"Klingon vessel is rolling up above us."

Sulu studied the action of the enemy ship, and Gars was right; the Gr'oth was barrel-rolling to get on top of the Excelsior.

"Helm, hit retros in six seconds, then commence maneuver Kirk Epsilon" Sulu ordered.

"Aye, captain" the helmsman acknowledged.

The ship shook as klingon disruptor fire connected with the shields.

The communications-officer, wearing the orange shirt of a Specialist beneath the Starfleet uniform that carried a single red ribbon on either sleeve, shook his head. "I have no signal from Korvat. I can't reach the away-team."

"Sensors pick up twenty-eight humans on Korvat" Karalga reported in turn, "and six benzites."

Sulu turned to face his chief science officer. "Vulcans?"

Karalga shook her head, just as the ship shook from another hit. "Readings confirm seven klingons on the surface. No vulcans."

The security-lieutenant in charge of monitoring the condition of the away-teams shook her head in turn. "I've tried everything, captain. The away-team… They're all dead."

Gars turned to her commanding officer. "I'm sorry captain, but we are not equipped to deal with a klingon battle-cruiser. And the only way we can go down to the surface and find our officers, is if we defeat the klingons in space."

"Highly unlikely" Karalga added as the Excelsior shook from incoming fire.

"Damn it all!" Sulu growled. "Mister Shatner, plot a course for Federation space, maximum warp."

"Aye, aye, captain!" the helmsman responded.

"Do not engage warpdrive!"

Everyone on the bridge turned to the turbolifts and the trill who had counter-ordered the captain.

"Dax?!" Sulu barely believed his eyes. "Get off my bridge!"

Gars hurried over and grabbed the trill by the arm, but Curzon struggled not be arrested. "We can't leave before we find the romulans!" Curzon insisted. "Koloth is a friend of the klingon chancellor, this is our best chance to gain their trust!"

"Klingons can't be trusted" Sulu countered, grim as ever. As if to make his point, another klingon salvo shook the Starfleet vessel. "Get him out of here!"

"Torpedo!" lieutenant commander Handalma called out. "Brace for impact!"

The ship, and the bridge shook violently, rocking everyone in their chairs and crew standing upright were thrown to the floor, including Gars and Dax.

"There must be something really important on those datafiles" Handalma commented, the xindi-arboreal rubbing his neck after suffering a minor whiplash.

Gars, regaining her balance, secured another armlock on Curzon. "It's the Gr'oths entire database; all of it's important."

It was the first time Dax heard of it. "Their entire database? All of it?"

"None of your concern, ambassador" Gars growled.

"Klingon vessel coming in low on our aft portside, disruptor-barrage aimed at our ventral shields." Seconds later the Excelsior trembled from the impacts of disruptor-energy striking intact shields.

"Helm, prepare to engage Archer Delta maneuver on my mark" Sulu said. "I know that klingon pilot; he is not after our ventral shields."

"Captain!" Dax gained Sulus attention with a shout, struggling against Gars and by now another officer wearing the red shirt of Engineering department. "The romulans did this! If you make it back to Federation space with a klingon database, the klingons will react in the only way they know; you will start a war, captain!"

Tuvok was one of few people actually listening to what the trill was saying, despite the heat of battle. "Captain" the vulcan said and turned from his station to face his commanding officer, "the ambassadors assessment of the klingons reaction is a logical conclusion. If we return with the Gr'oths database intact and hand it over to Starfleet, klingon response will most likely be war."

"Then we destroy the data" Gars said.

"The klingons will hardly be convinced" Tuvok replied to the Excelsiors commander. "There is only one way Koloth can be certain that that information never reaches the Federation, and that is to destroy our ship."

Another impact shook the Excelsior, starting a minor fire in a workstation.

"Captain, please" Dax pleaded.

Sulu sighed and frowned. "This day just keeps getting more interesting. We can not hold our own against the klingons, we need a place to hide."

"The sixth planet" Dax suggested, a smile on his lips. "Its planetary rings can shield us from attack."

Tuvok was quick to make use of the Excelsiors scanners. "I believe the ambassador could be right. The combination of rocks, particles, ice and dust will effectively protect us from incoming fire."

Karalga doublechecked the information provided by the vulcans station. "The particle-density of the rings will require that we redirect power to our deflectors."

"That is mister Shravs problem" was Sulus only comment. "Helm, sixth planet, maximum impulse!"

"Aye, aye, captain!"

XXX XXX

Studying the movement pattern of the USS Excelsior, it was clear that the Federation starship had abandoned trying outwit the IKS Gr'oth and had taken deliberate action to distance itself from the battle-cruiser.

"Cowards!" the pilot snarled and spat, then made sure the Gr'oth took a pursuit course, firing his forward disruptors in hopes of hitting the Excelsior as it zigged and zagged and barrel-rolled to evade fire.

"Keep at it, Braga" Koloth growled were he sat in his captains chair. "Korax, where are they heading?"

The ships second-in-command calculated the enemy vessels trajectory. "They appear to be heading for Korvat Six. Distance, five lightminutes. The Excelsior is redirecting power to their aft shields. They still have speed on their side, my lord."

The klingon warlord grunted. "Redirect power from our rear shields to engines." Koloth sneered as the battle turned into a game of cat and mouse. "Scanners! Tell me everything there is to know of that planet… They will not escape this day."

"Yes, my lord" the klingon in charge of the ships scanners and sensors acknowledged.

XXX XXX

"How did you get past my guards?" Sulu demanded of Dax.

Curzon adjusted his coat after the struggle with commander Gars and walked on over to the captain. "My expertise is dealing with klingons, captain; you think that somehow does not include throwing a punch?"

"But you are not here to deal with klingons" Gars pointed out. "You are here to deal with romulans."

But Dax did not agree. "I am here to deal with klingons" he objected. "By exposing the romulans, I would gain Koloths trust, like I said before. Hiding in orbit of the sixth planet was always the backup plan. Once there, the klingons can't get to us, things will calm down and I can talk to them."

"Talk?!" Sulu chuckled. "Klingons do not talk, ambassador. Klingons maim and burn."

"Just because you don't understand klingons, captain, doesn't mean I don't" Curzon countered.

"I understand klingons better than most" Sulu frowned.

"You know how to fight them, captain" Dax argued. "But I know how to talk to them."

"Gentlemen!" Karalga cut in, stepping in between the two. "The klingons are still hunting us, and wont go away just because we hide in a dust-cloud. We are cut off from Starfleet and the klingons will kill us all given the chance. This is not the time to be governed by our emotions and let stupid pride dictate our actions."

Tuvok quirked an eyebrow. "As a vulcan, I can only agree."

"We hide" Dax said, "and let the klingons calm down. Right now, they are driven by bloodlust, but once we are in hiding their adrenaline levels will lower; and then I can talk to them. Trust me, captain."

"Trust you?" Sulu said. "You're a lying politician, ambassador, committed to an unsanctioned mission. Why should I trust you."

Curzon Dax sighed. "Because if Koloth does not sit down and talk with me, he will kill us all."

XXX XXX

The USS Excelsior rushed for all its worth through space, the IKS Gr'oth in hot pursuit as they closed in on the sixth planet of the Korvat system; a green gas-giant with a thick ribbon of rings around it. The klingon vessel fired its disruptors every now and then, at times striking its target, but more often missing. Even so, the Excelsiors shields were slowly being drained of power.

"Cowards" Korax frowned. "I never thought Hikaru of Akira would run like a ferengi from a fight."

Koloth studied the main screen of the bridge and the Federation vessel centered on it. Sitting in his captains chair, he was casually leaning against his bat'leth, the weapon itself resting against the seat between his legs.

"He is up to something" Koloth said with a low growl escaping his throat. "Are we certain that their warpdrive is functional?"

"Yes, my lord" Korax assured the klingon warlord. "Their primary systems are fully operational."

"Strange" Koloth said, thinking out loud. Glancing at his console, he noted the fact that the Starfleet vessel had redirected power from their forward shields to strengthen their rear. "Weapons Master" he said and got up on his feet.

"My lord?" the klingon said who was in charge of additional weapon-systems, other than the forward-facing ones controlled by Braga, the cruisers pilot.

Koloth walked over to the Weapon Masters station with determined strides. "On my command, launch a torpedo along this trajectory."

"Of course" the Weapons Master said, somewhat perplexed as he watched Koloth enter the equation for the torpedoes intended path, "but to what end?"

Koloths reply was cold and to the point. "Victory."

XXX XXX

"One minute away from destination" the lieutenant operating the helm-station said.

Karalga nodded with some relief as she relayed her findings. "The gravimetric proportions of that small moon will disrupt klingon sensor-readings. We should wait with diving into the rings until we are behind it. If successful, we will simply vanish from klingon sensors."

"Good work, lieutenant commander" Sulu said and turned to his helmsman. "Mister Shatner, perform as suggested by our chief science officer."

"Aye, captain" came the reply as the order was acknowledged.

"Klingons firing torpedo!" Commander Gars reported and pressed a series of keys on her console. "Strange" she then said.

Dax and Sulu turned to face her with curious expressions.

"Explain?" Sulu said.

"The torpedo is not locked on to us, captain" Gars said as she studied her readings. "The klingons launched it blind. It will miss us with three light-seconds to spare."

Handalma could only sigh with relief. "I don't mind if they keep wasting ammo all day long."

"Entering lunar orbit" lieutenant Shatner by the helm informed the bridge-personnel.

The torpedo shot past, missing the USS Excelsior with hundreds of miles. But as the Excelsior-class starship was about to enter orbit around the small moon, the torpedo vanished in a curved trajectory in behind the lunar satellite along its opposite horizon. Grabbed by gravity, the torpedo was flung around the moon, until it appeared directly ahead of the USS Excelsior.

XXX XXX

On the IKS Gr'oth, Korax stood leaning in over the Weapons Master and his station. "Torpedo has broken free from orbit!"

Koloth stood up, pushing himself out of his chair. "Lock on to target!"

XXX XXX

Commander Nathalie Gars was lit up by her screens flashing red. "Klingon torpedo has locked on to our sensor-array!"

Sulu held on tight to his armrests. "Raise shields!"

Handalma, seated at the Ops-station, turned pale in the face. "Too late!"

The klingon torpedo hit the USS Excelsior, slamming into the main sensor-dish, ripping apart a quarter of the ships secondary hull, violently rupturing the structural integrity of the starship as superheated plasma forced bulkheads to burst and melt. Everyone not secured to a chair was thrown to the floor. Dax rolled until he slammed up against the bridges main screen. Consoles exploded with showers of sparks, fires erupted and floor, walls and ceiling buckled. Red lights flashed on every deck, in every compartment. A siren echoed through every corridor and hallway, screaming out the urgency of the situation.

"Get us into cover!" Sulu shouted, strapped tightly into his chair. "Now!"

"Redirecting power to inertia-dampeners!" lieutenant Shatner said, relaying his actions. "Thrusters set to maximum effect! Hold on!"

Everyone was thrown to the side as the Excelsior made a sudden dive towards the rings of the planet, the hull of the ship itself complaining loudly as momentum was forcefully redirected. Gars unbuckled herself and hurried over to Curzon Dax who was trying to hold on as best he could, lying on the floor beneath the large forward view-screen. With help from Gars, Dax found an empty seat and was secured in place by the commander, after which she returned to her own station.

Ensign Tuvok was not optimistic as they were about to hit the outer edges of the rings. "Captain, our forward shields and the deflector field were both damaged by the torpedo and are not operating at maximum efficiency. They will not shield us from larger pieces of debris."

Sulu opted to ignore the warning. "We have no other choice, ensign. Mister Shatner, take us in!"

The USS Excelsior dove at full speed into the massive cloud of dust and debris surrounding the planet in the shape of impressive rings. Plowing through particles, shards of ice and pieces of rock, larger objects was not pushed aside by the protective deflector-field and consequently smashed into the hull of the Excelsior, one by one, time and time again, denting and tearing at the hull and causing further damage in the exposed gash where the sensor-dish previously had been positioned. The ship shook, trembled as if forced to endure a severe earthquake, slowly shaking the entire vessel apart.

On the bridge, the shaking caused the ceiling to collapse and fall in; piping, cables and equipment falling down from above at random. The lieutenant commander at Ops took a heavy hit to the head and the xindo-arboreal fell unconscious to the floor; Sulu reacted by instinct and hurried over to take control of the station and its console. Gars came over with a medical-kit and began treating Handalma for head-injuries.

"Ease down, mister Shatner" Sulu told the lieutenant to his left. "We should be deep enough by now."

"Aye, captain" the lieutenant said and slowed the ship down, and as a result, the ship calmed down and the violent tremors faded.

Sulu surveyed his bridge and the damage to it, not to mention his bashed and bruised crew. Commander Gars, back on her feet, did the same.

"I'll organize repair-efforts" Gars said, breathing heavily from stress. "You'll have a damage-report within the hour."

Sulu nodded, resting with an arm against the Ops-station. "Get to work, Nathalie. And hurry" he said, "the klingons are still out there."

"Yes, captain."

"Captain" Tuvok said as he got out of his chair and moved over to an engineering-station; the engineer assigned to the station being treated for a broken arm on the floor next to the station itself. "With the loss of our bow-mounted projector-cells, our deflectors will not shield us from debris, and our shields will not prevent the klingons from transporting onboard. I will compensate by phasing ventral and dorsal deflector and shield projector-cells, while venting epsilon-radiation from our warp-nacelles; if my calculations are correct, it will provide us with an intact energy-field around the ship, protecting us from all but the largest pieces of debris, but more importantly, it will deny the klingons to board us from afar."

XXX XXX

The pilot of the Gr'oth, Braga, cursed as he realized that there was no way he could hit the Excelsior where it currently was hiding. The density of the rings did not allow any disruptor-fire or torpedo to burst through to expose the Starfleet vessel for a direct attack.

"Extensive damage throughout the Federation ship" the officer operating sensors reported, almost casually as he spoke over his shoulder, giving the details on the enemy vessel.

"We can not shoot at them" Korax concluded, "and we can not board them" he added and then spat at the floor. "All we can do is starve them out."

Koloth sat in his chair, bat'leth resting in his arms across his torso, as he listened to his officers. "This targ-hunt is nearing its end" Koloth grinned, "the beast has retreated to its den and all that remains is to smoke it out. Today… Hikaru, son of Akira, dies."

XXX XXX

Emelie Marcus-Kirk, hidden by cloak and hood, took a careful look around her. The hallway was empty and silent. Someone talking further down the maze of corridors could be heard, but they were nowhere in sight, with no evidence of coming closer. Emelie stepped up to a door that was sealed off with a holographic image that told the public that local law-enforcement prevented entrance. Emelie had no intention of respecting that seal; retrieving a bypass-key from an inner-pocket, she soon enough had overwritten the locking-mechanism and, opening the door, stepped through.

Malyr Glint Ungor. That was the name of the bolian who had lived here. Working with traffic-control up until a day or so ago, when he had been found dead in his apartment. Suicide according to official records. Emelie knew better. Paq, the disgusting ferengi, had hinted that the bolian had been murdered, for having information that was of great interest to the young woman.

The small flashlight in her hand lit up most of each room as she walked through them in turn. Four rooms all in all, small by Federation standards, but adequate for being a frontier-world. No sign of struggle, things in order, no laundry lying about or even an empty glass left on a table. Neat, tidy, clean. Too clean.

The tricorder told her where the body had been found; traces of blood, sweat and grease still in the fabric of the chair. Emelie wasn't sure what she was hoping to find, not even sure she would find anything at all. Local authorities had been here after all, investigating the death of Malyr Glint Ungor. Yet, this bolian, now dead, had found something that could be linked to the romulans operating on Korvat, and Emelie had to find out what.

She moved her tricorder over each piece of furniture, scanned clothing and shoes, doublechecked readings from floors and ceiling. But it was when she moved the tricorder across a painting on the bedroom wall that something stood out; the tricorder indicated tiny dots of fresh paint, dried, but recently applied non-the-less. She quickly realized the dots where arranged in various clusters, but why was more elusive. Seven dots in one group, five in another, twelve in a third. All in all, five clusters or groups.

Emelie took a moment to look at the readings of her tricorder, glancing at the painting in between. Doing so, she eventually thought upon the groups of dots and the number of dots in each group. Whispering the number of dots to herself, she eventually had an idea, a theory.

"Coordinates" she said, and a smile grew on her lips.