H.A.List - It's a Long Story

Janeway excited the turbo lift onto the bridge of the Enterprise and walked quietly on the sloped carpeted floor down to the door marked ‘Captains Ready Room’. It had been two weeks since they’d sent the ‘Xindi’ allies, scuttling home, suitably admonished, but she still felt odd walking onto the bridge and finding Tom Paris sitting in the Captain’s chair or as now ensconced in the ready room doing ‘captain like’ things. Yet along with the oddness there was a sense of pride for the ex-marque serving as acting Captain for the Starfleet’s flagship.

Unfortunately Paris reign as captain was due to end in approximately 8 hours, at which time he would hand the Enterprise back to captain Riker and join Janeway as an ordinary passenger. Shortly after that they were due to rendezvous with the ‘Friedman’ and collect ‘Miral’ Paris daughter, so she could make the journey back to earth with them.

Of the twenty-ship armada that had come to the Elizabeth’s rescue, only the Enterprise was returning to earth, the rest had been reassigned to other sectors. Even Voyager, technically decommissioned, had been sent on a mission, allowing Janeway but the briefest conversation with Chakotay. He hadn’t said it but she could tell he wasn’t happy with her decision to be with Tom Paris but he’d given her his blessing. He had also given Tom a warning as to what he would do if he hurt her again. The thing with Chakotay was, you could never tell if he was joking or not.

Inside the ready room acting captain Paris was feverishly working his way through the day’s reports. A long forgotten cup of coffee and sandwich sat congealing of to his right, while to his left, a borrowed picture of Kathryn and the twins wrestled for space along side one of Belanna and Miral.

He didn’t need to look up when the door opened; he knew her walk, her breathing, and her perfume off by heart. “I used to wonder what you spent hours upon end doing alone in your ready room back on Voyager, but now I know.” Tom raised his eyes from the pile of work and smiled as Kathryn perched herself on the edge of his desk, lent down and kissed him tenderly. “Is it really necessary for Lieutenant Hart to have his requisition for a new baby crib authorised by the captain?”

“Only if he wants the real mahogany one I helped his wife pick out yesterday.”

Tom laughed, considering Hart’s baby had arrived three months early and was lucky to be alive he didn’t’ really mind putting his signature to the request but he would be glad to hand the position of captain to one of the busiest ships in Starfleet back to Captain Riker. “I spoke with Miral earlier.”

“And?”

“She seems happy enough but when ever I tried to raise the matter of you and the twins she’d either go quiet or change the subject.”

Kathryn knew that both father and daughter were nervous about meeting again after so long apart, yet the tension over how Miral would react to the twins and visa versa was over shadowing everything. “She’s not the only one giving you the silent treatment.” Katie had barely said a word to Tom since he’d admitted that he was her father.

Tom sat back into the soft warm leather of Riker’s sumptuous office chair and sighed. “Katie and I have come to an understanding. If I don’t try to speak with her she won’t pretend to not hear me.”

“Perhaps it’s time I spoke with her?” Kathryn moved around the desk then re-perched herself next to Tom, being careful not to disturb the cold coffee and sandwich, whilst nudging the data pads aside.

The subtleness of the manoeuvre was not lost on Tom but he was too preoccupied to comment. “No, this is between me and my daughter or should I say daughters?”

Tom suddenly reached out, seized Kathryn’s hand and pulled her onto his lap. Kathryn didn’t resist, tucking her legs up and draping her arms around his neck she welcomed the embrace and relished in the kiss that followed. As Tom’s tongue entwined with hers and his hands sensually roamed her body, Kathryn wondered what captain Riker would say if he walked in on them.

A thought that also reverberated through Tom’s mind when the communicator neatly pinned to his uniform chest chirped quietly then louder as Kathryn dragged her lips and body away from his. Seeing Tom had his hands occupied she tapped the now warm metal to open the two-way com-channel.

“Captain Paris, this is Jemma Riddle, your daughter’s teacher.”

“Hi Jemma is there a problem?”

“Yes I’m afraid there is.”

Miss Riddle hadn’t said what the ‘problem’ was but as Tom and Kathryn approached the schoolrooms they passed a medic escorting a young boy with an anti-swelling pad over one eye.

Justin and Katie had been summarily enrolled in the USS Enterprise School for the duration of their journey home, much to their disagreement, but when the ‘captain’ and ‘mum’ both say jump you don’t come down again with a leg to stand on.

“Oh no! Not again!” Kathryn whispered.

“Katie did that?” Tom asked in disbelief than remembered the young girl’s quick temper.

“Yes I’m afraid she probably did.”

Upon entering the school Tom and Kathryn were greeted by a red faced Miss Riddle.

“I’m sorry captain Paris, Ambassador, it all happened so fast I couldn’t stop it.”

“What happened exactly?” Kathryn asked, scanning the busy class for her wayward daughter. She found Justin straight away trying to make himself inconspicuous at a corner computer terminal, but Katie was nowhere to be seen.

“We were doing some sentence structuring.” Miss Riddle continued. “Using different words selected at random by the computer to make correct sentences, Robert Johnson’s word….”

“…The boy we passed on the way in?” Tom indicated.

“Err…yes.” Miss Riddle flustered. “Roberts word was ‘Bastard’ and I’m afraid he used it rather tactlessly to describe Katie’s parentage.”

“I see.” Kathryn rubbed the furrows forming on her forehead as Tom looked down at his shoes.

Miss Riddle didn’t notice their discomfort though and continued the tail. “Katie obviously took offence and before I could react she lunged at the boy and punched him. I think he was stunned for a moment then he began wailing and what with the other children screaming I……”

Embarrassment abated, Tom raised his hand to stop the teacher’s flow and asked. “Where is Katie now?”

“I was just coming to that, I didn’t really know what to do so I put her in my office and called you.”

Kathryn took Miss Riddle by the arm. “That was probably the best thing to do Jemma.” The use of Miss Riddle’s first name had the immediate effect of calming the befuddled teacher down. “Don’t worry we’ll sort this out.” Then before Jemma could say anything else Kathryn turned to Tom. “Perhaps this is that opportunity to talk to Katie.”

“Most definitely.” Tom replied striding off towards the teacher’s office leaving Kathryn to deal with Miss Riddle.

The room wasn’t very big and as it was located centrally in the Enterprise saucer section it had no view port, but there was a large painting of a whale by some unknown Vulcan artist on one wall. Katie was standing facing the painting with her back to the door. She was waiting for her mother, whom she knew would give her a standard telling off lecture then a suitable punishment. Not that any punishment could distract from the pleasure she got out of pounding Johnson’s face. Yet when the door opened even without turning around she knew it wasn’t her mother, nor was it Miss Riddle returning and the tremor in her hands as she held them tightly clasped behind her back, betrayed the fear of recognising Tom Paris presence.

A turmoil of emotion chewed at Tom’s stomach as he stood silently watching his daughter proudly defying him and yet trembling in anticipation of his words. The thing was he could picture himself in the very same position, in a very similar office, waiting for his father’s words and he remembered how he had felt.

“I’m not going to shout at you Katie.” Tom moved slowly into position five paces, directly behind the girl. “How can I knowing full well that I would have done the same thing had I been in your shoes.”

Katie didn’t respond the only sign that she had heard him at all was the slight raise of her shoulders and the upward tilt of her head.

“You already knew I was your father didn’t you?”

Katie’s shoulders shrugged but she didn’t speak.”

“What was it you said. ‘You’re not supposed to be here.’ Tom folded his arms, to anyone else it would have looked like an authorative gesture but he knew it was control his own shaking. “I was confused about that remark back then, but now that I put it into context with what your mother said about you spending a lot of time with your grandfather, it makes sense.”

“So what!” Katie snarled, still with her back to Paris but unconsciously mirroring her father’s stance as she folded her own arms. “It was no big secret.”

“True but you know what Katie.” Tom’s arms dropped to his sides and his hands made fists as the anger inside him began to uncurl. “You’re not supposed to be here either!”

Confused Katie turned her head slightly so that she could see Paris in her peripheral vision.

“I don’t know if your mother ever told you this but thirty seconds after you were born you died.”

“I don’t feel very dead.” Katie risked a full glance taking in the Captain pips glinting on Tom’s uniform collar.

“That’s because I lifted you up into my arms, squeezed your chest with my hands to make your heart beat. Breathed my breath into your lungs and made them work. You’re here to day because I gave you a name and called out to you, ‘Katie, Katie breath’ and you breathed and you struggled back from deaths brink into the safety of my arms.”

“Then you left!” Katie whirled around to face her father, hands clenched at her sides. “You walked out on your bastard children and mistress and went back to your lawfully wedded wife and legitimate child.”

“There are many complicated reasons why I went away; the fact that I wasn’t married to your mother wasn’t one of them.”

Katie’s chest heaved as she tried to assimilate her emotions, then calmly as she could manage asked, “Ok, so why didn’t you come back?”

‘Why?’ a question Tom had asked himself thousands of times, yet never successfully answered. “I ….d…. don’t know.” Tom answered, stumbling over his words and avoiding his daughter’s eyes. He had too they reminded him too much of Kathryn. “I guess it just wasn’t time.”

“Ha!” Katie laughed. “What were you waiting for, your wife to drop dead?”

Pain exploded in Tom’s head, then his hands as he dug his fingernails into the palms in an effort to control his urge to strike out.

“I’ll forgive you, your words but only because your too young to know how much they hurt.”

This time Katie dropped her eyes, she knew she’d gone too far, she also knew an apology would have stuck in her throat.

Tom took a step closer to Katie. “You’re also too young to understand the complications of how someone can love two people equally and no matter how much he tries not to, end up hurting both of them.”

“I guess that makes Justin and me what? Collateral damage?” They were big words for a ten year old but Katie had heard them used by the academy cadets so many times she understood their meaning.

“I would hardly say damaged, you and your brother have never wanted for anything. Your both happy, intelligent children, with people that love you.”

“How would you know?” Katie sneered. “It’s not as if you came back to check or anything.”

“I didn’t need too; I knew you were safe, my father made sure of that.”

“But we didn’t know if you were safe!” Katie moved two steps closer to Tom as she spoke.

“We?”

“Grandfather Owen and me. He kept a track of your every move, until you went….undercover.” Katie’s expression softened as she remembered the afternoons she’d spent with her grandfather. “He didn’t like it when Starfleet sent you away, he said it reminded him of the time you were lost in the delta quadrant and it made him sad.”

“In some ways I was lost again.” Tom had always assumed the assignment had come with his fathers blessing. “But you found me, you and Justin remember in the corridor on the Elizabeth.”

“Perhaps it would have been better if you’d stayed lost?” If only she hadn’t chased Justin.

“You’re probably right, but fate had other plans for us.” Tom relaxed his pose and moved nearer to the melancholy child. “The question still remaining though Katie darling, is, why if you already knew who and where I was, are you so angry with me?”

“Because I was just getting use to not having you around.”

“That’s were we differ, I missed you everyday. I missed your first steps, your first word, your first quantum physics homework.” Tom smiled at his daughter, while a voice in his head screamed, ‘don’t be stupid reach out and give her a hug’.

“I haven’t got around to the quantum physics yet but I can gain access to a holodeck without it showing up on ship board sensors.” Katie wasn’t sure why she’d said that, it was as if some part of her wanted him to proud of her. “Tom ……father…I…”

“We just jumped to warp 9.” Paris announced interrupting Katie’s stumblings.

“How can you tell there no inertia?”

“Riker to Paris.” The com-badge on Tom’s chest burst into life and he automatically tapped it.

“Go ahead.”

“We just received a distress signal from the Friedman.”

“Go to red alert, I’m on my way.”

Tom moved away from Katie as he spoke, turning his back on the confused girl and ignoring her pleas of ‘what’s happening’ before running out of the office, school and down the corridor. Kathryn too had felt the ship accelerate and was on her way to tell Tom when the red alert sirens began to wail, seconds later she watched as he ran off without even a second glance in her direction.

Red Alert lights flashed around the Enterprise bridge giving it an eerie atmosphere, fortunately Riker had muted the accompanying alert siren but Paris still had to raise his voice to be heard over the chatter of busy crewmen.

“Report.”

Riker stood relinquishing the captain seat for Paris as he joined him centre Bridge. “We received an automated distress signal approximately three minuets ago, since then we’ve been trying to establish a communications link….”

“Sir! I’ve made contact.” The lieutenant at opps almost bounced with excitement.

“On screen.” Paris ordered, as he took up the now free command seat.

Captain Yanoff, a Braken, tall yellow skinned with a somewhat fish appearance, fizzled into focus on the bridge view screen.

“Enterprise thank the gods, we are under attack, assailants unknown, but they seem to know exactly where to hit us………..” Yanoff disappeared from the view screen as his ship buckled beneath him. In the background a female crewman could be heard screaming then the smoky bridge vanished into a haze of static.

“Get him back.” Paris called.

“Sorry sir,” The communications officer replied. “Everything is dead at their end.”

An unfortunate choice of words but Paris let it pass. “Do we have them on sensors?”

“We are close enough for an enlarged visual, bringing it up now sir.”

All heads turned to the bridge view screen once again as the image of the Friedman was brought into focus. Another smaller more manoeuvrable ship could be seen strafing her engineering deck with phaser fire. Captain Yanoff had been right they knew exactly where to hit the Starfleet ship to disable her but not to destroy.

“Scan that ship.” Riker ordered backing up Paris.

Through out the onslaught on screen, the Friedman, although equipped with four phaser banks and several Photon torpedo’s, hadn’t fired one shot in her own defence. Leaving Paris and Riker to speculate that they had either been disabled early on in the attack or before it. The later would suggest an inside job.

“Unable to scan smaller ship and the Friedman’s shield s just went down.” The report came from a rather reserved Bolian, manning the bridge science station. Normally Paris would have nodded that he’d heard him but his attention was glued to the view screen.

The Friedman seemed to lurch in space as shot after shot ploughed into her underbelly and hanger deck.

“Life signs?” Paris asked.

“442 separate bio readings but I can not be certain at this distance if they are alive or dead.”

“Life support?”

“Operational at this time.”

“Damage?”

“Mainly to her engines, aft and lower decks. There is so far only minimal damage to her crew decks or the bridge.”

The last part caused Paris stomach to flip, where would Miral be in all this? With the crew’s children, on the bridge, hiding terrified in her quarters? No! Miral wasn’t scared of anything, she’d probably go and investigate, or try and help, putting herself in danger.

“How long until we reach them?” What Paris really meant was how long before I can beam over and get my daughter?

“Three hours captain.” Riker replied. “We had been dawdling along at warp 2 in anticipation of our prearranged rendezvous, but when the distress call came in I immediately ordered warp 9.”

“I know I felt the increase.”

The ability to feel the change in speed of a starship that had little or no inertia was a trait mostly only found in captains, chief engineers and pilots. So when Paris said he felt the change in warp speed Riker a captain in his own right understood perfectly.

“The smaller ship is creating a hard dock sir.” Chirped the Bolian, adjusting the view screen to show the vessel in question attaching itself like a leach to the top of the Friedman’s saucer section. “If they break through at that point they’ll have access to the bridge.”

“Yanoff’s a good man; he will have trained his crew well. I doubt if they will take his ship that easily.” Riker said proudly.

“They shouldn’t have gotten this far that easily.” Tom leaned forward and rubbed his chin. “Something’s not kosher about this.”

“You thinking what I’m thinking.” Riker leaned into Paris so his voice wouldn’t travel around the rest of the bridge.

“That this is an inside job?” Paris eyes darted between the view screen and Riker. “Yes! But why, who or what’s on the Friedman could they possibly want?”

“Perhaps it’s the ship there after?”

“With all that damage to her engines, No I don’t think so.”

Paris leaped to his feet and swept his eyes around the bridge crew. He new most of them now by name and after there initial battle together some of their capabilities but not enough. So instead of picking out individuals he spoke to them as a whole. “I want a full run down of whom and what’s on board the Friedman. I also want schematics, crew rosters, details of her last port of call and anything else you may individually feel is relevant. Most importantly I want to know who that ship belongs too or at least where its from. You have one hour.”

“Aye sir.” Echoed every voice on the bridge before turning their heads to their tasks.

“Captain please will you join me.” Paris said over his shoulder at the still seated Riker then headed for the captains ready room.

Riker rose and followed he had an idea what Paris wanted to talk privately about so did Deanna who gave him a ‘be careful’ look, as he left.

Paris hovered in front of the desk; he didn’t want to go behind it. An hour earlier he had been sitting there talking to his daughter safe and well on the Friedman, now her life was in jeopardy. Half an hour ago he had been sitting there with Kathryn on his knee, kissing her, feeling like the luckiest man alive, now he felt like his heart had been ripped out. No he defiantly didn’t want to sit down.

“Captain?”

Riker’s call brought Paris back to the present and he spun on heals to face him. “I wish at this time to release command of the Enterprise back to you.” The words came out exactly as he had planned them only thirty seconds ago.

“Thank you.” Riker tilted his head to one side. “But I believe there is an ulterior motive in your decision.”

Paris shoulders slumped. “I have to lead that away team.”

“So you can do what? Search for your daughter?” Riker walked around the desk halting at the pile of abandoned report pads and taking in the photos.

Without turning to face Riker, Paris snapped back. “If the situation was reversed I would let you go after your son.”

“No you wouldn’t.” Riker replied calmly. He knew Paris passion could rule his heart but not always his head.

Paris whirled around. “Then as acting Captain, I’ll buck Starfleet policy and take an away team myself.”

“That wouldn’t be a very auspicious ‘end’ to your career as a star ship captain.”

“Dam it man!” Paris said slamming both his hands down onto the desktop. “I’ve already lost my wife. I’m not going to lose my daughter.”

“If we board that ship it will have to be done by the book, anything else will put not only your daughter’s life in danger but the crew of the Friedman, your away team and last but not least you. And you’re no good to Miral or those you leave here dead.”

Paris thought about Riker s words for all of two seconds then straitened up, held out his hand, looked him square in the eyes and said. “By the book then it is.”

A moment of hesitation passed before Riker reached out and clasped Paris hand. “I accept your transfer of command. Computer, enter into the log that on this day at this time Captain Tomas Eugene Paris has relinquished his command of the Enterprise back to Captain William Thomas Riker.”

“Thank you sir.” Paris half whispered gratefully.

“There is one condition though, Ambassador Janeway stays here.”

“Now that’s something we both agree on.”

“Communications are off line, shields are off line, engines are off line, life support ………”

“Damn!” Captain Yanoff thumped the console beside him as the computer trailed off line.

“Captain there breaking through!” A young ensign yelled over the background noise of burning consoles and exploding circuits.

“Prepare a line of defence, arm yourselves.” Yanoff ordered. “Banner move the wounded to the briefing room.”

“My place is at your side.” Banner protested.

“You’ll get your chance to be a hero, but right now I need to know this ship will still have a senior officer if anything should happen to me.”

“What!” Exclaimed a lieutenant next to Yanoff while trying to engage the power control off her phaser. “It won’t work this phaser is dead.”

“Mine too.”

“And this one.” Came back raised voices from around the bridge.

“They have all been drained off power.” Yanoff’s second lieutenant approached him holding out the phaser he’d just retrieved from the command decks weapons locker. “We are defenceless.”

“How? What all of them are you sure man?”

“All except this one.” Banner raised then lowered a phaser at Captain Yanoff’s chest.

“Banner what is the meaning of this?”

“This is my way of saying I resign, that I’m not going to take any more orders from self righteous do gooders like you anymore.”

Banner spat the words out with malevolence in his voice that Yanoff had not heard before from the man, but then he had only known him for three months.

“I don’t understand?”

“Oh it’s very simple any moment now my colleagues will be here and we won’t be leaving until were half a million bars of gold pressed Latinum richer.”

“You traitor!” Yanoff leaped at Banner but the younger man easily dodged him and sent Yanoff sprawling instead.

His crew moved to defend him but Banner swung the phaser around, thumbing the stun setting to kill as he did. “Anyone else like a go?” He said smiling menacingly. Yanoff’s men baffled, angry and still in shock backed down. “Good.”

Behind him the turbo lift doors whooshed open.

“Ah nice to see a plan come together.” Quagar strode out onto the bridge of the Friedman while his henchmen spread out to round up the defenceless crew.

“Quagar!” You took your time the Enterprise is nearly upon us.

Banner addressed the overweight heavily armed Ferengi like he was an old friend.

“Stop fretting we have plenty of time, and the Enterprise is no threat.”

“I demand to know what is the meaning of all this?” Yanoff asked getting to his feet and striding forwards.

“You haven’t explained?” Quagar gestured between Banner and Yanoff, taking in the blood trickling from the Captains head.

“Briefly but I don’t think it sunk in.”

Yanoff stood taller and Quagar approached him, notably only coming up to the Captain’s breastbone.

“I’m here for the gold pressed Latinum in your ships vault. Once I’ve got it I’ll leave but if anyone on this ship attempts to stop me I’ll kill them.” Quagar waved his weapon under Yanoff’s nose as if to emphasise the point.

“You can’t get into the vault, it’s got six security features and it’s impenetrable to transporters.”

“There isn’t a vault, lock or security device anywhere in the galaxy that my cohort here...” Quagar pointed to the Ferengi behind him. “..can’t open, especially considering he has the one piece that gets the whole ball rolling.”

The cohort held up a clear plastic box inside was an eye bobbing up and down in a clear liquid.

Yanoff sneered. “The Enterprise will be here before you get half of it unloaded.”

“That’s ok, my friends are penetrating your engineering section about now and planting a little device that will keep the Enterprise at bay until I’m ready but in the mean time I’ll have to secure your crew and passengers in their quarters and rec-rooms, except for those three there.” Quagar indicated at three of Yanoff’s officers with his phaser then poked Yanoff in the chest with it. “And you.”

“What do you want with my men and me?”

“I need your men as labourers and you my dear Captain Yanoff, he wants you dead!”

Quagar took a step back and Banner pressed the trigger on his phaser firing a kill shot straight at his Captains heart. Yanoff didn’t even get chance to scream and his powerless crew could only watch as his chest glowed red and the air turned pungent with the smell of burning flesh before he slumped to the floor.

“That’s enough times wasting. We have some business to transact elsewhere; you know your jobs do them.” Quagar spun on his heals and strode to the turbo lift with Banner the three Starfleet officers and four of his own men tagging along behind.

“Admiral status or no, you’re not a member of this ships crew and I’m not taking you on this away mission.”

Kathryn was standing in the middle of their quarters, hands on hips demanding Tom included her in his away team to the Friedman.

“Rescue plan don’t you mean. I’m surprised Captain Riker agreed to let you go.”

“He knows my agenda and I know my responsibilities.” This was one argument Tom was determined to win.

“Speaking of responsibilities what did you say to Katie?” Kathryn wagged her ‘mum’ finger at Tom, a gesture that just made him smile. “She’s not speaking to me now.”

Battle won, but the war wasn’t over yet. “I just told her some home truths.”

“Truths about what exactly…………….”

Behind bedroom door number two, Justin and Katie listened intently to the argument between their parents. Neither of them had experienced this kind of behaviour from adults before.

“Yeah!” echoed Justin. “What did he say?”

Katie readjusted the panel on the door control so it didn’t appear to have been tampered with. In actual fact she’d tweaked the com-system inside it into the listening device they were using to eavesdrop.

“He told me choosing between mum and his wife was the hardest thing he ever did and he totally regrets walking out on us.”

“You don’t sound like you believe him.” JJ knew his sister had issues with ‘Tom’ but didn’t quiet understand why.

“He’s preparing to leave us again isn’t he?”

“Yeah to go and rescue his daughter.”

“Huh!” Katie leaned against the wall with her arms crossed.

“He came to our rescue on the Elizabeth didn’t he?”

“Only because mum made him. He wanted me and mum to get in one of those escape pods the pirates blew up. He was only really interested in saving you.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Then ask mum.”

“No, you just want to get me into trouble to take the heat off you.”

“Shhh… listen.” Katie detected a seize fire in raised voices beyond the door.

“Captain Paris to the briefing room.” It was Captain Riker’s voice.

“I have to go Tom said his face grim.

“I’m coming too.” Kathryn announced moving for the door then added. “Not on the mission, you won that one, to the briefing. I need to know what’s going on or I’ll go crazy and I may be some help. I used to be the captain of a starship myself once.”

Tom risked a small smile. “What about the twins?”

“There grounded.” Kathryn raised her voice slightly even though she knew Katie had fixed the door so they could listen in. “Either of them leave that room and I’ll personally throw them in the brig until we get back to earth.”

“Now that sounds like a good idea.” Tom flashed a grin at Kathryn and she returned it with a smile and wink of her own. It was official their argument was forgotten, more important things to worry about.

“We have to get to that briefing.”

“How the briefing rooms off the bridge.” Justin watched as Katie strode to the far wall. “We can’t go anywhere near there, not while were on red alert.”

“Oh yes we can.” Katie opened a panel in the wall that lead to an air duct. “This leads to a main jeffries tube, we should be small enough to get through.” Katie eyed her brothers well fed torso.

“Your going to get us lost.”

“Relax I’ve memorised the route.” Katie disappeared into the air duct forcing Justin to follow if he intended to keep up his conversation with his sister.

“You can’t even remember where you left your shoes.”

“That’s because mum keep tidying up my room.”

“Huh, last I looked it needed fumigating too.”

“Shhh, there may be crew down here.”

“Oh!” Justin whispered, hot on his sister’s tail. He was enjoying the adventure as much as she was but he wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of saying so.

“We now know who and what there after.” Announced Captain Riker, once all interested parties had taken a seat in the briefing room, or above it, in the case of the two small individuals, secreted in the air-venting shaft. Riker hadn’t minded Janeway being present, agreeing that he input maybe just as valuable as anyone’s but confirming casually that she would not be included in any mission.

With this thought firmly fixed in her mind she sat close beside Paris and listened intently as Riker continued.

“The Friedman it would seem was recently refitted with one of the largest and most secure vaults in the federation and is currently transporting half a million bars of pure gold pressed latinum.”

“The Ferengi?” Janeway said raising a questioning eyebrow. A trait she’d picked up from her best friend, a Vulcan named Tuvox.

“A Ferengi Mercenary named Quagar to be exact.” Riker confirmed. This sent a wave of muttering around the people present and above. “The leader of a particularly nasty bunch the federation has been seeking for sometime. They have eluded us due to the sophisticated cloaking device integrated into their ship. They also have the best arsenal latinum can buy and no compunction when it comes to using in.”

Riker paused as memories of news reports concerning missing ships and ravaged colonies passed through everyone’s mind.

“There leader is no fool either.” Geordie la forge commented. “He was educated on earth at Harvard no less, under some kind of exchange student programme.”

“Anyway he’s got the Friedman and I bet you my warp core he’s going after the latinum.”

“What about the passengers and crew.” Deanna asked.

“The last ship he attacked was found stripped and floundering in a nebula with her crew locked in the hold freezing to death. The one before that an Andorian freighter didn’t fair so well, her warp core breeched, no survivors.”

“His unpredictably and his disregard for the lives of anyone around him is what makes him so dangerous.” Lieutenant Sol sitting to Riker’s left added.

“But if he’s only after the latinum, he's going to be long gone before we get there.” Another of the officers present said.

“Not necessarily.” Responded Riker, sitting down now that the discussion was open. “The Friedman’s vault is built from Katumn.”

“You can’t beam through Katumn,” chipped in Paris. “He’d have to unload the latinum by hand.”

“That’s if he can even get into the vault.” Riker smiled slightly. “Did I mention it has been tested by the best and is deemed un-crackable?”

“He may not need to ‘crack it’ if there is a saboteur on the Friedman.” Said Lieutenant Sol.”

“I hope your wrong, because if he knows were coming, once he's got the latinum, he’ll probably blow up the ship for sure.”

“No!” Janeway spoke for the first time. “You said Quagar was no fool, if that is the case he won’t blow up the Friedman because that would leave us free to chase him. He’s more likely to leave the ship in some kind of peril, so that we’ll be too tied up rescuing her crew to go after him. Lives being more valuable than latinum.”

“I hate to agree with you.” Riker said. “But I think your right. Paris your priority just changed. On boarding the Friedman you’re to seek out and destroy what ever plan is in place to disable her.”

“Aye sir.”

“I don’t care if the Ferengi escapes we can always catch him another time. If you want to save Miral you have to save the ship.”

“Id rather beam over than take a shuttle, element of surprise an all.”

“That might be a bit difficult.” Geordi jumped in. “Quagar has extended his own ship’s shields around the Friedman. This means there not at full strength and a concentrated transporter beam could get through but not undetected. Likewise we couldn’t get anyone out either.”

“CAPTAIN!” Lieutenant Barclay burst through the briefing room door. “Captain Paris.” He corrected, stopping short when Riker’s eyes levelled upon him. “She’s not alone.”

“Who? What?” Paris responded confused.

“Miral, she may not be alone. I’ve been checking the Friedman’s passenger list and there’s a Dr Schweitzer on board.”

“You don’t mean our Dr Schweitzer.” Janeway asked.

“Yes, Voyagers old EMH.” Barclay confirmed.

“What’s he doing on the Friedman?” Paris enquired, trying to hide his delight at the news.

“He’s been testing some equipment for me, were supposed to rendezvous back on earth, looks like he was planning a surprise meet up instead.”

“If he’s on board, he’ll find a way to get to Miral and keep her safe.” Kathryn leaned closer to Tom as she spoke.

“I hope your right.” Worry over shadowing his momentary delight at learning his old friend was around.

“I’m sure of it.” Kathryn placed her hand over Tom’s on the table and squeezed it. She knew everyone was watching but didn’t care. After so many years hiding her feelings it felt so liberating to be able to display them without fear of recourse.

“Captain Riker.” Lieutenant Summer’s voice came over the com-channel. “I’m receiving a recorded message from the Friedman.”

“Put it on screen in here.”

The face of a large, Ferengi filled the view screen making Riker glad he hadn’t had the image displayed on the bridge’s main screen. He recognised the green tinged alien as Quagar.

“Captain Riker of the Enterprise I know your out there and I know your coming after me, but take heed this will be your only and last warning. If you try to impede my business in any way I will start executing people and I’m not talking about the senior officers, there prepared to die. I’m talking about the pretty young ensigns or maybe even some of the civilian passengers. I’m sure the Federation doesn’t wont there deaths on its squeaky clean hands. Oh! And if your thinking of a surprise attack, think again.”

Quagar held up a squat, knuckled, hand, holding a black box. “I’ve rigged the warp core with a little device and I have the control. One laser beam, one transporter signal, any shuttle deployment and I blow us all to the gods.

All I want is the latinum, stay out of the way and when I’m done you get everyone back safe and sound.” Quagar laughed and the transmission ended.

Riker slapped the screen controls and stood up. “What ever plans you hand Mr Paris, there off.”

“We can’t just sit here and do nothing?” Paris exploded, pushing his chair back and raising to his own feet. “You know he’s not going to leave that ship in one piece.”

“I can’t risk 152 lives by trying to board her.” Riker blew out hot air. “Not without Starfleet’s authorisation.”

“Then call them.” Paris challenged.

“Don’t tell me how to do my job Mr Paris.”

Kathryn surreptitiously tugged Paris arm, a warning he was going too far. It worked because Paris next move was one he would never have considered ten years ago.

“I apologize.” Paris said standing to attention before Riker.

“Apology accepted.” Riker responded nodding in understanding. “I know you’re concerned for your daughter but I have to consider the whole ship.” Riker raised his eyes to the other officers. “I want this ship prepped for a mass rescue, what ever befalls the Friedman I want a quick, efficient, extraction of her crew and passengers. People you know your jobs. Dismissed.”

As everyone rose to move Riker returned his gaze to Paris. “Mr Paris my office.”

“Can we follow?” Justin whispered to his sister from his hiding place in the air vent. He wanted to see or rather hear what happened next between his father and captain Riker. Challenging a superior officer was not looked upon lightly in Starfleet and he had just challenged one of the most prestigious captains ever.

“Sorry.” Katie sighed in response; secretly she wanted to be a fly on the wall too. “It’s sealed for security.”

“Damn!” Justin swore.

“Come on we have to get back before mom.”

“Do you think the Doc’s really on the Friedman?”

“I hope so for Miral’s sake, but I wouldn’t want anything to happen to him, he’s only a hologram he’s not indestructible.”

“I wish we could help?”

“Don’t be daft come on, mom can move fast.” Katie tugged Justin’s sleeve then slid down a short shaft into the Jeffries tube.

Behind her unseen a smile spread across JJ's face and he began to formulate a plan.

Contacting Starfleet command took no time at all, but Admiral Taggart could offer very little help. The nearest ship was a day away and Starfleet’s protocols on hostage situations were zero tolerance.

“I understand your position Captain Riker.” Admiral Taggart said with genuine sympathy. “It’s not an easy decision under any circumstances.” Taggart shook his head. “You believe he will blow up the Friedman?”

“If he had too, although I’m sire he has his own escape plan in that eventually already worked out. He’s more likely though to disable the Friedman in such a way that the Enterprise is tied up rescuing crew while he makes a clean getaway.”

“And there’s no chance he’ll not spot a small team beaming aboard?”

“There’s every chance, but can I take that risk. This is a man who will carry out his threat to kill without compunction and with 23 civilians on board, four of whom are children, including captain Paris daughter, I’m unsure as to weather it would be a sound manoeuvre.”

“Paris?” Taggart said addressing Tom standing beside Riker.

“Sir.”

“Admiral Paris son?”

“Yes sir.”

Taggart already new this he was just playing for time.

“That would make the child in question ‘Miral’ I believe, Admiral Paris granddaughter?”

“yes sir.” Paris repeated, slowly loosing his patience with the grey haired Admiral.

Taggart breathed deeply, looked down at his tightly stapled hands then back up to Riker. “Prepare a surgical strike team Captain, your primary targets will be the bridge and warp core, but wait until the last possible moment when he will be thinking he’s got away with it and hopefully not expecting any trouble.”

“I understand.” Riker said confirming the order.

“There’s to be no heroic personal rescues, your job is to secure the ship.” Taggart’s eyes flitted to Paris then back to Riker. “Good luck Captain.”

“Aye sir.” Riker signed off then stood to face Paris. “You have your orders, organise with Lieutenant La Forge on the best way in and liaise with my chief of security over the teams. You may head one yourself but as Admiral Taggart said no personnel rescues, at least not until you know the ship is safe. After that you’re on your own.”

“Aye sir.” Paris swiftly headed for the door but before it could open Riker spoke again.

“And Tom, good luck.”

Paris gave Riker one of his famous smiles then dismissed himself.

“Sis wait?” Justin called.

They were still in the Jeffries tubes making there way back to their quarters. “You know how you can transport from one holodeck to another without the sensors picking you up?”

“Yeah.” Katie replied casually only half listening to her brother.

“Well would it work from one ships holodeck to the other?”

“In theory I guess if we were in transporter range….but..” Katie stopped and turned to face JJ. “No! It would be too dangerous.”

“But not impossible?” Justin knew his sister had certain abilities.

“Maybe, but why would I want to?”

“You heard Riker he’s not going to let dad go and rescue Miral, but we could.”

“You have been spending way too much time as Captain Proton. Were just two kids what could we do against pirates and thieves?”

“I don’t intend to tackle the bad guy’s just get aboard grab Miral and get off again.”

Katie folded her arms defiantly. “Like I said why would I want to do that?”

“First because she’s our sister.”

“Half sister.” Katie corrected.

“And secondly if we rescue her dad wouldn’t have to go away again and we could be a real family altogether.”

“HUH!”

“Sis I mean it I want us all to be together like a proper family.”

Katie saw a look on JJ's face that told her he wasn’t fooling. “A big sister would be cool she could help me keep you under wraps and if we rescue his precious ‘other’ daughter he would be beholden to me for a very long time.”

“You mean ‘dad’ don’t you. Why won’t you call him that?”

“You wouldn’t understand.” Katie made to turn away from Justin but he grabbed her arm and spun her back around.

“Come on sis please.” He begged. “We don’t have much time before mom notice’s were gone and comes looking.”

“Ok.” Katie sighed. “It probably won’t work anyway so what’s the harm in trying?”

“Great which way?”

Janeway didn’t go straight back to their quarters she wanted to know how things went with Starfleet first so she hung back on the bridge. In her heart she was glad the rescue mission had been temporarily called off but she knew at some point Riker would be sending in an away team and that Tom would wrangle his way onto it. She just hopped it would all go down by the numbers and he wouldn’t have an opportunity to play the hero and get himself killed.

Unfortunately Tom wasn’t the one she needed to worry about, due to Katie’s navigation skills she and Justin had reached the holodeck in record time and completely undetected.

“The holodecks integral power supply should be enough for the boost needed to get through the weak shielding around the Friedman.”

Katie had opened the holodeck controls and spread several parts out on the floor; Justin preyed they weren’t important and watched impatiently as he called up vital schematics of the Friedman from the bridge computer, all undetected, before tying them into the holodecks transporter buffer.

“If this doesn’t work what will happen to us?” Justin asked, a little worriedly.

“I take it you mean our transporter patterns?” Katie asked while intently studying the data on a compad screen.

“Yeah, what else?”

“We’ll if mom or ‘dad’ finds out what were doing you and me will be grounded for life, but if this really doesn’t work our patterns will be scattered and we will be for all intense and purpose dead.”

“Oh……grounded sounds nice.”

“To late I’m ready.”

Miral came around to find the holo program she had been running frozen. This was quite fortunate since she was surrounded by Targ’s and mauler beasts. Normally not a problem but with the safety’s off things could have been nasty.

The fact that the safety’s were turned off was also why Miral now sported a huge lump to the back of her head and had just spent two hours unconscious.

“Computer stasis?” Miral called out rising to her feet and walking towards were she knew the door to be.

“Holo program interrupted at approximately 15.36 ship time, current time 17.42.”

That’s odd thought Miral the holodeck was booked by Lieutenant S’ogul at 1600 hours and he hated to be kept waiting by the previous occupant, something she had found out on her first day aboard. So why hadn’t he used his officer privileges and stopped the program this time.

“Computer end program.”

“Unable to comply, program locked by external power surge.”

“Oh great now I’m in trouble, I’ve broken the holodeck, no wait, external power surge! Computer exit?”

Much to Miral’s relief the holodeck archway appeared and the double doors swished open to reveal a deserted corridor illuminated only by flashing red alert lights. Stepping cautiously closer to the doors Miral peered out. Nothing not a sound in any direction and with her Klingon blood she could hear a compad drop 300 yards away.

The holodeck wasn’t one of the busiest places especially if the ship had gone into battle mode but she should have heard something even if it was only the turbo lift whizzing past. Stepping back onto the holodeck, Miral spoke to the computer again.

“Computer ships stasis?”

“Unknown, main computer access is unavailable.”

“Location of ensign Jarrow.” The only crewmember to give her the time of day since she came on board.

“Unable to comply, internal sensors are not responding.”

Something was wrong and when something was wrong on a starship there were three places to be. One the engine room, not Miral’s forte, even considering who her mother was. Two sickbay, but not if you wanted to know what was going on the doc was usually the last to be informed and third was the bridge. Which would normally be out of bounds, even more so under red alert conditions but it was the best place to start.

The holodeck was three floors below the bridge and at the rear of the saucer section, so it took Miral a good five minuets to navigate her way through the dim and sometimes pitch black corridors. Fortunately the turbo lifts were still working so she didn’t have to crawl through the Jeffries tubes but every step through the deserted ship got harder and harder as she began speculating on the crew’s fate.

The Borg first sprung to mind, then the dominion, after that she began imaging new alien threats, maybe even something that might have come aboard and eaten everyone. She looked for signs of a battle or weapons fire, expecting any moment to fall over a mutilated body.

The bridge was no less comforting; when the turbo lift doors opened she was assaulted by the smell of chard wiring and burnt plastic consoles. She also had to waft the smoke out of her eyes to see the devastation beyond.

“H……hello.” Miral called then coughed as she breathed in the fumes. “Anyone here?” Taking a few steps she reached the rear handrail, it was, then that she saw him. His body had rolled against the command chairs hiding him from immediate view but captain Yanoff’s broken figure was unmistakable.

‘Not eaten but was he alive?’ Miral bounded down the bridge steps and slid to a halt beside his body. He was lying on his stomach and she got a look at the phaser exit wound on his back before rolling him over and gasping in horror at the even more gruesome entrance wound on his front.

“Right through.” Miral commented out loud and then jumped as Yanoff moved and spluttered.

“Captain?” Miral bent over the fallen man. “What happened?”

“Pirates.” He gasped. “Who? Miral?”

“Yes.”

“Hide.”

Well that’s what she thought he said, the blood oozing up from his lunges made it difficult to understand him. She was about to ask him to repeat when a familiar sensation caught her by surprise.

“Miral! What are you doing here?” Voyagers EMH asked upon materializing in a transporter beam behind her.

“Doc?”

“The very same.”

Miral launched herself at the doctor hugging him so hard she hurt her own bruised ribs.

“Where did you come from?”

“Sickbay, I’ve been hiding out, pretending to be the ships EMH.”

“Hiding from the pirates?” Miral asked.

“There not pirates, there Ferengi latinum thieves.”

“Latinum?”

“I’ll explain later captain Yanoff needs treatment.” The Doc produced a medical tricorder and ran it over the captain’s injuries.”

“Where are the rest of the crew?”

“Locked up in various areas around the ship, apart from the five injured I have under my care in sickbay.”

“Is the Enterprise coming? Is my dad going to rescue us? Did you know I was on board? Did someone send you here? Is…..”

“Whoa! Too many questions.” The EMH put his equipment away then turned to Miral, taking hold of the young girl’s shoulders. “Yes I knew you were on board but no, no one sent me. I over heard one of the Ferengi out side sickbay talking about the captain, so I came to investigate. As for a rescue by your dad or the Enterprise I don’t know communications are down.”

“Oh.” Miral looked briefly crest fallen then began her questioning of the doctor again. “How did you get out of sickbay are the transporters working? How will we get back past the Ferengi?”

The doctor knew her questioning was just the girl’s way of dealing with the situation. However out of desperation he placed a hand over Miral’s mouth and another to his lips to recommend she keep quiet.

“The Friedman’s transporters are under Quagar’s control.” Miral took a breath preparing to speak but the doctor beat her to it. “Quagar’s the chief Ferengi pirate.”

With her own lips tight together Miral nodded.

“I got here using a personal transporter device I’ve been testing for Starfleet’s engineers.” The doctor showed Miral the box attached to his belt.

“Weren’t they abandoned because people kept rematerializing inside walls and stuff?”

“Yes but this is a new version. I was supposed to meet up with commander La forge of the Enterprise back on Earth to let him know how it was performing. But when I learnt you were meeting up with them via the Friedman I thumbed a lift.”

“Do you have one I can use?” Miral asked getting excited at the prospect of being able to pop around the place like a character on the holodeck.

“No I don’t.” The doctor said sternly.

“Oh!” Miral sulked.

“But I can transport one other person along with me so long as they are standing close. It limits my range but I could make it from here to sickbay in three jumps.”

“Only one!” Miral didn’t like the sound of what was coming next.

“Yes. This means unfortunately that I’ll have to leave you here while I take captain Yanoff to sickbay.”

“How long will that take?” Klingon blood or no she didn’t like the idea of being left alone with Ferengi raiders roaming the ship.

“Not long I promise but you have to promise to stay here and wait for me.”

Looking deeply unhappy Miral signed crossing her heart and did a Vulcan salute. The doctor saluted her back then gathering up the captain activated his transporter.

After the blue shimmer faded, Miral found herself alone again with just the flickering consoles for comfort. Getting to her feet, she did a tour of the bridge resisting a chance to sit in the captain’s chair she headed for his office instead.

With only the emergency lights working the room was quite dark and didn’t look too appealing from the doorway. So when something on the back wall behind the desk caught Miral’s eyes it was with some trepidation that she entered. Fortunately the reward out weighed the fear, for on the wall was a display of at least 20 federation and alien hand phasers.

Each rested on its own bracket with a label underneath declaring make and model. The older ones looked quite bulky and she doubted weather they would be safe to fire, if indeed they did, and the alien ones weren’t all configured for a five-digit hand. The phaser that caught Miral’s eye though was right in the middle and glinted at one corner where the sparking consoles from the bridge cast light upon it.

‘HAND PHASER TYPE 2 Presented to Lieutenant Jack Yanoff by Captain James T Kirk, for his bravery under fire.’

“Oh my!” Gasped Miral, she knew if the phaser was real it was worth a small fortune in latinum but that didn’t interest her. It was the fact that the Phaser had once been in the hands of the great James T Kirk that impressed and left the half Klingon speechless.

Reaching out a hand Miral wrapped her sweaty fingers around the handgrip and lifted it up. Then she heard it, the turbo lift coming to a halt and the door opening. Before she had time to think twice, Miral ducked under the Captain’s desk out of sight. The phaser was still clutched to her chest and using it as a focal point she calmed her breathing down and listened to the voices beyond the open door.

“Quagar’s seeing ghosts there’s no one here.” Dale said sneer-fully, striding out onto the bridge of the Friedman.

“He’s seeing ghosts alright.” Replied Nosat leaning over the upper tiers bar. “Ones with gold braiding.”

“Eh!”

“Captain Yanoff, he’s gone!” Nosat elaborated for his baffled partner descending to the command area and pointing at the bloodstain on the bridge’s blue carpet.

“Well paint me with liquid latinum, so he is.” Dale bounced down the bridge steps on his short stubby legs.

“He can’t have gone far with a whole that big in him.” Nosat commented, looking around the dark smoky bridge.

“Look the door.” Dale nodded his head in the direction of the captain’s office.

“You go.” Nosat pushed his comrade from behind towards the open door.

“Why?” The Ferengi asked glancing back over his shoulder.

“Because I’m senior.”

“No your not.” Dale challenged.

“Well I’m older and your closer so go.” Nosat pushed his Ferengi friend again but this time a little less friendly.

Dale gave up and moved cautiously towards the room peering tentatively around the frame before declaring the room was empty.

“Go inside and take a proper look.” Nosat ordered, making himself comfortable in the captain’s chair and smiling smugly.

Dale growled then stepped into the office, waving his phaser around in front of him as he did a cursory search. Missing the young girl crunched behind the desk he turned back to the door and called out. “He’s not here.”

It was to be the last thing he ever said, because at that moment Miral leaped from her hiding place aimed the phaser and fired. Instantly the Ferengi froze to the spot, glowed red, fizzed, dissolved around the edges, and then disappeared completely.

Terrified and amazed at what she had just done Miral looked down at the weapon, the unfamiliar setting was pushed all the way up and glowed red. She’d never seen a federation phaser do that before or even knew one could. This one must have been altered by Captain Yanoff or his grandfather but she didn’t have any more time to speculate because the other Ferengi having not received an answer to his shouts of ‘hurry up’ was fast approaching.

Decision time upon her Miral slid the leaver down until it glowed yellow then aimed at the doorway. This time she hit the unsuspecting Ferengi in the head, the result of which was even more dramatic than before. As Miral watched, the large lobed green head glowed first yellow then orange then began to expand until finally it exploded. Ducking back beneath the desk Miral hid again as steaming globs of flesh, goo and bone rained down upon it.

“Miral?” Voyagers EMH called out. He’d returned to the bridge just in time to witness the Ferengi goo fly and ran to the office expecting the worst. But Miral was fine; she was standing on the captain’s desk with a huge smile plastered across her face.

The smile he recognised as belonging to his friend Tom Paris, the triumphant stance was Belanna down to a tee, and was just about to congratulate the girl when he remembered Belanna was dead and Paris was on the Enterprise waiting to be reunited with her so instead he said. “Miral come on lets go before more come.”

“Doc did you see, did you see what I did!” Miral chanted excitedly, jumping off the desk. “Wait till I tell dad!”

The doctor drew the young girl close and said nothing as he activated the transporter control. The phaser by now was secreted on her person beyond even the holograms ability to find.

Justin slowly uncrossed his fingers then opened his eyes one at a time before letting out the deep breath he had taken just prior to the transporter beam taking effect. Beside him Katie whooped with delight.

“It worked, it worked were on the Friedman.”

“How can you tell?” Justin took a good look at their surroundings; they appeared to be in a jungle clearing with several frozen beasts lurking in the bushes around them. On the floor were various daggers, swords and weapons he’d never seen the like of before.

“Oh yea of little faith.” Katie said with her nose in the air. “Computer exit.”

“Wait won’t that show up on the internal sensors?”

“Once we set foot out of this doorway we will show up on the internal sensors.”

“Hell I hadn’t thought of that.” Justin scratched his head.

“So much for your plan. I bet you don’t even know where Miral’s room is?”

“Do you?”

“No but I bet the computer does.” Katie moved closer to the doors computer access. “Computer location of Miral Paris?”

“Unable to access main computer at this time.”

Damn.” This time Katie swore.

“Now what?”

“Shush I’m thinking.”

“Well I’m going to the bridge.” Justin announced heading for the door.

“But if the Doc has Miral he’ll probably take her to sickbay, remember what mom told us during the attacks on the Xindi allies, about the sickbay being the safest place?”

“Miral’s half Klingon she wouldn’t want to be safe, she’d go looking for the fight just like captain Proton and anyway the bridge would be the most logical place to start.” Justin stepped out of the holodeck got his bearings and headed off.

Not wanting to be left behind Katie chased after him.

Miral followed the EMH as he checked his patients, she’d not left his side since there safe arrival in sickbay and he was beginning to wonder if the Ferengi incident hadn’t upset the girl more than she was letting on. He also needed to find something to keep her occupied but so far she hadn’t proved to be a very effectual nurse and kept asking questions about when they would be rescued. In desperation he drew her across to the diagnostic computer interface and called up some schematics of the Friedman.

“What are you doing?” Miral asked mystified.

“The computer main frames not responding but the internal sensors are so with a little help from the medical database I or rather we should be able to get a rudimentary display of where everyone is, even those without combadges.”

“Won’t Quagar have thought of this too?”

“Not necessarily he’s got more ‘pressing’ things on his mind.”

The doctor smiled at his own joke as the computers view screen flashed up a deck-by-deck plan of the Friedman, across the decks red dots began to appear each represented a person on the ship.

“There all red!” Exclaimed Miral. “How do we tell Quagar’s men from ours?”

“The medical diagnostics only register body heat but we can easily extrapolate who is who. For instance this group in the mess hall are most probably crew, any one locked in their quarters can be ruled out as well.”

“I get it, so these four near engineering are Quagar’s men?”

“Most defiantly I’ve been there; he’s rigged something to the warp core.”

“A bomb?”

“I don’t think so but let’s not worry about that right now.” The doctor cursed his big mouth.

“Ok if you say so.”

Now the doctor was worried it wasn’t like Miral to give up so easily on a subject, he was going to have to keep a close eye on the girl. “See how the Vulcan’s are brighter than the others?” The doctor continued one eye on Miral. “That’s because they have a higher body temperature, but this one and these are dull orange.”

“Yeah?”

“They are probably the Ferengi; they have a lower body temperature.”

“What’s this black square?” Miral asked becoming interested.

“That’s the vault. Sensors can’t penetrate it so it reads as a void and that orange dot next to it is probably Quagar.”

“One, two, three…..I count six others in the room with him.”

“There either his cohorts or federation crew he’s using to unload the latinum.”

“Oh no!”

“What?”

“The bridge!”

Two red dots moved across the Friedman’s bridge.

“Dale where are you?” A particularly ugly red dot named Nada bellowed. “Nosat?”

“Over here!” The other just as ugly red dot yelled, indicating Captain Yanoff’s office where a foot was preventing the door from closing.

Nada and Frank had been sent to investigate a report of phaser fire and the where about of Dale and Nosat. They weren’t the brightest of the Ferengi mercenaries but that’s how Quagar liked his men.

As they approached the door it slide open to reveal the grisly sight inside.

“Quagar we have trouble.” Frank reported over his communicator. “Captain Yanoff’s gone, Dale is missing and Nosat, well Nosat is dead.”

“That’s not possible Banner shot Yanoff, I saw him do it.”

A young ensign bent double from the weight of the latinum bars he carried, laughed.

“What’s so funny hu…man?” Quagar asked, yanking the ensign by his hair and pushing him to his already buckled knees.

The other three officers being forced to unload the Friedman’s vault stopped work and cowered.

“Captain Yanoff’s a Bracken.” The Starfleet officer explained still smiling through his pain. “They have two fully functioning hearts and several other duplicate organs, making them dam difficult to kill.”

Quagar swiped his bulky Ferengi phaser across the ensign’s head sending him sprawling unconscious to the floor, blood spurting from the gash to his scalp.

“Back to work!” Quagar yelled at the others and his men joined in, prodding them with weapons they weren’t afraid to use.

“Why didn’t you know this?” Quagar turned around to face down Banner or rather up as Banner was two feet taller than the Ferengi pirate.

“I did, I mean I forgot.” Height it would seem counted for nothing. “Hell! He looked dead to me.”

Quagar scowled. “Nada, Frank, he can’t have got far find him and make sure he’s dead this time.”

“Yeah.” Nada sniggered then turned to his mate. “This will be fun.”

“A hunt yeah!” Frank echoed, chuckling like a school kid.

Justin and Katie headed for the Friedman’s bridge through her empty and sometimes dark corridors.

“I still say the Doc’s probably in sickbay and we should go there first.” Grumbled Katie for about the fourth time.

“Well I say different and I’m not only older than you but this was my idea so we go to the bridge first.” Justin carried on for a few paces then spun around to face his sister and point a finger at her. “Anyway were supposed to be looking for Miral not the Doc and she’d defiantly go to the bridge.”

Hands on hips Katie responded, “When did you become an expert on our half sister, and your only half a minuet older than me and without my transporter fix up you wouldn’t even be here so there.” Childishly she stuck out her tongue but when movement registered in her peripheral vision she pulled it back and gasped.

Justin saw it as well and reacting quicker than his sister tugged her around the corridors bend just as two ugly Ferengi trudged past.

“I told you the ship would be sealed, Quagar doesn’t trust any of us.”

“You know he’s keeping eighty percent for himself?”

“He is the boss.”

“So eighty percent………”

“Phew that was close!” Justin let out a sigh of relief.”

“This way quick I want to see that seal.” Katie said disappearing down the intersection before her brother could object or grab her back.

“Your not dad yet, you know.”

“Magic fingers run in the family mom said so.”

Katie couldn’t even find the hidden control panel never mind attempt to open the air lock between the Friedman and the Ferengi pirate ship so they gave up and headed for the bridge.

“See I told you no ones here.” Katie gloated.

“No one alive anyway.”

Katie joined JJ to investigate the green goo seeping out of the captain’s office and put a hand over her nose to cut off the foul smell beginning to emanate from the headless body.

“Whoa look a type nine phaser rifle. I’ve only ever seen fakes of these the holodeck protocols wont let me have a real one.”

“I know how to get around that.”

“Care to share sis?” Justin asked bending down and prying the weapon out of the Ferengi hand.

“No!”

“I knew you were going to say that.” Wiping some of the goo on his shirtsleeve Justin hefted the weapon up to his shoulder and aimed it at Katie.

“J.J put that down now before you shoot someone.” Katie ordered sounding just like her mom.

“That’s the whole idea sis.” Justin shook his head, lowered the gun to his hip then headed for the turbo lift.

“Where are you going?” Katie asked arms folded.

“Sickbay.” Justin replied casually.

“Finally!” Katie threw her hands up in the air then followed her brother off the bridge and away from the decomposing pirate.

“Doc why do those two dots have numbers beside them?” Miral touched the screen and enlarged the picture.

“Those are sub dermal ID tags the medical sensors must have picked them up.”

“Sub-dermal?” Miral queried.

“The federation use them to keep track of important people like presidents, diplomats, ambassadors and …..there children. What! How?”

“Doc! Do you know who they are?”

“I should do I personally implanted them in Justin and Katie Janeway.”

“But there supposed to be on the Enterprise?”

“Computer when did ID tags JJ1280 and KJ1290 board the Friedman?”

“ID tags JJ1280 and KJ1290first registered approximately 31 minuets ago on holodeck 2.”

“Holodeck 2, that’s doesn’t make sense that’s were I was?”

“That’s unimportant right now look, there headed straight for two of Quagar’s men.”

“Wait?” Miral called as the Doctor stepped back and activated his personnel transporter. Then without thinking she jumped into his arms. Caught in the mini pattern buffer she clung on as the Doctor dematerialised taking her with him.

Nada and frank approached the T-junction casually not really expecting anyone least of all two children to appear at the other end.

“What the!” frank exclaimed stopping in his tracks.

Katie and Justin likewise froze.

“Kids where did they come from?” Nada said in disgust.

“You know what these humans are like for bringing there families along.”

“They should be at home in the fields and factories earning there keep.” Nada screwed up his nose like he had just smelt something nasty.

“Well SHOOT them already!” Katie screamed, flapping her arms in a panic as JJ tried to prime the weapon he carried.

“I’m trying its covered in goo.” JJ put the rifle to his shoulder and squeezed the trigger.

What occurred next at normal speed took only seconds but as Katie watched, her brain slowed it down. Justin, who was originally standing beside her and about four feet from the wall, suddenly flew backwards through the air smashing his head against the titanium plating with a resounding clunk before slumping to the floor unconscious.

The phaser beam from the rifle on the other hand travelled at an astonishing speed in the opposite direction, hitting Nada square in the chest, sending him sliding six feet backwards down the corridor were he remained motionless and dead. Katie screamed, then screamed again as she fled.

Seconds later the EMH and Miral materialised at Justin’s feet with their backs to the remaining Ferengi. However, the Doc was prepared and instantly spun around to level the phaser he’d personally recharged at the bewildered pirate and fired.

Frank dropped to the deck silently.

“He’s alive.” Miral declared, letting go of Justin’s gooey arm.

“I’ll take him to sickbay, you get her.” The doc said scooping up the boy. “And Miral don’t ever do that again.”

She knew what he meant and replied. “I won’t so long as you remember to take me with you next time.” Then she sped off after the still screaming and running Katie Janeway.

Responding to her frantic message Tom Paris joined Kathryn Janeway outside the Enterprises holodeck 2.

“What is it, what’s wrong?”

“We have a problem.” Kathryn passed the floor in front of the archway entrance. “Katie and Justin are missing; the computer states there last know location as this holodeck. I’ve checked its empty but it’s also been tampered with, see.”

Kathryn drew Tom onto the holodeck to where its inner control panel had been eviscerated.

“Missing I don’t…what the…….. who did this?” Paris stumbled to complete a sentence as he followed the trail of tools and broken circuits across the floor. He hadn’t seen such devastation since Belanna had tried to fix his 20^th century antique TV set. The memory jolted Paris and an icy hand grasped momentarily at his heart.

“I think it was Katie.” Kathryn replied then repeated herself when Tom didn’t respond. “I said think it was Katie.”

Paris was kneeling next to the pieces now examine them. “Katie did this?”

“Our little girl is brighter than you think.” She hadn’t told him yet of Katie’s aptitude for taking things apart then putting them back together again so they worked better, not at all or differently.

“To think we were worried she might have been brain damaged.” Another finger of ice squeezed Tom’s heart as the memory of breathing life into her tiny form surfaced. “This is the transporter control!”

“Correct, and these are the coordinates for the Friedman, and this is a schematic of the ship.” Janeway pointed to the wall display panel and Tom rose to get a better look.

“According to this the transporter is linked to one on the holodeck of the Friedman.” Cogs whirred in Paris mind. “You don’t think they..?”

“Well their no longer on the Enterprise.” Kathryn leaned against the wall and folded her arms.

“Oh my god!” Paris Panicked. “We have to get them back.”

“I’ve tried a recall, no luck, the transport signal is too old.”

“How long?”

“About half an hour.”

“Wait a minuet if they have been on the Friedman for half an hour why hasn’t Quagar detected them?”

“Perhaps they can’t get off the holodeck at the other end, or so far they haven’t tripped any of his alarms. Either way sooner or later there going to get into trouble.”

“This…..this could be a way to get a strike team over to the ship. I could…”

“Wait Tom no!” Kathryn caught his arm. “Just because Quagar hasn’t spotted two small children doesn’t mean he won’t pick up on a whole away team of armed adults.”

“But this is an opportunity we can’t ignore.”

“Were not going to.”

Tom looked into Kathryn’s eyes and read her mind.

“You’re crazy!”

“It’s the only way. To rescue Justin, Katie, Miral and everyone else we have to save the Friedman.”

“You and me on our own?”

“Quagar won’t be expecting it, well have the element of surprise on our hand, not to mention how invincible we are as a team.” Kathryn smiled and her eyes twinkled. In return, Tom laughed, shook his head and started towards the holodecks exit.

“Where are you going?” Kathryn asked.

“We need weapons and I need civilian clothes just in case we run into Quagar’s men.”

“Good thinking if we do we can always say were looking for our lost children.”

“The plan is I get you to the warp core, you take care of the device then we go and find the kids.”

“Sounds like an excellent plan to me.”

Federation brat, thought Miral as she chased after her half sister. Miral had been on the Friedman over a week and knew exactly where Katie would end up if she kept going in the direction she was, she also knew from the doc’s schematic that here were more pirate’s in that area. So using her Klingon tactical awareness she took a short cut, got in front of the terrified girl and waited.

Katie on the other hand had no idea where she was going and could hardly see anything for the tears that blurred her eyes. She thought Justin was dead and that Ferengi pirates were chasing her. She was also petrified by the though of what her mum and ‘dad’ were going to do when they found out.

WHUMP!

Katie ran into a wall, no not a wall a body, a firm, warm, body. Shaking her head and rubbing her eyes, she looked up from the floor where she had landed and saw standing over her a young girl with dark eyes, black hair and Klingon ridges across her brow.

“Miral?”

“Katie?”

“Why did you do that?” Katie demanded sniffing hard. Her bottom hurt and she felt bruised across her chest where she had run into Miral’s out stretched arm.

“It was the only way I could think of to stop you.”

“Oh!......J…..JJ…..I think he’s dead and the pirates are coming.” Katie jabbered beginning to cry again.

“If you mean your brother, don’t fret he’s still alive and the doc took care of the Ferengi.”

“Doc, where is he?”

“He took Justin to sickbay.” Miral held a hand out to the stricken girl but Katie ignored it and scrambled to her feet on her own. “He’ll be back for us soon.”

“Back how?”

“Long story, just trust me.” Miral took a good look at the girl in front of her, she’d seen the pictures her dad had sent but now face to face it was hard to believe that this scrawny pale human was related to her. “How did you get here anyway?”

“Long story.” Katie replied folding her arms and taking a good look at her ‘dads’ precious daughter, the one he had abandoned her for. She wasn’t so special Katie reasoned, she’s not half as pretty as I am.

“Someone’s coming.” Miral hissed grabbing her sister’s arm and tugging her into a door recess.

Katie hadn’t heard anything but knew Klingon’s had superior hearing so went along.

The sound of voices and footfalls got closer, close enough for human ears.

“Move Katie whispered pushing Miral away from the door open control.

“Its locked they all are.”

“I guess dad never taught you how to do this then.”

Katie produced a tool from her pocket, pried open the control panel removed two circuits swapped them over put them back then pressed the door open button. It slid with a quiet hiss sideways and the two girls stepped inside just as three-ale swigging food munching Ferengi stomped past. One thought he saw something and glanced sideways but the control panel was back in place and the door tight shut so he moved on.

Inside the dark storage room, Miral and Katie breathed again.

“You’d better show me how you did that.” Miral said.

“Only if you teach me how to use a Bat'leth.” Katie replied.

“Deal.” Miral sort out Katie’s hand in the dark, shaking it to seal the pact.

“Deal.” Katie echoed.

“What’s a deal?” The doctor said appearing from the rooms shadows.

“Doc!” Katie ran to the hologram any answer forgotten as he hugged her tight.

“This is too easy!” Paris whispered to Janeway as they moved cautiously down yet another deserted corridor aboard the Friedman.

After materialising on the ship holodeck in the middle of a frozen programme, Tom and Kathryn had quickly made there way to the stricken ships engine room. That had been fifteen minuets ago and they had yet to see or hear from any of Quagar’s men.

“You don’t think he’s already left do you?” Kathryn whispered back.

“He’s not had enough time to unload all that latinum yet and the greedy son of a bitch won’t leave any of it behind unless he has too.”

“Well the engine room should be around the next bend, if he does have a device in there I can’t see it being unguarded.

Weapons drawn Tom and Kathryn edged around the curve in the bulkhead. Suddenly Tom pushed Kathryn gently to the wall then followed suit, indicating with his eyes and a nod that there was movement ahead. Listening carefully they made out the soft shuffling of feet, one pair of feet. Lifting his phaser Tom got ready to move out and fire but Kathryn caught his arm stopping him.

“We can’t risk phaser fire yet.”

She was right if Quagar was monitoring the ship he’d pick it up and have a horde of men upon them before they could blink, most defiantly before they could remove or destroy his ‘device’.

Fortunately Tom was prepared; holstering his phaser he bent down and gracefully slide a six-inch blade from the sheaf beneath his trouser leg. Not federation standard but something he’d learnt to carry over the last few years.

“I’ll need a distraction, any ideas?” Tom took in Kathryn’s attire, she wore a red button blouse, black knee length skirt and black knee length boots, not federation standard either but a perfect disguise.

Kathryn caught his eyes as they traced the outline of her breasts and came up with a plan.

“Time for a little role play I think.” She said tucking her own phaser into the back of her waist band she then took hold of her skirts hem and ripped it along the seam so that her shapely tanned leg beneath was revealed all the way up to her soft thigh. Next Kathryn unbuttoned her shirt until more than necessary cleavage showed.

“Well you certainly distract me.” Paris whispered, eyeballing the red lace of her matching bra.

Kathryn sidled up to Tom, snaked one arm around his neck and caressed his buttock cheek with the hand of the other. Conscious of the knife he held Tom allowed Kathryn to do all the work, playing along as she drew his mouth closer for a kiss. At the last moment, he pounced hungrily devouring her lips and savagely pushing his tongue to the back of her throat. They had had precious little time together since being reunited and his loins betrayed his longing for her.

It was Kathryn that pulled away first taking with her the taste of him as she stepped out into the corridor.

Tom watched from the shadows as she walked seductively over to the Ferengi guard.

“Excuse me?” she said in a frightened voice an octave above her own.

The Ferengi whirled around obviously startled. He was at least three inches shorter than Kathryn and considering she wasn’t very tall, it made him a very short Ferengi. Upon seeing Kathryn’s exposed flesh, he began to grin from lobe to lobe.

“Who are you?” The Ferengi asked. “Where did you come from?”

Kathryn noticed he drooled as he spoke.

“My names Kate, I was on the holodeck when the lights went out.” Kathryn moved closer to the pirate keeping the exposed leg pointed towards him. It was like charming a snake. “I must have hit my head.” Kathryn put her hand to her temple, stretching the cloth across her breast as she did so.

A pair of beady eyes moved to stare at the peeks visible through the flimsy cloth, a result of her passionate kiss with Tom.

“When I woke up everyone was gone.” Circling around the Ferengi beyond arms reach, she succeeded in turning him so that his back was to Paris. “Now I think I’m lost, I’m only a passenger you see and I……”

Kathryn pretended to faint and the salivating Ferengi moved to catch her.

This was Toms cue, creeping up silently; he slid the knife around the unsuspecting Ferengi’s throat and sliced it open. The blade was so sharp he didn’t even have to use any pressure, it was like cutting through butter.

“I get the feeling you’ve done that before.” Tom said holding out a hand to assist Kathryn up while returning the blade wiped clean on the Ferengi’s coat back to its sheaf.

Kathryn just smiled and accepted the hand.

Rolling the Ferengi out of sight, they checked the coast was clear then returned to the engineering door. It was locked of course but that would be no problem for Tom. The problem was who or what they would find inside. Palming a tricorder form is pocket Tom scanned the room’s interior.

“I read only two.”

“The reactor could be masking others.”

“We will just have to take a chance.” Tom was about to put the tricorder away when he noticed soothing odd. As well as scanning engineering, it was also scanning them and on the readout beside Kathryn, there was a series of numbers.

“Are you aware that you’ve been ID tagged?” Tom asked a little surprised.

“What? Oh hell!” Kathryn was in the middle of checking her weapon and stopped to view the display. “The doctor had me and the twins tagged a few years ago, something about security. I’d completely forgotten.”

“No harm done, but you do realise we can use the twins tag numbers to trace them?”

Kathryn smiled. “First things first though.” She said nodding at the door control panel.

When the double doors to engineering whooshed open the two Ferengi inside expected to see there comrade enter. They certainly didn’t expect two civilians, one a scantly clad female to burst in firing phasers. Needless to say, they were soon taken out leaving the breathless ex Starfleet officers by themselves.

“Kathryn.” Tom pointed to the warp core running vertical up the centre of the circular engineering room. Attached to it about five feet up was a twelve-inch square box.

“My turn this time.” Kathryn said putting her phaser away and retrieving a tool kit from her pocket.

“Don’t take too long, our phaser fires bound to have alerted Quagar and his men.” Tom peered around the now open doors, and then a little quieter almost to himself said. “Where ever they may be?”

Back in sickbay Justin, Katie, Miral and the Doctor watched the four dots in the Friedman’s engine room become two, letting out a collective deep breath as one of the remaining still displayed ID tags.

“The other ones my dad.” Miral declared. “I told you he’d come for me.”

“He’s more likely come for us.” Justin ribbed his new sister.

“Yeah he’s our dad too.” Katie added, not realising she said ‘Dad’ without it sounding like something nasty.

“Quiet your disturbing the patients.” The EMH said gruffly, but secretly he enjoyed listening to the three of them bickering together it made him feel warm inside and reminded him of the time he’d had his own family.

“It’s a small explosive.” Kathryn announced after seven slow gruelling minuets. “Just enough to crack the warp core casing.”

Both of them knew what that would mean and just how little time they would have if it happened.

“Can you disarm it?” Tom asked.

“Yes but it will take too long.” Kathryn replied.

“Then can you detach it?”

“Sure but it will still need disarming.”

“No it won’t.” Tom crossed the room and took the device from her steady hands. “Get back to the door.” He ordered, then carrying the box well out of range of the warp core set it down on the floor. The idea that at any moment, Quagar could detonate it, blowing him to kingdom come and leaving Miral an orphan made his heart thump against his chest and his feet move swiftly to Kathryn’s side.

Aiming his phaser Tom pulled her close to him and fired. The explosion ripped a hole in the deck and filled the room with debris but that was all it did.

“This was defiantly too easy.” Tom shook his head.

“Quagar’s greed!” Kathryn said in response. “He’s only brought half his men with him so he doesn’t have to split the latinum with them all, thus spreading himself too thin and allowing us the opportunity to do this.”

“Well his greed is going to be his undoing.”

“That’s what you think.”

Kathryn and Tom spun around to find themselves facing the barrels of five phasers and the foul breath of five Ferengi. Tom was about to raise his own phaser and slug it out with them when he realised that Kathryn’s was still tucked in her skirt waist band and wouldn’t stand a chance.

Disappearing men, ghosts, and reports of children roaming around the ship had sent Quagar into a furious rage, so when he heard that two civilians had blown up his little escape route slash diversion box his demeanour didn’t improve any. Having sent the last of his men to investigate the phaser fire in engineering he and Banner stood in front of the now empty vault with only one thing on their mind, ‘Escape’. They just had to tie up a few loose ends first.

Pulling himself up to his full height of four foot eleven Quagar strutted over to the three-exhausted federation crew. “I don’t need you anymore.” He said sniffing the air distastefully as he drew his phaser and fired at the first man.

A yellow stun beam hit ensign Jarrow and he dropped to the floor.

“I don’t need you anymore either.” Quagar pointed his phaser at the next man but this time he moved the weapons dial up to the kill setting before firing.

“No…wait I…..” The officer tried to plead for his life but it was no good the red beam sliced into him disrupting his molecules until he was just dust. His last dying scream still echoed around the room as the Ferengi Pirate trained his weapon on the third man.

“Which will it be?” Quagar taunted.

“Either way you’re a dead man.” The Starfleet officer said standing up straight so he could look down upon the short Ferengi. He had a cut above his eye, blood on his uniform and didn’t waver once as the red beam enveloped him.

“Don’t bet on it.” Quagar said spitting on the floor where the man had stood only moments ago. He then turned his attention back to ensign Jarrow but before he could fire the sound of the vault room doors sliding open distracted him.

“These are the ones that destroyed your device on the warp core.” One of his men declared while shoving Tom ahead of him. Two others tugged Kathryn between them. “They say there looking for their children.”

Quagar snarled but Banner’s reaction was more profound. His face turned red with anger and his eyes popped open upon seeing Paris.

“Your not civilians!” He bellowed, startling Quagar into silence. “You’re not even supposed to be on this ship!” Banner pointed and waved his finger. “You, you’re the infamous Captain Janeway and your Thomas Eugene Paris, MURDERER!”

“Do I know you? Banner is it?” Paris had done some research on the Friedman’s crew earlier and recognised the man before him as one of the bridge officers. Which explained a whole lot as to how Quagar got aboard the Friedman so easily?

Banner approached Tom. “No actually its not. Banner is just the pseudonym I used to get aboard this ship; my real name is Ben Katajavuori.”

“Bruno’s farther!” Now it was Paris turn to look surprised and amazed that he hadn’t recognised the man. Time and a little selective memory could play tricks on anyone he reasoned; recalling that the last time he’d seen the man was at the Caldik Prime enquiry.

“That’s right; the farther of the promising young cadet you murdered then tried to frame for your own incompetence. The father who never got over loosing his boy then having to watch, as his killer became a federation hero. You should still be rotting in jail not serving as a senior officer aboard the prize of the federation fleet. I ought to kill you where you stand.” Banner took a deep breath. “In fact I will but first I’m going to let you watch as I kill her.”

Banner took a step back and aimed his phaser at Kathryn’s heart; his face was a mixture of wrath and pleasure.

“No!” Tom shrieked but it was too late Banner had fired.

The diorama of what occurred next would live with Paris for the rest of his life regardless of how long or short it would be. With his heart in his boots Tom watched as the space between Banner and Kathryn shimmered then solidified into the shape of voyagers EMH.

Unfortunately the phaser beam blocked by the doc’s cohesive protons was absorbed into his holo-emitter creating an overload and shutting him down.

Yet as the triangular shaped gadget clattered to the floor another body formed in his place. Katie Janeway had the doc’s personal transporter belt around her waist and upon feeling her feet touch the deck aimed and fired her weapon at the guard immediately to the right of her mother. Stunned he fell, freeing Kathryn’s hand so she could catch the phaser tossed by Katie and take out the other guard.

Simultaneously around the room several other things happened, a small dark shape fell upon Banner from a ceiling vent, knocking him to the ground and sending his phaser sliding out of reach. The doors behind Tom whooshed open and Miral Bat'leth in hand, screaming a Klingon battle cry leaped through them, swung her weapon and expertly took out one of the disorientated Ferengi by the door. She was about to dispatch the other but became distracted by the prone figure of her friend ensign Jarrow, giving the Ferengi a chance to get in the first blow. Which she ducked of course however she now had a real fight on her young hands.

In the middle of the confusion Tom swung his fist at the Ferengi beside him but the chunky pirate didn’t go down and he found himself one on one with the large lobed snarling alien. He would have got the upper hand on Tom too had Katie not yelled ‘DAD’ then slide her James T Kirk phaser in his direction. Scooping it up he fired at the advancing Ferengi splattering him against the wall. “Thanks.” Paris smiled at his daughter turning just in time to see Kathryn finish of the second door guard hovering over Miral and Quagar dissolve into a transporter beam with the last of the Latinum.

It was only then that everyone took notice of what had landed on Banner and the subsequent consequences.

“JUSTIN!” Paris cried.

Tangled together Banner held Justin beneath him his retrieved phaser pointed at the boy’s chest. Instinctively Kathryn and Tom aimed there weapons at Banner’s head.

“This is your son isn’t it?” Banner looked up at Paris his eyes wild with anger. “I suppose it’s only fitting that I take your sons life, considering you took mine.”

“I don’t suppose death would be any incentive to change your mind?” Paris spoke calmly belaying the panic and fear that gripped his guts. “But what about them, they have done nothing to you. Kill their brother and you will be punishing them for something I did?”

“I don’t care about them if it means I get to see you grieve as I have done for just one moment.” Banner smiled at the thought.

“Grief! I’ve had a stomach load of grief over the past 25 years. I’ve lost four children a wife and more friends than I can remember.” Paris briefly exploded then reigning in his temper relaxed his trigger finger. “Three of my children I had to leave behind in the Delta quadrant, there fate I will never know. Phoebe? I lost my Phoebe before she got chance to take her first breath, before she could smile, laugh, feel, love, or anything. My wife, Belanna was dead for a year before I even found out. I have only just begun to grieve for her, however I won’t be taking that grief out on the family of the stupid basted who though he could fly a shuttle tanked up on Romulan ale.” Paris kept his eye on Banner while he spoke so he missed the mixed expressions of love and fear in his family’s faces as he waved his weapon at the deranged man.

“If that’s still not enough for you then think about this for a minuet, your son was one of the best and brightest but if you kill my son you will disgrace his name more than I ever did.”

“NOOO!” Banner screamed as he rolled of Justin and brought his phaser to bear on Paris.

Moving clear of Kathryn and the kids Tom lowered his own weapon. “Go ahead kill me if that’s what you want to do?”

“Dad!” Justin safe in his mother’s arms tried to pull away and go to his father but was held back by six arms.

“No stay out of this son. It’s between me and him now.”

“That’s what you bloody think?” Banner cursed then put the phaser to his own head. The setting Tom could see was still on kill but that close even a stun would be enough.

“What will that accomplish?”

“I’ll get to see my boy again.”

“True, but think man, you were a Starfleet officer once, do you really want to die this way without honour?”

“What if I could get back your honour?” Kathryn stepped forward, ushering the children behind her as she did.

Out of curiosity Banner turned to look at her but still kept the weapon pressed to his temple.

“Tell me where Quagar’s hideout is and the frequency range of his shields and I promise you I will do everything in my power to make sure Starfleet give you a second chance.”

“Ha!” Banner laughed. “I’m too old for a second chance, but seeing as you asked nicely you’ll find Quagar in the Blue Nebula asteroid field and his shields rotate between 2941 and 3672.”

“Thank …..” Janeway didn’t finish her words there was no need Banner was dead.

“I just heard the Enterprise has captured Quagar alive, he’s spitting latinum chips as we speak.” Paris burst into the Friedman’s sickbay and strode over to Captain Yanoff’s bed where Kathryn and the children had gathered to pay an unofficial visit.

They had been stranded on the Friedman after theEnterprise had gone in chase of Quagar. Kathryn didn’t mind if it meant Tom and the kids could spend some time together before the next emergency.

“That’s fantastic.” Yanoff replied on behalf of everyone.

Taking Toms arm Kathryn pulled him to one side. “I’ve been thinking this family needs a vacation. They say Bajor is nice and they have a memorial to the marquee.” Her next words she would have to choose carefully. “I thought we could go and say goodbye.”

Tom gathered Kathryn in his arms and hugged her tight “Ok.” was all he said but it was all he needed to say.

As they stood there together three more pairs of arms wrapped around them.

Perhaps now the story was ended.

The End