Chapter 19

Closure

Sela sat patiently in one of two command chairs on the bridge. She was eager to see the weapon in use. Once the Vesuvians were out of the way they would move on to the Federation, then the Klingon Empire, then whoever dared to oppose them. Their list of enemies would shorten until all were dead or had submitted. She expected more of the former. One by one she would watch their ships burn as they were destroyed by the very thing that allowed them to travel through space. Sela not only expected it, she wanted it. Once one of the weapons was installed on her ship she would personally take it through Federation territory and demand their surrender, severing all ties to her humanity once and for all.

While her vengeance, like Tasmith's, was blood-related, Tomalak's was personal, and geared towards one person in particular: Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Picard had been responsible for every major embarrassment on Tomalak's military record. Everything from Galorndon Cor to Lorna Prime, Picard had been there each time.

At that very moment, the Starfleet man was being interrogated, hopefully with his wife watching. Once they were through with him, they would start on her, and force him to watch as well. He would learn the price for crossing them.

"Sela to interrogation, I trust our guest is comfortable." She gave a more than generous amount of time for him to respond, more than she normally would. After she called again she knew that things were not right. "Run an internal scan." she said to the science officer. "Look for human and Vesuvian lifesigns."

Only displeasing sounds came from the officer's console. "Internal and external sensors are off-line."

Sela stood up in a flash. "What?!"

As she was walking over to the science station, the lights on the bridge began to flicker. The stars on the viewscreen ceased to fly by them and simply stayed stationary.

"Mistress Sela, warp drive is-"

"I know that!" snapped Sela at the helmsman. "What else isn't working?"

The first officer activated his console for a system diagnostic. "At the moment we are without warp drive, weapons, and sensors."

Sela leaned forward against the console. "What is going-" Her gaze almost burned a hole in the viewscreen. "I knew I should have killed that Vulcan when I had the chance."

Tomalak stormed onto the bridge with all the subtlety of an ion storm. "Why have we dropped out of warp?"

Sela stepped away from the science station and moved toward her chair. "It appears that the persistent Ambassador Spock has another spy. That or the Commander is behind this."

"It would be impossible for him to cause such damage."

"Don't be so naive, Tomalak. It would be foolish to underestimate this human. He's neither weak nor stupid. If you had bothered to read his service record you would know that." She turned to the first officer. "Post extra guards around all the launch bays. And have any guard that went to their cell executed. If there is a traitor on board, we'll find him."

Tomalak took his seat next to Sela. He respected her methods of enforcement. Since she had been on board, the number of mistakes in each department had reduced to zero. No crewmember dared make a mistake out of fear of disciplinary action. It was unfortunate that Ranak had made such a grievous error, he had been one of Tomalak's best officers.

"Commander Sela," said the first officer. "Two security regimens have just checked in. The first reports that Subcenturion Charak has been found dead in the holding cell the prisoners were held in. Four sets of shackles were in the cell. One was severed by a Starfleet phaser, the others were released manually."

"How did he get his hands on a phaser?" asked Tomalak incredulously. "The transporter would have detected it."

"I told you not to underestimate him. What about the other report?"

"Second regimen reports from the main launch bay. The two posted guards were found unconscious. The Starfleet shuttle is gone."

Sela slammed her fist down on the armrest of her chair. She was tempted to go down and kill those two incompetent guards herself.

"Get sensors back online immediately. Then track their course."

"Don't bother." said Sela. "I know where they're going. Sela to Tasmith."

"Yes?"

"Take your ship and go after the Starfleet shuttle."

"They escaped?"

Sela detected excitement in Tasmith's voice. "Yes. They are on their way to Chevris. You must stop them. Capture is no longer an option. I want them dead."

"A pity. Oh, there's one more thing."

"What is it?" asked Sela impatiently.

"Your officers lack endurance."

The comchannel closed. Sela did not require an in depth explanation, she was fully aware of Tasmith's tendencies.

"Contact the prototype." she said. "Tell them to set course for Vesuvia as soon as they can. I want us to be on our way as soon as the engines are back online."

"Commander Sela," said the first officer. "One of the guards regained consciousness momentarily while in sickbay. Before going under again he said the Starfleet officer appeared with a Senior Centurion who claimed to be lost."

"There is only one Senior Centurion on this ship." said Tomalak, rising swiftly from his chair.

"I want S.C. Sardel found immediately." erupted Sela. "Once he's located put him in the launch bay with those two guards that failed. They're going to leave the ship the same way the Commander and his friends did."

"But, Mistress," said the first officer. "They are still unconscious in sickbay."

Sela turned and stared him down. "Then have them revived."

Almost immediately after the Travioli had gone to warp, Rene brought to Alec's attention something that had not been there before. Attached to the tactical console and interfaced with the sensors was a piece of Romulan technology. It did not take Alec long to discover that it was a sensor for detecting cloaked ships. A gift from their operative friend, and an invaluable one at that. It was key to their detecting the weapon ship.

When Alec thought about it, the less surprised he became that such a device existed. Romulan ships would need some way of detecting each other in order to prevent collisions. When Starfleet got their hands on it, fleetwide deployment would go a long way in preventing any further Romulan plots, at least until they made their next advancement in cloaking technology.

Once Alec activated it, he used it to keep tabs on the Warbird for as long as they were in range. Not long after the Travioli activated its warp engines, the Warbird lost power of its own. The operative had done it. He had given them the time to reach Chevris to stop the weapon ship. And Alec never even found out his name.

Although Alec wanted to fully trust the changeling, and he did to a certain degree, there was a part of him that shouted caution. Hence the quantum stasis field he activated before launch. It prevented a changeling from shapeshifting. One couldn't even revert to its natural liquid state in order to regenerate, which they must do every sixteen hours. Former Obsidian Order agent turned tailor, Garak, had reluctantly used such a device on Constable Odo when he temporarily joined his father, Enabran Tain, against the Dominion. For Odo, the experience had been far from pleasant. After the war, Starfleet had them installed on every starbase, starship, shuttle, and outpost. In the event of a Dominion resurgence they did not want to make it so easy for them to reek chaos.

When told about the QSF, the changeling expressed almost no offense, but understanding instead. The only thing he requested, was a name. Tomalak and Sela had given him a Romulan name but he found out that the word translated into 'thing.' It was no easy task, coming up with a name for a changeling. Alec didn't even know where to begin.

'Adam' was Alec's first choice, but he decided against it. He wanted to use it in the even he had another son one day. A few more options came to mind, but none seemed fitting like the one Alec finally decided on. Alec, Rene, Ty'brel, and Sha'Gra had all been through their own personal hells, and each suffering had been of a different severity. Alec could think of no better name than 'Dante.' When explained the meaning behind the name, it was met with the changeling's approval.

"I guess that makes you 'Virgil.'" said Rene to Alec.

"Let's not jump to the gun here. I'm not exactly a poet. Besides, I think our operative friend is a more likely candidate for that name."

"Your haikus do leave something to be desired." she laughed. "But you are our guide and protector."

Alec accepted that. "Let's just hope there's no visit from the boatman." he said, leaning back in the chair. "I don't plan on paying Charon today."

The Starfleet shuttle may have gotten a headstart on her, but Tasmith was quickly closing the gap. In a few minutes, she would overtake them. It was her intention to not completely obliterate the vessel, she needed some of their physical remains as proof.

She regretted it coming to this. It had been her hope to face him one last time, only in an environment more suitable for hand to hand combat. But she was eager to see how he handled himself when it came to an attack from another ship. There was one thing she was certain of: He would not submit. And that made it all the better.

Things looked good so far. The Travioli was only ten minutes away from Chevris' coordinates with no signs of enemy ships. Another good sign was that the planet had not yet appeared on sensors, which meant that it was still in subspace. It had to be brought out of subspace in order for the weapon to be used against it.

"Alec," said Rene with concern. "There's another ship showing up on sensors. It's heading for Chevris' location."

"Is it the weapon ship?"

"No," she replied, still concerned. "It's Starfleet."

"The Enterprise?" he asked. It was the only other Starfleet ship he knew of that was in the sector.

"I don't think so."

Alec left the helm and walked up to the tactical station. It was strange seeing the cockpit this full, especially with this variety: A Vesuvian and a Romulan that wasn't really a Romulan. Until a few minutes ago there had been two Vesuvians, but Sha'Gra went into the back to get some sleep.

He looked at the sensor display. It was indeed a Starfleet ship. "Hmm, Nebula-Class, NCC 781...94. U.S.S. Emissary."

"Isn't that Captain Janeway's ship?" asked Rene.

Encouraging thoughts were not as prominent in Alec's mind. "Yes, and they're headed right for Chevris."

"How can they be aware of its location?" asked Ty'brel from the science station.

"On our way to Vesuvia we detected dilithium explosions from the coordinates that matched Chevris' location. The Emissary must be investigating." The sensor add on made a rather noticeable and un-Starfleet noise followed by another contact on the display. "Uh oh. I think I just picked up the weapon ship, it's on its way to Chevris. And it's going to get there before us or the Emissary."

"Then it's over." said Ty'brel, defeat overshadowing anything else that may have been present in his voice. "Chevris is lost."

Alec stood leaning against the console, his head hung down. He couldn't believe it. There were no forcefields, guards, galactic barriers, or fleets of ships in their way, only a few minutes. He had his hand balled in a fist ready to hit the console when it occurred to him that they were not too late.

"No," he said as he rushed back to the helm. "Chevris is not lost."

Ty'brel eyed him with disbelief. "Pardon me, Commander, but I don't understand. You just said that the weapon ship will arrive there first. Who's going to stop them?"

"Nobody." said Alec. "I'm saying that they're going to wait."

"Why would they not destroy they planet? It's what they went there to do."

"They're going to wait until the Emissary is in orbit before they destroy the planet. It's called killing two birds with one stone."

"How can you be so sure?" asked Ty'brel.

"Because that's what I'd do. There's little doubt that if we've detected the Emissary the Romulans have too and know our fellow ship is on its way to Chevris. By waiting until the Emissary is in orbit they can destroy the planet and a ship that would otherwise be a witness at the same time. Chevris blows up and the Emissary gets caught in the explosion. It's ruthlessly efficient."

"But you don't know for sure."

"No!" said Alec. He was beginning to grow tired of Ty'brel's pessimism. "I don't know for sure. I can't predict the future. All I can do is assess what I know. And this is the best I've got. So if you have something better, by all means, please share it."

Ty'brel didn't speak, but Dante did. "Based on the time I spent with Romulans like Sela and Tomalak, I think I have a valid point of view. I believe the Commander is right. The captain of the weapon ship will wait."

"Thank you." said Alec, not turning around so Ty'brel not be aware of his smug smile. "We've got twenty minutes until the Emissary gets there, so-"

"Alec!" shouted Rene over a console alarm. "There's a ship decloaking behind us!"

"What?! Red alert!" Alec's order was well timed as a torpedo would have directly hit the shuttle rather than be absorbed by the shields if he had delayed.

"Shields at 86." said a calmer than expected Rene. "It's Tasmith's ship."

"How the hell did she find us again and why the hell didn't we detect her?" Alec smacked his console with his flat palm seconds before another weapons impact. He had been confident that their cover as a Bajoran assault craft would have been enough to hide them. They had found the tracking device, so unless she was simply trying her luck, there must have been some telltale sign as to their identity.

"Alec," said Rene, firmly holding the console after another torpedo hit. "We have to do something."

This was the last thing they needed right now. Not only would they be depleting whatever weapons they might need to destroy the weapon ship, but precious time as well. But there was little else to do because doing nothing and being destroyed was not a viable option.

"Taking the holoprojectors offline. We're going to need all the power we can get for the defense systems. Fire a spread of quantum torpedoes. I'm going to take us out of warp near that asteroid field ahead. We're going to try and lose her in there."

"Torpedoes away." said Rene. There was an undeniable excitement in her voice. It was her first live target. "Minor damage." Rene braced herself. "She's firing again."

Alec immediately took the ship out of warp and lowered her on her y-axis. The warp propelled - and therefore invisible - torpedoes continued on over them. He threw the Travioli into full reverse impulse and watched as their pursuer came out of warp ahead and above them.

Alec had given Rene full discretion on her target, but only to the point of not trying anything fancy. That was his territory.

With their adversary expecting to be behind them, they had the element of surprise on their side. Alec brought the Travioli right up behind the Nausicaan raider and told Rene to let loose. Level seven.

He watched as red phaser beams and glowing cyan torpedoes struck the shields of the unprepared ship. He made sure Rene fired continuous bursts. Tasmith's ship possessed stolen regenerative shielding technology, which gave her shields a greater recharge rate. Continuous fire was the only way to drain them enough to cause structural damage.

The other ship reacted quickly. It turned to face them and opened fire. Alec tried his best to anticipate and evade but he couldn't dodge every shot. He managed to avoid the odd torpedo, but the majority of Tasmith's fire was on target. There wasn't much one could do to avoid a phaser lock either. Their shields took damage, but they didn't buckle.

As the ships passed each other, Alec ordered one more aft torpedo volley before leading at full speed to the asteroid field. He hoped that would gain them enough time to lose her. They had two advantages over her. The Travioli was more maneuverable and she was smaller, which meant that she would be able to travel faster through the field.

"One way or another." said Alec as he took the ship past the first asteroid. "This is over soon."

The asteroid field was massive. Sensors measured it at approximately two AU in diameter. It was hard for Alec to imagine an asteroid field twice as wide as the distance between the Earth and its sun. Its size gave them a fair amount of evading room. But it would also make it harder for their debris to be found should the unfortunate happen.

They watched as a bright green torpedo flew over the ship and struck an asteroid. Rocky debris erupted in several directions and boulder sized chunks were sent right into their shields. It was smart of her, very smart. Destroying the asteroids around them even more disruptive - and annoying - than firing directly at the Travioli. Alec had to concentrate even harder to keep their flight path steady.

Their pursuer was steadily losing ground, but still managed to keep them from getting as far ahead as they otherwise would have. Alec gained the most leeway in the larger gaps between the asteroids, but he was forced to slow down when she destroyed any in their path. It tempered his anger, and he could just picture her laughing.

Every so often he'd have Rene fire a torpedo from the aft launcher to try and slow up Tasmith just enough so they could gain a little more ground. Sometimes it worked and sometimes not. But he finally got to the point that he wanted to be: When they could only see her on sensors.

Without having to worry about asteroids exploding around them, Alec increased the speed slightly and set the autonavigation.

"We can't keep fighting her, Alec." said Rene, who looked worriedly at the tactical display. "We're running low on torpedoes and we only have one working phaser bank."

"I don't plan on fighting." said Alec. He stepped into the back without so much as another word before reemerging with a tricorder.

"What's that for?" asked Ty'brel.

Alec opened the tricorder and immediately started scanning. "I think there's another tracking device on board, and that the one we found before was just a decoy, a way to make us feel comfortable and stop us from looking for the real one. Everywhere we've gone, she has followed. She even found us after we destroyed the tracking device in the rear compartment. So, she's either empathic, or we missed something."

"We never scanned the cockpit." exclaimed Ty'brel, feeling like a fool.

"Exactly." said Alec, scanning every surface he could. "We stopped after we found a tracking device in the back. We had no reason to keep searching."

Alec ran the tricorder over every console, every chair, along the carpet. Nothing. He even held it up to the ceiling of the cockpit. Still nothing.

"Damnit." he said. "There has to be something somewhere!"

"May I see that?" asked Dante, holding out his hand. "Perhaps I could help."

"Be my guest." said Alec, handing over the tricorder. He looked out the viewport at the passing asteroids. At another time he probably would have found it exciting.

"In my time with the Romulans," began Dante, entering commands into the tricorder. "I learned a little something about their technology."

Dante pushed one final button and the tricorder erupted in a pulsing alarm. His efforts had been successful. He waved the scanner around the cockpit, searching for where the alarm grew faster. It was nearby. He stepped forward and the pulse grew faster and faster until it was a steady noise. The tricorder was pointed at Alec. More specifically, his wrist.

"What the hell?" exclaimed Alec.

"How did they get a tracking device on you?" asked Rene.

"They couldn't have. I'd have noticed if- The Vesuvian shackles. When they put them on me when I was arrested I felt a pinch on my wrist. They must have injected the tracking device that way. I just thought they were being jerks. Apparently not." Before anyone else could say a word, he Alec burst into an uncontrollable fit of laughter as he looked at his right fist.

"What is so funny?" asked Rene puzzledly.

"I hit Jones for nothing."

Tasmith had lost sight of the Starfleet shuttle, for now. Not that it mattered anyway, the signal from the tracking device was coming in strong. If it were not for that she would have a difficult time following them as the deeper they went into the field the stronger the interference from minerals within the asteroids.

When she dropped out of warp in pursuit of the shuttle she experienced a rare confusion when her target was nowhere to be seen and an unexpected attack did little to curb it. But she did not allow it to distract her. She brought her ship around and sent a barrage of weapons fire at her oncoming prey. There was little for them to do as such close quarters allowed little time to maneuver. Although she was a little impressed they avoided as many shots as they did.

Once the Starfleet shuttle was behind her. She took a torpedo volley to her aft section. Just enough of one of the torpedo's quantum filaments seeped through her shields to cause a disruption in her cloaking device. Not that she planned on using it anyway.

She reduced her speed upon entering the asteroid field but increased it momentarily when permitted. The next torpedo she fired was aimed at an asteroid in proximity to her prey rather than her prey itself. A pilot could more easily adapt to weapons fire than exploding debris.

Losing sight of her prey didn't strike a blow to her resolve in the slightest. They wouldn't escape her. Nobody ever did.

Alec once more took control of the shuttle. He had a plan, but it was a long shot. And as soon as he reached the area of the asteroid field where the mineral interference was at its strongest he put it in motion.

"Someone go into the back." he said, maneuvering between the asteroids. "Open the medical locker and get a blood sampler."

Rene disappeared into the rear compartment for a few moments before quickly rushing to the helm with the gun-like blood sampler in her outstretched hand. He told her to set it on the console next to him for the time being. It was time to reactivate the holoprojectors, only this time he was choosing a disguise nobody would expect.

"Alec," said Rene, sitting back at the tactical station. She'd seen him like this before. "What's brewing in that brain of yours?"

"You'll see." he said with a grin. "Rene, would be so kind as to scan for any nearby medium sized asteroids? Preferably with a fissure at least one hundred meters deep and twenty meters across."

"I'll try." she said, beginning the scan.

"Please hurry." he said, rolling up his sleeve. "We don't have long until she gets here. Dante, can you bring that tricorder over here for a second?" In a moment he was joined by the changeling. "I need you to tell me when the tracking device is out of my arm."

Alec held the sampler against his wrist and in seconds blood began to flow into the small, clear vial that came out the back. He never liked the sight of his own blood. In the past it had sometimes made him want to retch. But not this time. Either his mind had told his body that now was not the time, or that particular part of him had finally grown up. Whichever one it was, he was grateful.

When the tube could hold no more, he removed it from its housings and held it out to the tricorder still in the hand of Dante. The scanning instrument began to pulse wildly in the same manner as before.

"Bingo." said Alec. He turned to Ty'brel and tossed him the vial. "Put this on the transporter pad, hurry. Rene, any luck with finding an asteroid?"

"It wasn't easy." she said with just a hint of pride. "These damn sensors are being stubborn. I don't think they like me. There's a couple nearby."

Alec walked up the gangway and observed the two asteroids on her sensor display. "Hmmm, this one is too big, too many other fissures." He pointed his finger at the second asteroid. "But this one is perfect."

"You're going to hide us in there, aren't you?" asked a smarmy Rene.

"In a matter of speaking." Alec walked back to the helm and slid the chair over to the auxiliary console. He set the transporter coordinates and engaged the mechanism. With transport complete he slid back to the helm and set course for the asteroid he had chosen. He grinned when he looked into the gullet of the giant piece of rock. Once more he slid over to the auxiliary console.

"What are you doing?" It was times like that Rene wished she were of Betazoid heritage so she would know with certainty what went on in her husband's head.

"Launching a probe." he said with the push of a button. "Say 'ahhh.'"

The viewport was the center of attention as the probe flew away from the shuttle and down the fissure of the asteroid before them. One by one they understood.

"You beamed the vial into the probe." Ty'brel spoke first. "Brilliant."

"Only if it works." said Alec as he veered the shuttle away from the asteroid opening and took position not far away. He disengaged the inertial dampers and activated a single thruster for less than a millisecond. When the asteroid field outside began to pivot and spin he sat back into his chair and held the back of his head in his hands.

"Aren't we an easy target out in the open?" asked Dante. "Even disguised as an adrift ship?"

"We would be," replied Alec. "If we were disguised as an adrift ship."

"Then what are we?"

"When in Rome."

"Clever." Rene laughed.

"I don't understand." said Dante, who along with Ty'brel didn't always get human sayings.

"He has us disguised as an asteroid."

"Shhh." said Alec, leaning forward and peering outside. "Here she comes."

The endless ocean of rock was growing tiresome. Tasmith was thankful it would be over soon. She was closing in on the tracking signal with her weapons systems at full readiness.

Her sensor readout showed the tracking device to be five hundred meters ahead but the shuttle were nowhere to be seen. The only thing before her was an asteroid. The fools were hiding inside. According to what scans she was able to take, that fissure before her was the only way in or out. They had sealed their own fate. There was nowhere for them to go now.

The asteroid was too large for her to destroy on its own. She would have to go in after them. Any intentions of destroying them were now gone. Once she had them trapped they would be going with her whether they wanted to or not. Sela and Tomalak need not ever know. It was her prerogative to make alterations. If it were not for her, the Tal'Shiar would not have created Sela and Tomalak's precious weapon.

She brought her ship to the mouth of the fissure. There was a clearance of two and a half meters on each side. The Starfleet shuttle would not be able to get past her. Fools.

He gave his hands a single loud clap. "Yes!" His outburst surprised everyone in the cockpit and probably jarred Sha'Gra from her sleep.

"Now what?" asked Ty'brel.

"Nowwwwww," said Alec as he reinitiated the inertial dampers and engaged thrusters. "Now, we lock the door."

He maneuvered the Travioli to the mouth of the fissure and deactivated the holoprojectors. With the ship matching the orientation of the asteroid, he left the helm and went to the tactical station. Not that he doubted Rene, but he needed precision targeting and didn't want to take any chances. He set what remained of their weapons at the fissure except for one torpedo, which he planned to fire directly down the fissure. A parting gift. That Hound will never feed on land or pewter, but find his fare in wisdom, love, and virtue... And he will hunt that beast through every city until he thrusts her back again to Hell, from which she was first sent above by envy.

"High tide, Tasmith." said Alec with a grin. "Can you swim?"

His hand was batted away by Rene before he could fire. "What do you think you're doing?" she asked.

"Huh?"

"If you think that after everything that's happened in the past week that I'm going to let you push that button than you're as deluded as those two Romulans."

Alec grinned, took a step back and held out his hand to the weapons panel. "Ladies first."

"Always such a gentleman." Rene's hand hovered over the firing controls. It was steady as a rock. "This is for messing with my husband."

Tasmith didn't see it coming. While her ship was still transversing the fissure, it was rocked by a violent explosion that sent her head hard against the control panel with more force than any headbutt she had ever delivered. As she was wiping the collecting green blood out of her eyes, her ship was stuck by a collection of gyrations. Several pieces of large rock collapsed down onto the front of her ship, pinning it to the floor of the tunnel.

A fire erupted in the rear compartment of her ship, forcing her to seal the door connecting the two sections. A piece of bulkhead fell from the ceiling and because of her head wound she was unable to react quickly enough. It knocked her chair from its moorings and pinned her to the floor. She shielded her eyes from sparks that spewed from a nearby blown out console and watched as another rock struck her ship very close to the viewport. Another meter and she would have been blown out into the vacuum.

After pushing off the piece of bulkhead she slowly pulled herself up and used the console for support. A sharp pain rang in her head and her left arm was broken, the shoulder dislocated. After she wiped more blood from her vision she put her attention on the panel to find out what happened. The computer registered a direct impact by a quantum torpedo to the aft section. Not only was her ship trapped underneath several tons of rock, the entrance had been sealed. Even if she were able to free her ship from the rock, there was no way to remove the rubble from the entrance short of using her weapons. If it turned out her weapons were even still functioning they would most likely just cause further cave ins.

She had been lured into a trap. One that she should have picked up on. Her sensors now showed that the tracking signal was actually from a probe near the end of the tunnel. She only had herself to blame. She never should have underestimated her prey. Like most lessons, it was one learned too late.

Her communications console sounded. The cracked screen displayed a blue background with a collection of white stars. Coming down the sides with their stems intersecting were two olive branches. It was the insignia of the United Federation of Planets. Her former prey was hailing her. Every contingency, except this one.

Woof.

Alec had watched as the entrance to the fissure crumbled and completely covered up any evidence there was ever an opening in the rock. They managed to collapse the entrance with two torpedoes to spare.

"Do you really think she'll answer?" asked Rene.

"Oh, she'll answer."

"What makes you so sure?"

"She'll want to see the face of the person who beat her." said Alec. The communications console sounded immediately. "Speak of the devil."

"I don't think you're too far off. I'm routing it to your monitor." Rene stepped down the incline and stood behind Alec.

He waited a few seconds for the monitor on his right to activate. The image was distorted, but he could still see enough detail. Tasmith's cockpit was in shambles. Optical cable hung down from the ceiling, smoke was in the air, a console was spewing sparks while the rest flickered. And Tasmith herself was no better off. A nasty gash was bleeding badly, blood had already soaked into her hair and streamed down her face. Her unusual posture indicated her left shoulder was dislocated. But the extent of her injuries was not the disturbing part about her appearance, it was the ever present amused smirk that once again showed itself.

"They don't make Nausicaan ships like they used to." said Alec. "You should contact the shipyard and lodge a complaint."

"Well played. I should have anticipated that."

Alec was already piloting the shuttle out of the asteroid field. The image flickered the further away they got. He was going to continue talking, but Rene was poking him in the back. "I think my wife has something she'd like to say."

Rene leaned down on the console so her face was inches away from the monitor and stared at their defeated hunter. It was her turn to smile, and smile she did. It had never felt better. "When your oxygen runs out, and you're fighting for breath, remember us."

Rene tapped the console and closed the channel. Alec took her hand and pulled her in to hold her. He could think of no better parting words.

"How much time did we lose?" asked Ty'brel.

Too much. Alec closed his eyes. "We'll make it."

"How much?"

"We'll make it."

"Alec," said Rene, squeezing his hand. "How can we stop the ship with one phaser bank and a couple of torpedoes?"

"I don't know. But I'll think of something."

It was a lie. He already knew how he would take care of it. It was the only way. Level eight.