Harris stepped onto the bridge and spoke briefly with the ECH before accepting her report and saving her program.  The Mackenzie was back in one piece, and the three Devore ships hung out in front of them, disabled.  Reid’s revelation had given him pause as he had moved quickly from the battle bridge.  She was still working through the rosters from Harris Transport to confirm who was who.  The Hirogen were suspiciously absent, and Kondo was sitting at his console searching and scanning.  Fowler slid into her seat, her hands to console as she joined the chief of tactical in searching for the specter of the Hirogen.  The longer they didn’t appear, the tighter the air in the command center became.  Ambrose glared at the Devore ships as if they would explain everything that had happened if he simply stared them down.  “Ensign Atega, hail the two escort ships.”

Presley made the hail audio and text, waiting for a response.  Thirty seconds passed.  The timer clicked over a minute.  Still nothing.  Two minutes passed.  She glanced at the science station, and Fowler shook her head, “Both communications arrays are undamaged and fully functional.”

Ambrose sighed, “Diplomacy in the Delta Quadrant.  Can they repair the damage to the engines?”  He had turned to his sister, Cadet Harris.

She grimaced as she reported, “It would take days, sir.”

Kondo alerted him, “Captain, we’ve got incoming Hirogen ships.  Estimated arrival in thirty minutes.”

The bridge had developed this habit of going silent in the moments when Captain Harris was presented with an important decision.  Harris chewed on his bottom lip in consternation, “Chief Kondo – status of their shields?”

“Escort 1 and 2 are at thirty percent.  Transport’s shields are down.”

Ambrose turned to the bridge crew, “Options?”

Prentice was first, “We could leave them.  Let them face the Hirogen.”  He flushed red at his admission but held to it.

Atega put forth, “We could hit their shields…put them in the brig…take them home?”  In her world, all languages had value which meant every species had value – alive.

Calog flinched as Tir shouted at him to burn the Devore to the ground and salt the space they occupied.  He filtered out her rage, “As Federation Officers, we have a standard.”  He looked around the room, “I can’t imagine leaving someone to knowingly die.  The Hirogen are hunters first…nothing else matters to them.  They will hunt these Devore…or find a way to make them run from them.”

Natalie didn’t say anything.  It was a question that had no easy answers.  If they rescued the Devore, the Hirogen might hunt the Mackenzie.  The possibility of how the Devore would receive them was also pressing on each of them, she imagined.  None of the options were good.

Ambrose made his decision, “Ensign Atega and Lieutenant Tir make convincing arguments.  Mr. Kondo, dispatch security teams to transporter rooms 1 and 2.  Alert Doctor Reid to have trauma and response teams standing by.  Chief – target their shields and fire phasers.” The main screen showed the arcs of phaser fire glance across both escorts until the shields crackled and fell.  Harris ordered, “Drop shields and begin transport.”  

The moments passed as Kondo tapped at his console and soon confirmed, “We have them all.  To say the least, they are unhappy.”

The CO grumbled, “Welcome to my world, Devore.  Helm, plot us a course out of Hirogen space and get us on your way to Devore space…which is a sentence I never imagined I’d utter.  Strange times.”  Prentice confirmed the course was ready.  “Let’s go talk to our old friends…engage, Mr. Prentice.”

The Mackenzie stubbornly got underway and was gone in a flash.  Far behind them, a pair of Hirogen ships slowed…and then adjusted their course.  The hunt must continue.

Sickbay was busy as Captain Harris walked in, and an orderly looked from the desk to greet whoever it was and then went wide-eyed at the sight of the CO, “Uh…welcome to sickbay, sir!”

He waved her off, “I’m here to check with Doctor Reid.  I can find my way, crewman….?”

“Dahl, sir.  Medical Crewman Tobias Dahl.”

“Good to meet you, Crewman Dahl.”  He strode through the waiting area and into the back corridors that led to various parts of the expansive sickbay on the Makenzie.  He found her just stepping out of intensive care, and she gave him a look of relief.

“I was going to call you.  I’ve got a complete list of survivors.”  She handed the PADD over, and he read through each name.  He stopped at Julian Harris and looked up.  She sighed, “He wasn’t with the survivors.  None of them know what happened to him.  They were in transit with the Devore before they got to the Hirogen…and they stopped somewhere along the way.  The Devore moved him to another ship.  He’s still out there somewhere…but nobody knows why, where, or what.”  She accepted the PADD back, “We’ve got everyone else.  Most are in pretty serious condition.  The Devore redefines brutality every time I learn more about them.”  She searched his eyes, “You made the right call saving them.”

Ambrose pursed his lips, “There’s a large part of me that wanted them to die…to pay for their sins.”  He sighed, “But Tir and Atega made convincing arguments.”  He chuckled, “We’ve got a good crew…able to talk me out of some regrettable decisions.”

She smiled, “That’s what they’re here for, Captain.  It’s all for one and one for all.  You want to visit with the survivors?  Figured you didn’t come down here to just get a report.”  He returned the smile and nodded.  She knew him well enough.