Star Trek® and all related indica are properties of Paramount, a Viacom company. The author of this story is in no way associated with Paramount, Viacom, or the production team of Star Trek®.Star Trek: Phantom, and all related original indica (including, but not limited to ship and crew) are © and ® 1998, 1999 Justin Schalk. This story is also © and ®1998, 1999 of Justin Schalk and may not be re-used or reposted with out his express written consent.Star Trek: Phantom is a production of Alpha & Omega Productions and Justin Schalk. The Phantom website is currently located at http://ussphantom.8m.com/.The author can currently be contacted at either alpha_omega_productions@hotmail.com or personally at shalkman@hotmail.com.

PHANTOMS IN THE NIGHT

“Thot Neeron! We have multiple ships de-cloaking in sector 4!” “Signal the Flagship! Tell me they aren’t Romu’sagan.”“Apologies, sir. Reading 15 D’deridex-class warbirds.”“Formation?”

“Very unusual, sir. Nothing we’ve seen the Romu’sagan use before. They’re coming about in triads.”“Prepare a full weapons’ spread.”“Enemy vessels entering weapons range.”“Fire!”

The Breen sentry ship turned to face its oncoming attackers. It quickly fired its weapons, scoring direct hits on two warbirds. The warbirds responded with their own salvo, crippling the Breen ship. The warbirds continued on to face the 22 remaining Breen ships. The battle lasted only moments—the Breen vessels were no match for the Romulans’ superior firepower. As a final act of destruction, the warbirds turned their weaponry on the Breen shipyards. Within mere minutes of the Romulans’ appearance, they disappeared just as quickly.Neeron X’Ro’Us staggered to his feet. With a dazed look he surveyed the Bridge—he was still alive! Neeron’s mind raced with thought, pondering his situation. First and foremost in his mind was the first lesson of the Imperial Academy: “The Romu’sagan leave no survivors.”

Lieutenant Commander Rojc stepped into Transporter room one and nodded to the officer on duty. “Energize.”Within moments, the Phantom’s Commanding Officer materialized on the transporter pad. “Permission to come aboard, Captain Rojc.” Captain Daniel Whitman smiled.Rojc grinned. “Permission granted, sir.”

Whitman stepped off the transporter pad and clasped his hand on Rojc’s shoulder. “It’s been a while, Dade. So how do like your first command?”He chuckled. “It’s been exhausting...we’ve been back to spacedock almost two dozen times now, half the engineering crew is in sickbay, and we still don’t have a complete medical crew.” Rojc gestured to the door. Whitman took the lead, followed by Rojc, and they stepped out of the transporter room. “Its been six months of hell.”“Welcome to command.” The two officers continued down the hallway.

“Anyhow, I apologize for the lack of a welcoming party, but since we didn’t know when you’d get here, didn’t have the time, and my knowledge that you hate them anyway, I thought best to skip the formalities.”“Good man, Dade. I’ve taught you well.”“Any word on our first officer yet?”“I’d think you’d know before I would. But no, nothing yet. Sure you don’t want the job?”“Absolutely. Besides, I heard the Institute is insisting on getting a science-type for your XO.” “Anything significant to report otherwise?”

“No, that’s about it. Nothing even remotely interesting.” Rojc and Whitman stopped at the end of the corridor and entered the turbo lift. “Bridge.”“I suppose you’d like an enemy attack, right about now.” Whitman grinned.

“I’d rather fight an enemy than my own ship.” Rojc and Whitman both laughed. “Say, how’s Melissa doing?”“She’s doing good. She just got assigned to the Enterprise as Assistant Security 2.” After a moment, the turbolift came to a stop, and Rojc and Whitman entered the Bridge.“Captain on the Bridge!”Immediately the Bridge crew turned away from their stations and saluted the Captain.Whitman saluted back. “At ease.”

“Computer, this is Lieutenant Commander Dade Rojc. Transfer command of this vessel to Captain Daniel Whitman, authorization Rojc Delta Pi Highlander Two.”

The computer chirped its response. “Command has been transferred.”“She’s all yours, Captain. There’s a pile of reports and requests sitting on your desk,

waiting for approval,” Rojc grinned.Whitman gave Rojc a dirty look. “You’re supposed to finish your work before you relinquish command.”Rojc continued to grin. “I did finish the work. That’s what accumulated since you came onboard. Permission to leave the Bridge?”Whitman shook his head. “Permission granted.”

As Rojc walked into the turbolift, Whitman stepped into his ready room. On his desk were three piles of reports stacked five high. Whitman sighed. “Oh brother.”

Rojc groaned as he sat at the desk in his quarters. When Guitarrez had said the ODN was a mess, she wasn’t kidding. After a brief pause, Rojc turned his attention to his desk computer—it still had no new input to add to the security protocols. Unexpectedly, the door chime rang. Rojc looked up. “Enter.” In walked the Phantom’s new first officer, Senishra. Rojc awkwardly rose from his chair.Senishra was the first to speak. “Greetings, Dade.”

“Hello, Senishra,” he stammered, “I hadn’t heard you were on-board yet.” He gestured to a near-by chair.Senishra shook her head. “No thank you. I just stopped by to say hello. I imagine you are quite tired.”Rojc grinned weakly. “You’ve been talking to our Chief Engineer already, I see.”

In a manner uncharacteristic of a Vulcan, Senishra returned the grin and raised an eye brow. “Yes. She has had much to say about you.”“Don’t believe a word of it. All lies.”“I’m sure,” she said, continuing to grin.Rojc smiled. “Congratulations on your promotion.”“Starfleet Command went through a half-dozen other candidates submitted by the Institute before choosing me for this post I’m told.”“If that’s the worse thing that comes of this assignment, be happy.”Senishra relaxed her posture. “We have much catching up to do, but it can wait until tomorrow.”

“You’ll get no argument here. You’ve got be just about as tired as me. At least, that’s what I hear from the Sutherland.”Senishra smiled weakly. “Good night, Dade.”“Good night, Senishra.”Senishra turned and walked out of Rojc’s quarters.

“Damn Breen and Romulans—we’re in the middle of a war with the Dominion, and they pick now to resume hostilities,” growled Vice-Admiral Monthon, “They have resumed boarder raids—war is imminent. And being the Federation advisor in charge of that region, this becomes my problem.”

“What started the hostilities?” asked Admiral Gosimere via the subspace communication.“Who knows for certain?” Monthon frowned. “The Breen claim they are retaliating for the

destruction of one of their ship yard facilities roughly a week ago. The Romulans are claiming to know nothing about the attack.”“And current Romulan response?”

“Since we are now ‘allies’, they request that we give them assistance,” replied Monthon, “As of now, we are officially remaining neutral.”“Then we have time to decide how to proceed.”

“I don’t think we have that kind of time. The Breen have conducted over a dozen raids. We may not have considered them a military threat in the past, but the Romulans report that the Breen are doing some severe damage. We need to action now. If we don’t stop this from getting out of hand, either the Breen will join the Dominion, or the Breen government will dissolve.”“Either of those is unacceptable. We need to dispatch a task force to investigate,” declared Gosimere.“Normally I’d agree with you Admiral, but that presents two problems. First of all, the Breen may see this as our declaration of support for the Romulans, and secondly, we simply cannot spare the ships from the front lines.”“I have your answer, Admiral. The USS Phantom is on shakedown, only a couple sectors away from Starbase 265.”Admiral Monthon looked almost shocked. “The Phantom? Isn’t that the new ship that the Daystrom Institute has been working on?”“Yes it is Admiral.”

“Are you sure about this? Sending out the latest in Federation technology to a hot spot doesn’t seem wise, especially considering the fiasco with the Prometheus,” Monthon replied.“Whitman is an excellent captain, and he has an excellent crew serving under him.”Monthon sighed. “Do you have the Institute’s permission to send her out?”

“No, but I’m certain I’ll get it. You have my full authorization to order the Phantom to investigate.”“Very good Admiral. That’s all I have to report. Monthon out.” With that, the subspace link closed. Monthon turned to his assistant. “Commander, get me the Phantom on subspace.”

“What happened this time?” asked Dr. Arona Ilysa.“Well—,” Lt. Cmdr. Lucia Guitarrez grimaced, “I was messing around with the computer

core, trying to fix some of the faulty programming, I must’ve done something wrong, cause I triggered the security protocols and I’m sure you can imagine the rest.”Arona ran the tricorder over Lt. Cmdr. Lucia Guitarrez. “This is what, you’re eighth, no ninth accident since we left space dock?Guitarrez glared at Arona, “It’s only my sixth.”

Arona smiled, “My mistake. Lie still, will you. The tissue regenerator doesn’t exactly work well when you’re squirming around.”“You take a stun force field, then we’ll see how much you squirm around.”“The security protocols strike again.”Arona paused. “There, good as new. Try to be more careful.”Guitarrez grumbled something incoherently. “By the way—Melina won’t be joining us tonight.”“She give any reason?”“Does she ever? I’m sure it has something to do with the death of her brother.”

Arona sighed. “Someone has to talk to her. And she hasn’t listened to you or me. I doubt Senishra is a much better choice.”“I’ll talk to Rojc about it, she is training under him, after all.”

“I still don’t understand why we don’t have a counselor.” Guitarrez slid off the bio-bed. “Well, I have to get back down to Engineering. See you tonight.”“Later.”

“Computer, load program Rojc Lambda Three.”The computer chirped in response to Lt. Cmdr. Dade Rojc’s order.“More target practice?” Lt. Nicot mock-whined. “And where is Iv’Oor at?”

Rojc remained distant. “I gave Iv’Oor some time off.” He paused. “Target Practice is one of the most basic skills—something you still don’t have down.”The computer chirped again. “Program complete, enter when ready.” Rojc walked into the holodeck, followed by Nicot. The holodeck had changed little—the room was nearly completely dark, and in the middle was a ring.Nicot sighed, entered the ring, and picked up a phaser. “Begin program.” The first target sailed overhead. Nicot missed by mere inches. Nicot missed the next couple of targets similarly. Rojc threw up his hands in frustration. “Computer, pause program.” Nicot turned to face him. “You are reacting, not anticipating.” Rojc stepped into the ring and picked up the second phaser. “Restart program. Set for two people. Begin.”The first target appeared. Rojc hit his target, Nicot barely missed. The next appeared. Again, Rojc hit his target, and Nicot missed his.Nicot broke the silence. “So you going to tell me what’s going on?”

Rojc was silent for a moment, as the next target went by. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”Nicot hit his target. “You know what I’m talking about. Ever since we’ve left spacedock after picking up the captain you’ve been…distant.”“Its…nothing.”Nicot let the next target pass. “You like someone! Who is it? Iv’Oor?”

“No. You don’t understand,” grunted Lt. Cmdr. Dade Rojc as he shot the target, “its just not that simple.”“Who is it, Rojc?” asked Lt. Nicot, barely missing the target.Rojc sighed. He quickly aimed and hit the next target.“Come on, who is it?” asked Nicot for a second time, once again missing his target.“Its…Senishra,” uttered Rojc, this time missing his target.

“You’re kidding me.” Nicot whirled around to face Rojc. “You can’t be serious! She’s a Vulcan—no emotion—you’ve got a better chance with Arona than her.”“Computer, end program.” Rojc walked to the exit.“Hey! Wait up!” called Nicot behind him.

Rojc stopped and turned around. “I’m sorry if its seemed like I’ve been taking this out on you and the rest of the division, but its been really frustrating being around her again.”“Does she know?”

“I don’t know.” Rojc sighed. “I can be sent to a Dominion prison camp to free a prisoner from maximum security without a worry, but I can’t tell the woman I love the way I feel about her. I think she has the same feelings for me, but…” His voice trailed off.“But she’s a Vulcan.”“Exactly.”“Man, when you fall, you fall hard,” remarked Nicot, “Let’s go to mess hall.”

“Admiral, this is a high-profile mission! The Phantom has only had a couple months of shakedown—I’m not sure we’re ready for this kind of assignment,” protested Captain Daniel Whitman.“Captain, your ship is the closest ship without an assignment at this time. You’re not ready for the front lines—,” began Monthon.

“And we’re not ready for this either. We’re seven months out of space dock, and we still don’t have all these damned experimental systems working,” interrupted Whitman, “Admiral, my command crew—““—Is well experienced. Commander Rojc, for example, is one of the best in his field.”

“Commander Rojc is not the issue. My chief engineer and half her engineering staff is in

sick bay half the time, I only have half of my medical staff, and I still don’t have a counselor.”“I understand your problems, but you’ll have to find a way to deal with them. This situation requires attention now, and quite simply Captain, your ship is the only one available for this mission,” replied Monthon.Whitman and Monthon said nothing for a moment. “Has the Institute approved of this?”“They really didn’t have much choice in the matter. Admiral Gosimere got their full compliance and turned your vessel over to me.”“That must of took some doing.”“I’m sure it did.” Monthon paused. “Captain, you and your ship are our only hope of finding out what happened and preventing the coming war. I expect your departure immediately. And Captain, good luck. Monthon out.”“Great, just great,” thought Whitman. “Helm—set course for Breen, warp 7,” ordered Whitman, stepping out of his ready room.“Course plotted,” replied Lt. Melina Iv’Oor“Mark.”“New orders, sir?” asked Cmdr. Senishra as she stood up.

“Yes,” came the brief response. He hit a button on the command chair console. “All senior officers, please report to the Conference lounge.”

Within a few moments, the senior staff assembled in the lounge, sitting around the briefing table.Whitman stood. “We have our first assignment.”The several of the senior staff looked at each other apprehensively.

“No, they’re not sending us to the front lines yet. No, we are going to Breen,” continued the Captain.“That’s almost worse than shakedown,” Rojc commented.

“For those of you not familiar with the current situation between the Breen and the Romulans, I’ll be brief. War is immanent unless we can stop it.”“One ship against two enemy fleets?” asked Iv’Oor incredulously.

“Not quite, Lieutenant,” answered Cmdr. Senishra, “Hostilities are being postponed until we are given a chance to provide an unbiased investigation of the site in question.”“In addition,” continued Whitman, “we are taking on a Breen envoy, someone familiar with the sector we will be in.”A loud groan sounded from around the table.

“Yes, I realize this will not be easy, as the Breen are not exactly the most…cordial of the races, but Starfleet felt we needed a guide,” said Whitman, answering the groan.“So what this boils down to, is that we are entering a potential war zone to investigate…” Arona stopped, “What exactly are we supposed to investigate?”Rojc took the initiative. “Roughly a week ago, a Breen starbase on their frontier was ransacked by what they believe to be a Romulan attack force.”“Yes,” interrupted Whitman, “Naturally the Breen have already begun boarder raids against them in retaliation.”“So why us?” asked Nicot, “I mean, the Phantom is still full of bugs, and yet, we’re sent on some high profile mission?”Whitman sighed. “We are the closest ship to Breen space which does not have an assignment of pressing importance. That, and they want to show off to the Romulans and the Breen their newest class of ship.”“More saber rattling from the ever-so-benevolent Federation,” said Arona with disgust.

Whitman let the comment slide. “I’ll expect a full report on ship’s status by the time we reach Breen in 72 hours. Dismissed.”

Rojc arrived at Iv’Oor’s quarters. Somewhat reluctantly, he reached out and rang the chime. The doors opened swiftly, and he stepped through.Iv’Oor looked up from her terminal. She smiled. “Commander. What can I do for you?”

“I just wanted to stop by and see how you were doing,” replied Rojc, with a touch of concern lingering in his voice.“To be honest, I’m a lot better now.”“Melina—“ Rojc stopped. “Melina, you don’t need to push me away. I’m concerned about you.”

Iv’Oor shut off her desk terminal and stood up. “Commander—Dade, I know you’re trying to help me feel better, but I’m just not ready to yet. I don’t know if I can ever get over my brother’s death.”“I know you two were very close, but I need to be able to count on you to function to your full capabilities. This emotional baggage you’re carrying around isn’t healthy.”“So what am I supposed to do? Stop caring?” She turned away from Rojc.

“I wish we had a counselor,” Rojc mumbled. He stepped closer to Iv’Oor and put a hand on her shoulder. “I know what you’re going through isn’t easy—I lost my parents to war. Losing a loved one is never easy, but we are still here in this life, and we need to continue on with that life.”“I didn’t know that.” Iv’Oor turned around and looked up at Rojc. “Does it ever get end? Does the constant flood of memories, the pain and the hurting, does it ever end?”“I wish I could say it does. There’s always some reminder of the past.” Iv’Oor looked away. “But it does get easier—you feel the pain less and less as time goes on. But you need to cope with your loss, not bury it down, not brood over it—you need to confront it, and ultimately feel better.”Iv’Oor kissed Rojc on the cheek. “Thank you, Dade. You’ve given me a lot to think about. Who needs a counselor with you around?”Dade started to blush. “I should go, we’ll be arriving at Breen tomorrow.” He walked to the door. “Good night, Melina.”“Good night, Dade,” she replied as he walked out of her quarters.

“Coming up on the Breen system now, sir,” reported Lt. Iv’Oor from the helm.“Take us into standard orbit,” ordered Whitman, “Lieutenant Nicot, hail the planet.”

“Aye sir.” Nicot tapped at his console’s controls. Within seconds, a Breen appeared on the Phantom’s view screen.“This is Captain Daniel Whitman of the USS Phantom.”The Breen on the view screen simply stared at Whitman.

Whitman continued, “We’re here to pick up the envoy that will be guiding us through your frontier.”“You will be notified shortly when the envoy is ready to beam up.” With that, the Breen cut the transmission.“Friendly as usual,” muttered Iv’Oor from helm control.

“Lieutenant Iv’Oor, I expect that there will be no more comments like that while the envoy is on board—that goes for everyone,” warned Whitman.Iv’Oor responded meekly, “Aye sir.”

Nicot’s console beeped. “Captain, the Breen are sending us a message. The Envoy is ready to beam up.”“Acknowledge them and tell them we’re ready. Rojc, Senishra, join me in transporter room 2.”

Whitman walked into the transporter room, followed closely by Senishra and Rojc.The transporter powered up, and within moments, the Breen envoy had materialized.

“Welcome aboard the Phantom,” greeted Whitman, “This is my first officer, Commander Senishra, and my chief of security, Lieutenant Commander Rojc.”“Rojc…” hissed the Breen. He paused for a moment, glaring at Rojc. “I am Thot Neeron X’Ro’Us of the First Imperial Breen Fleet. You may address me as ‘Thot Neeron’.”“Uh, yes,” replied Whitman, slightly distracted, “If you’ll follow Commander Rojc, he will lead you to your quarters so you can get settled in.”“Hrrrmm.” The Breen stepped off the pad and walked out the door, with Rojc following.

“Senishra, is it just me, or did you notice the friction between those two, as if they had met before?” asked Whitman.“It did appear so.”

Rojc trudged down the hall, with the Breen following close behind. Rojc was the first to break the silence. “So, you finally escaped from that prison camp?”Neeron said nothing.

Rojc continued, “I hadn’t heard of any treaty or anything. The Romulans must have kept it under tight wraps.”“I’m surprised your Romu’sagan s’arc’hva told you nothing of my escape,” replied Neeron bitterly.Rojc stopped abruptly and turned around. He opened his mouth to say something, but stopped short. He turned back around and started walking again.“You know she’s the only reason you survived that camp. You were her pet prisoner,” growled Neeron, mockingly.This time Rojc couldn’t contain his words. “You! You’re just upset that I foiled your pathetic little plot to kill her!” shouted Rojc, enraged, “If you had killed her like you were planning, they would have exterminated the whole lot of us. You should be grateful to me for having your life spared!”Neeron broke out laughing. “You’re a very entertaining. If it were not so, I would have killed you.” Neeron continued laughing.Rojc turned red in the face. “Your quarters are this way.” Rojc continued down the hall, Neeron continued laughing, the whole way.

The chime to Whitman’s ready room rang. “Enter,” said Whitman.Rojc walked in. “You wanted to see me, sir?”“Yes I did. Sit,” replied Whitman, “I am curious of how Thot Neeron knows you.”Rojc sat facing Whitman. “That, sir, is a classified matter.”

Whitman looked at Rojc. “Don’t give me that, Commander. If there is going to be a potential conflict between you and the Envoy, I want to know the history.”Rojc sighed. “As I’m sure you’re aware, I was once imprisoned in a Romulan Prison Camp.”“Yes, there is mention of it in your file.”“Well, Neeron was among the prisoners at that camp.”“Go on.”

“About a month after my arrival, by accident, I overheard Neeron’s plot to kill the overseer of the camp. I decided that this would not be wise to allow, and thwarted that attempt.”“I see.”

“What Neeron resented most, was the fact that I received special privileges for having saved the Romulan overseer.”This time, it was Whitman who sighed. “I hope this isn’t going to be a problem.”“No sir.”“Good. Dismissed.” Rojc got up to leave. “And Rojc—stay away from Thot Neeron.”

“How would Rojc know a Breen general?” asked Guitarrez.“Yeah,” added Arona, “Rojc doesn’t seem like the type to be friends with a Breen.”

“Obviously, you are unaware that Commander Rojc was in a Romulan prison camp for a year. According to him, that’s where they met,” replied Senishra.“What!?! Tell us more, Senishra,” asked Iv’Oor with surprise.“It is a classified matter. And I advise that you do not ask Commander Rojc about it.”“Well, then, how would you know so much about it?” questioned Guitarrez with a grin.“Dade…Commander Rojc and I…we are friends,” replied Senishra, stammering ever so slightly.“Friends. Uh-huh. That’s why you know him soooo well,” snickered Arona.“It is merely a platonic friendship, nothing more,” said Senishra with a hint of embarrassment.“No way!” said Guitarrez excitedly, “You like him, you really like him!”

Senishra glanced around the mess hall. “And how did you come to that wild supposition?”“Your reaction says it all. The way you blushed, the tone of your voice, it was all pretty

obvious,” replied Guitarrez.Senishra looked nervous. “Surely it is not that obvious.”“Normally, probably not. But for a Vulcan…” came Iv’Oor’s reply. “Does he know?” asked Arona mischievously.“Do you want to hear about why Rojc was in a Romulan prison camp or not?” she answered.

“Designated coordinates arrived at,” reported the Andorian from helm.“Onscreen,” ordered Senishra. A display of complete an utter destruction appeared on

the view screen. Whitman and Senishra stood up hesitantly.“Let’s begin this simply. Do a full scan of the region and tell me initial results.”

Rojc began his sensor sweeps. After a moment, he looked up from his console. “Captain…” Whitman looked up at Rojc in acknowledgment. “I don’t need the results of the full scan to tell you this: readings coming in now undoubtedly indicate a Romulan attack.”Whitman frowned.“However, there’s something…unusual. I just can’t explain it,” Rojc added.Neeron looked indignant, but remained silent.Whitman turned to Neeron. “Is there something you would like to add, Thot Neeron?”Neeron scowled. “This is not the place to discuss such things.”

Whitman surveyed the Bridge. After a moment, he tapped his communicator. “All Senior Staff members please report to the Observation Lounge.”

Within moments, Commander Guitarrez and Dr. Arona joined the rest of the senior staff in the lounge and took their respective seats.Whitman spoke first. “Thot Neeron, you were saying?”

Neeron muttered something in Breen. “Before I continue, I demand blood screenings for every person in this room.” There was a stunned silence. “Are you—“ Knight was cut off.“Yes I am absolutely sure, Captain.”Whitman turned to Arona. “Doctor, see to it please.”Arona stood. “I’ll have to go to sickbay then.”

“All right Doctor. Please do so quickly.” Arona promptly left, leaving the Observation Lounge silent. After a few minutes, Arona returned with the hypos. She slowly made her way around the conference table, administering the test to each member. Everyone was who they seemed.Arona came up to Neeron. “And how shall we test you?”

Neeron glared at Arona. He took his knife from his belt, and thrust it through his hand. A greenish-blue ooze seeped from the wound onto the table. “Satisfied?”Whitman looked at the Breen. “Are we ready to continue then?”

Neeron looked up from his wound and scanned the room. “I was present when the attack took place. The ships were undoubtedly Romulan.” Neeron hesitated. “There was something amiss about the attack—it was uncharacteristic of the Romulans.”Senishra turned to the Breen. “Could you explain?”“No. I cannot.” Neeron turned to Rojc. “Did you not notice something strange?”

Rojc leaned back into his chair. “We’d need to do a detailed analysis of the entire area. And we’d need access to sensor logs from your ships that were here during the attack.”The last comment seemed to make Neeron nervous. “I can not grant your request for log access. It is restricted.”Rojc stared directly at Neeron for a long moment before saying anything. “Weapon testing. This is—or was a weapon facility.”The Breen was stunned. He coldly returned Rojc’s stare. “Yes. Your Commander Rojc is correct. This was a top secret installation.”

Captain Whitman looked slightly rattled. “How critical are the logs, Commander?”Rojc never stopped staring at Neeron. “I doubt we can conclusively find anything out

unless we have those logs.”Senishra spoke up. “Is it possible to obtain the logs from one of the wrecks that have not be taken away?”Neeron turned to Senishra. “Unlikely.” He turned his gaze to Commander Guitarrez. “But it ultimately depends on the capability of your Engineering crews.”Guitarrez looked offended. “Whatever you’ve got, I’m sure we can handle.”

Whitman held up his hands. “All right, lets proceed with this investigation. Engineering—get your crews to as many of the derelicts as possible and get them working on restoring power to their computer cores. First—I want you to lead the Science Department’s investigation. I want detailed scans and analysis’s of every square meter of this area of space. Tactical—I want you and your people analyzing every detail of the logs and analysis’s.”Iv’Oor looked at the Captain. “Anything else, sir?”

“Yes—I want preliminary reports by 1400 tomorrow. Dismissed.” The senior staff filed out of the lounge, each immediately seeing to the details of their investigations.

Guitarrez entered Engineering. “Dolby, Jackson, Fuji, Hersch—assemble your teams and prepare for a salvage mission. Tell your teams to be prepared for Breen tech. Williams, Sanas, Dell, Sto’cha—you’re with me.”Within seconds, Main Engineering was a flurry of activity. People ran from one station to the other, replacements were called in for duty stations, and equipment was quickly being pulled from nearby storage lockers. After five minutes, the teams were assembled and ready to go, crowded around Guitarrez.“All right people. There are roughly a dozen vessels out there that are within acceptable safety parameters. Each team will take one and go from there. We’ve got ‘til 1400 tomorrow to get these hulks up and running. That means triple shift, people. Remember, this is of the utmost importance…and classified. No one discusses their findings with anyone except the members of their teams and with me. One last thing, if you see anything that’s not right, walk away and request beam out. Dismissed.”The assembled group of Engineers instantly broke up into their groups and headed for a Transporter Room.

Alpha team had gotten the luck of the draw—the I’C’Jushi’taka was arguably in the best condition of all the derelicts. Of course, that probably had something to do with the fact that the Chief was their team leader.The inside of the ship was, nevertheless, a horrid sight. Bodies were mashed into bulkheads and floors; a horrible stench hung in the air.“How’s that for ironic—environmental systems still work—except their IDF/SIF gave out,” uttered Lieutenant Michael Sanas.Guitarrez gave Sanas a dirty look. “Trim the chatter. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”The rest of the Engineers responded simultaneously with a “Yes ma’am.”Ensign Sto’cha sat at a bridge console. After a moment of tapping at the controls, she turned to Guitarrez. “Security protocols seem locked on the Bridge. We might have better luck in their Main Engineering section.”Guitarrez sighed—she hated to split up her team. “Then we’ll do this the hard way. Dell, Williams, Sanas—head to the Engineering section and see what you can do from down there. Sto’cha and I will stay to see if we can break the protocols from here.”The three engineers nodded their heads and exited the bridge.

Back on the Phantom, Rojc, Iv’Oor, and Nicot sat in the Security Briefing Room.“I’m impressed. Beta and Delta teams already restored and accessed their first assignments.” Rojc rubbed his eyes as the data flooded his PADD.

The three officers slumped in their seats; no sound heard except for the occasional beeping of a PADD.After several moments, Iv’Oor threw up her hands in disgust. “Well this ship is a bust.”Rojc put down his PADD, but Nicot continued to scan his.“I’d pretty much have to agree,” added Rojc, looking over at Nicot.Nicot still seemed fixated on his PADD. After a couple more seconds, Nicot looked up at Rojc and Iv’Oor. “Don’t tell me you’re giving up so easily!” He grinned. “There’s a lot of data in these logs.”Iv’Oor looked doubtful. “How can you make out anything from files this corrupted?”“Any type of software or computer file of any type, for that matter, is never useless to me.” He showed his PADD to Rojc and Iv’Oor—their jaws dropped.“How’d you do that?” Rojc was astonished.Nicot chuckled. “I’d tell you, but by the time I finished, you still wouldn’t understand, and it’d be 1400 tomorrow. When I told you I could do anything with a computer, it was no idle boast.”Iv’Oor and Rojc were speechless.Nicot was still grinning. “I’ll reconstruct the rest of the data as it comes in—I can finish up here tonight.”Rojc seemed unsure. “Nicot—““Its alright, Rojc. There’s nothing more for you to do anyway.”“I suppose. Good night Nicot.”“Night, Nicot,” added Iv’Oor.Iv’Oor and Rojc exited the Security Briefing Room. Rojc turned towards his office.“Aren’t you leaving, Dade?” asked Iv’Oor.

“Not quite yet,” he answered. “I’ve got some work to catch up on—now’s as good of a time as any.”She wryly smirked at him. “Good night, Dade.”“Good night, Melina.”

Iv’Oor turned and walked out the door. Rojc sighed and sat behind the desk in his office. Reluctantly, he turned on his desk terminal.

Sto’cha sat taping at the Breen terminal. It was nearly 0200 and still Alpha team hadn’t cracked the Breen Security. After a moment she slouched into the chair. “I’m sorry, Chief. Nothing.”Guitarrez sighed and relaxed into her chair. She tapped her communicator. “Guitarrez to Sanas.”“Sanas here.”“We’re falling behind here—any luck?”“Sorry, Chief. I’m at a loss to explain it. This ship has some heavy duty security.”

“Well, do what you can. If we can’t get something soon, we’ll move onto the next one. Guitarrez out.”Guitarrez looked over to Sto’cha. “Well Sto’cha, lets give it one more shot.”Sto’cha turned back to the terminal and began tapping at the controls. A look of frustration creased her delicate features. Likewise, Guitarrez worked at her terminal, desperately trying to crack the ship’s security.The comm chirped. “Sanas to Guitarrez.”Guitarrez tapped her communicator. “Tell me you have something.”On the other side of the comm-link, Sanas was grinning. “Then you’ll be glad to hear this. We’ve found a way through the lockouts. We’re attempting to re-establish bridge control.”Guitarrez smiled broadly. “Good work, you three.”Sto’cha slapped her terminal. “Ha! S’bout time.” She punched a few commands. “Routing ship’s logs to the Phantom.”“Transfer in progress.” Guitarrez looked over at Sto’cha. “See if you can’t speed up the transfer rate, we’re running behind the rest of the teams.”“Aye, Chief.” Sto’cha added a few more commands. Unexpectedly, the Breen ship’s warning klaxons came on. Sto’cha did a double-take. “That’s not right.”Guitarrez got up and moved to Sto’cha’s terminal, concerned. “What is it?”

Sto’cha said nothing for a moment before pointing at the terminal display. “There was a ship, right there.”“What!? It had to have been a sensor ghost or a glitch.” Guitarrez bent over and tapped at the terminal. She promptly tapped her communicator after triple checking the data. “Guitarrez to all Engineering crews, prepare to return to the Phantom immediately.”

Back on the Phantom, Senishra stood in front of the master display, in front of the astrometrics lab, studying a near-by nebula.One of the lieutenants spoke up. “Commander, I just got strong indications of a tachyon surge.”Senishra turned to face the lieutenant. “Show me.”The sensor readings popped up on the lab’s master display. She raised an eyebrow. “It suggests the presence of a cloaked ship. Did we get any more readings from it?”“Negative, Commander.”“Take over here, Lieutenant.” Senishra turned and left the lab.

Within moments, the senior staff and Thot Neeron were once again assembled in the observation lounge.“There is no doubt, Captain. There is a cloaked ship out there,” reported Senishra.Whitman faced the Thot. “Care to explain, Thot Neeron?”Neeron looked upset. “I’m sure it is a standard patrol ship, nothing more.”“Then why was it cloaked?” asked Nicot.“And why was there only one ship?” added Rojc.“That is standard procedure in a hazard zone. While the Phantom may be here, the Imperium still feels this sector to be a direct threat to invasion. As such, it is only natural to assume that patrols are still in place.”Guitarrez’s face showed doubt. “The readings we got from the ship we were on indicate that it may not have been a Breen vessel.”Whitman turned to face his Chief Engineer. “Romulans?”“No sir. The ship was too small, and didn’t seem to have a Romulan signature.”Neeron snorted and walked over to the computer display. Without delay, he tapped at the computer console. After a moment, the sensor image changed to match a ship Neeron brought up on screen. “This is what you saw. It is a high-speed tactical fighter, much like your own. Its existence is not widely known outside of Breen space.”Whitman looked relieved. “Has there been any further sign of cloaked vessels?”“Absolutely nothing,” Rojc informed the Captain.“They have no doubt already left. Our patrols move quickly.”“Very good.” Whitman gestured to Neeron’s seat. “Since we are here now, let’s hear preliminary reports.”Senishra started. “The Science Department is still some twenty hours away from completing scans. So far, nothing unusual.”Guitarrez went next. “We were able to pull the logs off of nine of the derelicts, so far. We’re working on cleaning them up now.”Rojc glanced at Guitarrez. “Lieutenant Nicot may be able to help you with that—he’s done wonders with the Tactical Department’s copies thus far. As for our analysis, we have nothing significant to report at this time.”“I want final reports prepared by 1000 tomorrow. We will remain on Yellow Alert for the duration of the mission. Dismissed.”

Rojc reluctantly entered the security office and sat down behind his desk. “And starship duty is supposed to be easy,” he muttered. After a moment of resting his eyes, he bent forward in his chair and turned on the desk terminal. Various personnel reports on shipboard security filled the display. As the data scrolled down the display, Rojc slowly drifted into a light sleep. He was abruptly woken up when the terminal beeped loudly. It was 0800—Rojc had fallen asleep.

He sleepily turned off the alarm and glanced at the display. What he saw awakened him fully. He tapped a few commands into the console. Maybe the sensors didn’t confirm it, but Rojc could swear that something was attached to the hull. And the fact that it was by Neeron’s quarters didn’t help the matter.Rojc jumped to his feet and grabbed a nearby phaser. Maybe it was nothing—but he’d soon find out.

“Its 0800. Gamma shift is relieved.” The Captain stepped onto the bridge and took his place at the command chair. The Alpha shift personnel filed into the bridge, replacing the Gamma officers. As Lieutenant Jack Wallace stepped away from the Tactical station, a warning appeared on the Tactical display. In the midst of the duty change, it went unnoticed. As quickly as it had activated, it was cut off—cut off by Lieutenant Commander Rojc from the main security office.

Rojc stepped out of the turbo lift and headed down the corridor. He soon stood in front of Neeron’s guest quarters. After a moment of hesitance, Rojc overrode the door locks and barged in. What he saw shocked him, and that shock jolted him enough to slow down his responses. As he moved one arm to tap his communicator, and the other to draw his phaser, a green bolt squarely hit him the chest. He was dragged feet first into the room and the doors closed.

The Vorta Kilara and the Breen Varus C’Rakl’mus looked apprehensive. “Quickly! Were we detected?”Neeron glanced at the portable unit on the desk. “No. The sensor blind is still in place.”Kilara relaxed. “Excellent.”Neeron bent down and checked Rojc’s pulse. “He’s dead.”

“He was supposed to be taken alive, Neeron.” Kilara glared the Breen. “Oh well, our scientists can still dissect him dead, I suppose.” She turned to the Jem’hadar first. “Start bringing over the rest of the troops.”The Jem’hadar grunted and beamed back onto their ship.

Varus noticed Neeron’s look of anguish. “I should think you’d be glad this man is finally dead. You once said he was one of your greatest enemies.”Neeron scowled. “Perhaps.” He regained his composure. “But he should have suffered more.”Varus grinned. “Let’s prepare for stage two.”Jem’hadar troops began beaming into Neeron’s quarters.

“Captain! Internal sensors are reading intruders on the ship. Main Engineering, Decks 18, 4, 3—and 1.”“Red Alert! Alert security teams to—”

Senishra was cut off as Jem’hadar forced their way onto the bridge. Every officer on the bridge reached for their phasers, but stopped short as a blue bolt vaporized Captain Whitman. The Phantom was in the hands of the Dominion.

Minutes later, the Starfleet officers on the bridge had been replaced by Jem’hadar. Kilara, Varus, and Neeron stepped onto the bridge. “Status?” barked Kilara.The Jem’hadar first stepped away from the command platform. “All teams have reported in—all critical ship’s areas are in our control. There is some resistance still on Deck 14.” Varus looked over to the Jem’hadar. “Can you not just transport them into holding cells?”“Negative. They are somehow blocking transporter signal.”Neeron spoke up, “Cut environmental controls on that deck, then.”The Jem’hadar at OPS spoke. “Environmental systems cut.”After a moment, the Jem’hadar at Tactical spoke. “Epsilon team reports all resistance eliminated.”Varus sneered. “I trust our friends in the Dominion are happy with their prize?”

Kilara smirked. “The Dominion thanks you for your assistance.”Varus continued. “Of course, this wouldn’t have been possible without Thot Neeron. When

we return, Neeron, the people will know of your deeds—you will be a hero.”Neeron stared at the viewer. “Yes. I suppose I will.”

Kilara glared at the Phantom’s first officer, sitting across from her in the Ready Room. “I grow weary of asking, Vulcan, so I will ask one last time. Release the last of the Phantom’s lockouts.”Senishra stared straight ahead, silent.

Kilara sighed. “Very well, you have left me no other option.” She nodded to the Jem’hadar—he promptly stepped out of the Ready Room, and picked up a disruptor.“Any threat to kill me will not change my response. I will not comply.”The Jem’hadar soldier re-entered the room, this time escorting an ensign.

Kilara smiled smugly at Senishra. “Perhaps this will ‘persuade’ you to comply.” Without pause, she leveled the disruptor and fired at the ensign, vaporizing him immediately. She turned back Senishra. “For every fifteen minutes you delay, I will execute one of your officers. And when they are all dead, I will remove your organs one by one, until you die.”Senishra had a sickly look on her face. “Computer release all lockouts and transfer control to Kilara. Access code Senishra pi black five one six two.”The computer chirped. “Lockouts released. Command transferred.”

Kilara glowered. “Somehow I knew you’d see things my way. Take her to her quarters and post a guard there. Tell Thot Varus to set course for our rendezvous point—maximum warp.”The Jem’hadar nodded, grabbed Senishra by the arm, and pulled her out of the room.

Nicot sat hunched against a wall, gasping for air. “This is not good.” He turned to Iv’Oor. “Any ideas?”Iv’Oor was likewise wheezing. “None. They’ve got the ship—there’s not much we can do.”

A lieutenant from Geologic Survey and two ensigns from Security sat huffing further down the jeffries tube. The lieutenant looked at Nicot. “Uh—so what do we do now?”Iv’Oor glanced at Nicot as well. “You’re in command right now—for all we know, we’re the only ones left.”Nicot sighed. “I find that hard to believe. There’s no way they got Rojc.”“You know procedure, we have to assume the worst. Don’t lose it now, Nicot.”

Nicot leaned his head back. “All right. Since retaking the ship is unlikely, we sabotage her. Ensign Vevey—you take Jones and Coleman to the Armory—get whatever you can and join us on Deck 18 at the main computer core. Retune your phasers to maximum setting. Use them only if you absolutely have to. Get going.”The three officers simultaneously answered with an “Aye sir” and headed down the jeffries tube.Iv’Oor looked over at Nicot again. “Think this is going to work?”Nicot closed his eyes. “I sure hope so.”

Rojc awoke in a cold, dark chamber, covered by a tarp of some sort. He brushed off the tarp and grimaced at the pain as he grazed his chest. There were a lot of questions he intended to get answered—but first, he needed a way out of wherever he was. His phaser was gone, but he still had his communicator. Whether it still worked or not was a different matter. Rojc blinked to change his eyesight to infrared. The chamber wasn’t large. He moved over to the door and tried the controls. The door opened and on the other side stood a stunned Jem’hadar guard. Rojc reflexively lashed out at the guard and slammed him to the floor. Without giving the guard time to react, he bent down and smashed his chest with his elbow, thus crushing his rib cage and effectively killing him. Rojc blinked his eyesight to normal as he retrieved the guard’s gun. After a moment of studying his surroundings, Rojc knew he was on a Breen ship. “Musta thought they killed me,” he said to no one in particular. He cautiously made his way down the corridor.

“We have just dropped out of warp!” reported the Jem’hadar at the Conn.

Kilara glared at OPS. “Explain.”The guard glared at his console. “I cannot. There is something wrong with the system.”“Confirmed. Something is interfering with computer access,” added Tactical.Varus stood. “I thought your men had accounted for all the Phantom’s crew.”Kilara ignored the Breen. “Well?”

The Jem’hadar at OPS was the first to speak. “I think I have something…” He pressed a button and a monkey popped up on his display. “What is this!?”All over the bridge, monkeys began appearing on the display consoles. All stations were completely locked out.Kilara looked back at Varus. “It seems we may have missed a few of the Phantom’s crew.”

“It appears a sub-program entitled ‘Monkey Business’ has entered into the primary system. It is eating up all system resources.”“How could this have happened?” Kilara demanded.

Tactical looked up from his console. “The path used to enter the program into main memory was not of importance—it was only a fire prevention maintenance sub routine.”

OPS punched in a few commands. The monkey on his console stuck his tongue out at him in response. “Its no use—we’ve lost all access to the system.”“Then contact engineering and tell them to purge the system.”

Back at Tactical, the Jem’hadar slammed his fist into the display in frustration, causing the monkey on the display to roll around laughing.The Jem’hadar at OPS spoke up. “Engineering reports that all their consoles are either affected, or not operational.”“Then tell them to find one that is! Go deck by deck if need be. And send out some security patrols—I want whoever’s responsible for this dead!”

Rojc entered the Breen ship’s bridge and opened fire, immediately hitting the two Breen on duty. “Skeleton crew,” Rojc hissed. That meant they had taken the Phantom. Rojc walked up to the tactical console on the Breen bridge and punched in a few commands. Three Breen in Engineering, one in each of the two transporter rooms, and one in sickbay. “This should be easy,” he thought, and quickly left the bridge.

Coleman, Iv’Oor, and Nicot again sat in a jeffries tube. They had succeeded in sabotaging the Phantom’s computers, but at the cost of Ensign Vevey and Lieutenant Jones.Iv’Oor grimaced as she dressed the wound on her shoulder. “So how long before a total systems failure?”“You see, that presents a bit of a problem,” Nicot replied, “I wasn’t able to place the checks on the program—its running on its own.”Coleman and Iv’Oor stared at Nicot. “So we have no control over this thing either?” asked Coleman.“Nope. And by now, its infected the entire ship. If its rate of growth didn’t change, I’d estimate we have an hour left.”Iv’Oor groaned. “You can do anything with a computer, can’t you?”

“Hey! Its not my fault! I thought we’d get more time to finish entering the program before the Jem’hadar found us.”“Well, then that’s it. Outside of a major miracle, like a Starfleet Task Force with a Spacedock, the Phantom is as good as destroyed.” Coleman was solemn.“Boy is this going to piss off the design team at the Institute...” Nicot added quietly. “Enough rest, we have to keep moving. We don’t need to be found.”“Main shuttle bay, then?” asked Iv’Oor.Nicot nodded. “Yep.”

Back on the Phantom’s bridge, Kilara was fuming. These Starfleet officers were now proving to be rather annoying.

The Jem’hadar from OPS spoke up. “Our teams are reporting in—no unaffected consoles have been located.”Suddenly, the bridge went dark and the consoles flickered. After a moment, they came back on.“What was that?” Kilara demanded.“Engineering reports that core number 3 was just ejected.”

“That’s it! Contact the Veala! We’ll have them tow us to the Rendezvous point—we can still make it.”After a couple of moments, the Jem’hadar at tactical frowned. “There is no response from the Veala.”“What is the problem?”“I—don’t know. Our communications systems should be unaffected.”

“There!” Varus pointed at the view screen. Kilara and Neeron looked to see the Veala de-cloak several kilometers in front of the Phantom. “What is wrong with your crew? It looks as if they are adrift,” commented Kilara angrily.

“I don’t know. Hail them a—“ Varus was interrupted as the Veala suddenly, and violently exploded. His jaw dropped. “No...”Kilara also stood agape. “How...?”Neeron coolly grinned. “Rojc.”Kilara turned to Neeron. “You said he was dead!”“So I did and so I thought. Perhaps you should have paid more attention to his file.”

“No matter. There are little under two hundred Jem’hadar on this ship. Rojc may be good, but he’s not that good,” Kilara scoffed.“He took a direct disruptor blast and lived, he destroyed my ship, and now he is on this ship, and we cannot detect him. I believe the time has come to drop the overconfidence, Kilara,” growled Varus.Neeron stepped over to the Tactical station and grabbed the Jem’hadar’s disruptor rifle. “I will deal with Rojc myself. You will leave him to me.”“The Jem’hadar will find him and kill him. There is no need for you to get involved.” Kilara glared at the Thot.“No they will not. Rojc will evade them.”

“Well, Neeron, you are entitled to take your own course of action, but I will send the Jem’hadar out to find him.”Neeron muttered something incoherently and stepped into the turbo-lift.

Rojc tapped at the computer display on his desk in his quarters. Scattered around him lay various weapons, tricorders, and other equipment. “This can’t be good,” he thought to himself. The computer quickly analyzed and displayed the status of the Phantom. Core 3 was gone; LCARS and command access was off-line; 189 Jem’hadar troops, 1 Vorta, and 12 Breen were safe guarding the primary systems; and most disheartening—the Captain was dead at the hands of the invaders. Rojc sighed and leaned back in his chair. He only had so much time before the Jem’hadar patrols would reach this deck. Clear thinking did not come easy, however. Revenge weighed heavily on his mind; the Captain had been a good friend, something akin to being his mentor. More than anything, Rojc wanted to grab a phaser and see how many Jem’hadar he could take down with him—but Rojc had to remain objective, he had to think clearly—there were others to think about.His thoughts were abruptly interrupted as a proximity alarm went off. Rojc grabbed a pulse rifle and pointed it at the door. Through the doors walked a calm Thot Neeron, disruptor in its holster and hands up. Rojc backed off for a moment before retaking aim.“Killing me does nothing for you now,” the Breen said casually.“Oh really? Please explain why I shouldn’t repay you the favor of trying to kill me.”

Neeron relaxed slightly. “If I had wanted you dead, Rojc, you would be. I do not overestimate my enemies, unlike the Dominion. And if you want any hope of retaking the Phantom, you will need my assistance.”

Rojc stared into the Breen’s eyes for a moment before laying the rifle on the desk. “I’m listening.”“Roughly six months ago, I uncovered a series of transmissions between certain factions

within my government and the Dominion. I investigated them. I did not like what I found—I soon learned that these malcontents intended to seize control of the Imperium and ally with the Dominion. Say what you will about me or my peoples Rojc, I am no traitor too my Emperor. I did everything I could to ensure myself their confidence; I have worked long and hard to get them to trust me, and I have succeeded. My “superiors” were intent on showcasing there power to there new Dominion friends, thus they struck upon a plan to steal this vessel from Starfleet. Everything that has transpired on this mission thus far has been to their design. Little do they realize that I am in control here—I am now prepared to reveal these traitors.”“Two things I don’t quite understand. How was the Dominion/Breen contingent able to set this up and where do I factor into your plans?”“One of Starfleet’s top admirals is really a shape shifter. Without his orders, you wouldn’t be out here. As for your second question—who else but you would have the access and skill necessary to retake this ship?”Rojc rose from his chair. “I want the name of that admiral. Now.”

“All in good time, Commander. I will divulge all information, but it does you no good if we all die now. First thing’s first: retaking the ship.”“I’ll never get close enough to a command station to re-establish control. I do have limits.”

“As I’m well aware. I believe the Jem’hadar patrols will solve that little problem for us—it seems that some of your officers have been putting up some rather obnoxious defense; they are about to be caught by a patrol, while sneaking into the main shuttle bay.”“If you knew where they were and what they were planning, why didn’t you get them first—the Jem’hadar will kill them!”“No they won’t. The Vorta changed her mind about quick executions—she needs control of the ship back, and she needs you captured. Waving these officers in front of you will work quite w—“Before Neeron could finish, the comm-link opened and interrupted Neeron. “Attention, Commander Rojc. I know you’re alive and somewhere on this ship, and you are no doubt intent on retaking it. Unfortunately for you, we have just captured the last of your officers putting up resistance. You have 5 minutes to surrender to a Jem’hadar patrol before I execute them.”Neeron smirked. “What did I tell you? I believe you understand what I have planned now.”Rojc nodded. “All right. But if you betray me, so help me I’ll—“

“There is no need for idle threats. And this is not the Romulan Prison Camp—don’t delude yourself.”“Fine. Let’s go.”

The turbolift doors opened onto the bridge. Rojc stepped out, closely followed by Neeron and 4 Jem’hadar, weapons drawn. Coleman, Iv’Oor, and Nicot knelt with there hands above their heads not far away, between Mission Ops and Science Station I.“Commander Rojc, so good to see you again. I’m glad you could see things reasonably and surrender.” Kilara smiled a bitter-sweet smile.“Kill him now, Kilara!” shouted Varus. “The longer he’s alive, the greater a threat he becomes.”

Kilara turned to face the Breen at her side, “Patience, Varus.” She turned back to Rojc. “Now, then. You will help us re-establish control over the Phantom’s systems, or I will make sure the rest of the crew suffers excruciatingly slow deaths before the ship explodes.”Rojc paused for a moment. “I wasn’t the one to introduce the virus into the system.”

“I’m well aware you have a level fifteen security access. You have the ability to override any program, virus or not.”“I believe he needs more persuasion to think faster.” Neeron pulled his disruptor pistol from its holster and stepped behind Iv’Oor. He took careful aim at the back of her head.Kilara took a moment to glare at the Breen. “You will not execute prisoners without my authority.”

“He’s stalling,” Neeron spat back. “Either he will comply, or I will shoot these three, starting with the Andorian female.”

Kilara grumbled and turned back to Rojc. “Commander, I believe Thot Neeron is intent on killing your officers. I caution you to drop the games.”“I’ll need access to an unaffected console.”

“He had this on him when he surrendered.” A Jem’hadar stepped up to Kilara and handed her a PADD.Kilara looked over the PADD. “Interesting configuration, Commander. I wasn’t aware Federation officers had access to it.” She stepped down from the command platform and approached Rojc. “Start with OPS.” She handed him the PADD.Appearing reluctant, Rojc took the PADD and walked over to OPS, closely followed by three Jem’hadar guards. Kilara joined him at OPS. Meanwhile, Neeron dropped back a bit behind the Jem’hadar guarding Nicot, Iv’Oor, and Coleman. It would take careful timing to make this work—or at least for him to survive the initial disruptor salvo. He glanced over to the OPS station—Rojc had just interfaced with the system. It was now or never. Neeron abruptly broke off his threatening aim, turned to the two Jem’hadar, and fired. Chaos broke out. Nicot and Iv’Oor were quick to pick up the fallen soldiers’ disruptor rifles and started firing. Acting quickly, Rojc knocked the three Jem’hadar around him to their feet. He turned back to OPS and tapped in a few commands before turning back to the stunned Jem’hadar. He picked up a disruptor rifle for himself and set up a crossfire. Varus and Kilara were now just starting to register what was happening. Varus grabbed for his weapon, but it was shot out of his hand by Rojc. Between the four Starfleet officers and Neeron, all the Jem’hadar were promptly dispatched. Rojc re-leveled his phaser at the Vorta. “Step away from the OPS console please.”Neeron had taken his own prisoner. “Thot Varus C’Rakl’mus, I hear by place you under stoi’tilaka arrest.”Varus looked up from his injuries. “No…” He looked Neeron in the straight in the eyes. “You betrayed me!”Neeron smugly smiled. “Yes. I did. And now you will pay for the crimes you have committed against the Imperium.”Iv’Oor stood. “What now?”“I’ve flooded the rest of the ship with anesthezine gas. Right now, the Jem’hadar are sleeping like babies.” “You have accomplished nothing! You still need to purge the ship’s system, and you can’t possibly do that before the Breen come looking for us.” Kilara stood defiantly.“Nicot—this is your area of expertise. Get the ship up and running. Iv’Oor—start beaming the Jem’hadar into security cells. Coleman—go down to Security and monitor Iv’Oor’s progress. Take our guests with you.”

It wasn’t a typical senior staff meeting: it lacked the presence of the Captain; several department heads had also been invited—along with one Breen general.Senishra, who sat in the Captain’s chair, was the first to speak. “How goes our efforts to combat the virus?”Lieutenant Commander Victor Dolby spoke up. “We’ve cleared the virus out of most of the main systems’ controls, but its still in various subsystems and backups.” He glared at Nicot.“And the status of the warp cores?”“Not good,” replied Guitarrez. “The loss of the third core has taxed the system worse than the designers had originally speculated. We’ve lost several systems; none critical for the moment. But that could change.”“Right now, the biggest loses appear to be the phaser cannon and much of the stealth sensor array,” added Lieutenant Michael Hersch.“Those are going to be critical systems very soon, indeed. From what I understand of the intended rendezvous, we should have been there as of ten minutes ago. They will no doubt start looking for us.” Neeron looked around the lounge to gauge the reactions.

“Any idea what we can expect for ships?” asked Rojc.“No,” replied Neeron. “But no doubt, it will be substantial.”“Very clearly, the first thing we should do is re-establish communications with Starfleet,” said Senishra. “Hopefully, reinforcements can get to us before the Dominion can.”“That may be what protocols dictate—but we break radio silence now, and it’ll allow the enemy to pin point our position that much quicker,” responded Iv’Oor.Senishra did her best not to frown, but it was fairly obvious she had failed. “We have no choice, Lieutenant. Our options are limited and are duties are clear: return to Federation space.”“I’m not sure its that clear cut, Commander,” replied Nicot, backing Iv’Oor up.Senishra looked to Rojc. Rojc clearly understood the look. “I’m sorry, Senishra, but I agree with my officers.” The rest of the room was silent. “We have an unknown number of ships looking for us. I think there’s more to consider here.”Arona came to Senishra’s defense. “That may be your opinion, but Senishra is in command here. I agree with her assessment—return to Federation space as quickly as possible.”“We do have full warp capability,” added Lieutenant Micheal Sanas.Ensign Coleman stood up. “Rojc has authorization to override the primary mission goals of this vessel—he would be well within his jurisdiction to order the Phantom to proceed as how he sees fit.”“That’s a load of—““Enough!” Senishra interrupted Arona before she could finish her thought. “I respect your view of the situation, Commander Rojc, but unless you are willing to invoke Intelligence authority here, I see no reason to put the ship at further risk. We will re-establish communications, taking all necessary precautions, and return to the Federation with all available haste.”All eyes were on Rojc. He knew full well the risk and responsibility of invoking Intelligence authority.“Well, Rojc?” asked Arona impatiently.“You’re putting me in one hell of an uncomfortable situation—you realize that.” Rojc scowled. “I don’t believe I would be justified to countermand my commanding officer’s orders.”“Thank you, Commander,” replied Senishra. “Dismissed.”The officers quickly filed out of the room, but Rojc and Senishra lingered behind the rest. After a moment, they were alone. Neither said anything.

“She’s all ready, Ma’am. Ship-wide functions have returned to normal,” reported Nicot.“Very good, Lieutenant. Bring the communications relay online and connect to the nearest buoy,” replied Senishra.“…Connection established. Receiving data…”“Lieutenant Iv’Oor, set course—““Wait a minute. Something’s wrong,” Nicot interrupted, “Damn! Someone’s tracing the signal! I can’t disengage!”Rojc looked over the display at his station. “You’re supposed to be the computer expert Nicot. Circumvent the relay software.”“Bridge to Engineering,” Senishra opened the comm-link, “we need to shut down the communications array and we need to do it now.”“I’m having trouble doing that. The relay has frozen the system.”“How is that possible?”Rojc turned his chair to face Senishra. “Its not our relay. That’s the only answer.”“He’s right. There’s no way anyone could do this using our equipment.”Nicot hit the console. “There it is—they rebuilt the buoy’s signal on the molecular level. I would have never seen it without a full sensor analysis.”“The question becomes how to break the connection,” Senishra declared, “Can you do that, Lieutenant?”“I think so. I don’t have a lot of experience with Breen tech, though.”“Bridge to Thot Neeron.”

“Go ahead,” Neeron replied icily.“We could use your assistance up on the Bridge. Your people have locked us into a communications buoy.”“I’ll be there immediately. Neeron out.”“I can’t get by the encryption lock outs. They’re changing faster than I can lock on,” reported Nicot, starting to get frantic. His hands moved as quickly as they could across the console.It was another couple of moments before Neeron entered the bridge. Rojc glanced in his direction. “Mission OPS is open and ready for you, Neeron.” The Breen sat at the station and began interfacing with the decoy buoy. After a moment he swiveled around and triumphantly announced, “I’ve frozen their system. You should be able to bypass the security system.”“I’m in—“ Nicot paused. “There we go, we’re free from the buoy.”“Not that it does us much good,” Rojc asserted. “They’ve got our position within a couple of light years.”“That leaves us with probably little more than an hour before they close in,” added Neeron.“Put together options and tell the crew to prepare for battle. I want all senior officers assembled in the observation lounge in a half-hour,” ordered Senishra.

After a half-hour, the senior staff was once again assembled in the observation lounge.“Commander Rojc, your briefing please,” Senishra glanced in his direction.Rojc stood up and moved to the displays. “We’ve conducted several sensor sweeps of the nearby sectors, and determined that approximately two dozen Breen ships of varying classes are closing on our position. We’ve got about 20 or so minutes before their sentry ships reach us.”“I assume you’ve got a plan, Rojc,” said Arona indignantly.“Of course I do, Doctor,” replied Rojc curtly. “Its kind of a stretch given our situation, but I think we can pull it off. There are at least four sentry ships incoming—light vessels, nothing we can’t handle with too many problems. If we can get away from them, were home free.”“You cannot out run those ships,” came Neeron’s voice from the other end of the room.“And even if we could, we don’t have enough of the stealth sensor array to get off their sensors,” added Guitarrez.“We don’t need to out run them, and we don’t need more than a couple minutes usage of the stealth sensor array,” responded Rojc. “We are going to adapt the Picard Maneuver and the Crusher-Taitt stratagem.”Rojc’s plan shocked the room. Even Senishra registered a visible shock on her face. “Need I remind you the unfeasibility of the Picard Maneuver in present day strategy?”“Or the fact we’ve never even tested the metaphasic shielding,” added Guitarrez.“Its simple, really.” Rojc moved back towards the display. He hit a few buttons before continuing. A computer simulation appeared and began running. “What we do is this—first we lull them into a false sense of security—make it look like we’re taking heavy battle damage. The Breen like to use strafing runs—and that figures into this. After a few moments of battle, we’re all set up for their latest strafing run. When they enter immediate weapons range, we launch a full series of class II probes and a full spread of quantum torpedoes. Meanwhile, we will have made the jump to warp, while the stealth array masks our survival. This won’t lose them—but it will stall them long enough to enact the second part of the plan. We will travel to this star, where, upon engaging the metaphasic shielding, we will enter the corona and go to gray mode.”The rest of the senior staff still seemed skeptical. “What is the success rate of this plan, Commander?” asked Senishra.“48.31%.”“That’s not even half chance! Its the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard,” Arona said.“Its has better odds than us trying to out run or out fight the Breen. I’d love to hear your expert suggestion, Doctor.”Senishra turned to Guitarrez. “Commander Guitarrez, can you enact the metaphasic shielding and re-route power to the stealth array?”

“In ten minutes?” she asked incredulously. “I can probably give you one or the other by the time we’re ready to make our escape from the battle—but I don’t think I can do both.”Senishra folded her hands and rested her arms on the table. “Unless someone can come up with an alternative, you’re going to have to get the work done, Commander.”The room was silent.“Return to your duty stations and prepare. Dismissed.”

“Report!”“Its the four sentry ships plus another two ships. Their weapons are already powered up.”Senishra surveyed the tactical display, visibly annoyed. The sentry ships had arrived sooner than expected and in greater numbers. “Bridge to Engineering.”Over the open comm-link, indistinct shouting and alarm klaxons nearly drowned out the sound of the response. “Guitarrez here!”“Do we have either stealth array or metaphasic shielding yet?”The chief engineer sighed heavily. “I can guarantee the stealth array for around five minutes, but the metaphasic shielding is another story...” Her voice trailed off.Another salvo from their Breen interceptors shook the Phantom. Responding in kind, the Phantom opened fire on its attackers with phasers and quantum torpedoes, squarely hitting two of the enemy ships.“How much time, Commander?”“5 minutes?”Senishra was almost scowling. “Be ready to bring the shielding on-line.”“Yes ma’am.”Senishra turned to the tactical officer.“Shields are at 92%,” reported Rojc, “The Breen are re-grouping for another pass.”Senishra turned back around to face the viewer. “All right, let’s make this look real. Lieutenant Iv’Oor, plot evasive maneuvers at your discretion. Lieutenant Nicot, prepare to simulate major systems failure. Commander Rojc, continue to return fire but prepare the probe and torpedo spread.” “Torpedoes ready.”“Evasive patterns laid in.”“Systems ready.”Once again, the Breen closed on their prey, fearlessly firing away. The Phantom deftly maneuvered as best it could to avoid the smaller attackers, but to limited effectiveness. All throughout the maneuvers, the Phantom’s weapons consistently found their marks. Within moments, the Breen had once again had broke off their attack and were regrouping outside weapon range.The next pass of the Breen ships went much the same, only the Phantom was now starting to feel their attackers’ weaponry.“Lieutenant Nicot, how are we doing?”“Couple more passes and I won’t need to simulate any systems failures,” Nicot reported to Senishra.“Commander Rojc, on the next pass, target at your discretion—no more ‘pot shots’.”“Guitarrez to Bridge”“Go ahead.”

“System modifications have been made, the metaphasic shielding program is on-line and waiting to be implemented.”“Good work, Commander. Bridge out.” Senishra turned to Rojc. “Forget targeting—prepare to execute as we planned.”“All ready here.”Senishra paused, watching the oncoming Breen ships.“Breen ships closing...ten seconds until we are within their weapons range.”Senishra still said nothing. The seconds were quickly passing. “Fire! Helm, set course and

engage at maximum warp!”The visually stunning explosion left the Breen vessels confused as the Phantom warped away. The first part of Rojc’s plan had so far paid off.Senishra looked over to Rojc. “Status of the Breen ships?”Rojc grinned warily. “They’ve resumed pursuit...took ‘em longer than I expected, too.”“We’ve dropped out of warp and are nearing the star,” reported Iv’Oor.“Very good. Engage the metaphasic shielding and shut down the stealth array. Lieutenant Nicot, bring the ship to gray mode.”“We are entering the corona,” Iv’Oor related to Senishra.Senishra swiveled towards Nicot. “Status of the metaphasic shielding?”

“All indications are that the shielding is working as planned,” replied Nicot, “We’re now operating at gray mode.”“Commander Rojc, status of the Breen?”

“Its hard to get a clear reading without full sensors.” Rojc paused. “Looks like the Breen reinforcements have arrived—they appear to be fanning out. Probably searching for us.”“Guitarrez to Bridge!”“Go ahead, Commander,” responded Senishra.“We’ve got a problem. I can’t pin it down, but I something is wrong with the shielding system.”“Explain.”

“I’d like to Captain, but it could be any number of things. Depleted system resources from the lost of the core; some unknown radiation from the star interfering with systems; traces of Nicot’s ‘virus’ still in the system—need I go on?”“That will suffice. How long do we have?”

Guitarrez let out an audible sigh. “I can’t be certain. The best I can give you is an estimate. I doubt we have more than five minutes before we’ll be forced to leave the corona.”“I find that most disturbing, Commander. Do everything you can to keep those shields up.”“I’ll do my best, sir. Guitarrez out.”Senishra scowled. “Can we use a solar flare to destroy the Breen vessels?”

Nicot shook his head. “Doubtful. We might get some of them, but there is little to no possibility we will get them all.”Rojc turned around. “If we’re going to attempt the solar flare, we should wait until we’re going to have to leave. Its possible the Breen will move on before our shielding runs out.”“Do we have any other options open to us?” asked Senishra.“Perhaps if we still had the systems powered by the third core,” replied Nicot.“So we wait,” said Senishra with an implied sense of impending doom.

The minutes took forever to pass for the crew. Time seemed to slow as a sentence of doom hung in the air. The comm-link chirped to life, breaking the uneasy silence.“I’m sorry, Captain, but there’s nothing else we can do down here. We will lose shield integrity in a little over 60 seconds.”“Acknowledged, Commander.” Senishra glanced hopefully at Rojc. “Status, Commander Rojc?”Rojc shook his head. “Its no good, the Breen haven’t moved off.”Nicot sighed heavily. “I’ll begin calculations for the solar flare.”Iv’Oor counted down from helm, “Fifty seconds.”The seconds continued to pass as Nicot worked fervently working at his console.“Forty seconds.”Senishra glanced over at Nicot. “Lieutenant—“

Nicot bit his lip. “Almost…got it…” He hesitated. “There! I’m configuring the main deflector to send out the pulse now. Returning to active status—going straight to Red Alert.”“Lieutenant Iv’Oor, when that flare dissipates, take us out of the corona at maximum available speed,” ordered Senishra.“Aye sir. Course plotted and laid in. Twenty five seconds.”“Initiating pulse,” uttered Nicot.

The Breen ships closest to the star had detected the strange activity in the star and

moved closer to it to investigate, much to their peril. They never had a chance, as the sheer, overwhelming force of the solar flare washed over them. Moments later, the Phantom shot out of the star, quickly going to full impulse.“That flare only took out six ships—none of them the larger heavy cruisers. Sensors show a total of eighteen Breen vessels closing on us.”“Commander Rojc, prepare to fire at will.”

The Phantom was outnumbered twenty to one. The situation looked grim once again.“Lieutenant Nicot, send out a general distress call—hopefully someone will hear it,”

ordered Senishra.“The Breen have grouped and are moving in on us. Twenty seconds,” reported Rojc.“Commander Rojc, calculate the weakest point in the Breen flank and take us through it.”

It was a brief moment before the Phantom came alive and sped towards its attackers, releasing full volleys of phaser fire and quantum torpedoes. The Breen cruisers standing in the Phantom’s way were no match for the firepower. Their attackers in front of them were destroyed, but the Phantom was precariously left open to the Breen’s quick and brutal retaliation; they moved in quickly to cripple their prey.“Shields down to 56%! We’re taking heavy fire to the engines!” Rojc reported.“They’re trying to cut down on our mobility,” added Iv’Oor.

“We’ve got a huge strain on the SIF/IDF. I’m attempting to compensate, but we can’t take much more,” informed Nicot.“Can we make it to the outer system?” asked Senishra.

“There’s no way,” replied Rojc, “The Breen are taking a pounding from us, but they’re keeping us close to the star.”The Phantom shook violently from the latest Breen salvo. The Bridge lights wavered and after a moment, went out.

“Engineering to Bridge.” Guitarrez paused. “Guitarrez to anyone on the Bridge—please respond.”Sanas glanced over. “Chief, its no use.”The lights wavered as the ship was rocked by fire again.

“Damn. Hersch—lead a damage control team up there, take a med team with you.” Guitarrez glanced around at her staff. “Get a channel open to the lead Breen ship.”“Chief—we’re under orders not to surrender this ship—under any circumstances,” Sanas reminded his boss.“We don’t have anything left to fight back with, Lieutenant. They’re going to start boarding the ship and shooting us on sight on they’re next pass—at least this way we can prevent some loss of life, which is my only concern right now.” She paused. “Now get me that channel!”

Meanwhile on the Bridge, the officers had just begun to awake as the damage control team reached the Bridge.Rojc waved off the medics and went to the nearest working station to obtain a status report. The only marginally good news was that the Breen had halted their attack—no doubt preparing boarding parties. Rojc scowled as he noticed the order of surrender. He turned away from the console to survey the rest of the bridge—all the officers were off the floor—except Senishra. Rojc rushed to her side. “What’s the problem?”“I’m not certain sir, she appears to be in a coma,” replied the medic, “We’ll know more when we get her to sickbay.”“I want to know the minute you have a diagnosis.”“Understood, sir.” With that, the med team transported to sickbay.

Rojc stood up and turned to the rest of the Bridge crew. “Man your posts.” He paused for a moment before taking a seat in the command chair. “Rojc to Guitarrez.”

“Rojc—thank God! How are you doing up there?”“Senishra is badly injured, but the rest of us appear to be all right.” Rojc paused for a

moment. “I’m taking command, Lucia. Belay your surrender order.”“Dade, are you crazy? We can’t possibly fight off the Breen! We’re practically dead in space.”“The Breen want this ship intact, we have that advantage. Call up program Rojc Gamma 1107.”“You are crazy. I hope you know what you’re doing. Engineering out.”

Rojc tapped at the command chair display. “This is Lieutenant Commander Rojc to all stations. Commander Senishra has been badly injured and I assuming command.” Rojc paused. “Furthermore, I am invoking Starfleet Intelligence authority, granted to me under the charter of 2161, chapter 17, article 21, paragraph 15. That it is all for now.” He closed the comm-link.Ensign Coleman spoke up from OPS. “We’ve got more ships de-cloaking!”

Rojc reviewed the information at the command display before he jumped up from the command chair and moved to Tactical to get a closer look at the readings. “They’re not Breen—“

Four Romulan warbirds de-cloaked and began their blistering assault against the surprised Breen. In mere moments, the Romulans destroyed their Breen opposition with ease.“Incoming message from the lead Romulan Warbird.”Rojc moved back to the command chair before responding. “Put it on-screen.”

The scene of carnage—four Romulan warbirds surrounded by debris was instantly replaced by the image of a stunningly beautiful female Romulan.“This is Admiral Vallera of the Imperial Warbird T’khera. May we render further assistance?”

Rojc shifted nervously in his seat. “Uh, yes.” He cleared his throat. “We’ve sustained heavy damage and will need repair crews and materials.”The Romulan admiral smirked. “We would be glad to help. My staff and I shall beam over shortly to discuss what you require.”“Thank you, Admiral. Phantom out.”Iv’Oor swiveled her chair around to face Rojc. “Need I remind you?”

“No, you do not, Lieutenant,” Rojc replied curtly. “If Guitarrez was ready to surrender, we’re in bad shape. We need the help.”“Command is going to have a field day with this one once the Institute complains,” Nicot grinned lightheartedly.“That’s enough!” Rojc growled. “When the Romulans beam aboard, direct them to the observation lounge and notify me. I’ll be in Engineering.” Without pause, Rojc rose from the command chair and strode of the Bridge into a waiting turbo lift.Iv’Oor turned to Nicot. “You don’t suppose…?”Nicot cut her off with a nod of the head. “Not here, not now, Melina.”

Arona glanced up from the desk display she was studying as Rojc entered her office.“How is she doing?”

“We’ve stabilized her,” Arona responded, “She’s in a pretty deep coma, but I’m certain that she’ll pull out of it. We need to get her to a Starbase facility, though.” She noticed the worried look on Rojc’s face. “Senishra will be fine, Rojc, there’s no reason to worry so.”He frowned for a moment.“What else?”

Rojc’s frown changed to a scowl as he broke eye contact with the Doctor. “I require a shot of Britori-9.”“I know we don’t see eye-to-eye, Rojc, but unless you’re planning on relinquishing command—“

“Doctor!” Rojc paused as he composed himself. “I don’t need your lectures or your advice, I’m fully aware of the dangers of remaining on duty while I’ve got the medicine in my system. You need to understand what’s at stake here. I have no intention of turning command over to Guitarrez. Now administer the Britori-9 to me, and that’s an order.”

Arona glared icily at Rojc. “Very well, you leave me little choice, Commander. If you don’t want to take my advice—“Rojc interrupted again, but his voice remained calm. “Doctor, at this moment we stand at the mercy of four battle-ready Romulan warbirds, deep in enemy space, who will not hesitate to take advantage of us should we show the smallest sign of further weakness. The Captain is dead; our first officer is unconscious; I am the only officer left with command experience. If that weren’t enough, I have further classified matters to attend to. Now, I’m asking you, Doctor, not to finish your previous line of thought and administer the medication.”Arona sighed. “I will be making a note of this in my log.” She walked over to a closed an open cabinet and opened it. “If the situation were any less dire, you’d be sedated and in your quarters.” After a moment, she grabbed a hypospray. “Make no mistake, you’re standing on a thin line. If I deem it necessary, I will not hesitate to relieve you.” She injected the medication into Rojc’s neck.“I understand, Doctor.” Rojc turned to leave. “…And thank you for your understanding.”

Rojc marched into Engineering, wading through the flurry of engineers as he searched for the Chief.“Rojc!” Guitarrez called out. “Need help?”

Rojc walked over to where the Chief was. “Yeah, I do. How fast can you compile a list of needed materials and of a workforce schedule?”Guitarrez bit her lip. “How long do I have?”The comm chirped. “Bridge to Rojc.”

Rojc grimaced. “The walk from here to the Observation Lounge.” He tapped his comm-badge. “Go ahead.”“The Romulans have beamed aboard and are being escorted to the Observation Lounge.”“Thank you. Inform them that I’ll join them shortly. Rojc out.” He turned to Guitarrez. “Ready?”

Guitarrez groaned. “You know how much I loathe diplomatic situations. You owe me one.” She grabbed a PADD off a nearby workstation and they were off.

Rojc and Guitarrez entered the Observation Lounge to find the Romulans already seated and waiting. He glanced at the Romulan admiral before quickly looking away and taking his seat.“Welcome aboard the Phantom, Admiral. I am Lieutenant Commander Dade Rojc and this is the Chief Engineer, Lieutenant Commander Lucia Guitarrez.”“My aides: Sub-Commander Valek and General Sa’mo.” Vallera gestured to each one as she spoke their names. “If I may inquire, what happened to your Captain?”Rojc remained impassive. “Captain Whitman was killed in the initial Breen attack.”

“I see. How unfortunate.” The Romulan admiral leaned back in her chair. “I believe you mentioned materials and work crews.”Guitarrez paused momentarily before speaking. “This is a list of all the supplies and man power we could optimally use.” She held out a PADD.“Of course, anything you can supply would be appreciated,” Rojc added.

Valek glanced at Vallera, who nodded after a moment. Valek reached out and took the PADD, scanning the data as she scrolled it across the screen. After reviewing the data, Valek handed the PADD to Vallera.Vallera glanced at the PADD display herself for a long minute before she set it down in front of her on the conference table. “That’s a very lengthy list. What would we receive as compensation for our assistance.”Rojc remained reserved and calm. “The success of our mission and our gratitude.”

Vallera smirked. “Very well, Commander; you have our assistance. I shall arrange for my crews to begin coordination efforts immediately. In the meantime, I believe it would be wise to leave Breen space—there is a Romulan starbase not far from here.”Rojc looked over to Guitarrez. “Do we have warp drive?”

“Probably—but I doubt the engines can take speeds much over warp 2,” the Chief

Engineer responded.“All right. As soon as you can give us those coordinates, we will follow.” Rojc leveled his gaze at Vallera. “If you wish, I can arrange quarters for you and your aides.”“That will be acceptable.”

Rojc arrived at Neeron’s quarters and nodded to the security officers on guard duty to allow him access. After the valid security codes were inputted, the door opened and Rojc entered.“I hope I don’t need to explain this one to you, Neeron.”The Breen glared at Rojc. “No, you do not. I would do the same if I were in your place.”“And yet you still went ahead with your assassination attempt?”“I prefer to think of it as ‘pest control’. You would do the same in my place.”“I most certainly would not!”

“You would.” Neeron paused as he turned away from the windows. “Despite our differences and our mutual loathing of each other, we are far more alike than you would like to believe. You would have had a very different opinion of that camp if you hadn’t been her pet prisoner.”“My officers are on stand-by for use of deadly force. I’d prefer not to have to move you to the brig.”“Give me one good reason—“

“Because the Romulans will rip us apart and no one on Breen will ever know the truth if you don’t make it back alive on this vessel. I advise you to look past your blinding hatred and consider what we have at stake here.”Neeron cursed in Breen under his breath. “You don’t understand.”

“Don’t I?” Rojc struggled not to raise his voice. “Those Dominion bastards you let onto the ship killed Captain Whitman. The Captain was a very good friend—something akin to my mentor. Did I take my weapons stock and start randomly gunning down Jem’hadar?”Neeron was silent.

“That’s right, I didn’t. So cut me a little slack here. I have enough problems to handle without worrying about you trying to kill Admiral Vallera.”An uneasy silence hung in the air. The moments went by before Neeron made any response. “Very well, I will leave her alone—for now.”“Save the rhetoric for someone who will be intimidated.” Rojc turned his back to the Breen and walked out of the guest quarters.

The Mess Hall was completely deserted, with the exception of one table. Normally Iv’Oor, Arona, and Guitarrez would be exhausted, but the Romulan assistance had greatly eased their workload—now it was only a matter of hours before the Phantom and her Romulan escort reached the remote Romulan starbase.“Rojc hasn’t needed any of his medication for a long time,” Iv’Oor asserted, “Since a little after I’ve known him, in fact.”“With all he’s been through in that time, why would he need the B-9 now?” inquired Guitarrez.“I’ve checked into his records for the last couple of years—Melina is right,” Arona confirmed.“I still don’t think this is reason enough to justify me relieving Rojc of command.”

“I don’t know if I agree, Lucia,” replied Iv’Oor, “If he’s under enough pressure that he feels that he needs the B-9…” Her voice trailed off.“He hasn’t done anything irrational or uncharacteristic yet. Besides, I don’t think now is a good time to take action. We don’t know what to expect from the Romulans; Rojc obviously does.” Guitarrez took a sip of her drink and let her thoughts sink in.“How do you figure he knows what to expect from the Romulans?” asked Arona after a moment.

“I think there’s a fair amount of evidence that this Romulan admiral is the one that was in charge of the Romulan prison camp he was at. His demeanor in the Observation Lounge just led me to suspect he was playing a game of ‘diplomacy’. He also pretty much avoided eye contact with her.”

“And then there’s the fact that Thot Neeron attempted to kill her,” added Iv’Oor.“Glad Senishra filled us in on this little story.” Arona folded her arms.

“Come to think of it, Rojc seemed really uncomfortable when we first opened communication with the Romulans. He was pretty touchy then too.”“With all that’s going on—could it be the straw that broke the camel’s back? The re-appearance of this Romulan?”Iv’Oor and Arona stared blankly at Guitarrez.“I mean, the thing that caused him to decide he needed the medication.”

“I don’t know how accurate our speculation can be, considering that we only know a few fleeting details as relayed by Senishra.” Iv’Oor took a moment to stretch her arms. “But I do know that in all the time I’ve known him, Rojc has never shown such unease as when that Romulan first appeared on the view screen.”“When you put it like that, maybe Rojc wasn’t just using hyperbole on me in sickbay. I can’t even begin to imagine how it could affect his psyche.”“He’s under a lot of stress, but the fact remains that he hasn’t done anything irrational and that he knows how to, ahem, deal with the Romulans.” Guitarrez remained steadfast. “If and only if he puts the ship in immediate danger without a damn good plan will I relieve him.”Iv’Oor leaned forward. “He’s invoked Intelligence authority—he obviously has got something already planned. By your or Arona’s or even my rational, his plan could be that immediate danger.”“What do you think he’s got planned?” asked Arona apprehensively.

“I’m not sure. But I’m certain it at least involves returning Neeron to Breen. There’s certainly been more going on here than meets the eye with this whole Breen/Dominion thing.”“And you’re certain this came about before the Romulans showed up?” Guitarrez questioned further.“Yes. He was holding back at that first meeting after we re-took the ship. I’ve known Rojc long enough to know when he’s scheming. Why he didn’t invoke Intelligence authority then and there is a little gray, but I suspect that has something to do with his relationship with Senishra.”Guitarrez bit her lip. “How long until the B-9 clears his system?”“It was a twenty-four hour dosage I administered to him.”

“The ship probably won’t be repaired before then.” Guitarrez sighed in frustration. “Well I don’t know what to do. I’ve never like dealing with Starfleet Intelligence, and this is why—they make everything so damn unclear.”Arona looked at Iv’Oor. “Can you separate his plans from any irrationality on his part, should the need arise?”Iv’Oor shifted uncomfortably. “I…” She stopped.

“Look, Melina, I know you’re dealing with your own problems and this is a lot for you to deal with, but Nicot isn’t going to cooperate with us if we ask him.” Guitarrez took another sip of her drink.“We don’t have much other recourse than to flat out relieve him of duty,” added Arona.

Iv’Oor was silent for a moment longer. “I can’t make any promises. Rojc doesn’t exactly need medication to be irrational; I don’t claim to know exactly how he thinks. I’ll do my best, though.”“Let’s just hope it doesn’t have to come to that, though,” said Guitarrez solemnly. She finished her drink in a gulp before standing. “I’m gonna check in at Engineering before I turn in for the night.”“We could all benefit from some rest,” agreed Arona.

Rojc sat on the couch in his quarters, sipping a cup of coffee as he looked over the latest status report. Estimates put repair times somewhere between 2200 and 1300 of the day after, depending on how much help the Romulan starbase could provide. It certainly wasn’t good news, but at least it gave him time to plan out his next moves sufficiently. And planning was important at this point, least he wind up sedated in his quarters.

He sighed and leaned his elbows on his knees as he moved to the next PADD. Neeron hadn’t known nearly as much as he let on—it was the admiral that had ordered the Phantom to investigate; if one were actually paranoid enough, that could point to nearly a half-dozen admirals. Monthon seemed most likely, since, as far as Rojc could tell, that’s where the Phantom’s orders came from directly. If only—Rojc’s contemplation was interrupted by the unexpected sound of the door chime. The chime rang a second time. Far be it from Rojc not to have his suspicions as to who it was—but he spoke up anyway. “Enter.”The door opened and in walked Admiral Vallera. “Its good to see you again, Dade.” She entered the room further and the door slid shut behind her.“What are you doing here?”Vallera frowned. “Obviously you didn’t miss me. I’m hurt.”“What are you doing here?” Rojc repeated.

“Saving your ass, is what it looks like,” she replied curtly. “I’ll have you know I wouldn’t go through all this trouble for just anyone.” She sat down in a chair across from him. “No welcome. No thank you. Nothing.”“Sorry to disappoint, Vallera,” Rojc began bitterly, “But how the hell do you expect me to respond to your presence here? Starfleet isn’t concerned enough already with our so-called ‘relationship’.”“Oh please. You’re one of Starfleet’s golden boys; you could get away with murder without them so much as batting an eye. You’re paranoid, Dade,” Vallera responded.“That’s what a year of dealing with you did to me.”“You certainly never seemed to mind then, at least not after awhile.” Vallera smirked.“Those were entirely different circumstances. I’m not in the mood to put up with you.”

“Oh, so serious,” she cooed playfully, “We haven’t seen each other face to face for five years and this is how you act?” Vallera frowned after still not getting the response she wanted from Rojc. “Your hostility is beginning to annoy me.”Rojc groaned and began massaging his temples with his fingers. “I—I’m sorry.” He breathed deeply. “You didn’t come at the best time,” he grinned weakly.“What you need—,“ she got up and moved next to him on the couch, “—is to relax.” Vallera draped her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek.Rojc backed away for a moment, unusually unsure of himself. The physical aspect of their relationship wasn’t something he had ever pushed, but guiltily found himself enjoying. Matters were compounded by another though: Senishra. He turned his face toward hers. “Vallera…”“Shhhh,” she quieted him soothingly. “Don’t worry about it.” She kissed him again, this time on the mouth and more fully. Rojc’s resistance slowly faded…

The next morning, Rojc walked into Transporter Room 2, a half an hour late and closely followed by Vallera. The look on Rojc’s face clearly indicated that no one had better not say anything. Vallera’s aides, Nicot, and Iv’Oor were already present, of course. They all stepped onto the transporter pad.“Energize,” ordered Rojc.

The three Starfleet and three Romulan officers materialized in the starbase’s primary transporter room. The Romulan quartermaster was there to greet them.“Admiral, this is a severe breach of protocol! I must protest your actions!” the quartermaster said angrily as soon as the transporter cycle had finished.Vallera glared at him. “It is my decision to make, Sub-Commander. It is not your place to inform me of protocol.”The Romulan backed down and regained his composure. “My apologies, Admiral.” He motioned them off the transporter. “With all the recent border activity of late, the station been very busy. I do not know if we can meet your needs for supplies and work crews.”Vallera, who had been in the lead, swiveled around until she was face to face with the quartermaster. “Then you can re-assign as needed. The Federation vessel is your priority.”

The quartermaster frowned. He opened his mouth to protest, but apparently decided against it. “Very well, Admiral.”“Are the accommodations I specified prepared?”“Wardroom Three has been prepared for you. If you’ll follow me.”The quartermaster stopped and directed them down another hall. After reaching the end of the hallway, he opened a door to the wardroom. The officers filed in and took their seats.“Will this be suitable?”Rojc tapped at the display in front of him and nodded to Vallera.“This will do. Leave us.”The quartermaster nodded curtly and left.“So what is this all about, D—err Commander?” asked Iv’Oor.

Rojc glanced at the Romulans before replying. “Our return to Breen, Lieutenant. And Federation, therefore the alliance’s security; hence the reason for Romulan involvement.”Iv’Oor was borderline calm; any obvious misgivings she disguised. The return to the Breen system wasn’t her concern; she was certain Rojc was plotting it all along. What threw her for a loop was his involvement of the Romulans in what he clearly indicated was a Federation matter.“All right, Commander. I’ve gone along with your plans thus far, I’d like for you to elaborate,” said Vallera.Rojc set down the PADD he’d brought with him and leaned back in his chair. “We’ll be returning to Breen, of course. We won’t be returning without some backup, of course.” He nodded towards Vallera.“The Breen will detect our cloaks and have a force waiting accordingly,” General Sa’mo said flatly. “Your ‘plan’ will get us killed.”“Your ships will never enter the Breen system unless your assistance is absolutely necessary; you have nothing to worry about,” Rojc replied smugly.“I’m not following.” Nicot looked to Rojc. “Despite any power generators we get, without the third core, the Phantom won’t be at peak efficiency. We’ll never even make it to Breen if the Romulans are only worst-case scenario back-up.”Rojc smiled fiendishly. “I’ve already been in contact with four Starfleet vessels—they are currently on shake down and are operating under Captain’s discretion. The Endeavor, Akira, Venture, and Prometheus are on their way here as we speak.”Vallera’s staff, Nicot, and Iv’Oor registered obvious shock; which Vallera found amusing.“Resourceful, Commander. Very resourceful.” Vallera smirked.Iv’Oor questioningly stared at Rojc. “How?”

“I bypassed Federation comm-traffic and went straight through personal channels; in each case I knew someone on the senior staff—Commander Kintain on the Endeavor; Captain Ah’ghoel on the Prometheus; Lieutenant Calloway on the Venture; Lieutenant Alb on the Akira.” Rojc paused. “And to answer your next question, yes, they are under communications black out.”“I’m surprised you convinced the Prometheus to come, what with that ugly incident a few months back,” said Valek.Sa’mo had composed himself and became skeptical once more. “The Breen will still know what’s coming and will set up a fleet accordingly.”“No, they won’t,” Rojc said with finality. “We install cloaking devices on each of the ships.”“But—“

Rojc held up a hand. “Turns out the Breen do not detect your cloaks, rather your ships my emissions.” He slid a PADD over towards the Romulans. “Information, generously supplied by Thot Neeron. They know how to spot a Romulan signature; that’s it.”“Which means we’ll be more than a match for whatever forces the Breen can muster on short notice. Nice.” Valek nodded affirmatively.“That’s the general idea.”

“You still haven’t gotten to part two, Commander. The security threat?” asked Iv’Oor, still a bit stunned.

“The Phantom’s mission was a trap.”“Obviously,” replied Sa’mo.

Rojc frowned at the Romulan, but continued. “Thot Neeron gave me a general, albeit vague idea who engineered the trap. There is a changeling infiltrator within Starfleet, at the command level.”“Who?”Rojc sighed. “Neeron said it was the admiral who authorized our mission.”“That would be Monthon, wouldn’t it?” asked Nicot.

“That was my initial assessment too.” Rojc slid Nicot a PADD. “But—it just didn’t fit. Monthon is a Vice-Admiral, and in charge of a currently insignificant area. I find it hard to believe that he could have gotten Institute and Intelligence authority to send the Phantom to investigate.”“Admiral Gosimere.”“Acting head of Starfleet Intelligence,” added Vallera, mouth agape.“That’s right.” Rojc nodded.

“That’s absurd,” Iv’Oor blurted out. “Gosimere is surrounded by armed guards 26 hours a day! He’s been blood tested—DNA tested hundreds of times. What you’re suggesting is…is…”“Ludicrous.” Sa’mo turned to his Admiral. “This man is obviously unbalanced. I recommend we part our separate ways now.”“Its not impossible. The former head of Starfleet Intelligence was killed a few months back in an ‘accident’. There may be no official or admissible proof, but I know for a fact that the Tal Shiar was involved.” Rojc glared at the Romulan general.“That’s outrageous!” Sa’mo stood. “We don’t have to listen to these unfounded accusations by a mad man, especially after having saved his ship!”“General, sit down,” Vallera firmly ordered.“But—““Sit!”Rojc nodded. “Thank you, Admiral.”“Don’t thank me yet, Commander. I’m not far off from agreeing with Sa’mo’s assessment.”

“I don’t have time to go into all the intricacies of how, when, and why; what I do know for certain is small gaps in Gosimere’s orders as of late. They aren’t noticeable, and that’s why no one else is likely to have picked up on it. But the Phantom being here is further proof.”“General Order 56.” Nicot nodded. “I see where you’re going with this.”“General Order 56?” Valek frowned.

“All Starfleet experimental craft are to be accompanied by an escort until the ship is assigned an NCC designation. In times of war, no Starfleet experimental vessel is to be sent out into hostile space, period,” summed up Iv’Oor.“Just on the books, as of a month ago. Starfleet was deeply concerned about the Prometheus incident,” added Rojc.“How is that a ‘small gap’?” asked Sa’mo incredulously. “Shouldn’t your government have caught it?”“He’s the head of Starfleet Intelligence. His orders are over the heads of anyone who would protest, and not important enough to anyone who could do anything about them; hence, he has broad discretionary powers,” replied Rojc.Vallera frowned. “Let’s assume for a moment that you are correct, Commander. What then?”

“Quite simple. Gosimere is currently based on Starbase 63. Its not of key importance, thus less security. The warbirds de-cloak, thus distracting the starbase staff. Then in the confusion, I lead in a covert team and arrest Gosimere. That’s the brief version, of course.”“The other Federation ships are aware of this part of the plan, of course?” asked Sa’mo suspiciously.“Of course.”Vallera regarded Rojc for a long moment. “Well?” asked Rojc impatiently.

She leaned forward and folded her hands. “You have our assistance.”Rojc remained serious and nodded his head. “Now the real planning begins.”

The Phantom and its cloaked escort was a week back into Breen space and less than an hour away from the Breen home system. The trip had been surprisingly uneventful; they had run across a couple of patrols, but nothing to indicate any resistance or detection of the cloaked escort. Nerves were beginning to fray. “Shouldn’t this be more difficult?” was the thought of many a Romulan and Starfleet officer. It was most confusing to the Phantom’s crew, who had already bore the brunt of the Breen assault. Whatever terror there was in returning to the Breen home system, it was also accompanied by a odd feeling of comfort, knowing that their mission was almost complete.“Still nothing on long range,” reported Nicot, “Though I’m not yet getting a clear reading on the Breen system itself yet.”Thot Neeron, of course, had a working theory: the unexpected loss of leadership and resources had caused the Dominion sympathizers to remain in their cover—so essentially the bulk of the Breen military knew nothing of it, and did not consider the Phantom a threat.Rojc frowned. “I want to get something on the system before we get there. Take whatever steps you need to punch through the interference.”A resounding “aye sir” reverberated around the Bridge as the duty officers worked. Indeed, the crew had worked hard, and, despite the large loss of active crew, efficiently. Rojc couldn’t help but feel some pride—maybe it wasn’t technically his ship, but he’d certainly done a lot to mold it and make it ready for its long missions ahead. Both Arona and Guitarrez had similar feelings—the crew under their direct command was working well. Despite all the tragedy, perhaps in the long run, it would be for the best.He was unusually jumpy, no doubt as a result of whatever Britori-9 was still in his system—he didn’t quite have the control over his thoughts he usually had. Rojc hated being in this situation in this condition, but he held close to his opinion that no one else could carry out his plans. A side effect of the B-9, perhaps? Rojc shook away that thought: now was not the time to second guess himself. But the nagging feeling that something would go wrong, that something he hadn’t planned for would end in catastrophe kept gnawing at him.Iv’Oor was deep in her own thoughts at the helm. Rojc’s plan had been fairly straightforward—even if she didn’t agree with his assessment about Gosimere. The four Starfleet ships had bought into it; the Romulans had bought into it; her vision seemed clouded, however. It wasn’t something she could put her finger on though—maybe it was the death of her brother that was still bothering her—or maybe…Iv’Oor shook her head to break herself out of that thought; it was crazy to think, but was she feeling jealousy? Over Rojc? Somewhere inside of her, she desperately wanted to avoid these thoughts; Iv’Oor went back to paying closer attention to the Helm status display.Lieutenant Michael Sanas spoke up from Mission Ops without breaking eye contact with the display in front of him. “I’m starting to get a clear reading—Nicot, can you clear up this algorithm?”Nicot looked over the new data on his display. “One moment.” He brought up one of his many custom utilities and began running Sanas’ sensor enhancement program through it. He had the results after a few seconds. “I’ve got a working model. Implementing it now.”“There…we…go…!” Sanas replied. “We’re getting the first clear readings now.” There was a brief pause.“…Nothing…” Iv’Oor reported, “I’m not getting anything out of the ordinary.”Rojc looked at the armchair display. “Jamming?”Coleman ran a diagnostic. “No sir. Everything checks out.”

Rojc rubbed his chin contemplatively. “I can’t believe the forces we destroyed hurt them that bad.” He leaned back. “Time until we reach the system’s security perimeter?”“One minute, twenty-eight seconds, sir.”“Signal the Romulans to drop out of warp here and hold position.”

Iv’Oor complied before responding to Rojc’s order. “Message acknowledged. They’re dropping out of warp and are ready on stand-by.”Rojc paused for a moment before standing up. “Alright, people keep sharp.” He steeled himself and looked straight ahead at the view screen. “Drop us out of warp, Iv’Oor. Opening hailing frequencies.”The Phantom and her escort dropped out of warp, near simultaneously followed by the distinctive ring of the open comm channel. “Channel open, sir.”“This is the Federation vessel Phantom, returning from our fact-finding mission. We’re here to return Thot Neeron.”“Acknowledged Federation starship USS Phantom NX-50180. You are clear to proceed to Homeworld. Follow the course the beacons lay out or you will be halted. Station Relika I out.”Rojc still couldn’t quite bring himself to believe that it would be this easy. Even Neeron had expected them to mount some kind of resistance at the home system. “Follow the beacons in, Lieutenant.”It was a tense few moments before the Phantom reached orbit, but nothing unusual had happened.“We have contact with the surface, Captain. They have provided coordinates for transport.” Iv’Oor paused as she looked over the coordinates. “Same as we received when we arrived the first time.”Rojc couldn’t shake the feeling that something was or was about to go wrong. “Rojc to Transporter Room I, energize.”“Transporter Room I to Bridge, surface acknowledges receiving Thot Neeron and his prisoner.”

“Thank you, Ensign P’vov. Bridge out.” Rojc sat down. “Take us out, Iv’Oor. Once we’re clear of the system, signal the Romulans and set course for Starbase 63. Engage the cloak as soon as we’re clear of any Breen monitoring.”“Aye sir.”

Rojc’s misgivings weren’t completely unfounded. Back on Breen, Neeron and Varus were surrounded by Jem’hadar and Breen troops, with disruptor rifles leveled at them.Varus grabbed the weapon from Neeron’s holster and stepped back. “You may have foiled my plot to capture the Phantom, but you won’t be stopping my coup.” He gestured with the weapon. “Come now, Neeron. I’d hate to kill you without giving you a chance to pull off one of your fantastic escapes.”Neeron frowned. “We will see who is victorious.” He deftly tapped his communicator and vanished in a transporter beam.Thot Varus grinned. “Indeed we will, my friend. Indeed we will.”

“Commander! We have four ships de-cloaking!”“We have a positive ID—they’re Romulan.”

“There are no Romulans scheduled to arrive today. Bring the station up to Yellow Alert, just to be sure.”“Yellow Alert acknowledged, sir.”“Status on the Warbirds?”“They’re—just sitting there, sir. Weapons and shields are not powered.”“Open a channel to the lead Warbird.”“Channel open.”

“This is Commander Jei’Jaq of Federation Starbase 63 to unidentified Romulan Warbirds. Please identify.”“This is Admiral Vallera of the Imperial Warbird T’khera, part of Special Task Force 23.”“What can I do for you, Admiral?”“One moment, Commander.”“They’ve cut communications.”

“Until they re-establish, open a channel to Romulus and see if we can’t confirm the

identity of our ‘friends’ out there. Try to get any and all info.”“Aye sir.”

Elsewhere on the station, five officers led by Rojc had covertly boarded the station.“How long do your estimates give us until we are detected?” asked Iv’Oor.

“I’d say about 4 minutes tops,” replied Rojc. “Depends really how long the Romulans keep them occupied.”“Do we have a location on Gosimere yet?” asked Commander Saria Kintain.“He’s in his office, according to my tri-corder,” answered Arona.“Good. Let’s move,” ordered Rojc.

The team surreptitiously made its way through the corridors, barely avoiding several personnel. It was only a matter of a couple of minutes before they arrived at the Admiral’s office.“1…2…3…!” whispered Rojc.

The doors to the office flew open and Rojc’s group rushed through. They moved quickly and secured the room and Gosimere. It was mere moments afterwards when the computer alarm sounded.“Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert!”“What is the meaning of this, Commander?” barked Gosimere.“Drop the act, changeling. Arona, the tests if you please.”

Arona moved slowly to the Admiral’s side. She pointed a phaser in his face as she administered a blood test. The blood filled the vial. The moments passed. Nothing happened.Everyone in the room registered some degree of shock. “We seem to have a problem here, Rojc.”“I want that DNA test, Doctor.”Commander Kintain moved to his side. “This is not looking good—for us,” she whispered.“The evidence—“ he hissed back.Arona held up her tri-corder. “This is Admiral Gosimere.”Rojc was crestfallen. He glanced at the bio-readings and surveyed the room before saying anything. “Stand down.” He hit his communicator. “Rojc to Nicot, end mission. Tell the crews to stand down.”At that moment, Starfleet security officers entered the office, weapons drawn. “Weapons on the floor, hands where we can see them!”Gosimere stood up and marched over to Rojc. “Explain, Lieutenant Commander Rojc—now!”Rojc grimaced. “During the course of the Phantom’s mission in Breen space, I learned of a Dominion infiltrator within Starfleet Command. I was certain you were that infiltrator. I contacted four other ships to assist in our Breen mission and our arrest here,” Rojc paused, “I regret and apologize for my error.”“And the Romulans?”“A diversion, sir.”Gosimere regarded Rojc for a moment and turned around to the lead security officer. “Place Commander Rojc in the brig. As for the others, return them to their ships and place the ships on lock-down.”

“I don’t understand, Arona. His assessment made sense.”“Nicot, there’s not much we can do about it at this point. Stop worrying.” Arona leaned back in the chair behind her desk.“You had to miss something!”Arona glared at Nicot. “The test was very thorough, Lieutenant.”Nicot tugged at the neck of his uniform. “I’m sorry, Arona, I didn’t mean that to sound like it did. Can you please just humor me and run a full analysis on those test results and bio-readings?”Arona’s glare changed to a frown. “Nicot—“ she began. She paused and threw her arms up in frustration. “Fine, I’ll do the analysis. Now go away and quit pestering me.”

Gosimere entered the Brig and dismissed the on-duty guard. He placed the PADD he was carrying on a nearby desk and disabled computer monitoring in the room before saying anything to Rojc. “Interesting reading.”Rojc said nothing in reply.“Where should we start? Withholding of information; abuse of Starfleet Intelligence authority; ignoring the Prime Directive; ill-regard for Starfleet protocol—have I missed anything?”“I don’t believe so, sir.”“This also lists all the names of the officers with full disclosure to your source information as well, correct?”“Yes sir.”“Excellent.” The Admiral drew his phaser and aimed it at Rojc before lowering the Security force-field. “Please rise.”

The Doctor slammed her fists into her terminal as the computer blocked her attempt to open a connection to the Starbase. She cursed aloud.“Doctor,” began the Security guard as he entered the Sickbay office, “I’m going to have to ask you to stop attempting to make a transmission.”“I need to get in touch with the starbase, and now, Ensign.” She turned her desktop terminal around for him to see.The Ensign had a look of horror on his face. “Goetz to Bridge. Open a channel to the Starbase from sickbay, its an emergency.”

Rojc stood apprehensively.“Good. Now please step out of the cell.”“I don’t understand, Admiral. Surely the council hasn’t convened already to start my trial.”“There won’t be a trial, Commander. Not for you, and not for your officers.” Gosimere smirked cruelly. “In your escape attempt, you will be thwarted and gunned down.”The realization struck Rojc like the phaser bolt that hit him. He had been right. It repeated in his mind over and over as things continued to get dark. He was right.

Rojc gasped and his eyes flew open. He tried to bolt upright but was restrained by a medical force field. He glanced around. “Senishra?” he croaked weakly.“Doctor, he has awakened.”“What the--?” Rojc began.“You were shot, Rojc. You’re in Sickbay recovering. You’ve been unconscious for a week,” answered Senishra. She smiled soothingly, “You’re going to be fine.”“Gosimere--?”Arona walked up. “He was a clone, Rojc. You were right all along about him being the infiltrator.”He grimaced from the pain on his chest. “And--?” he continued hoarsely.“Starbase security responded in time to arrest him and get you transported to the Starbase sickbay. You wouldn’t have survived if they hadn’t managed to stabilize you.”Rojc grinned weakly and mouthed “thank you” before falling asleep again.“What’s his status, Doctor?”“He’s still in a regeneration cycle. Nothing to worry about, Senishra. I already told you that he’ll be fine.”

“Thank you for your report Commander Rojc.”“The Federation owes you and your fellow officers a debt of gratitude.”Rojc nodded politely. “Thank you, Council member Channing.”“One thing remains, however, Commander. Admiral Gosimere’s clone. The Dominion has never used such a tactic before. Your speculation?”Rojc frowned. “I’m not quite sure what to think. Granted the Dominion is looking for a way

around our counter-infiltration techniques, I can’t see them having the capability to conduct this kind of infiltration.” He paused. “But by that same rational, none of the Alpha Quadrant powers would have even close to the necessary ability to place a clone in such a high-ranking position.”“Are you suggesting some sort of unknown?”“Not quite, sir. While I believe there could be an outside chance that we are dealing with an unknown, it is far more plausible that the Dominion in fact is solely responsible.”“Thank you for your time, Commander.” Channing swung the gavel. “This hereby concludes the Intelligence Authority Committee’s Inquiry of case number 67543. All are dismissed.”Rojc stood and began to walk out of the council room. He was joined by Commanders Kintain and Senishra.“That’s one bullet dodged.” Kintain elbowed him gently in the ribs.“Only two more to go,” added Senishra.“I don’t think the BST is going to be quite so easy on me. And the Institute is out for my blood.” Rojc grinned.“So what are the plans for the Phantom?” asked Kintain inquisitively. “If its going to remain in service, I suspect it will need a new Captain.”Rojc laughed. “Don’t count on it, Saria.”“Hey! Why not?”“Because they will obviously choose me,” replied Senishra, raising an eyebrow.The three of them shared a laugh.“So far Command has been vague on their plans for the Phantom. All I know is she’s supposed to spend a couple months in dry dock.”“She’s a good ship, Dade, with a fine crew. They’ll send her out again.”