The USS Excalibur disengaged its warp-drive and the Excelsior-class vessel came to a sudden stop. Major Nyota U'hura of Starfleet Intelligence took a few steps closer to the large view-screen at the fore of the bridge and studied the scene.

"Eighty percent of the crew are alive" the Ops-station reported.

"Communications?" captain Rokoro asked, her denobulan smile replaced with stiff lips.

"Destroyed" the ships executive officer informed after looking at his readings.

U'hura felt tension grip her stomach as she watched the badly damaged USS Stargazer, having lost two nacelles entirely and a third of its hull-plating to incoming fire.

"Prepare medical teams to receive the crew of the Stargazer" captain Rokoro said. "Start beaming them over here."

"Yes, captain" the commander said without hesitation.

U'hura quickly turned around to face the denobulan captain. "Is that wise? The Klothos is still out there. If we lower our shields…"

"We need to secure the crew of the Stargazer" Rokoro was quick to counter, sitting in the captains chair in the center of the bridge. "There are injured Starfleet officers on that ship that need immediate medical attention. Besides, Kang and the HaH'vat should be here somewhere. If they are cloaked, they are waiting for the Klothos to re-emerge. My order stands. We can expect the USS Farragut to arrive in little over an hour. Not to worry, major; your run-away lieutenant wont escape us" the female denobulan said and the wide denobulan smile returned.

U'hura was not reassured. Instead, she turned to watch the broken remains of the USS Stargazer where she floated helplessly in space. Emelie had shown that she was determined to go through with her insane plan.

XXX XXX

The USS Excalibur was depicted on the main viewer, all her strengths and weaknesses pointed out by the warships computer.

"A much more potent adversary than the USS Stargazer" Tuvok said, standing as he was on the bridge of the IKS HaH'vat. "It would be a quite irrational decision for Emelie to try and engage the USS Excalibur on her own. Yet, we can not rely on her to be rational at this point in time. Too much evidence points to the contrary."

"I must admit" Kang growled, "I am forced to give her credit for her prowess in battle. To destroy the Stargazer as she has done is most impressive."

"It was not Emelie" Kor said, nodding with a smile as he turned to Kang. "It was Curzon. Our scanners confirm it; the Stargazer was attacked using the same pattern I used to destroy the T'roul."

Tuvok nodded. "Yet, unlike the USS T'roul, the USS Stargazer did not launch any torpedoes. Which means that captain Sulu has warned Starfleet of Emelies intentions. She will not succeed with her plans."

Kang turned to his first officer. "The tachyon leak, can we detect it?" he asked, referring to Kors information of the Klothos leaking tachyon particles.

"There are tachyons emanating from within the system, my lord" Mogh growled. "But tachyons travel faster than the speed of light; it is impossible to pinpoint their origins within the system. By the time we register a particles trajectory, the Klothos will have moved well out of the way."

"The Excalibur is lowering its shields!" the pilot of the warship snarled.

"Federation fools" Kor said as they all turned to watch the main viewer. "Trying to rescue their friends from drowning, while a lash-serpent is waiting just beneath the waves."

"Ready weapons" Kang said with a low growl. "Emelie will make her move."

XXX XXX

"It's a trick… It has to be."

Emelie watched as her scanners told her that the USS Excalibur was lowering shields and moving in closer to the USS Stargazer. She had the Excelsior-class vessel in her crosshairs, her disruptors and torpedoes ready to fire straight at the ships warp-core. The Excalibur was directly ahead of her and she was less than a light-second directly behind the large Starfleet cruiser. If she decloaked and fired, they would not be able to raise shields or evade the incoming fire; she would score a direct hit.

Emelie turned around to look at Dax. "They must know I'm out here. If they start beaming over the wounded they will lose both ships."

"They know as well as we do that the HaH'vat is out there somewhere" Curzon said.

They had lost contact with the IKS HaH'vat right before it had entered the system. Kang had slowed down to below warp five, allowing him to enter the system under cloak while still at warp. Now the experienced klingon warlord and his battleship was out there somewhere, waiting, and neither Emelie nor Curzon knew exactly what Kang was waiting for.

"If you move over to the Stargazer" Curzon said, "you could use her as a shield. Keep her between you and the Excalibur and they wont be able to shoot. But you have to do it now while there are still crew onboard the Stargazer. As long as there still are people on that ship, the Excalibur wont dare to open fire."

Emelie said nothing, she simply complied with the suggestion as it sounded like a good idea to her mind. Operating the pilots controls, she increased throttle and took the Klothos in a low dive down below the USS Excalibur and the USS Stargazer.

"It's a good plan, Dax" Emelie eventually said just as they went below the much larger Excelsior-class vessel. "But we still need them to launch a torpedo at us. I took out all phaser-banks on the Stargazer, they had nothing left to defend themselves with but torpedoes, and they did not fire. I killed a hundred of their crew after they were crippled and they still refused to fire. Why would this be any different?"

"Because Starfleet wont simply watch while you destroy the Stargazer with all hands onboard" the trill replied, still chained to the chair. "If you open fire on the Stargazer, the Excalibur will use every weapon they have to stop you. Trust me, Emelie… you will have an ample supply of torpedoes coming at you."

"At us" Emelie corrected Curzon Dax, just as they moved in below the remains of the USS Stargazer.

Curzon nodded. "Yeah… At us" he repeated to correct himself.

XXX XXX

The link between the bridge of the USS Stargazer and the USS Excalibur was choppy and distorted, but functional.

"Captain, we are glad to see you" captain Al-Rasheed said, a thick bandage wrapped around his head and covering his left eye.

"It is good to see you alive, Ali" captain Rokoro said, offering a warm denobulan smile that stretched her face to its limits. "Your wounded have already made it to our sickbay. We will have you all onboard in less than an hour."

"Captain" U'hura said and stepped into view, "the Klothos, do you know if it has moved on?"

"I don't know, I'm sorry" Al-Rasheed confessed. "The initial volley took out many of our phasers. After that, we lost our sensors. The attack was a tactical masterpiece."

"One we have seen before" Rokoro cut in. "The Klothos used the exact same maneuvers to destroy the USS T'roul some years ago. I am sure of it. At the time, I was a commander on the USS Xilrah and my captain used those exact words to describe Kors attack; a tactical masterpiece."

U'hura turned to look at the captain of the USS Excalibur. "Are you saying that the klingon warlord Kor is still in command of the Klothos?"

"The modus operandi would suggest so, major" captain Rokoro said, still seated in her captains chair. "The klingons could be in league with Emelie, and if they are, it could explain why the HaH'vat has yet to make a move." The denobulan female turned serious, a stark contrast to her wide smile. "Major, there are right now two klingon warships cloaked in this system and one Starfleet vessel has already been shot to pieces by klingon cannons. I admit that I at first felt reassured by the presence of the IKS HaH'vat, but now, I am no longer so certain."

"Captain!" the officer in charge of communications shouted across the bridge. "The Klothos is hailing us!"

"Klingon Bird-of-Prey decloaking just beyond the Stargazer!" the Operations officer called out.

"Shields up!" Rokoro ordered. "Lock phasers!"

"Good luck, captain" captain Al-Rasheed said and quickly cut transmission.

U'hura watched the main viewscreen as Al-Rasheeds face was replaced by an image of the crippled USS Stargazer and the klingon warship that had emerged out of hiding behind the damaged Starfleet vessel.

"The Klothos is still hailing us, captain."

Rokoro took a deep breath. "On screen."

U'huras lips stiffened as Emelie Marcus-Kirk, the daughter of the greatest hero in Starfleet history, appeared on the large screen.

"Hello, captain" Emelie said, looking determined and fierce, prepared to take on the world if she had to.

"Lieutenant Marcus-Kirk" Rokoro said, "lower your shields and surrender. The Klothos is no match for the Excalibur."

"You're right, captain" Emelie admitted and leaned back into her seat. "That's why I will destroy the Stargazer and all of her crew, unless you give me what I want."

"And what do you want?" captain Rokoro asked.

"I want you to launch one of your torpedoes" Emelie explained bluntly. "Launch it into space. That's all. And you can leave the rest to me."

"Out of the question!" U'hura said and revealed herself. "We're not giving you a damned torpedo, Emelie."

Emelie smirked. "I'm reading well over three hundred crew still remaining on the Stargazer. My disruptors are locked and ready to fire. If you want to save them, all you have to do is launch a torpedo into space and I will let them live."

"Major."

U'hura turned around to face captain Rokoro. The female denobulan was looking grim to say the least.

"Three hundred lives are at stake" Rokoro continued. "Three hundred Starfleet officers."

"Who have sworn to give their lives in the line of duty if necessary!" U'hura barked. The senior Intelligence officer then turned her attention back at the rogue lieutenant. "It's over, Emelie. Listen to reason! We will not give you that torpedo. We can't let you go through with this insane plan of yours. You must understand this."

"Damn it, Nyota, don't make me do this" Emelie growled through grinding teeth.

"I'm not forcing you into anything" U'hura said in response. "If you open fire, a lot of people will die… for nothing."

Emelie sat silent, lips tightly pressed together. Anger was almost glowing in her eyes. "A lot of people will die, Nyota… and their blood will be on your hands."

The conversation was interrupted as the Excaliburs Operations officer cut them all off. "IKS HaH'vat is decloaking!"

XXX XXX

The massive battleship came down from above, cloak disengaged, and open fire with every cannon and torpedo-launcher available in its forward arch. The unleashed bombardment hit the Klothos with full force, overloading the Bird-of-Preys shields and hitting its hull, blasting great holes into the structure of the smaller warship.

The Klothos quickly veered off and avoided taking more hits, avoiding two incoming klingon torpedoes in the process. The HaH'vat took pursuit but it did not take long before the IKS Klothos was cloaked once again and gone from any sensors.

XXX XXX

"The HaH'vat is raising its shields" the Excaliburs executive officer announced. "She's is coming about."

Rokoro found it strange. "They only engaged their shields now?"

"Yes,captain."

Rokoro and U'hura exchanged glances before the captain turned her attention back at the executive officer. "We have no time to spare. Lower our shields and get the crew of the Stargazer onboard the Excalibur immediately. Deploy shuttles and ferry them over. Get it done!"

"Yes, captain!"

"The HaH'vat is hailing us, captain."

"On screen."

Much to everyone's surprise, it was not a klingon appearing on the viewscreen, but a vulcan. And a vulcan wearing the uniform of Starfleet.

"Greetings, captain" the vulcan said. "I am ensign Tuvok, acting chief science officer on the USS Excelsior. I have important information to share. You should concentrate your efforts on rescuing the survivors of the USS Stargazer. Lord Kang will provide security during your efforts to do so."

"What about Emelie and the Klothos?" U'hura asked quite demandingly.

Tuvok did not seem impressed by either U'huras rank or her demeanor as he found himself addressing a major of Starfleet Intelligence rather than the captain of the USS Excalibur. "Major" he simply said, "the klingons have successfully boarded the Klothos."