Thirty minutes of silence. Emelie casually seated in the Bird-of-Preys pilots chair, stroking her chin with a finger as she studied the sensor-readings. Curzon chained to his own chair, next to the internal-operations station on the bridge. Thirty minutes where nothing was said, nothing was done, only waiting. Thirty minutes that allowed the USS Stargazer to get that much closer, travelling at maximum warp straight at their location.

A station sounded and both human and trill turned to look, both surprised by the sudden new sound. The communication-station, Curzon realized. Emelie hurried over and went over the information that was available.

"What is it?" Dax wondered, using his toes to angle his chair to face Emelie where she stood at the opposite end of the bridge.

"Incoming transmission over subspace" Emelie explained. "A secure frequency used by Starfleet Intelligence." Emelie straightened her back and turned to face the secured trill ambassador. "They are asking for me personally."

"This will not end like you hope it will" Curzon said.

"We will see" Emelie snorted and headed for the captains chair and sat down, then pressed a series of keys on the computer-pad attached to the armrest. She then turned to look directly at the large view-screen located at the front of the bridge, on the wall above the pilot's station.

On the large screen, a human woman of African descent appeared, wearing the green of Starfleet Intelligence and the rank of Major.

"I am Major U'hura of Starfleet Intelligence, transmitting from the USS Excalibur. Lieutenant Emelie Marcus-Kirk, we know that you have commandeered the IKS Klothos in direct violation of your given orders. You must be aware that the USS Stargazer will soon intercept you. We are close behind. As is the USS Farragut and the Klingon warship HaH'vat. You are outnumbered and outgunned. Whatever it is you hope to achieve, I assure you, you will fail. I urge you to power down your disruptors and deactivate your shields and prepare to be boarded. I urge you to cooperate. No one else has to die. Surrender to Starfleet and we will protect you from the Klingons. You have my word."

Emelie turned to look at Curzon. The trill was tense, lips stiff and his eyes hard as steel. His breathing was slow and deep. As Curzon Dax aimed his eyes at Emelie, he saw a mirror-image of himself.

"They are here to arrest you, Emelie" Dax eventually said, daring to challenge the tension on the bridge. "You need them to fire a torpedo that they will never launch."

Emelie sneered and then hit a key on the armrest. "Any Federation starship that enters this system will be fired upon and destroyed."

"Emelie, wait, listen…"

Before U'hura could finish the sentence, Emelie cut transmission. She sat silent for a while, thinking upon her options. Curzon sat silent as well, waiting for the young woman to come to a decision. Eventually, Emelie pushed herself back on her feet and headed for the pilots seat, sat down and operated the controls.

"Now what?" Curzon asked.

"I'm powering up my disruptors, preparing torpedo-bays, activating our cloak." Emelie looked back over her shoulder at the trill chained to one of the chairs on the bridge. "If they don't want to launch a torpedo, I will god damn make them."

XXX XXX

"The Klothos has cloaked" Mogh said.

Sitting in the captains chair of the IKS HaH'vat, Kang growled as he stroked his bearded chin. Kor walked over to Mogh and double-checked the readings, before turning to the master of the Klingon warship.

"She intends to fight" Kor growled.

"She is human" Kang pointed out, leaning his head in Kors direction. "Humans don't fight such odds."

"She is the daughter of Kirk" Kor reminded Kang. "She will fight" he said once more to emphasize his point.

"It is not unthinkable" Tuvok said, having joined the Klingon crew after having been rescued from the escape-pod by the IKS HaH'vat. "Lieutenant Marcus-Kirk is not to be considered mentally stable and her actions are not likely to conform with normal human behavior. She is desperate and could very well chose to fight, in a vain hope of achieving her goals."

Kang snarled as he glanced at the vulcan. "I already regret rescuing you from that pod, vulcan."

Kor grinned and walked over to Tuvok and slapped the vulcans shoulder. "HA! Don't mind him, vulcan. Kang is a walking frown." Kor chuckled and took a few steps away from Tuvok. "But we agree. Emelie, daughter of Kirk, will fight. She will not surrender like a miserable ferengi. It's not in her blood." Kor then turned to face Kang and Tuvok. "She will fight them all!" he said and smiled, almost with pride.

"The question then is" Tuvok said, "what does she hope to achieve?"

Kor sighed, let out a deep exhale, and then turned to watch the main viewer of the bridge, depicting the tachyon-trail left by his ship, the Klothos.

"My ship carries the schematics for a device" Kor then revealed. "A device designed by the vulcan known as Sybok. If Emelie has found the schematics, which is not impossible as she knows I have them, she could have built this device out of the components of one of my torpedoes."

Kang slowly got up on his feet and walked with slow and heavy steps over to Kor. "This is why the romulans were after her? This is why you arrived at Korvat? To supply this human female with a torpedo designed by a vulcan?!"

Kor said nothing. He simply lowered his head in shame.

Tuvok gave it some thought. "This torpedo, this device" he said. "It was designed by Sybok so that he could complete his mission? To travel through space and time and reach the original timeline?"

Kang turned enraged eyes on the vulcan. "What are you talking about?!"

Kor slowly faced Tuvaok. "Aye" he said and nodded. "Curzon told me as much. And told me not to assemble it. But curse my name, I kept the schematics!" Kor shook his head and found an empty chair to crash into, head hanging in shame.

Kang eyed Kor for a brief moment and then, with a few mighty strides, made his way over to Tuvok and grabbed him by the collar, forcing his face into the vulcans. "Tell me, vulcan" Kang said, his fangs only an inch from Tuvoks skin, "what is going on?"

Tuvok did not even flinch. "It would seem as if lieutenant Emelie Marcus-Kirk has created a device, following the instructions provided by one of the most intelligent beings in the Alpha Quadrant, that will allow her to reach a time and place where Vulcan has not been destroyed. The original goal of this mission was to ensure to prevent the destruction of Vulcan, Kronos and Romulus."

"Qo'noS?" Kang said, pronouncing the name of his homeworld in his own language. "What do you mean preventing its destruction?!"

"I realize that all of this must sound quite extraordinary" Tuvok said, ignoring the grip on his jacket and shirt that had him standing on his toes. "But in a reality, existing before our own, in a few years time, the moon of Praxis will collapse and the debris will destroy much of Kronos surface. This disaster will trigger a series of events that eventually will result in the Romulus star suddenly going supernova, which will send the Romulan vessel Narada back in time, which of course will result in the tragic destruction of Vulcan. We believe that Emelie is trying to prevent all of this from ever happening at all."

Kang, appearing quite frustrated after listening to the explanation, finally let go of the vulcan and pushed Tuvok to the side. Mogh caught the vulcan Starfleet officer and grabbed hold of his arm and placed the edge of his dagger against Tuvoks throat. Kang then turned and found Kor standing tall and proud.

"It is a weapon, Kang" Kor growled. "A terrible weapon that could destroy the empire. It must be destroyed before it falls into the hands of the enemy. Emelie must be killed." Kor fell to his knees and exposed his throat to the master of the warship. "I ask for forgiveness and place my life, my blood and my honor at your mercy."

"Klingons do no grant mercy" Kang growled and sat himself down in his captains chair. "I will bring you to the daughter of Kirk, where you can regain your honor by killing her with your own hands."

Kor got back on his feet and adjusted his armor. "And what if Starfleet gets to her first?"

Kang growled. "If anyone prevents you from restoring your honor, I will kill them."

Tuvok decided to ignore the knife held at his throat. "I am certain that this can be concluded using diplomatic channels. Firing upon a Starfleet vessel will not resolve this already complicated issue."

Kor walked over to Tuvok and let out a sigh. Kor smiled at the vulcan and gestured to Mogh to release him, and reluctantly, Mogh complied.

"That" Kor said and placed a hand on Tuvoks shoulder, "is secondary, I fear, my vulcan friend. Honor must be restored. Nothing is more important."

"There is no logic in that statement" Tuvok felt compelled to point out as he adjusted his uniform for a perfect fit once more.

"Logic has nothing to do with it" Kor smiled and patted Tuvok on the back. "Honor needs satisfaction and blood must be spilled."

Tuvok quirked an eyebrow at the explanation, just as Kang issued orders to his crew.

"Charge weapons, load torpedo-bays" Kang snarled. "Find me the Klothos."