"T'Lyn," Sumevini's voice came through the darkness, "surely you realize by now how illogical your actions are."
T'Lyn and Mariner huddled by one of the gurneys. They stayed quiet.
"It's a perfect parallel of the larger Vulcan situation," Sumevini went on. "You would have escaped by now if you weren't concerned for Mariner's safety. But because you have tied your fate to hers, your chances of survival have dropped. If you die here, you will never fulfill your genetic imperative to reproduce and pass on your DNA. Your essence will have been lost."
In the darkness, Mariner could see a slight shift in T'Lyn's posture. Was Sumevini getting through to T'Lyn?
"But you should also be open to other solutions," Sumevini went on. "For example, if you agree to join me, I will let Mariner go."
Mariner gripped T'Lyn's shoulder. Vulcans had better night vision than humans, and T'Lyn could see the determined look on Mariner's face as she shook her head. Then Marnier stopped shaking her head nodded her head to a point behind T'Lyn. T'Lyn looked and saw a faint rectangle of light: the light from an exit door.
T'Lyn and Mariner began heading in that direction.
8
8
The escape pod wasn't designed for comfort, but there had been enough room for Shaxs, Freeman, T'Ana, and Tendi. All wore protective vests and were armed with phaser carbines.
Tendi was at the small control panel. She said, "The building's shields are still up. I'm going to try and land as close to it as I can."
"Make it so, Lieutenant," Freeman said.
8
8
A grinding noise got Sumevini's attention – the grinding of a power tool. T'Lyn and Mariner were trying to force a door. Sumevini hesitated – it was illogical tactic, because the noise was giving away their position. But then he reminded himself that humans were illogical. She must have persuaded T'Lyn to go along with a desperate plan.
He crept in that direction, jumped around the corner—
-and saw there was no one there, just a power tool braced against the metal door. It made a racket, but Mariner and T'Lyn were gone.
Then he heard the beeping of the consoles in the center of the huge room. A trick - they had doubled back.
He started towards the middle of the room.
8
8
The escape pod thumped down 20 meters from the building. The hatch opened and Tendi, T'Ana, Shaxs, and Freeman surged out.
Tendi had her tricorder out. "Force field rrriiiiiiiiiiight…" She stopped. "…here!" She opened a tool kit on her belt. "I can weaken it enough for us to push through." She pulled a small disk out of the pack and began adjusting controls.
Shaxs' eyes widened slightly. "Illegal pirate tech?"
Freeman said, "What pirate tech? I see a science officer using a tool."
"That's what I see, Captain."
The air in front of Tendi blurred and vibrated. She said, "We have to go through…now! Push hard!"
Freeman followed the other in pushing through the vibrating air. It felt like slogging through water, but she pushed. One more step and she was on the other side. Behind them, the air stopped vibrating.
Tendi got to the nearest door. "Pretty sophisticated security. It'll take a minute. Maybe less." She pulled out more tools and began working the lock.
8
8
"Uh, T'Lyn?" Mariner said.
"What?" T'Lyn looked up and saw Sumevini coming towards them.
Sumevini fired as they dove for cover.
8
8
"Whas that phaser fire?" Freeman said, standing next to the door as Tendi worked. "Mariner! Are you all right? Mariner!"
8
8
T'Lyn slowly rose from behind the console with her hands up. "Do you hear that, Sumevini? Captain Freeman will be enraged if you harm—or kill-her daughter. You're only logical course of action is to surrender."
"You underestimate me, T'Lyn," Sumevini said. "Your analytical skills have gone lax aboard the *Cerritos* if you do not believe I already have contingencies."
Sumevini came around the edge of the console, expecting to see Mariner crouching next to T'Lyn, but Mariner wasn't there.
Sumevini said, "Wait, where-"
He heard the gurney's wheels just as it slammed into him from behind. Mariner leaped over the top of gurney and kicked Sumevini in the head. She landed next to him and pushed the phaser away with her foot.
Mariner scooped up the phaser shouted, "Hey, mom! Join the party."
The door burst open. Freeman, Shaxs, Tendi, and T'Ana came down to the central consoles.
Freeman hugged Mariner with one arm as Shaxs grabbed Sumevini by the arm.
Freeman said, "Mister Sumevini, you are under arrest."
Sumevini said, "I commend you, Captain Freeman, but you have not won the day. Atlas Shrugged."
Electrical plasma flashed around the others. Everyone but Sumevini staggered. Sumevini pried his phaser pistol out of Mariner's hand. Then he fired at T'Lyn. She slumped to the floor. A transporter effect shimmered around Sumevini and he disappeared.
T'Ana recovered a little quicker than the others. She crept over to T'Lyn and passed her medica tricorder over the Vulcan. "She's alive. Sumevini just stunned—ROWR! We have to get her back to the ship-"
Tendi's tricorder beeped. She checked the readings. "Uh-oh."
8
8
"Commander!" Barnes said from the ops console. "There's been some kind of detonation at the planet's pole. A plasma reaction is spreading though the atmosphere. When it reaches the outpost, it'll wipe it clean."
"What?" Ransom said. "How? How come we didn't detect a device like that when we got here?"
"I don't know, Commander. It must have been cloaked."
"Ransom to Boimler! How's that transporter coming?"
"We're almost there…"
"You have to get there in less than a minute, Mr. Boimler."
Rutherford's voice cut in: "Holy moly! I don't know—wait, I have an idea!"
"DO IT!" Jack shouted.
The collective eyes of the bridge crew were riveted to the viewscreen which had zoomed in on the outpost. The orange plasma reached it, and it vanished in a flash of flame.
Jack said, "Ransom to Boimler. Do you have them? Mr. Boimler?"
The pause seemed to last a century.
"Boimler here, Commander," Boimler said. "We have them. T'Lyn is on her way to the sickbay."
"Jack," Freeman's voice cut in, "Sumevini beamed away. He must have a ship."
"On it." Ransom looked back to the tactical console and nodded to Kayshon.
Kayshon worked his console and sagged. He looked up at Ransom. "Darmok hunting with his father, the trail goes cold."
"Crap," Ransom said. "All right, Lieutenant. Work on getting ship-to-ship back."
Barnes looked over her shoulder at Kayshon. "Hey, Lieutenant?" she asked. "What's stronger than 'Shaka when the walls fell'? When it's a real Chalie Foxtrot?"
"Something so rude Mariner would find it nauseating," Kayshon answered.
Ransom said, "Ooof! I don't want to know. You keep that one to yourself, Lieutenant. That's an order."