Following the captain calling the ship to battle stations, he reached out to both Lenjir and Horin. The two had been questioning their prisoners, trying to get information from the Hazari they had captured after their failed assault against the research teams on ‘New Risa’. McCallister had said that he and Duncan were on their way down for an update. 

“I’m not sure what else we can get out of them,” Horin said, sounding defeated as she sat down on a nearby chair. She and Lenjir had moved away from the main brig area to a side office used by the brig officer. “The one that attacked Jorgeh, I feel, is the senior most member.”

“I agree,” Lenjir said just as the door to the office opened, allowing for McCallister and Duncan to enter.

“Report,” McCallister ordered straight away, “anything useful?”

Lenjir shook his head, “Nothing of use, I’m afraid, sir.” 

“Max, how’s Jorgeh?” Horin asked as she placed a hand just below an abdomen and quickly removed it after realising what she had done.

Duncan hadn’t picked up on that gesture as he just answered her. “Well, thanks; Slyvexs thinks he will recover. Are you sure there’s nothing from any of them?” He said, gesturing to the room next door where the prisoners were.

“Unfortunately, the Hazari are resisting my attempts to read their minds. We were considering asking T’Rani to do a mind meld, but from what we’ve learnt about them, they can withstand that too.” Horin answered glumly. “All we have learnt is that the one who attacked Jorgeh, his name is Y’Seki. We believe he is the senior most person.”

“We’ve separated him from the others after it appeared he gave them non-verbal cues,” Lenjir added.

“Interesting,” McCallister said as he scratched his beard around the edge of his jawline. “From what everyone can tell, he wasn’t after Jorgeh himself but somehow knew that Jorgeh was a Rylsanti.”

 “We need to get to the bottom of discovering for sure what their bounty is and who paid them,” Duncan suggested with his hands on his hips. 

“Agreed,” McCallister looked at his first officer before turning back to Lenjir. “Cline, I want a full security protection detail posted to Jorgeh and Wylem until I say otherwise.”

“Understood, sir,” Lenjir nodded with acknowledgement. 

“Head to the bridge and start working with Tomaz on strategies. We’ve got an entire Hazari task force heading our way; I’d like a few tricks up our sleeves if we can.” McCallister ordered. 

“Aye, captain,” Lenjir said before leaving the room. 

McCallister gestured for Duncan and Horin to follow him, “Let’s see if we can make a bit more progress on our guest.”

Entering the main area of the brig, each individual cell was active and had two or three Hazari in them. Forcefields were fully functional, the guards were all armed, and the three officers were handed type-two phasers to attach to their hips before entering. Walking up to the cell where Y’Seki was, McCallister looked at the man who had attacked Jorgeh. He had never seen a Hazari in the flesh until now. 

“Welcome aboard,” He sarcastically said. “I’m Captain James Preston-”

 Y’Seki cut him off from where he sat up on the small bench/bed. “McCallister of the Federation starship U-S-S Odyssey, registry N-C-C-Eight-Zero-Zero-Zero-Zero.”

“Well, Mister Y’Seki, there seems to be no need for introductions then,” McCallister responded without flinching at seeing the bounty hunter knowing him. 

“Your reputation proceeds you, captain,” Y’Seki said, trying to knock McCallister’s calmness by that statement. “The man who single-handedly moved an entire civilisation off their dying world. The man who may have stopped the Kraylor from removing the Anaari from the occupation of their homeworld. The man who traversed dangerous spatial phenomena to stop an ancient weapon from destabilising the quadrant and the man who found the last Ryslanti ark and ended up destroying it. Did I miss anything?”

“Yeah, quite a bit, most of it missing the fact that my entire crew were involved,” McCallister said, still standing firm. “Talking of which, can you tell me why you attacked my crew?”

 Y’Seki appeared to have smirked at that comment. “I didn’t attack your crew.”

“No, you did, and that’s why you got your ass kicked for you to end up in there,” McCallister said, pointing to the cell. “Now, your people have a reputation of being the best bounty hunters in the Delta Quadrant, and I also hear the Borg Collective like you as you make good tactical drones, so again I’ll ask why you attacked my crew?”

“I didn’t attack your crew,” Y’Seki repeated.

Realising what he meant, McCallister then spoke up. “I suppose if you want to be literal, then you attacked one member of my crew; I still want to know why.”

“He’s a Ryslanti; their species was the envy of many in this area of the Delta Quadrant. No one wants to see their return; I’ve been hunting the ark you destroyed a few months ago for decades,” Y’Seki explained. “I want to see him and the other you have on board dead.”

Realising just how serious this was to the life of both Jorgeh and Wylem, McCallister put on his best poker face. “Are you kidding me? You’ve attacked us because you hold a grudge against a dead civilisation? And for your information, we don’t have any Ryslanti on board.”

“Lies!” Y’Seki spat out. “We know you rescued two descendants of Captain Jyster; turn them over to me!”

Remaining firm in his response, especially as he noticed that Duncan was seething underneath his attempt at remaining calm, McCallister replied quickly to Y’Seki. “We never rescued anyone from that vessel, the young man you attacked today is human and the son of my first officer,” He gestured towards Duncan. “So, I’d like to know more about why you think attacking a Federation citizen and the craft they’ve resided on for their entire life is appropriate?”

“You lie!” Y’Seki spat out. “We recovered the logs from the remains of the ark. I know you were on it for months.”

“Yes, we were,” Duncan now spoke up, “and just like you are now, we were prisoners on that vessel. My son was there with me too.”

Pleased that Duncan was going along with his bluff, McCallister added more to it. “As you seem to know so much about Captain Jyster and her exploits against her, you should know we were kept against our wishes. The only reason why that vessel was destroyed was during our escape.”

”Then explain why Jyster’s logs showed that her sons escaped from that vessel with you,” Y’Seki shouted. 

“Captain Jyster captured Commander Duncan’s sons; she attempted to change their DNA and appearance to resemble the sons she had lost. It was her lost attempt to save her people,” Horin now said, adding to the made-up story. “I’m their counsellor, and I’ve had to do much work with them with their recovery.”

Y’Seki winced at all three officers and said nothing as he slowly paced his cell. He then crossed his arms and looked over his shoulder. “It is of no consequence; the other vessels in my fleet will attack you and take them and this vessel as part of our bounty.”

“I know it’s been some time since a Starfleet vessel properly encountered the Hazari, but I’m warning you now that I will destroy this ship before you get a chance to take it,” McCallister said with a firm tone. “Can you not accept that your hunt ended when we destroyed Captain Jyster’s ark?”

“It is all lies,” Y’Seki countered back. 

“What if we had proof that my sons are human?” Duncan asked, avoiding sounding desperate. “I don’t want them having a target over their heads for the rest of their lives because of some misunderstanding.”

“The only proof is in their DNA.” Y’Seki turned to face the first officer. “Hand them over to my comrades and me to test them.”

“You must be kidding, right?” Duncan replied with a nervous chuckle.

McCallister shook his head, “I’m not handing over members of my crew to you just because you don’t believe us.” He paused as he considered his options for a second. “If you get your ships to stop their pursuit of us, I will allow one to approach us to take you and your men back. Then we’ll discuss this situation further.”

“Prove their Human, and this all ends,” Y’Seki said slowly, almost sounding like he was enjoying having the upper hand. 

McCallister looked at him, “Enjoy your stay,” He said, pointing to the cell before he indicated to the other two to walk away with him. 

As soon as they left, McCallister led them into the nearest turbolift and called for the cart to take them to the bridge. “Now, anyone got any ideas on how we prove that both Jorgeh and Wylem are human?” He asked both of them. 

“That is something to ask Doctor Slyvexs and the others,” Duncan said after a huge sigh. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

Horin comforted Duncan by rubbing his left shoulder, “If we can fool the Hazari that they are, then we end this without anyone else getting hurt.”

 “We’re going to need a huge believable backstory on Jorgeh and Wylem, too,” McCallister stated, “Do you think they’ll understand?”

“If we get Tobias on board, then I think we can explain it to them both.” Duncan said, “But what if the Hazari don’t believe us? They’ve blocked us from being able to head back to the Barzan Wormhole to retreat to the Alpha Quadrant. We can’t take on an entire task force of their ships either.”

“Then we’ll do whatever it takes to defend them both, and if that makes high-tailing it at maximum warp back to the Alpha Quadrant for the next thirty years, then so be it, but I won’t let them lay a finger on either of your sons,” McCallister said just as the turbolift arrived at the bridge and they started to work on the next part of their plan.