“The Voth Transport ship went into the sun and was destroyed.  There was debris left over for the Voth to find.”  Calog Tir handed his commanding officer the PADD, “Larsek’s body was aboard, and our sensors were unable to find a biological trace among the debris.”  The Operations Chief remained at attention, “We pulled all sensor logs, reports, and anything associated with this…incident and placed the remaining copy on this isilonear chip.”  He gingerly set it on the captain’s desk.

Harris stared at the chip, aware of the risks they had all taken to craft this bit of subterfuge.  “I spoke briefly with Cardamon when he was conscious for a very short time - he asked for asylum before I could even prompt him.  I granted it.  I assume that is also on the chip?”  A nod from the Lieutenant.  Harris wondered, “I know Tir was the architect of most of this, so I know how she feels.”  He looked at Calog, “I wanted to ask you how you feel about it.”

A sigh was his first attempt at an answer.  He was an operations chief and responsible for the complete and absolute cooperation of each department, officer, crewman, and cadet.  A position steeped in rules and regulations, it tended to be a role suited for a rule follower and not a rebel.  Calog knew what he had wanted - Cardamon had quickly formed a connection with most of the crew in his short time aboard.  He had been on a mission to meet as many of those that served on the Mackenzie as possible.  The hunger for knowledge and stories of the Alpha Quadrant was insatiable for him, and the crew was thrilled to have someone so fascinated with their way of life.  He gamely tried to reply, “I know what the books say, sir.  I know we burned a few of them during our time here…and we’ve bent our share of the rules and regulations.”  He shifted his feet, “But…most of the time, we have a choice.  We understand the consequences of either side of the path we decide on - but we can make the choice.  Sometimes we don’t get the luxury of choice, sir.  This time we had the chance to choose to save him.  We didn’t last time.”

Ambrose couldn’t disagree with him.  “You make a strong argument, Lieutenant Tir.  Let’s get ourselves on our way back to the wormhole.  Get us a berth at the Outpost for a brief stop…and then we’ll get ourselves in the line.”

Tir grinned inside his mind with a warmth he’d rarely felt from her, ~You did well this time, idiot.  You might surprise me yet!~  

Calog ignored her as he headed back to the bridge.  Harris sighed as he eyed the chip.  They’d have to restore the computer data once they returned to Federation space with the Voth passenger.  As it was, he was having a tough time figuring out he would explain this in an actual report.  The door chime rang, and he absentmindedly called out, “Enter.”

His Chief Medical Officer and girlfriend stepped through the door and handed him a PADD, “I’ve managed to find a way to stem the bleeding.  Having a helluva time replicating the blood to replace what he’s lost.  I’ve got him in a medically induced coma with lots of IV fluids going in, hoping his body can replicate enough to get some balance going on.”  She sat down roughly in the chair, “This is one damn crazy plan we’re doing.”

Ambrose shrugged, “We gamed it out - there was no better solution that wouldn’t bring the Voth forces down on us with just days to go before we can get home.  He’s going to make it?”

“He will.  I hope the outpost has some cracking medical files I can get my hands on to get the blood transfusion solved.  Before we can think of going home, we need that problem solved.”

“You take it to Fowler?”

She gave him an annoyed look, “Yes.  She’s got two teams working on it.  They’ve had some promising results but nothing 100%.”

“We’ll find a way to save him.  I’m guessing we can’t put him in the transport buffer in a medically induced coma?”

The annoyed look evolved into her rolling her eyes, “Thank goodness you’re not the doctor on this ship.”  She stood and gave him a side smile, “We’ll find a way.”

She slipped through the doors, and he muttered, “We always do.”