna's arm as she moved past her to work on the console. "The main power's off, so the auxiliary power must have kicked in. Therefore," she started mumbling to herself as she broke the console from the wall and started to work with the conduits behind it.

Deanna glanced over her shoulder nervously as the ground trembled again. "I hate to rush you."

"Shh." After a few more seconds, the force field hummed before falling. Both women rushed into the cell, only to be welcomed by an overwhelming stench.

Emelle raised a hand to her nose as Deanna moved to the captain's side. "Captain, let's get out of here." Deanna raised her hands to the chains above his head, but Emelle stopped her and raised her gun. After two quick shots at the chains above his head, the captain slumped into Deanna's arms. "Emelle!"

Emelle immediately moved to swing the captain's arm over her shoulder as Deanna did the same with his other arm. "Let's go." As they walked down the hall, the sound of footsteps took them completely off guard. Luckily they were able to duck behind some debris as a group of soldiers moved down the corridor. Emelle looked to Deanna. "You missed some!"

"Yes I know! You can give me a hard time later! I can take him. You lead the way." Deanna held out the PADD.

"Ok." With that they were one the move again, Emelle a few step a head of Deanna and Picard. "We need to get out of here sooner rather than later." She tapped the PADD and looked down the hall on their left. "There appears to be an exit 50m down that hall. We'll be on the other side of the complex but at least we'd have cover in the woods."

"Are we going to make the 12 hours?"

"It doesn't matter."

"What do you mean it doesn't matter? You're the one who brought it up earlier!" Deanna asked as she readjusted her hold on the captain as they neared the exit.

Emelle began to work on the console to open the door. "We'll be fine, but we didn't have the isotope for the captain."

"Well that wasn't very clever of you!"

Emelle turned around quickly "Listen-"

"Ladies." Picard croaked. "Could we finish this later?"

Emelle shook her head and returned to the door. When it hissed open, Emelle grabbed the captain's arm and swung it over her shoulders again as they walked outside; it was only a small way before the tree line, and they needed the cover fast. The bombardment started up again, and the blast of the explosion caused them to fly forward, and the glow of the weapons fire lit up the area. Quickly, they got up and made it into the forest, and after several meters, Emelle turned back to see if anyone had seen them.

"Looks like we made it out." She grabbed the PADD as she leaned back against a tree and Deanna helped the captain sit.

"How far are we from the ship?" Deanna asked walking over to look at the PADD.

"Our best bet is to follow the river back to where we crossed, and then from there go back the way we came." She looked over to Captain Picard. "Unless you have any objections, sir."

"This is your mission commander." He swallowed heavily. "I trust you two." His eyes fell shut, and Deanna rushed to his side and felt for his pulse.

"We need to get him out of here."

"Is that your professional opinion counsellor?" Before Deanna could respond, Emelle raised her hands in apology. "That was uncalled for. Grab his arm, let's go." They both grabbed the captain and headed down to the river.

The explosions were getting more intense, part of the forest had caught fire, and the wind took the heat and smoke downwind to the trio who had stopped a few minutes back and tied cloth around their mouths and noses. Emelle glanced at the PADD and pulled them to a sudden stop. "God, damn it!"

"What? What's wrong?" Deanna asked as she regained her footing.

Emelle handed her the PADD. "We're on the wrong side of the river."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning, we're going to have to go for that little swim."

I'm back! I've missed writing this SO much! Hope you guys are enjoying it as mush as I am! Please R&R and let me know what you think!