Around Starbase Pike the remainder of the fleet sat in various states of disrepair. The Missouri was damaged, but still spaceworthy; Chief O'Roarke's crews were working overtime to get her ready to move out again. To get her ready for the next battle or escort duty, where ever she was called to duty. MacDermott was still in the Captain's debriefing after the disaster in the Chin'Toka system. There was a small Caltonian bar on the station. Around a small table near the bar sat Kelly, Ito, T'Gerran, Kern, and Costello. To one side was a bar, like a thousand bars on a thousand stations. To the other was the ubiquitous Dabo table with the lovely Dabo girls, whose function it was to distract the players so they wouldn't know they were losing. The crew of the Missouri was talking quietly when they noticed a moving mountain in a Starfleet uniform come into the bar followed by two other officers. The three of them sat down at the bar and ordered.

"Look over there." Kern said pointing toward the newcomers with a nod of his head.

Amanda asked. "Who?" Looking where Kern was pointing.

"Those three are from the Columbia. I've heard the Cardassians captured their Captain." Kern said.

That got Ito's attention. "Really, Captain Rees?"

"Do you know him?" Amanda asked.

"Her. Melora corrected her. "No, but the captain knows someone who does and he's not going to be happy when he finds out his ex-wife is in the hands of the Cardassians." She said.

Kern looked at him. "Who was married to her?"

Melora thought of Duncan's friend for a moment. "Shawn Gorman," was all she said.

It was enough. The others at the table knew of Captain Gorman, the commanding officer of the USS Shadow Horseman. His Special Ops team had fought along side the crew of the Missouri before.

"You are right, he will be quite upset." T'Gerran said flatly.

Kern laughed slightly. "T'Gerran your command of the understatement never ceases to amaze me."

"Thank you, Sir." T'Gerran said seriously.

Everyone at the table laughed at the Klingon's statement.

As T'Gerran eyed each of them they all became quiet again. "I heard the Brikar took five phaser blasts before he went down. Brikars are very able warriors." He said with respect as he got up and strode toward the bar and the three crewmen from the Columbia.

As T'Gerran approached, a Ferengi who worked in the bar stepped up to the Brikar and tapped on his back. The little Ferengi told him, in no uncertain terms, that the cat he was holding was not allowed on the premises. Until this moment the cat had been out of sight in the Brikar's huge hands. The two humans that had accompanied the Brikar into the bar turned their backs. They didn't want to see what was coming. They knew what was coming; they just didn't want to see it. The Brikar turned slowly and leveled his gaze at the little Ferengi. "What did you say?" The Brikar hissed.

Snidely the little alien responded. "I said. That creature has no business in here; it is a dirt..." The Ferengi's words were cut off when the Brikar put a massive hand around his throat and squeezed.

"The cat stays. If you don't like it, you go." The Brikar hissed as he released the Ferengi and returned to gently stroking the cat's fur.

The Ferengi stood there rubbing his throat. He started to speak when T'Gerran approached him. "It's a little known fact that Brikar have been known to eat Ferengi on occasion." T'Gerran said putting a friendly hand on the little alien's shoulder.

"Wha? Really?" The Ferengi looked at T'Gerran, then to the Brikar, then back to T'Gerran. "Really." The Klingon laughed as the Ferengi walked quickly away.

T'Gerran stood behind the three for a moment. This was the closest he'd ever been to a Brikar. He took in the creature's size, the leathery texture of it's skin. T'Gerran would never be confused with a coward, but he did not ever want to face one of his kind in hand to hand combat. "Pardon me, Sirs. You are from the Columbia, correct?"

Commander Mitch Davis turned around. "Yes, who are you?"

"Lt. Commander T'Gerran Leonhart, Chief of Security on the USS Missouri. If I may, I would like to buy the three of you a drink." T'Gerran offered.

"The Missouri! I should be buying you a drink." Davis said. "This is Commander Ramast." He said patting the Brikar on the shoulder. "And this is Lt. Thievin."

T'Gerran nodded at the other two. "The Columbia is a fine ship. I hope she will rejoin the fleet very soon."

The three of them nodded in response. "Please let us buy you a drink?" Thievin asked.

"Actually, I'm here with a group." He said pointing toward the rest of his group.

"BARKEEP!" Thievin yelled. "A round of drinks to the table over there. And a...?"

"Bloodwine." T'Gerran said.

"For my friend here." Thievin finished, patting the big Klingon on the back.

Almost immediately the drinks were served. The crewmen from the Columbia turned and held their glasses high. "TO THE MISSOURI!" They toasted across the room.

Kern and everyone at the table nodded in appreciation and as one voice responded. "TO THE COLUMBIA!"

A few hours later the bridge of the Missouri was busy with people replacing blown circuits and LCARS panels. MacDermott walked onto the bridge followed by T'Gerran, Costello and Ito. "XO, are we ready to get underway?"

"Yes, Sir. Engineering reports a shaky baffle plate in the deuterium storage tanks. Connor says it shouldn't be a problem. The Starbase wasn't equipped to handle that sort of repair. Phasers are only up to 73%, shields are regenerated and torpedo stores are replenished. Connor also reports that the phasers should be repaired and back to full power in a few hours." Kern explained.

"Thank you, XO." Duncan said as he sat down pleased with his crew's performance on getting the ship back in shape. The command chair wobbled as he sat down. Standing again, he said. "If Connor can spare someone." He said pointing to the chair. "I'll be in my ready room."

"Right away Sir." Kern responded grabbing the arm of the chair and giving it a wobble.

Duncan turned to Leonhart. "Contact the station. Request departure vector."

"The station has responded. Our vector is 333 mark 94. The station wishes us a safe voyage." The Klingon reported.

"Helm." Duncan ordered. "Set course 333 mark 94. Warp factor 4. Once we're clear of traffic."

"Aye, Captain." Kelley responded as he tapped the helm board.

For a moment MacDermott thought he heard a noise that shouldn't be there at the Missouri flashed into warp.

MacDermott was reading over the latest reports of the war. Another failed attempt at retaking Betazed, more losses in the Bajoran sector. He looked through the list of casualties as his mind replayed the battle of a few days ago.

---

MacDermott scanned the tactical readout. "Anyone left?" He asked as he saw a number or Starfleet and Klingon ships were covering the evacuation.

T'Gerran noted. "It doesn't look that way. All ships have either been evacuated or are...wait. There." He pointed at the display. "The Columbia."

MacDermott saw the Excelsior class starship dead in space, listing to port. "She's not going anywhere. No impulse or warp." He gripped the railing that surrounded the command deck to keep his footing as his ship was hit by poleron fire. "The Missouri's hurting right now T'Gerran. There's no way we could beam them out, not without being destroyed ourselves. We have no choice." He frowned as he said it. He didn't want to leave anyone behind. Capture by the Cardassians was not something he wanted anyone to go through.

T'Gerran seemed to understand though he growled in dissatisfaction. The Missouri was hit again as MacDermott turned to his helm officer. "That's it, Mr. Kelly, find us a way the hell out of here. When we're clear, warp nine to Starbase Pike." Duncan ordered.

"Aye Sir." Kelley responded as he plotted a course. The Missouri weaved in and out of Dominion and Cardassian ships, desperately looking for an opening.

Duncan sat down in the command chair wondering how many people he'd left behind on the Columbia and was amazed as he watched Kelley's fingers move over the controls like a concert pianist.

Costello kept her eye on the Columbia as the Cardassians began to tow the ship away with a tractor beam. As the power inside her warp core grew the nacelles began to glow. She shouted, "The Columbia, they have warp!"

MacDermott didn't waste a second. "Set course, full impulse. We've got to break the tractor lock." The Missouri looped back over a Jem'Hadar cruiser and streaked toward the crippled ship. "Lock phasers on the Cardassian tractor beam emitters. Fire as soon as we're in range."

"Captain. The Cardassians have just beamed their personnel off the Columbia and released their tractor beam. The Cardassians are moving off at full impulse. Shall we pursue, Captain?" T'Gerran asked.

Duncan watched as the Cardassian ship went into warp. "No. We'll cover the Columbia's withdrawal to Starbase Pike. Hail the Columbia."

"The Columbia does not respond. It appears their communications are down." T'Gerran reported.

"Very well." Duncan said as he sat down wondering how this massacre was allowed to take place.

---

MacDermott was broken away from his memory by the sound and vibration of a massive explosion. The deck plates still resounded from the explosion. Duncan was on his feet and on the bridge with in seconds. "Report."

"There was an explosion toward the stern. Communications are down between the engineering section and the saucer." The XO continued.

MacDermott moved toward the turbolift. XO you're with me. Amanda, you have the bridge."

She nodded to MacDermott and he and Kern entered the lift.

"Deck 8." The lift began to move immediately.

---

The doors opened into engineering. The floor was a hive of activity. Connor was directing a thousand tasked at once. He turned as MacDermott and Kern walked up. "Connor, what's going on?"

"Not good, Captain." O'Roarke pushed his hair back. "That deuterium baffle plate came apart. It took most of the Deuterium storage with it. We've lost nearly 90% of the deuterium. The rest is leaking. We have fuel for 6 hours at this rate of loss. After that we can reroute the deuterium for the impulse engines to the warp drive. That may buy was another 30 maybe 40 minutes. We can't exceed warp 6. After that we're dead in the water. The really bad news is, we can't repair the tank ruptures until they are empty." O'Roarke told them.

Duncan thought for a moment. There was really nothing to say. He said all he could. "Carry on, keep me informed." Duncan and Kern left engineering.

On the bridge Duncan said. "T'Gerran contact the planet Airmes on this frequency."

"The Deuterium facility on Airmes, Captain? Isn't Airmes behind the lines?" Costello asked.

Duncan looked at her. "Yes." Then returned to the padd he was working on.

"Captain. Airmes is responding to our hails. I do not recognize the frequency though. It is not a standard subspace channel." The Klingon noted.

"On screen." Duncan ordered as he stood up.

The screen changed from the beauty of the stars to a shabby office and a man sitting in a chair. His graying hair need combing, stubble on his face had not seen a shave in days. The man's eyes lit up when he saw MacDermott. "Hey Kid." He counted the pips on MacDermott's collar. "Oh a captain now. I beg your pardon Sir." The man said with mock respect. "What brings you to the cesspool of space?" His deep raspy voice asked.

"How you doing, Old man?" Duncan returned instantly recognizing his old friend. "We've got a problem. I need your help. We blew our deuterium tanks. We can be in orbit in 5.5 hours. After we repair the tanks, could you top us off?"

The man brushed the hair back from his face. "You know the Cardassians," he spat the word, "are occupying Airmes don't you?"

Duncan frowned. "No, we knew you were behind he lines, but we dinna know the Cardassians were there, we don't have any choice though. 6 and a half hours from now, we'll be adrift." He said.

"No…no I guess you don't have a choice do you?" The man said.

Duncan smiled. "See you soon, old man. Missouri out."

"All right, kid. Garrett out." The man said.

Kern looked at MacDermott. "We're going behind the lines in a damaged ship, to be refueled at an occupied planet, by the man who looks like he should be cleaning the place. I don't like this at all." Kern said not quite believing what was happening.

"That man was one of the best men I'd ever served with. I would have followed him anywhere." Duncan said and after thinking for a moment. "He helped me through a very rough time."

"Who is he, Captain?" Costello asked.

Duncan smiled. "He's Wade Garrett."

"He's dead." Kern responded.

Duncan looked at him. "Not hardly. Helm set course for the planet Airmes, warp 6."

"Aye Sir." Kelley said nervously.

"Captain, are you sure about this?" Kern asked. He'd heard the stories of Wade Garrett. The man was a maverick. Didn't heed orders or protocols. He just did things the way he wanted. Right or wrong though, most of the time his way worked.

MacDermott looked at him and then around at the rest of the bridge crew. "XO, trust me. We don't have any choice."

---

As the Missouri approached he Airmes system, MacDermott ordered. "Scan the system for dominion ships."

T'Gerran replied. "Negative, Sir."

Duncan breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. Helm. Bring us into orbit of Airmes, by coming around the moon." Turning to his tactical officer. "As we pass scan the moon, I believe you'll find several large fissures on the surface."

"Aye Captain." Came the replies for T'Gerran and Kelley, both of them wondered how the captain knew so much about this system.

He sat down in the command chair. "Tom, I want you to oversee the repairs. I'll be taking Melora, T'Gerran and Costello to the surface to oversee the refueling end of this."

"Captain, I really wish you'd let me go down to an occupied planet. I'm expendable. You're not." Kern pleaded.

"I'll note your objection in my log. And thanks, for looking out for me." Duncan said.

"Captain. There are several fissures large enough for a starship on the moon's surface." T'Gerran reported.

Duncan smiled. "Good. Once we beam down. Put the ship into one of those fissures. Connor can do his EVA work unhindered. The magnetic fields of the ore in the moon will hide the ship very well. If the Cardassians come into the system they shouldn't pick you up on their sensors. We'll come back to the ship on one of the refueling tugs."

"Captain we're in a standard orbit of the planet Airmes." Kelley reported.

"Very well." Duncan said standing. "Commanders." He said to T'Gerran and Costello with a gesture toward the turbolift at the rear of the bridge. Tapping his combadge. "Lt. Ito, report to transporter room 2 for Away team duty." He said as entered the lift and turned to face the closing doors.

Kern sat down in the center seat as the thought struck him. Every time, he beams down somewhere there's trouble.

---

Inside the transporter room, T'Gerran handed everyone in the Away Team and phaser rifle and a side arm. The four of them stepped onto the pads. "Energize."

The quantum fields took them down to the planet Airmes. As soon as transport was complete. Kern ordered the ship to the moon of Airmes.



The four of them materialized in the center of the complex. All around the landing party were huge storage tanks of deuterium slush. In the distance the machines that broke down the molecular bonds of other elements that left deuterium as a by-product could be heard. Over their heads ran the piping that routed the cryogenically suspended deuterium slush into the storage tanks. The chill from the storage tanks could be felt in the air. T'Gerran scanned the area. All these pipes held too many places for a Cardassian sniper to hide and take them out at his leisure. T'Gerran raised his rifle up as a number of people approached from one of the buildings. Duncan put his hand on the rifle and gently forced the Klingon to lower it. T'Gerran kept his hand on the handle of his hand phaser. T'Gerran recognized the man approaching them as the same disheveled man that MacDermott knew.

"It's about time you got here." Garrett shouted.

MacDermott hugged the man. "How are doing old man?"

"Good. You?" Garrett replied as the two stepped away from each other.

MacDermott smiled. "I'm ok."

"Are you going to introduce me to your comrades?" Garrett prodded the Captain of the Missouri.

He turned to his left. "This is Commander Costello, my Operations officer, Lt. Commander Leonhart, my tactical officer and Chief of Security, and this is Lt. Melora Ito of Security." He turned back to Garrett. "This is Wade Garrett."

The three of them nodded to Garrett. Garrett then approached the two women of the landing party. He gave MacDermott a sly grin. This guy was definitely a ladies man. "Why is it that the women in Starfleet just keep getting better and better looking?"

MacDermott didn't respond. "Cat still got your tongue, kid?" Garrett asked. "When he came aboard the Crazy Horse, he wouldn't even talk to ladies. They all wanted to talk to him though." He said laughing at MacDermott's expense.

MacDermott just stood there looking embarrassed until he caught Melora looking at him. She just smiled. Garrett noticed the long look the two of them shared and made a mental note to ask his friend about it. "Who are your friends, Wade?" Duncan asked taking the heat off him for awhile.

There were two people who arrived with Garrett. One was a big Andorian man; the other was a Bajoran woman. "This is Jakot" Garrett said gesturing to the man.

The blue skinned man nodded at them.

Garrett continued. "This is Lorrisa Stel."

The Bajoran just nodded.

The crew of the Missouri just nodded in response.

"Where's your ship, kid?"

MacDermott didn't care for the out of date moniker that Garrett was using, but it would have been useless to point that fact out. "It's hiding in one of the fissures in the Airmes moon while the engineering staff makes repairs on the tanks."

"We've got two days. The Cardassians will be back in two days." Garrett proclaimed.

Duncan looked surprised. "That's not a lot of time."

"No it's not. Let's get you all settled." Garrett said.

The seven of them moved back to the shelter of the buildings. The insides were as shabby as the outside; MacDermott thought as they made their way inside. Garrett opened a door. It didn't open automatically like the Starfleet people were accustomed to. The inside of the room showed two bunk beds. "These are quarters some the drilling crew used before they left. Not a lot of drilling going on anymore. We don't want to give those spoon headed bastards anymore deuterium than we have to. Don't worry there is enough in storage that they'll never know you were here."

Duncan rubbed his face. "Thanks Wade. Why don't we get together later and plan how we're going to get the fueling tugs to the moon." Duncan said.

"Sounds good, Kid. See you later." With that, Garrett and his cohorts left.

Once they were alone, MacDermott's crew had a number of questions for him, about Garrett and what he was doing on this planet.

"If he's a captain what's he doing here?" Melora asked, suspicious of his charm and helpful nature.

Duncan looked at her and T'Gerran and Costello. They all shared that question. "Seven years ago we served together." MacDermott said cryptically. "Then I got posted to the Crazy Horse and we lost track of each other. He taught me more about tactics and command than I ever earned at the academy. Wade Garrett was the best leader I've ever come across." He told them hoping it was enough.

"Captain. I want to reconnoiter the area. Try to come up with a defensive position should it become necessary." T'Gerran suggested.

"Good idea." He replied.

Costello said. "I'll go with him." MacDermott smiled. "Very well. One hour, then back here."

The two of them hefted their phaser rifles and said "Aye, Sir." Then MacDermott and Melora were alone in the room.

Melora looked at him for a long time. "There's more to him than you're telling us, isn't there?"

"Yeah, there's more to both of us." MacDermott admitted. He had hoped never to visit this forsaken planet again, or relive the memories of that part of his life."

"You've been here before, haven't you?" Ito asked looking into his eyes

MacDermott knew he couldn't keep anything from her. Even if he wanted to. "Yes. Let me start at the beginning. Eight years ago, I left the Melbourne. It was just prior to Wolf 359. I was still getting over Dina. I didn't want to be friends with anyone. Then I met Wade. He made me see that life was too short and that it was worth living." Duncan continued. "I didn't know it when I met Wade, but he was with Starfleet Intelligence. Four months after meeting him so was I. We were a team. We were an Intel gathering team. He did the Intel work and I was his 'shooter'. I was a marksman. I guess I had a natural talent for it."

She looked at him harder. There was more he wasn't telling her. "What happened? What did the two of you have to do?" She was pushing, she knew; but she loved him and wanted to help him.

"Assassinations, interrogations, covert insertions, we did it all." Duncan offered. "There was this one time on Romulus."

"You have been on the Romulan home world?" Melora asked him incredulously.

"Yes, there was a Romulan senator. Parmen, I think his name was. He was plotting an invasion of the Federation, our operatives on Romulus found out about it. We were put on Romulus with one mission, kill him. Wade's job was to find out where and when he would be someplace, mine was to shoot him." Duncan said with remorse. "There were a number teams like ours. The shooters all had special weapons. A rifle that used a linear induction system to propel a small duranuim projectile at near the speed of light. The rifle also had a telescopic sight with an infrared scanner on it. I was nearly 1000 meters away." Duncan remembered it so clearly. They would only have one chance. The senator was going deeper into Romulan space later that day and Garrett and MacDermott couldn't risk going any further. He continued. "I was watching where Wade said the senator would be. He came out of his home carrying his daughter." Duncan bowed his head. "The only sound the weapon made was a low hum as linear induction motor went through its sequence. I watched, almost instantly the senator's head disappeared as the projectile struck. His daughter was covered in his blood as they fell to the ground. Two hours later we were evac'd out." Duncan explained. "One shot, one kill. That has been the motto of snipers for centuries."

Melora looked at him. He looked so weak and defenseless as he explained more about the cold ruthless business he'd been involved in. "When did you decide to leave?" She asked.

He looked into her eyes. It made him feel better that they still gleamed with love she had for him. "It was a few months later. We were sent to look for Maquis rebels." He began.

---

They didn't know the name of the planet they were on when they first arrived. Later they found out the planet was called Airmes. Garrett and MacDermott made their way from the covert-landing zone that the Intel teams had set up. Instead of having a team go in solo, there were four teams on this barren rock. MacDermott had never seen any other teams before. Starfleet Intelligence liked it that way. If a team was captured they couldn't give away the other teams. MacDermott thought to himself. This must be really important to send this many teams to one place. That thought stayed with him as he carried his rifle through the searing heat. It was night before they reached the coordinates of the interrogation center. A Bolian that MacDermott had never seen before stopped them. Garrett said something to the Bolian that Duncan couldn't hear. The Bolian waved them past. As they approached the temporary shelter, MacDermott could here someone yelling. "Where is your camp?" There was no response. As MacDermott and Garrett stood in the doorway, they saw a human in a Starfleet uniform standing over a Bajoran who was tied to the chair.

"What are they doing?" MacDermott whispered.

Garrett looked at him. "Interrogation." He told him with a finger at his lips telling MacDermott to keep quiet.

The human punched the Bajoran in the face. Blood spilled from his broken nose. "Answer me!" The human commanded. The Bajoran didn't make a sound. This frustrated the human officer to the point of exasperation. "This will make you talk." The human held up two probes; plasma leapt between the two points. "What ever the plasma touches, is destroyed." An evil smile played across his face as the plasma got very close to the Bajoran's ear. The Bajoran cut his eyes over and watched as the plasma got closer. His screams cut into the night as the top of his right ear disappeared.

MacDermott couldn't believe what he was watching. He moved into the room and yelled. "Stop it."

The human turned and looked at MacDermott. "Who is this?"

Garrett appeared at MacDermott's side. "Come on, Kid. We're just suppose to watch." He said pulling on MacDermott's arm.

MacDermott pulled away and approached the human. In the blink of an eye MacDermott was staring at the emitter of a phaser pointed directly at his face. The man behind the phaser said. "Nobody will ever know what happened to you." His thumbs rubbed the firing button.

MacDermott understood what the man told him. If he didn't back away this man would kill him. MacDermott couldn't allow them to continue to torture this person. He could hear Garrett behind him telling him to come on.

Commander MacDermott stood his ground as the man with Admiral's pips on his collar edged closer to him with the phaser. Duncan made a decision that it was either him or this sadistic admiral. MacDermott spun and caught the admiral in the stomach with his foot. The room exploded with activity as everyone had a phaser out pointing at MacDermott. As the admiral was getting his breath Garrett came up behind MacDermott and pointed his phaser at the admiral. "Come on!" He insisted, pulling MacDermott out the door. "Nobody move." He pushed MacDermott ahead of him. "I'll get us out of this kid. Let's get to the landing zone." He turned back to the shelter. "Everybody stay there. Stay right there." MacDermott and Garrett made it quickly back to the landing zone.

---

"I left Starfleet Intelligence then and there. I was placed on the Crazy Horse and the rest is history as they say." Duncan said finishing his story.

Melora smiled at him. "That's quite a story. What happened to Garrett?"

"I don't know. I didn't hear from him for 5 or 6 years. One day, there was a subspace message from him saying he was here running the deuterium facility. It's kind of ironic that I ended up back here. When that Admiral had that phaser on me I didn't think I'd get off this planet alive." Duncan said to her. "Watch him. After what happened I don't really trust anyone involved with Starfleet Intelligence and I don't know if Garrett is still with them or not." Duncan told her.

"Ok. I love you." She told him squeezing his hands.

Duncan squeezed back and said. "I love you too."

The door opened and the other crewmembers from the Missouri walked in. "Captain, somebody on this planet is transmitting a subspace message." Costello reported.



Duncan's head snapped around. "What?"

"There's a subspace transmitter in operation somewhere close by." T'Gerran said. "Something else, Captain. There is no one else on this planet besides us and Garrett's people."

That took MacDermott by surprise. I wonder why he lied? Duncan thought to himself. "OK, T'Gerran, you're with me. We're going to find Garrett and then find that transmission." He turned to Melora and Costello. "I know what you're going to say, and right now. I don't care. You will stay here. If we don't come back in one hour your orders are to get to a refueling tug and get to the ship. Understood?" He ordered.

Melora started to protest, but then acquiesced. They both said. "Aye, Sir."

"Come on." MacDermott said has he hefted his phaser rifle. The big Klingon pointed his phaser rifle in the safe position straight up and followed MacDermott out the door. He told Melora with his eyes that he would take care of him.

Out in the open area between the buildings T'Gerran opened his tricorder. The device beeped and chirped as it locked in on the signal being transmitted. "The signal is coming from that building, Captain." The Klingon reported.

"OK. I'll get Garrett from the office and you go check out the building. Wait for us." He ordered before trotting off.

---

After carefully backing the Missouri into the largest of the fissures. Connor and his team of engineers had begun their work on the ruptured deuterium tanks. The work was slow and tedious as they used phaser torches to cut the damaged sections of the tanks away. Another team was busy in the cargo bay replicating sections for the tanks and the hull ruptures. The repairs would not be pretty but they would work.

Kern sat in the command chair tapping his foot on the carpeted floor. "Connor, how's the work coming?" He asked over the communicator.

O'Roarke's voice was distorted because of his EVA suit. His mood was not however. "Slow, just like it was 5 minutes ago. This is going to take a while. Even longer if I have to stop every 5 minutes and answer questions from the bridge." O'Roarke's obvious disdain for EVA work was edging into his consciousness.

"I'm sorry, Connor. I'll try to leave you alone." Kern promised.

O'Roarke laughed. "I'm sorry too. You know how much I hate it out here."

---

MacDermott and Wade approached cautiously. "What the hell is going on, Wade?" MacDermott asked him accusingly.

"I don't know. Really, nobody should be using this transmitter except me. I swear." Garrett said, noticing that the noise he was hearing was the Klingon growling at him.

"He's still sending a transmission, Captain." T'Gerran said returning to his work.

"Can you jam it?" MacDermott asked.

The Klingon replied. "No. The tricorder doesn't have enough power."

MacDermott looked at Garrett then back to Leonhart. "Take him out." MacDermott ordered. T'Gerran pulled the Mek'leth from the sheath on his back and started to creep toward the door.

"Wait." Garrett said. "Who is sending the message?"

"The Andorian." T'Gerran spat. "Who is he sending a message to?"

Garrett said. "I don't know." He reiterated. "It's not authorized by me."

"Do it, I want him alive." MacDermott said.

T'Gerran nodded and entered the radio room silently. Inside the room he could hear the Andorian speaking. "Glinn Dumall, there are several Federation personnel on the surface now. They have a ship that needs repairs. They are hiding the vessel. It is ...aaarrrrggghh!"

The message was cut short as T'Gerran grabbed him by the throat and threw him to the ground. The blade of Mek'leth resting against his throat, the bulk of the Klingon was on his chest. "Who were you talking to?" The Klingon seethed.

The Andorian was silent.

MacDermott and Garrett entered the room and took in the sight. They grabbed the Andorian and pushed him down into the chair as T'Gerran stood up.

"Why Jakot?" Garrett asked him with sorrow. The human had trusted him.

Jakot looked at him with indifference. "Huge amounts of latinum, they are willing to pay me a fortune in Latinum." The blue skinned being said.

"Who, dammit?" Garrett asked, frustrated that one of his own would turn on him. He shook the Andorian. "WHO?"

MacDermott pulled him off the Andorian. "It's obvious, the Cardassians or the Dominion is behind this." He turned to the Andorian. "Well Jakot, am I right?"

The Andorian looked at him and shrugged.

Garrett lost it. We hit the Andorian with a backhand. He brought his hand back to hit him again. MacDermott caught it. "Don't Wade. It's not going to get us anywhere."

Garrett picked Jakot up by the tunic. His face was inches away from the Andorian. The fire that was burning in his eyes was frightening. He seethed. "Ten years ago I'd have killed you for double crossing me. If anyone dies because of this I'll still kill you." He dropped Jakot back into the chair to think about his threat.

"T'Gerran, tie up our friend here. Gag him too. If the Cardassians beam down I don't want him screaming for help." Duncan ordered.

"Yes Sir." T'Gerran said.

MacDermott approached Garrett. "Wade, we need to get everyone together and get off this rock. Where are the fuel tugs? We can take one to the Missouri and hide there until the Cardassians are gone." He said. It sounded like a good idea to MacDermott.

"Yeah, we've got to get out of here." Garrett was still thinking about the man that betrayed him. "The tugs are in orbit. They're fully loaded. There is a transporter near the office. We can beam up from there." He told him. "You know, Admiral Perez isn't going to like this."

Duncan was confused. "Who? Who is Admiral Perez?"

"You mean you forgot the man who put a phaser in your face?" Garrett asked him.

MacDermott was shocked and his expression showed it. "You mean, you're working for that bastard? You're still in aren't you?"

"What can I say, Kid? Once and Intel man always an Intel man." Garrett shrugged.

"Captain!" T'Gerran said excitedly. "I'm picking up transporter activity near the office area. Six Cardassians have just beamed down."

MacDermott immediately thought of Melora and Costello. What a prize they would make for a Gul. He shuttered at the thought. "T'Gerran let's go!" He ordered as he picked up his phaser rifle and flipped the safety off.

Garrett grabbed MacDermott's arm. "What are you two going to do? Charge in there and get them all before they kill you or worse kill them." He said looking into MacDermott's eyes. In his mind he said. You went and did it, didn't you? You went and fell in love again.

"I can just sit here. I've been a prisoner. I know what they do to prisoners. I'll kill them myself before I let those bastards take them away from me." He exclaimed knowing that if it came to that Melora would understand.

"Come with me." Garrett said. "You." He said to T'Gerran. "I don't want him making any noise for a while." He pointed to Jakot.

T'Gerran understood. The Andorian's eyes went wide as T'Gerran rolled him over on his stomach. The sound of the Klingon pulling the Mek'leth from it's sheath was uncommonly loud as was the thud when he struck the Andorian at the base of the neck with the pommel. The Andorian went limp.

"Let's go. Two levels down, I have some things stored that may be of help. Jakot didn't know about them. The three of them crawled along the hallway under the windows that opened out into the courtyard where they could hear a Cardassian ordering his men to search the surrounding buildings. At the end of the hall was a door that would lead them to the stairs.

MacDermott was just about to go through the door when he heard a scream. He turned to see Costello and Melora being pushed out into the courtyard. His heart leapt into his throat as he watched them. His teeth clinched in determination. He would rescue them. It was then he heard a whisper behind him. "Come on!" He glanced out the window one last time, just in time to see Melora slapped to the ground by one of the Cardassians.

---

"That'll teach you some respect." The Cardassian spat at her. "Put the other one next to her." He ordered. Another Cardassian pushed Amanda roughly to the ground. The two women were on their knees with their hands tied behind their backs. Surrounded there was no chance of making a run for it.

"Glinn Dumall, There are no others in the area." One of the soldiers reported.

The Glinn was not happy with this news. "Keep searching. Starfleet would not send only two women down to this inhospitable place. Find Jakot also. I have to give him his reward." Dumall laughed as he twirled his dagger in his hand. He approached the two women. With the handle of the dagger under their chins he inspected each of his prisoners. "You'll both do nicely." He laughed. It was the kind of laugh that was meant to frighten.

---

O'Roarke called the bridge. "Bridge this is engineering. We're testing the welds now." Compressed air was pumped into the tanks; any leaks would show up as vapor outside the tanks.

"Very good. Connor." Kern commended. "How does it look?"

"Um just some small leaks." Connor said as he watched the display in his office. It showed two men in EVA suits floating around the tanks sealing the leaks with gamma welders as they appeared. "Twenty minutes, tops. After that I'm going to route half the deuterium from the impulse engines to the warp tanks and begin the warp startup process. That way we can get out of this hole."

"Understood." Kern smiled. "And again, good work. Bridge out."

Connor smiled as he shook off the feeling of weightlessness and the cold of space. He turned to see the last of the leaks being closed.

---

MacDermott entered the dark room just as Garrett was pulling a large back out from the rafters. He set the back on workbench in the center of the room. "Some things I thought I might need sometime." He said.

On the table he set a number of concussion grenades and flash explosives. These were weapons that weren't meant to kill so much as disorientate. MacDermott recognized what came out of the bag next. Scrambled short-range communicators. These worked on a principle that it would save whatever was said and send it in a microburst transmission. The burst would be a nanosecond at most as well as scrambled. If, and it was a big if, the enemy were able to intercept the transmission it would sound like static. MacDermott and Garrett had used these many times during their time together.

"What are these?" MacDermott asked holding up a small device about the size of an independent holoemitter.

"Watch." Garrett said taking the device from MacDermott. He pressed the device and became invisible. "It's a chameleon field similar to what the Jem'Hadar use." Garrett explained becoming visible again.

"I guess Perez just gave you all this equipment?" Duncan said skeptically. "What are you doing here, Wade?"

Garrett looked at him, then looked at T'Gerran. "Tell the Klingon to wait outside."

T'Gerran bristled.

With a nod of his head Duncan told him to go outside. After T'Gerran closed the door behind him. "You know, Wade, you really don't want to make him angry." Duncan said. "All right, what the hell are you doing here?"

"You know, If you were anyone else, you wouldn't even be here, understand. Six months ago, Intelligence learned that, Admiral Jakobi, yeah, that Admiral Jakobi. The head of the Starfleet Advanced Design Bureau has been using this outpost to funnel information to the Dominion. Weapons plans, shield developments, anything that would help the Dominion. I've plugged up his network. I was waiting for him to come out in the open so I could take him out. Then you showed up. Well my cover is blown now. I'll have to come up with another way to take Jakobi." He looked at Duncan. "But now we've got a bigger problem." Garrett could see the look in MacDermott's eyes. He put his hand on Duncan's shoulder. "They won't get her off this planet, either of them. OK, buddy?"

"Yeah." Duncan said without confidence.

Garrett turned and reached into the rafters again as MacDermott watched him pull out something long wrapped in fabric. Facing MacDermott again he said. "Here, you know how to use this a lot better than I do." He opened the fabric to reveal MacDermott's old EM pulse sniper rifle. Duncan hefted the weapon in his hands. It felt odd in a way, cumbersome. In another way it felt like an old friend.



"I'm not even going to ask why you still have this thing." MacDermott told him. "I told you when I left I'd never use one of these things again."

"What do you do when somebody threatens kill you or someone you care about?" Garrett challenged him. "You have two choices, you can let them kill you; or you can kill the fucker." Garrett glared at him.

MacDermott thought for a quick moment. "You're right."

Garrett clasped his shoulder. "Good. Come on. Let's go get your people."

The two of them left the room. Picking up T'Gerran along the way. By the time they reached the ground level Garrett had laid out his plan. T'Gerran would use the concussion grenades and flash explosives to disorientate the Cardassians, giving MacDermott the time to dispatch the Cardassians closest to the prisoners. Garrett would spirit Melora and Costello out of the area. The three of them reached an intersection in hallway. "Kid, you go through that door. The catwalk will lead you to a high spot where you can get a good shot." He told Duncan pointing off down an adjoining corridor. "You're with me." Garrett told the Klingon. Garrett and T'Gerran took off down the hall in the opposite direction of MacDermott.

---

Lorissa Stel silently peered out from the closet she was hiding in. She had seen the Cardassians beam down and the take the Starfleet females. She was sorry she couldn't have helped them then. But maybe she could help them now. She waited a few more minutes, then quietly made her way out of the locker room toward the transporter room.

The transporter room was empty when Stel reached it. In her pocket she had the access cards for the transporter and the fuel tug that was in orbit 200 miles above her head. Quickly she looked around the room before slipping the card into the reader. It beeped in response. She was sure the Cardassians had heard the noise. Lorissa waited impatiently for the transporter to move from stand-by mode to ready mode. The green light on the console finally told her it was ready. "Finally." She said as she took her place on the pad. A few seconds later she materialized inside one of the numerous fueling tugs.

She slipped her access card, actually Jakot's access card, into the slot. The controls for the tug powered up around her. With a light touch on the controls the tugs turned and slowly moved out of the group. Lorissa Stel watched as the moon of Airmes got larger and larger in the view port. She knew the starship was hiding in one of the fissures in to the moon's surface. The question was which one. The tug was too big to maneuver inside all but the largest of these chasms. She had to chance using the transmitter and hope the Cardassians didn't pick it up. She pointed the antenna toward the moon and began to transmit. "Federation starship." She didn't even know the name of the ship.

---

On the bridge of the Missouri, Kern sat in the center seat waiting for word from engineering that the Missouri had warp power again. Ensign Smith was at tactical. "Commander, I think you'd better hear this." She said pulling the hair back over her ear to hear the message better.

Kern walked around and approached the tactical station. "Let's hear it again." He ordered turning his ear to the console.

The speaker chirped then the message began again. In a whisper the voice said. "Federation starship, there are Cardassians on Airmes. I have the deuterium."

"Give me a sensor sweep, then engage the ASCM. I don't want the Cardassians getting a return off us while we're sitting in this hole." Kern said to the tactical officer. Turning he said. "Engineering, is the core online yet?"

"Tom, this is Connor. We have warp power for 15 minutes. We also have fuel for 30 minutes at impulse. We need that fuel tug from the surface. Have you heard from the Captain yet?" The voice of the Chief Engineer said.

"Good. I think the fuel tug maybe looking for us now. I'll let you know. Bridge out." Kern told him. "Jared, take us out slow, thrusters only."

"Aye, Sir." The Missouri began to move under Kelley's skillful control.

The Katana class starship cleared the fissure like a turtle comes out of his shell. Ensign Smith reported. "We're clear of the fissure and free to navigate. Sensors show a fuel tug one hundred thousand kilometers away bearing 126 mark 53. The only Cardassian vessel is in orbit of Airmes. Which is on the far said of the moon right now."

"Good. That's your course Mr. Kelley." Kern said.

"Aye Captain."

"Give me a tight beam on the fuel tug. I want to talk to the pilot." Kern ordered.

"Ready Sir." Smith said.

"Airmes fuel tug. This is the USS Missouri. Come in please." Kern said standing on the command platform.

Stel breathed a sigh of relieve when she saw the big starship coming toward her. Missouri, my name is Lorissa Stel. Please stand by. I am coming around to the fueling port."

"Understood. Miss Stel, and thank you." Kern added.

The fueling tug came around the stern of the starship. Rising up past the navigation light that flashed in her face through the view port, past the letters that spelled USS MISSOURI on the stern, between the nacelles that held the massive energies created by the warp core and transformed that energy in to the warp field that allowed the ship to move faster than light. There. She could see the fueling port. Using the manipulators on her console, Lorissa Stel connected to the Missouri and began filling her empty tanks with deuterium.

Kern stood at a window at the rear of the saucer section and watched as the fuel was transferred. He tapped his combadge. "Connor, how's it look?"

"65% full, Tom. We've got plenty to reach Utopia Planitia. But let's go ahead and let her top us off." Connor said.

Kern looked back at the rusted, beat up fuel tug. "All right, but at the first sign of trouble I want a clean break away and the pilot beamed aboard." He ordered.

"Consider it done." Connor promised.

---

It had taken awhile but Duncan finally reached the point over looking the Cardassians and their prisoners. He had engaged his chameleon field before he reached this point. In the maze of pipes and conduits that surrounded him he doubted that the Cardassians would have seen him anyway. As he lay on the catwalk and peered through the telescopic sight of the rifle he looked at Melora and Costello. The two of them appeared scared but OK. The range finder told him he was little more than 100 meters from them. A 100 meters, he could make that shot in his sleep. He counted four Cardassians around the prisoners; a Glinn and his underlings. The Glinn was the one who had slapped Melora. He'd only have surprise on his side for the first shot. After that they would be seeking cover, or just vaporize the hostages. His mind went back to the Orion slaver who tried to do that very thing in the school with Katy Ryan. He shook off that memory and whispered into his radio. "One this is Two. In position and ready.

In his ear he heard T'Gerran. "One this is Three. In position and Ready. T'Gerran was on ground level directly below MacDermott. His job was to set off the distractions and take out as many Cardassians as possible while MacDermott was trying to do the same thing.

"Two and Three, this is One. In position and ready." Garrett said. He was directly across from T'Gerran. His job was to get to the hostages and get them out of the way. "On my mark. Three, Two, One, Mark."

As soon as he heard the words "Mark" T'Gerran hurled a flash grenade into the crowd. It exploded blinding the Cardassians.

MacDermott opened his eyes as soon as he heard the explosion. He put the sight on the Cardassian closest to the hostages. Duncan pulled the first trigger. It initiated the EM pulse that sent the projectile flying. "Good night." He pulled the second trigger. The weapon fired. At near the speed of light the duranium projectile struck the Cardassian just under his left eye. In the sight he saw the head of the Cardassian explode in a cloud of yellow blood, which covered Melora and Costello. What a second ago was a living breathing enemy of the federation was nothing more than 100 kilos of dead Cardassian.

A concussion grenade went off further confusing the enemy with it's deafening sound. Duncan watched as one of the Cardassians went down to phaser fire. He put the sight on another and was preparing to fire when he heard a voice yelling from beneath him. It was Jakot. He had freed himself and was yelling for Cardassians to help him. He pointed directly where MacDermott was hiding. Through the sight it was as if Duncan was looking directly into his eyes. Again he pulled the first trigger and was greeted with the hum of the EM motors. "Good night, you son of a bitch." The shell impacted precisely between his eyes. As Jakot fell, the Cardassian standing next to him, though now covered in blue blood, brought his disrupter up to fire at where Jakot was pointing. He fired at the same time he was hit from two sides. T'Gerran and Wade both hit him. The Cardassian just ceased to exist.

Duncan brought his weapon around on another target. The Cardassian was bringing his disrupter up to fire at the hostages. As the EM motors did their job Duncan said. "No you don't." The bullet penetrated the Cardassian's skull just above the ear. Everything behind that ear was transformed into a cloud of yellow blood.

Duncan searched for more targets through the scope of the rifle. He saw Melora and Amanda being pulled away by Garrett. There he was the one who had hit Melora. Duncan put the sight right on the spoon shaped marking on his head. In his mind Duncan played back the torture he endured, the death of his brother at the hands of the Cardassians, Hunter's death, he decided to make this one suffer. It may not have been what Starfleet would do, but. He lowered the sight to the middle of the Cardassian's abdomen. As he heard the EM motors start, "I hope this hurts, you bastard." He saw the target begin to dematerialize as the shell fired. He watched as the shell struck harmlessly into the dirt. "Damn." Duncan said to himself. He deactivated the chameleon field and started to climb down from his perch.



"Commander, the Cardassian ship is breaking orbit. Their heading will take them right around the moon. They'll be in visual range in 2 minutes." Smith reported.

"Connor, break away. Break away. Beam her aboard." Kern shouted.

Connor hit the button that jettisoned the connection to the fueling hose and sealed the tanks.

In the cockpit of the fueling tug Stel looked confused as the hose was jettisoned from the receptacle. She started to call the Missouri, but she was caught in the transporter effect and couldn't move until she materialized in the transporter room of the Missouri. Chief Percy said. "Welcome aboard. Bridge, transporter room, the pilot is aboard."

"Understood." Kern said. "Shields up. Warm up the weapons. Helm z minus 1000 meters. I want to get clear of that fueling tug. Once we're clear set course to take us around the moon and back toward Airmes. Full impulse."

"Aye."

The Missouri dropped straight down and turned beneath the tug. The Cardassian came around the horizon of the moon just in time to see the Missouri going the other way.

"Grab the tug in a tractor beam and pull it in close." Kern ordered as he sat in the center seat. "Jared, take us in tight along the moon's surface."

"Aye Sir." The Missouri with the tug in tow dipped and swerved around the spires of rock that made up the surface of the moon of Airmes.

"Where's the Cardassian at?" Kern asked.

"Closing, he following us through the outcroppings of rock." Smith reported.

"On screen." Kern ordered. The image changed from the view of where the Missouri was going to where she had been. The Galor class warship was two thousand meters behind the Missouri. She couldn't get a clean shot because the Missouri kept turning amidst the crags and spires of rock.

"The Cardassians are within 1500 meters and still closing." Ensign Smith reported.

"When break 1000 meters release the tractor beam on the tug. Lock a quantum torpedo on the tug." Kern ordered.

"Aye Sir."

"Jared, as soon as we fire on the tug. Get us out of these rocks and back to Airmes." The XO continued.

"Aye Sir." Kelley responded.

The Cardassian vessel closed the gap between the two ships. "990 meters, Sir and still closing." Smith said.

"Release tractor beam now." Kern ordered. The blue light that held the two ships together stopped. The fuel tug started to fall behind the Missouri. The Galor class starship closed on the drifting tanker. Suddenly the Galor tried to stop but it was too close to the tug to stop in time. The Galor rammed the tug and it exploded. The forward section of the Cardassian vessel was completely obliterated by the explosion. The vessel continued forward for a few seconds, carried by it's own momentum. Finally the pull of gravity was too much and it fell into the surface of moon leaving a trail of debris for miles.

"Helm, take us back over the crash site. Scan for survivors." Kern ordered as he looked at the damage.

Ensign Smith at tactical reported. "I'm picking up a few survivors toward the stern of the ship, Sir. Shall I inform the transporter room?" She asked.

Just as Kern was deciding, nature decided for him in the shape of a large antimatter explosion. The shock wave pitched the Missouri forward and away from the moon. The crew of the Missouri looked back at the crash site; nothing remained of the Cardassian vessel. A crater some two kilometers wide by three kilometers deep replaced it.

"Put us into a standard orbit of Airmes, Helm." Kern ordered, looking at the destruction on the screen.

---

Duncan made his down to the ground level as Garrett brought the hostages out from where they were hiding. He strode across the courtyard. Melora came running to him and hugged him tightly. "Are you OK?" He asked looking at the bruise on her face?

She put her hand against her cheek and said. "I'm fine. How are you?"

"Now I'm fine. I was scared for a while. When I saw you were taken prisoner." Duncan told her.

Garrett and Costello approached the two of them. "Captain are you all right?" Costello asked.

"Fine, Commander. You?" He responded.

She brushed back the hair from her face. "I'm fine, a little shaken up, but I'll be fine."

"Good." He told her. "Wade, thank you. I don't know what else to say." He shook the hand of his mentor and friend.

"There's nothing to say." Duncan could tell by the way Garrett held himself something was bothering him.

"What's wrong, Wade?" Duncan asked him as T'Gerran walked up.

Garrett looked down. "Nothing, I guess Lorissa didn't make it."

"We don't know that Wade. Maybe she's hiding or hurt. We'll find her. T'Gerran, good work. You and Amanda fan out with a tricorder and try to find Miss Stel." Duncan ordered.

"Thank you Captain. Mr. Garrett, we'll find her." The Klingon said.

Garrett shot him half a smile. "Thanks."

MacDermott's combadge beeped twice. Duncan tapped his chest to open the link. "MacDermott here."

"Captain. This is Commander Kern. Is everything all right down there. A Lorissa Stel reported to us that Cardassians had beamed down and taken prisoners."

"Everything is fine, now. You say Miss Stel is on board the ship?" Duncan asked. "Yes Sir. She escaped in one of the fuel tugs. The tanks are 90% full. We destroyed a Galor class warship that was pursuing us." Kern reported.

"I want a full report when I get back onboard." Duncan told him.

Kern asked him. "Sir, we're ready to beam you aboard now."

Duncan looked at Garrett. The older man nodded. He was ready. This place was of no use to him now.

"XO, bring us home. Five to beam up."

"Aye Sir."

The five of them took their places. A second later the transporter effect took hold and whisked them back to the Missouri.