In the intervening weeks since the Yamato had launched they had headed deeper into the Typhon Frontier. With no concrete mission as of yet, Solaris had decided to use the time wisely and put the ship through its paces. But even that could only last for so long, and now the ship traveled through interstellar space, awaiting its first proper mission. Solaris occupied the center chair like she did most days, watching the view screen as stars streaked by. Off to her side, a console chirped, she glanced over, eyeing the Operations station.

“Captain, priority message from Deep Space 17.” Soren said. Sol tilted her head to the side.

“I guess we’re about to get our orders… on screen.” she replied. Soren shook his head.

“The message is marked confidential.” he clarified. Sol frowned, standing.

“In my ready room then…” she said, shrugging. She crossed the bridge, and entered her ready room where her own personal terminal was already chirping at her. She circled the desk, and sat down, tapping in her access code. The message splash screen was soon replaced by a man in a Starfleet uniform.

“Captain McLaren, I’m Commander Thaddeus Kane, Starfleet Intelligence.” he said, not bothering to beat around the bush. Sol raised an eyebrow. A message from Starfleet Intelligence was not what she had been expecting.

“A pleasure, Commander. What can I do for you?” she asked. Being former intelligence herself, she could understand the desire for quick and concise communication. The man took just a brief moment to organize his thoughts before speaking.

“Intelligence has been monitoring the movements of the Orion Syndicate ever since Frontier Day.” he began. “Until now, things have been reasonably quiet. Now, however, the situation has taken a troubling turn.” he added.

“How so, Commander?” she asked.

“We’ve intercepted information that the Syndicate has acquired a prototype Starfleet weapon, and intend to auction it off sometime in the near future.” he clarified, reaching out of the frame to tap a few controls on his end of the call. His screen changed to show a picture of the weapon.

“What sort of weapon is this Commander?” Sol asked, eyes studying the picture.

“It’s a prototype anti-matter disruptor. Capable of defeating just about any form of shielding and rendering its target nothing more than dust.” Solaris’ eyes widened. What was Starfleet doing with that sort of weapon.

“Why do we have even one of those just sitting around?” she asked.

“It was an old project… started during the Dominion War. By the time they had a working prototype the war had ended, and it wasn’t needed. So it was sent to Daystrom Station to be stored… and until this year… no one had any reason to worry about its theft.” he stated. Sol sighed.

“Am I to assume that by bringing this to me, you’d like the Yamato to retrieve this weapon before someone we don’t quite like can buy it?” she asked.

“Yes… there are several groups out there who would kill, and I mean that literally, to have this sort of advantage.”

“I can imagine…” she said, “Where is this auction supposed to be happening?”

“An Orion station named ‘The Jade Exchange’… near the Badlands” he said, checking his notes.

“Tell me you’re kidding Commander… that’s at least a week away from our current position, even at our maximum warp speed.” she said, only slightly incredulous.

“Yes, Captain. We know… our information suggests that this auction wont be happening for atleast two weeks, which should give you plenty of time to get there.” Kane said. Sol sighed. So much for ‘exploring the unknown’. She nodded.

“Alright… and have you given thought to how exactly I’m going to hide a Sovereign-class starship in the Badlands from some of the most suspicious people in the galaxy?” she asked. She waited a moment, seeing if the Commander would reply before shaking her head. “We’ll be back as DS17 in a day… do you have any impounded vessels there?” she asked.

“I do not know, Captain.” the Commander replied. Sol rolled her eyes.

“Find out by the time the Yamato arrives, would you? Something that will fit in one of our shuttlebays please.” she ordered. Despite the Commander technically being above her, she got the feeling he was in over his head at the moment and her old training was taking over. She tapped out a list in a separate window on her terminal and sent it over to him.

“What this, Captain?” he asked.

“Other things that might come in useful… please have it ready as well.” she said. “Send me the information you have on this auction and the device. Everything, Commander… so I can brief my crew.” she added. The Commander nodded.

“Ill send everything we have.” he replied, reaching of screen again.

“Thank you.” Sol said, sighing. She really had been looking forward to exploring for once, instead of dealing with her old job. Not that she disliked intelligence work, but she did want to expand more.

“Sorry Captain, I know this wasn’t what you expected.” the Commander said. Sol shrugged.

“I go where I’m sent, like always.” she admitted. The comm channel closed, leaving Sol staring at her terminal for a moment. She sighed and then stood. She smoothed the hem of her skant, and headed back out onto the bridge.

“Helm, all stop.”

“Answering all stop, Captain.” the helm officer replied, slowing the ship to impulse before halting the ships forward motion completely.

“Lay in a reverse course, take us back to DS17. Warp seven.” she ordered. Amaya looked up from the center chair, where she had moved after Sol had left.

“Course laid in.” the helm officer stated, awaiting the command to actually engage the engines.

“Captain?” she asked, looking confused.

“New orders. We need to stop at DS17 pick up some supplies and then head for the badlands.” Sol explained.

“The badlands, Captain?” Soren asked from his position at the operations console. She nodded.

“Yes… I’ll explain more when I’ve had a chance to review all the information.” Solaris said. She looked to the helm officer.

“Engage.” she ordered then turned to Amaya.

“Commander, when we arrive at DS17, I’ve requested a bunch of supplies and a ship be ready for us. Please work with Mr. Soren and ensure that everything is accounted for.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“And assemble the senior staff in…” Sol paused, considering. “…three hours, in the observation lounge.” she finished, hoping that would be enough time to review the information that had been sent to them.

“Aye, Captain.” her XO replied.

“I’ll be in my ready room. You have the bridge, Commander” Solaris said

Solaris leaned back, pinching the bridge of her nose. She had already been sifting through all the information that Starfleet Intelligence had sent her. To their credit, they had plenty of detailed information. Unfortunately that was where the credit ended, almost none of it was organized, and some just wasn’t relevant. It was like they hadn’t actually handed it to a data analyst before deciding to pull the Yamato into it. Thankfully she had spent much time doing exactly what they should have done before she ever saw the information. There were several PADDs strewn around her desk, her terminal screen scrolling a series of sensor scans for the moment. She rest her head back staring at the ceiling. There had been a time, when she had been a child, where she had been obsessed with spies. Nose buried in ancient books or consuming old visual media about them. Even when she had joined the academy she had had visions of working undercover. Reality had soon disabused her of that notion. She found that much of her job consisted of mountains of PADDs and the gigaquads of gathered data contained within them. That wasn’t to say there hadn’t been times where she had needed to go undercover, but by and large the work was not as glamorous or as fun as her mind had believed it would be. Yet she still loved it, enough that she had been Director of Intelligence on Starbase 234 for four years before moving into the command track. Then she had decided she needed to stop playing it safe and move into bigger and better things. So she had sought the center chair. Yet here she was doing pretty much exactly what she had done in her old job.

The terminal beeped at her, an alarm signifying that the briefing she had ordered was due to begin in fifteen minutes. She had only managed to sift through about three-quarters of the information, but that would have to be enough. She gathered the PADDs and stacked them neatly, each containing a collated report for her officers to review then grabbed for the cup of tea on her desk that had long since grown cold. She brought it to her lips and took a sip, blanching at the temperature for a moment before downing the rest of it. Cold or not she wasn’t about to waste it. She scooped up the PADDs and stood. She had  to actually go prepare the briefing room.

When her senior staff assembled in the briefing room fifteen minutes later, they were greeted by an assortment of pastries and refreshments set out on the table, something her previous CO had done on 234. Her and her officers hadn’t yet had a proper briefing together, and she found that a bit of food and drink made everything much smoother.

Sol was already seated at the head of the conference table, reading through her own PADD, a fresh cup of tea steaming away on the table. Similar PADDs were already set out at each chair. One by one her officers filtered in just before the briefing was due to begin, each wearing a slightly confused look at the spread of food and drink. She simply gestured to each in turn, a silent suggestion to help themselves. Once everyone had gotten themselves situated, she began.

“Thank you all for coming.” she started. “As those of you on the bridge heard, we’ve been given our first assignment. I know its not what you may have expected, it certainly wasn’t what I expected.” she added, tapping a control on the table. A holopad lit up in the center of the table, displaying a large bulky rifle with an attached canister of some kind.

“This is a Starfleet prototype anti-matter disruptor.” she indicated.

“An anti-matter disruptor? Why would Starfleet develop something like that?” Ensign Soren asked.

“The project was started during the Dominion War. I can only assume that things were not going very well at the time it was conceived. Thankfully by the time it was completed the war had ended… so they stashed it away.” Solaris explained.

“Captain, such a weapon has the potential to be able to defeat nearly any form of shielding and disintegrate most unshielded objects in a matter of moments.” T’liss said, speaking up from her position half way down the table. “If this technology were able to be scaled up and placed on a starship… it could be devastating. Nothing would be safe.” she added. Solaris nodded.

“That is indeed part of the issue…” she stated.

“And the other part?” Amaya asked. Sol looked to her XO.

“The prototype was stolen from Daystrom Station a few months ago, just before Frontier Day and has turned up in the hands of the Orions. Not being ones to sit on their hands, they’re offering it up for auction to the highest bidder.”

“Oh…” Amaya muttered, tapping through the PADD that had been set out for her. Solaris chuckled, nodding.

“Starfleet has asked the Yamato to retrieve it before any of our enemies are able to buy it.” she continued, tapping the controls on the table again. The hologram shifted to a model of a space station.

“This is The Jade Exchange, a Syndicate space station in the Badlands and where Intelligence believes the auction is taking place.” she explained.

“Thats a pretty far trip for us… surely there were other ships closer?” Amaya said. Solaris shrugged.

“I don’t know, and I didn’t ask. I’m assuming there were not… for whatever reason.” she answered. Amaya nodded, seeming mollified by that answer for the moment.

“Captain, are we taking them by force?” her tactical officer asked. Sol shook her head.

“A good question, but no… I’d prefer to avoid it if at all possible.” she answered, tapping the controls again to shift the display. It changed to reflect the series of sensor scans she has been reviewing just before the briefing.

“As you can see, the station is functionally in open space…” Sol said.

“They’ll see us coming from kilometers away then.” Rukia pointed out. Sol shook her head pointing to a section of the scan.

“There’s a large group of debris within a charged particle field nearby the station. Scans of the area show that the debris contain large quantities of duranium and tritanium. Combined with the charged particle field, the Yamato should be able to remain undetected unless the Orions trip over us.” she said.

“Then how do we get aboard the station?” Doctor Tarrant asked, having been quiet until now.

“Myself, Commander T’liss and yourself will be taking a little trip…” Solaris said, looking to Amaya even before she had opened her mouth to speak. This didn’t deter her XO.

“Captain, I don’t need to remind you of regulations…” she said.

“No you do not… and your objection is noted, but I’ve been trained for this sort of mission… so its the best decision.” she said. Her XO simply nodded, satisfied that she had at least been heard. Sol returned her attention to the doctor, whom she had also expected an objection from. He simply nodded.

“No arguments from me. Having a doctor along is a smart choice.” he stated. Sol chuckled. T’liss simply nodded.

“We have a way of getting to the station?” the Vulcan asked.

“We will by the time we arrive back at DS17… I’ve… requested … that they find us an impounded vessel that we could use.” she said. Requested was doing a lot of lifting in that sentence, but it got her point across. “We’ll also have some other gear waiting for us… or we had better anyway.” she added, sighing.

“What are our orders while you and your team are aboard the station?” he XO asked.

“Stay undetected and monitor us.” Solaris said. “We aren’t there to engage in a battle… and that could be dangerous to the station team.” she added. She held up her hand. “However, if you are discovered, you can defend yourself, I’m not expecting you to just run.” she finished. Amaya nodded and her tactical officer also seemed happy with that.

“And… if we run into trouble… it’ll be up to you to come get us…” Solaris said, grinning. She really hoped nothing would go wrong, that was the last thing she wanted. She looked around the table.

“Any other questions?” she asked.

“”How will we actually be attending the auction? do not believe the Orion Syndicate will just let anyone attend.” T’liss asked.

“Good observation, and you’re correct… the event is invitation only… but in what appears to be a rare moment of forethought, Intelligence has managed to acquire an invitation for us.” she said. “So that shouldn’t be an issue…” she finished. T’liss nodded.

“Anyone else?” Solaris asked, looking at each officer. They were all quiet. Solaris nodded.

“We should be back at DS17 in a little over 18 hours. Amaya, Soren, when we arrive station operations should have the supplies I requested. Please ensure everything is accounted for. T’liss, I want you to look over whatever ship they have found for us, make sure it won’t strand us. Rukia, while we aren’t looking for a battle, ensure that the weapons and shields are ready just in case. Doctor, make sure you have whatever medical supplies we’ll need.” she ordered. Each officer nodded in turn. None offered up any more questions, and there would be plenty of time for them to work out the finer details once they were on their way to the badlands anyway.

“Dismissed.” she finished.  The rest of the officers pushed away from the table and stood, each breaking off into small groups to accomplish their tasks. T’liss approached, as the others left the room.

“I sense you are displeased with this, Solaris.” she stated. Sol looked up at her for a moment and then nodded.

“I am. Not only because I wasn’t expecting to be drawn back into this world so soon… but because they didn’t even have a plan when they contacted me…” she stated. “I don’t like starting on the back foot like this…” she continued, sighing.

“And yet we now have a very workable plan.” T’liss indicated. Sol noted she hadn’t used the word ‘good’ to describe the plan. Not that she disagreed.

“Only because I came up with it in the past three hours… and that wasn’t even enough time to look at all the information… I’m going to have to have a talk with Intelligence when we arrive on DS17…” she said. T’liss raised an eyebrow. Were she capable of it, she wouldn’t envy the officer that was going to end up the target of Solaris’ piercing red gaze. Solaris stood, heading for the door herself. T’liss followed.

“I’m certain you will make them understand their errors…” T’liss admitted. Sol laughed.

“You can bet on it…” she said. Sol nodded to T’liss, before splitting off. She wanted to finish reviewing the rest of the information before they arrived, and see if she needed to refine the plan.

When she entered shuttlebay 42, Solaris hadn’t been expecting to see any ship at all waiting for her. Her previous interaction with the station’s intelligence officer had not given her good feelings. So when she did see a ship waiting for her, she was pleasantly surprised. She glanced over at T’liss, raising an eyebrow, having accompanied the engineer to see the ship before planning to go see Commander Kane. The ship wasn’t state of the art, or even very clean looking. In fact it was pretty rough all around. That didn’t bother her however.

“Reminds me of the Thrusters…” she commented, circling around the outside of the ship. T’liss nodded.

“It does bear a striking resemblance.” the engineer agreed, making her way to the hatch. The ship was only about the size of a runabout, and looked as if it were set up for smuggling and it did bear quite a resemblance to the ship that they had used on Starbase 234 when they needed to go somewhere and not look like Starfleet while doing it. They were completely different types of ship, but that didn’t matter. If you squinted just enough, they looked almost the same. T’liss popped the hatch open and climbed inside, Solaris following her.

The inside of the vessel was clean, but not spotless. Clearly whatever the ship had been used for had been emptied out before the ship was stored away for impound. While T’liss made her way to the cockpit, Solaris headed toward the rear of the craft, opening a few storage compartments just to see what might have been left behind. She glanced back as the ship’s internal power came on, bathing the aft space in a cool blue light and the air recirculators started up, with a quiet hum. She peered into another storage compartment, reaching in to pull out a bottle. She turned it over in her hands, eyeing the green liquid inside. She pulled the cap off giving it a sniff.

“Found some Aldebaran Whiskey…” she called out, moving back toward the front of the ship. She recapped the bottle and stuck her head into the cockpit where T’liss was already running diagnostics.

“So how’s it look?” she asked. T’liss looked up.

“Acceptable. Barely.” the engineer replied. She tapped a few controls. “The engines are not in the best of shape… it is as if whoever owned this ship prior did not keep up proper maintenance.” she added. Sol frowned.

“Will it get us to the station… actually better question… will it get us off the station?” Solaris asked, moving to stand behind T’liss and look at the screen.

“I would say yes… but that could very easily change.” she replied. Sol nodded.

“Right… well I guess beggars can’t be choosers…” she conceded. She set the bottle of whiskey on the console, and straightened up. “Give the whole thing a once over, and then transfer it to the Yamato… if we need to make some space, leave the Solo here and we can pick it up after we get back from the Badlands.” she ordered. The Solo was one of the Yamato’s two Danube-class runabouts and it took up considerable space in the ship’s shuttlebay.

“Understood, Captain.” T’liss said. Sol nodded, stepping out of the cockpit, and eventually out of the ship. She had another appointment.

The station’s intelligence section was quiet when Solaris entered. Stepping up to the small reception desk and security checkpoint Solaris spoke quietly to the yeoman on duty then stepped away to wait for her appointment time. She was prompt, so it didn’t take very long at all for her name to be called.

“Captain McLaren. What can I do for you?” Commander Kane asked. Sol turned, eyeing the man with a pleasant smile, for the moment. They were in public after all.

“Commander… we need to talk.” she stated simply. The Commander nodded and gestured for her to follow him. He lead her deeper into the intelligence section, past a couple empty desks and a few more that were occupied by other officers appearing to be not doing much of anything. They passed into an office that was nicely furnished but clearly underused. The Commander gestured to a chair, taking a seat at the desk.

“So Captain, what is it we need to talk about?” he asked. Solaris didn’t bother to sit, instead leaning on the back of the chair with her hands.

“So Commander, how long have you been with intelligence?” she asked. The Commander appeared confused for a moment.

“Almost five years.” he stated. Sol nodded, pushing off the chair for a moment.

“How many times, in that period, have you ever approached someone, anyone, with a mission this poorly thought out?” she asked him, stepping closer to the desk.

“Captain?” he asked.

“Commander… please… the less dumb you play the better this conversation will go.” she said. “So, let’s try again, have you ever approached anyone without any sort of mission plan?” she asked.

“Not to my knowledge.” he replied.

“So my ship is special then? Or do we just not rate the effort?” she asked. “Because you came to a ship that is weeks away from the target, without even the barest concept of a plan, and a whole mess of information that I’m fairly certain didn’t even get handed to one of those analysts out there.” she continued.

“Captain I-”

“No Commander… I can assure you… I’ve probably heard, and given, every excuse in my near ten years in intelligence. At any point did you even consider getting your own ducks in a row? Or did you just assume that I’d be ok doing your work for you?” she asked.

“No Captain. I did not assume that. I believed the situation was severe enough to warrant immediate action.” he said. Sol raised an eyebrow.

“I agree the situation is concerning, Commander. But it’s at least a week away… and it only took me a little over three hours total to review all your data and come up with a plan… you taking even that much time would not have meaningfully changed the outcome.” she said. She pointed back toward the door.

“Now I don’t know your staffing situation… but I saw at least a few people out there not doing much of anything and a few empty desks. If you need more people… request them. If you need resources, request them.” she said, fixing him with a pointed glare. “But if you ever approach me with this sort of mission and no plan again… you won’t know what hit you. I will not play around with the lives of my crew or the safety of my ship. Am I understood?” she asked.

“Yes, ma’am.” the Commander replied. To his credit he didn’t flinch away from the red eyed gaze of the woman across from him.

“Good.” Solaris said, finally stepping around the chair to sit. Her face softened some as she let out a breath.

“I had heard rumor of an intelligence officer with white hair and red eyes, Captain. I didn’t think it was true.” the Commander said. Sol laughed.

“Those started back in my academy days… several instructors in my interrogation training didn’t quite enjoy the combination of my eyes and hair. I’ve heard it all. ‘Demon’. ‘Wraith’. Worked out ok for me… got passing grades.” she said. The Commander grinned.

“Sounds like you made a decent reputation for yourself out there…” he said.

“Only within intelligence itself… I keep a low profile otherwise.” she admitted.

“I apologize Captain… I should have done more before contacting you.” Kane said. Solaris sighed.

“Commander… if I had approached a captain with that little when I was Director of Intelligence on two-three-four… I’d have been embarrassed.” she said. “Unless it was an emergency, I’d never hand a Captain nothing and expect them to figure it out.” she added. The Commander nodded.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what plan did you come up with?” Sol shrugged.

“I plan on taking a small team on to the station… to steal back the disruptor before it gets sold.” she stated.

“You?” he asked.

“I’m the only one I would trust to lead this sort of mission… no one else on my crew has the training for it. I’ll take my Chief Engineer and Chief Medical Officers along as well. My ship will wait nearby, hidden. As best you can hide a Sovereign-class anyway. Once we get the disruptor, we’ll hightail it out of there… hopefully without any casualties.” she explained. The Commander nodded.

“Sounds like a reasonably good plan.” he said. Sol laughed.

“Oh Commander… don’t you know? No plan survives contact with the enemy.” she said. Now it was the Commander’s turn to laugh.

“I understand, Captain.” he admitted, nodding. Sol smoothed the hem of her skant, and stood.

“Seriously, Commander… if you need help getting this section up to full strength… let me know… I can probably grease some wheels somewhere.” she said. “We’ll call this one a mulligan and move on…” she added. Kane nodded, standing as well.

“Thank you Captain. I’ll be keeping an eye on your progress from here.” he said. Sol nodded, turning to leave.

“Don’t worry… we’ll get the disruptor back.” she said. Truthfully, she would have preferred to destroy it, but that wasn’t the mission.

Solaris reached down grabbing her hairbrush off of the counter, reaching up to pull it through her hair. She eyed herself in the mirror, emerald green eyes appreciating the raven black hair she was currently sporting. It wasn’t her normal colour, but it looked good all the same. She had sported this look before, when she needed to be inconspicuous. As it turned out, white hair and red eyes were not, exactly, good traits for undercover work. She ran the brush through the full length of her hair a few times, before gathering it up into a utilitarian ponytail. While it normally hung to the small of her back when down, the ponytail kept it up and out of the way on duty. She set the brush down, leaning on the counter taking a breath. It had been a long time since she had done anything like this.

She looked up as the sound of the warp engines changed. The ship must’ve arrived at its destination.

“Crichton to McLaren. We’ve arrived at the Badlands, Captain.” the voice of her XO reported. Sol stepped out of the small bathroom, looking out the windows of her quarters. From their position in the forward section of deck five, she had a very clear view of the swirling masses of plasma that made up the region known as the Badlands. She reached down and tapped the comm panel.

“Thank you, Commander. Have Commander T’liss and Doctor Tarrant meet me in the main shuttle bay please.” Sol requested.

“Yes, ma’am.” Amaya responded. Solaris tapped the comm panel again and closed the channel, stepping back over to the mirror one last time. What was one more op? She nodded to herself then turned and grabbed the leather jacket that had been draped over one of the chairs and flipped it over her shoulders, sliding her arms into the sleeves. She let the jacket settle, then shifted it slightly, adjusting how it sat on her. She hadn’t worn the jacket in ages, it being the remnants of a long since failed relationship, but it was perfect for the sort of place she was going to, and it was still filled with good memories. That wasn’t all she was going to be bringing, however. She moved to the dresser and began to collect the objects sitting atop it: a small knife which she slipped into her boot, a small hold-out style disruptor settled at the small of her back, under the jacket, and an older styled Romulan disruptor pistol which sat holstered on her right thigh. She paused, glancing at the small necklace that was also sitting atop the dresser, the small orange chunk of stone glowing gently with its own internal light. Her hand started to reach for it then stopped and fell to her side. While she normally wore it, even under her uniform, wearing it on this mission felt unwise. She frowned slight then stepped away, checking her appearance one last time. She no longer saw the fresh Starfleet captain and instead just saw another rogue traveling the outer fringes of society. It was an interesting look, but not one she wanted to stay in for too long.

She stepped out of her quarters, drawing a few eyes from passers by. She slipped her hands in her pockets and paid them no mind. She had somewhere to be.

The shuttle bay was mostly empty, a stark contrast to how it had been when she had arrived aboard the ship. The few crew that were there were too busy with their own duties to notice the newcomer enter the bay and approach the dilapidated vessel sitting on the deck waiting to launch. Its engines were already powered and the hatch already open. Sol climbed in and was greeted with the sight of her Chief Medical Officer and Chief Engineer already aboard, waiting for her. She took a moment to consider them. Both had dressed similarly to her, T’liss in a form fitting leather dress, which was atypical for her and Kael in a similar outfit to her, just with a long duster over it. He also carried a khaki bag with a red cross on it.

“Everything ready to go?” Solaris asked.

“Yes, Captain.” T’liss replied.

“Ready.” the Doctor said with a nod.

“Right then… lets get going…” Sol ordered, taking a seat. T’liss tapped a few controls, closing and sealing the hatch. She fed some power into the engines and the ship lifted off the deck, hovering still for a moment before slipping through the force field that kept the shuttle bay pressurized. As the ship crossed the threshold the comm system beeped. T’liss tapped a control.

“Good luck, Captain.” came her XO’s voice.

“To you as well, Commander. Keep the Yamato hidden for the time being…” she said. ‘Only engage if you are discovered.” she added.

“Yes, ma’am.” Amaya replied, closing the channel. T’liss swung the ship around, crossing under one of the ship;s nacelles, as it began to move off for the debris field that was going to conceal it. Sol watched the Yamato grow slightly smaller in the view port, before they themselves turned and set a course for the location of the station where the auction was to be held. The ship shook slightly as they crossed into the plasma fields. Their course to the station was winding, but that seemed to be how the Orion’s wanted it. It wouldn’t do to have your secret space station be easily found after all. Soon however a small dot appeared int he distance, orbiting a barren planetoid. It continued to grow as the ship approached and it wasn’t long before a pair of Orion ships flanked them and their comm system chirped. Sol reached over and tapped a few controls.

“Welcome to The Jade Exchange. Please transmit credentials  for docking.” an automated voice said. Sol raised an eyebrow, sharing a confused glanced between T’liss and Kael. Kael just shrugged.

“Given the amount of vessels they probably have arriving at any given time… an automated system makes some sense…” T’liss commented. “We should transmit the credentials we have…” she added. Sol nodded, tapping a few more controls. It was time to see if the credentials intel had provided them actually worked. She held her breath as time passed, the pair of vessels flanking them didn’t look friendly, and if things went south, there wasn’t much of a way out. The Yamato was monitoring them, but they were far enough away that it would take time to reach them. Time that the dilapidated vessel they were in wouldn’t have if under fire. There was a confirmation beep and Sol exhaled.

“Credentials accepted. Docking assignment is being transmitted. Please enjoy your stay.” the voice intoned, before closing the channel.

“Awfully polite…” Sol commented. “Remember… when we’re on that station… no ranks… and we stick to the names we chose before…” she reminded, sitting back as T’liss piloted the vessel toward the station. She could see several other ships already docked. She could identify a Romulan shuttle, a Klingon transport and a Cardassian frigate along with several other miscellaneous ships.

“Well there certainly are quite a lot of other buyers for this piece of kit…” Kale commented. Sol nodded.

“Yes… that’s why we need to recover it…” she stated. “So no one else gets their hands on it… could drastically change the power dynamic in a region if someone were to figure out how to mount it on a starship with more power than it currently has.”

The ship banked gently, headed toward the docking bay where the Romulan shuttle had been parked, and gently glided to a stop in front of a trio of Orions, two of which were armed with Nausicaan disruptor rifles.

“Ah… there’s the Syndicate I was expecting…” Sol quipped, standing. “C’mon… best not keep them waiting.” she added. The others stood, following her out of the cockpit and to the hatch. Sol looked back at them one last time, before hitting the release. The hatch hissed and opened revealing the docking bay beyond, a ramp lowering to given them an easier path to disembark. The trio of Orions were there to meet them. The one in the center held up his hand.

“You will be searched before you will be allowed to enter the station.” he stated. Sol nodded, holding out her hands to her sides. She gestured for the others to follow along. The Orion stepped up to her first running his hands  down her arms and along her sides. He stopped when he reached the first concealed weapon, pulling it from where it was at the small of her back. Sol glanced back at her companions who were undergoing similar pat downs. She glanced down at the man patting her down, shifting as he got just a bit too friendly.

“Go any further… and you might lose that hand…” she commented. The man just looked up at her and continued, finally reaching the knife she had stashed in her boot. He pulled it out and checked it as well, before standing up straight.

“You will be allowed to keep your weapons, however, I would suggest you do not use them… any fights will be resolved between the instigating parties without intervention.” he informed them, handing Solaris her weapons back. She holstered them, and nodded.

“I understand.” she stated.

“The main event begins tonight… Until then you are free to enjoy the station.” the man informed her. He didnt wait for a response before turning and leaving with his guards. Sol exhaled, and turned to her companions.

“I could use a drink…” she stated heading deeper into the station.

The Jade Exchange was more than just an Orion station. It was a huge market and trade port dealing in many forms of illicit goods. Solaris passed through the hatch from the docking bay and into the market proper. People milled about, browsing stalls and hawking wares. Solaris kept her head on a swivel, but otherwise kept to herself. She glanced back every so often, making sure T’liss and Kael were still with her. Every so often she would stop and browse at a stall, making notes of objects she saw that she could report back on as well. None of it was particularly interesting or worth much time. It wasn’t until she heard a scuffle behind her that she actually stopped and turned around. She spotted T’liss being approached by two burly men, each of whom had a knife out. A third stood a bit behind them, arms crossed as he spoke.

“Well well… look at this Borg tech just walking right in for us… those implants will fetch quite a price on the markets.” he commented. Solaris frowned, hand slowly moving for her disruptor. From her position, none of the men were facing her, which gave her quite the opportunity. She carefully withdrew the pistol and started toward the one who appeared to be the leader.

T’liss’ eyes tracked Solaris for the briefest of moments before they switch to one of the other men.

Kale slowly reached into his bag, prepping a hypospray quickly.

As Sol reached the man, she jabbed the pistol into his kidneys, holding it tightly.

“I suggest you think real careful about your next move…” she whispered to him, as if nothing untoward was actually happening. The man stiffened up, but didn’t yet speak, as if weighing his options. He clearly wasn’t paying attention to all the variables if he thought he’d get out of this intact.

“Well well… the Borg has a protector… must be paying you a pretty penny…” he commented, holding a hand out to slow his goons movements for the moment.

“Oh no… she’s part of my crew… and I need her just as she is… so here are your options. One: You call your goons off and you get to walk away. I must say, I’m quite partial to option one. Option two: You try anything else, and I pull the trigger on my disruptor… it’s an old Romulan model… and you know how painful those can be, I’m sure.” Solaris said, speaking calmly. Would she actually do it? Only as a last resort. But he didn’t have to know that. He just had to believe she was deadly serious.

“I don’t think so…” he stated, quickly tensing, using his arm to hold Solaris’ tightly, not giving her motion to actually do anything. At the same time his other two goons lunged for T’liss. T’liss wasted to time in ducking the hands of one, shoving him past her. He stumbled and bumped directly into Kael, who had already raised his hypospray, jabbing into the man’s shoulder as he pretended to catch him. He casually dusted the man off and then let him fall to the ground, turning to see how T’liss and his Captain were doing.

T’liss was ducking her adversary’s knife, catching his arm in her grasp. She twisted her hands and there was a snapping sound, the knife clattering to the ground. He let out a scream, but didn’t seem deterred. He lunched for her again and she sidestepped him, using his own momentum against him, sending him careening into a bulkhead with a satisfying thud. She too turned to check on Solaris’ progress.

Sol stepped back from the man just as he tried to turn, lashing out at her with a wild punch. She heard her disruptor clatter to the floor but didn’t even attempt to go for it, instead dropping into a fighting stance. She ducked another punch, lashing out with one of her own, striking the man’s stomach. He doubled over slightly, but didn’t relent, striking out again, catching Sol in the chin. She felt her head snap around, stepping back to recover. She cast a glare in the man’s direction, hitting him with a series of jabs, before striking him in the leg with a kick. She felt the man’s knee crack as he screamed out in pain. He tried to stand, but couldn’t, wincing and staying down on his other knee. Sol straightened up, dusting her jacket off. She calmly walked over, stepping past the man to retrieve her disruptor.

“Stay away from my crew… and we won’t have any more problems…” she said quietly, voice filled with ice. She looked to T’liss and Kael then nodded with her head toward the other end of the market, and the bar that lay beyond it.

“I could use that drink now…” she said, starting off that way, leaving the three men sprawled across the floor of the market. With the excitement now over, things quickly returned to normal. Sol looked back to check that her companions were with her, trying to calm her beating heart. She really did need that drink.

“Good luck, Captain.”Amaya said, watching the small vessel slip away from the Yamato and into the plasma fields of the Badlands.

“To you as well, Commander. Keep the Yamato hidden for the time being…” the Captain replied. ‘Only engage if you are discovered.” she added.

“Yes ma’am.” she said, nodding, mostly to herself, than to anyone else on the bridge. She closed the comm channel, turning to step back up to the command dais. The Captain’s vessel slipped behind a plasma drift and disappeared from sight, heading for their destination.

“Helm, take us to the charged particle field… set us behind the largest piece of debris you can find.” Amaya ordered, taking her seat in the center chair.

“Aye, ma’am. Course plotted and laid in.” the helm officer replied.

The Yamato banked to starboard and made its own way deeper into the Badlands toward the charged particle field that the Captain had identified. It contained a large swathe of planetary debris, with several large chunks suitable for concealing the presence of the ship. Or so it was hoped. If they were discovered, so close to a Syndicate space station, the infiltration team would be in trouble.

“Rukia… keep an eye on their ship as long as possible… and the station if we can… I want to know the first sign of trouble.” she ordered.

“Already on it, Commander.” Rukia replied, cracking a grin. Amaya nodded, staring at the view screen. It showed nothing but the various plasma drifts and eddies that littered the area. At any other time she would have thought it pretty, but now she was just focused on making sure the ship was safe and worried that her Captain was stepping into the lion’s den. The Yamato rocked slightly, passing through some ionic turbulence as it slipped quietly into the charged particle field. Rukia let out a low whistle as pieces of debris started to fill the view screen.

“You have to wonder what cracked that planetoid…” she commented, looking back down at her sensor readouts. She frowned.

“Commander, the charged particle field is limiting our sensor range. I can only barely read the space station at this range.” she reported.

“Ideas?” Amaya asked, twisting to look at the trill officer over her shoulder.

“We could increase power to the sensors.” Soren said from his position next to the helm officer.

“That wouldn’t be wise… increasing our power output could make us more visible to enemy patrols.” Rukia said. She paused thinking for a moment, bringing up a list of the ships stores. She scrolled through it, then nodded as she found the entry she wanted. “We could launch a pair of class-7 reconnaissance probes and set them up to relay back to us.” she suggested.

“That won’t draw attention to us?” Amaya asked. Rukia shook her head.

“Their sensor suites are incredibly low power, but high resolution. They’re meant for just this sort of operation.”  she reassured. “Unless the Orions trip over one… they shouldn’t even be detected.” she added. Amaya considered for a moment, then nodded.

“Do it.” she ordered. Rukia tapped a few commands into her console, reprogramming the pair of probes before keying in the launch sequence. There were two low thuds as the probes swerve fired from the ships torpedo launchers and the view screen tracked them for a moment before they too disappeared behind the debris the ship was currently hiding behind. It took a few short moments before Rukia had something she could report.

“Probes are in position and relaying data now.” she said, bringing up the sensor display on the view screen. Slowly the fog of war receded and the screen soon showed the location of The Jade Exchange as well as the location of the Captain’s vessel as it was currently flanked by a pair of what Amaya could only assume were Orion ships. She held her breath for a moment, ready to order the ship into action then exhaled as the pair of dots broke off and let the Captain’s ship continue unmolested.

“That was close…” she commented.

“Likely a security patrol… waiting to see if they had clearance to be there…” Rukia advised. “Guess the codes intelligence provided were good after all.” she remarked.

“They finally did something right then.” Amaya said, leaning back in the chair. She studied the sensor display more, looking at the locations of the other Orion patrols. There weren’t many, which made a lot of sense, given most people weren’t supposed to know about this station, but there were just enough to be a problem if they got too close. She glanced up at the ceiling of the bridge.

“Ensign Soren, go to grey mode… give us just enough power for sensors, life support and maneuvering thrusters.” she ordered.

“Commander?” he asked, though started keying in the proper commands. The bridge lighting started to dim.

“I don’t want to risk one of their patrols getting too close and seeing something on their sensors.” Amaya commented. “Be ready to give us full power if we need it…” she added. Soren nodded, finishing up the sequence of commands. The bridge was now dim as the ship shifted into its lowest power mode. Any further and the ship would have been completely powered down.

“Grey mode active.” Soren informed, turning back to look at the Commander. She nodded to him, keeping her eyes on the view screen. Hey eyes tracked the various sensor contacts as they moved about the area. It was all she could do. This was the hardest part. Sure, the Captain had it harder. She actually had to walk into the lion’s den. But Amaya could only sit, watch and hope that nothing went catastrophically wrong. Because if it did, there was nothing she could do about it. All she could do was wait. All they could all do was wait. So they would, they would wait and they would be ready to spring into action at the first sign of trouble. On the view screen the sensor contact representing the Captain’s ship merged with the contact for The Jade Exchange. That was the point of no return for the Captain. They were now locked into whatever happened next.

“Good luck Captain.” she whispered. “Come back in one piece.” she added.

The station’s bar wasn’t overly crowded but after their run in, Solaris didn’t particularly want it to be. She pointed to a table near the back, where they could see most of the bar, and headed for it. She rubbed her chin where the brute from before had managed to connect a good hit. That was going to be sore in the morning.

“You should let me take a look at that, boss.” Kael commented, dropping into a chair. Sol just shook her head, settling into the corner chair, where she could see the rest of the bar. She let her eyes scan the room for a moment.

“I’ll be fine… just sore…” she stated.

“It would be wise to let the Doctor make that determination.” T’liss commented quietly. Sol sighed, then nodded. Kael leaned over inspecting her face for the moment. Without his medical tricorder he was limited to just a quick visual and tactile infection. He gently prodded where she had been struck, causing her to wince slightly. He released her and sat back, nodding.

“Probably be a pretty nice bruise… but I don’t see anything concerning.” he stated. Sol rolled her eyes, as if she couldn’t have predicted what he was going to say.

“Thanks…” she commented, laughing. She shook her head. “Well… only a few hours to wait now…” she added. T’liss nodded.

“What is our strategy?” she asked. The Doctor leaned in.

“Will we be purchasing this weapon outright, or something else?” he asked. Sol set her arms on the table.

“We have an account of latinum to bid with… but it isn’t much. Probably not as much as the other potentially interested parties can afford any way. So we’ll try to buy it outright… but if not we’ll have to get creative.” she explained. The pair with her nodded.

“We should try to get a better layout of the station…” T’liss suggested. Sol considered for a moment.

“Let’s wait for a little while… after that confrontation… I’d like to lay low for a bit… but I agree… we should get a layout of where the auction will happen… and ways back to the docking bay.” Solaris agreed, with a nod. She was about to speak again when a rather beautiful woman approached the table. She was carrying a tray and an expectant look.

“Aldebaran whiskey.” Sol said. The Doctor nodded the same while T’liss abstained. The woman departed leaving the trio alone again for the moment. Sol leaned back, sighing. She wanted to be done with this and be back on the ship. The woman returned and set their drinks on the table before retreating once again. Sol picked up the glass and raised it, before taking a sip.

To pass the time before the auction each of the team had set out into the station proper, with the intent to learn more about the layout. Sol had managed to discover where they would be holding the auction and was currently observing the large area from the shadows, as a couple of black marketeers milled about. It was a rather open space and she didn’t like the distance it was from the docking bay if things went south. She stepped back and snuck away from the area, retracing her steps back to the bar. She quickly checked her chrono, seeing there was only about half an hour left to wait. Entering the bar again, she found a place to sit, watching one of the Orion dancers sway to the music, waiting for the rest of her team to return. It only took a few minutes before both T’liss and Kael had rejoined her.

“So what did you both find?” she asked.

“The station has several overlapping security systems. Force fields, blast doors, automated sentry systems.” T’liss informed. “They may make getting to the docking bay difficult.” she added.

“While their security is strong… I’m not so sure about their environmental systems… much of the station’s ventilation is unsecured. We may be able to use those systems to get to the docking bay if we need to.” he said.

“That’s good to know… I found the location of the auction. Its in a large open room on the other side of the station… not much in the way of security in the room… but with how deep into the station it is… I’m not too surprised.” she explained, still watching the dancer.

“We should be ready for anything.” T’liss advised. Sol nodded.

“Oh definitely…” she agreed.

“I took the liberty to access the stations systems as well… we have limited control over some of the less secure ones. Lighting, doors, things of that nature.” T’liss commented. “No one will even know there was an intrusion.” she added. Sol looked over raising an eyebrow. She did like

When the time came, the trio made their way to the auction site. As they entered Sol gestured for the others to split off from here and take up other positions in the room. She moved toward the main group observing the other potential buyers. It was a veritable ‘who’s who?’ of players. Klingons, Romulans, Cardassians, a pair of Ferengi, other Orions. It was going to be tough to beat them all, which meant plan B was becoming more and more likely. She rested her hand on the butt of her disruptor, waiting for the auctioneer to step up to the platform.

“Ladies, gentlemen, and beings of more…exotic origins, welcome!” the auctioneer, a flamboyant Orion male dressed in an intricately embroidered jacket, exclaimed, opening his arms widely. “We have treasures from every corner of the quadrant—items Starfleet would kill to get their hands on. Shall we start with something tantalizing?” he continued, gesturing to a small platform behind him. The lights came up on a old style Klingon disruptor pistol. There was a quiet murmur in the crowd. No one seemed particularly interested.

“A Klingon disruptor, Type-4. Recently ‘liberated’ from a House that would rather not be named. Opening bid, two strips of latinum.”

Sol raised her hand.

“Two strips.” she called.

“I have two strips… do I hear three?” the auctioneer asked. Sol let her eyes scan the crowd as others started to bid, though the general atmosphere currently seemed less than enthused with the current item on offer. The Klingon upped the bid to five strips and that seemed to put a stop to the incoming bids. The Klingon approached the podium and put his thumbprint onto an offered PADD as the disruptor was taken off the platform. Solaris continued to crowd watch as other items made their way up onto the stage. She threw in a bid every now and then, just to keep her cover, but showed no real intent to purchase anything. Then the auctioneer paused, and gestured to the covered item that had been sitting on the stage with him the entire time.

“Now for our most anticipated item!” he called, reaching back. He pulled the covering off letting it drop to the ground. There were more murmurs through the crowd, several people clearly interested.

“A prototype Starfleet anti-matter disruptor, acquired by some enterprising individuals earlier this year. This is a one of a kind item, and will come with the specifications to create more of them.” the auctioneer announced. “Shall we start the bidding at five bars of latinum?” he asked, clearly intent on starting it there.

“Five!” someone called.

“Six!” another voice rang out. Sol crossed her arms.

“Seven!” she called. The bidding slowed, and the auctioneer looked quite unhappy.

“Perhaps seeing it in action will get you more interested?” he asked. He strolled over to the rifle and picked it up. To Starfleet credit it was rather sleek, having been based on an older compression phaser rifle. The only difference was the modest container of antimatter attached to the top of the rifle. A pair of assistants wheeled in a large crate setting it at the opposite end of the stage. It shimmered briefly, clearly protected by an energy shield of some kind.

“Unlike standard Starfleet weapons this device is based on disruptor technology.” the auctioneer explained, firing a beam at the crate. A green beam lanced out at it and hit the energy shield fizzling out. “But with one unique feature…” he continued toggling a switch on the rifle. “In this mode, the weapon infuses its shots with concentrated antimatter, which upon contact with an object will cause a chain reaction at the molecular level.” he said. He turned back to the crate and fired again. It took only a few moments before the energy shield was overwhelmed and the beam impacted the crate. That too didn’t last long, disintegrating along with whatever had been inside it. Sol’s eyes widened. Her question of ‘Why did Starfleet have something like this?’ seem more appropriate now than ever and the demonstration had accomplished what it needed to. Several voices rang out in unison each calling a bid.

“I hear one brick five! One brick, seven!” the auctioneer called out.

“Two bricks!” Sol called.

“Five bricks!” the Romulan called from her left. Sol looked over.

“Ten!” Sol called. Unfortunately that was her limit, but her face was passive. The Romulan too was considering his options.

“Ten… going once.” the auctioneer said, looking between them. The Romulan did not appear pleased.

“Going twice!” Sol leaned back slightly, crossing her arms. The auctioneer was about to call ‘sold’ when the station’s alarms blared.

“Starfleet vessel detected!” came over the comm system. Sol kept her face passive, but she knew there was only one Starfleet ship in the area. Hers. She eyed the Romulan, whose face had gone from anger to triumph. He raised his hand and pointed at her.

“She must be Starfleet!” he called. Sol couldn’t fault the man for making a play. He had no way to know he was right of course. Sol raised her hands in front of her.

“Don’t be a sore loser…” she chided. The auctioneer looked between them and the rest of the group, clearly unsure how to handle things at the moment. Sol’s eyes tracked to T’liss who had a small device in her hands. With a subtle nod Sol started to turn for the auctioneer. It took only moments but the lights soon dimmed before going out completely. She only had a few seconds to get to the auctioneer and relieve him of the rifle. She barreled into him and clawed at the rifle, tumbling into a heap with him on to the stage. The rest of the room was devolving into similar chaos as other auction goers scrambled to get out. Sol lashed out with a few strike at the man beneath her, before wresting the rifle from him.

“Let’s go!” she called. She couldn’t see T’liss or Kael in the dark, but had to assume they would follow as she took off for the door. She battered her way through auction goers, hoping they were smart enough to get out of this alive.

Hours had passed. Things were quiet. Rukia was keeping an eye on the space station and the patrols weaving through the local sector. Every time they got close to the Yamato’s position, she held her breath. They always passed by, however, not even bothering to give the debris a cursory glance. Her console beeped, as several more ships emerged from the station and began to join the patrols. She directed a scan at one then frowned as data from the probes came back. She tapped a control.

“Commander, could you come to the bridge?” she asked. It only took a few moments for their executive officer to appear from her office just off the bridge.

“What have you got, Commander?” she asked, approaching the tactical console.

“New contacts just joined the patrols….” Rukia began, bringing up their details on the main view screen. “Heavy frigates. Something must be happening.” she added. Amaya studied the data on the screen, when another blip appeared,

“Another new ship?” she asked. Rukia tapped a few controls getting scans of the vessel.

“Oh that’s not good.” she commented.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Command and Control craft. Looks like it has improved sensors.” she said.

“Will they be able to detect us?” Amaya asked, stepping down to the command chair. Rukia studied the data then shrugged.

“I don’t know. Its possible…” she said. Amaya nodded.

“Keep an eye on it… mister Soren, be ready to get us back to full power…” she ordered. The crew tended to their tasks and Amaya kept her eyes on the view screen watching the sensor contacts of the patrols as they moved along what she assumed were their assigned patrol routes. Another patrol was approaching their position. It wavered slightly as it passed the debris field, but didn’t stop. That was how things continued for the next half hour, until the command and control craft Rukia had identified started its own patrol. Amaya didn’t like the look of that. Something was definitely happening on the station.

“They must be getting the auction going.” Amaya commented.

The craft turned toward their position, and Amaya held her breath.

‘Don’t see us. Don’t see us.’ she thought, eyes tracking the sensor contact. She looked back to Rukia.

“Pull the probes back… out of its path.” she ordered. She watched as the probes repositioned themselves. It left them unable to clearly scan the station, but minimized the possibility of the craft’s improved sensors detecting them. The craft began a long lazy turn to take it further away from their position and Amaya thought they had gotten away with it when the craft paused and began to double back.

“Well that’s not a good sign…” Rukia commented. “They may have detected the probes moving.” she added.

“Or the Sovereign-class hiding behind this large piece of planetoid.” Amaya said, tapping a finger on the arm rest of the command chair. She hoped it wasn’t coming back for them. The ship paused and began to scan the area again. That was a bad sign.

“Soren…” Amaya began, watching as several more ships began to divert from their patrols.

“Commander…” Rukia started before she was cut off.

“I see it… Soren I need power back now. Take us out of grey mode. Rukia, when you have the power, take us to red alert. Helm, as soon as you can take us out of the debris field.” the XO ordered. Several more ships were already moving toward their position and as the ship began to power up, they increased their speeds. The Yamato’s lights brightened as power was restored and then dimmed again, taking on a red hue as the ship went to red alert. The ship lumbered out from behind the large chunk of debris it had been concealed behind, and then surged ahead, moving out of the field.

“Target that command and control craft. Take out its engines.” Amaya ordered.

“Aye, Commander. Engaging to disable.” Rukia reported, selecting the craft as the ship’s primary target. She cleared the view screen of the sensor display, freeing it up to display the bulbous craft. Phasers lanced out from the Sovereign-class impacting the smaller vessels’ shields. The ship rolled and brought more of its arrays to bear, multiple orange beams impacting the Orion ship. It didn’t take long for the smaller vessels’ shields to fail and the beams to begin impacting the hull. It returned fire, but its weapons barely scratched the Yamato’s shields.

“They must have put all their power reserves into their sensors.” Rukia commented as the vessel began to vent plasma from one of its nacelles. It began to roll to port and started to drift toward the debris field. “Its engines are offline.” she added.

“Good target the nearest two patrol vessels. Take out their weapons.” Amaya ordered. Rukia shifted her targets and frowned as several more contacts appeared from the station.

“Commander more contacts coming from the station.”

“More patrol craft?”

Rukia took several moments to identify the new contacts, juggling that with firing weapons at the already attacking patrol craft. The Yamato rocked more as their weapons impacted the shields. While the command and control craft hadn’t been able to do much, the patrols clearly had more power in their weapons.

“Not patrol craft… shuttles. Romulan. Klingon. Cardassian. Others. They all appear to be on escape vectors.” she reported, switching her attention back to the patrols.

“Get scans of as many as you can… we’ll report them to Intelligence. What about the captain’s ship?” she asked.

“Nothing yet.”

The Yamato rocked again as a torpedo impacted the forward shields.

“Shield down to ninety-five percent. If those other patrols start to hit us, we could be in trouble.” Rukia said. The ship could certainly handle them in a one on one, or even the two on one they were in now, but there were at least five more patrols out there.

“Then let’s discourage them, shall we?” Amaya asked. “Target the lead ship with quantum torpedoes. Fire a burst at them, get them to back off.” she finished. Rukia tapped her console and brought up the torpedo targeting system and highlighted the closest patrol. She waited for the system to lock the target. It only took a moment and then the fire control illuminated. She set her finger over it and then hit the control.

The Sovereign-class was a formidable ship. Designed in part as a response to the Borg, it had various weapons systems. None more powerful than the quantum torpedo turret mounted on the ventral side of the saucer. It tracked the Orion patrol as it acquired it as a target and then spat out a burst of four blue-white torpedoes. The patrol craft immediately heeled over and began evasive maneuvers. They had no desire to die apparently. The maneuver was mildly successful, confusing the torpedoes tracking systems just enough that only one actually found its way to the target. The ship’s shields flared brilliantly and failed immediately as small explosions rippled on the hull. While it wasn’t destroyed, the occupants were certainly not having a pleasant time. The other ships slowed and began to keep their distance from the Yamato. It appeared that their desire to live out weighed their desire to fight. Amaya was fine with that.

“Has the captain’s ship left the station yet?” she asked.

“Not ye–” Rukia stopped, then changed tone immediately. “Yes, I’m detecting it now… they’re taking a similar escape course as the other shuttles did, deeper into the Badlands.” she reported.

“Alright… Helm… get us out of here. We’ll take a roundabout course and find the captain after we lose these patrol craft.” Amaya ordered. She felt the ship begin to roll and turn away from the station and its patrols.

“No pursuit detected… I don’t think they fancy their chances against us.”

“They’re smart then… take us out of here, then bring us around and start searching for the captain.” Amaya ordered.

The Yamato continued away from the station leaving a pair of disabled Orion ships in its wake. None of the other ships gave chase. As they disappeared into the Badlands, Amaya sat back and exhaled.
“Yellow alert.” she ordered. “Begin scanning for the captain.” she added.

Sol burst out of the auction chamber and looked back behind her, checking to see that T’liss and Kael were following her. In the darkness, she couldn’t quite make out their forms.

“We are here! Go!” T’liss called, able to see her Captain looking back. Sol didn’t bother to react other than to return her vision in front of her. She hefted the rifle and held it close. She ducked as a group of people stumbled past her.

“T’liss! Which way… I’m a bit turned around…” she called. She felt a hand on her shoulder.

“This way, Captain.” T’liss said, guiding her and the doctor down a side corridor. The people thinned out as they drew away from the main sections of the station. Sol wasn’t sure the wisdom of that, but followed along, trusting her friend. T’liss pulled them into an alcove as the lights snapped back on.

“Well that took them far longer than I expected…” Solaris commented.

“Indeed.” T’liss agreed. “It is possible they will be scanning for us now.” she added, peering around the corner.

“We may need to take to the crawl spaces then.” Kael suggested. Sol nodded.

“Preferably before we run into their security.” she agreed. “T’liss?” she asked. The Vulcan nodded, and led them further down the corridor.

“Hey! You there!”

Sol turned to look and spotted three Orion guards at the far end of the corridor. Their weapons were raised.

“Well so much for that… let’s get going.” she said, picking up the pace away from the guards. Disruptor fire sparked off the bulkhead next to her as she ran. She was quite glad that they were poor shots. Or that they didn’t want to risk an anti-matter explosion if they hit the rifle she was carrying. Whatever the motivation she wasn’t currently being shot because of it and she was thankful for that. She reached down for her own disruptor and unholstered it, firing back at them.

“We need to lose them quick… I don’t think they’ll keep missing their shots forever…” Sol commented. T’liss peered back over her shoulder, nodding.

“The nearest crawl space access is just through those doors up ahead.” she responded. Sol nodded, picking up her speed just a bit more as more disruptor blasts hit the bulkheads around them. They passed through the doors and came to a halt in what looked like a dead end room. T’liss turned and slammed a hand onto the door’s control panel, causing them to close. Sol leveled her disruptor at the panel.

“T’liss…” she said, gesturing for the Vulcan to step away. She waited for her to then fired at the panel turning it and its internals into slag.

“Should keep them for a few minutes at least…” she said. “Now where is this access you were talking about?” she asked. T’liss pointed to the ceiling.

“Nothing a little closer to the ground, Commander?” the doctor asked, with a grin.

“Not with privacy…” T’liss commented as the guards began to bang on the door.

“Doctor you first… then T’liss.” Sol ordered.

“Captain…”

“Don’t argue with me, Doctor… that’s how it’s gonna be.” she said, stopping the complaint before it could fully start. The doctor nodded, and pulled a table over so they could climb up to the crawlspace. Sol kept her weapon pointed at the door as the banging grew louder. She looked back to see Kael already hauling himself into the crawl space.

“You next, T’liss…” she said, walking backwards toward the table as T’liss hoisted herself upwards. Sol unslung the rifle from over her shoulder and tossed it up to T’liss’ waiting hands before jumping up and pulling herself into the crawlspace. T’liss and Kael each grabbed a hand and assisted the Captain into the crawl spaces. T’liss reached past Solaris and pulled the grating into place, the banging from the doors growing louder for a moment before subsiding and the sound of some sort of energy device started up.

“Come on… before they get through the door… which way?” Sol asked, squinting in the darkness of the crawl spaces now. T’liss pointed in front of her and Sol nodded, starting off in that direction. She paused as she heard the doors to the room open below them along with muffled voices. She waited listening as the voices grew more animated then started crawling again as they grew distant, having moved out of the room.

“A left up ahead, Captain. We should reach a junction and we can climb down to the main level then over to the docking bay.” T’liss informed. Sol nodded and continued along. She took a left as directed and the trio soon found themselves in the junction with several crawlspaces leading off in various directions including a ladder down. Sol took a moment to catch her breath.

“Is it weird to say Ive missed this sort of thing?” she asked. Kael laughed.

“Yes, Captain… it is…” he said. Sol laughed in return, grabbing a rung of the ladder, climbing down after a few moments. She paused to wait for the others, before continuing toward the docking bay.

Sol pushed open one of the grates, connected the crawlspace to the docking bay and winced as it clattered to the deck. She poked her head out and looked around. People were scrambling to ships, desperate to evade the Yamato’s ire so no one even bothered to stop and look at what had made the noise. She pulled herself out of the crawlspace and hunkered down behind some crates, waiting for T’liss and Kael. A pair of guards stood by their ship, having clearly been told to watch it in case they tried exactly what they were trying. Sol frowned.

“Well… couldn’t have been that easy I guess…” she commented, pulling her own disruptor out again. Then she stopped and looked at the rifle she was carrying and hefted it.

“Captain?” T’liss asked. “You do not intend to use that, do you?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. Sol shook her head.

“No… I don’t… but they don’t know that… and I’m hoping they know what it is at the very least.” she said. She took a breath and stood, leaving the rifle at the two guards, who also brought their own weapons to bear.

“Ah! I wouldnt… I hear this weapon is very nasty…” she said, gesturing with the rifle. “Down… put them down and you get to walk away and pirate another day…” she said. The pair of guards looked between themselves for a moment, then back to her. She kept her gaze passive but focused, waiting. She raised the rifle a bit, as if to aim at one of them then relaxed as their weapons lowered. They hunched over and dropped them onto the decking before hurrying away from the mad woman advancing toward them. Sol exhaled and hurried to the ship. T’liss and Kael werent far behind, hurting up the boarding ramp. Sol set the rifle in the cargo area and headed tot he cockpit where T’liss was already powered the ship up to depart. Sol took a seat and waited as T’liss brought the ship up into a hover, before swinging it around and engaging its main engines to propel them out into space.

Sol looked through the view port at the scene unfolding outside the station. A single larger ship was adrift and a pair of the smaller ones were in direct conflict with the Yamato as more moved to assist them. That was either brave, or very very stupid.

“T’liss… head into the badlands… make it look like we’re running… we can meet up with the Yamato later.” Sol ordered. She felt the ship bank and the last thing she caught was the Yamato firing a set of quantum torpedoes at one of the attacking craft before the battle was out of her sight. The ship settled into its escape course and disappeared into a plasma drift. Sol looked back into the cargo area at the rifle sitting on a crate. She frowned. They had all but accomplished their mission, and yet she didn’t feel satisfied with the outcome. What more could she do though? She sighed and leaned her head back, listening to the sounds of the ship as they moved through the plasma field. What more could she do indeed?

Sol frowned, sitting quietly in the darkened interior of the ship. They were currently sitting, obscured within a plasma drift. The Orions hadn’t been too happy with their escape, and their ships were currently searching for them. The Yamato was also looking for them and at this point it was a race to see which group would find them first.

That wasn’t the only thing on her mind though. The rifle they had been tasked with recovering sat in their cargo area. She still wanted to know why Starfleet had tried, and succeeded, in developing such a weapon. Having seen its power she now had serious reservations about their mission.

Her attention was drawn from her thoughts by a console beeping. She looked over to where T’liss sat, the Vulcan staring out of the forward view port.

“What is it?” Sol asked.

“Their ships are moving closer. I am unable to determine why.” T’liss reported. Sol frowned. The ship they were on wasn’t heavily armed, and against one of the Orion patrol vessels, it stood almost no chance in a sustained fight. She leaned over and checked the sensor readouts. They were hazy, but did show a few contacts closing toward their position, but not with any haste.

“Do we think they’ve found us?” Kael asked from his seat. Sol looked to T’liss who studied the screen.

“I do not believe so… there are no indications of weapons being powered or any increases in speed.” she reported. Sol nodded, sitting back. Maybe they would get out of this unscathed yet. The ship rumbled some as the patrol ships passed by the plasma drift they were hiding in, almost close enough that Sol thought she could see one of them outside the drift. She held her breath hoping the ship continued on its way. It did so, and she sat back. They couldn’t leave yet, there were still too many ships out there between them and the Yamato so they just had to sit tight and wait.

Amaya glanced back to Rukia from the center chair. They had been searching for the captain’s ship for at least half an hour. She hadn’t expected that it would take this long, having actually expected them to seek the Yamato out, rather than get themselves lost in the Badlands.

“Anything yet?” she asked. Rukia looked up and shook her head.

“Nothing but Orion patrols, and they’re staying well clear of us. They must’ve heard what happened at the station.” she said, tapping a few controls. Amaya sighed, looking back at the view screen, which just displayed the vast endless plasma fields of the Badlands stretching out before them.

“Fine… helm take us to the next search grid.” she ordered, slumping down in the chair. A fine first officer she was.. Their first mission and she had already lost her Captain. Not to mention their Chief Engineer and Chief Medical Officer. She felt the ship bank and move off deeper into their search pattern. She only hoped that they would find the captain’s ship intact with all of its occupants.

An hour had passed by the time the area had cleared enough to even consider making a run for it. T’liss looked down at her sensor screen, making note of the locations and directions of the last remaining patrols.

“Captain… I believe they have given up their search for us.” she said. “Shall I begin looking for the Yamato?” she asked. Sol sat up, having been lost in her own thoughts.

“What?” she asked.

“The Orions are moving away from the area… we can start looking for the Yamato.” Kael said, stopping T’liss from having to repeat herself.

“Oh…” she said. She looked back into the cargo area, then back to the two of them. “No. Not yet…” she said.

“Captain?” Kael asked. T’liss simply remained quiet. She had seen Solaris like this before, always when there was something troubling her.

“What bothers you, Solaris?” she asked. Kale looked at T’liss as if she had lost her mind but Solaris just laughed.

“I never could hide much from you, T’liss…” she commented, sighing. She pointed into the cargo area. “It’s that rifle.” she said. She stood and moved into the cargo area to retrieve the weapon.

“I don’t much like it either, Captain… but what can we do about it?” Kael asked, as she returned cradling the weapon gingerly. “We were ordered to get it back and we did…” he added.

Sol nodded and turned the weapon over gently, being careful to not disrupt the connection of the anti-matter injector or the canister that contained the anti-matter itself.

“We’re the only ones who know that…” Solaris pointed out, looking between T’liss and Kael. T’liss just raised an eyebrow and Kael seemed confused.

“Are you suggesting we violate our orders, Captain?” he asked.

“Right now? I’m just talking…” Solaris said, studying the rifle carefully.

“We can’t do that Captain…” Kael said.

“Doctor… you can’t honestly tell me that you believe Starfleet should have a weapon like this… even if they just confine themselves to locking this prototype away… people know it’s out there now… and they know how powerful it can be.” she said. “And I don’t believe they’ll just keep this prototype locked away. The next Dominion or Borg or whatever will show up and someone somewhere will remember this thing exists… and they’ll make more.” she continued. “By that point it will be too late to go back. Too late to put the genie back in the bottle.” she continued.

“But… it’s not our call. You don’t have those fancy Admiral’s pips yet…” he said.

“No I don’t… but I wouldn’t be the first Captain to make a stand on principle.” she countered. “Starfleet is, or was, full of idealists. We can shut Pandora’s box right here and now.” she said. Kael just shook his head. Sol looked over to T’liss.

“You’ve nothing to say on this?” she asked. T’liss remained quiet for a few more moments before turning back to the console.

“You have already made up your mind… to try and change it now would be… unwise.” she stated. “But I will not see you place the weapon on overload, nor will I see you jettison it into space.” she added “If that is what you choose to do.” she finished. Sol laughed and turned back into the cargo area. She understood the Doctor’s argument and maybe years ago she might have even bought into it. Maybe even before Frontier Day she would have. But the current version of Starfleet only looked superficially like the one she had joined. Somewhere along the way, whether it was after the Dominion War, the Hobus supernova or somewhere in between, they had grown more insular and scared. The weapon in her hands with just further proof of that. She set it on the crate where she had picked it up from and tapped a few controls on it. She would set it to overload. The PADD containing its schematics was set next to it. She finished keying in the sequence and hurried for the hatch to the cargo section. She could hear the high pitched whine of the rifle as it built up to an overload. She sealed the hatch and bright up the command to vent the cargo bay. She paused for the briefest of moments to really consider what she was doing and then punched in the final command. The rear hatch exploded outward and she watched what was left in the cargo bay get sucked out into space.

“T’liss… we should go… now…” she said, turning back to the rest of them. T’liss was already engaging the engines. Moving the ship away from the rifle’s last known location. There was a dull thud and then the ship shook. Sol stumbled forward grabbing onto the backs of one of the chairs. That had been quicker than she expected and far less of an explosion as well. Then the ship shook again and there was a much louder thud as the anti-matter containment for the rifle failed. The ship pitched forward and threw Sol off her feet to the deck. Consoles sparked and the last thing she heard was Kale calling for her.

Sol awoke with a start in the darkened cockpit of the small craft they currently occupied. She was no longer on the floor, but sat upright in a chair. She groaned.

“Welcome back, Captain.” Kael said.

“How long was I out?” she asked.

“Ten minutes, give or take.” he reported. “You took a nasty fall when the shockwave hit us… might have a concussion. Right to medical with you when we get back.” he said. Sol wasn’t in the mood to argue, and simply nodded, though regretted it almost instantly.

“What’s our status?” she asked quietly. T’liss looked over from her position.

“Main power is out… engines are offline. We are adrift right now…” she said. Sol sighed.

“No sign of the Yamato?” she asked.

“Not as of yet… I am uncertain if they would even be able to detect a distress call within the badlands.” T’liss said.

“Right… well.. All things considered… it could be worse.” she said.

“How, Captain?” Kael asked.

“We could already be dead.” she replied. Kale laughed and then nodded.

“True. Though I dont fancy suffocating to death that much…” he said. Sol was about to reply when she felt something roll against her foot. She glanced down slowly, spotting the bottle of aldebaran whiskey she had first seen when inspecting the ship. She leant forward and snatched it off the decking, turning it over a few times. She popped the top off and took a swig, sitting back.

“At least we can make it a little more pleasant then…” she said, offering up the bottle.

“Commander, there’s been a large anti-matter explosion several hundred kilometers off our port beam.” Rukia reported, unsure what had caused it.

“A ship?” she asked.

“Possibly. Its smaller than I would expect for a vessel.” she said.

“Helm change course, take us there.” Amaya said, sitting up. She didn’t like what that could mean.

Kael passed the bottle back to T’liss. Sitting back. The Captain was right, there were worse ways to go. The ship had been drifting for only about half an hour, which wasn’t long enough for anything drastic to have occurred but without rescue that didn’t really matter in the end. He sighed looking out the view ports, then sat up straight. There was another ship approaching, and it didn’t look Orion.

“Captain…” he said, pointing. Solaris glanced over, sitting up as well. She grinned. She recognized that ship. It had been seared into her memory ever since she had seen it just a few weeks ago. It was her ship.

“T’liss… let them know we’re here…” she said. T’liss tapped a few controls and it wasn’t long before the comm system chirped.

“Captain!? Are you all alright?” her XO asked, sounding every slightly panicked, even through the hazy comm system.

“Yea yea… we’re ok. Just some bumps… nothing serious…” she replied.

“What happened?” Amaya asked.

“The weapon overloaded…” she replied. A technical truth. “I’ll tell you more when we’re back the ship. Beam us aboard…” she ordered.

“Yes, ma’am.” Amaya replied. The comm channel closed, and Sol could feel the tingling she always associated with transporter travel. Things hadn’t gone as planned but she wasn’t upset. What came next wouldn’t be easy, but it was for the best. Intel wouldn’t be happy about the rifle, but they didn’t need to know how it had happened and her report wouldn’t tell them. She wouldn’t stop the others from making their own reports and doing what they believed was right, but she knew what she thought was right and she would stick to her own story. She could only hope the others would back her.

“You heard the Captain.” Amaya said.

“Energizing.” Rukia replied, beaming the three of them off the disabled vessel.

“Helm… take us out of the badlands… set a course for DS17 when able…” Amaya ordered.

The ship banked away from the stricken vessel, leaving it drifting through the plasma fields and set its sights on returning to the inky blackness of space so they could return back to Deep Space 17 and report in. As it crossed out of the Badlands it didn’t spare a thought to The Jade Exchange or the Orions. It paused briefly as the course to DS17 was laid in, then jumped forward, disappearing in a bright flash for its lengthy trip back.