~Pirates of the Federation~

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Written by MTrek

Edited by BookFan87

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Chapter 2: Old Faces

In the Dauntless' holodeck, a replica of the 18th century vessel HMS Victory was at half sail, slowly passing through ancient London's harbor. Nearly seventy meters long and six and a half meters in depth, it was powerfully imposing.

On its extensive main deck, several captains, senior officers and crew of the other visiting Starfleet ships watched as the President of the Federation herself pinned the rank of commodore on Chakotay. All were in full dress uniform, but the former captain was perhaps the showiest present. Gold hem-lined and crimson-themed, his new insignia made the outfit complete.

The President and Chakotay vigorously shook hands, then the commodore turned to face the audience, which immediately broke out in applause. Several captains backslapped him and gave their words of congratulations.

Amidst the other spectators in the crowd, Seven didn't look to be too excited. The artificial heat combined with her very tight dress made it hard to even move. She discreetly attempted to adjust the corset through the material, then began clapping as well, trying to hide her discomfort.

Behind her, Data saw her fidget and leaned forward after the applause subsided. "You seem to be expressing discomfort, Lieutenant. Are you all right?"

Inhaling as best as she could, Seven looked straight ahead, masking her hurt once more. "I am fine, Commander. Don't concern yourself with me."

Data complied with her request and left her alone, looking a little wounded.

From a spaceport far below the ships, the disguised Lore spied his quarry. He'd done a little asking around and found out about the promotion ceremony aboard the Dauntless. Stepping into the turbolift, he ordered it to the airlock.

The holodeck had been open all morning to arriving guests, but Lieutenant Commander Nog had been worried about the lack of available security; so he asked his uncle and father for a favor as a last resort. Former Nagus and current engineer Rom was somewhat excited about his task; he didn't often get to play around with phaser rifles. Quark, on the other hand, really couldn't have cared less about this little thing called "guard duty." Leaning against the opposing wall to the holodeck doors, he fumed as he shifted some useless knickknacks in his hand. The only reason he'd agreed to help was because he thought that he could make a profit off people coming in and out. Was he ever mistaken! Now he was stuck with his irritatingly cheery brother playing solider. Ah well, he thought. At the very least I can convince Nog to pay me for my efforts.

Just then, Lore strolled through the open airlock adjacent to the holodeck and made his way to the doors. Distracted in their own thoughts, the Ferengi suddenly came to attention at the sight of him. Rom hefted his rifle in a protective stance, blocking Lore's path. He frowned staunchly and tried his best to imitate an officer. "This area is off-limits to civilians, sir."

Lore blinked as if taken aback. "Terribly sorry – I didn't know. If I see one, I'll be sure to tell you." With a pleasant half smile, he began to pass them. But they both promptly blocked him again. The outwardly-disguised android snorted to himself inwardly, but replaced his annoyance with a mischievous, albeit casual air. Hearing some voices reverberating from behind the doors, he decided to have some fun with the Ferengi. "It seems there's some sort of party going on in there. Weren't you two invited?"

Rom furrowed his large brow in sudden indignant realization. "No, we were certainly not!" he spat out, punctuating every word. A quick glance from Quark, however, brought him back to planet-side. "…but, er, someone has to make sure this area stays secure."

Through one of the nearby windows, Lore looked at the hull of the Dauntless. "This must be some important little schooner," he said in slight, mock admiration.

"Ship," corrected Rom.

Splaying his hands outward, Lore gestured apologetically with an inclined head.

Quark frowned in spite of his determination not to care. This mysterious, dark hew-mon made him ill at ease. Normally he was used to dealing with underhanded people such as himself; but something about this man with his cold, unfeeling eyes seemed very wrong. Rom was professing to the vagrant how much he knew about these types of ships when Quark started listening again.

"You seem to take your jobs very seriously," frothed Lore as he looked past the Dauntless to the Sovereign-class Enterprise at the next spire. "But it seems to me that a ship like that—" he gestured toward the larger vessel— "makes this one look a bit superfluous."

The engineer glanced out the viewport. "Oh… the Enterprise is the flagship of the Federation – but there's no ship that can match a Reactor class for speed."

"Really, is that so?" He pretended that all this was news to him. "Well, I've heard of one that's supposed to be very fast, nearly uncatchable… the Dark Avarice."

Now Quark laughed. "There's no real ship that can match the Enterprise."

"The Dark Avarice is a real ship, Brother," said Rom.

Quark dismissed his comment. "No, it's not."

"Yes, it is. I've seen it."

Rolling his tongue along his sharp teeth, Quark shifted his weight to face Rom. "Oh you have, have you?"

"Yes."

"You've seen the Dark Avarice? And you're not just saying that because you saw a representation of what it's thought to look like?"

"No, I have seen it," Rom insisted.

Shaking his head, Quark smiled disbelievingly. "You haven't seen it."

Rom was getting a little frustrated. "Yes, I have!"

Lore looked from one Ferengi to the other, waiting for the opportune moment.

"You've seen a ship with a black hull that's crewed by phantoms and captained by a being so ruthless that the Vault of Eternal Destitution threw him back out?" Quark asked incredulously.

A little baffled by the quick onslaught of words, Rom hesitated. "…No."

"No." repeated Quark, his point proved. Lore had begun to move around them, but snapped back to his previous place when Quark looked his way.

"But I have seen a ship with a black hull," said Rom, not about to let his brother outwit him again.

Thoroughly irritated now, Quark widened his eyes in mock surprise. "Oh! And no ship that's not crewed by phantoms and captained by a being so ruthless the Vault of Eternal Destitution threw him back out could possibly have a black hull, and therefore it couldn't possibly be any other ship than the Dark Avarice. Is that what you're saying?"

Lore had successfully moved around them and into the holodeck. Even more lost, Rom concluded that if he sounded confident, Quark might give in. "No."

The bar owner cocked his head smugly. "Like I said, there's no real ship that can match the Enter—" He noticed that the suspicious man was no longer there. Looking behind him, he saw the holodeck doors closing and Lore sauntering around the deserted mizzenmast shrouds.

"HEY!" yelled Rom. Both Ferengi darted through the doors after him. Lore ran his hand over the artificial rigging casually. "You! Get back in the hall!" The engineer leveled his rifle at him. "We didn't give you clearance to come in here!"

Lore feigned innocence, holding his hands outward in defense. "I apologize. It's just such a sophisticated little frig—" he quickly corrected himself, "—ship."

Rom turned up the power setting distrustfully. "Who are you?"

"People call me Jones, or Jonesy if you prefer," he lied cordially.

"What purpose do you have in attending a Starfleet ceremony on a Federation ship, Mr. Jones?" asked Quark.

"Yeah, and no lies!" ordered a trigger-itchy Rom.

Lore stared at them for a moment then his cocky smile returned. "No lies? All right, I confess: I intend to borrow one of these ships, pick up a crew on Tsoa VI, and otherwise embezzle and ransack my degenerated positronic relays out."

The Ferengi were speechless. Rom couldn't believe the audacity of this hew-mon. Re-aiming his rifle, he repeated, "I said no lies!"

Quark's point of view changed drastically, seeing Lore in a different light. "Rom… I think he's telling us the truth."

His little brother looked confusedly at him, Lore, and back to Quark again. "If he were telling the truth, he wouldn't have told us."

"Unless, of course, he knew you wouldn't believe the truth even if he told it to you," voiced Lore.

Rom smiled in agreement, but then he realized what the hew-mon was implying.

The ceremony was winding down now and some of the senior officers had departed back to their duties already. Near the swing guns, Seven wished she had one of those stylish little paper accordion fans they used so extensively back during the 18th century. She was now pale and perspiring, oblivious to the chatter going on around her. Evidently she didn't look bad enough for the approaching Chakotay to notice.

"May I have a moment?" he asked her, hand on her shoulder.

She weakly followed him to the elevated bow of the Victory. An awkward silence preluded Chakotay's nervous burst. "You look beautiful, Seven."

She frowned, unable to focus properly; it was even harder to breathe now. The stairs had not been kind to her.

Chakotay mistook her expression for disapproval. "Sorry… but there's something that I've had on my mind for a while now…" He tried to work up his confidence as best he could. "This promotion confirms that I've accomplished the goals I set for myself when I first joined Starfleet. It's reminded me of how far I've come – Voyager, the Delta Quadrant…"

He kept on rambling, but it might as well been to no one. Seven couldn't concentrate on anything, her head becoming lighter and vision growing blurry.

"…But it's also reminded me that I still lack one of the essential elements in a successful life… marriage."

"I – I can't breathe," Seven managed to gasp.

Chakotay smiled and faced the shores of London. "Tell me about it; I'm nervous myself—"

Seven lost her balance as her consciousness slipped away, and she fell over the edge of the ship. Looking to her previous position, Chakotay frowned in confusion. "Seven?"

At the other end of the Victory, Lore and the Ferengi were now pleasantly speaking to one another. "…And then they made me their leader," said Lore just as Seven splashed into the water. All three men looked over the edge of the ship to see a floating, blue dressed form beginning to sink. Glancing expectantly at Rom, Lore gestured to the water. "Are you going to be saving her?"

Panicked, Rom said, "I can't swim!" Quark just scoffed with a shake of his head.

Lore rolled his eyes: he had no choice and it ticked him off. "Ferengi... fine." Unclipping his belt he shoved it in Rom's arms. "Don't lose this." Then he dove right off the moving ship as closely as he could to Seven. He quickly activated his buoyancy program, but at the same time, his holoprojector shorted out and his true appearance showed through.

Up above, Chakotay yelled, "SEVEN! Computer, end program!"

It answered back, "Overload of occupants. Expect a delay of one minute until end of program."

He swore loudly and began to hurriedly remove his jacket.

Underwater, Lore grabbed Seven's limp body, increased his buoyancy again, then began swimming back up to the surface. But a curious thing took place in Seven's Borg wrist. The chip had been activated. It began to flash a homing signal – invisible to both of them, but very visible to the receivers of its transmission.

Now in the water too, Chakotay stroked hard towards the surfaced Lore and Seven just as the program disappeared around them. Suddenly all the officers were on the same level and the two swimmers were on the far edge of the large holodeck. Rom, quick to help, came over to the wet men and tried to offer his assistance.

Seven was still unconscious, but Chakotay was trying to revive her. Rom let out a plaintive, "She's not breathing!" Several other officers watched from a wary but concerned distance.

Lore, now disguised again, pushed aside the others. "Move." He leaned over Seven and unsheathed a blade. The other two were shocked as he slit a perfect vertical line down her mid-section, freeing her from the corset. She reacted immediately to the loosening in her bodice and coughed up water, taking a deep breath after getting it all out.

Rom looked at Lore in surprise. "I never would've thought of that."

"Clearly, you've never been to the Eris Colony," he replied bluntly.

Seven attempted to sit up with Chakotay's help. Placing a hand on the deck, the chip fell out of her wrist; Lore spotted it and picked it up. Her eyes darted to his hand and he looked slowly up at her. "Where did you get this?"

Picard began running across the deck to her. Somewhat recovering her composure, Seven snatched the chip back from him before he got there. The captain came to her side, removing his outer jacket and placing it on her. She was, after all, now wearing a ripped dress. "Seven! Are you all right?"

"Yes – yes, I'm fine. Had these two not reacted so fast, I may have been drowned in a virtual ocean."

All of them standing up, Chakotay made a quick study of Lore as he re-donned his uniform… then extended his hand. "I believe I owe you a thank you."

Lore cautiously took the commodore's proffered hand shake. Chakotay instantly tightened his grip and pulled the other man close enough to reach his holoprojector. Upon its deactivation, Lore's true appearance reemerged, stunning all the officers within eye range.

"Had a run-in with the illegal holographic traders… pirate?!" forcibly spat out a knowing Chakotay.

Picard recognized the old face immediately. "Lore!"

"Someone get some heavy duty restraining cuffs… So you're the infamous brother of Commander Data," said the commodore. A few officers brandished their spare phasers on Lore. "What are you doing here, Lore?"

"Captain Lore, if you please--" He looked at Chakotay's jacket. "--Commodore."

Chakotay glanced behind him at the other captains. "All the captains of all the present ships are here. Unless your vessel is a shuttle craft, no docks are open for an actual ship." He smiled smugly at Lore.

"These are his, sir," said Quark, speaking up at the slimmest opportunity of profitability to him. He snatched the belt from Rom and handed it over. Chakotay examined the belt and found an arrow-type disruptor.

"Not enough power for more than one shot," commented Chakotay. Removing a handheld device next, it gave him pause due to its ancient design. "An outdated Galactic Positioner that doesn't point to Earth."

Lore looked a little embarrassed now. Chakotay's descriptions of his effects made him sound quite pitiful.

Removing the last weapon from the belt, he took out a twenty millimeter switch blade, and smiled at the android. "And I half-expected it would be made of wood." He flipped it closed and handed the belt back to Quark. "You are without a doubt the worst renegade I've ever heard of."

"Ah," Lore held up a finger. "But you have heard of me."

A lieutenant returned with a strong pair of restraints and approached Lore. Seven finally came forward, Picard's jacket slipping off, but the captain was intent on keeping it on her. "Commodore, pirate or not, he saved my life."

"He has a long, very colorful history with my crew and the Enterprise. I can't believe you would even think that one good deed would rectify this man's past," voiced Picard as the lieutenant finished snapping the cuffs on Lore.

"But it does seem to be enough to condemn him," added the pale facsimile of Data.

Picard clenched his jaw in annoyance. "Indeed."

Now restrained even beyond his great strength, the officers around them stowed their arms except the lieutenant. He stepped forward to guide Lore, but the android had been waiting for him.

"Finally." Too fast for any human to react, he crescent-kicked the weapon clear out of the lieutenant's hand, and grabbed Seven with the broad side of his cuffs, making an effective choke hold. Phasers were drawn again instantly, but now Seven had become Lore's shield. All aims wavered at this turn of events.

Lore smiled his memorable serpent grin. "I knew you'd warm up to me," he whispered in Seven's ear.

She was livid at her new position and her former rescuer.

"Commodore… my disruptor and my belt, please."

Chakotay balled his fists in frustration, hesitating.

"Commodore!"

Rom grabbed the belt and disruptor from his brother, giving it to Chakotay who held it out to Lore.

"Seven – it is Seven, isn't it?" oozed the pirate.

"It's Lieutenant Nine," she said curtly.

"Lieutenant Nine, if you will be so kind?"

She grabbed the items from Chakotay, but Lore was one step ahead of her, grabbing the disruptor as soon as it's close enough. He then jerked her around to face him, both of them pressed together, stomach to stomach.

"Now, if you'll be very kind?"

She realized what he meant… and glared nastily, putting the belt roughly on him. As she reached around his waist, Lore smiled conceitedly at the helpless officers. Chakotay was on the verge of shooting the android's smug face with the power set on vaporize. But he knew he couldn't risk hitting Seven.

"You are truly vile," she hissed at Lore.

He laughed at her. "One tries. I saved your life, you saved mine. We're even."

When she finished, Lore twisted her around again, pointing his disruptor at her face and backing up to the holodeck doors. "Gentlemen – my lady – I believe you'll always remember this as the day that you almost caught… Captain Lore!" He shoved Seven into the crowd of officers and darted through the doors.

A few managed to get off a shot at him, but he got around the corner before they could aim properly. Several chased him into the hall, including Picard.

Sprinting down the corridors of the ship, Lore found a turbolift and got inside before his pursuants could catch up to him. Picard called out, "Computer, halt turbolift six and return to deck eighteen!"

Inside the lift, Lore felt it begin to descend then looked up at the ceiling.

All the officers trained their weapons on the doors, waiting for them to open. But when the lift returned, it was, of course, devoid of occupant. Picard sighed heavily in aggravation.

Back near the holodeck, Chakotay and Seven exited just as the Enterprise's captain was heard over the intercom. "This is Picard; there is an intruder aboard the Dauntless near decks eighteen and seventeen, section five."

"Seven, are you going to be—"

"Yes, I'm all right, I'm fine. Go capture him," said Seven dismissively.

Chakotay was taken aback by her ire, and wisely headed down the corridor in the direction of the chase.

What do you think so far? Doesn't Lore seem a bit different since the last time we saw him in Descent? I'll have more soon. =3 Please review!

~MTrek~