The bridge shuddered as the Gagarin danced through the weapons fire.  Captain Helena Dread sat in the center chair, lightly gripping the arms.  The opening conversation with the Klingons had been a shouted order to get out now and then a closed channel when they were told of the Starfleet officers on the planet providing support.

Two of the Birds of Prey had been disabled, and the third was proving that having a strong personality at the helm could save the day.  The two civilian ships were far from unarmed and were currently keeping the attention of the Gagarin and her crew.  Dread held onto the arms as the Gagarin slammed into a hard starboard turn, pushing the inertial dampeners. “Status?”

At the helm station at the front of the bridge, a wide-eyed Ensign, Archer Corwin, was frantically keeping his cool while he put every skill he’d learned in the academy to work.  Next to him was the stoic and focused Ensign Athena.  She answered for both of them, “We’re evading most of their fire, but they’re packing a punch, sir.”  The Bajoran tactical chief had been putting the twelve phaser arrays to work, punching at the enemy’s shields with increasing fury.  The ship shuddered again, and Athena asked, “Permission to engage with torpedoes?”

Helena knew that delicate attempts to disable the ships would be challenging once they unleashed the four forward and aft launchers.  Recovery, or at least survivors, would be harder to find.  The Gagarin was a tough ship with teeth and talons.  The ship shuddered again.  Lieutenant Fowler at Science reported, “Shields at 90%.  Sensors showing they’re loading torpedo bays.”

She had no choice.  “Permission is granted, Lieutenent Athena.  Let’s give them a taste of a Gagarin punch….or two.”  The CO watched and listened as her tactical chief worked with the beleaguered Ensign Corwin, giving him attack pattern orders as she targeted the torpedo launchers.  Athena was as serious as they came, but her instructional tone was measured and direct.  Helena had spent time with the young woman, giving her some guidance.  There were plenty of times for Athena’s severe nature to be brought to bear.  This wasn’t one.  “Disable as much as you can – we still need to figure out how they stayed out of our sensor’s sight.”

Athena smiled wide and went to work.

“That’s…interesting.”  The battle was over.  The last Bird of Prey was being chased by Tougun’s ships.  The two civilian ships were down to one, and Dread stood in the haphazard bridge while the science and engineering teams from the Gagarin swarmed the captured ship.

Lieutenant Fowler held up a piece of computer equipment about the size of her hand. She reported what she knew, “It’s a signal disrupter, far from rudimentary.  If it hadn’t come from a ship trying to blast us into pieces, I’d almost say I’d admire it.  It’s a unique design – engineering thinks it’s specifically designed to impact Gagarin.  It would explain how we’ve been surprised these past few weeks.  Some of it is hiding behind moons or using nebulas to obscure what we can see…but this isn’t standard issue for anyone.”

Helena shook her head, “This was a mercenary ship…you think Tougun has them as well?  Why would both of them have something like this?”  She groaned as the answer came to her as her mind processed her question, “Shit.  Someone’s selling us out in the rimward – and anybody’s who got the latinum is getting the drop on us.”

Sadie handed the equipment to an engineer, who secured it in a container and headed back to the Gagarin.   Fowler continued, “McKee and I will take the thing apart piece by piece.  We will have to reverse engineer it to trust our sensors again.”  She glanced around.  Most of the crew had moved off the bridge to other duties.  Sadie stepped closer to her CO, “There was that security issue on Montana Station in December.”

Dread put her mind to work.  The report had been for the eyes of the commanding officers of the ships in the Montana Squadron.  The reality was that word spread fast on a vast station like Montana.  Certain elements had remained classified.  It was those elements that she suspected Fowler was referencing.  “You think there’s more at play?  Or was more at play?”

Sadie shrugged, “I know Commander Thasaz and her team were able to fix most of the glaring issues.  But between the time of the event and the fixes…plenty of data may have been available.  Including things about the ships in the squadron.”

Helena replied, “Nobody’s reported these kinds of issues.”

“Aside from the Dragonfly, we’ve got the strongest tactical profile in the rimward.  When the wolf is hunting you, you have to find a way to throw off your scent.”

Dread mused, “They’re worried if we see ‘em coming, we won’t just bloody their noses a bit…we might break a few bones on the way.”  She let out a long sigh, “Get to work on it.  I’ll be on the bridge.”

“That is a serious accusation, Captain Dread.”  Tougun’s face was back on the viewscreen of the Gagarin, and Dread smiled in response to his denial, which was as much a confirmation as anything.

“My accusations are never of the lightweight variety, Tougun.  Deny or confirm – it doesn’t matter to me.  I know.”  She kept her smile as she continued, “Our people have held up their end of the deal – complete reports are in the hands of your folks, as well as a generous gift of a few generators, medical supply manufacturing units, and some engineering equipment.  We’ll be taking our leave.”  She got the signal from Fowler.  The teams were all back aboard Gagarin—safe and sound.

“You really don’t like me…not even a little.”

Dread’s smile faded, and her tone shifted.  Her words, once loose and free, tightened up.  Her eyes narrowed.  She adjusted her posture, her eyes taking on a menace, “If I had the full backing of the squadron with me, you would be in handcuffs.  Our friendship lasted all of fifteen minutes…and it was too long.  You blasted those two Klingon ships apart.  I don’t take lives if I can help it.  You enjoy it.  I don’t like you, not even a little.”

“You think you could have handled those ships on your own?  Your ship’s tough, Captain Dread, but even she has her limitations.  You could at least thank me for my services.”

This infuriating Orion was taking up Helena’s last few nerves.  She narrowed her eyes further, “You’re welcome.  Good day, Tougun.”  She stabbed at the console on the arm of her chair, and the channel cut.  “Helm – get us the hell out of here – maximum warp.  Put us back on our next patrol vector.”  The Gagarin rumbled forward, turned, and flew into the darkness.

The bridge was silent until Fowler asked what everyone else was thinking. “We’re going to see him again, aren’t we?”

Dread stood from the command chair, “He seems drawn to us –  and not just Gagarin – Starfleet too.  To what ends…who knows?  We’ll need to start making some guesses.  It feels like Tougun’s up to something – more than usual.  Assign some science and tactical officers to dig into his file and operations.  You have the CONN, Lieutenant Fower.”  Dread walked off the bridge, leaving Sadie to wonder what was ahead of them.