A violent quake rocked the bridge as Captain Dubois desperately tried to evade their Nausicaan pursuers.

“Minor damage, it appears they have fired a warning shot, Captain!” K’vagh reported, analysing the data from his console, “Should I return fire?” he asked.

“No, I don’t want to risk drawing us into a fight when our shields are down. How’s it coming, Number one?” Alex responded, swinging their bearing about in another attempt to evade.

“It’s gonna take a minute, been a long time since I’ve needed to hot-wire a shield grid!” Wallace responded, deeply focused on his diagnostic screen. He tapped his communicator to try to get a second pair of hands. “Bridge to Engineering, T’lira, I need you to divert auxiliary power to the secondary processing unit!”

“Acknowledged, but we’ve got our own problems down here, Commander,”

“Shields are the priority, Lieutenant!” he retorted.

Another impact rocked the ship, this time, causing sparks to fly across the bridge as part of the power grid overloaded. “Direct hit to deck three, Captain. They are no longer firing warning shots!” K’vagh bawled, frustrated that he was being denied the pleasure of launching a salvo of torpedoes in the Nausicaan’s faces.

“Hail them, Mister K’vagh, audio only!” Alex ordered, fighting with the helm for some sensitivity in his control inputs.

K’vagh nodded out of reflex, though he knew the Captain was busy flying the ship and could not see. “Chanel Open!”

“Nausicaan vessel, this is Captain Dubois of the Fairfax. Care to explain yourselves?”

“Fairfax, power down your engines and submit to boarding parties. You have something that belongs to us!” A deep raspy voice reverberated through the bridge speakers.

“Not until you stop firing at my ship and give me an explanation!” Alex responded angrily.

There was no response, then suddenly Alex felt himself thrown forward against the Conn as if he were riding a bike and suddenly slammed into a deep pot-hole.

“They have locked on a tractor beam!” K’vagh snarled with frustration. He was practically salivating in anticipation of being given the order to engage. “Captain, they are dropping shields for transport!”

“I guess that’s a no then, K’vagh target their tractor emitter and fire!” Alex sighed.

With a satisfied grin, K’vagh adjusted the targeting sensors to square the source of the beam.
Both dorsal phaser arrays, towards the aft of the saucer, began their prefire sequence. As each emitter section charged with nadion energy, it handed off to the next, and then the next, converging at the final target vector. Like jets of water from a high-pressure hose, two beams erupted from the arrays and converged precisely at the source of the tractor beam, disabling it and causing a small detonation at the site of impact.

The tractor beam immediately disengaged, and Fairfax resumed her escape.

“Direct hit, their tractor beam has been disabled!” K’vagh responded with an ear-to-ear smile.

“Sheilds back online!” Wallace added as he manually initiated the energisation sequence.

“Time to tilt the ice!” Alex muttered to himself as she reversed course in an attempt to flank the enemy ship. “K’vagh, fire at will!”

As Fairfax came about, her phaser batteries opened fire in sequence. One blast after another sliced into the Nausicaan hull as the Federation ship made a sweeping proximity pass at their stern. As she pulled into her escape bearing, the aft torpedo launcher slung two warheads, one after the other. The first found its target, detonating just above the Nausicaan’s port nacelle. The second was suddenly deflected by a luminous barrier of energy from the vessel’s shields.

“Minor damage, Captain, they have raised shields!” K’vagh reported as he returned fire control to the Phaser array. Almost immediately, he noticed an alarm on his security console. “Intruder alert, deck five. Security teams to section gamma nine!” he directed.

Deck five, moments later

A fire team of four security personnel advanced around the sweeping left-hand bend of the corridor, approaching section Gamma 9. There had been just enough time to access their weapons locker and arm themselves with compression rifles and their sidearms before deployment.

The officer on point kept his weapon pointed ahead, looking just above the optic with both eyes, demonstrating skill and discipline with his finger resting neatly above the trigger guard. Behind him, two of his colleagues maintained strong muzzle discipline and ensured their own weapons did not flag their teammates—the fourth maintained rear security, safeguarding against a flanking attack.

Between the intermittent glow of the alert lighting, several unfamiliar shadows were cast along the deck foreshadowing enemy contact. The team leader raised his fist to bring his team to a halt and mount their defence outside the science lab.
Moments later, the shadows connected with the figures of 5 Nausicaan pirates and upon sighting their starfleet opponents, they immediately opened fire.

The exchange of weapon blasts was both violent and intense; immediately, two of the fire team were struck in the chest and fell in a crumpled heap of their own lifeless bodies.

The two remaining officers continued exchanging fire, but they were now severely disadvantaged. The third officer was hit, wounded. He sat up, seated and accepted the rifle from his colleague, continuing to lay down fire as he was dragged backwards by the collar of his jacket. The engagement was lost; withdrawal was the only option.

The Nausicaan leader wasted no time in affixing a device to the door of the science lab. Within moments, the force fields deactivated, and the doors slid open on their own, revealing a deep blue glow from inside.

Bridge

“Captain, security teams have had to withdraw—” Suddenly, internal sensors began screaming frantically, “Detecting an energy surge, science lab two…. Triolic waves!”

Before Alex could respond, another round of violent concussions shook the ship. One after another, the Nausican ship’s disruptors pounded the Fairfax’s ventral shields until they failed.

“Shields down… Detecting transporter signatures from deck five… the Nausicaans are beaming back to the corsair! K’vagh reported.

“Can you intercept?” said Alex desperately.

“Negative, transport is already complete!” K’vagh replied, furiously tapping away at his console

Alex then realised the significance of Science Lab Two. “And the Hej’ogt?” he enquired.

“Gone,” said K’vagh regrettably.

Nausicaan Bridge

The Nausicaan captain sat patiently in his chair, gazing at their prey on the main viewer.
The Fairfax was damaged, perhaps nearly crippled. He knew the starfleet ship was a loose end, one that he could not afford to leave untied.

As he rubbed the underside of his chin with the back of his fingers, his second in command approached from behind, standing to attention. “Our team has returned with the other half of the artefact,” he said menacingly.

The captain considered his options for a moment, pondering the risk Fairfax posed to the validity of his contract if he did not act. “Target the federation ship’s warp core! Destroy them!”

Without hesitation, the Nausicaan crew member manning the tactical station carried out the order and began opening fire.

Fairfax Bridge

“Before they beamed off the ship, you said you detected Triolic energy?” Alex clarified with his tactical officer.

“Localised to science lab two, though external sensors also detected a spike from the Nausicaan ship,” he replied.

Alex looked out the viewscreen at the enemy vessel, irrationally trying to look his adversary in the eye. As though if he stared hard enough, he might have been able to catch a glimpse across space. “What are they up to?” he said to himself.

Lost in his thoughts, he failed to notice the Nausicaans were manoeuvring for an attack run. Only the impact of several disruptor blasts brought him back to reality as the ship violently jolted and conduits began bursting around them.

“Return fire!” he ordered as he began piloting the ship away from the incoming ordinance.
The ship creaked and groaned with every impact, as if she were being tortured to death. Alex did his best to avoid what he could, but the damage was becoming apparent.

“Hull breaches on decks eleven, nine and four. Hull integrity down to sixty-two per cent!” K’vagh bawled as he poured all of his energy and passion into trying to damage their attackers.

Alex closed his eyes, hoping for a miracle. It had been barely half an hour since his distress call, and he knew their allies weren’t anywhere near. But faced with dire circumstances, he held out hope that he might see a Starfleet vessel drop out of warp ahead of them.

“Structural integrity field failing!…” Amongst the cacophony of alerts and alarms on his console, one notification stood out to K’vagh. On his tactical overlay, a sensor anomaly. He looked closer, feeling he recognised the signature. Then, a transponder signal that he recognised well. After all, he of all people should find it hard to miss the signature of a de-cloaking bird of prey.

“Sir! Klingon bird of prey de-cloaking to starboard!” he cried out.

Surprised, Alex looked up at the view screen. He braced himself in the anticipation of his final moments as he watched the B’rel class lock its wings into attack position and open fire with its dual cannons. Just typical of their luck that the Klingons would pick a fight at this moment.

But there was no impact. The disruptor bolts passed right over Fairfax and slammed into the Nausicaan shields. Despite tensions between the Federation and the Klingon Empire, this vessel appeared to be friendly.

“Sir, we are being hailed!” K’vagh reported.

“On-screen,” Alex said with some surprise.

Immediately, the view-screen provided a window onto the Klingon bridge. In command, a middle-aged, regal and intimidating warrior stood proud and amused by their entrance.

“Starfleet!” he howled. “You fight like a lame Targ! Let’s show this pirate PetaQ how warriors die!”

Astounded to meet an ally from the most unlikely of affiliations, Alex stood to his feet in salute. “Your impeccable timing is greatly appreciated, Captain?…”

“Korgh of the IKS Ki’tang, there will be time for the pleasantries later. We join you in battle, Starfleet. An honour shared is honour doubled, Maqcha!”

The transmission ended, and Alex smiled. “Mister K’vagh, photon torpedoes full spread!, Looks like the ice just finally tipped in our favour!” he said, coordinating an offensive formation with the bird of prey.

Side by side, the Ki’tang and the Fairfax charged the Nausicaan corsair, unleashing a fury of firepower and signalling that this was one victory their enemy would have to earn.

Between the two ships, a coordinated assault commenced with the B’rel punching through the Nausicaan shields with her disruptor cannons and the Fairfax launching a salvo of torpedoes into the breach.

Sustaining significant damage, the Nausicaan struggled to defend against both ships, and before long, was left with no choice but to withdraw, jumping to warp in a seemingly random direction.

“Nausicaan vessel has gone to warp, Captain!” K’vagh reported with satisfaction. His Klingon brethren had fought with honour and brought them victory.

“Stand down, red alert, hail the Ki’tang!”

As Korgh reappeared on screen, Alex dipped his head in respect. “Captain Alexander Dubois of the Federation Starship, Fairfax. Pleasure to make your acquaintance, but I don’t think I quite know how to repay you!”

“The honour is mine, Captain. Many years ago, I heard of a single federation ship sacrifice itself for Klingon blood at Narendra three. I swore that day that I would never let galactic politics affect my opinion of a Starfleet insignia!” Korgh explained humbly.

“I would invite you aboard, Captain, but we are under quarantine, and a detachment of Starfleet ships is on its way to assist us. I’d be grateful if you could lend us your sword until they arrive,” said Alex, regrettably.

“The House of Korgh will always be a friend to the Federation, Captain, as long as I breathe air and my heart beats Klingon. We will stand by until your fleet arrives, Q’apla!” Korgh said before closing the channel.

“Infirmary to bridge, Captain. I don’t know what happened, but all traces of the virus seem to have vanished from my patients. I can’t explain it!” Doctor Harper’s voice blared over the bridge speakers.

Alex was not as surprised as he felt he should be; he had always suspected a connection between the infection and the Hej’ogt. With its absence, the pieces of the puzzle were starting to make sense.

“Run every test you feel is necessary to verify and keep me informed!” he said before taking in the mess of his surroundings. “Number one, assemble damage control teams and let’s start clearing up this mess. I’ll be in my ready room; you have the bridge!”

Wallace acknowledged his orders and made his way back over to the engineering console. Fairfax had taken a significant beating. She was going to need a spell in drydock soon enough, but there was plenty that could be repaired short-term. With a little luck and some engineer’s tape.