Commander Talon stepped away from the tactical station.  The Valhalla had been  reintegrated, and those Jem’Hadar fighters were getting farther away. “Captain,  let me take a shuttle and track the Jem’Hadar ships. They’re going somewhere.”

Aoife turned and faced Ethan with her hands on her hips.  “This isn’t some sort of vendetta thing, is it?”

Ethan shook his head, “No ma’am. They have intel on us. It’s time we got some intel on them.  They know our location and what our capabilities are.”

“Do it, but take a runabout and take Lt. Villaseñor when he gets back to the ship.”

“Understood,” Ethan announced over his shoulder as he headed for the turbolift.

The runabout USS Willamette streaked through space at low warp with its energy signature tuned as low as possible.

“The ion trail is leading across the Breen border,” Lieutenant Eduardo Villaseñor announced.

Ethan entered commands into his terminal as he thought about what to do next.

“Sir, do we cross the border?”

“Lieutenant Vee,” Ethan replied expressionless,  “We need this intel.  Proceed.”

“Vee sir?”

Ethan chuckled  “My high school art teacher was Mr. Villigranna.  A mouthful, so the students called him Mr. Vee.”

Eduardo chuckled in response,  “The captain calls me Eddie, but yes, I can understand.  Villaseñor is not an easy thing to pronounce for you Gringos.”

It was Ethan’s turn to chuckle,  “Mr. Vee, if you ever want a job, you have one with me.”

“No, sir. Valhalla is my home.”

Ethan smirked, glancing at the man for a moment before returning his attention to piloting the runabout.  “I wouldn’t poach you from Captain McKenzie,  I’m just saying if you ever find yourself out of a job, you have one.  If not in Starfleet, I have a cattle ranch that could use good men, too.”

“A ranch, sir?”

“Not important,” Ethan said, waving a dismissive hand. “We’re crossing the border.   Looks like the ion trail leads to the Drakus System.”

“Sí,” Eduardo confirmed.

Ethan adjusted their course slightly,  “I think I can use the star’s gravity well to mask our signature.

“Aye,” Eduardo confirmed,  “I’ll see if I can maybe make what little power we are emitting make us look like a Breen freighter.”

“Good call,”Ethan replied, impressed.  “It probably won’t pass scrutiny,  but that might be all the edge we need.”

Thirty minutes later, the runabout Willamette flew over the northern pole of a gas giant.  Before them sat a fleet of more than thirty Dominion and Breen ships.  The fighters that had attacked them led directly to the center of the formation where two Dominion battleships were hovering.

“Damn, this isn’t good,” Ethan swore.  “Get a full sensor reading of this.  Fourth Fleet and Starfleet is going to need to see this.”

Eduardo was already doing that, “Done. Let’s get out of here.”

Ethan didn’t need to be told twice as he frantically entered commands into the helm.  The runabout banked and shot out of the system.  As soon as they were free of the Drakus System, they jumped to maximum warp, leaving the Dominion behind… for now.