Jamie was right in her prediction that something drastic would have happen for Starfleet to come down on the Syndicate. About a month after that talk with Bones the Enterprise was cruising along through an infrequently traveled area of Federation space, when an ominous-looking vessel appeared in the distance.
"What are they doing here?" she muttered. "Orions don't have any colonies anywhere near here. I bet it's hauling something it shouldn't be." Her mouth tightened at the thought. "Spock, are there any planets nearby where they might be coming or going to deliver or pick up slaves?"
"Only small planetoids with no sentient life, Captain. It could be heading to rendezvous with another ship to transfer prisoners in a poorly patrolled sector," the Vulcan informed her.
"Let's track it for a little while from a safe distance," Jamie decided. "Sulu, follow that ship. Lieutenant, keep your ears peeled for transmissions."
"Yes, Captain," they answered promptly. They carefully tracked the path of the large vessel, which appeared to be a cargo ship, for over half an hour. It seemed very lackadaisical for a smuggling ship trying to move stealthily, but they soon found out why. Three Klingon warbirds suddenly decloaked right in front of the Enterprise and started firing.
"Shields Up!" yelled the Captain as the ship was rocked with another blast.
The red lights blared as the Enterprise began evasive maneuvers in an attempt to get away. Chaos ruled as they took blasts and returned them, getting closer and closer to the Orion ship which loomed ahead of them. In the midst of trying to not get them all killed, Jamie hoped Bones was okay down in Medbay. She knew his difficulties with motion sickness and aviophobia. This was the first time it would really be tested since he'd been with them.
She swore as three more warbirds appeared, pinning them in. The ship quaked again. The shields were weakening. There wasn't much more of this they could take before they'd have to back off.
"Captain, we're being hailed!", called Uhura.
"By the Klingons?" Jamie asked worriedly.
"No, it's the Orion ship."
"Oh. Okay, put them on. We'll see why they had their guard dogs attack us."
A rugged, truly piratical looking Orion appeared on the screen. He had several scars on his green face and the lobe of one ear was gone. The other ear held a thick gold hoop. He grinned at seeing the surprise on Jamie's face.
"Hello, Captain," he said in a smug, gravely voice, "I see you have not learned to mind your own business. No one messes with an Orion's business."
That immediately fired up Jamie. It was men and women like him who'd made Bones's life a living hell.
"We do when you're conducting illegal business in Federation territory," she replied frigidly.
"And just what "illegal business" are we conducting, Captain?"
Jamie put her hands on her hips. "Don't play innocent with me. Starfleet is well aware of the increased activity in species trafficking. We found evidence of a mass kidnapping barely a month ago, with Orion MO stamped all over it. They even left a clan necklace behind." He sneered.
"Even if you could prove that I, Dir, was responsible, you could not recover the goods after so long a time. The Federation will not be happy with your attempt to pick a fight. These Klingons are frothing at the mouth waiting to destroy you."
Jamie was stunned. This was the man that actually had Bones in one of his filthy houses. The sick creep who viewed sentient beings as mere property for profit. She was so sickened by this realization. she forgot to be worried about being destroyed for a moment.
One of the Klingons fired again and the Enterprise answered quickly. In seconds the Warbird was obliterated.
"Listen up, Dir," Jamie said firmly, "even if your little friends manage to destroy my ship, Starfleet's going to come down on you hard. No more tiptoeing around your blatant disregard for Federation Laws. I've heard rumblings from headquarters. You've become greedy and taken too much. Now they're going to crack down."
He laughed, a few gold teeth showing in his nasty mouth. "You foolish captain, they'll never hear from you again. We will take the choicest of your crew as prisoners before we obliterate the rest of you with your ship."
Revulsion swept through Jamie. No way was she going to let that happen. They had firepower the Klingons could only dream about. It was time to use it or die.
"You keep telling yourself that. May the best captain win," she cut off the connection as they took out another Warbird.
"Scotty, how are the shields?" "Sixty percent, captain. We've got to fish or cut bait, so to speak, if we want to make it out of this intact."
Jamie thought for a moment. She could flee the scene and leave all those prisoners on the Orion ship to their fate, or she could be a little nasty with the Klingons, disable the Orion ship, and save some lives. She knew what Komack would tell her to do, but running wasn't going to accomplish anything. She turned to her first officer.
"Well, Spock, we can run away from conflict like a good little peace-keeping ship, or we can fight through the Warbirds, disable the freighter, and save some people doomed to slavery. What do you say?"
"The attack on our ship was unprovoked and the Orion admitted to illegal activities in Federation space. Therefore, you are certainly justified in seizing their vessel, Captain. If such action can be done with minimal loss of life, I see no reason to retreat."
Spock's agreement rather surprised Jamie, since he was usually very cautious about interfering, but she would take it.
The Captain had no time to hesitate as the remaining warbirds were coming at them again.
"Sulu! Keep following the Orion ship!", Jamie commanded her helmsman. "Keep firing warning shots at the Klingons, let them know we're not after them. If they don't stop, cripple them. Our goal is that Pirate ship. She's too slow to get away."
Sulu barely had time to acknowledge the orders before the other Klingon ships were on them. He coolly knocked out a couple engines on each of them, leaving them too crippled to give chase. The Orion ship had put distance between them, but now free of obstacles, the Enterprise quickly narrowed the gap again.
"These ships don't usually carry a lot of crew," explained Jamie," usually no more than twenty to guard the captives and keep the ship. If Scotty can beam five or six of us skilled in combat over there, we could get the jump on them and make our way up to the bridge. I'm itching to get ahold of Dir and lock him away for the rest of his miserable life."
She gritted her teeth and pulled out her communicator.
"Bones, how are things down there?" "Busy. Lots of injuries," he answered. "You okay up there?"
"Yes," she sighed, "I was more worried about you when we were twisting and turning like that. They won't be bothering us again."
"That's good to hear," he replied. "I managed to keep my guts inside during that crazy roller coaster ride. Don't know how."
"We're going to go take down your nemesis, Bones. Dir's on that ship."
Stunned silence. "You've got to be kidding me," he muttered grimly. "Please don't get yourself killed, Jamie. The vile bastard's vicious."
"I'll try not to, Bones. I'll even punch him in the face for you. He won't be ferrying slaves again if I have anything to say about it." Bones sputtered out a laugh.
"You're something, Jamie Kirk. Stay safe, now. I'll be helping out Geoff down here and counting the seconds til you get back."
His voice dropped an octave as he finished and Jamie could hear the worry and affection for her in it. She swallowed past a lump in her throat and responded in kind.
"I'm glad I have someone to come back to. And I will, Bones. Kirk out."
She slipped the communicator back in her pocket and took deep breath. "Sulu, as soon as you've knocked out the power to the ship, you're coming with me," she ordered. "I need your space ninja skills to sneak up on those guys. Hendorff, get your three best officers and report to the transporter room. Shen, I'm borrowing you from Uhura, since we'll need someone to reassure the prisoners and who knows how many languages they speak."
"Yes, captain", the young Andorian communications assistant replied, looking excited to be chosen.
Jamie smiled looking at her assembled team. Dir was SO going down.
