The USS Excalibur, an Excelsior-class cruiser, hurtled through space at maximum warp. On the bridge, Major U'hura studied the data that the ships sensors provided on the whereabouts of USS Stargazer and the USS Farragut. And the last known location of the IKS Klothos. Captain Talya Rokoro, a fair-haired denobulan woman, placed herself next to the major.

"If Hikaru is correct, your run-away lieutenant will not have moved from her last known position" the captain said, hands crossed behind her back, as ever a hint of a smile on her lips. "We will find her, major, and stop her."

"I hope you're right, captain" U'hura said with a sigh. She then focused on an unidentified object moving at warp towards the Klothos. "Will the klingons reach Emelie before the Stargazer?"

Captain Rokoro took a look at the readings, comparing the data provided on the Stargazer with the unknown contact that they suspected was the IKS HaH'vat. "The Stargazer will have three hours to try and stop lieutenant Marcus-Kirk before the HaH'vat and the klingons arrive." The captain straightened her back and smiled. "But I am confident that captain Al-Rasheed will have handled the situation long before the klingons show up to ruin it all."

U'hura was not as confident and definitely did not have a smile on her face. "Let's hope so, captain."

XXX XXX

The Constellation-class cruiser, USS Stargazer, appeared as if coming to a sudden halt, appearing out nowhere as it disengaged its warp-engines; its four nacelles glowing after having been pushed to their limits.

"No contacts, the void is clear" the officer at Ops called out.

"Phasers charged and ready, shields at maximum" the tactical officer informed.

The commander, an andorian, having studied their sensors-readings, turned to his captain. "Now what?"

"Deploy probes as planned" the captain said, an aging human of Arabic descent. His white hair and beard almost silver against his tanned skin. "Lower our aft-shields to sixty percent and divert it to our bow."

"Decrease our shields?" the andorian commander asked, a bit perplexed. "Captain, we are looking for a hostile ship, commandeered by a traitor."

"Lieutenant Marcus-Kirk was a former officer of Starfleet Intelligence" Captain Ali Al-Rasheed said. "She's young and has only limited understanding of military tactics, let alone the finer details of space-battle. She is a novice and as a novice she will attack us where we appear the weakest." As he explained, he rested comfortably in his captains chair on the bridge and then glanced at his executive officer. "She will decloak a few light-seconds to our rear, and as she does, we will disable her vessel with our phasers."

The andorian nodded. "Very good, captain."

"Any news on the unidentified contact travelling at warp?" the captain then asked and turned to face his chief science officer.

"We can confirm that it is a klingon vessel, most likely a large battleship" the grazerite replied. "In fifteen minutes they will be in range for a solid confirmation and identification."

"The IKS HaH'vat, no doubt" the andorian on the bridge said, looking grim.

"Indeed" Al-Rasheed said and nodded. "Kang is about three hours away. We want to find Emelie Marcus-Kirk before he arrives on the scene. Let's get to work, people."

XXX XXX

The Stargazer deployed probes in a grid around it, each one marked by a red circle up on the Klothos main viewer. On another display, directly in front of the pilots station, data on the Federation vessels configurations were listed with numbers, text and images. Emelie, holding the controls and steering the cloaked Bird-of-Prey, carefully maneuvered into a position directly behind the Stargazer, currently a full light-minute away but the distance was slowly decreasing by the second.

"They're luring you in" Dax said, still chained to his chair. He was looking at a display located by the closest station to him on the bridge. "They're trying to trick you into decloaking."

"And why should I listen to you?" Emelie sneered.

"Because if you botch this" Curzon spat, "you will get me killed! And I have no wish to become a Federation martyr."

Emelie glanced back at the trill, then at the Starfleet vessel in her scopes, then back at Curzon Dax. "So what do you suggest?"

Dax turned to look at the displays to his side, the klingon computers pointing out strengths and weaknesses on the USS Stargazer. "First, we hook up the ships cannons to the warp-drive. It makes your guns ten times more powerful. There should be a lever called attack-posture by your controls" he said and turned back to face the human female.

Emelie scanned her controls, moving her eyes across the buttons, dials and switches. "Found it!" she said and pulled the lever that Curzon had told her about. As she did, a screen indicated the ships wings folding upwards until they had all but levelled with the hull itself. Almost immediately did Emelie see an increase in the ships disruptor-cannons energy-reserves. "Disruptors are powering up" she grinned. "We're at full power."

"Good" Dax nodded. "Now you need to manually mark out the Stargazers phaser-banks. Use the computer and the Stargazer will detect the increase in sensor-activity."

"Got it" Emelie said and marked each weapons-battery on the Starfleet cruiser by pressing a screen with her finger, the screen depicting the schematics of the USS Stargazer. "Six phaser-banks in total" she said.

"You need to take those out" Dax emphasized. "That leaves them only with torpedoes to defend themselves with."

Emelie turned the pilots chair around to allow her to completely face the trill. "Why are you helping me?" Her query more of a demand for an answer than a question.

Curzon let out a deep sigh. "You have no intentions of getting captured. You will succeed or you will die. If you succeed, I live. If you fail… then I die also. Kang wont let you survive this. And the Federation, once you open fire, wont let you go through with this. They will blow this ship up without thinking. If I don't help you, I'm as good as dead."

"Fair enough, I guess" Emelie concluded, tapping her armrest with her fingers as she studied the maverick Federation ambassador. "So what do you suggest? How do we take out their shields without walking into a trap?"

"We do it like Kor did, when he destroyed the USS T'roul" Curzon explained, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "We lie in wait ahead of them and as they pass over us, we decloak, launch a torpedo and fire our guns at point-blank-range, veer off and reengage our cloak. Their focus will be to their rear, expecting us to decloak behind them, not below them. They will expect of you to open fire at a distance of two or three light-seconds, not a hundred meters away. You're flying a klingon warship, lieutenant; if you're going to survive this you will have to fly it like a klingon."

Emelie smiled and nodded. As she turned her chair around to increase velocity, Curzon Dax let out a deep sigh. He had bought himself some time. If he could just keep Emelie, and the Klothos, alive and operational for a couple of hours, Kang would arrive and then Emelie would get what she deserved. Curzon knew the Federation would do everything in their power to capture Emelie alive. Kang would make sure that the daughter of Kirk would never live to see another day. Curzon had to keep Emelie in the fight long enough for Kang to show up; only then would she no longer be a threat to the universe. Only if she was dead would Emelie no longer be a threat to history, be it past, present or future.