004 : Counterplay

[Gheskori]

It didn't take Ghes long to realise how the Romulans could be involved, and the sheer panache and ingenuity of the Star Empire if it were true. They'd laid in wait about the Dolar homeworld, under cloak preparing for the arrival of the duped Klingons, and now - if the Omnis was aboard the now decloaked holoship - would be making their escape.

But why go through the process of allowing the Klingons to think they were bidding for the Omnis Device? Unless they were in league with one of the two factions - presumably the House of D'orn as the thought of the Romulans being allied with the Klingon High Council was absurd - and were allowing them to win the bidding (albeit with much fixing) to make the procurement of the Omnis appear legitimate? The Device would then be delivered to the Star Empire and possibly the House of D'orn's leadership - with the Klingon High Council fooled.

However Ghes knew he was making too many assumptions - for a start they didn't even know for sure this holoship was the property of the Romulans, or why the humanoid trader faction had been allowed to stay. Yes, why exactly? he thought, For entertainment purposes?

With the intermittent shaking of the vessel from the warp speed attacks of the modified Vor'cha - mysteriously on the scene since the Negh'Var, Bird of Prey and Federation shuttlecraft had each had three of their number taken to the 'surface complex' - Ghes led the way down a tight corridor in their renewed search for some panel or centre that was keeping the holoprogram running. They were fresh from subduing another Dolar security fireteam; he didn't suppose it would help their cause greatly to tell the Dolar they were little more than illusory gatherings of light surfaces and conglomerated photons. Passing the next junction a screen activated in the wall on their left side.

"Who is flying that ship?" the mysterious figure said, crushing a padd stylus in his fist as he watched the grey-screen displays in his dark closet. The Uhlan torturer-doctor beside him shook his head, sharing the CO's confusion.

Beron checked that the console was functioning, his eyes off the screen momentarily and therefore missing the narrow stretch of corridor flashing up on the display - projected as it would be for fish-eye vision - with three figures just moving past it. "Admiral Torek," he near-shouted. One of the three doubled back, his head tilted in confusion and looking at the display, seeing Beron before him, "They've fooled me, fooled all of us."

"Richard Beron..." Torek seethed.

Beron hid his surprise well, he thought, "You... know me. I see... Then Admiral Gheskori did tell you of our meeting and my divulging of why I am here, why I was going to procure the technology that was to work with -"

"Enough, Commander!" Ghes silenced the man on the screen. "It wasn't me who told the Admiral, it was our trader friend Rai. We all know who you are, and more importantly of the breaking of your oath to Starfleet. Now, where is the Omnis Device?"

"It's aboard," Beron nodded, recovering from the shock once more, "Though I don't have access to it. We four and the six Klingons were beamed up from the surface of Dolar, some time very recently - perhaps during the last recess before you found out of the progression to a fourth round of bidding - onto a holoship with an identical layout and holographic copies of all the Dolar who were at the facility. Now, cast aside thoughts of my indictment for just a moment and come to the realisation that we have a common goal in our own survival; we're under attack, from whom I don't know, but we are now several parsecs from the Dolar homeworld and on a course for Qo'nos."

"How do you know all this, Beron?" Ghes asked, "We haven't been able to access any information, let alone on the ship's heading or when we were beamed up."

"I know because I'm at the helm." The trio were now in several states of confusion, watching the unbearable rogue intelligence agent on the small screen in the passageway. "Listen, under the circumstances where do you think would be safest for me to go? Back to the Federation? You know I've burnt my bridges there. Not knowing where this ship was supposed to be going with its automatic pilot before I wrested control of it... The transportation to the holoship put me in the ready room instead of my holographic quarters," he explained. "With members of the Ruling Council aboard this thing and a furious Negh'Var under the Council's command out there somewhere, delivering this ship into the hands of a potential ally against the D'orn House and whoever else is collaborating with them... was the only viable course of action. I don't know how to deactivate the holoprogram by the way - it seems to have been locked out by the computer core... I'm afraid you're stuck in there with the Klingons and the holographic Dolar."

Ghes sighed, looking at Carl and Elena, "We think there may be Romulans in pursuit," he said.

"Romulans? Well that would make sense, the controls of this thing are Romulan in design. It seems we've stolen their holoship." Beron looked to the side - perhaps to the forward viewer of the holoship's small bridge - and entered a few commands into what Ghes assumed was the navigation console, "So... that rules out New Romulus..."

"It wouldn't be wise to take this ship there anyway, with the Omnis aboard? They may want to steal it themselves. Anyway, Beron, how do you propose to evade the pursuing Vor'cha?"

"Sir. They are approaching, at warp six. The Vor'cha cruiser is still in pursuit."

The mysterious figure nodded, silhouetted against his wall of grey screens, playing with another padd stylus, "Give orders to J'voc to decloak his Bird of Prey twenty seconds before we do. It will distract the holoship's pilot, make him think that the Ruling Council have come to meet him. Then, we pounce." He crushed the stylus in his fist, the powder of its smashed constituents slipping through his fingers to the floor.

"Aye, Subcommander," the Uhlan clenched fist across his chest and left the situation room of the Scimitar class Mer'ulta.

[Carl Torek]

"Romulan's well that would make sense, the controls of this thing are Romulan in design. It seems we've stolen their holo-ship." Beron looked to the side - perhaps to the forward viewer of the holo-ship's small Bridge, he entered a few commands into what Ghes assumed was the navigation console, "So ... That rules out New Romulus ..."

"It wouldn't be wise to take this ship there anyway, with the Omnis aboard. They may want to steal it themselves. Anyway, Beron, how do you propose to evade the pursuing Vor'cha ?" Gheskori asked.

"I, I'm sorry Admiral, but this vessel is no match for whatever is pursuing us." Beron said, the fear in his voice obvious.

"You said we're all on the same ship." Carl asked, moving into view so he too could see Beron, "Forget deactivating the holo-matrix, can you override any of the doors that would allow us to reach you, then seal them behind us ?"

"It is possible, but to what end ?" the former Intelligence Officer asked as he worked at his panel.

"Just give us a way out. With luck the Klingon's won't try the same thing, but at least if we're free to move around we can try to come up with something ..... As for the helm, do you have full control ?"

Beron nodded, telling them they would need to leave their rooms now, they would talk when together. They heard a distinctive servo-activator come on-line with a clunk. He told them to move to the back of the room, a door had been released and they were to move to the furthest end of the corridor and wait. Opening the door at that end was a much more complicated affair. Exiting the room Carl turned to see the door seal and all but vanish from sight. Turning back to the others they ran the length of the corridor, Elena glancing over her shoulder fearing they would have unwelcome company, or worse, Beron was luring them into a position he could be rid of them all. She pondered the idea of an air-lock being so well hidden they wouldn't know it was there until it was already ejecting them into space ..... They reached the door and knowing nothing else to do they stood waiting for it to open. The comm chirped to life:

=^= Brace yourselves .. I need to use the emergency release on the door .. It will blow inwards toward you .. Once through move to the next bulkhead .. I'll erect a force-field and open the corridor to space =^= With only a second to spare the three moved away as the door exploded past them and clattered along the corridor, quickly they passed through the remainder of the opening and ran to and past the next bulkhead. A force-field snapped into place and the watched the ruin of the door shoot through a newly-opened hatch. 'For someone who knows little about this ship, that Beron is surprisingly adept' Carl thought as the remainder of the oxygen was extinguished from the corridor beyond the force-field.

=^= Follow the corridor .. The bridge is up ahead =^=

Seconds later they entered what at first sight would have looked distinctively Romulan-like in design, but all three immediately realized that there was someone else behind the design. Maybe it was a prototype the Dolar had been constructing on behalf of the Romulan Star Empire, maybe it was for someone else, it mattered little in the circumstances, because if whoever was pursuing them managed to board they would be dead before finding out the answer. Carl was under no illusion that 'whoever' they were they would not allow survivors to remain to tell the tale ...

"What's our speed ?"

"Warp three." Beron said, stepping aside to Elena could see his panel.

"We need to find somewhere safe, or safer, as the case may be." she said, looking at the two Admiral's in turn.

"You have something in mind ?" Gheskori asked, eyebrows raised in anticipation.

"No, not exactly ...... But I think it is obvious that whoever is after us wants what is on board. If they could have located it remotely and transported it to their ship, we wouldn't be here talking about it, so they cannot destroy us, or risk our being hit somewhere vital to the holo-ship's survival. They could fire to disable our drive systems, but that has it's inherent dangers. They 'MUST' board us at some point, they have no other option." she looked at Beron's panel finger dancing over the screen then she looked up, "Here, this is where we need to go ! ... The Aldebaran Sector ... There is a Federation monitoring platform in the System ... As long as we can prevent them from boarding before we reach Aldebaran, we 'may' stand a chance of getting out of this alive, 'and' with the Omnis Device ...... Does this thing have a self-destruct do you know ?" she asked Beron, who initially looked shocked, but then reluctantly nodded.

"You said that you have no idea as to the whereabouts of the Omnis Device, only that you are certain it is aboard this vessel, right ?" Carl asked.

"There are two levels that I cannot access, and believe me Admiral, I 'have' tried ... I figured the Omnis Device is down there. I tried accessing the data systems for schematics, but it requires a code that is only accessible from the device itself."

"Who the 'HELL' encodes the activation instructions on the device they are trying to operate for Gods' sake !" Elena said, her exasperation rising again.

"Forget that, there has to be back-up's or secondary files, the Dolar are not the type to build something then simply give away their trade secrets with the pay-check." Carl said, "Beron, change our course, head for the Aldebaran System. Input random course changes, no greater than fifteen degrees, randomize the changes between thirty seconds to three minutes. Include course modifications that will take us above and below 'Zee' by a maximum of one hundred thousand kilometers, but always keep us heading in the right direction, oh .... Then increase speed to warp four."

"We are in what is essentially a flying 'CUBE' Admiral, not one of Starfleet's Flagships." Beron spat, then flinched as Torek turned to face him.

"Mister Beron. If and when whoever is out there tires of nipping at our proverbial heels, they 'WILL' attempt to board this 'cube' of yours. Our constant course changes should hopefully prevent any successful beam-in. It will certainly prevent a hard-dock. So, please, do as asked or I may just have to ...." he stopped, knowing his utter loathing of the man before him was clouding his judgement, he took a breath then continued, "Get it done Beron ... NOW !" he said, turning away ..........

[Gheskori]

"As you wish..." he uttered, turning back to the helm feeling dejected, and inputting the random selection of course changes and the speed adjustment. If they continued this pattern for long enough, varying up to fifteen degrees z+ and z- over a sufficient duration of time, the pursuing vessel may unfortunately be able to discern the destination of the cube.

The cube was a box of smooth graphite grey now accelerating across the vacuum to warp 4. A small rectangular slot was cut into the centre of one of the six faces - a mysterious chip carved out of the otherwise seemingly impenetrable cube, and it was nothing to do with the bridge which was at the very centre of the vessel, the guessed-at Omnis Device's compartment being in the lower portion of the ship towards the aft.

Ghes could see this from a schematic, showing the holoship's five decks, two of which in certain port and starboard sections were taken up by separate holodecks.

He slid into the chair of the console showing this schematic, switching the graphic to one of the cube's tactical situation and seeing the flashing red on part of the display, "Aft shielding down to 74 percent; lucky hits by the modified Vor'cha are continuing to weaken us... it seems they don't mind doing to us a modicum of damage, aiming for strictly non-critical systems, though the element of luck involved in their strikes... - they could well hit the warp core, this ship isn't large - could mean they're getting desparate; perhaps they've divined our destination, the Aldebaran system and safety," he rambled on.

Torek nodded, looking at the viewscreen grimly which had been switched to show an aft view of the green glowing, highly modified pursuing Vor'cha, before glaring at Beron who wringed his hands helplessly in the pilot's chair.

An alert signal made Beron focus, "You may be right, Admiral Gheskori," he said after moments, "The Vor'cha is gaining, and opening its torpedo tubes. Perhaps they would rather the Omnis didn't fall into Federation hands than take it for themselves."

"Execute course change now, don't wait for the computer to randomise it for you," Ghes instructed, "Surely the Vor'cha's within scanning range now."

"Yes," Beron gulped, "Reading... 83 Klingons and 4 Romulans on board..." he looked up at the viewscreen still showing the aft and the closing Vor'cha class, "They're working together. The Romulans have been in this all along," he said. The Vor'cha soon disappeared from view, swinging out of sight as the starfield blurred with the cube's course change, now onto heading 7.4 by -11.1 relative to their target Aldebaran (at 0.0 by 0.0). "It'll take them approximately three minutes to get back within torpedo range," the rogue intel agent reported.

Ghes peered at his console, wondering what Beron would be making of all this. He was surely not willing to return to the Federation where, unless certain individuals within Intelligence manipulated, pulled strings and did everything in their power to assist the man, charges would be brought against him, he would be ejected from Starfleet and imprisoned; unless he'd truly had a change in heart, and preferred justice at the hands of the Federation to facing the Klingon or Romulan court systems.

Ghes turned to the others, "How about this. We simulate an engine malfunction, come to a full stop and lower our shields, requesting assistance. They may think we're ignorant of the Omnis and why we're being pursued; that we just wanted to get back to Federation space, the Federation being more friendly to fugitives and traders than other factions. As soon as the Vor'cha lowers its shields to beam assault squads across, we beam all 87 of their crew into the other holodeck from the one with the six Klingon High Council and House of D'orn reps inside, and lock the doors."

The Scimitar Ner'ulta Commander did his utmost to maintain his calm; he was still in the grey formless confines of his situation room, the monochrome screens giving him a glimpse of various sections of active programs of the two holodecks aboard the holoship - which had left his vessel so helplessly in its wake.

The screams of the youth J'voc, heir to the House of D'orn, had been muted over the Commander's comm minutes before. On his Bird of Prey, the stripling warrior had been made to look a fool by the cube holoship as it'd barrelled past both J'voc's Bird and the cloaked Scimitar class, heading somewhere in the direction of the Aldebaran Sector. The modified Vor'cha with the House of Mor'oth's lackeys aboard was in pursuit; they would soon have them... he steepled his fingers, looking menacingly at the bank of grey screens, then his expression changed as on several of them - the ones showing the tropical jungle simulation currently running on the holoship's starboard side holodeck - small figures started appearing, materialising, and looking around bewildered and dumb. He focussed on one screen, zooming the image in on one of the figures; a Klingon warrior, and one of the four Romulan advisors standing close by!

Realising what'd happened to the modified Vor'cha cruiser, he screamed into the vacuum, but nothing was heard.

"Great work, Gheskori!" Carl said, clapping his friend on the shoulder, Ghes nodding appreciatively and turning back to his station just in time to miss Commander Beron being enclosed by a transparent aluminium sheath that broke through the ceiling and descended around his seat. Not having time to react, the trio had only the fraction of a second to watch as Beron calmly tapped a button on the helm console and his seat, in a burst of exploding bolts, disconnected itself from the floor, then by some pneumatic or elastic mechanism was shot with himself on it through the ceiling presumably out into space.

Encased in the sheath in which surely he would soon suffocate without any fresh oxygen being pumped into replace that which was being used by his respiratory system, the Klingon High Council's Negh'Var sped by at three million kilometres distance and beamed the rogue intel agent aboard.

"He used an ejection seat?!" Ghes looked aghast at the empty space where the helm's chair used to be.

"Destination!" Torek demanded.

"He was beamed on to Commander K'lun's Negh'Var, on course for Qo'nos at warp 8..." Ghes said after studying his display. "That's where his allegiance lay then, perhaps."

Despite the absurdity part of their problem had been solved: the Vor'cha was now empty, pursuing them it still would be and it may indeed be on a course for Aldebaran, but it would no longer be firing at them. What now lay in their way of capturing the Omnis for the Federation to hit the Dolar over the head with?

Unless the cube itself proved less instrument of deliverance than torture device from which they wouldn't be able to escape - for apart from knowing it was of vaguely Romulan design, the whole vessel was a mystery; they had no idea where exactly the Omnis Device was on the vessel, nor how to access it. Beron seemed to know the ship best of all, which made Ghes think that maybe he'd beamed them up from the surface, and the Romulans - if they'd also been on the surface - had gone a different route, onto the Vor'cha and perhaps elsewhere. Adding to their difficulties perhaps, was that they also had 6 representatives of the Klingon High Council and the House of D'orn aboard, as well as 87 captured crewmembers of the pursuing Vor'cha.

[Carl Torek]

Carl looked in utter astonishment at the two meter diameter 'hole' in the ceiling of the Bridge, now shimmering with the effects of a force-field that had automatically snapped into place the microsecond the tube had dispensed the Helm console, along with a self-satisfied Beron, into space !

"He used an ejection seat ?!" Gheskori joined Elena and Carl in looking aghast at the empty space where the Helm's chair used to be.

"Destination !" Torek demanded.

"He was beamed on to Commander K'lun's Negh'Var, on course for Qo'nos at warp 8 ....." Ghes said after studying his display. "That's where his allegiance lay then, perhaps."

Carl stood, walking to stand on the former Helm location. He looked up, wondered who in their right mind and of obvious advanced technological prowess, would even envisage the requirement to install such an archaic escape system. The Bridge, as far as they could tell, was on the third of five decks, so that 'tube' had shot the man through three decks 'AND' the outer hull. It was clear Beron had somehow prearranged his escape, unless he was blindly relying on K'lun, which he somehow doubted ...

"What's the status of the Vor'cha ?" he asked. Gheskori moved to one of the auxiliary consoles and activated the Helm configuration. It wasn't as sophisticated as the actual Helm, but was more than capable of controlling the massive vessel if the need arose. He scanned the pursuing vessel:

"It's following us, no-one aboard, so it must have activated auto-navigation, or is simply doing what it was moments ago, chasing us ...." he tried a minor course change and waited, eyes on his console. A few seconds later he made a second then turned to the other two, "It's matching our course and speed. It's two thousand meters off our stern, and sitting there, apparently." Ghes shrugged.The three of them knew that in an ideal universe, they would have transferred the Omnis Device, along with all schematics over to the Vor'cha, program the Holo-ship to head for the nearest Star-base, while they beamed to the Klingon vessel and made their escape into Federation Space safely, but as seemed to be the norm since they began this outing, that wasn't a viable option.

"Any thoughts on what we do with it ?" Elena asked, "I'm just looking for options here. While it goes without saying that we, the Federation, could benefit greatly from having that ship at Utopia Planitia and stripped to the basic sub-frame, it isn't an option unless one of us is willing to go over there and somehow make it happen. But leaving it passively following us leaves the Klingon's, not to mention their bloody Romulan friends, an opportunity should they get out of the holo-suite we have them trapped in. We also need to keep in mind that K'lun, and his new friend Beron, may well have other idea's regarding our simply entering the Aldebaren system and safety ......." she shrugged, unable to answer her own query.

"I'm sure the boffin's would love to get their hands on the modifications." Carl said.

"Do you 'ever' tire of those twentieth century expressions ?" Elena asked, shaking her head.

"Is there any way we could take contr ......" Carl began.

"Not a chance." Gheskori broke in before he could finish the sentence.

"Then we need to destroy it." Elena stated simply.

"Where's the Negh-Var now ?" Carl asked.

"They will pass out of sensor range in the next fifteen minutes. Current heading direct to Qo'nus at warp eight point four. They're in one hell of a hurry." Ghes confirmed.

"There is no way any of our 'guests' can escape into the ship as a whole, is that correct Admiral ?" Elena asked, Ghes confirmed that their confinement was restricted to the holo-suits alone and there were no internal controls to make changes, or even open a door if any emergency arose. "OK ..... We know we're on our own, no Communications to speak of, no chance we're going to chance upon a Federation Star-ship out here .... We can't give up the opportunity of allowing our people to strip that ship. My suggestion: We beam over there and try to re-program it. If that proves impossible, we blow it to smithereens, get back here, and take our chances."

The other two looked at her, mulling over the options ..........

[Gheskori]

OOC: Sorry for length Carl; hopefully this isn't too off the wall lol

Beron entered the Negh'Var's bridge, finding K'lun sat in the commander's seat; recently he had heard it'd been occupied by another officer called Tazrak. That Klingon had been murdered after flagrantly abusing his power in sending his ship against the Dolar homeworld to destroy the planet's capital, an act which Beron supposed would've taken him and the High Council's operatives with them once they were halted by some Omnis Device-wielding Dolar capital ship.

"Let me guess, Richard. The pressure of having two Starfleet officers in the room who aren't traitors to their people became too much for you," K'lun snarled, turning in her chair.

"The third one is a Starfleet officer, too," he retorted, standing beside K'lun and pushing her seat back around to face the viewscreen. He had it display a view of the cube, which was on a heading roughly perpendicular to the Negh'Var's. "Yes, well done on checking on her background. She knew all about me and told Admiral Torek. When did you discover the Romulan's were involved?" he asked wonderingly, a hint of menace in his voice.

K'lun sighed throatily, "When we scanned for anti-protons. A Scimitar class Warbird is sitting cloaked between here and Dolar along with a Bird of Prey belonging to the treacherous House of D'orn. They tried to rig the bidding process -"

"Yes, yes. You didn't think to tell me about the Romulans? Their Vor'cha was almost on top of us! I was led into believing they were allies, knocking down the cube's shields gradually to make it appear they were trying to destroy us, now I found out they were doing all they could, that they are with the House of D'orn?!" Beron shouted.

"It would appear so... We will monitor the cube for incoming transmissions, any course changes, until it's outside sensor range." Beron stiffened; K'lun reached up, grasping him by the throat, "This ship is going to Qo'nos, human, whether you like it or not," she threw him against a console and he slumped to the floor.

Seething he replied, "As long as we find out who's controlling it, then there shouldn't be a problem." He spat out blood.

---

"I concur," Ghes stood, his spirits lifting for the first time in a while as it seemed they may actually get the Omnis into Federation space without much fuss, though the ship chasing them on automatic pilot still posed a threat - if the Vor'cha could be programmed to match the cube's course changes, it could be programmed to continue to fire on it when it felt the need to do so. "I'll go to the Vor'cha. Should we all go, or one of us stay behind?"

It was suggested one of them stay behind but they were interrupted by an alert from the internal sensors display next to the makeshift helm. Ghes checked the console. "Curious... Something has activated holo-emitters throughout the ship, holographic projections are now no longer contained to the two holosuites. Is this a safeguard against something...?"

Torek was concerned. "Well, as long as the doors stay locked, there shouldn't be a problem."

"They're already out into the ship, look," Elena said, pointing at a surveillance camera positioned in one of the corridors - it showed what looked like a Romulan and approximately a dozen Klingons grouping in the corridor outside the jungle holosuite, along with about that many number of holographic tribesmen of some sort of another. A separate display, Ghes noticed, showed one Klingon and the Dolar hologram he recognised as the Adjudicator, Za'f, reaching a junction and climbing a set of a ladders; they were leaving deck 4 with its simulation of the Dolar homeworld's financial complex and were climbing to deck 3, the bridge's deck.

"Weapons? Romulan disruptors?" Ghes asked, panic returned to his voice, "A weapons' locker, please." A new alert sounded at the helm, he turned and tried to alter the direction of propagation of the warp bubble; no luck. "We've lost helm control... wait, the ship's changing course, towards Romulan territory... Strange, we're now on a direct heading for Galorndon Core. That system hasn't been used by the Romulans in twenty years."

They set forcefields outside the bridge and in all the adjoining corridors that would support one; then Ghes and Carl got themselves below onto deck 5, being informed by Elena on the bridge that the vessel was now slamming shut its internal bulkheads and hatches - set at intervals in the corridors - when Klingons and Romulans from the Vor'cha were stepping through, which resulted in cutting them to pieces. It seemed the ship was acting either of its own volition or through some outside influence to neutralise the invaders from the Vor'cha cruiser, but obviously not to the Starfleet officers' benefit as some of the Dolar holograms and three of the Klingons - those diplomats from the High Council, Ghes realised - were still being allowed to make their way towards the bridge.

"The Omnis lies inside this vault..." Ghes said, now on deck 5 and standing with Carl before a graphite grey wall with a central circular design pulsing a dull red. They heard sounds down the corridor; Klingons and the shuffling of tribesmen with spears and bows and arrows, seemingly heading their way. "Perhaps now is the time to get to the modified Vor'cha?" Carl nodded and put the call through to the bridge to have Elena beam them to the Klingon cruiser...

"Transporters are inoperative," de Luca reported back, frustrated, after a few seconds. Ghes and Carl turned to the sound of the approaching Klingons - from the Vor'cha - and holographic jungle tribesmen who were almost upon them.

"Welcome to the Holovessel Liberacci," a pleasant even voice resounded through the passageway, deep and sonorous. "We hope you have been enjoying your game. It is my pleasure to inform you that in fifteen of the erstwhile controllers of the vessel's minutes, your play will be terminated. All participants will be liquidated in accordance with Galorndon law, article 7 paragraph 2."

"Galorndon Core?!" Ghes cried exasperatedly at the ceiling.

"Indeed," replied the sonorous voice. "This holovessel is the property of Harry Jacobs, entrepreneur and inventor extraordinaire, highly sought after by collectives of unaligned species' think tanks, Romulan expatriot and owner of four incorporated businesses floated on the Sheliak stock exchange, all operating out of Galorndon Core."

"What about the Klingons representing the High Council? You're letting them get to the bridge!"

"Mr Jacobs has a contractual obligation to fulfill with the High Council." A sterner voice, "Participant number 26, you will resume your game until your liquidation. No further questions." A veil seemed to lift from their eyes, their muscles - where before they seemed to have been paralysed, though they realised it only after the fact - were now free to operate, and their 'game' able to be resumed.

"Why would this Harry Jacobs want the Omnis Device?" Ghes shouted to the ceiling again.

A whirring sound was heard and a door in the corridor ahead of them snapped shut suddenly, severing the arm of an oncoming Klingon warrior who leant back howling, "Please enjoy your game," the musical voice said, whirring of electric saws starting up as they materialised out of the walls.

[Carl Torek]

"What about the Klingons representing the High Council? You're letting them get to the bridge!"

"Mr Jacobs has a contractual obligation to fulfill with the High Council." A sterner voice, "Participant number 26, you will resume your game until your liquidation. No further questions."

A veil seemed to lift from their eyes, their muscles - where before they seemed to have been paralysed, though they realised it only after the fact - were now free to operate, and their 'game' able to be resumed.

"Why would this Harry Jacobs want the Omnis Device?" Ghes shouted to the ceiling again.

"Please enjoy your game." the musical voice said, whirring of electric saws starting up as they materialized out of the walls ..... Carl looked at Gheskori, unable to believe what he was hearing, let alone seeing ! .....The bulkheads in either direction were now sealed and they were conscious of the fact that both of them had moved away from the walls and into the center of the passageway. He glanced from the floor to the ceiling as if half expecting something to decapitate them at any second.

"We need to get the hell out of here." he said, eyeing the numerous doors along the corridor, "If we can get to one of the auxiliary control panels we may be able to do something about this bloody torture chamber we've found ourselves in." they were cautiously inching their way towards the first of the doors, eyes scanning the bulkheads for any signs of whirling death when the Comm system chirped to life. surprisingly, it wasn't the ships ever-jovial announcer:

=^= de Luca to Admiral Torek .. Admiral Gheskori .. .. You need to be aware there are things happening throughout the ship .. I'm not sure what exactly but I'd keep a sharp eye out .. .. .. Furthermore I have established that whatever safety protocols this place had are no longer in operation .. So don't go getting into a fight unless you can guarantee a win =^=

"Now she tell's us." Gheskori commented dryly as he eyed the severed arm of the Klingon.

=^= Elena .. We've seen evidence of what's happening .. We're trapped in a corridor on Level Five .. We need to find an operable transporter or at least a means to deactivate the holographic aspects aboard the ship .. .. Did you pick up on the transmission from the ships computer ? =^=

=^= Yes .. .. I'm looking at the protocols or rather 'game play rules' as we speak .. .. Second door on the right heading towards the Bridge is what looks like a small maintenance or cargo area ..There should be a transporter inside but you'll need to activate it from there .. As quickly as I'm gaining access this thing is shutting me out .. It must be some form of self-preservation thing .. We've also changed heading away from our original course .. Seems this thing wants to go to Galorndon Core .. I'm still trying to override =^=

=^= Forget that for now .. Concentrate of deactivating the holo-presence before we meet one of our less sociable opponents .. Torek out =^=

They moved along the corridor in single file, neither willing or wanting to get any nearer the bulkheads than necessary. The door they had been directed to was closed and Gheskori moved to the panel set into the wall. a few seconds of tinkering and the doors slid silently apart, the interior lighting rising as their presence was detected. Several crates were positioned around the room, seemingly spares or replacement parts for various systems throughout the holo-vessel. Carl moved around the room counter-clockwise while Gheskori traversed in the opposite direction. They came across the transporter pad simultaneously ....

"Who the hell is he !" Carl said, looking at the deceased male draped face down across the pad. Ghes turned the body over, stepping back a mixture of shock and confusion on his face, "Beron ! ..... But."

"No, I think this is someone else, cosmetically modified to 'look' like Beron." Gheskori speculated as he knelt beside the corpse, "Is it possible this is Beron's work ? ... Maybe he 'was' playing both sides and one of them caught him out and got rid. The other option is one I'd much prefer not to think about."

Carl had been looking around while Gheskori examined the body. He moved off to the right and pulled aside one of the packing crates.

"There's a world war two German Officer here, along with what looks like a Maori Warrior, and a Gorn ... I'd guess they had been part of a previous game." he said turning the German over as he spoke, he looked at Gheskori then down at the body again, it was another Beron, same for the Maori, and while he couldn't actually 'see' Beron in the Gorn, he didn't dismiss the possibility that it too had DNA from the former Intelligence Officer. This was bloody crazy. There could only be one viable explanation he decided, someone, possibly this Harry Jacobs, had at some point been working alongside Beron, and the latter had somehow agreed to be ... Cloned ! ... The primary, or 'original' Beron, was where ?, on the Klingon vessel with KLun, on Earth, at the other end of the Galaxy, or right there in front of them. Without the medical means to test out what they believed, they were helpless on that front, so decided to leave the Beron issue for the time being. Ghes had continued working on the transporter and was almost there when the door buckled under a massive impact. Both men spun in surprise and Carl ran to the doors to check if they would hold up to another assault. His answer came a second later as another impact almost tore the left-side door away completely ... Through the gap, he could see what he could only describe as Neanderthal Man.

'Warning :: Game participants now have ten minutes before termination of play'

"I've got it." Gheskori said, joining him near the door. Both men ran back to the pad as the left-side door was catapulted over them to slam into the far bulkhead, "Given the time constraints, I've set the transporter to lock onto Commander de Luca once our transfer is complete. I figure if the ship is still here in eleven minutes we can go from there." he said with a shrug. Carl didn't argue as two of the Neanderthal's hunched into the room, rising to their full height of two meters as they seemingly sniffed the room around them. One spotted the two Federation Officer's and grunted a guttural warning to his confederate, but Gheskori was already activating the pad and they vanished as the two Ape-men thundered towards them .....


Aboard the Vor'cha ::


Materializing on the Bridge, both men sighed in relief, a relief that was extremely short-lived. They turned in unison at the voice:

"Please remain still Gentlemen."

Beron, no doubt the 'genuine' article, was sat in the Command seat, a very real, any likely dangerous Klingon disruptor aimed steadily in their direction. Neither man had time to comment as Elena de Luca materialized facing them:

"What the hell Sir's. I was just about to complete the decryption sequen ....." she fell silent as she realized Carl was pointing over her shoulder, she turned in the direction indicated, "Ohhhh ..." was all she could manage ..........

[Gheskori]

"So, you have arrived... Terrible choice of beam-in point I must say. You know, the deserted engine complex would've been a better place to start if you'd wanted to conduct sabotage, or make this vessel in its pursuit of the cube holoship change course for a Federation starbase."

Ghes watched the real article of Beron - at least he hoped he was - making a slow deliberate movement to press a button on his arm-rest, regarding them unblinking, the disruptor levelled at their thoraxes.

"Bring them in..." he said. A door to the left of them rolled aside, adding a brighter aspect to the otherwise hellish red glow of the bridge, and in were brought three Klingons which Ghes recognised instantly as the House of D'orn representatives from the bidding. Behind them, gripping them by the binds tied about their wrists and with disruptor muzzles at the back of each of their necks, were three other Klingons - Ghes didn't recognise them, nor the insignia on their chests which was neither of the High Council nor the House of D'orn.

"So as to elucidate you as to my allegiance, the exact nature of my cause..." Beron was saying in a low voice, then near-imperceptibly nodded to the three Klingon jailors. They simultaneously blew the heads off the three D'orn House members, the bodies slumping to the floor.

"You'll have seen the clones?" Beron asked, "Doubtless the one you've been dealing with has failed in getting K'lun's ship to escort the cube to Galorndon Core, so I will have to perform the duty myself, aboard this rather advanced vessel. One of the better designs you've come up with," he said to the Klingons who nodded and grunted dully, perhaps none too happy to be at the whim of this posturing renegade.

"So you're working for the High Council." Ghes had taken the executions to mean as such. He stood resolute before the barrel of Beron's weapon - which was some five metres away, he estimated the distance by eye.

"Hell, no. My clone has been working them for months; arranging to rendezvous with them on the surface of Dolar, beaming himself up to the cube's bridge and then having the nine of you join him, albeit in one of the holosuites. Of course he wouldn't have known about the automated defence system and computer protocol to put the ship on the correct course in the case of emergency, which you three, much to your shame," he emphasised the words theatrically, "Perpetrated." He saw Ghes looking at the three Klingon executioners (the Denobulan was wondering how they felt executing fellow members of their race in such a fashion - surely not considered an honourable way to die for any Klingon, hands tied behind the back, the barrel of a gun at the neck).

"Don't look so mystified, Admiral Gheskori!" Beron scolded, a sudden cheer, albeit false present within him, "For surely you recognise the badge of the House of Mor'oth, a rogue house that tried to overthrow the High Council five decades ago and then made an alliance with the Romulans, only to be eclipsed by a similar arrangement made between the Romulans and the House of Duras - now Mor'oth are back in the... ascendancy, sort of," he chuckled. The Mor'oth Klingons looked dejected.

"The holoship remains en route to Galorndon Core," Ghes said, unsure if he'd meant to phrase it as a question.

"Yes, it does, and we will be staying with them every step of the way; no longer any need to fire on the cube of course, it now being nowhere near a heading for the Aldebaran sector in 'our' space."

"Yet," if Ghes remembered his stellar cartography correctly, "We will have to pass through a part of Federation space to reach Galorndon Core; it's unavoidable; there's no opportunity to hug the border of our space and make our way to Galorndon that way... it lies inside the neutral zone, Beron!"

"Indeed. That's why," he signalled to one of the Klingons again, who moved off to the other side of the bridge to what soon revealed itself to be a weapons' locker, "You're going to pretend to be our captors. Don't worry, only four of us aboard... I'm sure the three of you can manage the numerical disadvantage," he scoffed as he rose to his feet and stepped down from the command chair on its pedestal; the Klingon brought forth three disruptors, which Beron took and nonchalantly threw to Ghes, Carl and Elena.

"They're non-functional, before you ask," he said. "This ship with the cube running ahead of it will be given the appearance of being escorted into Federation space by two Admirals and an intelligence officer, with a rogue agent - moi - and three rebel Klingons apparently under guard. Just prior to entering the neutral zone, we and the cube will cloak and reassume control of the bridge, escorting the cube the rest of the way to Galorndon Core and to... Harry Jacobs."

Ghes had been bottling his rage - something he didn't usually experience; most of the time he was of a manner most temperate, but the strain in a command situation could become so much to bear sometimes that on occasion anger did find its way into his thought patterns - for the last few minutes, and now it released itself in an avalance, "NOT IF I HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT!" He charged towards Beron who in delayed reaction brought up his disruptor; too late for the human, Ghes barrelled him over and was pulling a clenched fist back, ready to deliver a blow to Beron's jaw before the Klingons burst upon him.

He was trying to throttle Beron, effectively - not a wise choice, he realised, if the trio wanted to ascertain who was behind this along with Beron, what his possible associate Harry Jacobs had in mind for the Omnis Device... selling it on? using it in some nefarious plot to overthrow the Federation, or even the Klingon High Council which ostensibly (or at least from what he'd been able to gather in the way of evidence when still been aboard the holovessel, of their apparently easy route to the bridge) was at least in part on Beron's side or perhaps only until recently, where they'd been earmarked as possible collaborators by Beron's K'lun clone - perhaps the High Council still believed they were on Beron - and perhaps even had knowledge of - Harry Jacob's side.

Two of the Klingons withdrew their disruptors, pressing their weapons into Ghes's back; Carl and Elena wheeled from their task in fending off the one Klingon who hadn't rushed to Beron's assistance and charged towards them.

And then another group beamed onto the bridge. Two dozen Klingon warriors wearing the High Council's insignia, and at their forefront, his face bloodied from a recent brawl by the looks of it, Richard Beron the presumed clone!

"K'lun's Negh'Var to the rescue," Ghes said under his breath, still with fingers around the real? Beron's neck but feeling the one disruptor (not two as before) being pressed into his back.

The Klingons lined up against the Mor'oth lackey left free by Carl and Elena, growling, stamping feet and ready to attack; clone Beron was now overtaken by them so that he was protected. There was a vindictive look in his eyes, and he appeared to stare at the prostrate and being-strangled Beron on the floor some metres distant. The other Mor'oth Klingon was now occupied by Carl, while the third still had his disruptor at Ghes's back, but was being stopped from firing by de Luca who was trying to prise the Klingon's fingers from the gun's trigger.

"Get! The crew, from the cube! ... Back on board!" real Beron gasped as Ghes continued to hold him down.

[Elena de Luca]

"Ohhhh ....."

"Oh indeed." Carl repeated as they turned to see Beron holding a disruptor on the three Officers. They were forced to listen to the man as he explained in excruciating detail his plans for them and the Omnis Device, but his plans on how they would pass through Federation space took the seething Admiral Gheskori too far. He shot forward, and before Beron could react he began throttling the man.

The Bridge of the Vor'cha became rapidly crowded as newcomers entered. but it was the cold-blooded assassination of the three Klingon's from the House of D'orn that made everyone realize they were in grave danger. Elena sprang forward, hoping to misdirect at least two of the Klingon's watching her so that Torek could attempt to aid Gheskori, who looked like he was about to join the bloody, headless corpses.

"Get ..... The crew, from the cube ... Back on board !" Beron wheezed through the still constricting grip of Gheskori. As one of the Klingon's moved to the Tactical Station, presumably to carry out Beron's order, someone slammed a fist into the hack of Elena's head and she fell forward, face-first into one of the auxiliary consoles. Almost loosing consciousness she managed to input a command un-noticed before falling to the deck. The Klingon dragged her unceremoniously to her feet and back toward the view-screen. Realizing he was loosing, Gheskori applied one last amount of pressure before releasing his grip. He and Torek were dragged to the front of the Bridge and made to stand with Elena.

Beron, whichever one this version was, clambered to his feet, rubbing his throat in an attempt to ease the pain.

"You see ..... 'YOU SEEEEEE !' ..... You were never going to win Federation ..... 'NEVER !' ..... I always knew that I would require at least one, better two, of you to ensure safe passage through Federation space, and you fell willingly into my scheme. These, these Klingon's would have nothing, be nowhere if it was not for my creativeness and guile. I worked hard to ach ....."

"Wow, you 'DO' like the sound of your own voice don't you !" Elena interrupted, only to receive the back of one of the Mor'oth House Klingon's for her trouble. As Beron continued his self-aggrandizement she spat blood onto the deck and used her sleeve to wipe the access from her lips and cheek.

"You're usefulness to me will be moot once we pass into the Neutral Zone and approach Galorndon Core. Alas, I feel your 'discomfort' would only then begin." Beron said, looking for the world like he was trying desperately hard to hold in a secret he wanted to let out, "As part of my 'agreement' with the House of Mor'oth I agreed to allow them to, interrogate you. After all, you 'are' valuable assets to the Federation, and would no doubt have a myriad of information to disclose."

"You know better than anyone that whatever we 'disclose' as you put it would be useless to the Klingon's, whatever House you handed us over to." Carl said, noticing the Mor'oth Klingon's eyeing each other covertly, "Oh, you wasn't aware of that i take it." Carl addressed the closest Klingon.

"They will get more than they need from you before your deaths Admiral." Beron said quickly, but Elena had had enough, she stepped forward, smiling as the Klingon who had hit her earlier now allowed her to move forward.

"You know Beron. You might well have the Mor'oth House on a string, and as much as we're enjoying your banter, I'm going to have to put a stop to it."

"..... And just how do you plan on achieving that prey tell ?" Elena shook her head then spoke:

"Awaenndreav .. .. Kohi erohae faehe .. .. .. .. "

Beron shrugged, almost laughing at the woman, but Elena grinned and spoke again:

"THEAH !"

His eyes widened in complete shock, as one by one, the Klingon's on the Bridge began to vanish into proverbial thin air ! ... he spun left and right, reaching out to one of the Mor'oth guards as if his touch would hold the hologram here. he glared at Elena and then Torek and finally Gheskori, who were admittedly as surprised at the sudden turn of events as Beron himself. Elena in turn closed her eye for a second before shouting:

"WHOOOOP ! ... Bloody hell, I didn't actually think it wound work."

Gheskori stepped forward and pushed Beron into the Command seat, slamming his hands onto the arm-rests and glaring at his now captive. Carl stepped forward.

"Mind explaining ?"

I realized when Beron, whichever Beron that is, seemed to be lording it over the Dolar, and had free reign of the facility on the surface, that something was amiss ... I couldn't put my finger on it until hours ago, and even then I had little to confirm my suspicions, so I kept it to myself." she explained as she moved to the console she had been conveniently thrown against and pointed, "Retinal scanner, No idea why it would be incorporated into the console, but I thought it could come in useful. I have to admit, I was a little surprised when he didn't understand what i was saying, that was fortunate."

"So you ordered the holographic matrix to shut down !" Beron said, his frustration evident.

"We knew this ship had Romulan design features, so, I took a stab." she said, shrugging apologetically.

"You speak Romulan ?" Carl asked, somewhat surprised.

"...... No." she replied, moving to the Helm Console and checking their location and the proximity of the holo-cube ship.

"Looks like we're going to Aldebaran after all." Gheskori said.

"We're about to have company." Elena said, putting a tactical view on the main screen. Their two vessels could be seen in close proximity, now on a heading into Federation space. In the far corner, a small red Klingon insignia signified a vessel approaching at high warp, "It can only be the Negh'Var .... Seven hours at their current closing speed .... Maybe your doppelganger has other designs on these vessels." she said, eyeing Beron, then the two Admirals ..........

[Carl Torek]

"It can only be the Negh'Var .... Seven hours at their current closing speed .... Maybe your doppelganger has other designs on these vessels." Elena said, pondering their options .....

Carl looked at the tactical view, his mind running through numerous scenario's one after the next, suddenly he slammed a fist into the console in front of him:

"GOT IT !" he said, "Rai, begin to increase speed. Ensure that the Holo-ship is keeping pace with us."

"Where are we going ?" she asked.

"Home, hopefully ....." he replied, studying the plot of the three vessels closely, "Change heading. I've sent you the new heading. Ghes, begin to broadcast a broad spectrum distress call. I want every ship capable of warp speed heading our way. I think we can all accept the fact that the Negh'Var is coming for the Omnis Device. we are going to prevent their getting hold of it, one way or another."

"This heading will take us directly through the Seven sisters." Elena commented.

"Why head for Pleiades ?" Gheskori asked.

"The deep-range astrophysical laboratory ....." Carl answered, "If Command thing it's been discovered, they will send everything they have to ensure it's not discovered. I'm betting we'll enter the sisters roughly fifteen minutes before the Klingon's ... I can't believe they would risk all-out war to get hold of the technology we're holding on the holo-ship. if push comes to shove, so to speak, we'll give them the option to save face and count their losses, or be the protagonists of the fiercest war in known history.


Six hours later : Messier Star Cluster ::


"Admiral ... Four vessels are converging on our location." Elena informed Torek, "The lead vessel is the Star Ship Posthumous, approximately five minutes ahead of the others. They are still ninety minutes away but should reach us well ahead of the Negh'Var ... Looks like we're home free." she said, relieved.

"Head directly for Celaeno 16 Tauri and slow to warp two."

"Admiral ?" Elena commented, confused.

"Do as asked Commander. I want he Negh'Var to catch up around the time our rescuers arrive, that way they will, hopefully, be overwhelmed with the fact that they can't destroy us without it going 'global' for want of a better word."

"And if they choose to fight ?" Elena asked, suddenly finding herself in the situation where she may need to invoke her authority and countermand the Admiral.

"This thing has some pretty effective weaponry if I'm reading this screen right." Carl said, knowing what the Intelligence Officer was contemplating, so he hoped to get his idea across before she actually tried to over-rule him officially, "Lock everything we have on the holo-vessel .... If the Negh'Var, and urgo the Klingon high Council, want to start a war with the Federation then they will be doing so for nothing more than atoms. If K'lun or whoever is in Command is stupid enough to fight then i guess we're in trouble." he said, a wry shrug following his comment.

Rescue vessels were closing on the Vor'cha and the holo-ship from three directions as they passed Celaeno, Torek ordered they drop from warp and hold station five hundred meters off the holo-ship and in direct line of fire should the negh'Var suddenly decide to cut their substantial losses and open fire. He watched as the Klingon High Council's vessel dropped from warp, less than five minutes ahead of the first Federation Star Ship. he could see they had armed weapons and were locked onto the Vor'cha, Carl was somewhat gratified by the fact that the computer had been instructed to discharge all the ships' firepower on detection of a firing from any ship. Elena informed him that the Commander of the Negh'var wished to converse.

"Open a Comm, make sure all approaching vessels can see and hear it." Carl said, then sat back in the Command seat:

=^= Councillor Kitroqk .. .. I am surprised to hear from you .. I appreciate you're rushing to our aid =^=

=^= Do not test my already strained patience Admiral Torek .. .. .. We require you to relinquish control of a vessel we officially purchased on behalf of the Klin .. .. .. =^=

=^= Come off it Councillor .. we are both aware of the reasons behind your chasing us like you did .. You .. Like the Federation .. Require access to the Omnis Device .. My advice is this .. You are not having it .. So from where I sit your options are somewhat limited shall we say ? =^=

=^= I will not allow this technology to fall into the wron .. .. .. =^=

=^= It isn't falling into 'ANY' hands Councillor .. That I can assure you of .. Scan my systems .. You must be aware I am ready to destroy the holo-ship and all in it .. You have three minutes to make a possible life-changing decision Kitroqk .. .. .. Be a Klingon vessel that answered our distress call .. Or .. .. .. .. .. =^=

"They are targeting the holo-ships drive systems." Elena suddenly said, eyes locked on the view-screen.

"Any thoughts ?" he asked the other two occupants of the Vor'cha Class Klingon ship ..........

[Gheskori]

"Let me go over there, to the holoship," Beron said, stepping forward from the command chair where he'd been bemoaning his misfortunes for the past half hour, "In case of activation of the computer's automated defence system, it reprogrammes itself to respond only to my vocal commands; I can talk some sense into the ship that my clone happily abandoned. There's a one-use defence mechanism that will block any attempt to remove a critical system by means of ships' firepower."

"A point defence weapon?" Ghes asked.

Beron looked at the Admiral disparagingly, obviously no longer feeling obliged to maintain decorum among flag officers whose side he'd already betrayed. "Much more sophisticated than that."

"Oh give over, Beron! We're not going to let you just get away. You'll warp the ship straight to Galorndon Core."

"It may be too late for that anyway..." Ghes was watching the viewscreen. The Negh'Var was circling into view, a slow hulking behemoth, and the port disruptor cannon was beginning to glow. The discharge of the weapon filled the area where the holoship used to be, creating the impression for an instant that the Klingons had vapourised it, however, once the spot of saturation had faded the small cube remained and was now igniting its omnidirectional impulse drive, heading on a course directly z- 0.0.

"Kitroqk failed," Ghes said, disbelieving. Beron was smiling knowingly; Ghes looked askance at him, then deduced what was going on, "Your clone, I take it."

"If I cloned myself properly, yes."

The Federation starships were now less than a minute away, the Negh'Var now pitching desperately and accelerating after the holoship, a vessel a fraction of its size but frustratingly difficult to hit or capture - just like the shuttle Ghes, Carl and Elena had used to faced the Negh'Var before they'd made it to the Dolar homeworld. The Beron clone, presumably having been able to evade K'lun and Kitroqk's crew and having himself beamed aboard the holoship, was heading in the direction of Galorndon Core, however the Negh'Var was now gaining.

Now the modified Vor'cha went powering after the Negh'Var, however it seemed they may be too late, "The Negh'Var's pursuing at warp... it's armed polaron torpedoes." Polaron torpedoes, of course, reverse-engineered from the Dominion technology on Jem'Hadar warships that allowed a torpedo or any form of weapon to pass right through an opposing ship's shields.

"Let's see what this thing can do. Maximum warp," Ghes said, "Let's put ourselves between the Negh'Var and the holoship." The distances involved were huge; the cube was nearly a billion kilometres ahead of the Negh'Var, the Vor'cha was now gaining on the Negh'Var at 700,000 kilometres per second, albeit still 200 million kilometres behind. "Can we program this ship to give off a similar if not identical signature to the holoship?" he asked Beron.

The rogue agent frowned, "In theory yes, they are of similar Romulan design or modification. However the polaron torpedoes the Klingons are using are ultra-sensitive to such differences."

They had no choice but to press on; the Vor'cha closed the gap and presented itself to the Negh'Var's guns, maintaining a distance of two thousand kilometres to the holoship therefore matching its course and speed, making it appear to be the same target. "You realise they want to capture it not destroy it," Beron said, amused. "Once they realise the cube's still there..."

It was Gheskori's turn to frown. "Might we be able to open the aft landing bay?"

"With difficulty," the smug agent said. The trio glared daggers at him and the smile faded from his face, he retreated to the back of the bridge to execute the task.

The Negh'Var was firing. A large torpedo burst out from its ventral surface towards the Vor'cha; thinking they were firing at the holoship, perhaps they were meaning to disable one of the cube's systems now that its one-use defence system had been used. Simultaneously the Vor'cha fired a warning shot at the cube, Beron having a few stern words with his clone during the firing, then the cube was pulled by tractor beam into the Vor'cha's aft landing bay. The Vor'cha dropped from warp, surrounded an instant later by elongated silver shapes of disengaging Federation vessels - the five vessels together banked away from the course the cube had been pursuing.

"The lead starship is hailing."

"Open a channel to the Negh'Var," Torek said.

"Kitroqk, you seem to have destroyed the holoship in your eagerness to capture it." The holoship was now nestled in the Vor'cha's landing bay. The Klingon's face screwed up in anger, he pounded the armrest of his chair and stood, stamping off to the back of the bridge and out of the door, the red glow of the corridor visible for an instant beyond.

[Carl Torek]

"The lead Star ship is hailing."

"Open a channel to the Negh'Var," Torek said.

=^= Kitroqk .. You seem to have destroyed the holo-ship in your eagerness to capture it =^= The holo-ship was now nestled in the Vor'cha's landing bay. The Klingon's face screwed up in anger, he pounded the armrest of his chair and stood, stamping off to the back of the bridge and out of the door, the red glow of the corridor visible for an instant beyond.

"Admiral ..." Elena said, nodding towards the view-screen, "Captain Norris, USS Cambridge ......" Carl turned to face the screen and grinned.

=^= Captain .. Good timing .. Can you have three of your vessels surround the Negh'Var .. If it attempts to power-up disable it immediately =^=

=^= Yes Sir =^= the man said, motioning to someone off-screen.

=^= Members representing the Klingon High Council are aboard that ship .. Given their current situation I wouldn't put it past their Leader Kitroqk to attempt to fight his way out of it .. There are two men .. Human .. One aboard the Negh'Var the other in this vessels cargo bay .. Transport both to your ship and secure them .. Lock onto us and transport directly to the Negh'Var Bridge .. .. Keep a constant lock on us and be ready to transport us back Captain =^=

He closed the Comm and looked at Elena and Gheskori as the tell-tale grasp of the transporter caressed them. A second later they stood on the empty Bridge of other Klingon vessel ..... Moving to the center seat Carl leaned forward and activated the ship-wide Comm system:

=^= Kitroqk .. It's over .. The holo-ship is gone .. We have the clones 'AND' the Vor'cha .. Give yourself up to us now and we'll make arrangements for your return the Qo'noS .. .. .. If not I will open the ship to space before leaving .. Once clear I will order the Negh'Var destroyed with your lifeless corpse aboard .. No Sto-vo-kor for you Councillor .. .. .. You have sixty seconds to signify your compliance before I purge this ship of air ! =^=

Elena looked at the chronometer over the view-screen, watching the seconds counting down on Torek's ultimatum. She doubted the Councillor was deranged or embittered enough to want to suffer such a dishonorable death, but then, would the man want to be taken back to the Klingon Home-world a failure ? ...

"You know he is going to call your bluff." she said as the seconds ticked away.

"Gheskori, double-check me here will you ....." Carl said, pointing at several controls on one of the Bridge panels, "Am I right, this will activate all emergency escape hatches and decompress all sections of the ship simultaneously once activated ?" Ghes nodded, informing him that it would require two inputs to be made together for such action. He moved to another panel and brought up the same control systems, his panel now had a duplicate command control for the task set. Carl glanced at the time, realizing his sixty second ultimatum had now passed. he opened a Comm and spoke:

=^= Last chance Councillor .. .. .. =^= With no reply forthcoming he acted. Making several inputs he hit the command control. Bulkheads dropped into place across the midsection of the Negh'Var, Then, seconds later, the massive ship shuddered as twenty escape hatches exploded, blasting their life-giving Oxygen into space. Every living thing beyond those bulkheads was either dead of asphyxiation, or had been battered to death while being ejected into open space ! .... He gave it thirty seconds then opened a comm:

=^= If you were lucky enough to be this side of the bulkheads Kitroqk you have twenty seconds to show yourself on the Bridge .. After that there won't be any air to breathe =^= he closed the Comm and told a stunned de Luca to contact Captain Norris, they would be leaving shortly. Again the time limit passed, but he'd had enough of the mans pigheadedness. He tapped the Comm and spoke to the Cambridge:

=^= Captain .. Stand-by .. Three to transport on my command .. .. .. =^= he activated a ten second delay then nodded to Gheskori, who confirmed the instruction before stepping away from his panel.

=^= Transpo .. .. =^= with seconds to spare, a disheveled Klingon staggered onto the Bridge, Carl saw the man and amended his instructions, =^= Captain .. Lock onto the other life-sign and transport four .. Now ! =^= he saw the emergency escape hatch explode into space and he closed his eyes as the beam took hold ......

As they appeared on the transporter pad of the USS Cambridge, two Security Officers escorted Kitroqk away while the three Federation Officers were greeted by the ships' Captain. As they made their way to the Bridge the ship was suddenly slammed by an unimaginable force. Everyone was thrown against bulkheads before the ship stabilized and everyone climbed to their feet. Norris smacked his Comm badge to find out what had happened:

=^= The Vor'cha Captain .. It blew up ! .. .. One hell of an explosion =^= his Exec' informed them. Carl, Gheskori, and Elena looked at each other, knowing all too well what had been lost in the explosion, and wondering who the hell could have been over there to carry it out, unless Beron, or yet another of his clones had somehow managed to ensure that if the Klingon's or Romulan's were not going to take possession of the Omnis Device, then no-one would ! .... As they entered the Bridge, he could see the five Federation Star ships surrounding the Vor'cha which was listing dramatically.

"We don't have the facilities to make repairs over there." Commander Zi'geng, the Cambridge Exec' informed them, "We've already scanned their power systems and it hasn't got enough to sustain force-fields 'and' an atmosphere."

"Assign two ships to tow it ....." Carl said, suddenly realizing he needed to sit down, Norris realized it too and got out of his seat to allow the Admiral to take it, "Set course for Aldebaran. Contact Starfleet Command have them send at least three more Star ships to support us. If by any chance Kitroqk or one of the Beron clones manages to get a signal out, you can bet someone will be coming to extract their unique form of vengeance." Carl got up and allowed a yeoman to accompany them to quarters ..........

~~~ Intelligence Assignment ~~~
~~~ Completed Successfully ~~~





I would like to thank Section Admiral Gheskori
for his participation in this assignment

I am sure we will work together again

Thank you Admiral