Disclaimer: Paramount Studios and the estate of Gene Roddenberry own copyright of all things Star Trek. The original plot is my own as are any characters created specifically for this story.

'I'm glad that our cuisine is to your liking', the voice just behind him startled Worf, galvanizing him into action. 'Ah, Deanna, may I, er..' he floundered out of his depth. Kurn observed the interaction, amused. He spoke. 'Counsellor Troi, I presume', he responded, overtly becoming excessively charming at his brother's expense, 'Please, sit. Join us', Troi sat, accepting the offer, 'Excuse my brother's actions. He is not as accomplished a diplomat as I. I am Kurn, Worf's younger brother. He has told me much about you!'

Deanna turned to Worf. The look of extreme panic on his face made her look away swiftly. His pride would be irrevocably harmed if she burst out laughing now. And yet, she felt unable, unwilling to allow this wonderful opportunity to pass unanswered. 'Really?' She responded, leaning forward conspiratorially, 'such as..?' Worf could stand no more.

'Enough!' He thundered, 'Kurn be silent, please', the tone of the final word almost begging. In response Kurn threw back his head and bellowed. A huge belly laugh erupted, seemingly all the way from his boots. Worf regarded them both darkly from beneath his huge brow. Then slowly, his eyes twinkling, the corners of his mouth curled up. Soon they were all sharing the joke, laughing until their sides ached.

'Kurn, you will pay for this', Worf promised darkly, 'One day you will wish to take a mate, and I will remind you of this day. In her presence, of course.' At this point Captain Picard, with Riker following hard on his heels joined them. The sounds of a party had not gone unnoticed, and Riker was never one to miss a party.

'Meeting the in-laws, Deanna?' He inquired sweetly. The scene froze, his reply becoming the attention, seemingly not too friendly of three individuals. Two of them large Klingon males he noted belatedly. Yet Will felt more threatened by the third, the Betazoid female. He cleared his throat nervously, 'Just joking', he offered lamely. They responded, by once again bursting into laughter. Riker gave in and joined them. Picard waited patiently for them to end. Then gave his greeting.

'Captain', responded Kurn, 'It is once again an honour to serve with you. My forces are at your disposal. What do you need of us?' Direct, typically Klingon. Picard responded in kind, 'We need your expertise in locating a particular cloaked ship', 'The rogue Galaxy', growled Kurn. Picard nodded, 'Yes. In addition, we may require your assistance in dispatching it, and any allies they may be able to call upon.'

'I believe that there is some question as to the origin of the cloaking device being used by the Cardassians. I have a theory about that', Kurn offered, 'The Duras' '. Picard regarded him sceptically, 'With all due respect Kurn. The sons of Mogh are known for their hatred of the Duras family. I would need some kind of evidence to support that kind of supposition before I..'

'Agreed', cut in Kurn, 'our hatred of them is well known. Then here is your evidence. I discovered that, on my way here, a K'tinga class cruiser was lost in battle six weeks ago. But that the cloaking device onboard was missing after its recovery. The battle was in the Altair system. And one of the Duras was seen on Altair III less than two months ago. If they got hold of that cloak, they may have bargained with the Cardassians for a collaboration, to put them in command of the High Council after successful completion of the mission. And if that happened, they would agree an alliance against the Federation.

I don't need to tell you that with legitimate aid from the Cardassians, even the aid of my squadrons would not be able to restore Martok to power. The entire balance of power throughout this sector would be irrevocably altered!'

Picard grimaced, for he knew that Kurn was right. If he was correct that the Duras' family were behind the Cardassian acquisition of a cloaking device, then he was almost certainly right about the consequences of that action. And that didn't bear thinking about. But how to proceed. A memory triggered in his head, 'Lieutenant, did you and Mr. Data ever come to any agreement on that matter we discussed earlier? I know I gave you until 1600 hours, but now would be a good time.'

Worf coughed, considering. He tapped his communicator, 'Worf to Commander Data, please meet me in the Observation Lounge.' The reply was swift, 'Acknowledged. Data out.' He turned to the assembled company, 'Sir?' Picard replied, 'Thank you Mr. Worf.' He strode swiftly from the room closely followed by Riker, Kurn, Deanna and Worf. Turning into the turbo-lift he commanded, 'Main Bridge.' The doors closed swiftly, and they sped through the ten decks in a matter of seconds. They exited and crossed the back of the bridge, entering the Observation Lounge by the starboard doorway. The door closed behind them. Data joined them a few seconds later. He glanced at Worf questioningly.

'Captain Picard has asked that our briefing be brought forward Commander', explained the Klingon briefly. 'Ah', the android glanced around briefly. Then launched into the briefing which had been the subject of a long - and sometimes very heated - discussion between himself and the Enterprise' security chief. He punched up a display on the wall-mounted viewer, and then began describing in detail the location, timing, and nature of all confirmed contacts with the rogue ship. He described from this - his - their - opinion of the course taken by the Cardassians to achieve these aims. Next he moved on to the section Picard was most interested in - also the section which doubtless had been the source of the most disagreements. Extrapolation from the available data as to the Cardassians next move.

'.. It is our belief..', At the 'our', Riker glanced at Worf glowering on the opposite side of the table, and just prevented himself from grinning, '.. that there are two main courses available to the Cardassians. Simply put, do they attack every vessel they encounter, slowing down their progress dramatically, using up supplies needlessly, when they know they could be caught at any time? Or do they make a run for the border? If we take the latter choice, then we know we shall capture them. They have to cross the border sometime, to get home. But that course of action is flawed.' He paused, and Worf took the opportunity to fill in the gap. 'Yes, if we are wrong, and they delay to make further attacks, then innocent people will die!'

Data regarded him curiously, unsure of the reason for the interruption. He continued uncertainly, 'Correct Commander. So, a third option has to be found. Initially, I was in favour of the second option, that of intercepting them as early as possible. However, the Commander pointed out - at great length..' Worf regarded him darkly, unsure if the android was attempting a subtle form of humour, at his expense, '.. that if we were wrong, the rogue vessel has similar capabilities to ourselves. It would be quite capable of outrunning us to the border, and escaping. We would then be obliged to cross into Cardassian space, in clear violation of the treaty, to attempt to apprehend them. Of course the Cardassian vessel would be cloaked, meaning that the Central Command could deny the existence of any ship, accusing the Federation of deliberately provoking them. They would scrap the treaty and we would become embroiled in a full-scale war. Of course that is worst-case scenario.' Data was known for being a master of understatement.

Picard coughed, 'Very well then Mr. Data. What do you suggest?' The android cleared the screen behind him. He brought up another schematic in order to illustrate the plan, which he and Worf had concocted between them. He tapped a control in the corner of the screen to animate the diagram. 'Here you can see we have plotted the locations of the encounters thus far. From these we have projected the most probable course for the Cardassians to have taken. We have made the assumption that as the senior Gul aboard - being in command of the Second Order - Gul Macet's orders will take precedence over those of Evek. This being the case we believe that the Cardassians will now change tack to move more swiftly towards the Cardassian border. However, we plan an entrapment manoeuvre. Although careful, Macet is still a Cardassian. The suggestion is that the Enterprise develop a reactor malfunction, not a serious one, simply enough to render us 'powerless'. Simulated failure of a main EPS power feed to the antimatter injectors would suffice. This incident would occur two and a half light years away from the Cardassians projected course. That is, here.'

He tapped the diagram, continuing, 'I believe, and Commander Worf concurs, that this would prove an irresistible target to a Cardassian. They would move to intercept us. To destroy the flagship of the Federation would serve two purposes. Firstly, to demonstrate the power of their new acquisition beyond all doubt. Secondly, eventually the Cardassians will wish to attack the Federation, using their newfound power. Removing the flagship would drastically weaken our defences in this sector, the Enterprise being the sector command ship in the event of conflict..' Here Picard threw a sharp glance at Data, surreptitiously indicating Kurn. Not to be fooled, Kurn responded, 'Do not worry Captain. The Commander has not disclosed any information that has not been well known to the High Council for the past three years.' Picard eyed his compatriot warily. He himself had only of this for two and a half years. The disclosure of a leak at a very high level was uncharacteristically careless of the normally scrupulously secretive Klingon captain.

He returned his attention to Data, who had resumed speaking, '.. Even if an attack was not made in this sector, the reshuffle of our forces would sow enough seeds of confusion for any attack to be made immeasurably easier to successfully conclude. So, the Cardassians attack. They will move close, to perform a classic coup-de-gras. At the point of closest contact, the trap will be sprung. Kurn's forces, cloaked in a globe of half a million kilometres diameter around will simultaneously decloak - you may recall a similar tactic was employed against us by the Romulans, with distressing success - and encircle both ships. I am aware that the Cardassians are probably under orders to resist capture at all costs. Nevertheless, it would be prudent to offer them the opportunity to surrender at this point. We would gain a fully functional Galaxy class ship at no cost to the Federation, and in terms of diplomacy, a massive bargaining chip with the Cardassians to be brought out in any future negotiations.

However, I concede that their surrender is unlikely, and would suggest that at the first signs of provocation that they be destroyed. A full-scale battle in Federation space would irrevocably harm relations between us. The Federation citizens in the demilitarised zone would instantly be in peril. Starfleet Command would probably deem that unwelcome.' At this point Picard stepped in. 'Thank you Mr. Data. Concise as always.' His wry smile fooled no one. Jean-Luc's hatred of bloodshed was well known. A hard decision was about to be made in that room. There was not a single person present whose breath had not unaccountably caught in their throats in anticipation of his next words. The two Klingons shared a glance. The chance to die in battle was the greatest desire of all Klingons, and Kurn could detect something close to envy in Worf's gaze. They both knew that the renegade would attempt to break out, and that Kurn was most likely to be in the thick of the fight. Not that there would be much of a battle in any event. Even a Galaxy class ship would be no match for a full squadron of twelve Vor'cha class attack cruisers. It would be short, but undoubtedly bloody.

'Make it so.' The sentence was spoken so softly as to be almost breathed out. Its effect however was to charge the atmosphere with an electricity that could be felt. Riker regarded Picard with sympathy. Better than any present, maybe even Deanna, he knew how much those words had hurt his captain. A Betazoid could detect only raw emotions. Yet Riker knew of the motivations for those feelings, and how much the pain would affect him, not now, or even in the near future. After Picard had experienced a variation of his life - thanks to the interference of the Q entity - he had begun to speak to Will about his life. As he had said, there were parts of his life that were untidy, loose ends. He had become more open, explaining the motivation that caused those ends to become loose. He had spoken of his dreams and wishes. He wanted nothing more than to explore the galaxy. He viewed the galaxy and all its wonders with the eyes of a marvelling child. But until after the battle he would be denied that view. When all was quiet and he was able to relax. And reflect on what he had done.

'Dismissed.' A very private man still, Jean-Luc was aware of the attention he was receiving. The command crew filed out, Riker hanging back in the rear. As the last left the room in front of him he made a decision. He stopped and turned. Picard was sat at the table, immobile. He glanced up, 'Something wrong Number One?' Will cleared his throat, 'It was unavoidable sir. There was nothing you could have done once the die was cast. We became prisoners of the web, the Cardassian spider drawing us in.' Picard smiled wryly, 'I thought I was the poet Will.' Riker grinned in response, 'I have my moments!' Jean-Luc shook his head in wonder, 'Thank you Will. You can go now, I'll be alright.' Reassured, Riker turned and stepped through the door to the bridge, at ease finally.

Geordie regarded his glass of Altairian brandy glumly. Data's actions had not been particularly helpful. When he had returned to Main Engineering, it was to find Sonya Gomez absent. According to Data, shortly after his departure, she had finished the task they had begun, then suddenly excused herself and come here to Ten-Forward. Ignoring the android's puzzled protestations he had followed. He hadn't even been sure of his motives. Now he was. He liked her, a lot. As he entered the room he had scanned swiftly for her face, then spied it over in a corner. Grinning he had approached her. His progress halted with a jolt as Ben crossed his line of sight carrying two drinks to her table. Two drinks - not on a tray either - carried as if one was his. As if to confirm the supposition he swung his leg over a stool and sat at the table, sipping at one of the glasses, placing the other in front of Gomez. She smiled happily at him, then caught sight of Geordie over his shoulder.

He grimaced sourly and abruptly changed direction, heading instead for one of the many stools lining the curved central bar. He had perched on one and ordered a brandy. Barely aware of the alert gaze of the bar's patron, Guinan, he had drained it in one then ordered another. This, his second now lay untouched on the bar in front of him as he contemplated his abysmal run of luck. To say it was inhuman was an understatement only Data should be capable of. He now became dimly aware of that gaze and raised his head in her direction, inquiring, 'Something I can do for you Guinan?' Her head tilted in his direction, as if the question - or rather its tone - were affirmation of his suspicions. 'Not really LaForge', she replied carefully, 'I rather suspected that the reverse may be true..' The sentence had a suspiciously unfinished air about it. And this was how Geordie regarded it. Suspiciously. He eyed her, responding sourly, 'I don't know what you mean!'

The slim shoulders shrugged, 'Suit yourself', and turned away, waiting expectantly. His voice continued, 'I mean, it's been four months now, and not a single lousy date. What is it with the women on this ship?' She grinned, her back still to him. As expected. She turned, the smile swiftly being wiped away. 'Why do you want a lousy date? I didn't think that was the aim!' He squinted in her direction, his brow furrowing in concentration. Dimly he ran through his comment and found the source of the alleged misunderstanding, and grinned wryly despite himself. 'Well you know me Guinan, any date right now would be an improvement!' He smirked finishing, 'Even a lousy one!' He laughed. 'Especially with Sonya Gomez?' Guinan was known for her lack of preamble in reaching the nub of a problem. Geordie scowled afresh, 'Hmmm!', he growled, 'Seems like Ben got there ahead of me!' Leaning forward conspiratorially Guinan whispered, 'But you didn't see Sonya's face when you turned away!' With that she answered the call of Will Riker who, coming off shift, had made a beeline for Ten-Forward.

Geordie's head snapped up. 'Hey what...? Oh never mind!' But the comment played on his mind. Another of Guinan's traits was that she loved sowing the seeds of mystery. A hint of the answer to a person's problems was all she would give. But her tips were never of negative value. All that was required was for him to correctly interpret the comment - and then make use of the information. Strangely it was the execution of the second stage that scared the hell out of him. Obviously Sonya's expression had shown something to Guinan. What? Well he knew it wasn't negatively charged in his direction. Positive then. She must have been disappointed. He snapped his fingers in triumph. Yes, that was it! He turned in the direction of her table. It was empty. He groaned, but he was in high spirits, for he knew now that there would be a next time and headed back to Engineering with a spring in his step.

'Mr. LaForge, are we ready?' Picard's voice broadcast through Geordie's communicator. He winced. The plan had been updated obviously. He was not supposed to enforce the blackout on-board for another sixteen minutes. Grimacing he tapped his communicator, replying cautiously, 'Give me another few minutes sir. I don't want to blow the entire system. I've got it jury-rigged as best I can, but I just wanted to give it another diagnostic..' Uncharacteristically Picard broke in, 'Do you think you will find anything Mr. LaForge?' The Enterprise chief engineer scratched his head. The reply, 'I already have, you never question my judgment!' Came to mind, but he discarded it, opting for the safer, 'Er no, sir.' Picard was brusque in his response. 'Good, then please proceed. Picard out.' Geordie shared a glance with Barclay, stood next to him at the main display. Barclay seemed about to comment, but Geordie forestalled him, murmuring, 'I know Reg I don't like it either. It's not like the captain to question any of us. Something's wrong!'

On the bridge the atmosphere was tense. Picard's comments had not gone unnoticed, nor too his demeanour. Troi glanced across behind him. As expected she met Riker's perplexed, somewhat concerned, gaze. Coughing gently she attracted his attention and Picard swivelled in his seat to meet her eyes. 'Yes Counsellor?' She faltered, 'Er Captain, has there been a change of plan?' He interrupted, 'No, why?' Once again his manner made her stumble and Will stepped in to rescue her. 'It's just that, er, you've never questioned Geordie, or any of us openly before. Also, we aren't due to go on silent running for another fifteen minutes yet.'

Picard glanced round at him then replied, 'Would you join me in my Ready Room Number One? You too Counsellor.' He stood, striding swiftly to the door on their left. As he swept through the door it closed behind him. Riker shared a bemused, now openly worried expression with Deanna, then followed Picard ordering, 'Mr. Data, you have the bridge.' Data eyed him curiously, replying. 'Aye sir.' He stood and replaced Picard in the seat he had so recently vacated, tapping his security code and identity into the padd built in to the chair arm to his left. He eyed the door to the ready room curiously, then turned his attention to his duties.

As Deanna and Will entered the ready room they were surprised. They had fully expected to find Picard at his desk, preparing to chew them out for questioning his orders in public. However, he was sat on his sofa along one wall of the room. He motioned for them to sit, and they did so, Deanna next to him on the sofa, while Will took a chair and swung it around, sitting on it in reverse fashion, his arms draped over the chair back. Jean-Luc seemed tired, and both felt they knew the reason. The price of being a private man, he very rarely took leave when it was available, preferring to bury himself in ship's business, or sit alone in his quarters. Deanna spoke first. 'Captain?' He looked at her blankly, 'When did you last take leave?' He regarded her puzzled. Riker chose to answer for him. 'I remember, it was when you visited your brother Robert, and his wife and son in La Barr. That was too long ago. I have a suggestion sir, if I may..' Picard turned towards him, remarking dryly, 'Yes, and the last time I took you up on one of your suggestions I ended up on Risa, got propositioned, embroiled in that Tox Uthat business and met Vash.'

He paused and smiled. Riker returned the expression, 'You see, it wasn't all bad! And don't forget the..' They both spoke together. 'Horga'hn!' Picard actually laughed aloud at that, 'No, one mustn't forget that - I still haven't paid you back for that Will Riker!' Riker feigned hurt inquiring, 'What about when you let Data throw me in the brig? I mean, just because I was officially a renegade that was no reason to..' Picard broke in, 'Maybe not, but I did so enjoy it!' He was now being too jolly. Deanna put her hand on his arm. He looked over to her questioningly. Read her expression. Sighing heavily he pushed himself back into the sofa and crossed his arms. Then softly began to speak. 'Actually, it is Vash. If you remember the last time we saw her was just after that unfortunate business in Sherwood Forest. You may also recall that she very ill-advisedly accepted Q's offer of a partnership?' They nodded, waiting with dread for him to continue. The mention of Q was never an opening for good news.

'Well I decided to try and keep an eye on them. A bit difficult you may think given Q's powers, but not so. He couldn't very well travel in time, as Vash was always more interested in the here and now. So I just kept my ear to the ground for reports of unauthorized access being made to ancient ruins etc. This afternoon I received such a report. Two people were caught entering a tomb on Valkos III. In Valkosian culture they have defiled a grave. There is only one sentence for such a crime. They were to be put to death three weeks ago', he shuddered in revulsion resuming, 'The Valkosian system is very remote, which is why the news took so long to reach me. There was a man, approximately six feet tall, black hair, Q. He apparently escaped and saved himself. But the woman was executed, the five foot eight auburn-haired, woman.. Vash died on Valkos III, three weeks ago. And Q let her die.'

Riker swore quietly to himself. He had always thought of Q as an opportunistic devious individual. But never that cold-bloodedly callous. Belatedly he remembered that Q had always regarded the human species as substandard, and therefore had never really valued any of their lives. His mind traced back to when Q had forced their first encounter with the Borg, costing the lives of many crewmembers. He felt a flush of anger at the remembrance. Troi meanwhile had slid over to sit nearer Picard. Riker realizing that she would wish to be alone quietly stood, and let himself out of the room, allowing Deanna the freedom to work on the captain to get him to release his feelings. Knowing that only then would they get him back. Also that they had very little time to operate. True Deanna hated to work under pressure, but he hoped that this time she would accept that time was of the essence.