The Flight Operations Control Room was in a flurry of chaos as flight crew officers were rushing to get out of the way for incoming security response teams. Zach and Kiff stood at the center console, looking down at the viewport window where the bubble of obscuring smoke that was once the Danube-class runabout was docked.

Michael took the few steps up to the control platform as a security officer made way, calling out, “Captain on Deck!”

“As you were…” he dismissed, focusing his attention on Brannigan, “Report?”

“Found the six missing occupants, sir. They were hiding in the rear module. Modified the atmospheric pressure inside to fool our sensors. As soon as we got close, they came out and took a pop shot at us. Their phasers are set to max setting…” The Andorian tactical officer reported, pointing down to the shuttle bay where several destroyed cargo containers lay in ruin.

“You two ok?” Michael asked, as he surveyed the damage.

“Yeah, managed to hit the deck to avoid the fire, but got everyone cleared out in time. Bumps and bruises is all.” Zach confirmed.

With the main concern out of the way, Michael focused his attention on the shuttlecraft itself. “What’s with the smokescreen?”

“Scans indicate sevoflurane gas. Moderately strong inhalational anesthetic…” Kiff reported.

“…I guess in case their phaser fire didn’t work, anyone going in after them would be knocked out. cold” Zach added.

“That, and I think they are under the impression we can’t see what they’re doing and using it as a means of cover.” Kiff continued.

Tapping the screen, the LCARS overlay displayed against the port window, rendering a high quality thermal image of all six occupants inside. Two were positioned on top of the craft, with one as a lookout and the other working on some sort of control panel. The other four were positioned at each corner of the shuttlecraft, crouched using the runabouts’ nacelles as cover. Michael could see clearly now that each of them was armed with hand phasers and rebreather masks, shielding them from their own aerosol deterrent.

“What ARE they doing?” Michael finally questioned.

“Audio indicates they’re trying to access warp controls from outside the ship to try and regain control of the craft. Barring that, they have indicated a willingness to destroy the craft to inflict as much damage to the ship as possible.” Kiff hesitated.

“ ‘I’d rather die than let them turn me.’ Was their exact turn of phrase.” Zach quoted.

“Turn them? Into what?” Michael inquired, baffled. He shook his head at the conundrum; it honestly didn’t matter. These people took a shot at his officers and were actively sabotaging a shuttlecraft. The why didn’t matter in the moment. “Never mind…Options?”

“Can’t do much with them hiding behind the craft’s shield grid. Security teams are staging on both starboard and port entrances. I have blast shields up over this comm center, and the bay doors closed. The Roost is fully stocked, Captain. I can remotely maneuver a craft into position and use its phasers to bring down their shields.”

“Is sevoflurane flammable?” Michael asked, entertaining the suggestion for a moment.

“Flammable, no, but when heated, can produce corrosive and toxic fumes.” Kiff added, pulling up the molecular description on his terminal.

“And if their weapons are set to max, a direct engagement is going to get someone killed…” Michael concluded aloud. “I got an idea, keep audio open and follow my lead.”

Michael turned to walk away in a hurry. As he did, he called out, “Computer, Run Foxdie program, Holodeck 4.”

———–
The Bridge
A few minutes later
———–
No demands had come, and all initial attempts to communicate were met with hushed silence from the interlopers. Jessica sat in the Command Chair on the bridge, with the view screen showing the inside of the shuttle bay.  She knew Michael was on scene and was addressing the issue, but the rumor was that he had retired to the holodeck? Clara was sitting in the chair next to her and assured the commander that she had a good idea of what he was up to, and bade her to be patient.

It only took another minute before activity could be seen on the screen, though the image caused Jessica to jump out of her chair, “Is he INSANE?!” she bellowed. On the monitor, the bridge crew could see Captain Michael Angelus, casually walking into the Shuttle Bay from the Port Side entry doors, hands in his pockets like he was performing a casual inspection. No weapons, no protective gear, and no security escort.

“Holo-emitters are active in the shuttle bay, Ma’am. It’s not him.” Pi reported, just as the screen lit up with Phaser Fire. Beams of photon energy cut through the air towards the Captain’s Image, which parted in a holographic distortion before re-forming itself. Another cargo crate along the back wall burst into flames, as its outer casing had melted from weapons fire.

“You done? I’d appreciate you stop shooting holes in my ship…” The image of the Captain projected. A few security officers from behind the Port entrance started to enter in response to the weapons fire, but Michael held up his hand to shoo them back to safety.

“Is that a Hologram?!” came a distorted voice from behind the shield.

“How did they get it out of the holodeck?”  another voice called out, as one more beam of phaser energy shot through Michael’s photonic form.

He couldn’t help but be confused by the question, none the less Michael brushed off the area where the phaser beam passed, as if knocking away dirt. “I’m Captain Michael Angelus of the USS Dragon. You have fired at my crew and are attempting to steal a runabout. I don’t care who you are, or what you want, I’m here to put an end to this now.” He stated firmly.

“What did you do with Lt. Ken?!” one of the distorted voices called out.

“He’s in sickbay, being treated for the seizure you sent the distress signal out for.” Michael replied coldly. “I’d love to show you to him, but you’re a little to trigger happy for my liking at the moment…”

Another beam of phaser energy shot through him, as an unintelligible insult was hurled through the air. “LYING BASTARD!”

“…case in point.” Michael huffed annoyingly.

“Hold your fire, Casey!” Came one of the muffled voices atop the shuttle.

“Yeah. I’d listen to your friend. You’re currently surrounded by an anesthetic gas that, when superheated by…I don’t know, multiple rounds of high-level phaser fire, turns into corrosive substance that will play hell on those rebreathers you’re wearing.” Michael advised.

“You can see us then?” The calm voice atop the shuttle asked.

“Yes, we can see you trying to override controls from the external warp core assembly.” Michael confirmed.

There was a ‘humph’ sound inside the shield before the command was given by one of the concealed men, “Activate the Bussard Collectors.”

The front of the shuttlecraft’s nacelles lit up as the anesthetic gas that shrouded them was sucked in, clearing the air and bringing all 6 figures into full view. Michael could see clearly, as each one removed their rebreather masks, who he was dealing with. The figure up top, standing guard, was Lt.JG Donnovan Smith, Orlok’s ‘right hand man’ as he called him. On the ground using the Nacelle as cover was Ensign Casey Jones, another up-and-coming security officer Orlok had vouched for. There was the Vulcan Chief Petty Officer A’Vran and Andorian Petty Officer ch’Rimm, who had also taken defensive positions around the craft.

However, the woman standing on top with Smith, who was working on the controls, was foreign to Michael, as was the hulking Brikar that emerged from the other side of the shuttlecraft.

“Smith, Jones, A’Vran, and ch’Rimm…I know you.” Michael called out, pointing to each person, “…you two are an anomaly I’ll solve later.”

“Yeah, you wouldn’t know about the people you can’t infect, huh?” Casey snarled.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about…” Michael began. If he weren’t so physically removed from the Shuttle Bay, his telepathic powers could better pick up on the mental state of the hostile crew, but he had to remain on the holodeck to control the photonic copy to keep things safe and secure for him and the crew. “…but whatever is going on needs to end now. Disable the shield, surrender your weapons, and we can all talk about this safely in the brig, like civilized people.”

Lt. Smith snorted at Michael’s demand. “Sorry, Captain, I know what goes on with Starfleet Prisoners behind closed doors. I don’t buy that rehabilitation crap you feed the public, and were not about to be puppets to a slave state!” The matter-antimatter containment tank hatch along the top section of the runabout hissed open, exposing the internal components of the ship’s warp-drive mechanisms. Smith aimed his phaser directly at the open ports while maintaining direct eye contact with the Captain’s photonic copy. “We are willing to die here today than to be contaminated by your kind.”

The small crew around Smith did not flinch at his words. Either they were all dead serious and willing to sacrifice themselves, or they knew he was bluffing; either way, Michael knew he had reached the final call at the poker table, and it was time for him to show his hand.

“The difference between me and you, Smith…is control. You have struggled to maintain control of that ship, this situation, even your own crew.” Michael motioned to Casey. “But me…I control everything that happens aboard this vessel. I could have said drop the forcefield and vent the atmosphere out of the Shuttle Bay, in an attempt to blow you off your positions and into space. But that’s not how we operate, is it?” Michael began.

For a moment, Michael looked to the control room, where Brannigan and Kiff sat and watched, “No, what I can do…is this.” He raised his hands, in apparent defeat, and tapped his comm badge. “All hands, this is the Captain speaking. Brace for impact.”

The shuttlecraft crew was taken aback by the Captain’s declaration, even the Vulcan A’vran perked an eyebrow. Did he really just call their bluff? Smith looked at the unease of his crew for a moment and then back to Michael. “You may not be here to face the brunt of the explosion, but all those crewmen outside will. Are you really willing to sacrifice the lives of your crew over one shuttle?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, you misunderstood. I didn’t say brace for impact because I was goading you to fire and blow up the shuttle bay. No, I said it because that’s what you do when someone disables the gravity and inertia dampeners in this section of the ship, and fires all dorsal thrusters.”

On the bridge, Jessica watched the scene unfold and immediately clicked at the captain’s call. “That’s the signal, Pi, NOW!”

Smith and the others in the Roost were trying to process the nonsense Michael was blabbering, distracting them from the moment they lost grip on the ground below their feet. By the time they registered what was happening, Lt.Cmdr Pi fired the Dorsal thrusters from the controls at his station, and without the protection of the inertia dampeners, all six crewmen were forced upward into the ceiling of the multi-leveled shuttle bay.

Brannigan was already primed and ready in the control room. As soon as the hostiles were thrown out of the shield bubble of the runabout, he was able to lock onto their bio-signatures and initiate transport. “Got them in a holding pattern, Sir!” he cheered over the loudspeaker into the Roost. Michael gave a large sigh of relief. “Computer, end program.”

The recreation of the shuttle bay disintegrated around Michael, as the checkerboard outline of the Holodeck came into view once more. Reaching up, he tapped his comm badge, “Angelus to the Bridge.”

[Stern: “Go ahead, sir.”]

“We good?”

[Stern: “Yes sir, all suspects secured in transport lock.]

“Good. Let’s use the pattern buffers to strip them all of their weapons and gear. I want them detained separately from one another, sight and sound, until we can sort out what all is going on. And ask Lt. V’era to run her quantum scan on them as well. I have a feeling were not dealing with who we think they are.”

[Stern: “Understood sir, Bridge Out.”]

Taking a moment to process, he once again tapped his communicator. “Angelus to Lt. Kroller”

[Kiff: “Kroller here sir.”]

“Kiff, let’s go ahead and bring those shields down safely, and get started on the diagnostic of that shuttlecraft.”

[Zach: “Were on it sir!”]

“Thank you both. Angelus out.”

Michael stood there in the silence of the room for another moment as he rubbed his temples, the adrenaline in his body starting to slowly subside. “God, I need a drink…” he whispered to himself, as he turned to depart the Holodeck; Not yet sure if he should return to sickbay, or head to the brig first…

[To be continued]