“We got company. Lots of it.”

The call was inevitable. They knew reinforcements were coming from San Francisco. Still, Commander Lewis had hoped for a bit more time. They had not even secured the generator for the dampening field yet. Until they did that, they had no way to escape.

“What do you see up there, Elyssia?”

“Four… wait, no… six Type 11 shuttles… incoming fast,” reported Ensign Elyssia Rel from the roof of the spanish-style villa. “They’ll be on us in ninety seconds.”

Starfleet shuttles, thought Commander Lewis to himself. They weren’t even trying to be discreet at this point. “Tom,” Commander Lewis replied, directing his next question to the scientist they’d bailed out of the New Zealand Penal Colony to help with their little soiree in the Russian River Valley. “Tell me you’ve got a beat where that generator is located?”

“I do,” replied Dr. Brooks, his tone uncharacteristically calm, in sharp contrast to the young ensign up on the roof with him. Tom Brooks was a man who’d been through a lot of close calls over the years. “Ground floor, across the courtyard, and down the east side another fifty meters. Sending you coords now.”

Commander Lewis looked over at Lieutenant Morgan, Chief Shafir and Mark Ellis. His two crewmen and the aged husband of a retired rear admiral did not look in good shape. Time was of the essence, and he didn’t need them to slow him down. “Reyes, Hall, help them topside. I’m going for the dampener.” 

Chief Petty Officer Shafir suddenly came to life. “I’m coming with you,” she insisted. It would take more than some psychoactives and a severed finger to break her.

“Alright, let’s go.”

And with that, the two of them were sprinting down the corridors of the subterranean facility. Fifteen seconds later, they were climbing the stairs out of the basement. And another fifteen seconds after that, they were crossing the courtyard towards the rubble from where Lewis had set off the explosion earlier. Unfortunately, that’s where their mad dash ended.

Phase fier left across the courtyard. As a burst exploded just inches from Commander Lewis’ shoulder, he and Chief Shafir dove for cover. They got themselves behind a large piece of rubble and spun to engage the enemy. Four men in dark camouflage had set up across the courtyard, unloading mercilessly on them.

“We don’t have time for this,” Commander Lewis shouted as he returned fire. It was too early for these men to be the reinforcements Ensign Rel had reported. These were just the remaining guards. But if they couldn’t get the dampening field down in the next thirty seconds or so, the reinforcements would be upon them, and then, instead of a handful of enemy shooters, there’d be dozens. This hastily organized rescue operation would quickly come crumbling down.

Next to Commander Lewis, Chief Shafir unloaded barrage after barrage in the direction of the enemy with almost reckless abandon. It wasn’t because she had the timer in her head though. It was because of all they’d put her through. She just wanted to get back at them. She struck one in the chest and smiled, but then had to duck for cover again as the remaining three hurled fire in her direction.

Suddenly, from an off angle, a barrage of fire opened up upon the remaining guards. It cut the three men down where they stood. And then Dr. Brooks stepped over their bodies. 

“Thought you might need some backup,” Dr. Brooks laughed as he glanced at the men he’d just gunned down. “Let’s go!” He rushed past Commander Lewis and Chief Shafir, and the two gave chase as the three continued their dash for the generator.

“Where’s Ensign Rel?” Commander Lewis asked as they closed the distance.

“She’s buying us time with a distraction.”

“We didn’t bring anything large enough to shoot down a shuttle.”

“No, we did not,” agreed Dr. Brooks. He could see something in Commander Lewis’ eye. Was it genuine worry for another? Odd, he thought to himself. He’d never seen such an emotion from the Commander before. Then he remembered the Lyon apartment. There was something going on between Commander Lewis and Ensign Rel. “So we need to hurry.”

The three of them finally reached the generator.

“Any idea how we disable this thing?” Commander Lewis asked. Chief Shafir was the best hacker he’d ever met, and Dr. Brooks was a scientific wizard.

“Not in the next ten seconds,” Chief Shafir shook her head.

“This is more of a make-it-go-boom situation,” Dr. Brooks chuckled. “Your department.”

“That I can do,” Commander Lewis smiled as he pulled an explosive charge out of his tactical pack and calibrated the yield. He went on the larger side – the much larger side in fact – just to be safe.

“Commander, that’s enough to turn this wing into a crater,” warned Chief Shafir.

“Indeed, you might bring the whole building down on us,” agreed Dr. Brooks.

“Better safe than sorry,” Commander Lewis replied frantically. They didn’t have time to do a full analysis of the generator’s metallurgical composition to determine the optimal, least destructive yield. Instead, he just picked a big enough one to ensure there’d be nothing left except a crater. He slapped the explosive onto the generator. “Let’s get out of here. Fast!” 

The trio bolted back out of the room, down the hallway, and across the courtyard to where Admiral Reyes and the others had just emerged from the basement. Ensign Rel had now joined them as well, pushed back from the roof as the shuttles opened fire on her as she’d tried to distract them.

The admiral was looking out a window of the villa as Commander Lewis approached. “I hope we’re all set,” Admiral Reyes said. “Because we’re all out of time.”

Commander Lewis stepped alongside her and looked out the window at the scene developing just beyond the walls. Several shuttles were setting down on the grounds, their flood lights illuminating a small army of operators in tactical gear pouring out of their holds.

“Lewis to USS Serenity,” Commander Lewis said swiftly as he tapped his combadge.

“Serenity here,” came the voice of Lieutenant Commander Eidran who, standing on the bridge of the USS Serenity, was just enjoying the view as he watched ships beginning to assemble for the Frontier Day festivities that were now just hours away.

“On my count, eight to beam out,” Commander Lewis ordered, holding the detonator in his hand. “And if you don’t do it right on my count, we’re probably all dead.” Dr. Brook’s warning was fresh on his mind. The yield he’d selected would probably bring the whole villa down on them if the Serenity’s transporter chief wasn’t fast enough. And if the building stayed standing, those shooters that had just arrived from San Francisco would probably cut them all down.

“Wait… what… what is going on down there Commander?” Lieutenant Commander Eidran stammered, caught totally off-guard by the tone and the urgency. Without explanation, Admiral Reyes had beamed off the ship hours ago, and since then, he’d heard nothing. Now, all of a sudden, they were calling with an emergency beam out request. “We can’t get a lock on your position. Same issue as we had in Milan.”

“You will be able to as soon as we blow this bitch,” Commander Lewis replied.

“I… ummm…” Lieutenant Commander Eidran struggled to reply. What was Commander Lewis talking about? What was going on down there? What had Admiral Reyes and her strange band gotten themselves into? Then he remembered the strange call he’d gotten earlier. “Do you guys know that Starfleet Security called? Something about a prisoner you transferred out of New…”

“Not now Commander!” Admiral Reyes interrupted. “Beam us out on Lewis’ call! That’s an order!” They didn’t have time to debate this over the link.

“Und… understood, sir.”

“Three… two… one…” Lewis counted down, and then he pressed the button. “Now!”

The ground shook as the explosives went off. As the explosives ripped through the generator, the dampening field collapsed. And then, as predicted, the ceiling began to cave in from above. Just before terracotta and stucco fell upon them, the wall sconces and colonial art pieces vanished.

Commander Lewis sighed a breath of relief as he looked around the cold, dark interior of Transporter Room 1 aboard the USS Serenity. They’d gotten their people, and they’d made it out alive. But were they any closer to answering what was going on? He looked over at Chief Shafir, Lieutenant Morgan, and Mark Ellis. They needed to go to sickbay first, but after that, he hoped they had some answers.