QN: Hello, puny lower lifeforms! Q here, subbing in for the demented doctor who's occupied with some of his other stories. Honestly, the man has a concept of focus, more's the pity for you lot.

Back to the matter at hand, time to see the aftermath of last chapters drama! Will our intrepid Starfleet officers make it through the vortex of angst? Read on and find out!


"Are you- are you okay Fia?" Asked Tynizi uneasily as she caught up to her girlfriend in the hall leading to the transporter room. Tynizi knew she had really stepped in it when her girlfriend didn't respond; she only got quiet when she was really angry. She knew why she was mad, of course, despite her actions after the meeting with the Mo'kai's Command staff she wasn't stupid.

"Fia…I'm sorry about what I-" before the words could leave her mouth, Tyufia grabbed her by the arm and dragged her to an alcove where a jefferies tube access point was. Once they've stopped, she takes Tynizi's personal cloak and started fiddling with it, much to the Bajoran's confusion. "What're you doing?"

"Giving us privacy, so I can chew you out without causing a scene." Tyufia growled, her anger more evident in her voice. Seemingly satisfied with her work, Tyufia activated the cloak, making them both disappear to anyone outside it. "Do you have any idea what you've just done?!" Tyufia shouted inside Tynizi's mind, her face a mask of rage and hurt.

"I know, I'm sor-" the Bajoran tried to say, hands out in a placating gesture, but Tyufia was having none of it.

"Sorry isn't good enough, Ejpiz Tynizi!" Tyufia snapped, slashing her hand in the air like she was physically batting the apology away. "Thanks to you and Vex throwing his secrets in his face, secrets I trusted you two with and to not just throw in his face when he hurts your feelings, I might not only have lost my job but my two best friends!"

"I am sorry, Tyufia," Tynizi said, but at the Betazoid's answering scoff, Tynizi pressed, "I am! But you and the Captain are his dearest friends, you'll work it out and you won't lose your job." Tynizi tried to reassure her, reaching out to touch her love's arm, but Tyufia slapped her hand away, eyes still fiery and angry.

"It might have been if I hadn't abandoned him to keep the peace between us!" Tyufia seethed, jabbing her finger into Tynizi's chest. "I left my friend to be treated like a pariah because I didn't want someone like Ariat Iset to get between us!" Her scowl crumpled into a sorrowful grimace, and Tynizi's heart broke as tears welled up in her eyes. "But that turned into getting in my own way of being his friend."

Through the link, Tynizi could feel the despair her other half was feeling, and it shattered her already broken heart to know she was part of the reason for it. "Fia.." Tynizi actually spoke the name, needing to actually vocalize the love and regret she was feeling so that her love would know thoroughly how she felt.

"Just… give me some space Tiny." Tyufia murmured, rubbing her eyes as she walked away, scaring a Rigelian Ensign as she walked out of the cloaking field. Tyufia didn't want to walk away from her Giantess, but her feelings were all over the place and liable to leak her emotions out to the people around her if she didn't get a grip of herself.

Tynizi deactivated the cloak and followed her, not to try and continue to talk to her (though Tyufia could tell that the Bajoran really wanted to), but because they were both going down to Defera as part of the away team. When they arrived at the transporter room, the other members of the away team (consisting of Zasva, Dinah, and Zevil) were assembled and waiting for them.

Tyufia silently stood next to Zevil, giving him a side glance. She tried to reach out to his mind, but she was met with a wall of ice that kept her out of her friend's mind. She grimaced and looked down at the floor as Zevil gave the order to energize, wishing she knew how to fix this bridge she had seemingly burned.


Oddly still in sync, despite what recently happened, Vex was thinking along the same lines as her friend while sitting at the Conn. 'How could I say that?!' she thought dejectedly and with self-loathing. 'Of all the things I could have said, why would I throw the Le Fey in his face?!'

Part of her wanted to blame Ariat for this, but she knew that the Cardassian wasn't (entirely) to blame for this cluster fuck she now found herself in. If anyone was to blame, it was her and not managing her own issues better and not looking at the bigger picture. It was times like these that made Jicsi wonder what Thaxci saw in her as a host.

An alert from the ship broke her out of her self-reflection and she ordered a report. "There is a Breen attack force converging on our position, Captain." Answered Vic. "Guess they thought that tenth time's the charm."

"Red alert! Quinzel to Away team." Vex said as she tapped her badge, but she was met with silence. "Quinzel to Away team, please respond."

"No use Cap," Vic told her, frustration clear in her voice, "they're jamming our comms. I can't even get in contact with the Mo'kai, though I guess that's not a totally bad thing." That last part was more a murmur than an official report, so Vex chose to ignore it.

"Damn it, our fore facing phasers are still offline!" Vex groused, then she turned to the Saurian manning Tactical. "Lieutenant, what's the status of our cannons?"

"Still operable, ma'am." He told after consulting his readouts.

"Then set them for rapid fire whenever you can and prepare for a full spread of quantum torpedoes. What we lack in quality we can make up for in quantity." Vex ordered as she turned to face the viewscreen. "Commander Rodgers, send out the sensor drone and have it target their critical systems, maybe we can knock out that jammer. Helm, attack pattern beta and avoid target lock!"

The Quinzel crew sprang to action as the ships came out of warp. Six Plesh Brek Frigates, three each for the two allied ships, flew in and effectively separated them. The Quinzel bobbed and weaved through polaron beams and cannon fire, returning fire when it could, but both it and the Mo'Kai had been through the ringer and were both hampered in what they could effectively do.

"Drone's still working on taking out their critical systems, ma'am," Vic reported, hands continuously tapping away at her console, "but short-range communications have been reestablished and I've got the Mo'Kai hailing us."

Vex ordered to put it through and the screen changed to the inside of the Klingon ship, it's Gorn Captain at the conn. "Captain Vex, I think it's time to rethink our strategy." The massive lizard rumbled.

"I'm open to suggestions, General." Vex said, clutching her chair tightly when the ship took a bad hit from one of their three pursuers.

"As dishonorable and distasteful as it might seem, it might be wise to retreat and let these frozen baktags have this blighted world." Xrithath told her, imputing commands into his chairs interface. Before Vex has a chance to be disgusted with this suggestion, her own chair dinged with a message from the Mo'Kai: 'Cloak. Sensor probes. Exterminate.'

"I hate to say it, but you might be right." Vex said, playing along and when the line was closed she said "Helm, cloaked Picard maneuver, Vic, get the sensor probes ready to deploy and tactical prepare full spread and rapid-fire cannons."

In a flash of warp energy, the Quinzel appeared to leave the system while it activated it's cloaking device, but really staying and preparing for whatever the scheming general had up his armored sleeves. As the six frigates turned to approach the planet, six tractor beams came out of nowhere and locked the Breen ships into place.

"Launch probes and open fire!" Vex ordered and as the sensor probes latched onto the ensnared ships, playing havoc on their systems, the unlikely allied ship decloaked and let loose a devastating barrage that destroyed the invading ships.

"Comms, get me the away team now!" Vex shout and the Bolian male at the comms station started to hail the away team, but it wasn't necessary.

"Captain, we're already receiving communication from the away team." He said in astonishment.

"Put it through." Vex ordered, getting a bad feeling all of the sudden.

The Bolian nodded and did so. "-ease respond! I repeat, away team to Quinzel!" Shouted Tyufia's voice, her voice full of panic and terror, filling Vex's veins full of ice. "We've engaged the Breen and have casualties!" Before Vex can curse this news, however Tyufia's next words stop her dead "Admiral Zevil is in critical condition and needs emergency medical help!"


Defera ruins,

A few minutes ago

"Oh good, you finally made it!" Ariat said with glee, her smile and good mood seeming to grow from the glares being thrown at her by Starfleet officers. "I took the liberty of having our security forces take up perimeter around the ruins." She gestured to M'krrt, who was atop the ruins with his tricorder out. "M'krrt is double checking to make sure the mechanism will respond like the other dear Dinah showed us."

"Please do not refer to me like that, Commander Iset." Dinah said, her voice somehow even more devoid of emotion than usual as she spoke to the Cardassian. "We are temporary allies, not friends."

"Quite right, Lieutenant Violet." Zevil said before Ariat could respond. "Lieutenant Violet, Commanders Ejpiz, Utprut, and Islop: proceed to the ruin's interface, Commander Iset and I will stay here to act as overwatch in case we have some uninvited guests."

The four officers responded with 'aye sir' and went to work, while Zevil and Ariat turned to face away from the ruins. It was quiet for a while, the only sounds coming from the woods around them and the five officers at the top of the ruins, and it was almost peaceful…until Ariat opened her mouth.

"So," she said, drawing out the vowel for a beat giving Zevil a side glance as her signature mischievous glint came into her eyes, "It's nice to finally meet the man my dear Vexy holds in such high regard…well," Ariat's smile grew cruel, "used to is, perhaps, the proper term I suppose."

"There's a certain phrase, human in origin," Zevil suddenly said, ignoring Ariat's verbal jab, as he scanned the surroundings around them, "that I would like to share with you now Commander: kindly cut the crap."

"Excuse me?" Ariat asked flabbergasted, completely thrown off by the absurd stamen.

"Cut the crap!" Zevil turned around to face her, his face and voice full of anger and annoyance. "Stop with this absurd charade you have been conducting since the moment you transported onto this planet's surface!"

"And what 'charade' would that be, Admiral?" Ariat asked, her usual wickedness rolling back into place, before a pitying look crossed her face. "Such crass language and paranoia, what does that Ex-B of yours see in you? I mean besides the telekinetic foreplay."

"Commander, I have lunch with Kassai Lydana often," Zevil said, frowning and giving her his best unfazed look, "so using information about my private life, especially my sex life, will not distract me." Zevil paused for a moment before adding, "Although I have no idea why you think I'm spending it with an Ex-B.

"My people are among the strongest psychics in the Federation." Zevil pushed on before Ariat could speak, "While we are unmatched in our telekinetics, it is our power as empaths that we are most famous for."

"And why should that matter to me?" Asked Ariat, acting disinterested as she picked imaginary lint from her uniform.

"Every time you've stepped onto the ship and at every mention of her name, you feel a pang of guilt and sadness that you try to cover up with cruel and inappropriate comments." Zevil said, regaining his composure and cold tone, but still glaring daggers at the Cardassian with his arms crossing.

Ariat chuckled, amused at this stamen, but to Zevil it sounded a tad nervous. "That is absolutely ridicu-"

"Jicsi." Zevil deadpanned, but he smirked in victory, pointing at her as she winced and he felt the previously mentioned guilt. "Right there! You have felt like that every time that-!" Zevil suddenly stopped and looked down just as some landed at his feet. A grenade.

Without warning, an unseen force flung Ariat away from Zevil as he thrust his hands toward the space above the grenade. Ariat landed a few feet away and looked toward the Admiral, wondering what he was doing, when she saw cracks forming on the grenade and instantly knew what was happening.

"He's trying to contain the explosion!" She thought to herself amazed, not really believing him when he had said his people were psychically so strong, but she believed him now. However, it was clear from the strain on his face, his hands shaking, and the blood slowly leaking from his nose, it was taking a toll on him.

She was going to try and help in some way when a beam of energy hit him in the back, knocking out his shields and disrupting his focus, allowing the grenade explode in a cloud of ice and sending him flying back to slam into a nearby tree on his side with a sickening crack and fall to the ground, motionless.

"We're under attack!" Ariat shouted, making sure that her inept security forces got the message and began to open fire at the Breen that seemed to just appear out of thin air. "Cloaks." She thought distractedly as she drew her dual disruptor pistols and opened fire as she ran to cover the fallen admiral, reassured when she saw phaser fire hit one of the five Breen.

There was a loud roar as a particularly big Nausicaan tackled one of the Breen at the back of the group to the ground, brought one of the huge arm blades on his forearm to its neck, and slashed its throat, tearing right through the protective suit. Not stopping, he jumped to his feet and pulled out a nasty looking blade and stabbed another in the chest, using him as a shield when the other two turned to fire at him, making them easy targets for Ariat and Starfleet officers.

When the last one fell, Ariat ran up to the Nausicaan brute and kicked him right between the legs. "You incompetent petaQ!" She shouted as the man came crashing down to his knees, moaning and grasping his wounded manhood, "I give you all one job and you let five of those HuH attack our ally and nearly kill me! Idiot!"

She spun and hit him with a roundhouse kick to the head, knocking him out. She angrily turned to the other security guards, who all jumped when her ire was aimed at them. "Go and make sure that there aren't any more hiding in the shadows and use your Hu'tegh tricorders!" They quickly did so and she turned and went back to assembled Starfleet officers as they tended to their fallen Admiral.

Dinah, having a whole database of medical information in her brain, didn't like what she was seeing: his eyes were closed as his face contorted into a pained grimace, he was shaking and groaning, his breaths were fast and shallow, and from what she could see through the holes in his clothes, he was bleeding and had ice burns along most of his body, including half his face.

"His pulse is erratic, his body temperature is dropping, and he has three broken ribs." Dinah said, her tone clinical as she scanned him with her tricorder. "Fortunately, the multiple lacerations are not bleeding, due to being frozen over."

"We need to get him back to the Quinzel, there's only so much we can do for him with the emergency kit." Zasva said kneeling down next to Zevil and opening up the emergency med kit and taking out a hypospray. "But I can at least ease the pain for him a bit and knock him out till Dr. Mrill can look him over."

Zevil's eye shot open and he grabbed Zasva's wrist in a death grip. "N-no! L-listen!" He shouted yanking her down to look into his eyes. Seeing through the minds of others, she could see his eyes were blown ovals, the adrenaline from the pain causing his eyes to dilate. He whispered to her frantically "C-Chakotay pro-protocol! N-Napoleon-!" From the Admirals other side, Dinah pressed the hypospray to his neck and released the painkiller. "P…pearl." He mumbled before the drug took effect and he was knocked out.

Zasva removed his limp hand from her wrist and took a moment to collect herself, deeply troubled from the exchange. The words were meaningless, for the moment, but it was the emotions that Zevil had broadcasted to anyone in psychic range: desperate, bone chilling fear and images of death and destruction.

"W-what's the status with getting us out of here?" Zasva asked, her voice and nerves still shaky from what she just felt and saw.

"I'm trying, but the ships are not responding!" Tyufia shot back, her own voice just as shaky. Clearly, she saw and felt the same thing Zasva did. "Please respond! I repeat, away team to Quinzel! We've engaged the Breen and have casualties! Admiral Zevil is in critical condition and needs emergency medical help!"

"We read you Away team!" Came the glorious sound of Vex's voice over the comm. "Prepare for transport directly to sick bay!" and in a swirl of blue, the five Starfleet officers and the Cardassian spy were whisked away and transported to sick bay where Dr. Mrill and her nurses swarmed them.

"What've we got?" demanded Dr. Mrill as her nurses got Zevil on the diagnostic biobed.

"Erratic pulse, internal damage from a concussive force, body temperature dropping, three broken ribs, ice burns over forty-five percent of his body, multiple lacerations, and minor disruptor damage." Dinah listed out for the doctor, making her swear in Caitian.

"He was also under a lot psychic strain when he tried to hold in the explosion." Ariat spoke up, reminding everyone she was there and gaining halfhearted glares as a response.

"Prep tri-ox compound for hypothermia and a mix of alkysine, hydrocortilene, and anesthizine for his other problems!" Mrill ordered her people and then turned to the five women left from the Away team. "The rest of you: out of my sick bay so I can work in peace!"

"I am not-!" Tyufia began to argue, but the doors opened and Vex stormed in with Toros and two security officers.

"Commander Toros, escort Commander Iset to the conference room to wait for her Captains arrival." Vex ordered as she moved to join the nurses, but Mrill stepped in front of her.

"And where do you think you're going?" Mrill demanded, annoyed at not only having more people in her sick bay, but now having to deal with her captain.

"You need someone that's not only a trained medical practitioner but someone that knows Valixian anatomy and physiology, which I do because I used Zevil's bio scans as part of my xenobiology thesis. Don't argue," Vex held up a hand before Mrill could interrupt, "just say thank you and prep for surgery."

"Thank you." Mrill said sarcastically, rolling her eyes as she turned and began getting ready.

"Vex!" Tyufia said desperately, grabbing the other woman's wrist so she would look at her. Vex did and she saw that same desperation she had heard in the Betazoid's eyes. "Please don't let him-" Tyufia stopped short as tears welled in her eyes, unable to finish her sentence.

"I won't let the last conversation we had be our literal last." Vex promised before rushing to follow Mrill and, hopefully, save her best friend.


Captain's log, stardate: 86460.42

After a difficult surgery, Admiral Zevil has come out alive and is currently resting, however, his exposure to the extreme cold of the Breen cryo-grenade has activated a biological trigger, putting the Admiral into an impromptu brumation. While concerning, my top priority is to the mission, and I will be meeting with General Xrithath so we can be debriefed by the Away team, both of the attack and their findings.

"The Admiral and I were simply talking when the attack came." Ariat informed the conference room, the seating order almost exactly the same, but with Vex in Zevil's seat and Toros in Vex's and the addition of Clyde sitting next to the Cardassian. "Pushed me out of the way and then attempted to stop the grenade from going off, but he was shot in the back and the grenade went off."

"What were the two of you talking about?" Asked Vex, her mind too worried about Xavius to sound suspicious.

"That's not important." Ariat said flatly and with finality.

"That's not your call to make, Commander." Xrithath growled with a threatening glare. He was willing to let Ariat play her little mind games with the Starfleet rats as much as she wanted to, but not at the expense of their alliance and a possible armistice.

"He was simply asking me to not antagonize the crew of this ship, same as you did earlier General." She answered, it wasn't exactly the truth, but it wasn't exactly a lie either. She hesitated a moment before asking. "Is he, the Admiral, going to be alright?"

"That's not really any of your business, Commander-" Vex said coldly, but Ariats fist hit the table, cutting her off and surprising the whole table, Starfleet and Klingon alike.

"The man just saved my life, Jicsi!" She shot back real anger and heat coming off her words as she glared at her one-time victim. "I think I'm allowed to be concerned!"

"He's…stable, but he's been through a lot and he's not waking up." Vex said gently, her own concern coming through her words. "The trauma and the extreme cold seem to have activated a brumation cycle. Dr. Mrill is trying to contact the Hades' Chief Medical officer, Dr. Citte, to see if there's anyway to waking him up without hurting him."

"I can have the Mo'Kai's medic, Dr. Keeyas, come and assist your doctor with possible treatments." Xrithath offered. "She is familiar with Gorn physiology and that insight may be helpful."

"Thank you, General, we'll take all the help we can get." Vex said, surprised to have the massive Gorn offer his own ship's medic to help a Starfleet Admiral. "Moving back to the mission," Vex turned to Dinah, "were you able to find out anything from the ruins?"

"Yes Captain, we were." Using a PADD, Dinah brought up what looked like a fragment of a holographic map of some sort. "After finding the right pattern sequence the structure reconfigured itself internally, generating this holographic matrix."

"Do we know where it leads?" Zasva asked and it was Clyde that answered.

"My team and I just finished repairing the Computer Core and it's working on deciphering de coordinates now." He scratched at his beard curiously. "Far as we can tell, dat matrix is just part of a bigger whole."

"Meaning the final destination will be a mystery until we have the whole picture." Vex mused, rubbing her chin thoughtfully, before giving her head a slight shake. "Which doesn't help us all that much, given that we can't leave the planet defenseless."

"You think the Breen will return?" Asked M'krrt dubiously. "Why? They have what they came for."

"The Breen don't like loose ends." Xrithath said, agreeing with Vex's sentiment. "They may also not have gotten a perfect copy of the star charts and may return." Xrithath was thoughtful a moment, tapping a claw on the table before speaking again. "I propose that we leave the Mo'Kai and have the Quinzel go to the coordinates. Our weapons systems are in better condition and your scanning equipment is…superior." That last statement came out as a small growl, the General clearly not wanting to admit his ship's shortcomings.

"I agree, and we can send word to both of our superiors to send ships to relieve the Mo'Kai so they can join us down the line." Vex's next words left a bad taste in her mouth, but she knew they needed to be said. "If you're agreeable, I would also propose that you and an away team from your ship join us, that way we maintain our alliance."

Vex didn't need to be a psychic to know that her crew wasn't happy about this olive branch she was extending, but she gave them all a quick look to keep them quiet. Xrithath, caught off guard by Vex's proposal, recovered quickly. "Yes, I believe that would be best." He told her with a nod of his head. "I was concerned that our alliance would be dissolved with the Admiral being…indisposed."

"I won't lie to you, General, I wasn't thrilled with the idea of us working together for…" Vex spared a quick glare in Ariat's direction, "obvious reasons, but Admiral Zevil made the right call. Both sides are tired of this war and we need to start peace somewhere."

"I'm glad to hear that, Captain." Xrithath said as he stood up from his seat, everyone following his lead. "I will inform you when we are ready to beam over."

"Then this meeting is adjourned." Vex said and everyone started to file out.

As everyone left, it was only Vex, Zasva, and Tyufia left in the room. Before the three women could leave, Tyufia pressed the panel by the door, closing the doors, and glared at Zasva. "What did Xavius whisper to you before Dinah knocked him out?" She demanded, more than a little hostilely.

"Tyufia, I know you're upset-" Zasva said calmly, trying to calm the angry Betazoid, but the other Commander cut her off mid-sentence.

"I am well beyond upset!" she snapped, her anger finally boiling over. "In the span of a few hours I have lost my captain's trust, probably lost my job, been betrayed by my loved ones," at this she sent a nasty glare Vex's way, who looked away in shame, "and I might potentially lose my best friend because he didn't have me at his side, because I didn't have his back!"

"We are not losing Xavius, Tyufia." Vex stated resolutely and with conviction and authority to try and snap her friend out of this rage spiral she was about to go down. "We have two of Starfleet Medical's best working on a way to wake him up, plus one from the Klingon Empire, so he is going to make it." Taking a calming breath to try and settle her own nerves, she adopted a sympathetic tone. "What would Xavius do if one of us were in his place?"

Tyufia took a shuddering breath and closed her eyes for a second to calm herself, before opening them and visibly relaxing. "Keep a calm head, work out the problem, and finish the mission," She gave a forced smirk, "and probably do something to give me early grey hairs." She turned to Zasva with a small amount of guilt. "Sorry."

"It's okay, I get it," Zasva reassured then said with a straight face and hooked a thumb toward Vex, "she's the real reason for these white hairs on my head." There was a beat of silence for a minute then all three women burst out laughing. It felt good, cathartic even, to laugh after all the emotional turmoil of the past few hours.

Wiping a tear from her eye, Vex turned to Zasva. "Okay, Number One, you had better tell us what Xavius told you."

"Not much to tell, I would have thought that it was gibberish if I hadn't felt such desperation and fear from him when he said them." She quickly told them three things that the Admiral had told before succumbing to the painkiller.

"Could it be schizophasia? His brain's been through the ringer recently and some of his neurons might have been scrambled from the disruptor blast." Tyufia suggested, but she wasn't too sure of herself. "The emotions would be accurate, but the meaning lost in translation."

"No, the med scan didn't show any of the signs of schizophasia, so the words should make sense." Vex said, hand to her chin and analyzing every one of the words.

"He mentioned the name Chakotay, do you think that he meant Admiral Chakotay?" Tyufia asked, adding with a mirthless chuckle, "I would have thought the last words on his lips would be Admiral Janeway's name, given his obsession with Voyager."

"I know, he even brought his…" Vex started to say, then Zevil's last two words flashed in her brain. "…that clever son of a bitch!" She said, opening the door and running out toward the turbolift. "The Six Napoleons! Xavius you genius!"

The two Commanders looked at each other for a beat before tearing off after the Trill captain. "What the hell are you talking about?" Asked Tyufia when they caught up to her outside the turbolift, slightly out of breath and brimming with curiosity. "And what does an ancient human despot have to do with any of it?"

"Not the actual Napoleon! The Six Napoleons!" Vex said excitedly, practically vibrating. "It was a Sherlock Holmes case where a thief hid something in the bust of Napoleon Bonaparte! Sherlock Holmes was the only mystery holonovels I could get him to play with me! I knew it was weird for him to bring that stupid model with him!"

Too late, Vex remembered who she was talking to. "You were in Xavius's room? When?" Tyufia asked suspiciously.

"Right…" Vex said slowly as they filed into the turbolift, "There's kinda something I need to tell you."

From outside one of the turbolift entrances, a passing Ensign jumped when he heard a shrieking 'You did what?!'


After explaining the whole situation (which included Vex fending off several half hearted smacks to the arm from an angry Tyufia), they made their way to Zevil's room, Vex opening it with her access codes. "I can't believe you bugged his room." Tyufia muttered when they walked in.

"He lied to me Tyufia, about a mission that involved my crew, what was I supposed to do?" Vex said, slightly distracted as she zeroed in on the model of the famous Intrepid class ship. She studied it, trying to figure out how exactly to open it. "In the book, they smash the busts to get to the pearl, but I can't see Xavius doing something as inelegant as that."

"Could opening the model involve what we think he's up to, Captain? Something that involves Admiral Chakotay?" Zasva asked, as she and Tyufia stood next to Vex, also studying the ship model.

"I don't know, but if it's something bad, we're in trouble." Vex said in concern. "Admiral Chakotay's the Director of Starfleet Intelligence, and if he and Xavius are dirty?" She gave a small shiver at the thought, not even wanting to think of what that could mean for the galaxy.

"First of all, Xavius isn't dirty." Tyufia stated with absolute faith. "He believes in the Federation and Starfleet too much to betray all that they stand for. Secondly, he couldn't wait to brag to Lydana that he had met Admiral Tuvok, no way he could keep quiet after meeting Janeway's Number One."

"Then maybe Chakotay Protocol is just-" Vex was caught off by an electronic voice emanating from the model.

"Voice print and pass phrase verified and accepted." It said in it's monotone voice. "Beginning playback." The model's phasor array lit up and produced a life size hologram of none other than Xavius Vexius Zevil in front of them.

"Voice print and pass phrase verified and accepted." It said in its monotone voice. "Activating Emergency Delta Hologram." The model's phaser array lit up and produced a life size hologram of none other than Xavius Vexius Zevil in front of them.

"Please state the nature of the Delta emergency." The hologram said, his face and voice flat, but at seeing the shocked looks around him, he grimaced and said, in a sheepish tone, "I would surmise you have questions."


AN: So, what did you think? I thought about being an absolute bastard and leaving you wondering if Zevil was going to die, but I am a generous psychopath.

QN: -snort- Barely.

AN: Who asked you!? Any who, please leave a review and give me your thoughts but till next time, I bid you adieu!